Quistis stepped lightly onto the cobblestone streets and paused momentarily as she took in her surroundings. Her brow lifted a bit in surprise as she notice the quaint cottages that lined the streets and the laughter that rolled from the people nearby. Everything's so… innocent, she thought. It's hard to imagine anything happening in this town. Frowning at her thoughts, she started down the main road, oblivious to the lean figure walking next to her.
"Can't imagine drugs in this place," Seifer announced loudly as he glanced at the nearby stalls of food and children fluttering along the edges of the streets.
"Mm hmm…" came the distracted reply as Quistis turned a corner, following the map she had been given by Cid. People around them didn't pause in the least bit or even acted as if they had notice their presence. Life, it seemed, was in full bloom here.
Seifer swung Hyperion loosely over his shoulder and loitered behind Quistis as he continued his exploration. A bracelet that shone with hard work and dedication, a child that glittered with joy for the lollipop he just got or a women laughing a full laugh from the depths of her throat. It's like a dream, he mused. How can these people be so happy? It wasn't until he looked ahead did he realize he had lost the tall figure of his companion.
Great.
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"What do you mean you have ONE room? What kind of inn has one room?" The bartender looked fearfully as the tall woman, flushed with fury, demanded an answer.
"W-w-we only have o-o-ne room", he repeated. "W-w-we have a-an attic i-f you want to u-u-se that. F-free of charge." Perspiration broke out across his face. This has never happened before.
Silent for a few moments, Quistis forced herself to calm down. She was yelling at the poor man for committing no crime and he looked almost ready to jump boat, so to say. What am I doing.. Shaking her head in disappointment, she looked guiltily at the frightened bartender, who was shrinking ever smaller behind the counter.
"Sir, I'm sorry for causing such a ruckus. If you could allow the usage of your attic, it would be greatly appreciated." Quistis bowed slightly in apology. "We will pay for that along with the one room that you have free." The man nodded furiously, handing two keys marked clearly with the number 5 on one and 'Attic' on the other, before shrinking once again behind the counter. Apologizing again, Quistis made her way up the narrow stairs and efficiently found number 5 marked on the second to last room down the hall. As she pulled the key out of the key hole, she placed that attic key on the miniature desk that had been placed decisively to her left, almost immediate to the entrance. Frowning again, she lingered on the piece of metal. She had already noticed that Seifer had fallen behind but had decided to let him. After all, he could find his own way here. Since he's such a great SeeD, she thought sarcastically. Tired with fatigue, she could not think beyond that but instead found herself sitting in the bath tub fifteen minutes later. A 28 hour train ride. What a nightmare. And since when had she been so weak? She should be studying the reports, trying to find out all she could from them.
I should be poring over them right now, she thought depressingly. Ever since her illness, she noticed, she had become less and less like herself and more like a dummy hidden behind masks. She was Quistis to everyone around her and merely a stranger to herself. No longer could she find the effort to read, to write or even just to laugh. She couldn't bear living as if tomorrow would always come when she knew for her, it would end with today.
As the tears threatened to fall, Quistis Trepe could not find any meaning in her life, no matter how long she searched.
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The rain had started again, Quistis noticed. Glancing up from her reports, she watched, almost enchanted as the drops fell gently upon the rows of slanted rooftops before sliding gracefully onto the streets. The bustle of people had slowly dispersed before Quistis could no longer see any heads bobbing outside her window. Most had gone home, curtaining windows, and stuffing chimneys. Strange, she thought. Rain was never a depressing thing for her.
Shaking her head out of the clouds, she focused back on her report just as a half-naked Seifer stepped out of the bathroom.
"You know," Quistis started without looking up, "They're probably still here." Seifer continued to towel his scalp. "Where would you take two trained SeeDs where they aren't able to find some means of communication…?" She was talking more to herself than to Seifer.
"I can't believe the woman poured the bucket right over me." Seifer glowered at the thought of his trip around town as he swung open her room door and slammed it shut after he left. The nerve of the man.
Quistis winced at the noise as the pounding in her head became a rock concert. Rubbing her temples, she rummaged through her bag for the bottle of pills she kept with her, pulling out things left and right.
An urgent knock on her door slowed her from her quest of the pill. Irritated, she opened the door to the face of a pale, young man. "M'am, you have to come downstairs." Panic threatened to overwhelm him as his knees knocked together and his brow became covered in sweat.
"Whats wrong?" She laid a hand on his shoulder, hoping to calm him long enough to understand him.
"T-the man downstairs, he told m-me to come get you. It's so h-horrible." Shivering all over again, he rushed inside Quistis's room, despite Quistis efforts to stop him, and inside the bathroom, quickly following by sounds of retching. Unsure what was going on around her, Quistis made her way swiftly downstairs.
Everything was as it was before. The bartender had gotten over his fear and was lazily polishing glasses, despite tables being more empty than occupied. The few who were there were laughing loudly and striking chats with the few they didn't know but other than that, she could not pick out anything out of the ordinary. Quistis became lost for a mere moment before she rushed her way upstairs and into her room. She had been a moment too late. The man was gone and so were her reports and bag.
Dammit!
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A/N: Omg, I'm so sorry for the late update. Frightfully late update. I've lost slight interest in this story but I'll leave it up for the time being. I think, personally, I'll still make updates, but they'll end up like this one: extremely late and rare. This is going to take a while to finish. If you guys want, I think it would be fun to add in chapter by chapter from different people. If you're pissed that I haven't updated, write the next chapter in this story and email it to me. I'll see which one fits along with the story and post it up. ^-^