Disclaimer: I only own the plot. That's all.
Chapter III
Meeting the President of Esthar's Son
Stepping in front of the control panel, facing it, she pressed a button on it.
"Would you like to rent a car for 3000 gil?" A female voice asked her.
Obviously they entered some code so they wouldn't have to pay, Paine thought glumly as she tried to remember how much gil she had. None. Just my luck.
"Stop right there, Paine!"
Right on time, boys, she turned and looked at Laguna and Kiros, who were now blocking the entrance.
"I don't understand. Why are you running?" Kiros calmly asked the warrior.
"We are your friends, Paine. You don't have to run. Whatever trouble you're in we can help you get through it." Laguna took a step towards her.
Paine waved a finger in their direction. "Nuh-uh. Too close."
"Just let us help you." She noticed Laguna was trying his best to persuade her to stay, but it wouldn't work. She knew she couldn't trust anyone is this…new world.
"There is a way for you two to help me." She quickly pulled out a sleeping potion and threw it at the two men. The spell hit its target.
Laguna and Kiros started coughing. "It's a-a-" Both men fell to the ground, Laguna was the first of the two to fall asleep; but before long, Kiros was asleep.
"I need your money." She walked quickly over to them and crouched to checked their pockets. Finding their gil and adding it up, she smiled. "This is plenty. Thanks." She stood and went back to the panel. Combine option number one and two and whaddya get? Secret option number three.
After paying for the car, it came up from the ground and was now in front of her.
"Time to figure out how this machina works." She took the keys that had showed up on the panel and walked over to the driver's side, opening the door when she was in front of it. Sitting down inside the car, she shut the door and looked at the controls. She inserted the key in the key hole, and cranked the car. This won't be so hard after all. Looking around some more, she found the two pedals near her feet.
XxXxX
It didn't take her long to find out how to work the car. She was now driving out in the hot desert, away from Esthar. She had passed another car not too long ago.
Now I wonder how fast this baby can go. Pushing down on the gas pedal harder, she began to pick up speed. Something caught her eye in the rearview mirror. Looking up to see what it was, she found two cars behind her. They were catching up to her and fast. Must be Laguna and them. She quickly turned her attention back to where she was driving. Shit. She immediately stepped on the brake when she saw what was up ahead of her. A fence. She looked around the place and as far as she could see, there was a fence surrounding the entire place. She hit the steering wheel hard and cursed silently.
"Fro sa!" Hearing the cars stop not too far away, she unbuckled her seat belt and opened the door. She stepped out and saw Laguna getting out of one of the cars.
"There's no where to run, Paine. Just come with us and no one will get hurt." Laguna pleaded.
She was caught and she knew it. Might as well. I ain't leaving this place any time soon, anyway. She reached back inside the car and grabbed her backpack and sword. "I'll come quietly." As she walked over to the car Laguna had stepped out of, she watched the two guards that had stepped out of the other car. The one that she had hit was watching her closely as well. She tossed her backpack into the car and reached for her sword. That one guard quickly got into the other car and locked the doors. She rolled her eyes as she placed the sword into the car, along with the backpack.
XxXxX
"So where do you come from?" Laguna was sitting behind his desk in his office; Paine was in the chair in front of the desk. Off to one side was a rather big guy, and Paine had learned that his named was Ward, but he didn't talk much; she found out that he couldn't talk at all a moment later. Kiros was on the other side.
"Why is that important?" Paine crossed her legs and leaned back in the chair.
Laguna sighed. "You lied to me when you told me you were from Esthar. I just want to know the truth."
She didn't know of any other place in this world, so what was she going to say? Luckily for her, someone knocked on the door.
"Yeah?" Laguna looked towards the door as Paine turned around to see who it was.
A brown haired man in black jeans, black jacket, and a white t-shirt entered the room, shutting the door behind him. Paine studied him closely. Son maybe? The two look a little like each other.
"Hey, Squall! I didn't expect you to be here so early." Laguna stood, obviously very happy that this man could make it.
"Is this her?" Squall asked, looking at Paine and studying her just as she was him. She has the strangest eyes…He thought, noticing her pale skin, silver-tinted hair and those red eyes.
"Yup. This is her alright. Squall, meet Paine. Paine, this is my son, Squall."
So I was right. She narrowed her eyes when she noticed him staring at her. "Am I so interesting to you that you have to stare at me?"
Squall flinched a bit, then turned to look at Laguna. "I need to speak with you privately, Laguna." He took one last look at Paine before heading out of the office, Laguna not too far behind him.
