Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with final fantasy 8
Squall P.O.V
When I woke up I had truly wished, and expected to see my boring dull dorm, my jacket hanging up beside me and an announcement ringing over the P.A asking me to come to headmaster Cid's office. But instead I saw the bottom of the top bunk and fire leaping up the walls of a very strange room.
Rinoa was lying the other bunk bed to my left. Sound asleep. Rayne was standing at the door to the bedroom.
" Good morning! " She exclaimed happily. " You can have a shower if you want" She pointed to the next room, on my right. I nodded and got up. She exited the room.
I was greatly looking forward to hot a shower, well, I hoped it was hot.
To my great joy, it was. They coldness made it so much better, to come from a freezing room into a steaming hot shower. When I got out I dried and found that my old clothes had been replaced with new ones. A sleeveless gray shirt, black soft jacket (not leather) and long black cargo pants. Not bad really. Luckily I still had my old black boots.
I quickly dressed and walked back into the room. Rinoa was still asleep, looking as cute as ever. I couldn't help but smile at how peaceful she looked.
Rayne was in the first room. I walked through the hanging cloth that was the bedroom door and began talking to her. The house I was in had no doors. Just hanging cloth. No houses in the village had any doors, no need.
" Feeling better?"
I nodded. " Yeah, and thanks for new clothes, heaps better"
She smiled brightly clasping her hands in front her. " That's great! I got rid of your old ones, they were torn and ripped" Strangely I was glad. She was right. They had been torn and ripped from the journey and were too small anyway, I wanted a change from leather.
She led me outside. " Call this, 'your place' ok?" she said motioning toward the house.
"Ok" She seemed delighted.
" We don't get visitors here at Crescent Winds, because we are so well hidden, our first visitor came about…200 hundred years ago I think, my mother married him. They wanted to travel the world together, so they left my brother, sister and I here and promised they would be back. They never came back, probably got killed" I felt sorry for her, but then realized something.
" 200 hundred years ago?, how old are you?" She smiled noticing how surprised I looked.
" I'm somewhere between 190 and 200, I'm not so sure myself, people here at Crescent Winds can live up to about 1000 years" My eyes widened.
"Wow…" I whispered. Rayne laughed. " That's exactly what Seifer said!"
Speak of the devil Seifer came walking down. He stopped to smile at Rayne and then turned to me.
" Is Rinoa awake yet?"
" No I let her sleep in, she's tired"
"Oh ok…"
The air seemed to suddenly grow very tense. I didn't mind having Seifer here, really. He had helped us after all, but so many memories came flooding back every time I saw him. Not to mention how my scar burned too. I just had to try to accept him as a friend. Did I?
Thankfully Rinoa walked out. She also had a shower. Her clothes had been changed. She wore knee-high brown boots, a light blue tank top, black shorts with a black skirt over that hung over it held loosely by a brown belt. On her arms she wore blue material that hung longer past her hands. Wow She smiled when she saw me.
" Looks like we both get a new closet" I smiled back and looked back at Rayne.
" Can we look around the village?" I asked her. She nodded. " First let me take you to The Fire" She replied.
Seifer walked off and Rinoa and I followed Rayne. There were a few people out now. Mostly children. They all had white hair, their skin pale and their eyes blue and frozen like ice. They looked us and waved as we walked by.
When we reached our destination Rayne motioned for us. It was a huge bonfire. Flames red, orange, yellow and green were leaping up out of the snow. The wall of ice behind was as frozen as the rest of the village. In front of the fire was a large round circle. An ice bench was around the outside of the circle. It looked amazing.
" This is what we call The Fire, it's where we get everything from, clothes, food, housing, you name it!"
I grinned. The Fire That's what they called it. Not the great wondrous fire or the gifting flames or anything like that. Just The Fire.
Rayne left us a while after that and Rinoa and I sat on the ice benches talking.
" Squall, where do we go now?"
" I dunno, maybe we could just stay here for a while, maybe even when we leave we could go to the garden or something"
" Yeah maybe, but how would we get into the garden? Disguises?"
" Probably"
Rinoa said she wanted to go ask Rayne about something and left. I was left near The Fire. I wanted to search the village but I had seen most of it on the way here. Sitting here alone, made me think too much. That always happens to me. It was an old habit and I was losing it, but from time to time it took over. In my thoughts a song came into my mind I remembered hearing.
