(you asked for it…so I wrote it

(you asked for it…so I wrote it. Here's chapter 3 of "The Calm Before the Storm." I wasn't actually going to finish this one…I don't consider it my best work. But, as 5 people apparently have it on their favorites list, I'd better finish it anyway. Who knows, maybe I can still salvage it. I'im guessing I'll have the next update around…tomorrow. ^_^ Here 'tis:)

Cid was sitting by the side of Squall's bed, his face pale as a sheet, an hour later. He slumped quietly inward, murmuring, "So they've come." Quistis, Selphie, Irvine, Zell, and Rinoa were gathered around as well, casting anxious looks between him and Squall. "Who's come?" Quistis asked. "What does this all mean?" Cid turned slowly to look around at them all, then took a deep breath. "You've all fought the sorceresses. My wife, Edea, Adel, Ultimecia. All had their bodies taken over by the power of a previous sorceress." All present nodded.

"However," he continued, "These sorceresses were being controlled by a large organization, a higher power, though you may not have known it." He looked around for recognition, and found only blank stares. "You've noticed they used mostly holy magic? That they were immune to it? That they absorbed it? These sorceresses belonged to a faction known as the Holy Kingdom."

"Holy Kingdom?" Selphie frowned. "But they aren't holy…not really! They're evil!" Squall closed his eyes. "They look like…angels…" Cid nodded. "They've got a large enough ego, and just enough madness to have made themselves believe that they are holy, that they are the destined rulers of the world." Irvine whistled. Cid went on. "They've genetically altered some of their kind to look…well, to look like they way we imagine angels. But they are not. They're highly powerful and dangerous experiments, created by someone to carry on the arts of sorcery for some long hoped for goal."

"What 'someone'? What goal?" Rinoa asked. Cid frowned. "I'm afraid we don't know. We know so very little about the 'Holy Kingdom,' that sometimes it frightens me. I'd always hoped they'd leave us alone, perhaps recognize their defeat after Ultimecia perished. What we do know, is that they have the power to transform and play with the functions of peoples minds…as Squall has apparently learned. They can make you think they aren't there, be standing right in front of you, and have you not see them, feel them, or hear them. They can hear what isn't said, see what's locked up inside your mind…" he sighed. "And, the control the sorceresses."

He sighed heavily. "And they've come back, now…seeking to induct a new sorceress." He stared right at Rinoa, and she looked back at him, having realized as he said it…Squall looked at Rinoa, then turned fiercely to Cid. "They won't have her! We won't let them have her! They can't take her away!" Everyone nodded, and Rinoa could see the determination and courage in the faces around her. Apparently, Cid could as well, for he smiled sadly, and shook his head. "I'm not sure what we can do to prevent it." Squall grabbed his arm. "What do you mean?!"

"I had so hoped this wouldn't happen," Cid continued. "I'd so hoped we'd have some peace in our lives for once…" He looked so distraught, that Rinoa came over and put and arm around him. "You said they needed me for whatever this 'almighty plan' is, correct?" He nodded glumly. "Then they can't afford to kill me, can they? All the other sorceresses may have been taken…but they haven't dealt with me yet." She glared out the window, as if seeing these things out there before her. "They won't find me so easy to 'induct.'"

"Not necessarily," Cid said, looking suddenly very old and tired to Rinoa's eyes. "They can warp your mind. They can change what you see, and make you believe you're safe, right as you walk into their clutches. No," he shook his head again. "There is only one way to escape this. You must get out of here within the three days they've allotted us. I can't offer any better means of survival. The only way to defeat them, presently, is to run." He looked around, saw the defiant faces, and said, in earnest, "I know it goes against all your training. But we must protect Rinoa…and I have a responsibility to the rest of this garden as well. If they find her here, and she won't go, they'll attack the SeeDs and students. I can't have that happen."

Rinoa sat down hard in the chair. Leave the garden? Leave her friends, and all she'd come to know? She bit her lip, and looked up at Cid again. "I'm sorry," he murmured. I wish there was something I could do." Squall sat up then, and stared at Rinoa for a long time. "I'm going too," he said quietly, though loud enough for all to hear. "I'm going with her." He stood up carefully to stand beside Rinoa. Quistis looked around, and then nodded. "And I." "Whoo hoo! Me, me too!" Selphie jumped up and down. "Yeah!" Zell stood beside her. "Hey, count me in," Irvine said, pointing his finger like a gun, and shooting it out the window.

Rinoa looked around, amazed. "You'd…all do this for me?" Squall hugged her fiercely. "Count on it."