Now, what about Selphie, Irvine, and Zell?

Disclaimer: I feel like a robot saying this over and over and over and over again: I do not own any of the characters, but three, or places in this story, I own one place. That's what I was forgetting. The place that I made up. And another character! Ok, so that's four characters and one place. I think I'm straightened out now. I think…

Chapter Twenty-Four

"You found it?" Selphie averted her attention from Zell to Irvine. She ran over to him. "Did you, did you, did you?"

"I think so, but there aren't any guarantees." Irvine was holding a white rock with a blue stone in the center. Selphie took the item from his hand and inspected it more closely. The item that Odine had them out searching for was called "Cat's Eye." But looked nothing like a cat's eye.

"It looks like what Odine described." She picked at the white part around the blue. It came off in a powdered form. "Are there any more like this one?"

"Yeah! There's a whole bunch of them hidden under the mud on the bank. Here, look," Irvine crouched down and reached his hand over the side and pushed aside a layer of thick mud to reveal the whiteness of the stones. In the light of the sun, they were outstandingly bright.

"Whoa! And eww! They must all line the bank under that sticky, yucky mud. Gross!" She wrinkled her nose. "Irvine, I think you may have hit the jackpot!" Selphie stood again. Zell joined them and upon spotting the stones, his mouth dropped a few inches.

"You mean, we have to clear away all that mud if that's what the duck wants? Great. Peachy. Just peachy. I think that Hyne hates us. I think that this is some sort of punishment for something. Maybe she's mad that we didn't get rid of Ultimecia right the first time or…" Zell trailed off.

"Zell, it's just a bit of mud. It's not like it's gonna kill you." Irvine shook his head at the other guy just rambling off at how much he thinks that Hyne hates them all.

"Hey! Why don't we take a few to Odine to make sure that this is what he wants?" Selphie suggested.

"Yeah. Come on, Zell. Quit your babbling and help me," Irvine nudged the blond a bit.

"Oh, yeah, right." Zell crouched down to help the two of them. He grumbled under his breath for the most part.

Walking back, Selphie openly commented, "I hope that the others are okay." She was a little worried about them.

"Hey, I'm sure that they're all right. You know Squall won't let anything happen to them." Irvine linked his arm in Selphie's.

"Yeah, especially Rinoa. He'd sooner go head first into a battle with Omega Weapon, by himself, then let anything happen to her," Zell reasoned, then burst out laughing. Irvine joined him, but Selphie just rolled her eyes.

"Guys! It's not funny! What if something bad happens? Then how would you feel?"

"Believe me, Selphie, I'd feel bad. Definitely. Even if they were kidnapped!" Irvine mocked, laughing harder.

"Yeah, for the idiots who kidnapped them!" Zell burst out. Irvine and Zell were both laughing uncontrollably.

Disgusted, Selphie walked ahead of them.

"Pathetic," she muttered.

Minutes later, Selphie made it back to the city and to Odine's Laboratory in the back of Esthar City. Selphie knocked on the door before entering after she stepped off the lift. Word of advice: Never enter a scientist's lab without permission first unless you want your head bitten off.

"Dr. Odine?" Selphie asked, stepping into the room slightly. "We think we may have found what you need." She walked in all the way to find Odine bent over a book bigger than himself, mumbling something excitedly. The computer screen was monitoring the same outline of an energy crystal that Laguna had showed them.

"Choutte! Just a bit of zis and a dab of zat and BOOM! Sorceress bizs everywhere! He he he he he he!" Odine chuckled madly, not hearing Selphie.

Dr. Odine was a very petite man who often used his natural tongue when excited or mad. He was a bit on the crazy side. A brilliant mastermind but slowly losing it.

Selphie tapped her foot impatiently. This was a sad, strange, little man with a French accent.

"Dr. Odine!" she yelled. The little man jumped up, oh, I'd say about five feet and whipped around.

"Oh, it iz ze girl. But where are ze goofy onez? Odine wonderz!" Odine mumbled to himself out loud, stroking his little goatee. "Vat do yoo need? Odine iz in a very important experiment and needz complete zizlenze!"

Selphie shook her head. Has this guy gone completely daffy? she thought.

"We, Zell, Irvine, and I, think we might have found what you need." She avoided his twitchy eyes in an effort to keep from laughing. His face brightened considerably.

"Ooo! Super! So you have found my itemz? Excellent! Very, very goood! Vet me zee! Vet me zee!" He hurried over to Selphie and took one of the stones from her hand.

"Good, good, good, gooood!" Odine waddled back over to his desk and pulled out a looking-glass thingy, still mumbling. "Oooo! Ziz iz ze item! Go! Go get az many of zeze az yoo can! Go! Merci! Merci! Merci!"

Once the lab door was shut, Odine smirked. "Ze fool," he cackled evilly.

Just as Selphie left the lab, and had stepped off the lift again, she saw slow-pokes Zell and Irvine walking to the door, still laughing.

"So, is this what the old duck needs?" Zell asked, holding out a stone.

"Yes, now take those to him and come help me gather more. Doctor's orders," Selphie commanded.

"Yes ma'am!" They shouted in unison.

"Don't push it." Selphie walked out of the laboratory, ignoring the laughter of the two guys. "Guys," she muttered with utter distaste.

"I heard that," someone spoke from behind. Selphie whirled around to come face-to-face with Laguna.

"Sir Laguna!" She squealed and hugged him.

"Well, nice to see you, too!" He smiled broadly.

"Laguna, how do you put up with Odine? He is so annoying and weird!" Selphie exclaimed. "Oh, he's going to drive me up the wall!"

"Yeah, well, that's the duck for you." Laguna mumbled. He didn't like the doctor too much either. "So, what's he got the brilliant SeeDs doing?"

"Oh, you are not going to believe this! He has us gathering rocks!" Selphie stuck out her tongue, wrinkling her nose.

"Rocks? Really?" Laguna nodded his head and stroked his chin to fake that he was thinking. "Definitely not something you're used to, right?"

"Sir Laguna! Are you picking on me? I'd like to see you fight monsters, organize festivals, and save the world!" Selphie put her hands on her hips.

"No, thanks. That's what you guys are for!" He laughed causing Selphie to shake her head.

"Laguna! Hey, man!" Zell shouted, bounding down to the two of them with Irvine.

"How's the presidential life?" Irvine asked, playfully punching Laguna on the arm.

"Busy and boring," Laguna sighed. "But somehow these people really like me. I don't know, go figure."

"Figure what?" Zell asked.

Irvine coughed, but it sounded a lot like "Blondie." Zell completely missed Irvine's attempt to make fun of him. The other three burst into a fit of laughter.

"Now what?" Zell asked, completely confused.

"Zell, Zell, Zell," Laguna shook his head. Selphie patted Zell on the arm with mock sympathy. Irvine coughed again. Zell turned a dark crimson.

"Hey!" Zell pouted. Selphie, Laguna, and Irvine laughed even harder.

A/N: Hey hey hey! By the way, I don't like Odine very much, so yeah, you guys can figure it out. And Laguna is slightly out of character. I don't know why I had him that way, but I just decided to. Well you guys know what to do! Have a Nice Day. ;)

E/N: -edits away like crazy- Katelyn, I hope you're aware you left out a sentence and a couple words WITHIN your sentences. I couldn't check with you, either, so they had better make do! -sticks out tongue-

A/N: -dry sarcasm- thanks for the support, Megan.