*I don't own Final Fantasy VIII or any of its characters (yet *evil grin*)*
A/N: Sorry for the mistakes, this chap wasn't edited.
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*Chapter 13 – One Short Eternity *
On the cold stonewall, a triangle shape glowed with green light as energy poured though it. Slowly, the energy started crystallizing until it was completely replaced with a triangle shaped crystal. With a loud noise a huge rock that just a moment ago seemed to be one with the walls around it, started rising.
Rinoa froze.
She still couldn't see anything on the other side except the floor that wasn't any different that the one she was standing on. One short moment could be everything that divided her from Squall. One short moment and maybe she would be able to see his stormy blue eyes again. Suddenly she was terrified. She couldn't know what's expecting her on the other side. He was alive. He had to be alive; she could feel it. But is he safe? Why was he brought here? Is he really here? This moment seemed to last to long and too short in the same time. She wanted to see him so desperately, to feel his presence, to feel his strong arms around her. She wanted to feel safe again, but in the same moment she was afraid to be hurt. Maybe he didn't need her anymore. Maybe he really didn't love her. She was silently praying this isn't true, that somehow everything will go back to its place. The huge stone disappeared in the ceiling showing a long empty passage. Rinoa turned around in anticipation. Elly was standing in front of another empty one. Rinoa was disappointed, but what surprised her was a sense of relief she felt. The time to confront the truth still hasn't come.
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"We'll divide in two groups." Seifer finally spoke when he noticed that everyone was expecting him to decide what to do next. He still found it strange that they respected his opinion, now they even accepted him as a leader. They still didn't trust him, but maybe, just maybe someday they will. "Rinoa and…Zell, you're coming with me. We're going to explore Rinoa's passage. Elly, Selphie and Irvine, you'll explore Elly's. When you're done, we'll meet in front of the cave. Irvine is in charge in your group. Elly and Rinoa, you'll search for the hidden passages on your way. The person who is responsible for all this must be very powerful. It would be the best if we could face him or her together, but if you have to face them alone, be careful and run if you have to. If you find Squall, wait for us in front and we'll decide what to do next. Everything clear?"
Irvine saluted.
"One more thing," Seifer continued. "Good luck." Once, he despised these words. He thought people have no confidence in him when they wished him luck; that they think he'll screw up again. But now, he finally understood their meaning.
"You too, see you outside." Irvine disappeared in the misty hall with Selphie and Elly right behind him.
Mist was still hiding everything in front of them although they were walking for some time already. Crystals, the only source of light, were glittering with their green light, which was causing a strange nightmarish atmosphere, one that seemed to draw every pleasant thought from their minds. Selphie felt chills running down her spine. They were all silent, every one of them buried in their own thoughts. Elly was aware that their mood was under the effect of this place or the magic that it contained. She was trying to think about things that made her happy, she didn't want to let herself feel down, but she could feel the effects that cave had on her friends, their depression, sadness and fear. They had to do something about it; if it comes to a battle it could even cost them their lives. All of a sudden Irvine casually walked in front of girls.
"My ladies," He touched the edge of his hat playfully. "As the leader I officially order you to stop this silence and not to let this place to ruin our mood."
Selphie gave him a you-must-be-kidding-me look.
"No, really," Irvine started seriously this time. "This place is creeping the hell out of me too, but we need all our concentration now. We can't afford to feel depressed. We have to fight! So let me see those beautiful smiles my ladies!" A smile appeared on their faces.
~He's succeeding!~ Elly was relieved.
They were going deeper and deeper underground.
Have you noticed that there's no monsters down here?" Irvine asked. "It seems that something is scaring them, no wonder."
"It's getting cold in here." Elly zipped up her jacket. It was a beautiful and warm morning outside, but knowing that caves can be wet and cold, Elly took her jacket, just for case. She liked to be prepared. Selphie, who, on the other hand, wore only jeans and yellow sleeveless top, was already slightly trembling. Noticing that, Irvine came to her from behind and put his long coat around her. ~She looks so charming in it.~ She gave him a thankful look and continued walking. Suddenly she stopped.
"Look! There's something over there!" She exclaimed, pointing toward what seemed to be the end of the passage and then joyfully ran toward it. Coming there she slowly stopped and disappointedly fell on her knees. "A dead…end?" She whispered when Irvine and Elly came.
