Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Domestic ❯ The Curtain Opens (Poke Poke) ( Chapter 15 )

Domestic

WARNINGS:

1) I do not own FF8, Squaresoft, or get any profit out of this story

2) Rated PG-13 for violence, language, and sexual content

"All around me are familiar faces.

Worn out places.

Worn out faces.

Bright and early for the daily races.

Going nowhere.

Going nowhere.

The tears are filling up their glasses.

No expression.

No expression.

Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow.

No tomorrow.

No tomorrow.

And I find it kind of funny.

I find it kind of sad.

The dreams in which I'm dying.

Are the best I've ever had."

Gary Jules - Mad World

Chapter 15: The Curtain Opens (Poke Poke)

Zell closed his eyes and rested his head against the side of the train. Sleep wasn't coming however. Travis seemed to have no problems with it. As soon as they got on the train, he passed out; which was believable, because they didn't reach Timber until 2400 hours. The voyage was a lot longer then Zell thought it would be, and frankly he was beat. But his mind was the problem. He tried to ignore it, because it was common for him to get a little nervous before battle. Plus this wouldn't be too bad. Everybody knew that Cid was a coward and it was just Edea who was dangerous. However, she didn't seem too angry at Wix's expulsion, so the battle shouldn't be too bad. Things just didn't add up though. There were over 1000 SeeDs at the Garden and over 5000 students. If six SeeDs could take down a pissed sorceress, it seemed logical that 1000 could take down a generally calm one. There was an x-factor somewhere, and Zell couldn't figure it out. Running a hand through his hair, Zell looked up to the ceiling.

The train made a sudden bump, as if it had run over a small bunny or possum. Travis smacked his head against the side of the train and was jolted awake. Rubbing both the side of his head and his left eye simultaneously, he slowly got to his feet. He walked over to Zell who was currently leaning against the back wall. The train was vacant, as nobody ever took the midnight train to Balamb. Although it was empty, there still weren't any seats on the train. Strangely, a SeeD room was nowhere to be found, so they had to resort to leaning against walls. It was almost morning anyway. Zell was expecting the train to come out of the underwater tunnel any moment now.

"What time is it?" Travis yawned, stretching his hands over his head. The train hit another bump causing the lights to flicker.

Zell paused and stared at the ceiling and then looked down at his watch. "Almost 600 hours. We should surface here soon." As if called for, sunlight suddenly burst through the car doors. Only the first couple of rays had risen above the Fire Cavern, but it still seemed bright compared to the dark tunnel. The train slowly started to brake and the station came into sight. It was D-Day. Zell had a sudden nervousness in his stomach. He hadn't thought this all out. In seconds, he was going to arrive in Balamb, and he had no clue where to go from there. How were Travis and him supposed to march up to the Garden and retake it? How were they supposed to succeed where six-thousand had failed? It didn't seem like a good idea anymore, and Zell contemplated getting off the train. Some power compelled him however, and when the train door swung open, he walked out onto the platform. It was worse then he imagined.

The train station was a wreck. The usual bench was missing and there was a giant hole in the steel platform. Zell noticed that the signpost was broken too, and there were giant black smudges all over the ground. Travis kept completely silent. He could see the anger rising in Zell's eyes and was afraid to say anything. The town definitely wasn't like this when they left a month ago.

Outside was even worse. The sunlight they saw from the train couldn't be seen from town. Balamb was covered in a dark smog which smelled like a mixture between ashes and oil. The gift shop's roof was crumbled and glass was scattered all over the ground. All the flora and fauna of Balamb was either pulled out of the ground or were colored an ugly black.

"It's like a war zone," Travis said hesitantly, looking at his surroundings.

Zell just scowled and kept walking. They walked gingerly over the glass ridden train station, but then the thought of Ma jumped into Zell's head. The leisurely walk turned into a light jog and then into a full sprint.

"Yo, wait up," Travis yelled, as he was left behind. He rounded the corner to see Zell enter one of the houses. Azerton just shrugged and looked around. The shop to his immediate left had the door blown off, but there was nothing inside. The shelves were empty and the register was in four different pieces on the floor. "Something is definitely wrong here," Travis thought as he walked over to the house Zell had entered. Upon entrance, he wondered why Zell picked this one. The house was obviously in shambles. To his immediate left, the roof had collapsed, which blocked what appeared to be a kitchen. Travis jumped over a broken vase and entered the living room. All of the shelves were overturned and a television was in pieces in the far left corner. A fruit basket was scattered on the floor. Travis picked up what appeared to be a banana but it was now brown colored. It was apparent that a struggle had taken place in this house.

"Ma?" called Zell's voice upstairs.

