Squall hurtled past the outer ring of Balamb Garden, trying to keep his parachute clear of the protruding spokes.
The winds surrounding the central spire defied prediction, even during the best circumstances. During storms, they reached terrifying speeds, whipping around the exterior of the building with howling force. Because of the maddening noise of the winds on the upper floors of the building, Cid used assignment to those offices as a mark of displeasure.
The winds seized Squall's parachute with an almost malicious intent, tossing him about like a child's plaything before slamming him into the side of the building. He scrabbled for purchase, grabbing the edge of the spire and attempting to pull himself up with his too-weak arms. Operating at diminished strength, he would have to fight to lift himself over the edge, let alone to drag the parachute with him.
He pulled with all his might and found himself suddenly buoyed, hoisted up and over the edge by the collar of his jacket. Squall, panicked, his vision obscured by the presence of a hand over his oxygen mask. When the hand pulled away, it took the oxygen mask with it, and Squall found himself staring into the eye that had haunted his nightmares for so long.
"Welcome home, boy," came Mallis's voice, alarmingly close to his face.
"Squall!" he heard Rinoa cry.
Mallis lowered Squall to the ground almost gently. Once Squall had steadied himself, Mallis released his grip and stepped back. Squall released his parachute and hurled it over the edge of the spire, reaching down to his side for Lionheart.
"You must be mad, Squall," Mallis continued, watching the parachute plummet to the ground.
"You're the expert," Squall growled.
Mallis considered this and laughed once. "In the time I have served my Sorceress there has been much insanity. Under normal circumstances, the extermination of SeeD would be nothing but a footnote in the history of my service to the Sorceress Adel."
"The madness ends now," Squall said.
Mallis whirled on him. "Oh, no, Squall," Mallis hissed. "It's closer to home than you can possibly imagine. Killing me won't end the madness."
Squall shifted into a fighting stance, Lionheart starting to glow blue-white. "I'll still enjoy it," he shrugged, launching himself at Mallis.
Purple flame encased Mallis's hands as he hefted The Scar. The massive blade swatted aside Squall's weapon with a jarring collision, but Squall clenched his teeth and redoubled his attack, striking low at Mallis's feet.
Mallis twirled The Scar and thrust it downwards, plunging it into the Garden's roof and blocking Squall's attack. As the weapons collided again, Mallis backhanded Squall, the magic-enhanced blow sending the younger man sprawling and causing him to lose his grip on Lionheart. The gunblade skittered across the rain-slick roof.
While one hand worked to free The Scar from the roof of the Garden, the other reached up to the sky, palm up, hand outstretched. Squall struggled to his feet as Mallis's hand closed, the gesture a pantomime of grasping something. Mallis tugged, violently, grasping at the air as if it had substantial weight to it. He snarled and pulled once more, and this time, the screeching of metal accompanied his efforts.
As one, Squall and Rinoa looked overhead at the source of the noise: Garden's outer ring. One of the protruding spikes had torn free from the ring and now hurtled through the sky, aiming for Squall with deadly purpose.
The SeeD commander threw himself to the ground, diving away from the impromptu javelin, which imbedded itself into the spot he'd occupied only seconds before.
Mallis laughed, a child delighted with his latest toy. He abandoned his efforts at freeing The Scar and reached both hands up to the sky, focusing all his energies on pulling spikes off the ring.
Mallis's laugh thundered over the shriek of tearing metal. The spikes fell like the rain that pelted them, a hailstorm of shrapnel in their wake. Squall, focused on dodging the girders and making his way to his weapon, dimly heard Rinoa scream as one embedded itself in the ground at her feet. He turned to face her, and the moment's distraction was all Mallis needed.
A spike caught Squall in the right leg, tearing through his thigh, shattering his femur, and burying itself in the roof. Squall howled in pain and Rinoa – whether through their sympathetic link or in genuine terror – screamed with him.
The rain of metal subsided as Squall struggled to free himself, trying to stand up despite his inability to move his leg. He clutched the spike in both hands, wrestling with it to no avail. Mallis watched him with a critical eye.
"That won't do at all," he smiled, reaching overhead again and, almost casually this time, plucking down one last spike from the devastated ring. This one, too, shot through the air at Squall, taking him in the left shoulder.
Still, Squall fought.
Mallis walked over to him, watching him writhe in agony. He crouched down beside Squall, looking at the fierce wounds, made infinitely worse by Squall's struggles. Squall's left leg lashed up, striking Mallis square in the jaw, snapping his head back.
Mallis stood, his face grim, as he passed his hands over the metal. The two spikes came to life, moving like nightmarish worms. The "heads" quivered for a moment, seeming to watch Squall, before plunging deep into his free limbs. They tore through his body, burrowing deep into the surface of the Garden, pulling tight across Squall's body so he could no longer move. They stopped moving, then, once again plain metal.
