Hey everyone! I'm soooo sorry for taking this long to update. I've had tons of homework and practice after school. It made it really hard to stay awake past eight o'clock. Besides that, I also wanted to replace this chapter… rather the chapter that was up here last time. I really didn't like it, probably because I rushed to get something up. Once again, another reason I waited so long. I don't want to mess up this story, so I revised this whole chapter and basically changed the all of it. So forget what you read before!!
Also, I don't own the characters and cuts in the story will still be separated by BB. Thank you all for the reviews… it keeps me going. Happy reading!
BB BB
Chapter 3: Time- Reborn
Trepe. Mission 25, Class 6: Case 46 assigned. Objectives.... suspected... left... garden. Objective state ...burial invest... Trabia. Suspected... SeeD rank... suspected. Affirmed... failed. Trepe degree, Mission 25, Class...
The gunshot rang out clear across the vacant campus. Nobody dared release the breath that they each held in shocked surprise. The gun's barrel pointed to the heavens, rearing a warning by the sweaty palm that held onto the handle tightly. Several people shifted uncomfortably and looked to the panicking girl with doubting eyes.
"Stop it," cautioned one of them standing slightly behind the armed girl. "You're being ridiculous. They obviously don't know and there's no point in scaring the shit out of them if all they'll do is lie." She stepped up and lightly put her hand on the up-reaching arm of her companion, pulling it down until she could reach the gun. "Give it to me and we'll go. The longer we spend here, the quicker he's moving away." Her fingers slid under the sweaty hand, attempting to release the death grip on the gun.
"No," replied the armed girl, returning her full grip to the pistol. "They know. They will not tell me. And they will not live to tell anyone else." There was a swift shuffle as the gun was whipped back out to arm's length and deliberately aimed. Five shots were deftly added to the previous one, only now puncturing the living organs of several men in place of the promising sky. "If I don't find him," she whispered as she brought down the smoking gun, "then nobody will."
BB
Quistis woke in a cold sweat, the covers intricately laced in and out of her limbs. She rolled over with a moan and buried her face into the fresh pillow that hadn't been used. It felt cool and reassuring against her flushed skin. She breathed in the musty scent of the old fabric and strode her mind away from the persisting dream. Today, the ending of the first week of autumn, was raging its victory with heavy winds. The window in the corner of the room screeched in protest as bare branches raked against the glass, as if asking for the interior warmth due to its own nakedness.
"Not much better in here," stated Quistis into the pillow mostly toward herself than to the tree. The sweat that glistened over her nearly bare back was beginning to pick up the air in the room. Last night the heater had been neglected and the regrets were finally beginning to settle in.
The young woman rose from the tangle of sheets with another groan, dragging her limp form over to the nearest source of water. When she reached the counter she immediately hesitated, then pressed her hands to the cold surface and looked in the mirror perched before her. The glamour of golden locks now appeared knotted in various directions. The vivid blue irises were framed in a spider web of crimson veins and both eyes were supported atop dark circles. Numb hands fumbled for the paper cups wrapped in hotel-advertised plastic.
"Quistis?" hollered a voice from outside the room.
"What?" Quistis yelled back, dropping the cups and rushing to put on some clothes.
"Hey, it's me!" Quistis guessed Rinoa by the voice. "Can I come in?"
"Yeah hold on. Let me just put on some clothes first," she pulled on a loose pair of jeans and a black tank top. "It's open actually, I think."
"Oh, I guess it is," chimed Rinoa as the door swung open into the room. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?" she surmised by the dark atmosphere, muffled bed, and rat's nest on Quistis's head.
"No, I was up for a bit," the blonde reached for a band and brush in her small bag on the counter. She began to work at the knots as she watched Rinoa study her surroundings. "It's time to go anyway, isn't it?"
"We have about a half hour before the train gets here, but Irvine and I were going to get some breakfast and coffee downstairs. We thought you might want to come."
"Sure, let me just get this up," grunted Quistis as she yanked the rubber band round and round a twist of hair. "There we go. Ready?"
"Mmhmm," replied Rinoa before they both headed downstairs.
