Evoke Chapter Three: Clandestine
Last Chapter
Chapter III
Clandestine
-x-
In the darkness, the silence was deafening. As the breeze flew passed her, Quistis shivered and ducked her head low. She released a warm breath around her chest and neck, wishing for some warmth. The instructor shifted on her feet and peeked to the crimson-metal spaceship with a form of a massive bird behind her. She wanted nothing more than to turn around and run back into the warmth of Ragnarok.
Her ears caught a muffled sound of buzz. Quistis had enough for Caterpillars. She had battled more than a dozen of it earlier. With no actual enthusiasm for another battle, Quistis uncurled her whip and gave a warning snap. Save the Queen twirled with a technical turn of an expert arm, the tip of the long rope clashed against the invincible breeze, releasing a livid blare.
The drone stopped.
She brought her eyes up, looking past the dense layer of leaves and woods. He would come. There was no way Commander Leonhart would let Instructor Trepe stay and laze around with something as big as this. If the cadets took a morning walk and saw the tip of the Ragnarok's crown behind the level of trees, they might approach and investigate. Before that happened, Quistis knew Squall would notice that Ragnarok was not leaving.
She would not leave without Seifer.
In front of her, the dense foliage parted. Appearing from inside the thick jungle, he marched toward her. The gunblader stomped at high bushes and dead branches clutching his military boots. The gunblade was firm on his hand, coated with dripping scarlet and unpleasant fawn-looking appendages of his fiends. The right side of his black trousers was soaked. Droplets of blood dribbled down, marking each step with red circles. A spray of crimson decorated the white fur on his jacket.
His eyes looked a bit red. Squall blinked several times, as if to coat his dry grey orbs and compose himself before starting some argument.
Can he get some sleep last night? Quistis wondered while curling her whip and placing it back on the hook of her belts. Perhaps he slept next to Seifer. The thought disturbed her. Not that the sleeping arrangement mattered when they were cadets, but now-
"Need anything else?" Squall asked. "You were supposed to leave an hour ago."
Quistis crossed her arms against her chest. Beneath her, the heels of her boots sunk into the pliable soil saturated by morning mist. "May I bring him along?"
"What?" Squall narrowed his eyes. "What are you thinking? Why do you even want to take him? He is not important for this mission."
Quistis gnashed her teeth. "This mission is about him, Sq-Commander. If I don't bring him along, I doubt Laguna will believe my story."
Squall frowned, closing his eyes and placing the heel of his palm against his forehead. After a while he opened his eyes and muttered, "Do you know he doesn't stink?"
Quistis choked.
Squall trailed his gaze down to the battle residues coating his boots. "He doesn't smell. From the flower's condition, he might've been dead for more than three days. But he doesn't smell or rot."
Quistis refused to think that he would rot-smell-he wouldn't. No, he wouldn't. She would make sure of it. "I want to take him to Esthar. Odine would know what to do."
Squall shook his head. "He can't resuscitate a corpse."
"But Odine can do something for his body." Quistis remembered how gallingly genius Odine was. In his lab, the team had found enormous monster-sized tubes, various preservatives for mummification methods in sterile jars and expansive library filled with books on human anatomy and extensive DNA research. The doctor might be able to do something for Seifer.
Squall's eyes darted towards the open hatch of Ragnarok. He bit his lips, turning his attention back to Quistis. "Are you sure he can do something?"
Instead of answering the almost rhetorical question, Quistis sighed and tucked a strand hair behind her ear. "How long do you intend to keep him in your room?" She missed her hair clip. She had lost it yesterday after the party. No matter how long she had crawled under the bed and rummaged her drawers-even looking at any item that may stick between the pages of her books-she'd never found it. She knew she had to use other accessory, but that one-year-old hair clip was different. The nail securing the clip had broken more than twice. The colour of the clip had faded, now it had its initial colour of a cheap metal and rushed artistry. Zell who always repaired the shoddy ornament for her murmured that Squall should give her a raise to buy another hair clip.
"Squall, he is, after all-" she faltered, trying to find other words. What were the synonyms of a corpse? Dead being, lifeless body, carcass-all made her stomach churn. "You can't keep him in your room for long."
Squall toyed around with the hilt of his gunblade, wiping the bloody tip of his weapon against the cool terrain beside his boots. A dim, scarlet shine rising from behind the tranquil-blue ocean made him sigh in resignation. They had to hurry; the Garden resident would wake up soon. "Follow me. Be quiet."
-x-
Striding through the curvy part of the hall, Squall glanced to his back several times. Quistis trailed shortly behind him, her expression unreadable.
Squall knew she was right. They couldn't keep Seifer in his room forever. Nevertheless, a small part of him wanted to keep the man on his side. A part that Squall didn't even know he had.
Until yesterday.
-x-
Quistis must be having fun at her party.
His seat was uncomfortable. Squall always wanted to change it, but Rinoa said if Squall's bridge seat is cosier than now, he will go to sleep on it and doesn't come back to his room at all. It wasn't a prospect Squall hadn't thought of yet, and when he quarreled with her, the prospect seemed even more enticing.
He shifted, trying to make himself cosy in his seat. If he was feeling comfortable enough, then he could stare at Seifer longer. He wanted to burn the image of the man in his brain. It might be his last chance to remember how Seifer looked like.
If only his stare could wake the blonde.
The short clock needle was pointing to seven when Squall rose up from his chair and ambled toward the casket. He took Seifer's arm and pulled the blonde against his chest. Seifer's arm was thin; it was only a rough layer of skin wrapping the bones. Squall put his other hand on Seifer's back, supporting the blonde. Seifer's head lolled to Squall's chest, and the Commander felt a twinge of pain.
"What is this?" He looked down to Seifer. "Wake up. There is no way you'd lay on me for no reason."
He obtained no response. Grinding his teeth, Squall released Seifer's arm, looped his hand behind the back of Seifer's knees and hoisted the man up from his wooden casket.
Seifer's arm fell from his body. The withered flower in his twined fingers dropped to the ground, bouncing low against the hard surface, its messy petals scattered on the floor. Squall smelled the scent of lily. He frowned, looking down to the man on his arm.
Something was amiss. He smelled a flower but not Seifer. The man who was dead and placed inside the casket should stink. He skimmed down to the visible skin on Seifer's neck. There was no dead tissue on it. His skin was dry, parched but not in any stage of rotting.
Squall knew how dead person looked like. Seifer looked as if he was sleeping.
Shaking the limp body on his arm, Squall snapped, "Wake up! This isn't funny!"
Seifer's head lolled to the back. Squall quickly fixed the position so Seifer wouldn't choke himself due to the lack of air. Realizing what he was doing, he tittered.
"What am I doing?"
The current Seifer was light. He could bring the blonde gunblader to his room without having to take a rest in between. Squall made his way to the entrance, leaving the bridge. Had this been Seifer from a year ago, Squall would be staggering for breath if he carried the man for more than five minutes.
There was nobody in the hall on the first floor. Having nothing else to entertain him, Squall indulged in a slight gratefulness for Quistis's party. Nobody had bothered to talk to him this afternoon. All attention was for the blonde.
Rushing toward the dorm with a limp gunblader on his arm, Squall reached his corridor in several minutes. His boots were the only thing making noise as he made his way to his own room. He placed Seifer on the floor beside the door. When the man slid down onto the carpet, Squall hurriedly took his arms and fixed him to a better position. Squall swiped his card in the ID machine, pushed the door and peeked inside. Rinoa was not around.
Once again securing Seifer on his arms, Squall entered his suite. Lurching into his bedroom, he moved toward the bed and dropped the lifeless body atop it.
What should he do next?
