Old Acquaintances
"You..."
Seifer stared back at him, narrowing his eyes and said, "Ouragan..."
Both men stood up from their seats, staring at each other, and began circling the table, the blonde standing across the lanky brunette. Cat- green eyes peered into jade ones as they went around the table like a pack of hungry sharks would stalk its prey. Meanwhile, as the two continued this tribal-dance like act, the rest of the gang stared at them, wondering as to why Seifer and Ouragan knew each other. The ex-knight and the Esthar Garden commander then started exchanging insults at each other.
"Cocky..." Ouragan muttered.
"Know-it-all..." Seifer continued.
"Lowlife..." the brunette said.
"High and mighty..." Seifer insulted softly.
"Troublemaking..." Ouragan uttered.
"Airhead..." the blonde breathed.
"Nosy, useless..."
"Self-righteous, impish..."
When Seifer stopped at Quistis' seat and Ouragan at Rinoa's, they stopped insulting each other and went to one side of the table, ignoring the glances the other SeeDs and cadets were giving them. Ouragan stopped at a dead halt, his chest only half a foot away from Seifer's. Undaunted by his height, Seifer tilted his chin up so as to stare directly at the cat-green eyes of the commander. Suddenly, as if they were two friends who haven't seen each other in decades, they shook hands and hugged each other.
"What are you doing here you fucking stud!?" Seifer laughed while gripping his old friend's back tightly.
Ouragan returned it with his matchless strength that could have crushed an Anacondaur and said, "And what business have you here you rule-breaking screw up!" The tall men laughed at their greetings and released themselves from their vise grips. Ouragan grinned boyishly at the blonde and turned his attention to the gang when Zell suddenly spoke up.
"Whoa! You TWO know each other?!" he asked with his mouth wide open, hotdog bits falling on his plate as he gaped at the two.
Seifer smirked at Zell cockily and said, "Yeah! We TWO know each other."
Dumbfounded by Seifer's proclamation, Quistis stared at Ouragan then at Seifer and back when she blurted out, "But how? You and him friends? Know each other well? How could that be?" She rubbed her temples as if her head were struck by some painful headache and drank her glass of ice water in one gulp.
Ouragan smiled at the dumbstruck instructor and said, "Yup! Didn't you know? Seifer and I were best friends back when I studied in this Garden. Didn't you tell them Seifer?" The commander turned to his friend.
Seifer scratched his head and sheepishly told him, "Uh...let's say that some GF sapped my memory clean."
Ouragan pouted at him and said, "Yeah, GF...whatever! Hah! Well, at least you didn't forget me."
Selphie exclaimed from her seat, "WAIT!!! How could you guys know each other if Ouragan is three years older than Seifer? That's like an impossibility!"
Ouragan looked at Selphie with a mischievous grin and said, "Well, Seifer, Squall, and I were one of the few people who trained with gunblades. I was the one who trained both of them to use the weapons. I was surprised when Squall didn't recognize me. Then again, that was so many years ago."
Squall began coughing and started banging on his chest with a fist, drinking water to lodge out the food stuck in his throat. Rinoa helped him by patting his back. When he finally got the food out, he looked at Ouragan, wide-eyed and very surpised. "You were my trainer?! You were the instructor who trained me and Seifer???"
Ouragan raised and eyebrow and replied, "Yes I was Squall. Just to help you jog your memory, I'd like to remind you how funny you were nine years ago, grabbing that heavy revolver with your small eight-year old hands. Honestly, you almost killed yourself once trying to get the feel of the gunblade. It almost dropped on you if I hadn't taken cast a Float on it."
Squall blushed twenty shades of red and pink and answered, "Well...uh...whatever!"
Everyone laughed and Ouragan said, "Okay everyone, let's do lunch! I'm hungry!" The gang agreed and ate their food while talking about old times and just about anything under the sun.
Ouragan looked at Squall and Seifer and exclaimed, "My! How much both of you have grown! But be honest with me. You didn't scar each other, did you?" He narrowed his eyes at his former combat pupils, pointing at the gashes on their foreheads, and they looked at each other, unsure of how to answer the commander.
Squall began, "We...sort of...had this fight. But this guy just slashed me!" He glared at Seifer angrily, remembering very well that day he received his scar.
Seifer whistled long, fumbling with his fingers and arrogantly said, "All in a days work, isn't that right, Squally boy?"
