Disclaimer: All Final Fantasy characters, places, and things all belong to Squaresoft and other involved companies. I own none of them. This fanfic is purely for fun and enjoyment of others and myself. I make no money from it.
EMPEROR OF DARKNESS
CHAPTER 16
REVELATIONS
Squall felt as if his whole body were being squished yet, at the same time, expanding as well. It was a completely new experience for him. Even time compression hadn't affected him the way this did. Everywhere he looked, he saw hazy views of transparent images. Squall closed his eyes against the bright neon lights that engulfed his vision. Suddenly everything became cold and he fell against a hard surface.
Opening his eyes, he noticed he was in a totally new area. The whole room was bathed in a hue of dark blue. Surrounding him, where five huge pillars. Squall shook his head furiously to clear his hazy vision. 'Is this a dream…?' He thought to himself. 'Where am I?'
"Oh man… Anyone catch the number to the train that just ran me over?" Came a new voice from the, not too far, distance.
"Irvine?"
Squall turned his head to the side and saw the familiar form of his seed companion slouched over the ground, clearly in pain as the long haired man continued to vigorously message his neck.
"Are you ok?" He asked, rising to his feet.
"What does it look like?" Irvine spat irritably. He slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position then scanned the room with wide eyes. "Hey where's Renix?"
"Right here…" The dark man called out a few feet away, similar pain evident in his voice. "Man, next time you guys decide to go on some super dimensional teleportational trip, remind me to decline the offer."
A slight smile formed on Irvine's face. "You and me both buddy. And where the hell are we anyway?" He turned his eyes quickly towards Squall. "I thought we were supposed to be in Balamb? What the hell happened?"
Squall, who had been previously engrossed in scanning the area turned back towards Irvine with a similarly puzzled look on his face.
"I don't know…" He replied distantly.
Irvine threw his arms up in alarm. "Oh that's just f*cking great! First you talk us into going on some wild goose chase with some weirdo wearing a cloak and now you have exactly no idea where he landed us at? Way to go 'commander'!"
Irvine shrugged his shoulders then sagged slowly onto the ground, lowering his head in defeat.
Squall too lowered his head, however it was more to do with thought then defeat. Unbeknownst to Irvine, his words had bitten deeply into Squall's conscience. He felt the familiar pang of failure. He had failed in his responsibilities to protect his comrades and even worse, now they were trapped in a completely foreign room with absolutely nothing going for them in their favor. If they were attacked now, he knew it would be all his fault.
Squall shook his head angrily. He wouldn't give up yet. He knew there was a solution to this problem. There was always a solution. He just had to figure out what it was…
Irvine and Renix on the other hand, continued to sit idly to the side, silently awaiting whatever fate would befall them. Irvine raised his head slowly and trained his eyes towards Squall's tall form. "So what now Squall? What's our next move?"
Squall turned his face towards his friend but said nothing. He too was trying to figure out the answer to that very question. 'What do we do? What can we do? We're trapped in a completely new area with no idea what our surroundings are and to make matters even worse, we can't see much of anything here anyway.'
Squall furrowed his brows in a deep frown then lowered his chin into the cup of his hand in thought.
Irvine immediately rolled his eyes and once again drooped his head into the lap of his arms. "We're screwed…"
Suddenly the five pillars surrounding them lit up into bright hues of color. Each one bore a different color and flared up lighting the room into one giant transparent collage.
"What the hell?" Irvine called out in alarm.
"The whole room's blazing to life!" Renix said in shock.
Squall immediately took a position in front of his comrades. Instinctively he reached for his gunblade only to find that it was no longer there. Squall grit his teeth in anger but kept his calm. If they were going to die this day, he would make sure they took him out first. He would protect his comrades with his life. He owed them at least that much.
Squall thrust his arms out wide, shielding his companions. Slowly, the light in each pillar began to fade out until every one of them vibrated with a soft glow, just enough to make out the room and see the outlining shapes of human-like figures sitting atop each pillar looking down on them.
"Greetings Squall Lionhart." Came a blaring voice from the center pillar. "It is a pleasure to finally have this opportunity to meet with you."
"What do you want with us?" The young seed commander yelled back.
"Do not feel threatened." The voice continued. "We, the council of Shumi Elders, mean you no harm. We have summoned you here for a specific purpose. That purpose does not entail your annihilation."
Squall narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You're Shumi…? So then what do you want with us?"
"We have need of you and your seed companions. Your abilities are of the utmost importance to us."
"You're talking about the mission to Balamb right?"
"That is correct…"
"One of your contacts told us we'd be sent there directly. Why are we here? Why haven't we arrived at the required destination yet?"
"We of the council know this is a troubling time for you Squall Lionhart but you must put aside these common place worries and take into greater consideration the true conflict that is at hand."
"I've seen the 'true conflict' at hand already! Your servant made me more then aware of that when he invaded my mind before!"
"Gzar has only shown you parts of the bigger picture. What he could have shown you would have destroyed your mind completely."
"Then what is it huh? Why have you brought us here? What is the reason you have taken me away from my home, my family, and my wife!? What's going to happen to them while I'm away? I left them right in the middle of a full-scale assault for crying out loud!"
