Chapter 19
Ultimecia sat on her throne engrossed in thought. She knew her magic arts were powerful and she knew not a single man could stand against them. Moreover, she had one of the world's most powerful guardian forces, Griever. She told herself there would be no problem. But something at the side of her mind was telling her that she was living the last of her days. As she sat motionless thinking, a small girl walked up to her and sat on her lap.
Ultimecia snapped out of her thoughts and smiled at the little girl. The smile was not one of an evil sorceress, it was the opposite, it was the one of a mother smiling at her daughter. She kissed her daughter on her forehead who had quietly sat on her lap, "Darling, how was the magic arts training?"
"Mommy, I cast a blizzaga on three of your black mages." The girl said with a twinkle in her eye.
"That's my girl." Ultimecia said running her hand through her daughter's hair, "Just 12 years old and you're making sparks fly. How's your little brother doing?"
The small girl giggled. "Mommy, he couldn't even cast a fire straight."
Ultimecia sighed, "Don't tell me he-"
"Yeah, mommy, he took daddy's sword and slashed up those mages. Again." The girl said, "Poor guys."
Ultimecia sighed, "Just like your father. He was a demon if he had a sword in his hand."
"Mommy, when is daddy coming back?" she asked her.
"..........................."
"He won't come back?"
"Someday, we might see him, darling."
The girl nodded and jumped down and ran away to find her 9-year old brother. Ultimecia buried her head in her hands. It was just a year ago when her husband, Darius, was assassinated by white SeeDs while he was taking a walk outside the castle. They had killed him and left two children fatherless.
In her mind, her hatred for SeeDs grew only stronger when she thought about it. Cervantus had said that she too, would die at the hands of a SeeD. That was the curse for all her evil. When she thought about the blood-covered body of her husband her soldiers had brought to the castle, she grew even more determined not to let any SeeD even stand against her.
Just then, her son came running to her, tears in his eyes. He threw down his sword to the ground and climbed on to his mother's lap, "M-Mommy..."
"Oh no." Ultimecia said stroking the side of his face "Is your sister picking on you again?"
The boy nodded, "She keeps t-telling me how I am not fit for m-magic-"
"Now, now, sweetheart." She said wiping his tears, "You can be a great knight if not a mage. Your skills with the sword at such a young age are remarkable."
The boy smiled, "Y-You really think so, mommy?"
Ultimecia smiled, "I heard you chopped up those mages."
"YEAH!" the boy said, his face lighting up, "SWISH! SWISH! And they were all crying for mercy."
Ultimecia laughed, "I am so happy darling. My children are going to be great mages and warriors."
The boy kissed his mother on the cheek, "See you around, mommy."
He jumped down, picked up his sword and ran off to find more black mages he could sever with his sword. She thought about the two children and smiled. But only a frown appeared on her face when she thought about the world they were living in. A world without beauty. A war-ravaged land full of white SeeDs who wanted to put an end to her generation. Even with her own SeeDs that she had 'bought' by her side, she still loathed the fact that SeeD existed. She herself had hated every moment of her SeeD life. She had fallen in love with another SeeD, Darius. 20 years later, white SeeDs had killed Darius. She felt SeeD existed only to make her life miserable. Every problem of hers had its roots in SeeD. She hated her world. She loved her children; she didn't want any it for them.
*************************
Sifan cursed himself for having so little money. All the materia that were on display on the Costa de sol materia shop were around a thousand gils more than what Sifan had in his pocket. However, there was a time materia that was affordable with Sifan's kind of money. He ignored the smile the blonde girl at the counter gave him and bought the materia. Just as he finished equipping the materia in his sword, he heard a loud call for help from behind him. Spinning around, he saw a man in the shallow seawater thrash about in the water with his hands. He gasped when he saw a tentacle of an octopus wrapped around the leg of the man. Soon the octopus' head appeared outside, revealing its ugly head.
The people started to panic when they saw the monster. Some of them left whatever they were doing and hightailed out of the beach. Some of them picked up some stones and pebbles and started throwing it at the monster, which only agitated it even more. However, none of them dared to come near the water.
Sifan didn't want to play superman but he was the only one with a sword and no one else held any kind of weapon. Avatar was in the Costa de sol inn, sleeping his head off. The octopus' tentacle was sliced easily as Sifan brought his gunblade down on it, releasing the man it was holding. After waddling through the water, the man ran away to safety as Sifan took a step back. The octopus was too angry to go away quietly. It slapped four of its arms around Sifan before he could retreat. Sifan's arms were tightened flatly against his side by the large tentacles of the eight-legged menace of the sea. His grip around the gunblade grew weaker. He could only watch and kick his legs underwater as the octopus slowly began to drag him away to the ocean.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a thunder fell hard on the monster's face, causing it to withdraw its tentacles. Sifan grabbed the opportunity and lifted out his gunblade and thrust it straight into its head. The monster cried in a strange manner and soon retreated. He swam as fast as he could and returned to the depths of the sea.
