When she woke in the morning
She knew that her life had passed her by
She called out a warning
Don't ever let life pass you by
--- Incubus "Warning"
Chapter 11
There was only a split second to react. The attack was so sudden, and so unexpected, that there was hardly anything Squall could do about it. So, he did the only thing he could. As he noticed that Selphie was headed right for Rinoa, his intincts took over, and he immediately pushed her out of the way, only to be hit with the same attack just a moment later. He was knocked to the ground, and felt pain all over his body as claws tore into his skin. He could vaguely hear Rinoa screaming his name, and the sound of glass shattering nearby.
The next thing he knew, he could hear something loud go off, like thunder cracking the sky, then Selphie fell back, freeing him from her weight.
Ellone stepped through the broken window, her dress catching on the jagged peices of glass that remained.
In her hand she held a silver pistol, and on her face was that twisted smile that contorted her features into something that was born only of the blackest evil.
"Fools," she hissed, surveying the scene around her. She gingerly stepped over to her brother, who lay still on the floor, blood spilling from multiple wounds in his body. Selphie lay nearby, a thick black liquid gushing from the entrance wound in her back, and the exit wound in her chest. Beside her was small bullet, the tip of which was colored with a striking green.
Ellone bent close to Squall, observing the fatal wounds that covered him.
"Get away from him!" Rinoa shouted, shoving Ellone out of the way and kneeling beside him in her place. She carefully touched his face, careful of the gashes that covered her hand in blood. "Squall..." she whispered as her eyes shone with her pain through their glassy surface.
He stared up at her, his eyes reflecting her pain. He grabbed her hand and grasped it as best as he could, giving it one last squeeze with all the strength he had left before his eyes drifted closed and his chest ceased its steady rise and fall.
Ellone watched the scene with an unmistable coldness in her eyes. She realized that she'd failed, again, to win her brother's loyalty. So he was dead now. It served the fool right, in her eyes.
At that moment, the sound of several vehicles pulling into the parking lot filled the room, which had been silent save the sound of Rinoa's sobs. Rinoa raised her head, her swollen eyes meeting with Ellone's. They both stood, as if in some mutual understanding that this was not the time to carry out their war.
After throwing a glance at the black vans over her shoulder, Ellone looked back to Rinoa and said, "This is far from over."
"Damn straight!" Rinoa hissed, her eyes flooding primal with rage.
Ellone smiled at her then, before plunging a hand into the purse that hung at her side, and producing a fist full of some unknown substance. She brought her fist in front of her face and opened it to reveal a red powder- like compound. Then, with a slight puff of breath, she sent the dust flying over to Rinoa, covering her skin in a burning feeling.
Rinoa began to shake violently as she collapsed to her knees on the ground. Ellone quickly ran out of the building through the back, easily escaping.
Before Rinoa could gather her wits, she felt her wings bursting from her back, and her skin beginning to glow. Just then, the small army poured out from the vans and burst into the room. They laid eyes on Rinoa and immediately surrounded her, their machine guns leveled.
A man stepped forward, pushing his way through the group. He was a tall, thin man wearing a plain gray suit and a pair of thick black sun glasses.
"Don't shoot her," he commanded the men. "She is the one we're looking for. Secure her, and load her into the van. We'll take her to our facilities and study her." He paused for a moment and happened to look down at Squall. "And take him to the morgue for an autopsy. I want to know what this beast is capable of."
_____________________
11:00 P.M.
The first thing that Rinoa became aware of as she opened her eyes was the steady beeping from beside her. She attempted to move her arms, but the were held tightly in place. The more she struggled, she felt a sharp pain in her arms, as if they had been stuck with needles. There was a dull pain in her shoulders, as they felt unsuported. Her lower back and head rested on a cushioned surface, but her shoulders were wedged uncomfortably in the gap between the surfaces.
Her eyes fluttered up, and all she could see was the smooth white ceiling above her. As her ears strained to hear better, she began to notice low voices talking in the background, and the scuffling of feet against a cold tile floor.
Rinoa tried to speak, but found that her throat was dry, so that her attempt came out as more of a wheez. Still, it caught someone's attention. The next thing she knew, some girl with short, dark brown hair with an emotionless face was staring down at her. The woman wore a long white coat, and clutched a clip board to her chest.
"She's awake," the woman called over her shoulders before turning her cold gaze back to Rinoa.
More people came and gathered around her, seemingly facinated. They whispered and murmered amongst each other, pointing down at her every now and then. Rinoa couldn't help but wondered if she was being punished by waking up as some sort of caged monster, deprived of freedom and doomed to a life of humiliation.
Just as she was wondering if they would stand there gaping at her for the rest of eternity, a voice from the other side of the room caused the crowd to part.
