*I don't own Final Fantasy VIII or any of its characters *sigh* *
Igor and Exhile, Thanx for everything!
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*Chapter 9 – Separated*
It was still early, although the sun was already high in the sky. It was one of those days when you just can't be in bad mood. Li'l boys were playing around their houses, pretending to be true SeeDs, killing monsters all over the world. Every one of them wanted to take the role of commander. One li'l brown haired boy was showing the others a wooden gunblade his father made for him. They all looked at it with admiration, there were no doubts that he'll be today's commander. Suddenly, they saw a cat on the street in front of them. They all started running toward it, yelling and laughing. The cat looked at them and lazily jumped on the window above her.
Girls were picking flowers on one charming flower field. They made themselves flower necklaces, and started dancing through the field. Flower petals were flying all around them and a wonderful flower fragrance was in the air. Girls were dancing and pretending they were powerful sorceresses who can do whatever they want. They could find themselves a knight in shining armor and make all kinds of chocolate and sweets with their magic. After a while, they just threw themselves on soft grass, laughing. A white feather fell on the ground.
Young couples were walking on the beach. Enjoying the sun and company of the person they love. All the worries they had were gone.
A SeeD, commander, was walking, looking in front of him, but not seeing anything. His mind was empty, his eyes were empty, but not his soul. His soul was full of sorrow, desperation, confusion, grief… and love.
A girl, sorceress, was sitting on the bed, looking at the wall in front of her. Images were flying in front of her eyes, blood, glass, and his body lying somewhere. Her eyes were full of sorrow, desperation, confusion, grief… and love. Her mind was empty; she still didn't want to know what had happened. And then she made a decision.
Two persons were sitting alone.
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Seifer was in his room, cleaning his Hyperion, when he heard knocking.
"Come in, it's open." He knew already who it was. This though brought smile on his face. ~Guess I'm telepathic too.~ Elly rushed in.
"We must go to Edea!" She said quickly.
He looked at her, rose his eyebrows, and smiled.
"Good morning to you too, Elly."
"Damn it Seifer, It's serious! Squall is missing, we must report all we know!" She said in one breath.
"Ok, calm down, sit and tell me what happened." Smile disappeared from his face.
Elly sat on his bed and took a breath.
"I was in the Quad, and I've heard Rinoa calling me…" She wanted to continue, but was interrupted.
"Rinoa? Is she okay?" Seifer interrupted her. He didn't hide his concern. He didn't even have to; it was too obvious to her that he was concerned.
"She is fine, as much as she can be now. She came back, she's in her dorm now, waiting for us."
Seifer's eyes were telling her to continue.
"I've heard her calling me, and then…" She stopped; she still didn't know what was that. She didn't have time to think about it till now. She looked at Seifer, his eyes encouraged to talk. "…Then I saw images…first they were blur, but then I saw Rinoa, Squall's office and that glass statue he has there. So, instead of going to Balamb, I went to check out what's going on in Squall's office. There I saw Rinoa, kneeling on the floor, looking at one spot behind Squall's desk. I went there. The floor was covered in blood and pieces of glass." She said quickly. ~Now then I think about it… the statue was missing.~
"Okay, lets go then."
Seifer knocked on the Headmaster's doors. Elly and Rinoa were standing behind him. Elly was observing Rinoa. Rinoa looked strangely calm. She had a determined look in her eyes. It was complete opposite of the state she was in before. When Elly found her in Squall's office, she looked distant, as if she was absent.
The door opened. Edea was standing in front of them. She realized something was wrong when she saw Elly's worried expression. Seifer's face didn't show anything, he had always hid his true emotions. Rinoa looked strange, Edea couldn't define her expression. She raised her eyebrows, expecting an explanation.
"Matron, we have to speak with you and the Headmaster." Seifer's voice was showing everything his face was hiding. His voice was slightly trembling. It wasn't too obvious, but Edea has known him since he was a little boy, and she knew when he was upset.
"Come in." She moved from the door, and went behind Headmaster's desk. Cid was studying some papers; he raised his head as they entered.
"Sir," Seifer started. "I must report you some unusual things that happened this morning." Cid nodded, showing him to continue. "We went to Commander's office, and he wasn't there. There was blood on the floor behind his desk."
"Maybe he's in his dorm?" Cid asked.
"He isn't." Rinoa spoke. No one asked her how she knows that. Cid nodded.
