Author's Notes: Still here. Still writing. Written within days of posting Chapter 11. What do you think of that? Ha! I'm going to be able to keep updating this regularly, aren't I? Awesome. By the time this one is posted, I will not only have turned 24, but I'll have celebrated my 3 year anniversary with my beloved.
Some people may recognize part of this chapter to some degree. If you do, then you've likely read the AU sequel to Hyne's War (ironically written first), Pilot Wings.
WARNING: This chapter is out VERY early because I have a wedding/Thanksgiving to attend with my other half's family. No internet for a week or so as I make friendly with future in-laws. As such, there has been no beta-ing on this. Forgive me for the fail you might find.
Hyne's War: Chapter 14
"I should have your head for what you did."
Not the greatest greeting that Nida had ever received, but it was still better than everything that had been happening to him these days. Better than the poison, than the fight, then any of these dreams and lies and this damn war. And a simple beheading WAS better than a court-martial in Nida's opinion. At least a beheading would be relatively quick and painless at this point.
"I did what I had to do," Nida said, his hands rubbing at his aching leg instead of meeting Squall's eyes.
For that Squall had no response for a while, leaving a silence that Nida could no more read now than he had ever been able to. It almost made him envious of Seifer, who always seemed to know what Squall wasn't saying.
"Really?" Squall said at last, moving to sit in the chair Kadowaki had left next to Nida's bed.
The infirmary was quiet, late as it now was. The sun had gone down hours ago, and still Nida tried to prevent sleeping. In the end even Kadowaki had been unable to stay up any longer with him and had shuffled off to bed herself. Guards had been left at the infirmary door in shifts: Selphie who had brought him more food, Zell who ignored him, and finally Quistis who was even now likely leaning against the wall outside of the infirmary door, probably grading a paper or something. Seifer, Nida knew, was due back in the morning, to resume the duties Squall had given him as baby-sitter. Well, Seifer would do that if Nida made it through the night without being put into the brig.
"The dream... the one I told you about before I left. It was on a beach I knew in Winhill. One I'd taken Elijah to once. What I saw, what I heard said by Seifer in that dream... I had to be there Squall. Something in me just said I had to."
Squall shook his head. Obviously that was not explanation enough for the other SeeD.
"A larger group could have gone, reduced some of the risk, and possibly proved to more people that you may truly be seeing the future. Now we still have no proof that you aren't working with the Zebalgans, not enough to convince some people at least."
"Your word isn't good enough. I'm hardly surprised," Nida sighed. "But Squall, I can tell you this. It's something I'm sure of. If I had gone there at any other time, with anyone more than Seifer, it wouldn't have happened. It wouldn't have been right. What happened was what was supposed to happen."
"The other dream you told us about that was clear, you weren't there and we can still assume it happened the way you dreamt."
"Yeah, but I wasn't supposed to be there. For this, I'm sure that it happened right. The only way it could happen. If you want my head for that, then take it, Squall. Just do me a favor and don't beat around the bush anymore. I'm in enough pain as it is without you offering something as kind as a permanent break from the pain."
That actually called some emotion to Squall's face, and his eyes flicked quickly to Nida's leg. Nida could read the concern and reluctance there.
"The poison still hurts you then?"
"Kadowaki says that it's only phantom pain. An itching, tingling feeling that comes from the remembered damage to the muscles and nerves. She says it will pass with time, but..."
"What?"
"It's going to stick with me, for a while."
The dream told Nida that. No matter what Kadowaki said, he was sure of it. The pain in the dream had not been because of the pain he had been in at the time of the dream. No, that was one of the things that lingered when the smoke faded into reality. There might be other changes, but that one fact, that Nida was sure of.
"A dream?"
All Nida could do was sigh and rub at his leg.
"Has Kadowaki received any word from Odine?" Nida found himself asking, though he was all but sure that he would get word from her before Squall did.
