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 it.
Squall and Co. have been separated from the their friends by fate. All that remains between the Huge Galbadian force and the wrecked Garden and tired seeds is the incredible power of Rinoa and her Sorceress abilities. Is that truly enough to defeat the army of Zeilak?…
EMPEROR OF DARKNESS
CHAPTER 13
Threads Of Reality
Everything was in total chaos. Seeds and Galbadian's alike, ran wildly as huge chunks of the Galbadian Ragnorak came crashing down to the ground below. Selphie did the best she could to calm the Seeds down however she was having a hard enough time trying to calm herself down as it was.
Everything had all happened so fast. She had been locked in a fierce fight with one particularly strong Galbadian soldier when all of a sudden she heard a loud roar from the skies. When she looked up she saw Rinoa glowing with a blinding light up in the skies. Her heart caught in her throat when she saw that her friend was facing off with the Ragnorak. However, she was struck completely dumbfounded when she saw how easily and ruthlessly Rinoa had dealt with her adversary. She reminded Selphie of a Phoenix blazing brightly in the skies. Following that climactic event, the flaming ashes of what remained of the Ragnorak rained down causing panic on the grounds.
Selphie immediately jumped out of the way of a large piece of metal that came hurling towards her. She slowly rose to her feet and gulped when she looked at the huge whole that would have been her had she not moved out of the way in time.
"Everyone just calm down!" She hollered towards the Seeds. "Don't panic or you'll get overwhelmed."
Her voice was drowned out, however, as the sea of people continued to scream and flail about. Slowly the last few embers of the ship fell to the ground and order was beginning to form again for the Galbadians. A loud speaker rang out in the distance.
"ATTENTION GALBADIAN TROOPS! THIS IS YOUR COMMANDER! DISREGARD THE RAGNORAK. WE HAVE THE SEEDS BEAT! CONTINUE YOUR ATTACK!"
The tank that had been staying dormant in the distance suddenly came to life, firing huge missiles towards the Seeds.
"Fall back!" Selphie cried. Many Seeds around her fell victim to the viscous explosions. The Seeds resumed their fighting along with the Galbadians. Each side was now fighting with renewed vigor. The Galbadians were fighting with the spirit that they had the Seeds outnumbered while the seeds were spurred on by the actions of Rinoa when she destroyed the Ragnorak. Pandemonium took place once more, and again Selphie was pitted in the center of all the chaos.
****
Rinoa watched disdainfully as the two sides continued to kill each other down below. She felt a small pang in her heart. She had hoped that her last attack would have brought an end to this incessant battle. She realized she was wrong. The two sides would keep on fighting until one or the other was dead. Making a choice, Rinoa charged up once again. Huge flames of energy peeled off of her. She began glowing in bright forms of red orange and transparent blue.
Finally, she charged towards the newly attacking tank in the distance. If this machine was destroyed, the Galbadians would lose their initiative and turn away from the battle.
The tank registered her approach and backed up as fast as it could. The huge cannons came to life once more and fired upon her. Rinoa disregarded the useless shells. She sped on faster then tore through the metal arsenal as if it were paper. She continued to rip her way through the machine until she finally found the pilot.
Tarvisand witnessed terror like he had never known before. The huge aura of energy came tearing his way.
"Wha- what the hell are you!?" He cried. He pulled out his handgun and started firing at the glowing angel before him. Rinoa easily melted the bullets before impact.
"NO!" He screamed then threw his empty handgun at her.
Rinoa angrily tore at the useless material coming her way. It evaporated at her touch and after a split second it was nothing. Tarvisand cringed further into his chair. The defenseless man shook violently as the Sorceress came closer to him.
"This battle will end with your death." She said plainly. However, her words belied her true feelings. She silently cried at what she was getting ready to do. This man may have been evil but would she only be repeating that same kind of evil by killing him now? Tarvisand noticed her hesitation and decided to play on that.
"You d- don't want to kill me." He whispered. "You Seeds are too good for that. Let me go and I promise we will treat you nicely when we present you to His Majesty."
Unbeknownst to him, that was the only think he could have said to give Rinoa renewed confidence in the choice she had to make. It was true that they were fighting to stay alive. It was also true that she was killing this man to preserve the lives of her friends. However, if she let this man go, the results could be hazardous. If not them, he would turn other innocent civilians over to that monster Zeilak without a care in the world.
Rinoa's eyes narrowed at the man. "Wa- what are you doing?" He stuttered with fear in his voice.
In response to that question, Rinoa locked her hand around his throat. The heat from her surrounding energy sizzled as it made contact with his flesh. His skin began to pop and crackle like fried butter. A small sigh escaped his lips and before she realized it, he was dead.
A single tear crept down her cheek. She had no choice. Once again she charged up. The energy flared even more wildly around her until the whole tank disintegrated from her intense power. It was over.
The Galbadians on the field witnessed this brutal destruction of their commander and began to waver in their resolve.
Rinoa walked towards them all. The enveloping energy made her look all the more menacing and powerful.
"Listen to me Galbadians!" She said with a ting of anger in her voice. "I have destroyed your leader. I can easily do the same to the rest of you. You will cease and desist in your attack. If you do not, then you will be joining your Commander in death. It is your choice."
The Galbadians needed no time to think it over. They immediately filed away and scrambled into the distance. Each of them ran in different directions. The remaining Seeds all yelled in glee and Joy as they watched the retreating forms of their enemies. They had won.
A faint smile grazed Rinoa's lips. She looked up towards the ravaged Garden. 'I understand what I must do now Squall.' She thought to herself. 'Please wait for me a little more my love. One day we will be reunited.'
