-134. Esthar

Squall picked himself back up off the floor as the dream world ended again, and was relieved to see that the group was intact and nothing had happened in the meantime.

"You're just in time!" Edea remarked to the group. "It sounds like something's coming."

The group turned towards the tunnel as the sounds of an engine got louder. Presently enough, two cars emerged from the tunnel and pulled to a halt in front of the group. A figure dressed in the official-looking white and blue robes they'd just seen in Laguna's world stepped out of each car. One left the door open and stood behind, the other approached them.

"Welcome to Esthar." He greeted them amiably, but from the tone of his voice, he also sounded like he was exercising caution, especially as he regarded the most recently notorious member of the group. "Sorceress Edea, I believe?"

"Yes, that's right." Edea extended her hand towards the aide in an attempt to show she was on a peaceful errand. The aide accepted it, but didn't remove his gaze from her. He seemed to be examining her face for any slight hint of a threat. "I've come to see Doctor Odine."

"Please explain what this is regarding." The aide didn't drop his guard at this news.

"Yes, of course." Edea began.

"I want to see Ellone! Where is she?" Squall cut in.

"Ellone?" The aide looked even more shocked. The second man pressed a button and the opposite door on his car opened as he ducked down into the vehicle. It became apparent that the other car was to be a getaway in case of danger.

"There's no threat! She's my sister!" Squall interjected.

"Squall please. Let me handle this." Edea tried to calm him down.

The aide finally released his gaze from the group and looked back towards his companion in the other car. They held their gaze for a few seconds as if they were telepathically trying to reach a decision. Finally the aide looked back towards the group. "I think you'd better come with us." He started walking back towards the car. Edea sat in the front alongside him whilst Squall hauled Rinoa alongside him in the back. Irvine, Zell and Quistis all piled into the other car.

"Um, 'scuse me. Where are we going?" Selphie asked before she got in.

"To the Presidential Palace." The aide replied. "If you want to see Doctor Odine… Well, let's start there anyway. Please, if you'd come along."

Edea nodded at Selphie who climbed into the vacant seat Irvine had left for her.

With that, the cars started their engines and set off back through the tunnel they'd emerged from.

If they'd thought Esthar had looked impressive from what they'd seen in Laguna's dream world, the group's jaws all hung open as they emerged from the tunnel to behold the city in all it's glory. Huge towers, higher than any building they'd ever seen before loomed up everywhere they looked. Not only were the buildings so high, but it seemed the entire city was built to accommodate the enormity of it all. The roads and pavements were built high on pillars around the buildings as well. All round them, floating platforms whisked people to and fro between different areas of the city as they went about their lives. In their car, Zell whistled slowly in admiration, Selphie's eyes bulged as she stared out of the window, her face pressed against the glass, Irvine was nodding his head, impressed; even Quistis, normally so confident and assured was quite happy to look out of her depth this time. The occupants of the other car were more subdued however; despite the display of impressive technology around them, both Squall and Edea were silently worrying about what would happen if the city couldn't give them the answers they were looking for.

Presently, they pulled up outside the largest building of all, seemingly as wide as it was tall; at least the main part. Even higher above that, a large dome decorated the top, towering high above and overlooking the entire city stretched out beneath it.

"Whoa!" was all Zell could manage for once.

"Man, Esthar's President must be a real hotshot!" Irvine breathed in agreement.

"Please, follow me." The aide ushered them inside. None of the group spoke as they were led down the corridor, just looked around in awe at their surroundings. The view over Esthar as they boarded a lift to carry them towards the top of the palace was unlike anything they'd ever seen before. The previous descriptions they'd heard and the view from Trabia canyon that they'd seen in Laguna's dream didn't even seem to do half the justice of the city below them that stretched away in all directions. Even the mountains where they'd come down through the salt lake was only just visible near the horizon. Despite the distance, the group could now just about make out a wall built across it.

"What an incredible city!" Even Squall was awestruck. For the aide of course, it was all too familiar, and took no notice as he ushered them into the bottom of the dome, business as usual.