BB
"'Morning sweet cheeks," greeted Irvine as both Rinoa and Quistis approached him.
"You're certainly happy this morning. What gives?" asked Quistis with a jealous grimace.
"A whole day of school girls in mini skirts? What more could I possibly ask for?" Irvine led the way into the lobby, adding a certain bounce to his stride.
"Yeah, about that Irvine," tried Rinoa, "I don't think all of us are going to be needed to get into Trabia's files…"
"That's good. At least you don't have to dress up."
"Don't be so thick-skulled. We discussed this earlier already. You're too tall anyway to walk around the Garden without notice."
Irvine frowned as he reached the first table with trays. "They're plenty of tall students that look older than me there. Don't be jealous that I get all the girls, Rinoa."
"You are impossible!" Rinoa snatched a tray and hit Irvine on the arm with it. "Just deal would you? This isn't some vacation get away either. You think Quistis and I are actually looking forward to this?"
The blonde snickered behind them. "I don't care either way," she interjected, "just as long as we get the information we need. The sooner we find Him, the sooner my real vacation begins." She picked up a tray and examined the dishes of breakfast foods displayed across several tables. "Do they have cheerios?"
"We're half way across the globe Quistis, and you can't think of anything more exotic to eat than cheerios?" Rinoa poked at a greenish slab of meat with her fork.
"At least I can trust my cheerios. Tell me what you think that is," she gestured to the meat being harassed.
"Looks digested already," offered Irvine.
"Gee, thanks," muttered Rinoa as she moved onto the next spot.
Once seated, Irvine immediately rose after being treated with Rinoa's 'pleading eyes' and a request for coffee.
"Me, too," mentioned Quistis while pouring her milk pouch into a plastic bowl of little round 'o's.
Irvine pushed in his seat and pointed to Quistis with squinted eyes. "Decaf for you and… regular?" Rinoa nodded vigorously.
When he had placed himself well across the room, Rinoa turned to Quistis and lowered her head ambiguously. "Where do you suppose we find some of these 'school girl' outfits? Do they sell them at stores?"
Quistis stirred her spoon in the milk, pondering. "I don't believe so, but there should be extras in their lockers or something."
"Do Gardens have lockers?"
"No…"
"What about the dorms?" Rinoa smirked. "There should be an extra pair or two in one room, don't you think?"
"Oh, good idea," grinned Quistis. "One problem."
"What's that?"
"Irvine's the only one of us that knows how to pick locks."
"Shoot, you're right," Rinoa forked her scrambled eggs in thought. "I still don't think we should bring him with us. He'd be a kid in a candy store; a disaster waiting to happen."
"True," stated Quistis, lost in thought as well. Her eyes suddenly lightened up as new resolution began. "It can't be that hard. Just give me a paper clip and I can probably do it too."
"It's worth a try," agreed Rinoa.
"What's worth a try?" asked Irvine as he set two cups of coffee down.
"Oh, thank you so much! Um, which one's mine?" Rinoa looked into both cups apprehensively.
Irvine pursed his lips and gazed into the cups as well. "I'll be damned," he growled. "Hold on."
"Irvine?" Quistis stopped him. "Put some cream in mine so you know next time, okay?" she winked. He smiled in response and moved back to the coffee filters.
"I don't think you need a paper clip," Rinoa said lowly.
"Huh?" Quistis looked up from her bowl.
"I think he has a kit in his jacket somewhere," Rinoa reached over onto Irvine's chair where he had left his coat draped over. "One of these…" she fumbled inside all the pockets. "Ah, here it... Oh!" she pulled out her hand to reveal a long, rusty, and nearly broken paperclip. Rinoa frowned.
"So the secret's revealed," laughed Quistis. "Some kit, eh?"
"Well hell," whined Rinoa.
"Here he comes. Take it or leave it," warned Quistis. Rinoa hastily sat back and stuffed the clip into her pant pocket.
"Think it's right this time," chuckled Irvine as he set down a new set of coffees. "What's the guilty look for, Rinoa?"
