Chapter Two:

Swimming in the sea of darkness, I felt nothing. I could see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil. It was like being handicapped from experiencing reality through the senses, and though there was something liberating about it, it was like being a rat trapped in a maze with no exit and no reward. It would just wonder aimlessly, with the false hope that one day it would escape such cruel fate, but not knowing if that day would ever come.

Soon I could feel something faint in the darkness. Too faint to be distinguishable, all I knew was that it was pain. I was in pain. Wait, I was in pain? Suddenly I felt my senses coming back to life and my consciousness flooding into me. The more I tried to remember, the more amplified the pain became.

In barely a moment later, I gasped in shock as a bucket of ice cold water was thrown into my face. "Ah!" I cried. My eyes were wild and searching my surroundings. I could feel my heart beating hard within my chest, but I was breathing even harder. I tried to move, but my wrists and ankles were bound to the chair I found myself sitting in. I groaned, realizing where the pain had been coming from, and that's when I remembered how someone struck me from behind. The back of my head was pulsating in pain, and I could swear there was dry blood caked on the back of my neck. What in the world was going on?

I calmed myself down and really took in everything around me. There was a man dressed in a SeeD uniform standing in the shadows against the wall, and next to his foot was the bucket he used to throw water in my face and wake me up. I sat in the center of a small room enclosed with muddy brick walls, and to the man's right was the door that I would've made a run for had I not been bound to the chair. SeeDs were supposed to be an elite mercenary group that protected the world, so why did they do this to me?

"What happened?" I asked him. "Where am I? Who are you?"

The man crossed his arms and continued to lean back in silence.

"Don't just stand there! Tell me what the hell I'm doing here!" I demanded frantically. Struggling with the metal cuffs that held me captive, my exhaustion took the best of me and I could feel myself growing faint. It was then that the man pushed himself off the wall and started pacing in front of me. He had a gold name plate on his front jacket pocket that read Vinzer Deling with five stars, the highest SeeD level to be obtained. "Vinzer Deling… is it? I thought SeeDs are supposed to protect people. Why did you bring me here?"

He stopped mid-step and turned to face me. He was a man in his early forties with short jet black hair and dark brown eyes. He already started to have wrinkles of age and stress show on his face, which to me was normal considering his position as a SeeD. After a moment, he said, "Like you said, to protect people."

My face cringed into confusion. "Why would anyone need protection from me? I haven't done anything wrong!"

"What is your name?" he asked monotonously.

"Rinoa," I replied. "Rinoa Heartilly."

"No," he said. "What is your real name?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "That is my real name. I am Rinoa Heartilly."

Vinzer started to pace again. "That is not your real name and you can stop lying because we have already verified it. All records of identification for a 'Rinoa Heartilly' do not exist." My mouth hung open with many questions hanging on the tip of my tongue but I had lost my voice to ask them. "So I will ask you one more time, what is your name?" The man was extremely composed, yet scarily intimidating at the same time.

"I already told you, it's Rinoa! Rinoa Heartilly! Believe it or not, that is my real name, and I don't know what kind of idiots you've got looking for my files, but those records do exist. I am Rinoa Heartilly!" I argued the man who stopped pacing.

"If you won't tell me what you're real name is, then tell me who you work for," he instructed me.

"Who I work for?" I repeated. "I just came to Galbadia! How could I have started working anywhere if I've been here the whole time?"

"You're not in Galbadia anymore," he told me. "This is the Lunar Base. And you'll remain here until you tell us who sent you to attack the Galbadian airport."

I froze. "Is that why you arrested me? You thought I was going to attack hundreds of thousands of people in an airport? How the hell would you get an idea like that?"

"We received intelligence from the Galbadian Counter Terrorist Unit," he explained. "We were told they were expecting an attack in the Galbadian airport and we were advised to search all incoming customer's luggage. The suitcase registered to you as "Rinoa Heartilly" was where we discovered three nerve gas canisters."

Upon hearing this, I was stunned beyond reason.

"We are still collecting and testing evidence at the crime lab as we speak," Vinzer continued. "So tell me, what were you going to do with the canisters once you got your hands on them? Release them into the ventilation system? Or perhaps you were going to use them elsewhere? Who or what was your primary target, and why must you destroy it?"

"Enough!" I screamed. "This isn't real. You all are playing a sick joke on me aren't you? Who put you up to this? Was it the kids from Balamb Garden? Did they want to keep making me suffer by pulling a messed up prank like this?"

