BREAKING THE MIRROR
Disclaimer – I don't own any of the FF8 characters etc, but I do however own some original characters that are going to be included in this story, and the imagination I have to give them life. Hope you like it…
Also huge thanks to Michael Kenny for letting me use a technique he invented (will use it in due time! Oh, and read his fics. Top notch!)
Chapter 10 – He Fears One
'No matter how invincible someone is, they always have a weakness'
(Squall – Garden Inferno)
Squall watches her shape vanish from sight, the Garden burning down in front of him. Selphie, Irvine and Zell run up to him from a parked car.
"What the hell? Where did Rinoa go?" asks Irvine.
Squall looks at the trail of fire. He knows exactly where she went.
"She's gone after him! Come on!" he shouts as they dive into the car. He notices Quistis is missing.
"Where's Quistis? We need her!" he barks. Selphie pipes up.
"She says she would stay and help Cid, let's just go! We'll be fine!"
Squall nods as Zell slams the accelerator and the car takes off, following the trail of fire…
(Mirror Vs Rinoa)
Mirror runs, the Haste making his legs a blur.
He knows the layout of this place very well, having studied it long enough. As he runs, he looks for signs of the 'hiding party' as he calls it, to come and get him out of here. Even though he is running and has made good distance from the site where he left Squall for dead at the Garden, he can't help but think he is being followed…
And he is. A girl flying at such a velocity that a line of fire is left behind her, burning anything in its path, is quickly gaining on him, cutting the distance with every strong beat of her brilliant white wings. She feels that she has a rocket attached to her back. Her wings hardly flap as her velocity increases. He has done a fair distance, but now she can see him.
She also knows, somehow, that she is not entirely responsible for going after him. She wanted him to suffer. She wanted to see him in pain for everything he has done.
And she would get her wish, as she opens her right hand, palm outwards, and it begins to glow…
Mirror keeps running. The city of Deling is not too far now, he can make out its outline, but closer than that, he sees several vehicles racing towards him. They must be about 10 miles away, and at his speed, he will be there in an instant…
At least, he thought he was.
A huge ball explodes in front of him, the blast, coupled with his Haste making him run into it, causes him to fly backwards and crunch into the ground. He quickly casts Cura and watches, a look of doubt and puzzlement on his face as he looks at his attacker, who lands gently in front of the inferno caused from the blast that he just ran into. A girl of about 17, with beautiful dark hair, a single blonde streak visible as it comes to just below her shoulders. She is wearing a black top and shorts, which are covered by a blue full-length dress-jacket that is pinned by one button on her chest. Two beautiful white Angel wings open and close sharply, giving her the image of an angel. The wings glow brilliantly, illuminating anything nearby. Glowing even more than the fire behind, where the colour of her eyes matches the flames raging behind her.
"Who are you? I saw you…" he mumbles openly, not thinking. He can't help but feel something: an aura that he has never felt from anyone else. One of good and evil, fear and hope, happiness and despair. This aura is forever changing, as if there is more than one person standing there.
"Enough mortal, isn't it obvious whom I am?" says Rinoa, speaking. Or rather her and others speaking. She cannot tell if it was her that said those words. Ever since she healed Squall and looked at the burning Garden, this force invaded her, and she did not fight it back. After all, it explained what they were there for, and after the explanation, she felt it was justified what they were asking.
He had harmed the ones she loved. He must die.
"The Sorceress?" says Mirror, wiping his mouth and checking for blood. None, but he is dirty. Thoughts race through his mind, but they are not clear, as if her presence is warping them. He feels the small hairs over his body stand up as she crackles lightning round her, he can feel her walk in his thoughts, in his psyche, and touch his soul. The sorceress tilts her head slightly. Her eyes, still those evil fiery orange colour, open slightly, as if she was concerned. He feels a crawling in his head, as if there were ants there.
"My Hyne, you are not yourself. What did they do to you? Who else is involved?" she asks, spooking Mirror out.
A thought travels into him. She can read minds, No! I must not let her see who is…
Without thinking, he grabs his swords and runs at her. The Sorceress' eyes narrow and she vanishes, to reappear again behind him. Not stopping, Mirror swivels rounds and goes for her again. Screaming, he parts his arms, swiping the blades out in an arc at either side of him.
