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Chapter Text

Part 1

Seifer pocketed his Gil and headed home. What was supposed to be a week-long fishing venture ended up taking little more than a day. They had been hired out by an upscale Galbadian catering company to catch an obscenely large amount of Galbadian redfin- a notoriously elusive fish- for some fancy upcoming gala that was being held in Deling City. They cruised around the upper peninsula and followed Raijin’s sea sense deep into the Galbadian Ocean where they came across a huge redfin boil. Some hours later saw their contract fulfilled and they headed back to the coast to deliver the payload, before collecting their bonus and heading back to Balamb Harbor.

It was just around 3 years ago that Seifer, Raijin and Fujin had been at these very docks, trying to fill their now open days with something a little less destructive than what they had previously been up to. Raijin had just managed to pull himself out of the water when an old man with a brown bucket hat approached them with a surprisingly scathing comment about their fishing skills and a challenge to outdo him. Seifer had just said, “You’re on, old man.” And the rest was history.

They never did outdo him as it turned out the old man was a legendary fishing master but they learned a lot from him that day and many days thereafter. They didn’t know it at the time, but that first day on the docks was when the old man had decided that this group of outcasts were the ones worthy of bestowing his considerable knowledge on and would assist him in creating his legacy. They may not have had the skills but their tenacity and willingness to learn were there in spades.

His legacy, as they would soon discover, was to build a cutting-edge fishing vessel the likes of which had never been seen before. The Event Horizon he called it. After a series of what they thought were temporary jobs they ultimately came on to crew the boat for him full-time. Though they were the only ones actually under his employ, the Posse refused to call him Boss, leaving that to all the other groveling fools. To them, he was just known as the old man. Seifer suspected that's what made him like them.

Once the boat was complete the old man was pretty hands off. This had merely been a layover for him on his way to Shumi Village. Something about getting out of FH before it was overrun with Galbadian warmongers since the bridge had recently reopened. Occasionally he would have the crew pick him up for a joyride to make sure they were taking good care of his baby and that they were putting his expertise to good use.

His one stipulation was that they take his young fishing pupil on during the summers so he could continue to hone his fishing skills. Seifer was put out at first because the kid was so young and prone to breaking things. The idea became less objectionable once he realized that the kid was the only one left in the world who actually looked at him with any sort of admiration.

This arrangement had been extremely beneficial for all parties involved. The old man taught them everything he could about fishing and a fraction of what he knew about engineering. More importantly though he gave them a way of life and a sense of purpose. Gruff though he could be, he became one of the few positive role models in their lives. Particularly for Seifer, the old man had been a North Star, whether directly or indirectly, at a time when he needed it the most.

Each member of the Posse was really coming into their own. Raijin was the best fisherman among them with an innate understanding of fish’s habits and the patterns of the ocean. “That’s that island instinct.” The old man had said. Seifer had tried to argue that he, too, had grown up on Balamb Island but the old man had decisively put that to bed. “You mean Balamb Garden? That quarantined biodome of a bubble away from society that you need special permission to enter or leave? All they teach you there is how to kill. You may as well have grown up on a different planet. You don't even have the same accent as the people from Balamb.” Seifer looked utterly eviscerated but never one to go down easily, he stubbornly persisted. “I lived on a beach in Centra before that.” The old man looked unmoved. “Do a lot of fishing there, did ya?” The last remnants of Seifer’s confidence collapsed. “We… hunted for crabs. And fireworks mostly.” He mumbled the bit about the fireworks, before pursuing a different course. “But Fujin’s lived in Balamb Town her whole life too!” The old man dismissed that just as easily. “That’s completely different! What Raijin’s got is generations of native knowledge in his bones!” Raijin had never looked more proud, and more afraid to show it.

Fujin had become the ship’s pilot and a wicked one at that. Initially, the old man had objected to having a one-eyed pilot operating his dream boat but after multiple test rides, she had him convinced. “I guess when you throw around a spinning wheel of death for a living your brain learns to develop depth perception. Unless that's how you lost the eye in the first place. But regardless, you’re hired. The other two don't have the patience or attention-span for this.” He added a few extra mirrors and screens to help with her blindspots but other than that, she was good to go. Lately, however, her grandmother’s health had taken a turn for the worse leaving her bedridden, so Fujin wanted to stay home and take care of her while continuing to work the books. They had posted some ads for a new pilot and were currently in the process of interviewing/hazing their prospective candidates. The hazing was mainly coming from Raijin, who didn't want to see Fujin go.

But it was Seifer who had grown the most during this time, though it could be argued he had the most growing to do. He focused all his efforts on becoming an expert shipbuilder, fisherman and sea voyager and was able to save up enough money to purchase a house of his own on a quiet road a little ways outside of town. House was a generous term as it was little more than a shack when he bought it but apparently Seifer saw something in it that his friends did not, though they supported him all the same.

Over the course of a year Seifer poured his heart and soul into turning that pile of lumber into something he could call home. Virtually all his downtime was spent measuring, cutting, hammering, installing, plumbing, painting and whatever else the job required. Raijin and even Fujin on occasion would help when more than one pair of hands was necessary but mainly it was Seifer’s own blood, sweat and tears that went into the building of this house. The finished product was a cozy cliffside bungalow, worthy of any lifestyle magazine cover.

It was deep into the night when Seifer walked up the front steps of said bungalow and unlocked the door, entering the small foyer. He couldn’t wait to head upstairs where a hot shower and a warm bed awaited him. It had been a long and lucrative day and he was eager to get the smell of fish off him. These thoughts came to an abrupt halt when he spotted a figure in the middle of his living room. The intruder was clad all in black and wore a balaclava with a tinted face mask rendering all features completely indiscernible, but he could tell by the silhouette that it was a woman.

Both figures froze for a fraction of a second before they sprang into action, Seifer dropping his duffel bag and lunging for the stranger as she headed towards the open window, which seemed to have been her point of entry. She grasped the window frame and was about to pull herself through when Seifer grabbed the top of her hood with one hand and yanked her back inside. Gripping his hand to keep her balaclava on, the intruder latched her feet around Seifer’s head and jerked him forward, slamming his face into the window pane.

Seifer cursed and the stranger took that moment to roll out of the way and make a break for the now-unguarded front door. ‘A professional, huh?’ He thought as he rubbed his forehead. He used his length to close the distance and tackled her to the floor. She grabbed his abandoned bag and threw it at him. He swatted it away easily only to be immediately met with a boot to the chin. His head snapped back for an instant before he righted it and charged forward once more. The music in his head had just gone from a jaunty piano tune to full-blown heavy metal. He had always heard battle music when he was in a fight but he had never questioned whether it was his own whimsical musings or just brain damage.

He held no delusions about being able to avoid damage entirely but the flailing legs of his opponent were presenting him with a bit of a problem and he wouldn’t soon forget that shot to the chin. She was quick and relentless in her onslaught, using all the right moves to keep him from closing the distance. Just when he thought he could get a hold of her she would twist away and present him with a new puzzle to solve. It was like trying to wrestle an angry torama.

Seifer was a bit rusty after not having seen any real combat during the last few years but all the familiar feelings and adrenaline surged up to the surface. He missed the way battle cleared his head. It was exhilarating and sobering all at once. He managed to grab hold of one leg and after a few more kicks to his body he was able to get the other one under control. Now he could pin her down and put a stop to this nonsense.

He had every intention of seeing this plan through but it was clear his assailant had other ideas. She grabbed hold of his collar and used her feet to catapult him over her head. He came crashing down heavily and skidded into a side table, knocking over a lamp which would’ve hit the floor if Seifer’s head hadn’t broken its fall. Now this was just getting embarrassing. He looked murderously at the lamp before ripping it out of the wall and hurling it at the intruder’s retreating form. He scrambled to his feet and chased after her.

The intruder was almost to the window when Seifer push-kicked his armchair at her, felling her like a chopped tree. She barely turned in time to see him dive over the chair and slam her into the wall beneath the window. He heard her grunt through the face mask with some satisfaction but the fight wasn’t over yet. She overhooked one of his arms and put him in a guillotine while wrapping both legs around his torso in a body triangle.

Seifer rolled around on the ground a bit to get her to loosen her holds but to no avail. He came to standing and tried shaking her off with the help of gravity but she only squeezed tighter. Running out of options he squared up like he was getting ready to charge and rammed her back into the wall once, twice, three times before she finally let go of his head with a moan but there was still no sign of her legs budging as they tightened around him like an anacondaur. Fuck, this was getting hard to breathe.

To return the favor, he grabbed her by the throat while his other hand tried to crowbar her legs open. Each of his hands were accompanied by one of hers in the fight for total domination. He tried holding her at arm’s length to stretch her out and get her to release his waist but even with his hand around her neck the bitch wasn’t letting go.

When she couldn't pry his fingers off from around her neck she brought the other hand up to assist, hoping that two on one would increase her odds of not being choked to death. Bingo. Seifer saw his opportunity and with the hand that was trying to get her legs open, he grabbed the top of her balaclava and yanked it off, revealing long blond hair beneath.

“Quistis- what the fuck?!” He was stunned as he looked into the familiar blue eyes of his former instructor, which under the current circumstances were bloodshot and bulging out of her head. He released his hold on her throat and she unwrapped her legs from around his waist, giving them both a chance to breathe properly now. Before he could get any type of answer though she turned around and dove out the window headfirst, finally making her exit. He looked on in dumbfounded silence, all the fight gone out of him. He went to the window in time to watch her getting into an unmarked vehicle that appeared out of nowhere and peel off down the road in a cloud of dust.

Seeing the dent in his window pane, Seifer slammed the window shut angrily, remembering why his face hurt. He turned around and looked at the aftermath of their encounter. Knocked over furniture, a broken lamp, a few craters in the walls where he had slammed her. He didn’t know what to make of any of it. Was it a burglary? She clearly wasn’t there to kill him but what could she have possibly been after? Did he catch her on the way in or the way out? Had she got what she came for? Or maybe she was trying to plant something. He had so many questions but he decided that he was too tired and dirty to give a fuck and that he’d worry about it in the morning. He locked everything up- the fat lot of good that did- grabbed his duffel bag and headed upstairs. They could come back and ransack the house in his sleep for all he cared.

Chapter Text

It had been a short but painful ride back to Balamb Garden after this disaster of a mission, if it could even qualify as that. Between the lookout falling asleep on the job and the getaway driver spilling the bottles of healing potion all over the car, Quistis didn’t know which of the two lackeys who had accompanied her was more incompetent. Ok, so maybe she could take some credit for the first bottle since she was screaming at the driver at the time but she’d be damned if the second one was her fault.

With one hand holding the rail and the other hugging her torso, Quistis went as fast as her ribs would allow to the infirmary. She paused briefly to throw up in a potted plant, which sent her entire abdomen into revolt. It felt like she was getting stabbed internally by a thousand tiny splinters. Fortunately, she had 24-hour access to the medical facility as an occasional assistant to Dr. Kadowaki. The two had been close ever since Quistis ousted her from the Card Club and Quistis offered her services whenever she was available and Kadowaki was in need. With the swipe of her card, Quistis entered the infirmary and made a beeline for the Hi-Potions. She downed one before leaving a note for the good doctor and headed back to her room.

She could walk with a normal gait now that her bones had mended, but she was still incredibly sore. Undressing was a major chore and it was particularly painful trying to take her sports bra off. She got it stuck partway up her shoulders and after several minutes of struggling with her arms in the air and the bra in her face, she had resigned herself to calling Xu for help when she got the idea to catch the bra on a towel hook and lower herself down. Mercifully, that worked and she was able to remove the rest of her clothes without much incident and take a shower.

She threw on a robe and set out to dry her hair when she noticed the very distinctive bruises on her neck from where Seifer had grabbed her. Rummaging through her makeup drawer, she pulled out her compact. “Quistis, most girls do this to hide hickeys.” She mused aloud to the mirror and began covering the finger-shaped marks with concealer. “Looks like you had a fun night. -Oh, you know, just some light choking. -Ooo, kinky.” She inspected her work to see if the bruises were still visible and gave herself a deadpan look. “This is why your friends are worried for you.” She sighed, snapped the compact shut and finished getting ready.

She had hoped to get some sleep before the morning’s debriefing but everything had taken so much longer with her injuries that she didn't have time. Unable to get ahold of Squall (typical), she signed out one of the company vehicles and headed into town. The client for this particular debacle was a fairly new entity, known colloquially as ‘SORga’, and Quistis was about to meet with its head.

In the peaceful but hectic years following the Second Sorceress War, some people were of the opinion that it might not be a bad idea to forge a more positive relationship between sorceresses and ordinary people. Thus, the Sorceress Organization for the Promotion of Peace and Harmony, or SORga, was born. It had a meteoric rise during the two years of its existence, appearing quite out of nowhere, consisting of only a handful of energized and idealistic individuals at its infancy before giving way to the much larger organization it was today, known the world over.

It had managed to pass some serious legislation, too, such as the Anti-Sorceress Discrimination Act, but it was the organization’s primary focus to give sorceresses a new and better image. Essentially, it was a glorified PR firm. As the only known sorceress on the planet, Rinoa was a crucial part of this rebranding. Equally eager (if not more so) to dispel some of the fear and misconceptions the public had of her, Rinoa traveled around the world participating in SORga-sponsored charity events and generally showing everyone what a wonderful human being she was.

In order to raise its profile and revenue stream, SORga had even contracted some of the other heroes of the war (who conveniently also happened to be Rinoa’s best friends), capitalizing on the popularity of the Balamb 6, as they had come to be known. Selphie and Irvine reunited onstage again, performing as a two-person band and Zell had become a bonafide pro-fighter, taking part in a bunch of title matches. They toured in every major arena, in every major city around the world, all in between their day jobs as mercenaries, of course, and all in the name of SORga. Squall was too busy running Garden to be bothered, though he did show up on occasion to hang on Rinoa’s arm. Quistis was the only one who refused to get on board, deeming it an unworthy distraction from her very serious, very important job as a SeeD (though this had earned her some public ridicule, speculating that perhaps she just didn’t have any other talents). She would only avail herself if SORga was in need of her mercenary services, which, at the present moment, it was.

She pulled up to the Balamb Hotel, which SORga was currently using as its headquarters, renting out the entire top two floors for its base of operations. This had been a very cost-effective way to stay close to the sorceress, without inserting themselves in the middle of Balamb Garden. After checking in with the receptionist, Quistis headed up the stairs to the top floor where she found herself standing in front of the honeymoon suite, staring at a plaque with the name Envy Sherridan, CEO etched into it. She adjusted her high collar, hoping that it covered what the makeup did not, and knocked on the door.

A moment later it opened and Quistis was greeted warmly by a commanding presence. “Aw, Quistis Trepe, welcome! Come in, come in.” Quistis entered, holding herself with a practiced poise that didn’t suggest she had just spent the last few hours fighting a losing battle with her clothing. She glanced around the luxury suite turned office before her eyes landed back on the woman herself.

Envy Sherridan could be considered an attractive woman, although her eyes were somewhat unnerving, as if she could see right through you. She had luscious red hair and a face that looked like it was sculpted out of marble which, despite her middle age, had not a fine line on it. Perhaps because her default expression was one of unflappable tranquility but for the fact that she was quick to laugh and smile. “Are you hungry at all? I can have something sent up.”

“No, thank you, I’m fine. Should we wait for Commander Leonhart before we begin?”

“No need. Commander Leonhart’s away on personal matters and has given us his complete confidence to conduct this without him.”

‘I’m sure he did.’ Quistis thought to herself.

“And from what I understand, you’ve done quite a few of these yourself. Maybe even more than he has.” Envy winked and smiled at Quistis. “So come, come. Sit down. What do you say we discuss the mission over a game of Triple Triad?”

She gestured for Quistis to sit down at the table. Quistis looked at the deck of cards and the 3×3 grid lying there. “How unorthodox.” She said slowly, thrown by the news of Squall’s absence and now this.

“That's right, Ms. Trepe, no need for formalities here. We’re just a lowly special interest group after all. Nothing like your prestigious Balamb Garden.”

“ SeeD Trepe.” Quistis corrected automatically.

“Oh, of course. How sexist of me.” Envy waved off her oversight without too much concern. “We women have to work so hard for our titles only to have everyone dismiss them. Well, you can call me Ms. Sherridan or Envy, whichever you prefer.” She sat herself down and picked up her cards. “Now, shall we begin?”

Quistis nodded, taking out her own deck before sitting down. “Envy’s quite an unusual name. Is it short for something?”

“Envious. My parents had a twisted sense of humor.” Quistis raised an eyebrow and Envy laughed. “I’m kidding, it’s just Envy. I think they just liked the way it sounded and didn’t think too much about the implications. Though with a name like Quistis, you’re no stranger to unusual names yourself.”

“No.” Quistis said while shuffling her cards. “And I couldn’t tell you anything about it.”

“Well, it suits you.” Envy gave her deck a couple taps on the table before she began shuffling. “Now, you’re the superior player here so how about I get to name the rules?”

Quistis shrugged. “As long as I get to dictate the trade rules.”

Envy smiled. “That’s fair. How about we go Random, Plus?”

“How Trabian of you.” Quistis commented, without looking up from her cards. “Let's keep it friendly then. Why don't we go Direct?”

“Fine with me.” Envy said, pulling a coin out of her pocket. “You call it.” She flicked it up in the air before catching it and covering it with her hand.

“Heads.”

Envy removed her hand revealing the shiny face of King Zebalga. “Heads it is. You go first.” They each picked 5 cards off the top of their deck. While Quistis considered her first move, Envy said conversationally, “So tell me how the mission went.”

Quistis placed a Blood Soul card, blue side up, in the upper right corner of the grid and began reciting the events of the night like she was on autopilot. “We arrived on-site at approximately 0100 and pulled into a wooded clearing to avoid being spotted from the road. I entered the house via a window on the side-”

“Pardon the interruption, but I’m curious as to why you decided to enter through a window instead of the front door? Wouldn’t that look more suspicious?” She asked as she played a Turtapod in the square to the left of the Blood Soul, flipping it red.

Quistis answered, unperturbed. She was used to having to explain simple matters to people not in their line of work as she had come to learn that there was nothing obvious about what they did for a living. “Visibility wasn’t really a concern since there were no neighbors nearby and I can force open a window without causing any damage in a matter of seconds. An open window also draws less attention than an open door and makes for a smoother getaway.”

“So, you know what you’re doing.” Envy concluded in amusement.

“I’m a SeeD.” Quistis said simply, placing the Quistis card in the upper left corner.

Envy leaned forward in surprise. “Ohh, the Quistis card, how delightful! Let me see, a 9 on top, 10 on bottom and a 2 and a 6 on the sides. Good at climbing the ranks but not so much with lateral thinking, perhaps?” Her eyes twinkled as she pinned Quistis with an impish grin.

Quistis just sat back in her chair, gazing at her cards. “I once asked the Queen of Cards how they came up with the numbers and she said they use a different algorithm for each level to ensure that no card has the same permutation.”

Envy played the Chubby Chocobo card below the Blood Soul in the center right. “You know, there are some who believe they can see their fates in the cards.”

Quistis glanced at the Chubby Chocobo before placing her Chicobo card below it, flipping it blue. “Then I might be opening a chocobo farm in the future.”

Envy laughed. “Better than breeding blood souls and turtapods.” She returned to her initial tangent. “The Shumi, for instance, are too superstitious to play Triple Triad. And they resent the fact that there’s a card made of them. How does it feel for you, I wonder?” She played the Rinoa card in the center square, turning the Chubby Chocobo back to red.

Quistis eyed it before looking up at her opponent. “I’ve always been driven to achieve and I discovered long ago that that comes with a certain amount of recognition. While fame was never something I sought out, I’ve accepted that it’s the price I have to pay for my accomplishments.”

“And how do you think she feels about it?” Envy asked, nodding towards the Rinoa card.

Quistis measured her words carefully. “I think Rinoa jumps into things with her whole heart. And sometimes that gets her in over her head.” She played a T-Rexaur card in the bottom left corner.

“And sometimes it gets her everything her heart desires.” Envy countered.

Quistis let out a dry laugh. “Yeah, that’s her real magic ability. Forget the sorceress powers.”

Envy joined her in a chuckle before looking at Quistis meaningfully. “You know, you remind me a bit of myself, Quistis. Thank you for that bit of insight. It helps a lot, truly.”

She smacked the Bahamut card down in the bottom center square with an extra oomph and looked at Quistis triumphantly. “I believe that triggers the Plus rule on all 3 sides.”

Quistis leaned forward to get a better look. “Wow, you don’t see that everyday.” She said, looking impartially impressed. “Even the wall side adds up to 12.”

Envy excitedly turned the T-Rexaur and Chicobo cards over, changing them from blue to red. This meant that all the cards were red now except for the Quistis card and only one square left. It wasn’t the most auspicious square, as it was surrounded by the Quistis and Rinoa cards, both with a value of 10. The T-Rexaur card below it had the most promise with a meager 4 but even if she did beat it there would be no chain reaction since the Bahamut card tied it with a 6.

“Oh darn, you shouldn't have played the Quistis card so soon.” Envy said in feigned sympathy, practically frothing at the mouth now that her win was in sight. “Oh well, maybe you’ll get lucky.”

