FicWad

After the discovery of the missing child in the early hours of the day, both orphanage owners had formed a search party, enlisting the assistance of the elder children to look for the small boy, while the others were watched closely by one of the corresponding adults. Cid had volunteered to cover the search for Squall and insisted that Edea take the moment to calm down and to reassure the other children that everything was going to be alright. The disappearance of Ellone had been a bad enough discovery, but knowing that another child managed to vanish between then and now was very alarming to them and they needed reassurance that no one was in danger. It had taken a couple of hours for the children to calm down, but eventually, they were back to acting as they were, although a concerned aura filled the building’s structure.

Edea bit lightly onto the nail on her thumb; a nervous habit she had possessed since she was a child. No word had come back from Cid concerning Squall’s whereabouts and the Sorceress couldn’t help but worry. Of course, this wasn’t the very first time Squall had done a disappearing act, but normally they would find him within the Orphanage. A very thorough search of his usual hiding places as well as just about every inch of the structure proved that he had, indeed disappeared.

It hadn’t helped that his shoes were missing, along with a bundle of sandwiches, and two water bottles, one filled with juice. She recalled that the very child they were now looking for had assisted in their preparation and couldn’t help but think that he had planned to run away all along. Despite the explanation of his sister’s whereabouts, Squall had remained closed off for the remainder of the day and it worried to raven haired woman that such a child clearly as sensitive as him could be out there by himself, doing Hyne knew what.

‘He must think he has to find Elle,’ Edea surmised, recalling the incident the day prior in the flower garden. He had been so desperate to find Ellone in the garden, had run outside before anyone could stop him. She wouldn’t put it past him to try to search again. ‘Perhaps he just wandered too far off. But if that was the case, we would have found him already.’

Even as the children were playing in what could only be described as the living room Edea allowed her thoughts to wander. In the four years they had taken in children, not once had they ever lost one and Edea would never forgive herself if anything were to happen to the dark haired child. He was only four years old, and who knew what kind of monsters liked to wander about in this environment. Normally, it was far too hot to stay outside for very long, which was why Edea and Cid preferred to limit the amount of time the children stayed outside to play, but during the last few days the weather had been somewhat bearable; a cool breeze having swept past them in a refreshing change of weather.

This did nothing to stop Edea’s worrying; if anything the change of weather amplified her anxiety. Although the orphanage was located away from civilization, they still managed to receiving cable television, although the weather forecasts were less than accurate, being three months behind. The children didn’t seem to care all too much; cartoons were cartoons after all. Besides, Edea didn’t need a weather man to tell her the changes in the forecast. Her powers amplified all of her senses; her hearing, sight, sense of smell, taste and touch being on a higher scale than anyone else she knew, and even those she had never had the pleasure (or displeasure) of meeting.

Right now, her sense of smell was warning of rain, and Edea knew exactly what that meant. While Centra was mostly a bone-dry continent, were very little could thrive in its harsh environment, every two months the area would suffer from severe rain storms, often bringing thunder and lightning in their wake. They would last for the next week and a bit, and would bring water to the parched lands, but the fact that a child was lost out there right before the storm would break out was alarming to the woman and she could not simply sit back and wait for it to happen.

By midday, Cid returned with the rest of the elder children who were assisting in the search of the missing child, but when Edea went to greet him, she found him to be empty handed. As the children settled themselves for lunch (the younger children had already eaten and were settling down for an early afternoon nap), Edea tried to busy herself with things she needed to tend to. She knew that her husband could see through the façade, however, but she ignored his constant worried glances as she cleaned the counters and sinks in the kitchen before preparing herself to tend to the flowers in the front yard.

The flowers… that had been one of the last places she had seen the little boy; running amidst them and calling out to his older sister, in hopes that she would hear him and come running. Edea remembered that the pair had often played hide-and-seek in the garden when they played outside; and every time they were found they would come running back to the Orphanage, a precaution all of the children had taken to in order to avoid getting lost.

