March 3rd

Leon opened his eyes in shear agony. He wasn't used to the impact of teleporting and it had knocked him out cold. He rubbed his head and sat up. He was in a long corridor. Large windows were lined along it allowing the rising sun to enter.

How much sleep can someone have in twenty-four hours? He thought, I feel like a cat.

He lifted himself up. He found his gunblade a couple of meters away from where he fell. He put it in his holster and started walking down the corridor. There was no sign of the mysterious woman and he was going based on pure hunch. The Heartless symbol was everywhere to be seen and looking out the window once again he realised he was Maleficent's Castle.

He was pretty convinced the witch was dead but a previous story about how she had helped Sora nagged inside his mind. He kept one hand on his sword at all times. And then soon as he turned a corner he found himself standing at the entrance of a large hall. The doors were wide open and directly in front of him, sitting on a stone thrown was Maleficent. She had already seen him and was smirking evilly. To her right was Pete, he seemed totally clueless to anything and was ordering a follower to give him a drink. To her left he saw the woman. She was standing strongly but he felt an essence of weakness. The follower with the drinks offered her one which she gracefully denied. She placed a hand on her stomach and breathed in deeply. She still had the hood up but this time she had long, dark hair flowing down one side of her body. Leon saw Maleficent had many followers. Each one looked hollow and un-dead. Their eyes gave no life and their presence was ghostly. Each one wore black elegant clothes. A few Heartless scuttled about but no one gave them a second look. Despite his better judgement Leon walked forward and went to the middle of the room.

"Hello there," Maleficent said in her cold voice "How nice of you to visit,"

Leon stood there silent,

"But unfortunately showing up uninvited is such a rude thing to do," she looked back and forth between the two people beside her. Finally she pointed to the girl,

"Angel, take care of this pest,"

Angel looked toward Maleficent before turning back to Leon, and then she slowly drew her katana and walked toward him. He noticed her breathing became deeper and more frequent. But none the less he drew his weapon.

Angel paused for a moment and stood directly before him, and then she lifted her katana and pointed it straight toward Leon. She took a small step back and then with a shaking hand flew forward and tried to strike. He spared no time at all lifting his gunblade and prevented her blows. She was very fast and managed to scrape him a few times. Every so often he would pull the trigger sending small pulse ammos out at her but still she was unharmed. No matter how close she got he couldn't see her face. But at one point he got so close and saw that around her neck was a silver chain with two rings looped onto it. It was then that he let his guard down and was pushed to the floor. Angel walked over to him and pointed her katana to his throat. Her whole body was shaking wildly and Leon swore he heard soft sobs.

"Angel, wait!" Maleficent's voice made him jump. He looked over to her and saw she gestured to two of the followers. They walked over to him and lifted him from the ground and placed heavy, metal handcuffs around his wrists. A third follower lifted his gunblade and left the room with it. Leon kept trying to break free but they had a firm grip on him. Angel had sheathed her weapon and stood with her arms crossed.

"Take him to your cell, he's yours to watch over now" Maleficent ordered.

Angel nodded and gestured for them to follow. She walked a good few metres ahead of them. Leon kept his eyes on her at all times but whenever he tried to say something the Followers hurt him in some way. It wasn't long before they turned a corner and they stopped for Angel to open the door. When the door clanged open Leon found himself in another large corridor but this one was more wide then long. At one end were a few stone steps and a large curtain he assumed led to another room. To the right was a red painted wall with pictures and some small lights. To the left was a large prison cell, bars all ran along from wall to wall just like he'd expect. But this was slightly unusual compared to the rest he'd seen in his life. It was very well furbished and didn't look like a cell at all. There were two doors against one wall where he noticed the signs for "Women's" and "Men's" Lavatories. There was a small writing desk on the right side where on the left side were a series of beds, surrounded by a fairly transparent curtain for privacy. Next to one of the beds was another door, no signs were indicated. Straight in the middle of the cell was a large window with a small built in settee. He seriously thought everything here he would find in Caraway Mansion. From what he could tell the cell was empty and part of him was glad for that. He watched as Angel produced an iron key and slid open the cell door. The Followers pushed him inside and as Angel walked away they removed his handcuffs. He watched them leave, closing the door behind them and then heard someone shuffle in one of the beds. He turned slowly hoping they weren't here to pick a fight but then his eyes almost popped out of his head,

"Zell!" he yelled a bit too loudly. A blonde man with an exotic tattoo sat on the bed. He looked a bit thinner then normal and his hair was styled differently but it was definitely him. Zell rubbed his eyes and looked around for whoever had called his name. He looked down from the top of his bunk bed and a wide smile crept across his face.