"We understand your concerns Lionhart but rest assured that conflict is over. Your companions were victorious and are now stationed in Esther with the aid of President Laguna."
Squall's shoulders seemed to drop a bit from relief but his eyes still kept the dangerous glint of seriousness in them. "So what is to become of us?"
It almost seemed as if the elder shifted nervously in his chair as he prepared his response. "As the situation stands now you are all relieved of your duties at Garden. You are now free agents."
"What do you mean relieved!?!" Irvine spat out, speaking for the first time since the meeting began.
"You three are to train in preparation for the conflict you are to engage yourselves in with Zeilak. You will remain in our facilities training for the length of three months. Our special ability enhancing technology should be able to help you all improve at a more accelerated rate. Three months is all we can spare. Within that time Zeilak will have issued the order for his soldiers to start their excavation thus giving him a valuable key to the location of the Relics. You will arrive a few days before that event in time to stop it. Do not concern yourselves with the concerns of your friends. We of the council have taken steps in faking your deaths within the closed off levels of Garden. You would have perished had our agent not come to your aid. As it is, this is the most workable approach to the situation."
"What?!?" Squall nearly screamed with rage. "I have a wife! What makes you think me or any of my comrades here are going to train with you for three months? I can't just turn my back on my responsibilities! I won't! NEVER! Take me back right now! I want no part in your sick plans!"
The elder shook his head slowly. "It seems you still do not fully understand the severity of the situation at hand young man. Therefor we have no other choice but to show it to you, All of you."
Suddenly without warning, the ground behind the three seeds began to shake and within no time, a huge orb began to rise out from the floor.
"What the hell is that?" Irvine hissed in a mixture of panic and fear.
"This…young warrior, is the orb of time. It is a leeway into our past and an oracle to the destiny of our future. Look into it young seeds. Look into the orb and find your destiny!"
All three men nervously turned towards the orb and one after the other, the each began to look deeply into the bright transparent hue.
Squall's eyes snapped wide as he suddenly felt his body fall rapidly into the swirling abyss. He screamed in alarm then quickly fell into a dark area. He looked around only to see ruble and destruction everywhere he looked. Not far from him, Irvine and Renix, too were horrified by the terrible scenes before them.
"What… what is this?"
"This is your future and your past Squall Lionhart!" The voice of the Shumi elder said in loud blares coming from all angles. "This is the destiny of the world that will come to be if you do not take steps to stop it. This is the fate of those who tried to stop destiny in the past only to be consumed by it."
"Stop talking in riddles! What's going on?"
Suddenly the whole outline of the area they were in began to change into a scene of serene beauty and magnificence.
"Over 10 billion years ago this world was not as you know it now. In fact, this world would probably be seen as that of a fantasy in your eyes. This is the world of your ancestors Squall Lionhart. Like now, during this time these people also faced the threat of a terrible disaster. This disaster was called Jenova."
Squall blinked in confusion. "Jenova? What's Jenova?"
"The essence of our eternal plight." As the Elder began his tale, the room began shifting in accordance to his tale, forcing the seeds to relive every moment of his story as each scene played out before them.
"Jenova is an alien parasite that has long ago attached itself to this world. At first a race of powerful beings known as ancients tried to stop Jenova by trapping her in a geological stratum. However in doing this, they also ended up dying off from the effort. Many years later, the people of the era we are viewing now made the mistake of freeing the demon from her eternal prison. A greedy, demented professor freed the creature and was so captivated by the amount of energy she had that he began feeding her cells into human test subjects. One of the many test subjects injected with this virus was his very son. Years afterwards that son when mad and summoned forth a meteor to destroy the planet, bent on carrying out Jenova's master plan to rid the world of life and take over the desolate planet by feeding off of the souls that would surly flow freely from the lifestream."
The scenes around them now became overly oppressive. Irvine clenched his hands into fists out of annoyance. "What does any of this have to do with us?"
"Everything!" The elder replied ominously. "Before meteor had the chance to destroy the planet completely a group of vagrant hero's came to the rescue. Together with the help of the lifestream they destroyed the meteor and the proverbial son of Jenova. However there was a problem. They thought they had destroyed Jenova yet that wasn't so. Nearly a hundred years later, Jenova resurfaced again. Again hero's came to stop her. Unfortunately because the lifestream had used up so much energy to stop the meteor years before, magic had vanished from all across the lands with the exception of the Guardian forces. But even they seemed to withdraw away from our dimension completely as the materia orbs were no longer strong enough to hold their presence. The hero's had nothing to combat the demon with except brute strength. They bravely rebelled against her but unfortunately it was at the cost of nearly the whole entire planet. Everything was destroyed except for small contingents of people at odd areas of the planet. Slowly the world rebuilt itself however nearly everything of the past world was lost. People slowly rebuilt, meanwhile Jenova was still not beaten. There has been much speculation as to when it actually occurred but soon magic resurfaced in the lands. Of course it didn't come back in the abundance that used to flow throughout the planet before. It simply came in small sparks and for some reason humans could no longer use magic in the same way they used to. Luckily GF's returned to our dimension at around the same time, perhaps drawn by the magic. However they were no longer contained by human restraints but now roam freely across the lands. The only way they will aid humans now is if we prove ourselves worthy of their aid. Those who were able to pull this off learned that they could retain only a specific amount of magic but a GF's help was required otherwise they could not carry it with them, only use the magic on the spot. There have been assumptions that it is due to the weakened state of the lifestream after the great war. Because of this, humans no longer had the required energy to retain the spells that they draw from these random magic streams. But again who can really tell."