Paine wanted to listen in on their conversation, but she couldn't. Kiros and Ward were watching her.
XxXxX
"What have you found out about her?" Squall immediately asked his father once they were out of the room and the door was shut.
"Well, she's eighteen, her name is Paine -with an E- and that's pretty much it." Laguna put his hands on his hips. "Why are you so grouchy all the time? She doesn't seem that harmful. Although she did injure one of my guards…"
"You mean to tell me that all this time that she's been here, you haven't figured out anything about her?"
"I wouldn't say anything. I did find out her age-"
"Would you like me to interrogate her?" Squall folded his arms over his chest.
"No offence, but I want to find out more about her, not break her spirits or anythin' like that." The tone in his voice said that he was joking, but Squall didn't think it was too funny.
"I'm going to question her whether you like it or not."
"Fine then, grumpy. Take her with you to Balamb and question her there at Garden. Just as long as you get info outta her." Laguna watched Squall walk back into the room. Sighing, he followed him inside.
XxXxX
Paine turned her head to look at the men when they walked back inside. Them two have different personalities for being related. You would never guess Squall was his son if you didn't pay attention to the fact that they look similar to each other. She watched Squall stand a few feet away from the chair that she was sitting in.
"You're coming back to Balamb Garden with me. I will question you almost immediately after we arrive there." Squall kept his voice calm when telling her this.
Balamb what? We're goin' to a freakin' garden! And I thought things here couldn't get any weirder. She stood, picking her backpack and sword up off the floor as she did so. "Let's go then." She followed Squall out of the room.
She and Squall had walked around Esthar for about three minutes, and Paine was curious as to where they were going because they had already pasted the place where the cars were.
"Where are we going?"
"To the place where Ragnarok is parked. Ragnarok is the fastest way back to Garden." Squall didn't turn his head to look at her, but continued looking ahead.
"Ragnarok?"
This time, he looked over at her. "Yes. Ragnarok."
Once they stepped inside the place where this Ragnarok was parked, Paine gasped.
"This is similar to Celsius…" She slowly walked up to the airship and touched it.
"Celsius?"
"Yes. An airship that I ride on. Well…used to, anyway." She continued looking at Ragnarok.
"There's another just like Ragnarok?" There was a surprised tone in his voice.
She turned to face him. "I guess you don't know about it, huh?"
"No…I don't." Squall stared at her suspiciously. "Let's get inside."
XxXxX
The entire time that they were flying towards Balamb Garden, the young warrior was wandering around Ragnarok, seeing if it was built similar to Celsius.
She's a strange woman. Squall found himself thinking. If there was another airship, wouldn't Laguna know about it? I mean, isn't Esthar the only place that has the kind of technology to build an airship? He put Ragnarok on auto pilot and decided to go check on his 'new friend'. He couldn't trust her enough to let her roam around Ragnarok.
After going down the elevator and going through a few doors, he found the woman leaned up against a wall.
"What is it now?"
"We should be there in a few minutes." He informed her. She simply nodded, keeping her eyes closed. "Why did you lie to Laguna about where you came from? All you had to do was-"
"Because I did, alright?" Her eyes opened. Those red eyes glaring at him. "Mind your own damn business." She made her way pass him and to the elevator. Squall watched her leave, and followed her shortly after.
By the time Squall made it up there, Ragnarok was just landing outside Balamb Garden.
Finally, Squall thought glumly.
XxXxX
When Paine stepped out of Ragnarok, she looked up at this Balamb Garden. Well I'll be. It's no garden at all. So why does it have Garden in the name? She knew it didn't matter, but she was curious as to why they named it that. She'd have to ask some questions later. First she had to dodge the questions thrown at her.
The two walked inside Balamb Garden and into the lobby. Squall led the way to an elevator. Several people along the way stared at Paine, making her glare back at them. Before long, Squall and her were inside the elevator and moving up. The two stepped out when the doors opened and they walked through another set of doors.
Paine saw an older man with brown hair sitting at a desk. He looked to be in his forties, maybe even older.
"Ah, Squall. Is this the woman Laguna told you about?" The older man stood and greeted them.
Glancing back at Paine, Squall answered, "Yes. This is her," he turned his gaze back at the man behind the desk. "She was found outside of Esthar."
The man nodded. "So what is your name?" he directed that question over to Paine.
"Paine."
The man sat down and started to write down on some paper. "Nice to meet you, Paine. My name is Cid Kramer."
"If you don't mind, sir, I would like to question her."
I have a name, she glared at the back of Squall's head, considering she couldn't see his face.
"I don't mind at all. Question her in the cafeteria."
