The Fourth Universe - Chapter Four

[08.26.00] » by Soul-Hunter

"Quistis? You in there?"

"I’m in the shower. Give me a minute."

Squall crossed his arms and leaned himself against the wall, thumping his head softly against it as he waits for his comrade to open the door. It’s taking an unusually long time for Quistis to finish getting ready, and the SeeD commander is starting to display an uncharacteristic trait of impatience. Over at the Garden’s newly constructed hangar built to accommodate the Ragnarok, the other members of the party which consisted of Zell, Selphie, Irvine, Nida and Xu await the arrival of the SeeD chief and his recognized second-in-command.

Two days prior, eight SeeDs gathered together inside the library and drew up a plan for a surprise party in celebration of Cid and Edea Kramer’s wedding anniversary. Among the things they agreed upon to make this occasion memorable for the two proponents of Garden is to get them an assortment of exotic flowers, with the knowledge of how much Edea loves them. With this, they agreed to go on a trip to Winhill, also known as the Flower Capital of the World.

Squall immediately pushed against the metal-polymer wall when he heard a subtle click from the door knob. Opening the door slowly, he quietly took a peep inside Quistis’ room before ultimately proceeding in.

"So sorry for the delay, Squall. I had a bit of trouble trying to come up with an excuse just so Matron won’t suspect anything with this trip." Quistis profusely apologized to her comrade, who at that time was actually oblivious to what she just said. Squall didn’t exactly expect to be met by this particular sight of his former instructor; wearing nothing but a slightly moist bath robe, her damp and tousled blonde hair flowing down the smooth contours of her lovely face and neck. Beads of water are still dripping from her golden locks which occasionally spray on Squall’s face whenever she makes an abrupt pivot in her effort to speedily prepare her clothes.

"What are you staring at?" she finally took notice of his blank expression.

"What? Oh, nothing. I’m just not used to seeing you that way… with your hair hanging down like that…"

"Really? Hmm, maybe I should lose the hairpin for a while…" Quistis mused before turning back to Squall. "Um, would you mind… staying outside? I’m not accustomed to having an audience while I’m dressing up."

"Oh! Sorry! No, not at all… uhh, sorry." An embarrassed Squall stammered before rushing outside of the room.

After the door closed, Quistis paused to consider what would have happened had she not told Squall to leave the room while she changed. Then, as if trying to knock some sense into her, she slapped her forehead hard, feeling ashamed of herself for the brief but less than wholesome thought that permeated her mind.

"You so bad, Quisty!" she echoed to herself.

The crimson-colored Ragnarok had already disappeared beyond the horizon, but Rinoa remains staring into the light-blue void from her favorite spot in the Garden’s gala room porch. She really would have loved to join her friends, but decided against it in favor of something that she doesn’t exactly know if she wants to do. Unwittingly, Rinoa caressed the platinum band wrapped around her right hand’s ring finger; one with the engraving of a beast which represents both great strength and pride.

"There you are, Rinoa." A voice rang out from behind her. She turned to the sight of the dark-skinned Marcus Derlini. "Headmaster Cid sent me to find you. He said you have a visitor and that he’s waiting at the quad."

"Okay, here we go…" Rinoa muttered before acknowledging the messenger. "Thanks, Marcus. Please tell the Headmaster that I’ll be right there."

"How these fools prance around with smug ease. How they wear their vaunted abilities like an infallible crown that can never be conquered."

Cursing swamp-green eyes trained its focus on a group of youngsters going about with their self-imposed chore for the day. The abominable owner of the verdant pupils then retreated, meditating deeply and plotting intently. He then clutched his putrid mouth in perceiving an unexpected wave of contagion.

"Blast it! I’m starting to spout senseless blabber like my mistress. Better watch it." Affixing his attention anew to his objective, the repulsive Ogre-Bat silently observed the youngsters going about their trade at the central area of this small and dainty town.

"I didn’t expect these pesky youths to be here today. Nevertheless, removing them shouldn’t be any trouble."

"How many loads to go, Zell?" Xu’s voice reverberated from a flower stand situated near the Winhill town quadrangle.

"How many friggin’ loads are you planning to get anyway, Xu?" Zell shot back. "The Rag’s cargo bay is so full of flowers the smell is already creeping through the cockpit. And I hate the smell of flowers!"

