Author's Notes: Yeah yeah, I'm slow. Finally getting settled in, have my eyes on a new apartment, and am accepted into the graduate college I want to be at, and I'm finally ready to write again (as you have seen). So I suppose it's time to get on with this, write up a storm, and lay down.
Hyne's War: Chapter 10
"...signs of dreaming at all. I want to run the data past Odine, he might be able to tell us more. For now, though, I think it is best to monitor him while he sleeps, to gather more..."
"He isn't going to like that."
"He doesn't have to."
It was the kind of wake-up call that Nida couldn't stand: too many voices and all of them spewing nonsense. All it made Nida want to do was roll back over, bury his head in his pillow and go back to sleep. No number of dreams, be they smoky or crystal clear, was worth listening to Kadowaki, Seifer and Squall discussing something in his...
I'm not in my room.
The realization was almost as bad as the babbling, because it brought back to mind where he was and why. Kadowaki had wanted to monitor him while he slept, and now she was clearly reporting on it to Squall. The idea that she wanted Odine's input on it was hardly something Nida liked the sound of, but he did like it more than the prospect of talking about his dream to Squall, as he no doubt would have to in a matter of moments. It had been so different from the others, save for the one where he had dreamt he watched over a meeting of the Zebalgans.
His biggest question, though, was just what a dream that clear was supposed to mean? It was obviously not something that had already happened, so did that mean that it might? Or was it something that was certain?
"It's going to be hard for Nida to trust you, Squall, if you have him monitored even in his sleep," Seifer sighed.
"That is my problem, not yours."
"You could always ask for my opinion on it all," Nida groaned from the bed, throwing an arm over his eyes.
"You're awake," Seifer said, and he sounded almost shocked.
"You're stating the obvious," Nida countered, still taking relief in the way that his arm blocked the light from his eyes.
"We weren't expecting it for another hour or so," Kadowaki offered, and Nida heard her move to his side. It wasn't long at all before she had pulled his arm from his face, wrapped a blood pressure cuff around his arm, and started to pump it full of air. "You were gritting your teeth and all but thrashing around, so Seifer used a stronger sleep spell upon you."
"Some dreams are too hard to stay asleep during," Nida sighed, at last pushing himself into a sitting position. Quickly he took stock of the situation around him.
The room was only slightly darker than it had been, so Nida hadn't been asleep long. Yet Squall's presence wasn't something Nida had been expecting. Apparently whatever Kadowaki had been referencing when Nida woke up had been enough for the doctor to summon Squall to give him information immediately. Squall's expression was unreadable, but Nida could see something that might have been concern on Seifer's and Kadowaki's faces.
"What happened? I assume you found something of interest," Nida asked as Kadowaki looked closely at the blood pressure cuff and jotted a number down on a nearby chart that had not been there when Nida had been conned into sleep.
"I suppose I should ask you first," Kadowaki countered. "Did you dream?"
Nida nodded. "Not a smoke dream though. It was clearer, real, vivid, as if I was really there. Almost like the dream I told you about in the conference room earlier, but different as well..."
"Different how?" Squall prompted.
"I was on a beach," Nida sighed, calling the dream back to mind. He could still feel the warmth of the sand under his feet, the sun on his cheeks, the odd feeling in his chest. "On a beach at sunset. Elijah was there, looking out at sea. He told me that he had convinced Megill to let him join the attack, so that I would come for him. Elijah said I belonged with them, not protecting the village..."
Winhill, that he would not protect Winhill. How could Elijah, even in his dreams, think that of Nida. Elijah had always known how important the place was to him. It was all he had ever known before coming to Garden, it was his refuge, his joy, his pride. The only think he would put before the safety of Winhill would be the safety of Garden.
"I said I would stop him. That I wouldn't let him hurt anyone in the village."
"What village?"
"Winhill, I think."
That, at least, really got Squall's attention. Whatever it was in Squall that kept him calm, broke down a little bit at the idea of Winhill under attack, just as it had with the attack on the orphanage. Maybe, Nida thought, it had to do with the village being the place where the mother Squall had never known had lived. Or maybe it was the fact that the place was so calm, so quiet, so removed from the conflicts of the world. For war to come to a place like that was something that was all but unimaginable.
"We can dispatch SeeDs there to assist Esthar's forces," Seifer suggested, and Squall nodded.
"A small group of the higher trained ones, possibly with a senior level SeeD like Irvine or Zell to assist," Squall agreed.
"Why?" Nida asked. "This isn't like the last clear dream. It can't have happened, I've never encountered Elijah on the beach before, he's never been to Winhill save for once..."
"If we are going to believe that any of your dreams are real, there is no reason to just pass over this one," Squall said, "Especially if it gives us an edge on figuring out the next move of the Zebalgans."
