As requested by snowcat i tried to be nicer to Rinoa... and failed miserably. I guess it wasn't meant to be. Anywho, here's the next chapter! Enjoy! :D
Disclaimer: Final fantasy characters belong to Squaresoft.
Chapter Six
The group had ridden the train to the Academy Station, (a few of them did have to sneak on) the closest they were able to get to Deling City with the tickets Watts had bought. From there on they had to hike and camp through the woods and plains for three days towards Deling City.
It was half way through the second day and they were all hot and tired, but none of the complained out loud yet. Well, Zell did but everyone ignored him and his loud stomach. Squall was surprised that Rinoa hadn't complained yet since she wasn't used to 'roughing it', and he gave her five points for that. But then again it was hard to complain when she was hanging off of Seifer and giggling at every word he said. For that he gave her negative fifty points.
"Hyne! I'm so fucking hungry! I'd kill for a hot dog right now" Zell groaned, but he was ignored. Not even Seifer took the opportunity to tease 'Chicken Wuss'.
Squall stopped dead on his feet as a peculiar sensation tingled up his spine and in the back of his head.
The sensation felt different from the usual Sorceress that tried to break into his mind but it was still unwanted. "Stop." He murmured. The group around him paused to look at him. He looked confused. He could feel a high pitched tone resonating just out of awareness. "No." Squall shook his head. He didn't care if it was different, no one was getting in his head anymore. He mentally pushed on it as hard as he could. He felt a snap and a brief flash. "Laguna?" He wondered curiously.
"Um... Squall?" Irvine asked cautiously.
"It's nothing." Squall shook his head and marched past his best friend.
But he didn't make it past Seifer. "Nothing my ass. Last time something like that happened the shit hit the fan." He stopped Squall and studied him.
"I've got it under control." Squall murmured.
Seifer would have argued further but Quistis and Rinoa were giving them both weird looks. They had yet to tell the others about Squall being a sorcerer and this conversation, if continued, could endanger Squall. Seifer sighed and kept a close eye on the moody brunet.
Selphie tugged on the arm of Irvine's duster. "Hey, Irvine... is Squall okay?" She asked quietly. She was extremely curious about Squall, he seemed familiar to him but she couldn't place, or remember, why.
Irvine grinned down at the pretty brunette. "Yeah, Squall is the strongest guy I know, well, mentally."
"Good." Selphie bounced. "I'd hate for anything to happen to him, I like him." She smiled brightly and jogged to catch up to Squall.
Squall was the only person in the group who could put up with inane Selphie rambles for long periods of time. Not even Rinoa could handle her for more than forty-five minutes at a time. Irvine supposed it was because Selphie was one of the few children at the orphanage that still liked Squall after the 'incident' and indulging her was payment for something she didn't even remember.
But at the moment Squall wasn't paying attention to Selphie. The name Laguna struck a chord deep inside of him. He heard the name whispered in the back of his head before he pushed the presence out of his mind. Sis' used to talk about a Laguna, and how he would come and take them home, but of course he never did. And now that he thought about it he began to speculate that Laguna was his biological father. He then wondered at the absurdity of his Sis's 'uncle Laguna' being his father.
Three days came to halt when the group of seven reached the outskirts of Deling City. Three days of endless walking and camping on the cold prairie came to a grinding halt. Zell would finally get a hot dog. Rinoa could get a shower. Selphie could get caffeine. Irvine could buy porn. And Squall hadn't gotten any closer to getting Seifer back. Rinoa had really thrown a wrench into the works. Squall growled to himself as he thought of the 'princess'. Hyne, even Seifer was indulgent to her. Girls like her made Squall glad that he was gay.
"We can go to my house to clean up, it's huge so all of us can fit." Rinoa giggled lightly and led them towards the heart of the city.
"Why do I get a bad feeling about this?" Quistis muttered to herself.
"Because Rinoa's dog is the smarter out of the two?" Squall suggested with a small smile.
Quistis let out a snort. "Too true."
Twenty minutes later and the seven teens were sneaking into Rinoa's house via the back door. The house maid met them and she gibbered off in the Centran language, she had an odd accent but for the most part he understood. The maid told Rinoa that she was glad that she was home and to that her friends could clean up in the guest suites and that her father was home and that she needed to visit him. He filled in a clueless Zell, Irvine, Seifer and Selphie.
