King's Heart (part 26 of 31)

It Feels Like Days Long Gone

Xu stared out the window of the plane. Becca had gone up front to get them some drinks while they chatted. She hadn’t seen her in so long. She had been dead in Xu’s mind. To know that Becca was alive…it felt like a great weight was being lifted from her shoulders.

“I do hope you appreciate fine wine.” Becca said as she returned with two glasses in hand. Xu took one, sniffed first and then gently sipped.

“Vintage Harden.” Xu analyzed. “Must’ve cost you a fortune.” Becca laughed.

“Hardly. I get paid well.” There was an awkward silence after that. The older woman watched Xu fondly, not taking her eyes off of her. Xu in the mean time swirled the wine around in her cup.

“How did you…?”

“You’ve grown up.” Becca commented with a smile. “I always imagined you as this little girl, stubborn as a mule, always frowning. You were so cute!”

“Where are you taking me?” Xu asked. Becca smiled and leaned back against her seat.

“Home.” She replied.

“Where is home? What do you do with your life? You owe me an explanation!” Xu jumped out of her seat. Becca sighed, the smile gone from her face.

“Yes, yes I do.

When I ordered Shiva to take you away…I thought that was it for me. Succubus had already taken all the damage she could. Luckily, early in the morning, a nice doctor was considerate enough of his health to go take a walk around the area I was laying. It was there that he found me, all bloody and near death. He took me in and nursed me back to health. He told me that I could’ve died at any minute. For two years I lay in that coma while he helped me heal. When I finally awoke, he explained to me what had happened. Of course I was indebted to him.

He was an old man, probably around his 60’s and he became my father figure. He never officially adopted me, of course, he was a busy man. He researched GFs and magic for a living, finding different uses for them. He taught me all I needed to know in the world, and I eventually became his assistant.

He was also a very rich man, something I found suspicious early on. His research was funded by the Galbadia government, yes, but clearly it wasn’t enough to let him live as he did. He owned a mansion, as we’re about to see. I snuck into his office one time to check his account books but everything was normal. I wanted to ask him about that in the years that I worked for him but I never found the courage.

Of course, as all humans do, he aged. And when it came time for him to pass away, he turned over to me everything he had. He gave me his research facility, his money, his house, the deeds to the land. He also bestowed upon me his secret, which was where he really got his money from. He also created weapons.”

“Weapons?” Xu repeated.

“Yes. Weapons to fight against the sorceress. Weapons powerful enough to kill her. You know, the standard Galbadia equipment, X-ATM092s, BGH251F2s. But then he got into creating biological weapons. He created them to replace SeeD, so that young men and women wouldn’t have to give their lives to kill her. But the sheer power of these weapons…well, they got loose in the world. Two of them are accounted for, the final project, missing. I’m sure you’ve heard of the Omega and the Ultimate Weapon. Those were his creations. But he died before he could tell me what exactly the final project was and it’s not on any of the hidden records. I believe a similar Weapon is still out there, lurking, ready to strike. That’s what I’ve been trying to do these past few years. I’ve been trying to locate this third Weapon and destroy it. So far, nothing has turned up.”

“But then why did you kidnap Rinoa and Quistis? Why did you take her ring? Why…why did you send that transmission? And who was that ‘sir’ you were referring to?”

“Oh. You heard that transmission?” The glee returned to Becca’s eyes. “Rest assured, dear Xu, that was merely a bluff. How else could I rouse the legendary SeeD into action unless I threaten one of their friend’s lives? I didn’t really mean it. The entire broadcast was a fake, as was the sir. I thought it would add a little mystery to the broadcast if there was an unknown receiver.” She laughed childishly, as if it were the funniest prank she had come up with.

“And as for Rinoa and her ring, I needed it for Griever. Succubus is not powerful enough to defeat the third Weapon. I need the most powerful GF imaginable. So, I hired some Galbadian soldiers without anyone knowing and sent them after you.”

“But Griever is unstable! He could destroy you!” Xu exclaimed. Becca smiled softly.