Squall balled his fists but stopped when Rinoa placed a hand on his shoulder. "Squall," she said gently but with a scolding look a mother would give her son. Squall's menacing look softened and his shoulders slumped in defeat when he said, "Okay Rinoa." She smiled and kissed him softly on his cheeks. Squall, unashamed of the looks everyone was giving him, placed a hand on her cheek, closed his eyes, and kissed her deeply.
Ouragan eyed Squall in a teasing manner and smiled at him. "Years ago, you wouldn't even look at a girl. She really has changed you."
Squall looked at him and turned back to Rinoa before declaring, "Well, Rinoa really is special to me. I mean, not many girls are as perfect as she is."
Rinoa blushed and exclaimed, "Oh! Squall!" Everyone looked at Rinoa.
Squall gave her a questioning look and asked, "What?"
Rinoa beamed and gushed, "That was...so sweet! I never expected you to be that honest about us!"
Squall tilted his head on one side and replied, "..."
Rinoa continued, "But I like it! I really do! It feels so...different for you to be completely in tune with your emotions. You're so romantic."
Squall could feel his cheeks heating up when Ouragan helped him out. "Well...um...you guys should take this to a room. By the way Seifer, even though you never graduated as a SeeD, I would be glad to accept a gunblade specialist like you at Esthar Garden."
Seifer wiped his mouth with a napkin and queried Ouragan, "Esthar Garden? Isn't that building still under construction?"
Ouragan answered, "Well, if you're talking about the new building the dunderhead President Loire is building, no. That's not the Esthar Garden I'm talking about. The Esthar Garden I mentioned earlier is the underground military facility that trains SeeDs to be undercover specialists. We also have a stunning weapons lab where some of the world's best weapons are produced."
Squall smirked at how Ouragan so easily called his father a dunderhead. 'I guess this guy and I could get along very well. Wait, should I mention Storm to Ouragan now? Nah, maybe I might freak him out.' Squall asked the other commander, "But aren't SeeDs undercover specialists already?"
Ouragan replied, "Yes, in a sense you are. But what separates the cadets of the regular Gardens from E.U. (Esthar Underground) is that we use state of the art technology in our missions. For example, we have the ability to cloak our cadets, making assassination attempts much easier. Mind you, the Garden organization was discovered when you attempted to assassinate Sorceress Edea. If only E.U. Garden had sent its specialists, your Garden would still be rooted in Balamb."
Seifer paused to think for a moment and said, "Can I think about this?"
Ouragan nodded to his question. "Yes you may until tomorrow."
Zell and Squall groaned rather loudly, causing everyone to look at them and continued with their meal.
Seifer went back to eating his food and Ouragan told all of them, "You know, I didn't get to tell you much yesterday about the Garden, so I want you to ask as many questions as you want about my academy."
Zell looked up from his fourth extra large mountain of hotdogs and said after gulping his mouthful of dogs, "Come to think of it man, we didn't really get a chance to ask about the Garden."
Selphie, who had Irvine's hat on, told Ouragan, "I have a question!"
Ouragan turned to the perky girl and said, "Shoot."
Selphie began asking, "Among all the Gardens, which one comprises the majority of the population?"
Ouragan paused to think and answered, "Balamb students comprise about 47% of the student body while Trabia goes at about 35%. Galbadia Garden's cadets sum up to about 10% of our students, while the rest would be people taken from the best scientific institutions in Esthar."
Irvine asked, "Rest of the people? I thought Gardens only trained SeeDs?"
Ouragan gave him an answer. "In your case, yes. But Esthar Garden picks up the brightest minds from Esthar to use them in our weapons research and equipment development labs. These students, with their wild imaginations I might add, are the ones who contributed to the wonderful covert ops items we use in our missions."
Zell, after finishing his mountain (and who knows where all those things went—a third stomach maybe) of hotdogs, asked Ouragan, "Why does Galbadia Garden comprise the minority?"
Ouragan told him, "Well, to be honest, I don't like Galbadia Garden's cadets. They're so full of themselves, come to think of it. They're trained to think as soldiers and not as SeeDs. You, on the other hand, are trained to fight individually, so you get to develop your talents and other personal aspects of your SeeD life. They don't. They are trained to combat like Galbadian soldiers, so I don't really accept the huge lot of them. I only take a select few of the students who perform their best individually from their school. Plus, being a former student of Balamb might add to that."
