Final Fantasy Dimensions
Chapter 2: Battle Plans
by ArchFaith (formerly known as the ArchPrincess of Saturn)
"Let's see," Cloud began, figuring out the battle plans, "there are six SeeDs...when we get back home there will be ten AVALANCHE members all in all...should I count Sephiroth? Guess I have to...favor for Aeris...sixteen party members. That dosen't round out. Sixteen people makes five teams, but someone will by themselves."
"Hmmm. How about asking SeeD if they have anymore people to fight with?" Tifa suggested.
"Good idea," Cloud replied. He and Tifa rose and went toward the training area of the Esthar Presidential Palace. The SeeDs watched as Aeris and Sephiroth battled each other. Aeris used several summon spells, and then her ultimate limit break, Great Gospel.
"Wow, angels!" Rinoa gasped as the angels rose among the clouds. "They're so beautiful."
"Not as beautiful as you, Rinoa," Squall returned.
Sephiroth used his sword on several attacks, then used the Super Nova.
"Whoa! That would have to be the coolest summon spell I've ever seen!" Zell exclaimed.
What about me? Eden whispered inside his head.
"Whoops. Yours is pretty good too, Eden," Zell corrected.
The battle was almost done. Sephiroth made the mistake of summoning when he should've healed. Next thing, Aeris summoned Knights of the Round and knocked him out. "Ow," he whispered.
"Full cure!" Aeris called.
Sephiroth slowly rose to his feet. "You're getting better Aeris," he told her as the SeeDs went over to them. "Your skills will be useful in saving our Planet."
"Yeah," Aeris agreed, smiling.
"That was an excellent way to use your rod, Miss Aeris," Selphie complimented.
"Very good swordmanship, Mr. Sephiroth," Quistis added.
"Well thank you," Sephiroth answered. Not very many people told him how good his skills were.
"Thanks Miss Selphie," Aeris replied. "I think both Sephiroth and I feel the same way about this, but you may call us by our first names now."
"Same here," Selphie answered.
"Hey you guys," Cloud called. He and Tifa walked across the arena to where everyone stood. He explained the battle situation. "SeeDs, do you have anyone else we can use to fight with?"
"Well..." Squall said thoughtfully. Nida? Xu? Cid? The Cafeteria Lady?
"Fight? I'm your man!" Everyone turned around to see Laguna standing there, dressed in battle uniform.
"President Laguna? You can fight?" Tifa asked, surprised.
"A'course I can fight," Laguna answered. "In my day, I was the best fighter there was..."
There he goes again, Squall thought. He would've been nothing if we hadn't come from the future and helped him...
"Ain't that right, son?" Laguna finished. Squall sighed.
"Are you sure you won't be hurt?" Aeris said.
"No, I'll be fine. You just wait and see. I promise I won't let you down," Laguna said.
"Great. With Laguna signed on, we just need one more person," Cloud grinned. "If you guys can't get one, I guess I could scrape one up when we go back to our dimension..."
The SeeDs thought hard. Laguna was about to suggest Kiros or Ward when he remembered they would be governing the country in his absence. Squall thought of Edea, but she was busy fixing up the orphanage.
Sephiroth and Aeris suddenly spun around. They clutched their weapons. "What is it?" Rinoa asked.
"Someone's hiding somewhere," Aeris answered vaguely. She indicated a bush with her rod.
"Don't know if they're good or bad, but we don't wanna take chances," Sephiroth added. He leveled his sword at the bush. "Show yourself, or we won't hesitate to kill you!" Nothing came out of the bush. Aeris walked up to it and calmly banged her rod against the branches. It hit something soft.
"Ow! Okay, okay, I'll come out! Just stop hitting me!" a voice said. Someone rose out of the bush.
The SeeDs gasped. "Seifer!"
Seifer brushed himself off and stepped out of the bush. "Hey you guys," he greeted as if they were old friends. "What's up?"
