Chapter Seven
Nightmares of the Past
Rinoa gasped in her sleep and tossed over. "SQUALL!" She screamed, tossing to one side, then the other, "SQUALL!!" The nightmares were haunting her again. Until the day she died she would always remember the second Sorceress War. It had been in their last year at Hogwarts School . . .
The ancient and evil Sorceress Adel had been discovered beneath Hogwarts School, imprisoned there long ago by powerful witches and wizards. She had come to some power again after a long slumber there, and using the powers of a fellow Sorceress, the even more powerful Ultemecia, she had come to possess the minds of some students at Hogwarts to help her achieve her freedom.
Seifer, Lucius and Severus had all been entranced by Sorceress Ultemecia and Adel. It was fitting that they were all in Slytherin. They had released monsters from the forbidden forest on the school. The monsters had fortunately been locked into the basement of the school. But that was where Rinoa and the others were trapped. Seifer dragged Rinoa roughly over towards the Sorceress Adel, who towering above them with flaming red hair, unbelievable tall, at least twelve feet; she was probably part-giant. Adel was imprisoned in her eternal slumber by many of the greatest witches and wizards of all time, underneath the school.
A few of the Slytherins who had not been possessed by the Sorceress suddenly tried to stop him. Fuujin, a girl with grey hair and a patch eye and Rajin, a strong looking young man with very dark skin, jumped between Seifer and Rinoa and Sorceress Adel.
"Seifer, you can't do this, man!" Rajin shouted, "You can't sacrifice Rinoa to awaken Adel! She's gonna be killed!"
Seifer ignored him, dragging Rinoa closer to the Sorceress. "Seifer, stop, you aren't like this! You aren't evil!" Rinoa begged.
Squall, Irvine, Selphie, Quistis, Remus, Sirius, Zell, Lily and James, all stood frozen in horror, watching, Lucius and Severus had their wands pointed menacingly at them, and the students were unarmed and helpless. "RINOA!!" Sirius suddenly screamed, "Let her go you son of a-" He tried to force his way through Lucius and Severus, and Lucius shot him with a body- locking spell. Sirius fell to the ground, but Squall took this as his opportunity and lunged at Severus, punching him in the jaw. Severus reeled backwards and Squall grabbed his wand.
"Squall . . . SAVE . . . her-save my SISTER!" Sirius struggled through his frozen jaw.
Lucius spun around to attack Squall, but Zell, a young man with spiky blonde hair and a tattoo on one side of his face, leapt up and socked Lucius in the face, knocking Lucius backwards and unconscious. "Take that you bastard!" Zell shouted, kicking the unconscious Slythrin.
James ran to where Lucius had fallen and grabbed his wand, tossing it to Irvine who used it to free Sirius and then guard Severus .
Severus glared at Irvine angrily, "We are the Sorceress' noble knights. You insignificant worms will soon be crushed."
"Shut up!" Irvine shouted. "Adel will never get her sacrifice!"
But even as he spoke, Seifer had flung Rinoa within the Sorceress' frozen grasp.
"RINOA!" Sirius screamed.
"Brother! Squall! Help me!" Rinoa screamed, but it was to late, Adel's eyes shot open, bright red like fire. She reached one claw-like arm towards Rinoa, breaking through the magical barrier that the wizards had sealed her within.
Squall ran towards her, but Seifer blocked him, pointing his wand towards Squall.
Fuujin and Rajin however, stood up behind him, their wands pointed at Seifer's head. "STOP!" Fuujin commanded in her harsh voice.
Seifer looked stunned. "You both-are betraying me?"
"Man, you CAN'T do this!" Rajin shouted, "Squall, save the girl, ya know!"
Adel had already reached Rinoa, the girl screamed as the Sorceress' long gnarled nails dug into her shoulders; blood started pouring down her arms, soaking her light blue robes. Squall ran towards Rinoa, but a sudden gust of wind blew him back and across the room. He crashed into the wall and fell to the floor.
James and Lily ran to his side. "She's draining Rinoa's powers!" Lily exclaimed.