Despite the futuristic décor all around, with a desk in the middle attended by a young woman (still in the robes that seemed to be Esthar fashion), a long bench on each side of the wall before it and a set of doors after it, the room that they were subsequently led into was clearly a reception. The group sat down on the bench on one side as Squall laid Rinoa down on the other as they waited for whatever was going to happen next; it seemed this was the only thing they could call familiar in this city.

The aide went to the receptionist and spoke quietly to her, just out of the audible range of the others. She nodded her head in return and cast a smile towards the group. "I'll be taking my leave then." The aide spoke up this time and turned to the group. "Please, wait here. Someone will be with you shortly."

"Thank you for your help." Edea remembered herself as the rest of the group merely nodded or waved goodbye.

"How long's not long?" Zell made a face. He didn't like waiting around.

"Not long at all!" Came a familiar voice from behind one of the doors that opened and for the first time, with the exception of Ellone, the group all beheld a character they'd seen from the dream world with their own eyes as Amis strode into the room. Without saying a word, the group all seemed to decide to remain silent on this fact however; none of them knew quite how to greet a man they'd only seen in the past through someone else's eyes. "So then. You're the first visitors we've had in Esthar for quite some time now."

"This whole city's camouflaged?" Quistis inquired.

"The border is a set of tessellating hexagonal ultra high-resolution screens." Amis replied. "They all show an extension of the territory around the city. Our main security feature."

"Security? From what? What do you guys have to be frightened of?" Zell was stunned. "You can take anyone, just look around this place! You've…"

"Do you want another war?" Amis abruptly cut in. "We certainly don't! As for what we protect against, well." He turned as his aide had done at the border. "Sorceress Edea, I believe?"

"I have not come as a threat." Edea stood up. "Despite what you may believe, I am not the one who inherited Sorceress Adel's powers…"

"I know." Amis cut in again, this time surprising all the group. "We made sure of that a long time ago. But despite the fact that we now try and stay out of the affairs of the rest of the world, we are not unaware of the events that have been occurring in Galbadia recently."

"I know how it must appear" Edea began again. "But those were not my actions. Despite how it may sound, I was not in control of my body. I was at the control of another Sorceress…"

"We are familiar with Sorceress Ultimecia as well." Amis cut in for a third time, this time completely stunning the group.

"How…" began Selphie.

"We have been looking after Ellone, remember?" Amis reminded them. "And despite the fact you are no longer under her control, the fact you remain a target, I have to admit, is of great concern to us. We didn't remove Adel from power to be terrorised by a more powerful Sorceress."

"That is the very reason for my visit!" Edea exclaimed, having found a way to get to the point. "I seek Doctor Odine's help. I wish my Sorceress's powers to be removed. I wish to be free of Sorceress Ultimecia's control forever!"

"Well…" Amis began, but it was his turn to be interrupted.

"Zat vill be easy!" Again, the aged, but familiar figure of Doctor Odine strolled into the room, scarcely acknowledging the group. "We just exorcise the Sorceress! There iz nothing Odine can't do!"

"Well, if that's ok…" Amis shrugged. "I guess that's that one taken care of. So then." he turned his attention to Squall. "You wish to see Ellone?"

"Where is she?" Squall leapt to his feet. "I have to bring Rinoa to her. I need to see her now."

"It's not quite that easy." Amis started to explain.

"I don't care! Just let me see her!"

Both Amis and Odine looked silently at Squall for a couple of seconds, then Odine merely shrugged. "Do as he says. I give ze permission."

Amis' mouth hung open slightly, for the second time, seemingly at a loss. "…Very well." he conceded.

"But there iz one condition!" Odine strode over to where Rinoa was lying comatose on the other bench. "You will allow me to observe zis girl!"

"Well?" Amis turned to Squall. "We would need time to prepare to take you to Ellone. So, you will leave the girl with us until then?"

"They may be able to find out a way to help her!" Selphie offered.

"Accept the offer Squall!" It was about the closest to an order Squall had heard from Edea in his life.

"You'd better not do anything to hurt her!" Squall reluctantly agreed.

"There's nothing to worry about." Amis reassured him. "Why don't you go and take a look at the city and come back tomorrow morning. We should be all ready to go then."

"Ready for what? What's so complicated?" Squall was perplexed.

Amis finally smiled. "You'll see tomorrow. I'll send someone to take you to a hotel. We'll even pay for it. How does that sound?"

