Author's Notes: Again, written just before it was posted. I've kind of gotten all involved with my graduate studies and tending to my new home. It's interesting listing in Tucson, because right now it feels like late spring. It's amazing. But honestly, time to get back to the story.
Hyne's War: Chapter 16
"Coffee," Nida said, holding out a steaming mug to Veringas as he sat in one of the empty chairs in the living room. It seemed like half a life-time ago when he had been held in this very room, slowly deprived of anything that could have been a weapon. Now here he sat, a mug of scalding hot coffee in hand and sitting with a man who could restore to him the ability to junction. How could it only have been a few days?
"I thank you," the man said, taking the coffee when offered, but never looking up from the the coffee table.
A small collection of silver charms were arrayed on the table, laid out there by Veringas as Nida had been preparing coffee. The charms were made of different gauges of silver wire and a variety of silver beads, and they looked to be in various stages of completion. Some of the charms evoked very specific ideas, such as one which seemed to call to mind a simple snowflake. Others were too vague for Nida to identify, like a series of spiraling lines with beads upon them at odd intervals. Yet the one which held Nida's attention the most was a miniature harp that Nida recognized as the one that Siren bore. This charm, like only two others, seemed to be giving off a pale blue light much like that of Squall's Lionheart.
"That is Siren," Veringas said, causing Nida to look up from the silver harp.
"Yes, that is definitely her harp," Nida agreed. "Whoever made this is quite the artist..."
"I thank you for the compliment. It is a bit of a hobby of mine, which I find has adapted itself well to my research."
"Research?" Nida asked, not sure whether he should be more shocked at the leading scholar on GFs was also a bit of a jewelry maker.
"As I said, that harp is Siren. The essence of her is within the metal and beads. This is a manner I devised for the storing of Guardians without Junctioning them. I hope that this will prove to be a way with SeeDs can carry GFs without constant Junctioning damaging their memory," Veringas said. "You can tell is the charm is occupied by the sheen the metal takes on when they go into charm. It can take months to find a form that is pleasing to a Class 1 GF, longer to find it for a Class 2, and I have only just acquired a Class 3 to try and create one for. Anything higher than that, I do not even know how I could come to create something to please those."
Nida frowned and sipped at his coffee, using it to buy him some time to think. In only a few minutes Veringas had managed to challenge Nida's way of thinking about GFs. He knew that they could be junctioned upon anyone with training, and could even reside within the minds of men and monsters who didn't even realize the creature were present. There were even circumstances where GFs could be found taking on physical forms, such as Squall and the others had found of Bahamut, Tonberry King, and a few others. Yet, when he thought of it, there had been a few items that GFs had been found to be bonded to. Doomtrain and the Ring of Solomon, Diablos and the Magic Lamp, and Phoenix and the Pinions. Still, from what he understood, once the GFs had been called out been called from the items, they did not return to them. Still, Veringas was suggesting that they could store any GFs into these silver charms?
"What do you mean by classes of GFs?" Nida asked, latching onto a simpler topic.
"Ah, yes, sometimes I forget that others are either not aware of, or do not abide by my own classification systems. I have, in the past year, set out to sort the GFs I have worked with into classes which describe not only their relative power levels, but other factors such as ability to be summoned, junctioned, or manifest physical forms of their own accord. Siren, in the manifestation which has been given over to my care by the SeeD Commander, is a Class 2 GF. In fact, most of those GFs under the control of the senior level SeeDs here in Balamb are Class 2 or higher. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me begin with Class 1 GFs. Class 1 is comprised of those GFs which are not, in all truth, genuine GFs. A majority of those GFs controlled by the Gardens are Class 1."
This time Nida froze, his mug of coffee halfway to his mouth. "Wait, are you saying that we don't even control as many GFs as we think?"
"No, not exactly. The Gardens have the number of GFs they say they have, but they do not, in truth, have that many. A majority of those GFs which are controlled by Garden are, as you know, of limited strength when compared to others. For instance, if the form of Shiva that is controlled by your Commander were to be compared to any of those controlled by other SeeDs, you would deem his a far stronger force. His form of Shiva doesn't have the summoning limitations other Shivas have, for his is the true Shiva, a Class 2 GF. Those controlled by the others are actually mimicries of the true Shiva. Some of these mimicries were created in my work with Odine many years ago, others just seem to manifest within the possession of monsters or people. These Class 1 GFs are not as strong, cannot enhance abilities quite so powerfully as a higher level, true GF can, and as they lack the intelligence of higher class GFs, I hypothesize that they do not damage the memory in the same manner.
