Author's Notes: Well, this is the longest and most graphic chapter, so be warned. There's a slightly disturbing scene a little over half way through, so I you don't like gore skip over the area indicated with (*) that symbol. Again, I do not own Ultimecia, Squall, Zell, Rinoa, Griever, or any of the other Final Fantasy VIII characters, GFs, or terms. They are respectively Square/Square-Enix's creations and I'm just using them. I do, however, own the storyline, along with Seth, Geoff, the four evil SeeD people, Tempest and Kali. So uh...please Square, don't sue me! Well, I hope you like it. . .
Chapter 3
Ending the Life- Sorceress War III-Part2 / Whisper
Ultimecia's PoV
Geoff and Seth screams were drowned out as Geoff's Guardian monster Catoblepas finished its summoning.
The GF faded its summoners into the realm of non-existence at just the perfect time. The blond man's sword
ripped through nothingness, and Catoblepas' Falling Star attack pummelled the crazed SeeDs with multiple
meteors before dropping a small star into the centre of them, destroying a block of Old Balamb and taking
with it a good portion of the SeeDs' HP. Catoblepas smiled smugly and disappeared, bringing back the three
teens. I looked down to be sure the blade did indeed pass through my non-corporeal body before returning
my stare to the black and uncaring ones of the SeeDs before her.
Geoff and Seth turned back to check on me at the same moment. Meanwhile, the ninja-SeeD pulled two ninja
stars from his belt and flung them at the boys' defenceless backs.
Seeing the danger that the boys faced, I quickly casted Tornado and let the powerful winds catch the death-shrapnel and send it high into the air.
With that threat out of the way, we three turned back to our not-so-friendly SeeD friends and watched the
summoner-SeeD take a slash at Seth, his double-bladed sword also slicing at Geoff at the same time.
Seth ran up and took a slash at the ninja-SeeD, putting him in critical status. Geoff pulled the bow off his
shoulder and put a magically-enhanced arrow in the string and sent it with a twang towards the ninja boy, and
quickly reloaded and shot another arrow at the summoner boy before either side could react. The ninja-SeeD,
already critical at that point, clutched the shoulder the arrow embedded itself in and fell to the ground, KO'd.
The female SeeD, meanwhile, had been in deep concentration. She grinned then and screamed at her silver-haired foe, me.
"You evil bitch! It's time for you and your pathetic Knights to get what you deserve: horribly painful death!
Die!" She out-swung her arm. "Come Kali, the dark empress. End the lives of my pitiful foes!"
The woman SeeD, their Leader, and the summoner-boy faded out of existence. For a moment, it seemed the
casting had failed, as neither Seth, Geoff nor I could find the SeeD's GF. Unfortunately, we were wrong...
Two blocks away, a building exploded, sending huge blocks of concrete and brick into the air. In the
destruction's wake stood what could only be the demon goddess Kali.
Kali was said to be one of the most fearsome Guardian Forces ever summoned. The only other known time
she was summoned, she obliterated the entire Centra settlement before she could be stopped. She stood there
now, her dark skin covered in the gray dust floating down around them. Her tongue, bright red, lolled around
her mouth. Around her waist there was a belt of severed limbs, a necklace of skulls around her neck. In her
four arms, she carried the symbols of life and death. She began walking slowly towards her foes.
I let out a low gasp, but it was Seth that turned my feeling into words.
"Is that woman crazy?! She summoned Kali, the Destroyer. She'll not only kill us, but the entire population
of Balamb Island! Kali doesn't stop slaughtering until someone stops her. That SeeD woman is insane!"
Geoff looked over to me for advice. Awestruck, all I could do was cast triple Curagas on myself, Seth and
Geoff and watch in horror as the gruesome Guardian came within attacking range.
Both boys stood silently watching the Dark Empress approach. I waited for them to do something, but both
boys continued to look on. Finally, I gave up and used triple Auras, unlocking the Limit Breaks of myself and
my twin knights.
