Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Silken Serenity ❯ Chapter IV ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter IV

It seemed like a long time had gone by. Squall's stomach rumbled. He felt around in the darkness and found the wall. It was cool and smooth-metal. He followed it and found that there were no discernable openings-it was like they had fallen into a metal chute with no grates or doors or windows on any side. He couldn't see the ceiling, though wasn't sure there even was one.

He could hear Seifer pacing back and forth; there was a near-panicked ring to his footsteps. Squall could understand why. It was obvious that they were trapped in a very small space with no conceivable way out-he felt a sudden pang of claustrophobia, filling him the unpleasant feeling of butterflies in the stomach.

At length he sat down again. He felt sore all over, but was certain that attempting a Cure would be futile; the dungeon probably had wards against magic. He heard Seifer kick the wall. The sound echoed high into the dark space and faded.

`I wonder where Raijin and Fujin are,' he thought. He was tempted to ask Seifer about what had happened, but felt too tired to initiate any conversation. He closed his eyes. Just then, the room vibrated. Squall was sure that only a very large impact could do that. "Someone's fighting Edea," Seifer said, suddenly beside him. "But who?" he said, more to himself than to Squall. Squall stood.

"Is there a ceiling?" "Too hard to tell. I tried to jump up and touch it, but its either too high or not there. In any case, there's no way we could get out. We'll just have to hope that whoever's up there can help us." "Is it Fujin and…?" "No. I think they're probably in a cell somewhere down here, too." Seifer sighed and slumped down. "Who could it be…? It couldn't…" His sentence drifted off into silence as the two waited.

~*~

"Watch out!"

Zell narrowly sidestepped a Pain spell. "Thanks!"

Quistis snapped her whip and prepared to summon Bahamut. The dragon roared down from the sky, pouring down energy upon Edea. The Sorceress winced, but her shields held. She straightened, looking vaguely annoyed and retaliated with an Ultima.

"We all have to attack at once!" shouted Quistis, trying to cast another round of Shells on the party. "Get ready!" shouted Laguna. "Now!" cried Rinoa, releasing Eden. A shower of magical, physical and GF attacks beat mercilessly at Edea. The room filled with sparks and smoke from the multiple magical attacks. Rinoa rubbed her eyes. She could barely see anything. The smoke began to clear. Edea wasn't there.

"Should've known," she thought to herself, wiping her forehead. "Squall and the others are in here somewhere," said Irvine. "Now we just have to find them. Let's split up." "We'll take upstairs," said Laguna, motioning to himself, Selphie and Irvine. "I'm willing to bet that if they're trapped, they're below us, so we should try to find a way down," said Quistis. "But what about Edea? All of us together can't destroy her! What if she catches us alone?" cried Selphie. "We'll have to chance it," replied Rinoa. "Let's go." Rinoa, Quistis, and Zell quickly ran to the nearest elevator. It was locked. Zell kicked the door and cursed.

"Wait, I'll see what I can do," Rinoa said, concentrating on the lock. In the past year, she'd become quite adept at opening the un-open-able. After a moment, the lock clicked open.

"Wait! We'll need to use that, too," said Selphie, piling in behind them along with Irvine, and Laguna. The elevator began to descend with a soft moan.

The doors slid open and the first group jumped out.

"Watch out for guards!" shouted Quistis as Laguna and his group ran off. The doors shut and the elevator whirred to life once again. Several minutes went by before it stopped again. Rinoa, Quistis and Zell stepped out.

"It looks like the Missile Base," said Zell. The only light came from the ceiling fifty feet above them. Large metal structures rose up to the ceiling almost like missiles, but they were perfectly cylindrical with no visible markings.

"Now what?" asked Zell, running his hand along one of the structures.

"What are those things?" Quistis said, doing the same.

Rinoa shrugged. "I can't tell. Let's look around."

"I can't believe we're gonna see him…"

"It is amazing, isn't it?"

Rinoa silently walked along; there was nothing on this floor except the enormous cylinders, which appeared to have no openings. She sighed in frustration. They were nearing the end of the room, and still nothing. No sounds issued save the sound of their feet on the metal floor.

"Dammit!" Zell said, kicking one of the nearby structures.

"Watch it! You don't know what those are," Quistis chided.

Rinoa sighed and leaned against one. "Well, the worst that could happen is the ship blows up and Edea dies with us."

Quistis was about to scold her when she saw the pillar light up. "Rinoa! Look!"

Rinoa jumped up as it began to shake. Suddenly, it shot up, expelling two figures.

"Raijin! Fujin! What are you doing here!?"

"We came with Seifer and Squall, ya know?"

"Where are they?"

Fujin shrugged. "UNCERTAIN."

"Don't remember much, ya know? Tried to fight Edea, but we lost, ya know… I think they're somewhere else."

"Let's try these other tubes first," said Quistis. Rinoa did, but to no avail.

She sighed. "Well, I guess that's that then. Let's see if the others found them."

~*~

Squall.

`Who's there?'

Squall! It is you!

`Ellone?'

