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The Gunblade Saga: An In-Depth Novelization of Final Fantasy VIII

Book Two: The Sorceress War

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Interlude: Fragments of Memories

He finished slipping on his jacket, and turned to look at himself in the mirror. His hair had grown out signifigantly over the last few months, and he'd only gotten the chance to cut it back yesterday. It still hung just below his shoulders, just where he liked it.

He paused for a second, remembering something, and fished out his yellowed, rusted dog tags. Heh, they'd never been the same after that dunk in the seawater in Centra. He glanced down at them, reading the information imprinted into the metal.

"1st Lieutenant Laguna Loire" it read, and he chuckled slightly as he put the dog tags around his neck. He'd tendered his resignation five months ago, and no doubt a few officers back in Deling would be cheering at his leaving the military. Now, he just kept the dog tags as a reminder of that chapter of his life, despite the gross violation of military procedure in Galbadia that a civilian wearing dog tags would entail. Of course, with the law being so paranoid, Laguna was violating the law just by keeping a military-grade weapon, but the local soldiers stationed in town (all ten of them) didn't care enough to bother. Either that or they were glad to have someone as skilled at fighting as he was reinforcing them. Winhill didn't matter enough to Galbadia to bother holding with more than a token force.

Laguna looked down at his weapon, what had once been a Galbadian MP- 10 sub-machinegun, but had been heavily modified for increased power with an extended barrel and higher-caliber round, as well as increased ammunition capacity. He carefully inspected and cleaned the weapon; despite his odd antics, Laguna was quite competent with his weapon of choice and kept his guns carefully maintained. He reloaded the weapon, attaching one of the small drum-like magazines to the underside, and made sure the weapon's safety was on before slinging it over his shoulder. He checked his other weaponry, including a small bandoleer of grenades, a pair of knives on his belt, and a Beretta M9000 handgun. He frowned at the weapon but shrugged. He'd never liked the Beretta, it was a rather weak weapon compared to some handguns. But Laguna had to make do with what he had.

Laguna's inspection was just completed and he was about to leave the room when the pitter-patter of soft soled shoes belonging to a tiny figure could be heard bounding up the stairs. He looked up to see a small, undeniably cute brown-haired girl poking her head through the doorway at Laguna. The man's face lit up with a smile. Seeing little Ellone always boosted his spirits.

"Uncle Laguna, there's someone here to see yoo!" the little girl called, not quite annunciating properly. She was still only five years old, after all.

Laguna stood up from the small table and the undersized chair, slipping on his finger-less gloves.

"Someone for me?" he echoed. "What does he look like?"

"Umm, he's wearing funny clothes," Ellone said after a moment of thinking about it. "He's tawking with Raine right now."

"He's at the pub?" Laguna asked, suddenly not very happy.

"Yup! That's why I came to get yoo!" Ellone replied. She caught the look on Laguna's face, and frowned slightly. "Am I a good girl?" she added, almost hesitantly.

"No," Laguna replied, shaking his head. He put his hands on his hips. "Its dangerous to be out there by yourself. What if a monster comes along?"

"Its only next door," Ellone protested, but Laguna shook his head again.

"Its still dangerous," he replied, walking across the room to the little girl. He crouched down in front of her. "The monsters could be anywhere, and since you're such a cute little girl, they'll be after you especially." He reached up and ruffled her long brown hair, making Ellone giggle.

"I'll be okay," Ellone replied as she tried to fix her hair. "I'll just call yoo, and yoo'll come and save me!" Before Laguna could say anything, Ellone dashed out of the room and back down the stairs. Laguna stood up quickly and hurried after her, stepping out of the run down bedroom and out onto the stairs overlooking the kitchen. He stopped and sighed slightly in relief at the sight of Ellone standing by the door leading outside, not having left yet.

"I waited!" she called as Laguna walked down the stairs. "Am I a good girl now?" Laguna laughed and nodded as he reached the ground floor. He glanced around the room, particularly at the wall just below the stairs, riddled with bullet holes. The rest of the room was in shambles, partially because Laguna was never one to clean it up, and partially because he wanted to leave it this way, as a reminder of the ever-present danger in this part of the world.

"Yes, a good girl!" he agreed, pausing by a coffee table, where a picture of a middle-aged couple was sitting. The husband and wife were smiling, the wife cradling an infant in her hands. He crouched beside the table, and touched the picture in its frame.

"Don't worry, Ellone's been a good girl today," he said quietly to the picture of the little girl's departed parents. He smiled, and turned back to Ellone. "Right?"

