Chapter 7

The Prince of Esthar silently strode outside of his room and towards the balcony. Inhaling deeply, he thought for a moment. As he looked at his surroundings, he had to admit that the view of the ocean was exquisite.

Esthar may have been one of the greatest cities in the world, but it still lacked a relaxing view like the one in Balamb. Unlike Esthar, Balamb was quiet and tranquil, while Esthar was usually noisy and stressful at times.

As Squall continued to admire the view of the beach and the ocean, he noted a figure walking slowly along the beach. Taking a closer look, he noticed that the figure was dressed in a long, flowing, blue dress, almost appearing to be a beautiful sea nymph.

Squall blinked the sleep away from his eyes and quietly made his way towards the beach, making sure he brought his Gunblade with him. There the "sea nymph" turned his way and frowned.

"Sir Leonhart. What are you doing here at this hour of the night?" Quistis inquired curiously. The princess looked extremely gorgeous in the moonlight, with her loose hair flowing in the wind.

"I should be asking you the same question," Squall answered. "With the situation that's happening now, you shouldn't be taking a stroll out here in the dark, especially without supervision."

Quistis scowled at the prince, folding her arms over her chest. "What? Am I being held on a house arrest or something?" she asked. "I am still eligible to go wherever I please with or without supervision. I can take care of myself you know." With that she strode away.

Squall sighed. "Why do I bother," he grumbled to himself as he followed Quistis. "Look, you don't know what's out there, especially at night."

"Oh, and what do you know?" Quistis demanded. "I've lived here all my life, I think I know whether or not something's–"

The princess was suddenly interrupted as a loud, growling sound echoed throughout the night.

"What was that?" Quistis whispered, taking a few steps back towards Squall.

Squall unsheathed his Gunblade as he squinted in the dark. "Stay close to me," he whispered, slowly stepping back.

Both nobles stayed in hushed silence for a moment or so, waiting for whatever caused the noise to emerge from the darkness. After waiting for about twenty minutes, both nobles gave a sigh of relief.

"Alright, whatever that was, it's obviously–"

Suddenly, a large creature jumped from the darkness and knocked Squall onto the ground. The monster snarled viciously, baring its teeth at the prince.

Squall's Gunblade flew out of his hand and before Quistis' feet. "Shit!" Squall cursed, kicking the creature's underbelly. Swiftly, he landed a punch on its snarling face, causing it to back away with a small whimper.

Quistis cursed silently, scolding herself for not bringing her whip with her. Quickly, she ran to retrieve Squall's Gunblade. "Squall!" she shouted, tossing Squall his weapon.

Squall caught the Gunblade in mid air and swung it at the mighty beast.

The creature roared in pain, swinging its paw at Squall, and throwing him on the ground.

The prince winced as he felt a sharp pain on his chest. He cursed again as he saw his hand covered in his blood.

Quistis looked at Squall in horror. "Squall, you're hurt!" she yelled, running towards him, despite the danger. Angrily, the princess glared at the roaring beast. "You!" she growled, beginning to glow brightly. Suddenly, a bright light shot from Quistis' finger and blast through the monster.

The monster let out another loud roar as the light blast through him, killing him instantly.

Quistis looked away from the dead creature and dropped to her knees in front of Squall. "Damn!" she cursed softly as she saw the large wound on Squall's chest. With trembling hands she tore the hem of her dress and wrapped it around Squall's wound. "Dammit!" she cursed again. "None of this would have happened if I had only listened to you!"

Squall glanced up at Quistis and sighed. "Are you alright?' he asked softly.

The princess nodded. "Look, you were wounded severely. We have to get that to a doctor quickly," she said, helping Squall up to his feet.

Squall staggered as he placed his feet on the ground. Weakly, he glanced at Quistis and noticed a small streak of blood running down the arm she had used her powers with. "You're injured."

Quistis glanced at her bloody arm and hid it with her sleeve. "Oh, it's nothing. Just a small cut, that's all," she replied, helping Squall back into the castle.

*

Selphie clucked her tongue in disapproval as she entered the room. There she saw Quistis laying Squall on a couch, trying to clean his wound.

"Quisty, what are you doing?" Selphie asked, walking towards them and examining Squall's wound. "Here, let me do that," she offered, taking the bandage from the princess' hands and wrapping it around Squall's wound.

Quistis sighed as she moved away. "He's lost a lot of blood when we got here. H…he passed out," she said, getting up from the couch.

