(By the way, Tylor's arm is still broken. He'll be out of the cast by chapter 27, though.)

Chapter 25:

“Don’t give up. You’re the only one who can save us.”

“Nngh… wha!?” Tylor woke up the next morning in his bed. He thought he heard a voice in his sleep, but he looked around and found no one in his room but himself.

Yesterday’s events had left him tired. Cid told him to go to bed, that they would talk first thing the next morning.

“Tylor, please report to the Headmaster’s office.”

Speak of the devil.

Tylor got out of bed and put on his jacket and cargo pants. As he strapped his swords on his back he thought about that voice he heard just before he woke up. He had heard that voice before, but he couldn’t remember where.

When he made it to Cid’s office he was greeted by Quistis. “Good morning, Tylor. I hope you got enough sleep last night.”

“Quistis? What are you doing here?”

“Cid wants me to be here when he discusses your file.” Great. Just what he needed, an audience.

Together they went into the office and rode the small elevator up to the cockpit. There they saw Cid waiting patiently for them.

“You wanted to speak with me, headmaster Cid?”

“Yes, I wanted to speak with both of you about the information Martine sent me.”

“So, what’s in his file?” Quistis asked.

“Nothing.”

They were silent for a moment. “Nothing? What do you mean nothing?”

“Martine couldn’t find Tylor’s files from when he attended Galbadia Garden. He sent me a message saying nobody by that name had ever attended his school.”

“But, that can’t be right. Tylor told us he was from Galbadia Garden.”

“Did he now?”

Quistis and Cid both looked at him. He couldn’t meet either of their gazes. Quistis’ jaw dropped when she realized what was going on. “Tylor… You lied to us.”

“I’m sorry Quistis. I had no choice.”

“All this time, you’ve been lying to us. Why?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

“Because you won’t believe me if I told you.”

“How can I trust you now that I know you’ve been lying to us this whole time? How can I believe anything you tell me?”

“I guess you can’t…”

“Tylor, what do you have to say for yourself?” Cid asked.

He sighed. “What I did was inexcusable. I made fools of everyone in the Garden. I can only hope that you can find it in your hearts to forgive me.”

“I see.” Cid turned away to look out the window. “You are dismissed.”

Quistis: “What?”

Tylor: “What?”

“I said you’re dismissed. There’s nothing else to talk about.”

“That’s it?” Tylor asked. “You’re not even going to punish me?”

“Headmaster, why are you letting him off? Garden regulation states that he should be expelled.”

“True, he was never a member of Balamb Garden to begin with. But what has he done for us?” He turned to face Tylor. “Tylor, tell us all the good things you’ve done since the exam.”

Tylor thought for a moment. “I saved Squall’s life during the exam and helped everyone escape the giant metal spider, I helped them defeat the president’s double ganger during our first mission, I saved Rinoa’s life during our mission to assassinate the sorceress, I also saved Squall from taking a fatal attack to the chest in the same night, I helped everyone break out of prison and I led Squall through the Garden’s MD level at the expense of my own safety.”

Cid turned back to Quistis. “After all he’s done for us, should we really punish him for one mistake?”

Quistis was silent for a moment. She turned to Tylor and said, “Tylor, thank you. Without your help we probably would have never made it this far.”

“I’m just happy you guys aren’t going to throw me out of the Garden.” They all laughed.

As they laughed Tylor saw something approaching the Garden at an alarming speed. The Garden was about to hit a bunch of windmills sticking out of the sea. “Uh, Cid? You’d better take a look behind you.”

“Why? What’s the ma- WHOAA!!!”

The Garden shook as they collided with one of the windmills. After that they hit another, and another. The Garden shook more violently after each collision. The three of them were hanging onto the railing for dear life. After a while the Garden stopped moving and everything was quiet.

“Uh, Cid?”

“Yes, Tylor?”

“…I think we hit something.”

Cid went to the control system and pressed a button. “Squall! This is the headmaster speaking! Please come to my office! Repeat. Please come to my office right away!”

