Authors Note; This fic takes place entirely in the past, back when 
Squall, Irvine, Selphie, Zell, Seifer and Quistis were in Edea's
orphanage. This is basically an explanation of how they all came to
be at the orphanage, and has some hints as to their futures.
This will be told out in six chapters, each focusing on one of the
children.
Additional Note; The Selphie section of this tale is a tribute to
Terry Prattchets novel "Wyrd Sisters", one of my most favourite
books. If you've read it, you'll know what scene i'm emulating.
If not, it stands just as well.
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                          "Where Did I Come From?...Where Will I Go?"
                                  by Darren "Edge" Shier


Edea looked up from her work and out the window towards the sea.
He was out there, up North, in Balamb. Running that Garden of his.
She smiled and let her long black hair flow in the sea breeze. Maybe
Cid would have time to visit this summer, or she could leave Centra
and visit him? Maybe bring the children...a few of them might like
that Garden place...

She nearly jumped in surprise as Selphie lept up onto the table.
"Whatcha doin?" she asked, with all the innocence in the world.
Edea looked at her, unable to resist smiling back. "I'm making
bread, Sweeting." she said.
"You make bread? Can't you buy it?"
"We live a long way away from other people, sweeting. And i don't
keep a lot of Gil. So i make our food for us. All of us. Okay?"
"Ok." Selphie smiled, showing recently removed wisdom teeth.
  "Are you my real mommy?" Selphie suddenly asked. Edea sighed, surely the
children should know by now? If not, probably best to tell them all.
They all know this is an orphanage...but they've been here so long. I
guess that's how they see me, she thought, as Mommy.
   "No, sweeting. I'm not your mother."
"Irvy says you are."
Edea smiled and lifted Selphie onto her lap. "In a way," she explained, "Irvy
is right. I did raise you all. Feed you, cloth you, bathe you...change your
diapers."
"Yuck!"
"Yes, it was." said Edea, grinning. "I've done all that Mother stuff. So, in
certain ways, i'm mother to all six of you. But in a natural sense, i'm not
your mother."
"Do you know who our mommies and daddies are?"
Edea sighed. "Yes and No."
The look of confusion spread across Selphie's face.
"Look," began Edea, lifting her down. "Tell you what. I'll tell 
you all tonight. We'll all go down to the beach, light a big campfire and 
we'll all sit around it and i'll tell you all. Okay?"
Selphie grinned. "Great!"
"Now go on and tell the others."
Selphie ran off to find as Edea began to rehearse what she was going to say.
The children were ready to hear this, it was pointless not to tell them...
                 *               *               *               *                *
Selphie found them all around the back garden. As usual, there was a fight
going on. Squall had been in the back garden first, trying to read a book,
when Quisty had come running into the Garden, crying. Seifer was chasing her,
and it was in the garden that he caught her.
Squall had tried to ignore them (it was a VERY good book) by sitting 
around the other side of the tree he was against and trying to read. But Seifer
had been calling Quisty names and begun to pull her long, blonde hair and now
he was slapping her as she cried and cried.
Maybe it was the noise, or just the fact that someone had made Quistis cry, but 
Squall put the book down and ran over to Seifer and began to hit Seifer until
he fell off Quistis, and had a bloody nose.
"You don't hit girls!" Squall had shouted as he hit him. Seifer had ran off 
and Squall helped Quistis back to her feet. "Thank you Squally." she 
said, kissing him on the cheek. Squall mumbled something and went back over 
to the tree and picked up his book again.
   Selphie soon found them all and told them what Matron was going to do that
night...

