A/N: Now we really get into the weirdness. Remember the woman from the Farplane in the last chapter of Resurrection? Well, now you get to know who she is. If you haven't figured it out by now, that is…
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"I told you not to do it."
After the first week or so, the apparition's voice had lost its ethereal touch. Now she spoke in a steady, solid voice. (A/N: Actually, I'm too lazy to bother with the italics that I'd used in Resurrection.)
"Fuck you," Tessa spat as she ran her hand over her freshly shaven head. She had decided to stay bald, to hide the identity of just who she was, who she had been created from. There was nothing that she could do about her eyes, though. Many times, she had heard people whispering about her eyes and their red hue. Many times, she had been driven to rage, but had retained enough control over herself to prevent succumbing to her violent tendencies.
"You don't listen, do you? People won't believe you if they think you're crazy. Calling victims of a deadly plague idiots isn't the best way to get your message across, and announcing that the dead are talking to you isn't much of a confidence booster, either."
Tessa slammed her fist on the table and looked into the brawler's eyes. "What the hell do you call this? What are we doing right now? This is complete and utter bullshit. There was no reason to drag me down here. I know you bastards are watching me!"
The last statement was made to a camera that she couldn't see but knew was in the room.
"This?" the woman said to the teen with a hand gesture indicating the correspondence between the two. "This is me doing a favour for a fellow dead friend. She can't move on…"
"She can't move on until I let her go, blah, blah, blah," Tessa snarled with a roll of her eyes. "Nobody, dead or alive, bosses me around. If it weren't for the fact that I can't touch you, I would have kicked your ass a long time ago, Miss Save-the-world. When will you give up?"
Her face scrunched up in disgust before relaxing with a sigh. The warrior toyed with her hair and paced in front of the table at which Tessa had been forcibly seated. "I'll give up when I'm given up on. You still haven't told him that I'm dead. Why haven't you?"
"I like the look on your face every time you beg me to," the medic laughed cruelly. "I never asked to be haunted by some inept fighter who did nothing to save the world except flirt with the blonde man in love with someone else. To think, I used to worship you. I guess Tifa Lockhart isn't the hero she was made out to be, huh?"
This time, it was Tifa's turn to pound the table. To anyone else, there wouldn't have been a sound. Tessa heard it clearly. In fact, she revelled in it.
"Listen to me very carefully. Do not piss me off. I can be helpful and friendly, or I can be bitchy and evil like you. Do you want that? Would you like the first choice, or the second?"
"I want it all," Tessa smirked. "I want you to suffer just as much as I am. I want you to feel sick to your stomach whenever you wake up. I want you to be wracked with guilt and indecision whenever you find yourself alone with your thoughts."
A small frown developed on Tifa's face, and lines on her forehead took their cues from her lips. "Why are you so unhappy? You are so lucky. You're alive. Thousands of people are dead, with millions trapped somewhere between the two. Why can't you just accept what Soa has given you?"
Tifa expected anger from the former redhead, a show of the dangerous flair that she had come to know over the past month. Laughter wasn't the thing she least expected, but she was still a little shocked by the evil chuckle emanating from the short female.
"Lucky? That is not the word to describe anything involved with my life. My best friend is dead. My… whatever the hell Adette was to me, she's dead. When people are around me, they die. You should know that. Then again, you are the one stupid enough to get bitten. How did that happen, anyway? Aren't you, I mean, weren't you the strongest woman in the world? Or was that just some propaganda that you pounced on the first time you heard it? Because we both know that Yuffie Kisiragi wasn't the strongest, and I'm certainly not. Well, not yet. Before I can do that, I have to find a way to kill ghosts so that I won't be bothered by this particular bitch who keeps bothering me at the most inopportune of times!"
What had begun as a simple jab at Tifa quickly escalated into another of the teen's trademark bouts of anger. Her rant of curses was punctuated every now and then by a scream of rage and frustration as she pounded on the walls and kicked at the table. Someone had obtained the foresight to nail the furnishing to the floor, so it wasn't overturned. Not to say that it wasn't damaged.
"Be glad they can't hear you," the woman with the red eyes gasped moments later as she attempted to catch her breath. "These people here are Hyne nuts. Not too fond of Soa, if you know what I mean. They might think you're crazy. Of course, I'm sure they think I am. Meh, just fuck 'em, I say."
