Chapter Eighteen
Sighing, Squall leaned against the window in Laguna's office. He, Zell, Selphie, Quistis, Irvine, and Anita had all dashed off the Ragarnok 2 the second it had landed. But they were too late. Tifa and Sabin were safe, but Raine, I.J., and Celes were gone. And to top it all off, the JME was badly damaged beyond repair.
"This is great!" Scowling, Zell shot a searing glance sideways. "Can't you find them?"
"I'm not a miracle worker, Zell. I haven't needed to use my powers for 21 years." The speaker rose gracefully, smoothing out wrinkles in her kaki skirt. A green wrap brought out the blue color of her top.
"So?" Ellone sighed.
"It's not that easy."
"Can you sense them? And if possible, get them back?" Quistis asked. Ellone shook her head.
" Yes and no. All I can do is bring their minds back. Not their bodies."
"Could you get both back?" This from Laguna.
"Not without help. To do that, I would need to borrow on somebody's power."
"A sorceress's." Squall thought.
"I'm sorry." Ellone said.
"Wait!" Selphie exclaimed. Everyone turned to her. "Raine used her powers to override the JME and force it to teleport her mind and body along with the minds and bodies of I.J. and Celes to the past, right?"
"Yeah…" Squall said.
"And when they've finished doing whatever they've gone to do, she would do the same thing to come back here, right?"
"Yes…!" Searing realization struck Squall.
"She'd use the hidden JME in that time to return home!"
"Right!" Ellone nodded in agreement. "But there's a problem."
"What problem?" Quistis asked.
"Her power." Ellone answered. "The combination of the JME and her spell would have almost drained her of all her magical energy. It wouldn't take her too long to recharge so she could do normal activities, but if she tried to use the JME again…"
"She'd go into magi-shock." Squall said, turning pale.
"Or worse." Ellone replied. "Either way, she needs another source of power to help her cast the spell one more time. And I think I know what it is."
"Our JME!" Laguna said.
"Exactly."
"But it's broken beyond repair…" Selphie said. Silence settled on the group. Then Squall suddenly straightened.
"Odine!" Everybody looked at him.
"Huh?"
"We have Odine create another JME! That way, when Raine tries to come back, she'll be able to!"
"Hey, that could work!" Laguna said. He and Ellone watched as Squall and the others ran out of the room in search of the doctor. "It sounds crazy, but it just could…El? What's wrong?" Ellone sighed, and then plopped on the couch.
"I didn't tell them everything." She shook her head. "I…I can't feel Raine or her friends, let alone bring them back." Frustrated, she fisted her hands. "It's like there's some sort of wall blocking my way. I get a faint feeling, but that's it! And if I can't sense them…"
"Good God, Ellone. Are you saying…?"
"If I can't do anything, neither can the JME."
Somewhere…
Selene watched as Ellone and Laguna spoke.
"The bracelet I had Seifer give Raine for her 17th birthday is working well." She thought. Seifer burst in, eyes flashing with anger.
"Selene!"
"Relax. She's perfectly fine." Selene said, not missing a beat.
"How could you let her?"
"I had to." This stopped Seifer cold.
"What?" Selene closed her eyes.
"It's moving faster than we thought." A sweep of her hand, and the images of Laguna and Ellone morphed into the creature that had haunted Squall and Raine's dreams.
"Jeez! What the… what is that?" Seifer asked.
"An emissary." Selene shifted her grip on her staff. "It's very weak, yet it still had the power to show itself to both Squall and Raine." Seifer's head whipped up.
"That's it. I'm going after her."
"NO! You can't!" Seifer's cloak whipped around his legs as her turned.
"Try and stop me." He tossed back over his shoulder. Before he could even take a step forward…
A bolt of black lighting struck the ground, scant inches from his right foot, causing him to jump back in surprise. Whirling around, he saw Selene, pale, gripping her staff sideways. Energy sparked around the design on top.