I must have fallen asleep. I tried to reach you before… I'm sorry, Squall. I wanted to talk to you, but I can't… here… Sorry…

Squall suddenly heard a distinct ringing in his ears. He let out a soft gasp and closed his eyes. The images poured in, too fast and numerous to make out. He could smell flames and see someone standing nearby-someone tall who was illuminated by the flames, but before he could see who it was, the vision passed into the next. He was standing in the middle of a long stretch of plains. The chaotic sound of fighting echoed all around him. He turned and saw SeeDs dying everywhere. He slipped on the bloody grass, but quickly stood.

"Selphie!" someone shouted as the vision ended.

The visions came faster then… Too fast to make anything out. He could see a flash of skin-perhaps someone waving-and hear the soft tinkle of Edea's head ornament. He felt the air pound, like a massive weapon was being fired. And then his vision exploded in white.

Slowly the white began to take form. Feathers softly billowed around him and then gradually drifted down in large piles on the ground. The sky opened up-he could see gray swirling clouds.

`Time…'

`Squall… It's… ending… I understand…'

`What do you understand?'

He sat up, fully awake. Seifer was saying something, and the room around them was moving.

"Something's happening! We're moving, so get ready."

Squall stood up and checked his gunblade, hoping that this fight would be better than the last. The room stopped shaking. Silence ensued. Several moments went by before a blinding light filled the room. Squall tried to shade his eyes.

"Please, join us."

"Edea…" Seifer growled beside him.

Squall slowly walked out into the light. His vision emptied as he stepped into the room. His footsteps sounded loud and dull. `Floor must be make of rock,' he thought, pausing. He could hear Seifer walking up beside him.

"If you think we're gonna go easier on you `cuz of those hostages, you're nuts."

"Hostages?" Squall queried.

He heard Edea laugh. "Of course not. I might even free them. You might have a chance against me then. They would want to go down fighting, wouldn't they? SeeD… Such a resilient group, yet here are the last…. Esuna!"

Squall could hear several groans. They seemed familiar. `SeeD? SeeDs are still alive?'

"I thought all the SeeDs were gone," he said. He heard several sharp intakes of breath.

"SQUALL!"

"It really is him!"

"Silence! Prepare yourselves!"

Squall wasn't sure, but he thought he could just make out the group around him: Selphie, Irvine, and Laguna… But where were Raijin and Fujin?

`Where is Rinoa?' he wondered. Suddenly, Seifer lunged into him, knocking him to the floor as a shower of Meteors shot by.

"Watch your back!" he shouted, jumping up and firing off his own retaliatory Ultima. Edea caught it and tossed it at Selphie, as though it were a basketball.

"You understand, Squall, don't you? You know what happened to this shell."

"What is she on about?"

"Edea should have lost her powers back when I passed into Rinoa's body."

"Why?" Squall began. He could see Edea's eyes swivel to him. "Why didn't she…? You should be gone. I saw you…"

"Yes, you did. But it was because of you. When time compressed, the future and past and present all melded into one, which means that I, the possessor of that realm, could see all. I knew you would defeat me… but I also knew…"

"That's enough!"

Shiva burst up from the floor and sent a chasm of ice down on Edea. The sorceress cried out, her shield cracking. Rinoa, Zell, and Quistis ran into the room, followed by Raijin and Fujin.

"Squall!" cried Quistis, her face lighting up.

Squall followed the sound of her voice, but couldn't find her face, or any of the others. His vision was filled with Edea's malevolent gaze.

"What does this mean?" he said quietly, ignoring the others. "Why are you here?"

Edea slowly regained her balance. Black wings exploded from her back. "That's better."

"Answer me!"

"What do you think, Squall?"

"I wasn't supposed to be…?"

"That's right. That's how destiny was supposed to work."

"Why then? Why couldn't I find her?"

"Ironically enough, in the end it was you… It was. It was your decision, and because of it, time was warped in a way that I could send myself in the past Edea forward into the present one. And now that you are here, I can use you to reclaim Time. I will do what I intended to do from the start."

"No! You can't release Hyne!"

Edea turned to Quistis and smiled. "Of course I can. Watch."

There was a soft drone. At first, Squall thought that Edea was casting a spell. The drone got louder. Her eyes began to fade from his vision as well. He fell backwards, trying to reach out and feel something from reality, but all he felt was emptiness…

`It's happening.'

Seifer heard the soft sound emit from Squall. His eyes widened as he saw the younger man begin to fade. He reached out to grab him, but it was no use.

"What did you do?" he demanded.

"I sent him back to Time. If you want him, you must open the box. I have it right here. You know you cannot defeat me without Hope. You must open the box."

"She's right," said Rinoa, who had been standing back. She stepped forward, stumbling. She couldn't seem to think straight. She felt dizzy with shock. She had seen Squall again. He looked almost the same as when they stood together against Ultimecia the first time, but when he looked at her, his eyes reflected her, as though they were expelling her. And what had Edea said about his decision?

"I'll open it."

Seifer let out a sound almost like a grunt. He walked over and took the box, bringing it before Rinoa.

"Think of what you're doing!" shouted Selphie.

"We can't win without Hope," she said quietly and opened the latch.
~*~

Sorry for such a long wait. Next chapter will be the last chapter.

Final Fantasy VIII is copyright Squaresoft. I make no claims on the brainchild of Hironobu Sakaguchi. However, as I wrote this fic, I do have some say. If you want to use it on your site, please ask me first!