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(The Sorceress' Knight)

Elise ran out of her room locking the door behind her. How could she have made yet another mistake? She had thought she was finally ready to have her revenge, but everything just kept going wrong. "I can do this. I have not yet gotten myself into something that I can't get out of." She needed to stop Seifer before he was able to see Cid or Squall. She saw Zell coming out of his room, perfect, she thought. Before he could close the door she pushed him back inside, she went in after him and locked the door.

"Hey, what the hell is wrong with you!"

"Zell I-"

"It was you!" Zell said suddenly remembering.

"What?"

"You came into my room yesterday."

"No, I didn't." Elise lied.

"Yes, I remember now. You were the one who told me about Irvine and Layla. I've been goin' nuts trying to remember where I heard that. Wait a minute," realization dawned on him, "how do I know were telling me the truth?"

This was the last thing Elise needed, Zell was stronger willed that she had given him credit for. She regretted leaving her sword in her room, she could have been able to kill Zell and then blame it on Seifer. But since she didn't have a weapon she didn't want to go ahead with that idea. I'll just have to rely on my powers, she thought.

She surprised Zell by throwing her arms around him. "I'm not lying." She whispered in his ear. "Why would I do that?"

"Let go."

"I have nothing to gain." She kept whispering in his ear. "Think about it, Zell. Everything I told you is true, they are the ones who lied to you, not me." She let go.

Is she telling the truth? Zell wondered, yes, of course she is, she has nothing to gain. He heard a voice inside his head. How could he have doubted her?

"I need your help, Zell," Elise sounded worried. "Seifer is here, he tried to kill me."

"That bastard is here?"

"You don't like Seifer?"

"How can I like that son of a...where the hell is he?"

Things were looking up for Elise. She once again put her arms around his neck. "Kill him then." She whispered in his ear.

"I can't do that." Zell pulled away.

"Why?" Elise asked exasperated.

"Well, I don't hate him that much!"

"Fine." She didn't have time to convince him, Seifer was probably already looking for Cid. "He's in my room, he tried to kill me. Help me." She pleaded.

"Don't worry, I'm going to kick his ass."

"I need to alert Squall, you go to my room."

"I'm gonna enjoy this." Zell rushed out of his dorm.

Now all Elise had to do was find Squall.

Squall sat in the cafeteria staring at the untouched plate of food before him. He had been angry when he first read Selphie's new web page, but now that his anger had subsided he felt hurt. How could Selphie have done something like that? And Quistis supporting her, if that's the way my 'friends' treat me, what can I expect from the rest of the students. But I won't let anyone else humiliate me like Selphie and Quistis have. I will punish anyone who opposes me, I am through being the 'nice guy'.

"Squall," Elise came and sat by him. "Help me," she urged.

"What's wrong?"

"Seifer is here."

"What?" Squall stood up.

"He went to my room. Sit down." Squall sat down, "he tried to kill me and-"

"Wait," Squall interrupted, "why would he try to kill you if he doesn't even know you, I don't recall you two ever talking. Why would he come here to kill you?"

Damn it!

"Well?" Squall demanded.

"...You're right, I didn't know him well...not until recently." She lowered her head. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to talk about this."

"What?"

"A few days after you defeated Ultimicia," she began, "in one of my attempts to catch up with you, I found Seifer. After talking for a while it was obvious that we were attracted to each other. I am not proud of what I did next, although I have a boyfriend...I didn't tell Seifer. We went out a few times and I soon realized that he was getting serious."

"But you weren't?"

"Right. I liked him, but I love Zander."

"Zander?"

"My boyfriend," she smiled, "anyway, I didn't want to hurt Seifer, so instead of telling him the truth, I avoided all the places where I knew he would look for me, I was waiting for Zander, so I couldn't leave. So finally Zander came, Seifer found out at what hotel I was staying, so he went to look for me. Apparently, he asked for me at the reception desk and they stupidly told him that I was with my boyfriend. Needless to say, he was furious; he broke down my door, and when he saw Zander in there with me he got even angrier...He tried to kill Zander and kept yelling that I was next. I managed to cast a Sleep spell on him, and we were able to escape before he woke up."

