Chapt 3
Keave stepped into the large fluorescent lighted room. It was empty except for two occupied small beds and a large desk, of which sat a young woman, dressed in a long doctor robe.
"Here are the bodies," Kiros gestured towards the covered lumps on the beds, "And this is Doctor Liguithe. She will brief you on the...details," he finished, and hurriedly exited.
"So, you are the young SeeDs who have been sent to investigate this situation?" spoke up the Doctor. Squall nodded.
"Very well, you may examine the bodies now."
Squall nodded again and stepped over to one bed, Rinoa shaking slightly beside him. Keave went over to the other one, Quistis trailing behind him. Simultaneously, they slipped off the covers, and looked into the pale faces of two unmoving figures, one male, one female. Indeed, there was not a single scratch on them.
"Well, we are not exactly experts in this field, so if you would please give us the analysis of your examinations..." said Squall, breaking the silence.
Doctor Liguithe walked over. She indicated the corpses, while glancing at some files which she held in her hands.
"You can see clearly that they appeared unharmed, and we have not used any type of healing spell on them. The only marks we could find was a slight bruise on the female's elbow. We expected that she obtained it when she fell on it, which would be quite natural, but it proved that she should still be alive when she hit the ground. There seemed to be no signs of any struggles and they were not contaminated by any disease deadly enough to kill. We have concluded that they must have been forced to death by the power and magic of which only sorceresses possess," she finished glumly.
"Thank you, doctor," said Squall. He gave one last glance to the unmoving shapes before disappearing through the door, now almost thoroughly convinced that a new sorceress was after them, after the world. Keave heard the young blonde SeeD sigh, and the foursome continued onto the next destination.
* * *
Zell and the others arrived back at the Presidential Residence, still trying to absorb what they have just heard.
According to Doctor Odine, there seems to be no more known sorceresses existing in the world today. So if the murders really were the work of a sorceress, the only possibility would be Rinoa, as she is the only remaining sorceress alive.
Zell could not, would not believe that Rinoa will even think about bringing harm to anyone. He spotted Squall talking with Quistis near the window and hurried over, relating the information he just received to him, waiting for his reaction.
For the most part, Squall remained calm and composed, but his eyes flared when he heard the accusations of Rinoa.
"There is no way it could be Rinoa. NO WAY," he said.
"I know, man, I know," Zell replied, keeping his voice low as to avoid the ears of Rinoa, who was, at the moment, talking animatedly with Ellone, "We'll work this out, it'll come to us soon."
* * *
They were back at the Garden, and ever since the encounter with Doctor Odine something has been nagging at Irvine annoyingly.
He reached his room, sat down on his bed and looked about his unpacked room. He stood up, opened the windows and tried to think.
It couldn't be possible. Rinoa couldn't do that to us, she couldn't even hurt an ant. There's got to be something else. Think Kinneas, think.
He lied down on his bed and slowly his mind drifted to the conversation he had earlier on with Keave.
Will he forgive me? What if he won't...what if he tells Selphie, just to get back at me. Hyne, would he love that.
He shifted to his side. Being a SeeD in Balamb Garden came with problems he'd never dreamt of.
* * *
Selphie bounded through the hallway towards the cafeteria, ready for her morning's intake of food. It was yet another day at Balamb Garden, sunny and fresh, fabulous for going out. She's decided that the whole group's going for an outing at Balamb, since they were all free. Boy, they need quite a bit of tension-easing, with all the activities happening lately.
She entered the cafeteria and spotted Irvine and Zell sitting at a nearby table. Zell was scoffing his food down at a near superhuman speed. Irvine was sprawled over his chair, his food untouched. He winked when he saw her and she waved back, a wide grin spreading over her face.
Oh, he's such a cutie!
She hopped over and plonked herself into his lap, and began tucking into his food.
"Hey hey, girl, that's my breakfast you're downing there."
"But you're not even eating it!" she grinned and kissed him softly on the lips, but broke away when she spotted Quistis through the crowd, "Hey Quisty! Over here!" she yelled, waving her arms wildly.
Quistis walked over slowly, balancing a cup of coffee in one hand and her Save the Queen in another. A smile was in place on her pretty face as she greeted them.
"Hi guys, what's up?" she asked as she sat down.
"Oh Quistis, save me, these two over here are scaring me like hell..." stammered Zell, although he was grinning.
"Zell, leave them alone. They deserve some time alone," replied Quistis, sipping her coffee.
Selphie turned red, "Hey guys, let's go to Balamb today, maybe visit Seifer and Fujin and Raijin. It's a perfect day and we haven't been there for ages!" she said, trying to cover up her embarrassment.
"Anything for you, mah little Sefie," said Irvine.
"I was thinking of training a bit, but I guess I do need some fun. Okay, I'll go." supplied Quistis.
"Me too!" mumbled Zell through a mouthful of food.
"But I was thinking, maybe we should ask Keave to come as well. I mean, Headmaster wanted us to get to know him better, and I thought it'll be mean if we just leave him alone," quipped in Selphie.
"Good idea..." Zell swallowed his food, "Um...I was wondering, can I ask Angie...you know the girl in the library...the one with pigtails? To come with us as well...?" he stammered.
"Oooooo....Zell's in love with someone!!!" teased Selphie, laughing.
"Shut up!"
"Of course you can invite her, Zell!" she said as he turned the same shade of colour she was before, "Hey, there's Squall and Rinoa. GUYS!!!"
Zell sent a silent note of thanks to Squall and Rinoa for such excellent timing. Hurriedly, he gulped down the rest of his food and headed towards the library, summing up his courage for the request he's about to make.
* * *
AN: A big thanks to Wendy and Jenny for helping me with names. Thanks guys!! ¤¿¤