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.
The end game draws near. With the seeds defeated and the world in disarray, can there be any hope for victory in this war of madness which has been waged by the evil Emperor Zeilak?
EMPEROR OF DARKNESS
CHAPTER 15
Regroup
Quistis was surrounded in darkness. Everywhere she looked, death stared her right back in the face. She tried to run away but found that she only drifted deeper into the void of despair. She screamed out for help. However, it was to no avail. No one would hear her pleas. No one would answer her calls of distress. She was alone. Wet droplets began falling about her head and shoulders. She quickly looked up and discovered it was blood. Once again she screamed in frustration then fell to her knees in submission. Suddenly, there was a figure standing before her. He laughed mirthfully at her misfortune. Quistis opened her eyes wide at his grotesque yet familiar appearance. He was shrouded in black clothing yet from the elbows down he had long tentacles for hands. It was these very same tentacles he now let loose at her. Quistis tried to run. She tried once more to call upon any form of solace. She found none. Finally, she fell from exhaustion. The tentacles where still upon her. They launched ferociously towards her with the speed of blazing bullets. Quistis shut her eyes against the horrible sight. However, instead of darkness greeting her, there was light. Immense, painfully, bright light.
****
Quistis slowly opened her eyes the rest of the way. She felt horrible. She meticulously raised her hand to her forehead. This alone, surprisingly, took great effort on her part.
"So your finally awake huh? Welcome back to the real world."
Quistis turned her head slightly towards the speaker. It was a strain even to keep her eyes open yet she found herself smiling at the figure sitting in front of her.
"Rinoa…"
It was more of a statement then a question, but even still, Rinoa answered her as such. "Yeah, its me Quisty. So… how are you feeling?"
"Honestly?… Like shit! So how long have I been out?"
"About three weeks. You would have been out longer had it not been for the advanced technology they have here in Esther."
Quistis eyes widened in shock slightly. "Esther? We're in Esther? When did this happen?"
Rinoa suddenly tensed. She knew what would come up next and she had been preparing herself for this moment the whole time she watched over Quistis prone form. She pursed her lips slightly as she tried to collect her courage.
Quistis detected the level of tension Rinoa was generating and rose her head slightly from her pillow. Immediately afterwards she winced in pain and fell back into the soft pillows.
Rinoa was up in a flash. "Quistis! Are you ok? Did you hurt yourself."
Quistis simply regarded Rinoa levelly. She was not a fool and she was slightly insulted that Rinoa thought she could take her for one. "Rinoa… What happened while I was out?" She asked evenly.
Rinoa stiffened once more. She closed her eyes then quietly sank back into her chair. Once seated, she opened them again and regarded Quistis with eyes beaming with emotion. "Quistis… I don't know where to begin. After that day in Deling everything just seemed to fall apart… So many horrible things…"
"…What happened?"
"Quistis… maybe you should rest a little while longer. I don't know if you should be hearing this right now."
"Damnit, Rinoa!" Quistis seethed. She was becoming deeply agitated now. "What happened while I was out? Just tell me!"
Rinoa clenched her hands into fists. This was the moment she dreaded most. "Quistis… Squall, Squall and Irvine… They're…"
Just then the door hissed open and a figure promptly walked in. "Rinoa! Quistis! It's been so long! I'm sorry I couldn't meet up with you earlier but with the whole war situation going on, it's kinda hard getting any free time now a days."
Quistis blinked rapidly. "Laguna? What's going on? What war situation?"
Rinoa smiled slightly and silently heaved a sigh of relief. Laguna had temporarily relieved her of the burden she had to unveil to Quistis.
Laguna quickly walked over to Quistis bedside. "Hmm I see. So you haven't been informed yet?"
Quistis was now extremely irate. "Informed on what? What the hell has been going on while I was out? Rinoa what is this talk about Irvin and Squall? What happened to them!?"
Rinoa opened her mouth but just before anything came out-
"Ah don't you worry about a thing right now Quistis. It seems that your teammates are in a bit of a jam somewhere inside Balamb Garden. What we're doing now is going through the process of getting them out of that jam!"
