CHAPTER 5
Lianne was sitting in the Infirmary with Leali and Alix after Squall had sent her away. A blanket draped around her shoulders, she was sat on a bed, her friends watching over her with concern. Dr Kadowaki pressed a hot cup of something strong-smelling into her hands. "Here, drink this."
Lianne took a little sip of the clear liquid in the cup, surprised at its sweet taste.
"Is she alright?" Alix asked the doctor, worry clear in his eyes.
"Don't worry yourself, young man," she answered. "I've dealt with this kind of thing many times before. She's simply suffering from shock. A little rest will do her well." The doctor wasted no time in disappearing back out of the room, no doubt to deal with the deluge of other patients she had faced over that morning's grisly discovery.
"Lianne? Are you okay now?" Leali asked softly.
Lianne managed a weak nod in reply.
"What's up? That must have spooked you pretty badly, huh?" Alix said.
"I was… I was so mean to her, Alix!" she replied, a large tear rolling down her cheek. "The last time we saw her in the library… I was horrible to Shin. And now… and now…" She started to cry, hanging her head so that her brown hair fell in front of her face.
Leali crouched down in front of Lianne and put her hands on her knees, peering up at her friend's tear-stained face. "Lianne… come on, please don't cry."
"I can't help it… I'm such an awful person!" Lianne choked.
Alix sat himself next to her on the bed, putting his head close to hers. "No, you're not. If you're such a bad person, would we even be friends with you?"
"Exactly! You're not like that at all!" Leali nodded in agreement.
"It doesn't change what I said."
"Lianne, if you feel that awful about it, you shouldn't be sat here crying about it," Alix said, in a stern but comforting way. "There's only one way to make up for this, and you know what that is?"
Lianne shook her head, glistening eyes fixed intently on him.
"We've got to find Dante, which is what Shin wanted. Then, we have to avenge Shin's death by helping Squall find the killer, right?"
"Yeah, of course! Then that's, like, your apology or something!" Leali chimed in.
"Shin probably knows how sorry you are, so let's help her out." Alix smiled.
"You know what? I think you might be right, guys," Lianne said, wiping the tears from her face with the back of her hand. "So I'm gonna drink up the rest of… whatever this is, and then we'll get out of here. Then we go and help my dad."
Squall wasn't impressed by his daughter's offer to help.
"Lianne, I have enough to be dealing with at the moment without you arguing with me over anything and everything."
"Which is why we want to help you! You can't handle this alone," Lianne replied.
Squall sighed, glancing at Leali and Alix, who were standing behind Lianne with apologetic looks on their faces. "I'm not alone. I have Cid, Quistis, Xu and most of the Garden Faculty working with me on this. Don't forget Selphie and Irvine, and the entirety of SeeD besides. Trust me, we're dealing with this. This doesn't concern you."
Before Lianne could argue back, the elevator to the bridge ascended, bringing Xu up to their eye-level. "Squall, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we've got another missing persons case."
"Who is it?" Squall asked with urgency.
"Her name's Emily Durran. Another student."
Squall sighed again. "This is getting ridiculous. How many is this now?"
"This brings the count up to twelve," Xu said, shaking her head. "Include Zell's squad and it's even more."
Lianne gasped. "What?! Twelve missing people?"
"Lianne, there's nothing that you can do here. Go. Now," Squall ordered.
"Um, excuse me, Squall?" Xu interrupted. "I do actually have something these three could do. Emily's boyfriend, Chriz… he's very distressed. Perhaps they could talk to him?"
"Aw, that's awful! Please can we go talk to him, Dad?" Lianne said.
"Where is he?" Squall asked, after a sigh.
"He's waiting just at the bottom of the lift here."
"Okay, we're on it! SeeDs, move out!" Lianne said, jumping on to the lift. Only Leali managed to mimic her enthusiasm.
When the three companions reached the bottom, they saw a boy about their age, with brown hair and hazel eyes. His expression was a mixture of both sorrow and fury. He was pacing around frantically in impatient strides.
Lianne, suddenly intimidated by the boy's demeanour, let Alix take the lead.
"Hey, you must be Chriz, right?" Alix said, trying to remain casual.
The boy cast ill-tempered eyes upon him. "Yeah. And who are you?"
"I'm Alix," he said, holding out a hand for Chriz to shake. "And this is Lianne and Leali."
"What do you want?" he demanded, completely disregarding Alix's handshake. "I'm not interested in anything you have to say."
"Hey, we're here to help you, you ungrateful pig!" Lianne yelled, finding her voice. "So have some respect and listen to Alix!"
"Lianne, just leave it, alright?" Alix said, quietly.
Lianne folded her arms in defiance, and turned her back.
"Look… Xu told us what happened. We want to help you," Alix explained to the other boy.
"Yeah, well… you can't do anything about it, can you?" Chriz retaliated, face flushing and eyes welling with tears.
"Squall's dealing with it. They're doing all they can. But right now, we want to help you out."
"There is nothing you can do!" Chriz reiterated through gritted teeth.
