17
CHAPTER 17 – CLASH OF THE GARDENS
"You didn't remember anything?"
Headmaster Cid stared across his mahogany desk with wide eyes; his surprise didn't appear the slightest bit exaggerated. Xu stood a short ways off to the side, mulling over Squall's report.
"Not a thing, sir," he affirmed. "None of us, except Irvine."
"Unbelievable," the headmaster exhaled. He brought his right hand up to his temple in frustration. "All this time, I thought you remembered growing up under Edea's care. That was why I decided to group you, Zell, and Selphie together for the Timber mission. I believed that the bonds you three shared would foster the kind of teamwork needed for that assignment. It was the same for assigning Seifer to your squad for the field exam, with Quistis as your accompanying SeeD, no less. And as for Irvine… well, I wasn't prepared to let anyone else make the call that night."
"It's still hard for me to believe it all," Squall admitted. "I have vague memories of living at the orphanage with the others. And of Matron… er, your wife. But I don't remember ever seeing you there."
"You probably wouldn't have. I was away on business most of the time, even before Edea got the idea to turn that old house into an orphanage. As the number of children we took in grew over the years, I knew it would only be a matter of time before we'd need somewhere bigger to house them all. So, I began to juggle my career as a traveling salesman with hunting for a benefactor, to help me organize an academy for underprivileged youths. And you already know where that led."
"And what about Sis… I mean, Ellone? I remember she disappeared one day, along with a lot of the older kids around the orphanage. Were they…?"
"The children who became the first White SeeDs?" Cid answered his question. "Indeed. Although, Edea had yet to even broach the concept of SeeD to me at the time. She wrote to me one day, saying that there had been some sort of… 'incident' while I was away. She said that Ellone had demonstrated some kind of strange power, the likes of which even she'd never seen before. It would have been too dangerous to keep her there with the rest of you. There was just no telling what kind of harm she could have caused if she were ever to lose control.
"On top of that, Edea had learned that Esthar had been searching for her all her life, probably to exploit this power of hers for their own ends. The war had effectively been over for 4 years by then, but there was no guarantee that Sorceress Adel was truly gone. Construction of the Garden was well underway, and we'd already begun drafting up the initial enrollment list. So, we decided it would be best that I take her and the rest of the older children with me. That way, we could help get them settled into their new home well in advance. And as it turned out, it was the right move. Only a couple of months later, Edea wrote to me again. Apparently, another sorceress had shown up on the orphanage's doorstep out of the blue."
Squall kept his mouth shut as the headmaster continued his recounting. Even so, the mention of another sorceress at the orphanage sent a chill down his spine. He remembered her wicked face all too clearly, and the paralyzing fear of having been trapped between her and the mysterious swordsman. Matron had tried to assure him it had only been a dream. And yet now, by her own husband's admission, he was certain he'd in fact been witness to something so much more.
I don't remember anything after that… I must have passed out from the shock. What really happened back then?
"She was certain it hadn't been Adel," Cid went on. "Regardless, it was clear why she'd come. We then knew we'd have to be even more cautious to ensure Ellone's safety. That was when Edea first told me of her idea to re-purpose the school into a special military academy. To train SeeDs who could one day stand up to any sorceress who would seek out Ellone for her power. Of course, if this sorceress had managed to track her all the way to the orphanage, who was to say another couldn't just as easily follow the trail all the way to the Garden? We knew it would take time to build up an army from scratch. So, we decided it would be best not to keep her here for too long.
"I accompanied her and the White SeeDs to-be on the ship for the first couple of years, and left the Garden up to Norg's administration in my absence. Since then, they've lived from port to port on their own, always staying on the move to keep her location obscured. I returned to my station as headmaster, while Edea remained at the orphanage to raise whatever other children came her way. Those who weren't adopted before the age of 6 would be enrolled in the Garden. That has been our standard procedure for the last 12 years.
