This chapter was Hell to write. The capital H is justified, believe me... After rewrite on rewrite on rewrite, this is version 3628 or thereabouts. Let me know what you think! Enjoy.

Part 9 – Flying high, falling hard

The office's large windows offered a beautiful view of the landscape just outside Galbadia Garden. The blue sky was only erratically disturbed by hazy clouds, and the sun made the glass of the windows sparkle. But Seifer saw none of it.

Sitting in the Garden Commander's office, which was now his, he gazed out the window, but none of what he saw truly reached him. In front of him were the various reports he troops send from around the globe. Their contents reminded him yet again of how amazingly little it took to go from being in control to having nothing left to fight for.

Eventually, when push came to shove, he hadn't been able to avoid executing the orders she's given him. Perhaps he shouldn't even have hoped he'd be able to change the tide she had set in. So he had ended up making Galbadia Garden their headquarters, killing everyone who resisted. And he had done what he had dreaded most: launch missiles at the Garden academies in Trabia and Balamb.

His Lady's wishes were as simple as they were far-reaching. All SeeD were to be destroyed, period. He'd did all he could think of to stop the senseless massacre of the Garden academies. The populations there consisted mainly of under-aged students, and where slaying soldiers in her name was one thing, murdering children was something else entirely.

But his trump card had proved completely ineffective: Allowing Squall and his friends to escape had been all he'd dared to risk, but had done ill than good. The SeeD hadn't been in time to stop the missiles. He told himself that they could never have made it on time, even if they had caught on to the rumours and had gone to stop the launch.

So now he was plagued by a nagging uncertainty on where the SeeD now were. Where Squall was… SeeD always turned to the nearest Garden when in trouble. But Trabia Garden had been destroyed by the time they'd gotten out of the prison and Galbadia Garden had fallen in enemy hands. That left Balamb Garden, but if they'd gone back there, they had probably got caught in the missile bombardment.

There was one other option. If they'd gone to the missile base, like he had at first hoped they would…

He didn't dare to think about that possibility. The last communiqué they'd received from the base came in right after he, under Edea's scrutinizing eyes, had authorized the missiles at Balamb to be fired. The message had come from the central computer announcing that the self-destruct sequence had been initiated. Sabotage, of course. He had counted on the base being compromised. But according to the reports, the explosion in the compound had left no survivors.

And that meant that all evidence pointed out that Squall was most probably dead…

Squall… Gone… He hadn't had the time yet to get his mind around that idea, or the consequences it entailed. Hadn't want to, either. He couldn't decide whether he was furious or sad. Both feelings battled for the upper hand, but it usually ended in a stalemate of apathy. Like now… And to make matters worse, the whole series of events had earned him a severe heart-to-heart with his Sorceress.

Although she didn't seem to suspect his slow reaction to the SeeD's jailbreak to be deliberate, she wasn't too happy with the results of the missile attack. Most prominently about the fact that Balamb Garden had survived the impact and was last seen at Fisherman's Horizon, apparently to figure out how the facility's standard-but-as-yet-never-used hover propulsion worked. All Gardens had hover propulsion, but it wasn't exactly common knowledge. Sorceress Edea had known about the mechanism somehow, so Galbadia Garden was mobile these days, too. And for a good reason, too: his new orders said he was to use this new feature to destroy Balamb Garden in an all-out attack.

And then she told him things he really didn't want to think about. About who she really was. Learning that had dissolved his last shreds of hope for a happy ending to this mess.

Staring empty-eyed at the horizon, he knew that should worry about his Lady hanging like Damocles' sword over the world, instead of contemplating Squall's unconfirmed death or his own feelings of guilt. She was up to no good and the one person he knew could stop her was believed to be dead. Still, pointless as it seemed, he had decided to keep fighting her for as long as he could, even if he would die trying. Whored-out as his principles were, he hadn't lost all sense of honour just yet…

He was rudely awakened from his thoughts when someone knocked loudly on the door. It startled him for a moment, but he was completely composed when the door opened.

Fuujin and Raijin.

