Xadrea

     The meeting was late that night. It was well past midnight when Quistis, Seifer, and their team arrived at the Balamb train station. Quistis had already briefed her husband on their way back, so once within Garden’s gates they came directly to my office. Everyone was present except for Selphie, although it had been almost 2 years since she was with us at all anyways. When she discovered she was expecting her and Irvine’s third child she decided to leave Garden for good. However, even without her our team of Elite SeeDs did well.       I glanced around the room for a moment before launching into the plan Rinoa and I written o

“Squall, I don’t know what you want me to do.” Rinoa tucked the corners of her bangs behind her ears and squinted at me. “I don’t know where Ellone is anymore than you do, you’re acting paranoid. What is the matter with you?” I glanced over at Dr. Kadowaki. I knew that she would never intentionally eavesdrop, but I didn’t want to put her in that position. Rinoa rolled her eyes and gestured to our toddler scooting across the floor by Dr. Kadowaki’s desk, fascinated by his own reflection in the shiny tiles. “Why did you take Stormy out of daycare?” I scratched the back of my neck

The way out of the hidden stairway and back out to the teeming streets of the city was a blur to me. I clutched my backpack in a white hot fit of anger. Stormy ignored me as we passed through the crowds, keeping a brisk pace, but not too fast for me to follow. The sky had darkened considerably since we'd entered the city, and it wasn't just the late autumn weather, it would be night soon. The crowds got thicker and thicker until I found myself standing in line at the train station. Stormy paid for our tickets and we boarded one of the passenger cars without any questions asked. I was surprised to see that the interior of the train was actuall

The woman pointed to a table at the far end of the room occupied by one individual I assumed was Kirby. He was a wiry young man who looked to be around my age, maybe even younger. He had brown skin and sharp honey colored eyes. When Stormy and I approached his table he stood and shook hands with Stormy, then me. We sat down and steaming plates of food were almost immediately placed in front of us by the woman who had let us into the hidden room. I sniffed at it and my stomach did a half turn. Onions. I always hated them, even though my mother cooked with them regularly. I wasn't really sure what it was, but it wasn't appealing, just slimy loo

I had never been to Deling City before, or any large city for that matter. It never made much sense to me why large groups of people would want to live in a congested area where so much could go wrong.  When we reached the shore in the raft, I was surprised to see what seemed to be a makeshift port. Flimsy shacks were littered across the beach, but they clustered near the dock. As we drew closer, I could see that the shacks were actually crude shops. When our raft reached the dock, a stocky eldery man wearing a floral printed shirt heartily greeted Stormy and tied up the raft. He was sunburned in spite of the fact it was getting close to wint

Stormy didn't give me enough time to protest his sudden confession by gruffly snatching my wrist and pulling me along behind him. I stumbled after him in a fog. What have I gotten myself into, I thought. The gravel road we were on turned into dust then patches of dried brush and grass before disappearing completely in an overgrown tangle of trees and bushes. Stormy expertly navigated us through dragging me by my wrist the whole time. I tripped a few times over rocks and roots almost pulling Stormy down with me. Each time he would turn around, looking at me wrathfully and yank me back to my feet. He was unreasonably strong for how thin he was.

Just as another pregnant pause was setting in, Stormy pulled a pack of cigarettes from his hoodie pocket and slapped it against his opposite palm. I jumped at the sudden noise and clutched the railing to steady myself. Finally, exhaustion had set in. Stormy looked up and shook his head. "You're not gonna last very long, hate to say it, but ah, not like this anyway." I opened my mouth to protest again, but he raised his hand to silence me. "Look, just get some rest, it's gonna be a long day tomorrow, alright?" "Fine…goodnight then." As I walked away, a shiver ran down my spine. __________________________________________________________

I arrived at the Presidential Residence directly from the lift system. The building was one of the smallest in the city compared to the towering laboratories and corporate businesses that pierced the sky. It was nine floors, each containing an executive branch of the democratic government ruling the country. The  city itself glistened when the sun was present because nearly all the structures were built with glass like materials. Esthar city was most well known for its technology. Innovations in transportation and medicine were developed yearly. It's citizens lived unusually long lives, and many of them also happened to be scientists. The onl

"Sir, I'm not sure if I want to continue at Garden." The girl sitting in front of me was no more than fifteen, I imagined. Her underclassman uniform was tidier than most kids' her age, and her mousy hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail. Probably one of Quistis' clones, I thought rolling my eyes. I quickly flipped through her file, partially to see what her name was, but also to find a reason to get her out of my office. Counseling students wasn't exactly my expertise and it certainly wasn't in my job description. And yet, somehow, I would end up with a handful at the other end of my desk weekly. "Well," I glanced down quickly at her fi

As it turned out, my nap turned into a deep slumber and I was comatose the entire night. I was awakened just before dawn by Garden's paging system which isn't even that loud, but I had become so used to jumping at the sound of it, I jolted out of sleeping.  I stumbled through the darkened room searching for clothes before I realized I was still dressed and still wearing my boots as well. The paging system went off again as I stood there trying to shake out of my sleepy stupor. "Paging- Commander Leonhart, please report to the Third Floor."  I slid into my jacket and absentmindedly grabbed my gun blade then left for the third floor office. As