By Ramsey Anderson
All characters in this fic are property of Squaresoft and were not created by me.
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Chapter 8
After waiting awhile for the Galbadian forces to retreat, the leader of the Forest Owls informed us, "The Galbadian forces are withdrawing. Only the soldiers normally stationed here will stick around. If you're gonna leave town, now's your chance! You know how persistent those soldiers can be!"
"Squall, any thoughts on where to go?" Quistis asked.
"First, we need to get out of Timber. Let's take the next train to the East Academy station, which isn't too far from Galbadia Garden, our destination as instructed by Article 8, line 7." I stated.
"…Wow, nicely said, Squall." Quistis said with surprise.
"Let's get going."
As we sneaked to the train station in Timber, we were stopped by Zone in disguise, there to give us his tickets. After receiving the tickets and thanking him, Rinoa, Quistis, Selphie, Zell and I caught the train just in time.
If I'm going to prevent that launch, I'm going to have to invade the missile silo. God, I have no idea as to how I'm supposed to go about doing that, but it must be done. Instead of going with my team to Deling City, I will travel to the missile base and stop the launch. At this point, that's my only option. As the train rode along on the path that was set before it, I remained silent, carefully mapping out my ideas on how to stop a missile strike.
After we exited the locomotive, we made our way past the plains and into a small forested area between the mountains. Everyone stopped when Selphie spoke to us her concern, "Hey, I was just thinking... There might be some bad news from the Galbadian government. What if we get caught and then get broadcast to the whole world...!?"
Zell responded, "Whatever happens, happens! Now come on! Let's just keep going! I, I'm worried about Balamb Garden. If anything happens to Garden, it's all my fault. I'm the one who said we were all from Garden…" he turned to me, "You think the president will retaliate on Garden?"
I wanted to say yes, that a retaliation was imminent and that it was partially Zell's fault. I knew, however, that Zell was very upset about what he had done and that confirming his suspicions would only increase his guilt. I tried to be supportive to my friend, "It's not your fault, Zell. Seifer is the one who attacked the president. Blaming yourself will get you nowhere, so just let it go, alright? There won't be a launch, no Gardens will be destroyed, and everything will be fine." I don't think I was just consoling Zell with those words, I was also comforting myself.
Rinoa gave me a sweet smile of admiration after observing my soothing behavior. When I looked at her though, she immediately looked away. I knew that it would take some time for us to get as comfortable with each other the way I remember last, and that it would come little by little, so I had to be patient.
In under an hour, we were near Galbadia Garden. This is where I was to leave the rest of the group and head to the military base. I didn't want to stay at Galbadia long or else I might be signed up to do the assassination mission, which I couldn't be a part of. I knew it would be hard to tell the group about what I was doing and where I was going, but I tried the best I could.
I stopped before the entrance, which made Quistis stop and ask, "What's wrong?"
I looked at her and then everyone else, who had now stopped and was now looking at me and I said, "Listen everyone, this is where I leave you. You all have a mission to do and so do I, but my mission lies elsewhere. But don't worry, we'll see each other again."
Quistis asked confusedly, "What are you talking about? What mission are you going on? What mission are we going on?"
"You'll find out, but just let me tell you these few things, and listen very carefully." I walked over to Quistis. I didn't want them to have to make a trip out to The Tomb Of The Unknown King for no reason, so I told them the ID number that they needed to know. "Remember the number 187, okay? ID number 187. Write it down so you don't forget. You'll know what it's about when the time comes."
I walked over to Rinoa, put my hands on her shoulders and stared at her while I spoke, "Rinoa, do not attempt to subdue the sorceress by yourself, okay? You cannot do it, and your life will be in danger because of your actions. Don't try to be a hero, and be careful."
I walked away from the group, trying not to look back at Rinoa and change my mind. "Everyone, I'll see you later, and don't worry about the Gardens, nothing will happen to them, I'll make sure of that! Oh, and say hi to Irvine for me!" And with that, I left them in total perplexity as I headed to my possible doom.
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We all stood there in silence, all of us with faces frozen in confusion, not knowing what Squall was talking about. We were all too bewildered to try and run after him, so we simply let him disappear from our sights. Our silence was interrupted by Zell, "What the hell was that?"
Selphie answered back, "I have no idea. He did seem to be lost in thought since the train ride, didn't he? But still, I don't get it. What's he doing?"
"I do wonder where he's going." Quistis questioned.
"I hope he'll be alright. Do you think he's going to be alright?" I asked the group.
