Chapter 16. Need I say more?

Disclaimer: Still own nothing. But one day, I guarantee that I will be the owner of it ALL! Beware Square! Beware!

Chapter Sixteen

"You saw one at the flower shop?" Quistis asked, shocked.

"No, I said I saw what looked like one. That is, if Selphie's definition of one is correct," Squall answered curtly.

""Do you think it could be what we need?" Zell asked.

"Who knows?" Selphie shrugged. "But, Squall, I'm pretty positive that my definition is correct. Odine made that very clear."

"See! See! See!" Zell shrieked, jumping out of his chair, knocking it over! "You did to listen to him! You actually listened to that darn duck!"

"So what? What he said about the crystals was actually interesting," Selphie defended. "And you know what? Maybe if you listened to what people had to say, Zell, you might not ask questions all the time and wouldn't carry the title 'Galbadian Idiot.'" She smiled sweetly.

"But I'm not Galbadian!" Zell protested. He scratched his head with a typical look of confusion on his features.

"Alright then, you wouldn't carry the title 'Balambian Idiot.' Does that work?" She looked at everyone.

"But I'm not an idiot!" Zell argued.

"By who's standards?" Irvine asked the martial artist.

"Shut up, you dumb redneck!" Zell shouted.

"'Dumb redneck?'" Irvine managed a laugh but the red in his face told the others that he did not find this in the least bit amusing. "Is that all you can come up with, Chicken Wuss?"

Squall looked at Quistis, gesturing his head in the direction of the now feuding guys.

"They've been going at each other like this since yesterday," Quistis told him.

"Yeah, I think it started with Zell calling Irvy Indiana Jones," Selphie giggled.

"Indiana Jones?" Rinoa was shocked. "Didn't he, like, rip some guy's heart out of his chest?"

Selphie wrinkled her nose in disgust and looked at Irvine. "I can't picture Irvy doing that. That's just disgusting. Eww!"

"Sorry, it was a movie. What brought about that?" Rinoa asked.

"Something about snakes when we were climbing up the side of a cliff." Selphie shrugged like it was no biggie. She didn't seem to notice the look of shocked disbelief that Rinoa was sporting.

"I'm NOT a Chicken Wuss, plowboy!" Zell yelled. He and Irvine had vacated the table and were in the mists of a deep argument.

"Plowboy! You come up with worst comeback, Hotdog Boy!" Irvine yelled back. He had flung his hat onto the table and his hair was frizzy. He meant business.

"Now who comes up with bad returns, Redneck!" Zell sneered. "You dumb redneck! Why don't you go take your cows and go home."

"I am not a redneck! Does my neck look red to you?" Irvine demanded, pointed to his neck.

"I don't know, does the hicky make it look red to you, Selphie?" Zell turned to the young brownie at the table. Her face had become hard as she saw the mark on Irvine's neck.

"And where did you get that?" she snapped. She stood and moved next to Zell.

Irvine fumbled with an explanation for the angered girl. "I.. Um…it was a…uh …It's not what it looks like! Honest!" Irvine only dug his hole deeper, but lucky for him, Squall entered this.

He cleared his throat causing everyone to look at him. He was positioned at the table with his elbows up and chin resting on his intersecting fingers. "I'm only going to say this once before things turn ugly: It would be in all of your best interests to sit down and shut up. I am in no mood to break up a fight." They all stared at him shamefully. "Sit down," he said a bit more forcefully. They got the message and obeyed like very nicely trained dogs. They avoided each others eyes and Squall's too.

Squall turned back to Quistis. The scary thing was that he was calm. Way too calm.

"Now, you were saying?" He asked of her.

"Um, what was I saying?" Quistis looked at Rinoa who shrugged.

"I believe we were talking about the crystals," Zell mumbled. His face still held that embarassed state. He stared at the grain in the table, running his finger along the edge of the dark wood.

"Oh, yeah!" She smiled sheepishly. "If there is a crystal in the flower shop, what do we do if we can get it?"

"I still don't see how something that once didn't have an affect would have one now. How could Ultimecia change like that? Is that even possible?" Rinoa asked of the two.

"Honestly Rinoa, I see where you are coming from, but I don't know what to tell you." Quistis shook her head. She hated not having an answer.

