Disclaimer: I do not own the Final Fantasy series, Square Enix, and any of their characters.
A/N: This is my very first fan fiction, and I hope you like it and stick through the end! The prologue is brief, but it sets up the "mystery factor" of the story. There will be lots of mysteries in Wounds of Time, and I hope they confuse you. Also, the genre of this story should really be Action/Adventure/Romance/Drama/Mystery/Fantasy.
Final Fantasy VIII: Wounds of Time
Prologue- Awakening
The hourglass of time holds many possibilities, and the one grain that we live in is just a part of something superior. It contains the things we hold on to very dearly, and when broken, the shards fall apart. Nothing in the universe can affix those pieces back together.
Far away from Balamb, in an underground somewhere deep in Esthar, a chamber containing a cluster of pods lay undisturbed. The room looked ancient as it bore old writings and symbols on the walls. Pictures of different creatures were amongst the depictions on the walls, as well as women and men that clutched glowing staves in their hands. Cold mist circled around mildly as a dusty, ancient machine whirred silently at the center of the dark chamber. Tiny, sharp icicles hung at the chilly roof that occasionally dropped lucid beads of water on the slippery floor.
Inside the numerous pods slept several naked women; their faces filled with serenity yet combined with cruelty. All of them encompassed long hair that covered their smooth, untouched bodies for years. The girls looked young, and none of them seemed to be at least at the age of forty. Not one of them moved a single part of their body as if they were frozen in time.
Rats and other animals occasionally dug their way into the chamber, but once they had suffered the solitude of the area, they immediately left and went back into the surface. Not even a single human has set foot in this chamber for so long that the place had seemed to be forgotten by anyone. The only entrance to the containment was a tattered steel door that was blocked by sand and rocks from the outside of the room. The place was clearly buried; it was as if the room was filled with pure evil that it had to be contained or else chaos will reign over the world.
Then suddenly, the only door of the room exploded into fiery pieces. Sand and rocks poured inside the chamber, but it was very easily stopped after a matter of seconds as a magical barrier blocked its passage to the area. A woman and man emerged from the sands and stepped inside the room, breaking the chain of years that marked the room forgotten.
The girl was the spell caster, and she had long, straight brown hair that almost covered both of her eyes. She wore a dull, blue robe that had several tiny holes, which showed her dark skin. The woman swept the dust off her hair as she approached the console of the old machine.
"It's been left here for years," she muttered to her company.
Carrying a bright crystal that lifted the darkness of the room, the man that accompanied her examined the pods. He wore the same dull robe as hers except that the holes of his clothing were patched. His short, blue hair was kept very untidy to one side of his face. He slowly brushed the dust off the pod he was looking at, and saw one of the several women that slept inside the chamber.
He started to speak. "And we're going to free them. Imagine how they would help us." The man continued to peek on the other pods.
"Yes. I can now see our goals being accomplished, and that time will be very soon," softly replied the woman in front of the console. She started to press some buttons but nothing happened. After a few minutes, the girl got frustrated and struck the console with her fists. When her rage subsided, she raised her hand above her head and chanted the word 'Fira'.
A ball of searing fire formed between her palm, and as she released it, the ball grew larger. She directed the flames to collide with the console and in a split second, the whirring stopped. The machine that controlled the pods was engulfed in flames. As the burning continued, a low hissing sound was heard inside the room. The pods slowly opened, and the frosty mist that covered the room touched the skins of the women deep in slumber.
The girl was clearly delighted at what had just happened, and she smiled as if she had won the biggest victory in her life. She approached the oldest-looking woman inside the pod at one of the very corners of the room. "Well, well, they're now freed from their prisons."
On the other corner of the room, the man knelt on his feet and touched the cheek of the girl inside the pod he was looking at. He brushed the stagnant hair of the woman and felt its cold surface. The male then touched her chin and examined the lady's eyes as he grinned. "All that's left is for them to awaken."
A/N: It took me some time to work on this very dark prologue! There should be questions on your head right now as to who are these women and the people that freed them… Anyways, I would greatly appreciate any comments, suggestions, and questions about the story so far. I'm looking forward to it!