Chapter Three
Rinoa didn't like her. The
first and only thing Andria said to her was,
"So you're a
sorceress…sorry."
Then she had walked away.
There was nothing wrong with being a sorceress. Apart from some were evil and tried
to take over the world, but not all were like that. Rinoa thought she was
prejudiced and demanding. She made all the men, even Squall carry bags of what
her friends called supplies to the ship, and when asked why, all she replied
with was,
"Because I asked them to."
*****
When first arriving on the
ship, Andria and Vincent briefed them about what they had seen and more. Andria
had also been briefed about the strange goings on in the Garden.
Squall found it hard to
swallow, but a lot of weird things were happening lately, most of all was the
dream. He had been told by a little girl in his dream to find her and he had
without knowing. The girl in his dream was Andria Perne.
*****
Squall was shocked so he
had carried the bag she asked him to carry. There were also the men that
weren't human; apparently they were demons. However the demons weren't even
closely as weird as Andria. How had he dreamt something like that? Did the
strange light have something to do with it? It must have knocked him out somehow,
but why or rather what killed that student.
"Hi Squall, can I talk to you for a moment," asked Rinoa.
"Yeah," he replied.
"It's about Andria. I just
don't feel comfortable with her here. Actually I don't like her. I think she's
prejudiced and selfish."
"So why are you telling me
this Rinoa?" Squall said, more harshly than he meant.
"Because I thought you
were my boyfriend," she replied raising her voice. Why was he being like this?
"Squall, please tell me
what's wrong. Ever since the party you've been like this. You're like you used
to be."
"Nothing's wrong," he
replied softly then pulled her into an embrace.
*****
Irvine offered Andria a tour around the Ragnarok before they reached Timber to
pick up Andria's other comrades. Vincent went up to the bridge where Quistis
and Zell were.
"That girl in blue, what's
her name?"
"Rinoa," answered Quistis.
"Yeah. She doesn't like
Andria much, and I'm only saying this as a friend. She better be careful,
Andria is nothing like anyone you ever met."
"Thanks for telling us,
we'll keep it in mind," said Quistis,
"Rinoa can take care of
herself, she thought, she knows what she's doing.
*****
"What are you humming," asked Irvine.
"A tune my mother used to
sing to me," replied Andria.
"What was it called,"
asked Irvine, pretending to be interested, he'd read somewhere that it was the
best way to get a woman, pretend you wanted to know about them.
"You've got no chance with me," Andria replied smiling cheekily.
Irvine just looked at her
dumbfounded, she had read his mind.
What a woman he thought,
and then blushed when she smiled sweetly at him. She definitely was a girl to
have fun.
*****
When they'd finally landed
outside Timber, everyone walked to the entrance. The sun was just coming up on
the horizon and it looked wonderful.
"Hey, over here," a voice
shouted.
"Sia," cried Andria,
running over to hug her good friend.
"So how's everything
been," asked Drew behind Sia, trying to catch his breath.
"Fine, but you're out of
shape," replied Andria, smiling at her friends,
"This is Mr Squall
Leonhart and his friends. They were sent here to, well, hire us. It seems
they've had a murder and they apparently need our help."
"Hey you're the boy form
the picture, what were you doing in Garden," said Quistis. She then showed Drew
his picture in the Quad.
"Right, ummm… I used to be
enrolled in Garden," Drew replied looking slightly uncomfortable.
"What happened," asked
Zell.
"Look it's not important
right now," Andria said,
"Squall, you and your team
wait here, we'll be back soon."
"No," Squall said,
"Rinoa, Irvine, Selphie
and I are coming with you. Your people stay on board"
"Fine, but Vincent comes,"
answered Andria, dryly.
*****
"Hey I know this
pub, why are we here?" asked Rinoa.
"We've got some business
to do," answered Vincent, "now be quiet," he urged.
"Purson, how are you," grinned Andria, there was a wicked look on her face like
she was enjoying herself,
"So is there anything
you'd like to tell me, perhaps about Leraikhe and what he's been up to lately."