Selphie nodded. "Go get some rest, Quisty. Don't worry, I'm sure Lord Leonhart will be fine in the morning," she said reassuringly.

Quistis nodded, walking out of the room. There she bumped into the one person she did not confronting her at the moment.

Seifer had his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the wall. "Where were you?" he asked, laying his emerald eyes on the princess.

Quistis sighed in frustration. "I went out to take a little stroll along the beach," she replied, turning around to look at Seifer. "I never meant–"

"You know you're not supposed to be wandering about by yourself especially at night," he said, pushing his back off the wall.

"What are you, another Squall? You two sound exactly alike!" Quistis growled, beginning to walk away.

"Look, it may not matter to you, but your existence depends on everyone's well being! Think about it. You don't even know what the hell is coming after you," Seifer growled, walking after Quistis. "Quistis!"

Quistis ignored Seifer's lecture and continued to her room.

Seifer grabbed a hold of Quistis' hand and whirled her around to face him.

The princess flinched at his tight grip. "Ow!" she yelped as blood began to ooze from her arm again. "Seifer, stop! Let go!" she begged, trying to free her arm from his grip.

Seifer lifted her arm towards him and examined it. "This looks serious," he mumbled, realizing that the cut began from her shoulder and down to her wrist. "How did you get wounded like this? Your sleeve should've been torn if you were wounded by that monster," he said, continuing to study it.

Quistis snatched her arm back in pain. "I…i…it's nothing, okay? I'm fine," she stammered, running towards her room.

Seifer gave a sigh and swiftly moved in front of Quistis, blocking her way. "I want to know how you got that cut," he said slowly.

"I told you, it's nothing! Now move out of my way!" she growled, trying to push the prince out of her way. "You're not my mother so stop putting yourself in my business!"

"If that wound's nothing, then how the hell did it get there?" he growled, refusing to move out of her way.

"I'm tired," Quistis replied, still trying to push Seifer out of her way.

"Leave her alone, Almasy," Zell growled, standing from the doorway. "She doesn't need a personal stalker."

Seifer reluctantly moved out of Quistis' way as he glared at Zell. "Well she needs to be watched carefully, chicken-wuss. She's not who you think she is."

"What would you know?" Zell demanded.

"Let's just say that I know more than what you know about her," Seifer replied, walking away.

*

Quistis tore off her ruined dress and hastily changed into her silk nightgown. With a sigh she plopped herself on her bed and squeezed her pillow tightly, closing her eyes.

Quistis opened her eyes and found herself surrounded by darkness. Looking around, she slowly rose from her bed. "W…where?" she mumbled, realizing that everything was surrounded in darkness.

The princess reached out in front of her yet felt nothing but air. Quickly, she brought her hand to her chest and thought for a moment. "If it's so dark, how is it possible that I am able to see my hand clearly in front of my face?" she whispered to herself as she walked to particularly nowhere. "Hello? Is anyone here?"

Suddenly, a small dim light flashed in front of Quistis, as a small, thin figure walked towards her.

Quistis squinted in the darkness, trying to see who the figure before her was. Unfortunately, the figure was completely shaded in darkness, appearing to be a completely black statue.

"Where am I?" Quistis asked the figure before her.

"You are in your dreams, princess. You are within your own head," the figured answered in a familiar voice.

"My dreams?"

"Yes…"

Quistis took a step forward and asked, "Who are you?"

The figure shook its head quietly. "You will know soon enough. But now is not the time, princess. My time with you is running short. I came here to warn you."

"Warn me? About what?"

"There is great danger heading your way, princess. Be ready. Your powers are nothing compared to those who are coming after you. You must learn to control them, or else suffer the consequences," it cautioned.

"What do you mean? H…how?" Quistis stammered in confusion.

The dark figure slowly pointed at Quistis. "Know thyself. Know thyself well. For you do not know of what is to become of you, young sorceress," she said, beginning to fade.

Quistis attempted to run towards the figure. "Wait! What do you mean?" she cried out desperately.

"When the time comes, you will understand. But for now, I bid thee farewell, until another time. We will meet again, young sorceress."

"Wait!"

Quistis snapped her eyes opened as she found herself grabbing nothing in particular. She immediately sat up from her bed and looked around.

Everything around her seemed normal. The room was beginning to fill with light from the rising sun.

"…A dream," she said quietly, feeling her forehead. "But it seemed so real…" With a sigh, Quistis rose from her bed and wrapped her white, silk robe over her nightgown. "I've got to get to the bottom of this."