Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Problems in the Mirror ❯ 1: Mirage ( Chapter 1 )

Problems in the Mirror

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1: Mirage

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1

Squall rubbed the bridge of his nose with his finger as he stared at the update from his current Centra squad. The reports were vague, as always, but he'd noted a recurring theme through the weekly updates: a hazy shape in the distance that shimmered like a desert mirage. Of course, Centra was a desert, but Squall's recently gained "abnormality meter" went sky high every time he thought about the occurrence. Considering the full data, the likelihood of the "mirage" being as simple as a common mirage due to extreme heat exposure was so slim Squall wanted to go and investigate the phenomena himself.

He had gone through several squads, assigning them to Centra to investigate the ruins and protect Cid and Edea. Each had reported the shape in the distance, and how as it became more and more commonplace it became more and more solid, until it was a completely regular sight and they felt as if they walked toward it, they would reach it. The SeeDs who traveled in the area of the mirage automatically junctioned spells and GFs. They often described the feeling of eyes on them. Edea herself (whose life as a sorceress had left her with a sensitivity to magic) had stated that she had sensed a lot of magic near the mirage.

For the first time since Ultimecia, SeeD business completely stumped Squall. It was not a pleasant feeling.

He heard the lift to the bridge whir and then click into place- Quistis had arrived on the bridge.

"Commander Squall," Quistis said.

"As usual, right on time," Squall replied.

"You sent for me?" The blonde asked.

"Yes. Zell should be arriving any minute, and Nida probably before that."

"We're going somewhere?" Quistis asked.

"We'll be heading to FH to pick up the Ragnarok, and then Nida will be flying the Garden back to its place in Balamb."

"And then?" Quistis asked.

"You, Zell and I will head to Centra in the Ragnarok, where we will further investigate the Mirage Incident."

"And the Garden will stay in Balamb, with…"

"Xu acting as Commander in my place."

Just then the lift descended, and when it returned to its place Nida and Zell stepped off. Nida automatically climbed the mini-dais and started the Garden's turbines while Zell stood by the lift.

"Where to?" Nida asked.

"Just head west, following the bridge."

2

They zipped along the ocean like a boat but at speeds no boat could ever hope to reach, the wind and salt whipping their hair and eyes. The feel of the waves crashing against the Garden… heaving it up and down… was almost like a rocking motion, but nowhere near gentle. It had taken students a good while to gain something that passed for sea/air/land legs, but most students could get around on the Garden just fine, no matter what it was doing.

Squall watched the waves on the water with his eyes narrowed into slits like a cat's. His eyes, normally a brown rich like the earth you find when you overturn damp leaves, reflected the surfaces of the water beneath the near-sundown light and became a strange, reflective blue.

"Keep heading west, Nida," Squall murmured into the pilots ear.

"Yes, sir."

Squall stood at the helm, watching what had been a distant horizon grow closer and closer as a new horizon took the old one's place. Time seemed a fleeting dream as Squall stood tall at the helm of what was effectively his Garden, inwardly exulting in the summer sun and wind and waves, rejoicing in the rare salt spray that actually managed to reach him.

"Commander Squall! There appears to be an object in the water!"

"Will we run over it?" Squall asked.

"I don't know sir!"

"Nida, can you do a direct lift from sea to air?"

"You mean go straight from sailing to flying?"

Squall nodded.

"It's possible… I've never done it before."

"Then try."

Nida pulled hard on the controls, launching the Garden into the air-just after the nick of time. The bottom of the Garden scraped against the object, and Squall could have sworn he saw a pale tentacle attempt to grab on to the Garden's engines. Then a sudden ascent sent everyone reeling backwards, towards the lift. Luckily, Zell managed to hold his weight enough to be able to send everyone forwards. Nida rushed to the console and leveled the Garden out, so that no one would unbalance it further by sliding towards the bottom.

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"Commander Squall, FH in sight."

"Head for it, and then we can see how much damage we took." Xu said.

Squall turned to give Nida his orders. "After that, Zell, Quistis and I will take the Ragnarok while you and Xu take the Garden. We'll head back to the object to see what it is."

"Yes sir," Xu and Nida replied.

They landed at FH, and Squall went to talk to the dock-men, to see if they could find any damage on the hull. Finding none, Squall headed straight for the Ragnarok with Zell and Quistis in tow.

Esthar's flagship lay there, where he'd left it in the Mayor's front yard. Zell grinned, and even Squall smiled a little at the absurdity of the ship's presence on the lawn of FH's leaders.

"All aboard," Zell said quietly as the ramp lowered and they walked in.

3

Cid and Edea stood in their rebuilt kitchen, comforting the shell-shocked SeeDs who sat at their kitchen table drinking tea filled with calming herbs.

"A forest, out of nowhere," sobbed one SeeD. "One minute there was just desert and the next… A FRICKIN' FOREST."

"I've seen plenty o' magic, Matron, but this was… weird. Not like anything I've ever seen before," came another voice from the doorway.

Edea turned around to see a very pale looking Seifer standing before her. The vivid catlike green of his (usually slitted) eyes stood out in that moon white face. The effect made him seem much younger than he usually did. The fact that his eyes had widened and now trembled only added to the effect.

"It is unusual," Edea replied.

"Is it dangerous?" Cid asked.

One of the pale, clammy SeeDs sitting at the table nodded and stammered, "There are things in that forest-"

"-You got in?!" Edea cried. She'd thought it only an illusion, or maybe a window to another realm. But if it was solid… She dared not think of what that meant.

"Y-y-yes. The things in that forest looked like T-Rexaurs, but they were more like men in some ways. Like… lizards that walk on two legs. They attacked us with spears and tiny swords."

"But only sentient beings make weapons!" Cid exclaimed.

"They were sentient. They didn't try to kill us, just jabbed their spears at us and chattered," Seifer replied. "Like they wanted us out."

"Amazing," Cid breathed.

"Yeah, right up until you get poked in the chest by one."

"And the city?" Edea asked, trying to sound calm.

"Right next to the forest," Seifer replied.

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COMMENTS: For once, something that ISN'T AU! Can you believe it? It's a little far-fetched, but it's a fusion that technically CAN take place in the normal universe. AHAHAHAHAH! And somebody go give a big, fat, sloppy kiss to Edwin, who performed the song Alive, and Reel Big Fish, who did a cover of the James Bond theme. Thank also Ska-P, for the Lupin III theme.