"And, with Headmaster Cid on leave...understandably...it was somehow decided that I be in charge of Garden until they find a replacement..." Laguna shrugged.

"Well, there goes Balamb Garden..." Irvine snickered, then received a swift swat from Selphie.

"Cut it OUT, Irvy!!" Selphie whispered with fierceness in her tone.

Irvine shrank down in his chair a bit, and fell silent.

Quistis held onto Seifer's hand with a death grip.

Zell boredly kicked at the leg of the table they were sitting at.

Squall was zoned out.

Ellone studied Squall with a worried look.

Raine was sitting next to Laguna with a blank expression on her face.

Seifer was the next to speak.

"Erm...Quisty...are you...intentionally trying to make my hand fall off?"

Quistis looked at him, puzzledly. "Hmm?"

Seifer pointed at his hand. "You're making my hand hurt. Well...it would be hurting if I could feel it...since it's kinda numb an' all..."

"Oh..." Quistis let go. "Sorry...I....didn't realize.."

"S'okay. Is something bothering you? You seem kinda...out of it." He whispered, "Usually I have to beg you to hold my hand."

Quistis sat up straight and pulled her hand into her lap. "...Well..I'm just...scared."

Everyone turned to look at Quistis as she said that word.

Quistis looked around at their faces. "...What? Can you blame me?"

"It's...not that, Quistis..." Selphie began to grin slightly out of nervousness. "It's just that you've never actually admitted to being scared before, or even shown fear around us!"

"I have good reason to be scared," Quistis added. "Everyone I know seems to be dying around me, everyone of even some importance to the world. Rinoa was a sorceress, her powers to be eventually passed to Ultimecia, right? And Edea was one of the creators of Garden, and sorceress herself? So am I the only one that's made this connection? Someone's killing the world's sorceresses, and I think Ellone is next."

Ellone slowly brought her gaze around to Quistis' eyes. She began quietly, "You're not the only one who's been thinking this, Quistis. I've been thinking about it since Rinoa's murder. Why else would someone want to kill her? And then when Edea died..I just knew....." Her eyes welled up with tears.

Squall, for the first time in a while, showed some form of feelings. He turned to Ellone and put an arm across her shoulders. "It'll be okay, Elle. You know I'll protect you.I won't let what happened to Rinoa happen to anyone else..."

Ellone flung his arm off her shoulders and stood to addres the room. "No! You all must listen to me now, no matter how much it hurts you! They're killing off sorceresses, one by one, and if I *am* next, then I want you to use me as bait! I want this murderer to be caught, no matter what the cost! Because if the sorceresses keep dying, then their powers will be combined!!"

"Ellone.." Laguna looked at her sympathetically. "You don't have to.."

"YES, I DO!! I already have Rinoa's powers coursing through me!! It's almost too much for me to bear!! Whoever kills me...I don't hink they know what they're doing...If there aren't anymore sorceresses in this world, then the powers will eventually be passed onto a normal person...and it will be far too much for them to handle, they won't be able to control their power!! We HAVE to catch this killer, everyone, please!!" Ellone put her hands over her eyes and began to cry. "...please...I don't care what happens to me..we have to..."

Raine stood and lept toward Ellone, her arms finding their way around the girl. "Ellone, it'll be okay....shhhh...everything will be fine.."

"No...it won't..." Ellone sobbed "..not until we find the murderer..."

"..And whoever received Edea's powers. As long as there's another sorceress out there, you may not be the target after all. We just need to start looking.."

Laguna also went over to Ellone, and tried his best to comfort her in some way. Ellone felt his strong arms around her, and put her head on his chest to continue weeping. She felt for the first time all day as though she weren't alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Edea's powers....*

No...not now...not here...

*...these are really something....*

I beg you..

*Rinoa was expendable, but this...this is simply marvelous...everything went according to plan...*

Ugh...why are you...why am I so weak..?

*Because I am becoming stronger. There soon won't be any room here for you. Now all I need is to clean up here...I sense another that I must have.*

...Why?

*Silence, child. Cooperate, and you may find existance in your future. You have been quite useful, after all. I wouldn't have come this far without you...*

...Hyne...

*Don't worry. With Edea's powers, you no longer have to do the dirty work around here. Just let me take over for a moment...it will only take a moment...*

...just...please...don't hurt him...you can take the others, but not...

*Relax. It's not him that I'm after. I know how you feel, and what must be done soon enough so our line doesn't die out..*

..what?

*Now, just relax...it will all be over soon..*

..but...................

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Selphie rose from her seat at the long ebony table. She walked slowly towards the small cluster of people, and put her hand on Ellone's shoulder, and whispered something that could not be made out.

Ellone turned and looked at her, surprised by the presence of another hand. "Sel..Selphie? What's...."

Selphie tilted her head sideways, and tightened her grip on Ellone's shoulder. "I said: Stay the hell away from Laguna."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AuthorNotes:

It'll all be over soon, everyone. I know I haven't been writing, but I've been really busy (with Exponess and all...), plus I kinda had writers' block >_<