Author's Notes (New): By the time this goes up I will have added some letters to my last name. As of May 16th, 2011, I will have completed my Bachelors of Arts in English. Shocking, almost, to think that now as I start to type. Of course it will still be delayed, as while the editing was begun before graduation, the rest was done after that and three days of a rather nasty cold. Go figure, stress stops and THEN I'm sick.
Of all of the chapters, this is probably the least changed content wise as I felt that most of what I would have wanted to add could be added into Chapter 9 instead. Expect that soon.
Author's Notes (Old): Okay, so back yet again. Here's hoping that over the next few days that I have free, I can pound out the next few chapters. I have them outlined, but I am not sure they want to behave just yet.
Hyne's War: Chapter 8
Nida's return to the Ragnarok's hanger was met with a cacophony of furious noises. While most of it seemed to be protests from Irvine and Zell. The former having switched from sniper rifle to a shotgun which had been leveled at Nida upon his entry. The latter was being held back from lunging at Nida only by the oddly comforting presence of Seifer, who had managed to put himself between Zell and Nida at the first possible moment.
"You better back the fuck up, Chicken," Seifer said, his voice a low growl that actually seemed to make Zell hesitate. Not that Nida could blame Zell for that hesitation, Seifer almost sounded like a hungry Snow Lion.
"He's a traitor. He warned Lena and let her and those others get away," Zell countered after a moment, finally looking about ready to bowl Seifer over.
"She was already gone when I got there," Nida tried to point out, not that he really thought that it mattered at the moment.
"And she got a message, from Garden no less. You probably told her to ditch with the others there." This comment came from Irvine, who looked about ready to shoot both Nida and Seifer.
"The message had been transferred to Xu for analysis, but it wasn't a video or audio message, so it could take some time. But that doesn't mean that Nida was responsible. In fact, we have proof that he was not. Now stand down."
Both Zell and Irvine looked at Squall for a moment when he spoke, looking furious and incredulous respectively. Still the gun was lowered, and Zell backed away from Seifer, hands raised as if to imply that he wasn't going to attack. Seifer didn't move though, and Nida couldn't help but look at the back of the blond, half surprised and half relieved. He didn't know what exactly he had done to deserve such a staunch defender—much less what he had done to lose such a firm friend in Irvine—but Nida was more than happy to have one of the most deadly men in Garden, no, in the world, on his side. Irvine and Zell alone would not be enough to take Seifer on in a fight, and they might need two others if Squall were to refuse to support them against Seifer. That sort of ally was something that was more than worth having.
"And how in the world do we know that, sir?" Irvine demanded.
"Simple," Seifer said, "Nida had no way to contact anyone yesterday. Princess had his access to the network cut two days ago."
"He's good enough to have hacked past any control programs, right?" Zell asked.
"Maybe if Xu wasn't there to back it up personally," Nida admitted, then winced as he realized that it wasn't exactly the best thing to say if he wanted to defend his innocene.
"Which is why I had Seifer cut the physical lines into the room," Squall said.
Nida had to admit that it made sense. If he'd been trying to cut Xu off from hacking, the ideal method he would use would be to isolate her in a place that would lack any of her back up systems, make sure she had no personal computers to route into the system, and then cut the physical lines just to be sure. Honestly, he had to give Squall credit on this one, this had been a good way to make sure they could try to get to a target without information getting out from a potential source of a leak. Then again, there was something else that Nida didn't want to think about, but had to: while this meant that he hadn't warned Lena, it also meant that someone else in Balamb probably did.
"Nida would have had no chance to alert Lena to the mission. In fact, he was the only one here that would not have done so," Seifer said, reinforcing Nida's innocence in this while at the same time pointing out the same conclusion Nida had quickly reached on his own.
"You mean..." Zell started to speak, but stopped when Squall nodded.
"Someone sent Lena a message, hours before her disappearance and our arrival. It likely isn't a coincidence. I kept this mission isolated from everyone but Cid, the group of us, and those mechanics that prepared the Ragnarok for departure, and that last group did not know where we were bound for. Which means that if there is in fact a leak, it isn't Nida, or not only Nida. So keeping him isolated won't achieve anything," Squall sighed.
"And how can we be sure that Seifer isn't responsible for this?" Zell demanded.
"Logic."
Everyone's eyes, including those of Squall and Seifer, turned back to Nida at this point, waiting for him to elaborate.
