AN: Some people are just incorrigibly demented, and I happen to be one of them. The
continuity is probably messed up. The facts are probably screwed up. The names have been
changed to protect my right to misspell. Just read it. I apologize in advance.
~~~
"Warped," part six
~~~
They slunk down in the grass simultaneously.
"What the heck is Matron doing here?" Selphie hissed, turning to Squall.
"Squall!" The voice was closer now, and Selphie could hear footsteps. She moved lower just in
time to hear the grass rustle and catch a glimpse of a young boy's retreating back. The bright
orange shirt jolted her memories, and she found her throat moving of its own accord.
"Squall?"
"It's me," the older Squall returned slowly, watching the figure, "This is…I don't think the time
compression dropped us off in the right time."
"We're at the orphanage. Why would it drop us off here? It doesn't make any sense."
"Squall!" Edea was practically on top of them now. Selphie realized that they would have to
move quickly or face discovery.
"Let's get out of here," she murmured, rolling toward him, but it wasn't to be. In a moment,
Edea was standing over them with wide eyes, her pursuit of the younger Squall forgotten.
"Matron, it's not what it looks like!" Selphie sat up abruptly. Squall sat behind her silently, his
blush speaking for him well enough.
Edea's look of surprise renewed itself.
"Matron?" she repeated, puzzled, and then tilted her head slowly at Selphie and then Squall.
The realization was quick on her face. "You two…you shouldn't be here," she warned them
abruptly, "this isn't your time."
"We didn't ask to come, Matron. We got…dropped off somehow…we were stuck in a…time
compression, and then…" Selphie broke off when she heard the long, heavy footsteps
approaching them.
The sight of the extended figure, sharp-helmeted and gleaming in the sun, shocked Selphie
awake.
"Matron, behind you!" Selphie stood up along with Squall, forgetting her nakedness—
forgetting everything as she held out her fists in remembered pain.
Matron turned without fear to face the monster behind her. The steps were like slow weight
being dragged along the ground. Like some ancient rock, the painted face was creased with
age and pain.
She was dying.
"You," Ultimecia said slowly, voice slow like the grinding of time. It was not an accusation, but
a recognition, as if the sorceress had suddenly found herself in a mirror and learned her own
name.
She moved toward Selphie on invisible wings, Edea stringing behind her until they had both
arrived at the same spot in the grass.
"Selphie!" Squall shouted. She turned her head to look at him, the dull brown line moving over
his throat like a lines on a map. He didn't move from where he was standing, and she knew
then, suddenly, that he couldn't.
The three women faced each other, and Selphie felt the back of her neck prickle as she finally
gazed into the hollow rings of Ultimecia's eyes. Then everything dissolved.
~~
They were dancing. In one warm instant, a woman's dress sparkled and a burst of tiny flames
froze in the air, burning like eyes above the glass roof. Below, dancers reached the highest
point of an arc just before the moment that they would stop and look up at the sky with open
mouths to admire it.
A painted paper sign flexed above them, arching over the crowd: "Congratulations SeeD
Graduates!"
They were in different places in the room, mid step, mid dance, mid sip, mid word. Some of
them were behind others, some of them had their backs turned, and some of them were in the
arms of others. During those times, it was difficult to tell them apart. The gold trim of their
uniforms glinted in the light, turning them into one continuous figure. They were talking of
something.
They were laughing and talking of the tiny burning eyes above the glass ceiling that hesitated
now, suspended just below the stars.
Fireworks? She could detect no sound; not the sound of the burst, not the sound of the voices.
Rinoa's foot made no sound either, paused above the third step of the staircase at the
entrance, alternately glimmering and melting, alternately becoming opaque and fading away.
Her face was indistinguishable. Was that a knife in her hand?
She could not tell, because it changed even as it stood still, like the turning of the light on that
one sparkle in the woman's dress.
It didn't matter.
She looked at them all and smiled. They were like the snow in Trabia, each flake frozen in the
air, mid-swirl, like dancing. Selphie kissed Squall on the balcony until Rinoa held up her finger.
Then Selphie was gone, and it was only Squall and Rinoa looking up at the sky. Seifer stood in
the corner wearing his uniform until he disappeared into the wall. Miles away Trabia stood in
its own ruins, and faded figures who should have been dead walked and spoke to each other
in the destroyed garden.
She looked at them all and smiled as she receded, watching them fade as she climbed high up
into the air, past the roof, past the fireworks, and, eventually, even past the stars until they
were nothing but a point in her vision.
She wondered then if they moved again below the glass roof, below the fireworks, below the
stars, but from that great distance, it was impossible to tell. The point in her vision burned
and glimmered enticingly like the sparkle of a dress as if to draw her in again, but she knew
better and covered her eye up quickly. Then all was darkness.