With nothing else to say, the group merely nodded.

"I still don't get why it should be so complicated!" Squall argued as the group strode down the hall to where there were taxis waiting for them at the exit to the palace.

"Look around you man!" Zell gestured around. "I can't see anything simple about this place! Even the cars float above the roads, which just happen to be blue! Well, I can't wait to see this hotel at any rate!" he grinned broadly.

Squall did not share the excitement. "But surely it's just a case of A to B?"

"It's a big city, Squall." Quistis reasoned. "She could be the other side of it for all we know."

"And we don't even know how big the city is." Irvine nodded in agreement.

"Plus, with the threat of Ultimecia out there, wherever she is, I'm sure the security won't be light." Edea added. "I put her on the White SeeD ship purely to make it very hard for anyone to find, or get to her. I'm sure whoever's in charge here has done the same, especially if they know about the recent events."

"Matron's right Squall." Quistis agreed. "I think you should probably be a bit more concerned if we were able to walk right to her by just looking her up in the phone book."

"If they even use something as primitive as books here." Zell raised an eyebrow.

"The Kramer party, I presume?" the first taxi driver interrupted them.

"That's correct." Edea nodded.

"Do you have any bags or luggage?"

"No. We were just told reservations had been made in the hotel?"

The driver nodded. "We've been instructed by the palace to take you to the Hyne Hotel. It's one of the finest in Esthar. I'm sure you'll find it adequate."

Biggs was not a happy man. Life on board this ship was getting more mind-numbingly tedious and repetitive by the day and he wasn't sure just how much more he could take. The men he was in charge of were clearly feeling the same as well; maintaining order was getting harder and harder by the day. Every time he thought about how much power he'd had and lost over the last month, he got twice as angry.

For the third night in a row now, he'd retired to his quarters in the foulest of moods, taking it out on the crew as he left and now, just as he'd finally fallen asleep, someone was shaking him to wake him up. He roared up ready to give the man hell.

"I'm so sorry Lieutenant Biggs!" Wedge retreated, knowing his superior's foul moods. "You know I wouldn't wake you like this unless it was important!"

Biggs hesitated. This, he conceded, was true. The little shit had at least learned when to make himself scarce. "What is it?" he finally enquired.

"Sir, you really have to come and see this!" Wedge gestured towards the door. "It's the readings, sir, we've never seen anything like them."

"I'll be on the bridge in a minute. Let me get dressed." Biggs grumbled.

"He wasn't wrong either!" Irvine gasped as he looked around the reception as Edea was checking in with the aid of the escort they'd been given. "And I thought we got pampered in Deling City!"

"Special SeeD privileges, eh Zell?" Selphie gave him a wink to the shock of Irvine.

"H-Hey, what's that meant to mean?" he stammered.

"You thought the hotel was good? I was impressed by our own carriage on the train on our first mission!" Zell scratched the back of his head awkwardly, then grinned. "You reckon we can order refreshments?"

"Well, why not?" Irvine flashed a smile at Selphie, the irony of this being reminiscent of the moment when they were first introduced to Laguna and subsequently Ellone was lost on him. "You want to check out Esthar hospitality?" he was back on form now the pressure was off.

Before anyone could reply, Edea approached them. "OK, we've checked in then." she informed them before handing each of the group are card which they all looked at cluelessly.

"Uh, what do we do with these?" Selphie finally broke the silence.

Even Edea pulled a face. "Don't ask me how they work." She told them. "Apparently, if you go to one of the lifts, you just flash your card at some sensor and it'll take you straight to your room. Just use it if you want to get anything like food and drink as well. They say the palace is providing everything anyway."

"Don't lifts just go up and down?" Selphie was puzzled.

"Just up and down?" Zell looked at her. "In this place? I don't think so somehow."

The final part seemed more important to Irvine. "So, do we accept their hospitality in the restaurant then?" he addressed the group, but seemed mainly focused on Selphie.

"Do you really think we should?" Squall finally broke his silence.

"Well, why not?" Quistis reasoned. "I'm not saying we should take advantage, but I think they'd at least expect us to have a meal and something to drink."

"It has been a long day Squall." Zell admitted.

