Chapter Seven
Squall glanced out at the horizon. Ever since their escape from Galbadia Garden the night before, Balamb Garden had been on a state of alert.
"Didn't you guys mange to get her out before people really started to notice things?" Nida asked.
"Somebody shouted that there was a sorceress right before we got the ship." Irvine said.
Rinoa fingered Griever. Quistis eyed her.
"Sorry about the bodyguard thing…" Rinoa shook her head.
"It's alright," she said.
"Why did you lose control like that last night anyway?" Selphie asked.
"It's not like I did it deliberately! In fact…" Rinoa trailed off, her eyes widening.
"In fact what?" Quistis said.
"In fact…it was like something forced me to do it!" Rinoa exclaimed.
"What?" Quistis and Selphie said at the same time.
"I had been feeling funny even before we left here! And it intensified when we were at Galbadia Garden! It got so bad that Squall had to take me outside before I fainted! Then…" Her eyes narrowed. "That storm. It came up entirely too fast."
"We thought the same thing too." Selphie said. Rinoa swung out of bed and started to pace.
"Something is not right here," she said. "First, my not feeling well here and at Galbadia Garden. Second, that freak lighting storm. And third…" She frowned. "What happened to me when I was unconscious? I remember Squall shouting and then something hitting me in the back…"
"Some sort of energy ball hit you." Zell said, coming in. "It caused your wings to appear. Fortunately, we got you into the ship before they fully came out." He shrugged. "It was weird. You tripping out and that energy ball. I know you wouldn't hit yourself unless a Confuse spell was cast on you, so it felt like…"
"There was another sorceress there!" Rinoa, Quistis, and Selphie exclaimed at the same time.
"It makes sense! Only another sorceress can create the conditions necessary to make other sorceresses lose control over their powers!" Rinoa said. Her eyes widened as another memory hit her.
"That woman!" "
"What woman?" Zell, Quistis, and Selphie asked at the same time.
"I'll explain later! Right now, I have to see Squall!" Rinoa dashed out into the hallway.
Elsewhere…
Julia scowled at the image in front of her. Rinoa was on the elevator going up to the Balamb Garden bridge, Quistis, Zell, and Selphie accompanying her. As she watched, the image began to fizzle and fade.
"No!" Swiping a hand through the picture, she hissed in frustration.
"What is going on? My gazing crystal was fine the last time I used it!" She threw the small crystal against the wall. It hit the floor with a soft ding.
"Something's inferring with the crystal's signal!" She thought. She turned around and picked it up.
"But what?"
Squall stared at Rinoa.
"No." He said
"You lie." Irvine said.
"No way!" Xu said.
"Look at it! It's the only thing that makes sense!" Zell said.
"First off, where did she come from?" Nida said.
"I don't know where, but trust me on this one!" Rinoa said.
"Heeyy…" Selphie said suddenly. "Zell, didn't you say that Galbadia was doing excavation work on the Centra continent?"
"Yeah…" Zell said, puzzled.
"Well, what if they found that woman there?"
"HUH?" Everyone said at the same time.
"Selphie. There is nothing. No thing up there except for those ruins! And we've already been through those!" Irvine said.
"Not necessary the Centra Tower." Quistis said. She turned to Squall.
"Remember our dreams? In particular, the one right before we arrived at Galbadia Garden?" Squall narrowed his eyes, and then sucked in a breath.
"Lunatic Pandora! Our dream took place in Lunatic Pandora!" He exclaimed.
"And the Estharians were excavating it from Centra when the Galbadian Army attacked them!" Selphie said.
"You don't think…" Xu said.
"It could be!" Rinoa said.
"But nobody knows what happened to Lunatic Pandora after we defeated Ultimecia!" Zell said.
"I know one person who might." Squall said.
"What happened to Lunatic Pandora?" Laguna asked. He shook his head. "That's one question even Odine can't answer."
"Right after you came back, we went with the army to plant bombs and use the Ragarnok to blow up the Pandora." Kiros said.
"What happened?" Squall asked.
"When we arrived, there was nothing there. It was like Lunatic Pandora never was."
"Jeez!" Zell said.
"Scratch that." Irvine said. Laguna shook his head.
"However, there's one thing."
"What's that?" Squall asked.
"Six months earlier, Odine's laboratory recorded a high level of magiwaves from the Centra continent. We assumed it was from the magic levels of the monsters that reside there."
"But wasn't that where you found Lunatic Pandora when you were in the G- Army?" Selphie asked. Rinoa frowned. Something was slowly beginning to click in her mind.
"Yes." Laguna said. "What's with all of this, anyway?"
"Just a suspicion about something in Galbadia." Squall answered.
"Vait a minute!"
"Oh no." Laguna and Squall said at the same time.
"I have something veery important to tell you!"
