Title: Stranger Thingsā¦
Author: Collaboration fic between Kasa no Miko and FalconIce
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 8 is not ours and will never be and if you sue us, you won't get anything but cute and cuddly dust bunniesā¦^.^v
Warnings: An oddball sense of humor and plot holes! Spot them and win a prize!!! * sweatdrop*
Pairings: OCxOC and OCxOC
Rating: PG-13 For the violence and the implications, I guess?
Note: It's our first collaboration so it's a bit weird and we had fun with self inserts no da!
Archive: http://www.geocities.com/twilight_wings and http://www.geocities.com/shards_of_dewprism
Feedback: Is our livelihood, our food and our God! REVIEWS!!!!
Chapter VI- Haunted by FalconIce
Cyrus was currently waiting in one of the exclusive hotels in Deling. He was impatiently fiddling with a black pen; he rolled it around in his palms to relieve some of the boredom he felt. Cyrus was angry with the late messenger. He had sent one to the Caraway Mansion some time this afternoon and it was already half past nine in the evening and the confounded messenger was still not back.
He swiveled the chair to face the huge gold-framed mirror on top of the desk in front of him. Cyrus contemplated his appearance in the mirror. Gold black ear length hair, misty gray eyes, pale skin and a touch of side-swept bangs. He looked down and his eyes immediately focused around his neck. He folded the round object in his palm and held it tight. It was a round polished stone that he always seemed to wear. He kept it with him constantly but he didn't know how he ever got the thing. It glowed a little blue too. The scientist still couldn't find what was in the thing that made it glow like that, Cyrus mused and smiled in spite of the troubling day.
His thoughts promptly wandered back to the girl he saw this afternoon with those damn SeeDs. She was oddly beautiful in her own way, there was something about her that made Cyrus relax and just stare at her. His mind was cluttered with the mental images he formed of her. Golden brown hair cut short around the ears and swept back a bit down to the nape of the neck. Her eyes seemed to glow a light blue tinge, which sent him looking back at the stone he held in his palm. So perfect and smooth.
He didn't know why he knew her name but still couldn't believe the way the words just came out of his mouth and her answering look...he couldn't believe what he saw in those eyes the moment those words escaped his mouth. Shock and dread at the same time. He hadn't even seen the girl and the girl probably didn't know him at all. However, the way those blue eyes seemed to literally sparkle with energy and that huge sword on her back...
Cyrus promptly shook his head to clear his mind yet again. Ever since he saw that girl he couldn't help but think and he even started day dreaming about her. This was pathetic! How can I rule the Gardens when the sights of a mere girl sent his heart fluttering like this? He muttered to himself and stood from the chair. He sighed.
He'd forgotten about the messenger again because of those silly daydreams and the messenger was now knocking on the door of his private apartments. He stood up and fixed an intimidating scowl on his face. He opened the door and fixed his full glare on the cringing, messenger who coughed uncomfortably before responding.
"Sir! Reporting for duty! Request to read the message aloud, Sir!" the messenger announced.
Cyrus just glared some more at the messenger who was trying to shrink into nothingness. He grabbed the paper from the startled messenger's hands before slamming the door on the wide-eyed messenger. He curtly sat back on his chair and swiveled to face the mirror again.
Greetings Cyrus,
You have safely delivered my daughter back to me and I am very pleased at the quick results. You will be given the sum of 5,000,000 Gil as we promised. We will still be talking about the assassination of Edea Kramer and I certainly hope you and I will be able to do this.
Signed by,
Caraway
Cyrus cursed to himself at the arrogance of the guy. What kind of guy kidnaps his own daughter and plan to assassinate the world's most powerful woman? He must be insane! However, Cyrus still had to work for him though...he just didn't know why but he somehow felt complied to do so.
Cyrus rubbed his chin in contemplation then grimaced at what he felt. Stubble had begun to grow and he'd have to cut it again. Shaving was such a tedious job. He pushed himself up from the chair and gave the mirror one last look before going out of the room to buy some shaving cream.