"Did you notify the authorities?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I felt so guilty, that I didn't want to get him in trouble. I know I am the one to blame for what happened. I was hoping that once his anger cleared he would see things differently."

"But if he tried to kill you-"

"I know! But I felt sorry for him...Squall," Elise lowered her head, "what's the use? I'll just tell you the real reason why I didn't notify the authorities. I don't know what I was thinking at the time, I was scared of what he might do if I talked to anyone...He had told me something that..."

"What did he tell you?"

"I promised I wouldn't tell. He made me promise...never mind, forget it."

"You need to tell me."

"But...I-I'm scared of what he might do to me."

"Elise, tell me. I promise I won't let him hurt you."

Elise looked into Squall's eyes, then said,"...Seifer told me that...he was never...under Ultimicia's influence."

"...What?" Squall heard her words, but they didn't make sense.

"He said he made that story up just to get out of trouble." She leaned very close to Squall, "It all makes sense now, doesn't it? Why he disappeared after her defeat, everything. Am I right?"

Did it make sense? Squall wasn't sure. His head felt foggy again. Of course, he heard a voice inside his head, Seifer is no good. He would lie and cheat his way out of any situation. Squall's confusion was replaced by anger.

"That son-of-a-bitch." Squall said in a low voice, he stood up and started toward the exit.

"Where are you going?" Elise went after him.

He turned around, "I'm going to find him, then I'm going to make sure he spends the rest of his life in prison."

"Prison?" Elise was disappointed, she was hoping he would be angry enough to go kill Seifer, but no matter, she would kill them all soon enough. The only thing that mattered now, was that Squall wouldn't believe a word Seifer said.

"Yes, prison," said Squall misunderstanding the disappointment in her voice, "he helped Ultimicia in her plot to destroy the world, that will land anyone in prison forever."

"I know! Just go, he may be too much for Zell to handle."

"I doubt it, he's not as tough as he thinks he is." With that, he walked out of the cafeteria.

Dr. Kadowaki sat at her desk, after the battle she had done inventory and found that they had run low on a few medical supplies. She looked up from her papers when she heard someone enter the infirmary.

"Seifer, what are you doing here?"

"Doctor, I need your help." Seifer's face was expressionless.

"With what?"

"I need to find Rinoa."

"Why?"

"Please call her Doctor," he walked toward the desk, "it's a matter of life and death."

"...Alright." Dr. Kadowaki said hesitantly. She picked up her phone and pressed the intercom button. "Rinoa Heartily, please report to the infirmary immediately."

A few minutes later Rinoa came into the infirmary. "Is there something wrong, Doctor?" She asked concerned.

"There is someone here to see you."

Seifer emerged from one of the small patient rooms. "Hi, Rinoa."

Dr. Kadowaki sat at her desk again, she didn't want to leave Rinoa alone with Seifer. He seemed to have come in peace, but she didn't want to run the risk of Rinoa being harmed.

Rinoa stared at Seifer, not knowing what to say. They were quiet for a few seconds.

"It's been a while." Seifer broke the silence.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to warn you about something, a sorceress is here, and she wants to destroy you along with everyone at Garden."

"What?"

"Her name's Elise, you probably don't know her-"

"Of course I know her! I knew there was something strange about her...but a sorceress, are you sure?"

Seifer told Rinoa everything he knew about Elise. He told her everything from the moment he saw Elise, to the night on the beach when she tried to kill him.

"I'm so glad you're alright."

"Yeah. I was pretty damn lucky."

"Well, we have to warn Cid and Squall."

Seifer quickly blocked the door. "We can't."

"Why?"

"Because Elise probably already got to them. She knows I'm here."

"You're probably right." Rinoa thought for a moment. "Stay here, I'll ask Dr. Kadowaki not to tell anyone that you're here. I'll go see what's going on."

"Thanks, Rinoa."