"But-how? Why?" Squall gasped, struggling to stand. Long strands of dark brown hair had fallen into his eyes, and he brushed them away as he stood. The party could only watch now, as Adel had erected an invisible field barrier around herself and Rinoa. Seifer and Severus each had superior looking smirks on their face. Rinoa screamed and screamed as the Sorceress drained her energy.
"She's doing it through a technique called 'junctioning.'" Quistis said, casting a healing charm on Squall, "I read about it in 'The Ancient Magic: Drawing and Junctioning.' by-"
"Okay, but how do we STOP it?" Sirius interrupted.
"Calm down!" Remus said, but he looked just as worried.
Rinoa had stopped screaming, and now her head lolled back with a pale-empty look and Adel began to cackle evilly. Sirius screamed and ran at them, but Squall caught him, "You can't help her now! None of us can!"
"There has to be a way!" James cried. "We can't just stand here and watch her die!"
"Of course!" Remus said, "We just need to-to-"
"My Gunblade!" Squall said suddenly, a Gunblade was a very special weapon used by a few gifted wizards and witches. It was similar to a sword and a muggle gun, put together, so that there was a long blade with a trigger at the end. Squall Leonhart was one of the few students ever at Hogwarts to be able to use one. James and Seifer were the others. James nodded his head in agreement with Squall. Seifer, Lucius and Severus had taken their Gunblades as well as their wands, but now that they had Lucius unconscious and Severus at wand point they easily retrieved them.
"We can break through the invisible barrier with these!" James shouted.
"NO!" Seifer roared, he caught Fuujin and Rajin off guard and used his wand to slam them into the barrier. It crackled as the two bodies struck it and vanished. Adel looked up from Rinoa and glared angrily.
"You fool! You've destroyed the barrier!" She shrieked.
Seifer look aghast. Then he shook his head and grinned at his Sorceress, bowing low, "Don't worry my Sorceress, I'll stop them, you won't need a magical barrier!"
Squall looked ready to kill Seifer, but James stopped him, "I'LL take care of Seifer, YOU get Rinoa!"
Normally, James would never have expected Squall to back away from a fight with his arch-rival Seifer Almasy, but with Rinoa in danger, Squall barely glanced at Seifer when he saw that James was handling it.
James swung his Gunblade towards Seifer, his had the Gryffindor Griffin engraved on it, as did Squall's, and Seifer's had the Slythrin Snake. Seifer smirked at him, "Well, I WAS hoping to give Squall an extra scar, but I guess I could kill you FIRST, Potter."
The previous year Seifer had slashed Squall across the face with his Gunblade "accidentally" during a Defence Against the Dark Arts class, leaving a long diagonal scar. Squall had repaid him with a matching scar of his own. The two had been in vicious rivalry ever since James had known them. But there was no time for bitter rivalries now.
Squall leapt at Adel, and swung his Gunblade at her furiously, not holding back. The Sorceress shot him back again with a burst of magical energy. Sirius watched helplessly as his twin sister, Rinoa, and his best friends James and Squall, all fought with their lives in danger. James blocked one of Seifer's blows, and then ran towards him.
Lily gasped as Seifer slammed James back, their Gunblades clashing and blue and silver sparks flying off of them. Quistis and Remus edged over to where Fuujin and Rajin lay and dragged their bodies out of the battle zone. "Oh my God . . ." Quistis gasped. "Remus-Fuujin-Fuujin is-Oh my God-Fuujin is dead."
Remus looked pale and shaken, he felt Rajin's throat with a trembling hand. He gulped, unable to speak, and only shook his head at Quistis numbly. They were both dead. Two Slythrins they had been at ends with for all of their seven years at Hogwarts, now, dead.
"What the HELL?!" Zell shouted suddenly, "I mean-they can't-they just CAN'T be-be-" He punched the stone wall of the castle basement with his fist, upset. "God damn it . . ."
Selphie started crying suddenly, and Irvine pulled her close. "Don't worry- don't worry, baby-" He murmured, but Quistis noticed that his face looked terrified as he watched Seifer, James, Adel, Squall and Rinoa.
James charged once more at Seifer, using all of his strength and knocked the blonde haired Slythrin's Gunblade out of his hands. Breathing heavily, he raised his own weapon with shaking arms and pointed the blade at Seifer's throat.
