Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Resurrection - Rebirth of a Foe ❯ A New Foe and Midnight Wanderings ( Chapter 6 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Chapter Six - A New Foe and Midnight Wanderings
Squall had to keep on reminding himself about what Irvine had said as the Ragnorak flew at full speed in the direction of the Orphanage. His stomach did another somersault when Ultimecia's name entered his mind. And Rinoa! He had totally forgotten about Rinoa. After their first encounter with Edea at the parade in Deling City, Squall still remembered when they fought her after the plan to assassinate the Sorceress Edea failed. Irvine had been their 'sharp-shooter', the one armed with the sniper rifle to kill her. But Edea - quick witted Edea - or rather Ultimecia in Edea Kramer's body deflected the bullet which would have ended her life there and then. And so, Squall and Co. had to fight her. They had to fight Matron, and with the utmost difficulty. This was their Matron they had been fighting. Nobody could understand what it was like to come up against someone who had served as a substitute mother for most of his or her childhood days. Rinoa had been part of Squall's group to fight Edea, and that was when her powers were transferred to the leader of the Forest Owls. That was how Ultimecia managed to control Rinoa, and that was how Rinoa became a 'sorceress'.
Seifer had a pleased look on his face. It looked like they were going to have to fight Ultimecia after all. This is serious, Squall thought bringing a hand up to his face. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Why did I leave Rinoa unguarded? Should have seen, should have realised! No. . . Rinoa. He wanted to tell Zell to go faster, to go as fast as the Ragnorak was capable of going. But what use was that to Rinoa or Matron if they reached the Orphanage, dead? Biting back his nerves, Squall exhaled and closed his eyes, wishing that the horrible nightmare would go away.
Clapping his hands with delight, Odine stared admirably at his work of creation. He took quite a fancy to it and beamed once more at his brilliance. Let's see who's the loony, the oddball now! He thought, as he circled around his creation once more. Irvine and Selphie could do nothing in their power but watch. What could a shotgun and a nanchaku do to Odine and the sorceress Edea-Rinoa? Plus Ultimecia's foreboding figure, that loomed at one corner of the room. Besides, they needed Odine to return Matron and Rinoa back into their own separate bodies again.
The three of them had been talking quietly when a blinding light flashed inside the Orphanage when Odine with a strange looking machine appeared in the company of the Evil One, herself - Ultimecia. The sorceress from the future had not seemed to change since their last encounter with her. She was still evil, still scheming, and still wanting to take over this world. Simply put, she was still Ultimecia. What puzzled Irvine and Selphie the most was how on earth did Ultimecia manage to revive herself back from the dead? It couldn't possibly be called a miracle, because miracles didn't happen to evil people like Ultimecia - it was very puzzling, and Selphie and Irvine continued to ponder over this as they watched on helplessly.
"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!" Odine exclaimed, circling around Edea and Rinoa, combined together. "Sheer brilliance!"
"You're sick!" Irvine shouted at the ridiculously dressed scientist. "You're totally sick. What are you going to do to Rinoa? To Matron?"
Irvine, for a moment thought he saw a dangerous glint appear in the wacky doctor's eyes. The doctor gave a shrug to dismiss this, and ignored Irvine's insult. It was not until a good few minutes later that Irvine noticed that Ultimecia had not blinked for an entire three minutes. Although she could not exactly be referred to as 'human', living things were known to blink at least after a minute or so. Leaning close to Selphie, as not to distract the doctor, Irvine whispered to her.
"Selphie, is it me or has Ultimecia not blinked for quite a bit?" he asked her.
Blinking rapidly herself, Selphie's eyes widened in realisation and surprise. "Oh, yeah!" she said, keeping her voice low. "She hasn't blinked at all, Irvine. What has Odine done to her? What has he done to Matron and Rinoa? They're not blinking either, and their stares are freaking me out."
The sound of a whirring engine caught doctor Odine's attention. Soon he sped into action and gathered his machine and assembled Edea-Rinoa and Ultimecia next to him. All three disappeared just when the front door to the Orphanage burst open, Squall's group all equipped with their weapons.
"Where is she?" Seifer demanded, brandishing his gun-blade savagely. "Where the hell has she gone?"
