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 (Oh, and read his fics. Top notch!)
A/N – This chapter tells all folks, and the one known as Prophecy is revealed. Read on to find out who…
Chapter 18 – Real Eyes Realize Real Lies – The First
'…'
(The Tower Of Deling City – Floor 19)
Lightning flashes outside, illuminating the two figures that are there.
One sits in a large armchair, behind an equally large desk.
The other, stands at the other side of the desk, their right hand outstretched, a sword pointing at the man in the chairs heart. But President Gilned is not intimidated by Squalls sword. Even though it has blood on it.
"Well Squall, I will tell you everything."
Squall does not flinch, nor even blink. His arm is rock steady, not even moving, as it continues to press slightly into Gilneds chest. Gilned lights up a cigarette, ignoring the fact that the person in front of him could kill him anytime.
"Who's the traitor?" he asks the President.
"In due time-" he grimaces as the sword presses harder into his chest. Gilned grimaces at him.
"I don't think you understand Squall. I am willingly going to tell you everything, but I will tell you it in my order of telling. And you can't threaten me, because if you kill me, I cannot tell you everything."
Squall relaxes the blade slightly, though it is still pointing at his chest.
"Fine, then tell me who Mirror is, and where you found him."
Gilned nods. He takes a puff of his cigarette, then stubs it out in an ashtray. He looks out the window once, then back to Squall. The rain pounds the windows louder.
"That is the easiest question Squall, and simply put. I did not find him, as I have known him all my life, for he is my younger brother. His name is John."
Squall shows no emotion, but his mind struggles to register this. Gilned continues.
"When he was five, and I was eleven, my parents started realizing that something was different about him. He was like any other kid, but with a difference. We would have missed it if he did not do it so frequently."
He looks out the window again. Squall flicks his eyes to the window, but all he sees is rain. Gilneds voice brings him back to face the President.
"We found that, whatever we did, he would do. Now, it was only natural for the younger brother to copy his older sibling's actions. Things like walking, talking and eating, being the biggest ones. But what astounded us was the way he did it. He copied it down to the minutest of details. One time I was playing football, and was playing keep-up. Next thing I know he was grabbing the ball and copying me, down to the flight path of the ball and everything. I had never shown him how to play keep-up."
"What can Mirror do?" asks Squall. He is getting a bit restless with this story. Something unpleasant was going to come out of it that was for sure.
"John went through school, as did I. My father was busy with work. My mother died when I was 13. Actually, she didn't die, she was assassinated. I still do not know who did it to this day."
"Why was she assassinated?" Squall asks.
"Because of who my father was. But that's not the point Squall. Let us fast-forward to approx. 6 months ago. When they came, and told John, exactly what he could do."
Squall wonders who 'they' could be, but he would ask that in a minute.
"What could he do?"
Gilned looks him square in the eyes. "He had a special form of Blue magic. And even then, it wasn't magic, more like a Blue Physical of sorts" he falls silent for a minute.
"A Blue magic called 'Photographic Reflex'."
Squalls eyes narrow. What the… he does not need to ask his next question, as Gilned answers it for him.
"John's magic, if you call it that, was the ability to copy anything that anyone did. Be it a simple thing like moving a box in a specific way. But then there was the big things…"
"Like peoples fighting techniques…"says Squall quietly. "Wait, how did Mirror 'copy' us? He never saw us until a while ago, when Seifer and me fought him on floor 20."
Gilned lights up another cigarette.
"He does not need to actually see you. You see, it's not just visual, as in movement. He can copy still information too."
"Still information?"
"May I?" gestures Gilned, to a drawer on his left. Squall motions for him to open it, but presses his sword closer to Gilneds chest. Gilned opens it and produces a green folder. He turns it around and pushes it across the desk to Squall.
"Open it."
Squall looks down and opens it. 6 files are in the folder. Moving one at a time, he reads the names. Each one at the front embossed with the SeeD authorization stamp, and also the signatures of the people whom they belong to. His eyes open slightly as he reads the names.
Quistis Trepe, Irvine Kinneas, Selphie Tilmett, Zell Dincht, Seifer Almasy, and then… Squall Leonhart.
"Where did you get these?" he whispers. Gilneds face is straight.
"You didn't believe me about the traitor bit did you? Until you saw this."
"What has this got to do with still information?"
"Open any of the files, you'll see."
Squall opens Selphies file. Written in handwriting he recognized as Selphies, was her exact fighting moves. Stance, posture, movement, weapon details, magic details, everything. The only thing absent were descriptions of her Limit Breaks, although there was a space for that on one of the pages, but it was simply marked with a question mark. Squall thinks for a minute, then it hits him.
How Mirror learned how to fight like them.
"He can copy the moves from text?"
Gilned nods. "Isn't it amazing, just by reading those dossiers, he learned in half an hour, what the six of you had been doing for years."
Squall is dumbfounded. He looks at his own dossier. These were never to be read except by those who wrote in it, that person being himself. They existed for reference and also, if the SeeD allows it, for other teachers to study, should they need to learn to teach a class about that certain weapon.
"How did you get these?"
"Like I said, they were removed and brought to me."
"We would have known."
