Twisted Destinies: Part Three
Authoress: Tsutae Kouken
~Field~
"So you say she's just a weirded out person who needs to go to an insane asylum?" Zell
asked, after hearing Squall's story.
"No…I just think she needs a little supervision. That's all." Squall said, lying on the
grass, listening to the girl's playing with the junior classmen.
"Supervision? Come on, that girl is an ice queen at times. No one could stand her for
long. I know I can't." Zell said, taking another sandwich out of one of the extra lunch
bags.
"You've talked to her then?" Squall asked, sitting up so he could hear better.
"Yeah. We had lunch together and afterwards she seemed to get offended when I
mentioned GFs. She said she had the most powerful one. Named Rhapha. I could swear
I've heard of it before." Zell said, between bites. Squall frowned and put his hand on his
forehead in his typical thinking gesture.
"You know…me too. I'll ask Matron about it next time I see her." Squall said, hearing
Rinoa come up behind him.
"Hey! Squall, come help us play hide-and-seek. You too, Zell!!" Rinoa said, wrapping
her arms around his neck and hanging onto his back as he stood up.
"Okay okay. Let's go." Squall said, turning and walking away with Rinoa still on his
back. Rinoa giggled like crazy.
"Kids. I wonder if Tari was ever a kid like these?" Zell asked himself as he ran to catch
up with the rest of the SeeDs and the Junior Classmen.
A few hours later, they all headed back to Balamb Garden, the junior classmen tired but
happy.
"I can't wait to see Irvine! He told me that we'd have dinner on the conservatory!"
Selphie bounced up and down in her seat.
Squall smiled. Oh yeah…she'd be surprised alright.
~Quad~
"Hey….Tari! What's up?" Irvine asked the duo-color haired girl. She smiled faintly at
him, her face pale and sad.
"Not much. And you?" She said faintly. Irvine decided that Tari didn't look too well.
"You sure you're okay? You look very pale." Irvine knelt next to the girl, who was sitting
on some steps next to her guitar.
"I know. I don't know why, but lately I've been feeling very sick when I use magic, even
Curagas. I've tried using one of those to make me feel better, but I just felt worse." Tari
said, hugging herself and shivering again in the bright sunshine.
"Let's take you to the infirmary. The doctor will know what to do." Irvine took her hand,
and tried to get her to stand up. Tari refused to comply with him.
"No! Please. I'll be fine. It's just one of those things that happen often." Tari took her
hand away from him. Irvine leaned forward and put his arms around her.
"Hey….hey…It's okay. Just come with me and the new doctor will check it out, okay?"
Irvine said, his face really close to hers. Tari nodded and stood up, Irvine moving back
and keeping one arm around her.
"What are you two doing?" Xu came out of the shadows, having seen the two but not
hearing what they said. She glanced at Tari's pale face and wondered why Irvine had just
turned red.
"She's sick. I'm going to take her to Doctor Chiyuu. She'll know what to do about it."
Irvine stammered some as he said this, making Xu suspicious.
'I wonder if this girl is trying to make a play for Irvine? Or is she really sick?' Xu
wondered to herself.
Irvine nodded to Xu and he and Tari walked away.
'I wonder if Selphie should know about this…..'
Xu nodded to herself. Selphie should know.
Tari looked at Dr. Chiyuu and sighed. This doctor didn't know ANYTHING!
"I don't know what is wrong, Tari, but something is really weird here." Dr Chiyuu
pointed out.
'State the obvious why don't you?' Tari thought to herself.
"Well, why don't you come back after a couple of days and we'll find out, okay?" The
doctor smiled. It was a friendly smile coming from a pretty redheaded girl.
"All right then. I will." Tari got off of the bed and left the room.
Leaving the Infirmary, Tari headed for the 2nd floor classroom, to see if she could find
something on the other GFs here.
That's when she spotted Zell waiting for her.
For a strange reason, she felt somewhat glad. Then she felt something inside her stirring.
"No, Rhapha. I like him. I'm going to talk to him." Tari said to the GF.
It stirred and then quieted down, fading back into her soul. Tari put on a smile and
walked over to Zell, who was waiting.