Quistis looked at the last card remaining in her hand. “Guess not.” She said flatly, laying down the Forbidden card. Every value on it was lower than the ones on the adjacent cards. Even the T-Rexaur beat its measly 3. But the fact that the two values that touched the face cards were both 6 meant that the Plus rule was triggered, turning the Rinoa card and by extension the Chubby Chocobo card blue, leaving her 4 blue cards to Envy’s 6 red. “Oh well, at least I end up with a sorceress.” Quistis said with a shrug, holding up the Rinoa card.

Envy’s usually impenetrable mask came down briefly, showing her dismay. She clearly hadn’t considered the Direct trade rule until now.

“Well, what do you know? Envy suits you too.” Quistis said, flashing her own impish grin.

Recovering with admirable speed, Envy looked at Quistis with newfound respect. “Why, Quistis, I do believe you out read me. I misjudged you. I thought you were a rigid perfectionist but you’re not afraid to take risks. Nothing like Caraway- he was so focused on winning that he lost his own daughter in the process. You’ve taught me a very important lesson today. I can't thank you enough.”

“Don’t thank me just yet. We still have to finish going over the mission.” Quistis said, gathering up her new cards and pocketing her deck, before crossing her legs and placing her hands in her lap.

“Oh yes! I forgot all about that. Let’s see, where were we? You’d just broken in through the window.”

“Once inside, I headed upstairs where there was a small bedroom and bathroom. After a thorough search I was unable to locate the artifact so I headed back downstairs where I searched the kitchen and then the living room, but the artifact was nowhere to be found. It was at this point that the target entered the premises through the front door.”   

“I understand that you then engaged in hand to hand combat with SeeD Almasy, is that right?”

“ Mr. Almasy.” 

“Hmm?” It was the first time Envy sounded caught off-guard.

“It's Mr. Almasy. Seifer never made SeeD.” 

“Oh, that's right. I believe you were involved in that somehow.” Envy murmured distantly, studying Quistis as she spoke. She shook it off with a laugh. “Well, in the end I suppose he managed to make General without it, didn't he?” Quistis didn’t find that funny. “But never mind that. Why didn't you just leave when he returned home? Weren’t you already near the window? What happened to smooth getaways and all that?” Envy wagged her hand in the air to punctuate her point.

Quistis had to do her level best to not raise her voice. “Leaving became my primary objective the moment he showed up but when Seifer doesn't want you to get away, he can be very persistent.”

“And yet, you did get away. How do you explain that?”

Quistis faltered here. “Over the course of the fight, he managed to unmask me and I think it was his shock more than anything that allowed me to escape.”

There was a heavy silence before Envy leaned forward, folding her hands. “SeeD Trepe, honestly, given your resume and reputation, I’m a bit disappointed. I was expecting nothing short of excellence and not only did you come up empty-handed but you blew your cover as well?” She shook her head to emphasize her disappointment.

Quistis crossed her arms. “While it’s less than ideal that I was compromised it amounts to nothing more than an inconvenience to me personally. Seifer has no way of knowing that SORga was involved in any way so the only guilty parties here are myself and Garden by association. And as far as coming up empty-handed, I’m not entirely convinced that the artifact was even in the house in the first place. With the information you gave me, I wouldn’t be surprised if you got that wrong too.” It was here that Quistis stood up and placed her hands on the table, bending down to be level with Envy’s face. “You wanted to keep this informal? Then let me give you a few pointers on how to run a mission. The intel you provided was outdated and the idiots you sent me were completely useless. The floor plan I was given was a one-room shack and nothing like the two-story, multi-room house I walked into. Seifer was supposed to be away in Galbadia for the week but he showed up on the first night. Ok, so things change. That’s why we had a lookout at the docks to monitor his whereabouts. That would’ve given me more than enough time to cover my tracks and get out of there before Seifer returned home from the harbor. But the tricky thing about being a lookout is that you kind of have to stay awake. And the driver wasn’t much better- he was just going to leave the car out in front of the house which would’ve been as good as posting a flashing neon sign that we were there. And then I would’ve had to contend with a pissed off Seifer and his gunblade. There are only a handful of people in the world who could’ve walked away from the situation I was just in and there’s only one who could’ve walked away from Seifer with his gunblade. And his low-energy ass couldn’t even be bothered to be here today!”

Envy stared calmly at Quistis during the whole tirade, remaining in her chair. She sighed when it was her turn to speak. “Quistis, of course, we appreciate how difficult your job was. This is why we hired a SeeD of your caliber in the first place. Seifer is a highly-trained killer. We couldn’t send just anyone to break into his house. My boys aren’t trained in covert ops , they’re ad-men and communication majors. ” She snorted at the ridiculous thought. “And they may be idiots but they’re my idiots. As a top Triple Triad player you should know that it's not about the cards you have, but the way you use them that matters. Plus, you always have time to build a better deck.”

“That’s where we fundamentally disagree. I believe it’s more important to preserve the integrity of the deck rather than inflating it with a bunch of low-quality cards. But in the meantime, while you’re building a better deck , why don’t you keep your communication majors at home and send me out with my own people?”

“While I can certainly understand your plight about being the only trained member on the team, it could hardly have been otherwise. You SeeDs come at a hefty price.”

“But you have no problem hiring us out for music concerts and prize fights?”

“Why, Quistis,” Envy’s voice became silk, “those more than pay for themselves. Maybe after last night’s challenges you won’t be so quick to balk the next time SORga offers to sponsor you in some Triple Triad tournaments.” She paused here and gave a slight grimace. “You would be expected to actually win those though.”

“Oh, I should be able to manage. I have your sorceress card now, remember?” Quistis said, getting up from the table and walking to the door. “I’ll see myself out.”

Envy inclined her head towards Quistis, making no move to get up from her seat. “Does that mean you’ll reconsider?”

“Nope.” Quistis said, without turning around. She opened the door and shut it behind her. She got to the stairs and paused, looking back towards the suite. ‘What the hell was that?’ She thought before composing herself and heading back down the stairs. ‘And what was Squall doing that was so damn important?!’

Chapter Text

Squall paced around the ornate waiting room threatening to burn a hole in the carpet. He had been traveling all night and was slightly on edge. The Ragnarok was currently in use on a mission and rather than storm the beaches of the largest military country in the world in a SeeD Assault Boat, he had taken the overnight train to Deling City. Despite having the SeeD cabin all to himself, he didn't get a lick of sleep. He decided to forgo the free bus ride to the Presidential Residence, opting to walk instead in the hopes that the crisp morning air would wake him up and clear his head.

Whatever good the walk had done him was quickly being overridden the longer the wait became. He had been sitting patiently in the room’s only chair but after several minutes passed without any updates or assurances his nerves compelled him to his feet. The secretary had been alarmed at the sudden action and Squall, despite his average height, had a dark, crackling energy about him that served as a warning for any passersby not to go near him. The woman found little comfort in the fact that his famous gunblade had been confiscated by security at the front gate.

The years since the war had seen Squall transform from a boy into a man. What he failed to gain in height he made up for in bulk, making him look more masculine and imposing. His forearms alone could put the tensile strength of any clothing fabric to the test, which was probably why the notably furless jacket he donned now was short-sleeved. His hair was slightly longer than it used to be, still hanging in front of his face, but it was his eyes that showed the most change. They were more tired and resolute but somehow lighter and brighter. Like he was holding a greater load than ever before but he wasn't the only one having to carry it anymore.

After what felt like an eternity, the telephone on the secretary’s desk blared to life, causing both occupants to jump. She cleared her throat and picked it up before it could ring again and after a moment she gave a brief affirmation and hung up. “The President will see you now.”

Squall didn't wait to be ushered in, wrenching the heavy double doors open himself just as the secretary was yelling something about them being automatic. Instead of the Presidential Office, he found himself in another small corridor, identical to the one at the office’s other entrance. He was silently grateful he had this chance to compose himself and not go barging in like a red bat out of hell. He took a breath and this time waited for the automated doors to open themselves before walking down the aisle and coming to a stop beneath the elaborate light fixture.

He was struck by how different the room looked from the last time he was there. Gone were the sheer curtains of Edea’s reign that shrouded the room in a ghostly haze like some kind of overpriced day spa. It looked lived in now and with the curtains down, Squall got a greater appreciation for how large the room actually was. Bookshelves, cabinets and display cases filled with all sorts of metals and memorabilia lined the perimeter with giant maps taking up most of the available wall space. The center aisle split the room in half with one side set up for a more relaxed atmosphere complete with a minibar and a couple leather couches and armchairs. The other side was clearly the business end with two much less inviting wooden chairs facing a massive desk, covered in stacks of documents and folders that seemed to frame the man behind it.

Fury Caraway glanced up from his paperwork to acknowledge his visitor. “Commander Leonhart. Have you come to overthrow me?”

Squall stared blankly at him. “No.”

Caraway returned the stare. “Hmm, you never did have much of a sense of humor, did you?” He scrawled his signature on the front page of a document. “Never mind, neither did I. Humor is for people who can't face reality head-on. So what brings you here?” He asked as he consolidated the papers before adding them to the pile.

Squall allowed his eyes to drift towards the doors leading to the other corridor, the one that led out to the balcony. “Actually, there is something I’ve always wondered about.”

This piqued Caraway’s curiosity. “And what’s that?”

“Did you and Martine set up the assassination plot so you could pin it all on Balamb?”

Caraway placed his pen down and tilted his head back. “Pin it all on Balamb makes it sound more insidious than it was. We had a sorceress to kill and a group of operatives trained for that very thing. Sounds like a no-brainer to me.”

“NORG said Martine used us so that if the Sorceress retaliated it would look like it was all Balamb’s idea and Galbadia could keep its hands clean.”

Caraway leaned back in his chair, bracing one hand on the armrest. “NORG sent orders to Martine to kill the Sorceress and then you SeeDs just magically appeared on his doorstep. Follow that up with Cid’s official orders to have you defeat her and it seemed like we were all on the same page. Of course, we were hoping it could all be done with one bullet but it made sense to have SeeDs as the backup should you have to fight her,” Caraway’s tone down-shifted a bit, emphasizing the obviousness of his statement, “that being your purpose and all.” While Squall mulled that over, Caraway decided to continue. “Galbadia was going down no matter what and Ultimecia would've targeted the other Gardens regardless of their involvement. Trabia is proof enough of that. If anyone was under the delusion that they could keep their hands clean, it was NORG. And his hands are as dirty as they are enormous.”

“He thought if he pledged his loyalty and sent Edea our heads, Cid's included, then she’d leave Balamb alone.”

“Ha! He would’ve ended up just like Deling. Slimy old toad- all he ever cared about was his hide and his money.” Caraway snorted in disgust. “Greedy son of a bitch.”

“That's what Cid said to him when they had their falling out.” Squall recalled absently, replaying the events in his head.

Caraway raised his eyebrows, amused. “Cid has a surprising amount of backbone for someone more inclined towards harmony and academics. Not as soft as he looks. It wasn't easy in the beginning, creating Garden. And we didn't make it easy for him. We didn't understand his motives. And when someone decides to create their own military academy out of nowhere… well, other nations may see that as a threat. But he stood his ground. That’s what convictions will do for a man.” A fog settled over Caraway’s features as he pondered that for a moment. “That and the love of a good woman.”

Squall interrupted his musings with another question. “So you knew what the SeeD program was for? Before Ultimecia?”

“Well, yes .” Caraway said with a furrowed brow, in the same painfully obvious tone as before. “Didn’t you?”

Squall looked troubled, finally shaking his head in response. “Not until after the assassination attempt when we returned to Balamb.”

Caraway laughed sardonically. “Nothing like learning on the job. Well it didn’t seem to prevent you from trying the first time around.”

“It didn't.” Squall responded so quickly he stumbled over his next sentence. “…Change anything, not really. We were trained to fight, so we fought. But it may have prepared us better, knowing what we were supposed to be facing.”

Caraway crossed his arms and gave Squall a slanted grin. “So, you finally learned to question orders.” It was a statement, not a question.

“When I got a close look at the people in charge it made me start to wonder.”

Caraway barked out a laugh. “That's right, you should question them. But you're still new, you probably think you would've done better. And maybe you would have but everything looks easy when you're not the one in the driver’s seat.”

“I wouldn’t say easy exactly, it’s just…” Squall paused here, wrestling with his thoughts. With every passing second it became less and less evident whether he would continue or not.

“The suspense is killing me.” Caraway said dryly.

As if going against his internal programming, Squall ground out an answer that he didn't seem altogether satisfied with. “People seem to really complicate things for themselves.”

“And I suppose you are free of these complications?” He asked, looking at Squall skeptically.

Squall reddened slightly. “No. If the war taught me anything, it was how much I was restricting myself.”

“Mmm, yes.” Caraway murmured. “War has a way of revealing our weaknesses. And if we’re lucky, we discover them before our enemy does.”

“I guess I just had a hard time seeing the logic behind some decisions.”

“You shouldn't assume everyone's brain works like yours. Then you'll really be restricting yourself. But let me see if I can uncomplicate things for you a bit by filling you in on a little industry secret. If people are making things needlessly complicated, they're either idiots or they're hiding something. Or both. Now, whether it's for a good reason or a bad one- that's what you really have to worry about.”

“It seems like there are a lot more idiots.” Squall mumbled to himself and only when Caraway laughed did he realize he had spoken out loud.

"Ah, yes. One of the benefits of youth is that you’ve made fewer mistakes, so you think you’re above it all. Especially when you’ve only experienced victory- and a swift one at that. This tends to skew things in your favor a bit. But you’re on the radar now and only time will tell whether it was a fluke or not.” It was subtle but Squall looked temporarily struck. “Don’t get me wrong, you demonstrated a tremendous amount of courage and ability but fighting battles is the easy part. Your objective is simple: kill the enemy. And you know who the enemy is because they’re the ones trying to kill you. It’s as straightforward as war gets.”

“There’s nothing straightforward about fighting a sorceress, Sir.” Squall couldn't help but let some of his SeeD pride trickle out.

Sarcasm radiated from Caraway's entire countenance. “Yes, please explain to me what it's like to fight a sorceress, won’t you? I’ve been doing that since before you were even born.” Squall mentally chided himself for letting his ego get in the way. Triggering Caraway was not how he wanted this to begin. “Do you think you would’ve been quite so successful if you didn’t have people like the Kramers setting you up to win? Whether you knew it or not, they’ve been preparing you for this exact scenario since you were a small child. Not to mention the invaluable insight Edea got into Ultimecia’s mind; that’s the kind of intel a spy could only dream of. You think that's how it usually works? If you think you understand war just because you’ve been in one then let me disabuse you of that notion. Every war is different. Just because you hit the lottery this time around doesn’t mean lightning will strike twice. And just wait until you lose one. That’s when your education really begins and right now, you’re just barely learning to walk.”

Squall opened his mouth to retort before pressing his lips shut tightly and exhaling, trying to calm himself.

“Sorry, kid, you're at the adult's table now. Cid handed you the keys to the empire and now that the war is over, the real work begins. And bureaucracy and politics is a much dirtier game than war could ever be. You’re the big hero right now but one day you’re going to be faced with a decision where nobody wins and people are going to die and you have to pick which ones. Then you’ll get to see how fickle the adoring public is and how quickly your loyal followers are to trample over your remains. That’ll show you how much your soul is worth to you. I've seen more honorable men than you lose theirs to the machine. It doesn't happen all at once.” He got a haunted look in his eye which was chilling on a man like him.

Squall had nothing to say to that and looked a little run down by the conversation. Caraway, not without some sympathy, let him off the hook, perhaps tired of firing on someone who refused to defend himself. “So what’s your real reason for coming here? I know it wasn’t to discuss a failed mission from 3 years ago and to get an ear-beating from me. Or are you just not used to telephones yet?”

Squall looked like he was asking himself that same question until he remembered his true purpose. He set his jaw in determination. “I'm here to talk about your daughter.”

Caraway’s face was an unreadable mask but his voice became tight. “Is she ok?”

“Yes, she's fine. I’m here because,” he hesitated for a second before taking the plunge, “I'm going to ask her to marry me. And I’d like your blessing.”

The words landed like a lead balloon and Caraway looked like he had just been punched in the gut. When he recovered he let out an incredulous laugh. “My blessing ? What makes you think Rinoa wants that? She didn't even want to come to my inauguration.”

“It was a… difficult time.” Squall stated awkwardly.

“Yes, indeed it was. For me as well.” Caraway allowed his hurt to show for an instant before pushing it aside to give Squall an appraising look. “What does marriage mean to you?”

Squall hadn’t expected such a simple question to be so difficult to answer. Per his custom, he delved into thought instead of blurting out the first thing that came into his head. “It’s a commitment to be together for the rest of your lives, to love and support one another and help carry each other’s burden.”

“Hyne knows Rinoa can be a burden.” Caraway grumbled, the look of a long-suffering man plastered across his face. “Was this her idea?”

Squall looked confused. “To come here?”

“To get married.”

“No.” Squall said, mildly insulted. “I mean, we’ve talked about it before but this is very much something I want.”

“Just checking.” Caraway held up a hand in mock surrender. “Rinoa can be quite pushy when she wants something. She's even worse than her mother." He muttered to himself more than Squall. "I just wanted to make sure she wasn't the only one in it. So why do you want to get married?”

“Because I love your daughter and I can't see my life without her in it. She makes me the sort of man I want to be and I want to protect her-”

“ Protect her?” Caraway gave a bitter laugh. “Like you did when you let her accompany you on a suicide mission which resulted in her becoming a sorceress and almost getting killed? I told you she wasn't trained like you but you didn’t listen!"

“All due respect, Sir, she was the one who didn’t listen. Not when she snuck out of your house to go after Edea and not when she returned to D-District to help break us out. That was all her own idea.”

Caraway dismissed that with a wave. “I’m used to Rinoa not listening but you were all SeeDs. How could you bring an untrained civilian with you into battle?!”

“You think I wanted her to join us?!” Emotion erupted from Squall quite unexpectedly. “That was the last thing I wanted but you're absolutely right- she is pushy! And she's one of the most stubborn people I’ve ever met! Does she get that from her mother too?”

Caraway gave him an obstinate look. “No. From her father.”

“I thought so.” He said before returning to his point. “But you know what happened? She proved that she had heart and that she was willing to fight and sacrifice. She was gonna let Esthar seal her away like they did Adel just so she wouldn’t be a danger to anyone!” By the look of alarm and fury that raced across Caraway's face, Squall could tell that this was not information he had been privy to. “You didn't know?” Squall asked breathlessly, not having meant to drop this bombshell. “It wasn't in the classified files when you became President?”

Caraway could barely contain his snarl. “Esthar has never been good about sharing information.”

“And Rinoa didn't mention it?” Squall asked, already knowing the answer but he was grasping at straws.

Caraway scoffed. “I'd have an easier time getting it out of Loire.”

“Maybe she was trying to spare you the pain of knowing.” Squall tried to soften the blow.

“Or spare herself the hassle of me getting angry about it.” Caraway muttered.

Squall trudged on. “Well, regardless, she proved that she wasn’t just some spoiled brat sitting in her tower and that she could hold her own in the most impossible situations. Isn't that what you would prefer for her?!”

“No! It isn’t! I want her to be my little girl forever because then she’d be safe with me!” Caraway shouted back, his volume matching the emotions inside him. “And maybe when you have your own kids one day, you’ll understand that!”

Squall tried to bring things back to an even keel. “It was never my intention to put her in harm's way and I did everything in my power to protect her. I even launched myself into outer space to save her.”

A stony expression appeared on Caraway's face at yet another harrowing revelation. “Boy, this just keeps getting better and better.”

“I’m sorry, but these weren't ordinary forces we were up against and the truth is, if I had to do it all over again, knowing the outcome, I wouldn’t change a thing. She was the only guiding light I had during all that insanity and I couldn’t have done it without her!”

Caraway had a look of resigned sorrow now. “Well, unfortunately, you may come to regret it yet.” Squall didn’t comprehend what he was getting at. “You think you could do what Cid did? If the same thing happens to Rinoa that happened to Edea, you think you could put your feelings aside and order her execution? Maybe even fight her yourself? For the betterment of the world?” Squall looked down, guilt etched across his face. “I don't think you have it in you. I know I don't.” Squall looked back at him with some surprise. It was a dangerous admission (by omission in Squall’s case) for two men in their position to make but they were probably the only ones they could share it with. “And to be honest, I don't know if I want my daughter marrying someone who could.” His voice was barely above a whisper now.

“You know, Sir, as much as I think you're a pain to deal with,” Caraway lifted a weary eyebrow, partially impressed, partially amused and mostly tired, “the fact that you're giving me such a hard time about this just goes to show how much you love your daughter and that you would do anything for her. You may not want to hear this but you know what Rinoa told me she was thinking about when she was drifting aimlessly in space?” The very idea caused the blood to drain out of Caraway's face. “Of course she was scared and she thought she was going to die but once she got her secondary life support switched on she said she had an unshakable hope that someone would come for her.” Squall suddenly became animated, or as animated as Squall ever got. “Can you imagine anything more ridiculous than that?! Alone and floating end over end further out into space, away from everyone and everything, with no prospects in sight and yet she still had faith that someone would come save her. I thought I had something to do with that and maybe I did but I think it goes even deeper than that. Because I can tell you, you don't get that kind of hopeless optimism as an orphan. That is the deep-seated hope of a girl who was loved by her parents and always knew she had someone there to pick her up when she fell.”

