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Chapter 13: Knights and Princesses

Squall pushed himself off the floor and took a step backwards, somewhat off balance as he recovered from the dreamlike state he'd been in.

Squall was almost knocked off-balance again as his eyes focused on Selphie, who was standing right in front of him. The SeeD did well to hide his surprise. He quickly scanned the room, spotting Zell sitting nearby on the couch. Both SeeDs had expressions that mirrored his own: confusion and bewilderment.

"Were we . . . all asleep?" Squall asked, shaking away the last cobwebs of drowsiness. Zell nodded, leaning forward.

"Someone might have released sleeping gas," he remarked. "There's a lot of people who resent SeeD. Not just Galbadia either."

Squall nodded in agreement. They would have to be careful. It didn't look like they were injured or harmed in any way, but that might not have been the attackers' intent.

"Check you equipment," he advised, bending down to scoop up his gunblade, which still lay where he had dropped it. A quick check of the chambers showed no damages and all the shells intact. The weapon was undamaged.

"Am I missing anything?" Selphie murmured as she checked her bag. Zell, too, dug into his equipment. Squall inspected his own gear. His items and healing potions were untouched, as were the shells on his bandoleers. His backup knives were still in their sheaths, and none of the other equipment was damaged or tampered with. He turned back to the other two SeeDs, who gave him negatives. Nothing was wrong.

"I don't think so," Squall answered. "My equipment's intact."

"Same here," Zell replied, but his relief was once more replaced by confusion.

"What a relief," Selphie said with a smile as she sat down on the couch opposite Zell. "Everything's alright with me! And I had such a nice dream, too!"

Squall shook his head in response. His dream hadn't been so nice. Hell, in his dream he'd been in the body of a complete moron.

The announcement sounded over the intercom once more, reminding them to have all their equipment and belongings ready. Squall stepped over to the bed and hoisted up one of their bags. He was about to sling it over his shoulder when Selphie's next comment hit him like a beer bottle over the head.

"Wow," she said, in almost dreamy voice. "Sir Laguna was sooo cool . . . ."

The bag fell out of Squall's hands as he spun around to face her, shock and confusion evident on his face. Zell too, was sharing the same expression as he regarded Selphie.

"Hey!" the martial artist said. "There was a Laguna in my dream too! He's a Galbadian soldier, right?" As Selphie nodded, the pieces began to fall into place, though to Squall, the puzzle itself remained a mystery.

"Laguna, Kiros, and Ward," he said, drawing the attention of the other two SeeDs. A shared sense of bewilderment worked its way into the group.

"Huh?" Zell muttered, shaking his head. Realization then dawned on his face. "That's it!"

"That's what?" Squall asked, confused.

"I, well, I dunno," Zell responded. "We all shared the same dream, that's what I was gonna say . . . ."

"There's no way we can understand this," Selphie remarked, to which Squall and Zell reluctantly nodded. "Let's just concentrate on our mission." She was right, Squall realized.

"We'll put this incident on hold for now," he stated, turning back to hoist the bag up. "I'll report it directly to the Headmaster once we get back to Garden." Both his subordinates nodded in concurrence, and stood to get their bags.

"We'll be there soon," Zell said, throwing his bag over his shoulder. "Here we go. Time to psych yourself up, baby!" With that, Zell stepped out of the cabin. Selphie was right behind him, complaining about how she was still sleepy. Squall watched them leave, and then mulled over the incident one last time.

What had happened? How had they all fallen asleep at once, and had the exact same dream at the same time? And most importantly of all . . . .

Who had done this to them?

The answers did not present themselves, and Squall, shaking his head in frustration, readjusted the weight of the bag on his shoulders, and then stepped out of the cabin.

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

It was time.

The SeeD guard was still standing by his guard station as the second guard entered, carrying Seifer's tray of dinner. Good stuff from the smell of it.

Too bad he'd never end up eating it.

