Dedication: I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Ashbear, a wonderful
writer, and Mayanoka, an excellent inspiration, as well as someone who
hasn't updated her fic in a very long time. Where's it at? I'd also like
to dedicate this chapter to Linkin Park, the greatest rock band of all time
and my greatest musical muse.....I don't know why, I just felt like it, so
don't ask.
Chapter 8
"Darkness is the poison that fills me, corrupting the life that courses through my veins. Hate is the shadow upon my doorway, sealing the fate that was forced upon me. Evil creates the wings upon my back, weighing me down as much as they lift me up. Revenge is the acid that eats away my humanity, until I am nothing more to you than a creature to be caged."
Words rang out in Rinoa's head as she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to ignore the room around her. It was dark, and the place itself was silent, but this was no consolation to her. She would rather had been in the middle of a screaming crowd. But the place she most wanted to be was with Squall.
Rinoa stood from the bed she had been laying on and crossed her room to the balcony, so that she could look out. It was horribly overcast outside, which matched Rinoa's mood. Here she was, locked in her own tower that she had grown up in. There were words running through her head, and visions flashing before her mind's eye. She didn't know what Ultimecia wanted from her, but she knew it had to have something to with her powers. If only she'd warned Squall before. And Squall.... she wasn't sure where he was. Unfortunately, she had the sinking feeling that he was dead.
"Squall...." she murmered as she gazed forlornly over the empty square of the palace. "We'd only just gotten together. And already, they've taken you away."
"Oh, don't worry too much about him, Princess," came a voice from behind her. "Worrying over dead people doesn't bring them back."
Rinoa whirled around to find herself face to face with Seifer.
"What did you do to him?!" she demanded angrily.
"Put him out of his misery," was the reply.
Rinoa smacked Seifer hard across the face, and started to leap at him. He grabbed her by the wrist and shoved her to floor. He raised his fist into the air, about to bring it down on her when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
He turned to see an old looking woman with gray-streaked black hair looking at him.
"Not now, Seifer," she said, shaking her head. "We've other matters to attend to."
He scowled down at her before turning around and walking off. The older woman peered down at her with a small grin on her face.
"Pick yourself up, dear. You look disgraceful."
"Who are you?" Rinoa asked.
"Don't you remember me?" the woman asked. "We met only the day before yesterday. I am Ultimecia."
"What do you want with me?"
"You shall see soon enough," Ultimecia answered.
"How did you come to be here? Where's my father?"
"He is dead. Seifer thought you might end up here, and came to wage war upon your father. Shortly after your father's death, I arrived here. Thankfully, you also arrived here. I convinced Seifer to work with me. It is much easier that way, don't you think?"
Rinoa was speechless. For the majority of her life, she'd thought that things would be easier if her father were dead. Then, she would be free of everything. Free to live the life she wanted. But now that it had finally happened, she wasn't sure what to feel.
"What did you do with Squall?" she asked after a moment, fear creeping into her voice.
"He is being properly taken kare of."
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Two women walked side by side, chatting idley as they made their way down a mostly empty stone street. There was a tall, black haired woman on one side, walking with a yellow flower in her hand. The other had dark brown hair which she kept pinned up.
"So, you ran away from home?" asked the raven-haired one.
"Yes. That was a year ago. I've been out on my own ever since."
"If you don't mind my asking, why did you run away?"
The brown haired one turned to her with a look of pain shining in her large brown eyes. "If I tell you, you can't tell another soul. Not ever."
A loud crack and the feeling of burning pain distorted the vision, until suddenly it was something else.
"You'll be my knight, won't you? Always?"
"I wish I could. But don't you think you should stop the destruction spree? Julia's moved on now. She's getting married to an emperor. Maybe you should do the same?"
She looked up at her companion with tear-filled eyes. "What are you trying to say?"
He sighed for a moment before taking her hand. "You and I.... we're the same. Both of us have these powers. So does Julia. I know that things have seemed wonderful the past year. The three of us being friends, and you and I going out. But.... we've all got to move on. Times change. I... I've been seeing someone else."
She closed her eyes and allowed the tears to flow freely. "Who?"
"Her name's Raine. I've been seeing her for a long time. Longer than you, in fact. And I..... she's pregnant. And I think I love her."
