Chapter 59

Heroes of the Revolution

Raine and the twins left the Training Centre. With twenty-five minutes before they were due on portside, they were hungry, but lacked adequate time for a proper meal. Instead, they grabbed protein bars and water from their quarters, with Raine splitting the coffee from her own drip machine into three thermoses. They already had MREs packed for later. Along with a variety of flavoured energy drinks, of course.

Removing her sweaty PT gear and throwing it into a laundry basket, Raine stole a fleeting, cool shower for an even three minutes, not allowing herself to press the jet again when it timed out. Dressing, she opted for her high-cut, beige combat shorts. They were loose-fitting and suitable for the climate, though they revealed most of her long, olive legs, and she knew they would turn some heads on Blackwater's promenade. Then she donned a white tank top and sandy hiking boots, sweeping her dark hair into a ponytail.

Looking to the hooks affixed her door, Raine completed the outfit with a white cap her father had used for fishing. Winhill Angling Society, the logo above the peak read, imprinted over a grinning brown trout. It would do well to keep the early morning sun out of her eyes.

On Raine's bed was another possession of her father's, a long bag that Raijin had used to store his array of carp rods, plain black and mundane, though also the perfect length for his quarterstaff. Currently, the only weapon inside was Dragonhair, which Raine had been tasked with returning to the Saronans personally. She placed Thunderstroke and the twins' weapons in along with it. They might be travelling through Sarona, but the country was no longer the wild west; they would not be able to carry weapons openly in Blackwater.

The three Neo-SeeDs regrouped outside the SeeD dorms, the twins also in easy fitting and inconspicuous attire. Zhang looked the least presentable, having had to rush his shower – likely sticking to the recommended three minutes for the first time ever – and his buttoned shirt was creased. He wore a rimmed hat similar to the one Selphie had been wearing to hide his hastily brushed hair. At least it suited him, Raine noted, even though it made him look like that Balambi lead in a spaghetti western she could not recall the name of. Liu gentlemanly offered to carry the weapons, pulling the fishing bag from her shoulder before she could protest, leaving her with just her bergen. Why he insisted on doing so, she could never fathom. Raine was about as strong as Liu was, she trained just as hard as he did, and he knew that.

They all re-stocked any para-magic expended during the training session in the Draw Room before meeting Squall and Rinoa three minutes before their departure time. Her aunt and uncle were not alone, conversing with men in the old olive-green Dollet army uniforms, which had yet to change.

One was an officer that Raine recognised. The reinstated General Jericho Vossler, now head of the New Sarona Army, who they had met after their insertion had gone awry and owed their lives to. Named for one famous Paladin and descended from several others, many considered Jericho to be the first Paladin since Heahmund, the wide greatsword Lightbringer at his back passed down through his family line since the days of Cecil. His nose was straight but bordered on bold, his hair was dark brown standing naturally upright, and he still wore the neat chinstrap beard Raine remembered. A handsome, chivalrous man about the same height as Raine.

'The heroes of the revolution, themselves!' Jericho announced, turning from Squall and Rinoa and dropping to a knee. The other three followed dutifully. 'Take a knee before the Lioness and the Princes of Figaro!'

Next to the General was his younger brother, Baldur, who was the namesake of a famous Saronan killed leading the defence of Jericho City, and for whom the city's old southern gate was named after. Baldur shared his brother's hair colour, though it was long, conditioned, and neatly layered. His nose was less prominent, and he too had a chinstrap beard. He also wore a greatsword, though it was more generic and not nearly as broad, with a wide cross-guard that Raine always thought made them look like deadly crucibles. Baldur's skin had bronzed since their last meeting, and he gave the leading Raine the same endearing, gleaming grin he had given her in the tunnels underneath Dollet City. 'I don't like Baldur,' Liu had commented, sometime afterward, in a rare display of feeling. Not that he needed to worry.

'Great to see y'all again,' Baldur said, maintaining eye contact with Raine for a fraction longer than was necessary, yet she did not look away lest he interpret it as succumbing. 'I'll be your escort through and beyond Blackwater, keeping you in fine company all the way to our command centre!' he announced proudly. Raine just nodded.

The other two Saronans both carried spears. One was female and slender, albeit as a lance was slender, with wavy, mousy hair and brown eyes. The pointed edges of a tribal tattoo crept its way up her neck, the rest of it veiled by her uniform; evidently, there were no crew cuts or restrictions on body art among the Dragoons. Her weapon was peculiar; although it could be described as a spear, it was double-headed, with two intertwining dark blades at either end. Simply put, she looked not to trifled with.

'Luna,' she offered. 'Of the Dragoons, and Jericho's girl. G'day to you all!'