"Yup!" Ellone replied, pumping a tiny fist in the air. Laguna laughed, for no real reason, and stepped over to the door. He poked his head out, scanning outside.

Like the house Laguna resided in, the other houses lining the central plaza of Winhill were simple wooden buildings, mostly two stories tall, and lined with flowers and small gardens. Some were overgrown now, because of the local situation, but for the most part people kept their gardens maintained and prosperous. The people of the small town loved plants and flowers, and Laguna wasn't an exception.

He spotted a pair of Galbadian soldiers on patrol across the central plaza, weapons held high and ready. Beyond them, at the north end of the town, was the huge palatial mansion that had been commandeered by the soldiers as their barracks and base of operations. Two more soldiers stood guard outside, beside a pair of older military trucks. Aside from the soldiers keeping the plaza clear, there was nothing else moving. Laguna nodded, then turned around, scooping up the small girl in his arms and carrying her outside.

With Ellone safely in his arms, Laguna quickly crossed the plaza to the nearest home, a local pub, one of the few businesses here in Winhill. He opened the door into Raine's pub, and was immediately struck by the scents of the flowers the woman kept in her home. He spotted Raine standing behind the counter, preparing a drink. She looked up as Laguna entered with his precious cargo.

Raine looked between Laguna and Ellone, and shook her head before smiling. The soldier let Ellone down, and smiled back to Raine before bending down in front of the girl.

"I think I'm in twouble," Ellone whispered, and Laguna smiled and nodded.

"Too baaad," Laguna replied, mimicking a child's tone that came all too easily to the soldier. He patted Ellone on the head, and pointed up a staircase to the side of the bar. "Go up to your room and play. I'll stall Raine." Laguna winked to Ellone and stood up. Both he and Raine watched as the little girl scrambled up the stairs to her room.

"You're too easy on her," Raine commented, making Laguna chuckle. He turned back to the woman, who was still preparing a drink behind the bar. Raine was a beautiful woman, with soft features, blue eyes, and long brown hair that cascaded down her back. She seemed slightly heavyset, but that was perhaps just a trick of the thick, loose white sweater she wore.

"Long time, no see," came a familiar call from behind Laguna, and he spun, recognizing that voice.

"Kiros!" Laguna cried, seeing his lithe war buddy leaning on the wall beside the door, a spot where he'd gone unnoticed by Laguna. Laguna rushed forward and pulled his friend into a hug, laughing.

"What are you doing here?" he asked after detaching himself from the dark-skinned man.

"Looking for you, actually," Kiros replied, stepping toward the bar. Laguna walked with him. "Life's been boring without you around."

Laguna pulled up a stool and sat down at the bar, and Kiros followed. The small man was clad in a form-fitting brown suit, designed for traveling, though like Ellone had said, it did look a bit odd. The outfit matched Kiros well, fitting his fast-flowing fighting style. Laguna noticed that Kiros still carried his familiar katals belted to his hip.

"How long has it been since our grand escape from Centra?" Laguna asked, reminded of the escapade by Kiros' blades.

"I would call that being chased out," Kiros replied, shaking his head. Raine set a pair of glasses on the bar, filled with some Sylkis beer. "Hmm. I would say it was about a year ago. I was in the hospital for about a month, though what I took was nothing compared to what I heard about you." Laguna nodded, sipping his beer.

"He was bedridden for about six months," Raine commented, leaning forward on the bar. "The soldiers said that there was a storm and they got separated. I was wondering why they were bringing a wounded man here, out on the edges of Galbadian territory."

"You had to take care of this lunkhead?" Kiros asked her, and Raine nodded. "Wow. I would never put up with that." They shared a good laugh at that, even Laguna, who couldn't really be angry. He owed a major debt to Raine for taking care of him.

"Every bone in my body was broken," Laguna commented. He pounded his chest. "But hey, I'm back!"

"Hyne help us all," Kiros replied, inciting another laugh.

"How's Ward doing?" Laguna asked a moment later.

"Doing pretty well," Kiros answered. "Remember how we said we envied those janitors because they got paid so well for doing crap jobs?"

"Yeah," Laguna replied. "Wait, Ward's a janitor?"

"Exactly," Kiros said. Laguna chuckled at the notion of the big, muscle-bound bear in a janitor's uniform. "Over at the D-Disrtict prison that was built out in the desert."

"Can't picture him mopping floors, but I'm glad he's doing well," Laguna said. "Did his throat ever heal?"

