~Chapter seven~
The gentle salty sea breeze tugged at Fureya's short raven locks as she stared
across the horizon over the sapphire surface of the ocean. Squall had brought his
daughter to the place of the accident that had stolen Rinoa's life away from them.
"I first met Rinoa Heartilly at the SeeD inauguration ball. She was wearing a silky
dress the colour of moonlight, creamy yellow white. We danced to a song titled
'Waltz for the moon'. It was the next day we were officially introduced; she was
the contractor and I as the client. She was part of a resistance faction called
'Forest Owls' in Timber; her father was General Caraway of the Galbadian army. It
was kind of a messy situation when you think about it." Squall grinned wryly,
glancing at his attentive daughter; information hungry Fureya was giving him her
full attention. "So Rinoa, daughter of General Caraway and the late singer Julia
Heartilly, where your middle name originates from, hired us SeeD to level out the
dispute and to carry out some resistance plans. You know how that all turned out,
we fought Sorceress Edea and won. That was about the time I saw her softer
side, some reptilian fiends attacked her. When we rescued her, she was paralysed
with fear; it cracked some of the ice around my frozen heart. In the end, she
became a sorceress and I her knight. Sorceress or not, Rinoa was still the most
beautiful woman I'd ever met. She touched people's hearts and spoke her own
without reservation. She was a true angel to me; she opened my heart up to the
world and taught me how to love. She gave you and Kaddar the same qualities
and you even inherited her angelic looks." By now, Squalls eyes shone with tears
but he smiled a smile full of love, devotion and happiness.
"I'll always love your mother and I'll always love you Reya." Fureya smiled her
face full of bittersweet emotions as she hugged her father tightly.
"I love you Dad."
The sombre pair cast a long look across the glinting surface of the ocean, silence
stretching between them. Fureya turned to head back to the Garden, but was
stopped by her fathers closed fist held out to her.
"Hold out your hand." Squall murmured softly. Fureya did as she was told and he
dropped something cold and hard into her hand.
Looking at it, she saw it was two silver rings with a fine silver chain threaded
through them. One ring was an unadorned wedding band; the other was a silver
wedding band with diamonds studded evenly around it and words etched inside the
band.
"The simple band is Julia Heartilly's wedding band and the other is Rinoa's wedding
band. The inscription reads 'Rinoa my love, forever and beyond.'" Fureya stared
up at her father in amazement as she realized what the rings meant.
"You're giving them to me?" As Squall nodded gravely, Fureya continued. "But this
is Mum's wedding ring, a symbol of the love you two cherished." She stammered.
Squall lifted his Griever necklace off of his chest to show Fureya.
"The ring that matches this pendant is where the wedding band should be on my
wife." He sucked in a shuddering breath and closed a fist around the pendant
tightly. "The rings are for you, Reya." Squall said firmly and strode off towards
Balamb.
Back at Balamb, the pair walked in silence around the circular corridor. Squall was
taken in by the fact very little had changed since he'd been here last and Fureya
was caught up in thoughts of her mother as she rubbed the diamond and silver
wedding band with her thumb.
"Fureya." A hesitant male voice called out, the voice was warm and soft in
Fureya's ears.
"Willard." She breathed instantly knowing who it was. He caught up and fell into
step next to her. Squall glanced across at him, sensing words that needed to be
said.
"Get your stuff and don't be too long Reya. We leave for Deling on the next train."
Squall commanded and veered off to go talk to Quistis.
"You're leaving?" Willard said softly, his grey eyes sharp. Fureya nodded, keeping
her own grey eyes forward and away from Wills face.
"Soon as I grab my stuff." She murmured quietly. Willard dropped his gaze to the
floor, his shoulders sagging with a non-existent weight.
"Ever since that day when Annabelle was in my dorm, you've barely said anything
to me. You haven't even looked me in the eye. I don't get it?" He explained with a
soft tone. Fureya turned to look him straight in the eye. The distressed light fused
with angry sparks in her grey eyes silenced Will as he opened his mouth to speak.
