Chapter #3
Oh my brother, my sister, my mother,
You're losing your identity.
Can't you see that it's you in the window
shining with intensity?
Sarah McLachlan
Circle
A bright light that hung from the ceiling blinded Adalia and sent shadows
scattering around the room. She sat at one end of a heavy oak table and a heavy
set man stood at the other end.
When Seifer, Nida and Adalia had arrived at the Garden, the administrators
had been waiting. They handcuffed the trio and had confiscated their weapons.
Seifer and Nida were then pulled away in a different direction down the hall than
Adalia while she was shoved into this little room with a man that stank of fine
cigars.
"State your name please miss." the man asked with a tone of boredom.
"Adalia," she answered, wondering what good her name would be to him.
"Adalia, are you aware of the past actions of your travelling companion, one
Seifer Alsmay?" He leaned over the table toward her as if to better hear her
answer.
"No." she answered curtly. She was beginning to wonder if the walls of this
room were magic resistant.
The man across from her sighed heavily. "Why were you travelling with
Seifer Alsmay in the first place?"
"I was on my way to see someone. I asked Seifer and Nida if they would
protect me along the way." Adalia told him, wondering why this was any of his
business in the first place. She was about to test how strong these walls were
against magic.
Suddenly the door burst open and a good-looking man of about seventeen
ran in. "Detective, out this on her!" the young man exclaimed as he threw
something that looked like a bracelet at the other man.
Adalia stood up, seizing this opportunity to try to escape. She started
muttering an incantation for a powerful spell, when all of a sudden the heavy man,
who had run over to her, clapped the bracelet onto her wrist. Adalia just smiled
and finished the incantation, but was dumbfounded when her magic failed to
work.
"We have you now, Sorceress Adalia!"
* * * * *
Nida sat in the Commander's office, just a few minutes after he had arrived
with Seifer and Adalia. Squall stood in front of him, a frown adorning his face.
"Nida, what the hell were you doing travelling with Seifer? And where is
Rinoa?" Squall asked in his coldest voice, saved only for interrogations.
"I was travelling with Seifer at the request of Adalia, the woman who was
travelling with us. And..." Nida hung his head. "Though Seifer was the one who
sent the transmission, he doesn't have Rinoa."
"So who's this Adalia character? Seifer's new girlfriend?" Squall asked with
a slightly mocking tone in his voice.
"No, she's not," Nida started, and Squall face's immediately fell back into
it's stone mask.
"Then who is she?" Squall asked in a slightly curios tone.
"She's a sorceress." Nida stated, slightly worried of what Squall's reaction
would be. Squall immediately turned pale, then began to rummage through his
desk as though there were a demon after him.
Suddenly he held up an intricately woven gold bracelet.
"What's that?" Nida asked, fearing for Adalia.
"Odine's bracelet. It's supposed to suppress a sorceress' powers," Squall
said as he raced out of the room to where Adalia was taken.
Nida looked at Squall's desk and saw the keys to his handcuffs just lying on
the top of it, begging him to take them.
'This is going to become real interesting' Nida thought as he got up from his
chair. Nida grabbed the keys and after a few moments freed himself from the
cuffs and took off towards the elevator. He jumped in and pressed the button for
the basement.
After the SeeDs had cleared the wreckage of Norg's pod, Squall had ordered
holding cells placed there for the more violent and 'induced' students. There were
also several rooms off to the side for interrogation purposes. Nida ran into one of
those rooms and saw Squall and someone he didn't recognize faced off against a
very surprised looking Adalia.
"Adalia!" Nida exclaimed, causing Squall and the other man to turn around
and look at him.
"Nida, who did you get here?!" Squall asked, surprise evident in his voice.
"Nida, please tell these people I'm only here to talk to someone," Adalia
said, causing the Squall and the other guy to turn around again.
"Well Adalia, here's your chance," Nida said, "Allow me to introduce
Commander Leonhart."
Adalia looked at the younger man. 'So this is the man we've travelled so far
to see' she thought to herself. "Hello Commander. I am here to see the Angel
Wing. Where is she?"
Squall was confused. Then he remembered the only person he knew who
had wings. "You mean Rinoa? What do you want Rinoa for?" he demanded.
"I need to talk to her," Adalia said slowly, not altogether sure what it was
she did want Rinoa for.
"Remove her handcuffs," Squall ordered the detective.
"What?!" the detective exclaimed, not believing his ears. "Why do you want
me to do that?! We should be handing her over to Esthar so they can seal her
powers!"
