Chapter V
"Whew! I guess the story is almost over huh?" Boko said.
"Yes, but the most exciting is yet to come!" Angelo assured the little Chocobo.
" I can't quite believe all this time we're the companions of a family of heroes, and
yet we never really tried to be worthy of them. That sucks, if you want my opinion."
Lotar said.
"Actually, the masters don't want you too. They've been quite fed up with all this
heroic life and all, and they want a normal family. 'Normal'…when the lady is a
Sorceress, and the master the greatest warrior of this planet. But, still they make the
most beautiful family." TK said.
"I know why! I know! It's their love right!? Right?!" Boko bawled.
"Yeah, that's it. I'm glad you understand Boko, how much this love affects us, and
the humans we love." Angelo said. "Love is an important thing, even if you don't
realize when it hits you."
~*~*~*~
"Yaaaa! Take this you fart bags!" Zell yelled out as he picked up a mercenary and
threw him with ease on three others.
Quistis whipped about, and Selphie broke noses and faces with her nunchaku. Irvine fired like frenzy, looking a bit like Clint Eastwood and Vermillion opened gaps in the lines of the mercenaries with his war axe.
They had almost reached the dungeons, and they had encountered the troop they were
fighting.
Through the ruckus, Quistis heard Rinoa's shriek. "R-Rinoa!" she thought. She tapped
Selphie on the shoulder, and nodded her to follow, and both girls ran past the troops,
leaving it to the three guys who were doing fine, since they called on Bahamut for
help, and darted down the hall. They went pass a guard who was snoozing, and
knocked him off with a blow, and casting Firaga, they knocked down the door of the
cell Rinoa was kept in.
She was tied up on the wall, and the big machine that was going to extract her powers
was on, but Remus had bought them some time. He's sprung up on the man using the
machine, and had bitten his index finger so hard the bone had broke, and he was now
hanging on his face, while Angelo was cutting his ass of him with his teeth snarling.
Quistis and Selphie went to Remus' rescue, and held the man against the wall, to
force him de-activate the machine.
"I said, de-activate it!" Quistis ordered.
"NO!!!" the man roared back, trying to free himself from the two girls.
Angelo took up again. He attacked and bit the man where-it-hurts-men-most, and the
man was immediately paralyzed and let little, illegible sounds, while Angelo growled.
"Get him off me…please…" the man begged.
"De-activate the machine first." Quistis demanded.
"Or Angelo here will cut your…mojo off!" Selphie added.
Being in such a tight situation, the man told Quistis how to de-active the machine, and
with Remus got Rinoa off the wall. She was exhausted, but she was much better once
the Odine bracelet was cut off with a pence.
"Selphie! Quisty! My God!" Rinoa said in tears and hugged both girls. "I thought you
were all dead!"
Quistis hugged her back with tenderness, and Selphie squeezed her tightly. The three
guys came in, victorious.
"Yeeeeee-haaaa! The Palace fell to us!" Irvine shouted.
"Irvine! Zell!" Rinoa shrieked happy and hugged the two guys. Zell and Irvine
blushed but they were happy to see her.
Vermillion introduced himself. "Vermillion O' Flaherty, doctor and gladiator, at your
services." He said with a slight, polite bow before Rinoa. "I'm also a buddy of
Squall's."
"Oh…pleasure to meet you." Rinoa said.
Quistis put her hand on Rinoa's shoulder. "Let's better run to the colosseum, before
your boyfriend flushes his head down the toilet…" she said.
Rinoa then remembered Squall. "Squall…Oh, hurry! Let's get out of here! Let's go to
Squall!" she said panicky.
They all ran out of the dungeon hall, as fast as they could, to get to the coloseum to
save Squall.
~*~*~*~
Squall waited on the seats of the stadium, for his opponent. He waited, like a lion
stalking it's pray under the hot savannah sun. He waited under the cool breeze of the
late evening. He didn't know Zelenick had prepared a sinister plan.
He only heard a slight sound and then felt something like a needle plunge on the back
of his neck. He let a cry and put his hand there. He pulled a small dart. A thought
darted through his mind. His fear found justice when he heard his offender's voice.