Squall had been deep in thought about Esthar Garden for a while now. Although Balamb Garden did have a lot to offer (Squall being the Commander and all), things were getting a bit dull lately. With Balamb Garden's SeeDs having exterminated the monsters that came from the Lunar Cry in Esthar, and with the death of the ruthless Galbadian dictator Vinzer Deling, things were getting rather peaceful. The rebel factions who had again and again gone to war against the Galbadian government had disbanded, and Esthar was again in terms with the world, thanks to the Disney-loving Estharian President Laguna Loire. Then again, with all that peace and quiet, he could spend more time with Rinoa, perhaps even plan their wedding. On the other hand, Esthar Garden offered some action—action that Squall missed for the longest time. Grats and T-Rexaurs and monitoring SeeD field exams were so old that he wished some great catastrophe would take the world by storm again, or so he thought at least.
Squall wanted to ask Ouragan about the missions this time. "I'd like to know what the Garden's missions are like."
Ouragan said, "Well, E.U. missions are hired by government officials and Gardens who find that their missions are too much for their own students to handle. For example, officials inside the Galbadian government can commission our SeeDs to assassinate enemies of the state. We also delve into the paranormal, going to towns where wild GFs run loose and containing them before they could wreak more havoc than needed. These GFs, by the way, are sent to Balamb Garden for your para-magic research."
Squall resumed, "Anything else?"
Ouragan continued, "Well, if you think that we were involved with the sorceress battles, yes in a way. However, what Esthar Garden does is it sends its SeeDs and magic specialists to the people whom we suspect are to receive sorceress powers. We DON'T exterminate them, for your information. The Garden magic research facility was able to develop a special kind of serum that binds sorceress powers. I'm sorry Miss Heartilly, in your case it is too late to bind them."
Rinoa just nodded silently as Squall asked another question. "Sir, just to clarify, were the SeeDs of Esthar Garden able to engage battles with the Sorceress Ultimecia?"
Ouragan nodded to everyone's surprise and replied, "Years ago, the Esthar Garden's Commander Storm came face-to-face with the sorceress Ultimecia and almost killed her when she was said to have transported her conscious back to the past. Fortunately, he was able to seal the present from her magic, which prevents her from coming back to this age in body, soul, and mind. However, we lost him after he momentarily defeated Ultimecia. Up to this day, we still do not know what happened to him."
Squall pondered his words and thought, 'Commander Storm. If he is the Storm from my dreams, why doesn't he realize that his son studies at Esthar Garden? Guess I have to ask him when he transports me back to dreamworld.' His train of thought was suddenly interrupted when one of his comrades spoke up.
Zell coughed on his hotdog and said, "So, that's why she needs present-day sorceresses to come back to the past!"
Quistis turned to Zell and then to everyone else. "But still, I can't figure out why she needs Ellone's powers. People in Esthar have been trying to explain to us why she needs Ellone, but it still doesn't make sense. She has Odine's Junction Machine, so she doesn't really need Sis to go back to the past."
Seifer raised his hand to get everyone's attention and said, "I have something to say! Listen, when I was Ultimecia's lapdog, excuse the pun, I found out that the Junction Machine you're talking about doesn't give Ultimecia the full benefits of Ellone's powers. Using the Junction Machine, she can go to any dimension of time and possess any sorceress provided that the witch's powers don't equal or outmatch hers. However, if she gets hold of Ellone, from what I heard she can easily transport her being into any time she wants, with body and all."
Squall, bewildered by all this asked the other commander, "Ouragan, if it is possible, can we transfer to Esthar Garden this Wednesday?"
Ouragan nodded but asked, "Alright. But is there any reason you want to go this early? You are given two weeks at least for the transfer."
Squall looked at everyone and turned back to the commander. "We have a reason to believe that an assassin may be coming for Rinoa. And if possible, maybe your research team can find a way to bind her powers." He turned to Rinoa for approval and she nodded.
Ouragan replied, "Very well Squall. I will help you, but you have to allow me to train Rinoa's sorceress powers too. If none of those chemicals and serums work, she might have to develop her powers to create a good barrier between herself and Ultimecia's mind control."
Rinoa turned to Ouragan with a questioning look. "Train me? But how? You're a man."
Ouragan politely answered her, "I am a sorcerer too. And I can be your second knight as well, if you need one that is. After all, I can always serve to protect you."
Except for Squall, almost everyone's jaws dropped when he said that he was a sorcerer. Deep in thought, he decided that he ought to summon Storm again tonight.
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I hope everyone is enjoying this story so far, considering how much I've extended the material. Thanks for the reviews, and I do hope you continue reading and enjoying my story. Next Chapter: Truce.
