Twisted Destinies: Part Five
Authoress: Tsutae Kouken
"Selphie…." Irvine whispered her name as he sat in the hard little chair next to the white
hospital bed. Selphie's face was pale and her hair lay against the pillow in little waves.
Squall entered the room, followed by Zell. Zell's eyes widened in shock. There were
several deep bite marks on her shoulder and more on her arm. The white bandages on her
body were slightly red with the slowly stopping blood flow.
"So they were attacked by a T-rexaur?" Zell asked, knowing instantly who had done this.
"Yeah. All the youma were supposed to be put up today. It just doesn't make sense."
Squall shook his head. Zell slowly nodded, then motioned for Squall to come with him.
The two boys walked in silence to Zell's dorm room, where Zell shut and locked the door
behind him.
Zell leaned against the door as Squall sat down in on of the chairs in the room. He
clenched the Phoenix medallion in his hand and began to tell Squall what he had found
out about Tari.
About half an hour later, Zell finished and Squall put his hand to his forehead and
thought for a long time.
Zell felt the silence as defening as a loud crowd cheering.
When Squall finally spoke, it surpised Zell at what he said.
"We can't tell anyone this, not even Cid or Irvine."
Zell protested, "But we have to! Some one could be hurt!"
"We have no choice. If Tari really is what you say she is, then if she or rather Rhapha
knew that we know…we'll be in serious trouble." Squall hated making decisions like
this.
"You….can't be serious." Zell was stunned.
"If she knew that everyone thought she was taken over by a demon and trying to kill
Irvine then the whole Garden would be in danger if all is as you say!" Squall said angrily,
trying to keep calm. First Rinoa, and now this.
"Then what do we do." Zell said, crossing his arms over the medallion.
"We watch and wait. It just might be she's insane and not possessed." Squall said,
spotting the medallion. "Let me see that medallion you mentioned." Squall held out his
hand.
"I don't think she's insane, Squall. She wouldn't have given me this if she was." Zell
handed the red and gold disk on a chain to Squall.
Squall looked over the beautiful magic item, noting the brightness of the gems and the
placements of golden scrolled indentions. It seemed to radiate life in his palm. There was
nothing about it that made him doubt it's powers.
"She only gave you one of the parts to this medallion. She must have gotten it from
Rakor." Squall commented. "Rakor had the other part. You put them together…and
boom! You got instant life magic."
"I still think Rhapha is something everyone should know about." Zell said, pressing the
matter again.
"We must only watch, Zell. If Rakor was right, like I said, we should only watch and not
endanger any lives." Squall handed the medallion back to Zell. "See if you can get this to
work. We could use it on Rinoa…and Selphie." Squall felt somewhat stupid for asking
Zell to use an item he hardly knew anything about on his girlfriend, but he was desperate
to see her smiling face again.
"I'll try. Just watch out for Irvine, will ya? I'd hate to lose a good friend." Zell unlocked
his door and let Squall out. Zell looked up and down the hall, making sure no one had
listened in on the conversation.
Zell put the medallion around his neck and inside his shirt and headed towards the
elevator, wondering if he could make the medallion work.
Squall sat quietly next to Quistis in the waiting room outside of the infirmary. Quistis
looked ready to fall asleep in her chair.
Moments later, flashes of red came from the room where Rinoa was staying. Squall
looked up in shock and heard Zell cussing.
"HOLY SHIT!"
Squall raced towards the door, and was greeted with a startling scene. Zell was holding
the medallion in the palm of his hand, something like lightning flashing out of it and
going to Rinoa's body.
"NO! GET AWAY FROM HER!" Squall yelled when Rinoa's body began twitching and
convulsing like she was having a seazure.
The red lightning flashed a few more times and all was still.
Zell looked at the medallion in his hand with wide eyes. It was calm and not vibrating
anymore.
Squall was staring at Rinoa, who lay as still as the medallion.
Rinoa opened her eyes.
In the Library, Seifer was trying to find a book for his next test. Near him was that Tari
girl he had heard about, who was writing down notes from a book she was looking in.
As Tari wrote down some facts for her next exam paper as she sat down at a small table
desk there, she felt something go funny in her heart. 'Probably Rhapha returning from
God-knows-where…' She thought sarcastically.
Then a searing pain pierced her chest. Crying out, she covered her heart, where a small
circle of red light could be seen through her shirt. Tari's eyes widened and she knew that
someone was using the Phoenix powers.
Seifer heard her cry and dropped his book and ran to see what was wrong. Pain etched
her features and her hand clutched at her shirt, directly over her heart. Her eyes were
wide with fear.
"God….no…" Tari's eyes closed and she slipped into the realm of unconsiousness.
Seifer saw her hand slip away from her shirt and caught sight of a red light before it faded
quickly. He left her there and ran away. He didn't want anyone to think he'd done it. But
before he'd gone far, he made sure someone had seen her and tried to wake her.
Seifer needed to tell someone. And that someone was Quistis.