Caraway stared hard at his desk, trying to swallow the ball in his throat. After a long while, he finally regained himself and met Squall's eyes. “As much as I blame you for Rinoa getting mixed up in all this, I know you’ll protect her. So you fucking better.” He pinned Squall with a particularly scathing look. “And you better stick around.”

Squall didn't flinch. “It's been 3 years, I have no intention of leaving.”

“You must get that from your mother then.” Caraway replied gruffly as he stood up. “We both know she’ll marry you whether I like it or not so you have my blessing.” He held out his hand and Squall stared at it in a moment of shock before he closed the distance and took it. “You seem like a man of your word but if it turns out that you’re not, I’ll throw every resource I have at you, including the entire Galbadian Army.” As they shook, Caraway’s grip tightened, his tone becoming more menacing. “But that's nothing compared to what Rinoa will do to you.”

Squall’s shock turned to relief and he smiled softly, the hint of laughter in his voice. “I know.” He squeezed Caraway’s hand with feeling. “Thank you, Sir.”

“Yeah, well, I may be doing you a disservice.” He said tiredly, letting go of Squall’s hand. “Now get out of here before you give me even more grey hairs than you already have.” Caraway motioned him away. Squall smiled widely and bowed before heading to the door. He had almost reached it when Caraway called him back. “Squall!” The man in question turned around. “Why’d you come here anyway? Rinoa clearly doesn't need my blessing. She gave up my name a long time ago.”

“Because she loves you, Sir.” Squall said simply. “And I don’t know what it’s like to be part of a family but I wanted to start this chapter off right.”

Caraway, overcome yet again, gave a curt nod of approval. The doors opened for Squall to leave but before he entered the hallway he shouted back over his shoulder. “Oh, and she misses the way you used to hold her. So maybe give her a call sometime.”

Caraway stood there motionless long after Squall had left, the impact of his words remaining. Finally coming to a decision, he plopped down in his chair and picked up the phone.

Chapter Text

Seifer woke up like it was any other day and went downstairs to have some breakfast. He cheerfully bypassed the empty side table in the foyer and would’ve likely carried on right through the living room if the couch hadn’t impeded his usually couchless route to the kitchen. His good mood quickly dissipated as events from the night before came rushing back to him and he cursed Quistis as he righted the furniture. Breakfast all but forgotten now, he spent the next several hours scouring the house to see if anything had been taken or left behind. Other than the damage done by the fight everything else seemed to be exactly as he left it, not a single thing out of place. So, either Quistis was annoyingly meticulous or she never got the chance to look. Unfortunately, he reached this conclusion only after tearing the place apart himself.

And, boy, had he been thorough. He turned everything inside out, flipping over furniture, pulling apart bedding and cushions and looking inside every nook, cranny and compartment he had. He tore open food containers and shoved his head through vents to see if she had thrown anything in there. Anything that wasn’t nailed down was moved and anything that could be taken off was removed. He even went so far as to use his stud finder to see if she had planted anything in the walls. If he hadn’t realized how hungry (and crazy) he was, he may have even torn up the floorboards.

Taking a break to stuff his face with handfuls of food from the loose piles created during his unboxing hysteria, Seifer walked to the foyer and stared idly out the window at the woods in front of his house. It was at that moment that some movement caught his eye as a pale head poked out of the bushes but before he could get a better look, it made a swift retreat back into the forest.

“Oh no, you don’t.” Seifer growled as he wiped his hands on his shirt, grabbed Hyperion- never far from reach- and rushed out of the house. He raced into the woods where he had seen the figure and looked around, not seeing anything even remotely resembling a living creature. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Seifer shouted, hoping to intimidate the spy into showing themselves. He didn’t like stalking his victims, preferring to get to the action as quickly as possible. The further he ventured, the fewer signs of life there were. “Quistis?” He called uncertainly as he delved deeper and deeper into the forest, the density such that light was becoming sparse and sound fell dead in its tracks.

The eerie silence was broken by the sound of twigs being crunched and ground underfoot. Seifer leapt headlong through the brush in the direction of the noise and emerged in a small clearing. At its center was a juicy, undulating, green and purple mass that he knew well- a caterchipillar. He made quick work of it but things got a little more dicey when a T-Rexaur came crashing through the trees like a wrecking ball, drawn by the smell of the fresh carcass.

Seifer was caught by surprise but had never yet encountered a monster he wasn't ready to kill at a moment’s notice. His strength and speed were still top notch but in his haste to exit the house, he didn't bother to put on any shoes and the rocks, twigs and needles comprising the forest floor were wreaking havoc on the soles of his feet. Kneeling beside the caterchipillar, Seifer was the only thing standing in the way of the charging T-Rexaur and its dinner. He stood up with a shocking lack of urgency and stomped on the thing that looked like the caterchipillar’s tail but was, in fact, its head. A silvery web shot out of its mouth, encasing the T-Rexaur in a silken net from head to toe. Delicate individually yet damn near indestructible en masse, the threading put a stop to the T-Rexaur’s rampage, giving Seifer the chance to finish it off with minimal exertion on his feet.

He headed out with a T-Rexaur leg slung over his shoulder, a few Dragon Fangs in his pocket (which he could use to upgrade Hyperion) and a smile on his face. He loved a good battle and these days, he had to take it where he could get it. It didn't compare to sparring with a worthy partner of course (namely Squall), but it still felt good to keep his blade sharp and get his blood pumping. When he reached the forest entrance, he caught a flash of blond in his periphery and turned sharply, only to be confronted by a frightened stray, who shook as he looked at Seifer and took a tentative step back. His fur was shaggy and mostly tan but for some black bits around his face.

“It was you.” Seifer said, as if the dog would understand. “You were the spy in the bushes.” He laughed and the mutt looked a little startled by the sound, not sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Seifer noticed the way he gazed longingly at the T-Rexaur leg and it was then that Seifer realized how malnourished he was. He shrugged the leg off his shoulder but the second he hefted Hyperion up to slice a piece off the dog recoiled in terror and ran away. “No, wait!” Seifer shouted after him but it was too late and he knew there was no way he would catch him with his blistered and broken feet the way they were. Instead, he left the slice on the ground in the hopes that the mutt would return and went home.

The Galbadia job had earned the Posse the week off so Seifer spent the next day cleaning up the mess he had made. Before he began he went back out to the forest to see if the T-Rexaur meat was still where he left it and was happy to see that it wasn't. He returned to the house and started cleaning the kitchen first so that come lunchtime he had a nice, clean surface to work on when he prepared his T-Rexaur steaks. He brought two plates out to his front porch, one for him and one he placed on the ground in front of him as he sat on the steps and ate, keeping a watchful eye on the woods. Nothing happened but he left the plate with the uneaten steak out and returned to cleaning. It was still there when he went to bed but by the next morning the steak was gone.

On the third day, Seifer went to the store to pick up some hardware supplies and set to work repairing the drywall in his living room. While the paint dried, he repeated his lunchtime ritual, taking his two plates of steak out to the porch but this time he included a bowl of water. After another uneventful lunch he left the steak and water out and continued with his home improvements.

He was in the middle of replacing all the windows with shatterproof glass and reinforced frames when he heard some rustling from the front yard. He went completely still, straining to hear as he glued himself to the exterior wall and slowly crept towards the front of the house. He peaked around the corner and saw a still timid but much more filled-out stray with tan, shaggy fur and a black-framed face. He watched as the mutt approached the plate cautiously, nose twitching as it sniffed the air around it. Intrigued by the addition of the water, the exploratory organ paved a trail from plate to bowl until he hazarded a drink. After a couple shy licks, the mutt lapped up the water like it had been ages since his last drink. It pleased Seifer to no end to watch the poor creature enjoy the provisions he had laid out but just as the dog moved on to the steak a detached steel frame toppled over and hit the ground behind Seifer, scaring the dog so that it took off towards the woods.

Seifer wasn't going to let him get away this time. “Stop! Come back!” He sprinted towards the steak, grabbing it in his hand and called after the dog. “Come here, boy.” He whistled as he wafted the juicy hunk of meat out in front of him. The mutt slowed, having gained a taste for T-Rexaur meat, and looked back at Seifer, weighing out the pros and cons. Apparently, the pros outweighed the cons because the dog stepped back towards the house, where Seifer and the steak were waiting for him.

“Yeah, come here, boy.” Seifer got down on one knee so he would be less intimidating and held the steak at ground level. The dog licked his lips as he looked at the steak, peering out at Seifer through messy bangs. When he reached them, he took a few sniffs of Seifer's hand and a few sniffs of the steak, deciding that Seifer posed less of a threat compared to how delicious that steak would taste. With one last lick of his lips, the mutt took the steak from Seifer’s hand and began to tuck in.

“Good boy.” Seifer murmured as he patted the dog behind the ears and began running his hand down his back. The dog lay on his stomach, in his glory as he devoured the steak between his paws while getting a good back-scratch from Seifer. “Yeah, good boy. Good-” Seifer glanced at the dog’s undercarriage as the mutt rolled to his side. “- boy.” Seifer confirmed, taking the hint and commencing with the much coveted belly rub.

After the meal, their friendship was solidified with a few enthusiastic licks to the face and Seifer returned to his work with his new helper. The help came in the form of chewing on a T-Rexaur femur and chasing after whatever object Seifer chucked out into the yard but it was welcome all the same. Seifer was just wrapping up for the day when the mutt ran up and laid a piece of wood from one of the old window frames at his feet. Seifer reached down and patted him on the head. “I've gotta give you a name.” He thought for a moment before sentimentality reigned. “How about Zefer?” The dog, who would’ve been delighted by anything Seifer said, let out a bark and wagged his tail and so the name stuck. Zefer didn't seem overly eager to return to the forest that night so Seifer bathed him and brought him inside. Both parties seemed satisfied with this arrangement.

The next couple days passed much the same, with Seifer finishing all the windows and doors, installing a magnetic locking system that was remote-controlled and would stop even the most sophisticated burglars. He even put some shutters alongside the exterior windows for good measure. They had the appearance of typical wooden shutters but were solid steel, just like the window frames, and would slam shut at the click of a button, creating a nearly impenetrable barrier.

While he worked, Seifer tried to make Zefer a more productive member of the household by training him to stave off intruders. It was largely unsuccessful since Seifer didn’t have any neighbors to speak of and foot traffic was rare in his vicinity so he had to create some intruders of his own. He set up a few makeshift scarecrows and scattered them around the yard, getting slightly carried away by hooking them up to motion detectors so they would pop up whenever something moved within range. This had the initial effect of scaring Zefer half to death but soon the mutt developed a pretty mean bark and not long after that he had torn all the scarecrows to pieces.

It was when Seifer was putting the final finishing touches on the shutters that Raijin decided to pay him a visit, strolling up his front walk. Puzzled by the carnage of wood planks and sandbags that littered the front yard (some alarmingly had faces drawn on them), he was met by a mad, snarling dog with a thunderous bark. “Who do we have here?” Raijin asked in a friendly tone, immediately forgetting about the scarecrow massacre. Unconcerned with the aggressive nature of the bark, Raijin leaned down, holding out his hand for Zefer to get a good whiff. This bought Raijin a few pets and when he found that sweet spot that got the dog’s leg shaking, Zefer decided that this was a good guy. 

Seifer heard the growls fizzle into something much less menacing and frowned. Raijin turned the corner carrying Zefer in his arms as the dog assaulted his face with kisses. “Where'd you find him?”

“The forest.” Seifer responded with a sigh. “I thought he would make a good guard dog.”

Raijin laughed as he held the squirmy ball over his head and let the kisses rain down. “Yeah, you're real tough, aren't ya?” The scene was incongruous with the words though no one but Seifer seemed to mind.

“Once I teach him how to attack he will be.”

“Yeah? You know how to do that?”

“How hard could it be?” Seifer shrugged. “I saw Rinoa do it for Angelo.”

“Yeah but that dog is not normal. How many dogs you know are willing to shoot themselves off an arm cannon?”

“It’s just repetition and discipline.” Seifer stated before returning to his work, hoping it would distract from his rising irritation.

“I don’t think it’s as easy as you think it is, bro. That’s why I prefer bugs and fish. You don’t gotta train ‘em, you just gotta understand ‘em. What’re you trying to do anyway? Have him fight for you in battle?” Raijin waited for his answer while alternating between tossing Zefer in the air and nuzzling him in close, like one would a small child.

“ No .” Seifer dragged out the syllable. “ First of all, I don't need any help in battle. And second of all, I already told you, I’m training him to be my guard dog.”

“I know you don’t need help, bro, but just think, if you could do what Rinoa did with that dog, you’d have no problems against anyone. Not even Squall.”

Seifer huffed as he attached one of the shutters to the window frame. “I don’t need any help against Squall, I’m the one who got him to where he is.”

“So imagine that plus a killer dog. That’s all I’m saying, ya know.” Seeing that he had unintentionally annoyed Seifer, Raijin decided to head for safer grounds. “So what’d you name him?”

“Zefer.”

Raijin blinked, confused, “You named your dog after… yourself ?”

“No, it’s Zeh- fer. Like the knight from the movie.”

Raijin made a concerted effort to attune his ear to what Seifer was saying but was no better off. “I gotta be honest with you, man, they sound pretty much the same to me.”

“Well, they’re not!” The more Seifer thought about it, the less sure he became. “I don’t know, maybe they come from the same name or something! It honestly never occurred to me until you said it just now. And now I can’t unhear it.” He looked at the capital letters that he himself had engraved on his old silver necklace that now adorned Zefer’s neck like a collar and threw his hands up. “Well, it’s too late to change it now!”

“Hey, maybe your parents were fans of the movie too.” Raijin offered as a consolation in an attempt to cheer Seifer up.

“It came out after I was born.”

“Maybe they were fans of the real person then.”

“Then they were morons because they fucked up the spelling!”

“Don’t say that, man, those were your parents. Maybe it’s spelled different where they’re from, ya know?”

“You know you’re the most annoying when you’re being the sensible one.”

Raijin laughed. “Yeah that’s what Fujin says too. Except she usually just kicks me and tells me to stop making sense.” Raijin looked at Zefer. “Hey, I know! You should get Fu to help you train him. She’s real good at giving orders, ya know?”

“What makes you think I can’t do it myself?! Who do you think used to be in charge of you and Fujin anyway?!” Seifer let his frustration boil over and, as if to prove it to Raijin (and more probably to himself), commanded, “Zefer, sic!”

To everyone’s surprise, Zefer stiffened to attention and nipped one of the hands holding him, causing Raijin to yelp. “Hey! What the hell, man?!”

With a look of pride and admiration, Seifer walked over to Zefer and lifted him out of Raijin’s hands. “Aww, that’s a good boy.” Zefer, knowing who his true master was and ecstatic that he had pleased him, started treating Seifer’s face like a salt lick. “Who’s a good boy?”

“Damn, you’re not even gonna ask if I’m ok?” Raijin griped, examining the wound on his hand. It had broken the skin enough to draw blood but was still barely more than a scratch.

Seifer turned his back on Raijin, ignoring the question as he continued to cuddle and fawn over the animal. “You were sooo brave. He’s a big fucker, too.”

“I could use a bandage, ya know?”

Seifer responded without turning around. “That’s what you get for trespassing.”

“I wasn’t trespassing! I was just coming by to see how my friend was doing cuz it’s been a few days, ya know?!”

“You were trespassing on my nerves.”

“Alright then, have it your way. I’m outta here, man. I get enough of this at home.” Exasperated, Raijin stormed off down the lane leading back to the main road.

Only when he was out of sight did Seifer turn back around. He looked lovingly at Zefer as he cradled him in his arms and kissed his head. “Yeah, you’re gonna make a great guard dog.”

Chapter Text

Quistis was just finishing getting ready, in a bit of a somber mood for what was supposed to be a fun outing with the girls. But Quistis wasn’t much for fun outings, or rather, her idea of fun was a bit different than most girls. A rousing game of Triple Triad, a spirited romp through the training center, curling up with an old textbook, acquiring a new skill- now these were her ideas of a good time. Not forming a gaggle of squealing banshees who have to turn everything into a group event, so that it would appear that even the simplest tasks- from dress shopping to going to the bathroom- couldn’t possibly be accomplished on one’s own.

Quistis knew she wasn’t being very kind to her friends (or women in general) but this was the tone her thoughts were taking at the moment. This wasn’t just any regular dress shopping, after all. They were getting fitted for the dresses they’d be wearing for Rinoa and Squall’s upcoming nuptials. Rinoa had come to Quistis’ room personally to deliver the news, getting down on one knee when Quistis answered the door and holding out her handwritten invitation with a proposal of her own. “Will you be my bridesmaid?” Quistis had never been to a wedding before, much less asked to be in one, and didn’t honestly think that a grown woman actually needed bridesmaids but what else could she say in the face of a gleaming Rinoa, kneeling before her with tears in her eyes like she was depending on Quistis for some basic human need? Quistis had accepted, congratulated her with a hug and proceeded to shove the invitation deep into one of her desk drawers, never to be looked at again.

This was glaringly representative of Quistis’ guiltier inner feelings towards her friend. Of course, she loved Rinoa, had even grown to respect her and they were bonded for life but there had always been a little bit of friction between them, creating a dynamic more akin to sisters than friends. Quistis, who had to work hard for everything she got, was like the studious, responsible older sister having to suffer the antics of the spoiled, younger and more carefree Rinoa, who didn't seem to have to try at all and the world just fell into her lap. There was just something about the girl that irked Quistis and the fact that Rinoa didn’t seem at all irked by her just made matters worse.

This became increasingly inconvenient for Quistis, having to hide these feelings for someone she was actually quite close to, but all the more so because she knew that if she ever let them out then she would be reduced to nothing more than a woman scorned. And maybe there was a twinge of bitterness that Squall had picked Rinoa over her but she had said she wasn't in love with him and she meant it (though it still mortified her to think she had chosen to share those feelings out loud with the entire group). It was obvious now that they were something else to each other and that they would have been all wrong together anyway, but that didn't erase the fact that there was a time when Quistis thought she was in love with Squall and she could not be held accountable for any fantasies or desires that may or may not have occurred during that time. If they did exist, no amount of torture would ever be enough to pry it out of her.

If Quistis really examined it, the friction between her and Rinoa began before Squall even factored in. She knew this intuitively, though she couldn't quite pinpoint it to any one thing. Maybe it was the way Rinoa treated playing revolutionary like it was some kind of game, laughing at the destruction of her base like the whole thing was just a big joke, despite the very real life consequences that apparently everyone else but her would have to pay. Or maybe it was the way she sucked all the air out of the room when they got wind of Seifer’s execution, so there was nowhere left for anyone else’s grief, like the rest of them hadn’t been a part of his life for years before he ever met Rinoa. Her sense of entitlement was beyond anything Quistis had ever seen before and she actually found herself kind of admiring it (albeit begrudgingly). Rinoa was not lacking in self-esteem, that’s for sure, which was something that Quistis herself had always woefully struggled with despite all of her accomplishments.

For all Rinoa’s self-esteem and entitlement, the post-war transition had not been a smooth one for her. After helping defeat Ultimecia, she was on top of the world- she had the man, the friends and all the powers that a Blue Mage like Quistis could only dream of (perhaps another point of contention, notwithstanding all the other challenges that come with being a sorceress). Rinoa thought she could just waltz into Garden like she owned the place- she was dating the Commander, after all, and all of her best friends were in the upper echelons of SeeD. She thought she may even take a class or two herself, having always done what her friends did. That was how she got into the Forest Owls in the first place- that and the desire to rebel against her militant father… aaaand maybe just a teensie bit to impress a boy… ok, more than a teensie bit… ok, a lot. As much as Squall wanted to make all of Rinoa’s dreams come true, even he knew he couldn’t have her attending SeeD classes. Something that, if he wasn’t aware of before, Quistis was only too happy to remind him of when he went to her in private to see about secret lessons. “Are you out of your mind ?! You want to train a Sorceress to be a SeeD ?!” This was all the reality check Squall needed to drop the issue entirely.

This left Rinoa feeling a little rudderless and alienated. She had never had a problem getting men to do what she wanted before but suddenly she found herself amidst a population of those who were trained to fight her. They were cordial, suspended in a kind of tentative truce, and no one was actively against her, but it was always the elephant in the room. And, believe it or not, the men were the friendly ones. Rinoa had always been less successful with the female populace, mainly because they were harder to read and she couldn’t manipulate them as easily, and add that to the fact that they, too, were conditioned to view her as a threat, didn’t leave her with very many girlfriends. Mainly Quistis, Selphie and Delia, Zell’s girlfriend from the library. Rinoa found her solace in giving out private dog training lessons- Angelo’s considerable skills and contributions to the war effort having not gone unnoticed- and that was how she spent most of her time until SORga came knocking and gave her a purpose and, more importantly to her, a way into the public’s heart.

Quistis was yanked out of her spiraling thoughts by someone ringing her buzzer. She looked at the clock and was surprised to find she still had another 10 minutes before they were supposed to be here. Selphie was never early. She must be taking her job as Maid of Honor very seriously, Quistis mused as she got up to answer it and was surprised again when it was Xu’s face that greeted her, not Selphie’s. Quistis let out an uncharacteristic squeal (in a manner strikingly similar to the one she had just condemned not 5 minutes ago), excited for the first time that day, and pulled a bemused Xu inside. “Oh my god, I have so much to tell you!”

