Final Fantasy 8: The Heart of the Lunar Cry
SAVIOURSEPHIROTH: Okay, I'd just like to say before people start to complain, this fan fic changes a few things to do with the ending of Final Fantasy 8, for one thing Quistis has left to go to Esthar city, also the moon is still glowing red in this story. There are other smaller details such as the fact that in the original ending Zell is stuffing his face at the table and then Irvine and the others spot Squall and Rinoa on the balcony instead in this story Zell is still stuffing his face but he is being chased by Angelo. R&R plz!!!
Chapter 1: Something on my mind.
"Squall...?"
He turned his head with a gentle gaze that met Rinoa's eyes with a glimmer of hope and excitement. So many questions left unanswered, so many lives lost in the war and so much change had happened that hope and excitement for the future was the fuel of the moment. Although Ultemicia had been defeated Rinoa knew that something still plagued Squall's mind.
Trying to take his mind off the past she gently smiled at him, as did he. The light from the ballroom flowed onto the balcony and made the breeze seem warm and inviting, the night sky was clear and the sea air free of fog. She pointed to a star that fell in the sky and at that moment he held her and they kissed. He brought his arm to her side and pulled her gently towards him, she returned the embrace. Her hold was gentle and his was firm, the moment became intense and close. All the thoughts that were flowing through Squalls mind faded into background noise and broke apart till all that was left was Rinoa. Raising her arm to his shoulder she pressed her head against his chest. "Rinoa" softly mouthing her name he became lost in her but the moment was interrupted by a crash from inside the ballroom. Angelo had decided to chase Zell around for a while who was sporting the usual attire and also a large sandwich from the buffet. Zell fell onto Irvine who was flung onto a table surrounded with people, chairs, food and drinks. Casual as ever Irvine stood up dusted down his clothes and walked away with a slight nervous smile that graced the corner of his cheeks. Zell bounded to his feet and rushed out of the ballroom and onto the balcony to have a go at Rinoa for letting Angelo loose but his rampage was cut short and he stood frozen in the archway like one of Shiva's ice sculptures realizing that he had interrupted a very private moment between Rinoa and Squall.
"Umm..." Zell quickly became nervous and agitated with both Squall and Rinoa's eyes glaring at him in mild shock. Scratching the back of his head he repeated "Umm..."
"Yes Zell, what is it?" Rinoa put on her confident leadership voice to force Zell to back away, she kept her arm tightly on Squall only turning her head to look at Zell.
"Umm, oh forget it." Zell backed away; having taken a lesson from Squall he was slowly gaining the ability to suppress his rage and hyperactive-ness. Squalls eyes avoided contact with Zell and he began to look up at the stars. Rinoa gave a tiny inward giggle as Zell retreated to the ballroom.
She returned her gaze to Squall in an attempt to regain that moment but Squalls face had become riddled in a stern hardened way. He was deep in thought, staring with blank, water logged eyes over the ocean. Again she decided to break his thought:
"Hey Squall", his gaze shifted but his posture remained the same.
"Where are we going?" after a moments pause he turned his body away from her and walked inside, his face still blank and posture still rigid. Rinoa frowned in an almost spiteful way. She followed his shadow into the ballroom with her eyes waiting for him to turn back and say something but he did no such thing. Confused as to what had just happened she chased after him in a brisk walk. Weaving in and out of the crowds of people in the ballroom Squall increased his pace and doubled his steps till he was practically jogging. Unable to keep up having to battle through the crowds, Rinoa gave up her chase and stood alone with a rush of people that became blurry figures around her.
Squall continued to rush along leaving the ballroom behind him. He headed down the corridors of Balamb Garden till he arrived at the main elevator. He pressed the button to call the elevator and waited anxiously.
"Squall" The voice he heard was more forceful than that of Rinoa's but it was familiar to him, after a seconds thought he said:
"Yes Matron?" "You know things haven't finished for you. Not every hero gets just one adventure and no more, your case is different there is still..."
"I know, I know, the dreams I've been having, Quistis leaving, the guardian forces and the moon, I know it isn't over for me yet, but I want it to be." Squall widened his stance ready to turn and face Matron.
Matron dipped her eyes which was an odd expression for the woman who was once renowned for being a cold hearted murdering sorceress.
"Where are you going?" She asked.