Irvine looked up when he heard Squall shouting. He stood up and walked slowly into
where Rinoa was, leaving his Selphie's side.
When he entered the room, all he saw was Zell's grinning face, and Rinoa and Squall
kissing with all they had. Irvine's jaw dropped.
"Rin-rinoa?" Irvine stuttered. Rinoa and Squall broke apart, both smiling. Rinoa gave a
little wave to Irvine before Squall started kissing her again.
"C'mon. Let's go see if this'll work for Selphie." Zell tugged on Irvine's sleeve as he
passed him going out the door. Irvine stared for a little bit before the suggestion hit him
like a hammer.
"WAIT!" Irvine ran into Selphie's room where he saw Zell standing with the medallion,
his head bowed, as if he was praying.
"What are you doing?" Irvine asked.
Zell held up his hand for silence.
A few minutes later, the same red light of earlier, came from the egg shaped stone in the
center of the medallion.
Irvine shielded his eyes.
When the light faded, Irvine looked to where Selphie lay. She stirred under the white
blankets, her face still pale. But when she opened her eyes, he was quick to be at her side.
Selphie's green eyes focused slightly on his face. She smiled slightly then frowned.
Irvine took her hand in his and smiled, a few tears of relief coming to his eyes.
Selphie sat up.
Irvine grinned as she turned towards him.
Selphie drew her hand back.
And slapped him as hard as she could.
Zell dropped the medallion.
Nida watched as Tari opened her eyes again. He had taken her to her dorm room, where
she had asked to be taken. She was sitting in a chair and she had her eyes closed.
Her eyes opened and widened in pain once again. Tari felt her heart burning with a fire
that she couldn't understand. She felt Rhapha stirring within her, outraged and surprised
at this painful invasion to her host.
Nida watched as a circle of red light appeared over Tari's heart. Nida's brown eyes
widened as she cried out in pain.
She fell out of her chair onto her hands and knees. Gasping for breath, she clutched her
chest in pain before collapsing once again into the warmth of unconciousness.
Nida heard her whisper to herself before he left.
"Why…why me?"
Nida had to tell Squall.
Irvine stood in the center of his room, fists clenched, anger boiling inside of him.
The NERVE of that girl….running to Zell….
~Flashback~
Irvine looked shocked, a clear red mark on his face. Selphie had two bright spots of color
on her cheeks, and her eyes sparkled wildly as if with fever.
"Whoa…Selph…take it easy!!" Zell said, backing away, the medallion's chain swinging
as he stepped back.
"Take me…away from him!" Selphie got out of the bed and rushed over to Zell. Zell
looked thoroughly surprised and disturbed. Selphie tucked her arms around him and
layed her head agaist his chest.
Zell was purely dumbfounded and he didn't like the way Irvine was glaring at him, angry
and lost at the same time.
Selphie nudged him and they went out of the door, Zell looking apologetically at Irvine.
Irvine stood in the middle of the room, this scene too much like the one the night before.
~End Flashback~
Irvine's lip curled in disgust. "If she wants to play that way then fine. I can play that
game too."
Irvine stalked out of his room, deciding to go to Library.
Seifer and Quistis walked under the trees in the quad, the only couple there. The dappled
sunlight fell on Seifer's jacketed shoulders, Quistis admiring the tall man.
"So, she just started acting funny. That girl is mega-weird." Seifer sighed, not noticing
the way Quistis looked at him. "She was in pain…but I felt…." Seifer hesitated and
looked around.
Quistis' eyes filled with a happy light. He was going to tell her something he'd never told
anybody before. "Go ahead. No one will hear you and I won't tell!" Quistis managed a
light laugh.
Seifer's troubled look faded somewhat and then he leaned towards her in a confidential
manner.
Quistis felt her heart flutter.
"I felt…I was afraid of her……"
She was shocked. "How? She's such a….a……a gentle girl." Quistis struggled to find
words to say without lying.
"I know. I don't know if it's her…exactly…..just something about her…something in
her……I was scared, Quistis. I'd never been scared of someone like that before." Seifer
shook his head and sat down on one of the short stone walls that surrounded the little sets
of trees.
Quistis knelt beside him, making him look in her eyes. Blue met blue in an intense gaze.
"Everyone feels afraid at some point in their lives." Quistis said, putting her hand on his
knee. Seifer smiled fondly at her.
"I know. I must be over-reacting. I'm sure I was just worried someone would think I'd
have hurt her." Seifer placed his hand gently over her and smiled that smile that was for
her alone, but she got to see so rarely.
Quistis smiled up at him.
She felt happiest when she was with him, even when he was troubled.
Nida quickly explained what he had seen the next time he saw Squall, which was later
that day. Squall frowned with thought when he heard the part about the red light.
"So what do you think?" Nida asked, running a hand through his brown hair.
"I think it's okay, Nida. We've checked her medical records and she's been sick at
certain points in her life." Squall said, frowning as he lied to Nida.