"Yeah! We should! It's been a while since we've been able just to have fun as a group anyway!" Selphie was enthusiastic.

"It's been a longer day for me." Squall shook his head and even looked apologetic. "I'm not in the mood anyway. Go and relax if you want, but I wouldn't be much fun. I'll get something on my own." In spite of himself, he managed to smile. "I'm sure we can at least get room service in this place."

The group all returned the smile. "OK, you probably should get some rest then Squall." Quistis nodded.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll join you." Edea spoke. "I too, have many things on my mind."

The group nodded and watched as Squall and Edea strode off towards the lifts, stifled a chuckle as they watched the system get the better of them and a porter had to assist them, then turned to face each other.

"Shall we then?" Irvine enquired.

"Well, what is it?" Biggs enquired as he threw the door to the bridge opened, slightly surprised at how the crew didn't back away as usual, but actually appeared pleased to see him.

"Sir, listen to this!" a technician pulled off his earphones and handed them to him.

Biggs snatched the earphones off the man and thrust them over his ears. Every frequent interval he heard a beep, starting loudly but fading away gradually to silence, followed by the same noise seemingly in reverse.

"What am I meant to be listening to?" he snapped at the technician.

"It's sonar, sir." The technician informed him. "We send sound waves down into the ocean, they rebound off the floor and from the time it takes, we can calculate the depths."

"So?" Biggs snarled; he hadn't got out of bed just to listen to a lecture on deep sea exploration.

"Well, up until today, we'd never got any reading at all, the ocean was too deep."

"So you woke me up, to tell me, we're at a shallower part of the ocean?" Biggs' fury started to rise again.

"There was no gentle rise, sir." Wedge interjected. "We were going along, with nothing, and then all of a sudden, we were getting a response that the floor was only about 2 miles below us."

"The sonar is good to 3 miles." The technician continued. "That means something has just jutted out at least a mile from the ocean floor with no rise at all."

"We carried out further tests in the area around where it started." Another technician offered his piece. "From the results we've got, here's the topographic image." he gestured to the screen he was sitting in front of.

The screen showed entirely dark green, save for the top corner where a bright green square that filled it.

"Could you please, just spare me the technical details, and get to the point?" Biggs spoke, exasperated through gritted teeth.

"What you're seeing is a pillar, at least 1 mile deep forming a perfect right-angle above the ocean floor." Wedge explained.

"Impossible!" Biggs snorted. "Nothing natural could form that."

"Exactly!" The technician cut in.

"You mean…" Biggs finally thought he understood why he'd been woken up.

"We don't know for sure." Wedge cut in. "We've sent divers down to try and get some visual, we should be getting some results through soon." he gestured towards a screen where video relay was coming through. All they could see so far was cloudy images from where the light was shining through the water. For five minutes, no more words were spoken, but then the crew all craned forwards as something black seemed to approach, their eyes bulging as the image on the screen came into sharper focus.

"You!" Biggs spun round and pointed towards where one sailor was sitting by a telephone, smiling for the first time in over a month. "Put me straight through to the presidential residence in Deling City!"

"Is this even edible?" Zell peered at the morsel attached to the end of his fork.

"It's nice. Some shellfish they get round here!" Selphie chewed through her meal with every sign of enjoyment.

"The recipe says it's called 'calamari'." Quistis shrugged. "I think it tastes a bit like onion rings."

Zell instantly spat his food out. "I've heard of calamari! That's squid!" he choked.

"Really?" Irvine looked up. "I'd never have thought of trying squid before, but I have to say, it's quite nice." he swallowed. "And we can order more, can't we?" he grinned this time.

"Sorry Zell, I don't think you're getting hotdogs over here." Selphie giggled.

"Every city should have hotdogs." Zell muttered, slightly disgruntled.

"Well Zell, I can see steak on the menu." Irvine offered. "Does that help matters?"

"As long as they don't do it rare." Zell muttered again.

"So you want meat, but won't even accept it done properly?" Irvine raised a grin. "I'll ask the waitress for one!" he noted Zell's glower, smoothed his hair back and excused himself. It was the group's turn to notice Selphie's displeasure this time.

"What?" Zell raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it's…" Selphie looked uncomfortable.

