We're getting closer!
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, places of ideas of Final Fantasy VIII. All title rights go to Square.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
More Than Meets The Eye
A shadowy figure moved around the stone room. Her dark, long red hair flowed behind her as she gracefully walked, pacing around. She seemed almost no older than eighteen, but her power was far beyond that. Rianna was the daughter of a powerful, evil sorceress. Rianna grew up in darkness, hiding in her mother's shadow. Her all-powerful mother had feared her as she was naturally born a sorceress. As a child, she had been born evil, grew up evil, and would remain evil until her death, if that was ever possible. They had tried to destroy her because she was becoming too powerful but they were unsuccessful and met their own horrible end. Why hadn't they understood? She was unstoppable, but only one thing stood in her path. It was a bond, a legacy that she intended to break. Only then would she hold the powers greater than any being ever alive, including Hyne!
"We have a problem, Doctor." Rianna turned her icy glare on Odine.
"Yes. I believe we do, my lady. How are you going to eliminate the problem?" Dr. Odine had dropped his accent. It was all a show to fool those idiots in Esthar.
"My one threat at the moment is Rinoa. She possesses a power that I do not have. She could easily defeat my plan if she figures out how to use that power." Rianna spoke in a deep, silky, untrusting voice.
"So, what would you like me to do?" Dr. Odine asked. He feared Rianna and would abide to anything that she asked of him. Rianna smiled at him from which he winced. Her smile was anything but sweet and welcoming.
"You, my dear Doctor, will bring Rinoa here to me. I will find a way to use her to my advantage."
"But, my lady, she is too well protected. How do you propose we get him away from her?" Dr. Odine was, of course, referring to Squall.
"Simple. When he leaves with the others on the false clues that I have left, you will sneak into the palace and take the girl." Rianna was becoming very annoyed with the Doctor's stupid, useless questions.
"How do you know that we can trust Seifer?" Dr. Odine had his doubts.
"You buffoon!" She flicked her wrist and Odine went sailing forcefully into the nearest wall. "I have something of his that he might want, and unless he does exactly what I ask, he will never see it again." She smiled again. Well, you couldn't really call it a smile. It was more of a twisted grimace, and this one was worse than before.
"Ah. I see. Excellent, my lady." Dr. Odine picked himself off the floor and quickly dismissed himself to the castle lab. Rianna turned her back and looked to the far wall, where hung a grand picture of the crest of Hyne.
"And soon you will be at my mercy. You cannot win again. Far long have we let you rule, but that is over. I am awake now, and you will be destroyed. Hahahahaha!" An evil, wicked laugh ripped from her throat and echoed throughout the room.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"Okay, so where exactly are you guys going?" Laguna asked as Squall, Zell, and Irvine walled out to the Ragnarok at the Esthar Airstation.
"We're gonna go check out the Centra Ruins." Squall replied curtly. "If what Seifer said about the Ruby Widow is true, then the machine that was used to create it should be in the mountains somewhere. We're going to find it and figure out what's going to happen next."
"How long?" Laguna and Seifer followed them on board. Seifer wasn't going with them. He was to stay in Esthar. That was Laguna's orders.
"Probably no more than a few days. We're not sure if this machine is protected at all or not. Week tops." Irvine answered. "We had one of the nutcases from the geography department tell us what kind of earth material we'll be dealing with."
"Sounds good. Be safe, guys." Laguna and Seifer left the ship and headed back to the palace. They turned once to wave them off, then returned inside.
Back inside the palace, Selphie, Quistis, Rinoa, and Ellone sat in Laguna's quarters waiting patiently for him to return. They had work to do.
"Well, hi ladies!" Laguna said brightly upon entering. "Now what are you going to do without your backbones?" He laughed.
"Very funny, Laguna, very funny," Rinoa said with extreme sarcasm that prompted a louder laugh from Laguna.
"Well, we'd like to take a look at some of the experiments Odine left behind when he disappeared," Quistis replied.
"All righty then!" Laguna exclaimed, throwing them the key. "Here's the key. I'll check on you ladies later and happy hunting!" With that, he left the room.
"Sometimes I wonder," Quistis shook her head with a small smile.
"Okay! Let's go check out that lab!" Selphie held up the key with a confident smile.
The girls walked down to Dr. Odine's lab, hoping to find answers to the many mysteries surrounding what been happening. The lab was still destroyed from that strange night. No one had really bothered to clean up the mess.
"Wow! This place is trashed! Why didn't they clean this up?" Quistis asked, carefully stepping over a bunch of broken glass.
