The next morning, I woke up with a slight buzzing in my head but after a small internal debate, I figured Tal was going to be feeling a lot worse than me, so I didn't dwell on it. As I got up, showered and dressed, I contemplated the events at the SeeD Ball. I was hoping that everyone would be nice enough to just forget about what had happened, or at least not mention it again. Of course, I should have known that Kayla wouldn't drop it so easily.
After getting dressed, I went next door to get Kayla for breakfast. After knocking for about five minutes, she hobbled over to the door, still in her pajamas.
"Rise and shine," I chirped. She groaned and mumbled something about waiting a few minutes, then disappeared back into the room. A few minutes later she emerged, wearing some everyday clothes, just like I was.
"Let's go find Tal," I suggested and we went down the hall to his room. We knocked for almost ten minutes before finally giving up and assuming either A) he had already gone for breakfast or B) he was still passed out from last night. We were leaning towards B and decided to go to breakfast alone.
In the cafeteria, people were talking and eating just like normal. Kayla got us a table while I got some food and them joined her. We had barely sat down before she brought up the subject of the fiasco last night.
"I can't believe anyone would think that you could like Vaughn," Kayla started after taking a sip of orange juice. "I mean, that's disgusting!"
"Yes," I agreed, trying to subtly hint that I didn't want to talk about it.
Of course, Kayla was never the hint-getting type, so she continued. "Why would Uncle Seifer think that you would ever like Vaughn? If just doesn't make sense. You're much smarter than that. Only idiots fall for the 'Kinneas Charm'."
"Your mother fell for it," I reminded, though I couldn't figure out why I was contradicting her.
Kayla sighed. "I love my mom and all, but sometimes she can be an idiot." She raised an eyebrow at me. "Why are you defending the 'Kinneas Charm' anyway?"
"I wasn't," I insisted, "I was just reminding you that your mother was a victim, that's all."
Kayla stared at me for a few more seconds, then turned to her pancakes. "You're right. I love my dad too but my mom was a victim. Luckily she had enough spunk to keep him from flirting with all the other ladies. Of course, my dad loves my mom so that helped too. Vaughn isn't capable of love. I feel sorry for any girl who thinks she can keep him all to herself."
I didn't reply to this comment and kept my eyes on my plate of waffles.
"Speak of the devil," Kayla commented after a moment, "Here he comes now with the Geek Squad."
The Geek Squad was what we used to call our brothers and Cale when we were younger. We didn't use it much now and I didn't know what possessed Kayla to use it on this occasion. I looked up quickly and saw that they had just entered the cafeteria, among giggles and flirtatious hellos from the female population. As my eyes fell on Vaughn, my stomach did a flip and felt like a thousand butterflies were doing ballet inside. What in the name of Hyne is wrong with me? I thought as I felt a slight blush color my cheeks.
"Hey Kaisa," Kayla called, "you okay?"
I snapped my head up. "Yeah, I'm fine, why?"
"I don't know," Kayla replied, "You just looked kinda…off, I guess. You're not getting sick are you?"
"I don't feel sick," I assured and turned back to my breakfast, discouraging any further questions. What is wrong with me? I asked myself again. I thought it was the champagne that was making me feel all funny last night. It has to be out of my system now, so what's my excuse for what just happened?
Perhaps you are falling for this boy you call Vaughn, a voice spoke in my head. I flinched as if I'd been struck.
"Who said that?" I asked aloud.
Kayla stared at me like I was crazy. "Who said what?"
I realized that what had been said was only in my head and I smiled awkwardly. "Nothing, never mind."
Kayla continued to eye me. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Fine," I assured quickly but in fact I was beginning to doubt my own sanity.
You are not crazy, the voice spoke again, It is I, Mistress, Ember.
"Ember?" I repeated out loud.
"What?" Kayla was beginning to look worried.
"It's Ember," I told her, "she's talking to me." I paused and my brow crinkled in confusion. "Can she do that?"
"I guess so," Kayla shrugged, though she looked skeptical.
"Has Blayze talked to you?" I asked.
"No," Kayla admitted.
"Maybe I am going nuts," I sighed.
You are definitely sane Mistress, I assure you.
"Are you sure?" I inquired of the GF. Kayla stared at me like I had completely lost it.
Positive Ember assured in my head. And just so you know, Mistress, you do not need to address me out loud. You can just think if you want to talk to me. I can hear your thoughts.
That's wonderful, I thought, You can hear everything that goes on in my head?
Yes, which is why I think that you might have feelings for this 'Vaughn' man.
Ugh! I don't like Vaughn!
You are getting agitated Mistress. Perhaps we should continue this talk later.
Ya think?
With that, the GF fell silent and I focused on Kayla again, who was staring at me intently.
"I think you should go and see Dr. Kadowaki," Kayla insisted, "You just completely zoned out a few seconds ago."
"I didn't zone out," I snapped, still irritated by Ember's insinuations, "I was talking to Ember."
