Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story.
Author's Note: I actually didn't intend to take so long with this chapter. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it finished before my break from classes, so I had to delay it a week. Once again, an unsatisfactory chapter. I think I just don't like this story much. The fourth installment of my "When Darkness Falls" series should be better, I hope.
DARK LEGACY
Part Three
The Real Nightmare Begins
As the moon rose, so did Rinoa, hands pressed to her belly as if they could sooth the pain. Two weeks until I'm due… How will I survive it? Sleeping at night was no longer an option. As her children matured within her, they had started to change when night fell. The agony she went through as her children transformed and became active made sleep impossible.
It also destroyed her hopes that at least one child would be normal. If one were, its siblings would have torn it apart.
Rinoa staggered to her feet, feeling her way across the darkened room to her bathroom. She'd found that painkillers were the only way to dull the pain her children inflicted.
Her doctor was horrified. He was uninformed of the nature of her children, and couldn't understand why Rinoa's belly was so bruised. And she hadn't told him about the blood she'd found as her children injured both themselves and her internally.
Raine and her father were urging her to induce labor, and she was close to agreeing. But… she still didn't know what to do with her offspring! Did she take them with her to Garden, as Selphie had suggested? The young SeeD theorized that if they were raised in an atmosphere of love and kindness, they might be controlled, like a wild animal raised from birth. Raine was becoming more and more insistent that the children be confined until a cure was found, if not killed. General Caraway wouldn't say anything on the subject. He was going to let Rinoa decide what was best. She could tell it saddened him that his grandchildren weren't going to be normal.
A sharp pang made her drop to her knees, and she squeezed her eyes shut and willed her children to be still. She gasped for breath, then heaved herself to her feet. She was almost to the medicine cabinet. Just a few more limping steps…
She fumbled for the bathroom light, then leaned across the sink to reach the cabinet. She bit back a cry as her abdomen hit the sharp edge of the counter. Dammit! She pulled down a bottle of pills, swallowing several dry. She waited a few moments for them to dull her perceptions, blunting the pain within.
With a sigh of relief, she moved slowly back to her room. She wouldn't be able to sleep, not until daylight, when her children slept, but she could relax a little. She went towards the large, comfortable chair she had placed in front of her desk and settled into it, then turned to the task that had occupied almost every evening since Raine had arrived: Finding a cure.
She'd taken out every book on sorceresses she'd found in her family's personal library, then every book in the public library. Now, she was digging through the files Laguna had found in Esthar and sent to her. It was all very disheartening. All Rinoa had to show for her hard work was a small sheaf of notes that didn't tell her much. If only I could experiment with my magic…
Rinoa picked up where she left off in the file she'd started reading last night, pausing occasionally to rub the nightgown stretched snugly over her taut flesh as a nasty blow broke through her wall against pain. She took a break around midnight when Raine arrived, three gory carcasses hanging from her jaws. The large wolf departed with a sympathetic look before Rinoa dug into the still-warm carcasses.
The food subdued her children for a time, and she went back to work determined, as always, that tonight would be the night she found the cure.
But again, no cure was forthcoming, and dawn found Rinoa asleep in her chair, twitching as she was plagued by nightmares.
* * *
Raine awoke her an hour before her noon doctor's appointment, an apologetic look on the older woman's face. Rinoa groggily awoke, dressing with Raine's assistance.
They caught a bus to the hospital, and Raine left Rinoa there to do some shopping. With the servants dismissed, she had volunteered to take on some of their duties. Her years of living in the wild had made her miss such menial tasks.
Rinoa went through her checkup with all the dignity she could muster. Afterwards, she brought up the matter of inducing labor, and was surprised that he agreed with Raine and her father.
"This isn't healthy for any of you," the man said seriously. "I can't do it now, since I don't have time, but in about three days I can schedule you in."
"Please," Rinoa said softly. Just three more days…
Raine still hadn't returned when Rinoa left the hospital, so she sat on a bench outside, eyes closed, and basked in the sun.
"Oh, my," a young woman's voice said cheerfully. "You look ready to pop!"
