Chapter 5: From the Prison to the Garden.
(...Where am I?)
Zell… Zell… Wake up!'
He slowly drifted back to conciseness, it was like being in a deep ocean and floating to the surface. (Carbuncle?)
Get up, your friends are calling you.'
(Where am I?)
Hell if I know, open your eyes.'
He did so, but they were greeted by rusted metal walls and dim florescent lights.
"Ahh, welcome back, Zell. The 'dream world' again?" Quistis asked.
Zell looked to his left after hearing the familiar voice. "Uh-huh." He rubbed his head and sat up with a light groan, a headache following. (Ow...this always made me wonder, when I have a headache can you feel it?)
Sometimes.'
(Can you feel it now?)
Not really.'
They were in a prison, now Zell remembered, and this small room he was in was a cell.
"How's Laguna doin'?" Seiphie asked, she was sitting to his right
Zell thought about it for a moment "Dunno... I didn't see him. It's not like I know everything about Ward, but... Well, you know Laguna and company went to that Centra place and got into a real fix, right? After that, Ward's been all alone. He's working in some sort of prison-like place. And he's bored outta his mind. All he wants is to be fightin' alongside Laguna."
"What is this were experiencing?" Quistis hoped that some one else might have some type of insight on it.
Zell sure as hell didn't. "How the hell should I know?"
Rinoa on the other hand, sitting next to Quistis, thought of something. "Um, didn't you say that Ward was working in some sort of prison?"
Zell didn't see the relevance, "Yeah so."
"And wasn't he from Galbadia?"
Zell nodded "Sure, he's a soldier there."
"Correct me if I'm wrong." Rinoa started. "But aren't you supposed to be Ward in that 'dream world'?"
"Just now I was."
"Does this room look familiar?"
It didn't make sense, why would this look familiar? (Of all the stupid questi)
'Come on Zell, think about it.' Carbuncle told him, he had gone to the same place a Zell since they were junctioned. (...Hey? Whoa? Wait a sec...) "I know this place!" Zell shouted, standing to his feet excitedly. "Everybody listen up! This is the prison that Ward works at! He's a janitor here! There are so many rooms just like this! It's got to be here!"
"There's a prison for political activists in Galbadia... This must be the place where Ward works. Right here, where we are! I'm sure of it!" Rinoa looked around, she was definitely sure, how could she not be considering who her father was.
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His eyes shot open and his body bolted up, panting heavily, clinching his chest.
With the first moisture of sweat forming about his forehead, Squall looked around frantically with his mind racing to put everything together (...Where am I?) He wasn't sure on that, but he did remember a few things (I...challenged Edea...) That he most definitely remembered, but since he remembered it so well he was sure he shouldn't have been alive. (My wound... ...?) Squall looked down, his hand padding around his chest for a gaping hole that wasn't there. (No wound...? How...? The Galbadian soldiers... ...We were surrounded.) Squall took another look around the small room, he was laying on a bed, not much else he could say about the room since there was nothing there.
(He was there... Seifer, leering down at me.) "Damn you, Seifer!" Squall grunted loudly, pounding his fist against the wall.
He finally figured something out, if there wasn't a wound... "No wound...oh no..." (...Irift! Irift!)
No answer.
It all came together now, the way Ifrit's voice sounded, the way he was talking, the way he didn't feel anything after the first second of blow. The only reason he even felt that was because of the junction they had. Ifrit must have summoned himself and took the blow for him...
Just before he had time to feel sad about it, his cell started to move so abruptly he nearly fell off the bed. Reason had been because his Cell was removable, It was being carried on a large lift rising up to the seventh floor.
At the same time Zell and the others were busy escaping.
Squall wasn't so lucky, he was in for a new set of problems... The door to his cell was kicked opened, and none other than Seifer walked in, giving him a once over arrogantly. "Squall your pitiful." He smirked, picking up a glaring Squall up by his shirt collar high enough to look him in the eye, and threw him in to the wall. Squall's back slammed against the wall with a small grunt, sliding down on to the bed mounted on the wall...Seifer shook his head, this really was pitiful "Take him away."
