Who I really am/Death
Ultie woke in the cold surroundings of "O" lab, her mother slowly regaining consciousness beside her.
"Mother? Ma? Are you ok? Can you move?"
Aadeane stirred slowly. "I… think I've been poisoned…"
Ultie's eyes widened with fear. "No… we have no magic! I cant cure you! Oh, Hyne! Why did this have to happen to us?"
Aadeane smiled sweetly. "Do not worry Ultie. You'll be okay. You will be safe, that's all that matters to me."
Her mother's smile caused her to burst into tears. "Don't cry, Ultie, don't cry…."
The pain got worse. Aadeane doubled in pain as a gunshot rang through the halls. A gun blade shot…
"Cid?" Ultie pondered aloud as more shots were fired…. No, that was not the Punishment… it was the Hyperion…
She could see him now; her own father hacking through countless men and women, coming ever closer to them.
"Ma!" She cried to her dying mentor. "Ma! Dad's here! He's come to rescue you! See? You'll be fine, just hold on…"
He was at the door. As he sliced through it she heard a shot unlike the others… a rifle… then the soft thud of entry… she could see by her fathers wide eyes it had hit him.
He staggered over to his beloved wife, collapsing on top of her. He struggled to speak as a small trickle of blood escaped his rosebud lips… "Aidy… I love… I'm sorr-"
He said no more. Aadeane cried softly. "Oh, Seifer! Wait for me…. We'll be together again…"
"No, mother! Don't leave me, please! I cant-"
"-Get out unharmed. Do that for me, my dearest dau-"
Her speech turned to cries of pain… Ultie grabbed her hand as the same pain shot through her. Power… so much power…. Raven Feathers floated around her mind… She reached for her mother through the dense cacophony, grabbing her hand as she did… then she lost it…
She shot back panting. What was that? Why did she feel like this… so much…
Suddenly she noticed Quistis standing over her. "Very good. Now Zeitgeist can develop a way of eliminating the powers."
"You…. You evil-"
"-Don't be like that Ultimecia. You do not know the true horrors of what you were. I need to stop anything like that happening in the future, you must understand that at least!"
"You killed them!" she screamed, indicating to the remains of her parents. "You killed Seifer, your childhood playmate!!! You killed Aadeane, she idolised you, don't you remember?"
"They are but casualties of war, Ultimecia. Many fell in the two wars… I only wish to prevent a third."
Ultimecia felt the strong hands of two Esthar guards on her shoulders. "I'm sorry, Ultimecia, but you must understand I seal you for the good of all…"
"NO!"
Who was that… "Cid?" Qustis let out a strangled scream, and Ultie noticed the tip of the Punishment had penetrated her. She saw Cid's shocked face as the older woman crumpled to the ground. He took Ultimecia's hand and brought her close.
"We have to get out of here"
Ultie woke in the cold empty orb in the sorceress memorial. They're all staring mother…
"They stared at me in much the same way, child. They talked of sending me away, and they did…"
They shall pay, mother.
The doors slid open and Rinoa was pushed into the room. "Oh, Mecia!" she cried, wrapping her arms round her bemused daughter. "We've been so worried! We came here to ask for Quistis' help, and we were treated like this! She says horrible things about you… I can hardly think straight"
Ultimecia stared at the woman. She had no idea. She was not her daughter. Mother was dying…
"You do not remember the Raven Feather, Rinoa?" she asked calmly, looking straight into the brunette's eyes.
"What? Mecia… why are you calling me by my first-"
"- she adored you, and you adored her. You cried for weeks when Seifer Almasy took her away to Esthar, never to return… she was your best friend in all the world…"
"Raven Feather… I know that name…"
"You should. You could have saved her. All of you could have tried, but you didn't. You just kept on with your lives until the power of the G.F's erased all knowledge of her. Yet Quistis remembers. She is angry too, not just at me, but at you."
Ultimecia stood over the crying woman, making her cower under her might. "This would have been so different, Rinoa. Yuna would be alive, Ellone would be alive, Fujiin would be alive, Zell would be alive…"
"I recognise those last names. Tell me who they are!"
She smiled. "Ellone was Squalls beloved sister… you named me after her, don't you remember? Fujiin was an enemy of you once upon a time, then she married Squalls best friend Zell… they both died recently at the hand of Esthar…. To protect us, you and me."
Rinoa choked on tears. Why couldn't she remember? Why was Mecia being so cold? What had she done…
"Mecia, my daughter…"
"Mother?" Mecia called out aloud, looking upwards "Mother, what is it?"
"Mecia? Mecia what's going on?" called the confused Rinoa, gently placing her hand on her daughters shoulders, Ultimecia shrugged her off heartlessly "Mother?"
"The time has come, my love. I'm so sorry… please do not hate me for leaving you"
"Mother, don't die! I need you! Please!"