A few minutes later Squall arrived at the cockpit. Cid was trying to keep everyone calm through the P.A. system. “Everybody, please remain calm. Also, please do not leave the Garden under any circumstances until you are permitted. We will try to get things back in order A.S.A.P. Thank you for your cooperation.”

He turned off the P.A. and faced Squall. “Ah Squall, thank you for coming. Here are your orders. We’ve landed on Fishermans Horizon. Please go ashore with Quistis, Rinoa and Tylor. Find the local mayor and apologize for this accident. Tell them that we come in peace. Take a look around the city while you’re there, too.”

“…Yes, sir.” He looked like he wanted to say something else.

“Do you have something you want to tell me?”

“No…”

“SeeD is not just a special force for combat,” He told him. “I want you to see the world, to broaden your horizons. I have high expectations of you, Squall. Now go.”

Tylor and Quistis got on the small elevator with Squall and rode it down to Cid’s office. Rinoa was there waiting for them. “What’s going on?”

Tylor explained to them, “We’ve landed at Fishermans Horizon. We have to make an official apology, then observe the town.”

“We can go out the second floor deck to get to Fishermans Horizon.” Quistis told them. “We can use it as an exit now.”

“Let’s go.” They followed Squall to the elevator and rode it down to the second floor.

Once they came out of the Garden and onto the deck they saw a group of people waiting for them. When the Garden landed it knocked down a small metal tower used by a crane. The men were now using it as a bridge to the Garden’s deck.

“Here they come.” One of them said.

Another man approached them. “We’ve come to warn you before you go ashore. Do not engage in any type of armed conflict in the city. We do not tolerate belligerence here.”

“Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Squall told them. “We are representatives of the Garden and we come in peace.”

As the men decided on what to say next Tylor whispered, “How clichéd.” Rinoa shushed him.

“Welcome to Fishermans Horizon. We just call it FH.”

“You should go visit the mayor. His house is in the middle of the city.”

“He’s the head of FH.”

“We’ll do just that.” Squall told them.

“Good. Looks like we understand each other.”

As they walked across the small bridge one of them said, “Man, this is a hell of a mess.”

“I’m terribly sorry.” Squall said. “It was inevitable… We lost control of the Garden.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. What’s important is that nobody got hurt. We love fixing stuff anyway. Kick back and enjoy your stay.” They followed the group across the arm of the crane.

As they walked one of the men asked Tylor, “Hey… that’s Balamb Garden, right?”

“That’s right. How’d you know?”

“From those patterns along the wall.”

One of the other men said, “We painted it a long time ago. Those were the good old days. When you get to the mayor’s house, tell him I said ‘hi’.”

When they got to the end of the crane arm they saw a giant inverted dome structure with glass covering every inch of it. The mayor’s house was situated in the centre. The large structure was surrounded with wooden docks and boats.

They followed the catwalk until they reached a lift. The man operating it was one of the men who welcomed them. “Going down?”

“Yes.”

“OK.” The lift’s gate opened and they got in. Before the machine started the man asked, “So, you guys going to Esthar?”

“Esthar?” Squall asked.

“You know… that hi-tech city. It’s just beyond the train tracks. I guess you’re not going there. A lot of people who stop here go there. The trains are down, so the best way to get there is to walk from here. What a joke, huh? Anyway… You guys had an accident and came here, huh? I guess I shouldn’t keep you.” He closed the gate and started the lift.

Once they were down the lift they saw the man who asked about Balamb Garden a few minutes ago. “Are you all SeeD by any chance?”

“…Yes.” Squall said.

“I heard that you guys are, like, mercenaries, and basically fight anybody for money. Are you happy with that kind of life?”

“You know,” Tylor told him. “You really shouldn’t believe everything you hear.”

“Never mind. The way you live your life is none of my business. Just don’t cause us any problems.”

As they walked away Tylor said, “Hey Squall. That guy sounded a lot like you.”