"I guess no one really wanted to bother with it. Dr. Odine didn't like people to be in his lab," Ellone answered, regretting now that she had on sandals. "Now that we're here, what do we do exactly?"
"Well, we're going to try to continue a few of Dr. Odine's experiments. Maybe what we're looking for is hidden in these chemicals," Quistis answered, lifting up a beaker that was half filled with a gray substance.
"Should we be wearing gloves? Some of this stuff looks dangerous, very dangerous!" Selphie nudged a test tube with her index finger and then quickly recoiling, like she was expecting it to bite.
"I'm sure we'll be fine. I happen to have a little experience with this sort of thing." Quistis roamed around the room, looking at chemicals in test tubes and beakers that Dr. Odine had made. She was actually looking for a book of records or formulas that they could go by. So far there was nothing.
"Hey, Quistis?" Rinoa called from the very back. "I think this was all intentional. I think somebody wanted to destroy everything in here purposely, and I believe that somebody was Odine. His kidnapping wasn't an accident."
"What are you saying, Rinny?" Selphie joined Rinoa in the back, followed by Quistis and Ellone.
"I'm saying that Odine wasn't kidnapped. He did this all! He intentionally destroyed all his work and left!" Rinoa explained.
"But why? Why would he want to destroy something that he worked so hard on and lived for?" Ellone crossed her arms over her chest.
"Because none of this here was important. All his big experiments and important formulas he took with him. After he figured out how to fuse magic, he knew he didn't need any of this anymore." Rinoa picked up a thick book with leather binding. "It's all in here."
"A journal!" Selphie, Quistis, and Ellone exclaimed in unison, shocked.
"It was hidden here underneath the glass." Rinoa pushed her foot over the debris.
"Why do we seem to be finding things hidden in glass?" Quistis demanded, a little aggravated.
"It's a puzzle!" Selphie exclaimed. "I bet you it's a puzzle! We have to put the pieces together!"
"But we only have two of the pieces." Quistis pointed out.
"I bet we have more than that. We just have to look for them. Hmmm." Rinoa turned her head and glanced around the room. "What do the other two pieces have in common?"
"Glass!" The other three cried out in unison again.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
For the rest of the day, the girls remained in Odine's lab. Laguna popped in about twice to see how they were doing, but other than that nothing important happened. It was quiet and peaceful. Nothing was out of the ordinary, yet.
It was that night that everything changed. As the city and the palace slept peacefully, Dr. Odine crept into the soundless city unnoticed. He proceeded down into the great palace. Once inside, he checked the map Seifer had given him.
Last night, he and Seifer had met outside the city. Seifer had provided him with a map of all the levels, rooms, and just about everything else in the palace, handing it over at around midnight. The main part of the map was a description of the path to Rinoa's room and how to get in. Dr. Odine didn't ask how he got all this information be cause he didn't want to know. He had what was needed. How Seifer got the info was his business.
Dr. Odine continued on his way, sneaking and creeping to his destination, determined to remain unnoticed.
Through great skill and much patience, Dr. Odine was able to get into Rinoa's room. He got his supplies ready. Rinoa slept soundly as he slipped up to her, not making a sound.
Things would have gone perfectly if Rinoa hadn't opened her eyes just as he was about to inject her with a sleeping fluid. Rinoa screamed and jumped up. "Dr. Odine?"
"Mizz Heartilly. Pleeze. Calm down," The Doctor struggled to hold his accent up. He had to distract her somehow. "I need to take you with me." Forget it. His accent was shot.
"Why? And what happened to your accent?" Rinoa scrambled away from him. Odine held out his hand to her.
"Never mind. Come. Now!" He was starting to become scary.
Rinoa backed away against the wall. Odine came after her, grabbing her with great strength as she tried to duck away. She screamed.
Her scream echoed.
Seifer was wandering the halls miserably when he heard a muffled scream. It was so quiet he almost didn't hear it, but he knew exactly where it was coming from. Rinoa's room. As he approached the door, the screams became louder.
Seifer fought with himself on whether he should go in or just walk away. It was his guilty conscience that got him in the end.
He walked into the room to find Odine in the corner with Rinoa against the wall, attempting to fight him off.
"Dr. Odine, I don't think this is such a good idea anymore." Seifer had to crawl over the bed to reach Odine and the struggling girl.
"Let go of me! Seifer, help!" Rinoa pleaded and tried to fight off the little, yet strong man.
"Seifer! Don't back down now! Get over here and hold this girl so I can inject the fluid or you'll have to deal with Rianna!" Odine barked. Reluctantly, Seifer helped him. He grabbed both of Rinoa's arms and held her still. Rinoa was shocked and scared.
