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The battle with the Sorceress is over but now Squall and his seed companions find themselves under the threat of an entirely new enemy.
Disclaimer: All Final Fantasy 8 characters are the rightfull property of Squaresoft and other involved companies. I own none of the rights to them.
EMPEROR OF DARKNESS
CHAPTER ONE
Rain pelted her face as she desperately looked up into the misty sky above. There was nowhere else to run. All about her lay wilted flowers and dead grass. Everything was bleak. Nothing beautiful marred this sullen landscape. This desolate panorama was in direct contrast to the beautiful field of fresh grass and wildflowers that filled its magnificent splendor in days past.
However none of this caught her attention. All she could think of was escape. She ran wildly through the relentless rain, hoping to find some refuge from the impending evil.
Suddenly her foot lodged into something and she fell to the dead ground. As she looked up she noticed what made her fall. Much to her disgust and fear it was an arm. She screamed as she saw the fresh blood still oozing from the location where it had been severed. Tearing her gaze from the gruesome image she immediately recoiled from what she saw next.
A field of death lay directly in her path. A graveyard of maimed and mutilated people all lay motionless on the ground in front of her. Fighting the urge to turn back she rose to her feet, determined to cross this field of death and escape "his" clutches.
After closer examination of these lifeless shells lying scattered in front of her, she cried out in shock and fear. "This cant be", she muttered.
The corps she was now looking at was the disfigured body of Zell Dincht. "No!" she cried as she ran away from his prone form.
Suddenly another body caught hey eye. Selphie lay not ten feet away from where Zell's body was found. Fresh tears now welled in her eyes. "This cant be! No this can't be happening!" she screamed, backing away from their bodies.
Turning around, she found herself staring at two more lifeless bodies. Irvine and Quistis lay dead at her feet. Sinking to her knees, she began to cry hysterically. "Why", she sobbed. "Why is this happening".
Suddenly, as if in response to her question, the loud sounds of sword fighting reverberated through the air. She immediately knew who it was and rose two her feet, dashing wildly towards direction of the sounds of battle. The closer she was, the louder and more apparent the sounds became.
Finally the sounds where so intense that she had to cover her ears to block out the horrendous clamor of sword clashing against sword. She was directly below a mountain and as she looked up she saw the battle being waged.
Squall was holding his own against a horribly intimidating and powerful looking man. He was completely masked in shadow but his basic outline was menacing. He carried an heir of hatred and cruelty about him. Pure evil was all she could conceive as she laid eyes on him.
Squall was now on his knees, reeling from the heavy blows the unidentified demon relentlessly gave him. "Squall!" she screamed as she began climbing up the mountain.
She ascended the mountainside rather easily due to the fact that she was a sorceress. Upon finally reaching the top of the mountain she was overwhelmed with the sight of Squall lying helplessly on his back bleeding profusely from the open which splayed across his chest.
"You bastard!" she screamed. She immediately embraced Squall in her arms, rocking back and forth as if to sooth his pain.
"Its going to be okay Squall. Everything is going to be just fine. Just hold on" she whispered into his ear continuing to rock his limp form.
The demon continued to advance towards Squall as if she wasn't even there. She held Squall tighter as he drew closer and closer to them. The demon's deadly sword glistened with a magnificent hue reflecting his evil intent.
Her eyes darted frantically, searching for some sign of salvation in this desolate world of death. Finally her eyes rested on a lone figure standing rigidly in the background like a shining angel. His long, white trench coat fluttered in the wind. His golden hair glistened with a shimmering glow of perfection and depth. His gunblade rested easily at his side.
She looked at this man as the demon came closer to them. "Please!" she begged. "You have to help us! Please! Squall is dying! Please don't let this monster take him away from me!" She began to sob hysterically.
The man, with his shimmering gold hair and magnificent trench coat regarded her with a look of utter sorrow and helplessness. At the sight of such pity, her heart wanted to cry out. How could such a man express so much pain in one look?
Slowly, he tore his gaze from her and the menacing figure. He began to walk the opposite way. "NO!" she screamed. "Please! Don't leave us! Please!" Her cries fell on deaf ears as the demon raised his sword over her head and suddenly began to swing it down.