It was the feeling of limitless power that snapped the boys out of their terror-stricken state. They both looked
back to me, sending me a thankful look and a smile. Simultaneously, the boys unleashed their Limit.
"Dual Renzokuken!"
The two boys charged together, identical gunblades, the ultimate Lion Heart in hand. They flanked her and
unleashed a fury of slashes at their target. Geoff ended first with Fated Circle, and Seth ended his Limit with
Blasting Zone, pummelling the Dark Guardian beneath the magically-enhanced blade.
Kali took each hit easily, her tongue disfiguring the eerie grin.
I, deciding to attack rather then heal, unleashed my own Limit.
"Icy Tears!"
I reached out with my right hand as the fingers turned blue with magical essence. Cold fog poured off my icy
fingertips and a single tear slid down my cheek, freezing halfway down. With my right hand, I traced the
tear's path, and then out-swung the arm once again, engulfing the Guardian in a torrent of ice cold water,
freezing her within a block of ice. The shards of ice shattered, heavily damaging the evil goddess. Before Kali
could react, she was cut short by Geoff.
"Fray!"
Geoff ran towards his black-skinned enemy and leapt into the air. He kicked out with his right foot at the last
moment, kicking the Guardian in the face, knocking her head back with his powerful Backlash. His shoe was
covered with the fiend's saliva, but he had taken another formidable chunk of the Guardian's HP away with
the kick, so he deemed it worthy.
Before Seth could use Renzokuken again, the Dark Guardian Kali finally took her chance and attacked,
grinning crazily the entire time.
Unending Nightmare
The symbols of life and death in each of Kali's four hands disappeared, and she produced four curved blades,
one for each hand. Each blade held its own violent story; a nightmare of death and despair. She flung the
blades at each child; one for each boy and two for the young sorceress.
The blades pierced each target, and three screams echoed against the abandoned streets of Old Balamb. But it
was not the blade itself that caused the three of us to scream. It was the horrible nightmare each contained.
The target's own personal nightmare flashed before us. The damage was more psychological then physical.
The blades disappeared, leaving only the shadowy echos of the violent stories they held.
Seth, enraged, lunged at the Demon Goddess, unleashing his fury in Renzokuken. Each slash took away as
much damage as was humanly possible. He succeeded the Limit with Lion Heart, a critical string of twenty
blows massacring the Guardian's HP. Kali collapsed into a pool of her own blood, her tongue unmoving
against her dark skin. After a moment, she began to fade away, and was slowly replaced with her summoners.
The female SeeD was the first to return to the battle. She stood shocked to see her Guardian had done nothing
in her absence but die. She screamed manically at the sorceress and two knights as the SeeD Leader and the
SeeD Summoner faded back into reality.
"You BITCH! You killed Kali! You''ll pay for that. . . with your useless life!"
The summoner boy was the first to attack. He took a slash at Geoff with his blade and took out a small
amount of his HP. Seth took his chance and fired his projectile at the unprepared summoner and the projectile
took with it the last of the boy's HP, sending him to the ground,
unconscious.
Unsure whether to revive her fallen comrade or heal the near-dead SeeD Leader, the female SeeD casted
Curaga, bringing back the SeeD Leader's HP. With his new-found strength, he proceeded to take a slash at
his golden eyed sorceress foe, damaging me.
I waited until the SeeD had returned to the SeeD woman's side, and then unleashed my ultimate spell on
them. Apocalypse.
Waves of rainbow light engulf the two remaining SeeD as green orbs of light floated into the darkened sky.
Multiple glyphs resembling clocks appeared where the green orbs disappeared, and each glyph gave off its
own yellow ray of light. The rays converged into one powerful ball of energy, which proceeded to
disintegrate the glyphs with a flash of white light. The shards of the glyphs spun around the ball of energy,
and the energy exploded itself into the centre of the two SeeD in a wave of green light and glyph shards.