Rinoa watches him come, then opens her right hand again, a small blue glow comes from it. Her wings flap slightly, and Mirrors blades, aiming to chop her head off in two places, whacks into the shield, a huge dong emanates from it and it flashes a brilliant silver colour. The force he hits the shield at causes his arms to jar back, as if they just bounced off stone. He looks in horror as a chunk of his Gold Hyperion falls off and clatters to the floor. He watches it fall, but it's this small opportunity the Sorceress needs: she uses her left hand to pull him towards her, he cannot fight back, his arms are frozen in the place. Beckoning him with her finger, she turns her hand round, balls it into a fist and snaps it open. The ground shakes as he flies backwards. He calls out in agony as he rams into the wall at a speed not humanly possible. He hits the floor and drops his blades.
Rinoa vanishes then reappears at his feet. Grabbing him, she forces him to look at her, into her eyes. He closes his and to Rinoa, he feels like he is shutting down.
"Impressive, warrior," she says. "You have learned a way to stop me from entering your mind. Now whom are you working with? Answer me and I may consider not destroying you, even though you deserve it for what you have done."
Mirror says nothing, breathing heavily, he keeps his mind clear and his eyes focused, albeit closed. He has studied Sorceresses, from everything to their power of spells and the sorts of illusions and mind tricks they can do, but he had no idea how they really fought. He knows how the SeeD's fought, as they all had a weapon of some sorts, but not a Sorceress. They had magic, but each was different.
Rinoa spins him round and tosses him away, he screams through the air and crashes face down, he feels his face split open again as Rinoa takes off, hovering just above him.
"So be it, warrior. You will die, then so will your chiefs." Her voice is warped so much, she is safe in the knowledge that he did not know who she was or what she sounded like.
Mirror grabs his two Exeters, loads them with Fast ammo, spins round onto his back and let's rip. The guns scream out bullets at the Sorceress, but Rinoa has already got her hand up, they rattle into the shield like raindrops, bouncing off it as if it was made of sponge. They clatter to the ground like metal hailstones. He runs out and quickly jerks them open, loading them with more Fire ammo.
"My turn" she says, twitching her fingers, they glow with fire. Mirror holsters the guns and throws his arms out. Rinoa eyes narrow as five Fire spells lance from each of her fingers. His Shell spell is rocked to its core by the force of them. Sweat pours down his face, his eyes widening as he realizes the inevitable.
I cannot beat her. I must get away somehow.
He runs. It takes all of his training, speed and dodging skills to dodge the spells the Sorceress throws at him, one comes particularly close to blowing a third of his body clean off. Diving behind a mountain, he hears a rumble from above as a Flare spell obliterates the top half. Screaming, he quickly casts Protect as the boulders fall, they do minimal damage, but one smashes into his right shoulder and he feels it pop slightly. He unloads the Fire ammo and loads Pulse in, the most powerful bullet he has. My guns are fast enough to keep her at bay, he thinks. Perhaps I can cast…
He is cut off as a bolt of Lightning appears and destroys the entire mountain. Rocks fly everywhere, the wind from the blast sending him skidding along the ground. Boulders smash into him. One as big as a train carriage misses his head and booms into the ground next to him. He feels a set of hands grab him, spin him round and slam him into the ground. He feels something break, but he is unsure what, as a kick, with the power of about 1,000 people behind it, sends him flying. He suddenly feels himself bowling into other people, as their audible yelps are all to clear.
Other people?
He looks up through bloodstained eyes and sees a large group of people, some are bent over him, and others are looking up and pointing weapons. He cannot move, but he knows the face of the suited man. President Gilned.
"The sorceress?" He says, his eyes wide open, looking down at the wreck that was Mirror. "I knew she was strong but…" he breaks off and screams "Kill her!"
Rinoa crosses her arms over her chest and throws them out. Her wings glow like the sun as at least 20,000 bullets ram into the shield that now covers her completely. A huge ball of electricity covers her, ripping up the ground. They keep firing, but Rinoa places her hands out in front of her and closes her eyes. Her wings glow even brighter, and the ball of electricity begins to grow. She sees the man in the suit, whom she recognizes as the President of Galbadia, bundle Mirror into a van and take off, followed by another car. She knows what they are up to, keep her at bay while they escape. With a final jerk of her hands, the ball engulfs everything around it, annihilating the countryside, the ground, the trees, then the people and their vehicles. Gilneds van and Escort are barely missed, but Rinoa, the only person still standing, sees them and takes off, her eyes blazing…
In the car, Mirror wipes his face with a cloth, as two people heal him with Cure spells.
"I didn't expect her to attack you. Damn she is powerful." Says Gilned. Mirror grunts. One of his eyes is still closed.
"I could take everyone else on, but not her, she was too much. What shall we do? She will catch up eventually."