"You..."
Seifer stared back at him, narrowing his eyes and said, "Ouragan..."
Both men stood up from their seats, staring at each other, and began circling the table, the blonde standing across the lanky brunette. Cat- green eyes peered into jade ones as they went around the table like a pack of hungry sharks would stalk its prey. Meanwhile, as the two continued this tribal-dance like act, the rest of the gang stared at them, wondering as to why Seifer and Ouragan knew each other. The ex-knight and the Esthar Garden commander then started exchanging insults at each other.
"Cocky..." Ouragan muttered.
"Know-it-all..." Seifer continued.
"Lowlife..." the brunette said.
"High and mighty..." Seifer insulted softly.
"Troublemaking..." Ouragan uttered.
"Airhead..." the blonde breathed.
"Nosy, useless..."
"Self-righteous, impish..."
When Seifer stopped at Quistis' seat and Ouragan at Rinoa's, they stopped insulting each other and went to one side of the table, ignoring the glances the other SeeDs and cadets were giving them. Ouragan stopped at a dead halt, his chest only half a foot away from Seifer's. Undaunted by his height, Seifer tilted his chin up so as to stare directly at the cat-green eyes of the commander. Suddenly, as if they were two friends who haven't seen each other in decades, they shook hands and hugged each other.
"What are you doing here you fucking stud!?" Seifer laughed while gripping his old friend's back tightly.
Ouragan returned it with his matchless strength that could have crushed an Anacondaur and said, "And what business have you here you rule-breaking screw up!" The tall men laughed at their greetings and released themselves from their vise grips. Ouragan grinned boyishly at the blonde and turned his attention to the gang when Zell suddenly spoke up.
"Whoa! You TWO know each other?!" he asked with his mouth wide open, hotdog bits falling on his plate as he gaped at the two.
Seifer smirked at Zell cockily and said, "Yeah! We TWO know each other."
Dumbfounded by Seifer's proclamation, Quistis stared at Ouragan then at Seifer and back when she blurted out, "But how? You and him friends? Know each other well? How could that be?" She rubbed her temples as if her head were struck by some painful headache and drank her glass of ice water in one gulp.
Ouragan smiled at the dumbstruck instructor and said, "Yup! Didn't you know? Seifer and I were best friends back when I studied in this Garden. Didn't you tell them Seifer?" The commander turned to his friend.
Seifer scratched his head and sheepishly told him, "Uh...let's say that some GF sapped my memory clean."
Ouragan pouted at him and said, "Yeah, GF...whatever! Hah! Well, at least you didn't forget me."
Selphie exclaimed from her seat, "WAIT!!! How could you guys know each other if Ouragan is three years older than Seifer? That's like an impossibility!"
Ouragan looked at Selphie with a mischievous grin and said, "Well, Seifer, Squall, and I were one of the few people who trained with gunblades. I was the one who trained both of them to use the weapons. I was surprised when Squall didn't recognize me. Then again, that was so many years ago."
Squall began coughing and started banging on his chest with a fist, drinking water to lodge out the food stuck in his throat. Rinoa helped him by patting his back. When he finally got the food out, he looked at Ouragan, wide-eyed and very surpised. "You were my trainer?! You were the instructor who trained me and Seifer???"
Ouragan raised and eyebrow and replied, "Yes I was Squall. Just to help you jog your memory, I'd like to remind you how funny you were nine years ago, grabbing that heavy revolver with your small eight-year old hands. Honestly, you almost killed yourself once trying to get the feel of the gunblade. It almost dropped on you if I hadn't taken cast a Float on it."
Squall blushed twenty shades of red and pink and answered, "Well...uh...whatever!"
Everyone laughed and Ouragan said, "Okay everyone, let's do lunch! I'm hungry!" The gang agreed and ate their food while talking about old times and just about anything under the sun.
Ouragan looked at Squall and Seifer and exclaimed, "My! How much both of you have grown! But be honest with me. You didn't scar each other, did you?" He narrowed his eyes at his former combat pupils, pointing at the gashes on their foreheads, and they looked at each other, unsure of how to answer the commander.
Squall began, "We...sort of...had this fight. But this guy just slashed me!" He glared at Seifer angrily, remembering very well that day he received his scar.
Seifer whistled long, fumbling with his fingers and arrogantly said, "All in a days work, isn't that right, Squally boy?"