About 4 or so Moombas came in and grabbed him by his arms and his legs, dragging him with all their strength off of the bed and down to the ground. He could tell they were struggling to move him as they pulled his body out of the cell and into a hallway, from there it was down a small hallway and in to another room. Before he knew what was happening to him he was being lifted by a Galbadian solider and pressed against the wall, a rough and very uncomfortable surface. His hands and legs were strapped down in restraints, now he was hanging off of a crossed shape device, a lot of pressure being put on his hands. '...'
"I sure you can imagine what happens next." Seifer walked into the room, standing before him with a cocky expression on his face.
"…What do you want?" Squall asked with his head hung down low, his breaths audible.
"Tell me what SeeD is. Edea demands to know."
"SeeD... (...A code name for Balamb Garden's elite mercenary force...SeeD... Combat specialists...?) "...Don't you already know?" (He would know if he made it.)
"I'm not a SeeD. There must be some kind of secret you're given when you become a SeeD!" Seifer seemed determined to find out the answer, unusually determined.
"There's nothing." Squall lifted his head with the same glaring expression on his face. "Even if there were, you think I'd tell you?"
Seifer folded his arms and dropped his head with a sigh "You're on my 'tough-nut-to-crack' list. Didn't think you'd talk that easily."
"...Gees, I'm honored."
Seifer smirked again, and Squall immediately knew things would get worse for him "So here's a little somethin' for ya."... A volt of electricity ran through his body, it felt like everything inside of him was on fire, like it was being torn apart. He screamed in pain.
"Even if you don't talk, others will. The instructor, the little messenger girl, or that Chicken-wuss... He wouldn't last 3 seconds!" Sefer laughed.
(Th…they're) "There're…all here…?" Squall managed to force it out in between pants
"Oh, you bet. But since I like you so much, I thought you should go first. I was hoping you'd be there, Squall. So...how'd I look in my moment of triumph? My childhood dream, fulfilled. I've become the sorceress' knight." Seifer gloated, he had wanted this that bad?
Squall didn't have time to think on it before he passed out cold.
In the darkness of his mind he heard a voice.
'Squall? Squall?'
(I..Irift?)
'Squall?'
(What happened to you? I thought you were dead?)
'It takes more than that.' Squall felt the strong urge to hug him as tightly as he could, but Ifrit was too injured to be summon, Ifrit was barely able to keep him conscious through the junction, even that was failing. Especially since there was a strong force pushing them apart, it could be none other then a GF Seal... 'Squall...I can't keep this up...'
(Ifrit!)
'Don't worry about me...just be ok...Squall...'
After that everything went completely silent.
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After a daring and narrow escape from Galbadia prison, they split up, one team heading for the missile base and another for the Garden after learning of an emanate missile strike from the Galbadian army. Squall's team went to warn the Garden while Zell's did their best to avert the on coming attack
The best thing available to Zell's team was to increases the error ratio of the missiles, but they wouldn't take doing only that. So after setting the self destruct sequence and attempting to evacuate before the Galbadian base detonated, the apparently not dead Biggs and Wedge unleashed another Galbadia weapon to block their escape. A particularly tough one too, by the time they finished fighting it the self destruct timer had ran out and the base ended up blowing up with them still inside.
Meanwhile Squall and his team were sent on a mission by Cid to find the garden's shelter that they hoped would still be there. After a hard trip into the bowels of the Garden they activated an unknown switch which lowered the garden's ring and gave it the ability to fly. The good news was that they avoided the missile attack, the bad news was they were drifting aimlessly with no way to control the Garden.
It turned out to be a good thing, they ended up drifted until they crashed in to Fisherman's horizon, a town that was built in the middle of the sea, right next to an abridging railroad track.
The town helped repair the garden and modified the controls, being the people who constructed it in the first place. But while the repairs were being made Galbadia attacked, bring their latest weapon with them. But apparently their latest weapon had taken a beating previously, leaving it damaged and easy to defeat, after which their lost friends seemingly lost at the missile Base emerged safely.
