Chapter 3 : Sorceress

'Don't kid me… 3 of us required to take a person down?'

'Orders are to capture the target alive, maybe that's why.'

'Damn, I can't believe we're thrown into action so quickly.'

'But I prefer more bloody action, not this kind of whiny shit.'

'Boss always gives the shit to us! Charon gets the better end of the deal every time.'

'I think he doesn't trust our abilities, we're even given tools for this mission.'

'The hell is this thing?'

'Shut up or I'll blast you to pieces!' Ophelia had enough of the twins. Peace and quiet seem to elude Ben and Bill. Although Ophelia had full confidence in her abilities, Claudius and Rosencrantz had other things in mind, hence the terrible twins were included.

Seeing Ophelia's outrage, the twins quieten down, they knew better than to get on her nerves. But as usual, they just couldn't resist talking.

'Hey Ophelia, it isn't really you to burst so easily. Something else bothering you?' Bill decided to pop the question.

He was right, something else was bothering her, and it came in the form of an armlet that the twins were entrusted with. Ever since her brothers told her the plan, she had objected to it but to no avail. The armlet had been giving her troublesome headaches and was draining her powers. "The Goddess Seal", created by The Magi during the Centra War, it failed to serve its purpose, which was to capture Ophelia. The relic had been stolen by her brother Rosencrantz and was kept secret and forgotten as time passed. Today it was to be used ironically by them.

'Don't tell me it's because of this?' Ben waved the armlet in front of Ophelia cheekily.

At the sight of the armlet, a sudden emptiness washed over Ophelia, draining her of her powers momentarily, but she regained them quickly.

'Put that thing in my face again and you will regret being born into this world.'

It wasn't the tone used by Ophelia that scared the twins; it was her eyes. They flashed bright silver. It was a sign that Ophelia was ready to kill. The two shut their mouths immediately and turned away, pretending that nothing ever happened.

'All right! All decorations are up! Well done people, lets call it a day!'

The students let out a cheer as the preparations were completed. Slogging through the whole morning had been tiring, but Selphie remained upbeat and chirpy as normal. Irvine tried to keep up with her, but all that work seriously took a toll on his stamina.

'God I'm beat Selphie, don't you ever get tired?'

'Hehe, waddaya think? The day's just begun Irvine, we still have a lot more work to do!'

'Work? You're kidding me right? My bones are giving way…'

'Awww come on you lazybum!' Selphie playfully punched Irvine and was about to drag him to some other part of Garden when a young student crashed right into them. The student was clearly rushing for time as he hurriedly said sorry and was about to leave when Irvine caught hold of him.

'Whoa whoa, where you rushing to? In quite a bit of hurry eh?'

'Its urgent, soldiers have been sighted in Balamb. They are suspected to be from SE. Two Balamb cadets have stayed back for further recon, but I have suddenly lost contact with them. I need to report to the authorities.'

'You are speaking to the authorities.' Selphie said cheekily, 'We will check it out so don't worry ya?'

Seeing the lost look on the young student's face, Irvine reassured him 'Looks like you don't know us. I'm Lieutenant Irvine and this is Lieutenant Selphie from the upper echelons of the Garden Council. Report back to your superiors and tell them that we are on the case.'

At the mention of their names, the student immediately recognised the famous figures in front of him. He apologised again and quickly rushed off, still fazed by what just went on. However the adventure has just begun for Selphie and Irvine.

'Hehe, looks like we're gonna get a chance to kick some butt!'

'Take it easy Selphie, its kinda dangerous that just the 2 of us are taking on those SE troops, if they really are of SE origin, although I wonder why are they being so open. Stealth is their specialty.'

'Who cares! As long as I get to kick some butt, it doesn't matter who they are to me.' Selphie was already on her feet and on the move. Irvine quickly followed her to the parking lot. No backup whatsoever, he had a bad feeling about what was going to happen.