"Move. Get away from her. You'll give her a heart attack crowding around her like that."
It was the same man from before, that had ordered her capture. He towered over her for a moment as he studied her, before tearing one of the tubes out of her arm and turning on the doctors with disgust on his face.
"I told you to study her, not torture her!" he shouted. "We need her in good condition."
"But sir, we needed some samples and-" one of them began.
"I don't want your excuses. You'll have to find another way of going about it. I know you can, you've done it before. Now, unhook her from all these machines and get her a uniform. Let me know when she's ready, so that I can speak to her and escort her to her room."
With that, the man walked out of the room, leaving the doctors to take care of Rinoa. The woman walked over to her and unstrapped her arms from the table-like structure on which she was laying. They pulled the tubes out of her arms and bandaged her up. As the woman helped Rinoa to stand, two more doctors walked over to her, one with a glass of water, and one with folded white cloth tucked under her arm.
Rinoa was hesitant about drinking the water, but was desperately thursty, so decided to take the chance. She found that she was still in her own clothes, but they were torn and tattered, both from her transformation, and the doctor's IVs. They handed her the folded clothing and showed her to an isolated area where she could dress.
She came out dressed in the facilities trade-mark white jump-suit that sported the orginazations symbol in a patch on her right arm. They called for the man in the gray suit, who came in and took her by the arm, leading her out of the blank white medical room and into the wide, ehoey halls outside.
After a few moments of walking down the long grayish corridors, the man pushed a door open and led her into a huge office. He sat her down in a chair in front of his desk, then sat down across from her.
"Let me start off by saying that it is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Heartilly," he said, offering a friendly smile.
Rinoa studied his slicked back gray hair, wrinkled face, and dull blue eyes. He looked like he could've been her granfather.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"Forgive me, I'm terribly rude sometimes. I'm Mr. Vinzer. I'm the head of this dapartment."
"What am I here for?"
"We want to study you," he answered. "You see, we've been studying your kind for a long while. It was first brought to our attention many years ago, when a strange case of murders began to appear. It seemed as if someone, or rather, something, was feeding off people. The FBI investigated, but they ended up killing their suspects, rather than maintaining them for study. So, we decided that, not only did we want to study you, but we wanted to protect you. You can't help the way you are, after all. And you, Ms. Heartilly, are in a lot of trouble with the FBI. They suspect you, just like we did. But we got to you first, so you're safe now. You can stay here in peace."
"Forgive me for being skeptical," she shot back. "But I don't believe you brought me here to protect me. And what if I don't want to stay?"
Vinzer chuckled softly. "I completely understand your doubts. And I truly wish we could let you go. And one day, we will. But first, we must win our battle for a more tolerent world. Only then will it be safe for you to leave."
Rinoa stood up suddenly. "I don't care if it's safe! I just want to go home! I... I want to see Squall..."
"And who is this Squall?" he asked curiously.
Rinoa collapsed back in the chair and covered her eyes with her hand. "He died for me..."
Vinzer sighed. "Come along, Ms. Heartilly, and allow me to escort you to your room. I believe that you will feel better after a night of rest."
Rinoa allowed herself to be taken to her room, which was more of a cell, without further struggle. The room was white, and padded, with a steel frame bed, painted white, and a barred window that looked out over the sea. There was also a barred window high in another wall, that connected her room with the one to the right of it. It was located on the same wall that her bed was pushed against.
Vinzer left her alone after asking her if she needed anything. Rinoa sprawled out over her bed and had curled up in a ball, ready to go to sleep, when she heard someone call to her from the window above the bed.
"Hey! Is there anyone in there?"
"What do you want?" Rinoa grumbled.
"You are one of them, aren't you? You're an angel."
"I'm not anything," Rinoa replied in a soft whisper.
"Yes, I sense it. You're one of them. Those that I used to fight, and despise. Imagine, an angel being captured and put into the cell right next to mine!"
"Who are you?" Rinoa asked after a moment. "Or should I say what?"
Low laughter rose from the other side of the wall, then the answer, "I'm what you might call a demon, dear child. And my name, if you must know, is Alicia. Alicia Chang."
_____________________
"Well, what do you think?" one of the doctors asked.
"I think we need to handle this in the morning. It's far to late to deal with this shit."
The man nodded, and began to walk out of the room, followed by his female partner. They switched the light off and walked out of the room, leaving behind the body they were supposed to do an autpsy on.
A few moments passed in silence, until suddenly, in the middle of the room, a small form dressed in white appeared and walked over to the wall, a small hand scanning over the silver drawers, until finding the right one and pulling it open.
The small, pale intruder pulled a stool out from under the examination table and used it to sit on and look down upon the sheet- covered corpse. Slowly, the tiny, chubby fingers pulled back the sheet, revealing a scarred face, and laid a hand on the forehead.