Rinoa glared daggers towards Laguna. She had mixed emotions about his whole take on the situation. Ever since they told him of what happened to Squall and Irvin he seemed to think in a totally positive way about the whole thing. 'If you can't confirm a body then there's still hope' he had said. Rinoa wanted desperately to believe him but it angered her that he could so casually say such a thing. He hadn't known Squall like she had. He was only an acquaintance. He didn't know what she was going through. It was easy for him to make such radical assumptions because he didn't have to deal with the same pressure she had. Ultimately she was at a conflict of wills. On one side, she desperately wanted Squall to be ok and fully accepted Laguna's idea. However on another side, she didn't want to deal with the heartache anymore. She was just now starting to realize that Squall was gone. If she reawakened hopes that he still lived only for them to be crushed again, she didn't know if she would be able to handle the strain.
Laguna caught Rinoa's glare and nodded morbidly towards her. "He is still alive." He said firmly.
All the while Quistis just sat there, wide eyed about the whole situation. "Squall is… Squall is hurt? I don't get it. What's wrong with Squall and Irvine?"
Both Rinoa and Laguna glanced at Quistis as if she had just intruded on their private conversation. Laguna softly closed his eyes then straightened up. "I think the two of you have a lot to talk about." He said evenly. He then trained his eyes on Rinoa. "Just remember that there is hope. The moment you give that up then you might as well not go on living. Don't give up hope yet Rinoa…"
Rinoa just sat there, head lowered staring at the ground. She didn't want to give up. She didn't want to stop hoping. She just wanted to stop the hurting. She didn't want to have her heart broken once again by the realization that she would never be with Squall again.
Suddenly Laguna's face regained its former cheerfulness. "Anyway I just came to let you know that we have found a small hole on the bridge of the Garden. It looks like it leads into a new area. We're forming a search party right now."
Rinoa's eyes snapped wide open. "What?"
Laguna heedlessly continued. "Once we find Squall and the others I'll report back to you so as to put your worries at ease."
Laguna turned crisply and prepared to leave. However, before even going two steps, Rinoa grasped his arm.
"Wait! I- … I want to go with you!"
Laguna raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure Rinoa? I know you must be exhausted so maybe-"
"Please Laguna… I have to know… I need to know…"
Laguna nodded slowly then released his arm from Rinoa's grasp. "We leave in two hours. I'll be back to give you your gear in a few minutes."
Rinoa returned the nod and with that he walked off, the door hissing behind him.
Quistis had quietly been listening in on the whole conversation. She didn't have much choice in doing otherwise since the more angry she got, the worse her headache became. However, now that it was just the two of them again, she ignored her pain and spoke out.
"Rinoa…? What's been going on? I think it's time you told me everything."
Rinoa sighed in defeat. Tired eyes regarded Quistis as she began her story. "Quistis… you're right… You have as much right to know as anyone else."
Quistis said nothing but simply nodded her head, issuing for Rinoa to continue. Rinoa took a deep breath and continued. As you already know, the parade was a disaster. We were betrayed from within. M- my fathers own general betrayed Galbadia and the world. After our defeat, Edea sacrificed her life to get us to Balamb Garden. Once there we watched helplessly as Zeilak gave his war decree."
Tears were now welling up in Rinoa's eyes. She gulped once more and continued. "That bastard killed Edea… Right before our very eyes. Burned her to death and said that that was the penalty for defiance. After that he launched a huge amount of missiles. Everything was leveled after the attack. Even the Garden took a hit. Squall immediately took command of the situation and ordered that we head towards Balamb to regroup and help the citizens as much as possible. Xu gave us a little trouble with that idea. It seems like she was just extremely stressed out and thought Squall was thinking too irrationally. Anyway that conflict was resolved with Xu getting thrown in the brig for insubordination."
Quistis was listening intently to Rinoa's tale but at the mention of her close friend committing treason, she couldn't help the sudden gasp that caught in her throat.
"Yeah, I know. It's shocking isn't it? But then one has to wonder was that really a premonition in disguise? Given the way things went after that I'd have to assume so. On our way to Balamb we had to strain our engines to the max. However, on the way there, we came under heavy attack by Galbadian forces under the command of Emperor Zeilak. They attacked the bridge…"
Rinoa suddenly became silent and she began to shake violently. Quistis regarded her with sad supporting eyes. With the little strength she had, she reached her arm out to Rinoa's shoulder and gave her a comforting squeeze.
"… Rinoa… you don't have to say it. I can already guess… Squall was on the bridge wasn't he? He and Irvine were both on the bridge when Galbadia attacked, is that it?"
