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!)
A/N - All the talking finishes in this chapter, folks, time for action! (Well, obv there will be talking, but now it is definitely all action after this chapter. Craig.)
Chapter 13 – 7 and 13
'You do not truly know someone, until you fight them.'
(Squall)
They look at the book. Selphie sits next to him, saying nothing. Squall quietly closes the book, handing it back to Selphie. Then he gets up and begins to walk around the room.
"This is…unreal. My ring, Griever, what's this all about? All we wanted was to find out if Gilned is making a weapon, and we find this?"
Selphie looks over at him. "What should we do Squall? About this?"
Squall turns to her, he was about to say, "Gather the others" but something tells him not to. A thought flashes through his mind, the thought is the sound of a girl's voice.
Listen closely to those around you.
"We'll keep it quiet just now, Selphie. We have enough on our plate at the moment without this making a fuss."
"If you say so, I won't say anything" Selphie replies. She gets up and turns to leave, before stopping to look at him. "Do you think that, this could be the weapon?"
Squall blinks at her, then he slowly nods his head. "There's a possibility, I mean…I don't know. But what's my ring got to do with Mirror? As far as I'm concerned, Mirror is the weapon, but…" he puts a hand to his head. "I can't think right Selphie, I need to rest for a while."
"I know, I'll hide this book, and I'll say I didn't find anything useful. I won't talk about it until you're sure it's ok to do so."
Squall nods and watches her leave, then he sits back down in the seat.
Griever? My ring? Mirror? Gilned? Some kind of Prophecy? What's the connection?
He sits round in the seat proper, looking like he is studying the steering, but is thinking of what he has learned.
Could my ring be Griever? Is this the weapon that beat Rinoa, It can't be, we would know about it…
He closes his eyes, tiredness comes over him. It was late, and he had been up for about 20 hours.
GF's give out distinct signals, even I could tell if it was a GF.
He rubs his eyes, deciding he needs rest, he falls asleep.
(The Tower Of Deling City)
Rain pelts down over the city, it seems harder than normal, as if it is unnatural.
President Gilned sits in his seat, looking out the window over the city. The window, he can barely see out it with all the water running down it. He feels uneasy. Ill, almost.
He had spent months preparing, running for presidency. All this required meticulate planning, he thought he would never get into office, but thanks to them, he did.
He looks at the dossier in front of him. Various techniques, various readouts, Str, Vit, Mag, all shine out from it. Their numbers, impossibly high, glare at him. He smiles.
He was impressed. After Prophecy came, and found out what Mirrors talent was, he thought Christmas came early. Mirror swore he would look after him, after he promised him everything he ever wanted. Which wasn't much. In fact, it was only one thing he desired, especially after he too discovered what he could do, and what his talent was.
The best possible fights, to prove he was the best.
Gilned delivered, as he saw on Floor 20, when Mirror went up against 2 of the best, if not the best, in Seifer and Squall. But he also saw that Mirror was a little too enthusiastic, and he was also worried, when Squall beat him. Barely, but he beat him.
And it was worry now that enveloped his mind. As Mirror was becoming more, unusual.
He gets up and stands as close to the window as possible. Lightning flashes overhead. Again, an uneasy feeling sweeps over him. Feeling like he is not alone, his thoughts return to Mirror.
Mirror had been acting unusual since Squall defeated him and forced him to escape. He swore he would improve more and beat him. But again, he didn't. Squall too had improved, and had all but beaten him again in the Garden. True, Mirror won, fuck, he killed Squall, but the sorceress saved him.
Gilned frowns, I think that's when he went over the edge, I feel.
The sorceress Rinoa had almost destroyed him; she batted him about like he was nothing. It took Squall, Rinoa and all of their friends to destroy Ultimecia, the one thing he was grateful for, as if it wasn't for them, he wouldn't be in this office right now, in a way. But now, after a while, they had all improved so much, especially Squall and Seifer. Mirror took them both on and almost lost. He took Zell on, and got a bit of a beating. He took Rinoa on, and got pulverized.
He could see where Mirrors anger was coming from, he said he should have taken them out like it was nothing. Hell, he was scared almost, at what they could do. Especially the girls, who all had unique abilities that he couldn't copy.
Now that he though of it, they all had techniques that he couldn't copy.