I wake up in the morning, put on my face
The one that's gonna get me, through another day
Doesn't really matter, how I feel inside, cos life is like a game sometimes
But then you came around me, the walls just disappeared
Nothing to surround me, keep me from my fears, I'm unprotected
See how I've opened up, you made me trust
I smiled at the familiar song. It had reminded me of myself. These thoughts somehow made me think of them. Selphie, Irvine, Zell, Quisty would you have done what I did? Would you agree with me? Edea would be proud. She wanted us to follow our hearts, trust in ourselves. That's what I'm doing right? How would I ever know, being so far away.
I wanted to go home.
Author's P.O.V
The monsters thrashed in their cages, screaming to be let out. Manches puffed his cigar and smiled. " They're better than what I thought" He laughed, watching them bash up against their cages. " Let them out, they'll find the knight and sorceress, and bring them to me in hopefully, under ten pieces" He ordered the guard, chuckling to himself.
The guard nodded and released the lever that opened the cages. The monsters ran out screeching. They ran through the dark corridor and out into the open. They smelt the air and ran toward their destination, nearly 200 miles away. The Herms Ranges.
Manches was pleased with his creations. " Have they caught the Ruby Dragons?" He asked the guard. The guard nodded. " About six of them sir" Manches laughed.
"Perfect"
Quistis P.O.V
Dean had managed to get into the Council easily. He had a guard uniform. They just found him in Deling with the other guards and ordered to go to the station and assist Donas. They hadn't even thought twice about him being a student at garden, just told him to go because he was wearing the uniform. Weird, really weird. I hadn't heard anything from him.
I had been called to see headmaster Cid a few times and all he had said was to check the training center or to begin classes again or even just to make an announcement. He was keeping something from me and from the rest of the garden. Soon enough I would know. Soon.
I had filled the rest of the gang in on the news of Dean getting in the Council. They had been delighted. Selphie had been ecstatic. She had said, " Quisty! Now we can blow the Council to smithereens and get Squall and Rinnie back!, You know what that means right! Yeah! Woo-Hoo!" Strangely enough I had liked her plan. But we couldn't do anything until we had more info. Dean had a convosat. He could type a message to us and we would receive it in an hour. Like email.
I hope he's ok
Squall P.O.V
I sat on the ice bench drowning in my thoughts when a little girl came up to me. She had shoulder length white hair and a blue dress. She looked about 4-5 years old.
"Hullo Sir! Rayne told me to tell yoo that…um…to go to yoo're place and meet her there…I think, yeah so um yoo have to go there ok?" I smiled and nodded. " Thanks for the message"
Rinoa P.OV
I had decided to ask Rayne about Raylin. In my dream Raylin said Rayne was her daughter. But that's all she said. I wanted to know more.
When I found her she was outside the 'my place'. Rayne had told me to call it that. She smiled brightly when she saw me and seemed eager to talk.
"Rayne, hi, I just need to ask you about something, um, do you know a lady called Raylin?"
Rayne smiled and nodded. " Yes Raylin was my mothers name, but the Raylin you know won't be her, she died"
" Oh, I'm sorry…thanks anyway"
Rayne walked over to a little in girl in blue dress and told her something, the girl ran off, then Rayne came back. " I told her to go and get Squall" She said. I nodded as I watched the little girl run off. After a little while Squall came running up. " What did you need me for?" He asked Rayne
" I wanted to introduce you both to my brother and sister, they live just over there" She pointed to a large house across from our place on the left. We walked with her to the house. Inside was a girl with long brown hair, it was darker than Squall's and hung down past her waist. She looked towards us and smiled. Her eyes were green and her skin looked pale, but as pale as Rayne.
Squall and I shook her hand. " I'm Meryl" She said " Nice to meet you"
Behind her was a boy about our age with shoulder length honey blonde hair, tied back. He did a small wave and introduced himself. " I'm Lance". Squall smiled and looked toward Rayne with a questioning look on his face.
Rayne laughed. " Are you wondering why Lance and Meryl look nothing like me? Well it's because our father was not from Crescent Winds and so I have my looks from my mothers side and Meryl and Lance get theirs from our father"
We both nodded. Meryl laughed slightly and sat down at the table and chair next to her. She was doing some tapestry. It was a rose in a background of pink and green. I went and sat don next to her. Lance went into the back room and Squall started to talk with Rayne.
"Wow your really good"
Meryl smiled sweetly at my comment. " Thanks, I'm trying to get my brother to learn tapestry but he doesn't seem to keen" She was right. I looked over at where Lance had been. The piece of cloth he had been working on looked more like tangle then tapestry.