The guard flashed his rank to the one at the security post, who nodded and waved him on. The food deliverer approached Seifer's cell. At his nod, the first guard opened the door, and the deliverer stepped in.

"Ah, a nice, gourmet meal," Seifer said as he stood up and approached the guard. The cadet noted the tray was made of metal. Good.

"Sit down, Seifer," the deliverer ordered. Seifer noted he wasn't armed, except for his junctions and magic, obviously. The tray would have to do.

"I don't think so," Seifer responded to the order.

"I said sit-" the guard began, until Seifer's arm shot up and knocked the tray, and its food, up into the air.

Momentarily blinded by the flying tray, the SeeD didn't see Seifer's hand rise up. But he did feel the hand close about the front of his jacket, and he got a glimpse of Seifer's face as the tray passed above the cadet's head.

Then that face grew as Seifer's head shot forward. He pulled the SeeD towards him as he did so, and ducked down slightly. The cadet's forehead slammed into the SeeD's face with force like a flying concrete wall, and the SeeD was momentarily dazzled. Under normal circumstances, an unjunctioned human like Seifer couldn't hit that hard, especially against a fully junctioned SeeD.

But as the SeeD was tossed aside like a rag doll, that truth became obsolete.

Seifer caught the metal tray one-handed as it fell and hurled himself out of the cell an instant before the second guard hit an emergency alarm button. The door slammed shut behind the escaping cadet, and wasting no time, he hurled the tray at the second guard. The guard brought one hand up to block the tray, but it was moving faster than he expected an ordinary human to throw it. Instead of stopping the impromptu missile, the SeeD took it in the face and was staggered back.

Seifer crossed the distance quickly - too quickly - and leaped over the guard's station. The guard was recovering from the hit and began to draw his sword when one of Seifer's hands closed over the drawing wrist and held it there. The other hand came in a right cross and spun the SeeD around as it smashed into his face.

The SeeD used the spinning momentum to wrench his sword hand free of Seifer's grasp. Seifer released the SeeD, who finished drawing his sword and raised it, begining to catch on. Somehow, Seifer was junctioned. He had a GF, and was using the enhancements!

Still, Seifer was unarmed, and the SeeD was. He opened his mouth to order Seifer to surrender. Even with his skills, the guard did not believe Seifer could hold out unarmed against a fellow SeeD.

But Seifer only pointed a hand at the guard, and magic flowed from him to the cadet. An instant later, the guard's eyes drooped as an overwhelmingly powerful drowsiness swept him. His blade clattered to the floor, slipping from hands that could no longer grasp it, and he followed.

Seifer stepped past the guard he'd drawn the Sleep spell from, and bent over, taking the SeeD's keys. He quickly located his locker and took out Hyperion, his equipment, ammunition, and GF stones. Seifer paused when he pulled out the Ifrit stone. He hesitated, knowing he wouldn't need it. Not with Fujin's Ifrit stone he now posessed.

Still, if he left it, that might implicate Fujin. Nodding, Seifer pocketed the Ifrit stone, and then headed for the door leading the the elevator.

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

Quists was jolted by the sound of the alarm as she paced the Quad. For an instant, she thought that Garden was under attack. Then, the tone of the alarm, a rarely used one, hit her.

It wasn't an alert for an attack, it was a lockdown alert. That was only used when there was an intruder or someone else that needed to be contained inside Garden, such as a rampaging student or-

-or an escapee from the detention center.

"Seifer," she breathed, and drew her rante.

The main entrance would be locked down immediately at the sounding of the alert. Nonetheless, that would be the only direction Seifer could go immediately, because the elevator opened facing the entrance.

Quistis hurried through Garden, past surprised and confused cadets and scrambling SeeDs, who hurried to the various exits from Garden. She was soon on the central walkway, running towards the front of the Garden. As she rounded the bend that would lead her to the path heading for the entrance and the elevators, Quistis was greeted by the sound of metal striking metal.