                                   SQUALL

They were all down on the beach, sitting around the fire that they'd all built.
Selphie was seated on the same log as Edea, right up next to her. Squall had
wanted to sit on his own, but Quistis had sat down right next to him and sat
real close to him. Now she kept trying to get him to hold hands, something he
was'ent exactly happy about, but did it anyway just to keep her quiet. That
left the third log. Zell and Seifer were'nt too keen on sitting together, and
Irvine, who had arrived late, was made to sit between them.
"And they say," said Edea, finishing the story. "That the StarMan is still up
there, waiting in the skies. He'd like to come and meet us, but he thinks he
would make everyone scared of him."
   All the children enjoyed Edea's stories, and she told them all so well. She
had a passion for fantasy and make-believe, and it showed. The tale of the
StarMan was one of their clear favourites.
  "Matron, you were going to tell us where we came from?" suggested Selphie,
after she'd finished. 
  "Yes, sweeting. But first i think i had better tell you all where i'm from,
and why you're here."
They listened eagerly. "I'm a Sorceress. Do you all know what a Sorceress is?"
They all nodded. "Does this mean you're bad?" asked Zell, innocently.
Edea smiled. "No, Zellie. I'm not bad. I'm a good Sorceress. Some of us are bad.
And i have met a few bad Sorceresses. But there's also good ones, like me."
  Quistis raised her free hand. "Matron? What does a Sorceress do?"
Edea frowned in thought. A difficult question, but a fair one. "Well, many of
the bad Sorceresses have used their powers of manipulation, temptation and even
seduction to command armies of mortal warriors. Plenty have ruled empires in
this way, but the last of them was Adel. Good Sorceresses however, do not try
to interfere in the affairs of mortals. We prefer to keep peaceful and distant
from things like wars and empires."
  "But could'nt you like, use your powers to stop everyone fighting?" asked Irvine.
"Hmmm. Thats usually how wicked Sorceresses start. Some of them were born good, but
tried to use their power for good intentions. Look at Sorceress Absilhane, for example.
She was a good Sorceress, and she lived in a time when Galbadia was a collection of
unorganised warring tribes. She used her power to unite the clans and founded the
nation of Galbadia. But there were outside countries, like Balamb, who were still
fighting internal wars. So she had mighty Galbadia invade to enforce a more sinister
kind of peace. Do you see what i mean?"
 All nodded.
"Real power is not about having power. Real power is having power and being strong 
enough to be able not to need or use it. Do you understand?"
 Most of them nodded.
"So why are there Sorceresses?" asked Zell.
"We are sources of pure magic. Hence the name, Sorceress. Magic exists in a raw form
throughout the universe. It filters through us and spreads out into the world. That
is why Sorceresses can use magic that even magic-experts cannot. Without us, there
would be no magic. Got it?"
  They all nodded. They all understood now.
"Now." she began. "Who shall i do first?" She looked at them all and her eyes rested
on Squall. "I remember when i first met you Squall. Most of it sticks out in my mind
for some reason. But there's a few things that for the life of me i cant remember.
I arrived in a quaint small country village once. I was doing a lot of travelling
that year. Cid was busy setting up an organisation called SeeD. And he'd begun to
construct 3 acadamies, called "Gardens". I left him to his work and began to travel
the world. My only living relative had died and left me a big house in Centra. It was
right on the beach and even had a lighthouse. Next to it were the most beautiful
flower fields i had ever seen. It was my dream home. But it was a little too big. Not
being able to have any children of my own, i decided to turn it into an orphanage.
There was a terrible war between Galbadia and Adel's forces in Esthar, the Sorceress War. 
There were many children left with no parents. I did what i could by finding these children.
  So anyway, i arrived in this small country village, very beautiful, but i can't
remember the name of it at all. It had the most beautiful flowers i had seen since the
fields outside my home. The people seemed to be very weary of me. I thought that they 
must have somehow known i was a Sorceress. Or perhaps they were just naturally
xenophobic of strangers? I dont really know, to be honest.
  I found that the most beautiful flowers in the town were inside a nice tavern.
"We're closed indefinately." came a voice from inside when i knocked.
"When will you re-open?" i asked.
"I don't know." said the voice. "Perhaps never."
"You'll never get any customers that way." i said, attempting humour.
The door opened, and a man with brownish hair and blue eyes stood there, looking at
me. "Are you trying to be funny?". "No." i said. "I was just wondering about these
flowers. They're so beautiful. I'd love to take a few back to my garden in Centra.
Who arranged these?"
The man simply stood there. "Raine did."
"Can i speak to Raine?" i asked. "Is she here?"
"No." he said, and lifted his arm, pointing. "She's there." I followed his direction
and found he was pointing at the fields i had come across. I remembered i had passed by
a gravestone...
"Oh." i said, realising it. She was dead. "I'm sorry for your loss. You were friends?"
"My name is Gryph Leonhart." he said. "Raine was my sister."
"My condolences."
"Did you say you're from Centra?" he asked me. I told him i was. "I was in Centra once"
he said. "Very nice place. Quiet too. Very serene. What do you do there?". I told him
that i ran an orphanage. At this, he invited me inside and asked me if i could help him
with something. He disappeared upstairs, returned carrying a bundle, which he gave me.
It was a baby. "Mister Leonhart," i said. "I'm just passing through this town. I was'ent
collecting..." 
"You have to take him. Raine died giving birth to him. We nearly lost both
of them." 
"Why cant you raise him?" i asked. "You are the next of kin, after all."
Gryph began to cough. "I have Hashaemoffs Syndrome." he said. "I'll be dead by the end of
the year. If Squall here goes with you, at least he'll be brought up by someone who knows
how to raise children. All i could teach him in my life is how to be a farmer. And Squall
just simply is not a farmer. He has too much of his father about him. Thats what 
i'm afraid of."
"Where is his father?" i asked. 
"Damned if i know." said Gryph. "I don't think the lousy sonofabitch is ever coming 
back. Take Squall. Take him back to your orphanage, back to Centra."
Unable to say no to the words of a dying man, i accepted, and took the infant Squall with
me back to the orphanage."

