*Disclaimer and other notes*
Final Fantasy VIII characters are all property of Squaresoft.
This Fanfic is for my personal enjoyment and anyone else out there who's
a big Squall/Rinoa romantic sap. Please don't post it on any webpage
without first notifying me (soujiro_no_miko@hotmail.com)! Thank you and
I hope you enjoy my little tribute to the masterpiece that is FFVIII!
Chapter 6- Parasite
Quistis stepped forward, stopping beside Squall. "…Sorceress…?"
Squall gaped up at Rinoa, dumbstruck. What was this? Was
it some kind of nightmare? Rinoa looked sinister… her face was screwed
into an expression of hatred he'd never seen before. His feet refused to
move, and his mouth dry, he wanted to speak, but no words would come forth.
He was shocked out of his stupor as Zell, with a battle cry launched himself
at Rinoa, fists flying.
Rinoa barely even blinked, she merely held out one hand and a
ball of crackling energy met Zell head on before he could get one punch
in. Zell flew back against the far wall.
" ZELL!" Quistis cried as Selfie ran to help him.
" I'm…okay…" he replied with a pained expression, forcing himself
back on his feet. " Ughh… she packs a punch…"
" What can we do?" Selfie drew Zell's arm around her shoulders
to support him. " We just CAN'T fight Rinoa!"
Quistis stole a glance at Squall; his face was a ghostly white.
"Squall?"
" …" Squall winced and shook his head, unable to answer to her
unspoken questions.
" Squall…" It was Irvine's voice this time. "That isn't Rinoa…"
" What?" His head shot up.
" She said so herself… that's not Rinoa! We've got to fight her…
we'll find out the truth then!"
"That's right!" Zell's voice grew stronger as Selfie administered
a Curaga. He was back on his own feet and beside them in an instant.
" Don't worry- You can just look forward to having Rinoa kick your ass
later for giving her a few bruises… if we leave this alone, there's no
telling what she'll do in this state!"
" You're right…" Squall turned towards their foe, determination
replacing doubt in his bright hazel eyes. He drew his Lion heart,
gripping the handle tightly. And the crew launched into battle.
Irvine started by summoning Cerberus to cast Triple on everyone
and Quistis used it to back the party up with Regen, followed by Selfie
casting protect. Squall took an aura and Zell went in for some punches.
His punches fell short however, as Rinoa again managed to see
him coming, and deflected them with a wave of her hand. With a smile,
she mumbled a few choice words, and rained down on them with a meteor spell.
" Dammit!!" Squall winced at the pain that shot up his arm as
he'd been blown over and fell full impact on his right shoulder.
He wasn't the worse off however; he could see out of the corner of his
eye Zell had fallen unconscious. Selfie ran to aid him, and Irvine
immediately administered a Curaga to Quistis who was just barely holding
on.
Squall's pent up anger burst forth, he ran at Rinoa full speed,
launching himself into the air and executed a perfect Lionheart attack.
The rain of blows was stunning, and she was unable to block a single one.
Halfway through the attack however, as Squall's blood was boiling and the
familiar rage of battle rang in his ears. Rinoa herself began to
come too. Blinking through unconscious tears, her eyes dimmed to
their natural brown and the aura surrounding her faded.
As if waking from a dream, she looked up to see Squall charging
her for the final devastating blow.
Not even enough time to scream, she held up her hands cringing
in reflex. Quistis had seen the transformation; it had only taken
a second at most.
" SQUALL STOP!!" She screamed.
Squall realized in mid swing the disaster that was about to befall
Rinoa if he completed that arc… " RI---"
Rinoa's wrists were crossed, palms facing outwards covering her
face. A sudden unknown forced issued from those hands surrounding
her in a powerful force field that met with Squall's blade, creating an
ear splitting electrical reaction that sent Squall flying. The impact caused
him to let go of his Lion heart and the gun blade reeled through the space
of the room in a swift, deadly arc.
Irvine saw the gun blade arcing directly at Selfie. She
was caught completely off guard and only winced in anticipation of the
impact. The sharpshooter covered the 6 meters of distance between
them in a split second, diving into Selfie and knocking her off her feet
as the Gun blade whizzed past. Selfie felt the graze of the sharp
edge against her cheek and the next thing she knew, she was on the ground
with Irvine on top of her.
" I…Irvine…" She whispered, stunned.
