Disclaimer: I really don't own Final Fantasy VIII, or Squaresoft. *sigh*
Author's Notes: How long has it been since I last wrote a fanfic? Anyway, this is a fanfic about Ultimecia - basically - and her life 'before' the events of the game. Nothing really fancy or anything like that - just my take on this underdeveloped character. This is actually a rewrite of a fanfic I didn't quite finish ages ago (actually three years ago). I intend to finish it now though – somehow.
Oh well – this chapter didn't quite come out as nicely as I would like it to. I'm just not that good of a writer… Reviews are more than welcome so drop one!
Light/Darkness
***
"They say… time is endless…"
The woman took a small, almost hesitant, step forward. She looked over her shoulder and regarded the mass of people gathered at the entrance of her palace with a blank look. Tonight was the beginning…
..and the end.
She looked away from the crowd and continued walking forward. Her steps were light, almost careful, as she made her way up the carpeted stairs and them down the aisle that lead to her throne. She was followed by a small group of young women - her devote followers - dressed in robes that resembled hers, though theirs were obviously not as grand.
"They say… man was not meant to live longer than they can remember…"
The woman took her place, sitting herself quietly in her throne. She looked like a queen with her golden eyes, silvery-gray hair and ageless face as she sat on her throne, watching her people, her followers with the air of a goddess.
She was a goddess indeed, or so she would like people to think.
"Memories are beautiful… but they fade… because they're beautiful… and beautiful things have to fade.."
There was a time when she knew why and for what she was there. There was a time when she knew why she said the things she said.
But no more.
An old man, whose name she no longer remembered, walked down the aisle and fell on his knees before her. He spoke in a trembling voice:
"It is done.. m'lady, your majesty."
"It is done."
The woman nodded slowly and opened her mouth to speak. Her voice was clear and crisp.
"Let us then kompress time…..," she said out loud, "Let us.."
***
Chapter One: The Girl
***
….For the first time in many, many years, she opened her mouth and used her voice. It was not for a joyous laughter, or an uplifting speech she opened her mouth once again, but for a cry; a sharp cry with anger, pain and hatred in it.
Blood stained her dress as she took the lifeless body in her arms. She held it close and then knew for the first time in years what she wanted to do….
***
"Where……am….I?" the girl asked, slowly, as she came to. She lay on the cold earth, her long blonde hair in spilled over her shoulders, and clothed with nothing but a simple, old faded-gray dress. She sat up and looked around her curiously. The sky was orange with hints of blue and violet. She watched as, slowly, the orange in the sky faded, replaced by dark blue.
Night had fallen.
Stars began to appear, as if from their from their hiding places. The temperature dropped and with the sudden cold she realized she was alone. Something told her she shouldn't fear, however. It was like a voice at the back of her mind, and she wondered.
"Why?" she asked quietly before walking forward - to where, she didn't know.
How long she walked, barefooted, she didn't know. She just walked and walked, not experiencing hunger or tire at all. That made her wonder too, and perhaps fear - if only a bit. But it didn't matter, yet. She stopped when she spotted a road in front of her – a stretch of black that didn't quite fit with the dull brown of the earth.
She heard a question then, at the back of her mind - 'Who am I?' a voice asked.
Truth be told, she didn't know. She hung her head and stared blankly at the brown earth beneath her feet, her blue eyes wide. "Who am I?" she asked herself in a soft whisper.
'Who am I?'
Before her mind could fully process the question, she was filled with an unknown and yet familiar sensation. The question was forgotten, if only for a while. Something behind her and her mind screamed for her to turn around.
She followed without question and was overcome with something she could not quite explain when she did.
A dragon-like creature, with red scales and wide, leathery wings was now in front of her - for how long it had been watching her, or even following her, she didn't know. It gave loud, sharp cry that would have made any other girl scream with fear, but not her.
She stared at the creature's hungry eyes defiantly. Fearlessly.
No, she did not fear – not at all.
It raised one of its claws, intending to end her life with one swift move, but as It sent it crashing down it was stopped by something just mere inches above her head.
The wind blew, howling in her ears.
She took a step forward and innocently placed her small hands on the creature's body. She closed her eyes and whispered the words in her mind out loud.
Her hands itched, her blood burned.
When she opened her eyes, she looked up to the star-filled sky before a sharp, hot feeling ran through her veins and seemed to escape through her hands. She cried out and fell back, not with pain but with the power.. the release…
Magick.
A crystal of ice formed from beneath the dragon-like creature and pierced through its scales, its flesh, and its heart, killing it almost instantly. It gave one sharp cry, filled with pain and anger, before falling on the ground, dead.
She stared at the creature for a few moments before staring at her own hands. She had done this with her hands, her own two hands, and they were still warm.
She had killed it with magick - her magick.
She looked up to sky, to the stars and closed her eyes, feeling the cold wind as it brushed against her cheeks. How had she done it? What was she? Who was she? Why was she able to do that? The stars and the wind seemed to remind her, but nothing would come.
Nothing.
"Who am I?" she asked, her voice trembling. The wind blew, but it held no answer. She hung her head and stared at the cold earth before falling on her knees. "Where am I?" she asked again, and once again nobody answered.
She cried.
***