"Don't make me do this. Please." Selene said. Seifer glared at her, then turned on his heel and vanished. Selene let loose a shuddering breath, and slowly sank to the floor. Her fingers tightened around the staff as she leaned her head against it.
"Seifer…I'm so sorry…"
In the present…
Raine looked around.
"Can you believe it?" She asked.
"Yeah…" I.J. said.
"Everything's exactly the same…" Celes whispered. Raine blinked, and then shook her head.
"C'mon, let's get down to business."
"Right." Celes replied. "We need to find your father and your mother."
"Better do it fast." I.J. said. This earned him a quizzical glance from Raine.
"Why?"
"You and I, we're dead ringers for our fathers. And this is a small Garden."
"He's right." Celes said. She looked at Raine. "We need to find your parents, fast."
Silently Squall finished loading the bullets into the chamber of the Lion Heart. Several more lay gleaming on his bed. Putting the Gunblade down, he took off one of his belts, the brown one. Turning it the wrong way, he revealed several hidden slots. Moving quickly, he started to put the rest of the bullets inside.
"Squall! You finished?"
"Just a minute, Zell." He finished loading the bullets and hurriedly put the belt back on. Grabbing Lion Heart, he opened the door.
"I'm ready."
Raine turned up the collar of her jacket.
"I wish I.J. would hurry up and get here." Celes muttered. The two were sitting in a corner booth of the Cafeteria, waiting for I.J. to come back after he found out some information.
"What are you complaining for? You got it easy!" Raine said, incredulous. "Your parents don't even live on this Garden yet, let alone together!" I.J. slipped into the booth beside Celes.
"Hey."
"What you'd find out?" Raine asked.
"I got one thing to say. Thank God for the Trepies!" I.J. said.
"Well?" Celes demanded. I.J. took a deep breath.
"Your parents aren't here. Well, your mom isn't. Your dad's here, with Uncle Zell, but not for long."
"Where's Mrs. Leonhart?" Celes asked. I.J. sighed.
"She's in…she's in Esthar. In a coma."
"What?" Raine gasped.
"There's a new sorceress. I didn't get many details, but apparently she teamed up with the Setzer Deling of this time. They attacked this Garden a few days ago." He closed his eyes and then opened them again. "Your mom and the other sorceress fought…she put up a pretty good fight…but…"
"But what?" Raine asked, fear creeping into her stomach.
"The other sorceress won…and stripped your mother of her powers." All the blood drained from Raine's face.
"Raine?"
"Stripped…of her sorceress powers…"
"Good God." Celes said, reflecting Raine's thoughts. "Is she…?" I.J. shook his head.
"No." Raine set her teeth.
"We have to find my father. There's a good chance he's heading back to Esthar, so we'll follow him there."
"That's another thing. Raine, how good are you for your magic?" Celes asked, looking up. In response, Raine flicked a small flame into life on the top of the index finger of her right hand. The fire burned so brightly that Celes and I.J. had to shield their eyes.
"Jeez, Raine!" Raine shook her hand, and the flame blinked out.
"I don't really feel all that tired. Heck, the way I feel now, I could probably cast 2 Ultimas and 2 Holys back to back and still not feel tired."
"That's probably the delay effect. The time change hasn't caught up with you yet…now that I think about it…it hasn't caught up with us either!" Celes said.
"Why?" I.J. asked. Celes shrugged.
"I don't know."
"Let's leave that problem alone for now. How about getting something to eat?" Raine said.
"That, I can do." Celes agreed.
In Another World, at that same minute…
"Ok, so let me get this straight. Raine used our JME along with a spell, to go back to the past." Quistis said.
"Right." Squall replied.
"The spell she cast was to make the JME take her body and mind, along with the bodies and minds of Celes and Sabin, back to the past, instead of just her mind."
"Uh huh."
"Now, as a result of her doing that, this JME overloaded and then broke down after she and the others were in the Timestream."