"Squall, he's taken Rinoa, Matron and Ultimecia!" Selphie cried, getting up on her feet and looking at her friends with despair.
"He?" Squall questioned. "I thought it was-" he was beginning to get confused. All the flying around half way across the world, in different continents, it was really wearing Squall and everybody out. Outside, the sun had begun to make its journey towards the horizon, the sky already a blaze of a yellow-orange and pink hue.
"Odine!" Selphie exclaimed. "He has Rinoa and Matron, and Ultimecia-"
"Selphie calm down," Irvine said, placing a hand on her shoulder. She was tired like all of them were. Except for Seifer, he was full of energy and fully awake as though he had taken a great dose of caffeine. "Odine appeared with Ultimecia and some weird machine at the Orphanage. We didn't dare try to battle because we thought our weapons were useless against Ultimecia. We thought it was wise if we waited for you to arrive. Anyway, Odine took Rinoa and Edea and did something to them. Their bodies - Odine did something so that their bodies merged as one. In the end, there was this person who was basically in the shape of Matron and with the face of Rinoa. Edea, Rinoa - it looked so freaky.
"But then I noticed that Ultimecia didn't seem to be doing much. She just stood there unblinking. I think Odine froze her or something. It looked like he had cast petrify on her - the same thing with Rinoa and Edea. Then you guys came, and he used his weird machine, and all of them vanished."
"What the hell is going on? What has Odine got to do with all of this? What is that freak doing with Matron and Rinoa? And I certainly wanna know what he's doing or gonna do to Ultimecia." Zell said.
"Oh Squall, what are we going to do??" Selphie asked clearly in distressed.
There's nothing we can do, Squall thought helplessly. Nobody knew where Odine was hiding, or why he had Ultimecia in his possession, or why he had captured Rinoa and Edea. It was all very mystifying, leaving lots to be thought about. Squall clenched his fist in anxiety for Rinoa. If only he hadn't left her alone, and so vulnerable. . .
"We can't start a search now," Quistis said, the voice of reason as always. "We're all tired, and light is fading fast. It would do us all some good if we return to Balamb Garden, get some rest for the night, and start early the next day."
Everyone else nodded, and Squall saw Zell stifle a yawn and Selphie rubbing sleepily at her eyes. He was torn between looking after himself and finding Rinoa. Something could have happened to her by tomorrow morning, he reasoned with himself. What if-
"Squall?" Quistis' voice came to him like a gentle breeze, a voice of reassurance. "We'll get Rinoa and also Matron back. I promise."
Sleep refused to come for Squall. He had been lying awake in his dormitory for hours now and he was restless, restless for dawn to appear and the search for Rinoa to begin. Deep inside, his heart ached for the spirited young woman to be close to him once more, to feel the depth and warmth of her hug and to see her once again. Squall would always be known for holding back on his feelings, and it was that that put a strain to his heart and soul. Rinoa. . . I'm sorry Rinoa. . . Forgive me. . . He was not helping anybody by feeling sorry for himself and for taking the blame on Rinoa's capture, but he couldn't help it. If he had been there for her, would have she been taken? No, I would have been there to protect her. All these 'ifs'! It's like I have no control over my life, my future, my fate, and my destiny. I could have prevented all of this from happening if only I was at the right place and the right time.
He was thinking of giving his role as field leader and commander over to Quistis even more. She had much more experience than he did, and Squall was sure Instructor Trepe would do a better job of handling complicated situations. Rolling over to his side, Squall sighed and closed his eyes, which immediately flew open again. All he could see in his mind was Rinoa, and her face and her smile - the torment for him would never end until she was found!
Frustrated, Squall sat up in bed and pulled on his boots and jacket on. Holstering his gun-blade, Squall quietly slipped away from the quiet sanctum of the dormitories, and walked around the deathly silent structure that was Balamb Garden. The only part of the Garden that was open this late at night was the training arena, and that was where Squall headed. Making sure he had Enc-none junctioned to one of his non-fighting abilities, Squall stepped inside the arena and exhaled deeply. The dark green colours of the trees, vines and a number different foliage found inside the training arena, gave him a sense of calmness inside. The solitude helped him a lot, because it was times like these, when he was alone and free to think to himself, that Squall became truly alive. He was no anti-socialist (or maybe he was - there were people Squall knew who would readily argue this), but a person who could be best described as someone who participated if something interested him. He was a lone wolf.