"He's quite strong, I'm sure he'll be fine, but I wonder what he meant by that ID number thing. I better write it down like he said, just in case." Quistis stated, while jotting down the information. "Anyways, we should continue on. I've been here several times and I know the headmaster pretty well. I'll go and explain our situation. Everyone meet me upstairs in a few minutes."
I was worried about Seifer. That was all I could think about since he had attacked the president. I knew that Vinzer Deling and Sorceress Edea were in cahoots, and I saw Seifer leave with Edea. I had a bad feeling about it, I feared for Seifer's life. I headed into Galbadia Garden and up the stairs with the Selphie and Zell.
When we arrived in the meeting room, I took Selphie aside and told her about how I felt. Even though I hadn't known Selphie for very long, I warmed up to her quickly and we became good friends. She would always listen to what I had to say, even though I knew I must've bored her with my constant talk about my feelings for Seifer.
"Don't worry Rinoa, he's gonna be alright. If Edea was going to kill, oh I'm sorry, I mean umm, hurt Seifer, she would've done it when we saw her, right?"
I still didn't believe Selphie until Quistis walked in and said, "They understand our situation. And Balamb Garden is safe. The attack on the president in Timber was classified as an independent action. There was an official notice from the Galbadian government saying that Balamb Garden is not being held responsible."
I was torn between my relieved feelings about Balamb Garden and my worsening fears towards Seifer's life. I wasn't going to ask in fear that saying it would somehow jinx it and kill Seifer, but Zell had to ask, "So, Seifer's taking all the blame?"
Quistis had known about my feelings for Seifer, so she looked at me and paused, a look of sorrow so apparent in her face that she didn't have to tell me, "The trial's over, and the sentence has been carried out…"
My world came crashing down. So suddenly, the man that I thought I loved was dead. When Seifer had come to help the Forest Owls, I had thought that we could try and get back together; I had missed him while he had been gone at Balamb Garden, but he came back into my life, only to die for us. Despair forced me to my knees as I cried out in misery.
Selphie immediately came to my side and hugged me, assuring me that everything would be fine. "There there, let it out, I'm sorry, honey, I'm so sorry."
"He didn't do anything wrong! He..he just wanted to help liberate Timber. He sacrificed himself for Timber's freedom, and he's killed for that?! It's not fair…" I said between sobs.
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I figured that me and Rinoa were off to a good start. Last time, we had gotten in a few arguments and she viewed me as insensitive and cold, but now she thinks I'm a good friend to Zell and a good leader. While everyone around me died and I failed to affect the future for the greater good, the promise of a better relationship with Rinoa served as a ray of hope and a reason to continue on.
Walking away from Galbadia was one of the more difficult things I had to do that day, not knowing how my decision to leave them could affect future events. Perhaps I would die during the storming of the missile base, or maybe without me on their team, my friends would die. It was a terrible thing to imagine, but that was all I could think about as I walked away, abandoning the people I cared for the most.
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Everyone had left me alone in that room, figuring that I needed some time to myself to think things through. I thought about how I felt towards Seifer, my true feelings for him. I wasn't entirely sure that it was love…which probably meant that it wasn't love at all. I guess I just felt that an injustice was done and that he didn't deserve to be dead. As I began to think about his execution, my heart filled with anger and hatred. I wanted to get Deling and Edea for what they had done. I wiped away my tears and stood up. They would not get away with it, that was for sure.
I stormed out of the room and I was confronted by Selphie, Zell, and Quistis who had been waiting for me just outside. "Let's go. I'm done crying, I want Deling to pay."
Before any of them could say anything, I trudged down the stairs and headed to the front gate. Selphie came running after me and shouted at me to stop. "Listen, I know you're angry, as you should be. But the Garden Headmaster has informed us that we have a mission to do. So please, just wait for us to receive our orders and then we'll decide what to do, okay?"
I reluctantly agreed and impatiently waited for the headmaster to arrive. Martine, the headmaster, finally got there and gave us our orders. I pretended I was a SeeD as to avoid confusion, and I listened in to what the mission involved. When he said that Deling City was where the assignment would take place, my eyes widened at the chance to get to Vinzer Deling. Stuck up jerk, he named a city after himself. How selfish do you have to be to do that?
"Kinneas! Irvine Kinneas!" Martine yelled to someone lying on the grass.
Irvine, where have I heard that name before…? Quistis answered my thoughts, "Irvine, hmm…didn't Squall mention him when he left? Maybe they know each other."
The long-haired cowboy introduced himself, we all saluted Martine, and we all headed off to the train station which would lead us to Deling City. I couldn't wait to meet Mr. President.