Final Fantasy VIII [2nd Instalment]

Grace Barton

Chapter Twenty-Seven

When Squall said the name it was like a floodgate had opened, and a tidal wave of memories surged through. All at once the memories clicked into place, and he wanted to kick himself for not realising it sooner. He now knew who Ellone was, and why it was she had claimed to know him and Quistis. Of course she would know him, as she knew all of them. No wonder Ellone looked so sad when she realised that Squall did not remember her.

"So," Squall said, opening his eyes. "Ellone was 'Sis'. She was a bit older than us, and we all used to call her 'Sis'. Quistis, Zell, Selphie, Irvine, Seifer, Ellone and myself…" He nodded. "Yeah… I'm not sure what the meaning behind all this is, but we were definitely together."

He and the others were back on the beach, with the waves continuing to lap against the shore.

"You mean, Sis is Ellone?" asked Zell.

"She's the one that takes us back to Laguna's period," Selphie pointed out.

Squall folded his arms. Ellone's power was one that took people back into the past. He could not recall ever hearing about her power, so Ellone must have kept it a secret, if she was aware of it at all back then. Squall frowned and held his head. Was that the reason why she left?

He recalled their last moments together, before Ellone left Garden for the SeeD ship. Her last words, 'you're my only hope' echoed in his thoughts. "…She said she wanted to change the past," he said. "I don't know why…"

"There can be only one reason for that," Quistis said.

Selphie clicked her fingers. "She must not be happy with the present."

"If that's the case, I'm definitely up for helpin' her," said Zell. He smacked his fists together. "She's part of our orphanage gang!"

"You didn't even remember who she was!" Selphie accused him.

"Hey, Selphie…" Irvine interrupted, poking her on the shoulder. "That goes for you, too!" Selphie blushed and scratched her cheek. Irvine folded his arms. "Hmm… So Sis was Ellone, eh?" He rubbed his chin, gazing over at Squall. "Everyone was fond of Sis, but you, Squall, you kept hoggin' her for yourself."

Squall nodded. He remembered now. He and Ellone had been a pair, inseparable. Though all the children loved her and looked up to her, Squall had loved her more than any of them. Being an orphan, not even knowing who his parents were, Ellone was the closest thing to a big sister he had. Squall did not mind being an orphan as long as he had Ellone. She was fond of him, too, and always watched out for him like a little brother. Squall loved her dearly, and that was why he had been so heartbroken when she left so suddenly, leaving him behind.

"You sure have a good memory…" Squall remarked. He shook his head. "…This is really strange. I don't think I was adopted because of the way I am. Probably the same with Seifer, too. We must have been at Garden at the age of five or so… Even so, he's never mentioned anything about growing up in an orphanage… And nothing about this has ever crossed my mind when I see him, either. Don't you find that odd…?"

"That IS strange…" Selphie remarked, tapping her finger against her cheek. "In my case, I had loads of fun after going to Trabia. That's probably why I forgot all about my childhood. That's what I think. But I don't know what's up with you guys! It's so odd that you would forget."

While the others spoke, Quistis frowned and rubbed her brow with her thumb and forefinger, trying to piece together all of her memories. "I… remember," she said. "Yes, I remember now. Things didn't work out too well at my new home. So I came to Garden at the age of ten. That was when I first noticed Seifer and Squall. Seifer and Squall were always fighting."

"Yeah…" said Squall. He also remembered. "Quistis always used to break us up."

"Yes! That's right!" Quistis exclaimed. The memories were coming faster now. "Seifer was a kid who always needed to be the centre of attention." She looked over at Squall. "But Squall always used to ignore him… But eventually they would end up fighting. Squall could easily have walked away from it, but always took up the challenge. He should've just ignored him, but Squall, almost in tears, would say… 'I gotta do my best by myself. Or else I won't be able to see Sis'."

She chuckled at the memories. In her mind's eye she saw Squall, aged just nine-years-old. He stood on the brink of tears in front of a ten-year-old Seifer, who was being held back by the Garden staff. Both boys had bruises forming on their faces where they had fought against one another. Headmaster Cid was standing nearby with a fond look on his face, as though he had seen it all before.

