THE FOURTH UNIVERSE
CHAPTER 5
"Sure is a beauty." Squall thought to himself. The great Esthar flagship Ragnarok had been under their custody for about a year now. And still, sheer admiration overcomes him whenever he pauses to take a good look at the enormous, fierce-looking spacecraft. Ethics used to urge him to return the Ragnarok to Esthar after they came back from Ultimecia's era. But admitting to himself that he had grown an attachment to the space shuttle that saved his and Rinoa's life, Squall instead decided to hold on to it, hoping that Esthar would cede their claim in light of their immeasurable contribution to the mission of preserving the sanctity of life.
A whiff of sweet fragrance drew the SeeD commander toward the slightly gaping hatch of the cargo bay, where he saw the flowers they hauled in from Winhill three days ago. He can't help but be amazed at the stubborn longevity of these otherwise delicate-looking blossoms. It had been a full three days since they purchased the flowers from the ill-fated vendor girl, but the picturesque melange of peach-red and bright yellow still look fresh as ever.
"Same as the multitude who now see you as a hero, these refreshing blossoms likewise owe you their very lives."
"Who who was that?" Squall looked around to locate the source of the hollow utterance.
"Look up." The voice once again resonated, to which Squall complied. Stretching his neck up, the amazed SeeD gasped upon catching sight of the sparking, golden-yellow figure of the winged Guardian Force, Quezacotl. He can hardly believe his eyes. He has known from experience that these selfless entities would stop at nothing to protect and serve the humans to which they're junctioned. But he has never known or even heard of one actually starting a conversation.
"Of course, with a little help from your floating friends."
"Great!" Squall exclaimed in his mind. Not only is this GF initiating a tete-a-tete, with him, he's even trying to crack a joke. A counter-thought permeated to his inquisitive mind as Squall wondered if Quezacotl is really a he' or a she'.
"That depends on however it is you perceive me, Squall."
"Uhh excuse me?" Squall finally voiced out. "What do you mean?"
"You're trying to figure out if I'm a male or a female. And like I said, it all depends on your perception."
Just perfect! Aside from the fact that this GF can talk and spew out witty repartees, he can also read Squall's mind!
"How how did you know what I was thinking?"
"Listen, Squall. You are aware that I make my permanent dwelling inside one of the folds in your tumultuous cerebellum. The fact that I can read your mind shouldn't come as a surprise to you." Quezacotl's resonating words came back, eliciting a more intense sense of awe from the mesmerized SeeD.
"Okay Quezacotl" Squall replied, trying his best to grasp the unusual situation besetting him. "I really don't feel at ease knowing that you know everything that's running in my mind. But do you think you could, like, not read it? I kind of value my privacy a great deal."
"Hey, you're wish is my command." The GF mockingly shot back. "So, do you wish to talk?"
"You're the one who came out of nowhere to bug me" Squall retorted mentally, reluctant to display a rude attitude toward the creature who in countless times had provided invaluable aid to himself and his crew in the battlefield. But then, the fact that the fabled servitor-entity appeared in front of him without being summoned brought the pensive SeeD to a nagging urge to find out why.
"Uhh, I used to think that you GFs can only manifest yourselves when called upon in battle. So what are you doing here?"
"To tell you the truth, I'm not quite sure myself." The faceless yet awe-inspiring GF returned. "A number of bizarre things have been taking place within the borders of the dimensional interval. But no one can put a finger on it. Not even that joker, Gilgamesh."
"Joker? How did he become a joker?"
"In a word, Squall: Excalipoor. He really needs to be taught the proper way to act in a crucial battle."
"Oh yeah. Right." Squall trailed off, recalling the time when Gilgamesh's fearsome form appeared in the midst of their clash against Omega Weapon, only to attack it with that aforementioned sorry excuse for a sword.