Quistis quickly cut in however. "You can't choose it Selphie." she offered. "He's made it clear." she sighed slightly. "You can either respond or reject him."

"Uhh, is this girl talk time?" Zell realised his position.

"Why? Is there something you need to talk about?" Quistis teased.

"A certain girl from the library?" Selphie added.

"Well, I have to say, I'm worried about Squall." Zell admitted.

"And you're not the only one." Irvine admitted as he returned to the table. "Sorry to get all serious, but…"he scratched his head. "I feel kind of guilty!"

"What do you mean?" Selphie was intrigued.

"Ah, man." Irvine avoided anyone's gaze. "Well, I think we all noticed how removed he was from everyone."

"He doesn't like to reveal himself." Quistis agreed.

"Except around Rinoa." Irvine added, at which they all either shrugged or nodded, nobody quite willing to concede what he was saying until he'd said his entire piece. "So, I thought I'd try and hook them up, and it kinda worked. But then he lost Rinoa, and well… I know he found it hard to get over Ellone, now he's finding it worse. I… just well.. feel, if I'd never said anything about Ellone, or tried to set him and Rinoa up, I'd never have made him feel even worse that he is now."

"But we're here to see Ellone!" Selphie piped up. "She'll put them together again."

The rest of the group avoided her eyes.

"Selphie…" Irvine tried to begin.

"I'll do this one." Quistis offered. "Why don't you boys go to the bar and get another beer or something?"

"We'll do that." Zell answered, sounding subdued as they made their exit.

"Selphie…" Quistis began subtlety, but realised there was no easy way around it. "Selphie, there are no guarantees anywhere I'm afraid. I know you like to look on the bright side of things, but it doesn't always work the way you want. I know from experience. I'm sorry."

"At least I see the bright side of things!" Selphie gulped as Quistis realised she'd hit her harder than she'd intended to.

"But you might never see the bright side." Quistis sighed. "I'm starting to see what Squall meant. As long as you don't get your hopes up, you won't get disappointed."

"Oh man. My turn I guess." Zell sighed. "Irvine, you could never have known man. You did what you thought was best. And it was, it's just…"

"No-one could've known what would happen." Selphie finished. "We all knew what you were trying to do. What happened with Rinoa was…"

"Something else." Quistis finished.

"Look, I'm not hungry anymore." Zell scratched his head. "How about we just get up tomorrow and be there for Squall?"

The group nodded and made their way to their rooms, very much surprising the waitress who brought out the best cut of steak on the menu to an empty table. She at least was pleased to ensure it didn't go to waste.

Across the ocean, things were not going so well.

"Sir, we can have this excavated within a month." The aide was saying. "But the cost will be…"

"…Too slow!" Seifer interjected. "I want it finished by tomorrow morning."

"But sir!" The aide gasped. "We just don't have the resources!"

"And why not?" Seifer slid an evil eye at his aide, having the desired effect of making him cower.

"Well, for starters, the amount of divers needed…"

"Pull them all in." Seifer retorted. "Anyone with diving experience."

"Well, that's fine." The aide pulled his collar loose. "But we simply don't have enough ships to transport them or oxygen to supply them to all…"

"Then FIND THEM!" Seifer drew himself up to full height towards his aide.

"But sir!" The aide begged. "The only way we could do that would be to commission fishing boats and take…"

"DO IT!!!!" Seifer roared, grabbing his gun blade, as his aide scuttled away in terror, neither sure of who he was more afraid of; Seifer, or the public who were bound to be appalled.

The group all slept uneasily that night. Squall only had thoughts for Rinoa. Edea had nightmares about being possessed again and viewing herself wreaking terror, unable to stop herself. Guilt was plaguing Irvine for something he'd only tried to help with. Selphie wasn't liking the idea of looking on the darker side of life and both Zell and Quistis were concerned with how their friends were doing. None of this showed in the morning however as the group gathered in the lobby the following morning where Amis was waiting for them.

"Good morning." he greeted them more cordially this time now that he didn't feel he had to be on his guard. "Did you all sleep well?"

"Very well thank you." Edea lied. "It was very good of you to put us up like this."

"Not at all." Amis replied. "I spoke to the President yesterday who asked me to extend you every courtesy on this trip."