Squall agreed with him on one level, but on a deeper, subconscious level,
he knew that keeping this woman retrained could be more dangerous than to let
her go. "We will let you go on one condition," Squall said to Adalia, ignoring the
detective, "You must wear that bracelet while you are here in the Garden. I will
provide you with somewhere to sleep should you decide to stay here."
Adalia nodded. "I will stay here for the night."
"Release her." Squall told the detective. The detective pulled the key from
his pocket, shaking with rage as he unlocked Adalia's restraints.
"I shall take my leave now," the detective said as he stormed off, heading
towards the elevator.
"I will leave as well," Squall said as he began to walk toward the elevator.
"Oh, and Adalia? No hard feelings right?" Adalia nodded her head to indicate
there were none. "Good, it was nice meeting you, Adalia."
"Wait," Adalia said, and Squall turned to face her, "Where is Seifer?"
Squall's disposition suddenly turned threatening. "He was sent to
Galbadia's District Prison for an eventually trial and hopefully execution."
Adalia gasped, and Squall just continued on his way. "Seifer," she
muttered, then looked at Nida. When Squall was out of earshot, Adalia said "We
have to save Seifer. It was my fault he was captured."
"We're not rescuing Seifer. The man is a menace, and the fact that he
showed up here with a sorceress as well as faking Rinoa Heartilly's kidnapping
means the trial will just progress that much faster." Nida stated.
"Fine, if you won't help me rescue Seifer, then I'll just have to do it myself!"
Adalia said matter-of-factly. Nida looked at her and was about to voice an
objection when he saw the look in her eyes, then just sighed. He wondered if
there would be a day when he would be able to say no to her.
"Well, I guess I'll come along," Nida said, and Adalia beamed a megawatt
smile at him. "Shall I show you to your room?"
* * * * *
It was 12 at night and Nida couldn't get to sleep, which was strange because
Nida never had trouble sleeping. He was just wandering around the halls of the
dormitory when suddenly he began to ear someone singing.
'Who is that?' Nida thought as he resumed his walk. The song got louder
and louder until Nida stood outside the dorm room with the voice filtering through.
Nida knocked on the door and stood outside for a few seconds before he
opened the door and stepped inside. 'This room looks familiar' Nida thought to
himself as he walked into the sectioned off part of the dorm room which
contained the bed. Nida was shocked when he saw Adalia sitting there with tears
in her eyes and the hauntingly beautiful song on her lips.
"Nida, what are you doing here?" Adalia asked gently.
"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to go for a walk. That's when I heard you
singing, but I didn't know it was you and..." Nida started, but was cut off by Adalia
holding a finger up to his lips to silence him.
"Could you stay here tonight Nida? It gets awfully lonely in here. I'll sleep
on the floor and you could take the bed." Adalia offered.
"I'll sleep on the floor, you can have the bed." Then, after a pause, Nida
said, "You miss her, don't you? I used to have a mother as well, but she left me
when I was young."
"My mother is an amazing woman. But how did you know I missed her?"
Adalia asked.
Nida just shrugged. "You know what? I don't know. I just said what felt
right."
"My mother taught me this song," Adalia started after a brief silence, "I sing
it whenever I'm lonely, and it reminds me of her."
"It's a beautiful song," Nida complemented.
"Thank you," Adalia said.
"The only reminder I have of my parents is my broad sword," Nida started,
"But I guess it's the sort of impersonal gift that I'm most likely to receive anyways.
Nobody really even knows me, much less the things I like and dislike."
"I think you're wrong Nida. Your parents probably knew that you would go
in the military or something like that and they wanted to give you something you
could use. You're not as much of a loner as you think," Adalia told him looking
hm square in the eyes.
"You know, I've never thought of my parent's present like that before.
Thank you for helping me see it that way, Adalia." Nida thanked.
"It was nothing. Do you suppose we should be getting to sleep now?"
Adalia asked.
"Sounds good to me Adalia, sounds good to me."
* * * * *
The detective flew his aircraft towards Esthar, hoping to make it before the
air station closed for the night.
He was furious at the Garden's Commander for letting the sorceress go, and
he was about to do something about it.
Esthar, it had been awhile since he had been there. Not since Sorceress
Adel had killed his family and exiled him under false pretenses. Because of this,
John Wallace had decided to go on a quest to eliminate all sorceresses dangerous
to society.
John landed his aircraft and stood outside, watching the sun set. 'Watch
out Adalia' John thought, 'For I will bring an end to you!'
________________________________________________________________________________
Author's Notes: Yes, I know this chapter was slow in the plot development
department, but the next chapter will be 100 times more exciting, I swear it!