The spell took out much of the remaining HP from both SeeD. Geoff uses his chance to use Backlash once
more, this time on the female SeeD. His kick sends her to the brink of unconsciousness.
Low on HP and almost out of options, the female SeeD did something she never would have done otherwise.
She outstretched her hand, sending a magical spell at the knight who had attacked her.
"Sleep, you sorceress loving bastard!"
Geoff, not anticipating that kind of attack, fell victim to the spell's effects, falling into a deep slumber.
Seth, meanwhile, let his projectile fly again. It slipped through the air and into the female SeeD's right
shoulder. The attack left her without HP, and she cursed us as she slumped to the cold street, unconscious.
I used my turn to use triple Curagas, the effects of the spell rejuvenating myself and my comrades.
The SeeD leader lunged at me and made a swipe at me, only to be blocked by Seth's blade. Seth countered
the Leader's attack and put the blond man into critical status once again.
The Leader crouched on the ground between the unconscious bodies of his comrades. He was close to
unconsciousness and almost out of options. His head swam with the thoughts of failure: of letting this
sorceress escape; of her building her powers up to a cataclysmic level. He couldn't let that happen.
He felt a pressure in the back of his mind. He could break the confines of mortality and end the sorceress'
life. All he had to do was. . . what? It came to him then.
Unleash your Limit Break and end the sorceress' rampage forever. All you have to do is draw upon the
unlocked powers of your criticality. Use the Limit and end her life.
The SeeD Leader stood on unsure feet, and let himself be connected to the hidden powers in his body. He
drew on the power, and the words flowed from his mouth.
"You cannot escape SeeD. It is time to end the world''s suffering. Desist of Desperation!"
Suddenly, he had regained full strength. He ran headlong towards his target, the sorceress. He swung the
sword in a furious arc towards my neck; this time, not willing to miss. He had almost succeeded in his plan
except for one key element. . .
Seth knew what would be coming. He was ready when the blond-haired man made a race for his me. He was
one step ahead. He was hoping he'd be able to block the sword with his gunblade, but. . .
The SeeD realized what was about to happen, and lowered the blade''s point of impact, so instead of a
decapitation, he would at the very least disembowel whomever happened to be in his path. Seth's gunblade
was raised to protect his neck. So the blade met no resistance as it passed into my gallant knight's chest. . .
It all happened so quickly. Seth staggered, clutching his wound. His eyes turned to me as his feet gave out
from under him and he collapsed hard to the ground, bleeding from the mortal wound he took for his
sorceress, me.
I stared on in horror at the events. I managed a light gasp and a soft "No." before feeling nothing. I had gone
into shock, and I looked on as the SeeD grinned and raised the sword once again, this time sure to hit his
mark. I closed my eyes, breathing a silent goodbye, knowing the breath would most likely be my last. I
waited for the cruel fate as the SeeD swung his sword. . .
I felt the spray of blood across my face and arms. Strangely, there was no pain. It was then that I opened my
eyes and saw it.
Blood dripped from the SeeD's mouth. His eyes seemed glazed, unseeing. The blade slowly slipped from his
grasp and onto the grass. His body soon followed.
Embedded in the back of the SeeD's neck was a fiery red Projectile weapon. The weapon had met as much
resistance in the SeeD's body as his sword had met in Seth's. It was a surprise the head was still attached to
the body; the projectile's sun-like rays jutting out his throat.
He was dead. So very dead.
Lying a few feet away was Seth, his right hand still over the trigger to the projectile weapon Setting Sun, now
entrenched in the blond SeeD's throat.
He smiled, faintly but surely. He had protected me. He watched as I knelt beside him, preparing a Curaga for
him. He shook his head and motioned for me to come closer. The sun was sinking into the horizon.
Somewhere far off a clock chimed once, twice, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. The sky was orange and
pink and blue, the sun a huge red ball at the horizon.
