Disclaimer: I do not own final fantasy VIII or any other games in the final fantasy series. They are the property of Squaresoft/square enix. This story has been written purely for entertainment value and no money has or will exchange hands. All original character and storylines belong to me. Thank you.

I know that it's been along time since i updated but i haven't had interent access until now - should be back online properly in a week or so, so expect more updates soon!


Chapter 9, the secret keeper.

"And they expect us to find a door in here?" Seifer asked randomly pushing at different areas of the wall in front of him.

"Apparently so." Quistis told him, on her knees looking for a gap between the walls and the floor, her touch didn't seem to be showing up any spaces, she'd already covered three walls and was fast running out of hope.

Fujin was on the laptop using it as a live feed videophone, Rinoa was on the other end giving her the final details of the translation. It had seemed an odd choice as Fujin rarely spoke in full sentences to anyone, let alone those out side the posse. From what she could make out it seemed to be a pretty one-way conversation.

"LIGHT?" The silver haired young woman looked confused.

The sorceress smiled at her. "The clues and riddles all point towards this whole thing having something to do with light, I've shown you what the symbol looks like so maybe there will be a lever or something there."

"Tried it Rin." Seifer came over to the screen to tell her. "We've pushed them, shone light on them and nothing seems to be working, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated."

"Think good thoughts?" she offered in jest and Seifer smiled.

"Tried that too." on the other side of the phone Rinoa rolled her eyes.

"Then I have no idea, if the test they're talking about has to do with Odin then maybe only someone who passed his test will be allowed to open it."

"Which would be me." Quistis too had joined the crouched group of people around the screen. Her friend nodded.

"It's just a suggestion, maybe it won't open up with the others in the room." she nodded.

"Okay we'll try it, we'll give you an update in an hour or so. Thanks Rin." the sorceress smiled.

"Good luck." and the screen went blank.

Seifer looked uneasily at Quistis, worried at the prospect of letting her do this by herself.

"I'll be fine." she reassured, breaking her own rules by stepping forwards and pulling him gently towards her. He didn't hesitate to hold her closer.

"As soon as the damn door is open we'll be right there with you." but she shook her head, tipping her head up to look at him.

"I won't risk it, not you. If there really is someone down there then I'm sure they won't want to hurt me, you heard Rinoa."

"Quis… please be careful, at the first sign of trouble I want you to call for help." she smiled at him and reached to give him a brief kiss.

"I promise, now go join your posse. Sooner this is over the sooner we'll know what in Hynes name it is we're fighting." reluctantly he pulled away and stepped outside. The doors closed behind him and he closed his eyes, reaching the hand not holding Hyperion into his pocket, closing his fingers around the small velvet box it contained he prayed for her safety.


Trabias training centre seemed to have been vastly up graded, almost to the point where it would compete with Balamb. Even so Squall didn't seem to think he was getting anywhere. He still tired easier than he was used to, but he pushed himself knowing that training would take his mind off the dangers they could be facing and the current mission to Centra.

"Yo Squall, want some company?" He turned to see the blonde martial artist head towards him, gloves on and seemingly ready for a fight.

The commander simply nodded, waiting for his friend to join him before continuing towards the higher-level area with the T-rex's and the newly added blue dragons. There was also a small selection of hexadragons but they were kept in the specialist area, neither men felt like taking them on that afternoon.

"Has it sunk in yet?" Zell asked as they stepped over a stray tree trunk.

Squall looked at him, wondering if he should open up to his friend. It would probably be best in the long run; he's done all of this before.

"To be honest, no." He told him. "We got the ultrasound pictures this morning and I keep looking at it… so small… so… I don't know what to say, I don't think it will hit me until I hold her in my arms."

Zell smiled. "I know that feeling, even with the twins I had to hold them to remind myself they were our children…. sometimes I still can't believe how lucky we are to have them." he paused. "What makes you so sure it's a girl?"

The other man just shrugged. "Rinoa's insisting that it is, it just seems to have rubbed off on me too. I don't mind either way." Then he fell silent and Zell studied him closely.

"Look man I don't mean to pry but you look kinda worried about something, anything I can help with?" in all honesty he didn't expect his friend to say anything, he just wanted to put the offer out there.

Squall however, answered before he'd really meant to.

"Look after them for me." the blonde looked confused. "If I can't defeat this thing… if I'm not strong enough and something… something happens I need to know Rinoa and the baby will be safe. Can you do that?"

"Squall, you know you don't have to ask." he put a reassuring hand on the commander's shoulder. He looked tired from the afternoons training. "But we'll defeat this thing together, none of us were ready last time."

His friend simply nodded and carried on walking forwards, readying his Gunblade as he prepared for their battle with the oncoming dragon.


She had expected to be plunged into darkness as soon as the stone doors closed behind her; instead though she was greeted by a stream of white light, it spread wider and wider on the wall in front of her until the whole thing seemed to be engulfed.

