Nightmares
by TacomaSquall
Part Ten: REM Stage
Continued
In the Tower of Heaven,
Ultimecia realized that the sorceress she had chosen as her host in this time
period had a Knight. She smiled coldly,
as she reached across the link between the woman and her protector.
* * * * * *
He stood in Ultimecia's
throne room. Squall had led the other
SeeDs there, fighting their way through the twisted and horrendous minions of
the time-lost Sorceress. They had been
guided around her lieutenants by Seifer and his posse. Now, they stared at Ultimecia's throne.
It stood, vacant, rising
above the rest of the throne hall. There was no sign of her presence in the room. It was covered in dust as if it had not been used for millennia.
Squall looked, in
confusion, around the rest of the room. The remainder of the throne hall also was covered in the dust of
centuries. No one had entered this hall
before them.
That was when he felt
his body cocooned in the energies of the most powerful of Quistis' Blue Magic
abilities, the Shockwave Pulsar. He and
Rinoa hurtled skyward, dragged in front of the shockwave that resulted when a
dwarf star collapsed downwards, into a star that emitted bursts of light and
radiation, seemingly at random. The
coruscating waves of energy washed over the Knight and the sorceress he had
sworn to protect, out of love, and they screamed in unison.
As they returned to the
throne hall, Squall could see his friends, standing united against him.
While Rinoa and Squall
stood, stunned, Zell called upon the might of Cerberus and Selphie called upon
Carbuncle. The two Guardians' power
suffused the SeeDs, and Irvine lowered the Exeter, having loaded its chambers
to the full with Fast Ammo.
He drawled, "I'm sorry
to do this, Squall," just before he opened fire.
Squall woke up in a dark
room, his heart pounding in terror. He
felt like he had been cocooned in Caterchipillar silk that still clung to his
limbs. His head pounded from the
remembered terror of his dream and his disorientation. How did I get here? I was in the infirmary when I went to sleep.
His side gave a twinge
of pain, from where he had been laid open by the Granaldo's assault. He couldn't feel anything from his gunblade
arm at all, which worried Squall even more than the agony that he assumed he
should feel after having felt the flying monster's mandibles rip the flesh to
the bone there. He hoped that there had
not been nerve damage.
A single thought cut
clearly across his rapid self-diagnosis. Rinoa needs me! Ultimecia is
making another attempt to reach across time, and her target this time is the
woman I love.
He rose unsteadily from
the bed, pulling the against the threads that held him down. They gave slightly, allowing hgim to sit
upright, while they were taut against his skin. One by one, he disengaged the threads from his skin, each thread
ending in some sort of pad that adhered to his skin. In response to his actions, a klaxon began to ring.
As Squall detached the
final thread, a form rushed into the room. Upon seeing Squall, it ordered, "Stay in that bed, Commander Leonhart."
Squall looked at the
out-of-focus being, registering only that a white human-shaped form was
ordering him to not go to Rinoa's aid. He shook his head to try and clear his vision.
It rushed forward and
grabbed Squall's arm. By reflex, Squall
pulled his arm away. He looked again at
the blurry form of the being that was trying to get him to lie down.
Before his astonished
eyes, the being's form became clearer, resolving into the angular, desiccated
form of a Blitz. It hissed at him, "Lie
back down and wait for help."
In shock, Squall shoved
the Blitz away from him. Off-balance,
it stuck the wall and fell to the ground, stunned. Before it could rise back to its feet, Squall wobbled and darted
away as quickly as he could.
Squall fled the room on
unsteady legs. As he headed along the
passageway from the room, he noted that he was within Balamb Garden. He had just been in the infirmary. He raced down the hallway toward the central
hub of the Garden, pulling up short when he saw the massive form of a Wendigo
pass in front of the terminus of the infirmary passage. Using as much stealth as he could muster
while still moving fast, he kept himself hidden from the monsters that had
taken over Balamb Garden while making his way to his quarters. He hoped to arm himself and see what he
could do to find out how this monstrous takeover of Balamb Garden was
accomplished, and how it related to the danger posed to Rinoa.
* * * * * *
Nida was not happy with
current developments. He had been
summoned to the infirmary, where he listened to the duty nurse, Marianne,
explain how Squall escaped. Doctor
Kadowaki was also present, and the head of the Garden Infirmary was seething.
"How did a man who was
at Death's Door just three days ago manage to manhandle you, nurse?" Doctor Kadowaki's anger was barely being
held in check by her incredulity.
The dark-haired nurse
gulped. "He shoved me away, and I
slipped. I hit my head against the wall
and was stunned."
Nida sighed. It was time to get past this. "What was his condition when he shoved you,
Nurse Laggan?"
She turned to him. "Commander Leonhart's skin was hot to the
touch. I would guess he had a fever of
at least 102. My guess is that he is in
delirium induced by the Granaldo's venom or by infection."
