Hidden Pasts
By Katie Herdman
All Hail The Wings Of The Winds & The Power Of North
"…when I stand in the midst of battle, I am the heart of
the battle, the arm of the warriors. My father gave me the heavens, he gave me
the earth. I am Inanna. Who knows the will of the gods in heaven? Who
understands the plan of the underworld gods? Where have mortals learnt the way
of a god? He who was alive yesterday is dead today."
Prologue
The
wind howled through the trees, screaming, searching for it's next victim. The
trees bent their gnarled branches even further than usual trying to catch the
next person unlucky enough to walk into their traps. The forest came alive with
the evil lurking there.
In a clearing in the
forest;
Evil shimmered into being.
The soft laughter of the
dammed; the shrieks of their freshly captured prey.
The hellhounds' battling
over the scraps.
Dogs stopped their
barking, lay down, and whimpered.
Cats' arched in fear and
hissed at shadows.
Babies awoke,
inconsolable.
All of a sudden a flash of
white broke through the heavy, settling of evil. A child! Running as if she
feared something would catch her. Behind her the evil took form into a huge
wolf, sent to capture this girl as if she was just another prey.
The wolf ran after her
though trees and over streams. It's panting breath never showing in the black
night, for death can never get the chance to breathe again once it has changed
and become slave, bringing destruction wherever it goes.
Chapter One
The moon was shining
bright. Squall Leonhart looked up at the night sky, then turned and smiled.
Rinoa looked so lovely that he had to kiss her, and he did.
Finally when they broke
away she laughed. Oh how he loved to hear that laugh. On the balcony of the
Garden with the most beautiful night sky and a kiss from Rinoa, life was
perfect.
*****
Later when the party had
ended, Rinoa realised that she hadn't seen Squall for a while.
"Selphie," she asked,
going up to the cheery girl, who was now rubbing her eyes with sleep, "have you
seen Squall? I haven't seen him since I left the balcony."
"I think he's still
there," Selphie replied.
Rinoa thanked her and they
said their goodnights. Returning to the balcony she could see why he had stayed.
The moon looked even fuller and there were even more stars littering the sky.
"Why are you still here?"
"…Don't know."
"Is something wrong," she
asked looking concerned. Squall had an odd face on, like there was something
different, it gave her the creeps. He turned and looked at her, he looked
beautiful silhouetted in the moonlight. His scar gave him nobleness and power.
Rinoa couldn't believe that he was hers.
"No, why don't you
go to bed. I just want to stay out here a little longer."
With those last words he
looked back at the sky.
Walking away, Rinoa took
one last look at him and said,
"You can talk to me you
know, Squall. I'll always be here for you. Ultimecia is dead and I am the last
sorceress, it's over."
He just looked at her then
continued staring at the sky. How beautiful he seemed, but also so sad. Rinoa
loved him, maybe one day he would see how much.
*****
Why Squall had become so transfixed with the sky he didn't know, but there was
one star there that had caught his eye before. To him it was brighter than the
rest and it shone out like a beacon.
Closing his eyes, Squall
breathed in the sweet smell that lingered in the air, the salty smell of the
sea nearby and the smell of the trees far below, and another smell there, sweet
and perfumed, but he couldn't tell what it was.
Opening his eyes again
Squall looked up once more for his star, but he couldn't find it. It wasn't
there. He quickly scanned the sky, a star couldn't move that quickly. Soon he
found it; or rather it had found him because the light from it was growing by
the second. Soon the light was so bright that he covered his eyes and then he
cried out as he fell.
From a few metres away a
SeeD student heard Squall's cry and came running and saw him lying on the
floor, but he never got to him. As he started to run to him a figure dressed in
black clothes blocked his way and made him stop dead in his tracks.
Before he even had time to
see it, a blade swooped round and slit his throat. As the blood trickled
towards the comatose Squall, the strange person drew a symbol on the wall in
the student's blood. Far away, Squall never heard, nor saw what happened.
*****
He was young again, sitting on the beach by the Orphanage. It was late and the
sea was coming in close, very close. It was coming up past his waist. He
couldn't move; he wanted to. He feared that if he didn't then he would drown.
Suddenly there was a soft, haunting voice behind him whispering,
"Don't worry, the sea
won't come in any further."
