Twisted Destinies: Part Six
Authoress: Tsutae Kouken
~*~
Selphie heard someone walking past her door. She set down her book, which she had
been reading to fall asleep.
Peeking out the door, she saw Irvine walking past, a large knife in his hand. Her eyes
widened and she wondered what he was going to do with it.
"Irvine!" She hissed, forgetting she was mad at him at the shock of seeing him walking
around with a knife in the middle of the night.
Irvine turned on his heel, putting the knife between him and Selphie.
"Irvine?!" Selphie squeaked, the door flying open. Irvine lowered his knife when he saw
who it was.
"You're actually talking to me?" Irvine said bitterly.
"Well, yeah, I mean, you're walking around with that knife..." Selphie came out of her
room, somewhat glad to see him. She knew her heart would break again if he went away
without saying something to her.
"I was...I was going...I..." Irvine was caught off guard. He didn't want to say what he
was really going to do.
"What were you going to do?" Selphie asked, coming closer to him, and gently taking the
knife out of his hand, he was too shocked at her being this close to move.
"I was...I was going to go cut...Tari's hair." Irvine said sheepishly. He had thought Tari
would learn her lesson if she lost her hair mysteriously in the middle of the night.
"What for?! I thought you...and her...that night..." Selphie was more than confused, she
was just plain lost. Nothing in these past few months really made any sense to her.
"It wasn't my fault. She jumped me. I never would hurt you, Selphie. I don't like Tari
and I wanted revenge for what she did..." Irvine knew he sounded stupid and he felt
stupid too. Now that he actually said it out loud, it hardly seemed like an excuse to chop
off her hair.
"Oh...then I..." Selphie's eyes widened and she dropped the knife on the floor. "I've
made a horrible mistake." Her green eyes filled with tears and she began to cry. 'Why am
I crying? He makes an excuse and I bawl like a baby! Get it together, Selphie!!' She
thought fiercly.
Irvine reached for her, and she came to him. Holding her in his arms, Irvine kissed the
shining light brown hair.
Selphie turned her face towards him, wet with tears.
"Elph-chan...I think...I think I love you." Irvine said simply. Selphie smiled at him, her
eyes shining.
Irvine leaned down and kissed her.
Selphie smiled and felt like rockets and firecrackers would be perfect right about then. Or
a good sized explosion.
That's when they heard it.
**BOOM**
Selphie's wanted explosion happened.
.oO~*-*~Oo.
Squall was unceremoniously jerked out of his sleep. He sat up in bed, wondering what he
had heard that would wake him out of so sound a sleep.
Rinoa's voice came to him across the room. "Squall, what was that explosion?"
"I don't know...it came from outside the Garden. Maybe the parking lot area. I'm going
to go check it out." Squall threw his jacket on over his bare chest and grabbed his
gunblade.
Rinoa watched him leave, leather jacket and black sweatpants. She quickly got up and
followed him, in her blue and white pajamas. She saw several SeeD members rushing
down the hall, but the most noticeable was the form of Squall hurrying down the hall.
She followed him, down to the first floor, with a group of SeeDs, including Irvine,
Quistis, and Selphie. She noticed that Irvine was right by Selphie's side, and Selphie was
hanging on his arm.
Rinoa was glad about that, but she hoped no one was hurt from the explosion they heard.
"Rin! Where's Zell? He's the only one missing! Something awful must have happened!"
Selphie exclaimed to her, as Rinoa managed to get near enough to them to talk.
"I know! But...I haven't seen Zell..." Rinoa looked around. The blonde martial artist was
nowhere to be seen.
"Now that I think about it...Tari isn't around either..." Irvine said, his eyes narrowing.
"Do you think..." Quistis' mouth formed a round 'O'.
"I don't know..." Irvine said, but his eyes held certainty.
She had to have done it.
.oO~*-*~Oo.
Zell tucked his arms around Tari when he heard the explosion. Tari cringed against him
as the blast slightly rocked the room, being so close to the explosion, it being above them.
Bits and pieces of the ceiling fell down in one of the corners, a few hitting the two
clinging together.
"What is it?" Tari said against his jacket.
Zell lifted his voice over the little after-shocks of the blast, echoing the large room. "A
bomb of some sort. I think."
"Rhapha. She's at it again." Tari said, getting strangely still. Zell held her next to him,
wondering why she didn't lean back.
"Does she...show herself to others...?" He asked.
Tari turned in his arms and looked up at him. "No...she's very careful not to let anyone
see her. Why?" She looked puzzled.
"You are coming with me." Zell began to stand up, pulling her up by the wrists and
standing her on her feet.
"What? But...but she'll be angry with me!" Tari's eyes were widened with fright. Gone
was the confident and sure girl that had walked through the halls of Balamb Garden only
the day before, carrying within her an evil emissary.