"Timestream?" Selphie asked.
"A name for the space/time continuum. Right now, our timeline is one of millions that are in the Timestream." Kiros said. "Imagine, a Gaia where there are no Sorceress. Or one where Galbadia doesn't exist."
"The possibilities are endless." Odine's assistant said. "The JME locks on to the timeline of choice. Then it sends the person's mind to that time. In this case, Raine managed to get her body, and the minds and bodies of her two friends back into that time."
"So why do we need another JME here?" Quistis asked.
"Our JME broke right after it sent Raine and the others into the Timestream. The way Odine created it, if one fails, a second one takes over. Now the second JME can either be in the time you just left…"
"Or the time you're going to." Squall finished. "If it has a JME."
"Right!" The assistant nodded. "I'm willing to bet that the JME of that time locked onto Raine and the others and finished the transfer. Without breaking down."
"So Raine can use it to get back! But if she does…it'll break down again!" Zell said.
"Thus our JME. If we can get a new one built in time, it'll bring her and the others back when they go through the Timestream again!" Selphie said.
"I hope it works…" Irvine mummered.
In the present…
Squall lounged on the bench outside of the Cafeteria. Zell had insisted that they stop for some food before heading back, and was inside ordering for them.
Celes walked up to Raine and I.J.
"The only way to get to Esthar is to walk from here and go through the Great Salt Lake."
"That must be the way they're going, I didn't see the Ragarnok anyplace outside." Raine said. I.J. checked his watch.
"They leave now, they'll be in Esthar by nightfall."
"Hey man, are you sure you don't wanna eat now?" Zell asked.
"I'll eat when we get on the road." Squall said, walking. Then he stopped cold. Ahead, in front of him, a girl stood up and faced two people.
"What the…"
Unruly brown hair cascaded past black-clad shoulders. Several belts wrapped around a slender waist, also clad in black, with a Gunblade attached to the side. As Squall watched, entranced, the girl lifted a gloved hand up to push a stray lock of hair back behind her ear. Then, as if she knew she was being watched, she slowly turned her head…
"SQUALL! Yo, man, what's up with…" Zell stopped as he saw what Squall was staring at.
"Oh my…"
"Oh shoot." Celes said. "I think we have a problem."
"What?" Raine asked. She turned her head. And pure shock slammed into her as if it had been a punch from Sabin.
"Dad?" I.J. grabbed her arm.
"We gotta go. Now!"
"That's the girl from my dream!" Squall thought. As he watched, the boy grabbed the girl's arm and started to pull her backwards.
"No, wait!" Squall called. The trio turned and ran. Forgetting Zell, Squall dashed off in hot pursuit.
"Nice going Raine!" Celes scolded.
"Well, I'm sorry! What was I supposed to do?" Raine snarled.
"Argue later!" I.J. snapped. "Right now, we need to…ooompphh!" The friends' path had taken them right in front of several Garden Faculty Members, and I.J. had collided with one.
"What is this?!" The GFM snarled. "Identify yourselves!"
"Ohoh." Raine, Celes, and I.J. all said at the same time. The GFM leaned close, as if it were squinting.
"Leonhart?!"
"Scram!" Celes said.
"Split up! Let's all meet at the Mayor's house!" Raine screamed mentally. Celes and I.J. nodded, and then ran off. Raine turned and started to run back the way they had came.
"Gotta make it to the elevator…go up to the second floor…go out the exit." She looked up as Squall rounded the corner and faced her. "Hoo boy…"
"Hey! Wait!" Squall yelled. The girl shot him a glance, ran into the entrance of the Quad. Not hesitating, Squall tore after her. He chased her down towards the makeshift stage where the Garden Festival was going to be held.
"That's weird…" He bent over panting. "I chased her in here…where did she go?" The sound of something falling heavily had him whirling around. A support strut littered with wires had fallen across the stairway, and the girl was lying on it, her right foot stuck in the wires. As Squall approached her, she struggled to get free.
