Disclaimer: I do not Own Final Fantasy VIII
Chapter 16
There was darkness here⦠thick, inky, darkness that wrapped its cold arms around him. Images were fluttering in and out of his reach and voices flittered through his head. Some he knew, others were strangers. He heard names being called out and saw many different faces. The walls had been broken some how and were now releasing the many different mini movies that they had held back. The dark, unfamiliar arms that had been holding him were ripped away and replaced by the cool, safe, and icy arms of the ice queen that had been hiding in the back of his mind behind a wall of ice.
The presence was a comforting, powerful, familiar feeling in his mind that began to fill a little missing piece of his heart. He felt his body relax into the embrace as the memories continued to bombard him, screaming at him to pay attention to them. The images crowded into his vision, blurring and mixing their contents together as the sounds all blurred to an unbearable noise buzzing and screaming in his ears. The chilling presence could do nothing but watch as her lion succumbed to the madness in his own mind.
"My precious little lion," she whispered mournfully. "If only I could help you."
Irvine swore loudly as he felt Squall's body fall limp against his back. The rain pounded overhead and the sound of the raging inferno grew closer. Selphie ran ahead of him towards the Ragnarock while Seifer hung back to deal with the Firaga casting, decaying psycho at their heels. Irvine glanced at his side to see Lony and May keeping up rather well.
"We should be there soon!" Selphie called back. Her usual exuberance replaced with the desperate need to flee this slowly dieing town.
"Where are we going!" Lony asked running up beside Irvine.
"To the Ragnarock!" He yelled back. His feet pounded the slowly burning earth and his violet eyes flicked over his shoulder to peer at the sight behind him. His feet froze and he stumbled nearly dropping the slowly chilling, dead eyed Squall that had once clung to his back as he realized that they were moving. Seifer was fighting off burning corpse after burning corpse in an attempt to keep them from his comrades and the two innocent civilians that were still alive in this dieing city. The madman's burning, decaying corpse was making his way slowly though the flames, maggots and what little bodily fluids he had dripping to the ground and turning it black. A hand tugged his arm and he looked back to meet Lony's frightened eyes.
"We have to go!" she cried. Irvine nodded numbly and looked back at Seifer. Glittering obsidian eyes met his and he felt a sharp, intense, nearly unbearable pain lance through his body. His vision wavered and his body felt weak and tired, like it was being drained of strength with every step he took. Still he forced himself to go on, forced himself to carry Squall all the way to the Ragnarock, forced himself to not hand his amnesiac commander off to someone else and run back to help Seifer. No, he forced himself to continue running towards the sounds of the Ragnarock warming up and he forced himself to set Squall next to Lony where she could take care of him before collapsing, his legs to weak to hold him anymore. He barely heard anyone's voice as they shouted to him, worried. His vision blacked out and his mind fluttered away on angel's wings into unconsciousness.
The flames licking at his clothes and skin began to absorb into him as Ifrit took in his fill. He could feel his guardian's pleasure radiating through him, giving him the strength he needed in order to take down corpse after corpse, no matter what it was. He could feel the cold, sinister, corpse like eyes on his back and turned slowly as the flames engulfed him, his skin appearing to be glowing and his jade eyes glinting like cold jewels as he stared at the psycho that caused all of this. The flames wrapped around his thinning, rotting form and hugged him close, dancing to the wicked music they created. Obsidian eyes locked on him, attempted to draw him in once again, trying to steal his strength and throw his mind under the veil of the sorceress once more. He could feel Ifrit's anger and anxiety of being trapped behind his wall of flames.
"Such an interesting boy you've become, Knight," was spat out between rotting lips, the T sounds garbled by his lack of teeth.
"There is no knight here. Only your executioner," he growled back letting Ifrit see through his eyes the monster before him.
"So you shall betray the woman who gave you those dreams, Knight?"
"She gave me nothing but a hatred and guilt to carry on my shoulders for the rest of my life,"
"Then you shall die here, worthless Knight!" the rain began to burn and he looked up horrified to realize that the rain was no longer pouring but something of a more acidic nature.
"Stay here long and you shall die along with these people! I will resurrect the true ruler of this world!" The flames grew higher and higher and hands prevented him from moving, keeping him trapped in the acidic down pour. Obsidian eyes lingered on his back and watched as the former Knight began to cut free of the corpses holding him. Jade eyes searched frantically for a way out but the corpses continued to rise no matter how many times he cut them down.
The flames, Ifrit rumbled. They are no trouble to you. Run through them to safety, Even before Ifrit finished his command his feet were pounding, Hyperion's blade slicing through the twisted creatures before him, his trigger finger squeezing off multiple rounds into the beasts. There was a rumble and the flames parted. The flames' light reflected off the crimson paint job of the Ragnarock. Someone was shouting at him to hurry up and jade eyes met frantic gray ones. Slashing at one last flame-ridden corpse he felt his legs become springs as he leapt for the Ragnarock as it was lifting from the ground. His fingers curled around the edge of the platform and a strong forearm as May pulled him up. Quickly, they both moved into the safety of the dragon looking ship. In a matter of seconds they were speeding across the sky towards the safe haven of where Balamb Garden was supposed to be docked.
A sick feeling began to rise in Seifer's stomach as he stepped into the cockpit and saw Squall. His pale, clearly troubled form seemed to be struggling against something in his mind but Lony held him in a tight yet gentle embrace. Turning jade eyes towards Selphie, he felt his lips move and words flow from his mouth.
"We can't go back to Garden," Selphie turned to him alarmed.
"We have to go back!" she exclaimed. Seifer just shook his head and sat down heavily.
"We can't, Selphie. It'd be to much of a shock to everyone," he reasoned. Selphie looked about to protest when May spoke up.
"It would be to much for Squall to handle right now. He's obviously trying to remember something but each time he does it's like it's painful for him. Like it hurts and terrifies him each time he starts to remember something,"
"That's right. And going back to Garden now would only put more pressure on him what with everyone trying to make him remember. Just send notice to Quistis that we've found him and are trying to lay low for a while," It was clear that Selphie didn't like the idea but she turned and contacted Garden anyway. Seifer leaned back in his seat and sighed heavily. He could still feel those icy black eyes on his back and his shoulder blades itched. He could feel it. It wouldn't be long now before that undead maniac brought the Sorceress back to life.
