Talk To Me

Chapter 4

A/N: Here's another chapter for you. I'm hoping to be able to upload at least two chapters at a time, seeing as I've managed to outline how this fic is gonna pan out.

---

Jayden looked down at her boots "This had better get us some serious brownie points with Squall and Cid." Her boots were covered in gore left over from a particularly nasty Grat kill.

Miri smirked as she cleaned her shortsword off in the grass. She turned to Jayden and glanced down at the slimy substance that coated the younger girl's boots. "Well, think of it this way, at least it's getting you brownie points with Instructor Trepe."

"Yeah," Nic agreed as he climbed his way down from his sniping point, his gun slung over one shoulder. "I think we've killed enough for one day, and Jayden here looks like she could use a shower," Nic also looked down at her boots, "and some boot polish."

Herald was about to comment on Jayden needing a shower, but was interrupted when a loud roar sounded throughout the area. Looking to the others he said, "I think that shower's gonna have to wait."

A T-Rexaur burst through the trees seconds later, it's head down as it charged towards the group. They'd never encountered one of the massive beasts unattended and, without Guardian Forces equipped and no clear way of escaping, it was going to be a long and hard fight.

"Shit! Everyone spread out and keep moving, don't make yourself an easy target!", Heral yelled as he dodged, drawing his two broadswords from their scabbards; his size and strength allowing him to wield two of the large swords in each hand.

Jayden and the others spread out. As she drew her scimitars, she cursed herself for not bringing the gunblade. Instead it lay in it's case in her dorm, propped up beside her bed. "Nic, Miri, you guys are on magic casting while Herald and I keep it occupied for you. Remember, no Thunder magic!", she called out to the two more adept magic users.

Herald charged in from the beast's right side while Jayden came in from the left, each of them slashing at a leg. The beast roared in aggravation more than anything and spun to counter their attacks, it's large tail swooping down as it did.

---

Teric was outside Jayden's room at the moment, keeping a careful eye on the hallways. He didn't know why he was doing this, he barely knew Matt, but somehow he'd been convinced to help get rid of this girl he barely knew.

While he kept a lookout, Kael and Siyan were hacking into the Garden's security network. One of the good things about having two extremely smart underlings. Why all of this just to steal a gunblade, he didn't know. Matt wasn't too specific with his plans; all Teric knew was that he felt like he just had to do this for him.

"Got it." Matt exited the room, a guitar case in hand.

"Dude, I thought you were taking a gunblade."

"It's in here. I can't very well walk around with a gunblade when everyone knows I don't use one, now can I?"

Teric nodded. "Good point."

"Now, go check on those two. Make sure they have everything ready."

With a nod, Teric walked off to join Kael and Siyan.

Hyne, this is easier than I figured it would be, Matt thought to himself. He never would have thought he'd be able to use magic to manipulate someone, let alone a group of people. Thanks to the Garden's library, and a lot of spare time, he had an infinite number of magical texts at his disposal.

As he started walking, a malicious grin spread across his features. All of his hard work was about to pay off.

While making his way towards the Training Center, the memory of watching Jayden and Quistis kiss came to his mind. He rememeber the events and his feelings of that day all too well. He remembered that once again he'd lost to Jayden; that once again she'd come out ahead. It seemed to him that it didn't matter where they were, he was always going to be second best whenever Jayden Masters was around.

Stopping at the entrance to the vast training complex, he smiled. Things were about to change drastically for his charismatic friend and, for once, he would come out on top.

---

Jayden tucked into a roll and managed to come up slicing at the creatures leg muscles once again. She figured if they could damage it's legs enough, perhaps they wouldn't be able to hold it's body's massive weight.

Herald charged back in as Jayden once again dodged out of the way of the creature's powerful jaws. As his blades scored hit's on both legs, two massive blocks of ice came down upon the monster's head. "Good hit guys! Keep 'em comin!", he called out to Nic and Miri, and immediately they began casting once again.

Shaking itself out of it's momentary stupor, the T-Rexaur spun around quickly, catching the large cadet off guard with it's tail; the blow had him sailing across the clearing as if he were a mere rag doll.

"Blizzard!", both Nic and Miri yelled. Their casting being timed perfectly, the monster was hit with two spells at once again.

Seeing that the beast was momentarily stunned, Jayden ran to Herald's side and checked for a pulse. Glad that there was one, Jayden quickly casted a Cure spell, but with her magic not being nearly as strong as Nic's or Miri's it didn't revive her friend from his unconcious state. "Dammit," she cursed.