"Make it fast, Odine, we have serious problems up here!" Zell said.
"I felt zhat something vas not right, so I ran a re-check on zee energy readings from zee Centra region."
"And?" Laguna said.
"Zhey match zhe readings of a sorceress who has not been awakened yet."
"WHAT!" Everybody yelled simultaneously.
"That's got to be it! Rinoa must be right!" Nida said. Irvine looked around.
"Speaking of which, where is she?"
Rinoa bit her lip as she hurried down the second-floor hallway. She was about to try something that was very dangerous. Going out to the balcony, she closed the door behind her.
"I got five minutes, maybe less, before Squall comes running down here." She thought. Moving to the center, she stripped out of her blue buster, leaving only her black top and tights on. She closed her eyes, and sucking in a deep breath, she bent down from the waist, her arms crossed. Almost immediately, a pair of white wings appeared, lifting her slowly up in the air. Looking up, she floated higher, letting the breeze lift her up. Turning, she let a thread of her power flow with the wind.
"If Matron is right, there has to be something…" "Everything that is touched by a sorceress gains some sort of mark. Whether it's a everyday book that you read, or something that you empower deliberately, it's there." Edea had said.
"I'm looking for where a sorceress might appear." Rinoa thought. She turned her head. Something was pulling at her mind, beckoning to her.
"This feeling…where's it coming from?" She thought. Turning around, she flew off just as Squall, Zell, and Irvine came out.
"Where could she have gone?" Zell said.
"Guys…" Irvine said, picking up Rinoa's buster. Squall ran over and examined it.
"Rinoa's buster!" He said. Something soft brushed past his face and landed on the buster. Zell picked it up and held it between his thumb and forefinger.
"A feather." He said. All three of them looked up.
"You don't think…" Zell said.
"Uh huh." Irvine said.
Rinoa let the feeling and the breeze guide her. Several minutes out of Balamb Garden, it had intensified, which put her in mind of a magnet and a paper clip.
"I know this feeling…but I can't remember where I felt it before!" she thought in frustration.
I suggest that you stop and try to remember where you have felt this way before. A voice said inside her head.
"Leviathan." Rinoa said. She flew down to the jagged coastline of the Centra continent, perched on a rock, and waited. She didn't have too long a wait. A long, sinuous, snake-like column of water appeared out of nowhere, and transformed itself into the water serpent, Leviathan.
"I could say you're to blame for me not being able to remember, but it's partially my fault too, because I've been involved in so many things lately." Rinoa said. Leviathan eyed her.
My thanks to you. He turned his head. I sense a powerful evil nearby.
"I can feel it too." Rinoa said. "It's been pulling me towards…something." Leviathan turned his head back towards her.
Please, master. Be careful! Something is not right in this world!
"Not right?" Rinoa stood up. The wind whipped her hair around. "Leviathan, what's wrong?"
I…I can feel it. It's…it's… "It's what, Leviathan!" Rinoa pleaded. The Guardian Force was trembling, and little sparks of electricity were flying off of him. Rinoa watched him. The massive sea serpent was shaking like a baby.
"What's probably coming up ahead must be affecting you like this." Rinoa said. Quickly, she recalled Leviathan, and summoned out the other forms of her G.F.s. "You're going back to the Garden and Squall." Encasing them into a ball of light, she sent it soaring into the air, on a course back to the Garden.
"She did what?" Xu, Nida, and everyone else exclaimed at the same time.
"She flew off someplace. Maybe heading for the Centra region." Squall said. Something bright caught his eye.
"What the…" A ball of light flew in and landed in his hands. When the light faded…
Master!
"Quenzacotl!" Squall said. He examined the rest. "Siren, Leviathan! What are you doing here?"
We could not continue on our master's journey, so she sent us back here. Siren said.
"Where is she?" Quistis said.
The Centra continent. There is a strong aura of evil lurking within that area and…
"And what?" Selphie said.
It is not a safe place to be. It attracts evil.
"Rinoa wouldn't have gone there by herself if it wasn't important and if wasn't connected to what is going on now." Squall said. He turned to Nida.
"Hold our position here. We're going to wait until she comes back."
Rinoa landed in the middle of the desert. All around her, as far as the eye could see, was sand, sand, and more sand.
"That feeling…it stopped here." She looked around. "Hello. What's this?" Bending down, she ran her fingers over a tire tread.
"Somebody's been here recently…" Getting up, she flew into the air and followed the tracks.
"My guess is Galbadian transport vehicle." She thought, remembering some of the training Squall had given her in preparation to enter Garden. "But why would Galbadia be out in the middle of nowhere?" Swooping down, she quickly flew forward, only to put on brakes.
"What the…!" She looked up. In front of her were scattered remains of a building.
"This is like my dream! And that feeling…it came from here!" Looking around, she flew over to a jagged section of the ruins. A large crescent moon with a small star was emblazed on the side.
