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 11 – Echoes Of Screams
'Breath is like a clock, ticking' - Equilibrium
(Mirror)
He lies there, staring at the ceiling.
He thinks nothing, says nothing and sees nothing.
Then one thought invades his mind, like water being poured over something, it runs and overlaps everything else. One word accompanies it.
Sorceress.
He closes his eyes tightly and opens them again. The word is gone from his mind, but a sentence replaces it.
She beat me; she beat me, easily.
He shakes his head vigorously.
No worries now. She is gone. The Prophecy seen to that. But I am disappointed I couldn't do it myself.
He falls into sleep easily.
(Squall - Dream)
Footsteps echo through his mind. They resonate in his ears, as if they are in a cave or something. He stands in a huge white area. Nothing but white. He cannot see where the noise is coming from.
Suddenly a girl screams, one word races through his ears, his mind, his heart.
"Apocalypse!"
It is uttered as a whisper from far away, but then screams at him. The force sends him to his knees. Suddenly a pair of feet are in front of him, looking up, he sees Rinoa, dressed in a pure white dress, her white wings folded behind her. Squall floats? to his feet.
"Wake up Squall" she says.
Squall knows this is a dream, but he shakes his head.
"Where are you Rinoa?" he asks as she walks up to him. She takes off her chain and places it round his neck, the rings clicking together softly. She then looks into his eyes and kisses him softly, before taking a step back.
"Wake up Squall, and listen closely to those around you."
"What do you mean?" he asks desperately.
"I fought something, I cannot describe it, as if I know I fought it, but I have forgotten what it looks like, but I felt a presence from within it, and the presence caused my heart to freeze, I think it's this realization that caused me to…"she trails off.
"Rinoa?"
Rinoa looks at him sadly, a tear runs down her cheek as she raises her hand. Suddenly a huge black shape rises up behind her.
"Wake up now!"
"Rinoa!" shouts Squall.
"There's something wrong… we are being us…" she shouts, before the darkness engulfs her.
"Rinoa!" he screams.
(Dream End)
He lies there, his eyes closed. But he is awake.
He also thinks nothing, says nothing and sees nothing, although he can sense a presence there. Quistis voice answers his unasked question.
"Will he be OK doctor?"
"He and the others will be fine. I'm amazed they survived," says Dr Kadowaki, Squall recognizing the voice.
"Same here, that light engulfed them, how did they survive but everything around them was obliterated?" she asks.
"They might know, when they wake up," says the doctor. "What about you? You look pretty burnt yourself, how did that happen?"
"Just from the fire on the Garden, I'll be OK."
"Ok, but I think you should rest up for a bit, you look tired."
"I will doctor, thanks, anything I can do, let me know" she says. Squall hears the door open and close.
He opens his eyes, taking a minute to let his eyes adjust to the light in an unfamiliar room. As he sits up, Doctor Kadowaki comes over to him.
"How are you feeling? She asks him gently. He doesn't answer. Kadowaki decides not to ask again.
"I'm fine. Well, as fine as I can be. I just want to get out of here," he says quietly. He looks around the room. Selphie, Zell and Irvine are all asleep in beds in a strange room.
"Where is 'here' anyway?"
"Timber Hospital" says the Doctor. "They helped us get all the injured away from the wreckage. There were minimal losses from the crash."
"Bugger the crash, just how many died?" he snaps. The doctor, used to Squall's attitude, answers him.
"About 90-100 people were killed in total, maybe more."
Squall sits there in silence as Kadowaki examines him one last time. His thoughts travel to Mirror.
Possibly over 100 people. He was one person and he did all this?
His thoughts are interrupted as a soft buzzing comes from the door. Kadowaki picks it up and talks quietly for a minute.
"He's about to leave, just stand there," she puts the receiver down. "Someone to see you."
Squall frowns and goes to leave, and as he opens the door, Seifer is standing there. His face is white. Squall can all but read the thought that is going through his mind.
What happened to Rinoa?
"I don't know" he answers out loud, startling even himself as well as Seifer. "We followed her so far then…"
He breaks off. Seifer begins to walk next to him.
"We saw that pillar of light, and we were only a third over the Horizon Bridge" he says softly, as if any louder might irritate Squall. "Any clue what happened after that?"
Squall shakes his head. "No, nothing. The light engulfed us, but we somehow survived, even though it annihilated everything else, including the landscape."
"I was wondering that myself, we flew over the area after dropping supplies off, there is absolutely nothing there, just a huge black hole. It almost reached Deling City."
Squall looks at Seifers grim face,
"Show me, I want to see it."
"You sure?"
Squall does not answer him, instead he walks away. Seifer follows him.
(The Tower Of Deling City - Lab)
The computer screen illuminates President Gilneds face. Pages of data spews out of a printer onto the floor, its jargon alien to him, but not the scientists who are reading it and babbling notations to each other. He ignores him as he reads the status on the screen. It looks like a computer game, someone controlling a series of rotating guns to shoot down various aircraft. Another monitor shows the figure of a man, various labels pointing to various parts of his anatomy.