"He has sent some preliminary findings, but she isn't sure what to make of them, and both want more data. No, it is the findings from Veringas that we are more concerned with right now."
"So Kadowaki has told you about Veringas?"
Squall nodded, sighed, and leaned back in his chair. "I received a small message from him in relation to the information you and the Doctor sent him today. I will be briefing everyone on them in the morning."
"Was any of it helpful?"
For a second Squall seemed to think, probably wondering what, if anything he should tell Nida. Nida wasn't worried, though. Eventually he'd hear it all from Kadowaki, which was more than enough for him.
"Apparently he recognizes the description you gave of the fire GF that Elijah used. It is called Salamander, and is one of what is referred to as 'Lost Guardians.' The one you found in the possession of Joshua, Mateas, is an ice elemental GF of the same classification. We believe that Elijah took Mateas from Joshua as he fled, which is why Seifer was unable to acquire it."
"I've never heard of any 'Lost Guardians,'" Nida said, frowning. "Had you before the message?"
"No. It is apparently a term used by GF scholars and researchers to describe those creatures they find referenced in writings, stories, and other ancient materials and they suspect were at one time commonly known Guardian Forces. Creatures out of legend, as it were. Once Bahamut, Eden, Odin and Gilgamesh were classified as Lost Guardians. Griever, despite our encounter with him during Time Compression, is still considered such. Veringas also believes that a few of the monsters we encountered in Ultimecia's Castle were also such. Trauma, Krysta and Tiamat in particular."
"And the Zebalgans have secured a few of these?"
"Veringas fears that they are in possession of a good portion of these GFs."
"Fears? Why fears?"
"Do you know how many different registered GFs the Gardens are in possession of? Not including the four Lost Guardians that we found during the war?"
That, to be honest, was not something Nida really kept ahead of. What he knew of GFs was limited to personal experience, rumors and speculation. He did know that through certain techniques and technologies developed in relation to GFs allowed all but the four Squall mentioned and Phoenix to be used by multiple SeeDs at once, provided it was not all at the same time and there was a certain minimal distance between those junctioning and/or summoning the beings. No one group could use multiple of one GF, but two groups a city away might both have Ifrit with them. Nida hardly understood it, but it was an accepted truth.
"Honestly, sir, I don't."
"There are only forty. Forty for almost a hundred SeeDs, and hundreds more cadets. Odin was destroyed before we gained Gilgamesh, and neither could be junctioned. Phoenix also cannot be junctioned, and appears rarely at best. We struggle to keep our SeeDs properly equipped with GFs in times of conflict. Veringas says Lost Guardians work differently. They have something that distinguish how they function from how normal GFs do. They are more like those we have. The Zebalgans, were they to possess even half of the Lost Guardians, they would have more than a hundred unique GFs. You see the advantage to this?"
It would mean that the Zebalgans could mass summon GFs with no chance of there being a conflict with another user, while SeeDs had to carefully assign their multiple copies of normal GFs. This would be more than just an advantage, but an overwhelming ability for the Zebalgans to use against SeeD in a wartime situation.
"You mean we could be out gunned, so to speak."
"They have numbers on us, and if they can supplement those numbers with GF enhanced abilities, even SeeD training may not be enough to even the playing field."
"I don't think it will be, sir," Nida sighed, sitting up straighter in his bed. "Joshua... He was good. As good, maybe better than Elijah. He had me on my knees from that cut before I even noticed he picked up the blade. Said something about the way that Zebalgans were trained to fight. Squall... I don't know if we have much of a chance with this."
"That doesn't mean we don't have to try. Besides, there is some good news."
Nida raised an eyebrow in question, and Squall smiled. Well, it wasn't really a smile for most people, just an almost imperceptible curl to his lips.
"During our... conversations with Andria we discovered she was junctioned."
Which could only mean someone had gotten hurt during the process of the 'conversation.' Still, the way that Squall was almost smiling meant it probably wasn't badly, and something good had come from it... The GF.