"Okay." Kayla held her hands up in a defensive posture, then returned them to her fork and continued eating. Neither of us said much more through breakfast and we were just getting ready to leave when the intercom came to life.
"Kaisa Almasy, please report to the Quad for your clean-up duty. I repeat, Kaisa Almasy, please report to the Quad for your clean-up duty."
The intercom fell silent and I cursed as I stood up. "Damn you Mom."
"Hey, wait up!" Kayla called as I stalked towards the exit. I stopped and waited for her to catch up. "I'll come with you."
"Why?" I asked in surprise, "You aren't the one being punished."
"We're friends," Kayla smiled, "And friends help each other out, remember?"
"I can't ask you to help," I told her.
"You didn't ask," she insisted, "I volunteered. Now let's go."
The two of us left the cafeteria and made our way to the Quad, where my mother was waiting for me. She grinned as we approached.
"Good morning Kaisa," she greeted with a smirk, "So glad you could make it."
"Hello mother," I sneered.
"Hi Aunt Quisty!" Kayla chirped, obviously unaware of the tension between us.
"What are you doing here, Kayla?" my mom asked.
"I came to help Kaisa," she explained.
"Kaisa can handle this on her own," my mother assured and gave me a dirty look as if she thought I had asked Kayla to come.
"I want to help," Kayla insisted with a smile.
"All right," my mother agreed after a moment. "Because of our failure at FH yesterday, Cid has approved another SeeD group to go in and take care of business. Squall is in charge and I am second in command. We are taking your parents, Kayla, Cammi, Zell, Rinoa, Fujin, Raijin, and your father." She looked at me. "So I won't be here to supervise your clean up. Luckily, I got someone to fill in for me and I know that he'll make sure the place is spotless before he let's you go."
"Oh no," I groaned as I realized who she meant.
"There he is now," my mother commented and looked behind us. "Luke! Come here!"
My brother walked up to us, with Cale and Vaughn in tow. He smirked superiorly.
"Well, well, if it isn't my favorite little sister," he joked, "Have fun cleaning. I know I'll have fun watching."
I turned back to my mom. "Why are you doing this to me?"
"You need to control your anger," my mother informed, "Your father couldn't when he was your age and it got him into all kinds of trouble. I don't want to see you end up making the wrong choices like he did."
"But he turned out okay," I whined, trying to get her to cut me a little slack.
"Eventually yes, but no child of mine is going to be a screw-up, understood?"
"Better disown Luke then," I mumbled.
"Excuse me?" my mom demanded.
"I said 'yes'," I lied, "I understand."
"Good." She turned to Luke. "I want you to make sure she works hard and cleans up her share but don't overdo it or you'll have your father on you in no time."
"I'm not afraid of him," Luke told her, which was a lie.
"I mean it," she warned him. "The two of you better be good."
"Don't worry Aunt Quistis," Cale grinned, "We'll keep them in line."
Luke and I both shot poisonous glares over at the shorter blonde. The smile faded from his face and he looked away quickly.
"We'll be back tonight or tomorrow hopefully," my mom informed. She hugged me and Luke, who stiffened and tried to act cool, then she was gone down the Quad hallway.
"So, let's get started, shall we?" Luke grinned.
I glared at him and entered the Quad. The others followed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Three and a half hours of strenuous cleaning later, Kayla and I had cleaned up the entire Quad and left it looking like it always had before, empty. I kept thanking Hyne for Kayla's help, as limited as it was from the crutches, because without her I probably would've been there all day. Even Cale and Vaughn pitched in occasionally when their egos wouldn't let us little girls carry something heavy, like the tables. Neither of us complained and we let them indulge their prides.
After the work was completed, Kayla and I headed back to our dorms to rest while the guys went to "find some hot chicks" as they put it. I couldn't figure out why, but the thought of them out whoring around really ticked me off.
After I got back to my room, I laid down on my bed and tried to fall asleep but I couldn't. Images of the conversation between my parents and me at the SeeD ball kept flashing through my mind, along with the weird feelings and the conversation with Ember that I'd had about Vaughn. Finally, after several failed attempts at sleep, I decided to blow off some steam at the training center.
I left my room and debated on whether to get Kayla or Tal. I decided against, since neither one of them was in the condition to be fighting. I walked down the corridor to the main hall and went left past the parking lot to the Training Center. Because it was still early in the day, most cadets were in classes and SeeDs usually went out on the plains or into the forests to train, rather than in the Training Center. As a result, I was the only one there when I entered. Good. No one to get in my way.
I made my way deeper into the surrounding trees until I was attacked by two shrieking Grats. I smirked evilly and then slashed them to bits with my Sais. Low-level Grats never stood a chance against an Almasy. After I finished with the first group, I fought my way through several others, gradually making my way deeper into the TC. Because the Grats were so weak, I hadn't healed myself as I progressed. I wanted to try out my new Limit Break, Ultrawaves, anyway and I didn't have any Aura magic at my disposal.
