Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: First, this is a sequel to my other FF8 story, Mnemosyne. The prologue does start with characters introduced in the last story so please, if you're confused, go read that or muddle through until the end of the prologue. As I said in the epilogue of the previous story, I will try to update about once a week but I'm heading back to work, so updates may get a little sporadic. Also, like Mnemosyne, this is unbeta-ed. You can feel free to point out errors. I will take dutiful notes for when I go back to edit after finishing this story. Reviews, comments and criticism are always greatly appreciated.

Prologue

The man slipped into the room easily. The guard outside the door did not notice the man's entrance into the room. Truthfully, the man would have been surprised had the guard taken note.

The room was sparsely furnished with only a bed, wooden table and chair, and a small window to the outside world. The table had a plate of half-eaten food on it. On the bed lay the Fallen Knight.

The man walked over to study the Knight who was trapped in what appeared to be a restless dream. The Knight had been a poor choice for a tool. The man had suspected that from the beginning. His devotion was too absolute and his fervor for protecting the Sorceress had led him in the wrong direction. So much more could have been accomplished. Should have been.

Well, when a tool was broken beyond repair, there was really only thing to do with it.

The man reached down and touched the Knight gently on the shoulder. The Knight woke with a start. When he saw the man in front of him, his grey eyes widened with horror. He opened the his mouth to scream.

The man reached out and placed a finger on the man's lips, silencing him before he could shout and attract attention. "Hush, now, my friend. When I have ever harmed you?" The man's voice was soft. "My apologies for startling you." he removed his hand back to his side.

"What do you want?" the Knight asked. "Have you come to kill her?"

"Kill her? What would be the point? Your Sorceress is safe enough," the man replied. It was true. As long as the Sorceress live and the man knew her location, she still had the potential to be useful.

The Knight relaxed, his fear gone. "What do you want then?"

The man smiled. "Just to tie up a few loose ends." The man reached into pants and pulled out a small revolver. The Knight watched him, wide-eyed. The man handed it to the Knight, keeping hold of his eyes the entire time. "Once I am gone from this room, you will wait one minute, place the gun against your forehead, and pull the trigger." The Knight's grey eyes glazed over and the the man knew he would do as told.

The Knight blinked once the man dropped his gaze and placed the gun beside him, as though he had forgotten about its presence. "What do you want?" he asked.

"The Keys. You no longer need them." The man held out his hand.

The Knight hesitated a moment before reaching under his pillow and removing two key-shaped objects. The man took them from the Knight and studied them. The first was made of a clear amber while the second was of opal. "You did well, Ormis," the man said as he pulled his own key ring from his belt and added the two he had just received to his collection. "Thank you."

Without a backward glance, the man rose and left the room, as calmly and slowly as he had entered it. Once again, the guard outside the door took no notice of his passing. Before the man left the sterile hallway of the hospital a gunshot rang through the corridors.

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Thyriss sighed and put the book back on the shelf. At the sound of the book sliding into the shelf, the librarian looked up. Thyriss ignored the girl's narrowed eyes and moved on down the shelf to select another book. The third one on the shelf looked mildly interesting. It might even be useful. Thyriss reached up to pull down The Healing Arts of the Sorceress. Gently, Thyriss opened the book. Unlike the last one, Healing Arts was at least legible. Only time would tell if it was actually useful.

Thyriss moved away from the stacks of books to sit at the nearby table. The librarian was still watching her. Thyriss sighed. She could always ignore the child but it wouldn't fix the problem.

Leaving the book on the table, Thyriss stood up and walked over to the circulation desk. She held her hand over the counter towards the librarian. "I'm Thyriss Tonsdan," she said.

The librarian looked at Thyriss' hand for a moment. Thyriss left her hand there and waited for the librarian to respond. When she didn't, Thyriss spoke again. "Usually, child, it's polite to introduce yourself to another person." She smiled with a warm smile.

"You're the Sorceress who..." The librarian trailed off.

"Who destroyed Trabia Garden and nearly destroyed Deling City after making a rather foolish challenge to the remaining two Gardens? Yes, that would be me." Well, that was something of an exaggeration. Truthfully, she hadn't been close to taking over Deling. She had been outsmarted by an enemy she hadn't even realized she had.

The librarian paled. "Why are you here?"

Thyriss dropped her hand and looked behind her. "Well, I seem to have found myself in a library. What do you suggest I do?"

"Why is President Laguna allowing you to use this library?"

"The public library attached to the Presidential Residence? Perhaps because the President wishes me watched. Or maybe it's because his daughter enjoys my company. But the most logical reason I can think of is that this is the nearest library." Thyriss kept her voice gentle and her tone amused. The last thing she wanted was the librarian to call the guards. The last time had taken up entire afternoon of Laguna's time.

"I- that's not what I ...meant..." The librarian stammered.