Squall hesitated before boarding the Ragnarok. He had many queries that needed answering, and his answers lie with the mysterious boy who has urged him to go to Trabia. Yet he couldn't leave everything that mattered to him behind, especially the ones he loved. He had a day to set things right. The great evil that the boy had mentioned didn't manage to create much of an impression for Squall. 'That boy has no idea what I have went through.' He thought about the epic battle that he had with Ultimecia. Squall had set out to put those torrid days behind him, peace was what he worked towards now, and he was determined to ensure everything stayed that way.

He went straight for the Ragnarok's cockpit. Grabbing the communication receiver from the pilot, he dialled straight for Quistis.

'Quistis, ensure everything goes fine while I'm not around, especially the summit. I have a feeling that things might not turn out smoothly. Expect the unexpected.'

'Everything will be under control when you return. You have my word.'

'In case I don't come back within a day's time, assume my duties for the time being. And…' Squall paused, he felt awkward saying this to Quistis.

Quistis had already guessed what Squall was going to say. 'Don't worry, I'll make sure she's fine. You take care and make sure you get back by the deadline. Quistis out.'

He silently thanked Quistis and moved to his seat. The pilot was clearly excited at having such a distinguished person as his passenger. 'Uh..em… Commander Squall, take-off will commence in 2 minutes time.'

'Make haste.' The pilot sensed that the commander wasn't in the mood for talk; he was after all famous for being a man of few words. The pilot quickly went over the procedures and prepped the Ragnarok for take-off as soon as possible.

This wasn't what he had in mind.

The capture was swift, being overly engrossed on following the few troops in front of them, the sudden appearance of an entire platoon behind them caught them off-guard. Subdued with ease, they were brought face to face with the leader of the platoon.

'Caught ourselves a few Garden rats have we.' The leader took a swing at one of the Garden cadets. His fist caught the cadet squarely in the face, but the force was so great that it twisted his head to an awkward position, accompanying it was the sick cracking sound of bones. The troops holding the cadet's hands let go of him as he slumped to the ground.

Alan stared at his dead companion. 'One punch… He killed him in one punch.' The thought echoed through his mind as he tried to digest what had just happened.

'Feeling scared? Don't bother kid, you're the bait, so you'll live. Entertain our guest in the meantime.'

A soldier stepped in front of Alan while adjusting his gloves. He had an evil grin spread all over his face. The first blow came hard, smacking right into Alan's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Before he could recover from the first blow, the second blow came smack across his face. He tasted blood in his mouth, already feeling dizzy, the third and fourth blows landed into his gut again. It was the final fifth blow that did the damage. Feeling a crushing sensation in his stomach, he felt blood rush up to his mouth, forcing him to vomit it out.

Seeing the Garden cadet coughing blood made the soldier laugh out loud. 'Can't take a few hits? You Garden pussies sure are weak. Come entertain me some more!'

The sadistic soldier laughed and continued administering beatings at his own leisure.

Rinoa lay on her bed, staring blankly into space. She was alone in her room and was bored as usual. A secretary was usually bogged down with all kinds of work, managing her boss's schedules, files and other stuff, but not Squall's secretary. Although she was given work to do, she was smart and witty enough to finish them way ahead of schedule, coupled by the fact that Squall did not want to overwork Rinoa, it usually ended up with her being very free. Instead of staying in the command area in the higher floors of Balamb Garden, she preferred to hole herself up in her room and enjoy peaceful moments alone.

'Bored aren't we?'

Rinoa spun around in shock. She wasn't expecting any visitors and she recalled locking her door. Furthermore, the person who was standing in front of her was a complete stranger. She was a beautiful woman, although dressed in a weird outfit, with long pieces of cloth hanging over her body loosely.

'Who are you, and how did u get in?' She quickly stood up, facing the intruder. She regarded the strange woman with caution until she was sure of her motives.

'I can sense the powers you possess. It is only wise to eliminate a potential threat early before she becomes a nuisance later.'