"What look? You're crazy," she grappled for her coffee and took a lingering gulp. "I think it's time to go," she whipped her mouth. You can eat on the train, Irvine."
BB
"Mine doesn't fit! I could hide more with a dish towel."
"I think it's rather flattering. Compared to what you usually wear," Irvine grinned mischievously at Rinoa.
"What are you trying to say?"
"I'm trying to say that if you show a little more flesh on a regular basis, you might attract something more than your father's approval."
"Well, excuse me for not pimpin' around the streets like some dazzling gift of the gods," roared Rinoa in return.
"Is that what you wish for? To be something as great as me?"
"I wish I had Quistis's outfit," Rinoa shot the silently observant Quistis a fatal glare.
"Don't bring me into this," she stated with a deep voice barred within her caution's pressing. "You got first choice."
"Did not!" protested Rinoa defiantly as she jut her jaw out in stubbornness. This usual gesture only further proved her lie. "Well I didn't want the girly-girl suit. It just wasn't my taste."
"You had your choice of about twenty different outfits. Hell, we're lucky we found these in the clean part of the laundry room. I don't think Irvine's paperclip would have worked anyway."
"My paperclip?" asked Irvine, bemused. "Oh, you mean this?" He reached into the pockets of his pants and shirt, delving to find the lost article. "Where did it go? That was my good one, too."
Rinoa forced herself to restrain from the laughter building in her throat. "C'mon, let's go before anyone gets too suspicious." The three walked up the steps leading into the monstrous city-school known as Trabia Garden.
Quistis stood from the curb outside the gates of the Garden. She wore the casual student attire, consisting of an above-knee grey skirt and a white blouse with a delicate, yellow bow placed under her chin. She had her golden locks tied into two high pigtails, slightly uneven. Most of her makeup had been rubbed off, yet her features still held an intelligent and whimsical veil that no mere 'student' could possess. "Are you ready?" she gave a wink.
"Yup," Rinoa responded with a barely noticeable lift of her brow. She was dressed similarly to Quistis, but the outfit she had acquired held a remarkable resemblance to something you'd find on a life-size doll... which always seemed to never be life size. If she had to bend over the slightest bit, all self-pride would be shattered from both views above and behind. Her hair was lazily pulled into a floppy ponytail that shed wisps from its grasp every so often. "I should have brought some shorts," she mumbled beneath her breath.
Irvine held back from the other two, watching in wonderment how two professional assassins could so easily disguise themselves as charming, innocent students of a regular society. He was struck with not only the jealously of being submerged by the throng of young, tender thighs, but of being an oblivious boy. He sighed deeply, releasing the pent up breath his lungs so restlessly held. From now until he was called on his cell, he was free to explore the surroundings outside the Garden. 'Not much,' he thought as he glanced around the few lifeless buildings and endless forest. Not to mention it was getting colder every passing moment.
BB
Autumn was officially here, but summer had not completely fled. The climate was unpredictably stuck between blistering hot and stinging cold. There was no third way about it, for the comfortable cool that the fall season bares was nowhere to be found. Trabia, plotted far north of the equator, often held warm days, despite its being known for heavy snows. Citizens of the city and the Garden were unsure of what to wear on basis, seeing as how the temperature was becoming indecisive.
The Garden itself held most of its classes and rooms indoor where both the heater and air conditioning took charge of the climate. It wasn't uncommon for students to be trapped inside for weeks at a time during mid-winter. Entrance gates were replaced by sky-high doors, thick as an outstretched arm. Outside walls were grey with stone and cement, but flourished with intricate carvings and statues. The actual Garden was made of a matching grey and blue, but was smoothed by metal curves. Fountains gushed water in every hall, graced from their cherub innocence or deity dominance.
Rinoa and Quistis tread into the area with aspiring awe. They knew the Gardens were expensive and fancy... but this was beyond. It wasn't mansion or castle descriptive, but the technology and domed walls seemed to grin with wicked expenses. "I guess they make a successful business here," stated Quistis while sizing up the high arched entrances into the actual building.