Aeris lowered the Princess Guard and stared at Seifer. "Who are you?" she asked. Seifer bowed. "I'm Seifer Almasy, Miss Aeris. It is a great pleasure to meet you." Walking over to Sephiroth, who had lowered the Masamune. "Ah, Mr. Sephiroth, I am honored to meet you as well." To Cloud and Tifa, "Miss Tifa, Mr. Cloud, I-"
"Cut it Seifer!" Squall yelled, drawing his Lionheart. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, a few days ago I saw something on T.V. at my house in FH. Something about visitors from another dimension seeking help from Balamb Garden's SeeDs. Naturally I decided to come and do you guys a favor-"
"Favor! We don't need help from some psychotic 'sorceress's knight!'" Zell answered. Squall lunged at Seifer, both boys' swords drawn.
"Enough!" Laguna said, stepping in between them. "Fighting in this arena is only for sport, not old grudges. Besides, I don't want someone to spill blood all over this new tiling...cost six million gil, ya know..."
"President Laguna," Seifer said, bowing even lower. "I merely offered to help, most gracious sir."
"Huh? Oh yeah...I don't know guys, he seems pretty sane to me," Laguna replied. "Hold on a minute, how'd you get in here? This arena is for private use only."
"See? He's broken the law already, Mr. President," Quistis scolded.
"No he hasn't!" a voice yelled. Ellone ran across the arena and stood beside Seifer. "I let him in."
"Ellone...why would you do something like that?" Rinoa asked her.
"Because...he sincerely wants to help. I know it. From the look in his eyes." Squall looked at Seifer's eyes. They did have an unusual gleam in them. "Please. He was as much a brother to me as Squall. He will help you out a lot."
Squall hung his head. Seifer, his archnemesis? Helping to save an alien world? He might sabotage it. He might...
"It is settled. This person, Seifer Almasy, will be the seventh member of the SeeD rank," Irvine said.
"What!" Squall, Rinoa, Selphie, Zell and Quistis yelled at the same time. "You didn't even ask us!"
"He's okay, man. Who would know the truth better than Ellone? And may I remind you, the more we stand here and argue, the more messed up the other dimension is getting," Irvine retorted.
Everyone stared at him. He was right. "Thanks," Seifer said, going over to him. "Irvine, was it?"
"Yeah. I'm surprised you don't remember me, Seif," Irvine answered. Huh? Oh yeah, Irvine was the only one that got along with Seifer in the orphanage, Squall reminded himself.
The Visitors, who had remained silent for a long time, spoke up. "Now that our teams are settled," Cloud began, "we should prepare to leave."
-
SEEDS PREPARE TO DEPART TO SAVE ALIEN WORLD! the newspapers screamed. It had been three days since Laguna and Seifer had signed up with the SeeDs. Everyone prepared to leave. All the weapons had been repaired, the armor reinforced, the battle uniforms cleaned up. Sephiroth had discovered a way to link back to the Visitors' Dimension and form a dimensional portal. They would be leaving in just a few minutes.
Squall was still suspicious of Seifer. Was he good, or pretending to be good? He watched as Seifer trained with Tifa. He was getting much better in his gunblade skills...could he be under another sorceress's control?
"Squall?" Squall turned around and saw Cloud. He sat down next to him. "Worried about Seifer, huh?"
"I can't help it, Cloud," Squall answered. "I'm worried he might destroy your world."
"Really? Well...he's not as bad as Sephiroth was," Cloud replied. He gave a brief summary of how evil Sephiroth had been, then turned good by Aeris only two weeks before.
"Sephiroth was evil?" Squall asked. "From the way he acts towards everyone, I would've thought..."
"Aeris transformed him. Maybe Seifer's been transformed by someone. Maybe it Miss El-" Cloud stopped himself. Better not say anything too delicate. They watched the gunblade bang against the iron gloves.
Meanwhile, Aeris and Sephiroth were helping Rinoa perfect her Angel Wing limit break. "Sometimes it works, and sometimes it dosen't," Rinoa explained. "Since both of you know many things about angels, would you help me?"
"Let's see," Sephiroth said thoughtfully. "I don't think you're concentrating hard enough."
"You must think only of those wings coming out of your back, nothing else," Aeris added. Rinoa nodded and concentrated. Slowly shapely, golden wings grew out of her back.
"Thank you," she said, pleased.
"You're welcome. That is a very beautiful limit break," Aeris complimented. "Were you born with it?"