"First, Seifer steps on toes, regularly and loudly. That isn't exactly material for an undercover operative, is it? Second, Seifer doesn't follow orders well, and if he had been with the Zebalgans he would have done something to fuck it up by now. Third, the last video furthers our belief that the Zebalgans hate things that have to do with Sorceresses, perhaps above everything else, so I doubt they would much like a Sorceress-Knight on their side. Fourth, do you really think that even if they could, they would have let Seifer stay in that position long before having him off the Sorceress? And finally, even if Seifer had been with them, do you think he would have stuck around after their blatant calling for his head? They've made an enemy of him, whether they know it or not, by doing that. Seifer has as much reason as the rest of us to hate this group. Hyne, Seifer would have given us everything he knew about them once that video came out, just out of spite, if he had been with them. If there is one thing you can count on Seifer being loyal to, then count on it being to his sense of self-preservation."
"Let's not forget the fact that were I one of them, I would have had ample chance to knock you over the head and haul you back to wherever their base is long before anyone from Garden even knew," Seifer added with a smirk.
"I don't doubt that," Nida admitted with a sigh. "What it comes down to is that really, other than Squall and Seifer, who here can we be sure of the loyalties of?"
"No one," came Squall's response before he turned on heel and strode silently from the hanger. The words, Nida could tell, everyone from the outspoken Irvine and Zell, to the surprisingly silent Selphie and Quistis, in a state of near shock.
"Well, Nidulus, I guess this means you can have your fork back at meal times," Seifer quipped before turning and heading to follow Squall up to the bridge.
For some reason, that was hardly a comforting thought, especially with the way that Irvine was still looking at him. But, finding himself cleared for the moment, Nida moved to follow after Seifer and Squall. They, at least, did not seem likely to try and glare him to death, for now. After a quick jog Nida caught up to Seifer. The blond lifted an eyebrow for a moment at his appearance, but then seemed to ignore him altogether.
"Thanks. For everything. But, if you don't mind me asking, why are you defending me?"
The blond didn't even break stride, just smirked. "Because so far as I can tell, you're innocent. You're a moron, but you're innocent. You don't deserve the shit they are giving you."
"But I do. They have no reason to trust me at this point."
"No," Seifer said, his voice firm and almost angry. "They wouldn't be so quick to treat you like this if what I had done during the war hadn't happened. But it did, and I did it on purpose. You, the moronic innocent, don't deserve my fallout."
The words were nice, well reasoned, and almost comforting. It was all so uncharacteristic of Seifer that Nida found himself stopping in his tracks, not sure how to respond to it. It was almost... noble.
"Careful," Nida said as he refound his voice and moved to follow Seifer, "You keep that sort of thing up, and people might begin to believe you are a nice guy."
"I think that is a risk I'll just have to take," Seifer responded before boarding the lift up to the bridge. "You coming, fucking Flyboy?"
Nida just shook his head and followed Seifer. There was, after all, always a chance Squall might just let him fly now. Everyone knew Nida was the best pilot Garden had, and what Nida had experienced on the way out here, Selphie was not number two.
That hope was rewarded moments later, when Seifer and Nida's arrival on the bridge drew Squall's attention fully upon them. From what Nida could tell, Squall had no intention of flying, which meant that they weren't going anywhere without at least Selphie arriving, and she was most likely dealing with Irvine at the moment. Squall seemed to realize this as well, and gestured for Nida to take the controls.
"Straight back to Garden. Any departures from a direct route without clearance and you won't live long enough to hear Irvine say he told me so," Squall warned. Nida nodded and took the pilots seat silently, checking to make sure that Selphie hadn't done anything to harm his beloved on the way here.
"When we get back, you will be released to your own quarters."
"Thank you, sir."
"It isn't all good news," Squall said, "so don't thank me yet. While you will be allowed to move around Garden at this point, you will have an escort when you are out of your room, guards when you are inside, and no weapons at any times you are not in my presence."
"Good move. Keep the Flyboy safe from disgruntled students while making it look like you're protecting them from him." There was actually a bit of approval in Seifer's voice.
"I'm glad you agree," Squall said, smirking a bit like Seifer was prone to doing. "Because until I can determine who else would be capable of keeping him in line without risk if he did decide to escape, you're in charge of him."
"What!" Seifer shouted, and Nida was sure that the sound had to carry all the way to the hanger.
"And how will you determine that?" Nida asked, finally having deemed the Ragnarok unharmed at the hands of the hyperactive Selphie, and setting the engines to warming up.