"Not if you stay...around me...or someone else." Zell said, and began walking away,
towards the ladder, dragging her after him.
Tari felt his strength. She was amazed. Smaller and slighter than the other boys at
Balamb, he was probably the most deceiving. His arms were corded steel to her. His
grasp was like iron cuffs. She couldn't get away from him.
'Maybe I can find out about the real Tari, without that demon thing.' Zell knew he was
taking a chance in taking Tari away from Rhapha, and that bad things might happen. But
he had to know...who she really was.
.oO~*-*~Oo.
Squall looked over the hole in the ground where the car they had usually used to get to
Balamb City had been. It had totally been destroyed.
"I guess we should be very glad no one was hurt." Squall commented. The others nodded.
"But...I don't see Zell anywhere." Irvine replied, bringing up the problem at hand,
besides the explosion.
"Or Tari either." Selphie pointed out.
"And I'm hoping that they are together. That way, Zell could have kept her from causing
this." Squall said, standing up from where he had been squatting by the hole.
"Why do you want to think like that?" Irvine hissed so only the group of them could hear.
"You know she had to do it. Why do you protect her?"
"Because...I can't tell you." Squall said through his teeth. Why couldn't he just tell
Irvine that she was his sister?
"I will find out sometime. You can count on that." Irvine said before walking away with
Selphie. Squall just put his hand to his forehead in his typical thinking fashion.
"Everything is okay. Everyone please go back to bed. It was a false alarm and no one got
hurt. Good Night." Headmaster Cid's voice came over the intercome.
Everyone sighed with relief and headed back to their rooms.
Rinoa and Squall walked in silence down the halls. Everyone had just rushed back to bed
as fast as they could and now the dorm room hallways were empty.
Squall looked so serious. Rinoa wondered why he was so tense all of a sudden and why
he was starting to defend Tari. Everyone thought the girl was weird and they were sure
that she had been the one to set the bomb in the Parking Lot.
"Squall....hm?" Rinoa started to speak to her boyfriend, when she saw Zell, dragging
Tari down the hall, just ahead of them.
"What are they doing?" Rinoa asked, watching as Zell made a turn and stopped at his
door, opened it and pulled Tari inside with him.
Squall was just as shocked as well. 'What the hell could they be doing?' he wondered.
"Let's go see." Squall began running down the hall, Rinoa not far behind. When they
reached Zell's room, Squall pounded on the door.
The door opened immediately, and strong arms grabbed the two by the wrists and pulled
them in the room. Zell let them go, and slammed the door shut, and locked it.
"What the hell is going on, Zell?" Rinoa demanded, putting her hands on her hips.
"I want you two to meet someone." Zell said, leaning against the door.
Rinoa looked skeptical while Squall was curious.
"Meet Tari Kinnaes...without Rhapha." Zell pointed to the girl who sat in the chair at his
desk.
"Tari...Kinnaes...?"
Rinoa's eyes were as big as saucers.
Squall just stared at Zell.
"How did you get Rhapha to go away??" Squall asked.
"She said it worked on a type of 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' concept. She drinks the
potion, Rhapha leaves, and Tari passes out. I watched it and helped her. Now she's here
and free of Rhapha." Zell said, trying to make the story as short as possible.
"Rhapha? Who's Rhapha?" Rinoa asked, getting lost.
"A demon. A demon who poses as a GF." Tari spoke up, for the first time since she got
there.
"A demon? What are you talking about?" Rinoa clearly didn't believe Tari. 'Okay...this
girl is weirder than I thought...'
"Rhapha is a demon who is inside Tari like the Sorceress is inside you." Squall said,
putting it in a different view so Rinoa could understand.
"Oh...so then...who's been doing all the vandalizing?" Riona wanted to know.
"Rhapha. I don't know how to get rid of her!" Tari said, and began crying.
"Why doesn't someone take her and then get rid of her?" Rinoa suggested.
Zell shook his head. "Anyone that takes Rhapha gets turned into a female...that's why
she took so easily to Tari. Tari was already a girl."
"Oh...then how are we supposed to get rid of it?" Rinoa asked, furrowing her brow in
thought.
Squall had been silent most of this time, watching Tari as she cried.
"Maybe...maybe we should wait until tomorrow night. I'm sure there will be something
in the Library on how to destroy something like that. I'll look it up while Zell watches her
to make sure Rhapha doesn't take control of her again." Squall said, it sounded like an
order and not an idea.
"That'll be great. I think it'll be a good idea. But we'll have to stay up the rest of the
night." Zell said, looking over at the girl with the duo colored hair.
"I don't think that will be a problem. It's been a long time since I've been free of that
spirit." Tari said, looking shyly up at the three in the room.