After drawing my fill of Sleep and Silence spells, I realized that I'd have to wait all day for the Grats to hurt me enough so that I could use my Limit Break. I decided I'd had enough training and was heading back through the trees when the earsplitting roar of a T-Rexaur sliced through the air behind me. I felt my heartbeat quicken as I turned to gauge the distance between me and the beast. All SeeDs were taught that it was better to run from a T-Rexaur than engage in battle, especially if you were alone. Not wanting to end up lunch for the hungry lizard, I dashed towards the exit.
Behind me, I could hear the huge dinosaur crashing through the trees but I figured I could make it to the exit before it caught me. Suddenly, a second T-Rexaur loomed out of the foliage in front of me, stopping me in my tracks. It roared and the one behind me roared back. They were working as a team and had set up a trap for me. Great. One T-Rexaur was bad enough but two?! I was as good as dead.
I stood still in between the two huge lizards and tried to remain calm, although my heart felt like it was going to leap out of my chest and run away. Not that I would blame it. As I stood, eyeing them, the T-Rexaurs began to circle me in a determined pattern. Because they were so large, they managed to circle at a distance while never leaving me an opportunity to escape. Every time they made their revolution, they crowded in closer until they were no more than twenty feet away.
Knowing that I had no choice but to fight, I clutched my Sais tightly and rushed at the closest monster. Of course, it saw me coming and tried to snap at me but I rolled out of the way just in time and managed to slash one of it's eyes. The beast roared in pain and swung it's head at me, knocking me to the ground. Before I could even get up, the other one was on me, trying to take a bite out of my leg. I kicked it hard in the snout and rolled away as it brought a massive foot down to pin me to the ground. I jumped to my feet and managed to summon Ember on the wounded lizard while I cast a Blizzard spell on the other. It was a fact that T-Rexaurs were weak against Ice magic but a low level Blizzard spell barely even fazed the beast and it swung it's tail at me. I dodged most of it, but the tip caught my leg, sweeping them out from under me. I crashed to the ground on my back and saw the dripping jaws of the monster closing in on me.
Suddenly, a gunshot echoed through the TC and the monster above me reeled back. It roared in pain and turned away from me as another shot sounded. The other lizard's attention was drawn to the newcomer as well, giving me the chance to regain my feet and to cast a Cura on myself. Once I was healed, I got a chance to look at my rescuer. I wasn't surprised to see none other than Vaughn Kinneas.
"You okay?" he called to me as he fired another shot at the T-Rexaurs.
"Yeah," I assured and hurried over to help him in the battle. Because there were two of the fell beasts instead of one, the battle took longer than normal, but in the end, we emerged victorious. After the last dinosaur had fallen, Vaughn gathered up the items left behind and held them out to me.
I refused to take them. "They're yours. All I did was try to stay alive."
"This was your battle," Vaughn insisted, "I shouldn't have interfered." He held out the Dino Bones to me.
I shook my head. "If you hadn't, I'd be dead."
"Tell you what," he compromised, "How about we split them, 50/50?"
I thought for a second. "Okay."
Vaughn smiled and gave me half the Dino Bones, which I slipped into the pocket of my jeans.
"So," Vaughn started as we headed towards the TC exit, "What are you doing in here by yourself?"
"I needed to blow off some steam," I shrugged.
"About what?"
I didn't answer. What was I supposed to tell him? That I had been thinking about him since last night and was totally frustrated by it? I don't think so. He'd think I was in love with him or something, which I definitely wasn't.
"Come on," he urged, "You can tell me."
"It's nothing, really."
"Does it have something to do with the little scene that your parents made last night?"
My eyes went wide at the mention of the very thing that was bugging me. It was like he was psychic!
"Bingo!" he chuckled when he saw the reaction on my face. After a second, the smile faded and he got serious. "Look, don't let it bug you. I know you don't like me like that. You're one of the few women in this Garden that isn't stupid enough to fall for the Kinneas Charm and I respect you for that."
"Thanks," I mumbled then quickly changed the subject. "Speaking of the Kinneas Charm, I thought you, Luke and Cale were looking for 'hot chicks', as you called them?"
We stepped into the Training Center hallway and Vaughn halted, a grin on his face. "I found one didn't I?"
I gaped at him, not sure what to say. Apparently my reaction amused him, because he laughed.
"See ya later Almasy." Vaughn waved and then disappeared back into the main hall of the Garden.
I stood there in front of the TC for a few minutes, trying to comprehend what had just happened, until a voice spoke in my head.
He's quite the charmer.
I sighed out loud. Are you back?
You sound disappointed.
Me? No, never.
I must admit, Mistress, I don't appreciate your sarcasm.
Sorry Ember, I'm just having a really weird day.
I can't profess to understand your human emotions, but I really think that you like this Vaughn boy.
Please, let's not start with that again.
My apologies, Mistress.
With that, Ember fell silent and I headed back to my dorm room.
------------------------------------------------
"Hey Tal!" Kayla called and waved as Tal entered the cafeteria.
