--Desperation--
Squall awakened the next morning, feeling uneasy. He got dressed in his usual attire - a plain white T-shirt underneath a black leather jacket with a fur collar, black gloves, 3 belts, two of them forming an X, and black jeans.
He looked at his clock sitting on the nightstand next to his room. It was 8:30. He yawned and looked around in his dormitory. His gunblade, sitting on a desk against the wall, was well-polished, and there was also a set of bullets sitting next to it. His SeeD uniform was hanging on the opposite wall, immaculately clean because it was rarely used. His room was plain, with a tile floor and white walls. Squall slipped a keycard into a slot to open his door and walked out.
He was expecting noise at this time of morning, but there was complete silence. Only silence. As he stepped into the main hall, he looked to the right and his eyes widened as he witnessed Rinoa staggering out of the infirmary, her wound still bandaged. However, there was an unearthly aura about her.
"Rinoa!" Squall said, "What are you doing out of the infirmary?"
Silence.
"Rinoa?"
Still silence. Something was wrong.
"Rinoa?!"
Squall heard Rinoa's voice, but it wasn't her.
"Rinoa isn't there. She won't hear you, no matter how loudly you speak."
("What's going on? Rinoa's never been like this... Unless... No, it couldn't be that...")
Rinoa... Or whoever it was began to walk away.
"Wait!"
Rinoa didn't hear him. Rinoa was gone. She continued to walk away, ignoring Squall.
("I don't understand this...")
Squall walked slowly around the path to the elevator. He walked in, and as the doors closed, he pressed the '3F' button. The cylinder-shaped elevator moved quickly upward, coming to a stop at Cid's office.
Cid's office was the exact opposite of Squall's dormitory. It was finely furnished, with potted plants sitting atop desks by the polished wooden walls, a beautiful rug sitting on the floor, and a full wardrobe of good suits that Cid never used.
Squall knocked on the door to Garden's control room.
"Headmaster, this is Squall. It's an emergency."
Cid walked to the door, wondering what this emergency is, and why Squall needed to report it to him, and slid a cardkey through a slot, thus opening the door.
"Don't just stand there, come in," Cid said invitingly.
Squall just stood where he was, and Cid shook his head amusingly. Squall was never a very social person.
"It's Rinoa. She walked out of the infirmary earlier. I saw her and called out to her. After a few attempts at getting her attention, she said something very odd, sir."
Cid was curious about this. "Just what did she say?"
"She said, 'Rinoa isn't there. She won't hear you, no matter how loudly you speak.' She just walked out of Garden after that, ignoring me."
Cid started to think hard about this. He could only think of one possible thing, but... No, it isn't possible...
"Squall, I think you should look into this. Something's wrong with Rinoa, and it needs to be taken care of, fast. I'm afraid that the outcome of this may be terrible..."
In the meantime, Rinoa was well away from Balamb Garden. She walked along the road with no lack of energy. Suddenly, Rinoa's voice could be heard inside of her head.
("What is this..? I can't feel anything, everything's so cold... What's going on?!")
("Your body is no longer yours. You're nothing but a puppet now.")
("What's happening to me?!")
("Hehe... Ironic, isn't it? Trapped within your own mind... I believe that you've experienced this before, correct?")
("But... Y-You're dead! We all killed you, and S-Squall saw you passing on your powers...")
("Even death can't stop me. My body is gone, yet my soul still lives, and I can still make use of others' bodies, as you know.")
By now, she was at Balamb. Rinoa's possessor, seeing through her eyes, observed the peaceful streets of Balamb.
("What a pity,") she thought, ("They'll all be gone soon...")
("No! What do you want with me?!") Rinoa thought.
("You're the only sorceress alive now. Edea passed her powers to you, and Adel's dead, so that makes you the last sorceress...")
("What are you going to use me for???")
"Um, excuse me, miss," the train conductor said, "Are you going to buy a ticket or not?"
"Oh, sorry," Rinoa said. "I'll buy a ticket to Deling city."
"You'll have to go to Timber first, then take a train from there to reach Deling City."
The conductor paused, then said, "I've seen your face before... Who are you?"
"U-Um..." She racked her mind to think of a name. "Ellone Lo-" She paused again, wondering if it was safe to use Loire. "Ellone Leonhart, sir."
"Okay, I guess I was mistaken. Anyway, get on the train."
