By Ramsey Anderson
All characters in this fic are property of Squaresoft and were not created by me.
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Chapter 16
My fears had been justified; Trabia was completely destroyed. Since I had witnessed the missile launch outside of the sand prison, I had tried my best not to think of what could have happened. That never worked though, and my thoughts drifted to Trabia. I kept thinking the best, that the missiles didn't hit, or didn't hit very hard, or if there was some huge error that caused them to explode in mid-air. There was nothing I could do except wait and hear on the news or word of mouth about what happened to my home place.
Quistis was nice enough to let us pay a visit to the Garden in the North, but as we got closer, I kept thinking about my past. I had spent most of my life at Trabia Garden, since as far back as I remember. Being very social and outgoing, I had made so many friends there that nearly everyone knew who I was. I took the liberty to start and manage the Garden Festival, which was always a big hit. I thought back to the day that I left Trabia to transfer to Balamb; it was an emotional event, but I kept smiling, thinking about my future at Balamb Garden.
When I reached the front gate, it was clear that the missiles made a direct hit. It was too quiet, the ground was cracked and broken, and the gate was closed. Quistis, Zell, and Irvine silently kept their distance from me, giving me space to take in the tragedy. I knew that I could count on them to support me if I were to break down and cry, but I remained strong and optimistic. Maybe everyone saw the missiles in time and took cover. Or maybe Gardens have some kind of missile defense system that we don't know about…God, please let everyone be alright.
I climbed a mass of wires hung over the wall to the right of the entrance. When my eyes peered over the gate to the destruction of Trabia, I felt tears starting to well up inside of me. I jumped down to the rugged, torn cement below, my mind registering what my eyes were telling me. I saw people moving around in the distance, in the center of the Garden. I ran towards them as fast as I could. Hurry Selphie, they might need you! The sooner you get there, the sooner you'll be able to see all of your old friends!
When I reached the Trabia square, as we all used to call it, the first person I noticed was none other than my very best friend, Victoria. I had known her ever since I had arrived at Trabia Garden and we had been best friends since. No conversation was off-limits, no issue was taboo, we knew each other as well as we knew ourselves. My memories of her had played a large part in my decision to return to Trabia then. I had so much to say but couldn't think of an opening line to my friend that I hadn't seen in almost a year.
Victoria looked up at me with sad, tired eyes and said, "Selphie…"
There was a mutual silence between us for a moment. In any ordinary circumstance, we would have been excited to see each other, jumping and laughing and reminiscing after our year-long separation. Instead, Victoria's normally infectious exuberance was replaced by what the ravages of war and terror had forced upon her. For all the years that I had known her, she had been able to brighten any darkness and remain optimistic in times of despair. Yet, everyone's optimism had their limits, and I was unfortunate to see hers.
"I'm glad you're here Seph. It's been awhile since I've seen a friend…" Victoria started to cry.
"No, no, come on, don't cry. You've got to stay focused. You've got to set an example for the people here when they need you to be strong. Remember, if you stay positive, other people will stay positive. I know it's hard to do, but you've got to try."
"…Yeah, you're right Seph. But it's just a lot to take sometimes, ya know?"
Quistis, Irvine, and Zell approached. Irvine said in a comforting tone, "Take all the time you need, okay? We'll be around, so just meet up with us when you're ready."
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
They walked away from us, talking to people along the way, giving a hand whenever they could. Victoria asked, "Who are they?"
"They're my friends. We've been traveling all over the world. Being a SeeD requires it, ya know."
"You're a SeeD!? Oh my God, I can't believe it! It's what you've always wanted! Congratulations, SeeD." Victoria saluted me, excited at my recent accomplishment.
When I saw what happened to Trabia, I had immediately decided that I would discontinue my duties as a SeeD and stay in Trabia until it was rebuilt. It was a difficult decision to make; I loved traveling around with everyone, having such amazing adventures, but Trabia was my home and I owed it that much.
"Thanks Vic, but I don't know if I can continue after seeing all this. I should stay here and help everyone rebuild. You could use all the help you can get."
"…Thanks Seph, we really do need the help…but before you make your decision, I want you to see something."
Vic led me to a large open space occupied by countless headstones and dead earth. Each broken slab of concrete bore the crudely carved names of the people that lay six feet below. The scene I had never wanted to see, nothing before me was alive, everything was gone. Why did this have to happen?…I knew these people, I liked these people. They had so much going for them in their lives. They didn't do anything wrong, but now they have no futures. Why? Because the sorceress saw them as a threat to her empire. The immediate solution? This…
Normally, I was not a vengeful person; I could let things go fairly quickly and forget the past. But this was entirely different, the sorceress would make no apologies, she meant to do what she did. If my friends had been alive, they would have never forgiven Edea's heinous crime. If they couldn't get the revenge for themselves, I would have to do it for them.