"Warrior of light you may enter here." The voice was male and held a tone of authority about it that commanded her attention, yet it seemed soft too. "There is nothing for you to fear."

So, taking a deep breath she stepped forwards to be greeted by warmth as the passed through the light. Without realising it she had closed her eyes and only when she felt the soft earth below her feet did she open them again, it seemed she had been transported somewhere.

"Welcome Quistis." the voice greeted her once more, but she could not see who was speaking. Looking around the room she noted that it was lit by the same lanterns they had found around the rest of the tower and there was writing around the walls of the room, although it seemed to be illustrated in parts.

"Where are you?" She asked, still unable to work out where the sound was coming from.

"Turn around." he instructed, and when she did a gasp escaped her lips.

In front of her was a throne carved in the same stone as the rest of the walls. Two large rubies were embedded each in one arm and an emerald sat at the top of the chair. But what startled her the most was the man sat in front of her. He looked no more than thirty years old, but his skin was a deathly white and his cobalt eyes seemed to see right through her.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice only just above a whisper.

He smiled kindly, he was familiar to her but she couldn't place him.

"I am the keeper of this tower, you will know me as Odin." Quistis simply stared in shock.

"But you were killed… I watched it happen… how can this be?" she questioned, stepping towards him, he whip rocking back and forth at her side.

"When the beings you have come to understand were locked away, so was I. you may call it suspended animation. It was so there would be someone to lead the warriors on their way. The form in which I assisted you was the one left to me as the secret keeper and thus allowed me to test those who journeyed here."

"What happened when that form was destroyed?"

Once again he smiled gently, putting her at ease and calming her swirling mind. The implications of what she was being told were still hard to grasp.

"I lost the ability to appear to you, an ancient warrior took my place, I stayed down here suspended until two months of your time ago. When the seal on one of the beings was released so was mine."

It took Quistis a few moments to compose herself, but she knew why she was there and what she had to ask.

"What are they? The riddles left mention 'separated by sight and sound' the others said they could hardly see what they were fighting that an energy beam of some sort was used."

Odin nodded sadly. "They belonged in the court of Hyne, stood strong in her army. But all too soon she knew the power she had passed onto them was too dangerous for them to handle. They turned on those who they did not favour, human and mage alike. So they were banished and I was sent here – a volunteer and one adept with magicks in the hope that I would never be awoken."

"But someone found one of these beings… opened or unlocked them." Quistis said, almost to herself 'in dreams they cannot take their thrown.'

"Yes, but he is defeated." she wasn't sure whether his words were meant to be reassuring or not.

"Rinoa slit his throat." again she spoke as if to only herself.

"Only the light can banish them, Hyne could not, her soul had become too dark by that time so she used the last of her resolve to hide them. Quistis you must understand, they are not powerful in the normal sense, and they cannot match a sorceress in strength, they survive by feeding off the energy of others, never truly dead but never completely alive. Do you understand?"

"You sent them to sleep so they could no longer feed… which must be what the beam was doing to Squall… but you could not kill them? Then how was it that Rinoa could?" it confused her that one thing was possible but the easiest solution was not.

"Because they were too strong, the lives of many were sacrificed to send them into sleep, the magical power needed drained most of the mages court. It must have been gathering power slowly when your friends encountered it, that is how you were able to destroy it."

Quistis nodded, satisfied by this much at least. It made sense to her so far, but there was more she needed to learn.

"You seek the identity of the one who has awoken one and could search for the other… but I suspect you want it's burial place as well. The world cannot rest until you destroy it, although it will never achieve the power it would have with it's companion gone it still holds a powerful weapon."

"Can you read my mind?" she asked, wanting Seifer and the others to be hearing this as well.

"Yours and that of your friends, your lover is most concerned. I know his face but I sense a difference in his heart, it is no longer clouded in darkness. Despite his past I will grant him entry, the others as well. There is much to tell you all and I do not know for how long I can stay here." His time had been running out from the moment he had stirred, he needed to pass on his secrets to them before he joined Hyne once again.


When Laurie arrived at the apartment assigned to her family she was surprised to hear her two best friends chatting between them selves. Smiling as she entered the front room she noticed her eldest son asleep in the brunettes lap. Rinoa stood up as soon as she noticed her, she too had a beaming smile.

"I take it your meeting with Dr. Braska went well?" she asked, pulling her friend into a hug.

The sorceress simply nodded, reaching into her pocket to pull out another envelope. She had decided very quickly after leaving the medical bay that Laurie would be getting the spare image. If her father showed any interest she would send him an image from her next scan in a month's time.

"This is for you and Zell." Laurie accepted the envelope, knowing that she had given similar ones out during both her pregnancies.

"She's beautiful." and once again she hugged Rinoa, Selphie came over to join them – also holding a photo.

