Author's Note: Hi, everyone! ^^ I'm really pissed that there's no school today cuz I was supposed to have a field trip today. But that means my math quiz gets delayed till Monday. I'll shut up now.

Verdanii- Thanks for your review again! ^_^ I really appreciate it!

Renegade Seraph- ^___^ Don't worry, you'll get read about Rinoa lots more in later chapters. I'm not a very big Rinoa fan (although I don't hate her) so I tend to stick to Quistis more cuz I think Quistis has a deeper side to her. Quistis will change as the fanfic progresses, however, but I don't want to give the story away. Thank you!

Alareic-Thank you so much for your kind review! I hope you update your FFVIII novelization soon!

Thank you all for your reviews! I really appreciate it! ^^

Disclaimer: So I was thinking…does a group of people own the Squaresoft company, or does ONE person do cuz they thought of the idea? Hmmm…lots to think about here.

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:: Recurring Conversations:: 

"It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

                                                            -J.K. Rowling (Our all-time favorite author ^^)

            The long month of September, as Quistis had hoped, was over quickly. Over the past few weeks, ever since she had came back from her tour of Balamb Garden, Quistis had been pouring herself through her father's military books again and again to fully understand the concepts and knowledge that was required of a Garden member, particularly a member of SeeD.

To her disappointment, however, Quistis was not able to find any sort of material relating to the Guardian Forces that Headmaster Cid had talked to her about. When she asked her father about it, however, he had explained to her:

"Balamb Garden is the only military academy that uses Guardian Forces, Quistis," He told her, "The other Gardens discourage the uses of GFs because they believe them to be too powerful and dangerous to handle."

"Then why does Headmaster Cid allow his students to use the GF?" Quistis had questioned him.

            James had looked at her gently. "Because," he said, "Cid trusts in his students and believes that they'll put this additional power into good use."

Her father's words rang in her head all day. This Balamb Garden was certainly very different from all the other Gardens that she had been introduced to. More…lenient and open. She thought to herself. Nevertheless, she was glad to have been invited to join Balamb Garden—by the headmaster himself.

Quistis sat on her bed, crouched over a book that explained to her the best way magic could be junctioned to increase her strength and stamina. There was a lot of information that she had to learn, but she had been prepared for that since the beginning. Never, though, did she realize how complicated most of the junctioning and battle techniques were.

            When her father had talked about the SeeD trainings and battles that he had seen, he had always made it sound so easy. Normally, Quistis wouldn't have studied over the materials and details as hard, but her inspiration and desire to become a member of SeeD forced her to understand the information in the context fully.

            Concentrating on the reading, she didn't notice when Rinoa walked in and lied down on her bed, staring at Quistis.

            "Hey."

Quistis looked up, and her eyebrows rose in surprise. "Oh! Hey, Rin. When did you come in?" Her eyes traveled back down to the book and she flipped a page.

Rinoa rolled her eyes as she watched Quistis continue to read. "Oh, um, let's see…I came in just about a second ago, but Ms. Soon-to-be-SeeD over here was too busy pouring over her precious books to notice me." Her voice held obvious sarcasm.

Quistis sat still for a moment and then slapped her book shut after marking her page. She looked up again at Rinoa, eyebrows furrowed. "Well, I'm so-rry, Ms. Caraway." Her head jerked to the side as she snapped back. "You know I'm going to become an official member of Garden after tomorrow, and I want to study hard so I can join SeeD quicker."

Rinoa watched her step-sister flip onto her bed, back facing her. She pouted. "Well!" She huffed, her voice shaky. "You…you know…you could've at least spent some time with me before you go off to Garden. Instead, you just sit here and cram information into your head without realizing who's gonna miss you when you're gone." Her tears threatened to spill.

Quistis softened and rolled onto her other side, facing Rinoa now, whose mouth was still brought up in a pout. "Rinny," she said, "I'm not going to be gone. Besides, haven't we already been through this? I'll only be "gone" for a couple of months but I'll visit you and Mom and Dad frequently…maybe some time over the weekends. But usually I'll need the time to study, you know."

Rinoa sniffed and stuff her face into her pillow. "I know, I know. I don't wanna talk about this anymore. It makes my head hurt." She turned her back to Quistis, bringing her pillow with her.

Sighing, Quistis grabbed her book and trudged out of the room, her mind now jumbled with her and Rinoa's short conversation.

She ran beneath the trees, the moon silhouetting her lightly-clothed figure. Her breath came in short, quick gasps. Stumbling over the deracinated tree roots, she felt a shiver fly up her spine as a high, womanish laughter flew past her, mocking her.

The girl sprinted even faster, pressuring herself forward, ignoring the pain in her legs.

Foolish, foolish girl! Running will get you nowhere!

Glancing back towards the darkening trees, a scream wrenched from the girl as she tripped over a rock. Gripping her teeth in pain, the girl now dragged her body as well as her sprained ankle behind her, cursing.

Shivers flowed through her body again and again as the high-pitched vibes curled against her skin.

I can't die here! After what they did for me…there's no way I'm dying here in this Hyne forsaken who-knows-where! She cried to herself. Laughter rustled through the trees and the girl looked around, heart pumping.

Gathering up her courage, she screamed out into the open, "You ungrateful witch! If you've still got the guts to come out, then do so!" She slightly whimpered in pain as the ache in her ankle increased all of a sudden.

Stupid girl! If not the Elder, you're the one who should've known where my intentions truly lied! But you were too blind, girl! Too young and foolish to understand! And now the power rests in my hands!

"NO!" The girl cried out, her fists beat the ground. "Everyone was sacrificed to defeat you! You shouldn't deserve to have that power! NO!" Another sharp jolt of pain crawled up her leg, stronger than the previous. She shrieked and clutched her fists in the grass, reluctant to move her leg any longer.

Impudent human! Sacrifices and death are nothing new to me. The wind hissed and howled between the branches. But as a gift…or rather, as a reminder of me, I shall leave a gift for your people---in you.

"Wha--?!" The girl gasped as wind swept over her. Her eyesight suddenly became blurry and the woman's words sounded slurred and distant in her mind.

I think you will find this gift rather…interesting, foolish mortal…yes… interesting--- and cursed.

A bolt of thunder flashed in the distance as rain started to fall. The girl's head hit the soiled, wet ground as she slipped into darkness, never noticing the small river of blood that slowly flowed towards her cold, still body.   

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AN: One major thing I noticed while I was writing was that I can never get to the point quick enough. I always have to put in this whole little bunch of details that I hate reading in other authors' stories and here I am doing the same thing in my fanfic. *Sigh* I don't feel so good about this chapter. I hope the next one will be better…and more straight to the point. I know you guys hate reading all these little side details, too. I haveta learn not to write too much of them or I'll bore you guys. But keep those reviews coming anyways! Thank you! ^_^