Well, that was quite a dream in the previous chapter eh? Again, thanks for reviewing people. The reviews I'm getting are awesome. And one particularly from Water Goddess made me BEAM! "My heart was beating really fast. It's SO exciting and…breath taking." Hell yeah, that's the kind of reviews that make me smile big.

Interesting fact: I got the title for this chapter from a Green Day song. "Church on Sunday"

Lyrics used: "Figure 09" by Linkin Park!!!

Chapter 7: Bloodshot, Deadbeat, and Lack of Sleep

Nothing ever stops all these thoughts

And the pain attached to them

Sometimes I wonder why this is happenin'…

"Get up," Squall called to her again, feeling a little worried over this. He heard Quezacotl's voice assure him. "She's waking up Squall," he told Leonhart gently. With that, they both watched Marianne's eyes pop open. She sat up rather quickly, causing Squall to stand back. Seifer had done the same, afraid of what she might do. Perhaps she would be scared if she were to see them right beside her. As she looked to Squall, she thought of Quezacotl, being inside his mind. The fear in her eyes have softened a little. As for Leonhart, he could see it and felt confused…along with a little discomfort.

What came next was unexpected. The overwhelming pain of Marianne's head injury had struck upon her in an instant. She could feel great discomfort as she laid down. "That boulder hit you harder than I thought," Bahamut said within her mind, sounding surprised. This made her twitch and search to the source of the voice. Then she was forced to stop by that unbearable head pain. Squall saw her lay down, then jerk and look around before wincing in pain. "I'm not around you. I'm inside you. Inside your mind," said Bahamut. Almasy asked in a soft voice, "You okay? You were having a bad dream." She let out a soft moan in response and tried her hardest to sit up.

Just then, there was a clattering noise from behind them. Squall was the first to turn around, using his improved sense of hearing to see an object that was leaning against the far left wall from everyone. There was no need to turn on a light, because the sun was just rising, providing enough light through the windows. This didn't brighten Marianne's mood any, because she just wanted to go back to sleep. She was really tired and felt like her head was going to swell up in pain. In her own words, she felt really shitty at this time.

A chorus of the rest but Selphie had woken up. Zell was on the bed directly across from Marianne's as he slowly sat up and stretched his arms. "What's going on?" he yawned. He looked in front of him to see Marianne pick up her pillow and slowly held it up against the wall behind her with one hand. She slowly scooted backwards to rest her head up against it.

Quistis was on the floor, in between the bed where Selphie slept like a rock, and the bed in which Zell was getting off of. Irvine was standing from the downward left corner of the room, where he slept, holding his rifle in one hand by his side.

Leonhart had walked over and brought back the heavy black book bag that Marianne's father had given to Edea last night. It was really heavy too, so he had to drag it across the carpeted floor. "What's in that bag? I haven't seen it before…" Quistis wondered as she helped Squall lift it up and place it on the bed he slept on.

It's like nothing I can do will distract me when

I think of how I shot myself in the back again…

I shouldn't have gotten the damn game, Marianne thought to herself regretfully. But how was I to know this was going to happen? The wise dragon could sense her grumpiness. Also, due to the amount of pressure on Marianne's left temple, he only spoke in a soft voice. By a medium whisper, when his normal voice was loud. Like, nearly booming loud. "No one was expecting this to happen. Not even Hyne herself, who wants all the best for you," he confided to her. "Don't blame yourself. Like you have told them before, you are innocent."

Seifer had noticed her hair being a mess again. He was out of smart aleck remarks for now though. Marianne shifted her red, irritated eyes to focus on him. She slowly opened her mouth to speak, and felt like she was straining in trying to talk. Her throat even felt dry. She thought of something positive, giving Almasy a hint as to what her dream was about. "…Rinoa says hi." This woke up Almasy a little more. "You saw Rinoa in your dream?" he asked, as she nodded her head slowly. She felt very uncomfortable. The pillow helped cushion her headache some, but it still hurt like hell. Squall, Zell, and Quistis's attention drifted from the back pack to Marianne. "I heard you talk in your sleep," Leonhart informed her. Marianne's eyes opened slightly, as she looked to him. "…What was I saying?" she asked, forcing the words out of her. To the direct truth, she didn't feel like talking, and only wanted to rest a little more… But from seeing that the sun was up and receiving the pain she felt, that wasn't going to happen.

