Thank you Destiny-N, n9neSTAR, effect20, Galneryus, neko-chiidesu, crespusculo4ever, and Trev James. You guys wait all week for an update, and i wait all week for your reviews. Seriously, every time i update one of my stories, i'm like "I wonder what effect20 will say, I wonder what Trev James will say, I wonder what crepusculo will say, I wonder if n9neSTAR HAS BOTHERED TO READ IT YET?"
hehe only joking about the last one, i know you're busy dude!
Well, everyone keeps wanting me to finish soon, minus one or two people who never want this to end (you know who you are). But alas, i think i can get this finished by chapter 22. I've written chapter up to chapter 21, and my outline kinda says i can get it done by 22. However, if I feel there is too much content and it wont finish in a nice way, i'll bump it up to 23.
Thanks for all the lovely compliments, a story is nothing without a reader - so make sure you review!
Well as promised, here is chapter 19 earlier than usual.
Chapter 19 - Extinct Species
The phone rang four times before someone picked up.
"Hello." The guard said from the other side of the line.
"I'd like to speak to Ultimecia." He asked in a low tone.
"Hold on." There was a pause before some unnecessary classical music was played. He hoped it wouldn't be long, the boys were waiting for him to return, if he didn't show up soon, they'd ask questions. Especially Tiamat, he had eyes like a hawk.
A minute later and the Centri woman picked up the phone.
"Yes?" She said, not bothering with formalities.
"She's here in Centra." He said to her directly.
"Centra? What's she doing there?" Mecia asked, confused.
"Never mind that, do you still want me to carry it out?" He asked, getting to the point.
"Of kourse." She said. "Make it painful, will you?" She asked, pleadingly.
"As you wish. I received the first part of the money, when am I to receive the other five million?" He asked, greedily.
"Kall me once you've done it. Once it's on the news, I'll have someone get you the money that sekond."
"I'll need time to make my escape, so I'll call once someone has found her body." He replied, not wanting to get caught in the action.
"Alright." She complied.
"Good. Enjoy your stay." He said sarcastically and hung up before she could reply.
Bahamut sat in the tower room in his usual seat next to Tiamat looking into the horizon while his cousin sat watching the monitor screens.
Norg came in with the electronic kettle filled with water and set it aside.
"Where's Alex?" He asked adding in sugar to the four cups placed on the table.
"Oh I don't know, he disappeared somewhere." Bahamut answered, as if he just realised the man wasn't in the room.
A couple of minutes later and Alexander walked into the control room and made his way over to the seat next to Tiamat.
"Where'd you disappear off to?" Norg asked the man, handing him his coffee.
"Oh, I had to use the toilet." He replied.
Norg just made a face and went over to pick up the mini muffins, offering the packet to the other men and taking one himself.
"How were the kids today, Norg?" Tiamat asked, looking at the monitor screens and sipping his coffee.
"Alright, well most of 'em. A lot of them wanted to trek up to old Ultima and take a look." He told the other man.
"Absolutely not!" Tiamat replied, looking away from the screen for the first time in two hours.
"I know, I know, I told them no." Norg replied back.
"You should have just let them, if they want danger, its best to let them have a taste to see what it's really like." Alexander commented.
"Alex, that's awful!" Bahamut laughed at the blond. "They're just kids, they get excited over anything that releases gas."
Norg and Bahamut started chuckling while the other two just rolled their eyes.
"I'm absolutely clear on this, no one is to do anything dangerous. We get a lot of money coming in for these school field trips. Anything remotely dangerous and this place will get shut down." Tiamat said emotionally. It had cost a lot of money and effort between him and his cousin to get the place running, the last thing they needed was for it to get shut down.
Alexander contemplated what Tiamat had said. He felt guilty after hearing the sadness and fear in the man's voice. It was sad that something dangerous probably would take place, and sadly it could result in the cherished centre to be shut down.
Squall knocked on Rinoa's dorm room and waited for her to open it. It was 08:30 in the morning and the two arranged to meet for breakfast. The door to the room opened and Rinoa made her way out wearing her navy blue track pants and a long sleeved grey sweater.
"Ready?" Squall asked the raven haired to which she nodded.
