Rinoa's Education

Dark Sorceress

The door opened and a wave of humid air rushed against Rinoa’s face. Her black hair flushed back from her as the hot breeze continued. She stepped through the doorway hesitantly, looking cautiously around.
“Come in,” Came a voice from above. Rinoa looked up to see Edea floating up at the ceiling of the room. Dressed in her full-length dark purple dress, the former sorceress touched the leaves of a tree, drawing the leaves to open up and the branch they came from to extend out.
Rinoa stepped fully into the room, her hands held behind her back. She watched as Edea swirled around the tall room with the giant glass canopy, attending to the magnificent tree that filled the room. Lab equipment littered the edges of the steel and glass room, while the roots and veins of the room slithered their way along the slate floor.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Edea said, her haunting voice echoing within Rinoa’s mind as much as within her ears. The sorceress began to float down from the tree, slowly descending to the ground before Rinoa. “You are wondering how it is that you came to find yourself before me once more.”
“Actually,” Rinoa answered back defiantly. “I was just thinking it seemed appropriate that you’ve set up a lab within the very heart of the training center.”
Edea smiled. “Where all the monsters are?” She concluded. Rinoa didn’t answer. Edea turned away from Rinoa, her dress swishing behind her as she walked over to the nearest counter. She placed her hands on the counter, her back to Rinoa. “Before we begin, Rinoa, I ask you this,” She turned around. “Are you afraid?”
Rinoa swallowed, taking a moment to answer. “I don’t know.”
“Then let me give you two thoughts to consider,” Edea said slowly as she turned to the giant tree. She closed her eyes and held out her hands. The trees branches began to shift and move, the tree turning like the center spoke of a Ferris wheel. “You have chosen to be where you are now,” Edea said as the glass of the room frosted over, the room growing dark. Rinoa watched as the tree branches lowered down, a close, intimate set of velvet pillows and blankets filling the gap between them.
Edea turned around to Rinoa. “Take pride in your decisions. Do not remorse or regret them. And certainly, do not fear them.” She began to walk towards Rinoa, her smoky eyes closed slightly as her sultry smile captivated Rinoa. “And do remember that your friends have been through these same experiences. They have survived. And more over, they have enjoyed and delighted in what they have ‘survived’ through. Atop that all,” She said, coming just inches before Rinoa. “They would never allow you to undertake that which might harm you.”
Edea stopped before Rinoa, less than an arm’s length between them. “Now, our history is a tumultuous one,” She said, her voice a whisper. “So I will allow you to turn and leave, satisfied that you have met the criteria of your time her,” She closed her eyes. “With but a single kiss.”
Rinoa hesitated. She glanced around the darkened room, then to Edea. The sorceress stood ready, her eyes closed, her long, delicate fingers by her sides. “One kiss,” Rinoa whispered. She steeled her nerves and slowed her racing heart. With trepidation, she stepped up to Edea.
The beautiful woman’s purple eyes captivated Rinoa as she stared. She looked at Edea’s blue lips and closed her eyes. She leaned forward carefully, her face coming close to Edea’s. She felt their breath mix as the heat from her face brushed against Rinoa’s soft skin.
Rinoa’s lips gingerly skated over Edea’s, barely making contact. But as they did, a strange, but familiar shiver went up Rinoa’s spine. She drew back as Edea’s eyes opened. Within the woman’s gaze was a knowing and confident smile. Rinoa stared back at her, confused. But then she closed her eyes again, leaning forward. She pressed against Edea’s soft lips like warm silk, lightly caressing them with her own tongue. As she did, another shiver went up her back, as if she had just been kissed that way.
She drew back again, a confused, almost worried look, on her face. But Edea stood still, smiling still at Rinoa. Rinoa licked her lips, laughing nervously. She stepped forward, reaching to Edea’s stomach. She drew her middle finger up along Edea’s body, tracing her finger along the path that only Squall knew about on her own.
And as she approached Edea’s chest, she felt the anticipation rise in her own heart, the feeling of the encroaching touch, making her heart race. “Are you doing this?” She whispered, her breath caught with anticipation.
Edea smiled again and reached down to Rinoa’s hand. Taking it gently, she slipped it farther up to her right breasts, making Rinoa gasp at the feeling. “Of course,” She whispered to the girl.
Rinoa stepped forward into Edea’s embrace, pressing herself up against the woman. Their lips met and Rinoa slid in between Edea’s lips. As she did, she felt her heart skip as if she had been entered. But Edea welcomed her, stroking Rinoa’s tongue with her own. Rinoa gasped at the sensation, two different rolls of sensuality reaching through her.
Rinoa’s hand snaked up between Edea’s breasts, making Rinoa’s own heart beat faster. At the same time, Edea drew her long fingers down the small of Rinoa’s back, drawing her seductively closer.
Rinoa’s heart began to beat faster as she lowered down to her knees before Edea. With desperate gasps, she leaned forward as Edea’s gown parted before her. Rinoa tilted her head up and gently licked at Edea. The sorceress held her head back, biting her lower lip. At the same time, Rinoa’s entire body raced with the magical sensation. She clung to Edea’s firm legs as she began to work, dining in the rich taste as the deep joy rose from within her.