                                   SELPHIE

"...and thats how you got to be here, Squall. I'm sorry that i don't remember where the 
village was or what it was called. You have to understand that i done a lot of travelling
back in that time."
"Thats okay." said Squall. "The past is the past and you can't change time." He squirmed,
trying to make Quistis let him go, in an effort that prooved futile.
"I went almost everywhere that year. Galbadia, Timber, Trabia..."
"Me next, Me Next!" yelled Selphie at her side.
"Okay, sweeting. It's funny that i just mentioned Trabia, because that's where i found you.
  It was in the bleak midwinter. I was in Trabia, and few things in this world are colder
than a Trabian winter. I was there to meet Cid, busy as ever, trying to set up Trabia Garden.
Construction was coming slower than the others, due to the heavy snowfall.
  "We may have to cancel the work for today." Cid told me. "And there's a storm brewing. Sorry,
Edea. I know how much you wanted to see us building the Garden."
  I told him that it was okay. He had his Gardens and SeeD and I had my Orphanage.
Suddenly, a snow-mobile came thundering into the valley. The windows were shattered and snow
was falling in through them. The driver seemed slumped over the steering wheel.
"Esthar soldiers!" someone shouted, and sure enough, two Estharian soldiers on hover-bikes were
coming across the snow-fields, obviously after the snow-mobile. They began to fire their weapons
at the vehicle, rupturing it's fuel tank. Whoever was inside, woke up in time to see what was
happening. She opened the the door and jumped out into the snow, holding a bundle.
  The sound as the snow-mobile exploded combined with the loud thunderclap from the storm.
The woman staggered through the heavy snow towards me. I heard the lead Estharian soldier fire
his weapon, and the sudden look on the woman's face said it all. They'd shot her in the back.
 "Don't...let them...take...my baby. Please..save...my Selphie..." she whispered, as the snow 
around and under her turned crimson. I took the baby in my hands and cradled her, as 
the two Esthar soldiers dismounted. The leader looked at the body, then at me holding the baby.
 "You will give her to me." he commanded. I looked into the baby's green eyes then back at him.
"No." i said, on general principles.
"They're Estharian soldiers, Edea." Cid told me. "They're working for Sorceress Adel."
I looked at him. "Sorceress Adel..." i said, trying to remember. "Oh yes, that Adel. Rules 
Esthar.". I turned and faced the soldiers. "I've met her before, when she received her powers.
She's arrogant and vain. It will be her downfall."
 "Give me the child, in the name of Adel."
"Oh i get it. Whatever Adel wants, Adel gets, huh? You expect me to hand over an innocent 
child to a monster like Adel?" 
"She's working with a doctor by the name of Odine." Cid told me."He's a barbarian. If you 
give them the child, they'll take her to him and he'll experiment on her. I've heard of 
things he's done with children. Horrible and terrible things..."
The Estharian soldier advanced on me. "You are a Sorceress?" he realised.
"I am." i told him.
"Hmph. A witch." he mused, drawing his sword. "Does the skin of witches turn aside steel?"
"Not that i'm aware. But you're welcome to try."
The other soldier stepped forward and touched his C.O's shoulder nervously. "Sir." he said. "With
respect, it's not a good idea to attack a Sorceress..."
"This pacifist? HA! Be quiet!" laughed the soldier, advancing on me. "Your peacemaker magic is 
for fools, mother of the night. I can strike you down where you stand."
"Then strike man." i said, looking over his shoulder. "If your heart tells you, strike as hard
as you dare."
The soldier raised his sword, and i made a bolt of lightning flash down from the sky, splitting
a boulder a few yards away.
"HA! Missed!" said the soldier, moments before a look of puzzlement crossed over his face. He 
fell forward into the snow, where we saw the large sword sticking out his back.
"Perhaps you were'nt aware of what i was aiming at." i said. "Mother of the night, indeed!"
The other soldier stared in terror at the man he had just killed. His commanding officer.
"I-i-i could'nt let him do it. He should'nt have... What will i do now? When i go back to Esthar,
Adel will kill me herself."
"There, there." i comforted.
"I did'nt become a soldier for this." he said, beginning to feel sick. "Not to go around 
kidnapping children for experiments and killing the parents who resist..."
 "You should leave this continent. Become a pacifist, like me." i told him. "What's your 
name, soldier?" 
"Adobe." he said, removing his helmet.
"I think you may want to leave this continent." i told him. "Adel is not a person you want to
have angry with you."
"Where will i go?" he pleaded. I told him of a place called Fishermans Horizon. It was literally
in the middle of nowhere. There he could start a new life.
Later, Cid asked me about the baby. "What about her? What was her name? Sophie? What are you
going to do with her?". As i cradled her in my arms, she looked at me with loving green eyes. My
heart simply melted and i knew this one would be my favourite.
"Her name is Selphie." i said. "Not Sophie. I'll take her back to the orphanage. She'll be safe
there. The Estharians don't even know about me or what i do."
"If they knew that you're harbouring children..."
"I don't care, Cid. Do you hear me? Adel can threaten Holocaust all she likes. I will never let
her have Selphie for her own evil ends. I won't let her have any of my children. If an evil
Sorceress ever showed up one day and threatened the children, i will give up my own body and soul
before i would let them be harmed..."