"This wasn't suposta happen," a small, fragile voice whispered as the eyes searched for a sign of life.
Slowly, the eyelids moved, and a streak of brilliant blue appeared beneath thick black lashes.
"Rinoa..." came his weak, hoarse voice as he stared into the familiar face.
There was a soft giggling from his side, bringing him back to awarness. He slowly sat up, and studied his surroundings for a moment before his peircing blue spheres settled on the child who sat at his side.
"It's you again," he said, studing her face through the darkness.
The child lunged forward and threw her tiny arms around his neck. "I'm so glad it worked!" she exclaimed. "I told her it wouldn't work, but she said I had to try. I'm glad I did. I'm so happy you're alive, Daddy!"
"Look kid, I'm not your father," he said, attempting to pry the child of him.
"Of course you are!" she exclaimed, gripping him tighter. "You just don't know it yet." She felt silent as she studied her hand, which was suddenly becoming transparent again. "Oh no! It's happening again. Mommy's in trouble. You have to help her."
"Mommy?" he questioned. "Rinoa?!"
She nodded. "Uh-huh. This wasn't suposta happen. Selphie messed everything up. You weren't supposta die."
"I'm WHAT?!" Squall shouted as he jumped up from the table where he had laid.
The girl winced slightly at his yelling. "You were dead. I'm sorry. Are you mad at me?"
Squall studied her for a moment then said, softly, "No, I'm not mad at you. But am I dead now?"
"No, I brought you back. Are you proud of me, Daddy?"
He nodded and came to stand over the little girl on her stool. "Yes, I'm proud of you. But tell me, how did you come to be here?"
"You'll understand," she answered. "But only if you help Mommy. If you don't, then I'll dissapear again."
Squall nodded. "Okay. Where is she?"
"I don't know," she answered. "Ellone does."
"Thanks, um... what's your name?"
"My name is Ethereal. It was Mommy's idea to name me that. She said I have your eyes."
Squall couldn't help the rare, but beautiful wide smile that spread across his face. "Yeah, you do have my eyes."
Ethereal hugged him again, tightly, and said, "You have to go now, Daddy. I have to go too. Good luck! And I love you, Daddy."
Squall didn't really know this little girl claiming to be his daughter. He'd only met her once before. But it didn't matter. Just knowing that this human being was his, and that she loved him unconditionally, was more than enough. He felt something that he'd only felt when Rinoa was around him. He felt his heart melt.
"I love you, too," he replied hugging her back as hard as he could without hurting her.
As he slowly let her, go he noticed that she seemed to have turned transparent.
"Go," she said, urgently.
He nodded and quickly headed out the door, knowing immediately where to go.
_____________________
"Alicia Chang?!" Rinoa repeated, now fully awake.
"Yes. That's my name. You've heard of me?"
Rinoa was silent for a moment before saying, "You had a daughter?"
"Yes, a long time ago. A rather stupid mistake, actually. I was such a fool. So young. But it's all in the past, now."
"How do you become pregnant?" Rinoa asked cautiously.
"Well, I had grown up in the town of Balamb, but moved away hoping to seek a new land of promise. So I left everything I knew behind. Including my old sweetheart. We weren't very compatible, really, but we were the same species, at least. Well, I never found what I was looking for, and returned, in defeat, to the one place I knew I could count on. There he was. Laguna Leonhart. Married. To a human of all things! Well, the two of us starting having an affair, and before I knew it, I was pregnant. He kept telling me to take care of the child, and that he would get a divorce soon. Next thing I know, he has a child of his own. Half human, half demon. I was enraged, for I realized then that he had lied to me. I killed his wife, Raine, and for a short time afterwards, we were together. It was then that Ellone grew a fondness for her half brother. A short while later, Laguna commited suicide, and I was captured and brought here. The children... To this day I don't know what happened to them. You must know something of Ellone's whereabouts."
Rinoa sighed. "She's in Balamb. More powerful than ever."
"That's nice to hear," Alicia returned, relief in her voice. "And her brother? Squall, was it?"
Rinoa inhaled deeply as she felt the tears return to her eyes. "He's dead."
"That's horrible! How long?"
"A few hours," she replied in a shaky voice.
Alicia gave a sigh. "Well, nothing is ever perfect. Except this place. Nothing ever changes here."
"And you think its perfection?" Rinoa asked.
"Yes. It's been so long since I was out among the real world, that I don't remember what it was like. Just this. It's safe. It's... home."
Oddly enough, Rinoa was flooded with sympathy for this woman. How strange, to feel sorry for your worst enemy's mother.
"I know it must seem strange to you for me to act like this," Alicia said suddenly. "I don't like it. I don't know what it is to like something anymore. I don't know what it is to live. I just am. And more and more, as the years pass, I wish I wasn't."