"If you're so certain they're watching you, then why are you speaking so freely? Wouldn't it be smarter to keep your mouth shut when under observation? Like you do when I talk to you in front of other people?"
Laughter returned, but not as severely as it had been before, though the same undertone of cruelty could still be felt. "Why not let them find out about us? If they think I'm crazy, maybe they'll pump me full of drugs and I won't be able to hear your annoying voice anymore. If they believe me, then maybe I can convince these dumbasses to actually do something to save themselves. Either way, I win."
"You really are horrible, aren't you?" Tifa whispered. "You weren't like this back in Galbadia City. You were mean, yes, but not vindictive."
"Like you know me."
The older brawler shook her head and sighed. Then she blinked and disappeared.
---
Quistis rewound the tape and watched her former student talk to thin air as fluidly as though there were someone else in the room. There wasn't the choppiness that she had observed in Squall when he did that in his youth. She wasn't answering her own questions. Then came the scenes of violence. A chair was thrown in the direction that the teen had been looking while talking, as though there was something she was aiming for.
"She's obviously unstable. A clear danger to herself and others, I recommend that the girl be put under the medical wing's care immediately. To let her back into the public is nothing short of irresponsible," a tall redheaded woman remarked. Her hair was swept up into a bun that was fixed neatly into place by a pencil rather than ornamental hairpin. Quistis remembered her bun, the one she no longer wore because it reminded her of her life with her friends, all of who were dead. The Instructor could sympathize with the girl when she too claimed that she had lost everyone she cared about.
Of all people, she had been informed of what had occurred by Vincent Valentine. His memory had been fuzzy of the events following his transformation, but he could easily recollect the details leading up to it. They'd found the reanimated body of a young girl, and Antessence had gone crazy when they killed it right in front of her. Certain details had obviously been omitted, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that the dead girl was the same girl that her former student had been "romantic" with.
"The girl is clearly lucid," a third woman spoke in a voice that was soft yet cold. Edea Kramer peered at the girl on the monitor. "What we are observing is a coping mechanism. She has lost her friends, perhaps even her family. I do not know, since my husband never sent me a copy of her file. However, I do suspect that her subconscious created someone for her to interact with, new or old it does not matter. She is not the first I have witnessed engage in this activity. The young blonde man that arrived with Quistis and this girl's party is doing much the same, only without the violence. Release the girl, but if her behaviour does escalate to anyone person, including herself, receiving harm, you may retain her, Dr. Welsh."
"I want to talk to her," Quistis interjected. In the month since her arrival, she had taken up her position as Instructor once again. However, there had been many changes in Garden protocol since that month. Her duties had been extended to include security patrol to ensure that none of the undead was aboard the mobile school.
Also, immediate measures had been taken up to ration what water and food remained since there were few ports that could take them. Fisherman's Horizon, with its peaceful demeanour and unarmed citizenry, had easily fallen to the Rots. Nobody had heard from Esthar, though the country still retained its isolationist ways so it was not unexpected. Junon was not an option. Shinra had to have figured out where their escapees had fled to, even if half of said refugees were still clueless as to why the events of that night had even occurred. Dollet, with its mountainous terrain, was still safe, but they had turned away the Garden for fear that its inhabitants might carry the deadly disease of which they had heard. Costa del Sol was unknown, but the worst was believed to have come of the vacation resort.
The students hadn't taken the restrictions seriously at first, believing it to be some sort of joke. Crackdowns began shortly after.
"Perhaps later," Edea said wisely. "For now, we must observe where she is headed before we guide her to where she must be. We should probably have someone watch her without knowing what is being done."
"What do you mean?"
"Simple. Dr. Welsh, we must have one of the students room with her: someone that the girl can relate with, and has no clear connections to us. When we need information, Instructor Trepe can obtain it through mere conversation, as opposed to us just placing a mole. Who would you recommend?"
"Wait. Why am I the one that has to talk with the spy?" Quistis asked. Honestly, she thought that Edea has come up with a good plan, but she didn't want to betray the trust of her former student.