" Are you okay?" He glanced down at her wide-eyed.
Slowly, she nodded and they both sat up, she put her hand to
right cheek, warm blood trickled from a thin slice wound spanning the length
of her cheekbone.
They were cut short however, but a cry from across the room.
It was Rinoa.
" SQUALL!" She knelt by the black clad warrior's side, both hands
on his shoulders and was shaking him violently. " SQUALL WAKE UP!"
Quistis ran over to the pair and knelt down beside Rinoa, with
trembling fingers, she removed her gloves and rested two fingers on the
side of his neck.
Rinoa looked from face to face, horror stricken. " I… I didn't
do it! I SWEAR I didn't do it! I didn't mean to!!"
" He's alive." Quistis confirmed. " But barely…"
Rinoa shook her head, tears sprung up in her eyes unwillingly.
" No… Squall… I'm so sorry!"
Irvine knelt next to her and put an arm around her shoulders.
Dr. Kadowaki, who had witnessed the whole scene from the corner of the
room, stood up hastily and hurried to the frantic group of teenagers, all
calling out in various tones of voice for their comrade to wake up.
" Calm down now—let me look at him! Rinoa, darling let me take
a look. It'll do no good to smother him!"
Rinoa shook her head, refusing to let go of his jacket. " No!
No… I didn't mean to do it! It was an accident! I didn't mean to!"
"Shhh… Rinoa…" Irvine coaxed, gently pulling her away as Dr.
Kadowaki immediately set to work.
" H..He's not moving… he's not moving!" Selfie whimpered, Quistis
stood up to comfort her.
" Squall's a strong guy, he'll be okay, right?" Zell stooped
beside Dr. Kadowaki. The doctor just shook her head and gave a shooing
motion with one hand.
" That's for me to determine, please wait outside if you must!
I need to work here!"
The Doctor seldom lost her temper, which meant she was unsure
of Squall's condition. Zell quickly stood and nodded, then turned
and followed the others as they exited the room. Rinoa was being supported
by Irvine as continuously glanced back, calling over her shoulder.
" Squall!! DON'T DIE! OKAY!? Please don't!! SQUALL!"
Several Garden faculty rushed into the room as they were exiting.
Zell could hear Dr. Kadowaki's frantic orders for various supplies and
assistance as he closed the door to the infirmary.
**
Silence hung in the air of Headmaster Cid's office like a thick
fog that refused to lighten up. The only exception was the occasional
hiccup from Rinoa, who had already cried her eyes dry. Two hours
had passed since the deathly, unexpected counterattack on Squall's lion
heart had occurred. Zell, Quistis, Selfie, Irvine, Rinoa, Cid, and Edea
all sat on couches and chairs facing one another, hands folded quietly
in their laps. No one wished to be the one to begin discussion on the topic
plaguing everyone's mind. That being specifically, Rinoa's powers as a
Sorceress going out of control.
Finally, there was a faint knock on the door. Seven heads instantly
shot up out of their inner thoughts. Cid slowly rose and with shaking
hands, opened the door. Dr. Kadowaki stood there, looking tired.
" He's… awake," she said softly.
There was a huge sigh of relief. Rinoa would have collapsed
if she hadn't already been sitting down. Instantly, everyone jumped
up and started for the door. The doctor quickly held up a hand, the serious
look she gave halted them.
" I will not have all of you running in on him at once.
One visitor at a time please. He's awake, but he's still in a very bad
way. It's as if all his energy has been drained from his body." She looked
to the ground, taking a deep breath. "So much so, that it almost cost him
his life. We can just thank God that he's such a strong young man…."
Everyone exchanged worried glances. It seemed unanimous that
the first person to go and see Squall would be Rinoa. She bit her
lower lip and stepped forward, a little shaky on her thin legs.
" Please, take me to see him!" She said hoarsely. The doctor
smiled slightly, nodded, and they left the room. Cid shut the door behind
them. Now with Rinoa out of the room, everyone fell to talking all at once.
" Did you SEE that?" Selfie emphasized with her hands flying
through the air. "She was flying! That was no float spell!"
" How in the world did that happen? She was a different person."
Quistis said.
" Does Rinoa really have a split personality now?" Zell asked.
" How should I know!"
" I've NEVER seen a counterattack to a Lionheart! That attack
has NEVER been defeated before!"