"Oh shit," Travis thought. "This is his house." Dropping the moldy banana, he made his way upstairs. Zell was in the hallway attempting to open the door to the immediate left.

"MA?!?" he called louder, jiggling the door handle. It was locked, which was funny, because Zell never remembered having a lock on his door. Hearing nothing, Zell threw his shoulder into the door. The sound echoed throughout the house, but the door refused to budge. The blonde did it again with the same results. "Yo, give me a hand," Zell ordered.

Nodding, Travis put one hand on the doorknob and threw his weight against the door. It still refused to move.

"On the count of three," Zell suggested. "One…two…three." The both rammed into the door, and to their delight, it flew open. Travis stood back in amazement for a few seconds. The room was in great condition. It was the first thing he saw in town that looked organized. It had a hardwood floor, two punching bags, a bed, and a gun rack. All of which were in perfect condition.. Zell was surprised too, but he didn't hesitate to enter the room. He stepped inside and looked around. Everything was just where he left it, and there wasn't a scratch on anything. The only addition was a piece of paper. Zell picked it up off of his bed and read it over:

Zell,

I hope you never read this. If you do, that means you came back to Balamb. If this is the case, gather your belongings and get on a train. Go as far away from here as possible. Never come back. I've done my best to fortify your room, but I don't know how long it will hold up. The SeeDs ask more and more questions every day, and I don't know how much longer they're going to let me live here. The hotel owner has been taken into custody, and our neighbors have been asked to leave town. I think I'm next Zell, so please don't come looking for me. Leave town and never come back. Please know that I will always love you. I am not abandoning you. There are certain sacrifices we must make, and I'm afraid leaving will only cause them to hunt for me. I don't want to endanger you, so please Zell, leave now. It is my only wish.

Love always,

Ma

Zell crumpled up the letter and placed it in his pocket. He bit his lower lip and shook his head. His breathing sped up, and he slid his gloves onto his hands. "Do you have a GF equipped?" Zell said shakily, looking at Travis.

"Uh...yeah," Travis responded. He wasn't sure what else to say. He had never seen Zell so worked up. His problems with his parents seemed minute now. He never had to deal with such tragedies, and he couldn't imagine what Zell was going through. A fear suddenly ran through his body. He knew Zell was going to lead him into hell. Zell was going to lead him against the people who destroyed this town. The people who destroyed the Garden. Death suddenly became a realization. He wasn't trained to fight in losing battles. He always thought he'd have an army at his back. But he couldn't run. Zell taught him everything he knew about warfare, so he couldn't feed him to the dogs. Travis wasn't even sure he considered Zell his best friend, but for some odd reason, this was a battle he had to fight. Sliding Demitrius over his hands, Travis followed Zell out of the room.

They crept down the staircase, but suddenly the banister exploded. Zell dove backwards, knocking Travis back with him. Another shot fired, but this one was much too high. "Get in my room!" Zell ordered, pushing Travis up the stairs. They crawled back up the stairs as another bullet shattered the stair beneath them.

"Halt!" the intruder yelled. He slowly made his way upstairs, unsure what weapons his opponents had on them. "If you fight back, I'll have to kill you." He reached the top of the steps and looked down the hallway. Nobody was in sight. Listening intently, he slammed open the door on his immediate left open and fired. Zell's punching bag exploded into fluff and made a mess all over the floor. Before he could scan the rest of the room, he felt a punch rip the skin off the right side of his face. He fell back, and lost control of the gun. It slid out into the hallway and down the steps.

Zell looked down at the bleeding man, and his blood went cold. It was a white SeeD. He was a member of Edea's elite mercenary force. He was more from a boat then a Garden, but that didn't put a hamper on his skills.

"Hello, Mr. Dincht," the White SeeD smiled, getting back to his feet. "There's a large bounty on your head you know."

"Travis," Zell called, not taking his eyes off of the SeeD.

Azerton retightened the gloves on his hands and stood beside Zell. Biting his lower lip, he raised his fist and tried to remember everything Zell taught him. There was a very long moment of stillness and then everything seemed to move at once. The SeeD made to use a fire spell, but Zell moved quickly. He brought a right hook to the SeeDs ribs and swept his legs from under him. Travis stayed still, unsure of when to jump in. He wasn't sure if he would help or just get in the way.

Zell tried to drop his heel into the SeeDs forehead, but the man was too quick. He rolled out of the way, and then delivered the palm of his fist to Zell's chin. The blonde fell back onto his busted punching bag. He bit a good portion of his bottom lip, causing the taste to flood his mouth.

With Zell down, Travis thought it a good time to jump in. He threw a right hook as hard a he possibly could.

The SeeD was caught off guard, but still had time to react. He dodged the glove, and then caught Travis's elbow and twisted.

