Second life Chapter 45: Second round, a final fantasy viii fanfic

And I am back once again everyone! Welcome to another chapter of this story that just keeps growing and growing some more…what a lousy greeting. Anyways…I got my net back. Which is very good for me (grins). Now for the dis…(gets pushed out of the way by a…)

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Really-small-and-creepy-gnome: I am here to state that Reyavie doesn't own anything at all besides this really old battered copy of Final Fantasy VIII

Thanatos: Just where did you come from?

Really-small-and-creepy-gnome: North Pole.

Eris: Any gifts?

Really-small-and-creppy-gnome: (shows bag of coal)

Reyavie: Don't you dare giving coal to my cuz

Bellona: (eats him and coal)

Reyavie/Thanatos/Eris: (blinks)

Ghost: All the OCs are hers though (floats away leaving petrified family behind)

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Welcome to the fortieth-fifth chapter of Second Life. (Bellona goes in search of food)

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My POV

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Saying goodbye is always a bitch.

Those were Maria's words a long time ago. And by all that is sacred she was right. But it's finished, done for. I had a mission to fulfil and I couldn't really delay this anymore.

No matter how much I wanted to.

Besides the faster I do this the faster I can reorganize my own life. These last months have been nothing short of chaotic and I need to find some balance to myself. Especially now that I have finally left my old life behind.

But first things first and all.

I have an old friend to find. Well, he would probably kick my ass or at least threaten to do that if he heard me call him old. He has this thing with age.

Remember that adage that says to never ask the age of a woman? Change it a bit and then follow it…basically never ever, if you have any kind of decent respect for your health, mention his age. If you are not me that is…

He goes berserk.

Which is something I am fearing right now but for very different reasons. I still don't know why he left the Garden. He is older but not that old. When I graduated he was still perfectly able to participate on missions and he did several of them on my first three months…and then he just appeared one day in my room and told me he was leaving. No explanations, no reasons. Just "I'm going away".

I think I was in shock after he said that. He was like my aunt. A figure we always counted in being on the Garden, as familiar as the long corridors and bright red tones of the outside walls. Weird but true. When he left…the Garden felt strangely empty. At least to me.

The guy taught me most of what I know. I don't think it's that strange to miss your mentor…even if he spent more time insulting you and your work. But I understood why he did it.

I always worked best under pressure and he forced that pressure onto me. He forced me to try harder, to be better than I was. To evolve. I tried.

I…still don't know if I made it.

Do you know that feeling you have when you're waiting for your parents to say something after they read your grade book? Take the grades and put all my mistakes and you'll find out what I'm feeling. Dear Hyne…that would make one really gigantic tome.

The guy is going to kill me. Great. I manage to survive a bloody war only to get killed by an extremely harsh, not to mention perfectionist to the point of obsession, instructor.

Damn. I'm so doomed.

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3rd Person POV

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The moment Ariadne left her room the next day she was hit with a strange notion of being in a dream. Everything seemed all too normal for the mercenary school, students walking in the hallways, the bells ringing as a calling for the classes, the graduated students talking about missions in every corner with stern expressions on their faces.

She had an urge to go back to her room and look for something, anything, that would tell her that all she had been through had been real. Aria didn't need to do so though. Her hand rose to her neck in a familiar movement to find the cold of metal instead of the warmth of the stone she had been used to.

– "Weird to be back huh?" – Commented Minotaur.

– "Too weird" – She confirmed with a small smile – "How can things change so fast?"

– "Believe, that is something that always bothers us" – Said Sacred with a small touch of nostalgia. Sometimes Aria forgot their age. Who, but them, knew what they had been through?

– "And next thing we know you'll have white hair and a wheelchair and…" - A loud hit was heard in her mind.

– "Does even he realize how that was way too depressing?" – Aria inquired with a mental smirk.

– "I have no idea" – Answered Sacred simply. – "And I choose not to ask".

The Seed shrugged before beginning to walk down the hallway. Her clothes were once more her mission clothes, as simple as she could manage, and she was armed as if there a battle was just waiting for her in the next corner.

