BLACK RAIN
As you know, I, like yourselves, don't own any of these characters…etc except the imagination we have to give them stories of their own.
"I was going to make sure he wasn't cut by the blade, the blade that is fear of becoming and rejection" – Primary High (by Katie)
Chapter 15 – The Third Choice
(Squall/Quistis – Esthar Palace)
Quistis looks at him intently. "My Knight?"
Squall nods his head. "Yes, your Knight. I was meant to be your Knight, your protector. Hyne said that if that had happened, the two of us together would have destroyed Ultimecia, with ease. Even if she was all powerful, like she was when we fought her in the future."
Quistis stares at the ground. A small wind brushes pat them, as if it was a hand trying to push them together. Squall looks up, but says nothing.
"And what of Rinoa?" she asks.
"What of her? It was supposed to be that…" he looks away. "That if I didn't dance with Rinoa at the SeeD graduation ball, I was supposed to be with you when you spoke to me on the balcony and in the secret area" he stares out to the distance. "I was supposed to become your Knight, but as Rinoa got more… involved, I eventually fell in love with her. And I fell in love with her because of you."
Quistis looks up at him. "Me?"
Squall looks straight at her. "Hyne told me, that I fell in love with her, because I felt your powers inside her. After all she got them from Ultimecia, who had the powers of every sorceress there is and will be." He looks away again.
Quistis realises what this meant. She feels herself going red and warm… He was supposed to fall in love with me… oh my, so that why he's so… open to me.
"I have to say something to you Quistis, before I go."
Quistis is broken from her thoughts. "Go? Where?" Squall does not reply to this question.
"I am sorry, but I am Rinoa's Knight. I love her. I can't be a Knight to you both. Hyne said I have chosen my sorceress. And I have."
Quistis says nothing. She lowers her head. "I understand."
Squall walks up to her. He places his hands onto her shoulders.
"But I will always be here for you, I will protect you if it's the last thing I do. I don't want you to get upset or feel angry and hurt, because you and I both know what will happen."
Quistis still says nothing. She looks at him, into his eyes. Suddenly she kisses him once, then cuddles into him before he can do anything.
Squall is shocked, but does nothing. He hugs her tight.
"I have to go," he says. He stammers when he says this.
"Where? Where are you going?"
"I want you all to go back to Garden, and look for Rinoa, I – I have to go and do something."
"Why" Quistis asks.
"I have a choice to make. And I have to find someone to make that choice."
"I'll come with you."
Squall shakes his head. "No, I have to go alone."
"Your in no fit state." She says gesturing to his leg. He no longer has a support on it, but he still limps a bit.
"I'm fine. Please, do this for me? Besides, with your power, you can try to sense where she is. You could also try and sense where Ultimecia is."
Quistis nods her head. "OK, I'll try."
Squall smiles at her. "Thank you."
He hugs her once more, and walks away through the door. As he disappears. Tears again roll down Quistis cheeks in silent waterfalls.
"I love you Squall, I always will. No matter what."
(Rinoa – Lunatic Pandora Wreckage)
Rinoa looks at the person with a look of shock on her face.
"But, how? You were –"
"Killed?" Seifer says as he watches her, a look of curiosity on his face.
"Yes" Rinoa says. Her shock fades away as she looks at him. He is wearing a cloak that covers him completely. She also sees why he had the hood up. His face is fairly bruised. A black eye shines on his face as does several cuts. They are also on his neck. These are the only parts of him she can see, as his hands are gloved. He walks up to alongside her. He studies the ground.
"So, they've already been" he says quietly.
"Who?"
Seifer looks at her.
"Squall and the others."
"They're all alive? Squall included? But I thought he would have been –"
"Killed along with me? Actually he was, but he's back too. We both are."
Rinoa shakes her head. "Back? What do you mean?"
Seifer raises his hand. "Shhh Rinoa, I'll answer all of your questions later, but right now, I have a favour to ask. I need you to take me to Garden, or wherever Squall is, as I have to talk to him. Not only is it urgent, but It's him I need." He laughs. "Never though I'd see the day where I would say I needed Squall."
Rinoa says nothing. She looks at him curiously.
"Why should I believe you?" she asks.
"Because I'm on your side!" he yells at her. "What you saw in the Pandora wasn't true, believe me damn it!"
Rinoa flinches at the loudness in his voice.
"You better be telling the truth Seifer or Hyne help me…"
"He's helped as much as he could." Seifer says, as he pulls the hood back up over his head.
Rinoa looks at him one last time quizzically, wondering what he meant, then forms a gate.
"I'll take you to Esthar, as that's where we were last time." She says as the gate shimmers.