"I'm a girl, Willard Trepe." She hissed and cupped her breasts in her hands. "A girl.
I'm not like the rest of your friends; I'm not just one of the boys. I'm a girl!
Female!" And with that, she dropped her hands and stalked off towards the
dormitory to collect her stuff.
"You really are dim-witted, Trepe." Keladryie remarked as she came forward after
witnessing the exchange between the pair. Willard looked at the tall girl.
"Shut up." He growled and shoved his hands deep into his pockets and slunk off.
Keladryie chuckled softly, her lips twisting into a wry grin.
"I've seen that smile on Seifer before." A dry male voice commented. Keladryie
whipped around to face Squall, her eyes wide, as she was finally face to face with
the evil her father spoke of.
"Squall Leonhart." She spat as she took in his blank expression. He nodded and
showed her a ghost of a smile.
"You are Keladryie I'm assuming. I've heard a lot about you, you have Seifer's gift
for the gunblade." He dipped his head once politely and followed his daughter's
path through the dormitory.
Keladryie watched him go, her face showing an amused expression.
"He's not what I expected. I respect him because he's not stupid and a good hand
with a gunblade. Also because he didn't drag an argument down a generation."
She sighed softly. "I don't like him though." She grumbled and fled to the training
centre. "A respected enemy is an equal enemy."
~*~
"What did you say?" Chimed Garret and Macen. Willard shrugged and ran a hand
over his slicked back brown mane.
"Fureya took her stuff and left with Squall yesterday afternoon." He said coolly.
Keladryie laughed scornfully behind him.
"It's probably Trepe's fault anyway." She stated primly, drawing inquiring looks
from the pair of boys. "Their last conversation was an argument about something
Trepe didn't pick up on." She shrugged and walked away leaving Will alone to fend
off the accusing stares.
"What did you do?" Macen prodded, his sinewy arms crossed across his chest.
Willard shrugged apprehensively.
"I don't know. She stumbled across Annabelle and me a week ago and then
yesterday ranted something about being a girl. I already knew that." He explained
tensely. Garret groaned and punched Willard soundly in the arm.
"You bleating moron!" Macen growled in exasperation and rolled his eyes. "Think
about it." He finished as he and Garrett stood up and walked off to the cafeteria.
They'd just left when Keladryie sauntered back over to look Willard up and down
with a look of disbelief in her eyes.
"Still stuck on it?" She asked, twirling a lock of dark read hair around her fingers
distractively. Willard stood up and shrugged.
"I'm sure a night alone with you would get me unstuck." He taunted under his
breath, but sighed. There was no fun in it at the moment, so lifting a shoulder in a
half shrug; he left the room ignoring Keladryie's raging comments.
~*~
Fureya fiddled with her mother's necklace around her neck as the car drove up
their Deling City home driveway. For some reason she was nervous about seeing
Kaddar. She shook her head as the car slid to a gentle halt and got out of the car,
stretching silently.
"Rei!" Called out Kaddar as he came out the front door and hugged his sister. "I've
missed you. Nobody beats me and keeps me humble like you do." He joked,
drawing a smile from Fureya as she realized he did take his losses seriously.
"Missed you too, Kaddar." She murmured sincerely.
~*~
The week passed without much of a hiccup, Fureya learnt more of her mother from
her father while those at Balamb learnt of sorceresses.
Fureya was actually felt saddened when she was leaving to go back to Balamb,
she'd miss her father and brother a lot. Slowly she packed her single duffel bag full
of clothes and carefully tucked in a slender rectangle box deep into the clothes.
When she came out of her room with her bag slung over her back, she was
surprised to see Squall in a neatly pressed SeeD uniform.
"What's going on?" She said curiously as she ran a hand over her cadet uniform
skirt. Squall smiled mysteriously at his daughter, thrusting his sheathed gunblade
into his belt.
"Time to leave Reya." Squall said with a mysterious grin as he exited the house.
Fureya followed, pausing to hug her brother before throwing her duffel in the car.
As usual, the pair travelled in silence, but a comfortable silence.
