Chapter 10: Live Through

The silver charm at the end of the SeeD leader's magnificent sword shone with wondrous brilliance as rays of light peaking through the heavy cloud cover reflected off of it. It was a glimmer of hope . . . a faint beam of truth for a man that was barely hanging onto his own sanity. Quistis, Selphie, and now Irvine . . . they were all dead. In one ferocious battle Squall had lost three soldiers, more importantly . . . three friends. His good friend Zell and beautiful soul mate Rinoa was all that remained. They were the last line of defense, the final resistance standing between tranquility and chaos.

Squall found himself sitting down and thinking, his arms lay sadly on his sore bent knees. Griever's body had begun to vaporize, bubbling away the residual energy that the beast had stored inside its being. The life energy flamed up in a rainbow of colors, dissipating quickly into the surrounding area.

Trying as she may, Rinoa's presence on his shoulder, softly sobbing for her friends, did little to move the stoic hero. As much as it pained her to see Squall like this, she knew he needed some time to cope with their murders in his own way. Zell found himself glancing over his shoulder, shaking his head in disbelief as the aftermath of the battle played itself out.

"I won't take this sitting down," Zell said with a heavy heart, "She won't get away with this." He tried and tried, but even hard as a rock Dincht couldn't hold back the tears that came with his anger.

Strong winds began to blow across the faces of the SeeD's as a powerful tornado picked up opposite of their location. Its harsh gusts screamed with the ghost of Ultimecia and sucked up the dispersed life forces of Griever and the sorceress' flesh into its funnel.

"She's back . . . isn't she, "Squall asked, the fur on his jacket flickering with the winds from the growing gale. Wiping away the tears from her flustered face, Rinoa turned to face the new challenge that awaited the three of them. Whatever the odds she would finish their job. She would carry out the wishes of her fallen comrades and dare not shame their purpose on this battlefield.

"Now you will feel the true power . . ." Ultimecia said as her magical essence came to life from within the twister. Hurtful beams leaked out through the wisps of air swirling and maintaining her existence, revealing to Zell and Rinoa a pure energy state, "I will junction myself unto Griever and realize the ultimate power meant for me!"

Her ethereal body reached out to the remains of the beast, begging it to join with her. Ball lightning raced along the sky above her and shook the wills of the warriors with its thunder. Zell could feel the wind picking up, tugging at his stance as he bore the brunt of the hellish storm. The body of the demon beast lifted off the ground and quickly hovered around the eye of the tornado before being devoured into Ultimecia's essence. The storm ended as the sorceress assimilated Griever's power as her own, leaving Squall and his team to watch the gruesome transformation that came afterwards. Black electricity and red lightning jumped off her body sporadically, shocking the ground and flowing back into her evolving form. Even bigger discharges followed, blinding everybody momentarily and causing them to shield their fragile corneas. Cyclones of dust and discharged energy swirled around the area chaotically, blurring any sight of this new fighter. Squall found it within his power to once again stand back up and raise his sword alongside his comrades. There would be plenty of time to mope later . . .

When the new target finally appeared, Zell had a few words of advice for his friends, "Aw shit . . ."

The advanced form of the witch-beast was worse than before. This pseudo- Griever was absolutely brimming with power, so much that excess energy was converted into electricity and periodically discharged from its skin. The demon's massive claws dug into the ground and spewed forth rock and dirt as Ultimecia looked on from the core. Her body was reformed and fused into the new Griever's chest, acting as the brain to the deadliest creation in the universe. Reddish-purple horns grew off the wolf-like head of the beast and curved backwards as it readied for one last confrontation. When it bared multiple rows of razor sharp teeth as big as Squall's sword, they new they were in trouble.

"Let it strike first, react to its movements!" Squall barked out to his remaining team, "Come on you piece of shit . . . show yourself," he breathed to himself, looking for signs of 'HIM'. "Get ready . . . " the beast began its approach, stomping along a straight line directly into the small resistance. The arms of Ultimecia pumped heavily as she controlled Neo Griever's body like an extension of her own. Her hair color flashed silver for a moment, and Squall instantly knew.

He was about to inform the others when everything suddenly went horribly wrong. No one could even blink an eye, but in a flash the monster reached out and snatched Zell quicker than anybody could react.