"Nah," Kiros said with a shake of his head. "He never got his voice back, but he's starting to learn sign language and you can easily tell what he's thinking with his expressions."

"What about Julia?" Laguna asked, taking another gulp.

"I'm not sure," Kiros replied with a shake of his head. "Haven't been around Deling City in a while, honestly."

"You mean the singer?" Raine asked, apparently recognizing the name.

"Yeah, that's right," Kiros said with a nod. "Laguna really liked her music and always frequented the club she performed at." The small man managed a wry smile at Laguna's expense.

"Shut up!" came the expected response from Laguna. "So what if I did?"

"Julia sang at a nightclub?" Raine asked, curious. Kiros shook his head.

"She just played piano. That was before she started singing."

"That's right," Raine replied. "I heard she was also playing the piano in 'Eyes on Me.'"

"How does that song go?" Laguna asked. He wasn't a big music buff, although he had liked Julia's music.

"You don't know?" Raine asked, suprised. "Everyone's heard that song."

"Well, you never let me listen to it!" Laguna responded, which wasn't really true. He spent so much time working that the majority of his lesuire time consisted of boating on the lake and trying to catch fish (emphasis on "trying"). He didn't have much time to listen to music, and again, Laguna wasn't a big music fan.

"Its a great song," Raine added. "It's about being in love. I really like it."

"I heard she had gotten married recently when i was passing through Timber," Kiros commented, taking another sip.

"To some army officer, right?" Raine said, scratching her chin thoughtfully. "What was his name? General Cary?

"Caraway," Kiros clarified, nodding. "General Caraway. The guy in charge of homeland defense."

Laguna listened to them speak, and for a moment felt his heart sink. He had really admired Julia, just as Kiros said, but perhaps he had held deeper feelings for her. However, Laguna shook the slight depression off as quickly as it came. Julia was married now, and happy with her husband, right? Why should that make him sad?

"I read in a magazine that her true love went off to war and never returned," Raine added. "The general supported her during her grief, and after a few months they fell in love." Kiros nodded, then pointedly glanced at Laguna, gauging his friend's reaction. Laguna caught that glance and quickly looked away, a bit embarrassed.

"Hey, who cares?" Laguna muttered. "As long as she's happy, right?"

"Right," Raine added with a smile and a nod. "Besides, it's about time for you to get to work."

"Work?" Kiros asked skeptically, looking at Laguna. "You actually have a paying job around here?"

"Not exactly," Laguna said, finishing his glass and standing up. "I get paid in food, at least. Come on, I think you'll like my job around here."

"Do I want to know?" Kiros asked, finishing his beer as well and standing. Laguna didn't reply, except to wave over his shoulder to Raine, and stepped outside the bar. He took his sub-machinegun down off his back and checked the weapon. Kiros also drew his blades, and after a moment thought he was catching on.

"So, what exactly do you do here?" Kiros asked as Laguna led him south, away from the guarded plaza. There was a wooden bridge crossing a stream, leading toward a collection of distant houses nestled among trees and separated by wide expanses of fields, many filled with tall grasses and flowers. Hills rose to the east and west of the town, and to the far south, one could see a rushing river, and the blue line of the ocean a couple of miles downstream. The landscape was wide, rolling, and beautiful, precisely the kind of place Laguna had always said he wanted to live in.

"Well, since you passed through here already, you probably noticed that, with the exception of the soldiers back there, I'm the only man around," Laguna explained. "All the able-bodied men here have already gone off to join the army and fight Esthar. That means that the only people around here are old folks, kids, and women, along with the odd assortment of cats, dogs, and chocobos." As he was speaking, Laguna walked down a shaded dirt road, passing by a local flower shop. The elderly woman who ran the shop saw Laguna through her window and waved. He smiled and waved back.

"Anyway, without anyone around here to keep them away, the monsters have wandered in," Laguna continued. "This town did me a great service, so I'm paying them back by doing what those dumbass soldiers back there should already be doing."

Laguna patted himself on the chest and smiled.

"You're looking at the Monster Hunter of Winhill!" Laguna beamed. "And today, you're my assistant. Basically, what we do is we patrol to the edges of town, kill any monsters we see, and if we spot someone in need of help, we help them."

"So, you're the sheriff around these parts?" Kiros asked, and Laguna nodded again, glad Kiros understood. Kiros grinned and raised his katals. "Alright, sounds like fun. I'll be sticking around for a while, and this sounds right up my alley."

