**usual disclaimers apply**


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A MAGICIAN'S CURSE
by Yumemi

~Chapter 27~

*So that was it* Sakura thought as she lay on the floor half-dazed. Chaos was
all around her and it grew worse by the minute. Above her, a silver dragon with a
tattooed face flew across the ceiling, knocking down pillars and sending down debris
in its wake.

It had happened like this: it had been a week since their first date and five
others followed. And in their last date, she had become his girlfriend. Even
though it may seem quick, deep inside, both had a feeling - like a happy memory -
that they had met before and known each other. Just this morning, Sakura and
Zell walked along the hallway to the Quad. They were planning to look at the sky
and watch the birds. There was this beautiful instance when the looked at each
other's eyes that lovers find hard not to kiss.

"No!" she hears someone shout from somewhere a few meters away.

Then there came the kiss.

All of a sudden, the tattoo on Zell's face started to glow and Zell screams in
pain. Saehri comes into the scene, giving Sakura a death-glare before coming to
Zell's aid.

She puts a hand on his forehead and blue aura surrounds them both, after which,
Saehri collapses on the floor. Sakura then runs to her side and tries to wake her.
She's unconscious.

Then, a bright white light surrounds Zell and a blinding flash occurs. When Sakura
had the strength to open her eyes once more, what she sees in Zell's place shocks
her.

It was a dragon.

The Silver Dragon then goes inside the Garden and starts havoc. Sakura follows
and tried to confine him in a shield with the Shield Card. Unfortunately (and
much to Sakura's surprise), Zell breaks free and this causes Sakura to get blown
away, and thus her current position.

"Sakura!" Selphie shouts as she approaches her. "Sakura! Where's Zell? We have
to get out of here!" she says as she helps her in a sitting position. Tears fill
Sakura's eyes, she was hurt. It was all her fault. Sakura, unable to hold it in
any longer, breaks down and cries on Selphie's chest. "w-what's wrong?" Selphie
asked, too afraid that what she was thinking was true.

"Zell - he... he..." Sakura stammers, pointing at the Silver Dragon flying in
the ceiling.

Selphie stares wide-eyed at the flying monster. Anger and sadness fill her. What
she was thinking was true. She lets Sakura go slowly, stands up and closes her
fists into a ball and raises it towards the monster. "YOU EVIL THING! HOW _DARE_
YOU EAT ZELL!"

Sakura, who was oblivious to everything except the little voices in her mind
shouting 'it's your fault' in her head, just keeps on crying.

At that moment, Saehri appears looking all worn out. "You're wrong, Selphie."
She says, "THAT IS Zell."

Selphie looks at her in disbelief. "No..."

Saehri's emotionless face does not reply.

Selphie looks back again at the dragon and recognizes the tattoo covering its
scaly face. "I-I-impossible!"

"Do you like my work, Saehri." A voice from behind says.

"How would I, Wu?" Saehri said as she faced her.

At that exact moment, Squall and Irvine arrive at the scene.

"Sephie!" Irvine shouts, "Where..." and suddenly, both men were stopped by the
scene before them. There was Selphie staring in surprise at the monster, Sakura
was crying off to one side and Saehri and Rinoa were staring at each other.

"What...?" Squall mutters.

"Where's Rinoa?" Saehri asks.

Irvine would normally laugh out loud and pointedly tell Saehri that she was
right in front of her, but the two women were staring at each other so fiercely
that he just didn't have the heart to do it.

"Rinoa?" Wu says and slowly, she changes her form thus surprising the two men.
Wu laughs the way all evil female sorcerers do and points toward the dragon. "Can
you not see?"

"R-Rinoa!" Selphie shouts, she was so intent on looking at the dragon that she
finally sees the pale and small form of Rinoa. "S-she looks sick..."

Squall stares at the dragon and immediately sees Rinoa. She was wearing an all
black ensemble that likened the one she usually wore, making her more pallid than
ever. "Why I'll..."

"Stop, Squall!" Saehri shouts, not taking her eyes off Wu. "It's not as easy as
it looks."





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to be continued...