"Or at least, it was, until we received word of President Deling having allied himself with a sorceress named Edea. It came completely out of nowhere. I sent a detachment to the orphanage to check up on things, hoping it was just a coincidence. They returned to me, saying they'd found the place in shambles. And the children who'd been living there… well…"
He dared not finish, nor did he need to. Squall could easily guess what kind of nightmare the team had discovered. He lowered his eyes to the carpet beneath his feet, just as the headmaster's to his desktop.
"I made the decision to have Ellone brought back to the Garden after that. It seemed the safest place to keep her sheltered, should the army eventually be sent out to scour the seas for her. Of course, I never expected that missile strike to come when it did."
"I just don't understand," Squall finally interjected. His mind was positively swirling as the pieces of the elaborate puzzle slowly clicked together. "What could have caused her to take such a drastic turn?"
"That's the all-important question," Cid sighed. "I'm not sure if we'll ever know for certain. Based on what you've told me about your memory loss, however… perhaps there could be a connection there? That her own powers could have corrupted her mind in a similar way?"
"That… could be it," he muttered, glancing down at the sphere clipped to his belt. "If using one of these is what caused me to forget so much in just 3 years, then…"
"I'm still not convinced that's the reason for it," Xu finally spoke.
Squall turned his attention to her. She stood by the window, with her own sphere held in her hand.
"There's a pretty big hole in your logic: Tilmitt is a fresh transfer student who's barely begun her training with one. So, for your theory to be correct, it stands to reason she would have remembered everything as well."
Squall had yet to make any mention of Selphie's mysterious Galbadian GF. He knew doing so would only raise even more questions for which he had no answers. To suddenly bring up the matter now would be inconvenient at best, and actively distressing at worst. Both Balamb and Trabia Gardens stood on the cusp of battle. He couldn't afford to weigh down the chain of command with yet more, needless concern. There would be ample opportunity to mull over the bronze sphere once Edea's conquest had been stopped.
"It matters but little," Cid reoriented the conversation. "For the moment, we must focus our efforts on the fight to come. Headmaster Dodonna tells me it will only be a matter of days before the Galbadian forces arrive. We've taken aboard all the wounded we can, and begun shuttling those we cannot into the city. We've also started on getting weapons into the hands of all able-bodied students. We will begin formulating our battle plan tomorrow morning. I'll see you both for the briefing at 1100. Get some rest until then. Dismissed."
Squall saluted in tandem with Xu, and took his leave. He stepped back out into the command bridge; its elevated apex was devoid of any navigation crew in the early evening hours. It was then he finally exhaled. The sheer number of revelations he'd become privy to in just one day were exhausting to keep track of. For the second time in just over a month, the entire world had seemingly been flipped upside down.
"It's not necessarily that I don't believe you."
He spun back around to face Xu as she gingerly closed the door. Her eyes met his. Much to his surprise, her stare looked far less stern than those he was accustomed to.
"There are plenty of blank spots in my memory, too. It's strange… I've hardly ever stopped to think about it since I became commandant, but I don't really remember how I came to this Garden, or much of anything before I graduated. I guess you could just call it part of getting older, but… I should at least be able to recall something, shouldn't I?"
"I barely remembered anything about my past before Irvine spelled it all out for us," he reiterated. "But the fact that I do now means that the memories were never truly gone. Just buried, deep down. All it took was the right person to bring it all back to the surface."
"Yes," she pensively agreed, averting her eyes. "More than you know, even… regardless, I'd appreciate if you and your comrades would keep this talk of memory loss amongst yourselves for the time being. The last thing we want is to demoralize our troops. We'll need every advantage available to us if we're going to win this fight."
"I wouldn't have it any other way. Memories of the past are a small price to pay for the promise of a brighter future. But above all, it's the here and now that matters most. That's a lesson I owe to someone else."
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Xu smiled. "Now I'm sure I picked the right guy."
"I can't believe you actually got him to go along with it!"
Rinoa stared down with amazement at the ring in her palm. It was engraved with a roaring lion's head, just as she'd seen it on Squall's hand. Selphie stood up out of her chair, and rounded the cafeteria table to see for herself. When they'd pulled Zell aside to ask for his help, Rinoa had still been skeptical he'd be able to convince Squall to part with it.
"How'd you pull it off?" Selphie inquired.
