Chapter Four: Drowning Lion

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A/N: I haven't updated this in months! My apologies. After my computer crash I was busy finishing my other fics, and then I got too busy to write more…well, here's the next installment. I don't think I'll be able to update any time in the near future, because of school—if you care enough about this story (thank you so much for being patient readers!) check back to my profile where I post updates and chapters coming soon! Thanks so much. Questions? Email to jidai_rinoa@hotmail.com.

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The unchanging barren landscape finally gave way to a quaint little white lighthouse. Squall was the first to reach the front gate, and he went in to see the ruins of greenery in the yard. Except there was a strange translucent quality to everything he looked at--the plants and walls themselves seemed to be radiating a sort of hazy green light. Squall knelt down to take a handful of the faintly glowing dirt as the others filed in behind him.

"What is that?" Zell asked. "Is my eyesight getting bad, or does everyone else see that weird green haze?"

"No, Zell, it's not just you," Quistis explained. "I've never seen anything like this. What could it be?"

"No time to find out--let's go see if Matron is all right!" Selphie dashed off to the front door with Irvine following close behind. They all walked in, warily, looking about the ruins of the old house.

"Where could she be…" Quistis looked around a door into the other room but shook her head. "Nothing there but dust, a used draw point, and an old bookshelf. Let's go check the beach…"

They walked outside to where the soft sand heated by the sun sunk under their feet.

"I don't get it," Squall muttered quietly. He continued down the path that led down to the shoreline. Tied to a plank of wood on the shore was an old boat, with wood so rotten that it looked as though someone could pry the boat apart with their hands, bit by bit. Squall stared at the boat from a distance. The green luminescence seemed to be much stronger around the boat.

"This is wonderful," Irvine said, shaking his head, frustrated, "just a rotten old boat. No Edea, no Cid, and no Rinoa. What the hell is going on here? And what is that weird green haze…not to mention that huge barrier around this place. Something is going on, I just don't know what."

"This boat wasn't here before," Squall said.

"You're right, it wasn't. And it's really…bright. Is that where that weird green light is coming from?" Selphie asked.

"Yes," Quistis said, "let's go check out the boat."

"Wait a minute! Look at that green stuff…I'm thinking radioactive waste. I'm not getting any closer to that rotten thing! And I wouldn't if I were you, either." Zell stared at the old boat apprehensively.

"But there's no other choice." Squall began moving towards it. He waded out until the water was knee-deep and knelt beside the small wooden craft. He looked about for a moment, bending the wood and brushing the large masses of green moss. Then he faltered. There was something in the dank water at the bottom of the craft.

The others saw him turn ghastly pale. He wavered for a moment, and they started, thinking he was going to fall backwards into the water. But Squall caught his balance. He stood, his eyes glued on something in his hand.

"What is it, Squall?" Quistis asked.

He didn't reply.

"Squall…" Selphie began, "…what have you got in your hand?"

Squall merely shook his head incoherently.

"Wait a minute," Zell whispered. "He's holding something on a metal chain. Oh no--"

"Oh god--"

"Oh…" A shadow passed over their faces as they watched Squall. He was not moving at all, just staring transfixed at the necklace in his hand.

"Rinoa…"

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"Will she be all right?"

"I don't know…it's odd, really."

"I've never seen this. Adel was completely different. Even I was. There is no way this could have possibly happened. We all know she didn't have the inherent powers needed to be a sorceress…they were just passed on that once, directly from me."

"So what is this? Edea, if you can't explain this, I don't know who can." The medic in Esthar was scratching his head futilely.

"Odine…?"

"That odd fellow may have been able to figure it out before, but that was when we already knew the normal trend of powers passing from each sorceress to the next…"

Cid stirred. He was lying on a bed on the other side of the room, without any sign of injury except for the fact that he had fallen into a state of catalepsy for several hours. He muttered aloud, "Will the young woman be okay?"

The president of Esthar was standing in the doorway. He shook his head. "We don't know, Cid. We'd like to think the best, but the scientists say they have no idea what happened to her. And your wife doesn't know, either."

"Cid!" Edea exclaimed. She hurried over to the bed where her husband lay and smiled down at him. "You're all right?"

"Yes…but I don't know what happened, other than that there was something wrong with Rinoa."

"…Rinoa came stumbling in from the back door. I really don't know myself. But I felt a strange tingling sensation, as though I could sense her presence…I can feel it even now. She collapsed, and there was a strange shock, or an enormous blast of energy--that collapsed the both of us. I woke up several hours later to find you and Rinoa both unconscious on the floor. Then I brought you two here…"

"What was that green light?" Cid asked, his voice still weak, "I saw it before I passed out."

"That's what we're trying to figure out," the medic said, shuffling over to the bed. "It has something or another to do with the girl's sudden burst of power. Edea," he turned to her, "I've sent for Odine, though I don't know what he can do. We'll just have to see."

"And Squall?" Laguna said after a few moments of silence.

"Oh my, I'm so ashamed of myself. I hadn't even thought in all this commotion--" Edea began, but Laguna silenced her with a wave of his hand.

"No, no, um, I was just wondering, you know, what might have happened to Squall and his friends. Shouldn't they have been with Rinoa? Obviously they weren't, because she somehow found her way to your house alone…we should tell them what's happened to her. No doubt Squall is looking for her at this very moment."

Cid sat up, wincing at the searing pain that shot through his head for a brief moment. "No, I'm fine," he muttered distractedly at a concerned Edea, then turned to Laguna. "Contact Balamb Garden. They should be there--I think Squall said they would be stationed at Fisherman's Horizon."

"All right--" Laguna looked to Ward, who nodded and disappeared. Laguna looked down at the still form of Rinoa and sighed inwardly. Something was amiss. Laguna knew somewhere Squall was terrified, though he might never admit it. It was a feeling he knew all too well. But, he thought, Squall's world would end if something happened to Rinoa, something like what happened to her mother. Julia's death was heartrending news to him, but he had had Raine there for him. Squall had no one else. No, that wasn't true. Squall had his friends. And Laguna was one of them. He swore silently that he would do everything in his power to find out what was wrong with Rinoa.