FF8: The Saviours - Part Four
by Astarte
The government was immobilized when it should have been combating Chimera. Instead of doing something about a potential threat to security, the Council of Galbadia was engaged in internecine warfare.
Richard Caraway had been blocked at every turn by the councilors who had been placed there by Alexandros Typhon. Even though the man was dead, his impact was not. Special Operations had just enough supporters to make getting anything done next to impossible. At Natok's urging they had also taken every opportunity possible to deny Chimera's existence. Talos Natok had been desperately afraid of what would happen if it was discovered that Chimera was an SO project gone amuck. At best their budget would be slashed, at worst Special Operations would lose its powers. If that happened, it would only be a matter of time before Special Operations would be the subject of a Federal Inquiry. A Federal Inquiry would find a lot of things Talos Natok rather they didn't know about. Natok had been successful, however, of keeping Chimera's existence in question and assaulting his rival's credibility. It had looked as though General Richard Caraway was well on his way to being ruined. People were beginning to doubt his competence.
Chimera utterly destroyed Natok's plans. It is one thing to cover up individual murders, it is entirely another thing to try and cover up an entire town being depopulated. Sheyd was dead, completely emptied of human life. Special Operations had sent in soldiers, organized road blocks, and publicly stated that an outbreak of disease was being contained there. They had arrested and summarily shot the handful of people who had discovered the emptied town. Wearing heavy duty contamination gear and masquerading as the CDC, they were able to frighten away everyone. Everyone that is, except one reporter from Timber by the name of Bryt Ajel.
Bryt Ajel had spent years covering the second sorceress war and had developed an instinct for cover-ups and government scandals. He didn't believe one word of the official story given by the government. Inside sources had told him, on condition of anonymity, that the orders had come directly from the Special Operations branch of the government, from General Talos Natok himself. They couldn't tell Bryt more but he didn't need any more. The Center for Disease Control wasn't even remotely associated with the military. Natok would not have been able to order them to tie their laces, much less order them to take charge of a site.
During the last war, he'd seen the kind of thing that Special Operations was capable of, they had raised nastiness to a fine art. Bryt had filmed their soldiers overrun entire towns at Sorceress Edea's command. After seeing a handful of young SeeD mercenaries liberate Fisherman's Horizon, he'd gone from being suspicious of the mercenary organization to a supporter. After all, he'd not seen anyone else lift a finger to stop Galbadia. His editorials on the matter had been scathingly critical of the Galbadian government.
Bryt Ajel had crept into the town, sheltered by trees and the night sky. Carefully, he'd surveyed the town and found no-one except Special Operations operatives. There were no sick patients, no bodies, no doctors or medical staff, nothing. There was not even any evidence of a violent struggle or insurrection here. An empty town however was not evidence of a conspiracy. The dead could already have been removed. Bryt began to worry that something virulent might really have been released here and he began to sweat in fear that he might have exposed himself to something deadly. If it was true and the town was contaminated, he could not leave.
It was sheer luck that he saw a pair of men in contamination gear take off their helmets and joke with each other. Taking as many photos as he dared, Bryt couldn't believe his luck. Soldiers did not just casually take off their protective gear in a town contaminated by a lethal virus. Whatever had happened here, a virus had not done it.
Bryt decided that it was time to get out and quietly tried to make his way out of town. It was dark however, with the moon nearly new, a thin sliver in the sky. He made a wrong turn and suddenly found himself near a graveyard. Behind him, he could hear a commotion. The sound of gunfire and screams.
Fear propelled Bryt into action. An old mausoleum stood nearby, a hiding place he thought. Pulling open the door, he quickly but quietly closed it behind him. Looking at the silent tomb, he hoped the occupant didn't mind a little company. The sounds were getting closer. More gunfire, screams, and a weird humming noise that Bryt couldn't identify. Clutching his camera tightly, he pulled out his transmitting gear out of a pouch strapped close to his chest. He quickly connected the transmitting equipment to his camera and downloaded the images he already had collected. Programming the equipment to regularly transmit images to the server at work, he opened the door a crack. Something was going on.
The entire area was flooded with eerie green light. In the distance he could see a writhing pillar of green moving towards the town. Bryt took shot after shot, capturing the strange phenomenon as it approached Sheyd. He heard more gunfire and the sounds were coming closer. Bryt could see the headlights of trucks leaving at breakneck speed and he tried to capture as much as he could.
Looking through the lens, he zoomed in on the strange writhing green light, focusing on the strange shape that he could just barely see with the naked eye. It was a human form, definitely a woman. Bryt opened the door a crack more, determined to get as good a shot as possible.
