Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, locations or creatures from Final Fantasy 8 – they all belong to Squaresoft.
Aftermath
Chapter 1
The camp bustled with preparations for the evening meal. There was a team of cooks for every one hundred men, and all twenty teams were busy around their cooking fires. The aromas of spiced meats, and vegetables flavoured with herbs hung over the lines of tents. The men tried to distract their rumbling bellies by polishing swords and fletching arrows, but to no avail. All around there were attempts at banter and conversation, but they all ended when somebody turned towards the nearest fire and asked, 'how much longer?'.
Then, at last, when it seemed they would all go mad from hunger, the head cook from each team began to bang his ladle against his cooking-pot. From all over the camp, the tolling went up, announcing that the time for hunger was past. In the gathering dusk, men gathered up tin plates and mugs and headed towards their well-earned meals.
Around each fire were set five trestle tables, with a bench that would seat ten on either side. The men sat down in an orderly manner, conversation flowing freely, now that the promised food was close. At each fire, the head cook ladled food into large serving bowls for some of his assistants to distribute, whilst others filled pitchers from the huge water jars which stood close by. The ballet proceeded as it did every evening, and all those engaged in it were secure in the knowledge that, come what may, it would happen again tomorrow.
*****************
Alone in her tent, Edea sagged in her chair. Her elbows rested on her knees, and her head rested on her hands. Her long hair had almost completed its escape from the leather thong which she had tied at the nape of her neck that morning. Now the dark curtain hung down around her head and arms, obscuring her face. On the table next to her, sat a plate of food, untouched.
A lamp in the centre of the table cast a flickering glow, illuminating the few objects in the tent. As well as the table, and the two chairs positioned either side of it, were two narrow camp beds, one for Edea, the other for Cid, though they were rarely used at the same time. In the centre of the tent, a brazier gave off a welcome warmth in the chill evening air, and added it's dull red light to the yellow glimmer of the lamp.
Sitting with her head in her hands, Edea was nevertheless aware of her surroundings. Scents came to her from the plate of food, from the oil in the lamp, from the well-trodden earth underfoot. From outside, came the vague sounds of the men gathering for their meal, the hoot of an owl out hunting, whilst from inside, she could hear the settling of coals in the brazier, and the faint fizz-fizz-pop of the lamp wick as it slowly burned away.
*****************
Cid hurried through clinging mud and obstructing bodies as he moved through the camp towards the tent he shared with Edea. The soldiers, intent on their approaching meal, did not take kindly to being shoved by the cloaked figure who approached them out of the gloom and vanished between the hulking tents. There was some shoving back, which might have developed into something more if he had not been moving so quickly, and some abuse trailed after him on the breeze.
As buoyed up as he was by his news, Cid barely noticed the soldiers, except as obstacles. The mud, churned up by hundreds of feet going about their business, made sucking noises as he raised each foot, dragging it out of the mire which sought to consume it. Battling against the tide of hungry men, he pushed on, undeterred and undaunted.
*****************
In her head, Edea was reliving the endless, terrible years of this war, the suffering and death, and the injuries that made life worse than death. Mothers without sons, wives without husbands, children without fathers. The suffering was not confined to the battlefield, by any means. If she had had any tears left, she would have wept for all the thousands who had suffered, but whom she had never met.
When she and Cid had first escaped the desert, and found their way back to civilisation, their only thoughts had been for each other, and to arrange an early wedding. The political tension which was growing between Galbadia and Esthar had meant very little to them. Always on the lookout for new technologies, new ways of doing things, Esthar had embraced Sorceress Adel, and the power she promised. However, her ambitions had not stopped at sharing her knowledge with Esthar's scientists. She wanted power for herself; she wanted the world.
Galbadia, close and, previously, friendly neighbour to Esthar, had asked that the new wonders be shared, so that both nations could benefit. Esthar, like children with a new toy, refused, stubbornly, relentlessly and with no good reasons given. Eventually, Galbadia's persistence in this quest had sent Esthar, via Adel, into such a rage that war was the only option.
Arriving at his parent's home to show off his new bride, Cid was alarmed to find his father, a retired general, preparing to set off to re-enlist in Galbadia's army. Discovering that part of the threat arose from a Sorceress, Cid and Edea felt they had no choice but to join him. Their different areas of expertise had been invaluable. Cid had travelled over most of the planet during the last few years, and had spent several months in Esthar, so he was able to provide plenty of useful intelligence. Edea's value was obvious.
