A/N - Okey dokey, decided to do another chapter for this story. I actually had a lot of fun writing this chapter, so I hope you enjoy it as well!
Anywho, I'm not sure if power will stay on or not. The snow is at least 5 feet high outside and it is STILL snowing! I had to go out in the snow, wade through it for a while and get my neighbor's pets over here to my house so they wouldn't be left alone in that house. This will require some explaining, so if you don't mind waiting until the end author's note, I'll explain everything there.
For now, read on and enjoy!
Chapter 13 – Mobile Home
As they rode down the elevator towards the MD Level, Squall looked at his teammates and asked, "Are we all ready for this? There's no telling what might be down there."
Hinata nodded, but before she or the others could say anything, the elevator came to a sudden stop and the lights flickered for a time before shutting off. Soon enough, it seemed like a backup generator kicked in, but it only helped so much. The elevator was still stalled and they had nowhere to go. At least they weren't in pitch blackness! Gotta look on the bright side people!
Quistis frowned and said, "There has to be some way out of here. Let's look for it."
Rinoa nodded and said, "I don't want to be stuck in here, so let's hurry and find it already!"
Hinata nodded in agreement before she took notice of something underneath where Squall was standing. "I think there's some kind of access panel there. Here, let me take a look." She said before she kneeled down and opened the hatch.
"All right Hinata! Good eye! Let's get the hell out of here!" Rinoa exclaimed, happy to have a way out of the cramped elevator.
Squall agreed, but as he peered through, he frowned and shook his head. "Nobody's been here for a while. Let's be careful everyone."
They began to descend the ladder as quickly and as carefully as they could. As they neared an opening nearby, they heard a grinding sound and looked up. "Oh shit." Squall said before he hopped into the nearby opening, the others quickly following after him. The very moment Hinata got inside, the elevator came plummeting down, narrowly missing her.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Hinata fell to her knees and said, "That REALLY sucked. That was way too close for comfort."
"I'm glad we're all alright. We don't have time to dally here though, we need to get moving if we want to save Garden." Squall said.
Hinata and the others nodded before they steadied their nerves and followed Squall to the end of the hallway where a large hatch was. It took some serious effort, but Squall finally managed to pry it open. Afterwards, he leapt down and moved out of the way so the other three could drop down, one by one. Of course, he made sure to avert his gaze so he wouldn't get a view up anyone's skirt or something.
Once everyone was gathered, he looked around and hummed in thought. "An oil stratum… Watch for enemies weak against fire around here." He said. "It might help if we junction some fire elemental magic to our weapons. It would certainly make the battles down here easier." Seeing the others nod in understanding, he turned and motioned for them to follow him. "All right, let's go."
Proceeding down the tunnel in the only direction available to them, they soon came across another ladder leading downwards into the darkness below. Deciding to be a gentleman, he let the girls go first, making sure he went down last. When they reached the bottom, they were in a circular room with only one exit.
Going through the door, they came across a rather large wheel. Seeing no other option available to them, Squall walked over to it and gripped it tight before turning it. It took a great deal of effort, and Hinata had offered to help him, but he eventually managed to do it on his own. Panting from the exertion for a moment, Squall soon caught his breath and led the party back into the previous room.
Upon leaving the room, they saw that the floor in the circular room had opened up, revealing another ladder going down. However, it was such a deep hole that they couldn't see the bottom. "I'm really starting to hate ladders." Hinata said before she led the group downwards. I miss Naruto-kun already…
When they reached the bottom, they were in quite the spacious room. The four of them were now on a raised walkway with stairs leading downwards even further. Shrugging, they began making their way down again. At the bottom of the stairs, they saw a draw point nearby. Quistis drew four Full-Life spells from the draw point before they moved on, circling around a rather large structure in the middle of the room.
Upon reaching the other side of the room, they frowned in confusion. A dead end? Squall wondered.
Turning around, they saw a ladder leading upwards attached to the central structure. Sighing at this, Rinoa asked, "Are you telling me we need to climb up again? Ugh."
"I wonder where it's connected to?" Quistis wondered aloud. Together, they followed the ladder with their eyes before following the path to a room at the end of the walkway up above.
"Looks like it's connected to that room." Rinoa stated.
"Make a decision, Squall." Quistis said.
Taking some time to think it over, Squall eventually said, "We don't really have a choice. Let's go check it out."
Quistis frowned as she looked at the ladder. "Do you think this ladder can support us? It looks a bit unstable…"
"All right, all right. I'll go." Squall said. "You three wait here." Sure enough, as he climbed higher and higher, the ladder rocked unsteadily. When he reached a certain height, the ladder suddenly began to fall backward with Squall still on it. "Oh shit…"
As the ladder fell, Squall leapt through a nearby window, skidding to a halt once he was inside of the room. Seconds later, the top of the ladder broke the rest of the glass in the exact spot he had crashed through. Breathing a sigh of relief, he stood up and patted himself down, trying to get the shards of glass off of his body. "That was way too close." He said, sounding just a tad irritable. "Oh well, let's see what I can do from here…"
Walking over to a nearby control panel, Squall looked it over carefully before pressing a few buttons and pulling a lever. When the entire area began to shake, he wondered if he had done something wrong. However, looking down below at the others, he saw the floor opening up again. Thankfully, the area the girls were standing on was a safe zone, it seemed. Thank God for that. Now how do I get back down there…?
