An Unlikely Meeting- Part VII
Disclaimer: I wonder what would happen if I told you guys that I *do* own FF8 and Squaresoft... No! I'm only kidding! Please don't sue me!
AN: Hey guys. Sorry for the delay. Was it just me, or was there some connection problem when trying to log on into ff.net? If it was just me, I'd be pretty pissed. Anyway, this chapter's kinda short, I think. If it sux to you guys, just say so. I think I'm getting lazier and lazier in my writing, don't you think so? I guess I better shut up now. Read! =)
Three weeks have passed. Almost everyone was at the cafeteria, including Squall, Rinoa, Selphie, Irvine, Zell, and Adrian, Zell's newfound girlfriend. They were having lunch together, munching on hotdogs and sandwiches while waiting for Quistis to come and join them.
"Hey, you know, I really hope Quistis is doing well. I mean, we haven't heard from her for so long," Irvine said.
"Yeah, I hope she's not stressing herself out or anything," Zell said with his mouth full of hot dogs.
"Nah, she can take care of herself. She's strong," Rinoa said with confidence.
Selphie nodded. "Yeah, that's true. But you know what? I feel really bad for Seifer." She blushed as she thought back to the day when she and Rinoa became suspicious that he might've kidnapped Quistis. They gave their sincere apologies the day after when Seifer had cooled down. "I mean, I really think that he means well for Quistis."
Yeah, for Quistis, Squall thought with distaste, but quickly felt guilty. Maybe he did mean well. He was just misunderstood, like I was. Instead, he just replied with his usual, "Whatever."
"Is that all you have to say, Squall?," Rinoa playfully chastised. "I mean, we're talking about serious stuff here."
A small smile played on his lips as he rolled his icy blue eyes. "Fine, so we'll just play nice with Seifer, okay? Feeling better, my Queen?"
"*Play* nice?," she retorted with a jab to his ribs.
"Oof," he huffed. As an apology, he took her from behind and kissed her warmly at the nape of her neck. She giggled and kissed him back.
All the while, Selphie had caught Irvine eying a group of young women. He was watching them dreamily when his view of them was suddenly blocked by a pair of evil grass green eyes. He suddenly became uncomfortable. He knew that look meant trouble.
"Ah, Sefie, well, um, uh, hello," he said with a sheepish smile.
"You were staring at those girls, weren't you," Selphie said, her lips beginning to pout.
"Well...,"
"You think they're prettier than me, don't you?" Her eyes were now watering.
"No, of course not! Oh no Sefie, don't cry, please don't cry."
Two huge drops of tears slid down her rosy cheeks. No! She's crying!, Irvine thought in his head. "Sefie, if you cry, I cry too," he said.
They both cried together.
Adrian and Zell were holding hands. She whispered something in his ear and Zell turned his head to where Irvine and Selphie were both crying. He laughed and kissed her lovingly on the mouth.
Quistis was on her way to the cafeteria to have lunch with the gang. Seifer had gone back to the city a couple of days before to take care of business and paperwork at The Galactica. He was supposed to return very soon.
Although Seifer wasn't by her side as usual, Quistis felt happy. She felt as though things were moving in a positive direction. Just last week, she and Matron had found that Quistis had harbored telepathic abilities. Quistis had now gone from being able to move miniscule and lightweight objects, such as pens, pencils, and paper, to more larger and heavier ones, such as a chair or a lamp. She had just begun to try her abilities on humans. Selphie had offered to be the subject of the trial one day. Edea knew that Quistis's abilities weren't so that she would be able to throw her forcibly to the wall. Instead, the amount of force Quistis was able to manifest onto Selphie was only enough to tip her over and lose her balance. "With enough practice, maybe you'll even be able to lift up the Ragnarok!," Selphie had told her with child-like eagerness.
Quistis smiled at the memory. Things were going quite nicely. There was no word of Celeste and everything at Garden was back to normal.
The halls weren't very full. Only a couple of students were around, talking to each other or walking to their destination. Voices came to her direction all at the same time.
"Oh my gosh! Did you hear...?"
"I went out with Darren last night- it was so fun!"
"I really don't want to take that test..."
"I can't believe that jerk...!"
