Squaresoft told me they decided not to relinquish control of Final Fantasy. They're really mean! And I asked them so nicely...
Chapter Six: Return of a Friend
"I can't believe Gary, I just can't believe him!" Seifer complained, pacing the room.
"Seifer, stop it. That's really annoying," Quistis said, frowning as she looked out the window of their base of operations. Seifer sat down on the couch.
"So, when is Gary getting here?" he asked.
"Now," said a voice from the doorway.
"I now have the entire plan. A bar owner on 3rd street, who calls himself Spikes, knows how to contact Natalie Illuna. The bar is called 'Neon Nightlife'."
"Hey, I've been there," Seifer commented.
"I thought the plan was meet her at the Summer Ball," Quistis asked, ignoring Seifer.
"The ball has been rescheduled until late next week, and we can't wait that long. Naturally, we need to talk to the bar owner soon, because we need to find out what she knows."
"I thought SeeD wasn't going to deal with people who don't abide by the law," said Quistis.
"I asked my Garden, and they said we could make an exception, becasue this could be war. Seifer, you'll talk to the bar owner. Quistis, you'll be the back up, in case anything goes wrong. I'm going to stay here, just in case anyone tries to take Caraways' life again," Gary disappeared again.
"He is the leader, right?" Seifer said. Quistis looked at him curiously.
"Um, yeah. Did you miss this part?" she asked.
"No, I mean... He never does much, does he? He's always here, sitting on his ass. Every once in a while he comes in here and tells us what to do. He just sits at that computer all day."
"You're right. But I'm sure he doesn't mean it," she said. They both sat there for a moment, considering Gary's odd behavior. Finally, Seifer spoke.
"Let's go see this guy concerning where Miss Illuna is. Then, on our way back, we can swing by and see how Zell's doing. Not that I'm concerned or anything," he added.
"Sounds like a plan," Quistis said smiling, and they both left the room.
"I want to see a man called Spikes!" Seifer shouted over the din of the patrons and the screeching and crooning of the music-like noise. The bartender at Neon Nightlife shook his head.
"No, I don't know where Spikes is," he said.
"Do you know anyone who might?" The bartender looked around for a moment, obviously thinking. From the 'highly intelligent conversation' he had had with this man, he was sure that think was quite hard for this man.
"Oy, One!" shouted the bartender. They have such intelligent, original names around here, thought Seifer. He looked into the corner as One slowly stumbled over. Quistis was sitting at the bar, blending in nicely in her disguise. She wore a dark cloak, like most of the patrons, and she was drinking the cheapest drink, also like everyone else. However, a drug developed by Garden meant her senses wouldn't be dulled. With a brown wig, some brown colored contacts and a false scar along her throat she looked like a very different person.
"Wha' ya want?" a slurred voice behind Seifer asked. He turned around.
"Do you know where Spikes is?" he asked, casually flipping several gil around in his palm. The motion wasn't lost on One. He watched the gil like a T-Rexaur would watch a particularly fat Grat.
"He's upstairs."
"Can you get me up there?" Seifer asked. Several more gil made their way from Seifer's pocket to his hand. One saw this as well, and eyed them with growing interest.
"Well..." murmured One. More coins appeared in Seifer's hand.
"Follow for me," One said decisively, walking to the back of the room. Seifer followed him up the stairs, and they knocked on the third door. One walked away from the door, and Seifer passed him the gil. One scrambled away with his prize (as fast as he could in his drunken state, which means it was more of a penguin waddle), and the door craked open.
"Who's there?"
"I want to buy some information." Gil. It was amazing how far gil could get you in the lower levels of society. Of course, Seifer knew all about this, having lived there himself for a while, until the armies had returned to their respective countries. Still, it was good to know what he had learned was serving a higher purpose.
"Come in," said Spikes, and he held the door open wide enough for Seifer to squeeze in. Seifer stood in the middle of the room, while Spikes sat down on a hard wooden char.
"What do you want?"
"I want to contact Natalie Illuna."
"Who says I know anything about Illuna?" Spikes asked suspiciously, glancing around. Seifer spread his hands in a passive, calming gesture.
"I'm not saying you do. I'm just saying that if you run into her somewhere, tell her that a friend of mine and I need to talk to her." Seifer passed Spikes some gil. "So, tell her please. This is a mailing address of mine. Contact me if she can talk, assuming you see her. There is a bonus if you can see her within the next five days." Spikes nodded, after making sure that the gil was real.