Squall felt better about the whole thing. He liked Tari, and he was glad that she was
happy now. He only wanted Irvine to understand. That was where he'd have to go next.
"Now...do you play cards?..." Zell settled down in a chair next to Tari as Squall and
Rinoa exited the room.
"I think they'll get along fine...I wonder..." Rinoa smiled to herself. Squall pinched her
and looked at her in a mock stern manner. He knew what she was thinking.
"They'd make a cute couple..."
Squall laughed and the two of them headed for Irvine's room.
.oO~*-*~Oo.
Irvine had seen that Selphie made it to her room, but he didn't want to leave her then. So
he asked her if she would like to walk a bit.
Selphie blushed and said yes.
They walked around for a while and ended up in front of Irvine's room.
"Well...Elph-chan..." Irvine took her in his arms. Selphie looked up at him and he
kissed her for a second time that night.
When they broke apart, panting for air, Irvine smiled down at her.
"It's been a while...since we've done that." He commented.
"You know those other girls you kissed...?" Selphie said, blushing slightly, wondering if
she should continue her question.
"No...Elphie, they weren't as good as you." Irvine laughed as he guessed what her
question was. "I always imagined I was kissing you when I kissed them." He said,
growing more serious.
"Good. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way." Selphie said and leaned against him
again. Irvine reached behind him and opened the door to his room. They both walked in,
and Selphie headed to the small little kitchen area that was put into each of the SeeDs
rooms.
"I'll make some coffee. We have a lot to talk about." Selphie said, and she pulled out a
filter for the coffee pot.
Irvine smiled but inside he was somewhat disappointed. He didn't want to talk...he
wanted to hold her, to touch her, to be with her. It was everything he ever wanted...to be
with her always.
The coffee was almost ready when Irvine heard a knock at the door.
"Who is it?" He called, motioning at Selphie to be quiet.
"It's Squall, and Rinoa."
"Come in." Irvine said, and sighed. So much for getting anywhere tonight. Selphie
giggled. She guessed at what he had been thinking and what he wanted to do.
Squall opened the door and he and Rinoa came in. Squall immediately sat down in a chair
and Rinoa did the same. Irvine and Selphie looked at each other. Obviously they were
going to stay a while.
"What's on your mind that's so urgent you had to come here in the middle of the night??"
Irvine asked, folding his arms over his chest.
"It's a long story...but we have time..." Squall sighed and began to tell Irvine...
...Everything...
.oO~*-*~Oo.
"You are a very BAD card player, Ri-chan." Zell chuckled as Tari lost to him again in a
game of German Rummy, while drinking several mugs of coffee.
"I'm learning! I never did this kind of thing as a kid! I was learning how to...um...well I
was learning how to use magic." She said, her eyes sparkling as she hesitated in her
sentence and threw her hand of cards at him.
"Yeah...you were learning how to kick butt so some day you could kick your brother's.
Right?" Zell said, picking up the cards she had thrown at him.
"Okay...you win again. I was training to get my brother. But now...I don't want to do
that anymore. He's the only one I've got left." Tari looked away and sighed. "I feel like
such a wuss for crying. I never do that."
"I think it's okay to cry, when you feel the need to release your feelings." Zell said,
awkwardly.
"Well, I just hope Irvine will want to greet me...even after all that has happened and
what I did,...I hope he still wants me as his sister." Tari sighed again.
"I don't know. I honestly don't know." Zell said, and shuffled the cards.
"Let's play again."
.oO~*-*~Oo.
~Far Away, Outside of Matron's Orphanage~
In the night, a single light burned in the old house near the tall Lighthouse tower.
Through a window, there could be seen a beautiful black haired woman, reading a book
by a small lamp.
A figure at the window grinned to itself and silently entered the house.
Matron heard a swishing sound and looked up...
...'Rhapha'...
Matron froze at seeing the evil emissary.
"It's been a long time, Edea..." The green haired woman hissed at the former sorceress.
"What do you want??" Matron was afraid. Very afraid. Her old rival was supposed to be
dead.
"Well, don't you want to know what's going to happen to that loving husband of
yours...? And to those lovely SeeDs...too bad, they'll be gone before you get there..."
Rhapha said, in a cold voice, and began laughing insanely.
And then she disappeared.
Matron shuddered, feeling the coldness Rhapha left behind in the room. Then she stood
up and ran to her room. Pulling out a traveling bag, she began packing for a journey...
...To Balamb Garden...
.oO~*-*~Oo.
A/N: There's this chapter! This took FOREVER to write so please please please review
and no flames! I try and this is my first attempt at a chaptered fic so don't bite me! I'd
like to thank those who have given me positive reviews and asked me to continue this!
Ja!!
R&R