"That poison will kill you during the battle with the Emperor. You'll lose. Nothing
can save you. It's Demsticalinon. Now you'll pay."
"Cat…" Squall said. He jumped up and before she could react, he gripper her wrist,
and held it tight. "You're a traitor." He told her.
~*~*~*~
"T-that bitch!!!" Boko yelled.
Lotar was afraid TK would stop, so he put his big paw on the Chicobo's beak to shut
it. "Keep goin'." he said.
~*~*~*~
She smiled under her hood, and dropped her blowing cane.
"Maybe…but I'm also a lover."
"Zelenick's…I understand." Squall told her.
"You'll pay for rejecting me cutie face." She teased him.
"You like playing with lives." He said coldly. "You disgust me." Before she could
react, Squall pulled a dagger out of his belt and cut her throat with a terrifying sound.
The blood stained his chest, but his eyes and face were cold.
Cat's eyes peeled open, she held her cut throat with both hands, and fell to her knees,
and let chocking sounds. She then fell face down, dead.
Squall put the dagger in it's case, and was now concerned about the poison in his
system.
Demsticalinon was a powerful but slow poison, and would kill him slowly, like Cat
had promised. He had attended a few medicine seminaries back in Garden, but the
answer to his problem was given by Vermillion. Vermillion had once told him about a
way to slow down the poison and weaken it, by using the poison of another animal:
the black necked cobra, the deadliest snake in the world. However, it's poison would
counter effect with the Demsticalinon and slow down the effect. However, it didn't
stop the poison from killing the victim.
Squall didn't find it hard to get to the nest of a black-necked cobra he had found the
other day. He made the snake come out, and caught it. He forced it to bite his arm.
Then he threw the serpent away from him. He groaned, but went back to the seats,
waiting for Zelenick, counting the minutes of life he had left.
~*~*~*~
"Holy shit, ho-ly shit! Don't tell me Master fought like that?! Under the effect of two
poisons!?" Lotar now exploded.
~*~*~*~
"I came Leonhart! Come face me!" Zelenick roared in the arena, holding a h-u-g-e,
two hand Grand Sword.
"You're late Zelenick." Squall replied calmly up from the seats around the arena. He
jumped with grace down in the arena, landing perfectly, and stood before Zelenick.
He drew out his Leonhart, and stared at his hated opponent with rage. Despite the
poison, he was perfectly focused.
Zelenick felt a slight shiver up and down his spine, and his hair rose a bit from the
young man's wild eyes.
I'm so high, I can hear heaven
I'm so high, I can hear heaven
Oh but heaven, no heaven
Don't hear me
And they say that a hero can save us
I'm not gonna stand here and wait
I'll hold on to the wings of a hero
Watchin' all you fly away.
"You sent an assassin here, your own lover. You knew I'd kill her."
"I want to be the winner here. And she wasn't of much worth really." Zelenick
replied.
"You cheat Zelenick. And cheaters are caught after a bit." Squall said. "It's time for
your trial Zelenick."
They hadn't noticed, but the stadium was filling with people; people that held
banners, and looked at Zelenick with hate, but they didn't speak. They were silent like
dead in the stadium, as if they were in a court; yes, a supernatural court where the
judge, the jury and the executioner was no one else by the sword.
Someone told me
Love would've save us
But how can that be
Look what love gave us
A work full of killing and blood-spilling
That world never came
And they say that a hero can save us
I'm not gonna stand here and wait
I'll hold on to the wings of a hero
Watchin' all you fly away.
"You're a fool to think you'll defeat me." Zelenick said.
"You couldn't do me a thing when I was Jeremiah Zelenick. You couldn't even kill
me when you sent a whole troop against me. Even the poison doesn't bother me
much." Squall replied.
Zelenick's eyes peeled open. "It was you?"
"Yeah, that was me. And it was me again in that stupid party you threw. I was
everywhere Zelenick; you saw me, but denied what you saw."
"You'll die now."
"Heard that before."
Now that the world has an ending
It's love that I'm sending to you
It's in the love of a hero
That's why I fear it won't do
And they say that a hero can save us
I'm not gonna stand here and wait
I'll hold on to the wings of a hero
Watchin' you all fly away.