Quistis also remembered feeling a surge of emotion that day, and since then she did all she could to keep watch over Squall and get close to him. Yet try as she might, Squall had never let her get close enough. There was only one person Squall wanted to be close to, and that person was 'Sis'—Ellone.

"I guess I was trying Sis… I mean, Ellone's place," Quistis realised with sudden clarity. "I tried but to no avail… That's probably it. Even after becoming an instructor, I couldn't stop thinking about Squall." The woman was talking mostly to herself now, as though she was finally voicing feelings she had longed to say aloud. "I thought it was… love. I had to hide my feelings because I was an instructor, but I've come to realise it wasn't. It was my childhood feelings as a big sister that lingered… Oh well…"

She then turned away from the others, who stood shocked at this startling revelation. Quistis folded her arms tight around herself, holding herself.

A misunderstood love… she thought, shaking her head. Actually, I had completely given up when Rinoa came into the picture.

At first, when Quistis saw how Squall and Rinoa were together, she had felt just a little bit jealous. Rinoa was so carefree and so strong, acting entirely from her heart's own will. She was able to communicate with Squall in a way Quistis never could, and that made her feel frustrated. If she were honest with herself, her outburst in Deling City had been born entirely out of that jealousy, and that had sent Rinoa straight into the hands of the sorceress. Quistis squeezed her arms around herself. What a fool she had been!

Another thought then occurred to her. "Hey!" she said, turning back to the others. "It must be the same for Seifer! I'm sure Seifer has forgotten his childhood, too. But whenever he sees Squall his inner feelings start to boil, and…"

"Is that why he's always pickin' fights with Squall?" asked Zell.

Squall lowered his head. All of this stuff about them growing up together… it sounded very convincing. But there was still one thing that did not make sense. "…Why is it that we forgot?" he asked. "We grew up together as kids… How's that possible…?"

"How about this?" said Irvine, leaning against a rock. "The price we pay for using the GF. The GF provides us its power. But the GF makes its own place inside our brain…"

He was referring to the method of junctioning a Guardian Force to a human soul; a magical bond that joined human and Guardian Force as one being. Not much was known about Guardian Forces beyond that they did exist and grant those who bonded with them magical power. Nobody had ever discovered the real implications of what happened once a bond with a Guardian Force was made, but all those who used them agreed that it was like the summoned beasts had taken root inside the summoner's mind. Everyone frowned, thinking this over.

"So you're saying that the area is where our memories are stored?" Quistis asked. "No…! That's just a rumour the GF critics are spreading."

"So if we keep relying on the GF, we won't be able to remember a lot of things?" asked Zell, looking alarmed.

Quistis shook her head, adamant. "There's no way Headmaster Cid would allow such a dangerous thing!" she insisted.

Irvine waved a finger at her. "Then how is it I remember, while everyone else has forgotten?" he pointed out to her. "Well…? In my case I hadn't junctioned a GF until recently. That's why I remember a lot more than you guys."

Quistis opened her mouth to argue back, but she had no answer to give. There was no other way to explain why she, Zell, Selphie, Squall, and even Seifer should forget their childhood. They were all students of Balamb Garden, and had been using Guardian Forces for a long time. Then Quistis remembered that Selphie was a former student of Trabia Garden, which did not sanction the use of Guardian Forces in its curriculum.

"How about you, Selphie?" asked Quistis. She was desperate to find some other reason for their memory loss. She was unwilling to believe the headmaster had allowed the use of them, knowing what they would do to his students. "Your first experience with the GF was when you came to Balamb Garden, right?"

Selphie nodded. "…Yeah," she said, but she sounded hesitant. She shuffled uncomfortably for a moment, and then stood at attention and raised her hand. "I have a confession to make!" she announced.

The scenery around them changed, and the party found themselves stand inside one of the orphanage's bedrooms. There were quite a few rooms just like this one, with large windows that provided a beautiful view of the Cape's coastline. The wind blew through the open windows, carrying with it the scent of the sea. Selphie crossed the paved floor, her arms folded behind her.

