*standard I don't own FFVIII, Squaresoft, characters, etc. applies from now until whenever I decide I'm done*

Stealth

Chapter xxviii

By YuriNigasa

I stood at the train platform and waited, tapping my foot impatiently against the weathered wood.  After a moment a very unassuming Citan Usuki stepped off the train.  He adjusted his small gold spectacles and turned to face me.  He put his hand out and I grasped it firmly.  Constantly used to gazing down at people, I was amazed that he was my height, if not quite as built. 

"Doctor," I said, "I hope the trip went well?"

"Oh, yes, it did, thank you for enquiring.  I must say, this is all highly unusual, being brought to Galbadia,"  he tilted his head to the side and gave a little shrug. 

You have no idea, I wanted to say.  "I'm sure it will all be quite clear soon, Doctor.  We made arrangements for your belongings to be transported to the hotel, if that's alright?"  I asked.

"Certainly," he said, nodding.

"We'll be heading to the Command Center once you have a chance to settle in.  If there's anything that can go there, please feel free to let someone know and we'll make sure it gets there."

"Yes, I did bring some things that should prove useful."

"You didn't happen to bring the manuscript that you sent some images of in the file, did you?"

He nodded, "It was the last thing I packed, actually."

"Excellent, I'm looking forward to seeing it in greater detail."  Or rather in finding out what exactly this 'Sundering' is.

I left Doctor Usuki at the hotel and went to join Squall and the others.  I opened the door a bit too swiftly and it rebounded from the wall with a loud smack.  "Sorry," I said, walking into the room.  "So, any closer to a decision?  He did arrive as scheduled, so now would be a good time to figure something out."

Squall looked up at me.  "For the present time we're going to keep Usuki unaware of Eckner.  Did you find out if he brought the book?"

"He brought it, damned lucky for us.  We need some good breaks," I said.

"Excellent," said Quistis.  "Now all we need to do is to get Eckner access to it."

"You do realize that's going to involve him in this?" I asked.  The guy didn't deserve this, he was a nice guy.  The rest of us, sure, no problem.  We could risk our necks in this, fine, but I hated bringing in anyone else.

"Can't be helped," Squall said.

Quistis frowned slightly.  "From what you've told us, he doesn't seem to have the option of being uninvolved."

It was decided, then.  "I want to be the one to tell him.  He deserves that much."

Squall nodded.  I headed out of the room to speak with Elijah.  I found him sitting in a chair, feet propped up on a nearby desk, end of his braid flipped over one shoulder.  He looked rather unsurprised to see me.  "Hey," I said sheepishly.

"So, you finally get clearance to be honest with me?" he asked, in good humor.

I rubbed one hand through my hair, to my neck, and exhaled sharply.  "Yes.  Not that it's going to be easy to hear or explain."  I pulled up a chair and sat down beside him, fidgeting with the hem of my shirt.  How best to tell the guy that all hope for a normal life any time soon are down to about nil?  So I opened my mouth and out came the bulk of the scenario, what he was experiencing, how I had been dealing with things, how there had been others, including the now-missing Alisa Case.

"You mean, when I heard things, you were talking to Hyne?"

I nodded.  "At least I think that's who it is.  I can't say for sure.  I can't and won't force you to help out.  I think that she's given you a gift, though.  For some reason when you were close to death, she was able to reach out and affect you, at least that's what I think."

"Hey, this is probably my chance to make up for my mistakes.  I don't know.  How can anyone be presented with something like this and walk away from it?  If you did you'd probably be second guessing it your entire life.  I'll do what I can."

"Not that it needs to be said but you know this doesn't go out of this room, right?" I asked.

Elijah laughed, tossing his head back.  "The only person I'd tell already knows."

I shrugged and smiled in his direction.  "Well, shall we?  I have a feeling this is going to prove interesting."

I heard them laughing as they came out of the room.  That was a good sign.  Doctor Usuki's things had arrived and we had begun setting them up in a corner of the room.  It wasn't great, but it would have to do.  Beggars, choosers, and all that.

Seifer walked over to me, Elijah trailing behind.  "I'd like you to meet my assistant, Mister Eckner," he said with a grin.

"Excellent work, Mister Almasy.  Mister Eckner, I look forward to your invaluable assistance."  Eckner practically beamed under the words of praise.

"This is defiantly going to be the most unique experience of my life, Sir," he said.

"Hey, why don't you head over and help them with Usuki's stuff," Seifer suggested.  "That way you'll be more familiar with anything.  If you see anything useful you can give us an advance heads-up."

"Sure thing," Eckner agreed and headed over to where they were unpacking the research materials.

I looked at Seifer.  "He took that well."

"Better than others," he retorted, winking at me.

I rolled my eyes.  "I'm just hoping we're finally going to get a break on this."

"It's about time to be due one," he said.

I looked him over, letting my gaze linger.  He noticed and smiled a little, his green eyes shining with something I couldn't identify.  Whatever it was, it made me blush a little.  He leaned closer to me, arms folded across his chest.  "It's a shame," he whispered, "having to be responsible all the time."