"Honestly, you guys didn't learn any foreign languages?" Quistis snapped at them. "That seriously hinders the chance of promotion and high ranking positions with the SeeD-"
"Yeah, yeah, no lecture please, professor." Seifer rolled his eyes.
The maid showed them upstairs and to the available bathrooms. Squall took longer is his shower than necessary, he stood under the hot spray of the water letting it cascade down his tense shoulders. The stress of keeping what he was secret was wearing him down and all he really wanted was to fall into Seifer's warm arms and sleep for a week. He briefly wondered at the chances of Seifer letting him in his arms.
Squall finally turned off the water after a forty-five minute shower and toweled himself dry. He grabbed his dirty clothes and wrinkled his nose. He still had his original out fit of leather pants and a white t-shirt that he wore to go shopping with Edea over a week ago. He at least needed a new shirt. He slid into the pants but not the shirt, he wondered if he could borrow one of Rinoa's, she had to have a plain t-shirt laying around he was confident that he could sweet talk her out of one. He was still skinny and rather small for a man so he had no doubt that he could fit into one...
"I thought you had drown in there or something."
Squall looked up startled as he walked out of the bathroom to see Seifer lounging on the guest room bed freshly showered. His golden hair was still wet and tousled for the moment and his skin was clean and sun kissed. Squall's breath caught in his throat at the site the handsome blonde made.
"What are you doing in here?" Squall asked with a slight blush.
"I'm checking up on you. You've looked stressed out lately."
Squall walked toward him and sat on the edge of the bed. He shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm not used to being around a lot of people or keeping my powers hidden all the time. There haven't been other kids at the orphanage in years..." Squall sighed and leaned back as he remembered the orphanage. Squall missed laying on the beach and reading a book in the shade of the rock ledge or sitting on top of the light house and watching distant lightning storms over the ocean.
"You grew up in an orphanage?" Seifer asked puzzled.
"Edea used to run an orphanage, but when I got my powers she stopped taking other kids in and slowly I was the only one left." Squall looked closely at Seifer to see if any of this seemed familiar. "There's a sandy beach and a light house at the edge of the cape..."
A memory tugged at the back of Seifer's thoughts of sand castles and laughter but he shook it away. "I think I grew up in an orphanage."
"You think?" Squall asked.
"Well, I don't really remember anything before arriving at Garden. It's probably because of how much I use Ifrit." Seifer shrugged. He didn't really care, it's not like he had a happy childhood to remember, right?
Squall frowned as he thought about the fire beast that he watched Seifer summon countless times during the random battles they encountered on the Galbadian plains. He supposed that was a plausible reason to everyone's memory loss. Galbadia Garden didn't rely on the Guardian Forces like Balamb did, they relied on technology and weapons instead. They probably didn't want individual soldiers to have that much power since Galbadian Garden was mostly a breeding ground for the army.
"You've been quieter lately too, if that's possible." Seifer commented. During their three day journey Squall hardly spoke, and even less to him.
Squall frowned. "I'm surprised you noticed." He said bitterly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Seifer asked.
"Rinoa." Squall spit out.
Seifer studied Squall. Was he jealous? Seifer's heart surged at that thought. That would mean Squall was interested in him. "Rinoa is just a good friend." He explained.
"Right." Squall snorted.
Seifer's eyes lit up. He was jealous! Seifer cupped Squall's cheek and turned his face towards him. Squall bit his bottom lip and looked up at Seifer. Seifer paused for a second to drink in Squall's turbulent grey eyes before kissing him gently. Squall responded immediately and pressed against Seifer. Both of their thoughts soared triumphantly at finally being able to share a kiss.
"Seifer you'll never believe–OH!" Quistis stopped short as she noticed what she barged in on. Both Seifer and Squall sent her a nasty glare as they broke apart.
"What?" Seifer growled.
Quistis composed herself quickly, and mentally squealed at the life time chance of seeing two hott men kiss, she'd squeal with Selphie later. She cleared her throat before speaking. "Rinoa's father is General Caraway."
"What?"
"I would like to commission you for a mission." General Caraway, the leader of the Galbadian military, grinned.
"How do you know we're SeeDs?" Selphie asked puzzled. The seven teens were gathered in Caraway's study as the imposing military official addressed them.
"My daughter told me." The older man smiled and Rinoa tried to look innocent. Squall rolled his eyes. Splendid.
