Contracts and Books

Contracts and Books
Date of Scene:	13 December 2012
Location:	Balamb Garden Library
Synopsis:	Rinoa peruses books at Balamb Garden, determined to find as much information on sorceresses in an effort to understand Edea and her mysterious motives better..With Tifa's help, of course.
Cast of Characters:	Tifa Lockhart, Rinoa Heartilly

---

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart has received the letter, and since everyone else went off on training on their side, Tifa was left alone in Goug for the most part. Oh she'd be fine alone, but Rinoa's leftter gave her a reason to get out a bit at least.

She has been in the Garden before, although she helped out at the battle, she didn't have much time to visit and learn about it, so she had to ask directions around, trying to find the blue-dressed sorcess-to-be. Someone has pointed her to the library, apparently that's where she was last seen, so why not take a look.

She hmms, stepping inside and looking around the aisle of books. This is a huge library.

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Rinoa sighs, scanning down a line of her most recent book..But she finds her legs are stiff from sitting for hours on end at the table. With a soft sigh, she rises to her feet, yawns and stretches. "Aah, that feels so good!" She exclaims aloud to herself, before getting some glares and shushes from a group of nervous looking SeeD candidates next to her, who seem to be busily cramming for their next exam.

Funny, Manhattan goes to heck, heartless are everywhere, and students here are still cramming for exams. How...Odd. Still, Rinoa murmurs an apology before wandering around the library, searching for a washroom. How long has she been poring over books now?

It doesn't take her long to spy Tifa near the entrance and she smiles and waves at her, moving to join her. "Tifa, hi! So glad you could make it! Where are the others?" She peers around, expecting to see the other 7th Heaven girls with her..

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart smiles, and heads over to Rinoa when she's spotted. She walks over, hands in her back. She's only a year or two older than most students here. In fact there's probably teachers about as old as she is, so its not like she doesn't fit in, but without the SeeD uniform, she stands out.

"Aerith went off to train, after the Manhattan debacle, she's serious about getting stronger and improving her staff work, so she asked Pixi to help since she's a spear user, closer to her style. Kaydin just followed Aerith, of course."

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Rinoa frowns softly when Tifa mentions Manhattan. That's left a sore spot in many hearts, Rinoa included. Of course she'd been there herself, fighting in the background although she'd been separated from her friends during the chaos.

Rinoa had only briefly stopped by Goug to write her letter and had been assured that Tifa was well. Now, she breathes a sigh of relief to hear that the others are alright.

"Wow, she's pretty serious about this training stuff, isnt' she? First training sessions with you and then with Pixi?" she smirks, "I wish I had that kind of devotion. Still, I hope you can train me sometime soon. It'd be good to learn some close combat."

As for Kaydin, she cant help but giggle, "Wow, that guy's so strange! I wonder if he has a crush on Aerith or something! Still..How was he in Manhattan? Has it convinced him to finally change his ways?"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart crosses her arms "I'm pretty sure he got a crush on her, there's not really any secret there. Aerith has been nice to him, so some guys cling to that, especially when others shun them. In Manhattan he realized that a whole town would be lost to darkness and its not what he wanted, he finally opened his eyes basically. What we were trying to drive into his head all that time."

She looks around a bit, and moves to a table. Most libraries request for silence, but doesn't seem to be much an issue here as long as you don't scream it seems. "I can help you with basics, the same I did with Aerith. It was hard with her because she wanted to learn staff, while I'm a martial artist. I taught her the basics. The rest is finding her own style."

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Rinoa makes a face. "Gee, Aerith! She's way too nice to everyone..She really has to learn when to curb it, you know?" Still it causes her to giggle. "Well...How sweet. At least she's had a positive influence over him. Glad to see he has changed his ways! Still, now that he is an enemy of his home country, I wonder where that leaves him?"

Rinoa almost feels sorry for the guy. Afterall, she knows first hand what it feels like to become an enemy of your own home town. Now she is likely on the wanted list for Galbadia after helping in a sorceress assasination attempt.

