DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN FF8, BUT WOULD LIKE TO

Chapter IX

A few hours had passed and Rinoa had drifted in and out of sleep. She found it hard to stay asleep due to what had just happened. She had suspected it, but now it was finally true. She found it best that not thinking about it was good. Just to keep it blotted out of her mind. Although when she did, she found herself thinking about the night she had almost destroyed the garden. Why did it happen? What was that voice in her head? All were questions she had, but none were there answers.

It was about six when Rinoa had actually sat up in bed. She stretched herself a bit which kept her mind off her problems. She gave a long yawn, even though she wasn't a bit tired. She was perfectly capable of doing anything right now. Her body was in perfect condition.

She pulled the covers off lightly as if in fear someone was lurking in the room. She saw that she was completely naked and her clothes were missing. She covered herself up in embarrassment, but realized that no one was around.

At the end of her bed she found the itchy hospital gowns that many wore. She put it on and was going to walk to her own room. Except for her bare butt hanging out the end. She looked around some more and found her thong she had wore the night of the party and slipped it on to cover herself up better.

"Yeah, that's so much better, Rinoa." She said to herself out loud.

Though Rinoa was self-conscious, it didn't matter too much because she was pretty sure everyone was outside doing their training exercises that Squall had instructed them to do this morning. It was getting close to the SeeD finals and everyone was training extremely hard just to make the cut in order to take the test.

So she stepped on the stone cold floor and out the infirmary doors. She looked around in the lobby, but it was completely deserted. She carelessly walked back into her room without anyone noticing.

In her and Squall's room she looked around for maybe a note that he wrote her. But that was very unlikely. His gunblade was gone, obviously. It would probably be hours until he got back home. Wouldn't he be surprised to learn that she had escaped from the infirmary and went back to their room when he thought she was in a coma.

"When the feather breaks, to the world she shall take." The feather has broken and now to the world she must take. Take to the world my daughter and find the stars which suit you. No need to fret or worry in despair. Soon, all worries will be gone and supreme happiness shall be at your command.

The voice. That voice. It had no actual voice, just words that popped into her head that she said to herself. Those words. Someone was leading her somewhere, but to where she did not know.

Travel across the tattered path and through the desert sea to find the shining city that shall be the key.

It was a riddle of course. It was a riddle to test her if she would go and if she could figure it out.

"Well...let's see. A tattered path would obviously be and old one that no one uses anymore. But there are a lot of those. Maybe one that's important. Like a railroad or something like that."

Rinoa thought about the second part.

"The desert sea. A sea that is a desert. That could be in Centra, but there's no path that takes me there from here. But there is another desert which is actually a sea. The Salt Lake is a desert because it has no water, yet is still somewhat a sea. Then the shining city must be Esthar, the futuristic city, because that is where Dr. Odine, the magic expert, lives. So he, she, it, or they wants me to go to Dr. Odine and find out about this thing that I'm supposed to do. No...it wants me to do its little scavenger hunt and keep following these places around to get to where it really wants me to go. I'll play these games. Dr. Odine might actually have some really good information for me to use about my powers."

Rinoa was ready. She was ready to play this sick, twisted game that someone had made up. Obviously they were strong if they could do all this. So Rinoa was going to have to be strong. Not let in to the pressure from everything else. She had to be ready and no longer let burdens like Squall get her down.

She walked over to the closet and took off her gown. Then she had put on a black bra that was in the dresser in the closet. She reached for her blue dress, but stopped before she touched it.

"No...this isn't the time to look innocent. You're not innocent. You're the leader this time and have to be one."

She then looked tot he side of it to see a tight black midriff. She took that down and put it on. Then she took down a black bottom that was a skirt, but also had a little back thing like her blue one, but much shorter. Next she slipped on a purple, netted shirt over her other one. Then she slipped on her long black leather boots she never wears.

She was ready to go. But should she tell Squall? No. He would only want to come and get in the way. This was her journey and hers alone. She had to do this on her own and without his or the garden's help.

"And so she departed from the garden to pollinate the world with her magic. Across the tattered path and into the desert sea. She shall go forth to the shining city to which is the key. The feather has broken and to the world she has taken, but shall she find happiness among the ruins of a lost world, or destruction from an unknown darkness that lurks within."

"When she has taken the world, to the stars she shall ascend."