Disclaimer: I don't own FF8...
Author's Note: Wow...100 reviews! You guys rock! This chapter is dedicated to Naurwen for being nice enough to review every chapter of this fic in one day. Thank you so much Naurwen!
Rhapsody
Chapter 9- Truth Revealed
"She still hasn't come back. Something's definitely wrong." Quistis told Selphie later that night. "I just got off the phone with a maid at the Caraway mansion. She said that Rinoa left a long time ago. The maid also said that Rinoa was very upset when she left. What the hell is going on?"
"That's what I'd like to know." Selphie said. "Right now, we need to find Rinoa. The thing is, I have absolutely no idea where she could be!"
Quistis sighed. "That's the problem. Too bad Squall is out of town...we could really use his help."
"You don't think that she ran away with him, do you?" Selphie asked. "Maybe they lied about the whole going out of town thing so they could get away."
"Selphie, that's absurd! Rinoa would never just take off without a second thought for us. I'm telling you, something isn't right."
"Well, I could always call Irvine..." Selphie blushed. "He gave me his number in case there was an emergency while he was away. I'd hate to call him away from his mission, though."
Quistis shook her head. "No, don't call Irvine. If you call him, Squall will just drop everything and come running here to look for Rinoa. We don't need to worry him any more. I'm sure that he has plenty to do already."
"Which brings us right back to square one. What are we going to do? We just can't sit around and hope that Rinoa will suddenly show up! We need to take some action!"
Quistis nodded. "You're right, Selphie. It's up to us to locate Rinoa." Quistis thought for a minute. "Why don't we head to the Caraway Mansion? Maybe we can speak to Rinoa's father and see if he knows anything. It's worth a try, right?"
Selphie jumped up and down excitedly. "After that, we can trace her path and see if we find anything! You ready?"
A fierce look came over Quistis' face. "I'm ready. Let's go find our friend."
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"Who the hell are you working for, Odine?" Squall asked. After eliminating the monsters in Esthar, they had finally managed to track down Doc Odine.
"I zont know vhat you are talking about." Doc Odine said defensively.
"Oh really?" Zell said as he grabbed Odine by his shirt. "Maybe we'll just have to make you talk."
"Put ve down this instant!" Odine shouted, struggling to break free of Zell's grasp.
Zell tightened his grip on Odine. "You ready to talk now, Pal?"
Odine nodded quickly. "Vine, vine! I vill speak!"
"Well?" Irvine prompted from the other side of Odine. "Who are you working for?"
"Zeifer! Zeifer Almazy!" He exclaimed.
"Seifer?" Squall said. "Damn it, I should have known. Why did he want you to destroy the city?"
"Az a distraction. He vanted to kidnap ze girl, vut knew he couldn't if you were around." Odine explained.
Understanding flooded through Squall. "That bastard! He used you as a distraction so he could get at Rinoa. We have to go back!"
"Vait, vait, it's a trap! He knows you vill go after ze girl." Odine told Squall.
"I don't care what Seifer thought." Squall turned around. "Come one guys, we're leaving."
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Everything around her was spinning. She blinked a couple of times and took in her surroundings. She was in an old abandoned house. The room was dank and musty, and there wasn't much in it. There was an old cot pushed up against the left wall and on the right side there was an old desk. The room had no windows and the only light came from a small lamp on the desk.
Why am I here? Then she remembered what had happened. How long had it been since she had left her father's house and been abducted by Seifer? Did anyone even know that she was missing?
Sighing, she began to stand up, but soon wished that she hadn't. The dizziness just seemed to increase. Okay...so escape isn't really an option right now since I can't even stand up. So, what now? Wait for rescue? She almost laughed out loud. Rescue? Who the hell would rescue me? Squall is God only knows where with Irvine and Zell so it doesn't look like they'll be rescuing me anytime soon. That leaves Quistis and Selphie...don't know how they'll find me here, though. Hell, I don't even know where 'here' is. Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard footsteps approaching. The door opened and Seifer entered the room.