Looking at the door nearby, he shook his head and thought, That collision collapsed the walkway, so I can't get back down that way. Looks like I have to climb down the ladder. Fantastic. Sighing, he climbed atop the ladder and began making his way down to the girls as carefully as he could. When he finally reached the platform where the girls were, he hopped off of the ladder and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Squall, are you okay?" Rinoa questioned worriedly.
"Yeah. Somehow." Squall replied. "That was way too close though."
"I almost didn't believe you'd make it." Quistis said. "I'm glad you're all right."
Squall shrugged and said, "It's nothing new, really. I'm getting kind of used to things like this. Now come on, let's go. We still have work to do." Seeing the others nod, they proceeded to look for a way down again.
Seeing something nearby, Squall walked over to the edge of the walkway and spotted a ladder leading downwards. Looking at the railing, he released the connection and shoved the railing off to the side. "Well, here's our way down. Let's get going girls. Follow me."
Hinata frowned at him, but sighed softly and said, "All right. But don't look up, you got that?"
Squall blinked in confusion for a time before a small blush lit up his cheeks. "I wouldn't dream of it! I just want to be sure nothing's down there that could hurt us."
Quistis and Rinoa giggled a bit, watching as Squall huffed and began to climb down the ladder, refusing to look up even once. "He's so easy to tease." Rinoa said before she and the others began to descend the ladder as well. Upon reaching the bottom, they saw a rather large lever before them.
Glancing around the area they found themselves in, they spotted a rather large door a little further in, but they didn't see any way to open it. So, with a shrug, Squall flipped the lever. Sure enough, the door at the end of the path opened. "Well, looks like we can move on. Be ready for anything." Squall advised before he began leading the girls deeper into this strange structure.
As they neared the now open door, two creatures leapt out of the oil nearby and landed before them, blocking the way. "Oilboyles. Peachy. We don't have time to waste on these things. Let's put them down quickly and get a move on!" Squall commanded.
Hinata and Quistis began to fight the first Oilboyle together. While Hinata was restricted to using her weapons and her taijutsu, Quistis peppered the damn thing with Fire spells, exactly as Squall had advised earlier.
Meanwhile, Squall attacked the other one with his gunblade, making good use of the explosive blast when he pulled the trigger. Meanwhile, Rinoa made frequent use of fire magic such as Fire and Fira.
Thankfully, neither Oilboyle had a lot of health, so they fell quickly to their assault. However, before the second Oilboyle died, it managed to nail Hinata with an Oil Blast attack, which dealt a lot of damage, causing her to collapse to her knees, wincing in agony.
Rinoa quickly used a Cura spell to heal Hinata. When her friend managed to rise again, the beautiful ravenette smiled and said, "I'm glad you're okay Hinata. Now come on, we should hurry! I trust the others to have done everything in their power to stop the missiles, but it's better to be safe than sorry."
"Agreed. Let's get going." Hinata said before she and the others began to progress deeper into the underground MD Level.
Seeing another ladder leading downwards again, Rinoa let out a sigh of annoyance. "Just how far down have we gone already?" she wondered aloud.
"Not far enough, it would seem." Squall said before he instructed Rinoa to go first. He would take up the rear again. Upon reaching the bottom, they proceeded across the small walkway until they came across a rather large machine of some kind. "Well, it looks like we're here."
"What exactly are we supposed to do here?" Rinoa questioned. "It looks so complicated. It's making my head hurt just looking at it."
"Well, just staring at it won't do us any good. Squall, why don't you have a look and see if you can figure out how this thing works?" Quistis suggested.
Nodding, Squall walked up to the console and began looking over the various buttons, levers, and the like. "Hmm…" How am I supposed to know what to do? Even the headmaster doesn't know… Sighing, he proceeded to press a few buttons in the center, though it didn't seem to have any effect on anything.
"Do you even know what you're doing, Squall?" Rinoa questioned.
"Not a clue. I don't know how any of this works." Squall admitted.
Before anyone could say anything more, the machine seemed to start up and the whole area began to shake violently for a moment. "What in the world?" Squall questioned unsurely.
The machine's gears suddenly began to shift and turn while bolts of electricity began to shoot off of the machine. Soon enough, the machine had whirred to life before suddenly the platform they were on began to rise at a rather fast pace. When they suddenly shot straight up, all the way into the headmaster's office, they lost their footing and collapsed on their butts. They took notice of Cid on the platform as well, but that isn't what concerned them in this moment. No…
"Oh shit. Missiles incoming!" Squall exclaimed as he and the others watched helplessly as the missiles headed straight for them. However, at the last possible moment, they split off from one another, missing Garden almost in its entirety. Unfortunately, the missiles soon shot back towards Balamb Garden once again, hitting the ground around them and exploding.
Thankfully, Balamb Garden started moving away from the blast zone before any real damage could be done. As the Garden continued to move away from the blast zone, Squall asked, "We're moving?! What the heck is going on?!"
As the party of four stood there dumbfounded, Cid slowly rose to his feet and said, "I see. So this is the secret…"
"Wow! This is incredible!" Rinoa exclaimed somewhat giddily.