Taking a raspy breath, Squall darted his gaze around the room. Rinoa shouldn't sleep here tonight. He grabbed Seifer's boots and tugged it, starting to undress the blonde. Halfway through his task, he stopped, staring at the long scar on Seifer's stomach. Seifer had many scars from their battle. So did Squall. Nevertheless, Squall had never marked Seifer with a deep, long-scarlet gash on his stomach.
"Dueling with anyone else but me?" Squall tossed Seifer's coat behind him. "What about your promise for another duel?"
I bet he forgot about it. Squall blinked. What am I doing, talking to a corpse?
Squall yanked Seifer's trousers, stopping when he touched Seifer's left knee. Frowning, he gingerly placed his fingers on the knee.
There was no kneecap. Grasping Seifer's lower leg in his hand, Squall pressed his palm against the skin, trying to locate Seifer's leg bone. Swallowing a dry lump on his throat, Squall used the other hand to squeeze on the same leg. He felt many pieces of bones, scattered between the tissue and skin.
Concentrating back to the undressing task, Squall seized the trousers, gently this time, pulling Seifer out of his costume. He drew his own clothes from the closet, staring at it.
"I don't know if this fits you, but-" he faltered, moving to the blonde. In a languid pace, Squall looped the shirt over Seifer's neck. He held the back of Seifer's neck when the head lolled backwards.
"Why do you loll your head so much?" Squall murmured, touching the neck. His next word died on his tongue as he placed his thumb along the neck bone and traced it. Grinding his teeth, Squall set Seifer on the bed. "You didn't die a good death, huh?"
He couldn't believe how calm he acted. Squall looked at everything but Seifer as he continued to dress the blond. The frame on the bedside table had never looked so enticing before. The warm blanket under the limp body looked comfortable. If he covered Seifer with it, the man would feel warm-
Squall shut his eyes. His shoulder slumped. Kneeling down beside his bed, he placed his head on top of Seifer's stomach. He wished he could smell something out of the blond. It would make this real. He'd never felt the sorrow stabbing at his chest like this, not even when he lost Rinoa in space. The unfamiliar sensation twisted, struggled and crawled underneath his skin. Sting prickled at the corner of his eyes, but Squall wouldn't cry. Not for his rival. No, not even for the Seifer that he knew at the orphanage.
He pulled himself together and stood up. With wavered fingers, Squall pulled the blanket from underneath the blonde and spread it to cover Seifer's body. He tucked the material under Seifer's chin. The commander pulled himself back, looked at Seifer's sleeping face and flexed down. He pulled the material to cover his head.
There you go.
Squall hesitated. His fingers reached for the blanket to pull it back down.
Someone knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" He pulled his hand back. "Rinoa?"
"No, it's Quistis."
"What do you want?"
"I have to talk to you, about what I think happened at the bridge earlier," Quistis said half-chuckling. "You wouldn't believe how silly I am!"
Something inside him whispered in his ears, wanting him to open the door and wound the woman waiting outside. If it weren't for her, he wouldn't come as her gift. If it weren't for Quistis Trepe, Seifer Almasy wouldn't die.
"Squall!" he heard Quistis's voice. "Are you in there?"
He strode to the door and yanked it open.
-x-
After the war a year ago, Ragnarok barely had any use anymore. Aside from Selphie who used it for occasional trips to Trabia, nobody else bothered to put the plane to better use. At least Selphie took a good care of the ship.
Quistis was sitting in the pilot's seat, head leaned against the chair. Squall lumbered into the control bridge. He moved to her, placing his hand on top of the seat beside hers.
"I placed him on the bed." Squall looked at everything but Quistis. "Be careful with the flight and don't crash against anything."
Quistis chuckled. "I'm not Selphie, Squall."
"No," Squall said. "You're not." Something in his tone made Quistis's smile falter. "Report to me as soon as you arrive at the orphanage."
Quistis turned her attention back to the control panel. "Affirmative." Biting her lips, she waited until Squall left and closed the entrance hatch from the control machine.
Squall stopped near the foliage, turning his body back to see the Ragnarok humming. With a smooth motion, the spaceship pushed its front body up towards the sky, leaving the plains of Balamb Garden.
Setting the machine in autopilot, Quistis stood up. She strolled to the back of the plane. It wasn't that she didn't believe Squall when he said he had put Seifer inside the resting cabin. She felt as if he didn't want to let Seifer go.
Seifer was not Squall's possession, although the commander seemed to think so. He had refused any help from Quistis while carrying the body to Ragnarok. Quistis had informed him it was better to walk from the Parking Area. The gate entrance should be filled with students returning from their morning exercise. He had shot her an annoyed glare and turned to the Parking Area.
She'd never seen Squall that possessive. Even back when Rinoa was in a coma and they were looking for Esthar, Squall would let Zell or Irvine to carry her when he needed a rest.
Entering the resting cabin, Quistis breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Seifer lie on the cot. Smiling despite the dire situation, she moved and sat beside him, tilting her head to study him further. Squall had taken his care to another level. It looked like he even combed Seifer's hair. Quistis reached out her hand and smoothed back the stray blonde strand that always seemed to fall to Seifer's forehead.
-x-
She didn't sleep yesterday, instead taking time to pull out the folder and working on grading his students' paper. Quistis Trepe was always working. She knew what she would dream about if she fell asleep. Even knowing that her nightmare wouldn't be worse than reality, she still refused to succumb to the body's need to rest.
When the morning came, she readied herself, stopped herself in the middle of putting on her lipstick. Who would notice her if she put on a make-up anyway? Did she want to show herself to Seifer?
Quistis glanced at the wall clock and realized how funny the situation was. Her former student was dead, lying inside the room of another former student of hers-who was now a commander and therefore the boss of her-and she was grooming herself to see a dead man.
Leaving her bathroom, Quistis ambled towards the bed and plopped down. Burying her face on the pillow, she closed her eyes and wondered if she could see Seifer again after completing this mission.
Mission-this mission was about Seifer.
Why can't I take him along?
-x-
Edea thought she'd never hear that gentle hum again. Looking out from her window, she widened her eyes and turned around, leaving her kitchen. The red spaceship disembarked on Centra rocky plains just before the flower field.
Quistis's feet barely stepped on the Centra terrain when Edea stumbled onto her catching the blonde in an affectionate hug. Quistis reciprocated and smiled when Edea patted her back.
"It's really nice to see you," Edea said, her dark eyes gleamed. "How are you? Who are you coming with…?"
Quistis gestured toward the open hatch behind her. "I come with Seifer. We need to talk-"
Edea smiled even brighter. "Seifer? Oh, he's coming to see me? It's been so long since I saw him. I thought you said you can't find him?"
"We sort of did," Quistis said, almost tumbling when her Matron hurried inside passing the blonde in her fervor. "Wait! Matron-wait a minute, please!"
Edea had disappeared into the back cabin. Quistis felt dreadful when she followed her Matron into the ship. Edea sat beside Seifer, mimicking her own position earlier. Quistis stopped at the door, leaning her body on the doorframe.
"Is he sleeping?" Edea asked. She nudged Seifer's shoulder, trying to wake him up.
Quistis swallowed.
"Quistis?" Edea glanced at her. "Is something wrong?"
Quistis closed her eyes as Edea continued her futile attempt to rouse Seifer up. She actually had a hope that their Matron would be able to wake him up.
What was she thinking?
"Seifer," Edea said, smiling to Seifer's peaceful face. "Wake up."
Quistis wanted to run. She wanted to hide. But more than anything, she wanted that man lying on the cot to open his eyes and growl curses.
None of her wishes were granted. Quistis opened her eyes only to look at Edea's bitter expression.
"What happened, Quistis?" Matron frowned. "Why isn't he waking up?" Despite her question, she instinctively placed two fingers on his neck, searching for a pulse.