~*~
The next day, Fureya slid in to class as usual, surprising her classmates. Her
classmates had been wrongly informed of her vacation as a departure.
"Fureya, your back." Willard murmured reproachfully. Fureya flashed him a smile
and nodded. Willard froze, he hadn't expected it or realized how much he missed
seeing it.
"I'm glad you're back." He said, his mood lightening up. Fureya grinned brightly at
Macen as he walked over, clapping her on the shoulder.
"Miss me much?" She teased him. Macen laughed and shrugged.
"I couldn't help myself princess." He retorted, drawing a laugh from the pair of
them.
"Hey, sit next to me." Fureya grinned and patted the other half of the bench seat.
"Amelia is sitting with Keladryie." Macen sat down with a smile.
"So tell me about your week."
Will, feeling a little strange, walked over to his seat and sat down. It wasn't long
before Garrett sat down next to him.
"What's up?" He asked, noting the strange look on his face.
"Nothing." Will grumbled, concentrating forcefully on his console. Garrett hid a
smile and waited silently for the outburst of information that would almost
indefinitely follow.
"Why is he so chummy with her all of a sudden? And why is she just as chummy
back?" He blurted out.
"Who?" Came the calm reply.
"Fureya and Macen!" Will growled. "They are all buddy-buddy and I'm left out. She
fakes a smile at me and then grins as bright as a lamp when he comes over. Then
it's like I'm not even there at all!"
"Maybe she's just in denial and the less time spent with you, the better. Or so she
thinks anyway." Reasoned Garrett calmly as Instructor Whippet entered the
classroom.
"Why denial?" Willard retorted, glancing across at the teacher.
"Denial over the love she has for you. She found you with Annabelle remember?"
Garrett whispered as Whippet sat down.
"Okay, silence now cadets. Today's topic will be Sorceresses and the sub topic
Hyne." He announced as Willard swallowed. Everything was falling into place for
him; Fureya's behaviour and the confusion and even her apparent dislike for his
flirtations. He zoned out as Whippet continued his spiel on Hyne, processing
thought over thought.
"Hyne was the first known sorceress and was once the ruler of Galbadia. It is
unclear in the history books of how she possessed such powers, just that she did.
"Hyne was born as Hydrae Koloa in Esthar. She possessed powers from birth and
grew up shunned by all because of her differences. She was shunned, yet
beautiful; long waves of dark crimson hair with vivid green eyes, cream skin and
delicate features. But inside, she was twisted with hatred and sadness. She never
felt love, friendship or kindness, just hatred, fear and pity from others. Her parents
abandoned her and she grew up in an orphanage. Children teased her and adults
ignored her. When she reached full maturity, physically and mentally, her powers
peaked and she overthrew the Galbadian government. It was there that she found
love in another abandoned shell of a human. He impregnated her and they had
offspring. Six children, named Shiva, Quezacotl, Ifrit, Diablos, Eden and Carbuncle.
But the children, who fell from her loins, were prophesised to be her demise.
Hydrae, who had taken on the name Hyne by then, blasted them with raw magic,
enough to kill them instantly. But instead of dying, the six children changed. They
became the Guardian Forces they are now, unable to finish off Hyne. The fled from
there and hid. They are waiting for the day their human forms are reborn. The six
children will fuse with the Guardian Forces and finish off the Sorceress line."
Impressive. Thought Fureya as she leant back into her seat.
"That explains why they joined forces with Balamb. They searched every child who
walked through these doors for traces of themselves. But now, they wait again."
Whippet finished.
"But sir." Piped up a student. "If that is so, then why did Headmistress Trepe
taboo the Guardian Forces from working with us?" Whippet turned his stony gaze
to the cadet.
"Because a Guardian Force inside your head destroys parts of your memory." He
said grimly.
"Oh." Said the student.
"I want you all to write what was just said in your own words." Whippet said firmly
as the class groaned.
"Why sir?" Piped up Keladryie.
"Because SeeD was created to oppose the sorceress line, and to oppose
something, you must know everything about it."