"This is unbelievable. Who knew Garden held such an amazing secret?" Quistis said, smiling to herself. She was relieved that they were safe and they had succeeded in their mission.
"This is beyond anything I could ever have expected in this world." Hinata admitted. "I'm so glad we pulled it off. But I'm worried about Naruto-kun and the others."
"As am I." Squall said. Walking up to Cid, he asked, "Sir? What do you make of this?"
Cid shook his head and said, "We'll discuss this later. For now, I want you to check outside and see what's going on."
Squall nodded, but before he could say anything, Rinoa looked to him and exclaimed, "Come on, Squall. Let's go!" Hurrying over to the elevator platform, she rode it down, seeming giddy as can be.
Shrugging it off, Squall looked to Quistis when she said, "Squall, let's go see what's going on."
Hinata nodded in agreement. "Yes. I'm concerned about the others. Let's get going." And together, the three of them took the small platform down.
Rinoa joined up with them again and together the party of four left the room and proceeded to call the elevator up from the bottom floor. Waiting for it to arrive, Squall looked at his friends and said, "We may be safe for the time being, but there's still the issue of the traitors and this Garden Master to be concerned about. For now though, we should check on the others and see how everybody is doing. We can deal with the Garden Master later."
Hinata nodded and said, "Whoever this Garden Master is, he needs to be stopped before anything else can happen. We also need to eliminate the traitors. For now though, it looks like our ride is almost here."
Sure enough, the elevator reached the floor they were on. Stepping inside, they rode it down to the second floor. Stepping out of the elevator, they saw a couple of people running around in a state of panic. Ignoring them for the time being, they entered the hallway that led to the classrooms and the second floor deck.
Approaching a nearby student, they listened as she said, "This is crazy. Okay, okay, just calm down. Deep breaths." Taking in a deep breath and releasing it slowly, the student did this a couple more times until she felt calm again…or at least it seemed that way. "Phew. First the Garden Master's men started rounding up SeeDs. Then the fighting began… All of the sudden, the Garden began to shake violently. Then the missiles came… And now we're flying. Today has been absolutely crazy." Reaching up, she pinched herself hard and went 'Eep!' "Okay, not dreaming. I think I need to sit down…"
Ignoring her for the time being, they approached a male SeeD across the way from her and listened as he said, "Man, what the hell were we doin'?! Sittin' around doin' nothin' while those things were comin' at us."
Hinata frowned at him and said, "You were all distracted dealing with traitors. You can only do so much when faced with issues like these."
"Yeah, maybe so. Still, we shouldn't have been fightin' amongst ourselves like that. Especially not with freakin' missiles flyin' our way!" the man said.
Shrugging, they decided to leave the SeeD to his business and proceeded to look at the female student running around in circles in an obvious panic. Only, when she spoke to them, she sounded excited instead. "Hey, have you been outside yet? It's amazing! Just go down the hall and check it out." Ignoring her and the kid in blue that was running around, they proceeded further down the hall and out onto the observation deck.
Once outside, the first thing they noticed was the breeze blowing through the area, catching Rinoa's and Hinata's hair and making it wave in the wind. Rinoa was awfully excited as she hurried to the edge and peered over the side. "Wow. I never thought I'd see something like this. It's incredible!"
Hinata and the others joined her and looked around. "Agreed." Squall said. "It's a beautiful sight."
"It's made even more so now that we've evaded the missiles. Still…" Quistis said, frowning deeply.
Hinata nodded in understanding. "You're worried about Naruto-kun and the others, right? So am I. I'm sure they did everything they could have, but it didn't seem to be enough. We barely managed to evade those missiles…"
Squall shook his head and said, "I'm sure they're fine. I don't know where they are or what they're doing right now, but we'll see them again soon…I hope."
Quistis nodded, but didn't look very convinced. "I just…I just want to talk to him again. I hate having to leave him and the others behind like that. What they were doing was dangerous. Incredibly so."
Rinoa walked up to her and grabbed one of her hands, squeezing it gently. "You really care about Naruto, don't you? I'm sure we'll see him and the others again soon. Have faith in them and in us. For now though, we should probably get back inside. We need to talk to Headmaster Cid."
"She's right. Come on girls, let's go see the headmaster again." Squall said before leading them back inside.
As they proceeded down the hallway again, they heard someone call out Squall's name. Soon enough, a female SeeD came rushing towards them. "It's the headmaster! Get back to the bridge on the double!" Frowning deeply at this, the part of four ran the rest of the way to the elevator and proceeded to ride the elevator back up to Cid's office. Rushing inside, they rode the small elevator platform up to the control panel where Cid was waiting.
As soon as they reached him, Squall asked, "What's wrong, Headmaster?"
Cid turned to face him and said, "The controls aren't responding! I don't know what to do! We're going to crash into the town of Balamb if we don't do something!"
Rinoa's eyes widened and she exclaimed, "No way! That's not good. What the heck are we supposed to do?!"
"We have to do something fast!" Quistis exclaimed.
Cid stepped aside and looked into Squall's eyes. "Squall, can you think of anything?"
Squall's initial reaction was to shout out, 'Of course not!' but he refrained from doing so. Instead, he listened as the others each told him to do something, anything! Palming his face, he approached the controls and looked them over carefully. After a moment, he just said, "Fuck it." and began pressing a few buttons and flipped a few switches. "Work dammit!"
