Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Final Fantasy games, characters, places, or ideas. I simply own the bad guy. I think.
Chapter Eleven
"I Can't Handle Two Of Them!"
Rikku opened her swirly green eyes and tried to focus. She was sore all over and didn't know why. Her back hurt, head pounded, and just about everything else was screaming in agony. She managed to sit up, but doing so made her very dizzy. Very really dizzy. Oh, boy. Now she was seeing little chocobos running around her head, and the silly things were running sixty miles an hour.
"Oooh!" She moaned and clasped her hands on the sides of her head to try and get rid of the chocobos.
"Oh boy." She sighed as she looked over her surroundings. She definitely wasn't where she fell asleep. She remembered falling asleep in the cabin on board the Celsius, but that wasn't where she was now. In fact, she'd never even seen this place before. It looked sort of like Besaid without all the jungle and without the huge building to the right and a port city to the far left. Hmm. Where was she? This was a little strange.
She managed to succeed in standing up after a few attempts and then brushed all the sand off of her body. She had to figure out where she was, how she got here, and how to get back home. What if Brother had dropped her off in this strange place as a sick joke? Oh! She'd kill him next time she got her hands on him! He was so dead!
Rikku figured that her best bet would be to go find someone and ask where she was. She knew that she'd never been here before, and she also knew that if there were buildings and cities and other stuff, then there had to be people, too. So all she had to do was find these people and ask where she was. It was pretty simple, but where should she go? She had a choice. She could either check out the building or the city on the shore. She stood there for several minutes trying to decide which one she should choose. She must have looked rather funny standing there in the sand, staring from one place to the other. Rikku was a very comical individual and just about everything she did made people laugh, anyway.
She finally made a decision and went with the building. For some reason it just looked more orderly and more informing than the tiny city by the water. She headed up the beach to this large building. As she got closer, she noticed a strange symbol on the side of the building. It looked like a funny black star, surrounded by little lines. It was actually quite indescribable and one had to see it to get the full effect. The peculiar symbol sparked her curiosity, and she stood staring at it for some time. It reminded her of Home. It made her think about when all the Al Bhed lived in one place in harmony. For the most part, the rest of the world left them alone until they got all caught up in the summoner affair. That was when the other races attacked them, and if the truth were told, they had every right to. But she needed to forget about all that stuff which happened in the past and concentrate on her current position. She broke from her trance and continued into this odd structure and was amazed by all that was around her. There were all kinds of young people, some her age, others who were younger and how they were all dressed in the same outfits. She felt very much out of place since everyone here was dressed in the same blue and gold uniforms while she had on bright yellow and green. She even felt a little nervous around them all but had to overcome that feeling. She normally wasn't a nervous person if you don't count the Sin, Seymour, or Vegnagun experiences. Her personality kept her going as the social butterfly type.
Now, whom should she talk to in order to find out where she was? Someone in this place just had to know where she was because she was pretty darn sure that she wasn't in Spira anymore.
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Selphie stepped into the elevator, heading down to the first floor. She'd searched this whole building upside-down and inside-out and still there had been no sign of the instructor anywhere. She was actually getting sick of trying to find Quistis in this crazy place. Why was it that whenever she needed to find somebody, they were nowhere to be found? It was as if they just jumped off the face of the planet. It aggravated her to the fullest, but she couldn't let her emotions dictate her actions. She'd had that problem before and didn't want it to resurface.
Selphie decided to keep asking around and looking around for Quistis. The blonde had to be in this place, in this building somewhere. Where else could she be? She's the one in charge. Why would she leave?
The lively girl saw Xu come out of the elevator a few moments later while she continued to stand at the bottom of the stairs. Xu walked down to her.
"Selphie, have you seen Quistis anywhere? I can't seem to find her, and I've been looking everywhere! Please tell me that you've seen her!" Xu pleaded, worried.
" I wish I could tell you that I have, but the truth is, I haven't seen her all day. I've searched this place upside down but with no luck." Selphie said sadly and disappointedly.