I sat beside him, tears running down my bloodied face.
"Why did you do it Seth? Why?"
He smiled again. "For you. For love, and for you."
"But. . . "
He put his finger to his lips. "Shhh. . . don't cry. Hold onto me, love. You know I can't stay long."
"Seth. . . "
"I love you, Ultimecia. I've always been afraid of dying, but now I know, it's not so bad. I gave my life to
save another. Whatever cosmic superpower there is, I'm sure to get a good spot somewhere, right?" He laughed.
"Seth, this is all my fa-"
The bloody young man stopped me. "Don't you ever think that this is your fault! I don't blame you, and
neither should you. The SeeD had no right to attack you. Being a sorceress doesn't make you any less a
person; it makes you different. It's sad to know we live in a world that continues to judge people and
discriminate against them all for being different. Being different makes you individual, that's all. . . but still
people believe that it's enough of a reason to fight, to kill. Ultimecia, you're not to blame. . . you were the
victim, don't you ever think otherwise."
"But Seth, if it wasn't for . . . "
"You didn't ask to be a sorceress, Silver. But you are. It's slightly ironic, don't you think? It's been only two
years, and yet, my blood flows on these streets again. All because of my need to be the hero." He paused,
thought for a moment, knowing his time was scarce. He watched as I, his silver-haired lover, rested her head
on his chest, bloodying the silver hair. "I have no regrets Ultimecia. I've done everything I wanted to do. As
long as you're ok, I can rest peacefully knowing that you'll live on somewhere. All I want to say is. . . " He
paused again, the words becoming more sincere. "I love you, and I'm not afraid."
He felt a wetness through his T-Shirt then, and softly lifted my face to eye level, seeing the tears. I brought
my arms around him, holding him tightly. His voice cracked. "I feel so. . . distant now. Like I'm falling. . into
a void. Can you hear me? Can you feel me in your arms?" His eyes seemed cloudy. His breath was becoming
ragged, irregular. "Reminds me of an old song I used to know." He paused, recalling the old memory. The
sun's rays danced through the ruinous buildings, splaying the two forms with red light. "Holding my last
breath, safe inside myself, for all my thoughts of you. Sweet raptured light, it ends here tonight." He looked
up, feeling the wetness spread to his face. It took him a moment to realize the tears were his own.
I was silent, watching my lover slowly fade away, and knowing I, even as a sorceress, was unable to do
anything to stop it. We lay silent for a few moments, and I felt Seth fidgeting. I looked at him.
He extended his hand and waited. "Take this Ultimecia."
I took the small, circular object in his palm into my own. It took me a moment to realize what it was.
"Seth, no. I can't. This is your family ring. I can't take it from you. . ."
Seth shook his head, refusing to take it back. "Griever is of no use to me where I go. The ring is supposed to
have special powers. My great-grandfather was said to have given the ring to the one he loved most. And
now, I continue the tradition by giving it to the one I care for most. You."
"But. . "
"No. It's yours. If you're ever afraid, just think of the ring. I'm sure that whatever power the ring has can
surely be useful in whatever plight you manage to get dragged in to. Now, I need you to promise me something."
I merely nodded. Words eluded me, my sorrow building, realizing my knight, my lover, was suffering. I
slowly put the ring on my finger.
His breathing was erratic, disrupting the flow of his words. "I want you. . . to promise me. . . that you'll get
out of this place. That you'll . . . take Geoff and . . . leave Balamb. Head to somewhere isolated, like Centra,
and be ready for any kind of retaliation. You have to promise me. . . you'll fight. That you'll stay strong and .
. . never give up. . . that you'll do whatever it takes to stay alive. Build the floating castle you always wanted,
stay there. Promise me that, Ultimecia. Promise."
I took a deep breath, and nodded again. "I promise. I won't let. . ." I trailed off, knowing that 'I won't let your
death be in vain' was not the thing either of us wanted to be said aloud. "I won''t let you down."