Such typical conversation. So this is what stability must be like, Quistis thought with a sad smile. She was approaching the cafeteria, so as not to look so down, she changed her expression to a more pleasant one, straightened her back, and lifted her chin. She would not allow her friends to see her this way. She was to meet them after a long time of hard work, and she wanted to have fun.
Quistis rounded the corner and entered the cafeteria, but stopped suddenly at the entrance.
My head...!, she thought with pain. She gripped the sides of her head to try to block out the torrent of sounds that were assaulting her from all sides.
The sounds, where are they coming from?, she wondered, then realized they were from her head. Dear Hyne, have I totally lost it now? Am I crazy? I think I'd rather be crazy. At least I'll know that the voices I hear aren't real, she thought bitterly. But it hurts so much!
Quistis doubled over in pain. So many voices...
"Hey, who's that over there...?"
"Instructor...?"
"What's up with her...?"
"This is way wierd..."
... yet the cafeteria became silent, all eyes on the fallen instructor. Selphie had seen her first. She and Irvine had both stopped their crying as she forgave him. She stood up, about to jump up and down to indicate where they were when she saw Quistis's hands clamped to the side of her head. She turned to the others with a worried frown. They followed her line of sight to see Quistis, obviously in pain.
"What's wrong with Quistis...?"
"Oh no! This is really bad! Oooohhh..."
"Quistis..."
The voices Quistis heard weren't being spoken out loud, they were what was going through the people's heads! Quistis couldn't stand it any longer, and she turned around, dashing towards her room, her haven. Unshed tears had begun to sting her eyes. What's wrong with me?, she thought. Everything was going so well, and now this...
She was approaching her room. Come on Quistis, just a few more steps and you'll be safe. Just run. Run run run!
She was so intent on reaching the door to her dorm that she didn't notice Seifer at all. Seifer turned to see what the noise was and saw Quistis running. He thought she was running towards him in joy, happy to see him, and he put on a cocky smirk and opened his arms.
"Heya, did ya miss me?," he said, but he quickly realized her red eyes and wet cheeks, and his smirk turned into a slight frown. "Quistis?"
She reached her door. She went inside and slammed the door shut. She was about to lock the door but was prevented from doing so when Seifer turned the doorknob so that the locking mechanism wouldn't work. Only when he let go of the knob would the door finally lock. When Seifer entered the dorm room, he saw no one. "Quistis?," he called out. He walked further in and found Quistis huddled on the other side of the bed where Seifer wasn't able to see her from the doorway. Her legs were drawn up to her chest and she was rocking back and forth. She looked up to him in alarm.
"No! Stay away from me! Please, it hurts!," she cried. Fresh tears assaulted her eyes. "Matron... please... get Matron...."
"Oh man, just hang on, okay? Everything will be all right. Just wait right here, I'll be right back." He didn't think that Quistis would allow him to go inside any further to call Edea up from the room, so he had no choice but to do it the long way. He ran.
Squall, Rinoa, Irvine, Selphie, Zell, and Adrian were all running towards Quistis's dorm, where they expected to find her. On their way, they saw Seifer running towards them.
"Yo! Seifer's back," Zell commented.
"You guys! Don't go into Quistis's room. She's not feeling too well. I'm gonna go get Edea!," Seifer said as he flew past them.
"Oh man, this is *not* good," Zell said with a sad shake of his head.
Seifer burst into Edea's room. "Edea! Quistis... needs... help," he huffed.
"Oh no! What's wrong?"
"I don't know, but she's in pretty bad shape."
They arrived in front of Quistis's room where everyone else was waiting and worrying. Selphie looked up to Edea with large, hopeful eyes.
"Matron, Quistis is crying. Please help her," she pleaded.
"Don't worry honey. Just wait right here, okay?," Edea said soothingly.
Selphie nodded, and Edea entered the room quietly. On the other side of the bed, she found Quistis curled up tightly into a ball, her forehead against her knees. Her shoulders were shaking from her sobbing.
"Quistis, please tell me what's wrong?," Edea asked worriedly.
"I don't know, Matron," Quistis sobbed. "I'm hearing voices in my head and they hurt."
Edea frowned. "What do these voices say to you?"
"Nothing in particular. I think they're mostly thoughts from the people around me." She sniffed. "Am I a mind reader?," she asked, suddenly remembering what Seifer asked her quite nonchalantly in the car just a few weeks ago.