"What about that red light?? That was the strangest thing. And then she said 'Why me?'.
I don't get it." Nida's brow was furrowed in thought. Nothing was making sense to the
young SeeD.
"I'm sure that when you saw this 'red light' you were just seeing things, Nida-san. I'm
sure Tari's fine." Squall smiled mildly, the light not reaching his eyes. Nida nodded and
gave a small Chinese bow and the exited Squall's room.
Squall leaned against the desk, thinking. Everything was seeming like a thoroughly
complex yet simple puzzle. Tari was doing things, but was it really her? Or a demonesqe
presense? Squall decided to get some sleep when Rinoa came rushing in.
"I saw!! I saw him!!" Rinoa babbled excitedly, sitting down next to Squall. Squall smiled
a smile that reached his eyes this time as he tried to shush the girl that meant everything
to him.
"What did you see?" He asked, calming her some.
"I saw Irvine and Sadie!!" Rinoa finally got out, her fair face flushed. Squall just stared at
her. His life was now just a series of shocks, one after another.
"What?" He managed to say.
"Squall, Irvine and Sadie were kissing! And in front of Selphie too!!" Rinoa's eyes filled
with tears. "I couldn't bare the look on Selphie's face! She looked like a stone statue! I
hate Irvine! I hate him! I HATE HIM!!" Rinoa said, a defiant look on her face, as if to
say that Squall had told her otherwise.
"Shhh! It'll all work out! Rin-rin…please calm down…" Rinoa felt somewhat calmed
just by him calling her his pet name for her. She buried her face in his jacket and shed a
few more tears.
Squall closed his own eyes, and tried to get away from the problems that surrounded him.
All they had to do was watch and wait.
************************************************************************
In the weeks that followed, Selphie insisted on hanging with Zell, much to his
discomfort. Irvine continued to pursue many girls, often right in front of Selphie.
Squall kept an eye on everyone, including Tari. But the girl seemed sedated now that she
had created what seemed like mass mayhem inside the group of friends.
But during those two months that followed Irvine and Selphie's fight, several weird
things happened that made Zell and Squall very uneasy.
First, Headmaster Cid found all his files had been shifted through, but nothing missing.
Second, several large bookcases in the Library had been knocked over, the books spilling
everywhere.
Third, several monsters had been set loose in the garden.
Fourth, many text papers for the junior classmen had been missing for more than a week
before turning up in the cafeteria freezer.
Zell felt he knew Tari was doing it, only she had very solid alibis every time it happened.
So this was really puzzling him and Selphie hanging all over him like a love-sick bird
was really getting annoying.
On a particularly clear night, a few months after Tari had arrived, Zell couldn't sleep. He
got out of his bed and dressed in black, feeling like a spy for some reason. He picked up
the glittering gold and red medallion from his desk and put it around his neck. He never
felt prepared for battle unless he had it with him.
He hadn't had to use it except for the time he had healed Rinoa and Selphie with it. It was
strange, for he had only prayed and believed it would work and it did. He was still very
grateful for the magic item.
Walking through the quiet halls of the Garden, Zell felt a strangely calm peace, as if
everything from the past months was obsolete. Sighing and staring into one of the water
fountains near the girls' dormitory, he watched the moonlight shimmer across the water.
Then he heard the soft crying sounds. Thinking it was Selphie, Zell tried to hide his anger
at her foolishness for clinging to him. He wasn't a Don Juan. Irvine was. He turned and
was about to say something when he noticed Tari running across the dorm-room hallway,
towards the center of the Garden.
Zell was shocked, yet not too badly, for he felt something was wrong with her anyways.
Keeping to the shadows, he followed her and found her going down into the abandoned
basement.
Slipping into the elevator and going down, he watched her white figure slip amongst the
large pieces of machinery. Following her, he had a vantage point where he could look
down on her from above.
He watched as she approached a table, with many small bottles on it.
'That wasn't here when we fought the Norg….wonder what it is and what she is going to
do with it?' Zell thought to himself as Tari reached for one of the bottles on the table.
She shook it hard and then uncorked it and drank it.
Zell didn't notice anything different until there seemed to be a greenish glow eminating
from Tari. His eyes widened as a person seemed to step out of Tari's body. This woman
made Zell go cold inside.
She was taller than Tari and had the longest green hair that Zell had ever seen. Her skin
was the golden brownish of an almond, and there were violet and red tattoos in odd
shapes all over her body. Two small horns of a purple color came out of her head and her
green hair was pulled into a few braided loops. The rest of the green hair fell over the
body like clothing, showing skin in places here and there.
The woman turned to Tari, who looked paler than ever and seemed to pat the girl on the
head. Tari collapsed. The woman gave an evil laugh and then left the room, disappearing
into thin air.
Zell knew who was doing the vandalizing now.
Rushing down the small steps and the little ladder, Zell reached Tari's side quickly.
Gently taking her white wrist in his hand, he checked for a pulse. Slow, but it was there.
