The wind howled as dark clouds settled over the small town of Balamb. As suddenly as the clouds had appeared, raindrops began to pelt down from the sky and the air grew heavy. A man wearing a long overcoat with a dark gray hat pulled his collar up and snuggled his face into it in order to maintain warm and protected from the newly hatched storm. He rushed across Mayhill Street and jogged along the sidewalk, stopping for a moment at every door to peer at what the house number was.
“This is seventy-seven,” the man said, not talking to anyone in particular but merely stating it out loud to himself.
As soon as the words had left his lips, the man felt embarrassed. True, he was an old man, but still he had never expected to be talking to himself. He thought of this action as a kind of admission of his age. He looked around to see if anyone had over heard his ramblings, but to his astonishment, the rain was pouring down so hard such a fast speed that he could barely see two feet in front of himself. He shrugged off his uncertainties about himself and continued on with his task. The gentleman was soaked to the bone by the time he had reached house number eighty-five, although it was only a few houses away from seventy-seven, where he had been only a moderately wet from the storm. He walked to the door of his destination and came as close to it as he possibly could in order to get the complete use out of the small overhang. He took off his sopping wet hat and pounded at the large wooden door. The man waited a minute or two, but no one answered. He sighed and raised his hand up, ready to pound on it again when the door was abruptly pulled open.
“Oh, hello Cid,” Squall said in a surprised tone as he opened the door to his new home. “You must be soaking wet!”
Squall gestured for Cid to enter the little house, shutting the door tightly behind them.
Squall promptly took his unexpected guest’s hat along with his coat. Then, Cid was led down a narrow hallway and into a cozy living room. Squall seated himself on the couch and motioned for his visitor to do the same.
“So, what brings you here? Trouble at Balamb Garden? Natural disasters?” Squall smiled. “Or is the end of the world coming?”
“Very funny,” Cid mumbled. This was no time for jokes or follies. Not a minute more could be wasted on small talk, although he was very glad that Squall was in such a pleasant mood.
“Now,” Cid took on a more serious tone to his voice, “I know that you have taken a leave of absence . . . .”
“Exactly.” Squall interrupted cheerfully, “So what terrible thing are you here to inform me about?”
Squall could not keep the smile off his face. He was in too good a mood. After all, he had taken off from his position as Headmaster at Balamb Garden (leaving Cid in charge) because of a broken leg. This was practically healed, but he wasn’t running to go back to work just yet. He wanted to spend a little more time with his wife, Rinoa. They had just been married last year and his injury provided the perfect excuse for him to stay home and be with her more.
Cid cleared his throat and stared seriously into Squall’s eyes. Squall got the message and sat up straight to show that Cid had his full attention.
“As I was saying,” Cid began, “you know about the disease that has plagued Trabia Garden, right?”
Squall simply nodded, not trusting his voice to be able to keep up the act of seriousness. He was barely able to stop himself from bursting out with uncontrollable laughter as it was, with his mouth CLOSED!
“Well, I had requested that Fuujin go to Trabia to help those doctors get organized,” Cid stopped and smiled to himself.
Cid knew that Fuujin would have everyone so nervous and scared, they would hardly stop working with her around.
“And I sent out a hand full of SeeDs to get the ingredients,” Cid hesitated, “including Zell . . . .”
Squall flinched as the smile disappeared from his face. What did Zell have to do with this? His heart sank and his good mood diminished into nothing as the possibilities of all the horrible things that might have happened to his friend flashed before his eyes.
Cid, giving Squall a little time to prepare for the bad news about his best friend Zell, waited patiently until Squall raised his pale worry-stricken face to his own before continuing with the dilemma.
“Zell,” Cid took a deep breath, “was sent to Kempi Island with the assignment to bring back a supply of the Phlemnesium Herb. He had reported in late, as usual, and he was issued a rowboat because it was the only vehicle in working condition that he would be able to use to get to a island.”
“Kempi Island?” Squall questioned. “Isn’t that more than ten hours from Balamb by boat?”
Cid nodded his head.
“Around seven hours after Zell’s departure, a doctor named Wesley Stone came up with a very promising mixture. One of its main ingredients is the herb that Zell went in search of and the lab has barely any of it left. They can’t really see if the medicine has any major drawbacks yet and can’t spare any of their reserves for testing. We tried to contact Zell via radio in order to ask him to locate the Plemnesium Herb on Kempi Island and send us its where-a bouts. There was no answer. An hour and a half later, our computer said that his radio was unreachable. Our communication with him was cut off.”
Cid stopped and looked up at Squall whose face was contorted with disbelief and confusion.
“Wha . . . what,” Squall stuttered in practically a whisper, “what does that mean?”
Cid sighed.
“We don’t know exactly, but it certainly DOESN’T mean that Zell, well, that he . . . . ,” Cid’s voice droned out, but Squall caught his drift.
“He’s not.” Squall suddenly declared as he stood up. “I’ll find him, . . . . I have to find him.”
Cid rose to his feet and put his hand on Squall’s shoulder. He had never seen Squall so worked up before, and you could never tell what was going on in that head of his.
“Calm down,” Cid said softly, trying to comfort the young man. “We’re working on finding him. I’ve already sent for Selphie to fly from Trabia back to Balamb. She’ll lead the search party.”
“I can lead the . . . . ,” Squall started but Cid quickly raised his hand to silence him.
“Selphie can do it, and besides, SeeD needs YOU to be at the Garden.”
Squall reluctantly shook his head in agreement. He knew that he would have to remain at Balamb Garden instead of leading the mission to find Zell.
“Your right,” Squall stubbornly admitted. “What’s the plan?”
“I’ll explain it all when we get to the Garden,” Cid told his young companion as he put on his slightly damp hat and coat.
Squall began to slip on his coat but froze abruptly.
“You start without me,” he said hesitantly. “I have to talk to Rinoa before I leave. She went out to meet my sister, Ellone, at the train station and should be back soon. Plus, I’ve got to get a few things together first.”
Without another word, Cid nodded and stepped out into the rain. He rain down the street as Squall watched from the doorway.
“Oh god,” Squall muttered to himself as he slowly closed the door.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________