XV
"There's something to be said for knowing your enemy. But, to tell the truth, I don't think this is an enemy I want to know."
--Vinzer Deling, start of the Sorceress War

"Triumph!"

The voice called out of the darkness, and Squall tried to turn his head. To one side, he heard Zell stand up, to the other, he could see Seifer struggling to his feet.

"Is this--the dream world?" Zell asked--a ridiculous question. Ellone's "dream world" was the past--sad, sometimes, or melancholy, but gentle compared to this vindictive darkness. "No--" he muttered. "Ellone can't do that anymore."

"...the hell is this?" Seifer demanded, looking around at the black void.

"It is a pity you do not recognise me," the voice said from the darkness, laughing under its breath at something only it found funny. "Perhaps this can be attributed to the fact you do not know me. But I have known each of you for a long, long time."

"Who are you?" Squall asked into the darkness. (Where are we?)

A figure stepped out of the darkness--illuminated by some inner light, he was as unnatural as the void in which he stood. He was obviously strong--a thin, sinewy strength like a snake's, or a cat's. Long silver hair poured down behind him over a cape of pure black, an eastern fighter's trousers billowing around his legs. There was a fanciful scar on his chest, carved meticulously in the shape of a serpent, half obscured by the silver sash he wore. He was tall. At least as tall as Seifer, whose 6'2" height wasn't bested very often. Compelling blue-green eyes stared out of an ageless face, one that could almost be called elegant. But the aura ofmalice surrounding him was--frightening.

A long blade, even taller than the man himself and quite thin, appeared in his hand. "You don't recognise me? At all? I'm... disappointed. But not surprised."

"Who are you?" Squall asked again.

"You may call me Dyne," he said. "Lord Dyne, Dyne Ascendant. Though I have had other names. In fact, I stole this one, as well."

Seifer reached behind him for his gunblade, stepping back a pace when he found it wasn't there. "What are you doing with us?" he asked.

Dyne bowed. "I have come to make you an offer. I am sure you know me--you have heard my name, and the name of my ancestor often enough. I," he said, standing up to his full height, "am the descendant of Hyne."

(Descendant of Hyne,) Squall thought. (That's what Sorceresses are called.)

"The silent one thinks correctly," Dyne said, startling him. "The powers that make the Sorceresses what they are are Hyne's gift. And with that gift, I have the potential to rule the world. In the name of the creator of man, Hyne, I offer you the chance to join me."

"Never," Squall said immediately. (I just finished with a sorceress--do I have to fight a Sorcerer now, too?)

A look of displeasure crossed Dyne's face. "No, way," Zell said from off to one side.

"No, thanks," Seifer said with his usual scorn, though the tiniest hint of regret was conveyed in his tone as well. "I tried that once. Didn't work out."

Dyne frowned. With a gesture, Zell and Seifer disappeared.

"Those two are of little concern to me," he said. "But you, Squall Leonhart. Surely you will reconsider."

"No," Squall said simply.

"But I have so much to offer you," Dyne said. "So much you might... lose... otherwise." He stepped closer, sword flashing in the lacklight. "And I do want your service, knight."

A cold wind threaded around Squall. (Knight--) the title of sorceress's guardians. He had become Rinoa's knight, informally--as Seifer had become Ultimecia's. Seifer's path had nearly lead to his ruin. And now Dyne was offering him the same.

He opened his mouth to respond--but he was interrupted. Out of nowhere the GF Gilgamesh appeared, his four swords Zantetsuken, Masamune, Excaliber and Excalipoor strapped to his back.

"You would still seek to challenge us?" he asked from within the many folds of the robe he wore. Masamune flashed from his back to his fist, razor-sharp and deadly. Squall couldn't help but notice that it bore a striking resemblance to the one Dyne held in his hands--or that Dyne was staring at it, expression a tremulous suspension between disgusted disbelief and yearning. "Then you have erred," Gilgamesh continued.

