Chapter 11: Opened and Closed

The clear night air was refreshing to Squall as he stood on one of the second floor balconies, taking in the Garden grounds stretching out below.

He'd stepped outside in order to clear his head after the dance, and also to fulfill the need to get out of the ballroom before being assailed by requests for dances from female cadets and SeeDs. Also, in the dark quiet, Squall was able to mull over the mysterious girl. It wasn't like him to feel like he had around women. Must have been the alcohol, he concluded. Too much champagne. But still, that couldn't explain all of it . . . .

Whoever that girl was, he had felt completely at ease around her, a feeling he hadn't known since . . . a very long time. He couldn't place it, but that sense of ease was connected with the person he had been close to so long ago . . . the same person who'd dissappeared, leaving him alone and helpless.

Squall's musings were interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps. He didn't look over his shoulder, not wanting to aknowledge the person who had ruined his solitude.

"You really are an excellent student," Quistis spoke from behind him. At this, he did look behind at his former Instructor. "Even that dance was perfect." Her words were spoken with genuine approval.

"Thank you," Squall replied without emotion as he turned his gaze back out over the balcony. He continued his stare for a moment, immersed in the night, but still felt Quistis's presence behind him. After a few moments, the silence became rather awkward.

"Yes?" he demanded in an irritated voice.

"So you'll dance with someone you know, but can't stand being around me?" Quistis replied, sounding a bit hurt. Squall turned back towards her.

"Whatever," he replied. "You're an Instructor, and I'm . . . I was your student. Its kind of awkward when you don't say anything." Quistis, surprising Squall, laughed.

"That's true, I was like that myself," she said, nodding. Then, she stopped laughing and her mouth opened slightly, as if suddenly recalling something. "Oh, I completely forgot . . . I wonder what's to come of me?"

Squall turned his head to look completely at her. What? 'What's to come of me'? What was this?

Quistis didn't elaborate, and instead her voice shifted slightly, to a more serious tone.

"I've come to give you an order," she said. "You and I are to go to the 'secret area.'"

The secret area? Squall knew exactly what went on there. Students would go there after curfew to talk . . . among other things.

"What are doing there?" Squall asked, wondering what Quistis had in mind. "Are we going there to tell everyone they're violating curfew? We can leave that to the Disciplinary Committee." And Seifer would certianly relish getting everyone there in trouble, Squall knew.

Quistis actually laughed at Squall's remark.

"No, we're not going to ruin it for everyone," she said. "Go get changed and meet me in front of the Training Center. This will be my last order." With that, Quistis turned around and returned into the ballroom, leaving Squall still confused.

'Last order'? 'What's to become of me'? His former instructor was acting strangely, but the perceptive Squall figured whatever it was, he would probably find out in the "secret area."

Well, at least it was a good excuse to get out of the ballroom and away from the party.

-------------------

Squall entered the Training Center's hallway, dressed in his casual black jacket, muscle shirt, and pants. His gunblade was in its scabbard, as were his ammunition and pouches of equipment. Squall's backup knives were in their waist and wrist sheaths as well. He took no chances when it came to the Training Center. A knife to a T-Rexaur's eye had saved his life one day a few years ago, and he didn't want to be killed tonight by carelessness.

Quistis was waiting for him in the hallway, and was clad in her pink shirt, skirt, and dark detached sleeves. Her rante was coiled at her side, and she too was equipped for battle. She nodded as he approached.

"Let's go," she said as she took her rante off her belt. Squall's hand dropped to the Revolver's handle, poking out of the scabbard and ready to draw.

The two delved into the Training Center, feeling the moist, hot air keenly as they passed the perimeter fence. Soon, they were under the leafy canopy of the interior jungle. They passed through without incident, reaching the indoor river and crossing the crude plank bridge. Soon, they neared where the secret area was located. After pushing through some brush and shrubbery and passing another indoor river, this one with no planks and requiring hopping across on the stones jutting out of the water, they arrived at a slightly cracked-open portal. This door led to the balcony that comprised the "secret area."

