The Lone Travelers
Chapter Two: Of Time and Orphanages
Location: Ultimecia's Castle
He didn't know why he'd passed his last turn. True, the voice had told him to, but Squall knew better than to trust mysterious voices. But, he still obeyed, and he was glad he did.
Squall rose, and readied his gunblade, beginning his limit break Renzokuken.
Running forward, he swung his sword. One…two…three…four, five, six, seven hits. He landed back in his starting position, but he wasn't done yet.
"Lionheart!" He ran forward once more, sending Ultimecia soaring into the air with a powerful blow from his gunblade. There was a series of flashes as he attacked her form, until the assault ended and Squall gracefully landed on the darkness that represented ground. Ultimecia landed in a heap, disappearing in a blinding white light that seemed to consume her from within. The light expanded, enveloping the two remaining SeeD's.
All around was white. Up? White. Down? White. Forward? White. Behind? White. Left, right? White.
It was totally silent, until the sound of clicking feet and a scuffing noise interrupted the silence. Raijin, an unconscious, muscled young man with a dark complexion was being dragged by Fujin, a young woman with short gray hair and a black eye patch.
"LESS FISH. MORE EXERCISE."
Fujin rolled her eyes, and continued to drag him along.
As Fujin and Raijin disappeared in the white emptiness, another man appeared. Dressed in a white trench coat adorned with red crosses, he walked dejectedly.
'Go save Rinoa, I said. They won't be able to handle it, I said. Then what happens? I get brainwashed. Brainwashed! Me, the great and powerful Seifer Almasy, reduced to a lapdog! I went against SeeD, Squall, Matron…Now what do I have to return to? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! I mean, I've even lost my rival, my sparring partner! Now he probably thinks I'm an enemy, and will kill me on sight. He was the only one I ever took for granted. I knew that my life as a SeeD wouldn't last, but Squall…I thought we'd always be rivals. I never would have stayed if it wasn't for the challenge of training with Squall everyday. Squall…Squall's rivalry was the only true definition of home for me. To me, wherever Squall was, home was. And what have I done? Flushed it, all down the drain! Good Hyne, what the hell have I done?'
Lost in his thoughts, Seifer continued through the space, ignoring Irvine, who didn't even see him. He didn't even see the dark hole that he walked right into.
Irvine ran through the vast space, oblivious to Seifer's vanishing form.
"Is it over? Let's go! Let's go back to our time!"
Selphie appeared, and dashed through the space, unable to see Irvine, but still hearing him. "Shut up! Just calm down and think where we have to go!"
Zell ran by. "Careful guys! Don't pick the wrong time!"
Quistis raced by in the distance. "Whatever you do, don't fall into a time warp!"
Their figures eventually faded from sight, having found their ways out of time compression.
All was quiet in the nothingness. After what seemed like hours, but was really only minutes, the sound of footsteps began to echo throughout the area. Eventually, a person appeared to go along with the sound.
Rinoa slowly walked, oblivious to her surroundings, thinking to herself.
'Time…place…who I wanna be with…'
She sighed, and continued to think, until…
"I wanna go there! Where Squall and I promised. Squall!"
An excited Rinoa dashed off, certain that she would be able to find Squall.
Squall ran. He didn't know where he was, or when he was, but he did know that he did not want to be there. Everything around him was black, reminiscent of where he and the others fought Ultimecia's final form, and the complete opposite of the white emptiness the others had experienced.
As he ran, Rinoa's voice echoed around him. "Squall! Let's go home! Where are you?!"
Squall skid to a stop. Good point. 'Where am I?'
Another voice echoed, "Squall! Where are you going!?"
He blinked. 'I'm not even moving…'
Squall could only stare as a young boy raced by him. '…is that…?'
"I'm gonna find Sis!" the boy yelled toward the person chasing after him.
As the boy ran, the darkness began to fade away, to reveal the orphanage, before it was just a pile of rubble.
"Squall!"