"Ugh!" Tal groaned and dropped into the seat next to Kayla. He cradled his head in his hands. "Not so loud, my head is killing me!"
"Not fast enough," I teased and he glared at me with watery, bloodshot eyes.
"Not funny."
"Maybe next time you should go easy on the booze," I suggested.
"Ya think?"
"Hey Tal," Kayla piped in, "You want some lunch?" She offered him a few fries and half of her club sandwich.
"Oh Hyne!" Tal murmured and ran to a trashcan, where he puked up what little remained in his stomach. A nearby table of girls shouted in disgust and turned away as Tal pulled his head out of the basket and returned to our table.
"I guess that's a no," Kayla surmised as Tal sat down again.
"I'm never drinking again," he swore and put his head down on the table.
After my little run in with Vaughn at the Training Center, I had gone back to my room to read for a while. At lunchtime, Kayla had knocked on my door and we had come to the cafeteria together. We hadn't bothered to find Tal because we figured he'd still be sleeping.
Luckily, Vaughn, Cale and Luke had gone into Balamb for lunch so I was spared the embarrassment of seeing him. As Kayla and I continued to eat our lunches and Tal groaned softly into his arms, Raine Leonhart, Gavin, Morgan and Kitara Dincht came up to our table.
"Hey guys!" Kayla greeted. Her incessant cheeriness reminded everyone of her mother.
"Hey!" the Dincht's greeted. Raine merely nodded and with a sly grin sat next to her brother.
"Hey Tal," Raine sneered, "Heard you had a little too much to drink last night."
"Go away," Tal grumbled into his arms.
"Is that any way to talk to your baby sister?" she questioned with mock hurt. "I know, why don't I get you some lunch? You know, help you out?"
"Shut up Raine," Tal growled.
"What do you want to eat?" Raine persisted, "Maybe a hamburger? Or some meatloaf? Or maybe a big pile of mashed potatoes with gravy poured all over them? Hmm?"
"Dammit!" Tal jumped from the table again and returned to the trashcan with Raine's laughter following behind him.
While the siblings had talked, the rest of us watched but as soon as Tal jumped from the table, we continued with our own conversations.
"So Kit," I started, addressing the youngest of the Dincht children, "Have you decided on a weapon yet?"
"Yep," Kit smiled, "I'm for sure gonna use the Bo."
"Cool," I agreed. "If you never need any help training or anything, you can always ask me."
"Thanks Kaisa!" she exclaimed. Kit was the youngest of my "cousins" and I loved her to death. She was such a cute kid. I'd do anything for her. She was like having a little sister of my own, except she didn't bug the crap out of me.
"We'd better get going," Morgan commented as Tal slumped back into his chair, "We've got magic class in a few minutes."
"And I've got to get back to the library and finish putting books on the shelves," Kit said. Her mother was the overseer of the library and Kit helped her more often than not.
"Okay," I said, "See you guys around."
"Okay," the Dincht's agreed. Raine stood up and joined them.
"Congratulations on passing your exam," Gavin cheered.
"Thanks," Kayla and me called as they left. Tal mumbled something unintelligible to the table.
"See ya later bro," Raine grinned, "Hope you feel better."
"Die," Tal whispered fiercely. Once the younger kids were gone, Kayla and I threw away our trash, careful to avoid Tal's can, and the three of us left the cafeteria. Once we were back in the main hall, Kayla spoke.
"Oh yeah!" she exclaimed, as if she had just remembered something, "I wanted to ask you something Kai. Where were you after we came back from cleaning up the Quad?"
"In my room," I answered, "Why?"
"Because I called your room and you didn't answer," she explained.
"Oh, I went to the Training Center for a little while," I admitted. The memory of the experience popped up in my mind and I couldn't help but blush.
Kayla, seeing the pink on my cheeks, grinned. "Ooo, did you happen to run into a certain gorgeous SeeD?"
"No," I assured, knowing she was talking about Tristen.
"Then why the blush?" she persisted.
I proceeded to tell her and Tal about the T-Rexaurs but left out the part about Vaughn. I told them that I had managed to escape before things got too bad.
"Wow," Kayla murmured, "That's crazy. It's a good thing you weren't hurt."
"Yeah," I agreed but my thoughts were on Vaughn. Dammit! Stop thinking about him!
"Are you sure that's all that happened?" Tal spoke for the first time. "I know getting trapped by T-Rexaurs can be embarrassing, especially now that we're SeeDs, but your attitude tells me that you're not telling us the whole story."
"Come on Tal," I started, trying to sound nonchalant, "What would I be hiding? And besides, would I lie to you guys?"
"I guess not," Tal agreed.
I nodded, but felt terrible. They were my best friends and I had just lied to their faces. I felt lower than a hibernating Sandworm.
Love makes you do crazy things.
Shut up Ember!
--------------------------------------------------
The rest of the day was spent inside my dorm room, talking about various things and trying to make Tal throw up again. He resisted tenaciously and in the end, our ploy failed. It was just as well because I didn't want him throwing up all over my bathroom.
