Hi, first chapter is up! A few notes beforehand: Phobos was written after the german version of FF VIII, so some names might be different than the originals. Furthermore, I never finished the game, so some conclusions might contradict the game. The characters Phoebe, Jersey, Josh, Angela, Kyle, Kasuko, Janna, Ania, Cassandra and several others "belong" to me, the rest is honored property of Square and Final Fantasy.
Plot Summary: Three years have passed since Squall Leonhart and his team defeated the witch Ultimacia. The world has just started to heal, humanity got its strength and believe back. But a catastrophe without example throws its shadow onto the world.
An extremely powerfull witch named Artemis, almost a godess, aims to realize her plan of the ultimate extinction of humanity and the only ones able to stop her are indeed those who have joined forces with her: four warriors, possessing the powers of the elements wind, earth, water and fire. And with them in the way, Squall sees no chance of even reaching Artemis. But while he is busy trying to save the world he also is being drawn deep into the dark mysteries of his family. And what is the role of the supposedly passed away, former commander of SeeD, Phoebe, in all of this?
Before he knows, Squall is caught between his destiny and duty as a hero and his feelings. Will he be able to save menkind?
Now please enjoy and give lots and lots of reviews :)
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Night of the Living Dead
Can one lose something he never had?
-Sure.
Today, it's impossible to tell when things began to change. All of a sudden everything was… different. It was nobody's particular fault, it just happened. Something went wrong on the track of destiny. Someone just triggered this avalanche without even knowing it and after time, the whole mountain had collapsed. Our Mountain.
None of us would've thought that something that enormous would ever collapse. Nevertheless, it couldn't be stopped. It was our ignorance, making us believe to fight for the right thing. But who could actually tell right from wrong? We believed this mountain to be our stand, feared that someone might tear away the floor from our feet. It was just too late when I realized it was the other way around. The mountain was our tomb. It was a desperate attempt to free us from it.
I want to tell of this mountain.
For quite some time, we didn't even realize it to be there. It was all too natural. For me as for everybody else. It was part of us, deep inside, anchored within our existence like the mechanism of breathing. Like the beating heart one doesn't have to think about. Who would question it? Why does my heart beat? The edge of existential questions. Why does a human being live? For what reason? Where does it come from, where does it go? Questions, no one can answer. As close to impossible as to answer: What does this mountain mean?
Then. Then I would've never questioned such things, wouldn't have thought about it. It was just the moment I met her I started to question my life, my view of the world. Without her, I would still be a naïve little boy. She changed my life. Mine, those of my friends, my foes, the life and existence of this world, she changed everything that had been so natural to us. She changed me.
Nearly perfect, that day on which everything… well, started one could say. The beginning of the end, so to speak, because from that day on my life slightly disappeared and everything that had been dear to me vanished, lost ground to her. By now – this day is long ago – she is everything. The first look into those eyes may have been the most important moment on this beginning of the end.
Well now, if I'm honest – what I should be in a historical report – it was not this day, but actually a few days later and not the day at all, but the night. But one has to understand the background, has to understand where we're coming from to see, where it's all going to. And this day actually summarizes my background pretty well.
This day started like any other day. It could've been any other day. It started with the ceiling of my bedroom. With the milky light falling through the sunblind, with the soft sparkles on the ceiling, like water. It was a beautiful, early morning in the calm and idyllic town of Balamb. No disturbing noise, just far away talk on the streets and the sound of small waves in the near harbor. I couldn't remember what I dreamt that night, why would I? At that time, dreams had no importance at all. I was busy enough with reality. I turned in bed and saw Rinoa, still peacefully asleep. She looked like an angel, her dark hair tied to a braid, wearing a white nightgown. The lucky one could stay asleep for some time longer; I had to be at my office the latest in an hour. I smiled and softly caressed her cheek to not wake her up; she smiled back from out of her dream.
I left the bed.
Rinoa and I had married two years ago.
We first met when we were both 17 years old; it had been a tempestuous and problematic time, the first time of our relationship. Later that changed. Everybody said she was good for me, was compensating my grumpy and sometimes moody character. She was Yin, while I was Yang. There was some truth to that. After our lives became a bit calmer than before, we started thinking about marrying. The wedding was half a year later. By now, we're both 21, both active in our professions. I'm the Captain for recruitment to SeeD; she was junior Senator in the global senate. Actually, there were no positions fitting better to us than those. Even though Rinoa always said I should command the whole unit, become Commander, I was totally satisfied with my job. I had been Commander in charge for a short while, but now the only person really capable of that had taken over her duties again. Shou Laieth. Commander Laieth was the last one I wanted to challenge in that field; why start a dispute about a job I didn't want?
After showering I came down to the living room, Rinoa was standing near the kitchen and watched her coffee dripping through the filter. She was so absorbed; she at first didn't even see me.
"Morning."
"Hey…" she whispered, moving her hand through my still wet hair and kissing me softly. "Shou called, she's on the mailbox. It sounded important."
I sighed and shook my head.
"Everything Shou says sounds important."