"Seifer! What are you doing! Stop! Let go of me! No!" She screamed one last painful scream before falling helplessly into a long, dreaded unconsciousness.
"Now help me get her outside the city. Rianna will be waiting there. Let's move! We have what Rianna wants." Odine grabbed his stuff and threw it into an old sack.
Seifer carried Rinoa out of the palace but refused to go any further.
"What do you think would happen in someone woke to find me gone?" he demanded.
"How would they know?" Odine argued, sensing a weakness.
"They check on me, you know. They don't trust me!" Seifer gently laid Rinoa down on the ground and left back into the palace.
Odine threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carried her out of Esthar, unseen and unheard by anyone.
The first step had been completed.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Outside the great city, Rianna waited for Odine's return. Soon, she saw a lumpy figure come slowly toward her.
"Dr. Odine, I can trust that you have the girl?" Rianna glared at the doctor.
"Yes, my lady, she put up a fight, but Seifer held her down." Odine told her of Rinoa's struggles and Seifer's decisions.
"He's weakening. That's fine. When we dispose of the meddling SeeDs, he'll be one of the first to go," she smirked.
"Wonderful," came Odine's quiet reply.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
The rest of the night was dark and bleak. Not a star shone in the sky. If Rianna succeeded, not another star would ever light up the sky.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Morning came just the same as usual. Selphie was the first up and went to go wake everybody. She was ready to start the day.
When she finally reached Rinoa's room, something didn't seem right. Upon inspecting the lock, Selphie found that it had been forced open. This put an uneasy lump in her throat. Very slowly, Selphie pushed open the door. The worst struck her.
Selphie screamed. "Quistis! Elle! Laguna!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, frozen on the spot.
Laguna, Quistis, and Ellone came running, answering Selphie's call.
"What's wrong, Selphie? Is Rinoa giving you that much trouble?" Quistis asked, chuckling. She figured that Selphie was having a hard time getting Rinoa to wake up.
"I wish she was! Oh, I wish she was!" Selphie moaned, close to tears.
"Why?" Laguna wondered, slowly walking into the room.
Rinoa's room was trashed. The bed was destroyed, papers were everywhere, and there were big signs of struggle.
"No!" Laguna breathed. "This can't be happening! Guys, split up and search this place top to bottom! I'll send some guards to search the city! She has got to be here somewhere! Oh, Hyne! This can not be happening!" Laguna muttered again and took off toward his quarters.
Quistis, Ellone, Selphie, and even Seifer searched the palace and city inside and out. Not a single trace of Rinoa was found. She was gone, just plain gone.
About a few hours later, Quistis, Selphie, Ellone, Seifer, and Laguna sat in the conference room.
"What do we do now?" Quistis asked a worried Laguna.
"The only thing we can do. We're going to have to contact the guys and get them back here," Laguna sighed. Squall would definitely not be happy.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
At the Centra Ruins, Zell sat in the Ragnarok. Squall and Irvine had left earlier that morning. They had gone to check the mountainside to see if there was any way to get in without destroying the landscape. They were bent on finding that reactor.
Zell was, once again, stuffing his face. He had found a package of hotdogs and couldn't resist. Uncanny place to find a package of hotdogs.
"Zell? Irvine? Squall? Are you there? Please, answer! It's an emergency!" Laguna sounded through the communication dial. Zell was startled to hear the sound of Laguna's voice, but quickly cooled off.
"Laguna, it's Zell. What's up?" Zell asked more calmly.
"Where's Squall? I've got some bad news."
"He and Irvine left to search the area early this morning. Why?"
"Why didn't you go?" Laguna was pacing on his end now. Zell could hear him doing that loud and clear.
"They told me to stay here in case of an emergency," Zell coughed.
"Well, this is an emergency! Find those two and get back here immediately!" Laguna commanded.
"Sure thing Laguna. I'll get them and we'll be up there as soon as possible." Zell cut off from Laguna and left to find Irvine and Squall.
It didn't take long for Zell to find them. Squall and Irvine were headed back to the Ragnarok when Zell bumped into them.
"Zell, man, we told you to stay at the Ragnarok in case something happens," Irvine said.
"Big whoop. That's why I'm out here looking for you guys. Something has happened. Laguna radioed the Ragnarok. He said that it's an emergency. He wants us back in Esthar A.S.A.P.," Zell informed them.
"What's happened? Is everyone all right?" Squall asked.