'Cause from the infinite words I could say

Put all the pain you gave to me on display…

There was a short pause, but Squall managed to recall the last thing she had subconsciously said. "The last thing you said was, 'I won't let you get away with this.' " The others looked at her and saw a reaction of slight surprise. "Um…" Marianne began, remembering the dream clearly. "That statement wasn't toward Rinoa. It was toward Edea, who's got a really sick ego." Her voice sounded pretty groggy to everyone. Even to herself. "What…the hell?" Zell quirked, and sat on the edge of Marianne's hotel bed with a concerned look in his facial features. "What happened?"

I don't believe this… Edea and Rinoa? Haunting Marianne in her dreams? thought the glum Squall as he got an automatic response from his Guardian Force. "Believe it, because I was there. I met her through her dream. Rinoa and Bahamut were there too. Hyne sent him to junction to Marianne as her Guardian Force overnight." The aloof young man's eyes had widened of this information. "…Bahamut's your Guardian?" Leonhart asked Marianne in shock, who nodded. Good ole Quezacotl, she thought in realizing that the gentle bird must have told him. "What? …I don't understand," Trepe said, feeling indeed perplexed. She was standing with Squall next to the bed across from her. "Quezacotl has just told me that Bahamut had been sent by Hyne to junction to her while she was asleep." "No way!" Zell interrupted. This bit of information seemed to have gotten to him the most. "That's never happened before to…like, anyone!" "Well, Quezacotl never lies. He also says he was there with her in the dream," Leonhart remarked as he looked at Dincht. The spiked blonde teen turned to Marianne, complaining, "Well that's not fair! And I've heard he's one of the toughest Guardians around." The Earth girl felt the emotion of pride flowing from Bahamut, and softly smiled. "Zell, you're making him want to faint," she told him as a light joke. That got some laughter from everyone, but Squall and Selphie. Even Marianne heard Bahamut laugh and felt that echo inside her mind. It was a little loud, so it caused her to squint in pain once again. All the laughter had come to an abrupt halt then.

Irvine had realized Selphie was still asleep and walked over to wake her up. "Time to get up little lady," Kinneas told Timlitt playfully and lightly shook her on the shoulder. She slowly fluttered her eyes opened, and a warm smile appeared on her face. "Hey Irvy… Is it alright if I call you Irvy?" Hours ago, before Marianne's arrival to Gala, Selphie had only just met the cowboy. And Kinneas had flirted with her at the time. Timlitt found this to be funny, and jokingly flirted back. It's a shame that Irvine didn't see through her.

"Sure," Irvine smiled as Selphie sat up and joined in with everyone else, who were apparently staring at them. The usually optimistic one noticed the way Marianne was sitting up, pillow behind her head as she sat up against the wall. "Aww, does your head still hurt?" she asked her in concern. Squall quickly got back on track, trying to solve this puzzle as to why Marianne was freaking him out earlier. "What else happened in your dream? …Anything?"

But didn't realize, instead of setting it free

I took what I hated and made it a part of me…

Grumpily, Marianne felt her eyes narrow as she recalled the parts about Edea in her memory. A part of her just wanted to break down and cry all over again, but her eyes were drained of all moisture at the time. Trying to calm down, she inhaled and exhaled heavily a couple of times. Her technique just wasn't working this time. She was much too angry to have been told that her parents are Edea's puppets. "The bitch freakin' possessed my parents…" she told them rather bluntly. Squall felt his eyebrows raise in surprise. "She was harassing me about them," Marianne continued. "Marianne, take it easy. Remember your head injury…?" Bahamut cautioned.

Marianne then looked to the backpack. "That is mine…by the way," she flatly stated. The label. The bright orange Hot Wheels car she put all the way in the front see-through pocket for decoration. Yes, it was definitely her book bag. Putting the dream and the most current clue together, she hissed, "I think I know what's going on here. She's cleaning out my room." She trembled, frightened and upset. "It's heavy," Squall admitted as he started to unzip the pocket all the way in the back. The black bag had a bunch of pockets. Two big ones. The rest in the front were much smaller.

