Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Until the End of Eternity, and Longer ❯ Chapter Thirty ( Chapter 31 )

Check it out! I'm on chapter thirty and still going! Cripes this is turning out to be an epic of a fanfic! *dazed expression*

I still don't own FFVIII….but I do own Max and Jynx….uhm, yeah, trust me, you don't want 'em. They're nuts, and not that yummy kind.

I'm finally getting more reviewers again! AngelInnocence, if you still remember the review you posted way back when you read chapter five, I guess you know that part one of the story had some very fun Squall/guna/Irvine moments in it, and I hope there will be more in the future, but the second section of the story seems to be a bit heavier than the first, so we'll see what I can do. And thank you, I thought that "gooney" was a fun play on words, so I went with it.

Lunatic Pandora1: As far as Max goes, you can guess all you like as to the how and why he ended up in an Estharian prison cell…but until I get there, 'tis my little secret *evil smirk*. And…odd? I'm not sure how I should take that. Haha. Ah well, when in doubt, take it as a compliment, it saves you lots of trouble. That's my motto! Well, okay, that and "behold the power of cheese".

I am (…et cetera):

All twenty-nine chapters plus the interlude in one day! *gapes* Wow, I know they're short chapters, but still, I'm impressed. But seriously, I've actually been wondering when people were going to start asking those types of questions! So I'm glad you did. I tend to let little details seep out as the story continues, and likely would have answered all of the questions you asked over the progress of the story, but, since you asked, I'll be nice and answer….just this once. But next time, I'm keeping all of my secrets to myself, but since I think most of the reviewers have probably guessed at most of the stuff you're asking at this point, a basic q/a sum up is okay, since I know the story has some very complex stuff in it. So, if anyone doesn't want any quazi-spoilers, (they're not really spoilers, since you've probably guessed anyway, but uhm, yeah) then DON'T READ THIS PART. Just skip to the title and read the chappy.

1.How did Laguna make the automatic connection between her and Ultimecia?
Is she supposed to be Jace's sister or something like that?

"Automatic Connection" isn't exactly what I would call it. I would actually call it skimming over details for flashbacky goodness and perusal at a later time. 0:-) But in reality, during the second sorceress war, it was fairly well known that Seifer was working for Ultimecia/Adel(whatever). Jynx's case was very similar, and as President, it's sort of Laguna's job to be in the know. But even foregoing that, he first met Jynx when she was lugging Seifer around outside of Esthar, so obviously questions would be asked, and Jynx isn't ashamed of what she did, so she's not about to lie about it. She's a criminal of war, which means she did something big. (sooo not telling!…yet.) I know, in the context of the story, some of that seems confusing and doesn't add up just yet, but it will…when I get there. Before it goes any further, NO, Jynx is MOST DEFINITELY NOT Jace's sister. She's not related to Jace in any way shape or form. Although, Jynx does have a sister, two, in fact, and more on that will be revealed later on. But the first one is, as stated, "Ruvie". For those of you who were wondering, yes, that is the very same salesgirl that helped Squall out with Laguna's Christmas present. The other one…well, that's my little secret.

So the short answer is, it was a deduction based on cold hard facts, more than a connection of any kind, and that will be mentioned and looked over in more detail in a later chapter…either in this story, or in the next one in the arc, if I ever finish this one.)

