Chapter Three
Another Place
The laboratory was clamoured and stuffy, as if someone had turned the heating on to maximum capacity. Strange gadgets and bundles of papers were haphazardly placed around the room, and it was amazing that the light bulbs hadn't burnt out yet after such long hours of use. The Doctor was hurriedly working on his machine, wary of the time constraints that were dangerously closing in on him.
Ellone sat on the examination table, swinging her legs like an impatient child, watching the Doctor anxiously. She wondered what he was going to ask her to do next – she was almost becoming used to the strange things he instructed her to do, like procuring her memories and imagining what the future would be like.
Laguna, for once, failed to bear his trademark grin and was actually pacing around the room nervously. Ellone somewhat regretted sending his mind back to the past – it had made him very edgy and pessimistic. But, she couldn't help it – when she found him, he, like everyone else in the world, seemed to have false memories implanted in his head about the world and what it should have been like. She had to send him back to the past, the real past – he was one of the only people who could help undo what Ultimecia had done.
"Goddammit, how many days have we be stuck in here?" said Laguna impatiently.
"Don't complain," snapped Doctor Odine impatiently, not turning away from his work. "You're free to leave venever you like, but you vill face the consequences. Remember, it was you who hadn't thought of a plan B in case Squall failed!"
"Don't remind me, Doctor," said Laguna, frowning disapprovingly. "I'm sure none of us anticipated that this would happen. But my confidence in Squall still stands. I just hope he and everyone else is all right..."
"I'm sure they're fine," said Ellone confidently. "Let's just focus on the task at hand."
"Right," said Laguna. "So, we know that the time compression wasn't completely successful – otherwise Ultimecia wouldn't be asking you to build the time machine, right?"
"Correct," said Odine. "My theory is zat Squall and his friends were able to halt ze casting of ze time compression spell to a degree, and perhaps disturbed ze spell. It is incomplete. And as we all know, for time compression to occur, ze spell must be cast from ze past, present and future. Now, Ultimecia's spell must have been corrupted in either ze past – where Squall is – or ze future. And now Ultimecia needs me to build ze machine so zat she can travel freely through time to fix ze spell."
"So right now, time is compressed but not to the degree that Ultimecia wants it to be, right?" said Laguna.
"Correct," said Odine. "Time compression by its very nature means zat ze past, present and future is frozen in a single moment so that Ultimecia can create ze world she vants. Obviously, everything she vanted has not occurred."
Ellone sighed. The explanations were more confusing every time she heard them.
"Well, life is pretty bad already – I wonder how she can make it any worse," said Laguna bitterly. "Sorceresses dominating the world and oppressing the humans ... is this revenge for what the humans did to Hyne so long ago?"
"Zat is just a legend!" snapped Odine, deeply offended that Laguna could even suggest such a possibility.
"Legends have some truth behind them," said Ellone.
"How'd that story go again?" asked Laguna.
"That's an easy one, I used to hear it on the White SeeD ship all the time," said Ellone with a smile, memories of the past flooding back to her. "The creator of all things, Hyne, was becoming tired after creating the world. So, he created some tools that would help him continue the building of the world – these tools were humans. He went into a deep sleep after that, and when he awoke, he found the world to be very advanced and the humans had become very clever."
"Oh I remember how it goes now," said Laguna, nodding. "He also found that there were too many people in the world, so he took away some of the humans' children, right?"
"Yes, he killed the children," said Ellone. "And the humans became very angry, of course. So, the humans decided to wage a war against Hyne. They didn't have magic, but they were smart – and Hyne began to lose the war."
"And then he wanted peace?" said Laguna.
"That's right," said Ellone. "He cut half of his body and gave it to the humans as a peace offering. The humans fought over the body, thinking it had powers – but then they realised it was useless, and Hyne had kept the powers for himself. The humans were really mad and tried to hunt down Hyne, but he had disappeared. So instead, they hunted his children – the sorceresses. And to this day, they still do."
Odine made a noise that resembled a combination of a snort and a disbelieving laugh.
"Well, that explains why Ultimecia would want to make humans the oppressed ones," said Laguna. "Ya know, since humans have been persecuting and hunting down the sorceresses for millennia."
"It would also explain why she destroyed your Guardian Force junction system, Doctor Odine," said Ellone. "She doesn't want anyone opposing the sorceresses and she doesn't want anyone but sorceresses to have magic."