She smiles at Tifa and nods happily. "Thanks! I'd appreciate it. I guess..I dont really have a close range weapon, but it would be helpful to learn how to fight with my body. Anyways, I started reading some books way at the back, in the stuy carrels over there, you wanna see what I learned so far? I guess there's a lot of stuff from my world that I never really explained to you before.."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart nods about Kaydin "As long as he understands what he was doing and wants to change his ways, he's welcomed at the bar. If anything he can be part of the group, but he needs to curb some of those bad habits too." She shakes her head at that.

"And you don't need a weapon, just being able to kick or punch someone off with some effect is good already. Its the same basic for any fighting style, weight transfer. After that you apply it to the weapon you're using, and then specialize it. Anyone can punch or kick, but for it to really hurt you need to specialize and train it further. Its the same way I can use a weapon, but it wouldn't be as effective as my fists."

She hms at the mention of books "What did you find out in all of those?"

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Rinoa nods. "Well, I'll try to behave myself around him then. I guess he's not that bad a guy, it'll take a while to keep that trust though, but it's a good first step."

She smiles as Tifa explains how martial arts works. "Wow, that sounds like fun! I cant wait!" But right now..Books. Good thing she likes books! Rinoa nods as she leads Tifa back to the desk full of books that look like they're gonna fall to the ground at any minute. Wow, Rinoa's been doing a lot of reading here!

"Hmm, where should I start? I was surprised that the Garden had so much information, and even then, it's still pretty vague." she sits down, offering a seat for Tifa to join her as well. "Let's see. I guess you don't know much about my world really. Well. In my world, as I've mentionned before, magic isn't something that normal humans are capable of casting. It's something that only monsters..And Guardian Forces can summon at their command. SeeDs can cast magic only because they have formed pacts and drawn upon the power of Guardian Forces after much research and training. And Galbadians use what we call Junction machines to use a similar kind of para-magic, which basically draws magic out of other creatures so we can 'borrow' it for ourselves.."

She sighs as she glances at the thick stack of books before her. "Then there are sorceresses, insanely powerful beings of pure magic." That's a lot to swallow, and so Rinoa pauses a moment to see if Tifa is with her thus far.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart nods, following Rinoa's words as she leans on her elbows, on the desk, leaning forward a bit doing so. "I see. In my world its similar, noone can use magic but a select few, most people use materias. I use two materias in fact, Power and Speed.

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Rinoa nods. "Yes. I remember you mentionning something about this materia. Like all those gems on Aerith's staff too, right?" right. Interesting how the various worlds have found their own ways to tap into magic.

"But, with a sorceress..Well it's like they're saturated with magic. Afterall, they literally possess a portion of a god's own powers..Hyne. There's this legend see, where Hyne, creator of all life in my world, gave some of his power to select individuals. These people are called sorceresses and this power stays with them until death."

She sighs, hugging her arms. "Imagine that, so much power that you cant control it yourself. Some of them, most of them go insane from all that power. It's interesting. A lot of sorceresses have acquired other, inhuman attributes too. Wings..Horns..Fangs. It's like they are becoming monsters.." Rinoa frowns a bit as she says this. As if she almost felt sad for them.

"Then there are their knights. Those who would protect their soul, and keep their sanity in check.."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart hmms, thinking about that. She heard something about that before, what was it again?

She crosses her arms pensively "Maybe its something that they wanted though, I mean their looks. Maybe they wanted to distance themselves from their humanity doing so?"

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Rinoa sighs, "I dont really know. There have been theories. The magic mutates them in ways..The magic slowly turns them to monsters..Or into goddesses. Or the sorceresses use their own magic to transform their bodies to reflect their inner heart." She shrugs.