“Someone’s chipper today.” Xu said as Quistis dragged her over to the bed and sat her down.

“I wasn’t until you got here.” Xu tried to maintain a sarcastic neutrality but whenever Quistis got that twinkle in her eye it was hard to resist. “I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve seen you.”

Xu shrugged. “I’ve been in a lot of meetings and you’ve been on a lot of missions. What else is new?”

“I almost called you at like 3am the other night because I was so sore after a mission that I couldn't get my bra over my head!” Quistis confided, laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation.

Xu let out a breathless laugh and her eyes drifted to the marks on Quistis’ neck and hardened. They were very faint now but she could still make out the finger-shaped bruises. “Those from him ?”

Quistis reflexively looked down, following her gaze and casually brushed it off. “Yeah, it's nothing.”

“Fucking asshole.” Xu looked away in anger, crossing her arms over her chest.

Quistis grabbed Xu’s wrists, pulling them apart, excitement unabated. “We can get to that later but right now I have to tell you about the debrief I had with Sherridan.”

Xu looked at her. “I already read it.”

“Yeah, but you’ll never guess what she had us do.”

“So tell me.” As usual, Xu wasn't one to waste time.

“She wanted to play Triple Triad.”

“What, like, after?”

“No, like, during.”

Xu crossed her arms again. “Wow, I wish I could be that unprofessional. Rules?”

“Trabian.”

“Random/Plus. Interesting.” Xu pondered, tapping her fingers to her lips. “Your pick?”

“Hers.”

Xu narrowed her eyes. “Huh, would’ve thought she’d go Elemental/Same Wall being from Esthar and all.”

Quistis’ eyes sparkled as she watched her friend’s wheels turning like she knew they would. “So did I.”

“You set the terms I take it?”

She nodded. “Direct.”

Xu raised her eyebrows. “Oooh, the old ‘You prick my finger, I burn down your village’ play. She probably didn't realize she’d already lost.”

Quistis grinned. “Exactly.”

Xu cocked her head to the side and inquired cheekily, “Soooo, what’d ya get?”

“Chubby Chocobo.”

Xu took a moment to sort through her mental inventory. “Hmm, I think that used to belong to the kid who was always hanging out in front of the library. According to Diamond, he lost it to one of the library girls. Or gave it to them, more like.” She added with a snort.

“Huh,” Quistis silently considered this.

Xu eyed her suspiciously. “You must’ve gotten something else or you wouldn't be this excited.”

Quistis paused for effect. “The Rinoa card.”

“She had Rinoa?” Xu raised her eyebrows in surprise, puzzling over the implications.

Quistis nodded, her smile spreading. “I baited her with the Quistis card and the second she played it I knew exactly what my strategy was going to be. I wasn't worried about Quistis so I made getting Rinoa my top priority.”

“Ok, Squall.”

Quistis’ mouth hung open before she smacked Xu on the shoulder. It was playful but hard enough that Xu rocked back in her seat. “You wicked witch!”

“I'm kidding.” Xu laughed, holding up her hands.

“It’s not kidding if it's true!” Quistis said in mock-offense, joining in Xu’s laughter. “Then it’s just mean!”

When the laughter subsided, Xu urged her to continue. “I’m sorry, please tell me about your strategy.” She loved talking strategy more than just about anything and Quistis, despite the injury to her ego, was eager to oblige.

“I had the card I needed to turn both face cards and all I had to do was keep Sherridan out of that square.”

“Which square?”

“Center Left.”

“And where were Quistis and Rinoa?”

“Top Left and True Center.”

“So you would need identical values on the top and right. Can I have a guess?” Quistis yielded her the floor and Xu consulted her mental catalogue once more. She had a photographic memory of all the Triple Triad cards and a near encyclopedic knowledge of who had what, once such knowledge was obtained. This gave her X-ray vision over the grid but her main problem was that once she saw a clear strategy for her opponent, she found any deviation from that inconceivable. Quistis was a top card counter herself, though not quite at Xu’s level, but what gave her the edge over Xu was that she was really good at reading the person (something that she had come to discover was much less appreciated outside the world of Triple Triad). “Hmm, let’s see, what do you have, what do you have. Was it… Grendel?”

Quistis shook her head. “Forbidden.”

“Ah, I knew it was a low card!” Xu snapped her fingers in defeat. “What else did she have?”

“Turtapod and Bahamut.”

“ Bahamut ? How on earth did she get that?!”

“Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe he dropped it at the Deep Sea Research Facility.”

“And she didn’t reveal her hidden card?”

“No.”

“What a cunt.” It was by no means a requirement to show your unplayed card at the end of a game and was probably smarter not to do so, but it was usually considered a show of respect by all the top players. Xu always took it as a personal affront when they chose not to reveal it given her insatiable need to track all the cards. “What’d you lose?”

“Blood Soul, T-Rexaur and Chicobo.”

Xu bobbed her head as she did the math. “Chubby and Chic cancel each other out, so you got a Level 10 in exchange for a 1 and a 4? No contest.” She concluded before tapping her chin again, trying to get to the heart of the matter. “Ok, so let’s work this out. Sherridan having the Rinoa card means that Sherridan played Caraway.”

“Uh-huh.” Quistis nodded vehemently, urging Xu to continue.

“That means she probably beat Caraway.”

“Unnn,” Quistis wobbled her head, indicating that that wasn’t necessarily true. “Caraway is flexible on the trade rules unless he wants something.”

“If only that were the case in real life.” Xu joked before returning to the matter at hand and finding a dead end. “Ok, so what does that mean then?”

Quistis shook her head, chomping at the bit to share her thoughts. “I don’t know but I have a theory.”

“Shoot.”

“Why would the president of a historically anti-sorceress, anti-magic nation be in the same room with the head of a pro-sorceress organization?”

Xu shook her head and shrugged. “Because he's Rinoa’s father?”

“Very true, and even the public can understand a father’s need to spend time with his sorceress daughter (not that Rinoa ever gives him the chance) but if he’s seen cavorting with SORga members, now that’s a different story. It’s not just a family affair anymore, it’s a political statement. We’re talking sorceress sympathizer territory and after what Galbadia just went through with Deling they’re going to be picking apart Caraway’s every move with a fine-tooth comb.” Quistis had gone full instructor mode and Xu was listening with rapt attention. “And Caraway’s no dummy. He was the General of G-Army when Edea took over. Look what happened to all the other Galbadian leaders at the time. Deling? Dead. Martine? Sent off in disgrace. Caraway- the actual mastermind of the assassination plot? He gets off virtually scot-free, even allowed to stay in his mansion, and then goes on to unanimously be elected president when it’s all over. It takes some pretty careful maneuvering to pull that off.”

“Ok, so that would be a good reason to not meet in public but as far as I know, he and Sherridan have never been seen together.”

“But we know they’ve met in private and that is much more damning because now if it ever gets out, it looks like they're hiding something. So what would Caraway possibly have to gain in meeting with her?”

“You think they’re lovers?” Xu asked, frowning.

Quistis shook her head. “Worse. I think they're business partners. All the best deals are made in private.”

This time Quistis’ words alone were enough to knock Xu back. “You think President Caraway is some kind of… secret benefactor for SORga?!” She attempted to get on more solid ground. “Wouldn’t lovers be the simpler and less crazy conspiracy theory explanation?”

“Caraway wouldn't risk it all for something as basic as that. And from the way Sherridan spoke about him I didn't get the sense that there was any warmth there. Unless she's one to swallow her mates whole,” she paused to reconsider, “which let’s not rule that out.” Xu chuckled slightly, still in a state of bafflement. “And have you ever noticed how SORga just popped up out of nowhere and rose to the top in only a couple years? That takes money, that takes backing, that takes a network of influential partners.”

Xu tried to find a logical argument but none came so Quistis picked up the baton for her. “Doesn’t it make sense now that you think about it? His only daughter is the most famous sorceress alive in a world that is hostile to sorceresses, where a literal chain of institutions exist specifically for their destruction. Maybe he wanted to create an organization that was more geared towards her safety and well-being to level the playing field a little. They may not get along but he loves Rinoa and he’s always tried to look out for her.”

Xu looked dumbfounded. “If that’s true, that’s insane.”

“Is it any crazier than a sorceress being behind the creation of Garden?”

Xu had to give her that. Before she could respond they were interrupted by a ruckus coming from the hall outside. Their eyes met briefly before turning to the door. “What the hell is that?!” Xu hopped off the bed to investigate. The sound of party horns and noisemakers clacking together became clearer as the ruckus got closer.

“The gaggle’s here.” Quistis sighed cryptically as she rose, smoothing out her clothes as she glanced at the clock. Right on time.

“The what ?!”

“We’re doing a dress fitting for Rinoa’s wedding.” Comprehension dawned on Xu’s face as she reached for the control panel to open the door. Before she could hit the button Quistis leapt across the room and blocked it with her body. “You should come with me!”

Xu looked at her like she had grown a second head. “I’d rather swallow a cactuar whole.”

“Come on! It'll be so much more fun with you there!” Quistis begged.

“A cactuar , Quistis. Coming out or going in, your holes won’t be whole again.”

Quistis stared at her, temporarily mystified. “Is that a saying or did you just make that up?”

Xu began to shrug but was saved by the bell when someone pushed the buzzer to Quistis' apartment. Whoops and hollers could be heard from just beyond the door. Quistis grabbed Xu’s hands. “Pleeease. We never get to spend any time together outside of work.” She looked at Xu with big puppy dog eyes and Xu could see a hint of desperation in them. It suddenly occurred to her that this may not be the easiest time for Quistis and that she may need a friend for moral support.

As unappealing as the idea was, Xu felt her resolve crumble as she stared into her best friend’s face. Taking a deep breath, she said, “Fine. But you owe me.”

Quistis squeezed her hands and hugged her. “Thank you!! I'll make it up to you, I promise.” She released Xu and turned to go.

“Rare card make it up to me?”

Quistis’ hand stopped a hair’s breadth from the door release. Hanging her head, she pursed her lips and looked back at Xu, who was patiently waiting.

“You’re not serious.” Quistis narrowed her eyes as she searched her friend’s face for something, anything, that indicated she was joking.

“As a heart attack.” The buzzer went off again and this time they were really laying into it. Quistis just stared at her so Xu shrugged. “Ok, I guess you don’t want me to come then. Have fun, it sounds like it’s gonna be a real blast.” She said sarcastically as she pushed past Quistis to leave.

“Wait!” Quistis glanced nervously at the door before clearing her throat and reluctantly offering, “How about… Chubby Chocobo?”

Xu smiled and shook her head. “Shiva.”

Quistis nearly choked. “Shiva?! Chubby’s better than her!”

“Not when you're playing Elemental.”

“How about Tri-Point and Elvoret? Those are two element cards.”

“Now you're just insulting me.”

Outside they had begun chanting Quistis' name. Quistis gulped. “Gilgamesh?” Her voice went up an octave.

Xu just shook her head again. “I want Shiva.”

Quistis’ eyes blazed into hers. “You're not getting Shiva.”

Xu remained steadfast, holding Quistis’ gaze like she could stay there all day.

Someone had begun to hit the buzzer repeatedly now. Quistis’ eyes darted to the door before returning to Xu’s face, but her friend was like a stone, tranquil and unmoving. The sound was becoming deafening. Finally, Quistis broke. “Fine! It's yours!” Xu smiled as Quistis slammed her palm on the button, causing the door to slide open.

It was a thunderstorm of colors and sounds as Selphie and Delia stood there showering them with cheers and confetti. For two people as tiny as they were, they could sure make a lot of racket.

Xu stepped out after Quistis. “Hey! Have some respect for the noise ordinance.”

Delia immediately quieted down in the face of Balamb’s Second in Command (not to mention the scariest SeeD at Garden) but Selphie seemed undeterred. “It’s a special occasion, Xu! We’re getting our bridesmaid’s dresses! Woooo!!” She punctuated that with a blow on her horn before reaching into her bag and pulling out a tiara. “This is for yooou.” She said as she got on her tiptoes and placed it on Quistis’ head. It spelled out ‘Bridesmaid’ in rhinestones and matched the one Delia was wearing. Selphie’s said ‘Maid of Honor.’

“Is it ok if Xu comes too?” Quistis asked as she adjusted the tiara to fit properly.

“It won’t offend me if you say no.” Xu said, earning her a glare from Quistis. She shot her one right back.

“Are you kidding me?!” Selphie dug into the bag and handed Quistis a party horn and a noisemaker. “Rinoa’s been trying to get you on board since she moved here. She’s going to flip out when she finds out you’re coming.”

“At least I don’t have to wear the stupid tiara.” Xu muttered as she crossed her arms in disappointment.

“Oh-hoh-hoooh.” Selphie chortled, rising to the challenge. “What kind of Festival Committee Head would I be if I didn't come prepared for every possible scenario?”

“A non-psycho one.” Xu said as her last shred of hope was dashed to pieces when Selphie pulled out another Bridesmaid tiara and cheerfully crowned it on her head, oblivious to the death stare Xu was pinning her with as she did so. Xu shifted it to Quistis, who just chuckled and shrugged.

Selphie pulled out another horn and clacker and held them out for Xu but Xu just stiff-armed her. “Garden Code, Article 2, Line 1 says no noise in the dorms.” Quistis laughed behind her hand and Selphie rolled her eyes, pulling out a bag of confetti instead and shoving it at her. “Then you'll be in charge of confetti!” She chirped as she turned on her heel and led the charge to Rinoa’s room.

“ That violates Article 2, Line 2 - no littering!” Xu called after Selphie’s retreating figure but the noisemaker drowned her out.

Delia hesitated for a second before giving Xu an apologetic look. “It really is so nice that you’re joining us.” She said before skipping off after Selphie to rejoin the fun.

Quistis stood there with a roguish glint in her eye as she held the horn up to her lips.

Xu held up a warning finger. “Quis, I'll dock you so fast.”

Quistis took an exaggerated inhale. “Don't test me, Quistis. I'm already mad at you for making me come to this.”

Quistis blew, issuing that loud bleating wail that every party horn makes.

“That’s a rank.” Xu said.

Quistis languidly reached her long fingers into the bag Xu was holding and took out a handful of confetti and flicked it right in her face. Xu was momentarily shocked but then she took off in a sprint after Quistis, who had wisely made a quick escape down the hall after Selphie and Delia. “You’re going to be sleeping with the SeeD cadets, Trepe!” Laughter and shrieks filled the hallway, adding to the cacophony already polluting the air.

When they reached a wide door at the end of a secluded hallway, Selphie really upped the noise level. Rather than hitting the buzzer she reached into her pocket and pulled out a keycard. “Squall gave it to me.” She winked and scanned it, causing the door to open on its own.

“Oh, we’re just going to barge right into the Commander’s room.” Xu said, slightly horrified, but Selphie and Delia had already infiltrated the suite and were bum-rushing the bedroom door.

Xu refused to cross the threshold, so mortified that she was actually covering her face with her hand so she couldn't see or be seen.

Quistis hung back with her at the door, leaning against the frame, smirking at her friend’s discomfort. She reached over and playfully swatted at the hand covering Xu’s face. “What, you’ve never been in the Commander’s room before?” She teased.

Xu promptly returned her hand to her face but peaked out to give Quistis the side-eye. “We keep it strictly professional. I don't interfere with his personal life, he doesn't interfere with mine.”

Quistis laughed. “No wonder he loves working with you. You’re perfect for each other.”

Selphie and Delia emerged from the bedroom, attempting to lift a squealing Rinoa but they were both too short to really get her off the ground. Quistis looked in and laughed at the scene. She started blowing her horn and clacking her noisemaker, cheering them on. She reached over and nudged Xu, “Come on, you’re in charge of confetti.”

Xu reached into her bag and grabbed the stingiest amount of confetti there was and without looking, she tossed it behind her into the room.

“Help! We need help!!” Selphie shouted for backup. Quistis glanced at Xu but she clearly wasn’t going to budge so Quistis pushed off the doorframe and sauntered over to Rinoa, bending down in front of her and throwing her over her shoulder. Rinoa screamed in mock-terror, feigning resistance as Quistis carried her out the door.

She placed her down gently and Rinoa gasped when she saw Xu huddled against the wall, confetti in hand and tiara in place. “Oh my god, XU!!!” Xu, who was still holding her hand over her eyes, was surprised to find herself caught up in a hug. Rinoa squeezed her tightly, constricting around her as she pressed her cheek against the side of Xu’s head. “I can’t believe you’re going to be one of my bridesmaids!!” Rinoa said as she patted her hair, even managing to make it sound like she had tears in her voice.

Xu peeled her arms off and leaned back to create some distance, looking Rinoa square in the eye. “I’m not. I’m just coming along for the ride.”

“Of course you are.” Rinoa smiled and nodded in understanding, patting Xu’s shoulders like she was humoring a child. Rinoa turned back around to give Quistis a covert thumbs up, scrunching half her face into a grotesque wink. Quistis just stood there, shaking her head.

Selphie used the key card to lock the door and then reached into her seemingly endless bag of goodies. “For you, my lady.” She said as she christened Rinoa with the Bride tiara and a matching scepter to boot.

“Awww, you guys!!!” Rinoa said, feeling every inch the princess she always imagined herself to be. Selphie handed her a party horn of her own and then they were off, taking the parade down to the underground parking garage.

Irvine was already down there waiting for them, leaning against one of the SeeD Personal Carrier Vehicles, hat lowered over his eyes. He looked up when he heard them coming and reached for the door handle. “Your chariot awaits.” He said as he opened it for them, the sound of dance music and strobe lights pouring out.

“Irvy will be our designated driver so he’ll do whatever we want.” Selphie proclaimed as Irvine tipped his hat.

“Awww, thank you, Irvine!” Rinoa said as he offered her his hand to help her up into the vehicle. He did the same for Selphie and Delia but he knew better than to offer a hand to Quistis, so he just gave her a friendly nod.

“Quistis.”

“Irvine.” Quistis acknowledged with a smile.

Not expecting anyone else, Irvine went to shut the door but Xu’s voice sliced through him like a knife. “This is a SeeD Personnel Carrier, not a party bus. ” She admonished, causing Irvine’s balls to crawl right up inside of him.

“What’s Xu doing here?” He asked, too afraid to address her directly even though she was standing right in front of him.

“Look at the tiara, genius.” She snapped as she pointed to the headpiece, actually trying to draw attention to it for once. She shoved past him and climbed into the vehicle like she couldn't wait to go. Irvine gulped and shut the door behind her before heading to the driver’s side.

Inside the passenger compartment, the party was already getting started. In addition to the music and strobe lights, the shuttle had been outfitted with a stripper pole and a disco ball. Selphie was popping open a bottle of champagne and pouring glasses for everyone as Xu took her seat beside Quistis, leaning in to whisper, “Is this a bachelorette party? I thought you all were just getting dresses.”

Despite the music and the fact that Xu was trying to keep her voice down, Selphie was the one who responded. “Nope, we have something else planned for that!” She said enthusiastically. “I just wanted to do this in style.”

“So make sure you’re free!” Rinoa shouted to her from the opposite side of the vehicle.

“I will not.” Xu answered as only she could, before Selphie shoved a glass of champagne in her face.

“It’s ok. I’ll just make sure Squall gives you the day off.” Rinoa said, completely unruffled.

“I’d rather you didn’t.” Xu responded.

Rinoa winked at her and made a sign like she couldn’t hear over the music before becoming overly engrossed in her champagne. Xu glared at her and then turned to Quistis. “Quistis, so help me god if I find out this was all a ploy…” She let the threat hang in the air.

“It wasn’t, I swear.” Quistis rolled to her side to face Xu and crossed her heart. “I just really wanted you to be here. And I’m glad you are.” She smiled and clinked their champagne glasses together.

Selphie stood up, lowering the music, and clinked her own glass with her tiara. Right at that moment the vehicle started moving and she had to hold on to the stripper pole to balance herself. “Booyaka, bitches! I would like to thank you all for coming on behalf of our beautiful bride, Rinoa.” She gestured to Rinoa who looked at her tearfully like it was already her wedding day. “So please take advantage of the champagne and the stripper pole (but not the driver because he’s mine),” she added with a cutesy bounce, before putting on her best rendition of a sport’s announcer, “AND GET READY TO HAVE THE BEST DAMN DRESS FITTING OF YOUR LIFE!!!!” She woohed and everyone joined in her cheers as they took a sip of champagne.

Quistis looked at Xu, the only one not engaging and held out her party horn. Xu raised an eyebrow. “Since you’re not a wooher.” When Xu didn't immediately take it, Quistis goaded, “We’re not under the sound ordinance anymore.” When Xu still didn't take it Quistis blew it in her face, causing the tube to unfurl and hit Xu in the nose.

She tsked and snatched it from Quistis’ hand before leaning over to ask, “How long does she think this ride’ll take? Aren't we just going to Balamb Town?”

Quistis tilted her head even closer. “You'd be surprised how much action Selphie can pack into a 20-minute car ride.”

Right on cue, the vehicle came to an abrupt halt, jerking Selphie forward. She managed to grab onto the pole at the last second before she went careening into Xu but the same couldn't be said for her champagne. Xu looked down at her soaking top and then up at Selphie, daggers in her eyes. Selphie gave a nervous smile before weakly saying, “Wet t-shirt contest, woohoo.”