There were three calls on the mailbox. Two friends of Rinoas – chuckling girls talk – and the one from Shou. The girls had no role in this weird play, they were merely supernumeraries. By the way, it's pretty arrogant of me to believe that I had more of a role than those two, arrogant to even believe I had a role. Maybe it was all just imagination, maybe I was also just a figure on her chess game, a pawn she had to tactically sacrifice to win. And she would win, even if it was a bitter conclusion, it was useless to determine the probability of her defeat. It was close to zero.
"Good morning, sorry to call that early, hope I didn't wake you. We have a… special kind of problem in a small trabian town. Squall, can you be at the Garden as soon as possible, were in a hurry. Thanks."
Actually, it really sounded important. But as I said, that was no criteria for Shou Laieth. Starting with an excuse, then a demand and ending with an insistent order. Those calls always meant bad news.
"See?" Rinoa said, smiling at me with her cup of coffee.
"Well… what's your schedule for today?"
"We have a meeting with the development committee in Esthar today. Don't expect me back before tomorrow evening."
That was how the 24th of July 1960 started.
Balamb-Garden was a military academy in the centre of the small island continent Balamb. It was the academy where I completed my education as elite mercenary soldier and became a member of the unit SeeD, where I work since then, three years ago. Same goes for few of my – actually anyways just few – friends. The friends I met three years ago, when we became heroes and kind of saved the world.
Niida Eikara was one of them; he was Captain of the renowned SeeD-Airforce and kind of my right hand.
Then Quistis Trepe, who was one year older than me and started her career as training supervisor, by now she was the secretary of Commander Laieth. All the others had quit the Garden and SeeD after what happened three years ago.
Selphie Tillmit started a new life in Timber, metropolitan of journalism, and was now editor of the most important, independent newspapers in the world – The Timber Maniacs. She lives in a relationship with another friend of ours, Irvine Kinneas, but they didn't marry. The both were happy with their relationship, just the way it was. No marriages there.
The both persons the least alike in my circle of friends were Zaiver Almasy and Xell Dincht. Last thing I heard of them was that they started being independent mercs, working in a team on the most bloodcurdling Missions one could think of. They were kind of all-purpose-guys. But no one had seen them in the last two years.
For the last two years, many things changed, many things got better. The chaos caused by the mad witch Ultimacia was eliminated, everyone focused on a common global policy. One could say the world was on her best way to recovery. She had suffered of many wounds in the battles past, many had died. Bit wounds heal. Then, I didn't know the wound we wrenched in our battle with Ultimacia reached far too deep to ever heal. It was so deep that it reached the deepest and most ancient core of human history, the dark secrets that had been hidden many eons ago to never be retrieved from there.
We normally speak of the cleft. It has already asked its sacrifices, long before we were aware of something going wrong. One would think that in a world, which had lost its magic, nothing was left unexplained. But that was not the case. Yes, there were no witches any more, but things like that depend on definition. There were things happening.
At the end of May, a fishing boat disappeared without leaving any clues at all. Eight men and a boat, gone, nobody had seen a thing. Just off the coast of Balamb not far from here. And only two days later a second one, slightly bigger, eleven men. No tracks or traces, no clues or hints. They were just gone. Someone said the fish off the coast behaved strange, started a migration to somewhere, which was not normal for this season. But since I'm no expert, I didn't care. Big mistake.
More mysteries to come. Two weeks later, two jets of the SeeD-Airforce lost control for no visible reason and crashed into the ocean near the crater of Centra. Four young SeeDs died. Nobody had an explanation for the tragedy. I didn't know one of them, Niida did. They had been colleagues of his, young man who graduated with him. Friend's maybe. I couldn't imagine how it felt to lose a friend then, maybe now I'm better with that.
Strange. SeeD was the dream of every youngster who wanted to fight for his mother country. Young men like I was one some time ago, idealist, patriots. Young women who wanted to change, to improve the world and were ready to fight for that. We were warriors, cultured and trained to kill. And still we were children. We didn't know the price we would have to pay. All my life, I wanted to be nothing else but SeeD. If I had a different dream, what would it have been like? How different would all the things have ended up? It was like god thought this whole creation-thing over and decided better not to do something like that. Unthinkable consequences!
I took my black leather coat and shortly looked at my face in the mirror. I hadn't changed that much. My face was still rather soft, even though some features had grown harder. My eyes still lay under an most of the time in thoughts wrinkled forehead, they were still blue and clear. And there was a scar between them. It reached from shortly above my right eyebrow till curtly below my left eye. A scar which reminded me that this was not a game. It was just a game which brought those scars to Zaiver and my forehead, but giving them two more centimeters, it would have been an eye. Those scars should remind us that rules weren't made for breaking them.
In the battles I had fought I took many wounds, and I will suffer even more in the battles still coming. But no scar will be that omnipresent as this one.
"I'm calling this evening, switch you communicator on!" Angel said, already on her way to the bathroom.
"I love you!" I said, not knowing if she heard. These words still felt odd to me, even though I got kind of used to saying them. But their meaning would change in a short while.
I left.
The town of Balamb was the perfect idyll, a beautiful town which made it easy to feel at home, a secure harbor you could return to any time. Balamb was a town nobody would remember if she disappeared suddenly. Nobody would realize something was missing. Only those who had spend their lives here. Like me. Rinoa never understood what Balamb meant to me. But anyways, we should belong to the last generations ever to experience the beauty of this town.