"Where could she be? I've asked everyone that I've encountered if anyone has seen her, but no one has. I can't imagine where she would be, and I am so worried." Xu sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.
"So am I. I thought that maybe I'd run into her somewhere, or that someone would see her, but like you said, no one has seen her anywhere. I just don't know what to do." Selphie followed Xu's suit and folded her arms across the front of her yellow dress. She was just so stumped and couldn't think of anywhere that the girl would be. "You don't think that she left Balamb, do you? She was somewhat getting a little overwhelmed with all the work, so she might have left to get away from it. Squall's been known to do the same, you know." Selphie couldn't possibly fathom why Quistis would leave without telling someone, though.
"I've already thought of that, and I went to the gatekeeper. He sees everything and everyone that passes through the front gate, and he swears up and down that he didn't see Quistis pass. He said that he hadn't seen her in a while now. That's why I think she's got to be in the building somewhere. I've thought about calling her over the intercom, but I don't want to disrupt classes." Xu had to keep everyone in mind, too. The last thing she needed was for everyone to go into a panic.
"I tried her dorm and her classroom, but both were empty. I've asked all the Trepies. They usually keep tabs on her every move, but none of them know where she is either. That's pretty odd when not even her stalker fan club knows where she is. I know this may be thinking negatively, but I think something may be wrong, very wrong." Selphie knew she shouldn't think that way, but sometimes it was hard not to. Sometimes that was the only option remaining. If there's not hope, the what's left?
"I certainly hope not. I don't know what I would do if something happened to Quistis while Squall was gone. I wouldn't know how to handle the situation." Xu frowned.
"I know. That would be scary. But if we need to, can't we call Squall?" Selphie asked her.
"Only if it's an extreme emergency." She answered, actually afraid that if they even attempted to call him, he'd get incredibly angered. He did say not to bother him, and the last thing they needed was for Squall to get pissed for calling and not even listen to them. It looked like they'd have to do it all on their own.
"Well, doesn't this count as an extreme emergency? We're only missing the person who is supposed to be in charge!" Selphie exclaimed. She raised her voice a little too loud and some of the students and factually stopped what they were doing to look at her strangely. Her cheeks flushed, and she hunched her shoulders in embarrassment.
Xu quickly grabbed Selphie's arm and dragged her up the stairs into the elevator. Curious eyes watched the scene and tried to listen for more, but the two were already heading up to the third floor.
"Don't do that! The last thing we need is for this place to go berserk. No one needs to know right now. If things get too out of hand who knows what would happen. We need to avoid absolute chaos at all costs. That's all we can do right now." Xu leaned against the cool glass of the elevator and felt the small, brief breeze that the thing released as it rose to its destination.
"But what about Quisty? What do we do about her? She's the one who's supposed to be running Balamb while Squall is relaxing and drinking punch out of a glass by a pool somewhere!" Selphie demanded. If the one in charge was missing and nowhere to be found then it's going to be extremely difficult to keep her disappearance under wraps. It's bound to leak out somewhere.
"I don't know. We've no idea where she is right now, and until she decides to stop hiding, someone else is going to have to take her place. We can't leave Balamb without a leader!"
"Yeah, but who? There aren't enough people who are qualified to take that job. You can't just shove some ordinary person into this position and say good luck! That's harsh!"
"Isn't that what they did to Squall?" The elevator doors finally opened and the two young ladies stepped out. The third floor was completely empty of people. The rooms were silent and all lights but one were off.
"Yes, but he was more than qualified! At least he had what it took to be a leader! And so did Quisty!" Selphie continued to protest. "And besides, Squall is anything but ordinary!"
"You're making it sound like they're both dead!"
"Well, they might as well be since they're both not here!" The two headed to Squall's office, which was currently abandoned. Both its occupants were gone. Squall was on vacation, and Quistis had just disappeared out of nowhere.