Edea gave her a pained smile. "I'm afraid so."
Everyone was waiting outside the door. Seifer stood apart from them, pacing back and forth, back and forth. He was furious. If all this is the workings of Celeste...
"Hey, Seifer, do you know what happened?," Zell asked. "I mean, we were gonna have lunch together after a long time, and now this had to happen."
But Seifer wasn't listening. "Whatever," he muttered.
"Ha! You sound just like Squall!," he burst out unintentionally.
Both Seifer and Squall glared at him.
"Eep!," he squeeked as he covered his mouth. He walked over to where he was farthest away from them without totally detaching himself from the group.
After what seemed like eternity, Edea finally emerged from Quistis's room. Everyone crowded around her, eager for some information as to how Quistis was doing now. They began to ask her questions all at once.
"Please, children! One question at a time please."
"Matron, is Quistis hurting anymore?," Selphie asked hopefully.
"No, she's not hurting anymore. I've managed to calm her down a little."
"What was wrong with her?," Rinoa asked.
"I'm afraid she has mind reading capabilities as well as telekinetic abilities."
A brief silence ensued as the information sunk in.
"Wow," was all Irvine could say.
Edea nodded.
"So what was with the big headache?," Zell questioned.
"She can't control her mind reading abilities too well since she just learned of it today. When she entered the cafeteria, she was overwhelmed by the voices she was hearing from everyone's minds. She couldn't handle so much at one time."
Seifer watched as everyone questioned Edea. Just like a bunch of annoying reporters, he thought with disgust. He had his fill of reporters. Some were brazen enough to track him down after the Ultimecia incident to his club, asking how it felt to be called the Sorceress's lapdog, and how and why he decided to side with her. Of course, he kicked them out, threatening to cut them open with his gunblade. Hyne, I hate reporters, he thought. What a bunch of nosy morons.
His mind drifted back to Edea, just in time to hear her saying "She needs to be left alone for now. The ability seems to come and go from time to time. She will meet with me in my room at the usual time. We must deal with this problem first before moving ahead to improve her telekinetic abilities." She moved herself out of the little group and was walking away when a voice stopped her.
"Wait!"
Edea turned around to face Seifer.
"Do you think this is all of her powers, or is there more?"
"I really don't know," she replied, and walked away.
Back in his room, Seifer had finished unpacking his things and was lying down on his bed. He decided to call Quistis to see how she was doing before she left to meet with Edea. A soft, yet weak, voice answered at the other line.
"Hello?"
"Hey," he said quietly.
"Hey."
"How are you feeling?"
She paused for a few seconds. "Tired."
"Does your head still hurt?"
"No, not really. Now that the voices are gone, I guess." She stopped before saying, "I'm scared."
"About what?"
"That I might become..."
"Become what?"
"... corrupted."
Seifer huffed. "I have no idea *what* your talking about."
"Well, if you were able to read minds, wouldn't you be tempted to do just that?"
Hmm, interesting point. "I see what you mean. So your saying that you might become tempted to read everyone's mind to see what they think of you or something?"
"Mm hmm." Seifer could just see the worried frown that was probably etched in her face right now.
"Nah, Quistis, that won't happen. You're too strong to give into your temptation. Your moral values would win out. I know you won't stoop to such a level."
There was silence at the other line.
"If you need to relieve yourself of the temptation that's knawing at your heart, you can read my mind," he suggested.
Quistis snorted weakly. "No thank you. Not with all the dirty thoughts that are probably going through your head all the time."
"Aw come on. Maybe when I was some immature sixteen year old. But you gotta give me some credit here. I've matured."
Quistis snickered. "I'll bet."
"Hey, you don't believe me?" He heard Quistis laugh quietly. He smiled. He missed her during his stay in the city. Now, all he wanted to do was to see her face. See her smile and the mischievous sparkle in her eye. To simply hold her and be content that she was there.
After a few moments of peaceful silence, Quistis finally broke it. "I'm tired," she said with a yawn.
"I guess your gonna take a little nap before going to Edea?"
"Mm hmm."
"Good luck on your session today, hm?"
"Thanks. Bye."
"Bye." He hung up. He sat up in his bed, his body itching for some exercise. He took his gunblade and headed out for the training center.