The two paused at the portal, listening for any sounds that might indicate inappropriate activites beyond the door. But they heard little more than quiet conversation, the words inaudible, so the two cracked open the portal and stepped outside.

The balcony for the "secret area" was located on the far side of the Training Center, and overlooked the jungle and the Garden grounds. The central structure of Balamb Garden dominated the night sky, shining like a white mountian whose peak was surrounded by a golden ring of clouds. A few couples of cadets were out, talking quietly among themselves, but nothing inappropriate was occuring.

"I haven't been here in a while," Quistis admitted as she led him to an unoccupied area at the railing. They were a good distance away from everyone else, which was an unspoken rule of the "secret area." What went on there was private.

Both SeeD and Instructor leaned on the railing, staring up at the spectacle of the glowing Garden before them. Neither spoke for a long time, and Squall decided to just be patient. Whatever Quistis said she would say in due time. A quick glance out the corner of his eye told Squall that Quistis seemed troubled, and was gathering her thoughts.

It took a few minutes for Quistis to finally speak again.

"What time is it?" she asked. Her voice sounded meloncholy, surprising Squall slightly. He glanced at his watch. 0:07 hours.

"Just after midnight," he replied. He looked back up to see Quistis slump slightly, looking down at the railing.

"Oh, well . . ." she whispered quietly. She stayed that way for a while, obviously in thought, and said nothing. Squall watched her for a moment, then looked back out towards Garden. The silence between the two lingered for a couple of minutes before Quistis broke it again.

"I, Quistis Trepe, am no longer an Instructor as of now," she said, looking up.

That got Squall's attention. He turned his head back towards her, attempting to read her expression. She looked pained, and saddened, as if she couldn't live up to someone's expectations.

"I'm a member of SeeD now, just like you," Quistis added, looking at him. "Who knows, maybe we'll end up working together."

"Oh, really?" was all he said in reply. Squall didn't know why Quistis had been demoted like she had. It certainly wasn't due to budget cuts, since Quistis would earn more as a SeeD than an Instructor, and she had always been considered quite the skilled Instructor by her collegues and students. But, for whatever reason, she was cut.

"Is that all you're going to say?" Quistis demanded, sounding hurt. Squall shrugged.

"If that's how it was decided, you have to abide by it," he explained, a philosophy that had dominated much of his life. Squall accepted and dealt with things as they came. What he couldn't control he would stoically take without complaint. He might not enjoy it, but complaining about it would not help.

Quistis nodded slightly, turning away. She slumped a bit, as she accepted the simple, if unhappy, truth in Squall's words.

Many minutes passed in silence as the two stood there, saying nothing. Quistis stared down at the railing, while Squall looked out over Garden, considering Quistis's words. This was the big thing she wanted to say. And she had opted to share it with Squall, of all people. Why him? Surely Xu or Cid might better help her.

Then again, Xu and Cid had probably delivered the notice to Quistis in the first place. She would understandably not feel any comfort in their words. No matter how nice a person who hurt you is, they still hurt you.

So Quistis had turned to Squall. And again, the question was, why him?

"They told me I failed as an Instructor," Quistis said quietly, sadly. The words jolted Squall out of his musings. "Basically, that I lacked leadership capabilities."

Squall shrugged internally at that. Quistis had always been the type to look out for others, to assist cadets. She had never really been very hard on her students, not even Seifer. Now that Squall thought of it, he did realize Quistis had never truly exhibited leadership capabilities. Her style of teaching had always involved working with her students, as opposed to some of the Faculty's way of hard teaching and strict discipline. It was understandable why her differing method might not be accepted.

"I was in SeeD by fifteen, got my Instructor's liscense at seventeen . . ." Quistis continued while Squall was thinking. "It's only been a year since I got it. I wonder where I went wrong. I did my best . . ." Quistis turned back to Squall, to see him not even looking at her. In fact, he had turned around to put his back to the railing, and was looking towards the door absently. None of her words were really registering in his mind.