"So, which is your conclusion?" He asked. Seifer looked at Elly. They didn't make any conclusions.
"We don't know."
"All right, I'll send someone to investigate. Anything else?"
"Matron? We… well, Elly and I, think that Squall is possessed."
Rinoa suddenly looked at them, taken aback. Cid was as much surprised, but Edea didn't look surprised at all.
"We think he's under a spell." Seifer continued. "And we were wondering if it's possible…that one person, somehow absorbs power from other persons." He looked at Edea.
"People from Elron?" Edea asked. Elly nodded.
"It's possible, but the person should be very powerful or have a powerful magical item to do that."
"Sir, we're asking permission to go to Elron and research the Green Cave." Seifer turned to Cid.
"Why do you think he is possessed, and what this has to do with his disappearing?"
"He was acting strangely lately, it seemed that he doesn't even recognize us, he was working all days and night."
Cid didn't appear convinced.
"Seifer?" Elly spoke suddenly. "You told me that you have tried to fight the spell when you were possessed, what happened then?"
Seifer didn't understand what is Elly trying to do.
"I would felt piercing pain in my had, sometimes even loose conscience."
"I have a theory," Elly said after short thinking. "What if, Squall is really possessed? Try to imagine this; Squall was sitting and working, he started realizing that he's possessed." ~Maybe…those pictures?~ "He stood up, he felt pain and fall."
"What about blood?" Seifer interrupted her.
"I'm coming to it. As he falls, he grabs the glass statue, which was staying behind his desk, and the statue fells with him. That explains glass and blood."
"But it doesn't explain where did he disappear?" Cid still didn't seem convinced.
"Maybe someone came and took him. Like when Ultimecia took me with her in Timber" Seifer tried to solve this.
"Something doesn't fit here." Edea finally spoke. "To do that, person should be really powerful, even a sorceress has to be very powerful to make a portal and take someone with her. A person couldn't absorb that much power from Elron people, there weren't a lot of powerful persons there.
There was a short silence, everyone was thinking, trying to put all the pieces together, except Cid, he was thinking if this makes any sense. Knocking broke the silence. Nida entered.
"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting something, but I have to know if we have a new course, and as Commander left, I thought I should ask you, Headmaster."
"How do you know that Commander left?" Cid gave him a suspicious look.
"I saw him leaving, twenty minutes ago."
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Ian was sitting on the center of a big, green, circular room. His legs were crossed. Big drops of sweat were rolling down his face.
"Hell, finally!" Ian yelled suddenly.
~Why the hell does he have to be that strong!~
"Something wrong?" Searyn spoke; she was standing behind him for some time already. She was wandering if this was a good thing to do. It seemed too risky, but than again, she could rule the world if they succeed.
"No, not anymore my queen." He said, with respect.
"What happened?" There was something that sounded like concern in Searyn's voice.
"Stupid knight had started using his mind, but it's all under control now. He is on his way." He turned around to face her. "I really hope that your plan works, because one thing is to control a commander of a garden, and the other is to bring him here!"
"As long as you can control him, there's nothing to worry. You are powerful enough, aren't you?" She grinned and left.
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"Why the hell didn't you tell me before?! Don't you think I had a right to know?" Rinoa yelled as Elly and Seifer came out of the elevator. She left first, when Nida left, and was waiting for them on the first floor, in front of the elevator.
Seifer wanted to say something, but Rinoa didn't let him. "Why… How could you let me think that he never cared about me? I… I thought I meant nothing to him. How could you stay quiet when you knew he might be in danger?! He… I..." Tears started running down her check. "I might never see him again…" Seifer hugged her.
"Shhhhh, we'll find him, everything is going to be alright… shhhh…"
They stood like that for some time, until Rinoa calmed a little. When she realised that Seifer is that close to her, she slowly pulled her arms off him, she didn't want him to notice it, but she was still afraid near him. He noticed, actually he was expecting it. Elly felt terrible, the idea of not telling anything to Rinoa didn't seemed as good as before.
"I'm sorry Rin," Seifer started. "We've never wanted to hurt you, we didn't want you to get hurt again. What if we were wrong, we would give you a false hope. We just wanted the best for you."
~Will you ever forgive me.~ Rinoa heard a desperate plead. She turned toward Elly, and saw tears in her eyes.
"Oh, Elly!" Rinoa hugged her friend. "I'm sorry, it's just that I'm so worried. I didn't blame any of you. You're right, I couldn't stand to get hurt again…"
Elly looked at Rinoa. "You heard me, you're getting stronger!" Both girls smiled while tears were running down their cheeks.