"Now why would someone magically hide a passage that doesn't lead anywhere? It doesn't make sense." Elly stopped for a moment and then started checking the walls around her. Finally she found what she was looking for. "I knew it!" She took the piece of crystal from her pocket and drew a triangle on the wall in front of her. The stone rose and left three SeeDs in front an amazing underground lake. The sight was breathtaking. The water was clean and they could see white, almost transparent fish slowly swimming through it. Little further, the surface was glittering; lit by big crystals that were covering the ceiling and lighting the cavern. Mist was lazily floating above the surface. On their right was a huge rock and something that appeared to be a narrow path that led behind it.
"Beautiful." Elly was amazed.
"And freezing!" Selphie almost disappeared in Irvine's coat.
"Come on, let's go." Irvine went first. He followed the path around the huge rock and stopped astonished as he saw what it was hiding. "Wow…"
"Booyaka!" Selphie jumped as she reached him.
"What is it?" Elly slowly walked toward the one of hundreds different sized boxes. "What is this? Potatoes? Holy Hyne!"
"Potions? …Strange…" Selphie opened another, smaller box.
"Beans over here." Irvine just opened the third box. "…Provisions?"
"No wonder they keep provisions here, this is a natural refrigerator." Selphie complained.
"And they also have water near by. It's quite convenient." Elly noticed.
They opened few more boxes, but they found only food.
"This is the end it seems. Elly, could you check this room?"
"Sure, right away." She started searching, but didn't find anything.
"Ok then, let's go out of this creepy place." Irvine said with obvious relief in his voice.
"Sunshine, here we come!" Selphie exclaimed cheerfully.
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Squall stood there bewildered in front of open doors. The sight before him woke so many memories. ~She looks just like…~
"Good morning Commander." Searyn still stood on the door. She wore long dark deep-cut crimson dress with fur around her neck and shoulders, aggressive make up covering her pale face. Her long black hair was pulled up. She looked so much like…
~Matron… while she was still possessed… by Ultimecia.~
"Won't you invite me in?"
"Whatever…" ~Could it be …?~
~No…it's impossible… we killed her…~
Searyn entered and sat on his bed. "Why don't you sit down?"
~No…Ultimecia wouldn't bother to take me here, or talk with me; she would just kill me on place. ~ "What do you want?" He asked, his voice never showing his inner battle.
"Straight to the point… I see. But I would recommend you to be a little more polite toward your future queen."
"Whatever…" ~Future queen, right… try with present lunatic…~
"You know, I grew up in this forest, in a small village on the north. I never knew my parents."
~Do I really have to listen this?~
"I was always different form other children. I had a power they couldn't understand and a written destiny in front of me. My powers were scaring people in my village so I used to go on long walks through the forest and practice with my power and magic." She looked at Squall to see if he's listening. Squall was still standing on the same place where he was when she came in. He was observing the floor with much interest resting one hand on his hip. Realizing she won't get any response from him Searyn continued. "On one of my walks I found this cave. I felt this cave has some kind of magic in it and it woke my curiosity. Inside I found Ian. First thing he said was that he had been expecting me. After a short talk he just fell on his knees in front of me, leaving me confused. Then he told me about my destiny. Since his tenth birthday he had visions about our future, my future. He has been preparing to meet me and serve me as a knight since then."
"Can you please come to the point somewhere around today?" Squall interrupted her, still not showing much interest.
"I am meant to be the sorceress of this generation, to receive the powers from past, present, future…"
~Rinoa!?…~
"…and the power of the crystals. I saw it in my visions…"
~Is she at safe? This women wants her power… and she can get them only if…~
"…I am meant to be the ruler of the three continents! Everyone will bow before me!" Searyn continued euphorically.
~Rinoa won't give her powers willingly, not to this women… does it mean…~
"And the ones who are loyal to me now, won't regret it afterwards…"
~This women seems to be more dangerous than I thought.~ Squall was only half listening.
~Does she know she is in danger? Will…will he protect her?~
"They'll be rewarded, every dream they have will come true. They'll have power, power and my protection."
~Why do I care? I'm sure she doesn't…~
"If you join me, she'll see the mistake she made,"
Squall suddenly looked at her.