"Did Julia know about this when she introduced me to you?"
He nodded solemnly. "Yes. She thought I'd really grow to love you. I'm sorry."
Another crack of blazing pain brought with it another vision.
A black haired woman stood in a richly decorated room. She wore a gold headress and extravagent make-up.
"So. You broke my heart. And now you've come to kill me."
"I'm not going to kill you. I'm just going to dethrone you. We are. This destruction and pain has to stop."
"You brought it on yourself!" she snapped. "You and Julia. You decieved me. What more do I have left? Just this empire. Just the power."
"You don't deserve it. You never did. You have to leave this place now. And never return. If you do, I will hunt you down personally, and kill you."
"You were supposed to be my knight. What happened?"
"I saw you for who you really were. Now go. And stay away."
Yet another sharp pang brought Squall out of his unconciousness. He sat on a cold stone floor, with his arms chained up over his head. Blood streaked down his face, which was partially swollen. A tall man stood over him, with a pair of brass knuckles on his left hand.
"Finally awake, Squall? Good. I was hoping you'd be up soon."
Squall blinked a couple times and peered up into the darkness above him.
"Seifer," he growled as best as he could, contempt clear in his voice. "What have you done with Rinoa?"
"She's in good hands. In fact, I was just visiting her a minute ago. Yes, she's in good hands. Ultimecia will take good care of her. And after her powers have been tested, Ultimecia will take them, combining them with her own so that she will be more powerful than anyone could ever imagine."
"What makes you think that Rinoa has powers?"
"Her mother. She was a personal friend of Ultimecia once. She had great powers, which were said to be hereditary."
"You better not do anything to hurt her."
"Oh don't worry. We won't hurt her. And when we kill her for her powers, I promise she won't feel a thing."
"Asshole! You dare even touch her and I swear I'll-"
"You'll what?" Seifer interrupted. "You're in no position to make threats. Why do you care about her anyway? From what I remember of you, you never cared about anybody but yourself."
"Don't touch her, Seifer. This is your only warning."
Seifer laughed. "Whatever you say, pal. I've got to go now, if you don't mind. I've a princess to attend to."
Seifer then turned and walked away, leaving Squall to sit there, his head pounding and his body weak from lack of blood. Everything was slowly going dark, and his last thoughts before his world was swallowed by oblivion, was one of regret. Regret that he couldn't save Rinoa.
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"If you're going to kill me, then just do it. There's no sense in making this any worse," Rinoa said, in a tear-filled voice.
"What have I done to make this so bad?" Ultimecia asked calmly.
"You killed him didn't you?" she asked. "You killed Squall. And you plan to kill me, too. So why not just do it already?"
"I shall, I assure you. When the time comes. And what do you care about him, anyway?"
Rinoa didn't reply, but only glared up at the evil woman angrily.
"I see," she said. "Well, don't blame me. This is all for the sake of revenge."
"Revenge against who?" Rinoa asked, curiosity over coming her contempt.
"If your mother was still alive, I'd tell you to ask her. Or if Squall's father was still alive, I'd tell you to ask him." She suddenly fell silent and walked over to the balcony, gazing out to the scenery below, though from the look in her eyes, that was not what she was seeing. "He was the only one who kould defeat me," she said in a distant voice. "The only one who would ever have the power. Or so I thought. His son.... there's something in him that frightens me. That symbol of his. The lion. It was his father's. It is a sign of power."
"You're saying that Squall's dead father had powers, and that Squall has powers, too? All because of that necklace he's wearing?"
Ultimecia whirled around sharply, glaring angrily at her. "I am not answering your questions. I'll be leaving now."
She stormed out of the room, leaving Rinoa to sit and think. There was no way she could escape. There were to many guards around. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't keep her mind of Squall. She missed him more then she ever could have expected. No, she didn't just miss him. It was just like she had wanted to tell him before. She loved him.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a rustling from her curtains. She spun around to see the tall shadow of a man standing before her.
Rinoa jumped back. "Who are you?"
"My name's Laguna. I'm here to help you."
"Yeah right," Rinoa snapped. "As if I'm going to trust you. Seifer sent you to mess with my mind, didn't he? That bastard!"
