No one in Garden had expected the storm. The warning signs had been there- an overcast sky, the chill of the wind picking up, even the air smelling of something that hinted at rain and thunder and light streaking across the sky.
Claws scraped against tile as the shadows of the facility seemed to melt and gather, pooling in the corners and climbing up the walls. Wrapping around ankles and sinking through the floor, dragging along hapless victims whose last shouts were more strangled cries as they felt themselves overwhelmed. And the shadows grew, enveloping the facility in a silent shroud even as armies of stomping feet swarmed through the lands just beyond.
The hallways fell into an eerie quiet.
Students gathered in clusters, uncertain of what was to occur, but well aware something was wrong. They had been trained to combat the forces of the Sorceress, and this was not her. So all they could do was wait, pacing through hallways in groups of two, three, large masses of students holding weapons some had hardly gotten the chance to even learn yet. The loudspeaker crackled to life, and the voice that echoed through the halls of Garden sounded hollow.
"All students and SeeD forces are to report to the front entrance immediately." The groupings moved to comply, anxious and wide-eyed. The loudspeaker flipped on a second time. "Commander Leonhart, please report to the training center." Footsteps reverberated off the hallways, and students clung to each other as they walked, discreetly tugging on sleeves or grabbing onto hands to calm their scattered nerves.
The lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
And Garden was plunged into darkness.
It began with a scream. Someone, somewhere, but loud enough that half the facility could hear it, and that half shuddered and clutched their weapons or readied magic they weren't even certain would work. No one could tell where the scream had come from. Maybe it had simply been the startled cry of one of the monsters kept penned up within Garden's walls. Students glanced around them for the source of the sound, and as the emergency lighting shed a dim glow over the facility, they found themselves staring into a multitude of golden eyes and faceless shadows.
The halls rang with gunshots, the telltale sizzle-zap of magic being released, and the frequent dull thudding sound as weapon made contact with creature, or body made contact with wall.
He had to fight his way through the hallways leading away from the dormitory and into the training center, but he had had enough training and field experience to make his way through. He ran along the length of the facility, and the shadows followed at his heels, hardly noticable as they flowed from wall to ground to back and were slashed away before any damage could be done. Claws dug into his leg, and he winced, slicing downward and dislodging their owner as he ran, the blood seeping through hardly noticable against the leather. Every hallway was the same. Every corner, every part of the facility full of climbing, clinging, yellow-eyed shadows and students fighting desperately against them.
He shouted a quick command to a group of students up ahead, and one called back even as a second was thrown against a glass divider and fell to the floor with a groan. They both vanished beneath the shadows, and he cursed under his breath, but he continued to run.
The others were already in the training center, fighting in a loose semi-circle, and he scanned the area as well as he could while fending off his attackers. A streak of lightning shot through the trees, and he hurried past a familiar sharpshooter to head in that direction. The creatures swarming the area hissed at the sudden burst of light, but it only lasted for a moment, and then they were back in full force. She shot off another spell, whirling around at his footsteps, readying the weapon strapped to her arm.
"Squall!"
The smile spreading across her face faded as her eyes widened, and he was there to catch her even as her body fell forward, arms limp and eyes closing as her head sank against her chest. The white wings emblazoned on the back of her duster were stained red. He turned with a snarl on the shadowy form as it leapt away from her back, and something vaguely heart-shaped and shimmering hovered in the air for a moment before exploding into dust.
He held her body against him with one hand, slashing at the creatures around them with the gunblade clutched in his other. They dove for his ankles, latched onto his shoulders, and he swung at them with furious precision. Each creature hit vanished in an array of blackness, but more replaced those that he managed to destroy.
Something clawed faintly at his chest, and he stared down in horror at the curled fingers and blue fading into black.
"No..."
When she opened her eyes, they seemed to glow with an unnatural light, but he couldn't let go. She gazed up at him, and for a moment, he thought he saw a spark of her old self in those eyes. Her fingers clutched at the fabric of his shirt, and he cringed. Her nails became claws, digging into skin, and he found he had no choice but to release his hold on her and step away, weapon held at the ready.
She cocked her head at him curiously, her face, her clothes, all of her becoming as dark as the creatures he continued to fend off. It was an instinctive reaction that led him to swing up when she launched herself at him, clawed hands extended, aiming for his chest. An instinctive reaction that made him cry out when he saw the tip of his gunblade protruding from her back, right between the blood-soaked wings that remained just barely visible. He stepped back, shaking his head in disbelief, the weapon dropping away as her body fell to the ground and a multitude of eyes watched him from the shadows enveloping anything and everything in the facility. He continued to move backwards, stumbling as the back of his foot made contact with something lying in the way. Glancing down, he recognized the blood-soaked heap of her loyal companion even as he tripped over it, his head knocking against an overhang he should have known was there.
And the shadows swarmed over them all.
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"-the hell sorta excuse's that!"
"Aw, calm down willya? The guy was in bad shape!"
His vision swam, and the patterns visible when he found himself able to open his eyes were unfamiliar. His body ached, and he could barely feel one of his legs. But none of that was important. His lips moved, his voice cracked and barely audible.
A girl he didn't recognize came into view, said something, and bounded out again. She returned a short while later with a middle-aged man nursing a cigarette, and the pair stared down at him. He was too exhausted to tell what they were saying, and barely able to keep himself conscious enough to keep watching them. The girl let out a huff, and he felt a warmth spread through his leg. He winced, finding his throat dry.
"...Rinoa."
"Huh?" The girl eyed him strangely, a jewel attached to one of her gloves glowing faintly.
"Have to..." He struggled to push himself into a sitting position.
"HEY! There's no way you're gonna go anywhere!" He found himself falling back against the makeshift bed even before she moved to push him back down. "Besides, you're the only one we found down there." She glanced around, and he noticed that one of her arms was wrapped in blood-soaked bandages from the elbow to the shoulder. "You're just lucky we found ya!" She bustled around the room, grabbed up something that looked like a medical kit, and moved out of his line of vision.
He coughed, his throat protesting, and he closed his eyes, slowly bringing his hands to his face to cover them.
"...her wings."