Sifan Leonhart turned around to see the caster of the thunder spell that had saved his life. He wasn't very obliged to see Relafen Almasy stand there with his usual smirk on his face. He walked to where he was standing, after sheathing his gunblade.
[I thought he left with that airship.]
Sifan was about to cross Relafen when the latter started to speak, "Don't bother thanking me Leonhart."
"For what, Relafen?" Sifan replied, "for tearing our ticket out of this goddamn world?"
"............................."
Suddenly Sifan realized that the junction system of magic hadn't worked since they had got there, "Do you mind telling me how you summoned Ifrit?"
"I found an Ifrit materia in a sort of condensed form last morning" Relafen said still not making eye contact, "Don't get me wrong about having Ifrit spare your lousy life but I wanted to keep you alive so I could take care of you personally."
"Thanks." Sifan said abruptly, not even turning to face Relafen.
Sifan walked away, leaving Relafen to stare at the ocean. As he made his way back to the inn, he ran in to the man whose life Sifan had saved from the octopus. He was an old gentleman with light brown skin. His face had slight signs of wrinkles and his hair was gray.
He smiled, "You saved my life, young man. How can I ever repay you?"
Sifan nodded, "Um, yeah. Can you tell us were Aquadia city is."
The man smiled again, "Aquadia is an underwater city between the eastern and western continents. In fact, I am leaving tomorrow morning by my own private submarine. It would be my greatest privilege to give you a ride. It's the least I can do."
"Yeah." Sifan replied, "That would be great."
"Ah yes, so seven in the morning then?"
"Yes. Thank you."
"No problem." The man said, "By the way, the name's Harrison."
"Sifan Leonhart." Sifan replied formally.
"Oh yes, I almost forgot." Harrison said digging in his pocket and pulling out a couple of tickets, "These two gold saucer tickets are useless with a guy like me. My son bought them for me but I think I'll pass. So I want you to have them."
"Well." Sifan said taking the two tickets, "What's gold saucer?"
Harrison roared into laughter, "AH, That's a good one! GOLD SAUCER! Entertainment for all! Don't tell me you don't know that?"
Sifan forced a smile, "Er, yeah. Jus' fooling around."
"Anyway." Harrison said as the sun began to set behind him, "The daily airship trip to the gold saucer should be here soon. Get on it and have fun. Take some lucky girl with you."
After saying goodbye to Sifan, the man hurried away towards the restaurant. Sifan could have sworn he had heard Harrison's stomach rumble. He yawned and then made his way back to the inn where Avatar was sleeping. He took his room key and slowly slid it in to the key slot on the doorknob and opened it softly, careful not to wake his friend. The sun was already down and the room was hardly lit at all. Sifan presumed Avatar was fast asleep, and walked inside quietly, making sure his shoes wouldn't make any noise when they touched the wooden floor in the room.
"It's ok, Sifan." Avatar's voice came suddenly, "I don't think I am sleeping."
Sifan sighed and switched on the light, "Geez Avatar. Did it ever occur to you to turn on the lights?"
Avatar didn't reply. Instead he just stared at the window drapes being blown back and forth by the wind. Sifan walked over to them and drew aside the window drapes revealing the sun sinking in to the orange ocean.
Sifan sat down on his bed and looked at Avatar. He was sweating, despite the sea breeze blowing across the room.
"Hey." Sifan said, "You ok?"
There was still no response. Either Avatar was too busy in thought to hear Sifan or he was just ignoring him. Ignoring didn't seem to be what Avatar was doing though.
"Hey." Sifan said again, "I am the one who goes around quietly thinking stuff. You're the loud and happy guy, remember?"
Avatar smiled slowly but the smile vanished quickly. A little too quickly for the persona Avatar Fenis had.
"Um." Sifan said, "You could tell me if you have a problem."
"Sifan, Where did your father find me?"
"Oh..." Sifan replied, "So THAT'S what's gotten you all uptight. Ghosts of the past, huh?"
"Answer my goddamn QUESTION, SIFAN!"
