The Heart of Darkness
Chapter 2
It took Squall a full ten minutes before he could speak up to the voice of God himself. Squall, like everybody else, asked himself what he would say if he encountered God, but he honestly didn't think it would happen. He dug deep into his soul; he found nothing. In quiet desperation, Squall closed his eyes tight hoping to will himself back into reality.
"Are you ready yet?" Hyne spoke patiently. Squall figured that Hyne wasn't going to let him go until he got his point across, and decided to give in and listen.
"What I am about to tell you will change your entire life" Hyne said with earnest. "Will you heed my call? Squall could only shake his head in disbelief.
"Squall, you have proven yourself to be the most able warrior I have ever seen. You, along with your friends, have taken on the most powerful of beast and humans, defeating armies of men, eventually taking on the most powerful sorceress of your time. I am here to tell you that those feats are mere test for your coming quest.
Squall instantly thought back to the events leading up to Ultimecia. Was all of his pain, all his strife for nothing? Just a test? With his confusion overcoming him, he slowly sat down on the flat, stone-cold ground. As he sat, the figure of a woman appeared out of the darkness.
"I thought that this body may be more…comfortable for you" the woman said in a warm, assuring manner. Her auburn hair dropped past her shoulders, and her eyes looked at Squall with the love of a mother about to embrace her child. Squall didn't feel any more comfortable than before.
"Who is she?" Squall asked, getting impatient. She looked familiar, like he had seen her in a dream.
"In due time, Squall" The woman responded. "Right now you need to know only what is absolutely vital. As I was saying; Ultimecia was you and your friends' biggest challenge yet, was it not?"
Squall just nodded in response.
"Ultimecia was only a pawn in a struggle that has been raging since the beginning of time itself. I am afraid that your friends are only pawns as well in our war for this very planet."
"And where are the rest of the pieces?" Squall said, still dazed from the tidal wave of information he was receiving.
"You must understand-"the woman spoke. "-there are only pawns and people who pretend they are kings."
"How can you say that, being God? Squall asked, not understanding what Hyne just said.
"You humans do not understand" Hyne said, putting a hint of sorrow into the woman voice. "I only seem all-powerful to you because you do not see your own power." I am simply a being that has protected your planet since its very inception. Hyne quickly took the sorrow out of her voice and quickly regained his regal attitude. "This force, this power, is a being called Astrida, and I have been fight her for thousands of years. She is the Grand Sorceress; the beacon from which all sorceresses draw their power. Ultimecia was simply her minion. Time Compression wasn't for Ultimecia; it was for Astrida."
Squall was confused. What did he have to do with all of this? He was just a warrior who was chosen by circumstance. This couldn't be real. I was too absurd to be real.
"Squall, you play a crucial part in this war. You and your friends stopped her plans by destroying Ultimecia. She has not forgotten her defeat, and she will stop at nothing to destroy you.
"Squall sat listening quietly as the woman spoke for Hyne. A little over three years ago, he had barely defeated what was supposed to be the most powerful force ever seen. Now that force was just a speck? What did that make him? Squall decided not to voice his questions as Hyne continued to speak.
"There is a prophecy that dictates all of this." Hyne spoke. Finally Squall was going to get the answer to why he was here. Hyne began to speak again.
"The Child of The Lion will defeat the Lady of Evil under the bridge, with the 5 Children, A Dead Man with the cross, and the Flower at his side"
"What does that mean?" Squall asked, frustrated that he still didn't know what was really going on.
"That is for you to find, Squall" the woman spoke, a soft smile sweeping across her face. "Just one more clue. They will reveal themselves to you in there dreams." The woman disappeared, and the original booming voice came back.
"Heed the call". And with that, everything disappeared. Squall felt a cold feeling, as if he was being dipped in ice water from his head to his toes. He closed his eyes again, afraid to open them. When he finally did, he was lying in the infirmary bed, exactly where he was at the start of his first adventure. As he laid there wondering if it was all a dream, the flame eyed-girl walked into the room.
"Are you ok?" She spoke apologetically. "Sorry to bother you like this, but I had to introduce myself. My name is Lilly."