Rinoa nodded silently. Then, she quickly snapped her eyes open and tears began streaming down them. "Quistis, we checked… we checked the whole bridge… There was so much blood… And Squall…. My Squall… is dead!"
Rinoa buried her head in Quistis shoulder, crying hysterically. Quistis herself, found that her eyes were streaming with tears. She had expected as much about Squall from Rinoa, but just hearing it like this brought a whole new pain to life inside. She couldn't help the pain that gripped at her heart, threatening to tear it asunder. Old memories of the young seed whom she had grown to respect and love flashed before her eyes.
Suddenly something clicked inside her. She had known Squall for years. She had been on missions with him and had even entrusted her life to him on certain situations. She couldn't just write him off now. She couldn't just give up on him like this. Quistis slowly got a hold of herself and stared intently at Rinoa.
"Rinoa listen to me. Don't give up yet. You didn't find a body right? So that means there's still hope right?"
Quistis was becoming more and more frantic as she raved on. She just couldn't accept that Squall was dead. The more she thought of it, the more convinced she became that he was still alive. The Squall she knew just wouldn't die so easily. She just couldn't think of it.
Rinoa responded to Quistis statement by simply crying harder. "I… Quistis I tried to believe, I want to believe… But it just hurts so much… I don't want to have to go through the torment any more…"
"Rinoa…"
"Quistis… I didn't tell anyone else this but Squall… I- I'm pregnant. I'm going to have Squall's child. I don't want my child to grow up without a father!"
Quistis was shocked beyond belief. "Rinoa… I … I don't know what to say…"
"Why does life have to be so cruel…"
It took Quistis a moment to collect herself but finally she raised her arms and pushed Rinoa to arm's length and stared her straight in the eye.
"Listen to me Rinoa. You may be pregnant but that should serve as extra incentive. Don't give up on Squall yet. Don't lose faith. Look, Squall's counting on you. You have to be strong right?"
Rinoa nodded softly. "You're right Quisty. I just… I just don't know if I'll be able to handle the strain of losing him again."
Quistis nodded sagely. "I know Rinoa. I'll be with you all the way. Don't worry. Lets just take this one step at a time ok?"
Rinoa reluctantly nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Now, just how did we get to Esther anyway?"
Rinoa smiled slightly, glad that Quistis had changed the subject. "After the attack, there were a few Galbadians that got inside the Garden. Luckily at that time Esther troops came to the rescue by the orders of President Laguna. After clearing out the remaining Galbadians, the Estherians offered us assistance. They took note of our plight then sent ten Ragnoraks to our location and they hoisted the Garden over to the Estherian continent. Once we got here, they immediately took you to emergency so that you could get proper medical attention. After we told them about Squall and Irvin, they quickly started tearing the ship apart searching for any sign of our lost leader. That about brings us up to date."
Quistis nodded. "I see." Suddenly her eyes became intent and purposeful. "I want to be a part of the search party too."
"What? But Quistis you're too injured to be moved anywhere! You might have a relaps?"
"And what about you? You're pregnant and still you want to go? Isn't that just as bad in its own way?"
Rinoa was quiet for a moment. "But Quistis what can you do? You said it yourself, you're in a very bad condition."
Quistis sighed sagely. "Yes I know. I can't move much due to the inactivity of using my body. But that doesn't mean I can't use my brain."
Rinoa's eyes suddenly widened as she caught on to what Quistis was suggesting. "Quistis! So you mean-"
Quistis smiled and finished her statement. "I'll serve as data collector and navigator while you guys are all exploring. Not too much strain in that now is there?"
Rinoa simply smiled and hugged Quistis tightly. "Nope." She replied silently. "No strain at all."
Rinoa looked Quistis in the eye and smiled broadly. "I'm glad you're awake. I could really use your support right now."
Quistis grasped her friend's hand supportively. "Don't worry. I'll do the best I can."
At that moment, Laguna entered the room with a protection suit in his arms. "Ready for the search?" He asked with a cheery smile on his face.
Rinoa shot a quick glance at Quistis then replied with confidence. "As ready as I'll ever be."
::::::::::To Be Continued::::::::::
Authors note: Well that's another chapter down the hatch. This plot is starting to progress slowly but surely. Don't worry, the action will come soon. Anyway thanks for reading and please stay tuned for chapter 16.