2. With Laguna, why did he lose his memories so fast when everyone else did because they had used GFs for a LONG time?

This is actually more of a complicated question than it sounds. Well, let's see if I can attack it step by step to make it easier to understand. As you probably noticed by now, there are a handful of original GFs in this story, and though they do behave in the same fashion as the usual GFs, there is at least one major difference. That difference is what I like to refer to as "involuntary" or "automatic" junction. In other words, unlike Shiiva, or Ifrit, or whoever, the character doesn't choose to junction the GF, but rather, the GF chooses to junction to the character, whether the character likes it or not. Also, unlike the normal case, the character cannot unjunction the GF in this case, because they didn't junction the GF to begin with. In other words, much like Jace was with Crow, Laguna is stuck with Solaris, for better or worse, until death do they part. Since this is all but unprecendented, there are bound to be some interesting side effects, and one of them is that the character suffers from much the same thing a trauma victim would suffer from, and due to the nature of GF, that trauma will likely cause problems with memory. And though this varies from case to case, sufficed to say, despite what Squall may seem to believe, Solaris didn't DIRECTLY cause Laguna's memory loss in the way a GF would cause it over time, rather, the trauma of having Solaris suddenly and unwillingly imprinted onto his brain, has caused his memory loss. (If you recall, Jace never told Laguna how she ended up with Crow. That also, is because she doesn't remember the events that lead directly up to it. It affects each person a little differently.) Trauma is sort of unreliable like that.

3. Can you maybe do a recap in the next chapter or a recap chapter? you also still haven't explained why that pendant set jynx off like that...we now know it was a word, but what is the meaning of the word, etc etc.

The word, I defined in the story, but it was probably easy to miss. Shin, in Japanese, means "Core. Heart. And/or Center." It has other meanings as an adjective, but the usage I'm going with is the noun form, and a different kanji, so those meanings aren't important here. And it wasn't the pendant, persay, that set Jynx off, though it does…remind her of something from her past (which you'll just have to keep reading to find out about). What is more true, is that when Jynx got close to Laguna for the first time since before he "attained" GF Solaris, and in doing so, got a good look into his eyes. Now, whether it's true in the regular ff8 timeline or not, it is true of this story that when a person is junctioned to a GF, their eyes are subtly different, they give the impression of "not being alone in there", as I've stated a few times by a few different characters. Jynx in one of the recent chapters, and Kennedy said it of Jace waaaayyyy back when. Though it is very subtle, someone who has experience with it, WILL recognize it if they're paying attention, and Jynx has experience with it and has seen it before(for further details, you've got to wait until I get there.) And, since Jynx hates GF more than anything, THAT is what set her off. A woman who has sworn to destroy GF can not very well serve under a man who possesses one. And now, I shall try to write a short recap for you.

THE STORY SO FAR:

After getting stranded in Eastern Centra, Squall and Company stumble onto a desert village, Bella Maure, where they find Laguna and a long, complicated history lesson involving the first sorceress war and Irvine's mother, who turns out to be none other than Laguna's "baby sister", though they aren't related by blood. Ghosts of the past arrive and disappear, and tragedy strikes. Jace is "reborn" to physical form, only to die again, and Squall, Laguna, and Irvine become much closer for the trials they've been put through.

Two years later, GF Solaris, the product of the combination of Jace and Raine's souls arrives on the scene one Christmas Eve, forcing a junction with Laguna, who, due to the trauma, loses his memory of the two women most precious to him-his sister, and his wife.

Seifer, who has been working for Laguna under the tutelage of one of the three security division Captains, a robotic sort of girl who goes only by the name "Jynx", decides to return to Garden. And Jynx, discovering that Laguna is now harboring a GF, decides that she can no longer serve under him. Since Jynx is a war criminal, Laguna has no choice but to place her under arrest. Seifer discovers a friend where he thought there was only the empty shell of a woman, but his discovery is too late to do Jynx any good. Instead, he decides to aid Squall and Irvine in trying to reinstate Laguna's memory, and Jynx retires to her new home in a dark Estharian prison cell, where she finds that her cellmate is none other than Max Kinneas(Irvine's father and Jace's abusive husband).

Max promises to tell Jynx where she can attain the power to kill GF, on the premise that she returns his son (Irvine) to him. And her loathing of GF is so great that she agrees. Jynx, it turns out, has sworn to take whatever measures necessary to kill all of the world's GF. Why? Because a GF stole her younger sister, Ruvie's, memory away from her, and this is how she has decided to go about avenging the girl.