Balamb was a tiny little seaport, without any rough edges, even the roods were cupolas and the city wall was more an arch. Everything was painted in soft color with complex lines and drawings, reminding me of the famous Art nouveau. There was seldom a car to be seen in the town, so the cobbled pavement was still raspy.
The people of Balamb were an idiosyncratic folk of fishermen, spending their evenings in the only pub called Highlander. Everyone knew everyone; they even greeted me when I walked down the street to the car rent. It was a family business, like all of Balamb. Wrinkled old hags with scratchy hands from their hard work, stinking from fish they cooked day by day in their Dungeon-like kitchens. No world-trade-consciousness in Balamb.
The harbor lay at the southern part of town, small fish cutters had thrown anchor there, at this time a day, all piers were blocked, the fishermen left town at night, were small spots of light on an oily black sea. Only one pier was empty nearly all year long.
Pier number 4 was only blocked on one occasion in a year. The practical exam of the SeeD education. When young cadets rode to their first mission in racy, grey motorboats – like I did three years ago. The legendary boats of the SeeD-Navy, no outsider was ever allowed to enter them. The boats that rode from this harbor to the war in Esthar, 20 years ago, where SeeD fought their legendary battle against the black Army of Adell, the tyrant witch. Adell, who we finally defeated three years ago, so that never again would a witch work towards her dark aims.
"Aye, Mornin' Squall!" the owner of the car rent store greeted, when I came by. He was an old man and a little clumsy, but everyone liked him
"Morning."
"Gone for work? What Rin doin'?" he asked friendly.
"She has a conference in Esthar today. I need my car."
"Always wait'n for ya." He said and threw the key over the counter. In one of the garages in the back of the store, my rover already waited. In the last three years, I don't remember one day on which I didn't ride to work with that one and I was already thinking of buying it. Black, convertible top, a simple rover, without any modern knickknack – no radio only playing wave-files, no Bluetooth-key, no navigation system, no autopilot. Many people say I'm older than my generation. That's why I usually get along better with older people than those of my age.
I get in, start the engine and drive out on the street, leading away from Balamb and the sea. The road leads from the city a short while along the coast, through a small forest into the central area of the island, where everything smelled like green leafs. Then across the green planes, from where you could already see the Garden, standing at its regular spot again. Three years ago, we had to activate the old system of the mobile bunker again, when we were attacked by the galbadian military rockets. But now it had returned and stood there peacefully.
Balamb-Garden was a huge building, shaped in circles with seven corridors, leading to the separated areas like the cafeteria, the library or the small military hospital station. A huge, glowing ring, showing the emblem of the Garden, rotated above the roof.
I drove passed the main gates into the giant garage in the basement to my private parking lot between the company cars, locked the rover and entered the elevator. I passed two storys on my way to the top floor where the directorate and the office of Commander Laieth were located. When the door opened, the first person I met was Quistis Trepe.
She was wearing the anthracite, chick uniform of SeeD and she seemed awfully busy. But Quistis is always like that. She had cut her flaxen hair to her chin some time ago; it suited her, made her look younger in contrast to her very serious and strict manners. Quistis – Niida was used to calling her Quinn – had been my training supervisor, even though she is only one year older than me. When she read, she wore glasses, which made her look even more like a teacher. She was popular with the student, had her won fan club among the cadets. The reasons were obvious. Quistis was like an older sister to her cadets, caring for all of them and to some extend there was no person that knew me better that her.
She looked up when I entered.
"Ah, good morning, Squall. Shou is already waiting for you." She said, nodding to the door of the Commander's office. I nod back and enter the mighty, heavy wooden door. The office was pretty spacious with a big but elegant desk made of wood polished to highest gloss. On this desk were tons of files, a flat screen and a slim computer tower. On the left wall were countless books ordered in a shelf, on the right wall were large cabinets full of files. On the cozy armchair, absorbed in material, sat Shou Laieth.
She was a thin but strapping woman, an athlete with an even, round shaped face, narrowly rolling lips and hazel eyes. Her dark hair had slight waves, she had cut her bangs accurate as if with a straight edge and the rest of her hair, reaching down to her shoulders, was tied to a braid as usual. Like Quistis, she wore the grey uniform, but she was used to wear trousers instead of a skirt. Many people called Shou a women's libber, she was an independent woman. She had been married once, with a young journalist from Timber. But during a research in criminal circles he had been shot dead by accident. Now she was a widow. All she had left was her work, no private life, she didn't need it. Her life was her job, her family was SeeD.
When I entered, she looked up. Shou Laieth was only one of the many extraordinary personalities who I met in my life. I must admit, Shou and I had our problems. We had respect for one another, which did not imply that we liked each other.
"Ah, good morning, Leonhart. Just on time." She said with something on her face that might be interpreted as a smile. She waved at one of the two chairs in front of her desk. "Please, sit down."
While most of us got used to calling one another by the given name, Shou was as strict as a leader could be and so, she called us by our surnames as if they were titles. Shou honored the rules. One of the reasons why she seemed cold and stiff to outsiders. I took her offer and sat down.