He could actually see the soldiers running away now, occasionally pausing to fire at the woman in the pillar of green fire. He was taking pictures so rapidly that one could see her raise her arm and the green fire lash out in a strange stop-motion kind of way. Bryt was stunned to see the men turn to ash at the slightest touch of the green stuff. Supernatural fire he thought as he took another shot. A sorceress, maybe? At least he knew what had happened to the people of Sheyd.
This strange woman had killed them all and the Galbadian government was trying to cover it all up. He filmed her reaching out and obliterating a retreating truck. Bryt wondered if he'd get out of here alive, this woman seemed expert at killing people. This couldn't stay buried, people had to know. His editor, Tak, had been a fabulous writer in his day. He'd know what to do with the footage as soon as he saw it.
Single minded devotion to his lifelong passion made him open the door. Bryt snuck up as closely as he could, trying to get as good a shot of what was happening as possible. He knew the insane risk he was taking but it had always been a part of the job. It was a risk every war photographer took when they accepted the job.
He got an excellent shot of the strange woman. She was young, barely seventeen in appearance, and very beautiful. Her hair had been coloured in shades of blue, red, violet and green and it was moving as though it was alive. Black body armour seemed more a part of her than something she wore. She looked down at him. The camera just loved her. She had the most gorgeous eyes, angry eyes.
"Insects. No sooner do I cleanse a place than you all return." She moved as though to raise her arm. Bryt waited to die.
Something appeared in the space between them. A huge demon, the colour of blood and lost souls, he hovered there his massive wings outstretched in a menacing way. A strange after-image seemed to follow his every movement. Untold numbers of shadowy forms hovered in attendance. Diablo, spawn of hell.
He made a commanding gesture, his entire manner indicating that he expected immediate and unquestioning obedience.
"Thou art summoned to my lord's presence. Come and obey."
They disappeared.
Bryt couldn't believe what he had seen and hoped he'd remembered to continue taking shots. He couldn't quite recall if he had. Walking away shakily, he found his way back to where he'd hidden his car. It was about ten minutes before he could stop shaking enough to put the keys in the ignition.
The story appeared on the newscasts the next morning. Suddenly vindicated, Caraway was able to sway the Council in his favour. President Maraj declared the state of emergency and put Caraway in charge of the military. By Presidential Order, Special Operations was immediately stripped of all power and Talos Natok was forced to resign. Richard Caraway smugly noted a memo that crossed his desk a week later. It seemed that even the supporters of Special Operations thought that a Federal Inquiry was in order.
What had happened to Chimera was unknown.
*** *** ***
He was nowhere, lost in an utterly perfect void. Here, nothing was not merely an idea but a concrete reality. Zell had never thought that nothing could have weight but the sheer absence of anything, even light and sound, seemed like a pressure bearing down on him. Distance, direction, time, everything that he had come to accept as inevitable facts of life had been taken from him.
At first it was not that bad. In fact, it was kind of pleasant and relaxing, not unlike a nice warm bath. After a while though, he began to feel differently about it. He had never appreciated the everyday experiences of sight, sound, touch, smell and taste but now that he had been deprived of them, he started to miss them. Gradually, the weight of nothing became increasingly unbearable and he began to realize how much human beings really depended on their senses. Now he had none and it began to feel nightmarish.
The absolute worst was that he could not even feel his own flesh, his clothing. He didn't feel anything. Humans weren't meant for this, they were too trapped in their own bodies to endure whatever this place was. Zell tried to get control of himself but it was hard. The isolation made self control difficult.
Quezacotl had brought them all here and vanished, at least Zell thought that he had brought the others. He had no idea if the others were here. He wouldn't have known it if they had been standing right next to him. Zell began to worry about his friends. What was happening to them, he wondered. Were they here, experiencing this hell of nothing? Were they still in the cavern? He began having horrible visions of Iris lying injured on the floor, shot and bleeding with no-one to save her. What about Irvine and Selphie? He didn't know if they were alright or if they were hurt, maybe dying.
He wondered how long he'd been here. It seemed like he had always been here but he could not be sure. Time, like everything else, had no place here. Zell did not know if he had been here a minute, or years. Had he been forgotten? An ugly thought seeped into his mind, an idea he didn't want to think about. Was he dead? Zell wanted to run, to find his friends, any company at all, but he could not even feel his own body. He was unable to tell if he was getting anywhere at all.