Zell lifted his medallion and began to pray over it, asking the Phoenix for help in healing
her.
Nothing happened.
At first.
Zell looked down at the medallion as if amazed that it didn't work then prayed again.
What he didn't notice was the small red light flickering over Tari's heart.
He was watching the egg on the medallion as it began to light up and shimmer with great
magnetude. He felt the disk vibrating in his hand and saw the beams of light and smiled
with satisfaction.
He turned to watch and see if the beams were healing Tari, but his jaw and the medallion
dropped.
Tari was floating in mid air, the beams of red surrounding her, and one penetrating her
right through her heart.
Irvine lay in his bed, feeling guilty as he did every night for every thing he did every day
to make Selphie jealous. He was so sick of other girls. None of the others seemed to have
the particualar quality he loved in a girl. He sighed turned over in his bed and thought
about Selphie.
Selphie, of bright hair and eyes, smiling and laughing. Always happy. To see him.
Loving him, as he had hoped. Loving her, as he did.
Nothing made sense. They were torn apart. And by what? Tari. Tari was the root of all of
the Garden's problems. Once she was gone, all of their problems would be too, even if
they were scarred for the rest of their lives.
Irvine sat up in his bed, moonlight pouring over him and the tousled sheets. His long
mahogany hair spread across his back and over the sheets around him. Getting up,
grabbing a shirt and a ponytail holder, Irvine decided to head downstairs a little early.
Way early.
He wanted time to think. He wanted to win Selphie back.
He also wanted revenge.
Revenge for his broken heart.
On the one who caused this whole mess.
Tari.
Zell watched in horror as Tari's body began to almost vibrate with the intense energy of
the red light. Seconds later, she fell to the floor, just as pale as before. Zell dropped to his
knees to her side and felt her pulse a second time. It was strong.
So it had worked. But that was even weirder than before.
He lifted her by her shoulders so she was sitting halfway upright, and supported her. He
waited for her to open her eyes. As he sat there, he looked over at the table, wondering
what the many bottles were used for.
During his musings, Tari opened her eyes. Seeing Zell, she wondered what he was
doing….when she realized she was in the basement again, just like all those other nights.
She blinked a couple times, clearing her vision and wondering what she was doing in his
arms anyways.
Zell felt her shifting and turned his gaze quickly to her face. Her strangly colored eyes
were looking at him curiously.
"What…what are you doing...down here?" She asked him, making him crack a smile,
even through all this strangeness.
"I could ask you the same thing, you know." Zell chuckled lightly, the slight sound
echoing through the vast room.
"My head…I hate this." She muttered, sitting up. She sat up a little too quickly and her
forehead bumped his.
"Ow!" Zell leaned back and rubbed his forehead and pretended to be really hurt. He
didn't want her to think he'd followed her on purpose.
Tari rubbed her own forehead and then asked him another question. "Did you follow me?
Why? What do you want from me?"
"Whoa! Let me see if I can remember all that right." Zell thought for a minute,
fabricating an excuse very quickly.
"I couldn't sleep…so I went for a walk and saw you. So…I followed. I just wondered
why someone else was awake at this time." He was partially telling the truth, leaving out
the part where he had a strange premonition.
"Oh…but I suppose you're wondering why I'm down here then." She sighed and pulled
her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees.
"An explination for all of your behavior would be nice." Zell said, coming to the point.
"Allright…I'll do my best…" She hestitated. Zell nodded and Tari continued. "I come
down here…almost every night…to let Rhapha out."
Zell almost fell over. She was letting her GF loose? Then he remembered what Rakor had
said about it being a demon. That was worse!
"It's kind of a 'Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' concept. I drink this stuff she tells me to make,
and poof! I'm free of her for a few hours. Those hours seem to go by slowly though. I
don't talk to anyone, everyone is asleep." Tari sighed and then looked Zell in the eyes for
the first time.
"You….you're not…afraid of me, are you?"
"No…I'm not afraid of you. I'm afraid of that thing you call Rhapha." Zell answered
honestly.
"So….so am I." Tari began crying softly, without any warning. Zell almost had a heart
attack when she leaned against him.
Very uncomfortably, he put his arm around her. Tari's hair, spilling over his arm and
shoulder, smelled like a strange vanilla musk, being so close to her.
'This so isn't my thing….' Zell thought, feeling strangely warm.
They sat that way for quite a while.
Irvine cursed himself. Tari wasn't in her room.
He'd opened the door quietly and peered in, hoping she'd be in there.
Empty.
The faint light of the moon and stars cast shadows around the room, but it was clear
enough to see that she wasn't in her bed.
His hand tightened against the sharp shining curve of steel in his hand. He'd have to do
this another night.
A/N: Aww! I heard someone say they hated Tari! That made me so sad cause it took me a
LONG time to draw her! At my website, there are some pictures of her in the FF8
section! Visit www.geocities.com/fanartemporium/
R&R plz!!!