"When I was twelve," she explained, "I went on an outdoor training exercise. I found a GF in one of the monsters I defeated… I junctioned that GF for a while. So I have experience with GF, too," she concluded, with an apologetic look at Quistis. "But… but, it's really weird! I can't remember the name of that GF!"

Quistis shook her head. "It must be the GF's fault," she said at last, unable to deny it any longer. "What should we do?"

"What should we do?" Squall repeated, looking out of the window. "…Nothing."

Zell spun to face him. "What do you mean nothing!" he demanded, shocked.

"So what do you want to do?" Squall retorted. He turned from the window. "You wanna stop using GF now? As long as we continue fighting, we're indebted to the powers of the GF. If there's a price I have to pay for it, I'll gladly pay it."

Zell stepped back and looked at the floor. Squall… had a point. They had used the powers of the Guardian Forces for this long already, and much of their strength came from the gifts the GF bestowed upon them. To give up that power was a sacrifice as equally great as the cost of using it. Each of them was strong, but without the Guardian Forces they could not hope to stand against the sorceress.

"Heeey, I know!" said Selphie, excited. "Let's all keep a diary! That way we'll always have something to remind us!"

"Are you sure that's what you want!" Zell asked her. His fists trembled. Then Zell sighed and relaxed his fists, letting his body sag. "Maybe… that's for the best," he said at last. "Yeah… I don't care if I forget about my childhood, when Seifer used to pick on me." He looked up. "What's important to me now is having the power to protect my parents in Balamb. They adopted me. There's no way I'm lettin' go of that power!"

Everybody nodded and then fell silent. Outside, the wind whistled through the cliffs, making the windows rattle.

"Hey…" said Quistis after a moment. "Do you all remember Matron?"

Everyone began to think. "She was always wearin' black…" said Zell.

Squall closed his eyes. Matron... Dressed in black… An image started to form in his mind, and he frowned. She's the… he started to think, but his words cut short.

"Let's see…" Selphie murmured.

"Very kind…" said Quistis. "Long black hair… Yes, I really admired her."

Everybody thought hard.

As though summoned from their memories, the door opened and Matron entered the room. She was a young woman, incredibly beautiful, with long black hair that trailed down her back, perfectly straight and glistening in the sunlight. She wore a plain black dress that went right down to her ankles, swishing around her slender frame. Her face was kind, full of warmth and love, with full, pink lips that smiled. Her eyes were by far her most prominent feature, for they were an unusual shade of gold and seemed to glitter with an almost magical aura.

"I see a resemblance," said Zell, watching Matron as she walked over to the windows. She peered out at the ocean, brushed back her hair, and then returned to the centre of the room, standing in the middle of the group. Zell stared at her, suspicion in his face. "They look alike…"

"Wait…" Selphie said. "I just pictured her face, and…"

"Look alike?" Irvine interrupted. "Nah, that's not it." He shook his head. It was time that they finally knew. "Matron's name is Edea Kramer." He gestured to the black-haired woman now standing before them. "Matron IS Sorceress Edea."

At this everyone jumped or gasped in shock. As though she had heard their gasps, Matron turned and looked around the room.

Everybody stared at her face. Now that they knew, they could easily see the resemblance between them. Matron… and Sorceress Edea… were one and the same. There were subtle differences between them. The Matron who appeared before them now was warm and kind, yet the Sorceress Edea they had seen and fought seemed cold and heartless.

"Matron…" Selphie murmured. "Sorceress Edea…"

Quistis shook her head, not understanding. "But why is the Matron…?" she began.

"Why?" Irvine asked. He gestured at Matron again, who was laughing to herself. "You're wondering why Matron would take over a country or fire missiles or whatnot?" The gunman gave a snort and shook his head. "At this point, we probably wouldn't comprehend it even if we talked about it."

You're probably right, Squall agreed, folding his arms.

Matron—Edea—ceased laughing. She took one final glance around the room and then walked out of the door, her heels echoing on the stone floor. Everyone stared after her, watching as she disappeared into the shadows of memory. Once she was gone the others shuffled uncomfortably, unable to accept this harsh truth. Their attention was only recaptured when Irvine moved to stand in the doorway and clapped his hands.

