Disclaimer: All Final Fantasy 8 characters, places and things all belong to Squaresoft and other involved companies. I own none of them. This fanfic is purely for the fun and enjoyment of others and myself. I make no money from this.
The Plot thickens. Rinoa has asserted command of the Garden. Her and Selphie are all that remain of the legendary heros who had brought down the evil sorceress Ultimecia. Can they hope to defeat Emperor Zeilak before completely conquers all?…
EMPEROR OF DARKNESS
CHAPTER 12
Journey Of Fate
Ivine had never sweated so much in his life. The trio had been traveling in the lower tunnels of Balamb Garden for five hours now and the strain was beginning take its toll on them all. Irvine sagged heavily as he dragged his feet further and further to keep up the pace. Renix had found a long pipe somewhere down the trail and was now using that as walking support. Even Squall was showing signs of fatigue. He walked slowly and dragged his feet a little yet out of all of them, he seemed the least tired. However he had ditched his leather jacket a few hours ago.
Irvine stopped him in his tracks. "Squall this is nuts man! I'm starting to have second thoughts about us even taking these tunnels."
Renix came right up next to Irvine and plopped down. "Yeah, he's right General. I feel like I'm dying a slow death down here."
Squall took a moment to wipe the sweat from his brow before answering them. "Look, if we were to turn back now, we would only be dying an even slower death. As long as there's a path ahead for us to take, then there is hope that we can finally get out of these unending tunnels."
Irvine sagged his head. "But still… How much longer do you think we'll be traveling? This trail could lead on for days! Maybe even years!"
"We have to take that risk Irvine. Or would you rather we just stay down here and wait for someone to find our bones after we've starved to death?"
Renix quietly rose to his feet and began to trail ahead. However, neither Squall or Irvine noticed as they continued their debate.
"Well its better they find our bones in a big room then finding our bones in some cooped up tunnel!" Irvine refuted.
"Are you saying we should just give up?"
"You got any better idea's 'General'? If we keep going we'll die for sure! Hell I feel like I'm on the brink of death already!"
"Look Irvine, just calm down. If we just stop debating this all day and keep moving we might find a way out of here. But arguing about it isn't going to solve-"
"HEY GUYS!" Renix screamed from a few yards ahead of the trail, interrupting them.
"We got a problem here!"
"What's up?" Squall asked, making his way over to Renix. Irvine slowly followed, hunching his shoulders as he walked.
"Take a look at that up ahead sir." Renix replied as he pointed his staff towards the path up ahead. Squall and Irvine trained their glances that way. Immediately Irvine groaned loudly.
"That's it! We're screwed! We're all gonna die!"
Squall sighed heavily. A few yards ahead of them, the path had been caved in. presumably by the battle raging outside.
"Well, what do you think sir?" Renix asked, leaning heavily on his staff.
"Yeah, Squall, what do you say now?" Irvine taunted.
Squall lowered his head in thought. No matter what, he wasn't going to give up. One way or another he was going to make it back to Rinoa. Alive. He had promised her he would be back and he meant to keep that promise no matter what.
"Well I guess we could always break our way through. Irvine you still have that Brothers GF don't you?"
Irvine sighed in annoyance. "Look Squall, we already went over this. Our GF's are too big for these compartments. If we summon them, we could risk bringing the whole ceiling down on our heads!"
"Well, what other choice do we have? Like you said, we'll die anyway so why not die while at least trying to survive?"
Irvine stood back moodily, debating the issue over in his mind. Renix continued to watch, standing in the background.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!
The ship rocked violently, as a projectile landed heavily on the ship's hull. The trio fell from the force and suddenly the tunnels began to strain from the pressure.
"Oh shit!" Irvine yelled! "This place is going to cave in! We gotta get out of here before we're crushed along with everything else!"
Squall struggled to rise to his feet as the tunnels continued to shake violently. "Renix, Irvine, head towards the end of the tunnel, we should be protected in there!"
Irvine was hysterical. "What? You want us to run into that deathtrap? Why not just backtrack the way we came!?"
Squall grit his teeth as he continued to struggle to his feet. "If you haven't noticed yet, the materials and support beams at the end of the tunnel are more stable then the ones here. If we backtrack, we'll only be sealing our own fate! NOW MOVE!"
Irvine grudgingly complied and shakily made his way to the end of the tunnel, with Renix close on his heels. Squall clutched the tunnel walls for support and ran for the end as fast as he could. The walls came crashing down on his heels.
Irvine and Renix slammed into the wall as they finally reached the end of the path. Squall was still running as fast as he could towards them despite the intense shaking going on all around them. The walls caved in and at the last minute, Squall leapt into the air as a huge chunk of the ceiling came blasting down right behind him. Irvine and Renix steadied him, as he fell into them then everything went pitch black as the walls caved in right in front of them.
Minutes passed and Irvine finally came around. He opened his eyes slightly and heard Renix groan slightly. He crawled over to the seed officer and shook him lightly.
"Yo Renix. Wake up man. Are you alright?"
Renix rose up to a sitting position but almost immediately clutched his leg. "Ahh, I'm alive but I'm definitely not alright."
Irvine inspected his leg then jumped back in shock. The skin was torn away revealing bone and cartilage. The wound trailed all the way from his calf to his knee.
Renix face beaded with sweat as he gave out a shaky laugh. "Not a pretty sight huh?"
Irvine couldn't say anything. He felt guilty for the man. They had no more Curaga spells to treat him. He would probably end up dying from gangrene.
"Uhhh…"
Slowly, Squall began to come around as well.
"You ok Squall?" Irvine asked.