“…Whatever.”

“Is that all you ever say? Geez, you sound like a broken record player.” Squall ignored him.

They crossed a long walkway over the glass covering the large structure in the centre of FH. Aside from the windmills the Garden crashed into, they must use this as a means of generating energy to fuel their home.

They entered the mayor’s house in the centre of the structure. The main floor had lots of different machines tucked against the walls. What they were used for, they did not know. They climbed a set of stairs to the second floor, where the mayor and his wife were waiting for them. The ceiling was a giant window, and models of airships hung from the top. They saw more machines like what they saw on the first floor. Most of them were actually doing stuff. The ones on the main floor were just collecting dust.

“Please, have a seat.” The mayor insisted. There were no chairs. Everyone sat on the floor like the mayor. “Allow me to get to the point. When are you leaving?”

“…We’ll leave as soon as the Garden is capable of moving.” Squall told him.

“Any idea when?”

“I’m afraid not. We only discovered that our Garden is mobile a short while ago.”

“The controls look like they were made on another planet.” Tylor added. “They don’t respond to anything.”

Squall continued, “Therefore, we don’t even know how to move it. We’re still in the process of understanding everything.”

“Our technicians will assist you. They should be able to repair and service everything. How does that sound?”

“We’re only representatives.” Tylor told him. “It’s not our call to let insiders into Balamb Garden.”

“Go consult with your leader if you don’t have the authority.”

“S’cuse me.” Rinoa asked, “Why do you want us to leave so bad?”

Squall sighed and grabbed his forehead.

“We don’t want military organizations in FH. You rely on force to solve problems. That is in direct defiance of our principles.”

The mayor’s wife added, “We believe that any problem can be settled by discussion. If you reach a mutual understanding, there is no need to fight.”

“No argument there,” Tylor thought. “Trite, and dull as hell, though.”

The mayor continued. “Violence only leads to more violence. We believe your presence here will attract violence. That’s why we want you to leave as soon as possible.”

Squall got to his feet. “Let’s go back to Garden.” They all got up and left.

Once they were outside Quistis said, “…Gosh, that was unpleasant.”

Squall told her, “Forget it. You can’t expect everyone to welcome us.”

As they crossed the walkway again they saw a man running toward the mayor’s house. “G-G-G-Galbadian soldiers!”

“Did you hear that?” Rinoa asked. “We’ve got to do something!”

“I agree.” Tylor said. “It’s probably our fault they’re here. They must have tracked us down somehow.”

“Wait!” They stopped and saw the mayor’s wife approaching them. “The Galbadians are here because of you, right? They’re after you. You’d better take full responsibility! It’s your fault!”

“We already decided to help, there’s no need to yell.” Tylor told here.

The mayor approached them. “We mustn’t rely on them. They won’t be able to do anything without fighting. I’ll go talk to them.”

Tylor tried to reason with him. “Hey, I’m all about reasoning with words and stuff, but these guys are dangerous. If you’re not going to let us fight them, then at least let us escort you to keep you safe.”

“You’ve done enough. This isn’t your problem.” He walked away.

“What are we going to do?” Quistis asked. “We can’t let him go by himself, they’ll kill him!”

“Then let’s follow him.” Tylor suggested. “It’ll be our fault for not helping if he gets killed.”

Squall nodded in agreement. “I agree. Let’s go.”

They found the mayor talking to a red Galbadian soldier in front of the train station. “He may not want our help, but we might as well.” Quistis said.

As they lowered themselves to the ground to avoid being seen Rinoa said, “I wonder what they’re talking about?”

The mayor told the soldier, “I already told you, I’ve never heard of this girl Ellone. There is nobody here by that name.”

“Fine. We’ll just have to torch this city.”

“Wait a minute! I’m telling the truth! I’ve never seen this girl!”

The soldier laughed. “It doesn’t matter, old man. We’re gonna burn this place anyway. Edea’s orders.”