Edea was wearing a straw hat to keep the sun off of her pale skin, gardening gloves to protect her fingers from the thorns of the flowers within the area, and boots to prevent said thorns from scratching at her legs. As she climbed down the steps leading away from the front of the Orphanage, she paused in her venture, staring at the place where the mysterious boy from the future had stood merely a day again and her thoughts wandered to the things he had told her about the future.

‘You shouldn’t even be thinking about that,’ Edea chastised herself, forcing herself to tear her gaze away from the ground. ‘Those instances occur in the future. You shouldn’t know what happens in the future; it could shift the balance and prevent certain events from taking place.’

Still, she had to admit she had been slightly intrigued about the idea of people formed for the sole purpose of defeating a Sorceress whose powers became too much for her to control. It would prevent another war from breaking out and another tragedy from befalling the children and adults of the world; no one deserved to lose anyone; be it young or old.

Just thinking about it brought back unwanted memories from her own childhood and as quickly as they came, Edea banished them from the forefront of her mind. She could not and would not dredge up such horrible events from the past and allow them to take hold of her in the present, and possibly steer her actions in the future. She never wanted anyone to feel the same way she had while growing up, and hoped that with raising the children the way she was that she would be taking the steps necessary to get rid of such prejudices. The world definitely could do without them.

But the past was the past, and there was no way she would be able to change it. She could learn from past mistakes and create a brighter future. Besides, she had more pressing matters to turn her attention towards besides the murky waters of her childhood. Cid had related his search of the east, up towards the Chocobo Forest located nearby, coming up empty and had mentioned something about searching to the west after lunch. Edea wanted very much to search with him, but she couldn’t just leave the children unattended. The only reason she was taking the time to tend to her garden was due to the fact that Cid had yet to leave. She knew that she would have to manage with the sheer thought that Cid would return with Squall, safe and sound, and it would be something in the past that would never happen again in the future.

When she had finished tending to her flowers, she had gone back inside, just in time to bid her husband farewell and good luck. Afterwards, she had busied herself with more housework that needed to be done and occupied the children’s minds with stories and games once they had awoken from their naps. It was in the early evening when Cid returned, once again empty handed.

Edea was at her wits end. The young boy had been missing for almost a day now, and there didn’t appear to be any hope of finding him. Edea couldn’t even imagine being lost out there by herself at his young age; he wouldn’t be able to defend himself against the roaming monsters in the area, or from the bandits that had taken to living in the surrounding area. She knew she couldn’t just sit there and wait for something to happen – she would need to act herself.

Thunder cracked and lightning flared, breaking the Sorceress out of the torrent of thoughts that had consumed her mind for the past eighteen hours and it was then that she had made up her mind. Nearly leaping up off the couch, she raced towards the front door, passing Cid as she grabbed a pair of black rain boots and a dark blue rain jacket. “Edea? Where are you going?”

“I can’t just sit idle and wait for something horrible to happen to that little boy.” Edea said, even as she buttoned up her jacket and secured a rain hat atop her head. “I’m going out to find him.”

“In this weather?” Cid sounded astounded. “Edea, there’s no hope of finding anything out there, let alone a four year old little boy.”

“In this weather, a four year old boy has a greater chance of being struck by lightning or being killed by one of those monsters roaming about.” Edea finally had the jacket on and immediately grabbed a hold of an umbrella, black in colour, and, opening the door, she opened it up to protect herself from the rain.

Cid looked as though he wanted to say something, but a look from Edea silenced him. “I’ll look north since no one could find him east or west, and I’ll take the jeep. I’m not coming back until I find him.”

Before she could leave however, Cid grabbed a hold of her right arm and she stared at him, waiting for him to do something – anything – but after a moment, he released his grip on her, smiling and trying to appear reassuring. He only accomplished appearing even more worried about the circumstances as he had a mere moment ago. “Be careful.” He said softly. “And bring him home.”

