Wake up from your sleep, my children
Your childhood years are gone
Wake from your sleep, Fated Children
Your slumber is over
Arise
Discover
Come to the Garden of Truth
The Spring of the Garden of Truth
With the Fiery Truth
Burn away the Evils of the World
With the Fiery Truth
Light the Darkness of the World
Farewell, Children
Until the day of fate
English lyrics to Liberi Fatali.
Retrieved Aug 21, 2020 from finalfantasy dot fandom dot com / wiki / Liberi_Fatali
Prologue: Premonition
The moon was red with twilight, gracing a quarter of the sky as it rose over the port city of Dollet. Many people had enjoyed the pleasant summer day at the beachfront, or window shopping the boutiques near the central square. As night fell, they could still be seen walking the cobblestone streets in the light of gas lamps, eager for the cafes and pubs to open their doors to the evening rush.
But not all of the people were in Dollet for relaxation. Near the top of the city's sloping hill was a large, historic hotel with lofty round turrets, gray stone parapets, and iron-framed windows. Inside, dignitaries from neighboring states were holding a peace conference, eager to bring an end to a decades-old war.
Under the main archway of this hotel stood one of these dignitaries: Squall Leonhart, headmaster of Balamb Garden and leader of SeeD, Garden's elite mercenary force. He was tall and silent in the twilight, his wavy brown hair beginning to gray. He wore the charcoal uniform of SeeDs, the gold and silver embroidery glittering on his shoulders. He still bore his trademark scar – a fine cut from his left cheek, up across the bridge of his nose to his forehead – earned while training against his rival so many years ago.
The conference was long and demanding, and Squall was exhausted; he wanted to return to his room and escape from people for a while. But the meeting he was heading to now was not one he would skip.
He drew a deep breath of ocean air and walked across to the other wing of the hotel. He went straight into the lobby through large wooden doors, open to the fresh breeze. A bellhop in a maroon suit came to attention and saluted. Squall returned the young man's salute, gave a curt nod to the desk receptionist, then proceeded up the stairs. He walked down a lofty, narrow hallway, past billiard rooms and spacious apartments, until he came to a corner study. Squall knocked quietly on the heavy door, and a familiar voice welcomed him in.
The study was dimly lit by a narrow window, a small iron chandelier, and a lowly fireplace between tall bookshelves. A round wooden table was in the center, and seated at this table were two men whom Squall intimately knew: Cid Kramer, Squall's predecessor as Balamb Garden's headmaster, and General Caraway of Galbadia, leader of the Galbadian Democratic Forces, and Squall's father-in-law.
Squall closed the door to the study and bowed respectfully to his former superiors and mentors.
"Headmaster Cid, General Caraway, it's a pleasure to see you again."
The old gentlemen rose, their smiles revealing their heart-felt pride in their protégé. "It's been too long, Squall," replied Cid. "Please, have a seat."
Squall sat at the table. There was a brief but noticeable silence as the pleasantries quickly faded from the faces of the old men. Cid stared for a second at the closed cover of his pocket watch, his keen blue eyes unfocused behind his spectacles, before returning the watch to his vest. Caraway shuffled uncomfortably in his chair, the many military decorations jingling on his long black uniform. So, Squall thought, this is going to be more than just a meeting of friends.
Cid was the first to breach the silence. "Squall, we would like to talk to you about Rinoa."
Squall frowned silently. Cid and Caraway were watching him intently.
"What about Rinoa, sir?" Squall asked, working hard to keep the defensiveness from rising in his voice.
Caraway spoke next, his eyes never leaving Squall. "The Galbadian reunification has been a long and bitter conflict. This peace conference wouldn't even be possible were it not for Rinoa at the assault on Timber. Undoubtedly her swift and decisive action saved countless lives, and we are immensely grateful for that. But she also…"
Caraway paused, gesturing to Cid to continue. "But she also showed the world some extent of her powers. Powers which, evidently, have grown much stronger since the Lunar Cry."
