The war has now begun. Can the Seeds hope to defeat the awful menace that stands to control the world?
Disclaimer: all Final Fantasy 8 characters, places, and things belong to Squaresoft and other involved companies. I own none of them. This is merely for the enjoyment of myself and others.
EMPEROR OF DARKNESS
CHAPTER 6
Decisions
The fire roared fiercely into the city of Timber. Houses crumbled under searing flames and plant and animal life withered under the intense, burning heat. Dead bodies lay strewn about, along the broken roads. Death had claimed the once beautiful town and made its home upon the decimated city that was now full of destruction and blood.
However, amongst the havoc, one small force refused to give up just yet. With almost inhuman strength, Seifer Almasy pushed himself clear of a huge boulder that had been pinning him underground. As he finished lifting himself out of the wreckage, he slowly surveyed the area clutching an injured arm made by the explosion. He grimaced in pity and rage as he scanned the scene of destruction all around him. He let out an inhuman scream as he lunged from the center of the wreck he was in, then made his way towards the outskirts of the city. As he walked his mind reeled back on how much he had changed in only a few hours.
Flashback::: 2 hours ago
He had been sulking in a tavern, near the entrance of town. His former meeting with the girl named Dawn had deeply troubled him and he found that he would be better off just tossing his pains away with a few pints of alcohol in his stomach. She was right that he shouldn't just give up and throw his life away. However, on the same note, who was she to tell him how to live his life out? He would do what he damn well pleased. Only once, had he listened to anyone else in his life and he wouldn't repeat that mistake twice. Seifer Almasy was his own master. Even if he had been manipulated, he saw the error of his ways and decided upon the best course of action. He never wanted to be used and influenced by anyone ever again. He had wished with, fervent intensity, that Squall would have killed him three years ago. However he had been denied that freedom and instead, was forced to endure a life of failure and shame.
It was at this point, in his stage of self-pity, that Seifer had seen the televised broadcast made by Emperor Zeilak. He noticed that the room was deathly quiet when it came on then saw how everyone was reverently watching the screen. He trained his vision to the screen as well to see what all the commotion was all about. He had thought nothing of this new threat at first. Simply another menace that Garden's 'hero' would take care of. But that whole train of thought crumbled to dust after hearing of Garden's defeat. Seifer had quickly sobered from his drunken stupor and had paid close attention to the announcement.
"Hey bartender!" He yelled from across the room.
"What?" The man replied, angry at being interrupted from his concentration on the broadcast.
"What is this garbage? What is this fool talking about? He's saying that he defeated Garden? Turn the channel, I'm not listening to this trash!"
At that, nearly everyone in the bar turned around to face him; some, looking at him with shock and others with disgust and enmity.
"You damn fool!" The bartender yelled at him. "Look, judging by the sight of ya, I suppose you were drunk when it happened so you may not know about it yet but as it is, three days ago President Cid and Caraway were assassinated at the Unification Ceremony. On top of that, the legendary Seeds, led by none other than Squall Lionheart himself, were defeated and humiliated. This character here is issuing war. So ya better just shut the hell up and listen cause we ain't got no more time for ya. If seed lost to this monster then we can't do nothing but sit back as we prepare to die."
As he listened to the bartender, he felt his anger rising more and more with each word the man muttered out of his mouth. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Cid was dead. The very thought sent a hurricane of emotions swirling through his mind. As far as he could remember, the man had been the closest thing to a father he ever had. And now he was dead. Viscously murdered by a madman who now wants to kill everyone. And on top of that, the great 'hero' Lionheart and his cronies couldn't beat him.
Seifer couldn't stand it anymore. He shook with unbridled ferocity. Who the hell did this guy think he was? In one day, Seifer's whole protective reality had been shattered. The 'champions of justice were defeated and his past was literally being stripped from him.
