I

There were the flowers, sitting on the lone, fresh grave, an elaborate tombstone marking the spot where the passed person lay for all eternity. The scripture read few words, simply stating the death of Irvine Kinneas, who died of a drug overdose on April 17, 0023 P.W. Who ever thought that the charming young man was smoking a strange substance. However, the drug slowly ate away at his body, until it destroyed his memory and then his life.
Quistis Trepe stood in front of the grave, her hands folded by her thighs. She stared at the lonely grave, longing for their beloved Irvine to come back, to comfort Selphie. A breeze flew by, gliding through Quistis' long, silky blonde hair. She grew her hair out after everyone left. It now reached to her waist. She longed to see everyone again; Squall, Rinoa, Zell, even Seifer, who was probably dead by now anyways.
Quistis stood still for another moment, and then turned on her heel and headed towards the exit of the Balamb Vividarium Cemetary, the majestic tower of Balamb Garden chiming, releasing students from class. The Garden was no longer a military academy, rather a normal school, specializing in engineering and psionics. The swelling, majestic city of Balamb was built around the gigantic tower-academy, four times as large as it was years ago, after the troubles ended.
Quistis was excepted to teach and train magic in Balamb Garden. She now specialized in the near-extinct art. Society had grown fearful of the power. Magic was indeed the start of the Sorceress War. Quistis was one of the few remaining magic users, along with Rinoa and Squall, two people that she had not seen in five years, five years of emotional turmoil and ripping away. They were all torn from each other, unknowingly, left to wonder when, IF they would ever see each other again.
Quistis put these thoughts behind her most of the time, like most of the others did. It caused them too much pain, and why feel pain when peace rules over the world? Quistis was a happy, well payed woman of 24 years, a woman who longed to write about the events. She was ambitious, wanted to do absolutely everything that fascinated her. She took up the Celtic harp soon after the war had ended. Her feelings stayed boiling up inside of her. Her harp released those feelings, either anger, loneliness, happiness, longing, joy, as beauty.
She walked up to the front gates of the garden, ready for another class, another normal morning. As she got inside the closing gate, the sky darkened, and within a second, rain came pouring down like a waterfall. Thunder began to rumble, shaking windows and gales tore through the city. Quistis scuttled quickly under an awning, ducking as if it would block the rain from her body. She looked towards the sky, "How strange, a storm so immediately..." she thought. A minute or two passed, and rather quickly, the sun began to shine, and the rain thinned to a light sprinkle as a bright, vivid rainbow arched over the ocean's horizon.
Quistis remained, stunned, baffled, and dumbfounded by the random storm. What had that been, a punishment, an omen? She eventually shoed the thought off, and entered the front doors and the entrance areas, and finally into the lobby. Quistis walked nonchalantly across the expansive stone lobby. She overheard "Irvine..." in a gossip session of three girls, probably sixteen or seventeen. Quistis, curious, walked over to the circle of gossiping girls and asked about what they had said.
"Oh! Someone just died" One of the girls squeaked.
"Oh...I'm sorry, you just heard that-that Irvine passed away?" Quistis replied in sympathy.
"No way! That's old news...someone just died!" The girl told Quistis. Quistis stood in shock, puzzled. Quistis asked the girls where the person died, and they told her dormitory A-64B. A look of utter terror emerged onto Quistis' face. She rushed with quickened loud steps down the halls of the dormitories, tears rolling down her soft, white cheeks, her boots clanking loudly, rushing. "No...NO!!! It can't be...please God, just spare me once!" Quistis thought, praying to herself. A-63A, A63B, A-64A, A-64B...the dormitory. Quistis turned the knob hesitantly, her hand shaking in terror. The door glided open, and the most terrible sight was placed before Quistis' eyes. Blood was splashed onto the walls, the carpeting. Papers, pictures, broken glass, posters, lay in shambles across the room. In the middle of the room were six people in a circle, surrounding a body bag. There were a few people in random spots in the room, looking on, crying and screaming. Xu looked up at Quistis, her eyes red and swollen, her face wet and her hair soaked with sweat, as if she had dipped her head in a pool. She walked over to Quistis, still crying. Quistis stared, tears on her face, a look of horror planted on a ghost white face, like that of a vampire.
"Quistis-Quistis...it's Selphie.... she's dead...sh-she cut her wrists...."