She spoke with a Centran strine rather than a Dollet drawl. Raine assumed she was originally a nomad sent to be raised at Galbadia Garden, as was sometimes known to happen. Garden had always sent recruiters to southern Centra. Jericho himself had been educated in Galbadia at his disgraced father's behest, immediately after Dollet's embarrassment in the Second Sorceress War. He had passed the trials for Garland at Galbadia Garden quite young, though had ultimately remained loyal to his homeland. Perhaps he and Luna had become acquainted there.

The other lancer was a well-muscled but hard-faced blond man introduced simply as Deist. Raine was not sure if that was a given or a clan name, though it was also the name of Sarona's first major settlement, long levelled by ancient civil conflict back when the Dragoons had actually ridden dragons. In the modern era, Deist was a modest town that had only kept relevancy with the advent of the railways. Dragoon Deist offered no hand in greeting and stood with his burly arms folded. The point of his halberd winked the in the dawn's light, almost as intimidating as the glint in his eye and the rough angles of his square, pockmarked face.

Dragoons, Raine pondered. The dragon knights come again. Only their mounts are all feral.

'How are you faring, General?' Raine asked, then added, 'We heard news of your reinstatement. Not that it was ever in question! Your own role in the revolution ensured its success as much as ours' did!'

'As well as can be,' Jericho said. 'The death toll from Ultimecia's attack has still not been determined, and the clean-up operation will be ongoing for months. The whole harbourside has been reclaimed by the sea, making Tiamat's previous attack look like fireworks, and with the loss of so much citizen infrastructure, Dollet City will never be as it was. Jericho would be the clear option to become the capital now, though is too obvious a target for Eden's light. And so, we cower within our caverns until the western continent's imminent liberation.'

'Nothing cowardly about it, sir,' Zhang commented, as Raine was thinking it.

'No one wants to be sitting ducks,' she agreed.

Jericho looked at Raine. 'For all your efforts, Raine, Hicks and Johns were both killed in that blast.' Raine's mouth parted. 'Not that they weren't immeasurable pleased when they heard of your intervention; they wished to meet and thank the Slayer of Sepultura personally! Spears and his family are safely within the mesas, however. Spears himself was demoted to Colonel, though has harboured no ill-filling towards myself. We remain as close as brothers.'

'Good thing, too,' Luna put in. 'Spears was best man at our wedding.'

'Did you ever intercept Massey's paintings?' Raine asked.

'We found them here in Blackwater, actually. The rest of the country fell back to us within days after General Zebalga and the other magicite holders abandoned the country. We found a deserting Esthari centurion attempting to smuggle Massey's works onto a fishing trawler. The President has,' he said, referring to Argus. 'claimed them for the time being, though I would expect them to be relocated to either Castle Sarona or the gallery at Jericho in due time.'

He looked unhappy, and Luna glanced at him, though he seemed reluctant to speak ill of Sarona's ruler. Silence prevailed for a moment. Raine had been so elated at meeting Jericho again that the reason for his presence here had not occurred to her, though she did not think it prudent to ask him. It was Uncle Squall who satisfied her curiosity.

'We're escorting General Vossler to Centra,' he explained. 'To attend the coronation. Luna and Deist are accompanying him.'

'Yeah,' Luna said. 'Like I'd let Jericho off the leash, all the way to the Kingdom and back!'

Jericho smiled, close-mouthed the way he did, as though trying to contain it. Raine noted Luna had not said Lost Kingdom. Of course, Raine herself was gutted that she would be missing Centra's first coronation since their Calamity, as were the twins. But recording technology had come a long way since the time of King Adelbert, and she did not believe she would miss a second of the event on the Network.

'By way of Battleship Island, if I might ask, sir?' Raine questioned. 'Is your President attending, too?'

'Our leader believes it… unfitting that he leaves Sarona, to attend such an event while his people recover from the Empire's attack,' he said cautiously.

'A glorified and pretentious feast of crudely cooked boar, he said it would be,' Luna said, not mincing words even in front of compatriots.

Her disdain for Sarona's ruler was plain. Deist had given Luna a disapproving look at the comment. He's the plant, Raine thought instantly. Placed here by Argus to map the Island, under the guise of accompanying his High Commander, for use against SeeD in future conflicts. Deist probably had a device on his person, drawing a three-dimensional map of the vessel this very second.

Raine had met Shawn Argus. A crass, overbearing man and lifetime officer of grey morality mired with vindictive allegations over the years. All women other than Dragoons being barred from frontline roles within the NSA was but one of Argus' recently announced policies, in line with his lifelong held stipulation that a women's place was either warming a bed or in the kitchen. Admitting women into the Dragoons was probably a reluctant compromise born only of his deep respect for Jericho Vossler. Raine regarded Luna again, thinking that from the coiled way she carried herself, marriage alone had not put her in her position.

