Enigma
'Oh! How I hate Sunday mornings!' grumbled the blonde to herself.
She looked over to the left and saw that the clock read 7AM. Quistis irritably got up from bed and grabbed the brush from her bedside table. She fixed her hair into its standard Instructor look and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. After half an hour of fixer upper, she brewed a mug of her usual morning coffee and went to her living room to watch TV.
Quistis' apartment, in contrast to Squall's modern one, was given a French decorative flair, which gave the pad a very elegant look. Being the adoptive father that he was, Headmaster Cid had chosen specifically this apartment for the conspicuously bright young woman. It was furnished with antique-looking furniture hand-built by Timber's best craftsmen, and the French café-kitchen was a really great place for Quistis to unwind and let off some steam. The layout was pretty much similar to the other apartments, except that the theme sort of gave each one a different feel.
'This is boring...' She gulped her coffee and sulked when she realized it was decaf.
'No sense making another cup now.' Setting the mug atop the rectangular table in front of her, she made a dash for the remote that lay on top of last week's TV schedules.
'Ultimecia's dead...and nothing's really wrong with the world.' Quistis sighed sadly while surfing through Galbadian cable.
'Wonder how the Garden's going to hold up its expenses, now that all hell has subsided.' She continued surfing through hundreds of useless channels until something caught her eye. A young reporter decked in a Galbadia News Network uniform was reporting an incident that had occurred in Deling City early in the morning.
"...and Galbadian officers have yet to discover who the murderer is. For those whom have just joined us right now, we are in the midst of a very mysterious murder case. Earlier this morning, a man was found dead in one of Deling City's back allies. The most prominent detail however, ladies and gentlemen, is the fact that the victim was expertly sliced into six, symmetrical pieces. Medical officials have confirmed that he died the moment his assailant brought an unknown weapon down on him. Joining me right now is Dr. Willaf Groebel of the Deling City Criminology department to brief you further on this murder. Sir, can you please tell us any speculations the department might have on this man's death?"
A middle-aged, respectable looking man in a white lab coat spoke on the reporter's microphone. "Sarah, up to this moment, the case still baffles most of the experts who have examined the body. His face was basically crushed, so he still remains unidentifiable to the City's archives. What really bothers most of the doctors who have been checking the subject is that the five, perfect cuts made on the body were actually the cause of his death."
Sarah interrupted the doctor. "Sir, does this mean that his body wasn't cut up after death?"
Dr. Willaf nodded. "That seems to be the case. If the man were slain right before he was cut up, we would know because the blood would have begun to darken and clot. These cuts, however," said the doctor while the screen faded to show some pictures with the victim's face censored, "show that the blood had just begun to clot around the vicinity where the slashes were made."
Quistis stared at the pictures and felt a lurching sensation in her stomach. His organs were spilled all over the pavement, his blood staining the cement a deep crimson. The red liquid had made a large stain about eight feet in diameter. His stomach had seeped its acids as well, corroding the man's skin and eating through flesh, muscle, and bone. Amidst the mess, the incisions made on the victim were clearly noticeable.
'It's just too perfect for a simple butcher's knife,' Quistis noted to herself.
Sarah nodded and thanked the doctor. "Thank you Dr. Willaf." The woman looked back to the camera and shifted her look to indicate that she was reporting something new. "Ladies and gentlemen, criminology experts have stumbled into another discovery. Another article was found in the alley where the man was killed. A pile of ash that was found to be the remains of a charred briefcase contained small vials of liquid that had evaporated and shattered when officials arrived at the scene. When criminology experts had inspected the bag, however, traces of chemicals were found with a label that had escaped the flames earlier. Reported to have been stolen from Esthar's famed Odine laboratories, the label was too burnt to reveal the nature of the liquid. Galbadian officials have already contacted Dr. Odine and are interrogating him regarding the matter."
Quistis paused for a moment and used her special zoom function to magnify a certain portion of the screen. When it had zoomed well enough, it revealed the figure of a tall blonde in a silver coat accompanied by a pale, young woman in blue and a dark man in combat wear.
"Hyne! Is that Seifer?"