"Don't talk about my creation so openly," snapped Odine, "I am still mourning for it!"
"You can always invent it again?" suggested Laguna.
"Ha!" said Odine, rolling his eyes. "Do you know how many years it took to create such a fine system? And with zat witch Ultimecia is keeping us captive in zis city, how am I supposed to conduct my research in ze field?"
"I'm still confused though, Doctor," said Ellone, breaking up the argument between Odine and Laguna. "Isn't creating a time machine what Ultimecia wants? Why are we listening to her? If she has the time machine, she'll be able to fully compress time..."
"Because ve have to trick her if ve want to defeat her," said Odine, after a long glare at Laguna. "And it is a very, very difficult thing to trick Ultimecia."
"Ellone, haven't we been through the plan before?" asked Laguna.
"Yes, but ... there's too much to remember," murmured Ellone. "This time compression business is pretty tricky."
"I know what you mean," said Laguna, rubbing his temples.
"Ve have to trick Ultimecia to think zat ve have no idea of ze old, uncompressed world," said Odine. "I'm vorking to make ze time machine transport actual physical matter through time and space, rather zan just people's consciousness as you do, Ellone. But Ultimecia does not know zis – she thinks I'm simply creating a machine zat can put a person's consciousness in a certain time frame."
"Oh right, because she wants her own consciousness in the future to cast the spell," said Ellone. "I remember now. The plan is to get Uncle Laguna to physically go to the past so that he can help Squall and the others defeat past-Ultimecia. And we're doing that because we don't know where Squall is here right now, and we have no fighting chance against Ultimecia. So, if we kill the Ultimecia in the past, she'll cease to exist in this world and everything will go back to normal. Right?"
"...Ellone, you said that in the most confusing way possible but yes, that's the plan," said Laguna.
"But Doctor," argued Ellone, "I said this before and I said it again – that plan won't work! You can't change the past no matter how hard you try – you can't just rewrite history. I learned that the hard way."
"Zat is what you think, Ellone!" said Odine. "We know zat Ultimecia used my time machine to travel to ze past to control Edea, Adel and Rinoa to do her bidding. Zat must have significantly altered time – I bet you zat if she had not done zat, ze future would be very different. Therefore, it is possible to change history. However, ze machine could only send consciousness back to ze past and only a sorceress would have ze power to do anything significant in that way. We humans can do nothing via consciousness, as you have experienced through bringing Squall's consciousness back to Laguna's past. Zat means we must create a machine zat can allow us to alter history significantly – through a time machine zat can transport physical objects! That way, we can defeat Ultimecia!"
"Y-yes," said Ellone weakly, "but even so, you can't escape fate. Maybe it was fate that Edea and Adel and Rinoa were controlled. Time and fate are different things. We can't rewrite what's already set in stone! Everything is inevitable!"
Odine snorted. "Fate indeed! Ellone, I am a scientist! Fate is another fairytale to make everyone feel better about their problems. It has no place in science, and it has no place in zis plan. If ve vant to win, ve play by ze rules of science – not by ze rules of fate."
Ellone opened her mouth to protest, but there was no way Odine would even consider her opinion. She had a sinking feeling about this plan – it could only lead to disaster. Fate did play a part – everyone was a child of fate, and time was written so that all events were inevitable, no matter what anybody did.
But there was a part of her that wanted to side with Odine. At least he had a plan to restore the world – and that was what she wanted most, the world returning to normal. She had met plenty of sorceresses in her lifetime, but something about Ultimecia was particularly fearsome. Perhaps it was because she was the time compressor, the one who had distorted the world with the power of her fingertips, and now she was the ruler of the new world – a world that was under her control in every aspect. She admired Laguna's courage for thinking that it would be the three of them – Odine, Laguna and herself, the only ones left in the world who knew the truth – that will be able to bring down Ultimecia and change the world back. But she somehow had the feeling that the three of them weren't enough. Even with Odine's science, her power, and Laguna's leadership, they needed more.
A lot more, thought Ellone sadly.
Rinoa gazed out the window of the car, mesmerised by the world around her as the trio were on the way to the WRO HQ. Cloud said that he wouldn't mind taking Rinoa on his own and that Tifa should continue running the bar, but Tifa insisted on accompanying him, saying that she wanted to meet up with their old friends at the WRO again. Cloud eventually agreed, saying that the kids were more than capable of looking after themselves and they would only be gone for less than a day anyway.