Edea nodded in response and leaned forward, kissing her husband on the lips, of which he returned. She cut the gesture short and, stepping outside, she waved back at Cid before closing the door behind her.

The Sorceress hadn’t realized just what time it was when it had suddenly begun pouring, but the sky was pitch black, the crescent moon sitting back in the sky and watching as the events flew by it, even as Edea climbed inside of the dark green jeep, closing the door behind her and grateful that Cid had remembered to keep the roof up this time. She still had vivid memories of the ruined seats as well as remembering how much they had cost to replace. Placing the keys inside of the ignition, she turned them towards her, nodding to herself as the engine began almost immediately. Pulling her seatbelt in front of her, she shifted gears and drove out from beside the Orphanage towards the north, hoping to see some sign of the little boy she was looking for.

She didn’t know how long she had driven, only that she couldn’t see him anywhere, but she stopped the jeep when she noticed a monster’s carcass lying in the middle of nowhere. Stopping the car instantly and stepping out into the miserable weather, she crept towards the monster, instantly recognizing it as a Giant Mantis. It wasn’t that sight that terrified her, though. Lying beside the dead creature was a red wagon, having been tipped onto its side, a broken bottle, the contents unknown, having been washed away during the storm, and the undeniably familiar black and white shoe.

Ignoring the other two objects lying nearby, she quickly grabbed the shoe, hoping that she was merely hallucinating and allowing a sob to escape her when she felt the fabric. He must have been attacked by the monster while he was wandering around. There was no mistaking that revelation. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how he must have felt; seeing something that big towering over him.

‘Take a deep breath Edea; you’re jumping to conclusions…’ Her mind stated soothingly. ‘Maybe he just left the shoe behind trying to escape. You won’t know for sure by standing around wallowing in pity and grief. Focus your powers; see if he’s still alive.’

Although she could not sense a person’s whereabouts without having them open their minds to her, she could sense whether or not someone was still alive, especially if she knew what she was looking for. Having practically raised the young boy since infancy, she held very little doubt that she would miss him if he was still alive. So she managed to force herself to stand and return to the jeep, the running shoe held tightly in her grasp. Once she was in the driver’s seat, Edea closed her eyes and tried to concentrate solely on the little boy whom had appeared so depressed the day before.

She sensed Cid and the rest of the children’s presence, and this reassured her; telling her that her powers still worked and that they would be useful in discovering the truth. She blocked them all out and concentrated hard, almost bringing on a mild headache when she suddenly sensed him, alive and very well.

Smiling for the first time since his disappearance was discovered; Edea hastily started the engine and was just about to continue her journey north when she was rocked with a violent feeling, her headache intensifying as her surroundings changed from the interior of the vehicle she sat in. Now she found herself standing in the middle of a man-made building, ruined and decrepit from years of inactivity. There was a statue in the very center, and thousands of creatures wandering aimlessly wearing brown cloaks and wielding flashlights in one hand and a knife in the other.

Before she could make sense of what she saw however, she blinked and found herself sitting behind the wheel of the jeep, as if nothing had happened. Her smiled vanished as a horrible feeling took hold of her gut. Whatever she had just seen was some sort of warning; a sign of danger, and she somehow knew that Squall was involved. Shaking visibly, Edea took control of the wheel and stepped on the gas peddle so hard she was touching the floor as she sped further north, hoping that she would make it in time.

She pulled the jeep to a stop and jumped out, slamming the door shut after making sure the car keys were in her pocket, searching around for a boat or anyone for that matter. If it came down to it, she was prepared to use her powers to get off the island. She had a feeling that what she saw was located on the next island over.

Just as she was about to give up and cast a spell, however, she noticed a boat pulling up onto the beach and ran towards it, hoping that they would be willing to do her this favour and take her across. One of the men saw her; a red-haired man dressed in dark colours, though specifically, Edea couldn’t tell, and began to trek towards her, climbing out of the boat even before it had been secured to land. Her brisk walk turned into a slight run as she met him halfway.

