Ok, so it's not a whole lot longer than the last chapter. And hopefully this will be the last one I use a time jump in.

(That's what the "…" is, in case you didn't know.)

Anyways, standard stuff – I don't own the characters or the locations, dammit!

"Italics in quotes" are thoughts

Everything else is what it looks like.

The Sorceress

Seifer was gone. The battle was over, Balamb Garden had taken off, and Seifer had vanished. Fujin wandered Galbadia Garden looking at the carnage. "WASTED" she muttered. "Our time, their lives – all wasted!" She turned and slammed her fist into the wall, the sharp pain a welcome distraction from her dark mood. "ABANDONED" Again the wall took another blow, the pain much sharper the second time.

Raijin came running up from his end of the hall. "Nothing here. Ah, Fuj," he touched the smear of blood on the wall. "Shouldn't get so mad, ya know? We'll finish checking the Garden, then we'll find Seifer, ya know?"

She noticed his smile didn't quite each his eyes. Nodding, Fujin headed down the hall. The only places left were the lobby and the auditorium. She could smell scorched fabric and hair on the balcony. Looking over, the lobby was empty. "Figures the SeeDs took that thing." The auditorium was also empty, except for the unconscious Sorceress. "Hunh. Wonder why they didn't take her?"

Looking down at the unconscious woman, Fujin could feel her anger building. She could see how Seifer would refer to her as 'a romantic dream'. Even knowing the Sorceress had to be at least twice her age, she would have guessed the woman to be twenty. But this woman was the reason behind the blonde knight's insanity. "BITCH" she said coldly, shoving the prone woman's hip with her foot.

"Probly shouldn't do that, ya know." Raijin knelt down and felt to see if the Sorceress was breathing. "We're supposed to take care of her." He was amazingly gentle about picking her up. "Where do you think we oughta take her?"

"DON'T CARE" Fujin turned away, heading out the door. Then the woman groaned.

"What's going on?" she asked, her voice low and musical. Grey eyes opened to look at Raijin. "I believe I can stand, if you would put me down please young man?" It wasn't so much a request as a polite order, and Raijin complied. She smiled at him and looked around the room, the smile fading when she met Fujin's scowl.

"You look familiar, child," her eyebrows pulled together. "Why? How do I know you?"

Glaring in silent defiance, Fujin left Raijin to explain awkwardly. "We're Seifer's posse. He asked us to stick with you if anything happened, ya know?"

"Seifer?"

"Your knight, ya know?" Eyes flickering from one woman to the other, Raijin fiddled nervously with his staff.

"No," the Sorceress shook her head slowly. "Seifer is not my knight. My knight awaits me in Centra." She looked at the two, finally settling on Fujin. "He trusts you two. You want him back." The last was not a question, but they nodded anyway. "Cid and I may be able to help you."

"HOW?" Fujin was puzzled. This did not seem to be the same woman she'd seen before, but there was still something dark about her.

The woman smiled, eyes flashing with mischief. "We trick the soldiers into taking us to Centra. Then we get them to take you to Seifer. Hopefully they won't realize I'm not who they think I am."

…

The trip to Centra earned Edea grudging respect from Fujin. By the time they arrived, she realized the Sorceress was almost as much a pawn as Seifer. Unlike him, she was now free to make right on the situations created by her possession. The Sorceress dismissed the soldiers upon their arrival at the correct Centran island. "My guards and I can handle this one person. We'll call you when you're needed."

The pretense for going to Centra was to personally hunt down the man responsible for the destruction of Galbadia Garden. Fujin was therefore quite surprised to find out that there was a man at this run down lighthouse. And one she recognized. "I knew you'd come here, Edea."

Raijin nudged Fujin as the other two people embraced warmly. "Hey, that's Headmaster Cid, ya know? Ya think he's her knight?" The big man blushed when he realized he'd been heard.

"Of course he is." Edea stepped back from Cid. "That's how I found my way back." She smiled at the older man. "Let's go see if we can find Seifer."

Fujin didn't say anything, following the older couple into the ramshackle house to sit at the table. Cid looked confused. "Seifer's missing? What are we doing?"

Standing to pace the small room nervously, Fujin didn't quite understand the explanation. Something about meditating, children and the astral plane. "Whatever the hell that is? As long as it works I don't care!" Raijin looked enthralled even though nothing seemed to be happening. She was tempted to bring him around with a swift kick. Knowing more of what was going on did not lessen her concern for her friend. "Why is everything taking so damn long?"

Things were quiet for what seemed (to Fujin) like hours before the Sorceress spoke. "Esthar. He's after Lunatic Pandora." She gave a sad smile. "The rest of the children are coming home. Which means you two have to leave if you want to find him before they do."