Author's Note: Next chapter. I hope to have some more chapters of this up next week along with some more of my other fics.

I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or any of its characters.

Thank you to everyone who is reading/following/favoriting/reviewing this...or who might do so in the future. It is always appreciated.

Chapter Two

Laguna sipped at the punch in his cup, wondering how the evening could be salvaged.

After talking to Sosan, he had spent several minutes unsuccessfully trying to find Kiros. He was about to give up when Ward said something about seeing him go toward one of the balconies. When he finally did manage to locate him, Laguna was frustrated to find Kiros stubbornly reticent. He begged him several times to tell him what was on his mind, but received only sighs and pained expressions.

"Please forgive me, Laguna," Kiros had eventually told him. "It's…the cult of Zeromus is a touchy subject among my people and was especially so among my family and tribe. I simply cannot feel comfortable with attending a party in this temple. I do understand, however, why you are obligated and I will do my best to keep my reservations to myself."

Once he had said that, Kiros refused to talk other than to turn down Laguna's offers to leave. As much as he hated seeing his closest friend brood, Laguna was aware of the signs that Kiros would not budge from his position, and this was clearly one of those times. Thus, he went back to the party and asked Ward to help him keep an eye on Kiros for the rest of the evening.

Then he went to look for Squall and his team, but other than spotting Zell by the buffet table and catching a glimpse of Selphie and Irvine dancing, Laguna found himself mostly alone in a sea of politicians and socialites. Many people approached him, and Laguna had renewed hope that they would be fun to talk to, but soon he realized that most of them were looking for a favor from him or had personal projects they needed backing for.

Eventually, he managed to extract himself from these dry, artificial conversations and spend some time with Ward, who eventually left him to go check on Kiros.

'Sheesh, what's wrong with these people?' he wondered as he finished the rest of his punch. 'This is supposed to be a party. Shouldn't there be…I don't know, games, ghost stories, or a spook walk? Something besides standing around trying to impress each other. Well, I hope Squall and his friends aren't too disappointed. Last I saw, they looked like they were having fun, but who knows.'

Laguna let out a sigh and looked at the bottom of his cup. He thought about getting something to eat, but that was more out of boredom than actual hunger. Just as he was about to get himself another cup of punch, Sosan appeared at his elbow.

"What's wrong, President Loire?" she asked. "I hope that what happened earlier hasn't put a damper on your evening."

"Oh no, it's ok," Laguna said. "It's just…well, it seems like most of the people here want to talk shop and I'm not really in the mood for that."

"I see," Sosan said, nodding. "And believe me, I sympathize. I know that I often have to deal with bores in the course of my duties within the dukedom, and a man in your position is sure to have even more opportunities for that kind of tedium."

"Most the time, it's not so bad," Laguna shrugged. "But I guess I just can't equate a Halloween party with politicking."

"I think I might be able to show you something that might interest you," Sosan said with a grin. "That is, if you're will to let me take you on an official tour, Mister President."

"Oh sure," Squall said. "Just let me tell Squall where I'm going and we can…."

"No need for that," Sosan said. "We won't be leaving the building and it will only take a few minutes. I'm sure your son can spare you for that long."

"I don't know," Laguna said. "I mean, Squall is my son, but he's also my security escort for tonight. It's kind of his job to keep an eye on me."

"And I am sure that he is doing a fine job, but there is nothing to worry about," Sosan insisted. "The building has been cleared of monsters and is secure and I have guards of my own patrolling the outlying passages. So please, allow me to show you some recent discoveries I have made here at these ruins."

"Oh, ok," Laguna said. "I guess a few minutes away won't hurt. Anything to liven things up around here."

"President Loire," Sosan said, her smile growing wider. "I promise that you won't be disappointed."

Squall scanned the room around him and frowned when he realized that he couldn't find Laguna.

Once the party got underway, Squall noted that Laguna was besieged by various politicians and industrialists and decided to keep his distance so he wouldn't get pulled into what was sure to be a series of dull conversations. Meanwhile, the rest of his team alternated between doing security checks around the room and having fun eating, dancing or talking to some of the other historians and scholars who had come to see the ruins themselves. A couple of times, Rinoa managed to cajole him into dancing with her very briefly, but for the most part, Squall mainly watched the action around him.

'At least they aren't making us play any stupid games or participate in lame Halloween-themed events,' he thought. 'Much to Laguna's chagrin, I'm sure. If he had his way, we'd all be ghost-hunting by now.'

Squall smirked and took a sip of his punch. Even though some of Laguna's quirks and child-like behaviors annoyed him sometimes, their relationship as father and son had grown gradually more affectionate over the last three years. Thus, Squall was often more amused by than irritated at Laguna's cheery, carefree demeanor and antics, and even though he refused to admit it out loud, he was grateful to have such a loving and caring father in his life having grown up without any parents at all.