He held her hand entwining their fingers together, as he led her down to the centre's mess hall and queued in the breakfast line.
The group were going to meet at 09:30am to carry out some research on the chemical and ph levels in the soil at the base of Mount Ultima. It was their fourth day in Centra and everything was running smoothly, another day and they'd be flying back to Balamb for the weekend.
The queue was quite long so Rinoa started making small conversation. She stepped closer to Squall, putting her hand on the lining of his shirt and playing with the buttons.
"Squall?" She said cutely.
"Hm?" He smiled at her, holding her by the waist and making her follow him a step forward in the queue.
"I saw something in the souvenir shop yesterday." She said, smirking up at him.
"Yeah? What did you see?" He asked knowing where this was going.
"I saw a stuffed Moomba." She replied sticking out her tongue and giggled.
"And you want it?" He asked, to which she eagerly nodded, moving back and following Squall's lead in the queue. "Alright, we'll head over there after breakfast and I'll get it for you."
"Yay!" She cried, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him.
"Rinoa, people." Squall whispered to her as he received some weird looks from the other students in the queue.
Once they got their breakfast, they sat down on a table and one by one their friends soon joined them.
"Hey, do you think they'll let us climb the volcano today?" Dexter asked, still chewing on his pancakes.
"Nah, Mr Norg said that Tiamat dude won't let us." Zell answered.
"Mr Tiamat sure doesn't let us do anything." Rinoa complained referring Norg's warnings about the extinct species section.
"I want see what's down there." Dexter explained excited.
"Magma, what else?" Seifer said as if it were a stupid question.
"Actually, it's lava, magma sits at the bottom." Quistis replied matter-of-factly.
Seifer grabbed Quistis's last remaining pancake and shoved it in his mouth.
"Hey!" Quistis cried out, but laughing nonetheless.
"That's for being such a smartass." He replied through his mouthful.
Squall and Rinoa walked into the souvenir shop browsing around for gifts to take back to Balamb for their family and friends. Rinoa spotted her stuffed Moomba and dragged Squall over to the shelf to purchase it.
While waiting in the queue she remembered to tell him about Mr Tiamat letting them check out the extinct species.
"It will be a good thing to mention in your university application." She said helpfully.
"Ok, we can get the others to take care of the Volcano part and use that time to head down to check it out." Squall complied.
"Great. I'll go find Mr Norg and see if he's free then too." She smiled at him and walked to the cashier with a grin.
Deciding to attend the Centra field trip had turned out better for her. She was a lot happier and felt safer here. Kiros and Ward had suggested they stay along with her, but she had wanted to be a bit dependant and so declined their offer, after all she had Squall by her side.
With the news of Ultimecia in prison things had settled in Deling City. The riots and attacks had been cancelled and many GDL members had also been arrested. The country didn't have a complete change of heart however. Many still opposed the Peace Treaty with Esthar, and many in Esthar were more than happy to dissolve any relations with Galbadia. As much as Laguna had tried to form another council, the people were just not content nor desired to rely on the Caraways. Neither country wanted anything to do with the other, it seemed Esthar was once again ready to bolt its doors shut.
Zell walked up to the group and handed out their clipboard. Seeing two extra free he asked Seifer where Squall and Rinoa were.
"They went to do something for Squall's university application." Seifer replied sitting with Quistis on his lap. He was sitting on a large boulder at the foot of the entrance to Mount Ultima. Quistis had perched on his lap, playing with the dog-tags across his neck and made simple conversation.
"Didn't she say it had something to do with the extinct species?" She said looking up at Seifer.
"Yeah something like that. Anyways, we're just going to have to do as much on our own and then they'll continue when they get back." Seifer informed the group who nodded and started making their way to volcano foot, listening to Mr Bahamut explain the objective of their activity.
Rinoa tapped on the door to the control room and waited for it to open up. A couple of seconds later Norg opened the door and smiled at the raven haired girl.
"Hi Sir, are you free to go to the extinct species section now?" She asked sweetly, hoping the man would be free.
"Yeah sure, hold on I'll just get my keys." He replied and walked to his desk getting his keys and flashlight.
