Prologue
It was snowing. The flakes that have rested upon the ground of the earth transformed the once green landscape into a winter wonderland. Well, sort of.
Squall's breath came out in cold gasps as he watched the monster retaliated against his attacks. The giant sea-lion-like monster stared at him grimly as it whipped its tail towards its human foe. Squall managed to dodge to the other side just as he felt the spikes swung past where his head was a few seconds ago.
The creature was slow, but its strength was not to be underestimated. Squall whispered some words, and Flare erupted around the creature. It roared with surprise and shuddered as heat enveloped its entire snow-crusted body. Seizing his chance, Squall went forward for the kill with an uppercut slash from the right, and the Snow Lion screamed its death-cry before collapsing into a charred heap in front of the young SeeD. He swung his Gunblade over his shoulder casually.
Guess training's over. The sky was a light gray, with the sun peeking shyly behind a huge cloud. The drizzle of snow has started to thicken. If he did not go back soon, the others might worry about him. Especially Rinoa.
Turning to go, he took one last look at the pine forest behind him when he saw shadows lurking behind the trees. He readied himself in his battle stance, waiting for whatever it is to pounce upon him.
Two glowing red eyes appeared. Its fangs bared, the creature rushed with thundering thuds towards Squall, roaring as he heard the monster's jaws snapped.
Squall stood there calmly as he summoned a GF.
Cactuar, I summon you. He waited for the feeling of being transported and the light emerging within him as it always did wherever he summon.
A few seconds past. Nothing happen. No light, no feeling. The T-Rexaur was coming nearer any minute now. Squall could feel the earth beneath him shaking. He summoned again, but the green-guy with flying needles still did not appear. A slight wave of worry hit him.
Something was wrong. He had never had problem with summoning before.
At last, the T-Rexaur emerged. It stared down at Squall with its red glowing eyes. It snapped its jaws again and roared at the human in front of him. However, Squall was not gonna budge an inch nor become the T-Rexaur's meal without giving a fight.
Squall's Lionheart started to blaze with energy. The living fossil stared intently at the weapon. Squall started to unleash his Limit Break he had save earlier.
He did his seven-strike combo, never missing a shot as the barrage of attacks overwhelmed the T-Rexaur. Once his trigger technique finished, Squall dished out his Limit Break, sending the creature flying into the air as he slashed 15 times at lighting speed before sending the monster the final uppercut slash of his moves in a blinding arc. The momentum of the attack sent the beast down onto the snow-covered land, where it collapsed in a bloody mess.
Squall landed perfectly beside the monster he had slain without breaking a sweat. Thank Hyne for his Lionheart. Otherwise, he would be the monster's snack in one bite.
As the SeeD trudged through the thick snow towards the waiting Balamb Garden, he could not help wondering back at the battle at where the summoning part had gone wrong.
How can it be? I thought I had Cactuar junctioned to me. Or did I give it to Rinoa?
Just then, he stepped onto something hard and cold beneath him. Curious, he looked down and saw something glinting. He knelt down and scooped the thing up.
It was a Griever.
The find did not surprised Squall. He bet out there, people might have the same necklace as he had. But his heart told him otherwise. And sometimes, his intuition was always true.
Suddenly, the pendant was broken in two. Now that was something he had not anticipated. A corner of a yellow paper peeked out in the middle. Eyes narrowed, Squall took the pendant apart, and saw a folded sheet in the middle of one of the hollow pendant. He pulled the paper out, and read the words written in red:
GRIEVER SHALL BE FREE
TO SALVAGE THE FREEDOM
OF ALL GUARDIAN FORCES
HUMANS SHALL DIE.