"You know what I am," Rinoa said quietly.
"Yes. Strange, right? That I should tell all this to my enemy. But you know, no matter what we are, we are both lost to the same fate. We are both denied life. We are... the same, as hard as it is to believe."
"Yeah," Rinoa agreed softly. "Maybe together we could find some way out of here."
Alicia laughed bitterly. "We can try. But understand, there is very little hope. We could very well die."
"I don't have much to live for anymore," she answered.
_____________________
Squall walked to his apartment to find his door open, and Ellone sitting calmly at his table. Selphie's body had been thrown, face down, in the middle of the floor. Ellone sat at the table, an elaborate candle holder sitting in front of her. In it, was an eyeball, carved from someone's face. Flames rose from it, as Ellone stared at it intently.
"You can see a person's memories this way," Ellone said before turning to face her brother. "So, you're alive. Good. Maybe now you've seen the error of your ways."
"Where is she?" Squall demanded.
She laughed. "Fool! As if I'd tell you."
"You will if you want to live."
She studied him for a moment before scowling. "How can you threaten me? You have nothing! I'm far more powerful than you are."
Squall pulled a knife from his belt and held it to her face. "You said that burning someone's eye allows you to look into their memories. I think I'll try that myself."
"You wouldn't do that to your sister," she said.
"Bitch!" he hissed. "I know the truth. You and I had different mothers. I bet I'm not really like you, am I?"
"Squall," she began calmly.
"AM I?!" he repeated.
She cringed. "No. Not completely like me. But what does it matter?"
"You lied to me! You made everything so much harder than it had to be. All for your own selfish reasons."
"Squall, I did you a favor. I made you powerful. You could still be powerful. It's not too late. By midnight tomorrow, this place will be ours once again. Join us, Squall. We can over look that flaw of yours."
"Flaw?" he repeated.
She nodded and smiled. "Yes. That's how good we are. We can over- look your flaw of being half-human."
"You can't accept me the way I am? Rinoa... Rinoa knows I'm a demon, and she doesn't think of it as a flaw. She know it's just what I am, and she... I think she loves me."
Ellone rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say. Just get that knife out of my face."
Squall placed it against the skin beneath her eye. "Tell me!"
"You make me sick!" she exclaimed.
"No more than you make me!" he shot back, pressing the blade even more. "TELL ME!"
"She's at a special government facility in southern Esthar. The place is heavily guarded. You'll never make it in."
"I'll do what I have to," he replied, pulling away the knife and starting for the door.
Ellone jumped up from her chair. She could feel the transformation beginning. She just had to stall him.
"I hope you die there!" she shouted.
Squall didn't reply, but flung the knife backwards, so it went flying out behind him and almost stabbed into her head. He walked out the door, then, and didn't once look back.
____________________
9:00 A.M.
Rinoa awoke in the morning to find a stranger standing over her. It was an older looking woman with light brown hair, and brown eyes. Her face was slightly wrinkled, and she wore the same white jump-suit that Rinoa did.
"So, you are the famous Rinoa," she said after Rinoa had opened her eyes. "Who are you?"
"You don't recognize my voice? It's me, Alicia Chang, whom you talked to last night. Remember?"
Rinoa nodded. "Yeah, sorry."
"No problem. Come on. They serve breakfast in ten minutes. First come, first serve basis."
"How many other people could there be in here?" Rinoa asked as she stood and ran her fingers through her hair.
"There are a lot of people out there with special abilities that are studied here. A lot of people who have missed their chance at life."
Rinoa shoved her hands into her pockets. "So, have you thought anymore about what I said last night?"
Alicia nodded. "Yes. I believe it's worth a shot. What do we have to loose after all?"
Rinoa closed her eyes briefly, feeling the tears threaten her eyes again.
"You looked troubled," Alicia said.
Rinoa nodded. "He died for me," she whispered.
Alicia was silent for a moment, then said, "Squall? Squall died for you?"
Rinoa could only nod.
"Don't worry, dear. When we escape, you will be able to get revenge on those who caused this."
She shook her head. "I don't really want to. I just... I just want to make sure he's honored with the respect he deserves. That he's given a proper burial. I wanna make sure Ellone doesn't find some way to cover it up, so that no one ever knows. Squall deserves to be known." Rinoa fell silent for a moment then said, "You know, I never would have pictured you as Ellone's mother. Or a demon for that matter."
"I've had a lot of time on my hands to think," Alicia replied.
At that moment, a siren began goin off, and the lights in the hall began to flash red. An announcement came over the intercom that all guards were to report to the front gate. "This looks like our oppurtunity," Alicia said. "What do you think?"
"Let's take it," Rinoa replied determinedly.