But what will Jynx do now? And why is Quistis so lost in thought? Has Seifer come up with the perfect idea to restore Laguna's memory, and why is Kiros so adamantly against it? All these questions and more will be answered in the coming chapters of "Until the End of Eternity, and Longer"…

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"Until the End of Eternity, and Longer"

By: Banshee Puppet

Chapter Thirty

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Quistis sat in the lazyboy beside the window, curled up with her book open and face down, in her lap. She hadn't been reading it for a while now, choosing instead to stare out at a snow-blanketed and peaceful Esthar. It was hard to believe that the shock of earlier today could have happened at all, as she watched the city lights dance off of white snow flakes and tumble down onto the remnants of snowmen made on the palatial lawn yesterday afternoon. But, her heart just wasn't on Christmas right now. Seven p.m. and as dark as any night ever was in Esthar, she sat staring out the window in the dark, reflecting on the day's events.

'Arashi. That's…' but her thought was cut off by the sound of an automatic door sliding open and flooding the room with a bit of fluorescent light. The soft sound of worn combat boots greeted her ears as she looked up to find pale green eyes looking down at her thoughtfully, an expression that made that face look almost innocent, save the scar. "Seifer," she said softly. "Something I can do for you?" Her voice cracked the silence, and she was almost ashamed of it. It had been so peaceful here a moment ago.

Seifer leaned against the wall beside the window, the city lights casting eerie shadows over his profile. "You shouldn't read in the dark," he said, almost as quietly, though his deeper voice gave the soft words a different effect, sadder and more forceful than Quistis's own words.

"I wasn't. Just…thinking," Quistis said.

"About Jynx."

"Sort of."

"You don't approve of her, right?" it almost sound like if she said yes, the answer would hurt him, but she was probably just imagining it.

"Do I deserve to be locked up like that too? Am I just as bad as she is? Everything was so confusing back then. I'm still a bit confused, honestly, I don't remember much," Seifer admitted. It must have been this long day, this weary-weaving snow that made him so open, so unlike the way he normally was around everyone. Quistis watched his front shatter before her now, and prayed that no one came in to ruin it.

"You were just chasing your dream," Quistis offered, and had to bite back the chuckle that nearly escaped when he pouted at her. Seifer Almsay pouted. At first, she had thought it was a trick of the light, but it wasn't.

"I tried to kill you. More than once," he said, and she knew he meant "you" in the more expansive sense. The group. "I wonder, if it was any of you who found me, at that time, under all that rubble, if you would have done the same thing for me that Jynx did, dragging my body halfway across the desert, checking up on me every day after that for three years. She's more than we think she is. She's not just a soldier. I won't believe that about her."

'Three years?!?' Quistis gave him a perplexed expression. "Sounds like you were in pretty bad shape." 'Hyne Quistis, that sounds totally lame.'

"I was comatose," Seifer answered levelly. "It's been almost four years now, since the war, right? My sense of time and space is still a little messed up, so I'm not sure. I only woke up this past July. I've been working here ever since. Jynx and Laguna…I owe a lot to those two. So I want to help them out. Anyway, you've seemed a little out of sorts since this afternoon. It's not like you to cave under pressure, so I came to find out if you knew something that the rest of us don't."

'So THAT'S what this is all about. Even so, I'm glad he opened up like that to me, just now.' "It's just the name, Seifer, that's all."

"The name? Jynx?"

"Well, that too, I suppose. You know, in Galbadia, a child who doesn't cry when they're born is named Jynx. Spelled with a "y" if it's a girl, an "i", if it's a boy. Irvine was telling us about it yesterday morning. It's said that that child will bring shame and damnation down on their entire family. It's just a wives tale, really, but even so, to this day, a child who doesn't cry when they're born is named Jynx, and outcast from society almost from birth. And the family that that child is born of suffers for it, because it's a social stigma to associate with them. But that's not really what I was talking about." Quistis paused, letting the information sink in.

'Then Jynx was…stigmatized…just for being born?' Seifer realized. He was about to ask what Quistis did mean, when the blonde woman spoke again.