Then she saw Seifer, standing at the top of the stairway leading from the elevator, his gunblade clashing against the sword of a SeeD. A second SeeD was backing away, one hand grasping his sword while the other held his wounded side. Blood dribbled down from the injury, and also from two more gashes along his left leg. More SeeDs were charging to the scene, several having lined up across the main exit to prevent Seifer from escaping that way.

Seifer's gunblade crossed, clashing against his opponent's sword. The weapon withdrew quickly and stabbed ahead, a manuver which the SeeD blocked and turned aside. However, as he was doing so, Seifer's right leg shot forward in a snap-kick, connecting with the SeeD in the chest and hurling him back with inhuman strength.

Quistis stopped for an instant as the SeeD went tumbling down the stairs, realizing what that meant. Seifer's kick was superhumanly strong, something that only a Guardian Force could have emparted.

But how? How had Seifer gotten a GF?

The current threat eliminated momentarily, Seifer scanned the area, noting the SeeDs closing in on his position, weapons drawn. He continued the scan, turning his gaze to Quistis. He grinned her way, offered a quick SeeD salute, and then turned and ran back up the steps, SeeDs hot on his tail. The SeeD force pursued Seifer across the central platform the elevators were located on.

Quistis watched him run, not following the renagade cadet immediately. Rather, she considered what his plan was. Seifer wasn't the type to panic and retreat in the face of impossible odds, which was presented by the half-dozen or more SeeDs chasing him. But, the only other way off that platform was to hop the railing and attempt to swim through the pool ringing the platform. But then, with his junctions, Seifer might be able to clear the pool . . . .

That was apparently Seifer's intent as he ran straight for the platform railing between him and the pathway leading to the Quad. Quistis scrambled as quickly as she could in that direction, hoping to intercept Seifer before he could get out of or past the pool.

Seifer reached the railing and hopped up on it. Then he spotted Quistis getting between himself and the Quad. He grinned and leaped.

His GF-enhanced powers hurled him above and over the pool, but though he probably had more than enough power to clear the walkway and end up splashing down into the water on the outer edge of the outer walkways, he cut his jump short. Seifer landed on the inner railing of the outer walkway, perfectly balanced, right in front of Quistis.

She immediately uncoiled her whip and snapped it at Seifer, attempting to coil it around his legs or arms and pull the cadet down. In response, he cartwheeled to the right, still balanced on the railing. The whip missed completely, but Quistis pursued, snapping the whip a second and third time. Seifer repeated the cartwheel and then pulled a backflip along the railing, keeping away from Quistis's striking rante.

As the whip shot in a fourth time, Seifer altered his momentum, instead flipping forward and over the whip. He landed right in front of the pursuing Quistis, and immediately hopped down, with Hyperion returning to its sheath in an instant. Before Quistis could do anything more than begin to bring her rante back around, Seifer's free left hand grabbed her whip hand. His right planted itself against her stomach, and then he pushed, propelling his former Instructor back towards the railing. Then, he lifted, and Quistis's feet left the floor.

And then she was falling as Seifer tossed her over the railing of the outer walkway, causing her to splash down into the outer pool.

"Sorry 'bout that!" Seifer shouted with a grin as he took off towards the Quad, leaving Quistis in the pool.

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

Seifer wasn't a fan of nonlethal combat. He had a general preference for using the sharpened edge of his gunblade to ensure his foes wouldn't get back up. It was in his aggressive nature, his philosophy; a living enemy was one that could still come at your back.

But his enemy was now Garden, and even Seifer, consumed by his mission, both to escape and for the greater objective in Timber, could not bring himself to harm his former classmates and comrades.

Well, not permanently, at least. Hyperion had blood on it, but it wasn't the blood of the dead.

A SeeD stood in Seifer's way, a broadsword in her hand. She took a quick swing at the escaping cadet, aiming for his weapon. An attempt to disarm him, obviously. Seifer obliged, holding his gunblade out for her to hit. Hyperion was knocked aside, almost out of Seifer's hand, but as the weapon went out wide Seifer's free hand shot up, a Fire spell charging in his hands. The magic discharged, the flames hurling the SeeD back. She didn't get a chance to get back up as Seifer soccer kicked her in the stomach, hurling her forward and tripping up another SeeD in Seifer's path.