"No. I've come to help you against him. I'm Squall's father."
"Bull shit! Squall's father is dead."
"I was never dead. I thought the rest of my family was dead. So I ran away. And recently I've discovered that my son and daughter are still alive. So, I'm here to help."
"There's no one to help," Rinoa said, her voice cracking a little at the end. "Squall's dead."
"Did you see him die?"
"No."
"Then he's not really dead. Not until you have proof. And if you want proof that I'm his father," he paused for a moment before pulling something of his finger and tossing it to Rinoa. It was a ring with the design of a lion head on it. "It's the family symbol."
"So I was told," Rinoa replied before tossing the ring back.
"Well, let's go."
"Go where?"
"To rescue Squall."
"Are you fucking crazy? The are guards all over the place. How did you get in here, anyway?" she asked.
A slight grin came over his face. "A little thing called powers. I have them, and you have them. You are Julia's daughter, right?"
"Yeah. But how did you know her?"
"She was a good friend of mine a long time ago..... So was Ultimecia."
Rinoa let out a small gasp. "You knew both of them?"
He nodded. "We'll discuss it later. For now, let's go."
"But I don't know how to use my powers," she replied quickly.
"You are very powerful. So all you have to do, is stretch out your hand and concentrate on what it is that you want to be done. For instance, that door over there that leads to the stair case is locked. Stretch out your hand toward it, and concentrate on knocking it down."
Rinoa did as he said. For a moment nothing happened. Then suddenly, the door flew out of the wall, bringing the frame with it, and falling on the two guards outside.
"Very good!" Laguna exclaimed. "Now let's hurry and go!"
They managed to get outside, with little trouble. After quick discusion, they had decided that the first place they should check would be the dungeon. They snuck across the big, empty square, and hid around a corner, waiting until the cost was clear.
"You watch my back," Laguna said as he peeked around the corner to the door that led to the underground chambers.
Rinoa nodded and watched as he slipped inside. Rinoa was about to follow after him, when she felt a hand on her shoulder from behind.
"It's time," Seifer's voice whispered in her ear.
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A/N: Sorry if this chapter is a little short. The next one will probably be the last. And sorry it took me so long to update. Between my other fic, school, and planning my next novel, everything's been hectic. So review! Please? Hope it was good, sorry if it wasn't. Review!!!!!
Chapter 8
"Darkness is the poison that fills me, corrupting the life that courses through my veins. Hate is the shadow upon my doorway, sealing the fate that was forced upon me. Evil creates the wings upon my back, weighing me down as much as they lift me up. Revenge is the acid that eats away my humanity, until I am nothing more to you than a creature to be caged."
Words rang out in Rinoa's head as she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to ignore the room around her. It was dark, and the place itself was silent, but this was no consolation to her. She would rather had been in the middle of a screaming crowd. But the place she most wanted to be was with Squall.
Rinoa stood from the bed she had been laying on and crossed her room to the balcony, so that she could look out. It was horribly overcast outside, which matched Rinoa's mood. Here she was, locked in her own tower that she had grown up in. There were words running through her head, and visions flashing before her mind's eye. She didn't know what Ultimecia wanted from her, but she knew it had to have something to with her powers. If only she'd warned Squall before. And Squall.... she wasn't sure where he was. Unfortunately, she had the sinking feeling that he was dead.
"Squall...." she murmered as she gazed forlornly over the empty square of the palace. "We'd only just gotten together. And already, they've taken you away."
"Oh, don't worry too much about him, Princess," came a voice from behind her. "Worrying over dead people doesn't bring them back."
Rinoa whirled around to find herself face to face with Seifer.
"What did you do to him?!" she demanded angrily.
"Put him out of his misery," was the reply.
Rinoa smacked Seifer hard across the face, and started to leap at him. He grabbed her by the wrist and shoved her to floor. He raised his fist into the air, about to bring it down on her when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
He turned to see an old looking woman with gray-streaked black hair looking at him.
"Not now, Seifer," she said, shaking her head. "We've other matters to attend to."
He scowled down at her before turning around and walking off. The older woman peered down at her with a small grin on her face.
"Pick yourself up, dear. You look disgraceful."
"Who are you?" Rinoa asked.