_____________________
She knew that her life had passed her by
She called out a warning
Don't ever let life pass you by
--- Incubus "Warning"
Chapter 11
There was only a split second to react. The attack was so sudden, and so unexpected, that there was hardly anything Squall could do about it. So, he did the only thing he could. As he noticed that Selphie was headed right for Rinoa, his intincts took over, and he immediately pushed her out of the way, only to be hit with the same attack just a moment later. He was knocked to the ground, and felt pain all over his body as claws tore into his skin. He could vaguely hear Rinoa screaming his name, and the sound of glass shattering nearby.
The next thing he knew, he could hear something loud go off, like thunder cracking the sky, then Selphie fell back, freeing him from her weight.
Ellone stepped through the broken window, her dress catching on the jagged peices of glass that remained.
In her hand she held a silver pistol, and on her face was that twisted smile that contorted her features into something that was born only of the blackest evil.
"Fools," she hissed, surveying the scene around her. She gingerly stepped over to her brother, who lay still on the floor, blood spilling from multiple wounds in his body. Selphie lay nearby, a thick black liquid gushing from the entrance wound in her back, and the exit wound in her chest. Beside her was small bullet, the tip of which was colored with a striking green.
Ellone bent close to Squall, observing the fatal wounds that covered him.
"Get away from him!" Rinoa shouted, shoving Ellone out of the way and kneeling beside him in her place. She carefully touched his face, careful of the gashes that covered her hand in blood. "Squall..." she whispered as her eyes shone with her pain through their glassy surface.
He stared up at her, his eyes reflecting her pain. He grabbed her hand and grasped it as best as he could, giving it one last squeeze with all the strength he had left before his eyes drifted closed and his chest ceased its steady rise and fall.
Ellone watched the scene with an unmistable coldness in her eyes. She realized that she'd failed, again, to win her brother's loyalty. So he was dead now. It served the fool right, in her eyes.
At that moment, the sound of several vehicles pulling into the parking lot filled the room, which had been silent save the sound of Rinoa's sobs. Rinoa raised her head, her swollen eyes meeting with Ellone's. They both stood, as if in some mutual understanding that this was not the time to carry out their war.
After throwing a glance at the black vans over her shoulder, Ellone looked back to Rinoa and said, "This is far from over."
"Damn straight!" Rinoa hissed, her eyes flooding primal with rage.
Ellone smiled at her then, before plunging a hand into the purse that hung at her side, and producing a fist full of some unknown substance. She brought her fist in front of her face and opened it to reveal a red powder- like compound. Then, with a slight puff of breath, she sent the dust flying over to Rinoa, covering her skin in a burning feeling.
Rinoa began to shake violently as she collapsed to her knees on the ground. Ellone quickly ran out of the building through the back, easily escaping.
Before Rinoa could gather her wits, she felt her wings bursting from her back, and her skin beginning to glow. Just then, the small army poured out from the vans and burst into the room. They laid eyes on Rinoa and immediately surrounded her, their machine guns leveled.
A man stepped forward, pushing his way through the group. He was a tall, thin man wearing a plain gray suit and a pair of thick black sun glasses.
"Don't shoot her," he commanded the men. "She is the one we're looking for. Secure her, and load her into the van. We'll take her to our facilities and study her." He paused for a moment and happened to look down at Squall. "And take him to the morgue for an autopsy. I want to know what this beast is capable of."
_____________________
11:00 P.M.
The first thing that Rinoa became aware of as she opened her eyes was the steady beeping from beside her. She attempted to move her arms, but the were held tightly in place. The more she struggled, she felt a sharp pain in her arms, as if they had been stuck with needles. There was a dull pain in her shoulders, as they felt unsuported. Her lower back and head rested on a cushioned surface, but her shoulders were wedged uncomfortably in the gap between the surfaces.
Her eyes fluttered up, and all she could see was the smooth white ceiling above her. As her ears strained to hear better, she began to notice low voices talking in the background, and the scuffling of feet against a cold tile floor.
Rinoa tried to speak, but found that her throat was dry, so that her attempt came out as more of a wheez. Still, it caught someone's attention. The next thing she knew, some girl with short, dark brown hair with an emotionless face was staring down at her. The woman wore a long white coat, and clutched a clip board to her chest.
"She's awake," the woman called over her shoulders before turning her cold gaze back to Rinoa.
More people came and gathered around her, seemingly facinated. They whispered and murmered amongst each other, pointing down at her every now and then. Rinoa couldn't help but wondered if she was being punished by waking up as some sort of caged monster, deprived of freedom and doomed to a life of humiliation.
Just as she was wondering if they would stand there gaping at her for the rest of eternity, a voice from the other side of the room caused the crowd to part.
