Maneuverings "Come here!" Squall growled, grabbing Laguna by the arm and leading him away from prying ears. Laguna’s security team didn’t take it well and moved to throttle Squall where he stood. Laguna waved them down and followed his fuming offspring. "What’s wrong?" He asked curiously as Squall paced. "What’s wrong he says." Squall sighed and looked at the small handheld computer. There were fliers, balloons, parties and parades, all celebrating the impending wedding, the wrong wedding. "Squall?" Rinoa asked quietly, walking up to the two of them. "Rinoa…" Squall stammered and hid the computer behind his back. "What’s all this about?" She asked somewhat timidly. "Oh, well." He stammered awkwardly and scratched his head. Laguna looked confused a moment, then a slow and wolfish grin spread across his lips. "You even asked her? Daringly brave son, daringly brave. I wish I had you’re guts back in the day." He whispered laughingly to Squall, who looked about ready to scream. "This is bad." Quistis sighed, watching the exchange from a distance. She couldn’t hear what was being said, but she had already put it all together. "SUN." Fujin grumbled quietly, wiping her brow. Eshtar was in the middle of a very arid region and the metal and glass merely magnified the effects ten fold during the summer. Already, Fujin could feel her skin tightening under combined effects of light and heat. Painful memories of her last visit made her cringe slightly. "It’s okay hon, go get in the shade." Quistis smiled, hugging her gently. "INFORM." Fujin grinned, nodding towards Squall. "I’ll tell you as soon as I know something." Quistis chuckled as Fujin slipped back inside Balamb. "Selphie is going to kill us." Nicole sighed. "This is so not cool." Zell whistled. "You all hush. There has obviously been some sort of miscommunication. Hopefully we can sort it all out." Cid said quietly. "Understatement." Celest giggled, earning a sour look from the headmaster. "Well?" Rinoa asked again. Squall paced in a tight circle, his mind racing for some sort of explanation. "What now chief?" He asked himself. "I don’t know." "She’s upset, what are you going to do?" "I don’t know." "Things are just falling apart huh, think it’s time to quit drifting along. Time to take a stand." "I don’t know." "Do something, anything, they’re all waiting." "Marry me." Squall blurted in exasperation, throwing his hands into the air. "Look Squall, whatever you two had..." She started, expecting some lame excuse. But his words sank in she paused almost fearfully. "What?" Quistis turned and scampered after Fujin as everyone else stood dumbfounded. "Marry me." Squall asked again, this time in a calmer tone. "This is some kind of joke." Rinoa frowned. "Did he just?" Zell blurted, looking at Celest in confusion. "Yes, now shush." Nicole answered, putting a hand over his mouth. Quistis came scurrying back to the group with a bewildered looking Fujin in tow. "WHAT?" Fujin babbled, squinting in the light. "Shush and listen." Quistis said in a whisper. Fujin rolled her eye and listened for a moment. "IS RUDE." She started to protest, not like the idea of eavesdropping on whatever was going on. Everyone around her turned and motioned her to be quiet and listen, causing her to balk in surprise. "You want me to marry you?" Rinoa asked, making sure she understood. Laguna seemed about ready to burst, and Squall tried his damnedest to ignore the excited little noises the older man was making behind him. "Well...yeah." Squall smiled awkwardly. "What are you doing idiot!" He screamed inwardly. "Yeah?" Rinoa frowned. "Is this some kind of joke Squall? You, suddenly develop a sense of humor, is that it?!" She blurted. "What?" Squall frowned, thrown off by her flippant reaction. "What is wrong with you!?" She sighed, shaking her head. "What do you mean?" "I know what you’re doing." She huffed, folding her arms angrily. "Am I missing something?" Laguna chimed in, earning foul looks from both Rinoa and Squall. "What am I doing?" Squall frowned, not appreciating the accusatory tone. "This! All this, you expect me to think you planned all this? I saw the look on your face. You looked terrified. I think you and that bonehead over there messed everything up and now you’re trying to cover your tracks!" "That’s not fair." Squall glared. "Not fair!?" Rinoa roared, throwing her hands into the air. Not fair is you, ignoring me and when you do pay attention you talk down to me like I’m some kind of kid." Squall bit back a remark, knowing it wouldn’t help matters. Obviously this was something that had been brewing. "You talk like you’re all knowing, Mr. Life experience and I’m just some bimbo with no common sense." "I never said that." Squall sighed. "No, but you think it." She huffed. "You think you know so much about everything about life. You don’t even know even know how to live. When’s the last time you did anything on your own accord." "What...?" Squall frowned. "Surprised?" She huffed with a