"That's Esthar's symbol! This is…" She flew upwards to get a better look at what was below her. "This is Lunatic Pandora! But how did it get all the way out here?"
Somewhere…
A woman surveyed a small water bubble in her hand. Inside, Rinoa examined the ruins of Lunatic Pandora.
"…"
"Catching up on what happened, eh?" A blond-haired man appeared out of nowhere. He walked towards the woman, a gunblade swinging in his hand.
"Huh?" The woman slowly turned. Her eyes were filled with an unspeakable sorrow. The man stopped.
"What's wrong?" The woman held out the bubble. The scene changed from Rinoa in the ruins of Lunatic Pandora, to one of total destruction and devastation. Smoke spiraled up from ruins of buildings, and there was no sign of life anywhere.
"That can't be…"
"It is. While we were away taking care of matters on Terra, this…this happened!" The woman's voice cracked, and the bubble exploded. She collapsed to the floor, hot tears burning into her cheeks.
"No!" The man hurried over and held the crying woman in his arms. "It's okay, it's not your fault!" He ran a gloved hand over her brown-black hair.
"Get yourself together. This only means that…" He trailed off as the realization hit home. "Oh no…this means…" The woman looked up at him.
"It's starting. The seal's already cracked." Wiping the tears off her face, she looked at him. "Only one way for them to go now."
In Another World….
Rinoa rubbed her chest absentmindly as she worked in the library. This nagging little pain had developed overnight and just wouldn't seem to go away.
"Ouch." Wincing, she pulled down another book from the stack next to her and flipped pages.
"I can't find anything that would explain the level of these magiwaves in any of these books! The only thing left to do is call Esthar and see if I can speak with Ellone." She thought. Putting the book down, she hit a few buttons on the computer and waited for it to connect. Sabin waltzed into the library.
"Hey, Ryan, what's up?" He asked the student behind the desk. Walking into the back, he saw Rinoa seated in front of a computer.
"Hey Mrs. L…oh!" He when he saw that Rinoa was speaking to someone on the screen. As he turned to leave, he overheard Rinoa exclaim "A disturbance in the space/time continuum?"
"Huhhh?" Sabin thought. "What the heck is she talking about?" Hiding behind a bookshelf, he peeked around the corner.
"Rinoa, I'm not too sure if that is the problem." He heard a woman's voice say.
"Well, it was the first thing out of your mouth, so it has to be the problem!" Rinoa snapped back.
"I said that I thought it might be a disturbance in the space/time continuum. Not it is. It could be something else."
"Ellone. I don't think "something else" could make me so sick for the past several months! I got the magiwave readings from the Esthar Garden last night. There is something out there that is messing up this planet's magical rhythm! And whatever it was, it affected me as well!" Sabin gasped.
"I'm not going to argue with you on that point, as I nearly went through the same thing as well." Ellone said. Rinoa frowned.
"Wait a minute. What do you mean, "Nearly went through the same thing as well"?" Ellone sighed.
"Around the same time you got sick, I got sick as well. Odine examined me and prescribed that my powers could be the cause."
"So what did he do?" Rinoa asked.
"I got an injection that shut down the current in my brain. Just for a while, so I could get a rest from my powers. When I received the counter- vaccine, whatever it was that was giving me problems had vanished."
"And probably came after me!" Rinoa thought. Ellone leaned forward into the screen.
"I can tell you this. I have been getting funny vibrations from someplace. I don't know where, I don't know when, but I've been getting them." She frowned. "The thing is; why can't I figure out where they are coming from?"
"Do you think something's blocking you?" Rinoa asked. Ellone shook her head.
"I don't think so."
"Alright then." Rinoa said.
"Why don't you come over to Esthar? With our technology, you could probably figure out what's going on." Ellone said.
"I can't. My daughter is taking a field test today, and I'm one of the SeeDs parcipating. In fact, I'm supposed to be the villain in one." Rinoa said, laughing.
"How can you be that?" Ellone asked.
"Easy. I just use my powers to create some sort of obstacle course and see how good their magic usage is."
"You, of all people, should be able to do that easily!" Ellone said, laughing.
"Right. Ciao, Ellone!" Rinoa said, turning off the computer.
"Oh oh!" Sabin thought. Turning, he pretended to be absorbed in a book he had yanked off the shelf as Rinoa walked by. Putting the book back, he watched Rinoa walk out of the library.
"What was all that about? The space/time continuum? Magiwave readings from Esthar Garden? What the heck is going on here?" He ran out of the library, intent on finding someone for explanations.
In the present…
Squall looked out of the window.
"Hey man, it's almost been an hour!" Zell said. "I say we…huh?" He stopped, squinted, and then pointed. "What's that?" Squall turned around. A shadow flew over the bridge window.
