A/N: I'm sorry. I know I made Evans die, but he had no other purpose in the story… Or did he? ^.^ Aside from me shooting Evans, does anyone else have any objections as to what I did/wrote in the past six chapters? … No? Good!

Disclaimer: Yes, you have found out my secret. I'm making a prophet by posting this story on site that lets people read it for FREE. Tell me again how that's possible.

Anyways, on with the show/saga/epic/trilogy/whatever you wanna call it!

~Clarity~

Evans had stopped breathing after thirty seconds and soon after that, he was dead. His dead body lay there motionless on the cold cement floor of the warehouse. Johnny had obviously never heard of the expression "Don't shoot the messenger boy!" Fact was Johnny had taken a personal liking to the ways the ancient kings had thought. They had, after all, shot the bearer of bad news; one after the other; just like Johnny has been doing. They were his role models.

People were afraid of Johnny now more than ever. They knew that he had fallen off his rocker and was making no attempts to get back on.  They had all considered running away to Trabia, where no one could find them. MacFarley was thinking about joining the Shumi Village. It was very far north and no one would ever think about looking for the big guy there.

"I don't give a shit about how you kill him, but I WANT HIS HEAD ON A SILVER PLATTER!" Johnny yelled. It was pissing him off about how true the saying "Good help is so hard to find" was. He supposed that, eventually, he was going to run out of men to kill, but that didn't bother him; there was always more easy-to-manipulate men out there to choose from.

Just then, a loud ring cut through the air, playing the Grim Reaper's theme song.  Johnny's lackeys let out a sigh of relief. This was a close call because their mental case of a boss was becoming very scary and their confidence was beginning to wither.

"Speak…. What? Didn't you retire from the mob life?  …  What can so important that you'd call? … Really? … You're kidding! … Are you sure? … Really? … You better not be lying or I swear to Hyne that I'll fucking rip your throat out! … Well, I'd say that you're a pretty confident sonofabitch, then… Yes… WAIT! No, don't kill him. Bring him to me. I want to see for my own eyes that what you say is true… Tomorrow sounds good enough. Bring him to the warehouse on 3rd street… Yeah, the abandoned one… 12:00 A.M sharp… Good. Later then." And Johnny hung up his cell phone with a smile.

The men began to tense up again. Johnny's mood swings were never ones to be reckoned with. They changed faster than you could say "Hi". Sometimes, he even under went severe cases schizophrenia. Every single man in the room knew about the multi-personalities of their boss. They were Charleston, the ex-marksman, Micky, the blubbering idiot and Jessy, the suicidal. One time, Jessy nearly made Johnny kill himself, but Jones, Johnny's number one, stopped him by pulling the gun out of his hand. Too bad, no one would've missed him.

"Well boys, you're off the hook. It seems that someone has pulled a chance card in your favor." Johnny smiled.

Jones stepped forward. He was a well-built fellow with deep brown eyes and curly brown hair. He was a pretty confident guy and did not fear the boss because he was the boss' number one and he had let it get to his head. Jones was also cocky, cynical and a little sadistic. They may not have been his most admirable qualities but they were enough to save his skin in a tight situation. He was also dependable and was probably the smartest of the lot.

"Who?"  Jones asked. He silently added, under his breath, "What favor? We're going to die eventually."

"What was that?" Johnny asked as he eyed his number one suspiciously. "I know that you want my place as boss, Jones…" He said, implying that he knew that Jones desperately wanted to be the leader of an organized crime ring. That was true; Jones tried everything to make Johnny give up his position as boss without killing him, but nothing worked.

"Nothing, Johnny. I only asked who did us the favor. That's all. Nothing more."

"You said something after that. I may be insane, but I'm not deaf." Johnny said as the venom dripped from his voice.

"No, I didn't. Maybe that was Charleston or Jessy or Micky talking to you. I didn't say anything after that." Jones replied smartly.

The men watched in anticipation as the boss and the numero uno duked it out verbally. So far, it looked like the numero uno was winning. They were amazed when the boss gave up trying to out wit his number one.

"I suppose so. Anyways, the guy who just did you all a big favor is…"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Rinoa Heartilly snapped out of her trance and beamed with energy as the train came to a halt in Dollet. It was 3:30 P.M and she had spent most of the ride looking out the window, waiting for the train to arrive at its destination. She smiled inwardly at herself, thinking that very soon she'd see Squall.

Rinoa picked up her bags and got off the train. The gentle breeze swept across her face as she descended the stairs and exited the train station. The guards smiled at her and watched her leave, eyes lingering on her retreating form. Rinoa giggled. She knew they were staring at her ass.