"What's wrong, your call sounded urgent."
"My calls always sound urgent." She said. I didn't answer to that, sometimes, that was the wiser choice. "But this one actually really is. There s a special mission I want to give to you. You and two other members of the old team."
"The old team?"
That caught my attention. Years had passed since there had been a mission for the old team. After time, this team had grown to some kind of urban legend which the younger cadets wanted to reach. It was my team, originally formed to slay witches.
"I've already informed Eikara and Trepe." Shou said nodding. Niida and Quistis. And myself. What kind of mission could be so important that Shou had to send out three of her Captains? "Strange happenings have occurred in a small trabian town called Tripeaks. It's the hometown of… one of the pilots who tragically died a few weeks ago."
"Is there a connection?" I asked immediately. Shou smiled.
"Only you would ask such a question. Well, in fact, there is one. Because this pilot has been seen there."
"What?!"
I wasn't sure if I just imagined that or if she actually really said it. But she nodded.
"Yes, it seems, we have a Living Dead here. He shouldn't be there; we've been at his funeral. Nevertheless, he seems to be pretty lively. I want you to investigate this situation and report it to me."
I shook my head.
"It doesn't seem like a mission for SeeD."
"It is a mission for SeeD since it is… was a member of SeeD we're talking about. People expect us to investigate, that's why they forwarded this to me and I've decided to accept it."
"Meaning you've decided to send out a team."
Maybe that went a little too far, almost close do disobedience.
"For the Commander it's all the same." She said calm.
"There's only one thing troubling me. Why my team?"
Shou looked at me with a look I've never realized on her face. A look I didn't expect. It was disarming every argument that I might want to bring forward. As disarming as the words she then spoke. Words I had already read in this look.
"I believe we're dealing with the work of a witch."
I can't describe my feelings in that moment and I can't tell which of them were visible in my face. Witches. They were the ultimate incarnation of magic but magic had disappeared completely from this world three years ago. In those old times it was still possible to even create magic by synthesis of chemical substances, now nothing was left but prestidigitation. I was one of the selected fey to experience real magic. The ice-cold magic of Edea, the powers of hell summoned by Adell, the dreams of Ellione or the healing powers of Rinoa. But also the ultimate, destructive power of chaos manifested as Ultimacia, the most powerful of all witches. And with her, all magic disappeared. All living witches – Edea, Ellione and Rinoa and all those witches we never knew – lost their powers from one day to the next. They had been forced into the – for them – bizarre situation to live their life's without magic.
No problem for Edea at all, who had spent her youth without the powers Ultimacia gave her. No problem for Ellione, either, because she never liked her powers that much. And for Rinoa it was even less of a problem, because she only had been a latent which, without any educated knowledge how to use her magic. I didn't know about the other witches. But we were all pretty relieved to hear that witchcraft no longer existed in this world. That was the rumor, now to proven wrong because of Shous assumption? All that crossed my mind the moment Shou had spoken those ill-omened words.
"You're kidding."
"Must I remind you of my not existing sense of humor?" Shou said, raising one of her brows into a skeptic look.
"Witches don't exist any longer; they've lost all their powers." I reminded her.
"Well, I was never convinced of that and I'm not convinced after all. Especially if an officially dead soldier of my own army is wide awake walking around in his hometown."
"Shou, I was there, in Ultimacias castle. Rinoa, Edea and Ellione are living proof that the magic is gone for good!"
Somehow, the thought of witches still scared me. Yes, the mere thought of a witch still having her powers made me shiver with terror. This was odd, really odd!
"You never met a real witch, Leonhart!" Shou said and by now she had turned really loud, something terribly upset her. I immediately responded in the same volume.
"Are you trying to tell me Ultimacia was not a real witch?!"
"No, but do you seriously believe Ultimacia would've lost her powers if you hadn't killed her? Never! I'm convinced that the true witches still possess their magic."
"Why in the world would nobody hear anything of them in three years and now, all of a sudden, they decide to revive a dead soldier?"
This was bizarre, the whole situation was crazy. I didn't want to hear it; I didn't want it to get to me. I knew myself well; if I listened to her words I would start to think about it and finally would reach the conclusion that she had to be right. Even though I knew better! Or at least I believed to know better. But god, I was so naïve. Shou became calm and sat down again.
"I don't want to argue, Leonhart. I'm the Commander and I have given you an order. You'll go to that town, with Eikara and Trepe. You'll investigate; find this refugee from good old kingdom come and report back to me. We'll see what's behind this mystery. You're leaving in three quarters of an hour."
She wrote a small card with the name of the city and coordinates and I knew I had to take this as a sign that this conversation was over. There was no point in discussing any further. I stood up and saluted, even though it was hard right now. Her words would not leave me alone. I wanted to justify my argument, thought about new ones to take up a discussion with the Commander, but I couldn't think of any.
So, I left the office and headed for Quistis' desk.
"Did she explain this off-the-wall theory to you?!" I asked right away.
"My, you're totally beside yourself, Squall!" Quistis said, looking surprised.
"Please, Quistis! Witches? We both know this is nonsense!"