"Rinoa!" Squall said.
On the balcony…
Rinoa dropped to the ground. Landing on her feet, she headed for the door, the wings fading from her back. As she started to go through the door…
"Watch it!"
"Zell? Yikes!" She jumped back.
"Yeah, nice to see you too. What the heck were you doing?" Zell snapped. Rinoa crossed her arms.
"Since when you do have the right to grill me?"
"Since we would like to know what is going on in that brain of yours!" Quistis said. Rinoa blew out a breath.
"I'm sorry for making you guys worry, but I needed to check up on something."
"And that something was in Centra?" Squall asked. Rinoa nodded.
"I…I found out where Lunatic Pandora went." Everybody gaped at her.
"Where?"
"It's in Centra. However, somebody got to it first."
"The Galbadians! So that's where they were excavating from!" Zell said.
"There's this giant piece that's still there. They tried to blow it up after they were finished, but weren't too successful." Rinoa said. Turning around, she walked over to the balcony.
"Even after being blown to smithereens by Esthar and Galbadia, it still…it still has power." She faced them. "Power enough to sustain a sorceress until she awakens."
"You're saying that the sorceress Galbadia has came from there? But how?" Xu asked. The door opened and Nida dashed in, breathless.
"Radio contact from Galbadia Garden. It's an emergency."
"Locke?" Irvine said. He turned to Squall, who nodded his head. Irvine hit the speaker button.
"What's going on?"
"I can't talk for long, but you guys need the warning. A group of Galbadian Garden SeeDs left this morning with a troop of Galbadian Army solders. The Garden itself just reactivated its mobile machinery this morning. Whatever is going on, it's no good and you guys are the target!" At this Zell made to say something but was quickly hushed by Selphie and Quistis.
"What are the students doing about it?" Irvine asked.
"We're all trying to figure out what happened last night, and why did you leave so early. Cyan told us one of you had gotten sick, and that you had something else to do in the morning."
"Yeah…that's it." Squall made a cutting gesture with his hands. "Listen, is there anything else, Locke?"
"No. Just watch your backs and be careful."
"Right. Balamb Garden out." Irvine switched off the radio.
"We're dead." Zell said.
"We need to get out of here!" Selphie said.
"Any idea where?" Quistis asked. "Esthar is a no-no, and we can't go back to Balamb."
"Maybe…" Rinoa said.
"Maybe what?" Squall asked.
"We could go to Centra. And destroy the remains of Lunatic Pandora."
"Yeah! Didn't you say that the sorceress awoke there?" Zell said.
"She's probably taking her power from that area." Xu said. Rinoa nodded in agreement.
"The impression I got, she's not at full power yet. But…if we go there, what are we going to do about our G.F.s?"
"Huh?" Everybody said.
"Before I arrived at Lunatic Pandora, I sent you guys my G.F.s. The reason why is that they were all…acting weird."
"Define weird." Squall said.
"Leviathan shaking like a baby, for starters. He wanted to talk to me, so I dropped down on the coastline a couple of miles out. Next thing I know, he's sparking off electricity and shaking all over. And he can't tell me why."
"So you sent him and the others back here." Xu said.
"Quezacotl and Siren told us something wasn't right either." Squall said.
"So whatever it is up there, it is affecting the G.F.s?" Xu said.
"We need to make a decision about where are we going to go." Nida said. Squall narrowed his eyes.
"Right now, going to Centra sounds good." Zell and Selphie ran outside.
"I can get us there in an hour." Nida said. Zell and Selphie ran back in.
"Whatever it is you are going to do, do it now!" Selphie said.
"Somebody just reported seeing Galbadia Garden not too far from here!" Zell said. Squall turned to Nida.
"Go. Now." Nida nodded.
"Centra?" Rinoa asked. Squall nodded.
"What about the Ragnarok?" Selphie asked.
"Can you go ahead of us?" Squall asked. "Or even better, go to Trabia and tell them what's going on?"
"Sure!"
"Somebody needs to go with her." Xu said. Squall bit his lip.
"We need Rinoa, because her powers can help us. Quistis takes over if something happens to me or Xu…"
"Here, I'll go." Irvine said. Squall looked at him and Irvine shrugged.
"I could see that you were already hurting your head trying to decide which one of us goes with Selphie. I'm not too important around here."
"Ok." Squall said. "Go, tell them what's going on, and see if they can help."
"Right. What are you going to do?" Selphie asked.
"We're heading for Lunatic Pandora. If Rinoa is right, and we can disable the sorceress by destroying the remains, then we have a chance against Setzer." Irvine and Selphie nodded, and then left the room. Squall turned to Rinoa, who nodded.
"Let's go. If we're lucky, we can throw them off our trail for a while," he said. The scenery outside changed from a view of the ocean to the forest as the Garden started to move.