"I just asked him," Zell answered nonchalantly. He slid into the vacant third seat across from them. "I kinda expected him to put up more of a fight than he did. I guess he knew I wouldn't stop bugging him until he forked it over."
"It's the real deal, huh?" Rinoa muttered to herself.
She slipped the ring onto her own hand. It effortlessly slid past her second knuckle to where her finger met her palm, forcing her to spread the two on either side apart to accommodate its width.
"Way too big for me, though."
"Yeah, I figured that," Zell chuckled. "I just need to know by how much, and I'll be able to get a mold made that'll fit you. With all the prep for the big battle going on though, I'm probably not gonna get a chance until things settle down."
"Oh, there's no rush. I'll just hold onto it in the meantime."
Rinoa reached behind her neck with both hands, brushing away her voluminous black hair, and took hold of the slim chain necklace. She unfastened it at the back, and brought the two ends around. It was only then that she took full notice of the silver ring entwined through; throwing the necklace on each morning had become routine, to where she barely even paid it mind anymore. It wasn't anything extravagant, nor etched with any particular design like Squall's. Still, it had been a source of sentimentality ever since Seifer had given it to her a year ago. She remembered how elated she'd been to receive it. How things had changed. She slipped it off the chain, and carefully let Squall's slide off her finger to take its place. Satisfied, she re-fastened the necklace, and pocketed the silver band.
[Almost there. Just a little further…]
Rinoa abruptly halted in mid-motion as a strange sensation washed over her. It just as quickly faded.
"Man, you're playing with fire there," Zell quipped. "I'm just picturing the look on his face if he spots that."
"She's going to show him the new one anyway once you make it for her, right?" Selphie chimed in. "Besides, he'll probably be too busy to notice."
"It… it doesn't bother me," she insisted as she finished pocketing Seifer's ring. "I'll tell him it'll be his reward for winning the battle, or something. Speaking of which… are the two of you really prepared to take the fight to her if it comes down to it? With your history and all?"
"If that's what it's going to take," Zell solemnly affirmed. "It doesn't matter who she was to us before. What she's done is unforgivable. It's our duty as SeeDs to stop her, whatever the cost."
"Right behind you," Selphie agreed, hoisting up her brand new pair of nunchaku in support.
The twin bars were constructed of metal rather than wood. Two spiral streaks of dark and light blue traced both halves of the weapon from one end to the other. They were symmetrical, save for the differing designs at the head of each. One half bore a star, the other a crescent moon, both gold, and shimmering under the cafeteria's overhead lighting.
"Trabia Garden was my home… is my home. And it always will be. I'm more worried about you right now, Rinoa. Are you sure you really want to get involved in this?"
"I didn't start learning how to use this thing for no reason," she replied. She brought the silver sphere out of her pocket. "With all the help I've gotten from you and Squall, I think I've got what it takes to make it through."
"Just stick close to us," Zell spoke; his tone had become serious, making it sound like an official order. "We'll make sure nothing happens to you."
"Yeah!" Selphie exclaimed. "Nothing's gonna stop the power of love! Not while I'm around!"
Rinoa felt her face become red as a beet. She averted her eyes as the two SeeDs started chuckling. They landed on Squall's ring on the slender chain. Despite all their teasing, she truly hoped to form a more meaningful connection with him. Perhaps in turn, that would give her the drive to push forward against all adversity to come. So much had changed since their fateful meeting on the dance floor that night, when they'd locked eyes beneath the fading trail of a shooting star. They'd gone from a client and her mercenary, to a student and her teacher. And now, despite all the frustration she'd endured in her efforts to get him to open up, she longed for something more.
We'll get through this. I believe in us…
Tuesday, April 6th. The Bika Snowfield's lightly frosted plains glistened in the coming dawn. The sun had yet to creep over the horizon; all was shrouded in a muted dimness, offset only by the first glimmers of early morning, and the light from the Garden itself. The dark specter of Trabia Garden loomed no more than a mile away. Its refugee camp had been torn down over the prior two days, with roughly half the surviving student body brought aboard. The rest stood at the ready with a detachment of SeeDs in their freshly dug trenches, waiting for the signal to come.