"You’re friend had a bad childhood or something?" interrupted the comely flower vendor. "I’ve never known anyone who doesn’t like the aroma of my flowers."

"Ahh, don’t mind him." Irvine retorted. "He’s just trying to protect his macho image."

Across the paved open area at the other side of the quadrangle, Squall and Quistis are currently having a pleasant exchange with Winhill's governor, Zeilgr Markkon. Quistis momentarily glanced at her companions busily loading the Ragnarok with the fragrant blossoms.

"You seem like you’re having lots of fun. That’s good. I used to have friends like yours when I was your age." Echoed the lively governor, who was only too willing to entertain these SeeDs to whom he’s indebted for helping him find the missing pieces of his treasured family heirloom.

"Oh, we’ve had our moments, sir." Quistis replied with equal gaiety. Just then, their light-hearted conversation was interrupted by a loud shriek emanating from the nearby pub. Squall didn’t waste any time as he dashed towards the establishment formerly owned by a woman whom he suspects to be his real mother.

The head SeeD immediately drew his gunblade after barging into the old bar. Inside, he found a curly-topped old woman being terrorized by a huge Caterchipillar. "Please! Help me!" the old lady pleaded. "It wants to eat my flowers!"

"Stand back!" Squall yelled, before attacking the creature with twin bolts of Thundara. Stunned by the sudden assault, the overgrown larva reeled, then struck back at the SeeD by shooting a sticky thread-like substance from the lower tip of it’s slimy body. Squall was instantly covered from head to toe by the milky-white substance. However, it wasn’t nearly strong enough to contain the SeeD as the green, luminescent Lionheart easily cut its way through the glutinous material.

"I really hate that trick." Squall mumbled while casting a searing Firaga spell on the enemy. The Caterchipillar seized and convulsed, then ceased moving altogether. He was just about to return his gunblade to its holster when he heard loud, disturbing noises from outside.

"Damn, what is it now?" the SeeD commander thought as he rushed outside. His eyes widened upon seeing his SeeD comrades engaged in battle with a huge and bulky, bat-like creature. The monster was spewing forth gross expletives together with powerful energy globes that scattered the usually alert warriors. "What the… what is that thing?!?"

"Go ahead, SeeDs! Show me what you got!" Tengu taunted the youthful warriors as he relentlessly fired great orbs of destructive energy toward them. An embattled Nida tried to duck, but he was a little too late, as the explosive force of the energy globes sent him careening towards the spot where Squall stood. Both Squall and Nida crashed violently inside the bar, wrecking the wooden stairway handrails in the process.

"Uhh, you okay?" Nida asked the shaken up Squall as he slowly tried to pick himself up. Squall spent a few seconds to check himself for possible fractured bones before following suit.

"Nida, where did that monster come from?"

"I don’t know. We were just about done with loading the flowers when it suddenly appeared and went after the flower vend…"

Squall didn’t wait for Nida to finish his statement when he caught sight of Selphie who was about to be pummeled by the monster’s massive weapon. "Selphie!" Squall cried out, coming up with a sudden burst of speed that enabled him to stick his gunblade between the menacing death rod and his embattled comrade. A loud clashing sound resonated as metal grinds against metal.

Mildly surprised, Tengu nevertheless quickly regained his composure. "Impressive. Not many can do that against my Demon Rod."

"What do you want, monster?" a tiger-eyed Squall hollered while brandishing his fearsome Lionheart toward the hellish foe. "Who are you?" he furthered, as he was finally joined by his comrades.

"I am Tengu. The heartless. The fearsome harbinger of doom." The Ogre-Bat’s infernal voice reverberated through the suddenly darkened Winhill surroundings. "And about what I want? Well… let’s just say its something that you can never keep from me. You are powerless to stop me, SeeDs."

"Good." Zell blurted out. "I thought you were going to say that you’ll send us to a dimension beyond our imagining and there we will be your slaves and yada yada yada."

"You insolent worm! Don’t you know how to look at fear?!?" an enraged Tengu screamed. "THEN I WILL SHOW YOU FEAR!!!"