Without answering, Gilned picks up a phone and dials a number. After a few moments, he speaks. He has to shout a bit, as a deal of noise can be heard from the other end.
"The Sorceress is immensely stronger than we and yourself thought. You are the only one who can take care of her."
Silence, then he turns the phone off.
"Rest my friend. The Prophecy is going to deal with her now."
(Squall)
He sees a huge ball engulf everything. The car judders as the electricity in the car begins to die.
"Wow, some bloody wattage she's putting out there," says Selphie, whistling.
Squall opens the window to get a better look. His hair stands completely on end as the wind from the blast reaches them. The car begins to speed up again, as Squall sees a white streak go towards Deling City.
"We're almost there. Keep going!"
Suddenly the car dies as the sky goes black. The Sun disappears behind the Moon, as if someone intentionally put it there, to turn out the light. The darkness causes birds to twitter madly and animals to call their various calls. Getting out, a chill runs through his spine. Looking about he sees the spooked faces of the other SeeD's. Selphie looks up at the eclipse.
"But how? I studied Stargraphy, there isn't meant to be an eclipse for another 3 years…"
"Maybe you messed up? And no, no joke" says Irvine seriously, as Selphie gives him an evil look. But at the seriousness, she drops it.
"No… I'm sure… someone is doing this."
"How can you just move the Moon and plonk it in front of the sun?" asks Zell. "You would have to be pretty damn powerful to do something like that… and I doubt Rinoa…"
"Unless it's not Rinoa," says Squall in a small voice. Suddenly the car starts by itself. They dive back in and Zell takes off, they ignore the fact that the car is going again. But it is still dark.
They travel on for a few miles. The eclipse still looms over their heads.
"Stop the car" orders Squall. He gets out and looks at the scene.
A huge charred crater about 3 miles wide engulfs his vision, he is broken from the vision by a voice.
"Squall, you seeing this?" asks Irvine. Squall looks in the direction of Irvine's finger, pointing towards Deling City.
Monsters. But that wasn't the odd thing about them. They were all heading in the one direction. As if they were running from something.
"What's going on?" Asks Selphie.
"Let's go, who cares about them!" shouts Zell, as they dive back into the car and drive off.
(Rinoa)
She sees the car, and dives after it. She uses her left hand to obliterate the car following behind the vehicle that Mirror and the President were in. As it blows up in a spectacular ball of fire, something rams into her side. Something huge. She is sent cartwheeling at a huge speed towards the ground. Her wings flap erratically and manages to steady her, but she still hits the ground, though not too badly. Flipping up, her attacker booms down in front of her. Rinoa feels not only herself, but about a further 500 screams of fear engulf her as she sets eyes on her attacker.
That's impossible! Where in Hyne…
Two golden eyes stare back at her, embedded in the body of a great beast that is about 9 feet tall. It crosses its arms over its chest, and prepares to use its ultimate maneuver, which she recognizes instantly. Rinoa, not thinking, begins to summon the strongest Apocalypse spell in her existence. Something, she does not know what, is causing her to do this. She knows that if she does not do something, this thing will destroy mankind. She knows that she may die as a result of the power she is charging, but if it stops this beast, or at least slows it down, it will be worth it.
The ground shakes as her energy crackles around her. Her wings are now so white they are blazing heat. The beast is also glowing too, its red wings giving off the colour of fire. Darkness suddenly falls as the Moon moves in front of the Sun. She hears monsters call out in panic as they flee the scene, as they know what is coming.
With her last breath, she screams her spell.
"APOCALYPSE!"
The beast booms its own over hers.
"SHO…"
Nothing more is said or heard as a huge white explosion engulfs them both. A massive arch of power rips out from them. Anything in its path is obliterated. Trees, animals, even monsters are dissolved into nothing. As it travels, a huge white pillar appears in the middle and shoots off into the sky, a blue lightning bolt crackling round it.
(Squall)
Squall sees the white pillar, and dives out the car as it dies again. He watches as something, a black shape flying out from the middle of it.
Then suddenly the realization hits him. He knows what has happened: somehow, he just knows.
"RINOA!" he screams as the blast, complete with a huge rushing noise, begins to speed towards them, obliterating anything in its path. They are a good few miles away, but there is no sign of the white arch slowing down.
"SQUALL! WE HAVE TO GO! IT'S GOING TO KILL US!" Screams Selphie, but Squall isn't listening. He watches it approach, as if in slow motion. The look of horror on his face, no one can see.
"NO! RINOA!" He screams as the white blast engulfs them all…
Then nothing. Except the sound of footsteps.
(All reviews welcome. Thanks)