"Don't you remember me?" the woman asked. "We met only the day before yesterday. I am Ultimecia."
"What do you want with me?"
"You shall see soon enough," Ultimecia answered.
"How did you come to be here? Where's my father?"
"He is dead. Seifer thought you might end up here, and came to wage war upon your father. Shortly after your father's death, I arrived here. Thankfully, you also arrived here. I convinced Seifer to work with me. It is much easier that way, don't you think?"
Rinoa was speechless. For the majority of her life, she'd thought that things would be easier if her father were dead. Then, she would be free of everything. Free to live the life she wanted. But now that it had finally happened, she wasn't sure what to feel.
"What did you do with Squall?" she asked after a moment, fear creeping into her voice.
"He is being properly taken kare of."
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Two women walked side by side, chatting idley as they made their way down a mostly empty stone street. There was a tall, black haired woman on one side, walking with a yellow flower in her hand. The other had dark brown hair which she kept pinned up.
"So, you ran away from home?" asked the raven-haired one.
"Yes. That was a year ago. I've been out on my own ever since."
"If you don't mind my asking, why did you run away?"
The brown haired one turned to her with a look of pain shining in her large brown eyes. "If I tell you, you can't tell another soul. Not ever."
A loud crack and the feeling of burning pain distorted the vision, until suddenly it was something else.
"You'll be my knight, won't you? Always?"
"I wish I could. But don't you think you should stop the destruction spree? Julia's moved on now. She's getting married to an emperor. Maybe you should do the same?"
She looked up at her companion with tear-filled eyes. "What are you trying to say?"
He sighed for a moment before taking her hand. "You and I.... we're the same. Both of us have these powers. So does Julia. I know that things have seemed wonderful the past year. The three of us being friends, and you and I going out. But.... we've all got to move on. Times change. I... I've been seeing someone else."
She closed her eyes and allowed the tears to flow freely. "Who?"
"Her name's Raine. I've been seeing her for a long time. Longer than you, in fact. And I..... she's pregnant. And I think I love her."
"Did Julia know about this when she introduced me to you?"
He nodded solemnly. "Yes. She thought I'd really grow to love you. I'm sorry."
Another crack of blazing pain brought with it another vision.
A black haired woman stood in a richly decorated room. She wore a gold headress and extravagent make-up.
"So. You broke my heart. And now you've come to kill me."
"I'm not going to kill you. I'm just going to dethrone you. We are. This destruction and pain has to stop."
"You brought it on yourself!" she snapped. "You and Julia. You decieved me. What more do I have left? Just this empire. Just the power."
"You don't deserve it. You never did. You have to leave this place now. And never return. If you do, I will hunt you down personally, and kill you."
"You were supposed to be my knight. What happened?"
"I saw you for who you really were. Now go. And stay away."
Yet another sharp pang brought Squall out of his unconciousness. He sat on a cold stone floor, with his arms chained up over his head. Blood streaked down his face, which was partially swollen. A tall man stood over him, with a pair of brass knuckles on his left hand.
"Finally awake, Squall? Good. I was hoping you'd be up soon."
Squall blinked a couple times and peered up into the darkness above him.
"Seifer," he growled as best as he could, contempt clear in his voice. "What have you done with Rinoa?"
"She's in good hands. In fact, I was just visiting her a minute ago. Yes, she's in good hands. Ultimecia will take good care of her. And after her powers have been tested, Ultimecia will take them, combining them with her own so that she will be more powerful than anyone could ever imagine."
"What makes you think that Rinoa has powers?"
"Her mother. She was a personal friend of Ultimecia once. She had great powers, which were said to be hereditary."
"You better not do anything to hurt her."
"Oh don't worry. We won't hurt her. And when we kill her for her powers, I promise she won't feel a thing."
"Asshole! You dare even touch her and I swear I'll-"
"You'll what?" Seifer interrupted. "You're in no position to make threats. Why do you care about her anyway? From what I remember of you, you never cared about anybody but yourself."
"Don't touch her, Seifer. This is your only warning."
Seifer laughed. "Whatever you say, pal. I've got to go now, if you don't mind. I've a princess to attend to."
Seifer then turned and walked away, leaving Squall to sit there, his head pounding and his body weak from lack of blood. Everything was slowly going dark, and his last thoughts before his world was swallowed by oblivion, was one of regret. Regret that he couldn't save Rinoa.