Gilned nods to himself. This was his anger, this was why he was so mad, and also, he felt, the reason why he doesn't like Prophecy, mostly because they did what he could not, and that was take out Rinoa.
He sits back down, he sighs.
I owe them so much, he thinks. Prophecy came here, with a brilliant plan that even he couldn't fathom. A plan to take out every single one of his enemies, and theirs.
He thought it was too good to be true, but he also had doubts. About what was going to happen when it was all over.
What would Prophecy do, after it was all over, and the bodies of all those he hates, and owes revenge to, are lying dead at his feet?
That was another thing, he didn't even know Prophecy's name.
I guess I'll find out soon en-
His thoughts are interrupted as Prophecy appears in the room out of nowhere, scaring him.
"You know, if everyone could read minds, they would be very interested in what you're thinking, I could hear you from way off, hence why I am here."
Gilned composes himself. "I was just thinking, about you, and Mirror." There was no point in trying to lie. You couldn't. Not to Prophecy anyway.
"I know" they said quietly, "which is why I am here, to answer your questions. You do not owe me anything. You have already paid your debt, by gaining power and making this fine establishment. That's all I wanted."
Gilned smiles slightly "But what about the proj-" Prophecy puts a hand up. Lightning flashes overhead, again, it was unnatural, as if it was angry, or something.
"That, my dear President, is indeed the reason I am here." They reach into their coat, pulling out a blue folder. They walk up to the desk and sit it down in front of them. Gilneds face, illuminated by the lights, goes whiter than the lightning outside.
"Is this?" he whispers.
Prophecy nods.
"Tomorrow night, it will start. Esthar is getting involved more and more now, and you know how strong Esthar is. This would cause problems for us."
Gilned nods. "I shall inform Mirror."
Prophecy nods again. "Tomorrow, none of our enemies will walk this Earth no more."
They vanish, Gilned stares down at the blue folder. Staring at the 3 words that make up the title on the cover. He grabs the phone, and dials a number.
"President Gilned?" says a voice.
"Professor Diaode, gather your associates, it is time."
"For, sir?"
"7 years luck, professor."
He doesn't even bother that the receiver clatters down on the phone at the other end. Putting the phone down, then picking it back up, he dials one more number.
"Yes Sir?"
"Mirror, 7 years luck, tomorrow, at 8pm."
Like before, the phone clatters down.
(Squall – Ragnarok)
Selphie jerks Squall awake
"Squall! Squall wake up! Gotta get to a meeting! Quick! Passenger area!"
Squall shakes the sleep off, irritated he was woken up, but the urgency in Selphies voice quickly makes that disappear.
He hurries down to the passenger area of the Ragnarok. Upon entering, he sees Zell, Seifer, Quistis, Irvine, Xu and Selphie, all seated in front of headmaster Cid and Laguna. The look on Seifers face tells him this is all business, not just another meeting.
"Squall, good, be seated" says Cid. He looks uneasy, as if he too had been awake, but, unlike Squall, had not shrugged it off yet.
"I'll get to the point, we received another letter this morning, about 30mins ago, from President Gilned."
Squall sits up more, perfectly listening, as are the others. Cid carries on.
"It simply says, Tower, 7:45pm. Bring your best, any attempts to counter, or any attempts to deny, will be dealt with by force. The same applies for any outside helpers you have."
Squall narrows his eyes. "They want a war with us, but quietly."
Cid nods, Laguna steps in.
"Also, they are talking as if we are going to step in to help, somehow, I think they know that all the Garden students are in Esthar. I think they will attack Esthar if we try anything. How they know that is beyond me"
"Then don't," says Seifer, "we do as the letter asks. By the looks of it, this is the last time we go up against Mirror. This is what all this is about."
"Also, who knows what they have in there, I mean, they might have booby traps and everything." Selphie says. Upon finishing, she and Squall exchange looks, Squall shakes his head slightly. Selphie nods. She falls silent.
"What should we do then? Charge in there? Gun-ho" asks Irvine " I for one would like that."
"I don't think we need to charge in, as we are being 'invited', says Zell. "At least, it looks like that."
"Squall?" says Cid, looking at him, Squall stares at the floor. Something, he doesn't know what, niggles him. Apart from the ring and the book, Rinoa's dream still plagues him, especially about what she was trying to say. No, warn them about.