The smirk, still in place, was more than enough to send shivers down Nida's back.
The answer, as the smirk had promised, turned out to be far worse than anything Nida could imagine. In fact, the very idea of it was terrifying. Nida couldn't help the fact that his hands were sweating enough that it was hard to keep a good grip on the fauchard fork he had chosen to use against Squall's heavy gunblade. He hoped that the lance point that gave the weapon it's 'fork' designation would help. The lance point would hopefully allow him, with luck, to catch Squall's blade between it and the actual blade of the weapon, allowing Nida to disarm the skilled gunblader. Disarming Squall would be the only real way to end the battle with anything resembling victory for Nida.
Then again, did Nida really want to win? Of that, he wasn't sure.
Squall's answer to how to determine who had the combat skill to watch over Nida had been simple, and brutal. What better way for Squall to judge his ability to take out other people than to see how well Nida could handle him. And in a serious fight against Squall it would be unlikely that Nida would be able to avoid using his full strength like Elijah had for so long. Even Elijah had been forced to go seriously faced with two gunbladers.
So here Nida stood, trying to look more confident than he was, staring Squall down across the open field outside of Garden that Squall had chosen for their fight. Seifer was missing at the moment, likely off scaring off some bystanders, but once he was ready the match would begin. Apparently Seifer was there to be backup for Squall on the off chance that Nida somehow managed to take Squall down, though there was even the chance that Seifer was there to make sure Squall didn't kill Nida by mistake.
"Do we really need to do this?" Nida couldn't help but ask, shifting his stance just the slightest bit wider to better handle an initial defensive move.
"Afraid that you'll hurt him?" Seifer asked, coming back over to the pair.
"More like afraid to get hurt," Nida admitted. "Wouldn't you be, facing someone like Squall?"
Seifer smirked, that arrogant smirk that was so one-hundred percent Seifer. "Why would I? Squall's never beat me in a one-on-one fight."
"Any advice you can spare then?" Nida joked.
"Don't let him get close. You have the reach advantage, but if he gets close, it's over."
Nida rolled his eyes, more thane aware that this would be a major part of the battle. He was about to say the same to Seifer, only to catch Squall out of the corner of his eye, already starting to move. He only had a handful of seconds to lash out with his fauchard-fork before Squall was inside his defenses, the seven foot long weapon easily being knocked to the side with a single swipe of Lionheart.
As quickly as he could manage, Nida swept the shaft of the weapon towards Squall, hoping that getting the gunblader to jump back a step would be all he needed to regain the vital space between him and Squall's weapon. Instead of jumping back, though, Squall raised his left arm, taking his hand off of the hilt of his weapon for a second to take the blow with his forearm. Nida actually stumbled back a step in shock. Never had he faced someone in a sparring match, even one as serious as this, who was willing to take an obvious injury to close distance. Then again, this was a bit more than a serious sparring session, wasn't it? This was practically life or death.
Nida was lucky he had stumbled back a tep, really, because as that happened Squall was bringing his right arm around, his left grabbing the hit just a moment before the blade lashed out, inches from Nida's chest. It was all Nida could do not to fall over from the shock of the near miss. And yet Squall was already pressing the advantage, making full use of the speed he specialized in.
This time, as Squall brought his blade up for a strike, Nida brought his weapon back in, forcing the blade between them. The move was just in time to be in position as the strike fell, putting Squall's blade right into the space between lance point and the blade of his weapon. A quick, sharp twist of the weapon was all it took to tug the blade away from Squall, sending the thing spinning towards Seifer. Eager to press the short advantage, and knowing Seifer would avoid the blade, Nida brought the base of the shaft up again, hoping to knock Squall off of his feet with a quick sweep.
The brunet had apparently anticipated this, though, and with a small hop avoided the attempt. And upon landing he did something Nida had not expected, bull rushed Nida. With the way that Nida's body was already twisted from the sweep, he didn't have a chance of resisting the full strength of Squall's shoulder ramming into his chest. The only reason it wasn't over then and there in Nida's own mind was the fact that more than once Elijah had pulled the same move while Nida was off-balance. Long ago Nida had been forced to learn how to turn a tackle like this into a controlled flip. As he fell he let the momentum imparted from the blow and the way his body had already been twisting to get his hands pointed towards the ground. After that it was a simple matter of timing to plat his hands, both on the shaft of his weapon at this point, on the ground and use hands and weapon as a springboard into a back flip.