"They better not be dead." Xu muttered. She took out a key and proceeded to unlock the office, but she was startled. The office was still unlocked. "What the�"
"What's wrong?" Selphie turned quickly to Xu.
"It's still unlocked." Xu whispered. She felt afraid for some reason.
"What's wrong with that?" She failed to see what the big problem was.
"This is supposed to remain locked. I made sure that this office was to remain locked at all times, and that no one was to enter without Quistis' permission or mine. She and I are the only ones with keys. She knows that it's supposed to remain locked. I this feeling that something is wrong." She hurried to open the door. Flicking on the light switch, nothing happened. The room remained dark.
"Something's wrong with the light. It's not turning on." Xu whispered, starting to freak out.
Selphie frowned and tried her hand at the light. It didn't work for her either." It's just a blown bulb. That's all." She hoped that was all.
"Maybe she was the last one in here. I don't want to think that someone had been in here meddling." Xu said. She walked over to the window and pulled up the shade, shedding some light into the room.
"Is there anything important in here that maybe should be kept in a safer place?" Selphie asked.
"What safer place is there?" Xu demanded. She turned away from Selphie and looked around the room. Everything seemed to be in order. Nothing looked out of place. The yellow folder on the desk that contained the papers that would wait until Squall returned sat right where she had left it. The filing cabinets were all closed and hopefully locked.
"Hey, Xu?" Selphie called to her from the desk. She lifted up a bright green sticky note.
"What is it?" She knew the note said something, but she was afraid of what it may contain.
"It's a note. I'd recognize that handwriting anywhere. It's Quistis'. She wrote this." The lump that had formed only several minutes before in Selphie's throat, now threatened to cut off any and all air supply.
"Do I even want to know what it says?" Xu asked, sighing as she made her way over to Selphie.
"You might as well." She handed her the tiny slip of paper when she came within arm's length.
Xu studied the paper for several minutes with a puzzled expression occupying her face." It just has Squall and Rinoa's names on it. Why would she do that?" Xu looked up at Selphie, hoping that maybe the other girl would have an answer, but she didn't. She knew no more than Xu.
"Maybe it was a reminder to call them?" Selphie shrugged, offering what little help that she could.
"But why would she call them if she was the one who stressed the most that Squall was to be left alone?" Xu asked out loud, contradicting what Selphie had said.
"Maybe she's a hypocrite? I don't know. I'm just giving out suggestions. I have no idea what to think or do. Quistis is nowhere to be found, there are strange notes lying around that mean nothing, and Squall can't be reached! This seems like a sure good time to start panicking!" Selphie shrieked. One would think that she was a little uneasy.
"Selphie, I think maybe we're both taking this way out of proportion. I'm sure that there is nothing to get worked up over. There has got to be a reasonable explanation for it all." Xu patted Selphie lightly on the shoulder and looked out to the partially cloudy sky. "I hope."
"You know, I think we should try to call Squall. If Quistis was trying to contact him, then maybe he knows what's going on. I don't think that he'd want to be left in the dark for an entire week. He's not that kind of person, I don't think." Selphie whispered, thinking it through. She had faith in Squall that he would still want to be informed about what happened here at Balamb. She was sure that no leader would want to be totally left in the dark.
"But what if he can't do anything? And what if we are misinterpreting this whole thing? What if Quistis just went somewhere to get something and we're over-reacting? Maybe we should hold off for a while and check around for her one more time. I don't see why it wouldn't hurt. I'd rather be safe than sorry, as the old saying goes. Wouldn't you?" Xu put the sticky note back down on the desk and slowly backed away.
"I guess so, but I still think we should call Squall." Selphie pouted.
"If we can't find locate Quistis by tonight, we'll call Squall, but there are no guarantees that he'll be able to help us, remember that. We'll do what we can, though." Xu reassured her.
"Alright," the once perky girl sighed. "I'll go look around once more, and I'll continue to ask for her. Someone is bound to know where she is. At least, the Trepies should. They know everything about her, including her whereabouts." Selphie walked away from the desk and to the door. She looked at Xu again. "I hope that we can find her. I'd hate to see what would happen if she were really gone." She turned again and left the office to the elevator. She would search the area again from top to bottom.