"One thing is for certain. Almost all sorceresses in history have gone mad with power. There have been sorceresses who never had knights. That's easy to explain. A knight is a person with whom a sorceress shares a deep bond with. It could be a close friend or family member. But usually it is the strongest bond of all, that of love between a man and a woman. Such a bond it is believed, keeps the sorceress rooted, and makes it harder for them to lose their link through humanity because of their love for the other person, however.."

Rinoa sighs, "Let's see...Here is an interesting paragraph.." She picks up one of the books. "There have been many sorceresses, or witches throughout time. Perhaps more than we ever knew as many of them hid as well. But they weren't all 'evil'. "

"One witch is said to have, in ancient times, stood up for the sake of the people in a country at the time of its collapse. A movie was made about this witch and her knight, Zefer, which I think a lot of people have probably seen..Next was the witch who divided the world at the time of the Sorceress War. She was a terrible witch. (I believe this would be Adel?)..And then, whos the one most familiar to us? Yes, yes, it is. This witch cooperated in research on the mechanics of magic, thanks to which everyone can use magic, huh? (Not sure who this one is)."

Rinoa closes the book, glancing back at Tifa. "And then of course, we have Edea, a sorceress who mostly kept to herself, moving quietly in the background, then recently joined forces with Galbadia, as Ambassador. And yet, Now, we have Edea, the witch who claims to be bringing peace to the world. What are her true intentions? Can she really be trusted?"

She sighs, "I dont really know, but..she murdered the president in cold blood. She put me under her spell and fed me to a pack of giant lizards..And, she nearly killed Squall. And yet..I wonder if we instigated the whole thing by attacking first?"

Rinoa..Seems troubled, confused by her own actions.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart reaches over, patting Rinoa's shoulder lightly "No use thinking about it too much either, its not like you can change the past. Maybe there was a good reason to attack her, maybe she would have done things even without you attacking. There's alot of ifs and maybes." Tifa knows that all too well. "Better focus on what you can do in the future."

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Rinoa smiles at Tifa, looking a bit better. "Thank you, Tifa. I suppose you're right. we can't change the past. I dont really know why SeeD was ordered to assasinate her, except that many people fear sorceresses. In all of time, there have only ever been maybe two 'good' sorceresses. All the rest since the beginning of time have been evil. Maybe that's why SeeD was sent to kill her.."

She smiles, "But, I'm not SeeD. I only helped them because I wanted to prove myself. And that means.." Rinoa sits up straight, getting an almost mischevous twinkle in her eyes as a very dangerous plan forms in her mind. "Tifa, I want to head back to Deling city and observe the sorceress for myself. I want to see with my own eyes what Seifer has been claiming was true all along..That the sorceress is not evil, just misunderstood. I mean.."

She smirks at the outlandish thought but.."What if..One day, I became a sorceress? How would I feel if other people hated and feared me without really getting to know me? Maybe I haven't given her a proper chance, you know?"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart nods, smiling "I understand. Who knows what could happen after all? But I don't think you should worry either. You have kind, generous heart, even if you had sorcess powers I'm sure you'd use it for good." She pokes at the top book.

"I can't tell for sure since I never had to deal with sorceress, but I would think that not all sorceresses are accounted for in here. Its logical that the sorceresses that 'make waves', like become famous or infmous for their deeds, would be recorded. But what about those that just live in peace?"

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Rinoa hmms. "I dont really know. But when you possess that much power, I imagine it's hard to go around unnoticed. You know, with the wings and horns and unbelievable amounts of power. And sorceresses are pretty rare, like, you KNOW when you become a sorceress, and people around you know too, because there's just something..Different about you."

She shrugs, "Unless you live on a deserted island or something I suppose. There are places to hide..But, what a lonely existance." Another shrug, "So, I guess that's where we stand now. And then there's Seifer. I think he always wanted to be a knight, thought it sounded romantic. I suppose deep down, I always hoped he'd be MY knight though. It's a little sad to see him just up and leave me to protect some unknown sorceress. Have you..Talked to him since that time..?"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart nods "We met a few times at random... but he didn't say much. I asked himm about you and him, and he said its none of my business. I did offer him to come to talk to me whenever he felt like it, but... I guess he got his own plans."