Two days after the escape from Junon, Tessa had approached the tall woman with a very soft look that betrayed her hardened, trained voice. The words were read off as though they had been practised over and over again. Tessa requested that she be released from her duties to Garden. In other words, she wanted to quit the SeeD program. It was a shame, too. Quistis had almost convinced Edea to officiate the girl as a SeeD.
"You're the youngest," Dr. Welsh explained, clearly having grasped what the former Sorceress was going for. "You're only, what, nineteen, twenty? You are these kids' age. You can talk to them in a way that neither of us can."
"Dear Quistis, who do you recommend? Perhaps that young man that accompanied you and the others here. The one with the white hair?" Edea suggested with no knowledge of the relationship between Tessa and the other teen.
"No!" the Instructor exclaimed rather quickly. With an embarrassed chuckle, she readjusted her glasses before explaining her outburst. "Hunter, Mr. Vance, I should say, has long been a suitor of Miss Matleo. However, she holds great distaste for him. In fact, on several occasions I witnessed her striking him, and not in that friendly way that some people do. Blood has been drawn."
"Headmistress," Dr. Welsh interjected brightly, "I have an idea of who we place with the girl. What about Satis? Surely she, if anyone, can reach this troubled girl."
Quistis raised an eyebrow. "Who is Satis?"
"She is another troubled young girl that has been enrolled in my Garden," Edea stated with that ever-mystical tone of voice that she had. "I do not know much about her, other than she did not join Garden until she was fifteen, the same age that you graduated."
The redheaded physician turned to the screen and watched as the bald girl sat upright the chair she had thrown not long ago before. Then Tessa planted herself in it and looked around the room rather unhappily. The camera caught glimpses of her anger whenever she turned its way.
"Would she be a danger to Antessence?" Quistis wondered as she mulled over whether or not it was the opposite that would occur.
"Something tells me that this arrangement would be beneficial to both girls," the doctor added. She turned to Edea with a look of inspiration on her face. "Headmistress, I officially put in my recommendation for Satis as that girl's roommate."
"Very well then." Edea pressed a button on her intercom.
Seconds later, her assistant's voice crackled over the device. "Yes, Ma'am?"
"Would you have Satis Cano and Antessence Matleo brought up to my office please?"
There was a moment of silence before the intercom came back to life with the young man's voice. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," she answered without an ounce of impatience. "Page them both over the intercom."
---
Tessa was angry. She was released from the hold, only to be summoned to the Headmistress's office moments later. The ride in the elevator was filled with dirty looks from the other passengers. It wasn't something that she was unaccustomed to, since they were fairly common back at Balamb Garden, but that didn't help with her temper at all. Hyne only knew how bad things would have been if she'd had to walk to the elevator. As it was, the hold was in a large chamber in the basement of the Garden, so she only had to endure four or five dirty looks.
It stopped at the second floor and all but one of the people got off. The other passenger leaned forward and pressed the close button, much to the dismay of the young man running to catch the elevator.
"You headed up to Matron's office, too?" the other girl said with no malice at all. Caught slightly off-guard by this, Tessa had no time to formulate a response. "You must be Antessence Matleo. I've heard a lot about you. Most of it wasn't pleasant."
"Do I look like I care? Just who the fuck are you, anyway?"
Adjusting her long green hair, which was most likely dyed, the girl smirked and held out a hand, which was ignored. It was a habit of Tessa's. "Satis Cano: Level Two Sabre with a Minor in Magic. Third year upperclassman."
Red eyes continued to look over the form of the girl who could be no more than two years older than Tessa herself. She was short, thin, and had eyes the same shade of jade as her hair. She wasn't wearing the student uniform, which most of the non-SeeDs. Balamb Garden was about as informal as Trabia Garden, but far more students wore their uniforms than didn't, which could not be said about Trabia.
"You're probably wondering about the hair, right?" Satis interjected to break the silence. She took a single strand of the grass-coloured follicles and wound it around her finger. "Most people do. They think it's dyed or something like that, but it's actually much more embarrassing. See, I was studying Magic with one of the freshman and…"
"Do I look like I give a fucking damn about any of that?" interrupted the irritated protagonist. "Fuck! Why won't this elevator move any faster?"
They rode the rest of the way in silence. It seemed to take hours, but it was really only about twenty seconds until the elevator reached its destination. Separately, the two girls stepped out into the lobby. Tessa had never been on the third floor before, so she was amazed to see the people running about and taking a second elevator up and down yet another floor.
