Ugh. I struggled SO MUCH with this chapter! It fought me every step of the way. As I mentioned in my note last chapter and in my profile, this story has deviated greatly from my original story notes, which puts me in a bit of a tight spot. But, as you can see, I managed to figure things out - it just took a while.

Also - check out my profile, because there are a few minor changes to my future stories AND I posted links to my Tumblr and my ask box. My Tumblr will (eventually) have more info on future stories and upcoming chapters of this one (including sneak peaks!).

I'd like to make a special shout out to Grace of the Feathered Pen for reviewing my A/N, following me on Tumblr (she saw the previews of this chapter. Did you?) and just all around being awesome :)

PS - The beginning interaction between Seifer and Leon in the hallway of Hayner's house is my favorite part of this chapter. It was so much fun to write!

Chapter 8: "Turning Around"

There's a light at each end of this tunnel,

You shout 'cause you're just as far in as you'll ever be out

And these mistakes you've made, you'll just make them again

If you'd only try turning around.

Morning, Wednesday, September 10th; Twilight Academy (Sunset Terrace)

Leon sat in a chair in the main office, staring down the sweating, stuttering principal. He had managed to find out that a teacher patrolling the hallway had seen Seifer walking out the door, just as the bell for Homeroom rang. She had tried to stop him but he had threatened her into letting him go.

The principal spouted platitudes about the safety of the school and the undoubtedly unusual circumstances that had caused Seifer to behave in such a way, clearly fishing for information. Leon, meanwhile, was once again considering his options. He decided the best thing to do now was to speak with Hayner. Based on the letter that Cloud had dropped, it was likely that Hayner was involved in whatever was going on.

He relayed his request to meet with Hayner, and the principal, despite his obvious confusion, hurried out of the room to find a guard to retrieve the boy from class.

The principal returned moments later, holding some papers and looking even more nervous than before.

"Y-your Grace. I'm afraid H-Hayner Strife is n-not in class. He n-never showed up t-today, and has n-not c-called in s-sick."

"I see," Leon replied coldly. It seemed he had reached a dead end, so he rose to leave. Suddenly, a thought struck him.

He turned back to the principal and asked, "Are there any other students who did not come to school today?"

"Y-yes, your Grace." He began to shuffle through the papers, looking for the information Leon requested, but he was too nervous to make any headway, and ended up dropping most of them on the floor.

Leon sighed and scooped up the papers as the other man apologized profusely. Leon proceeded to scan the papers in his hands. Four students, none of whom he recognized, had called in sick. And then there were the unexcused absences. Seifer's name had been scribbled at the bottom of the list. Above his name was Hayner Strife, and, above him, Axel Highwind. Leon frowned. The Highwinds were extremely wealthy and well known, despite the fact that they were commoners. In fact...

"Doesn't Mr. Highwind have a younger sister, who also attends this school?"

"Y-yes, your Grace."

"Good. I wish to speak with her."

The principal immediately began stuttering again, going on about how it would be against protocol if he pulled her out of class at the request of a stranger.

Leon's voice became icy as he replied, "But that protocol doesn't apply to Hayner Strife? Because you were willing to pull him from class at my request."

The principal turned red and began to mop at his forehead with a handkerchief. "I...I..."

Leon cut him off, "Send a guard to bring Miss Highwind here. Now."

The principal bowed and left the room to do as Leon said.

...:::...:::...:::...

Late morning, Wednesday, September 10th; Strife Residence (outskirts of Sunset Terrace)

Axel's eyes focused suddenly on the woman hovering over him. "Aerith? What-?"

But Aerith ignored him. Instead she looked past him, and said, "He's awake now."

"Good," he heard a familiar voice reply, and then footsteps coming closer. He turned his head to the left and saw Seifer, looking angrier than he had ever looked before. Alarmed, Axel struggled to sit up, but found it hurt too much.

"What the hell is going on?" Axel asked.

"That," Seifer responded, "is what we want to know."

...:::...:::...:::...

Seifer gestured for Aerith to help Axel sit up. Pain lined his face until Aerith placed a glowing green hand against his temple. Immediately, his muscles relaxed and the tension in his face eased.

Once he was sitting up and comfortable, Seifer crouched in front of him. "You need to tell us everything that happened after you and Hayner left the magic hall."

"Ok, ok, just- shit, give me a minute here." He seemed to be gathering his thoughts. Suddenly, his back stiffened and his eyes darted frantically around the room. "Where's Hayner?"

Seifer just barely held back a snide comment. Aerith, seeing this, answered Axel instead.

"We don't know. We were hoping you could give us a clue."

Seifer's face darkened, causing Axel to gulp. He quickly explained that he had waited for Hayner and walked him home like he promised he would. Then he paused.

"Well?" Seifer demanded impatiently.

