Hmm… Since no one but Lucrecia seems to be reading this story, I guess there's not much point in an author's note (sad…). I'll just get on with things, then.
Disclaimer: If I owned Final Fantasy VIII and Biggs and Wedge, I'd be rich and I wouldn't be writing this, now, would I?
o—o
Chapter Eleven: Caudex et TimidusIt was known as the Great City, the one that rivaled the ancient Centra Empire, the mysterious and powerful technologically hyper-advanced city of Esthar. It was said that its citizens had flying cars and transparent, glass-like roads that every futuristic city absolutely has to have. Otherwise, what was advanced technology for? Tell anyone that Esthar is headed by a former Galbadian soldier turned journalist and world-class bumbling idiot and that person will laugh at you.
In the president's office of the great Presidential Palace, five people looked at each other uneasily.
"Maybe it was a mistake to unjunction ourselves before they got off the ship, sir," said Wedge.
"How was I supposed to know you would sneeze and trip down the stairs in front of them!" said Biggs.
"You two were pretty lucky Laguna called off the guards before they had a chance to shoot you," said Kiros.
"Squall's going to be very mad at me, you know…" said Laguna.
o—o
Wedge and Biggs appeared in a flash of light as they unjunctioned themselves from Griever. Wedge caught the feather as it floated down. "Right. And now, to sneak off this ship undetected," said Biggs.
Wedge followed as Biggs walked cautiously out of the hangar. There was no one on the walkway in front of them. They proceeded quietly to the end of the walkway and down the stairs. Two thirds of the way down, Wedge sneezed and missed a step going down. He fell, face forward, into Biggs, who hadn't been expecting him. They both fell down the stairs in a groaning, bruised heap, with Wedge on top. Someone must have heard them, because a big hatch opened and a dozen guards with big weapons filed in, all armed and aimed at the two men.
"What's going on? 'Scuse me, sorry, coming through. Oh, it's you two. Uh, it's okay. You can all put down your weapons. Me and my aides will take care of this."
Laguna, Kiros, and Ward looked at the tangled heap that was Biggs and Wedge.
"…"
"Ward says this might be a problem."
o—o
"He can't be mad if he doesn't know," said Biggs.
"Trust me, he'll know. I know him. I don't know how, but he knows everything, eventually."
"Well, we could have escaped by other means." He grinned and winked.
"In the middle of the ocean, sir?"
"We do have Griever."
"They set up an anti-magic field after we attacked them with him, sir."
"Oh…really?"
"I'm doomed. You have no idea how scary Squall can be when he's mad. I mean, have you seen how he uses that gunblade? I've seen Malboros run off after seeing him! I'm so dead…" said Laguna.
"Garden does technically have its own territory. If Squall wants an extradition, I'm afraid we can't refuse," said Kiros.
"Chop, chop, chop…" said Laguna.
"You can't mean that! That place is a hellhole!"
"I've always thought it was very nice there. It has nice architecture."
"Slash, bleed, slash, bits fall off…"
"Oh, sure. Of course it's nice when they invite you over. But it really sucks if they hold you prisoner!"
"Stab, shoot, bang, pain…"
"I completely agree with Mr. Biggs on that one, for once."
"'Mr.' Biggs?"
"Well, you know… I can't just call you Biggs, sir…"
"Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut… Cutcutcutcutcutcutcutcut!"
"…"
"Yeah, stop that. He's not that bad…mostly," said Kiros.
"Look, you could just dress us up in those fancy Esthar clothes of yours and hide us out somewhere, possibly a nice condo with a good view, and tell Squall that you never saw us at all," said Biggs.
"You don't understand. Squall is persistent. He finds out about things. He found out about Ultimecia just by looking at the political turmoil in Galbadia, for Hyne's sake!"
"It's a little more complicated than that, Laguna. And we did fill in all the details. He actually knew very little before that," said Kiros.
"Whatever. My point is that he has destiny on his side. Even though it's practically impossible, he'll find out!"
"I don't think destiny cares about minor characters like us…" muttered Wedge.
"…"
"Ward says that either way, Biggs is right. It's highly unlikely that Squall will find any trace of them without rigorously examining citizenship, property, and financial records. And I doubt he'll do that because Esthar is huge. Besides, you can swear the guards to secrecy. What's the worst that could happen? Even if we do turn them in, Squall will still be just as mad at us for 'Being Careless With Escapees and Stowaways.'"
"Wow. You got all that from three little dots?" said Biggs.
"They're called ellipses, and no. I can tell what Ward is communicating by looking at his eyes."
"Sounds kinda fishy to me."
o—o
Biggs, donning the name Cliff Andersen once more, and Wedge, now Garrett Baxter again, looked at their new apartment. "Damn! This is nice! And you say this is one of the cheaper ones here?"
"Yes. I'm sorry but people get suspicious if the president of Esthar spends a large amount of money to house two foreign strangers," said Kiros.
"Who cares! This is much nicer than most places in Deling City!"
"Look, sir! You can see the palace from here."
"And none of the plumbing is broken, either!"
"Gosh!"
Kiros watched the pair as they ogled, oohed, and aahed around the apartment while Ward showed them how to use some of the less self-explanatory appliances. They're like eight year olds on Christmas morning. And just over a cheap apartment. Then again, him, Ward, and Laguna were also like that when they first officially became Estharian citizens. Even in Garden, he had found the two quite likeable. He's actually glad Laguna was willing to help them, even in the face of Squall's wrath. It would be heartless to turn them in to Garden after they've so politely lost so many poker games to him, Ward, and Laguna (No one could be that bad at poker, therefore, he reasoned, they must be losing on purpose. After all, Laguna usually loses to anyone else he's playing.).
o—o
In the headmaster's office, Squall leaned on one leg, and thought.
He could demand an extradition, but that wouldn't be enough. If Laguna says they aren't there, he could do nothing about it. Of course, diplomatic (and familial, even though he would never admit it) relations allowed for him to ask for a personal search, just to make sure. If Laguna truly has nothing to hide, he would grant them entry. Really, he didn't care much what happened to them, but they did injure him and it said a great deal about Garden that it let two incompetent idiots like them slip through their fingers. He'll pursue them just for the look of it. In fact, he'll be perfectly happy if he doesn't find them. If he doesn't find them, he'll let it go. But if he does…
Well, let's say they better have invented teleportation in Esthar.
o—o
Sorry for not updating in so long. I just got back from Taiwan (free Taiwan! China must not be appeased!). I've got so many emails…