Squall glanced out at the horizon. Ever since their escape from Galbadia Garden the night before, Balamb Garden had been on a state of alert.
"Didn't you guys mange to get her out before people really started to notice things?" Nida asked.
"Somebody shouted that there was a sorceress right before we got the ship." Irvine said.
Rinoa fingered Griever. Quistis eyed her.
"Sorry about the bodyguard thing…" Rinoa shook her head.
"It's alright," she said.
"Why did you lose control like that last night anyway?" Selphie asked.
"It's not like I did it deliberately! In fact…" Rinoa trailed off, her eyes widening.
"In fact what?" Quistis said.
"In fact…it was like something forced me to do it!" Rinoa exclaimed.
"What?" Quistis and Selphie said at the same time.
"I had been feeling funny even before we left here! And it intensified when we were at Galbadia Garden! It got so bad that Squall had to take me outside before I fainted! Then…" Her eyes narrowed. "That storm. It came up entirely too fast."
"We thought the same thing too." Selphie said. Rinoa swung out of bed and started to pace.
"Something is not right here," she said. "First, my not feeling well here and at Galbadia Garden. Second, that freak lighting storm. And third…" She frowned. "What happened to me when I was unconscious? I remember Squall shouting and then something hitting me in the back…"
"Some sort of energy ball hit you." Zell said, coming in. "It caused your wings to appear. Fortunately, we got you into the ship before they fully came out." He shrugged. "It was weird. You tripping out and that energy ball. I know you wouldn't hit yourself unless a Confuse spell was cast on you, so it felt like…"
"There was another sorceress there!" Rinoa, Quistis, and Selphie exclaimed at the same time.
"It makes sense! Only another sorceress can create the conditions necessary to make other sorceresses lose control over their powers!" Rinoa said. Her eyes widened as another memory hit her.
"That woman!" "
"What woman?" Zell, Quistis, and Selphie asked at the same time.
"I'll explain later! Right now, I have to see Squall!" Rinoa dashed out into the hallway.
Elsewhere…
Julia scowled at the image in front of her. Rinoa was on the elevator going up to the Balamb Garden bridge, Quistis, Zell, and Selphie accompanying her. As she watched, the image began to fizzle and fade.
"No!" Swiping a hand through the picture, she hissed in frustration.
"What is going on? My gazing crystal was fine the last time I used it!" She threw the small crystal against the wall. It hit the floor with a soft ding.
"Something's inferring with the crystal's signal!" She thought. She turned around and picked it up.
"But what?"
Squall stared at Rinoa.
"No." He said
"You lie." Irvine said.
"No way!" Xu said.
"Look at it! It's the only thing that makes sense!" Zell said.
"First off, where did she come from?" Nida said.
"I don't know where, but trust me on this one!" Rinoa said.
"Heeyy…" Selphie said suddenly. "Zell, didn't you say that Galbadia was doing excavation work on the Centra continent?"
"Yeah…" Zell said, puzzled.
"Well, what if they found that woman there?"
"HUH?" Everyone said at the same time.
"Selphie. There is nothing. No thing up there except for those ruins! And we've already been through those!" Irvine said.
"Not necessary the Centra Tower." Quistis said. She turned to Squall.
"Remember our dreams? In particular, the one right before we arrived at Galbadia Garden?" Squall narrowed his eyes, and then sucked in a breath.
"Lunatic Pandora! Our dream took place in Lunatic Pandora!" He exclaimed.
"And the Estharians were excavating it from Centra when the Galbadian Army attacked them!" Selphie said.
"You don't think…" Xu said.
"It could be!" Rinoa said.
"But nobody knows what happened to Lunatic Pandora after we defeated Ultimecia!" Zell said.
"I know one person who might." Squall said.
"What happened to Lunatic Pandora?" Laguna asked. He shook his head. "That's one question even Odine can't answer."
"Right after you came back, we went with the army to plant bombs and use the Ragarnok to blow up the Pandora." Kiros said.
"What happened?" Squall asked.
"When we arrived, there was nothing there. It was like Lunatic Pandora never was."
"Jeez!" Zell said.
"Scratch that." Irvine said. Laguna shook his head.
"However, there's one thing."
"What's that?" Squall asked.
"Six months earlier, Odine's laboratory recorded a high level of magiwaves from the Centra continent. We assumed it was from the magic levels of the monsters that reside there."
"But wasn't that where you found Lunatic Pandora when you were in the G- Army?" Selphie asked. Rinoa frowned. Something was slowly beginning to click in her mind.
"Yes." Laguna said. "What's with all of this, anyway?"
"Just a suspicion about something in Galbadia." Squall answered.
"Vait a minute!"
"Oh no." Laguna and Squall said at the same time.
"I have something veery important to tell you!"