"Well… Thank you very much." Edea replied, uncertain as to what they'd done to receive such privileges. She turned round to the rest of the group who looked either impressed, or merely shrugged as if to say 'Don't ask me why!'

"Is everyone ready to leave?" Amis enquired of the group who all nodded or responded in the affirmative, Squall most eagerly of all. "Well then, we have a group taxi waiting outside. Would you care to follow me please?"

With that, the group boarded the taxi and allowed themselves to be escorted through Esthar. Whilst they were slowly coming to terms with Esthar, they remained fascinated by the views of the city. They travelled for over an hour, exchanging few words other than to point out various sights of interest that caught their interest, Amis doing his best to explain them to the group. It was after about an hour and a half when they noticed that the city below the high roads was becoming shallower and the buildings above them shorter. Soon, the road they were travelling on was firmly on the ground and the buildings, despite the futuristic architecture remaining, were no taller than the houses back home.

"Suburban Esthar, huh?" Irvine grinned.

"We're leaving the city?" Quistis turned to Amis.

"The base is about another hour outside the city." Amis nodded. "The base was built as far away from the city as we could in case of any accidents during the early days."

"Accidents?" Squall tuned into the conversation. "What kind of accidents? Is Rinoa in any danger?"

"None whatsoever." Amis reassured him. "The base itself was built during Adel's reign, mainly to conduct research into Lunatic Pandora; specifically the connection between the moon and Tears Point. With something that was believed to be linked to the Lunar Cry, they decided researching in the city wasn't a wise idea. I'm sure the fate of Centra is well known to you?"

The group all nodded; the destruction of Centra by the Lunar Cry was a well known historical piece.

"So why are we going to somewhere linked to the Lunar Cry?" Squall was still on guard.

"Calm down, Mr Leonheart." Amis laughed slightly. "I said it WAS built for research into Lunatic Pandora. It serves a very different purpose now."

"What purpose?" Zell was intrigued.

"Two really. It is called the Sorceress Memorial. The garden was built as a tribute to all those who suffered during the Sorceress War under Adel's rule."

"Why all the way out here?" Irvine asked.

"It was the site where Adel was defeated and confined." Amis informed them.

"So what happened there?" Edea asked. The group all leaned forward, interested; the fate of Adel and the end of the Sorceress War was still a mystery outside of Esthar. "I mean, who inherited her powers?"

"Yeah, how did the war end?" Zell enthused. "No-one knows what happened there!"

"This is what I was starting to tell you about yesterday." Amis sat back, happy to answer their questions. "The answer is: Nobody received Adel's powers because we never killed her." He paused to examine the reaction on the faces of the group.

"You mean she IS still out there?" Edea enquired.

"Yes and no." Amis replied. "She is alive in the loosest possible sense of the word. It was one of the big debates in the Adel Resistance Movement, of which I was a member myself."

The group nodded, not wanting to reveal that they already knew this through Laguna's dream.

"Well, as long as she was still alive, she was capable of wreaking havoc. If we killed her, someone else would have received her powers as I'm sure you're aware." he glanced towards Edea at this point, who merely nodded in agreement. "So we didn't want that either. Not every Sorceress is benign like yourself." Edea smiled this time. "And so there was the risk that by killing Adel we may have given her powers to someone even worse. So in the end, it was decided to imprison her."

"But what sort of prison could have held a Sorceress so powerful?" Edea was intrigued.

"A VERY special one." Amis nodded his agreement. "Adel was subdued and placed in a cryogenic field keeping her in a coma in suspended animation."

"A coma which she could never wake up from?" Squall spoke up.

"Ah, things begin to come together now?" Amis smiled at Squall. "That is why Doctor Odine told me he wanted to examine your friend Rinoa, to see if there were similarities between the state she is in and the state we left Adel in."

"And?" Squall sat up in expectation.

"I don't know." Amis replied. "I'm not a doctor!" he added seeing Squall's reaction. "Doctor Odine sent the information he gathered, along with Rinoa to the base. If Ellone can find out what happened to her, there is a good chance we can compare the effects and find a way to revive her."

A wave of relief swept over the group. "Thank you!" Squall finally smiled.