"…Hear me out," he said to them. Everyone listened. "SeeD and Garden were all Matron's idea, right? I'm not a SeeD, but I share the same feeling with all of you. SeeDs were supposed to fight the sorceress, right?"

He carried on talking, but Squall was no longer listening. He turned away, his thoughts starting to race. Why was this happening? Matron, the sorceress, SeeD, and Ellone… Everything was becoming so… twisted. And Irvine… he had known this all along?

He thought back to what happened in Deling City. During the parade, Irvine had frozen at the critical moment—the moment when he was supposed to shoot and assassinate the sorceress. Irvine had said it was the pressure of the moment that caused him to freeze, but now Squall knew that was not true.

Irvine had frozen because he knew what they didn't—that the sorceress he was ordered to assassinate was the one woman in his life he could not bring himself to kill: Matron, the woman who had brought him up. And yet, if the sorceress was indeed Matron, if SeeD had been her idea along… Squall held his head, feeling it begin to throb.

This is strange, he thought. That's right… It was when I was being tortured by Seifer. He wanted to know what SeeD was. Matron should know… But Matron is Sorceress Edea. There's no denying that. What does this mean?

"Squall, you listening?"

Squall blinked, snapped from his thoughts. He looked over at Irvine, who gazed at him with an irritated look in his eyes. The gunman sighed and then turned away. He motioned for the others to follow him.

He led them out into the gardens at the front of the orphanage.

"So like… this is what I wanted to say," he began, tipping his hat. "Let's see… Oh yeah. I understand what Rinoa's saying. I understand, but I'm still gonna fight. I want to stay true to everything I've stood for. I'm sure it's the same for everyone. I thought it'd be best if everyone knew we would have to face Matron.

"You've all heard this before. How life has infinite possibilities. I don't believe that one bit. There weren't many paths for me to choose. Sometimes, there would only be one. From the limited possibilities I faced, the choices I made have brought me this far. That's why I value the path I chose… I want to hold true to the path that HAD to be taken.

"I know our opponent is Matron whom we all love very much. We might lose something important on account of the GF. But I don't mind. It's not like I drifted here on the tides of fate. I'm here because I chose to be here.

"And more importantly… We all grew up together. But due to various circumstances, we were all separated. As a kid, you couldn't really go out on your own… There were no paths to take… All I did was just cry… But…" He closed his eyes at this point, and when he reopened them, they were all back in the playing field of Trabia Garden.

"But… somehow, we're together again. Just like old times, though a lot's changed. We're not kids anymore… We're strong enough to take care of ourselves. Make our own decisions… We're confronting a big one right now."

He walked forward, turning to look at each of his friends in turn, to see that they took in the full meaning of his words.

"Do we fight Matron or not…?" he asked them. He paused, and then he said: "I say we fight… Shoot for a common goal… Hey," he added with a smile, "at least it'll keep us together a little longer."

It was a long speech. Everyone was silent for long moments, letting his words sink in. Then Zell, who was sitting on the floor, got to his feet.

"…Yeah," he agreed, clenching his fists. "Let's do it. We can't run from her for the rest of our lives."

"It's such a bummer…" said Selphie, her voice low. "I can't believe we have to fight Matron."

"I know…" agreed Quistis. "But Zell's right. We can't run from her forever."

Everybody then looked at Squall, awaiting his final decision. But Squall had already made up his mind, long before ever finding out Sorceress Edea's true identity. She was their Matron and an important figure in their lives, but she was also their enemy. Matron herself had created SeeD for this very purpose—to defeat the sorceress—and they had no choice but to carry it out.

The swordsman walked forward, past the others, and stopped in front of Rinoa. The young woman had remained silent throughout this whole exchange, watching them all in solemn silence.

"Rinoa…" he said, and she looked up at him. "It's up to you. We're gonna fight… I think it's the only way we can move on with out lives. If that makes any sense at all, come with us. I'm sure that's what everybody wants."