Tiny pangs of fear started crawling around in his stomach. He was completely, unequivocally alone. He had never appreciated the concept before, the idea of alone. Nobody to talk to, joke with, spar with. There was no one except him and his mind was beginning to dwell on morbid thoughts that he didn't want to deal with. Here in the face of the complete absence of everything, he began to doubt his own existence. Perhaps he had died in the battle and this was where the dead went. Perhaps he was only someone's dream. He opened his mouth to shout, cry out for his friends, but heard nothing, not even the sound of his own heartbeat.
Alone. Utterly alone.
Had the Guardian Forces betrayed them? Another sliver of doubt. Did they exist at all? Perhaps he was insane or in a coma. Perhaps he had just imagined the last two years, after all, it was after graduation that things had gotten strange. Could he have imagined graduation, the timber mission, the assassination attempt, everything? He could be lying in a hospital bed somewhere, in a coma. Zell became angry. This was stupid! He was angry at the GFs for bringing him here, angrier at himself for letting sensory deprivation drive him to the edge of madness.
"Do not fear."
The sudden introduction of words seemed to cascade through the place, destroying the purity of nothing and imposing on it all the sensations of existence that Zell had so desperately missed. The place was still dark and unformed but he could see his friends. He was actually surprised to see Squall, Quistis and Rinoa there as well. They didn't look very good and Zell doubted that he looked much better. Their faces were all pale, their eyes slightly wild, and they looked very shaky. The absolute joy on their faces told him that they had been suffering the same sensory deprivation that he had. Zell wondered if they had begun to question their own existence too. They turned to look at the owner of the voice, the voice that had restored reality and quite likely saved their sanity.
It was Siren. She was not that different than he was used to seeing her but she had such a sheer presence, such intense reality, that Zell could not bear looking at her for long. She possessed a horrible beauty, one that humans could never feel comfortable looking at. Siren glided past, hanging upside down in complete violation of gravity, trailed by an eerie after-image. Her expression was undecipherable.
"Welcome," Siren sang.
"Uh, thank you," answered Rinoa timidly. She had a quizzical expression on her face. "Are you the lord that Shiva told us about?"
Siren's laughter rippled outward, sending temporary colour into the place they were in. Her expression was amused. "Nay, I only greet you. I am not the Lord of this place. I am unworthy of such a burden as that." She glided close to Rinoa, who actually shied away from the unearthly being.
"Greetings, bearer of Hyne's gift."
Rinoa's expression was startled but she surprised Zell by curtsying with incredible grace. Perhaps being an important general's daughter had actually taught her a thing or two. He guessed that she'd been exposed to important people her entire life.
Siren acknowledged Rinoa's courtesy with a nod. She made an encompassing gesture at the place they were in. "We stand in the junction of realities, where all the spaces meet. I apologize for any distress that you suffered." She glided towards them, ending up at a right angle to the rest of them. She had turned her attention to Irvine. "Sadly, I have not the leisure to converse with thee. I have a task to perform."
Her entire manner changed and she became suddenly intimidating. Lifting Irvine's chin with delicate fingers, her expression was deadly serious. Zell, afraid for a reason he didn't know, wanted to rush to his friend's defense but found himself rooted to the ground. He wished that someone would tell him what was going on.
"Do you believe in evil?" she asked. Her voice had a casual tone but she did not look casual at all. She looked terrifyingly like a goddess of death. Irvine opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. His expression was faintly confused. "I'm not sure." He shrugged finally.
Siren shook her head sternly. "Not good enough, young Kinneas. If you cannot be decisive, there is no hope for you." She put her face close to his, almost nose to nose, causing Irvine to involuntarily try to back away. She seemed to glow brightly. "You must answer. You must take a stand."
Irvine reacted angrily to her reprimand. Zell knew how sensitive he was about accusations of indecision. Irvine still felt bad about letting Squall down in the clock tower. "Yes," he nearly shouted. Irvine's fists were balled but he hung his head down, Zell wasn't sure if it was out of shame or if he was deep in thought. "After fighting Ultimecia, I can say that, I guess. Trying to compress time and kill everything, possessing Matron, chasing down Ellone like an animal because of what? We never even knew. I guess it doesn't matter." He looked up at Siren. "So yes, I believe that evil exists."
Siren's smile was breathtaking and she kissed Irvine's forehead in benediction. Siren disappeared only to stand in front of Squall. With a seemingly gentle expression, she stroked his cheek. Her expression then changed abruptly and became forbidding. She tilted her head, one way then the next, regarding him thoughtfully.
