Chapter Forty-Eight:
A/N: Sorry, still celebrating the deaths of Selphie and Raijin. (Morbid, I know. They were just two characters that were hard for me to write, and this was the simplest solution.) Actually, when I had first started writing this fic, Selphie was supposed to be a big part of Tessa's life; Xu was meant to take Adette's place (minus the awkward lesbianism, of course) as the "comatose" girl; and the survivors were supposed to go to Caraway's mansion rather than the Presidential Residence while in Galbadian City. Zell was going to die regardless. Just mull that over and let me know if you find it to be a better concept than the storyline I'm on now. It won't make any difference in the fic, I'm just curious. Also, Tessa uses her limit break for the first time. (I knew I was forgetting something.)
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You know, you haven't mentioned how stupid men are in awhile. Perhaps you're growing up.
Men are stupid, I've just realized that it goes without saying.
Tessa pushed open the door to the Headmaster's office. Squall was bent over an open drawer of a filing cabinet. When he heard Tessa, he looked up and motioned for her to close the door.
"Where would like me to start?" Tessa asked. Squall raised his eyebrow, but she didn't take the hint. "What?"
Squall pulled out a file and sat at the Headmaster's desk. "How do we address to our superiors at Garden?"
I think he wants you to call him "Sir." Maybe even salute.
I'm not doing that.
"Excuse me, but there is no more Garden. In case you haven't noticed, almost everyone is dead and trying to get in here. Fuck the formalities."
Squall said nothing. He opened the file before him and scanned it, eyes opening in mild surprise. After flipping through a few pages, the Commander closed the file and set it on the desk. Narrowed eyes glared at Tessa. "Go ahead. It's not like I can court martial you. Start from the beginning."
She did. Tessa told Squall everything from the train ride onward. When she reached Rinoa's death, however, the redhead lied. She also left out the romantic notions between herself and Holt, as well as Adette. The incidents with the Blonde were left out well. Squall showed no emotion as Tessa spoke. IN fact, it didn't even look as if he was listening.
"Tell me something," Squall said as he slid the file on the desk to Tessa. "What do you think of this?"
"The Rots?" Tessa asked. Squall didn't nod or answer. All he did was look at her with contempt. "I don't know."
"Look at that file."
Tessa picked up the manila folder and saw her name scratched on the cover in pen. "It's mine, what's in here that I wouldn't know about?"
Again, no answer. Tessa rolled her eyes and flipped the cover. The front page was blank. She looked at the one after that, and the next, before flipping all the way to the back. Every single one of them was nothing more than white.
What the hell is this?
"What the hell is this?" Tessa's lips echoed. "Where is everything about my training, my years at Lotia Garden? Where the fuck is my history? Is this some kind of joke?"
"So, what do you think about it?" Squall asked again.
I think there's something you should know.
"I... uh..." was Tessa's response to both. "What?"
"There is no official record of you before coming to this Garden," Squall told Tessa. "I have never even heard of you before today."
"What about the cafeteria incident?" Tessa exclaimed. "You saved my life!"
Squall shook his head, which made her nervous.
Listen to me, there is something you don't know. Something happened at Garden before you arrived.
"A man rose from the dead and you decapitated him! How can you not remember that?"
Shinra became Balamb Garden's main benefactor! Right after NORG was defeated. I was junctioned to Squall when Cid made him Commander!
Then it clicked. everything fell into place. How the Blonde woman found her in the forest, knew when she would be at the train station. The Blonde and her cohorts had been at Timber and were using Materia, a Shinra product.
"I read all about your adventures during the Sorceress War," Tessa told Squall as she looked in his eyes. Her fiery red ones looked into his, which were cold and soulless. "Tell me something. How does a rookie SeeD who screwed up his first two assignments, almost got his Garden blown up, and somehow become the Commander? Not the ideal choice for a leader, if you ask me."
The SeeD stood up, gunblade in hand, and walked to the door behind Tessa. She heard a click as it was locked, and turned around. Squall was looking at her with absolute hatred.
"That's it, isn't it? Shinra bought this Garden, and got you in the deal. You're their puppet, aren't you?" Tessa said as the last of the puzzle pieces fell into place. "That's why the Headmaster didn't want the cafeteria incident to get out, isn't it? And when that girl Erin got sick, it was the disease that turns people into Rots. You didn't go with me to exhume the monster that attacked her because I was supposed to die, wasn't I? Why? Because I worked on the case? Why not Dr. Kadowaki then?"
Shut up! You really don't want to make him mad.
Tessa ignored Shiva's advice and pressed on. "She is in on it, too, isn't she? Why else try to kill me and not her? It all makes sense now! Shinra is behind this whole thing!"
"You're incredibly smart," Squall said. Tessa didn't take it as a compliment, considering who it had come from. "You figured all of that out by just looking at a blank sheet of paper, impressive."
"Stay the fuck away from me," Tessa warned as she stood up and backed away from Squall. She backed into the desk, and reached behind for some sort of weapon, finding none.
Squall lifted his gunblade up and pointed it at Tessa. "What was it you called me? A puppet for Shinra? That's not how I'd put it, but you're not wrong. Still, my relationship with Shinra is nothing like yours."
The blood drained from Tessa's face. She had a history with Shinra? It was impossible, she had been at Lotia Garden all of her life. Hell, Hunter could vouch for that. "You don't know what you're talking about."