"Registered?" Nida found himself asking, only to find himself smiling a bit when Squall shook his head.
"It was called Ramuh. From what little we can tell, it's an electric based summon, but we'll be testing it later. If it is something safe to use, then it will be assigned to one of our senior level SeeDs that doesn't have as good of a connection to another GF."
"Any other good news?"
"Andria had admitted to being a part of the group of eight that were seen in that video. The one in the gray robes. And Joshua, while we haven't had it exactly from her lips, may have been the blue."
There wouldn't be a way to prove it unless there was another video where Boyce acknowledged it, and even then it would be questionable, but this was still an achievement. Taking out not one, but two members of what appeared to be the ruling council of the Zebalgans might be something truly to their advantage. Then again, it could be that they were people opposed to Boyce's opinions, which Joshua had obviously been. That then would mean that Boyce had more control over what happened.
"We'll never be able to be sure," Nida said after a minute, though he thought it did explain some of Joshua's willingness to threaten Nida despite Elijah's will.
"No, but it is what it is. I'll be presenting all of this to the others in the morning, and we'll be deciding what to do next."
"Have we learned anything from Lena?"
Squall shook his head. "Not a thing. She's better than Andria at silence."
"And Winhill?"
"We've had a handful of complaints from residents about 'kidnapping' Andria and her guests, but most people seem to believe whatever it was you put around town, and everyone is content for the protection being offered by Esthar. They've even welcomed the soldiers into the village proper, for which Laguna at the least is quite thankful for. He's foolishly considering a visit to the village."
"Genius could get himself killed," Nida sighed, more than willing to sympathize with Squall on this. Laguna could be foolish, and Squall, for how little he admitted it, was often concerned for his father.
"Well... Nida, for now, try to get some sleep. Kadowaki says she is worried about you."
"Squall, please, I... I don't want to sleep. I'm afraid of what I'll see."
"Things from the future, or the past?"
Neither. Both. The recent dream about Elijah, the recent memory of Joshua's head on the ground, bleeding from the neck.
"Yes."
"Tell me about this latest dream Kadowaki mentioned."
"No."
Squall looked a bit shocked by the rejection, almost even ready to say something. Yet the moment passed and Squall shrugged, accepting the words.
"Seifer told me about how you handled Joshua. I'm not sure if I should applaud you for taking out a dangerous enemy, or reprimand you for killing a possible resource."
"Trust me on one thing, Squall," Nida said, casting his eyes once more towards his leg, "Joshua would have given you even less than Lena did. And you'd have more people than me in here, suffering from his damn poison."
This Squall took in stride, just nodding and moving on as easily as he did during any briefing. "As for the way you accomplished it... Well, I am thankful you gave him a kinder death than he would have given you."
"A kinder death?" Nida scoffed. "What is kind about taking a man's head off after nearly slicing his belly open and cutting an eye out of his head? There is no mercy in what I did, Squall. It would have been kinder to give him the poison. At least then he would have had a fighting chance."
Again, Squall took the words in silence, but this time it was with a serious frown.
"Few people these days have cut a man's head off," Squall said a last, his words almost a whisper. "The first time I did I considered quitting SeeD. They don't tell you that a man is still alive for a few seconds after you take his head off. They don't tell you just how much blood there is because the heart doesn't know any better than to pump. They don't tell you that when you meet the person's eyes at first, they can still look back."
They didn't tell you a lot of things when you became a mercenary, but never before had the void seemed so pressing.
"Your Limit is described in your file, Nida. Except the one Seifer saw wasn't the one described. Can you explain that?"
"It varies with weapon," Nida said, unsurprised to hear his voice cracking. "Blades end up like... like that. It's why I either avoid Limits or bladed weapons against people. It isn't so bad against a Ruby Dragon..."