She got out on the main street and hailed a cab. She did not have to wait long because a cab pulled up to the curb, ready to take her to her destination.

The cabby was an old wizened fellow with a long white beard and beady brown eyes. He was short and wrinkly. His eyes told Rinoa that he knew the streets by heart and more. He was Jerry James; Dollet's all seeing, all knowing, master of the streets. He knew every hotel, club, street, restaurant, and even the abandoned buildings.

Jerry popped the trunk and Rinoa put her bags in it. She then got in the cab and smiled.

"Where to, young lady?" Jerry asked. His voice was old and squeaky. Surprisingly, the old man still had all of his real teeth.

"Um… I don't know. I just got in and I'm staying for… I don't know. I was wondering if you could recommend a great hotel."

"Sure. The best hotel for tourists, visitors and business people is the Regent Hotel. They have the best facilities to accommodate everyone. They have a gym, café, discotheque, a pool and tons of other facilities." Jerry suggested.

"Sure. Thanks."

"The Regent it is." Jerry said as he stepped on the gas pedal.

The cab passed by many buildings and malls. Jerry pointed out the major tourist sites and spoke of the amazing clubs that he used to own once upon a time. Truth was, Jerry owned club after club until one day, some chump named Cedrick decided to take over by owning a club of his own with some special feature that Jerry just couldn't keep up with, so he retired. He took his retirement fund and went all around the world. Here he was now, a cabby, driving people around. He really didn't mind driving people around because he got to meet new and interesting people with every ride.

Finally, after about ten minutes of sight seeing, they had arrived at the hotel. Rinoa paid the caddy and got her things out. She strode over to the door and entered.

She walked over to the reception and asked for a room. The receptionist smiled and asked how long Rinoa would stay there. Rinoa thought for a moment.

"I don't know. Maybe a week." She answered.

The receptionist looked at her and smiled. "Well, we have a floor for the visitors how have an undetermined stay. Will that be alright?" She asked.

"Sure" Rinoa said as she gave the receptionist her credit card.

The receptionist took her card and swiped it through the card reader. She entered Rinoa's personal information in the computer. She took a card from the drawer and set it up to work. She then gave Rinoa her card back and said, "Here you are. Room 639. Sixth floor, turn left on the elevator and go straight down 'til you reach you room."

Rinoa took her cards, muttered "Thanks", picked up her bags and went to the elevator. She pushed the up button and waited.

The elevator doors opened and a couple got on with her. They stood in silence while they waited to arrive on their designated floor. Rinoa remembered what it was like with Squall with her wherever she went.

The elevator dinged at the fourth floor. The couple got off at the café and Rinoa stood all by herself in the elevator. Soon after, though, the elevator dinged and Rinoa got off the elevator, bags in hand. She walked down the corridor in search of her room when she saw an ice machine

She dropped her bags and began to open the door. She began to daydream once more about how much she wished Squall was with her right now. She even missed the glares he gave to other guys when they even so much as looked at her. As much as that habit pissed her off, she missed it. Some few minutes had passed before she heard two men disputing about something or other.

"I can't believe you read the map upside down! We almost drove to Timber!"

"Hey! At least I didn't try to run over an old lady with a walker!"

"Oh yeah, well, I didn't just cost us the mission!"

"At least I didn't almost kill someone! It was a 30 Km zone and you were doing 90!"

"At least I can actually read a map!"

"So can I! I just didn't realize that the S was where the N was, ok? Geez!"

"Hmph! Fine! We'll try again tomorrow and YOU drive and I'll read the map."

"I'll be damned if you- Rinoa?"

Rinoa looked in the direction of the guy who had just called her name. It was Irvine.

"Hi. I heard that you can't read a map properly. That true?" She asked as she smiled cheekily at him.

"Neither can you, apparently. What're you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be near Deling?" Zell asked.

"Yeah, well, I escaped my nanny and told that I'd go visit a friend here." Rinoa said nervously.

"Yeah, who?" Irvine asked. He knew Rinoa like the back of his hand and was one hundred percent sure that she had no friends in Dollet.

Rinoa's face went crimson as she tried to recall of the name that she told Ula, "Mar…. Marlena… Marilyn…. Mar… Marpessa!"

"Really? Maybe we can take you to her place tomorrow… If you want." Irvine added with a look of complete disbelief.

Rinoa saw that look in his eyes and muttered under her breath, "Aw, shit!" and then said, "Fine! You got me, all right? I came up here to find Squall!" She hissed.

"Rinoa, you shouldn't be here! Squall was working on a mob case before he disappeared. We don't know if he's dead, alive, held captive or what not. It's too dangerous! You should go back! And how the Hell did you know that he's here?" Zell told her, deeply concerned about her well-being.