"This could be a trap, but at the same time, I doubt it, when myself and Seifer fought Mirror, there were no traps, we fought him, basically, fair and square. No tricks, no nothing, just a room and us."
The others nod.
"Then fine, I'll take you to Galbadia in the Ragnarok" says Laguna. "Yes, I'll fly, if they know it's me, because then they won't try anything, unless they really want to fight Esthar, but I doubt that."
"You have 13 hours to prepare, make use of it" says Cid, the others salute and leave. Squall looks at Laguna and Cid; the two of them turn away and begin talking. Laguna eyes him oddly. Squall salutes then leaves.
He walks down and looks over at the room below. Zell and Selphie train, watched by Quistis. Xu says something to her them leaves. Irvine is nowhere to be seen. Seifer walks up to him and stands alongside him.
"Squall, you ready? For all this? It's quite sudden."
Squall nods. "I've been ready for a while Seifer, it was just a case of when they would act."
Seifer raises his eyebrows.
"You've been ready for a while? You hiding something?"
Squall looks at him. It wasn't annoyance on Seifers face, it was curiosity.
"No, I just feel I have done everything I could do." He looks back down at the training. He feels a bit sad for not telling Seifer what he has been up to, but his instinct tells him, regardless of what happens, he and Mirror will cross swords again. But the thing is, Squall is almost certain they will be alone. Like they were at the Garden.
And he is ready for him. Mirror will be surprised when they do meet again.
(13 hours later)
It was time. Squall sits quietly in the back of the pilot's area. Laguna and Selphie are seated at the front, piloting together. Quistis sits just behind Laguna, Zell just behind Selphie. Seifer stands in a corner, staring at the floor. Irvine stares out the window, standing as he usually does between the two pilot seats.
An uneasy feeling, which has plagued him from the start, seeps throughout his system. SO many questions bomb his mind.
Why was that letter so abrupt?
What was going to happen when they got there?
What will they go up against? Other than Mirror?
The last question bothered him most of all. He idly clasps the ring and chain round his neck. He thinks of Rinoa, about what happened to her, and about what could have done it. He had spent the last 3 hours thinking about what could have done it. If this were a while ago, he would have said it was ridiculous, these thoughts he was having.
But after reading that book, and Selphie translating it, it was all beginning to come together. Some thoughts he would have dismissed as crap were beginning to make some startling reality. Of course, there was a possibility this was a load of garbage. The book was written what? 2000, 3000 years ago?
He felt ill. He used to get nerves, but not like this.
"Holy shit, look at that!" yells Laguna. Squall immediately stands up. His eyes widen as he observes the black pillar that is the Deling Tower.
The tower seems to be growing, as if someone has grabbed the top and has begun to stretch it. But then it stops. Suddenly several poles rise up and stick out horizontally from the tower, they circle it, all around it.
"What…is that?" mutters Laguna. Squall recognizes what they are. Having seen them being 'delivered' when he broke in first time.
"They're cannons" he says, the others look on in horror as they glow slightly. The Ragnarok hovers there just in front of it, but the cannons don't fire, though they look as if they are ready to. Rain lashes the ship.
"Hey, there, we've to go there," says Selphie, pointing down at a figure, holding 2 landing lamps. The ship lowers and lands gently.
"Landed man, let's go," says Seifer.
(The Tower)
They disembark, and several dozen armed guards accost them. Squall narrows his eyes as they see that they are threatening, but won't fire. He leads as Seifer, Zell, Irvine, Selphie and Quistis follow behind. They stop and look back as the Ragnarok takes off; Zell taps Squall's arm.
"Don't worry, he did that on purpose, he's away to tell the others what they're up against."
"Esthar should stay out of this" hisses Squall. The rain pelts down on them as they are escorted to the bottom of the tower. Squall looks up as the cannons remain pointing out. Then they are ushered inside. As soon as the SeeD's are inside, the doors bang closed. Zell immediately goes for the nearest guard, taking him out with one punch. Irvine uses Fire ammo to fry the others. They are about to charge when a voice laughs at them, accompanied by some clapping. They look at the end of the corridor. President Gilned stands there, just in front of the lift.