He walked out of the room and locked the door. Turning around he spotted Squall walking up to Rinoa.
"Ah, you both want to go down?" He asked the brunette.
"Yeah." Rinoa answered quickly. "Its just us two, we didn't tell anyone else." She said in case the man changed his mind.
"Not to worry, let's get a move on." He said and ushered the two to follow him down the corridor.
They walked passed the now empty mess hall. Most of the students had assembled at the base of Mount Ultima to partake in the Volcano activity. The rest had followed Professor Odine and Tiamat to the shoreline for another activity. For this reason, the building was pretty much empty, apart from the other staff members left back.
Rinoa and Squall followed Norg down the spiral stairs, leading to the Extinct Species floor. Each level was made from water resistant metal with clear glass panelling that enabled the view of the Centri Sea, which got darker and bluer the lower they travelled.
The stairs were made out of metal and clanked as each step was made down to the cold lab.
Finally reaching the desired floor, due to the lack of light that encompassed them, Norg took out his flashlight.
"We don't get much light down here because of how deep we're buried in the Sea. Its not safe to have too much wired lighting down here." He explained to the two teens.
Rinoa nodded understanding and tried looking around the dark floor. She could make out signs posted on the wall of warnings and safety procedures. The room was the same as the other floors with seats scattered across the floor, shelves to one side and a study table. However, this floor didn't have any computer panels, instead a large tank stood in place humming and vibrating some sort of use.
They followed Norg once again to a door to the end of the room with a sign reading NO ENTRANCE - PERSONNEL ONLY. Rinoa smiled at herself, something about being able to defy the sign made her a bit proud. She smiled over at Squall hoping this activity would impress the Dean over at ECU.
Norg opened the door to the next room and held it open for the two teens to follow him in. The temperature they met with on impact was a lot colder than the rest of the building. Rinoa held onto her arms feeling the coldness surround her. She thought it was good that she decided to wear long sleeves after all.
They had only taken a couple of steps when Norg's flashlight had died.
"Bloody hell." The man whispered. "Stupid thing, I forgot to charge it."
"Oh does this mean we have to go back up?" Rinoa asked, disappointed that the trip had lasted such a short length of time.
"Yeah, we're just going to have to go back up and get another flashlight." He explained moving back to towards the door. "Er, unless you don't mind fetching them for me?" He asked Rinoa.
"Sure." She complied, it was the least she could do since the man had gone through so much effort to allow them access to the extinct species.
"Thanks love. Just follow the stairs back up, go past the main corridor and you'll find the spare flash lights in the Janitor's closet." He instructed the raven haired girl, handing her a set of keys.
"You going to be okay or you want me to come with you?" Squall asked Rinoa, not moving from his position until she made a decision.
"Oh she'll be fine, it's easy to find the closet." Norg interrupted.
Rinoa looked to the both of them before smiling at Squall. "I'll be fine." She said with conviction.
"Ok." He said as she made her way back out of the room.
Seifer and Quistis were scoping soil into their plastic bags when they spotted Alexander in the distance looking around. He seemed to be looking at the students with a frown.
"What's with him?" Seifer whispered to Quistis.
"I don't know, he does seem dodgy." She replied, reading his thoughts.
Alexander walked over to Professor Kefka and asked to see his clipboard. He scanned the board trailing his finger down until he reached a point and questioned the Professor on it.
"Squall did say to keep an eye on him." Seifer said remember to the conversation he had with Squall earlier in the week. After the Skippy incident, neither boys wanted Rinoa to fall into another situation.
Professor Kefka seemed to reply Alexander's query, to which the other man handed him back the clipboard before rushing down the mountain and walked towards Seifer and Quistis.
Zell, Sarah and Dexter noticed the man's approach and walked up to the other two teens.
"Where are your other two colleagues?" Alexander asked Quistis.
"Why should we tell you?" Seifer said stepping up to the guy. He was serious about the promise he had made to Squall, he wouldn't let this guy get anywhere close to Rinoa.
"Where are they?" Alexander barked, not being intimidated by Seifer's close presence.
"Alex, what's going on?" Bahamut asked concerned, walking up to the man he placed a hand on his arm, pulling him away from the equally aggravated blonde.