His arms and legs bound, Squall ceased to struggle, but Mallis could see the rage burning in the young warrior's eyes.
With slow, deliberate steps, Mallis crossed the roof, his footsteps echoing over the rain and the sound of Rinoa's sobs. He walked to The Scar and, with all his power focused on it, wrenched it free from the roof.
He whirled on Rinoa, her eyes glowing as she searched inside herself for Hyne's power. The spike in front of Rinoa came to life, hissing a metallic warning as it darted before her face.
"Don't do anything foolish, my dear, or you will find that metal lodged most uncomfortably through the roof of your mouth. I may not be able to kill you until you pass on your powers, but I can still hurt you. And I will."
Rinoa slumped back in her seat, but the spike remained animate, a cobra waiting for its chance to strike.
Mallis walked to Squall, talking slow, casual steps. He swung The Scar as he walked, the blade whistling in the night air. Squall found himself looking down the length of the enormous sword, the blade so tainted with blood that it had seeped into the metal. The cat's-eye gem in the hilt seemed to wink at Squall, watching him with insatiable hunger.
Mallis tilted his head, the vertebrae in his neck cracking. A smile worked its way across his face as he lifted The Scar, clutching it in both hands.
"It's been fun, but... goodbye, Squall," he nodded.
The blade arced down, ready to decapitate Squall. Mallis's grin threatened to split his face in half.
Several things happened at once.
Rinoa leaned forward, straining against her restraints, ignoring the metal monstrosity threatening her. She screamed with all the terror in her body, though if she screamed specific words, the raging storm buried their sound. Squall's voice joined hers, his rage forming a counterpoint to her fear.
Lightning shot out from their bodies, consuming The Scar, crawling down the blade, and roiling inside the hilt's gem, joining Sorceress to Knight through the sword.
The electricity did not treat Mallis favorably, blasting him with concussive force, knocking him away from The Scar. He flew across the roof, colliding with the imbedded metal spikes in the process, snapping them off as he passed. The Scar remained hanging in the air, suspended by the strange energy emanating from it.
As the lightning struck Rinoa, her eyes flashed, wings exploding out of her back, propelling her out of her seat and shattering her bonds as she took to the sky. The spike menacing her melted into slag as her will blasted it away.
The lightning had an equally profound on Squall. The spikes piercing him shattered as he rose to his feet. Fragments of metal flew everywhere, expelled from his body by the sudden onrush of magic.
"What... is this?" he asked, his voice richer, fuller, undiminished by the roar of the storm around them. The combined energy of Sorceress and Knight consumed him, mending bone and muscle. Strength flooded his body and Squall found himself floating, buoyed by raven's wings every bit as magnificent as the swan's wings keeping Rinoa in the air.
He lowered himself to the ground and Lionheart sprang to life, leaping to his hand from the other side of the roof, already glowing and humming with energy. The glow transcended its usual power, and Squall knew it came not from the energy crystals embedded in the gunblade, but from within himself.
As The Scar fell to the ground, Squall pushed his questions to the back of his mind, and dove at Mallis once more. The fallen Knight kicked to his feet with a snarl of hatred, wrenching a nearby spike from the ground. One foot slid back as Mallis gripped the metal in both hands, wielding it as a spear. He thrust it at Squall, who leapt into the air, landing on the spike and continuing his forward momentum by running down the narrow shard.
Undeterred, Mallis released the spike and seized Squall by the ankle with both hands. He swung with all his might, tossing Squall aside, throwing him into the door leading inside the Garden.
In doing so, Mallis had lost sight of Rinoa, who dove at him now. She opened her mouth and the sound that came forth had more in common with the roar of a dragon than any noise a human could produce. As Rinoa plummeted through the sky, the thunderstorm came with her, clouds nipping at her heels, lightning arcing around her.
The spike had fallen on Mallis's foot and he kicked it up into his hands, the purple fire engulfing it. Rinoa closed on him, arms outstretched, lightning reaching for Mallis when he struck, using the metal as a spear again, piercing Rinoa through one of her wings. The metal alone could not have harmed her, but Mallis's magic made it capable of tearing into her wings as easily as puncturing flesh. He wrenched violently away, pulling Rinoa out of her dive and slamming her into the ground. The spike impaled her by her wing and Mallis released it, focusing again on Squall.
Squall shot across the rooftop at Mallis, feet barely touching the ground as he ran. Lionheart glowed with the brilliance of lightning as it reached for its enemy. Mallis lifted his makeshift weapon once more, and the gunblade cut it neatly in half. Without missing a beat, Mallis used the two short rods and slammed them into either side of Squall's head.
The blow rattled Squall, and Mallis moved to strike again, but his second blow lacked power. He dropped the metal in his hands and looked down, to the gunblade protruding from his chest. Shock crossed his face as he closed his hands around Lionheart, trying to pull the sword out of his torso.