'What are you talking about? You're unauthorized trespassing of Garden property can send you to jail for 15 years. Get out of here before I call security to kick you out.'

'You clearly do not understand the danger facing you.'

Only then did Rinoa sense it, the woman had concealed her powers to keep Rinoa's guard down. She had just lifted the lid off her powers and Rinoa could feel the woman's powers intensify at a frightening pace. She was a sorceress just like Rinoa!

'That's not possible! How can there be another sorceress? Who are you!'

The woman laughed. 'It appears Hyne didn't manage to destroy this magic power, allowing it to reside in a human vessel. The power survived by transferring from one generation to the other, one sorceress to the next. Logically speaking, at any one time frame, only one sorcerer can exist, and in this generation you are that sorceress.'

'That's right, and this is the third time I'm asking you this question. Who…Are… YOU?'

Ophelia enjoyed the annoyed look of her prey. It felt great being the one in power, she knew things the younger girl didn't and she wasn't going to let Rinoa know.

Without warning, sparks of electricity shot from Ophelia's hand towards Rinoa. She moved her hand instinctively in front of her chest, palming away the attack. It was a weak attack and Rinoa expected more to come. As she predicted, her surroundings increased in temperature rapidly. Rinoa quickly cast Shell to protect her from the Firaga spell that had erupted around her. Rinoa was forced to raise more protective barriers as more spells rammed against her. Her attacker was fast and ruthless, keeping Rinoa on the defensive and preventing her from launching any attacks of her own.

A powerful Thundaga ripped through the ground as Rinoa did a back flip, evading the spell as the area where she was standing only moments ago was replaced with a charred crater. Still in air, Rinoa was about to cast an offensive spell of her own when a strong gust of wind slammed into her side. Caught in the Aero spell, Rinoa spun out of control and crash-landed into the wall. Gritting her teeth, she rolled to her left as a Thunder spell missed her by mere inches. She quickly got up and raised more protective defences in time to block the next spell from Ophelia. 'Her speed is insane! Her chain spells are so fast that I can't raise proper defences to buy time for my own attack.' Rinoa was awed by her assailant's skill, but it didn't bode well for the young sorceress who was struggling with her life on the line. She wondered how long could she still keep up with this madness.

'Vice-Commander! We are detecting heavy magic activity in the dorms! Structural damage confirmed!'

Quistis was on the alert upon hearing that distress call from the operator. 'What room is it coming from? Check whether there has been a breech of security.'

'Room 341. Perimeter detectors have detected nothing. No forced entry of any sort.'

Quistis froze when she heard the room number. It was Rinoa's room and it only meant that she was in danger.

'Alert security immediately! Dispatch SeeDs to the area ASAP. I don't want anyone getting out of the compound!' Quistis was shouting commands and on the move all at the same time. She rushed out of the Garden Command Centre and headed down the lift as fast as she could. She wasn't about to break the promise she made just an hour ago. Her mind quickly went through the possible list of intruders. The SE was highly probable given that Rinoa was their top priority, and they had conveniently chosen the moment when Squall was not in Garden. What worried her was how they got in. Garden security was tight, making it impossible for non-Garden personnel to enter the premises without being detected. It only meant that they had an insider to help them. Quistis shuddered at the thought that Garden had a mole within them. It appeared that the day had just gotten a lot worse for Quistis.

'Damn Squall! He goes hunting White Dragons and leaves me all alone to rot back here. Some friend he is.' Zell took a big bite into his hotdog with great displeasure. He had heard the news that Squall was on a mission to Trabia to search for the enigmatic White Dragon. Initially, Zell had been rather excited at the prospect of meeting one, and while trying to look for Squall, word reached his ear that Squall had already left on the Ragnarok. In the midst of his anger, Zell went to the Cafeteria, asked Seifer to whip up some of his favourite hotdogs, and left Garden to the Balamb forest to let off some steam. If he was lucky, he might even get to let loose his frustration on a T-Rex.