Rinoa - or whoever it was stepped silently onto the train. She sat down on a cold steel bench and felt the rumbling as the train took off. She observed the underwater tunnel passing by quickly, with glass sides reinforced by Protect and Shell para-magic. She marvelled at how inept normal people were at casting magic. As the train resurfaced and travelled to Timber, Rinoa once again spoke up.
("What are you going to use me for???")
("You don't need to know... You'll be dead by the time my goal's achieved.")
Rinoa, trapped in her own body and mind, could do nothing but hope for the best...
As the train came to a stop at Timber, the old town now free of Galbadian occupation, Rinoa walked out and saw Zone, in his yellow vest and brown pants.
"R-Rinoa?"
Rinoa no longer cared about keeping her identity a secret.
"Rinoa's gone..."
Zone backed up. "Rinoa, what're you talking about?"
Rinoa's eyes gleamed. "I already told you, she's gone... Not to worry, you're next!"
Zone, normally carefree, seemed serious suddenly. "This isn't funny, Rinoa!"
"Who says I'm joking? You're only refusing to see the the truth... You see, history often repeats itself..."
Meanwhile, from his bed in Balamb Garden's infirmary, Laguna was contacting the commander of his army.
"So Esthar's been captured, right?" Laguna said, looking concerned.
"Yeah, I think we should try to recapture it and use it as a base. We have lots of places that we could fire from."
"... Send them before Galbadia gets their defenses ready for an attack," Laguna said, hanging up the telephone with a satisfied look on his face. This was going to be a complete success. Esthar was the greatest country in the world, with amazing technology and a well-supplied army. Their army was the only in the world with airplanes, putting Galbadia at a disadvantage. Galbadia had to scale mountains to get into Esthar, while Esthar soldiers could fly in anytime. Dr. Odine was Esthar's greatest asset, poviding the army with amazing weapons.
Laguna called Dr. Odine just then.
"Dr. Odine, you remember the Sorceress Rinoa, right?"
"... Yes. She acted very odd this morning. Despite my complaints, she just walked out of the room. There was a mysterious aura around her."
"... No, that couldn't be possible..." he said, "But just as a precaution..."
"Yeah," he said as he hung up the telephone. This was going to be risky, and if he succeeded, he knew that Squall would never forgive him.
Squall awakened the next morning, feeling uneasy. He got dressed in his usual attire - a plain white T-shirt underneath a black leather jacket with a fur collar, black gloves, 3 belts, two of them forming an X, and black jeans.
He looked at his clock sitting on the nightstand next to his room. It was 8:30. He yawned and looked around in his dormitory. His gunblade, sitting on a desk against the wall, was well-polished, and there was also a set of bullets sitting next to it. His SeeD uniform was hanging on the opposite wall, immaculately clean because it was rarely used. His room was plain, with a tile floor and white walls. Squall slipped a keycard into a slot to open his door and walked out.
He was expecting noise at this time of morning, but there was complete silence. Only silence. As he stepped into the main hall, he looked to the right and his eyes widened as he witnessed Rinoa staggering out of the infirmary, her wound still bandaged. However, there was an unearthly aura about her.
"Rinoa!" Squall said, "What are you doing out of the infirmary?"
Silence.
"Rinoa?"
Still silence. Something was wrong.
"Rinoa?!"
Squall heard Rinoa's voice, but it wasn't her.
"Rinoa isn't there. She won't hear you, no matter how loudly you speak."
("What's going on? Rinoa's never been like this... Unless... No, it couldn't be that...")
Rinoa... Or whoever it was began to walk away.
"Wait!"
Rinoa didn't hear him. Rinoa was gone. She continued to walk away, ignoring Squall.
("I don't understand this...")
Squall walked slowly around the path to the elevator. He walked in, and as the doors closed, he pressed the '3F' button. The cylinder-shaped elevator moved quickly upward, coming to a stop at Cid's office.
Cid's office was the exact opposite of Squall's dormitory. It was finely furnished, with potted plants sitting atop desks by the polished wooden walls, a beautiful rug sitting on the floor, and a full wardrobe of good suits that Cid never used.
Squall knocked on the door to Garden's control room.
"Headmaster, this is Squall. It's an emergency."
Cid walked to the door, wondering what this emergency is, and why Squall needed to report it to him, and slid a cardkey through a slot, thus opening the door.
"Don't just stand there, come in," Cid said invitingly.
Squall just stood where he was, and Cid shook his head amusingly. Squall was never a very social person.