He faintly heard words form on his mind...Forever...what did he mean by that? He shook his head and proceeded down the stairs.
Cyrus folded his arms and relaxed his shoulders. It was eight in the morning and the coffee he took made him feel a lot better than he did an hour ago. He looked down from the hill he was standing on.
The plain outside of Deling wasn't one of the most beautiful but it did offer a very good breeze early in the morning. He felt the soft caress of the breeze as it ruffled his hair. He looked down to see the snoring Atropos beside him lying in the grass.
He smiled as he vaguely remembered the first time he met Atropos. He'd been running from a bunch of mad scientists from Esthar when Atropos lunged out of the thick brushes and stalled the scientists long enough for him to escape. He could remember quite clearly how painful the experiments that were done to him. For now he still didn't know what those kooky scientists did but at least nothing was wrong although he had a tough time recalling his childhood memories.
He slowly stroked the velvety white fur of the panther that was currently napping. The panther slowly raised its head and fixed a red eyed gaze that was unwavering on him. It let out a purr before going back to sleep.
Cyrus carefully sat down and hugged his knees to himself. His thoughts wandered to the things he still had to do. He'd still have to meet those impudent Seeds and he'd have to face the girl again. Those huge blue eyes...mako...now where the hell did that thought come from.
Cyrus laid back his head and sighed. He couldn't remember anything since he escaped but he kept on dreaming of a promise he'd made. He'd never see whom he was promising it to but it would always make him wake up in cold sweat. He'd say that they would live forever but first he'd have to take care of something... until now, he still didn't know what that meant and every morning would find his thoughts drifting back to that dream. Now he wondered if that girl was somehow connected in al this.
Oh well...he still had work to do. So he got up and slowly nudged Atropos on the ribs before heading back to the road back to Deling. There was always work to do...
Blinking her eyes open, Rinoa found herself in a familiar room. She abruptly sat up and glanced around, and realized she was in her own bedroom at Caraway's Mansion.
"Squall," she whispered, as her mind drifted back to the time they were both ambushed at Balamb City.
There was a large white feline creature, she remembered that, and a smirking young man in black with it. And some Galbadian soldiers. Her father's troops! How could he betray her like that?
Her head still swooned from the chloroform she had been forced to inhale a few hours ago. Rubbing her head, she stood up, then changed her mind and sat back down when the room started to spin. Why? Why was she back here at Deling, brought here against her will?
She heard the sound of her bedroom door opening, and she looked up to see Gen. Caraway just entering her room. "You bastard!" she spat, rushing towards him and slapping his face.
"Rinoa!" Caraway said harshly, grabbing both of her hands to both stop her from hitting him again and keep her from falling to the floor. "I am your father! Learn to respect me."
Rinoa pulled away roughly and flopped onto her bed. "Why did you have to hurt Squall? He didn't do anything to you," she moaned, taking her head into her hands.
"He is collaborating with our enemy, Esthar," Caraway replied, sitting down on a chair against the wall.
Rinoa looked up, puzzled. "Enemy?"
"Yes," Caraway answered. "We are waging war against Esthar."
Rinoa stood up, balancing herself against a bedpost. "That's absurd!" she blurted out, waving her other hand around. "Esthar is a far more powerful and advanced country than Galbadia. What chance do we have against them?" When Caraway didn't say anything, she went on. "And besides, what does that have to do with me and Squall?!"
Caraway leveled his cool gaze with hers and said unblinkingly. "You...will be our secret weapon."
Rinoa stumbled backwards, sitting back on her bed. "What?" she managed to choke out.
Caraway got up and strode towards her slowly. "You," he told her, laying his hands on her shoulders. "You, Rinoa my child, will be the sorceress once again."
All of a sudden, his hand reached out and grabbed her neck, attaching a choker-like device around it. His other hand then reached into his pocket and brought out a gauze soaked with chloroform.