Authoress: Tsutae Kouken
"Selphie…." Irvine whispered her name as he sat in the hard little chair next to the white
hospital bed. Selphie's face was pale and her hair lay against the pillow in little waves.
Squall entered the room, followed by Zell. Zell's eyes widened in shock. There were
several deep bite marks on her shoulder and more on her arm. The white bandages on her
body were slightly red with the slowly stopping blood flow.
"So they were attacked by a T-rexaur?" Zell asked, knowing instantly who had done this.
"Yeah. All the youma were supposed to be put up today. It just doesn't make sense."
Squall shook his head. Zell slowly nodded, then motioned for Squall to come with him.
The two boys walked in silence to Zell's dorm room, where Zell shut and locked the door
behind him.
Zell leaned against the door as Squall sat down in on of the chairs in the room. He
clenched the Phoenix medallion in his hand and began to tell Squall what he had found
out about Tari.
About half an hour later, Zell finished and Squall put his hand to his forehead and
thought for a long time.
Zell felt the silence as defening as a loud crowd cheering.
When Squall finally spoke, it surpised Zell at what he said.
"We can't tell anyone this, not even Cid or Irvine."
Zell protested, "But we have to! Some one could be hurt!"
"We have no choice. If Tari really is what you say she is, then if she or rather Rhapha
knew that we know…we'll be in serious trouble." Squall hated making decisions like
this.
"You….can't be serious." Zell was stunned.
"If she knew that everyone thought she was taken over by a demon and trying to kill
Irvine then the whole Garden would be in danger if all is as you say!" Squall said angrily,
trying to keep calm. First Rinoa, and now this.
"Then what do we do." Zell said, crossing his arms over the medallion.
"We watch and wait. It just might be she's insane and not possessed." Squall said,
spotting the medallion. "Let me see that medallion you mentioned." Squall held out his
hand.
"I don't think she's insane, Squall. She wouldn't have given me this if she was." Zell
handed the red and gold disk on a chain to Squall.
Squall looked over the beautiful magic item, noting the brightness of the gems and the
placements of golden scrolled indentions. It seemed to radiate life in his palm. There was
nothing about it that made him doubt it's powers.
"She only gave you one of the parts to this medallion. She must have gotten it from
Rakor." Squall commented. "Rakor had the other part. You put them together…and
boom! You got instant life magic."
"I still think Rhapha is something everyone should know about." Zell said, pressing the
matter again.
"We must only watch, Zell. If Rakor was right, like I said, we should only watch and not
endanger any lives." Squall handed the medallion back to Zell. "See if you can get this to
work. We could use it on Rinoa…and Selphie." Squall felt somewhat stupid for asking
Zell to use an item he hardly knew anything about on his girlfriend, but he was desperate
to see her smiling face again.
"I'll try. Just watch out for Irvine, will ya? I'd hate to lose a good friend." Zell unlocked
his door and let Squall out. Zell looked up and down the hall, making sure no one had
listened in on the conversation.
Zell put the medallion around his neck and inside his shirt and headed towards the
elevator, wondering if he could make the medallion work.
Squall sat quietly next to Quistis in the waiting room outside of the infirmary. Quistis
looked ready to fall asleep in her chair.
Moments later, flashes of red came from the room where Rinoa was staying. Squall
looked up in shock and heard Zell cussing.
"HOLY SHIT!"
Squall raced towards the door, and was greeted with a startling scene. Zell was holding
the medallion in the palm of his hand, something like lightning flashing out of it and
going to Rinoa's body.
"NO! GET AWAY FROM HER!" Squall yelled when Rinoa's body began twitching and
convulsing like she was having a seazure.
The red lightning flashed a few more times and all was still.
Zell looked at the medallion in his hand with wide eyes. It was calm and not vibrating
anymore.
Squall was staring at Rinoa, who lay as still as the medallion.
Rinoa opened her eyes.
In the Library, Seifer was trying to find a book for his next test. Near him was that Tari
girl he had heard about, who was writing down notes from a book she was looking in.
As Tari wrote down some facts for her next exam paper as she sat down at a small table
desk there, she felt something go funny in her heart. 'Probably Rhapha returning from
God-knows-where…' She thought sarcastically.
Then a searing pain pierced her chest. Crying out, she covered her heart, where a small
circle of red light could be seen through her shirt. Tari's eyes widened and she knew that
someone was using the Phoenix powers.
Seifer heard her cry and dropped his book and ran to see what was wrong. Pain etched
her features and her hand clutched at her shirt, directly over her heart. Her eyes were
wide with fear.
"God….no…" Tari's eyes closed and she slipped into the realm of unconsiousness.
Seifer saw her hand slip away from her shirt and caught sight of a red light before it faded
quickly. He left her there and ran away. He didn't want anyone to think he'd done it. But
before he'd gone far, he made sure someone had seen her and tried to wake her.
Seifer needed to tell someone. And that someone was Quistis.
