"The sword I left in the ground—it's gone." Squall heard the commotion before he finished the sentence. By the time he turned around Tidus was already gone. Squall reached for the gunblade that wasn't at his side.
"Fall back!" The crisp command cut through Squall's uncertainty. His body moved before his mind could catch up, and he found himself leaping off the cliff, rolling, then coming to a rest flat on his back, still with no idea what was going on.
He was beginning to rise to his feet when Celes landed softly in a crouch leaning over him. She pressed him back to the ground with a hand on his chest. She was muttering under her breath. She spoke so quickly, Squall could make out only her final word—vanish.
Once Celes's lips stopped moving, the air around them seemed to take on a shimmer. He could still see his surroundings, but it was as though he was looking through thick glass.
Celes stared down at him, one hand still pinning him to the ground, the other holding her index finger to her lips.
There was yelling, and the clang of metal. Then it was momentarily silent, and then quiet voices and muffled footsteps could be heard. Squall lay quietly, though his mind was churning.
Finally, after the voices faded and there were several minutes of silence, Celes stood up, releasing Squall.
"I'm going to kill Sabin. He said it was just a rumor. There couldn't really be more slave crowns. We'd destroyed them all.
"Well, Sabin, your rumor is currently sitting on the heads of Terra and Locke!"
Celes paced as she ranted, then turned suddenly to Squall.
"Your idiot friend is there too, you know. Charged right passed me when I told him to fall back."
"Tidus?"
"You got another idiot friend I don't know about?"
Squall blinked. He wasn't quite sure what he'd done to get her anger directed at him.
Celes stopped pacing, and her shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm yelling at you.
"But this is bad. This is really bad. I saw at least three slave crowns. It's the work of Kefka, no doubt. He's always after Terra. He thinks she belongs to him, thinks he owns her. Well, he doesn't."
Celes paused for breath and Squall asked, "What's a slave crown?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. A relic that sits on your head and makes you do whatever is commanded."
"So this Kefka, he has control of them? Locke, Terra, and Tidus?"
Celes nodded. "This is really, really bad."
"Shouldn't we be following them?"
"I know where they're going. We should return to the base first and reequip."
A flush of embarrassment washed over Squall. Here he was, for the second time, totally unarmed in the face of battle. His mind flashed back to when he was a young cadet, before he'd chosen a weapon to specialize in. He'd taken a few courses in hand-to-hand combat, but he should have taken a lot more. Then he wouldn't be so helpless now.
"Kefka's castle is a long way away. We can cut them off at the mountain pass." Celes began retracing their footsteps toward the entrance of the cave. She glanced over her shoulder as Squall followed. "I hope you know how to ride a chocobo."
The journey back to base seemed excruciatingly long to Celes. In truth, they made good time—Squall was not a dawdler—but every minute seemed like a lifetime. Every minute Locke and Terra wore the slave crowns, more of their life was erased. They would forget who they were, where they came from, what they stood for. She needed to get those cursed relics off their heads now.
What good was being part of underground organization if you aren't tipped off to this kind of thing? It would be smart, prudent, to gather the troops before going after Terra and Locke, but that would take days. If Squall was the fighter he claimed to be, they might be okay moving now. Celes knew the mountains, and the hidden passageways, far better than any of Kefka's foot soldiers.
She looked over at Squall. He appeared the same as he always did—stoic and focused. What he was focused on was anyone's guess. Is his calm demeanor overconfidence or indifference? Or could it be—levelheadedness? That was not something she has much experience with identifying in others.
Squall glanced sideways at her, as though he'd felt her looking at him.
"Hurry up," she grumbled under her breath, lengthening her stride. He wordlessly matched her quicker pace.
She shifted her attention from Squall and refocused on the current predicament. She'd been blaming everyone else— Locke and Sabin and Tidus—but it was her fault. For just a moment, she'd forgotten. Forgotten to be on edge, to be ever vigilante. Forgotten that just because the bait was real, that didn't mean it wasn't a trap. That was the one positive in all this—at least she had the magicite. She wasn't sure what had compelled her to insist on taking the magicite from Locke, but she was very glad she had.
The rough stone pressed into her skin, tucked neatly beneath her bodice. This was a bad situation, but it could be a lot worse. Locke and Terra had been taken, but they could be rescued. And in all likelihood they would regain their memories and be back to their old selves within a few days of the crowns being removed. The magicite was safe, that was what was most important.