"You feeling okay now?" Zell asked, his face showing genuine concern. What he was
really concerned about was the story he had heard from Xu when they arrived back from
the field day with the junior classmen.
"Yeah. She told me to come back in two days." Tari really did look pale in the light. Zell
frowned almost imperceptibly.
"Well…want to go for a walk?" Zell asked, putting his hands in his pockets. "You'll get
some warm sunshine that way."
"I'd like that." Tari felt Rhapha stirring again and smiled to cover her unease.
The two walked in silence to the training grounds, where they strolled around.
Zell finally asked her a question.
"What do you think of Irvine?"
"I think he's a little immature, and I think that he's cute when he's with that girl. What's
her name? Oh yeah…Selphie." Tari tried to remember the name of the girl with the funny
brown hair and succeeded.
Zell believed her.
"So…you use a GF, huh?" Zell asked next.
"I do. Rhapha is her name."
"Can you tell me where you go her?"
"It's a long story."
"I've got time and patience on my side." Zell grinned as he said this. 'Okay…so I'm the
least patient person in the Garden. Who cares?' he thought.
"Well….when I was younger, I lived outside the desert area. You should know where
that is. I don't remember my parents much, and I lived with my grandparents for a while.
But they said I was a child with a rebellious streak in me and I left soon after I was
fourteen." Tari smiled to herself in a kind of pleased way.
"FOURTEEN?" Zell pretended to be surprised. 'So she's about eighteen now….four
years no one really knows what she was doing and where she had been. It sounds enough
to be suspicious.' He mused for a minute before he realized she was speaking again.
"Yeah. I came to a village, called the Shumi village and stayed there for a year, learning
how to use GF. It was quite fun." Tari stopped for a second.
"Go on." Zell prompted.
"I left there. I wandered around for another year, and then came the day that I met this
huge youma. It was one of the ugliest creatures I had ever seen and I didn't want to
challenge it but it challenged me. So…I fought it and gained Rhapha after it died. It was
funny, cause that youma didn't look so weak." Tari seemed to be puzzled herself.
"Do you think……that that GF wanted you?" Zell voiced his thought, not knowing if it
would be a trigger to one of her weird moods again.
"I don't know. All I know is that Rhapha isn't a normal GF. I'm scared she's taking over
me." Tari seemed human for once, actually looking as scared as she sounded.
Zell looked at the smaller girl, her eyes seeming to fill with worry. 'I wonder if that's it?
She's being taken over?'
"I don't know how to get rid of her. I can't junction her to anyone who doesn't want her."
Tari's eyes were troubled.
"I'd take her for you and get rid of her." Zell offered. Tari actually smiled at that.
"Rhapha has a drawback. She is only suited for females." Zell eyed Tari with a weird
look.
"What? Is she sexist or something?" This remark made Tari laugh. Zell wondered why
she was laughing.
"No…she is…I don't know how to say it, but she'll turn a male into a female if she is
equipped to a male." Zell's eyes got really big at that response.
"I don't want to take her then. You can have her!" Zell looked so horrified at the thought
of being a girl that made Tari laugh even harder.
"I don't think Rhapha would switch. She takes only people she wants." Tari said, getting
more serious.
"Only the people she wants? That doesn't sound like your average GF. It sounds weird."
Zell commented, thinking about asking Cid or Matron if they knew anything about a GF
named Rhapha.
"I know. But I like Rhapha. She has a lot of powers most GFs don't." Tari leaned on the
railing, looking at the water flowing around the middle of the training center.
"I see. You have a lot of guts to come here and say most GFs can't stand up to your
Rhapha." Zell said, thinking about his own.
"Well…she gave me something that is a one of a kind magic." Tari reached into her
pocket, pulling out a small velvet box.
"That looks like ring box." Zell was skeptical.
Tari opened the box, and there in the center was a small ruby egg shaped jewel. Zell eyed
it curiously.
"What is it?" He asked.
"It's a Phoenix Egg. It's a life restorer. It has to be used with a Firaga and a Phoenix
down to restore life." Tari looked at the jewel with a sense of pride. "Of course…I've
never had to use it. I'm glad for I don't have anyone really special and even if I did they
wouldn't be dead right now."