She put on her glasses and stared at the plasma screen. It was undoubtedly Seifer with his posse in the background.
"Oh no! He didn't kill the man, did he?" she asked herself, apparently worried for her pupil. She slapped her cheek to reassure herself that Seifer would never do such a thing. She shifted her attention back to the lady reporter who seemed to be receiving something from her earpiece.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Dr. Odine is on the phone right now. We will be wiring the conversation via videophone for your viewing pleasure."
The screen changed and Dr. Odine's inquisitive face appeared on screen, the frills surrounding his neck giving him a really foreign and outlandish look.
"Dr. Odine, Galbadian scientists have inspected the crime scene and have reported that the charred contents of a briefcase had been traced to your laboratory. What can you say about this?"
Odine scratched his chin and said, "Vell, az you can zee, zose chemicals of mine vere stolen by some spiez, I believe. Zose chemicals are part ov a very delicatez project by me, ze great Odine of Esthar."
'I hate that accent.'
"However, Ms. Reporter, zat project vas abandoned months ago, by me, when I discovered that it vas too dangerousz to test on humanz."
The reporter threw another question at the eccentric scientist. "What exactly does the chemical do, sir?"
"Vell, I'll try to explain it in a, as you Galbadians would say, nutshell. Zis chemical was invented by me, the Great Odine, to endow young women vith some sorceress powerz so zat I, Dr. Odine, can continue my rezearch on zese enigmatic beings. However, I, the Great Odine, also make mistakes, and it zeemed that the project vas too dangerous to pursue."
'Gosh, that man is just obnoxious praising himself like he was some god or something!' thought Quistis, obviously irritated by Odine.
Before she could be annoyed any more by the television, she turned it off and went to her balcony overlooking Timber's famed Obel Lake. By the lakeside, she saw Squall taking Rinoa into his arms and dunking her into the water along with him. Seconds later, a drenched Rinoa came out and began frantically looking for Squall, when she was pulled down into the water again. Quistis tried hard to avoid laughing when a bright light shot from the lake and Rinoa came out of the water, a petrified Squall floating behind her. Gently setting him on the ground, Quistis saw Rinoa use what might have looked liked an Esuna spell and Squall became normal again. He shook his hair dry like a dog and pinned her on the grass, tickling his sorceress all over while she laughed and writhed on the ground.
Quistis sighed sadly. 'Ouragan would never do that to me.'
The instructor was startled when she heard a knock on the door. Fixing her collar, she opened it to greet a very familiar face.
"Good morning Quistis."
Quistis blushed ten shades of red and exclaimed, "Ouragan! What are you doing here?"
"If you don't want me here, I'll leave, is that okay?"
Quistis frantically shook her head and took his hands into hers and nudged him to enter. "No. No. It's no that. Look, I'm sorry. It was rude of me to say something like that."
She paused for a while when he said, "Quistis, if you were doing something important before I came, I'll come back later."
Realizing that her hands were on Ouragan's, she wiped them on her blouse and continued while blushing even more, "I was doing nothing. I was just...surprised to see you coming to see me this early."
Ouragan looked at his watch. "It's 8AM in the morning. I guess that would be a perfect reason to visit you," he grinned at her.
Quistis felt her heart beating inside her ribcage, threatening to spurt out blood were it not for the thick muscle that surrounded the vital organ. "Oh, please come in."
Ouragan stepped into her living room. "Nice."
Bewildered, Quistis asked, "What?"
"I like your apartment. It's elegant in every sense of the word, much like the woman who lives in it."
Quistis blushed at his wooing. "What ever do you mean?"
Ouragan looked at her eyes. "I mean to say that you are a really good friend to have. You are a great companion, wise, caring, and very smart. You carry yourself pretty well, and I admire that."
Quistis eyes widened as if she were expecting much more to come out from him.
"I really must be lucky to be your best friend, Quistis Trepe."
Quistis' heart fell when he said that, but she tried very hard to hide the hurt creeping inside. "Yeah...I feel glad too, Ouragan."
'I want to be more than friends.'
"Um, I was wondering, do you want to go out for breakfast?" offered the polite commander.