"It's Rinoa. She walked out of the infirmary earlier. I saw her and called out to her. After a few attempts at getting her attention, she said something very odd, sir."
Cid was curious about this. "Just what did she say?"
"She said, 'Rinoa isn't there. She won't hear you, no matter how loudly you speak.' She just walked out of Garden after that, ignoring me."
Cid started to think hard about this. He could only think of one possible thing, but... No, it isn't possible...
"Squall, I think you should look into this. Something's wrong with Rinoa, and it needs to be taken care of, fast. I'm afraid that the outcome of this may be terrible..."
In the meantime, Rinoa was well away from Balamb Garden. She walked along the road with no lack of energy. Suddenly, Rinoa's voice could be heard inside of her head.
("What is this..? I can't feel anything, everything's so cold... What's going on?!")
("Your body is no longer yours. You're nothing but a puppet now.")
("What's happening to me?!")
("Hehe... Ironic, isn't it? Trapped within your own mind... I believe that you've experienced this before, correct?")
("But... Y-You're dead! We all killed you, and S-Squall saw you passing on your powers...")
("Even death can't stop me. My body is gone, yet my soul still lives, and I can still make use of others' bodies, as you know.")
By now, she was at Balamb. Rinoa's possessor, seeing through her eyes, observed the peaceful streets of Balamb.
("What a pity,") she thought, ("They'll all be gone soon...")
("No! What do you want with me?!") Rinoa thought.
("You're the only sorceress alive now. Edea passed her powers to you, and Adel's dead, so that makes you the last sorceress...")
("What are you going to use me for???")
"Um, excuse me, miss," the train conductor said, "Are you going to buy a ticket or not?"
"Oh, sorry," Rinoa said. "I'll buy a ticket to Deling city."
"You'll have to go to Timber first, then take a train from there to reach Deling City."
The conductor paused, then said, "I've seen your face before... Who are you?"
"U-Um..." She racked her mind to think of a name. "Ellone Lo-" She paused again, wondering if it was safe to use Loire. "Ellone Leonhart, sir."
"Okay, I guess I was mistaken. Anyway, get on the train."
Rinoa - or whoever it was stepped silently onto the train. She sat down on a cold steel bench and felt the rumbling as the train took off. She observed the underwater tunnel passing by quickly, with glass sides reinforced by Protect and Shell para-magic. She marvelled at how inept normal people were at casting magic. As the train resurfaced and travelled to Timber, Rinoa once again spoke up.
("What are you going to use me for???")
("You don't need to know... You'll be dead by the time my goal's achieved.")
Rinoa, trapped in her own body and mind, could do nothing but hope for the best...
As the train came to a stop at Timber, the old town now free of Galbadian occupation, Rinoa walked out and saw Zone, in his yellow vest and brown pants.
"R-Rinoa?"
Rinoa no longer cared about keeping her identity a secret.
"Rinoa's gone..."
Zone backed up. "Rinoa, what're you talking about?"
Rinoa's eyes gleamed. "I already told you, she's gone... Not to worry, you're next!"
Zone, normally carefree, seemed serious suddenly. "This isn't funny, Rinoa!"
"Who says I'm joking? You're only refusing to see the the truth... You see, history often repeats itself..."
Meanwhile, from his bed in Balamb Garden's infirmary, Laguna was contacting the commander of his army.
"So Esthar's been captured, right?" Laguna said, looking concerned.
"Yeah, I think we should try to recapture it and use it as a base. We have lots of places that we could fire from."
"... Send them before Galbadia gets their defenses ready for an attack," Laguna said, hanging up the telephone with a satisfied look on his face. This was going to be a complete success. Esthar was the greatest country in the world, with amazing technology and a well-supplied army. Their army was the only in the world with airplanes, putting Galbadia at a disadvantage. Galbadia had to scale mountains to get into Esthar, while Esthar soldiers could fly in anytime. Dr. Odine was Esthar's greatest asset, poviding the army with amazing weapons.
Laguna called Dr. Odine just then.
"Dr. Odine, you remember the Sorceress Rinoa, right?"
"... Yes. She acted very odd this morning. Despite my complaints, she just walked out of the room. There was a mysterious aura around her."
"... No, that couldn't be possible..." he said, "But just as a precaution..."
"Yeah," he said as he hung up the telephone. This was going to be risky, and if he succeeded, he knew that Squall would never forgive him.