"Make it fast, Odine, we have serious problems up here!" Zell said.
"I felt zhat something vas not right, so I ran a re-check on zee energy readings from zee Centra region."
"And?" Laguna said.
"Zhey match zhe readings of a sorceress who has not been awakened yet."
"WHAT!" Everybody yelled simultaneously.
"That's got to be it! Rinoa must be right!" Nida said. Irvine looked around.
"Speaking of which, where is she?"
Rinoa bit her lip as she hurried down the second-floor hallway. She was about to try something that was very dangerous. Going out to the balcony, she closed the door behind her.
"I got five minutes, maybe less, before Squall comes running down here." She thought. Moving to the center, she stripped out of her blue buster, leaving only her black top and tights on. She closed her eyes, and sucking in a deep breath, she bent down from the waist, her arms crossed. Almost immediately, a pair of white wings appeared, lifting her slowly up in the air. Looking up, she floated higher, letting the breeze lift her up. Turning, she let a thread of her power flow with the wind.
"If Matron is right, there has to be something…" "Everything that is touched by a sorceress gains some sort of mark. Whether it's a everyday book that you read, or something that you empower deliberately, it's there." Edea had said.
"I'm looking for where a sorceress might appear." Rinoa thought. She turned her head. Something was pulling at her mind, beckoning to her.
"This feeling…where's it coming from?" She thought. Turning around, she flew off just as Squall, Zell, and Irvine came out.
"Where could she have gone?" Zell said.
"Guys…" Irvine said, picking up Rinoa's buster. Squall ran over and examined it.
"Rinoa's buster!" He said. Something soft brushed past his face and landed on the buster. Zell picked it up and held it between his thumb and forefinger.
"A feather." He said. All three of them looked up.
"You don't think…" Zell said.
"Uh huh." Irvine said.
Rinoa let the feeling and the breeze guide her. Several minutes out of Balamb Garden, it had intensified, which put her in mind of a magnet and a paper clip.
"I know this feeling…but I can't remember where I felt it before!" she thought in frustration.
I suggest that you stop and try to remember where you have felt this way before. A voice said inside her head.
"Leviathan." Rinoa said. She flew down to the jagged coastline of the Centra continent, perched on a rock, and waited. She didn't have too long a wait. A long, sinuous, snake-like column of water appeared out of nowhere, and transformed itself into the water serpent, Leviathan.
"I could say you're to blame for me not being able to remember, but it's partially my fault too, because I've been involved in so many things lately." Rinoa said. Leviathan eyed her.
My thanks to you. He turned his head. I sense a powerful evil nearby.
"I can feel it too." Rinoa said. "It's been pulling me towards…something." Leviathan turned his head back towards her.
Please, master. Be careful! Something is not right in this world!
"Not right?" Rinoa stood up. The wind whipped her hair around. "Leviathan, what's wrong?"
I…I can feel it. It's…it's… "It's what, Leviathan!" Rinoa pleaded. The Guardian Force was trembling, and little sparks of electricity were flying off of him. Rinoa watched him. The massive sea serpent was shaking like a baby.
"What's probably coming up ahead must be affecting you like this." Rinoa said. Quickly, she recalled Leviathan, and summoned out the other forms of her G.F.s. "You're going back to the Garden and Squall." Encasing them into a ball of light, she sent it soaring into the air, on a course back to the Garden.
"She did what?" Xu, Nida, and everyone else exclaimed at the same time.
"She flew off someplace. Maybe heading for the Centra region." Squall said. Something bright caught his eye.
"What the…" A ball of light flew in and landed in his hands. When the light faded…
Master!
"Quenzacotl!" Squall said. He examined the rest. "Siren, Leviathan! What are you doing here?"
We could not continue on our master's journey, so she sent us back here. Siren said.
"Where is she?" Quistis said.
The Centra continent. There is a strong aura of evil lurking within that area and…
"And what?" Selphie said.
It is not a safe place to be. It attracts evil.
"Rinoa wouldn't have gone there by herself if it wasn't important and if wasn't connected to what is going on now." Squall said. He turned to Nida.
"Hold our position here. We're going to wait until she comes back."
Rinoa landed in the middle of the desert. All around her, as far as the eye could see, was sand, sand, and more sand.
"That feeling…it stopped here." She looked around. "Hello. What's this?" Bending down, she ran her fingers over a tire tread.
"Somebody's been here recently…" Getting up, she flew into the air and followed the tracks.
"My guess is Galbadian transport vehicle." She thought, remembering some of the training Squall had given her in preparation to enter Garden. "But why would Galbadia be out in the middle of nowhere?" Swooping down, she quickly flew forward, only to put on brakes.
"What the…!" She looked up. In front of her were scattered remains of a building.
"This is like my dream! And that feeling…it came from here!" Looking around, she flew over to a jagged section of the ruins. A large crescent moon with a small star was emblazed on the side.