As the hours ticked on, Squall was becoming increasingly anxious for whenever the enemy would arrive. Xu had just ascended to take his place atop the command deck with the navigation crew. All was deathly quiet among them as he passed her the digital binoculars; sleep had been scarce for everyone. He and Xu had taken routine lookout shifts, trading off duty every 6 hours for the last day. The two before had been spent organizing the troops into proper formation, and establishing the hidden ground regiment by the Trabia ruins commanded by Headmaster Dodonna. A few days' leeway was their only guarantee. Whether it would take another or several more for the battle to begin was at the enemy's discretion.
A niggling dread continued to nip away at Squall's better judgment. That Edea had once been his caretaker and closest confidant besides Ellone had inspired a newfound sentimentality in him. It was clear she'd gone past the point of no return. She needed to be held accountable for her heinous misdeeds. And yet, could he truly bring himself to cut her down if need be? He'd already made one attempt on her life over a month before with relative ease, naively unaware of the knowledge he possessed now. The unease brewing inside him was doubtless the same Irvine had felt that night.
We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. The sooner we end this, the better for everyone…
He made for the ladder leading down from the command deck. A hand abruptly seizing hold of his arm kept him in place.
"Heads up."
Squall spun back around at Xu's behest. She'd already extended the binoculars back to him with her other hand; her serious stare inclined him to take them without question. He raised them back to his eyes, and followed her pointing finger out the bay window. A golden shimmer had just come into focus in the distance; it caused his heart to sink even before he engaged the zoom function. The luminous flotation ring popped out against the mountain backdrop to the northeast, lighting up the crimson fortress above. Its trajectory indicated they had likely spotted Balamb Garden from afar as well. So long as their attention could be drawn from the ground team, the odds of a successful first strike were in their favor.
"So it begins," Squall sighed, turning back to Xu. She hurriedly strode across the platform to where the intercom system had been reinstated.
"Prepare for lift-off!" she ordered the navigation crew as she yanked the receiver from its slot. "But don't move forward until I give the order. Set top speed at 50% in case we need to take evasive action."
The surrounding SeeDs quickly set to work. Xu pressed the adjacent switch at her own console to sound the loudspeaker's 4-tone chime.
"Attention, all students and staff! This is Commandant Xu Adrastia speaking. Galbadia Garden has just been sighted due northeast of our position. We will be lifting off momentarily as we prepare to engage. All able-bodied combatants, please quickly and calmly proceed to your designated defense positions. All Balamb students with an ID number ending in 50, please assist the primary-level teaching staff and junior classmen with taking shelter in their respective panic rooms. Signal team, standby to fire in T-minus 2 minutes. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill."
Squall kept his eyes fixed out the window as she gave her orders. The floating fortress drew closer by the second; its stark red paint job burst to life as it crept out of the mountains' shadow and into the first rays of sunlight. With a sudden jolt, Balamb Garden suddenly began raising itself from the earth. Meanwhile, the ruined husk that was Trabia Garden stood quietly on the sidelines, prepared to play spectator. For perhaps the first time since their initial construction in Centra untold centuries before, the three academies had been gathered in one place, for the battle that would shape the course of history to come.
"Hold steady!" Xu ordered. She returned to Squall's side the next moment. "Any sign of their aerial mechs?"
"Not yet," he hummed. "They'll probably wait until they're closer to deploy."
"Keep your eyes peeled. With any luck, the ground regiment will be able to knock them out before they can get anyone into the air."
Squall remained vigilant. He kept the binoculars trained to the height of Galbadia Garden, sweeping them back and forth as it continued to inch closer. By his own estimation, the two floating fortresses would meet within a minute. And yet, there still came no sign of the mechs' deployment. With the battle to be fought in perpetual mobility, there was no other way of sending their troops aboard until both Gardens became grounded. The only reason he could think of for the delay was a plot to render Balamb Garden out of action from the get-go.
"They're turning!" Xu announced. "Begin steering to port, and make sure we're clear of the ground team's firing range!"