"Actually, they were removed when your little traitor realized that none of you had written in them after Ultimecia. Each dossier was marked at the back, meaning there was nothing else to be put in them."
Squall struggles to keep his face straight. Only SeeD's and the Headmaster can get access to these, and only the Headmaster can get access to all of them. Gilned continues.
"Oh you have no idea Squall, the potential that came of Mirror after he read them, and started mastering them for real. I was already in politics, going for Presidency, after Deling was killed. I had the funds and campaign to go for it. And now, with this, winning was certain. I could use Mirror to threaten the others, tell them to back off. Mirror obliged, mainly because he was helping big brother, but also, thanks to another, he could be guaranteed to 'test' his moves out on those he acquired them from."
Squall is listening to every word Gilned says, but another word rings in his head.
Traitor.
"And that's what this tower is," says Squall. "A giant training center."
"And also labs" Gilned answers quickly. "That your friends Zell and Seifer were taken to."
"Why were they took there? To be tested on?"
Gilned frowns slightly. "Yes, and no. You see, we did test on them, but they should not have been aware of it, thanks to the Forgetfulness Serum. But Seifer, as we found out almost to our cost, had somehow managed to block it out. Luckily for us he had not seen everything we could do."
"And the cells was where you kept them."
"Precisely."
Squall was about to ask whom the traitor was, but he asks something else. Something that flashed into his mind, as he suddenly remembers a meeting with Cid about. Something Seifer told him.
"You wanted to claim vengeance for your father. Who was he?"
Gilneds face is serious.
"I know this may sound ridiculous Squall, but my father was Vinzer Deling."
Squalls eyes widen in shock.
"That's impossible."
"Is it?" he says. He gets out a pen and writes on a piece of paper. Squall looks at it as Gilned speaks. The piece of paper has two words on it. Gilned speaks in a whisper.
GILNED
DELING
"They would never have let me run for office if they found out I was my fathers son. So I merely made an anagram of my second name, and Mirror threatened to destroy anyone who talked. Mirrors influence by this time was amazing. He could talk anyone into anything, just by his presence."
"Well it looks like you got your wish. Except me, everyone is dead."
"Actually Squall, I was not interested in you or your friends. The person whom I am going to kill, hasn't played a role in any of this."
Squall watches him. Face unreadable.
"Who?"
"Sorceress Edea. She killed my father Squall. That's all I wanted. Mirror wanted to fight you. The other wanted you all dead. I just wanted Edea dead, for killing my father. You have no idea Squall, what it feels like, standing in that crowd, watching your father being destroyed."
Squall looks into Gilneds eyes. Every part of him tells him he is not lying. It was hard enough believing him that's Vinzer Deling was his father. But now, after this. It was all fitting together now…
"I know where she is Squall, and I will kill her. By my own hand or not, vengeance will be mine."
Squall presses a little further into his chest.
"It sure as fuck isn't going to be you yourself, that's for sure. And I will stop anyone who goes near her."
Gilned smiles up at him, an evil glint flashes in his eyes.
"It is time Squall, for me to tell you who I mean by the 'other', who wants you all dead."
Squalls eyes narrow to slits. Gilned maintains his smile.
"I have not lied to you in any of this Squall, and I'm sure you know this, as it is all coming together. I had Mirror yes, but I did not discover his talent. I saw he was different, but did not see in what way, until it was revealed. I did not steal those dossiers from Garden. I did not send the letter that made you all come here, to your deaths. I signed it, yes, but I did not plan it."
Squall remains silent. The grin on Gilneds face is wider now.
"I had a plan, oh yes, for what I was going to do when I got power here. But it was them who came to me, discovering Mirrors talent; it was them that ordered this tower to be built. It was them who had done everything that lead up to this. I had helped and ordered yes, but they planned it all. I agreed because simply put, they promised me Edea. And they have, by telling me her whereabouts. Also I have already repaid my debt, by helping them get you here, and by building this fine establishment."
Squall says nothing and does nothing. He is like a statue. Suddenly Gilned slowly gets up.
"Sit down" orders Squall. Gilned ignores him.
"One last thing. I do not even know their name. I was to address them as 'Prophecy'. I don't know why, but to me, it was a prophecy, because everything I wanted has, or is going to come true."
He gestures with his hand over Squalls shoulder, as a noise is heard, like something just popping into the room out of thin air. The rain outside goes quiet as a soft thump on the floor, indicating that someone is there.
Squall turns around, and sets eyes on them. What he sees causes his blood to go cold. His eyes go wide, his mouth opens.
Not in a million years would he ever see this person standing here, as an enemy, not a friend.
They stand there, in a dress of orange. In one hand she held a gold whip, coiled elegantly in her slender fingers. Her hair, still the same colour as it was in her youth, like mid-day sunshine, was clipped to the back of her head. Two loose strands hugged her cheeks and came to a curling end just above her breast. Her vest contemplated her figure as it hugged the slim curve of her waist, opening just above her stomach for a glimpse of her flat midsection. Around her arms were a pair of tight leather gloves the colour of polished mahogany.
"Hello, Squall," says Quistis Trepe.
(Reviews welcome, thank you. Craig)