Squall balled his fists but stopped when Rinoa placed a hand on his shoulder. "Squall," she said gently but with a scolding look a mother would give her son. Squall's menacing look softened and his shoulders slumped in defeat when he said, "Okay Rinoa." She smiled and kissed him softly on his cheeks. Squall, unashamed of the looks everyone was giving him, placed a hand on her cheek, closed his eyes, and kissed her deeply.
Ouragan eyed Squall in a teasing manner and smiled at him. "Years ago, you wouldn't even look at a girl. She really has changed you."
Squall looked at him and turned back to Rinoa before declaring, "Well, Rinoa really is special to me. I mean, not many girls are as perfect as she is."
Rinoa blushed and exclaimed, "Oh! Squall!" Everyone looked at Rinoa.
Squall gave her a questioning look and asked, "What?"
Rinoa beamed and gushed, "That was...so sweet! I never expected you to be that honest about us!"
Squall tilted his head on one side and replied, "..."
Rinoa continued, "But I like it! I really do! It feels so...different for you to be completely in tune with your emotions. You're so romantic."
Squall could feel his cheeks heating up when Ouragan helped him out. "Well...um...you guys should take this to a room. By the way Seifer, even though you never graduated as a SeeD, I would be glad to accept a gunblade specialist like you at Esthar Garden."
Seifer wiped his mouth with a napkin and queried Ouragan, "Esthar Garden? Isn't that building still under construction?"
Ouragan answered, "Well, if you're talking about the new building the dunderhead President Loire is building, no. That's not the Esthar Garden I'm talking about. The Esthar Garden I mentioned earlier is the underground military facility that trains SeeDs to be undercover specialists. We also have a stunning weapons lab where some of the world's best weapons are produced."
Squall smirked at how Ouragan so easily called his father a dunderhead. 'I guess this guy and I could get along very well. Wait, should I mention Storm to Ouragan now? Nah, maybe I might freak him out.' Squall asked the other commander, "But aren't SeeDs undercover specialists already?"
Ouragan replied, "Yes, in a sense you are. But what separates the cadets of the regular Gardens from E.U. (Esthar Underground) is that we use state of the art technology in our missions. For example, we have the ability to cloak our cadets, making assassination attempts much easier. Mind you, the Garden organization was discovered when you attempted to assassinate Sorceress Edea. If only E.U. Garden had sent its specialists, your Garden would still be rooted in Balamb."
Seifer paused to think for a moment and said, "Can I think about this?"
Ouragan nodded to his question. "Yes you may until tomorrow."
Zell and Squall groaned rather loudly, causing everyone to look at them and continued with their meal.
Seifer went back to eating his food and Ouragan told all of them, "You know, I didn't get to tell you much yesterday about the Garden, so I want you to ask as many questions as you want about my academy."
Zell looked up from his fourth extra large mountain of hotdogs and said after gulping his mouthful of dogs, "Come to think of it man, we didn't really get a chance to ask about the Garden."
Selphie, who had Irvine's hat on, told Ouragan, "I have a question!"
Ouragan turned to the perky girl and said, "Shoot."
Selphie began asking, "Among all the Gardens, which one comprises the majority of the population?"
Ouragan paused to think and answered, "Balamb students comprise about 47% of the student body while Trabia goes at about 35%. Galbadia Garden's cadets sum up to about 10% of our students, while the rest would be people taken from the best scientific institutions in Esthar."
Irvine asked, "Rest of the people? I thought Gardens only trained SeeDs?"
Ouragan gave him an answer. "In your case, yes. But Esthar Garden picks up the brightest minds from Esthar to use them in our weapons research and equipment development labs. These students, with their wild imaginations I might add, are the ones who contributed to the wonderful covert ops items we use in our missions."
Zell, after finishing his mountain (and who knows where all those things went—a third stomach maybe) of hotdogs, asked Ouragan, "Why does Galbadia Garden comprise the minority?"
Ouragan told him, "Well, to be honest, I don't like Galbadia Garden's cadets. They're so full of themselves, come to think of it. They're trained to think as soldiers and not as SeeDs. You, on the other hand, are trained to fight individually, so you get to develop your talents and other personal aspects of your SeeD life. They don't. They are trained to combat like Galbadian soldiers, so I don't really accept the huge lot of them. I only take a select few of the students who perform their best individually from their school. Plus, being a former student of Balamb might add to that."