"Hey! Hey, relax! I'm not going to hurt you." Squall said, moving slowly towards her. "Just chill. I'm gonna get your foot out of there, ok?"
"Nice going, Raine. Now you're stuck and your father is going to catch you. Very nice going indeed." Raine thought to herself, disgusted. "I need to get out of here!" She pulled even harder. This resulted in the wires becoming untangled, freeing her. But before she could even move…
"Agghhh!"
"Got you!" Squall tackled the rising Raine as she got out of the wires. The two fell down, Raine squirming out of her soon-to-be father's grasp. Squall wasn't giving up that easily, and grabbed the girl by the ankle, throwing her down again.
"Let go of me!"
"Not until…aaahhhh!" Squall fell backwards, grabbing his forehead. Raine lifted her left foot back and scrambled up.
"Sorry!" She called. Picking himself up, Squall chased her out of the Quad.
Father chased daughter through the loop that was the center of the Garden, towards the elevator. Raine got in a split second before Squall arrived, and hit the button for the 2nd floor. Squall hissed in frustration, and headed for the stairs.
"Jeez! This is something out of some nightmare!" Raine thought. Panting, she dashed out of the elevator, and towards the doorway to the 2nd floor hallway. As she rounded the corner, Squall burst out of the stairwell.
"What the…" Calling on her last bust of energy, Raine tore for the exit, Squall hot on her heels. Getting to the door, she opened it and closed it just in time as Squall lunged.
"VANISH!"
Squall burst out onto the balcony. Nothing.
"Where'd she go?" He thought, panting. The sound of his name had him straightening.
"Zell?" Zell ran in, panting. He bent over.
"Whoo. I couldn't keep up with you, so I went after her friends. Those two had me all over the place!" He looked up at Squall. "Did you see…"
"Yeah." Squall said darkly. "I saw."
"Those two girls…and that boy!"
"What boy?" Squall asked.
"The one that was with them. He was a spitting image of Irvine! I didn't know the first girl, but the second…"
"Is the exact image of me." Squall finished. His eyes narrowed.
"You think this is the sorceress messing with our minds?" Zell asked.
"Probably…" Squall mused. "Let's go to Esthar. Maybe Odine knows something about it." The two headed down the staircase and out of sight. Once they were gone…
"Dispel!" Three voices said at the same time. Raine, Celes, and I.J. all reappeared. Raine bent over, panting heavily.
"You ok?" I.J. asked. Raine nodded, then straightened.
"Let's go."
Several hours later…
"HUH?" Four voices exclaimed at the same time. Squall nodded.
"It's the truth."
"Something's not right…" Quistis mummered.
"First the sorceress, then Rinoa gets robbed of her power, and now this. Three mystery people show up at Garden, two of whom are dead ringers for Irvine and Squall." Laguna said, ticking off what had happened on his fingers.
"You think we should look into this?" Zell asked.
"No." Squall said. This had everyone gaping at him.
"What?"
"We have more important things to do. And…I don't think what happened is something to be worried about.
"Squall…" Selphie said softly. Laguna shrugged.
"If that's what you want."
The lights of the Airstation glowed dull amber as Raine, I.J., and Celes neared the Ragarnok.
"So we sleep on board tonight, and leave tomorrow?" Celes asked.
"How come we can't stay at the hotel?" I.J. complained.
"Because, unless I miss my guess, Dad and the others will be going after that other sorceress tomorrow. They'll problaly use the Ragarnok to get wherever they're going. And we wouldn't have to sneak on board, cuz we're already on." Raine explained.
"Makes sense." I.J. said. The trio boarded the massive spaceship.
That night, the three slept in the Ragarnok, unaware that the parents of two of them slept also slept not too far from them as well. Raine and Squall slept the most soundly of all, not knowing the danger that they would face the next day.
