Chapter 2

The Separation

Noin opened her eyes. She found herself surrounded by grass. The sweet aroma of rose petals came to her. Noin looked up only to find Treiz looking down at her.
"Are you alright?" Treiz asked, helping Noin to her feet.
Noin gasped, "Your Excellency, I…"
But before Noin could finish her sentence she was interrupted by a loud moan.
"This is just not my day today," said a familiar voice behind them.
Noin turned around. "Duo," Noin moaned.
"Oh, Miss…Aaah! You!" Duo pointed at Treiz, looking startled. "What are you doing here? H…how…"
"The same way we all got here," said a lovely, tall, blue eyed, blonde looking at them.
"What?" Duo asked looking confused.
Quistis sighed, "Someone wants us dead. I don't know who, but…I just have this great suspicion that the earthquake that we faced was no accident."
"So you mean that some strange power took over us and brought us here to be killed off?" Treiz asked knowingly.
"But the question is: Where are we?" Noin asked looking around.
"You're in Shinra forest," chuckled a voice behind them.
The four people turned around only to find a beautiful flower maiden standing in front of them.
"Who are you?" Duo asked. The girl smiled.
Get…off ME!!" a little girl cried as she kicked Squall off her back.
"Ow! Okay, okay geez! It's not like I've already broken any bones!" Squall said sarcastically. He clumsily got off Hotaru's back. As Squall fell to the ground, he landed on something hard.
"Ahh!! Watch it, Squall!" Selphie yelped. "Geez, I've already fallen on my head. I don't need a concussion!"
"Oh yeah, let's think about poor little Selphie and forget that Squall is injured too!"
"Would you two be quiet already!?" A harsh voice commanded behind them.
"Who died and made you boss?" Squall muttered as he weakly stood up. "Whoa, where are we?" Squall asked dizzily.
"It looks like we're in a deserted prison," Hotaru said looking around.
"Shhh, listen," Selphie cautioned. As everyone quieted down they could hear voices through the walls.
"What do you think, Barrett?"
"Dunno, maybe we should eliminate them."
"What do you think, Yuffie?"
"I say we should bury them alive! Torture them to death. TOAST them! Pow, pow, pow!"
"Ugh! Never leave Yuffie with the decision, Vincent."
"WHAT! Grrrr…you know, Barrett, all I need to do now is wrap my hands around your neck and squeeze!"
"Grow up, kid."
"Ugh," Hotaru moaned as she clutched her heart tight.
"Huh, what's wrong, kid?" Selphie asked worried. Hotaru's eyes went black as she stumbled to the floor breathing hard. "Hey, kid, hold on. Don't get a heart attack now!" Selphie began to panic as she shook Hotaru's shoulders. Hotaru screamed in pain as a black light covered her. Suddenly she fainted…