Seifer grudgingly trained his attention back to the television screen. At the sight of Edea, dying in agony, Seifer became infuriated. He couldn't understand his emotions any more at that point. He had always been trouble for Edea and Cid. He enjoyed making them sweat when they raised him in the past. But now, all he felt was pent up anger, which he had no outlet for. It was at that point that he realized, even though he never said it or showed it, he cherished those memories he had of his caretakers because they were the only ones who would show him any kindness when he needed it the most. Even if he pretended he hated them, deep down he had a respect and love for the very people who brought him in and gave him purpose in his time of emptiness.
However, he was alleviated from his recent issues with self-control as the room suddenly exploded in a gust of flames, fire and debris. He couldn't think. All he heard were screams of torment and fear from the people around him as they were engulfed the inferno of death. He could do nothing but scream as he too was swallowed up in the explosion. The last sight he saw was of a beam falling over him. The only thing welcoming him afterwards was darkness.
Present Time
Now, as he trudged through the burning debris, a new resolve was set over him. This 'Emperor' had taken everything from him. His reign of terror and destruction had ruined Seifer's reality in only a matter of hours. Seifer would have his revenge. He would avenge the loss of his caretakers and he would bring honor back to the legendary seeds. It was the least he could do for his past actions. Subconsciously, Dawns words began to seep back into Seifer's mind. She was right, it was time to get his life back together and regain his former confidence. Even if it cost him his sanity, it was all he could do. As far as he could surmise, he was the world's final hope. He would atone for his sins or die trying.
****
"Squall?!"
"…"
"Squall!…"
"…"
"Please answer me Squall! Don't leave me! Not now!… Squall!!!!!"
Squall slowly opened his eyes at the sounds of Rinoa's urgent plea's. The last thing he remembered was of the garden being knocked back by one of the missiles Emperor Zeilak launched. As memories flooded back of that dreadful occasion, Squall couldn't help but clench his fists in anger.
Rinoa immediately embraced him when she saw him sit up from the floor. "Squall! I was so worried! How are you feeling?"
He gave her a slight grin. "I'm fine." He lied. Truthfully, he felt horrible. He had fallen on his injured side and he knew it was probably badly bruised now. Also he had injured his head as well. He felt somewhat lightheaded and guessed that he probably had a minor concussion. However, it was nothing a few curagas couldn't handle. He slowly rose up to his feet with some help from Rinoa who supported his weight slightly.
"Status report?" He rasped.
Rinoa's expression became serious. "We barely escaped one of the missiles Zeilak launched. However, our starboard engines have been ruptured. And on top of that, I hear there have been many complaints about other sections of the Garden sustaining severe damage."
Squall nodded his head sagely. "Understood. Casulties?"
"As far as I know, only two. They were doing a maintenance check on the engine when the missile struck. They… are still unrecognizable at this point…"
"I see. Rinoa, Thank you."
The room they were in was a mess. Three fourths of the ceiling were caved in. Huge sections of the wall had collapsed and the lift for the piloting room was busted.
"Were is everybody?" Squall asked as he surveyed the damage.
"Selphie's in the medical center with Sarah. Sarah got injured in the explosion but luckily nothings wrong with the baby and she is in stable condition now. Nothing too serious, just a minor head injury but regardless, Dr. Kadowaki is still insistent about keeping her there. Selphie is helping her."
Squall bowed his head. 'That was too close.' He thought to himself. 'What if Sarah was…No! I can't think like that right now! I have to be strong! For the sake of Garden! For the sake of everyone!'
"Thanks honey; for everything. Look, can you check up on the students and see how many were injured? Meanwhile, I'm going to see what I can do up here."
"I can do that. But Squall… just…just take it easy ok? I don't want you overstraining yourself. I can't lose you…"
"I know hon, I can't bare to lose you either. I'll be fine. I just need to get us situated or we may be in for another attack."
"I understand. I… I just wanted to-… Squall I'm so sorry about what happened with Edea. I still can't believe it. I know your hurting inside I just don't want you to bottle it up. You're not alone anymore. I want you to know that I'm with you all the way."