Lowering his gaze, Squall proceeded to take stock of the enemy Garden's outer hull as it pivoted to come along their right side. Only then, as Balamb Garden began to swerve opposite, did he notice the open hangar bay set into its side. He enhanced the binoculars' magnification, and felt his breath catch in his throat; the means by which they planned to deploy their first wave of troops became clear.
Row after row of sleek blue motorcycles stood at the ready. Each was equipped with a pair of machine guns strapped to the fore. A uniform series of metal ramps were erected at the lip of the hangar, breaking formation only for a lone elevated pedestal in the center. A blonde-haired man stood atop. He was clad in a familiar grey jacket, with an equally familiar blade held by his side. His steely blue eyes stared ahead with unmistakable blood-lust. They appeared to meet Squall's own for a brief moment, even from so far away.
"You're not going to like this," he ominously hinted to Xu. He lowered the binoculars, and held them out to her.
"Chances are."
He pointed out the window to the hangar bay to direct her vision. Moments later, her lips beneath the lenses curled into a scowl.
"Wonderful," she spat in disgust. "We'll just have to hope the advance guard are prepared to engage. The signal for Trabia should be going up any moment no-"
A red flare suddenly shot up from the front right section of the ringed outer courtyard, between the entrance and the infirmary. It climbed higher and higher, as if vying to outrace the sun before it could clear the mountains. On cue, there came more than a dozen simultaneous flashes from around the Trabia ruins. A barrage of anti-air rockets shot from the trenches. Their intertwining smoke trails raced upward towards Galbadia Garden's far side, just as according to plan. Although it wouldn't halt the motorcyclists' imminent deployment, the damage would be sure to send the enemy forces scrambling.
By the time the rockets had cleared roughly half the distance, Squall noticed yet another luminescence gathering in the intervening space. At first it looked to be a trick of the morning light. Before long however, it began coalescing into a mass of energy hovering beside Galbadia Garden. He'd seen a Guardian Force summoned enough times to know what was happening, yet could hardly believe the size; the radiant silhouette had swelled to nearly five times Squall's fire demon. When at last the light dissipated, the creature was no less awe-inspiring.
The gargantuan phoenix let out a raucous screech; it was audible from afar, even through the reinforced glass window. Its striking red and orange feathers were already brilliant before a coat of billowing flames enveloped its entire body. With a mighty beat of its wings, the fiery bird soared ahead to meet the missiles in mid-flight. Each impacted on its body in rapid succession, producing only a sputter of flames as opposed to a proper explosion. With each rocket, the surrounding inferno grew more and more potent, fanning the flames' intensity. It didn't slow as it careened straight for the Trabia ruins, appearing as if it were a meteor falling from the sky, set to wreak devastation on the land. With a tremendous roar, so it was done.
The monstrous explosion lit up the Bika Snowfields. What little of the academy grounds had remained standing instantly crumbled, fully engulfed by the raging wildfire. There came no more rockets, nor could Squall deduce there were any survivors whatsoever. There was a chance the trenches had given them sufficient cover from the firebombing, unlikely though it was. Regardless, the fact remained that the enemy had somehow managed to predict, and counteract their sneak attack. And what's more, with a Guardian Force more powerful than any Squall had ever seen.
"How… how did they know?" he stammered.
He darted his eyes around the command deck. All, including the commandant, stood motionless at the sight of the blaze.
"I'm… I'm not sure," Xu finally spoke. "What matters is they did. There's nothing we can do about it. We need to get downstairs now, and assist with repelling those motorbikes. Navigation team, keep as much distance as you can between us and them. We can't afford to let any more of their troops come aboard. And keep an eye out for another summoning like that!"
The crew all saluted, and scrambled back to their positions. Squall turned again to the window for one last look. He squinted his eyes through the glass to the open hangar bay in the distance. With a forceful thrust of Seifer's gunblade to give the signal, the motorcycles sped forward all at once, and leapt from the metal ramps. Propelled by a set of turbo engines to their rears, they soared clear over the Garden's outer wall to reach the courtyard. Their plummet was slowed as yet more boosters attached to their undersides engaged. Spellcraft and gunfire erupted from below, heralding the second full-scale conflict Balamb Garden had played host to in just over a month.
