1 Year ago...
Squall eyed the guard to Caraway's mansion with disdain. "Are you serious? We're trying to plot the assassination of one of the worlds most powerful political leaders, where time is of the essence, and you want us to find the ID number of a god damn student stupid enough to go grave digging?"
"Hey look pal," the guard said, annoyance on his face. "My orders came from general Caraway himself. He told me, to tell you, that you need to go to the Tomb of the Unknown King and find the missing student's ID number."
The mercenary looked around briefly at the relatively empty streets. "You know I could shoot you right now and I don't think many people would care." The guard backpedaled slowly as Squall stepped nearer.
"Woah Squall, take it easy man," said Zell suddenly, putting a hand on his leader's shoulder, only to quickly remove it at the glare he received. "Right, sorry, no touching. Seriously though, he's probably got fifty people just like him at his beck and call. We'd be killing them all day." The guard was shaking now as the small group continued discussing his death with casual ease.
With a visible effort, Squall calmed himself, letting his anger relax. "You!" He barked at the guard who reflexively stood at attention. "Stay right here. I'll be back." The guard nodded quickly.
Spying a pay phone in the vicinity, Squall walked over and inserted some Gil, punching in the number for Balamb garden. After a couple rings, the other end picked up. "Balamb Garden, how may I direct your call?"
"Squall Leonhart, code named Lion Heart. Identification number 289. Could you put me through to headmaster Cid please?"
"Certainly Mr. Leonhart. One moment please." A few chords of hold music followed.
"This is Cid. What can I help you with Squall?"
"Sorry to bother you headmaster, but I was wondering if you could do me a favor."
"If it's in my power to help, I will."
"There was a student who got himself killed in the Tomb of the Unknown King a while back. I was wondering if you could tell me his ID number."
"Sure thing. Any special reason you need to know this though?"
"Let's just say it'll make this mission go a lot faster."
All of Squall's party and Caroway's guard swetdropped as he hung up the phone a second later and walked back to the guard.
"The student's number is 175. Satisfied?" His eyes dared the man to say otherwise.
"I don't think that's quite what he-"
"SATISFIED?" An aura was beginning to become visible now.
"P-p-please. Go on in sir!"
Present Time...
Despite having fled from an erupting volcano on the back of a fire demon, Squall's group had emerged relatively unscathed. Zell had received the worst of it, having had to keep an entire legion of fiends at bay while the others had battled, but his new junction to Ifrit had ensured a swift recovery and increased heat resistence.
In the meantime, the volcano erupting on Balamb Island had caused a huge amount of paperwork. Forest fires had to be put out, huge clouds of ash were currently obscuring the sun, Balamb Garden needed a new SeeD examination course, and Cid had apparently found a lead.
"So what exactly is this?"
"It's a lamp," said Cid simply.
"I know it's a lamp. Why are you showing me this?" Asked Squall impatiently.
"It's something that I meant to give to you before you left for Timber but I accidentally misplaced it."
Squall sighed. "Look, unless it's going to produce a magic genie that we can use to wish this entire conflict away, I still don't see how this is going to help us."
"It's not a magic lamp," protested Cid, "It's a cursed magic lamp."
The SeeD shrugged. "So it's an evil genie then. Again, how does this help us?"
"I think there might be a guardian in here."
That perked Squall's interest. "How can you be sure?"
"I was digging through some old records on the guardians that were used here in the past before we started rotating Quetzacotl, Shiva and Ifrit," he explained, picking up a file on top of his desk. He handed it to Squall who began reading.
"It says there that at one point NORG was using a Guardian known as Diablos, but the first SeeD soldiers that tried to use it were violently rejected."
'Yeah, Diablos always was kind of an asshole," chimed in Siren.
'Hey! Don't speak about him behind his back like that," protested Shiva.
'Hey, you were thinking it too.'
"After the third SeeD was put into a coma," continued Cid, unaware of the mental conversation going on, "They confined him to a prison of some sort. There weren't any details provided, but we can probably assume that this lamp is the key."
Squall put the file down with a nod. "Diablos huh? Don't think I ever ran into his body on my travels. What do you two think?" The question was directed at Shiva and Siren.
"It's possible that his spirit and body remained whole throughout the imprisonment," said Siren, appearing in a bright flash next to Squall.
A mini ice tornado swept up on Squall's right, heralding the arrival of Shiva. "I agree. Unless the guardian allows it, there's no way a normal human could junction themselves to a complete guardian. Probably explains why it hurt the ones who tried."
