Chapter 18 – Revelations
Deep in the night, darkness and silence filled the SeeD suite of the Presidential Palace in Esthar.
In one room, Squall lay comfortably in his bed. His shoulder, now out of the sling, rested on a pillow as he lay flat on his back lost in a deep sleep. Occupying the room's other bed, Irvine snoozed peacefully on his stomach, arms wrapped around his pillow and his backside in the air. Zell had opted to crash in a sleeping bag on the floor. All three men were sound asleep, and oblivious to anything else in the world.
Across the suite, Kylah and Quistis were settled on opposite sides of the same bed, both snuggled deep under the covers. While they both had plenty of sleep room, they left a wide berth between them. Both women had refused to share a bed with Selphie, who was known to kick violently in her sleep.
The soft chirping of her cell phone pulled Kylah out of her deep slumber. Groaning, she pulled the pillows over her head and fumbled around on her nightstand for the phone. After several seconds, she managed to turn it on and place it up to her ear.
"'Lo," she mumbled sleepily. "Deraldi."
"Kylah, it's Cid," Garden's headmaster's voice filled her ear.
"Cid?" she replied, looking drowsily up at the alarm clock. The red digits on the clock read 5:00. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"
"Yes, I'm afraid I do," he replied, grimly. "And what I have to tell you couldn't wait."
"Oh?" she asked, sitting up in bed. Suddenly she was wide awake and focused on the conversation. Next to her, Quistis sat up and turned on the bedside lamp. She listened attentively to Kylah's side of the conversation. Across the room, Selphie sleepily grumbled and rolled over, away from the light.
"I just received word that one of our SeeD sent to Deling city to gather intelligence was found dead late last night."
"What?" she gasped, eyes widening in shock. "How on Earth…?"
"Kylah, it looks like the young man was struck down by a gunblade. Now, there aren't too many gunblade specialists out there…"
"But Squall was here the whole time," Kylah protested, offended by what she perceived Cid to be insinuating.
"I'm not talking about Squall," he replied, gently. "Talk to your comrades. See if they draw the conclusion that I have. And all of you deal with this as you see fit. Good night, Kylah." With that, he hung up the phone.
The redhead was left staring at her cell phone in disbelief and confusion. What was Cid talking about?
"What's going on?" Quistis asked, gently pulling Kylah out of her thoughts.
Kylah looked up at her friend with a confused look, as if she had forgotten that she wasn't alone in the room. "Go wake the others," she finally said, firmly. "We all need to talk."
Nodding, Quistis jumped up out of bed, tugged a protesting Selphie out from beneath her covers, then strode across the suite to wake the guys.
Moments later, a grumbling Irvine, Zell and Squall entered the sitting room. They all found Selphie curled up in a chair, yawning, and Kylah pacing the floor with a frown on her face.
"What's going on?" Squall asked, concern showing on his face. His voice sounded sleep roughened, and his eyes were a bit bleary.
"Yeah," Irvine added. He was shirtless and clad in a pair of sleep pants, his long hair tousled. "What gives waking us up so early?"
Quistis quietly took a seat on the end of a couch, and Irvine flopped down beside her, yawning. Zell slid sleepily into the floor, leaning back against the couch and looking expectantly up at Kylah.
She surveyed the faces around her. All of them were looking to her, expecting an explanation and direction. With an apologetic look to each of them, she spoke. "Sorry for having to wake you, but I just got a call from Cid, and I thought you all should be aware of it."
Taking a deep breath, she continued. "A SeeD member, sent to gather intelligence, was killed in Deling City last night. It looks like the weapon of choice was a gunblade."
A stunned silence filled the room.
Letting out a long breath, Quistis was the first to recover. "Why didn't I see it before?" Punishment Syndicate. Discipline Committee. Disciplinary Committee."
"Seifer," Selphie whispered, eyes wide.
Squall swore under his breath and turned to face a nearby window.
"Really big dude and a scary looking woman. I'd be willing to bet Raijin and Fujin," Irvine mused.
Kylah looked around to all of them, confusion on her face. "Who is Seifer, and who are Raijin and Fujin?"
