Sarah looked at her audience nervously. Irvine was dressed in a brown trench coat and wore a black cowboy hat and carried a gun, Quistis wore an orange dress, brown boots and carried a whip, and Selphie seemed to like a short yellow dress, brown boots and carried a shinobou. Zell was the hand-to-hand fighter of the group, and he wore baggy pants and a jacket with fire on the shoulders. He also had a tattoo on his temple. Rinoa, whom Sarah had met outside the office, wore a blue cape over black clothing and carried some sort of projectile weapon on her wrist. There was something about Rinoa that bothered Sarah, although she couldn't put a finger on it. She turned back to Squall, who was leaning against his desk dressed in black leather pants, white shirt, black shoes, with black gloves and a black fur-lined jacket over the shirt. He carried a weapon that looked like a mixture of a revolver and a sword at his side.
"Interesting group of
people," she thought. Squall cleared his throat.
"This is Sarah Phoenix. She
approached me earlier and told me that our world is being targeted by a group
of powerful demons that call themselves the Shadow Claw. She also says that
Ultimecia was one of the more powerful Shadow Claw demons," he said.
Silence.
"Whoa, you can't be
serious!" Irvine said. "Ultimecia was actually a demon?"
"You had better believe it,"
said Sarah. "And there are more powerful demons where she came from."
Quistis crossed her arms
across her chest and gave Sarah a doubtful look. "How would you know?" she
asked.
"I'm a demon slayer," Sarah
said matter-of-factly. "I hunt these things and kill them."
They all looked at her. "Why
are you so surprised?" she asked. "Because of my human appearance? I am not
human."
"Then what are you?" Quistis
asked.
"A hybrid," said Sarah. "My
father was a demon who fell in love with my mother. They spent the night
together, and nine months later I was born. When I was twelve, I killed
somebody in cold blood using my then-hidden demon powers-" she lowered her
eyes. "-I was cast out of my village and forced to learn how to survive in an
unforgiving world. One night, I was attacked and almost killed by a lesser
demon, but a man named Josiah saved me. He realised that, while I had
incredible powers at my disposal, I had no idea what they could do, so he took
me in and raised me as his own daughter-" she sighed. "-He himself was attacked
and killed by a powerful demon called Ranka, and I tried to stop her but was
almost killed. Because of my interference, Ranka destroyed the town that I was
living in at the time, and the survivors cast me out. Now, I hunt Ranka and her
kind, each day getting closer and closer to my goal: to destroy Ranka and her
demon army so that they cannot destroy any more innocent lives."
"So you travel around
helping people, is that it?" Quistis asked. Sarah looked at her.
"I can tell that you and I
aren't going to get along," she said. "But yes, I do help people as much as I
can. My heart might pump demon blood, but my soul is that of a human!"
Quistis narrowed her eyes.
"I'm not sure that I believe you," she said. Sarah threw her arms into the air
dramatically.
"Why do I always meet people
like you!?" she exclaimed. "It's a wonder that I don't just leave this world
and let you die trying to stop the Shadow Claw yourselves!"
Squall had seen enough.
"Would you two just shut up!?" he said. "Quistis, Sarah's given us no reason
not to trust her."
"But she's given us no
reason to trust her either," Quistis replied. "If any of you want me,
I'll be in my dormitory."
Quistis turned sharply and
walked out in an angry huff.
"What's her problem?" Sarah
asked.
"She's just been in a really
foul mood lately," Zell said. "Maybe it's because Seifer's back."
"Who?" Sarah asked.
"He helped Ultimecia two
months ago," Rinoa said. "He was her Knight."
"I see," said Sarah. "I take
it that they never got along?"
Selphie chuckled. "Seifer's
always been a pain in the butt," she said. "He and Squall were always at each
other's throats, ever since we were all at the orphanage together."
Sarah arched an eyebrow. "You all grew up together?" she asked with
interest. Selphie nodded.
"And now we're all together here in Garden!" she said. "Our Matron was
a Sorceress, too."
"Oh? What's her name?" Sarah asked.
"Edea Kramer," Squall said. "You're not going to tell us that she's a
demon too, are you?"
Sarah waved her hand and a black book appeared in the air in front of
her. She flipped through the pages, reading out names quickly.