Turning to face her Matron frowned at the expression Squall carried. He seemed different somehow. "We're going to stop the Garden, we're stopping right here and we're turning around, we're going to go bring Quistis back."
"But why?"
"Why did she leave? Matron, tell me why she left" Squalls tone become raised with a slight madness as if he felt like he had lost Quistis forever.
"She went because she wants to find out about the moon and why it's still glowing red, she's gone to Esthar, Cid asked her too, Squall you haven't lost her if that's what you're thinking, calm down. She's just doing her job"
Squall shook his head slightly as he turned his back to Matron. He stormed into the elevator that had been waiting since the beginning of the conversation, pressed the button to ascend to the third floor and turned around again only to see Matron looking almost as confused as Rinoa was only moments ago.
The elevator whirred and pinged as it reached the top. Stepping from the elevator he expected to see Cid standing there next to Xu controlling Garden, but neither of them were there. Realising that they were both in the ballroom enjoying the celebrations Squall leapt forward to the controls. Grasping the controls to Garden in both hands Squall pulled the giant shaft that operated as a steering device for Garden. The sharpness of the pull dipped the left side of Garden till its base was partially submerged in the sea below. Hearing the elevator descend behind him he snapped back to his senses and gently eased his grip from the controls. With Garden now heading directly for Esthar, Squall withdrew from the controls and turned around to head back down to the ballroom. Again he pressed the button and waited anxiously. The hardness in his face had almost disappeared and completely faded as the lift ascended with both Rinoa and Xu inside.
"Squall!! Are you crazy? What do you think you're doing? Have you gone completely mad?" Squall raised his eyebrows in surprise, this wasn't the kind of reaction he had come to expect from Xu. Staring intently at Xu's fuming expression Squall completely forgot that Rinoa was standing at her side with arms on hips and bent forward as if examining his face.
"Ahem" Rinoa gave a fake cough to draw Squall's attention.
"Squall what's wrong? Talk to me" Rinoa lowered her tone to an open plea, Xu headed for the controls to make sure everything was okay.
"Xu, don't change our course, we're heading to Esthar to pick up Quistis" Squall shouted back to Xu answering one of the many questions that Rinoa was bound to ask.
Turning back to Rinoa Squall said, "Sorry, but..." He paused as if trying to find the right place to start his story, his eyes began to shift from left to right searching for a beginning. "When time compression started to undo itself I had a dream or lots of dreams, about lots of things, and, there was one about you... We were in space, and..."
"SQUALL COME QUICK!" There was a nervous hesitant fear in Xu's voice as she called to Squall. Squall turned to see what the fuss was all about, he squinted slightly and turned back to face Rinoa as if to say, 'We'll talk later' but no words came out and Squall turned again and ran to the controls.
"What is...?" Squall stopped his sentence midway as he looked upon a spectacle in the distance. A volcanic explosion was unfolding on the right hand side of the sky and on the left an icy cavern stood in the middle of the ocean. Emerging from the ash, smoke and smog that had collected on the right was Ifrit, but somehow he looked different, his flames were no longer burning their usual red instead they projected a deep black that seemed to suck everything in. Shiva stood in opposition to him hovering inside a bed of icicles. She too projected an unnatural black.
"What's going on?" Cid bellowed out from the elevator accompanied by Irvine, Zell, Selphie and Matron. They each rushed forward with the exception of Matron who lingered towards the back.
"We don't know. It's Ifrit and Shiva. Look".
At that moment the clouds turned a blood red colour and black lightning shot down from them and slowly formed the bird-like appearance of a black Quezacotl. The cloud sank to the surface of the ocean and from that emerged Diablos entombed in one of his own demi attacks, soon after the cloud cleared, a black pillar rose from the water and Carbuncle fell through it however its ruby was no longer shining. The other GF's followed suit with both Leviathan and Siren exploding out from black rocks in the ocean. Alexander, the Brothers and Cerberus appeared from a black platform that hovered in the air. Bahamut fell from a black portal that opened in the sky followed by Doomtrain whose tracks and flames were black against the water. Tonberry, Cactuar, Mog and Boko appeared from a separate black portal that also formed a platform in the middle of the sea. A whirlwind grew in the sky from which came Pandemona and Gilgamesh. Finally from the heavens came Eden cloaked in black drapes. All the Guardian Forces were assembled.