Rinoa opened her warm eyes to the light of the setting sun casting in over the very top of the room. Only the tallest portion of the windows had been cleared, allowing the cloudy sky above, painted red by the setting sun, to be seen.
Rinoa closed her eyes and sighed contentedly as she felt the familiar long fingers race a sensual line up along her exposed body to the base of her breasts. Lying over her, Edea drew aimlessly on Rinoa’s pale skin, teasing at the edge of her breasts. Rinoa reached up to Edea’s black hair as it feel down off to the side, tangling the smooth texture between her fingers.
“Was it as awful as you expected?” Edea asked with a whisper.
“Every bit,” Rinoa whispered back as Edea leaned in to kiss her. Their bare bodies pressed together as they lay on the bed of satin and velvet. Edea drew back, her fuller body taking Rinoa’s attention as she stood. “You’re not what I expected,” She said.
“Oh?” Edea said, walking without shame to the far side of the room, drawing open one of the drawers. “And what did you expect?”
“What I got from Quistis?” Rinoa said, laying her head back. She lowered her hands above her head, staring at the clouds. “I never would have expected such . . . gentleness. Not from you.”
Edea came back, a silver pouring dish in her hands. “I’m glad to have surprised you,” Edea said. She laid back down next to Rinoa. She put her hand gently on Rinoa’s forehead, holding her in place. She held the silver dish over Rinoa’s head, making her inhale sharply as a warm line of black dripped out from the dish.
Edea let just a small line be painted on Rinoa’s lips, then she held the dish up into the air and left it suspended magically. She leaned in over Rinoa, kissing her covered lips. The chocolate flavor rushed into Rinoa as she tasted it from both sides of her lips. She lapped at Edea’s mouth as she kissed the sorceress back, then smiled. “I think if I could get you and Quistis together,” She joked.
“I’m willing,” Edea said with a smile.
“What?” Rinoa laughed, sitting up just a bit. “I, I was kidding.”
“I was not,” Edea answered. She reached up with her fingers and gently stroked a few strands of black hair back from Rinoa’s eyes. “To bring life to the fantasies and desires of others, especially those you . . . care about, is a delightful thing to be a part of. And if having both me and Quistis to attend to you would make you happy, then I would be delighted to assist.”
Rinoa smiled quizzically. “That’s, very sweet.”
“I wish to be nothing but a source of happiness now,” Edea said, the slightest hint of remorse in her eyes. She turned away from Rinoa and stood yet again. She stepped back from the bed, her body cast red from the reflected light of the setting sun.
But Rinoa stood as well. Edea turned as she neared, unable to keep from gasping as Rinoa lowered down to her again. Nuzzling her way in between Edea’s thighs, she began to caress Edea with her tongue. Edea leaned forward over Rinoa, the emotions rushing through her almost instantly. Rinoa controlled her sensations as she continued to delight Edea.
In just a moment, Edea’s body shook powerfully at the rush of delight. She moaned with closed eyes, then reached down to gently cup Rinoa’s face in her hands. She knelt down to Rinoa, a sleepily touched look in her eyes as she kissed Rinoa’s wet lips, the two remaining in each other’s embrace.

Rinoa sat in her room, leaning over the side of her bed. Her hand on her hands, she stared intently at her desk. Specifically, the simple brass lamp that sat on the desk. With the words inscribed ‘do not rub’ on the side, the lamp seemed innocent enough.
Rinoa looked down at Angelo as he gnawed on a chew toy in the corner. She glanced at the lamp again, then reached over to it. Taking it off the desk, she took a deep breath, bracing herself. With closed eyes and held anticipation, she stroked the lamp once.