Squall stared at the lamp intently. "So you're telling me that this lamp contains the devil, known for his hatred of human beings and traumatizing of the ones that tried to bond with him, correct?"
Shiva was silent for a minute. "Yeah, that about sums it up."
The SeeD tossed the lamp back onto the table. "I think I'll let this one sit a while."
Siren looked shocked. "Why?"
"Hey, he ain't going anywhere. Besides, we don't know anyone who could junction him successfully. Never mind that he's opposed to junctioning in the first place."
"Makes sense I suppose," said Shiva hesitantly. "Do we have any other leads?" This question was directed at Cid.
The headmaster sighed. "Not as many as I'd like. I've been digging through a lot of old documents lately that NORD had previously hidden from me. There are scattered reports of some sort of research center which was experimenting with powerful guardians, but the location was top secret. There's also a few reports of some Esthar labs running tests as well, but nothing solid."
Squall looked over the large world map spread out over the wall, tiny pins indicating where the located guardians had been found. "At least three of these guardians were stolen from our enemies during our trips. Edea briefly gave Carbuncle to Seifer before I beat him up and took it from him. Fuijin was using Pandemonium for a time before I beat him up, NORG was junctioned with Leviathan when I fought him, and Edea was using Alexander."
Cid nodded thoughtfully. "I don't know about Carbuncle, but Leviathan and Pandemonium have been here a long time. I can probably pull up the records on them and get a clue to their locations. Quetzacotl too now that I think about it. Edea would be more than happy to provide information about Carbuncle and Alexander as well."
"And if there really are only sixteen primary guardians to worry about, then that leaves seven unaccounted for," finished Squall. "Chances are that at least one GF will be at the Deep Sea Research Center, and with our luck it will be the most powerful one of the bunch."
Siren blinked. "Deep Sea? How did you come to that conclusion?"
Squall shrugged. "Simple. I've been all over the world on foot. If there was any place to hide a research center, it'd either be deep underground, or somewhere in the middle of the sea." Taking a pin from the board, he stuck it in the middle of the biggest ocean.
"Who do you think it is?" asked Shiva, peering over his shoulder.
"Bahamut," he said simply. "The most dangerous guardian known to man. They probably secluded the laboratory to make sure that the mainland wouldn't be affected if they lost control of them. Thoughtful of them really."
"It's a sound theory," provided Cid, "but I don't think we have the resources or time necessary to make an expedition to the middle of the sea based on a theory. Not to mention I don't like Balamb's chances against an irate imprisoned dragon."
Squall waved him off. "I'd rather fight Diablo naked then go after the king of dragons without sufficient backup. Besides, I can't even start looking for it until the Ragnarock is repaired."
Cid sat down, leaning back in his chair with a sigh. "So where does that leave us then?"
"I found Shiva in the middle of an ice storm near Shumi Village. Ifrit was in the middle of an active volcano. I can't be certain, but it seems to me that the guardian's spirits are drawn to wherever their element is strongest."
"What about me then?" asked Siren cutely.
"You don't have an element," dismissed Squall. "Finding you was just dumb luck."
"How rude." Squall nearly jumped as he felt a pair of warm arms wrap around his neck from behind. "Finding me is the best kind of luck," she purred in his ear, sending shivers down his spine, making him distinctly aware of her generous assets pressed into his back.
The mercenary tried to shrug of Siren's embrace, but the woman was stronger than she looked. Finally, Shiva came to his aid, grabbing her cousin in a headlock and prying her off the helpless SeeD. "Flirt with the pretty boy later cuz. We're doing important world saving business right now."
Siren pouted but relented. "You never let me have any fun."
Squall gave a light cough, trying to dismiss the scene as nothing relevant. "Anyways, if we assume that someone like Quetzacotl is drawn to electricity, it stands to reason he'd be in or around the technological epicenter of the world, Esthar."
"That's not exactly an easy trip for this garden either," said Cid cautiously.
Squall dismissed this comment too. "That's okay. I was thinking of something a bit closer to home." Picking up another pin, he stuck it squarely on the map.
"The tomb of the unknown king?" said Cid, puzzlement clear on his face. "Who were you planning on finding there?"
"The Brothers," said Squall, moving back to the front of Cid's desk. "About a year ago, Caroway tried to send me on a mission to find the ID of some stupid kid who got himself killed there. At the time, I was a little pissed off so I just called you to find the ID number and get access."
Cid remembered. That had been a rather odd phone call.