"SQUALL!" he jumped off the bed and ran over to present his friend with a big man-hug "Is it really you, man?"

"It's me alright," Leon pushed his friend off gently. He then heard more shuffling in the other beds and from under the covers he saw a familiar cowboy and instructor.

"Squall!" they yelled in unison.

Quistis ran over and hugged him tightly. He noticed her hair was longer and she didn't wear it in the usual style but had it down; letting it flow freely. Irvine remained sat on his bed and produced a small smile. His long brunette hair was also down but Leon noticed how he had managed to keep it at the same length.

"It's great to see you," Quistis said letting go

"It's not so great you're here though," Irvine finished

Leon nodded and looked around the room.

"Anymore people in here?"

"Well, Ellone lives in here but she won't be back until later," Zell explained

"Why? Where is she?"

"She's doing her job…we've each got jobs we have to do on a regular basis," Quistis explained

"So…she's the only one? Nobody else is in here?" he wanted to confirm his suspicions

"No…" Irvine was now back lying on his bed facing the ceiling, but then he quickly sat up again "Is Selphie in Radiant Garden?!"

Leon shook his head causing Irvine to lie back down.

"But she is ok!" he said hastily "She's in a place called Destiny Island…but she doesn't remember anything about her past and she's somehow only sixteen,"

"What? How is that possible?" Zell asked hopping on his own bed, Leon shrugged,

He stared at the faces off his three friends…then he blurted out the question screaming to escape his lips.

"Where's…Rinoa?" although he was sure he already knew

His friends all stared at each other. Some looked in pity, where the others in confusion.

"Please…" it almost came out as a beg

Slowly each of them lifted up their hands and pointed to the room at the end of the hall. Leon turned and saw Angel standing there; her hood still in place. When she saw them pointing at her and Leon's eyes upon her she turned around and ran into the curtained room.

"RINOA!"

Leon ran toward the farthest end of cell, closest to the room and stretched his arm out of the bars.

"Squall…she won't reply," Quistis told him softly. He turned rapidly,

"Why? What's wrong with her? Why is she following orders from Maleficent? Why-"

"Whoa man," Zell lifted his hands up high "Come and sit down and we'll tell you everything,"

Leon obeyed. Quistis had retrieved him a glass of water and handed it to him which he drank greedily.

"I guess it all started when we'd all been here a couple of months, it was hard to keep track," Zell began "We were all forced to stay in here with nothing do to at all. Rinoa was forever trying to come up with ways to escape and she kept trying to open portals but this chamber prevents any magic to be used. She always sat under the window watching the days go by. Back then this cell wasn't so nice. It was wet, dark, damp and the beds were bug-infested mattresses on the floor. Then one day a couple of Zorics-"

"Who?"

"The Zorics are Maleficent's human followers," Quistis explained quickly

"Yeah, so anyway, one day a couple of them came and asked for Rinoa. We refused to let her go but she said she was ok with it and left. When she came back it had been hours, she looked slightly worried. When we asked her what was going on, she said…"

X-X-X

"They've found out I'm a sorceress and well…they want me to work for them,"

"You mean become a Zoric?" Ellone asked

"I don't think exactly in the same sense…but she said that if I don't do her dirty work she'll hurt you all and I'm not going to let that happen," She held onto her rings

"Rin, you shouldn't worry about us," Quistis explained walking over to us "We'll still love you no matter what you choose to do"

"I'm going to do it," She stood from her seat and walked over to the window "I've been given two jobs and Maleficent said if I do them both she'll let you guys go,"

"What about you?" Irvine asked concerned

"Well…because of what one of the jobs are I need to stay here…unless, I dunno she's killed or something,"

"What are the jobs?"

"Well the first one is the one that's going to get you guys out of here…I need to find and kill the chosen Key-Bearer. And the second one…well…you know once a month the moon turns slightly orangey?"

Everyone nodded

"Well, apparently that's when a sorceress's power is at its strongest. So what I need to do is be part of this ceremony where I transfer my power into Maleficent so she'll be stronger then before,"

"But what will happen to you?"

"Don't worry I'll be fine. I'll just be knocked out for a couple of days whilst my power regenerates. But guys…because killing the Key-Bearer is my top priority I have to travel to different worlds. I won't be around all the time anymore and well…I dunno what could happen to me. And she's also given me that room up there, she said 'As my number one you need to be in the most comfortable location and you surely can't recover well in a dreary cell' and also next thing I know she's given me control of most of the Heartless and my own servants!"