Yo, what's in it Squall?" Dincht asked the SeeD squad leader, out of curiosity. The rest of the group watched as Leonhart reached in and pulled out…a square glass case. It had a light blue color, with an interesting looking design. Quistis found the colors and the radio design interesting. There was something written in pen. There were also words in print, but they were Xed out. "New Artist. New Album" In replacing the words there was a handwritten title: RENT and Other Various Artists. Marianne wanted to get up, and tried to, but Seifer placed a gentle hand on Marianne's shoulder. A signal that he didn't want her to move because he knew that she knew she was too hurt to move for right now. "Squall, show it to Marianne," Almasy commanded. Marianne easily recognized it as Squall did so and calmly stated, "That…would be one of my CDs."

CDs? Squall quirked to himself as his look towards Marianne expressed bewilderment. "CDs?" Selphie repeated the thought out loud, unaware of what he was thinking. "What are those?" Quistis reached in and pulled out another glass case, which was thicker than the one Squall was holding. It had a black and white photo of three men. The background scenery appeared to be some sort of city. There were a few words on the cover of this case: GREEN DAY, WARNING:

Marianne reacted in disbelief. NO CDS?! And this world was supposed to be slightly more advanced than hers! Squall opened the light case he held, and it came apart. Oops. "Don't worry about that," Marianne quickly told him in her continuously low and exhausted tone of voice. "It's been like that for a long time now. I know how to put it back together." Squall felt a little embarrassed, and a bit annoyed inside until he looked upon what was inside of the case. It was a disc. One of those similar discs used as computer software on Gala, like they were used in Marianne's world. "Computer software?" Squall said as Quistis, Selphie, and Zell crowded around him to see. Marianne shook her head in disagreement, slightly grinning. This was funny to her. They must have computer software like Earth's, but no CDs?! Seriously, there is something wrong here. "CD means Compact Disc. It's not like computer software, but it has music on it…" Immediately she added, "And I assume the computers here don't play CDs…"

She looked past the group quickly, and saw something else. Her CD player was in the same spot that her backpack had been. Either it just appeared, or Squall hadn't noticed it at first. It was small, white, and round with grey speakers on the sides. There were buttons all over the front of it in working the most of the controls of the CD/radio player. Two switches on the right hand side: the one closest to a human hand is the power switch, and the other is the radio switch, in turning the radio to AM, FM, to just turn it off to play a CD.

Marianne pointed behind them. "Look, there's my CD player over there," she informed the the group around her as Zell went to go get it. "What the…?" Seifer quipped, not really understanding. "How did that get here?" Marianne knew the answer, and said it in pure hatred. "Edea…"

It never goes away…it never goes away…

And now you've become a part of me

You'll always be right here

You've become a part of me

You'll always be my fear…

The smile had completely vanished without a trace as Marianne mentioned the name. The tension within her came back in a heartbeat. I'm gonna kill her…I swear I'm going to kill her… Everyone else could see through her. "But, why would she even do this?" Zell asked as he placed the CD playing device next to the book bag on the bed across to her right. Marianne sighed irritably in answering. Squall felt that she knew the answer, and looked directly towards her as Marianne explained furthermore on Edea having control over her parents. Holding the broken CD case, he handed it to her as she gladly received it. "She made my mom and dad believe that I don't exist…and in thinking they don't know me, they certainly would ponder about my own bedroom…back at home…" She said this rather slowly because deep down inside, it hurt her. And putting the case together had helped calm her mind a little bit. If she mentioned what she just said with making eye contact, it would hurt her inside to. Bahamut knew it hurt her so much to try and accept it, but remained neutral in emotion, for now.

"Oh, I'm sorry…" Zell apologized as his eyes slowly looked to the floor in guilt for bringing the matter up. As her hands curled into fists, Marianne was trembling again. Almasy was fuming, angry of the sorceress for doing such vile things. Selphie walked up to Marianne and gave her a hug. She could see that she needed one. And her voice was becoming unstable again. "Well, what are we waiting for then?" Irvine said. Quistis nodded solemnly in agreement and said, "Let's get prepared for the new day ahead, and bring Marianne with us back to Balamb Garden."

I'd see you in every thought I had and then

The thoughts slowly found words attached to them…

Yeah, the Headmaster has to tell them what he's kept in secret, Marianne thought glumly to herself, finally stopping to try and fight off her headache. Hell, I'll make Cid tell them if I have to. From feeling her emotions, Bahamut believed her. She could definitely lose her temper, and might decide to beat the truth out of him. That's what the dragon inside of her was getting, and saw little images of the situation. "Oh I think you got something you want to tell them, right?" Marianne in her imagination threatened the imaginary Headmaster of Balamb Garden. In her mind, he was cowering before her, behind that big wooden desk of his. This was followed by the blurred images of a possibility in Squall pulling her back. Yeah, him and everyone else, except maybe Seifer, have much respect for him. Bahamut kept silent, reading over how smart his life partner was.