Ariadne wouldn't put that particular option off the picture so soon. Some students passed by her and waved, some gawked for some very strange reason, some were whistling trying to look innocent…

- "Right innocent. Am I supposed to buy that act? As mom used to say, the book they are writing I already wrote a couple hundred times." – Aria thought with amusement – "Guess they think I'll punish them for whatever thing they did. Must not know me then."

– "It would be a bit too hypocrite" – Muttered Minotaur – "You probably did worse than they could ever think about doing."

– "Probably?" – She chuckled when she heard Sacred's dry tone. Ariadne entered the central hall and smiled unconsciously as the light showed the huge pavilion.

– "Home" – Her mind whispered. And it was.

She closed her eyes for a moment basking in the feeling of welcome, in the laughter and loud voices that could be heard everywhere. It soothed the feeling of emptiness the departure had left her and that she was ignoring for the time being.

– "MISSING?" – Aria almost jumped with the unexpected, not to mention loud-as-hell, voice.

– "Yeah" – She answered turning to face the newcomer – "Good morning Fujin" – The silver haired woman was wearing her usual blue shirt and black pants, the Seed uniform probably guarded for some formal occasion.

– "MORNING" – Aria thought briefly about how easily Fujin could greet everyone within the hall…at the same time.

– "Do you know where we are now?" – She asked continuing to walk as Fujin fell into step beside her.

– "NO" – And somehow the answer to why she hadn't been made a spy was very clear. – "NO STOP YESTERDAY" – The Galbadian had an urge to smack her head…or even better, Alex's. It seemed her friend had spent the entire night driving the Garden. And when she needed his help for something he would probably fall asleep on his feet.

– "What a stubborn idiot!"

– "TIMBER MAYBE" – Aria gave it little thought.

It was a probable location and one they should avoid on the meantime. Timber was still under occupation and they really weren't supposed to be calling attention at the moment. A giant walking red building was not what one would call inconspicuous.

– "Already thinking about consequences?" – Aria's eyes widened in surprise when she heard the tone of Fujin's voice. A normal, as in not screaming, tone of voice. Fujin smirked slightly with her shock. Ariadne raised an eyebrow in questioning.

– "I'm friends with Seifer and Raijin" – Fujin said as if it explained everything – I have to make them listen somehow.

– "So she speaks in screamed words?" – Came the voice of her younger guardian – "I love that logic."

– "You would" – And yet another argument ensued between brothers. Aria was really considering the thought of never having kids.

– "And what's that supposed to mean?" – Bellowed Minotaur.

– "Nothing at all dear brother" – They went back to snap at each other.

– "ARIA?" – The mentioned girl flinched.

– "Dear Hyne, Fujin" – She muttered – "Please don't do that. My head won't take much more. And would you two just shut up" – The silence that filled her mind was more than welcome.

– "It was his fault" – Mumbled Taur thus starting round three.

– "Why did I have to choose three year olds as my guardians?" – She wondered absently. – "Anyways good thing you've found me. Have anything else to do?" – Fujin waved her head calmly as if she had been waiting for that for a while. Aria smirked.

– "I need you to go to the control room and yell at Alex to go sleep" – She requested – "Can you pilot this thing for a while?"

– "EASY" – Was her answer. Aria's headache gave a painful jolt as if trying to remind the girl that it was still there.

– "Good. Take his place and continue to Winhil." – Ariadne continued – "I have repairs to oversee. If anyone searches for me tell them I'm at the Gates."

– "AUNT?" – The flinch that followed had nothing to do with her growing headache. She had already forgotten the Hyne-forsaken exams.

– "Same answer" – The discussion in her head turned into a rant, this time directed at her. – "Three year olds with parental instincts" – Aria corrected herself mentally while waving as Fujin left her.

The girl was way too serious in her job. Maybe she didn't want to ruin her second chance. Just like Seifer didn't want to. Yeah, she could see why the two were friends. With a slight smile she crossed hallways and entered the first classroom she found empty. The vent in the back wasn't locked in the least and in seconds she had entered the confining space.

– "What are you doing here Aria?" – Asked Minotaur when Sacred and he resolved to take a break of their mutual scolding.

– "Double Rs" – She murmured as crawled quickly with the experience of one who had done that several time before. – "Recon and repair. I don't know if the tunnels were damaged after the battles." – The girl paused before giving them a cheeky mental smile – "That and I still hate the medical wing."