Rinoa scowled as the speaker sat next to her, but the expression faded when she saw the woman's friendly face. She was about Rinoa's age, dressed in the fashion favored by the other highborns her age, with a scarf covering her hair and a pair of sunglasses to complete the ensemble. Rinoa thought she looked vaguely familiar, and realized how little she'd kept up on the Deling City nobility.
"Not quite yet," Rinoa said. "I'm due in two weeks, but I plan to have labor induced in three days."
"Oh!" the young woman said. Then, "You're Rinoa, right? General Caraway's daughter?" She held out her hand before Rinoa could respond. Rinoa shook, noticing the other woman had a firm grip. "I'm Reya."
"Hello," Rinoa said, struggling to remember if she'd heard that name before. But her attention was suddenly caught by Raine, who was waving Rinoa over to a taxi being loaded with groceries. Rinoa heaved herself to her feet. "That's my ride. Maybe I'll se you around."
"I'd count on it," Reya said brightly. Rinoa turned her back on the other, and missed it when Reya brushed a lock of her distinctive silvery hair back under her scarf.
* * *
Three days… Do I wait, or strike earlier? Reya paced her hotel room. I don't know what Rinoa plans to do with the cubs. What if she kills them? Or perhaps that werewolf nursemaid of hers will steal them away to raise far from people.
By delaying, Reya could be losing her best chance at snatching the cubs. But, if she went and grabbed them tomorrow night, with one of her creatures to help her, she could eliminate that potential for loss. It would mean that she'd have to force Rinoa to have them, but that didn't bother Reya. Besides, she didn't want to stay in this forsaken city any longer than she had to. She knew how to enter the mansion, too, using the tunnels she'd coerced the older female to tell her about.
Reya smiled. This would be fun. It had been too long since she'd allowed herself to indulge in something like this. And, since the werewolf curse bred true, it would be well worth it.
Perhaps she could arrange for the pathetic sorceress to die during labor as well. It never hurt to add another's power to her own, after all.
* * *
Raine trotted through the tunnels that led from Caraway's mansion, the only sound her claws ticking against stone. Most of the monsters that had made the sewers their home had been driven off by her nightly rounds. Since most of the beasts down here were not only inedible, but users of magic as well, it was just as well that they'd gone.
As Raine poised to leap over one water canal, her ears caught the faint sound of splashing. Curious, she decided to investigate. It was possible something bigger and stronger had decided to move in now that the other creatures were gone.
Raine silently turned a corner, then froze. A woman stood in the middle of one waterway, her feet balanced lightly on the water's surface. In the dim light, Raine could barely see the dark mass of the creature hidden in the shadows; only its shifting, oily hide was discernible.
She made to take a step back, but the woman saw her. A sinister smile twisted her pale lips, and Raine felt a strange sensation of déjà vu.
"Hello, Raine," the woman said. "I was wondering if you'd show up."
How does this woman know me? There was a flash of memory – a tent at night, pain, her body forced into its human shape, questions – and Raine's jaw dropped in an angry snarl. It's her… The Lady of the Night! What did she do to me?
Rinoa… she wants Rinoa! No… it's her children she's after. I have to stop her!
Raine spring, leaping for the woman's throat. But the Lady just smiled and stepped aside as if Raine were moving in slow motion. Raine landed, remembering too late that the Lady had been standing on water as she was immersed in the murky, filthy liquid. Raine struggled to breach the surface, but something wrapped around her thrashing leg, cutting off circulation as it yanked her farther down.
It was all she could do to keep from yelping in pain as the serrated tentacle dug into her flesh and drew her deeper. Raine tried to claw at what held her, but her vision was going black. Finally, she stopped struggling entirely.
* * *
Rinoa scanned the message Selphie had sent, feeling a little sad. Zell was being sent to Esthar for the operation that could restore his mobility, and she, Irvine, Edea, and Mrs. Dincht were going with him. Quistis had wanted to go as well, but she had elected to say behind and run Garden.
Rinoa wished she were going. Leaving her friends after her visit to Zell had been difficult, and she still felt a pang of sadness that she'd had to leave. But she hadn't wanted to be a burden, and she doubted the struggling Garden could manage her. Soon… I'll return soon… She patted her abdomen, feeling the movement inside. Just a little longer…
She shut down her computer, then returned to her painstaking analysis of the files. She only vaguely heard as, behind her, Angelo sprang to his feet, a low growl in his throat. She paid no attention as the dog ran out of the room, ears laid back and teeth bared. Rinoa only had eyes for the file in front of her.