Dyne struck with all the speed of a cobra, but Gilgamesh was faster. With an effortless twist of his wrist, he disarmed the would-be conqueror. Turning, time seemed to pause around him as he said "where is Naja?" and vanished. A vertiginous wake swept from his exit, engulfing Dyne--and the man faded, leaving Squall to wondere desperately what was going on.

Not that he had expected any sense from Gilgamesh. The first time he had appeared, just after Seifer had killed Odin, his entire conversation with Seifer had consisted of "You gave me the fourth one. Huh? Was it you? Then dodge my sword! Eat this!"--at which point he had sent Seifer flying across the room, turned, and said "Where is the dimentional interval?" as a parting shot. Then he had vanished, taking Odin's sword, the Zantetsuken, with him. If Gilgamesh had some kind of grand aim, it wasn't one that Squall understood.

(But that entire exchange made no sense. Where am I? Where is Dyne? ...who is Dyne? And what the hell is going on?)

"All fair questions," an infinitely proper voice said into his mind.

"Ash," rumbled a voice from somewhere else. "We don't need to tell him anything. Let him fight as he's wont to."

"You stand corrected, brother-mine," the first voice said again. "How else is he to know the task we have chosen to charge him with? Be kinder."

Squall turned--to find himself looking into the baleful, yellow eyes of Ifrit, the fire-elemental, dwarfing him as they stood in a silent faceoff. Behind Ifrit hovered the gold-and-green Quezacotl, capelike tail fluttering. (What...?) Squall wondered.

"We would tell you something," Quezacotl said.

"He would tell you something," Ifrit growled.

"And yet you were the one who pulled him from the water, used your own soul's element to protect him from the bitter cold of Dyne's minions. You are as much involved with this as I could ever be, simply by virtue of your warm-hearted nature."

"Jester!" Ifrit roared. "Be onwith your task before I rend you from the heavens!"

Quezacotl turned to Squall. "We Guardians have spoken amongst ourselves. We belive you must know some things: that the one you have just seen, the one called Dyne, is a danger which must be defeated. We have spoken amongst ourselves, and agreed that as you defeated the Sorceress Ultimecia, so you would be the one most equiped to deal with the Sorcerer Dyne. And until this task is finished, we shall aid you--to the fullest extent of our powers."

"But--" (Why?) Squall thought.

"Humans!" Ifrit snapped. "They are as foolish as... fools! Surely, human child, you did not go through the future with your eyes shut! You saw Ultimecia's Guardian Forces, those twisted mockeries we could once have called kin! Perhaps you could see the resemblance between the Guardian, Greiver and I; could sense the threat to our brothers, ourlikenesses, our twins! And did you not see the corrupted Tiamat, strong as Bahamut Himself? We do not relish these things happening to our kind! And if the Sorceress Ultimecia can do such things, could the Sorcerer Dyne? Only his death will please us. And seeing as you owe your life to us for many occasions, you will aid us."

"We would not place this burden on you alone," Quezacotl said. "While it is in our power, we will aid you. But do not attempt to summon us--for now. We have our own preparations to make. A war is brewing, the likes of which we have not for millennia seen. We will come when we are needed.
"We will be waiting in Centra."

-

The void faded away, to be replaced with the infirmary lights. Squall glanced to either side, noticing Zell and Seifer in the other beds.

"They're all fine," Doctor Kadowaki said from the next room over. "In fact, they're all better than fine. They're the healthiest I've ever seen them. You know the newer wounds on Squall's head and side? They're both healed. Not even a scar. All three of them just... seem to be sleeping."

"I saw them," Nida said. "That was not just falling asleep. They looked like someone shot them in the head."

"Can we see them?" Quistis asked.

"Sure. Go right ahead," Kadowaki replied. There was a moment's wait, then the door to the room creaked open. Squall slipped out of bed and stood up, facing Quistis.

"Oh," she said. "I thought you were asleep."

"How long?" Squall asked.

"You've been out for about an hour," Quistis said. "What happened?"

(That might be a little hard to explain,) Squall thought. "I think I know what's going on here. With the armies, the GFs--all of it."

Quistis brightened up. "Well, that's--very good!" she said. "But--maybe you should wait until those two wake up. I'm sure everyone will want to hear about it."