When everything lurched for a moment, almost knocking them off balance, Quistis exclaimed, "Now what?!"
When Balamb Garden started turning, Cid exclaimed, "Yes! We're turning! Well done Squall."
"Squall, you did it!" Quistis exclaimed joyfully.
Rinoa shook her head. "Not quite. We're gonna crash into the sea now!"
"Crap! Everyone, hold on to something!" Cid exclaimed as he and the others braced themselves.
When Balamb Garden crashed into the sea, they worried that they'd sink. Only, Garden appeared to be floating in the water without sinking. Breathing a sigh of relief, Cid looked at Squall and his companions. "Phew. Squall, everyone, that's a job well done. I think the worst is behind us for now."
Squall looked out the window and asked, "Where exactly are we heading?"
Cid rubbed the back of his head as he thought over the answer. "Well, we'll drift along for the time being. At least until we figure out how to maneuver the Garden. It looks like, for now, we can relax for a while. We can spend some time figuring out what to do next." Upon realizing something, Cid slumped over and said, "So much for my room. Where am I going to change now?" Hearing this, the girls began to giggle while Squall smiled at the headmaster apologetically. There really wasn't much else they could do in the moment.
Days later
Squall was lying in bed, his head resting on his hands as he stared up at the ceiling. How long has it been since we started moving? There's not much more we can do now. We've taken care of all the monsters in the Garden. Ugh. I still need to report to the headmaster. There's a lot of things I want to ask about, too. Knowing him, he's probably still busy trying to restore order in the Garden. Standing up, he looked out his window and continued thinking to himself. We're literally in the middle of nowhere. Man I'm bored… I hate having nothing to do. It gets me thinking way too much. Sitting back on his bed, Squall stared down at the floor, a grim look on his face. I hope Naruto and the others are all right. I know I said they'd be okay, but… Hmm, was it wrong for me to let them go? I wonder how the others felt about it.
That sorceress…just who is she, anyway? Why fire missiles at the Gardens? Is Seifer ever coming back? If he does, I'll get even with him for everything he's done. These thoughts and many more continued to circulate inside of his head until he eventually dozed off again.
Later
Some time later, Squall sensed a presence looming over him. Quickly sitting up in bed, he narrowly avoided conking heads with the person that had been looming over him. Looking at the person that had disturbed him, he saw that it was Rinoa. Blinking a few times, he asked, "What?"
"Hey. You looked so adorable, sleeping like a baby." She said with a giggle.
"Gee, thanks." Squall said sarcastically.
"Oh, don't be like that. Now come on, get up. Let's go!" Rinoa said, tugging on his arm to try and make him stand up.
"Where are we going?" Squall asked as he reluctantly stood up, if only to keep her from tugging on his arm any longer.
"Give me a tour of the Garden." Rinoa demanded.
Squall, deciding it might be fun to screw with her a little, asked, "Is this another one of your 'orders'?"
Rinoa pouted cutely at him and said, "Of course not. I just want you to show me around. You know, to get more acquainted with the place. Pretty please?"
"Sure." Squall said before poking her on the nose. When she scrunched up her face a bit, he smirked at her and motioned for her to follow him.
"Woohoo! Let's go go go!" Rinoa exclaimed as she took Squall's hand in hers and hurried with him out of the dormitory. "This is gonna be so much fun!"
Squall couldn't help but smile a little as he watched her. I swear, she's like a little kid sometimes.
As they left the dorms and entered the giant room that branched off into all the other areas of Garden, Rinoa said, "This place is huge. Do you think it's bigger than Galbadia Garden?"
Squall shrugged and said, "Who knows?"
"Well that's no fun. You should know this stuff." Rinoa teased.
"Yeah, yeah. Come on, I'll show you around." Squall said, motioning for her to follow him.
As Squall led her towards the cafeteria, she asked, "What's down this way?"
"The cafeteria."
"And what about over there?" she asked, pointing in the direction of the parking lot.
Squall looked at where she was pointing and said, "That would be the parking lot."
Rinoa turned to Squall with a smile and said, "Squall, I really appreciate you showing me around like this. But can you try to make it a little more fun? Like a normal tour, you know?"
Squall looked her in the eyes and frowned slightly in confusion. "What exactly do you expect from me?" he wondered aloud.
Rinoa poked his nose this time and said, "I dunno. Just do something to make it more fun for us both!"
Squall sighed and said, "Naruto's probably the best one to ask for something like that. If he were here, I'd tell you to ask him to show you around."
"Well Naruto's not here. And besides, I want you to show me around, Squall. So c'mon! Let's have some fun, okay?" Rinoa said, smiling at him.
"Sure, sure." Squall said with a shrug before he led her into the cafeteria. "This right here is the cafeteria. Obviously, this is where we order our meals and relax while 'shooting the breeze', so to speak. Keep in mind though that there's always competition for the good stuff. Especially the hot dogs. Zell can never seem to get here in time for a good hot dog. Some of the hot dogs are so popular, you'll be lucky just to see someone eat it. That's why you see this long line, every single day."
"I see…" Rinoa said before she doubled over laughing.