Why don't sorceresses keep records? All she could find were observations of Adel's actions by bystanders who didn't have any familiarity with magic. The file she was currently reading had been written by Dr. Odine. At least he almost seems to understand… Too bad Adel had ordered most of his files to be destroyed. Laguna had sent her all they'd been able to find, but there were very few left. None of what they'd found had been very useful.
Rinoa groaned and leaned back to stretch. She was so weary… She barely slept even during the day because of her violent nightmares. She resolved to sleep for an entire week after the triplets were born.
A scream made her jerk upright. She barely felt the pain as her body hit the desk's edge. Her whole attention was on the hitherto unnoticed noises drifting up from the floor below her.
Father! Rinoa got to her feet, wishing desperately she had her powers. There was something down stairs, something that had attacked her father! Instinctively, she grabbed her weapon from the shelf where she'd stored it, fingers flying to adjust it on her arm. Then she crept out of her room and down the hall.
Focused on her goal, she forgot that her body was awkward and clumsy. She forgot that she was weary, worn to the bone. She forgot that she was one girl, alone, dressed only in a flimsy nightgown and armed only with a weak, long-range weapon. Her warrior instincts, honed in battle, had kicked in, and she was going to defend her father and her home!
She followed the noise to the source. As she neared, she could make out Angelo's baying amidst inhuman growls. She jumped as a gunshot sounded, followed rapidly by two more. What was going on?
She burst in on a chaotic scene: The den was in shambles, the furniture reduced to splinters of wood. The walls and floors had deep gouges in them, and pools of a green liquid that emitted an acrid odor that tore at her nose and throat covered the floor.
The cause of the mess looked like an unholy mating between a Hexadragon and a Malboro. It had the six legs and night-black scales of the dragon, and the many eyestalks and tentacles of the plant monster. Its disproportionately large jaws gaped, and the acid dribbled from between its jagged teeth.
"Oh, shit!" Rinoa couldn't contain the fearful cry.
Her father, hidden from sight by the creature's torso, cried , "Get out of here, Rinoa!" There was something strange about his voice, and it jolted her from her shock as the beast turned to fully face her.
Rinoa didn't think; she fired her weapon at the closest of the creature's eyes, then awkwardly leaped aside as it spat a gobbet of venom in her direction. Her weapon's blades struck two of the beast's eyes, enraging it but not seeming to hurt the creature.
Fighting it is out of the question… I need to grab father and get out of here… But how? The creature's attention was focused on her, with several of its other eyes directed to where her father must lie.
Maybe Angelo… Rinoa whistled, and the dog dove between a pair of the monster's legs to reach her side. He'd been guarding her father… Rinoa's unease grew.
"Angelo! Rush!" she cried. The dog launched himself forward, attacking the creature's face. While it was distracted, Rinoa crept around towards her father, narrowly avoiding the creature's thrashing tail.
When she saw her father, she knew it was too late. The beast had gotten him with its acid, and much of his lower torso had been eaten away. With a sobbing cry, Rinoa fell heavily to her knees. "Father!" she wailed.
"Get out of here," his voice was accompanied by a wet, gurgling note. Rinoa tried to caress his face, but shrank back when her fingers sank into his cheek. "Go," he said again. Rinoa shuffled closer, ignoring the burning sensation as her abdomen brushed his acid-soaked flesh.
"I love you," she whispered. The general's eyes closed, and Rinoa backed away. Get out of here… There was no way she could face this monster alone.
She tried to shove herself to her feet, but her knees felt weak and wobbly, unable to carry her bulk. The pain from the acid burn on her belly increased, and she knew she'd be in agony if she hadn't had the painkillers earlier.
She couldn't get to her feet! Her limbs were shaking so badly… Rinoa crawled towards the closest doorway, wondering how she could escape this fiend. It had torn its way through the narrow entrance from the sewers; she doubted the manor's narrow doorframes would halt it.