"Well… how would you explain these happenings then? I mean… her assumption sounds logic; we should at least take it into consideration…" She said, shaking her head.
"I'll give it a shot, your talking about the Night of the Living Dead."
I turned. The elevator had brought a young man in casual clothes to our floor. He had an even face, his skin the color of light chocolate and his short, dark hair was plaited to diagonal, thin braid close to his head. He was wearing a red leather jacket and a chaste, white shirt, then a black, quilted vest. His jeans looked rather old and he wore dark, heavy boots. The sunglasses he wore were colored orange and his beard was neatly cut around his mouth and chin, just for elegance. Of all of us, Niida Eikara had changed the most.
Even though he kind of replaced me, when I was busy he was away most of the time. Since he was Captain of the Airforce, he had enough to do in his own team, his missions lead him to every place in the world one could think of and he was nearly never seen at the Garden. He was a rare, but always welcome guest and most of the cadets – the female majority – admired him.
In the last few years, Niida Eikara had turned to somewhat my best friend, even though he never really had something to do with us, he wasn't even present in the battle with Ultimacia.
"Niida!" I greeted He started grinning, came in and hugged me like a brother. He had always been overt and straightforward. Sometimes he seemed arrogant, but if one got to know him better, he would realize that he's not like that. Not really.
"Morning, Quinn. You're gorgeous as ever!" he said, greeting Quistis with three kisses on her cheeks. He had always been charming to women, the stunning thing was, it worked. "You guys talked to Shou?"
"Sure. We're talking about her theory, is it maintainable or not?"
"Well at least it sounds pretty elaborate. But I haven't met Ultimacia in person nor fought her, so maybe…" Niida said shrugging.
"There's only one thing we can do to prove or reject it. I guess you'll fly us?" I asked Niida and he started grinning again.
"Sure thing!"
"Good, I wouldn't entrust any other with my life." Quistis said, giggling.
"Then let's start this as soon as possible so I can get back to my wife." I said.
The hangar lay outside of the garden, reachable on foot. The cadets stared at us when we walked through the hallway; we were something like their secret heroes. The hallway was something like the center of Gardens daily life. Cadets met here to go to their courses together or to talk. But actually all the social life took place at the cafeteria (all tables full at any time) or the library (the last row only for secretly kissing couples, because the books there were so boring anyone else avoided this area) and the plateau above the training area (with the most romantic view to the Garden at night). And between the training area and the library, the hangars with the jets and helicopters were situated.
"Talking about marital life. Heard the news from Selphie and Irvine?!" Niida asked.
"Don't say their thinking about marriage."
"If they do, it's just for profits in retirement pension…" Quistis said in a kind of cocky tone. It seemed to bug her that Selphie and Irvine lived in a relationship for so long when she herself was still single and nothing in sight.
"No! Even better! I heard there's offspring on the way!"
"You can't be serious!"
"Honestly, I heard it! Just think about our little Selphie becoming a Mommy!"
Niida nearly freaked just at the thought of it, while Quistis and I stayed a little moderate for two completely different reasons.
I had been married for two years now, but nothing changed in my relationship to Rinoa. Probably we would live together like that, even if we hadn't married at all. The only thing that had changed was her name. We never talked about children up until now she never mentioned anything like that. I was not sure, but now that the first couple from the old group (I like Shous way to put it) laid aside the wild life of heroes to start a family and take responsibility for a young life, I started to seriously think about myself. How would I react if Rinoa one day told me she wanted children? Or, even more gross, if she told me she hadn't been taking her pill since two months? I already had problems imagining Selphie and Irvine as parents, thinking of myself as a father was completely impossible!
Quistis for her part was easy to read. She was so ready to be a mother, if there only was a suiting father in the reach.
At the hangar, the white jet was already waiting for us, engines already running; the only thing they lacked was the pilot and passengers. We boarded, it was a machine normally only used by the headmaster or the Commander, spacious and extravagant. When we started, the air around us started to flicker because of the heat and after a moment, the island fell away beneath us. We could see the Garden shrinking till we could overview the whole island. Rinoa was probably on her train to Esthar by now. We were used to not seeing each other sometimes for days, but something seemed different this time. I had the feeling that I had to circumvent this separation. My reason said it was nonsense, but my heart told different. It told me that nothing would be the same when we met again. And it was right.
After two hours of flight, there was nothing but snow-white planes beneath us, some grey mountains and fluffy clouds. Niida mentioned that he was landing in a few moments so Quistis and I took our winter coats and prepared for takeoff. We hadn't talked a word during the flight, it seemed there was nothing to talk about and that was strange. Because actually, there was a lot going on. Somehow, no one wanted to talk about these things. Nobody wanted to share his thoughts, I never did but somehow everyone always knew what I was thinking anyways.
"Oh, by the way, Shou mentioned something about a leadership training someday soon." Quistis all of a sudden said, as if she just now thought of something that had nothing to do with witches or children.
"Really? She didn't tell me."
"She wanted to send formal invitations to headquarters."
"Headquarters…" I shook my head. "I've been working for SeeD more than three years now and never been to headquarters."
