Chapter 6
Andria smiled lovingly in his eyes. Squall had just proposed to her, and after all of the problems they had had, this was finally bliss. Finally she was happy. Squall and Andria lived in their small house in Alexandria.
They had had to escape there when all of Squall's friends would not let Andria and Squall live together in peace; they were constantly trying to get Squall and Rinoa back together. Andria had found the spell one day and Squall had agreed. That had been almost one year ago. Life now was difficult, but perfect. Neither Squall nor Andria would change it for the world.
"I love you," whispered Squall into her ear, thrilling her to the core of her being.
"I love you too," she whispered back, nuzzling into his neck.
Jake, who was upstairs, then started crying, breaking the romantic mood. Andria sighed, in mock despair and started for the stairs. Squall stopped her and kissed her passionately, not willing to let her go.
"I'll see to him," he said. "You sit down for a few minutes."
"Don't be long," she called out as he walked up the stairs. Squall just smiled, maybe just a little seductively. Andria shivered with excitement.
Settling down on her seat, Andria picked up the book that she had been reading. Upstairs she could hear Squall singing Jake to sleep, his voice deep and rich. An urgent knock at the door, then a huge boom nearby made her jump out of her seat. Leraikhe stood at the door, breathless.
"Andria, get Squall and Jake, we must hurry. There is a huge dragon destroying the city," he said.
"What's going on?" asked Squall, behind Andria, holding Jake in his arms.
Andria never got to answer. At that moment a huge fireball from the almighty dragon hit the building next to theirs. The building collapsed on to Andria's and Squall's. Leraikhe grabbed Andria from the flaming, falling debris, and pulled her into the street. Andria heard Squall and Jake's cries as she fell into the street.
Immediately Andria was on her feet and fighting against Leraikhe who stopped her from entering the house again. Andria screamed Squall's name as she struggled. Her struggles eventually turned to sobbing of hopelessness and sorrow.
Bahamut destroyed much of the city of Alexandria that day, and many people were killed. The survivors shared much sorrow, but none was as deep as Andria's, her very soul was snatched away from her that day.
* * *
"Is she alright?" Leraikhe asked Master Enki.
The older man shook his head. "She has suffered much and I do not believe that the scars will ever heal. It is almost as if her will has left her. It was a bad idea allowing her to stay with that mortal. Now she is a broken shell, unrecognisable."
Enki turned back to lighting candles, and then finished, he knelt down in front of the altar in prayer. Leraikhe joined him; there was nothing else he could do.
* * *
In her room Andria stared in a trance at the wall opposite her. Outside Lindblum began another day of working and living. To Andria, this was nothing. She felt lost, that was all she could describe it as. Nothing felt real to her anymore, the unthinkable had happened to her. The world got to go on living happily, but she would not as Squall wasn't there. Andria hated the world now for doing this to her.
Standing up slowly, Andria shuffled towards the door. Raising her hand, the door suddenly blew outwards, wood lying around outside, parts hanging off the hinges. Outside of the door, Enki and Leraikhe stared shocked at her sudden outburst of violence. Andria looked blankly at them, and then walked in the other direction.
Leraikhe ran after her, but he was thrown against the altar by some unseen force. Andria was unleashing her power on the world. Enki ran to Leraikhe's unconscious form.
Andria walked away from the city that day, a broken woman. All her morals were destroyed and she stopped caring about anything.
Four years later she returned with an army of monsters ready to do her work, intending to repay everything for her grievance.
Another year later, the new Squall suddenly appeared.
Author's note
In case you couldn't tell, this new chapter tells you why Andria is the way she is. It was the best way I could think of showing what had happened to her. Also this Andria is another one, not the one from the previous stories, an alternate Andria. Don't worry if the story seems a bit dramatic, that was the way it turned out, as I didn't intend it to be this way when I first started writing it.
Finally, this story DOES take place in the realm of Final Fantasy IX, all will be revealed why in time.