Darkness, and light. Loss, and Love. Guilt, and pleasure. These were the things within the very mind of Rinoa. Yet that was only scratching the surface of what was wrong with her.

On the outside she looked like Rinoa. On the inside though, in the mental mind scape something that had been sleeping and laying dormant waiting to manifest was growing stronger. It was inside this mind scape that the normal Rinoa wandered from time to time.

The land was dusty, dark, and grey. It looked oddly familiar. Looking from side to side as she walked with each step she started to grow frantic. Something wasn’t right, something was wrong. This wasn’t how things were supposed to be, and she wanted to desperately to see Squall, Zell, Selphie, Quistis, and that big ol cowboy Irvine. She didn’t like feeling alone. She didn’t like the dark, and most of all she didn’t like being where she was now.

She was running now, and looking desperately for something, anything. Then she saw her.

She stood alone her back to her, hair parted down the middle into two ponytails. She wore a black sweater overtop a gray shirt, and light gray short shorts. On her arm was a weapon. Rinoa grew cold with fear. She didn’t want to see that person, yet she found she could no longer move.

"You know." The girl said turning to look at Rinoa. "We both can’t be in control."

Rinoa’s eyes grew wide with fear as she looked at a flickering image of herself.

"You’ve tried so hard to block me out. Not acknowledge me." The Rinoa duplicate said stepping closer with each word. "So scared of what that young man would think. You were ready, but scared. Willing, and afraid." The girl said circling Rinoa a small sneer on her lips. "Ready to sacrifice us for the better good of all of humanity weren’t you? Yet he broke us free, swore to us he did. Said he loved us, never leave us."

"Shut up!" Rinoa said watching her duplicates every move. "He doesn’t love you. He loves me."

"Oh don’t be a fool!" The duplicate hissed jeering at her. "He knew what he was saying, what he was doing. Yet he didn’t care. He knew what we would become, and still he accepted us for who and what we would become."

Rinoa closed her eyes as the tears started to fall down her face. "Squall loves me for me. Not for anything else."

"Stupid." The Duplicate said slapping Rinoa on the face, a nail searing the skin of her face into a wound and blood trickled down her cheek. "You do not get what you say, you do not understand what I say."

"Shut up!" Rinoa screamed, struggling to move to cover her ears. "Shut up, go away!"

"I can’t go away." The Duplicate whispered as a finger trailed down Rinoa’s neck. "You see. I’m apart of you, the only way to get rid of me is through death."

"You’re lying!" Rinoa choked as more salt water tears streamed down her face.

"I wish I were, but you know I’m not."

Rinoa screamed.

"There really isn’t any need to scream." The double said as she stepped away from Rinoa. I’m just telling you these things so you understand. We are together in this world." She said raising her arms and pulling back the notch and let fly the disc that rested on the launcher. "We are the same. I am you, and you are me." She finished smiling darkly at Rinoa.

The Valkrye like weapon, whizzed past Rinoa, taking with it a few strands of her hair. Finding strength from within, Rinoa regarded her double cautiously and raised her hand to the silver necklace with two rings on it.

"I don’t know what is real, or what is fantasy anymore." She said grasping the two rings in her hand. "It’s confusing, but you know what?" She said making a face of anger at her double. "You are not me, only I can be myself."

"Shut up!" The double mocked. "You know nothing about what it is you have standing before you. You are a silly, young child. I’m older then you, I have been passed from woman to woman, and now I live within you."

Rinoa clutched at the two rings tightly. "I don’t care!"

"Childish fool." The double said as she moved to indicate the wasteland. "We are inside your mind. Two souls cannot exist in the same body."

Rinoa covered her ears, and shook her head. "NO! I refuse to believe what you’re saying!"

"Then so be it." The double said raising her arms once more and taking aim. "I shall shatter your mind." This time the double didn’t miss her mark. The weapon struck Rinoa in the chest, tearing into cloth, and flesh and bursting out the other side.

****

When General Caraway entered his daughters room the sight before his eyes, made a vile substance rise in his throat. His daughter, lay sprawled on the floor. Eyes opened wide with an insane light, and a hint of fear. She lay looking up at the ceiling gibbering nonsense.

"Passed on from woman to woman.. Lives inside my head."

"Rinoa?" Her father said moving towards her, only to be lifted into the air and thrown into the dresser.

"We cannot agree, father. We fight all the time." Rinoa shrieked madly as she sat up and rocked on the floor. "A succession of witches." Rinoa shrieked as she clutched at her head. "What do we mean, I don’t know." Rinoa slowly stood, and looked around madly. "Run. Run away from here. She’s insane. She killed me." Rinoa babbled as she looked around the room wildly. "Inside my head she killed me."