SAVIOURSEPHIROTH: Okay, I'd just like to say before people start to complain, this fan fic changes a few things to do with the ending of Final Fantasy 8, for one thing Quistis has left to go to Esthar city, also the moon is still glowing red in this story. There are other smaller details such as the fact that in the original ending Zell is stuffing his face at the table and then Irvine and the others spot Squall and Rinoa on the balcony instead in this story Zell is still stuffing his face but he is being chased by Angelo. R&R plz!!!
Chapter 1: Something on my mind.
"Squall...?"
He turned his head with a gentle gaze that met Rinoa's eyes with a glimmer of hope and excitement. So many questions left unanswered, so many lives lost in the war and so much change had happened that hope and excitement for the future was the fuel of the moment. Although Ultemicia had been defeated Rinoa knew that something still plagued Squall's mind.
Trying to take his mind off the past she gently smiled at him, as did he. The light from the ballroom flowed onto the balcony and made the breeze seem warm and inviting, the night sky was clear and the sea air free of fog. She pointed to a star that fell in the sky and at that moment he held her and they kissed. He brought his arm to her side and pulled her gently towards him, she returned the embrace. Her hold was gentle and his was firm, the moment became intense and close. All the thoughts that were flowing through Squalls mind faded into background noise and broke apart till all that was left was Rinoa. Raising her arm to his shoulder she pressed her head against his chest. "Rinoa" softly mouthing her name he became lost in her but the moment was interrupted by a crash from inside the ballroom. Angelo had decided to chase Zell around for a while who was sporting the usual attire and also a large sandwich from the buffet. Zell fell onto Irvine who was flung onto a table surrounded with people, chairs, food and drinks. Casual as ever Irvine stood up dusted down his clothes and walked away with a slight nervous smile that graced the corner of his cheeks. Zell bounded to his feet and rushed out of the ballroom and onto the balcony to have a go at Rinoa for letting Angelo loose but his rampage was cut short and he stood frozen in the archway like one of Shiva's ice sculptures realizing that he had interrupted a very private moment between Rinoa and Squall.
"Umm..." Zell quickly became nervous and agitated with both Squall and Rinoa's eyes glaring at him in mild shock. Scratching the back of his head he repeated "Umm..."
"Yes Zell, what is it?" Rinoa put on her confident leadership voice to force Zell to back away, she kept her arm tightly on Squall only turning her head to look at Zell.
"Umm, oh forget it." Zell backed away; having taken a lesson from Squall he was slowly gaining the ability to suppress his rage and hyperactive-ness. Squalls eyes avoided contact with Zell and he began to look up at the stars. Rinoa gave a tiny inward giggle as Zell retreated to the ballroom.
She returned her gaze to Squall in an attempt to regain that moment but Squalls face had become riddled in a stern hardened way. He was deep in thought, staring with blank, water logged eyes over the ocean. Again she decided to break his thought:
"Hey Squall", his gaze shifted but his posture remained the same.
"Where are we going?" after a moments pause he turned his body away from her and walked inside, his face still blank and posture still rigid. Rinoa frowned in an almost spiteful way. She followed his shadow into the ballroom with her eyes waiting for him to turn back and say something but he did no such thing. Confused as to what had just happened she chased after him in a brisk walk. Weaving in and out of the crowds of people in the ballroom Squall increased his pace and doubled his steps till he was practically jogging. Unable to keep up having to battle through the crowds, Rinoa gave up her chase and stood alone with a rush of people that became blurry figures around her.
Squall continued to rush along leaving the ballroom behind him. He headed down the corridors of Balamb Garden till he arrived at the main elevator. He pressed the button to call the elevator and waited anxiously.
"Squall" The voice he heard was more forceful than that of Rinoa's but it was familiar to him, after a seconds thought he said:
"Yes Matron?" "You know things haven't finished for you. Not every hero gets just one adventure and no more, your case is different there is still..."
"I know, I know, the dreams I've been having, Quistis leaving, the guardian forces and the moon, I know it isn't over for me yet, but I want it to be." Squall widened his stance ready to turn and face Matron.
Matron dipped her eyes which was an odd expression for the woman who was once renowned for being a cold hearted murdering sorceress.
"Where are you going?" She asked.