                                       IRVINE

The fire sizzled and snapped as Edea stoked it. "And Adel never came. I never saw that brave
soldier again either. If i ever went to Fisherman's Horizon, i would like to look him up. I hope
he's doing well." She turned and looked down at Selphie. "If it was'ent for that good man, you
would'nt be here."
  Irvine had been listening intently. He could'nt remember ever being this fascinated.
"Check out the cowboy." smirked Zell. 
"More like cow-face boy." jeered Seifer. 
Annoying Irvy was probably the only two those two could agree on. Irvine began to scowl. 
"Leave him alone!" Selphie yelled. "You're upsetting him! You're just...two rotten boys! Rotten!"
 But Zell and Seifer picked up on this in the way that only "rotten boys" could.
"Sefie likes Irvy!" they chanted. "Sefie likes Irvy!"
"I do not!" cried Selphie, in that way little girls always deny who they like, even though they
do. "Stop it you two." ordered Quistis. But they just kept chanting. "Sefie loves Irvy! Sefie
loves Irvy." Irvine continued to go redder and redder each time. Now they'd changed the names
around. Now Irvy allegedly loved Sefie. This was really wearing  Edea's patience thin. But she
seemed to phsyically be unable to feel anger. It was almost like that emotion she was simply born
without. Instead of shouting at the boys to stop, she simply ran her finger across her neck as
she looked at Zell and Seifer. The two boys instantly lost their voices. They stared at each 
other in surprise, then at Matron. "If you're quite finished." she said. "I took away your voices
for a little while. You'll get them back if you behave.". Selphie added her two cents by simply
sticking out her tongue at them. "Nyyyaaahhh!!!"
  "Well, i was going to do Zell next, but i think i'll do Irvy instead. 
Now, Irvine was a genuine mystery...
  I was out in front of the orphanage one day, hanging up my washing on the clotheslines. I 
always know when to hang them up so they catch the sea breeze. I soon had the feeling i was being
watched, and i always knew to trust my Seven Senses. Sure enough, as i went around to the side
of the house, there was a Galbadian soldier, making it's way down the road to the orphanage.
I'm a woman who stands by her words, remembering what i said to Cid about Selphie and how i will
never allow the children to be threatened. I walked in front of the house to confront the 
stranger. As i got closer, i realised it was carrying an infant. We stood in front of the house,
then the soldier reached up and pressed the release-button hidden in the side of the helmet,
which then raised, snapping open to reveal a woman's face. Wisps of blonde hair trailed down over
her eyes. "This is the orphanage i was told about?" she inquired.
"It depends." i answered, a little on edge. "Are you looking to adopt?"
"Hardly." she said, glaring at me. "No withdrawls today, i'm afraid. I'm here to make a deposit."
With that, she handed me the child and began to walk away. "Wait a minute!" i called. "What's the
meaning of this? Who sent it here?"
"None of my business." the soldier called back. "None of yours either. I'm just following 
orders.". Pretty soon, she was gone, and i was left holding the baby. "Better get you inside." i
said, and brought him in. All the other babies were asleep, so i decided i'd place the newcomer
among them, as soon as i'd changed it's nappy. "Poo, you stink. No wonder that soldier was so
cranky." As i unwrapped him, a picture fell out and fluttered to the ground. I picked it up and
looked at it. It was a black and white picture, recently taken. It was a picture of a woman who
had just given birth. She was holding two babies in her arms. "Twins." i mused aloud. 
Unfortunatly, the cameraman had not been able to get the mothers head in the shot, and only 
showed her from the neck down to the waist. The picture seemed to concentrate on the twins. All
i could make out from the mother was that she had dark hair that came down to her shoulders. I
recognised the baby on the left. It was the one i had in front of me. As for the one on the 
right, it was female. I wondered why this child had been sent to me and one was kept. Who would
want to seperate twins? The mother had not died in childbirth, that was obvious. The backdrop
showed a plush hospital. She obviously could afford to keep both the children if she could afford
to be in such an expensive looking place. And she was not an unmarried mother. She had a wedding
ring on her finger. So why send one away? It did'nt make sense. It just does'nt seem right to
split twins. The have a habit of finding each other...
As i turned over the picture, there was handwriting i did'nt recognise. From what i could make
out, it said; "Irvine and...." the second name was smudged. By the rain or by intention, i don't
know. "Irvine..."i said aloud. "That's a Galbadian name...a boy's name if i'm not mistaken. I
guess that's you."
  I sent him to sleep with the other babies soon after. When i slept that night, i was still as
puzzled. As the Matron of an orphanage, it was my duty to report suspicious circumstances in 
which children were left to me. There was the possibility of kidnapping, or similar. But who
would i report to? And i could'nt just send a message to Cid in Galbadia and tell him to ask
every Galbadian woman he meets if they're one twin short of a full set. And i was on my own out
here. And there was no way i could risk going to the Estharians for help. They were fighting a
war with the Galbadians, and Sorceress Adel would have certainly taken the children if she knew.
So Irvine stayed with us. As he grew, i used to tell him stories about the Galbadian Rangers. He
loved to hear how the were the only police-force in the world, and they wandered the Galbadian
deserts, enforcing the law of the west. It was basically the law of the Quick and the Dead. He
loved to hear about the corral shoot-outs, and the showdowns at high noon. I understood his
affinity. I had always loved it when my grandfather Rufus had told me the same stories. He had
been a Galbadian Ranger in his youth, before he moved to Pelios. One day, as i was clearing up 
some loft-space, Irvine found my grandfather's old cowboy hat. He loved it so much i said he 
could have it. It was'ent like i was ever going to use it, and grandfather Rufus would 
have approved so i let him keep it. He was unsure at first, thought it was too big. 
I said he'd grow into it. When he put it on, Selphie giggled and said he looked cute. 
She kissed him on the cheek and ranoff. He never seemed to take it off exept to 
sleep, after that...

