Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Hidden Pasts ❯ Darkness ( Chapter 1 )

Hidden Pasts

By Katie Herdman

All Hail The Wings Of The Winds & The Power Of North

"…when I stand in the midst of battle, I am the heart of the battle, the arm of the warriors. My father gave me the heavens, he gave me the earth. I am Inanna. Who knows the will of the gods in heaven? Who understands the plan of the underworld gods? Where have mortals learnt the way of a god? He who was alive yesterday is dead today."

Prologue

The wind howled through the trees, screaming, searching for it's next victim. The trees bent their gnarled branches even further than usual trying to catch the next person unlucky enough to walk into their traps. The forest came alive with the evil lurking there.

In a clearing in the forest;

Evil shimmered into being.

The soft laughter of the dammed; the shrieks of their freshly captured prey.

The hellhounds' battling over the scraps.

Dogs stopped their barking, lay down, and whimpered.

Cats' arched in fear and hissed at shadows.

Babies awoke, inconsolable.

All of a sudden a flash of white broke through the heavy, settling of evil. A child! Running as if she feared something would catch her. Behind her the evil took form into a huge wolf, sent to capture this girl as if she was just another prey.

The wolf ran after her though trees and over streams. It's panting breath never showing in the black night, for death can never get the chance to breathe again once it has changed and become slave, bringing destruction wherever it goes.

Chapter One

The moon was shining bright. Squall Leonhart looked up at the night sky, then turned and smiled. Rinoa looked so lovely that he had to kiss her, and he did.

Finally when they broke away she laughed. Oh how he loved to hear that laugh. On the balcony of the Garden with the most beautiful night sky and a kiss from Rinoa, life was perfect.

*****

Later when the party had ended, Rinoa realised that she hadn't seen Squall for a while.

"Selphie," she asked, going up to the cheery girl, who was now rubbing her eyes with sleep, "have you seen Squall? I haven't seen him since I left the balcony."

"I think he's still there," Selphie replied.

Rinoa thanked her and they said their goodnights. Returning to the balcony she could see why he had stayed. The moon looked even fuller and there were even more stars littering the sky.

"Why are you still here?"

"…Don't know."

"Is something wrong," she asked looking concerned. Squall had an odd face on, like there was something different, it gave her the creeps. He turned and looked at her, he looked beautiful silhouetted in the moonlight. His scar gave him nobleness and power. Rinoa couldn't believe that he was hers.

"No, why don't you go to bed. I just want to stay out here a little longer."

With those last words he looked back at the sky.

Walking away, Rinoa took one last look at him and said,

"You can talk to me you know, Squall. I'll always be here for you. Ultimecia is dead and I am the last sorceress, it's over."

He just looked at her then continued staring at the sky. How beautiful he seemed, but also so sad. Rinoa loved him, maybe one day he would see how much.

*****

Why Squall had become so transfixed with the sky he didn't know, but there was one star there that had caught his eye before. To him it was brighter than the rest and it shone out like a beacon.

Closing his eyes, Squall breathed in the sweet smell that lingered in the air, the salty smell of the sea nearby and the smell of the trees far below, and another smell there, sweet and perfumed, but he couldn't tell what it was.

Opening his eyes again Squall looked up once more for his star, but he couldn't find it. It wasn't there. He quickly scanned the sky, a star couldn't move that quickly. Soon he found it; or rather it had found him because the light from it was growing by the second. Soon the light was so bright that he covered his eyes and then he cried out as he fell.

From a few metres away a SeeD student heard Squall's cry and came running and saw him lying on the floor, but he never got to him. As he started to run to him a figure dressed in black clothes blocked his way and made him stop dead in his tracks.

Before he even had time to see it, a blade swooped round and slit his throat. As the blood trickled towards the comatose Squall, the strange person drew a symbol on the wall in the student's blood. Far away, Squall never heard, nor saw what happened.

*****

He was young again, sitting on the beach by the Orphanage. It was late and the sea was coming in close, very close. It was coming up past his waist. He couldn't move; he wanted to. He feared that if he didn't then he would drown. Suddenly there was a soft, haunting voice behind him whispering,

"Don't worry, the sea won't come in any further."