Disclaimer: I wonder what would happen if I told you guys that I *do* own FF8 and Squaresoft... No! I'm only kidding! Please don't sue me!
AN: Hey guys. Sorry for the delay. Was it just me, or was there some connection problem when trying to log on into ff.net? If it was just me, I'd be pretty pissed. Anyway, this chapter's kinda short, I think. If it sux to you guys, just say so. I think I'm getting lazier and lazier in my writing, don't you think so? I guess I better shut up now. Read! =)
Three weeks have passed. Almost everyone was at the cafeteria, including Squall, Rinoa, Selphie, Irvine, Zell, and Adrian, Zell's newfound girlfriend. They were having lunch together, munching on hotdogs and sandwiches while waiting for Quistis to come and join them.
"Hey, you know, I really hope Quistis is doing well. I mean, we haven't heard from her for so long," Irvine said.
"Yeah, I hope she's not stressing herself out or anything," Zell said with his mouth full of hot dogs.
"Nah, she can take care of herself. She's strong," Rinoa said with confidence.
Selphie nodded. "Yeah, that's true. But you know what? I feel really bad for Seifer." She blushed as she thought back to the day when she and Rinoa became suspicious that he might've kidnapped Quistis. They gave their sincere apologies the day after when Seifer had cooled down. "I mean, I really think that he means well for Quistis."
Yeah, for Quistis, Squall thought with distaste, but quickly felt guilty. Maybe he did mean well. He was just misunderstood, like I was. Instead, he just replied with his usual, "Whatever."
"Is that all you have to say, Squall?," Rinoa playfully chastised. "I mean, we're talking about serious stuff here."
A small smile played on his lips as he rolled his icy blue eyes. "Fine, so we'll just play nice with Seifer, okay? Feeling better, my Queen?"
"*Play* nice?," she retorted with a jab to his ribs.
"Oof," he huffed. As an apology, he took her from behind and kissed her warmly at the nape of her neck. She giggled and kissed him back.
All the while, Selphie had caught Irvine eying a group of young women. He was watching them dreamily when his view of them was suddenly blocked by a pair of evil grass green eyes. He suddenly became uncomfortable. He knew that look meant trouble.
"Ah, Sefie, well, um, uh, hello," he said with a sheepish smile.
"You were staring at those girls, weren't you," Selphie said, her lips beginning to pout.
"Well...,"
"You think they're prettier than me, don't you?" Her eyes were now watering.
"No, of course not! Oh no Sefie, don't cry, please don't cry."
Two huge drops of tears slid down her rosy cheeks. No! She's crying!, Irvine thought in his head. "Sefie, if you cry, I cry too," he said.
They both cried together.
Adrian and Zell were holding hands. She whispered something in his ear and Zell turned his head to where Irvine and Selphie were both crying. He laughed and kissed her lovingly on the mouth.
Quistis was on her way to the cafeteria to have lunch with the gang. Seifer had gone back to the city a couple of days before to take care of business and paperwork at The Galactica. He was supposed to return very soon.
Although Seifer wasn't by her side as usual, Quistis felt happy. She felt as though things were moving in a positive direction. Just last week, she and Matron had found that Quistis had harbored telepathic abilities. Quistis had now gone from being able to move miniscule and lightweight objects, such as pens, pencils, and paper, to more larger and heavier ones, such as a chair or a lamp. She had just begun to try her abilities on humans. Selphie had offered to be the subject of the trial one day. Edea knew that Quistis's abilities weren't so that she would be able to throw her forcibly to the wall. Instead, the amount of force Quistis was able to manifest onto Selphie was only enough to tip her over and lose her balance. "With enough practice, maybe you'll even be able to lift up the Ragnarok!," Selphie had told her with child-like eagerness.
Quistis smiled at the memory. Things were going quite nicely. There was no word of Celeste and everything at Garden was back to normal.
The halls weren't very full. Only a couple of students were around, talking to each other or walking to their destination. Voices came to her direction all at the same time.
"Oh my gosh! Did you hear...?"
"I went out with Darren last night- it was so fun!"
"I really don't want to take that test..."
"I can't believe that jerk...!"