"Move. Get away from her. You'll give her a heart attack crowding around her like that."
It was the same man from before, that had ordered her capture. He towered over her for a moment as he studied her, before tearing one of the tubes out of her arm and turning on the doctors with disgust on his face.
"I told you to study her, not torture her!" he shouted. "We need her in good condition."
"But sir, we needed some samples and-" one of them began.
"I don't want your excuses. You'll have to find another way of going about it. I know you can, you've done it before. Now, unhook her from all these machines and get her a uniform. Let me know when she's ready, so that I can speak to her and escort her to her room."
With that, the man walked out of the room, leaving the doctors to take care of Rinoa. The woman walked over to her and unstrapped her arms from the table-like structure on which she was laying. They pulled the tubes out of her arms and bandaged her up. As the woman helped Rinoa to stand, two more doctors walked over to her, one with a glass of water, and one with folded white cloth tucked under her arm.
Rinoa was hesitant about drinking the water, but was desperately thursty, so decided to take the chance. She found that she was still in her own clothes, but they were torn and tattered, both from her transformation, and the doctor's IVs. They handed her the folded clothing and showed her to an isolated area where she could dress.
She came out dressed in the facilities trade-mark white jump-suit that sported the orginazations symbol in a patch on her right arm. They called for the man in the gray suit, who came in and took her by the arm, leading her out of the blank white medical room and into the wide, ehoey halls outside.
After a few moments of walking down the long grayish corridors, the man pushed a door open and led her into a huge office. He sat her down in a chair in front of his desk, then sat down across from her.
"Let me start off by saying that it is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Heartilly," he said, offering a friendly smile.
Rinoa studied his slicked back gray hair, wrinkled face, and dull blue eyes. He looked like he could've been her granfather.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"Forgive me, I'm terribly rude sometimes. I'm Mr. Vinzer. I'm the head of this dapartment."
"What am I here for?"
"We want to study you," he answered. "You see, we've been studying your kind for a long while. It was first brought to our attention many years ago, when a strange case of murders began to appear. It seemed as if someone, or rather, something, was feeding off people. The FBI investigated, but they ended up killing their suspects, rather than maintaining them for study. So, we decided that, not only did we want to study you, but we wanted to protect you. You can't help the way you are, after all. And you, Ms. Heartilly, are in a lot of trouble with the FBI. They suspect you, just like we did. But we got to you first, so you're safe now. You can stay here in peace."
"Forgive me for being skeptical," she shot back. "But I don't believe you brought me here to protect me. And what if I don't want to stay?"
Vinzer chuckled softly. "I completely understand your doubts. And I truly wish we could let you go. And one day, we will. But first, we must win our battle for a more tolerent world. Only then will it be safe for you to leave."
Rinoa stood up suddenly. "I don't care if it's safe! I just want to go home! I... I want to see Squall..."
"And who is this Squall?" he asked curiously.
Rinoa collapsed back in the chair and covered her eyes with her hand. "He died for me..."
Vinzer sighed. "Come along, Ms. Heartilly, and allow me to escort you to your room. I believe that you will feel better after a night of rest."
Rinoa allowed herself to be taken to her room, which was more of a cell, without further struggle. The room was white, and padded, with a steel frame bed, painted white, and a barred window that looked out over the sea. There was also a barred window high in another wall, that connected her room with the one to the right of it. It was located on the same wall that her bed was pushed against.
Vinzer left her alone after asking her if she needed anything. Rinoa sprawled out over her bed and had curled up in a ball, ready to go to sleep, when she heard someone call to her from the window above the bed.
"Hey! Is there anyone in there?"
"What do you want?" Rinoa grumbled.
"You are one of them, aren't you? You're an angel."
"I'm not anything," Rinoa replied in a soft whisper.
"Yes, I sense it. You're one of them. Those that I used to fight, and despise. Imagine, an angel being captured and put into the cell right next to mine!"
"Who are you?" Rinoa asked after a moment. "Or should I say what?"
Low laughter rose from the other side of the wall, then the answer, "I'm what you might call a demon, dear child. And my name, if you must know, is Alicia. Alicia Chang."
_____________________
"Well, what do you think?" one of the doctors asked.
"I think we need to handle this in the morning. It's far to late to deal with this shit."
The man nodded, and began to walk out of the room, followed by his female partner. They switched the light off and walked out of the room, leaving behind the body they were supposed to do an autpsy on.
A few moments passed in silence, until suddenly, in the middle of the room, a small form dressed in white appeared and walked over to the wall, a small hand scanning over the silver drawers, until finding the right one and pulling it open.
The small, pale intruder pulled a stool out from under the examination table and used it to sit on and look down upon the sheet- covered corpse. Slowly, the tiny, chubby fingers pulled back the sheet, revealing a scarred face, and laid a hand on the forehead.