The startled SeeDs were too late to react to the Ogre-Bat’s offensive, as they winced in pain when the vile demon monster unleashed his burning Fire Breath against them. All eight of them collapsed to the ground, shaking and bucking violently from the searing pain overwhelming them. The smell of burnt flesh filled the gruesome air amidst the infernal laughter of the baneful monstrosity.

"Hrrr… pathetic, overrated grunts." Tengu exclaimed with wicked revelry. However, his gleeful facial cast was instantly erased upon seeing Squall struggling to get up on his feet.

"Don’t you know better than to stay down, fool? Now I shall have to end your life once and for all."

"You… can try… bastard." The struggling warrior shot back. And before Tengu could do anything, he was taken aback when Squall started to emit bright flashes of light while extending the gunblade in front of him. Without warning, the infuriated SeeD ran towards Tengu and caught him totally off guard with a series of powerful blows of the dreaded Lionheart.

Battered and totally stunned by the SeeD's debilitating assault, Tengu felt his legs buckle. While trying vainly to stand his ground, his eyes once again widened at the sight of the wrathful Squall. Tucking the Lionheart to his right side, the SeeD commander again radiated with deadly power as he charges up his gunblade for the finishing blow. Tengu’s blood ran cold with the cognizance that he is staring death itself at its face.

Suddenly, a cabalistic dark glow totally enveloped the besieged Ogre-Bat, swirling around him like a proverbial black whirlpool swallowing a helpless soul into oblivion. Squall stepped back, wary that he too might be pulled in by the caliginous maelstrom. When the spinning cloud cleared away, Tengu was nowhere to be found. And for that matter, so is the poor flower vendor.

Totally sapped of his strength, the exhausted SeeD fell on his knees. He allowed a few moments to pass before looking around at his fallen comrades. Moving his shaking hands to the side, Squall took hold of his travel pouch in hopes of finding something in there to help him revive his crew.

"Hhhh… just enough Phoenix Downs…"

Resplendent red glow filled the early evening skies while providing a spectacular back drop for the soaring Trabian sea gulls as they make their way south for the winter. He breathes deeply, savoring the crisp, fresh air gently caressing his slightly wrinkled face.

"No wonder you love it here." He voiced out, trying to hide the anxiety plaguing his mind for the last hour. "An old man like me can get used to this. Surely beats Galbadia’s excessively humid weather."

A couple of yards behind him, a young lady sits uneasily on a brand new stone bench. She turns her head toward him, then promptly turns away again.

"I heard the technicians from FH will be leaving tomorrow. Guess that means they’ve finally completed Balamb Garden’s restoration." He furthered. She remains silent.

Finally, an exasperated General Caraway released a disappointed groan. For the last ten minutes he had been trying in vain to start a conversation with the indifferent Rinoa. He is already nearing the end of his patience and wanted desperately to lash out on her, but chose instead to tread the arduous road of patience and understanding. She’s still young, Caraway thought. And still upset. The last thing he needs right now is a fire-with-fire word war with his estranged daughter.

"I have news for you, Rinoa. Vinzer Deling is gone. He’s been dead for over a year. Just thought you wanna know." Caraway remarked with a mild sarcastic tone. "Because frankly, I’m getting all incensed with this petty quarrel. What are you still mad about, anyway?"

Finally, Rinoa decided to respond to her father’s appalled tone. "It’s not that easy. You know how strongly I felt against Vinzer Deling’s despotic rule, but you never listened to me. Why is that?"

"But that was a long time ago, Rinoa. It’s over, done with. Why can’t you just let go of the past?" Caraway snapped back. "Besides, you were there. You saw how I plotted against him and the sorceress."

Rinoa tried to talk back, but for some reason she wasn’t able to come up with an argument that feels right for her. The truth is, she knows she’s been cornered. She knows that whatever statement she eventually comes up with will never be enough to vanquish the truth that her father’s direct involvement in a scheme geared against the late Galbadian dictator’s reign made her feel happy.

Unfortunately, too much damage has been inflicted by the long span of time they allowed to elapse. It’s not a question anymore of whether the two of them would be able to settle their differences. That has already been decided on that fateful night when General Caraway gathered together with a team of SeeDs assigned to assassinate the then dreaded Sorceress Edea. The very issue that needs to be settled right now is whether or not Rinoa can muster the humility to completely turn herself back after a long period of time of intentionally turning her back on her father. And the way she feels right now, it’s highly doubtful that the Galbadian general’s obstinate daughter is finally ready for a reconciliation.