vindictive smirk. "Funny thing that, you think I don’t know anything. Then how do I know all about you then? I know you think you’ve been railroaded all you’re life. I know you’re regrets, I know what you go through day by day, night by night." She sighed. "You know how I know?" Squall shook his head slowly. "Because I love you...Because I notice things, I notice what hurts you, even when you don’t speak it. I know what makes you mad, I know all about you... Which is sad, because you don’t even know yourself. You’re like a machine... How the hell am I supposed to marry you when I don’t even know if you love me..." She cried, her voice cracking. "You have to learn how to live Squall, quit going with the flow and make something happen. Hell, even Fujin figured that out..." Rinoa sighed, rubbing her brow. Fujin frowned sourly but Quistis touched her shoulder gently causing the anger to fade. "I love you." Squall whispered, looking down. Rinoa slapped him. The sound may as well have been a gunshot. Everyone present winced and looked about, uncomfortably. Rinoa stood glaring up at Squall, who didn’t respond at all. She sighed and slipped the ring he’d given her from her necklace and dropped it at his feet. "You can return that to me when you mean it." She said quietly then turned to face Laguna who looked miserable. "This, wedding, was supposed to be for Selphie." She said darkly. "I understand." Laguna said quietly still wounded by her harsh comment about him. "I’ll take care of it." He sighed. "I suggest we keep this from her if possible." Rinoa added. "Of course." Laguna nodded. "I’m sorry." He offered weakly. "Why? It’s not your fault." She frowned, looking over at Squall who still had yet to move. "I’m uh... going get this stuff underway." Zell mumbled, heading to one of the limousines, an armload of bags in his hand. "Wait for us." Nicole called quietly, nodding towards Celest who followed without a word. "I should say something." Laguna mumbled worriedly to Ellone as everyone began loading gear into the limousines. "I think we should leave them alone right now." Ellone sighed, looking over to Squall, who finally knelt to pick up the ring. "That was not what I was expecting." Quistis sighed. "UNFORTUNATE." Fujin said, nodding towards Rinoa who was angrily packing the wedding supplies. "Yeah I know." "Quistis." Squall called quietly. "Yeah." Quistis responded, moving gingerly to his side. "You’re in charge while I’m gone, we’ve a lot to do." He said sullenly. "Squall." She said gently, trying to sound apologetic. "Save it, I had it coming." He said firmly. "Just take care of things and hurry back. Don’t tell Selphie what happened, it’d only ruin things for her." "Okay, take care." She murmured quietly as he turned and walked towards Cid, who was already getting inside one of the limousines. Soon the small fleet of vehicles departed, leaving Quistis and Fujin alone. Two youths stood watching the drama from the shadows, far atop one of Balamb garden’s many spires. A promising turn of events to be certain, the two beings turned to each other and smiled. ***** Nida sat alone on the bridge somewhat at a loss. He’d been monitoring the local media and knew something was amiss, he also noticed the apparent confrontation between Squall and Rinoa the news was already abuzz with gossip and rumors. "This is a fine mess." He groaned. "You don’t know the half of it." Quistis sighed and Fujin and her walked onto the bridge. "What the heck happened!?" Nida blurted rushing over to them. "Well." Quistis started then slumped. "It’s a long story." "SQUALL, LAGUNA, ERROR." Fujin offered. "That’s what it looked like." Nida nodded to the bank of monitors he had keyed to the local news stations. "Oh no..." Quistis groaned. "This mess is on every channel!" "So it would seem, from what I’ve gathered, it looks like Squall is somewhat of local hero. The folks can’t get enough of him." "I knew he was popular here...but this..." She said in near awe as she flipped through channels. "SO ARE YOU." Fujin chuckled; pointing to various photos of Quistis, taken from various times and some without her apparent knowledge. "What’s this about?" Quistis frowned. "Oh yeah." Nida laughed. "People apparently used to think you and Squall were having an affair." "What?" Quistis scowled. "INTERESTING." Fujin said, giving her a skeptical look. "Don’t you start." Quistis snapped. "Oh don’t worry it gets better." Nida smiled, barely able to contain himself as he switched over to another channel. It was some sort of tabloid show. The host was some seedy looking man who at present was jabbering on about Squall and Rinoa’s relationship. Then abruptly it showed a grainy photo of Quistis and Fujin sharing a kiss in one of Balamb’s halls. The man then proceeded to go on about rowdy sex parties and worse. Quistis didn’t know how to respond. Fujin however, just shook her head and sighed. "You took that well." Nida said, genuinely surprised. "The way things have been lately." Quistis