At that point Lv 17 SeeD Nida was appointed to the pilot position to fly the garden, and Squall was forcibly deemed leader by Cid who saw something in him that Squall didn't.
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After a very long day Squall finally got a chance to return to his dorm for a well need rest.
'No way, I don't like it, I never asked to be come the leader of the Garden.' Squall growled angrily in his mind.
'But think about it, you now have command of the garden, it's an asset not a curse.' Ifrit tried to help him make the best of it, but Squall just wouldn't see it that way. Despite of Squall's disfavor of it he was proud.
(It's to much responsibility, I didn't asked for that.) Squall closed the door behind him, ignoring his evident hunger to head strait for the bed room.
'You'd rather be blindly following orders?'
It was simpler than giving them.
(I'll just have to do as I was told... Command the Garden and defeat the sorceress.)
'…'
(How does Headmaster Cid expect me to take care of everyone? It'd be best to go fight the sorceress soon, and end this nonsense...?)
'But isn't she the headmaster's wife?'
(He wants us to kill his wife... What does it feel like to give an order like that?) Squall sighed...(It's like giving the order to kill you, I couldn't do that."
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He stayed there for about 20 minutes.
(...I'm bored...) Squall starred strait up at the ceiling, his head resting on Ifrit's chest. (What's everybody doing?)
He climbed from his bed, Ifrit objecting to staying behind as he slowly made his way out of his dorm room.
He found Quistis, Zell and Rinoa were talking when he reached the hallway, but as soon as they spotted him coming towards them, Quistis and Zell started to walk off. Upon closer look , Rinoa was wearing the white dress she wore to the SeeD inauguration party... Ok? What was going on...?
"What's up?" She asked, her hands cuffed behind her back and leaning anxiously towards him. "Tired"
"You look so down? Come on, Squall, how old are you? You're still a teenager. Why don't you act like one for a change?"
Squall shook his head, "Just tired." he sighed... Ifrit hadn't junction himself to him when he left, something was going on, 'He must be in on it.'
"Ok, come on, let's go to the concert."
"What?" Concert? What concert? Hm...concert might be nice "…why not."
"YES! Okay, let's go!" She said excitedly, grabbing him by the hand and pulling him forward.
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They ended up at FH in front of the stairs that lead down to the sun panel. A stage was set up there, after small talk with Irvine he and Rinoa headed down to the 'special area' Irvine had indicated to him.
(This looks like the place he was talking about.)
Rinoa looked at the magazine "Ohh, a naughty magazine."
Squall rolled his eyes. (I thought he was kidding.) "You wanted to talk about something, right?" He sat down at the edge of the stage looking down at the sun panels, the way the stars shined off them made the everything seem surreal. He'd have to come back here a night some time, it was to bad Ifrit couldn't see this, he'd like something like this. "What is it?"
"Umm...well it's about your promotion." Rinoa sat down next to him, her eyes gazing upward. "Things are gonna get real tough for you, eh?"
(I don't want to think about it.) He didn't, not at all.
"Squall, I'm sure there'll be a lot of difficult things that you'll have to deal with from now on. We were talking about that, and saying how you'll probably try to handle everything on your own." Rinoa reminisced, she knew him too well.
(I probably will.)
"They know you too well. I do, too, although I haven't been around you that long. Y'know, when you start thinking, you tend to frown like this." Rinoa lifted her hand to her forehead, slowly looking over towards Squall who looked at her, the same motion. He pushed, she fell back laughing.
"I'm out of here." Squall got up, about to turn and leave before Rinoa stopped him.
"Oh come on! I'm sorry! But really, we were saying that...well... You can't handle everything on your own." Rinoa stood up as she spoke, creeping up behind him and pushed him off the edge on to the sun panels.
Squall landed on his feet, turning back to glare at her in annoyment. "!"
"That's it! Just let out anything! Anything..." Rinoa's voice trailed off for a moment, jumping down on to the reflective panes with him "We want you to talk to us a little more. That's all. Y'know, if there's anything you want to tell us, or anything we can do, don't hesitate to let us know. I know it's not easy but I wish you would trust us and rely on us a little more."