"Anyway, while I'm here, might as well make the most of it by entertaining any questions you might have. So"
Squall bowed his head in brief contemplation, then once again looked up to his loyal GF. "Can you tell me if Laguna is my real father?"
"Uhh, Squall, that's a little out of my league, you know."
"Oh, okay." the slightly disappointed SeeD echoed while subconsciously nibbling on his Griever ring.
"Why don't you ask me about Griever? I perceived your hesitation while we were battling him in the future. You seemed like a confused toddler reluctantly fighting against someone you look up to as a role model."
Quezacotl is right, Squall remarked to himself. Even as a young boy, he had always looked up to the legendary lion beast for his honorable renown as a symbol of great strength and pride two traits he viciously tried to personify in his effort to fight the lingering loneliness brought about by Ellone's sudden disappearance. It was then perhaps one of the most frustrating experiences in his life to have to fight the very entity he tried to mold himself after. Squall never felt as remorseful in combat as he did while watching Griever writhe in death-inducing pain.
"Okay what happened? Guardian Forces are supposed to be benevolent spirits dedicated to serving the cause of good. Why did Griever subject himself to Ultimecia's whims?"
"You only say that because you've never encountered others outside of myself, Bahamut, Shiva, and the rest." Quezacotl snapped back. "But in a way, you are correct. Though she was able to utilize his character junction abilities, Fujin was never successful in calling upon Pandemona's power in battle. And so was the once despicable woman you call Matron, who had Alexander in her bonds. That's also why it became so easy for you and your friends to snatch them away from their malevolent junctioners."
"And don't forget Siren and Carbuncle. And Eden, the one we drew from Ultima Weapon." Squall added.
"Monster don't exactly know how to summon GFs like us, Squall." The Thunder Guardian explained. "We are far superior to ordinary creatures in almost every aspect, especially in the area of intelligence. Some of our kind just thought it convenient in the direction of privacy to conceal ourselves within the unsuspecting forms of some monsters."
"Oh, okay."
"And as far as Eden is concerned You weren't listening to Zell's explanation, were you?" Quezacotl further countered. "Eden may be the most powerful GF ever to have existed. But it is an artificial GF, whose questionable essence was merely synthesized by the intruding hands of overly ambitious humans. It is not one of us. And to tell you the truth, there is something about that factitious entity that causes uncanny dread among our ranks."
"And Griever..?" the SeeD commander reiterated.
"Griever as complex an entity as he is mighty" Quezacotl's voice toned down. "Griever is... was the greatest of our kind. A being spawned not by the natural forces ruling this universe, but rather by the innate greatness of man's courage and inner strength. But however pains me to say this, I suppose it is true that absolute power corrupts all but the purest of spirit..."
Squall silently bowed his head in morose acknowledgment of the GF's statement. Much as he hates to accept it, Quezacotl was right. Such is the sad truth of exposure to the epidemic depravity of absolute power.
"Squall, are you here?" Rinoa's voice echoed from beyond the hangar.
"I better disappear for now. Let's talk again later when we get the chance."
"Wait, Quezacotl. Don't you want Rinoa to see you, too?"
"Not now, Squall." The Guardian Force retorted. "I still have to find out what caused this most unusual occurrence that made our congregation possible."
Squall was still staring at the hangar roof when the immensely charming Rinoa arrived.
"Squall, we've been looking all over for you."
"Hi, Rinoa. What's going on?" Squall greeted her with a gentle peck on the lips.
"We now have something on the abducted flower vendor. And the others are already in the Strategy Room. Let's go."
Siegfried Waller snuggled inside his maroon coat when a chilly breeze blew past him. Downside, the quiet waters of fabled Obel Lake rippled under the persuasive influence of the soft wind. Slowly, he bent down to pick up a smooth and flat granite stone, which he hurled toward the water in a sharp angle. It bounced on the liquid surface five times before ultimately deciding to take a plunge.
"Come on, Jerry. I don't have all day." He muttered with a slight trace of impatience in his voice.