"Are you even listening?" she asked angrily.

Squall had heard all of her rambling, but he was beyond the point of caring now. He was tired, he wanted to get back to his room and sleep. Quistis's problems weren't his, they were her own.

"Are you done yet?" he asked in response, surprising Quistis by the coldness in his tone.

"I don't want to talk about it," he added with a dismissing wave of his hand. "What exactly am I supposed to say about other people's problems?"

"I don't want you to say anything," Quistis replied, still sounding hurt. "I just want you to listen."

So that was it. She just wanted someone to talk to about her problems. Someone who would listen.

But Squall didn't care about Quistis's problems. He didn't want to listen right now. He was tired, and Quistis's troubles weren't his; they were hers. Besides, Squall never subscribed to the notion that talking about problems helped them; you just talked about them, and did nothing. It was like complaining, producing nothing whatsoever. It was useless. Maybe it gave comfort to the mind, but it went nowhere closer to handling the situation.

"Then go talk to a wall," Squall replied, his uncaring tone shocking Quistis.

"Aren't there times when you've wanted to share your feelings with someone?" Quistis asked, not understanding Squall's suddenly cold and distant demeanor.

"Everyone has to take care of themselves," Squall replied. "I don't want to carry anyone else's burden. Your problems are yours." He turned to face her, and stared Quistis dead in the eye. "Deal with them," he advised in an icy, emotionless tone.

Quistis had nothing to say as Squall turned around and walked out of the "secret area," not looking back. As he stepped out the door, Quistis lowered her head, biting back a slight wetness at her eyes.

"Dammit, Squall . . ." she muttered. "Why don't you open up? Why are you always like this?" She sighed after a moment, then looked back over the railing. "No leadership qualities, failed Instructor . . . perhaps they're right . . ."

-------------------

Quistis rejoined Squall a few minutes later inside the Training Center. Neither said anything as they returned back the way that they had come. No Grats or more dangerous creatures rose to challenge the pair as they returned across the indoor rivers. However, as the two approached the exit from the Training Center, they heard a call behind them.

It was a scream for help.

Gunblade and rante were ready in an instant as the two teenagers turned and ran in the direction of the cry. Squall checked the back of his mind, touching the GFs there and alerting them. All three Guardian Forces awakened and magic flowed through Squall's body. His pace quickened, as did Quistis's, empowered by magic.

Ahead, they heard another scream. It was from a woman, and the cry for help was followed by an animalistic roar.

"Granaldo!" Squall shouted, recognizing the sound. Granaldos were one of the more brutal monsters in the Center, a type of flying, plated reptilian/insect monstrosity. Granaldos had orange and black plates, blue eyes, sharpened teeth, dragonflylike wings, and a long, spiked tail. They also featured four legs, all tipped with sharp spines and claws.

As they burst into the clearing where the calls were coming from, Squall saw this Granaldo was an adult, towering a good eight feet and more if it had been standing. The huge monster was menacing a brown-haired girl wearing blue, and for a second Squall paused, as if recalling something about her.

The girl also recognized Squall, judging by the recognition in her eyes, and also by her subsequent calling of his name. Quistis burst out of the brush next to him, and the unknown girl looked to both of them.

"Squall?" She asked. "Quisty?" He had never heard anyone call Quistis by that kind of an informal name. But they had no time now to ponder what this girl was saying, as the Granaldo turned towards the newcomers. It let out a call, like that of a huge eagle, and swooped towards them.

Squall's gunblade met it, the Revolver cleaving through the plates on its chest as the monster reared up in its flight to slash its clawed forearm at Squall. The monster jerked away, but not before its clawed arm scored a hit across Squall's chest. The junctions of his Guardian Forces absorbed much of the blow, Squall's hardened skin and toughened body taking the hit well.

As the Granaldo began to fly away, Quistis's whip snapped up and caught it by its other arm, and she yanked the monster down with all her superhuman strength. The creature looked on in surprise as it hit the ground, not expecting such a frail foe to have such strength. It was right back up, but not before Squall had covered the short distance between them and cleaved again, this time firing off a blast from the Revolver.