"Why live? What is it to you?" She asked. Siren's eyes narrowed, her musical voice carried ominous undertones. Zell wondered what would happen if his friend gave the wrong answer. Squall's face had a defiant look on it but it was thoughtful as well. If anyone could think up a good answer to that question it would be Squall. Zell was glad he didn't have to answer it.
It seemed like an eternity before Squall responded. "Its all we have. Its all we ever have. What else is there? I don't know so I have to believe life is all there is." Squall's eyes were frosty. "Its my right to live." Siren smiled and Zell let out a breath that he'd forgotten he'd been holding. It sounded as if it was something that Squall had been thinking about before. Zell snorted. Squall spent way too much time thinking sometimes.
She cocked her head to one side. "Interesting," she made wide sweeping gesture and turned away. Fascinated by the after-images that trailed behind her, Zell didn't really notice where she was going. He was not happy when he realized that she was now facing him, her eyes had that deadly look in them again. He began to sweat. "What if I disagree? Prove to me that it is your right. Tell me why you should live."
Prove? Oh man, he thought in desperation. How did you prove something like that? What was it that Siren wanted to hear? Taking a deep breath, he tried to figure out what it was she was really asking. Why should we live. We? Which we was she talking about, that was the first thing. Considering what had been going on, he suspected that Siren meant humanity. So, how do you prove that humans have that right. Not just claim it was so but prove it. Squall could have answered this, Zell thought frantically. What was the right answer? Then it hit him.
"If someone gives you a present, its yours. Hyne gave humans life. That's a present. So life is ours by right. Not yours, not Chimera's. Ours." It sounded rather childish to Zell, as if it should be completed by pouting or foot stomping. It worked however. Siren smiled.
"A present," she murmured in amusement. Shaking her head, she patted his cheek. It was the most wonderfully soft sensation. Zell would have died for another touch. He felt like a little kid again, revelling in his parents' praise.
Siren drifted upward, a short distance away, and raised her hands and face upward in supplication.
"Sire, Lord of The Firstborn, I have judged them and found them worthy."
A sound unlike any Zell had ever experienced filled the air. A tiny dot of light appeared in the distance, hesitated a moment and exploded outward in a violent display of colour and glory. The nothingness was shattered by the first wave of light that stormed over them, nearly knocking them off their feet. Colours of every description, even some there was no name for, burst into existence. It was like watching the birth of a universe. After the first wave had subsided, they found themselves standing in a place of indescribable beauty. It was like every perfect garden ever conceived made reality, every perfect daydream given expression. The air was perfumed with scents that made him feel refreshed and the warm light that bathed everything made him feel like home.
Riding on the second wave, they came. One after the other, the Guardians came to the paradise that had appeared around them. Here in this place, they were all things of glory and awe, even the comical Cactuar and Tonberry were awe-inspiring. Doomtrain and Diablo appeared together, the demon idly petting one of Cerberus' heads. The Brothers appeared next, accompanied by Pandemona, then Ifrit and Quezacotl. Leviathan burst into view, carrying the beautiful Shiva on his back and Siren went to greet her friends. Cactuar and Tonberry appeared simultaneously, chattering with each other. Alexander rumbled into view, led by the diminutive Carbuncle.
Towering over them all was the immense form of Bahamut. His outstretched wings extended beyond the limit of Zell's sight. His eyes swirled with the fire of a thousand galaxies and his claws could have crushed a world. The incomprehensible Eden hovered over his huge right shoulder. The magnificent Phoenix was perched on his left. Here was the Lord who had summoned them. For the rest of his life, Zell would not be able to adequately describe his majesty.
"I am Bahamut, Lord of The Firstborn, whom you know as the Guardian Forces." The voice of the great dragon echoed throughout the place, vibrating through their souls.
"Welcome, Secondborn, to my domain."
*** *** ***
She was nowhere, trapped in a void of darkness. It was a place where her own senses were useless. It was a place where nothing, not even she, had concrete reality. Try as she might, she could not find any hint of distance, direction or time. Nothing to see, nothing to hear, nothing to feel, taste or touch. Absolute and true nothing. It felt familiar.
Numbed silence, obliteration of existence, it felt as though her senses had been packed in wool or even torn from her completely. No awareness of time or self, all that she had were her own thoughts to keep her company. Alone was an idea that she was used to and it held no horror for her. She had endured this before and she could endure it again. Twenty years encased in crystal had meant nothing. This meant nothing either. She was used to alone, all that she had ever had was herself.