That SeeD nearly fell on his face, but managed to recover in time to look up and take Hyperion's butt in the mouth. The hit laid the mercanary out flat, and cleared the path to the Quad. Seifer hurried down that path. He managed to make it to the pathway leading to the Quad when he was confronted by a cadet, who made the focusing gestures of a spell. Her hand swept towards Seifer, and a powerful Thundara spell erupted at the escaping cadet.

Seifer threw himself forward, just beneath the lightning blast, and reached out to the cadet. He sensed the numerous magical energies she held, including one that would be of particular aid to him.

Seifer Drew the magical energies from the cadet, and even as she was casting another spell, he finished releasing some of the energies he had stolen.

All at once, everything slowed down for Seifer. Well, not really; Seifer was just thinking and processing the information so fast that everything else seemed to have been slowed down. Every muscle in his body began moving at vastly greater velocities, empowered by magical energies. He watched as the cadet went through the motions of her next spell in slow motion, her fingers and hands dancing as if moving through thick fluid. However, unlike the other cadet, Seifer's body was not impeded.

Thus, even though the cadet had almost finished the casting of her spell when Seifer had cast his own, her opponent still managed to get off a stunning blast of Fire that knocked her off-balance and interrupted her concentration.

Then Seifer was in front of her, and then to her right. His right leg swept out wide and took her legs out from under her, but before she could fall to the floor, and lightning-fast and inhumanly strong slam to her side hurled her over the railing and into the water below.

Then, Seifer was gone, running down the hallway to the Quad faster than humanly possible, thanks to the Haste spells he had drawn from the cadet.

Seifer rounded a bend, and then found sunlight shining on his face as he met the refreshing outside air. He had entered the Quad. The cadet took a quick survey of the area, identifying any threats.

The Quad was the name for the eastern section of Garden, a large, expansive park-like area featuring numerous platforms, terraces, staircases, and trees. It was simultainiously a public meeting place, study area, recreational area, and training ground.

Seifer stood at the entrance to the Quad, a raised platform featuring a planted tree directly in front of him. To his right, he saw open ground leading north . . . and to a squad of closing SeeDs. To his front was the outside wall of the Cafeteria, the south side of which overlooked the Quad. To his left, however, there was a staircase leading down to a landing, which served as a bridge over a stunningly beautiful artificial waterfall, although Seifer didn't have time to appreciate the splendor of the flowing water. And behind Seifer were more SeeDs, closing quickly, some even then casting Haste spells on themselves to aid in the pursuit.

The path to his left the only viable option, Seifer turned that way and ran down the steps. He crossed the landing and hurried down another set, to reach a wide, open section of the Quad. Ahead and to his right was an open path leading to the edge of Garden's ground, and to freedom.

"Seifer!" a voice shouted to his left, and the cadet turned to see another SeeD charging towards him. Well, it looked like he was charging; to Seifer's Haste-enhanced mental processes, the young man was as if moving through thick molasses. Seifer could easily outdistance the man.

But even Seifer, with his Haste spell and magic junctioned to his muscles and reflexes, could not outrun the bullets of the powerful-looking pistol the SeeD had pointed his way.

The pistol itself was a fine piece of firearm, a powerful weapon featuring a scope on top and a laser sight underneath the barrel. The red laser of the sight seemed to lazily track its way up Seifer's body and settled over his shoulder.

"Drop it, Seifer!" the man commanded, although his voice came out slowly, like a tape played at less than full speed. In response, Seifer's hand shot up, and he began focusing on casting a Fire spell to stop the SeeD for a moment.