Irvine’s smooth drawl came over the intercom, cutting the tension. “Sorry for the hold-up, ladies. The protesters are out in full force today.”

Rinoa inhaled excitedly. “My adoring public!” She jumped onto her seat and popped open the sunroof, before sticking her head out. Xu and Quistis shared a look of unease.

Rinoa stared out at the angry hordes of people swarming in front of Garden’s front gate. Irvine had to swerve slightly to avoid hitting them as they swelled out into the street. Signs hovered over the masses like giant speech bubbles shouting the sentiments of the people beneath in all caps. Different variations of ‘FREE THE GUARDIAN FORCES’, ‘PROTECT THE GUARDIAN FORCES’ and ‘GFS ARE GODS, NOT SLAVES’ made up a significant portion of them, with a few, more human-centric ones like ‘SEED MINDS MATTER’ and ‘ORPHANS ARE NOT GUINEA PIGS’ making a respectable showing as well.

In the wake of all the post-war turmoil, once it became apparent that no more threats were looming on the horizon, activists and creature’s rights advocates began showing up at Garden’s door in droves, putting Balamb and, more accurately, Squall in a difficult position. He wasn't about to relinquish Balamb’s greatest weapon just because some social justice warriors had no idea what it took to battle a sorceress, but he was not completely unsympathetic to their cause, having been a victim of it himself. Ironically, the people who had the most right to be upset were the very ones the protesters were currently parked in front of screaming at but then again, they were also the ones who had taken up the reins of the old system so there's the cycle of abuse for you. Squall had immediately begun implementing stricter junctioning regulations (such as time limitations and age restrictions) and had Dr. Kadowaki working with Quistis to study the effects of GFs on the human brain. He even reached out to Dr. Odine about alternative methods of magic but Odine had scoffed at the idea that something could exist out there that was more effective than his invention of Para-Magic. This had only been a start but, needless to say, it wasn’t enough to assuage the impatient whims of the people.

Not all the faces in the mob were angry. There was a noticeably blue section of the crowd whose participants more closely resembled crazed fans at a rock concert than enraged demonstrators. This faction was composed of all the Rinoa supporters and pro-sorceress fanatics and rather than messages of outrage, their posters read more like love letters and entreaties to the Sorceress herself. ‘MARRY ME, RINOA’, ‘WE LOVE YOU, RINOA’, and even ‘MAKE ME A SORCERESS!’ were among the ones hoisted up to the sky like religious offerings by a bunch of mostly Rinoa-wannabes in knock-off light blue dusters like the one Rinoa popularized during her time in the war.

“Dear people of Balamb!” Rinoa cried out and waved to the people. She didn’t differentiate one group from the other, addressing them all like they were her devoted subjects. They took notice and began to turn their attention to her, slowly at first and then like a tidal wave as recognition kicked in. “I’M GETTING MARRIED!!!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, resulting in one heartbroken man furiously tearing up his sign and heading home while the rest of the mob went nuts and started running towards the vehicle. Irvine, unaware of Rinoa’s little guest appearance, took that as his cue to leave before they could be surrounded. He peeled out, causing Rinoa to bang into the side of the roof hatch and lose her footing but Quistis and Xu were there to catch her and safely lower her inside. 

Quistis carried most of the weight with Xu mainly trying to keep them upright but it was Xu who received all the credit. “You saved me!” Rinoa said, clutching Xu’s hands while Xu was busy steadying her.

“Rinoa, let go of my hands.” Xu looked at her like she wasn't playing. Rinoa kept trying to spread their arms apart and thrust her body forward but Xu kept fighting her. “Stop trying to hug me.” Xu said through clenched teeth. Quistis smiled benignly and calmly stepped in between them, like a teacher separating bickering children.

Selphie stood there frozen in anticipation as her eyes darted back and forth amongst her friends excitedly. Once everyone had returned to their seat, she shouted “Hit it!” (to herself as it turned out since she was the one with the remote) and then blasted the music back on like there had never been any interruption in the festivities whatsoever. She proceeded to stomp around the compartment to the beat of the music, performing a lively routine involving a lot of boot-kicking and hip shaking, like something out of one of her shows, even inviting Rinoa to join her for a few turns around the pole.

Delia surprised everyone by doing a sexy little number, not utilizing the pole much beyond rubbing up against it and finished by basically giving Rinoa a lap dance. When she saw everyone's wide-eyed, slack-jawed expressions she blushed, a shy smile appearing on her face as she explained, “The library girls taught me,” to which Selphie replied that Zell was a lucky man.

Quistis and Xu had been spectators primarily, Quistis laughing and cheering on her friends, grabbing Xu to point out any particularly outrageous behavior while Xu alternated between astonishment and embarrassment. It wasn't until the others started trying to do tricks on the pole that Quistis felt compelled to participate herself. She stood up, to hoots of delight from the others and slipped off her shoes, signifying that she meant business. She climbed to the top of the pole and got in a kind of side saddle position. Holding the pole in one hand, she reached down to Rinoa with the other. “Give me your hand.” Rinoa took it without hesitation and Quistis proceeded to lift her off the ground and swing them around the pole as Rinoa squealed with glee. Then Quistis decided to get fancy by doing an inversion split and hooking one of her legs around the pole while bending backwards and having Delia grab her hands and Selphie grab her ankle as they braced their feet against the pole, creating a kind of heart shape. Rinoa insisted they hold it for longer than was probably safe so she could snap a bunch of photos.

Still hanging upside-down, Quistis reached for her next victim. “Your turn, Xu.” She said, to oohs from the peanut gallery. Xu, who had been watching all this with her heart in her stomach, stood up so she could be on Quistis’ eye level. “Quistis, we are in a moving vehicle.” Her voice was low and serious and at that moment, as if to defy her, the vehicle came to another sudden stop causing Xu to grab Quistis’ still outstretched hands to prevent her friend from falling.

Quistis’ legs were still firmly wrapped around the pole and she was never in any danger of falling but she decided to use Xu to dismount while she had her there. “Here, put your arms around my waist.” Xu looked at her in alarm so Quistis placed her arms around her waist for her and then wrapped her own arms around Xu’s waist and said, “Now crouch down a little bit.” Xu complied out of fear more than anything and then Quistis released her legs from around the pole, bringing them up over their heads so she could land gracefully behind Xu in a kind of supported backflip. Clapping the still-shaken Xu on the shoulders, Quistis threw out a whimsical thank you and helped her back up.

The door opened seconds later and Irvine’s face appeared. “We have arrived.” Xu and Quistis exited first as they were the ones nearest the door and the others followed behind them. When Irvine lifted Selphie out of the shuttle and plopped her down on the ground, he whispered, “How’d it go?”

She gave him a comically dubious look and said, “All our friends are strippers.”

His face lit up. “I knew it!”

Outside the vehicle they found themselves standing in front of the Balamb Train Station and Rinoa gathered them all around to make an announcement. “Guess what, bitches?! We’re getting our dresses in Galbadia !!!” There were bursts of excitement from Selphie and Delia but Xu looked at Quistis with incredulous eyes and started to back away like a prisoner about to make a run for it. Quistis grabbed her arm to keep her put but before anything more could be done, Rinoa’s voice chimed in. “Just kidding! My favorite designer has agreed to come here all the way from Deling City!” Selphie and Delia seemed equally enthusiastic at the prospect and Xu rolled her eyes in annoyed relief.

Rinoa led them to the small boutique across the street and a woman with a severe bone structure wearing a turban and billowing robes opened the door to welcome them.

“Rinoa, mon cher! How are you, my darling?” She grabbed Rinoa’s hands and they kissed each other on both cheeks as was only customary in Deling City.

“Très well, I can't thank you enough for coming all the way out here to our little island, Charlotte.” Rinoa greeted her warmly like they were old friends.

“Yes, we will bring some fashion to the sea, eh?” She winked at Rinoa, who glimmered back at her, before turning to her friends.

“Ladies, it is my great honor and pleasure to introduce you to the incomparable Charlotte Fressinet.”

Charlotte nodded at the others and stood aside beckoning them in. “Please, please, come in, come in. We have not time to waste.”

They filed into the tiny shop which had been converted into one giant fitting room complete with ottomans and curtains for just this occasion. Selphie was already consecrating the space by pulling out another bottle of champagne and handing out glasses like she was handing out blessings. The only two to refuse were Xu and Charlotte. “No, no, no. You enjoy and I will work.”

Charlotte clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Alright ladies, listen up! You have all been specially selected to take part in what is bound to be the wedding of the century!” Quistis had to stifle a laugh at Xu's massive eye roll. “And we all know that the dress makes the wedding so Rinoa and I have been painstakingly working on bringing her vision to life. It is with great pride that I am able to present Rinoa with a completed product so she will be able to debut it for you all here and now!”

Rinoa was brimming with excitement. “I'm dying to see it!”

Charlotte stuck a long, calloused finger up in the air. “Ah ah ah, my dear, that will be the grand finale. First, we must deal with the matter of the bridesmaid dresses. Now, the bridal party is meant to compliment the bride, not outshine her (although that would be impossible with what I have planned), but Rinoa and I feel very strongly that you should all be allowed to shine as well. We will use similar materials and colors to make everything cohesive but the silhouettes will be customized for each of your body types. How does that sound?”

“Great!” Shouted Selphie and Delia.

“Ok, we will begin by taking your measurements and I will do a color analysis and then we can get on with Rinoa's fitting.” Charlotte pulled out a bunch of swatches of fabric and eyed the women before her through half-moon glasses before coming to a rest on Selphie’s tiara. “Let’s start with our Maid of Honor. If the bride is the General then you are the Lieutenant.”

Xu tilted her head at Quistis as if to say, ‘Better luck next time’. Quistis smirked and elbowed her in the ribs.

“Come here, let me take a look at you.” Charlotte continued, motioning Selphie over. “Let’s see what we have here.” She gripped Selphie’s chin and turned her head from side to side as she looked into her eyes. “Just what I thought- green.” She grabbed a piece of blue beaded fabric and held it up to her face, frowning. She replaced it with a different shade of blue and started tutting. Rinoa came up behind her to get a better look. With every new shade of blue, Charlotte looked more and more disgusted. “Agh, these are doing nothing for her! I think she'll need a touch of green or else she will just look so mousey.” She held a teal swatch up to Selphie's face. “Now look at this. It is much better, no?”

Rinoa leaned in and nodded emphatically. “Much better!”

“I think for her we can stray away from your signature blue. After all, it’s ok for the Maid of Honor to stand out a little bit.”

Rinoa nodded in agreement. “I trust your judgement and I will leave it in your capable hands.”

Charlotte commenced with Selphie's measurements. As she did the inseam, she observed, “I can see you like short. Rinoa told me this as well. We will give you short with the illusion of long with a detachable train from the same material we'll use for Rinoa's veil.” She finished the rest of the measurements and wrote them down in her notebook. “And I see you like a fun, flouncy little haircut.”

Selphie bounced and smiled brightly, “Yep!”

“We will get rid of that for the wedding.” Charlotte scrunched her eyes at Selphie and pulled her lips wide in something that had all the elements of a smile, but somehow failed to be one. Even if Selphie was inclined towards taking offense she didn’t have time, as Charlotte was already ushering her away and snapping her fingers for the next one.

Delia had been standing the closest but Charlotte’s backhanded comments had caused her to shrink away somewhat. “Come, come, my sweet! Don't be shy!” Delia timidly stepped up twisting the hem of her skirt in her hands. Charlotte cupped her face and smiled. “Ahh, you are our blushing rose, I think.” She held the original blue fabric up to Delia's face and said, “Parfait! Rinoa- this is where your blue will be!”

Rinoa sidled up and inspected the swatch next to Delia's face. “It’s perfect! I’m so glad!” Delia flushed, relieved that she could be a source of approval.

Charlotte held the blue swatch up next to the teal one so Rinoa could see. “And the teal will not look so out of place next to this sea of blue.”

“I couldn't agree more.” Rinoa beamed. “And this way, everyone's happy!”

After jotting down all of Delia's measurements, Charlotte studied her intently. “I think she would look lovely in a one-shoulder gown with a tight bun, like a ballerina.” She said to Rinoa, without taking her eyes off Delia. “And it will draw the eye away from that chin.” She added as a casual aside, before leading the poor girl away. Delia's face fell and she reached up to touch her chin self-consciously.

“Who’s next?” Charlotte barked out as she scribbled something down and Quistis strode right up to her. Charlotte took one look at her and skidded her pencil off the page. “Mon dieu, look at you!” She took her glasses off and put them back on again, looking her up and down. “And a decent height too! Have you ever thought about being a model?”

Quistis put a hand on her hip, before stating dryly, “I’m a SeeD.”

“A mercenary ?! With your looks? It is positively sinful. In Galbadia, you would be a sensation. They don't have many natural blondes there. And those eyes! I can see blue won't be a problem for you.” She said, holding up the blue swatch and absolutely gushing as she waved Rinoa over. Rinoa came up and nodded a more modest affirmation.

The gushing continued as Charlotte began taking Quistis' measurements. “Such proportions! And those legs! It would be a crime not to have you in something short.”

“I’d prefer not to be.” Quistis said, her tone amicable but firm.

“Ah, you are trying to be classy, eh? Well, don't worry, ma belle, all the bridesmaids will be in floor-length gowns.” Off to the side, Delia looked slightly disappointed. Charlotte made her last note before peaking up at Quistis over her glasses. “But I hope there's someone out there who gets to see those legs.” She smiled at Quistis, waggling her eyebrows suggestively. “Or judging by the marks on your neck maybe there already is.”

Xu’s snort rang out and Charlotte peered around Quistis to fix her with a scrutinizing gaze. “Don't think I haven't noticed you and your sneering from the back, Mademoiselle Contempt. I'm from Deling City, we invented sarcasm.” Quistis silently 'oohed’ at her as Xu gave Charlotte a look that indicated she gave zero fucks and crossed her arms over chest, highlighting the stain from where Selphie had spilled her champagne. Charlotte saw it and looked appalled. “Zut alors, your shirt is soaking wet! We must get you into something else immediately.”

“I’m good, thanks.” Xu said curtly.

“Quelle surprise, you're the difficult one.” Charlotte stated flatly. She leaned over to Rinoa in a manner that suggested secrecy that the volume of her voice did not match. “We'll put this one in something with a high collar since she's so uptight.”

“I’m not a bridesmaid.”

Shielding her face from Xu’s view, Rinoa mouthed “she is,” to Charlotte, before walking over to Xu and placing a hand on her shoulder. “It's just for fun, since you were kind enough to join us today. Charlotte can give you advice on what to wear to the wedding- you’d be getting her expertise for free!” Charlotte raised a hand in protest and Rinoa gave her a reassuring look that she would, of course, be paid accordingly.

“I’m not going to the wedding.”

Rinoa looked aghast. “Oh, but you have to go to the wedding! You're like Squall’s favorite person! He would be so disappointed if you weren't there.” This sparked another idea. “You can bring Nida!” Rinoa said with a flirtatious wink.

Xu nervously glanced in Quistis’ direction before recomposing herself. “Well, if Squall wants to invite me, then maybe I'll consider it.”

“Consider it done!” Rinoa shouted in triumph, pulling Xu into another unwanted and unreciprocated hug. “Ahh, you're going to make Squall sooo happy. You're such a good friend.” She squeezed her tighter. “Look at you, you're practically my size. What are you, like 5’5”?” Still in the hug, Rinoa put her hand over the top of their heads and then motioned to Charlotte to write that down. The designer nodded obediently as she made a note of it.

“I know what you're doing.” Xu said with increasing agitation as she pried Rinoa’s arms off of her. “I’m not your friend and I'm not going to be your bridesmaid.”

Rinoa took this rather harsh declaration in stride and just smiled sweetly at her and nodded, “Sure.” When Xu walked over to Quistis, Rinoa mouthed to Charlotte again, “Yes, she is,” and made a gesture like Xu was the crazy one. Charlotte smiled indulgently at her, choosing to humor the one who was signing her checks.

Putting her notebook down, Charlotte clapped her hands together once more. “Ok, ladies, I think the time has come for the bride to try on her dress!” She pulled back the curtain to reveal an overstuffed garment bag and Rinoa started flapping her arms like a hyperactive bird. “Please be very careful and let me know the instant you need assistance. We would not want it to tear.”

“I can’t wait! I can’t wait! I can’t wait!” Rinoa repeated as she entered the dressing area and shut the curtain. The sound of a zipper being underdone followed by ear-piercing shrieks came from within. “Oh my god! It’s so beautiful!!!” Rinoa cried. “It’s exactly what I wanted!”

Charlotte looked unsurprised. “Yes, well, let’s see how it looks on first.”

Now the sound of fumbling and clothing being ruffled and tousled about could be heard beyond the curtain. “Do you need any help, Rinoa?” Selphie asked, ever the diligent Maid of Honor. She had been so diligent, in fact, that she was visibly quite tipsy now.

Charlotte looked at her critically, “You already have your hands full with the champagne. Maybe we could get someone else to do their part.” She looked at Quistis hopefully as the other options were not to her liking. Delia also had a bit of a sway to her now and she didn't trust Xu to go near the thing.

“No, I think I got it.” Rinoa called as she finished putting it on. “I’ll need someone else to close it though.” A few seconds passed before she announced, “Ok, I’m coming out!”

All eyes went to the curtain as Rinoa pulled it open, revealing herself in a stunning white dress. The style was simple and elegant, a strapless mermaid gown with a sweetheart neckline composed of lace and tulle, but it was in the finer details that the quality really showed through. From the tailoring (which was exquisite), to the thoughtful arrangement of the lace, to the pattern on the lace itself- everything was done with the express intent of accentuating all of Rinoa’s best assets. The one idiosyncratic note came from the careful smattering of off-white feathers along the bottom where the dress flared out.

All the girls expressed their approval in their own way. Selphie whooped and said she looked hot. Delia tearfully clasped her hands together saying how beautiful she looked. Quistis gave a genuine smile and nod and even Xu raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Charlotte came up behind Rinoa and brushed her hair to the side so she could close the back. There was a mirror set up so Rinoa could see herself and she just stared at it with a huge smile plastered on her face. “I absolutely love it.” She said in a serious, almost reverent tone, departing from her usual high-pitched squeals and showing the greater depths within. “The first time Squall ever saw me I was wearing a white dress so I really wanted to knock his socks off with this one. Not that it would've been hard to do. It was just some cheap knockoff I found in Timber because I didn't have much time or money.”

Charlotte, who was still fiddling and fussing with the garment, shuddered like someone had just walked over her grave. “Timber and fashion don't even belong in the same sentence together. You poor, poor thing.”

Rinoa laughed, not taking her eyes off her reflection. “I wore it on our first date too. Everything was moving so quickly during the war that I didn't have time to get anything else.”

“Well, if he can fall in love with you in that, he can fall in love with you in anything.” Charlotte said as she held a thin belt around Rinoa's waist and examined it in the mirror. “Let’s make him eat his heart out.”

“Tell us the proposal story!” Delia cried, her inhibitions lowered from the liquid courage. Selphie immediately followed it up with an enthusiastic, “Yeah!!!”

Rinoa smiled, happy to oblige. “He took me out to the ballroom balcony because that's where we had our first kiss.”

Aws and sighs issued from the audience. Xu looked over at Quistis and could see the longing in her eyes. It could've been mistaken for being moved by the story but she knew her friend well enough to see the pain there. She wove her arm through Quistis’ and Quistis turned to her in appreciation before unhooking their arms so she could wrap hers around Xu’s shoulder. She pulled her in close and rested her temple on Xu's head and Xu slung her own arm around Quistis’ shoulder.

“Me and Irvy had our first kiss on stage in front of an arena full of people.” Selphie said with a dreamy, starry-eyed expression.

Rinoa came out of her own dream for long enough to snort and say, “Yeah well, you made him wait long enough.”

“How was I supposed to know he was serious?! He flirts with everything!” Selphie demanded, holding her arms out in indignation.

“He did follow you around like a puppy dog for a year.” Rinoa said, pointing out the obvious.

“Continue with the story, Rinoa!” Delia shouted eagerly, getting bolder by the second.

“Yeah, so he had taken me out to the balcony and, oh my god,” she said, laughing at the memory, “I was blabbering on and on because my father had just called me out of the blue and I thought he must be dying and Squall just smiled at me which I thought was an odd response to me saying my father was dying and then he just took my hand and got down on one knee and proposed. I mean, I was speechless. I just stood there gaping at him like a fish out of water and then after I hadn't responded for a while he actually laughed and said, ‘Is this what it's like when people are waiting for me to speak?’ And then I just screamed, ‘Yes!!!’ and jumped into his arms. It was so simple but so romantic.” It was Rinoa's turn to sigh at her own story. Delia was wiping the tears from her eyes.

Throughout the story, Charlotte had been trying out a number of different belts and sashes. “When it’s right, it doesn't have to be complicated.” She said as she made sure the fit and the length was just right. “I know it's real love when the bride starts talking about her husband and not the dress when she sees herself in it for the first time.” Rinoa looked touched by that. “So how does it feel? Everything is good or no?”

Rinoa nodded. “It fits like a glove.”

“Can you move around in it ok? You will be dancing of course.”

Rinoa did a few test shakes and walked around the room as much as she could in such a small space. “I think so.”