Seifer leaps through it first.
(Squall – Esthar Palace)
Squall picks up Lionheart and feels its comfortable weight. He sheathes it, then picks up Hyperion. He looks over it. The smooth silver feels reassuringly familiar, as it's the same weight as his own. He turns around and is floored by a white flash as a gate forms in front of him. A hooded man leaps through and grabs the sword from Squalls hands. Squall grabs Lionheart as the hooded man stands there. Squalls face registers a look of horror as the man goes for him. The man slams his sword down on his own. Squall quickly spins away and readies his sword. The noise form the Gunblades brings the others rushing down the corridor as they both spill out into the hall. The hooded man whirls around and stands still. All Squall can see is a familiar looking green eye, though it is ringed with a bruise.
"Stop it!" screams Rinoa. Squall turns around and looks at her. The hooded man laughs.
"Damn Squall, your reflexes are fast. No wonder you got the better of me."
The others, who are watching, stare in shock. Selphie screams as Seifer removes the hood and looks at them. Squalls face becomes a mask as he levels a look at Seifer. Although he doesn't say anything, Seifer knows what he means as he locks eyes with Squall. Seifer walk up to him.
"Yeah, its me. I'm back" he says so that only Squall can hear. He also hears Laguna telling the guards to leave as well.
"Squall?" says Rinoa. Squall immediately looks at her as she draws level. She smiles at him. Squall doesn't return the smile, but a wave of relief sweeps over him. She's allright he thinks.
"Could someone tell me what's going on?" asks Zell as, from his viewpoint, he sees Seifer walk up to Squall and mutter something to him. He watches as Rinoa walks up to Squall. After what seems like an eternity, the three of them walk up to them. Selphie backs up a bit as Seifer walks closer. His beaten-up face clearly visible.
"Squall gave you a tanking, and vice-versa I see" Irvine says.
"Yeah, he did, and has the only one who could" he says with a hint if sarcasm in his voice.
Irvine smiles sarcastically at him as he walks by. Squall turns to Laguna.
"We need to call a meeting, fast" he says to him.
"Sure, how quick?" he says, Kiros and Ward also look at him.
"As soon as you can, as its very urgent." Rinoa says. "Very."
Laguna looks at her fearfully. "OK, give me half an hour."
Squall and Rinoa nod at him, then walk up to Seifer, who is standing a part away, his back to them.
"Seifer, we need you to come to the meeting" Rinoa says to him. Seifer turns around.
"Sure, I'll help with what I can."
"Hey, should we trust him? After what happened?" Zell asks, walking up to them.
"It's up to you, Zell. You don't have to trust me, but trust what I say," he says. "As there's not much time."
Zell simply stares at him. Irvine walks up to Squall.
"Where's Quistis?"
"On the roof of the palace. I was talking to her."
"I'll go get her" says Selphie, and runs off.
Squall and the others say nothing as they gather in the room where they had the last briefing. They sit down, except for Seifer, who positions himself next to the door, leaning on the wall. The others say nothing. Rinoa turns to Zell.
"Please Zell, trust him, I think he's serious."
"I will. Rinoa, at least, now I know for certain I will."
"Why?"
"He didn't call me chicken-wuss" Zell says with a half smile. "that means he's serious."
Rinoa smiles back. They all turn and watch as Quistis walks in. She doesn't notice Seifer. Her face is still red from crying.
"What?" she asks. Selphie gestures behind her. Quistis turns around, and Seifer looks back at her, not smiling.
"Hello Sorceress Quistis" he says simply. Quistis looks at him.
"I though you were…"
"Never mind that" he says softly, "there's more important things to do."
Quistis looks at him one last time, and sits down. A few minutes of silence later, Laguna enters, followed by Kiros,Ward and the generals and officials of Esthar. They all look scared as they sit down.
"Ok people," says Laguna flatly. "Fill us in."
Rinoa stands up first. "We'll fill you in proper later. All you need to know right now President, is that a war is looming."
Laguna stares at her in horror. Seifer and Squall both narrow their eyes as she says this.
"W…War?" Laguna asks flabbergasted. Kiros and Ward exchange looks.
"Yes, and it quite possibly could be the Third Sorceress War."
The generals and the officials make noises at this. The SeeD's are silent as Rinoa calls them to silence.
"Even though we succeeded in getting Dr Odine out of the way, The sorceress escaped, also with the machine. This machine is the machine Ultimecia used to go back in time. And that's because the sorceress in question is Ultimecia. She's here now."
This caused uproar, and it required Rinoa's rather dominant voice to shut them up. Quistis looks at the floor in silence. Squall looks over at her. She looks up almost immediately, and fixes her eyes onto Squalls.