Rinoa observed the area surrounding Edge carefully. She had been too distracted before when Cloud took her from the church to Tifa's bar to notice how the world looked, but now she was sure that the world she once knew was left behind. Her new surroundings looked relatively quiet and not too different to the old world, but something didn't feel the same – there was a different aura in the air, and her mind and body felt lighter than usual. Somehow, even the smell seemed unusual.
And the area around Edge, the ruins of Midgar, which she had never heard of, was so dark and barren, and the people seemed tired and depressed. The sky appeared to be of a permanently grey colour, with the sun barely peeping through the clouds for a little light.
"What happened to this area?" asked Rinoa curiously.
Tifa, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, glanced at Cloud, who was driving otherwise he would get motion sickness. Tifa's look said something along the lines of 'Does she really not know?' Cloud's expression didn't falter, so Tifa turned around to explain to Rinoa, who sat patiently in the backseat.
"A few years ago, someone tried to destroy our planet by summoning a black magic spell called Meteor," said Tifa. "We were able to stop it from destroying the world, but it had a really bad impact on the Planet, especially this area. It left a huge city in ruins and killed a lot of people, and a disease spread across the world."
"Meteor?" repeated Rinoa. "That doesn't sound so dangerous. I think I've got some stocked actually. I drew some from—"
"What?" interjected Tifa, gaping at Rinoa.
"Nothing," said Rinoa with a sigh. "At least you saved something. Continue."
"Well, now the world's slowly recovering," said Tifa. "The World Regenesis Organisation was founded by our friend Reeve, who used to be a part of this huge power called Shinra. Shinra drained the world of its energy sources and it's kind of their fault that the world's like this, but they're repaying their debt by helping the WRO."
"And that's where we're going now?" said Rinoa. "How much further is it?"
"The old Shinra building used to be in Midgar," said Tifa. "But it's in ruins now. The new WRO HQ is in Junon, which is about another two hours drive away."
"Wow, this sure is quite a length you're going to so you can help me out," said Rinoa. "But I assure you, you're wasting your time ... there's nothing wrong with me. I really doubt these Shinra WRO people will know anything about me."
"It's just to be safe," said Cloud. "They might be able to help you."
"Unlikely," said Rinoa with a yawn.
Just then, a loud bang hit the roof of the car and Cloud halted the vehicle suddenly, causing Rinoa to almost fall out of her seat. Rinoa looked up and saw a Wendigo jump from the roof of the car, and a few others quickly came out from the wilderness and formed a circle around the car.
"Just great," mumbled Cloud, switching off the ignition and grabbing his huge sword from the floor of the backseat. "Looks like we'll have to fight them off before we can go anywhere. Rinoa, stay inside."
His tone almost reminded Rinoa of Squall, barking orders at her to stay put in times of danger so that she wouldn't get hurt … or get in the way. Was it universal that she would be deemed useless and just another pretty face that needed protecting? Did she really give off the aura that everything was just a game to her and she wasn't serious about anything? These very thoughts fired up a passion inside of Rinoa and gave her the urge to prove herself as more than a damsel in distress – she was useful, and she could fight too.
Cloud burst open the door with his sword and Tifa soon followed, her fists held high and a fiery look in her eyes.
Rinoa watched as Cloud tore into one of the Wendigos with his sword, piercing its tough skin and causing silverly liquid to ooze out of its body like blood. He dodged a powerful punch by the monster, and it instead hit the side of the car, creating a huge hole in the driver's door. Whilst the monster was trying to recoup, Cloud hacked into its back multiple times whilst Tifa delivered a series of kicks and punches to it.
"Watch out!" shouted Rinoa, as two of the other Wendigos ripped their claws into Tifa whilst she had her back turned to them. She winced in pain, but quickly regained composure and did a violent somersault, knocking both her attackers to the ground. She quickly cured herself from the wounds in her back and signalled at Cloud.
Cloud lowered his giant blade in a horizontal position and Tifa ran towards him, gaining momentum, and jumped onto the enormous sword, lifting from her left foot off the blade and onto the high shoulders of the Wendigo. Her fists clenched into tight balls, she strung a chain of violent blows into the side of the Wendigo's head. The sound of its skull being crushed was almost audible.