Squall ran at Adel again, he was not going to give up. Something had suddenly awakened with him. The desire to save Rinoa had over come him. He could not stay there, looking at her limp form in Adel's grasp any longer, rage and hatred flooded him and he drove his Gunblade squarely through the Sorceress' chest.
Adel screamed she instantly released her hold on Rinoa, who fell from her grasp limp and lifeless. Sirius was there to catch her in his arms as Squall continued to slash madly at the evil Sorceress. "Rinoa-Rinoa-wake up!" Sirius cried, shaking her in his arms.
Rinoa WAS awake, but she was unable to move, her talk. She felt like she had just had everything inside of her sucked out and she was just an empty, useless shell. She could only watch and listen to the cries around her as the battle raged on.
James moved Seifer closer to the others and Irvine watched him with Severus, keeping his wand pointed directly at them. "James!" Lily cried, she had tears in her eyes.
"I have to help Squall!" James told her.
"No!" She sobbed, smoothing back some of her boyfriend's messy dark hair that was never neat, but they both knew that he had to.
"He would risk his life for me if Adel had taken you." James said solemnly, "I have to fight with him!"
James ran back towards Squall and Adel, twisting his Gunblade around in his grasp and slashing Adel in the back with it, as Squall stabbed her in the front. Adel screamed, and slowly dropped to her knees, she began to flicker and vanish. Blood was pouring from her mouth and chest; she shook and screamed at them all. Suddenly a burst of multi-coloured light shot out of the Sorceress Adel and shot into Rinoa. Sirius was still cradling her in his arms. The sudden burst of light caused her body to lift into the air slightly, he watched, horrified, but she fell back into his arms, the colour returned to her face, and life in her eyes.
"Sirius!" She cried, and hugged him, crying into his shoulder.
"Rinoa!" He hugged her back,
Adel was disappearing, she faded into ashes, and they fell to the cold rock floor, scattering a little. James sighed in relief and stumbled backwards; Lily ran up to him and hugged him furiously. Squall immediately ran to Rinoa and Sirius. Rinoa leapt out of Sirius arms and hugged Squall, she was shaking and tears were streaming down her face. Squall hugged her close.
"Squall-I-I was inside of Adel. No, more than that-Ultemecia. I saw her thoughts-her desires-she-she wants to destroy the world! Compress time! Destroy everything! I saw-I saw it-"
"It's all over now." Squall told her.
It's all over . . .
Rinoa woke up in bed at Hogwarts-now a teacher rather than a student-to the sound of Squall's voice echoing through her mind. She shuddered at the vividness of the nightmare-the memory-it had been years ago now and she still dreamed about it. She had relived that night so many times in her life . . .
It HADN'T all been over then. Fuujin and Rajin were dead. Seifer, Severus and Lucius never received punishment since after Adel was killed they were released from her influence and it was determined that they hadn't been able to think for themselves while she possessed them. However, a few months later Seifer had killed himself. She had taken it hard, despite the fact that he had almost killed her; the two of them had been dating a lot in fifth year, before she met Squall.
Dumbledore had told them that since Adel was gone Ultemecia would return into hiding again until a powerful enough Sorceress for her to possess came into existence again. However, for Rinoa, it had been just the beginning. She had previously received the powers of another Sorceress-an Edea, who had been a good Sorceress, also possessed by Ultemecia-and in doing so had become a Sorceress herself. A Sorceress was more powerful than an ordinary witch and in ancient times they had been persecuted even among the wizard world. Now, she also had Adel's powers cursing through her veins, including the immortality-she would never age again--with no way to rid herself of them. She was a Sorceress and she would be until her death when she would have to pass her powers on to another girl. And she would never age, some people said they wished they would never age, but not her. Everyday the world spun around further and further, her husband aged as he grew older, her friends, everyone, but she was left out, alone, cut off from the natural flow of time forever.
Rinoa sighed and shook herself, crawling out of bed. It was six in the morning but there was no way she was going to be able to sleep again after that nightmare. Pulling on a long dark blue robe, Rinoa made her way out of her room and into the teacher's lounge. Looking around she sighed and poured herself a cup of coffee. Today was going to be a long day.