Squall blinked and asked, "Um, what's so funny?"
Rinoa giggled a bit more before she said, "You're just so serious when you're explaining things like this. It just seems a little…strange."
Squall sighed again and palmed his face. "You're the one who asked me to show you around. Don't make fun of me if I don't do a good job."
Rinoa pouted cutely at him before saying, "Sorry. You don't have to get so mad."
The gunblade specialist shook his head and said, "I'm not mad. Maybe a little annoyed, but not mad."
"If you're sure. Now come on, what's next?" she asked, smiling at him.
Squall shrugged and led her back out of the cafeteria and into the main hub once again. This time he led her to the parking lot on the other side and decided to show her around in there. "This is the parking lot. I know, it's not anything special, but it's important to know where it is, just in case."
Rinoa raised a brow and asked, "That's it?"
Squall nodded and said, "Pretty much, yeah."
The blue-clad woman sighed but nodded her head. "All right. Let's just go."
Squall sighed again and said, "As you wish. I honestly have no idea what you expected from me. The parking lot's pretty self-explanatory, after all."
"It's fine. You can still show me all the other places!" Rinoa exclaimed, taking his hand and hurrying with him back out into the main hub once again.
This time, Squall led her to where the quad and the infirmary were located. Leading her down the steps and to the stage, he said, "This is the quad. Selphie was trying to set something up for the Garden Festival here using the stage and instruments I think. I know Naruto was planning to help her, and he got me to promise the same. As you can see, people come here to relax often enough. Of course, now that we've got such a good view of the ocean, this place has become much more popular."
Rinoa smiled as she listened to the soothing music being played by a guitarist up on the stage. "It's beautiful here. I can see why people come here now. Just look at the ocean. It's so breathtaking!"
Squall nodded and said, "It really is."
For a while, the two of them just stood there gaing out at the vast, blue ocean. After some time, however, Squall patted Rinoa on the shoulder and motioned for her to follow him back to the main hub. "Come on. The tour's not over yet."
"Okay." Rinoa said as she took Squall's hand in hers once again. This time, when they reached the main hub, Squall led her into the infirmary.
When he didn't see Dr. Kadowaki anywhere, he was about to say something, only for the door to open up behind them. Turning to see who it was, he smiled slightly at seeing the good doctor. "Hi there Squall." Taking notice of Rinoa, she said, "Oh my. It's not everyday I see you walk around with a pretty girl. Is she your girlfriend?"
Squall, deciding to screw with Rinoa a bit, said, "Yes."
Rinoa blushed deeply as she turned to face Squall. "What?! Are you serious, Squall?! Hmm…" Smirking at him, she said, "You know what? I'm gonna take that seriously."
Squall smirked right back at her and said, "I'm serious."
Blushing worse, Rinoa brought a hand to her chest and said, "Wow. I'm actually speechless."
Squall was tempted to be mean and say something along the lines of, 'I'm seriously joking.' but he decided against it. Instead, he simply patted her atop her head and said, "I know you still consider Seifer to be your boyfriend, but I'll be here for you should you need me. Okay?"
Rinoa just continued to blush worse, unable to even stammer out some kind of reply. Seeing their interaction, Dr. Kadowaki smiled and said, "You two are really cute together. Anyways, before I forget, do you happen to know where Headmaster Cid is? That guy works way too hard. Tell him to come see me when you see him, okay?"
"Sure thing, Dr. Kadowaki. Let's get going, Rinoa." Squall said as he led her out of the infirmary and to the other side of the main hub, where he first led her into the training center. Upon entering, he led Rinoa a little deeper into the training center before turning to face her. "This is the training center. Or, as we call it, the monster's lair. The monsters are left to run loose so the students can get a feel for actual combat. Wanna give it a try?"
Rinoa smirked at him and said, "You know, somehow I can imagine you doing this on a first date. You're so romantic…"
Seeing the teasing grin on her face, Squall facepalmed and said, "I'd like to think I have a bit more tact than that. Then again, I've never been on a single date before, so what do I know?"
Giggling, Rinoa took his hand and said, "Come on. We can play here later. I want you to continue showing me around!"
As Rinoa tugged on his arm and began to practically drag him out of the training center, Squall simply chuckled quietly to himself. This is actually surprisingly fun.
Their next stop was the library. Walking to the center of the room, Squall prepared to speak to Rinoa again, only to see that she was looking around excitedly. "Oh wow! This is so cool! Mind if I look around for a while?" she asked.
"Sure. Knock yourself out." Squall said, smiling as he watched her browse the various books with a bright smile on her face. Have to admit, she's cute when she's like this.
Leaving her to her own devices, Squall went into the back where the study desks were. Spotting a really familiar person, he walked over to her and prepared to say something, only for her to turn around and say, "Hi, Squall."
"You're the girl I saw in the infirmary." He said.
"If you remember, you also saved me from that monster." She said, smiling at him.
"Who exactly are you? You seem to know me, but I don't recognize you at all." Squall questioned with a frown on his face.
The woman smirked at him and said, "Try to remember."
Squall blinked and asked, "Remember? Remember what?"
The brunette looked him in the eyes and said, "It would be heartbreaking for me to know I was forgotten. We used to be so close, Squall."