I groaned internally.  Why he had to be so desirable at that moment... the desperation of our situation just made me want him all the more.  Things were changing so rapidly from instant to instant, he had become my one constant, the one thing I depended on for stability.  It was a dangerous feeling for me.  Being so wrapped up in him made me feel so vulnerable, which only made me want to bury my face in his neck and wrap my arms around him and feel his arms around me, which only perpetuated the feeling of vulnerability.  Talk about a vicious circle.

Fate chose that moment to send Doctor Usuki through the door, distracting us both.

"Doctor," Seifer called.  "Over here."

Usuki made his way to us.  I noticed he was tall, like Seifer.  He was dressed a bit oddly, but then again, compared to the outfits I'd seen on a variety of Sorceress... it actually wasn't that bad.  It was on the archaic side, much like Alisa's had been.  That parallel sent a pang through my chest.  We were still awaiting the results of the tests.  Somehow I already knew in my gut they were only going to confirm what I already suspected.

"Doctor Usuki, may I present Commander Squall Leonhart of Balamb Garden."

"Doctor." I nodded cordially.  "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance.  I've heard nothing but good things about you from Mister Almasy.  I hope you will be able to shed some light on the puzzle we're dealing with here."

"I'll endeavor to do my best, Commander Leonhart.  I must say it is an honor to make your acquaintance.  Then again, I'm sure you're quite used to such sentiment," he said politely.

If I had been the chuckling type, I would have done so to fulfill expectations at that moment. Thank goodness I'm not.  Instead I just nodded 'yes.'  "We've endeavored to set your things up over here," I said, leading him to the far corner where Eckner and a couple other members were still unloading items.  "This is Mister Eckner, Doctor Usuki.  He'll be assisting Mister Almasy while you work together."  Eckner extended his hand and Usuki took it, shaking warmly.  "If you will excuse me, I will leave you in their capable hands, Doctor.  I've got some other things that need my attention."

I resisted the urge to watch Squall walk away.  The suggestive curve of his ass was just too much for me to stare at and remain a sane man for long.  I noticed Elijah glancing my way with an amused look on his face.  Oh well.  So much for maintaining a professional facade.  I shrugged and gave him a look of mock helplessness.  Doctor Usuki hadn't noticed, or at least seemed not to.  I was eager to start working on this, wanting further confirmation on what I already knew.

"So, Seifer, may I call you that?  You can call me Citan.  I hate formality."

"Certainly."  I cringed a little.  Maybe all that interaction with Laguna Loire's dishonesty had made me naturally suspicious of unassuming people.

"I'm horribly curious as to why a project in Galbadia needs a, well to be frank, an expert on Centra whose theories haven't exactly garnered the praises of the intelligentsia."

"We were here doing some research in the area of Guardian Forces."  Not entirely a lie.  We were here and well now we were researching Guardian Forces.  "And we think we may have found evidence that indicates that there may have been something akin to that in the mythology of other cultures.  Centra is a prime place to start searching for such untapped resources.  We'd just like to get some more information before we attempt to head to Centra."  I glanced over and noticed Elijah taking in various artifacts voraciously.  He was going to have some good information to share, I could tell.

"Ahh, yes.  Most of what we know is conjecture from various pieces of recovered Centran artwork.  As I'm sure you saw, the script is indecipherable.  There is nothing like it in use anywhere in the world.  Nothing even seems derivative of it.  That's partially why I feel that the civilization is so much older than current thought ascribes.  If Centra's destruction had occurred a mere seven hundred years prior, there would doubtless be record of their interaction with other known civilizations, who were able to record the occurrence of the Lunar Cry but who make no mention of the destruction of a formidably advanced people like the Centra."

He continued.  "Since you've mentioned an interest in Guardian Forces, I'm sure you'd like to take a further look at the manuscript I brought.  There are some rather interesting illustrations in it, in that highly stylized way they had.  We believe there are images of Shiva, Diablos, and Leviathan in it.  There are some others, but those are what I can remember offhand."

"If that's true," I interrupted, seeing an excellent opening, "Would it be possible for us to make high-resolution scans of the actual manuscript?  I promise we'll exercise the utmost care in doing so."

"Certainly.  I'm just glad that I might be useful.  Proving my theories would just be an added bonus."  He began to rummage around in a crate, and withdrew a carefully sealed box with an encoded lock.  "Ahh, here it is," he said.  It was much larger than I would have expected such a thing to be.  He opened the box and carefully withdrew the manuscript.  It was on some substance that looked like paper, but with the resiliency of a far heavier material.  The colors and script had been somewhat aged by time and elements, but not overly so.  I edged closer to peer at the pages as he turned the thick cover over to reveal more of the ornate scriptwork and decorations so entwined that in areas it was difficult to tell script from illustration.

As if drawn by an invisible wire, I leaned forward, taking in every detail.  Behind me I heard a small gasp from Elijah.  I hoped Usuki took it as a gasp of Elijah's impression with the artifact, not, as I suspected, impression by what he was most likely reading.

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