Disclaimer: I do not own anyone in Final Fantasy VII, VIII, IX, and X. I'm just on good terms with them. I decided that the 'Words of Bahamut' fic was so good that I should use a few others as well, thus my next one entitled…

The promise of Shiva.

I am the mistress of the ice and cold.

My beauty is only matched by my skill.

I live for the kind and the warm-hearted

I am Shiva…

For countless ages, I have existed. How is unknown to even us, but that matters little. What matters is the ones I protect. Those whose heart is as warm as I am cold. It is my love for such creatures that I fight for. To me, such a creature is beautiful in itself. There are many who would say I am the most beautiful of the summons. Although I don't disagree, I am not vain in that I would point that out. Truthfully, I am a little shy about it. And my appearance has made many of my fellow summons nervous around me. Especially the males. Odin is extremely nervous around my presence. And even the dragon lord Bahamut is shy around me. Ramuh is perfectly calm, but that may be because of his age. The one person not nervous around me is my polar opposite (pardon the pun), the fire demon Ifrit. He's a little tempered, but maintains it well. Unfortunately, we are not on the best of terms now. I will explain later.

We live in a place hidden from mortal people. But there are times when a mortal can call upon us for our strength to aid them. But then again, different worlds have different rules; so sometimes only one person can summon me, a being called a summoner. They would call upon me for my powers and I gave it in full, using my traditional Diamond Dust blast, which was so cold that it could even cap the fury of a volcano during eruption. I've had many trips into many worlds. The earliest one I remember was with a young girl. I believe her name was Aeris. Never have I met such a caring and kind soul. She was…different from the others I was with. How different I can't say, but she seemed to radiate a positive energy beyond other people. She was joined up with a young man named Cloud as well as a group of others. She seemed interested in this Cloud, but being the male he is, he didn't notice. They traveled in order to save the Planet from a person called Sephiroth. In fact, it was Sephiroth who ended Aeris's life. I was saddened by the fact that such a lovely creature could be killed. But for some reason, I wasn't too upset. Even after her death, her presence seemed to stay with us. I didn't understand why, but I found out later on that she was part of the Lifestream, a connection to the Planet. After a long journey, we finally defeated Sephiroth and I discovered that even though she was gone, in a way, she wasn't. Something that positive doesn't die easy, if at all.

The time after that, I found myself in the next world. This is where Ifrit's anger comes in. I was called a Guardian Force and for the time, I was paired with Quezacotl, a student of Ramuh's. I was junctioned with a young man by the name of Squall. He had to pass a test in order to become a SeeD, a type of mercenary. In order to pass the test, he had to search within the Fire Caverns and obtain another GF in a fight. As expected, Ifrit was the one he was to obtain. In a use of strategy, he summoned me in order to battle him. Ifrit was surprised by my appearance, but even more so by the power my Diamond Dust attack. He was defeated and he saw the wisdom in summoning me, so he joined us. However, he was a little bitter at me. He's over it now, but not completely. I also met another female GF. Her name was Siren and she too was attractive. However, unlike me, she made it a habit of reminding others about it and always saw me as a rival. We've had a few arguments here and there, but it was when we rescued the girl Rinoa that she revealed her true feelings. She had looked up to me and wanted to be like me. I don't know why she told me this now, but I believe it had something to do with the moment between Squall and Rinoa.

The next event, I was joined with a young summoner name Dagger. She was a princess in the castle of Alexandra. She was sad one and often spent her time alone, weeping. But upon meeting a young boy named Zidane, her strength began to show. However, this was not all that happened. After the attack and destruction of Alexandria, I spoke with Bahamut. It was the first time I saw him…disheartened. He actually shed a few tears in guilt for what he had done. I knew Bahamut. He was the type to always be strong, but seeing him like this… disturbed me greatly. I managed to comfort him a little, but I'm unsure how he really feels now, but I know he managed to overcome it enough to fight back and together, we managed to defeat the one called Kuja and stop his plans.

The latest event was different from the others. I became an extension of a fayth, a creature that was sleeping and wanted to awaken. I was to wait until a summoner would come for me. When she did come, she seemed to be in a hurry. As I joined with her, I could feel the great kindness with her and it mingled with the deep sadness I also felt. I found out that this summoner, Yuna, was on a pilgrimage to gather the aeons in order to destroy a monster called Sin. However, in using the final aeon, she would die. And worse yet, the creature would just return after several year for it to happen all over again. Her kindness wanted to help the people to have peace, no matter how short it was. But I didn't accept it. It was terrible and wrong for such people to die for nothing. And I found that I wasn't the only one who thought so. A young man, Tidus, didn't like it anymore than I did and tried to form a plan to save her. He succeeded, but discovered that upon doing so, he would no longer exist there. A heavy burden, especially since he had fallen in love with the young summoner. But for her to live, he must disappear. I understood that much, for I had to disappear as well. But I accepted it. Such a young one should not have to die for a lost cause.

Now I wait in my realm again. I wait for the time when I am called for again. When the time comes, I will come. When innocents are threatened, I will protect them. For those who would do them harm, they will shatter like the ice I command. No warm-hearted one will suffer as long as I live.

This is the promise of the mistress of ice.

The promise of Shiva.