Chimera had learned patience. She let herself become a part of the nothing, instead of fighting against it, she let herself merge with it. She found a still and silent place within her, a place that was a refuge from anxious thoughts and driven needs. Slowly she became aware of a sound, barely discernable, low, strange, like the sound of millions of wings beating in unison, heard from hundreds of miles away. Sinking deeper within herself and the nothing, she heard more. Haunting sounds, like that which the singers of the deep sang, filled her head. Within the sounds she could hear the murmur of billions of voices. The strange symphony of sounds was faint but seemed to flow like a river around, over, under and through her. What it was though, she had no idea.
Sinking even further, she heard just at the furthest edges of her strained senses, a song. The gender of the voice was indistinct, sometimes male, other times female, sometimes both and occasionally neither. The voice was singing a song so incredibly complex, made up of so many levels of harmony, that it was beyond comprehension. The voice was utter and complete beauty, vibrant perfection. Chimera yearned to find the singer of that song. But the singer was so far away, in body, mind and spirit, that she knew that she could never find the place that singer dwelled.
It was like a pain, stabbing at her heart. She could hear the song but was denied, thwarted and cheated from ever approaching the being whose voice was threaded throughout all the levels of the universe. She tried running towards the singer but the harder she tried to approach the further away she seemed to get. Finally, Chimera could no longer hear the song. Crying out in agony, she wept at the loss. She had lost something, something vital and precious, and did not know how to regain it. She did not even know what she had lost but mourned it anyway.
Was this what Diablo had sent her to? Abandonment and denial? She had felt a compulsion to obey him that she didn't understand. All that she knew was that a fundamental part of her soul had instinctively responded to the summons. If it had only been Diablo's desire, she would have ignored him but the summons had been from one whom she respected and so she had come. All she found though was this place of empty longings.
"Do not despair".
The sudden introduction of words seemed to cascade through the place, destroying the nothing and restoring all the sensations of existence that Chimera had been denied. It was still dark and formless but she sensed that she was no longer alone. Oddly, the idea provided comfort.
Clicking, the sound of iron-shod hooves on gravel, was the first sound that signaled the approach of her new companion. Perplexed by the rhythmic sound she tried to locate the owner. Then she saw him. He was coming towards her on a spiraling path that she could not see. Approaching her, mounted upon the strange six-legged horse, Sleipnir, was the ultimate warrior of warriors: Odin. She stared at him in mute amazement as his massive mount reared up, its powerful hooves slashing the air only inches from her face.
"You cannot be here," she flatly stated to the being who stood in tangible defiance of her words. "I read the reports. You are dead."
Odin laughed, partially in amusement and partially in contempt. "A fine greeting, child." Another laugh. Dismounting, he casually patted Sleipnir's flank who nickered appreciatively. "The boy was clever enough to reflect my own attack back at me, I admit." Standing before her, she realized how tall he was. She was nearly six feet in height and he towered over her. He held a huge spear in his hand. "None who have died are beyond the reach of the Phoenix."
Chimera pointed at the spear in fascination. She had heard that Odin possessed a sword, she was unaware of any spears. "What happened to your sword?" she asked, ravenously curious.
Odin smiled. "One known as Gilgamesh possesses it now. It gives him the freedom to leave his prison and so I let him keep it. My old companion, Gungnir, is the superior weapon in any case."
Striding to his horse, he mounted once more and reached out his hand to her. "Come."
Suddenly, Chimera felt shy. Confused at her own reaction, she shook her head. Odin smiled at her. "I've yet to meet a young woman who is not fond of a horse. Come."
Shocked by her own behavior, she took his hand and he pulled her up in front of him. She was uncomfortably aware of their proximity, how her back was pressed to his chest. Her entire body was electric in reaction to his closeness and her heart was pounding. She was horrified to see that her hands were shaking and she grabbed a handful of Sleipnir's mane, hoping to steady herself. Panicked confusion was making her lightheaded. What was happening to her?
She closed her eyes, concentrating on the rhythm of Sleipnir's stride, desperately trying to comprehend her inexplicable reaction. She had never felt this way before. Was she ill? Was it this place? Why did her whole body feel as though it had been struck by lightning whenever they touched? She didn't understand.
His arm accidentally brushed hers and her entire body thrummed in response. Electric tingling surged through her body. Abject terror made her launch herself into the darkness. Suspended in the nothing, she hugged herself, crying and confused. What was wrong with her? The darkness soothed her, she was alone again. Safe.
"Is anger the only emotion with which you are comfortable?" Odin asked sadly out of nowhere, appearing beside her. His expression was filled with pity. "You seem to prefer your empty darkness to anything else." He raised her chin, looking her in the eyes. "Is this why you are so determined to commit genocide?"
