"The Third Sorceress War, Act III: Terra Rossa"
20. Transmission
1
Edea stepped off of the White SeeD ship, followed closely by Ellone and Cid, and made her way down the rickety pier. Flanked on both sides by the wave breakers, they made their way to the beach. Once on the sand, Edea took off her shoes, as did Ellone and Cid. Cid took a moment to roll up the hems of his trousers, and after that, they were able to continue. Their walk was devoid of urgency, devoid of panic – without speaking to one another, they could tell each other what they knew was waiting for them.
Nida hadn't told them much, but they knew that the war was over. It had been won, but, Edea surmised, at a terrible cost, as always.
It took them just under fifteen minutes to reach the orphanage through the beach. Once they got close enough, they saw them. Cid and Edea saw their children, now adults, returned home. Ellone saw her brothers and sisters, returning from the war.
In their eagerness to greet them, none of them noticed the figure lying at the feet of the veterans.
2
Lying in the sand, bleeding from her gruesome chest wound and writhing on the verge of death, was Rinoa, her fingers grasping at the air and her breath coming in short, subdued gasps. Squall was standing there, supported by Selphie. Quistis, leaning on her cane, was waiting arm-in-arm with Seifer. Nida and Xu were also in attendance, looking spent. Brea, silent and still, almost stood in vigil next to the dying sorceress.
Edea stopped dead at her tracks, prompting Cid to do the same. Ellone, as if moved by morbid curiosity, approached and got to Rinoa's side. The raven-haired sorceress' eyes found her, but Ellone was sure that they didn't see anything.
"Squall..?" Edea could manage.
"Hello, Matron." Squall said. He looked pale, but it was nothing compared to the dust and dirt weighing down the others around him.
"What happened?" Edea asked.
"The war is over." Squall said.
"And..." Edea couldn't bring herself to point, "...her?"
"A sorceress cannot die unless she has a successor she can transfer her powers to." Squall said, "You know that."
Ellone froze. She turned to Squall, disbelief clear in her face.
"You're saying-"
"Matron, will you take her powers?" Squall asked.
Edea couldn't help but tense up, and Cid noticed it. He took her hand and squeezed reassuringly, and spoke softly on her behalf.
"Why her?" he asked.
"She has been a sorceress before." Squall said, "And despite everything that has happened, it'd be cruel to leave Rinoa like this."
"And what makes you so sure I won't stray..?" Edea asked.
"You have your Knight." Squall said, "A sorceress' knight is her connection to the world, wasn't that what you said once?"
"Some sorceresses kill their knights to separate themselves from the world, yes." Edea said, "To immerse themselves deeper into pure magic."
"Exactly. But you wouldn't do that." Squall said.
"Squall, I..."
"The Headmaster-"
"Just Cid." Cid reminded him.
"Cid has always been your knight." Squall said, "Your connection to him was damaged by Ultimecia, but it was still there. He connects you to the world, and to sever that, you have to throw him away. I don't believe you're quite capable of that."
"That was why you took me, wasn't it?" Seifer asked, "I wasn't becoming your, or rather Ultimecia's, knight because I was actually chosen. I was there to replace our old headmaster, because you couldn't –or wouldn't- kill him, even when possessed."
Edea hung her head. Everyone took it as a sign of shame. Only Squall, and to some extent Selphie knew why.
"But what happened to Daniel..."
"Was not your fault." Squall said, "And you only did what you had to do to protect those you loved."
"Is there nobody else..?" Edea pleaded.
Squall sighed.
"You're the only one I can trust with this. Anyone else, and we'd have to take certain measures to contain, measures that we know aren't infallible or even very reliable. The more reliable methods are excessively cruel. Of course, I will resort to those measures if I absolutely have to, but if I can avoid them at all, I'd like to. And the truth is, Matron, I only know one person who can simply exist with this power and not try to discover just how far, just how deep it can go. You."
"Why?"
"Because of Daniel. Because of Ultimecia. Because of all the things that put you in Kinneas' sights that night."
Nobody spoke. Xu and Nida shifted uncomfortably, and Ellone simply stood, glaring at Squall in disbelief. When she couldn't contain it, she spoke.
"You can't ask that of her, of any of us." Ellone said, "I'm sorry, but you just can't."
Squall looked at her. Ellone almost backed down – he looked so tired, so worn down by everything. It gave Ellone the impression that had Selphie not been there, he wouldn't even be standing.
"What would you have me do?" he asked, "Look at her. Nobody deserves this."
Ellone averted her gaze.
Edea shook her head.
"Cid..."
"I know." Cid said, "I knew when I loved you."
Edea smiled gratefully, and gave him a light kiss on his cheek. Her knight, as always, would stand beside her, she knew that much. She slipped from her husband's grasp and approached Rinoa. Ellone stepped aside, and all those assembled watched.
"I'll do it." Edea said.
3
Edea crouched beside Rinoa. The sorceress was a terrible sight, but for Edea, who had seen life desert little Daniel's eyes with her hands around his neck, it was nothing. Looking at the half-corpse feebly writhing in front of her, she saw herself – what she could have been, what she would have been had it not been for her orphan children. It was just another sorceress on the verge of death, having exhausted power she didn't quite understand.
"Rinoa." Edea said softly, "I'll take your powers. Give them to me, and you can die. Just let go of them, and all this will be over."
Rinoa's eyes turned in their sockets, and then returned to look into Edea's. Edea saw recognition in there, and perhaps a plea for pity. For forgiveness, maybe? Edea felt that she would like to, but it wasn't hers to give. Instead, she reached out and gently stroked her raven hair.
"Shhh... it'll be fine. You'll be free."
Rinoa sighed contentedly, a thin stream of blood trickling from between her lips. She closed her eyes and released her breath. A swirling mass of dancing lights erupted from her gaping wound, gently spilling out in spirals and came to embrace Edea. Edea shivered, feeling a tingling sensation pass through her, and felt a piece that she didn't feel was missing click back into place. As the light died down, she sighed, content. She felt, somehow, home again.
Rinoa relaxed, her limbs releasing slowly, and she lay in the sand, broken. She died on the beach, breathing out her last breath and listening to the soft whispers of the waves lazily beating the shore.