The gentle salty sea breeze tugged at Fureya's short raven locks as she stared
across the horizon over the sapphire surface of the ocean. Squall had brought his
daughter to the place of the accident that had stolen Rinoa's life away from them.
"I first met Rinoa Heartilly at the SeeD inauguration ball. She was wearing a silky
dress the colour of moonlight, creamy yellow white. We danced to a song titled
'Waltz for the moon'. It was the next day we were officially introduced; she was
the contractor and I as the client. She was part of a resistance faction called
'Forest Owls' in Timber; her father was General Caraway of the Galbadian army. It
was kind of a messy situation when you think about it." Squall grinned wryly,
glancing at his attentive daughter; information hungry Fureya was giving him her
full attention. "So Rinoa, daughter of General Caraway and the late singer Julia
Heartilly, where your middle name originates from, hired us SeeD to level out the
dispute and to carry out some resistance plans. You know how that all turned out,
we fought Sorceress Edea and won. That was about the time I saw her softer
side, some reptilian fiends attacked her. When we rescued her, she was paralysed
with fear; it cracked some of the ice around my frozen heart. In the end, she
became a sorceress and I her knight. Sorceress or not, Rinoa was still the most
beautiful woman I'd ever met. She touched people's hearts and spoke her own
without reservation. She was a true angel to me; she opened my heart up to the
world and taught me how to love. She gave you and Kaddar the same qualities
and you even inherited her angelic looks." By now, Squalls eyes shone with tears
but he smiled a smile full of love, devotion and happiness.
"I'll always love your mother and I'll always love you Reya." Fureya smiled her
face full of bittersweet emotions as she hugged her father tightly.
"I love you Dad."
The sombre pair cast a long look across the glinting surface of the ocean, silence
stretching between them. Fureya turned to head back to the Garden, but was
stopped by her fathers closed fist held out to her.
"Hold out your hand." Squall murmured softly. Fureya did as she was told and he
dropped something cold and hard into her hand.
Looking at it, she saw it was two silver rings with a fine silver chain threaded
through them. One ring was an unadorned wedding band; the other was a silver
wedding band with diamonds studded evenly around it and words etched inside the
band.
"The simple band is Julia Heartilly's wedding band and the other is Rinoa's wedding
band. The inscription reads 'Rinoa my love, forever and beyond.'" Fureya stared
up at her father in amazement as she realized what the rings meant.
"You're giving them to me?" As Squall nodded gravely, Fureya continued. "But this
is Mum's wedding ring, a symbol of the love you two cherished." She stammered.
Squall lifted his Griever necklace off of his chest to show Fureya.
"The ring that matches this pendant is where the wedding band should be on my
wife." He sucked in a shuddering breath and closed a fist around the pendant
tightly. "The rings are for you, Reya." Squall said firmly and strode off towards
Balamb.
Back at Balamb, the pair walked in silence around the circular corridor. Squall was
taken in by the fact very little had changed since he'd been here last and Fureya
was caught up in thoughts of her mother as she rubbed the diamond and silver
wedding band with her thumb.
"Fureya." A hesitant male voice called out, the voice was warm and soft in
Fureya's ears.
"Willard." She breathed instantly knowing who it was. He caught up and fell into
step next to her. Squall glanced across at him, sensing words that needed to be
said.
"Get your stuff and don't be too long Reya. We leave for Deling on the next train."
Squall commanded and veered off to go talk to Quistis.
"You're leaving?" Willard said softly, his grey eyes sharp. Fureya nodded, keeping
her own grey eyes forward and away from Wills face.
"Soon as I grab my stuff." She murmured quietly. Willard dropped his gaze to the
floor, his shoulders sagging with a non-existent weight.
"Ever since that day when Annabelle was in my dorm, you've barely said anything
to me. You haven't even looked me in the eye. I don't get it?" He explained with a
soft tone. Fureya turned to look him straight in the eye. The distressed light fused
with angry sparks in her grey eyes silenced Will as he opened his mouth to speak.