Squall's frown deepened. He often had to deflect this kind of conversation about his wife, but hearing it come from these two men, who had previously shown complete confidence in him and Rinoa, was unnerving.
Squall again noticed the intense looks from the retired headmaster and the general as they studied him. They were testing him, seeing how he would react to this conversation. But why?
Rinoa is a Sorceress, and people hadn't easily forgotten the destruction caused by Sorceress Edea, driving Galbadia's military to slaughter SeeDs and anyone else who opposed her. Nor had they forgotten the long Sorceress War before that, when it was Adel of Esthar who had terrorized the world.
It seemed to be a casually ignored fact that it was not Edea but Ultimecia, the dreaded Sorceress from the future, who had possessed Edea from across the gulf of time to commit her horrible atrocities. Edea herself, Squall knew, was living a life of seclusion far from the public, with no one but Cid, now seated across from him, to comfort her in isolation.
Was that what these men wanted from him? To move Rinoa away to some secluded beach house like Edea so that she could threaten no one, sentenced to a life of self-imposed exile?
Or worse, do they intend to compel her? To freeze her body like Adel at Esthar's Sorceress Memorial so that her powers would be safely and securely locked away?
Squall couldn't hide his surprise at the thought and looked directly to General Caraway. Rinoa is his daughter. Can he really feel this way about his only child, his only living family?
"Sir, you don't really mean to…"
Caraway waved off the rest of the question. "Squall, no. It's not like that." He heaved a great sigh. Squall long knew that Caraway's fraught relationship with Rinoa had always been the heaviest weight on this great man's mind, a man who otherwise controls the fate of nations. He waited patiently for him to continue.
"I know Rinoa barely acknowledges me. For my part, I still feel as strongly for her as when she was a girl on my knees, and nothing makes me feel more at peace than knowing she has you to rely on." The general slowly shook his head. "But if she were to slip, to fall down the paths of Edea or Adel… I don't think I could bear to witness that."
"Squall," Cid interjected, "I know exactly how you feel. My world was a living hell when Edea, the love of my life, murdered countless people before the world's very eyes. It was hell even before then, when we realized she would fall under Ultimecia's control. That's when we founded SeeD, an organization with a mission to kill my wife should the unthinkable occur."
He leaned in closer. "SeeD's mission hasn't ended, Squall. You traveled to the future and defeated Ultimecia, but between now and that future we know next to nothing. We don't know who Ultimecia is, we don't know when she will rise, and most importantly, we don't know when she'll strike again. Rinoa is still in danger, Squall. You are the only one who can protect her, and protect the world from her. Do you understand?"
Squall locked eyes with Cid. And protect the world from her. So that was it, Squall thought. Cid wanted to know if he could count on him to restrain Rinoa. To even kill her, if necessary, if Ultimecia should return and possess her again.
Squall let his eyes drop from Cid and nodded. "I understand, headmaster." He took a breath, then looked at the two men with a soft smile. "Thank you for sharing your feelings with me, gentlemen. I hope you'll excuse me, I must prepare myself for the rest of the conference."
His less combative manner relaxed both men a little, but Squall noted that it wasn't by much. They wanted to trust him, he thought, but he hadn't convinced them that they could.
All three men stood. "Of course, Squall," replied Cid, an insincere smile stretched thinly across his face. "We'll see you at tomorrow's negotiations."
Squall bowed and left the room. He stood for a moment outside of the closed door, his face clouded. He was thinking about the flower field by the old orphanage, where so many years ago he and Rinoa had promised to meet if they were ever separated. Where, also, he had sworn to be her knight, and even if the whole world turned against her, he would stay by her side.
But then his thoughts wandered to when, after he had slayed Ultimecia, he struggled to return from the future. When stumbling through the wastes and desolation of time, he had seen horrific visions of Rinoa and Ultimecia - the angelic face of his dear Rinoa, and the seductive, beastial image of Ultimecia, flickering and blurring together until they were almost one.
Squall's sword will pierce my heart, Rinoa had said amongst the flowers. I guess it's okay if it's you, Squall. Nobody else.