“I know, Xu.” She replied calmly. “We’ve devised a mechanism to control him. You really don’t need to worry about it.”

“That’s insane!” Xu roared. “You can’t…you can’t possibly defeat it by yourself!”

“Dr. Cradus created it. He was like a father to me and the least I could do is repay him by finishing what he set out to do. It’s my responsibility, no one else’s. You know how powerful the Omega Weapon was. The third is more powerful than that. I won’t have any more blood on my hands. The first two killed enough people. This one must be stopped before something major happens.” She replied sternly.

“He’s not even your father!”

“But he bestowed this task on me, Xu!” For the first time since they had met, Becca raised her voice. The effect was instantaneous. Xu shrank and sat back down. Becca had never yelled at her before, never showed anger or frustration towards her.

“Xu…” Becca whispered. “Xu…I didn’t bring you here to talk about that. I brought you here so we could…we could catch up again. Be friends.”

“I know…I know.” Without warning, Xu flung herself at Becca and began sobbing uncontrollably. “I thought I had lost you. I missed you so much!”

-

-

Selphie watched Quistis worriedly. It seemed as though ever since Xu had gone missing, the life had drained from Quistis’s eyes.

“I don’t understand it. Why would Xu go with the enemy?” Irvine sighed as they sat in the infirmary, recuperating.

“Look, I don’t want to talk about it. She’ll be back in a few days and she’ll tell us what this was all about. I’m sure she has her reasons. Now if you’ll excuse me, this has been all too tiring of a day. I’m going to go rest.”

Quistis stood up and walked out of the infirmary. She walked all the way to her dorm. Inside, she looked around and it struck her just how empty it was without Xu. She sighed and sat down in a chair, not know what exactly to do with herself. She looked at the time. It was nearly 1 AM. She picked herself up and walked into the bedroom. It would be so cold without Xu. She pealed away the layers of clothing, too tired to take a shower. She would do that in the morning. She curled up in bed. As selfish as it was, she wanted Xu back quickly. She closed her eyes and quickly drifted into sleep.

-

-

“Squall?” Rinoa whispered. The two of them lay in bed, trying to get some sleep. It was always hard to right after a mission.

“Hm?” He replied.

“You awake?”

“Somewhat. What’s wrong?” He turned to face her, shifting her arm that was placed on his side.

“D’you think maybe we could look for her?” She asked. Squall groaned.

“Rin…my hands are tied. I can’t send out a search party without any leads.”

“I mean…I mean us. Maybe we could look around, ask at towns and stuff.”

“Rin, try to sleep, please?” Squall turned again so his back was facing her. Rinoa frowned and there was a long period of silence. Squall knew she was awake and worrying about Xu. He finally caved.

“Look, if it’s that much of a deal to you…”

“It’s not that big of a deal to me. I mean it is…but that’s not why. It’s a big deal to Quistis and that’s why I want to go look. Quisty and I…we’ve never been on friendly terms.”

“That’s ridiculous. You like each other fine.”

“But it’s not the same!” Rinoa insisted. “It’s not! She treats me like…I dunno, she treats me like we have to be friendly or something. I just want to make amends, to have us really be friends. I want to do something to prove to her that, I really, really do want that.” Squall rubbed his face.

“I’ll tell Zell to get the Ragnarok prepped tomorrow. We’ll tell Quistis it was your idea.” He said. Rinoa squealed and hugged him.

“You are my hero!”

“Yeah, yeah, now let me sleep. You know I’m still recovering…”

-

-

Xu turned in her sleep before waking up. She blinked a few times and then jumped to her feet when she felt someone stroking her hair. It was an unfamiliar setting for a few seconds before she realized exactly where she was and that the previous encounter with Becca had not been a dream.

“Is that how you always wake up?” Becca asked.

“No, sorry...when did I fall asleep?” She said, looking at her surroundings. She had somehow wound up in one of the beds towards the back of the plane.

“You fell asleep a few hours ago. I carried you here.” Becca replied. Xu raised an eyebrow.

