The Sorceress' Curse Chapter 1
By Firstborn Dragon
Rinoa woke in a cold sweat. "The same dream…" Turning on the light, she looked about the room. Everything was as she remembered it. Her dress was lying across the back of the chair, which was pulled up to the desk. The closet doors were shut, the curtains still covered the window.
She got up out of bed, and walked over to the window, pulling back the curtains. It was shut. Angelo whined, awoken by the light. Rinoa turned back to him. "It’s alright. It’s just that dream again…" She walked over to the bed, and sat down. Angelo walked over to her, and put his head on her knees. Rinoa sighed as she stroked his head. "Why can I never remember what it is? The only thing I ever see are the eyes… So much like Seifer’s, and yet so different."
She looked over at the clock. It was five in the morning. "Well, should I try to get back to sleep, or just get up. I’m supposed to meet everyone at eight. I’d only have to get up in an hour anyway."
Rinoa moved about her room quietly. She knew her father was becoming worried about her. He knew that she hadn’t gotten a good night’s rest in weeks. Rinoa had claimed it was only because she was worrying about the surprise party they were planning for Cid. In truth, it was the nightmare.
Rinoa thought back to the day before the nightmare had begun. She and Squall, along with Zell, had gone hunting for a red dragon, which had been spotted in the mountains, just north of the Garden. The sun had just begun to set, when they came across the dragon.
It was already dead. Something or someone had killed it. The head had been nearly cut off, the wings shattered, and the rest of the body covered in what were either claw marks, or sword cuts. A search of the area failed to show anything further of what, or who, had assaulted the beast.
Nothing except the scrap of paper. Strange symbols had been written on it, using the dragon’s blood. Rinoa found it, but didn’t show Squall. She could feel the magic emanating from it. When they got back, Rinoa had paid a visit to Edea, yet even she was baffled by the symbols on the sheet. Edea had kept the sheet, saying she’d look into it. But so far no word had come.
That night, the nightmare had first begun. And it came back every night. Thinking that it might be something to do with the Garden, Rinoa had decided to visit her father. But even getting away from the Garden didn’t help. If anything, the nightmare seemed to get worse. That was almost two weeks ago. It had been almost a month since the nightmare first began. Rinoa was afraid to tell anyone about it. Afraid of what they’d say, or do. The only one she spoke to about it was Angelo.
The next time Rinoa looked at the clock, it was nearly seven. "I must have dozed off…" She looked about the room, which at first glance appeared unchanged. It was only upon second glance that she realized someone had opened the curtains in her room. Walking to the window, she looked over the city. It was almost unchanged since the takeover by the Sorceress. "It seems so long ago…" Shaking her head, Rinoa walked into the bathroom, and took a hot shower. By sever forty-five, she was ready to go. She opened the door, only to find her father standing there. "Where are you off to?"
"I have to meet the others. We’re in the middle of something important."
"You aren’t going to go fight again, are you?"
Rinoa shook her head. "No dad. This is something else."
Her father sighed. "That’s good. You know I worry about you. Ever since your mom died…"
"I know dad. But unless you want to turn me into someone I’m not."
Her father smiled. "I thought after the Sorceress was defeated, you’d relax, and forget about fighting."
"Oh dad…" Rinoa laughed. "You don’t need to worry about me. I have Angelo with me. Plus I’m going to meet Squall. You know he’d never let anything happen to me."
"I should have guessed… Oh well, I can’t blame you. Have a good day then."
Rinoa laughed, and with Angelo following, rushed out of the house.
.
It was eight-fifteen, and Zell was board. "When’s she gonna get here?"
Selphie looked over at Zell, who was shuffling a deck of cards. "She’ll be here." She cast a quick glance over at Squall, who was dressed in his normal outfit. "I know she will."
Irvine glanced down the road, just in time to see Angelo heading strait for him. He dropped his gun in time to fend off the over-friendly greeting of the rather large dog.
Selphie laughed, then turned to Zell. "I told ya so!"
Rinoa ran up a few seconds latter. "Sorry. My dad decided he needed to talk to me before I left."