"Glad to hear it!" Laguna said, and with that, the two Monster Hunters of Winhill set out to protect the town.

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Laguna spun, firing as he went. The bulbous green caterpillar-like beast flinched as Laguna's bullets ripped into its side. Laguna kept up the fire, pouring a dozen or more bullets into the beast's hide,and it backed away, bleeding viscous fluids from numerous of holes. Laguna paid the dying creature no mind, instead whipping back around to find any other targets.

The only ones he spotted were a pair of flying blue Bite Bugs, flitting around Kiros, whose katals danced and dove. A pair of flashes of the slicing blades, and the two insects fell, one bisected, the other with a fatal thrust in its abdomen.

Kiros cleaned his blades on the grass as Laguna bounded down the hill, reloading his machinegun.

"That was easy enough," Kiros commented as he looked up and down the hill. They had encountered a sizable collection of monsters, consisting of a large flock of the blue Bite Bugs, and in the midst of the battle with the insects, a quartet of hungry green Caterchipillars had wandered in. Things had gotten hectic for a few seconds, but it was nothing the two veteran soldiers couldn't sort out.

"Too easy, actually," Laguna added. "You hear that buzzing?"

"It's the faeries," Kiros answered, smiling. "No wonder every fight's been like this."

"A walk in the park," Laguna added. "Come on, let's take advantage of them while they're still around."

Ten minutes and a trio of Bite Bugs later, Laguna and Kiros had finished patrolling the perimeter of Winhill. The two Monster Hunters paused for a break on another hill, allowing them a good view of the surrounding town.

"Well, the first patrol is complete," Laguna said, checking a small cut he'd received on his bare left arm. The wound had closed nicely, Laguna saw as he took a small bottle of healing potion out. He poured a bit of the fluid onto a small cotton ball and brushed it over the wound.

"We'll report back to the commander before the next patrol," he added as the potion began to repair the already healing injury.

"The commander?" Kiros asked. "You mean Raine, right?" Laguna nodded.

"She seems like a nice woman," Kiros added,, before grinning wryly once again. "But easily taken in by a hotshot."

"A hotshot?" Laguna asked. To tell the truth, he liked that description. "Tell you what. Let's step up the patrol while we still have the faeries backing us up. We'll head back and form a plan of attack!" Laguna sprang to his feet, and Kiros followed him. The two Monster Hunters rushed down the hill to the central plaza, keeping their eyes open for any more monsters.

A pair of wandering Bite Bugs rose up along their path, but Laguna dropped one with a burst of gunfire, while Kiros met the other with a quick thrust and slash that left it in three pieces. With that exceptionally optimistic pair of monsters, Laguna and Kiros met no other threats on the way back to Raine's pub.

"Hey, Laguna," Kiros asked as they hurried down a road bisecting the town. Laguna paused for a second, looking back to his friend.

"Are you doing this patrol thing every day?" the small man asked. Laguna blinked.

"Hey, what are you calling 'thing'?" he snapped, surprised by Kiros' words.

"Weren't you planning on becoming a world-traveling journalist?" Kiros asked, crossing his arms. Laguna nodded. "Okay, while I was in Timber, I talked with the chief editor of Timber Maniacs. You know them, right?"

"Yeah, that's the big magazine based there," Laguna replied with another nod.

"Anyway, the guy is interested in any article relating to world travel," Kiros said. Laguna's face brightened.

"Really? That's great!"

"We should go talk to him sometime," Kiros added, and Laguna nodded, though it seemed he was a bit reluctant. Kiros frowned behind Laguna's back as his friend turned and continued up the path.

About ten minutes later, the duo was finding their way back to the plaza when Laguna paused.

"It'd be okay if we stick around here for a bit longer, alright?" he asked Kiros, and the small man shrugged.

"Still need to gather material?" Kiros asked. "This seems like a nice town. You going to write about it first?"

"No way!" Laguna replied, shaking his head. "No way I'm going to write about here. If this place gets too famous, you'll get all those tourists coming through ruining everything."

"Scared someone's going to come along and steal Raine away?" Kiros suddenly asked, and he knew he'd hit what he was suspecting. Laguna had changed a lot, though Kiros did think it was for the better.

A look at Laguna's blushing face, however, told the lithe man that Laguna was still at least somewhat similar to his old self.

Laguna's face had returned to its normal color by the time they had returned to Raine's pub a few minutes after that. The two Monster hunters stepped into the room, only to find Raine wasn't behind teh bar. They heard voices upstairs, in the combined bedroom and living room where Laguna, Raine, and Ellone slept, so the duo started climbing to the second floor. Laguna almost immediately stopped, however.