Squall wanted to turn round. He wanted to see who it was, but he couldn't. It didn't matter though as the person came and sat down beside him. It was a girl, the same age as him, with flowing brown hair with a tint of red to give her fire. Soft brown eyes that could look into anyone's soul and know him or her. There was great power behind those eyes. She seemed innocent, but guilty of something at the same time, like there was something that was troubling her, but too hard for her to talk about.

Her small, slender hand reached out and clasped Squall's. He felt he knew her, although he could not remember where from. She then spoke again,

"What you will see was meant for you to see. Don't be frightened. Come and find me."

Everything faded away into darkness, and then Squall heard a woman scream.

*****

What greeted Squall when he woke was pure horror. There was blood all around him. The body of a student lay nearby. Quistis was leaning over it, white faced and shocked. Squall thought she was going to be sick and he didn't blame her.

Not only was the throat cut severely, but also the eyes had been gorged out and were resting in the student's bloodied hands. Squall coughed to try to stop him retching. The smell of blood was overpoweringly sickening.

Through her tears Quistis looked over at Squall and asked him that one question which he wanted to know himself,

"What happened?"

Squall just looked up at the symbol written in the poor man's blood, on the wall, an upside down, five-pointed star.

*****

In Cid's room Quistis arrived, early for the meeting that the headmaster had called. It had been the worst thing she had ever seen. Squall hadn't seen anything; or rather that's what he had told Cid. Quistis didn't know what to believe, but she could not believe that any human being was capable of doing anything like that, definitely not Squall.

Zell, Selphie and Irvine walked in at that moment. Selphie looked extremely pale. Apparently, she had known the student. Squall then walked in followed by Rinoa, and then Cid and Edea last. As soon as Squall walked in everyone jumped to attention.

"Although I don't approve of her idea, Edea and I wish to send you on a mission. She will speak to you briefly now about it."

"Thank you dear," Edea said, and then turned to the group.

Cid had not been happy about what she wanted to do, but Edea knew of no other who could do the job. Looking at Rinoa, Edea pitied her, for she had not part in these SeeD's past, she would be left out. Edea didn't want to send her because she would come too close to the truth and she would not like what she saw, but she could not stop her going, just request it.

"Firstly, what happened this morning I know Squall had no part in it and I also know that you will not find whatever killed that man by yourself. So I am asking you to find someone who can help you, and bring her back here to Garden. The woman's name is Andria Perne, she is a witch."

"Another sorceress? But I thought that I was the only one," asked Rinoa, intrigued by the statement.

"No she is a witch, she does not pass on her powers to others," replied Edea.

"I'm really, really confused," said Quistis.

She still felt sick.

"Find Andria and everything will become clear."

Edea hoped that no one would ask the question that she didn't want to answer, but sadly that was not so. "How do you know of her?" asked Squall. He looked coldly at her as if he knew she was hiding something.

"That is not important right now, just find her, but I will request that Rinoa stay here as it might be better for her."

"If you don't mind, I would like to go with them. I want to meet this woman," said Rinoa.

No…you wouldn't, thought Edea. Rinoa would not like her. Witches and sorceress didn't go together.

Throughout the meeting Squall could not stop the growing feeling that the name was familiar, he had heard it before. Was it the woman connected to the girl in his dream?

Squall kept pondering that thought. He had seen her on the beach at the orphanage, and she spoke to him of the present.

"What you will see was meant for you to see …Come find me."

Squall had a headache from all the thinking. Who was trying to get their attention? Her? But she was just a little girl. How was he supposed to find her when he had to go find this woman?

He hadn't told anyone the dream; he figured that it was only for him to understand when the time came. Edea knew something though, he could tell that she was trying to hide it deep down, but for what purpose he could only guess.

"Right, you have you're orders. When you find her, tell her what happened, she'll know what to do. Here's all the information we have on her.

With that Edea handed Squall the file. She then turned and left.

"Edea is very distraught about all this, but believe her, she isn't crazy," pleaded Cid.

They all nodded, saluted and then left not sure what they would find, but also not sure what that would lead them to.

Author's Note

Firstly, the reason why the first chapter is so violent is because it sets up the rest of the story, (you'll find out later). Also the dead guy description sort of came from the film Event Horizon (crap film, but I loved some scenes).

Secondly, if you didn't know this, a 5-pointed star (a pentagram) inside a circle represents God in all his divinity. An upside down one represents Hell and Satanism.