Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 8, yadda yadda yadda, they belong to Squaresoft.....blahblahblah..so don't sue blah blah blah I'm too poor to pay a good lawyer yadda yadda....Yay Squarsoft!


Author's Note: Wow! Thank you for all the great reviews! Well, here's another chapter, and I hope you all enjoy it!



Tell Me I'm Not Alone
(Far off Whisper)



(*~A week later....~*)

"If you keep staring like that she's gonna think you're stalking her or something.."
Lyseria was shaken out of her trance. She glanced over at Darren who had his hands poised over his keyboard. She chuckled uneasily.
"I'm not staring!" she whispered harshly.
"Yes you are!" he whispered back, "You've been looking at her for 15 minutes now."
She shrugged and rubbed her eyes. They looked tired and bloodshot.
"Are you okay..?" Darren asked with concern, "You havn't been looking to well lately..... and you're sweating bullets.."
"Oh... I didn't really notice. It's nothing, probably just hot in here..."

The chime rang, signalling the end of class.

"Alright students," Quistis began as she got out of her seat, "I expect that paper to be done by the end of the week."
There was little response considering most of the students had already bolted from the classroom.
**********************************************************************************************

Quistis looked to the back of the room to see Seifer still sitting there at his study panel. Something wasn't right.....
She got up from her desk and made her way towards him.
When she reached him, she realized what was wrong...
He was sleeping... and on the keyboard at that.
She leaned in close, her mouth right by his ear....
"Mr. Almasy!"
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!" he jumped up from his seat, eyes the size of dinner plates.
Quistis tried to contain her laughter, "Class ended a few minutes ago..."
He looked at her, and she tried to supress her chuckles even more as she noticed the red indentations of keyboard keys on the side of his head.
"Uh.. yeah... I was just----"
She shook her head, "Don't worry... You go on back to your dorm and sleep. You're no use to anybody if you can't even keep your eyes open...."
"But---"
She put up her hand silencing him, "I'll inform your other Instructor's that you will be absent for the rest of the day..."
To her surprise, he shrugged in defeat. Turning away from her, he made his way toward the door. When he reached it, he stopped and looked back at her.
"Do any of your other students get this kind of special treatment..?"
She blushed for a moment, htne tried to hide it by laughing.
"Get going!" she smiled.
He shrugged again and disappeared through the door. Quistis collapsed onto the bench and yawned. She had been up late the night before, trying to finish some reports that were due.
"(Sleeping for the rest of the day doesn't sound like a bad idea.....)"

**********************************************************************************************

"Dammit!" Lyseria cried as she looked through her binder.
Darren stopped and looked back at her.
"I forgot my sheets for Weaponry class at my study panel...." she handed him her binder, "Can you take this for me? I'll be back in a minute..."
He sighed, "Yeah, sure... But try not to be to late.."
"I won't.." she smiled.

She set a brisk pace as she headed back for class.
"(Please don't let the bell ring!!! Please don't let the bell ring!!!)"
She came to a screeching halt as she came to the door, and figeted impatiently, waiting for it to open.

Walking in, she stopped dead.

"..Instructor Trepe..?"
Walking towards the back, she realized that the woman was asleep. Lyseria just stood there, staring at the older woman, her head feeling light...

(..... Alli!! Wait fo' me!!!..)

She clutched her head. The room was spinning..........
Stumbling over to her panel, she grabbed her papers and tried to walk back up the aisle...
Her vision doubled... everything became blurry..
That last thing remembered was the coldness of the polished floor..

**********************************************************************************************

"She'll be alright." Dr. Kadowaki sighed as she entered the waiting room.
Quistis sighed in relief. She remembered dozing off in the class, and upon awakening, she found a girl lying on the floor, her head surrounded by blood.
"Her wound isn't that bad. I had to put in a couple stitches, and it will just leave a little scar." the doctor said putting her hands in her pocket.
Quistis nodded, "So, did your observations turn up anything..?"
"Well, " the older woman began, "I ran a few tests and it seems that this girl hasn't junctioned her GF for a week or so."
The blonde woman wrinkled her nose, "She passed out because of that..?"
Kadowaki nodded, "It seems so. You know all to well that the GF makes a home for it in our mind, and after a long duration of time, we become reliant on its power, and it becomes reliant on us. I estimate that this girl's been using one for a few years now..."
"I didn't think that Galbadia Garden used GF's..."
Kadowaki shook her head, "Me neither, but I called and inquired about it and they said a few have signed up for it. Some professor's there wished to make a project of studying the GF and their effects on the human mind.Apparently Ms. Gainsborough, " she motioned to the room behind her, "Was one of the first ones to sign up for the program..."
Quistis rubbed her temples, the lack of a decent night's rest was getting to her.....
The older woman shrugged, "Any idea why she wouldn't junction her GF..?"
The blonde woman shook her head, "I honestly wouldn't know. I havn't been her Instructor for too long..."
"Well, any idea who would know..?"
Quistis thought for a moment. Her eyes brightened.
"Actually, I would."
***********************************************************************************************
The P.A. system came to life, "Would Darren Edwards please report to the Infirmary."