Sifan looked up at Avatar, startled. His face was not a sign of pleasantness as it usually was. His eyes were narrowed and his gaze was fixed on Sifan's line of vision. His jaw was tight and his hands were clenched tightly around the edge of the bed. He stared at Sifan for a few seconds and then grunted and looked away.
"You were an orphan at Fisherman's horizon. Dad brought you home. And-"
Avatar scowled loudly before Sifan could finish and put on the new jacket he had bought at a Costa de sol shop. He walked to the door and opened it and then turned to Sifan, "Got any money?"
Sifan stood up and switched off the light. He walked out of the room after Avatar and locked his door. Avatar didn't say anything as they made their way down the stairs.
Sifan began to speak as they headed towards the exit, "I know it's hard, buddy. Not knowing anything or anyone from the past."
Avatar heaved loudly, "The past never got to me, Sifan."
"Then why now?"
"Back in balamb, the present was all that mattered to me. The people I met, the lifestyle I led in garden, a f-friend like you, an instructor like Quistis, a role model like Squall Leonhart. There was Irvine, Selphie, and Zell. And then Rinoa, she was l-like a mother to me. With all those people around me, I didn't care about the damn past."
"........................."
"From the day we got here, with none of the people I cared about around, only the past seems to be haunting me, Sifan." Avatar said, "I feel like I've been ignoring the past too long. And I've finally found the link to my past through that F-Fenis guardian. H-He is the key to learning my past. When I met him, I realized I've been running away from my past too long. And that's why; I want to know my past Sifan. Sorry for being so pissed off back there but it has really been eating me. I-I want to know what happened before Fisherman's horizon."
"Avatar." Sifan said throwing a comforting hand around his friend, "We'll go back, ok?"
"NO!"
"What!?" Sifan said shocked at what his friend had said, "Y-You don't wanna go back?"
"N-Not till I find out about my past."
"Oh, C'mon buddy!" Sifan said, "That Fenis guardian was probably named after someone else, not your father."
"Fine, what about the ring then?"
"It was just a co-incidence."
"Well, there's one more thing I think you should know." Avatar said hugging himself as they walked near the heliport.
"What?" Sifan said, frustrated.
As a whistle of a dolphin echoed across the sandy beaches of the Costa de sol under the evening sun, Avatar shuddered, "Before I left the Fenis guardian, he said, 'Farwell, Master Avatar'. He knew my f-first name..."
**************************
Ultimecia sat on her throne engrossed in thought. She knew her magic arts were powerful and she knew not a single man could stand against them. Moreover, she had one of the world's most powerful guardian forces, Griever. She told herself there would be no problem. But something at the side of her mind was telling her that she was living the last of her days. As she sat motionless thinking, a small girl walked up to her and sat on her lap.
Ultimecia snapped out of her thoughts and smiled at the little girl. The smile was not one of an evil sorceress, it was the opposite, it was the one of a mother smiling at her daughter. She kissed her daughter on her forehead who had quietly sat on her lap, "Darling, how was the magic arts training?"
"Mommy, I cast a blizzaga on three of your black mages." The girl said with a twinkle in her eye.
"That's my girl." Ultimecia said running her hand through her daughter's hair, "Just 12 years old and you're making sparks fly. How's your little brother doing?"
The small girl giggled. "Mommy, he couldn't even cast a fire straight."
Ultimecia sighed, "Don't tell me he-"
"Yeah, mommy, he took daddy's sword and slashed up those mages. Again." The girl said, "Poor guys."
Ultimecia sighed, "Just like your father. He was a demon if he had a sword in his hand."
"Mommy, when is daddy coming back?" she asked her.
"..........................."
"He won't come back?"
"Someday, we might see him, darling."
The girl nodded and jumped down and ran away to find her 9-year old brother. Ultimecia buried her head in her hands. It was just a year ago when her husband, Darius, was assassinated by white SeeDs while he was taking a walk outside the castle. They had killed him and left two children fatherless.
In her mind, her hatred for SeeDs grew only stronger when she thought about it. Cervantus had said that she too, would die at the hands of a SeeD. That was the curse for all her evil. When she thought about the blood-covered body of her husband her soldiers had brought to the castle, she grew even more determined not to let any SeeD even stand against her.
Just then, her son came running to her, tears in his eyes. He threw down his sword to the ground and climbed on to his mother's lap, "M-Mommy..."
"Oh no." Ultimecia said stroking the side of his face "Is your sister picking on you again?"
The boy nodded, "She keeps t-telling me how I am not fit for m-magic-"
"Now, now, sweetheart." She said wiping his tears, "You can be a great knight if not a mage. Your skills with the sword at such a young age are remarkable."
