Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Shadows of New Evil ❯ Chapter 2

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Yolei Alcher sighed, leaning over Balamb Garden's Balcony. It was the night of the SeeD ball, and she was bored out of her mind!
"Something wrong?" Zell Dincht asked, "Or are you as bored as I am?" Yolei smiled a bit. It seemed he knew her personality and moods already, even if they had just met days earlier.
"Yeah..My life's been pretty boring lately.." she sighed again. Zell froze, his eyes big as saucers.
"BORING!?" he exclaimed, "BORING??? I'll give YOU boring!!" And with that he grabbed her and kissed her forcefully on the lips. Moments later, Yolei's lips were tingling and her face was a soft shade of pale pink. "Wh-wh-.." she stuttered, then pulled him into a hug. Zell smirked.
"So..Is your life 'boring' now?" he asked, grinning. Yolei shook her head and rested her chin on his shoulder. This moment was, in her mind, just...perfect.
Suddenly Yolei heard her mother's voice again, ruining the near silence.
"Soon...Sooner than you think your powers shall be awakened..You cannot escape your fate, daughter. Do not even try..."
The voice scared her,as it always did, and she whimpered, clinging even closer to Zell.
"Hearing her voice again, YoYo?" he whispered, stroking her hair in an attempt to calm her down a bit. Her reply was simply nodding her head shakily, sniffling. Her eyes had clouded over, and within a second, tears were flowing down her cheeks. Ignoring the sick feeling in her tummy, she turned to Zell.
"Z-zell?"
"Yeah, YoYo?" His reply was matched with an almost adorable look of concern.
"There's somethin' I gotta tell you..It's a secret. About..About my mom..." As the words left her, the sick feeling grew til Yolei felt as if she had a rock in her stomach.
"Don't tell him, Yolei." A voice all too loudly spoke its objections.
"Who the hell was that, Yolei?" Zell asked, raising a blonde eyebrow in confusion, and Yolei felt the blood run from her face as she faced two unwanted explanations.
"Zell, that's Angie."
"Angie! Who the hell's Angie?"
"I am, you doof!" This time, the voice was clearly annoyed, leaving Zell more confused than before.
"Remember the other day in the Training Center? The T Rexaur fight?"
His face was solemn, trying to remember.
"Ah..was she that GF? The Angel one?"
"Yeah! That's her!" After Yolei spoke, there was no response from Angelina. Zell smirked, glad for the silence. This whole ordeal had cheered her up a bit, but something was bothering her still.
"Come on, Yolei. Say what ya were gonna say." He lifted her chin up, wishing she'd just open her mouth.
Then she sighed.
"Okay. Zell? Y'know I said my mom was a sorceress?"
"Yup! I remember." He nodded, and Yolei went on.
"Well..She's not like Edea. Or Rinoa. She's.." Here she shuddered. "Evil. Like Adel, only..worse."
Zell pulled her close, trying to comfort her.
"How? I didn't think anyone could be worse than that.." Now he shuddered, images of the sorceress in his mind.
"She killed my father, Zell. And she tried to take me and Christy. Make us.. like her."
"Yo, calm down." By now, she was shaking almost violently, and tears flowed from her eyes.
"No! Zell..you can't possibly understand..what it's like..seeing your own mom kill your dad..Like a spider, killing a bite bug.." Then she broke down, letting tears stream from her eyes in buckets. But strangely enough, Yolei felt better, having finally told someone her one dreadful secret. "Thanks, Zell."
"No problem, YoYo." He smiled again, eyes meeting hers. "Now, what say we blow this popsickle stand, girl?" Anyone else would get the absolutely wrong idea from this, but not Yolei. She smiled, nodding.
"Yeah. Let's go. It's too quiet here." Then she yawned.
And so the two made their way through the ballroom, only colliding with two dancing pairs in the process, and raced through the halls, past the faculty, to the dorms.
"I believe our date ends here, my Lady." Zell said with a wink, making Yolei giggle, a clear sign that she was more relaxed, and he wrapped his arm around her ever so casually.
"Yeah. I guess so." Amused by the rather cute anxious expression on his face, she went on. "What're ya waiting for, Zell?"
Then Zell took Yolei completely by surprise, pulling her into an ultra-snug embrace, sapphire eyes shining.
"Nothing any more, baby."
Baby. Baby? How should I take that? Wait..Doesn't he call everyone.. Yolei's thoughts swam around in lovely little circles, then she felt her knees weaken when Zell kissed her warmly, too quickly pulling away and whispering a soft "Good night" into her ear before he began walking off.
"See ya tomorrow, then, Zell?" She sounded nervous, yet hopeful that this wasn't just a passing fling, then sighing in relief when he nodded.
"Yeah. Just go to my room if ya wanna hang out or anything."
"Zell!!!"
"Hahaha..Just kidding, Yolei. I'll stop by first thing tomorrow morning..Ugh.." He groaned, putting hand to head in pain. "On second thought, how about last thing tomorrow morning?" Yolei giggled, nodding in sympathy. She was getting a bit of a headache too, and would likely appreciate the extra rest- that is, if two certain mid-classwomen left her alone.
"Alright, then. G'night, Zell. Sweet dreams!"
Yawning, she opened her door, seeing Foxie curled in a little ball on her bed. The little fox yipped a greeting.
"Hiya, YoYo! Have fun?"
Yolei flopped down, eyes closed, petting her "fox accomplice".
"Foxie, I had the night of my life."
"That's good!"
Shadows. A figure that looked disturbingly familiar.
"Foxie? Did you see..AAGH!"
The last thing Yolei saw before falling unconscious was a pair of high- heeled black boots. Her mother's.
Foxie saw this too, but before she could do anything, the woman had taken Yolei and simply vanished from the room.
"That was..!!" The little fox knew what she had to do, racing out the door, and nearly knocking Zell to the ground.
"What the hell? Foxie?" One look at her and he knew something was wrong. "Oh fuck..What happened?"
"I-It's Yolei! She's gone!!"
Zell's face paled, and he began swearing more vividly than a soldier.
"What the hell are we gonna do, Foxie? I damn well can't just look her mother's address up in the phone book!!"
"I know, I know!! I just..I want YoYo baaack!" Foxie crawled into his lap, little tears forming in both their eyes.
"Yeah..Me too. We need a plan!" Zell's eyes suddenly shone with a spark of his elusive but nifty intelligent side. "And I've got one, too!"
Foxie sighed. If she knew Zell as well as she thought, this would take a while...