Nida nodded. He looked over to the Doctor. "I remember a training exercise before my
graduation. The class that Commander
Leonhart, Instructor Almasy, SeeD Dincht and I were in were assigned a survival
course. We were dumped onto a barren
island about 50 miles south of Balamb. We were given enough supplies to last us three days, and instructed to
get by for a fortnight.
"Arika was stung by a
small scorpion during the third day of the exercise. Niska was with her, and she was able to quickly draw out the
venom before it could spread, by opening the wound further and sucking the
venom out. We took care of the
resulting injury as best as we could, and continued the exercise.
"It turned out our best
wasn't quite sufficient, as something got into Arika's wound. The wounded arm grew infected rapidly,
swelling to almost half again its size. We tried to tend the infection as best as we could, but we had to
improvise first-aid equipment, having none included in our supplies. Mainly, we tried to help make Arika as
comfortable as we could, draining the infected area, and keeping it as clean as
possible.
"On the sixth night of
the exercise, Arika awakened the entire camp, screaming that we were under
attack by Grats and a T-Rexaur. When we
looked, we saw that a sole Bite Bug had chased a pack of rats into the camp. In her delirium, Arika attacked the rats,
killing her 'Grats' quickly and efficiently, before they could harm us. Before she could turn her attention to the
Bite Bug, it stung her and fled. It
took Squall, Seifer and Niska combined to restrain her afterwards, as she tried
to rush off into interior of the island in pursuit.
"She lapsed into
unconsciousness that night, and the next day, we were evacuated by Instructor
Trepe. At her insistence, Arika flunked
the survival exam, although the rest of us were given passing grades. Niska willingly volunteered to accompany her
twin on the mandatory second attempt to pass the exam, later that quarter."
Nida smiled at Nurse
Laggan. "It sounds to me that Squall was
delirious when he met you. It is no
surprise to me that he would mistake you for a Blitz, with your slender build,
and your white uniform."
Doctor Kadowaki
nodded. "Someone suffering from
delirium often possesses greater strength than usual, being pumped up by high
levels of adrenaline."
Nida looked soberly at
Doctor Kadowaki. His reply was so soft
it could barely be heard. "Which means
we need to find Squall before he gets injured, or hurts someone else." Fear crept into his voice. "The only problem is that we have no idea
where to look…"
* * * * * *
The Sorceress smiled
coldly. She had gleaned much from the
mind of her host, Rinoa. There were two
mobile bases for the hated SeeDs in this time. They corresponded to provinces in her own time frame. The two strongholds of SeeD would have to
wait, however. Her host's knight was
coming to her, chasing fever-induced phantoms that she had crafted into a
sending. Soon he would be by her side.
Once the Lionheart
served her, she would be able to strike against her enemies with the prophesied
instrument of their victory. He would
allow her access to the inner councils of the SeeDs, where she could strike
decisively against them – beheading her enemy in a single powerful blow.
One thought troubled the
Queen of Heaven, however. During her
link with the Lionheart, she had sensed that he had somehow guessed that she
would seize her host. He had dispatched
two SeeDs, the Betrayer by their side, to go to Deling City to protect the
young sorceress.
It would not do for them
to reach her host's home unhindered. She
gave a mental command.
Dread Queen, what
is thy will? The rumbling tones of Golem's "voice"
reverberated throughout her body.
"Three of my enemies are
coming to Galbadia. Take Kjata. Find them and destroy them before they reach
my host's home."
It shall be done,
Dread Ultimys.
Ultimecia felt the
draining of energy that always occurred when a Guardian was disengaged, and
saw, from the corner of her eyes, two spectral forms turn and leave the Tower
of Heaven. She smiled coldly as watched
them vanish.
Soon, her revenge would
begin, and the fate foretold in Hyne's last prophecies would be averted. Soon, she would be reunited with her beloved
Nerid.
Her laughter echoed
through the dust-covered halls of the Tower of Heaven. It sped like a scirocco, carrying dust in
its wake. Her mirth filled the rooms
and chambers of the place that was once the seat of power for Hyne herself,
abandoned upon her choice to give up her power to the sorceresses.
If she had her way,
Ultimecia would surpass the power of even Great Hyne.
* * * * * *
Unmarked by the mad
Sorceress, Angelo cowered even further in the shadows beneath Hyne's throne.
Angelo did not
understand what was wrong with his mistress, but something was definitely not
right. Her usual smell had been replaced
by a cold smell, reminiscent of death and a bitter cold, greater than that ever
experienced by the faithful hound – more bitter even than the chill of Shiva's
unfettered might.
The faithful dog
crouched low to the ground and prayed. May
one of my Mistress' pack come and make her feel better.
To Be Continued…