"Indeed," Squall agreed. "Listen, Nida... I need you to get over this. Over the pain, the trauma, the way you seem to distrust me. If we're to get through this, I need you helping us, not fight me. Which means I need you to be willing to do whatever it takes to bring this world back to peace. I didn't ask as much of you in the last war, but... This time I need everything everyone is capable of. And I need it now. Can you do that?"
"I don't know, sir. But I will try."
They weren't innocent anymore. They could never be innocent again. Never. He could see that now. He could also see that he was on the edge of panic. Here, holding the dead body close to him, glaring up at Boyce. Ah, but on the edge of panic there is that moment of clarity. Nida had discovered this, and knew now that the clarity was more likely to break him than the panic itself.
I don't have a chance is what the clarity said, resounding in his head with more force, more certainty than anything Siren ever told him. I could barely stand now if I wanted to, and there is still work to be done.
I can't take it.
And there is blood everywhere. Blood on Nida's hands from the man in his lap. Blood on Nida's weapons from the same, not to mention the pool of spreading blood they lie in. Even blood staining his clothes, some of the man, some of his own, slowly his own life bleeding from him with each highly accelerated beat of his overstrained heart...
There was a moment, but it's gone. I can't do it anymore. Only a miracle...
Nida was granted one, but hardly the one that he sought. The only miracle granted to him was awakening, was being free of the continuation of the dream. Yet it still lingered in his mind, every detail that he could remember. The taste of blood in the air. The feel of the hot fluid seeping into his clothing. The rapidly cooling body in his arms. The sheer panic, the terrifying clarity. Worst of it was that he didn't understand any of it. More than anything the dream had been thoughts and sensations, but not sight. Sure, he'd been able to make out the dark stone underneath him. He'd been able to tell that the vague shape flowing around him was blood. Yet everything else had been obscured, cloaked and wavering in tears that overflowed his eyes. All he could see was red and black in both the floor and the blood. All he'd been able to hear was his own sobs and thoughts. All he'd been able to feel was the too hot blood, the pain, and the coolness of a skin deprived of blood.
Yet there had been no smoke, no fog. Something in what he saw was absolute, undeniable, beckoning to him across the flow of time. It screamed that he couldn't escape, couldn't hope, couldn't run.
"Good morning Nida," Kadowaki's voice came from his elbow, and Nida fought back the tears that threatened to flow over even in the waking world.
When he looked up he saw that her attention was not on him, but rather the machine at his side. Apparently some time after he had fallen asleep, Kadowaki had returned to the infirmary and reconnected the machine to take more data on the off chance that Nida did dream something. Well, maybe this would be useful in some way, maybe Odine would even find some way to block the dreams out.
Ah, but who was he kidding? Odine would sooner come up with an argument that would earn him Nida as a permanent test subject than stop him from having the dreams. Damn bastard clown.
"Seems you had another dream. Care to talk about it?"
Instead of answering, Nida sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Kadowaki turned to look at him for a moment, then just shook her head and gestured towards the chair that Nida had last seen Squall in. Someone had taken the time to fetch Nida some clean clothes, and once Kadowaki removed herself from the area and pulled the curtain around to isolate the bed, Nida happily pulled on the clothes. The slacks itched horribly against the leg Joshua had cut, but Nida ignored that as he pulled on the white button-up that had been left to him, a nice change from the tight collars of the SeeD uniform.
It was nice to be in his own clothes again, though Nida quickly enough realized why he had been given his own casual things rather than a new uniform. It was all the better for Squall to distance him from his position as a SeeD, a quiet punishment Nida deserved for what he had done in the last few days. Soon enough people would come around and Nida would be allowed to be in uniform again, though it was likely that the uniform would have to be made new. Nida had ruined all of his uniforms recently, so time would have to be given until a new set in his size could be made. Still, at least this was something other than the hospital gown Kadowaki had given him upon his arrival to the infirmary.
"Take care of yourself, Nida," Kadowaki said as he pushed through the curtain and limped towards the infirmary doorway.