                                        SEIFER

Seifer was about to call Irvine a dork, but forgot his voice was gone. Edea glanced over at him
and Zell. 
"Want your voices back?". 
Nod,nod. 
"Promise to not make fun of the others?". 
Nod,nod.
"Alright then.". She ran the palm of her hand across her neck and returned their voices.
"We're sorry, Matron." apologised Zell. But "apologise" did'nt seem to be a part of Seifer's
vocabulary. "What about me? He asked. "Where did i come from?"
 "Well, i'm sorry to say this Seifer..." Edea began "But your story is not as big as the others.
What happened was that i was given a message to come to Alanga, a small town on the east coast
of Balamb. It was good news and bad news. Someone i had known in Pelios who had moved to Alanga
had had a baby. And commited suicide right after.
 Her name was Merris Almasy. I did'nt know her very well. We lived in Pelios together, but we 
were never exactly close friends. Just two people who knew each other. Cid had told the people of
Alanga about me and my orphanage. They said that they had found baby Seifer just lying on the
bed. The midwife was in the corner, died from a heart attack. And Merris was in the bathroom. She
had drowned herself in the sink. Merris had always been a very depressed woman. Maybe the shame
of being a single mother was too much to bear. Either way, i took Seifer back to Centra with me
and raised him myself. He was a little quiet at first. Then when Squall, Quistis, Selphie, Zell
and Irvine came along, he became very bossy. He loved to dominate others. But Squall was always
able to stand up to him. That's it, really."