"Squall!" Xu called to him from the ladder. "Let's move!"
He turned to follow her lead. All the while, he silently prayed that he and his comrades possessed the strength and fortitude they would need to survive.
Whatever happens this day, please just let us all make it through… I can't afford to lose them again…
Frenzied and confused murmuring filled the open quad. The monstrous explosion outside the Garden walls had instantly put everyone on edge. The ear-piercing shriek from just before had been enough to scare Rinoa straight; she'd turned her head to the sky with Selphie for fear of an incoming rogue missile. They'd caught wind of the plan to station a regiment of troops at the Trabia ruins, to execute a sneak attack. The explosion had come from much further away than Galbadia Garden looming high above, however.
"What's going on out there?"
"Nothing good," Selphie hummed in return, bringing up her new pair of nunchaku. "Come on, let's get into position."
"Right," Rinoa agreed. Together, they continued their jog over to the nearest contingent of SeeDs and cadets. "Zell's sure taking his sweet time, huh?"
"Yeah, don't know what that's about. Maybe he got held up or someth-"
"Heads up!" the commander at the front of the group belted. "Incoming bogies at two-o'-clock!"
Rinoa swiveled her head. High above, a platoon of airborne motorcycles were descending fast from the side of Galbadia Garden. They slowed in mid-air with the ignition of their underside boosters. Acting on instinct ingrained into her over weeks of rigorous training, she reached to her belt, and depressed the switches on her sphere. She worked at top speed to quickly draw in the energy seeping out from its casing. Within seconds, a translucent, light blue barrier flashed in front of her. SeeDs and cadets all around had likewise taken the same preemptive measure.
Here we go…
Weapons fire and all manner of elemental spellcraft shot up at the incoming soldiers. What blasts made their mark sent the falling motorcycles spiraling out of control, their drivers blown clean off their seats. Parachutes engaged one after another above the surviving bikes. Rinoa began drawing in the energy again, this time preparing to mold it into an offensive torrent of water. She felt the power rush through her right arm just as she'd practiced, and aimed for where a pair of bikes were set to land.
The water shot forth as if from a fire hose. It sprayed wildly across the divide to form a miniature stream. As the spinning tires of the two motorcycles touched down on it, what little balance they otherwise would have had upon landing was instantly wiped away. They spun out and tumbled on the spot. A smirk crept across Rinoa's face as she admired her handiwork, the first tangible fruits of her training.
"Nice one," Selphie nudged her from the side. "Just a few thousand more to go."
Holding her linked nunchaku before her in an X shape, she aimed for the puddle where the two motorcycles and their riders had fallen. In a flash, lightning surged through the twin metal beams, and shot out. The bikes were spared of any significant damage courtesy of their still spinning rubber tires. The soldiers had no such luxury; both roared in agony as they jerked with the electrical current.
Rinoa averted her eyes, and turned her focus to the rest of the quad at large. The SeeDs and cadets had scattered in the wake of the rest of the motorcycles having touched down. The machine guns fixed to their fronts roared to life, the bullets reflecting harmlessly off of the students' magical shielding. Regardless of their protection, all were quick to move out of the way of the oncoming vehicles.
As Squall had explained, the conjured barrier's capacity to deflect was not dependent on the velocity or kinetic energy of a projectile, but its mass. The term 'shield' was something of a misnomer, he'd said; it was actually a protective aura without any corporeal presence. The volume of physical matter it could keep out was proportional to the energy channeled into it. To deflect something with greater mass than a bullet, such as a blade, or more pertinently a vehicle, would require an exponentially large amount. It was a clear case of diminishing returns on investment. Hence, it was expected that operatives make use of as little as they could get away with so as to conserve energy.
Rinoa deftly maneuvered herself out of harms way, and set to work on the nearest motorcyclist. With another high pressure torrent, he was violently blown off his saddle, sending the bike skidding across the asphalt. She didn't stop to admire her handiwork again in the event another came hurtling towards her. So she progressed about the battlefield; she would scan for an opening, exploit it when it came, and stayed on her toes as best she could.