The monster howled as chunks of bony plate flew. It leaped back up into the air and spun around, its tail clubbing and hurling both SeeDs off their feet. Both its foreclaws came jabbing in at Squall's head as he rose. He managed to duck under one while sending the Revolver up, pulling the trigger as the gunblade connected with the monster's arm.

The arm flew away in a blast of ichors. The creature's screech was deafening as it backed away in midair. Quistis's whip snapped after it, but the monster dodged the chain, and only took a glancing hit across its side. Still, that sharpened edge passed through the monster's armor and scored a painful hit.

Realizing it was overmatched, the monster turned back to the helpless girl and began to fly at her, its one working arm opening as if to grasp her, which it was. The Granaldo seemed to have concluded that it couldn't defeat these foes, so it would make off with its original prey. Squall ran after it, crossing the distance quickly, his gunblade ready.

Suddenly, he jumped to the side, his GF-enhanced muscles hurling him towards a tree at the edge of the clearing. He twisted around and planted his legs against the tree and kicked off it at an angle, flying straight into the Granaldo's side with gunblade raised.

The Revolver plunged into the monster's armored skin, and Squall pulled the trigger even as the Granaldo was knocked off course. The monster's body shuddered as it dropped to the ground. Squall suddenly found one of the creature's legs curling up and planted against his chest, and before he could react he was kicked away, tearing his gunblade free of the monster's side.

Squall was up on his feet in an instant, just in time to see the Granaldo rise up as well, hovering weakly. It swooped in once more for the girl, but was knocked to the ground as a powerful burst of flames, a Fira spell cast by Quistis, struck it. The monster rose stubbornly once more, but Squall covered the distance in an instant and slashed his gunblade down on the Granaldo's neck before it could completely stand. Squall's superhuman strength combined with the razor-sharp edge of the Revolver and a healthy blast from the gunblade to cleave the monster's head off. It flopped to the ground, dead instantly.

Squall turned towards the girl immediately, as she sat on the grass, looking dazed and confused. The battle had lasted only a few seconds. As he began to step towards her, however, a pair of figures leapt into view, one dropping from a tree limb while the other entered the clearing from behind the woman. Squall instantly recognized the taller of the two men as Trent, the man who had spoken to Cid at the ball. Both men were clad in the same white uniform Trent had worn to the ball, and both had weapons drawn.

Trent slid his tonfas back to his belt the instant he saw the girl was not in immediate danger. The second man kept his eyes open and his weapon, a slender saber, at the ready.

"Are you alright?" Trent asked the girl, bending down to help her up. She nodded as she accepted the help. "Madam, we must leave. It is not safe here at all."

"Yes . . ." the girl said as Trent began to guide her out towards the door. The other white-clad man approached, taking her other arm and gently guiding her along as Trent stopped and turned towards the SeeDs. He bowed gracefully.

"My thanks," he stated. "It is difficult to persuade her sometimes. She insisted on following you."

"Who is she?" Squall asked. "I think I've seen her before."

"Me too," Quistis added. "And she knew us. She called me Quisty."

"She is an acquaintance, and a friend of the Headmaster's," Trent replied. "We are tasked with keeping her safe. It is most unfortunate she slipped away from us tonight." Trent paused. "I . . . I am unsure how she would be related to you two." Trent glanced over his shoulder at his departing comrade and the mysterious woman.

"I must leave you now." Trent bowed once more. "You have our thanks, and I wish you luck and courage. Farewell." With that, Trent turned to leave.

As Trent disappeared, Quistis shook her head.

"Who was that?" she asked. "I've seen her before, I know it."

"Whatever," Squall replied, glancing back at the dead monster. "We can ask the Headmaster later. We'd better get out before we attract any attention. I don't want to fight any more monsters." Quistis nodded in assent and they swiftly left the Training Center.

No more monsters arose to block their path, and the two SeeDs exited without incident.

