Sarah narrowed her eyes and
examined this new arrival. The power signal that she had sensed earlier was
coming from this girl, and yet she looked no older than sixteen, nor did she
look that strong.
"Who are you?" she asked eventually.
"What do you want here?"
The girl tilted her head to
the side curiously. "I'm looking for somebody," she said. "A girl named Sarah
Phoenix. Do you know her by any chance?"
Sarah raised her sword. "I
am Sarah Phoenix," she said. "Why are you looking for me?"
The girl's eyes went to
Sarah's sword and they widened. "That's Destiny!" she said. "So it's true, you
ARE the one fated to battle Ranka!"
Sarah looked at her with a
confused look on her face. "How did you know about this sword…?" she asked.
"Just who are you?"
"My name is Eve," replied
the girl. "I come from a world not unlike this one that has been ravaged by the
Shadow Claw. I am one of only twenty survivors of that battle, and I
volunteered to find you and your sword and help you defeat Ranka."
Sarah lowered her sword. For
some unknown reason, she trusted this girl, despite the fact her senses were
almost overloading with the power reading she was getting from her. Sarah
concentrated, and her eyes widened: this girl, while she was human, had some
kind of power that could easily match her own, and possibly even Ranka's.
"Fine," she said. "You had
better come and meet Squall. He'll want to meet you."
Eve smiled slightly. "Of
course," she said. "Lead the way."
Sarah turned and walked into
Garden, and Eve followed closely behind her. As Eve was walking, she noticed
that most of the males in the hallway were gawking at her. She wasn't surprised
though; she had that effect on all males. And, disturbing as it was to think
about, some females too. They reached the elevator, got in and went to the
third floor. Rinoa heard them coming and looked up.
"Hi Sarah!" she said. "Who's
that with you?"
Sarah turned to Eve. "Rinoa,
this is Eve. She's here to help," she said. Rinoa smiled.
"Good to meet you Eve," she
said. "I'm Rinoa."
"So I heard," Eve said
plainly. "Nice to meet you."
"Rinoa? Who is it now?"
Squall opened the doors with
an annoyed look on his face, and then he noticed Sarah.
"Oh, hey Sarah. Who's that
with you?" he asked.
"Squall, this is Eve. She's
the one that I was getting the huge power reading from earlier. She's here to
help us against the Shadow Claw."
Squall looked at the young
girl. "Isn't she a little…young?" he asked.
"I'm sixteen," Eve said.
"But I could probably beat you without even breaking a sweat."
Squall eyed her. "Not
another arrogant braggart!" he said. "Are you in any way related to Seifer
Almasy?"
"Who?"
"Never mind."
"Did somebody say my name?"
Seifer walked into the
office with his schedule in his hand. "Hey, who's that?" he asked, pointing at
Eve. "She's cute," he thought.
"My name's Eve," said Eve. "I
guess you're Seifer, then."
"Yeah, so?" Seifer asked,
staring at her. Eve smiled, and had him in a headlock before anybody knew what
had happened.
"It's rude to stare," she
said. Seifer wheezed, finding it very hard to breath. He looked at Squall, who,
like Rinoa and Sarah, was on the verge of laughing.
"Eve, let him go," Squall
said, trying hard not to laugh. Eve nodded and released Seifer, who fell on his
knees gasping for air.
"How…did you…get…so strong?"
he asked.
"I practice martial arts,"
Eve replied. "It gives my body a good workout and makes me strong."
"Chicken-Wuss also practices
martial arts, and he's nowhere near as strong as you!" Seifer said, standing
up. Eve smiled again.
"Maybe I just get more
practice than he does," she said. "But who's Chicken-Wuss?"
Rinoa sighed. "He's a friend
of ours," she said. "Seifer thinks he's a chicken because he doesn't use a
weapon."
Eve shot Seifer an angry
look. "What's wrong with using hand-to-hand combat techniques?" she asked. "I've
defeated a lot of powerful enemies using just my hands and feet, although I'm a
qualified weapons specialist too."
Seifer looked at her. "Nothing,"
he said. "There's nothing wrong with using martial arts! I just think that Zell's
a Chicken-Wuss!"
Eve shrugged. "As long as
you don't start calling me a chicken, we might just get along," she said. "Is
there any place that I can get something to eat here? I'm starving."
"Why is it that everybody
that comes here immediately wants to get something to eat?" Squall said,
sighing. "There's a cafeteria downstairs."
"Thank you," Eve said,
walking out. Squall looked at Sarah.
"Where did you find that
one?"
"Actually, she was just
coming into Garden when I confronted her at the front gate," Sarah replied.
"And you just brought her up
here?" Squall said. Sarah shrugged.
"I don't know why, but I trust
her," she said. "Besides, she is also looking for revenge against Ranka."
Squall shook his head. "Anyway,
the SeeDs and students that you wanted are waiting in the quad for you," he
said. "I'd hurry up and talk to them before they rush off, if I were you."
Sarah nodded. "Sure thing," she
said. She turned and walked off.
Author's Notes: Are things
getting interesting enough for you? This story's just beginning!