Once back on his feet, Nida turned to face Squall, ready to defend himself, only to find that the gunblader hadn't followed him while he flipped, instead taking the chance to reclaim his weapon. Nida had hoped that maybe he would have made too tempting a target for Squall during the initial 'fall,' prompting the other SeeD to come after him with fists alone. No such luck. Squall apparently knew well enough from Irvine and the others that Nida was capable of turning some disadvantages into strengths. Well, at least this time Squall would have to come at Nida while he had a chance to ready himself. That alone made the whole of the exchange worthwhile, even the soreness in his chest.
"Maybe you should quit SeeD and become an acrobat!" Seifer called, a momentary distraction. Not a major one with the care Squall was now taking with his stance, but an annoyance none the less.
Nida attempted to put the blond out of his mind, keeping as much of his attention as was possible on the glowing blade of Squall's blade, and the man's stomach. Eyes could lie, so could arms and legs, but the stomach, the center of gravity, had no real way of lying. What it committed to, it followed through with. At least in terms of advancing. In close combat, with a blade far too close for his taste, Nida was horrible at watching for the minute signs the stomach gave that would sometimes telegraph a person's next move.
But all Squall's stomach was saying was that he was securing himself in one place, preparing a defense. It seemed a foolish choice to Nida. Mounting a defense was one thing if you had range advantage, but even with Squall's speed he should know that Nida could easily keep him off of the offense if Squall gave him even the slightest chance. That was the advantage of a more mid-ranged weapon like Nida's preferred polearms. Well, that and the fact that the momentum of a strike added more power to a blow, allowing even a blunt one to break bones, and the extra reach could keep him from too much damage, allowing him to intercept blows long before they reached any area of threat. So what could Squall be thinking?
He wants to draw me out, Nida suddenly realized.
That was the point, wasn't it? Squall wanted to see just what Nida was capable of. The first attack had been to see how well Nida could deal with threats in close range, like he would experience with sword fighters, gunbladers, and other quick, close quarters fighters. The tackle was likely geared at seeing how Nida could handle a more hands on method of attack, like would be expected of Zell. And now Squall was trying to present a target, trying not only to see how Nida might act when faced with a combatant that might be about to use magic, but to see how Nida would use any opportunities given to him. This, after all, was the sort of target Nida's weapon was almost ideal for, so naturally he should go at Squall with at least the abilities he was most confident with, things he would use most commonly use to dispatch an enemy at a distance. Not the risky things he would use in closer combat, things that Nida would use only in the most dire of situations because of their chances of backfiring...
Let no one say Squall can't think on his feet.
And Nida had almost fallen for it as well, saved only by the split second analysis that Elijah had beaten into him over the years.
But what to do about it? Now that he knew, should he give Squall what he wanted? Too vicious of an offense might make it look like Nida actually wanted to hurt, even kill Squall. Too cautious and both Squall and Seifer might think Nida was trying to appear worse than he was. Seifer would know better from their short tussle in in the cottage in Winhill. Squall would know from mission reports and the few practical exams that had accompanied higher level SeeD exams. Yet they wanted to know if he'd been holding something back, so maybe he should just attack.
Except it was already too late, even those few milliseconds of thought had been too much. Even as Nida decided he should at least give Squall what he wanted, the gunblader was on the move again. It wasn't so sudden that Nida couldn't attack as Squall was rushing in, but enough to make Nida realize his mistake. Not only had he given up what advantage he had, but he'd overthought. It was a rookie mistake, and in a fight like this you didn't want to overthink. You ended up second guessing yourself, like Nida just had, and with a gunblader dodging not one, but three half-hearted thrusts, that was a bad thing.. That alone was almost enough to break the calm that seemed to come with fighting for Nida.
Nida danced back a few steps upon the third missed thrust, knowing that he'd already blown the first real attack chance he'd had. The only choice now was to wait for an opening in Squall's attack. This time he wouldn't be thrown, because even though his weapon was too large for effective attacks in the closer ranges, Nida was more than capable of close range defense. It was simple enough when the polearm was between him and Squall, all he had to do was bring the shaft into the way of the blow, turning it away. And by the fourth blow his chance happened. There, as he knocked away another strike from his right, he noticed Squall's arms just a little too far away fromhis body. The shaft of the fauchard-fork was already in the right place for Nida to place the end of the shaft head into the ground, and as he pushed off of the ground with the weapon his left foot thrust into Squall's stomach, knocking the gunblader back a step, almost doubled over from the sudden loss of breath.