General Caraway pulled himself up and backed out of the room, again locking his daughter inside.

"She’s insane." He whispered as he turned to look at the young man, Zone. A friend of hers. "She’s totally insane."

"Shall I get Squall Sir?" Zone asked a hand pressing against his stomach in pain.

"I feared it would come to that." The General said thickly trying to compose himself. With a curt nod to Zone, he continued. "Yes, I’m afraid that her friends at Balamb Garden should know."

"Yes Sir." Zone said as he turned and ran down the hallway. "Watts and I will bring the message as soon as we can. Balambs scheduled to pass by Deling this week sometime." He called over his shoulder.

"Hyne, grant him speed." Caraway whispered as he leaned against the wall in pain. His ribs were bruised.

***

The Library wasn’t as quiet as it normally would have been. It was almost expected by Xu for something like this to happen, and she was totally clueless about how to deal with it.

It had started with Jay asking Hayner a question, which Hayner had ignored, and continued to fill out the paperwork for his chosen classes. Not wanting to give up Jay kept on bugging Squall’s young charge. It got so bad, that finally Hayner stood up the chair he had been sitting in clattering to the floor.

"Shut up!" Hayner growled, his eyes small slits. "Just shut up."

Jay laughed as he too stood up, and glared at Hayner. "You are such a baby." Jay said as he tossed aside his chair and stalked towards Hayner, who stood ready for anything, fists clenched.

"You going to cry now?" Jay mocked. "Going to cry like a girl?"

"Jay! Stop it!" Olette said as she dropped the book of courses she was looking through and hurrying forward to grab at his arm, Pence too doing likewise.

"Yeah Jay! Don’t antagonize him!" Pence said in agreement with Olette.

"Bah, why should I listen to you?" Jay said as he shrugged out of their grasps.

Xu was beside herself, trying in vain to stop an ensuing fist fight. Standing between the two males she held a hand on each young males chest.

"Just stop it right now!" She ordered with her most serious tone, as a crowd started to gather. "Garden rule 8 section B: Line 52 states that in garden fighting is strictly prohibited!"

"Like I care." Jay said.

Xu was near bursting point as her own levels of anger started to rise at Jay’s rude tone and manner. "Now see here." She started when a flurry of fists started to fly towards Squall’s young charge. "Stop it right this instant." She demanded.

"Miss Xu!" Olette said as she tried desperately to help the older SEED to stop the fighting. "This isn’t good."

"I know!" Xu grunted.

"Need a hand fair lady?" The voice of Irvine said as Xu briefly looked up to see the tall Galbadian Cowboy leaning against a wall tipping his hat. "It seems you have your hands full."

"By all means! Help me sperate these two!" She barked.

"With pleasure." Irvine said as he stepped forward and used a float spell to knock Jay’s balance off. With a flurry of movement, the tall cow boy swooped in and grabbed the young youth by the shoulder and yanked him back and pulled him a fair distance away from Hayner, who hadn’t done anything aside from standing there glaring.

"What the!" Jay shouted as he looked down at the floor his feet no longer touching it. "Let me go!" He snarled.

"Easy there fellah." Irvine said as he continued to drag him out of the library. "Off to the brig with you."

Xu sighed in relief and looked at the crowd that had grown in size in the few short moments. "Okay, nothing to see here, go back to your studies." She barked and picked up the chairs and then promptly sat back down running her hands over her face trying to regain her professional composure.

"Sorry." Hayner said rubbing the left side of his face, where a nasty bruise was now forming.

"It’s not your fault." Xu said as she waved her hand at him. "Jay started it. If anything I noticed you were probably going to defend yourself from him."

"Miss Xu!" Olette said as she went towards Hayner. "Hayner got hit."

"What!" Xu said looking up and looking at Olette who was fussing over Hayner.

"It’s nothing. Just a bruise." Hayner muttered trying to back away from Olette who insisted on dabbing a handkerchief she had on her person, at the blood that was dripping from a cut where flesh had been split open.

"Olette." Pence said with a small grin. "Leave him alone. He doesn’t need you fussing over him."

"Fussing!" Olette grumbled as she continued her administrations. "Jay hit the poor guy, the big bully." She fumed as she tilted Hayners face upwards a bit and cleaned the rest of the blood off his face. "It doesn’t look like nothing either." She added as she looked carefully at the wound. "It’s going to leave a scar."