"I… I’m sorry, dad. But I really don’t think I’m ready for this just yet."

The father and daughter’s sullen mood was interrupted when Rinoa’s SeeD communicator started beeping frantically. "It’s a Code Red signal. Something’s up." She muttered while pressing the response button.

"Rinoa, it’s Xu." Squall’s voice resonated from the communicator. "Come to the infirmary at once."

"I’m on my way."

"Severe third degree burns." Dr. Kadowaki told the ten worried individuals waiting outside the Garden infirmary. "She’ll recover from it eventually. But Xu will be bed-ridden for quite awhile."

"Dammit." Squall blurted out. "It’s my fault. I didn’t make sure that all of us were junctioned."

"Don’t blame yourself, Squall." Edea’s gentle voice echoed. "There’s no way for you to know you’ll be attacked by a monster like that in Winhill."

The SeeD commander didn’t answer. Though Edea is right on the mark with her assessment, he still felt responsible for neglecting to give Xu one of the four GFs junctioned to him. She would at least have had a fighting chance at resisting Tengu’s deadly attack.

"One thing’s bothering me, though." Quistis intermitted. "That monster was speaking about the first of the three when he tried to seize the flower vendor. That’s one. Secondly, what could a powerful creature like that possibly want from an unassuming small town girl?"

"Yeah, I also heard him say that." Selphie added. "What was his name? Ten-chu… Tien-yu… Ten-four..?"

"It’s Tengu." Zell retorted. "In ancient lore, it’s a name given to a mythological entity which the natives of Centra believe to be the embodiment of the Bat Spirit. Wanna know more?"

"Sure." Irvine agreed. "What do we have to lose?"

"Heh, okay. Mr. Know-It-All-Zell once again to the rescue. According to legends, a very long time ago there were three main forces duking it out for control of the planet. One of them is pretty much familiar especially to Rinoa and Matron. His… or her – I can never remember its gender – name is Hyne, the demi-god who supposedly started the lineage of the sorceresses. Hyne sought to protect creation while his… OR her enemy, another omnipotent type called Vesta, seeks to conquer it. The third force is Tengu, the mystical Bat Spirit who joined the fray for reasons unknown. Over time, Vesta and Tengu found it convenient to join forces because by their own, they’re getting their asses kicked real good by Hyne."

"And then what?" Nida implored Zell to continue.

"That’s it. I wasn’t able to finish the book when I was recalled here in Garden for the SeeD field exam."

"Oh great!" Irvine snapped, slapping his temple with his forehand. "Sorry I asked."

"Hmm… we could be on to something here." A contemplative Quistis remarked.

"I think so too." Cid concurred. "And if it’s possible, we have to know more about the vendor girl this… Tengu kidnapped. We need to know what it could possibly want from her."

"W-wh-what do you… want from me? Who are you?" an extremely frightened young girl cowered in the dark corner of her barely lit prison. Hovering in front of her are two frightful figures with burning eyes and wide, evil grins. The hapless girl jerked when the smaller form started to let out a deep chortle.

"You amuse me, girl. Feigning great fear in order to hide the fact that you hold the power in your hands to stage a decent resistance. But then again, it would be more wise for you not to do so."

"Hrrr… mistress, I think she’s genuinely terrified of us." Tengu insisted, which drew an even more resounding guffaw from the crimson-clad woman.

"N… no… no! I won’t do it! Please don’t make me do it! I don’t want to lose control again!" the flower vendor fearfully begged her baneful captors. "I will not fight you… no…"

"Fear not, my fragile-faced guest." The mistress shot back. "I will not force you into utilizing any more of your faculties than what is necessary. But you may have to pardon me if I help myself to more of it than what your frail spirit can endure."

For the flower vendor, what followed next in her ghastly ordeal is the fall of great darkness. Pitch black nothingness adulterated by nothing save the gruesome and eerie scream of a soul begging to be freed from its horrifyingly tortured existence.

to be continued...