“Seriously? You? Carry me?” Becca laughed.

“Of course, silly. You didn’t think that you slept walked over here did you?” She giggled before breaking into more laughter. “Although I wouldn’t rule that out. You remember back at the orphanage…” She trailed off and Xu realized what was wrong.

“Becca, it’s ok. I don’t mind talking about the orphanage. There were good times, especially with you. Those are the times I want to remember.”

“It’s just difficult. I get so angry every time I think about what they did to you.”

“I get angry too. But it’s over, right? And through some twist of fate, we found each other again.” Suddenly, the person piloting the aircraft came onto the speakers.

“Miss Rebecca? We’re preparing for landing.” Becca grabbed a nearby phone.

“Got it, Walt.” She replied and hung up. “Xu, look outside the window. You’ll see my home.” Xu pushed up the shade and peered out of the window and through the clouds. She inhaled sharply when she saw just how big it was. The building was settled amongst a forest and a crater. It was an old brick mansion, taking up at least 10 acres of land. There was a back porch made of glass and a pool a few steps below. And elegant garden sat right in the middle of the crater, populated with all sorts of plants and flowers.

“Oh my Hyne…Becca, that place is huge! Why hasn’t anyone found it yet?” Xu exclaimed.

“Well, for one thing, this island isn’t on any map and the for another thing, we used Esthar technology to cloak this place.” She explained, leaning over.

“You live here by yourself?”

“Heck no! A lot of the kids from the orphanage live here too! You’ll recognize almost all of them!”

“Is that Drik guy here too?” Xu asked, a nasty smirk crawling up her face.

“Yep.”

“Good, I have a few ‘words’ to say to him for all those pranks he pulled on me back then.” Xu sneered.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. And for no reason should you know that there is a sound proof room on the second floor primarily used for torture.” Becca grinned. The two of them stared at each other briefly before bursting into laughter.

Xu entered the mansion, awestruck by just how large and beautiful it was. A large portrait of an old man hung at the top of the stairs, presumably Dr. Cradus himself. He had a kind face, wrinkled more because he was smiling and Xu felt as though he were welcoming anyone, no matter who it was, entering his household.

“Is that him?” Xu asked.

“Yes.” Becca replied. Suddenly, two young ladies dressed in business suits entered through the right side of the second floor.

“Welcome back, Miss Becca.” They said in unison before fixing their gaze on Xu. Becca smirked and looked from her to the two girls.

“Don’t you recognize who this is?” She asked.

“No…” The short blond one replied. “I don’t…”

“XU!” The tall brunette with short hair pushed past the other one and almost flew down the stairs before launching herself at Xu. The poor girl nearly fell backwards had Becca not steadied her with her hand. “I don’t believe it! We all thought you were gone for good!” The blond slowly made her way down as well, eyes narrowed in confusion.

“Is that…is that really you?” She asked tentatively.

“It is! How could you forget such a cute little face?” The brunette pinched Xu’s cheek fondly and that’s when Xu remembered who these two were.

“Jen! Cellia!” She pulled the still skeptical Cellia into the hug. “Oh my Hyne, I thought I would never see you two again!”

“Is that really Xu…?” Cellia asked Jen.

“Of course it is!” Xu replied. “Cellia, really, it’s me!” Cellia looked to Xu for answers and the older woman smiled at her.

“It’s Xu. I wouldn’t lie to you.” She reassured and Cellia squealed with joy, almost strangling Xu with her embrace.

-

-

“Now open your eyes!” Selphie removed her hands from around Quistis’s head. Quistis looked around. They were on the Ragnarok, Zell at the pilot’s seat and everyone looking ready to go somewhere.

“What’s this about?” Quistis asked.

“We’re going to look for Xu!” Rinoa said cheerfully.

“Yep. It was Rinoa’s idea.” Irvine pitched in. Rinoa looked at him, smiling from ear to ear. Quistis took a step backwards.

“Look for Xu…?” Her hands trembled.