Rinoa knew this could have been finished much quicker – she knew that physical attacks were not enough to finish off the Wendigos. She jumped out of the car and climbed onto the roof where the monsters couldn't reach her, and scanned her mind for the presence of her GF so she could cast some magic.
"Rinoa, get back inside!" yelled Tifa, jumping off the Wendigo's shoulders.
Rinoa didn't even hear Tifa as she tried to search herself for the GF. When she called out the names of the Guardians she was familiar with in her mind, she was slightly disturbed when she received no response. It was as if they had deserted her completely, without leaving the slightest trace. Why had she not noticed that they were gone before...?
As a usual nervous reflex, Rinoa's hand reached for the rings hanging on the chain around her neck. She closed her eyes and concentrated even harder on finding her Guardian Forces – maybe they were hiding somewhere deep in her consciousness...
Griever, Squall's great lion, thought Rinoa, fingering the bumpy patterns on Squall's duplicate ring. Full of pride and full of power – if only you could guide me...
Almost instantly, an unfamiliar presence crept into her thoughts. The presence was overwhelming and somewhat frightened Rinoa at first, but she was bold enough to accept its residence inside of her.
Who are you? thought Rinoa.
I am Griever, a booming voice rung in her mind. I've been watching over you.
Rinoa, confused, wondered how the unknown Guardian Force had been watching over her. She could not recall ever acquiring such a GF ... unless ... it was hidden in Squall's ring the whole time, and it was subconsciously drawn when Rinoa unintentionally called for its help.
She noticed in her peripherals that one of the Wendigos charging at her from afar, and cast a third-degree lightning spell, burying all her confusion of where Griever had come from under the heat of battle.
"THUNDAGA!" shouted Rinoa with her arms thrust forward, and a raging blow of electricity escaped from her fingertips and enshrouded the beast. The Wendigo roared in pain and fell face-forward onto the ground, smoking.
Rinoa turned to another Wendigo, drew a Berserk spell from it and directly cast it onto another Wendigo. She watched as the mysterious red light was drawn from the drawee monster and infused into the target. The target immediately went berserk, and Rinoa piled on her own Confuse spell on it. It then began pulverising its own ally to death.
Before long, the pack of Wendigos was defeated by Cloud and Tifa's melee attacks and Rinoa's magic. Rinoa didn't even feel tired – maybe she was finally used to the heat of battle.
"That was amazing, Rinoa," said Tifa, taking off her gloves. "I didn't know you were such a great spell caster."
Rinoa beamed in delight and jumped off the roof of the car, which had an enormous dent in it from where the Wendigo had jumped.
Cloud sheathed his sword and walked towards Rinoa. "What was that thing you did that made it go berserk? How did you take magic from the monster?"
"What do you mean 'how'?" said Rinoa, "How else! By drawing, of course."
"Drawing?" asked Tifa. "You can draw magic from monsters? Is that by using some kind of Materia?"
"Um ... no?" said Rinoa, raising her eyebrows confusedly.
"Then how is it possible that you can cast magic without Materia?" asked Cloud.
"By drawing magic, as I said," said Rinoa. "Once I draw from a monster or a draw point, I can store the magic in my body and cast it later."
Cloud and Tifa looked at each other worriedly.
"The WRO can answer all of our questions," said Tifa finally.
"But it's not like we'll be getting anywhere soon," said Cloud, frowning at the poor state of the car. "Better call Reeve so he can send out someone to get us, otherwise we'll have to walk."
"B-But you said it was a two hour drive," said Rinoa. "We'll never get there if we walk."
"We have no choice," said Cloud.
How about I just give up right now? thought Rinoa helplessly, missing her friends more and more.
"I'm a sorceress?" said Aerith in horror.
"You're a sorceress?" exclaimed Selphie incredulously.
Seifer raised an eyebrow at Selphie suspiciously, but didn't say anything.
This woman is a sorceress and Seifer is in a gang called the Sorceress Knights who wear SeeD uniforms whilst SeeD doesn't even exist, thought Squall, alarms ringing off in his head as he watched the scene play out. It seemed like a nightmare. This can't be good.
"Of course she's a sorceress," said Squall abruptly, glaring at Selphie warningly. He stood up so that he was level with the rest of his friends, and Aerith followed suit. "We tried to tell the guy who captured us but he wouldn't listen."