"How about we all get showers and something to eat first?" Zell's suggestions had caused Marianne to break away from her thoughts. She didn't need to shower again, but eating? …Not real hungry, but I gotta try to eat a little something. Staying in this reality is much more dangerous than mine. "I suggest a good hearty meal for your breakfast, no matter how hungry you feel," Bahamut counter pointed in concern for her health. If the Guardian Force was to remain in her mind and feel her body's wants and needs, he would not be able to bear malnutrition. "Well, I'm gonna go down there…to the lounge," Zell announced to everyone. "I wanna see if there's any hotdogs." He left in a hurry, knowing how scarce hotdogs were on Gala. Zell, the hotdog maniac, Marianne recalled in memory. From the times when she thought that this reality was only a game, there was one journal entry in Selphie's online diary in the computer panels of the classrooms in Balamb Garden. It was kinda funny. Maybe he would write that same message down, despite the big change around here?

Selphie had found Quistis's hairbrush. "Hey, how about I do your hair? Hmm?" she suggested, wearing a perky smile on her face. "I promise I'll be gentle." "Sure…" Marianne breathed out in response and slowly sat up, still holding the CD case in her hands. The pain still wouldn't die down, and she was forced to deal with it. And now she had a Guardian Force on her case too.

Damn it, I almost forgot about you, she groaned to herself in adapting to realize she had no way to hide her own thoughts from the dragon she met in her dream. Look, I'll just have a piece of fruit or something to eat. "Marianne…" The GF of Wisdom argued. "You know that you are not in your usual luxury anymore. If you eat too little, you won't even survive here in Gala."

With a sigh, she pushed Bahamut to the side for now, to which he didn't like at all, but what could he do? He let her be, hoping that she would learn a lesson from this later during the day. He also knew the others would get worried then as well.

Selphie was indeed being gentle in brushing Marianne's hair, as Squall was taking his shower first. Too late for anyone to have their say. Seifer sat on the bed across from the girls. Marianne almost felt like asking him to get an ice bag from the lounge. Almost. And Marianne was dressed, but she hadn't worn the new clothing a whole day.

No, just forget about brushing my teeth today. My teeth won't be falling out anytime soon, she thought to herself. "You'd be surprised," Bahamut stated in a quick reply. For a moment, the Guardian Force had stumped her. Then she managed to figure out what he meant that by. On terms of battle…she could lose some teeth. A definite possibility.

"After Squall gets done, I'm soooo taking my shower," Selphie blurted while Marianne twitched as Selphie was having a bit of trouble with one tangle in her thick, curly hair. "Gosh, how do you deal with your hair?! It's so thick!" Timlitt pondered to Marianne as she managed to finally get the knot untangled. "Detangler spray…." answered Marianne in a low voice. It was the only way to tame her hair. Otherwise it would take a little while to get ready for a brand new day, like how it was now. "Oh, well that explains it," Timlitt figured. "Well, sometime today, I'll make sure you get some…"

Within the bathroom, Squall was drying his hair in front of the mirror. His hair wasn't a hassle to deal with. Not as much as Marianne's… Anyway, Leonhart was sulking to himself again, thinking about how last night's events had impacted him overall. Horrible… In one word, he managed to summarize it all. With that, his mind began to wander in different directions, thinking about what would happen next. Would I have to just be sent on another mission when I get back? What would the Headmaster do about Marianne? Would she stay with us or be sent off to be somebody else's problem? "Marianne will make sure she stays with you and the rest of those she's familiar with, because it's not like she can trust anyone else with this situation," Quezacotl said from inside his own mind. Squall was curious. What do you mean? The thunderbird let out a sigh, hoping that what he was going to say would never happen. Squall had felt some dread from his Guardian. It's bad if the Headmaster won't let her stay with us, he suspected. "She might lose her temper," Quezacotl added in agreement. This surprised Leonhart. He didn't even think Marianne had a temper. "She doesn't get riled up often, but I'm feeling that situation might be one of the occasions."