– "Aria" – Sacred's tone definitively told her that he wasn't finding anything amusing in her sentence.

– "Sheesh. Relax you guys" – She mumbled – "I'm just joking…partially at least" – Ariadne reached the central point in barely five seconds and grabbed the metal panel that hid her map.

It was exactly the same as she had left it except for one detail. A small GO at a corner which marked the passage of Eliza. Basically the initials of the meaning of her friend's name, God's oath. A way for her not to be deceived if someone found their scheme.

Different worlds carried different meanings even for the simplest things.

So Eliza had used the passage but the last time had been the direct path from the dorms to the classrooms, at least from what she could understand from the fading marks lining her own. So all the connections between the cafeteria, medical wing, Training Grounds and classrooms needed to be seen for damage.

– "Yuppie" – Aria drawled in the silence of the metal tunnel.

– "But what has to be done has to be done" – The cheeriness in Minotaur's tone made her want to hit him. She hated when he was right. But he wasn't the one crawling around on his knees. With a sigh she began working.

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- "Ok, who had the brilliant idea?" – Ariadne had asked the same question not to long before but it seemed all to appropriate. The cold in her voice told all her spectators that she was not happy. And even that sentence was an understatement.

But after passing two hours repairing tunnels and taking debris out to allow passage before being dragged to the Medical Wing by a very concerned aunt she did not need to hear "Lieutenant Beckerman, we require your presence in the control room. I repeat…"

And Stef did repeat and in doing so signing the final touch in how-to-make-Aria's-day-even-worse. So, with an expression in her features that screamed get-out-of-the-way-or-die she walked to the headmaster's office turned control room after Ultimecia got her hands on the Garden.

Aria waited for the answer, arms crossed over her chest, eyebrow twitching very lightly. Stef, Sasha and Eliza pointed at Alex that merely gave them a calm look and an equal to her seconds after. Aria wasn't quite sure if she should question the really amazing loyalty her friends were displaying or the reason for the calling.

– "Thank you girls" – Stated the only male in the room in his coolest tone

– "Ah, don't mention it Alex" – Grinned Eliza – "You can always count on us for everything"

– "Except when dealing with that" – Completed Sasha jerking a thumb in Ariadne's direction. – "In that case you can walk the plank by yourself" – And at the moment she wasn't sure if she should be proud of her intimidating capabilities or sorry for Alexander.

– "You are all idiots" – She informed matter-of-factly – "Now what the hell did you want? And the next time I'm called like that someone will pay."

– "I really hate when she talks like that" – Sasha singsonged. Ariadne ignored the comment knowing that it would only lead to another bantering and remained in silence, waiting for whatever answer that seemed to be eluding her friends.

– "First of all I want to thank you for sending Fujin here" – Alex's tone was too calm as always but the sarcasm underneath it was impossible to ignore. – "She did a fine job and I almost made us collide with a mountain"

– "He was almost asleep on the controls" – Interrupted Stephanie. Another look.

– "Even after the five cups of coffee he drank" – Continued Eliza ignoring the gaze that had turned to her.

– "Did we mention we need to buy some?" – Finished Sasha. Now Ariadne could say that she was officially sorry for Alex. Even if she knew they were only sending her all the reasons why she should order or scare him away to get some rest.

- "Twisted kind of loyalty" – Commented Sacred.

– "Great friends though" – Added Minotaur – "Except for that small you-face-death-I'll-run detail."

– "Conclusions from the last five minutes" – Ariadne thought dryly – "My friends are completely off their rocker and I don't know how anyone, or even better I, can trust them with weapons, my guardians are trying to destroy the rest of my sanity so I can join them and I still don't know why the hell I was called here. Why did I ever get up this morning?"

– "Sacred yelled" – Informed Taur – And you don't have any sanity left to destroy."

– "Oh brother…" - Aria sighed trying to ignore her already present headache

– "Alright. Alex?" – She finally called – "You did a great job but do us all a favour and get some rest. I'll get someone else to pilot. Not you Sasha. I firmly believe life is a good thing for all the people in this place." – The mentioned warrior scowled. – "Where's Fujin?"

– "Down for Lunch."

– "Already?" – Aria could almost see Sacred's glare – "You didn't have breakfast."