groaned. "This is minor." "Who do you think has been taking pictures?" Nida asked curiously. "Who knows, Irvine, a Treppie, anyone. It doesn’t matter, I’ve worse things to worry about." Quistis huffed, waving her hand as if to dismiss the matter entirely. "Alright then." Nida shrugged. "What’s on our agenda?" "Take off, we’re heading back to Trabia to get Selphie and Irvine." "I don’t know how we’re going to keep this a secret..." Nida mumbled. "IMPOSSIBLE." Fujin noted. "She’s right, that’s not something for us to worry about. Squall should’ve paid more attention." Quistis said coolly "Ouch." Nida winced. "The truth hurts, he’s an adult just like the rest of us. He’ll have to figure out how to handle this mess." "Isn’t that a little harsh?" Nida frowned. "Yes, but its true. Who knows, perhaps he needs something like this. Sure he’s our leader but he still has a lot of growing to do." "Fine..." Nida mumbled, not wanting to get in an argument about it. "Anyway... head to Trabia, keep a ear on Esthar." "Yes ma’am." Nida saluted then took the controls. ***** "Has anything changed?" Laguna asked as Ellone walked into his office. "No...they’ve not said a word to anyone since they arrived." She sighed, looking out the large bay windows behind Laguna’s desk. "This is all my fault." Laguna groaned. "Now the media is in on it. I ruined everything." "Don’t be so hard on yourself, it was a misunderstanding. As for Rinoa and Squall... I think this was something that had been building for a while. "I feel so useless..." Laguna mumbled, running a hand through his graying hair. "Stop that." She frowned. Moving to his side she leaned over and hugged him warmly. "They’re strong, they’ll come through all of this." "And Selphie... that poor girl is going to have a fit. There’s no way we can keep this goof up silent." Laguna said dully, wringing his hands worriedly. "She’ll still have her wedding, it’ll be wonderful." Ellone countered. "Yeah, with a nationwide scandal for a wedding gift." "Look, there’s no reason worry about it now, we just have to deal with it the best we can. Lets just make this the best wedding we can for those two. We can deal with the other stuff later. Besides I have a feeling things will work out for the best." She smiled hopefully, then kissed his cheek. "I guess you’re right." Laguna chuckled, ruffling her hair. "How’d you get so smart?" He sighed with a grin. "Someone has to look out for you." She winked candidly. ******* "Feels weird." Quistis mumbled as she quietly ate her lunch. Fujin looked up from across the table and glanced around the cafeteria. "EXPLAIN?" "Having no one else here." "STUDENTS, STAFF, PRESENT, ME." "I meant without the others." Quistis sighed. "WANTED OWN GARDEN." Fujin mused, winking at her. "Cute." Quistis responded, rolling her eyes. Fujin made a face at her and went back to eating. "Oh well, while the cats away the mice will play." Quistis sighed, poking at her food thoughtfully. Fujin looked up and blinked in confusion. "EXPLAIN?" "What?" "RODENT." "What?" "WHERE?" "What are you talking about?" Quistis said, somewhat baffled. "YOU SAID IT." Fujin scowled slightly. "Said what?" "MOUSE, CAT, EXPLAIN." "Huh?" Quistis gawked a moment before a look of understanding crossed her face and she started to laugh. Fujin arched a brow and sat up straight in her seat to regard her. "LAUGHING NOW?" "It’s a figure of speech Fu." Quistis giggled, wiping her eyes daintily. "WHAT IS?" "The cat...the mice..." Quistis said in the same tone one uses to explain something to a child. Fujin was not amused and folded her arms. "FOOLISH." Fujin barked, growing flustered. "What?" Quistis grinned, somewhat shocked by Fujin’s growing annoyance. "CAT, MOUSE... NONSENSE." "Okay, you’re right... Sorry." Quistis said sheepishly, trying to hide her amusement. "BAH." Fujin mumbled, bristling slightly as she settled down to resume her meal. "Love you." Quistis grinned at her. Fujin looked up sourly and stuck her tongue out at her. ******** Aegis was not a happy man. He stood at the front gates of the Presidential Palace. It was late and he was tired of getting the run around all afternoon. "Look buddy, your not getting in." A guard sighed, looking up at the large, dark skinned man in annoyance. Aegis was getting aggravated, he’d been eager to talk to anyone from Balamb as soon as he’d seen Fujin lurking around the background during a newscast of the wedding scandal involving the president’s son. He had always hoped she had returned home safely and was overjoyed to see her looking well. "I saw the entourage from Balamb, I want you to give one of them a message." Aegis groaned, trying to stay calm. "I can’t be messaging my superiors every time some anonymous clown shows up with a message. You want to talk to someone, you go through the proper channels." "I told you before, I don’t know how to reach them." "Then it must not be important." "Quit being an ass and let me talk to one of them, any of them will