Legacies: Chapter 14
by: Gemini83
Disclaimer: You know it, I don't own FF8. But I do own this story.

Dollet was a small town, still resting on the shores of the sea. The Sorceress War had come and gone, leaving its mark on the city. It was still there. If anything, it looked better. The city had undergone some renovations, becoming a popular nightspot for the young. It sported gleaming neon lights, new dance clubs, and even several restaurants, one of which was high enough to provide a view of the entire city, and the sea, for several miles.

Which is where Nida, second in command at Centra Garden, was waiting for his contact, accompanied by a rather nervous, and much older man. Neither seemed much used to the red velvet seats, the brass lighting, or the paintings that adorned the cream colored walls. However, the other man looked as if he were waiting for a whistle to set him off.

He used to wear a black military-style suit, adorned with blues and reds to signify some rank. Now, however, he was dressed in a light gray overcoat, which served to cover his quaking nerves.

Nida glanced at the man, and shook his head, "Officer Martine, you really should calm down. No one will believe that you are shaking due to the temperature, because of your coat, if nothing else."

True, the air conditioning was keeping the place nicely chilled, but it wasn't THAT cold.

Formerly known as the Headmaster of Galbadia Garden, Martine returned Nida's calm look, "Hyne I envy you people. You are so relaxed."

Nida shrugged, "why shouldn't I be?"

Martine's eyes darted to and fro, as if Nida had spoken some unforgivable blasphemy, "are you kidding? Don't you realize who this IS?"

Nida grinned, "I realize now, why Nox never made you head of our information net."

Martine sniffed, "for which I am very glad...I have enough work relaying what I have, thank you very much."

Nida shook his head again. True, the man did his job...but...well, Martine was responsible for the records kept in Fisherman's Horizon...one expected more. Although there wasn't much glamour in gathering intel from FH, it was still important work. Seed had been trying to set things up with the mayor of the town for years, and had only just recently succeeded.

Martine grumbled again, "I'd almost swear President Loire and Commander Leonhart conspired against me."

Nida arched an eyebrow, "you don't like your job?"

Martine groaned, "no, I do...years working for Seed has left me good for little else. But it's just so much drivel...at the end of the day..."

He groaned again, "I'm going outside for a smoke."

Nida laughed slightly, "I'll join you...we were supposed to meet him at the balcony anyway."

"And another thing," Martine muttered, "he's late. Should have met us ten minutes ago."

The two made their way across the soft carpeting, pointedly ignoring the bar, which had managed to entice a few people already. They brushed past the televisions boasting hundreds of channels, past the card tables, and walked up to one of the many balconies. Here were located the choicest tables of the tower restaurant, for they were direct views to the ocean.

Nida closed the windowed doors behind him, and drew the curtains. Only two to three tables fit into these areas, for which Nida was glad. It made it all the easier to remain anonymous...and Martine's nerves didn't look up to too much company. The pour soul had enough trouble dealing with this as it was.

"Not used to field work anymore," he complained, standing against the railing as he lit a cigarette.

He cursed the wind, as it thwarted his efforts to light the cig. Finally, it caught, Martine letting out a grunt of triumph.

He had only a moment to enjoy his smoke, however, for the next moment, he saw a bright flash, and felt a wind brush against his face.

Martine was still trying to figure out what had happened when the end half of his cigarette fell off, carried by the wind to the beach below, leaving the stub in his mouth. His jaw opened, the rest of the smoke falling from his mouth, as Martine staggered back into a chair.

"Smoking's a filthy habit," came a voice from above, "cuts your life short."

In unison, Nida and Martine looked above them, to see a man in black hanging upside down from a wire suspended somewhere on the domed roof. He deftly turned in midair, letting go of the wire, and landed softly on the balcony, facing the two.

Nida nodded, continuing with the agreed code phrases, "I agree, bad for the lungs."

"I was referring to how hard it is to hide," said the man, "when people can smell you from a block away. You're late."

"Sorry about that," Nida calmly grinned, and thought he saw a ghost of a smile play across the masked man's face, although his hood kept most of it enshrouded.

He walked over to the table Martine was sitting in, and calmly took a seat, Nida following suit.

The Seed gestured to the man in black, "nice mask Greymalkin, I take it that was you in the desert?"

Greymalkin nodded matter-of-factly, "makes it easier for me to move around."

Nida raised his hands, "not accusing you, I actually think it was a good idea. It's Much better when we can move without worrying who's watching us, that kind of paranoia can be dangerous. How did you do that?"