I turned to face Vic and said, "I'm sorry, but I've changed my mind. I can't stay here in Trabia, I'm going after the sorceress."
Vic nodded in agreement. "I figured. You go get her, okay?"
"I will. And sorry about not staying."
"Don't worry about it. We'll pull through."
"Bye Vic, I'll come back when it's over." I hugged her goodbye and walked away to find the others.
"Hey Selphie…" Vic called to me. "Keep smiling!"
I turned and gave her a quick smile. She was right, there's no use in being sad, it's better to be happy. Or if you couldn't be happy, at least smile and set a good example for others.
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Zell, Irvine, and I walked around Trabia and eventually waited at the basketball court. People had once played basketball in the spot we were standing on. They had enjoyed life, been carefree, not worrying about the evils of the world. It was impossible to play anything there anymore; the ground was cracked and broken beyond repair.
"So what are we gonna do next?" Zell asked me.
"I don't know." I replied.
It was sad that the leader didn't know what to do or where to go. I hadn't done anything to help out Balamb Garden. It had been Xu's idea to go to Balamb and Selphie's idea to go to Trabia. All I was doing was just supervising, it seemed. I couldn't help but hang my head in shame at the realization that I had been such an irresponsible leader to everyone.
"…I'm sorry, everyone." I spoke to everyone.
"For what?" Zell asked confusedly.
"For being such a terrible leader to you all."
"Ah c'mon, Quistis, you've done nothing wrong. You can't be doing that bad of a job, right?"
"…Yeah, so far." I might mess up pretty soon. I might cause others to endanger their lives. Squall could've done so much better than I. Why did he do this to me?
"Quistis, I'm tired of you doubting yourself like this!" Selphie exclaimed. Apparently she had been there long enough to hear my self-depreciating remarks. "You used to be so confident, so full of life! What's happened to you? You can't be like this. Every single person in Balamb Garden is looking up to you, counting on you to be there for them. C'mon, it's time to bring back the old Quistis!"
The girl made a good case, I thought. So many people were depending on me and there I was acting so cheerless for no good reason. I don't understand it, what's happened to my attitude lately? Why have I changed so drastically? I mean, Selphie had just now witnessed the destruction of her home place and the death of so many of her friends, and yet she's strong enough to support me in my time of need.
"You're right, there's no use being sad. I'm sorry, I don't know what's been going on with me lately. I say let's continue on, that is if you're ready to go, Selphie." I spoke confidently to everyone.
"Yeah!! That's the Quistis I know! Let's go get Galbadia for what they've done!!" Selphie said loudly.
"I agree, let's do this thing." Irvine commented.
"Sorceress Edea's going down! Boo yah!!" Zell shouted as he jumped in the air.
With that, we all left Trabia behind us, determined to get revenge for those who could not.
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At long last, the train tracks came to and end, leaving us with the slowly dying afternoon sun. Rinoa and I had shared so much on the way, about the past, the future, and how we felt about things. I'd never been one to talk about my feelings, so it was difficult for me at first, but then Rinoa reminded me that I had nothing to be afraid of. I remembered back to the last time I had traversed those train tracks. It was the first time I had shared my innermost feelings with Rinoa or anyone for that matter; of course Rinoa was unconscious at the time, but it was still a new feeling for me.
Rinoa shivered. "Squall, it's getting cold."
"We're coming up on the ice caps. Don't worry, it won't be too long before we reach Esthar."
Hey, what are you thinking? Give her your coat! I removed my black leather jacket and handed it to Rinoa. "Here, use this."
"But won't you be cold?"
"Don't you forget why we're doing this in the first place."
Rinoa gave a shy smile as I slipped my jacket into her bare arms. I didn't want to say anything, but I had to admit that Rinoa looked adorable in my jacket. I was probably cold, but I didn't notice. As long as Rinoa was comfortable, I was fine.
The biting cold wind greeted us as we approached the glaciers on the outskirts of the invisible city of Esthar. Rinoa and I drew our weapons in preparation for the many beasts that would prey on live game such as us. I gave Rinoa most of my fire magic, figuring that I'd be fine with just my gunblade. Rinoa was a fine fighter, but I felt that I should take on the responsibility of protecting the woman I loved. Of course, she wouldn't simply let me fight alone, and she ended up aiding me in the few fights we encountered.
