Final Play
By: Miss Antagonist
[Author's Notes]
………………
Time clicked away, taking a second by second. It was a late night, a cold lonely quiet night as usual. The winds were long gone and the rain was heavy and sad. The windows were open, the wooden floor covered in rainfall. The air was thick. In this one house, there were five rooms. In one of them, a lonely majesty remained unnoticed for the night.
It stood alone.
On the dark wooden board, proud and isolated. Dinstinctly seperated from everything unworthy of it's devious glow. A thin layer of dust had recently been blown off the top. In all it's glory, it stood out before all those that dared come near it. Their shine and beauty were diminished by the grace of the centerpiece.
The tone of it's color made it difficult to notice in the darkness. There was once someone who said, "Darkness cannot exist where there is light." Yet this piece of darkness existed only in light.
It was a beauty that served for good though many called it evil. Many called it evil, hypnotizing, controlling and manipulative. But that only depended on the user. The user defined it's purpose. And tonight…
Her purpose was clear.
The lights were off and it remained in hiding.
Time continued to click by.
Suddenly, the lights of the hallway flickered off and the door was closed. A young girl of only fifteen years creeped forward softly, her black hair flowing behind her. Her unwavering catlike green eyes reflected the moonlight coming from the window. Her stealthy yet delicate hands reached out for anything that might be lurking in the shadows. Those hands… those hands trained to use the weapon she was searching for… Time was moving too fast. She didn't have much left.
She creeped towards it. Slowly… slowly. Oh, so gently. Her footsteps were almost silent, except for the quiet creaking of the old and unsettled wooden floor. A conniving and triumphant smile stretched across her face. Her goal was almost completed. Those trained hands reached out… a chill running up her spine.
The night was silent with her.
Until fate just had to step in.
"Katherine Elizabeth Clair! No more of that Playstation2!"
o____O"
…'til morning, love.
………………
Beep, beep, beep, beep…
"Oh, shut up." She mumbled to her alarm clock.
"Katieee!"
"I'm up, I'm up!" She yelled and jumped out of bed. Sheesh, it's vacation. What good is summer vacation if you can't sleep all day?
She paused in her steps.
Holy shit, it's vacation!
She ran to the bathroom and forced herself through a bath, brushed her teeth and got dressed in a hurry. Then running down the stairs, Katie pulled her hair into a ponytail. She ran into the kitchen, pulled open the refrigerator and listened to the usual.
"Kat, I'm off to work. Don't glue yourself to that playstop all day, y'hear?"
"Playstation, mom."
"Playcreation, sorry. See you, hon."
"Bye, mom." She mumbled, a piece of buttered bread between her teeth and a paper in her hand. Today was Tuesday so… everyone should be out today, she thought to herself.
"Hey, loser, I'm off to basketball practice so don't expect me to come back soon and cook lunch for you."
"Basketball practice my butt, I know you're ditching for Elaine again." Katie told her big brother. She blinked her huge green eyes at him sweetly. "Aaron's a snitch."
"Whatever." Jason told her. "Just order out or something."
"Have fun with your girlfriend," Katie said, batting her eyelashes. "Don't forget to pick up Laura on your way home with Ellie-poo."
"Brat."
"Jerk."
"Baby."
"At least try not to get caught making out again this time!"
Jason threw a paper napkin at her and she ducked and stuck out her tongue as the door shut.
She jumped up in glee and threw the half eaten piece of bread out of her mouth and onto the kitchen counter.
This was it. Her moment of glory.
She burst open the door and ran towards her TV and PS2. She took a moment to breath in the scent of plastic and whatever else Playstations are made of. "Oh, I've missed you," She told them. She had been grounded 'til vacation, exams were a burden. Not that it mattered that she had more time to study, she still got her usual grades.
She turned on her TV and her PS2 to let them warm up. She fished through her CD's, DVD's and games for something interesting.
Smiling to herself, she put in her Final Fantasy VIII game inside the PS2. I missed this.
"Now, I wonder where my memory card for Final Fantasy went…"
She listened to the usual light buzz of the playstation and the laugh track on the TV… until she smelled something peculiar. Katie stopped humming to herself.
"…is that… smoke?"
She turned around to what became a rapidly thickening gray cloud of smoke.
"Shit…" The alarm in her eyes grew, "Not my Playstation!" She screamed and began to run towards the sparking PS2.
Before she knew what was happening, she was blown aside by a huge explosion of fire, sparks and flames. A blinding white light erupted from the room for a few seconds before fading away to the dark smoke.
Katie coughed and blew the smoke away from her eyes. Hot tears formed in her eyes and she fanned her face rapidly.
She was thrown to the wall, she had fallen to the floor and struggled to pull herself up as she continued to cough rigorously. She opened her eyes catiously but could see nothing in the thick smoke.
She continued to fan it away from her eyes with her hands, and began to make her way to the door. She fell to the ground when she felt herself bump against something…
"What the hell was that???"
Or someone.
"Is everyone okay?!"
"I think so…"
"Where are we?"
Who are these people…???
"I don't know…"
"Squall, is that you?"
"…"
"Never mind."
What happened…???
"Where are you guys?"
"I'm with Squall, Quisty!"
"Rinoa?"
"Yep! Where'd Zell go?!"
"Tchhh… I'm here. No need to keep an eye on me."
"Who else is here?"
"Booyah! Selphie, reporting for trouble!"
"Hey, this smoke is beginning to clear…"
These names… they're… they're…
"Oh, Hyne. What happened?"
"Booyaaaaa… aaa… aaa…---- HOLY SHIT! Quistis, Rinoa, don't look!"
"Irvine, are you naked?!"
"Rinoa, I told you not to look!"
"This isn't my bathroom!"
"This isn't Balamb Garden!"
HOLY SHIT.