For a moment, Squall gave in to his anguish and Rinoa's heart threatened to burst at the sight up him. But suddenly his expression dropped and his stoic masked took over. The transformation was almost too frightening to Rinoa's eyes.
Squall noticed Rinoa's shocked expression and his voice became soft with emotion. "Rinoa please… Honey I can't… I don't want to deal with the pain right now. Too many people are depending on us. We have to stay focused."
Rinoa nodded slightly. "Ok Squall, but you can't hide your feelings forever. When there is time, ill be there to console with you."
Squall nodded his head in reply to this agreement. "When there is time."
That said, Rinoa turned and walked out of the room.
Squall milled his way through the wreckage coming up next to Irvin who was looking up at the piloting room on the second floor with dismay.
"You ok, Irvin? We took quite a bump back there."
Irvin looked at Squall like he had never seen him before. The Garden General felt uneasy under Irvin's odd scrutiny. Finally, the young cowboy spoke.
"Squall,… what the hell is going on?"
Squall could see that there were tears in his eyes, both old and new. Squall couldn't blame him. He wanted to cry to. He wanted to yell out in outrage at the recent events but he couldn't afford to. Too many lives depended on his actions and how he responded to the situation. So instead Squall settled for an attitude of indifference to disguise his true emotions.
"Shit man! This f***ing sucks!" Irvin screamed, trying to vent some of his pent up frustrations. "I mean, who the f*** does this guy think he is? How could he just kill Edea like that?! And then the speech afterwards! How could he defile her memory in such a way.?!?"
Squall took this all in with a calm attitude. "I know exactly what your going through Irvin but loosing control isn't going to help matters any. Right now we need to reorganize ourselves and worry about those 'still' alive. We'll settle up with Edea and Cid's death when we get to that road but right now I need your help. We all need to cooperate and work together otherwise we aren't going to be able to make any kind of a difference in this fight. You get me?"
Irvin was about to say more but then decided against it and swallowed whatever comments he was about to make. "What do you need me to do?"
Squall breathed a sigh of relief. "I need you down in the engine room on the double. Take a few seeds with you. I need to know how bad we got hit and if we can still move in our current condition. Can you do that?"
The cowboy nodded slowly. "I can handle that boss man, don't you worry about that." He turned and began to exit the room but stopped when he got to the doorway. "But… just promise me one thing."
"Yeah?"
"Promise me that we'll get the chance to settle up with that bastard. Promise me that you will at least lead us that far…"
Squall regarded Irvin with a solid look of intensity. "That's one promise I 'can' make, even if it kills me."
Irvin gave a slow nod then left the room, leaving Squall standing in the rubble to handle the duties of the bridge.
Squall took a few minutes to get his bearings straight, then slowly walked around the room, sizing up the damage and seeing what needed immediate repairs.
"Excuse me General." Said Xu as she made her way towards him.
"What is it?"
"Sir, I think you better take a look at this." She quickly jumped up to the second floor of the ravaged office. Squall followed suit and walked up next to her as they stood in the center of the piloting room for Balamb Garden. She promptly handed him an optic scanner, which permitted him to see up to aproximately 4,000 kilometers away.
"Take a look General." She repeated, while pointing outside.
Squall did so and was appalled at what he saw. In the distance he could see nothing but burnt cinders everywhere he turned. Once beautiful trees and forests were now nothing more then graveyards. Small houses were decimated. Everything for as far as he could see, was destroyed.
He slowly lowered the scanner and clinched his fists, trying desperately to control his anger.
"Sir, as far as we can tell, it's the same everywhere. That Zeilak character wasn't bluffing when he said he would recreate the world. Everything's gone."
"…I see. But no matter what, I won't let Zeilak have his way. We are Seeds and its our duty to protect the peace and welfare of those around us."
Squall walked over to the main computer terminal in the piloting room. Fortunately, it hadn't been damaged in the explosion. He turned to face the officer manning it.
"Patch me a line to the engine room."
"Yes sir."
Once the connection was complete, the image of a tech officer filled the screen. "General, how can I help you sir?"
"Is Irvin with you?"