Zelenick attacked, blinded from his rage. Squall easily dodged the attack, and the
blade of Zelenick's sword went just inches by his ear.
"You're losing it Zelenick." Squall told him. "You're losing it, just like another
person I knew that got drunk from power. Because power can make you drunk."
Zelenick attacked again, and this time, he nearly hit Squall's leg before he drew it
away from the sword's course.
"I've had enough of you!" Zelenick roared and summoned a GF! "Tiamat! I summon
you!"
The crowd on the stadium squirmed and murmured in fear.
And they're watchin' us, watchin' us
As we'll all fly away
They're watchin' us, they're watchin' us
As we'll all fly away, yeah…
They're watching us…(watching us…)
As we'll all fly away… **
"Tiamat eh? Like I care. I've defeated her…in the future." Squall thought.
The sinister dragon shaped GF came down from the sky like Bahamut did. It prepared
its Dark Flare (D-A-R-K F-L-A-R-E), but Squall had already unleashed his
Renzokuken. He attacked Tiamat with rage. He slashed and pierced, ignoring the
quickening effect of the poison.
He finished the combo of five strikes with four trigger pulls and unleashed the Fated
Circle. He jumped up in the air, swirled the Leonhart around him, releasing a burst of
energy that demolished the ground around Tiamat damaging her. Since she was now
weaker, she couldn't resist and vanquished.
Squall back stepped panting. The poison started to affect him; he couldn't see clearly,
and the Gunblade grew heavier in his hands. Zelenick attacked again, and Squall
bounced off the Sword with his Gunblade to deliver a punch with his free hand on
Zelenick's face.
Zelenick back stepped and staggered. Squall groaned and knelt. He pressed his hand
on his chest. His heart ached, because of the poison, and he felt dizzy. Zelenick
attacked again, but Squall hadn't given up yet. As Zelenick closed in, he got up, and
grabbing Zelenick's hands his one, he cut a wound on Zelenick's stomach, making
him drop his weapon and fall down.
"As you saw…it was…very easy…even if I was poisoned." Squall said. He staggered
away from the fallen, groaning Zelenick, and turned to the silent crowd, speaking with
a 'cracked' voice.
"People of Galbadia! Today is the first day of your freedom, the freedom you chose!
There will be a short term government, with General Caraway as temporary President,
until you have elections and choose your own leaders!…" he said.
The crowd cheered, and just then, Rinoa, followed by the others came into the
Imperial booth, only to see Zelenick get up and attack Squall with his last power,
using a short sword. Despite his dizziness, Squall knew it, turned in time and slashed
Zelenick, killing him.
"Squall!!!!!!" Rinoa shrieked.
He turned, the crowd silenced, and then he fell, his eyes starring up, and fell heavily
on his back, just as Rinoa teleported herself next to him. She knelt by him and lifted
his head in her lap.
"Squall…she said.
"I…I'll…" he couldn't continue, and closed his eyes.
"GET A DOCTOR!! HE'S STILL ALIVE!!!" Rinoa shouted and her voice echoed in
the colosseum, and sounded as if it echoed throughout the whole world.
~*~*~*~
Squall opened is eyes, and he was floating naked in some sort of cloudy liquid that
had a blueish-grey color.
"What the…? Where am I?" he thought.
"Well, didn't think I'd see ya so soon Squall." someone said.
"DUKE!?!?!" Squall bawled and saw the black man take shape before him. Unlike
him, Duke was standing on a solid-like surface, and wore a neat white suit and white
hat, and smocked a cigar.
"W-where Am I? Am I dead?" Squall asked overcoming the shock.
Duke giggled. "Nah, you ain't dead…" he said. He spoke, and that made Squall
shiver. "If death was so shitty, I wouldn't look so fine, would I?"
"No…" Squall gasped like stupid.
"You're floating between life and death actually." Duke said and threw away his
cigar.
Squall kept floating and gasping like stupid. He must have looked so funny that Duke
laughed. "Man, if I was a girl I'd have wooed you…hahaha…" Then he got serious
again. "Listen kid, there's a seat for you in Heaven, with Him, and us rest Heaven-
dwellers. It's up to you."