A woman with long dark hair and a kind face stopped next to the young SeeD, who blinked at her in surprise. '…Matron.'
She turned to look at him. "Excuse me. Have you seen a little boy?"
Squall nodded imperceptively. "You don't have to worry. The boy won't go anywhere."
She sighed sadly. "I think so, too. Poor thing…"
There was a loud clatter behind them, and they quickly turned around. The sorceress, Ultimecia, staggered towards them, bleeding heavily. Squall drew his gunblade.
"…You're alive!?"
Matron looked at him in confusion. "…The sorceress?"
"Yes, Matron. We had defeated her…Matron, stand back."
She shook her head. "It's okay. There's no more need to fight. That sorceress is just looking for someone to pass her powers on to. In order to die in peace, a sorceress must be free of all her powers. I know…for I am one, too. I shall take that sorceress' powers. I don't want one of the children to become one."
Ultimecia faltered, and gasped, "I…can't…disappear yet."
An orb of light exited Ultimecia's dying body, and entered Matron. Ultimecia fell to the dirt, before fading away completely.
"Matron!"
She looked at him. "Is this…the end?"
He nodded. "…Most likely."
She looked at him curiously. "You called me Matron. Who…are you?"
"A SeeD. A SeeD from Balamb Garden."
"SeeD? Garden?" She knew those terms, but not in that context. It confused her.
"Both Garden and SeeD were your ideas. Garden trains SeeDs. SeeDs are trained to defeat the sorceress."
All the pieces began to click together in Matron's mind. This stranger knew things…It was obvious, after his brief explanation, that he was from the future. He called her Matron, so that meant he was one of her orphans…and only one of the boys had brown hair. That meant…
"What are you saying? You're…that boy from the future?"
"…Matron."
Matron adopted a firm tone of voice. "Please return. You do not belong here."
The young Squall came running back, stopping by Matron. He looked at her sadly.
"I can't find Sis," he sniffed. "Am I…all alone?" Then, like a true child, noticed the person standing next to Matron. "Who's he?"
Squall shifted uncomfortably, and Matron coughed.
"Nobody. You don't need to know. The only Squall permitted here is you."
Young Squall's face screwed up in confusion, but just let it go. Orphan Rule Number One: If Matron is weird like that sometimes, you just have to ignore it.
She turned back to the SeeD. "Do you know where to go back to? Do you know how? Will you be all right by yourself?"
Squall nodded, and saluted her, before fading from view. 'I'll be all right, Matron. Because I'm not alone.'
Five young faces were pressed against the orphanage windows. They'd seen everything.
"Didja see dat?"
"Wha' happened?"
"That sword was so cool!"
"Wazzat a weal knight?"
Selphie bounced excitedly. "I wanna knight!"
Seifer rolled his eyes. "Stupid. Onwy sorcewesses have knights."
"He just disappar—dispear—went away!"
"Were dey ghosts?"
"Dunno."
"Dere's Sqwall! He pwob'ly knows what happened!"
Matron escorted the young boy inside the orphanage with a sad smile. As soon as she left, the orphans descended upon the poor boy.
"Didya see the knight?!"
He nodded.
"Wha's 'is name?"
He shrugged.
"Didya ask Matron?"
He nodded.
"Well, wha'd she say?"
"Nobody…"
"Who names zere kid 'Nobody'?"
"Stupid. That's not 'is name."
"Oh. Wha' else she say?"
Squall shrugged. "Something weird."
Five voices chorused in unison, "What?"
"There's only one me permitted here?"
"One Matron?"
"Stupid. One Squall." Seifer hit Zell over the head.
"You shoulda seen it Squall! The knight deflated a scary lady!"
The children descended on Squall, all but one. Seifer stood off to the side, thinking. 'I wanna be a knight, just like him! Me an' Squall! But not to a scary lady, just Matwon…or Sis! …But what did Matwon mean by 'one Squall'…?
TBC…