Xu dropped into the chair and rested her elbows on the thick, wooden desk. She didn't know what to do. Everything was falling apart. The person in charge was missing. If Selphie didn't find Quistis, then they'd have to find someone else to take her place until Squall got back. It was only Tuesday, and he wasn't due back until late Sunday night. What on Earth were they going to do? They sure couldn't let the rest of the building know that Quistis was gone.
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Rikku still stood there, staring at all that was around her. She found it so fascinating. Spira had never looked like this before. She wondered if she'd been thrown into the future like Tidus had. That would explain why everything was so odd.
Rikku headed to the center where a large panel stood in front of the stairs. Surely, someone would notice her there and help her with her dilemma. She looked all around her as people walked by with no regard to her.
Then the elevator opened and someone stepped out. It was a girl who wasn't wearing one of those spiffy uniforms. She was wearing ordinary clothes just like she was. Rikku knew that she should talk to this person. That would be her best bet.
"Hiya!" She called and made a run up the stairs. The other girl stopped and turned to her in surprise. Rikku whispered "Hiya," again very quietly, looking to her feet.
"Hi," Selphie looked at this strange new person. She'd never seen her around Balamb Garden before because she knew that she'd recognize her. She'd stick out like a sore thumb among the others.
"Can you help me?" Rikku asked quietly still. "I don't think I'm where I'm supposed to be."
"Are you new?" Selphie felt that maybe she should have introduced herself more formally. "I'm Selphie." She stuck out her hand.
"I think." She grasped the hand and smiled. "I'm Rikku Can you tell what this place is?"
Selphie found that question rather strange. "This is Balamb Garden. The military academy, you know." Selphie released her hand and scratched at her head.
"Am I still in Spira?" Rikku asked desperately. Selphie just looked at her like she was crazy.
"Spira? There's no Spira here, I don't think. Is that supposed to be a city?" She asked more confused than Rikku was.
"No, it's not a city. It's the name of the land. I guess I'm not in Spira. Oh, boy." She sighed deeply.
Selphie stepped back from the girl in shocking surprise. "What?"
Rikku blushed. "Oh, sorry. I guess since I'm not in Spira then you have no idea what Al Bhed are?"
"What?" Selphie could hardly believe her ears. "A what?"
Rikku giggled. "Al Bhed. It's a race in Spira." Rikku shrugged. "You don't think I'm crazy, do you?" Well, she knew the answer to THAT question.
"Well, no. I just hope that you're not pulling my leg." Selphie answered. She sort of did find the other girl crazy, but she certainly wasn't going to voice that!
"Oh, I'm not! I promise!" She shook her head and her hands, trying to reassure Selphie that she wasn't lying.
The elevator suddenly opened and Xu came running out, panting. She grabbed Selphie's arm desperately.
"Xu? What is it? What's wrong?" Selphie asked frantically.
"I went ahead and called Squall anyway. The woman at the pub answered. Selphie, Squall and Rinoa disappeared yesterday, and no one knows where they are! She said that she talked to Quistis several hours ago!" Tears began to stream down her face.
"What? Oh, no! That can't be right!" Selphie exclaimed. "First Quistis and now Squall and Rinny! Oh my gosh!" Selphie shrieked. Rikku stood there, so very confused.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Rikku asked, offering what ever she could.
Selphie shook her head, "Unless perhaps you know where Squall, Rinoa, and Quistis are, then no."
"I'm sorry, but I don't know any of those people." Rikku frowned.
"Xu, you'd better contact Laguna. He may be the only help we have." Selphie said to the crying girl. She nodded and turned away. Selphie started down the stairs but stopped. She looked back at Rikku. "You might as well come with me. If you're from another planet, then you don't know your way around here. Am I right?" Rikku nodded and followed her. "We've got to go find the rest of the gang. We may have to go out and search for them. Someone may have kidnapped them. I don't suppose you can fight?" Selphie asked, running down the stairs.