"I felt...weird. Like, all of my emotions were suddenly ten times stronger. And I had to-," he stopped and shook his head. "I don't understand. I felt like he was hiding something, something dangerous, and I had to confront him. Like, I literally had to."

Seifer frowned, but stayed silent. There was obviously more to this story, considering the condition they had found Axel in. And he had a strong suspicion that there were outside forces at play. If his suspicions were correct, then Hayner could be in a lot of trouble.

"So I confronted him," Axel continued, "but it was like he wasn't even listening to me. And then his eyes-" Axel stopped and shuddered.

Seifer's eyebrows shot up and he exchanged glances with Aerith.

"What about his eyes?" she asked gently.

"They were glowing," he replied softly.

"What color?" Seifer asked quickly.

Axel looked at Seifer oddly. "You're not surprised," he said, "that his eyes were glowing. You know what's going on, don't you?"

"I suspect," Seifer replied. "But I won't know for sure until you answer."

There was a long pause before Axel finally replied.

"White. His eyes were glowing white."

...:::...:::...:::...

Late morning, Wednesday, September 10th; Twilight Academy (Sunset Terrace)

Kairi chewed nervously on her lower lip, a bad habit she couldn't seem to break. Axel had never come home last night, and when she arrived at school, she discovered Hayner was no where to be found. She waited until the last minute before Homeroom, hoping at least one of them would show up. When neither one did, she had approached Seifer. She knew he was friends with her brother, and he seemed to be very protective of Hayner, so she thought he might have an idea about where they were. But it seemed he didn't. As soon as she told him the news, he had turned and left the building, presumably to find them. She had wanted to follow him, but was too afraid of getting in trouble.

And now she had somehow been convinced to tell all of that information to a stranger, albeit one who claimed to be Seifer's guardian. She still wasn't entirely sure how he had persuaded her to talk, but talk she did. 'It might have had something to do with how hot he was,' she thought idly. 'And he was a Duke, too! Does that mean Seifer is a Lord or even a Lord Heir?'

The bell that indicated the end of class rang, startling Kairi out of her daydreams. With a sigh, she rose and headed for the lunch room. It was no use worrying about things, she decided. And maybe that Duke would find her brother and Hayner and bring them back safely.

She could only hope.

...:::...:::...:::...

Late morning, Wednesday, September 10th; Strife Residence (outskirts of Sunset Terrace)

Leon's talk with Kairi had revealed much less than he had hoped. She could only confirm what he already knew from reading Cloud's letter. So he had headed back to the Manor, hoping that Seifer had made an appearance. Unfortunately, the doorman quickly crushed that hope, informing Leon that no one had been in or out since he had left earlier that morning. Leon only had one other idea to try before he put in a call for help. He had gotten the address for both Hayner's house and the Highwind mansion. He decided to try Hayner's place first.

When he arrived, he stared at the house in front of him. It was a small, two story house, painted an off white, with dark blue shutters and a dark blue-gray roof. A small porch graced the front and a white picket fence surrounded the property. It would not have been out of place in Station Heights, but here, surrounded by mansions and the occasional manor, it stuck out like a sore thumb.

As Leon made his way up the walkway, he noticed that the front door was cracked open. He approached the door cautiously, and arrived just in time to hear Seifer's voice say, "- won't know for sure until you answer."

There was a moment of silence before a male voice that Leon didn't recognize replied, "White. His eyes were glowing white."

Leon strode forward and pushed the door open, to find Seifer crouched in front of a red haired teen, who was being supported by a pretty, brown haired woman. At the noise of the door opening, Seifer leapt to his feet.

"Leon!" Seifer exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question," his gaze drifted toward the other two. "This would be Axel Highwind, I presume?"

Seifer sighed and said, "Leon, may I introduce my classmate and friend, Axel Highwind, and my magic instructor, Aerith Gainsborough. Axel, Aerith, this is Leon, my guardian."

"It is a pleasure to meet you both," Leon said, "and I apologize for my rudeness, but I must speak with Seifer in private. If you will excuse us?"

Without waiting for a response, Leon strode forward, grasped Seifer's arm, and pulled him into the adjacent hallway.

"What the hell is going on?" Leon hissed. "And why didn't you contact me? If Cloud hadn't gotten that letter-"

"Cloud?" Seifer interrupted. "That soldier at Fort Bliss you have a crush on? What does he have to do with this?"

"I do not have a crush on him! He-" Leon stopped and sighed, making a helpless gesture with his hands. "That's beside the point," he said as he pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. "As I was trying to say, this letter Hayner sent Cloud-"

"Hayner sent a letter to Cloud? How do they know each other?"

Leon gave Seifer a look of exasperation. "You're a moron."

"Hey!"

"Cloud is Hayner's older brother."

"...Hayner has a brother?"