Irvine looked up when he heard Squall shouting. He stood up and walked slowly into
where Rinoa was, leaving his Selphie's side.
When he entered the room, all he saw was Zell's grinning face, and Rinoa and Squall
kissing with all they had. Irvine's jaw dropped.
"Rin-rinoa?" Irvine stuttered. Rinoa and Squall broke apart, both smiling. Rinoa gave a
little wave to Irvine before Squall started kissing her again.
"C'mon. Let's go see if this'll work for Selphie." Zell tugged on Irvine's sleeve as he
passed him going out the door. Irvine stared for a little bit before the suggestion hit him
like a hammer.
"WAIT!" Irvine ran into Selphie's room where he saw Zell standing with the medallion,
his head bowed, as if he was praying.
"What are you doing?" Irvine asked.
Zell held up his hand for silence.
A few minutes later, the same red light of earlier, came from the egg shaped stone in the
center of the medallion.
Irvine shielded his eyes.
When the light faded, Irvine looked to where Selphie lay. She stirred under the white
blankets, her face still pale. But when she opened her eyes, he was quick to be at her side.
Selphie's green eyes focused slightly on his face. She smiled slightly then frowned.
Irvine took her hand in his and smiled, a few tears of relief coming to his eyes.
Selphie sat up.
Irvine grinned as she turned towards him.
Selphie drew her hand back.
And slapped him as hard as she could.
Zell dropped the medallion.
Nida watched as Tari opened her eyes again. He had taken her to her dorm room, where
she had asked to be taken. She was sitting in a chair and she had her eyes closed.
Her eyes opened and widened in pain once again. Tari felt her heart burning with a fire
that she couldn't understand. She felt Rhapha stirring within her, outraged and surprised
at this painful invasion to her host.
Nida watched as a circle of red light appeared over Tari's heart. Nida's brown eyes
widened as she cried out in pain.
She fell out of her chair onto her hands and knees. Gasping for breath, she clutched her
chest in pain before collapsing once again into the warmth of unconciousness.
Nida heard her whisper to herself before he left.
"Why…why me?"
Nida had to tell Squall.
Irvine stood in the center of his room, fists clenched, anger boiling inside of him.
The NERVE of that girl….running to Zell….
~Flashback~
Irvine looked shocked, a clear red mark on his face. Selphie had two bright spots of color
on her cheeks, and her eyes sparkled wildly as if with fever.
"Whoa…Selph…take it easy!!" Zell said, backing away, the medallion's chain swinging
as he stepped back.
"Take me…away from him!" Selphie got out of the bed and rushed over to Zell. Zell
looked thoroughly surprised and disturbed. Selphie tucked her arms around him and
layed her head agaist his chest.
Zell was purely dumbfounded and he didn't like the way Irvine was glaring at him, angry
and lost at the same time.
Selphie nudged him and they went out of the door, Zell looking apologetically at Irvine.
Irvine stood in the middle of the room, this scene too much like the one the night before.
~End Flashback~
Irvine's lip curled in disgust. "If she wants to play that way then fine. I can play that
game too."
Irvine stalked out of his room, deciding to go to Library.
Seifer and Quistis walked under the trees in the quad, the only couple there. The dappled
sunlight fell on Seifer's jacketed shoulders, Quistis admiring the tall man.
"So, she just started acting funny. That girl is mega-weird." Seifer sighed, not noticing
the way Quistis looked at him. "She was in pain…but I felt…." Seifer hesitated and
looked around.
Quistis' eyes filled with a happy light. He was going to tell her something he'd never told
anybody before. "Go ahead. No one will hear you and I won't tell!" Quistis managed a
light laugh.
Seifer's troubled look faded somewhat and then he leaned towards her in a confidential
manner.
Quistis felt her heart flutter.
"I felt…I was afraid of her……"
She was shocked. "How? She's such a….a……a gentle girl." Quistis struggled to find
words to say without lying.
"I know. I don't know if it's her…exactly…..just something about her…something in
her……I was scared, Quistis. I'd never been scared of someone like that before." Seifer
shook his head and sat down on one of the short stone walls that surrounded the little sets
of trees.
Quistis knelt beside him, making him look in her eyes. Blue met blue in an intense gaze.
"Everyone feels afraid at some point in their lives." Quistis said, putting her hand on his
knee. Seifer smiled fondly at her.
"I know. I must be over-reacting. I'm sure I was just worried someone would think I'd
have hurt her." Seifer placed his hand gently over her and smiled that smile that was for
her alone, but she got to see so rarely.
Quistis smiled up at him.
She felt happiest when she was with him, even when he was troubled.
Nida quickly explained what he had seen the next time he saw Squall, which was later
that day. Squall frowned with thought when he heard the part about the red light.
"So what do you think?" Nida asked, running a hand through his brown hair.
"I think it's okay, Nida. We've checked her medical records and she's been sick at
certain points in her life." Squall said, frowning as he lied to Nida.