"Which weapon do you want?" Rikku asked.
"That's good! I hope this isn't going to be hard! When we get this cleared up, we'll work about getting you back to Spira. Is that okay?" Selphie asked, running towards the Cafeteria with Rikku beside her.
"That's fine!" She exclaimed, now knowing just how Tidus felt.
The two girls ran into the Cafeteria, and Selphie led her to the back. Sitting at a table with a bunch of other ladies was unmistakably Irvine Kinneas.
"Hey, darlin'," he said to Selphie, who frowned as the other ladies giggled. Rikku couldn't help but roll her eye at the stud when he winked at her.
"I was actually hoping to find Zell, but you'll do. Where is he? This is an emergency!" Selphie exclaimed. She gave an evil eye to the other ladies, causing them all to get up and leave.
"Hey! What did you do that for?" he demanded as Selphie and Rikku both sat down.
"Because this is important! Do you know where Zell is?" She asked again, a little more direct this time.
"Nope. I haven't seen him all day. No one has. I was waiting for him in here, but he hasn't shown yet." Irvine shrugged. His wandering eyes slowly looked over Rikku. "And what's your name, Sweet Cheeks?"
"Rikku. She's from another planet." Selphie said quickly, not letting herself stary from her task. "We nee to find Zell! Something-"
"Wait! From another planet?" Irvine raised his cowboy hat and stared at Rikku in disbelief. She just waved at him. "You're kidding, right?"
"Nope." Selphie displayed a brief grin and then it retreated. " We've got to find Zell! This is an extreme emergency!"
"I told you already. No one has seen him. Even his little girlfriend in the library hasn't seen him." Irvine scoffed.
"Well, we need to find him! It's really important!" Selphie insisted.
"What's so important that we need to sniff out hotdog boy?" Irvine demanded. Rikku just sat there and watched these strange events unfold.
"Quistis, Squall, and Rinny are missing!" She dropped her voice and hissed her words to him.
"Selphie! Squall and Rinoa aren't missing! They're on vacation!" Irvine started laughing which really aggravated Selphie.
"No, they're not because Xu called them and the lady at the pub said that they had disappeared, and no one knows where they are!" Selphie defended herself.
"What?" Irvine's eyes popped.
For the first time, Rikku spoke up. "You said that the other person is missing, too. That makes four people who are gone!"
"You're right! It does! Irvine, something is not right here!" Selphie jumped up. "When everyone has disappeared, you show up, claiming that you are from a totally different place!" She pointed to Rikku who nodded. "Something really weird is happening, and we've got to get to the bottom of it! Squall and Rinny have gone missing, Quistis just disappeared, and now Zell is nowhere to be found! I'm telling you! There is something really crazy going on here!" Selphie exclaimed, on the very verge of hysteria.
Rikku jumped up following Seelphie's lead. "It's like a huge mystery that's just waiting to be solved!"
The two girls started chatting at lightening speeds. Irvine just stared forward, eyes open wide with a dumb-struck look on his face. "I can't believe it. I absolutely can't believe it. I never thought that it could be possible." He was talking to himself now since the other two were busy with themselves. "I really thought that it wasn't possible, but it is. Hyne actually made two of them! I never thought that there could be two Selphies, but I was wrong!" He dropped his head onto the table.
"Come on, Irvine! We've got work to do!" Selphie exclaimed, running over and grabbing him by the arm. She and Rikku pulled him up and dragged him out of the Cafeteria. He just repeated the same thing over and over again.
"I can't handle two of them. I can't handle two of them. I can't handle two of them."
A/N: Okay. I've got a lot of work to do, but I'm going to try as hard as I can to get this done by tomorrow. I made a promise and I intend on keeping it, but if I can't, don't hate me, okay? I'm doing my best. Merry Christmas and Later Days!