“What’re you doing here so late at night?” the man asked, catching the attention of his partners; a blonde male and a dark haired man, both wearing dark clothes like him. “Aren’t you afraid that the monsters might attack?”

“I’m looking for a little boy.” Edea interrupted, ignoring the commentary. “He has dark hair and light eyes, and is probably wearing a light coloured shirt and dark coloured pants. He was wearing these running shoes,” she held up the shoe for the men to see. “and he disappeared sometime this morning. Have any of you seen him?”

“Where did you find that?” the red-head asked, his smile having faded as he exchanged glances with his friends. “Are you the orphanage owner?”

“Yes,” Edea was slightly taken aback by the second question, forgetting entirely about the first. “Yes, I do. Why is that relevant?”

“We found a shoe like that near a monster we killed earlier today.” The red haired man explained. “We were just on our way to visit you, to see if you’re missing one of the kids you’re caring for. Looks like you found us first.”

“Did you see a little boy there?” Edea asked frantically, to which the red head shook his head.

“Nope.” The blonde answered for him. “I just found the shoe. Thought the kid mighta gotten…” he paused in mid sentence, clearing his throat as he did. “Just like Austin said thought; we found the shoe, had to go about business and were planning on dropping by to check in.”

“Sorry about your loss, ma’am.” the dark haired male said. “How old was he?”

Edea shook her head as if to clear it before suddenly blurting out what was on her mind. “He’s alive. Don’t ask me how I know, I just do. Please, you need to take me to that island over there!” she pointed behind them, the men following her finger as they looked at the island in the distance.

The red-head, Austin, was the first to speak. “We just came from there; and we didn’t see anything there.”

“Please, just humour me.” Edea was beginning to become frantic. Here she found people who could take her to the missing child, and yet here they were, debating with her as if she were insane. The raven haired woman could feel the tears staining her cheeks amidst the rain water that was continuously coming down. “I just have this feeling that he’s still alive, and that he’s in danger. Is there anything that someone could hide in?

“Now that I think about it,” the blonde man said, just as the dark haired man was about to interject. “there is a building on that island. We could take a look over there.”

“Are you insane!” Austin shouted, just before Edea could respond. “You know what happens over there; you wanna put a woman in danger because she’s looking for a little kid?”

“Well what if she’s right?” the blonde retorted back. “What if the kid is still alive? And what if he’s hiding in that place. You know better than I do that that place is worse for little kids than it is for adults like us!”

“What if she’s wrong?” Austin said. “I know it’s heartless of me to say this, but what if the kid is dead already? We shouldn’t have to risk our lives and the life of a woman because of a ‘what if’?”

“I’ll pay.” Edea jumped in, before the blonde could protest further. “I’ll pay you all for this, anything you’d like, just please. I know he’s over there, and I know he’s in some kind of trouble. Please help me find him.”

Edea didn’t know about any kind of rumour, but after hearing that children were in danger of a structure that stood on the island in front of them was enough to steer her into action. The thought of Squall being alone with someone or something that would try to kill him was heartbreaking and she needed to find him before anything bad could happen. She could obtain answers to her inquiries later; right now her first priority was Squall’s safety.

“Ma’am, you don’t need to pay us anything.” The dark haired male interjected, shooting the two men beside him glares and rendering them silent. “We’ll take you where you need to go. We’ll even go in with you.”

“What!” Austin shouted, but was silenced once again by the dark haired male’s glare. Throwing his hands up into the air, he headed back towards the boat. “Damn, man; I knew working with the two of you was going to be the death of me…”

“Thank you.” Edea said, sighing in relief, and she followed the remaining two towards their boat. It wasn’t very large, but it was adequate enough to fit four people. Austin sat behind the driver’s seat of the boat, and started the ignition, the boat rumbling and roaring to life as the remaining three climbed aboard. Soon afterwards, the boat set off towards the island in front of them.