She pulled away, angry. Her body was tensed for battle, a comfortingly familiar sensation. "I fulfil my mission because I must protect Galbadia from all harm. Humans are a threat because of their consistently irresponsible destruction of the environment they live in. They kill each other for the most pathetic of reasons. How can you wonder why?"
Odin sneered and stalked around her, saying, "All harm? Child, are you delusional?" He waved his hand in a wide gesture. The image of a world wavered into view. Storms, earthquakes, volcanoes and worse drifted into, and out, of view. "Nature itself endangers your Galbadia. Do you propose to halt earthquakes and volcanoes, hurricanes and tsunami?" The image faded away and Odin shook his head. "What about meteor strikes and the death of the star itself?"
Chimera grew angrier and snarled, animal like. He was making fun of her! Did he think that she was stupid or gullible? Of course she could not stop the destructive forces of nature, it was not possible. It had nothing whatsoever to do with her mission, nature was not the enemy, it was merely a vehicle of change. His argument was ludicrous.
"Is it? You cannot hear Hyne's song because you insist in deceiving yourself. Hyne is truth and as long as you believe your own lies, you cannot approach." Odin turned away and walked to Sleipnir.
"How dare you accuse me of lies. I do not lie," she shouted in anger. She was shaking with emotion. She had never lied in her life, she had never needed to. She knew why she was doing what she was, she didn't need to deceive herself. It was her purpose, one that even the scientists who had created her would have acknowledged. It was Odin who was deceiving himself.
Odin turned towards her, holding his spear at the ready. Slowly he shook his head. "If a human had told you this, you would have killed him instantly, enraged at the insult. I, however," he said with a mocking voice, "seem to have evaded your wrath."
"I am not the one who is deceiving myself, child," Odin said as he swung himself onto Sleipnir's back. He was getting ready to leave, Chimera realized.
No, she thought in sudden anxious fear. She didn't want him to go. She wasn't exactly sure why but she wanted him to stay. Was it true, she wondered. Was she lying to herself? Thinking about it, she realized that she was. Always in the back of her mind, was the one thought: They created me. It was always there, it always made her angry. They had made her to be a weapon, a tool, a commercial product. They hadn't cared about her, they hadn't loved her, they hadn't wanted her. All that they had wanted was something that could fight and die for them so that they would not have to. She had been created to be cannon fodder, a slave.
"I hate them," she shouted her admission as he got ready to leave. "I hate them and I want them to die because anything that would create something like me doesn't deserve to live!" She raised her hand, talons extended. She hissed in anger as she contemplated her weaponry. "They didn't think I was a person. They thought I was something you could send in to die and it wouldn't matter. They thought I was something that you could buy and sell." She looked Odin in the eyes, her hate filling her soul. "I want revenge for having ever been born. I will not let mankind have Galbadia. Its mine, not theirs. They don't appreciate anything that they have and so I take it from them." She smiled an angry smile. "The kind few do not balance the vile majority. I will kill them. That is the truth."
Odin stopped and turned Sleipnir towards her. He regarded her thoughtfully. "Yes. It is." He stretched his hand out to her. "Come. Bahamut will see you know." She reluctantly took his hand and once more he pulled her up onto Sleipnir's back. She was so delighted to hear Hyne's song once more, faint as it was, that she was able to ignore the disturbing sensations she felt at his closeness.
"I can hear!" she exclaimed. It was an indescribable relief for a reason she did not know. All that she was sure of was that she could not have been able to bear being forever separated from the song.
Odin seemed amused. "Yes, Hyne makes no judgement but truth is something that is required of the Firstborn." Odin urged Sleipnir on.
The great horse ran. Sparks and fire flew whenever a hoof hit the strange pathways that she could not see. They were riding towards a distant light. As they approached it, the light suddenly leapt out towards them in a violent display of colour. Colours of every description, even some there was no name for, burst into existence. They suddenly found themselves standing in a place of indescribable beauty. Chimera thought that it was like every perfect garden ever conceived made reality, every perfect daydream given expression. The air was perfumed with scents that made her feel refreshed and the warm light that bathed everything soothed her tortured soul.
She found herself in the midst of the Guardian forces. She even noticed the presence of some humans, SeeD she realized as she recognized the blond Zell Dincht. This place made her feel so good that she didn't mind their presence, she least of all minded Zell's. She saw the monumental lord of the Guardian Forces: Bahamut.