"Ah, Rinoa. You're awake." Seifer smiled cruelly. "You and me...alone at last."
Rinoa stared at him coldly. "I've told you once and I'll tell you again, there is no you and me. It's over! Wake up and get over yourself!" She told him.
"No, you listen to me. You are the one who is being held captive. You will listen to what I tell you." He glared at her. "I'm not interested in you anymore, Rinoa. Actually, I never really was. You were just another girl to get into my bed."
"You bastard! I never slept with you!" Rinoa exclaimed, disgusted.
"But we came awfully close, didn't we, Rinoa?" Seifer laughed. "You wanna know what your problem is? You're too trusting. You trusted me, and look where that got you."
"Squall will come for me." Rinoa said defiantly.
Seifer laughed again. "That's exactly what I'm hoping for. Squall comes here, sees that you've betrayed him, and then I'll finish him off. You'll be next..."
"He will beat you. You're not strong enough to beat him, Seifer." But even she could hear the doubt in her voice as she said that.
"Come on now, Rinoa, you don't really believe that, do you? You could have stuck with me and never have known that Squall existed. That way, when I killed him, you really wouldn't care. Maybe I wouldn't have killed you..."
Rinoa's face paled. "You were going to kill him before he met me?" Rinoa was very confused. "Why?"
Seifer grinned. "You think that I only want to kill Squall 'cause he took you? Don't flatter yourself, babe. Squall and I go way back, and it's about time that I got my revenge."
"How did you know that Squall would be there that night at the Club?" She asked.
"See, that's the funny thing. I didn't know. Fate worked that out on its own. I couldn't have asked for a better plan."
Rinoa turned away in disgust. "Go to hell, Seifer."
"Thanks, but I've already been there. It's actually quite nice." He smirked.
"Get out of my sight, Seifer! I can't even stand looking at you!" She screamed.
"Have it your way." He bowed. "Just remember that you and your precious Squall won't be alive much longer." That said, he turned and exited the room.
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Selphie and Quistis sat at the Star Club, their heads hung in defeat. They had went to the Caraway Mansion the day before, but Caraway hadn't been too helpful in giving them any information about Rinoa's whereabouts.
"What do we do now?" Selphie asked Quistis miserably. "We can't just give up."
Quistis nodded sadly. "I know, Selphie, but what can we do? I don't even know where to start. We could sure use some help."
The words were barely out of her mouth when the door to the Star Club opened and in walked Squall, Irvine and Zell. They spotted Quistis and Selphie and headed over.
"Man, are we glad to see you guys!" Selphie exclaimed. "Rinoa's missing and we really need your help."
"Damn!" Squall cursed. "I knew we'd be too late."
"Too late?" Quistis asked. "What do you mean?"
"There's a lot to explain." Irvine told her. "Can we all go somewhere more private?"
Quistis nodded. "Follow me. We can go up to our rooms." Everyone followed Quistis upstairs. She got to her room and unlocked the door. The first thing she noticed was an envelope on the floor. Picking it up, she said, "This wasn't here before."
"Let me see it." Squall said as he took it from Quistis. He opened the envelope and pulled out a letter. It read:
Dear Friends of Rinoa,
I am holding Rinoa captive. Squall and his
crew will be arriving very soon, if they haven't
already. Tell Squall that he is to meet me at the
Deling Shopping Arcade, in front of the hotel, at
7:00 pm. If anyone comes instead of him, I will
have Rinoa killed. Have a nice day...
Squall's look turned cold. "Odine was telling the truth. Seifer is behind this."
"What are we gonna do?" Zell asked.
"We aren't going to do anything." Squall told him. "I'm going to do exactly what the note said. Seifer wants to play these games? Well, I can play them, too."
Author's Note: Again, thank you so much for the reviews. You guys truly rock ^_^