Now or never.
Nida pressed in, bringing the shaft around as he landed to thrust the blade in Squall's face. Instead of dodging back and tripping as Nida expected, Squall twisted to the side, allowing the sharp edge of the polearm to slide past his face. A simple back step found Squall safe once more, and already raising his weapon. Nida already knew what was going to happen next. While he would attempt to move his polearm away, Squall's Lionheart would come down, cutting through the shaft as if it was better. That normally wasn't a risk for Nida, but the adamantine and dragon fangs used in the forging of the Lionheart would split the strong oak of the staff as if it were balsa wood.
Sure enough the blow came as Nida was trying to swing his weapon out of the way. Squall's aim couldn't have been better, the gunblade hitting just below the langets. While not strictly the weakest part of the weapon, the metal langets were meant to protect the weak point where the shaft and head were connected, while providing extra torgue. And yet, by cutting where he did, Squall was able to take advantage of the minor strain the head of the weapon placed upon the shaft.
Even as the head of the fauchard-fork fell to the ground, Squall was already sweeping the blade back up to press against the side of Nida's neck. And for some reason, it almost felt familiar. Wrong, but familiar.
"Yield." Squall's voice was low, threatening, and Nida knew from it that the man was more than willing to take his head off if Nida refused.
That thought made Nida flinch as he realized just why this whole thing felt familiar. The dream on the Ragnarok rushed back to him, and it was too much like this. The main difference Nida could think of was not something in the fine details, but it in his own feelings. In the dream he had been ready to accept his death at Squall's hands, he'd welcomed it. Now, though, Nida was not so sure. There was a stringing in his neck now, from a shallow cut caused by the razor edge of the Lionheart when Nida had flinched against the blade. That, the heat welling up in that area from his blood, even the hard look in Squall's eyes, it all made Nida sick, like Boyce's name, like the Zebalgans, like this whole heir business, it almost made the whole idea of life more pressing, more important. Maybe he wasn't quite ready to die just yet.
"I yield," Nida said, his voice faint and almost breaking. Probably due to the shock of the cut, and the sureness of Squall's hand despite it.
Squall nodded and lowered the weapon, but didn't back away, or even move to heal Nida's cut. Once it was clear that Squall wasn't going to kill him, for now, Nida's hands went to his throat to put pressure on the wound.
"Hyne, let me see that."
Nida couldn't but but flinch back, not having expected Seifer to have gotten so close so quickly. But, before he knew it, the cool brush of a curative spell had replaced the sting at his neck, and Seifer was yanking Nida's hand away from his neck so that he could clean up the blood with a cloth. The whole time Seifer glared at Nida as if he had been looking at the biggest baby in the world who had just gotten their first splinter.
"Thanks," Nida managed to say, only to have Seifer wave it away.
"Don't give me that. You did that on your own, idiot. You should know that Squall's got a steady hand. If you were cut, it was your own damn fault. Why in the world did you flinch? Did you want your throat opened on his gunblade?"
"Seifer," Squall said, and the blond rolled his eyes.
Nida sat down with a sigh, frowning at his broken weapon. He'd really liked that one. It wasn't as beloved as some of the others, but he'd had it for a while, and it had been useful. The fauchard-fork had been his weapon of choice during the Norg incident, a lorgical one considering the number of sword fighters in the Garden, and Nida had been glad of the advantage the weapon had granted him.
"Did you really have to break it?"
"Not like you can't fix it," Seifer said, obviously annoyed.
"I'm a mechanic, not a weapon maker."
Seifer just shrugged. "Stop whining, you passed, didn't you?"
"Passed?"
Squall nodded in agreement with Seifer. "You over thought. You held back yoru blows, not because you wanted to seem weak, but because you didn't want to hurt me, or seem eager to hurt me. And while you did flinch back from the possibility of death, you said nothing and faced it anyway. You pass."
Nida resisted the urge to point out that his lack of action had been because he'd been caught in the thoughts of the smoke dream. How many had come to pass now, in one way or another? How many times had they been right and he couldn't remember it because of a GF? And what of the others dreams, the ones that were similar but so different? The ones of the group in colored robes, the Zebalgans facing him, speaking, pondering? Who was to say they were wrong? Who was to say they hadn't come to pass? Who was to say that he wasn't the heir, and that his dreams weren't in fact the thing they wanted?