Sighing, Squall leaned against the window in Laguna's office. He, Zell, Selphie, Quistis, Irvine, and Anita had all dashed off the Ragarnok 2 the second it had landed. But they were too late. Tifa and Sabin were safe, but Raine, I.J., and Celes were gone. And to top it all off, the JME was badly damaged beyond repair.
"This is great!" Scowling, Zell shot a searing glance sideways. "Can't you find them?"
"I'm not a miracle worker, Zell. I haven't needed to use my powers for 21 years." The speaker rose gracefully, smoothing out wrinkles in her kaki skirt. A green wrap brought out the blue color of her top.
"So?" Ellone sighed.
"It's not that easy."
"Can you sense them? And if possible, get them back?" Quistis asked. Ellone shook her head.
" Yes and no. All I can do is bring their minds back. Not their bodies."
"Could you get both back?" This from Laguna.
"Not without help. To do that, I would need to borrow on somebody's power."
"A sorceress's." Squall thought.
"I'm sorry." Ellone said.
"Wait!" Selphie exclaimed. Everyone turned to her. "Raine used her powers to override the JME and force it to teleport her mind and body along with the minds and bodies of I.J. and Celes to the past, right?"
"Yeah…" Squall said.
"And when they've finished doing whatever they've gone to do, she would do the same thing to come back here, right?"
"Yes…!" Searing realization struck Squall.
"She'd use the hidden JME in that time to return home!"
"Right!" Ellone nodded in agreement. "But there's a problem."
"What problem?" Quistis asked.
"Her power." Ellone answered. "The combination of the JME and her spell would have almost drained her of all her magical energy. It wouldn't take her too long to recharge so she could do normal activities, but if she tried to use the JME again…"
"She'd go into magi-shock." Squall said, turning pale.
"Or worse." Ellone replied. "Either way, she needs another source of power to help her cast the spell one more time. And I think I know what it is."
"Our JME!" Laguna said.
"Exactly."
"But it's broken beyond repair…" Selphie said. Silence settled on the group. Then Squall suddenly straightened.
"Odine!" Everybody looked at him.
"Huh?"
"We have Odine create another JME! That way, when Raine tries to come back, she'll be able to!"
"Hey, that could work!" Laguna said. He and Ellone watched as Squall and the others ran out of the room in search of the doctor. "It sounds crazy, but it just could…El? What's wrong?" Ellone sighed, and then plopped on the couch.
"I didn't tell them everything." She shook her head. "I…I can't feel Raine or her friends, let alone bring them back." Frustrated, she fisted her hands. "It's like there's some sort of wall blocking my way. I get a faint feeling, but that's it! And if I can't sense them…"
"Good God, Ellone. Are you saying…?"
"If I can't do anything, neither can the JME."
Somewhere…
Selene watched as Ellone and Laguna spoke.
"The bracelet I had Seifer give Raine for her 17th birthday is working well." She thought. Seifer burst in, eyes flashing with anger.
"Selene!"
"Relax. She's perfectly fine." Selene said, not missing a beat.
"How could you let her?"
"I had to." This stopped Seifer cold.
"What?" Selene closed her eyes.
"It's moving faster than we thought." A sweep of her hand, and the images of Laguna and Ellone morphed into the creature that had haunted Squall and Raine's dreams.
"Jeez! What the… what is that?" Seifer asked.
"An emissary." Selene shifted her grip on her staff. "It's very weak, yet it still had the power to show itself to both Squall and Raine." Seifer's head whipped up.
"That's it. I'm going after her."
"NO! You can't!" Seifer's cloak whipped around his legs as her turned.
"Try and stop me." He tossed back over his shoulder. Before he could even take a step forward…
A bolt of black lighting struck the ground, scant inches from his right foot, causing him to jump back in surprise. Whirling around, he saw Selene, pale, gripping her staff sideways. Energy sparked around the design on top.