do." "Alright, that’s it, this conversation is over. I recommend you get back on your bike and vacate the premises before I arrest you. Aegis was a bear of a man, built solid like a tank, his aggressive manner was obviously making the guard antsy. He stroked his goatee thoughtfully and sighed. Looking at the guard sympathetically he nodded. "Alright man I’m gone. Just do me a favor. Her name is Fujin, she’s hard to miss. Kind on the short side, albino, with white hair and a eye patch. "I’ll keep it in mind." The guard nodded, folding his arms. "That’s fair enough." Aegis smiled thankfully before clamoring back aboard his hover cycle. "Hey." A voice called to him. A young man walked through the gate. Pale, tall, kind of lanky. He wore a black jacket and leather pants, a fellow biker perhaps. As the sullen looking youth approached, Aegis recognized him. "You’re Squall." He noted aloud. "Laguna’s kid." "Yeah." Squall scowled, not particularly enjoying being so easily recognized, much less linked with Laguna, something he tried not to think about. "Finally someone with some sense." The big man sighed in relief. "Whatever." Squall huffed sourly. "You remind me of her, you must be related." Aegis smirked, noting his sour disposition. "What?" Squall blinked. "To who?" "Fujin." "No... But I heard you talking about her, is there a problem? What’s she done?" Squall asked, in hope of dealing with something interesting to deal with, anything to keep his mind of Rinoa. "She didn’t do anything, I’m just a old friend, I saw her on TV and wanted to say hello." Squall looked the man over warily. "Fujin doesn’t have any, friends, per say." Squall said cautiously. It sounded harsh but she was notoriously antisocial, and he would have guessed she considered everyone but Quistis as associates at best. "Just tell her I came by and that I’ll be at the store if she wants to talk to me." Aegis said sourly then recovered a folded garment from a compartment on the bike. "Oh, and give her this, it didn’t feel right trying to sell it." He added, tossing it to Squall. Catching it, Squall looked down and examined it. It was Fujin’s wargods jacket. "Wait a minute." Squall called to the man as he had started to lift off. **************** Quistis felt strange, like she was violating a personal space as she sat behind Cid’s desk, pouring over paperwork. It getting late, but she had a lot to do, Fujin had decided to leave so that she could concentrate. Quistis missed her company but knew it was for the best. "Almost done." She thought cheerfully as the night moved on. Just a few more matters to attend to. There had been a fight between some students in the gym. The period of break between school seasons was obviously to long she mused dryly. "That can be handled in the morning." She mumbled, setting the report aside. Glancing at the last memo she frowned, there was a complaint about a foul odor coming from a couple of students and their room. "Some people..." She scowled in disgust, what an awkward thing to have to scold someone about. She sighed and looked at the student roster for their names. Raphael and Gustav, She remembered the two young men, they had graduated in the class after Squall’s. Sliding out from behind the desk, she stretched. "Just best to get it over with." She mumbled, looking at her watch. It was evening, but still early enough to stop by. Exiting the office she noted the secretary had already left for the evening. "Nice of her to let me know." Quistis grumbled then made her way to the elevator. Her thoughts were of Fujin as she walked up the halls. It wasn’t long until the scent hit her, a stale musty, odor, akin to mushrooms and sweat-socks. "Ugh." She frowned as she neared the apartment. Pausing at the door she composed herself, even though the musty scent was growing overpowering the longer she stayed within its influence. Rapping at the door briskly, she waited for a response. She could have sworn she heard a noise, something strange and organic. Her instincts told her trouble was near and she tensed. The door opened and Gustav peered out somewhat blurry eyed. "Huh?" He yawned. "Gods the smell." She recoiled, in spite of herself. "Ma’am." The young man stiffened and saluted as he realized who she was. "Gustav..." Quistis said quietly, trying to keep her composure. The stench was even worse now that the door was open and visions of corpses stacked in cellar of a madman’s house danced in her mind. "We have to talk." She coughed. "Who’s that, sounds like a girl. Dude you never told me you were seeing someone." A voice called from somewhere within the apartment. "It’s Miss Trepe." Gustav called over his shoulder. "Hey cool." The voice called again. "Tell her come in, stop being rude." "That you’re roommate?" Quistis asked curiously. "Rafael I believe." "Yes Ma’am, that’s him." "You two okay, you sound sick?" Quistis said cautiously, noticing the odd gurgle preceded their sentences. Gustav rubbed his throat and frowned. "Yeah we picked up