At dinner, Tal decided to brave a small salad and a bottle of water, while Kayla and I had baked chicken, mashed potatoes and corn. Tal held his dinner down and said he felt better. In the middle of the meal, Kayla brought up something that we had talked about at breakfast, when Tal wasn't with us.
"So Kaisa," Kayla started, "Has Ember talked to you again?"
"Yes," I replied, although I had the distinct feeling that she was teasing me about it.
"Really?" Kayla grinned, "What did she say?"
"She said, 'That best friend of yours is really a twit,'" I joked.
"Hey!" Kayla pouted, "That's not funny!"
"Ember talks to you?" Tal questioned seriously.
"Yeah," I agreed, "Why?"
"I thought I was the only one."
"What do you mean?" I prodded.
"Aquarius talks to me all the time," Tal informed.
"Why didn't you tell us?" I inquired.
He smiled sheepishly. "I thought you guys would think I was nuts."
"That's what Kayla thinks," I told him.
"Both of your GFs talk to you?" Kayla whined, "Why won't Blayze talk to me?"
Perhaps if she shut up long enough to listen, she would hear Blayze.
I laughed out loud at Ember's remark.
"What's so funny?" Kayla demanded.
"Nothing," I assured with a grin, "Don't worry about it."
After dinner, the three of us headed back to the dorms. Our parents hadn't returned from their mission. Likewise, our brothers hadn't returned from their lunch in Balamb.
"I wonder where those idiots are," Kayla commented, referring to our brothers, not our parents.
"No clue," I said.
"They probably shacked up with some Balamb whores," Kayla stated disgustedly.
Tal sighed forlornly. "I wish they'd take me with them."
Kayla promptly smacked him in the back of the head.
"Ow!" he howled, "What was that for?"
"What do you think?" she questioned.
"Geez," Tal groaned, "I'm sorry."
"You should be," Kayla insisted.
I laughed at my friend's display. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think Kayla was your girlfriend, Tal."
Tal blushed and Kayla's mouth dropped open. Both of them quickly denied anything of the sort, which was odd. Usually they would make faces of disgust at each other and act like they were dying at the mere thought of being together. What is going on around here?
Perhaps you aren't the only one who is in love.
Ugh! I'm not in love with anyone, least of all Vaughn!
Forgive me, Mistress, I forgot you are still in denial.
Watch it.
Ember voice faded and I focused on my friends, who were still denying their feelings for each other.
"Okay, I believe you," I insisted, still a little irritable because of Ember. They both fell silent and we finished our trip to the dorms without a word. We all said goodnight to one another and made our way to our separate dorms.
I laid in bed for awhile, reading, before I began to drift off. My last thought before sleep claimed me was "Why haven't our parents come back yet?"
--------------------------------------------------------------
The next morning, I was awakened by the ringing of my telephone. Every SeeD had a private line in his or her room and this was the first time I had heard mine ring. I looked at the clock and saw that it read 0549 hours. Grumbling about being awakened so early, I picked up the receiver.
"Hello?"
"Kaisa?"
"Yes?" The person on the other end sounded like my mother.
"Kaisa, this is your mother," she confirmed, "We're on our way back to Balamb right now. I wanted to let you know and also to tell you not to step foot outside the Garden until we return. Tell Kayla, Tal and the younger Dincht's. Make sure Tal tells Raine as well. I've been trying to get a hold of your brother but I can't reach him."
"I don't think he came back from Balamb last night," I informed, my mind still fuzzy with sleep, "Mom, what's going on?"
"I don't have time to explain right now," she insisted, "Just follow my orders. We'll be back soon." With that, she hung up.
I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at it in confusion, then returned it to the cradle. What was my mother talking about? Don't leave the Garden? Why? I decided that I'd better follow her instructions and after a quick trip to the bathroom, I called Kayla.
She answered on the fifth ring. "Hello?" She sounded as groggy as I had felt a few minutes ago. Now, after my mother's call, I was wide awake.
"Hi Kay, it's Kaisa."
"Kaisa?" Kayla repeated sleepily.
"Listen," I instructed in a stern tone, hopefully grabbing her attention, "I just got a call from my mom. She said they're on their way back to Balamb."
"Oh good," Kayla commented.
"There's more," I continued before she could hang up, "She ordered me not to leave the Garden and told me to pass the message on to you, Tal and the Dincht's."
"Don't leave the Garden?" Kayla repeated in question form, "Why?"
"I don't know," I admitted, "she said she didn't have time to explain but that they would be here soon."
"Do you think something happened?" she inquired and I could tell now that she was fully awake.
"I don't know, but I think we better obey."
"I think so too," she agreed, "Do you want me to call Tal for you?"
"Yeah," I nodded, even though she couldn't see me, "I'm going to call Morgan and let her know. She can relay the message to Gavin and Kit. And make sure you tell Tal to let Raine know what's going on."
"I will," she promised and hung up.