Matron didn't have to wait for anything. There was no sign; Seifer's ashen face and cold skin already assured her thoughts. Taking her hand back as if it was burning, Matron turned her poignant gaze to Quistis.
"Who did this?" Her voice was shaky. "Who? Why?"
"I-I'm sorry," Quistis stammered. "We found him like this."
"We… who?" Edea stood up and walked to her, stopping halfway when she saw Quistis stumbled backward. The instructor looked fearful and sad. "Quistis, why is this happening? Why is Seifer-" she faltered, looking at Quistis's culpable expression. "Why?" Falling on her knees, Matron gripped her hand against the edge of the bed across from Seifer's. Her long-raven hair flew fluttered in disarray when she stooped her head low. Her body shuddered in a long, harsh tremor.
Quistis hugged herself when her Matron started weeping. She was weeping for her lost boy. Her lost knight. Quistis hoped Edea wept for her part as well, because she could no longer grieve for Seifer without losing herself.
-x-
"What do you mean you'll take him to Esthar?" Edea shook her head. "No. We'll bury Seifer in here."
"But, Matron-"
"Seifer must have wanted peace." Edea raised the knife slicing at the vegetables with practiced moves. "That is why he came back to you like that."
Sitting with a cup of warm tea in hand, Quistis stared at her former guardian standing in front of the sink. "Seifer wouldn't want that."
"Seifer wouldn't want to have his body examined in the lab after his death." The knife was moving a little too fast. "I want him to rest in peace."
"Would it be peace if you just bury him in that field?" Quistis waved her free hand toward the flower field outside the window. "How can you call it peace if nobody knows who killed him?"
"Why would it matter now?" Edea glanced at her. "Would it bring Seifer back from his death if you know who killed him?"
"No, but-"
"Revenge only brings pain, Quistis." Edea wiped her hands on the napkins hanging above the sink. "There is no point in adding more salt to our wounds."
Is it better to let the wounds open and bleed? Quistis placed the cup on the table. "I have to go to Esthar. I won't leave him here."
Edea turned at her. "Why? Why are you taking his body to Esthar? Do you know how much it will disturb him if he knows his body is taken from one place to another?"
"He's dead," Quistis heard herself said. "He wouldn't know anything."
Edea frowned. "You've changed, Quistis. You used to be so compassionate. The old you would care a lot about how Seifer felt."
"Everyone changed." Seething from the unfair judgment but refused to show it to her Matron, Quistis stood from her seat behind the table. "I am always logical. I want to give my former student a better facility, even though he's officially dead." She turned around and strode to the door. "It was nice to see you again, Matron."
"Quistis." Matron rushed to follow her and grabbed her arm. "I'm coming with you."
Quistis stopped, turning to the woman.
"If you don't want to leave Seifer here, I will come. I want to be with him." Edea sent a quick glance around the empty room. She used to think that after the war everything would be all right. She wanted to repair the orphanage and fill it with laughter and shouts of children. She wanted to be Matron again. Instead, her husband had left only after two months. "I've heard about the riot in Esthar. It'd be better for you if I come along."
Riot? "What riot? Nobody informed Garden about it."
"I don't know the details," Edea said. "But Cid went to Esthar to see if he can help with anything. He hasn't come back."
Quistis looked at the Ragnarok. Esthar had gone quiet lately. She'd never heard about a riot, but Esthar was a country known to keep everything as a secret. If they were coming at a wrong time, would Odine be available for Seifer?
-x-
Sorting the books at Laguna's bookcase, Edea took one and sat next to the SeeD instructor. "Seems like I was wrong," she said, smiling in relief.
Quistis sat on the closest chair to the door. She nodded, saying nothing.
Several hours ago, Ragnarok arrived at Esthar and landed on the newly built port. The guards had greeted Quistis and Edea in front of the entrance hatch. Quistis asked for Laguna, but they said the president was busy. Quistis wanted to place Seifer's body under an immediate care in Odine's Lab, but it seemed like the whole palace was busy preparing something to care for the two waiting women. They were escorted to the president's office and left alone.
Glancing at the clock, Quistis frowned. How much longer did they have to wait?
Laguna barged into the room, panting. Smiling to Quistis and Edea, he greeted them, "Hey! How are you ladies doing?"
Placing the book on the seat, Edea stood up and gave her hand for the president to shake. "We are doing well, thank you. It seems like the palace is a bit busy today."
"Eh? Yeah-" Laguna released her hand and looked away. "Sorry to keep you waiting."
Standing up and giving a proper salute, Quistis said, "Laguna, can I talk to Odine soon?"
"What? Uh-" Ambling to his own chair behind the sturdy mahogany desk, Laguna rubbed his nose and looked down to the documents stacking high on the desk. "Sure, but he's in the middle of an important experiment right now."
Quistis should be wondering why Laguna refused to look at her, if only she weren't too absorbed in her own thoughts. "Laguna, have you received a call from Squall?"
Laguna shook his head. "He hadn't called me these days."
Edea glanced to Quistis. "I suppose you hadn't heard then."
"Heard what?"
Edea stopped smiling. She turned to the president and said with a tinge of agony, "Seifer passed away."
Snapping his head up, Laguna blinked. "Um. Oh." Sitting on his chair, he toyed with the paperweight above the documents. "Sorry to hear that. Isn't he the one in Lunatic Pandora?"
"Yes," said Quistis. "I brought him. He's in the Ragnarok. If possible, I want Odine to examine him."
Laguna kept observing the paperweight, his eyes dimmed with a future prospect that he'd rather not discuss with a SeeD and a sorceress. "Um, okay, sure."
Frowning, Quistis scrutinized Laguna. "You've lost a lot of weight, Laguna."
He looked up. "I am? I guess..."
Tilting her head a bit, Edea studied Laguna's features. "You don't look very well."
"Esthar is kind of busy with all the events lately." It was uncanny how easy it was for those lies to flow out from his mouth.
"Please take care of your health." Edea frowned. "I'm looking for Cid. He's here, isn't he?"
"Cid?" Laguna mumbled. "He was here, but he left a week ago. He was heading towards Balamb."
"He's not in there," Quistis said. "I would've known."
Edea looked disappointed. "Ah. I see."
"Sorry, but I have another meeting after this," Laguna said, looking sheepish. "I'll meet you at breakfast tomorrow."
"Then I'll go to Odine's Lab," the instructor said. Observing the way Laguna shifted, Quistis hid her frown.
Edea glanced to the president, wanting to ask more about her husband's whereabouts. But maybe it wasn't the right time. Laguna looked pale and tired. She turned and trailed behind Quistis.
They were already behind the door when Laguna said, "I'll call the soldiers to help you carry him."
"Thank you," said Quistis.
Watching the women until they disappeared behind the thick door of his office, Laguna slumped down. Covering his face with his palms, he breathed a nervous chuckle.
"How much longer do I have to do this?"
-x-
For the first time in her life, Quistis was wondering who he was. The pale placid man who was floating inside the tube filled with transparent chemicals didn't look real anymore. She wished she could look at his eyes. If he opened his eyes and stared at her with that marine-coloured orbs, it may make this whole idea of 'preserving' real.
Odine's result had come faster than everyone expected. He wagged the paper and slipped into Seifer's room when Quistis and Edea observed the process. The workers had placed Seifer in a standing-albeit a bit crumpled-form inside a tall glass tube. As soon as the lid was secured and locked, chemical liquid flooded in a mad rush dousing the slumped man with a harmless-looking solution. Quistis knew better than to assume anything about the preservative made by Odine himself. The liquid rose up quickly inside the tube, filling the empty space of air and soaking the body.
