Nightmares
by TacomaSquall
Part Two: Interruptus
Ultimecia detached the
leads from the overheated Ellone Device from her forehead. She made a mental note to order the Ilmit who
had fashioned the leads to make at least two replacement sets. Already, this set of leads had been damaged
by her body's movement, as she reacted to what was happening within the being
she had projected her consciousness into. She felt a slow trickle from her forehead and raised a single pale
finger. Blood. She was sweating blood.
The woman who was once
known as Thuka swore softly. Alsy
slaves, ordered to tend her during her experiment, cowered at the sound of her
vituperation. At least that much was
right.
During the course of the
last year, Ultimecia had set about the course of her war against the
SeeDs. They had killed her consort on
the eve of her ascension to her title as Queen of Heaven. In retaliation, Ultimecia had gone on a
rampage, striking at every stronghold of the followers of the Way of the Lady.
During the destruction
of the SeeD's stronghold in Balab, Ultimecia had discovered something that made
her blood run cold. According to the
prophecies that heralded her own ascension, the SeeDs believed that her defeat
was inevitable. She would meet her end
at the hands of a group of SeeDs from the inception of the Way.
In her war against the
SeeDs, she had found allies that bolstered her power beyond that of her
enemies. The Sphinxaur, master of
monster summoning. The Tri-Point,
flying child of the storm's fury. The
Krysta, torn from the roots of the earth. The Trauma, a semi-sentient mecha capable of spawning miniaturized
duplicates of itself. The ultra-dense
Red Giant. The subterranean terror
known only as Gargantua. The father of
Behemoths, Catoblepas. The ancient
dragoness known only as Tiamat. Finally, the mysterious entity of destruction known as Omega.
Her greatest allies did
not come from the ranks of the beings which were summoned by her Lunar Cry,
however. Ultimecia found her greatest
allies through her conquests. Seven
Guardians had joined her cause since she had liberated them from the SeeDs. The malificent Hades, lord of Doom. The tetra-elemental beast known as Kjata. The rock-lord Golem. The master of dissolution called
Chupon. The crazed Atomos, avatar of
the force that holds the planets together. The chaos-born Maduin. And the
King of the Guardians, Griever.
With her newfound
allies, her march had led to the fall of all save the rebellious provinces of
Galbad. Sthar had given her little
challenge, and was the first province she had cleared of the SeeD
infestation. Following soon afterwards,
Trab was cleansed. Her most recent
victories were in Balab and Dolt. Ultimecia was confident that the SeeDs of this time would be soon
defeated.
She looked at the device
she held in her hands. The Ellone
Device was fashioned in antiquity by the legendary inventor, Dr. Odine. Its purpose was to allow the user to transfer
his or her consciousness across the gulf of time. She had tested the device to see if it had a useful application
in her current war. She was not
displeased with her findings.
She had tested the
device by going back in time to when she was a young woman. She went back to the very day that she had
wandered off, looking at flowers. She
had discovered herself to be in the mind of her mother. Amazed, Ultimecia watched her younger self
wander off from the nomadic camp of the Alsy she had spent her early years
with. Her mother, Pura, grew worried
when her daughter started in an opposite direction from the nomads. Pura turned to retrieve her daughter, before
the nomads left her behind.
Ultimecia was faced with
a crisis. From her memories, she knew
that she had wandered away from her family for some time, before the slavers
had captured her. If her mother went to
get her now, none of the events she had lived through since would have
happened. She would never have gained
the power she now held. Ultimecia
begged her mother not to go after her daughter.
Pura stopped,
confused. Ultimecia was shocked to
realize that her mother sensed her plea! Somehow, she could communicate with the being whose mind she shared. Experimenting quickly, she soon discovered
that not only could she communicate with her host, she could, with an
expenditure of willpower, take her host over. She forced her mother to stay with the nomads, satisfied that she was
ensuring her future.
The expenditure of
willpower necessary to control Pura's actions caused feedback within the Ellone
Device. This feedback was enough to
force the device to work harder than it was designed to do, overheating the
device. Ultimecia found herself yanked
forward from the past.
She saw a way that she
could use this device to pre-emptively strike against the SeeDs that were
supposed to destroy her in the past. All Ultimecia needed to do was find a way to take over a sorceress in
their time period. That should be
possible if she could just figure out a method of preventing the overheating of
the Ellone Device…
Once she eliminated the
Fated Children, her victory over the SeeDs would be sealed.
Ultimecia laughed, her
mezzo-soprano voice raising the hairs on the backs of her Alsy servants'
necks. In her desire for revenge, she
had gone mad. They only prayed they
would complete their tasks here before her madness focused on them.
To be continued…