Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, locations or creatures from Final Fantasy 8 – they all belong to Squaresoft.
A/N: Apologies for taking so long with this chapter. I read the script of FF8 on IcyBrian's site, and realised that I had got some of the events of the game out of sequence. It took a while for me to gather up the will to sort it all out! Anyway, it's here now – enjoy!
Aftermath
Chapter 3
As Cid had guessed, the finding of the last Sorcerer by the Galbadian forces proved to be the beginning of the end for Adel. However, it took much longer to free him from Adel's clutches than it had taken with the other three boys.
Senet was about twelve years old, but no one could say how old he was for certain. He had been abandoned to the mercy of the little town on the Monterosa Plateau as a tiny baby. Who his parents were, where he had come from were questions without hope of an answer.
He had been taken in by the mayor of the town, who in turn handed him over to the care of his cook who had a son of about the same age. The two boys grew up side by side, but Senet was always aware that he was different. The other children never missed an opportunity to tell him how weird he was.
When he was about two years old, the nightmares began. At first, his adoptive mother put them down to the night-horrors experienced by many toddlers. However, as he grew bigger the intensity of his dreams also grew. Some nights he would awaken the whole house with his screams, leaving everyone unsettled and upset. He could never remember much of his visions when he woke up, except that it was very dark and he felt trapped.
Then, a strange woman had arrived, promising to cure Senet's nightmares. She questioned the boy closely about his dreams, then prepared some kind of sleeping draught. Senet had drifted quickly into a deep slumber, and the cook's husband had carried him up to bed.
'Of course, I thanked her ever so much,' said the cook. 'I could tell straight away that this was a different type of sleep – deeper, more real somehow. Oh, dear - I'm not telling this very well, but I can't find the words to describe it. The point is, I was sure that when he woke up, he would never suffer another nightmare again.'
If he was facing his nightmares, Senet gave no outward sign of it. He had lain in silent slumber for almost three years, presumably kept alive by the same method as he was kept asleep – by magic.
This was Senet's history as related by the cook to Edea when the Galbadian army first camped on the Monterosa Plateau. Edea stood beside Senet's narrow bed stroking his still, white face absent-mindedly. His skin was cool, but not clammy, she noted idly, his breathing shallow but regular. She glanced down at him, thinking how small and vulnerable he looked, cocooned in his enchanted sleep.
'What I didn't realise was that he wasn't meant to wake up,' the cook resumed. 'Whatever that woman meant to do, it wasn't anything good for Senet. We tried everything to wake him, but he just lay there, as motionless as if he were dead, but still breathing.' She gave an involuntary shiver. 'It was the strangest thing. We've all sort of got used to it, now.'
The cook fell silent, prevented from speaking by the strength of her emotions. Her face crumpled like a used handkerchief, as she struggled to hold her tears in check. She took a few deep breaths, and then continued.
'I love that boy, almost as much as if he were my own. Of course, he didn't need me to tell him he wasn't one of my own kids – even if he'd never had those nightmares, he would have been different to any other child in the town. He used to come out with the strangest questions – half of them I couldn't answer.
'But I would never have wished this on him – whatever it is that woman's done. It's his nightmare, you see. He's trapped in the dark, all alone, with no way out. There's no child deserves that.'
Edea smiled reassuringly.
'We've already cured three other boys,' she told the cook. 'From what you've said, it seems that Senet must have been the first Sorcerer Adel found and imprisoned. That may make our job harder, but I promise you, we will release him.'
***************
Releasing Senet proved easier said than done. Edea tried all of the techniques she had used on the other Sorcerers, but to no avail. Not only had Adel been drawing on Senet's powers for longer than she had with the others but also, as he was the only one left, no doubt she was keeping a firmer grip on him.
Edea began the treatment with a series of tonics which she administered to the sleeping boy by spoon. These had been effective for the first Sorcerer, although not with the second and third. Still, Edea felt that this was an essential first step in the process. However, after more than a week, during which the tonics got progressively more invigorating whilst remaining completely ineffective, she decided to abandon them.
The second round of therapy involved sleeping draughts of Edea's own devising. Her reasoning was that she might be able to induce a natural sleep to draw Senet out of the unnatural one brought about by Adel. This approach had proved effective with the second Sorcerer, but as the second week with Senet gave way to the third, Edea was forced to move on to the next level.