– "I can do it" – Stephanie stated with conviction.

Aria weighted her options. Alex would dead to the world in seconds, according to the black marks under his eyes, Sasha would manage to destroy the Garden, Eliza…Ariadne wouldn't trust her to drive a tricycle after the one time she had gone somewhere with her behind the wheel. She didn't know the meaning of below 150 km/h. So that left Stef.

– "Hyne help us all" – Ariadne nodded slightly, begging mentally that the path they would cross didn't have mountains or any kind of terrain anomaly.

– "So what did you want?" – She asked again before everyone vanished to do Hyne-knew-what.

– "Besides warning you that we'll reach Winhil tonight?" – Replied Sasha without missing a beat as she called the elevator – "Nothing really. Just annoy you" – The door closed leaving Aria to smack her forehead because she couldn't do that to her running friends. Stephanie snickered before turning all her attention to the controls when a glare was levelled on her.

– "You do know that you're all going to pay for this when we finish with the mission right?" – Aria asked calmly. Stef shrugged.

– Then it's a compromise we can keep – She said already fixed on the path the Garden was taking – We live through this so you can get us back. A nice bargain don't you think? – A smile crossed Ariadne's lips as she walked next to her friend watching as the landscape passed by.

– "An interesting one at the least – Yes, they all managed to annoy the hell out of her but she wouldn't know what to do without them.

– "Better than Selphie's" – Stef shot back amusedly – "Garden Festival? She wants you to survive so she can request your help carrying stuff around? How very caring of her."

So the reasons for her to survive were to get revenge and be used as a mule. But just as Aria had finished that thought a somewhat emotionless expression flashed through her mind, a touch she was craving ever since she had left.

– "Lovesick fool" – For once she didn't have a comeback to give to Taur. He was right. Hyne damnit. That seemed to be happening a lot.

– "That's cause I'm smart" – He stated confidently.

– "You keep trying to convince yourself of that" – Said Sacred peacefully. Ariadne sent them both a mental smirk.

– "You two are immortal right?" – She asked.

– Yes. Why? – Answered Sacred with a hint of curiosity to the reason for the question. He didn't have to wait long.

– "I doubt you'll be able to survive each other" – Whatever comments that they made she, all too merrily, ignored completely.

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- "This is way too calm" – Commented Stef – "How can anyone live here?"

Ariadne rolled her eyes with her companion's sentence. Both girls were, at the moment, on the central square of Winhil, the car they had used after leaving the Garden parked quietly behind them.

Both armed, even knowing that they would probably not be attacked there, both dressed casually and as inconspicuously as possible. The village would seem a ghost town if not for the old woman sitting on the perch of her small house while watching two kids playing.

– "You are too used to cities Stef" – Aria said looking around. The calmness was all good to rest her senses…which was not a good thing when in unknown conditions.

– "And I'm becoming bloody paranoid" – She thought dryly.

– "I doubt it" – The older guardian's tone had a vague scolding mixed with the I-know-all tone she was used to – "You are spacing out again." – Maybe he was right. Maybe she had needed a few more days of rest

…maybe she was just being stupid.

– "Do you know where he lives?" – Aria asked turning her eyes from the house where Raine had lived so many years before.

– "Have no clue at all" – Was Stephanie's answer – "Lara double checked our records and his last known address is here. Other than that we're on our own."

– "Lovely" – Muttered Aria rolling her eyes – "Just the old man's style" - It wasn't as if she hadn't been in situations similar before. That didn't mean she liked walking in the dark. – "So we'll have to ask around right?" – Stef nodded with a slightly bored look on her features.

– "Why couldn't the guy just leave a bloody address?" – Aria gave her a dry look.

– "That's Yahnke for you" – She said with a subtle caring tone in her voice if one listened carefully – "The old man just loves to throw everyone off their feet. Literally" – Her friend gave her an enquiring look

– "Don't ask" – Ariadne requested

– "So where do we start?" – Asked Stef casually choosing to follow that suggestion. Usually it was a good idea.

Aria shrugged. The only thing they had to do was search for someone that spent more time thinking about other people's lives than its own. Not that hard.