"You know what I think?" Zell exclaimed, still concentrating on the wood of the table. "I think that Odine is just sending us on a wild goose chase. I think that he knows something, but ain't telling! He's probably in league with Ultimecia and helped her return! That's what I think anyway."

"What's your evidence for that?" Squall demanded. "You can't just go around accusing people of something just because they're not your favorite person in the world. Hell, if that were the case, half the world would be locked up." He snapped.

Zell said nothing. Squall had a point. He didn't have any evidence and was just accusing the doctor because he didn't like him. He was a very boring man. Not to mention he talked to himself all the time in that creepy accent. No wonder everyone avoided him. He was a freak.

"So this crystal can be used to what? Lock down her powers? Is that it?" Irvine asked, finally having the courage to say something. Quistis and Squall both nodded. "Well, why don't we go check and see if that really is a crystal in the flower shop?"

"I'm sorry, but I sort of agree with Zell in this." Rinoa interjected. "I think that this is way too fishy. If we didn't destroy her all the way last time, then she probably is still the same. I doubt it if these enegry crystals will have any effect at all. This probably is just a plan to keep us busy, looking for something that will prove to be useless, while the enemy gets away with some grand plan that will obliterate the human existence."

"Alright then, what do you suppose we do, Rinoa?" Squall asked of her. "What other choice do we have?"

"I think that maybe we should go back to Esthar and talk to Dr. Odine ourselves. I think we should question things every once in a while. Maybe the doctor isn't telling everyone something important," Rinoa suggested.

Quistis frowned at the young raven-haired woman. "Rinoa, that is, in a way, against our nature. We were trained never to question what has been given to us. Never question authority."

Rinoa crossed her arms over her chest and gave the Instructor a stern look. "Well, it looks like you all need new training doesn't it?"

"That's not an option that we have right now, Rinoa," Squall replied.

"You know what I mean!" She rolled her eyes at his stubborn manner.

"Anyway!" Selphie jumped into this forever encircling conversation. "Rinny has a good point. We should talk to Dr. Odine ourselves! What if he's too scared to tell the people higher than him the real thing. High officials can be pretty intimidating, you know."

"You mean the people taller than him," Zell muttered, "I still say he has a hand in all this."

"Zell, you have no proof, so shut up," Irvine snapped at him.

"Why don't you make me, Redneck!" Zell threw back at him.

"Guys, give it a rest, all right?" Rinoa yelled at the two. "It gets old! Geez!" She slammed her hand down on the table in aggrivation. Those at the table jumped slightly at her outburst. The two gentlemen returned to their previously quiet states.

"Alright, so are we going to continue with our search for crystals or take Rinoa's suggestion and head back to Esthar?" Quistis asked everyone.

"We should go back to Esthar." Selphie insisted. The others, save for Squall, nodded.

"Squall?" Quistis turned to their leader.

Squall sighed. "Let's go question the doctor."

"Aww man!" Zell moaned.

Cid sat up. He was shaking. He looked over at the clock on his desk. It was after eleven. He must have drifted off. He was covered in sweat. Something didn't feel right to him. Something was out of place, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

An eerie sensation came over the Headmaster. A strange dizziness hit him like a baseball to a bat. He didn't feel like himself, and then he realized he was not alone.

Cid leaned back in his chair in his dark office as he lost consciousness and control of his mind...

A/N: Well, that was fun. I have been rewriting these last couple of chapters.If they suck, I'm sorry. I'm sort of in a hurry to get everything I have so far posted. I would take my time, but I don't like these chapters either so that's probably another reason why they're so bad. Thanx for the reviews that you all have blessed me with so far. I am eternally grateful. Thank you all so very much. And for the suggestions too! I have taken most of them to heart. You guys rock! Thanx bunches. Later Days peeps!

E/N: Believe her when she says she's in a hurry. She even rushes me to edit (not that I mind, don't apologise Katelyn :P) Since I left a review, do I rock too? puppy eyes

A/N: Of course but sometimes you are WAY too slow...

E/N: Are you implying something:P And I can be pretty quick when it comes to saving my neck when I fall over something. -coughRyan'sshoescough-

A/N: Speaking of...Walk much there, Megan?