But those increases in affection also came with an accompanying protectiveness. While Laguna was largely admired and respected in Esthar, Squall was aware that others continued to see Esthar as a threat and were eager to disrupt their stability by any means possible…which included harming their beloved president. As a result, Squall made sure to keep in regular contact with Kiros, who was in charge of Palace security and who acted as Laguna's personal bodyguard, to go over security upgrades and to consult on tactics to ensure his father's safety whenever he traveled out of Esthar.

While this party seemed to be low-risk in terms of security, Squall wasn't comfortable with his father wandering around the ruins unattended. After looking for him again and not seeing him, he began to walk around the room and as the other attendees and members of his team if they had seen Laguna. Unfortunately, none of them seemed to know where he was either. It was then that Squall noticed that Minister Sosan was also missing.

'Maybe she decided to show Laguna around the ruins or something,' he mused. 'She did seem very determined to get his attention.'

Squall frowned again. He had seen firsthand how Laguna seemed to attract people, as friends, allies or even occasionally as potential lovers, so he wasn't particularly surprised at Sosan's interest in him. Still, something about her carefully crafted persona bothered Squall, and he found that he didn't like the idea of his father spending time alone with her. He decided to continue to search just to make sure that nothing untoward was going on.

He left the main party area and was about to choose a side corridor to go down when a pair of familiar voices caught his attention.

"They sure have a lot of great food at this party, ya know. I can't get enough of it, ya know."

"GLUTTON. FOCUS."

"Geez, take it easy, ya know. I'm making sure everything's ok. Hey um, you don't think that there are any ghosts here, do you? 'Cause, I don't want to run into any spooks, ya know."

"WIMP!"

There was the sound of a boot kicking against flesh and the cry of pain immediately afterward told Squall that the boot had hit its target. He walked around the corner and was not surprised to see Fujin and Raijin standing there.

What surprised him was the fact that they were wearing costumes.

Raijin had his hair spiked up to a point that curled at the end and was wearing baggy yellow pants that were connected to his top with suspenders, sandals and a giant blue headband. Fuijin wore a long sleeved black dress with the skirt being made up of a bunch of criss-crossing leather belts along with dark lipstick and a necklace with purple beads. Raijin was tossing a blue and white ball back and forth in his hands while Fujin was holding a small stuffed Moogle doll in one hand.

"Hey, it's Squall, ya know," Raijin said. "Didn't think you'd be here, ya know."

"INVITED?"

Squall crossed his arms over his chest. If Raijin and Fujin were here, he knew that it was highly likely that another familiar face was here, one he wasn't all that eager to see.

"Well, what do you know? Even Puberty Boy decided to celebrate Halloween."

Squall scowled and turned to see Seifer walking up behind him in his usual attire, a grin on his face.

"Nice costume," Seifer sniggered. "Did you come up with that hairstyle on your own or did you actually let someone do that to you?"

"What are you doing here, Seifer?" Squall said, his scowl deepening.

"What else? Working," Seifer said as he spread his arms out. "A couple of businessmen from Dollet were freaked out by the location for this shindig, so they hired us to keep an eye on things."

Squall nodded slightly. About a year ago, almost all of the major world governments, except for Galbadia, had dismissed the charges against Seifer. They had come to the conclusion that he had ultimately been a pawn of Ultimecia and that tracking him down and prosecuting him was more trouble than it was worth. As a result, Seifer and his gang were able to move more freely throughout the world provided that they continued to steer clear of Galbadia.

"What about you?" Seifer smirked. "Schmoozing with politicians doesn't seem like your kind of thing. Did Cid make you come?"

"I don't take orders from him anymore," Squall replied. "Laguna hired us to come with him."

"Ah, so Daddy Dearest wanted to play dress up with you," Seifer chortled. "You know, I saw his latest 'State of Esthar' address on TV, including the part where he had a bunch of people join in on that dumb Chocobo Dance song. I still can't believe that the two of you are related."

'Neither can I at times,' Squall said to himself as he remembered the broadcast in question. Then he remembered why he had left the main area and turned his attention back toward Seifer and his group.

"Have any of you seen Laguna recently?" he asked.

"Nope," Seifer said before glancing back at Fujin and Raijin. "How about you two?"

"NEGATIVE."

"Yeah, we haven't seen him, ya know," Raijin chimed in.

"Fine," Squall nodded. "I'm going to go find him. Seifer, you and your team better stay out of Garden's way…or else."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Seifer said. "And hey, if we see Loire, we'll be sure to let him know that you're looking for him. Shouldn't be too hard for him to spot you with you carrying around that ridiculous plastic sword and all."

"Where's your costume?" Squall asked.

"I decided to go as the infamous and incredibly talented renegade knight, Seifer Almasy," Seifer answered with a flourish of his hand. "How's that for a costume?"

"Whatever," Squall said. "Just remember what I said."

Seifer harrumphed and Squall turned to walk away. Squall wasn't too concerned with Seifer's presence at the party, feeling that his old rival was probably not interested in picking a fight with him.

But for some reason he sensed that this was a sign that things were about to get a lot more complicated.

"Man, this place is really creepy," Laguna said. "How much further is it?"

