Edea ' s Orphanage Edea ' s Orphanage is a location in " Final Fantasy VIII " situated on the shore of the southernmost peninsula on the Centra continent near a lighthouse . It is a large white stone house . Many of the children who were raised there later became students at the various Garden s around the world . It is possible to visit here on the world map as soon as the player obtains the mobile Balamb Garden , but Squall refuses to enter , deeming the place irrelevant . Story . During the Sorceress War many children were orphaned , and Edea Kramer , a kind and loving sorceress , took several in and raised them in her orphanage . Among the orphans were Squall Leonhart , Zell Dincht , Quistis Trepe , Irvine Kinneas , Selphie Tilmitt , Seifer Almasy , and Ellone . Although they would later forget their childhoods at the orphanage , many of the behavioral patterns that would continue into their teenage years , such as Squall ' s rivalry with Seifer and Seifer ' s bullying of Zell , were already present during their time in the orphanage . The children referred to Edea as " Matron " and Ellone as " Sis " , particularly Squall , who was close to her . One day , the dying sorceress Ultimecia appeared at the orphanage through a time portal needing to pass on her sorceress power . Edea voluntarily received it , not wanting any of the orphans to bear the burden of becoming a sorceress . Along with Ultimecia appeared a teenaged Squall , who called himself a member of SeeD — an organization he claimed had been started by Edea herself — and who had apparently just defeated Ultimecia . The teenaged Squall disappeared back into a time portal , leaving Edea bewildered on the meaning of this event . Edea concluded that she must found an organization called " SeeD " to train Squall to become strong enough to one day take on Ultimecia . This event led to the orphanage being abandoned . Cid Kramer , Edea ' s husband , took on the task of building Balamb Garden , where Squall and number of the other orphans enrolled as students . The plan was to train them as SeeDs , an elite anti - sorceress military force . Edea didn ' t follow Cid , but instead founded the White SeeD Ship where Ellone was taken away to be protected by the White SeeD , a number of orphans who did not enroll into the Garden s . Squall ended up traumatized by the loss of his " sis " , and from that day refused to get close to anyone in fear of losing them like he did Ellone . The empty orphanage withered away unkempt and during present time it lies in ruins . It is unknown what happened to bring it down , but the place was left abandoned for around twelve years , meaning it could have simply been ravaged by storms . The children who had enrolled in Balamb Garden forgot their past due to the influence of using Guardian Force s , and in time Ultimecia possesses Edea and uses her as her avatar to take over the world . Cid , deeming it the time to pass on the torch to Squall , leaves the SeeD in his hands while he departs to the ruined orphanage , presumably unwilling to wage war against his wife . The SeeDs gather to fight her , not remembering Edea ' s true identity , until Irvine reminds the party , and reveals Edea is their formerly beloved Matron . The childhood friends return to the orphanage , but on the way run into Galbadia Garden , and the Battle of the Gardens ensues with a possessed Edea and her knight Seifer at the helm . After Edea ' s defeat , Ultimecia ' s hold on her is broken as she unwittingly gives up her sorceress power , and she becomes the friends ' old " Matron " again . Edea resettles at the orphanage with Cid , who is glad to have his wife back to her old self . While possessed , Edea had learned of Ultimecia ' s goal of compressing all time and space to become a godlike being , but Squall is more interested in the state of Rinoa Heartilly , a party member who had unknowingly received Edea ' s released sorceress power , been possessed by Ultimecia and entered a coma . Now having recovered his memories , Squall wants to find Ellone whose special powers to send a person ' s consciousness back in time he hopes could help him find out what happened to Rinoa . Ellone is with the White SeeD , and Edea gives Squall a letter to give to them and instructs where to find them . After discovering Ellone has gone to the secluded nation of Esthar , Squall decides to take Rinoa there . Edea leaves the orphanage to accompany him and the others as she wants to speak to Dr . Odine of Esthar . After discovering she is no longer a sorceress , she returns to the orphanage where she remains with Cid until Squall and the others arrive with a healed Rinoa on the airship " Ragnarok " . On the field behind the orphanage Squall becomes Rinoa ' s Sorceress Knight and the two promise to meet there should they ever to be separated . The party is called back to Esthar for a final SeeD mission to fell Ultimecia , and Edea implores this is Squall ' s destiny . The party travels to the future and enters Ultimecia ' s time . As the party appears at the future site of the orphanage , there is nothing left of the house . Although the orphanage itself is gone , Ultimecia Castle is chained to the edge of the former orphanage ' s backyard , the beach itself also gone , possibly washed away . Around this area lie scattered members of the White SeeD , dead , Squall musing the SeeD has continued to fight Ultimecia across the generations . After Ultimecia ' s demise at the brink of time compression the timeline begins to revert . Squall and Ultimecia go back in time and appear at the orphanage twelve years in Squall ' s past . Ultimecia dies and gives up her sorceress power to Edea while Squall plants the seeds of SeeD ' s foundation by telling Edea about it before disappearing back into the compressed time . While Squall remains lost in time , Rinoa finds her way to the flower field behind the orphanage where the two of them had promised to meet , but Squall never shows . Squall momentarily makes his way to the flower field in dusk , but Rinoa ' s back is turned and she can ' t hear him . As she turns , Squall disappears back into the compressed time . Rinoa grasps a flower petal that turns into a white feather that flies away into the sky and eventually locates the lost Squall . Using her sorceress power Rinoa finds him and brings him back to the flower field . As Squall comes to all of the flower petals flying in the air turn into white feathers . The party , as well as Cid and Edea , head to Balamb Garden to celebrate . The entrance is the building ' s main walk and the first thing visitors see . Up ahead is the entrance to one of the bedrooms , and if one was to go left at the end , they would end up looking over the flower fields . It is unknown where the door on the right leads , although it is speculated that this is Edea ' s room . One of the many bedrooms in the orphanage , this one is connected to the main room through the door on the right and can also be accessed via a door that opens out onto the orphanage entrance . The kids frequently ran through the main room during their many escapades . The door at the rear leads out to the backyard while the door to the immediate left of that door leads into the bedroom . A small area located behind the main building directly overlooks the beach and features a rock staircase leading down to it from the house . The beach was a prominent playing area for the children living in the orphanage , who would sometimes sneak down after dark to light fireworks . The lighthouse is visible from the beach , but in present time it is abandoned . In Ultimecia ' s future the beach does not exist , having eroded away due to time and perhaps the presence of Ultimecia Castle . The flower field is where Squall makes the promise to Rinoa and is seen in the opening and the ending FMVs . Location . Edea ' s orphanage is one of the last remnants of the long gone civilization of Centra . The orphanage is situated fittingly on the Cape of Good Hope . Quests . Triple Triad . Cid and Edea within the orphanage play with Centra region ruleset , where Same , Plus and Random are the starting rules . Musical themes . " Truth " , the third track in the Disc 4 , is the theme of the orphanage . A somber piece using and wind instruments , with slight variation to the sorceress theme reflecting Edea ' s matron personality . Other appearances . " Theatrhythm Final Fantasy " . Edea ' s Orphanage appears in the background of the " Blue Fields " Field Music Sequence .