Chapter 11

"The what?"

Zell sighs and sits with his back against a tree, next to Selphie. He looks sadly over her still form. Rinoa sits in the grass, drawing her knees up to her chest. Zell starts to speak, stops, and goes back staring at Selphie. Finally, he says,

"When we were on the train from Balamb, me, Selphie, and Squall, we were in a private cabin. SeeD has perks." He laughs humorlessly. "Anyway, a few minutes into the ride we all passed out. For me and Selphie it just felt like we got…really sleepy and then fell asleep. Squall said he heard a ringing in his ears and then fainted. We figured that someone had planted sleeping gas in the cabin or something – there are a lot of people who resent SeeD."

Squall's arm twitched and he turned onto his side. (They're sleeping?)

"Yeah, so when we woke up, Selphie mentioned having this crazy dream about a Galbaldian soldier from about twenty years ago, before the sorceress war. She dreamed that she was this Galbaldian soldier, her name, well, his name was Kiros. But the weird part is, I had a dream too – the same dream – except from a different point of view, you know? I was a friend of Kiros's named Ward. I don't know what he looks like, because I was seeing everything from his perspective, and everything was really clear, not like a normal dream. Squall had the same dream, he was our squad leader, Laguna. And we all had exactly the same dream, but from different perspectives, you understand?"

Rinoa doesn't understand.

"How could you be seeing the same thing if you were unconscious? Are you sure you weren't…awake somehow?"

"No, I'm telling you, we were…well it doesn't matter, they'll tell you…when they wake up."

"How long will that take?"

"Not sure, the train ride was a couple hours long. We might have to spend the night out here." Zell sounds miserable. "Hyne…this sucks."

"You must be pretty worried."

Zell stares at the ground for a minute. "When Seifer attacked Deling, Squall and Selphie and I ran into the station to stop him. Quistis was there, she'd followed Seifer from Balamb. We were all from Balamb garden, but I was the one who said it. I said 'Instructor, you're going to take this idiot back to garden, right?'" Zell drops his head into his arms, looking completely defeated. "And Deling said that if anything happened to him, Galbaldia would 'crush garden'."

Rinoa traces her fingers up and down the chain of her necklace.

"Those exact words?"

"Well…not those exact words but close…"

"But you didn't mention 'Balamb'…if you just called it 'garden', it will take Deling a while to figure out which garden, even if he does hold you responsible. His first thought will probably be that you were some kind of rebellious hippies from Galbaldia Garden, it's closest to Timber."

Zell lifts his head and rests his chin on his forearm. "They'll figure out eventually which garden we were from…they'll contact the whole garden circuit…"

"Yes, but the paperwork will take a while. You know Galbaldians…bureaucrats to the core."

For the first time in several days, Zell smiles in amusement.

"Aren't you Galbaldian?"

"I'm insulted." Rinoa deadpans "I meant the Galbaldian government. I'm only Galbaldian by blood!"

Zell laughs. "With your criminal record, it'd be hard to mistake you for one of them."

"What are you? You look like you could be Galbaldian. With darker hair and lighter skin."

"I could well be; I don't know what I am. I was adopted when I was about seven or eight. Don't remember much of anything before then…"

"You don't remember your childhood?"

Zell shrugs. "I came to garden when I was thirteen; trying to be like my grandfather. He was a soldier. I don't remember much before that except that I lived in Balamb with my parents…"

Quistis stirs and brings a hand to her throat. (I wonder what she's dreaming about?) The sun is completely gone, and the stars and full moon filter through the leaves over head, providing only dim light. Rinoa shivers and curls up tighter, shielding herself from the wind with her backpack. Zell seems comfortable. He stretches out next to the unconscious women and looks up at the stars through a gap in the trees overhead.

"I'll keep watch until they wake up. You can go to sleep if you want."

"It's too cold to sleep." Rinoa says grumpily.

"Here, catch." Zell tosses her his black and red jacket.

"It's fine, you keep it."

"No, I'm warm enough."

Rinoa wraps herself gratefully in the oversize jacket and curls up against the base of a tree. They sit in silence, listening to humming crickets and the swishing of wind in the trees for a few minutes. (It's so peaceful out here.)

"What was the dream about?"

"The dream?"

"That you all had on the train…"

"Oh, yeah. It was weird. We were three soldiers scouting ahead for a larger section of the Galbaldian army. We were actually supposed to be fighting the Timber army, back when there was one, but Laguna, the leader, got us lost. Anyway we found our way back to Laguna's home town, Deling city. That's where you grew up, right?"

"Sort of, I spent most of the year in Timber at a boarding school."

"Gotcha. Well, Laguna was originally from Deling city, Kiros and Ward were from…I don't know. Somewhere else in Galbaldia, I guess. We all went to this hotel in the city and heard a woman play the piano. Laguna was in love with her – Julia – and he finally worked up the nerve to talk to her the night we were there. So uh… they went up to her hotel room." Zell's voice smacks of innuendo. "And Kiros and I hung downstairs. Then we got a report for Laguna saying we had been 'reassigned to another area'. Kiros went upstairs to get Laguna, and then we all woke up."