Oh my brother, my sister, my mother,
You're losing your identity.
Can't you see that it's you in the window
shining with intensity?
Sarah McLachlan
Circle
A bright light that hung from the ceiling blinded Adalia and sent shadows
scattering around the room. She sat at one end of a heavy oak table and a heavy
set man stood at the other end.
When Seifer, Nida and Adalia had arrived at the Garden, the administrators
had been waiting. They handcuffed the trio and had confiscated their weapons.
Seifer and Nida were then pulled away in a different direction down the hall than
Adalia while she was shoved into this little room with a man that stank of fine
cigars.
"State your name please miss." the man asked with a tone of boredom.
"Adalia," she answered, wondering what good her name would be to him.
"Adalia, are you aware of the past actions of your travelling companion, one
Seifer Alsmay?" He leaned over the table toward her as if to better hear her
answer.
"No." she answered curtly. She was beginning to wonder if the walls of this
room were magic resistant.
The man across from her sighed heavily. "Why were you travelling with
Seifer Alsmay in the first place?"
"I was on my way to see someone. I asked Seifer and Nida if they would
protect me along the way." Adalia told him, wondering why this was any of his
business in the first place. She was about to test how strong these walls were
against magic.
Suddenly the door burst open and a good-looking man of about seventeen
ran in. "Detective, out this on her!" the young man exclaimed as he threw
something that looked like a bracelet at the other man.
Adalia stood up, seizing this opportunity to try to escape. She started
muttering an incantation for a powerful spell, when all of a sudden the heavy man,
who had run over to her, clapped the bracelet onto her wrist. Adalia just smiled
and finished the incantation, but was dumbfounded when her magic failed to
work.
"We have you now, Sorceress Adalia!"
* * * * *
Nida sat in the Commander's office, just a few minutes after he had arrived
with Seifer and Adalia. Squall stood in front of him, a frown adorning his face.
"Nida, what the hell were you doing travelling with Seifer? And where is
Rinoa?" Squall asked in his coldest voice, saved only for interrogations.
"I was travelling with Seifer at the request of Adalia, the woman who was
travelling with us. And..." Nida hung his head. "Though Seifer was the one who
sent the transmission, he doesn't have Rinoa."
"So who's this Adalia character? Seifer's new girlfriend?" Squall asked with
a slightly mocking tone in his voice.
"No, she's not," Nida started, and Squall face's immediately fell back into
it's stone mask.
"Then who is she?" Squall asked in a slightly curios tone.
"She's a sorceress." Nida stated, slightly worried of what Squall's reaction
would be. Squall immediately turned pale, then began to rummage through his
desk as though there were a demon after him.
Suddenly he held up an intricately woven gold bracelet.
"What's that?" Nida asked, fearing for Adalia.
"Odine's bracelet. It's supposed to suppress a sorceress' powers," Squall
said as he raced out of the room to where Adalia was taken.
Nida looked at Squall's desk and saw the keys to his handcuffs just lying on
the top of it, begging him to take them.
'This is going to become real interesting' Nida thought as he got up from his
chair. Nida grabbed the keys and after a few moments freed himself from the
cuffs and took off towards the elevator. He jumped in and pressed the button for
the basement.
After the SeeDs had cleared the wreckage of Norg's pod, Squall had ordered
holding cells placed there for the more violent and 'induced' students. There were
also several rooms off to the side for interrogation purposes. Nida ran into one of
those rooms and saw Squall and someone he didn't recognize faced off against a
very surprised looking Adalia.
"Adalia!" Nida exclaimed, causing Squall and the other man to turn around
and look at him.
"Nida, who did you get here?!" Squall asked, surprise evident in his voice.
"Nida, please tell these people I'm only here to talk to someone," Adalia
said, causing the Squall and the other guy to turn around again.
"Well Adalia, here's your chance," Nida said, "Allow me to introduce
Commander Leonhart."
Adalia looked at the younger man. 'So this is the man we've travelled so far
to see' she thought to herself. "Hello Commander. I am here to see the Angel
Wing. Where is she?"
Squall was confused. Then he remembered the only person he knew who
had wings. "You mean Rinoa? What do you want Rinoa for?" he demanded.
"I need to talk to her," Adalia said slowly, not altogether sure what it was
she did want Rinoa for.
"Remove her handcuffs," Squall ordered the detective.
"What?!" the detective exclaimed, not believing his ears. "Why do you want
me to do that?! We should be handing her over to Esthar so they can seal her
powers!"
