LEGACY
CHAPTER 4
Squall wouldn't have expected the cafeteria to meet its capacity at 9 o'clock at night. But apparently this was the meeting place of choice for the confused, grieving, and frightened SeeDs and students. One would think that they would be secreted away in their dorms, quietly grieving to themselves or hiding from whatever evil had committed a murder earlier that day. But no, they were all assembled in the cafeteria, in the name of their late Headmaster. Squall wondered idly how long this vigil would last until, and then decided he would just as soon jump in a pit full of bite bugs than remain in attendance. He had never dealt well with death or loss of any kind in the past, and now was no different.
No, he would leave, and return to his dorm. He hoped Rinoa would join him, give him the companionship that he so desperately needed right now. Rinoa… Thank Hyne for you. Life was complicated, but Rinoa was always there. It was as if she were Squall's crutch, in a way. She added much-needed stability to his life; she was his sanity. It was thanks to her that he had begun to allow others into his life in the first place.
Hyne, he loved her to death. I wonder if she knows, he wondered. Neither of them had ever truly voiced their affection; they simply possessed a tacit understanding, and that was enough. The emotional rapport forged between the two had been strong enough to span the time-space continuum, to save one another from being trapped in the Time Compression distortions forever. They had barely just met, and yet they knew and understood eachother more than anyone else in the world.
They talked, often. Squall wasn't used to having a close friend and confidante, so it took him time to begin to open up. But finally he did, and truthfully he had never been happier. Sometimes she would visit him at night, and they would lay together; talking about life, the future, their future. She often even fell asleep, in his arms. They had never done anything physical, excluding the occasional brush of lips, and Squall was pleased with this. They were merely friends; very special friends, to be sure.
Squall felt his knees weaken as he turned the corner.
He felt all of his remaining stability begin to slip away.
Ultimecia. That was the only name that seemed to make sense as Squall watched Rinoa viciously attacking Irvine Kinneas. He looked on, horrified, as she hurled spell after devastating spell at him; the gunslinger just barely able to compensate with a quick string of protect, shell, and regen enchantments. Every few seconds he'd instinctively reach for his holsters, but then stop himself.
Hundreds of questions thundered across his mind. Why was she doing this? Was she being possessed again? And if so, who was alive to possess her? Rinoa was the sorceress; there were no others. Were there?
Ultimecia.
The name flashed across his mind again. But she was dead. He had struck the final blow. He had seen her hideous face disintegrate along with the rest of her monstrous form. He had watched the dying sorceress as she passed her powers onto Matron. She couldn't be doing this.
*flash*
"Do you want to know what he said?" Cid was saying to Zell. "He said… death is only the beginning."
*flash*
"He told me that life has a definite beginning, but no middle or end. Life is infinite. And death… death is only the beginning to an eternity of life."
*flash*
The memory from earlier in the morning was still fresh in Squall's mind.
"Shit," Squall said.
~~~
Rinoa was a passenger in her own body. She watched in horror as she cast spell after spell on helpless Irvine, who seemed hesitant to strike back. 'Irvine just stop me!' Rinoa mentally pleaded. 'Kill me if you have to! Strike me down!'
But her thoughts could not be given voice, for she no longer had a voice of her own. She could do nothing but passively succumb to Ultimecia's manipulation. But this is somehow different from that first time… She could not recall much of her episode in the Estharian Space Station, but all the same she could sense that far more was happening here than mere possession…
"Firaga." No sooner had the spell escaped her lips when a current of flame surged across the Garden's tile toward her victim and connected with explosive impact, shattering another of Irvine's Shells into hundreds of pink shards.
"W- what are you doing Rinni?" Irvine shouted as he dove away from a Blizzara ice spike stabbing the air. He didn't expect an answer, however, and both of them knew it. He understood what was going on, he just didn't want to admit it.
Her onslaught of attacks continued. "Flare," she said, and her eyes widened in fear as she realized that Irvine might not be able to escape this one. At the last second he cast Haste on himself and ran for all he was worth, the devastating spell leaving a crater in the floor where he had been standing seconds before.
"Stop this, Rinoa! I know you're in there somewhere!"
Irvine's words of encouragement fell on deaf ears.
"Ultima," Rinoa said tonelessly.
~~~
Irvine felt the color drain from his cheeks as the temperature all around him rapidly decreased and the air grew darker. He was well aware of the chaos an Ultima spell would create inside the Garden, but how much could he do now? A regular elemental spell could be countered or halted with a Shell… but this, this was a different story…
"Everyone clear the area!" Irvine frantically shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. He had only seconds to wonder if the junior class men were safe before he was suddenly bathed in the spell's lurid green glow, a conglomerate of energy developing right before his eyes--
His sudden dive was barely enough. The energy orb detonated with the force of a large bomb, sending shockwaves in every direction and incinerating Irvine's trenchcoat. The force sent him careening into a wall, his body crumpling as it made impact. His eyes widened as he saw chunks of the central pillar shatter and tumble to the watery reservoir below. 'She's damaged the elevator!'
He closed his eyes to tap into his GF, when he realized that he was completely out of defensive spells. Shit. The only thing he could do now was draw-cast something from Rinoa. He extended a hand and concentrated, using her recovery time from conjuring such a massive spell as an opportunity to tap into her cache of spells.
Bio? No… too risky. Ultima? Hell no. Dispel? Nothing to dispel. Stop?
Stop.
It was so obvious that he chastised himself for not thinking of it sooner. C'mon Irvy think fast, he thought, as he concentrated on drawing it from her and then casting it instantly. Trails of energy emerged from her body and found their way into Irvine- he felt a tingle as they made contact with him. "Stop," he whispered.
"Reflect." Rinoa reacted instantly, and Irvine felt his blood literally run cold as his own spell was sent back at him.
Rinoa walked slowly toward Irvine, whose terrified eyes could do nothing but watch…
~~~
"RINOA!" Squall's tortured cry reverberated off of the Garden walls, causing her to stop in her tracks and turn. No, was all Rinoa could think. Not him, not here. Oh Hyne, please don't make me do this… she pleaded mentally.
Their eyes met, and it was like water spilling over an electric current.
Her body was seized with a string of convulsions, and her knees buckled. She fell to the battle-ravaged floor, clutching her head in her hands, the air around her crackling with energy. "Squall…" her voice entered his thoughts, detached and distorted. "Ultimecia… her last words… she… I…" As the energy surrounding her grew in intensity she stood. Her eyelids snapped open, revealing eyes now colored with stark madness. "I'll kill you all," she finished, her words echoing in Squall's mind.
And just as soon as she made this proclamation, the energy began to fade, and color returned to her eyes.
She was regaining control.
Shaking her head, she regarded Squall from where she stood, and decided that this distance wasn't enough. I need to get out of here. Now. She swallowed hard, not willing to leave Squall yet knowing that she had to. She had no idea how long she would able to maintain this tenuous grip on sanity, on her own will.
"I love you." Though the words hadn't been spoken, Squall could hear them just the same. They telepathically washed over him like a wave; all of the emotion behind them seeping into his every pore and reaching into his very essence.
Their eyes met once more. How I love your peaceful eyes on me… Rinoa thought, though the moment was fleeting.
She felt her will begin to once again slip away from her… She knew that if she were to remain present any longer she would kill him, and Irvine. Choking back the tears that threatened to come, she turned to the exit and ran.
With every fading ounce of willpower she possessed.