"I understand," he said, accepting the mailing address. "I'll see what I can do. But I don't promise anything, seeing as I don't know where she is." Seifer nodded.
"I understand completely, and thanks," he said, and slowly left the room to show he wasn't in a hurry to tattle to the police. He walked back downstairs, and out into the street. He walked all the way to the entrance of the park across from Caraway's, and waited there. Five minutes later, Quistis showed up, meandering at a leisurely pace. She slowly circled the park several times, then, satisfied there was no one around, came to where he waited.
"Get anything good?"
"Yeah. He's gonna tell me if he can contact her. He kept saying he didn't know where she was, but that was just because he didn't want the cops to know. The Galbadian's have been trying to catch her, apparently," he said.
"Really? Why?"
"I would assume because she has more information than anyone ever. Remember, she is an information broker. Without information, she has no buisness. So anyone who can get her help has control. Fortunately for us, she doesn't like governments."
"I guess. It feels weird now, trying to contact criminals and cut secret deals and all this. Even as a SeeD we didn't do this much."
"Then again, before we didn't know something was going to happen. At least now we can see the storm clouds and start preparing some shelter now. It seems pointless and even a little too much at first, but in the end it's gonna make a difference. At least, it had better." Quistis was quiet a moment as he finished speaking. Her eyes were slightly narrowed as she looked at him toughtfully.
"You've changed, Seifer," she commented.
"Well, that was the point," he joked, then realized she was really studying him with no trace of amusement. He felt himself starting to turn red under the intensity of her stare, and cast about him desperately for some way of distracting her. His eyes caught the distant outline of the hospital.
"Let's go see Zell now. He'll probably want to see you."
"Let's," she said. She started down the walkway, but stopped when she noticed that Seifer wasn't following her.
"Aren't you coming?" she asked. Seifer just stood there, smiling.
"Are you going to show up like that?" he asked. Quistis frowned, then turned to the nearby store window, and looked at her reflection. She was still in costume. She just sighed and shook her head.
"I forgot," she murmured, pulling off the wig and false scar. She removed the contacts, and placed them into the small contact carrier in her pocket. Then she stuffed the wig and scar away, and pulled her hair free of the net underneath the wig. She quickly fluffed her hair, then smiled at her reflection. Not bad.
"Ready now?" Seifer asked.
"Yeah," she said, smiling.
Zell sat there. A television was blaring in the some other person's room, but he wasn't trying to hear it anymore. He wasn't paying attention to the magazine on his lap either. He was staring out the window at the distant ocean, barely visible through the jungle of concrete and steel, trying to ignore the pain in his arm and chest.
"Mr. Dincht?" asked a nurse as she poked her head in the door.
"Yeah?" he asked, still staring out the window.
"There are two people here to see you," she said. Zell sat up straighter, no longer concentrating on the sliver of ocean.
"Let them in," he said. The nurse walked away. A few minutes later, Quistis and Seifer walked in.
"Hey Zell," Quistis said. "How are you doing?"
"Well, my arm hurts and my chest is in pain, but other than that I'm fine. Oh, and this hopital doesn't have any hotdogs."
"Here," Seifer said, throwing a sack on the bed, and walking over to a corner. "We got you some presents. One from me, and one from Quistis." Zell looked at it curiously, then opened it. Quistis had gotten him the new issues of 'Combat King'.
"Cool!" he said. The grabbed Seifer's gift, but he didn't need to open it to know what it was. The smell told him everything.
"HOTDOGS!" he said happily, ripping into the paper bag and stuffing one in his mouth. "Oh mun thoiks!"
"Please shut your mouth," Seifer said, covering his eyes with his hand and grimacing.
"Sorry," Zell said, swallowing. "Oh man, thanks." He took another appreciative bite and chose to savor it this time. "Man, hospital food just can't compare."
"Hospital food can't compare to anything," Seifer said. "Even those rubbery pizzas at the cafeteria are better, and probably healthier."
"You have me there," Zell said, taking another bite. He swallowed, and turned to Quistis. "So, what's been happening?"
"Nothing much. We just got back from trying to contact Miss Illuna again. We haven't really done anything else."
"Oh, sounds great. Um, did anyone think to call Melissa?" he asked.