"And what does that mean for me?"
Squall looked from Nida to Seifer and back before sitting on the grass near Nida.
"It means that were we not in this situation, I would move to have you elevated to rank A before the end of the day. As things are I will have to leave you with Seifer or myself. After that it is clear I could not use anyone else, and that those who have fought you before will expect no less."
"And I'm supposed to believe that this doesn't mean that you actually don't trust me in the slightest?"
"I trust you," Squall said, before shaking his head. "Let's face it, you're about as likely to be one of these Zebalgans as Seifer or myself."
"And why do you say that?"
Seifer was the one who spoke this time, though he was obviously annoyed that Nida needed someone to clarify. "You've done nothing to prove you're innocent, and plenty to prove that you aren't. Yet the second we lock you up we can't find anything, other than your own personal failures, that proves you guilty of anything other than stupidity, shock over being betrayed by a friend, and general lack of concern for your own life. Let's face it, Flyboy, your ineptitude has been your best proof of innocence for Squall here, and me... Well, I never suspected you, and for some reason that Hyne alone knows, Squall puts faith in my gut feelings."
"I have no real way to prove your lack of guilt right now," Squall said, ignoring Seifer's last comment. "But since Seifer also agrees with my gut feeling on this, it is clear to me that you never saw us as enemies, even when you didn't act as faithfully as you could have."
"Still can't figure out why they want you, but hey, crazies come in all varieties," Seifer chuckled.
"Thanks," Nida mumbled.
"Glad to help."
"So what now? I just go around with Seifer following me like a lost puppy or something?"
That earned a growl from Seifer, but Squall nodded.
"That is roughly the idea. There is a chance that whoever is leaking information will either try to pin it on you at this point, or far more likely, kidnap you. Thus we want you keeping your eyes open as well for behavior around you that seems out of the norm."
"So what you're saying is that you want me to spy on people who don't even trust me anymore, and who thus are highly unlikely to treat in any way that approaches normal? You're kidding, right? I can almost tell you right now the only thing resembling what I would find out. Irvine is behaving oddly, he loathes me like he used to hate Elijah, even though we got close after I started to train him. Zell hates me, probably partially because Seifer trusts me, and partially because he might view me as a threat to Balamb, which has been through too much already. Quistis won't meet my eyes when she used to confide in me, and Selphie is at a loss for what to do because of Irvine. Xu is the only one that seems to still have faith in me, and we've known each other for longer than I've really known any of you. That is all that I'll be able to tell you."
"None the less, I want you to watch. Do what you see fit to do this, but watch. You're not going to have many orders other than this until I find a way to deal with the suspicions of the others, and until we find the person who warned Lena... Oh, and you will have a short period of time each day with Xu working on communication analysis. That is all I can give you since I can hardly let you leave the Gardem."
Nida couldn't help but sigh at the final bit. Wouldn't he be more useful out there, where he could serve as bait for these people, for Elijah?
A beeping which set Seifer and Squall looking for their communicators interrupted any other thoughts Nida had on that subject. Squall found his first, it being easily accessible in his pocket. Upon seeing whatever message had been set, he cursed.
"What's going on?"
"The latest report regarding disappearances has come in, and some of the names..." Seifer trailed off, mumbling something under his breath.
"You're familiar with these names?" Squall asked.
"Yeah. The Instructor may suspect why they are important, but I can tell you from experience that some of these men are old retired generals who actually run the Galbadian military. Looks like the Zebalgans have people in higher places than we'd suspected."
Even Squall cursed at that.
"It's bad, but that isn't all there is, is it?" Nida asked, certain there was something of more concern in Squall's eyes.
"No. Quistis sent me something more... There was an attack on the orphanage shortly after Lena departed from the White SeeD ship."
"Edea!" Seifer shouted, looking about ready to punch Squall out just for saying it. Apparently something of his former Knight bond to the Sorceress still lingered.
"She's fine. So are Rinoa and Ellone, who were visiting there," Squall said, and his voice was surprisingly level, all things considered. "The White SeeDs were called by her just in time to knock back the assault when they combined forces with the smaller contingent of Esthari troops Laguna had forced upon the Kramers."
"Bastards," Seifer cursed. "Where do they get off attacking Matron and Sis like that?"
"Come on," Squall said, standing and heading towards the Garden. "We don't have time to sit around and discuss this now. We need the others."
Nida was on his feet and following before he knew it, leaving his ruined weapon behind.