– "Let's try the inn" – She suggested – "If that doesn't work maybe the flower or item shop can help." – Both Seeds started down the path, the only sign of the tension of their mission visible in the strong and fast steps they both took, the careful way their eyes moved around taking every detail as if trying to carve it into memory. The way they were watched as they walked didn't help in the least.

– "Do you also feel like you're locked in a bloody zoo cage or it's just me?" – Mumbled Stef after a while

– "With the whole audience who wouldn't?" – Replied Ariadne sending a chilling glare towards a man that averted his eyes as soon as he noticed it. – "Let's split up. You check the store. I'll take the inn."

– "Cast Fire if you need help" – Stef ordered – "I'll do the same. Thunder if we find something. Just remember not to blow up the ceiling again." – And that was why they were partners. Because most of the time one did not need to say something because the other would already be expecting it. That and they had great blackmail material on each other.

– "Kinda like Quis" – Aria thought as she entered the old inn. It seemed almost abandoned.

- "Tourist season normally does not happen in war times Aria" – Said Minotaur thankfully stopping the humming he had been doing for the past five minutes. Calmness and the younger guardian did not mix well. – "Well actually…" - Sacred interrupted his brother before the comment could be ended. Ariadne could bet her katanas that whatever Taur had been about to say wouldn't be good.

– "Just try to ask around Aria" – He said easily – "Ignore the idiot."

She did so, noting vaguely that even as empty as the inn seemed, everything in it was well cared for and cleaned, the flowers in each table freshly cut, the smell of food slowly being discerned on the air. The Seed walked to the reception and rang the bell resting on the wooden table. The sound of something breaking came from inside one of the closed doors followed by voices. That, joining everything that both Stef and her had already seen, told Aria that Galbadia had postponed any invasion attempts for the moment.

– "As if they would do that with their own home falling on their heads" – She thought bitterly. Whatever emotion she still held in her features disappeared as a young woman entered the reception, a somewhat sheepish expression as she approached.

– "Good morning Miss" – She greeted politely – "What can I do for you?" – But even the politeness in her attitude couldn't hide the small tremor in her voice or the way her brown eyes flickered to the two blades crisscrossed on Ariadne's back. The Seed forced herself to seem as peaceful as possible, a small smile crossing her lips as a greeting.

– "Good morning" – Her tone seemed to match the care Aria was giving to her attitude. If she managed to alienate anyone in a village so small she would receive fear instead of the information she sought – "I am sorry but would you know where Mr. Yahnke lives please?" – The girl seemed confused.

– "I am afraid I know no one by that name Miss" – She answered – "And in this village I know pretty much everyone." – Ariadne studied her expression for a moment and nodded inwardly. She was telling the truth.

– "Maybe by a description then?" – Aria tried once more – "He is about fifty, black-grey hair, kinda small, light blue eyes…"

- "Oh!" – The girl clapped her hands once as a grin filled her expression – "That is Mr. Skowron" – She informed – He lives on the small blue house right behind the item shop. You'll find it easily. He's such a nice man… - Here her expression seemed to darken – But what do you want with him?

– So she gives the information first and then she asks the questions? – Minotaur's voice was not amused for once – And if you weren't a friend what could she do to stop you from getting to the old man?

– Nothing at all besides him – Replied Aria – But she's not supposed to think as us. And I don't think you can call anyone old Taur…and Skowron? What was he thinking?

–"I was a student of his" – The warrior finally disclosed turning her attention once more to the girl – "I came merely to say hello and speak for a while."

– "That is the simplest explanation I have ever heard for what you have come here to do" – Commented Sacred.

– "He means stupidest but he's just too proper to actually say it" – Added his brother.

– "Guys" – Aria called sweetly – "Do me a favour and…" - Whatever she was about to say was stopped as the sound of a Fire spell echoed in the inn – "Oh Shit" – Ariadne didn't think twice as she ran towards the door.

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Aria knew her footsteps couldn't normally be heard but with the shouts coming from her destination she could have been stomping and singing on the way that she would not have been heard.

– "And to think that I asked Stef to come with me because she's usually discrete in missions" – She thought despondently.

– "Next time bring Sasha" – Counselled Minotaur with a snicker – "At least you know what to expect" – Ariadne didn't even bother to answer as she reached the item store.

In front of her were two males both dressed as Seeds though one had the gold ornaments of Balamb Garden and the other the dark blue ones of Galbadia Garden.