And that is it, really. From Edea's point of view. To this day, nobody has a clue what went on
in Merris's home that fateful night. Merris had not been depressed about the child. She was just
confused and distressed. There were'nt that many virile men in Alanga. And she had slept with
none of them. Was this a virgin birth? Or could she simply not remember? She should remember
something like that. In any case, the birth passed with a surprising minimum of pain. The midwife
who was named Legatia, was very superstitous. She had lit a fire, but the room became very cold
after the child had been born. Suddenly, the fire went out. 
"What is this?" asked Merris. 
But Legatia begen to chant in the old language. 
"Liberati Mei." she said, feeling a presence fill into the room. "Liberati Mei Infernus."
 "Words." a terrifying voice came from nowhere. "Words are just fantasy. This is reality. Words
kannot help you." 
At this, a symbol of fire ignited in the floor. Two equilateral triangles that
overlapped, sort of similar to the Star Of David, but this symbol had a goats head inside it. The
kind that that satanists often used. The fire began to burn higher and higher, hotter and hotter,
beginning to take on a human shape, until there was someone standing there, as the flames died 
down. She was a Sorceress. Dressed in red, with a pair of dark wings that trailed behind her. The
wings looked like those of a crow, not an Angel. She had long silver hair that came all the way 
down to the ground. She was truely the most terrifying sight that Merris or Legatia had ever 
seen. Her eyes blazed with the colour of gold, and her eyes had all the seeming of a demon's that
is dreaming. She looked at the humans with utter contempt. 
Contempt for humanity. 
Contempt for life. 
"W-who are you?" asked Merris.
 The Sorceress smiled evilly with fangs of diamond. "The wind that howls in the night." she said.
"The monster under your bed that makkes you wet your sheets. Some kall me a witch. Some kall me
a demon. Some say i have made a pact with the devil. Some say i AM the devil. Thay are all 
right. My name is Ultimecia."
 "What do you want of us?" pleaded Merris. 
"My Soothsayers have given me a prophecy." announced Ultimecia. "They klaim that the one who will
destroy me was born in this time. The tell me of dreams. Dreams of a lion. Sure enough, he is 
being conceived as I speak. So...i need a knight. A rival for the lion. One who is strong enough
to face him. Strong enough to defeat him."
 Merris realised Ultimecia was talking about her baby. "S-Seifer?". 
"I won't lie." said Ultimecia "I played a part in his kreation. Bring him here."
 The women watched in horror as Seifer levitated off the bed and floated into Ultimecia's arms.
She cackled like a witch, caressing his head with her fingers. Then they realised that she did'nt
have fingers. They were talons, twice as long as a human's fingers and razor-sharp.
 Legatia advanced on her, brandishing the symbol of Holy. Ultimecia turned her head and stared at
Legatia, who froze on the spot. Ultimecia did'nt seem to be looking at her. She was looking INTO
her, looking right into her soul. The symbol of Holy crumbled to dust under the might of the
Sorceress's gaze. Her eyes were not just yellow anymore, they were glowing, like halogen lamps,
burning bright, so bright that Merris, who had turned her head away, screamed at the blinding
light. Ultimecia continued to pierce Legatia's soul with her eyes. 
 "Die." commanded Ultimecia simply. It was not a threat, not a request, not an order. And Legatia
fell to the floor, dead before she hit the ground. "Seifer is going to be my knight." cackled
Ultimecia. "Are'nt you, Seifer? I'm going to make sure you grow up big and strong. The mightiest
soldier there ever was. With my silent guidance, you will be the greatest."
 "Seifer will never be a soldier!" defied Merris. "I'm going to raise him as a poet, or a 
farmer." 
"I am afraid that your part in Seifer's life is over." announced Ultimecia. 
She held Seifer in hers arms as Merris ran right at her. Holding Seifer in one hand, 
Ultimecia grabbed Merris by the throat with the other. She lifted Merris up into the air. 
"You worthless creature" she hissed. "I give you, a pathetic human, the honor of 
birthing my knight, and you have the gall to think that you can take him away from me? ME?!!? 
He would not even exist without me!!!!!"
 Her eyes began to burn again. "Your life is over." she commanded. "You serve no more purpose in
Seifer's life. Go into the bathroom, lock the door, and drown yourself."
 Merris complied, without a nerve of resistance. As the door locked and came the sound of running
water, Ultimecia cackled, cradling Seifer, who gurgled innocently.
 "Innocent, i see." growled Ultimecia. "That can be remedied. I will see to it that you will love
the sound of battle. You will relish the smell of your enemies blood. You will not acknowledge
other mortals as your equals. And Death will be your travelling companion, following you wherever
you go. 
The one of this time. Edea. She has a great many part to play in my plans yet. She will
take you back there. To that place. The place where the lion will be. You and him will grow as
parallells, but you will be stronger. And you will be given his abilities. I shall see to it
that you will have all the training, abilities and knowledge of a SeeD. But, by the Demons,
i will never allow you to join the disease that is SeeD. Never. 
You will stand by my throne one day and i will watch as you defeat the lion. It is your destiny."
 
The baby gurgled with glee. Indeed, the future was bright for Seifer Almasy....

                                      QUISTIS & ZELL

"Now, you two." began Edea, looking first at Zell and then Quistis, who was still trying to hold 
on to Squall. She was now resting her head on his shoulder. The look on his face simply screamed
"Get her off me"
",you two were different." Edea continued. "I was'ent the one who found you, It was actually Cid
who was responsible for your being here. It was on his last ever mission for the Balamb army...

Thunder cracked the sky as the soldiers ran through the mortar-inflicted streets of Dollet,
occasionally ducking between the ruined shells of buildings to check for the enemy.
They wore the familiar green and silver combat-wear familiar to the Balamb army. This was one of
their final missions. If the squad succeeded, they would all be free to choose new careers and 
lives. If they failed....
....War gave no prizes for runners-up.

Cid pulled himself up against the wall of the building closest to him. The drain above him 
drenched rainwater for the storm onto his helmet. It was quiet. Too quiet. Far too quiet than 
a battle should be...