'Nothing that big should be able to move that fast . . . it's not possible.' Squall thought to himself as he jumped out of the way, pulling Rinoa down with him as the other arm sailed down and crushed the place she had just been standing at.

Zell was stuck in a merciless deathgrip, the monster wasting no time to eliminate a fourth member of Squall's team. His bones began to break apart, his tendons snap as the fist closed like a huge vice around his torso, "Get your god damned hands off me!" he screamed in agony. The punches he threw grew weaker and weaker against the monster's hand, causing the beast to tighten its grip even more. "Arrggghh!" Zell cried out as felt organs rupture all through his body. He could feel each fiber of his body giving in. Soon his insides would break through his skin out of his sides and he would die. This wasn't how he had planned it . . . this wasn't how he wanted to go. Not in the hand of a mutated abomination, not without a chance to fight . . . All was lost.

Zell was too weak to fight off the strain and went limp in the beast's hand as he lost consciousness. He knew the final blow would come, and he awaited it. He actually preferred it now instead of all this pain, this suffering. Let it all end . . . he wanted to see his friends again. The monster gleefully raised its hand, and Ultimecia was focusing her energy into its fist when it happened.

A miracle sent from God . . . a rusty, corroded miracle at least. A bulky anchor cut through the air at high velocity, whistling straight towards Ultimecia's fused form. It stung deeply into the exposed flesh under the raised arm and pinned the wrist against its ribcage. The monster roared in surprise as it struggled to free itself, causing it to scream in agony even more. A man of few words, one that wore a plain white tank top, baggy pants and a navy bandanna came to Zell's rescue. Ward had saved the day. He smiled and walked up to the injured feral beast as it reeled backwards, catching Zell as he was let of by Griever.

"W . . . Ward?" Zell mouthed.

The man shook his head as to say 'Don't worry about it,' and quickly ran back towards an opening in the fabric of this dimension. Ward flashed him a warm smile and took them both away from the front lines as fast as his legs would carry them.

"Ward!?" Rinoa uttered in disbelief as he disappeared into a wormhole with a battered Zell, "then that means . . ."

"Laguna, Kiros!" Squall jerked forward as two other figures leapt through the open portal that seemed to exist only as a dream. As soon as they were through, it closed and vanished like it never had even been there. The gate had served its purpose and collapsed onto itself by shrinking into a speck of light, creating a small flash before disappearing completely.

The man with the automatic machine gun, long black hair and carefree attitude was Laguna, president of Esthar and leader of the revolution against the sorceress. The other was his right hand man, Kiros, complete with sharp blade daggers that acted as long extensions of his knuckles. Rinoa would have rushed to greet and hug them, but instead prepared a spell for the flailing demon beast.

"Need some help?" Laguna asked Squall as he fumbled with his gun and removed the safety. Pointing it steadily at Neo-Griever as it tugged at the embedded weapon in its chest, he awaited a response.

"Always at the last minute as always," Squall quipped as he barely acknowledged Laguna's assistance.

"It all works out in the end, trust me," the President replied as he unloaded a round of armor piercing bullets into the Ultimecia core. Chunks of flesh sprayed from its body as the ammo mercilessly ripped through Griever's chest.

Still locked in a life of death struggle with the anchor, the monster painfully tried to yank out the jagged metal from the infected wound, leaving Kiros and Laguna to start their assault. Blasting ferociously at the monster, President Laguna managed to force it to stagger backwards, watching as it alternated between blocking the storm of bullets with an arm and tugging at the anchor. They would keep forcing the horrific abomination back until it tumbled off the island of rock they fought on. That was the plan at least . . . but before Kiros could even deal any damage to Ultimecia, the beast regained its foothold and powered up its defense, deflecting any new attack.

Angry and frustrated Ultimecia swung downwards, narrowly missing Laguna's right hand man only to create a massive crater where her fist hit. Kiros rolled and flipped from the increasing frequency of deathblows and quickly made his way back to Laguna and Squall's side.

Squall had yet to engage his enemy in combat, leaving the others in a dire situation. Rinoa loaded up her launcher and fired her boomerang at Neo Griever, watching as it sailed through the air and left a bloody gash straight across the demon beast's right arm.