"How is everyone?" Squall asked in a heavy voice, avoiding the question.
"I'm fine but Renix is hurt pretty bad."
"How bad?"
"Very bad. He can't walk. And if we don't find some Curaga's soon, he may never walk again."
Squall sagged his head. "Well we can't go out the way we came. We're blocked in."
Irvine clutched his hands into tight fists. "Shit man! This is so f%$ked up! How are we gonna get out of this one."
Squall closed his eyes for a moment then looked up towards Renix and Irvine. "We've got no choice now. We've got to use the GF's and take the risk."
Irvine and Renix were both quiet for a while, then they each slowly nodded their consent to the plan. Squall began to synchronize with Shiva then suddenly…
"Wait!"
All three men turned their heads swiftly at the new voice.
"What the hell?" Irvine swore.
Squall studied the figure that was now standing a few feet from them, as if he materialized out of no where. "Who are you? Where did you come from?"
As Squall looked the figure over, he noticed that by the standing posture it was a male. But other then that, Squall could note nothing more about him. His whole body was enveloped in a long draping cloak. He had extremely long bony fingers that were jaundiced in color. The voice was old and scraggily as the man continued to talk.
"Who I am and where I am from are unimportant at the moment. Right now, all you need to know is what I am about to tell you right now."
"And what would that be, oh wise one?" Irvine asked skeptically as he slowly withdrew the shotgun from his trench coat.
"Know this. Although there is a battle waging on outside, there is a much greater risk at stake in Balamb City."
"Balamb city!?" Squall asked in shock. "What's happening there?"
"A momentous event is about to take place that could greatly turn the tide of battle in Emperor Zeilak's favor. You must stop them before it is too late."
"And how are we gonna do that?" Irvine asked. "We're stuck here and they're over there. How the hell are we supposed to do anything?"
In response, the old man slowly walked up to them. Irvine clutched his gun tighter as the man approached them. Squall seemed to be in a trance as he simply stared at the old man. Slowly he knelt down to one knee in front of Renix. Renix quickly bolted back as his face began to shake violently.
"Hey leave him alone!" Irvine cried as he yanked out his shotgun and trained it on the old man.
The figure momentarily stopped what he was doing and regarded Irvine through the dark folds of his hood. "There is no need for that, young man." He replied softly and suddenly to Irvine's surprise he couldn't move.
"W- what the hell did you do to me?"
The old man said nothing and simply laid his hand upon Renix wounded leg. Irvine's eyes widened as Renix leg began to glow a bright color and a huge aura of energy began to surround it. The light was so bright, Irvine closed his eyes against it. After a few moments he reopened his eyes and the old man was no longer kneeling in front of Renix. Renix was lying there unconscious. He was no longer sweating and there were no lines of pain on his face.
Irvine looked a few yards ahead and saw the old man standing next to a portal of glowing white light. To his surprise, he could move again. "What did you do to him you monster!" He seethed in rage. The old man gestured slightly towards the unconscious man's leg.
"Take a look for yourself."
Irvine slowly trained his eyes on Renix wound. To his amazement the wound was gone. All that remained of the horrendous injury was the ripped fabric of his pants. "How? How did you do that without a GF?" Irvine asked.
The old man smiled again. "As I said before, now is not the time for questions. Your aid is needed in Balamb. Go now!" He then pointed towards Squall.
"He has been given all the knowledge you need to know for the mission. Go forth seeds and change the destiny Zeilak has set forth to create!"
Irvin was about to protest again when he felt the firm grip of Squall's hand on his arm. "What the-? Squall? What are you doing!"
Squall said nothing but yanked him forward.
"Hey! Squall wake up man! He's got you under some kind of mind control! You've got to break free!"
Squall trained his eyes on Irvine. The man shrunk back slightly from the penetrating gaze the Seed General was giving him. There was something in Squall's eyes that spoke louder then words.
"I am not under anyone's control but my own Irvine." Squall said softly. "Just go through the portal. I'll explain later."
Irvine held back a biting rebuke. He thought about the position they were in and realized that going through the portal was their best and only chance of getting out of the tunnels. Irvine gave Squall a crisp nod then ran towards the portal. However before leaping through he turned back around to face Squall and the old man.
"What about Renix? What do we do with him?"
"He's coming with us." Squall answered. "We'll definitely need his help. Don't worry, I'll carry him. You go on through and ill catch up with you."
"Ok, I'll just have to take your word for this." Irvine said, still skeptical about the whole situation. He then turned around and leapt into the glowing orb of energy.
Squall lifted Renix up onto his shoulders then approached the portal. Before going through he stopped and glanced back towards the tunnels.
"Why do you wait Lionheart? I have shown you all you need to see. Is that not enough to spur you on? Why do you hold back?"
Squall stared right into the man's eyes. "I still have many questions I need to ask you. But ill save those till later."
"I sense that is not the only reason why you hesitate… It is your wife isn't it?"
Squall nodded stiffly. "I promised her I would not leave her side."
"Do not worry. She will not die in this battle. I cannot reveal any more then I already have however I will tell you this Squall Lionheart. You and Rinoa will meet again. I promise you that."
Squall hesitated a little more then slowly turned to face the portal.
"You must go forth now Lionheart!" The old man called after him. "You must leave your friends now to save all. Otherwise all is lost. GO!"
Squall closed his eyes and slowly stepped through the portal. At that very second, Squall's world changed.
Well sorry about that. That was a pretty short chapter I know but don't worry I'll have more stuff going on in the next ones. Well thanks for reading and please tell me what you think? J
-Cordis