The boy smiled, "Y-You really think so, mommy?"
Ultimecia smiled, "I heard you chopped up those mages."
"YEAH!" the boy said, his face lighting up, "SWISH! SWISH! And they were all crying for mercy."
Ultimecia laughed, "I am so happy darling. My children are going to be great mages and warriors."
The boy kissed his mother on the cheek, "See you around, mommy."
He jumped down, picked up his sword and ran off to find more black mages he could sever with his sword. She thought about the two children and smiled. But only a frown appeared on her face when she thought about the world they were living in. A world without beauty. A war-ravaged land full of white SeeDs who wanted to put an end to her generation. Even with her own SeeDs that she had 'bought' by her side, she still loathed the fact that SeeD existed. She herself had hated every moment of her SeeD life. She had fallen in love with another SeeD, Darius. 20 years later, white SeeDs had killed Darius. She felt SeeD existed only to make her life miserable. Every problem of hers had its roots in SeeD. She hated her world. She loved her children; she didn't want any it for them.
*************************
Sifan cursed himself for having so little money. All the materia that were on display on the Costa de sol materia shop were around a thousand gils more than what Sifan had in his pocket. However, there was a time materia that was affordable with Sifan's kind of money. He ignored the smile the blonde girl at the counter gave him and bought the materia. Just as he finished equipping the materia in his sword, he heard a loud call for help from behind him. Spinning around, he saw a man in the shallow seawater thrash about in the water with his hands. He gasped when he saw a tentacle of an octopus wrapped around the leg of the man. Soon the octopus' head appeared outside, revealing its ugly head.
The people started to panic when they saw the monster. Some of them left whatever they were doing and hightailed out of the beach. Some of them picked up some stones and pebbles and started throwing it at the monster, which only agitated it even more. However, none of them dared to come near the water.
Sifan didn't want to play superman but he was the only one with a sword and no one else held any kind of weapon. Avatar was in the Costa de sol inn, sleeping his head off. The octopus' tentacle was sliced easily as Sifan brought his gunblade down on it, releasing the man it was holding. After waddling through the water, the man ran away to safety as Sifan took a step back. The octopus was too angry to go away quietly. It slapped four of its arms around Sifan before he could retreat. Sifan's arms were tightened flatly against his side by the large tentacles of the eight-legged menace of the sea. His grip around the gunblade grew weaker. He could only watch and kick his legs underwater as the octopus slowly began to drag him away to the ocean.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a thunder fell hard on the monster's face, causing it to withdraw its tentacles. Sifan grabbed the opportunity and lifted out his gunblade and thrust it straight into its head. The monster cried in a strange manner and soon retreated. He swam as fast as he could and returned to the depths of the sea.
Sifan Leonhart turned around to see the caster of the thunder spell that had saved his life. He wasn't very obliged to see Relafen Almasy stand there with his usual smirk on his face. He walked to where he was standing, after sheathing his gunblade.
[I thought he left with that airship.]
Sifan was about to cross Relafen when the latter started to speak, "Don't bother thanking me Leonhart."
"For what, Relafen?" Sifan replied, "for tearing our ticket out of this goddamn world?"
"............................."
Suddenly Sifan realized that the junction system of magic hadn't worked since they had got there, "Do you mind telling me how you summoned Ifrit?"
"I found an Ifrit materia in a sort of condensed form last morning" Relafen said still not making eye contact, "Don't get me wrong about having Ifrit spare your lousy life but I wanted to keep you alive so I could take care of you personally."
"Thanks." Sifan said abruptly, not even turning to face Relafen.
Sifan walked away, leaving Relafen to stare at the ocean. As he made his way back to the inn, he ran in to the man whose life Sifan had saved from the octopus. He was an old gentleman with light brown skin. His face had slight signs of wrinkles and his hair was gray.
He smiled, "You saved my life, young man. How can I ever repay you?"
Sifan nodded, "Um, yeah. Can you tell us were Aquadia city is."
The man smiled again, "Aquadia is an underwater city between the eastern and western continents. In fact, I am leaving tomorrow morning by my own private submarine. It would be my greatest privilege to give you a ride. It's the least I can do."
"Yeah." Sifan replied, "That would be great."
"Ah yes, so seven in the morning then?"
"Yes. Thank you."
"No problem." The man said, "By the way, the name's Harrison."
"Sifan Leonhart." Sifan replied formally.
"Oh yes, I almost forgot." Harrison said digging in his pocket and pulling out a couple of tickets, "These two gold saucer tickets are useless with a guy like me. My son bought them for me but I think I'll pass. So I want you to have them."