"What about that red light?? That was the strangest thing. And then she said 'Why me?'.
I don't get it." Nida's brow was furrowed in thought. Nothing was making sense to the
young SeeD.
"I'm sure that when you saw this 'red light' you were just seeing things, Nida-san. I'm
sure Tari's fine." Squall smiled mildly, the light not reaching his eyes. Nida nodded and
gave a small Chinese bow and the exited Squall's room.
Squall leaned against the desk, thinking. Everything was seeming like a thoroughly
complex yet simple puzzle. Tari was doing things, but was it really her? Or a demonesqe
presense? Squall decided to get some sleep when Rinoa came rushing in.
"I saw!! I saw him!!" Rinoa babbled excitedly, sitting down next to Squall. Squall smiled
a smile that reached his eyes this time as he tried to shush the girl that meant everything
to him.
"What did you see?" He asked, calming her some.
"I saw Irvine and Sadie!!" Rinoa finally got out, her fair face flushed. Squall just stared at
her. His life was now just a series of shocks, one after another.
"What?" He managed to say.
"Squall, Irvine and Sadie were kissing! And in front of Selphie too!!" Rinoa's eyes filled
with tears. "I couldn't bare the look on Selphie's face! She looked like a stone statue! I
hate Irvine! I hate him! I HATE HIM!!" Rinoa said, a defiant look on her face, as if to
say that Squall had told her otherwise.
"Shhh! It'll all work out! Rin-rin…please calm down…" Rinoa felt somewhat calmed
just by him calling her his pet name for her. She buried her face in his jacket and shed a
few more tears.
Squall closed his own eyes, and tried to get away from the problems that surrounded him.
All they had to do was watch and wait.
************************************************************************
In the weeks that followed, Selphie insisted on hanging with Zell, much to his
discomfort. Irvine continued to pursue many girls, often right in front of Selphie.
Squall kept an eye on everyone, including Tari. But the girl seemed sedated now that she
had created what seemed like mass mayhem inside the group of friends.
But during those two months that followed Irvine and Selphie's fight, several weird
things happened that made Zell and Squall very uneasy.
First, Headmaster Cid found all his files had been shifted through, but nothing missing.
Second, several large bookcases in the Library had been knocked over, the books spilling
everywhere.
Third, several monsters had been set loose in the garden.
Fourth, many text papers for the junior classmen had been missing for more than a week
before turning up in the cafeteria freezer.
Zell felt he knew Tari was doing it, only she had very solid alibis every time it happened.
So this was really puzzling him and Selphie hanging all over him like a love-sick bird
was really getting annoying.
On a particularly clear night, a few months after Tari had arrived, Zell couldn't sleep. He
got out of his bed and dressed in black, feeling like a spy for some reason. He picked up
the glittering gold and red medallion from his desk and put it around his neck. He never
felt prepared for battle unless he had it with him.
He hadn't had to use it except for the time he had healed Rinoa and Selphie with it. It was
strange, for he had only prayed and believed it would work and it did. He was still very
grateful for the magic item.
Walking through the quiet halls of the Garden, Zell felt a strangely calm peace, as if
everything from the past months was obsolete. Sighing and staring into one of the water
fountains near the girls' dormitory, he watched the moonlight shimmer across the water.
Then he heard the soft crying sounds. Thinking it was Selphie, Zell tried to hide his anger
at her foolishness for clinging to him. He wasn't a Don Juan. Irvine was. He turned and
was about to say something when he noticed Tari running across the dorm-room hallway,
towards the center of the Garden.
Zell was shocked, yet not too badly, for he felt something was wrong with her anyways.
Keeping to the shadows, he followed her and found her going down into the abandoned
basement.
Slipping into the elevator and going down, he watched her white figure slip amongst the
large pieces of machinery. Following her, he had a vantage point where he could look
down on her from above.
He watched as she approached a table, with many small bottles on it.
'That wasn't here when we fought the Norg….wonder what it is and what she is going to
do with it?' Zell thought to himself as Tari reached for one of the bottles on the table.
She shook it hard and then uncorked it and drank it.
Zell didn't notice anything different until there seemed to be a greenish glow eminating
from Tari. His eyes widened as a person seemed to step out of Tari's body. This woman
made Zell go cold inside.
She was taller than Tari and had the longest green hair that Zell had ever seen. Her skin
was the golden brownish of an almond, and there were violet and red tattoos in odd
shapes all over her body. Two small horns of a purple color came out of her head and her
green hair was pulled into a few braided loops. The rest of the green hair fell over the
body like clothing, showing skin in places here and there.
The woman turned to Tari, who looked paler than ever and seemed to pat the girl on the
head. Tari collapsed. The woman gave an evil laugh and then left the room, disappearing
into thin air.
Zell knew who was doing the vandalizing now.
Rushing down the small steps and the little ladder, Zell reached Tari's side quickly.
Gently taking her white wrist in his hand, he checked for a pulse. Slow, but it was there.