"I love you, Mecia dearest…"
Rinoa caught her as she collapsed unconscious…
***********************************
Mecia woke with a jolt. Where was she…. It was a forest, a beautiful forest…. She could hear a woman's voice singing…
"Mother!"
She ran, following the voice…. "Mother. I'm coming… wait for me…"
She turned a corner and found herself in an empty glade. Her eyes settled on a woman in the centre, turned away from her…. Long white curls, white skin… mother…
"Mother!"
The woman turned round, tears running down her face. "Oh, Ultimecia! You are exactly as I imagined! So beautiful…"
Mecia ran into her arms as black feathers swarmed around them. "I don't want to be alone, mother."
Aadeane smiled softly, stoking her daughters hair. "I felt much like you when my mother died. You will find your place in the world, dearest daughter. Do not fear."
The swarm of feathers increased. "What's happening, mother?"
"You shall become your true self and inherit the greatest power in the world. Please, my love, use it wisely."
The figure of her mother faded into nothingness. Ultimecia screamed and fell to the ground.
**************************************
"Mecia? Mecia, can you hear me?"
She woke to see the pained face of the woman who was not her mother. "You… it's your fault…"
She felt the power surge in her hands…just like in Deling City…. The power was hers…. She would wreak her revenge…
A bolt of power hit Rinoa. Ultimecia chuckled as she saw the woman's shocked and dazed expression…No more…
Ultima. The most destructive magic she could think of. It swarmed round Rinoa before hitting her, mortally wounding the woman.
Rinoa grabbed her hand. "I… love you, no matter what…"she gasped before collapsing in her blood.
Ultimecia felt a similar surge of power… the Angel Wing power…
"Worthless powers." she sneered, stepping over Rinoa's lifeless form.
She effortlessly slipped through the seal of the memorial… you cannot control me, Quistis Loire. I am the Angel Feather, I am the Raven's Wing… the essence of the great Hyne … I have all the power of Hyne…
"Rinoa?"
Squall…
"Ma?"
No, it cant be… "Cid?"
She turned to see the both of them over Rinoa's body. "Who did it, Mecia?" demanded Squall, his agate eyes brimming with tears. "Tell me! Tell me now, damn it!"
Her own eyes brimmed with tears as she looked at Cid's distraught face. "I… it was Quistis…"
Cid ran over to her and held her close. "Sshh, it's going to be ok… we'll sort it out." She looked up at him and he shuddered. "Mecia… your eyes, they're…."
"Golden… don't you remember, Squall?" Ultimecia turned to see Quistis, fully armed, with a host of soldiers behind her. "Our great battle… she had golden eyes…"
"Quistis, how could you do this!"
"Look to your daughter, Squall! She bears the markings of power, she will kill us all!" Quistis raised her gun and pointed a single shot at Ultimecia. She raised her hand, effortlessly repelling the bullet. "Fool, Loire" she stated coldly. "You cannot stop me. I shall avenge her… you all wronged her…"
"Mecia, stop." started Cid. "Please! Stay with me! We can walk away from this, go back to the way it was!"
"No… you shall pay, Quistis Loire. You oppose the Sorceress… you must pay!"
The power surged once more… one last time… you shall die…
The bolt shot through the air towards Quistis… but it did not hit her…
Mecia looked down to see the crumpled body of Cid… her love… no…
"You… you shall all pay for this! What you have done to us! Cid…"
She picked up his lifeless form… he was beyond her help… You shall pay… the pain was unbearable… so many memories… please no…
She stumbled past him towards the woman who was not her mother… the ring… the legendary Griever…
She tore the ring from her mother's neck and placed it on her finger. It shrank to fit her, and she heard the dark voice of the G.F reverberate inside her head.
"I have waited for you, my mistress Ultimecia… we shall change the world…"
Take my memories away from me… I cannot bear it…
She felt the power slowly surge through her. Griever, make them… help me do my hair, Yuna,? …Cid… I… Mother… mother, who is it? Don't leave me… Dad? No… Seifer Almasy… I.. I always loved you, Aadeane… Quistis, how could you… Time compression.
Time compression.
The pain stopped. She stood to her full height. A man charged at her…. So familiar…. gunblade held high above his head. She knocked him down effortlessly and smiling turned towards the blonde woman. The guards around her fled… Why run? There is nowhere to go… but the woman stood still, accepting… her death would be quick.
Ultimecia summoned up all of her powers. Kill… kill in the name of the sorceress… a name that escaped her that once she held dear…The powers meshed, creating a cacophony of sound and light. She grinned wildly as the full power of Hyne released it's glory on the fear-stricken men and women…. An Apocalypse….
Ultimecia looked at the bodies that surrounded her. More would try to stop her, but why? There was no way they could defeat her… the Angel Feather, the Raven's Wing… they would be no threat.
Let them come.