He'd almost forgotten about them, and the mission he'd send them on. He'd delegated one of Edea's less dangerous orders to them, hoping it would take them far enough from her not to get involved if things suddenly went all mushroom-shaped. He was enough of a murderer without having their lives on his hands, too.

"Back already?" It came out a lot harsher than he'd intended, but he was truly surprised to see them.

Raijin, in his continuous optimism, just grinned. "We can be quick if we want to, y' know. Besides, you said you wanted regular updates on our progress."

"Not necessarily in person," Seifer stated grimly as he got to his feet.

They were used to his harshness, but this was cold, even for him. They looked at him with puzzled faces. Then Fuujin gave him a stern glare in return.

"NEWS. URGENT." Her eye flared as she spoke at the tone she always used when she wanted to convince him to listen. It worked.

Seifer bit back a snappy answer, and chose for a more agreeable tone of voice. "So urgent you couldn't just fax it, like the other reports?" he said, trying his best to sound less irritated. They deserved better than him taking his frustrations out on them.

Fuujin shook her head. "CONFIDENTIAL," she stated with a resolute swipe of her hand. Then her face softened. "And personal..."

They exchanged gazes for a moment. It was clear from his posse's eyes that whatever it was they wanted to tell him, it was serious. And he knew better than to ignore that, no matter his own problems. Folding his arms, he directed his full attention to them. "Okay, let's hear it."

"Well," Raijin started. " 'Bout the mission. We haven't found that girl you told us to find. That Ellone's giving us the slip, y' know. But we did find something else, y' know."

Seifer merely nodded, more than used to his friends' speech habits.

"BALAMB GARDEN," Fuujin elaborated.

"It's mobile now, y'know. Like Galbadia Garden. And it came to Balamb City when we were searching that place, y' know."

"So I've heard," Seifer said flatly. "I've already got orders to destroy Balamb Garden."

"That's not going to be easy, y' know," Raijin warned without missing a beat. Obviously they already anticipated that answer.

Seifer let out a cruel laugh. "I've got the whole Galbadian Army at my disposal. Headmaster Cid can lead a school, perhaps. But he can't lead an army, let alone stand up against a full-scale assault."

It spiked him that his friends didn't seem to share his sense of confidence…

"NEGATIVE. SQUALL."

"Yeah, Squall's in charge there now, y' know!"

… and with good reason, too. He froze.

"What!"

Raijin shrugged nervously. "Squall's leading the SeeD now. We met 'im, y' know. He kicked our butts, but he lets us go afterwards, y'know."

Seifer didn't move. It was all he could do to breathe. Squall was alive after all! And in charge of Balamb Garden no less!

Suddenly there was hope. Hope for the future, hope of everyone he cared about getting out of this situation alive. Squall's skills and abilities had surpassed his every expectation. He couldn't help but feel proud of his 'little brother'. But none of that feeling showed on his face.

"So Squally-boy's got himself an army, has he?" he said with well-practised sarcasm. "Ha, we'll see if it stands against my forces."

"MESSAGE," Fuujin's voice cut him off.

Raijin nodded. "Yeah, Squall asked us to give you a message, y' know."

Seifer let the words sink in before turning to listen. Squall gave them a message? Probably a signed and sealed request for him to go to hell.

But then Fuujin gave him an eerily compassionate glance. "STOP."

He frowned, genuinely puzzled. "Stop what?"

"He wants you to stop being the Sorceress' Knight, y' know," Raijin explained. "He said it'll just get you into more trouble, 'cause he ain't gonna hold back next time."

Seifer had the feeling his insides were burned by ice. His hand reached up to the scar between his eyes, as he remembered what it signified. Hearing that his rival was alive had stirred more hope that it should have: an idle hope for something he had no right to hope for. Squall hated him, and that was all there was to it.

"So he wants me to surrender? I thought he'd know better than to think I'd give up without a fight!"

"He knows too well you won't, Seif. That's why he wanted us to ask you, y' know. He was hoping you'd listen to us." The big man looked at his feet for a moment. "And so were we, y' know."

Fingers crossed that Chapter 10 is not going to take me six weeks to finish... And don't forget to R&R! No one can improve without feedback.