"Oh, I did," Quistis said.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome." There was a silence for a moment, no one quite sure what to say.
"We tried to come before, but Gary wouldn't let us," Seifer said, breaking the silence.
"He's such a jerk," Quistis said, sighing. "He doesn't really know we're here though."
"You snuck away?"
"I know we shouldn't have-" Quistis began.
"That is so cool!" Zell interrupted. "I can't believe you snuck away from a mission! I thought all leaders were super tough about stuff like that! I mean, I tried to sneak away once, but I got caught."
"What mission, and where were you going?" asked Quistis curiously.
"Going to see your girlfriend?" Seifer asked although there wasn't any of his customary malice in his voice.
"Wha - NO WAY!" he said, turning red.
"This was several months after that stuff about Ultimecia."
"What do you mean, 'that stuff about Ultimecia'? You mean when we battled a few sorceresses, fought against some of the most demonic creatures there were, breaking into high-tech/high-security building, and generally saved the entire human race from being stuck in a dimesion of pain? That 'stuff'?"
"Whoa whoa whoa. Who's telling the story, me or you? Anyway, we had just come from Timber, helping liberate it like we were supposed to, when we received a distress call from them saying that Galbadia was threatening to come back. So we went to Deling to speak with the current temporary President. But while we were on our way to see the president, I saw this great new hotdog joint..."
"Oh Hyne," Quists said. Both Quistis and Seifer were grinning. They could already see where this was going.
"...So I executed a well-thought out plan to remove myself from the vehicle, and started racing toward it. One of the people with me, Irvine actually, had to jump out after me and tackle me to the ground to get me away from the hotdogs."
"At least none of the officials were with you," Seifer said.
"Yeah, my mission leader said the same thing."
"But what about all of that was sneaking?" Seifer asked.
"Well, first I turned the music up really loud - we were on a bus - then at the next red light I just rushed out of the door." The nurse poked her head in the door.
"Excuse me, but visiting hours are up." Quistis sighed.
"Okay, thank you," she said, and walked toward the door, Seifer following her.
"Goodbye!" Zell called.
"See you later," Quistis said.
"Bye," muttered Seifer. They both walked down the cold white hallway in silence, the only sound coming from quiet televisions and the movements of nurses. They walked down the stairs, pass the nurses station, and out into the chill night air of Deling City. Quistis paused by a wooden bench.
"Mind if I sit down a moment?" she asked. Seifer shrugged, which Quistis supposed meant 'yes', and sat down. He followed suit.
"So, what do we tell Gary?" asked Quistis. "That it took longer than usual to get the information from Spikes?"
"Works for me. You know what, we should tell Zell about Gary tomorrow. See what he says about the subject."
"Yeah, that's a good idea. How much longer does he have?"
"Three days, including today."
"Man, that is going to be a long time."
"I know. He's going to be so bored, and everyone will be so worried. Oh, that reminds me, I was going to call Melissa and Selphie. And I should probably call everyone else too."
"Well, I meant a long time for me, because I won't have anymore comic relief, but I guess Zell will be bored too."
"Oh, stop that," Quistis said, rolling her eyes. Seifer just grinned.
"Okay, I checked the account Seifer set up with Spikes yesterday, and so far there hasn't been any word," Gary said as he walked into the dining room where Quistis and Seifer were sitting the next morning.
"Hey, it's only the first day," Seifer said. "Naturally, these things take time. First, if she's really that good, she'll want to make sure we're not going to turn her in. Then she'll want to set up a clean meeting place. That means there aren't any bugs," he added, seeing the looks on their faces at his use of the slang terms for the spy activities. Quistis nodded, but Gary looked confused.
"Why would she care about bugs?" he asked. Sefer looked at him in astonishment.
"You mean you've never heard the term 'bugging'?" he said. Gary shook his head. Seifer rolled his eyes to the ceiling, and his had a 'why-am-I-stuck-with-such-a-stupid-person-leading-this-team' look. "What are they teaching you at school? Okay, bugging means spying. If you bug the place, you put up recording devices."
"Oh, I see," Gary said. "I just forgot." Seifer just shook his head.
"After she gets a bug-free place, she'll want her backup in place. Then she'll call us. Might even get a look alike, too. She probably has a lot of enemies."