"What?"
"I'm sure Miss Paine is hungry," Cid smiled at Paine. "so you can question her while she eats."
"Yes, sir." Squall mumbled, turning around to leave the room. "Follow me."
She reluctantly followed; her boots making a soft sound as she crossed the floor.
XxXxX
After Squall and Paine had left, Edea entered the room and walked up to the desk. "We need to talk about that woman, Cid."
"What about her?"
"She's not from here."
"And how exactly do you know that?" Cid automatically knew the answer before his beloved wife could answer. "Why do I even bother?" He let out a sigh, but continued. "What do you know about her?"
"She came here from another world." This surprised Cid when Edea told him this, but that surprised feeling quickly disappeared.
"From another world? I have a bad feeling about this." Cid ran his hands down his face.
"I also have a bad feeling, but not about the woman." Edea narrowed her eyes, deep in thought.
XxXxX
"So where are you from?" Squall quickly got down to business as Paine had taken a bite out of her sandwich.
Swallowing the food in her mouth, she ignored his question and took another bite of her food.
Squall was getting irritated by this woman and so he asked her again, "Where are you from?"
She remembered back to the map she had seen on a wall on the way to the cafeteria. "Deling City." Out of the names she remembered, that was the one that stuck out the most.
"Now we're getting somewhere. Any relatives?" He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest.
"No. None at all." She stared at her half-eaten sandwich. At least that part is true.
"No parents, grandparents, siblings?" If this woman was an orphan, wouldn't she have been at the orphanage? I don't remember anyone like her there before. She isn't much older than me, so if she wasn't at the orphanage, wouldn't there have been someone watching over her as a kid? Squall thought on this question for a moment. "Anyone like a babysitter that you had when you were a kid?"
"No one. No parents, no grandparents, no siblings, no one." Her expression was blank as she said this.
Squall could see that there was a look in her eyes that told him that she wasn't lying. "Any friends that I could talk to?"
"No." I have friends, but they aren't in this world, she felt a knot swell up in her throat.
"What were you doing before you were washed up outside of Esthar?"
She wanted to answer him, but couldn't. A disgusting taste filled her mouth. Quickly, she stood and ran over to the nearby trashcan; all the food she had just eaten came back up.
"Are you okay?" Squall now stood behind her, hand on her right shoulder.
She felt dizzy as she stepped back from the trashcan. Hand to her forehead, that headache was coming back again.
"Let's get you to the infirmary." Squall walked beside her as he led her out of the cafeteria and towards the infirmary.
XxXxX
"I don't know what may have caused you to vomit and feel dizzy, but I highly suggest you get some rest." The doctor, Dr. Kadowaki as Paine had learned, told her after she took her temperature. "No more questions until she feels better." That was directed towards Squall, who was also in the room.
Squall simply nodded, keeping his eyes on Paine. After Dr. Kadowaki left the room, it was only Paine and Squall left.
"I'll leave to let you rest."
She nodded and watched him leave. Laying down, she closed her eyes and tried her best to sleep.
XxXxX
Squall Leonhart left the infirmary and headed back up to Cid's office.
"So how did the questioning go?" The headmaster asked Leonhart when he stepped through those double doors in front of his desk.
"She says she's from Deling City and has no relatives or friends. I didn't get to ask her much. She's now in the infirmary."
"What happened?" Worry was filled in his voice and eyes.
"She just got sick. Hopefully a little sleep will make her feel better." Squall sat down in the chair in front of the desk.
"Once she's awake, why don't you show her around Garden?" Cid smiled as he said this, leaning back in his chair to get comfortable.
"What? But we hardly know anything about her. She could be dangerous."
"I have a feeling she's not going to be any harm to us. Besides, you want to learn more about her, correct?" Getting a nod from the man in front of him, Cid continued. "Then become her friend. The poor girl has no one else, as you said yourself."
Sighing, he said, "Fine. I'll show her around Garden when she feels better."
"Maybe you could even introduce her to the others. I'm sure they'll help her feel welcome."
Squall didn't quite understand why Cid was suggesting he do this, but he trusted him. He stood and quietly left the room, understanding what he was told to do.
Edea stepped into sight. "The girl is far away from home. The least we can do is to make her feel welcome."
"Yes, I know. She must've looked at a map sometime because she told him that she was from Deling City."
"It's better than letting Squall or anyone else know where she is truly from." Sitting in the chair, she folded her hands in her lap.
"Sooner or later they will find out, you know. Then we'll have to deal with this little problem." He rested his hands on the desk.
"Until then, she will just have to stay here."