Despite any appearances that the man was moving in slow motion, the pistol-weilding SeeD was ready for any movement Seifer made. The moment he twitched (even if that twitch brought Seifer's hand around to hurl a spell at him) the SeeD pulled the trigger, the bullet aimed for Seifer's shoulder to disable, not kill.

Seifer stopped casting his spell the instant he saw the flash of the pistol's muzzle. A small, dark streak launched from that pistol, the bullet leaving a barely visible shockwave of displaced air behind it. The metal slug rocketed towards Seifer's shoulder, moving fast even with Seifer's enhanced perceptions and faster reflexes.

Seifer threw his shoulder sideways, and watched as the bullet flew past, almost striking the edge of his white jacket.

The bang of another shot tore Seifer's attention, and he turned back to see a second bullet on the way, aimed for his other shoulder. The cadet twisted out of the way, swinging his other shoulder out of the path of the bullet. Two more shots rang out, the bullets barely an inch apart and flying for Seifer's other side. He twisted once more, moving out of the way of those bullets as well.

The SeeD continued firing, apparently only seeing a flashing blur as Seifer dodged every shot. Three, then four, then five more shots rang out, and Seifer twisted, turned, and bent his body out of the gunfire's way.

He ended his dodging beneath the SeeD's final bullet with his legs splayed out wide and his torso low to the ground, one hand on the ground and Hyperion ready at his side. Seifer shifted his weight to his right leg and leaped to the side. His left hand rose once more as the SeeD desperately reloaded in slow motion.

Seifer's Fire spell took the SeeD in the chest and laid him out flat, burned and groaning.

The threat dealt with, Seifer glanced back to see more SeeDs charging out the doorway leading into the Quad, and the other SeeD squad closing from the north. He didn't have time to fight them.

Seifer turned around and ran in the opposite direction, outdistancing the pursuing SeeD forces and soon leaving Garden behind. If he hurried, he might be able to reach Balamb before Garden sent an alert to the authorities.

Time was not on Seifer's side.

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

Zell hacked a couple times as the train pulled out of the station with a rumbling screech.

"Hyne, this place is dirty," the martial artist remarked.

Squall had to agree. Timber was a city that did not benefit from the advanced technologies available in Balamb or Galbadia, and thus had innefficient, polluting industries. The whole city was dirty and polluted, but there was a kind of charm to the generally blue and gray colors of the city. A sort of honesty and openness. It appealed to Zell and Selphie.

Squall didn't like it.

"Let's get this over with," he said, stepping down a staircase leading to one of the streets outside the station. He made his way down, then paused, noticing a man loitering around the base of the stairs. He was a kid, about Squall's age, maybe a bit older. The remarkable aspect of him was his unremarkability. He wore a blue watchcap on his head, a yellow vest, white T-shirt, black pants and sneakers. Altogether, he looked lke an ordinary teenager in Timber.

However, this ordinary teenager was loitering around the station the SeeDs had gotten off at, at the time they'd gotten off.

Squall paused beside the teenager, looking away. A moment later, in an open, friendly tone, the kid spoke.

"New around here? Man, the forests have changed," the kid remarked.

"But the owls are still around," Squall added, stating the code phrase.

"Indeed. Welcome to Timber, sir. Please follow me." The kid then took a lesuirely stroll down the street, with the three SeeDs following him.

They traveled down the stone streets of the town, and Squall noted the lack of cars or other motor vehicles in the city. The town could almost be said to be backward in its design. Squall saw almost none of the amenities he was used to in Garden or that could be found in Balamb or Galbadia.

"Wait here, sir," the kid suddenly said as they neared another station. Squall and his fellow SeeDs obliged, and the kid hurried out to the station. He paused on the tracks, and then looked around. Squall also looked around, noting dozens of civilians in the nearby area. Possible witnesses? If so, they might have to scrub whatever the kid was planning . . . .

Then, to Squall's shock, the kid took out a signal flare while standing on the train tracks, and lit it.

The SeeD almost ran from his spot and knocked the idiot over, but he paused when he noticed the surrounding civilians only throw him a passing glance and move on, a couple snickering.