Quistis was sulking inside, so she didn't hear him at all.
'I've always loved you Ouragan. I always have, ever since we were kids. Why couldn't you love me back?'
"Quis?'
Quistis shook her head and replied. "I'm sorry, I was thinking about something."
"Do you want to talk about it over breakfast?"
"...sure...I'll just get changed."
She began leaving until she felt Ouragan's hand on her wrist. "Don't. You look lovely as you are."
Quistis faked a smile, still hurt that he didn't intend to bring their friendship up a level higher. "Thank you Ouragan, but I'd really prefer it if people saw me wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt rather than this duster I have on me."
Ouragan smiled at her and said, "Okay."
---------------
Squall and Rinoa lay there on the grass, wet and laughing. Rinoa held Squall's hand tightly.
"Don't ever...haha...do that again."
Squall rolled over to face her and asked, "If you ever petrify me again, I'm going to tickle you until your powers can no longer take me."
Rinoa poked his ribs and he let out a small giggle. "Ah ah ah!" she said in a singsong tone while waving her finger back and forth. "I'm going to freeze you first before you can do that." She rolled over to face him too, their lips only inches apart from each other. "I just let you win earlier, so that I won't shatter your pride," she said in a matter-of-fact way.
Squall inched closer to her lips and purred. "Well, we'll just have to see about that." He took her lips into his and began probing her mouth with his tongue. He let his hand run down her wet back, feeling for her ribs, and in the middle of their very intense kiss, he poked her.
Rinoa jumped up in surprise, her hands poised to cast a spell. "Squall, you...!" Squall stood up and kissed her again, holding her hand so as to avoid any accidents while he stroked her wet mane of raven hair gently.
"I love you," Squall said when their lips parted.
Rinoa leaned on her knight and said, "And I love you." They held on to their warm embrace and sat down on the edge of the lake, gazing at the beauty of nature.
"Squall, let's go back. I'm shivering in these wet clothes."
"Yeah, I am too." He helped Rinoa up and started walking towards the beautiful Balamb Garden hovering beside Timber. Squall was surprised, however, when he saw two Garden hover bikes speeding towards him.
His father Laguna had donated new technology to aid Balamb Garden in future missions, and these gorgeous Estharian bikes that floated with marvelous anti-gravity technology were just some of the few new gizmos they received from the happy-go-lucky president.
Nida and another cadet sped over to the couple on the floating bikes, and the Garden pilot got off the vehicle when he saluted the commander.
"Commander Leonhart, sir! Irvine and Selphie were looking for you and they requested that you come find them immediately in the directory. They were saying something rather important, sir!"
Squall saluted Nida and said, "Nida, enough with the formalities, it's a Sunday." Rinoa giggled at his stern demeanor and she slapped his arm affectionately.
Nida told the other cadet, "Liz, get on my bike. The Commander will be using that one." The young girl nodded and held on to Nida as he started the engine and sped back to the Garden.
Squall sat on the driver's seat and gestured Rinoa to come over. When she looked unsure of what to do, Squall gave her a reassuring gaze.
"Just stay close to me, okay?" Squall told her.
Rinoa felt comforted by those words and hugged Squall's back as he rode the silent vehicle back to the academy. Three times he had said that, and three times she felt so wonderful whenever he uttered those words—the words that started it all.
When they arrived at the Garden, Squall got off the bike and caught his wet girlfriend in his arms. She hugged him like she did when they were alone in the Ragnarok and he kissed her lips softly before putting her down. They walked over to the directory and saw Selphie and Irvine waiting for them.
Selphie was the first one to greet them. "Rinoa! Squall! Thank goodness you're alright!" Selphie gave Rinoa a strong, tight bearhug and Rinoa gasped for air.
"Selphie, I know you're happy to see me but please allow me to breath!" Selphie sheepishly let her go.
Squall raised one eyebrow and asked, "Selphie, Irvine? What's going on?"
===========
I hope you enjoyed this one, ladies and gentlemen (and oh so nice reviewers). We're coming close to the bulk of the story so please bear with me. Next chapter: Assassins
'Oh! How I hate Sunday mornings!' grumbled the blonde to herself.