(Am I that untrusting...?) Was he? He didn't really think he was...(Maybe I'm this way because I'm scared.) Squall sighed, dropping his shoulders and staring up at the sky. He was untrusting, the only person he really trusted was...Did he really trust anyone? (Nothing lasts in this world. It feels great to have friends who believe in you, and adults you can rely on.)
Yeah, he did have some one who really and truly trusted...Ifrit, Ifrit knew more about him then anyone, even himself...but that was the problem, having someone that close to you. (That's why it's so dangerous, especially if you become used to it. Someday you're bound to loose everything. Everybody around you will be gone.)
Squall dropped down on one knee, letting himself stare down at the shining stars on the sun panels. He didn't want to lose everything, he didn't want Ifrit to stop being their for him, all for himself. He didn't want his friends to just die and disappear! He didn't want to go through that! What would he do after that? (Then what are you left with? Nothing. Nobody... It's so miserable, and it's inevitable. It's so hard to recover from something like that, I never ever want to deal with that again. I can't even if it means being alone...) God he hated being alone, but being alone after losing everything...
"I don't get it. What's going on?" Rinoa looked at him questioningly.
(Huh? What? Oh me?) Squall had completely forgotten he was talking to her. "Sorry about that. So...are we finished Here?"
"What? No, I didn't mean you. I was talking about the music. I love this piece but it's been terrible for the last few minutes. Geez, what's wrong with them?" She wasn't look at him, she was looking past him.
"Oh. Well...I'll see you later, alright?" Squall turned to walk away, about to climb up out of the panel when Rinoa stopped him again.
"Wait! You're not gettin' off that easy. You still owe me an Answer."
(Answer for what...? Oh...) "Fine. I'll ask for help when I really need it. I'll try to trust everybody more often. Ok?"
Rinoa frowned and looked at him angrily, she couldn't believe the way he was acting. "What is your problem? Why do you have to be like that? Are you mad or something? Tell me you are, because this really can't be you!"
"I'm sorry." Squall apologized.
Rinoa shook her head, only growing more angry at his response. "You're not sorry! You just wanna get the hell out of here, that's all! Geez! Why does it have to be like this? Why?" She turned from him and stormed away from him, anger radiating from every movement she made.
(...Oh well. This won't change anything... I think I was honest. I prefer to be alone, right?) Did he really? (...Yeah...) Well he could, he'd been alone all this time right?
He heard Ifrit's voice and nearly jumped, apparently Ifrit had been junctioned and he didn't know it. 'Do you really believe that?'
Squall looked down at his reflection in the panels and saw Ifrit's instead, something Ifrit was able to do when he wanted Squall to actually see him with out being there. He usually only did it when things were serious. (You know what I mean)
'I see, you feel it's just easier not to risk feeling any pain than to get close to others.'
(…)
'You can't live this way.'
(I can, and I'm better off doing so.)
He could mentally see Ifrit disagreeing with him. 'There is no way a human can be better off alone, what is wrong with you, you don't want any responsibility, you wont let yourself be around people-'
(Me! How can you criticize me! You blindly follow orders, the only thing you do is fight and kill!)
'…' Ifrit only looked at him, then looked away.
(…) Squall only folded his arms, maybe he shouldn't have said that...
'Well I know why I do what I'm doing.' Ifrit scowled. 'Impudent fool, I have a reason to fight and that is to protect you...'
Squall's mind wondered back to the fight with Edea, how Ifrit nearly died to save him. How he looked afterwords, it was painful to see him that weak an near death, it left a visible scar and he was sure Ifrit still wasn't 100. But still he fought along side Squall...who was feeling particularly like an idiot right now.
'That is why I fight, That is why I 'kill'. What about you?' Ifrit asked, noticing Squall wasn't looking him in the eye anymore. 'The only reason I follow you is because I trust your judgment, I believe in you.' Ifrit paused again, lifting his head so that Squall couldn't see his face. 'What is your reason?'