Raine supposed that Argus regarded the Centrans as little more than hunter-gatherers, with half-remembered dreams of kingsmanship and nationhood. Although the Lost Kingdom's subjects had clawed their way back from the brink of annihilation, their descendants were only large enough in number to repopulate the ruins of Lenown City. Argus doubtless believed that a restored Centran monarchy would be of little strategic importance and of little use as an ally, despite their close alignment with White SeeD. Argus was also an opportunist, and any deals negotiated with a reborn Centra to aid their modernisation would largely be to Sarona's advantage.

'There is an important reason for me going in our leader's stead,' Vossler articulated. 'Many refer to me as "the New Paladin", though I will never be content with that moniker until I have passed the trials at Mount Ordeals. In ages past, the Vossler clan always had strong ties with House von Heiligeberg of Centra. It was a a long standing alliance writ in blood, as we aided them in successful rebellions against House Christophe during the Wars of Succession. Yet in the present day, they are the only two Houses left, and they stand unified. Prospective Paladins of Dollet always traversed Ordeals with retainers of von Heiligeberg; it was tradition. Our leader wishes to see a return of the Paladins in addition to the Dragoons, so that the two fiercest groups from Saronan history can fight under a single banner.'

'I see,' Raine said patiently. Despite being greatly revered among his people, Vossler lacked his President's charisma. He had curbed his drawl long ago and sounded more like a Galbadian, though spoke largely in a flat monotone that would make him unsuitable for rallying Sarona's fervent masses.

'However, Alexander has not resided at Ordeals since he felt the Succession of Sorceress Edea, nobly departing to become the guardian of that child Sorceress. And now, the Holy Sentinel is bound within magicite. A Paladin cannot be named as such without Alexander's blessing. If I can free him upon the Forested Plains, my hope is that it will help rekindle the old friendship between Vossler and von Heiligeberg. May Alexander's holy light guide me to the renowned Mitsuhide Akechi on the battlefield,' he finished.

'You would challenge him?' Zhang asked, then added, 'Sir?'

'I would,' Jericho said, without hesitation.

Rinoa peeled away from Squall, and everyone's eyes moved to the Sorceress as she walked into their midst. Her dark eyes settled on Zhang.

'I'm sorry, Zhang,' she said with a rueful tone, 'but with Jericho travelling with us, we need you to relinquish Siren sooner than expected. As per the agreement.'

Zhang looked both dejected and incredulous. 'Ma'am, if that's the case, why the hell am I even going with Raine and Liu?'

Rinoa looked at Squall, who seemed to be considering a good enough answer. For the first time, Deist made a sound; a grunt, as though he were clearing his throat after days of not saying a word, and Raine looked at him curiously.

'Morale, sir,' Deist said simply. 'We consider you a hero. Prince Zhang, firstborn of Xu and Sabin, the heir to Figaro. Septimus brought a lot of shame upon our people during the occupation, and you were the one that killed him! The Dragoons can't wait to make your acquaintance!'

Zhang's mouth parted, looking between the Saronans.

'I couldn't have put it better myself,' Baldur agreed.

Raine realised this might be exactly what Zhang needed to get back on the straight and narrow. He was by no means proud of the assassination, but the knowledge that many Saronans were thankful of it should dull some of the guilt he had been feeling. Also that the Dragoons still wished him to be fighting with them, GF bearer or not. Zhang exhaled now, basking in the sudden endearment, throwing his chest out and placing his hand on his hips.

'Well, what can I say? I've got a big legacy to live up to, and all the hard work pays dividends!' Raine would usually roll her eyes when he was like this, but she was pleased for him now. Reluctantly, Zhang acknowledged Rinoa's expectant look. 'Well, a deal's a deal!'

He summoned Siren, who materialised on the other side of Jericho from Luna, with her head-wings wrapped loosely around her body while in the thick of the humans. She was not carrying her harp. Her glowing blonde head lowered and raised as she looked Jericho up and down. Siren moved to Jericho's left, reaching an open hand to Lightbringer's handle before it recoiled. Surprisingly, the GF shuddered.

'Such power!' she said, then turned to Squall and Rinoa, saying, 'Let it be known that I am displeased with this arrangement, to be used as a pawn in the unceasing power plays of mortals. I shall only honour it as my final act of repayment of my debt to you, Lionheart. After this war, do not presume to send your SeeDs after me again.' She turned to Zhang. 'Fare thee well, boisterous one!'