A dark shadow then emerged from the water and turned its asymmetric silhouette toward the waiting chap. "Hello. Quite a lovely day, isn't it." the form echoed a merry greeting.
Siegfried didn't answer, and instead lowered his exhausted body to sit with crossed legs on top of the soft and mildly dewy grass. He had just arrived from a long foot trek from Fisherman's Horizon, and opted to proceed to the soothing lake spot even before checking on the small farm he has been maintaining for the last two years. His face reeked with the look of sullen perplexity.
"Ahh, a woman, I reckon." The intrusive shadow insisted. "And who might this incredibly affecting girl be to have made such a huge dent in your otherwise steel-coated heart?"
The FH technician tossed a blank look at the substance-bereft form, not even half-surprised of its ready awareness to the conflict racing through his confused mind.
"Her name's Quistis." Siegfried mumbled.
"Quistis? You're not talking about the exquisite Quistis Trepe, are you?"
"You know her?" he quizzically responded.
"Uh-huh. I had a run in with her and some of her friends a while back. Nice folks, those kids are. They helped me locate my lost friend." The form, who goes by the name of Jeremiah, replied. "And frankly, I don't blame you a bit. I had a pretty good look at her heart last we met. That girl is just as beautiful inside as she is on the outside. You'd be mighty lucky to have her for a mate."
"Yeah, I wish." Siegfried contemptuously shot back, which evoked a concerned reaction from Jeremiah.
"What's wrong, chum? Don't you have confidence in yourself?"
"It's not that, Jerry." He retorted. "She's a SeeD. A mercenary. Someone who makes a living by fighting. I couldn't possibly dwell with someone like that."
"Your intentions speak well, venerable peace-lover. But your balance is sorely lacking. In time, it will only inflict unspeakable pain in your heart if you don't find a way to a satisfactory compromise."
"Compromise is for the weak and foolish." The FH resident firmly answered. "Teacher Dobe taught me that. He said anything short of absolute pacifism is not acceptable. Meeting halfway will only result in doubling the problems that need to be resolved."
"And not meeting at all will not create problems." Jeremiah countered. "It will create tragedies. And tragedies, unlike problems, can never be resolved."
Siegfried didn't answer. Whether he liked it or not, he knows that his Cimmerian confidante had just presented an argument beyond his capacity to formulate a rebuttal against. Jeremiah drew closer when the bewildered man bowed his head.
"Siegfried, I can read you like an open book. Things like this may not have happened to all people, but it did to a lot of people. Sometimes, we can't explain the mysteries involved in being hopelessly enchanted to what appears to be the wrong person for no apparent reason. But then reasons have a nasty habit of revealing themselves much later. For now, we just have to entrust ourselves to fate. And if it is fate, we always have the consoling hope that it will reveal itself as such when the right time comes."
"I I cannot live that way can never cede my belief for anything. I'm a pacifist. She's a warrior. We're two completely opposite people each belonging to eternally conflicting ideologies."
"Siegfried, when will you ever learn that pacifism is not manifested by what people do or don't do. It is proven by what they feel, and why they do whatever it is they do." The shadow counseled his friend. "The purity of the heart still far outweighs the most explicit display of outward righteousness. I hope I have at least taught you that much."
"And I likewise hope that you're right, Jerry." Siegfried smilingly snapped back. "Because you know? She's different. Really, really different. I've never met anyone quite like her."
Aside from being the most spirited student in Balamb Garden when it comes to extra-curricular activities, Selphie is also known as the best computer prodigy in her age group, as exhibited by the exhaustingly detailed network database she set up to make her Garden Festival committee more accessible to others outside of the Garden populace. Likewise, Selphie has always had the habit of collecting bits of seemingly irrelevant data about people and places they've encountered during their past adventures. The compilation of Laguna's articles from all those back issues of Timber Maniacs was only a small fragment of her personal database.
