Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 8... Nor do I own the lyrics to one of my favorite Japanese songs....
Dedication: To my dear friend Cloud's Angel.. because she is ALWAYS there for me... and when I mean I MEAN always..... ^__________^
Note: When I wrote this I was listening to classical music.. It put me in the mood for something more depressing.... and trust me this is pretty depressing until the last chapter or at least near the last chapter.....
Summary: The world has ended due to Time Compression. A select few live in the new world, and few cities are left standing, the LionHeart has been lost and Garden has lost its purpose..that is until a mysterious large object washes upon the shores of Balamb and Garden takes it in..
~*Death, Rebirth and the End of the World*~
~*Chapter 1: Devastation (Prologue)*~
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Like an Angel that has no sense of mercy
Rise young boy to the heaven's like a legend
Cold winds as blue as the sea
I tear open your heart, I see....
You smiling serenely
Desperate for something to touch
a moment of kindness is like that of a dream
Your innocent eyes have yet no idea
of the path your destiny will follow
but someday you will become aware of all that you have behind you
Your wings are for searching out
the future that only you can search for
The cruel Angel's thesis enters through the window of your soul
If you should betray the chapel of your memories
The cruel angel's thesis bleeds through a portal like your pulsing blood
So boy stand tall and embrace the fire of a legend
Embracing the universe like a blazing star!
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Tired and exhausted Squall shrank to one knee after the battle with Ultimecia. Supporting himself with his last amount of strength on the handle of the LionHeart. He wheezed and coughed. He look to his left where Rinoa was sitting holding herself close to her legs. Squall narrowed his eyes in a vain attempt to make out Rinoa's expression at the moment. Of what he could he see it was not pain, it was more of a guilty expression driven on her face. Her face burrowed down into her her knees even more and she began to sob. What was she sobbing about? Squall silently asked himself. He began to pull himself up from the ground, still supporting himself with his LionHeart. He looked to his right to check on Zell who was sprawled on the ground, breathing heavily. Squall looked ahead of him and found Ultimecia slowly being absolved into the starry background which was all around them. In an attempt to move Squall placed one foot forward and began to drag his other foot behind it. It failed as he stumbled and fell forward.
As the last bit of Ultimecia was sucked up into the black, electrical ball. The light of stars disappeared and a rumbling sound like a stampede of a thousand elephants rang through the trios ears. With each passing second it became louder and louder. Rinoa clasped her hands over her ears and began to shake her head violently. Never had she heard anything so ear shattering and brain rattling. Squall and the rest closed their eyes from the pain. Their bodies shook with the loud sound as it echoed through their very souls.
*
From the sky came a small black orb, shining and sparkling in the sun light as it descended upon Tears Point. It slowly landed on to the top of Tears Point, but went through like a ghost. It descended to the four statues that surrounded each other, it came to the center of the four. A giant black explosion erupted, destroying the four statues and Tears Point. It swept through the barren plains of Esther and moved onto the city itself. The blast quickly destroyed the entire city in just seconds as it past over it like a hawk. As if eating the land for strength, the blast picked up its pace. It swept across the world with tremendous force. Destroying anything and everything in it's path, few were spared from the explosions fury.
****
Zell opened his eyes weakly. He saw not what he usually saw when he woke up from his dreams. His eyes darted across the landscape, if that was what you wanted to call it. It was barren, almost as if he was in a giant smoldering crater. The sky was a light blue with a tint of crimson red. He picked himself up on unsteady hands and stood on unsteady legs. He completely turned around and found a light blue building in the distance. The building wasn't to far away, he could easily make it on foot. But he was thinking in terms of when he was actually capable of walking. Right now his legs were in no way ready for the trek to the fairly large blue building. But he had to go, for he did not know where he was, or what the hell had happened. His legs seemed to sync with his mind perfectly but they were over flowing with immense pain. He clamped his eyes shut as his pace increased and the pain increased. He could rest when he got to the building. The red sand scratched under his feet. There were no hills in sight, no mountains, no cliffs, no anything really. He had no way of recognizing where he was, if he was even on this planet.
****
Rinoa's eyes fluttered open to reveal head lights blinding her vision. She quickly placed an arm over her eyes to shield her from the intense light pounding down upon her.
"Oh thank Hyne you are awake." Quistis said with an obvious smile, Rinoa could easily tell with the tone in her voice.
"Where am I, Quistis?" Rinoa asked, her eyes still covered with her arm.
"How did you know it was me?" Quistis asked.
"I think I know your voice by now." Rinoa said with a laugh.
"But back to your question, we are back in Garden." Quistis told her as she rapped her arms around Rinoa's neck.
"Did we stop Time Compression?" Rinoa asked with a smile as she removed her arm from her eyes to look at Quistis, expecting the answer of an absolute yes. There was a long sad pause between the two. "Well?" Rinoa practically begged her to answer. The squeaking of the door interrupted the awkward silence of Quistis. Quistis was obviously relieved at the interruption, she didn't want to answer that question. Xu stepped into the room.
"Rinoa, I think I can answer your question." Xu said as she entered the room with a few more foot steps. "You did stop Time Compression, however that was a draw back to the plan we had devised." Xu said with as she looked to the ground. "We did not expect Ultimecia to have that much power, we had miss calculated our results and did not think ahead. As a result, the Time Compressed world you were in crashed into ours, creating horrible circumstances." Xu told her as she moved forward towards Rinoa's infirmary bed.
"What were the circumstances?" Rinoa was almost scared to ask that question, but with a loud gulp she asked it.
"Look outside." Quistis answered for Xu. Rinoa lifted her head from the pillow and caught an eye full of the barren red land. Her eyes went to a horrific size and she screamed as loud as she could....
*
Quistis stepped out of Rinoa's infirmary room and she leaned against the door of it. Rinoa had taken that fact really hard, and she has obviously caught on to what had happened once she saw the barren, red plains of Balamb. She slightly sighed to herself. The world has be fallen a tragedy, and it was their fault. All their fault. Filled with rage, her hands tightened up into a fist and she slammed it against the door. Xu walked up to her, one hand clasped behind her back.
"Would like to see the others?" Xu asked. Quistis nodded, losing her rage at the fact that the rest of the group seemed to be okay. "This way." Xu said as she began to walk ahead, through the infirmary halls. She stopped infront one of the doors. "Here it is." She said as she pulled the door open for Quitis. There lay Irvine and Selphie. An angry looked crossed her face.
"Where are the others?" Quistis with a slight bit of a rage as she turned to face Xu.
"We could not locate them, they did not seem to be in this area." Xu told her. "It seems that anyone who was heard the explosion of the world was thrown across the world in to different spots." Xu explained. "We are most fortunate that we survived, for this could have been the death of the world." Xu told Quistis as she walked closer.
"Death? Are you saying it is alive?" Quistis asked with a laugh. Xu looked solemnly to her right....
****
Squall trekked on in the barren red sand. The wings howled, picking up sand and throwing it about as the yelled. They ripped through Squall's hair, and bit at his face. But Squall traveled on nun the less. He would not die like this. He would never die like this, just sitting around waiting for dehydration to get the better of him. He at least had to try to stay alive. He wandered forward without thought for God knows how long until he came across a large light blue building in the distance. Garden perhaps? He didn't want to ask, he wanted to know. His became a sprint for the building, excited at the possibility of that actually being Garden.
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A/N: Well, I really hope you people liked this chapter... many more to come... I hope... ^__^
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