I hung up as well and opened the bottom drawer of my nightstand to fish out my Garden phone directory. Every member of Garden is given a directory of phone numbers that are important to Garden. The book also includes the private extension for every room and who is in the room. The book is updated once a year after the SeeD exams. Since the SeeD exam was only two days ago, the new directories hadn't been passed out yet but it didn't matter because I knew Morgan hadn't changed rooms since the last directory was handed out. I turned to the Ds and ran my finger down the page until I came to Dincht. I found Morgan's number and dialed it quickly.
"Hello?" a sleepy girl's voice came over the line.
"Morgan?"
"Yes."
"This is Kaisa Almasy," I told her, although my first name would've been sufficient.
"Kaisa? Is something wrong?" She was obviously puzzled as to why I would call her, especially so early in the morning.
"I don't know," I admitted, "but listen. I just got a call from my mother. They're on their way back from FH but she instructed me not to leave the Garden under any circumstances. She wanted me to relay the message to you and your siblings."
"Is everything okay?" She sounded worried.
"I don't know, my mother didn't explain anything to me. Could you pass the info along to your brother and sister?"
"Yeah," she agreed, "sure, no problem."
"Thanks." I hung up.
After the urgent phone calls, my mind began to wander back to the conversation that I'd had with my mother over the phone. At the time, I had been sleepy but now that I was wide awake; I realized that she had sounded nervous on the phone, almost scared. A shudder ran through me. I couldn't remember the last time I had seen my mother scared. I had the feeling something life-changing had happened in FH and it was only going to get worse.
Perhaps it's nothing. There's no need to get worked up about it until you know for sure something is wrong.
You're right. Thanks Ember.
You are most welcome.
After the short conversation with Ember, I decided that I couldn't just sit around in my room or I'd go crazy so I decided to get dressed and go next door to Kayla's. As I dressed, I tried to think of something that would scare my mother. Nothing had ever scared her that I'd seen. As I pulled my shoes on, a sudden thought hit me. What if something happened to my dad? That was the only conceivable thing I could think of that would scare my mom and I was nearly in tears when I arrived at Kayla's room.
"Kaisa!" Kayla greeted, and she sounded relieved. She noticed the distress on my face and immediately, the worry returned. "Kaisa, what's wrong?"
"I-I th-think some-thing happ-ened to m-my d-d-dad," I stammered and the tears began to fall as Kayla pulled me into her room and shut the door. She led me over to the bed, hopping on her good foot, and we both sat down. I buried my face in my hands and continued to cry.
"What makes you think that something happened to your dad?" Kayla asked gently while rubbing my back.
"W-why else w-would my m-mom be s-scared?" I sobbed.
"I'm sure there's plenty of reasons," Kayla comforted.
"Like w-what?"
"Well," Kayla started, "Maybe the FFFH guys got that stupid machine thing fixed already and they had to run from it. Or maybe a sea monster was attacking their boat . Or…who knows, maybe Luke called and told her he got some whore in Balamb pregnant."
I laughed through my tears at the last one and took a shuddering breath. "That would definitely explain why she didn't want anyone to leave the Garden. She wouldn't want us to see her kill her only son."
"See?" Kayla smiled, "If something was wrong with your dad, why would she tell us to stay in the Garden? There's gotta be some other explanation."
"I guess so," I agreed, but in the back of my mind, I still feared for my father's safety.
I had barely managed to wipe the tears off my face when there was a knock at Kayla's door. She hopped over to it and opened it to reveal Tal.
"What is going on?" he asked. When he saw that I had been crying, his eyes widened with fear. "Oh Hyne, what happened?"
"Nothing," I assured him, "Well, at least I don't think anything happened. I really don't know."
"Then why were you crying?" he demanded.
"Kaisa thought maybe something had happened to her dad," Kayla explained, "but after discussing it, we realized that didn't make sense with her mother's order to stay inside."
I could see that Tal visibly relaxed when he heard this and I figured he had been thinking the same thing as me, except about his own parents. He sat down on the bed next to Kayla and me. "So, what do you think is going on?"
"I have no idea," I admitted, "It doesn't make sense. Why would she tell us not to leave the Garden? What could she be so afraid of?"
The SeeD party from FH arrived twenty minutes later and still we had no idea as to what the warning was all about. When we figured they would be arriving soon, the three of us went down to the main gate to wait for them. We were soon joined by the Dincht twins, Kit and Raine Leonhart. After about ten minutes of waiting, we heard them approaching and ran out the gate to greet them.
The second I saw my dad was unhurt, I ran to him and threw myself into his arms. He looked down at me with a confused smile and hugged me back as I bawled into his blue vest like a baby.
"Kaisa, what's wrong?" he asked and stroked my hair.
"I-I thought you were dead!" I cried and held onto him for dead life.
"Why would you think that?"
I forced myself to stop crying and after wiping the tears away, I looked up at him. "When Mom called, she sounded really scared and I couldn't think of anything that would scare her except you being hurt."
"Good job Quisty," my dad joked, "You managed to scare the Hell out of them."