"Yes sir, he just got here a little while ago."
"Good, put him on."
"Yes sir." A few minutes later the tech's face was replaced with the image of Irvin.
"Irvin how are things looking on your end?"
"Pretty bad actually. We got ourselves a bad rupture in the main cooling tank. We can move but if we keep going too long this baby's gonna overheat and we may end up loosing the engine for good."
Squall closed his eyes briefly, taking in all the possible courses of action. "What about repairs? How long will they take?"
"Well that's just it, we don't have sufficient supplies to make any permanent repairs. We can patch her up a bit at best but that's only gonna last for so long until it gives way."
"I see. About how long will those short term repairs take?"
"Probably a day. Maybe less if the engineers down here get snappin."
"And do you have any idea how long the engine would last before the repairs give way?"
"At best, I'd give her about four days."
"Ok thanks Irvin. Do what you can down there and meet me back on the bridge ok?"
"Gottcha Squall. Over and out."
"Squall turned from the monitor and walked up to Xu.
"The closest area to us is Balamb correct? How far are we from there?"
"About 9,000 miles sir."
He nodded meticulously at this, slowly collecting his thoughts for what he was going to say next. "Ok I need you to relay these orders to everyone for me. Can you do that Xu?"
"Yes sir, what are your orders?"
"Right, I want you to get everyone ready. We are launching Garden to Balamb. Once there we will receive repairs and in return we will offer our services to the citizens to help them in any way we can."
Xu's face darkened at this. "With all due respect sir, wouldn't the better course of action be for us to find a shelter area and send someone out for supplies instead. Our Garden is in a very fragile position. Even if we do manage to make it to the City before our engines give out, we don't know if we will come into contract with another enemy attack. According to the handbook series number x2947 the correct decision in these types of situations is for us to-"
"This is not a handbook Xu!" Squall countered, flinging his arm out towards the scene around them. "This is no time for textbook propaganda. Look I understand we are in a vulnerable state but it's the best we can do, given our current circumstances. If we did 'hide' as you recommended, our repairs would take a considerably longer amount of time. In that time, Zeilak would find us anyway so we would only be facing the inevidable. As far as our engines are concerned, don't worry yourself over it. It is a gamble that I am willing to make. I am confident we will be able to make it."
Xu was exasperated. "But sir! Think about what you are saying! You said we should offer assistance to the citizens of Balamb! We can't afford that kind of action."
"Look Xu, the reason why everything is as it is now is because we screwed up! We, as protectors of the peace, were obligated to prevent something like this. I won't abandon those in need of my help especially when I feel partially responsible for their bleak plight. Now, my orders are that when we make it to the city we will help them as long as it takes till our repairs are made. If you don't like those orders, then file a complaint after we make it to Balamb and in the meantime you can spend your time in your quarters. I don't need anyone undermining me anytime I give an order."
Xu's face reddened in anger and embarrassment to Squall's harsh words. "I apologize sir. That won't be necessary. I will follow your orders as you have given them."
"Very well then, relay those orders. I'm going to contact reinforcements from other Gardens."
"Yes sir." Xu said with a slight grumble in her voice.
Squall purposefully chose to ignore it and made his way to the communications room, preparing himself for what he would say to the officers of the other Gardens when he contacted them.
****
After what seemed like years, Seifer finally made it to the exit of Timber. His grimy shoes where covered in burnt soot and dust. He was exhausted from the trek, which made him wonder when the last time was that he had gotten a decent exercise. He angrily wiped sweat from his forehead as he walked out into the open field. His eyes narrowed furiously as he saw the destruction around him.
"So you've finally decided huh?"
Seifer swung around swiftly wishing he still had his gunblade. "Who's there?" he asked suspiciously.
Slowly, Dawn walked out into the open. She was wearing a traveling cloak with a baggy green shirt and matching baggy green pants underneath. "You forgot me already?" She asked with a hint of a smile on her face.
"Oh, it's you." Seifer said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Somehow I knew you would survive the explosion."
