A/N: I am sorry for the delay of getting these chapters uploaded. We've been having trouble. First I couldn't log on to FF.Net for some reason, and then I couldn't go online period. But if you're reading this, that means everything's okay now and you can continue reading this story. Go on, read it! No one's holding you back! You're FREE!!!
Chapter Thirteen:
I groaned with pain, trying to rise from my resting-place. The last thing I remembered was the blinding pain slicing across my face, bleeding so freely, and then when I had agreed to come with her I'd passed out…
I'd gone with her.
My strength returning quickly, I shot up, studying my surroundings. I was in a very nice looking room, with many pretty things and Dratilian styled furniture, and a large full-length mirror. It looked like a princess' room.
I limped over to the mirror to look at my newly acquired wound. It was long and reddish brown, lying at an oblique angle, sore to the touch.
Just like Squall's.
I looked just like him now…
Without realizing it I was starting to cry. My hands were trembling out of control, my instincts begging to just run into a corner and hide. I hadn't let Seifer take one step toward me. I had been so terrified, cowering away like a mouse. I had had a breakdown.
It had been so confusing, waking up to the rain, to the blood, to the reality of it all. But yet so predictable. I knew that sooner or later Seifer would turn around and hurt me like this. Make his mark on me, just like Squall.
But had I allowed myself to believe it? No. Not until now.
The frightening feeling of the warm red liquid running across my skin was so vivid in my mind I could feel it still. And it had been just like my dream, in the mirror Squall had shown me. It was as if that mirror had told my future. What about the other mirrors? Had their visions told my destiny also? And then there was the imminent fact that Balamb Garden was completely destroyed…
It was all too much.
Who are you, Kyonae? Squall's voice echoed in my mind.
Who are you?
Who are you?
I clamped my hands over my ears as if this would shut out the sound. But the voices only became louder. And I was hearing others too- voices of my fellow classmates were making themselves known in my head.
Help us, Kyonae. Please help. You're the only one who can.
Who are you?
Help us…
Who are you?
Please…Kyonae, please…
"SHUT UP!" I shouted, shutting my eyes tightly. "I DON'T KNOW WHO I AM! I CAN'T HELP ANYONE!!!"
"Oh, don't say that, Kyonae…you're the most helpful person I know."
I swung around to see her, a warm soft smile on her pale face. She was wearing flowing black robes and her long dark hair was pulled back in a tight bun. Her bright yellow eyes glimmered in the dim light, the same color as the small, real looking lightning bolts that had been engraved magically on each cheek. Her arms were widely outstretched to me, and for the first time in a long time I felt somewhat safe. Slowly I stepped over to her and hugged her. "Mother…" I stifled sobs, hot tears of happiness flowing down my face.
"It's all right, my dear. You are safe now. Nothing in the world can hurt you, not even Almasy."
"What has happened to him?" I asked abruptly, feeling sudden concern.
"I left him where he stood. If we're lucky, the many wolves that prowl the forest have attacked him. Are you hungry, Kyonae?"
I shook my head, though I was lying through my teeth. I hadn't eaten in two days. But it wasn't important. "We need to find him."
"No need. I've sent some troops for him. They will shoot him on sight. Now, stop worrying-"
"What? No!" I backed up to face her. "You can't kill him!"
"Why not?"
"Because…" I paused, not because I didn't have a good reason, but because I didn't know which reason to tell her. "It isn't right."
Mother simply laughed. "Isn't right? Kyonae, look at you! Look at your face! Is that right? Is it? I think not."
"Well…maybe it was an accident. Maybe he didn't mean to…"
"Kyonae, you still cannot accept the fact that there is evil in the world, can you? You think everyone in the world is good and kind, and the world is peaceful? Kyonae…"
"I know there's evil in the world, Mother!" I said angrily. "I know the world can be an awful place. I've seen plenty of it. But I tell you, there is no more evil in Seifer than there is in a rock!"
Mother looked darkly at me, and I felt very scared. "Do not yell, Kyonae. I hear you quite well. Almasy has obviously brainwashed you into believing he has changed and, a good job he did. But now it is time to fill your head with some information of my own. After all," she said with a cold grin, "I know there's someone in there that agrees with me."
She held up her palm to me. An invisible force was pushing me back against the mirror. I couldn't breathe, or move. I felt very weak, her powerful magic overwhelming my entire body. Something was being sucked out of me, something with a life force of its own…
My soul…
Her hand shot into my chest, clutching at my very heart. Suddenly I was plunged into an icy oblivion, and my surroundings became various shades of blue, as if I was looking through ice itself. She was squeezing harder and harder on my heart, crushing out any memory I had ever had that had made me feel even the slightest bit happy, or warm, or secure. The bad memories remained, so many of them…I felt icy cold tears drip down from my eyes to my cheeks, where they froze and engraved themselves into my skin. I felt my spirit being drained from me, until I had no will power of my own anymore…I was expressionless, emotionless, spiritless…
"You will obey me now, Kyonae Falcona," she whispered, her voice echoing in my ears. "You are my apprentice."
"Yes…"
"You are the heir to the Dratilian throne, and future ruler of the world."
"Yes…"
"You hate Seifer Almasy."
I didn't want to say the word, but as the last of the warmth was drained from me, it rose from my chilled throat and onto my frozen lips. "…Yes…"
"You are a sorceress now."
"Yes, Sorceress Maika. I am a sorceress…"
***
We'd been walking down the dirt road when it began to rain, pouring down on our heads like a large waterfall. That's when we saw him.
He was on his hands and knees in the mud, body visibly trembling. Seifer seemed very shell-shocked.
"Squall! Look!" I said, patting his shoulder and pointing at him. I ran ahead through the mud.
"Rinoa, careful…" he called after me.
I knelt down beside Seifer, gripping his shoulders so he knew I was there. The blond turned his scarred face upward at me, looking very shocked and painful. "Rinoa! Kyonae…she attacked me…I…it was an accident, I swear…I didn't mean to…she was taken by some kind of sorceress…she called her Mother…"
"Calm down, Seifer, it's all right," I said soothingly, trying to calm him while Squall searched the scene, finding Kyonae's Talon lodged in the mud.
"You don't understand…" he ranted frantically, very unlike Seifer. "She gonna get killed, I know it-"
"SLEEP," Ellone cast, and Seifer slumped into my arms, fast asleep. "Sorry. I had to calm him down somehow." I conjured an invisible stretcher so he drifted in the air alongside of us. Laguna looked at Ellone, as if putting Seifer to sleep wasn't the greatest of ideas. "I'm sorry, Daddy, but we'd never get anywhere with him carrying on like that. You can ask him as many questions as you want when we get back to Galbadia Garden."
We were starting to go, when I noticed Squall had stayed behind, rooted to the spot where he had found the Talon, staring at it solely as if it had been a possession of someone who had died. Even I could tell the difference between the rain and Squall's silent tears.
I took the Talon from his grasp and hugged him, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Don't cry, Squall. We'll find her, and everything will be all right. Just you wait."
It was a very strange moment. Out in the rain, soaking wet, and Squall broke down. His lips trembled, his lovely blue-gray eyes blinking rapidly, and suddenly he threw his arms around me, holding me very tightly, his chest heaving with shaky short sobs. "I love you," he whispered.
"I love you too, Squall. Now come on. The others are waiting for us." I wrapped my arm around his shoulders as we went to catch up. Poor Squall, I thought sadly. Poor Laguna. Poor Ellone.
Poor everybody.
A/N: I…need...to…SLEEP!!! *bangs head down on keyboard, only to erase the jumble of letters I made* I'm going to bed now! GOOD NIGHT! Please R/R!