Squall wanted to turn
round. He wanted to see who it was, but he couldn't. It didn't matter though as
the person came and sat down beside him. It was a girl, the same age as him,
with flowing brown hair with a tint of red to give her fire. Soft brown eyes
that could look into anyone's soul and know him or her. There was great power
behind those eyes. She seemed innocent, but guilty of something at the same
time, like there was something that was troubling her, but too hard for her to
talk about.
Her small, slender hand
reached out and clasped Squall's. He felt he knew her, although he could not
remember where from. She then spoke again,
"What you will see was
meant for you to see. Don't be frightened. Come and find me."
Everything faded away into
darkness, and then Squall heard a woman scream.
*****
What greeted Squall when he woke was pure horror. There was blood all around
him. The body of a student lay nearby. Quistis was leaning over it, white faced
and shocked. Squall thought she was going to be sick and he didn't blame her.
Not only was the throat cut severely, but also the eyes had been gorged out and
were resting in the student's bloodied hands. Squall coughed to try to stop him
retching. The smell of blood was overpoweringly sickening.
Through her tears Quistis looked over at Squall and asked him that one question
which he wanted to know himself,
"What happened?"
Squall just looked up at
the symbol written in the poor man's blood, on the wall, an upside down,
five-pointed star.
*****
In Cid's room Quistis arrived, early for the meeting that the headmaster had
called. It had been the worst thing she had ever seen. Squall hadn't seen
anything; or rather that's what he had told Cid. Quistis didn't know what to
believe, but she could not believe that any human being was capable of doing
anything like that, definitely not Squall.
Zell, Selphie and Irvine
walked in at that moment. Selphie looked extremely pale. Apparently, she had
known the student. Squall then walked in followed by Rinoa, and then Cid and
Edea last. As soon as Squall walked in everyone jumped to attention.
"Although I don't approve
of her idea, Edea and I wish to send you on a mission. She will speak to you
briefly now about it."
"Thank you dear," Edea
said, and then turned to the group.
Cid had not been happy
about what she wanted to do, but Edea knew of no other who could do the job.
Looking at Rinoa, Edea pitied her, for she had not part in these SeeD's past,
she would be left out. Edea didn't want to send her because she would come too
close to the truth and she would not like what she saw, but she could not stop
her going, just request it.
"Firstly, what happened this morning I know Squall had no part in it and I
also know that you will not find whatever killed that man by yourself. So I am
asking you to find someone who can help you, and bring her back here to Garden.
The woman's name is Andria Perne, she is a witch."
"Another sorceress? But I
thought that I was the only one," asked Rinoa, intrigued by the statement.
"No she is a witch, she
does not pass on her powers to others," replied Edea.
"I'm really, really
confused," said Quistis.
She still felt sick.
"Find Andria and
everything will become clear."
Edea hoped that no one
would ask the question that she didn't want to answer, but sadly that was not
so. "How do you know of her?" asked Squall. He looked coldly at her as if he
knew she was hiding something.
"That is not important
right now, just find her, but I will request that Rinoa stay here as it might
be better for her."
"If you don't mind, I
would like to go with them. I want to meet this woman," said Rinoa.
No…you wouldn't, thought
Edea. Rinoa would not like her. Witches and sorceress didn't go together.
Throughout the meeting
Squall could not stop the growing feeling that the name was familiar, he had
heard it before. Was it the woman connected to the girl in his dream?
Squall kept pondering that
thought. He had seen her on the beach at the orphanage, and she spoke to him of
the present.
"What you will see was
meant for you to see …Come find me."
Squall had a headache from
all the thinking. Who was trying to get their attention? Her? But she was just
a little girl. How was he supposed to find her when he had to go find this
woman?
He hadn't told anyone the
dream; he figured that it was only for him to understand when the time came.
Edea knew something though, he could tell that she was trying to hide it deep
down, but for what purpose he could only guess.
"Right, you have you're
orders. When you find her, tell her what happened, she'll know what to do.
Here's all the information we have on her.
With that Edea handed
Squall the file. She then turned and left.
"Edea is very distraught
about all this, but believe her, she isn't crazy," pleaded Cid.
They all nodded, saluted
and then left not sure what they would find, but also not sure what that would
lead them to.
Author's Note
Firstly, the reason why
the first chapter is so violent is because it sets up the rest of the story,
(you'll find out later). Also the dead guy description sort of came from the
film Event Horizon (crap film, but I loved some scenes).
Secondly, if you didn't
know this, a 5-pointed star (a pentagram) inside a circle represents God in all
his divinity. An upside down one represents Hell and Satanism.