(…) Squall didn't know what to say to this, no one ever had the will to stay with him and deal with him even when pushed them away. Well, there was one more person…
Ifrit still wanted an answer. 'So, what is it?'
(I don't know! What am I supposed to say to that!) Squall shouted mentally.
Ifrit appeared in front of him, standing face to face with his arms folded and his eyes looking down at Squall who had no choice but to look up at him. "Something." Ifrit growled. "If you don't have a reason to fight, If you don't have a reason to keep going, how do I know you won't just give up and walk away." Give up and walk away? Walk away from what? Walk away from his duties at Balamb Garden, or walk away from them?
"How do I..." Squall looked away. "How do I know you won't leave me, how do I know you won't just decide to go someplace else one day?"
Ifrit didn't hesitate to answer, he rarely had to think about his responses. "Because I want to...Because I will protect you, I wouldn't leave you for anything." He didn't have anything else, it could even be said that he needed Squall as much as he needed him.
"..."
"I wont...so tell me, why do you fight?"
Squall didn't answer right away, he just looked at Ifrit "I don't have a reason...I guess...I fight to keep what I have now. I guess I'm fighting... for you."
Chapter 5: part 2
Squall walked back to the garden alone. He didn't know if Ifrit had rejunctioned or not. Right now he didn't care. He was still angry at him, he never asked to get close to Ifrit, just like he never asked to get close to Rinoa. Now the thing that he least wanted was happening to him, and reflexively he pushed it away.
Damn reflexes.
The sunrise reflected in the sea around FH's harbors, coloring it the same blend of golden, orange and red as the sky. This town was peaceful, no fighting, no conflicts, Squall actually liked this place. (Maybe I could live here?) He thought about it for a minute, but on second thought (Nah, it'd be too boring... but it would be peaceful.) They had taken Martine in, he seemed to be better, why not him? He could live here...
But as he looked up to the Garden still ported in the edge of town, he realized that he had responsibilities now, there was no way could even consider it. It was making him mad again, this is why he didn't think about these things.
After a short crossing of the extended bridge, Squall went threw the side door of the Garden and headed strait to his dormitory on the first floor. With out another word he face flat into his bed and headed off to sleep.
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Or so he thought he would, he never actually fell completely asleep, something in the back of his mind was holding him back... He knew exactly what it was. (Irift?…) He heard no answer, (Irift?…) Maybe he wasn't there, maybe he was asleep?
He honestly didn't want to wake him up if he was. 'Yes?' the sudden unexpected voice made him jump a little. Ifrit summoned himself, sitting on the edge of Squall's bed.
Squall sighed, he really couldn't take the guilt "Ifrit, I'm sorry, I-"
Ifrit cut his words off, giving him a soft kiss telling him there was no reason to be sorry. He wasn't mad "I apologize, I said-"
Squall pressed his lips to Ifrit's, cutting him off in tern. This time no one tried to speak or apologize, Squall only pulled Ifrit closer, still feeling retentive toward Ifrit
"Really, I am sorry." Squall whispered, face to face with the flame GF, staring up at him with eyes that just couldn't seem to look at Ifrit's directly.
"Humans." Ifrit shook his head "There's no reason to be apologize to me, but if you really want to, don't say it, show me." Ifrit wasn't the talking type, he was a large advocate of taking action.
Ifrit climbed on top of him, his hands planted on Squall's shoulders, pushing him down on to the bed as he closed the small gap between them with another kiss. Squall's arm wrapped around and held the large body as best he could, trying to pull him as close as possible and the small, comforting warmth that always surrounded him. He could feel Ifrit's long erection growing, pressing between Squall's legs, rubbing against the boy's cock. It had to be twice as long as Squall's and almost two times as big. And Ifrit never was the type to waste time on 4 play, maybe it was the inhuman lido.
Ifrit's hand shifted down to Squall's side with a familiar gleam in his eyes, Squall was expectant when Ifrit rolling over and took Squall with him so that was on top. Squall opened his eyes again, looking in to the deep yellow ones, holding on to the warm body below him in a child like manner. Ifrit pulled Squall down so that he was on his knees between his drawn up legs, pulling Squall closer with a light tug on his waist so that Squall's cock was pressing against his entrance.