Rinoa touched a wall and ran her fingertips over the flawless construction. "Just image how much it costs to get into here. It must really put a dent into your account." Three girls pushed past Rinoa, each looking her up and down with utter disgust. They turned and kept walking with snide giggles. "Or you were a spoiled brat from the start," added Rinoa in their direction.
Further into the Garden it appeared to be more of a school. A directory was placed before a grand fountain, sporting the beauty of the mystical guardian force, Shiva. "Where do you suppose we start?" wondered Rinoa aloud while she gazed admirably at the structure.
"No clue," responded Quistis with the same expression toward the directory.
"Suppose we split up…"
"No!" snapped Quistis a little too harshly.
"Geez, alright. What's up with you all of a sudden?"
"Just…I don't know. I don't like it here. Never did."
"Never did?" Rinoa looked back over to Quistis questioningly. "You've been here before?" The blonde refused to answer, staring blankly at the directory. "Hello? What's wrong?" tried Rinoa again.
"Here. We start here."
Rinoa let out a long, exasperated sigh. "You always leave everyone out of the loop. You can be such a mope sometimes, you know? Imagine being in my place for once. It's kinda irritating."
Quistis fixed Rinoa with a stern, yet understanding glare. "Listen Miss Happy-go-Lucky, just because you've never had a secret doesn't mean you shouldn't understand what it's like to explain bad instances. Besides, we have much more important matters at hand. While we sit here arguing over past events, this man could be escaping under our noses without our notice."
'The longer we spend here, the quicker he's moving away.'
"I know, but you really worry me Quistis. Ever since we got ourselves into this mess, you've not only been painfully grouchy, but quiet and reserved. Just say something once in a while. Tell you what, I'll make you a deal."
"Rinoa…"
"I'll shut up about it for the rest of the time we're here and when we get out, I'll take you and I out to dinner. My treat," Rinoa winked. "One catch, while we're out you have to explain some of yourself. Do we have a deal?"
"Rinoa, this is ridiculous."
"Do we?"
"Alright, fine," Quistis breathed. "Now can we just hurry to get out of here. Look, here's the main stairwell," she pointed to a long column on the directory screen. "They aren't going to put files of SeeDs in the office. I wouln't think so at least. Most high-class schools and colleges have basements for really important files and documents. Gardens most likely do as well, so we have a nice bet checking down there first."
"There's bound to be millions of files down there," Rinoa whined.
"Hopefully, the SeeDs will be excluded from the main bunch. We'll have to move to the back of the room first. But our immediate issue is getting down there without being caught."
"Well standing here isn't getting us there any faster. Let's go, I can see the elevator from here."
BB
"There are millions down here!" Rinoa rubbed her eyes in desponding surprise. After spending three trips up and down the elevator, the two had finally been left alone and able to get into the below ground floors. Then there was the trip with the old, musty janitor and spending five minutes at least staring at each other silently and with suspicious eyes. Then was the voyage back up to drop him off on the first floor. Another two trips with students up to the second floor, and the two women at long last made it down to the basement.
Quistis glanced at her watch. "It's nearly five already and we haven't found anything."
"Just be glad we didn't run into any more students, otherwise they wouldn't attend school for the rest of today and maybe tomorrow."
"Stop it and be serious here. If we had done anything, they would have only further gotten in the way."
'They obviously don't know and there's no point in scaring the shit out of them if all they'll do is lie.'
"You said in the back, right?" Rinoa gestured to the farthest wall. "Let's check it out."
BB
"How long have we been down here? It's starting to get really hot," Rinoa clenched her clammy palms together tenderly. "I hate feeling sticky."
"Here! I found them!"
"Thank the heavens. Where were they?"
"Right under this pile." Quistis gripped a thick stack of papers in one hand while pushing back a towering mountain of them that stood on top. "You'd think they'd be a little more organized. C'mon," she prompted and finally yanked the papers free. The whole previous stack spewed and fluttered in all directions, landing in a thin layer over the whole tile floor.
"Oops," Rinoa knelt down to help gather up the fallen mess.
"Don't worry about it. What we need is right here. 'Past and Present Record of SeeD – Trabia Garden.' See, it's all right here," Quistis smiled.