Then Squall found himself dressed up in a white pair of cotton trousers and a white,
sleeveless cotton shirt.
"Well, you just died. But the doc's down at earth are trying to get you back. So, what
do you want?"
"I…I don't know…" Squall stuttered.
"I do." A woman said. Raine stepped in the scene, as if coming from behind a curtain.
"…M-mom?" Squall gasped.
Raine smiled. "I've waited long to hear that." She said. She wore a long white dress,
and looked beautiful. "M'am…" Duke said and taking off his hat, and bowed.
"I've waited so long to see you from close." She said.
"Mom…" Squall said. He began crying. He wasn't the teenager anymore, the fighter.
He was a 5-year-old Squall, and he cried.
Raine knelt by him. "I know Squall." She said and hugged her son. Squall could
actually fell his mother, and cried worse.
"I missed you mom."
"I know…"
"I don't wanna leave."
"Oh, but you have to." Raine backed off a bit and looked at Squall. "You have to. I
know that as much as you'd wish to stay with me, there are still people who need you.
Your father first of all. You know how much I love you and your father. I don't want
Laguna to be alone. He needs somebody near him, someone to remind him things
aren't over. And that's you. Also, Rinoa needs you; she needs you more than anyone.
You are her knight, but above all, you're the one that'll wait for her. Always wait for
her…"
Squall was now the adult, the grown up teenager, the fighter…the lover. He thought
of Rinoa, and cried again. Tears dropped out of his eyes.
"I wish…I wish I could be here…and back on earth at the same time…" he said.
"That will happen, eventually. But not now." Raine said. "Rinoa loves you too
strongly for you to stay here. She'll always pull you back to her, and you can't keep
on like that."
"But…"
"Stay if you want. But you'll never know what happened if you left."
"I'm going back."
The light blinded him…
~*~*~*~
His closed eyes smarted from the light. He regained his consciousness. He opened his
eyes, and groaned. He was alive.
"Squall?" Rinoa whispered. She saw his opened eyes, and gasped, then held his hand
in hers. "I'm so grateful you're alive…I was praying all night."
"Rinoa…" he said and sat up a bit. He hugged her. "Thank you."
"Why do you thank me? You saved Galbadia and saved me…again." She said.
"Thank you for not letting me die."
"Oh Squall…"
He didn't let her continue. He kissed her, and embraced her. It was so long since he'd
last held her so close to him, he thought he'd never let go of her. But, he did, and they
looked at each other and a smile crept up on their faces.
"You look cute like this…just a sheet over you…" Rinoa said, and Squall laughed.
"You are actually amazing. You can make me smile even when I think I'll never
smile again." He said.
"I'm glad about that." She said. She held in her hand the hand on which he wore her
ring. "Remus said this was too tight on you. It is. The docs couldn't get it off you."
Squall giggled. "Could you? It's killing me."
Rinoa smiled, and pulled the ring off his finger easily. There was a red mark around
his finger, where the ring had rested for so long.
"How'd you do that?" he asked.
"Magic…" Rinoa said and swirled her finger in the air.
"…Damn, you're beautiful." He said and kissed her again.
"…a-HEM!" someone coughed, and both turned in a hurry, blushed.
"Dad!" Squall said with a pleasant surprise, seeing his father stand on the doorstep.
"Don't you two think you should leave that for later?" Laguna giggled, and went by
his son. "I'm glad you're alright…" he said and hugged his son.
"I'm glad to see you too." Squall replied.
Rinoa was happy to see them both together and smiling.
"I dunno if you want to hear this…but the rest are waiting for you outside. Now,
Rinoa, get out and let him get dressed, unless he feels too weak yet, and needs you to
dress him up, Hahahaha! Ouch!" Laguna laughed and Squall threw his pillow at him
with a wide smile, and a blush that was identical to the one that has flashing on
Rinoa's face, as she retreated to the door.
Laguna followed her, holding his stomach from laughing, while Squall was getting
dressed, laughing out loud. He got out of the room, and followed the other two to
where the others were waiting.
