This is a final fantasy 8 fanfic which takes place three years after the battle with Ultimacia. The battle with the Sorceress is over but now Squall and his seed companions find themselves under the threat of an entirely new enemy.
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Disclaimer: All Final Fantasy 8 characters are the rightful property of Squaresoft and other involved companies. I own none of the rights to them.
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EMPEROR OF DARKNESS
Prologue
Squall jumped back as Ultimecia's claws slashed towards his mid-section. Zell took advantage of this opportunity and attacked Ultimacia from behind using his "BOYAA" limit break. Stumbling back from the fierce attack Ultimatia struggles to summon her last reserves of energy on these meddlesome seeds. How dare they defy her so? Who are they to cause her so much pain and failure! Enraged, Ultimecia lifts her hands and summons a devastating amount of energy. The ground trembles from her power and suddenly the seeds are caught in a stream of energy waves with a glowing sign blazing on the floor beneath them. They all scream in pain as the energy dissipates. Squall stumbles weakly and falls on one knee. He looks to his side and can see that his teammates are similarly weakened by the attack. Squall knows that this is it. This is their last shot at defeating Ultimacia. If they don't act now they will never win this battle. His thoughts run wild as he tries to formulate a plan of action. Suddenly Ultimacia rushes towards them again and attacks selphie with her claws. The girl screams out in pain as the sorceress claws rip through her flesh. Selphie immediately falls to the floor.
"SELPHIE!" Irvine screams as he watches the woman he loves fall to the ground.
Squall can see that his friend is outraged at Ultimacia for hurting selphie and angry with himself for not being strong enough to retaliate. Never the less, Squall looks on in shock as Irvine slowly rises to his feet. Squall is immediately aware of what is friend is thinking. He shuts his eyes tightly, trying to formulate some plan that can protect his friends and at the same time defeat Ultimacia. Squall tightens the grip on his gunblade as a desperate plan comes to mind.
"IRVINE WAIT!" Squall cries as he also rises to his feet.
Irvine looks back at squall somewhat hesitantly. Squall breathed a sigh of relief that his friend had not lost all control and wasn't beyond reason. "Irvine… all of you, listen up! I've got a plan."
All seed members and Rinoa turned their attention to Squall as he continued to speak through clinched teeth. "Irvine I want you to fire at Ultimacia with everything you got but don't get carried away. Just cause enough damage to get her attention. Meanwhile Zell I want you to get Selphie out of harms way and use curaga on her. Quistis your job is to hold Ultimacia down with your whip. Rinoa you are to blind her with your boomerang. After such action I want you all to pull back. I'm going to attack her with everything I got. And… if I fall I want you all to continue to attack her no matter what! Give her all you got guys. Please! Uphold the duty of seed no matter what! Ultimacia will not have her way! As a seed I will not allow it!"
Rinoa looked at squall with frightened eyes. She did not want to lose him but she understood his decision and would support him till the end. She knew just how important this battle was. After being possessed by Ultimacia, Rinoa was privy to all of her sick and heinous plans. Rinoa would give anything to ensure that such evil would never touch this earth. "Just be careful" was all she could manage from her trembling lips.
Squall nodded his head. He then turned towards Ultimacia with determination engraved in his eyes. "Ultimacia your reign of terror is over!" he yelled. Seeds… for the future… for the pride of Balamb Garden, ATTACK!"
With that, Irvin jumped forward, drawing his shotgun and fired upon Ultimacia Using his limit break Pulse cannon attack. "Try some o' this you evil bitch!" he yelled as he continued pummeling her with his shots.
Ultimacia shrugged this off as she turned her gaze once again towards Selphie's prone form. "Death to all seeds" she hissed as she opened her hand preparing for a final attack on the poor girl.
Suddenly a cord wound itself around her arms preventing her from attacking. Just then zell leapt forward, scooped selphie out of harms way and dashed out of sight. "Damn you seeds" Ultimacia hissed, struggling against the binding cords.
"This is for all the people you hurt Ultimacia!" cried Rinoa, releasing her boomerang dead center in Ultimacias face.
As the Sorceress recoiled from this attack Irvine, Quistis, and Rinoa drew back allowing Squall to stand tall in front of the demon of darkness. 'Please let this be enough', Squall prayed silently. His eyes snapped back towards Ultimacia with penetrating determination. "This is it Ultimacia, your terror ends here!"
With that, Squall leapt into the air unleashing the powerful force of his lion heart limit break. He slashed Ultimacia continuously, hoping she would fall with every blow. After the twentieth slash, squall leapt back and charged his blade for one final strike. Once the energy was too much for him to bear anymore, he jumped forward and unleashed his final reserves of energy on Ultimacia. "LION HEART!" he screamed as the blade bit into Ultimacia's flesh sending her soaring through the air and crashing down to the ground like a meteor.
Squall immediately fell to one knee from the sheer power of his attack. Ultimacia struggled a bit more mumbling something about how time is inevitable but before she could finish her speech she exploded into a ball of energy and showered the seeds with harmless specks of light. "Its over", Squall mumbled before passing out.
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Above the scene of battle, another figure bore witness to the fall of the Sorceress.
"Ultimacia you fool", he muttered through clenched teeth. His entire frame was covered in shadows but his outward frame was massive and intimidating.
"Would you like us to find another more suitable replacement for Ultimacia, my Emperor?" asked one of his assistants.
"All in good time Rhazenek" the figure said silently. "Despite her apparent short comings, Ultimacia was useful to me in one respect. She has altered the destiny of 'THE LEGEND'".
Rhazenek paled at this remark. "But… sire how can we be sure? It is true she has guided one from the path of light but how can we be sure he will not regain his former honor or even worse, how can we be sure another will not take his place"?
The Emperor laughed cruely at this. "It matters little to me if another takes his place, let them come, they will never be as strong as the combined link 'he' shares with the other. And as far as returning to glory is concerned, that is also not an issue. He is weak in his desire for purpose and power. His honor has been shattered along with his purpose and whatever remained of his power. He will never rise to what he was. Ha! He is now nothing more than a lost puppy running aimlessly in a world he is only now beginning to see with new eyes."
"So then we are to do nothing about him sire?"
"No, I have plans for him. I shall use him again just as Ultimacia has used him. My only concern now is Lion heart. He is following true to his preset course."
"Shall we eliminate him sire?"
"No, There is still much for me to learn about this time period. We shall wait and bide our time Rhazenek. As Ultimacia so kindly stated to those seeds time is endless and I shall be its master!" with that said, the Emperor broke off into a maniacal laughter that rang all throughout his throne room.
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Well that's it for my Prologue. How did you like it? I've always wanted to do a ff8 fanfic and this is my first shot at one. Hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please send all comments, critiques, and flames to me at cordis_xaltun@altavista.com Thanks for reading!