Rinoa gasped in her sleep and tossed over. "SQUALL!" She screamed, tossing to one side, then the other, "SQUALL!!" The nightmares were haunting her again. Until the day she died she would always remember the second Sorceress War. It had been in their last year at Hogwarts School . . .
The ancient and evil Sorceress Adel had been discovered beneath Hogwarts School, imprisoned there long ago by powerful witches and wizards. She had come to some power again after a long slumber there, and using the powers of a fellow Sorceress, the even more powerful Ultemecia, she had come to possess the minds of some students at Hogwarts to help her achieve her freedom.
Seifer, Lucius and Severus had all been entranced by Sorceress Ultemecia and Adel. It was fitting that they were all in Slytherin. They had released monsters from the forbidden forest on the school. The monsters had fortunately been locked into the basement of the school. But that was where Rinoa and the others were trapped. Seifer dragged Rinoa roughly over towards the Sorceress Adel, who towering above them with flaming red hair, unbelievable tall, at least twelve feet; she was probably part-giant. Adel was imprisoned in her eternal slumber by many of the greatest witches and wizards of all time, underneath the school.
A few of the Slytherins who had not been possessed by the Sorceress suddenly tried to stop him. Fuujin, a girl with grey hair and a patch eye and Rajin, a strong looking young man with very dark skin, jumped between Seifer and Rinoa and Sorceress Adel.
"Seifer, you can't do this, man!" Rajin shouted, "You can't sacrifice Rinoa to awaken Adel! She's gonna be killed!"
Seifer ignored him, dragging Rinoa closer to the Sorceress. "Seifer, stop, you aren't like this! You aren't evil!" Rinoa begged.
Squall, Irvine, Selphie, Quistis, Remus, Sirius, Zell, Lily and James, all stood frozen in horror, watching, Lucius and Severus had their wands pointed menacingly at them, and the students were unarmed and helpless. "RINOA!!" Sirius suddenly screamed, "Let her go you son of a-" He tried to force his way through Lucius and Severus, and Lucius shot him with a body- locking spell. Sirius fell to the ground, but Squall took this as his opportunity and lunged at Severus, punching him in the jaw. Severus reeled backwards and Squall grabbed his wand.
"Squall . . . SAVE . . . her-save my SISTER!" Sirius struggled through his frozen jaw.
Lucius spun around to attack Squall, but Zell, a young man with spiky blonde hair and a tattoo on one side of his face, leapt up and socked Lucius in the face, knocking Lucius backwards and unconscious. "Take that you bastard!" Zell shouted, kicking the unconscious Slythrin.
James ran to where Lucius had fallen and grabbed his wand, tossing it to Irvine who used it to free Sirius and then guard Severus .
Severus glared at Irvine angrily, "We are the Sorceress' noble knights. You insignificant worms will soon be crushed."
"Shut up!" Irvine shouted. "Adel will never get her sacrifice!"
But even as he spoke, Seifer had flung Rinoa within the Sorceress' frozen grasp.
"RINOA!" Sirius screamed.
"Brother! Squall! Help me!" Rinoa screamed, but it was to late, Adel's eyes shot open, bright red like fire. She reached one claw-like arm towards Rinoa, breaking through the magical barrier that the wizards had sealed her within.
Squall ran towards her, but Seifer blocked him, pointing his wand towards Squall.
Fuujin and Rajin however, stood up behind him, their wands pointed at Seifer's head. "STOP!" Fuujin commanded in her harsh voice.
Seifer looked stunned. "You both-are betraying me?"
"Man, you CAN'T do this!" Rajin shouted, "Squall, save the girl, ya know!"
Adel had already reached Rinoa, the girl screamed as the Sorceress' long gnarled nails dug into her shoulders; blood started pouring down her arms, soaking her light blue robes. Squall ran towards Rinoa, but a sudden gust of wind blew him back and across the room. He crashed into the wall and fell to the floor.
James and Lily ran to his side. "She's draining Rinoa's powers!" Lily exclaimed.