"Well done, well done. I knew you were going to do that," he says cheerfully. Squall and the SeeD's begin to walk towards him. As they approach, Squall notices that Gilneds face suddenly loses it's grin, then begins to go pale. He wonders what is going on, but suddenly his smile is back in place.
"So good of you to come. You know why you are here."
"We're here to destroy you, Gilned, and your mates" Seifer hisses at him. Gilned snarls at him.
"Time will tell boy, time will tell."
"Bullshit, your mate Mirror won't take all of us, that's for sure" spits Irvine. "He's good, but he's not unbeatable."
Gilned smirks and nods. "True, but it won't be all of you at the one time, and for your cheek, I'm not going to tell you what I mean by that," the lift jams open, then suddenly Mirror dives out, with one well-placed round, he floors Quistis with a shot from his Exeter, Quistis screams and hits the floor.
"Quistis!" shouts Selphie, as laughter from Gilned and Mirror echoes round the room. The lift doors close and the lift leaves just as a round from Irvine's Exeter, blows the doors to nothing. Quistis coughs.
"Go on, I'll be fine, I'll just use White Wind to heal" she gasps.
"You sure?" asks Squall, looking down at her, she is bleeding profusely,
"Yes! Now go! Get him!"
The others turn as the other lift pings down. As the doors close, he sees Quistis sit up and cast a spell.
"She'll be fine. She'll catch up with us," he says.
"Squall, what do you think he meant when he said it's not going to be all of us?" asks Zell. Squall looks at him.
"I don't know, but I think the answer is just about to find us, not the other way around."
His answer is confirmed as the lift stops, at floor 13. The doors open, and they refuse to budge, seeing no other option, they bustle out.
The room is round, and the light is dim, but brightens suddenly, light coming from the ceiling. To Squall, looking round, it looks similar to floor 20, but it is not, as there is no windows. Actually, there is nothing else. Mirror stands at the other end, smiling slightly. The others are about to go for him when he places a hand up. Suddenly something forces Selphie through a glass wall that has appeared in front of them. The wall touches floor to ceiling, and looks unbreakable. Only Selphie stands on the other side.
"What the hell!" shouts Irvine, Selphie turns round to them, they can hear her, even though the wall is there.
"I don't know, I think-" she cuts off, as Mirror calls her name.
"Selphie, let's see what you can do. Oh and guys, I wouldn't try to break that glass if I were you. Any spells or attacks will rebound off it and hit you back, you have been warned."
He presses a button and various parts of the wall flip round. Various shinobou line the walls, Selphie sees the Morning Star, the Flail, a Strange Vision, like her own, and various other versions that she has never seen. One of them is even on fire.
"What the hell?" mutters Zell.
"This is a training room," says Seifer. The others, even Selphie, look at him. "This must be the room where he learned how to use the shinobou."
"Quite right, Mr. Almasy, and seeing as you were impatient and weren't prepared to listen to President Gilned, I will explain it all now."
They fall silent and look at him. Selphie watches him the most intensely. She has a gut feeling she knows what is going to happen.
"President Gilned said you would not be fighting me together, this is true. As a matter of fact, young Selphie here will be the first to go against me, one on one."
Selphie doesn't even flinch as she grabs her Strange Vision from her back and swings it expertly in front of her. Mirror takes off his long coat and throws it aside, to reveal a white vest over blue jeans. He grabs something from behind his back, and unveils his own Strange Vision. Selphie takes the time to study his physique. She notices a tattoo on his left arm.
I've seen that kind of tattoo before, but where? She thinks. Mirror talking interrupts her thoughts.
"Only 5 people in the world apparently own this kind of weapon, and only 2 people have ever mastered this version. As in, the Strange Vision version of the shinobou, the most powerful. And, as you can see, the only 2 masters are standing face to face. Now Selphie, you do realize that this will be the last fight you ever take part in, unless you can kill me."
Selphie says nothing. A small nerve screams at her, then begins to spread its poison. She tries to bat it down, she succeeds.
"Say goodbye, Selphie, to your friends, and your life."
He goes for her, Selphie screams at the top of her lungs and charges at him. The others can do nothing but watch, as Selphie flies into what could be the last battle of her life.
(Talking done! Action now folks, reviews are welcome! Craig.)