“Yeah, we figured…” Rinoa began, “I mean you were so sad that we had to…”

“Do something?” Quistis cut Rinoa off so sharply that the young girl winced. “What is wrong with you people? Why is it that every time I have a small bout of sadness you feel it necessary to jump in and try to save me? I can deal with sadness just as well as any of you can!”

“Woah, Quisty…everyone was just trying to be nice.” Zell said, standing up.

“I don’t get it! Why can’t you all just trust Xu like I can? If she says she’s going to be back, then she’ll be back! Why can’t you just leave it be? Why can’t you…why…” She began sobbing hysterically and one hand flew to her mouth as if she could contain it that way. She ran off the Ragnarok and back into Balamb Garden.

“Shit.” Irvine cursed, kicking the pilot’s seat.

“We meant well…” Zell sighed. Rinoa began crying.

“I was only trying to help…” She sobbed. “I’m such an idiot!” Selphie walked over and put her arms around her.

“Shhh. It’s ok. It’ll be ok. She’s…she’s very confused and upset right now. Rin, honey, it’ll be ok.” Squall sighed and shook his head. He had a feeling that something like this would happen. Without saying anything, he exited the Ragnarok and followed Quistis.

“Squall?” Selphie inquired. He didn’t say anything and disappeared from view.

Quistis sat in Xu’s room, hugging her knees. There was a knock on the door and Quistis looked up.

“I don’t want to see anyone right now.” She snapped. The door opened anyway and Squall entered. “I said I don’t want to see anyone!”

“Look, we all trust Xu. It’s the stranger that we don’t trust.” Squall said before Quistis could open her mouth again. “We don’t know what that woman has in store for her. We don’t know what she’s said to make Xu trust her. All we know is that she’s the enemy. She’s the one who harmed Rinoa and you.” He sighed and turned to look at the window. On the windowsill sat several pictures, some of them of Quistis, some of them were of both Quistis and Xu. Squall walked over and observed them.

“She will come back.” Quistis said. Squall’s eyes finally settled on an old black and white photo of someone he seemed to recognize.

“Who’s this?” He asked, pointing to the picture.

“Hm? That’s Becca, Xu’s friend back at her orphanage.” Quistis replied, confused. “Look, just get out.” Squall looked at the picture harder but turned away when there was another knock on the door.

“Instructor, it’s me.” Zell’s voice, although muffled, entered the room.

“Come in, Zell.” The blond walked in sheepishly.

“Hey.” He said, scratching the back of his head nervously. “I’m sorry, uh, we’re sorry. We didn’t mean to doubt you. Really, we just wanted to make you happy.” Quistis sighed.

“I know, Zell, I know.”

-

-

Irvine sighed, his breath showing in the cold air. He leaned against the metal railing at the secret place. The area was usually quiet and empty during the day. The plan hadn’t gone according to expectations. He feared they had screwed things up even more.

“Irvy?” He looked at the door and the shadowy figure of Selphie emerged.

“Hey, babe. What are you doing here?” He said, standing up straight.

“I dunno, to get some thinking done…what are you…never mind, I know very well what you’re doing here.” She replied, scowling.

“And what is that?” He inquired with a michevious smirk.

“Lecher.” She growled. He laughed and closed the gap between them.

“Don’t be like that, Selphie. You know that I’m not completely like that.”

“Lies.” She turned her back to him. Irvine smiled softly. He probably deserved that.

“Aren’t you cold?” He asked. “We are entering the Trabia area.” He put his arms around her.

“I’m fine.”

“Sure…” He smirked. She turned around, a frown on her face.

“Where is she? Where’s the girl you brought here?” She demanded. He rested his forehead against hers.

“There’s just you and me. You’re the only girl in my mind.” Their lips were so close to each other that Selphie shivered.

“You’re right. It is getting cold.” She replied, backing away. “I’m…I’m going to go back i-inside. You know, Trabia and all…my home…yeah…kinda wanna be the first one off and all.” She ran back into the Training Center. Irvine sighed again. Yep…the plan certainly didn’t go according to expectations.