Chapter 2- Revelations
Now just so you all know, this fanfic is going to be a small part of a larger, much more complicated series of fanfics spanning across multiple FF games, so if you don't understand what's going on just yet, that's okay. I'll explain in each fic what is neccesary to know in order to follow the story, and if you're interested in reading the others, then you'll come to understand the overarching story across all of them about the Void, the Negative Worlds, so on and so forth. So with that said, relax and enjoy, all will be explained in due time :)
"Okay, I'm listening." Squall said.
Shinra nodded and spoke, "And I thank you for that, I'm sure this is all quite startling for you. But you will understand everything in due time."
Shinra sat on a nearby bench and patted the spot next to him as if beckoning Squall to sit. Guess I may as well he thought. Squall meandered over to the bench and took a seat next to the strange man.
"First off, you need to know something. Your world is not the only one in existence." Shinra began. Squall shot Shinra a very confused look. What the hell does he mean by that? I mean sure, maybe there's other planets out there or something but what does that matter?
"My, that is quite annoying, I can see why Rinoa hates it so much." Shinra said with a smile. What's annoying?
"That." Shinra said simply. Squall grew annoyed. Clearly the man was reading his mind again...however he was doing that. Squall didn't like it. Before Squall could say anything though, this mystery man continued talking.
"In fact, there are fourteen other ones. Yours is the eight that we created." Shinra explained. This drew an even more confused expression from Squall and he stood up quickly.
"You created!? What do you mean you created!?" Squall shouted. Shinra sighed and patted the seat next to him once more. Squall shook his head in refusal. He had no idea who this man was, but clearly he was powerful, and now it sounded as if he...created this world? Impossible.
"Please allow me to continue explaining. I am not of this world. In fact, I'm from the world that created this one. I am from a place known as the Void." Shinra continued. Not of this world? The Void? What the hell is that?
"Well, if you just listen, I'll explain." Shinra said, clearly reading Squall's mind once more. Squall was about done with that.
"Will you please stop doing that..." Squall muttered in annoyance. Shinra shook his head and laughed. What's so funny about that?
"I'm not doing it on purpose, Squall. I just hear your voice no matter where it sounds, even if it's in your head. Naturally of course, I did create you, so I should be able to hear you like that." Shinra said in an almost mocking tone.
"What...do you mean by that?" Squall asked. Shinra composed himself and nodded.
"Right. I suppose we haven't much time. As I said, I come from a world know as the Void. The Void is responsible for creating your world, along with all of the other. I myself was one of the leads in doing so. I know all about you and your friends, and indeed this entire world, along with all of the others for that matter. You wouldn't remember this, but you've actually met many of the residents of these worlds, but I suppose that's a conversation for a later time." Shinra explained. Met people from other worlds? I'll remember that...
"Continuing on..." Shinra continued, "I can tell you more about myself and the Void later, but right now we need to talk about a much more pressing matter. You see, with all that happened here, and the timeline being messed with so much you have...accidentally created another world."
"What the hell are you talking about? How did I create a world?" Squall questioned.
"Well, picture your world as a tree. Now this tree has many different branches, thus representing seperate timelines. When you and your friends faced Ultimecia, the distortions in time sent ripples throughout the rest of the tree and made one of those timelines impossible, and so it broke off of the tree. However, what we did not predict is that the branch somehow took root and created a whole new tree, created from your world, and therefore connected, but it's own world altogether. Do you understand?"
"I'm...trying to..." Squall muttered as he sat down once more, trying to wrap his head around this sudden dilemma. "So what you're saying is, in our struggle against Ultimecia, we ended up screwing up another timeline, which caused it to become its own world?"
"Yes, exactly."
"But how? How did we do that? And how did it become a whole new world through that?" Squall continued to ask. He was met with a simple smile from Shinra and a nervous laugh. I've got a bad feeling about this.
"Well, uh...we're still figuring that out." Shinra responded. Knew it. Of course they don't know, can't be that simple can it...
"Okay, so where do I come in?" Squall asked.
"Right. See, this world is still new, and so we're not quite sure who its hero is yet. That being considered, we've decided it would be best for you to go there."
"What!? Why does someone need to go there, and why me?"
"Well, someone needs to go there in case the hero isn't strong enough to defeat his villain, who's identity is also unknown. And so we're sending a proven hero, you, to that time in order to help out, just in case. See where as this world was never meant to exist, that doesn't mean it should be destroyed. I'd like to protect it, just like all of the other worlds. We can consider it a...sixteenth world."
Squall didn't know how to respond to that. He figured he was done fighting people across time, and done being a 'hero'. He knew he didn't want to do this, but at the same time...it did sound like they needed help.
"You say it's going to be destroyed? How?" Squall asked. Shinra stood up, and began pacing back and forth in front of Squall as he began to speak once more.
"Well you see, every world has a villain. Someone who ultimately seeks to destroy the world, or alter it in some terrible way. And each world has a hero, the one who puts a stop to the villains nefarious deeds. From this world, the eighth world, you Squall are the hero, and Ultimecia was the villain. Just as your roles demand, she attempted to harm the world, and you put a stop to her."
"I see...and you don't know who the hero of this new world is yet?"
Shinra shook his head and sighed, "That's correct." He muttered, "That's why we want to send you there. You have proven yourself here, and so you would be an invaluable ally to the hero in World 16, especially if he or she isn't strong enough to win on his or her own yet. See where as the hero is always supposed to win, this world is still new, so we're not entirely sure what might happen. Consider yourself...insurance." Great, so I'm some sort of superhero now...
Shinra continued, "I know this is a lot to take in all at once, and I'm sure you have many questions, but for the sake of this new world, I urge you to please keep the questions minimal and prepare yourself for this mission."
Squall sighed deeply and spoke, "Fine. I guess I'll do what I have to. I don't want to, but if this world will really be destroyed if I don't, then I'll do it. But I don't see why you can't, aren't you supposed to be some sort of all-powerful creator?"
Shinra chuckled, "I wouldn't say all-powerful. More powerful than you, yes, but where I come from, I'm not some sort of super soldier or anything. And we would intervene but well...we've tried that before and let's just say it didn't work out well."
With no choice left, Squall sighed and nodded in agreement.
"Of course your friends will be going too, so be sure to pass along the information!" Shinra said with a smile before dissapearing into thin air, as time began flowing once more.
"Wait! What do you mean by that!? Shinra!" Squall yelled.
"Um...Squall? Who are you yelling at?" Rinoa questioned. Squall simply sighed and sat once more, rubbing his temples. Rinoa sat next to him and placed a hand on his back.
"You feeling okay?" She asked. Squall nodded, but said nothing. Rinoa, unconvinced, took him by the hand and pulled him over towards the festivities in an attempt to cheer him up. She didn't know what was wrong, but there was time for that later, right now was fun time.
How am I supposed to tell them all of this? I mean...did that even happen? Maybe I'm going crazy...No...no that definitely happened. But...I don't want to endanger them all again. What do I do?
Squall's inner thoughts were halted by Rinoa jabbing him in the side, "What did I say about your inner monologuing?" She asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice. Squall nodded and continued focusing on the game he had been dragged to. However, his thoughts still found there way back to Shinra and this other world.
Guess my worries aren't over after all...whatever, I hope we can just end this quickly...