Squall turned from the window to face her. "Seifer is the one that I can thank for this," he said, pointing to the scar on his forehead. "He was a SeeD trainee with us at Garden for years. During the last Sorceress War, he was Sorceress Edea's lapdog. Hasn't really been heard from much since then. Fujin and Raijin were his cohorts. His posse."
"So you think they're behind all of this?" she asked.
"It fits," Zell observed. "He's always had a vendetta out against Squall. Maybe the bombing wasn't meant to target Laguna or President Caraway."
Kylah's blue eyes rested on Squall's grey-blue ones. "Maybe the target was you," she whispered, fear rising up in her throat.
"If that's the case," Quistis interjected, "then he almost succeeded. Seifer won't give up until he's achieved his goal."
The room was quiet as the whole room digested this information. A sudden thought occurred to Squall, and his eyes widened with sudden panic. "Cass…" he whispered, suddenly fearing for his daughter.
Kylah nodded, understanding his concern. "I'll alert Cid and have him keep her under lock and key around the clock. He won't take any chances with her life."
Squall nodded and heaved a brief sigh, fighting against the urge to take the first ship he could find back to Garden. The second they were finished with this conversation, he'd be calling Cid himself and having Cass brought directly to him.
"So," Selphie's voice spoke up from the floor, "what do we do next?"
Kylah sighed and folded her arms over her chest. "I was hoping that one of you guys might have an idea, because I'm fresh out on this one."
"Our biggest problem," Quistis spoke up, "is that we have no proof. We have suspicions, and circumstantial evidence, but no sound, solid proof. Without that, we really can't go accusing someone."
"I'd bet Exeter that it was him," Irvine mused, running a hand through his hair, looking annoyed.
"Well, then," Kylah said, eyes resting on each of them in turn. "Our next objective is to find the proof – and Seifer. When was the last time anyone saw him?"
"Years," Zell piped up. "Rinoa was still aliv—" he cut himself off and shot a quick, apprehensive glance at Squall. To his relief, Squall was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to take notice of Zell's casual comment. Either that, or he simply didn't particularly care.
"I think," Kylah began, but was interrupted by the chirp of her cell phone in the pocket of her robe. "What's with everyone calling so early today?" she muttered, pulling it out and flipping it on. "Deraldi," she said, briskly.
"Hey, Kylah, sorry to wake you so early," Kiros' voice greeted her. He sounded both sleepy and grim.
"It's alright," she replied. "I was awake. You're not the first one to call me this morning. What's up?"
"The presidential guard apprehended two unsavory looking characters trying to break into the palace just a little while ago. How they managed to get that far, I'm not entirely sure. But they claim to be with the organization known as Punishment Syndicate."
Kylah's expression grew serious, drawing the attention of her comrades who stopped their chatter and focused on Kylah.
"Kylah, they're asking to speak to you. All of you. They specifically said that they wanted to talk to SeeD. Now, I can either set you up in an interrogation room with them, or I can just ship them straight to jail and be done with it. Your choice."
"We'll talk to them," Kylah replied without hesitation. "Maybe they can actually offer some information that will break this thing."
"No problem, Kylah. Third floor. They should be there in fifteen minutes."
"Thanks, Kiros," she said, and shut down her phone.
She looked around at her teammates with a speculative grin. "We just might have the break we've been looking for."
A half an hour later, all six of them were hurrying through the corridors of the Presidential Palace toward the interrogation room. They had taken their time making their way down, allowing the prisoners time to sit and stew for a few minutes. Though none of the SeeD's were exactly dressed for the day, they were all at least in some decent style of dress. Kylah, Quistis, and Selphie all had robes belted over their nightgowns, and the guys had all thrown on t-shirts with their sleep pants. They would bother with real clothes later. Right now, they were ready to get down to business.
"Let's do this," Kylah said grimly, as she reached to open the door. As soon as they all stepped through, shock registered on the faces of five of the mercenaries.
"I never thought I'd see you again," Squall muttered, not entirely pleased to see the occupants of the room.
Raijin and Fujin both looked up from the solitary table in the center of the room and met Squall's level gaze, each with a slightly sheepish expression.