Austin kept an eye on the ocean in front of him while the blonde man sat next to him, neither one offering each other words or even looks. Edea hoped that she hadn’t done anything to upset anyone, and her thoughts must have given her away, since the dark haired male smiled at her reassuringly. “Don’t worry about them. Curtis and Austin always butt heads. It’s usually me who has to break them up.”

“Thank you so much for going out of your way.” Edea beamed gratefully.

“It’s not a problem. My name’s Mark, by the way.”

There was a moment of silence before Mark spoke up again, sensing her tension. “You’re worried about what the guys said about the structure up ahead, right?”

Edea nodded in affirmation and he nodded back. “Thought so. I might as well tell you the reason Austin didn’t want to go. You see, when Centra used to be this huge civilization, there was this temple that sat on that island. Many people went there to worship Hyne or whatever deity they believed in. It was considered holy ground.”

Edea nodded, signalling Mark to continue when he paused. “Well, after the Lunar Cry eighty years ago, everything was destroyed. The continent had broken apart, creating these islands and almost nothing was spared its destruction. The building that is on this island is the only thing that remains of the entire Centran civilization.”

“I fail to see what’s so terrifying about an old building.” Edea said, although she didn’t believe the words even as she spoke them.

“Well the fact is that there were many settlements who managed to escape Centra before the Lunar Cry destroyed it, right? Some of those settlers came back and tried to build the civilization anew, and they discovered that the Temple was still around. It was a mess, but it was the most intact building anyone could find. Anyway, they started setting up camps there, but rumour has it that something survived in that Temple, and that it would protect it’s holy ground to eternity and beyond. And slowly, one by one, people were disappearing, until there was no one left, and the temple was silent once again.”

Edea frowned deeply, the story making sense to her, even as Mark grinned widely at her. “Don’t worry though; it’s just a stupid story. Nowhere near the truth.”

“Not true my ass!” Austin shouted from behind the steering wheel. “People actually do disappear if they get too close. About twenty minutes after they go in, they don’t come back out.”

“You’re not still harping about Jacob, are you?” Curtis snorted. “Look, that jackass –” Curtis whirled around in his seat and offered Edea an apologetic look. “S’cuze the language. Jacob just got lost is all, fell of one of the platforms and broke his neck. It’s as simple as that.”

“Bull.” Austin continued. “Look lady, that story Mark told you is true. I swear it on my Grandfather’s grave.”

“You’re Grandfather’s still alive.” Mark pointed out.

“Not the point! Anyway, I went in with Jacob one time, and this voice from nowhere just tells us to leave now or perish or something like that. Jacob told the voice to suck his…” Austin trialed off before continuing with his explanation. “Anyways, he told him what he could do with his threat, and the voice said something about twenty minutes. I left, he stayed. I lived, he didn’t. That’s what happened, and I’m sticking to it. Heard loads of kids managed to disappear too. Lot’s of ‘em found dead. I even heard that some of ‘em are turned into the same creatures who kill anyone who goes in and doesn’t head the warning.”

“Austin, stop it!” Mark shouted, leaning back to smack the red-head up the back of his head. “You’re scaring her!”

Edea had turned her attention towards the water, taking in Austin’s words, even as Mark leaned forward in his seat. “Listen, Austin’s full of it, okay. He’d believe anything you told him, as long as he thinks it’s happened to him or someone he knows. It’s not true. We’ll find the kid and he’ll be safe and sound. Promise.”

Mark offered her a smile and Edea smiled back, nodding in agreement. But even as Mark went back to chastising his friend, Edea couldn’t help but feel doubt running through her as she thought back on the story, her worry for the child intensifying as she stared back out into the ocean surrounding them.

‘I just hope you’re right, Mark.’