Squall held fast, keeping the blade in place, watching the blood pool around Mallis's hands as he struggled.
"My... queen..." Mallis growled, gritting his teeth as Lionheart sliced his hands open.
Squall's lip curled into a snarl as he pulled the trigger.
Mallis collapsed to the ground, no longer breathing.
Squall dropped to one knee, spent from exertion. He released his grip on Lionheart as he steadied himself. Gradually, his consciousness expanded away from Mallis's corpse to encompass the whole roof. He could hear Rinoa pulling herself free from the skewer confining her. He could hear individual drops of rain pelt the ground around him and the sound of Mallis's last breaths fleeing his body.
Rinoa came to him, enfolding him with her wings, and his awareness continued to expand. He heard the sound of his friends fighting in the Garden below. The Storm, operating at full efficiency, had driven the captives back into the Quad, and the sound of gunfire reached him all the way on the roof. He heard Seifer barking out orders and the sound of Zell humming something under his breath, keeping time with the battle. He heard Dr. Kadowaki and her assistants working with a forced calm, trying to keep Quistis alive. He felt the wounded, the terrified, the lost, all over the building, and knew he had to end it.
He shifted, attempting to rise.
I have to... he thought
I know, she replied. I'll be fine.
He looked over at Mallis's body, defeated on the ground before him. He needed a sign, something potent, something to drive The Storm from his home. Words flickered across his mind.
"Cut off the head and the body will die," he murmured.
He stretched out one hand and The Scar sprang to life, responding to his will. He could feel its mass, the weapon too heavy for any normal man to lift. Bolstered by the strength of the Knights before him, though, it seemed almost weightless.
He lifted the enormous sword and brought it down, severing Mallis's head from his body. The Scar responded to this, writhing in his hands, the metal flowing like water.
Squall's mind reeled with visions, consumed by flashes of the Knights who once possessed the sword. He felt the death of Hyne, the taming of Esthar, the slaughter of entire cities of dissidents, the restoration of order and the spreading of chaos.
When he came to, the blade had changed, remade itself from a massive executioner's sword to a gunblade. It lacked the moving parts, carried no ammunition, but Squall could not mistake the shape.
I am yours, the blade whispered, the cat's-eye in the hilt seeming to wink at him. Become the new Knight Protector. Wield me, and there will be wonders.
"No," Squall answered. "No."
With all his force, he cast the blade aside. It tumbled through the air and dug into the roof.
"Squall, look," Rinoa said, pointing to the sword.
All the blood on the roof – Rinoa's, Mallis's, and Squall's, had flowed together, moving like quicksilver. It congealed into a solid pool and started to rise until it had reached the height of a full grown man. The column of blood changed to rough red cloth, and Squall caught a glimpse of piercing eyes within.
A hand reached out and seized The Scar by the hilt. Two more hands caressed the blade as it vanished within the figure's robes. A fourth hand gestured graciously to Squall.
Thanks, kid, came a voice that echoed within Squall's head. Looks like I owe you another one...
A sudden gust of wind picked up, and blew the red cloth away, a scarf floating on the wind. It danced on the breeze until it vanished from sight.
"They're waiting for you," she said, pointing to the ground below. The sounds of war echoed in Squall's ears as he lifted Mallis's body off the ground. He stepped to the edge of the roof and held the corpse high over his head, roaring a challenge to those on the ground below. With all the strength in his arms, he tossed Mallis down to the Quad, the body hurtling through space.
Squall grabbed Mallis's severed head and launched himself off the roof, plummeting down after the corpse.
Time in the Quad seemed to stop as the body slammed into the ground. The combatants slowly lowered their weapons as Squall swooped into the Quad, landing on the ground in front of Mallis's broken form, holding the head of the apostate Knight.
"Leave," he roared. "Now!"
The SeeDs redoubled their efforts and pursued the routed warriors of The Storm, harrying them on their way out of the building. As they broke through the front gate, they scattered, running for the cover of the forest to the east.
Seifer and Zell approached Squall as the enemies retreated. Squall started to slump as his wings faded.
Zell gave a low whistle as he looked at the imprint Mallis's body had left in the ground. "Hell of an entrance."
"I'll organize patrols in the morning," Seifer said. "I'll have the forest cleaned out by lunch."
"Rinoa's still on the roof," Squall panted. "Send..."
"I'll go," Zell volunteered. "I'll bring her to you in the Infirmary."
"Infirm...?" Squall's breath came in gasps as magic and adrenalin rushed out of his body.
"Yeah," Seifer said. "The Infirmary. You're not looking your best, and I'm sure Quistis would welcome the company."
"Good... idea," Squall breathed. He started to collapse as Seifer swooped in, supporting Squall's weight on his shoulder. "Let's... go."
AN: The penultimate chapter. One full chapter to go, plus epilogue. Stay tuned for the conclusion, folks.