"But Squall—" began Selphie, but Squall elbowed her in the ribs to stop her from blowing their cover. He wasn't entirely sure where he was going with this shenanigan, but he had to avoid trouble at all costs. Squall and his party were the weak ones in this world – they were no longer elite fighting SeeDs whom everyone looked up to, they were nobodies without any power or knowledge in the world. And especially since Ultimecia was the ruler, they were in no way prepared to face her again – they had to keep a low profile. And they were just about free if they could wriggle out of this...
But Seifer seemed even more suspicious, not buying a single word of Squall's story. "So how is it that you know she's a sorceress? Judging by Lady Aerith's reaction, she didn't even seem to know it herself. Come to think of it, why is it that I've never heard of you, Lady Aerith?"
"Well, that's because her powers aren't fully developed," lied Squall quickly, "Aerith – Lady Aerith – didn't want to publically announce that she'd recently inherited sorceress powers until she could control them. I was her, uh, confidant – but if we're going to be pressed with criminal charges, and if you're gonna be here trying to kill us, I only think that revealing her secret now is the best option to avoid any serious consequences."
I sure hope that's how it works, thought Squall.
"I see," said Seifer, the suspicion not clearing in his face just yet. "And why would you be her confidant? You're nobody."
"Well, all of us are her servants," said Quistis, when Squall was trying to think of an answer. "And Squall here, well, he was a close friend of Lady Aerith when she was human. And um, now he wants to enlist to become a Sorceress Knight someday. Isn't that right, Squall?"
Sure, why not? thought Squall, nodding.
"All right then," said Seifer slowly. "Well ... if that's the case, I don't see any reason not to let you all go. I don't have time to deal with this anyway – I've got to get to Esthar."
Esthar, thought Squall, So it still exists. That's where Laguna and Odine were – maybe they're still there. If they're alive...
"W-Wait," said Squall. "Lady Aerith and her entourage would like to head there. Is it possible for you to arrange something for us?"
"What the hell do I look like, a travel agent?" snapped Seifer. "Go organise your own goddamn holidays!"
Zack nudged Aerith, who stepped forward reluctantly.
"Please, Sir Knight," said Aerith calmly. "It's important that we get there as soon as possible, and I think you're the only person who'll be able to get us there quickly. I kindly request it." She smiled sweetly, a brilliant smile that somehow reminded Squall of Rinoa.
It seemed Seifer was also affected by Aerith's flossy demeanour – or maybe it was because it was his duty to obey a sorceress in this world. "F-Fine. I guess you all can board a ship from the port with me. But we can't all get on my bike to get there – I'll have to arrange a car to take us to the port town. Wait here while I do it."
"Thank you so much," said Aerith, smiling warmly.
As Seifer turned on his heel and headed away, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Jeez, nice save Squall," said Irvine, tipping his hat. "You too, Quisty."
Squall ignored Irvine's compliment - he wasn't as relieved as his companions just yet. He swiftly pulled out his gunblade and pointed the tip at Aerith's neck threateningly, an icy gaze falling on the warm young woman.
"H-HEY!" said Zack angrily, reaching for his sword instinctively – only to find that he didn't have one. "What are you doing? Aerith just saved all of you! And she saved your life, Squall!"
"Squall, what are you doing, man?" said Irvine, shocked.
"Who are you really?" said Squall unfeelingly, keeping his stare firm on Aerith. "Are you really a sorceress? If you are, then why the hell are you helping us? And how can you not know you're a sorceress anyway? I always thought there was something weird about you two, but you can't hide any longer. We need to know."
I can't say I know much about this new world either, thought Squall, but I've deducted enough from our new surroundings to conclude that there is definitely something odd about these two.
Aerith, who looked terrified when Squall was making his demand with a blade at her neck, breathed a long sigh and smiled weakly. The gesture caught Squall off guard, but he showed no sign of it.
"All right, we'll tell you the truth," said Aerith. "But I can't promise that you'll believe us."
Squall lowered his blade slightly. "We're listening."
"Well, Squall," said Aerith slowly, "remember how I said – 'this is how I died' when Seifer stabbed you?"
"I thought you said 'you aren't going to die'", said Squall, furrowing his brow.
Aerith shook her head and continued. The party leaned in closely to the two newcomers to hear their story of a foreign world, one that was beyond their imagination and beyond what they had expected from time compression.