"You think it's a girl too?" the brunette asked, the librarian simply nodded. "Must be mothers intuition huh." There was a longing in her voice and as Laurie studied her closely she noticed something else too. She looked older somehow, more mature than she sometimes wanted to come across.

"Rinoa has already suggest I talk to him Irvy about it… but I don't know if it's the time." she fiddled nervously with her hair, now long enough to brush her shoulders.

"Still, it might be good to get this out in the open ---" all three women turned to the screen at the other end of the room, the noise had awoken Alex who ran to his mother as soon as he was awake, but the baby monitor stayed silent, the sleeping twins were too far away from the noise.

It was Rinoa that finally stopped the alert, turning on the screen. The faces in front of her were pale, even in the light of the room.

"Quissy, you look like you've seen a ghost." she joked; trying to ease whatever tension the Centra team felt.

"We did." Seifers voice was level and calm, he looked right at her, knowing the Rinoa already knew whom they were talking about.

Selphie came to sit at Rinoa's side and Laurie at the other, Alex sitting in her lap now pacified with his toy cactuar.

"But how?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Stasis of some point, same as the other thing that you fought. We know what it is and will brief you all as soon as we can get to Trabia… we also know where the other one is – you were right about the riddles there are two, but the other isn't awake." he sighed.

"This isn't a secure channel – not top level any way so we'll brief you when we get there tomorrow morning. You'll all need to be there, we had a full scale search on our hands."


Squall had just stepped out the shower, wrapping his towel around his face when he heard the soft knock at the door.

"It's me, can you open up?" until then he'd forgotten about locking the door at all. He turned the clasp and waited for her to come in.

"Thanks" and she stood on tiptoes, kissing him gently before coming in and sitting on the edge of the bath next to the shower cubicle. They were in one of the best suits Trabia had to offer, almost too luxurious and pristine to be considered one of Gardens, who normally just stuck to the basics for guest suits.

She watched him dry off in front of her, watching the way he avoided moving his right shoulder.

"Have you been in the training centre again?" Rinoa asked gently, still trying to figure out how to give him the news of the meeting tomorrow.

"I had some time to kill this after noon so I headed over, Zell joined me half way through." he could see she looked worried in her reflection, he had to ease her mind. "I just seem to get bored easily – a couple more days and I'll be joining you and the researchers – I can't sit still knowing that there might be someone or something out there trying to unleash some sort of weapon or power."

She walked up to him; touching his shoulder and watching him hide the wince. Closing her eyes she let the cool sensation flow down her arm and into his shoulder curing the wound as she did so.

"I know, I'm just used to being there with you. Shooting star may be fixed… but there's still no way for me to fight with you, not without risk to the baby. I'm just glad I'm able to stay fit." Squall turned then, pulling her into his arms and holding her close and after her initial moment of surprise Rinoa reciprocated.

"Hopefully you won't have to – this could all be over before she's born." she reached up then her kips meeting his, after hearing his words she wanted to give him a moment of joy before giving him the foreboding news.

But all too soon it was over and she looked him straight in the eye.

"Seifer and Quistis will be arriving here tomorrow. They spoke to Odin, they couldn't say much…. but this is going to take a while, finding whoever or whatever is doing this won't be over in a few days or weeks… it could be months." He simply stared at her.

"I watched Seifer kill him… how?"

"Magic has many forms Squall, so do Guardian forces, he and Gilgamesh are different… they were once humans of a sort, we found notes in the records but until today there was nothing to back it up with. We really need to wait until tomorrow."


As she watched him pace the room in the silence of the night, Rinoa knew sleep would be along time coming for her as well. She never seemed to be able to settle until he had – something she knew had annoyed him at first but he'd grown used to it. However at that moment he had seemed to forget and he jumped when he felt her brush her hand along his spine.

"Come back to bed." she whispered softly in his ear, toying with the hair at the base of his neck.

"There's no point if you can't sleep." He told her dejectedly, trying to ignore the way her touch stirred him. He had to think, he had to sort everything out in his mind. Had to protect them.

Rinoa laughed softly, hovering slightly behind him and leaving a trail of kisses over his shoulder. She felt Squall shudder, knowing it wouldn't be long before he gave in. continuing she moved to face in, still floating to match his height.

The fire in her eyes was something he hadn't witnessed holding such intensity for some time, she was offering more than a loving embrace, she offered a raw release.

When her mouth reached his chest he finally succumbed, she felt him pull her upwards again and soon his arms were crushing her chest against his. His lips claimer hers roughly, hands grabbing at chucks of her hair as she stepped backwards towards their bed.

Inwardly Rinoa knew she'd found her way to reach him and quell his fears, she only hoped, as the last shreds of reason left her mind it would give him a lasting peace.


As always positive comments and constructive criticism welcome as it's a great way for me to improve my writing.