The mayor went to his knees and grabbed the man’s arm. “No, please! I beg of you! Don’t!”

“I’ll start with you.” He grabbed the mayor by the throat and lifted him in the air.

“We’ve got to help him!” Tylor grabbed Armageddon from its strap.

Squall grabbed his shoulder. “Tylor, be careful. Your arm isn’t fully healed yet.”

“You should be worried less about me and more about him, now let’s go!”

They all grabbed their weapons and followed Tylor as he ran down to help the mayor. The Galbadian soldier threw the mayor aside when he saw them approaching. “Who the hell are you?”

“We’re SeeDs.” Squall told him.

Tylor pointed his large sword at the man. “Yeah, so why don’t you just turn around and leave FH before we have to get rough?”

The soldier gasped. “SeeDs! Get the Iron Clad over here!”

Squall kneeled down and told the mayor, “I’m sorry but we have no choice.”

Two more soldiers in blue charged from the rear. Quistis shouted, “Squall!”

Squall and Tylor both turned at the same time and planted their feet into each of the soldiers’ faces. Quistis and Rinoa took care of the two blue soldiers while Tylor and Squall faced off against the red one. “I’m not going to tell you again.” Tylor warned the soldier. “Leave now, while you still have a chance.”

The ground suddenly began to shake. The man smiled and said, “You guys are dead now!”

Something on the bridge above them began to move. It jumped off the bridge and landed in front of them. It was a beat up looking blue tank with scorch marks on every inch of its body. The red soldier called out to the blue ones and together they entered the tank.

“That’s Galbadia’s latest weapon.” Quistis warned them.

“Well, that sure explains a lot.” Tylor said. “I wonder what else they managed to dig out of the local landfill.”

Squall told them, “It’s a machine, so attack with Thunder magic.”

The piece of junk tank began spurting out bullets in random directions using its broken machine gun. They managed to take cover behind a large piece of rubble.

“If we’re going to beat that thing we have to get past its gun.” Tylor told him. “I’ll go distract it while you guys get behind it. Squall, you have to summon Quezacotl while we’re working on lowering its defences.”

“Be careful out there.”

Tylor smiled. “Hey, I’m as careful as they come.”

Tylor hopped over the rubble as soon as the bullets stopped. He threw his sword at the tank like a throwing knife, a very large throwing knife. Armageddon imbedded into the tank’s metal. Tylor held out his hand and shouted, “Thundaga!” A large bolt of yellow electricity jumped out of his hand. He used his sword as a lightning rod to send the attack directly into the machine. The tank jerked back, momentarily stunned. Tylor looked to see Quistis and Rinoa running behind it. Tylor ran up to the tank and pulled out his sword before they started casting their magic.

The tank turned to face Tylor. Its red eye began to glow bright yellow. He jumped out of the way just in time to avoid being blasted by a very large beam of energy. The beam kept going and reduced a nearby ticket booth to rubble.

The tank reassessed its target as its machinegun began to spin. Tylor ran up to it and lobbed off the gun before it fired. Bullets sprayed everywhere as the tank lost control of its gun. The spray of bullets tore up the front of the train station.

Quistis and Rinoa both cast a Thundara spell at the same time. The tank began to shake as sparks of electricity jumped from its hull.

“Everyone, get out of there!” They all got to a safe distance as Squall summoned Quezacotl. The sky began to grow thick with swirling clouds as lightning crashed here and there. One lightning bolt struck the ground in front of the tank, and from its wreckage appeared a dragon-like bird with no face. Its bright yellow scales spark with electricity as it charged up for its attack. Blue lightning shot out of its beak and created a dome of energy around the tank. The electricity ran up to the top of the dome and struck the machine with a giant bolt of lightning that exploded on contact.

The tank jumped and shook as small explosions began to erupt on several areas of its hull. Smoke began to rise as it gave off one last explosion before falling off the side of the platform and into the ocean.

That’s when they saw Selphie, Zell and Irvine climb up onto the platform.