"… but it'll be too late. She left you alone. You could've been even dead by now as far as she knows, but where is she? Where is she when you need her?"
A satisfied look gleamed in her eyes when she saw hurt showing on his face.
~No, she wouldn't….~
~Rinoa wouldn't leave me…~ Squall looked away. He still didn't want to believe it.
~This is easier than I thought.~ Searyn said to herself.
"Think about it! You could have the power. You could show her how big mistake she made. She doesn't deserve you."
Only thing you have to do is to help me, to join the future queen."
Squall slightly raised his eyebrows.
"You just have to join me on my way to power, to stand next to me when I succeed." Searyn said triumphantly.
"What?!" Squall suddenly snapped. "First you possessed my mind to bring me here against my will, you held me captive for what seems ages, and then you ask me to help you become the most powerful tyrant this world have ever seen. Hyne, I don't know what to say." He added sarcastically. ~I'll never let anything happen to her, no matter what she does or doesn't do. I promised her I'd be there.~
Searyn stood up, hiding her disappointment.
"Think about it." She said before locking the door.
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This monotonous and creepy place was slowly fricking up the blonde gunblader. The air was heavy and all he could see in front of her was darkness and fog. Seifer searched around him, looking for someone to start a conversation with.
Next to him, Rinoa was slowly proceeding with her head down, trying to stay concentrated on the walls around her and magic they could contain, which wasn't an easy task considering all the things that were on her mind at the moment. She was trying not to think. She couldn't know what is expecting her in this frightening place and worrying about what could possibly happen wasn't really the best thing to do.
Zell was walking behind her. He was deeply buried in his thoughts. Events from the last night kept playing in his mind. He didn't know what he could or should do now. He wanted things to be as they were, but past cannot be changed.
Seifer sighed. Obviously no one was in the mood for talking. With every step he hoped to see an end of this endless passage.
Finally they saw something in front of them. The passage had led them to an empty round cavern.
"So, this is it." Zell said uninterestingly.
Rinoa closed her eyes and after a moment spoke. "Yea, this is it, we can only go back from here." ~Maybe they've already found him?~
"Let's get back then." Seifer turned to leave. He gasped as something suddenly appeared in front of him. Rinoa turned around and screamed.
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He was lying on the bed, facing the wall. The door opened again, but he decided to ignore it. He heard someone placing something on the wooden table on the other side of the room. The person showed no intention to leave.
"What is your decision?" Searyn finally asked.
Squall continued ignoring her.
"Will you join me on my way to power?" She was beginning to be impatient; there was no time to lose.
"No." Squall answered calmly, but decidedly. Obviously showing that he has no intention to explain his decision.
~However you want it …~ "You'll change your mind once you see my power." Searyn turned to left. "Your lunch is on the table." She added before leaving. As she left, Squall stood up and looked at the food on the small table. He wasn't hungry. He took a sip of water and laid back.
He closed his eyes trying to remember all the beautiful moments in his life, ones he wanted to remember forever. He knew that soon he'd be gone, in one way or another. If they need him, they'll put a spell on him again and he'll be just a puppet, acting on their will. If they don't need him, they'll just kill him, it would be too dangerous and just stupid to let him go. Either way, all that was left for him were memories. Memories of all the time they've spent together.
If Squall weren't lost in his thoughts, if he had paid attention just for a moment, he would've noticed something was wrong. If for just one moment he listened to his SeeD instincts, he would've heard the silence. He would've noticed that, this time, he didn't hear the click of the lock.
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"Rinoa! Look at me! This is no time to panic!" Seifer yelled as he was preparing himself for the battle. Rinoa was standing next to him, completely frozen, looking at the monster in front of her with terror in her eyes. ~No, it can't…be…~ In front of her, blocking their only way out, was standing the gold-green dragon ready to attack. He outstretched his huge wings and growled loudly. Memories she was trying so hard to forget were playing in front of her eyes again.
WE MEET AGAIN. She heard a dark voice in her mind.
"Shouldn't this thing be dead?" Zell asked. Rinoa nodded absentmindedly, but Zell, who was already concentrated on the monster in front of him couldn't see it.
"Rinoa! Listen to me!" Seifer put an arm on her shoulder and slightly shook her without moving his eyes from the monster in front of them. "Rin! We have to fight! Zell! Scan it!" He continued yelling.