Eventually, she started creating an architecture that included the processing of general data of such personalities as Mayor Dobe of FH, the three card key-carrying students of what used to be Galbadia Garden, that bumbling soldier stationed at the communications tower in Dollet, the self-styled Triple Triad Card Queen, the retired Galbadian officer Biggs and his sidekick Wedge, and others. Her meticulous data gathering habit didn't spare even the insignificant junk shop proprietor in Timber and that flower vendor in Winhill.
As of current, the last-mentioned individual is their main focus of concern. Providing whatever data she had of the flower girl to Nida, who was tasked to perform an intrinsic background check, they finally came up with what appeared to be the single most solid reason why anyone would be interested in such an insignificant character as that vendor girl. Everybody expressed various forms of exasperation after Nida and Selphie broke the news.
"Oh geez, not again!" A flustered Irvine rested his head against the hardwood surface of the Balamb Garden Strategy Room's oval table.
"Run that by us again, Selphie. I don't think I heard that right." Zell irritatingly blurted out, unsure if he wanted to accept the apparent predicament they now face.
"I think you did, Zell. Mina Ranziel, our small town flower vendor, is really a sorceress."
"And you think this is the reason why that Tengu creep went after her, is that it?" Quistis calmly echoed.
"What else could there be?" Nida retorted. "I mean, look at this. She's a twenty-seven year old single woman. Never been engaged, never known to be involved with anyone. Born in a middle-class family in Dollet. Her father lost his job, after which they went bankrupt and were forced to relocate to Winhill, where she grew up with an older sister who was among those taken by Esthar soldiers when they were looking for a successor for Adel. And then well, that's it. For all points and purposes, she's the epitome of a simple girl leading a simple life, Of course, being a sorceress aside."
Rinoa maintained a stoic look in her face to hide the terror slowly creeping into her heart. Secretly, her hand met Squall's under the oval table, and clasped together with it tightly. Squall, on the other hand was silently expressing his gratitude that Rinoa's father, General Caraway, chose the day they went to Winhill to drop by Balamb Garden for a visit. He shuddered at the possibility of what might have happened had Rinoa gone along with them on that day.
"But he spoke of the first of three'. If the first is Mina Ranziel, and I think it's safe to assume that Rinoa's the second, then who's the third?" Headmaster Cid butted in.
"Uhh you wouldn't believe this. After we learned that Mina's a sorceress, Nida and I tried to run an exhaustive check based on convergent probabilities and my own personal hunch." Selphie promptly responded. "Um ahh the third' target is the Card Queen."
"Are you sure about this?" Cid blurted out. "We can't afford any mistakes here, Selphie."
"Actually, Headmaster, I think Selphie's right." Squall finally joined the discussion. "There's gotta be something supernatural with the way the Card Queen led us to a wild goose chase around the world. Her method nearly borders that of the occult. And her Triple Triad skills is way too impeccable to be considered normal."
"And we all know how good Squall and Quistis are with cards." Zell followed up.
"Okay," the Headmaster sighed. "I still say there's a slight chance of us being wrong about the Card Queen. Nevertheless, I want you guys to check on her just to be sure. Do you know where she is right now?"
"She's currently leading some bonehead on another crazy Card Queen quest last we heard. Just this morning, Marcus called from Timber to tell us that she just checked in the hotel there." Nida replied.
Their meeting was interrupted anew when a short-haired girl wearing a SeeD uniform suddenly barged inside the Strategy Room.
"Oh, sorry, so sorry. But I have urgent news, Headmaster." The messenger SeeD frantically exclaimed. "We've received an emergency message from Marcus Derlini in Timber. He said the Tengu monster suddenly appeared and is attacking Timber Hotel at this very moment! The Galbadian soldiers are trying their best to contain the situation but"
The SeeD was stopped in mid-statement when the crew stood up and hurriedly ran toward the door. Just before entering the wide gate leading to the hangar, Squall abruptly stopped and turned to Rinoa and Selphie.