Seifer was now a standing-straight figure inside the glass display. He appeared more like a porcelain human-sized doll than a preserved corpse. Nevertheless, the staff in the preservation chamber must've never done this to anyone his size...Or anyone in that matter. In a few seconds, his feet rose up and left the bottom of the tube. The women's mouths were open when they saw his body starting to float to the top, until his head bumped the tube's lid.
Ruining the solemn, almost eerie atmosphere in the room, Odine shouted, "Obviouzly he'z killed!" The women turned with annoyed expressions as the doctor smacked the folder onto the table and paced around the room. "The leg bone waz ruined. His neck bone waz znapped!" He stopped in front of Quistis. Something akin to excitement marred his wrinkled features. Gratification of finding an unsullied experimental object that he could test on always did that to him. "You're zaying he was plazed inside a casked and zhipped to you? Dat iz impozzible! He waz dead more dan a week ago, dere waz no way he could look diz frez!"
Everyone knew Quistis's birthday. She wasn't surprised to find a stranger on the street congratulating her, the war heroine, on her birthday. Whoever wanted to surprise her by the gift, they had done well. She was surprised, all right.
Along with the shock, fury had formed behind her docile expression. Quistis fisted her palm. She wanted revenge. Whoever thought doing this was funny, they were sorely mistaken. She would make them pay.
"Can you determine the killer weapon?" Quistis looked away when the staffs left their position from circling around the tube. Of course, like what she had seen in the Sci-fi movies, Seifer had to be nude inside that tube. Why did Odine place the blonde inside a transparent see-through? She certainly didn't want to view a certain part of him…
"It iz eazy!" exclaimed Odine. "Blade! He waz zliced by a blade on his stomaz and dull weapon cruzed his head. Then, zomeone broke hiz leg and-"
"That is enough," Edea said. Her expression darkened. Quistis could almost see a sliver of magic behind her Matron's dark eyes. "I don't want to hear how my child suffered."
"But diz is de most exziding pard!" Odine said. He was almost hopping in place. Quistis took a glance at Edea's face and wondered if the doctor ever experienced Edea's wrath firsthand. "The neck bone waz cruzed by bare handz!"
All that Quistis could memorize afterward was Odine scampering outside while shouting obscenities and a few terrified pleas.
-x-
-x-
Caressing the tube, Quistis studied the floating figure in the centre. Edea had said something to Odine's assistant, and he found a metal cover to wrap around the half-bottom part of the tube. Quistis placed her head against the cold cylinder, listening to the quiet gurgling sound of liquids around her former cadet. The tube was connected to several machines. Several control panels were scattered around the room, the lights from the panel blinking every two seconds. The machines were humming, the only audible noise in the quiet chamber. Odine had said that changing the preservative liquid inside the glass every five hours was the only way to keep Seifer's body at this condition.
Would they keep him here forever? When Quistis grew old and wrinkled, would she still able to travel to Esthar and visit him?
The old Quistis and the fresh, eternally youthful Seifer...That wasn't what she wanted. But then again, these days Quistis had no idea what she wished for any more.
She peered up, looking at Seifer's face. "You look too peaceful. I almost think you're smiling when you're dying." She brought herself to move away from the glass. "I'll figure out a way. There must be something I can do."
It was then that Quistis remembered where she was. She smiled, her tense pose relaxed. "Of course." She chuckled. "Yes, of course." The instructor studied the panel and murmured, "We can solve this together. You and me."
-x-
Hearing several terse knocks, the woman in the bed turned her attention from her book to the door. She wondered who it might be. At this hour, nobody was allowed to see her anymore.
Maybe it's him. She smiled. He hadn't come for days, knowing that the person who they loved so much would throw a hissy fit. It was unlikely that Laguna would ever give them a chance to be together. She couldn't understand his reason and wouldn't care for any of it. All she knew was that she loved him, and her feeling was reciprocated. "Come on in."
Her smile faltered when Quistis Trepe walked into her room. The blonde looked tired when she approached her bed.
"Quistis," she greeted, hands closing the book and setting it down on her night table. "I heard about Seifer. I'm sorry." She kept her body on the bed, a pillow on her lap. She didn't dare to stand up.
"Thank you," said Quistis. "I heard you're unwell, Sis."
Shifting her body to find a more comfortable position, Ellone showed a vague smile.
Quistis wanted to ask why Ellone avoided her and Edea. Of course Sis must have heard about Seifer. Without wanting to be judgmental, Quistis thought Ellone would show up at Odine's lab to show her sympathy. But in reality, it took Quistis two and half an hour to locate Ellone's room. That was after she threatened the guard who blocked her path to the palace inner hall.
Everything seemed different in this place. It was hard to even breathe, as if the atmosphere in the air was too hard for Quistis to take. Laguna had gone for another important meeting. After leaving the sleeping Edea in their room, Quistis ventured outside and found the guest corridor empty. There were only a small number of guards patrolling the palace. None of them knew where Cid was.
Quistis wanted to chastise Ellone, but maybe Sis was really unwell that she couldn't get herself out of bed. "Sis," she said, noticing the pale cheek and tired looking eyes. "Can I ask you something?"
Ellone seemed to know what she was thinking. Shaking her head, Ellone looked away. "I can't."
Realizing there was no need for small talk, Quistis stepped forward. "Why not?"
"I'm not in the right condition to help you see Seifer's past." Ellone twined her fingers. Her fingers were a bit swollen than they used to, but Ellone wouldn't have it any other way. She loved her present condition, although she knew she shouldn't show it to anyone. "And it wouldn't change anything even if you know who killed him."
Quistis frowned. Ellone kept avoiding her gaze. After several minutes, Quistis said, "So, you don't care about him."
Ellone snapped her head at her.
Quistis crossed her arms. It was foolish of her to think Sis would care for anyone but herself, Laguna and Squall. "You don't care as long as it doesn't concern your own health."
"It's not that…"
"It is." Quistis turned, almost treading to the door. "I'm sorry I asked. Get well soon."
"Quistis!" Ellone called. Standing up from the bed, she clutched the pillow in front of her. "I really can't do it! Seifer's already dead and I might endanger myself if I-" she faltered. Was it the right thing to do? Could she make Quistis understand without having to expose it? No, she couldn't. Not without making the blonde hate her. "Quistis! Look at me!"
Quistis turned around. "What? Why do I have to…" Then she stopped.
Ellone stood beside her bed, the pillow long forgotten. She clutched a bit of her night outfit and pulled it to the side, showing her swollen abdomen.
-x-
To be Continued…
-x-
-x-
-x-
The following rambling would have no sense and no connection whatsoever to the plot above.
CP's Notes
The word pants didn't do well for the image inside my brain, because I was taught that pants : underwear. Squall was wearing black bloody briefs to cross the forest? Seifer might've not been that dead, then. I don't think Squall would wear boxer with that leather trousers-pants.
Odine and his accent *grumble*
To sissyHIYAH: Sorry! I keep saying I'm working on this and I finally post it after a long, long time.
NG-Why It Took an Hour for Him to Arrive…
The dense foliage parted as he marched to her. The gunblade was firm on his hand, coated with dripping scarlet and unpleasant fawn-looking appendages of his fiends. The right side of his black pants was soaked; droplets of blood dribbled down, marking each step with red circles.
Quistis blinked before focusing at his pants. It was a petite, triangle-shaped black cotton cloth tied with two black thin ribbons on the sides. The right side of his bare hip and thigh was coated with scarlet fluid and green slimy monster juices. She didn't want to think how Squall looked like from behind.
"You've been wearing that…to penetrate the forest?"
He grunted, waving his gunblade up to rest on his shoulder. "This is excellent bait for T-rex. And sooner or later this will wake Seifer up."
It wasn't the first time she wondered about his mental sanity.