Thyriss was about to respond when a sudden ripping sensation gripped her. It was as though a hot searing band of metal was searing her insides. Thyriss dropped to her knees, gasping. The burning pain receded quickly only to be replaced by an overwhelming nausea. The contents of Thyriss stomach emptied themselves on the floor near her feet but the only thing Thyriss could think of was her Knight.

Then strong arms were pulling Thyriss to her feet as guards took possession of her. Thyriss allowed herself to be led, not sure where she was going. Ormis was gone. She didn't know how she knew or why he was gone or how it had happened but she knew he was and that was all she could think about that she would never see her Knight again and …

"Thyriss?" Ellone's voice caught the attention of the Sorceress.

Thyriss was standing in Laguna's sitting room. Ellone looked more than a little concerned. She took hold of Thyriss arms and said something to the guards that was lost in the emptiness filling Thyriss. Ellone led Thyriss to the bathroom where she wet a paper towel to clean the older woman's face.

"Thyriss, what happened?" Ellone asked.

Thyriss shook her head. Words didn't seem to want form correctly. How could she explain... "Ormis...he..." grief overwhelm Thyriss and collapsed against Ellone, sobbing.

"Elle? You in here?" Thyriss was dimly aware of Laguna's voice through the open door to the bathroom. "Do you know where Thyriss is we need to find her..."

"She's in here, Uncle Laguna," Ellone said. Thyriss was guided to the couch, still sobbing. "I take it something happened to Sedra?"

"He's dead," Laguna said.

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"What do you mean, he's dead?" Squall asked his father over the tele-conferencer in his office. He was sitting at his desk where he had answered his father's rather urgent communication request.

"Ormis Sedra is dead," Laguna repeated.

"I thought you guys were watching him?" Zell asked from where he was perched on Squall's desk. "What happened?"

"We're still working that out," Laguna said. "Do you mind calling Almassy up to your office for me? I want to ask him a couple of questions."

Squall turned on the intercom. "Seifer Almassy to the Commander's office please," he said over. He repeated the message once.

"Seifer didn't do shit," Zell said. "He's been here in Balamb the whole time."

"I'm not accusing him of anything, Zell," Laguna said.

"Then what do you want him for?" Squall asked.

The door to Squall's office opened and Seifer let himself in. "What's up?" he asked. After seeing that Squall was in a conference call, he amended his attitude to include a salute.

"Operative Almassy, I have a question, if you don't mind answering," Laguna said.

Seifer gave the tele-conferencer a rather skeptical look. He glanced at Squall who nodded. "Tell him anything he wants," Squall said.

"Sure, what's up?"

"When Sorceress Edea died, how did you feel?"

"The hell kinda question is that?" Zell asked. Squall felt him tense a little.

Seifer's face went blank. Squall kept his eyes on the screen but watched Seifer out of the corner of his eye. As far as Squall knew, Seifer hadn't really discussed what happened that day with anyone. Not even Quistis. "Why?" he asked. His voice was low.

"I'm curious."

"Laguna, curiosity isn't enough to..." Squall started.

"Its fine, Squall," Seifer said. "I felt her die. It wasn't just that I saw Ormis cut her, I felt her die. Inside." Seifer pointed to his chest. "I don't think I'll ever forget that." His voice had a rough edge to it that Squall didn't like. The man had been to counseling under orders after Edea's death. Perhaps he should undergo another round.

"Thank you, Almassy," Laguna said. He turned to face Squall again. "That's exactly what happened to Thyriss. Ellone suspects that the bond between Sorceress and Knight is more than just a romantic story. That's it's real, created and maintained by the Sorceress' magic."

"Huh. So...what does that mean?" Zell asked. "Why is it important to know now?"

"It might shed a clue on Ormis' death," Squall responded.

"Ormis is dead?" Seifer asked.

Squall nodded. "Sorry you didn't get the chance to do it yourself," Zell added. "I know you wanted to."

Seifer rolled his eyes. "I don't need your sympathy, chicken."

Squall placed a hand on Zell's leg to cut off his response before this got out of hand. "Keep me informed about the investigation, Laguna." He waited for Laguna's nod before breaking off the call.

"Anything else, Squall?" Seifer asked. He fidgeted in place. Squall definitely needed to tell the Garden psychologist to drop in for a visit. Squall wrote himself a note as a reminder.

"You're dismissed, Seifer," Squall said. He looked over at the red-head. "What were you in the middle of?" he asked.

"Training some new recruits on how to use the gunblade."

"I'll do that. You take the day off."

Seifer looked like he was about to argue but he changed his mind and left abruptly.

"Quistis is filling in for Instructor Phelps, right?" Squall asked Zell.

"Yeah. Want me to run and take her place?" Zell asked.

"Please." Squall stood up from his desk. Zell jumped to his feet. "Sure thing." Zell reached out and tugged Squall in for a quick kiss before bouncing out of the office.

Squall followed more slowly, still a little concerned about Sedra's sudden death. He had the feeling that it was the start of something a little larger than it seemed.