The Return of Ultimecia

Author: SoulOfFlame

Chapter 8: Memories of the past, visions of the future.

~*~Soul~*~: Hello again everyone, I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far! Your ideas really helped in this chapter, especially the suggestions from Water-lily43 and Celeste Spring. Also, JorstParoc4 (I don't know what your name is on ff.net if you have one.) Thanks for your wonderful email! And now here is your next chapter!

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Quistis ran through the forest, and over the hills, hoping to see her beloved home waiting on the other side. She saw the top of the last hill and rushed toward it with newfound energy, fed by her hopes. Once on the verge of reaching the summit of the final hill she fell to the ground, clutching her head in pain. She tried to regain her composure and drive the inconvenient pain out of her head, but found herself lying on the ground, grasping her whip as the world went black.

"Quistis ... you have to wake up now." Said a feminine voice. Quistis allowed her eyes to open and found Ellone kneeling next to her, placing a gentle hand on the younger girl's shoulder. The kindly brunette smiled, her eyes warm and caring, as she helped Quistis into a sitting position. Quistis smiled gratefully at the older woman in gratitude and forced a small smile.

"Ellone ... you're here. You've been gone for so long." Said Quistis with a million questions for her childhood friend. She had always seen Ellone as a sister, especially back in the days at the orphanage, and had not seen her since the defeat of Ultimecia three years ago.

"Yes, I have. Did you miss me Quisty?" Quistis gasped as she felt Ellone's grip tighten around her arm. She winced in pain and saw Ellone grin at her treacherously.

"Ellone, what's wrong with you?" Asked the younger woman becoming slightly afraid. She had never seen her like this before! It was truly frightening to see the woman she had seen as her sister her childhood years grinning at her maliciously.

"Wrong with me? Why nothing dearest Quisty!" Ellone threw her head back and released a chilling cackle that sent shivers down Quistis' spine. Ellone rose and towered over the fallen girl. Quistis watched, horrified, as Ellone began to change.

"This can't be right ..." Quistis thought to herself. Ellone smirked.

"Oh but it is Quisty!" Ellone replied with malice added to the pronunciation of her nickname. Her eyes turned dark and filled with hate as her hair, which had reached her shoulders, grew down to her back and turned black. Her normal attire consisting mainly of white and blue burst into a dark yet blinding light. The light formed itself to the shape of her slender body and then with a flash became long robes of blood red and black. She laughed viciously and somehow seemed taller as she hovered over the shocked and fearful Quistis.

"Ellone ..." Quistis whispered to herself. Her eyes began to tear as a heavy feeling of remorse settled on her heart. What was happening to Ellone?

"You all mocked me and left me to die! You all left me for love and found happiness! Would you like to know what I found Quistis? Do you want to know! I found power! I found the one thing I truly needed to make you all appreciate me and worship and love ME! I pretended to be happy, and patient and kind but no more! If I have to kill you all I shall rule this world, and there isn't anything anyone can do to stop me!" Ellone cried. Quistis felt her eyes widen as a bolt of lightening fell behind Ellone the sky darkened. She looked around frantically for help.

"Ellone, we didn't leave you! We wouldn't! You left and we never heard from you! You have to understand! It isn't our fault!" Quistis tried to reason with her but Ellone wasn't listening. Another bolt of lightening flashed and Ellone began to laugh, as the face of Ultimecia appeared, transparent, in front of the older woman. Quistis gasped as she remembered what Fujin had told her in the cave. Ultimecia was alive, that much was true, but now she knew how. Ultimecia was living through Ellone!

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"What on earth?" Selphie stopped dead in her tracks as an awkward feeling swept over her.

"What's wrong Selphie?" Rinoa walked over and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, sending a chill up her spine. The two stood in an eerie silence as they scanned their surroundings. In the distance, on the horizon over the sea, a dark cloud had suddenly appeared and cast a shadow on the entire area. The wind picked up, unnaturally cool for that time of year, and Rinoa felt herself go weak as she began to fall forward.

"Rinoa!" Selphie reached out and caught her friend, helping her sit down. The wind chilled them both and Rinoa began to shiver. "Rinoa, what's wrong?" She asked desperately.

"Something's coming ... I can feel it." She said softly. The two looked at each other with fear apparent in their eyes and then Selphie looked around her. The sky was quickly darkening although it was early afternoon and the darkness seemed strange to Selphie in some way. The darkness did not merely cast a shadow, but seemed to completely encase everything it touched, freezing everything that fell under its cloak.

"Hyne help us ..." Selphie murmured quietly as she looked fearfully for the source of their discoveries. "Because something is not right here." She said becoming extremely solemn.

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Seifer walked through his prison with a heavy heart. He was not chained, yet he knew he could not leave. He felt as if there were a series of bonds gripping his heart and trying to squeeze the last ounce of life out of him. He came across a peculiar tree that seemed to shine with a faint and distant golden light. Weary, he put aside his suspicions and leaned against the trunk, Hyperion in hand. As he took a breath to clear his thoughts he suddenly felt a rush of energy surge through him, healing him. He looked down at his body in surprise. All of the bruises and wounds he had received during his attempt to resist his captor had vanished without a trace to say that they had ever been. He shook his head, not bothering to try and come up with an explanation, and leaned back to relax. Memories became vivid in his mind as he thought of all the things he had done during the War against Ultimecia. He had killed, murdered, betrayed those who loved him, tried to destroy those who wanted to help him. He had become a menace, one who did not deserve to live or be happy.