Three bite bugs flew towards Zell, eager to suck on some human flesh. With both his hands full with hotdogs, Zell ran towards a tree and ran up the tree with his momentum, he kicked off at the highest point and aiming for one of the bite bugs, his heel landing smack on its back, bringing the bug down to the ground and effectively squashing the life out of it. Another bite bug flew straight for Zell, taking the offensive with its sting poised to strike. But Zell was faster, he leapt and caught the bug with his foot, kicking it with such force that it ended up splattered onto a nearby tree. The last bug attacked Zell from his flank, trying to catch him off guard. But Zell anticipated the attack and swung his fist into the bug's abdomen, smashing his fist through it. He flicked the bug of his hand, only to realise the damage the bugs had done to him. He was stained with bug goo, but most importantly the remaining hotdogs in his hands were covered all over with bug goo. Zell threw the spoilt food on the ground and cursed his luck.

He heard laughter from behind him. Zell turned around and found the source of laughter. It was a knight covered in full body armour that was black as ebony. His black helmet did not cover his face, but in place was a golden mask. He looked to have a broadsword slung over his back. Seeing that Zell had spotted him he stopped his laughter and surprisingly turned around, walking away from Zell.

That pissed Zell off even more. If that guy thought that he could laugh at Zell and get away with it, Zell was ready to show him how wrong he was. 'Hey you! Stop! Come and face me like a man!'

But the knight continued walking as though he did not hear Zell's words. Zell increased his pace and ran after the knight. 'You deaf or what? I said stop!'

As Zell was about to catch up with the knight, he suddenly spun around and with inhuman speed, drew his broadsword and slammed the ground. The earth split into two from the point of impact. The move took Zell by surprise, but he managed to leap to one side as the ground below him separated. The knight already anticipated Zell's move and had just cleaved a tree cleanly at its trunk, causing it to fall right onto Zell. Zell immediately rolled backwards to avoid the falling tree. 'What the..!' Zell was again caught by surprise as the tree slammed at him, knocking him right in his chest and sending him flying backwards. The knight had punched the tree at the other end with such force, using it as a projectile to ram against Zell.

'It is not time for us to battle yet. You will have your chance.'

Although Zell was far away from the knight, he heard those words clearly as though they were spoken right next to him. He helped himself up; the knight was nowhere to be seen. The rubbed his chest, trying to soothe the pain caused by the impact. That knight had caught hold of his interest and it was clear that he was no ordinary knight. He was more than a match for Zell, and was clearly the kind of opponent that Zell was looking for. 'Yeah, I look forward to our next encounter.'

Ophelia had picked up her pace. She was keen in pushing the young sorceress to her limits. Up till now, she was rather pleased with the sorceress performance. It was time to up the test another notch.

Rinoa dodged the flying table and quickly raised another barrier in time to ward off the Blizzaga that just rammed her defences. Her assailant's spells had increased in complexity over time. At the start, Rinoa was fending off elemental spells blasted in her direction at frightening pace. As she concentrated fully on the spells being casted at her direction, a table crashed from behind her sending her tumbling to the ground. Before she could even get up, the carpet that she was lying on suddenly coiled around her, wrapping her tightly to the point of suffocation. Rinoa cast a light Blizzard spell on herself, hardening the carpet thus allowing her to break free of it, just to suffer the full force of a Firaga blast. She quickly cast a Shell on herself to shield her from the remaining blast. Rinoa fought off the pain caused by the last attack that had badly scalded her. The addition of telekinetic attacks had made things even more difficult, coupled by the increase in speed of her assailant's attacks, it looked as though Rinoa was going through a test of increasing difficulty. She braced herself for the next onslaught.

Rinoa's mirror was ripped from the wall and thrown towards her. She knew it was a risk she had to take. Instead of avoiding the mirror, she shot a quick thunder spell at Ophelia, who was clearly surprised at Rinoa's sudden offence. She deflected the spell with ease but just as Rinoa planned, the sudden lapse of concentration by Ophelia caused the mirror to crash to the floor instead of Rinoa. Rinoa took the advantage given to her and pressed on with her own attack. She quickly threw light elemental spells against Ophelia, keen to let her have a taste of her own medicine. However no matter how fast Rinoa tried, Ophelia always seemed a step ahead of her, raising defences way before spells were cast at her.