Yuna followed Seifer. He'd left Garden and was making his way across the open grassland. There wasn't much cover, just an occasional tree or line of shrubs, so Yuna had to keep her distance to avoid being spotted.
Before long, perhaps just beyond earshot of Garden, Seifer stopped. He lowered his head and held his right hand in front of him. Wrapped around his hand was a silver chain. As she moved closer, Yuna saw that the chain held the lion's head pendant that Rinoa had been wearing since she first met her.
As Seifer swept his hand outward and lifted his head, Yuna looked to see a creature appear before him. It appeared to be a black lion, larger than many fiends, but small for an aeon. It had a long, thick mane, each hair mostly black, but fading to red at the tip. Wings were folded down against its back, in the opposite color pattern from its mane—red feathers were tipped in black.
"You're Griever?" Seifer asked. "When'd you get so puny?"
The lion turned his head toward Seifer. "I am Griever. The last time I was summoned I was junctioned to the corrupted Sorceress. This is my true form." Though she could clearly hear the lion's words, she never saw his mouth move.
"Whatever. You know Squall, right? You were created from him. I need you to take me to him."
"I was created by Ultimecia."
"But you were drawn from Squall's mind. See this pendant? Does it look familiar?"
Griever approached and pushed his snout against the pendant still wrapped around Seifer's hand. "It is familiar."
"Find its owner. Take me to him."
The lion was silent, seeming to consider the order. "Very well."
"Wait," Yuna ran up to Seifer. "What about the others?"
Seifer turned to Yuna with a scowl. "Go away. This is none of your concern."
Yuna, afraid it was too late to alert the others, looked at Griever. "Please, if you're going to Squall, take me too."
Angelo appeared beside Yuna and gave a quiet woof.
Griever closed his eyes and shook his mane. In the blink of an eye, Yuna no longer had grass beneath her shoes, but instead found herself standing on hard grey bricks.
"A retreat order takes precedence. Do they not teach you that?"
Squall blinked. He was here. She should be asking that question to Tidus and Locke. But she must have known that. Celes was just frustrated. Squall was too. They'd be looking at a much easier mission if there were four of them trying to rescue one person, rather than two of them trying to rescue three people.
Celes sighed and looked back at the hand-drawn map spread out on the table. Squall took that as a sign that he wasn't really expected to answer the question. A scratch at the door drew his attention. Celes looked up at him, seemingly puzzled by the sound.
"Stray dog?" Squall guessed.
Celes shook her head. "I don't know of any dogs in town…"
Squall crossed the room and opened the door. In the doorway was an extremely fluffy brown and white dog. The dog reminded Squall very much of Angelo. He knelt down to see if the dog was wearing a collar.
"Angelo!" As though reading his thoughts, a voice from up the road called the dog's name. Squall looked up to see a girl running toward him. Her clothes had shades of pink and purple that struck Squall as being too modern for this place. Once she reached the doorway, she paused and Squall took in her appearance. She had gentle features, with a soft smile that reminded him of Rinoa. But she definitely was not Rinoa. Where Rinoa had rich brown eyes, the girl before him had brightly mismatched eyes—one blue, one green. He'd never met her before, but Squall recognized her immediately.
"Yuna?" He was surprised but pleased to see her. He didn't bother to wonder how she'd gotten here; he'd given up on trying to make sense of things. But maybe she would be able to get them out of here and back home—once they found Tidus. Squall cringed a little at that thought. She obviously hadn't come here for him. He'd have to tell her that he'd lost Tidus.
Yuna nodded as she looked back at him, her eyes tracing his features, lingering on the scar between his eyes. She not only seemed unsurprised that he knew her name, she seemed to recognize him. "Squall?"
Yuna knows who I am, it almost seems like she was expecting to see me. Does that mean…
His heartbeat quickened as he stood up, looking in the direction Yuna had come from. "Is Rinoa with you?"
"No. I'm sorry. He wouldn't wait." Yuna peered past Squall into the room behind him. "Is Tidus here?"
Who wouldn't wait? Wait for what? How is Yuna here? Shouldn't Rinoa be with her? Where is Rinoa?!
Squall's thoughts raced, but they stalled momentarily when he noticed Yuna's eager hopefulness as she continued to try to look around him.
"I'm sorry, Tidus isn't here. He was—"
"I'll be damned. The wonder boy lives." The familiar voice interrupted Squall and he turned to see Seifer approaching.