"That's Esthar's symbol! This is…" She flew upwards to get a better look at what was below her. "This is Lunatic Pandora! But how did it get all the way out here?"
Somewhere…
A woman surveyed a small water bubble in her hand. Inside, Rinoa examined the ruins of Lunatic Pandora.
"…"
"Catching up on what happened, eh?" A blond-haired man appeared out of nowhere. He walked towards the woman, a gunblade swinging in his hand.
"Huh?" The woman slowly turned. Her eyes were filled with an unspeakable sorrow. The man stopped.
"What's wrong?" The woman held out the bubble. The scene changed from Rinoa in the ruins of Lunatic Pandora, to one of total destruction and devastation. Smoke spiraled up from ruins of buildings, and there was no sign of life anywhere.
"That can't be…"
"It is. While we were away taking care of matters on Terra, this…this happened!" The woman's voice cracked, and the bubble exploded. She collapsed to the floor, hot tears burning into her cheeks.
"No!" The man hurried over and held the crying woman in his arms. "It's okay, it's not your fault!" He ran a gloved hand over her brown-black hair.
"Get yourself together. This only means that…" He trailed off as the realization hit home. "Oh no…this means…" The woman looked up at him.
"It's starting. The seal's already cracked." Wiping the tears off her face, she looked at him. "Only one way for them to go now."
In Another World….
Rinoa rubbed her chest absentmindly as she worked in the library. This nagging little pain had developed overnight and just wouldn't seem to go away.
"Ouch." Wincing, she pulled down another book from the stack next to her and flipped pages.
"I can't find anything that would explain the level of these magiwaves in any of these books! The only thing left to do is call Esthar and see if I can speak with Ellone." She thought. Putting the book down, she hit a few buttons on the computer and waited for it to connect. Sabin waltzed into the library.
"Hey, Ryan, what's up?" He asked the student behind the desk. Walking into the back, he saw Rinoa seated in front of a computer.
"Hey Mrs. L…oh!" He when he saw that Rinoa was speaking to someone on the screen. As he turned to leave, he overheard Rinoa exclaim "A disturbance in the space/time continuum?"
"Huhhh?" Sabin thought. "What the heck is she talking about?" Hiding behind a bookshelf, he peeked around the corner.
"Rinoa, I'm not too sure if that is the problem." He heard a woman's voice say.
"Well, it was the first thing out of your mouth, so it has to be the problem!" Rinoa snapped back.
"I said that I thought it might be a disturbance in the space/time continuum. Not it is. It could be something else."
"Ellone. I don't think "something else" could make me so sick for the past several months! I got the magiwave readings from the Esthar Garden last night. There is something out there that is messing up this planet's magical rhythm! And whatever it was, it affected me as well!" Sabin gasped.
"I'm not going to argue with you on that point, as I nearly went through the same thing as well." Ellone said. Rinoa frowned.
"Wait a minute. What do you mean, "Nearly went through the same thing as well"?" Ellone sighed.
"Around the same time you got sick, I got sick as well. Odine examined me and prescribed that my powers could be the cause."
"So what did he do?" Rinoa asked.
"I got an injection that shut down the current in my brain. Just for a while, so I could get a rest from my powers. When I received the counter- vaccine, whatever it was that was giving me problems had vanished."
"And probably came after me!" Rinoa thought. Ellone leaned forward into the screen.
"I can tell you this. I have been getting funny vibrations from someplace. I don't know where, I don't know when, but I've been getting them." She frowned. "The thing is; why can't I figure out where they are coming from?"
"Do you think something's blocking you?" Rinoa asked. Ellone shook her head.
"I don't think so."
"Alright then." Rinoa said.
"Why don't you come over to Esthar? With our technology, you could probably figure out what's going on." Ellone said.
"I can't. My daughter is taking a field test today, and I'm one of the SeeDs parcipating. In fact, I'm supposed to be the villain in one." Rinoa said, laughing.
"How can you be that?" Ellone asked.
"Easy. I just use my powers to create some sort of obstacle course and see how good their magic usage is."
"You, of all people, should be able to do that easily!" Ellone said, laughing.
"Right. Ciao, Ellone!" Rinoa said, turning off the computer.
"Oh oh!" Sabin thought. Turning, he pretended to be absorbed in a book he had yanked off the shelf as Rinoa walked by. Putting the book back, he watched Rinoa walk out of the library.
"What was all that about? The space/time continuum? Magiwave readings from Esthar Garden? What the heck is going on here?" He ran out of the library, intent on finding someone for explanations.
In the present…
Squall looked out of the window.
"Hey man, it's almost been an hour!" Zell said. "I say we…huh?" He stopped, squinted, and then pointed. "What's that?" Squall turned around. A shadow flew over the bridge window.
