(a/n: Sorry for the long delay… in updates! I have seriously been stuck! Only Lady Yunalesca88 inspired me to continue. Thanks, Lady Yunalesca88! Ur awesome! Don't own ff8, by the way.)

I closed my eyes, counting down from ten. I heard Seifer typing in the code. I was on seven. Sefie sucked in a breath. Four. I heard the thud of Squall's boots against the floor. Two… Seifer muttered impatiently. One. I ran through the now unlocked door, which had an auto-close function.

"Identification requested."

I scanned a fake I.D.

"Confirming… information processed."

I ran my hand along the wall, searching for the light switch. I felt uneasy. Distant shouts reached my ears. No! My friends had to be in trouble! I ran back to the door, which had been locked down. I pounded my fists into the glass door, pressing my face to it and watching in horror as Sefie frantically tried to use her nunchakus to fight off six soldiers.

Squall and Seifer were attacking them also, but I heard Sefie say, very faintly, 'Run! Go tell Headmaster Cid!' They were hesitant, but Sefie gave them a warning look. Seifer nodded worriedly, and Squall didn't move. Seifer grabbed Squall by the shirt collar and forcibly dragged him off. I couldn't decide if Squall was brave or just stupid, wanting to stay there with Sefie to protect her.

One of the soldiers looked up at me, where I'd stopped pounding on the glass. He gave me a rather toothy smirk and typed in the access code on the door. I was trapped. Trapped with no hope of escape. The door slid open and I fell forward. He twisted my arms behind my back.

"Quite the interesting specimen, aren't you…?" he whispered in my ear.

I said several obscenities, and he chuckled. "Get away from me you creep!" I hissed.

"You… are Sierra Loire. It's… leaked…just what you are. Come on. We'll see how Griever II reacts to sorceresses."

I gasped in pain as he put an Odine Bangle on me, pushing me away. I stumbled into a gargantuan sterile white room. The only color was a silver metal table and silver metal sliding doors. I closed my eyes, wincing as he shoved me onto the table and locked metal hand-cuff type things around my wrists and ankles and my waist, keeping my firmly locked in. I struggled, the cold hard metal biting into me. The soldier laughed again, and I turned my head towards the sliding doors. They were enormous… whatever would be coming through them would be enormous, too. The soldier left the room, chuckling coldly. There was a mechanic whirr and I had a bad feeling that the doors would soon be opening.

Then the most horrid-looking thing I'd ever seen came out. I gasped. It had grotesque wings, wet and slimy and purple, and it was surely 20 feet tall at least. Its wingspan looked about 50 feet, which was pretty freakin' scary when you're a seventeen-year-old girl who was 5' 5". It sniffed the air with it's blackish-purple snout and roared, crawling closer to me. I held my breath, and it clawed its way over to me. I screamed. I couldn't help it. It roared, this time in a most satisfied way, and I closed my eyes.

I felt its claw brush over me, leaving bleeding gashes, and it sounded angry this time. Very angry. There was a high-pitched sound like metal on metal, and its enormous claws went up to where its ears would be. The monster shrieked horribly in pain, dropping to four clawed feet and running to the open doors, which immediately closed before it could change its mind and come after me again. I was in so much pain I was nearly blind with it, and I squirmed and writhed. I even felt myself twitching. Great agony, such great agony… There were loud shouts everywhere.

"It was supposed to erase her memory, not hurt her!"

"Greiver II hasn't ever acted this way!"

"If GII killed our specimen--!"

"Stupid—"

"They'll come back for her. Best to launch an attack on Garden… The two men escaped… The blonde and the brown-headed ones. And they'll tell Cid."

"Yeah… best to kill them."

"The blonde has a soft spot for her… we should just wait for him to come for her. –Then- we can kill him."

"I've done some research… The brown-headed one's name is Squall Leonhart, and he's the son of Laguna and Raine Loire. The girl is the Loire's daughter."

"Loire and Leonhart? Two different last names? It doesn't add up."

"Squall changed his last name to his mother's maiden name."

"Ah… a rebel mad at his father."

"He'll come back for his sister."

"Does he know that's his sister?"

"Possibly. The blonde, Seifer Almasy, will most definitely come back."

I closed my eyes, in considerable pain. Don't hurt Seifer. Please don't hurt Seifer. I shut out the pain and let the peace and escape of sleep wash over me.