Hotaru opened her eyes. She found herself in a soft, warm, and comfortable bed. Hotaru flinched at the bright fire that was lit in front of her.
"Oh, you're awake," said a soft voice from behind her. Hotaru struggled to get up, but failed to do so. The lady chuckled, "Don't bother to get up, dear, you'll just hurt yourself more. Here, drink this. It may taste bad but it'll help you heal your wounds." The lady tried handing Hotaru the cup of liquid, but Hotaru just stared at it. Finally, after a long moment, Hotaru took the cup and gave it a sip.
"Blech!" Hotaru sputtered as she drank the hot liquid. The liquid wasn't bad it was horrible!
The lady smiled, "Don't worry, your friends will get the same treatment when they wake up." Then the lady winked at Hotaru and left.
"Ahhh, you call this medicine?! It tastes like…like…uh…I don't know what to say right now, but it still tastes…bad!!"
Hotaru awoke with a start. She turned around to see who had such a horrible voice. It was…Selphie!
Selphie continued her rude chattering, "If you're trying to kill us, why don't you do it the proper way instead!" Selphie yelled at the very same lady who had talked to Hotaru moments ago.
The lady didn't seem to be offended by Selphie's hollering and answered calmly, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but could you lower down your voice? Other people are trying to rest. If you have a complaint, please tell our cook Miss Yuffie your problem."
"Ahhh…be quiet this, be quiet that! How am I supposed to sleep or get better with this disgusting, yucky thing!" Selphie retorted pointing at the cup full of hot liquid.
"Actually, ma'am, this drink is filled with all the nutrients you need for your body."
"Nutrients? Nutrients! Have you people lost your minds? Nutrients, honestly!"
"Shera! Where's my tea? I need my tea!!" a booming voice called out waking everyone up.
"What the…" Squall muttered, startled out of his sleep.
The lady who seemed to be called Shera called out in a soft voice, "Your tea is on the table, sir!"
"Where? I don't see it, Shera!"
Shera sighed in disgust muttering as she walked down the stairs.
"Selphie, you know you could have restored your strength instead of wasting it on foolish chattering," Squall scolded angrily as he got up.
"If she had put a megaphone beside her mouth I think she would've awaken the entire universe," Zechs said sarcastically.
Selphie glared at Zechs. "Ha, ha, ha. That was sooo funny it knocked the senses out of me!"
"Since when did you have any sense, Selphie?" a familiar voice responded.
Hotaru looked up at the man. He had blonde hair and a scar from his forehead to his nose, kind of the opposite of Squall's. He also had a very odd looking weapon behind his back.
"You! What are you doing here?" Selphie asked suspiciously.
"Seifer, how nice of you to drop by," Squall commented with no feeling.
"Hmph, I can't stay here long so sorry to disappoint you, Squall," Seifer grinned wickedly, "I've places to go, people to see, old friends to meet." "Hmph, you mean Quistis," Squall retorted angrily.
"How ever did you guess?" Seifer said putting on a pathetic face.
Squall's anger rose. "You stay away from her! You hear? Stay away from her or I'll…"
"What? You'll what, shish kebab me with your gunblade?" Seifer laughed at his own joke.
Squall threw a fist at Seifer and was about to actually kill him until Hotaru screamed. "Stop! Stop it. He is not our enemy, Squall, so please."
Seifer looked up at Hotaru, "Who's the kid?"
"My name is Hotaru," the girl responded. Then after that, Seifer left.
Squall looked furiously at Hotaru. "You should've let me handle him. Now he'll go stalking us all over again!"
"I'm sorry, but I just couldn't take the violence you were doing. It gave me a headache," Hotaru said innocently.
"Aww, c'mon, Squall, give her a break," Selphie said walking towards Hotaru.

"Who are you?" Duo asked the beautiful flower maiden again.
The girl smiled, "I don't think it's safe to talk in these woods. Like I said, Shinra owns this place. It would be unwise to stay here long. Follow me."
The four followed the flower maiden out of the forest and into a beautiful meadow filled with flowers. There was a pang of sweet smelling flowers surrounding them.
"Wow! What a beautiful place this is!" Quistis exclaimed looking around the garden.
"Yes, yes it is," the maiden said reluctantly.
"What's wrong, Lady. Uh…I mean uhh…oh," Treiz said blushing wildly with embarrassment. How could I be losing my mind? Treiz thought blushing even more. Soon, Treiz was red as a beat.
Noin, sensing the tension Treiz was feeling, continued what he was saying. "What his Excellency is trying to say is that why are you so reluctant about this garden?"
"I'll answer your questions later, but right now we have to get to my house," was the plain response.
After what looked like an hour of walking, they finally stopped at a very huge house. The flower maiden beckoned them in.
"Alright, spill," Quistis said, looking anxious at what the flower maiden was going to say.
The flower maiden sighed, "My name is Aeris Gainsborough. About that question you asked me back there on why I was so reluctant on answering your question about my garden? Well, that's because once this place used to be filled with many flowers. All kinds of flowers: whether they were extinct or not. But now I only have less than half the population of flowers. You see, this place was once a sacred place, but then Shinra…"
"Wait a minute, who's this Shinra? Is it a person, a president, a thing?" Duo asked interrupting Aeris' story.
Quistis glared at Duo. "Duo, don't be rude! Ask questions later!"
Aeris giggled, "That's alright. Shinra is an organization, as well as the name of a president, that is responsible for the use of Mako reactors."
"Question!" Noin exclaimed raising her hand. "What are these Mako reactors for?"
"Mako reactors are reactors that suck out energy from the earth just to let us live a comfortable life. They're a kind of nuclear energy, sort of. Anyway, Shinra built a Mako reactor not just far from here, near the forest where you guys landed." Aeris explained, finally stopping to catch her breath. Treiz, gaining his outgoing confidence began to speak. "So, what are these luxuries for? Why would someone want to destroy the earth just to get themselves so much nuclear energy?"
Aeris sighed, "Money, I guess. Power, also. Shinra just want to get their pockets full of money, so they destroy the earth to get themselves rich." Noin looked angry, "But isn't that a bit selfish of these people to just do that?"
Aeris nodded, "Sadly, Shinra knows they're taking all the credit for themselves. They don't care about anyone," Aeris looked at the ceiling and sighed. "People die each day because of this selfish process. Especially, when more people start to protest against the Shinra, they'll just get shot down, like dogs." Then Aeris put her head on her hands.
"Humph, sounds just like OZ," Duo commented. Noin and Treiz glared at him with disgust.
Quistis looked very sorry for the flower maiden and asked, "Is there anything we could do to help?"
Aeris looked up shocked, "Oh, no, I couldn't endanger your lives! It would be too risky!" Aeris looked at the clock. "It's late, and you're probably all tired. Maybe you should get some sleep," Aeris said changing the subject. She then led them to their rooms.