Remember? So I do know this girl? I don't recognize her though! Squall thought frustratedly.
"It would be nice to talk about old times again." She said before turning back around to do whatever it was she had been up to before he talked to her.
Frowning to himself, Squall decided he would just leave the woman alone for the time being. Instead, he walked up to Rinoa and asked, "Are you done?"
Rinoa nodded and said, "I can always come back here later if I want to. So let's go, Squall."
Together, they walked out of the library before heading towards the directory in front of the elevator. Before they could get close, however, a Garden Faculty member rushed up to them and looked hard into Squall's eyes. "Student ID No. 41269, Squall?"
Squall narrowed his eyes and said, "Yes. What do you want with me?"
The Faculty member said, "The Garden Master wishes to see you. Report to the Master's Room right away."
Frowning, Squall asked, "Where is the Master's Room?"
"Take the elevator to level B1. You have permission to enter." The faculty member said before letting Squall and Rinoa be on their merry way.
Frowning deeper, Squall walked with Rinoa in front of the directory where they found two girls chatting with one another. "For a while, I seriously wondered what would happen to us." The first girl said.
The second girl replied with, "I mean, really. I never want to go through that again."
The first girl said, "It was the master's order to hunt down Headmaster Cid and SeeD. That started everything."
"That's right. But who is this 'master' guy, anyway?" the other girl asked.
"Speaking of which, I've never met him before, either."
The second girl nodded and said, "I'm still worried…"
"Me too. I wonder if everything's really okay now?" the first girl wondered.
Leaving them alone to their conversation, Squall approached a nearby male SeeD wandering around. "Yo! Looks like you're doing pretty good with the card games." He said. "It's almost time…" Tapping his finger against his chin, the man said, "Oh, all right. Squall, I challenge you! I'm CC Group's Jack. You appear to be a worthy opponent. Just tell me when you're ready."
Squall nodded and said, "If that's the case, I challenge you Jack. May the best man win." And with that, the card game was on.
It quickly became apparent that Jack didn't hold any rare cards, though that didn't mean he didn't have some good cards. Playing with Galbadia's rules mixed with Balamb's was certainly an interesting challenge, but in the end it was Squall that prevailed. Taking the card of his choice, Squall smiled at Jack and said, "That was a good game. Thanks for the challenge."
Jack grinned at him and said, "Anytime Squall. I may have lost, but don't think that you've defeated the CC Group just yet. There are six members in the CC Group that I haven't defeated. The first is the Card Master and the CD Group's leader, King. And the others are called the four suits: Card Knight Club, Card Prince Spade, Card Princess Diamond, and Card Queen Heart. Then there's Card Magician Joker, whose ability is still a mystery, even to me. Now that you defeated me, I'm sure they'll show up soon. Good luck to you, Squall. Maybe you'll be successful."
"Heh, I'm nowhere near as good as Naruto. He'd beat me in no time flat, I'm sure of it." Squall said.
Jack simply shrugged and said, "Well, Naruto's not here. So I'm leaving it up to you to find and beat the others. Good luck."
Rather than head down the elevator, Squall frowned and said, "Rinoa, follow me. I think I know where to find the next CC Group member." And with that, Squall led Rinoa back to the path that led into the cafeteria. Seeing a man wandering the path in the main hub, Squall approached him.
"You know, it's been a while since someone beat Jack. I'm Club, one of the four CC Knights. Do you dare to challenge me?" the man asked.
Squall nodded and said, "Of course. Let's play." And just as before with Jack, Squall proceeded to duel Club in a game of Triple Triad. Again, it took some doing, but Squall managed to emerge victorious. "That was tough." He said with a chuckle.
"Not bad. But beware, there are many players far better than me in the CC Group." Club advised before he walked into the cafeteria.
Squall frowned slightly and said, "I think I know where to find the next member of the group. Follow me."
Rinoa giggled to herself as she followed Squall back around the floor to the directory. "You're really enjoying this, aren't you Squall?"
Squall shrugged before offering her a smirk. "I blame Naruto for this. It's a surprisingly fun game."
When they reached the directory, Squall approached the two girls standing and chatting in front of the directory. They had spoken with them earlier, or rather listened as the two of them chatted with one another. "Hello again."
The first girl looked him up and down for a moment with a smirk on her face. "Amazing."
The second girl said, "Not just Jack, but Club, too."
"Are you surprised?" the first girl asked.
"That's right, we are…" the second girl continued.
"Card Princess Diamond." The two of them said as one. "We're the Diamond duo. We respect your card playing ability."
"We challenge you." The first girl said.
Rinoa blinked and asked, "How does that work?"
The Diamond duo giggled and said, "Don't worry. We only play with a single deck with a hand of five cards. We simply decide what to play and where as a team. It'll still play like Squall is playing a single opponent."
Squall and Rinoa nodded in understanding before they got the game underway. This time it was a bit tougher, if only because two heads were usually better than one. Still, Squall managed to emerge victorious yet again. "Okay, that was NOT easy." He said.
"He's good." The first girl said.
"He's very good." The second girl said.
"I can't remember the last time we were defeated."
"Ever since Headmaster Cid, correct?" the second girl asked.
"But there are still…"
"Two of us left." The second girl said once again.
