Squall and Rinoa were in his old dorm room, deciding what GF's to junction to what. It had been an hour since the meeting, and the couple's conversation turned to the mission.

            "I've dreamed about this before," Rinoa said abruptly.

            "What do you mean?" Squall asked, surprised. "About this mission?"

            "Yes." She gazed downwards. "These aren't like the monsters we've fought before. Not even during the Lunar Cry. They're stronger… and much more numerous. I've dreamt about great death and destruction because of this mission…"

            "Do you think any one of us will die?"

            "I can't tell. I do know that it will be one of the greatest battles we've ever fought." She looked very dejected.

            "You don't have to go," Squall said. "We can run away, to Esthar or the Shumi Village."

            "No, Squall." Rinoa placed her hand on his face. "If I've learned anything from our journey, it's that we can't escape our destiny."

            Zell sat in the passenger seat, chatting away about hotdogs and girls with pigtails. Rinoa was in the back seat, strangely quiet. Squall wore his usual expression of diffidence, hiding his concern for Rinoa. He was only half listening to Zell, and half listening for Rinoa. They passed the barricades near Deling City easily, Squall's face serving as their identification. The younger SeeD guards asked for the swordsman's autograph, but they were denied as Squall drove on.

            The SeeDs got out of the car to an eerie sight. The streets of the city were completely empty save for paper and leaves blowing in the wind. They walked through the streets slowly, watching for any attackers. Rinoa held her magic ready while the two men brandished their weapons.

            Silently, two yellow eyes appeared in the shadow of a building. A creature rose from the floor and materialized, its antennae twitching towards the SeeDs. It slunk along between the shadows, up to a large black creature. It wore a plate-like hat on its head, and broken shackles on its arms. Armor was placed over its huge belly, and was pitted with tiny chinks. It was snoring quietly, until the small creature jumped onto its head and then onto its belly. Waking up, the large creature noticed the smaller one and their eyes met. Suddenly the creature got up and scratched its head for a minute, then waddled off, the small creature still on its shoulder.

            Squall heard a noise and shot a Fire spell towards it. He could hear a rat screaming as it burned, but paid no further attention to it. Suddenly they all heard a noise that sounded like the scratching of a thousand claws, but couldn't see anything or anyone around them. While the two men scanned the rooftops for enemies, Rinoa edged closer to Squall as she saw the hundreds of yellow eyes appear on the floor.