Her material form disintegrated to a hazy purple mist, which enshrouded Jericho until the flash of his eyes signalled the completion of the junction. This helped to make Zhang's sudden tears go unnoticed, who has been touched by Siren's last words and turned away from them, facing portside. Raine had placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged away from her.

'How does it feel?' Luna asked Jericho.

'Strange,' he said. 'Like no sensation I've ever known. I can feel her power flooding through me, and instinctively I know how to use it, as though I were born with it.' He paused. 'Yet that is the most I will draw upon the Harp of the Dawn for, as I am ill-suited for the poison element; the element of the craven. Alexander, however,' he trailed off.

'Siren will gift you enough power to free Alexander,' Luna assured him. 'Like I said.'

'It's time!' Liu announced suddenly.

Everyone backed up at the appearance of his own, moist-earthen coloured summoning orbs. Sacred and Minotaur appeared between him and Zhang, startling the latter, who wheeled on them and hurriedly wiped his eyes. They were not holding their maces, which made the alarmed Saronans untense somewhat.

'If we must divide our power,' Minotaur said, 'it is only fitting that we do so between two brothers. With twins, there can be no closer bond.'

Raine had always thought this was too much to hope for. Brothers had always asserted they would never fight apart. They had done so for all of five minutes at Dollet City, to give Nadia and Siegfried the strength they needed to escape from General Zebalga's captivity, but that was the only known occasion they had done so.

'But!' Sacred said, loudly and dramatically, 'There's a catch! After Timber, the two of you gotta prove yourselves at the Earth Shrine!' He referred to the Tomb of the Unknown King. 'Because unless you do, you'll never have our power again!'

'Liu was merely gifted our strength,' Minotaur elaborated. 'We obliged at Sorceress Rinoa's request, yet the cub did not earn it.'

Sacred rubbed his hands together, leaning forward. 'We'll lead the two of you inside the Shrine blindfolded, and when the veil comes of, you gotta find us again! No map, no GPS! You'll make your way with your instincts, just like the toramas you claim to be! We'll be waiting for you at the sarcophagus, and the gloves will be off!' he finished menacingly.

'Hey, you can count on that!' Zhang said. 'You know our Muqin is buried outside. We can't screw up a trial with her so close by!'

'I look forward to the day!' Liu concurred. 'Muqin's spirit will bear witness to our feat.'

'It might take you more than a day!' Minotaur warned.

Both GFs extended hands to the twins, Minotaur to Liu, and Sacred to Zhang. When they shook, their rich brown essence surrounded their outstretched arms before wrapping itself around their entire bodies. Neither of the twins had trained in earth magic much, and without Brothers they could conjure little more than a tremor. But that could change quickly, now. With them, Liu could unleash hellfire and brimstone and Zhang could proverbially throw his enemies into a pit of vipers. Thus, a new pact was sealed. Raine could only hope this would stop Sacred from being as wayward as he had been of late, as they could not afford any misfires in Timber. It would also go further as to keeping Zhang engaged.

'The two of you should consider yourself privileged,' Squall said sternly, walking towards the twins. 'They've never divided their power before. Mark my words, you'll definitely be getting the leave to undertake that trial. In fact, I'll be giving it to you as a mission. And be thankful they're both willing to lend you their power until then.'

'Yes, sir!' they said in unison, giving the SeeD salute. Squall returned it, which was a measure of his respect for them. He rarely did so.

They were ready to depart. Rinoa was gesturing to Jericho, Luna and Deist now. 'Please, allow me to show you around Battleship Island,' she said kindly. Rinoa waved to them as they left. Squall remained with Raine and the twins. Baldur walked to the gangplank leading down to the Blackwater dock and waited.

'Don't let your guard down, not even for one second,' Squall said quietly, out of Baldur's earshot. 'Argus doesn't give a damn about what we've done for him, and he would have all of your GFs if he could find a way.'

'Sure thing, boss,' Zhang said. 'You'll wanna keep a close eye on Vossler's party, yourself.'

'They won't be going anywhere without surveillance,' Squall assured them, looking over his shoulder, though Rinoa had led them around a corner. Baldur was facing away from them, slowly scanning the dock, his conditioned mane waving gently in the soft breeze.

'I'll see you all again in Timber,' Squall said. 'Once it's free again, and not too far into the future,' he promised. 'I truly am sorry to lose you guys. I give you my word that it won't be happening afterward, when we move on Balamb or Esthar itself.'

'We'll be holding you to that, Uncle,' Raine said seriously, then softened her tone. 'We should all meet at the Obel, after Timber. At your home.'

Squall nodded once, slowly. 'I'd like that.'

Raine hugged him tightly, then it was time to go.