"I don't know. Laguna just said to get up there, but to tell you the truth, he sounded real upset," Zell answered.
"Well, what are we still doing here?" Irvine asked. He, Squall, and Zell ran back to the Ragnarok. Within an hour after Laguna radioed Zell, they were on their way.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"Squall's not going to take this very well, is he?" Selphie asked as she, Quistis, Ellone, and Seifer waited in Laguna's quarters again. Laguna had gone down to the Airstation to wait for the guys.
"Well, probably not, but can you honestly blame him? His girlfriend is missing! Gone! Just disappeared!" Quistis shook her head.
"I wonder if Rinny is okay. I hope so," Selphie sighed.
"Well, if one thing's for sure, it's that Rinny was kidnapped, and it had to have been a planned thing," Elle added.
"Guys, do you think it could have been Rianna? Do you think she could have been the one behind all this?" Selphie asked. Quistis and Elle looked at each other.
Seifer started to act a little strange. He became more and more pale as the conversation continued. Any mention of Rianna and a guilty look would appear in his eyes, very briefly. It was as if he was hiding something, and it was tugging at him.
"Guys! Quiet! I hear voices! It sounds like Laguna and Irvine! Shh!" Quistis quickly quieted the conversation.
"Laguna, what's happened? Is everyone all right? Was it Rianna?" Irvine asked, approaching the door with Laguna.
"Yes." Laguna said no more and entered the now quiet room.
Squall, Irvine, and Zell followed him. Squall slowly looked around. "Laguna, where's Rinoa?"
At that point, everyone gulped. Unfortunately for them, Squall noticed, but so did Zell and Irvine.
"What?" Squall's voice was rising. This wasn't going to be good. Laguna decided to be the brave one, seeing that nobody else was going to step up to the plate.
"That's just it. We don't know. Selphie went to get her this morning, and she was gone," Laguna answered. Seifer became uneasy again.
"What do you mean gone?" Squall clenched his teeth.
"Squall, we mean gone. As in not here," Selphie answered him. "I went to her room this morning. First thing I noticed was that the door had been forced open. The next thing, the room was trashed. Plus, there was a sign of struggle."
Squall fell into a chair.
"We have no idea what happened. But we can assume that her disappearance was planned by someone. We think that someone might just be Rianna," Quistis tried to comfort him, but she wasn't doing a very good job of it.
"Are you saying she was kidnapped?" Zell asked. Quistis and Laguna both nodded. "And that Rianna is most likely responsible?" More nods.
"What would Rianna want with Rinoa?" Irvine asked, taking a seat.
Laguna shrugged. "We don't know. I can't imagine what Rianna would do with her. Maybe I don't want to know."
"Well, we have to go get her back!" Zell announced, figuring that he had found an easy solution.
"Little problem, Zell. We don't know where Rianna has taken her. And what if it's a trap?" Quistis replied.
"And what about Rinoa? If we don't do something, who will?" Squall asked angrily.
"Squall, what if there's nothing we can do? And remember, it might as well be a trap." Laguna knelt next to his son.
Seifer couldn't take it any longer. Rianna had him trapped. If he betrayed her, she'd kill him, but if he didn't help them, he'd die of a guilty conscience (not to mention both parties would come after him). Either way, it was a lose-lose situation.
"It is a trap. Well, sort of," he spoke quietly, but not quiet enough.
"What?" came the replies.
"Rianna plans to dispose of Rinoa. She poses a threat to her. Dr. Odine was in charge of leaving false clues to lead Squall out of Esthar so Rinoa would be unprotected. It was all a plan. Rinoa has been one of Rianna's main targets all along.
Squall jumped to his feet. "What? And how would you know?" He was very close to losing his temper.
"Because… Because I helped her." Seifer wished he could've been two inches tall.
"WHAT!" Squall yelled.
"I helped her. I had no choice. She has something of mine, and if I don't do what she asks, I'll never get it back," Seifer mumbled.
"How did you help her?" Laguna asked. He held Squall down by the shoulders.
"Last night, Odine broke into the palace and into Rinoa's room. He tried to knock her out with an injection fluid, but she fought him." Seifer avoided looking at them.
"How did he get her?" Zell asked.
"I heard her scream and went to her room. Odine made me help him. I held Rinoa down so he could inject the fluid." Seifer was wishing he should shrink on the spot again.
"How did he know how to get past the palace guards, and how did he know where her room was?" Laguna asked in disbelief.
"I gave him a detailed map of the palace of how to get in, including how to break into Rinoa's room." Seifer slowly backed away from them.