What are you trying to say? Would she attack Cid? Leonhart thought to the Guardian in concern. "Verbally," Quezacotl assured his life partner. "In looking through her memories… with Hyne, Marianne had claimed to never be a fighter on physical terms. That is true. She's never fought a battle in her entire life. But then again…there's no telling how she will react if Cid refuses to take her in, which is not likely."

Squall took note of it as he was changing into his casual wear, starting with his ring and necklace. Two of his only special possessions. The ring was his mother's, as he was told back in childhood. The necklace was something he bought in Balamb on the way to the Garden to apply for becoming a SeeD, in which he was for a few days. The third special possession was his gunblade, in which he named Revolver. He always made sure to dedicate some time into cleaning and polishing his gunblade. Now that he was a SeeD, he had to do that every now and then. There were expected to be lots of battles coming his way. Leonhart would push himself to always be prepared.

Quezacotl managed to keep to himself from Squall about the necklace. He knew Marianne admired it, and that she wasn't going to tell him that anytime soon. The thunderbird mentally predicted that she would ask Leonhart about it in the future.

When Squall was fully dressed, he stepped out of the bathroom, pulling out a small black comb that he always carried around in one of the outside pockets of his leather coat. He shot a glance at Marianne, thinking over what Quezacotl said as he ran the comb through his strands of his light brown hair. This girl's unpredictable, he thought.

Marianne had caught the glance, and it seemed blank, but through his eyes, Marianne sensed nothing friendly. Through his eyes, she could read what his expression was exactly saying to her: I'll be watching you. This made her feel very tense and uneasy. Since she found out that Squall was a real human being, she figured she had to try and get past what she had known from before, but couldn't push away the facts she knew about and kept to herself. This morning wasn't the time to make Squall listen to Marianne, and she sure as hell wasn't in the mood to be talking with anyone.

Selphie had finished up brushing Marianne's hair, and handed Quistis's hairbrush to her. Marianne calmly focused on taking her hair clumps out of it to drop in the waste basket that remained beside her bed. Trepe had been busy in looking over some of Marianne's CD cases, to which she didn't mind at all. "Quistis, your brush," Marianne called to her as the teen with long golden blond hair looked up from what she was doing. "Thank you," she told her as Marianne gave the brush back. As she was putting it back in her purse, she felt like going to her on friendly terms.

Diablos had told her that it was for the best, and she had also asked the Guardian of Gravity about the same thing Squall had discussed with Quezacotl in the bathroom. About Headmaster Cid. "Marianne's unpredictable at times," he had told her, and also the same things that Quezacotl had told Leonhart.

Seifer had moved to sit beside Marianne, and knew better not to say anything. By the look on her face, he suspected she was in a lot of head pain. "Does your head still hurt as much from last night?" Trepe asked her. Marianne slowly nodded in response, and had one hand over her left temple. "We'll make sure you get that checked out by the doctor, at B-" "Balamb Garden?" Marianne managed to say at that instant. Everyone else in the room but Selphie, still cleansing herself, looked to her in surprise. "Yeah, I know about Dr. K. I know quite a bit," she uttered through the endless throbbing in her head. "…I know quite a bit about this reality…"

With that, Almasy helped her to get up. She placed the light CD case down on the bed. Damn, I should have known, he thought to himself, remembering what Marianne had struggles in explaining to them the previous night. "Let's get ya some breakfast," he said, caring that she should at least eat something before leaving to where he and the others, but Irvine, pretty much called home.

In mentioning of Irvine, he stepped up to the door to let Selphie know himself and the others were going to have breakfast. "Okay Irvy, I'll be down there in a couple minutes!" Selphie said in what seemed to be in a cheery manner.

Squall watched Marianne, Quistis, and Seifer from behind in walking to the stairway by their room. It would lead downstairs to the lobby. He didn't sense any danger from Marianne, but he was really suspicious in how much she knew about them. About all of Gala. He had questions, and when the time came, he would find out the answers soon enough. He understood her situation, and knew how much of a problem she has, and learned that he had to keep an eye on Marianne. Had to make sure she wouldn't do anything that could be dangerous.

Just then, he felt a hand pat on his shoulder. He gave Irvine a glaring look. "Whoa, relax man," the friendly ladies man said with a smile. "Woke up on the side of the bed this morning?" Squall's look turned blank as he moved a few paces ahead of Kinneas, not wanting to deal with him right now. No, more like not getting much sleep at all, he answered the Galbadian, privately to himself…