Okay, bad humor.
Next Chapter
Chapter III
Clandestine
-x-
In the darkness, the silence was deafening. As the breeze flew passed her, Quistis shivered and ducked her head low. She released a warm breath around her chest and neck, wishing for some warmth. The instructor shifted on her feet and peeked to the crimson-metal spaceship with a form of a massive bird behind her. She wanted nothing more than to turn around and run back into the warmth of Ragnarok.
Her ears caught a muffled sound of buzz. Quistis had enough for Caterpillars. She had battled more than a dozen of it earlier. With no actual enthusiasm for another battle, Quistis uncurled her whip and gave a warning snap. Save the Queen twirled with a technical turn of an expert arm, the tip of the long rope clashed against the invincible breeze, releasing a livid blare.
The drone stopped.
She brought her eyes up, looking past the dense layer of leaves and woods. He would come. There was no way Commander Leonhart would let Instructor Trepe stay and laze around with something as big as this. If the cadets took a morning walk and saw the tip of the Ragnarok's crown behind the level of trees, they might approach and investigate. Before that happened, Quistis knew Squall would notice that Ragnarok was not leaving.
She would not leave without Seifer.
In front of her, the dense foliage parted. Appearing from inside the thick jungle, he marched toward her. The gunblader stomped at high bushes and dead branches clutching his military boots. The gunblade was firm on his hand, coated with dripping scarlet and unpleasant fawn-looking appendages of his fiends. The right side of his black trousers was soaked. Droplets of blood dribbled down, marking each step with red circles. A spray of crimson decorated the white fur on his jacket.
His eyes looked a bit red. Squall blinked several times, as if to coat his dry grey orbs and compose himself before starting some argument.
Can he get some sleep last night? Quistis wondered while curling her whip and placing it back on the hook of her belts. Perhaps he slept next to Seifer. The thought disturbed her. Not that the sleeping arrangement mattered when they were cadets, but now-
"Need anything else?" Squall asked. "You were supposed to leave an hour ago."
Quistis crossed her arms against her chest. Beneath her, the heels of her boots sunk into the pliable soil saturated by morning mist. "May I bring him along?"
"What?" Squall narrowed his eyes. "What are you thinking? Why do you even want to take him? He is not important for this mission."
Quistis gnashed her teeth. "This mission is about him, Sq-Commander. If I don't bring him along, I doubt Laguna will believe my story."
Squall frowned, closing his eyes and placing the heel of his palm against his forehead. After a while he opened his eyes and muttered, "Do you know he doesn't stink?"
Quistis choked.
Squall trailed his gaze down to the battle residues coating his boots. "He doesn't smell. From the flower's condition, he might've been dead for more than three days. But he doesn't smell or rot."
Quistis refused to think that he would rot-smell-he wouldn't. No, he wouldn't. She would make sure of it. "I want to take him to Esthar. Odine would know what to do."
Squall shook his head. "He can't resuscitate a corpse."
"But Odine can do something for his body." Quistis remembered how gallingly genius Odine was. In his lab, the team had found enormous monster-sized tubes, various preservatives for mummification methods in sterile jars and expansive library filled with books on human anatomy and extensive DNA research. The doctor might be able to do something for Seifer.
Squall's eyes darted towards the open hatch of Ragnarok. He bit his lips, turning his attention back to Quistis. "Are you sure he can do something?"
Instead of answering the almost rhetorical question, Quistis sighed and tucked a strand hair behind her ear. "How long do you intend to keep him in your room?" She missed her hair clip. She had lost it yesterday after the party. No matter how long she had crawled under the bed and rummaged her drawers-even looking at any item that may stick between the pages of her books-she'd never found it. She knew she had to use other accessory, but that one-year-old hair clip was different. The nail securing the clip had broken more than twice. The colour of the clip had faded, now it had its initial colour of a cheap metal and rushed artistry. Zell who always repaired the shoddy ornament for her murmured that Squall should give her a raise to buy another hair clip.
"Squall, he is, after all-" she faltered, trying to find other words. What were the synonyms of a corpse? Dead being, lifeless body, carcass-all made her stomach churn. "You can't keep him in your room for long."
Squall toyed around with the hilt of his gunblade, wiping the bloody tip of his weapon against the cool terrain beside his boots. A dim, scarlet shine rising from behind the tranquil-blue ocean made him sigh in resignation. They had to hurry; the Garden resident would wake up soon. "Follow me. Be quiet."
-x-
Striding through the curvy part of the hall, Squall glanced to his back several times. Quistis trailed shortly behind him, her expression unreadable.
Squall knew she was right. They couldn't keep Seifer in his room forever. Nevertheless, a small part of him wanted to keep the man on his side. A part that Squall didn't even know he had.
Until yesterday.
-x-
Quistis must be having fun at her party.
His seat was uncomfortable. Squall always wanted to change it, but Rinoa said if Squall's bridge seat is cosier than now, he will go to sleep on it and doesn't come back to his room at all. It wasn't a prospect Squall hadn't thought of yet, and when he quarreled with her, the prospect seemed even more enticing.
He shifted, trying to make himself cosy in his seat. If he was feeling comfortable enough, then he could stare at Seifer longer. He wanted to burn the image of the man in his brain. It might be his last chance to remember how Seifer looked like.
If only his stare could wake the blonde.
The short clock needle was pointing to seven when Squall rose up from his chair and ambled toward the casket. He took Seifer's arm and pulled the blonde against his chest. Seifer's arm was thin; it was only a rough layer of skin wrapping the bones. Squall put his other hand on Seifer's back, supporting the blonde. Seifer's head lolled to Squall's chest, and the Commander felt a twinge of pain.
"What is this?" He looked down to Seifer. "Wake up. There is no way you'd lay on me for no reason."
He obtained no response. Grinding his teeth, Squall released Seifer's arm, looped his hand behind the back of Seifer's knees and hoisted the man up from his wooden casket.
Seifer's arm fell from his body. The withered flower in his twined fingers dropped to the ground, bouncing low against the hard surface, its messy petals scattered on the floor. Squall smelled the scent of lily. He frowned, looking down to the man on his arm.
Something was amiss. He smelled a flower but not Seifer. The man who was dead and placed inside the casket should stink. He skimmed down to the visible skin on Seifer's neck. There was no dead tissue on it. His skin was dry, parched but not in any stage of rotting.
Squall knew how dead person looked like. Seifer looked as if he was sleeping.
Shaking the limp body on his arm, Squall snapped, "Wake up! This isn't funny!"
Seifer's head lolled to the back. Squall quickly fixed the position so Seifer wouldn't choke himself due to the lack of air. Realizing what he was doing, he tittered.
"What am I doing?"
The current Seifer was light. He could bring the blonde gunblader to his room without having to take a rest in between. Squall made his way to the entrance, leaving the bridge. Had this been Seifer from a year ago, Squall would be staggering for breath if he carried the man for more than five minutes.
There was nobody in the hall on the first floor. Having nothing else to entertain him, Squall indulged in a slight gratefulness for Quistis's party. Nobody had bothered to talk to him this afternoon. All attention was for the blonde.
Rushing toward the dorm with a limp gunblader on his arm, Squall reached his corridor in several minutes. His boots were the only thing making noise as he made his way to his own room. He placed Seifer on the floor beside the door. When the man slid down onto the carpet, Squall hurriedly took his arms and fixed him to a better position. Squall swiped his card in the ID machine, pushed the door and peeked inside. Rinoa was not around.
Once again securing Seifer on his arms, Squall entered his suite. Lurching into his bedroom, he moved toward the bed and dropped the lifeless body atop it.
What should he do next?