That was just about enough to push Squall. He lunged at Seifer and grabbed him by the throat. Squall probably would have choked Seifer to death with his bare hands if Zell, Irvine, and Laguna hadn't pulled him off of Seifer.
"You know, I outta kill you!" Squall panted as Laguna, Zell, and Irvine strained to hold him back. Selphie, Quistis, and Elle managed to semi-protect Seifer.
"You know, we should just let him." Selphie added with a glare at Seifer.
"I'm sorry. I had no choice. Rianna has me at her every beckoning call," Seifer argued.
"Nobody made you do anything!" Squall yelled.
Seifer hung his head. Squall was right. Rianna had no true power over his actions without getting into his head.
"Well, Seifer? What are you going to do now?" Laguna asked. "I suppose you help us get rid of Rianna once and for all or you'll be spending the rest of your days in prison."
"How? She knows all my weaknesses!" Seifer was trying, but he was being torn in two.
"Well, you won't have any weaknesses if you're DEAD!" Squall yelled, scaring everyone silly. "How 'bout that?"
"Please, calm down, Squall." Laguna said softly.
Squall broke free with great strength from Zell and Irvine and turned to face his father.
"Calm down? CALM DOWN! Because of this moron, my Rinoa has been kidnapped by a crazed sorceress who will kill her if we don't do something, and you want me to CALM DOWN!" Squall yelled, finally losing it. Laguna cringed, recoiling back. Squall was livid. No, he was beyond livid.
"Seifer, you know what Rianna is going to do, right? So, you know where she is?" Laguna asked moments later, avoiding Squall's angry eyes.
Seifer nodded sheepishly.
"Well, I have a way that you can make up for your stupid mistakes other than prison," Laguna added.
"What?" Seifer asked.
"You are going to explain a few things to us as we head to where Rianna's holding Rinoa. You're also going to take us there, and you're not going to let Rianna manipulate you again. Understood?" Laguna asked. Seifer had no choice but to agree. After what he did, he had no choice. They probably already hated him, and he didn't want to push them any further.
"Okay, what do you want to know?" Seifer asked as they sat in the Ragnarok many moments later.
"If it is Rianna we're dealing with, then how come that day that Rinoa was possessed, Ultimecia emerged from Rinoa?" Laguna asked. They hadn't left Esthar yet.
"When Rianna possesses someone, she reads their mind and when she emerges, she takes on the form of the person, or thing, that they fear. So, I'm guessing that Rinoa fears, or feared, Ultimecia when that happened," Seifer answered.
"All right, now, where has Rianna take Rinoa?" Laguna asked. Squall continued his death glare at Seifer.
"The castle. But I'm warning you! This is part of her plan! She expects you guys to go barging into the castle to save Rinoa." Seifer replied. He was warning them now.
"So we won't go barging in. We'll sneak in. Do you know your way around the castle pretty well?" Irvine asked.
Seifer nodded. "I know a lot of secret passageways that I'm pretty sure Rianna or Odine don't know about."
"Good. We'll sneak in, break Rinoa out, and work out from there," Laguna commanded.
"But, Rianna will probably have that place swarming with monsters. We'll have to split up. One group will have to distract Rianna and Odine, and the other will have to break Rinoa out without getting caught. You'll be risking not only your lives, but Rinoa's as well. Are you sure you wanna do that?" Seifer asked. He was trying to help them. He really was.
"Seifer, I'd rather risk my life to save the one person I love more than anyone or anything else in this miserable place than sit back and watch her die knowing that I could have don't something. Even if it doesn't work, I wanna try. Please, help us do this, and we'll help you get back whatever it is that Rianna took." Squall spoke in the nicest tone that he had been speaking with all day.
Seifer nodded. "I'm sorry, Squall. I had no choice." Squall nodded as well.
"Seifer, what exactly does Rianna have of yours?" Selphie wondered.
Seifer sighed. "Do you remember that key you found in the Sorceress's Memorial?" Seifer asked of Squall and Quistis. They nodded.
"That key opens a door in the castle. I stole the key from Rianna in a desperate attempt to save what's mine. But I never got a chance."
"And what would that be? What's in that room?" Quistis asked shakily.
Seifer sighed one last time and held back tears.
"My daughter."
A/N: There you go guys! Something to drive you nuts until I post the next chapter! I told you I loved you guys! Lol. Those of you out there you love Seifer, don't be mad at me, please. He's still gonna be around for a while. I'm not done with him yet. You'll see why he had to do that. And don't worry! Rinoa's not gone for good. She's really important! Keep up with me guys! Later Days!