~~
END.
continuity is probably messed up. The facts are probably screwed up. The names have been
changed to protect my right to misspell. Just read it. I apologize in advance.
~~~
"Warped," part six
~~~
They slunk down in the grass simultaneously.
"What the heck is Matron doing here?" Selphie hissed, turning to Squall.
"Squall!" The voice was closer now, and Selphie could hear footsteps. She moved lower just in
time to hear the grass rustle and catch a glimpse of a young boy's retreating back. The bright
orange shirt jolted her memories, and she found her throat moving of its own accord.
"Squall?"
"It's me," the older Squall returned slowly, watching the figure, "This is…I don't think the time
compression dropped us off in the right time."
"We're at the orphanage. Why would it drop us off here? It doesn't make any sense."
"Squall!" Edea was practically on top of them now. Selphie realized that they would have to
move quickly or face discovery.
"Let's get out of here," she murmured, rolling toward him, but it wasn't to be. In a moment,
Edea was standing over them with wide eyes, her pursuit of the younger Squall forgotten.
"Matron, it's not what it looks like!" Selphie sat up abruptly. Squall sat behind her silently, his
blush speaking for him well enough.
Edea's look of surprise renewed itself.
"Matron?" she repeated, puzzled, and then tilted her head slowly at Selphie and then Squall.
The realization was quick on her face. "You two…you shouldn't be here," she warned them
abruptly, "this isn't your time."
"We didn't ask to come, Matron. We got…dropped off somehow…we were stuck in a…time
compression, and then…" Selphie broke off when she heard the long, heavy footsteps
approaching them.
The sight of the extended figure, sharp-helmeted and gleaming in the sun, shocked Selphie
awake.
"Matron, behind you!" Selphie stood up along with Squall, forgetting her nakedness—
forgetting everything as she held out her fists in remembered pain.
Matron turned without fear to face the monster behind her. The steps were like slow weight
being dragged along the ground. Like some ancient rock, the painted face was creased with
age and pain.
She was dying.
"You," Ultimecia said slowly, voice slow like the grinding of time. It was not an accusation, but
a recognition, as if the sorceress had suddenly found herself in a mirror and learned her own
name.
She moved toward Selphie on invisible wings, Edea stringing behind her until they had both
arrived at the same spot in the grass.
"Selphie!" Squall shouted. She turned her head to look at him, the dull brown line moving over
his throat like a lines on a map. He didn't move from where he was standing, and she knew
then, suddenly, that he couldn't.
The three women faced each other, and Selphie felt the back of her neck prickle as she finally
gazed into the hollow rings of Ultimecia's eyes. Then everything dissolved.
~~
They were dancing. In one warm instant, a woman's dress sparkled and a burst of tiny flames
froze in the air, burning like eyes above the glass roof. Below, dancers reached the highest
point of an arc just before the moment that they would stop and look up at the sky with open
mouths to admire it.
A painted paper sign flexed above them, arching over the crowd: "Congratulations SeeD
Graduates!"
They were in different places in the room, mid step, mid dance, mid sip, mid word. Some of
them were behind others, some of them had their backs turned, and some of them were in the
arms of others. During those times, it was difficult to tell them apart. The gold trim of their
uniforms glinted in the light, turning them into one continuous figure. They were talking of
something.
They were laughing and talking of the tiny burning eyes above the glass ceiling that hesitated
now, suspended just below the stars.
Fireworks? She could detect no sound; not the sound of the burst, not the sound of the voices.
Rinoa's foot made no sound either, paused above the third step of the staircase at the
entrance, alternately glimmering and melting, alternately becoming opaque and fading away.
Her face was indistinguishable. Was that a knife in her hand?
She could not tell, because it changed even as it stood still, like the turning of the light on that
one sparkle in the woman's dress.
It didn't matter.
She looked at them all and smiled. They were like the snow in Trabia, each flake frozen in the
air, mid-swirl, like dancing. Selphie kissed Squall on the balcony until Rinoa held up her finger.
Then Selphie was gone, and it was only Squall and Rinoa looking up at the sky. Seifer stood in
the corner wearing his uniform until he disappeared into the wall. Miles away Trabia stood in
its own ruins, and faded figures who should have been dead walked and spoke to each other
in the destroyed garden.
She looked at them all and smiled as she receded, watching them fade as she climbed high up
into the air, past the roof, past the fireworks, and, eventually, even past the stars until they
were nothing but a point in her vision.
She wondered then if they moved again below the glass roof, below the fireworks, below the
stars, but from that great distance, it was impossible to tell. The point in her vision burned
and glimmered enticingly like the sparkle of a dress as if to draw her in again, but she knew
better and covered her eye up quickly. Then all was darkness.
~~
END.