"Balamb Garden?" he asked. "What does Balamb have to do with anything?"

"That's where I'm from," I told him. That's when I thought of something. "My mother's cousin is there! He's the one who's been taking care of me since I was a kid. His name is Irvine Kinneas. If you contact him, he can tell you everything."

"Irvine Kinneas?" the man considered. "We'll see."

And with that, he made his way out the door and left me alone in the cold dark room where I slipped into another state of unconsciousness.

It was like being in a dream. You could feel yourself drift in and out of consciousness but you couldn't quite differentiate what was reality and what was imagination. Was this all just a dream? Or did it actually happen? But no matter how badly I wanted to pinch myself and wake up from this terrible nightmare, I just kept right on dreaming.

I could feel myself coming to again, and this time upon my awakening, I found myself alone in the small room. With the metal cuffs still tightly bounding me to the chair, I was trapped without any means of dietary consumption or anesthetics for the wound on the back of my head. I wish I knew what time of day it was, for I'd been knocked out for who knows how long at a time.

I sat there trying to find the logic in all the nonsense happening around me. But the more I tried to figure it all out, the more confused I got. Why were there nerve gas canisters in my suitcase? How did they get there in the first place? It was possible that someone might have planted them in my luggage, but I couldn't think of when they had a window of opportunity to do so. But that was where the SeeDs found them in and that was why they arrested me. But why wasn't my name in the records? It was as though I didn't exist! I kept hoping it was a malfunction, but if my name didn't turn up soon, I couldn't ignore the possibility that whoever done this was targeting me. Why else would my suitcase have the canisters, as well as having my name wiped out from the SeeD database? It all seemed beyond a strange coincidence to me.

The door suddenly opened and I looked up to see Vinzer stepping into the room. Behind him were a group of SeeDs dressed in similar fashion with loaded guns in their hands. "What's going on?" I cried. "What are you doing?"

"The name 'Rinoa Heartilly' was still not found in the records," Vinzer explained. "However, until we find out your real name, you will be referred to as 'Suspect 496'. As for your mother's cousin, there is no file in the database for an 'Irvine Kinneas'."

"What?" I gasped. "You're wrong! You have to check again!"

"Forensics sent us the test results for all evidence pertaining to the case," Vinzer continued monotonously. "As previously inferred, all evidence confirms that you are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt for intent to destroy the Galbadian airport and intentional manslaughter against Galbadian employees and customers."

"No!" I cried. "You're wrong! I am not guilty! Someone did this! I don't know who, but whoever it is, they're trying to frame me!"

"SeeDs, detain Suspect 496 and take her to the East Academy Train Station," Vinzer ordered the SeeDs.

"Aren't you listening?" I shouted. "I'm not the one you want. Whoever wanted to attack Galbadia is still out there! They probably knew you found out about their plans so they tried to cover it up by using me as a diversion. Why can't you see that?"

"Suspect 496, you will be transferred to D-District Prison to serve your sentence," Vinzer informed.

"What?" I cried again.

The SeeDs unlocked my metal cuffs and held me roughly by the arms. "No!" I fought. "Don't touch me! You have no right to do this to me! I am innocent! Do you hear me? I'm innocent!"

But no matter how hard I fought, I could not break from the SeeDs strong hold. The closer we came to arriving at the East Academy Train Station, the more I felt my freedom slipping through my fingers like a rope of sand; sand like that of an hourglass, whose time for me remained unreturned. It was hard to accept that I had no choice in the matter and that my future had now been crumbled by the hands of law, and not a single person believed that I, now called Suspect 496, was innocent.

The train ride to D-District Prison was probably the longest ride of my life. What was actually hours felt more like days, and when we arrived, I had to endure a long drive to the prison. When we got there, I wearily climbed out and prepared myself to face my inevitable fate. But what awaited me, to my surprise, was not quite what I expected.

The prison was surrounded by a thick cement wall standing about ten feet high, and at the top were five rows of barbed wire. The only entrance to the prison had an inner and outer gate and was guarded by many men patrolling on ground level and up in the crow's nest holding a variety of long-ranged guns. So much for escaping, I thought sarcastically. I stood before the gates, still cuffed and within arms reach of the SeeDs that brought me here, as I quietly watched the gates open.