Turning to face her Matron frowned at the expression Squall carried. He seemed different somehow. "We're going to stop the Garden, we're stopping right here and we're turning around, we're going to go bring Quistis back."
"But why?"
"Why did she leave? Matron, tell me why she left" Squalls tone become raised with a slight madness as if he felt like he had lost Quistis forever.
"She went because she wants to find out about the moon and why it's still glowing red, she's gone to Esthar, Cid asked her too, Squall you haven't lost her if that's what you're thinking, calm down. She's just doing her job"
Squall shook his head slightly as he turned his back to Matron. He stormed into the elevator that had been waiting since the beginning of the conversation, pressed the button to ascend to the third floor and turned around again only to see Matron looking almost as confused as Rinoa was only moments ago.
The elevator whirred and pinged as it reached the top. Stepping from the elevator he expected to see Cid standing there next to Xu controlling Garden, but neither of them were there. Realising that they were both in the ballroom enjoying the celebrations Squall leapt forward to the controls. Grasping the controls to Garden in both hands Squall pulled the giant shaft that operated as a steering device for Garden. The sharpness of the pull dipped the left side of Garden till its base was partially submerged in the sea below. Hearing the elevator descend behind him he snapped back to his senses and gently eased his grip from the controls. With Garden now heading directly for Esthar, Squall withdrew from the controls and turned around to head back down to the ballroom. Again he pressed the button and waited anxiously. The hardness in his face had almost disappeared and completely faded as the lift ascended with both Rinoa and Xu inside.
"Squall!! Are you crazy? What do you think you're doing? Have you gone completely mad?" Squall raised his eyebrows in surprise, this wasn't the kind of reaction he had come to expect from Xu. Staring intently at Xu's fuming expression Squall completely forgot that Rinoa was standing at her side with arms on hips and bent forward as if examining his face.
"Ahem" Rinoa gave a fake cough to draw Squall's attention.
"Squall what's wrong? Talk to me" Rinoa lowered her tone to an open plea, Xu headed for the controls to make sure everything was okay.
"Xu, don't change our course, we're heading to Esthar to pick up Quistis" Squall shouted back to Xu answering one of the many questions that Rinoa was bound to ask.
Turning back to Rinoa Squall said, "Sorry, but..." He paused as if trying to find the right place to start his story, his eyes began to shift from left to right searching for a beginning. "When time compression started to undo itself I had a dream or lots of dreams, about lots of things, and, there was one about you... We were in space, and..."
"SQUALL COME QUICK!" There was a nervous hesitant fear in Xu's voice as she called to Squall. Squall turned to see what the fuss was all about, he squinted slightly and turned back to face Rinoa as if to say, 'We'll talk later' but no words came out and Squall turned again and ran to the controls.
"What is...?" Squall stopped his sentence midway as he looked upon a spectacle in the distance. A volcanic explosion was unfolding on the right hand side of the sky and on the left an icy cavern stood in the middle of the ocean. Emerging from the ash, smoke and smog that had collected on the right was Ifrit, but somehow he looked different, his flames were no longer burning their usual red instead they projected a deep black that seemed to suck everything in. Shiva stood in opposition to him hovering inside a bed of icicles. She too projected an unnatural black.
"What's going on?" Cid bellowed out from the elevator accompanied by Irvine, Zell, Selphie and Matron. They each rushed forward with the exception of Matron who lingered towards the back.
"We don't know. It's Ifrit and Shiva. Look".
At that moment the clouds turned a blood red colour and black lightning shot down from them and slowly formed the bird-like appearance of a black Quezacotl. The cloud sank to the surface of the ocean and from that emerged Diablos entombed in one of his own demi attacks, soon after the cloud cleared, a black pillar rose from the water and Carbuncle fell through it however its ruby was no longer shining. The other GF's followed suit with both Leviathan and Siren exploding out from black rocks in the ocean. Alexander, the Brothers and Cerberus appeared from a black platform that hovered in the air. Bahamut fell from a black portal that opened in the sky followed by Doomtrain whose tracks and flames were black against the water. Tonberry, Cactuar, Mog and Boko appeared from a separate black portal that also formed a platform in the middle of the sea. A whirlwind grew in the sky from which came Pandemona and Gilgamesh. Finally from the heavens came Eden cloaked in black drapes. All the Guardian Forces were assembled.