"Zell, didn't you say everyone in this town was a resistance member?" Squall asked.

"Yup, just about," Zell replied. "Looks like everyone here knows this guy too." Squall nodded in agreement, then turned back to the kid, who was now waving to something down the tracks. The SeeD looked in that direction to see what appeared to be a yellow-painted train engine barreling down the track.

He glanced back to the kid, to see him gesturing for the train to come on. Then as the train began to apply its brakes, the kid began waving for it to slow down. The train engine was slowing down, but not fast enough apparently, as the kid began waving for it to stop frantically. The speed of the train continued reducing, and the kid waved more frantically.

Squall then realized the train was gonna hit their contact, and he began to step out of his spot and run to the tracks to pull the kid out of the way.

However, before he'd even started the train was almost upon the kid's position. Squall grimaced, expecting to see the contact splatted then and there, but somehow, miraculiously, the train came to a dead stop not three feet from their contact.

The kid, of course, had fallen back on his butt in sheer fright, looking up at the frightenigly painted train engine.

"Idiot!" shouted another teenager as he stepped out of a door on the side of the engine. "How many times have I told you not to stand in front of the train!" The man paused then, looking up at the SeeDs. "So, that them?"

"Yes, sir," the prone kid confirmed.

"Well, call 'em over!" the second man replied, shaking his head. "We're paying 'em a fortune, we can't let them leave now!" The prone man nodded, and turned his head to the SeeDs.

"Please follow me, sir," he began, as his friend helped him stand up.

"Excuse us," the second man responded. "This way." He gestured to the platform by which the train had stopped. The SeeDs nodded and made their way over to the platform, and together, the five stepped into a cleverly concealed door in the car's side. The SeeDs entered a sparse metal cabin, and then the train took off down the tracks.

The second man smiled at the SeeDs. Squall could tell he was young, barely older than their first contact.

"So, you guys are SeeDs?" the man asked. Squall nodded at his declaration of the blatantly obvious.

"I'm Squall, the squad leader." He gestured to the other two SeeDs. "This is Zell, and that's Selphie." The man nodded, and extended his hand.

"Nice to meet ya. I'm Zone, leader of the Forest Owls." Squall did not take the offered hand, only nodding. Zone, unperturbed, shrugged. He stepped over to Selphie, grinning at her and giving her a handshake. On Squall's other side, Zell took a second to wipe off his hand and held it out to Zone.

"So, let's get on with it," Squall said as Zone stepped back in front of the group, Zell obviously forgotten. "What do we do?"

"Take it easy," Zone responded, apparently his easygoing tendencies clashing with Squall's to-the-point attitude. "Let me introduce you to our intelligence specialist." Zone gestured to the remarkably unremarkable man they'd met moments earlier at the station. "You've already met Watts, I see."

Watts grinned and nodded at the SeeDs. He glanced Zell's way as the martial artist, annoyed at being ignored, stepped to the side and began shadow boxing. Like Zone, no one else paid any attention to Zell.

"Well, I guess its just our princess then," Zone said, his words striking Squall as odd. The SeeD had already gotten the impression this was some half-baked operation, and his suspicions only grew at the mention of a "princess."

"Erm, its her nap time, sir," Watts warned Zone, whose eyes widened.

"Aw, man. I woke her up last time, you go."

"No way, sir," Watts replied. "She hurt me last time. Pretty badly too. The bruises still haven't faded, sir."

"Psh. Fine," Zone turned back to Squall. "Hey, Squall, could you go and get the princess for us? She's in the last room at the end of the train."

Squall was assigned to this resistance unit, so he had to take their orders. But, Squall was a highly trained and supremely deadly mercanary warrior hired specifically for his combat expertise. No matter what the impression these rebels had of him, he had to make it abundantly clear that that was his purpose here, not to be a butler for the half-witted rebels.