Seeing that the two of them had a collection of the level 7 boss cards, Squall decided to continue challenging the duo until he got the cards he needed. Afterwards, he decided it was time to hop on the elevator. "Here goes nothing. Let's see what this 'Garden Master' wants with me."
Upon reaching the basement level, they exited the elevator and proceeded to descend the steps. When they did, however, they heard somebody shout, "Please! Listen to me!"
Blinking, Squall looked in the direction of the voice and wondered, The headmaster's here? But why?
Proceeding in that direction, they soon stopped when the elevator opened up again and Quistis and Hinata stepped out. "Where are you going?" Quistis asked.
"I was summoned by the Garden Master. What about you?" Squall asked.
"We're looking for the headmaster." Hinata said.
It was at this point that they heard Cid exclaim, "Let go of me! I'm not finished!" It was at this point that Cid was shoved backwards, coming into view of the party. "You greedy son-of-a-bitch! Why did I even bother talking to you?!" he exclaimed angrily. When a Garden Faculty member stepped up in Cid's face, the headmaster exclaimed, "SeeDs were brought up for the future! And that future is now! Why can't you understand?!"
When the faculty member gripped Cid by the neck, Hinata hurried forward and thrust her palm into the center of the man's chest, sending him crashing to the ground in a heap. Staring coldly down at the faculty member, she said, "Good riddance."
Cid's eyes widened slightly and he said, "You killed him."
Hinata shrugged and said, "I wasn't about to let him or any of the others harm you. You've been good to my Naruto-kun and I would like to express my thanks for that. You took him in when he was lost and alone. For that you have my gratitude."
"You're welcome. I only did what was right. Naruto has turned into a fine man and I couldn't be prouder of him. But right now…" Looking in the direction of the Garden Master, Cid said, "I never should have trusted you. I wish I could go back ten or so years. I want to tell myself that you're nothing but a money grubbing son-of-a-bitch! Then I never would've built this place."
Quistis frowned and patted the headmaster on the shoulder. "You don't mean that, Headmaster. You had a wonderful dream when you built this place. You've helped so many people, and as Hinata said, you've been good to Naruto as well. You gave people like us a chance to be something great. You've built something wonderful, and this Garden Master won't stand in the way."
Squall nodded and said, "We'll deal with the Garden Master. You just relax, okay Cid?"
Cid chuckled dryly and said, "I'm embarrassed to say it, but sometimes, even old men like me lose their temper. We should just get out of here."
As Cid started walking towards the elevator, Squall stopped him. "Sir, I still have to give you my report."
Cid turned to smile at him and said, "Please come to my office later. We'll discuss it then." And with that, the headmaster entered the elevator and rode it back up to his office.
Meanwhile, another Garden Faculty member approached them, ignoring the dead faculty member lying at his feet. "You're the SeeDs who returned from Galbadia, correct?"
"Yes." Squall said.
"It's about time. Master NORG has been waiting for you. Come, follow me." And with that, he led the party to meet with the Garden Master.
Upon reaching their destination, another Garden Faculty member said, "Whenever Master NORG calls for you, be sure to be there within three seconds."
Hinata scoffed at this and said, "Three seconds? Sounds like this NORG person needs to learn some patience. The world doesn't revolve around him. People have lives to lead and things to do. If he can't accept that, that's on him."
"You dare to show such disrespect?!" one of the faculty members exclaimed angrily. "You will treat Master NORG with the respect he deserves!"
Hinata simply flipped him off before watching as the pod-like structure opened, revealing a rather interesting creature to them. "So this is NORG?" she questioned curiously.
"He's not human? Come to think of it, we didn't know anything about him." Rinoa whispered to the others.
Squall shrugged in response, not quite sure what he could say in this situation.
Before they could dwell on it anymore, NORG began to speak. "Fushifuru Fushifuru… GIVE YOUR REPORT ON THE SORCERESS."
Squall frowned at him distastefully. He wanted to tell NORG to go stick a dildo up his ass, but he refrained from doing so. Instead, he wondered to himself, Where the heck do I start?
"Answer him quickly. Be concise." One of the faculty members commanded.
"If he really has so little patience, I don't see why we should even bother with him. I'll give my report to the headmaster, not to some monster like NORG." Squall said in response. "If he can't accept that, he's more than welcome to try and stop me himself."
"Such insolence!" another faculty member exclaimed. "Give your report to Master NORG at once or you will face the consequences!"
Quistis simply looked at the faculty member before saying, "You are more than welcome to try and force it out of us, if you're so insistent. But I guarantee you won't like what happens to you." The Garden Faculty flinched and took a few steps back before running away like the cowards they truly were. "Good riddance." She said before returning her attention to NORG.
NORG, seemingly not caring about their refusal to give his report, looked down at Squall and said, "YOU WERE NEVER GIVEN THE ORDER TO ASSASSINATE THE SORECERESS. YOU WERE FOOLED!"
Frowning at this, Squall wondered, Fooled? What the heck is he talking about? "Sir, what exactly do you mean we were fooled?"
NORG turned and summoned a Garden Faculty member to his side. "EXPLAIN IT TO THEM."
The Garden Faculty looked at Squall and the others, a deep frown on his face. He was wary of them, but he decided to adhere to his master's command. "Master NORG has known about the alliance between the President of Galbadia and the sorceress. He heard it from the Galbadia Garden master himself."