"You have two students missing, probably wondering around aimlessly inside the centre, and this cretin's refusing to tell me their whereabouts." Alexander explained, still not taking his eyes off Seifer.
"Is that true?" Bahamut asked looking from Seifer to Quistis.
"Yup." Seifer replied smug.
"It's not like that. Mr Norg's taking them down to see the Extinct Species, they have permission." Quistis answered hoping to calm the situation down.
"What?" Alexander asked surprised, shooting his eyes from Seifer to Quistis. The girl flinched.
"Mr Norg's taking them-". Before she could finish her sentence, Alexander ran past her in such speed, making his way into the building.
The group were startled for a few seconds before looking at each other quizzically. Seifer's thoughts kicked in and he too started to make his way for the Centre doors.
"Chicken-wuss let's go!" He shouted over his shoulder.
Zell ran after him cursing for the confusion and complexities, he had no idea what was going on. Neither did the other members of the group who also followed in pursuit.
Squall stood around aimlessly looking at the dark room. It wasn't that colourful seeing as the dark blue sea had cast it's shadows around making everything in the room look blue. It was slightly eerie, mainly due to the fact that it was cold, dark and vacant.
Looking back at Norg, he noticed the man walking up to another set of doors with a sign marked EXTINCT SPECIES above it. He punched a code into the small grey device beside the door and held it open.
"C'mon lad, we can wait in here till she gets back." Norg suggested, ushering Squall over.
"Shouldn't we wait here? In case she can't find us." Squall asked, taking baby steps towards the older man.
"Nah, she'll know we're in here, besides at least we got a radiator in here." He said, holding the door open. "Don't worry, I've turned the code off so she'll be able to get it."
Squall looked over his should as if Rinoa was still behind him. Slowly he followed Norg into the next room.
The room was slightly colder however, and Squall guessed it was because of what it was housing. There, in large glass cylinders across the sides of the large room, were two of each extinct species. Each cylinder was connected to some kind of smaller tubing and pipes as well as a back light allowing visual access to each animal. Small labels had been placed on each tube with the name of the animal and the gender, as well as additional information on the subject species.
The room was very large and spacious, completely built with dark ash grey metal, and steel flooring. The tubes seemed to run on forever, shelves were placed to one side of the room again holding ancient and expensive books on studies of the animals from centuries ago. A large computer panel stood to one side of the room making small pulsating beeping noises. It seemed it was sourcing power to the tubes.
The lighting in the room wasn't the best however, it seemed the deeper in to the centre they went, the deeper into the sea they drifted. Squall understood now why they needed the flashlights.
"Argh!" Norg cried out.
Squall looked around the room looking for the man. "Are you ok?" He called out, but failed to locate him.
"I think I just popped something in my back from bending over." The painful reply came back. He still couldn't see the man, he tried focusing down to the end of the room but couldn't see him anywhere.
"Ah, where are you?" Squall asked, walking further into the room.
"Over here." Norg called out, coming into view from the right hand side. It seemed that the room had an extension to the right, forming an L shape. Squall wondered just how big the entire place was; it seemed to go on forever.
"You don't mind turning on this radiator for me, do you? I think I just slipped a disk in my back." Norg hissed through pain, holding his lower back.
Rinoa finally reached the ground floor again and pulled open the door leading to the hallway. Mr Norg had been right, the Janitor's closet was right in front of her. She walked up to glossy grey painted wooden door and opened it using the key provided. Hitting the light switch on and looking around the small room, she spotted a large steel shelf to one side with an array of cleaning equipment and accessories. There on one of the shelves lay a series of flashlights of different sizes. She grabbed a couple of the big square shaped ones before walking out of the closet and closing the door behind her.
While walking towards the door leading to the stairway, she heard the harsh sound of footsteps thudding on the steel flooring. Holding the door open she paused, looking down to the end of the corridor hall, she could hear the footsteps getting closer until the figure appeared at the double doors and halted. He looked at her, amazed to see her standing there safely with the most innocent, confused and concerned look on her face.
He looked at her as she stared at him with bewilderment, and then as her eyes fell down to object he carried in his hands, she changed. Her eyes became wide, her mouth gaped slightly open and the emotions on her face changed to horror.