"Class 1 GFs are thus, easier to acquire and work with than other GFs, and are the main reason why my theory of how and why GFs damage long term memory is often discounted. There is a vast difference, though, between a Class 2 GF and a Class 1, a far wider gap than there is between any other levels. Class 2 Guardians are self-aware, intelligent truly, and can physically manifest outside of battles, though they are not as prone to it as Class 3. Shiva, Ifrit, Siren, these are all examples of such a level of GFs, and they are all capable of damaging the memories of those who junction them. This is because the whole essence of a GF's own mind must exist within a junctioner's mind, and they take up the place where there is the most room for them: the place where memory resides."
"I can at least attest to some of the intelligence of GFs," Nida said, and even as he spoke he could see Veringas's face light up. "During some of my training sessions with the other SeeDs, we used our GFs to keep the time on our competitions. Each of us would direct our GFs to tell us when a certain amount of time had passed, and they were often more reliable than clocks or other things."
"And they speak to you, in your minds?" the researcher prompted, obviously eager to learn more.
"Yes, but always simply. They don't talk much."
"I think that is only because the SeeDs haven't reached out to them, and I believe you should. That is why I asked for a SeeD and the GF they were most closely bonded with, and why I was given you and Siren. I am also here to research the Class 3 GF that was acquired from the Zebalgans."
"What is the difference between Class 3 and Class 2?"
"Class 3 GFs, like Bahamut, can actively manifest outside of battle for extended periods of time, and don't seem to fully need bonding to a human or monster to thrive. They are some of the more physically and magically powerful creatures. I believe a majority of the Lost Guardians are also Class 3 GFs, which no mimicries can be made of. As for Class 4, these are those spirits like Phoenix, Gilgamesh, and other GFs which cannot be junctioned, yet I fear my divisions are flawed, and that some which I would mark as Class 3s are Class 4s. Eden, for instance, is one of those which I suspect of this. But that is hardly something I care to discuss as this point, it is a pet theory that needs more revision. My work with you has another purpose. I wish to build the connection between a Guardian and one junctioning them. I believe that building such bonds might be useful in allowing more effective use of GFs."
"I'm not quite sure I understand what you want," Nida admitted, shaking his head, "but if the Commander thinks I can assist you then I will do my best for you, Doctor Veringas."
The man chuckled, and set aside his coffee. Smile in place he picked up the faintly glowing silver harp and threaded it onto a simple metal chain. With that done he held the two out to Nida, a knowing look in his eyes.
"I believe you have this wrong, Nida. This was not arranged as it was between the Commander and myself solely that I might have assistance with my research, or that he might have the benefit of whatever I discover. You in particular were chosen so that this could be given to you."
Leave it to Squall to find another way to protect Nida, all in a manner that no one could truly protest. Still, this was by far the method that Nida preferred. Seifer's protection had been useful, but there was really nothing quite like the strength and comfort that Siren's presence offered him. While she wasn't as good as some other GFs for boosting his personal abilities, but she had other benefits. Siren boosted his relatively meager magic skill, heightened his senses—through an ability called 'Move-Find' but referred to by SeeDs as 'Search'—and she always came quickly to his call. It was like having another SeeD at his side, but one who always offered him a sense of welcome and devotion.
"The Commander told me that this was the GF that you are most closely bonded with. I require such a close connection for my research, but he felt that it would also serve as a line of protection for you."
"Yes," Nida agreed, carefully placing the necklace over his head, and unable to do anything but smile as he felt a strange, tingling warmth from the metal even through his shirt. "I was not exposed to her until after the war, and she was only placed in my care for a SeeD practical exam. I was to work with the GF and small collection of random spells I was given to deal with a staged situation. My examiners were shocked when I found myself forced to summon, and Siren responded to my call only a breath after I took up the summoning. Squall said it was the best initial bond he'd ever seen from a pair. Now I can call her forth almost as quickly as Squall can Shiva..."