Such typical conversation. So this is what stability must be like, Quistis thought with a sad smile. She was approaching the cafeteria, so as not to look so down, she changed her expression to a more pleasant one, straightened her back, and lifted her chin. She would not allow her friends to see her this way. She was to meet them after a long time of hard work, and she wanted to have fun.
Quistis rounded the corner and entered the cafeteria, but stopped suddenly at the entrance.
My head...!, she thought with pain. She gripped the sides of her head to try to block out the torrent of sounds that were assaulting her from all sides.
The sounds, where are they coming from?, she wondered, then realized they were from her head. Dear Hyne, have I totally lost it now? Am I crazy? I think I'd rather be crazy. At least I'll know that the voices I hear aren't real, she thought bitterly. But it hurts so much!
Quistis doubled over in pain. So many voices...
"Hey, who's that over there...?"
"Instructor...?"
"What's up with her...?"
"This is way wierd..."
... yet the cafeteria became silent, all eyes on the fallen instructor. Selphie had seen her first. She and Irvine had both stopped their crying as she forgave him. She stood up, about to jump up and down to indicate where they were when she saw Quistis's hands clamped to the side of her head. She turned to the others with a worried frown. They followed her line of sight to see Quistis, obviously in pain.
"What's wrong with Quistis...?"
"Oh no! This is really bad! Oooohhh..."
"Quistis..."
The voices Quistis heard weren't being spoken out loud, they were what was going through the people's heads! Quistis couldn't stand it any longer, and she turned around, dashing towards her room, her haven. Unshed tears had begun to sting her eyes. What's wrong with me?, she thought. Everything was going so well, and now this...
She was approaching her room. Come on Quistis, just a few more steps and you'll be safe. Just run. Run run run!
She was so intent on reaching the door to her dorm that she didn't notice Seifer at all. Seifer turned to see what the noise was and saw Quistis running. He thought she was running towards him in joy, happy to see him, and he put on a cocky smirk and opened his arms.
"Heya, did ya miss me?," he said, but he quickly realized her red eyes and wet cheeks, and his smirk turned into a slight frown. "Quistis?"
She reached her door. She went inside and slammed the door shut. She was about to lock the door but was prevented from doing so when Seifer turned the doorknob so that the locking mechanism wouldn't work. Only when he let go of the knob would the door finally lock. When Seifer entered the dorm room, he saw no one. "Quistis?," he called out. He walked further in and found Quistis huddled on the other side of the bed where Seifer wasn't able to see her from the doorway. Her legs were drawn up to her chest and she was rocking back and forth. She looked up to him in alarm.
"No! Stay away from me! Please, it hurts!," she cried. Fresh tears assaulted her eyes. "Matron... please... get Matron...."
"Oh man, just hang on, okay? Everything will be all right. Just wait right here, I'll be right back." He didn't think that Quistis would allow him to go inside any further to call Edea up from the room, so he had no choice but to do it the long way. He ran.
Squall, Rinoa, Irvine, Selphie, Zell, and Adrian were all running towards Quistis's dorm, where they expected to find her. On their way, they saw Seifer running towards them.
"Yo! Seifer's back," Zell commented.
"You guys! Don't go into Quistis's room. She's not feeling too well. I'm gonna go get Edea!," Seifer said as he flew past them.
"Oh man, this is *not* good," Zell said with a sad shake of his head.
Seifer burst into Edea's room. "Edea! Quistis... needs... help," he huffed.
"Oh no! What's wrong?"
"I don't know, but she's in pretty bad shape."
They arrived in front of Quistis's room where everyone else was waiting and worrying. Selphie looked up to Edea with large, hopeful eyes.
"Matron, Quistis is crying. Please help her," she pleaded.
"Don't worry honey. Just wait right here, okay?," Edea said soothingly.
Selphie nodded, and Edea entered the room quietly. On the other side of the bed, she found Quistis curled up tightly into a ball, her forehead against her knees. Her shoulders were shaking from her sobbing.
"Quistis, please tell me what's wrong?," Edea asked worriedly.
"I don't know, Matron," Quistis sobbed. "I'm hearing voices in my head and they hurt."
Edea frowned. "What do these voices say to you?"
"Nothing in particular. I think they're mostly thoughts from the people around me." She sniffed. "Am I a mind reader?," she asked, suddenly remembering what Seifer asked her quite nonchalantly in the car just a few weeks ago.