It was almost like a stroll through the woods, without the added distraction of T-Rexaur's or other flying creatures initiating combat. A soft crackle of a twig being stepped on sent his mind automatically into defence mode - his whole body tensing and his gun-blade out.
Quistis had not meant to surprise Squall. She had watched him quietly leave the dormitories and followed him here to the training arena. She couldn't help it, Quistis had a genuine soft spot for Squall. Because she was a year his senior and had known him since her childhood days, Quistis had always felt - always had this sense of responsibility for him especially after Ellone had left the Orphanage. Like Squall, Quistis had reacted on impulse and drew out her Save the Queen - the strongest and best weapon out of all the different type of whips.
It was made out of quite a few rare items, and she remembered the difficulty she experienced in obtaining them. She would forget the time when she had to fight a Marlboro in the Island Closest to Heaven. One thing she hated about the monster Malboro was that it had the ability to cast status changes on people and she found that it was usually its first attack. Status changes such as silence, berserk and sleep caused the person to have no control of their actions, and use commands as summoning GF's or using Magic.
Stunned, Quistis returned Squall's tensed look with her own blue eyes. Giving an embarrassed smile, the nineteen-year-old SeeD put away her weapon and shrugged almost apologetically.
"I'm sorry Squall. I was worried," she said.
Sighing inwardly, Squall holstered his gun-blade and put a hand to his face. Following people, especially when it was in a place such as the training arena, was not a good idea - the place at night was full of nasty surprises, and Squall thought he had just received one until he noticed the glint of his Instructor's glasses.
"I couldn't sleep," he confessed, hanging his head as if in shame.
"Squall, don't blame yourself for what's happened to Rinoa. We all feel the same way, if it's any help I couldn't sleep either." Quistis said.
"I feel so guilty, Quistis. I should have known better, I should have realised-"
"That's enough Squall," Quistis said sharply. "I'm sure Rinoa wouldn't want you to worry about her. She's a strong person, nothing will happen to her, not if the SeeDs can help it, OK? Smile a little; Squall because we are going to get her back."
Showing a hint of a smile, Squall silently thanked Quistis for keeping him in check. He did not want to break down in front of her. As some people would believe it, Squall was not a heartless person. He had feelings; he had emotions like everyone else. He just had a problem expressing them, and Rinoa had helped him cope with that. She helped him express himself without feeling like a fool. Another twig breaking caught their attention - reflex actions causing both of them to draw.
"Whoa! Geez, put the weapons down, I come in peace!" Zell's voice said in the darkness, which earned a muttered curse from Squall and a smothered laugh from Instructor Trepe.
"You couldn't sleep either?" Squall guessed.
"Well. . . sort of. But I saw you leaving your dorm, and I kinda followed. . ." Zell said sheepishly. The way he had phrased the sentence gave the wrong implications, and he laughed at his own stupidness.
What is it with people following me? Squall wondered with one of his small smiles. He did not mind, but he wished that the approach was more open, all the creeping about was jangling his nerves. At least he had Zell and Quistis if he ran into any monsters - which was unlikely as he had the Enc-none ability junctioned.
A voice from amid the gloomy silence that followed caught their attention. It was Zell who recognised who the person was.
". . . The hell is he doing here?" Zell demanded from nobody in particular. He could hear Seifer calling out to him.
"Chicken wuss. . . Hey chicken wuss, where did you-" Seifer taunted. "Oh, there you are," he said, grinning at both Squall and Quistis, when he finally noticed them.
"You following me?" Zell said.
"Don't flatter yourself," Seifer said dryly. "Just checking what you're up to. I see that we have a mid-night meeting. C'mon spill it out, does Zell still wet the bed? Or that Doctor Kadowaki has a secret crush on Headmaster Cid?" the grin of his widening at Zell's storming face.
"Don't be immature, Seifer," Quistis said coldly.
"My dear Instructor," Seifer mocked. "Immature is the word best to describe him over there,"
"His name is Zell," Quistis said.
Shrugging, Seifer leaned his body against a tree and continued to grin to himself. A rustle of leaves brought his hand to his side, his finger ready to pull at the trigger, his gun-blade pointing in the direction of the sound.