Squall agreed with him on one level, but on a deeper, subconscious level,
he knew that keeping this woman retrained could be more dangerous than to let
her go. "We will let you go on one condition," Squall said to Adalia, ignoring the
detective, "You must wear that bracelet while you are here in the Garden. I will
provide you with somewhere to sleep should you decide to stay here."
Adalia nodded. "I will stay here for the night."
"Release her." Squall told the detective. The detective pulled the key from
his pocket, shaking with rage as he unlocked Adalia's restraints.
"I shall take my leave now," the detective said as he stormed off, heading
towards the elevator.
"I will leave as well," Squall said as he began to walk toward the elevator.
"Oh, and Adalia? No hard feelings right?" Adalia nodded her head to indicate
there were none. "Good, it was nice meeting you, Adalia."
"Wait," Adalia said, and Squall turned to face her, "Where is Seifer?"
Squall's disposition suddenly turned threatening. "He was sent to
Galbadia's District Prison for an eventually trial and hopefully execution."
Adalia gasped, and Squall just continued on his way. "Seifer," she
muttered, then looked at Nida. When Squall was out of earshot, Adalia said "We
have to save Seifer. It was my fault he was captured."
"We're not rescuing Seifer. The man is a menace, and the fact that he
showed up here with a sorceress as well as faking Rinoa Heartilly's kidnapping
means the trial will just progress that much faster." Nida stated.
"Fine, if you won't help me rescue Seifer, then I'll just have to do it myself!"
Adalia said matter-of-factly. Nida looked at her and was about to voice an
objection when he saw the look in her eyes, then just sighed. He wondered if
there would be a day when he would be able to say no to her.
"Well, I guess I'll come along," Nida said, and Adalia beamed a megawatt
smile at him. "Shall I show you to your room?"
* * * * *
It was 12 at night and Nida couldn't get to sleep, which was strange because
Nida never had trouble sleeping. He was just wandering around the halls of the
dormitory when suddenly he began to ear someone singing.
'Who is that?' Nida thought as he resumed his walk. The song got louder
and louder until Nida stood outside the dorm room with the voice filtering through.
Nida knocked on the door and stood outside for a few seconds before he
opened the door and stepped inside. 'This room looks familiar' Nida thought to
himself as he walked into the sectioned off part of the dorm room which
contained the bed. Nida was shocked when he saw Adalia sitting there with tears
in her eyes and the hauntingly beautiful song on her lips.
"Nida, what are you doing here?" Adalia asked gently.
"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to go for a walk. That's when I heard you
singing, but I didn't know it was you and..." Nida started, but was cut off by Adalia
holding a finger up to his lips to silence him.
"Could you stay here tonight Nida? It gets awfully lonely in here. I'll sleep
on the floor and you could take the bed." Adalia offered.
"I'll sleep on the floor, you can have the bed." Then, after a pause, Nida
said, "You miss her, don't you? I used to have a mother as well, but she left me
when I was young."
"My mother is an amazing woman. But how did you know I missed her?"
Adalia asked.
Nida just shrugged. "You know what? I don't know. I just said what felt
right."
"My mother taught me this song," Adalia started after a brief silence, "I sing
it whenever I'm lonely, and it reminds me of her."
"It's a beautiful song," Nida complemented.
"Thank you," Adalia said.
"The only reminder I have of my parents is my broad sword," Nida started,
"But I guess it's the sort of impersonal gift that I'm most likely to receive anyways.
Nobody really even knows me, much less the things I like and dislike."
"I think you're wrong Nida. Your parents probably knew that you would go
in the military or something like that and they wanted to give you something you
could use. You're not as much of a loner as you think," Adalia told him looking
hm square in the eyes.
"You know, I've never thought of my parent's present like that before.
Thank you for helping me see it that way, Adalia." Nida thanked.
"It was nothing. Do you suppose we should be getting to sleep now?"
Adalia asked.
"Sounds good to me Adalia, sounds good to me."
* * * * *
The detective flew his aircraft towards Esthar, hoping to make it before the
air station closed for the night.
He was furious at the Garden's Commander for letting the sorceress go, and
he was about to do something about it.
Esthar, it had been awhile since he had been there. Not since Sorceress
Adel had killed his family and exiled him under false pretenses. Because of this,
John Wallace had decided to go on a quest to eliminate all sorceresses dangerous
to society.
John landed his aircraft and stood outside, watching the sun set. 'Watch
out Adalia' John thought, 'For I will bring an end to you!'
________________________________________________________________________________
Author's Notes: Yes, I know this chapter was slow in the plot development
department, but the next chapter will be 100 times more exciting, I swear it!