Wincing, Travis kept his cool and delivered a kick to the man's midsection. This seemed to do the trick, as the grip loosened on his elbow. He swung his left fist at the SeeDs temple, but it was so weak that the man easily caught it. Now he was screwed. With both hands out of commission, the SeeD head butted him, grabbed his shirt, and threw him across the room. Travis landed harshly against Zell's gun rack, causing the whole shelf to collapse. He felt numb for a few minutes, but then the pain washed over him. His whole back felt split open and his head felt like it was about to explode. The SeeD smiled and rolled up his sleeve. He was making to kill him. Breathing heavily, Travis tried to regain some energy. It was just like fighting Wix. This time he was going to do better though. This time he was going to…

He didn't have time to finish that thought however. Zell suddenly jumped the SeeD from behind, and they both crumbled to the floor. The blonde had the upper hand though. He grabbed the SeeDs sweaty hair and slammed his face into the floor. He did it again, and then again. Luckily, the body underneath him stopped moving. Zell let out a sigh of relief. He pulled his hand out of the SeeD's hair, and had a mixture of blood, sweat, and hair attached to it. Disgusted, Zell wiped it on his jeans. All of a sudden, the body stirred underneath him. He caught an elbow into the gut, which knocked the wind out of him, and he found himself on his back. The White SeeD crawled on top of him, and he received a right hook the mouth. Then he got another one. His nose clogged up, and he wasn't sure if it was blood or snot. Zell tried to lift his arms, but he was pinned. Another punch came, and he was on the border of consciousness.

Then the room exploded. Zell wasn't quite sure what happened, but a flash went across the room. The air was knocked out of the SeeD, and he fell dead onto the floor. Zell paused for a second and then pushed the body off of him. He looked up and saw Travis sitting against the far wall. He had a smoking shotgun in his lap and was currently rubbing his forehead.

"Dude! What the hell are you doing? Zell shouted, holding his bloody nose. "Those are antiques."

Travis's head hurt too much to reply.

A few cures later, they were fine. Zell was quite pissed about the blood stain on his floor, so he ordered Travis to go throw the SeeD out the window. After the battle, his room looked as bad as the rest of the house. They both rested in the room for at least a half hour before they had the courage to talk of what to do next.

"If we had that much trouble taking down one, how are we supposed to get the Garden back?" Travis asked, once his breath returned to him. "These people don't fall on one hit. We'd get slaughtered."

"They're SeeDs," Zell explained. "White SeeDs to be precise. They're Edea's elite mercenary force. Luckily they were neutral when Edea was possessed by Ultimecia, but that doesn't seem the case this time."

"So how are we supposed to kill all of them?"

"I don't know," Zell admitted, running a hand through his sweaty hair. "I wasn't expecting them." Zell and Travis sat in silence for a while, trying to think of a way around their apparent fate. "Thanks for making the room smell like gunpowder," Zell laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

Travis smirked, but didn't say anything. He was still heavily in thought. "So what are our options?"

"Well…" Zell muttered, tossing a piece of wood to himself. "We could leave town, forget about the Garden, and start anew. We could wait here and just hold down the fort until reinforcements come. Or we could try to take back the Garden." Zell threw the piece of wood in the air and caught it just before it hit the ground.

Travis rolled the options over in his head. He definitely didn't want to leave. Sure, it would be safer, but he'd have to go back to his parents. This was his escape. Balamb Garden was his dream. It was his motivation. He couldn't leave it. This is how he proved his parents he could make it on his own. He would never come crawling back. So he crossed that off the list. Staying for reinforcements seemed like a good idea. They wouldn't have to be POWs or killed. That was two pluses. But White SeeDs were obviously patrolling this area. It would only be a matter of time before they were found and captured/killed. And how long was it going to take Squall to get his act together? They'd be sitting ducks. Food shortage was another problem. Zell's kitchen was out of service, so they'd have to leave the house for food. Too many risks. So he crossed that off the list. That left option number three.

"Actually," Zell said, interrupting his thought process. "I've made up my mind. I'm heading to the Garden."

Travis expected that, so he just nodded.

"If you don't want to go, it's ok," Zell soothed. "It's just that they took Ma, and I couldn't live with myself just leaving her there." The blonde paused and threw the piece of wood in the air again. "I think that's why I have to go."

Travis let out a deep sigh and rolled the options over in his head one more time. "I think I have to go to," he finally declared. "I don't want anything in my past, so I don't have anything to lose."

Zell shrugged and looked to the floor. "We'll leave tonight then. Better to surprise them then to walk in broad daylight. You in?" They shook on it and waited for the sun to set.