"Were we hired to run errands?" Squall asked, a bit of menace creeping into his calm voice, and a scowl appearing on his brow that would have sent a squad of Galbadian soldiers running.

Still, despite the malice apparent in his tone, Squall was pleasantly surprised to see Zone take three full steps back and hit the metal bulkead behind him.

"A-Are you angry?" Zone asked in a somewhat quaky voice. The idea of pissing off a mercanary with a reputation like SeeD would get to anyone. Especially if one was in an enclosed space with said mercanary only a few feet away and with his gunblade in easy reach.

"We're not gophers, we're SeeDs," Squall stated. "This is the last time for this kind of thing." His words were stamped with an air of finality as if he had given the rebels a direct order. With that, Squall turned towards the door Zone had indicated and walked out of the cabin.

The next room was a hallway with two doors. Squall headed down to the end, passing the nearer door, which was opened. A quick glance inside showed what looked to be the train's control room, with several members of the rebel faction sitting around either talking or working at their monitors.

Further down the hall, Squall found the door leading into the room of the "princess." As he stepped in, the first thing he noticed was how . . . pink everything was. The room looked like the kind of chamber belonging to a princess out of a fairy tale book, with a carpeted floor, an expensive- looking dresser, even including a huge bed, likely the kind that folded down, since Squall couldn't see anything that big fitting through the corridors of the train.

On the bed, sleeping peacefully, was a slender wisp of a girl. From this angle, with her back turned to Squall, all he could see was her long, shoulder-length black hair and the long blue coat she wore. A pair of white angel wings were embrodiered on the back of her coat, right at her shoulder blades. Even in the bed, she wore a pair of black laced-up boots.

The train suddenly screeched to a halt, and the jolt roused the girl. She rolled over, allowing Squall to see her face, and a sudden recognition hit him.

The princess opened her eyes, and then they focused on Squall. He looked right back, mesmerized by the familiar brown orbs.

"Hey," the girl said in surprise as she sat up. "You're . . . You know, from the party." Squall nodded. "Then, does that mean . . . You're a SeeD?"

Squall nodded again, taking a step towards her.

"I'm Squall," he introduced. "There's two others with me."

Squall was then caught off-guard as a joyous expression crossed the girl's face, and she leaped off the bad. He raised his hands up as the girl almost tackled him, her arms wrapping around his neck. The momentum of her tackling hug spun the both of them around.

"Yes! SeeD is here!" she cheered, as Squall managed to arrest the momentum of the spin and remove the girl's arms from his neck. A flicker of annoyance worked its way onto his face before a slight grin, caused by the girl's exuberance, emerged.

"Take it easy," he said, chuckling slightly. He didn't know SeeD was greeted this enthusiastically by their clients. He gave the girl a quick once-over as he did so, noting the black tank-top she wore, her black shorts, and a dark blue skirt around her waist that ended above lower edge of the shorts. It looked reasonably expensive, he thought. She had to have come from a well-to-do family.

"Its just that I'm so happy!" the girl explained, her smile growing. "I've been sending requests to Garden forever, but nothing . . . I'm so glad I spoke to Cid directly!"

The memory of the girl looking over his shoulder before leaving him at the party flashed through Squall's mind again, with a new meaning attached to it.

"Oh," he said in understanding. "So, you were looking for the Headmaster at the party?" The girl shook her head.

"You know Seifer?" she asked.

The mention of his name jolted Squall. He hadn't been expecting this girl to know Seifer. The mention of the cadet conjured up a wave of unpleasant memories.

"Yeah," Squall responded, a scowl creeping onto his face.

"Well, he was the one who introduced me to Cid," the girl explained. "Cid's such a nice man. I really didn't think SeeD would come out to help a measly little group like us, especially since we don't have huge amounts of money. But, after explaining our situation to him, Cid gave the go ahead right away." She laughed again in happiness. "Now that you guys are here, we'll be able to carry out all kinds of plans!"

Squall nodded along with her, and when she finished, he gestured towards the door.

