The
Orphan
Chapter 5 - A New Evil
Quistis, Selphie, Irvine stepped into the Garden
Conference room to see Xu and Zell already there.
"I can't believe this either," Xu said
remorsefully,
"They are okay aren't they?" Selphie
asked, quietly.
"Don't worry about Squall and Rinoa, they can
get themselves out of anything," Zell said more as a comfort than as a
belief. "Remember the time Rinoa was lost in space? They all thought Squall
and her were goners but they turned out to be fine, more than fine. I say, ha,
if they can survive that they can survive anything."
"Yeah." Selphie said quietly. "I'm
just wondering where they are right now."
"What about the rest of SeeD?" Quistis
asked. "Should we inform everyone?"
"No," Xu said, "let's wait it out.
If Galbaldia gets hostile we'll deal with it then. There is no need to create
panic. "
Quistis shook her head.
"We need to find Rinoa and Squall,"
Quistis, whispered. "Only then will we be able to assess the situation
throughly. Squall is probably afraid to bring Rinoa here for fear of endangering
her safely and that of Garden. He's always been afraid to ask for help."
"He's afraid to ask for help in a situation
like this? That's crazy!" Zell exclaimed. "We're his friends. He knows
that."
"No, it's not that simple." Quistis
stated. " Think about it, if he brought Rinoa back here Galbaldia would
declare war on Garden without a doubt. He won't endanger Garden like that, even
for Rinoa. He's probably hiding with her somewhere."
"Did anyone try to locate the Ragnarok?"
Irvine asked. "It's hard to miss a huge ship like that."
"We are in the process of doing that."
Xu assured him. "Galbaldia is getting more hostile hour by hour, Quistis,
Deling is convinced that we are harboring the sorceress. Even if we were to find
Squall, there is no way that we can hand Rinoa over to them. War with Galbaldia
is almost inevitable."
"But we can't just sit here and wait!"
Selphie added.
"We need to find Squall and Rinoa."
Quistis said. "I have a feeling that there is something else here,
something bigger than just a misunderstanding about Rinoa's abilities. I want to
know what really went on that night instead of what Galbaldia lets on. For one
thing, I don't believe that Squall will attempt so dramatic an escape unless he
was really pressed into a corner."
Zell shook his head. "You know how Squall
gets about Rinoa. He's pretty dramatic when it comes to her."
"But not dramatic enough to provoke a
war!" Selphie yelled at him.
Irvine waved his hand at Zell, "This isn't a
cheesy chick movie. Knowing Squall, it would have to be something big for him to
do something as impulsive as this."
"Wait a minute, Xu what exactly did Galbaldia
say went on that night during the ball?" Quistis asked.
Xu shook her head absently.
"I was notified by the Galbaldian ambassadors
that the sorceress threatened the president. They told me that all communication
between Garden and Galbaldia is abolished until the sorceress is given over.
Quistis, they think we purposefully sent the sorceress over to assassinate the
president!"
"That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever
heard," Irvine stated. "If we wanted to assassinate the president we
would have sent a sniper or something. Why be ostentatious enough to send a
sorceress?"
"No, Irvine," Quistis said softly.
"This is all playing right into Deling's hands. Deling is itching to go to
war with Garden. He has been for a long time. The incident with Rinoa only
served to give them an excuse to do it."
"But why?" Zell yelled. "Those
Galbaldian bastards, I'll kill them all." Zell further began to emphasize
his point by punching the air in a frenzy.
"Calm down Zell," Xu said softly.
"We need to think. We need to find Squall too, he and Rinoa are in danger.
If the Galbaldians get to them first I don't even want to think about what will
happen."
Quistis shook her head. "Deling's popularity
is at a all time low. If my reasoning is correct he will make only a half
hearted attempt to find Rinoa. He wants a war, not an execution. War with Garden
will serve to unite the Galbaldians against a common enemy, which will heighten
Deling's popularity beyond his dreams. It will also give him cause to execute
many activists that oppose his dictatorship with the excuse that they are spies
for the enemy. This war will benefit him in every way possible. And since Squall
is no longer commanding Garden during this war, Deling will not be risking war
with Esthar. Galbaldia will not be able to fight a war on two fronts. On top of
all this, Rinoa's father is the general of the Galbaldian army. If Deling were
to execute Rinoa he would risk a mutiny of his army."
There was a moment of silence in the room as the
group contemplated what Quistis just said.
Finally Xu spoke up. "That's why we need to
find Squall. We need to abolish the threat of the sorceress. Odine will probably
know how to do that. If we have the backing of Esthar, Galbaldia will most
likely desist in their threats. The longer Squall remains hidden, the worse it
is for us."
"Hey, maybe we having nothing to worry
about," Selphie said suddenly. "Laguna is Squall's father, maybe
Squall went to Esthar already! We just have to go tell him and Rinoa about our
plan and everything will be alright."
"No," Quistis said again. "Squall
would go to Seifer for help before he went to Laguna." She said
sarcastically. "Laguna left him and his mother to the wind. No, getting
Squall to go to Laguna would take more than a little persuasion."
"Speaking about that blond haired imp, is he
up to trouble again?" Xu asked. "What did you guys find out?"
"He was in Odine's lab," Irvine said.
"He's up to something, that's for sure."
"Yo, do you think that and Rinoa's outburst
are connected? He was buddies with the evil sorceress before. What was he again?
Her guard dog?" Zell asked.
Quistis shook her head. "No Ultimecia is
dead. She passed on her powers to Edea. There is no more to that story. At least
I don't want to believe that there could be."
"Noooo!" Selphie whined. "I don't
want to fight anymore sorceresses."
"That doesn't matter right now." Xu
said. "We need to think of a course of action."
"Someone need to go to Galbaldia to try to
start up on negotiations, at least to see what is happening. We need to stall.
We need to send another group after Rinoa and Squall." Irvine said,
surprisingly, taking on a leadership role.
"I need to stay here." Xu said.
"I'll try to inform Esthar of our situation."
"Alright," Quistis said. "Me and
Irvine will go to Galbaldia to negotiate."
Irvine winked at the group "Just in case a
sniper is needed after all."
"No, there will be no assassinations. That
will lead us straight into war." Xu said.
"Not if it's Deling that gets the
bullet," Irvine stated.
Selphie giggled, Zell nodded thoughtfully, Quistis
shook her head and Xu looked annoyed.
"Are you sure it's a good idea to take him
along?" Xu asked Quistis.
"Yes," Quistis said, "anyway it's
best to send Selphie and Zell after Squall, they know the Ragnarok pretty well,
in terms of it's ability to land. It will be faster that way."
"Alright, so it's settled." Irvine said
and rubbing his hands together, looking at Quistis with a coy smile on his face.
"You better not be thinking what I'm
thinking," Selphie said, snapping at Irvine.
Irvine laughed, swung his arms around Selphie and
said in a sincere voice "you know you are the only one for me dear."
He proceeded to lead her out of the room, while stealing a concealed wink at
Quistis.
"I saw that." Selphie said, just before
they stepped out of the room.
"This is not going to be easy," Quistis
said, wearily.
"I was Squall was still here. He always got
things done right. Why can't all men be like that?" Xu asked, equally
weary.
"I still don't see why we can't just take out
Deling with a bullet," Zell said.