By Leanne Ashley
Quick summary: (AU) SeeD battles Ultimecia & her followers. When a prophecy foretells the coming of a savior (Sorceress Rinoa) SeeD, led by Squall, is ordered to protect her from Galbadia's assassins as she journeys to defeat Ultimecia. Squall/Rinoa
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 19: Time Compression
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As Rinoa stood knee-deep in the crystalline lake, she could feel the barrier between time and its borders against her fingertips. It was swirling around her in a magnificent rush of pressure and energy. She could not see such divine manifestations; she could only feel it. Somewhere beyond where she stood, time knew no boundaries. Its light touched the past, the present, and future to any extent.
This was it and this was not going to be easy. The Gates of Time were not simple deliverers.
While she stood calmly in the middle of a seemingly uneventful lake, the others stood back on the dry earth with their weapons ready.
As Rinoa raised her hand against what seemed to be an invisible wall, she stood hesitantly and turned around to face the others.
"Once I open the gates, time compression will start. Past, present and future will all get mixed together. We'll keep moving through the time compression toward the future. Once we're out, it will be Ultimecia's world. It's all up to us after that."
She took in a deep breath as if she were briefing herself. "Ultimecia lives far in the future where none of us can technically exist. There's only one way to make yourself exist in a world like that," she continued. "As friends, don't forget one another. As friends, believe in one another. Believe in another's existence and they'll also believe in yours. You can't do these things alone. You need somebody. Right, guys?"
Rinoa paused to rub her neck nervously. She was trying desperately to withhold a cheerful disposition. "I guess…imagine being in a certain place with all your friends. Somewhere that reminds you of them. Once time compression begins, think of that place and try to get there! That's all! That place will welcome you. You'll be able to get there no matter what period you're in," She giggled and smiled at them teasingly. "You need love and friendship for this mission! And the courage to believe it… The same goes for going back."
She shifted her glance away as her expression became slightly saddened.
"Rinoa…" Quistis said softly. "We know how hard this must be for you. You don't have to push yourself like this."
Approaching them slowly, she nodded and brushed a hand quickly under her eyes to make sure no 'weakness' had escaped. "Thank you…" Rinoa told them quietly. "Everyone, thank you for everything… Don't get lost in there, okay? I'll never forgive myself if any of you don't come back."
"Heyyy, everything's gonna be okay!" Irvine assured.
"Yeah, don't cry, Rinoa!" Zell said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "We're all gonna look out for each other in there… you too!"
"C'mon, group hug!" Selphie exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around Rinoa's neck. Zell, Irvine and Quistis quickly joined in. Only Squall, who stood off to the side solemnly, refused to budge. Group hugs were definitely not his 'thing'.
When Rinoa finally noticed Squall as he stared off blankly into space, she smiled her gratitude to the others and gently pulled away. Walking up to Squall silently, she threw her arms around his neck and embraced him tightly while he looked down at her in surprise. The others could only smile at the dumbfounded reaction but quickly turned away after a quick scowl from the Commander.
Finally, his features softened as he felt himself giving in. He wrapped an arm around her back, and rested a hand against Rinoa's hair with the other. She was holding onto him so tightly. It didn't hurt him of course, but he feared the harder she held him, the harder it would be for him to let go.
"Thank you, Squall…" she whispered softly. "I'm so glad I met you."
He didn't respond, or rather, didn't know what to say as Rinoa finally pulled away and proceeded back into the water. Again, she pressed her hand against the invisible wall and closed her eyes.
"By the way," she added numbly. "You have to leave behind anyone who dies. Only living matter can enter the Gates."
They gasped in surprise when small streams of blood suddenly began to surge from her hand. From where she held it firmly against the gates, the crimson liquid trickled down her arm and off her elbow into the lake.
"Rinoa…!" Squall managed to utter.
"I am being tested," she explained firmly, maintaining her concentration.
"Oh god…" Quistis whispered in disbelief.
Slowly, the blood began to dissipate across the invisible wall. Rinoa's breathing turned course and rapid as she struggled to withstand the pain of what felt to be several daggers plunging into her hand. Squall had to restrain himself on not pulling her away as evidence of her suffering could be seen clearly upon her features.
The Gates of Time were now visible as the blood was now holding their shape. The crimson doors began to glow bright red as a white light could be seen shining between the cracks. Rinoa's eyes shot open as she tore her hand away from the wall. The blood from her hand splattered across the water's surface from the rapid movement of her arm. It drenched parts of her light blue clothing but she didn't seem to notice. Turning weakly to the others, she glanced briefly at her hand and then up at Squall.
"It's done…" she managed to gasp before falling to her knees.
"Rinoa!" Squall ran to her quickly and kneeled by her side in the scarlet waters. "Hold still, give me your hand! What the hell just happened!?"
Quistis quickly joined him and helped inspect Rinoa's hand. "Why didn't you tell us this would happen!? You could die from blood loss!"
"I…didn't… want anyone to worry…"
"Well, we are anyway!" Selphie protested.
Rinoa smiled faintly and stared down at her hand. The water had washed away the blood and there were no indications of trauma on her palm. Everything appeared normal. "I'm okay… just felt a little dizzy there."
Frowning, Squall shook his head disapprovingly. "Warn us beforehand. God, you took years off my life." Rinoa smiled at his method of expressing concern. "Sorry," she giggled as she squeezed his hand.