As they advanced down the hallway leading out of the Center, Quistis suddenly stopped and turned back to Squall, who almost sighed in vexation. Was she about to unload more of her problems on him?

"Squall," she said quietly, "Its not like everyone can get by on their own." Squall expected her to say more, but Quistis cut it short there. She turned back and walked out, leaving Squall standing alone in the hallway, considering her words.

"Says who?" he muttered under his breath as she passed out of sight. He could take care of himself without any problems. Everyone else could too, if they'd stop relying on others and tried on their own. Leaning on others was dangerous, because other people were unreliable. Squall had learned that the hard way.

Making his way down the quiet halls of nighttime Balamb Garden, Squall met no one else, save for the occasional Faculty member standing guard to prevent anyone from entering areas that were off limits. The Training Center was the only part of the building open after lights-out, save for the dorms themselves. Late-night meals could be picked up from the Cafeteria, but only if they were ordered beforehand.

Squall headed down the walkway leading to the Dorms. As he passed through the archway and into the open-air breezeway that covered the remaining distance to the Dorms, Squall spotted Zell, still clad in his uniform, approaching him.

"Yo, Squall!" Zell shouted as soon as he'd spotted his fellow SeeD. "Finally! There you are! Where the hell have you been, I've been looking all over for you!"

"Training Center," Squall replied. "What is it?"

"Well, we're both now members of SeeD, right?" Zell said, once more stating the ridiculously obvious. "Well, guess what? We've got our own rooms now, baby!" Zell's shout was loud and enthusiastic. "You're new room's right across the hall from your old one. Man, it took me forever to tell you."

Squall nodded his thanks and headed in. He soon found his room, which was indeed across the hall from his old one, right along the border between the SeeD and the cadet dorms. Apparently, Zell was afraid he'd miss Squall before he'd returned to the Dorms, since a large crayon sign proclaiming the news was taped to the door to the old dorms. Unsurprisingly, a similar sign stating which door led to Squall's new room was taped on that door as well.

Also unsurprising was how Zell had moved all of Squall's possessions into his new room. Squall's few books were haphazardly piled on a shelf, his gunblade case was leaning on the wall, and various knick-knacks were piled upon the small desk.

The room was about as large as two seperate dorm rooms for cadets, and featured a bed, desk, a shelf for books, and a small kitchenette area complete with a microwave, a small stove, a sink, a miniature refrigerator, and a small pantry. There was also a seperate, private bathroom and shower.

Squall looked around the modest room, and spotted an envelope on his bed. He picked it up, and noted the words on the front. His new employment contract. He ripped it open, and skimmed through it, nodding with each point. He was to be paid a monthly salary according to rank, which was subject to his conduct both on the battlefield and in noncombat situations. He was not considered above the cadet populace when it came to rules or status. He had to abide by the Garden code, he had to set a good example for the cadets, he had to uphold the Garden's reputation . . .

It was all things he'd read about long before making SeeD, and there was nothing new in the whole document. Just a waste of paper, Squall thought sarcastically as he slid the document back into the envelope and tossed it on his desk. Squall kicked off his boots and yawned tiredly.

What a hell of a day. He had dueled with Seifer, fought and defeated a Guardian Force, had engaged in a major battle inside Dollet, had run up and then back down a mountian, had defeated an abomination on top of the Dollet Comms Tower, escaped the wrath of a terror of Galbadian engineering, and had to endure Quistis's whining about her problems. And to top it all off, there was that raven-haired girl from the party . . . and that wasn't even half of what he'd gone through today.

Squall doffed his jacket and hung it up on one of the hangers on the wall over his bed, then cut out the lights and laid down.

He was asleep in moments.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------

Anyone catch the Matrix quote? Heehee.

A note on Trent: I really like the White SeeDs, and was sad that there was so little about them in the game. I wanted to make them a bit more important, particularly their leader. So, I decided to give their leader a name and a bit more personality. What results is Trent. He's still a minor character, but he is important to the storyline.