He was not as she had expected him to be, he was the definition of grandeur. He towered over everyone like a mountain range and his outstretched wings extended beyond the limit of her vision. She could see the fire of a thousand galaxies swirling in his eyes and his claws seemed surprisingly like her own. She could see Eden hovered over his huge right shoulder and the Phoenix was perched on his left. She felt like she was face to face with her father.
"I welcome you, my child. I am Bahamut, Lord of The Firstborn."
*** *** ***
Zell would rather have been elsewhere. However beautiful the home of the Guardian Forces was, it was not a place where he felt completely comfortable. The utter perfection of his surroundings made him feel clumsy and dull, like the crudely carved wooden doll he had once made for another child. It had been rather shapeless, he remembered, just having only the barest resemblance of a human being.
Having a rather lopsided head and an abnormally long tube of a body, he remembered making the doll out of a big stick. He had carefully drilled a hole through the sides of the top and bottom, using an archaic manual drill that he'd "borrowed" from someone or another. He also remembered pushing braided wool through those holes to serve as arms and legs.
The doll he remembered making but he couldn't quite remember where or why. It had probably been during his time at the orphanage. He found that if he really tried hard to remember, he could often recall details but not always. Sometimes the memories were too old, or too painful, or just not strong enough for him to hang onto. He just knew that someone had needed that ugly doll and now he felt exactly like it: malformed, crude and badly constructed.
Quistis smiled at him, shaking her head. "I remember that doll. You made it for me because you were leaving and I was upset and didn't want you to go." Quistis' eyes were unfocused as she stared off into the past, her arms folded across her chest. "I kept it, even after I'd forgotten why." She looked at him fondly. "I still have that little doll." She reached out and touched his shoulder in gratitude.
Zell looked at her, confused. How had she known what he was thinking? He hadn't said anything out loud. He favoured Bahamut with a suspicious glare. "How did she know what I was thinking about?"
The great dragon peered at him with one swirling eye. Zell watched stars flare into existence bright and blue, born from the glorious embers of their predecessors. For a split second, as he watched the universe that lived in Bahamut's eyes, he almost heard something. It vanished before he could even understand what it was he had come so close to hearing.
"You do not understand why?" The great dragon rumbled softly. The Phoenix suddenly flexed its fiery wings, showering everything with sunset colours. Its mourning cry was piercing and made Zell's bones hurt. "How sad." Bahamut said.
Eden hovered low, even stranger now than it had been on those occasions when Zell had summoned it. He wondered exactly what it was that Eden was supposed to be. It wasn't exactly like a monster, it wasn't exactly like a Garden, it wasn't exactly like a lot of things. Confusion was becoming a familiar feeling for Zell.
Eden spoke with a woman's voice, soft and sounding very distant. "I am Tomorrow," she said simply as though that would explain everything. "There are no shadows here, entropy holds no power. All that is true becomes truer, the lies fade. You become yourself, essence laid bare." She drifted upward, resuming her previous post. "Destiny. Choice. Regret. Hope. Loss. Renewal. Pain. Desire," she chanted, eerily distant, sounding incredibly far away. "The infinite power of the infinitesimal. The ultimate power of that which is yet to be."
Zell tried to understand what she was saying, but most of her meaning escaped him. He assumed that part of what Eden had said meant that this place made them able to hear each other's thoughts. He didn't hear anyone's thoughts at all, even when he strained to hear, it was silent. Eden was continuing her bizarre chant, saying things that made no sense to him. Her chanting was comforting, in its own equally strange way. He didn't understand it but he suspected that there was no way that he could ever could. She was talking to him from very far away.
Squall had stepped forward. He had that stony grim expression that he always had when he was serious. Squall's afraid, Zell sudden realized, it was an idea that had never occurred to Zell before. Squall had never seemed like the sort to be afraid. He was trying to anticipate what would happen next and was worried that he was overlooking something important. He was afraid that he might lose Rinoa, that it was a terrifying thought that always occupied a part of Squall's mind. He was trying very hard to do what was expected of a leader and worrying that he would make a mistake. Zell couldn't understand how he knew, there were no voices in his head like the novels said there should be, he just knew.
"Why are we here?" Squall had asked.
"Why do you think?" responded Bahamut.
Rinoa smiled up at the great dragon. She was afraid too, like Squall, but her reasons were different. She was afraid of being forced to fight. Partially it was because she did not trust her own fighting ability but mostly, Rinoa was afraid of her own power. She was angry at Edea and so ashamed of it that she tried to deny it, pretend that the feelings weren't there. She loved the kindly woman but hated her too for giving her the power. The shame, anger and fear made her desperately want Bahamut to take care of everything, to fix it so she would not have to admit that she was a sorceress, so she could pretend that she was normal.