All the seeds were now completely flabbergasted by what they were seeing. Irvine and Renix both were forced to turn away at some parts, too horrified to see the cruel reality as fate played itself out.
"This is all nice and dandy but we're not here for a history lesson!" Squall seethed. "Just get to the damn point!"
"Surly you've all heard of the legend of Gustav, Kellinger and Merielus."
"Yeah." Squall said. "Merielus, the first Sorceress to ever be known and presumably the most powerful one ever to exist. Gustav was the great king who later turned tyrant and finally Kellinger was the loyal servant who rose up from his king and defeated his rule. I've heard the whole tale but it's mostly just legend. Every one knows Merielus wasn't a real Sorceress. The first Sorceress ever to exist was Hyne."
"If only that were true…"
"What do you mean?"
"Merielus was the mother of Hyne. Not everyone knows this. It is a proven fact. You think because of that fact, people were somewhat hasty to make the assumption that by being her mother, she was also a Sorceress. Did you know that the origin of Merielus birth was never truly discovered? Merielus just suddenly came to be at the castle. No one knows how she got there or any of that."
"So what are you trying to say?"
"Jenova had been changing forms since the very beginning. At the start, she first impersonated one of the Ancients when she realized they posed too much of a threat for her. What makes you think she hasn't played the same trick on us humans?"
Squall was slightly flustered by the sudden realization. "So you're saying…"
"Yes… Merielus was jenova. She gained the love and trust of Kellinger to suit her evil desires then when the opportunity suited her, she betrayed him and sided with Gustav to finally retake her thrown. Had things not taken the path they did, it is quite possible Kellinger may have not even died in his final battle against Gustav. As it was, after the war, Merielus seemed to simply disappear. However, not before she left her mark on the world. Hyne was the prodigy of the union between Merielus and Kellinger. Hyne was the first Sorceress to struggle against Jenova's influence but still her presence was always there. Her presence will eternally exist in the bodies of all Sorceresses until the day she can rise once again and retake her rightful thrown!"
Irvine snapped his fingers in astonishment. "So that's why the Sorceresses where always amassing great armies. They were all following the will of Jenova's master plan!"
"Exactly! Even after all of this time, Jenova still has not given up."
Squall frowned. "So what does any of this have to do with Zeilak? He's not a Sorceress! What's his purpose in all of this?"
"Unfortunately the truth of the matter is not so graceful. Zeilak is in fact a Demon Warlock! The first of his kind and far more powerful then any Sorceress you could possibly imagine! Demon Warlocks could be compared to Sorcerers except that they are of such greater power that they are in an entirely different class all together. The amount of power he could generate is completely off the scale of anything we've ever seen before. However his origin is still a mystery. All we are aware of is that, like Ultimecia, he too has come from the future. That and also a more disturbing revelation is that he bears the same evil as Jenova."
"So you're saying he could be Jenova in another disguise then?" Squall asked inquisitively.
"We are not sure if that is the case, however we do know that their intentions are the same. And that alone is cause enough for our concern."
Suddenly the surrounding area shifted once more back into the familiar blue room with the bright pillars of light. Each of the seeds blinked their eyes, trying to readjust them to the lighting of the room.
"And that… my friends, is why we elders need you help."
Squall said nothing but lowered his head in thought. The sights he had seen had disturbed him greatly. The fact that Zeilak was more powerful then even the destructive force he had just witnessed was even more troubling. Squall was in a jam. He knew what had to be done yet at the same time, he wanted to protect Rinoa now more then ever.
"We know you are still concerned for your friends safety Lionhart but please think on the bigger scale. If nothing is done to stop Zeilak then their deaths will be inevitable…"
Squall turned his head to see his companions has equally conflicting emotions splayed on their faces.
Squall raised his eyes towards his friends with a concerned expression on his face, a rare occurrence for the young seed commander.
Irvine knew exactly what was going on in the young leader's eyes and he knew perfectly well what he was silently requesting of them. Irvine nodded his head in agreement and saw that Renix was doing the same.
A slight, dreadful smile creased Squall's lips as he slowly turned back towards the Elder.
"There really isn't any choice in the matter, is there?" He asked.
The elder slowly shook his hooded head. "No my friend, there isn't.
"I see…" Squall let a small sigh escape him then raised his head high as he faced the Council of Shumi Elders. "On behalf of my Companions, I Squall Lionhart accept your offer! I pledge to do my best to stop Zeilak in his plans no matter what!"
::::::::::To Be Continued::::::::::
Author's note: Thanks for reading and please stay tuned for chapter 17.