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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, places, or ideas of Final Fantasy VIII blah, blah, blah. You know the drill.

Chapter Forty

Breaking And Entering

"Okay, so how are we going to do this?" Quistis asked as she Seifer, Selphie, Irvine, Zell, Laguna, and Squall stood in the mountainous woods behind the castle.

"How do you want to do this?" Seifer asked her back.

"We just need to sneak in there, grab Rinoa and your daughter and get out. Simple, right?" Selphie said.

"Not necessarily. We have no idea what Rianna's exactly planning," Seifer replied with a slight frown.

"Well, how do you propose we get around Rianna without getting caught?" Laguna asked. Seifer was ready for that question.

"Easy. We split up. A couple of us search the castle for Rinoa and Nadia, while the rest of us find Rianna and either take her down or watch her," Seifer replied.

"Easy? What happened to 'it could be a trap'?" Squall snapped.

"It very well could be, but you said you wanted to do something, right?" Seifer retaliated. Squall nodded and left it at that.

"All right, who's going to do what?" Laguna asked.

"I'll lead everybody in, and where you guys want me to go, I'll go," Seifer said sad with just a tiny tone of sadness.

"I wanna help Rinny!" Selphie exclaimed, jumping up and down.

"I have a bone to pick with Rianna," Squall growled.

"How about this? The girls, since they're smaller and quieter, will go find Rinoa and his little girl, and the guys will go after Rianna and Odine?" Laguna suggested.

"That's cool. So how do we break into this place?" Zell asked, staring at the huge, gothic castle that stood in front of them.

"There's a secret passageway beneath the bridge that leads into the castle. I'm positive that Rianna doesn't know about it," Seifer answered.

"How do you know these things?" Quistis wondered, shaking her head at Seifer.

"I like to explore, okay?" he grinned.

"Whatever. About this 'secret passageway,' does anyone else besides Rianna know anything about it?" Squall asked, directing them all back on subject. Seifer shrugged.

"Probably not, unless you count a few monsters," he replied.

"Does this route lead to only one place?" Laguna asked, making mental notes.

Seifer shook his head. "No. About fifty or so meters in, another path appears. One leads down into the dungeon, and the other leads to the outside of the North Tower."

"So what way would you take?" Irvine asked, speaking up now for the first time in quite a long time.

"The one leading up. One path descends downward, while the other goes up." Seifer took a stick and drew them a little diagram in the dirt.

"The lower one becomes windy. The upper path just continues straight, but later on, it'll start branching out again." Seifer continued on the diagram.

"Do we turn any or just continue straight?" Squall asked.

"For a while we continue straight. Then, at the last split trail, we turn again. That trail will lead us just outside the North Tower. Which is only a few floors above the Main Chamber." Seifer replied.

"Does this place have any type of security system?" Laguna asked.

"No, unless you count these stupid suits of armor. They like to swing their axes at you. If you get too close to one, it'll start making all kinds of loud noises. So, just steer clear of them." Seifer rolled his eyes. Last time he got too close to one, it tried to give him a second scar.

"Anything like that in the dungeon?" Quistis asked. She, too, was making mental notes of all this.

"No. It's too damp for the suits of armor down there. The only things you'll have to worry about are the bats and the massive rats. They're huge!" Seifer picked a stray twig off his trench coat.

"Rats?" Selphie asked, squeamishly.

"Yeah, big, fat, ugly ones that'll chase you around," Seifer teased causing Selphie to squeal.

"Guys! Stop it! We don't have time for this!" Quistis hissed dangerously.

"Sorry. Selphie, the rats may be huge, but they won't hurt you. Don't worry about it," Seifer smiled gently.

"Okay. Now, any tricks Rianna might be planning?" Squall asked.

"Besides us being here? None. That is, that I know of. Rianna could've planned something else while I was with you guys," Seifer replied, frowning.

"All right. Does everybody know what they're doing?" Laguna asked. Everyone nodded. "Okay. Let's do this."

The group quickly and quietly ran down from their hiding place to the edge of the castle. They slipped underneath the bridge unseen.

"Seifer, where is this secret entrance? I don't see one," Laguna couldn't help his doubts.

Seifer motioned for them to be quiet, and he walked over to the vine-covered wall. He pulled on a vine. A low rumbling sound was heard, and the stone began to move. A dark passageway was soon visible.

"Sweet," Irvine said with a low whistle, lifting his hat.

"Let's go," Seifer whispered, and he led them into the dark, musty castle.

They all remained deathly quiet as Seifer led them farther into the castle.

When they finally reached the split in the path, Seifer told Quistis and Selphie a little bit about the dungeons.

"Just continue straight down the path. You don't need to worry about any guards or anything. I'm assuming that Rinoa and my daughter will be in the same cell together. Selphie, don't worry about the rats, okay?" Seifer noticed that Selphie was freaking out again.

"What do we do if Rinny and your daughter aren't in the dungeon? Where do we look if they're not there?" Quistis asked, just in case.

"I don't see why they wouldn't be there, but in case they're not, then you should check the tallest room of the South Tower. You know, the classic thing," Seifer suggested, shrugging.

"Right," Quistis said sarcastically with a sigh.

"Anyway! Once you grab Rinoa and his girl, get out of here and wait in the woods for us. If we're not back by nightfall, go back to Esthar and stay there. DO NOT LEAVE," Laguna commanded.

They parted, and the guys headed up into the higher part of the castle.

Selphie and Quistis quietly moved down deeper to the dungeons. As they approached their destination, the smell of mold and dampness became more distinct.

"How much farther do you think we have to go?" Selphie asked after a while.