"I only discovered I had it a few months ago," Rinoa answered. "When my father learned about it, he said my mother's side of the family always had an interest in anything angelic."
"Really? How interesting," Sephiroth replied.
Outside the Palace Gates, the Esthar City Center was full to the brim. The setup was much like it was when the portal first appeared; there was a stage and podium set up to adress the crowd. Millions of people had come to see them off. Everyone from Balamb and Trabia Gardens, FH, the Shumi Village, Dollet, Timber, Deling City, Balamb City and not to mention Esthar, had come to wish them good luck. Fujin, Raijin, Nida, Xu, Dr. Kadowaki, the Cafeteria Lady, Dr. Odine, and all the other people they had ever met were there.
Cid came up to Squall. "Ah Squall, you make proud," he greeted. "It's very noble of you to help save these people's world. Edea couldn't make it because she developed a fever while she fixed the orphanage. She's back at the Gardern, but she wishes you the best of luck. And on behalf of everyone in the Garden, so do I."
"Thank you sir," Squall answered.
"Seifer, take good care of yourself, ya know?" Raijin told him.
"GOOD LUCK," Fujin added.
"Thanks," Seifer replied. "I'll miss you goofballs while I'm over there."
"Be careful," someone behind him whispered. It was Ellone.
"Elle...I promise I'll come back to you safe and sound," Seifer said, giving her a light kiss on the lips. Squall glanced at them, eyes wide open. He started to go over to them, but Rinoa stopped them.
"So what if they love each other?" she asked. "Just let them be."
Squall scowled. "Ellone...my dear sis, and Seifer...that insane jerk," he whispered. "Something's not right there."
"Oh Selphie, please be careful!" the little boy and girl exclaimed. "We want you to come back to us and help us find secret treasure!"
"Sure I will!" Selphie answered brightly. "When I come back, we'll find loads of loot! And you'll help us, right Irvy?"
"Sure Selphie," Irvine replied. "I'd love to get my hands dirty with you."
Selphie blushed and the kids gasped, "Oooooohhhhhh!"
Quistis and Zell stood with the Trepies. "Instructor Trepe...we salute you!" the Trepies roared.
Quistis laughed. "Thank you Trepies," she replied. Zell's eyes scanned around for the Library Girl, but she wasn't there. No wonder. It had been about two weeks since they'd broken up. Why would she be there to say goodbye to him?
"Zell?" Quistis asked softly. Zell turned his head toward her. The Trepies had dispersed and they were alone. "Are you okay?"
Zell shifted his feet. "It's nothing Quistis," he replied.
Quistis took his hands in hers. "Don't feel bad, Zell. You can't. Focus on the mission ahead of us."
"I'll try..." Zell began, "but..."
"No buts. You will make it through just fine. And I'll be there with you." Quistis's words comforted Zell. He smiled at her.
"Quisty," was all he said.
"ATTENTION...ATTENTION..." the loudspeaker blared, "THE SEEDS AND THE VISITORS WILL BE STARTING THEIR DIMENSIONAL CROSSING SOON. ALL SPECTATORS AND WELLWISHERS PLEASE GET BEHIND THE ROPE."
Fujin, Raijin, the Trepies, and Selphie's little friends retreated behind the roped off area. The Visitors and SeeDs stood on the stage. Soon the President and his advisors came out of the Palace. Laguna stepped up to the podium. "Citizens of the World," he began, in a speech he wrote himself, "today members of our dimension will embark on a fantastic journey..." He gave a thougtful, well written speech that surprised everyone. Squall especially.
As Laguna took his place next to his son, Squall whispered, "Didn't know you could write like that, Laguna."
"There are a lot of things you don't know about me," Laguna answered. "We should get to know each other sometime."
Cloud got up to the podium. "Citizens of this generous and kind dimension," he began, "I wish to thank you on all the services you have provided us with..." Cloud's speech was good as well. Tifa clapped the hardest. A few other people, such as Dr. Odine and Headmaster Cid, got up and gave short wellwishing speeches. The SeeDs and the Visitors began to get restless, hoping it would end. And it did.
"It's time," Aeris whispered.