"NO!" Rinoa screamed as she shot her head up from the pillows. Scanning her surroundings, she was relieved to find the familiar territory to be the bedroom she and Squall shared. Rinoa felt warm tears sliding down her cheek's as the vivid memory was still fresh in her mind. Suddenly she was embraced in warm loving arms as Squall hugged her shaking form.
Even after three years of living interdependently with Rinoa, now his wife, Squall still felt somewhat awkward in this situation. He never had to deal with placating anyone's nightmares before. None the less, he was doing the best he could for Rinoa. He didn't want to see her in pain. It hurt his heart to see her the way she was now. "Don't worry Rinoa, its alright" he whispered soothingly into her ear. "It was just a dream".
Strangely enough, Squalls words comforted her. As if his mere presence drove away all the fears and turmoil's of her nightmare. She hugged him tightly, feeling safe and secure in his arms. "Squall" she whispered in a light voice, overcome with emotion. "Don't leave me. Please just don't ever leave me."
"I won't" Squall whispered back to her as she drifted into slumber once again, resting cozily in his arms.
Quistis Trepe yawned wearily as she finished grading the final seed exam on her desk. It had been a long and tiring week for her and all her reserves where finally wearing thin under the relentless pressure and stress. It seemed that every year, twice as many students would enter the seed program as the year before. It got to the point where now even Quistis, the second, highest ranking seed officer under Squall Lionheart, was now reduced to grading seed exams.
'Its days like these, that I ask myself why I'm still even here' she thought to herself. After the events that had taken place with Ultimecia, the group had all decided to go their own ways. It was completely acceptable in seed standards. Once you had become an extinguished seed officer, it was totally valid for you to offer your services to differing locations, so long as you upheld the honor of Garden of course.
Quistis began thinking about everything that had happened since then. Squall and Rinoa had gotten married. It was a lovely wedding and she was sure it wouldn't be long before they had little Lionhearts or little Rinoas running around taking up all their time.
She laughed at the thought of Squall being a father. Squall would probably bust a liver trying to get his children under control while at the same time keeping an indifferent look on his face.
Quistis smiled fondly at the thought of Squall and Rinoa being together. Despite everything, they would make great parents. Then there was Zell. Impetuous, conceited, pride stricken little Zell. Surprisingly, he had changed an awful lot since the final battle with Ultimecia. Quistis assumed a certain young pigtailed girl who used to work in Balamb Garden's library had something to do with that. A small line creased her brow as she tried to remember the girl's name. 'Sarah was it?' Anyway, they had been seeing each other a whole lot since the last battle. Finally, three months after Squall and Rinoa got married, Zell decided he wanted to see more of the world. It was really no surprise when Sarah offered to go with him. Quistis hadn't seen Zell since. Of course he sent her and everyone else letters every now and then but still she found herself wondering what the young man looked like now, three years after the fight with Ultimecia.
Irvine and Selphie were the next to go. They had stuck together like glue after that last battle. It seems they found their way out of compressed time through their love for each other. As far as Quistis knew, Irvine was still a flirt. At least he was when they left. Selphie had curbed his bad habits an awful lot before their departure and Quistis was sure that by now, Irvine's slick tongue was probably non-existent to any woman other than Selphie. She had recently received an invitation to their wedding. It was set for autumn of next year. Quistis was happy for them. They made such a cute couple, even when they were kids.
Quistis let a sigh escape her lips. 'And where does that leave me?' She thought to herself. Everyone had moved on except her. She wasn't sure exactly what it was but something kept her here at Balamb Garden. The urge to train others in the ways of becoming a seed. She wasn't sure exactly what had provoked this urge upon her. Perhaps it was due to her failure as an instructor. Oh everyone said that it wasn't her fault Seifer Almasy had chosen to stand by Ultimecia as her dark knight. They all knew how 'troubled' Seifer was. He had always been a prideful, arrogant, irrepressible, stain on Garden's image. But still, he was her stain. He was her responsibility. It was her task, her duty, to somehow stem Seifer's 'distasteful' habits and show him the true path towards becoming a seed. And she failed him. She failed miserably. Not only did he disobey orders but he also betrayed them. He betrayed his seed companions and even lead an attack to try and kill them. 'How could I have ever failed so miserably' she thought to herself. She let her infatuation with Squall Lionheart over cloud her better judgement. Seifer was the one who truly needed the most attention. She saw the signs of discontent and arrogance in him. Yet she pointedly chose to ignore it. And oh were the costs great.