Taking a raspy breath, Squall darted his gaze around the room. Rinoa shouldn't sleep here tonight. He grabbed Seifer's boots and tugged it, starting to undress the blonde. Halfway through his task, he stopped, staring at the long scar on Seifer's stomach. Seifer had many scars from their battle. So did Squall. Nevertheless, Squall had never marked Seifer with a deep, long-scarlet gash on his stomach.
"Dueling with anyone else but me?" Squall tossed Seifer's coat behind him. "What about your promise for another duel?"
I bet he forgot about it. Squall blinked. What am I doing, talking to a corpse?
Squall yanked Seifer's trousers, stopping when he touched Seifer's left knee. Frowning, he gingerly placed his fingers on the knee.
There was no kneecap. Grasping Seifer's lower leg in his hand, Squall pressed his palm against the skin, trying to locate Seifer's leg bone. Swallowing a dry lump on his throat, Squall used the other hand to squeeze on the same leg. He felt many pieces of bones, scattered between the tissue and skin.
Concentrating back to the undressing task, Squall seized the trousers, gently this time, pulling Seifer out of his costume. He drew his own clothes from the closet, staring at it.
"I don't know if this fits you, but-" he faltered, moving to the blonde. In a languid pace, Squall looped the shirt over Seifer's neck. He held the back of Seifer's neck when the head lolled backwards.
"Why do you loll your head so much?" Squall murmured, touching the neck. His next word died on his tongue as he placed his thumb along the neck bone and traced it. Grinding his teeth, Squall set Seifer on the bed. "You didn't die a good death, huh?"
He couldn't believe how calm he acted. Squall looked at everything but Seifer as he continued to dress the blond. The frame on the bedside table had never looked so enticing before. The warm blanket under the limp body looked comfortable. If he covered Seifer with it, the man would feel warm-
Squall shut his eyes. His shoulder slumped. Kneeling down beside his bed, he placed his head on top of Seifer's stomach. He wished he could smell something out of the blond. It would make this real. He'd never felt the sorrow stabbing at his chest like this, not even when he lost Rinoa in space. The unfamiliar sensation twisted, struggled and crawled underneath his skin. Sting prickled at the corner of his eyes, but Squall wouldn't cry. Not for his rival. No, not even for the Seifer that he knew at the orphanage.
He pulled himself together and stood up. With wavered fingers, Squall pulled the blanket from underneath the blonde and spread it to cover Seifer's body. He tucked the material under Seifer's chin. The commander pulled himself back, looked at Seifer's sleeping face and flexed down. He pulled the material to cover his head.
There you go.
Squall hesitated. His fingers reached for the blanket to pull it back down.
Someone knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" He pulled his hand back. "Rinoa?"
"No, it's Quistis."
"What do you want?"
"I have to talk to you, about what I think happened at the bridge earlier," Quistis said half-chuckling. "You wouldn't believe how silly I am!"
Something inside him whispered in his ears, wanting him to open the door and wound the woman waiting outside. If it weren't for her, he wouldn't come as her gift. If it weren't for Quistis Trepe, Seifer Almasy wouldn't die.
"Squall!" he heard Quistis's voice. "Are you in there?"
He strode to the door and yanked it open.
-x-
After the war a year ago, Ragnarok barely had any use anymore. Aside from Selphie who used it for occasional trips to Trabia, nobody else bothered to put the plane to better use. At least Selphie took a good care of the ship.
Quistis was sitting in the pilot's seat, head leaned against the chair. Squall lumbered into the control bridge. He moved to her, placing his hand on top of the seat beside hers.
"I placed him on the bed." Squall looked at everything but Quistis. "Be careful with the flight and don't crash against anything."
Quistis chuckled. "I'm not Selphie, Squall."
"No," Squall said. "You're not." Something in his tone made Quistis's smile falter. "Report to me as soon as you arrive at the orphanage."
Quistis turned her attention back to the control panel. "Affirmative." Biting her lips, she waited until Squall left and closed the entrance hatch from the control machine.
Squall stopped near the foliage, turning his body back to see the Ragnarok humming. With a smooth motion, the spaceship pushed its front body up towards the sky, leaving the plains of Balamb Garden.
Setting the machine in autopilot, Quistis stood up. She strolled to the back of the plane. It wasn't that she didn't believe Squall when he said he had put Seifer inside the resting cabin. She felt as if he didn't want to let Seifer go.
Seifer was not Squall's possession, although the commander seemed to think so. He had refused any help from Quistis while carrying the body to Ragnarok. Quistis had informed him it was better to walk from the Parking Area. The gate entrance should be filled with students returning from their morning exercise. He had shot her an annoyed glare and turned to the Parking Area.
She'd never seen Squall that possessive. Even back when Rinoa was in a coma and they were looking for Esthar, Squall would let Zell or Irvine to carry her when he needed a rest.
Entering the resting cabin, Quistis breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Seifer lie on the cot. Smiling despite the dire situation, she moved and sat beside him, tilting her head to study him further. Squall had taken his care to another level. It looked like he even combed Seifer's hair. Quistis reached out her hand and smoothed back the stray blonde strand that always seemed to fall to Seifer's forehead.
-x-
She didn't sleep yesterday, instead taking time to pull out the folder and working on grading his students' paper. Quistis Trepe was always working. She knew what she would dream about if she fell asleep. Even knowing that her nightmare wouldn't be worse than reality, she still refused to succumb to the body's need to rest.
When the morning came, she readied herself, stopped herself in the middle of putting on her lipstick. Who would notice her if she put on a make-up anyway? Did she want to show herself to Seifer?
Quistis glanced at the wall clock and realized how funny the situation was. Her former student was dead, lying inside the room of another former student of hers-who was now a commander and therefore the boss of her-and she was grooming herself to see a dead man.
Leaving her bathroom, Quistis ambled towards the bed and plopped down. Burying her face on the pillow, she closed her eyes and wondered if she could see Seifer again after completing this mission.
Mission-this mission was about Seifer.
Why can't I take him along?
-x-
Edea thought she'd never hear that gentle hum again. Looking out from her window, she widened her eyes and turned around, leaving her kitchen. The red spaceship disembarked on Centra rocky plains just before the flower field.
Quistis's feet barely stepped on the Centra terrain when Edea stumbled onto her catching the blonde in an affectionate hug. Quistis reciprocated and smiled when Edea patted her back.
"It's really nice to see you," Edea said, her dark eyes gleamed. "How are you? Who are you coming with…?"
Quistis gestured toward the open hatch behind her. "I come with Seifer. We need to talk-"
Edea smiled even brighter. "Seifer? Oh, he's coming to see me? It's been so long since I saw him. I thought you said you can't find him?"
"We sort of did," Quistis said, almost tumbling when her Matron hurried inside passing the blonde in her fervor. "Wait! Matron-wait a minute, please!"
Edea had disappeared into the back cabin. Quistis felt dreadful when she followed her Matron into the ship. Edea sat beside Seifer, mimicking her own position earlier. Quistis stopped at the door, leaning her body on the doorframe.
"Is he sleeping?" Edea asked. She nudged Seifer's shoulder, trying to wake him up.
Quistis swallowed.
"Quistis?" Edea glanced at her. "Is something wrong?"
Quistis closed her eyes as Edea continued her futile attempt to rouse Seifer up. She actually had a hope that their Matron would be able to wake him up.
What was she thinking?
"Seifer," Edea said, smiling to Seifer's peaceful face. "Wake up."
Quistis wanted to run. She wanted to hide. But more than anything, she wanted that man lying on the cot to open his eyes and growl curses.
None of her wishes were granted. Quistis opened her eyes only to look at Edea's bitter expression.
"What happened, Quistis?" Matron frowned. "Why isn't he waking up?" Despite her question, she instinctively placed two fingers on his neck, searching for a pulse.