"Damn people." He muttered to himself. Why? Why had they forgiven him? He had been considered brainwashed and readmitted to Garden with open arms by most. Only Squall and Rinoa truly held a grudge against him still, and even they were starting to forgive and forget. He had made SeeD and been sent on missions where he helped people as opposed to hurting them. It was all so ... different. Yes, it was different, but he would give anything to make it last.

He recalled the day he had made SeeD and been given his rank. He had finished his Field Exam and waited anxiously to hear the results. When his name had been called, he had been congratulated, no one thinking of what he had done in the past, only what he had done now. He had never been happier or more grateful towards anyone in his whole life. That night at the SeeD graduation ball, he went out onto the balcony and gazed out at the stars. There, in his privacy, he swore before Hyne never to do again what he had done during the War against Ultimecia. He intended to keep that promise until he died, even if that promise was what killed him.

"Seifer ..." Seifer was jerked out of his thoughts as a feminine voice called out weakly to him. The voice sounded scared and lost, weak and filled with pain and struggle. The voice was one he had seen heard not long ago. It was Quistis.

"Seifer ... I need your help. I'm not strong enough to do this on my own. You have to help me!" She said. She sounded distant and barely alive, and it worried Seifer since she had only been gone for a span of about two or three hours.

"I can't help her ... I can't leave this place and even if I could I wouldn't know where to look for her." Seifer thought dejectedly to himself.

"Are you sure about that?" Asked a voice. Seifer looked up and saw a young woman of about his age standing before him with a look of question on her face. She had long, silver hair that reached her knees and pale skin, as well as faded gray-blue eyes. She wore a long, pale blue gown with a silver circlet in her hair that kept it off of her face, and carried a silver staff with a white crystal orb on the top that had two wings on each side. She looked at Seifer and he could feel her wintry gaze stare through him, right into his soul. He gaped at her, unable to find his words. She released her "hold" on him and averted her eyes to the tree.

"Wh-who are you?" He managed at last. The woman smiled and glanced at the tree, as if holding a silent conversation with it momentarily, and then returned her attention to Seifer.

"My true name is far too complicated for one who does not speak my native tongue. However, you may call me Tempest, for that is the translation in your tongue as near as I can find. As for what I am doing here, I was called to you because my Queen requested your assistance." Tempest said solemnly. Seifer narrowed his eyes at the woman.

"You can tell Ultimecia I have no intention of doing anything for her. She can do what she wants with me, I don't care, but I will never serve her again." Seifer growled.

"You mistake my intentions Human." Tempest said disdainfully. "I do not serve Ultimecia, but another." She gazed at him with a cold glare and despite their coloring, her eyes seemed to set ablaze at the repulsive assumption that she worked for that Witch. The woman did not even deserve the title of Sorceress! How dare this impetuous child think she was one of that woman's servants! This was an affront to her Queen!

"Then whom do you serve?" Asked Seifer returning the glare with one of his own. Tempest seemed taken aback that this child did not already know. His Queen was the only Queen there was to serve!

"I serve the great Queen of the Light. The most powerful Sorceress that will ever live! I serve the Great Queen of the Light, her majesty, Queen Eternia!" Said Tempest with a tone of reverence and great respect in her voice.

"Well if she's so powerful, why does she need my help?" Asked Seifer slightly unbelieving of this explanation as of yet. Tempest was appalled by his question and glowered at him fiercely. How dare he insult her Queen so! She began to glow a faint blue light and she quickly calmed herself.

"She remains unaware of her powers. Only her knight may awaken her and she is mortal until she discovers her true character. Now, her human form is calling out to you for help. Will you deny her?" Asked Tempest.

"Give me one good reason to believe one word you've said." Seifer said angrily. Tempest reached out and touched him lightly on the head. A vision came to Seifer of his friends. Fujin and Rajin were being overwhelmed by a crowd and tied to a device Seifer couldn't quite make out against the darkness and fire. He strained to see and watched as the platform dropped from underneath them, leaving them to hang from their necks, which Seifer could see, had been secured with ropes. He felt a lump begin to form in his throat as the scene changed. Squall, Rinoa, Irvine, Selphie, and Zell all standing with their backs to the edge of a cliff. Tired and badly injured, he saw Ultimecia towering over them. She looked different from the last time they faced her and apparently was more powerful. He heard someone cal his name as the scene changed again, this time showing Quistis and himself. He saw Quistis try to face Ultimecia unaided, while the others lay dead behind her. A flash of dark light enclosed her and she screamed out. Seifer watched himself run forward to try and help her, to find that she was dead when he arrived.

Tempest removed her hand and waited for Seifer to give his answer. The blonde shivered and a tear ran down his face at what he had just seen. He looked at her as if she were some sort of fiend, and despised her, although his fear was obvious. She folded her hands in front of her and looked at him regretfully.

"I'm sorry you had to see that but it was necessary. That is what will happen to those you love if you do not help My Queen. I did have the propriety to end the vision before you saw what happened to the world and those you don't know, but know that these things were not by any means the most atrocious of what would occur." Tempest said bitterly. Seifer looked at her with hatred in his eyes.

"I'll help you." He said dejectedly.

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~*~Soul~*~: Well there you have it! The next chapter! The end was a little different than I had plotted it out but I think it is better this way in all truth. I would like to thank all of my reviewers but I am tired and just wanted to get a chapter up. Yesterday I volunteered with my choir for a fundraiser for seven hours and I am tired beyond belief. I'd do it again in a heartbeat though! Anyway, please leave a review if you can find the time! Until next chapter guys!

~*~Soul~*~

P.S.-