Seth grinned a crazy half smile again. "I love you Ultimecia. Never forget that. I'll be with you always." He
gasped, not wanting to go but knowing he couldn't put it off much longer.
"Seth, I love you, don't do this. Please, I can bring you back to Garden, they can save you. . . Seth."
Shaking his head, the young man looked into his lover's golden eyes one more time. He stroked his hand
through the silver hair, feeling fainter and fainter. He couldn't hold the last breath any longer. . . The hand
fell, landing softly on the grass. Tears continued to stream down my face. . .
A noise behind me caused me to turn. Standing a few metres away was the young summoner SeeD,
administering a Phoenix down to the ninja SeeD beside him. The female SeeD slowly sat up and her eyes
passed over the scene. I looked on in hatred at those who had taken my knight away from me. I stood.
The female SeeD saw the body of her leader, the sun-like projectile still in its place. The two boys behind her
made their way beside her.
"You fucken bitch! You killed him!"
I said nothing. I felt the rage burning to the surface. The female SeeD ran forward, a pair of daggers flashing
in the setting sun. Still numb, I felt something happen.
The female SeeD was just about to embed her daggers in the young sorceress' flesh when a wave of blinding
energy blasted from me, sending the SeeD woman falling back a good ten metres. Black wings sprouted from
the my back, and I watched as I floated above the ground. The ring on my finger seemed to burn. I pulled it
off, kissing the farewell present from my one true love.
"The most powerful GF. . . like my knight. . .you shall....SUFFER!"
The ring glowed and I threw it before me, a glyph appearing where the ring fell. The ground shook violently,
throwing the hateful SeeD to the ground. A huge black lion erupted from beneath the glyph, floating on its
own pair of dark wings. I knew, somehow, that the dark lion could only be one thing, Griever. I outstretched
my arm, pointing at the three surviving SeeD.
"Griever, they took the life from my knight. Now, in turn, take theirs! Griever, make them bleed!"
Shockwave Pulsar
Blue orbs surrounded the SeeD, pulling them into a black storm cloud. Lightning and bolts of pure magic
struck the three forms, before dropping them onto the hard stone below.
They were dead before even hitting the ground. I watched the dark lion, hovering over me. It seemed to ask
me telepathically what else it could do. I merely nodded, and knelt onto the bloody grass and silently
retrieved the ring. I looked at my knights, both asleep but one more so than the other. I looked up at the
Guardian, my protector. My face was emotionless as I spoke the words.
"Let's go home."
****************************************************************
Somewhere below, the sound of the Master Room door opening awakens me oncemore. I stare down in
hatred as, one by one, six teens assemble below my throne. My face is hard and uncaring, ready for what
comes. As the last young man enters the room, I looks down at the group of SeeDs that are here to take her
life.
Somewhere not far off, I hear a clock begin to chime the hour. Somehow, I knew it was the chime of the
clock tower just outside the Master Room doors. Yet, it had never chimed before this moment; the clock had
been forever frozen at the time when, ten years ago to this day, my knight sacrificed his life for me.
The clock chimed then, as the SeeDs assembled themselves below. Once. Twice. Three times. Four. Five.
Six. Seven. I let out a slight gasp as the chime ended. . .
At eight.
It was then I remembered the thought I had ten years ago the day. I glared down at the SeeD, my voice
inaudible to those below, but just loud enough for me. The words were wistful and whispered.
"Your Final Fantasy Ends at Eight. Breathe Your Last Breaths, Children of Fate.""
I looked on as they glared up at me. I raised my voice then, my voice venomous and hateful. Ready.
"SeeD."
Author's Notes2: Well, that's the end of that flashback. Now, back to reality. Well, Seth's death scene is slightly song-fic-ish...I got a bit of inspiration from 'My Last Breath' by Evanescence. Well, onto Chapter 4: the first battle. . .
~Shive