Stealth
Chapter xlv
By YuriNigasa
*standard I don't own FFVIII, Squaresoft, characters, etc. applies from now until whenever I decide I'm done*
Stealth
Chapter xlv
By YuriNigasa
Alisa’s files told us nothing new. What the therapist had labeled post traumatic identity separation Seifer and I knew in fact to be the emergence of the Oracle persona. Unless we were able to speak to her when she exhibited the personality change there would be nothing we could do for her. To attempt to explain the particulars of the emerging events would only confuse her right now. I didn’t want to explain the current situation to anyone who wasn’t involved by necessity, be it Kadowaki or the therapist. The chance for information leaks exponentially increased the more people we involved, a risk I didn’t care to take.
Elle was due up for dinner any moment now. I paced nervously, ignoring Seifer’s mental commands that I sit down and quit driving him insane. I had this sinking feeling that Elle would want to get involved, and that was an option I didn’t care to think about. The door chime stopped me in my tracks and Seifer nearly bolted to the door to let Elle in. I stood, frozen, where just a moment before I couldn’t quit moving. Entering, she embraced Seifer cordially and turned to me. Her face was lined with concern. She may not have been my sister in truth, but we were family by blood, however scarce the traces actually were. Why did the women in my life believe they had to brood over me like mother hens?
“Squall,” she said quietly, and held her arms out to me. I closed the distance between us and hugged her close, hoping to reassure those as of yet unnamed fears.
“How was your day?” I asked as we walked over to the table and sat down on the floor. I mentally smacked myself for asking such a loaded question.
Thankfully, Elle fielded the question deftly with a demure answer. “I had a relaxing afternoon, really. It does take some getting used to, though.”
“What does?” Seifer asked. “Oh, you mean the movement? After a while you won’t notice it, but intially it does mess with your balance a bit.”
She smile. “Yes, that’s exactly it, although the view is as lovely as it ever was.”
Dinner was uneventful, but I had a difficult time eating due to my preoccupation with the conversation I knew was imminent. All too quickly we finished dessert and sat down on the couch - myself in the chair and Elle and Seifer on the couch.
“So,” I began nervously.
“No, Squall. I said I’d handle it and I will,” Seifer interjected. “Elle, I’m ready to answer what I can.”
She held her hands in her lap and figeted nervously. Staring down at her skirt, she was silent for several moments before she looked up. “I don’t really know where to start asking questions. I’ll admit I’m worried, though. Seifer, you scared me when you asked me to help, and what I saw didn’t change that. I didn’t like the feeling it gave me. It was sinister... worse than Adel, worse than Ultimecia... and the power it radiated... I’ve never felt anything like it. I guess I should ask what it was?”
I closed my eyes and waited for Seifer’s answer.
What is Immamiel? I fought back a groan. Damn me and my big mouth. ‘I’ll handle it...’ Yeah, right. “First, I need to know that none of this is leaving this room.” When she nodded her agreement, I continued. “Well, the short answer is Immamiel. We took a routine mission to Galbadia where they were experiencing some trouble with some monsters.” Why does this shit always start out with routine missions? “The problem turned out to be more difficult than we expected. It seems that Immamiel is the driving force behind the monster attacks. His powers, unlike that of a sorceress, are not inherited. He poses a continual threat, and from what we can determine, his powers are exceedingly greater than those of Ultimecia and her minions.” Score one for the power of understatement.
“So where does your involvement,” she nodded at both of us, “come in?”
I caught the sharp look on Squall’s face and weighed my next words very carefully. “He’s making some sort of a play for power. What exactly we don’t know yet, but he’s attempting to exert pressure on our actions in whatever will occur in the future.”
“Like Ultimecia?” she asked.
“His goal is unknown, but I don’t think his goals are similar. If something akin to Time Compression was his goal, I would think he just would have assisted Ultimecia. One thing though, whatever his aim is, we know for certain it can’t be good. If we knew more, I could tell you.” Playing ignorant is good. “We don’t.” Squall’s expression had relaxed, and I knew he felt that I had handled the situation well.
“So, he’s trying to use Squall? Like Ultimecia tried to use you?” Her brow furrowed as she attempted to come to some conclusion about the situation.
“Something like that,” I said. “The only problem is that Squall has no conscious recollection of the first attempts Immamiel made to contact him. It seems, though, that Immamiel is getting impatient, and saw fit to get a bit more direct in his methods lately, and I was concerned. I felt it was best that we know exactly what had occured.”
“I see. I do feel a little better about it now, although if what you say is true, and he really is more powerful than Ultimecia, this can’t be good. We barely survived the last time. What about this time?”
“Hey, don’t you worry,” I said, deliberately putting on a brave front. “We’ll handle anything he can throw at us, I promise.”
Elle smiled at me, and I smiled back, forcing the cheerfulness into my eyes, hoping she wouldn’t read the uncertainty hidden there... hoping that if I convinced her just enough, she wouldn’t go prying further into the past.
The rest of the evening went smoothly, and we said our goodbyes to Elle just after midnight. We let her know that we would most likely be leaving the following day to return to the mission, but that she was welcome to stay on as long as she’d like. My impression of the night was that things went well, although I could tell that Seifer was just as relieved as I was to see her out the door, despite the fact that we both loved her company. I sent a brief message to Quistis, letting her know that barring major catastrophe, we’d be back some time the following day. Time was short, and we had to get back to Centra as soon as we could.
“Do you think she bought it?” Seifer asked later as we were getting ready for bed.
“We can hope. You handled it well,” I said, smiling at the look he gave me upon recieving the compliment.
“Thanks,” he said, kissing me on the cheek. I blushed, finding myself still amazed every time at how he could make me feel. This was the side of Seifer that belonged to no one but me. “Come on, get into bed,” he said, drawing me back onto the comfortable mattress and propping me up against his chest. I relaxed, despite the world of concerns that weighed deeply on my mind. Moments like this, I mused as sleep tugged me ever closer, were worth saving the world for.