All this Rinoa saw but couldn't do anything about it. Her father's hand was too strong, almost cutting off her air supply, and when he did release her neck, she opened her mouth to draw in a breath, but was impeded by a cloth of chloroform. Within a few seconds, she was out like a light.
"You were too rough on her," a cool voice remarked from the doorway.
Taking the gauze from Rinoa's mouth and nose, Caraway turned to see Cyrus leaning casually against the doorframe, regarding the little scene carefully. Atropos was planted beside him, twitching its tail lazily.
"I thought I told you to keep that creature out of my house," Caraway pointed out, fixing his military suit.
Cyrus languidly glanced at Atropos, then back at Caraway. "Atropos goes where I go," he said.
He strolled into the room, his steely gray eyes flickering here and there at his surroundings. He stopped beside Caraway and looked at the inert form of Rinoa, his gaze riveted on the black choker on Rinoa's neck.
"Are you sure it would work?" Cyrus queried, glancing at the general.
Caraway nodded his head. "It's one of Dr. Odine's sorceress restraints. With it, I can control Rinoa to do whatever I want her to do."
Cyrus let out a smirk. "Ironic that you'd use an invention of a renowned scientist from the country you're waging war against."
"His devices often work," Caraway told him. After a moment's pause, he asked, "Have you dispatched troops to the Kramer orphanage?"
"Yes," Cyrus replied. "They will get there by sunrise. Don't worry about it. As soon as Edea Kramer is killed, her powers will be instantly transferred to Rinoa, and your dream of crushing Esthar and bringing it to its knees will be fulfilled. After that, world domination will be an easy task." He smiled wryly at the general.
Caraway grinned back evilly, then glancing at Rinoa for the last time, headed towards the door. "Your money...will be sent to your room at the hotel," he said before leaving the room.
Cyrus turned to Rinoa, a half-smile forming on his lips. "Sleep well, Sorceress Rinoa," he breathed. "While you still can."
Author: Collaboration fic between Kasa no Miko and FalconIce
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 8 is not ours and will never be and if you sue us, you won't get anything but cute and cuddly dust bunniesā¦^.^v
Warnings: An oddball sense of humor and plot holes! Spot them and win a prize!!! * sweatdrop*
Pairings: OCxOC and OCxOC
Rating: PG-13 For the violence and the implications, I guess?
Note: It's our first collaboration so it's a bit weird and we had fun with self inserts no da!
Archive: http://www.geocities.com/twilight_wings and http://www.geocities.com/shards_of_dewprism
Feedback: Is our livelihood, our food and our God! REVIEWS!!!!
Chapter VI- Haunted by FalconIce
Cyrus was currently waiting in one of the exclusive hotels in Deling. He was impatiently fiddling with a black pen; he rolled it around in his palms to relieve some of the boredom he felt. Cyrus was angry with the late messenger. He had sent one to the Caraway Mansion some time this afternoon and it was already half past nine in the evening and the confounded messenger was still not back.
He swiveled the chair to face the huge gold-framed mirror on top of the desk in front of him. Cyrus contemplated his appearance in the mirror. Gold black ear length hair, misty gray eyes, pale skin and a touch of side-swept bangs. He looked down and his eyes immediately focused around his neck. He folded the round object in his palm and held it tight. It was a round polished stone that he always seemed to wear. He kept it with him constantly but he didn't know how he ever got the thing. It glowed a little blue too. The scientist still couldn't find what was in the thing that made it glow like that, Cyrus mused and smiled in spite of the troubling day.
His thoughts promptly wandered back to the girl he saw this afternoon with those damn SeeDs. She was oddly beautiful in her own way, there was something about her that made Cyrus relax and just stare at her. His mind was cluttered with the mental images he formed of her. Golden brown hair cut short around the ears and swept back a bit down to the nape of the neck. Her eyes seemed to glow a light blue tinge, which sent him looking back at the stone he held in his palm. So perfect and smooth.