"Because you want to help us fight Chimera?" asked Rinoa hopefully.
"Are you sure?" countered Bahamut.
Squall looked slightly frustrated but kept his cool. Squall had enough diplomacy to keep his voice calm but he couldn't quite keep the edge out of it. He abruptly looked at Zell, a peculiar expression flashing onto his face. Zell wondered what it was that Squall had seen.
"If you don't want to help then what do you want?" Squall demanded to know.
"What does any being want?" asked Bahamut.
Zell was getting annoyed. Bahamut seemed to answer every question with another question and it was beginning to get on his nerves. If he wanted to say something why couldn't he just say it? Why be irritating about it? He was about to say something when, for once, common sense kicked in before his mouth could open. No, Zell decided, recalling the strange test that they'd undergone, perhaps this was another test. Even if it wasn't, he had to assume that shouting at a demigod was not the greatest of ideas.
Be professional, we're not just representing SeeD now, we represent everyone. I believe in you. Startled, he realized that the thought had come directly from Iris. Not something that he heard but an idea that was just there, fully formed in his mind. A thought that belonged to Iris. Looking at her, he returned her smile. Her smile was sheer glory. He suddenly wondered how he could ever have thought that Chimera was prettier.
Bahamut abruptly turned his attention elsewhere. Looking in that direction, Zell was very surprised to see Odin -- wasn't he dead?! -- and Chimera approaching in the distance. The fact that she was here as well made Zell nervous. Looking at Bahamut, he realized that he just didn't quite trust any of them any more. He wondered if he would ever really be able to depend on them, ever again.
"I welcome you, my child. I am Bahamut, Lord of The Firstborn," Bahamut said.
Chimera had a bright worshipful smile for the great dragon, something that made Zell even more uncomfortable. That odd emotionless expression was gone, the coolness that he'd seen in her before was now replaced by the kind of adoration that seemed to always exist between a young girl and her father. Zell did not like this at all.
The cold mask fell over her face as she regarded them. That chilling, predatory smile crossed her face as she spoke. "Greetings, Zell Dincht." Zell was almost relieved. This was more like the woman he'd met in the library, cold and professional. Zell felt a sense of familiarity in it. He even waved to her in greeting. Realizing what he was doing, Zell jerked his hand back to his side, wondering if he'd gone insane. This place had to be getting to him, he thought to himself.
Just as Zell turned his head to try to speak to Iris, he noticed something, something different about Chimera. Just out of the corner of his eyes, he could see a slight disturbance but the moment he tried to look at her head on, it disappeared. Straining to see without actually looking at her, Zell could just see the vague outlines of what appeared to be wings. It was very hard to tell though since every time his head turned towards her, the image vanished. His eyes were beginning to hurt but he was almost positive that he was seeing the beginnings of wings. He wondered what they would look like.
"Why have you brought me here?" Chimera asked.
Bahamut seemed distinctly amused. "My human, Leonheart, has already asked me this. I am surprised that you do not know." The great dragon arched his wings and roared. "Can you not see?"
Eden broke off her strange chanting. "She is still Yesterday. She is not yet Today."
"Ahh," rumbled Bahamut apparently understanding the strange Eden perfectly well. "Then I will tell you all." He bent down, his huge head dwarfing Squall. Zell was impressed to see that Squall didn't even flinch. He was stubbornly holding his position, determined not to show weakness or fear. There was no way that he would back down from a challenge and he was determined not to let this place make him feel small or insignificant. Zell took strength from that. If Squall could do it, so could he.
"Humans created Chimera, they must do what is right. Fail and you fight her alone."
Zell gulped. "How alone, exactly?" He was afraid and he didn't mind if all his friends knew it. He wondered how much of their fear had mingled with his. The Guardian Forces seemed to be siding with Chimera and he didn't want to hear more. Alone sounded very ominous, it seemed to echo in his head.
Bahamut regarded him. "Alone. I will forbid all in my domain from aiding you in any manner." The great dragon tilted its head. "I have sided with no-one yet. Humans have yet to prove their worthiness." He rustled his huge wings, causing stars to fly about like fireflies.
Chimera noted their stunned expressions with apparent satisfaction. "There is little fear that they ever will be worthy as a whole." She tilted her head one way then the other. She seemed far less human than she had been when they had first met. She was more and more like them.
Bahamut's voice was stern. "They may surprise you."
Chimera seemed to flinch slightly at the rebuke but also stood her ground. She looked up at him with utmost confidence. "I doubt it."
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