She looked over to the left and saw that the clock read 7AM. Quistis irritably got up from bed and grabbed the brush from her bedside table. She fixed her hair into its standard Instructor look and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. After half an hour of fixer upper, she brewed a mug of her usual morning coffee and went to her living room to watch TV.
Quistis' apartment, in contrast to Squall's modern one, was given a French decorative flair, which gave the pad a very elegant look. Being the adoptive father that he was, Headmaster Cid had chosen specifically this apartment for the conspicuously bright young woman. It was furnished with antique-looking furniture hand-built by Timber's best craftsmen, and the French café-kitchen was a really great place for Quistis to unwind and let off some steam. The layout was pretty much similar to the other apartments, except that the theme sort of gave each one a different feel.
'This is boring...' She gulped her coffee and sulked when she realized it was decaf.
'No sense making another cup now.' Setting the mug atop the rectangular table in front of her, she made a dash for the remote that lay on top of last week's TV schedules.
'Ultimecia's dead...and nothing's really wrong with the world.' Quistis sighed sadly while surfing through Galbadian cable.
'Wonder how the Garden's going to hold up its expenses, now that all hell has subsided.' She continued surfing through hundreds of useless channels until something caught her eye. A young reporter decked in a Galbadia News Network uniform was reporting an incident that had occurred in Deling City early in the morning.
"...and Galbadian officers have yet to discover who the murderer is. For those whom have just joined us right now, we are in the midst of a very mysterious murder case. Earlier this morning, a man was found dead in one of Deling City's back allies. The most prominent detail however, ladies and gentlemen, is the fact that the victim was expertly sliced into six, symmetrical pieces. Medical officials have confirmed that he died the moment his assailant brought an unknown weapon down on him. Joining me right now is Dr. Willaf Groebel of the Deling City Criminology department to brief you further on this murder. Sir, can you please tell us any speculations the department might have on this man's death?"
A middle-aged, respectable looking man in a white lab coat spoke on the reporter's microphone. "Sarah, up to this moment, the case still baffles most of the experts who have examined the body. His face was basically crushed, so he still remains unidentifiable to the City's archives. What really bothers most of the doctors who have been checking the subject is that the five, perfect cuts made on the body were actually the cause of his death."
Sarah interrupted the doctor. "Sir, does this mean that his body wasn't cut up after death?"
Dr. Willaf nodded. "That seems to be the case. If the man were slain right before he was cut up, we would know because the blood would have begun to darken and clot. These cuts, however," said the doctor while the screen faded to show some pictures with the victim's face censored, "show that the blood had just begun to clot around the vicinity where the slashes were made."
Quistis stared at the pictures and felt a lurching sensation in her stomach. His organs were spilled all over the pavement, his blood staining the cement a deep crimson. The red liquid had made a large stain about eight feet in diameter. His stomach had seeped its acids as well, corroding the man's skin and eating through flesh, muscle, and bone. Amidst the mess, the incisions made on the victim were clearly noticeable.
'It's just too perfect for a simple butcher's knife,' Quistis noted to herself.
Sarah nodded and thanked the doctor. "Thank you Dr. Willaf." The woman looked back to the camera and shifted her look to indicate that she was reporting something new. "Ladies and gentlemen, criminology experts have stumbled into another discovery. Another article was found in the alley where the man was killed. A pile of ash that was found to be the remains of a charred briefcase contained small vials of liquid that had evaporated and shattered when officials arrived at the scene. When criminology experts had inspected the bag, however, traces of chemicals were found with a label that had escaped the flames earlier. Reported to have been stolen from Esthar's famed Odine laboratories, the label was too burnt to reveal the nature of the liquid. Galbadian officials have already contacted Dr. Odine and are interrogating him regarding the matter."
Quistis paused for a moment and used her special zoom function to magnify a certain portion of the screen. When it had zoomed well enough, it revealed the figure of a tall blonde in a silver coat accompanied by a pale, young woman in blue and a dark man in combat wear.
"Hyne! Is that Seifer?"