"Rinoa. Just stay here. I don't want to take any chances."
"Squall, no. I want to stay by your side." Rinoa pleaded, but Squall turned a deaf ear on her.
"Selphie, stay here with Rinoa and the others. And transfer all your junctions to Nida."
"Got it." Selphie snappily complied.
"Squall let me go with you!"
Squall eyed Rinoa most lovingly, then spent one second to kiss her before finally rushing off to board the Ragnarok together with Quistis, Zell, Irvine and Nida.
"Arrgghh!!! Do we have to go this fast?!?" a tormented Zell hollered while watching the Ragnarok's gauge register speeds in excess of 10,600 miles per hour.
"Unhh..! Faster, Zell! We have to get there before Tengu gets away!" Squall laboriously replied. Right behind him, Quistis, Irvine and Nida were showing similar signs of speed stress as they're bodies pressed hard against the cushioned seats, all of them feeling as if an immense weight was being applied on them.
It took the Ragnarok barely minutes to reach Timber. Down below, the hapless Galbadian soldiers were being scattered like rats by the unrelenting attacks of the cruel Ogre-Bat. Tengu was just about to crush a poor sergeant into oblivion when he suddenly winced in pain, as the deafening roar of the Ragnarok in a super-speed flyby assaulted his ears.
"Arrhhhh! The worms have arrived!" a furious Tengu screamed while watching the Estharian flag ship come around for another approach. Arrogantly standing his ground, the Ogre-Bat was nevertheless startled when a pair of metallic claws grabbed him, plunging the pointed tips of its mechanical fingers deep into each of his shoulders.
"NYAARRGGHHHH!!! RELEASE ME, YOU DAMNED SEEDS!!!" Tengu cried out from rage and immense pain while the Ragnarok carried him aloft.
"Let's drop him somewhere with no people." Squall directed Zell. Just as they were passing over Mandy Beach, the martial artist SeeD pressed the release button of the mechanized claws, dropping Tengu face-first on the sandy ground below.
The Ogre-Bat barely got up on his feet when the high-tech spacecraft once again sped toward him, wantonly unleashing destructive machine gun and phasor cannon fire. Embattled and confused by the relentless barrage, Tengu can do nothing but fold his immense wings around his grotesque form for protection. Just when the Ragnarok flew by, the seething Ogre-Bat extended the crackling Demon Rod and aimed it straight toward his adversaries.
"FEEL THE WRATH OF VENGEFUL POWER!!!"
Tremendous energies then spewed forth from Tengu's bizarre weapon and slashed a lightning path across the air, connecting solidly on the Ragnarok's main thrusters. Absorbing a direct hit, the crimson spaceship subsequently lost control and started to plunge headlong toward a nearby railroad tunnel.
"Zell! I said abandon ship!!!" Squall frenziedly yelled to Zell, who was refusing to leave his position behind the control stick.
"NO!" Zell shouted back. "I've got to save the Rag!!!" Mustering a final surge of strength, the unyielding warrior tugged at the stick with all his might. "AAAHHHHHH!!! CLIMB! CLIMB YOU STUBBORN BASTARD!!!"
And as if some deity took heed of the adamant SeeD's pleas, the Ragnarok's nose suddenly jerked up moments before hitting the grassy terrain. The craft hit the ground belly-first at an acute angle before being dragged by its own momentum for a few hundred yards, finally coming to a halt when it plunged into a nearby forest.
"Guys unh talk to me" Squall laboriously spoke out while trying to unbuckle himself from the battered co-pilot seat.
"Ohhh friggin' headache" Zell's tortured voice echoed from the background. It was followed by Quistis' equally labored confirmation.
"I'm quite alright I think."
"Irvine..? Nida..?"
"Here but my body hurts like hell!" the gun-wielding SeeD slowly responded.
"Oh man, no roller coasters for me from now one" Nida followed.