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"If you're going to kill me, then just do it. There's no sense in making this any worse," Rinoa said, in a tear-filled voice.
"What have I done to make this so bad?" Ultimecia asked calmly.
"You killed him didn't you?" she asked. "You killed Squall. And you plan to kill me, too. So why not just do it already?"
"I shall, I assure you. When the time comes. And what do you care about him, anyway?"
Rinoa didn't reply, but only glared up at the evil woman angrily.
"I see," she said. "Well, don't blame me. This is all for the sake of revenge."
"Revenge against who?" Rinoa asked, curiosity over coming her contempt.
"If your mother was still alive, I'd tell you to ask her. Or if Squall's father was still alive, I'd tell you to ask him." She suddenly fell silent and walked over to the balcony, gazing out to the scenery below, though from the look in her eyes, that was not what she was seeing. "He was the only one who kould defeat me," she said in a distant voice. "The only one who would ever have the power. Or so I thought. His son.... there's something in him that frightens me. That symbol of his. The lion. It was his father's. It is a sign of power."
"You're saying that Squall's dead father had powers, and that Squall has powers, too? All because of that necklace he's wearing?"
Ultimecia whirled around sharply, glaring angrily at her. "I am not answering your questions. I'll be leaving now."
She stormed out of the room, leaving Rinoa to sit and think. There was no way she could escape. There were to many guards around. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't keep her mind of Squall. She missed him more then she ever could have expected. No, she didn't just miss him. It was just like she had wanted to tell him before. She loved him.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a rustling from her curtains. She spun around to see the tall shadow of a man standing before her.
Rinoa jumped back. "Who are you?"
"My name's Laguna. I'm here to help you."
"Yeah right," Rinoa snapped. "As if I'm going to trust you. Seifer sent you to mess with my mind, didn't he? That bastard!"
"No. I've come to help you against him. I'm Squall's father."
"Bull shit! Squall's father is dead."
"I was never dead. I thought the rest of my family was dead. So I ran away. And recently I've discovered that my son and daughter are still alive. So, I'm here to help."
"There's no one to help," Rinoa said, her voice cracking a little at the end. "Squall's dead."
"Did you see him die?"
"No."
"Then he's not really dead. Not until you have proof. And if you want proof that I'm his father," he paused for a moment before pulling something of his finger and tossing it to Rinoa. It was a ring with the design of a lion head on it. "It's the family symbol."
"So I was told," Rinoa replied before tossing the ring back.
"Well, let's go."
"Go where?"
"To rescue Squall."
"Are you fucking crazy? The are guards all over the place. How did you get in here, anyway?" she asked.
A slight grin came over his face. "A little thing called powers. I have them, and you have them. You are Julia's daughter, right?"
"Yeah. But how did you know her?"
"She was a good friend of mine a long time ago..... So was Ultimecia."
Rinoa let out a small gasp. "You knew both of them?"
He nodded. "We'll discuss it later. For now, let's go."
"But I don't know how to use my powers," she replied quickly.
"You are very powerful. So all you have to do, is stretch out your hand and concentrate on what it is that you want to be done. For instance, that door over there that leads to the stair case is locked. Stretch out your hand toward it, and concentrate on knocking it down."
Rinoa did as he said. For a moment nothing happened. Then suddenly, the door flew out of the wall, bringing the frame with it, and falling on the two guards outside.
"Very good!" Laguna exclaimed. "Now let's hurry and go!"
They managed to get outside, with little trouble. After quick discusion, they had decided that the first place they should check would be the dungeon. They snuck across the big, empty square, and hid around a corner, waiting until the cost was clear.
"You watch my back," Laguna said as he peeked around the corner to the door that led to the underground chambers.
Rinoa nodded and watched as he slipped inside. Rinoa was about to follow after him, when she felt a hand on her shoulder from behind.
"It's time," Seifer's voice whispered in her ear.
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A/N: Sorry if this chapter is a little short. The next one will probably be the last. And sorry it took me so long to update. Between my other fic, school, and planning my next novel, everything's been hectic. So review! Please? Hope it was good, sorry if it wasn't. Review!!!!!