At first, they had been puzzled by Adel's seemingly endless and limitless power. She lent her powers to several machines developed by the Estharians, which they used gleefully, and relentlessly, against the Galbadian forces. There were apparently no rest periods when Adel replenished her strength.
Then, quite by accident, they had discovered the first Sorcerer. He was a boy, less than ten years old, living in an ordinary town. His family seemed in no way extraordinary, except that his mother had a slight talent for healing. The Galbadian army had camped near his town in order to replenish their supplies. The negotiators, as well as enquiring after food and water, had asked about healers who would be willing to help the injured. They were directed to the boy's house.
When they arrived, the woman refused her help, claiming to have a sick child of her own to care for, and closed the door in their faces. As they left, one of the men happened to look in through one of the windows and was astonished to see the boy sitting cross-legged in the centre of the room. His mother entered the room and bustled about for a few minutes, but the watching soldiers never saw the boy move, or even acknowledge her presence.
They reported all of this to Edea, and a dark suspicion began to grow in her mind, although, in the end, the truth was far more fantastic than she could have guessed. She gained entry to the house, although she never fully explained quite how, and questioned both parents at length. At first, she had expected that some form of coma affected the boy, but finally the woman broke down and poured out her story.
About two years previously, a strange woman had come to the house. She was very interested in the boy, not only because of his mother's healing powers, but also because of the strange dreams his father had. She suspected some latent magic rested in the boy because he was the product of this unusual pairing. She conducted some tests, and went away content, promising to be back. When she did return, she induced a permanent trance-state on the boy, and refused to remove it. Then she left, never to return.
Research conducted by Galbadian scientists showed that both the boy and his father had latent powers of sorcery. It was finally decided that true magic only manifested in women, and only then from a combination of parents similar to the boy's. However, when the child was a boy, a form of power arose which could be drawn on by a Sorceress.
The removal of this first Sorcerer from Adel's clutches did not significantly reduce her power, and it became apparent that there were other Sorcerers also being used by her. The hunt was on for these other boys, trapped by Adel, and no less victims than the soldiers who died on the battlefield. So far, two other boys had been found and freed. Indications showed that there was only one boy left, only one more Sorcerer feeding Adel's power.
*****************
Finally, Cid broke through the last row of men who were intent only on food, and was able to move more easily, although the mud still tried to halt him. He too had suffered personal loss in this war. His father, always one to lead by example, had died early in the hostilities. Sitting in his tent on the front line, he had been blasted apart by one of Esthar's incredible weapons. Cid's mother had died soon after from grief.
Cid had channelled his own grief into working harder than ever to rid the world of Adel. It had been no way to start a marriage, he reflected. He and Edea rarely talked except at meetings with other leaders of the war effort to discuss tactics and strategy. They shared a tent, but not a bed as the camp beds barely held one person, let alone two.
But his news would change all of that. At last, the end of the war was not only a possible; it was certain.
*****************
Now, Edea's thoughts turned to the events of this day. In the midst of so much pain and loss, one more story, one more life to add to her conscience.
Less than two hours ago, a young man, hardly more than a boy really, had died in her arms. He had come from Winhill, he told her, and it crossed her mind that she might have delivered him into the world. Whilst the doctors and nurses worked to close up his wounds, she talked to him, allowing a little of her power to flow into him, to aid his healing. But in the end it was no use. He had lost too much blood, had too many holes in him. He had been fighting for Esthar, but that didn't matter. He should have been flirting with young women in the town square of Winhill, not dying in the mud and filth of an army camp.
How she hated this war; how she longed for it to be over.
*****************
Cid burst through the entrance to the tent, ready to shout his news, but pulled up short when he saw his wife sitting huddled over, the plate of cold food next to her. He rushed across the tent to kneel by her side.
'Edea, are you OK?' he asked, voice laced with worry.
Edea slowly shook her head, first one way, then the other, as if each movement required great thought and effort.
'No, Cid, I'm not OK. I won't be OK until this Hyne-damned war is over.'
'Well, I've got some good news for you then,' Cid said, his voice now trembling with excitement.
Edea merely looked at him, and he saw again the pain and sorrow that had been in her eyes in the desert. Silently she demanded that he tell her, just tell her, whatever it was, then just get out, leave her alone to grieve.
'Edea, we've found him!' Cid exclaimed, then seeing her blank expression he went on to explain. 'We've found the last Sorcerer.'
A/N: If you review my work, you will earn my undying gratitude, and I promise to read and review your work asap. I welcome all criticism, bad as well as good, but please try to be constructive! Thank-you for reading.