Matron didn't have to wait for anything. There was no sign; Seifer's ashen face and cold skin already assured her thoughts. Taking her hand back as if it was burning, Matron turned her poignant gaze to Quistis.
"Who did this?" Her voice was shaky. "Who? Why?"
"I-I'm sorry," Quistis stammered. "We found him like this."
"We… who?" Edea stood up and walked to her, stopping halfway when she saw Quistis stumbled backward. The instructor looked fearful and sad. "Quistis, why is this happening? Why is Seifer-" she faltered, looking at Quistis's culpable expression. "Why?" Falling on her knees, Matron gripped her hand against the edge of the bed across from Seifer's. Her long-raven hair flew fluttered in disarray when she stooped her head low. Her body shuddered in a long, harsh tremor.
Quistis hugged herself when her Matron started weeping. She was weeping for her lost boy. Her lost knight. Quistis hoped Edea wept for her part as well, because she could no longer grieve for Seifer without losing herself.
-x-
"What do you mean you'll take him to Esthar?" Edea shook her head. "No. We'll bury Seifer in here."
"But, Matron-"
"Seifer must have wanted peace." Edea raised the knife slicing at the vegetables with practiced moves. "That is why he came back to you like that."
Sitting with a cup of warm tea in hand, Quistis stared at her former guardian standing in front of the sink. "Seifer wouldn't want that."
"Seifer wouldn't want to have his body examined in the lab after his death." The knife was moving a little too fast. "I want him to rest in peace."
"Would it be peace if you just bury him in that field?" Quistis waved her free hand toward the flower field outside the window. "How can you call it peace if nobody knows who killed him?"
"Why would it matter now?" Edea glanced at her. "Would it bring Seifer back from his death if you know who killed him?"
"No, but-"
"Revenge only brings pain, Quistis." Edea wiped her hands on the napkins hanging above the sink. "There is no point in adding more salt to our wounds."
Is it better to let the wounds open and bleed? Quistis placed the cup on the table. "I have to go to Esthar. I won't leave him here."
Edea turned at her. "Why? Why are you taking his body to Esthar? Do you know how much it will disturb him if he knows his body is taken from one place to another?"
"He's dead," Quistis heard herself said. "He wouldn't know anything."
Edea frowned. "You've changed, Quistis. You used to be so compassionate. The old you would care a lot about how Seifer felt."
"Everyone changed." Seething from the unfair judgment but refused to show it to her Matron, Quistis stood from her seat behind the table. "I am always logical. I want to give my former student a better facility, even though he's officially dead." She turned around and strode to the door. "It was nice to see you again, Matron."
"Quistis." Matron rushed to follow her and grabbed her arm. "I'm coming with you."
Quistis stopped, turning to the woman.
"If you don't want to leave Seifer here, I will come. I want to be with him." Edea sent a quick glance around the empty room. She used to think that after the war everything would be all right. She wanted to repair the orphanage and fill it with laughter and shouts of children. She wanted to be Matron again. Instead, her husband had left only after two months. "I've heard about the riot in Esthar. It'd be better for you if I come along."
Riot? "What riot? Nobody informed Garden about it."
"I don't know the details," Edea said. "But Cid went to Esthar to see if he can help with anything. He hasn't come back."
Quistis looked at the Ragnarok. Esthar had gone quiet lately. She'd never heard about a riot, but Esthar was a country known to keep everything as a secret. If they were coming at a wrong time, would Odine be available for Seifer?
-x-
Sorting the books at Laguna's bookcase, Edea took one and sat next to the SeeD instructor. "Seems like I was wrong," she said, smiling in relief.
Quistis sat on the closest chair to the door. She nodded, saying nothing.
Several hours ago, Ragnarok arrived at Esthar and landed on the newly built port. The guards had greeted Quistis and Edea in front of the entrance hatch. Quistis asked for Laguna, but they said the president was busy. Quistis wanted to place Seifer's body under an immediate care in Odine's Lab, but it seemed like the whole palace was busy preparing something to care for the two waiting women. They were escorted to the president's office and left alone.
Glancing at the clock, Quistis frowned. How much longer did they have to wait?
Laguna barged into the room, panting. Smiling to Quistis and Edea, he greeted them, "Hey! How are you ladies doing?"
Placing the book on the seat, Edea stood up and gave her hand for the president to shake. "We are doing well, thank you. It seems like the palace is a bit busy today."
"Eh? Yeah-" Laguna released her hand and looked away. "Sorry to keep you waiting."
Standing up and giving a proper salute, Quistis said, "Laguna, can I talk to Odine soon?"
"What? Uh-" Ambling to his own chair behind the sturdy mahogany desk, Laguna rubbed his nose and looked down to the documents stacking high on the desk. "Sure, but he's in the middle of an important experiment right now."
Quistis should be wondering why Laguna refused to look at her, if only she weren't too absorbed in her own thoughts. "Laguna, have you received a call from Squall?"
Laguna shook his head. "He hadn't called me these days."
Edea glanced to Quistis. "I suppose you hadn't heard then."
"Heard what?"
Edea stopped smiling. She turned to the president and said with a tinge of agony, "Seifer passed away."
Snapping his head up, Laguna blinked. "Um. Oh." Sitting on his chair, he toyed with the paperweight above the documents. "Sorry to hear that. Isn't he the one in Lunatic Pandora?"
"Yes," said Quistis. "I brought him. He's in the Ragnarok. If possible, I want Odine to examine him."
Laguna kept observing the paperweight, his eyes dimmed with a future prospect that he'd rather not discuss with a SeeD and a sorceress. "Um, okay, sure."
Frowning, Quistis scrutinized Laguna. "You've lost a lot of weight, Laguna."
He looked up. "I am? I guess..."
Tilting her head a bit, Edea studied Laguna's features. "You don't look very well."
"Esthar is kind of busy with all the events lately." It was uncanny how easy it was for those lies to flow out from his mouth.
"Please take care of your health." Edea frowned. "I'm looking for Cid. He's here, isn't he?"
"Cid?" Laguna mumbled. "He was here, but he left a week ago. He was heading towards Balamb."
"He's not in there," Quistis said. "I would've known."
Edea looked disappointed. "Ah. I see."
"Sorry, but I have another meeting after this," Laguna said, looking sheepish. "I'll meet you at breakfast tomorrow."
"Then I'll go to Odine's Lab," the instructor said. Observing the way Laguna shifted, Quistis hid her frown.
Edea glanced to the president, wanting to ask more about her husband's whereabouts. But maybe it wasn't the right time. Laguna looked pale and tired. She turned and trailed behind Quistis.
They were already behind the door when Laguna said, "I'll call the soldiers to help you carry him."
"Thank you," said Quistis.
Watching the women until they disappeared behind the thick door of his office, Laguna slumped down. Covering his face with his palms, he breathed a nervous chuckle.
"How much longer do I have to do this?"
-x-
For the first time in her life, Quistis was wondering who he was. The pale placid man who was floating inside the tube filled with transparent chemicals didn't look real anymore. She wished she could look at his eyes. If he opened his eyes and stared at her with that marine-coloured orbs, it may make this whole idea of 'preserving' real.
Odine's result had come faster than everyone expected. He wagged the paper and slipped into Seifer's room when Quistis and Edea observed the process. The workers had placed Seifer in a standing-albeit a bit crumpled-form inside a tall glass tube. As soon as the lid was secured and locked, chemical liquid flooded in a mad rush dousing the slumped man with a harmless-looking solution. Quistis knew better than to assume anything about the preservative made by Odine himself. The liquid rose up quickly inside the tube, filling the empty space of air and soaking the body.
