Chapter 3

After the unbelievable discovery the three teenagers hurried back to Balamb Garden. As soon as they reached the Garden's gates they could see Quistis waiting for them.

Quistis: *waving her hand* "Hey, what took you guys so long? Squall, Rinoa and Selphie came back yesterday"
Zell: "Just a little accident"
Quistis: *tries to look worried* "I hope everyone's all right...."
Maya: "Yeah, don't worry about it"
Zell: "So what did the others find"
Quistis: "Nothing"
Maya: *suspicious* "Well aren't you unusually happy that we don't know who tried to destroy the Garden"
Quistis: *starts feeling uncomfortable* "...NO! So... what'd you find?"
Zell: "We found-" *is interrupted by Maya*
Maya: "Nothing, just like Squall"
Quistis: *is happy and tries to hide it* "Oh... too bad... well I gotta go to my class; see ya!" *starts running towards her class*
Zell: "Hey, why'd you lie to her for!?"
Maya: "I suspect that these two *shows them the hair and the piece of material* belong to her"
Zell: "You gotta be joking! You really think so..?"
Maya: "... Well... I overheard that she had taken a few days of 'vacation' in Balamb... and the disease started one day after she came back"
Seifer: "Yeah... it's possible... and besides, Zell, do you know any other SeeD with long blonde hair?"
Zell: *to Seifer* ".....No...." *to Maya* "Exactly: one day AFTER she came back"
Maya: "You think it was so hard for her to keep the mixture in a test- tube and pour it in someone's food or drinks when she thought the time is right?"
Zell: "....I guess not... But why would she do such a thing?"
Seifer: "This is what we need to find out"
Maya: "Right now we haven't proven anything yet; we have to talk to the Headmaster. Zell, you call Squall, Rinoa and Selphie... they need to be alerted too."
Zell: "What about Irvine?"
Maya: "It's obvious he likes Quistis, so he won't believe us if we tell him... and even worse: he could warn Quistis"
Zell: "Oh... OK, on my way" *starts running through the hallway*

Maya and Seifer hurried to the Headmaster's office and waited for the others. When everyone was there (including Dr. Kadowaki, I forgot to mention) they told Cid about their discovery and what they suspected. The Headmaster agreed to have some SeeD check Quistis' uniform and see if it was ripped or hand-sowed (she must have tried to hide what she's done somehow, right?) While our heroes are waiting for the answer from the two SeeDs, Quistis and Irvine were making their escape. The two SeeDs returned with an affirmative answer, but also with the news that Quistis and Irvine were nowhere to be found.

Selphie: "So you were right, Maya, she is the one.."
Squall: "But was Irvine her accomplice?"
Maya: "Yeah... I guess so... He followed her blindly.... I think... wait a second! Sorceresses lose their body, but not their soul, right?"
Rinoa: "You think she's being possessed by Sorceress Edea!?"
Maya: "Yeah... and that Irvine is her knight"
Zell: "This will give us some trouble"
Squall: "We have to find them... but where could they have gone to?"
Maya: "Since we have no clue about where they could be, the only other person who would know where they are is another sorceress, right?"
Squall: "So we'll be paying a visit to Sorceress Adel"
Maya: "Exactly" ( for your personal information: Sorceress Adel is now in Esthar and her knight is the Esthar president- Laguna Loire)

The Headmaster listened quietly to their discussion and approved their leave. To make the travel easier (and to draw less attention) they decided to spilt into two teams and get there through different ways: one team will take the boat to Trabia Garden and from there the train to Esthar; the second team will take the boat to FH, and the train from there to Esthar. The teams were to remain the same and they were leaving first thing in the morning. Squall's team will go to Esthar through Trabia Garden and Maya's team will go through FH.

After making their plans, the teenagers went to the Cafeteria and had lunch, then each headed in different directions to rest or train for tomorrow's mission. Maya took a little walk around the Garden to be alone with her thoughts. She heard a lot of noise coming from the Training Center. The younger students in the Garden were standing in the doorway and yelling "Fight! Fight! Fight!" She ran to the Training Center, made her way through the many children and entered. She saw Rinoa and Selphie and went to them:

Maya: "What's going on!?"
Rinoa: "Those two jokers are at it again...."
Maya: "Who?"
Selphie: "Squall and Seifer, of course" *she said pointing at the two SeeDs that were fighting in the middle of the crowd*
Maya: "Aren't you gonna try and stop 'em!?"
Rinoa: "We already tried"
Selphie: "They never listen..."
*Zell appeared behind the girls from the crowd*
Zell: "Not again!..."
Selphie: "Zell, go there and stop them"
Zell: "Huh!? And how do you suppose I do that? You know they never listen..."
Selphie: "You have to do something! they're gonna hurt each other"
Zell: "If I go there they'll hurt me!"
Maya: "I've had it with this nonsense!" *runs in the battlefield, between the two* "I summon Kronoss" *everyone freezes in amazement as the fabled Golden Dragon with his head and wings out of pure flames comes down from the sky and creates a barrier of fire between Seifer and Squall* *after the Dragon disappears Maya's friends gather around her*
Student #1: "WOW! How'd she do that!?"
Student #2: "Who is she!?"
Student #3: "What a GF!!!!"
Zell: "What WAS that!?"
Selphie: "Was that a GF!?"
Squall: "It's a GF... I've heard of it, but where did you find it!? People say that it was destroyed a long time ago!"
Rinoa: "I've read about it too... Kronoss, the Golden Dragon..."