"Don't make me do this. Please." Selene said. Seifer glared at her, then turned on his heel and vanished. Selene let loose a shuddering breath, and slowly sank to the floor. Her fingers tightened around the staff as she leaned her head against it.
"Seifer…I'm so sorry…"
In the present…
Raine looked around.
"Can you believe it?" She asked.
"Yeah…" I.J. said.
"Everything's exactly the same…" Celes whispered. Raine blinked, and then shook her head.
"C'mon, let's get down to business."
"Right." Celes replied. "We need to find your father and your mother."
"Better do it fast." I.J. said. This earned him a quizzical glance from Raine.
"Why?"
"You and I, we're dead ringers for our fathers. And this is a small Garden."
"He's right." Celes said. She looked at Raine. "We need to find your parents, fast."
Silently Squall finished loading the bullets into the chamber of the Lion Heart. Several more lay gleaming on his bed. Putting the Gunblade down, he took off one of his belts, the brown one. Turning it the wrong way, he revealed several hidden slots. Moving quickly, he started to put the rest of the bullets inside.
"Squall! You finished?"
"Just a minute, Zell." He finished loading the bullets and hurriedly put the belt back on. Grabbing Lion Heart, he opened the door.
"I'm ready."
Raine turned up the collar of her jacket.
"I wish I.J. would hurry up and get here." Celes muttered. The two were sitting in a corner booth of the Cafeteria, waiting for I.J. to come back after he found out some information.
"What are you complaining for? You got it easy!" Raine said, incredulous. "Your parents don't even live on this Garden yet, let alone together!" I.J. slipped into the booth beside Celes.
"Hey."
"What you'd find out?" Raine asked.
"I got one thing to say. Thank God for the Trepies!" I.J. said.
"Well?" Celes demanded. I.J. took a deep breath.
"Your parents aren't here. Well, your mom isn't. Your dad's here, with Uncle Zell, but not for long."
"Where's Mrs. Leonhart?" Celes asked. I.J. sighed.
"She's in…she's in Esthar. In a coma."
"What?" Raine gasped.
"There's a new sorceress. I didn't get many details, but apparently she teamed up with the Setzer Deling of this time. They attacked this Garden a few days ago." He closed his eyes and then opened them again. "Your mom and the other sorceress fought…she put up a pretty good fight…but…"
"But what?" Raine asked, fear creeping into her stomach.
"The other sorceress won…and stripped your mother of her powers." All the blood drained from Raine's face.
"Raine?"
"Stripped…of her sorceress powers…"
"Good God." Celes said, reflecting Raine's thoughts. "Is she…?" I.J. shook his head.
"No." Raine set her teeth.
"We have to find my father. There's a good chance he's heading back to Esthar, so we'll follow him there."
"That's another thing. Raine, how good are you for your magic?" Celes asked, looking up. In response, Raine flicked a small flame into life on the top of the index finger of her right hand. The fire burned so brightly that Celes and I.J. had to shield their eyes.
"Jeez, Raine!" Raine shook her hand, and the flame blinked out.
"I don't really feel all that tired. Heck, the way I feel now, I could probably cast 2 Ultimas and 2 Holys back to back and still not feel tired."
"That's probably the delay effect. The time change hasn't caught up with you yet…now that I think about it…it hasn't caught up with us either!" Celes said.
"Why?" I.J. asked. Celes shrugged.
"I don't know."
"Let's leave that problem alone for now. How about getting something to eat?" Raine said.
"That, I can do." Celes agreed.
In Another World, at that same minute…
"Ok, so let me get this straight. Raine used our JME along with a spell, to go back to the past." Quistis said.
"Right." Squall replied.
"The spell she cast was to make the JME take her body and mind, along with the bodies and minds of Celes and Sabin, back to the past, instead of just her mind."
"Uh huh."
"Now, as a result of her doing that, this JME overloaded and then broke down after she and the others were in the Timestream."