A small gleam reflected off the corner of her eye. She glanced that way and her eyes snapped wide open.
"I don't believe it!" She said in recognition at the familiar insignia on a new warship heading their way.
****
Sarah was sitting calmly in the makeshift infirmary next to Zell. She had been silent the whole time. After Squall had announced the evacuation of the main floor, everyone had been forced to squish everything up to the second level. Now things were considerably more crowded for her. However, the space in the room did not bother her. The sounds of fighting outside took front seat to all of her problems. For the ninth time that day, she found herself diligently praying for everyone's safety.
She looked down at her husband with tender eyes, softly caressing his golden hair. She missed his spunky, 'go get em' take on life. She missed a lot of things about him but at the moment, the thing she missed most was his supportive, confident attitude. Seeing him vulnerable like this had a tremendous effect on her. It forced her to see the harsh realities of life.
She hoped he would be better soon. Thinking of the child they would soon have together made her feel even worse. If their child grew up never knowing his or her father, it would give her no end of grief. A single tear rolled down her cheek and once again she prayed.
CRASH
"What the-" Sarah twisted her head around to the source of the noise. Her eyes widened at the sight before her. Three Galbadian soldiers had entered the medical bay and were making their way towards her. Her thoughts ran wild. 'They got through! Does that mean we lost?'
She quickly gave Zell's hand one last reassuring squeeze then scrambled behind an adjoining wall. The Soldiers promptly entered the room searching this way and that.
"HA! Looks like the Seeds got some pretty sick people here!" One of them said as he approached Zell.
Sarah clinched her fists. She hoped her plan would work. 'Even if they have defeated everyone else, I won't give up just yet. I'll keep fighting until my last breath.'
"Ha ha! Yeah but get a load of this babe right here!" another Guard said, coming up to Quistis.
Sarah nervously bit her lip. 'Just a little bit closer.'
The third Guard walked up. "Enough you two! We've still got a job to do. Lets just find their central core and blow this place up. Then those seeds won't have anything left to fight for."
Sarah just barely held in her gasp of surprise. The Seeds were still alive. And still fighting! That gave her renewed hope. She felt a new calm set over her, the calm of battle as she awaited the right time to proceed.
The third guard stepped up a little closer.
"Now!" Sarah hissed as she jumped from the corner.
The Galbadians were completely taken by surprise. Two of them fumbled with their weapons while the last one jumped back to distance himself. Sarah gave no mercy.
"FIRA" She screamed as she rushed towards them as fast as she could in her condition. The first soldier fell back and screamed in agony as he was burned by the sudden flames that had engulfed him. The second soldier took a swing. Sarah ducked deftly then rose up with a quick elbow to the jaw. "Blizzara" She called and suddenly the man was encased in a huge block of ice. The final soldier hoisted his weapon and fired. Sarah quickly jumped to the side. She breathed a sigh of relief. Had she jumped even one second later, she would have been riddled with bullets. She cringed slightly at all the overexertion. She hoped that she would be able to do this with no harm to her child. However, she wouldn't give up. She would not lose to these monsters. She crawled slowly along the side of the partition she was hiding behind.
CRASH
A hand ripped through the overhead glass above her. She screamed in surprise, then tried to gain distance but the hand caught her fast. The Galbadian soldier held her close to him.
"So you were trying to sabotage us huh?" He rasped in exertion. "Well now I'm gonna use you as a shield to all your friends outside. Death to any who oppose the Emperor!"
Suddenly a fist ripped out of nowhere.
BAM
The soldier went soaring through the air as his face was smashed by the hit. He flew through the already broken glass then fell to the floor and skidded all the way to the end of the room. Sarah regarded the man's prone form and saw that his face was a bloody mess. The fist that hit him had shattered the whole left side of his face. Sarah slowly looked back at her savior and almost fainted in shock.
"ZELL!"
Zell stood there, hunched over and grabbing onto a nearby wall for support. "Hi honey!" He said with a smile on his face. "Did you miss me?"
Sarah laughed joyously then rushed into her husband's arms. Zell held her close. Tears of joy were falling from her eyes. "Oh honey I missed you so much." She whispered.
"I'm sorry." Zell said softly. "How long was I out?"
Sarah looked up into his eyes. She smiled at the tender gleam in those bright green shiny orbs. "You've been out for-"
"A lot longer then you would like, if the both of you don't put your hands up right now!" Came a new voice from a few feet away.
Zell and Sarah quickly looked over and saw that the whole front of the med lab was surrounded with Galbadian soldiers. At least 15 of them in all.
"We've got you surrounded." One of the Galbadian's said. "And you're still weak, so you really can't do anything!" He taunted, pointing to Zell.
Zell clinched his fists in anger but he was right. He could do nothing. He could barely even stand. And he knew Sarah was still exhausted from her fighting. They had them cornered. Zell closed his eyes and slowly began to raise his hands. Sarah looked at him frantically. Then after a moment's hesitation, she too followed suit.
"Wait right there!" A new voice called out. "You're the one's who can't do anything."
They all looked back and once again Sarah felt the urge to faint. The Galbadians immediately threw down their weapons once they saw the newcomers. Zell smiled brightly. "The cavalries arrived."
The new arrivals quickly surrounded all the Galbadian Soldiers. The leader walked up to them and pointed his gun. "By the Order of the Estherian Military, We place you Galbadian Soldiers under arrest!"
How's that for an ending? More to come soon! As always, thanks for reading J
-Cordis