Disclaimer: Same as last chapter. I only own the mystery people and the plot.
Chapter XIII
Where Art Thou, My Beloved Friend?
Magnum bonum promise maker-- harum scarum promise breaker-- -Emily Dickinson
XxXxX
Knock…knock…
Leonhart rolled over on his side, ignoring the person at the door.
Knock, knock…knock, knock… "Squall? Wake up, Cid wants to speak to you," informed a female voice.
Sighing, he sat up, looking at the door. "Okay, I'll be there in a minute. Let me get dressed." He recognized the voice as Quistis'. Getting dressed, he made his way out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
"She's still asleep; I checked on her a few minutes ago," Quistis said as she walked beside him.
"I think most of Garden is asleep, being that it's going on six."
"Yeah, I know. So why'd Laguna come yesterday?"
"He had something important to show me. I'll get everyone together later and explain everything." As he stepped on the elevator, Trepe stayed off.
"Okay, see you then." She waved, then walked off.
When he stepped inside Cid's office, Cid greeted him. "Do you ever sleep?" He asked the headmaster.
Cid chuckled and said, "Yes, occasionally," he adjusted his glasses and stood. "Remember how I told you to keep an eye on Paine while she was here and to make her feel at home?"
"Yeah…"
"Promise me that you will watch her and protect her with your life."
"I've never questioned you, but I must know: why do you care for her so much? Why are you so worried?"
Cid sighed. "Because she's in danger, and she needs someone to be there for her since her friends cannot be."
"So she…does have friends… Where are these friends and what kind of danger?"
"I don't know her friends, but I'm certain they are very worried about her. And about the danger: you'll find out soon enough.
Squall was getting frustrated. Why couldn't Cid tell him anything about Paine! "Fine then, if you won't tell me anything, I might as well tell you what Laguna had to show me yesterday."
"Okay, what?"
"There's an island off to the right of Tear's Point, and it just appeared after a storm went by there. Paine calls it 'Kilika Island'."
"This is…interesting…" Cid sat back down and began to think. "I-" The lights flickered off and on. "Another storm is coming. We've had some strange weather," he said as he turned around in his chair to look out of the window. "Anyway, promise me that you'll watch and protect Paine."
"I promise." Squall meant it, but he was still curious about something… "You're not going to wonder about how she knows what the island is called?"
"Oh, I already know," sitting more comfortable in his chair, he turned to look at Squall. "Go, wake her up, question her if you'd like, but I doubt she'll tell you anything."
Squall turned and left. That's when Edea stepped inside, watching Squall as he left. "I suppose you haven't told him yet?"
"No, but it's getting close to when I'll have to. If she doesn't tell him herself, then I guess we'll have to."
"She won't tell him unless she knows she has no other choice."
"I know; let's give her a day. Hopefully she'll tell him before the day's up."
XxXxX
Squall stepped off the elevator, thinking about what he should do. Cid knows, but won't tell. I'll just- He shook his head. No, I can't wake her up this early. She deserves the sleep.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were petrified."
He turned his head to the left. "Oh, good morning, Paine," he hadn't been aware of the fact that he had just been standing there. "I was just…thinking about something. Would you care to join me for breakfast?"
"No thanks. I learned my lesson: never eat before nine AM or else you'll end up puking."
"How do you feel? That ride on Ragnarok couldn't have helped you any."
She walked closer to him. "I feel fine; well, better than yesterday." Why must you lie? You feel terrible! Ever since that storm came again this morning, you've puked once and you still have that headache. Oh, and must I remind you about the part where you passed out- Paine pushed the little voice away and sighed. "Guess I'll see ya later," she turned to walk back to her dorm.
"Paine, wait! I want to talk to you."
She looked at him, not even bothering to hid the fact that she was getting irritated. "Yes?"
"How did you know what that island was called?"
"You know, you should really stop asking me so many questions."
"Well, when some strange woman just shows up out of nowhere, and then later knows about an island that show up, too, I gotta ask about that."
"Five respect points."
"What?"
"You lose five respect points."
"Okay…"
"Be careful; you don't have many left." She started to walk away again.