Greymalkin remained silent, obviously not willing to divulge that bit of information. Nida shrugged.

Martine was still recovering from the shock of the shrouded man's entrance, currently downing the brownish-red contents in his hip flask. Greymalkin looked at him pityingly, then continued

"I do have one thing to ask," said the masked man, "why in Hyne's name did you choose this place instead of someplace easier to access? The view's great, but I've been hanging up on the roof for nearly half an hour."

Martine finally recovered his wits enough to make a statement, "half an hour? What did you use to cross the desert man, a jet?"

"He has a point," Nida agreed, checking his watch, "it's only been...about two hours since we finished up with the train wreckage. And we got there maybe an hour after you...shall we say...departed?"

Again, a ghost of a smile played across Greymalkin's lips, "ah, now that would be telling. I have my methods."

Nida eyed him critically, his mind catching on something, but let it go, "as for why I chose this site. Well, let's say Gabe and I had our own reasons for choosing this place beforehand."

Greymalkin nodded.

"By the way," wondered Nida, "what exactly happened in the Garden the other day."

Greymalkin sniffed, "I'd rather not say. Let's put it this way...it was the most prudent course at the time."

The Seed nodded, although this was incredibly ambiguous, "I think I know even less now than when I asked you the question."

"So," continued Greymalkin, "what is the purpose of this meeting?"

At this, Martine nearly choked on his drink, "w-what...purpose? Don't you know?"

Greymalkin shrugged, "I assume it isn't to catch up on pleasantries."

Nida laughed, "I think Officer Martine expected to be let into your confidence. I admit, I'd like to know what exactly it is that you are doing...and what the Illuminati has to do with it."

Greymalkin finally gave a straight answer, "I won't be able to tell you everything now. Let us just say...the Illuminati are dealing with major powers...powers which may spill over and cause chaos if unchecked."

Nida sniffed, "I don't see how. They are a group of fanatics...using common gang tactics to fund whatever it is they do."

Greymalkin smiled this time, but it was grim, "I believe that those words once held true for Esthar...or, at least the group of 'fanatics' who founded it, based upon their faith to the Sorceress Hyne?"

Nida raised his cup, "I'll grant you that. So, what are the Illuminati?"

Greymalkin sighed, looking around as if to check for prying eyes.

"They are...a contradiction in terms, staying to the shadows rather than bringing light...but I get ahead of myself," he said, "the Illuminati are very much like what the Estharians were, at their inception, and what Galbadia almost became, when Edea was still a Sorceress."

Nida started. Although many knew about the last Sorceress War, the connection Edea had with Ultimecia, for a short time, had never been made widely known. Only a few people knew the whole truth, while the rest believed whatever it was the media decided to feed them.

Understandably, the Seed was taken aback, "how did you-"

Greymalkin raised his hand to stop him, "again, don't ask. This time, for my sake."

Nida acquiesced, although with not a few reservations.

Greymalkin continued, "the Illuminati are a group of zealots. I don't know when exactly they were founded, but I have an idea. They are a very old group, and have only just started to swell because of the signs."

"S-Signs?" stammered Martine.


Greymalkin nodded, drinking a glass of water. Still no one disturbed them, even the potted plants hiding them from the view of other balconies. The sun was shining brightly down, as if to drive away the darkness of the mysteries about to be spoken...the wind and the roar of the sea raged loudly, as if jealous that they would.

"The third Compression of Time," he explained.

"Th-Third Compression?" stammered Martine.

Greymalkin nodded.

"That isn't...possible."

Nida furrowed his eyebrows, "I have to agree. There has never been technology, until recently, that was capable of forming the Time Compression. I can't recall there ever being more than just the one, and Squall put a stop to that by defeating Ultimecia."

The man in black smile grimly, sipping from his glass, "did he now?"

"Tell us about it," urged Nida, "we'd like to know."


He nodded, sighing once, "the Time Compression was summoned by Ultimecia, indeed. That was the first time. However, there is another Sorceress, known as Alicia, who summoned a second, or will summon it, depending on your point of view."

Nida shook his head, "another sorceress?"

Greymalkin nodded, "you would not know of her, for her origins are enshrouded in secrecy."

Martine broke in, "still, that's only two Compressions."

"You haven't been listening," explained Greymalkin, "Alicia summoned the Compression, but it didn't happen in the past, not completely."