"I'm a girl, Willard Trepe." She hissed and cupped her breasts in her hands. "A girl.
I'm not like the rest of your friends; I'm not just one of the boys. I'm a girl!
Female!" And with that, she dropped her hands and stalked off towards the
dormitory to collect her stuff.
"You really are dim-witted, Trepe." Keladryie remarked as she came forward after
witnessing the exchange between the pair. Willard looked at the tall girl.
"Shut up." He growled and shoved his hands deep into his pockets and slunk off.
Keladryie chuckled softly, her lips twisting into a wry grin.
"I've seen that smile on Seifer before." A dry male voice commented. Keladryie
whipped around to face Squall, her eyes wide, as she was finally face to face with
the evil her father spoke of.
"Squall Leonhart." She spat as she took in his blank expression. He nodded and
showed her a ghost of a smile.
"You are Keladryie I'm assuming. I've heard a lot about you, you have Seifer's gift
for the gunblade." He dipped his head once politely and followed his daughter's
path through the dormitory.
Keladryie watched him go, her face showing an amused expression.
"He's not what I expected. I respect him because he's not stupid and a good hand
with a gunblade. Also because he didn't drag an argument down a generation."
She sighed softly. "I don't like him though." She grumbled and fled to the training
centre. "A respected enemy is an equal enemy."
~*~
"What did you say?" Chimed Garret and Macen. Willard shrugged and ran a hand
over his slicked back brown mane.
"Fureya took her stuff and left with Squall yesterday afternoon." He said coolly.
Keladryie laughed scornfully behind him.
"It's probably Trepe's fault anyway." She stated primly, drawing inquiring looks
from the pair of boys. "Their last conversation was an argument about something
Trepe didn't pick up on." She shrugged and walked away leaving Will alone to fend
off the accusing stares.
"What did you do?" Macen prodded, his sinewy arms crossed across his chest.
Willard shrugged apprehensively.
"I don't know. She stumbled across Annabelle and me a week ago and then
yesterday ranted something about being a girl. I already knew that." He explained
tensely. Garret groaned and punched Willard soundly in the arm.
"You bleating moron!" Macen growled in exasperation and rolled his eyes. "Think
about it." He finished as he and Garrett stood up and walked off to the cafeteria.
They'd just left when Keladryie sauntered back over to look Willard up and down
with a look of disbelief in her eyes.
"Still stuck on it?" She asked, twirling a lock of dark read hair around her fingers
distractively. Willard stood up and shrugged.
"I'm sure a night alone with you would get me unstuck." He taunted under his
breath, but sighed. There was no fun in it at the moment, so lifting a shoulder in a
half shrug; he left the room ignoring Keladryie's raging comments.
~*~
Fureya fiddled with her mother's necklace around her neck as the car drove up
their Deling City home driveway. For some reason she was nervous about seeing
Kaddar. She shook her head as the car slid to a gentle halt and got out of the car,
stretching silently.
"Rei!" Called out Kaddar as he came out the front door and hugged his sister. "I've
missed you. Nobody beats me and keeps me humble like you do." He joked,
drawing a smile from Fureya as she realized he did take his losses seriously.
"Missed you too, Kaddar." She murmured sincerely.
~*~
The week passed without much of a hiccup, Fureya learnt more of her mother from
her father while those at Balamb learnt of sorceresses.
Fureya was actually felt saddened when she was leaving to go back to Balamb,
she'd miss her father and brother a lot. Slowly she packed her single duffel bag full
of clothes and carefully tucked in a slender rectangle box deep into the clothes.
When she came out of her room with her bag slung over her back, she was
surprised to see Squall in a neatly pressed SeeD uniform.
"What's going on?" She said curiously as she ran a hand over her cadet uniform
skirt. Squall smiled mysteriously at his daughter, thrusting his sheathed gunblade
into his belt.
"Time to leave Reya." Squall said with a mysterious grin as he exited the house.
Fureya followed, pausing to hug her brother before throwing her duffel in the car.
As usual, the pair travelled in silence, but a comfortable silence.