Sephiroth got up and concentrated. Slowly a portal flashed before their eyes. "Aeris, you and I will go first," Sephiroth screamed over the noise. "SeeD, follow us. Cloud, Tifa, go last. And Aeris, I..."
The noise was so loud Aeris could only make out, "...our...landing...Wutai."
With that everyone disappeared into the swirling mass. It quickly vanished.
"Come back alive," Ellone whispered to no one in particular. "All of you."
-
Meanwhile, in the Visitors' dimension...
Wutai. It had been lucky. One of the only towns to escape Junon's wrath. The Junon Army had come, with their guns and explosives, to destroy the tranquil town. But it had been stopped. All thanks to Yuffie Kisaragi, a ninja girl who would defend Wutai to the death. She had been helped by the vampiric Vincent Valentine, who had accompanied her back to her hometown and been invited to stay. Yuffie's father, Lord Godo, had given Yuffie and Vincent command of the Wutai Imperial Army. It had been a harsh battle, but Wutai triumphed in the end. Junon had decided it wasn't worth losing so many good soldiers for one town. They had retreated.
It wasn't long before refugees from other destroyed cities came to Wutai, seeking shelter. Among them were Barret Wallace and his little daughter Marlene, who had arrived from Corel; Cid Highwind and his fiancee Shera, coming from Rocket Town; Red XIII, abandoning his studies at Cosmo Canyon; Cait Sith and his creator, Reeve, who lived in Kalm; and Elmyra Gainsborough, Aeris's mother, who also came from Kalm. Yuffie and Vincent (who had by now adopted Wutai as his hometown) welcomed them and gave them shelter. Despite the war being waged on the rest of the world, Wutai was relatively peaceful. The only town that was ever peaceful. Lucky.
It was early afternoon. The former members of AVALANCHE sat outside the Great Pagoda, doing various activities. Barret, Cid, and Reeve talked about how they had saved the world from a great evil, only to see it be destroyed by a lesser one; Red XIII and Cait Sith entertained Marlene, who had been feeling blue lately; Elmyra and Shera were talking about the impact of the war and how depressed it made everyone feel; and Vincent and Yuffie sat side by side, quietly thinking.
"Vincent?" Yuffie asked. The vampire turned his eyes toward her. "I know I've asked this question a zillion times before, but I gotta know...why did you come back with me?"
Vincent sighed. "Maybe it's because I didn't have anywhere else to go...please don't ask that question anymore, Yuffie. It's annoying."
"Sorry," Yuffie replied. She went back to thinking. Suddenly she piped up, "Hey, has anyone heard anything about Cloud and Tifa?" Everyone turned to look at her. Things had been so hectic lately that no one had thought about their allies.
"Last time I saw 'em was about a month ago," Cait Sith said. "They were on their way into Midgar, passing through Kalm. Told me they were gonna pick some things up from Tifa's old bar before they headed to Nibelheim to get married. That was a week before the war started." He paused. "Midgar was blown up...you don't think..."
"No! It'd never happen!" Barret yelled. "Not Cloud and Tifa! They'd be smarter than that!"
"But what if it did?" Red XIII argued grimly. Everyone started arguing.
"Stop! Man, I'm sorry I ever brought this up," Yuffie sighed.
Just then, a blinding flash of light appeared before the pagoda. A portal opened. "What the #?" Cid yelled. People started coming out of it. AVALANCHE drew their weapons. Elmyra and Shera took Marlene and held her close. The first person to come out of it was...
"Oh my God...is that Sephiroth?" Vincent exclaimed. It was. Black cape billowing, he stepped out of the portal. He was followed by Aeris, then Squall, Rinoa, Zell, Quistis, Irvine, Selphie, Laguna, Seifer, Cloud and finally Tifa. As soon as everyone was out, the portal collapsed. AVALANCHE stood there staring at the mix of their former allies, their supposedly murdered friend, her cold-blooded killer, and a group of people they'd never seen before.
"Is everyone out of the portal?" Sephiroth gasped.
"Yes," Aeris replied.
"Good." With that, he fainted. Aeris knelt down to help him.
Cloud noticed where they were and who they were with. "Hey guys," he greeted, adressing AVALANCHE. "What's up?"