Actually, Balamb Garden was the only place in the world were one could apply for the education program of SeeD, but SeeD headquarters was located some distance away. At the most southwestern corner of Trabia, if I was not mistaken, there was a small village, in which headquarters was situated. It was said to be a masterpiece of modern architecture and in the last decades, it had been the center of martial elite. Nowadays, only few chosen ones of the new SeeDs ever saw headquarters. Many of them would maybe never see the building, after which their unit actually got her name. Headquarters was called The Seed.
"Me neither and I work far longer for the Garden than you do."
Some minutes later we touched the ground and I once more had to confess without envy that Niida was the best pilot around. The only thing he couldn't fly was the Ragnarok, which made Selphie his only challenge in the field. But she had given up the life of a sky pirate long ago. And now, as mother-to-be…
We left the plane and stepped out into the blistering cold. A van was already waiting, the wheels surrounded by mighty snow chains. We ran the short distance between our plane and the van, got inside and tapped the snow from our coats.
"Howdy fellas, me's Andre, owner of the car rent in Tripeak-City!" the driver greets as he turns to us.
"Squall Leonhart." I introduce myself, shaking his hand. "These are Quistis Trepe and Niida Eikara."
"Know ya well since that time. It's an almighty honor to have ya around, fellas. Really weird things goin' on since Patrick's back, ya know?"
"Did you know Paddy well?" Niida asked. Obviously he knew the young pilot better than I'd expected. How must it feel? On the one side, four friends died all of a sudden and on the other side, one other friend will give birth to a new life. One life for another. How strange this world was, directly between life and death as we were now.
"Everyone knew Paddy, ya know? Was such a nice fella. Really, none is horrified by him being back. T'is just strange to see him everyday, knowing that he should be six feet under by now."
I remember the people of the northern continent of Trabia to be very peculiar. They had a strangely black kind of humor, had something dry but fresh and funny, attributes I liked since my basic setting was that of an alarmist. Selphie was so not fitting into the trabian stereotype. But with Selphie as the only exception, all trabians I met in my life – including her – had this sense of humor.
"He had… family?" I asked.
"A widow… or so… Miranda. Ya wanna meet her?"
"Yes, please."
Tripeak-City wasn't really big. If one would be correct, it was so small, compared to Balamb it didn't even deserve the title of a town. Some snowy houses gathered around small streets, there was only one bigger street and – surprisingly – one traffic light at the central plaza with a frozen fountain, which was probably even frozen when the trabian summer had its best days. Andre brought us to a small house with closed curtains.
"Well, this is where she lives. Oh, and look, fellas, there's Patrick comin' home."
Andre pointed at the young man approaching the house, we left the van, paid our driver and turned to Patrick. He was a surly insignificant person I wouldn't remember if it wasn't for this weird story. He was tall and a little pale with dark hair, typically trabian. And for a dead man he really seemed pretty vivid. When he recognized Niida he started grinning.
„Niida, old fella! What brought ya here?" he asked merrily, greeting Niida with an amicable handshake. He probably was about 24 years old, slightly older then us. But he had the friendly face and shining eyes of a curious little boy. It was strange he kept such a low profile when he had still been alive. He must've been a calm, inconspicuous guy, probably a nice person who had no problems with finding friends. I considered it a loss he departed this life so early. Maybe there was a brilliant career waiting for him. But we couldn't deny the facts: Patrick was dead and he had to go back where ever he came from.
"Patrick… wow you look… good! What about your accident?" Niida asked straightaway as always. Patrick grinned.
"Amazing, isn't it? Not even a scratch, even though everyone believed me to be dead!"
"But… you're not?"
Patrick laughed out loud.
"Come on, don't be ridiculous! I never felt better!" he said. "But why are we standing on the street? Come on in, it's a lot warmer and Miranda's goin' to make us some tea!"
He opened the door and we entered the neat little house. The inside was completely furnished with dark wood, old closets, commodes, tables, shelves everything here reminded me of the small town Winhill in the south of Galbadia.
"Darlin', I'm home! And I brought friends!"
We heard steps on the first floor and a moment later a young woman appeared in the staircase. She had long, dark curls and was as well a pale trabian citizen. She was wearing a thick, yellow pullover and jeans. It took me some seconds until I realized who she reminded me of: My mother. Raine Leonhart, this woman here had exactly her face and manners, except for the curls. Only few things seemed rather odd as if Raine was watching into a mirror that changed few details. It was incredible that two totally different people could resemble that much to one another. It gave me the creeps, especially when thinking of this house reminding me of the house in Winhill, where my father met my mother. Could this be merely coincidence?
"Well Niida, I think ya haven't met me wife Miranda yet. Miranda, this is the Captain of me unit and a close friend. Niida!" Patrick introduced his friend. Niida jumped.
"Yes Ma'am! And these are Captain of recruitment, Squall Leonhart, and Commander's first secretary, Quistis Trepe. Friends and colleagues of mine." Niida introduced us. Miranda smiled and shook our hands one after the other.
"Hello, pleased to meet you." She said smiling. Unlike all the others, she had nothing of the weird accent of this area. And well, she was not totally like my mother – as I said some things were a little off. For example her way of talking and behaving. Raine had been a strong and independent woman while Miranda seemed to be a real girl – without insulting her – not really a deep thinker. She sounded shy.
