Woah, it's been quite some time Oo

And, haha, no, I did not give up this story… yet.

Due to my non-native-english-speaker-status, I suppose there will be quite some mistakes. Don't flame, just tell me where they are, and I'll fix it.

Disclaimer: All FF8 are belong to square-enix. 'nuff said

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He was interrupted by loud shouting and crashing sounds that came from outside the office. Then and when there were sounds that seemed to be bells tinkering or horse-whinnying The two of them looked at each other, wondering who could have the nerves to do such a racket near the commander's office.

And then a Mesmerize rampaged through the door.

Chapter 3

The sound of a whip cracked through the air, immobilizing the Mesmerize instantly. Squall cursed his head-ache, as he realized that Quistis had been quicker on this one. But then, she might just be thinking that it was her duty to protect the commander from Mesmerizes of any kind. Be they in the wild of some forest or in his office.

It was a trabian mesmerize, slightly shorter and with more fur than the estarian. The bell noises that were heard earlier came from a little tinker bell attached to its neck with a big pink silky ribbon. The horn was still attached to the forehead, and it seemed like the beast knew very well what kind of damage it could inflict with it.

The whip-crack had calmed it down somehow, but it still seemed to be nervous, blowing air through it's nostrils with quite some force and eyeing it's opponents with blood-shot eyes, ready to throw its bladed horn into the melee at the slightest movement.

Slowly, Squall reached for his gunblade. He had no idea how a Mesmerize ended up in his office, but that didn't mean he would tolerate such a thing.

Not breaking the eye-to-eye contact with the beast, he aimed and…

"NOOOOO!"

…blinked.

A girl had appeared out of nowhere and threw herself at the neck of the horse-like monster.

"Don't kill Fluffy! Please don't kill her! She's my best friend!"

The girl was now clinging desperately to the neck of the mesmerize, and watched towards the two S.e.e.D with two pleading, purple eyes.

Quistis lowered her whip. "You mean… that thing is your pet?"

The girl nodded "Fluffy's been with me since… forever! She's just a bit nervous about her new surroundings and escaped as I wasn't paying attention. Please, Mr. Leonhard, Sir, don't kill her!"

Squall lowered his weapon as well.

"Who…?" he asked, still keeping an eye on the beast, which didn't look that much less nervous with the girl now hanging on its neck.

Quistis sighted, then straightened herself again. "This," she said, in her sweetest voice "is Mary Sue Darling, the sorceress I was just talking with you about."

One of Squall's eyebrows went up. "You are a sorceress?"

The girl saluted in a most S.e.e.D-like way. "Sir, yes, sir!" Then she grinned sheepishly, still trying to gain control over her 'pet' which she now held firmly by the ribbon.

The second eyebrow joined the first one as Squall looked closer at her.

She seemed to do her best in appearing like a sorceress. Her curly hair was black, and so was her long dress. She also wore black fishnet gloves. Her skin at the other hand was pale and seemed almost too pure to be true. She had huge, violet eyes (although, after some reflection, Squall thought that she would refer herself at them to be "amethysts") that were sparkling with a mischievous and intelligent glow. The only out of place touch of color were her hairpins, them being the same disturbing pink than the mesmerize's ribbon.

Squall wondered briefly if she used the beast the same way Rinoa had used Angelo, although he didn't quite see her lifting the horse to fire it like a cannonball.

Then he decided that he didn't like her.

And he didn't think he needed to be nice to someone he didn't like anyway. "Why Seifer?"

The girl practically began to beam. "It's just… how to say… the way he devoted himself to that sorceress. I know it wasn't right, but still… it was sooo romantic." Then she became serious again. "And I think I can save him."

Save him? By making him a knight again? Where did she see the logic in this?

There was something about this girl that was definitely not right.

But of course, Quistis was her sweet self, trying to make the girl feel comfortable. She laid her arms around the girl's shoulders and smiled broadly towards her commander. "Seems like we'll have to keep her here now..."

Squall sighed, in defeat.

"All right, all right… just get that beast out of my office, then take her to Dr. Kadowaki for the basic check-up, then…"

He was interrupted by Mary-Sue, who pulled a file out of her backpack. "That won't be necessary, sir. I have all my medical files with me, so…"

"Now, now… "; Quistis was still smiling her sweet, sweet smile, although it seemed to be just frozen on her face. "It's one of the rules… every new student has to have a Balamb-proper medical file, wherever they are from."

"But, really, I don't need…" the girl protested, stubbornly, and Squall wondered if there was more to it that just the fear of doctors. But as he was about to say something, Quistis practically dragged Mary Sue out of the office, the mesmerize reluctantly following them.

Squall slumped himself back into his chair. He could see trouble when it crossed his way.

And he was sure of something: She was, in no way, to see Seifer Almasy.

Because that would mean even bigger trouble.