" Oh yeah, your right, I think it's a loosing battle" I said
She laughed, agreeing with me, " Yep, your right on that one"
Later that day Rayne took us back to our place and we ate. It was the first thing we had eaten in about more than 2 days. The most filling meal I ever ate. After that I headed back down to The Fire and sat on the ice bench. None was around, probably gone to bed, but I wasn't tried yet. Squall was back at my place, or 'our place'.
I began to softly sing my mother's most famous song,
Whenever sang my songs, on the stage, on my own
Whenever said my words, wishing they would be heard
I saw you smiling at me, was it real or just my fantasy
You'd always be there in the corner of this tiny little bar
Squall P.O.V
I had decided to look for Rinoa. She left a little while ago. I figured she had gone to The Fire. As I neared The Fire, I could here someone singing. I could have sworn it sounded like an angel. A soft voice, a familiar. It was Rinoa. She sitting on the ice bench singing a song. A had heard it somewhere before, but I couldn't place it. I stood away from her and listened.
So let me come to you, close as I wanna be
Close enough for me, to feel your heart beating fast
And stay there as I whisper, how I loved your peaceful eyes on me
But did you ever know that I had mine on you
I walked up to her and sat down next to her. She stopped and looked at me. She dipped her head down so that the strands of hair tucked behind her ears came falling down to hide her face.
" You have a great voice Rin"
" Thanks…it's my mother's song, eyes on me"
Then I remembered. It had been the song Raine had told Laguna about in the past. Julia's first song, Rinoa's mother.
" Is there something wrong?" I asked her. She sighed and leaned her head on my shoulder. " When are we going home?"
I wanted to answer that question in a way that would make her smile, but I couldn't think of what to say. Noticing my silence she answered her own question. " Probably never.." She whispered. As horrible as it was, she was most likely right.
The village was dark, despite being inside a mountain, day and night still had its affects. Night was dark, day was light.. The darkness was making me sleepy. I could tell that it made Rinoa sleepy too because she had her eyes closed. I kissed her forehead and lifted her up.
As I walked back to my place, carrying the sleeping Rinoa, I saw no one. Everyone was asleep. My thoughts wondered back to Julia's song. No, not anymore, it's Rinoa's song.
At my place I laid Rinoa down in her bed and went to bed myself. Goodnight
Rinoa P.O.V
~Dream~
Raylin was standing next to me. We were in the ice cavern, looking at the enormous arc that led to the small passage into Crescent Winds.
" I suppose your going to explain to me why we're here," I said to her. She nodded
" When I used to live in Crescent Winds, a stranger came. He was a traveler. He had stumbled across Crescent Winds somehow. His name was Logan. I fell in love with him. We married and had three children. Meryl, Lance and Rayne. He wanted to continue his travels before he got too old and I was desperate to go with him. I left the children, promised to come back and left. When we left the Herms Ranges, Logan was killed and I was lost. I wandered around, trying to find my home, but I was so miserable I failed to go home, now I can never return"
I looked at her feeling, so sorry for her, " But why? Why can't you return?"
" Because, when someone that has lived in Crescent Winds for so long leaves, if they stay away too long, they become a faded memory. I'm a faded memory. Because of that, I can't go back. This arc you see, this is the point that I can't go past."
" But why don't you just wait here until someone sees you. Someone will come out and see you."
" That's just it, they can't see me, or feel me, or hear me. I'm a ghost to them. I found that I was able to come into dreams. I chose to go into yours because you interested me, through your dreams, is the only way I can find out about my home"
I pitied her. The life she had, it was so sad. Her face looked upset and hurt.
" My advice for you this time" She said, " Is, life doesn't always go your way, you will always be caught in the middle of a decision, and no matter what, you will always choose wrong unless you decide to believe this"
What she said made sense, as strange as it sounds.
Authors Note: I think this chapter was the longest so far. Took me forever! Just to clear some things up, I have been putting the story mainly in Rinoa and Quistis's P.O.V because I think they shape the story better. Quistis is a person the gang relies on a lot. So it would be better to put it in her p.o.v. I put it in Squall's P.O.V this time cos' he has his won different thoughts on this. Thanks for asking about it, if there is anything you wanna know or any idea's or comments just say so in your review.
Thanks to
Dark Goddess Of Good
Renegade Seraph