Seifer was now a standing-straight figure inside the glass display. He appeared more like a porcelain human-sized doll than a preserved corpse. Nevertheless, the staff in the preservation chamber must've never done this to anyone his size...Or anyone in that matter. In a few seconds, his feet rose up and left the bottom of the tube. The women's mouths were open when they saw his body starting to float to the top, until his head bumped the tube's lid.
Ruining the solemn, almost eerie atmosphere in the room, Odine shouted, "Obviouzly he'z killed!" The women turned with annoyed expressions as the doctor smacked the folder onto the table and paced around the room. "The leg bone waz ruined. His neck bone waz znapped!" He stopped in front of Quistis. Something akin to excitement marred his wrinkled features. Gratification of finding an unsullied experimental object that he could test on always did that to him. "You're zaying he was plazed inside a casked and zhipped to you? Dat iz impozzible! He waz dead more dan a week ago, dere waz no way he could look diz frez!"
Everyone knew Quistis's birthday. She wasn't surprised to find a stranger on the street congratulating her, the war heroine, on her birthday. Whoever wanted to surprise her by the gift, they had done well. She was surprised, all right.
Along with the shock, fury had formed behind her docile expression. Quistis fisted her palm. She wanted revenge. Whoever thought doing this was funny, they were sorely mistaken. She would make them pay.
"Can you determine the killer weapon?" Quistis looked away when the staffs left their position from circling around the tube. Of course, like what she had seen in the Sci-fi movies, Seifer had to be nude inside that tube. Why did Odine place the blonde inside a transparent see-through? She certainly didn't want to view a certain part of him…
"It iz eazy!" exclaimed Odine. "Blade! He waz zliced by a blade on his stomaz and dull weapon cruzed his head. Then, zomeone broke hiz leg and-"
"That is enough," Edea said. Her expression darkened. Quistis could almost see a sliver of magic behind her Matron's dark eyes. "I don't want to hear how my child suffered."
"But diz is de most exziding pard!" Odine said. He was almost hopping in place. Quistis took a glance at Edea's face and wondered if the doctor ever experienced Edea's wrath firsthand. "The neck bone waz cruzed by bare handz!"
All that Quistis could memorize afterward was Odine scampering outside while shouting obscenities and a few terrified pleas.
-x-
-x-
Caressing the tube, Quistis studied the floating figure in the centre. Edea had said something to Odine's assistant, and he found a metal cover to wrap around the half-bottom part of the tube. Quistis placed her head against the cold cylinder, listening to the quiet gurgling sound of liquids around her former cadet. The tube was connected to several machines. Several control panels were scattered around the room, the lights from the panel blinking every two seconds. The machines were humming, the only audible noise in the quiet chamber. Odine had said that changing the preservative liquid inside the glass every five hours was the only way to keep Seifer's body at this condition.
Would they keep him here forever? When Quistis grew old and wrinkled, would she still able to travel to Esthar and visit him?
The old Quistis and the fresh, eternally youthful Seifer...That wasn't what she wanted. But then again, these days Quistis had no idea what she wished for any more.
She peered up, looking at Seifer's face. "You look too peaceful. I almost think you're smiling when you're dying." She brought herself to move away from the glass. "I'll figure out a way. There must be something I can do."
It was then that Quistis remembered where she was. She smiled, her tense pose relaxed. "Of course." She chuckled. "Yes, of course." The instructor studied the panel and murmured, "We can solve this together. You and me."
-x-
Hearing several terse knocks, the woman in the bed turned her attention from her book to the door. She wondered who it might be. At this hour, nobody was allowed to see her anymore.
Maybe it's him. She smiled. He hadn't come for days, knowing that the person who they loved so much would throw a hissy fit. It was unlikely that Laguna would ever give them a chance to be together. She couldn't understand his reason and wouldn't care for any of it. All she knew was that she loved him, and her feeling was reciprocated. "Come on in."
Her smile faltered when Quistis Trepe walked into her room. The blonde looked tired when she approached her bed.
"Quistis," she greeted, hands closing the book and setting it down on her night table. "I heard about Seifer. I'm sorry." She kept her body on the bed, a pillow on her lap. She didn't dare to stand up.
"Thank you," said Quistis. "I heard you're unwell, Sis."
Shifting her body to find a more comfortable position, Ellone showed a vague smile.
Quistis wanted to ask why Ellone avoided her and Edea. Of course Sis must have heard about Seifer. Without wanting to be judgmental, Quistis thought Ellone would show up at Odine's lab to show her sympathy. But in reality, it took Quistis two and half an hour to locate Ellone's room. That was after she threatened the guard who blocked her path to the palace inner hall.
Everything seemed different in this place. It was hard to even breathe, as if the atmosphere in the air was too hard for Quistis to take. Laguna had gone for another important meeting. After leaving the sleeping Edea in their room, Quistis ventured outside and found the guest corridor empty. There were only a small number of guards patrolling the palace. None of them knew where Cid was.
Quistis wanted to chastise Ellone, but maybe Sis was really unwell that she couldn't get herself out of bed. "Sis," she said, noticing the pale cheek and tired looking eyes. "Can I ask you something?"
Ellone seemed to know what she was thinking. Shaking her head, Ellone looked away. "I can't."
Realizing there was no need for small talk, Quistis stepped forward. "Why not?"
"I'm not in the right condition to help you see Seifer's past." Ellone twined her fingers. Her fingers were a bit swollen than they used to, but Ellone wouldn't have it any other way. She loved her present condition, although she knew she shouldn't show it to anyone. "And it wouldn't change anything even if you know who killed him."
Quistis frowned. Ellone kept avoiding her gaze. After several minutes, Quistis said, "So, you don't care about him."
Ellone snapped her head at her.
Quistis crossed her arms. It was foolish of her to think Sis would care for anyone but herself, Laguna and Squall. "You don't care as long as it doesn't concern your own health."
"It's not that…"
"It is." Quistis turned, almost treading to the door. "I'm sorry I asked. Get well soon."
"Quistis!" Ellone called. Standing up from the bed, she clutched the pillow in front of her. "I really can't do it! Seifer's already dead and I might endanger myself if I-" she faltered. Was it the right thing to do? Could she make Quistis understand without having to expose it? No, she couldn't. Not without making the blonde hate her. "Quistis! Look at me!"
Quistis turned around. "What? Why do I have to…" Then she stopped.
Ellone stood beside her bed, the pillow long forgotten. She clutched a bit of her night outfit and pulled it to the side, showing her swollen abdomen.
-x-
To be Continued…
-x-
-x-
-x-
The following rambling would have no sense and no connection whatsoever to the plot above.
CP's Notes
The word pants didn't do well for the image inside my brain, because I was taught that pants : underwear. Squall was wearing black bloody briefs to cross the forest? Seifer might've not been that dead, then. I don't think Squall would wear boxer with that leather trousers-pants.
Odine and his accent *grumble*
To sissyHIYAH: Sorry! I keep saying I'm working on this and I finally post it after a long, long time.
NG-Why It Took an Hour for Him to Arrive…
The dense foliage parted as he marched to her. The gunblade was firm on his hand, coated with dripping scarlet and unpleasant fawn-looking appendages of his fiends. The right side of his black pants was soaked; droplets of blood dribbled down, marking each step with red circles.
Quistis blinked before focusing at his pants. It was a petite, triangle-shaped black cotton cloth tied with two black thin ribbons on the sides. The right side of his bare hip and thigh was coated with scarlet fluid and green slimy monster juices. She didn't want to think how Squall looked like from behind.
"You've been wearing that…to penetrate the forest?"
He grunted, waving his gunblade up to rest on his shoulder. "This is excellent bait for T-rex. And sooner or later this will wake Seifer up."
It wasn't the first time she wondered about his mental sanity.
Okay, bad humor.
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