He didn't know why he knew her name but still couldn't believe the way the words just came out of his mouth and her answering look...he couldn't believe what he saw in those eyes the moment those words escaped his mouth. Shock and dread at the same time. He hadn't even seen the girl and the girl probably didn't know him at all. However, the way those blue eyes seemed to literally sparkle with energy and that huge sword on her back...
Cyrus promptly shook his head to clear his mind yet again. Ever since he saw that girl he couldn't help but think and he even started day dreaming about her. This was pathetic! How can I rule the Gardens when the sights of a mere girl sent his heart fluttering like this? He muttered to himself and stood from the chair. He sighed.
He'd forgotten about the messenger again because of those silly daydreams and the messenger was now knocking on the door of his private apartments. He stood up and fixed an intimidating scowl on his face. He opened the door and fixed his full glare on the cringing, messenger who coughed uncomfortably before responding.
"Sir! Reporting for duty! Request to read the message aloud, Sir!" the messenger announced.
Cyrus just glared some more at the messenger who was trying to shrink into nothingness. He grabbed the paper from the startled messenger's hands before slamming the door on the wide-eyed messenger. He curtly sat back on his chair and swiveled to face the mirror again.
Greetings Cyrus,
You have safely delivered my daughter back to me and I am very pleased at the quick results. You will be given the sum of 5,000,000 Gil as we promised. We will still be talking about the assassination of Edea Kramer and I certainly hope you and I will be able to do this.
Signed by,
Caraway
Cyrus cursed to himself at the arrogance of the guy. What kind of guy kidnaps his own daughter and plan to assassinate the world's most powerful woman? He must be insane! However, Cyrus still had to work for him though...he just didn't know why but he somehow felt complied to do so.
Cyrus rubbed his chin in contemplation then grimaced at what he felt. Stubble had begun to grow and he'd have to cut it again. Shaving was such a tedious job. He pushed himself up from the chair and gave the mirror one last look before going out of the room to buy some shaving cream.
He faintly heard words form on his mind...Forever...what did he mean by that? He shook his head and proceeded down the stairs.
Cyrus folded his arms and relaxed his shoulders. It was eight in the morning and the coffee he took made him feel a lot better than he did an hour ago. He looked down from the hill he was standing on.
The plain outside of Deling wasn't one of the most beautiful but it did offer a very good breeze early in the morning. He felt the soft caress of the breeze as it ruffled his hair. He looked down to see the snoring Atropos beside him lying in the grass.
He smiled as he vaguely remembered the first time he met Atropos. He'd been running from a bunch of mad scientists from Esthar when Atropos lunged out of the thick brushes and stalled the scientists long enough for him to escape. He could remember quite clearly how painful the experiments that were done to him. For now he still didn't know what those kooky scientists did but at least nothing was wrong although he had a tough time recalling his childhood memories.
He slowly stroked the velvety white fur of the panther that was currently napping. The panther slowly raised its head and fixed a red eyed gaze that was unwavering on him. It let out a purr before going back to sleep.
Cyrus carefully sat down and hugged his knees to himself. His thoughts wandered to the things he still had to do. He'd still have to meet those impudent Seeds and he'd have to face the girl again. Those huge blue eyes...mako...now where the hell did that thought come from.
Cyrus laid back his head and sighed. He couldn't remember anything since he escaped but he kept on dreaming of a promise he'd made. He'd never see whom he was promising it to but it would always make him wake up in cold sweat. He'd say that they would live forever but first he'd have to take care of something... until now, he still didn't know what that meant and every morning would find his thoughts drifting back to that dream. Now he wondered if that girl was somehow connected in al this.
Oh well...he still had work to do. So he got up and slowly nudged Atropos on the ribs before heading back to the road back to Deling. There was always work to do...
Blinking her eyes open, Rinoa found herself in a familiar room. She abruptly sat up and glanced around, and realized she was in her own bedroom at Caraway's Mansion.