"I'm heading back to the others. Zone sent me here to wake you up," he said.

"He did?" the girl replied, shaking her head and chuckling some more. "Well, after beaning Watts with a flower vase, I guess I understand why." She paused again, her expression suddenly changing to one of curiousity. "Ummm, Squall, is he here?"

"Who?" Squall asked, not sure what she meant.

"Seifer." Squall shook his head in denial, glad he was doing so. He damn well didn't want Seifer on his squad, especially after Dollet.

"No, he's not a SeeD."

"Oh," the girl murmered, sounding dissappointed. She looked down at the floor, and her hand rose up to a necklace Squall hadn't noticed before. It was a finely wrought silver chain with a single ring hanging from its length.

Squall found himself wondering how this girl was related to Seifer. Was she his girlfriend? Pieces started clicking for Squall, as he realized why Seifer would want to help this girl and why he would have introduced her to Cid.

"Well, let's go," she added, turning away. She stopped again, then turned back. "Oh, I haven't even introduced myself," she said, shaking her head. "I must have gotten too excited . . . ."

"And your name is?" Squall asked.

"Rinoa," she responded. "Rinoa Heartilly."

"Squall Leonhart," Squall said, holding out his hand. Rinoa shook it.

"Very pleased to meet you, Squall," she replied. Rinoa turned her head to the side, a look of idle curiosity on her face. "SeeDs dance quite well, don't they?" Squall shrugged.

"Approach your target inconspiciously at a dance party," he explained. "There may be missions requiring this kind of subterfuge. Its expected of a SeeD to learn various skills."

"Oh," Rinoa responded, sounding a bit dissappointed. "So its work related. That's too bad."

What did she mean by that?

A whine from the direction of the bed caught Squall's attention. He turned back in that direction to see a dog, a brown and white border collie, crawl out from under the furniture. The dog looked up at Squall, then turned its head to Rinoa. It sniffed the air and then walked towards them.

"Oh, let me introduce you," Rinoa said, dropping to her knees and petting the dog. "This is Angelo, my partner."

"A pet?" Squall asked.

"Nah, more like a companion," Rinoa answered. "She's really smart! She knows lots of tricks, and she was trained to protect me. Isn't that right?" Rinoa ran a hand through the dog's fur. "I have some important work to do now, Angelo. Be good, okay?"

The dog whined again, like she understood Rinoa and didn't want to leave her side. Still, the dog obeyed and loped back over to the bed. A single bound put Angelo up on the bed, where she curled up and looked back at Rinoa, almost sadly.

"Come on, let's go," Rinoa added to Squall. "We've got something big planned."

"Like what?" he asked.

"You'll see," Rinoa replied with a grin and a wink, and then stepped out of her room. Squall shrugged, and followed.

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I love Agents, and I love bullet-dodging. You'll be seeing more bullet- dodging throughout the story, usually during Haste spells or, later on, after the heroes get Cerberus.

Also, yes, I will be making use of Angelo in this story. I like Angelo, and as I own two dogs, I've got plenty of source material to derive for Angelo's behavior and personaility. Its gonna be some trouble to decide when Angelo does and does not show up (she's not gonna be in the prison with Rinoa, for example)

Also, Angelo is female? Yeah, lots of FFVIII players miss that, but Angelo is female. I didn't know until Zell was talking to her in Disc 3 and called her "girl." I was a bit surprised.

Okay, shameless, blatant plug time. Go here: www.chronotrigger.info

Why? Simple. They're doing the same thing I'm doing here, except its a novelization of Chrono Trigger instead of FFVIII. But wait, why is this so different?

Well, these clever little devils are trying to get this published. They are quite literally trying to get Square-Enix to allow authors to publish novels based on games. Wouldn't you guys like to see "The Gunblade Saga" as a fully published novel, complete in hardback, with Squall and Seifer and Rinoa on the cover? These guys want to make this happen.

Go give 'em the support they desperately need.