" Hey! HEY NOW!" Cid's voice dominated the room; everyone stopped
and grudgingly took seats. Edea sat as still and silent as before,
in deep thought.
" Darling…" Cid looked over at her. " Do you have any idea's?
You would know better than any of us, what Rinoa is going through?"
"…" Edea bit her lower lip and looked from one worried face to
another. " I… I can only guess… I really don't know. But I have a hunch."
" What do you think, Matron?" Quistis asked.
Edea took a deep breath. " Rinoa is the last sorceress on this planet.
That we all know. She absorbed the powers of both Sorceress Adel, and Sorceress
Ultimecia—My powers… And those two Sorceresses were corrupt beyond all
imagining. She's most likely the most powerful person on this planet
if she chooses to be."
" But, Rinoa says it herself!" Zell said exasperated. "She'd never
use her powers for evil!"
" But power is corrupting…" Cid said softly. Everyone looked up at
him shocked.
" That's true, even if it's unconsciously corrupting her. Rinoa doesn't
wish to use it, but the power IS there. No one sorceress has ever
been as powerful as she. This could be a side effect to too having
too much power inhabiting your body."
" … What does that mean?" Selfie shivered, Irvine put a reassuring
arm around her shoulders.
" I can't be positive, but I think that the malicious nature of Rinoa's
Sorceress powers, which were used in such corruptive measures while harnessed
by Ultimecia and Adel, are corrupting Rinoa now as well…"
" WHAT?!" The outburst was in unison.
" Like a parasite that feeds off of its unsuspecting host, it slowly
takes over mind and body, until that person becomes it."
"Matron, are you sure?" Quistis asked seriously.
" …" Edea looked away and gazed out a window at the crystal blue ocean,
sadness reflected on her face. " I experienced a similar corruption, only
there was an actual person pulling my strings… the difference in this circumstance,
is that the "person" pulling the strings comes from within Rinoa herself."
***
The infirmary was light and airy despite the ominous weight that
hung in the atmosphere. With the remains of the battle that had taken
place, and not even a trace left of the fifth assassin, Rinoa shivered
as she set foot back in that –now- accursed room.
A lump began to build in her throat again. She forced it down,
determined not to let Squall see her cry.
" Rinoa?" The voice was painfully soft. It was barely audible,
but Rinoa could still pick it up. The doctor had left her to be alone
with him. Rinoa closed the rest of the distance between her and the bed
Squall rested upon in a matter of seconds. She collapsed next to
the head of the bed, her hands instantly taking Squall's one limp hand
that rested outside of the white sheets. She brought it up to her
lips and kissed it.
" Hey Squall…" She whispered. " I'm here!"
He made an attempt to turn his head to look at her, but could
barely speak, let alone move. " Rinoa." He said again.
" Yes?" Her voice was betraying her worry. Squall could
sense it, and he wanted so badly to be able to comfort her like he knew
she needed to be comforted. He wanted to sit up and take her into
his arms and kiss her and tell her it was all okay, and that he didn't
blame her for anything. But just speaking would have to do for now.
" Shhh… hey, don't worry…about me…" he said each word carefully,
concentrating on getting the syllables just right. " I'm…just…glad
you're…okay…"
Rinoa was loosing it quickly. An unwilling tear dripped
down her cheek and landed on his hand, she clutched it tighter to her chest
and leaned over him, kissing him on the cheek. " I'm fine… thanks to you…"
His mouth turned up ever so slightly, and looked at her with
half closed lids. " You know, it's what I'm here for… right? … I
always have to…bail you… out of trouble…"
Rinoa gave a hiccupping laugh as she let her tears come loose.
It was encouraging to know that Squall was trying to make light of the
situation even as he was now. The salty droplets rained down on his
face as she hung over him, her knees were curled up beside him on the bed.
" I promise I'll be good from now on then…" Rinoa whispered close to his
ear.
" …What…ever…" was his joking reply.
She leaned over and kissed him lightly on the lips. " You get some
rest now, okay? I'll stay here a little longer."
" Aaa…" Squall didn't say any more. His lids were getting too
heavy to ignore and he closed his eyes, instantly falling asleep.
Rinoa stretched out on the bed alongside him, she rested her
hand lightly on his shoulder, watching the gentle rise and fall of his
chest as he breathed. She was worried about him, but at the same time,
she was unspeakably happy that he was okay. Physically exhausted
herself, she lay her head down beside his and in no time also found peaceful
sleep.