The rain was pelting the surface of the car’s windshield. As the engine hummed, the small girl in the backseat looked up through the front seats. She saw her parents, actively avoiding each other’s gaze.
Where am I?
It was a dreary lighthouse on the edge of an old island. A tiny refuge carved out of an inhospitable land. The girl hopped out of the car, clutching to a small stuffed dog. Her father carried a large suitcase from the trunk of the car to the front door. The mother waited inside, refusing to get out to even say good-bye.
Her father took her hand and firmly led her to the door. His military gloves itched as he pulled her along. She felt tears welling up in her eyes, but she refused to cry. The rain stained her dress as her father knocked on the door of the stone building, leaving the girl next to her suitcase. The girl clutched the tiny stuffed dog as she watched her father get back into the car. He didn’t even wait before he pulled away.
Is that me?
The little girl sat in the corner of the room, her tray of food untouched. Clinging to her stuffed dog, she stared at her food, refusing to eat. The other children around her watched her from a distance.
This never happened to me. My parents never abandoned me.
The little girl was curled up under her bed. Hiding beneath its metal frame on the stone floors of the orphanage’s room, she clutched her stuffed animal tight as the night passed by. The girl refused to sleep, intently focusing on nothing.
But that place seems familiar. I’ve seen it before.
The girl was older now, approaching her early ‘teens. Frail and weak from her life in the orphanage, she sat on the edge of the beach, watching as the other kids, years older than her, played in the surf.
Her eyes fixated on one boy. With brash blonde hair and a cocky smile, he bullied the others around, breaking all the rules he could. The young girl fixated on him, focusing on his motions and his body. Feeling stirred inside her as she watched.
Is that . . . Seifer?
The girl was wide-awake in her bed. Huddled up in the covers, she heard a noise. Carefully, she looked at her stuffed dog that she carried everywhere. She stared longingly at it, then pushed it off the bed.
As it flopped onto the ground with a sad plop, she felt her covers drawn back. She looked over her shoulder as the blonde boy slid into the bed with her. He reached around her and pulled her close, his older body capturing her senses.
Oh god, no! Don’t! Don’t do it!
The girl laid back as his hands moved over her.
He’s not your father! Don’t let him do it!
The girl closed her eyes.

“Don’t!” Rinoa screamed.
She was in all black. she turned around in the endless darkness that surrounded her. With held breath, she glanced down at the familiar gray slate flooring. Then she lifted her eyes up to the stormy sky.
He floated above her. The demon’s black and red body hovered in the air, his huge wings spreading out across the clouds. “What was that, Diablos?” Rinoa demanded.
“Did you want him to?” Came Diablos’ voice within her head.
“Of course not!” She yelled.

The girl was lying in the bed next to the boy, gasping for virginal breath. Her small body heaved with the effort of the first waves of joy she had ever experienced, her brow sweating as she panted. She leaned into the boy, kissing his chest.

“Did you want him to?” Came Diablos’ voice within her head.
“This never happened!” Rinoa yelled. “I was never at the orphanage!”

Seifer sat on the bed, his legs thrown over the side. He leaned back on his hands, his head fallen back as he sat with his eyes closed. Before him, kneeling on the ground before him, the girl worked with her head in his lap.

“Did you want him to?” Came Diablos’ voice yet again.
“She was a fool,” Rinoa pleaded, tears in her eyes. “She thought if she . . . did it, he wouldn’t leave her like her father had.”

The girl dug her fingers into the bed’s surface, her face twisted in pain. Lying naked over her bare body, the boy pushed harder into her, mindless of the dry resistance as he fought to reached within her. She bit down on the agony of his penetration and forced herself not to cry.

“Did you want him to?” Diablos asked.
Rinoa lowered her head to the stone ground. She felt a disgust in the pit of her stomach, a revulsion that was rising up within her. “Yes,” she whispered in shame.
“Why?”
“Because, had that been me,” She specified with an exhausted tone. “I would have needed that, needed that more than anything. I would have needed that affection. What my father, the general, never gave me.” She lowered her eyes as shame filled her. “I would have given up everything, for just one moment to believe that somebody loved me.”
“Somebody would have,” Diablos said.

From across the room, as the little girl sat in the corner, a dark-haired boy watched her with starry eyes.
As she lay curled up under her bed, the same dark-haired boy sat up in bed, watching her, to make sure she was okay.
As she lusted after the blonde-haired boy on the beach, the dark-haired boy pretended hard not to stare in wonderment at her.

Rinoa was back in her room. Sitting on her bed, the lamp in her hands. She looked up to find Diablos floating above her still, his spiny head just inches from the ceiling. “What was this?” Rinoa asked. “I don’t understand.”
“There is a far difference between love and sex,” Diablos answered simply.
“I know,” Rinoa said. “I know that. But, but this is all, the whole tradition, is supposed to be about sex.”
“Not tonight, it isn’t,” Diablos retorted. “Tonight, it’s about love.”
“But why?” She asked.
“Because unlike the others, I am not some puppet for you to toy with,” Diablos said, beginning to fade away.
“Diablos,” Rinoa said. The demon faded back into view. “Thank you,” She said to him, a genuine smile on her face. “I, I don’t understand. But I’m glad. I think.” The demon said nothing. He simply faded from sight, leaving Rinoa alone in her room.