In an effort to keep clear of the congested center, she gradually worked her way towards the outer wall. And yet, as she turned back to survey the scene, it had already cleared significantly. Just as the students had broken off from their initial formation, so too had the Galbadians. Roughly half the motorcycles had sped away in either direction, en route to the dividing synthetic walkways separating the quad form the cafeteria and infirmary courtyards. It would fall to the rest of the outer guard to fend them off.
Darting her eyes all over, she turned her focus to another motorcyclist tearing straight for her. She took aim, but stopped as soon as she noticed a blonde streak zooming in. The T-Board intercepted the bike at its side. Its rider swiftly pummeled the soldier off his seat with a stone-cast gauntlet to the helmet. Rinoa leapt out of the motorcycle's path, and looked to the grinning SeeD atop the hovering metal slab.
"Sorry 'bout the hold up!" Zell called. He flashed her a thumbs-up with a wink.
She gave him a quick smile of thanks in return. She could have handled herself, but appreciated the assistance, regardless. And then the explosion came.
The roar was laced with the screeching of steel, forcing her to duck her head down and cover her ears. The accompanying tremor caused her feet to give way. She toppled to her knees. Disoriented, she risked a glance back over her shoulder. She squinted through the cloud of dust and falling debris. To her horror, the outer wall of the quad had been utterly blown apart as the side of Galbadia Garden came crashing through. The ground fractured into a network of jagged crags, snaking outward from the point of impact. It began crumbling away the next moment, chunk by massive chunk. Rinoa's heart fell into her stomach just as quickly.
She desperately forced herself back to her feet. Just ahead, Zell had already started racing towards her on his T-Board. She pumped her legs as hard as she could. After just 4 steps, her right foot met thin air. She screamed helplessly as solid ground gave out from under her, and she plummeted downward. What forward momentum she'd built up was her only hope for survival. Time seemed to slow, courtesy of the adrenaline rush. Her eyes were trained to the gargantuan mass of uprooted soil that was Balamb Garden's original foundation, now exposed from the dent in the outer wall.
She met the freshly formed cliff-side after a drop of roughly 20 feet, and thrust her arms out for whatever handhold she could find. Her nails dug into the coarse earth, the friction shredding the flesh on her fingers and palms. She grit her teeth and winced, refusing to let go. Still she continued to slide further down. No matter how hard she fought for her life, gravity refused to comply.
It was then, just as she'd prepared to resign herself to a horrific death on the frosty plains far below, that her right wrist snagged on what felt like a vine. Her fall was suddenly halted, leaving her dangling in mid-air dangerously close to the bottom of the Garden. She didn't dare breathe easy yet. She craned her neck up to see what she'd managed to grab hold of. A sturdy, thick black cable had been burrowed through the soil, with either end disappearing further inward. The material was the same standardized variety as any Rinoa had ever seen. It was a segment of one of the many underground HD transmission cables the Garden had used for long-distance communication. She quickly took hold of it with her left hand to better stabilize herself, and stared straight up.
Zell's terrified face looked down from on high. He frantically shouted down words she couldn't make out over the drone of the flotation ring below, now far too close for comfort. He ducked out of sight the next moment, presumably to find help. And so she was alone, literally dangling by a thread. With nothing else she could do, Rinoa finally let herself take a few deep breaths in and out through her nose. She needed to resist the urge to panic, lest she use up all of her arms' stamina. She kept her eyes perpetually trained to the sky, or anywhere but below.
A minute or so passed without any sign of Zell. After another, it suddenly became clear that her rescue would likely be more complicated to arrange. A swarm of airborne bogies soared in far overhead, propelled forward by large turbine engines affixed to their rears. In addition to the standard machine-gun fire, offensive spellcraft rained down on the Garden from several of the mechs. The sorceress' knights had finally entered the confrontation, effectively leveling the playing field between the two armies. Yet it was undeniably Galbadia who now held the advantage. Rinoa could do nothing but continue to dangle from her lifeline, just as Squall's ring from the chain around her neck.
I can't die… not like this… not now…