This bastard has to go down, she thought to herself. She felt something change inside her just then, a rush of adrenaline it seemed like, but more powerful. They'd studied about limit breaks in class before, but never had she been able to access hers. That had to be what she was feeling, and somehow she knew what she had to do next. While most limit breaks they studied caused an increase in strength or magical ability, she didn't feel any of those. The only thing she felt was a need to run, and run she was going to do.

Picking up her scimitars, she let out a fierce howl, and charged at the beast head on. With such easy prey charging right into it's path, the monster dropped it's head and opened it's massive jaws as it charged forward.

Jayden didn't alter her course. With the power of her limit break coursing through her she didn't feel any fear, only determination. Just as the monster's jaws were about to close in she dodged, or at least she thought so. She now found herself behind the monster, almost as if she'd just blinked, and she was there. Not taking the time to ponder how she'd accomplished this, she turned and charged again. Once close enough she leapt onto the creatures tail, and finding her balance hadn't been altered in the least, she ran up onto the T-Rexaurs back; having no trouble with keeping her balance in the process, if anythin, she felt as if she were running on air.

There, that's got to be one of the weak spots, she thought even as her blades sliced across the area where the creatures skull and neck met.

The T-Rexaur roared in pain for the first time it seemed. Realizing she'd managed to find a weak spot, Jayden plunged one blade in all the way to the hilt. Not releasing the blade, she twisted it to slice in the direction she leapt. The leverage with the blade still embedded in the creatures neck caused her to be able to twist around and slash at the large vein that was presented to her.

In an attempt to dislodge it's attacker, the monster jerked it's head upwards, causing Jayden's sword to come loose. She landed on her feet and watched as the monster wobbled; no doubt she'd at least somewhat severed it's spinal cord where it joins with the skull, and with the amount of blood it was losing, the monster was dead, no matter how much it tried to fight it's fate.

With a final roar the T-Rexaur succumbed to death's embrace, and fell to the Training Center floor with a thud that shook the ground. Jayden turned towards Nic and Miri, and found Nic laying on the floor and Miri with a shocked look on her face. Jayden was about to ask her what was wrong when she noticed the blade protruding from her chest.

---

With one foot Matt pushed the body away from him, gunblade still in hand. Miri's corpse landed with a dull thud in front of him. The look on Jayden's face at that moment was priceless. He would remember this day for as long as he lived.

He watched as a look of pure hatred graced her features. "I told you you would get what was coming to you, Jayden. It's time someone knocked you off of that pedistal of yours, and I'm the one that's doing it!"

"You son of a bitch!", she yelled as she charged towards him. Shaking his head, he merely flicked his wrist and muttred the word 'sleep'. Immediately the young warrior was out.

"Hmm...I was hoping that you would have made that a little bit harder, Jay." Walking over to the young woman, he placed the bloodied gunblade in her right hand. The only fingerprints that would be found on that sword would be hers. Knowing that Kael and the others would be coming with help, to stop what they thought was Jayden in a violent rage, he quickly picked up her scimitars.

This was the most important part of his plan. In order for this to acutally work, he had to make it look as though the young warrior had actually attacked those that were in her party. He started with the unconcious Herald by quickly slashing the young man's chest; his intentions were only to maim, not to kill the two remaining cadets.

"And now for the next part.", he whispered. Kneeling next to the prone cadet, Matt reached into his jacket's pocket and pull out two small vials. Among the books he'd studied one was on the subject of alchemy and the making of various potions. Being able to wipe someone's memory of recent events with the combination of a few different herbs came in quite handy.

Quickly lifting Herald's head and tipping it back, he popped the vial's topper off with his thumb and poured it down the prone cadet's throat.

Laying Herald's head down, Matt leaned down once again, this time to make sure Herald was still breathing and had not choked on the potion. Seeing that all was fine, he quickly walked over to Nic and repeated the process. Only with Nic, he couldn't bring himself to injure his friend further.

Though Nic was clearly on Jayden's side, Matt couldn't ignore that his once friend had tried to be there for him. For his plans to work, however, Matt had been forced to push him away. He couldn't very well have Nic nosing around while he was trying to bring all of this to fruition.

He quickly scanned the area for any evidence that he was ever there. Seeing none, he made his way towards the secret area to dispose of the only bit of evidence that would link him to the crime.

