PROLUGE
Rinoa sat in her room, looking out the window. She had just moved back home from Balamb. "Don't forget me, okay?" Squall's words echoed in her mind as she traced the heavens for her star. Quistis taught her a valuable lessons of stars, "No matter how many times you look at the night sky, one particular star will be there to watch you." Rinoa looked for her star, the North Star. It was the brightest at night, and Squall shared the same star. "When you see this star, remember that I'm still watching you from afar." Tears streamed down her face as she watched it. "R-Rinoa!" Rinoa jumped from her window and looked at her doorway.
"FATHER!" General Caraway fell into her room with blood everywhere on his body. She ran to his side and saw many stabs on him. "Leave him alone. He diserves to die." Rinoa looked up to see a woman with a black dress on. She had dark red hair with purple streaks. Her eyes were a gold color that Rinoa couldn't look at. The most surprising thing was her face. It was identical to Rinoa's face! Rinoa stood up and asked, "Who the hell are you?" "I'm Arcania, the most powerful of sorceress in the world," she yelled. Rinoa stepped back and said, "Well see about that! FIRAGA!" Fire encircled the woman, but as it died down the woman glared at her. No mark was on the woman's body whatsoever. "Sleep," the Arcania yelled. Rinoa felt herself become dizzy, but refused to give up. "No...stop..." Rinoa fell to the floor and fell into a deep sleep.
"Where am I? Am I...dead," she asked aloud. She couldn't see anything. Only darkness. I must be dead. "Rinoa! Rinoa!" Rinoa looked up to see Squall running at her. "Squall!" As she ran to him, the darkness beneath her began to form stars. The ground split leaving a huge canyon between them. "We won't make it," Rinoa screamed. A chuckle was heard around them. It began to move closer to Squall. Suddenly, Arcania appeared behind Squall and grabbed his throat. She rose him into the air. Rinoa knew what she was doing. "No! Stop!" Arcania threw Squall down and asked, "Stop what?" Rinoa watched as the unconscious Squall fell deeper and deeper until reaching the depths if Hell. She felt dizzy and fell in herself. Everything was gone, including Squall. There was no point to live anymore.
"RINOA!" Rinoa jolted up to see a boy with blue hair and green eyes. She screamed at the sight of his earring. It was a finger bone. The young man laughed, "Hi, I'm Jay. No need for you to introduce yourself, your Ms. Rinoa Caraway!" Rinoa rubbed her head and found herself in an alleyway. "Where...am I," she asked. "You're in Balamb's very important band's hideout! I'm the back-up guitarist of the Demon Stones. Nice to have you here," he said. He reminds me of Zell, she thought. He grabbed Rinoa's hand and pulled her up. "We're in an underground skate park," she asked. Jay nodded with a smile and said, "Here! I'll introduce you to the rest of the band!" He dragged her to the drums to see a girl with pink hair tied up in pigtails and blue eyes. "This is Ayaka! Everybody calls her Aya, though," Jay explained. Rinoa smiled sweetly to Aya, but only heard, "Why is she here, Jay? You know Sakuya isn't going to like this." "I'm not going to like what?" Rinoa spun around to see a young man with waist-length silver hair that was pulled up in a braid and hot pink eyes. "That's Sakuya! He's our MAIN guitarist. He's also our boss," Jay explained. Rinoa saw Jay smirk and reply, "I want her to sing. I want to see if he has the same potential as Julia did." Mother! "You know my mother," Rinoa asked. Sakuya shrugged and said, "Only professionally. We were only friends in the music biz." Rinoa nodded and said, "I see." "Now sing!" Rinoa glared at him and started to sing "Eyes on Me," her mother's song. Sakuya seemed greatly pleased. Rinoa glared at him one more time and said, "I have to go. My father's probably waiting for me." "Your father's dead, Princess." Rinoa turned around to see nothing, but Sakuya, Jay, and Aya. Suddenly a figure jumped down. He had one silver eye and one red eye. He had shoulder-length black hair and a ninja suit. "Oh! That's Mike, our bass guitarist! He's half, so don't ask about his name." Rinoa looked at his eyes and could feel a certain SECRET behind them. "I think I've got her entranced, guys," Mike remarked with a chuckle. Rinoa shook her head and asked, "What do you mean that my father's dead?" Mike replied, "Like I said, 'DEAD'." Rinoa dropped the microphone and sank to the ground. She never felt so...empty. She felt like all of the darkness underground had surrounded her. She never REALLY liked her father, but...he WAS her father. Why did it have to happen? Why...did you have... Thoughts of Arcania swarmed her thoughts. ARCANIA!
An orb of dark energy engulfed her as tears fell from her eyes. "RINOA!" THe orb disappeared as she looked around. She rose to Sakuya's eye level and asked with tear-filled eyes, "Why, Sakuya?" Sakuya looked at her with sympathy. "I...don't know. Maybe if you become our singer, you could express your feelings and not die inside your body, like all of us have." Everybody nodded in sorrow. "IS THAT ALL YOU CAN FUCKING THINK ABOUT? YOUR FUCKING BAND? WELL IF THAT SO, I'M NOT GOING TO BE A PART OF THE BAND!" She ran off into the darkness, trying to find her way around.
Hours went by, and she was completely lost. She sank to the ground and was about to lose all hope, when her cell phone rang. She picked it up in the darkness and saw the words, "Squall Leonhart," flashing on and off. She flung the phone to her ear and answered.
"Hello?"
"Rinoa? It's me, Squall. Where are you?"
"I'm in Balamb, underground."
"You are? I'm coming! That place is full of thieves, demons, monsters, and...look I'm so worried about you. When I heard about your father's death, I just wanted to see if you were alright. Hold on, do you see anything around you that could lead you out?"
"No, Squall. I only see darkness, like my soul right now. I'm not fine, Squall. Please hurry! I don't think I can hold on any longer. I love you so much!"
"I love you, too! I'm coming right now! Hold on!" click...
The silence was long and unbearable. She, suddenly, heard water splashing nearby. "Rinoa! Rinoa!" "Squall? Is that you?" "Yeah!" All of a sudden, she felt arms around her waist. "I missed you," the voice whispered. It was Squall. "I missed you, too."