Rinoa had just crawled into the shadowed hallway and prepared to whistle for Angelo when the GF gave an anguished whine, and the monster flung the dog's still form to the tiled floor in front of her. Rinoa stared at the dog's half-melted body. Even as she watched, he began to fade away. With it went the bond she had shared with the GF since her mother had died.
"No!" Rinoa screamed. She'd never thought the creature could kill Angelo! The Guardian Force had always disappeared before he could be seriously hurt. But now…
He'd given his life for her. Rinoa could only stare numbly at the spot where he'd been. No… Her body suddenly gave out completely. First her father, then Angelo… Raine was likely gone as well… Rinoa leaned against the wall, shutting her eyes. It's no use… I can't escape in this condition! Plus, she could feel the acid eating away at her abdomen. It wouldn't be long before her unborn children felt it as well. She placed her palm over the spreading wound, hoping the beast she sensed looming over her would finish her off before her babies felt the pain of being eaten away…
"Halt!" The voice made Rinoa's eyes snap open. A woman stood beside the creature's head, stroking its scaly hide. "He's a little eager," she said, almost apologetically, "but he won't kill you."
"You…" Rinoa choked. She recognized the woman's flowing silver hair – the Lady of the Night, which explained the twisted beast. And, as the woman approached her, Rinoa recognized her as Reya as well.
"Me," the woman smiled. "Let me help you with your wounds." Before Rinoa could react, Reya used a Curaga. The burns on Rinoa's hand and stomach healed, leaving behind scarred tissue.
"What do you want?" she doubted the woman who had set a monster loose in her home to kill her family had helped Rinoa for a good reason.
Reya's smile took on a sinister gleam. "The werewolf cubs." She patted Rinoa's distended belly. "I won't wait any longer; I'm taking them tonight."
Rinoa's eyes widened. She struggled to get her feet under her, trying desperately to pull away from Reya.
"I don't think so. I'm surprised you have the strength to stand – you're stronger than you look." Idly, Reya flicked her and at Rinoa. "Stop!" she commanded.
Rinoa's whole body went rigid. Off balance, she fell, unable to put up an arm to break her fall. She couldn't even cry out as her side hit the floor heavily.
"Better," Reya said calmly. She eased Rinoa onto her back, repositioning her limbs into a better position. Rinoa couldn't even shut her eyes. She knew what the other had planned, and she didn't want to see. Just make this quick, Rinoa prayed.
"Sorry. But this will hurt," Reya said. She pressed a hand to Rinoa's abdomen and sent a bold of Thunder through her body.
Rinoa couldn't even scream as the spell triggered the first contractions.
* * *
Reya knelt in a pool of blood, ignoring the dying sorceress. Before her, each nearly the size of a single-birth infant, were three whimpering, furry forms. She watched in delight as the creatures, near-perfect images of their father, wobbled around on their stubby legs. Far more advanced than a human child… There were two females and a male. All had fought fiercely, resisting being torn from their mother.
Reya picked up the smallest female, examining it with a frown. While the others had dark fur, likely black, this one was a light brown. And there was something strange about its features.
So the runt's malformed… Interesting. She focused her attention on the male, already the strongest and boldest of the lot. He was prodding at his still-frozen mother, teeth bared. This one, Reya knew, was the prize. He had fought hardest, and his eyes burned red when she had finally looked into his face. Raine had spoken of a savage beast, an aura of evil, that had inhabited her before passing to Squall. Perhaps this male now contained that beast. If I can just control it… Or even duplicate it…
Behind Reya, her crossbred creature suddenly turned its attention towards the open tunnel to the sewers. After a moment, Reya could hear what had caught its attention: The scuffling of claws on stone. Guess I'll just teleport out… It was an easy enough skill for a sorceress, if she knew the destination.
She gathered the squirming cubs to her, momentarily pitying Rinoa when she realized what a burden the young woman had carried inside of her. Then, she called her beast close to her.
Reya glanced towards Rinoa. The sorceress still clung to life, barely. She'd been torn up internally, as well as suffering from the shock of losing her father and a GF linked so closely to her. Well, if she died, a sorceress's spirit was usually drawn to another sorceress to pass her powers to. And if she lived…
Well, Rinoa was never going to be the same again. Reya doubted she'd be a problem.