They were also armed, a whip and a Galbadian short sword on their hands as they focussed all their attention on their opponent. Stephanie was in stand-by position, her glaive held loosely on her hands in a deceitfully relaxed attitude, brown-golden eyes narrowed dangerously in contrast.

– "What the fuck is happening here?" – Ariadne asked while unsheathing her blades. The two men turned to her leaving their backs open to Stephanie to attack. If she wanted to kill them they would already be half way to their graves.

– "It was their fault" – Aria raised an eyebrow at her friend seeming not to care for the men ready to attack.

– "Well it was" – Continued Stef – "They attacked me for nothing at all." – Emerald eyes turned slowly to her opponents, one sporting already a lovely bruise on his right cheek.

– "Care to explain the reason for the stupid attack you attempted on my companion?" – Then she looked up and down at the one with the Galbadian uniform and frowned slightly – "And join the reason for parading in the uniform of our Garden without being a Seed" – Stef seemed to have some trouble in hiding the pleased smirk on her face.

- "You're Galbadian Seeds" – Ariadne's eyebrow rose even more.

– "Well done. You managed to see the obvious. And?" – She drawled coldly. She got no answer. – "Dear Hyne, I can understand why you didn't graduate."

– "How do…"

- "I know that?" – The girl finished coolly the wannabe Balamb Seed's sentence – "I have lived in Galbadia Garden for quite some time. He" – She jerked her head slightly towards the other man – "Is no Seed from Galbadia. Now we aren't here to cause any kind of trouble so how about we all put the weapons away and resolve this as civilized persons?"

– "Or if you don't want to do that we can just kick your asses from here to Trabia" – Added Stephanie. Ariadne sent her friend an if-you-don't-help-be-quiet glare before watching the men once more.

– "Back down" – Interrupted another voice. One that Ariadne knew quite well. One she hadn't heard for quite some time.

– "Long time no see old man" – Blue eyes found hers with a flash of annoyance.

– "And you would do well in watching your tongue girl" – He sent back – "I would have no qualms in placing you under the worst work I can find around here." – He paused, looking at her thoughtfully

– "Nevertheless it is somewhat pleasant to see you again Beckerman."

– "Somewhat? Am I ever so flattered – Sarcasm flowed in every letter that left her lips.

– "You have changed" – Continued the man – "But certain things remain the same. A pity…"

- "If you say so" – Aria placed on katana on its sheath leaving the other on her hand not trusting the two attackers that were looking from her to the man in confusion. – "Nice job with the name but…Skowron? – If he was anyone else he would have shrugged. But he wasn't…"

- "Glad to have your approval" – Was the calm answer – "But I knew that wouldn't stop you if you wanted to find me. Now come…" - A small pause as he looked at Stef with a piercing glance.

– "Bring your comrade as well. And you two…" - The two men actually jumped. Ariadne nearly scoffed. He hadn't changed much in the last two years. – "Next time don't attack before asking one's intentions." – Or maybe he had. When he had been her instructor a fault like that would have already placed her under severe training as not to dare to do something as stupid again.

– "Beckerman" – Aria nodded once more before signalling Stephanie to follow as well as she sheathed the second weapon in a sign of respect. That much she owned him. That and her trust.

– "He's the one?" – Whispered Stef as discreetly as possible. The man in front of them barely moved but Ariadne knew by his posture that he had heard her. A smirk slowly appeared on her lips

- "Yeah" – Stephanie sighed.

– "By Hyne" – She muttered – "Another crazy guy."

Aria had to bit her lip not to laugh. Stef didn't know how right she was.

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And I'm done once again. (shrugs) Doesn't forward the action a lot but it had to happen for now. So one again I request that ideas and suggestions please be left in the small review box as well as comments and appreciations of this chapter. Flames will be used to heat my poor frozen fingers. REVIEW EVERYONE!

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Thanks to all my reviewers from last chapter. You guys (and girls) rock and I thank you lots and lots and really lots. (throws random candies for all): Da KeR MysTeRrhibeki; Meepills; mz-murderous; bonica (aka roric Xavera) and Serene Angel Wing

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Next chapter: News appear on all fronts …

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See ya all next week

Reyavie