~*~
The next day, Fureya slid in to class as usual, surprising her classmates. Her
classmates had been wrongly informed of her vacation as a departure.
"Fureya, your back." Willard murmured reproachfully. Fureya flashed him a smile
and nodded. Willard froze, he hadn't expected it or realized how much he missed
seeing it.
"I'm glad you're back." He said, his mood lightening up. Fureya grinned brightly at
Macen as he walked over, clapping her on the shoulder.
"Miss me much?" She teased him. Macen laughed and shrugged.
"I couldn't help myself princess." He retorted, drawing a laugh from the pair of
them.
"Hey, sit next to me." Fureya grinned and patted the other half of the bench seat.
"Amelia is sitting with Keladryie." Macen sat down with a smile.
"So tell me about your week."
Will, feeling a little strange, walked over to his seat and sat down. It wasn't long
before Garrett sat down next to him.
"What's up?" He asked, noting the strange look on his face.
"Nothing." Will grumbled, concentrating forcefully on his console. Garrett hid a
smile and waited silently for the outburst of information that would almost
indefinitely follow.
"Why is he so chummy with her all of a sudden? And why is she just as chummy
back?" He blurted out.
"Who?" Came the calm reply.
"Fureya and Macen!" Will growled. "They are all buddy-buddy and I'm left out. She
fakes a smile at me and then grins as bright as a lamp when he comes over. Then
it's like I'm not even there at all!"
"Maybe she's just in denial and the less time spent with you, the better. Or so she
thinks anyway." Reasoned Garrett calmly as Instructor Whippet entered the
classroom.
"Why denial?" Willard retorted, glancing across at the teacher.
"Denial over the love she has for you. She found you with Annabelle remember?"
Garrett whispered as Whippet sat down.
"Okay, silence now cadets. Today's topic will be Sorceresses and the sub topic
Hyne." He announced as Willard swallowed. Everything was falling into place for
him; Fureya's behaviour and the confusion and even her apparent dislike for his
flirtations. He zoned out as Whippet continued his spiel on Hyne, processing
thought over thought.
"Hyne was the first known sorceress and was once the ruler of Galbadia. It is
unclear in the history books of how she possessed such powers, just that she did.
"Hyne was born as Hydrae Koloa in Esthar. She possessed powers from birth and
grew up shunned by all because of her differences. She was shunned, yet
beautiful; long waves of dark crimson hair with vivid green eyes, cream skin and
delicate features. But inside, she was twisted with hatred and sadness. She never
felt love, friendship or kindness, just hatred, fear and pity from others. Her parents
abandoned her and she grew up in an orphanage. Children teased her and adults
ignored her. When she reached full maturity, physically and mentally, her powers
peaked and she overthrew the Galbadian government. It was there that she found
love in another abandoned shell of a human. He impregnated her and they had
offspring. Six children, named Shiva, Quezacotl, Ifrit, Diablos, Eden and Carbuncle.
But the children, who fell from her loins, were prophesised to be her demise.
Hydrae, who had taken on the name Hyne by then, blasted them with raw magic,
enough to kill them instantly. But instead of dying, the six children changed. They
became the Guardian Forces they are now, unable to finish off Hyne. The fled from
there and hid. They are waiting for the day their human forms are reborn. The six
children will fuse with the Guardian Forces and finish off the Sorceress line."
Impressive. Thought Fureya as she leant back into her seat.
"That explains why they joined forces with Balamb. They searched every child who
walked through these doors for traces of themselves. But now, they wait again."
Whippet finished.
"But sir." Piped up a student. "If that is so, then why did Headmistress Trepe
taboo the Guardian Forces from working with us?" Whippet turned his stony gaze
to the cadet.
"Because a Guardian Force inside your head destroys parts of your memory." He
said grimly.
"Oh." Said the student.
"I want you all to write what was just said in your own words." Whippet said firmly
as the class groaned.
"Why sir?" Piped up Keladryie.
"Because SeeD was created to oppose the sorceress line, and to oppose
something, you must know everything about it."