"What would you like us to do Rinoa?" Kiros asks. Squall stands up.
"Just be prepared for the worst. Also, if you could, alongside Garden, alert as many countries as you can and warn them about this. Tell them not to worry yet, but just be prepared."
Kiros nods his head. As does everyone else.
"What will you do?" asks Laguna.
"We're going to hunt her down, and destroy her, before this really gets started. There's no telling how many times she's used the machine now."
At this saying, a scientist bursts into the room. He runs up to the top of the table and hands Kiros a load of papers. There are photos on it.
"What is it?" Laguna asks. Kiros looks at the pictures with a look of doubt on his face.
"It seems that, according to our satellite photos, that there is a huge number of monsters amassing together at one point."
Seifer stands upright. "Where?" he asks.
"Near the Chocobo Sanctuary" Kiros says, he breathes deeply. "Well over one hundred thousand, as some of the forest has been destroyed by them arriving there."
"One hundred thousand?" Irvine says loudly? "Hyne, we got our work cut out now!"
"Yes, and there's more arriving. And not just the small ones. The big ones form the Heaven and Hell islands."
Squall gets up. "Let's go everyone. Laguna, we have to get to Garden." There is a slight urgency in his voice.2
"OK, understood. We'll get started now. Good luck" Laguna says quickly. He is hardly finished the sentence as Squall and the others get up and leave.
(Caves)
They were coming in huge numbers now. The Sanctuary is flattened and ripped apart as the monsters gather. Again, just like an army, the monsters wait in lines. The chocobos are either ripped apart or eaten as the lines stretch back as far as she can see. She smiles as she thinks to them. They understand what she is saying.
Let's start small, my pets. There's a small place called Trabia not too far from here. There is a place where people were trained to kill your family members. Let us pay them back shall we? Tell others of your kind about what you are doing. Revenge is sweet, my pets, so very sweet.
She throws her hands up, and the monsters roar as one. The sound races over the hills, the forest and through the sky. Suddenly, as one, they all take off or stampede back the way, towards Trabia.
(Squall – Garden)
Squall, Seifer and the others fly through the gate created by Rinoa. Xu yelps as Seifer lands in front of her. But the sight of Squall and the others stop her from raising the alarm.
"What the?" she says but is promptly silenced as Squall grabs the announcement mike.
"Everyone Listen up, this is Squall, and its very urgent." He says. The entire Garden immediately stops what they are doing and looks upward.
"The world is in great danger right now. I want everyone who is a SeeD to report to the quad in an hour. All trainees are to assemble in the parking lot, where you will receive your instructions also."
He watches as books and other items are dropped as trainees and SeeD's race to the designated positions. He turns and whispers in Quistis ear.
"I have to go somewhere, be back in half an hour."
"What's going on?" Xu asks again.
"There's going to be a war, Xu" Quistis says to her, taking one last look at Squall as he says something to Rinoa, and watching her nod her head. "And Garden is going to be right in the middle of it. As is Esthar and hopefully all the other countries. We need their help."
"Why?" she asks, still puzzled.
"Ultimecia has risen."
Seifer stands on the balcony on the second floor, looking over the ocean. He turns slightly as Squall walks onto the balcony also. He walks up alongside him.
"your with us right?" he says to Seifer.
"Yeah, all the way. I owe her one when I find her."
Squall turns to face him. Seifer turns his head and looks back.
"He sent you back, why?" Squall asks.
"You seen him too? Thought so, he sees everybody apparently."
"Why?"
"Because he says I can redeem myself, that there is still a place for me here, and that, if I do it properly, he wont send me to Hell when my time does come."
Squall looks away out to the ocean.
"What did he tell you?" he asks Seifer.
"Everything about Ultimecia. That Quistis is a sorceress, and her sister. Also that you were destined to be her Knight, but situations arose where that didn't happen. He says I have a choice to make."
"A choice?" says Squall, genuinely interested. "He told me that too."
"Do you know what yours is?" Seifer asks.
"No" says Squall. He is silent for a moment, then it hits him.
Seifer, he's the third choice, that's what Hyne said when I picked up his sword. I have to ask him…
"Seifer, I want you to be Quistis Knight."
Seifer turns around to face him fully.
"What?" he asks.
"You heard, I want you to be her Knight. I can't be, as I'm Rinoa's."
"I thought you were meant to be hers."
"No, Hyne told me I have chosen mine."
Seifer looks at the ground. "This must be my choice. Your choice was to ask me whether to be her Knight or not. I guess I get the final say."
"So will you?" Squall asks, facing Seifer.
"Sure. And I'll say to her myself."