Phoenix: Chapter Twenty

A/N: For timing…Squall is now 17, Raine is 41 and Ash is 53

THREE YEARS LATER

The second Sorceress War has been underway for nearly a month. The Lunatic Pandora laboratory has been activated and the tomb of Sorceress Adel has fallen from the heavens, initiating the Lunar Cry.

Unbeknownst to Raine, her son is fighting valiantly to save the planet-and the woman he loves. Laguna, well aware of the identity of the young man he has just sent into battle, is reluctant to tell young Squall Leonhart of his paternity, at least until after the danger to life itself has passed.

Raine and Ash are safe within the walls of their complex, the force fields surrounding them keeping even the fiercest of fiends away as they fall from the skies…

XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX

"Ash! Look at the moon! It…it looks alive!" Raine stood in the courtyard, shielding her eyes from the intense red glow emanating from the satellite.

Stepping from the doorway, Ash was immediately bathed in the red light himself. He looked up, at what seemed to be pulsing masses of…something…on the lunar surface. "Raine, we need to go inside. Now." His tone was urgent.

Taking one last look at the moon, Raine obeyed and returned to the safety of the building. When the door had been securely locked, Ash motioned for her to join him near a wall of windows that covered one side of the dining room.

"It's much safer to watch from in here." He looked to Raine, who seemed to be fascinated by the goings-on high above. She chewed on her fingernails. The two watched in silence as a massive plume of monsters emerged from a bulge in the moon and began hurtling towards the planet. Ash could have sworn that he saw the tomb of Adel being pulled along with the column as it crashed into Tears' Point. Dread filled him as he knew in his heart that this was the Lunar Cry.

"Are we going to die, Ash?"

He put his arm around Raine's shoulders and comforted her. "We're perfectly safe in here. Nothing can get in." He prayed internally that he was correct. They were far enough away from the impact zone to keep the fiends, if they expanded out into the desert, away from their home for the time being.

"Do you know what is happening?"

Raine never took her eyes off of the influx of monsters. "I have no idea, why? Has this happened in the past?"

"It's called the 'Lunar Cry.' It's a phenomenon that usually only happens once every thousand years or so. Monsters fall from the moon. With the new war going on…" Ash cut himself off. He hadn't intended on telling Raine about the Sorceress War.

"New war?"

Shit. Ash formulated his response. "Unfortunately Raine, there is a war being fought right now." He looked up to the moon, full and red, and sighed. "Does the phrase 'Sorceress War' mean anything to you?"

Raine shook her head. "No, should it?"

"Not really, I guess. I was hoping it would jog a memory…nevermind." Ash sat at the large dining table, still facing the windows and watched as Raine followed suit. "About twenty years ago, a Sorceress named Adel became power hungry and tried to take over the world from Esthar. Those who weren't terrified of her attempted to fight, hence the name 'Sorceress War.'" Ash didn't mention that he was very sure he saw Adel's tomb fall with the wave of fiends. He knew Raine was worried enough.

"This 'Adel,' was she defeated?"

"Yes she was…by a very brave man, Raine. Did you ever wonder just how Laguna became President of Esthar?" Even though Ash felt nothing but hatred for Laguna now, he begrudgingly acknowledged that he was indeed responsible for saving the world from Adel's reign of terror.

"Laguna? He beat her? How is that possible?" Raine touched the spot on her left ring finger where her wedding band would have resided. "I mean, he's so goofy…and he's squeamish around blood!" She thought a moment before amending her comment. "But I guess he was very passionate-and that had to have helped."

Ash hated talking about Laguna, even though he had been the one to bring him into their conversation. "The people of Esthar needed a new leader after Adel, and he was the one who vindicated them, so…"

Raine chuckled. "An accidental President?"

"You could say that."

"Figures." Raine's attention turned once again to the bloody moon, spewing terror from its surface. "Are you sure we're safe, Ash? I'm starting to get really scared. What if the monsters get too close?"

Ash grasped Raine's hand and assured, "The force fields around this complex are strong enough to keep even the most pissed-off Malboros away. We're safe, don't worry."

"Okay, I trust you, Ash."

There's that word again…'trust.' If she only knew…

The two sat in silence for hours, captivated by the spectacle that was unfolding before their eyes. All the while Ash hoped he was right about the fields holding. He had worked too hard on Raine to have a fiend wreck his plans now. He just prayed that with all the chaos raining down on Esthar that Laguna would survive and be victorious once again.

Then Ash could destroy him.

A/N: I know these last couple of chapters have been very short, but they are VERY important! Bear with me on these shorties…longer ones are coming!