"We could really use some help here Squall!" Kiro's yelled, irritated at the boy's indecisiveness.

A laser beam shot out of a bit released by Ultimecia's body, searing the ground with it's heat as it honed in on the group's location.

"Watch out!" Laguna screamed as he pulled Squall away from an attack that would have surely killed him.

As he lay on the ground, covered in dirt and stuck in a daze, pieces of an omniscient vision flooded his thoughts. Painful flashes ensued, seeing a glimpse of Ward as he placed Zell onto the ground next to the shadow of another body. Again a shock through his temples occurred, and he saw the body of Quistis, moving but hovering near the threshold of death. Tifa was there too, a huge amount of blood splattered all over her tight shirt. So much suffering, so much death . . . why did he need to see this? Wincing, he got to his knees and the visions stopped. The familiar voice that he had heard from seemingly days ago comforted the SeeD leader, 'I have your friends here, they are safe for the moment. You must work quickly . . . there isn't much time.' There was a hint of hopelessness in the voice's words. If he failed now, there wouldn't be a future for his comrades, or for any of them.

The hailstorm of bullets weren't even penetrating the barrier around Ultimecia now. The hardened cylinders of metal and gunpowder merely grazed harmlessly off the sorceress beast's skin, allowing it to focus solely on excavating the rusted object from its body. Gripping the base of the anchor firmly, Griever's monstrous arms finally wrenched the weapon from its side. Snarling in pain, it roared in defiance of their attacks, causing strong gushes of blood to spurt out of the open wound. The blood-encrusted anchor soon found itself in between the massive paws of the beast, the metal shrieking as Griever flexed its muscles and bent the weapon in half. With one hand it nonchalantly threw it to the side, glad to be rid of the temporary nuisance. Laguna's gun had fallen silent, and Rinoa's weapon and magic were losing their effectiveness.

Four . . . four on one huge, greatly mutated power beast. The position of the heroes in this battle soon worsened as the victim of earlier attacks now went on the offensive, charging at everybody with a sick, malicious fervor.

"Ahh Crap," Laguna said as the beast charged full speed towards the group. Its weighted feet pounded the ground, creating small quakes with each push closer to Squall and Laguna. They were all being hunted . . . hunted by a feral animal starving for revenge. In one mad waylay it would pounce on its prey and then proceed to eat it, tearing off tendon and sinew with its fangs while its meal still breathed.

Kiros had already started a retreat with Rinoa in tow, getting her out of harms way as Laguna and Squall stood their ground, "I sure hope you're ready for this," Laguna tensely said, sweat forming over his forehead.

Squall shifted his weight back and forth anxiously as the beast closed in before responding, "Old man, you're better off worrying about yourself. Leave this all to me . . ."

In the last few hundred yards the demon picked up speed, coming at the two with amazing agility. Its fangs bared and claws poised to slice them in two, the estranged father and son held their ground. They waited until the last possible second to tumble out of its path, Laguna going to the right while Squall dashed to the left with his sword ready to sting. He swung the Lionheart with all his might, tripping the animalistic sorceress and sending her unbalanced body tumbling near the edge of the floating battlefield. Kiros jumped at the monster's face to strike but was flat- handed to the ground like a rag doll as the beast immediately got back up to its feet. It left him there, bones broken and all without the slightest inclination to kill Kiros. The target wasn't any of them though . . . it was after Squall.

The ground shook beneath Squall's feet as he raised his transparent blue blade Lionheart to its ready position. By going from the pattern of attacks that had preceded it, the Ultimecia surmised that Squall would try to defend or counterattack the next maneuver she made. Much angrier than before, the sorceress beast blindly charged after her prey, letting down all defenses in favor of one, final strike. The brave warrior leader drew upon the beast's fury, making it his own. With a defiant look Squall let the Lionheart fall to his side helplessly. He grinded his teeth together and dropped one leg back as he collected all the energy he could into one hand. The strain on his cerebellum as he focused his mental energy into one spell was unbearable. His head felt like it was going to explode at any moment, but as soon as the downward arc of Ultimecia's attack began, Squall unleashed a devastating defense.