"So…you're saying even with all this power you don't have any friends?" Zell was
surprised. He had a lot to report to the others.
"Right. But…you've been nice. One of the first real friends I've ever had." Tari blushed,
and held out the velvet box holding the powerful magic stone. Zell's eyes flew wide open
and he looked at her curiously.
"You want to give me this?"
"Yeah. I just feel like I want too. Rhapha has no objections….at least that I know of."
Tari felt the angry protests inside of her, coming from the GF, belying what she said.
Zell took the box in his hands, the precious magic jewel glistening and glowing.
Snapping the lid shut, Zell stuffed it in his pocket and mumbled his thanks, his face
turning red.
Tari looked pale all of a sudden and said she needed to go lay down. Zell thought it was
well timed, for he needed to gather his thoughts anyway.
~Quad~
"So what are you going to do?" Selphie asked Zell, who had just told them about what
Tari and he had spoken. But he didn't mention the Phoenix egg.
"I'm going to go to the desert area. Maybe there's a city there that she came from. If I
take the Tandoku, I'll be back by tomorrow." Zell stood up and walked away from the
group gathered at the quad.
"Well…..I think she's okay. I think she's just feeling insecure and wants to fit in." Rinoa
said, leaning against Squall. Squall put his arm around her.
"I do too. She seems to be getting along really well with Zell though! They'd be really
cute together!" Selphie pointed out. Irvine covered her mouth with his hand and she
giggled hysterically.
"Well….I guess so. But we'd better get ready. It's dinner time soon and we get to serve
the lovebirds on the observation deck!" Quistis teased, feeling kind of lonely without
Seifer there. Seifer didn't like group discussions and preferred to be alone.
"Yeah man! It's going to be a blast! You guys serving us! Whoo hoo!" Selphie jumped
up and down. Irvine cracked a slight grin. She didn't know how good tonight was going
to be.
Squall kept a straight face. He didn't know how Selphie would react, but something told
him not in the usual way.
Rinoa still had a feeling that something was up. She'd just have to wait.
A/N: I am beginning to actually see a good plot come out here. I just write and the stupid
plot forms itself. There will be more coming! Ja! Tsutae Kouken
Authoress: Tsutae Kouken
~Field~
"So you say she's just a weirded out person who needs to go to an insane asylum?" Zell
asked, after hearing Squall's story.
"No…I just think she needs a little supervision. That's all." Squall said, lying on the
grass, listening to the girl's playing with the junior classmen.
"Supervision? Come on, that girl is an ice queen at times. No one could stand her for
long. I know I can't." Zell said, taking another sandwich out of one of the extra lunch
bags.
"You've talked to her then?" Squall asked, sitting up so he could hear better.
"Yeah. We had lunch together and afterwards she seemed to get offended when I
mentioned GFs. She said she had the most powerful one. Named Rhapha. I could swear
I've heard of it before." Zell said, between bites. Squall frowned and put his hand on his
forehead in his typical thinking gesture.
"You know…me too. I'll ask Matron about it next time I see her." Squall said, hearing
Rinoa come up behind him.
"Hey! Squall, come help us play hide-and-seek. You too, Zell!!" Rinoa said, wrapping
her arms around his neck and hanging onto his back as he stood up.
"Okay okay. Let's go." Squall said, turning and walking away with Rinoa still on his
back. Rinoa giggled like crazy.
"Kids. I wonder if Tari was ever a kid like these?" Zell asked himself as he ran to catch
up with the rest of the SeeDs and the Junior Classmen.
A few hours later, they all headed back to Balamb Garden, the junior classmen tired but
happy.
"I can't wait to see Irvine! He told me that we'd have dinner on the conservatory!"
Selphie bounced up and down in her seat.
Squall smiled. Oh yeah…she'd be surprised alright.
~Quad~
"Hey….Tari! What's up?" Irvine asked the duo-color haired girl. She smiled faintly at
him, her face pale and sad.
"Not much. And you?" She said faintly. Irvine decided that Tari didn't look too well.
"You sure you're okay? You look very pale." Irvine knelt next to the girl, who was sitting
on some steps next to her guitar.
"I know. I don't know why, but lately I've been feeling very sick when I use magic, even
Curagas. I've tried using one of those to make me feel better, but I just felt worse." Tari
said, hugging herself and shivering again in the bright sunshine.