"But-how? Why?" Squall gasped, struggling to stand. Long strands of dark brown hair had fallen into his eyes, and he brushed them away as he stood. The party could only watch now, as Adel had erected an invisible field barrier around herself and Rinoa. Seifer and Severus each had superior looking smirks on their face. Rinoa screamed and screamed as the Sorceress drained her energy.
"She's doing it through a technique called 'junctioning.'" Quistis said, casting a healing charm on Squall, "I read about it in 'The Ancient Magic: Drawing and Junctioning.' by-"
"Okay, but how do we STOP it?" Sirius interrupted.
"Calm down!" Remus said, but he looked just as worried.
Rinoa had stopped screaming, and now her head lolled back with a pale-empty look and Adel began to cackle evilly. Sirius screamed and ran at them, but Squall caught him, "You can't help her now! None of us can!"
"There has to be a way!" James cried. "We can't just stand here and watch her die!"
"Of course!" Remus said, "We just need to-to-"
"My Gunblade!" Squall said suddenly, a Gunblade was a very special weapon used by a few gifted wizards and witches. It was similar to a sword and a muggle gun, put together, so that there was a long blade with a trigger at the end. Squall Leonhart was one of the few students ever at Hogwarts to be able to use one. James and Seifer were the others. James nodded his head in agreement with Squall. Seifer, Lucius and Severus had taken their Gunblades as well as their wands, but now that they had Lucius unconscious and Severus at wand point they easily retrieved them.
"We can break through the invisible barrier with these!" James shouted.
"NO!" Seifer roared, he caught Fuujin and Rajin off guard and used his wand to slam them into the barrier. It crackled as the two bodies struck it and vanished. Adel looked up from Rinoa and glared angrily.
"You fool! You've destroyed the barrier!" She shrieked.
Seifer look aghast. Then he shook his head and grinned at his Sorceress, bowing low, "Don't worry my Sorceress, I'll stop them, you won't need a magical barrier!"
Squall looked ready to kill Seifer, but James stopped him, "I'LL take care of Seifer, YOU get Rinoa!"
Normally, James would never have expected Squall to back away from a fight with his arch-rival Seifer Almasy, but with Rinoa in danger, Squall barely glanced at Seifer when he saw that James was handling it.
James swung his Gunblade towards Seifer, his had the Gryffindor Griffin engraved on it, as did Squall's, and Seifer's had the Slythrin Snake. Seifer smirked at him, "Well, I WAS hoping to give Squall an extra scar, but I guess I could kill you FIRST, Potter."
The previous year Seifer had slashed Squall across the face with his Gunblade "accidentally" during a Defence Against the Dark Arts class, leaving a long diagonal scar. Squall had repaid him with a matching scar of his own. The two had been in vicious rivalry ever since James had known them. But there was no time for bitter rivalries now.
Squall leapt at Adel, and swung his Gunblade at her furiously, not holding back. The Sorceress shot him back again with a burst of magical energy. Sirius watched helplessly as his twin sister, Rinoa, and his best friends James and Squall, all fought with their lives in danger. James blocked one of Seifer's blows, and then ran towards him.
Lily gasped as Seifer slammed James back, their Gunblades clashing and blue and silver sparks flying off of them. Quistis and Remus edged over to where Fuujin and Rajin lay and dragged their bodies out of the battle zone. "Oh my God . . ." Quistis gasped. "Remus-Fuujin-Fuujin is-Oh my God-Fuujin is dead."
Remus looked pale and shaken, he felt Rajin's throat with a trembling hand. He gulped, unable to speak, and only shook his head at Quistis numbly. They were both dead. Two Slythrins they had been at ends with for all of their seven years at Hogwarts, now, dead.
"What the HELL?!" Zell shouted suddenly, "I mean-they can't-they just CAN'T be-be-" He punched the stone wall of the castle basement with his fist, upset. "God damn it . . ."
Selphie started crying suddenly, and Irvine pulled her close. "Don't worry- don't worry, baby-" He murmured, but Quistis noticed that his face looked terrified as he watched Seifer, James, Adel, Squall and Rinoa.
James charged once more at Seifer, using all of his strength and knocked the blonde haired Slythrin's Gunblade out of his hands. Breathing heavily, he raised his own weapon with shaking arms and pointed the blade at Seifer's throat.