Ophelia laughed out loud. 'Is this the best you can do young sorceress? This game has gone far too long, time for the final test.'

The ground beneath Rinoa suddenly gave way as Rinoa realized a Quake spell had just been cast. She quickly casted Float on herself, avoiding the calamity. It was at this moment when an invisible force grabbed hold of Rinoa's neck. Her hands tried to pry off whatever that was causing her suffocation. Ophelia had manifested her telekinetic powers to directly assault Rinoa, choking her to death. Rinoa struggled with all her might but to no avail. Her best bet was to attack Ophelia and make her lose concentration thus she tried to aim a spell. However, it seemed her mind was being read as she was roughly thrown towards the wall. She landed on the wall hard, cracks appearing from the area of impact. Instead of falling to the ground, Ophelia grabbed hold of Rinoa once more and slammed her against the wall another time. She used so much force till the wall almost tumbled down, chunks of it already falling off. She let go of the young sorceress, her battered body slumping to the ground.

Rinoa struggled to get up. Her whole body ached in intense pain as bood trickled down her head. Breathing in short and quick breaths, she noticed her vision was slightly blurred. The last attack had injured Rinoa severely; she could sense internal bleeding within her body. Supporting herself against the wall, she slowly pushed herself up. She could vaguely make out Ophelia in a relaxed pose, hands at her hips, clearly awaiting Rinoa's next move. Even in top condition, she was no match for Ophelia, her current state only made matters worse. It was time to use it.

Ophelia knew she had badly injured the young sorceress; the battle was clearly over. Yet she stood up and prepared herself. Ophelia was impressed at Rinoa's will, not only was she skilled, she refused to bow down and admit defeat. She would have made a very good student, her resilient character suited Ophelia's taste.

'You have lost young one; there is no point in defying me. Admit defeat and I will accept you as my student.'

Rinoa steadied her shaking self, one hand reached for a pendant around her neck. 'Dream on.' Two angelic wings suddenly sprouted from Rinoa's back, she floated in the air magically before landing back on the ground, her eyes entering a trance-state.

'You persist.' Ophelia sighed inwardly.

She waved her hand and prepared to cast the final few spells that will finish off Rinoa. To her horror, her first spell rebounded back against her! Rinoa had cast a Reflect spell so quickly that Ophelia didn't even notice and for the first time in their battle, Ophelia was forced to move from her position. Evading the Thundaga spell, Ophelia quickly raised powerful defences to ward of the multiple spells cast on her. It appeared to Ophelia that Rinoa had suddenly doubled her casting speed, a speed that could match her own. A Meltdown spell crashed through Ophelia's defences and consumed her in a beam of intense white light. Ophelia shrieked in pain, Rinoa was casting powerful spells at the same speed as normal spells. Ophelia struggled to keep up with the sudden turn of events and made a telekinetic grab at Rinoa. It further shocked her to realize that she was unable to feel Rinoa through her telekinetic powers, as though she was immune from it. Only then did she realize that Rinoa had entered a berserk trance, granting her even greater power, the Rinoa she was facing now was much stronger than the previous one.

Ophelia defences shuddered under the Tornado spell. Her barriers were on the verge of collapse as strong torrents of wind and flying furniture slammed mercilessly into them. The entire room was in total chaos. Small white orbs were being released from Rinoa's hands, slowly increasing in intensity. 'Oh no…' Ophelia looked on motionless as in that split second, the entire room was engulfed in pure white light. She vomited blood instantly as the Holy spell washed over her, burning her evil essence and causing unimaginable pain.