It was the squad leader, Van Dincht, who took point. He moved in quick and swift movements. 
Vanwas not the man every general would have chosen as a squad leader. But he more than enough
years under his belt to count. He was an experienced fighter, and a gifted soldier. But 
maybe that was the problem. Van had been the sole survivor of at least two squad massacres, 
and had dealt a deathblow on more than one occasion. 
War is war. You kill them or they kill you, it's as simple as that. And it does be that simple, 
when you're in an ambush or trying to take a beach. 
But when you're able to look into their eyes...When it's a close-in kill...When you're not 
simply a part of two countries fighting each other, when you become two people trying to kill 
each other,everything changes.
It's something about close-killing, as they call it. Your first kill shakes you up pretty badly.
 But, by the time of your sixth killing, it horribly becomes easier. Maybe it's to do with the 
number 6. Your first five kills are like the fingers on one hand. But when you hit 6, it just 
goes out of your hand and you don't care anymore.
Cid oftened how many more than 6 Van had been responsible for.....

Van plopped himself flat over a pile of rubble, trying to keep low. He then reached for his 
set of binoculars. Cid ran from under the drainwater and made himself fall beside Van.
"Wonder where our contact is...How does it look?" Cid asked his old war-buddy and mentor.
Van's enhanced eyes surveyed the communication tower.
"Like another Dollet shithole." he grunted. "Perfect place for the Galbies to build a nest."
Their orders were simple. Galbadian forces had been driven from the now-restored Balamb
Republic, and were withdrawing back to territory closer to Deling City. Galbadia refused to
relinquish Timber, but Balamb was'ent interested. What Balamb wanted was to aid Dollet in it's
liberation. They could'nt allow Galbadia to keep Dollet, which they would easily be able to use
as a staging point if they wanted to invade Balamb again.
The orders were to drive the Galbadians from the city.
Easier said than done.
"Patrone! Dogson!" Van barked. "Secure the square!"
Patrone and Dogson, both Dollet soldiers working with Van's squad, charged forward and
bounded over the rubble. Moving in fast strides, they ran in opposite directions, covering
the square from both ends.
Patrone gave the clear signal from his end.
Dogson did the same. "All clear!" he shouted.
Van, Cid and the others readied their weapons and began to move into the square, then the
thunder of machine-gun fire exploded into the square, and Dogsons chest erupted in red.
"DOWN!" roared Van, immediatly making the squad duck.
Patrone was quick, and managed to dodge the bullets and find cover in time. But a sniper on
a balcony was spraying the square with bullets, leaving Dogson alive for bait.
"Cid!" shouted Van. "You see the asshole anywhere?"
"The pub! Two floors up, second balcony!"
"Anyone got a clear shot?" Van shouted.
The members of the team that he could see shook his head. Only Cid could see the sniper.
"Cid!" Van started. "I want you to go get that sonofabitch! Cut him in half!"
Cid nodded, and began to make his way forward.
"Great." he hissed under his breath. How do i make to him without winding up full of holes
myself? Oh, Hyne, i did'nt come all this way to die here. Still got so much to do. Got my
Garden to build. And Edea. God, i hope they don't have to send me back to her in a box.
"Here! Through the buildings." came a voice.
The front door of the house closest to Cid groaned open, and a Dollet couple stood there.
Without a moments hesitation, he bounded inside, as a hail of bullets fell behind his feet.
"Who are you?" Cid asked.
"Xass and Nadine Trepe. We're your contacts. Sorry we're late, but we had to take refuge 
inside the buildings. We saw the sniper, but there was no way we could warn you before
it was too late." said the man. "That soldier....sorry."
"Dogson's not dead yet." Cid defied, and began looking for a way to get to the sniper.
"This way." said the woman, Nadine. Cid followed.
Xass was a very tall man, with longish dark hair. He'd been a very active member of Dollet's
secret service for many years now. Nadine too had been in the spy business for many 
years, but she did'nt seem as obvious as Xass. And even though Cid was a married man,
and was hopelessly in love with Edea, with eyes on no-one else, he noticed that Nadine was
stunningly beautiful. Golden blonde hair and eyes like gemstones. Truely blessed with good
looks and graces.
Nadine led Cid to a window that was dangerously close to the balcony the sniper was on. Cid
loaded the gunblade in his hands...
Jaden Melores, ace sniper, let loose another spray of bullets on the square. Sooner or later, 
one of those "lambs" would have to be stupid enough to poke is head up, then BANG!
He nearly jumped himself, as there was a crash of glass, and he turned in time to see Cid
hurl himself through a nearby window and sail through the air toward the balcony.
Jaden tried to swing his gun up in time, but all he saw was Cid with a gunblade, about to do
a blackslash,

...and saw no more. Again. Ever.

Cid wiped the blood of the gunblade and shouted to his comrades in the square. "CLEAR!"
Van bounded from his hiding place and ran over to Dogson, who was still breathing.
"..sir....i..-i-i.....screwed up...."
"No. No you did'nt. There was no way to know about the sniper."
Cid, Xass and Nadine appeared next to the other soldiers.
"Oh Hyne." Nadine gasped. "That's Wu Dogson! We know him..."
"....my son...please..h-he's...all.."
"He has a son." said Xass. "Here, in Dollet. The mother died in this war a few weeks ago."
"...g-get..him...outta..here..................d-dont...let...him die............"
"I promise." swore Van, now feeling he was responsible for Dogson.
"...my boy...............Zell............................"
Dogson's breathing shallowed, and stopped.
Van felt the rage at the war build up again. Why do wars have to result in the destruction of
families? Why can't wars ever be fought by the assholes that start them?