She put on her glasses and stared at the plasma screen. It was undoubtedly Seifer with his posse in the background.
"Oh no! He didn't kill the man, did he?" she asked herself, apparently worried for her pupil. She slapped her cheek to reassure herself that Seifer would never do such a thing. She shifted her attention back to the lady reporter who seemed to be receiving something from her earpiece.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Dr. Odine is on the phone right now. We will be wiring the conversation via videophone for your viewing pleasure."
The screen changed and Dr. Odine's inquisitive face appeared on screen, the frills surrounding his neck giving him a really foreign and outlandish look.
"Dr. Odine, Galbadian scientists have inspected the crime scene and have reported that the charred contents of a briefcase had been traced to your laboratory. What can you say about this?"
Odine scratched his chin and said, "Vell, az you can zee, zose chemicals of mine vere stolen by some spiez, I believe. Zose chemicals are part ov a very delicatez project by me, ze great Odine of Esthar."
'I hate that accent.'
"However, Ms. Reporter, zat project vas abandoned months ago, by me, when I discovered that it vas too dangerousz to test on humanz."
The reporter threw another question at the eccentric scientist. "What exactly does the chemical do, sir?"
"Vell, I'll try to explain it in a, as you Galbadians would say, nutshell. Zis chemical was invented by me, the Great Odine, to endow young women vith some sorceress powerz so zat I, Dr. Odine, can continue my rezearch on zese enigmatic beings. However, I, the Great Odine, also make mistakes, and it zeemed that the project vas too dangerous to pursue."
'Gosh, that man is just obnoxious praising himself like he was some god or something!' thought Quistis, obviously irritated by Odine.
Before she could be annoyed any more by the television, she turned it off and went to her balcony overlooking Timber's famed Obel Lake. By the lakeside, she saw Squall taking Rinoa into his arms and dunking her into the water along with him. Seconds later, a drenched Rinoa came out and began frantically looking for Squall, when she was pulled down into the water again. Quistis tried hard to avoid laughing when a bright light shot from the lake and Rinoa came out of the water, a petrified Squall floating behind her. Gently setting him on the ground, Quistis saw Rinoa use what might have looked liked an Esuna spell and Squall became normal again. He shook his hair dry like a dog and pinned her on the grass, tickling his sorceress all over while she laughed and writhed on the ground.
Quistis sighed sadly. 'Ouragan would never do that to me.'
The instructor was startled when she heard a knock on the door. Fixing her collar, she opened it to greet a very familiar face.
"Good morning Quistis."
Quistis blushed ten shades of red and exclaimed, "Ouragan! What are you doing here?"
"If you don't want me here, I'll leave, is that okay?"
Quistis frantically shook her head and took his hands into hers and nudged him to enter. "No. No. It's no that. Look, I'm sorry. It was rude of me to say something like that."
She paused for a while when he said, "Quistis, if you were doing something important before I came, I'll come back later."
Realizing that her hands were on Ouragan's, she wiped them on her blouse and continued while blushing even more, "I was doing nothing. I was just...surprised to see you coming to see me this early."
Ouragan looked at his watch. "It's 8AM in the morning. I guess that would be a perfect reason to visit you," he grinned at her.
Quistis felt her heart beating inside her ribcage, threatening to spurt out blood were it not for the thick muscle that surrounded the vital organ. "Oh, please come in."
Ouragan stepped into her living room. "Nice."
Bewildered, Quistis asked, "What?"
"I like your apartment. It's elegant in every sense of the word, much like the woman who lives in it."
Quistis blushed at his wooing. "What ever do you mean?"
Ouragan looked at her eyes. "I mean to say that you are a really good friend to have. You are a great companion, wise, caring, and very smart. You carry yourself pretty well, and I admire that."
Quistis eyes widened as if she were expecting much more to come out from him.
"I really must be lucky to be your best friend, Quistis Trepe."
Quistis' heart fell when he said that, but she tried very hard to hide the hurt creeping inside. "Yeah...I feel glad too, Ouragan."
'I want to be more than friends.'
"Um, I was wondering, do you want to go out for breakfast?" offered the polite commander.