"Arashi. That's Xu's last name, you know. Well, not many people do. She was born in Galbadia too. It was a small town, Shin, I think she called it. I guess I was just wondering if there was a connection. Your friend and Xu might be related, Seifer."

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Irvine scowled at the cards in his hands. He was losing…and badly. In fact, Selphie had already won, her hands empty of cards, and now he was fighting to stay afloat with Rinoa and Laguna, praying not to be the one with all the cards at the end. He looked at Rinoa, who had more cards than Laguna and said, "seven".

"Go fish!" Rinoa said a little to cheerily for Irvine's liking, and pulled another card out of the pile. 'Damn. Hope Squall is having more luck with Ellone than I'm having with this game.'

"My poor Irvy is getting creamed!" Selphie chuckled.

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"I can't bring him back into his own memory Squall. It's sad, but, if the memory just isn't there, isn't somewhere that I can access it, then there's nothing I can do," Ellone sighed.

"Then bring him back into mine," Squall demanded. That, he knew, was possible, though he didn't love the idea of having Laguna poking around in his mind. He would do whatever it took to get his father back to normal, he decided, or, as normal as Laguna ever was.

Ellone sighed. "Squall, I'm as worried as you are, but he's still traumatized from that whole mess, from what I can tell. It's just an all around bad idea. There must be another way. How did you get your memories of the orphanage back?"

Squall blinked. "Sis, you're brilliant! That's a GREAT idea! I'm going to tell Irvine."

Before Ellone could get anything out of the conversation, the door was closing behind the stormy young man. She blinked. "What did I say?" she wondered.

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Jynx squinted against the light when the door opened, unaccustomed, as yet, to the darkness, as her cellmate, the ever-rambling Max Kinneas, seemed to be. She shielded her eyes to find a familiar form bringing in their food. Blinking back the light slightly, the back of her mind named him: 'Zekun, Oli. Lieutenant. Third Class. Graduated cum laude. Top 25th percentile.'

"What day is it?" she asked as he put the food down beside the door. This wasn't usually his job, but considering it was Jynx, he'd been posted here, just in case. Minister Kiros had insisted upon it. It's not that he minded, really, but the work, technically, was beneath him.

" Thursday the…"

She vaguely raised a pale hand to stop his words. "Tell me when it's Tuesday?" she asked. "Ringing in the New Year and all. It's…tradition, right? I'd just like to know, if it's alright."

The man gave her a pitiable smile. "Sure, Cap…uhm…Miss Jynx. No problem."

And the door closed between them once again.

"You could have taken him," Max commented, sounding none too thrilled.

"My way, Mr. Kinneas. It is what we agreed upon."

"Why New Year's?"

"If I'm going to become a devil once again, then I would like to do so on the most important day of the year."

"The first one."

"No. Not really. Actually it's the day I died."

"You're being cryptic again."

"If you must know specifically, then so be it. Five years ago. New Year's. It was the day a dragon descended on Shin and decimated the seven-thousand and thirty-two people who lived there."

"A dragon?"

Jynx simply nodded. "A dragon in the shape of a man."

"You're being cryptic again," Max sighed.

"It's none of your concern."

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Squall skidded to a halt in front of the kitchen door when he saw the four of them. Irvine and Rinoa were deep into a card game while Laguna and Selphie busied themselves with watching and making flippant remarks and obnoxious commentary.

'He took a breath before they noticed him and collected himself. 'Running down the halls at top speed for no apparent reason. What the hell am I thinking? That's not like me at all.'

Granted, if they were in Garden, it would be very much like him, but also, he would, most definitely, have a valid reason for running down the hall at top speed. Some tragedy to take care of, some meeting to attend, in short, somewhere that he had to be, and something he was about to be late to. But in the presidential palace with a proposition of how to get his father's memory back?…such haste was not really necessary for that.