(**********)

A crescent moon rose that night. The first thing Zell and Travis noticed upon leaving Balamb was the absence of the blue glow of the Garden. If Balamb looked like a tornado went through it, then they could only imagine what the Garden looked like. It was a chilly night, and Zell was happy he wore his heavy hoody. They crept slowly along the road, and sure enough, the White SeeD ship could be seen at the beach. Shaking his head, Zell looked from the ship to the Garden and stopped in his tracks. The Garden still had it's spherical shape, but a big chunk was taken out of the right portion. It was almost shaped the same as the moon. Breathing out sharply, Zell continued towards it.

"The hell is that?" Travis asked, continuing to stare at the damages Garden.

"I don't know," Zell whispered. "It looks like a missile, but only Galbadia and Esthar have that kind of technology. Maybe it was a bomb." Zell just shook his head and kept walking. "Whatever it was, that's why we weren't able to defend the Garden."

As they got closer to it, they discovered that several tents lined the outside of the Garden. They could make out outlines of moving figures. Whether they were friend or foe, Zell was unsure, but it seemed best to steer clear. Breaking from the road, Zell and Travis walked around to the back of the Garden. A hole was torn through what appeared to be the training center, parking lot, and half of the library. Papers were still littered throughout the wet grass, and you could see the tropical environment of the training center through the hole.

"That's our way in," Zell declared, looking around for possible threats. "Here goes nothing."

With a jump, the smells of the Garden returned to them. There was a heavy smell of ash, but it still brought back fond memories for Zell. They landed in what Zell guessed was the training center, but it could have easily been the parking lot. The ground had been completely melted, so they walked on a half metal and half soil floor. They saw a tropical tree about thirty feet to their right and saw what appeared to be a library shelf about twenty feet to their left. No human was in sight however. They kept to their straight path until they reached a wall. Luckily, it had partially crumbled about ten feet to their left. Pushing through it, they appeared to be in the fountain area of the Garden.

"At least the water's still working," Zell whispered, dipping his hand into the cold water. He regretted doing so. He struck something sharp, which at first he thought was a piece of glass. But then it struck again. Zell lifted his had out of the water to see it dripping blood. "Back up," the blonde commanded. Both of them slid their gloves on and prepared for a monster to emerge from the fountain. And to Zell's utmost horror, one did.

"Hahaha, look!" Travis laughed. "It even has on scuba gear."

"That's not a funny creature," Zell reprimanded, as his face went pale. "It's tougher then any White SeeD."

Travis looked at him strangely,. That knife only had to be three inches long. What could be so scary about that? Travis wasn't sure whether to go kick it over or feed it peanuts. Zell, on the other hand, was near hysterics.

A three foot tall tonberry threw off his scuba gear, lit his lantern, and started to approach. It made a strange call, and then stopped. It looked at the intruders strangely and refused to move. It was like he was debating whether it was better to entertain the two or go back to swimming.

Suddenly, Zell shot a fire spell at the tonberry. It took a while for it to realize it was on fire, but once it did, Travis never saw a creature move quicker. The tonberry dove back into the fountain, and a cloud of steam drifted towards the ceiling.

"HURRY RUN!!" Zell whispered as loud as he could.

Laughing at Zell's paranoia, Travis reluctantly followed him.

Zell led the way towards the dorms. He wasn't exactly sure where he was going, he just wanted to get as far away from the tonberry as possible. Unfortunately, Travis refused to run, so their pace was quite slow. When they were within ten steps of the dormitory hallway, Azerton noticed that the toberry was following them. The same scuba clad, green machine emerged from the fountain and set its eyes on Travis.

"RUN!" Zell hissed. "DON'T STAND THERE!"

Travis ignored him and looked inquisitively down at the tonberry. The green beast wasn't one for salutations however. In a swift flick of the wrist, the chef's knife sliced through Travis's shoe and impaled his foot. "HYNE DAMMIT!" Travis screamed at the top of his lungs. It felt as if his entire foot was amputated. The pain then spread up his leg until he fell onto his back. It wasn't an ordinary knife. The pain spread from his leg up into his chest and then to his neck. It was becoming hard to breathe. He panicked. "HELP!" he screamed again. "HYNE DAMMIT HELP!" The tonberry didn't hear him. The green beast raised its' knife again and was about to make another incision.

Luckily, Zell picked it off with another fire spell, and the beast dove once again into the water. The blonde ran over to Travis, who was whimpering on the floor. Azerton felt like he was going to die. The pain was so intense and incredible that he wished he would die. His body temperature was rising rapidly, and he began to sweat .

"Shut up," Zell muttered, putting his hand over his mouth. "You're going to get us caught. The pain'll go away, just hold on."

"Like I always say," a voice laughed triumphantly behind them. "Why have security, when you can have tonberries?"

Zell whirled around to see Cid, Wix, and three White SeeDs. They were caught.