A/N: Sure, you may think that Seifer has nothing to do with the story, but you will see… Besides, it was a suggestion I got. You'll see. Anyways, R+R. Yeah, those'll be the last things I see. I'll die from 'em. Anyways, on with the story/show/saga/trilogy/ whatever you wanna call it.
Disclaimer: Well, funny thing really. I was out shopping the other day when I walked in front of an auction house. Deciding that it was worth a peek, I walked in and guess what they were auctioning! Final Fantasy. But then the auction-clerk-y person (You know… The guy that talks at 600 words a minute) said some amount that was just way out of my league. I then waited and tried to mob the guy who got it, but sadly… SOMEONE BEAT ME TO IT!!!!! So, sadly, I do not own FF8; it belongs to the mugger from the auction house.
Early Morn
The following morning was one of strategic maneuvers that had to be mastered in due time. The staff at the hotel was oblivious to what was going on; and couldn't care less about what happened that day… Unless they got a raise. There would be no point in running past them because they didn't care… Unless you slipped on a wet floor and broke your leg.
Zell and Irvine crept out of their room silently, in hopes that they would not wake Rinoa up. They were already late and the chances of Rinoa already being awake were pretty high.
It was 11:30 A.M. They had told themselves that they would wake up at the unholy hour of 10:00 A.M, but they slept through the alarm. What good was an alarm that you could sleep through? From the point that they decided to wake up, they were already running around and Irvine slammed into the wall between the bathroom and the door.
Zell didn't have a lot of luck either. After he finished laughing, he ended up tripping over the comforter that was strewn across the floor. He ended up crashing face first. After that, the accidents didn't seem to end; Irvine cut himself shaving four times, Zell's toothbrush fell in the toilet, and they just didn't seem to end afterwards. To name everything that happened would take forever.
Finally, after they managed to walk around properly, they emerged from their room, walking cautiously down the hall towards the elevator. The elevator dinged as usual and they climbed on board. They were alone and silently hoping that Lady Luck would take them in her favor today.
The elevator dinged once more and they got off on the ground floor. They walked past the reception and noticed that there was a different receptionist today. What they didn't notice was the girl sitting on a sofa with her head in a magazine, wearing sunglasses inside the hotel.
Zell and Irvine walked out the door and hopped in the car. The engine roared and they left. Thirty seconds later, the girl with the sunglasses got in a car and followed them.
The girl really did stand out. It was cloudy outside and the only source of light was the faint glow behind the clouds. Plus her car didn't help either.
Some moron decided to leave the keys in custard yellow VW Bug. In a town full of Chevy Pick Ups, a yellow bug really does stand out a lot… Especially when the majority of the mass of cars there was gray.
"Dude, I think someone's following us." Irvine said.
"Yeah right! Why would someone follow us?" Zell asked incredulously.
"I dunno. It's just that that girl there has been following us since we left the hotel… THE HOTEL!! IT"S RINOA!!!" Irvine's little hamster in his head was running at full speed.
Zell just stared at his friend curiously. To him, his friend was cracked and there was no repair.
"Yeah, and I'm Santa Clause." Zell retorted.
"Well, suit up Santa because here she comes." Irvine said as he pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store.
As he had predicted, the VW Bug rolled in after him. Irvine parked the car and they got out. They walked to the Bug and knocked on the window.
The driver reluctantly rolled down the window and stared at them through her shades. As if she was waiting for an answer, her face contorted with impatience.
Irvine stepped a little closer to her window. He was really excited to prove Zell wrong.
"Why are you following us?" He demanded.
"Good one, dude. Skip the prelims and grab the bull by his balls, huh?" Zell criticized.
"I wasn't following you. I happen to have needed to… Pick up some groceries… And I had just… Finished visiting a friend of mine in her hotel room." The girl replied defensively.
"Yeah, and why are you wearing sunglasses on a cloudy day?" Irvine inquired.
"Because… I like them… Is it a problem to you?" She spat back.
"Yeah. Rinoa just cut it out. You stand out like a black sheep in the crowd of white chickens!"
"What? Who said there was a crowd of chickens?"
"I did!"
"Well, what's your problem? It's my decision."
It's not so much the sunglasses that I'm arguing about; it's the part about you following us when I told you that you weren't gunna come!"
"It's my life! You can't tell me what to do! Besides, it's eating at my soul to be torn away from him for a very long time!" She said as she removed her shades, revealing watery eyes.
The sight before Zell made him weak with compassion. He caved without knowing it.
"All right. You can come with us." He said, wrapping his arms around her.
"What? Dude! What happened to her going back to Deling?" Irvine tried to protest, but was silenced by a fist that flew pretty close to his face.
"She's coming with us."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So, where're we going?" Rinoa asked from the back seat.
"Well, yesterday, we got a lead while eating breakfast. We're going to try it." Zell said.
"Ok."
Irvine was still annoyed that Rinoa was coming with them. She was a threat to the mission if they found Squall. Nobody knows what happened to Squall. Suppose he was being held captive. What would happen if they knew about Rinoa? That could put their lives and hers on the line. There was also the possibility that Rinoa could become heartbroken. Suppose he found another girl. Nah, that would never happen. There was worse. So, instead of saying something, he just grit his teeth and drive.
The conversation after that died down. Nothing was said until they got there.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
They arrived outside the doctor's humble abode at 11:45 A.M. Neither of them wanted to stay in the car any longer. The car engine didn't even stop and they had all ready jumped out of the car. They raced up the stairs to the house.
The shiny knocker was on the door and there was no doorbell. The little house was silent in the inside. Perhaps they weren't home.
Rinoa reached upwards and knocked the door. At once, someone came and opened the door. He was fidgeting like he was in a hurry. It was the doctor.
"Hello. How may I help you?" he asked nervously.
"My name's Zell, and these are my two friends, Rinoa and Irvine. We heard that you had a patient that came to you a few weeks ago. We think that he might be our friend that has been missing since a couple of weeks ago." Zell spoke up.
The doctor looked at Zell and sighed reluctantly. "So what do you want me to do about it?" He asked impatiently.
"We'd like to see him… If it's all right with you, that is." Irvine said.
"Fine." The doctor gave in, "Old Chap! Some people want to see you!" the doctor yelled back.
Old Chap came to the door and looked at who he saw. He recognized only one of them. By the look on her face, she recognized him too. She looked like she was going to break down and cry.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Seifer smirked as he walked through the streets of Dollet. There were people everywhere trying to sell him things that he had no use for. He scowled as he walked past beggars and hobos decked in rags.
He was headed to an abandoned factory to stop something from happening, but what? What was so important to him that he had to stop today? What was so great about an abandoned factory? It was the ideal place to kill someone and act as if it was an accident.
A/N: OoooooooOOOOooooooooohhhhhhhh! Aren't I great? Don't you just love me? Actually, don't answer that second one; it'd just wig me out… Seriously, it would. Anyways, I think that reading fics and author's notes has finally caught up with me because I seem to have developed a craving for reviews, so, with these last words, I ask you to your left and look down. I believe that you will see a bar that says "Submit Review" and a box beside it that says, "Go". Push it and let me know what you thought of my story so far. And if that's too hard, just push a letter. The options are: A) Are you shitting me? That was beyond my worst nightmare!" (Should you choose option A, I ask that you write why so I can improve) or B) "Wow! Fantastic! I'd give it five thumbs up… If I could… But I can give it FIVE STARS! *Cheesy smile and wink to follow*" Or there's always option C) "That was all right. You ain't better than all them other writers out there." So, satisfy my craving and review.