XxXxX
She fell onto her bed, hand on forehead. "E ryda raytylrac…" Last night she may not have had a dream about that storm and a town, but she now knew what the storm brought… "How is that even possible, though? I don't get it…"
Listening to the storm outside, she wondered what it would bring this time. Which town, city, or island? Besaid, Luca, what? "Well, there's one way to find out." She could…wait… They'll find out sooner or later. For now, I'll just…sleep… Her eyes slowly closed, sleep taking over.
XxXxX
"Squall, your father wants to talk to you," Cid informed over the intercom. "He's on line two, answer at the nearest phone."
Squall sighed, walking into the Infirmary, figuring that that was the closest place that had a phone. "Yes? What now?"
"Don't sound so happy to hear from me, Squall."
"What do you want? Another strange place?"
"Yup, another. It's only the second one though. I wouldn't expect another, but that's just me. This whole situation is weird. I mean-"
"Where is it, Laguna?" Squall's voice sounded irritated.
"At Bika Snowfield, near one of the cliffs there, slightly north-west of Trabia Garden."
"You coming with Ragnarok?"
"Yep, already headed over there. Should be there soon. Go ahead and get your friend, Paine. If she knew what that island was, then she may know this place."
"Whatever, just hurry." He hung up the phone. He always seems to give me a headache sometimes. Sighing once more, he headed over to the dormitory. Hopefully she'll be wanting to come. Maybe I could try asking her that question again… But what would happen if I lost all my respect points? Okay, so he wasn't one to worry over something as stupid as that, but come on; she's PAINE, he saw what she did to Seifer. Something bad may happen if someone lost all their "respect points" and he personally didn't want to find out. He'd leave that for Almasy.
He knocked on the door a couple times when he arrived there. "Paine, are you in there?"
XxXxX
Huh? Oh, Squall. What now? She sat up, the headache hitting her hard. "Ah man…" Standing, she slowly made her way to the door, opening it a second later. "Yeah, what do you want?"
"Laguna has found another…place… I was wondering if-" Squall started, not able to finish his sentence because of her.
"I'll go. Give me a minute." She shut the door, and grabbed her backpack, sword attached. I may need this… "Okay, ready," she said as she reopened the door and swung the backpack over her right shoulder.
The two left the dormitory to go wait outside of Balamb Garden, both hoping that Ragnarok would land soon… When Ragnarok did land, they hopped aboard quickly.
"Nice to see you again, Paine," Laguna greeted her as they came aboard.
Simply nodding, she turned to her right, going through the door and walking onto the elevator, going up a second later.
"In a hurry, isn't she?" Laguna said as he and Squall followed her.
"We both are; it's not like this situation is…normal…"
It didn't take Laguna long to start Ragnarok up and fly north. "I haven't checked out the place, but according to a few people, it's an actual city. Kinda like the one on that island, 'cept it's a lot bigger."
Paine mentally flipped through names of cities on Spira: Luca, Bevelle, heck, it could even be Guadosalam or Zanarkand ruins brought back. She would find out as soon as they got there. Later, she would have to check out Kilika to see what exactly happened and if everyone was all right. The only person she knew there, though, was Dona and Barthello. And she really didn't feel like talking to her or him.
The ride was quiet --quiet enough for Paine to enjoy it. She was used to Rikku jumping all over the place. Thinking about Spira put a weird feeling in her gut. Was she actually…homesick? Spira was all she knew, at least up until the day she arrived…here. She still didn't know exactly what to call here. Here just wasn't working. And it's not like she can ask Squall or Laguna, or anyone else here.
"Paine?"
The voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Looking up from her seat, she saw Squall looking down at her. "What?"
"You just look…paler than usual; are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine, stop asking." She watched him go back to his seat.
"Okay, here we are. Let me land and you two can investigate." Laguna told them as Ragnarok slowly to a stop. Before long, they were on ground and Squall and her were outside, Paine being the one who stared, dumfounded, at the city before her.
"Paine?"
"It's…it's…Bevelle…" She chocked out the words, Bevelle barely escaping her lips. Baralai! Quickly, she ran inside, not able to think straight. Baralai… Are you here, are you really here?
"Paine!"