Zell lifted his medallion and began to pray over it, asking the Phoenix for help in healing
her.
Nothing happened.
At first.
Zell looked down at the medallion as if amazed that it didn't work then prayed again.
What he didn't notice was the small red light flickering over Tari's heart.
He was watching the egg on the medallion as it began to light up and shimmer with great
magnetude. He felt the disk vibrating in his hand and saw the beams of light and smiled
with satisfaction.
He turned to watch and see if the beams were healing Tari, but his jaw and the medallion
dropped.
Tari was floating in mid air, the beams of red surrounding her, and one penetrating her
right through her heart.
Irvine lay in his bed, feeling guilty as he did every night for every thing he did every day
to make Selphie jealous. He was so sick of other girls. None of the others seemed to have
the particualar quality he loved in a girl. He sighed turned over in his bed and thought
about Selphie.
Selphie, of bright hair and eyes, smiling and laughing. Always happy. To see him.
Loving him, as he had hoped. Loving her, as he did.
Nothing made sense. They were torn apart. And by what? Tari. Tari was the root of all of
the Garden's problems. Once she was gone, all of their problems would be too, even if
they were scarred for the rest of their lives.
Irvine sat up in his bed, moonlight pouring over him and the tousled sheets. His long
mahogany hair spread across his back and over the sheets around him. Getting up,
grabbing a shirt and a ponytail holder, Irvine decided to head downstairs a little early.
Way early.
He wanted time to think. He wanted to win Selphie back.
He also wanted revenge.
Revenge for his broken heart.
On the one who caused this whole mess.
Tari.
Zell watched in horror as Tari's body began to almost vibrate with the intense energy of
the red light. Seconds later, she fell to the floor, just as pale as before. Zell dropped to his
knees to her side and felt her pulse a second time. It was strong.
So it had worked. But that was even weirder than before.
He lifted her by her shoulders so she was sitting halfway upright, and supported her. He
waited for her to open her eyes. As he sat there, he looked over at the table, wondering
what the many bottles were used for.
During his musings, Tari opened her eyes. Seeing Zell, she wondered what he was
doing….when she realized she was in the basement again, just like all those other nights.
She blinked a couple times, clearing her vision and wondering what she was doing in his
arms anyways.
Zell felt her shifting and turned his gaze quickly to her face. Her strangly colored eyes
were looking at him curiously.
"What…what are you doing...down here?" She asked him, making him crack a smile,
even through all this strangeness.
"I could ask you the same thing, you know." Zell chuckled lightly, the slight sound
echoing through the vast room.
"My head…I hate this." She muttered, sitting up. She sat up a little too quickly and her
forehead bumped his.
"Ow!" Zell leaned back and rubbed his forehead and pretended to be really hurt. He
didn't want her to think he'd followed her on purpose.
Tari rubbed her own forehead and then asked him another question. "Did you follow me?
Why? What do you want from me?"
"Whoa! Let me see if I can remember all that right." Zell thought for a minute,
fabricating an excuse very quickly.
"I couldn't sleep…so I went for a walk and saw you. So…I followed. I just wondered
why someone else was awake at this time." He was partially telling the truth, leaving out
the part where he had a strange premonition.
"Oh…but I suppose you're wondering why I'm down here then." She sighed and pulled
her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees.
"An explination for all of your behavior would be nice." Zell said, coming to the point.
"Allright…I'll do my best…" She hestitated. Zell nodded and Tari continued. "I come
down here…almost every night…to let Rhapha out."
Zell almost fell over. She was letting her GF loose? Then he remembered what Rakor had
said about it being a demon. That was worse!
"It's kind of a 'Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' concept. I drink this stuff she tells me to make,
and poof! I'm free of her for a few hours. Those hours seem to go by slowly though. I
don't talk to anyone, everyone is asleep." Tari sighed and then looked Zell in the eyes for
the first time.
"You….you're not…afraid of me, are you?"
"No…I'm not afraid of you. I'm afraid of that thing you call Rhapha." Zell answered
honestly.
"So….so am I." Tari began crying softly, without any warning. Zell almost had a heart
attack when she leaned against him.
Very uncomfortably, he put his arm around her. Tari's hair, spilling over his arm and
shoulder, smelled like a strange vanilla musk, being so close to her.
'This so isn't my thing….' Zell thought, feeling strangely warm.
They sat that way for quite a while.
Irvine cursed himself. Tari wasn't in her room.
He'd opened the door quietly and peered in, hoping she'd be in there.
Empty.
The faint light of the moon and stars cast shadows around the room, but it was clear
enough to see that she wasn't in her bed.
His hand tightened against the sharp shining curve of steel in his hand. He'd have to do
this another night.
A/N: Aww! I heard someone say they hated Tari! That made me so sad cause it took me a
LONG time to draw her! At my website, there are some pictures of her in the FF8
section! Visit www.geocities.com/fanartemporium/
R&R plz!!!