"Thank you, Seifer. I'm glad to see that everyone was wrong about you."

How simple it is to manipulate people's minds, Elise thought, she had a confident smile on her face. She felt her power starting to grow; that was a good sign. She knew that would happen just before the eclipse, the day when she was to become a full-fledged sorceress.

She was passing by the parking lot when she heard her name being called, she turned to her left. Her eyes grew wide at the sight of a tall, dark-haired young man. "Don't come out!" She rushed toward him pushing him into the Parking Lot. "What are you doing here, Zander?"

"Elise, I needed to see you."

"You had your orders, you were supposed to wait for my signal like everyone else!"

"But I'm not everyone else, I'm your boyfriend, and your Knight."

"But if anyone sees you here-"

"I came to ask you not to go through with this." He raised his hand to touch her cheek, but she pushed him away.

Had she only known in the beginning what a pest Zander would become. She had met him about a year earlier, she had been looking for the perfect man to be her Knight, someone who could also keep her company and tell her how much he loved her. Zander was that perfect man, he was a skilled fighter and very good-looking, just what she was looking for.

She had tried to get his attention, but to no avail, he seemed preoccupied with his girlfriend. Elise would have just let him go and find someone else, but she felt very drawn to him, and she was so lonely that she didn't think she could wait until she found someone who truly wanted to be with her, if such a person even existed.

She decided that she would have to use her powers, Zander left his mother and his pregnant girlfriend for her. He had no choice, he believed that he was in love with Elise, and nothing was going to keep him away from her. Not even the people he loved and cared about.

For a while Elise enjoyed his company, he was sweet, loving and never questioned her orders. Lately, though, he had begun to annoy her, she wanted to get rid of him, but the fact that he was the one best suited to be her Knight refrained her from doing so.

"You know I can't stop now, Zander." Elise said firmly.

"Elise I-"

"I have been planning this since I was very young! Do you have any idea how difficult it is for a fourteen year old girl to recruit hundreds of people and convince them to fight for her cause!"

"I-"

"It is very difficult, but I did it!" Elise realized she was speaking very loudly, she lowered her voice. "I am not about to stop now. I already have them all turned against each other, I am so close to my goal. If they can't stand each other they won't fight together. This will make it much easier to defeat them. So you see, I can't stop."

"There's still time. You can still leave all this behind."

"No."

"I'm willing to do anything to make you stop. I won't be your Knight if you keep going." He threatened.

"Are you saying you're going to leave me?"

"No...I just-"

"Maybe that would be the best thing to do." She said coldly, "Yes, I no longer want to be with you."

Zander looked at her for a moment, he didn't think she was serious. "Elise, reconsider." He pleaded. "I love you so much, I just know that if you left all this we could live a normal life and be happy."

He was making her angry. How could he not understand? At this point she didn't care if she lost him, there were others who would make good knights as well, she really didn't want him with her anymore.

"Go to hell, Zander, I don't want a normal life. And you can't make me happy."

Her words cut him like a knife, the pain was apparent in his dark eyes. "You can't mean that, Elise."

Her green eyes burned into his. "You're free." She smiled cruelly as she released him from her power. "I don't want or need you anymore."

"...What have you done to me?" Zander asked stepping back. Memories flooded his mind, his mother, his girlfriend Deidra and the baby they were going to have. He had abandoned them, he remembered Deidra crying, begging him to stay. He looked at Elise, all he wanted to do was kill her, right then and there. All the love that he thought he felt for Elise was replaced by hate. He reached for his sword.

"Don't get too excited now. I would not recommend that, this place is full of SeeDs, they would catch you in no time. Now give me the sword before I start screaming bloody murder." He did as was told, he knew she was right. "That's a smart boy." She smiled.

"I will turn your whole damn army against you." Zander threatened.

"You can't." Elise laughed. "They are all under my power, just like you were, and that's how they will remain until I decide otherwise." She turned and walked away.

Zander was alone in the parking lot, he watched Elise go. "It is you who shouldn't mess with me Sorceress."