"You didn't find it…odd?"

"Of course we thought it was 'odd', but what could we do? We decided to put the incident on hold until we could make an official report to garden. I think Squall's already written to Cid about it."

Rinoa yawns and buries her head under the sleeve of Zell's jacket.

"You know what's funny…?"

Zell doesn't answer. He's snoring softly.

(My mom was a pianist named Julia …when Squall wakes up I'll tell him I'm sorry…I said too much…)

Quistis: When I woke up, in the very early morning or very late night, depending on your view, I could still feel the memory of burning heat and pain in my throat where Ward was stabbed. Squall was already awake, and Selphie was stirring.

According to them, and to Zell, this unusually clear, linear dream about Galbaldian soldiers was not a first time occurrence. Both Squall and Selphie had dreamed that they were patrolling an area in Esthar called the "Lunatic Pandora", a strange maze of green and blue crystal, machines, and an indoor greenhouse. Judging by our outdated uniforms and equipment, our dream took place sometime before the end of the sorceress war. I dreamed I was a seven-foot-tall man. As in most dreams, the idea didn't seem strange to me. I used an old "combat anchor" as it was aptly nicknamed.

Just before I woke up, I dreamed that an Estharian soldier's blade was slicing into the skin of my throat. After that I drifted in and out of consciousness, and the last thing I remembered was being pulled aboard a Galbaldian ship, and the sight of my dated

uniform, soaked with seawater and stained brown with my blood.

We reached Galbaldia garden at about nine in the morning, and were given rooms in the deserted guest dormitories. We all took showers, washed our dirt encrusted clothes, and slept for most of the day.

I've been to Galbaldia garden several times, most recently for an instructors' conference last year. That was before I lost my teaching license, a painfully fresh memory that was stirred up by the sight of the garden's main hall, lit by huge floorlights, with halls leading to each of the four garden branches. Outside the wide windows, flew by in small, one-man hovering crafts that looked like deep, seatless chairs, a specialty of G-Garden's.

Headmaster Martine, the youngest major in the Galbaldian army before Deling's "bloodless coup", took a particular interest in me during my first visit, which he didn't seem to have lost over the last year. He guided me by the elbow as we circled the main hall of the garden the next day. His brown hair had grown in the year since I'd seen him, and was now pulled into a short ponytail at the nape of his neck. He still dressed like a military official, in a long, old fashioned blue coat, pressed white shirt, and black combat boots. He smelled like fish and after-shave.

"Quistis Trepe! The most promising young instructor of her time. And female, to boot! It's been much too long." he said when we met at the entrance to the guest rooms, with all the sincerity of a student trying to get out of a field exam.

I explained our situation as we strolled around the bright floor, interrupted periodically by salutations for the headmaster and curious looks for me. He nodded occasionally, and returned the interruptions with disingenuously personal greetings: "Hello there instructor, good to see you. Ah, Valentine, nose in a book as usual, I see! My apologies, Ms. Trepe," he would say, graciously turning back to me "You were saying…?"

When I'd finished, we had completed two laps around the main hall and come back to the entrance to the guest dormitories. "Well," he said finally "you certainly have been through a lot in the past few days. And shown a great deal of dedication to the well-being of your students. I would be proud to employ such a courageous and responsible instructor. You've always shown so much promise…" I stared at my feet, feeling ridiculed. I told him I'd lost my instructors' license a few weeks ago. The night of Squall's inauguration into SeeD, I realized. As he moving up into the ranks of SeeD, I'd been demoted down into it.

"I see, well that's certainly Cid's loss. If you ever want to reapply, you know, my door is always open to you." He gave me a look of compassionate understanding that could have curdled milk. He cleared his throat. "I heard about the attack on Deling on the radio. A most unfortunate occurrence, but I have been in contact with Cid, as has headmaster Griffin, over the past 48 hours, and he assures me that the student's attack, despite his being a legal adult, was classified as an independent action. The garden circuit will not be held responsible. Now, I understand that the other three SeeDs with you are under contract with the young woman traveling with you, but that she is unable to return to Timber at present. In light of recent events, you and the three SeeDs with you will be carrying out a separate mission in her hometown." I was surprised, and a little overwhelmed at the idea of a new assignment so soon after our flight from Timber. Not to mention, I was still trying to process my strange dream about the Galbaldian soldiers. "Headmaster Martine, we only got back from Timber, what? 24 hours ago?"

"I understand, Quistis." he assured me, placing a hand on my shoulder. I twitched with an involuntary urge to give him a good shove. "But, such is the life of a mercenary." He leaned in close enough for me to count the pores on his nose and smell his fishy breath. I held mine. "Could you have the SeeDs meet in the reception room at, say two this afternoon? You've been there before, I presume?" I nodded, and took a deep breath as he finally backed away. "Well then, I'll see you at 1400…"

"Headmaster?" It killed me to call him back. "A member of the Forest Owls - the resistance faction came with us from Timber."