"I was initially hoping to work with him, of course," Veringas admitted. "Even though I have been working with little interaction with the outside world, even I had managed to hear of the bond your Commander has for the Ice Queen. I admit when I first derived the method of summoning, I never expected to find a situation where a GF would leap forth almost before their summoner could finish framing the call within their mind."
"Squall is..." Nida hesitated for a moment, unsure how to put what he was thinking into words. "Unique."
"I must agree with you there. Still, I believe that current revelations mark you as worthy of the word as him, and your bond with Siren is comparable from my understanding. We shall work together well, the three of us.
Nida smiled and raised his mug of coffee in a brief toast, which Veringas was more than happy to oblige him in.
Behind you, my hawk. They come.
Nida whirled on his heels, bringing his paired tambo up before him, one close enough to his body to take any blows, the other out enough to move into any position he might need. No sooner had he taken up his stance than he felt the brush of air that came only a hair before the blow. Yet the blow didn't land on one of his metal tambo which would have rather harmlessly absorbed the strike. Instead he got the hit full in the shoulder and flinched away.
"Hyne!" Nida hissed in pain, stumbling back a bit and lifting one hand still holding a tambo to rub his shoulder. "Do you have to hit so hard?"
"How else will you ever learn?" was the question asked in response, and the voice behind it was the all too familiar and all too smug one that Nida knew to be Seifer's. It was, at least, a kind of answer, and even told him which of the two he was facing had dealt the blow. While he'd expected that it wasn't Selphie, the blindfold he was wearing did enough to make it hard to tell her nunchaku from the heavy wooden gunblade that Seifer was using.
"You should be a bit nicer," Selphie said, coming to Nida's defense, though he could only barely hear her through the earplugs he had on. "I don't think you'd be able to do any better than he has."
I cannot see Ifrit having the patience needed to teach his wolf pup how to respond properly, nor do I believe that the pup can put the faith needed into his Guardian at this point, a sweet, near-musical voice echoed in Nida's head. It was the same voice which had tried to warn him of the attack, the same that he had heard countless times before lifted in a song that blended with harp music and left all that heard it speechless.
Hers was a voice he had heard more and more in the three days since Veringas had come to Garden, and one that he reveled in the sound of. Before Veringas had set Nida to the various tasks that his research entailed, Nida had rarely ever heard the voice of Siren in his mind. Now, though, he had no doubt that what the scientist had said about the sentience and sheer level of intelligence of the GFs was utterly true. Already Nida had indulged in late night conversations with the ethereal woman as he lay in his bed at night, too afraid to go to sleep lest he dream.
"Siren agrees," Nida said, more than willing to share the GF's words with Selphie. It helped that he could justify the choice with the fact that Veringas was sitting nearby, taking notes on everything, even the GF's words when Nida offered them. Veringas had taken particular interest to the GF's opinions on the current experiment, but he was always eager for Siren's observations on other people and Guardians. For some reason her nicknames for those she encountered always put a pensive look on Veringas's face and led to some hasty scribbling of notes.
"Yeah, and I'm going to believe that wasn't just something you..." Seifer started to say, but Nida lost the rest as the gunblader trailed off. The earplugs meant he couldn't hear half of what he was used to.
He has trailed off, I believe, because Ifrit is more than willing to agree with me upon this topic, Siren offered. As competitive as he is, Ifrit must admit that my ability to act through you is greater than his to act through the wolf. What is more, he is unwilling to reveal the fact that my abilities to sense things outside of myself are far superior to his.
While Nida only had Siren's word for it, he was more than happy to put his faith into Siren on this. The very purpose of this experiment was to see how well Siren could sense things that the person she was paired with couldn't, and to see how well she could pass on instructions from what she sensed. It helped, Nida supposed, that he was used to the heightened sight and hearing that she offered him, and thus to reacting to the slightest sounds. Yet Siren was almost impressing him with how quickly she was picking up on how to direct him. The fact that in the whole thirty minutes that they had been fighting like this Siren had gone from barely being able to figure out how to direct Nida to directing him such that he got hurt only one attack out of every three.
Give me credit, little hawk. I had not been called upon to do such a thing in quite some time. I must adjust. Consider going from barely rousing yourself from sleep each day to being called upon to perform high end theoretical math in a ten minute period. Such is how I feel. In time I will make a suitable companion for you.