"They needed to be scared so they'd follow my directions," my mother insisted.
"What's going on?" Kayla asked. She was in between her dad and mom.
"Yeah," Tal agreed. He was standing with his sister near his parents. "We've been trying to figure out what's going on, but we keep coming up blank."
"We'll explain it to you as soon as we can," his mom promised, "but right now, we have an urgent meeting with the Headmaster."
"Oh, you're kidding," I sighed, "We've been worried out of our minds and you're not gonna tell us?"
"After the meeting," my mom assured, "We shouldn't be too long. And make sure if you see your brother that you tell him he's forbidden to leave the Garden until I see him."
"That goes for Vaughn as well," Aunt Selphie told Kayla.
"And Cale," Aunt Cammi added.
We agreed and the group of SeeDs went towards the elevators, leaving us standing by the front gate. Once they had disappeared into the elevator car, we turned to each other.
"They all looked really freaked out," Kit Dincht commented.
"Really," Morgan agreed, "What could be going on?"
"I don't know, but it's gotta be bad," I said.
"I don't like this at all," Raine admitted.
"Me neither," Tal stated.
"What could possibly scare all of them like that?" Kayla wondered.
An image of my father's face floated up in my mind. In his green eyes, I had seen the fear of whatever it was they needed to tell us. If my mom's fear had scared me, my dad's terrified me and I didn't even want to be this close to the front of the Garden, where anything could enter at any time.
"Hey guys," I suggested, "why don't we go back to the dorms or something instead of just standing around here?"
They all looked at me for a second, then quickly agreed. We were making our way back to the dorms when we ran into Vaughn.
"What are you guys all doing together?" he asked.
"What are you doing here?" Kayla inquired, "We thought you were still in Balamb."
"Where's Luke and Cale?" I questioned.
"Still in Balamb as far as I know," Vaughn answered.
"You came back without them?" Kayla asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, last night."
"Why?" I asked, before I could stop myself.
"Well, we were hanging out with these girls at a bar…" he began.
Hyne, why did I ask?
Don't worry Mistress. You don't like him so nothing he says about girls and bars can affect you, right?
Excuse me, but last time I checked, you weren't Hyne.
My mistake.
"And we were all drinking a lot," Vaughn continued, "And I don't know, I just wasn't feeling them, so I came back here."
Kayla, Tal and I stared at him in disbelief.
"You turned down drunk chicks?" Tal asked, as if this were a mortal sin.
Ignoring him, Kayla spoke as well. "I thought booze and bitches were your life."
"Ladies and alcohol," Vaughn corrected, "and I am interested in other things you know."
"Oh right," I added sarcastically, "shooting."
"Damn straight," he grinned. "So anyway, what's going on?"
"Everyone just got back from FH," Kayla informed, "Aunt Quisty called Kaisa this morning and told her not to leave the Garden under any circumstances. When they got back a few minutes ago, they all looked scared out of their minds and said they were going to talk to the Headmaster before they explained to us what's going on."
Vaughn pondered her words for a moment. "So, where are you headed right now?"
"Back to the dorms to wait," I answered. For some reason, I felt safe in my room.
"Well, okay," Vaughn agreed, "Let's go."
I looked at him warily. "You're coming too?"
"Sure, why not?"
The thought of him in my room made me uneasy and I shuddered to think what my dad would do if he found out. Realizing there was nothing I could say to deter him without revealing some things I didn't even admit to myself, I nodded and we made our way to my dorm.
Because the dorms are relatively small, it was a tight squeeze to get all eight of us in there. Once inside, it was even harder to find places to sit. Me, Kayla and Tal sat on my bed, the Dincht's took seats on the floor and Raine slumped down in the one chair my room housed. After everyone else was seated, Vaughn came and flopped down onto the end of the bed, causing us all to scoot over a little. He slouched on the bed next to me, his head against the wall and his feet on the floor. Dear Hyne, I prayed, please don't let my dad be the one who comes looking for us.
Once everyone had found a comfortable place to sit, we were all silent as we brooded about our parents' actions upon arrival this morning. Finally, Vaughn broke the silence.
"Why do all of you look so scared?" he inquired, "Whatever is going on, we can handle it. We're SeeDs, right?"
"Not all of us," Raine reminded. The Dincht's nodded in agreement.
"Well, we're all fighters then," Vaughn amended.
"I'm not," Kit whimpered, "I've barely had any combat training at all."
I leaned forward and put a comforting hand on the little girl's shoulder. She was sitting with her back against the side of my bed, next to Vaughn's legs. "Don't worry Kit. We'll protect you if it comes to that. You're one of us, remember?"
The girl nodded and her sister Morgan, who sat across from her on the floor, continued to whisper comforting words to the frightened girl.
"Besides," Kayla added, "You didn't see Mom and Dad's faces when they got back. They were scared and that's a good enough reason for me to be terrified." She was sitting in the top left corner of my bed with her knees drawn up under her chin and her arms around her legs. She looked like a scared little girl.