He held his free hand out to her in protest.
"Rinoa, wait-". She didn't let him finish, she ran into the stairway corridor making her way to the basement, following the stairway down to the lowest floor. By the time she had reached the second set of stairs, she could already hear the harsh thudding clank of Alexander's footsteps chasing after her. He called out to her, ordering her to stop, but his words fell on deaf ears; all she could hear was the thumping of her heartbeat quickening with every step he got closer.
She skipped a couple of steps, almost hurling herself down the stairs; anything to get away from the crazed man. Her action was a mistake, she dropped the flashlights onto the floor scattering them to either side of the stairs. She didn't bother to pick them up, knowing that it would only slow her down.
"God help me." She whispered to herself as she raced down the rest of the stairs and finally reached the lower level.
She paused briefly, looking around the room and making sure to enter through the correct door, there at the end of the room was the door marked with the same warning message she had read earlier on.
She could hear him making his way down the last set of stairs so hurriedly raced to the door, opening it just as the he called out to her.
"Rinoa! I'm not going to hurt you!" He shouted.
She didn't bother to listen, instead, she raced further into the room, further to the source of safety.
"Squall!" She cried out.
Squall walked over to Norg carefully, not wanting to bump into anything in case he broke it or hurt himself in the process. It was ridiculously dark at the end of the room and he tried with all his might to focus using the little light coming in from the blue ocean around him.
Once he reached Norg, he bent down feeling around for the radiator knob. He felt the cool metal protruding out of the wall, the bumps of each cylinder joining with the other, the dusty metal pipe at the base and then finally the thermostat knob.
He tried twisting it anticlockwise but it wouldn't move. He tried the other way but again it didn't budge. Wrapping his hand around his T-shirt he bent forward and held the knob with his T-shirt between it and his hand, hoping it would give him more force.
That's when he heard it. It sounded almost like a whisper in his ear, a cry from a far, an illusion of his imagination. But he had heard the sound of that voice many times and he knew it was no dream or illusion.
"Rinoa?" He questioned, turning around.
"Squall." He heard her cry again only slightly louder than the last.
"Rinoa!" He cried out, getting up and making way for the other room. He knew it wasn't an illusion, he knew he had heard it. Not necessarily his name being called out, but rather, the fear in her voice.
He had only taken two steps when the room went from its dark blue to black. It started with a sharp burst of pain on the back of his head, as he fell forward towards the steel flooring and closed his eyes.
Norg looked down at Squall body lying on the floor passed out cold. He took out a clean handkerchief and wiped the end of his dagger. A little smear of blood stained the white cotton cloth as he folded it and put it back in his pocket. Placing the dagger back onto the back of his belt, he knelt down and took Squall by the legs and dragged him to the corner, near the last two cylinder tubes. Taking Squall by the waist, he pulled him into the dark gap, then stepping over him, tucked him in between the tubes by placing his arms and legs inside.
"Squall!" He heard her call again. He couldn't risk her seeing the passed out brunette, it would ruin everything. He located the plug to the last two cylinder tubes and yanked them out. The small air bubbles released from the water filter ceased and the lights turned off, resulting in pitch black darkness to fall onto the corner of the large L shaped room.
Rinoa stood in the cold room looking around for Squall, but she couldn't see him anywhere. She could have sworn this was where they had stopped before Norg's flashlight went out, it was the only room where the temperature was noticeably different from the rest.
She looked to another set of doors and guessed they must have gone on without her. She hesitated on whether she should keep going, she didn't want to get lost nor get further away from Squall. Her mind ran a series of questions and doubts within the three seconds before she heard Alexanders's close footsteps and instinct caused her to rush into the next room.
"Squall!" She yelled again running into the large dark blue room. She had to stop abruptly when she noticed where she was. The entire room was decorated with large clear cylinder tubes carrying horrifying scaled and slimy species. It was dark in the room and the only source of light at the moment were coming from the cylinders.
"Squall?" She called out again frowning. Where are you?
She jogged further into the room keeping to the sides where the light bounced off from the cylinders. She reached the last two cylinders at the corner of the room where little light could be seen. It was a lot darker and seemed like a dead end.