Edea gave her a pained smile. "I'm afraid so."
Everyone was waiting outside the door. Seifer stood apart from them, pacing back and forth, back and forth. He was furious. If all this is the workings of Celeste...
"Hey, Seifer, do you know what happened?," Zell asked. "I mean, we were gonna have lunch together after a long time, and now this had to happen."
But Seifer wasn't listening. "Whatever," he muttered.
"Ha! You sound just like Squall!," he burst out unintentionally.
Both Seifer and Squall glared at him.
"Eep!," he squeeked as he covered his mouth. He walked over to where he was farthest away from them without totally detaching himself from the group.
After what seemed like eternity, Edea finally emerged from Quistis's room. Everyone crowded around her, eager for some information as to how Quistis was doing now. They began to ask her questions all at once.
"Please, children! One question at a time please."
"Matron, is Quistis hurting anymore?," Selphie asked hopefully.
"No, she's not hurting anymore. I've managed to calm her down a little."
"What was wrong with her?," Rinoa asked.
"I'm afraid she has mind reading capabilities as well as telekinetic abilities."
A brief silence ensued as the information sunk in.
"Wow," was all Irvine could say.
Edea nodded.
"So what was with the big headache?," Zell questioned.
"She can't control her mind reading abilities too well since she just learned of it today. When she entered the cafeteria, she was overwhelmed by the voices she was hearing from everyone's minds. She couldn't handle so much at one time."
Seifer watched as everyone questioned Edea. Just like a bunch of annoying reporters, he thought with disgust. He had his fill of reporters. Some were brazen enough to track him down after the Ultimecia incident to his club, asking how it felt to be called the Sorceress's lapdog, and how and why he decided to side with her. Of course, he kicked them out, threatening to cut them open with his gunblade. Hyne, I hate reporters, he thought. What a bunch of nosy morons.
His mind drifted back to Edea, just in time to hear her saying "She needs to be left alone for now. The ability seems to come and go from time to time. She will meet with me in my room at the usual time. We must deal with this problem first before moving ahead to improve her telekinetic abilities." She moved herself out of the little group and was walking away when a voice stopped her.
"Wait!"
Edea turned around to face Seifer.
"Do you think this is all of her powers, or is there more?"
"I really don't know," she replied, and walked away.
Back in his room, Seifer had finished unpacking his things and was lying down on his bed. He decided to call Quistis to see how she was doing before she left to meet with Edea. A soft, yet weak, voice answered at the other line.
"Hello?"
"Hey," he said quietly.
"Hey."
"How are you feeling?"
She paused for a few seconds. "Tired."
"Does your head still hurt?"
"No, not really. Now that the voices are gone, I guess." She stopped before saying, "I'm scared."
"About what?"
"That I might become..."
"Become what?"
"... corrupted."
Seifer huffed. "I have no idea *what* your talking about."
"Well, if you were able to read minds, wouldn't you be tempted to do just that?"
Hmm, interesting point. "I see what you mean. So your saying that you might become tempted to read everyone's mind to see what they think of you or something?"
"Mm hmm." Seifer could just see the worried frown that was probably etched in her face right now.
"Nah, Quistis, that won't happen. You're too strong to give into your temptation. Your moral values would win out. I know you won't stoop to such a level."
There was silence at the other line.
"If you need to relieve yourself of the temptation that's knawing at your heart, you can read my mind," he suggested.
Quistis snorted weakly. "No thank you. Not with all the dirty thoughts that are probably going through your head all the time."
"Aw come on. Maybe when I was some immature sixteen year old. But you gotta give me some credit here. I've matured."
Quistis snickered. "I'll bet."
"Hey, you don't believe me?" He heard Quistis laugh quietly. He smiled. He missed her during his stay in the city. Now, all he wanted to do was to see her face. See her smile and the mischievous sparkle in her eye. To simply hold her and be content that she was there.
After a few moments of peaceful silence, Quistis finally broke it. "I'm tired," she said with a yawn.
"I guess your gonna take a little nap before going to Edea?"
"Mm hmm."
"Good luck on your session today, hm?"
"Thanks. Bye."
"Bye." He hung up. He sat up in his bed, his body itching for some exercise. He took his gunblade and headed out for the training center.