Nida didn't even make it three steps through the door before Seifer was at his side, the blond already back in his own casual clothes. Chances were that Squall had Seifer on punishment as well, temporarily suspending him without removing his duty to watch over Nida. Luckily, Seifer's casual clothes had changed a bit since the last war, and the gray trench coat was no where in sight, replaced instead by a simpler white coat with Seifer's signature red sword-cross only very lightly visible at the wrists as small bits of embroidery.
"I guess you've already heard the news from the Doc," Seifer said, falling into step beside Nida. Well, not quite in step because every third or so step Nida found himself limping a little. Still, Seifer tried, and Nida had to give him points for it.
"No, from Squall last night," Nida said, focusing on the walk and willing the pain in his leg to go away.
"Last night? No one found the body until this morning."
That, not the tingling pain, made Nida all but trip over his own feet, saved from sprawling out on the floor only by Seifer's quick reactions and willingness to catch him.
"Body? What body? Who..."
"Andria. They found her dead this morning. One of the guard SeeDs came in this morning to deliver her breakfast. Found her in bed, looking almost... I think the word she used was 'serene.' Apparently she was poisoned at some point in the night. Weird thing is that no one had been in to see her all evening, not since Squall left. People think someone slipped something into her food. Kitchen staff prepared it with two SeeDs watching over them, so we don't think it happened there. The SeeDs who carried it to the guards say they didn't do it, and the same with the guards who took it in. No one knows what happened."
"Surely there are security tapes that could explain it," Nida offered, though obviously there wasn't if they didn't know what happened. Either that or Xu had only found out herself and was still working with the detailed analysis of the tapes.
Seifer shook his head and sighed as he helped Nida stand on his own again. "Someone or something killed the security system last night after Squall left."
It was all Nida could do not to swear. If he had then that would have been attention he wasn't putting on walking, which was really the more pressing issue at hand right now.
"To be honest, I have to wonder what it is that Squall told you which we haven't been gifted with yet. Must have been important if you thought it was the news I was talking about, but lower on the crisis list than what Squall's already told us this morning. Still, you'll tell me what it is, right?"
Nida shook his head. What was and wasn't his place to tell was no longer something so easily figured out. Better to let Squall do whatever he planned and just follow him obediently. It was easier that way, wasn't it? Easier than thinking, acting, even remembering. Surely it had to be better to be a mindless soldier than a commander who had to think. Responsibility didn't really come down upon you then, did it?
"Hey, you there Nida? You're kind of zoning out on me. And I don't think either of us want me to have to carry you to the meeting because of it."
"Do it and I'll make sure you regret it," Nida hissed, snapping back to attention, trying to ignore the resurgence of the most recent dream.
"See, now that is more of what I wanted to hear. Come on. The others are sure to be waiting for our amazing presences to grace them."
"Somehow I doubt that, Seifer. Last time I checked, Zell still wanted to deck you, Irvine still wanted to shoot me, and Squall was pissed at us both for insubordination."
"Well, two of those are right. Last meeting I was at Irvine was more regarding you than homicidal. Maybe it was the pity from you being poisoned and all of that. In fact, a lot of the 'Orphanage Gang,' as Selphie likes to say, are thinking you might not be so much with the Zebalgans after my report on Joshua's behavior and the whole poison thing. You've become more of an objective to some of them. Sorta like 'protect this object until otherwise ordered' sort of deal."
"Wonderful. Just what I needed, to stop being a person in their eyes."
"Oh no, you're still a person, even a friend to a few of them. You're just an important person that must be protected."
"So I'm going to be part of the biggest protection contract SeeD has ever taken, not to mention part of a war."
Seifer nodded, grinning that damn annoying grin of his. "Couldn't have put it better myself. Still, you're not out of hot water yet. Neither of us are. Apparently Squall had a video conference with the Inter-Garden Council last night. About what is to be done with you."