"Who're you?" Squall asked when a blonde man in his late 40's came into the room
"Who am I? Who am I? I am the great…"
"Cid Highwind, the one who loves to drink a lot of bad tasting tea," giggled a 16-year-old child leaning on the door.
"Who asked you to answer, thief," said the man.
The girl grinned, "Thief is a very harsh word, 'Master Cid,'" the girl said, mocking eyes shining.
Cid growled then turned to Selphie. "How's the kid?"
Selphie looked at Hotaru then at Cid. "She's exhausted," Selphie said then added suspiciously, "Why do you ask? I mean, I bet that girl over there is the same one who wanted to toast us."
Cid looked at a blushing Yuffie moving away from the door. "Yuffie, where the heck are you going?" Cid asked grabbing Yuffie's collar and throwing her to the door.
"Uh, I, uh…have to cook, sir. You know how busy the kitchens can be. Always cooking nonstop, getting lots of orders, many…" Yuffie was cut off short by Cid's barking voice.
"Zip it, girl, or you'll know what'll happen to you. See that you remember!" then Cid ordered Yuffie to get out of his sight.
Cid then turned to Squall. "Never trust that girl with your life. Understand?" Squall nodded then got up. "If you're hungry just go downstairs." Cid said going down the stairs.

~As the latest reports say Shinra has been trying to maintain peace between the peoples' relationship…~

"Darn, those Shinra. They ain't maintaining nothin'. Those lying, evil slugs!" exclaimed a man as he turned the television off.
Hotaru walked down the steps. Looking around on what surrounded her. She could see blurred faces sitting around a table.
"Hey," Shera said as she approached Hotaru, "Hungry?" Shera led Hotaru to the kitchen and told her to sit down. She then handed Hotaru a tray full of food. "Call me if you need anything, dear," then she went back to work.
A tall, pale man with mysterious looking eyes came in the kitchen. He wore a red cape and a black outfit. "Shera," the man spoke dully, "Cid needs his cup of tea."
Shera frowned. "Again? Oh, all right. Watch her for a moment will you?" Shera said pointing at Hotaru. She then whispered something in her ear. "Don't let him scare you, okay?" Then, she left.
Hotaru stared at the man. Her big purple eyes glittered. The man took a seat in front of her, his gaze never leaving her.
"Gosh, you two are a quiet lot! Let's get LOUD!!" Yuffie said as she raised her hands high in the air.
"Oh, Yuffie, didn't notice you there," the man said as he looked up.
Yuffie looked at Hotaru then at the man. "Vincent! What've you done to her? You've given her the silent treatment!" Yuffie scolded.
Vincent sighed. "I didn't do anything to her, Yuffie. Shera just told me to watch her."
Yuffie bent down to look at Hotaru. "Hey there! What's your name?" Hotaru looked at the girl with the blank face.
"Tomoe, Hotaru," Hotaru finally said.
Yuffie squealed, "Awww, she's so cute! Isn't she cute, Vince?"
Vincent looked at Yuffie with his lifeless eyes, "Stop treating her like a child, Yuffie."
Yuffie glared at Vincent. She then walked up to him and smacked him in the face. "Moron! She is a kid! Don't act so boring!"
"Yuffie!" Cid shouted from outside the kitchen. Yuffie muttered as she walked away. Vincent then looked at Hotaru.
"So, what do you do for a living, Vincent?" Hotaru asked curiously.
Vincent looked at her surprised. "How old are you?"
"Thirteen," Hotaru said dully. "I got to go." Then Hotaru left.
Shera finally came back and was surprised to find only Vincent sitting in the dining table. She frowned. "What did you do to her?"
"What?! I didn't do anything to her!"
"Where were you?" Zechs asked Hotaru when she came back up.
Hotaru ignored his question. "We need to get out of here by midnight. We can't stay here long."
Selphie looked at her watch. "It's almost midnight. Just five more minutes."
Five minutes passed as Hotaru and the others snuck away from the inn they were staying.
Hotaru checked her pockets. She gasped in horror. Oh no! I can't believe I left my henshin stick behind! She thought as she stopped running.
"Hotaru, what's wrong?" Selphie said as she looked back.
"You go ahead, I forgot something really important," then she ran back to the inn.
"Hotaru, come back! Hotaru! Ugh you better catch up," Selphie said worried. After that they left.
Hotaru silently got back into the house. As she crept slowly and silently into the room she had been staying on, she suddenly heard a sound. Hotaru ignored the sound and reached for her henshin stick. Huh? Where is it? Wasn't it right here?
"Looking for this?" A very familiar voice spoke out. Hotaru turned around.
"Kaolinite!" Hotaru gasped as she saw a pale lady with flaring red hair dressed in black.
"Nice to see you too, Mistress 9," Kaolinite said, smirking wickedly.
Hotaru clenched her fists. "I'll never be that evil witch ever again!" and as Hotaru said that, she grabbed her henshin stick from Kaolinite's hand and kicked her hard. Then, she ran as fast as she could not caring on how much noise she made.
Kaolinite growled, "Pathetic little brat! Grrr, I'll get you my sweet, you can count on it." After saying those words, Kaolinite vanished