A group of men and one woman crossed the threshold and came towards my direction. In front was a rather plump, middle-aged man. He had brown hair and eyes, which saw the world behind a pair of bifocals. The closer he walked to me, the more I could see that he barely reached my height. But the way he walked was one of power and command that demanded respect and obedience. With his chin up and hands interlocked behind his back, he eyed me from head to toe with a quizzical expression.

To his right was a tall man, at least twenty years his junior. He had blonde hair and gray eyes and wore a long silver jacket that partially hid an automatic pistol-sword hybrid. His stare was deathly cold, and I could almost feel icicles piercing through me under his sight.

To his left was a woman, who towered over him by a few inches and appeared about ten years his junior. I couldn't help but gap at how extraordinarily beautiful she was. She had the richest, darkest black hair that was pulled up in exquisite pins. Her cat-like eyes were a deep purple that stood out on her perfect porcelain complexion. She had the figure of a goddess that screamed out woman in every curve. She wore a long black dress that hugged her perfectly, and I wondered how such a gorgeous woman was working in a prison rather than being on a runway. I was not one to be conscious of my own appearance, but I couldn't help but feel like the ugly duckling admiring the swan. Had she not had such an arrogant smirk on her face, I probably would have admired her.

"Thank you gentlemen," the man up front told the SeeDs. "We'll take it from here."

"Yes sir!" the SeeDs saluted him enthusiastically after releasing me from their hold. With a turn on their heels, they hopped back into the car and drove away. My body longed to run after them and tell them to take me with them, but I knew it'd be all in vain. If they didn't believe me by now, they still won't believe me even if I chase them for a hundred miles.

"Suspect 496," the man called as he circled around me.

"It's Rinoa," I attempted to correct him. "Rinoa Heartilly."

"Ah, yes," he said in fake consideration. "Rinoa Heartilly… the name that does not exist, am I correct?"

I could not defend myself.

"So you are the one that tried to destroy the Galbadian airport," he said more as a statement than a question.

"I didn't do it!" I cried. "Someone framed me!"

"That's what they all say," he chuckled. "Suspect 496, do not insult the SeeDs. They are the best of the best and perform their duties with the utmost precision. You would not be here today if you hadn't committed a crime."

I bit my lip. This is ridiculous, I thought. I started to wonder, if they beat that idea into my head long enough, would I start to believe it? Maybe I was crazy, because crazy people usually didn't know that they're crazy, and I really did try to murder those innocent people. Or maybe, this whole deal really was a set up. But what the man said was true. SeeDs were the best, and they would never put an innocent person in prison for a crime they didn't commit.

"You seem to know who I am," I said. "So who are you?"

"I am Cid Kramer, Headmaster of D-District Prison," he announced proudly. He pointed to the two standing next to him and said, "This is Seifer Almasy, my second-in-command, and Edea Kramer, my wife."

I felt my eyebrows rise. I certainly didn't expect those introductions coming.

"Make yourself at home," Cid told me. "You're going to be here a while." And with one last chuckle, he summoned the guards behind him to take me to my cell.

As soon as I was taken out of hearing range, unbeknown to me, Cid turned towards Seifer and Edea with a threatening expression. "No harm is to come of her."

Seifer remained stoic, but Edea's brows furrowed as her mouth hung open in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"Clearly I didn't because it sounds to me like you're protecting that little girl," the woman retorted in controlled anger.

"Maybe you should get your hearing checked," Cid replied. "It's not my problem you're getting old."

An unforgiving scowl carved into Edea's face. "Oh! So you're into the young ones now, is that it? Or is she yet another part of your business I have to compete with? Maybe you should've married your work instead of me since you like to fuck it so much—

Edea was cut off by a painfully blinding slap in the face. "You wouldn't have to compete with it if someone actually gave a damn about a worthless tramp like you. If somebody paid for you, I wouldn't have to deal with such a selfish bitch. So don't you fucking tell me what you want unless you want to end up like everyone else who didn't get paid for." Cid grabbed a fistful of hair and yanked her head back so she could look him in the eye. "You don't want to go to Lunatic Pandora do you? Do you?" His wife violently shook her head no. "Then mind your own business, and stay away from Suspect 496. Understood?" She nodded but earned another hard tug of her hair. "I said, understood?"

"Ok!" Edea choked out.

And with that, Cid let go of his wife and smirked before leaving her helplessly on the ground. Edea refused to let a tear fall from her eyes and bit down on her lip as to not say another word. She sat there in fuming silence before she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. Looking up, she felt her lips curl into vengeful seduction.

"Seifer."