They left Dogson there.
"This son of his." Van said, turning to Xass and Nadine. "Do you know where he is?"
"We moved him to a safe place, with our daughter." Xass answred. "Why?"
"Because this mission just got new orders. From a fallen comrade. We're getting "Dogs" boy
outta here."
A few of the soldiers exchanged glances. "Sir, our orders..."
"We're not here to follow fuckin' orders, we're here to do the decent thing!" Van yelled.

"We drove the last of the soldiers out of the city anyway." said Nadine. "But there's still
some up by the new communication tower. They've been firing mortar rounds on the city."
"Balamb forces are going to try to come at them from behind." said Xass. "Your units job
is to secure the city."
"Fuck that." said Van. "I just got orders from someone that matters more; a fallen comrade."
"So what are we doing?" asked Cid.
"This is the last ever mission for most of us." Van began, talking to his team. "Do you want
it to be just another babysitting mission, or do you wanna do something that'll actually make
a difference?"
Most of the soldiers stayed silent. Eventually, Cid spoke.
"Van." he said. "I want to go back to Edea. I want to go back alive. She's a pacifist. A
Peacemaker. I know how much it hurts her to see me as a soldier. I promised her that one day,
i'd do something good of it. I got that opportunity now. Do i wanna go kill a bunch of 
Galbadians, or do i want to save the children of this town being picked off by mortar rounds? 
I know what i believe."
"So it's settled." smiled Van. The soldiers raised their guns and cheered. Dogson would not be
forgotten. Cid's unit would see to it that the children were saved.
Making their way to Dogsons house, they found Zell, and a few other children.
"The only problem is," said Van. "What will happen to them now? I could give Zell to my 
daughter, but she's away in Trabia for a few years."
Cid grinned. "I know a place. My wife is setting up an orphanage."

Xass and Nadine listened to the soldiers talking. "Did you hear that? An orphanage. By Hyne,
that's the answer. It's perfect."
Nadine looked down, as she did when she was sad. "But....i don't want to let her go..."
Xass tried his best to be strong for her. "Our work is very dangerous. When you're a spy, 
you're in for life. It would have been foolish of us to belive she could have led a normal life.
Both parents as spies, she'd always be in danger. But this way....may be the only way."
"I knew it would come to this at some point." said Nadine. "But,....i guess it's true. 
If you love something, you have to set it free."
"But," said Xass. "If it comes back, it's meant to be."
Nadine turned to look at the one-year-old girl still sleeping. "I just want to know what 
will happen to her. What does life have in store for our Quistis?"
"Time will tell. But i know, in my heart and soul i know. I know we'll see her again."

And so little Quistis Trepe was given to the soldiers as they evacuated. The next day,
Xass and Nadine went on an infiltration mission to Deling City. Their plane was shot
down over the desert. Wheter or not their were bodies or survivors, Deling never
said. Some noticed that the plane crashed near the newly assembled D-District prison...

                *                  *                   *                    

The children had long gone to bed, and Edea rolled around the bed, trying to gain some
sleep. But the bed always felt too big without Cid.
She turned, and a patch of starlight shone on her face. For some reason, it made her smile.
On a sheer act of impulse, she pulled the sheets from her body, and got up from the bed,
stopping only to put on a robe to cover her naked form. (Edea always slept naked, she
always said something about it feeling natural that way, like in the womb. Of course, she
always covered up first thing when she awoke.)
She stepped outside, now under another blanket, This time of stars. She felt she could
almost reach out and grab one. And she did.
She reached out and managed to catch a couple of stars in her hand. They sparkled and
shone in her hand with the same brilliance as they had in the night sky. Such is the power
of magic and illusion.

She turned back into the house and checked on the children. They all slept soundly,
dreaming their innocent dreams. Somehow, they had all been denied seperate fates.
Some force had taken them all from families and fates and given them new destinies.
Squall, from that village, who could have been a farmer with his uncle, Gryph.
Selphie, who had been saved from Sorceress experimentation in Esthar.
Irvine, taken away from a sister and mother, who were most likely still out there.
Seifer, denied the life with his mother, to be destined from an evil Sorceress to fight Squall.
Zell, saved from a life of foster homes and homelessness.
Quistis, who could have been raised as the daughter of spies.
Never in her life, had Edea ever set eyes upon such fated children.
"Sweet Hyne." she whispered, looking at her children. "How you must love them, Lord."       



                               THE BEGINNING