"Yahoo! There he is!" Zell shouted. They were all happy to see him all right, and each
of them congratulated him for his feat of freeing Galbadia. Angelo jumped up on him
and licked his face like frenzy, happy to see him again. Even Remus was around. He
was glad to see his friend again. And Squall was happy to see him.
"We two have a deal, don't you forget that." He told the young boy.
Laguna and Caraway were both happy to see the friends re-joined and happy. They
looked at each other.
"Ahem…guys…" Laguna said and they all went a bit quiet. "I know this might not
what you wanna hear, but there's two legions of reporters and journalists downstairs
at the entrance of the hospital waiting for you guys. What should I do?"
"The Ragnarok is at the back…" Caraway said, supposedly consequently.
They all looked at each other.
"I'm sure you'll find a good speech to tell them Dad…" Squall told to Laguna.
Laguna nodded and giggled. "Get the hell outta here, before they barge in looking for
you all."
~*~*~*~
"Heheheheh, Master never really liked journalists!" Boko commented.
~*~*~*~
They all ran to the back of the hospital, but Squall and Vermillion stayed behind.
"Hey, Vermillion, aren't you coming along?" Squall asked him.
Vermillion shook his head. "Nah, I'm goin' back to Winhill. My wife and son are still
alive, and I'm goin' back to them. But, I'm never gonna forget you…or any of your
friends."
Squall smiled he understood. "I understand Vermillion. But, I'll be seeing you
around."
The two men shook hands. "Where'll you be?" Vermillion asked.
"You know."
"Oh, I get it; the Garden of the Heroes…" he meant Balamb Garden.
"Bye Vermillion." Squall said and ran off to catch up the others, while Vermillion
watched him, and thought how much that guy had changed the world around them. He
smiled and shook his head. They'd probably never know why.
The Ragnarok took off, with the gang in it and heading for a club in Timber they
loved, ran by Zone and Watts. They flew over the city of Deling, which was
celebrating the new days of freedom that came.
Laguna, Caraway, Biggs and Wedge were in front of the hospital and looked up at the
aircraft that flew above them.
"Well, I'd like to know what we're gonna say to the journalists now…" Biggs said.
"…I say we get outta here ourselves." Laguna said.
"That's a great idea Laguna." Caraway said.
The four men left off secretly, leaving the swarm of the reporters waiting in total vein.
~*~*~*~
"Hahaha, that was very nice of them!" Lotar laughed.
"So, I guess the story ends here?" Boko asked.
"Yes…and no. This story actually continues till today." Angelo said.
Just then, the door opened, and Rinoa and Squall were standing on the doorstep.
"Ruff! Ruff!" Angelo barked and went over to Rinoa to cuddle.
"Welcome home Master." TK said.
"Khew! Khew! KHEW!" Boko twirped and hopped up and down.
"Grrr!…Grrrrr!" Lotar growled and rubbed himself on Squall's legs like a cat.
"Hahahaha…we're glad to see you guys too." Squall said.
"Dad…I'm sleepy…" a little boy between the couple said after hugging Boko.
"Oh, I have to phone Quistis…" Rinoa said.
Squall smiled. "Go ahead, I'll put Julian to bed…" he said.
Rinoa smiled at him, and nodded.
Squall picked up his son, and carried him to his room, upstairs, followed by Boko and
Lotar. He lay his son in his bed, and tucked him in. The little child had already
drooped off. Squall looked at him with love, and couldn't hold back a light giggle.
The little bugger…he looked a lot like his mom, the same, jet-black hair, the same
facial expression, and the same characteristics; only in a male version of them. But, he
had Squall's eyes and complexion. He was a handsome child. But, above all, Rinoa
claimed her boy had his dad's volcanic personality.
"Goodnight Julian." Squall said and kissed his son goodnight.
The boy squirmed. Boko and Lotar were dozing off on the bed's feet. Squall got out
of the room quietly, and closed the door behind him. He went downstairs silently, and
went to the balcony, to Rinoa, passing in front of TK and Angelo.
They looked at each other, and the dog and the robot giggled.
-----THE END!!!!------ (Finally!)
**Edit from 'Hero' by Chad Kroeger feat. Josey Scott, from the 'Spider-Man' OST