My first thought died away. I had been thinking of possible witches in this town and the first one I imagined to be one was his widow. But this girl was no witch at all. I had met a quite impressive number of witches in my life and by now I could tell their similarities and differences. And if there was one thing witches were definitely not, it was shy girls like Miranda. Shou must've been mistaken. There was nothing of witchcraft going on in this town.
"Please come in. You want some tea, and I'm sure we have some more cookies. Oh, and Patrick, Eileen called, asked if you're all right." Miranda said first to us, then to her husband.
"I'll call her back later, now I want to chat with my friend Niida." Patrick said, still grinning. We followed him into the absolutely cozy living room with a small TV and a huge fireside in which a fire danced happily. On the mantelshelf there stood some old pictures which seemed to show the family. "Ya have a room in the hotel? If not, me and me wife have enough space, ya can stay here? All three. The hotel isn't that good anyway…"
"We don't want to become a burden at all. I think it's best if we go to the hotel."
I had not sat down but walked over to the pictures. The photographs showed Patrick and Miranda, probably shortly after moving into this house because there were quite a lot of boxes in the background. Then there was Patrick in the full pilot uniform, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Pilot with body and soul, I knew this look from Niida. The third photograph must've been taken during Christmas and besides Patrick and Miranda, there was a third person. An old woman with white hair and stiff manner.
"Who's that?" I asked.
"That? Me mother, Eileen. Living just few blocks away in her apartment." Patrick explained.
"Out of the ordinary…" it was the first thing Quistis actually said since we had left the plane.
"We offered her to move into our place, we have enough room and if compared to the other elderly women in this area, Eileen is wonderfully uncomplicated. But she didn't want to. I think, she wanted to grand us as much independence as possible and didn't want to be chaperoned by her own son."
Miranda had entered the living room with cups, a pot with hot water and a box with different tea flavors. Everyone took the flavor he liked, I asked for citron. She looked surprised.
"Oh, now that's out of the ordinary. There are not many non-trabians preferring hot citron to tea." She said smiling and left, to get me my citron. I knew it was odd, but I had always preferred it. At that time, I had no idea from where I had my love for hot citron came from but fact is that nothing in my life is coincidence.
Miranda handed me a half and I finally sat down on the couch. The leather crunched with every movement. I was amazed how a young couple as Patrick and Miranda could afford to live in such a large house. When I thought about Rinoa and me, loving our 60 m² and gallery.
While drinking, I watched the snow falling outside the window and didn't really listen to what the others were talking. But I can tell that there was nothing in the way Patrick or Miranda behaved that showed that something wasn't wrong. Miranda didn't seem to spend a thought about nearly losing her husband – well, actually she really lost him. Loss, it was a strange thing. Sometimes, one didn't realize if he lost something. But sometimes it was close to unbearable to lose something one never really had. That's also something I will have to learn when I face the end.
In the evening, we left the little house of Patrick and Miranda and walked over to the hotel. In Tripeak-City, one couldn't talk about walking distances. The snow which had fallen newly was crunching beneath our shoes and the sky still hung full of clouds, only waiting to let their snow come down on us. It was an unusual night.
We booked a room in the hotel with three beds, we were used to that. During hour missions three years ago we were forced to sleep in one room all the time, sometimes all of us. And we also had our experiences with prisons. Thinking of this, I must admit there weren't many things we hadn't been through yet. To the moon and back, into the future and the past. One could think there was nothing we hadn't seen or done, but still I knew so little. There were so many things I didn't know or understand.
How much of what I know now did I learn from her, from the woman that changed my life? More than I ever learned in the life before her and more than I would be able to in the life after her. Looking back now, before I met her I had only been half a person, not even close to become really human. How much has she taught me about life and about myself? She helped me to accept what I am. But I will never know if she had done it for me or for her own sake. There were things I would never understand, things that had to be done, because an invisible power forced you to do them. In my case, this invisible power, forcing me to do the unforgivable, was love. I killed for love, because this one look of this person I loved most were enough to tell me it was the only way. And only one tear.
We do strange things for love. That was what I thought about this night. And all of a sudden, I understood. Loss and Love. Things that force you to do the most incredible things. They could let you safe the world – I had experienced that already. But they could also let you bring only one person back from the afterlife. And why not accept to sup with the devil if you're so desperate facing the loss of something that never really belonged to you.
That was the moment I woke and turned on the light.
"Gee… I'm tired… light off…" Niida mumbled and disappeared under his blanket.
"The mother!"
I jumped out of the bed and got my coat.
"Squall, what are you talking about?" Quistis asked, yawning hearty. Looking on my watch I saw, that I was already past one but I was wide awake to what I just figured out.
"Eileen, Patrick's mother. She is the witch!!"
"Wait a sec; we're back at the witches-stuff? I thought we had decided that witches do not exist and Shous theory was kinda craps." Niida asked puzzled when he looked out of his blanket again.
"Yes, I know. But I still think if there is a witch, it's her. Come on, get dressed, I want to meet this lady as soon as possible!"