"Yea… I guess I am."
*Announcement: Seifer Almasy, please come to my office.*
"I have to hurry, Cid will kill me if I come late again!" Seifer said and entered in the elevator.
"Are you in the mood to go to Training Center?" Elly asked.
"No, I'm not, I…. Oh no! I forgot Angelo! Poor boy he's still waiting for me!" Rinoa ran to get her four-legged friend. Elly followed her.
As they exited from garden, Rinoa saw her two friends playing. Quistis was sitting on the bench, and Angelo put his front legs on her knees. He was barking happily. As he saw Rinoa, he ran toward her.
"Sorry boy, I forgot you were here."
"I wanted to go in the Garden, but he didn't want to."
"Yea, I told him to wait me here."
"Hi Quistis, shouldn't you be on the class?" Elly asked.
"No, I have a day off so I went for a walk, when I came back, I saw Angelo so I stood here to make him company."
"Quis, how long are you here?" Rinoa asked.
"About half an hour."
"Did you see Squall leaving?" Rinoa's voice trembled slightly.
"Yes, I saw him, he said he has a mission."
"Did you notice anything strange about him?" Rinoa stood silent, so Elly asked instead of her.
"He wore his white T-shirt, and there was blood on it, but I guess he came from Training Center.
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"Sir?" Seifer saluted.
"On time? I didn't expect you yet." Cid smiled at him. He noticed Seifer wasn't amused so he continued. "I'll let you to investigate Squall's disappearing. I think… well, Edea thinks that you should visit that cave in Esthar."
"Who's going sir?"
"I was thinking about sending you, Zell, and Irvine. Quistis, Elly and Selphie will be investigating from here. I don't think Rinoa should go with you. Do you agree with this?"
"Sir, why are you asking me?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you, I think you should lead this mission."
"I don't think others would be happy with it."
"Don't worry about it." Cid smiled again.
He went toward his desk and pressed a button.
*Announcement: Zell Dincht, Selphie Tilmitt, Quistis Trepe, Elly Liverel and Irvine Kinneas, please come to my office*
A minute after, everyone was at Headmasters office.
"I have a mission for you. As you know, our Commander disappeared under suspicious conditions. Zell and Irvine, you're going to Green Cave with Seifer. We believe that his disappearing has something to do with the previous accident. Quistis and Selphie, you will investigate from here. Elly, you're on communications." He stopped and then continued, watching Zell, Irvine and Seifer: "You're leaving tomorrow morning at 9:00. One more thing, squad leader is Seifer."
Seifer observed their reaction. Irvine was surprised, but he hid it well, on the other hand, Zell was furious, but he didn't say anything.
"Any questions?" Cid asked.
Silence.
"You are free to go, Ragnarok will await you tomorrow at 8:55."
They all saluted and left.
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Rinoa was sleeping on her bed, hugging Squall's black jacket. Angelo was on the balcony, enjoying on the warm sun. It was around 7:00 pm. When her friends went to Headmasters office, she went to Squall's dorm, to see if she can find anything strange. There wasn't anything suspicious, but she found his jacket on the bed, she remembered Quistis saying he wore only his T-shirt when he left. She took it and went to her dorm.
Knocking woke her.
Quistis opened the door.
"Hey Rin, will you come to diner with us?" She asked. She came here to call her for lunch too, but when she saw her friend sleeping, she didn't want to wake her up.
Rinoa slowly opened her eyes.
"Umm, what time is it?"
"You have fifteen minutes till the diner."
"Ok, I'll be there."
Quistis gave her a smile and left.
"Angelo?" Angelo showed up from the balcony. "There you are. I'll be back soon, just going to dinner, be good." She scratched him behind his ears.
Seifer was going to the dinner when he heard someone calling his name.
"SEIFER?"
"Hi Fujin, Rajin" He turned around, "Didn't see you guys for long time."
"We were kinda busy, ya know. You were busy too, we saw you in the library, ya know."
"Are you going to the Cafeteria?"
"NEGATIVE."
"We were in the weapon shop in Balamb, ya know. We had a diner there. Well not in the weapon shop, we had a diner in the hotel, ya know, and that chicken was… AUCH! Umm, we're going to the Headmaster, he said that he wants to speak with us about Disciplinary Committee, ya know."
"See ya then." He said when they came in front of Cafeteria entrance.