Squall ran at Adel again, he was not going to give up. Something had suddenly awakened with him. The desire to save Rinoa had over come him. He could not stay there, looking at her limp form in Adel's grasp any longer, rage and hatred flooded him and he drove his Gunblade squarely through the Sorceress' chest.
Adel screamed she instantly released her hold on Rinoa, who fell from her grasp limp and lifeless. Sirius was there to catch her in his arms as Squall continued to slash madly at the evil Sorceress. "Rinoa-Rinoa-wake up!" Sirius cried, shaking her in his arms.
Rinoa WAS awake, but she was unable to move, her talk. She felt like she had just had everything inside of her sucked out and she was just an empty, useless shell. She could only watch and listen to the cries around her as the battle raged on.
James moved Seifer closer to the others and Irvine watched him with Severus, keeping his wand pointed directly at them. "James!" Lily cried, she had tears in her eyes.
"I have to help Squall!" James told her.
"No!" She sobbed, smoothing back some of her boyfriend's messy dark hair that was never neat, but they both knew that he had to.
"He would risk his life for me if Adel had taken you." James said solemnly, "I have to fight with him!"
James ran back towards Squall and Adel, twisting his Gunblade around in his grasp and slashing Adel in the back with it, as Squall stabbed her in the front. Adel screamed, and slowly dropped to her knees, she began to flicker and vanish. Blood was pouring from her mouth and chest; she shook and screamed at them all. Suddenly a burst of multi-coloured light shot out of the Sorceress Adel and shot into Rinoa. Sirius was still cradling her in his arms. The sudden burst of light caused her body to lift into the air slightly, he watched, horrified, but she fell back into his arms, the colour returned to her face, and life in her eyes.
"Sirius!" She cried, and hugged him, crying into his shoulder.
"Rinoa!" He hugged her back,
Adel was disappearing, she faded into ashes, and they fell to the cold rock floor, scattering a little. James sighed in relief and stumbled backwards; Lily ran up to him and hugged him furiously. Squall immediately ran to Rinoa and Sirius. Rinoa leapt out of Sirius arms and hugged Squall, she was shaking and tears were streaming down her face. Squall hugged her close.
"Squall-I-I was inside of Adel. No, more than that-Ultemecia. I saw her thoughts-her desires-she-she wants to destroy the world! Compress time! Destroy everything! I saw-I saw it-"
"It's all over now." Squall told her.
It's all over . . .
Rinoa woke up in bed at Hogwarts-now a teacher rather than a student-to the sound of Squall's voice echoing through her mind. She shuddered at the vividness of the nightmare-the memory-it had been years ago now and she still dreamed about it. She had relived that night so many times in her life . . .
It HADN'T all been over then. Fuujin and Rajin were dead. Seifer, Severus and Lucius never received punishment since after Adel was killed they were released from her influence and it was determined that they hadn't been able to think for themselves while she possessed them. However, a few months later Seifer had killed himself. She had taken it hard, despite the fact that he had almost killed her; the two of them had been dating a lot in fifth year, before she met Squall.
Dumbledore had told them that since Adel was gone Ultemecia would return into hiding again until a powerful enough Sorceress for her to possess came into existence again. However, for Rinoa, it had been just the beginning. She had previously received the powers of another Sorceress-an Edea, who had been a good Sorceress, also possessed by Ultemecia-and in doing so had become a Sorceress herself. A Sorceress was more powerful than an ordinary witch and in ancient times they had been persecuted even among the wizard world. Now, she also had Adel's powers cursing through her veins, including the immortality-she would never age again--with no way to rid herself of them. She was a Sorceress and she would be until her death when she would have to pass her powers on to another girl. And she would never age, some people said they wished they would never age, but not her. Everyday the world spun around further and further, her husband aged as he grew older, her friends, everyone, but she was left out, alone, cut off from the natural flow of time forever.
Rinoa sighed and shook herself, crawling out of bed. It was six in the morning but there was no way she was going to be able to sleep again after that nightmare. Pulling on a long dark blue robe, Rinoa made her way out of her room and into the teacher's lounge. Looking around she sighed and poured herself a cup of coffee. Today was going to be a long day.