5 reviews. Better than none.

jasmine32: Thanks much, but sorry, I don't live in Florida.

QueenAdreena: I meant every word I said in my review about your last chapter. If you're story doesn't have a happy ending, I'm gonna be pissed. But it's your fic, so all I can do is wait.

Raven's Brood: Hooray, someone new. I've always had a rather extensive vocabulary and a phenomenal grasp of grammar.

lady-rinoa: I can't wait either. The scene's from Disc 3 are gonna be off da hook!

NinjaFox: You guessed it…

My state has been called, Nevada be thy name. Now, for the moment of truth. What is my city? All I can tell you is that it is one of Nevada's 10 biggest, so here they are.

Las Vegas
Reno
Elko
Sparks
Carson City (Capital)
Winnemucca
Fallon
Wendover
Ely
Lovelock

I don't know for sure that these are Nevada's 10 biggest, but my city is up there, and I've been to all of them. The one who guesses it gets the KEFWorldChamp seal of approval on one of their fics.

CHAPTER 25: GARDEN MASTER

Squall had a million thoughts running through his head, and the only thing that helped even a little bit was that he was lying in his own bed as opposed to a hotel room or prison cell. At first, his thoughts were about Garden Master NORG and the role he plays in all of this, Headmaster Cid and trying to re-establish order within the Garden, and the Garden's Mobility. Squall looked out his window; they were in the middle of nowhere. His thoughts then trailed to the well being of Selphie, Quistis, and Irvine. Then to Sorceress Edea, who is she, where did she come from, and why fire missiles at Garden. Much less Trabia Garden, which had no involvement whatsoever. Then he thought about Seifer. Whether or not Seifer came back to the Garden, Squall swore to get even next time they met. It would be Seifer being tortured, not him. Suddenly, his door opened as Rinoa stood outside.

"Hey." She said, getting his attention.

"What?" he asked. He didn't mean to sound rude, he just didn't like people in his room.

"You looked so adorable," She said, "Sleeping like a baby."

"I wasn't sleeping," Squall said, "Just thinking with my eyes closed."

"Come on, let's go." Rinoa said.

"Go where?" Squall asked.

"Give me a tour of the Garden," she said with a smile.

"Is this another one of your orders?" Squall asked, sitting up.

"No," she said, "I just want you to show me around, you know, get acquainted with the place. Please?"

"Fine." Squall said, knowing she wouldn't give up until she got her way. Squall showed her the Cafeteria, where Zell currently was, whining about there being no more hot dogs left. The Quad, where a few students were just hanging out, looking out into the ocean, and the Infirmary, where Dr. Kadowaki made a remark about how cute Squall and Rinoa looked together, a remark Squall felt he could do without. He was about to take her to the Library, when a member of the Garden Faculty approached him.

"Are you Student ID number 41269, Squall Leonhart?" He asked.

"Yeah," Squall said.

"The Garden Master wishes to see you," He said. "Report to the masters room right away!"

"Rumor says he's in the basement," Squall said. "Is it true?"

"Yes, it is." He said. Squall and Rinoa boarded the elevator and went down one floor. There he heard someone arguing.

"Please? Listen to me!" The voice said. Squall was able to recognize the voice as Headmaster Cid. As Squall walked forward, the elevator shot back up, but then came back down, carrying Zell with it.

"What are you guys doin' down here?" Zell asked.

"NORG wants to see me," Squall said, "and Rinoa's just tagging along. What about you?"

"I came down here cause I saw you guys." Zell asked.

"Get off of me, I'm not finished!" Cid yelled at someone. A member of the Garden Faculty then pushed him toward Squall and his group.

"Greedy son-of-a-bitch! Why did I even bother talking to you?" Cid yelled as he got in the mans face. "SeeDs were brought up for the future, and that future is now! Why can't you understand?" The Faculty member pushed him away again, knocking him down to one knee.

"Dammit!" Cid cursed. "I should have never trusted you! I wish I could go back ten or so years to tell myself that you're nothing but a money grubbing son-of-a-bitch! Then I would've never built this place!" Cid then felt someone helping him to his feet; Squall.

"Squall! You heard everything?" Cid asked.

"Yes." Squall said.

"I'm embarrassed, but sometimes, even old men like me lose their temper." Cid stated. "Let's get out of here."

"Sir, I still have to give you my report." Squall said.

"Come to my office later, we'll talk about it then." With that, Cid left, leaving Squall and his group with a Faculty member.

"Are you the SeeDs that returned from Galbadia?" Squall and Zell nodded. "It's about time, Master NORG has been waiting for you." He led the three of them to the other side of the room, where a giant machine sat. "Whenever Master NORG calls on you, be sure to answer within 3 seconds."

"Fushururu...3-SECONDS-ARE-UP!" A voice called out as the machine opened. Sitting there was Garden Master NORG. NORG's appearance was the first thing that caught their eyes; he looked like a big green blob! "Fushifurufushifuru...GIVE-YOUR-REPORT-ON-THE-SORCERESS."

"Answer him quickly, be concise." The Faculty member said. Squall knew it would be a sad report.

"We failed to assassinate Sorceress Edea." Squall said. "Confirmation of Headmaster Cid's order was made at Galbadia Garden. After Irvine Kinneas of Galbadia Garden joined our party, we set off to carry out the Sorceress Assassination order from Balamb and Galbadia Gardens."

