"Only two suitable from this batch"
Quistis woke up to hear a stranger's deep voice and the familiar rhythm of the tide replaced by the throaty hum of a car engine.
"But they're goodins I hear" She remembered Matron telling everyone she was going to a nice new family called the Trepies, but whispering to her that she was going somewhere else and not to be afraid.
"And they're still being tested" She hoped Seifer was okay. He was quite angry at her being taken but he had always been good at controlling his anger.
"Hear there's a blonde boy with some potential that they're still looking at." This immediately drew Quistis' full attention to the conversation. "And a girl who Edea's thinking about making her heiress."
"But I hear one of them was a complete dud. They're setting him up with a proper family, probably sometime next month."
"Guess who'll be the ones who get that job?"
"You shouldn't complain, ya know? It's an honour to help Cid and Edea any way we can."
"Your right, your right, but its so strange being around all these amazing people and children and it makes me feel so useless"
"Your not useless, we're not useless. We're doing our job just like everyone else on the planet, we just happen to work for some interesting employees."
The car went over a bump and Quistis gave an involuntary groan.
"Hey Banner, I think she's waking up."
"What's the time?" She asked groggily.
"Only a few hours, it's about 4 o'clock in the morning now, you can go back to sleep."
"Uh huh" She replied and closed her eyes ready to welcome back her rest.
"She's a beautiful kid. So cute when she's sleepy like that, seems a shame to put her through it."
~~*~~
"Wake up sleepy head" one of the men called to her, opening her car door. She got up and stretched.
"Where are we?"
"About 200miles from your orphanage"
She looked around at the bleak Centran hills that surrounded her noticing a strangely shaped object far in the distance.
"What's that?" She asked pointing
"In that direction is the old Centran City. You must have pretty good eyes to see that. That might be why she's joining" One of them whispered to the other.
"What are we doing here?"
"This is the drop-off point, well over that hill anyway. Come on, it's not a far to walk"
It only took a few minutes to climb to the top of the hill. Beneath them was an estuary with four ships docked there. They were all small people fast ships that she estimated could probably carry about 10 passengers each. There was also another, larger ship there, it was obviously under construction or repair but the completed parts had all been painted in different shades of white and creamy white.
"Will we be going by ship now?"
"We sure will" Quistis smiled involuntarily. She loved the water.
~~*~~
"Welcome to the Zephyr" Smiled a young man as she entered one of the black ships.
"Thank you" Quistis smiled at the name and the friendly man that would obviously be taking her to her final destination.
"Here, let me take your case. I'll show you to your quarters."
Her berth was snug and had a glorious window showing her a panorama of the sea.
"Is this okay for you?" asked the man.
"It's perfect. Thank you" She beamed at him.
"You like the sea too, huh?" She nodded still with a huge grin on her face.
"I think we'll get along just great then. I'm Marcus" He held out his hand and she put her small one into it and shook.
"Quistis."
The sea journey was quite uneventful. Marcus introduced her to the rest of the crew and they were all friendly, showing her how the ship worked and how to control it. A huge, elegant sail shaped like a double pair of wings powered it as well as Centran technology that no one really understood. She was once allowed a go of steering it. And they teased that she would put them all out of their jobs yet.
When the boat was nearing it's destination, Quistis realised she would miss the beautiful ship and it's youthful crew. And that she was getting more nervous as they got closer to where she would find out her fate.
The next morning she was woken up with a rap on her door and Marcus' voice calling.
"We're almost there" Her heart gave a jump and began to beat faster in anticipation. She dressed quickly and ran up on deck. Only a few miles away she could see a strange building rising out of the sea.
"What is that place?" She wondered out loud.
"We call it the Deep Sea Research Centre or the DSRC. Some people call it Home. You can call it your destiny." Marcus answered without his usual humour.
The uneasy feeling in Quistis' stomach grew as the Research centre got closer and closer.