Seifer?! How in the worlds…? What he is doing with Yuna?!
Once again, Squall's racing thoughts were brought up short, this time because he noticed Seifer had Lionheart hanging from his hip. He was so relieved to see his gunblade all other thoughts momentarily ceased.
"What's going on?" Celes walked up behind Squall. "Do you know these people?"
Not in any position to explain things, Squall simply responded, "This is Yuna. And Seifer."
"Yuna? You mean Tidus's girl?"
Squall nodded.
Celes's brow furrowed, as though she wasn't quite sure what to make of this new development. After a moment she asked, "Are they here to help?" Then, as she ran a critical eye over each of them, she added, "And more to the point, can they fight?"
Yuna nodded. "Yes, of course. Anything to get to Tidus."
Seifer gazed coolly at Celes. "New girl already?" He lifted an eyebrow as he turned to Squall. "You move fast."
Squall ignored Seifer's comment. "Yeah, they can fight."
"Good," Celes replied. "Then maybe we'll be able to pull this off after all." She ushered everyone into the room and stood at the table, pointing to a spot on the map. "We'll use chocobos to cut them off here."
Squall knew Celes's abruptness probably seemed odd to Yuna and Seifer. But they didn't have time for lengthy introductions or explanations, not if what Celes said about the slave crowns was true. For every second they wasted, the ones who were captured would lose more of their memories.
"Knowing Kefka, the soldiers themselves will not engage us—they'll sic Terra, Locke, and Tidus on us.
"I can take Locke. Once I get the slave crown off of him, he might be able to get the crowns off the others. I'll just need you three to distract them while I take care of Locke."
"Seifer can handle Tidus. I'll take Terra," Squall asserted.
"You won't just 'take' Terra," Celes responded. "Or she'll roast you before you know what's hit you. You'll need a better plan than that."
Before Squall could reply, Yuna spoke up. "She's a magic user?"
"Yes," Celes replied. "But if you're thinking of using Reflect, forget it. Terra may be brainwashed, but she isn't stupid. She'll just cast Reflect on herself. And if she doesn't, I don't want you sending her magic back at her—it could kill her."
Yuna absorbed Celes's words, but did not seem deterred. "Do you know what this is?" She presented a large, multi-colored ring with a stylized image of a bird on it.
Celes narrowed her eyes and shook her head. "I assume it's some sort of relic, but I can't tell you what it does just by looking at it."
Yuna nodded. "Then I assume Terra won't know either. It's a Shell Ring. It will protect me from any magic. I can draw Terra's attention to me, while Squall tries to remove the crown."
Celes pursed her lips, clearly not thrilled with the plan. "Fine," she finally relented, "You two distract Terra while I deal with Locke."
While Celes and Yuna tested the Shell Ring, Squall pulled Seifer aside. Squall needed to make sure Seifer was onboard with the mission, and actually going to do his part.
Seifer got the first word in. "I noticed you eyeing my gunblade."
"It's not your gunblade." Squall could feel his temper flaring. Just being near Seifer always brought out the worst in him. "It's mine. Give it back."
"I might be willing to trade, if only you had something I wanted…" Seifer's lips curled in a devious smile. "I guess you'll just have to owe me." He tossed Lionheart to Squall, and Squall easily snatched it out of the air. He would have liked to examine the weapon, to swing it through the air and revel in the feel of its weight in his hand, but instead he simply put it in its place at his hip. Seifer was being strangely cooperative and it had Squall slightly on edge.
"You understand the mission, right? You need to disarm Tidus and get the crown off his head, but do not injure him."
"If the fool's going to attack me, I'll do what I need to do."
"He won't be in control. He's at the mercy of the crown."
"You know, we could just go home right now. I've got the power."
"No way. Not without Yuna and Tidus."
"Made yourself some new little friends, huh? Couldn't find enough adoring fans on one planet, so you had to go combing through a few more worlds to find some more admirers?"
"That's not what happened and you know it. Now are you gonna stick to the plan or not?"
Seifer rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll try to go easy on your new little pal."
"Good." Squall was relieved—that was actually a better response than he'd expected to get from Seifer. "I need you to take this seriously, Seifer. You're better than him, but he's faster than you. If you get overconfident and let him get the upper-hand… Well, as much as I'd like to see him kick your butt, I'd rather this went smoothly."
"Whatever. I'll take him out, no problem. And I'll even try not to scar his pretty face." Seifer threw Squall a final smirk as he sauntered off.