"We didn't do nothin', Squall! I swear!" Raijin protested, throwing his hands in the air innocently.
"You didn't do anything?" Kylah repeated, stepping up beside Squall. "How about attempting to break into the Presidential Palace in the middle of the night? You know, there was an assassination attempt made on these very grounds a few days ago. It could be said that this is entirely too coincidental. It wouldn't take very much persuasion at all for a person to come to the conclusion that you were behind the bombing, that it was intended to be an attack on Esthar's president, and that you were breaking in to finish the job."
Fujin and Raijin exchanged a panicked look, then shifted their gazes up to Kylah.
"EXPLAIN!"
"Yeah, Fujin's right!" Raijin said. "We can explain!"
"You'd better be able to," a voice spoke up from behind the six SeeD gathered around the table. "Because you're in a heap of trouble if you don't."
Clad in a t-shirt, baggy pants, and slippers, Laguna Loire strode into the room. Selphie, Zell, and Quistis stepped aside to allow him to step up to the table. Laguna fisted his hands on the table, leaned over, and looked back and forth between the chastised duo.
"Right now you're in the custody of the Estharian government. As their president, I have the power to either fix this for you, or end life as you both know it. So, I'd choose my words carefully and come up with a damn good explanation if I were you. Because, as it stands, I have your proverbial balls in a vice and my hand on the lever to start squeezing."
Kylah stepped back and shot Laguna an admiring look. Most of the time he was impulsive, goofy, and charming. But when he was of the mind to act presidential and authoritative, even she wouldn't cross him.
"It wasn't us, I swear!" Raijin replied, shooting Laguna a pleading look.
"Go on," Quistis said, folding her arms over her chest and leaning against the wall.
"SEIFER."
"Yeah, Fuijin's right. Seifer… he's acted nutso since the Ultimecia deal, ya know? He just ain't been the same since, ya know?"
"What do you mean, 'since the Ultimecia deal'?" Zell muttered from the corner.
Kylah shot him a dirty look to silence him. "So, Seifer is behind all of this?" she asked, keeping her expression neutral.
"Yeah, he has been for a long time, ya know? Starting a few years ago, when Rinoa died."
Irvine blinked. "When Rinoa died?"
"PAID."
"Yeah, Seifer paid him to do the deed. Said he didn't wanna dirty his own hands with it, ya know?"
Kylah felt Squall tense beside her. She cast a quick glance in his direction, and saw fury beginning to build in his eyes. She placed a calming hand on his arm, a silent warning to control his temper for now.
"Did Seifer have anything to do with the bombing here in Esthar a few days ago?" she asked, stepping between Squall and the two prisoners.
"YES."
"Seifer has been saying for a while that he was cheated when Ultimecia was defeated, ya know? Said that he should be the one ruling the world, just like she promised. He figured that if he stopped that treaty, he'd have an opening, ya know? And when he found out that Squall was going to be there, it made it all the better, ya know?"
Kylah gritted her teeth. If he said "ya know?" one more time, she'd scream… ya know?
"What did I have to do with anything?" Squall asked, a neutral tone barely veiling anger boiling beneath the surface.
"He blames you for his dreams not coming true, ya know? You took Rinoa. You defeated Ultimecia. He thinks you took everything from him, ya know? So, he wants to take everything from you."
The revelation made Kylah's blood run cold. The implications of that statement could be devastating. If this were true, how far would Seifer go to get his revenge? This would mean that Squall's life was in danger. Cass. If word got out of his paternity, Laguna's life could be in danger. Ellone.
Even her.
"What happened with the bombing?" Laguna spoke up, putting a reassuring hand on Kylah's shoulder, and gently reminding her that they were there to get information.
"Seifer planted a member of Punishment Syndicate in among the press, ya know? Created a fake press pass and all. The bomb was inside of the camera. At the very least, it would stop the treaty from being signed, ya know?"
"SQUALL."