"Oh. How long do you think it'll take us to look through all of those?"
"I wouldn't think too long," the blonde weighed the stack in her right hand, judging its size of about three hundred pages. "We just need to eliminate all that don't use the gunblade as their primary weapon. Despite that's all we know about this guy, the weapon He uses isn't too common. Then we take out any remaining females and lastly compare fingerprints. At least I think they have their prints in here," she flipped through a few pages. "Yeah, and from the looks of it, each SeeD has about three pages to them. We'll be done in no time."
"I sure hope you're right," Rinoa sat on the paper-covered ground and rested her back against one of the filing cabinets. "Here, sit down so I can help. My legs are starting to hurt." Quistis sat herself across from her companion and dropped the stack she held in the middle of the two. Rinoa worked on collecting all the papers that were and could possibly be in use of the gunblade, while Quistis handed her all the male suspects from the main stack. The work was diligent and relentless, their title of being professional coming into play. The nearby clock read ten after seven and the janitor's sweeps may have been at random on his schedule. He had been unsure of the two women at first, looking them up and down under bushy grey eyebrows, but surely if they were caught again, the price wouldn't be so forgiving.
So now fingers bruised without notice and eyes ached with little care. The immediate response was to continue the search without pause. To not find Him here would eliminate one of the three Gardens. To find Him would seize the world journey and captivate this Garden menace. The National Guard had enough power to evict certain students, so long as the reason was evident and the other two Gardens were in agreeable judgment.
The Gardens rarely worked in alliance, finding needed resources in competition with one another. Power was the essence of money and money was the cost of all imports. That and hired work, of course. But a job could be a fatality and the stakes were not always as genuine as the reward they represented. Many men and women of the SeeD program are lost each month, so the Gardens continuously fight for the youth they require. Each holds their own propaganda of competition, rising one above the other due to various elements and Garden advantages. Therefore, every youth was accepted and trained to full capacity in career of the Garden facilities. Often, the orphanages would donate, child him or herself accepting this condemned fate, to widen the shelter for further unwanted children.
BB
Quistis's scan was brought to an immediate halt as she read a name she had hoped to never read again. Vivid images flooded her head despite all its attempts to block out the memories. 'Tilmitt, Selphie – currently in use' read the top of the sheet. The hands that held it shoot uncontrollably and sweat beaded at Quistis's forehead.
"What is it?" asked Rinoa slowly, though the question had gone unnoticed.
Tilmitt. Rank...six malignant note...Garden position unknown.... Mission 25, Class 6: Failure. Cold Case Reading: 52. Case numbers 46 through 52....Suspected... left... garden... activist... cold case... body's burial... location number 46, 47, 48, 49... left ...garden facility... computer generator... six victims... suspected, assumed... suspected. Suspected. Tilmitt.
"It's her," whispered Quistis with tears brimming.
"What? Who?" Rinoa laid her hand on Quistis's shoulder in confusion and concern. She looked down at the sheet that her friend gripped so dreadfully. "Selphie… Tilmitt?"
"They said she died. Three years ago. It was a lie," now tears streamed down rosy cheeks. "They lied."
"Who lied? C'mon Quistis, clue me in," Rinoa had now seated herself next to Quistis, draping her arm over her friend's shoulders. Quistis took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand. "Quistis, let's just find what we're looking for and get out of here, okay?"
"We've already found it."
"What do you mean? You made me look through all of those papers over there only to tell me I was looking for the wrong thing?" Rinoa teased.
"No, I'm sorry. I didn't know she had gone… no, she goes here. If she's here, then He's not."
"Who is she?"
"Can we just leave, please?" Quistis pushed herself to her feet. "That dinner is sounding nice about now. And we don't need a worried Irvine to come looking for us."
"You're right, let's go."
BB BB
A/N: Sorry all for any confusion for switching this chapter with the previous third one. I read it over and just found it appalling. It's kind of funny when you look that I pretty much contradicted everything that I had written in this chapter before. Once again, sorry for taking so long to update. R and R please!