"Rinoa!" Squall said.
On the balcony…
Rinoa dropped to the ground. Landing on her feet, she headed for the door, the wings fading from her back. As she started to go through the door…
"Watch it!"
"Zell? Yikes!" She jumped back.
"Yeah, nice to see you too. What the heck were you doing?" Zell snapped. Rinoa crossed her arms.
"Since when you do have the right to grill me?"
"Since we would like to know what is going on in that brain of yours!" Quistis said. Rinoa blew out a breath.
"I'm sorry for making you guys worry, but I needed to check up on something."
"And that something was in Centra?" Squall asked. Rinoa nodded.
"I…I found out where Lunatic Pandora went." Everybody gaped at her.
"Where?"
"It's in Centra. However, somebody got to it first."
"The Galbadians! So that's where they were excavating from!" Zell said.
"There's this giant piece that's still there. They tried to blow it up after they were finished, but weren't too successful." Rinoa said. Turning around, she walked over to the balcony.
"Even after being blown to smithereens by Esthar and Galbadia, it still…it still has power." She faced them. "Power enough to sustain a sorceress until she awakens."
"You're saying that the sorceress Galbadia has came from there? But how?" Xu asked. The door opened and Nida dashed in, breathless.
"Radio contact from Galbadia Garden. It's an emergency."
"Locke?" Irvine said. He turned to Squall, who nodded his head. Irvine hit the speaker button.
"What's going on?"
"I can't talk for long, but you guys need the warning. A group of Galbadian Garden SeeDs left this morning with a troop of Galbadian Army solders. The Garden itself just reactivated its mobile machinery this morning. Whatever is going on, it's no good and you guys are the target!" At this Zell made to say something but was quickly hushed by Selphie and Quistis.
"What are the students doing about it?" Irvine asked.
"We're all trying to figure out what happened last night, and why did you leave so early. Cyan told us one of you had gotten sick, and that you had something else to do in the morning."
"Yeah…that's it." Squall made a cutting gesture with his hands. "Listen, is there anything else, Locke?"
"No. Just watch your backs and be careful."
"Right. Balamb Garden out." Irvine switched off the radio.
"We're dead." Zell said.
"We need to get out of here!" Selphie said.
"Any idea where?" Quistis asked. "Esthar is a no-no, and we can't go back to Balamb."
"Maybe…" Rinoa said.
"Maybe what?" Squall asked.
"We could go to Centra. And destroy the remains of Lunatic Pandora."
"Yeah! Didn't you say that the sorceress awoke there?" Zell said.
"She's probably taking her power from that area." Xu said. Rinoa nodded in agreement.
"The impression I got, she's not at full power yet. But…if we go there, what are we going to do about our G.F.s?"
"Huh?" Everybody said.
"Before I arrived at Lunatic Pandora, I sent you guys my G.F.s. The reason why is that they were all…acting weird."
"Define weird." Squall said.
"Leviathan shaking like a baby, for starters. He wanted to talk to me, so I dropped down on the coastline a couple of miles out. Next thing I know, he's sparking off electricity and shaking all over. And he can't tell me why."
"So you sent him and the others back here." Xu said.
"Quezacotl and Siren told us something wasn't right either." Squall said.
"So whatever it is up there, it is affecting the G.F.s?" Xu said.
"We need to make a decision about where are we going to go." Nida said. Squall narrowed his eyes.
"Right now, going to Centra sounds good." Zell and Selphie ran outside.
"I can get us there in an hour." Nida said. Zell and Selphie ran back in.
"Whatever it is you are going to do, do it now!" Selphie said.
"Somebody just reported seeing Galbadia Garden not too far from here!" Zell said. Squall turned to Nida.
"Go. Now." Nida nodded.
"Centra?" Rinoa asked. Squall nodded.
"What about the Ragnarok?" Selphie asked.
"Can you go ahead of us?" Squall asked. "Or even better, go to Trabia and tell them what's going on?"
"Sure!"
"Somebody needs to go with her." Xu said. Squall bit his lip.
"We need Rinoa, because her powers can help us. Quistis takes over if something happens to me or Xu…"
"Here, I'll go." Irvine said. Squall looked at him and Irvine shrugged.
"I could see that you were already hurting your head trying to decide which one of us goes with Selphie. I'm not too important around here."
"Ok." Squall said. "Go, tell them what's going on, and see if they can help."
"Right. What are you going to do?" Selphie asked.
"We're heading for Lunatic Pandora. If Rinoa is right, and we can disable the sorceress by destroying the remains, then we have a chance against Setzer." Irvine and Selphie nodded, and then left the room. Squall turned to Rinoa, who nodded.
"Let's go. If we're lucky, we can throw them off our trail for a while," he said. The scenery outside changed from a view of the ocean to the forest as the Garden started to move.