Irvine managed to get Angelo off him, and stand up. "I don’t think anyone minded that much." As he spoke, he reached into his trench coat pocket, and drew out half a hotdog. He then fed it to Angelo, when he thought no one was looking.
Quistis smiled to herself at the sight. Although she’d never tell anyone what she saw, it was nice to see Irvine after someone other than a girl for once.
Squall nodded. "I know what you’re dad’s like. Well, shall we get going?"
The others nodded, and then set off into town.
.
Seifer awoke to find himself lying on his back. Propping himself up on his arms, he looked down. "Not again… What the hell is going on around here?" For the third time in about a month, he awoke, covered in blood, in the middle of the wilderness. He stood up, and wasn’t surprised to find his gunblade lying next to him. It was also covered in blood.
"Let’s see… He looked around to get his bearings. "Balamb forest… First the mountains, then the cave of fire, and now here. If this keeps up, I’ll bloody well end up in the middle of the ocean next…" He walked down to the beach, and washed off as much blood as he could. Once again, he had no idea what he’d done.
"When I find out who’s playing with my mind, they’ll regret being born!" In anger, he sheathed his gunblade harder than he meant to, and split the leather sheath. "Damn… That’s gonna cost me." He wasn’t surprised to find that he had more money on him, than he had the night before. Once again, it was an enormous sum. "Must have killed something big again… But how the hell am I pulling this off."
Seifer thought back to the first time it had happened. He’s awoken next to the dead body of a red dragon, in the middle of the mountains. He had no clue how he’d gotten there, nor how he’d killed the thing. Just as he got out of sight, Squall walked in, accompanied by chicken-wuss and the new sorceress. He watched as Rinoa picked up a scrap of paper. For some reason he wasn’t sure of, he felt as if he’d accomplished a great mission.
"Ha… I haven’t had a great mission ever since I lost the one I was sworn to protect… I am a disgraced knight."
He reached town just as most people were getting ready to start the day. Seifer headed over to the inn. He and his posy had rented the back room. All and all, it wasn’t a bad deal. The three of them had food, and a place to live. In exchange they paid a small fee, and agreed to catch the man a dozen fish a week. Still, that wasn’t what Seifer wanted. "A one-on-one rematch with Squall… I’d have won if that coward had the courage to face me alone…"
"BACK…"
Seifer looked up, and saw Fujin and Raijin heading towards him. "Yeah, guess I am…"
"What took ya so long? We were worried about ya…"
"AGAIN?"
Seifer nodded. "Yeah… I’d like to know what’s going on. One of these days I’ll leave, and never come back."
"SQUALL?"
"No… That guy wouldn’t do this, much as I hate to admit it. I’d like nothing better than an excuse to pay him back for all the humiliation I endured."
"So do ya know what ya killed this time?"
"No…"
"DRAGON?"
"Maybe… I’d like to know how I killed them though. Even Squall isn’t strong enough to take one of those things on his own. And I don’t think I am either…"
"So now what are we gonna do?"
"WASH"
Seifer looked down at his clothing, which was now covered, in dried blood. "I guess it’s a good idea…"
"OVER?"
Seifer was quiet for a moment. "I sure as hell hope so…" But he knew, somehow, that whatever was going on was far from over. Someone, or something, was using him to further their own plans. (And what I’d like to know is why? I am only a disgraced knight…)
Fujin realized that something was wrong, but didn’t say a word. If Seifer didn’t offer, he didn’t want to speak about it. And if he didn’t want to speak about it, nothing would change his mind.
Raijin, as oblivious to everything as normal, had no idea that anything was wrong.
.
From the darkness of the void, a shadowy figure nodded, and laughed. "Soon the weapons will be ready… And then it will only be a matter of finding the right body…"
.
Down in Deling City, Squall shivered.
"What’s wrong Squall?"
"Ah, nothing Rinoa. I just felt a cold breeze…"
"That’s funny. I didn’t feel a thing."
Squall shrugged. "Must be my imagination…"
However he had a hard time convincing himself of that when he heard the evil laughter. As he looked about, he realized he was the only one hearing it…
Cold Fusion
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