"What?" Kiros asked, but Laguna just held up his hand.

"Girl stuff," he said, shaking his head. "Its just Raine and Ellone talking."

"I think we should listen in," Kiros replied, nodding toward the top of the stairs. At Laguna's quizzical expression, Kiros added, "Something inside me tells me we should listen." Laguna shrugged but complied, edging up the stairs so he could hear better.

"But don't yoo like uncle Laguna?" Ellone asked in her not-quite- perfect speech.

"That man?" Raine replied, and Laguna could almost imagine her shaking her head. "He was carried in here crying like a baby, and I was the one who had to take care of him, since I was the only one in town who had any experience with medicine. He has such a crude way of talking, he never has a serious conversation, he snores and talks in his sleep . . . oh, I could go on all day."

Laguna glanced back at Kiros, who helplessly shrugged. Laguna frowned and put his hands on his hips, as if his friend should have informed him of those personality faults. Kiros held back a snicker.

"But Raine and Uncle Laguna should be together forever!" Ellone protested. There was a long pause that stretched on for several seconds.

"But . . ." Raine said quietly, almost a whisper. As she spoke, her voice drifted closer. "I don't think he has it in his heart to stay here in this tiny town. What he really wants is to travel the world. Some people are like that. I don't want to hold him back, but I think he's almost torn between staying here and traveling. But I'm not sure, and . . . oh, it makes me so mad."

"Yoo don't like him?" Ellone asked.

"No, I do like him," Raine replied, almost directly overhead. "I feel the same way about him that you do . . . ." Raine trailed off, and Laguna glanced up to see her looking down the stairs, not exactly at him, but as if she sensed someone was down there. Thinking quickly, Laguna bounded up the stairs, huffing and puffing as if he was exhausted.

He came to a stop in front of Raine (and quietly reached down to rub his leg, where it was cramping up, yet again) and sent her a quick, crisp military salute.

"I came back in a hurry, with the report from our first patrol!" he said in a quick, precise military voice. Raine smiled at the usual manner in which Laguna delivered his reports, and sat down at one of the couches lining the room.

"At ease," Raine said, and Laguna relaxed, letting his hands drop behind his back.

"In addition to squishing Buchubuchus and smashing Bunbuns that Assistant Commander Ellone oh-so-hates, we have exterminated a total of thirty-eight monsters," Laguna stated. Raine nodded, impressed with the number. Laguna usually only reported about half that many kills, though with the weather warming up the monster population was becoming more aggressive.

"Excellent," Raine stated. "You're going to rest up before the next patrol, right?" Laguna nodded as he sat down.

"We're probably going to take a quick nap while you guys get lunch prepared," Laguna stated, and Kiros nodded.

"All right," Raine replied standing. "Come on, Ellone," she said, herding the young girl downstairs. "We'll call you when i'ts ready." Laguna nodded, and watched as Raine walked down the stairs. When he heard the door close below, he stood and stretched. Kiros immediately plopped himself down on another couch, while Laguna moved to his bed. he paused over it, then glanced back to the staircase.

"What's the matter?" Kiros asked, and Laguna glanced up, an odd look in his eyes.

"Man, sometimes I get scared," Laguna said, sitting down on his bed. "I'm scared its all a dream, and I'll wake up somewhere else, not seeing Ellone, or . . . ."

"Not seeing Raine?" Kiros asked. Laguna didn't reply, but Kiros understood. His friend was dealing with something he didn't normally have to deal with, which was the weight of real responsibility and concern. It was all new for Laguna, and it frightened him.

"Please let me be in this bed when I wake up," Laguna muttered as he slowly began to lay down. "Please let it be this room when I wake up!"

Kiros watched his friend put his head down, then lay back ont he couch. He couldn't help but smile, as Laguna had probably grown up more in the last six months than he had in his previous twenty-six years. The small man was happy to see his friend going through that fear, as it meant he had something true to hold on to. Something Laguna would give his life to protect.

Laguna had changed, but, Kiros thought, he had changed vastly for the better.

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Argh. This chapter was difficult, I think. I had a hard time writing it, but I think I'm a bit satisfied with the outcome.

This chapter wasn't my favorites, I think. I love Laguna, but somehow this didn't come out right. I could really use some feedback here on how I could improve this chapter. I'll probably upload an edited verson of this at the same time as I upload the next chapter detailing Squall's adventures.