Squall rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Of course, later I learned that he was trying to send me there to subdue a GF for my mission, but I didn't care at the time." He shook his head. "But that's not important now. The Brothers are of the element earth. The tomb is one of the last ancient catacombs still standing. It stands to reason that the Brothers would be drawn to an earthen tomb. We might not find the spirit there, but at least we can find the body."
Cid nodded thoughtfully. "And for a trip like that, you could just take the train from Balamb and not have to worry about moving the garden around. Sounds like you have everything worked out. Is there anything else you need me to do?"
"Just keep your ear to the ground and your eyes open. Any kind of geographical anomalies might be a sign of a guardian's spirit awakening," said Shiva before vanishing in a burst of mist.
"And be on the lookout for Omega's agents." Siren then disappeared in a flash of light.
"And I'm not paying for my own train ticket this time," Squall shot over his shoulder as he walked out of the office.
Balmb Garden: Training Center
"So how long were you imprisoned?" asked Zell curiosly, looking at the scaled down version of Ifrit.
"That's a good question. What day is it today?" Even when he wasn't in his gigantic demon form, his voice seemed incapable of being anything but deep and menacing.
"Uhh..." Zell thought for a minute. "Thursday."
"Right. I've been imprisoned for about three millenniums," he deduced.
"Sounds boring. How'd you entertain yourself?"
"Slept mostly. Sung songs other times. Went insane for a few years. Regained it a few years later. Plotted a few hundred different ways to get revenge on those that wronged me. Pretty standard stuff really."
"Zell. Ifrit." The two turned towards the new arrival and saw Squall walking towards them, gunblade over his shoulder.
"Hey man!" Zell waved him over. "Dude, these guardians are awesome! Have you tried sparring with one of them yet?"
Squall looked at Ifrit's human sized form. Two horns were atop his head, curving down behind his back, ending in vicious points. The red and yellow hair that covered his body seemed to flicker, as if they were made of flame. His entire body was heavily muscled, and his hands and feet were both adorned with sharp, lethal looking claws.
"You...sparred with him?" Squall asked incredulously.
"Of course!" Zell seemed genuinely shocked that he doubted his word. "He fights pretty well for someone who's been imprisoned for a few thousand years."
Ifrit turned to Squall, with something akin to a look of worry on his face. "I think your friend might be insane, but he holds himself very well in a fight."
Squall covered a smile. It was nice to see that even with a new crisis bubbling around them, Zell was still his usual energetic self. "We've acquired a new target," he said, slipping into commander mode. Instinctively, Zell stood a little straighter. Beside him, Ifrit payed him full attention.
"I won't go into details until we have the whole party assembled, but we're taking the train to Dollet city in two hours. Make sure to get something to eat before we leave. We're going to be pretty busy once we get there."
"Sure thing cap," said Zell happily. "I was getting a little bored of sitting around anyways. Come on Ifrit, allow me to show you the miracle of hot dogs."
Before he could run out of the training center, Squall halted him by grabbing his shoulder. "Zell, I don't think the rest of the garden is ready for a walking talking fire demon running through the halls of the garden. Secrecy remember?"
Zell rubbed the back of his head. "Right, sorry cap." Beside him, Ifrit vanished in a pillar of flames. "See you at the entrance in a couple hours."
Teacher Dormitories: Wedge's Room
"Enjoying your new quarters?"
Wedge looked up from his edition of Weapons Weekly to see the SeeD commander standing in the doorway of his new room. "The last three years I was in the army, I was bunking with Biggs in a room that was about as big as I am tall. You could have given me my own room in a broom closet and it still would have compared favorably to my old quarters in the Galbadian army."
Squall repressed a smirk. "I'll take that as a yes then. How are your injuries?"
Wedge rotated his shoulders experimentally. "Little sore, but completely healed thanks to Siren. I love the medical coverage this job gives."
"See any blades you like yet?" asked Squall, gesturing to the magazine.
"The Punishment blade looks pretty good, but you really can't beat a custom made gunblade like that one," he said, pointing to Squall's old blade leaning up against the wall in its sheath.
The SeeD shrugged. "Well, feel free to keep using it until we can customize one for you."
Wedge nodded slowly. "Alright then, now that we have pleasantries out of the way, what can I do for you?"
"We've got a potential guardian near Dollet."
Wedge sighed. "Man, that quickly? Which one is it?"
"The Brothers. Earth element."
Wedge pondered for a moment. "I don't know. Dollet is still pretty much a Galbadia controlled city. Might not be wise for me to show my face there."