"We came to you guys, 'specially Squall, because we want you to know that we had nothing to do with this. Seifer has really gone off the deep end, ya know? Somethin's been screwy with his mind since he was involved with Ultimecia. We tried to talk him out of this, but he wouldn't listen, ya know? We're still his posse, but we don't agree with any of this. We want out, and we want him to get some kind of help, ya know?"
"DELING CITY."
"That's right. Seifer is planning an attack on Deling City to take it over, ya know? Once he does that, he's planning to come right for Esthar. We tried to tell him it was a bad idea. So, we thought maybe you guys could stop him, ya know?"
The room fell silent, as everyone stood around looking at each other, absorbing all that had been said. Finally, Laguna spoke up, his tone still mildly stern. "We need a chance to think this over and talk it over. You two wait here for a while. I'll let you know what we decide."
They silently nodded, looking firmly chastised as Laguna motioned for everyone else to follow him out of the room. Once they were out of the interrogation room, he pointed to the elevator nearby. "My office," he said, firmly. "We can talk there, securely."
The elevator ride upstairs was filled with grim silence, each one of its occupants absorbed in their own thoughts. The second they were secure in Laguna's office, everyone seemed to spring to life.
Squall was the first to speak. "I want to get on the phone with Balamb Garden, now," he said, his tone leaving no room for argument. "I don't care what anyone thinks or has to say, I want Cassidy here, now, where I can keep an eye on her."
Laguna paused on his way to his desk long enough to pat Squall comfortingly on his good shoulder. "Videophone is over there," he said, pointing. "And Ragnarok is at your disposal." The same fear for Cassidy's safety that resonated in Squall's eyes shone in Laguna's as well. Neither one of them were willing to put her in jeopardy.
As Squall stepped over to the phone to speak with Cid, Laguna snapped up his cell phone and dialed a number. "Kiros," he said in way of greeting. "I need you and Ward up here as soon as you can be."
"We need to get word to Deling City," Quistis said. "And soon."
"I know," Laguna replied. "As soon as Ragnarok gets back with Cassidy, I'm heading that way."
Kylah folded her arms over her chest and eyed Laguna. "The hell you are," she said, raising an eyebrow and daring him to argue with her.
Laguna returned the look with ferocity. "I thought I was employing you. Since when do you get to call the shots?"
The petite redhead stepped up to him, hands on hips. "Since you put me in charge of your personal security," she reminded him, bluntly. "In case you weren't paying attention, Seifer wants the entire world on a silver platter. The only way he's going to be able to manage that is to take out the world's two superpowers – Galbadia and Esthar. If you go to Deling City right now, you're giving him an easy target; you and Caraway in the same place. I can't let you do that, Laguna."
Her eyes softened. "Besides that, how long do you think it will be before the truth of Squall's paternity is spread through the entire country? Most of the staff here in the palace knows. It's only a matter of time. And once that gets out, Laguna, your life is in as much danger as Squall's, if not more so. Seifer did say that he wanted to take everything that matters to Squall from him."
Laguna flinched and reached up to rub the back of his neck. Man, she does know how to hit a guy where it hurts, he grumbled to himself. Admitting defeat, he looked away from Kylah and stepped over to his desk. "I'll concede on this one," he finally said, grumpily. "But I hate feeling so helpless."
"If Laguna isn't going to Deling City," Selphie piped up, "then who is?"
"Irvine and I are," Kylah replied, shooting Irvine a sharp look.
The gunslinger looked surprised. "Why us?" he asked, sounding confused.
Squall had disconnected the videophone just in time to hear Kylah's announcement. "Yeah, why you?" he asked, his displeasure with the situation evident.
"Irvine and I both grew up in Galbadia Garden. We know Deling City like the back of our hand. If we run into any trouble, we can get ourselves out of it more easily than anyone else could. Besides," she continued, reasonably, "if nothing else, I can suck up my pride and pull favors with my parents to get an audience with President Caraway. I might not like having to do it, but it will work if nothing else will."
Squall caught her gaze across the room. She could see by the expression in his eyes that he did not like the idea of her walking into a potentially dangerous situation.
"Well," Laguna said, sounding a bit reluctant. "I suppose it's decided then. You guys can leave as soon as the Ragnarok returns."