Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Until the End of Eternity, and Longer ❯ Chapter Twenty-Seven ( Chapter 28 )

Lunatic Pandora1: you are SO right on that one.

Divine Star: my sweet old time? I add a chapter like every week!?! Lol. Sometimes two. Geez, impatient much? Haha. Hey, I'm doing the best I can, between two jobs and karate, it's a miracle I have time to do anything but sleep, and I don't even do very much of that. *pouts* Ah well, you'll just have to content yourself with once a week and be happy that I'm not making you wait as long as I'm making my Inuyasha people wait…b/c I left them stranded for like 3 months.

Anyways, I still don't own FF8…I do own… … …a computer… an old computer… a temperamental computer that hates me.

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"Until the End of Eternity, and Longer

by: Banshee Puppet

Chapter Twenty-Seven

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"So much for adventure," Irvine grumbled. They'd been to almost every open supermarket and vendor they could find, and Squall was being cautious on the roads of Esthar, much more careful than he had a habit of being on the way to Balamb. 'Must have something to do with the fact that these Estharian roads aren't actually on the ground, and it'll be harder to get them back from one of his "short-cuts". Or it could be that Laguna's in the car. He's awfully gentle when it comes to his dad. Hmm. Better not say that out loud.'

Frankly, he was just leaning back, pushing his hat down over his eyes to settle in for a nap when he was jolted forward with a screeching of tires. 'Spoke too soon!' his mind demanded as his hands darted out to the back of Squall's seat to see what the hell was going on…

"Squall! Lookout! There's a …"

"Shit! Where the hell did SHE come from!"

Squall swerved and slammed on the breaks. 'Phew.' That little girl came out of nowhere.

Laguna stumbled out of the car and rushed over to the girl. "H-hey! Little girl. Are you okay?!?" He reached a hand out to touch her shoulder and turn her around when Squall noticed something strange.

"Dad! Don't…!' She was emitting some sort of strange pinkish light, and the baby doll she carried wasn't actually a baby doll at all. It looked…alive. "DAD!" But it was too late. The girl turned, smiling up at him, and a harsh echo exploded out of her throat. "SOLAR FLARE!"

Laguna just barely dodge it, acting on instinct. "Open the trunk!" the older man said, even as he dove in that direction. Squall asked without question, even as Irvine scrambled out of the back seat, shielding his eyes and reaching blind for his shotgun.

"Th-those eyes. Squall it's a…"

Squall grit his teeth and nodded, drawing his gunblade to prepare for battle. "Check your junctions Irvine. It's a GF."

"Shit. If I knew I was gonna need 'em…" Irvine cursed under his breath, which told Squall exactly what he needed to know before Laguna skidded into place between the two boys, yanking back the safety of his machine gun.

"So that's a GF, huh?" he asked vaguely. "This ain't gonna be easy."

"Any items on you?" Squall asked.

"A few," Laguna grit out as he shot at the little girl. "But shooting at a little girl feels kinda wrong."

"Stop thinking like that right now, or we're toast," Irvine said, taking his turn. 'His aim doesn't suck,' he thought of Laguna's last go.

Squall took his turn to call Carbuncle, and was surprised when the "doll" in the girl's arms spun around and sucked up the ability, casting shell and protect on itself and the girl. "MIRROR FORCE," It said, the voice a somewhat different echo, a very subtle difference, but there.

'Okay, so, magic is a bad idea,' Squall thought. 'Just great.'

Laguna tossed a "dispel" at the GF, which had the lovely result of dispelling everything all the way around as the mirror force spell reacted again, like a reflex.

"Okay, so, I have an idea…sorta," Laguna said. "You guys try to shatter that mirror, and I'll do the rest, 'kay?"

"Dad!"

"Squall, trust me. I may be old, but I'm not as out of practice as some people like to believe, alright."

He didn't really have any choice. They didn't have time to argue, he knew it as well as anyone. But it was rough going, what with Irvine having to throw potions one way or another every other turn, but eventually, the mirror doll shattered, and the rumbling echo came out of the girl again. "YOU WON'T DEFEAT THIS SOLARIS SO EASILY. I'LL ONLY JUNCTION TO SOMEONE REALLY STRONG." And then, they saw it, this time, they had time to see it, "SOLAR FLARE!" It was a pistol. A…and the way the GF moved…

Laguna gaped. "Jace?!?"

They were in bad shape. Squall cast a phoenix down on Irvine, who promptly executed a special, followed, by Laguna's Desperado, and Squall started throwing Curagas around, starting with Laguna, while Irvine attacked with every powerful item in his arsenal. But Squall blinked at what finally brought GF Solaris down, as Laguna, GF-less, somehow managed an Ultima.

"How did you?!?"

"Uhm…good question?" Laguna offered, scratching the back of his head. "Let's not worry about it for now, kay?"

And before any objections could be voiced, GF Solaris spoke once again. "I UNDERSTAND." Hyne, that voice was so deep and loud. "THIS SOLARIS WILL FOLLOW YOU, THEN, AS THEY WISHED IT, LAGUNA LOIRE." And fading into a speck of light, Solaris imprinted itself on Laguna's mind through a gold swirling light that pulled it in through the third eye.

Irvine reached out and caught Laguna as he lapsed from consciousness, shock etched on his features as he mumbled too familiar names. "Jace? Raine? You're…Solaris?" he mumbled before falling silent.

The ride home was quiet until Laguna woke halfway through.

"I guess they're okay then?" Irvine asked when Laguna seemed to have shaken the last bit of fog out of his brain. "Mo..uh…-Jace and Raine?" He spoke more softly than was his habit, but it was a tender subject they were touching on. Squall, on the other hand, said nothing. He'd heard all that he needed to know. Raine and Jace had become GF Solaris, and they were with Laguna now. They would always be with Laguna.

But neither young man was expecting what Laguna said next. Honestly, and without hesitation, Laguna blinked, furrowed his brow, and asked, "who?"

"You're sister and wife, dad, Jace and Raine," Squall sighed, thinking the older man just hadn't heard right.

"Huh? Squall, did you hit your head or something? Sister? I'm an only child, you know that, and I never got married, at least, not to my knowledge."

And the genuinely perplexed expression on Laguna's face told Squall and Irvine all they needed to know.

Squall grit his teeth together. 'Damn you, Solaris.'

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Well, that was a plot twist, ne? Uhm, only problem is, I haven't got the foggiest what happens next, so assume a little extra time before the next chapter, I need a few days to let new developments settle and fester n'stuff.

Well, ja ne!

Happy Haunting,

~Banshee Puppet~