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Rinoa sighs, "Protecting the sorceress at all costs..Ooh, he is so stubborn!" she hangs her head, looking sad. "You know, I wish I could get him to see that he doesn't have to sacrifice what we had just because he's Edea's knight now." A sad smile, "I guess..It's pretty selfish of me to think this way after everything that went down in Manhattan, huh? I mean, I suppose we should be more worried about the heartless. But it's strange, in my world, the biggest threat was always sorceresses. I wonder if Edea would side with the heartless or against them though? I guess it's just one of many questions I'd have for her..Assuming she wouldn't try to kill me if she saw me again.."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart hmmms "I guess that depends on her own plans. If the heartless are getting in the way, she probably would get rid of them. Instead if she find uses for them, she might try to control them instead. We won't know until we meet her again anyway. And same for Seifer."

She hmms, crossing ehr arms again "He's a bit confusing. He rushes in to save you but then keeps you at arm's lenght. And then he shows up and participate in things that don't seem to relate to his sorceress, like Old Timmy's well, or the caravan."

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Rinoa nods. "Edea's seems to be after power. The heartless have power. Question is, will she use the heartless to her advantage or not? I'm sure Seifer has some answers, but I've no idea where to find him. It's been a while since I saw him last.." She sighs, "But one thing is for certain, Seifer is not a bad person. I KnOW he isnt. He can be reckless sure. He likes to act like the hero. And he likes to show off a lot. You know, a real ego trip. But underneath it all, I think he still has a good heart. Even outside of being 'her knight', he likes to show off, be in the spot light, beat up the bad guys. Again, That's why we need to go to Deling and see what's going on there, see what sorts of plans Edea has for him. But before all that, I think I could really do with a crash course in self defense. It'd really help with whatever we run into in Deling!"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart smiles as she stands up, nodding "Well, let's start on it then. You saw Aerith already improved, I'm sure you can learn it just as well. Who knows, it could come in handy when you don't have your chakram or Angelo around, right?" She smiles "That's why I like martial arts myself, you're never caught unarmed. Your body is the weapon."

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Rinoa nods. Yes, actually it's a blaster edge, combines a crossbow with a boomerang/sawblade for maximum impact. I customized it myself. but yeah, it'd be helpful to learn hand to hand combat." She yawns though, rubbing her eyes. "Well, I think I've found what I'm looking for here. I was told I cant sign out any of the books, so I made photocopies instead. How about we head back to seventh heaven and get in some much needed practice?"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart nods, smiling "Sounds good to me. I still have to oversee some plans. By the way, you think the Garden would accept a job about taking a few students as workers to renovate the heaven into an inn?"

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Rinoa chuckles, shaking her head. "Oh..They're mercenaries, but I dont think they'd hire students to renovate an inn. I mean, they're trained to fight monsters, not build. but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to ask. You'd have to speak to Jean Faraven or Quistis. I guess the garden is pretty understaffed and in need to help themselves lately though. In fact, that reminds me. I was wondering if we should offer our services to Garden in exchange for their resources and services? After all they still owe me a contract, and since my own objectives are the same as theirs..Well what do you think about helping out?"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart hmms as she considers. But she smiles, nodding "Of course I'd be happy to help you. You're my friend, and I've been doing mercenary jobs myself when I can, extra money never hurts after all."

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Rinoa smiles, "Thanks! I'm so happy..I'm sure the others will be, too! You know the more I think about it, the more I wonder if you're more than just a barmaid. You seem to be very knowledgable about a lot of things. And where'd you learn to fight like that anyway?"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart shakes her head "I just had my own kind of experiences. My master was Zangan, he's a travelling martial artist in my world, he takes disciples where he travels too, just long enough to teach them, getting lodging and food while there, and then disapears to another town.