"Yeah," Squall said. "I'm sure they will. Is Garden safe?"

"It's a standoff," Quistis said. "We've got the leaks plugged, but we're still running in circles around their... ship, I guess you'd call it. But, Doctor Odine's made another discovery."

"Odine? He's still here?"

Quistis nodded. "Don't ask me why. I don't think that Kiros could make him leave."

"Of course not!" came a voice from the doorway. "You cannot stand in ze way of science!"

(...not again...) Squall thought. (Could we maybe not make a habit of this?)

Odine came bustling in the door, carrying a black combat jacket. It looked... efficient. The kind of thing a commando would wear. Bulletproof.

Odine held it up with all the pride of a master angler holding up a huge catch. "I found zis on the inside of ze armor," he said. Opening it, he showed them the metal wiring in the inside. "Yez, you remember, it iz vith zis zat one can receive transmissions in ze way of brain waves--it iz ze way ze master of ze army controls his troops. Without zis, ze armor is completely safe. But with zis, anyone who puts zis on becomes one of ze enemy. One of ze ultimate soldiers! It iz ze most efficient of such a machine Odine has ever seen! And now, Odine has ze jacket--ans it iz fully intact for study!" The scientist smiled happily. "Now, you vill attempt ze rescue, so I may get on with my paper!" Odine demanded.

"Fair enough," Squall said. "The Quad, then? It has more space than the infirmary."

"Excellent!" Odine said. "I vill evacuate ze Quad at once!"

The bizarre little man rushed out of the room, presumably going to the Quad.

"Hey, Squall." Nida asked. "You really planning on doing this?"

Squall nodded. Nida shrugged. "Well, I guess if you want to, there's not much we can do to convince you not to."

Nida remembered run-ins with Squall's determination. Specifically, he remembered the Esthar fiasco--Squall had ordered him to pilot the Garden to the hidden city-nation, and when Nida had responded that it was impossible, Squall had told him to do his best anyway. They had made it to Fisherman's Horizon.

Nida hadn't expected them to get any further. But then Squall had disappeared, and only after talkign with Quistis did Nida realize that it was his intention to walk the rest of the way--carrying a comatose Rinoa on his back, to boot. Garden had stayed at FH, waiting for him until Nida was almost sure he had collapsed of exhaustion somewhere along the line.

Then he had shown up again, with Rinoa alive and well, in command of an Estharan warship.

It had been pretty unnerving.

Squall stepped out of the infirmary, heading towards the Quad. Doing a mental check he saw that he was, in fact, stocked up to about a hundred Shells and Demis. He noticed than the floors had been mostly cleared of dead bodies--which was good. There were still a few floating (and otherwise) corpses in the stream below, however. Squall grimaced. How long was the casualty list this time?

He was glad he didn't have to walk by the parking lot--as the Garden itself was mobile and they had had little need for cars, he had ordered it turned into a larger, more comfortable room that could be used as a lounge or--in times like these, an extended infirmary. It had quickly become the main social point of the Garden in times of peace--a point Squall did his best to avoid. Now, it would clogged with the wounded and dying.

Stepping into the Quad, Squall almost winced at the damage there. While nothing compaired to the structural damage it had suffered in the last attack, the walls did bear burn marks and deep gouges were cut into the walls and floor where weapons had missed their targets. A spray of bulletholes across one wall clearly said that there had been a machinegunner in there, and random red-brown stains showed where the janitors hadn't been able to clean yet.

Odine, blissfully oblivious to the carnage, stood by the biggest tree in the Quad and waited impatiently for Squall to get ready. Then, carefully, Squall began layering the Shells on himself.

(One right on top of the other--no overlap, no space between.) He started with a small, almost skin-tight one, then gradually got larger.

(Ten---eleven---)

One of Odine's lab assistants--(How did he get there? Did Odine bring along the entire damned population of Esthar?)--was scribbling notes down furiously. Odine was watching with a look of too-eager entusiasm.

(Eighteen---nineteen--four more...)

The last shell was big. Squall had never thought that he would need a shell that big. Offhand, he wondered how much any magic would be able to do to him now.