Yell for help! Can't you see he's going to kill you? This is not the Squall I was junctioned to during the Sorceress War.
You said that you were created in a lab or some bullshit like that. What is going on?
I already told you I had lied. I am the only GF Shiva. The Shivas housed in Materia is what's created in a lab. They duplicated the frequencies given off when I'm Summoned. Essentially, they're clones.
While the girl and her GF had been conversing, Squall had used a Fira spell to melt the door handle so that there would be no escape. His voice soon reached Tessa's ears, and she snapped to attention just as he struck.
She ducked as the gunblade came flying at her head. Her right fist shot out, striking him in the stomach. Squall flinched, but didn't really appear to feel it. He raised his own right hand and a flame leapt out like a serpent's tongue. Tessa dropped and rolled under the desk, which took the full force of the spell. The fire spread quickly, and the heat beat down on her face.
"What is wrong with you?" Tessa screamed before coughing. Smoke was quickly filling the room.
"Is something going on in there?" Quistis called as she knocked on the door. "The door's locked!"
The Commander of Balamb Garden said nothing as he launched himself over the desk. The point of the gunblade landed right beside Tessa's head. One more inch in her direction and she would've been seriously injured. Tessa lifted up her own right hand, palm flat, and used one of her Water spells. It hit Squall in the face, snapping his head back.
"Nice shot," he retorted, his voice full of sarcasm.
Tessa rolled the other way and stood up in front of the desk. She lifted her shirt collar up to her mouth and nose to help filter the smoke, only to taste blood. Selphie's blood.
"Squall, Antessence! What is happening? There's smoke!" Quistis shouted. "Open the door!"
By this time, the desk was consumed with flames. The heat caused sweat to gather on Tessa's forehead and the smoke stung her eyes.
Summon me! I may not do much to him, but I can put out the fire!
It seemed like a good idea, so the medic slapped the pin hanging on her neck. In doing so, she also hit the half heart charm that belonged to Jayne. As Shiva appeared in the room as a scantily clad blonde with blue skin and threw a large blast of cold at Squall and the desk, Squall slapped his own chest, activating one of his own GFs. Out of nowhere came a humanoid bat-like demon. The main colours of its appearance were red and black. It reached out with a red claw and grabbed a large black ball over its head, launching it at Tessa. She flew back and hit the door, eliciting cries from the people on the other side.
"Are you being attacked?" Quistis screamed as a pounding sound hit the door.
Tessa sat up and stared as Squall approached. He had his gunblade in his left hand and his right held out. Tessa raised her own in retaliation. As another jet of flame shot out of Squall's hand, a burst of water flew from Tessa's. They met in midair, steam rising to the ceiling. As both spells ended, Squall drove his gunblade through Tessa's left shoulder. But rather than pull it out, he tugged up and cut through bone and tendon.
Tears built up in Tessa's eyes from the pain. However, Shiva gave some words of encouragement.
You can do this, use your limit break!
Putting her right hand on her injured shoulder, Tessa stood up despite the pain. Squall's eyes widened but held his gunblade in front as though it were a sword.
Almost every story has the hero using a sword. Not this time.
"You're..." Tessa gasped as smoke continued to pour from the now extinguished desk. "Done."
Tessa's red eyes seemed to glow and all of the smoke around her whirled away as if shocked by her touch. She stepped forward, advancing on Squall. He raised his right hand again and cast Firaga, but the lava split and burned holes through the wall behind Tessa rather than touch her. The people in the lobby saw what was happening and gasped.
An unearthly shriek emitted from Tessa, and a sonic blast came out her mouth. It hit Squall and knocked him back into the desk. He lost his grip on the gunblade, and it clattered to the floor. The sound waves continued, flipping Squall backward over the desk and into the wall on the other side of the room. The Commander grabbed his ears, which had begun to bleed.
"Stop, you're killing him!" Quistis shouted. Tessa's body jerked and she crumpled to the floor. Squall fell also, unconscious. The people from the lobby stepped through the holes in the wall and into the office. they were greeted with smoke and blood. The charred remains of the desk still sent out puffs of smoke and ash.
A gloved hand touched Tessa's wound and, for the second time that day, Instructor Quistis Trepe healed her.
"Antessence, what happened here? Why were you and Squall fighting?"
Tessa coughed, trying to empty her lungs of smoke. "He tried to kill me. He's a plant from the Shinra. They own Garden now. I figured it out. Dr. Kadowaki and the Headmaster are in on it, too."
"Squall told you all of this?" Quistis asked fearfully. Tessa could see the pain in her teacher's eyes as she realized that yet another of her friends was gone forever. Not dead, but gone.
"Why else attack me?" the redhead asked. "We have to get out of here, to the vessel."
Quistis helped Tessa to her feet and supported the girl. The remaining survivors looked around in fear. All but one.
"I've always wanted this," Seifer said as he picked up Squall's gunblade.
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A/N: Woo, Squall is a villain! Seriously though, Tessa was right. Every hero in every FF game I've played used a sword, Except for Yuna in FF X-2, but it doesn't really count since she could use a sword if the right dressphere was equipped. That game broke all of the FF rules, but I still semi-enjoyed it. But, now that Squall's a bad guy, that leaves two heroes from FFVIII, plus Seifer and Fujin. Nida isn't in this fic, but if I do a sequel I'll include him. Aren't I deliciously evil?