Relieved after seeing that everyone survived, Squall's momentary respite was nevertheless interrupted when he looked out the shattered windshield of the Ragnarok.
"We're not out of the woods yet." The head SeeD warned upon setting eyes on the grisly form of an approaching Ogre-Bat. "Let's take care of this creep once and for all."
"I'm impressed, SeeDs. You're a lot tougher than I thought." Tengu exclaimed. Right in front of him, five hurting but battle-ready warriors stand with unwavering resolve.
Blood trickled freely from Quistis' forehead, but she seemed oblivious to this as she took the initiative and landed a terrible blow on the Ogre-Bat's face with her fearsome whip. Green fluid oozed from the long gash on Tengu's face.
"That's it." the frightful Ogre-Bat declared. "You have just signed your own death warrants." But before he can attack, Irvine lashed out with a Flare attack of his own. Non-elemental hellfire consumed the enemy as it exploded with white-hot fury and blinding resplendence. Tengu was taken aback by the unexpected assault, then shrugged it off as if it was nothing.
"Is that the best you can do, adversaries?" the demon-spawn taunted the surprised SeeDs. "Like I told you before, you are powerless to stop me."
"Pour it on, team!" Squall rallied his gallant crew while attacking Tengu with an earth-shaking Ultima spell. The rest of the team quickly followed suit with a flurry of Firaga, Holy, Blizzaga, Tornado and Quake spells. Tengu didn't even seem fazed by their relentless assaults, brushing his body with his clawed appendages in a gesture of total defiance.
"Demi!" Squall hollered. A collapsing black orb instantaneously formed around the disdainful Ogre-Bat, folding the space around his gruesome body and inflicting massive damage in the process. Tengu reeled back, visibly shaken by the gravity-based magic. A vicious smile formed on Zell's lips when he realized the monster's weakness.
"Yo, ugly. Do you now realize the gravity' of your situation?" the SeeD mockingly blurted out while preparing to summon his Guardian Force. "DIABLOS!"
At the utterance of forbidden power, the skies grew dark, accompanied by a sinister stench beckoning the appearance of the darkest GF. Taking the black atmosphere as a cue, hundreds of screeching bats formed an ominous globe of pitch-black substance, out of which the devilish figure of the fear-inspiring Diablos descended, spreading his dark wings in assuming a symbol of hellish splendor.
The SeeDs waited for the darkest Guardian Force to energize the black sphere hovering above him. But he never did. To their utter surprise, Diablos abandoned his familiar stance, and instead descended further down to squarely face the eagerly waiting Tengu.
"I have waited eons for this moment, hated foe." The Ogre-Bat's deep and raspy voice resonated. Diablos just stood in front of him, unspeaking and utterly still.
But the shadowy mind of the arcane servitor spirit is racing, past the time when history began to be recorded. He recalled the last time he laid his grisly eyes on the prisoner, the miscreant to whom his master and creator entrusted him with safekeeping. A flurry of resonating, hollow voices came back to his ears, words of spite, spoken ages ago, and yet heard as if the utterance was mere moments back. Threats that, at the time, Diablos considered empty and benign owing to the confidence on his power's adequacy in holding the shackles against his master's aggressor.
A tinge of regret was spawned inside the Guardian's mind. He had believed Tengu to be dormant after millennia of imprisonment within the folds of the crushing force the Ogre-Bat so feared. And now, the malevolent entity is free. Whether it be out of a prowess that escaped his awareness or through the aid of an outside force, Diablos didn't care. Once again, after millions of years, he's got a job to do. One that as before, he will perform with cold and silent efficiency.
A method that is in sharp contrast to the Ogre-Bat's animated slant.
"Still the mute Diablos that I remember." Tengu furthered. "But no matter. Words are of no essence. Only DEATH!" Without warning, Tengu fired pulsating waves of macabre energy from his Demon Rod. Time seemed to stand still as the crackling energy hurled toward the waiting GF.