She had never felt so miserable in her life then when she found out that Seifer, her subordinate, had become the servant to Ultimecia, the sworn enemy of seed.
'Perhaps my work here will make amends for my past mistakes' she thought to herself sadly. She subconsciously wished to meet Seifer one more time after their battle with Ultimacia. To apologize for failing to lead him away from Ultimecia's evil, to apologize for not helping him to understand the difference between reality and fiction. Just as Squall was trapped in his web of imaginary isolation, so too was Seifer trapped in a web of fantasy. He was obsessed with becoming an honorable knight. He lived this dream every day and played the part, all his life. She wanted to apologize and to tell him that it was ok if he couldn't attain his dream. There are other ways to fulfill one's life other then becoming an idol of adoration and respect for others. She wanted to explain this to him but she wasn't even sure if Seifer survived the battle in the end. None of them had heard from him ever since he had given Rinoa over to Sorceress Adel. He had simply just disappeared.
'Oh well' Quistis thought to herself. 'Perhaps one day I will forgive myself and move on but until then my main concerns are these seed exams.' She let out a sigh of dread as she looked at the huge stack of exams she had to file. Just as she stood up to file the exams there was a knock at her office door.
"Come in" she said, as she picked up the stack of papers and began filing them. Her back was to the door so she didn't notice that the one who had entered her office was a young 15 year old girl until she heard the girl nervously clear her throat.
"Excuse me, are you the director of Balamb Garden miss?" The young girl asked respectfully.
"Yes I am" Quistis answered, turning around to face her. "Is there anything I can do to help you?" Quistis was thoroughly interested in finding out this little girl's story. Why had she come here? And why did you want to speak with the director of Balamb Garden?
"I wanted to ask a question of you, if I may?" The young girl said, as if responding to Quistis unspoken questions.
"Sure" Quistis said with a slight smile on her face. If anything, this girl certainly had no problems with being direct.
"I am looking for someone. I have information that he was last seen serving as a student of balamb garden training to become a seed."
"I see. And what might this students name be?"
"His name is Seifer. Seifer Almasy."
Quistis gasped visibly. "Ex- excuse me?" Quistis stammered, still taken aback by what this young girl had just said.
The girl still kept her pleasant smile pasted on her face however there was something different in her eyes. Something penetrating and yet at the same time she seemed weighed down with heavy emotion. Quistis couldn't tell what emotions she saw in this girl's eyes but she knew they where there.
Now that she thought about it, there was something familiar in the girl's features that reminded her distinctly of Seifer. She had the same eyes as he did. Her pale blue shimmering irises struck out against her long golden hair. The girl's hair was pulled back, almost in a similar fashion to the way hers was. And she had a very pretty face that sparkled with friendliness.
Quistis noticed all of this as she studied this young, 15 year old girl standing in front of her. "Do you know him?" The girl asked suddenly, breaking Quistis out of her reverie.
"Y-yes I do." Quistis replied awkwardly. "I'm sorry, the man you are looking for no longer attends Balamb Garden."
"Oh. I see." Came the girl's simple reply.
"May I ask why you are looking for this man?" Quistis asked, finally regaining her composure.
"No you may not." Came the girl's blunt answer. She had said this in a polite manner and still retaining her original smile.
She turned around and began to head out the door. "At least tell me who you are!" Quistis blurted, somewhat flushed from the girl's answer.
The girl simply turned around to face Quistis, still wearing that same sweet smile. "We will meet again."
That said, the girl turned towards the door and exited the office. Quistis stood there, deeply contemplating what had just happened. After a few moments longer she let out a sigh of annoyance and frustration and resumed her task of filing seed exams. 'Another problem for another day. Unfortunately, this problem won't leave as politely as she did', she thought, as she opened the file cabinet, preparing herself for another long night of work.
Well ok I finished my first chapter a bit earlier then I expected. I intended to right a whole lot more but I figured it would be better if I just split it up into two chapters. A lot more convenient for me. Anyway I just realized I've been spelling Ultimecia's name wrong. Sorry about that. I didn't even notice. Well I hoped you liked the chapter and
please send any comments, critiques, and or flames to me at cordis_xaltun@altavista.com. Thanks for reading!