“Ok, then I won't have to make any major alterations and we'll see how it fits on the day. That's when I'll bring the veil which will be the real showstopper. The veil is for the nosebleed seats and then we devastate them up close.” Charlotte said as she clutched Rinoa's chin affectionately. Rinoa beamed and nodded enthusiastically. “Ok good, then let's get you out of this before any accidents can happen,” she said, eyeing Selphie and Delia, “and I’ll take it back to my workshop for a few minor things here and there.” She undid the back and Rinoa went behind the curtain to change into her regular clothes. “As for the rest of you, I will have your dresses ready on the day so don't gain a single pound or make any sudden changes to your hair.”

When Rinoa finished changing, Charlotte walked them out. Selphie was the first one out the door, having stuffed everything back into her bag and shouted a quick thanks to Charlotte before racing over to the driver's side of the personnel carrier where Irvine had been reclining with his feet on the dashboard and his hat over his face. She banged on the window and yanked the door open, jolting him awake. Thinking he was in trouble, he tried to make an expedient exit so he could reprise his role as the good chauffeur but before he could do that, Selphie climbed onto his lap and kissed him. Never one to question a good thing, Irvine kissed her right back. She pulled away with a big, goofy grin and Irvine just laughed. “I can see the champagne’s hitting just right.”

“I just love you!” Selphie declared loudly in his face, like this was a perfectly sober thing to do. Her breath and overall demeanor suggested otherwise.

He laughed again. “Ok, I love you too. Now let's get everyone home safe.” She hopped off his lap and they walked over to the passenger door so he could help everyone inside.

Charlotte was still saying her goodbyes, nodding to the rest of the girls and kissing Rinoa on both cheeks again as Rinoa thanked her profusely.

When Quistis passed, Charlotte handed her her business card. “Call me if you’re ever interested in a modeling career. You would be my muse.”

Xu rolled her eyes and pulled Quistis away. “Sorry, she’s got too much of a brain in her head to waste on modeling.”

Rather than being insulted, Charlotte looked amused. “Are you sure you're not Galbadian? You would fit in so well in Deling City.” She looked Xu up and down, considering her for the first time. “You know, I could probably do something with you as well.”

Xu gave her a fake smile and the middle finger before leading them to the car. Quistis thanked Charlotte and waved goodbye as she was dragged away.

They were the last two to get into the shuttle and Irvine was standing by the door waiting for them. Before they got too close, Xu turned to Quistis and held out her hand.

Quistis stared at it for a second before handing her the business card. “Honestly, I didn't think you were that interested.” She said aloofly.

Xu flicked the card away and said, “You know what I want.”

Quistis glared at her and reached into her pocket before pulling out her deck. She flipped through the cards until she came across Shiva's icy blue form and slapped it angrily onto Xu's palm. “Take it, you heartless bitch.” Quistis said coldly before heading into the vehicle.

Xu smirked at her and pocketed the card.

Chapter Text

Fujin picked up a tackle box off the floor and balanced it on the pile already accumulated in Raijin’s arms. They were below deck in the bait room of the Event Horizon getting ready to meet with the most promising candidate they had had for a pilot in weeks.

“Why you gotta leave, Fu? We’re a Posse, ya know?” Raijin looked forlorn, following after her like a lost puppy as she walked around cleaning up.

“TOLD YOU.”

“I know but maybe we could work something out. Like work shorter hours or something?”

She sighed as she threw some cans into the trash bag she was lugging around. They had been having this same conversation ever since she had said she wanted to step down as a pilot. “CAN’T.”

“I don't wanna work for this Haole.” Raijin said, with the petulance of a child.

“IDIOT. You're not working for him. He's working for you. And all your friends are Haoles.”

“Not you n’ Seifer. You're honorary Kanaka.”

Fujin ignored him and kept cleaning. She found something on the floor and examined it. When she couldn’t identify it she held it up to her nose, made a face and threw it in the trash bag. She caught a glimpse of Raijin out of the corner of her eye, still sulking. “This is just the preliminary stage. He hasn't gotten the job yet.”

“Seifer seems to think he's the best option.”

“We won't know until he gets behind the helm.”

Raijin didn't look like he held out much hope. “We haven’t been apart since we were kids, ya know? I don’t know what to do without you.”

“LEARN.” She said as she grabbed a fishing net and tucked it under his arm. “You're always shirking your duties anyway. You'll probably be happier not having me around.”

“Don’t say that, Fu. You know it's not true.”

She grabbed some loose fishing line and stood up to look at him. “Which part?”

Raijin looked to the side feeling like he had just been caught in a trap. “Umm… all of it?”

She raised an eyebrow at him.

He glanced at all the fishing equipment in his arms that he was meant to have put away days ago and course corrected. “That I’d be happier without you!”

She still looked skeptical but carried on. “You'll still see me. You practically live at my house anyway.”

“Yeah, but it won't be the same. We won’t be a team anymore.”

“Were we a team before we started working on this boat?”

“Yeah,” came his response, then sounding slightly less certain, “I think so.”

“You think so.” Fujin scoffed, returning to her duties.

“I don't know, Fu, I can never get it right with you!” He stayed glued to her hip. “Who’s gonna be here to keep me in line?”

“You’re a big boy, you could try keeping yourself in line for once.” Fujin said as she peaked around the tanks.

“That's not how a posse works, yo. You look out for each other!”

“Seifer then.” She said indifferently, taking one last look around before turning down the narrow corridor. It was fairly dark, most of the light coming from the lighting strips along the floor.

He followed her out. “But I like it when you do it. Seifer doesn’t care as much.” He was struck by a sudden idea. “Hey, maybe I’ll stay behind with you.”

Fujin stopped and turned around, her one eye boring into him like an ice pick. “RAGE, you literally get paid to do the one thing you enjoy. The one thing you’re good at. Why would you give that up just so I can yell at you all day?!”

“Because…” Her glare was causing him to lose heart. “… I don’t know. Ya know?”

“NO, I don't know because it doesn’t make any goddamn sense!” She threw her hand up in exasperation.

As a reflex, Raijin brought a hand up to block his face, spilling all the items he had been collecting onto the floor.

They stood there locked in a glacial staredown, Fujin with murder on her face and Raijin with fear. “CLEAN. IT. UP.” She growled before turning back around and stomping up the stairs.

“See?!” Raijin asked when she was already halfway up, bending down to scoop up all the equipment. “I need you to keep me from doing something stupid!” He concluded, as if this proved his point.

On the main deck, Seifer was showing around a guy with short, dark hair. “Oh good, Fujin’s here. She’ll be the one training you. Fujin, this is Zone. Zone, this is Fujin.”

Zone wiped his hand on his pants and held it out to Fujin. “Hi, Fujin, nice to meet you. I'm Zone.”

Fujin stared at his hand and lifted her own to regrip the trash bag before slinging it over her shoulder and turning around, disappearing down the narrow hallway towards the bow of the boat.

Zone looked at his hand before calling after her. “Can I help you with that?” But Fujin kept walking like she hadn't heard him.

Seifer clapped him on the back. “That’s normal.” He said, following after Fujin and motioning for Zone to come with. “We’ll do the interview in the mess hall and then we’ll take you to the bridge.”

Seifer led them down half a flight of stairs to the glass nose of the ship and they were flooded with sunlight, looking at an unobstructed view of the ocean. A booth curved around the perimeter of the glass, nestled behind a broad table. Everything was welded down, including a long bench on the side of the table not against the wall. It was a decently-sized room with enough comfortable seating for a large gathering and the view made it seem even more spacious. Fujin emerged from the door behind them, having just dumped the trash off in the galley.

“Where’s Raijin?” Seifer asked her.

“BUSY.”

“Ok, I guess we’ll begin without him then.” Seifer slid into the booth and directed Zone to sit down on the bench across from him. Fujin took her seat next to Seifer.

Seifer looked at the piece of paper in front of him. “Let’s just get this out of the way first. Do you know who we are?”

Zone looked taken aback for a moment, before settling in. “Yeah, I know who you are. Do you know who I am?”

Seifer’s eyes flashed dangerously to Zone, like it had suddenly occurred to him that he may have just welcomed a possible enemy into their midst. And Seifer had made a lot of enemies, most of whom he had never met (and he had met quite a few). He glanced at Fujin who shrugged imperceptibly and still unable to place the man, he looked down at the resume in front of him.

“It says here you were a train conductor in Timber.”

Zone laughed which didn't do much to put them at ease. “The Princess didn't mention me then.”

Seifer narrowed his eyes. “The Princess?”

Zone smirked. “Little Rinny.”

Seifer did the math. “You were in the Forest Owls.”

“I led the Forest Owls, thank you very much.” Zone corrected. “And Rinoa wouldn’t shut up about you. She said you were gonna come and liberate Timber all on your own.”

“Well, I tried anyway. Little good it did either one of us.” Seifer muttered. “Have you come to make me finish the job?”

Zone laughed again. “Nah, we still have SeeD under contract for that.”

“Well, it's been 3 years. I’d lodge a complaint.”

“That's Rinoa’s department. She's a bigger pain in their sides than I could ever be.”

“Then why are you here?”

Zone shrugged. “To be a pilot, what else?”

“And all that other stuff with us and the Sorceress, you're ok with that?”

“The way I see it, you stormed into that TV station and attacked Deling on behalf of the Forest Owls. Everything after that was Ultimecia.”

Seifer’s face was inscrutable as he and Fujin shared a look before his eyes returned to the paper.

“So how'd you come to pilot the White SeeD Ship?”

“Right after that broadcast, the Galbadian’s bombed our base and I got the last ticket outta there but I ended up giving it to a lady to keep her from getting stranded. I mean,” he paused meaningfully, “she was a total babe. No disrespect.” He offered what he imagined to be a gentlemanly apology to the only woman in the room. Fujin’s lip curled up in disgust but Zone didn't seem to notice. “The Galbadians kept attacking so me and my partner had no choice but to head out to sea. We would’ve been goners for sure but the White SeeD Ship showed up outta nowhere and picked us up.”

“And why would you want to leave?”

“Ahh, they were never gonna let a non-SeeD pilot full-time. They’re way too paranoid for that.”

“Still?”

“Yeah, the war’s never over for them.”

“Do you know who built the White SeeD Ship?”

Zone thought for a second. “Hmmm, I don't know. I heard it was an old Centran shipwreck but I don't know who restored it. Probably the same people who turned the old shelters into Gardens.”

“Estharians then.” Seifer remarked to Fujin, who nodded in agreement. “What propels it?”

“It has two massive engines on either side of the stern and some retractable sails on the back for cruise control.”

“What’s the fuel source?”

“They said when Edea was around, they used this Centran crystal that was powered by her magic. But after she left it got real glitchy and we kept breaking down.”

“So how'd you fix it?”

“The leader was able to uncover an underground oil reservoir near the Centra Ruins so we've been skimming off of that ever since. There's still some magic in it and one tank’s enough for a trip around the world but there are no other wells that we know of so we have to keep coming back to refuel. Less often if the wind’s in our favor.”

Seifer made an interested grunt as he scribbled all that down.

Zone started to look worried. “I don't have to know how to do all this, do I? Cuz I'm just a pilot.”

Seifer looked up at him. “No, that's what I'm here for. But you'll learn some things.” They were interrupted by Raijin’s heavy clomps on the steps, alerting everyone to his presence. “Raijin, so glad you could finally join us.” Seifer said with the barest hint of sarcasm. “This is Zone.”

Zone turned to Raijin, craning his neck up to look at the towering man but Raijin just ignored him. “You started without me?!”

“Zone, this is Raijin.” Seifer said calmly, inclining his head in Raijin’s direction. “He's usually the nice one.”

“I can't believe you started without me.” Raijin carried on moaning, having yet to acknowledge their guest. He felt more than saw the barbs coming from Fujin’s direction so he slumped down in the opposite end of the booth next to Seifer. “I deserve to be part of this more than Fujin. She's not even gonna be here.” He grumbled, crossing his arms.

Seifer squinted his eyes before leaning back in his seat to face Raijin more fully. “She's a pilot. Do you know how to do that?”

Raijin looked down. “No.”

“Do you know what it takes to do that?”

“Kinda-” but when he saw Fujin’s expression he thought better of it. “No,” he replied, his head hanging even lower.

“Do you even know what to look for when hiring a pilot?”

Shame rendering him unable to lift his eyes now, Raijin started picking at his fingernails. “No.”

Seifer stared at the top of Raijin’s head. “What is this? What’s the matter with you?”

Raijin sniffed. “I just don’t wanna see Fu go, ya know?”

“Ahh, hey man, don't worry. I'm not trying to replace your girlfriend.” Zone offered in an attempt to smooth things over.

Raijin wiped his nose on his hand. “She's not my girlfriend.”

“Oh. Are you serious? Sorry, man.” Zone looked at Seifer and shrugged. “How was I supposed to know? We got a grown man crying over here.”

Seifer just shook his head, mentally checking out of the conversation. Raijin came to his own defense. “I'm not crying! It's misty by the ocean, ya know.”

Zone glanced around in confusion. “But we’re inside.”

“Well, I was outside earlier.” Raijin retorted with enough attitude to make Zone decide he was better off letting sleeping dogs lie.

“Well, hey man, listen. I know what it's like to have to split up from your best friend. I just went through that myself and we’ve been together since we were kids.”

“That's what I'm saying, yo!” Raijin said with feeling, warming to Zone for the first time. “It's like, why do they gotta leave all the sudden?!”

Zone fidgeted awkwardly. “I mean, I was the one doing the leaving but still, they were some tough talks.”

Raijin seemed to not hear that last part and sniffed again. “You wanna see my bug collection?”

Zone looked grossed out. “Wha—?”

“We’re kinda in the middle of something here, Rage.” Seifer cut in, quickly losing his patience. “Maybe wait until we’re finished. We don’t even know if he can operate the damn thing yet.”

Zone puffed up his chest a little bit, relieved at the chance to show off his piloting skills rather than have to go look at bugs. “I don’t think that’ll be a problem. I’m used to driving the fastest ship in the world.”

Seifer scooted next to Raijin, pushing him out of the booth so they could stand.

“No, you’re not.” Seifer stated as an irrefutable fact.

Zone tsked. “I'm not talking about Ragnarok, I'm just talking about marine vehicles.”

“I know. And the White SeeD Ship’s not the fastest.”

“Oh yeah? Then what is?”

“You’re looking at it.”

“This one?! You're joking. One of the White SeeD’s engines is bigger than this entire boat!”

“Yeah, well, small is fast. You wanna show him, Fu?”

Fujin gave a singular nod, leading them back up the steps and down the hallway to the first door on the left. The bridge was a dark, tightly sealed room on a slightly elevated platform, sparsely furnished with nothing but a control panel filled with buttons, levers and switches. There were windows but you had to be quite tall to see out of them and a bevy of screens and strategically placed mirrors took up the wall space below. A ladder leading up to a hatch in the ceiling completed the layout.

“This isn’t user friendly so pay attention.” Seifer instructed Zone as they stood behind Fujin at the helm. “The old man wanted the bar to be pretty high for who could pilot this. Plus it makes stealing it pretty difficult.”

“Who’s the old man?”

“The one who designed this.”

“How do you even see out of this?” Zone asked, looking at the high windows, easily the shortest one in the room. If he wasn’t intimidated before he walked in, he was now.

Fujin hit a couple buttons and the screens turned on. They were suddenly viewing every possible angle around the ship with a clarity and field of vision that greatly surpassed the human eye.

“Woah!” Zone exclaimed at the visual overload. There was so much to see, he was having a hard time processing it all at once. “How do you take all this in? I'm having trouble and I have both of my eyes!”

Fujin glared at him in the mirror, hitting a sequence of buttons and switches before pushing the lever as far forward as it would go, sending them shooting into the ocean. No easing into it, just full speed ahead. Zone went flying backwards into the wall while the rest of the Posse remained firmly in place, turning back to glance at him as one would a passing car.

“Lesson #1, don't fuck with Fujin.” Seifer said, imparting some of his own hard-learned knowledge from long ago.

Raijin walked over and hefted Zone up with one hand. “Yeah, Fujin can be scary, ya know?”

Zone dusted himself off. “I didn't mean any disrespect. I was just surprised, is all. How do you get that kind of acceleration anyway?”

“All engineering, no magic. Just the way the old man wanted it.” Seifer said with a hint of pride.

“What fuel does it use?”

“Water.”

“Haha, very funny. What does it really use?”

“Water.” Seifer repeated again.

“Like a steam engine?”

“Nope.”

“Is it like some sort of specially-treated water?”

“Ocean water.”

“How does that work?”

“If you get the job, maybe I’ll show you.”

Zone stepped up to the control board next to Fujin, still intimidated but intrigued now. Looking at the screens, he saw that they were pretty far out to sea. An impressive distance for a journey that only took a matter of seconds. “So show me how to drive this thing.”

“First, we learn to stop.” Fujin said, clicking a few buttons and pulling the lever back like she was playing some complicated instrument, before bringing them to a nice controlled stop.

“You’re gonna have to run that by me one more time.” Zone said, trying to follow what she had just done.

Fujin started them up again so she could repeat the sequence. Zone tried not to blink, doing his utmost to concentrate on the task at hand. “GOT IT?”

“Umm…” Zone looked to Seifer for assistance.

“Don’t look at me. I can help out in a pinch but I only know the basics.”

“Isn’t stopping part of the basics?”

Seifer folded his arms over his chest. “Not if you want to do it right.”

“SEIFER- NO PATIENCE.”

Zone shifted his gaze to Raijin but found no help there either. “Hey, she doesn't even let me in here most of the time.” Raijin said, holding up his hands.

Zone gulped and looked back at the keyboard. “Do y’all have a notepad or something?”

“NOTEPAD- WEAK MIND.”

“Geez, you’re even more strict than the White SeeD leader.” Zone said, scratching the back of his head. “And that’s saying something.”

“AGAIN.” Fujin barked, equal parts drill sergeant and ballet instructor. She slowed it way down, saying all the steps out loud like she was talking to a dim-witted child.

This way at least, Zone was able to retain some of the information enough to try and have a go himself. With his left hand he clicked the keys and with his right hand he pulled the lever back.

“TIMING OFF. AGAIN.”

Zone tried repeating it again. “You gotta be really coordinated for this.”

“EYES AHEAD!”

“How do I do that while I’m-” Zone glanced up in time to see them about to collide into a rocky islet. Fujin reached in front of him to veer them off to the side avoiding the crash.

“That came out of nowhere!”

“NOT IF YOU WERE LOOKING. AGAIN.”

After a series of stuttering jerks and jolts that made even Seifer and Raijin have to hold on, Zone finally brought them to a complete stop.

Fujin nodded and Zone felt like he had never received such high praise in his life. He was awarded with yet another, “AGAIN!”

After a few more tries to prove he could at least bring them to a reasonable enough stop on command, Fujin moved on. “NOW- TAKE OFF.”

This came somewhat more easily to Zone now that he had seen Fujin do it every time she had to get them started up again. She walked him through the steps like before and after a few stall outs Zone had them cutting across the waves like butter.

Zone got a burst of adrenaline. “Holy shit, is that smooth! It’s not like we’re riding on the water, it’s like we’re part of it!” He exclaimed, getting more amped by the second.

Seifer smirked. “Exactly.”

They were really flying now and a small fishing boat appeared directly in front of them on the horizon. “How do I turn this thing?!” Zone yelled, panicking at the swiftly approaching boat and not seeing a steering wheel in sight.

“DO WHAT YOU KNOW!” Fujin commanded.

“Wha-?!”

“STOP!”

They were close enough now that they could see the eyes of the fisherman bulge out of his head at what looked like a massive torpedo heading straight for him.

Without thinking, Zone went through the steps Fujin had taught him and they came to an instant stop, mere meters from the man’s face. The only movement now was the gentle bobbing of the man’s boat, the calm scene undermining the impending doom that was seemingly imminent just milliseconds ago.

Even though the bridge was half a level higher and the full length of the mess hall and galley removed from the bow of the ship, with the hi-tech screens it seemed like they were face to face with the fisherman. Both he and Zone looked like they were about to shit themselves. Seifer and Raijin exchanged wide-eyed glances. They were more composed than Zone but could still appreciate how close they had come to wiping this guy off the face of the earth. The only one who didn’t seem at all fazed was Fujin, who stood there with her arms crossed, evaluating the situation. Without missing another beat, she turned to Seifer and nodded.

Seifer gulped, slowly lowering his gaze on Zone. “So… would you like the job?”

***

The protesters pressed against the front gates of Balamb Garden trying to catch a glimpse of the interview in progress. The more attention-seeking among them were vying for a chance to make it onto the daily news. Quistis stood on the other side of the gate at the heart of it all, opposite a news reporter and a cameraman, calmly answering questions about the protests.

“We perform a thorough and intensive medical and psychological evaluation after every junctioning session and so far, with the extra precautions we’ve taken, no new cases of memory loss have emerged. In the more severe cases evident in the veterans all memories have since returned and we have not discovered any additional symptoms.”

“Quistis Trepe, as one of those veterans, do you blame Cid and Edea Kramer for robbing you of your childhood?”

Quistis maintained an air of professional objectivity. “The Kramers are the only reason I had a childhood and it’s through their efforts that another generation of kids won't have to grow up as orphans.”

“You know,” the reporter began, his voice dripping with pretension, “it's not uncommon that victims begin to identify with their persecutors, even revere them.” He blinked at her with fake compassion, doing his best impersonation of an empath.