Quistis was sulking inside, so she didn't hear him at all.
'I've always loved you Ouragan. I always have, ever since we were kids. Why couldn't you love me back?'
"Quis?'
Quistis shook her head and replied. "I'm sorry, I was thinking about something."
"Do you want to talk about it over breakfast?"
"...sure...I'll just get changed."
She began leaving until she felt Ouragan's hand on her wrist. "Don't. You look lovely as you are."
Quistis faked a smile, still hurt that he didn't intend to bring their friendship up a level higher. "Thank you Ouragan, but I'd really prefer it if people saw me wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt rather than this duster I have on me."
Ouragan smiled at her and said, "Okay."
---------------
Squall and Rinoa lay there on the grass, wet and laughing. Rinoa held Squall's hand tightly.
"Don't ever...haha...do that again."
Squall rolled over to face her and asked, "If you ever petrify me again, I'm going to tickle you until your powers can no longer take me."
Rinoa poked his ribs and he let out a small giggle. "Ah ah ah!" she said in a singsong tone while waving her finger back and forth. "I'm going to freeze you first before you can do that." She rolled over to face him too, their lips only inches apart from each other. "I just let you win earlier, so that I won't shatter your pride," she said in a matter-of-fact way.
Squall inched closer to her lips and purred. "Well, we'll just have to see about that." He took her lips into his and began probing her mouth with his tongue. He let his hand run down her wet back, feeling for her ribs, and in the middle of their very intense kiss, he poked her.
Rinoa jumped up in surprise, her hands poised to cast a spell. "Squall, you...!" Squall stood up and kissed her again, holding her hand so as to avoid any accidents while he stroked her wet mane of raven hair gently.
"I love you," Squall said when their lips parted.
Rinoa leaned on her knight and said, "And I love you." They held on to their warm embrace and sat down on the edge of the lake, gazing at the beauty of nature.
"Squall, let's go back. I'm shivering in these wet clothes."
"Yeah, I am too." He helped Rinoa up and started walking towards the beautiful Balamb Garden hovering beside Timber. Squall was surprised, however, when he saw two Garden hover bikes speeding towards him.
His father Laguna had donated new technology to aid Balamb Garden in future missions, and these gorgeous Estharian bikes that floated with marvelous anti-gravity technology were just some of the few new gizmos they received from the happy-go-lucky president.
Nida and another cadet sped over to the couple on the floating bikes, and the Garden pilot got off the vehicle when he saluted the commander.
"Commander Leonhart, sir! Irvine and Selphie were looking for you and they requested that you come find them immediately in the directory. They were saying something rather important, sir!"
Squall saluted Nida and said, "Nida, enough with the formalities, it's a Sunday." Rinoa giggled at his stern demeanor and she slapped his arm affectionately.
Nida told the other cadet, "Liz, get on my bike. The Commander will be using that one." The young girl nodded and held on to Nida as he started the engine and sped back to the Garden.
Squall sat on the driver's seat and gestured Rinoa to come over. When she looked unsure of what to do, Squall gave her a reassuring gaze.
"Just stay close to me, okay?" Squall told her.
Rinoa felt comforted by those words and hugged Squall's back as he rode the silent vehicle back to the academy. Three times he had said that, and three times she felt so wonderful whenever he uttered those words—the words that started it all.
When they arrived at the Garden, Squall got off the bike and caught his wet girlfriend in his arms. She hugged him like she did when they were alone in the Ragnarok and he kissed her lips softly before putting her down. They walked over to the directory and saw Selphie and Irvine waiting for them.
Selphie was the first one to greet them. "Rinoa! Squall! Thank goodness you're alright!" Selphie gave Rinoa a strong, tight bearhug and Rinoa gasped for air.
"Selphie, I know you're happy to see me but please allow me to breath!" Selphie sheepishly let her go.
Squall raised one eyebrow and asked, "Selphie, Irvine? What's going on?"
===========
I hope you enjoyed this one, ladies and gentlemen (and oh so nice reviewers). We're coming close to the bulk of the story so please bear with me. Next chapter: Assassins