Prologue – Nightmares…or visions?
Lightning split the sky like a whip and
the rain fell like miniature bombs upon Squall's head and face. He was here
again, in the dark world where the storms never ended and the nightmare had
only just begun. But tonight it was different, tonight Squall could see where
he was, but what he saw terrified him. He was in the middle of a gigantic battlefield.
The bodies of the fallen soldiers lay strewn on top of each other and the field
ran red with blood.
Another crack of lightning struck the
dark skies.
And Squall's breath froze in his lungs.
The dead bodies were SeeDs, and among the dead lay six bodies that somehow
stood out from the rest. The bodies belonged to Squall and his friends, and
they, like the rest of the bodies, lay strewn where they had died. But there
was something different about their bodies. Whatever had killed them had used
some sort of high-calibre rounds to blast holes in their chests.
Something else stirred in the darkness.
"Squall."
The voice echoed in his mind.
"Squall Leonhart."
The voice was sweet, almost…seductive.
"You must stop this before it starts."
Stop what?
"You must stop her."
Stop whom?
"Stop her, Squall!"
There was movement among the corpses.
"You failed us."
Squall looked in the direction of the
voice, and realized with horror that it belonged to Rinoa.
Lightning streaked the skies, and in that
brief moment of clearness, Squall saw Rinoa standing before him, and screamed. Rinoa's
entire body was covered in blood, and her blue cape was torn to shreds. Her
dark eyes, once so full of life, were now nothing more than empty holes that
gave way to nothingness. Her hair was matted with blood and mud, and her head
lay at an unnatural angle. Squall was frozen in place by fear.
"You failed us!"
Squall let out a loud, unearthly scream
and woke up with a start.
"Squall, what's the matter?"
"W-what?" Squall said. "Rinoa?"
The lights came on and Rinoa was looking
at Squall with a look of concern on her angelic face. Squall hugged her tightly.
"It was a dream," he thought. "Thank the Hyne, it was only a dream!"
But had it been just a dream, or was it a
message?
"Squall, what's the matter?"
"Nothing, Rinoa. Nothing at all."
"All right. Good night Squall."
"Good night Rinoa."
Author's Notes: That's the short prologue completed! I hope I didn't make it
too scary, but it WAS a nightmare after all. On to Chapter One!