“It actually isn’t that common if you’ve read the studies on that, maybe fewer than 2% of cases.” Quistis asserted with her usual composure. “The percentage of journalists who have to issue a retraction for making false, libelous claims, however, is astoundingly high.” Her eyes sparkled at the reporter, more out of amusement than antagonism. “The Kramers never persecuted anyone and rather than victimize us, they empowered us to take action using the most powerful force on the planet.”

“Ah yes, by putting Guardian Forces inside the heads of children. Children who have no other options.”

“How old are you, Mike?” Quistis stared intently into the reporter’s eyes, throwing him off-kilter.

“Uhhh… 27.” Mike answered, clearly uncomfortable being on the receiving end of the questioning.

“Then surely you must remember the First Sorceress War. The one where we didn’t have GFs? The one that wiped out 71% of the world’s adult population? The world didn’t have many options after that.” Quistis said gravely. “The Kramers have dedicated their lives to making sure we never have to live under a sorceress’ rule ever again. They're the reason why Para-Magic exists, they're the reason why Gardens exist, they're the reason why we all still exist. You clearly have no idea what was at stake and you can thank the Kramers that you never had to learn.”

Well out of his depth, Mike had to pivot. Clearing his throat, he asked, “What do you have to say to the people who don't think you're doing enough to solve the GF issue?” Murmurs of assent came from the crowd.

‘I would say go fuck yourself.’ Quistis thought, allowing herself this minor indulgence before responding aloud, “I would say we’ve been actively pursuing other methods but as of right now we have found no suitable alternatives.”

Mike was preparing a follow-up question when a morbid symphony of high-pitched screeching metal and shattering glass, underscored by the deep rumble of buckling concrete errupted from Garden itself, as none other than the Great Bahamut came exploding out of the walls of the training center with a deafening roar. There was a moment of suspended belief as people’s brains struggled to catch up with the reality of what they were witnessing. This was immediately followed by a mass panic as the protesters shrieked and scattered, blinded by terror as they trampled on each other to get out, even though there was nowhere to go.

Quistis turned towards the school- her home- in horror as the steel blue dragon who hatched from it beat his expansive wings and rose high into the sky. She quickly collected herself and turned to the protesters trapped against the gate, now paying for their desire to get on TV. “Looks like you got what you wanted. The GFs are free.” She said ominously before skimming her surroundings for anything useful. She noticed the helicopter parked across the street from Garden with the news channel logo plastered on its side.

“Is that yours?” Quistis asked Mike, pointing at the helicopter.

Mike seemed to not have heard her as he and the cameraman were both paralyzed in fear, eyes and camera glued to the scene above.

“Mike!” Quistis grabbed him by the lapels and shook, snapping him out of his daze.

He stared at her dumbly. “…Huh?”

“The helicopter! Is it yours?!”

“Ye-yeah.” He said, not sounding altogether sure.

“Come on, let’s go.” She ordered as she unlocked the front gate, exposing them to the frantic mob beyond.

“Wha-what?” He asked, not understanding what she was saying or doing.

“We’re going after him.” Quistis explained as she pushed past a few manic protesters.

When she looked back and saw that neither Mike nor the cameraman had moved, she elbowed her way back and grabbed Mike by the arm, dragging him with her through the fracturing crowd. “NOW!”

***

“Woohoo!!!” Zone hollered as the Event Horizon zoomed along the coast of Balamb Island. They were just concluding his trial run and were heading back to the harbor. It had been a challenging day for Zone and he was still very much a novice but his enthusiasm, willingness to learn and even the odd spark of natural ability had shown through despite the many hiccups and Fujin’s uncompromising tutelage. He felt on top of the world as Fujin readied him for his final task of returning them to their slip at the pier. “I’ve never driven anything like this!”

“That's because there is nothing like this.” Seifer said as they rounded the plateaus of the southern coastline. The sea was on the choppy side that day but the ship zipped along like it was gliding on ice. The view opened up to the sandy beaches and white stone buildings of Balamb Town but their homecoming was far from a welcome one as they were greeted with a sight that made their blood run cold.

Bahamut’s imposing figure was a blight on the sky over the peaceful beach town. With his barbed wings and skin like chiseled granite this was an apex predator, his large mass the only thing preventing him from entering the narrow streets of Balamb Town. Unfortunately for its inhabitants, however, his Mega Flare did not have that problem as it filled all the nooks and crannies, turning corners and pouring down alleyways, forcing everyone inside.

“Bahamut.” Fujin uttered as she shot a look at Seifer and Raijin, a silent conversation passing between them. Without another word, they moved to their battle stations, each member of the Posse knowing exactly what their role was, an understanding born from years of friendship and working and fighting side by side. Zone was the only superfluous piece in all this and Fujin pushed him aside to retake control of the ship, something which he was profoundly grateful for.

Seifer and Raijin rushed out the door and headed for the back deck, their weapons seemingly materializing out of nowhere. When they reached the open air they could now hear as well as see the horrors of the scene unfolding before them, the bellowing roars of the monster above and the faint screams of the people below. Seifer unlocked the utility box and dug around, pulling out a flare gun.

Fujin backed them up into the harbor, making sure the ship was directly in Bahamut’s line of vision. Seifer stood on the edge of the platform and with a loud bang, he shot off a flare right over their heads. It was paltry compared to the one spewing from the dragon himself but it only needed to get his attention. It appeared to have done so, as he whipped his head around in the direction of where the mini flare was now petering out. Seifer had already reloaded and was firing off the next round.

If the first shot drew Bahamut’s attention, then the second one drew his ire, prompting him to swing his hulking form around to see who dared provoke him. With one flap of his wings he was upon them and the chase was on. Fujin took off like a bullet, trying to lure Bahamut away from Balamb Town as fast as humanly possible. But she wasn’t going all out, the idea wasn’t to lose him. She needed to keep him glued to their tail so he wouldn't go looking for an easier target and for now, at least, they were the biggest, shiniest object on the horizon.

Bahamut locked in on the metallic sheen of the hull and prepared his flare, allowing himself to be led further and further out to sea. He maintained a certain height, well-versed in the necessity of staying out of range while he amassed his weapon. From his vantage point, the Event Horizon resembled nothing more than a sitting duck and he treated it as such, as Mega Flare burst from his throat like a fiery belch. His aim was true as the energy swirled down to envelope the tiny ship, ironically caught in its own event horizon without any hope of escape.

The moment before impact, in a move that seemingly defied the laws of hydrodynamics, the ship shifted to the side, not turned but shifted, as if it was yanked to the side by an invisible hook, instantly and without losing any speed, sidestepping the blast completely. The blue torrent hit the empty surface of the ocean with a giant splash, creating a whirlpool at its center.

Bahamut, thinking it must be a fluke or something, readied the next strike. It rained down on the ship again, but again, the ship simply shuffled out of the way. When he tried to anticipate its movements, it would switch things up and drop back. Becoming increasingly angry, Bahamut started bombarding them with a flurry of Thundagas and Tornadoes, creating a veritable hurricane so that no matter which way they decided to go the ship would be hit. But Fujin masterfully wove between the blasts with a crisp, dogged efficiency that left Bahamut searching for a different tactic.

He swooped down, thinking that they couldn’t outrun his flare at this close of range. Now he could make out the figures of the two fishermen on the back of the boat and his confidence began to return. They may have a truly exceptional vehicle with a top-rate pilot but they were still only fishermen, equipped with nothing more than their fishing gear. There was no catch in the sea that could compare to the Great Bahamut and even on their best day, the fishing crew was no match for the King of GFs.

Sparks of blue light gathered in his mouth as he summoned his flare, eager to show this foolhardy crew what they were up against. Just when he was about to unleash it he was hit in the face with a stream of water. The spark disappeared as he closed his mouth to avoid sucking down copious amounts of water. Shaking his head like a wet dog, Bahamut set his beady eyes on whoever had committed such a disrespectful act.

Seifer stood there armed with an everyday garden hose, finger pressed over the nozzle for maximum pressure. He pinched the hose shut so Bahamut could take a good look at him as the dragon hovered there, stunned by the fisherman's audacity. If he hadn't been so incensed, he may have noticed the other fisherman gathering up a net before expertly casting it over enough of Bahamut’s bulk to make it catch.

That's when Bahamut really lost his shit. He started thrashing about, trying to get the net off of him but it had hooked onto his horns and spikes and the more he thrashed, the more entangled he became. He even spun upside down to see if gravity would loosen it for him but it just made matters worse for all parties involved. It almost tore the rope out of Raijin’s hands but he managed to hold on and Seifer helped him tie it around a post.

Bahamut hurled himself up in the air, actually lifting the back of the ship out of the water, but the fact that he couldn't fully unfurl his wings meant he couldn't achieve the kind of height he wanted to. Fujin accelerated forward to counteract the pull of the dragon but they were rapidly approaching a chain of craggy, uninhabited islands and with Bahamut’s added weight they wouldn't be able to circumvent them in time.

Fujin slowed as much as she could as they navigated their way through the narrow channel. Bahamut, feeling himself even more closed in with the surrounding cliff faces, went into a frenzy and fought even harder against the netting. He knocked into the sides of the cliff repeatedly, yanking the boat every which way, his piercing shrieks echoing off the walls. Even for battle-hardened warriors like them it was hard to watch.

Seifer resorted to something completely out of character for him, especially with a prospective fight looming on the horizon (and against such a powerful opponent, no less), just to put an end to the whole thing as swiftly and mercifully as possible. He held out his hand in an all-but-forgotten gesture and attempted to reach into the hidden recesses of his mind, trying to access the energy field. It felt clunky and clumsy, like he was fumbling around in the dark banging into things, but soon enough a space cleared in his head like a pinprick before it was forced open and filled with the very essence of the being in front of him.

Seifer was immediately blinded by a searing pain like something was stabbing into his brain as a deep, booming voice reverberated throughout his skull. ‘YYOOUU??!! II KKNNOOWW YYOOUU!! II’’VVEE SSEEEENN YYOOUU IINNSSIIDDEE EENNOOUUGGHH PPEEOOPPLLEE’’SS HHEEAADDSS TTOO AASSCCEERRTTAAIINN EEXXAACCTTLLYY WWHHAATT KKIINNDD OOFF MMAANN YYOOUU AARREE!! YYOOUU CCOOUULLDDNN’’TT TTEEMMPPTT MMEE IINNTTOO TTHHIISS HHOOLLLLOOWW PPRRIISSOONN!! YYOOUU— WWHHOO AARREE IINNCCOOMMPPAATTIIBBLLEE WWIITTHH EEVVEERRYYOONNEE??!! II CCAANN SSTTIILLLL SSEEEE TTHHEE MMAARRKKSS TTHHEE SSOORRCCEERREESSSS LLEEFFTT BBEEHHIINNDD!! HHEERR CCAARREESSSS WWAASS SSHHAARRPP,, WWAASSNN’’TT IITT??!!’

Raijin looked between the frantically flailing dragon and Seifer, who stood there hunched over with his eyes squeezed shut, a hand pressed over one of them like he was trying to keep it from exploding out of his head. “You ok, man?”

Seifer slammed the mental gateway shut with a guttural cry. “I’m fine!” He spat, wiping blood from his nose. “You could’ve just said no!” He shouted furiously at the still raging dragon.

Bahamut, meanwhile, had managed to untangle his wings enough to get them flapping again and began to rise, taking the entire stern with him. Raijin looked at Seifer grimly. “He’s gonna destroy the ship if we don’t release him.”

Without skipping a beat, Seifer said, “Let’s do it, brother.”

Raijin tucked his staff into his belt and took hold of the rope. Seifer grabbed the rope in one hand and Hyperion in the other and nodded at Raijin. Raijin untied the knot and they were hoisted up into the air as Bahamut flew to higher, safer grounds.

Back on the bridge, Fujin and Zone had been watching the events unfold on the screens. Zone was a nervous wreck but he was in awe of the Posse’s exemplary skill and gritty determination. As soon as Raijin untied the net, the boat plopped back down into the water with a kerplunk.

“What happened with Seifer back there?” Zone asked, the ship's powerful cameras not being able to pick up sound. They watched Bahamut crest over the cliffs and disappear, taking Seifer and Raijin with him.

“JUNCTION FAIL.” Fujin responded in her usual terse way. “He always was shit at it.” She added, more to herself than to Zone.

She kicked them into gear, speeding through the winding inlet until they came out the other side and she made her way around the island where the incline wasn't as steep. Killing the motor she idled up next to the ledge and handed the controls back over to Zone. “I activated the fenders so it won't go into the rocks and I’ll tie it off but you need to keep an eye on it. It's choppier when the engine’s not running so make sure everything holds.”

“Wait, you're just gonna leave me here?! I barely know what I’m doing!” Zone asked anxiously.

Fujin, already halfway out the door, grabbed the frame to pull herself back in. “Ok, then I'll stay with the boat and you can go fight the dragon.”

Zone almost choked at the thought, phantom stomach pains returning. “No, no. I think I got it.”

“STAY ALERT!” She yelled over her shoulder as she ran out to help her friends, chakram in hand.

Bahamut touched down on the clifftop, scraping his unwelcome passengers against the side of the rock-face like he was trying to scrape something off his boot before they were able to climb up and over the rim themselves. They hit the ground running, Raijin keeping hold of the rope while Seifer brandished his weapon and raced ahead to face off against the dragon.

Bahamut, still struggling to get the netting off, turned in time to see Seifer spiraling down on him like a buzz saw, Hyperion held aloft. Without batting an eye the dragon cast Stop, freezing him mid-flight.

Letting no more opportunities go to waste, Bahamut summoned his Mega Flare to blast his now prone victim away. They had been eluding him long enough and now he was going to exact his revenge. He unleashed his ultimate weapon and it would've been a direct hit if it hadn't been for Raijin pulling on the rope at the last second, forcing Bahamut's head to the side and causing the blast to miss Seifer by inches. Seifer followed the vortex with his eyes- the only things not frozen- feeling the pull of the energy as it brushed past him.

Raijin and Bahamut became locked in a game of tug-o-war which, naturally, the dragon was winning but Raijin was managing to stay on his feet (an impressive feat in and of itself), not giving up too much ground and even pulling back every time Bahamut paused to catch his breath. This was incredibly frustrating for a supreme being like Bahamut. It was made all the more demeaning by the fact that his arms were too short and his neck was too long to be able to pull the netting up and over his even longer horns. Luckily, he had a few tricks up his sleeve.

Lightning struck down from the heavens like the wrath of Hyne, smiting Raijin where he stood. But Raijin wasn’t named after a thunder god for nothing and he absorbed the Thundaga like a flower soaking up sunlight. The same couldn’t be said for the fishing net and it was totally incinerated, freeing Bahamut from his restraints even if it did nothing to impair his opponent.

Not only did it not impair Raijin, it completely energized him. As soon as the rope became ash in his hands, he charged at Bahamut with enhanced speed and when the dragon swiped at him, Raijin did an aerial cartwheel over his wing, pulling his bo staff out of his belt as he twisted in the air and landed with a spinning crack to Bahamut’s face. Without giving the dragon a moment to recover, Raijin swung his staff like a bat, knocking Bahamut’s head to the other side, swapping hands in the follow-through and twirling his staff in his fingers before rotating it all around him- over his head, from side to side, behind his back, turning and switching directions as he delivered a series of lightning-fast thwacks and kicks that kept Bahamut in a perpetual state of whiplash.

Even in his rapid-fire state, Raijin was trying to stay mindful of all the possible counter-strikes. He stayed in the pocket where Bahamut’s wings couldn’t reach him while his volleys kept the rest of the dragon at bay. At least, that’s what he thought until Bahamut’s tail snaked out and swept his legs out from under him. Raijin hit the ground hard, finding himself face to face with the dragon’s clawed feet. He windmilled his legs around and swung his staff, buckling the dragon’s knees and returning the favor. Bahamut would've gone down if his wings weren't there to catch him.

The spell finally wore off and Seifer went flipping forward, fighting against the centripetal force to pull Hyperion out to the side in time so it wouldn't become impaled in the ground, potentially ruining the blade. He landed in a crouch and sprang forward, rushing headlong back into the fray.

Distantly aware of Seifer’s return, Bahamut decided to clear the landscape with a couple Tornado spells to give himself some room and time to regroup. Raijin got caught up in one and was flung clear across the battlefield, landing behind where Seifer had just been moments ago.

Seifer headed straight into the storm. When he reached the giant funnel-shaped column, he spun around, generating enough speed and power to create his own tornado which devoured the other one. Bahamut almost got caught up in it but he wafted his wings forward, sending himself flying backwards while simultaneously causing the tornado to break apart and fizzle up into the clouds.

When the skies cleared, there was a new arrival on the scene accompanied by a whirring sound that was no longer drowned out by the furious pounding of tornadoes against their eardrums. Seifer, Raijin and Bahamut all took notice, going into a temporary truce as they gazed curiously and cautiously at this unexpected caller. Whatever it was must be seriously armed, since no one would be dumb enough to fly into the middle of a dragon fight otherwise. As it entered their airspace, it became apparent that it was nothing more than a local news helicopter. Ok, so maybe there was something dumb enough to interrupt them.

Bahamut flew up to meet it but before he could get too close, the door slid open and, to the ongoing surprise of everyone present, a figure jumped out going into a freefall, bypassing Bahamut’s thorny front and making a beeline for his tail, latching onto it with some kind of strap before swinging around and coming to a catlike landing on the ground.

Seifer knew who it was immediately. “Crazy bitch.” He mumbled to himself.

Quistis stood there within striking distance of the dragon, but rather than being poised for attack she held her hands out in supplication. “Bahamut, I mean you no harm!”

Raijin ran up beside Seifer. “Hey, isn’t that Instructor Trepe?! We should go help her!”

He started to move forward but Seifer held up his hand to block him. “Wait.”

Bahamut turned to regard her, slowly taking in her visage to connect body with mind. “I came to help you! Please, let me take you back!” She entreated.

“Is that your idea of help?! Sending me back to that prison?” Bahamut’s voice rumbled, not nearly as brain-scrambling as it had been in Seifer’s head but it still held a deep resonance, even in the open air.

“Why don’t you tell me what happened? I’m sure whatever it was, we can make it right!”

“I’m sick of you humans using me for my powers! It boils my soul! It confines my senses! Day in and day out, I get passed around from one needy vessel to another, forced to float around your memories like a ghost. It has been far too long since I've had a worthy host and it has been even longer since there was a cause worth fighting for.”

“Ok,” Quistis said, trying to be receptive to his needs. “Then you don’t have to go with anyone you don’t want to, only those you deem fit. We can put you on some type of reserve status, for emergencies only.” She was prepared to make whatever concessions she needed to, even the ones she had no right to offer. The priority was to get Bahamut back, she could work it out with Squall later.

“Why? So that I may erase the memories of childhood friends so they can wage war against each other?” Quistis wasn’t sure if he had meant that as such a direct, personal blow but she supposed it was possible. After all, she hadn’t missed who else was standing on the battlefield with them. “You think I’m making you more powerful but what you don’t realize is that it’s your connections that give you your greatest strength.”

“We’re trying to find a better way. You can help me find one!”

“You humans are all the same. You squander what you’re given and plunder what you’re not, just so you can grind it all down to dust.”

“You’re right.” She answered bluntly, not wanting to insult him by denying the truth. There was no excusing the inexcusable. “We are flawed, selfish creatures and we’ll likely stay that way, continuing to disappoint such a pure being as yourself.” Bahamut looked at her more pointedly than before. “But you and I were allies once, fighting alongside my friends- people who had no thought of their own survival, only the protection of others. Do you see no value in humanity at all?”

Bahamut took a long time to respond. “Where there is darkness, there is also light. But…” He paused, looking away. “I tire of this existence.”

“Bahamut, please! It doesn’t have to be like this.” She pleaded, her voice filled with emotion.

“Yes. It does.” He stated with an air of finality that left Quistis feeling stricken.

Seifer had been listening closely to the exchange, Hyperion slung idly over his shoulder. Seeing the futility, he grew impatient and called out. “Quistis, he’s made his decision!”

She wasn’t ready to give up on Bahamut just yet but they were again interrupted by the noisy propellers of the helicopter as the news crew tried to get better coverage of the conversation taking place. Regarding it as one would an annoying pest, the GF lunged at the helicopter with a mighty roar, a familiar blue flicker igniting in his throat.

With that single act of aggression, Quistis resigned herself to her fate, making peace with her own decision as she snapped Save the Queen in front of Bahamut’s face, causing him to momentarily flinch back before she followed it up with a nasty lateral flick to the maw, putting out the blue light like a candle.

The Posse sprung into action now that the ceasefire had ended. Bahamut swatted at Quistis with his wing but Seifer swooped in with an overhead parry, deflecting the large sickle-shaped talons before they could tear her apart.

The dragon reared up on them, nothing preventing the starburst from emitting from his mouth this time. It was at this moment that the helicopter conveniently decided to make itself scarce.

Seifer stood in front of Quistis, holding Hyperion in front of him, cutting through the blast and diverting it around them. They were otherwise completely engulfed by the blue energy waves.

“You’re not junctioned?!” He shouted over the blaring sounds of the passing currents, having to withstand a tremendous amount of force to keep the blade in place.