"No, now get lost," he
answered.
Purson was a little troll
of a man. He was in about his late 30's with fair hair, which was slightly
turning grey. His clothes were simple, trousers, and a t-shirt. He was sitting
at a table with another man playing triple triad, but the man had vanished as
soon as he had seen Andria.
"Now that's no way to
treat your friends," she remarked, smiling in a sly sort of way.
"I never said I was your
friend, now like I said before get lost."
"Oh, that's a shame. Looks
like I'll have to hit you."
"Look I might…"
"You wouldn't dare," said
Rinoa, butting in, "don't tell her anything Purson."
"Stay out of it, you have
no idea what's going on," growled Andria,
"Continue Purson."
Vincent started to pull
Rinoa away from Andria.
"Rinoa's right," cried
Selphie,
"How can you be so mean to
that man Andria?"
"Listen, Selphie I have a
job to do," she said,
"Come on Purson, what's he
been doing. I know you know"
"I'm not gonna tell you
anything."
"Fine."
With that Andria turned
round and punched Purson hard in the face. Everyone heard a cracking, which
sounded awful. Squall and Irvine caught Andria and held her back.
"Bitch that really hurt."
Purson got up off
the floor, but his face was different. His face had become grossly inhuman.
There were ridges along his cheekbones and 2 horns on the top of his head. His
face had changed colour too. Instead of being fleshy it was a dark red. His
eyes blazed an evil yellow. His hands had become talons.
"Well that's a sight that
I've never seen before."
Squall turned to see the
person behind him. There stood Seifer, smirk and all. Behind him were his
faithful companions, Fujin and Raijin.
Purson suddenly ran from
where he was and sprinted out the back door of the pub.
Andria followed in hot
pursuit. Out of the street and up the steps towards the T.V station. Seeing
that he would get nowhere, Purson climbed over the rails and hung there
precariously.
"You're gonna die Andria,
he'll find you and kill you. There's nowhere to run, no where to hide, he's
after you and he won't rest till he's found you," he warned. Terror showed on
his face.
"Listen Purson you don't
want to do this. I promise I won't hurt you if you will just come off the
rails," Andria pleaded.
Even though he never
wanted to, Purson had always helped her.
Purson then sighed and
continued, "There is no way out, if I don't do this then he'll kill me."
"Who'll kill you?" asked
Squall.
Purson ignored Squall's
question." Listen Andria, be careful he knows you have it and he'll do anything
to find it, more than you can imagine."
Purson then turned around and looked over the whole of Timber. "He's here," he
suddenly cried and from behind Raijin a figure emerged from a cloud of black
dust that had appeared. The sun had hid, afraid to watch what would happen
next.
A young man with raven black hair and handsome, defined features walked up to
Andria, for the moment ignoring the traitor that he had originally come for.
His black cloak floated behind him. His face, twisted with evil and malice. He
created an air of evil around him.
"Hello Andria, it is a… pleasure to see you again."
His words cut through the
now icy air. The wind picked up as if obeying his every whim.
"I gather this isn't
a social visit," said Andria sarcasm creeping in,
"What do you want?"
"I've just come to collect
my property," he replied.
He then turned and looked
at Purson.
A pain came over Purson,
excruciating pain in his gut, like something was tearing out his insides. He
clutched at his stomach, forgetting where he was. As he fell he looked up at Leraikhe
and Andria. The same yet complete opposites. The pain hit him hard now.
"Inanna," he whispered
looking at Andria again.
She did not know yet that
her fate had been decided millennia ago. In those few seconds he died before he
hit the ground.
"At least he died
peacefully," said Leraikhe, smiling evilly, "and my message worked, they found
you Andria."
"You contacted them! You
killed that SeeD," she spluttered.
"All will become
clear in time," replied Leraikhe.
With that he disappeared.
The whole group was in shock. Vincent finally broke the silence. "Come on every
one, let's get back," he said. "What even him," protested Irvine, pointing to
Seifer.