"Adel, Abadon, Ifrit… No, there's no Edea Kramer here," she said,
closing the book. It disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
"Wait, you mentioned Adel and Ifrit," Rinoa said.
"Yes, they're both Shadow Claw demons," Sarah said. The group looked at
each other. Squall sighed and concentrated, and Ifrit appeared in the center of
the room.
"What do you want?" he said, and then he noticed Sarah.
"YOU!" they both said at once.
"What are you doing with these humans, demon!?" Sarah said, reaching
for her sword. Ifrit growled.
"They are my masters! What are you doing here, Demon Slayer?" he
replied angrily. Sarah narrowed her eyes.
"It is your presence that I sensed in that cavern," she said. Ifrit
growled deeply.
"I have not been in the Fire Cavern for two months," he said. "If you
felt a presence there, it was not mine."
"Indeed, your power seems to have decreased, demon of flame," Sarah
said, smirking. "What's wrong, has Ranka discarded you?"
Ifrit roared loudly and threw a punch at Sarah, who simply jumped out
of the way.
"Squall, I would advise you to keep him away from me lest I destroy
him," she said. Squall nodded.
"Ifrit, leave, NOW!" he said. Ifrit growled at Sarah and disappeared.
"How many more of these creatures can you control?" Sarah asked.
"We have found sixteen Guardian Forces so far," Squall said.
"Guardian Forces?"
"A separate body of power that we can Junction to ourselves to boost
our power. Ifrit was the one that I defeated in the fire cavern."
Sarah sighed. "What are the names of these…GFs?" she asked, summoning
the book again. Squall named them all, but only one other GF name appeared in
the book: Doomtrain. Irvine called the Poison GF into the room, although only
its face appeared, hanging in the air.
"What is it you want from me, my masters?" it asked.
"We have somebody here whom I think you might know," Irvine said. He
pointed at Sarah, and Doomtrain's eyes went wide.
"Sarah Phoenix!" it said. "The hybrid that plagues my former comrades!
Why are you here? Has Ranka targeted this world?"
Sarah looked at the GF. "Yes," she said. "But you called the Shadow Claw
your former comrades. Could it be that one of their own has finally betrayed
them?"
"I saw no real future in destroying worlds," Doomtrain said. "So
instead, I created a ring for myself, and rested in it until my masters found
it and unlocked me. Now, I defend this world with them."
"At least one of the Shadow Claw demons came to its senses," Sarah
said. "What about Ifrit?"
"He was cast out," said Doomtrain. "He challenged Ranka and lost, so
she banished him. He came to this world and became a Guardian Force, like me."
Sarah nodded thoughtfully. "I see."
"I am sorry, but I must leave you and rest," Doomtrain said. Irvine
nodded.
"Go ahead."
Doomtrain faded away back to his ring, and Irvine turned to his
friends.
"We might just be in trouble here," he said. "Sarah, you say you hunt
these demons?"
Sarah nodded.
"Then why not stay at Garden and train us?" Irvine said. Sarah looked
at everybody.
"Will that be OK?" she asked. Squall nodded.
"I'll assign you a dorm. In the meantime, why don't you take a look
around Garden?" he said. Sarah shrugged.
"I could do that. But first, I need to eat, as I haven't done so in two
days," she said. They all stared at her. "What?"
"You haven't eaten in two days?" Zell asked.
"The demon part of me gives me enough energy to last me at least three
days. That way, I don't need to eat that often."
Zell sighed. "I'll take you to the cafeteria," he said. "Just follow
me."
Sarah nodded. "Thank you," she said. "Do you have hotdogs on this
world? I love the taste of them."
The group sighed.
"What's the matter?" Sarah asked.
"Not another hotdog fanatic!" Selphie said. "Zell can't get enough of
them!"
Zell grinned. "The Garden hotdogs are the best! C'mon, I'll get you
some!"
"All right," Sarah said. "Shall we go?"
Zell nodded and opened the door for her. "After you."
"Why thank you."
Sarah walked out and Zell followed her, leaving behind a stunned group
of teenagers.
"Uh, right," Selphie said. "I wonder what Beth's gonna say about that?"
Irvine shivered. "I'd rather not think about it," he said. They all
agreed and went back to work.
Author's Notes: Somehow, I doubt that this chapter was as good as I wanted it to be…Oh well, review it please!