"Except we don't know if it's going to happen tomorrow or next week," Seifer pointed out. "Hyne, we don't even known if it's going to happen at all. This could just be a normal dream."
"I'm not running that risk," Squall said.
"I don't understand..."
"Nida," Kadowaki said, her voice calm, almost soothing even. "You weren't dreaming."
"What do you mean?"
"The brainwaves you displayed while you were asleep... At first they were normal, following what would be expected of someone passing through the sleep phases towards REM sleep, the period in which dreaming takes place. The problem is that you never made it to REM sleep. For a moment your vital signs flickered, and then there were patterns in your brainwaves I'd never seen before. Those, I believe, corresponded to what you perceived as dreaming. You really do seem to be experiencing something different from what other people do when they sleep. I cannot be sure of this until I gain more data, and would like to monitor your sleep for the next few days. Hopefully we will be able to figure out if there is a correspondence between these patterns and when you have these 'prophetic dreams.' I would also like to have Odine examine the information as well..."
"So you're saying that we might actually have proof that I'm seeing things?" Nida asked.
"That is possible. I won't be sure without more information. I would ask that you come here every night to sleep and be monitored."
"It will be done in his room," Squall corrected the doctor. "You will move your equipment after the underclassmen curfew. Seifer and Nida will assist you. I will expect a report in the morning."
"Squall, I would prefer..."
"You may prefer all you want, but you will do as said. That is an order."
Kadowaki looked about ready to smack Squall, but at least she nodded and turned her attention back to Nida, starting at last to pull the monitor devices from Nida. "As you command."
And that, it seemed, was that. Squall turned quickly on his heels and strode out of the infirmary, probably well aware that he was now on Kadowaki's list. Were he in Squall's shoes, Nida too would have run rather than give the doctor a chance to avenge herself quickly.
"Well, this wasn't the way I expected the day to go," Seifer said at last, flopping down into a chair Kadowaki had apparently given him while Nida had slept. "But things never seem to."
"You're telling me," Nida sighed as Kadowaki finished what she was doing and stood.
"Well, I'm quite sure that you boys have nothing better to do than commiserate, but I want to see to encrypting this data for passing to Odine. Nida, you may have use of that bed until you feel ready to leave. And don't worry, if Squall wants you before then, then I will deal with him."
Nida smiled and nodded, and after a moment Kadowaki turned away and slipped out of the Infirmary, likely to find Xu to deal with encrypting the data she had acquired. With a sigh Nida turned his attention to where Seifer was seated, frowning and thinking about something he had heard in his dream.
"What are you looking at me like that for?" Seifer demanded after a few minutes of Nida's staring.
"You were in my dream as well. You were there with me, and you said something to me."
Seifer raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Oh? And what in the world did dream me have to offer?"
"You told me I was right, and said that you thought it meant something. I cut you off though, before you could."
"You should have let me talk, then. I'm always full of amazing insights and information."
Nida rolled his eyes, "Yeah, like Selphie knows all about the breeding habits of Ochus? Sometimes, Seifer, whatever you've got to say isn't necessarily something other people want to hear."
"Breeding habits of Ochus? Damn, I thought she was crazy before..."
"Seifer, this is going to sound stupid, and crazy, but bear with me, alright?"
"Honestly, Nids, I don't think anything you said to me before hasn't been 'stupid and crazy.' Give me some credit, I'll hear you out."
Easy for Seifer to say, Nida couldn't help but think. After all, Seifer had no clue what Nida was going to say next, and even Nida was already starting to think it wasn't the greatest of ideas.
"Take me to Winhill."
"I stand corrected."
"I'm serious, Seifer," Nida sighed, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. "I don't know if that dream was true or not, but I know that the only way we'll be able to find out is if I'm there. I'm going to Winhill, I'll find a way with or without your help. And something tells me that you'll be there too. Whether it's because you went with me, following Squall's orders to the letter, or it is because you have to fetch me back because you didn't, that is up to you."
"What do you mean, 'following Squall's orders to the letter?'"
That made Nida smile the littlest bit, knowing that with that very question Nida had likely won Seifer over. "Squall said that you're supposed to watch over me, not for my sake but for appearances. He also said that I was not to leave Garden without someone to accompany me. You could obey both of those orders, and still help me."
"Help you do what?"
"Stop Elijah from harming Winhill."
"This is crazy. And stupid," Seifer grumbled as he tossed his bag into the back of the two-man flier.
"You've said that three times in the last twenty minutes," Nida pointed out as he mentally ran through a pre-flight checklist.
"Yeah, and I'm going to say it another five times if you don't shut up," was the response as Seifer hauled himself into the seat behind Nida's. "Squall is going to kill us."
Nida tapped the fuel gauge twice, just to make sure that it was displaying accurately, then twisted in his seat to look at Seifer. "You can still call this off. Right now, say the words, and I'll climb out of this flier and we won't talk about this again."