"Not a problem." Amis waved his hand as if was neither here nor there. "It always helps us to further our knowledge anyway. Let's just say we're doing each other a favour, yes?"

"Either way suits us!" Irvine grinned.

"Glad to hear it." Amis smiled back. "So then, to answer your other questions. Mainly to do with the sealing of our border. As you probably know, we declared an end to the war the instant Adel was defeated. We had our means to deal with Adel; our next concern was, as you can imagine, political backlash from other countries. Especially if they found out Adel wasn't dead. Two worries: Some fanatic may try and free her. Other countries may demand an execution and set up someone more dangerous with her powers, as I explained before. One solution: seal our border and make it our problem. From what we've gathered, it seems to have worked up until now. Most people seemed to be content enough with the fact that the war was over."

"So you said this place was a memorial with two purposes?" Zell regressed the conversation a bit. "Let me guess, the other purposes is Adel's prison, right?"

"Close, but not quite." Amis nodded. "To seal Adel fully, we had to make sure she couldn't be freed by anyone, so the prison, or 'Adel's Tomb' as it's known had to be shielded from all electromagnetic and sound waves, including light, radio, telepathic and other junctioning pathways."

"That's impossible, surely." Quistis interjected. "There's nowhere on earth you could achieve that."

"Quite right." Amis grinned broadly this time. "We sent the prison into orbit, where it is constantly monitored via our satellite and space station."

"In SPACE?" Squall finally took this in

"It's the most inaccessible prison in the world!" Amis kept grinning. "It's also where we're keeping Ellone to protect her from Ultimecia. Although, she enjoys much more luxurious accommodation of course. No, the memorial is also the base where we launch our shuttle ships between here and Adel's Tomb. It's the only access point to it in the whole world."

"That explains a few things." Zell nodded. "Radio communication for a start."

"And why we had to spend overnight at the hotel." Irvine agreed. "We certainly couldn't have gone straight there from the Palace."

"What do you mean?" It was Amis' turn for questions.

"Well, I'm guessing there's a lot of preparation in sending one of these shuttles up to the Tomb." Irvine replied.

"No, not that." Amis shook his head. "Well, yes, you're quite right. You're lucky we were sending someone up there today anyway, it normally takes a good couple of weeks. I mean what you said about radio communication?"

"Ever since the end of the war, worldwide radio communication became impossible." Quistis explained. "Most channels are just covered in static. I'm guessing that the protective field around Adel's Tomb scrambles the waves too much."

"Are you serious?" Amis was unsure how to react to this, this was certainly news to him.

"All trans-continental communication is now done by cable." Zell nodded. "Except there's a lot of areas where the cables have been damaged by monsters etc."

"Well… this is one side effect we weren't aware of." Amis looked around uncomfortably.

"I don't think this is something worth getting too upset about." Edea broke in. "I think keeping the world at peace from Adel, and subsequently Ultimecia is a lot more important than whether people can watch their favourite TV programmes."

"Well, I'm glad you agree." Amis breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, I think that's all the important details. Any other questions?"

Squall looked up, out of the window for a few minutes, then back at Amis.

"I'm really going into space?"

"Is that the base? I thought it would be bigger!" Selphie looked around at her surroundings, feeling slightly disappointed as she stepped out of the taxi.

"This is it, sorry." Amis smiled, slightly apologetically at her. "It only really serves as a memorial spot for the war and the connection point for those going to Adel's Tomb. It doesn't really need anything else. Well, shall we go inside?"

He led the way into a small control room where he was greeted by a member of the facility.

"Hello Amis." She was a young woman, sporting blonde hair, only slightly below her shoulders. She was dressed in a smart, silver suit and trousers, unlike the robes they'd seen the majority of the people in Esthar wearing. "My name's Sylphia. May I ask who it is whose travelling?"

"I am." Squall replied simply as he stepped forwards.

"OK." Sylphia nodded. "The girl Rinoa's already on board. Is there anyone else travelling?"

The group had a quick conference.

"Well, are we all going?" Irvine inquired, not quite sure if he fancied the trip into space.

Edea shook her head. "I have to return to the city to see Doctor Odine. As long as I still possess the Sorceresses power, I am still a danger to everyone."