"Well looks like you'll be doing ok for yourself," Irvine remarked

"Don't worry Irvy; I have a plan to make you all benefit from this,"

X-X-X

"So from then on she's been travelling to different worlds planting Heartless and looking for the Key-Bearer," Zell continued "Her plan fell through and she made this cell how it is today. She convinced Maleficent to give us better living areas, food and to give us jobs around the castle; she thought of everything,"

"How did she manage to do it?" Leon asked amazed at her abilities

"She told Maleficent that if she didn't treat us fairly she would kill herself. Maleficent needs Rinoa like a plant needs water. Each time Rinoa walked past she would smile and give us something new like a mug or carpet. Then she would sit on those stairs and talk to us for ages. She would tell us of all the places she's been and what she's seen. At one point she told us of how she'd seen you, in a place called Traverse Town…but Maleficent had told her if she told anyone about what she was doing or why she was doing it we'd be hurt. So she had to stay away from you. Sometimes she'd come back crying and we'd know it was because she had to be away from you,"

"Why does Maleficent call her Angel?"

"She needed to come up with a fake name so if she had to stay in a hotel or anything no one she knew would recognise her name. Quite clever really,"

"So…if she was always talking to you then why did she ignore me?"

The trio looked at each other concerned. Quistis decided to continue,

"One day she was talking with us when she was urgently called away for a mission, this was about two years ago. Apparently the Key-Bearer had been awakened and she needed to find him before he'd mastered the weapon. She was gone for two weeks and when she came back…everything changed. She had that cloak on and when she walked through the door she stumbled in agony. We asked her what was wrong but she didn't reply. It didn't look like there were any wounds at all and as soon as she heard our voices she ran into her room. Her servants followed and for another week she was dormant. We kept asking them what had happened but they ignored us as usual. So we decided to take action. When the cell door was opened for us to 'go to work' we pushed the Zorics away and ran toward her bedroom. But we were thrown back as an invisible force-field had been place preventing us from entering. We got into a lot of trouble for that. Then a few days after, she finally reappeared. She was walking like nothing had happened and she still had the hood up. We tried talking to her and although she stopped as if she was about to say something we never heard a word. Ever since we haven't seen her face and the only dialect we hear from her are orders to her servants or a simple piece of information like where they need us to work or something. We think she may have been injured in those two weeks and is embarrassed by her deformity but it doesn't explain why she'd stop talking to us. We miss her Squall, it's like Rinoa died and Angel has taken her place,"

"I know how that feels…" Leon said with a half-hearted laugh "But what about the ceremony? Don't you see her face then?"

"We used to watch the ceremony but after those few weeks we weren't allowed to anymore. When she walks past she's always wearing the cloak and then when she gets carried into her room afterward she's still wearing it; but we know that she needs it off during the ceremony, we don't know what happened then…and I doubt we ever will"

X-X-X

Leon rested his head on the pillow. He had been given the bed underneath Zell's and hadn't decided whether or not it was the greatest place in the world. In the last few hours the others had given him details or their daily life and he had told that all about how well the others are doing in Radiant Garden. He failed to mention he was friends with the Key-Bearer. A few times Rinoa had walked past but every attempt he tried in getting her to talk to him failed. He'd even wished her a happy birthday but nothing he did worked. Every so often she was holding different items and at one point she came back with a set of clothes, everyday, nightwear and a few pairs of underwear. Without a word she put them through the bars and placed them on the desk near them. When Leon examined them he noticed they were exactly his size. Inside them were a toothbrush and some sanitary equipment. He also noticed a bottle of deodorant…exactly the fragrance he'd worn everyday since he was seventeen. He inwardly smiled at how much she still remembered him. Sometime during the past few hours Ellone had returned from her work. Greetings had been exchanged and even a few jokes about how now there were only two girls in a room full of three boys. At which point Zell pointed out that although she may be straying Rinoa was still there.

Leon turned over; he couldn't sleep, not that he wanted to. He just stayed on his side watching closely out the window. He cursed himself for not thinking of searching the castle for her. All of these years could have been saved but he was too dumb. He understood perfectly how Zell, Quistis and Irvine could live in such a small confinement as back in Balamb Garden the rooms were small enough for one person. But he didn't know how Ellone could deal with it, although he did remember how she had lived on the White SeeD Ship at one point, so he assumed that was to thank for her patience.

His thoughts lead to Rinoa and what her room looked like. Was it big or small? He imagined it to be either pink or blue; with a dressing table and a cupboard with a million pairs of shoes. But that was a long shot as he doubted she would have any use for more then two pairs. He shook his head clear of thoughts and readjusted his pillows. He closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep. But that was when he heard it. He was unsure at first but looking over to the entrance of her bedroom he was almost certain. Focusing his hearing he heard Rinoa…his beloved Rinoa…crying.