Quistis was totally irritated by my enthusiasm; she got out of bed without a word of protest and also gripped her coat. Finally, even Niida came out of bed, but he griped the whole time we walked through the snow. Snow was falling wildly and the air was drunk with calamity.
"My God… How did Selphie survive living in a country like Trabia all her live? All that snow, it brings me to heel. And anyways, in the middle of the night, why the fuzz… can't this wait till tomorrow, granny will be in bed, anyways…"
Niida was busy, bellyaching about everything. He was shivering, but Niida was more used to southern temperatures. I kind of liked the cold and the snow, it was something that felt familiar, like a memory of home that was nothing but a dream.
And then we reached the house about which Patrick had talked, the house in which his mother had her apartment. It was relatively big and all windows were lit. Except for one. Niida searched the names for one he knew and finally nodded and rung the bell. A while nothing happened at all but then light appeared in the dark windows and the door opened automatically. Another difference from Winhill. Niida looked at me and I nodded. So we entered the staircase, it was dark, but from above us, light could be seen. When we reached the third floor, we found an open door.
"A little over trustful, the old lady." Quistis said, shaking her head. But we entered.
Eileen sat in her living room in an armchair, she was wearing an old fashioned, maybe gothic dark dress and had her white hair cut boyish short. It made her look modern and younger, even though she must've been at least fifty yeas of age or even older. Around her neck she was wearing a thin, golden chain, it looked so interwoven that one got the impression it was a living creature, like a snake or something. It had a pendant on it, a small, golden bell with Art nouveau frets engraved to it. She did not open her eyes, it seemed as if she was asleep, but then she reacted.
"Welcome. You're later than I expected."
Her voice was deep and smoky; she had a strange accent, different from that in this area. It sounded a little like the accent spoken in the more eastern parts of Trabia.
"You're… Eileen Redstreet?" Niida asked.
"True."
The question was unnecessary; I had recognized her from the photograph at Patrick's and Miranda's place, she hadn't changed at all.
"We're here to talk about your son, Patrick."
"I know." She said and finally opened her eyes, to look straight at me. "You don't believe, do you?"
"Sorry?" I asked.
"I know you've seen many horrible things back then and your life will never be the same again. But you shall not believe the change is over yet. It only just begun, Squall." She said, nodding.
"How come you know my name?!"
"We know more than we reveal." She said, smiling. I think, that was the moment I finally accepted the truth.
"So you are a witch?"
She didn't react. She didn't have to, because it was not really a question but a declaration of facts. There was no doubt left, she couldn't be anything else. She was so much of a witch, it was almost scary. "Why did you and your kind stay silent so long?"
This was in fact a question.
"We're still remaining silent. The things I've done were… foolish, but I can't change it anymore." She said, it sounded sad.
"Are there… more witches?" Quistis asked.
"Countless. The rumors we had lost our powers were spread by us, to protect us against inquisition. After the apostate was defeated, we had no other choice but to disappear."
"The apostate? Ultimacia?" I asked unsmiling.
"Ultimacia… yes… the traitor. But compared with what lies ahead of you, Squall, Ultimacia was nothing. She is going to cause much suffering."
"Who?"
"The witch."
"What witch?"
"We know not. We have sensed her, and seen her in dreams, in the stars, the mirrors, the crystals, the cards, we have seen her everywhere. She is everywhere we go. She is patient and calm; she had been waiting in Ultimacias shadow to observe us. And now she will return to claim what is rightfully hers."
"No, she won't." I said, shaking my head and I was surprisingly calm.
"I know, you must try. That's why you should search for the one who cannot lie and must always speak the truth. She knows the hidden path and can't be guided wrong."
"Then what about Patrick?" Niida finally asked. Eileen Redstreet smiled sadly.
"Patrick… You want him to leave this dimension of reality?"
She stood and changed. Her eyes turned white, the light in her apartment started to flicker, got brighter, then so weak that you could hardly see. Eileen dress started to flutter and where I could see her skin, at her hands and her neck, I saw that something dark was moving beneath the surface. The bell around her neck started to jingle in the ice-cold wind. The wind was so hard and cold, we almost froze to the ground, it hurt to move my joints when I tried to shield my face with my arm. With my other hand I longed for my Gun-Blade, which felt awfully heavy at the moment, I could hardly lift it. I saw the witch lifting her hand the same moment, to quick to be real, and the next moment a blast wave slashed through the air towards us. The blade of my weapon cut through the compressed air, but Niida and Quistis were surprised by it and torn of their feat. They were cannoned into the wall behind us. I saw the lips of the witch turn into a smile.
"If I ever find the power to let go, Patrick will disappear. But letting go is not that easy, is it, Squall"
She blinked and the next moment, the light lapsed, we were left in the dark. The light in the stairways was turned on instead.
Letting go. I had no idea what she meant. Today, things are clearer. Yes, Eileen, you were right. Letting go is anything but easy.
The witch was gone, so I helped Niida and Quistis to get up again, they both shook to stand up straight again. We left the empty apartment, there was nothing left to be done her. And none of us spoke the obvious truth of the danger, still personified by witches.
Letting got. I don't know if Eileen was able to let go after all. After that night, I never saw her again. But as for me, up until now, I was not able to let go and I will never be. Never.