"Do you feel like you're gonna pass out? Maybe you should rest…" Zell suggested.
She shook her head quickly. "I'm not tired. I feel fine actually…"
Squall watched her suspiciously. You better not be lying…
"The gates are ready… it's time to go." Rinoa stated as she got up to her feet. "Are you guys ready?"
Knowing they couldn't convince her to rest, they got up and joined her side.
"We're behind you all the way, Rinoa!" Irvine encouraged. "'Love, friendship, and courage' right? Now go show 'em what you got!"
Rinoa smiled and nodded. She took in a deep breath and stepped forward, placing both hands upon the doors. With all the strength she had mentally and physically, she pushed open the Gates of Time.
In a burst of thick, pressuring light, they were engulfed in white emptiness. As they struggled to see, it appeared that their surroundings were as if they walked through an empty doorframe; they were still in the lake, yet… something was different. The ground, the water, the sky…everything appeared to be melting into the next. Everything was waving. Drifting away and back again.
When Squall tried to maintain a balance with his footing, he was surprised to see that he wasn't standing on anything at all. It was all slipping away as if he were floating from it. He glanced around him to see the others with the same perplexed expressions.
As if being stretched to the limit, the scenery of the island broke apart and they could feel themselves being immediately sucked into the void.
It looked as if they had fallen from the sky for their new surroundings were that of an ocean sunset from an upside down perspective. The sky was calming as the majestic blending of orange, yellow and pink gathered about the descending sun. Below them, a rush of birds cascaded against the ocean's surface. Some flew gracefully around them, completely unaware of their presence.
Rinoa reached out infront of her, amazed that her hand passed right through one of the birds. "It's like… I'm disappearing…" she said sadly.
Squall glanced at her sharply and shook his head. "Just stay by my side. I won't let you disappear."
They all crashed through the waters into what appeared to be another dimension. The lights flashing past them seemed fraught with random images. Some they could recignize as recent events, some completely foreign. Everything was meshing together in a chaotic film projection.
"Yo! Where are we suppose to go?" Zell asked.
"Concentrate on where Ultimecia would be!" Squall ordered.
The images flashed by rapidly as the lights grew brighter. They were crossing dimension after dimension, time range after time range. Crossing over years in which they couldn't possibly have existed. After a while, it felt as if their souls were being stretched out of their very being. The rush was incredible.
Suddenly, everything went white. The air was the first thing detected before the glare began to fade. It felt cold and dense as if it were in the middle of the night.
Squall felt groggy as he slowly got up to his feet, surprised that he had suddenly found himself in a sitting position. It seems he had blacked out briefly along with everyone else except Rinoa. Looking around, he saw that they were all on the shoreline of the Island Closest to Hell… but judging from the blackened sky, the thick smog, and the grotesque amount of dead vegetation, they were definitely not in the same era of time.
"Talk about jetlag…" Zell mumbled as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Irvine laughed. "Can you believe I didn't lose my hat in there?"
"Yes…that would've been unfortunate…" Selphie sighed.
Quistis, after getting up to her feet, stretched her arms over her head and looked over at Squall. "Are you alright?" she asked him.
"Fine." Squall answered quickly as he looked around. "Where's Rinoa?"
"I'm here," called the familiar voice.
Rinoa sat hugging her knees by the shoreline several feet away. She had been waiting patiently for them to regain consiousness, using the time to also concentrate energy. Her angelic, glistening wings, though folded against her back, were now visible.
"Hey!" Selphie said when she noticed Rinoa's troubled expression. "What's wrong?"
The dark-haired girl took a deep breath and pointed a finger casually to the sky. "That."
They all looked up in unison. The sight above them was terrifying. Ultimecia's castle loomed just overhead, half hidden in the dark storm clouds. Several massively thick chains linked the castle to the ground along the coast…they seemed to go on for miles, giving a chilling indication of the castle's size.
"Whoa!" Zell exclaimed. "So this is her castle?"
"I've never seen anything so creepy," Irvine admitted. "You think what's-her-face really lives here?"
Rinoa stood up. "We've come this far. She's gotta be here."
"So this is the future…" Quistis said in awe. "This is where Ultimecia reigns…"
"And it's not pretty!" Selphie called from a distance. "You guys better come check this out!"
Selphie stood off at the top of a small hill pointing regretfully behind her. They rushed up quickly to join her and were met with a nauseating view of hundreds of dead soldiers. All in uniform… all staring up into nothingness.
"Future SeeDs…" Squall muttered. "We're fighting across generations."
Rinoa approached the horrifying sight and glared back at the darkened castle. Her wings ruffled gently in the breeze as she knelt by one of the bodies. Carefully, she closed his blood-scratched eyes with her fingers. "Ultimecia's reign…" she whispered bitterly. "We have to end it now."
Authors note: Hmm.. this chapter was kinda short in my opinion. Anyway, the whole time compression thing was actually really hard to describe. I opened up my ff8 disc and watched the movie a couple times so everything I mentioned did sorta happen (not in that particular order though) Also, when Rinoa's discussing how time compression works, those are actually Laguna's lines from the original ff8 story :) Yep.. 'love, friendship and courage'!! I was NOT being cheesy on my own! lol The Gates of Time were my original idea so I came up with the painfully nasty way of opening them...last couple chapters were all 'romancy' so I wanted to write some gore in here P The next chapter might be a couple days late.. I have house guests to entertain so no time to write. Laterzz and thanks again for the reviews!!