"The Galbadia Garden master?" Squall questioned.
NORG chuckled. "THE MASTER OF GALBADIA GARDEN IS A SUBORDINATE OF MINE NAMED MARTINE."
The Garden Faculty member said, "Yes. In fact, the sorceress and Garden are closely connected. That is why the sorceress will definitely try to gain control of all the Gardens. So Master NORG sent an official order to Galbadia Garden. It was to kill the sorceress. An assassination was thought to be the best means."
"But…" Squall started to say, only to be interrupted by more laughter from NORG.
"THAT SLY WEASEL MARTINE USED YOU AS A LAST RESORT FOR THE ASSASSINATION. HE GAVE THAT ORDER TO PLACE THE BLAME ON ME! THAT…THAT BASTARD!" NORG exclaimed angrily.
"Are you saying that Balamb Garden had nothing to do with that order?" Squall asked, sounding more than a tad angry.
The Garden Faculty member nodded and said, "You just happened to show up just before the mission was to be carried out. They used you. But the operation failed. The sorceress is still alive, and…" Sighing softly, he shook his head and said, "The sorceress retaliated, just as we expected. No doubt, it was the sorceress who ordered the missile attacks. Something must be done to calm the sorceress' anger."
Squall frowned and said, "Wait just a minute. That's just…"
The Garden Faculty member didn't let Squall finish. "In order to do so, we needed to hand over those involved in the assassination to the sorceress. We had to show Balamb Garden's sincerity."
Before Squall or the others could protest such a demand, NORG began to laugh again. "OFFER THE SeeD's HEAD ON A SILVER PLATTER AND PRETEND WE OBEY THE SORCERESS!"
Squall clenched his fists tight before glaring up into NORG's eyes. "Why the hell aren't we fighting the sorceress?! Are you truly so afraid that you'd willingly hand over all SeeDs just to please that bitch?! What about all the training we endure every day?! What good is it if you won't let us fight to protect ourselves and our people?!"
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?! YOU LOST TO THE SORCERESS! QUIT YOUR DAMNABLE WHINING!" NORG exclaimed angrily.
The Garden Faculty scowled and said, "Headmaster Cid was saying the same thing…" When NORG started getting angry, the remaining Faculty member fled in terror, just as the others had done.
"CID?! THAT IDIOT CID DISPATCHED SeeD TO KILL THE SORCERESS. AND SHOULD YOU FAIL, THIS GARDEN WILL BE DONE FOR! THIS IS MY GARDEN! IT WILL ALL BE OVER IF YOU FAIL! THAT IDIOT CID. HAS HE FORGOTTEN THAT IT WAS I WHO PUT UP THE MONEY TO ESTABLISH GARDEN?! I WANTED TO OFFER THE SORCERESS CID'S HEAD ALONG WITH SeeD'S. I ORDERED THE STUDENTS TO FIND CID, BUT THEY SIDED WITH HIM! THIS IS MY GARDEN!" NORG explained angrily.
"Wrong!" Squall exclaimed. "It's not just yours."
"THEN WHAT IS IT?! IS IT CID'S AND EDEA'S?! THAT PATHETIC MARRIED COUPLE'S?!" NORG questioned.
Squall and the others' eyes widened in shock at what they had just heard. "W-What…?" Squall asked. Bringing a hand to his face, he shook his head a couple of times before asking, "Cid…and Edea? Married? What the hell is going on?! I don't understand any of this!"
NORG smirked and said, "NOW I UNDERSTAND. CID AND EDEA ARE TRYING TO TAKE GARDEN AWAY FROM ME. YOU'RE CID'S FOLLOWERS, AREN'T YOU?! PREPARE TO DIE!" And with that, the battle was on.
You're nothing but a fool, NORG. We will protect Garden, even from you! Squall thought to himself as he readied his blade. They all knew this was bound to be a tough fight.
A/N - Okay, that's the end of the chapter. The next chapter will be the fight against NORG and all kinds of other good stuff. Yay stuff! lol.
Anyways, like I said in the beginning Author's Note, I'll explain the situation here.
A number of months ago, my neighbor Ivan died from a stroke combined with COVID. His wife was fine for a while...then she developed Frontal Lobe Dimentia. She essentially lost her mind and has gone batshit insane. So she's now somewhere where she can be watched over and taken care of like she needs. She was in the hospital for a while until she was finally allowed to live in an assisted living home.
Anyways, we've been going next door every day to take care of Helen's pets: a dog named Millie and a cat named Collie. Problem is, we've got 5 FEET of snow outside and it was hard as hell to wade through it even once. My mom and I kept falling as we tried to wade through the snow. Because it's impossible to keep making that trip over there, we brought Millie and Collie into our house to take care of them as needed until it's safe to take them back over there. We're still trying to find a good home for the two of them, but we haven't had much luck so far. Unfortunately.
I could go into one long rant about all kinds of things right now, but suffice it to say, things are kind of hectic at the moment.
Anywho, not much else to say. I'm thinking about starting another crossover fic between Naruto and The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel soon. Might actually work on that next. I don't know yet. We shall see! Hopefully you're looking forward to whatever comes next. Ciao!