"Great, so my fate may be in the hands of several SeeDs I've never met, Headmasters I'll never know, andI likely have only Cid Kramer and Squall in my defense? Can't you just shoot me now?"
"Nida... If I wanted you dead, you'd already have been dead several times over by now, don't you think?"
"Yeah, but I don't have to like it."
"No, you never do," Seifer agreed, starting them again in the direction of the elevator. "There is never anything worth liking in a war. Not even yourself."
Horribly enlightened words from Almasy. Those, on top of Squall's from last night, well... None of this was really going to go anywhere near as well as anyone could have hoped for.
"Hyne, let no new problems crop up before we get there. I'd rather take them sitting down," Nida said at last, which got a sigh from Seifer.
"Haven't you ever learned anything, Nidulus? Never hope that bad things won't happen. It's the quickest way to make sure that they do."
"Well, so long as they don't happen to me, I think I can put up with it."
"We'll see."
"Anyone else feel like the world is out to screw us?" Zell sighed. The blond looked just about as tired as Nida felt, which meant he looked like shit. Well, honestly, that was being kind. Apparently between watching over Nida and the murder the blond hadn't gotten much of a chance for sleep.
In fact, no one really looked like they had managed much sleep, save Squall. Nida was pretty sure that Squall could go days on only potions and still look as if he'd had eight hours. Selphie lacked her usual perkiness and for once was sitting still in her seat. Irvine had abandoned his hat, and Nida could see the way his eyes were all but bloodshot. Xu's head was nodding regularly, falling closer and closer to sleep. Quistis was the one who looked worst, though. Her clothes were disheveled, her hair falling out of its clips, and almost looking a little pale as well. Seifer, likely as not, was the only one who had gotten a real night's rest.
"No, but I do have the nagging suspicion that there is a plot to cut into your beauty sleep, Chicken," Seifer said, smirking. "And boy could you use it. So, apparently your hair defying gravity isn't natural. Who would have thought."
For a second there was the usual righteous indignation in Zell's eyes, but it quickly faded from the fatigue.
"Only you could sleep through these crises," Irvine snapped at Seifer, but the blond only smiled in response.
"At this rate the Zebalgans are going to win by superior amount of sleep alone," Selphie agreed, moving her head to rest upon the cushion of her arms on the table.
"A sound strategy if I've ever heard one," Quistis agreed.
"They aren't going to win that way," Nida sighed. "They'll whittle away at our forces with their superior numbers, destroy our best with deceit and poison, and laugh while they are at it."
That brought the eyes of the others in the room to Nida, most of them looking on in shock. Apparently a side effect of the not sleeping enough was that they had already forgotten that they had been shocked to see him escorted in by Seifer. Really, could they be blamed when he had spent the better part of the last two days in the infirmary.
"How's your leg?" Selphie finally asked, breaking the silence that occasionally wove itself into the room as Squall was working to get all his papers in order and everything prepared for the briefing.
"Stings," Nida admitted, rubbing at his leg. "But that doesn't matter. There are far more important things at work here."
"Such as? Other than Andria being dead?" Quistis asked.
"Lena was found dead about ten minutes ago," Squall announced, finally inserting himself into the conversation. "We've lost both of our sources of information."
"Fuck," Zell hissed, almost slamming his fist into the table. Just before the contact, though, he remembered himself and pulled the punch.
"That seals it," Seifer said with a sigh, moving to put his feet upon the table. "We've got someone on their side in Garden."
"As much as I hate it, I agree," Squall said, shaking his head. "Kadowaki hasn't had the time to examine her yet, but she believes the poison is the same."
"So we've not only got a traitor, but a poisoner. Great levels of cowardice there."
The words weren't a shock, nor the sentiment behind them. What really put Nida off guard was the fact that it came from Selphie. She was normally so kind, so accepting, so willing to defend even enemies until they proved themselves unworthy. For her to be against the person from the start was unheard of.