The Garden was currently hovering over one of the few forests on the continent of Balamb. He chunked the vials that had contained the potions over the edge, and with one last look at the scimitars he held, those went over the edge as well.

---

Squall stopped in his tracks, Lionheart hanging limply in his hand. The carnage before him was an unexpected sight. He could hear Rinoa gasp behind him, and Zell cursing.

"What the hell happened here?", he whispered.

Blood and gore littered the clearing, a majority of it being from the T-Rexaur corpse that lay in the center of it, but not all of it. On the edge of the clearing to his left he could see Herald's body, and to his right he found Miri and Nic's; and Matt standing over Jayden's, his staff in hand.

"Rinoa, Zell, Selphie, get the injured to the infirmary quickly. I'll find out what when on here.", he commanded as he strode towards Matt.

"Kael, give us a hand with the injured. Siyan, run ahead and notify Dr. Kadowaki that she has four criticals coming in.", he said before running over to Herald's prone form.

Rinoa and Selphie were already at Nic and Miri's side. Finding that Nic's pulse was strong, she placed her hands over his chest and quickly casted Curaga, the strongest healing spell she had on hand.

Rinoa, however, choked back a sob and let her fingers drop from Miri's neck. "Squall...", she whispered.

Squall, keeping Matt in his sights, stepped closer to his girlfriend. "What is it?", he asked.

Rinoa shook her head and looked up at him. "She's dead," she paused as her eyes were drawn to the gaping would in the girl's chest. She only knew of one weapon in all of Garden's arsenal that could leave wound that large. "Look at her chest."

Squall shifted his gaze downward, and almost immediately his eyes darted to the gunblade still clutched in Jayden's hand. He didn't want to believe it, but the evidence was starting to match what Kael and Siyan had come to warn them about.

Shaking his head he turned to Matt, who stil stood over the unconcious Jayden, his staff still clutched in his hands. "Young man, I want to know what the hell went on here, now!"

He watched as Matt took a step back and lowered his staff, before turning to Squall. "I honestly don't know, Commander. Kael, Siyan, and I were training when we heard the sounds of someone fighting a T-Rexaur. Hoping to lend some assistance, we took off in the direction the sounds were coming from, and when we arrived," he paused to compose himself, "we found that we'd been too late." He sniffed before continuing, seeming to hold back tears. "I saw as she pulled her gunblade from Miri's chest, sir. It was...terrible."

Squall watched as the young man tried to stay composed. His own emotions were in turmol, but as commander he had to keep them bottled up. It was one thing to lose people on a mission, but to have such a crime committed in his school? "What happened afterwards?", he asked.

Matt looked down at Jayden, then back up at Squall. "I sent Kael and Siyan for help while I attempted to subdue her. I managed to stop her with a Sleep spell.", he visibly cringed, waiting for the rebuff he knew was coming. Higher level spells were meant for SeeD access only.

"You know those spells are off limits to cadets, but," Squall paused momentarily, "in this case it is a good thing you had one available. I'm going to need you to give your statement to the headmaster and myself at a later time. Can you do that?"

Matt turned to face his commander fully and saluted. "Yes, sir."

Squall nodded. "You're dismissed for now, cadet."

He watched as the young man walked away. Something about this situation didn't sit right with him, he just didn't know what that something was.

A moan coming from Jayden caused him to look down at the young woman, who was currently trying to stand. In two quick strides he was next to her, and with a quick kick her gunblade went sliding away. "Jayden Masters, you are hereby placed under arrest for the crimes of murder and attempted murder."

---

"Wha-", she was still sluggish from the spell Matt had cast upon her. Her head pounded, her muscles ached, and the only thing she was aware of was that she wasn't in any part of Garden that she recognized. She could hear water dripping from a lone sink that was beside her cot, the sound of keys jingling from somewhere down the corridor, and hushed voices coming from somewhere close by.

As she struggled to sit up she noticed the bars; she was in a cell. The memories came flooding back to her. The fight with the T-Rexaur, the rush she felt when she discovered her limit break, and the sick feeling and then immense hatred as she watched Matt draw the gunblade from Miri's chest. The weight of the situation she was in came crashing down upon her and in an instant she was sober.

He'd framed her, that son of a bitch.