"Let's take you to the infirmary. The doctor will know what to do." Irvine took her hand,
and tried to get her to stand up. Tari refused to comply with him.
"No! Please. I'll be fine. It's just one of those things that happen often." Tari took her
hand away from him. Irvine leaned forward and put his arms around her.
"Hey….hey…It's okay. Just come with me and the new doctor will check it out, okay?"
Irvine said, his face really close to hers. Tari nodded and stood up, Irvine moving back
and keeping one arm around her.
"What are you two doing?" Xu came out of the shadows, having seen the two but not
hearing what they said. She glanced at Tari's pale face and wondered why Irvine had just
turned red.
"She's sick. I'm going to take her to Doctor Chiyuu. She'll know what to do about it."
Irvine stammered some as he said this, making Xu suspicious.
'I wonder if this girl is trying to make a play for Irvine? Or is she really sick?' Xu
wondered to herself.
Irvine nodded to Xu and he and Tari walked away.
'I wonder if Selphie should know about this…..'
Xu nodded to herself. Selphie should know.
Tari looked at Dr. Chiyuu and sighed. This doctor didn't know ANYTHING!
"I don't know what is wrong, Tari, but something is really weird here." Dr Chiyuu
pointed out.
'State the obvious why don't you?' Tari thought to herself.
"Well, why don't you come back after a couple of days and we'll find out, okay?" The
doctor smiled. It was a friendly smile coming from a pretty redheaded girl.
"All right then. I will." Tari got off of the bed and left the room.
Leaving the Infirmary, Tari headed for the 2nd floor classroom, to see if she could find
something on the other GFs here.
That's when she spotted Zell waiting for her.
For a strange reason, she felt somewhat glad. Then she felt something inside her stirring.
"No, Rhapha. I like him. I'm going to talk to him." Tari said to the GF.
It stirred and then quieted down, fading back into her soul. Tari put on a smile and
walked over to Zell, who was waiting.
"You feeling okay now?" Zell asked, his face showing genuine concern. What he was
really concerned about was the story he had heard from Xu when they arrived back from
the field day with the junior classmen.
"Yeah. She told me to come back in two days." Tari really did look pale in the light. Zell
frowned almost imperceptibly.
"Well…want to go for a walk?" Zell asked, putting his hands in his pockets. "You'll get
some warm sunshine that way."
"I'd like that." Tari felt Rhapha stirring again and smiled to cover her unease.
The two walked in silence to the training grounds, where they strolled around.
Zell finally asked her a question.
"What do you think of Irvine?"
"I think he's a little immature, and I think that he's cute when he's with that girl. What's
her name? Oh yeah…Selphie." Tari tried to remember the name of the girl with the funny
brown hair and succeeded.
Zell believed her.
"So…you use a GF, huh?" Zell asked next.
"I do. Rhapha is her name."
"Can you tell me where you go her?"
"It's a long story."
"I've got time and patience on my side." Zell grinned as he said this. 'Okay…so I'm the
least patient person in the Garden. Who cares?' he thought.
"Well….when I was younger, I lived outside the desert area. You should know where
that is. I don't remember my parents much, and I lived with my grandparents for a while.
But they said I was a child with a rebellious streak in me and I left soon after I was
fourteen." Tari smiled to herself in a kind of pleased way.
"FOURTEEN?" Zell pretended to be surprised. 'So she's about eighteen now….four
years no one really knows what she was doing and where she had been. It sounds enough
to be suspicious.' He mused for a minute before he realized she was speaking again.
"Yeah. I came to a village, called the Shumi village and stayed there for a year, learning
how to use GF. It was quite fun." Tari stopped for a second.
"Go on." Zell prompted.
"I left there. I wandered around for another year, and then came the day that I met this
huge youma. It was one of the ugliest creatures I had ever seen and I didn't want to
challenge it but it challenged me. So…I fought it and gained Rhapha after it died. It was
funny, cause that youma didn't look so weak." Tari seemed to be puzzled herself.
"Do you think……that that GF wanted you?" Zell voiced his thought, not knowing if it
would be a trigger to one of her weird moods again.