Squall sighed. "Wedge, I don't think anyone knows what your face looks like."
"Huh?"
"Take a look at your profile," said Squall, handing him a folder. "Didn't they even bother asking you to take your helmet off for the photos they took?"
Wedge looked through the book and saw that it was true. Every picture in there had his face half covered by the standard helmet he'd always worn. Even his drivers license.
"Probably explains why Selphie was able to sneak into their nuclear missile silo so easily. It's hard to tell you guys apart sometimes."
"Alright," he conceded, "I'm in. But who is going to carry the Brothers? I thought Zell needed time to recover before he could attempt another true junction."
"You are," said Squall simply.
Wedge's brain took a second to process what he'd just heard. "I'm sorry, did you just say I was going to junction this one?"
"That's the idea. Chances are we're only going to find the shell of the guardian, but it'll help facilitate a true junction when we find the Brothers' spirit."
Wedge rubbed his head worriedly. "Squall, I've been here less than two days. Do you really think the headmaster is going to trust me with a GF that early?"
"The headmaster doesn't decide on things like this," countered Squall easily. "I'm commander of the garden. Who I decide to hire is my business and GF assignment is also my business. You've helped me kill two of these things now, and you weren't even junctioned. If that doesn't make you deserving, I don't know what does."
Wedge remained silent. Apparently trust hadn't a big commodity in Galbadia.
"I'll see you at the gate in a couple of hours."
Despite being the commander of Balamb's armed forces, Squall had made it a point to take his meals in the lunchroom along with everyone else. Cid had told him soon after he took command that it would make everyone feel easier around him if he ate with the 'troops' so to speak. As much as he disliked social interaction with nameless faceless people, he could see where the idea had its merits.
"Squallie!"
Of course, sitting out in the open lunch room also made him an easy target.
"Hello Selphie," said Squall evenly, trying to deafen his senses to the bright cheerful attitude permanently attached to her presence.
"I figured you'd be brooding in the back of the lunchroom."
"Quistis," he said evenly, returning to his ramen. "What can I help you with?"
"I don't suppose you'd consider that I only wanted to have lunch with an old student of mine?" she asked humorously.
Squall rolled his eyes. "You usually take lunch in your classroom to work over lesson plans and you," he continued, pointing at Selphie, "are still organizing the quad for the next graduation festival." Both woman had the grace to look sheepish. "So again, what can I help you with?"
Quistis took a seat in front of him. "Alright, you caught me. I came to ask you for the layout of the practical part of the examination. I need to know what to start preparing the students for."
"Hostage situations and stealth operations," he replied simply. "I've left the details with headmaster Cid, but we'll have a working exam in less than a week if all goes well." He glanced at Selphie, silently giving her permission to speak.
"Do you have a speech planned for the graduating students?" she asked hopefully. "They'll expect you to give one at the party afterwards."
"Not...yet," he replied cautiously.
"They want you, the master of the ellipses to give a speech?" asked Shiva silently.
"Oh I can just imagine that now. Congratulations on passing everyone....now you can go into the field and get shot for real...till next year everyone," quipped Siren.
"Great! I already made a speech for you because I knew you wouldn't!"
Squall put up a hand, forestalling her explanation. "First of all, I refuse to recite any speech including the words 'love' 'joy' 'peace' 'happiness' 'excited' 'grateful' and-"
"I know, I know," assured Selphie, cutting him off. "Quistis already gave me the list of words you refuse to say in conversation and I cut them out."
"Did you include thesaurus entries for those words too?" he inquired.
"Yes, and before you ask I didn't use any double negatives either."
The commander sighed. "Fine, I'll take a look at it. Now what are you two really doing here?"
"We're just wondering why you aren't taking us along on with you on your super secret mission today."
Squall raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think I have a mission today?"
"Zell is bad at keeping secrets," said Selphie simply. "He was incredibly evasive when we tried to ask him for help in the quad, saying he had other things to do."
"You didn't use to keep secrets from us Squall."
The SeeD raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, maybe you did. But this is different. Why won't you let us help you?" Quistis nearly pleaded the last sentence.
"Man, I think she has it for you pretty bad," said Shiva.
"Nah, it's a teacher-student relationship. Those never go anywhere," countered Siren. "He could probably get a wonderful night of wild passion if he wasn't such a p-"
Squall slammed his mind shut, pulling the plug on their inner dialogue. He took a deep breath before daring to look at Quistis again.
"Professor," he addressed her formally. "I of all people know how well you can be trusted, but this is just one of those things I'm going to have to ask you to drop, as commander of Balamb's defense forces."