She heard footsteps behind her, trying to catch up. Baralai, please, please be here, she thought as she looked around frantically. "Baralai!" She called out. "Baralai! Answer me! Please!" She had never wanted to see his face so badly as she did now. "Baralai!" No answer. "Please, answer me!"
When she got to the main building, she gasped at what she saw: machina parts everywhere. "Machina… Why? What happened here?" She asked no one in particular.
"Paine? Who's Baralai?"
"He's…" Her eyes were wide, a shocked look on her face. "He's not here. It's not normal for the Praetor not to be in his city! Where is he! BARALAI! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!"
Did the people disappear when the storm brought them here? No, that can't be true. She saw people on Kilika, so where is everyone? Her mind immediately thought the worse. "Oh no… The machina… They…attacked Bevelle… WHY? It makes no goddamn sense!" She absently kicked a machina part near her, immediately feeling pain shoot up her leg. "Why the hell would machina attack Bevelle? Where is everyone!" So many questions, no answers to any of them.
"What's going on, Paine?"
"I don't know!" She shrieked, confused by all of this. If only she could get in contact with someone from Spira. But that seemed impossible right now. It was a one-way trip. Unfortunately. "People are supposed to be here! Not…machina! New Yevon would never allow machina to roam free in their city unless it was their machina. So why are there…pieces of machina here? It makes no sense."
"New Yevon? Machina?"
She immediately remembered who she was talking to. Oh shit. Mentally slapping herself for forgetting, she knew she was busted. Heck, her cover had been almost busted when she recognized Kilika Island. Just ignore him for now and go look inside for Baralai. He probably is just unconscious and can't hear you, right? GO NOW. Agreeing with her conscious, she ran toward the entrance, bursting through the doors, her heart beating quickly. "Baralai?" She called out once more, hoping to get an answer. As she walked further into the room, she heard the doors behind her open, but she knew it was Squall --it had to be. Him or Laguna, but Laguna had stayed aboard Ragnarok. Ignoring it, she continued to walk. "Baralai? Please, answer me."
She scanned the area, finding bits and pieces of vines on the floor. Vines? Since when were there vines in here? Things just got more confusing each time something new happened. "Baralai?" Please, I'm begging you, ANSWER ME, she silently pleaded. Footsteps were coming closer to her. "Squall, I don't want to-" As she turned around to face him, her eyes went wide. "Squall?" No one. Getting a bad feeling, she quickly ran out of the room, stepping back into sunlight.
"Squall?" She hollered, sighing out of relief as she saw him turning the corner to her left. Wait. If the sound came from inside and he's…over…there… Her heart sped up. At the top of her lungs, she yelled his name, "SQUALL!" The bad feeling she felt was all she felt right now. She saw him run toward her, eyes going wide as if he saw something that she hadn't seen yet.
"PAINE!"
It was like time slowed down as she slowly turned her head to look behind her. "Oh shit," was all she could manage to say as she was thrown into the wall nearby. Her right side was first to collide with the wall, but it felt as if her head had been first. Pain throbbing in her head and side, she fell onto her back.
Opening her eyes slightly, she saw a man with black hair… "Wha-" She was cut short as she coughed up blood. Everything around her started to dim…… Strangely, the only thing she really noticed, other than the blood and pain, was the fact that her backpack was being taken off of her. She opened her eyes once more, and watched the strange man put the backpack on, sword still attached.
It was when he picked her up in her arms that she glared at him. "Don't. Touch. Me. You. Bastard."
The man ignored her and picked her up, a smirk on his face. Somewhere near them, she heard footsteps running toward them. Squall? She tilted her head back a bit to look at Squall running toward them, though he was upside-down, like she really cared right now. She felt so…weak…
"Nuh-uh, I don't think so," the man who held her kept that smirk on his face. And as if he was trying to prove something, he purposely dropped her, her mind yelling random, unladylike curses at him before her body hit the ground; the force to her head caused her to black out.
XxXxX
"YOU LET HER GO!" Squall yelled, anger filled his voice; he had never been so angry like this before in several, several months --if ever. And when the man dropped Paine and her head hit that ground… Fury filled his mind, his soul, making him one extremely pissed off man.
The man picked her limp body back up. "Bye-bye. Have a nice day." Smirking once more, he disappeared.
"PAINE!"