"What do you mean?" asked Nida incredulously, "that it 'happened' in the future?"

"Exactly."

This took a while to process, both Martine and Nida stared at their company, speechless.

"Allow me to explain," he suggested, "in your future, a sorceress known as Alicia summoned the Time Compression. However, something went wrong, and flung her back through time. The Compression began in the future, but ended in the past. From your perspective, the Compression would have ended centuries ago, with no recorded beginning."


Nida mulled this over, remembering something Squall had once told him, about Ultimecia dying in the present, then passing her powers onto Matron in the past.

Greymalkin eyed him closely, "you are thinking about Edea, aren't you?"

Nida stammered a reply, "h-how did you-"

He raised his hand, "that's not important. However, you are right, it is the same principle."

Nida shook his head, trying to make sense of it all.

Martine rubbed his temples, "this is insane..."

"Not insane," said Greymalkin, "just difficult. If a man were to travel back to the past and kill his grandfather, he would return to find he had never been born..."

"But if he had never been born," ventured Nida.

"Then how could he have killed his grandfather?" finished Greymalkin, "like I said. Not impossible, just difficult. The theory is unproven, unfathomable. Which is why the Time Compression was so powerful, it had affects that span through time."

Nida leaned back into his chair, feeling like a child being forced to learn quantum physics. He sighed and looked to the sky. The sun gleamed down from a clear blue sky, forcing Nida to loosen his collar a bit for the heat.

Martine regained his wits again, enough to ask, "where the Hell do you fit into all this? You said 'our future' what does that mean for you then? Your past?"

"Ah, wouldn't that be an interesting story?" asked the strange man, rising from his seat, "but we have idled away enough time. I must leave before our presence draws attention."

"Just one thing," said Nida, "the Illuminati...where do they come in?"

He sat back down, "that question I can answer quickly. It's rather simple really...they worship Alicia."

Nida blinked, "pardon?"

"Just as the Estharians worshipped the sorceress Hyne," explained Greymalkin, "it's not all that difficult to fathom."

"You keep saying that," Nida quirked his eyebrows, "Hyne was a sorceress? The mythologies say that he is a man...the creator of life."

Greymalkin sniffed, "the creator of life would hardly be a human. The old legends do have some seat in truth. As the White Seeds teach, there was a great war for technology ages ago. Out of that war came the first sorceresses. Hyne was one of them."

Martine shook his head, "then why do our legends speak differently?"

The cloaked figure leaned back in his chair, "history has changed over the years. The hero was made a villain, and the villain was forgotten."


Nida rubbed his temples, not allowing the cooling wind to dull his senses, "so the Estharians originally worshipped Hyne. Just as the Illuminati now worship this new sorceress."

Greymalkin nodded.

"Then what's with the feud you and they have going?" asked Martine.

"I thought that would have been obvious...I hate Alicia."

Nida commented this time, "but she must be dead."

Greymalkin turned, "and how long did Adel stay alive, locked away in stasis, never aging a day? Think man...the Illuminati are trying to revive Alicia."

And then it finally hit home. The silence in the air was tangible this time.

"And you," ventured Martine, "you're against them."

"Naturally," said Greymalkin, standing up again, "now I've really got to be going. Watch out for yourselves. The Illuminati are searching for more resources, waging their silent war. Be alert. Use Gabe should another meeting be needed."

"How do you know all this?" asked Martine.

"I have my ways..."


Nida was about to ask another question, when Greymalkin dropped a small, round, silver, ball to the ground. Upon hitting the floor, smoke spewed forth, blinding his vision. When the wind finally carried the smoke away, Greymalkin was gone, leaving Nida and Martine staring into the empty space he had occupied.

Author's Notes: AARRGGHH!!! If I continue at this pace, I don't know when the heck I'll get this done! I finally sat down to right this chapter just over a month after writing the last one. One chapter in a month is just too slow. I finished a quarter of my last fic in that time! For my defense, I could blame school work and such. But I wrote the last fic during the school year too. Actually, I've been harrowed and lazy, so please forgive me. Anyway, I do have plenty of great ideas. Now if I can only get them down on paper.
Oh, and please forgive me for changing the history lesson about Hyne. I fell in love with a preconceived notion about the whole thing...just had to go with it. So whatever was seen on the White Seed ship in the game is a no-go. More history later if I remember. Anyway, please feel free to send me any comments or suggestions, I live for it (when I'm not being lazy).