Quistis recoiled as if she had been struck. Squall had never pulled rank on her before.
"I trust you," he amended quickly, "but there are other things at play here, most of them bigger than me and my position."
The teacher's face was still sullen, but she nodded slowly in understanding. "I understand. But why does Wedge get to go with you then?"
"Dumb luck," he said simply. "He got caught up in the mess I was making and got dragged along for the ride. I'm just lucky he's being such a good sport about it."
"Hey!" broke in Selphie. "What about me?"
"I wouldn't trust you with the number combination to my briefcase," said Squall casually, leaning back in his chair.
The female SeeD pouted cutely. "Aww, that's mean."
Squall shrugged. "Selphie, the minute I talk to you, the entire garden will know the whole mission. These things are labeled 'secret' for a reason you know?"
"I can keep a secret," she said defiantly, a small fire in her eyes.
"Hey Selphie, what does Zell like to do in the training grounds after curfew?"
"Every Friday night he goes to the training room in only his boxers and some war paint so he can feel closer to nature as he fights the training room monsters bare-fisted," she rattled off instantly. As if realizing what she'd just said, she brought a hand to her mouth, her face in a look of surprise. "Oops. I was supposed to keep that a secret." Beside her, Quistis face-palmed.
Squall got up and patted her on the shoulder. "I'll be back in a few days. Don't worry too much."
*click*
"Man, is she really the same age as you?" Inquired Siren, having broke through his mental block. "Hard to believe. Probably why he hasn't done her yet. She could make a guy feel like a pe-"
*SLAM*
Train from Balamb to Delling...
"Thanks to our contacts in the technological utopia of Esthar, we were able to pull up some old blueprints of our destination," said Squall to the assembled humans and guardians. "First off, I'd like to ask the guardians if they have any insight into our opponent."
"Slow but powerful," provided Ifrit. "It may take them a while to warm up, but they can easily work up earth tearing tremors."
"They heal themselves from the earth," said Shiva. "We'll have to find some way to lift them off the ground if we want to defeat them."
"Float magic should take care of that problem." Softly, he heard Wedge mumble something under his breath.
"What was that Wedge?" asked Squall patiently.
"I was just wondering if we really had to fight them underground," he said aloud after a seconds hesitation.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, when we fought Ifrit, he nearly brought a volcano down on our heads. If we walk in there like we did in the fire cavern, we'll just be playing into their hands again."
Squall nodded thoughtfully. "This is probably true, but we have little choice but to confront him down in his lair. We'll just have to adapt to any traps he may have set."
"What if we spring our own trap?" asked Zell suddenly.
The mercenary gave him a flat look. "Our own trap?"
"Yeah!" Zell was excited now. "What if, instead of him bringing the place down on us, we bring it down on him?"
"You mean," began Wedge hesitantly, "blow up the place before he can?"
"Exactly! That way we can fight on our terms on the surface, or we can crush him under the rubble."
Squall blinked and made a show of cleaning out his ear. "You know, something might be wrong with me, but I don't really think that's a bad idea."
"Wake up the spirit, goad him into combat, then bring his home down around his ears. It seems to be a sturdy plan."
"Well, we are destroying a hundreds of years old tomb filled with the mysteries of the old world," pointed out Squall. Meeting the flat looks of his party members, he gave a small shrug. "But hey, if they actually cared about him, they'd remember his name."
Turning towards Wedge, he began giving orders. "Soon as we get to Dollet, you'll be in charge of finding explosives. Get enough to level a small city if you can manage it without alerting the authorities. Zell, I want you to make sure we have enough refined float magic to lift Dollet off the ground if we wanted. I'm going to secure a hotel room to be our base of operations while we're in Delling. Don't draw attention to yourselves, don't start fights unless you won't get caught, and stay the hell away from Caroway's mansion. That's one headache I'd rather just avoid for now."
The train bell dinged, signaling their arrival at Delling city.
"Gentlemen, guardians, it's time to go kill us a king."
A/N: Here is a general outline of the current GF situation. The ones they don't know about aren't on this list yet.
Siren: Acquired (Body and soul)
Ifrit: Acquired (Body and soul)
Shiva: Acquired (Body and soul)
Diablos: Imprisoned (Body and soul)
Carbuncle: (Body acquired)
Leviathan: (Body acquired)
Pandemonia: (Body acquired)
Quetzacotl: (Body acquired)
Alexander: (Body acquired)
Brothers: (Location Known: Body un-acquired)