"Not much," Sosan assured him. "We're almost there."

Laguna nodded and continued to eye the corridors around him. They had spent several minutes now weaving their way through a long maze of passageways and by this point, he was confident that he would never be able to find his way back without Sosan's help.

'I hope she actually does know the way back,' he thought. 'I mean, she's studied this place. She probably does. But…maybe this wasn't such a good idea.'

Sosan walked quietly in front of him, the light from her torch illuminating the way. Laguna had to work hard to dodge all the spider webs that were draped along the edges of some of the passages because he knew that he would completely freak out if he got caught up in one of them.

A couple moments later, the corridor opened up into a large room with pillars with elaborate carvings and a large stone altar in the center.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Sosan said as she walked into the room. "From what I've been able to gather, this was the main worship hall of the temple. The followers of Zeromus would gather here and ask Locius for guidance."

"Yeah, but…they did a lot of terrible things here too, right?" Laguna said, rubbing the back of his head. "Kiros mentioned something about sacrifices. Is that altar…well did they…?"

"Quite right, President Loire," she said. "It is more than likely that they did use this altar for sacrificial purposes. It may be morbid, but I do think that this temple is a fascinating find from an archeological perspective."

"I don't know," Laguna said. "I'm thinking that Kiros was right about how some things are better left buried."

Sosan laughed and Laguna felt uneasy at how cold her laughter was.

"My dear President Loire, how can you say that?" she said. "The worship of Zeromus was the natural result of the enlightened members of the Centran civilization making the decision to not leave the future up to fate. The only way any society can truly grow is if it's willing to shed all that is weak and useless about it. That was the endgame of Zeromus' followers."

"I think we should go back," Laguna said, not wanting to continue this conversation. Sosan turned toward him and smiled.

"I'm afraid that I cannot let you go," she said. "I've waited too long for this opportunity."

Laguna frowned and backed away, but before he could walk out of the room, Sosan waved her hand in front of her. He immediately felt drowsy and realized that she had cast a Sleep spell on him.

"What…what are you…?" he slurred out. Then he collapsed onto the floor, unconscious. Sosan laughed again and stared at Laguna's inert form.

'Wonderful. Everything is going exactly as it should,' she thought. 'And now it is time for the next stage of my plan: to help Locius awaken by helping him possess a person here at this party.'

'And I know just who to choose….'

Ward Zabac sighed and walked toward the balcony with a pair of cups in his hands.

He had heard from Laguna earlier about how Kiros was uncomfortable with this party. He knew that Laguna felt the same way, given how empathetic they all were in regards to each other's emotional states.

Still, Ward tried to encourage Laguna to make the most of the evening, and after seeing him go off with Sosan, he figured his friend had gone along with that idea. After that, Ward tried to get into the spirit of the party, but found himself still worrying about his friends.

He decided to quell some of that by checking up on Kiros. Even though he knew that Kiros was not in the best mood, Ward also knew that often all his friend needed was someone to talk to him while he worked to lift his spirits. Thus, he decided to get him one of his favorite drinks from the bar and maybe even challenge Kiros to a card game.

When he arrived on the balcony, he saw Kiros in the same spot he was the last time he saw him, but this time Kiros was slumped against the railing and had his hands over his face. Ward frowned and sat the drinks down on a small stand just outside the balcony and walked over to him. He stood beside Kiros and put his hand on his shoulder. Kiros looked up at him with bleary, oddly vacant eyes.

"Kiros, are you all right?" he communicated silently. "What's wrong?"

"I…I don't know," Kiros said. "I feel so…strange. I…."

Kiros shook his head as if to clear it and then let out a moan as he dropped down onto one knee and covered his face again with his hands. Ward crouched down beside him and tried to ask him again what was wrong, but got no answer.

'Something's wrong,' Ward thought. 'I better go find Laguna.'

Ward looked over at Kiros again and was about to tell him where he was going when Kiros suddenly looked up at him with a strange grin on his face. Ward felt a shiver go through him when he saw that Kiros' eyes had a fiery red glow and that his teeth seemed more pointed than usual.

"Kiros…?"

"Wrong," Kiros said in a voice that was not his own. "So very wrong. As I awaken so shall that one continue to fade."

Ward started to ask Kiros what was going on, but before he could move, Kiros delivered a swift kick to Ward's legs, unbalancing him and causing him to fall onto his back. Kiros then drew his katal and pointed them at Ward's chest.

"Yours will be the first blood I shall spill tonight," he intoned. "But do not worry, you shall have company very soon. Many will be joining you in the embrace of death."

Ward tried reaching up and punching Kiros in the stomach, but it had no effect. Instead, Kiros laughed and lunged down with his katal, piercing Ward's flesh. Ward let out a silent gasp and then fell unconscious. Kiros then laughed again and grinned at the blood dripping down one of the blades.

'Yes, this js just the beginning. Soon, I, Locius will be in power again. And once I am fully awakened, I shall be able to call upon Zeromus to extract my revenge on this world.'