It was with great reluctance that Edea turned to magic. Although her power to inflict harmful magic was only provoked when she was actually in danger herself, she could draw on it to cast curative spells at any time. So she began a course that included Cura, Haste and Esuna. She sat at Senet's bedside for days, muttering charms and dredging her memory for ever more arcane enchantments, but nothing worked. She eventually emerged, pale and drawn, ravenous and exhausted.
Cid took one look at her and chased her back to their tent to get some proper rest. As she entered the tent, she found Raine's letter describing the stranger who had suddenly appeared in Winhill. As soon as she had finished reading it, Edea went in search of her husband to see if he could shed any light on the mystery. She never did get her sleep.
Cid asked around amongst his generals about Sergeant Loire. As far as anyone could discover, he had been part of a three-man patrol which had gone missing a week or so before Loire turned up at Winhill. Apparently this wasn't the first time Loire had got lost. The other two members of the team had been found safe and well, although they told a fantastic story to cover up whatever had really happened. Loire had, it seemed, vanished off the face of the planet. No efforts were made to try and recover him from Winhill. With the end of the war in sight, it was safer to leave him where he was.
***************
Several days after the arrival of Raine's letter, Cid and Edea sat by Senet's bed talking quietly. Edea sat by his head, gently stroking one of his hands which lay above the covers and Cid sat at the other end.
Edea had tried everything she could think of to release Senet from his personal prison, but nothing had worked. Now she spent most of her days simply sitting with him, talking to him, or singing lullabies and nursery rhymes until her throat was sore. The only way in which Cid could spend time with his wife was to join her in her vigil.
'We should adopt him, you know,' said Edea suddenly.
'What, now?' asked a rather shocked Cid.
'No, of course not now,' Edea snapped back. 'I mean, when he wakes up.'
Cid drew a deep breath, wondering how best to phrase what he felt he needed to say. He was saved by Edea speaking first.
'I know what you're thinking,' she said. 'And don't give me that innocent look. You're thinking "if he wakes up", but you daren't say it because you're afraid of making me angry. Well, now I've saved you the bother of saying it, but I'm still angry – oh, not with you with me. There must be a way of bringing him out of this!'
'Look,' replied Cid, 'don't be so hard on yourself. You've said it before – Adel doesn't want to let him go. She's bound to keep a firmer hold on him than ever, since he's all she has left to feed her power.'
'Hmmm, I know, it's just………….. Anyway, don't change the subject. I still think we should adopt him. He needs more than this town can give him. I can teach him things, help him to explore his abilities.
'And it isn't just Senet. Lots of children have been orphaned by the war. We could start an orphanage, take them in, even find new families for them. We could………'
'Hey, slow down!' cried Cid. 'Don't get carried away. First of all, where are you going to set up this orphanage? Where are you going to find a building suitable for lots of children? Are you going to do this alone, or hire staff? Who are you going to hire?'
Edea fell silent, mulling over Cid's words. He was right, she knew that, but she had the unshakeable feeling that she was right too. She was certain that starting an orphanage was the right thing to do, that it would be a way of helping children who would otherwise be lost and alone. The Sorceress power had robbed her of the joy of having children of her own, but it had not taken the ability to love and care for children. She took a deep breath to compose herself before speaking again.
'OK, you're right; I do need to give this more thought. But will you agree to think about it as well? This means a lot to me, Cid. I have so much to give, but no one to give it to!'
Cid stood, and quickly covered the few feet that separated them. He knelt on the floor and took Edea's free hand in both of his.
'Edea, I am going to promise you something. When Senet wakes up, I will not only help you to find a suitable building for an orphanage, I will also raise the funds to set it up.'
She looked at him in confusion, tears brimming in her eyes.
'Who's getting carried away, now? A minute ago you were urging caution!'
'No, what I meant was that you should take a step back, think things through. I would never stand in your way over something as important as this.'
'Thank you, Cid,' Edea said with a smile. Then she sighed and shook her head. 'At this rate though it's going to be a long time before we can go house hunting!'
She gazed down at the slim figure on the bed with fond exasperation.
'For the sake of Hyne, Senet, will you please wake up?!' she exclaimed.
To the amazement of both the adults, Senet's eyes fluttered open. He turned their bright gaze onto Edea's astonished face.
'All you had to do was ask,' he said.
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.