"I don't know. Seifer didn't even tell us exactly where we'd come out. But that awful smell must mean we're close," Quistis answered. She was starting to get a headache from the odor.

"Ouch!" Selphie said loudly as she smacked into something.

"Shh! Do you want us to get caught? Now, what did you hit?" Quistis grabbed onto Selphie's shoulder.

"It's a dead end! We're stuck! Oh, no! We're stuck! We'll never get out!" Selphie moaned, starting to panic.

"Relax, Selphie! Try pushing against the wall." Quistis suggested. She and Selphie pushed against the wall to find that it opened back out to the castle.

"Oh, right! He-he!" Selphie giggled sheepishly, feeling foolish. Quistis rolled her eyes and the two walked down a deserted hall.

"Ugh! I think we found the dungeon!" Selphie whispered, moments later with disgust.

"Come on. Let's get them out and high-tail it out of here," Quistis said, pulling Selphie by the arm.

They didn't have to go very far before they found a bunch of prison cells. Soon, following that, as they were searching them, they heard a tiny sniffling coming from the end. They followed the sniffling to a bolted wooden door with bars. Selphie carefully opened it. Inside was a little girl.

"Hi, there!" Selphie said sweetly. She glanced around looking for Rinoa. She wasn't there.

"W-who are you?" The little girl asked, wiping her eyes.

"I'm Selphie. Who are you?" Selphie walked over and knelt next to the little girl.

"I'm Nadia. Have you seen my daddy?" Nadia started to cry again.

"We sure have. He told us where to find you. We're gonna get you outta here! Daddy's orders!" Selphie smiled brightly. That certainly brightened up the little girl.

"Nadia, do you know anyone named Rinoa? Do you know where she is?" Quistis also came over to the little girl.

Nadia nodded slowly. "Yeah. I know Sorceress Rinoa. She was in here with me when that mean lady's man came and took us away."

"Where did he take you?" Selphie asked.

"He took us to the main room place, and that's when the mean lady took Sorceress Rinoa. The man threatened me that if I didn't behave, I'd never see daddy again." Tears swelled up in Nadia's eyes.

"Oh, Nadia! You poor thing! It's okay! We'll get you to your daddy. We promise! You have to trust us. Okay? Can you do that for us?" Selphie asked, helping Nadia to her feet.

Nadia nodded and tried to smile. The lady in yellow and brown with blonde hair looked like the lady her daddy was always talking about. She felt like being brave.

"Are you Quisty?" She asked, tugging on Quistis' jacket.

Quistis smiled and knelt down next to her. "Yes, I am. Did your daddy tell you about me? I taught him at his old school." Quistis suddenly had an image of Seifer sitting behind his desk with that old bad-tempered look on his face.

Nadia nodded again. "Yep! He said that he always admired you and said that you understood him! Daddy liked you!" She giggled, and Quistis smiled broader.

"Nadia, is Rinoa with Rianna? That mean lady? Is she with the mean lady?" Selphie held her hand out to Nadia.

"Yes. The mean lady took Sorceress Rinoa and left the room with her. Then the man took me back here. I was so scared. I just wanna be with daddy!" Nadia exclaimed.

"So, Rinoa may not even be here. Should we go check the tower?" Selphie sighed and placed a hand on her hip.

"No, we're not going to bother. We just need to tell the guys. They need to know," Quistis said getting up and brushed herself off.

"But, Quistis! Laguna said when we get Rinoa and Nadia to leave the castle," Selphie reminded her.

"That's just it, Selphie. We don't have Rinoa. We only have Nadia. Laguna said when we get both of them to go back to the woods," Quistis said slyly almost.

"Sweet! A loophole!" Selphie laughed.

Quistis turned back to Nadia after a nod to Selphie. "Nadia, your daddy is here. But we have a little problem. We need to get Rinoa away from the mean lady. Will you help us by being very, very quiet as we get to your daddy? Can you do that for us?"

Nadia nodded eagerly.

"Thank you. Remember, you have to be very quiet. Okay?" Quistis reminded her. Again, Nadia nodded to show her understanding.

"Quistis, I don't really think Seifer's gonna like this," Selphie warned.

"Oh, well. He can get over it. Let's go. Selphie, do you remember which way we came?" Quistis asked as the three girls left the cell.

"Yeah we came out from behind a huge portrait of some woman. It's not that far from here," Selphie replied, leading the way and pulling Nadia with her.

"Well, at least one of us can remember something. We'd better get going before the guys find themselves in some sort of trap. Hyne knows we don't need that," Quistis replied, hurrying after Selphie to the portrait.

Selphie, Quistis, and Nadia headed back to the split in the passageway. They all remained very quiet as they moved farther away from the dungeons.

"Here's the way they went. Let's go," Quistis instructed, and they headed out again.

They continued straight as the path continued on and on and on. Finally they came to the last split in the path.

"Which way did they say they were going from here? I don't remember!" Selphie stated, pouting.

"Well, let's think of it this way: Seifer said that one of these paths leads up to the outside of the North Tower. Which path looks like it goes up?" Quistis asked, applying common sense.

"The right one! Duh! Sorry, Quistis!" Selphie smacked herself in the head.

"All righty then. Let's get moving. We've got to hurry!" Quistis turned to Nadia. "How are you doing, honey? Are you alright?"

Nadia nodded but said nothing.

"Good. Come on." This time Quistis took Nadia's hand, and they went right.

A/N: Here's chapter forty for you guys. I kind of had a Harry Potter moment or two in there. Sorry about that! I'll get chapter forty-one up as soon as possible, okay? Later Days my peeps! R&R for me!