"So, I see you've finally made a decision." She said, ignoring his last comment.
"Yeah, I did" Seifer replied in a low voice.
"And what do you plan to do now?"
"Take my revenge on Zeilak and his minions for what they did to Edea and Cid of course!"
She shrugged slightly. "Well in that case won't you be needing this?" She then reached into her black cloak, withdrawing Hyperion from its resting place at her side and tossed it towards him. Seifer deftly caught his old weapon of choice, caressing the handle lovingly as he examined the condition it was in.
"But how did you…"
She smiled coyly. "I have my connections. A storeowner at a fleece shop was trying to get rid of it. I was lucky I got there in time. He was planning on burning it down and making something different with the raw metal remaining. Apparently not too many people are interested in the weapon once wielded by the legendary sorceress knight."
Seifer lowered his head with a sad smile on his face. "They must really hate me huh?"
"Don't let it get to you Seifer. Only you know what was in your mind at the time. They don't know what's in your heart. Therefor the only one who can judge you is yourself."
Seifer nodded slowly at this then looked up at her nervously scratching his beard. "Um… thank you."
Dawn chuckled lightly at his remark. "You can thank me by taking my advice."
"And that is?" He asked suspiciously.
"That you take some time to train before you make your standoff with Zeilak and his acolytes."
"I'm well enough! I don't need to train." Seifer protested, slightly offended at her words.
"Yeah right! And that's why you're sweating like a pig after only walking a few miles? Look, the best thing you can do for yourself right now is to train. If Squall and his seeds couldn't do anything to Zeilak, you sure as hell won't make any kind of success."
Seifer was quiet for a moment, contemplating her words. "Maybe your right…"
"I know I am! And I'll come with you."
"What? What are you gonna do? You can't fight!" Seifer countered vehemently.
"Oh I can't can I? Well then I guess I'll just have to come along anyway just to prove you wrong!" She said brandishing her own weapon of choice.
Seifer was slightly surprised to see that she was now holding a short sword with fine craftsmanship and a jewel at the center of the hilt. "A sword? Swords are no match for gunblades."
Dawn just smiled slightly. "Oh I think I can manage." She said as suddenly her sword began to pulsate with a soft glow of energy.
"What the hell?"
"It's a GF." She explained. "My weapon of choice is also my partner. It's essentially a charged sword but whenever I feel it's necessary, I can tap extra power from my GF resonating within the center jewel of my blade."
Seifer was dumbfounded. "But… but how did you find a weapon like that?"
"That's my little secret." She said with a smile on her face. "So is that enough to convince you to let me train with you?"
Seifer was skeptical but he slowly nodded his consent. This girl was an anomaly to him. He saw fragments of himself in her personality. He found her outward show of arrogance and zeal admiring yet at the same time it angered him because it reminded him of where his own overconfidence led him. Ultimately, however, he was intrigued by this girl who was so young but showed the potential for so much strength and power.
"Ok but just let me ask you one thing. Why are you doing this for me? Who are you?"
The smile slowly faded from Dawn's face as she glanced down at her feet. "I can't answer that now. All I ask is that you trust me."
Seifer narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
"Please…?" She asked with desperate eyes.
Seifer was silent for a moment, weighing his options before he finally responded.
"Fine but when this is all over I'll be expecting an answer."
"A slight smile crept up to Dawns face at his response. "Fair enough."
"So where to? You were the one suggesting that I train so what did you have in mind?"
"Let's head to the east. There are a lot of good monsters there ranging from very weak to very powerful. It should be a good place to test where you stand."
"And let me guess. My final test will be you right?"
Dawn laughed lightly. "You guessed it."
Seifer held back an annoying rebuke and just shrugged. "Fine then. If we're going then let's go."
Dawn smiled brightly and promptly led the way. After all these months things were finally looking up for her.
Well that's another chapter for ya! What did you all think? Seifer's back in action and Squall is finally putting his foot down. Things are gonna get more intense as the story continues! Well as always thank you all for reading and please review!
-Cordis