Squall had been deep in thought about Esthar Garden for a while now. Although Balamb Garden did have a lot to offer (Squall being the Commander and all), things were getting a bit dull lately. With Balamb Garden's SeeDs having exterminated the monsters that came from the Lunar Cry in Esthar, and with the death of the ruthless Galbadian dictator Vinzer Deling, things were getting rather peaceful. The rebel factions who had again and again gone to war against the Galbadian government had disbanded, and Esthar was again in terms with the world, thanks to the Disney-loving Estharian President Laguna Loire. Then again, with all that peace and quiet, he could spend more time with Rinoa, perhaps even plan their wedding. On the other hand, Esthar Garden offered some action—action that Squall missed for the longest time. Grats and T-Rexaurs and monitoring SeeD field exams were so old that he wished some great catastrophe would take the world by storm again, or so he thought at least.
Squall wanted to ask Ouragan about the missions this time. "I'd like to know what the Garden's missions are like."
Ouragan said, "Well, E.U. missions are hired by government officials and Gardens who find that their missions are too much for their own students to handle. For example, officials inside the Galbadian government can commission our SeeDs to assassinate enemies of the state. We also delve into the paranormal, going to towns where wild GFs run loose and containing them before they could wreak more havoc than needed. These GFs, by the way, are sent to Balamb Garden for your para-magic research."
Squall resumed, "Anything else?"
Ouragan continued, "Well, if you think that we were involved with the sorceress battles, yes in a way. However, what Esthar Garden does is it sends its SeeDs and magic specialists to the people whom we suspect are to receive sorceress powers. We DON'T exterminate them, for your information. The Garden magic research facility was able to develop a special kind of serum that binds sorceress powers. I'm sorry Miss Heartilly, in your case it is too late to bind them."
Rinoa just nodded silently as Squall asked another question. "Sir, just to clarify, were the SeeDs of Esthar Garden able to engage battles with the Sorceress Ultimecia?"
Ouragan nodded to everyone's surprise and replied, "Years ago, the Esthar Garden's Commander Storm came face-to-face with the sorceress Ultimecia and almost killed her when she was said to have transported her conscious back to the past. Fortunately, he was able to seal the present from her magic, which prevents her from coming back to this age in body, soul, and mind. However, we lost him after he momentarily defeated Ultimecia. Up to this day, we still do not know what happened to him."
Squall pondered his words and thought, 'Commander Storm. If he is the Storm from my dreams, why doesn't he realize that his son studies at Esthar Garden? Guess I have to ask him when he transports me back to dreamworld.' His train of thought was suddenly interrupted when one of his comrades spoke up.
Zell coughed on his hotdog and said, "So, that's why she needs present-day sorceresses to come back to the past!"
Quistis turned to Zell and then to everyone else. "But still, I can't figure out why she needs Ellone's powers. People in Esthar have been trying to explain to us why she needs Ellone, but it still doesn't make sense. She has Odine's Junction Machine, so she doesn't really need Sis to go back to the past."
Seifer raised his hand to get everyone's attention and said, "I have something to say! Listen, when I was Ultimecia's lapdog, excuse the pun, I found out that the Junction Machine you're talking about doesn't give Ultimecia the full benefits of Ellone's powers. Using the Junction Machine, she can go to any dimension of time and possess any sorceress provided that the witch's powers don't equal or outmatch hers. However, if she gets hold of Ellone, from what I heard she can easily transport her being into any time she wants, with body and all."
Squall, bewildered by all this asked the other commander, "Ouragan, if it is possible, can we transfer to Esthar Garden this Wednesday?"
Ouragan nodded but asked, "Alright. But is there any reason you want to go this early? You are given two weeks at least for the transfer."
Squall looked at everyone and turned back to the commander. "We have a reason to believe that an assassin may be coming for Rinoa. And if possible, maybe your research team can find a way to bind her powers." He turned to Rinoa for approval and she nodded.
Ouragan replied, "Very well Squall. I will help you, but you have to allow me to train Rinoa's sorceress powers too. If none of those chemicals and serums work, she might have to develop her powers to create a good barrier between herself and Ultimecia's mind control."
Rinoa turned to Ouragan with a questioning look. "Train me? But how? You're a man."
Ouragan politely answered her, "I am a sorcerer too. And I can be your second knight as well, if you need one that is. After all, I can always serve to protect you."
Except for Squall, almost everyone's jaws dropped when he said that he was a sorcerer. Deep in thought, he decided that he ought to summon Storm again tonight.
==========
I hope everyone is enjoying this story so far, considering how much I've extended the material. Thanks for the reviews, and I do hope you continue reading and enjoying my story. Next Chapter: Truce.