"You're kidding, right? Nidulus, if I was going to back out of this, I would have done it before I even agreed to help you. I just want to point out that this is both stupid and crazy."
"Make that four times in twenty minutes," Nida sighed as he turned back and finished off the last few parts of the checklist. At last he flipped the ignition switch, and smiled as he heard the engines come to life on either side of the flier. "Last chance, Seifer..."
"Just shut up and fly this damn thing before someone figures out what we're up to."
"One thing first... Seifer, why are you doing this? I can hardly understand just why I'm doing this, and it was my dream. You, why should you believe any of it?"
That got a chuckle from the blond. "Nida, there are things you learn as the Sorceress Knight to people like Edea and Ultimecia, things that normal people can hardly begin to imagine."
"Such as?"
For a moment Seifer was silent, and Nida even began to think that Seifer wasn't going to answer. Then, as Nida was finally guiding the flier forward, Seifer spoke.
"The crystal pillar, the lizards that Edea awoke from stone in Deling, and those don't even begin to scratch the surface. Have you ever seen a Sorceress working the darker magics? There are spells that could make your skin crawl, make you doubt gravity, make you question everything. With stuff like that in existence, the idea of dreams coming true isn't impossible. Figure I better give it a chance, right?"
Nida just shook his head and continued to guide the flier out of the hanger and out into the field. From there it was a simple matter, almost reflex, to get the flier into the air. It wouldn't be long after that, though, that the calls would start, demanding questions from the Garden. Who was flying? Where were they heading? Who gave them clearance? No one was going to like the answers to those questions, not in the slightest. There was even a chance that they might be shot down.
"Seifer, no matter what happens with all of this... Thanks for doing this."
"Just shut up and fly, Nida. I still haven't finished telling you how stupid and crazy this plan of yours is."
It only took three minutes for the radio to crackle to life, more time than Nida would have hoped for. Apparently those mechanics Seifer had scared off had taken their time returning, and even on figuring out that a flier was missing.
"Seifer," a voice, Squall's, crackled over the radio, "I thought I told you to watch Nida."
Nida gestured for Seifer, trying to indicate where the radio mic was in the back. There was a short pause, and then Nida heard Seifer's response, and was unable to help but chuckle because of it.
"I am. He's got this stupid whorl in his hair, clockwise if you'd like to know."
"You know what I mean."
"I'm watching him. He hasn't left Garden unattended or without permission."
"That was supposed to be without my permission."
"You never said that."
There was a silence on the other line, and Nida was certain that it came from Squall glaring, angrily, at the radio before him. That got a chuckle from Seifer.
"Where are you?"
"In a flier."
"Where are you going?"
"To whatever spot Nida decides to land us."
"Dammit, Seifer, must you be so stupid?"
"That's the same thing I've asked of Nida so many times."
"I think I have to agree with Squall on this one," Nida mumbled.
That earned Nida a smack on the head, but he still smiled at it.
"Come back to Garden. Now," Squall said, and there was that hard to deny demanding quality. It was all Nida could do to keep his attention on the course he had already selected, rather than turning around.
"Sir, permission to speak frankly?"
"Do you do anything else?" Squall asked.
"No fucking chance in hell are we coming back."
Nida took that as a sign and flipped off the radio.
"He's going to kill me for this," Seifer said with a sigh.
"Maybe," Nida agreed. "But look at it this way... He'll kill me first."
That made Seifer laugh.
Coming up with a way to hide the flier outside of Winhill was the first problem. Other than the village itself, there was little more between the sea and mountains than plains, and none would serve to hide the flier long, especially if not only the Esthari soldiers that Laguna had assigned were good at their work, but if there were Zebalgans as well. They, Nida expected, were likely hiding in the mountains, and would easily see the flier now that it had arrived. In the end all Nida could do was set the aircraft down between two taller hills, where it would not be seen from the village.
"This is..." Seifer started to say, but Nida quickly cut him off.
"There is a toolkit in front of you, under the pilot's seat. Bring that with you when you get out."
"What are you planning?"
"If I can't hide this thing, I might as well disable it," Nida said as he released the seal on the cockpit's glass and pushed it up and away from them.
Unlike Seifer, it only took Nida a matter of seconds to unbuckle himself and jump from the cockpit. This was, after all, something that Nida was used to, and something Seifer was not. Soon enough, though, Seifer was following him down, two duffel bags thrown out before him, and the toolkit in hands as the blond landed beside Nida on the grass.
"So, just how disabled are we talking about here?" Seifer asked as he handed over the metal box.
"Don't plan on leaving quickly if we have a mob on our heels," Nida answered as he pulled out some tools, slid them into his belt, and opened an access panel on the nose of the flier.