The door to the large room opened and Alexander walked in. Rinoa spotted him immediately and pushed herself in between one of the cylinders and the corner wall. It was pitch black in the corner, he wouldn't see her hiding there. She held her hand to her mouth for fear of her breathing giving her away.
She poked her head out and watched as Alexander made his way to the oppose side of the big room towards the large books shelves. His gun held out in front of him, as he slowly walked up the aisle.
Her eyes darted in front of her as she could make out a thin strip of rectangle light. She focused her eyes on the unusual yellow light against the pitch blackness and soon realised that the light was coming from beyond another door. She realised that the room was larger and more shapely than she had expected.
Glancing back at Alexander's disappearing body as he walked in between two aisles, she carefully tiptoed across to the other side of the room until she was hidden by the wall. Now safe from the man's vision she hurried toward the light and gently felt around for the door handle. Finding it, she carefully and quietly turned it and crept into the room before closing the door behind her.
"Are you alright?" She heard a voice behind her and jumped. She turned around to face Norg standing in front of her with a concerned look on his face. The room was a lot smaller than the one she was just in and a lot more brighter. Small yellow studs lights were fixed onto the metal ceiling allowing better visual than the other room had. It was hard for Rinoa to focus at first, given the strain her eyes had been doing while hiding in the other room.
"Oh, Mr Norg-have you seen Squall-I think someone's after me?" She quickly blurted out walking over to the man in plea.
"Oh he went after you a little after you left. What's this about someone after you?" Norg asked putting a hand on her shoulder and looking into her eyes.
"That man, Alexander, he's chasing me, Sir he has a gun!" She cried, yet at the same time keeping her voice down.
"A gun?" Norg asked in disbelief before laughing. "You're joking right?" He laughed while walking towards the door.
She grabbed for his arms pulling him back towards the back of the room. "No Sir, please I'm telling the truth, he has a gun." She pleaded, tears finally making way to her eyes. It had seeped in now, the fear she had been facing since Ultimecia's threat, the unknown fear she had of what to expect. Her life in turmoil from one selfless act; being the daughter of the General. She didn't know what Alexander had planned for her, she didn't know what to expect, that was what was bothering her; the unknown, the unexpected. The only thing she knew, was that the end wouldn't be in her favour.
"Ssshh." Norg comforted her, holding her into his arms. "Don't worry, love, I'll protect you." He said soothingly to her as she clung to his side.
"Thank-". She was cut short as her hand hit something on Norg's waist belt and knocked it over. "Sorry." She said bending down and picking up the flashlight with her trembling hand.
"It's alright." Norg replied soothingly, placing his left hand behind him and gripping the end of his dagger.
She started handing the flashlight over when she felt the click of the button underneath her thumb. The yellow light shone brightly against Norg's blue shirt and glittered against the gold stripes. He held onto the front end of it and smiled at her as he attempted to take it away from her. She lifted her creased forehead and gazed at him questioningly.
"I thought you didn't charge it?" She asked him and immediately regretted her words as realisation and horror kicked in, evident by the quick change in her facial expression.
Norg chuckled, his eyes teasingly staring at her as he saw the look on her face change. She started backing away from him towards the wall, each step carefully placed in case he made any sudden movements. He smiled and brought forward his dagger while grinning.
"Busted." He whispered.
Well that's chapter 19 and I'm passed my 100k marker, thumbs up to me ^_^.
Poor Rinoa, i really like her by the way. I know i make a lot of crap happen in her life, but trust me, you need to go through crap in order to savour the sweetness of ease.
Also this may be a bit early to ask, but how many of you read the beginning and didnt wonder that it would lead to all this? Cos i did, i never imagined this story to take a spiral like this.
Anyways sorry for the ramble, im just writing this because I'm trying to boost the word length to 6000, hehe, you really didnt think this was going anywhere, did you? :P
Review, review, review!
Oh actually, one question: If anyone of you knew from the start that Norg was the bad one out to get Rinoa, where is the proof/clue i gave? I'll give you a hint, it was in chapter 17... i think :S
To the one who gets it right, i'll send you a page of the next chapter :p Yup! A whole page!