Maya left all their questions unanswered... After the Dragon disappeared Seifer kept looking into her eyes, asking so many questions without saying a word. His eyes made her unable to move and to hear anything else but his thoughts... so many questions... "who are you?"... "how did you get this fabled creature?"... "why didn't you say anything?"... "where did you come from?"... "what else are you hiding?"... these questions that raced through Seifer's thoughts invaded Maya's mind, making her unable to think. All she could hear were these questions in her head and all she could see were Seifer's eyes staring into hers. Suddenly, like waking up from a dream, she started to see and hear everything around her. Squall and the others helped Maya escape from the sea of people. They found a empty classroom and entered there. Everyone sat down close around Maya, only Seifer was a bit more far away than the others.

Squall: "Maya, I hope you don't understand this the wrong way... we're just curious..."
Selphie: "Yeah.. we won't take it away from you or anything..."
Rinoa: "It was just a very big surprise to see a creature that has been rumored dead for thousands of years"
Maya: "Yeah.. I understand... He is the last of it's kind... and I'm all he has left..."
Selphie: "How come?"
Maya: "Well you see... He's not exactly like any other GFs... He's got his own heart and mind, only people trained his kind to be GFs... and that killed them... Kronoss managed to escape in the wild and I found him when I was a little girl.."
Squall: "How could he have been hiding for all these years?"
Maya: "He hid in the forests around Shumi Village... people don't go there to often.. I think I'm the first human he ever saw cuz he wasn't afraid or angry when he saw me... You see, I was the only survivor in a shipwreck and I drifted somewhere close to that forest when I was about 5 years old... That's when I found him and he became a sort of guardian to me..."
Zell: "Wow..... who would have guessed there was a Golden Dragon hiding around the Shumi Village..."
Seifer: *stands up and takes a few paces towards Maya* "Anything else you would be hiding?"
Rinoa: "Seifer, that's rude!"
Selphie: "Don't mind him, Maya!"
Maya: *in low voice* "No... he's right... I am hiding something else... I'm the daughter of Laguna Loire..."
Zell: "What!?"
Maya: "Yeah... only he doesn't know I'm still alive..."
Rinoa: "He doesn't know that you survived that shipwreck, right?"
Maya: "Yeah"
Zell: "Why didn't you tell him?"
Selphie: "How could she!? She was only 5 years old back then..."
Zell: "I know, but..."
Maya: "I didn't want to tell him... he's the one that sent me and mom on that boat ride..."
Rinoa: "Surely you cant think it was his fault..."
Maya: "I don't know what to think... he sent us on that boat trip because he had a fight with mom... maybe he wished something would happen... and his wish came true..."
Selphie: "You shouldn't think that..."
Maya: "I already told you... I dunno what to think..."
Rinoa: "What was your mother's name?"
Maya: "I don't remember... I don't even remember her face..."
Seifer: "If you don't remember your mother, how can you be sure that Laguna Loire is your father?"
Maya: "Because I have this" *sows them a small star-shaped medallion; she opened it and on one side they could see a picture of Laguna, only younger then he is now (duh!) and on the other side his name engraved with capital letters*
Zell: "... So this is where you got your last name from, huh?"
Maya: "Yeah.... from the medallion's shape..."
Squall: "We're going to Esthar tomorrow... maybe you should consider telling Laguna..."
Maya: *keeps staring at the picture in the medallion and tears fill her eyes* "What if he won't wanna see me?"
Rinoa: *puts her hand on Maya's shoulder* "But what if he will?"
Maya: *dries off her tears* "OK... I'll think about it.... Now I don't wanna talk about this anymore..."
Squall: *to Maya* "OK..." *to everyone* "It's gotten pretty late. We should have dinner and go to bed, tomorrow will be a long and hard day"

Everyone listened to Squall's advice and left for the Cafeteria. Zell and Selphie tried to lighten the atmosphere, but everyone was thinking more about Maya's story then listening to their talking. After dinner everyone left for their rooms in the Dormitory. After she entered her room, Maya opened the window and started staring outside again. She took the necklace in her hand and tears filled her eyes... after all these years she was going to see her father once again...

Maya: *talking to herself* "It's really stupid to cry... I should be happy... I'm gonna see my dad again!..." *dries off her tears and her thought wandered around, trying to remember all the events that happened that day. She remembered that minute... or hour.. or second in the Training Center... how much time did pass?... She didn't know... How could Seifer have known that she was hiding something else?... They must have exchanged thoughts then... She read all the questions that Seifer was thinking about and he read her secret...*
Seifer: "What are you thinking about now?"
Maya: *startled by the sound of his voice* "How long have you been watching me?"
Seifer: "Since you told yourself that you should be happy and you thoughts obviously ran to something else... What is that 'something else' ?"
Maya: *turns red* *thinking: should I tell him?*
Seifer: "Well?"
Maya: *thinking: yeah.. I guess I should...* " I was thinking about what happened earlier today, in the Training Center.."
Seifer: "When you summoned Kronoss and everyone surrounded you....???"
Maya: *his tone made her understand that's not the answer he expected... that gave her courage to say what really was on her mind* "Yeah, only I wasn't thinking about that moment..."
Seifer: *with a voice full of hope* "Then about which moment were you thinking ?"
Maya: *stares into his deep blue eyes* "About the one when you were staring in my eyes..."
Seifer: *his eyes showed surprise mixed with happiness, but then a sour smile appeared on his lips* "You're saying that cuz you know that's what I wanted to hear..."
Maya: "No! That's not true... I mean it..."
Seifer: *smiles to a thought that crossed his mind, only Maya didn't guess that thought* "That's enough for tonight... Good Night!" *and he pulls his head inside*

Hmmmm... what could he have meant by those words... review and read on