III
"Most battle plans do not survive the initial encounter with the enemy."
--Truism

Deling City sported nothing remotely like a landing field--probably because no one outside of Squall and Esthar had ever had an airship. As a result the Ragnarok was forced to land on uneven ground a fair distance from the city, its smooth descent and not overly turbulent landing a tribute to its pilots' prowess. Nida stayed behind to watch over the ship, but the Sorceress Team came with Squall as he entered the city and stepped onto the public bus to Caraway's Mansion. The entire group was grim. Though not one of Selphie's "orphanage gang," the group who had lived through their childhood in Cid and Edea's orphanage only to forget the time, rediscovering it only gradually, Rinoa was considered by all to be a very close friend. It had just taken Squall a bit longer than the rest to admit it.

Hitting the button to stop the bus in front of Caraway's mansion, they nodded to the guard at the gate and moved by unchallenged. They were well-know around Deling City, to say the least; their infamous attempt to assassinate the sorceress a year ago was still the butt of many jokes and had rapidly become an urban legend, though their subsequent saving of the universe had granted them nearly universal pardon. As he walked up to meet General Caraway, Squall couldn't help but be reminded of the one time he had done so before--to receive the mission briefing for the assassination. He was also forced to remembered it had been an unmitigated disaster, one leading to nearly the entire team's incarceration in a political prison somewhere in Galbadia's Dingo Desert. It was an episode in his life he really didn't have any fond memories of.

Of course, there were very few fond memories he had at all...

Another guard opened the door for the group, and they stepped in to see General Caraway in full dress uniform, sitting in the large table in the living room and apparently playing a game of cards--Triple Triad--with himself. As he neared, Squall was surprised to see a card with Rinoa on it--it must have cost a fair amount to get it registered with the Card Queen.

Caraway was not a sentimental man.They had never had much contact, but Squall had respected him for that--if disliking him for a host of other reasons. It was strange to see him with something so personal as a card of his daughter.

"My next logical move would be," Caraway muttered to himself, placing a card down above Rinoa's and turning hers over. "...damn," he sighed. "Lost her."

The guard who had let the group in cleared his throat, and Caraway looked up.

"Ah," he said, regaining his composure at once. "I'm glad you're here. Please, have a seat."

Everyone moved to sit down, Quistis sitting on the couch next to Squall so she could place a discreet hand on his shoulder. Squall shrugged it off.

"I'll get straight to the point," Caraway said. "Rinoa went missing three days ago. We were nearby the Arch, when it started raining. Everything got very dark, very wet, very quickly. I doubt this could have been natural.
"We were begining to head back here when I heard a scream, behind me. I looked around, and Rinoa was nowhere to be seen. We were in a clear area with no obstructions; I should have been able to see her. The city police and I began the investigation immediately, but it soon became apparent that she was not inside the city. We searched the surrounding grasslands, but she was not to be found. We have no idea where she is. Needless to say--we suspect foul play."

Caraway's voice was strained as he spoke, and he finished the breifing as quickly as he could. Squall frowned--it didn't fit the profile of any other kidnapping he knew of, and it didn't seem like this would be any sort of canon case.

"That's not much to work with," Irvine said, casting a sidelong glance at Squall. Caraway shook his head.

"I'm sorry that we can't provide you with more information, but that's why I called you in. We cannot find her anywhere. There are no clues. But," Caraway said, standing up, "if anyone can find her, I'm sure you can."

That said, he turned and left the room. There was silence for a moment

"That was it?" Zell demanded. "What are we supposed to do with that?"

"Find Rinoa," Squall answered, deadpan.

"You have got to be kidding, man!" Zell said. "What are we supposed to do--fly around the world in the Ragnarok and look for her out the window?"

(If that's what's necessary,) Squall thought. "Giving up on her?"

"What?" Zell said, jumping. "Hey, no, man, I didn't mean--"

"We'll find her," Squall said. "We're SeeDs. We can't back out of a mission."

"Tch!" Zell said. "Fine. Whatever it takes, you know?" He turned and moved for the exit.

Squall followed him, trying to think of where they should start. He had heard of missions like this before, where the clues might well be spread out amongst many people throughout the entire world, but he really didn't want to have to question the entire population of the planet just to find a lead. That would take too much time--and besides, Squall had never been the social type.

Halting outside the door, he noticed the guard changing. one of the men was heading into the house, as a second approached from the street. Waiting as the rest of his team filed out, he nodded amiably to the man coming toward him before addressing his team. "I think we should--"

There was a warping sound, unmistakably paramagical. The world shifted and crawled, the air sparked darkness that set Squall's teeth on edge.

"Squall! Squall! Irvy! Yaaa---!"

Squall's hand went to his gunblade without hesitation, without need for thought. He turned and ran back into the mansion, just in time to see Selphie's body distort and twist inside the dark black bubble that encased her. A similar bubble was fading from the air beside her, and the guard who had just entered the mansion was gone. It looked for all the world as if someone had cast a doubled Demi spell, except that when the bubble expanded and disappeared again, Selphie disappeared with it.

The door to the rest of the mansion creaked as General Caraway burst back into the room, but no one spoke. Amid the silence, Selphie's nunchaku clattered to the ground.