Just as he entered, Irvine reluctantly handed Rinoa a card and she put the two in her hand down on the table. "Third place!" she cheered, and Irvine grumbled something under his breath, putting his cards down on the table which Laguna collected up, put back into their box, and handed the smiley face deck back to Selphie, who tucked it into her pocket. The only part of the cowboy's words that Squall could actually make out were, "Go Fish is a stupid game anyway." They'd been playing Go Fish? No wonder Laguna had done so well. He only seemed to be any good at children's games, having, to Squall's embarrassment, beaten the younger man at "memory" and "war" almost religiously. But they were simple games with simple rules. There wasn't really any strategy involved, and so they suited a simple man like Laguna Loire.

"Ahem," Squall cleared his throat. "Irvine, can I steal you for a while?"

Irvine tipped up the rim of his cowboy hat a bit and looked over his shoulder at Squall's stormy eyes and anxious expression. It could only be about one thing. "Sure. Hallway?"

Squall nodded as boots clinked against the floor and Irvine swung himself upright. "Okey dokey," he said as he gave the trio at the table a negligent, two-fingered wave, and the door closed behind him. Hands shoved into his pockets, he said, "so, what's up? You think of something?"

Squall spoke, rather curtly, saying, "Winhill. Bella Maure."

Irvine nodded. "Well duh! Damn, well, why not? It worked for you guys, right? Let's tell Uncle 'guni and see if he's up for a little trip. We can use Ragnarock and be back by New Year's."

"New Year's. That's right. I almost forgot…Selphie."

"Yep. I'm startin' ta get a little nervous," Irvine admitted, scratching the back of his head. "I don't want to start stuttering or anything like that."

Squall shook his head. "You'll be fine duck boy," he said in flat tones, rolling his eyes, which Irvine had learned to take as teasing. "Anyway, let's go tell him." ….

"…well, if you think it'll help, I'm all for it," Laguna said. "I just gotta call Kiros 'n Ward and let them know I'm gonna be away for a few days. But we can leave right after if you want. Why don't you go pack up toothbrushes and such, a change of clothes and everything. "I'll meet you down by the Ragnarok in an hour?"

"Sure dad. That sounds good."

"Alright then, let's get goin' tulip."

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Seifer frowned out the window at the red ship in the distance. He'd been standing there in a rather companionable silence with Quistis for a while now, just watching the snow fall when something seemed to suddenly catch his attention.

"Seifer?" she asked, getting up out of her chair to see what he was looking at down below. Squall and Irvine were standing on the steps of the Ragnarok, smirking and chuckling (respectively), as Laguna hurried towards them, leather jacket half on, gloves in his mouth, while he tried to figure out what in Hyne's name he was supposed to do with this blue thing called a scarf. After a moment or two, he gave up and just slipped his other arm into the jacket, unbuttoned over a sweater with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows, and yanked on the gloves in the most haphazard fashion Quistis had ever seen. Squall shook his head and turned around, passing Irvine to enter the space ship. Irvine, on the other hand, took a moment to tuck the scarf into the collar of Laguna's jacket and pull his hair out of the collar, making the President look a little more presentable before leading the other man, who stuck his tongue out at the cowboy, into the ship, the steps pulling up to close behind them.

"They're leaving without me again," Seifer said softly.

Quistis put her hand over his own. "Well, family things are weird like that, Seifer. Maybe, for now," she paused. "Until they come back, let's just focus on what you plan to do next."

"What I plan to do?" he looked at her like she had three heads, like he didn't have a clue what she was talking about.

"Are you really going to just abandon Jynx like that? After all she's done for you? I think, deep down, you're probably a lot kinder than that. Do you want me to call Xu?"

Seifer was silent for a long few moments, thoughtful. "…in the morning. You should probably check up on things there anyway, right?"

"Of course. Then why don't we both get some sleep and talk about it more in the morning."

"Goodnight, Instructor Trepe," he said with a slight smirk and a deep bow.

Quistis chuckled. "Goodnight Seifer….and, good luck."

"I told you, save your well-wishing for someone who needs it," he said as he remembered the day he and Squall went for the SeeD test together.

"Alright," she smiled. "Good luck, Seifer."

Seifer chuckled in the open doorway. "Never change, Quistis. You're something else."

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