---

Quistis sat in the headmaster's and Squall's office. Herself, Selphie, Zell, Irvine, Cid, Edea, and Squall sat discussing what would be done with Jayden; though she didn't have much to say. She and Rinoa believed the young woman to be innocent, but due to the lack of evidence to say otherwise, their arguments fell on deaf ears.

She didn't want to believe that the young woman she'd fallen for would have it in her to commit such a crime. To Quistis, in the time they'd spent together, Jayden was one of the most caring and gentle souls she'd ever had the pleasure of meeting; only when provoked or protecting someone would the fighter in her show itself. The instructor remembered every single touch, caress, and gentle kiss they'd shared, and those memories just enforced the gut feeling she had that something was amiss with the situation.

She was broken out of her reverie by the sound of Laguna's voice over the telephone. Jayden was being handed over to the Estharian government for trial and prosecution.

"I'm terribly sorry about all of this, Cid. I will have an escort meet you at Fisherman's Horizon, from there we will take responsibility for the girl.", Laguna's voice could be heard over the phone.

Cid nodded. "I'm sorry it turned out like this as well, my friend. Garden will dock at Fisherman's Horizon by tomorrow afternoon."

"Very well. Good day to you all."

"Thank you, Laguna.", Cid pressed the 'end' button to terminate the conference.

Leaning back in his chair, the old headmaster rubbed his temples as he spoke, "I want you Squall," he turned to his commander, "to take Zell and Rinoa with you. Announce to everyone to make preparations for take off, and tell Nida to set course for Fisherman's Horizon. Also, make sure to notify the local FH government of what's going to transpire, and we will be out of their hair once it's done. I don't want to cause an upstart, and wind up having things go awry."

Squall stood and saluted the headmaster before making his exit from the room with the others; Quistis waited for the room to clear before standing. "Matron, may I speak with you please?"

The older woman that'd raised all of them smiled kindly, and motioned for Quistis to join her in the next room. Closing the door behind them, she sat behind her desk and nodded her head at one of the chairs that sat on the other side. "What troubles you, my dear?"

Quistis sat across from her and took a deep breath. She hoped Matron would listen to her plight, and not chastise her for what she was about to tell her. "I am troubled by the situation, Matron. I do not believe Jayden is guilty of the crimes she's being accused of."

Edea sighed. Quistis and Rinoa had both been speaking in this girl's defense, but with no evidence to contradict the obvious, there wasn't much she could do. "I know, sweetie. But there is not much I can do to sway Cid and Squall's decision to have the girl handed over to the Estharians," she watched as Quistis fought to keep her composure. There was something that Quistis wasn't telling her. "My child, is there something else you wish to tell me? I will keep whatever is said in here in complete confidence."

She couldn't hold it in anymore. She knew she could trust the woman that'd been like a mother to her. With a deep breath she began, "I know she is innocent Matron, because, I am in love with her. I have been in a relationship with Jayden for most of her stay at Garden, and I know she isn't capable of doing something so horrible!"

She was shocked when the woman didn't rebuff her, and tell her that as an instructor she was wrong for engaging in a romantic relationship with a student. Instead, she watched as Matron stood and came to sit in the chair beside her.

Edea looked into Quistis's eyes and saw truth in them, and great pain. She knew then that something had to be done to forestall the transfer. With a kind smile on her face, she placed her hand over Quistis's and whispered, "I will see what I can do, my child. I believe you, and I do not want to see you lose the person responsible for your recent happiness."

---

"Something stinks about this, and I'm going to find out what...", Rinoa mumbled to herself as she slowly walked the clearing. Something about the way the scene was set up didn't set right. How could a mere cadet take out a giant beast like a T-Rexaur, and proceed to take on her party members?

Pulling forth her powers, she scanned the area for any magical residue. She found the remnants of Matt's Sleep spell, but other than that there was nothing. Heaving a sigh of frustration she turned to leave, and bumped right into Edea.

"I believe you and Quistis, something isn't right here, and it's going to be up to us to figure out what that is.", Edea spoke in a calm voice.

Rinoa nodded in agreement, relieved to have someone on their side. "What can we do?"

"I cannot convince Squall and Cid to hold off on handing Jayden over to the Estharians, but," Edea let a mischievous smile play on her lips, "I have an idea."

Rinoa grinned, "A mysterious escape, perhaps?"

Edea chuckled in response. "I like the way you think, dear. Call them and give them the details of the exchange tomorrow."

"Yes, ma'am."

End Chapter 4