"You would have to go through our commanding officers." Quistis stated officially. "We cannot make that decision, it violates code." Seifer, for once, was glad that Quistis was a stickler for the rules.
"Oh but I have." He held up a contract with the Galbadia SeeD seal. "Irvine Kinneas is a SeeD of Galbadia Garden, and you four are in Martine's jurisdiction, your code states that he can send you on a mission if you all are in his own jurisdiction with out penalty from your own Garden."
Quistis cursed. He was right.
"What's this mission?" Seifer asked.
"To kill the Sorceress."
Squall didn't know how he felt about being hired to kill a sorceress. Any sorceress. Even the sorceress that was possessing him. He certainly didn't want a manhunt after him and he wished that on none of his brethren. And second he didn't know how he felt about said sorceress being Edea, his matron, his mother figure for all of his remembered life. And how could they be so calm about it? How could they forget the woman that raised them? That took care of them?
"I'm not helping." Squall stated softly.
"Then you can stay here with Rinoa." Seifer commanded, he fell into the leader of the mission mode with ease. "Irvine and I will be in the crowds waiting for an opportunity to get into the mansion. Selphie, Zell, and Quistis will be waiting in the gate for the signal."
"Seifer! I want to help! I want to help destroy the sorceress!" Rinoa pouted. Squall flinched at the word 'destroy'. What did she think this was, a video game?
"No Rinoa, this is not one of your games, this is serious. You're staying here." Seifer told her coldly. Rinoa looked hurt and about to object but Seifer turned his back and left the room, followed by Irvine.
Rinoa turned to Squall. "Look, I have this bangle, it's supposed to suppress sorceress powers, I could pretend to be offering her a gift from my father and–"
"Is that an Odine bangle?" Zell asked curiously.
Squall snorted. "That won't work. A sorceress has to put that on willingly in order for it to nullify her powers, or else she could just take it off."
"Why would she take it off? She wouldn't even know–"
"Rinoa. You heard Seifer, you are to stay here. This isn't like your pathetic little resistance, this is a battle. People die in battles. Do you want that to happen? Do you want someone to die because of your idiotic choices? You don't know a thing about the world, you're just a spoiled princess and you're staying here." Quistis yelled. Squall flinched, he didn't like Rinoa but that was harsh. Quistis stormed out of the room followed meekly by Selphie and Zell.
Rinoa turned back to Squall with tears in her eyes. "I just want to help." She said quietly.
Squall sighed and stiffly put his arm around her shoulders. "Quistis is just stressed, this is a high profile mission that has all of them uneasy and she just lashed out at you." Squall couldn't believe that he was comforting the girl that was stealing his Seifer away from him. He had to be ill.
Rinoa smiled brightly. "Thanks Squall... I'm going to get a drink, do you want something?" She asked, looking a bit nervous.
Squall shook his head and collapsed on the comfy looking couch. He didn't notice Rinoa uncertainly looking at him before running out of the room.
A few moments later Quistis, Zell and Selphie came back. "Rinoa I'm so– Squall? Where's Rinoa?"
Squall sat up and frowned. "She went to get a drink..."
The room beeped loudly and the door slammed shut behind Selphie, who meeped indignantly.
"What?" Quistis gasped.
"Hyne! That shit Caraway locked us in here!" Zell cursed as he banged on the door.
"He thinks that it's Rinoa and I in here." Squall sighed. "Rinoa... Oh Hyne, she went off on her own, I should have sensed that."
"What do we do? We have to be in the gate!" Selphie cried out.
"There has to be another way out of here." Quistis panicked.
"Look around, I bet there's a passage some where." Squall ordered.
"Fuck!" Zell cursed as he banged cupboards and kicked the main desk in the room. "What kind of sicko locks his daughter inside of a room?"
"Obviously it's a needed precaution." Squall replied dryly.
To Be Continued! :D
Thank you to: Cayenne, Eiphes, Kai-the-Wind-Goddess, snowcat (sorry, but after playing the game a dozen or so times, Rinoa seems to be the most useless character and a brainless idiot), Maria Moonwater, Grasshopper (GLOMP), Darkest Desire, (I decided to write a story like this because there are harldy any! and i'm trying to follow the game...), Shadow-seraph, Hopefully Taunting, Griever Weapon, Angels-Obsession, and Tinkeu! Thanks so much for your support!
Review please!