Leon pinched the bridge of his nose. "I suppose my assumption that you had done some research on the boy was incorrect, then?"

Seifer at least had the decency to look sheepish. "I've been busy," he protested weakly.

"I'm sure you were. But that is no excuse, especially for not contacting me."

Seifer sighed. "I thought I could handle it by myself."

That was as close to an apology as Leon was going to get, and he knew it.

"Well, I'm here now. So, catch me up on what's going on, and then I'll tell you what I know. I have a feeling it will all be connected."

Seifer nodded and launched into his story, detailing what had been going on with Hayner for the past week.

"I thought it was a simple case of bullying, at first. I mean, how likely would it be for him to be a Mind Mage? But then he started acting erratically, and spending our magic lessons pouring over books with Aerith. I didn't have any proof, though, and I didn't want to scare him off, so I kept quiet. Then, yesterday, I got a call from mom and dad."

Leon's eyebrows shot up. "Is everything ok?" he asked.

Seifer nodded. "They got some new intel on the assassination attempt. It turns out they have definitive proof that it was our cousins again," he replied, with angry emphasis on the word 'cousins'.

"Well, I'm glad someone got some proof. I've been turning up nothing on my end."

"Nothing at all?"

"Actually - no, wait, you finish your story first."

"Oh, right. So, I got a notification about the call just before the end of our magic lesson. I left right afterward, because it seemed important. Normally, I walk Hayner home-"

"Oh really?"

"Don't start with me, Leon."

Leon smirked. "Looks like we have similar taste, huh?"

"Moving on," Seifer said, "I asked Axel to wait for Hayner and walk him home, to make sure he doesn't get jumped."

"Sure, sure."

Seifer glared at Leon for a moment. "Do you want to hear the story or not?"

Leon grinned. "Of course. Go on."

Seifer glared suspiciously for a moment longer before continuing, "When I got to school this morning, Kairi - that's Axel's sister - came up to me and said that Axel never came home yesterday and Hayner didn't show up for school. I immediately left to come check on them. When I got here, Axel was...well, he looked dead, actually. His eyes were open and he had blood coming out of his nose. It was really freaky."

Leon frowned and glanced back toward the living room. "Really? He seems fine now."

"Yeah, now being the key word," Seifer replied. "I left him here and went to get Aerith to help him. Luckily she was at the magic hall. She was working her magic on him for over half an hour before he woke up. She wasn't sure he was going to, because she said whatever was wrong with him was in his mind."

"Fuck," Leon swore vehemently.

"I know. And Aerith was able to confirm that Hayner is a Mind Mage. She didn't want to, but once I explained a bit about what was going on, she admitted it. And apparently he's damn good at it. But he's been losing control lately, and he and Aerith can't figure out why."

"Fuck," Leon swore again, and began to pace.

"I'm pretty sure whatever happened was my cousins' fault, but I bet Hayner thought he hurt Axel and took off. Aerith thinks so too."

Leon stopped suddenly and spun around to face Seifer.

"This is much worse than I thought. We have to find Hayner."

Leon began to head back into the living room, but Seifer blocked his way.

"Wait, what do you mean, it's worse than you thought?"

Leon sighed and began to speak quickly in a hushed voice.

"While I was at Fort Bliss, I ran into Captain Almonsson."

"WHAT?" Seifer shouted. Leon shushed him hurriedly and glanced into the living room to make sure they weren't being listened to. "You were supposed to be watching him discreetly," Seifer continued in a quieter tone.

"It was an accident," Leon replied, "and he was completely wasted so I didn't think it would matter. He probably doesn't even remember it. But the thing is, he recognized me. Said my name, my title, everything."

Seifer looked at him in shocked horror, unable to say a word.

"That, combined with what happened to you at Olympus Prep, means either Yensid's magic isn't working any more, or, more likely, they found some way to overcome it. And if that's true, then Hayner could be in a lot of danger."

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?" Seifer demanded.

"I already reported it to your parents. And I didn't know what was going on here, so how was I to know how important it was?" Leon answered.

Seifer shook his head, and turned back toward the living room.

"Whatever," he said over his shoulder, clearly still pissed, "we have to go find Hayner."

They returned to the living room to find Axel asleep on the couch with Aerith watching over him. Seifer quickly checked with Aerith to make sure Axel was still alright - which he was - before informing her that he and Leon we're going to look for Hayner. Aerith agreed to stay at the house to keep an eye on Axel and to be on the look out on the off chance that Hayner returned home.

As they were leaving, Leon turned back to Aerith.

"If Hayner's brother, Cloud, shows up, please tell him that we are looking for Hayner and we won't hurt him," he paused a moment, and then added, "and tell him I will talk to him once Hayner is found." He then turned and followed Seifer out of the door, hoping against hope that they would find Hayner unharmed.