Disclaimers: Characters are Squaresofts, Lyrics are Ian van Dahl's 'Castles In The Sky'
Warnings: Angst, character deaths
Castles In The Sky
"Do you ever question your life?
Do you ever wonder why?"
Two years since we destroyed Ultimecia. Two years, and yet, it still haunts me. I can't forget the way she spoke at the end, the way she had the final laugh. The way she spoke of our childhoods – she knew Squall's weakness. He acted so calm, so collected as he delivered the death-blow. But, already she was dying – had it been that way all along? She was a person still, a sorceress, but still mortal – time compression was killing her. More slowly than those of us without natural magic running through our veins, but we six were friends, we struggled to survive for each other. She, she had no one, not even a knight in the end. I wonder if Seifer was aware of what was happening to her, if that compounded his feelings of hate and bitterness for Squall.
She had won, a small victory before her death, but one that was to destroy us, one we did not yet know about. Yet now we are destroyed – more completely than she was, for we still live. Squall went back through time compression, sealing Ultimecia's fate by telling Matron, Edea, about Garden. The beauty of paradox. If Squall had not gone back, SeeD would not have been formed, Ultimecia would be alive, Galbadia would rule the world and time compression would have been successful. So nearly he was lost in time. Only Rinoa, steadfast in her love for him, was able to find and pull him through.
"Do you ever see in your dreams,
Oh the castles in the sky?"
As if any of this makes any difference now. It has all faded, like a dream turned nightmare, leaving a bitter taste in everyone's mouth. Perhaps the incident in the Training Centre all those years ago was prophesying the end. A final bitter victory – and who are we who are left to 'enjoy' it. We are famous, known across the world, feared and admired. SeeD has requests specifically for our assistance, they charge huge amounts for the 'saviours of the world'. We are figureheads, empty shells of what we once were. Only our experiences have stopped us from drifting apart. In our hearts we know no one else can ever understand – even those who openly try to commiserate, tears in their eyes.
The six of us are colder than ice, harder than stone. Emptier than space. In the end we all lost something dearer than the world, we paid the ultimate price for our dedication. And yet, we know it should not be this way. We should live life as it was meant to be lived. Instead darkness hangs over our souls and hearts – the way Ultimecia's castle hung over our heads that fated and cursed day.
"Oh tell me why,
Do we build castles in the sky?"
We were reeling from fatigue after the battle with Ultimecia and all her minions. Even the elixirs had little effect. Suddenly we heard a shout from behind us. Raijin's voice. None of us knew what was happening, we turned as he was running down the chain. Fujin followed close behind him. They barely paused to tell us to hurry. We followed their advice – knowing we were in no condition to face anything else.
The laugh that echoed down through the ages brought us all up short. Except Fujin and Raijin – they continued running, increasing their speed and vanishing through the orphanage. When we turned there was a figure slowly limping towards us. It was Seifer. The laughter was also Seifer's. His shoulders slumped and Hyperion seemed to drag at his hand, but his eyes glittered with hatred and malice. Squall drew his gunblade, allowing it to rest on the chain in front of him. Even then he seemed to know. Then time compression was suddenly breaking apart. Squall vanished, his thoughts taking him back to the past.
"Oh tell me why,
All the castles way up high."
For a long time, two months or more, we all thought it was over. The world relaxed. We relaxed. SeeD began to re-build itself. Cid took over the control of Garden again. Squall, not normally one to demand or ask anything of anyone, had told him to take back control before it was too late. We joked that Squall was starting to like the position of Garden Commander. His relationship with Rinoa flourished. The dream was perfect. Perhaps too perfect.
"Please tell me why,
Do we build castles in the sky?"
One year, nine months, two weeks, five days, four hours, sixteen minutes and twenty-seven seconds. That's how long this wound has been bleeding. One which we all know will never heal. It has formed an abscess, draining all humanity and emotion from our bodies. Three months after the final battle with Ultimecia Squall vanished. We found Rinoa sobbing in their dorm. She was too upset to talk. Unwisely we assumed that they had argued and Squall had wanted to be on his own for a while. Edea came to talk with Rinoa at her request. She came out of the room with tears streaming down her face. Eventually we discovered that Rinoa had dreamt the future – at least, Squall's future.
Panic set in. Cid gave us permission to take the Ragnarok to search. Squall must have known for a long time that this was going to happen. Just as Squall and Rinoa's love had brought them through thick and thin, Squall and Seifer's rivalry had also survived. All we had to go on was that Rinoa had seen them fighting in a desert. Do you know how many deserts there are? We do. The number is indelibly etched onto our memories. The most powerful GF could not erase it. As it could not erase our sorrow.
"Oh tell me why,
All the castles way up high."
We finally found them near the heart of the Kashkobald Desert. The Ragnarok landed nearby and we piled out, weary, but relieved to have found them. It was not until we were closer that we discovered the extent of our naivety. Close to it was clear they had been fighting for some time. Sweat poured off them and both looked tired. Blood marred both their shirts, nothing serious, just enough to indicate that they were beginning to lose concentration, beginning to lose. We shouted, screamed at them to stop, not to be so stupid. They didn't hear us, they couldn't hear us. Rinoa ran towards them, there was a bright flash and she was thrown backwards. When we looked again they were fighting in a purple haze. Then we realised. This was the final battle against Ultimecia. Somehow her death had pushed Seifer beyond the brink. He would never rest until Squall, and the rest of us he held responsible for her death, were dead.
All we could do was watch, and pray. But I think that somehow we knew fate was not going to let us escape again. They fought – dancing in the harsh sunlight, blades shining. We could hear every breath they took, see every wince as old wounds pulled and new wounds were inflicted. The ground they fought over slowly turned red with their blood. Neither Squall nor Seifer could last much longer. Suddenly they stopped, as if they were only training, and the time had expired. Both gunblades rested, point down as they saluted each other. Finally recognising each other as equals. Squall, the SeeD, saluting Seifer with the SeeD salute. Seifer, one time Galbadian Commander, saluting Squall with the Galbadian salute. They turned away. We held our breaths. Then, at peace with each other perhaps, wanting to end it certainly, they both whirled and ran full tilt at each other. Two yards away they both skidded to a halt. Eye to eye, in some gross parody of a mirror and its reflection, they both raised their blades. Neither made an attempt to block the fatal strike.
"Do you ever question your life?
Do you ever wonder why?"
They collapsed into each other, the mist fading as they died, in each other's arms. The blood pooled and spread from where they knelt, a widening circle of red that the ground greedily swallowed, begging for more. The dream was broken, and so were we.
"Do you ever see in your dreams,
Oh the castles in the sky."
AN: A songfic I wrote in one of my sadder moments. I sat and thought about the end of the game for a long time, and how it shows Seifer having 'recovered', then I thought, if I was Ultemecia, and I was dying, I'd want revenge. Who better to get that revenge than my knight? And if he died, so be it – he did after all fail to protect me. So I wanted to close the circle, so that the rivalry between the two was ended, but in the process the rest of the orphanage gang realise that this is reality – they're not going to be free until they step out from Squall's shadow, and Ultemecia isn't going to be gone until Seifer is. *sighs*, well, the fic's kinda like that.
Oh yeah, written from Quistis's pov.