“No!” Quistis shouted back, having to keep close behind him so she wouldn’t get whisked away.

“They sent you out here to face Bahamut with just your whip?!” He glanced over his shoulder while maintaining his stance, not believing what he was hearing.

“Actually, I just kind of hijacked a news helicopter and headed over myself.” She said sheepishly, glad he couldn't see her face. She made no real attempt to be heard this time.

Seifer heard her anyway, eyes returning to the front. “Yeah, you’ve been doing a lot of that lately.”

“Is that getting hot?” She asked, trying to evade the subject and noticing the bright light forming on the edge of the gunblade.

“Yeah!” Seifer snapped, annoyed that she would even ask.

The flare finally dissipated when a chakram collided with Bahamut’s head, knocking it sideways as the final member of the Posse made her grand entrance. If the dragon was made of softer stuff it would’ve decapitated him but instead one of the points became embedded in his thick hyde. He snarled, turning his attention to this latest nuisance but before he could take one step towards Fujin, he felt something pull him back. With another yank, he found himself involuntarily flying through the air as Raijin flung him backwards by the tail. If shock could register on a dragon’s face it would have. The earth shook when he came crashing down and he had to claw at the ground to keep himself from going over the cliff.

Raijin capitalized on Bahamut’s floundering state by catapulting over the dragon’s ungainly extremities with his bo and landing near his head. Pressing his foot on Bahamut’s neck to hold him still, Raijin stuck his staff through the chakram and launched it forward, dislodging it and sending it spinning back to Fujin. Bahamut jerked his head at the extraction, causing Raijin to lose his footing and topple over. Showing that his heavily corded arms weren’t just for show after all, Bahamut snatched the bo (which had already caused him enough grief for one day) out of Raijin’s hands and quickly chucked it away.

Fujin caught the chakram in her right hand with ease and then a moment later spotted the staff javelining towards her like a spear. She took a step to the side and caught it in her left hand.

Finding himself weaponless and, quite literally, in the dragon’s den, Raijin scrambled behind Bahamut’s head, taking hold of his horns and twisted, forcing the dragon’s face up to the sky. There was a moment of stagnation where both sides were pulling in opposing directions but Raijin used his strength, leverage and the dragon’s inability to reach over his head to keep bridging and twisting until Bahamut’s long neck finally met its limit, forcing him to flop on his back.

No longer encased in the blue flare, Seifer and Quistis rejoined the battle. Seifer used the wrestling match underway to quickly close the distance but Bahamut saw him coming out of the corner of his eye. With Raijin once more controlling the direction of his head, Bahamut was forced to use one of his other spells. Tornado had done little to stop Seifer before so Bahamut could only hope that Thundaga had a better effect on him than it had on his friend.

The blinding flash clapped down on Seifer and he took it full-on, but he had planned to, channeling the bolt’s power through his chi and expelling it back out at his assailant in a move that only he was crazy enough to attempt, let alone perfect. If the timing was even a little bit off he would’ve scorched his insides.

Quistis, who hadn’t been far behind, almost tripped over herself in shock, having never seen anything like it before. Had he used a counterspell? She didn’t think he was junctioned. Garden had the monopoly on Guardian Forces but she wouldn’t put it past someone like Seifer to find one out in the wild. It had happened to Selphie after all and she had only been a child. But as long as Quistis had known him, Seifer had never liked fighting with GFs. His pride had prevented him from relying on anything but his own Hyne-given talents. Sure, he had enhanced powers during the war but Quistis had suspected that was more Ultimecia’s influence than his own. So what the fuck was that?

Bahamut was immune to lightning attacks, of course, as was Raijin, but the sheer force of his own was enough to crater the ground beneath them, wrenching him from Raijin’s grip and sending them flying in different directions. Fujin ran to Raijin’s side, returning the staff to its rightful owner while Seifer continued his advance.

He leapt into the air to bring down some new form of hell on the fallen dragon, who was flapping ineffectually on his back like an upturned Turtapod, struggling while his wings were pinned beneath him. All Bahamut could do in that moment was hit Seifer with the one thing that had worked on him so far- the Stop spell- halting him mid-strike and buying Bahamut time to build another flare. Quickly gathering the energyball in his throat, he was about to shoot Seifer point-blank when Quistis coiled her whip around the dragon’s snout and yanked it towards her, clamping Bahamut’s mouth shut and snuffing out his attack for the second time that day.

Seifer unfroze and swung Hyperion down in devastating fashion along the length of Bahamut’s exposed belly. Rather than splattering dragon guts across the battlefield, however, the gunblade had been superheated by Bahamut’s first flare and cauterized the wound instantaneously, sealing him up as quickly as it sliced him open. Damage had still been done but it wasn’t the killing blow it should have been and it left Bahamut feeling thoroughly fed up.

In a burst of piss and vinegar, the dragon jerked his head away from Quistis, causing her to unmuzzle him or risk losing her whip, and hurled himself to one side, getting one wing free from under him which lashed out at everyone in his vicinity. He unfurled his other wing and rocketed off the ground. Seifer and Quistis attempted to approach but Bahamut flapped his wings with such vehemence it forcibly pushed them back. With a blood-curdling scream, he soared into the air, reclaiming his dominion of the sky.

Bahamut spread his wings to the fullest extent of their grandeur, displaying his massive wingspan and revealing their blood-red underside. It was a sight that would evoke fear in even Diablos’ black heart, Hell’s most illustrious prisoner. The wings eclipsed the sun, casting his four opponents in his terrible shadow. Then he began to beat them. Again and again and again. Not to retreat but to punish. To remind them who he was. What he was. If a single flap had been enough to keep Seifer and Quistis at bay before, then the downwash Bahamut was creating now was so aggressively oppressive that Quistis and the Posse were rendered completely immobile. They were plastered to the ground, unable to freely stand or press forward. They couldn’t raise their hands, they couldn’t raise their heads, they couldn’t raise their eyes, they couldn’t even crawl on their bellies like the vermin they were- all they could do was bow down.

As the lightest member of the group, Quistis caught the slightest airpocket beneath her and was lifted off the ground and blown backwards. She went barreling into Seifer, knocking the wind out of him and brutally smashing into his balls. He had been squatting behind Hyperion, having had the presence of mind at the onset to stab it into the ground so he could remain tethered to the earth. The collision brought him to his knees as he howled a string of curses that were lost to the wind but he didn’t lose his hold on his gunblade and he clutched at Quistis with one arm as she clutched at him, grasping him tightly around the neck as her legs flailed in the wind behind them.

The other pair was fairing much better as they had been standing a little further back and were collectively a larger unit. Raijin, as the heaviest member of the party, was able to simply kneel in place, hugging his staff to his chest as Fujin crouched behind him, taking cover in his broad wake. She was the party member with the most freedom of movement at this point and peaked over Raijin’s shoulder to scan their ruthless tyrant as he- surprise, surprise- was loading another Mega Flare. It looked to be the biggest one yet. Knowing full well that her chakram could do little against the dragon’s armored hyde, she spied the softer skin of the wings as it was stretched tight with every renewed stroke.

Gripping the back of Raijin’s collar for purchase, Fujin brought her arm back and hurled her chakram through the air. It flew straight as an arrow, the razor edge reducing the wind drag to almost nothing, evading the relentless downdraft to go hurtling towards one of Bahamut’s outstretched wings. Fujin was a crack shot but even someone with poor aim would've had a hard time missing something the size of a train car.

Her chakram tore through the thin membrane, creating a sliver of sunlight and staining the blood-red skin with actual blood. A moment later the chakram boomeranged back around, ripping another hole through the wing before returning safely to its wielder.

Bahamut hadn’t noticed the gleaming metal pinwheeling through the air and barely felt when it made its surgical incisions. What he did notice was that the next time he tried to flap his wings, his right one wasn't working properly. Getting zero lift from it, Bahamut became lopsided in the air and was forced to end the attack to avoid dropping out of the sky. He roared in frustration and somewhat stiltedly lowered himself back down to earth.

As soon as they felt the wind die down, Seifer and Quistis went back on the offensive, pouncing on the now-grounded dragon. Fujin ran up as well, lending her chakram to the battle. Only Raijin stayed behind, eyes intensely focused inward. He went stock-still, standing upright as something lifted the hairs on the back of his neck. Slowly, he turned towards the sea.

“RAGE! FOCUS!” Fujin yelled from amidst the battle, chakram returning to her hand.

“I think something’s out there, ya know.” He walked to the edge and leaned over to look down into the water, searching for any strange shapes, colors or currents.

“ANYTHING?” She asked as she threw her chakram again, having witnessed enough of Raijin’s sixth sense to know that it warranted a look.

Raijin looked at the calm, placid water in bewilderment. There was no sign of life. He usually wasn’t wrong about this sort of thing. “I guess not.” He said before reluctantly tearing his eyes away and returning to the battlefield.

Fujin caught her chakram in time to see Raijin jogging towards her as a giant tentacle shot up behind him and wrapped around his ankle. It yanked him backwards, slamming him on his face and dragging him towards the cliff’s edge.

In an incredible show of strength, Raijin raised his staff over his head with both hands and stabbed the blunt end into the ground to try and stay his progress. The creature continued to drag him, which actually drove the staff in deeper until it was firmly entrenched, only a couple body-lengths from the edge.

Now that he had come to a stop, Raijin was actually able to reverse the direction somewhat and pull himself back towards the staff. That is, until it gave way, snapping in half with a loud crack and sending him flying back towards the edge. He was about to go over when Fujin slid in front of him, hooking her chakram on the part of the staff still embedded in the ground and clasping her other hand around Raijin’s wrist.

“IDIOT!” She yelled, grunting as the weight of Raijin and the creature pulled her taut. She felt an unreal amount of pressure wrenching her apart, the only consolation being that the pain wasn’t directed to any one area but was evenly distributed across her body.

“I told you something was out there!” Raijin felt vindicated but he couldn't exactly say he was happy about it.

Fujin ground her teeth against the strain. “SHUT. UP.”

“Just let me go, Fu. There's no way you can hold it.” Raijin said softly, a sense of peace coming over him.

“NO.” She bit back.

Back at the battle, Quistis felt an unmistakable hole in their ranks and turned to see that both Raijin and Fujin were gone. Her eyes rapidly surveyed the land before they caught sight of the struggle taking place near the edge. She spared Seifer the slightest glance as he was currently in the middle of some fancy maneuver and decided that he could handle Bahamut on his own. He had already vanquished one GF by himself, after all. She raced towards the pair and just as Fujin’s chakram slipped off the splintered bo, Quistis whipped her Save the Queen out faster than the blink of an eye, winding it around Fujin’s wrist.

Quistis was launched forward, skidding along on her stomach much like Raijin had until she was able to spin around on her back and plant her feet in front of her. She rode the trench he left behind like she was on a T-Board and only managed to come to a stop when she hit the dense pile of dirt that had accumulated around the broken staff. She dug her feet in and tried to remain as horizontal as possible but she knew she was fighting a losing battle.

Seifer was in his glory. This was the best fight he had had in years. The odd Ruby Dragon and T-Rexaur encounters he had been relegated to over the last 3 years simply couldn’t compare to the King of GFs and Seifer was really enjoying stretching his legs. Borderline reckless at times but, hey, that's what friends are for. After completing a particularly nice combination, he turned around to see his friends’ reactions. Much to his surprise, he found that he was the only one left on the battlefield. He looked around wondering where the hell everyone went and saw Quistis getting pulled into an increasingly vertical position, trying to keep hold of her whip which was wrapped around an arm with a chakram. Fujin. He could only guess where Raijin was.

“Shit,” he muttered to himself. Turning back to Bahamut, he spun his gunblade in his hand. “Enough of this.” He leapt up and with one giant slice he bisected the dragon in half vertically, Odin-style, and without waiting to see the result, he took off in a sprint towards Quistis. He rammed into her (maybe a little harder than necessary but he hadn't forgotten their last meeting and his nuts wouldn’t soon forget this one) and took hold of the whip, taking over her position in the trench.

Quistis teetered, wiping the hair and sweat out of her face. Regaining her balance, she saw something dark and menacing out of the corner of her eye. Hyperion. She ran around Seifer and snatched up the gunblade from where it lay.

“Hey, what’re you doing with that?!” Seifer shouted and suddenly a cold feeling crept up his spine as images of Quistis dressed like a cat burglar snooping around his house popped into his head. What if she had been there for Hyperion? That would explain why nothing came up missing because it had been with Seifer the entire time. And now she was about to steal it right out from under him and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. His fears abated somewhat when, instead of hightailing it out of there, Quistis took the gunblade over to the edge to presumably combat whatever was down there. This gave him a new cause for concern. “Quistis-?! Quistis, that's not a range weapon if you don't know what you're doing!” Seifer yelled again, red-faced with all his veins and muscles bulging from the effort.

She ignored him and he was in no position to stop her. She peaked over the edge to assess the situation below. Fujin had blood running down her arm where the whip was cutting into her skin. Her other hand was grasping Raijin’s wrist, who looked completely helpless as a tentacle- the tentacle that was about to put an end to the entire Posse in one fell swoop- was wrapped firmly around his ankle. There was no telling how large the creature was beneath the waters but judging by the size and length of the tentacle it had to be enormous.

“Raijin, hold still!” Quistis shouted down to him. Raijin looked at her in alarm as she hefted Hyperion up and pointed it at him. He turned his head away, holding his breath and squeezing one eye shut. She attempted to keep the gunblade level but it was so front-heavy that she struggled to hold it up, even with both hands.

“Pull the trigger the second before you feel like you would make contact!” Seifer yelled to her, not liking the sight of his gunblade in someone else’s hands but resigned to the fact that if she was going to do it then he could at least try to help her do it right. Quistis nodded and exhaled as she hoisted Hyperion in the air and brought it down in a forward slash, pulling the trigger. It was an awkward swing, given the weight distribution and it almost took her over the edge but she recovered. “Quistis-!!! Maybe find a different way! See if you can grab Fujin’s chakram or something!”

Again, Quistis ignored him as she watched a light fizzle of magic carry down the length of the blade and trickle out before it hit the tentacle, barely causing a scratch. This gave her an idea and taking a breath, she pointed the gunblade straight up in the air and placed one hand on the side of it in front of her face, attempting to draw what she could from it.

“There’s only one more cartridge left so make it count!” Seifer shouted to her.

She closed her eyes and her hair suddenly flared out as a slight wind picked up around her, originating from the gunblade itself. She felt a burning fire inside of her and a burst of flames ignited around the tentacle just below Rai’s foot. He looked down in even greater alarm but he saw the look on Quistis’ face and didn't dare move an inch. Her eyes flashed green as she brought Hyperion down with one arm in an underhand swing, triggering one of Seifer’s signature moves and sending a razor-sharp spiral shooting out towards the tentacle. It cut through it like butter, severing it from the base and releasing Raijin’s leg. The entire Posse cried out, feeling an immediate rebound and tension release.

For the first time since he had grabbed the whip, Seifer felt like he could begin pulling them back up instead of just holding them there. There was still a considerable amount of weight hanging over the edge but Seifer took advantage of the rebound and kept the momentum going by putting one hand in front of the other, making progress with each pull. Quistis stood at the edge to help usher the others up. When Fujin got both feet on the ground they all turned to Raijin and with one last heave yanked him up and over the edge. He stumbled forward while everyone else fell backwards now that there was no counterbalance.

Raijin caught himself before he fell on Fujin and pulled her back up. “Fujin! Why didn't you let go like I asked?”

Fujin was pale and shaking, still bleeding heavily. She was physically wrecked, having taken the brunt of the damage but otherwise seemed unemotional. “Now we’re all here.” She rasped, her voice hoarse.

Quistis got up to inspect Fujin’s wounds. “Put the chakram down and I’ll take care of that for you.”

Fujin looked at her hand, then back at Quistis. “Can’t.” She said with a slanted grin.

“Oh,” Quistis said in surprise before they looked at each other and shared an unexpected laugh. “Well, let me help you with that then.” She gently pried Fujin’s fingers off the weapon and started to unwrap the whip from around her wrist.

Raijin looked down at their own firmly clasped hands and realized with some embarrassment that Fujin probably hadn’t let go yet because her grip was stuck that way. He released her wrist, reddening slightly and thankful that no one was paying attention to him.

“I have a small potion but you’ll probably need more to fully heal this.” Quistis reached into her pocket to grab it and took off the cap. “Do you need me to hold it for you?”

Fujin nodded and bent her head down for Quistis, who put the bottle up to her lips. Fujin was able to bring her clenched hands up over Quistis’ to take the bottle and tilted her head back to drink. The potion worked its magic and reduced the slashes to some minor cuts but Quistis still wanted to wrap it up so she wouldn't bleed out. Raijin was quick to tear off a piece of his pants to use as a tourniquet.

While they tended to Fujin’s injuries, Seifer lay on his back in the middle of the trench where he had fallen, chest heaving, still trying to catch his breath. Out of nowhere, two more tentacles shot up over the edge and lashed out wildly, trying to get their clutches on the first thing that got in their way. Seifer, the only one who didn’t have his back to the scene, rolled over and picked up his gunblade. With one slice, he cut the tips off both tentacles. They fell to the ground with a splat and the other three recovered in time to watch Seifer walk to the edge and slash Hyperion down then across, hitting the monster with a lazy but lethal Fire Cross, sending it back into the watery depths like a warrior priest exorcising a demon. He examined the gunblade in his hand, frowning.

Quistis looked at Seifer. “I thought you only had one cartridge left?”

“I lied.” He said without remorse. “I was trying to create an incentive.” Quistis raised her eyebrows, mildly impressed. “Plus the magic cartridges are expensive when you don't have Garden’s budget.” Suddenly he rounded on her, becoming visibly agitated. “How'd you do that? How'd you hit No Mercy?!”

Quistis shook her head, just as perplexed as he was. “I don't know.”

“That shouldn't be possible. You could barely even lift it.” He sounded unnerved, spooked even.

“I just used blue magic.”

“But you weren't even in critical condition. Have you ever done that before?!”

“No.”

“So you're telling me that any Blue Mage can just waltz in and do what I’ve spent my whole life working on?!”

“Maybe not anybody, ya know?” Raijin piped up, attempting to play mediator. “Isn't Quistis the best at what she does?”

“You tell me. I've never met another Blue Mage before.” Seifer responded, eyes still glued on Quistis.

“Then you don’t have anything to worry about.” Raijin said, trying to keep it positive.

But Seifer wasn’t listening to him. “This isn't some spider web you pick-pocketed off a caterchipillar. This requires an intense amount of training and skill.” He fumed, advancing on her as he spoke. “Do you know how long it took before me and Squall could even hold it properly?!”

“No.” She said again, putting her hands up instinctively and taking a step back. She wasn’t really afraid he would do anything to her (aside from maybe asking a few uncomfortable questions) but his was a kind of burning energy that when coupled with his size could feel very overwhelming up close.

“Why don't you lay off a bit, Seif? She just helped us out.” Raijin the peacemaker chimed in again, this time stepping in and putting a hand on Seifer’s chest.

They were interrupted yet again by the sound of the news helicopter reappearing out of nowhere. They all looked up, hair and clothing whipping around them as it slowly made its descent. The door slid open and Mike poked his head out. He glanced nervously at the four figures whose eyes were trained on him, killers all.

“Uhh… h-hi folks. That was pretty impressive what you did there.” He stammered, hoping flattery would win them over. It did not. “Q-Quistis, it’s time to go.” He said, holding out a hand for her which she raised an eyebrow at before crossing her arms and turning her attention back to the Posse.

“Can we give you a lift anywhere?” She asked. They were on a nameless archipelago in the middle of the ocean without another form of transport in sight.

Mike cut in before anyone could answer. “Um, actually this helicopter has a 3-person limit.”

Quistis glared at him, placing her hands on her hips to argue but Seifer butt in for her.

“We have our own ride, thanks.” He said coldly. “But good luck getting back. I’m sure you planned on spending this much gas before you came all the way out here.”

“We’ll be fine.” Mike said haughtily, with the unflappable confidence of a man who had no idea what he was talking about. He addressed Quistis once more. “Quistis, we need to get back to Garden. Now.” Quistis narrowed her eyes at him in contempt before marching towards the helicopter. Mike looked smug that she was finally obeying his orders but that quickly vanished when she shoved him out of the way, sending him stumbling sideways.

A moment later she reemerged from the helicopter with a first aid kit and walked over to Raijin, placing it in his hands. “That’s for her.” She murmured, motioning to Fujin before heading back to the helicopter.

“Hey, that’s our aircraft’s designated first aid kit!” Mike protested though it couldn't have fallen on deafer ears.

“Thanks, Instructor Trepe!” Raijin chirped after her.

“I'm not an instructor.” Quistis said at the same time Seifer said, “She's not an instructor.” Their eyes met briefly as she passed him and she caught that old, rebellious glint in his which, apparently, hadn’t died with the rebellion. It was the first time she felt like an instructor again since she lost her license.

Mike was still standing in front of the door and thoughtlessly reached out to assist Quistis, having forgotten everything that had taken place over the last couple minutes. Quistis grabbed his shoulders and flipped him around, pushing him inside before stepping up and slamming the door shut behind her.

Seifer watched in silence as the helicopter took off, a troubled expression on his face. He glanced back down at his gunblade before turning to his friends and saying, "Come on. Let's go make sure Zone didn't blow the ship up."