"Well." Sifan said taking the two tickets, "What's gold saucer?"
Harrison roared into laughter, "AH, That's a good one! GOLD SAUCER! Entertainment for all! Don't tell me you don't know that?"
Sifan forced a smile, "Er, yeah. Jus' fooling around."
"Anyway." Harrison said as the sun began to set behind him, "The daily airship trip to the gold saucer should be here soon. Get on it and have fun. Take some lucky girl with you."
After saying goodbye to Sifan, the man hurried away towards the restaurant. Sifan could have sworn he had heard Harrison's stomach rumble. He yawned and then made his way back to the inn where Avatar was sleeping. He took his room key and slowly slid it in to the key slot on the doorknob and opened it softly, careful not to wake his friend. The sun was already down and the room was hardly lit at all. Sifan presumed Avatar was fast asleep, and walked inside quietly, making sure his shoes wouldn't make any noise when they touched the wooden floor in the room.
"It's ok, Sifan." Avatar's voice came suddenly, "I don't think I am sleeping."
Sifan sighed and switched on the light, "Geez Avatar. Did it ever occur to you to turn on the lights?"
Avatar didn't reply. Instead he just stared at the window drapes being blown back and forth by the wind. Sifan walked over to them and drew aside the window drapes revealing the sun sinking in to the orange ocean.
Sifan sat down on his bed and looked at Avatar. He was sweating, despite the sea breeze blowing across the room.
"Hey." Sifan said, "You ok?"
There was still no response. Either Avatar was too busy in thought to hear Sifan or he was just ignoring him. Ignoring didn't seem to be what Avatar was doing though.
"Hey." Sifan said again, "I am the one who goes around quietly thinking stuff. You're the loud and happy guy, remember?"
Avatar smiled slowly but the smile vanished quickly. A little too quickly for the persona Avatar Fenis had.
"Um." Sifan said, "You could tell me if you have a problem."
"Sifan, Where did your father find me?"
"Oh..." Sifan replied, "So THAT'S what's gotten you all uptight. Ghosts of the past, huh?"
"Answer my goddamn QUESTION, SIFAN!"
Sifan looked up at Avatar, startled. His face was not a sign of pleasantness as it usually was. His eyes were narrowed and his gaze was fixed on Sifan's line of vision. His jaw was tight and his hands were clenched tightly around the edge of the bed. He stared at Sifan for a few seconds and then grunted and looked away.
"You were an orphan at Fisherman's horizon. Dad brought you home. And-"
Avatar scowled loudly before Sifan could finish and put on the new jacket he had bought at a Costa de sol shop. He walked to the door and opened it and then turned to Sifan, "Got any money?"
Sifan stood up and switched off the light. He walked out of the room after Avatar and locked his door. Avatar didn't say anything as they made their way down the stairs.
Sifan began to speak as they headed towards the exit, "I know it's hard, buddy. Not knowing anything or anyone from the past."
Avatar heaved loudly, "The past never got to me, Sifan."
"Then why now?"
"Back in balamb, the present was all that mattered to me. The people I met, the lifestyle I led in garden, a f-friend like you, an instructor like Quistis, a role model like Squall Leonhart. There was Irvine, Selphie, and Zell. And then Rinoa, she was l-like a mother to me. With all those people around me, I didn't care about the damn past."
"........................."
"From the day we got here, with none of the people I cared about around, only the past seems to be haunting me, Sifan." Avatar said, "I feel like I've been ignoring the past too long. And I've finally found the link to my past through that F-Fenis guardian. H-He is the key to learning my past. When I met him, I realized I've been running away from my past too long. And that's why; I want to know my past Sifan. Sorry for being so pissed off back there but it has really been eating me. I-I want to know what happened before Fisherman's horizon."
"Avatar." Sifan said throwing a comforting hand around his friend, "We'll go back, ok?"
"NO!"
"What!?" Sifan said shocked at what his friend had said, "Y-You don't wanna go back?"
"N-Not till I find out about my past."
"Oh, C'mon buddy!" Sifan said, "That Fenis guardian was probably named after someone else, not your father."
"Fine, what about the ring then?"
"It was just a co-incidence."
"Well, there's one more thing I think you should know." Avatar said hugging himself as they walked near the heliport.
"What?" Sifan said, frustrated.
As a whistle of a dolphin echoed across the sandy beaches of the Costa de sol under the evening sun, Avatar shuddered, "Before I left the Fenis guardian, he said, 'Farwell, Master Avatar'. He knew my f-first name..."
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