"I don't know. All I know is that Rhapha isn't a normal GF. I'm scared she's taking over
me." Tari seemed human for once, actually looking as scared as she sounded.
Zell looked at the smaller girl, her eyes seeming to fill with worry. 'I wonder if that's it?
She's being taken over?'
"I don't know how to get rid of her. I can't junction her to anyone who doesn't want her."
Tari's eyes were troubled.
"I'd take her for you and get rid of her." Zell offered. Tari actually smiled at that.
"Rhapha has a drawback. She is only suited for females." Zell eyed Tari with a weird
look.
"What? Is she sexist or something?" This remark made Tari laugh. Zell wondered why
she was laughing.
"No…she is…I don't know how to say it, but she'll turn a male into a female if she is
equipped to a male." Zell's eyes got really big at that response.
"I don't want to take her then. You can have her!" Zell looked so horrified at the thought
of being a girl that made Tari laugh even harder.
"I don't think Rhapha would switch. She takes only people she wants." Tari said, getting
more serious.
"Only the people she wants? That doesn't sound like your average GF. It sounds weird."
Zell commented, thinking about asking Cid or Matron if they knew anything about a GF
named Rhapha.
"I know. But I like Rhapha. She has a lot of powers most GFs don't." Tari leaned on the
railing, looking at the water flowing around the middle of the training center.
"I see. You have a lot of guts to come here and say most GFs can't stand up to your
Rhapha." Zell said, thinking about his own.
"Well…she gave me something that is a one of a kind magic." Tari reached into her
pocket, pulling out a small velvet box.
"That looks like ring box." Zell was skeptical.
Tari opened the box, and there in the center was a small ruby egg shaped jewel. Zell eyed
it curiously.
"What is it?" He asked.
"It's a Phoenix Egg. It's a life restorer. It has to be used with a Firaga and a Phoenix
down to restore life." Tari looked at the jewel with a sense of pride. "Of course…I've
never had to use it. I'm glad for I don't have anyone really special and even if I did they
wouldn't be dead right now."
"So…you're saying even with all this power you don't have any friends?" Zell was
surprised. He had a lot to report to the others.
"Right. But…you've been nice. One of the first real friends I've ever had." Tari blushed,
and held out the velvet box holding the powerful magic stone. Zell's eyes flew wide open
and he looked at her curiously.
"You want to give me this?"
"Yeah. I just feel like I want too. Rhapha has no objections….at least that I know of."
Tari felt the angry protests inside of her, coming from the GF, belying what she said.
Zell took the box in his hands, the precious magic jewel glistening and glowing.
Snapping the lid shut, Zell stuffed it in his pocket and mumbled his thanks, his face
turning red.
Tari looked pale all of a sudden and said she needed to go lay down. Zell thought it was
well timed, for he needed to gather his thoughts anyway.
~Quad~
"So what are you going to do?" Selphie asked Zell, who had just told them about what
Tari and he had spoken. But he didn't mention the Phoenix egg.
"I'm going to go to the desert area. Maybe there's a city there that she came from. If I
take the Tandoku, I'll be back by tomorrow." Zell stood up and walked away from the
group gathered at the quad.
"Well…..I think she's okay. I think she's just feeling insecure and wants to fit in." Rinoa
said, leaning against Squall. Squall put his arm around her.
"I do too. She seems to be getting along really well with Zell though! They'd be really
cute together!" Selphie pointed out. Irvine covered her mouth with his hand and she
giggled hysterically.
"Well….I guess so. But we'd better get ready. It's dinner time soon and we get to serve
the lovebirds on the observation deck!" Quistis teased, feeling kind of lonely without
Seifer there. Seifer didn't like group discussions and preferred to be alone.
"Yeah man! It's going to be a blast! You guys serving us! Whoo hoo!" Selphie jumped
up and down. Irvine cracked a slight grin. She didn't know how good tonight was going
to be.
Squall kept a straight face. He didn't know how Selphie would react, but something told
him not in the usual way.
Rinoa still had a feeling that something was up. She'd just have to wait.
A/N: I am beginning to actually see a good plot come out here. I just write and the stupid
plot forms itself. There will be more coming! Ja! Tsutae Kouken