"Timestream?" Selphie asked.
"A name for the space/time continuum. Right now, our timeline is one of millions that are in the Timestream." Kiros said. "Imagine, a Gaia where there are no Sorceress. Or one where Galbadia doesn't exist."
"The possibilities are endless." Odine's assistant said. "The JME locks on to the timeline of choice. Then it sends the person's mind to that time. In this case, Raine managed to get her body, and the minds and bodies of her two friends back into that time."
"So why do we need another JME here?" Quistis asked.
"Our JME broke right after it sent Raine and the others into the Timestream. The way Odine created it, if one fails, a second one takes over. Now the second JME can either be in the time you just left…"
"Or the time you're going to." Squall finished. "If it has a JME."
"Right!" The assistant nodded. "I'm willing to bet that the JME of that time locked onto Raine and the others and finished the transfer. Without breaking down."
"So Raine can use it to get back! But if she does…it'll break down again!" Zell said.
"Thus our JME. If we can get a new one built in time, it'll bring her and the others back when they go through the Timestream again!" Selphie said.
"I hope it works…" Irvine mummered.
In the present…
Squall lounged on the bench outside of the Cafeteria. Zell had insisted that they stop for some food before heading back, and was inside ordering for them.
Celes walked up to Raine and I.J.
"The only way to get to Esthar is to walk from here and go through the Great Salt Lake."
"That must be the way they're going, I didn't see the Ragarnok anyplace outside." Raine said. I.J. checked his watch.
"They leave now, they'll be in Esthar by nightfall."
"Hey man, are you sure you don't wanna eat now?" Zell asked.
"I'll eat when we get on the road." Squall said, walking. Then he stopped cold. Ahead, in front of him, a girl stood up and faced two people.
"What the…"
Unruly brown hair cascaded past black-clad shoulders. Several belts wrapped around a slender waist, also clad in black, with a Gunblade attached to the side. As Squall watched, entranced, the girl lifted a gloved hand up to push a stray lock of hair back behind her ear. Then, as if she knew she was being watched, she slowly turned her head…
"SQUALL! Yo, man, what's up with…" Zell stopped as he saw what Squall was staring at.
"Oh my…"
"Oh shoot." Celes said. "I think we have a problem."
"What?" Raine asked. She turned her head. And pure shock slammed into her as if it had been a punch from Sabin.
"Dad?" I.J. grabbed her arm.
"We gotta go. Now!"
"That's the girl from my dream!" Squall thought. As he watched, the boy grabbed the girl's arm and started to pull her backwards.
"No, wait!" Squall called. The trio turned and ran. Forgetting Zell, Squall dashed off in hot pursuit.
"Nice going Raine!" Celes scolded.
"Well, I'm sorry! What was I supposed to do?" Raine snarled.
"Argue later!" I.J. snapped. "Right now, we need to…ooompphh!" The friends' path had taken them right in front of several Garden Faculty Members, and I.J. had collided with one.
"What is this?!" The GFM snarled. "Identify yourselves!"
"Ohoh." Raine, Celes, and I.J. all said at the same time. The GFM leaned close, as if it were squinting.
"Leonhart?!"
"Scram!" Celes said.
"Split up! Let's all meet at the Mayor's house!" Raine screamed mentally. Celes and I.J. nodded, and then ran off. Raine turned and started to run back the way they had came.
"Gotta make it to the elevator…go up to the second floor…go out the exit." She looked up as Squall rounded the corner and faced her. "Hoo boy…"
"Hey! Wait!" Squall yelled. The girl shot him a glance, ran into the entrance of the Quad. Not hesitating, Squall tore after her. He chased her down towards the makeshift stage where the Garden Festival was going to be held.
"That's weird…" He bent over panting. "I chased her in here…where did she go?" The sound of something falling heavily had him whirling around. A support strut littered with wires had fallen across the stairway, and the girl was lying on it, her right foot stuck in the wires. As Squall approached her, she struggled to get free.