"Who cares?! And what do you mean, 'For my own good'? I could barely watch where I was going before! And now you're taking away my raison d'êter? That's mean and I don't see how it's going to 'Do me good'!" She argued.

"But you won't need a raison d'êter if you're DEAD!" Irvine said.

"Oh yeah! I wanna die knowing that I at least tried to fulfill my raison d'êter because then I would have at least made an attempt at my purpose in life!" She retorted.

"Rinoa, I don't care what you say! You're going back!" They said in unison.

"NO, I'M NOT!" She screamed, "Just drop it! There's nothing you can do or say to make me go back! So, just do yourselves a favor and quit it! You'll live longer!"

They looked at her in astonishment. How Caraway managed to raise a headstrong daughter, they had no idea. How could they persuade her? The answer was simple: They couldn't. They threw their hands up in defeat.

"Fine! We we'll drop it, but you're not coming with us either." Zell said.

"I never said I was."

"Good."

"Good."

"Fine."

"Fine" Rinoa said as she opened her door. She went in and slammed it shut.

"Wow, talk about PMS!" was all that Irvine had managed to say.

"Shut up! We're gonna have to wake up at an in-human hour so that she won't follow us! How does ten sound?" Zell asked.

"Wow, man! You're going where no man has gone before!"

"Yeah, yeah. Just shut up now." Zell said as he opened the door and crashed on his bed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ula had been waiting by the phone, anticipating Rinoa's call any moment now.

She had been waiting ever so patiently since she had gotten home from the train station. She had managed to keep herself busy by doing all the chores that needed to be done and more. By 7:30 P.M, she had already cleaned out the garage twice, did all the laundry, washed the dishes, vacuumed each ad every single room, cleaned out the attic, storage areas and finished the romance novel that she had been reading.

The maids were all worried about Ula's mental health and called her son over to keep an eye on her.

Once upon a time, way back when in Ula's youth, Ula had met a man in a bar. Of course, the basic scenario happened. Things got hot, heavy and… Well, you get the picture. Of course, the guy was only looking for a one-night stand (That is the expectancy rate of drunks in a bar) and he had left her in the morning. Poor Ula woke up in the morning to discover that the guy had vanished without a trace. A month later, she noticed that she was late and the next 8 months were just pure Hell; all leading up to extreme pain in the end.

Chester was an okay looking guy. He had blond hair and blue eyes. His ears were slightly larger than normal and his fingers were a little too long. He was of average height and had buckteeth. It was a very well known fact that Chester had a life long crush on Rinoa. However, because Chester thought that he was God's gift to women, Rinoa rejected him. He was constantly calling her "Sweet Thang" and making passes at her. He hated Squall and even tried to start a fight between them. To his dismay, they not only figured out what he was trying to do, but they kissed and made up in front of him.

When Chester arrive at the manor, he greeted the maid that answered the door with a "How You Doin'" smile and strolled in, while trying to flaunt his assets to other maids.

"Hey ma! What's up?" He asked his mother in an arrogant manner. The habits he had picked up in high school never quite left him, even if he was with his mother.

"Hello Chester. What are you doing here? Rinoa is not home. She's in Dollet somewhere. I told her to call me, but she didn't. I don't even know if she's all right! She could've been raped or worse… " And Ula broke down in tears.  

"Dollet, eh? Want me to go down there and find her?"

Ula looked at her son for a moment. Her brain was trying to process what he was saying. Her son, Chester, was offering to go find Rinoa in Dollet? Why on earth would he do that? Who cares!

"Oh please! She said that she was visiting her friend Marpessa and was staying at some hotel. She told me that she'd call me when she got there, but she never did!" Ula pleaded.

"Alright, ma. I'll call you when I get there." Chester said as he left his mother with that hopeful look in her eyes.

As soon as he left the manor, Chester leaped into the air and shouted, "Rinoa, baby, I'm comin' to get ya!" and cheerfully skipped to his car.

A/N: Don't y'all just love me? Don't y'all just love ma cliffhanger? Aren't I evil? I feel good right now. Anyways, thank you for reading and please review. It only takes two seconds because I now give you two options of what to write. Option A: "Wow! Good job! I really liked that! Write more soon!". Option B: "Holy Crap! I can't believe I just read that piece of shit! What possessed you to write something like that? I'm suing you for corrupting my innocent mind by introducing me to a complete waste of time and something that can't even be called a story!". You can always write more if you want.

P.S: If anyone likes Chester, say "I" because then I might not make him an ass.