Author's Note: Hello all! Thank you to all those who reviewed! I don't have much to say now, but enjoy this latest installment.

Disclaimer: I don't exactly own the legal rights to Final Fantasy VIII, they're Square-Enix's. Therefore, I'm just writing this for fun, so don't sue me, k?

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To Be Magic

Chapter IV: Every Step That You Take

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"Godammit! Where is Rinoa!" Squall exclaimed and shouted to no one in particular.

Although, Quistis picked up an answer, "Hmm… How about if we scan the world map? She could be in more danger than we think, as there's mostly land with numerous amounts of monsters."

"But she's a sorceress! She'll hold them off!" Selphie added hope to the grim situation.

"You're right. I'm scanning now," Squall started to enter all the possible coordinates for the radar to scan. "While we wait for a complete scan, let's deploy all of the Garden students all over various regions. Except for The Island Closest to Hell, that's where I'll go."

"But man, you're not going alone! You're gonna get killed!" reminded Zell, punching furiously in the air.

"You're right… You and Selphie come with me." They both nodded and they started to leave. "And Quistis, keep an eye on the radar and report to me as soon as you see anything." She nodded and went to the radar, typing commands to bring charts and screens up to the large monitor. "Irvine, you deploy the rest of the students to the wherever the radar signifies."

Irvine gave an eager "Yessir!" and moved his chair to the maps. Squall and the other two waited nervously to descend onto The Island Closest to Hell.

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"Quistis, come in, Quistis," Squall called for Quistis on his communicator. "Have you found anything yet?"

"No, I'm scanning again, focusing on that island."

"I see…" Squall started, interrupted by the sight of a Marlboro. "Over and out!"

They engaged in battle. The Marlboro slithered its way to the group of three, preparing a Bad Breath attack.

Zell attempted to run behind it, dodging most of its tentacle whippings, but thrown back with a heavy bruise on his chest. "Cura!" a resounding chant was yelled by Selphie.

Meanwhile, Squall stood there and concentrated, trying to get his adrenaline and focus to execute a Lion Heart limit break.

After recovering, Zell nodded a thanks to Selphie quickly and casted a Firaga spell on the Marlboro, effectively severing a few tentacles.

Selphie summoned Ifrit, damaging it even further to the point that its weakening severely and most of its body is charred. Things seemed to be in their favor.

The Marlboro was slow, but eventually released its devastation. Zell automatically attacked Selphie, while she countered with a Tornado spell. Fortunately, Squall was spared since he was meditating, therefore sparing him of the confusion effect.

After a while, complete with lashings from the Marlboro's remaining tentacles and Zell and Selphie beating each other due to the Bad Breath, Squall was slowly lowering his gunblade and rushed at it screaming, "Lion Heart!"

Slash after slash beyond slash he overkilled the Marlboro with the usual grandiose of his final limit break. Squall then quickly casted Esuna on Zell and Selphie. He tried to contact Quistis again, but got Edea instead. "Squall, dear, we've found Rinoa."

"Oh thank Hyne… Where is she?"

"She is unconscious in her room."

"What! But… the scan over the Garden revealed nothing…"

"Yes, while that is true, her disappearance has something to do with the island. My sorceress powers and intuition tell me that there is something you need to investigate within a cave to your west."

"A cave? But that wasn't there before…"

"Indeed, but it has something to deal with Rinoa. Please, take search of it now. We shall talk more later. Over and out."

"A… cave? Yo, you know what this is all about, Selphie?" asked Zell.

"No, but let's move quickly before we become monster food!"

"Right," Squall acknowledged. He checked the mini map on his multitasking communicator for a cave to the west. Indeed there was a new cavern on the map, much to their surprise.

After a somewhat long trek and encounters with monsters, they finally reached the mysterious cave. It had a small entrance and it looked small, but big enough for a somewhat large shrine. Squall attempted to contact Edea, but all he received was static and interruptions. "Damn… I should be checking on Rinoa."

"Yo Squall! My GFs are acting up! Maybe we should see what this is all about," Zell got his attention.

"Yeah! Mine too!" added Selphie.

"Also mine… let's go."

They walked in to be greeted by a shrine-like place that had a motif that would make the holiest church grow envious. Before they could take any more steps forward, Squall doubled over in an unseen pain. "Augh! W-What's going on!" Selphie and Zell tried to help him, but he collapsed quickly.

Squall wasn't exactly unconscious, because he had a dream.

He was alone, wandering through the shrine. It was cold and bright inside. He shivered from the coldness and the shivers from Doomtrain, Bahamut, and Eden. Squall became scared because his GFs were starting to moan and felt their pain. Despite this, he continued. Eventually, he reached the main prayer room of the shrine that had statues of all the sorceresses that ever existed with their power. They were in order of when they were defeated. Squall observed that the last one was Ultimecia and that there were two broken statues in crumbled pieces. Suddenly, the rocks and boulders next to Ultimecia's statue levitated and glow with a black aura.

His intuition and logic told him to get out, and he tried to, but a cage fell down around him. He lost all feeling.

Zell and Selphie were waiting patiently for Squall to awaken. And he did at that moment. "What happened?" Selphie inquired.

"I had a dream…" and Squall proceeded to tell them what happened, resulting in shocked expressions and a worried trio.

"I think we should leave for now…"

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What is this mysterious cave doing there? What about the statues? Will Rinoa wake up?