The scenery of our icy surroundings were plain and unchanging, but extraordinarily beautiful. The shining ice looked like crystal, giving off reflections in every direction, light being absorbed from the sun and projected in a rainbow-like radiance. At one point, Rinoa and I paused to stare at the landscape before us, our arms wrapped around each other as we shared an understood silence.
As we traveled on, I looked for the glitch in the cloaking mechanism used to hide the unmistakingly massive city of Esthar. Out of the giant chasm to our left jumped out Abadon, the two-story undead reanimated skeleton of a monster. The remains of a fearful beast that once inhabited the Great Salt Lake outside of Esthar continued to be a formidable predator to those who did not know its weaknesses. Rinoa naturally stepped back in awe and terror at the sight of such a creature while I almost laughed at how easy the battle would be. Before, it had been a difficult battle until me and my allies discovered its supreme weakness, holy magic and items.
I asked Rinoa calmly, "Would you hand me the X-potion from my jacket please?"
Rinoa complied and shoved the X-potion into my hands and stepped away from Abadon. I lightly tossed the potion into the air to test its weight and pulled my arm back for the throw. The power of the X-potion was incredible; it could completely revitalize a person and heal all of their wounds, no matter how damaged they were, in an instant. I flung the potion at the monster and the glass vial shattered in its ribcage, spraying its contents all over Abadon's undead body. The normally healing liquid had the opposite effect on the undead as Abadon's bones quickly began to disintegrate. The X-potion would heal every inch of a person's body, and destroy every inch of an undead one. The healing liquid instantly traveled through the creature which turned it's body into dust as the unmoving Abadon stared blankly at the one who finally ended its life.
When Abadon became nothing more than dust in the wind, I looked back at an awe-stricken Rinoa with her mouth agape. I figured that she must have been shocked that such a large creature was destroyed so quickly and effortlessly. All I could tell her was, "Well that was easy."
"That was easy."
As we ventured on, I could see that Rinoa was beginning to get cold, judging from the tight, however cute, expression on her face. "Don't worry, we're almost there." I assured.
"Umm, yeah, it doesn't really seem like it. I don't see anything except icecaps for miles. How can we almost be there?" Rinoa asked impatiently.
A flash of light appeared briefly in the sky directly above us, accompanied by a static-like noise. The light had materialized from out of nowhere, and would look quite confusing to the ignorant onlooker. I knew that it was a glitch in Esthar's cloaking system, and exclaimed to Rinoa, "Ah ha! There it is, we're here."
"We..we're where? And what was that flash of light? It looked like some kind of TV screen or something."
"It's Esthar's state-of-the-art cloaking system. We're actually right in front of Esthar."
It took Rinoa some seconds to grasp the idea, but figured that I knew what I was talking about, so she just shrugged, indicating that she didn't understand it, but would follow me anyways. I felt for the tangible, yet invisible, ladder leading to an air duct which would grant us access to Esthar. It was still as strange of an experience as before, ascending the nothing that I was climbing.
After climbing through the air duct, Rinoa and I were met with a large, circular elevator that would lead us into the city itself. After locating the activation switch on the wall, a pink energy shield emerged from the rim of the elevator and enclosed us within its wind-resistant form. The floor began to move at a great speed towards the city. Immediately, Rinoa and I were treated to the beautiful scenery of the enormous metropolis that was Esthar. As we flew past the city, I couldn't help but stare at Rinoa, who was so enveloped in the thrill of the city. I'd forgotten that she had never even had the chance to see this before, and she looked so excited and happy at that moment that I realized then that I wanted to show her the best things in life, that things weren't as bad as they seemed.
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I called on the intercom, "Attention all Balamb Garden students; we will be departing in ten minutes. Again, we will be departing Trabia Garden in ten minutes. Please be on board as soon as possible. Our next destination is…"
I froze. I couldn't believe that I had gotten on the loud speaker without even knowing what I was going to say. There was a long pause as my mind quickly tried to think of something to say. I don't know why I said what I did, as it seemed quite strange since there was no reason to go in that direction, but all my mind could say was, "…South…we will be heading South. That is all."
Xu looked curiously at me, "Miss Trepe? Why the South?"
I was more confused than she was, but it almost seemed that it was a subconscious idea to go South. Almost as if something inside me was saying that an important memory or revelation awaited me there. I wouldn't normally trust such an unsure and illogical idea, but the feeling was that strong.