Final Fantasy: Chaos
(I do not own any of these characters, etc. I'm simply borrowing them for a while. Square can have them back when I'm done.)
A/N I just wanted to try this again.
Prologue
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Sweat rolled down the young mercenary's forehead as his eyes carefully eased around the corner of the stone pillar. The bright beams of light made focusing in the dark basement nearly impossible, and strands of sweaty brown hair falling into the soldier's eyes didn't help any.
Squall held his gunblade tightly, the leather of his gloves pulling at his knuckles. The hot, humid air made breathing difficult, yet, after all his training at the garden, it all felt somehow familiar. It had been months since the Seeds had been to fight, yet they were so well trained, Squall felt as though he had never lost a step.
The eerie red smoke floated across a beam of light coming from a high window across the dark pillars. Squall rushed as quietly as he could across the path, turning his back to the wall to keep his enemy in front of him. He reached out his hand to see if he could draw upon some of the magic of the beast, but the creature was too far away. Depleted of any magic, his Guardian Forces barely awake after months of sleep, Squall wasn't sure if he was ready for a fight
The soldier took a step out into the hallway, looking back over his shoulder away from the light for a sign of the enemy, but saw none. As he turned to the door, Squall had to bite his lip to keep from yelling. The skeletal figure stood in the hallway, looking directly at the young man, his red cape flailing about him, and red smoke dancing across the floor.
The creature laughed and pointed at the Seed as he lifted his Gunblade.
Before either could make a move, the door shot open, filling the basement with a wave of light, blinding to both. Through it, three men shot down the stairs as quickly as the eyes could follow. One wore a long red cape, with long black hair and pointed a shotgun at the creature. Another, a large black man, pointed his arm at the creature and opened fire, knocking the creature back to the wall.
"You goin' down!" the large man yelled as he shot another volley at the creature. The deathguise was too quick, however, darting across the hall into the dark corners. The long-haired man started to follow him, his eyes carefully focusing to watch the creature.
Squall started to slip aside, taking advantage of the moment to disappear until he could figure things out, but he found himself staring down a very, very long sword. Almost as large as his Gunblade, the sword was held by a blond-haired man whose eyes caught the light so well they appeared to glow.
"Just where do you think you're slipping off to, now?" the blonde-haired man asked, a cocky smile at the corner of his lips. "And what have you done with Tifa?"
Squall had no idea what the strange man asked, but he didn't like the attitude. A fire was lit from within, and before even he knew what he was doing, he swept his gunblade from the ground and knocked away the point of the other man's sword.
Squall tried to capitalize on the swing by thrusting with his sword directly at the soldier, but the blonde-haired man was too quick. Showing amazing speed with such a large, heavy sword, the soldier swept his blade down, parrying away the attack. The two exchanged blows, ducking and darting around the pillars. Sparks flew from the swords as they met, flying across the floor.
Squall swung his blade around, swinging his body around the pillar and knocked away the soldier's sword. The Seed raised his sword and began to swing down on the blonde-haired man, but the man raised a large orb from his arm and held it up.
The Seed felt a wave of heat brush across his face, and without thought fell back, barely avoiding the onslaught of fire that rose from the ground. Squall fell on his back, sliding across the floor as gunshots sounded through the room.
"Not bad, rookie," the soldier smiled. "Some of the good ones can dodge the smallest form of Fire, but I wonder if you can dodge Fire 3?"
The soldier held his orb up again, his glowing blue eyes concentrating on the small, glowing crystal. Squall raised his hand and drew the energy he felt from the crystal. Firaga swelled within him, and he quickly turned it back on the blonde-haired man, who swept himself across the floor, ducking the wild riposte.
Squall jumped to his feet and charged after the soldier who slid across the wet floor, reaching for his sword. The Seed took two steps before a spear flew just under his chin, slicing into the wall next to him. Squall turned to the Deathguise creature and brought his sword up quickly, pulling the trigger and nailing the creature.
Deathguise fell back, slamming headfirst into a pillar, its red cape flapping in the air behind it.
The blonde-haired man darted in and swung his sword as hard as he could, slicing through the creature's neck, as well as the pillar behind it, destroying the creature.
"No!" Squall shouted. "You moron!"
The soldier turned and stared back hard with his cold, blue eyes. "What?" he asked calmly.
"You gonna miss yo' friend?" the huge soldier with the gun arm asked, grinning widely.
"That—that—thing took Rinoa!" Squall shouted. "If you killed it, how the hell am I supposed to get her back?"
"Simple," the blonde-haired man answered. "You tell us where you took Tifa, and maybe we'll figure out where your Renea is."
"Rinoa—whatever," Squall spat, resting his blade over his shoulder and turning away from the three men. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about, and obviously, you guys don't have a clue, either."
"Whoa, wait," the Blonde-haired soldier said. "Where do you think you're going."
Squall turned and looked at the soldier. "I'm going to find the person I came here for. Now, get out of my way."
"Perhaps you don't understand," the soldier answered, lowering his sword and readying for an attack. His blue eyes seemed brighter than ever, now. "That Deathguise took Tifa, and we found it with you. Now, you're going to help us get her back, or you're not going to leave this room."
Squall smiled. The gauntlet had been laid, and not since Siefer had anyone rubbed the Seed this much. "C'mon, pretty boy, what are you waiting for?"
The two raised their blades and readied themselves for an attack, but a shot fired from the darkness and stopped the two.
"Enough of this bickering," the long-haired man said calmly, his rifle still aimed between the two. "It's obvious neither of you took the other's friend. Fighting here will produce nothing but more pain and suffering. Now, both of you will cease, or I will take care of the problem."
Squall's eyes never left the Blonde-haired man's, and the glowing blue eyes never wavered.
"My name is Vincent, this is Barret, and you've already met Cloud, it would seem," the long-haired man said. "We're going to go back to Cosmo Canyon, and try to sort things out a little better, you're welcome to come along if you would like. Perhaps you, too, can find your friend."
"Cosmo Canyon?" Squall asked, finally lowering his guard a bit. "Where the hell is that?"
"You don' know?" Barret laughed. "Schools these days, ain't teachin' kids nothing."
"I've been over the
whole world, old guy, and never heard of such a place," Squall answered. "We need to get to Balamb Garden, their
sensors can—"
"Why would we go to someone's
garden?" Cloud asked. "What sensors can
pick up two missing people?"
Squall stared at the three for a moment. "Where the hell am I?" he asked at long last.
"Midgar," Cloud answered. "Though I can't imagine what you're doing here, not knowing you're here. This place has been abandoned since Meteor."
"Midgar?" Squall asked. "Meteor? What the hell are you guys talking about. I was in Timber, I was chasing that thing through the streets, and the next thing I know, I'm down here."
"Strange," Cloud said, finally letting his sword all the way down and rubbing his chin. "Never heard of anyplace called 'Timber.' You should come with us until we can at least figure out where Timber and Balab Garden are."
"Balamb," Squall corrected.
"Whatever," Cloud responded, turning his back on the young Seed. "And watch your sword, rookie, you never know where that point could end up."
Squall hissed under his breath as the other two strangely dressed men turned and walked out towards the light. The Seed slowly walked behind them, looking up at the fallen buildings and destruction all around, hardly believing his eyes.
"Where am I?" he asked quietly. "Rinoa, where are you?"
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More to come