"Anyway, moving on," Gary said. "We need word from the account until we move ahead. For now, just see if the police have any leads on the sniper attack."
"Why don't you do that?" asked Seifer. "Why do we need to do it all the time?"
"Because I said so," Gary replied. Seifer shook his head.
"That's something you tell children, Gary. Really, you need better retorts. Try that again."
"What...?" Gary said, looking puzzled. Seifer opened his mouth to reply, but Quistis beat him to it.
"Seifer and I will go look into that, okay?" she said. Gary nodded, and walked over to his computer. Quistis hearded Seifer out of the room.
"What was all that about?"
"What?"
"The taunting about his lame retort."
"Oh, that. I need someone to tease now. I just happen to be pissed at Gary."
"Aww, are you concerned about Zell?"
"If a team member is killed on a team that I am a part of, it will be considered suspicious. That's all."
"Uh-huh." Quistis didn't say anything else, but she had heard the concern in his voice earlier. Despite what he said, he wanted forgivness, and still cared about what happened to the people that he had grown up with. Even if that had been a bit obscured for a while. She supposed, in the end, he was only human. All they had to do was show the rest of the world that too.
"I'm sorry, Miss Trepe, but there have been no leads as to what happened," said the fat constable, sitting behind his bare metal desk. He shuffled a few papers, as though trying to look important, then looked back up at her. "We'll let you hear as soon as there are any leads." Quistis frowned. It had been several days, and still they didn't know who could be behind the attack.
"You should have a lead by now."
"I know, ma'am, but there's nothing. This guy was good. He got in and out without breaking anything. It's like he knew the codes. And he didn't leave anything behind - no fingerprints, no pieces of cloth, nothing. If it wasn't for the bullet and witnesses, I wouldn't know the guy had been there." Seifer groaned in aggrivation.
"If he knew the codes, that points to an inside job. That's a lead, right?"
"Well, yes..."
"Then why couldn't you say that?"
"I..." He looked about helplessly for a moment, then continued. "At any rate, if there is anything else, I'll let you know."
"Fine," said Quistis, and she left the room. Seifer trailed behind her.
"Well, that was a complete waste of time. We argued with them for fifteen minutes, and we got nothing."
"Not entirely true," said Quistis. "We know they don't want us to help them look."
"Which means we help, right?"
"Of course. We must help them search in the name of 'security and well-being between the nations'."
"Ooo, that's a good one," Seifer said, grinning. He help out his arm, gesturing toward the Presidential Palace.
"Shall we join our fellow searchers now?"
"I think we shall," she said brightly, looping her arm through his, and together they set off toward the massive building.
They reached the site, but were hindered by a guard.
"No one may enter this place," he said. "There is an investigation underway."
"I know," Quistis said as sweetly as she could, though Seifer could see from her eyes that she was getting angry. "We're here to help. A SeeD on our team was injured here, which makes us a part of this investigation."
"If a civilian was killed, the family wouldn't be searchers in the investigation. If a buisnessperson was killed, their office workers wouldn't be searchers in the investigation. So you can't help."
"But we were trained to do this kind of thing, which separates us from those other people."
"Well, yes..."
"And it wouldn't be wise to hinder a SeeD doing sanctioned government work, would it?"
"I suppose not..." The guard looked around a moment, then sighed. "Okay, you may enter."
"Thank you," Quistis said, and she walked past the guard, with Seifer following close behind.
"Nice job," he said.
"Another minute, and I would have strangled the guy."
'To be fair, he was only doing his job."
"Yes, I know." Quistis walked up the stairs to a small balcony overlooking the ballroom. "This must be where the shooter was."
"Yeah, because where there is that really dark stain - I think we both know what that is - is visible from here. It would be a good, clear shot too." Quistis and Seifer searched all over the balcony, the stairs, the windows, the ballroom, everywhere - but there were no more signs of the assassin.
"Either the police have all the clues, or the assassin was really good," Seifer said as they walked out of the Presidential Palace, and along the street that lead back to Caraway's manor. "I wish I knew what the police saw, when the trail was still hot."
"Yeah. I bet we would have seen more things than them," Quistis murmured, kicking at a stone that lay on the sidewalk. They walked in silence a moment, pondering their next move. A dark clad figure walked by them, hitting Seifer. He turned around, annoyed.
"Hey, watch where..." he stopped as the figure turned around. "Squall? What are you doing here?"