Xu and Nida sat down at the conference table. Nida watched Xu as she slumped down into her chair. She wasn't looking foreword to seeing the Headmaster; she felt she had failed him. Nida wanted to help comfort her but couldn't think of anything to say or do. He could hear footsteps from down the hall. Nida cleared his throat; Xu immediately put her head up and regained her posture, giving her a strong unworried look.

Quistis entered the room with a small smile and took her seat across from Nida and waited patiently for the headmaster.

"Where's Squall?" Nida asked, knowing the Garden leader should be there.

"In Esthar, he got a call from the President" Quistis informed him

"About Odine?" Nida whispered before noticing Xu give a flinch. At first he feared it was something he said but soon he heard another pair of footsteps grow louder as the headmaster came close to the room.

Quistis stood up and everyone looked at the door, by the time Headmaster Cid entered the room all three SeeD's were standing straight giving him the garden salute. The headmaster smiled and nodded to them.

"You may sit," he said casually as he got to his chair at the head of the table. When everyone was seated Cid went right into business

"From the reports I read, only four survived the incident."

Xu hung her head low. Cid didn't seem to notice and continued

"Since the four left are injured there may not be any new SeeD's this year"

Quistis cleared her throat "We have been debating on whether or not to make the remaining four SeeD's if they recover" she motioned towards Xu and Nida.

"We got together and put in the points of all the students before the attack," Nida said as Xu took out a piece of paper with the nine students, their pictures, stats, and points.

"As you can see, the cadets with the most points were killed except for Roy from Squad B, as of now he is in the infirmary with a 98 chance of full recovery"

Cid nodded "what about the second highest points in the Squads?"

Nida stepped forward "Ellyn from Squad A's legs were injured while escaping, there is a probability of 15 that she will walk normally again. Squad B's Tucker was shocked by a powerful thundaga spell and has been on a machine since arriving back at Garden. Doctor Kadowaki is giving him special treatments to stop the flinching in his muscles and breathing problems, if all goes well he will live with a few minor muscle problems, including his heart. Finally Squad C's Kain has been unconscious since the incident itself. His breathing is fine and has a few minor scratches but we don't know when he'll wake up, there's no way he would just take a nap in the middle of a race for his life" he explained

"So according to your calculations we'll only have two fit for SeeD once they recover" Cid said solemnly

Nida stuttered for a minute "T-That's correct"

"Now, has anyone made contact with Odine since his departure at Esthar?"

"He was quiet the whole way there, he hasn't said anything about paying for repairs or lives" Quistis said "but Squall is going to Esthar, I believe he'll sort things out"

"Good, keep everything on hold until we hear from Squall. The only issue left as of now is to hold a memorial for the cadets"

Xu immediately stood up "I'll do it headmaster, I'll inform their parents and set up the memorial right away" she ignored the stares from Nida and Quistis, her eyes were focused on Cid. After an awkward silence the headmaster agreed.

Squall couldn't believe his eyes. A few days ago the Palace of Esthar was a beautiful piece of work gleaming in the middle of the twilight that hung over Esthar. But now the place was in shambles. Broken glass was everywhere, the guards had managed to clean most of the mess up, but there was no doubt that there was an attack on Esthar. Squall wondered whether the attacker was monster, or man.

Slowly Squall walked up to Laguna's office, he looked around to see signs of a struggle, an idea of what had happened popped into his mind.

"Come in" Laguna said looking out the window behind his desk. Squall walked in and looked back at the automatic door expecting it to shut, it stopped midway and sizzled, motionless. He looked over at Laguna who seemed to move a bit but did not pay much attention to the door. Squall decided to leave it alone and walked towards the president.

"What happened here?" he asked

Laguna sighed, "She's gone"

"Gone?" Squall exclaimed. He knew the President meant Ellone.

"The palace was raided by some kids in uniform. I know it wasn't your kind, but they were a smart and lively bunch."

Squall looked at the ground taking in what he just heard, he couldn't think of any other organization that would do such a thing. Laguna turned around and looked at Squall with an expression that made him look so much older than he was.

"Do you know who the current ruler of Galbadia is?" he asked

Squall looked at him in interest "I thought they were still looking for one"

Laguna scratched the back of his head "Yea, about that…" Squall looked away from the president and held his head in thought "so he did want to tell me something important after all."

"OK. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, is that what you wanted to hear? Anyways so Galbadia's been under a frantic search for a new ruler after Ultimecia was defeated. Well they finally found one, her name's Sorceress Sinistra"

"Sinistra… another sorceress?"

"All the Galbadians look to her as a hero. She's far from it though, her intentions are nothing good and she's sent multiple requests here asking for Odine and our technology, I bet those kids that invaded this place were under her command"

"What about Ellone?" Squall asked knowing they had to get her back before anything else.

Laguna scratched the back of his head in deep thought, "don't worry about her, I'll take care of that"

Squall nodded knowing Laguna was determined to get Ellone back. But now there were two sorceresses he knew about in the world that would greatly affect his life, and the outcome: Sorceress Sinistra and Sorceress Rinoa.

"Now uh…Odine sent a request to see you about an hour ago, I don't think you should keep him waiting any longer" Laguna laughed sheepishly. Squall shook his head at the president and left.

Kain's breathing was hectic. He couldn't shake the images out of his head. A little girl and a little boy were crying and running without a destination. Fire and screams filled the air and there was nothing they could do about it, nothing.

His eyes shot open and he looked around the room. Quistis, Xu, Nida, and Doctor Kadowaki were looming over him with concerned looks. Slowly Kain realized he was in the infirmary of Balamb Garden.

"W-what…" he tried to say, his mouth was incredibly dry and his head felt light. He held it as blood rushed into it.

Xu shook her head and smiled "It's ok, get some more rest"

Kain stared at her for a minute trying to ignore the heat rushing into his cheeks. Everyone seemed to smile knowing he was all right. Kadowaki put a hand on his shoulder.

"You've had a long day, take this and lay back down" she handed him a small blue bottle of liquid. Kain took it and looked at it, reluctant to drink it.

The SeeD's left the room with less weight on their shoulders. Nida was the first to talk,

"Well that's one less person to worry about right?" he looked at Xu.

She nodded "he's alright, the best condition out of all four"

"You can thank Squall for that" Quistis said next to her

"…Yes…" she said apparently still bothered by him being in Esthar. She turned to Kadowaki "How are the others fairing?"

"The others seem to be recovering well enough, except for the girl. Her legs will have to be amputated, there's no other choice."

Xu lowered her head "so that's about two that made it out ok…only two"

"Don't take it all out on yourself" the doctor said reassuringly

Xu smiled and said nothing as she went out the door. Kadowaki sighed in defeat "That girl tries too hard, take care of her ok?" she said turning to Quistis and Nida who saluted her at the doctor.