"Chriz, I know you're upset, but you gotta realise that acting this way won't bring Emily back." Alix put a hand on his shoulder.
Chriz shrugged it off violently. "Then what will?" he said, almost in a sob.
"I'd like to tell you I know, but I don't. The best you can do is leave Squall and the others to it. Pacing around down here and waiting to cause trouble will only distract them from Emily's case. They'll find her, I guarantee it."
The intercom rang in. "This is Xu. We have a new state of emergency in Garden at the moment. Many people have disappeared, and we've decided it's time to take action. With confirmation from the Headmaster, we're going to initiate a thorough search of Garden and a roll-call of all the students, SeeDs and staff members alike, so we know what our position stands at. Shortly, we'll land on the island of Balamb, near the town. You will receive your instructions when we arrive. Thank you for your co-operation."
Alix smiled. "See? They're taking action already. Don't sweat it."
Chriz gave him a dark look and stalked away, eyes cast down to the ground.
Lianne looked at Alix with concern. "Do you think that worked?"
"I wouldn't count on it. He's having a hard time."
"I feel really sorry for him…" Leali said, with sympathetic eyes.
"Me too," Lianne agreed. "But my dad'll sort it! He always does."
Half an hour later, Garden descended upon the grassy plains of Balamb. The students were emptied out on to the fields, led out in orderly lines alongside SeeDs, instructors, superiors and Garden Faculty. They had all heard their instructions, and they all knew what was expected of them.
Everybody was to report to the Garden Faculty so their name was written down and used to create a list of all the people missing. Meanwhile, a thorough search of the Garden would be performed by experienced SeeDs. Emotions were running high. This whole procedure was so bizarre and desperate, and it made the inhabitants of Garden realise just how scared they really were.
Over the last few days, Garden had changed. People no longer walked alone in the corridors, but travelled in huddled groups of three or four. Everybody seemed nervous and on edge, and the superiors were constantly busy and overwhelmed. Suddenly, everyone was a suspect. The murderer's motives were unclear to all – they just seemed to be mercilessly killing in cold blood. The recent wave of disappearances and the Training Centre mystery just added to the confusion. Were they connected? How could so many people just go missing at the same time? At least the Garden was being searched thoroughly. Even the Training Centre was to be checked again. A group of qualified SeeDs were making their way in there, following in the footsteps of Zell's squad, to carry out a rigorous search of the area. No stone was being left unturned as the SeeDs fought to find their missing friends and colleagues.
These were the thoughts rumbling through the crowds as everyone joined the alphabetical lines to put their names down in the Garden register.
Lianne had left Alix and Leali in the 'S' and 'K' queues respectively, and now she was waiting in the 'L' line for her turn to be registered. As she waited, she looked around at the worried faces of her fellow students, wondering if, in the glimmer of a frightened eye, or in the murmur of uneasy lips, there would be the hint of such evil as to kill innocent people without cause. It seemed so impossible, but it was happening. And what was even more terrifying was that no one knew who was next. It could even be her, or her friends and family that fell victim to the mysterious killer.
As she glanced around, she caught sight of Chriz in the 'B' queue, and she felt a wave of guilt wash over her. Just like she had with Shin, she had been horrid to him as well. She made a note to herself to apologise to him, before he turned up dead with a kunai in his back. She diverted her eyes in shame, to see Leali in the 'K' queue, waving to her with a grin. Lianne smiled back as Leali reached the front of her line, and began speaking to the Garden Faculty at the end. It took a moment for Lianne to come to her senses, but when she did, she realised she too was at the front of the line.
"Your name?" the man questioned her.
"Lianne Leonhart. As if you really needed to ask."
Scribbling something down in a great big book, the Faculty member nodded. "Thank you. Now, Miss Leonhart, do you know of any missing persons?"
Her face flushed red again, remembering Shin and Chriz. "I know two: Dante Mastic and Emily Durran. Oh… and Zell Dincht, too."
"Thank you for your co-operation. You may go now."
Lianne left the line and re-joined Leali and Alix, who were waiting for her.
"Hey, I got word that the search is nearly done," Alix said as she approached.
"Great. I wonder if they've had any luck?" Lianne said, with a doleful glance toward Garden.
"It doesn't seem like it. The Garden's apparently clear, and the squad that was sent into the Training Centre have only just gone in, so we can't expect to hear anything from them for a while yet, I guess."
"You know, I was just thinking of something," Leali said, with a wise face.
"What is it?" Lianne asked.
"Well… if they couldn't find the murderer hiding in Garden… perhaps they're out here with us?" she answered, glancing around edgily.
"You're saying…" Lianne started, shocked.
"I was just thinking the same thing." Alix nodded. "The culprit could easily be a student or instructor. Right under everybody's noses…"
Lianne shivered with the thought. "You've got to be kidding."
Towering above them protectively, Garden looked like it always had – safe, serene and beautiful. Lianne could hardly believe the haven she called home was under such an unpredictable and terrifying threat. If only there was something more I could do, she thought.