The only disadvantage to this whole thing was the fact that Siren was now privy to all of his thoughts, private or not, and she was not beyond putting her opinions forth at every possible opportunity.
Surely it cannot be a bad thing to have someone to keep you company as I do, Siren said, a sad edge to her voice.
I am glad of the company, he admitted, specifically framing the thoughts for her, but you're a dreadful gossip with no one to gossip with. I've never really been the kind of person to enjoy that kind of thing.
I'll cure you of that silliness yet, my hawk.
Nida sighed and shook his head, finally reaching up to push his blindfold from his eyes. "Guys, I'm getting a bit sore from all of this. Would you mind taking a break?"
"I need some time to set my notes together," Veringas said as Nida removed his earplugs. "You may all take time as you need it."
"Well, I for one was impressed, Nida," Selphie said, coming over to take Nida's tambo so that he could remove the padded training clothes that they had given him. "How were you doing it?"
"It wasn't me. Well, not only me. I was mainly just reacting to what Siren told me."
"It must be so awesome to be able to speak with your GFs!" Selphie said as she held out her arms to accept the training clothes. "Quez and Carbie never talk to me. How not fair!"
I almost pity her, Siren said, chuckling. If you think that I'm prone to talking, you should see Carbuncle. Once that one awakens I expect you will see him shadowing Selphie everywhere, and her going on like a gossipy starling.
Shadowing Selphie?
Have you not been taking the Wise One's words to heart? Siren asked, and Nida knew that she had to be referring to Veringas. The man would be happy to know Siren's newly given nickname for him. We can manifest outside of combat you know. We do not take on truly physical forms, but rather what you would see as shadows of ourselves. We are there, but you can see through us.
I'm beginning to wonder whether it is worth it to make the kind of connections necessary with GFs...
Oh my dear hawk, surely you do not mean that.
After a moment of thought, Nida knew he had to agree with that. Even the short time he had been able to connect with Siren had been worthwhile. Her constant presence, whether she was junctioned or resting in the silver charm Veringas had given him, was reassuring, and it was nice to have someone who would not judge him to speak to about the things he was too afraid to speak of. About Elijah, about the Zebalgans, about the dreams that even now wouldn't let him be.
If you want, I can try to keep the dreams from you, Siren offered, and it was not the first time that she had done so. The first time had been the very first night that Veringas had returned Siren to him. Nida had been woken by the same dream which had horrified him in the infirmary, of kneeling in an ever growing pool of blood, and her voice had gently floated into his mind, soothing like Daphne's was when he was a child. He'd been too unnerved by the voice, too sure that it was something he was only imagining to accept the offer then, but now...
No, Nida said, almost tempted to shake his head to reinforce the word, but what would it serve to do such a thing? They are too important. If these dreams really can show me the truth of the future, I can't just hide from them, no matter how much I may want to. I need to be able to know if something truly dangerous is coming.
Yet they pain you so greatly...
True enough, but it wasn't something Nida wanted to fight about right now. Not when there were other people around who were already giving him weird looks. Likely as not he was getting what Selphie called 'that foggy look' on his face that happened when he was deep in conversation with Siren. If he spoke with the GF too long, they might want to know just what it was that Siren was being so vocal about, and Nida wasn't really in the mood to share that. Even now that the others knew of his dreams they hardly felt like something he wanted to share, at least he didn't feel like the recent ones were. There was something pressingly private about them, and even if there hadn't been he would have been afraid that there would be pointless speculation over who the person in his dream was. That was hardly the kind of speculation that he wanted to deal with.
"If you'll all forgive me," Nida said with a sigh, "I think I could use some lunch. This whole thing is kind of..."
The excuse died on his lips as the demanding shouts of the Garden's alert system came to life, its mechanical siren sliding up and down its scale unrelentingly. Nida cast only the briefest of looks towards the other three with him, catching the combined recognition and concern in their expressions, before throwing himself in a run towards the exit of the training center, clutching his tambo tightly as he did so. There was no time to hesitate, no time to hope that a voice would come on over the PA system to explain what had prompted the alarm. All he could do was search out Squall, and hope that he or one of the other senior SeeDs would know what to do.