He looked up from loading his gun.
"........ Lyseria!!"
He dropped the gun and ran from the room leaving confused students in his wake.

***********************************************************************************************
Quistis looked up as she heard the door slide open.

Darren rushed in, "Instructor! What happened?!"
"Calm down, and have a seat..."
He clenched his hands in to fists and sat across from her. Taking her seat as well, she leaned forward.
"Ms. Gainsborough passed out and hit her head on one of the study panels. All she needed was a few stitches but---"
"Stitches..?"
She nodded, "About four. She'll be just fine but we wanted to ask you a few questions."
He shifted uneasily in his seat, "....Sure."
"Alright." she straightened up, "Did she mention anything to you about her GF..?"
He shrugged, "Just that she had been using one for two years or so, but nothing really other than that."
"Mmmhmm." Quistis mumbled as she adjusted her glasses, "You know about the effect of GF's do you not?"
"Sure I do. I wrote a research paper on it a couple months ago..."
"Well, it seems that she hasn't junctioned with it for little over a week now, and I was wondering if you would happen to know why..?"
"...Well, I'm not sure.. (Come ot hink of it... that was about the time you beacome our Instruct---)"
His eyes widened.
"What's wrong..?" she asked, her blue eyes full of concern.
"..Is she well enough to talk..?"
"Well, yes but--"
Without waiting for her to finish he got up and headed towards the hospital room.
**********************************************************************************************
Shutting the door behind him he went and stood at Lyseria's bedside. She had guaze wrapped around her head, a piece of it soaked all the way through with blood. Her eyes fluttered open. They darted across the room, then fell on Darren.
"... Where am I..?"
"You passed out.."
"I what...?" she tried to sit up, then clutched her head, "Ungh... my head...."
Darren knelt beside her, "You kinda hit your head.."
"I noticed." she said bitterly.
"Why didn't you tell me you stopped junctioning your GF?"
She looked at him blankly.
"Don't play dumb!"
She sighed, "I knew you'd get mad at me..."
"Damn right!!!" he cried, "You should know that you can't just give it up like that! If you want to stop using it, you have to do it a little at a time! Not just quit cold turkey!"
Lyseria clutched her head, "Don't yell! My head hurts!"
"Why!? Why would you do something so irresponsible and put yourself in danger like that!" he pulled his hands through his hair and stood up, "I can't beleive I didn't even notice it! I can't believe I didn't even recognize the signs!!!"
"Stop yelling!!!!" she cried. He stopped abruptly and looked at her in surprise.
She shook her head, "It was my decision, and I didn't really care if I would get sick!" The girl took a deep breath and slouched.
"I---- I just wanted to see if that I stopped junctioning, I would remember something about my mom.... or my sister.."
"You wanted to know whether or not Intructor Trepe is somehow connected to them?"
She nodded wearily, ".... That's about it.."
"Then why not just ask her instead of resorting to these means..?"
"Because," she swung her legs off the bed, "even if I did work up to the nerve to ask her, what would I say?........ She doesn't seem to know me or recognize me..."
"Well," Darren stretched out his arms, "Well then why bother!?"
" Well I don't think that the fact that she happens to look like she could be my mother's twin is a coincidence........ and before a passed out.. I thought I heard something....it sounded so far away.." She looked contemplative for a moment....
"...Alli..."
Darren raised an eyebrow," What..?"
"I heard that name before I fell.. It sounded so familiar....."
"(Alli.... Allice........)"

****************

Quistis sat there, hands clasped on her lap.
"( GF: A Curse or a Blessing...)" she repeated over and over in her mind, "(Why would she risk her health like that..?)"
She sat for a moment... it was so silent you could hear a pin drop....
And in the silence, the woman swore she heard a far off whisper..

.......Allison.......






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Author's note: Well, here's another chapter done. I hope you liked it, and the next chapter will be coming soon!
Thank you reading! See ya!