"Regardless, more care has to be taken if we take more prisoners," Squall continued. "We did manage, though, to acquire some knowledge from Andria before her death."
Most of the people around the table seemed to perk up at this. Nida, though, doubted there would be anything more than he had heard the night before.
"it seems that Andria, like the others in the group of the eight robed people, had a specific set of responsibilities. These are, as Nida earlier suggested, tied to their robe colors. A portion of the average Zebalgans are assigned as part of the groups of colors. Boyce's white symbolizes his role not only as a supposed descendant of the ancient king, but also as the leader of the people and head general. Elijah's red marks him as a combat specialist and assassin. She wouldn't confirm whether Joshua was a member of the council or not, but we believe he was."
"That was all you learned? Color roles that may or may not be true?" Xu demanded, looking more frustrated than Nida would have expected.
Squall shook his head. "She wouldn't offer the other members of the council, but she did give what the symbolism of the colors were. Andria's own role, gray if you are curious, was that of archivist and historian. No one apparently knew their histories better, or more information on how the group was organized. Whether this is true or not we do not know, but we have obviously lost an important resource. Lena as well. She was apparently a gray. Still we know that black represents strategists, yellow are researchers and specialists, blue are espionage and recon, green are combat training and military leaders, and brown is for a variety of tasks, such as establishing supply lines, dealing with construction, and other tasks."
"And there is no way to figure out who does what without them telling us?" Quistis asked.
Squall shook his head. "This was all we were able to get before her death. Apparently, though, the eight council members were all stationed in different places, meant to exert control over regions, gain power and influence, and observe what was happening. Boyce in Trabia, Elijah in Balamb, and Andria in Winhill. If Joshua represented Galbadia, then we will likely find some leaders in Dollet, Timber, Esthar, and Fisherman's Horizon."
"Not likely," Irvine cut in. "A Single man responsible for all of Esthar is understandable, there is little outside of the city. But Galbadia... Between all of the small towns and villages, cities, Deling City itself, and the Garden... No way. I'd say it's more likely that there is a second person in Galbadia than, say, FH."
"I have to agree," Seifer said, frowning. "What we took Galbadia, we had to assign a second officer just to deal with the Deling area when we moved on to the Garden. It's too hard to control otherwise. And honestly, it's probably more important for them to have representatives in the Gardens and major cities."
"Before Trabia Garden was attacked, it was pretty large as well," Selphie agreed. "I bet Boyce was responsible just for the Garden."
"While there is no way to be sure, we will keep this in mind," Squall said, shuffling his papers. "Unfortunately there is little more we know now that we have lost Andria."
"Yeah, too bad we don't have one of those history and knowledge specialists ourselves," Zell said, running a hand through his hair. "It'd be cool if we knew more about the Zebalgans and all that."
The whole room grew silent, and even Nida found his eyes drawn to Zell. It was a stupid idea, but stupid enough to be something worth considering. Was it possible that some old college professor or something specialized in the history of the lost Zebalgan peoples? One that wasn't a Zebalgan themselves? Surely there were old records left behind by other cultures, things that might give them some sort of clues. Things that might give them some way to know how they would act, or even where these people might set up a base.
"You know what, Chicken," Seifer said, taking his feet from the table and smiling as he leaned over the table, staring hard at Zell. "You might have had the stupidest good idea ever."
"It might work," Quistis agreed. "I'll start searching for historians after the meeting."
"Nida can help you," Squall offered, and Nida was just thankful that someone at least was going to let him work in some way. "Now, to move on. Doctor Kadowaki recently got in contact with an Esthari researcher named Veringas. What he had to say was rather interesting..."
Holding back a yawn, Nida leaned back in his chair. This at least was a part he had already heard, and the struggle now would be to stay awake, not letting the old information bore him into a dream he couldn't handle right now. There was no way Nida wanted to see that horrible dream again, much less more of it. If someone was going to die, it was better for him not to know who.