Because of this selfish process people die each day. Especially, when more people start to protest against the Shinra, they'll just get shot down, like dogs. Duo Maxwell thought over and over on what Aeris had told all of them. "If I only had my gundam, I'd be able to teach those Shinras a lesson or two." Duo sighed.
"What would you do? Destroy them like you're destroying OZ?" Treiz said unexpectedly.
Duo jumped. He didn't notice that Treiz was looking out the window. "What're you doing this late at night?" Duo asked blushing.
"Same to you," was the calm response.
"Ugh, it's not nice to eavesdrop you know!" Duo warned, still blushing.
"I wasn't eavesdropping. I just simply overheard your pathetic chattering."
"Put a sock in it!" Duo yelled angrily.
"Do you want to wake everyone up?" Treiz asked coldly. Duo was about to open his mouth when they heard a loud scream.
"Huh? What was that?" Duo asked as he and Treiz ran down the hall. As they got to the girls' quarters, Treiz stopped Duo from getting inside. "Hey, why'd you do that for?" Duo asked.
"That's the girls' dormitory. I don't think they'd want us to come in," Treiz said.
"Huh? What do you mean? They're in trouble! Do you expect me to stay here while they're screaming to death?" Duo yelled angrily at Treiz.
"Listen, won't it be more sensible if your enemy didn't know there was a backup troop just waiting outside the door? Think, Duo Maxwell, you have to expect the unexpected or else you'll end up losing the battle," Treiz explained sensibly.
Duo sighed, "You're right, but that still doesn't convince me."
"Aaaaahhhh!"
"That's it, I'm going in," Duo broke down the door and gasped in horror. "You! You're that guy who showed up on television! (Does Duo want an autograph?) You're…"
The man turned around showing his green Mako eyes, like Aeris' except his eyes were filled with hatred and evil. "So, you must be Duo Maxwell, the gundam pilot of 02, also known as Deathscythe," the man grinned wickedly. (How does he know all this?)
"Who…are…you?" Duo asked horrified looking at the man.
"I'm your worst nightmare," the man said then he disappeared with Quistis.
"Quistis! Quistis!!" Duo yelled as he tried to run after her.
"We have to help her. She could lose her life," Aeris said as she appeared through the door. She looked around the room then walked over to an unconscious Noin.
"How do we get her back?" Treiz asked finally coming in the room.
Aeris looked up. Fear was in her eyes. "It'll be dangerous, but we have to save her. Follow me."
"Not so fast," said a horrifying voice from behind. Aeris and the rest looked behind them. The room went dark as the lights flickered off…