"Sir," says the scientist at the computer. "Mirror was badly hurt in the fight with the sorceress, it was a miracle he survived, if we had not go there, she would have killed him."
Gilned nods silently. "True, and if it wasn't for the Prophecy getting there in time, she would have killed us too. I knew she was bloody powerful, but not that powerful."
"Any word from the Prophecy?"
Gilned lights up a cigarette. He takes a long puff before answering. "They called, and they are fine, if badly shaken. They say that the sorceress was nowhere to be seen, but they had taken off before having a proper look. But by the looks of it, Prophecy did the almost impossible, and destroyed the sorceress. Though it was almost the opposite. We underestimated her to no end."
The scientist nods quietly also. Mirror enters the room, dressed only in jeans. He pulls off the various memory stickers attached to his body.
"And where is Prophecy? Having a nice nap I suppose?" he says bitterly. Gilned blinks at him.
"What's up with you?"
"Nothing, just answer the damn question" he spits.
"Watch your fucking mouth boy" Gilned snaps at him. "For your information, they are resting yes, but did not say where, for some reason, apparently there may have been a possibility that, somehow, they may have been found. But not to worry, they are preparing themselves, ready to finish the job you started. You can finally kill Squall and Seifer, and the others if you wish. Remember what we are going to do once the SeeDs are gone."
Mirror stalks out the room, banging the door closed. Gilned raises an eyebrow, then turns back to the screen.
"Glad to see he's up and running about cheerfully" he says sarcastically.
(Squall/Seifer)
Seifer pilots the Ragnarok, having explained to Squall that Kiros had showed him how. Squall listens, but says nothing. It doesn't take long before the normally dust-desert looking landscape becomes black, and black, and black.
"Go down, let's try to land" says Squall.
"We can, already have done, where you want to touch down?"
"As close to the center as possible."
"Good chance we might not be able to stand on it" he says, looking at the fires and smoke coming from it."
"We can but try" says Squall quietly.
The Ragnarok touches down softly. Seifer runs a surface scan on the ground.
"We can walk on it anyway, temperature is cool enough, man what a hole."
The ramp clunks down, Squall leads the way as Seifer follows, closing the ramp behind him. The two of them stand there, looking in at, then up at the hole.
"How deep?" Seifer says softly.
"About 20 feet, spreading out I guess" Squall mutters. He notices something, nudging to Seifer the two of them approach it. It is a small patch of grass. A perfect circle, about 1 foot wide. A single white feather, half-burnt lies there. Squall, not caring who is there, finally feels his heart break as he realizes the inevitable. Everything from the battle, him screaming at the white light, the dream he had of Rinoa in the pure white dress, to this. He falls to his knees.
Tears come to his eyes, finally, again not caring, he softly begins to sob. Seifer closes his eyes in silent prayer, his eyes too watering gently. Rain begins to fall slowly, then starts to get harder.
There is no noise save for Squalls sobs, and the rain hitting the ground. He clutches his chest, as if there was pain there, his hand brushes against something. It clinks gently as he places his hand around it.
A necklace with a ring around it.
He opens his eyes and looks down. The chain is long enough for him to see the ring. Rinoas ring. The one she told him her mother wore as her wedding ring.
A surge of hope fills him with warmth, the last of his tears ebb away as he studies it carefully. Seifer is crouching next to him, smiling. Neither cared that they are being soaked.
"She loved that ring. You know, she was going to give that ring to the one she truly loved, it would be her final way of showing her love for someone. When did she give it to you?"
Squall, clasps his hand around the ring. He smiles slightly.
"In my dreams."
Seifer smiles broadly, then gets up. "I'm gonna boost the ship back up, just come on when you want to."
"Thanks," he says.
Squall gets up and stands, staring at the white feather, his hand still around the ring and part of the chain. He circles it gently with his hand. Suddenly a frown comes to him. It begins to get dark.
Rain begins to pelt down now; thunder crashes above as he notices something very wrong with the chain.
Something was not there that should have been.
(??? - ???)
The ring is a magnificent specimen. A lions head, forever frozen in a silent roar, is emblazoned on its platinum surface. They did not know who made it or where it came from, even how Squall came to acquire it was a mystery. They look at the ring, eyes absorbing the details of it. It remains perfect, no scratches, no mark, nothing, even though Squall has had it all his life.
They flick the ring up and catch it in their right hand. Closing a fist around it, they start to read the coded manuscript, which is scattered over the desk. Written in the Centra language, and almost impossible to translate, there are a few who can.
Even with the symbols, the translation was easy to read, as they were one of the few who could. It was a rare gift, they felt very special indeed, as they could do things no-one else could do, they had power that no-one can duplicate, and also this. Surely that means the gift was from Centra itself.
A candle burning merrily nearby illuminates the page.
At the top in one corner, hastily scribbled in the Centra language, was one word.
PROPHECY.
(It's a bit short I know, had a bit of writers block there, but now scribbling away like a nutter now J Update soon, all reviews welcome, thank you. Craig)