-
"So lemme get this straight," Yuffie began. "You were in Midgar when Aeris and Sephiroth appeared from nowhere and took you to another dimension. In that dimension you found these guys, the SeeDs, to help us. Sephiroth whipped up a portal and brought you to Wutai. Am I right?"
"Left out a lotta details, but yeah," Tifa answered. About four hours of chaos had passed since the arrival. It took a while for Cloud and Tifa to explain what had happened. The SeeDs were feeling a bit sick from the trip. Sephiroth, who had been exhausted, was lying down in the next room, with Aeris taking care of him. AVALANCHE and SeeD sat around a table in the pagoda. Everyone had been introduced.
"Are you sure we can trust these guys?" Vincent asked, eyeing the SeeDs.
"Of course," Tifa replied. "Aeris and Sephiroth had a dream about them helping us. Who would know better than them?"
"Hold on a minute," Elmyra interrupted. She had had a brief chance to meet her resurrected daughter before she went to take care of her own murderer. "Of course my Aeris would know the truth, but Sephiroth? He murdered my little girl...how could you allow him to live again!"
"She has a very good point," Red XIII said. AVALANCHE agreed.
"Well..." Cloud's voice drifted. Come to think of it, he realized that he trusted Sephiroth completely. But how? Cloud always thought that he would never like the silver-haired one, the monster who had destroyed his hometown. But...it was strange. In Esthar, he completely forgot about how terrible Sephiroth had been, except when he told Squall that story. It had been like Sephiroth had always been good, that Aeris had always been alive, that they were simply visiting Esthar like tourists do...
"How can you trust him, Cloud, Tifa?" Reeve asked sharply.
Tifa bowed her head. She felt the same way as Cloud. It was like she had always been friends with Sephiroth, and she and Aeris had never argued about anything, and it was ordinary for people to visit other dimensions..."I don't really trust him," she said. "It's just that Aeris wants me to..."
Cloud sighed and got up. "I'm gonna go see how he is," he said. He walked into the adjoining room. Aeris looked up. She knelt next to a futon that was spread out on the floor. Sephiroth lay there, his silvery hair flowing all around him.
"Cloud..." he tried saying as he slowly sat up. "I know what you were talking about in there...I feel the same way about you and Aeris and Tifa..."
"Yes," Aeris answered. "So do I."
Tifa had come in the room and they all sat there pondering why exactly they trusted each other, when they really shouldn't. Cloud went back into the large room. "I trust Sephiroth because I just do. Can't explain it."
Cid was about to open his mouth when Rinoa whispered, "Excuse me, but we SeeDs are very tired...maybe we could rest a little?"
"Huh? Oh, sure," Yuffie said. "You guys can sleep upstairs. There are a few empty rooms on the right."
"Thank you Miss Yuffie," Squall replied. The SeeDs slowly got up and trudged upstairs."
"They seem like good kids," Shera said thoughtfully.
"I think we can trust them," Barret agreed.
"We'll just have to wait and see," Vincent concluded.
-
Morning. Squall yawned. He sat up.
He lay on a futon at the Wutai Pagoda. Zell, Seifer, Irvine, and Laguna lay asleep on their futons, snoring softly. Squall dressed and went outside for a little while. He walked around the pagodas, and colorful Chinese houses, finally stopping at the foot of Da-Chao. So this is what the visitors' dimension looks like, he thought. I could never find a town like this back in our world...
"Morning," a sleepy voice whispered. It was Cloud. "Up with the sun, huh?"
"I want to explore. Savor it while it lasts."
"It won't last for long. We have a mission to fulfill."
Squall nodded. "I know."
When the men arrived back at the pagoda, breakfast was being served. Everyone but Selphie and Irvine were up. They all sat around the large table. Sephiroth sat in between Aeris and Vincent, who had been the only one to understand about the trust dilemma.
Laguna spotted Cloud and Squall coming in. "Morning!" he greeted. "Hey, as soon as Selphie and Irvine are up, we're going to make our battle plans."
"I'm thrilled," Squall sarcastically snapped back. He sat next to Laguna and Rinoa.
Squall, Squall, Squall, Laguna thought. I'm your father. I'm trying my best to be a good dad, but...
To be continued...