"Everybody DOWN!" Squall yelled as hundreds of blue and pink strands of light emanated from ground and compiled over and over again into his fist. He snapped his fist forward, opening it to reveal a beautiful emerald light that caught everyone off guard . . . especially Ultimecia. The green blast erupted like a mushroom cloud around Squall, illuminating the dark monster in its glow before blasting it off the ground. The blast zone continued to spread upwards and outwards, pummeling Neo Griever's body with its might while it flailed backwards uncontrollably into the air. Its own clawed attack had come within mere inches from hitting its target before the drastic transfer of power.

The other sorceress was the first to appear out of the olive colored mist left behind from the attack to offer aid. Raising her hands above her head, Rinoa pulled upon the cosmic powers of Meteor. The sky above them suddenly darkened and the clouds parted, leaving only the magnificence of the stars to light the battlefield. In the peaceful calmness of the night sky, thunderous boulders began to rain down from heaven. Fiery objects of stone and metal fell downwards, striking Ultimecia with burning indifference and causing her body to rocket back towards the hovering theatre of war.

They all watched with anticipation as Griever's carcass smoked and bubbled from the consecutive Ultima and Meteor assaults. The sorceress landed with a satisfying impact that caused an instant, if only temporary, dust storm.

As the smoke and dirt cleared, a recovering Kiros saw an opportunity to use his limit break on their dazed enemy. Kiros pushed himself as hard as he could, popping muscles and fighting the feeling to pass out as he covered the 200 feet of ground between himself and the beast. Kiros leapt into the air effortlessly, his braided hair flipping in the wind as he landed behind Griever's head. He started his attack immediately, pulling his serrated blades close to his body before unleashing a deadly slash to the back of his enemy's neck. The monster howled in anguish as the wound widened, oozing blood down the side and over its arms. With ninja like speed and accuracy, Kiros dashed over the enormous fiend's body and charged up with as much power possible to slash downwards over its face, blinding it. His attacks just kept coming in a hidden fury, undetectable by Ultimecia but very debilitating.

The others were already charging for one final fray when the nimble swordsman found the delicate giant's soft underbelly. With two swift movements he sliced open the outer layer of skin, causing the fresh flesh to split open and spill the beast's insides into a heap on the ground.

"Take it out before it can recover!" Kiros ordered as his teammates rushed into the battle. He jumped off of the beast as it seemed to awaken from a nightmarish dream, his job done. Neo Griever resisted defeat as best it could, pushing itself off the ground once more, but a well-timed Meltdown from Rinoa floored the already weakened colossus and ripped the torn skin on its stomach further apart. The gaping hole pulsed with hatred as it tried to heal shut, but it was all in vain. The junctioned Griever writhed in unheard of pain but couldn't seem to move an inch because of the increasing injuries mounting all over its body. Squall sheathed his sword at his side and walked fearlessly up to the evolved Griever's now incapacitated body. Their victory had been completed. It didn't come from some voice . . . it didn't come from the heavens . . . it came from sheer determination to live. Readying a Flare, Rinoa and Squall held their hands tauntingly over the beast's eviscerated stomach.

"Stay dead this time," Rinoa joked, relieved to be done with it all finally.

Two warm orbs of fire grew in both of their hands and flew into the open wound, causing small recoil in both their arms. With his left hand, Squall quickly cast Firaga and aimed it straight inside Griever's bowels. The spells whined and cackled as they were muffled by the insides of the beast which began to boil. Hollow thumps could be heard as the explosions from the attacks reacted adversely to the organs inside the animal, frying it from the inside out. When the spells reached critical mass, the belly of the monster expanded well beyond its regular dimensions and burst. Squall walked away coldly as the rest of Griever's body caught fire and melted into inorganic goo. It had come into their world as nothing, and had left the same way.

"Is this all you got!!" Squall passionately yelled, fed up with the living hell he was in," You think we'll quit because you killed our friends? I'll take you on myself you coward! COME ON! SHOW YOURSELF! SHOW US YOUR TRUE FORM . . . your ULTIMATE form, Ultimecia!"

It is said that the victors are the ones that write history, but today those that lost were given a second chance. Squall and the others are the new victors now . . . and they are well on their way to rewriting history.