(All right. Now for the Demi.)

Concentrating again, Squall cast Demi, only a few feet away from himself. Stepping forward, he felt the intense resistance as the Shells hit the Demi spell. It was like trying to walk up a waterfall.

(A bit further--just a bit further.) And, suddenly--(there!) He could see into the dark netherworld that served as Dyne's prison. Looking around, he caught sight of the prisoners--Rinoa, watching him with a look of stunned surprise that quickly turned to joy, Laguna, with an idiotic grin plastered to his face, Selphie, jumping up and down, and a Shumi, holding a golden, glowing sphere that seemed to be emitting some heavy magic. Then, suddenly, Squall couldn't go any further--the sphere was pushing him back. The Shumi said something, tried to do something with the sphere as Laguna turned to say something to him, then the Demi spell collapsed and Squall found himself staring up at the ceiling of the Quad.

"Where's the armor?" Squall asked, without hesitation.

Odine gestured to something behind Squall as he got up. "It iz right zere... vithout ze jacket, of course." Squall hoped it was only his imagination that made Odine sound disappointed at that concession. "Kiros vill help you put it on."

Turning, Squall saw that Kiros had come in without his noticing. Walking over to the armor which, disturbingly enough, was standing upright, Kiros punched a button on the collar and undid what looked like a twisted hook, and the entire torso of the armor split open down the front.

"You'll need to stand on a chair to jump in," Kiros said. "There doesn't seem to be any other way."

Squall waited while Kiros dragged over a bench, then climbed up on it. Carefully lowering his legs into the bottom half of the armor, he almost jumped when the torso closed around him, shrinking to fit him. He tried moving, finding that the armor was surprisingly light... mechanized? It seemed likely. Flexing his fingers, Squall was amazed at the dexterity of the armor. And strength! It felt as if he would be able to lift Balamb Garden!

Checking his right hand, Squall saw the twenty-three Shell stones carefully arranged in the shape of a serpent on his palm. (Some kind of emblem,) he thought. (I wonder what it means? Does it have any significance?) They were tiny, only the size of pebbles. Each one was full with magical energy.

Steeling himself, he cast Demi again. This time the armor compensated for the resistance--Squall walked through as easily as if nothing was there, emerging on the other side as the spell collapsed behind him.

Rinoa jumped on him, catching him in a happy hug. While Squall gently tried to disengage her, Laguna walked up to one side.

"Welcome to the Netherworld," he said. "I hope you have a way to get us out of here."

Squall nodded. "Of course. Same way you got in."

(First--Rinoa.) "Rinoa, stand over there for a second," Squall said. She bounced over, and waited while Squall began layering the Shells on her. "Now," he said, "just step through the Demi. It'll be kind of hard, like walking against water."

Rinoa nodded, and waited as Squall cast Demi, concentrating on the Quad and hoping that would be where she'd end up. Rinoa walked towards it, distorted, and disappeared.

Squall repeated the procedure for Selphie, Laguna, and, finally, Guard, who asked if Squall could please try to send him back to the Shumi village. Squall tried--though he didn't know how precisely the magic worked, and thus had no idea where Guard would actually end up. Then, he cast Demi on himself and tried to concentrate on the Quad--on Selphie, on Rinoa, who was sure to be waiting. Tried not to think of the time when he had been trapped--alone--in a universe that consisted entirely of a rock twenty meters across. Tried not to think that, as a rescue went, this one had been unnervingly easy.

Two sets of hands caught him as he staggered through the spell: Kiros and Laguna. Odine was jumping up and down with energy unsurpassed past or present by anyone except perhaps Selphie on a good day. "The crossing's kinda rough, isn't it?" asked Laguna as Squall stood on his own and tried to open the armor. Kiros stepped over to help him with it, but Squall was able to figure it out by himself. Hauling himself out, he noticed that Zell and Seifer had arrived.

"Now might be a good time for some answers," Quistis said before Rinoa could latch onto Squall again. "Why don't you tell us what you know?"

(All right,) Squall thought. (But I have to warn you--it's weird.)