something while working in the sewer the other day." "Yup, Sick as a dog." Rafael called, still unseen. "Have you two been to see the doctor?" She asked. "Nah, we’re feeling a little better now been using this balm." Gustav explained. "Pardon?" Quistis blinked. "My mom’s recipe, she says it’ll cure whatever ails you." Rafael called again, unseen. "Whatever." Quistis sighed, unable to take the stench any longer. "I’m here about the smell." She said bluntly. "Oh that would be the balm, sorry" Rafael explained. Quistis didn’t buy it, something was amiss and her instincts screamed at her to investigate. As much as she didn’t want to, she took a step forward. "May I come in?" "Sure." Gustav smiled, moving to let her enter. She didn’t notice the way his skin rippled liquidity across his skull as she stepped inside. ************************************* Fujin sat atop her bed reading a novel she’d been meaning to finish a murder mystery. A bowl of popcorn sat at her side and a small glass of water sat nestled between her folded legs. The lights fluttered slightly and she looked about curiously. A chill shivered down her spine and she set the book down slowly. Slipping off the bed, she picked up her communicator, something she’d taken to carrying with her lately. "NIDA." She called into it. "FUJIN?" Nida blurted back jokingly. "POWER?" "What about it?" "PROBLEMS?" "Nope, everything’s in the green." He responded. "Is there a problem?" ‘UNKNOWN." "What happened?" "NOTHING." She answered then signed off then switched channels. "QUISTIS?" She called. "Yes?" Quistis answered. "OKAY?" "Fine hon, what’s up?" Quistis grinned, happy to hear her voice as she looked around the apartment. "JUST CHECKING." "That’s sweet." Quistis said quietly, grinning. Gustav watched her curiously; a smile still etched on his face. Quistis glanced at him and frowned slightly, the smile seemed unnatural, a tad to wide, as if something was pulling it from the inside. Rafael stepped out from his bedroom, smelling worse than his roommate. "Hold on..." Quistis whispered to Fujin, then faced the two young men. "I’m going to be blunt." She said firmly. "You have to do something about this smell. I’ve been getting complaints." "Sorry ma’am, really. We had no idea it was so bad, you kind of get used to it." Rafael said, holding out a small container filled with some foul yellowish gel. Truthfully, the stuff stank, bad, so much in fact she nearly vomited. "Get rid of it." She ordered. "No more home remedies, just go see the doc." She frowned, stepping away. Still ill at ease she moved past the two to glance into the bedrooms. Invasive she knew, but the rules dictated she had the authority to investigate, even outright search a student’s belongings if deemed necessary. All seemed in order, no dead bodies, no monsters lurking in the shadows, everything appeared normal. Still though, she could not shake the overwhelming notion she was in peril, even though neither youth was armed or even within arms reach of her. In fact, both students where placid even respectful as she snooped about. "We’ll toss it." Gustav nodded, as she walked back to the door. "Please do, you have no idea how bad that stuff reeks." Quistis sighed, rubbing her temples. "Yes Ma’am" Raphael responded. "You guys get to feeling better." she smiled hollowly, giving them a wary look as she exited. "Thanks Ma’am, we will." Gustav grinned as he shut the door. "Fujin." Quistis called into her communicator. "HERE." Fujin called eagerly, thankful to hear her again. "I just had the weirdest experience with a couple of students. I’ll be home in a little while, I’m going to have security keep an eye on these two for a while." "SOMETHING WRONG?" "Just a feeling." Quistis whispered, looking back at the door. ************************** It was just after midnight when Balamb crested over the snow-capped mountains that sheltered the nearly restored form of Trabia garden. Soon there would be no sign of the terrible cataclysm that had shattered the school, except for sacred areas, places where loved ones fell, trying to save the innocent. Meanwhile however, Balamb had it’s own cataclysm quietly stirring in it’s depths. Two forms stood before their tortured and grotesque master. It had been an easy matter to sneak past the guards Quistis had sent to watch them. No longer human, the two were yet another extension of a creature that had become legion. The very walls of the engine room throbbed with unnatural life, its task was nearly complete and it was time to move. It would have it’s revenge, it would have it’s home and most of all, it would have it’s children. Lashing out with a massive tendril, the glistening blood red nightmare of steaming flesh and tortured steel slammed into the figures, causing their forms to splatter like overripe melons only to be greedily absorbed. "Fsshuuuruuu...mine.....pururur..." The gelatinous thing gurgled as it sank into the floor.
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