Pain was replaced by rage as Ophelia's eyes flickered bright silver. She too started to float. She spread her arms wide and bellowed 'DO NOT MOCK ME YOUNG SORCERESS. FEEL THE MIGHT OF THE TRIUMVIRATE!'

Rinos's spells fizzled into air, whatever magic she cast was all sucked into a void that appeared in front of Ophelia. The berserked Rinoa reacted by drawing on more powerful forbidden magic, but before she could do anything she was swept off her feet by a powerful force. The entire roof suddenly ripped off as the void slowly rose into the air and disappeared. The windowpanes in the room shattered, the glass splinters showered against Rinoa. She slammed into the wall, followed by the splinters of glass. Rinoa screamed in agony, the berserk trance being overcome by the blistering pain she felt. Ophelia slowly hovered towards her. Rinoa could not move a single finger; the powerful force crushed her flat against the wall. Ophelia grabbed Rinoa roughly at her throat; her touch was cold as frost. The powerful force disappeared as Ophelia lifted Rinoa and brought her face to face with her, their faces barely inches apart from one another.

'Suffer and die…' She whispered to Rinoa and threw her like a lifeless rag onto the floor. Rinoa tumbled and rolled on the floor, only to be shocked by electricity shot out from Ophelia's hands. She squirmed and writhed in agony as Ophelia continued to torture her with continual shocks. The torture seemed to last forever and Rinoa prayed that everything would stop.

As though answering her prayers, it did stop. It was only then did Rinoa realise why for a powerful draining sensation engulfed her, she could feel her magical powers being sapped away. Ophelia felt it too as the shine in her eyes dimmed and she collapsed onto the ground. Two figures appeared beside Rinoa and attached armlets on each of her hands. They were so quick that Rinoa didn't even have time to react or even see their faces, but once the armlets were done, the effect was instantaneous.

It was as though her life force was being sucked right out of her. Any magical powers she once possessed were suddenly lost for she couldn't feel it anymore; all her junctions were also gone. She felt encapsulated into another realm as she slowly lost consciousness. She mustered any remaining strength her tired body had left and sent a signal to Squall. She barely managed to utter his name before blacking out into oblivion.

'Squall…'

The voice was soft but Squall recognized the voice immediately as he jerked awake from sleep. It was Rinoa, and she was in danger. He tried to feel her through the intimate Sorceress-Knight bond that they shared but couldn't feel anything. It was as though the bond had been severed, which happened if one of them died. He clenched his fist tightly and struggled to hold back the tears that started to well in his eyes.

'Turn back to Garden now!'

The pilot turned around in surprise. A moment ago, the commander was fast asleep in his seat, yet now he was suddenly overcome with emotion. 'But… but Commander, we are reaching Trabia Garden in ETA 30 minutes. Are you certain…' His words faltered as he realised that he was questioning a direct order from the highest authority of Garden.

Another voice echoed in his head. 'She's alive. I can feel it.'

Squall remembered the voice. He just heard it earlier in the morning. It was the boy.

'How do you know?'

'I just know. You do not realize the gravity of the situation. If you turn back, you might indirectly cause her death.'

'Why should I trust you?'

'You have to. We both need each other's help. Come to this location.'

Immediately in Squall's mind, a map appeared, telling him where exactly to land. He got up to his seat and went over to the pilot. He brought up a map of Trabia and searched for the place he was instructed to land.

The pilot was left in a state of confusion. He had heard all about the legendary Squall Leonhart, the battles he had fought and the foes he had overcome. Yet it looked as though he had a mentally unstable person on his ship.

'Bring the ship here, we're not going to Trabia Garden anymore.' Squall didn't even bother to wait for a reply; he went back to his seat and slumped into it. Silently, he hoped for Rinoa's safety and prayed that he would be able to save her in time. He just couldn't lose her.

The pilot looked at the coordinates given, it was located deep within the mountains of the Trabia plains. He thought about questioning the Commander's actions but decided against it. 'Yes commander.' He keyed in the new coordinates and steered the ship to its new destination.