"This wasn't suposta happen," a small, fragile voice whispered as the eyes searched for a sign of life.
Slowly, the eyelids moved, and a streak of brilliant blue appeared beneath thick black lashes.
"Rinoa..." came his weak, hoarse voice as he stared into the familiar face.
There was a soft giggling from his side, bringing him back to awarness. He slowly sat up, and studied his surroundings for a moment before his peircing blue spheres settled on the child who sat at his side.
"It's you again," he said, studing her face through the darkness.
The child lunged forward and threw her tiny arms around his neck. "I'm so glad it worked!" she exclaimed. "I told her it wouldn't work, but she said I had to try. I'm glad I did. I'm so happy you're alive, Daddy!"
"Look kid, I'm not your father," he said, attempting to pry the child of him.
"Of course you are!" she exclaimed, gripping him tighter. "You just don't know it yet." She felt silent as she studied her hand, which was suddenly becoming transparent again. "Oh no! It's happening again. Mommy's in trouble. You have to help her."
"Mommy?" he questioned. "Rinoa?!"
She nodded. "Uh-huh. This wasn't suposta happen. Selphie messed everything up. You weren't supposta die."
"I'm WHAT?!" Squall shouted as he jumped up from the table where he had laid.
The girl winced slightly at his yelling. "You were dead. I'm sorry. Are you mad at me?"
Squall studied her for a moment then said, softly, "No, I'm not mad at you. But am I dead now?"
"No, I brought you back. Are you proud of me, Daddy?"
He nodded and came to stand over the little girl on her stool. "Yes, I'm proud of you. But tell me, how did you come to be here?"
"You'll understand," she answered. "But only if you help Mommy. If you don't, then I'll dissapear again."
Squall nodded. "Okay. Where is she?"
"I don't know," she answered. "Ellone does."
"Thanks, um... what's your name?"
"My name is Ethereal. It was Mommy's idea to name me that. She said I have your eyes."
Squall couldn't help the rare, but beautiful wide smile that spread across his face. "Yeah, you do have my eyes."
Ethereal hugged him again, tightly, and said, "You have to go now, Daddy. I have to go too. Good luck! And I love you, Daddy."
Squall didn't really know this little girl claiming to be his daughter. He'd only met her once before. But it didn't matter. Just knowing that this human being was his, and that she loved him unconditionally, was more than enough. He felt something that he'd only felt when Rinoa was around him. He felt his heart melt.
"I love you, too," he replied hugging her back as hard as he could without hurting her.
As he slowly let her, go he noticed that she seemed to have turned transparent.
"Go," she said, urgently.
He nodded and quickly headed out the door, knowing immediately where to go.
_____________________
"Alicia Chang?!" Rinoa repeated, now fully awake.
"Yes. That's my name. You've heard of me?"
Rinoa was silent for a moment before saying, "You had a daughter?"
"Yes, a long time ago. A rather stupid mistake, actually. I was such a fool. So young. But it's all in the past, now."
"How do you become pregnant?" Rinoa asked cautiously.
"Well, I had grown up in the town of Balamb, but moved away hoping to seek a new land of promise. So I left everything I knew behind. Including my old sweetheart. We weren't very compatible, really, but we were the same species, at least. Well, I never found what I was looking for, and returned, in defeat, to the one place I knew I could count on. There he was. Laguna Leonhart. Married. To a human of all things! Well, the two of us starting having an affair, and before I knew it, I was pregnant. He kept telling me to take care of the child, and that he would get a divorce soon. Next thing I know, he has a child of his own. Half human, half demon. I was enraged, for I realized then that he had lied to me. I killed his wife, Raine, and for a short time afterwards, we were together. It was then that Ellone grew a fondness for her half brother. A short while later, Laguna commited suicide, and I was captured and brought here. The children... To this day I don't know what happened to them. You must know something of Ellone's whereabouts."
Rinoa sighed. "She's in Balamb. More powerful than ever."
"That's nice to hear," Alicia returned, relief in her voice. "And her brother? Squall, was it?"
Rinoa inhaled deeply as she felt the tears return to her eyes. "He's dead."
"That's horrible! How long?"
"A few hours," she replied in a shaky voice.
Alicia gave a sigh. "Well, nothing is ever perfect. Except this place. Nothing ever changes here."
"And you think its perfection?" Rinoa asked.
"Yes. It's been so long since I was out among the real world, that I don't remember what it was like. Just this. It's safe. It's... home."
Oddly enough, Rinoa was flooded with sympathy for this woman. How strange, to feel sorry for your worst enemy's mother.
"I know it must seem strange to you for me to act like this," Alicia said suddenly. "I don't like it. I don't know what it is to like something anymore. I don't know what it is to live. I just am. And more and more, as the years pass, I wish I wasn't."