"Squall," she whispered, as her mind drifted back to the time they were both ambushed at Balamb City.
There was a large white feline creature, she remembered that, and a smirking young man in black with it. And some Galbadian soldiers. Her father's troops! How could he betray her like that?
Her head still swooned from the chloroform she had been forced to inhale a few hours ago. Rubbing her head, she stood up, then changed her mind and sat back down when the room started to spin. Why? Why was she back here at Deling, brought here against her will?
She heard the sound of her bedroom door opening, and she looked up to see Gen. Caraway just entering her room. "You bastard!" she spat, rushing towards him and slapping his face.
"Rinoa!" Caraway said harshly, grabbing both of her hands to both stop her from hitting him again and keep her from falling to the floor. "I am your father! Learn to respect me."
Rinoa pulled away roughly and flopped onto her bed. "Why did you have to hurt Squall? He didn't do anything to you," she moaned, taking her head into her hands.
"He is collaborating with our enemy, Esthar," Caraway replied, sitting down on a chair against the wall.
Rinoa looked up, puzzled. "Enemy?"
"Yes," Caraway answered. "We are waging war against Esthar."
Rinoa stood up, balancing herself against a bedpost. "That's absurd!" she blurted out, waving her other hand around. "Esthar is a far more powerful and advanced country than Galbadia. What chance do we have against them?" When Caraway didn't say anything, she went on. "And besides, what does that have to do with me and Squall?!"
Caraway leveled his cool gaze with hers and said unblinkingly. "You...will be our secret weapon."
Rinoa stumbled backwards, sitting back on her bed. "What?" she managed to choke out.
Caraway got up and strode towards her slowly. "You," he told her, laying his hands on her shoulders. "You, Rinoa my child, will be the sorceress once again."
All of a sudden, his hand reached out and grabbed her neck, attaching a choker-like device around it. His other hand then reached into his pocket and brought out a gauze soaked with chloroform.
All this Rinoa saw but couldn't do anything about it. Her father's hand was too strong, almost cutting off her air supply, and when he did release her neck, she opened her mouth to draw in a breath, but was impeded by a cloth of chloroform. Within a few seconds, she was out like a light.
"You were too rough on her," a cool voice remarked from the doorway.
Taking the gauze from Rinoa's mouth and nose, Caraway turned to see Cyrus leaning casually against the doorframe, regarding the little scene carefully. Atropos was planted beside him, twitching its tail lazily.
"I thought I told you to keep that creature out of my house," Caraway pointed out, fixing his military suit.
Cyrus languidly glanced at Atropos, then back at Caraway. "Atropos goes where I go," he said.
He strolled into the room, his steely gray eyes flickering here and there at his surroundings. He stopped beside Caraway and looked at the inert form of Rinoa, his gaze riveted on the black choker on Rinoa's neck.
"Are you sure it would work?" Cyrus queried, glancing at the general.
Caraway nodded his head. "It's one of Dr. Odine's sorceress restraints. With it, I can control Rinoa to do whatever I want her to do."
Cyrus let out a smirk. "Ironic that you'd use an invention of a renowned scientist from the country you're waging war against."
"His devices often work," Caraway told him. After a moment's pause, he asked, "Have you dispatched troops to the Kramer orphanage?"
"Yes," Cyrus replied. "They will get there by sunrise. Don't worry about it. As soon as Edea Kramer is killed, her powers will be instantly transferred to Rinoa, and your dream of crushing Esthar and bringing it to its knees will be fulfilled. After that, world domination will be an easy task." He smiled wryly at the general.
Caraway grinned back evilly, then glancing at Rinoa for the last time, headed towards the door. "Your money...will be sent to your room at the hotel," he said before leaving the room.
Cyrus turned to Rinoa, a half-smile forming on his lips. "Sleep well, Sorceress Rinoa," he breathed. "While you still can."