"Yes, Ms. Heartilly. Have her come as well." He turned on his heel and marched off, his military coat ballooning behind him.

Rinoa is woken by a familiar voice from above her.

"Rinoa? Wake up!"

Selphie's smiling face comes into focus. Rinoa groans and pulls the sheet over her head, more to be funny than to go back to sleep. She feels surprisingly well-rested. And it feels good to be clean, after a night in the woods under Zell's jacket.

Selphie tugs on the bottom of the sheet and Rinoa sits up obligingly, wearing her black tanktop and a pair of turquoise hospital pants lent to her by the garden's nurse's assistant.

"Quistis talked to the headmaster, we're supposed to meet him at two." Rinoa looks at the digital alarm clock next to the bed. It's nine. (We've been here for two nights already…no wonder I'm well rested.) She vaguely remembers a nurse giving her a pair of pants and two sleeping pills.

"I talked to Squall, and he gave me the go ahead, not that he was fully awake, but he said it was alright, if I start teaching you some casting!"

Rinoa is out of bed immediately. "That's great! What do I need? I should probably get dressed first, just a sec…"

Rinoa grabs her clothes, dumped carelessly in a pile at the end of the bed, and carries them into the tiny bathroom connected to the room. While she changes clothes, Selphie moves the furniture – a simple bed, a desk, and a chest of drawers – to the corners of the room.

"I figured we'd start with just very basic control of magical energies, you won't be able to actually cast anything yet. But once you start meditating, you'll be casting low-level spells in a few weeks!" Selphie calls through the door.

When Rinoa emerges, dressed in her blue duster, Selphie is sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room. She motions for Rinoa to sit down to.

"Okay, so first you have to relax your body and try to empty your mind."

Rinoa closes her eyes and tries to relax. A fly buzzes in a corner of the room. She tries to resist the need to brush her hair out of her eyes.

"Now, see if you can feel your guardian force in the back of your mind, because that's where your storing any magical energy you have right now. By the way, have you decided what to name it yet?"

Rinoa opens one eye.

"Never mind, go back to relaxing. Anyway, when you really center yourself you should be able to feel a presence in the back of your mind that isn't really a part of it. It's weird at first, but you get used to it."

For the hour, Selphie guides Rinoa through different mental concentration exercises, periodically stopping to talk snack on apples and bagels Selphie brought up from the cafeteria. By the end of the second hour, Rinoa is able draw magical energy from Selphie's mind, which feels very strange.

"It's like I'm stealing from you!"

Selphie laughs. "It's how we transfer energy, and also how we get it from monsters. Do you feel any different?"

"Different? From when?"

"Since you junctioned your GF. It should have started using energy to strengthen your body, reflexes, all that."

"I don't feel anything yet."

"Well, you will, once you draw some more. Just draw from monsters whenever you get the chance. The stronger the monster, in general, the greater the strength of the energy you draw, and the easier it is to turn it into higher level spells. It's all really simple once you get the hang of it."

"Can I try casting a spell?"

Selphie laughs again, this time with a hint of patronization. "You won't be ready for that for a week or two. Just meditate and do those exercises everyday for like, fifteen minutes. I can teach you others too, focusing all your energy on an idea or an object, listening to music and trying to concentrate on the rhythm and different melody lines at the same time, but the basis is meditation – just thinking about nothing."

"It all sounds so exotic."

"Yeah, it's pretty exciting. Hey, I'd better go get ready to meet the headmaster. I wonder what he wants to tell us."

"No clue, probably just touching base. Well, I'll see you in a few."

"Okay, see you there!"

Selphie closes the door behind her. Rinoa got up and begins to push the chest of drawers back to the rectangular indentation in the carpet that marked where it had been. Despite taking longer to learn than she had imagined, Rinoa is excited about learning magic, much more so than she was about accidentally acquiring an avatar. Selphie's concentration exercises felt strange at first, but quickly came naturally to her.

When the furniture is back in its original arrangement, Rinoa sits on the unmade bed, closes her eyes and concentrates on her breath until she loses herself in it. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. It's so peaceful not to think about anything. Inhale, exhale. Hello Rinoa, says a soft, tenor voice. Rinoa's eyes snap open and she looks behind her, before realizing that the voice was in her own mind. Feeling shaken, Rinoa turns back around and concentrates on her breathing again, this time listening intently. I am the water snake. I am the guardian of the dragon goddess. A knock interrupts the melodic voice. Rinoa gestures in frustration. (No, don't leave!)

"Rinoa!" Zell calls through the door "Meeting in the reception room, we're all meeting in the hall in five."

"Okay!" she shouts back. Zell's footsteps retreat. Rinoa punches her pillow and gets up from

the bed. "Fine." she mutters. Though the voice is gone, Rinoa knows the name of the speaker, almost intuitively. Or maybe she made it up? Leviathan. The water snake.