"Bujurururu...BALAMB-AND-GALBADIAS-ORDERS?" NORG rumbled, "Bujurururu...YOU-WERE-FOOLED!"

"I don't understand." Squall said.

"Fushurururu...EXPLAIN-TO-THEM!" NORG said.

"Master NORG has known about the alliance between President Deling and Sorceress Edea." The Faculty member said. "He heard it from the Galbadia Garden Master himself."

"Fushururu...THE-MASTER-OF-GALBADIA-GARDEN-IS-A-SUBORDINATE-OF-MINE-NAMED-MARTINE." NORG said.

"Yes, In fact, The Sorceress and Garden are closely connected." The faculty said. "That is why she will try to gain hold of all gardens. So Master NORG sent an official order to Galbadia Garden, to kill the sorceress. An assassination was thought to be the best means, but..."

"Bujurururu! THAT-SLY-WEASEL-MARTINE-USED-YOU-AS-A-LAST-RESORT-FOR-THE-ASSASSINATION." NORG said. "HE-GAVE-THAT-ORDER-TO-PLACE-THE-BLAME-ON-ME! THAT-BASTARD!"

"Are you saying that Balamb Garden had nothing to do with that order?" Squall asked.

"You just happened to show up just before the mission was to be carried out. They used you." Said the Faculty Member. "But the operation failed. The sorceress is still alive and..."

"The sorceress retaliated. Just as we suspected." Said another Faculty Member "No doubt, it was the sorceress who ordered the missile attacks. Something must be done to calm the sorceress' anger. In order to do so, we needed to hand over those involved in the assassination to the sorceress. We had to show Balamb Garden's sincerity."

"Wait a minute, that's just..." Squall began.

"Bujurururu...OFFER-THE-SeeD'S-HEAD-ON-A-PLATTER-AND-PRETEND-WE-OBEY-THE-SORCERESS." NORG rumbled

"Why aren't we fighting the sorceress?" Squall asked. "What about all the training we endure every day, what good is it?"

"WHAT-DID-YOU-SAY?" NORG said, unhappy with Squall's backtalk. "YOU-LOST-TO-THE-SORCERESS! QUIT-YOUR-WHINING!"

"Headmaster Cid was saying the same thing." A Faculty Member said. Just the mention of Cid Kramer's name made NORG growl.

"Bujurururu! CID?" NORG Yelled. "THAT-IDIOT-CID-DISPATCHED-SeeD-TO-KILL-THE-SORCERESS! AND-IF-YOU-FAIL? THIS-GARDEN-WILL-BE-DONE-FOR! MY-GARDEN! HAS-HE-FORGOTTEN-THAT-IT-WAS-I-WHO-PUT-UP-THE-MONEY-TO-ESTABLISH-GARDEN? I-WANTED-TO-OFFER-THE-SORCERESS-CID'S-HEAD-ALONG-WITH-SeeD'S. I-ORDERED-THE-STUDENTS-TO-FIND-CID-BUT-THEY-SIDED-WITH-HIM. Bujurururu! Bujurururu! THIS-IS-MY-GARDEN!

"NO, it's not just yours!" Squall said, getting fed up with NORG's attitude.

"Bujurururu! THEN-WHAT-IS-IT?" NORG asked. What he said next hit the three of them like a sack of bricks. "IS-IT-CID-AND-EDEA'S? THAT-PATHETIC-MARRIED-COUPLES?" Squall, Zell, and Rinoa couldn't believe what they had just heard. Was it true that Headmaster Cid and Sorceress Edea were married to each other?

"Bushurururu...NOW-I-UNDERSTAND." NORG said. "CID-AND-EDEA-ARE-TRYING-TO-TAKE-GARDEN-AWAY-FROM-ME! YOU'RE-ONE-OF-CIDS-FOLLOWERS! PREAPERE TO DIE!" With that, NORG closed his pod, and unleashed a Blizzara spell, catching Zell by surprise. Zell stood up, and remembered the stick of Dynamite in his pocket. Thinking Quickly, he placed it at the base of NORG's pod.

"Fire!" Zell shouted, blasting the dynamite with a fire spell, lighting the fuse. Within seconds, the dynamite detonated, blowing NORG's protective shelter away, revealing the blob again.

"Hmm, if he's the owner of garden?" Squall thought. He stuck his hand out and Drew something from NORG. Squall's intuition was correct, for he had taken a GF stone away from NORG! The gem in the center was sky-blue. Squall recognized this as the one and only GF of Water, Leviathan! Zell had hopped into NORG's pod, and began to pummel him. Zell knocked him right out of his pod, where he came face-to-face with Squall's gunblade.

"Rough Divide!" Squall shouted. Squall ran towards NORG, and did a jumping upwards slash, bringing some debris up with it, and knocking NORG back into the pod

"Fushururu...I'M-DONE-FOR." NORG whined. "I'M-AFRAID-OF-YOU! ME-WHY-ME?" NORG then turned into an Egg, and spoke not another word. Leviathan's GF stone appeared in Zell and Rinoa's hands, and Squall could only assume that Selphie, Quistis, and Irvine had it too.

"What the hell was that all about?" Zell asked.

"Forget about it for now." Squall said.

"I can't believe you just said that." Rinoa said. "I think what just happened is really serious!"

"I feel like a helpless puppet being manipulated in some major scheme." Squall said. "I'm going to see the Headmaster."