"You know what I am," Rinoa said quietly.
"Yes. Strange, right? That I should tell all this to my enemy. But you know, no matter what we are, we are both lost to the same fate. We are both denied life. We are... the same, as hard as it is to believe."
"Yeah," Rinoa agreed softly. "Maybe together we could find some way out of here."
Alicia laughed bitterly. "We can try. But understand, there is very little hope. We could very well die."
"I don't have much to live for anymore," she answered.
_____________________
Squall walked to his apartment to find his door open, and Ellone sitting calmly at his table. Selphie's body had been thrown, face down, in the middle of the floor. Ellone sat at the table, an elaborate candle holder sitting in front of her. In it, was an eyeball, carved from someone's face. Flames rose from it, as Ellone stared at it intently.
"You can see a person's memories this way," Ellone said before turning to face her brother. "So, you're alive. Good. Maybe now you've seen the error of your ways."
"Where is she?" Squall demanded.
She laughed. "Fool! As if I'd tell you."
"You will if you want to live."
She studied him for a moment before scowling. "How can you threaten me? You have nothing! I'm far more powerful than you are."
Squall pulled a knife from his belt and held it to her face. "You said that burning someone's eye allows you to look into their memories. I think I'll try that myself."
"You wouldn't do that to your sister," she said.
"Bitch!" he hissed. "I know the truth. You and I had different mothers. I bet I'm not really like you, am I?"
"Squall," she began calmly.
"AM I?!" he repeated.
She cringed. "No. Not completely like me. But what does it matter?"
"You lied to me! You made everything so much harder than it had to be. All for your own selfish reasons."
"Squall, I did you a favor. I made you powerful. You could still be powerful. It's not too late. By midnight tomorrow, this place will be ours once again. Join us, Squall. We can over look that flaw of yours."
"Flaw?" he repeated.
She nodded and smiled. "Yes. That's how good we are. We can over- look your flaw of being half-human."
"You can't accept me the way I am? Rinoa... Rinoa knows I'm a demon, and she doesn't think of it as a flaw. She know it's just what I am, and she... I think she loves me."
Ellone rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say. Just get that knife out of my face."
Squall placed it against the skin beneath her eye. "Tell me!"
"You make me sick!" she exclaimed.
"No more than you make me!" he shot back, pressing the blade even more. "TELL ME!"
"She's at a special government facility in southern Esthar. The place is heavily guarded. You'll never make it in."
"I'll do what I have to," he replied, pulling away the knife and starting for the door.
Ellone jumped up from her chair. She could feel the transformation beginning. She just had to stall him.
"I hope you die there!" she shouted.
Squall didn't reply, but flung the knife backwards, so it went flying out behind him and almost stabbed into her head. He walked out the door, then, and didn't once look back.
____________________
9:00 A.M.
Rinoa awoke in the morning to find a stranger standing over her. It was an older looking woman with light brown hair, and brown eyes. Her face was slightly wrinkled, and she wore the same white jump-suit that Rinoa did.
"So, you are the famous Rinoa," she said after Rinoa had opened her eyes. "Who are you?"
"You don't recognize my voice? It's me, Alicia Chang, whom you talked to last night. Remember?"
Rinoa nodded. "Yeah, sorry."
"No problem. Come on. They serve breakfast in ten minutes. First come, first serve basis."
"How many other people could there be in here?" Rinoa asked as she stood and ran her fingers through her hair.
"There are a lot of people out there with special abilities that are studied here. A lot of people who have missed their chance at life."
Rinoa shoved her hands into her pockets. "So, have you thought anymore about what I said last night?"
Alicia nodded. "Yes. I believe it's worth a shot. What do we have to loose after all?"
Rinoa closed her eyes briefly, feeling the tears threaten her eyes again.
"You looked troubled," Alicia said.
Rinoa nodded. "He died for me," she whispered.
Alicia was silent for a moment, then said, "Squall? Squall died for you?"
Rinoa could only nod.
"Don't worry, dear. When we escape, you will be able to get revenge on those who caused this."
She shook her head. "I don't really want to. I just... I just want to make sure he's honored with the respect he deserves. That he's given a proper burial. I wanna make sure Ellone doesn't find some way to cover it up, so that no one ever knows. Squall deserves to be known." Rinoa fell silent for a moment then said, "You know, I never would have pictured you as Ellone's mother. Or a demon for that matter."
"I've had a lot of time on my hands to think," Alicia replied.
At that moment, a siren began goin off, and the lights in the hall began to flash red. An announcement came over the intercom that all guards were to report to the front gate. "This looks like our oppurtunity," Alicia said. "What do you think?"
"Let's take it," Rinoa replied determinedly.
_____________________