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Zell was sitting in the Cafeteria with Irvine, Elly and Selphie; he was complaining abut Seifer being the squad leader whole day, and when they finally thought he calmed down…
"I can't believe it! I can't believe it!" Zell stood up from his chair.
"Zell, sit and eat! You've been talking about this since we came from Headmaster's office, he's the leader and you can't do anything about it!" Irvine tried to shut him up, but didn't have much success. Zell was out of his mind.
"I just can't understand how the hell can he be squad leader! Can someone explain it to me?"
"I understand you, and I don't trust him myself, but you have to give him another chance." Irvine continued.
"Zell, clam down! He's not that bad." Elly tried.
"He's not that bad? How can you say that!! You don't even know him! He tried to kill us all more than once. He wanted to sacrifice Rinoa to Adel! He lunched missiles on our garden, he attacked us with Galbardia garden…"
"Zell?" Selphie interrupted him.
"Don't interrupt me! He even destroyed Trabia garden. How can Cid make him a leader? He is dangerous! I couldn't believe they let him enter in the Garden, not only that they let him; he became a SeeD!! A SeeD! And now SQUAD LEADER!! How can that…"
"Zell?" Selphie showed him toward the entrance. Seifer was standing there for a while already. When he they noticed him, he took a hamburger and sat in the corner, alone.
Zell stopped yelling and continued eating in silence.
Selphie felt pity toward Seifer. She was still pretty much afraid of him, but still she felt pity for him.
A minute after, Quistis entered. She took yogurt and sat with her friends.
"Is Rin coming?" Elly asked.
"She'll be here in a minute, poor girl she was sleeping with his jacket in her arms."
"I think she's handling it very well." Irvine said.
Elly sighed. "It seems like, but I think she just buried it all in herself."
"We'll find him and everything is going to be like before." Selphie tried to cheer them up.
"Is it?" Elly whispered loud enough for the others to hear her.
When Rinoa came in, everyone pretended to be in good mood, she noticed they were pretending, but didn't show it.
"Hi guys." She sat with them. "Why did Cid call you?"
"We have to research Squall's disappearing. Zell, Seifer and I are going to Esthar tomorrow morning." Irvine answered.
"I can't come?" She said it more like a fact than a question.
"You can help us with researches here." Elly said.
"Okay." Rinoa continued eating. When she finished, she excused herself, and left.
Rinoa was reading in her dorm, only light in the room was coming from a small lamp by her bed. She tried to think only about the book, to relax and for a change, to not have that nightmare this night. She heard knocking left her book on the bed and went to open the door. She wore a knee length light violet nightgown with a light yellow chocobo on it, Selphie's Christmas present. Rinoa opened the door and saw Seifer. She trembled slightly. She didn't know if she should call him in or not. He helped her made decision.
"You don't have to call me in."
She just stood there.
"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what happened, and that, if you ever need something, you can always count on me."
"Thanks"
"One more thing, I'll try my best to find him, I promise you that. You'll see everything will be alright again."
She smiled to him slightly.
"Good night than, and sweet dreams."
~I doubt that~ "Thanks, good night." She watched him leaving and went back in her room. She put the book on the table and tried to fell asleep, hoping that she won't dream at all.
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THANX for all reviews! You guys really keep me going! Please review!
**Icicle: Glad u recognized the dream and glad u liked Irvine!
**Naiomi: I'm sorry, I'll never leave a cliffhanger again! (Riiiight) Don't go crazy!!!
**Exhile87: Love ya sis! Anyway, thanx for reading and reviewing! BTW When will you update your fics!?! (I know I'm boring, but I really want to see what'll happen)
**Sammy-Chan: Poor Ian if he gets near you. ^_~ I must thank my editor for the lack of spelling errors. He's from Croatia too, but together, we find most of the errors. (Thanx Igor!)
**Leah: Thanx, you're sweet! I'll try not to hurt Squall too much. ^_~
**Ashbear: THANX for reading! I have to thank you guys on ff.net for my English; I learned a lot while reading your fics! I think that emotions are the most important part of a fic. I still can't convey them like u do (And probably I never will), but I'm trying. Hehe Lauren! She HAD an effect on me! I loved her in Castles and hated her in Crimson! I was writing that part after reading the chapter where we found out that Lauren took Allison. Yea, I love torturing the characters as much as you do (I feel bad) :)
**To my friend Nikola – shame on you!!! ^_~