"What about calling for backup?"
"Not a chance," Nida said. The first thing he intended to take out was the radio, and then the transponder. Both of those he could restore on his own easily enough, but without them no one was likely to be taking this thing back to Garden, not if they didn't want to be shot down by any country they flew through, not to mention by the Garden itself.
"Stupid and crazy," Seifer mumbled for the... Well, honestly, Nida wasn't sure how many times it had been anymore. He'd lost count about thirty minutes after the first one, and the number had reached into the teens.
"You're welcome," Nida responded cheerfully as he worked, loosening bolts here, cutting wires there, disconnecting systems all over the place. All in all he planned to make the flier damn near unflyable by anyone but himself. That would be the only way to make sure the thing had a chance of being there when Nida finished with whatever it was he had come to Winhill to do. Enemies weren't as likely to blow something up if it was this messed up on the inside.
"So what in the world are you looking for here?" Seifer asked, though his voice was a little muffled to Nida considering Nida's head was well within the flier's guts.
"To be honest? I'm not sure. Any sign of the Zebalgans? Elijah maybe..."
That, though, would wait for sunset. There was still ample time before that. It would, hopefully, give Nida a chance to slip into the village, listen for any rumors of strangers in the area. The Esthari likely wouldn't be seen by the villagers, not with the cloaking tech they would likely employ in this situation. Zebalgans, though... Who knew?
"You are dismantling the flier, you don't have a plan, and you've likely managed to get Squall to want my head on a platter for all of that? Wonderful day we're having here, isn't it?"
"Never even pretended to have a plan beyond getting here," Nida said, finally hauling himself out of the flier's guts so that he could look at Seifer. "All I said was that I was going to stop Elijah from hurting Winhill. Never said I knew how to do it."
"Stu..."
"Just throw me a towel, would you? I'm covered in grease."
Nida was lucky enough to get his arms up in time to catch the hand towel Seifer whipped at him, and Nida chuckled. Really, he thought as he cleaned his hands, still chuckling, there wasn't a better way to deal with this. Either he was going to be proven right in his own way—both raising suspicions about him and his role, and hopefully lowering them as well—or Squall was going to have his head. Actually, that latter part might happen anyway, but that was a risk Nida was willing to take. The best part was that at least he didn't have to do it alone. Never in a million years would anyone be able to get Squall to believe Seifer came along due to anything other than Seifer's own choosing.
"If this takes a while," Nida said once he had finished wiping his hands, "we'll stay the night at my place."
"Wouldn't that make us easy to find?"
"Hardly. No one at Garden knows where it is, and when I came here with Elijah, we stayed at the inn."
"The villagers..."
"Will say nothing," Nida assured Seifer as he slammed the access panel closed, and then moved to grab his duffel bag from Seifer. "All I have to do is tell anyone I see that I'm hiding out from an old girlfriend, one who was more than just the slightest bit obsessive, which is a bad thing on a SeeD. It will be easier to get my house's location from a rock than from anyone at that point."
"Small towns," Seifer said, something akin to awe in his voice. "Still, you think that's going to be enough to stop anyone who is really looking for you?"
"Anyone looking for me that hard will still have to go through two SeeDs to get me," Nida reminded Seifer as he moved to open the small cargo hold on the flier where their weapons had been stowed for the purpose of the flight.
"And you really think I'm going to risk my neck to save yours?"
Nida froze, his hand only just wrapped around the wooden shaft of his halberd. This whole time he had just assumed that if there was trouble, Seifer would be there to help him. Odd, when had he started to put such a level of faith into the gunblader? Maybe it was the way that Seifer had been all but on his side since the beginning of this. Maybe it was Nida assuming that Seifer would listen to Squall's all but direct order to protect Nida. Maybe it was some misguided belief that Seifer wasn't the kind of man to let a fight pass him by, especially if he had good reason to be in it. Now, though, all Nida could do was question just what had made him think all of this, and whether Seifer really would be there if Nida needed him.
"You okay, flyboy?" Seifer asked, and Nida resisted the urge to turn and face him. Doing so might only reveal the doubt that had sprung up in him.
"Yeah," Nida said after a minute, putting a smile back on before grabbing his halberd in one hand, the Hyperion in the other, and turning to pull them free of the ship.
"Be careful with that!" came Seifer's voice, and a moment later he was at Nida's side, freeing Hyperion from his grasp.
Well, one thing was sure: Seifer was protective of the blade. All Nida would need do to protect himself would be to get someone to threaten Hyperion. That, at least, was something.
"We should get going. I haven't really had much of a chance to eat today, and if we get there in time, I'm sure that someone I know will be willing to offer us some lunch."
The idea of food must have done it for Seifer, because the blond smiled, slid Hyperion into its holster, and started off in the direction of Winhill without even waiting for Nida.