"Then I don't think you should travel alone." Amis remembered why he had initially been concerned.

"I don't want to put any of you at risk." Edea smiled.

Unperturbed, Zell stepped forward. "Matron, I would be honoured to serve as your guard again, after all you've done for us."

"Are you sure Zell?" Squall checked.

"I have no problem if he wants to." Edea's smile was kinder this time. "I suppose I should have someone to stay with me, just in case really. Especially SeeDs."

The group laughed, but not too hard; it was a way of venting some of the tension more than the humour of the moment.

"Then you should all stay." Squall nodded. "My mission is now in my hands. Everyone else, your task is to guard Matron now."

"Hey! It's still our business!" Selphie protested. "You and Rinoa are our friends. We care about you two as well!"

"She's right, Squall." Quistis patted him lightly on the arm. "Look, this is a big trip. You don't know what you might find. Whatever happened to Rinoa, whatever we find, the answers may be something we can help with. I'll come with you."

"Yeah! Me too!" Selphie leapt in excitement.

"Well, if that's where we're going…" Irvine nodded, uneasily.

"No, we shouldn't all go." Squall shook his head. "You're right, I would appreciate the company, but I have to consider what's more important. Irvine, I can see you don't really want to, so I won't force you. Selphie, you should stay as well."

The group all looked surprised at this; Squall had always tried to keep Irvine and Selphie apart.

"Irvine needs someone to look after him, I think." Squall smiled this time. "Besides which, we have a shooter, a close range fighter, and should something happen to Matron, Selphie's our next best magic user. I think that completes the team really."

They all nodded in agreement. "What about me?" Quistis spoke up.

"Do you still want to come?" Squall asked.

"I can't let you go on your own." She replied. "For any number of reasons."

"Then these are the travellers." Squall turned to Sylphia.

"Well then, through this door…" Sylphia led them away.

The rest of the group watched in silence as their friends were led away, to go further than any of them had ever travelled before.

"They'll be fine. Don't worry about it." Amis reassured them. "Come on, this part is done; we should get back to the city. Doctor Odine is expecting you." he led them back to where the taxi was waiting.

The return journey felt longer to the group and was completed mainly in silence once again; this time not through the fascination of their surroundings, but through worry of their friends. Despite Amis' reassuring words, the thought of leaving the planet was something the group had never even considered and as far as they were concerned, Squall and Quistis were heading into a whole new world.

This point was put forward by a thoughtful Irvine as they disembarked outside Odine's lab back in the city.

"Just think though, most people back home would have thought that about us going into Esthar!" Selphie piped up. "What will people say when we tell them about what we've seen?"

Before anyone could answer, the group were interrupted by a distant rumbling sound.

"What's that?" Irvine turned to Amis, who for once, was at a loss for words.

"I don't know. It sounds like thunder, but…" they all turned their heads upwards to see a cloudless sky.

"Thunder doesn't keep on rumbling like that either." Zell remarked.

"It's probably nothing, but we should probably have a look." Amis seemed a tad concerned. "Follow me." he gestured to a nearby platform with chairs all around the edge. Zell recognised it as one of the lifts that he'd seen in Laguna's dream and hence was the only one other than Amis who failed to be surprised as it suddenly levitated and began to carry the group up above the city.

"Where are we going?" Irvine asked.

"Just up to the skyway." Amis replied, seemingly a bit more calmer than he looked. "It's the highest road in the city. Only the palace is higher. We're just going to have a bit of a lookout, just in case."

The lift set them down, the entire city stretching down below them.

"Look at this!" Selphie exclaimed. "You can see everywhere…" she stopped abruptly as she faced the direction the rumbling was coming from.

The group all turned to face the same way, their eyes bulging as they saw what she did. Amis meanwhile had dropped to his knees, his face as pale as a sheet of paper, and pure terror in his eyes. Slowly manifesting itself on the horizon was the biggest thing they'd ever seen. Ash black, almost monolithic in appearance, all light appeared to be swallowed by it. The top of the structure was the narrowest part as it slowly tapered out becoming bigger and bigger. It was already twice as high as the mountains around the Great Salt Lake from which it had come and it was getting bigger and bigger as it got closer and closer…