"Hey! Hey, relax! I'm not going to hurt you." Squall said, moving slowly towards her. "Just chill. I'm gonna get your foot out of there, ok?"
"Nice going, Raine. Now you're stuck and your father is going to catch you. Very nice going indeed." Raine thought to herself, disgusted. "I need to get out of here!" She pulled even harder. This resulted in the wires becoming untangled, freeing her. But before she could even move…
"Agghhh!"
"Got you!" Squall tackled the rising Raine as she got out of the wires. The two fell down, Raine squirming out of her soon-to-be father's grasp. Squall wasn't giving up that easily, and grabbed the girl by the ankle, throwing her down again.
"Let go of me!"
"Not until…aaahhhh!" Squall fell backwards, grabbing his forehead. Raine lifted her left foot back and scrambled up.
"Sorry!" She called. Picking himself up, Squall chased her out of the Quad.
Father chased daughter through the loop that was the center of the Garden, towards the elevator. Raine got in a split second before Squall arrived, and hit the button for the 2nd floor. Squall hissed in frustration, and headed for the stairs.
"Jeez! This is something out of some nightmare!" Raine thought. Panting, she dashed out of the elevator, and towards the doorway to the 2nd floor hallway. As she rounded the corner, Squall burst out of the stairwell.
"What the…" Calling on her last bust of energy, Raine tore for the exit, Squall hot on her heels. Getting to the door, she opened it and closed it just in time as Squall lunged.
"VANISH!"
Squall burst out onto the balcony. Nothing.
"Where'd she go?" He thought, panting. The sound of his name had him straightening.
"Zell?" Zell ran in, panting. He bent over.
"Whoo. I couldn't keep up with you, so I went after her friends. Those two had me all over the place!" He looked up at Squall. "Did you see…"
"Yeah." Squall said darkly. "I saw."
"Those two girls…and that boy!"
"What boy?" Squall asked.
"The one that was with them. He was a spitting image of Irvine! I didn't know the first girl, but the second…"
"Is the exact image of me." Squall finished. His eyes narrowed.
"You think this is the sorceress messing with our minds?" Zell asked.
"Probably…" Squall mused. "Let's go to Esthar. Maybe Odine knows something about it." The two headed down the staircase and out of sight. Once they were gone…
"Dispel!" Three voices said at the same time. Raine, Celes, and I.J. all reappeared. Raine bent over, panting heavily.
"You ok?" I.J. asked. Raine nodded, then straightened.
"Let's go."
Several hours later…
"HUH?" Four voices exclaimed at the same time. Squall nodded.
"It's the truth."
"Something's not right…" Quistis mummered.
"First the sorceress, then Rinoa gets robbed of her power, and now this. Three mystery people show up at Garden, two of whom are dead ringers for Irvine and Squall." Laguna said, ticking off what had happened on his fingers.
"You think we should look into this?" Zell asked.
"No." Squall said. This had everyone gaping at him.
"What?"
"We have more important things to do. And…I don't think what happened is something to be worried about.
"Squall…" Selphie said softly. Laguna shrugged.
"If that's what you want."
The lights of the Airstation glowed dull amber as Raine, I.J., and Celes neared the Ragarnok.
"So we sleep on board tonight, and leave tomorrow?" Celes asked.
"How come we can't stay at the hotel?" I.J. complained.
"Because, unless I miss my guess, Dad and the others will be going after that other sorceress tomorrow. They'll problaly use the Ragarnok to get wherever they're going. And we wouldn't have to sneak on board, cuz we're already on." Raine explained.
"Makes sense." I.J. said. The trio boarded the massive spaceship.
That night, the three slept in the Ragarnok, unaware that the parents of two of them slept also slept not too far from them as well. Raine and Squall slept the most soundly of all, not knowing the danger that they would face the next day.