Rinoa stared at him and then looked around at the others. Irvine smiled and tipped his hat to her; Zell gave a broad grin and raised a fist; Selphie jumped and clapped her hands; and Quistis smiled and gave her a nod. Rinoa, overcome by this unanimous desire for her to continue travelling with them, could not speak. Instead she placed her hand on her heart and bowed her head. She looked back at Small and nodded. Yes, she would come with them.

As they looked at one another, a white speck flew down between them. The two stared at it. Squall held out his hand, catching the speck in the palm of his hand. It was a snowflake, pure white and tiny, like a watery crystal. Rinoa leaned over, watching as it melted into his glove, when another flake blew past her face.

"Look! Look!" Selphie cried. She ran to the centre of the court, her face turned to the sky. "A gift from the faeries!"

Everybody looked up as more snowflakes began to drift down from the cloudy sky. The flakes were sparse at first but then grew thicker, falling over the playing field. Selphie, in delight, closed her eyes and opened her mouth. A few stray flakes landed on her tongue. Selphie shivered; they were cold.

They all watched the snow for a moment or two, standing in silence. Then Zell turned to the others and said: "Yo, you wanna go check out Edea's orphanage?"

Irvine rubbed his chin. "We might find a clue?" he wondered.

"Clue?" asked Quistis. "You mean as to why Matron turned out like this?"

Squall frowned. It probably has to do with something that happened in the past, Squall thought. But the past is the past… it's over, done with. "Despite what truth we find," he said aloud, "it's not going to change the present. But… I wanna see, too." He laid a hand on his hip. "I don't know what we'll find, but… let's head for Edea's house."

The others cheered. With their business concluded, the companions began to head out of the basketball court. Selphie and Irvine talked earnestly about their past days in the orphanage, recovering more memories that once lay buried. Squall watched the others as they walked on ahead. It was still strange, realising that they had worked together all this time without even realising the common past that they all shared. He wondered if it was more than just a coincidence.

Rinoa also watched the others leave. She waited until they had all gone, until only she and Squall remained in the courtyard.

"I guess that's it…" she said in a low voice. "We're fighting." She lowered her head, letting her hair fall over her face. "…You guys are fearless."

Squall looked at her. Fearless, he repeated. I don't think that's quite right. If you think too hard, you become lost… I think that's what everyone's afraid of…

He faced Rinoa. "I wish we didn't have to fight, either," he told her.

Rinoa raised her head and gazed at him. Her mouth opened, but she didn't say anything. She closed her mouth again, gave him a smile, and then walked out of the court. Squall followed her. He wondered what she had been about to say.

Meanwhile Angelo, who had been forgotten amongst all the talking, got to his feet. A snowflake flew down and landed on his nose. The dog's eyes narrowed to look at it. He then shook his head and ran after his mistress.


They bid farewell to the students of Trabia Garden and returned to Balamb Garden. Before leaving, Selphie made a promise to her friends that she would return once everything was over and help them to rebuild their home. Selphie's friend had told her not to bother, as they would have already restored the Garden to its former glory by the time that happened. Selphie had laughed, hugging her friend goodbye.

Once back in the Garden, Squall and Quistis returned to the bridge to inform Xu and Nida of this extraordinary new development. Both SeeDs were amazed when they heard the story, and shocked to learn of the sorceress's true identity.

The swordsman looked out of the window, watching as Nida navigated his way through the winding paths of the mountains. As they turned a corner, bypassing a large crater that Nida had informed them played havoc with the Garden's controls, Squall instructed him that they were heading for Edea's orphanage.

"We're looking for an orphanage near a lighthouse?" said Xu. "Well, I thought there was a lighthouse on the tip of Centra."

Squall nodded. Edea's orphanage was located on the Centra continent, a barren land. It had been a long time and he did not know exactly where it was, but they had to find it.

Quistis folded her arms. "The orphanage…" she murmured. "I wonder what it's like now."

Nida looked to Squall. The swordsman nodded, not even having to speak. They set off for Edea's Orphanage.


[End of Part Six]

[Coming Next: Part Seven: Battle of the Gardens]