"Over here!" a man of about twenty in a SeeD uniform called when the teen didn't move. She saw him sitting behind a desk with a laptop set on the top. "Satis is already inside. They're waiting for you."
"I wonder who they are," a voice whispered in Tessa's ear. The hairs on her arms sticking straight up, Tessa turned her head and wasn't one bit surprised to see Tifa standing beside her with a big smile. She had taken to appearing at the most inopportune of times since her arrival.
Tessa curled her fingers into a fist but didn't strike. She knew that it wouldn't do any good. During the first few days of Tifa's "visits", the teen had attempted to harm the dead warrior with no success.
"Could we not do this now? I'm pissed off enough as it is," Tessa huffed under her breath as she pushed open the door. Aside from Satis, there were three other women: A redhead, the black-clad Edea, and Quistis. She flashed a sarcastic smile at the Instructor. "Oh my! I haven't seen you in ages. How have you been? Is life still a seething hellhole for you, too?"
"Antessence…" Quistis said in a warning tone.
Edea interrupted with a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Be calm, child. You know her ordeals. Come, sit."
Taking a seat in front of the Headmistress's desk and next to the girl with the green head, Tessa felt her heart rate rising rapidly. It didn't help that Tifa was nodding at her from behind the redhead.
"Girls, Dr Welsh," Quistis nodded at the woman Tessa didn't know, "Matron, and I have discussed this at thoroughly. Considering your 'unique' histories, we have decided that you two are good candidates to share living quarters."
"Um, Dr. Welsh…"
"Yes, Satis?" the woman said as she shifted her posture.
"Do you think that Renea would approve of this?" the girl asked nervously. She cast a sidelong glance at Tessa with worried eyes. "You know she doesn't like for big decisions to be made when she's not around."
"It shall be dealt with," Edea assured her. "You need not worry."
Pounding her fist on the table, Tessa called the attention back to where she believed it belonged: herself. "What the fuck is this? I quit Garden. You can't just assign someone to live with me without some form of consultation. Is this some sort of punishment for the memorial service? Because you can just fuck that. All I did was try to tell the morons on this boat just what the hell was going on in this shithole of a world."
"Am I a punishment?" Satis wondered. "Would you really use me, or Renea, like that?"
"Never, child," Edea told her.
"We are merely hoping that you two will overcome your 'histories,' since your current roommates can't."
"Fuck you, Dr. Dumb-as-shit. I don't have to stand for this," Tessa cursed as she stood up. She stood up and walked to the door.
"Miss Matleo," Quistis said in an unusually strong and authoritative tone. "It would be best if you took your seat. After all, you just admitted that you are no longer a part of the SeeD program. You don't have any rights where the dorms are concerned. We don't even have to allow you to remain aboard Garden."
"You're bluffing," the younger of the two women choked out in surprise. Even Tifa's eyes were wide at this. It just wasn't a very Quistis-like action. "You wouldn't…"
The Instructor tucked her bangs behind her ears with a sigh. "You're not the only one being inconvenienced by this. Who do you think has to do the paperwork? Who has to deal with the repercussions of your little show this afternoon? You pushed me to the ground and attacked three SeeDs!"
"Hey!" Tessa shouted. "They attacked me! I was defending myself!"
"Just shut up." Tifa pinched the bridge of her nose with the middle and index finger of her right hand. "They are serious. Very serious."
Giving in, Tessa took the seat next to the green-haired girl with the confused face.
"Very well then. Since Antessence has no roommate and is in one of our extra double dorms, perhaps we should just move Satis into her room, rather than moving her roommate out and Antessence in."
"Dismissed," Edea told them. "You may begin preparations."
"Well," Tessa finished with fake enthusiasm. "That was a fucking waste of my time. Can I go now?"
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A/N: There, first official chapter of Redemption finished. How do you think it went? Tessa seemed pretty in character, but I'm worried that Tifa may not be. Also, just so there's no confusion, this will be my secondary fic now. TCBT is getting to the point where it's actually quite important to me, so I'm probably only going to work on this when I'm really sick of my SI or when I'm really inspired. So expect updates to take awhile. Okay? Okay.