Diablos, unfazed, simply raised his right hand at the hurtling death beam. A field of raven-hued gravity distortion force then formed around the Guardian's red-black form, protecting him from the Demon Rod's blast by curving space around him to divert his enemy's attack. Tengu's eyes widened in disbelief upon witnessing how easily Diablos fended off his assault.
"As before, you have failed to understand the rule, Tengu." Diablos finally spoke out with a reverberating pitch that seems to emanate from a deep pit. "I am power. And you are nothing."
With that, the GF unleashed a debilitating Gravija spell that pummeled the hapless Ogre-Bat. Tengu's agony was indescribable, manifested only by his unearthly cries and the gruesome seizures that took hold of his pain-stricken body. Helpless and hurting, the pitiful Ogre-Bat frantically begged for mercy as he kneeled in front of his superior adversary.
"No no more pain please"
The SeeDs watching at the sidelines cheered ecstatically as their mighty ally effortlessly vanquished the threat of their nihilistic enemy. Then suddenly, a powerful silver bolt shot out from nowhere and struck the unsuspecting Diablos. A gruesome scream bellowed from the Guardian's obscured mouth and tore through the darkened skies.
"AAAYYYYEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII" Diablos helplessly cried out. Squall and his crew witnessed in horror as their Guardian ally winced and convulsed in great agony. And before they could do something to help the embattled servitor-entity, their horror multiplied ten-fold at the sight of Diablos slowly being disintegrated by the deadly beam of light. It didn't take long before the unspeakable onslaught totally consumed the Guardian Force.
"One coward has fallen. Who wants to be next?" a sinister female voice echoed from the background. The grief-stricken SeeDs quickly turned to the sight of the mistress, the lady in red who commands the hideous Ogre-Bat.
"Vesta" Squall muttered, his teeth gnashing hard against each other out of the immense horror of seeing the demise of his ally.
"I don't believe I've had the pleasure, young pretender." Vesta defiantly retorted. "Oh, are you mad because of what I did to your precious pet? Then consider this an exercise in restraint, impulsive one. Diablos won't be the last."
"You will die for this, witch." Quistis firmly uttered, displaying uncharacteristic rage as she bore into the baneful Vesta with sharp eyes burning with pure indignation.
Without warning, the five SeeDs suddenly felt a strange weakening sensation befalling their beings.
"Ugh! What is this?!?" Irvine blurted out when he felt an acute loss of strength in his spirit. The rest of the crew subsequently discovered the cause of the disabling sensation: all the GFs junctioned to them suddenly disengaged to assume solid forms. One by one they emerged, from Quezacotl to Leviathan, Pandemona to Cactuar. Each of them possessed of a hatred stemming from having to witness one of their kind being regressed to nothingness. Displaying oneness of purpose, the fifteen Guardian Forces surrounded Vesta, who didn't even appear half-alarmed by this unexpected turn of events.
Then a chilling realization dawned on Squall when he saw Vesta's unfazed demeanor. "No No! This is exactly what Vesta wants to happen!!! QUEZACOTL! CERBERUS! BAHAMUT! ALL OF YOU, GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!"
But the SeeD commander's ill-timed cognizance proved to be for naught, as it was too late to warn the unsuspecting GFs. Without warning, the same silver sparks exploded from the vile woman's being and engulfed the Guardian Forces with its inescapable fury. Tears of mixed grief, rage and helplessness flowed down the sweaty faces of the stunned SeeDs as their eyes were forced to witness the gruesome demise of the beings who had been their allies for most of their struggles.
One by one, their manifestations scattered. Quezacotl, Shiva, Ifrit, Siren, Sacred, Minotaur, Carbuncle, Leviathan, Pandemona, Cerberus, Alexander, Doomtrain, Bahamut, Tonberry, and Cactuar.
Consumed by white fire, devoured by anti-essence.
Until finally, there was nothing.