In front of Kayla, my back against the wall that Vaughn's head was resting on, I remembered the look of fear in my father's eyes and my mother's frightened tone on the phone. Without warning, a fit of shivers coursed through my body.
"You okay?" Vaughn asked and sat up when he felt me trembling. "Hey, don't tell me the Almighty Almasy is scared too."
"Damn right I'm scared," I told him, "When I talked to my dad this morning, I saw fear in his eyes. FEAR. My dad was afraid. I…Oh Hyne, I can't even imagine something that would scare my dad. I've never seen him afraid of anything. Kayla's right. If something has scared our parents like that, we should be terrified."
Suddenly, the intercom on the wall, identical to the ones in every dorm room, rang it's bells and then spoke. "Attention everyone, would Raven Leonhart please report to the Headmaster's office. I repeat, Raven Leonhart please report to the Headmaster's office."
The intercom fell silent but we all stared at it expectantly.
Finally, Raine broke the silence. "Raven? Why would they call Raven to the Headmaster's office?"
"That was Matron on the intercom wasn't it?" Tal asked. Everyone nodded. "Why would they call Raven but not the rest of us?"
"Something really weird is going on here," Gavin commented and the rest of us were quick to agree.
After the announcement from the intercom and the short conversation following it, we fell silent again, waiting for our parents to come and get us or for another announcement to take place. We waited for about five minutes before my telephone rang. I leaned forward to answer it but Vaughn beat me to it.
"I'll do it," he insisted and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"
From the phone, a very familiar voice floated out. "Kinneas? Is that you?"
"Yes," Vaughn answered, "Who is this?"
"What the Hell are you doing in my little girl's room?!"
"Uh oh," Tal grinned.
"Uh…" Vaughn stammered, "nothing sir. We're just uh…"
"I'll kill you Kinneas!"
"Give me the phone!" I demanded and snatched the receiver from a still stuttering Vaughn. "Daddy?"
"What the Hell is that pervert Kinneas doing in your room?!"
"Calm down Daddy," I insisted, "We're all here waiting for you."
"Why is he there? I thought he was in Balamb with your brother and Chicken-wuss' kid."
In the background, I could hear my Uncle Zell cursing my father. "So did we," I assured, "He came back last night without them and we ran into him this morning on the way back to the dorms."
"Who's there with you besides him?"
"Everyone."
"For his sake, you better not be lying to me," my dad stated, "Because if you're alone there with him, I'll rip his guts out and…"
I put my hand over the mouthpiece and pulled the phone away from my ear, cutting off my father's threats. "He doesn't believe that the rest of you are here. Just say hi so he'll believe me, okay?"
I uncovered the mouthpiece and the others shouted hi towards the phone. Once they were done with their greeting, I put the phone back up to my ear. "Satisfied?"
There was a moment of silence, then, "I guess."
"Good, now what did you call for?" I inquired, "I'm sure it wasn't to threaten Vaughn."
"We're done with the meeting," he informed, "meet us in your mother's classroom."
"Okay." I hung up the receiver and turned to the others. "He said they're done with the meeting and that we should meet them in my mom's classroom."
Everyone stood up and we filed out the door and to the elevators. It was barely after 6:00 o' clock in the morning and their weren't many people up, but a few cadets and SeeDs had started their day early and were combing the halls. They looked at the group of us strangely as we headed towards the elevator. Because our group was so large, we had to split up into two groups. The Dincht's and Raine went up first and the rest of us followed. After we had all stepped off the elevator cab into the second floor hallway, we made our way, once again as a group, to my mom's classroom.
Inside, our parents, Aunt Fujin, Uncle Raijin, Raven and Tristen were crowded at the front of the room. They all looked up as we entered. The first thing I noticed was that the fear in their eyes remained and I shuddered as a chill raced down my spine.
"Have a seat," my mother instructed and we all sat down at the desks. Once we were seated, my mother began to speak.
"As you all know, we had a mission in FH yesterday," she began. We all nodded, half numb with the terror of what we were about to find out. "When we arrived in FH, we saw that the FFFH faction had gathered more troops in order to make a last ditch effort to protect their cause. We engaged in battle and were winning when…"
She trailed off and she looked over at my dad. Their eyes locked for a split second and he looked away quickly, a shudder of his own visible. Finding no help there, she turned to Uncle Squall, who nodded and took up the narrative.
"We had the upper hand over the FFFH," Squall continued, "But we were ambushed this morning by a new enemy. She was obviously the one behind the attack on the Mayor and the FFFH were working under her orders. She attacked and we were forced to retreat and return to the Garden. We were afraid that she might follow us, which is why Quistis called and told all of you to stay inside the Garden until we returned. Luckily, she didn't follow us, but we might still be in danger. We think it's a good idea if…"
Vaughn interrupted Squall's monologue. "She? She who?"
My mother seemed to have found her voice during Squall's speech and she answered. "A new sorceress," she informed, "Sorceress Lantana."
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A/N: A lantana is a flower.