Squall got the clear impression that to some degree, Ifrit wanted it to hurt.
"Are you sure about this?" Squall asked as he held on to Ifrit's side, pausing to make sure.
"Yes." Ifrit nodded.
With out farther hesitation Squall pushed himself inside with a light shift of his weight, bringing most of his body weight to lean on the GF. A low growl emitted from Ifrit, but it wasn't enough for him, he wanted more... "Harder." Ifrit reached to Squall's waist again and forced him in deeper and harder.
Squall complied going faster and as hard as he could mange, it was rough but it felt so much better, Squall was already starting to breath harder from trying to contain himself. Lifting one hand from where they were set on Ifrit's torso, he reached up and wrapped his fingers around the GF's cock. Stroking up and down the large erection, timing it with his thrust.
Squall burred him self in to Ifrit and came harder than he ever had, and notably quicker. Sure this was his first time actually being on top with Ifrit, but he didn't expect himself to lose stamina this quickly. In-between tensed straining he heard a growl from Ifrit and a few seconds later, spurts of liquid hit chin and drenched his hand, apparently the same applied for Ifrit who was too embarrassed to admit how much Squall being...
Squall pulled out, resting on Ifrit's torso. But the sound of Ifrit's panting and the large hand running through his hair kept him going, spilling more cum on to the sheets. After a few minutes, Ifrit reached down and wiped the cum from his chin.
Squall buried his face into Ifrit's chest, letting out a small groan. "You know we can't stay like this…" Squall didn't want to move, he wanted to stay like that for the rest of the night but he knew he couldn't.
Squall slowly lifted off of Ifrit, landing on his back beside of him in the small bed, Ifrit disappeared soon after, returning to where ever he went. Squall would have to ask him about that some day.
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"Why?"
"I always wanted to know." Zell laid in his bed, just getting back from the concert that had happened about 6 hours ago. After everyone left he and Carbuncle stayed after and played around with some of the instrument, Zell had known how to play most of them, Carbuncle was just messing around with them. It was really cute to see him trying to hold a drumstick with his paws, and his mouth. After a while Carbuncle finally gave up and started practicing with his shields. Zell didn't bother to take off his clothes, he just laid there with his eyes closed, talking to Carbuncle. "So, tell me."
The most that could be said about both of them was they were honestly alike, that's probably why they were so compatible. Both were a little loud, very brash, quick to anger. "Well it's like being inside your head." Carbuncle said, laying curled into a ball on Zell's stomach.
"Wow, Can you see what I think or something like that?"
"Some times…"
"What do you mean sometimes?" Zell grumbled.
"Well like if you don't want me to I can't, It'd be like looking into a big black wall."
Zell wondered what that must have looked like. "Hmm…wow."
Carbuncle nodded. "Yup."
Zell yawned and opened his eyes with a light upward stretch of his arms, watching the stray rays of sunrise through the windows tenting the be as well as both of them in a golden light. "How old are you?"
Carbuncle's eyes turned to the ceiling with thought. "Old…" A light pause and held sounds "-er"
Older? Older then what? Surely Carbuncle couldn't have meant him "You look like a baby, what are you like 3?"
Carbuncle narrowed his eyes in disbelief, then bolted on to his feet and jumped on to Zell's chest, staring at him eye to eye "3! Are you serious?"
"Well…" Zell looked away for a moment, thinking... "5?"
"5!" Carbuncle growled loudly. "I'm at lest a hundred times that!"
Zell sat up, making Carbuncle slid embarrassingly into his lap despite his best effort to grab on to his shirt. "Your 500?"
Carbuncle tilted his head upward proudly "548." he said in a matter of factly tone.
Interesting, really interesting. Zell looked down at him wonderingly, a child like curiosity gleaming in his expression "You have to know a lot of stuff, what happened back then?"
"Hmm… Well every story's a long one, even the short version is kind of long."
It only made Zell want to know more. "Well you don't have to tell it all right now, spread it out."
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