Zell focused and threw the spell. "He's week against fire, strong against ice and absorbs water. HP is unknown."
"Damn it, we don't have Ifrit here." Seifer whispered to himself. He ran and attacked, slashing through dragon's hard skin with his Hyperion, causing only minor damage.
"Let me try!" Zell used his best moves, but it seemed that the beast didn't even notice it. It raised his huge claws and aimed toward Rinoa who still didn't seem to be aware of the danger. Seifer jumped in front of her raising his Hyperion in defense. He hardly blocked the attack. "For Hyne's sake! Rinoa! We'll all gonna die down here! We need you to fight! We cannot help Squall if we're dead!"
Rinoa slowly looked at him and then at the beast in front of her. "Meltdown!" She yelled. "Try now!"
Seifer raised his Hyperion and attacked once again, a little more successfully this time. Before he was able to attack again, the dragon aimed his claws toward him.
"DAMN!" He cried in anguish as he felt huge claws cutting his upper arm.
"Recover!" Resonating blue light covered his wounds as Rinoa turned her arms toward him.
"Stay back!" Zell yelled. "Brothers!" Sacred and Minotaur showed up and in their own playful way attacked the dragon causing minor earth damage. "No use… We'll never defeat it like this. "
"Firaga!" Rinoa yelled. The dragon growled in pain, but immediately attacked back, more fiercely this time. Rinoa cried in pain as she fell on the floor.
"Curaga!" Zell turned toward Rinoa. " Seifer, cast fire spells!"
"Fira!"
Furious from the pain, the dragon attacked again, knocking Zell on the floor.
"Recover!" Rinoa raised her hands toward Zell. "There's no use, we'll never defeat it!"
The dragon raised himself in the air unblocking the passage behind him.
"RUN!" Seifer shouted as he started running toward the exit. The others followed him.
"It's following us!" Rinoa panicked.
Zell stopped. Rinoa and Seifer could hear him throwing a spell. "Break!"
Rinoa turned around and saw Zell running far behind them.
"I succeeded, but it won't last long! Run!"
She turned around and continued running.
Rinoa was already exhausted when she saw the end of the passage. ~Hyne finally!~ As she ran through the opening in the stonewall, something caught her attention deeper in the cave. A familiar silhouette hid in the dark behind a rock. She looked toward the exit and then back toward the place where the figure was hidden. She clutched her rings and then ran deeper in the cave. As she was approaching, the figure ran away once again. Rinoa followed it when suddenly a pair of strong hands grabbed her from behind, she wanted to scream, but the person put a hand over her mouth.
"Shhhh" The whisper calmed her down a little.
She heard a stone rising behind her. She was led in and then saw the stone going down in front of her eyes, closing the way out. Finally she was released. She slowly turned around fearing that it won't be him.
But there he was, lit by green crystals, looking her with his blue eyes, the ones that haunted her dreams. ~Squall!~
She put his arms around him in embrace. She wanted this moment to last forever. One moment, one short eternity.
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A/N: It's been more than a year since I started writing this. Time flies so fast. Many things changed since then, but my love for FFVIII is still here, as strong as it was then if not stronger. I want to thank everyone who is keeping the world of FFVIII alive, writers, readers, and all the people who are carrying it in their harts, because this world (cuz it's more than just a game) is connecting us all! And in the end (NO the fic isn't over yet! lol) I want to thank again everyone who took their time to read and review this fic (please review again!) and Exhile and Nancel for all their help.
Love ya all,
Rinoica
**kikoken: I already started reading your fic, I'll tell you what I think when I finish. Sorry cuz it's taking me this long, but I don't have much time lately.
**Skip: *puts her head down in shame* I can't help it… I hope Zell will take my apologies.
**real_sweetie_fantasy: Thank you so much! You're the sweetest!
** Squall and Hikaru: I'm continuing…slowly, but still I'm continuing. I'm so glad that you are looking forward to it.
** Naiomi: Nice to see you're back! Now what fun would it be without cliffhangers?
**Ashbear: *stands silent with wide-open eyes* Wow! This is the best birthday present I could've got! I didn't think you continued reading this! I'm so happy! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. You'll never know how much this means to me!