With a soft incantation, Reya, her monster, and Rinoa's triplets vanished.
* * *
Raine burst in on the scene, a growl low in her throat. She had just awoken, bedraggled, bloody, and coated with the muck of the sewers, but alive… Reya had again decided against killing such a "marvelous beast."
Clearly, she hadn't felt that way about Rinoa's father. Raine scented his corpse through the lingering stench of acid, and found it barely recognizable. Her heart in her throat, Raine searched for Rinoa.
There… The young woman lay in shadows, but Raine could scent the blood and afterbirth around her. I'm too late… She went to Rinoa, sniffing the young woman's pale face and wide, staring eyes. Was she dead? No… Raine could barely discern the movement of her chest as she breathed, but the girl still lived. She's held by a spell…
Raine's ears flattened when she saw the horrible wounds marring Rinoa's body. The children were torn from her! Raine felt sick. But she couldn't allow herself to feel that way now; Rinoa desperately needed help.
There was a gurgling moan from Rinoa's lips, and she began to shudder as the spell wore off. Then a scream escaped Rinoa's clenched jaws, a sound that wrenched at Raine's heart.
Still a long time until dawn… Raine went to the desk phone, knocked off its stand during the battle, and then, with great care, keyed in the emergency number with her clumsy claws. Hopefully, the call would be traced…
Having done that, Raine went to Rinoa and cradled the sobbing girl. She held Rinoa until her sensitive ears picked up the sound of someone arriving at the manor. Gently laying Rinoa on the floor, she gave her a reassuring nuzzle, then fled down the secret stairway before the authorities saw her.
* * *
"She's very weak. And she won't talk to anyone." The doctor walked with Raine to Rinoa's room. It was two days later and, despite her extensive search, she hadn't been able to find a trace of the Lady of the Night.
The official story was that a new creature that had taken residence in the sewer had broken through the secret passage, killed General Caraway, and attacked Rinoa. The stress had been thought to have forced her into labor, and the creature had devoured her infants. So far, no sign of the creature had been found.
Raine didn't think it wise to bring up sorceresses or werewolves. The nobles of Deling were skittish enough about sorceresses, and were unaware that they had one in their midst. And if they knew about werewolves, who knew what they'd do.
No, it was better this way. Raine left the doctor by the door to Rinoa's room, wondering if the girl would approve, or if she'd want to tell the whole truth.
Surprisingly, Rinoa had drawn herself up into a fetal position, despite the pain it had to be causing her abdomen. She'd buried her face in her knees, and her body was shaking.
"Rinoa," Raine whispered.
Rinoa stiffened. One dark eye, ringed by a dark circle, met Raine's. "Raine. You're alive." The voice was toneless.
"Yes." She couldn't think of anything else to say. She wanted to sweep the girl into her arms to comfort her, but restrained herself. "She only knocked me out."
"She took them. She killed father and Angelo, and took my babies. I don't even know what they look like." She lifted her tear-streaked face to meet Raine's. Raine wanted to weep herself.
"I know." Raine's voice cracked.
"It hurts…"
What could Raine say? She almost said, "It'll get better," but she doubted it was true. Rinoa had lost almost everything.
"I'm sorry." Raine tentatively placed a hand on Rinoa's shoulder. "I'll do everything I can to help; Laguna will, too."
"What will I do?" Raine had never heard Rinoa sound so… broken.
"Go to Garden," Raine suggested softly. "Your friends will help you. They're your only chance. And… they love you. They won't let anything happen to you."
"I know," Rinoa whispered. She leaned into Raine's touch. "I'd like to go back. I want to train to be a SeeD; I want to destroy Reya." Rinoa's fists clenched around her knees. She glared at Raine, as if daring her to put a stop to this.
"Do it. She took away my grandchildren. And… she knows something about werewolves, as well."
Rinoa's determination broke, and suddenly she was weeping again. "Oh, Squall… I let him down. I lost our children. I've lost everything!"
Raine gave in to the urge to hold the girl. Even so, she doubted Rinoa would ever take comfort in anything again.
The End