Disclaimer: How I wished I owned FF8… anyways… Square Owns it so please don't sue me!

The darkness in the castle was darker than night. Only the rain seemed to ignore the almost imperceptible sense of doom that covered the air, as it pounded on the gray stone and rusted metal of the walls. Sadly gazing out her window, Ultimecia caught sight of the SeeDs that had opposed her before being hurled into Time Compression. It had been a while since she had felt what she knew to be her death, ascending the heavy chains that connected her floating fortress to the beach. She had ordered her servants to stop them from further violating her sanctuary, but she knew… she knew her doom was upon her.

She no longer knew her name or what happiness she enjoyed with her knight. Her knight… oh how she missed his rare smiles. Tales of the sorceress and the six teenage SeeDs who traveled across space and time to defeat her were the things legends were made of. The pain of her imminent demise had loomed over her head for as long as she could remember, hardening her with time. Only the love of her knight had stopped her from becoming this creature she had become. Now… her knight was gone… she grasps the silver talisman in her hand. I love you…

Her face remained blank, showing none of the pain that flowed out of her heart and through her veins.

She could feel him getting closer, feel his wonderful presence. Her servants were falling as he cleaved through them with his will, as she expected he would. Oh to feel his strength one last time… She let out a longing sigh and an ironical bark of a laugh, Thinking of how his strength would bring her such pain soon. The loud cry of a monster echoed up the tower as one of them dealt the finishing blow to her most loyal friend, Omega. Her eyes narrowed defiantly at the door in front of her. She had done all that she could of to rewrite history. To save herself, to save her knight, to save their love… In her bid for love and her ventures into the past she had attempted to prevent this impending moment, and yet...here it was...

She could sense his strength as he was closing in. Her eyes glowed with indescribable pain. He was just outside the room. She smiled as the door slowly opened… soon the eternity of pain would be gone…

The six SeeDs assembled at the front of the room, shoulder to shoulder. She glanced over the features of each determined face, taking note of their youth, finally focusing on the two in the middle. How wonderful they seemed, a knight and his sorceress. She scowled at them, her empty soul clawing for its mate in front of her. She calling out with all the menace she could muster"...SeeD...SeeD...SeeD...SeeD, SeeD, SeeD! Kurse all SeeDs. Swarming like lokust akross generations. You disgust me. The world was on the brink of that ever-elusive 'time compression.' Insolent fools! Your vain krusade ends here, SeeDs. The price of your meddling is death beyond death. I shall send you to a dimension beyond your imagining. There, I will reign, and you will be my slave for eternity!"

The battle began as the SeeDs stepped up to her challenge. Both sides fought, showing no signs of stopping until Ultimecia was surprised to find herself feeling out of breath. She stepped back and looked directly into the eyes of her knight. I'm sorry for breaking my promise...

"I now kall Griever- the strongest GF."

She clasped his silver talisman and summoned the entity with a flash of light bright enough to fill the space. When it cleared, the great monster stood gallantly, shaking his lion-like head while beating its leathery wings. The sorceress scrutinized over the expression of her knight as he realized that the very creature that he held in his heart was hovering in front of him, ready to strike. Sadness unequaled lashed at her heart at using his final gift to attack the group of SeeDs.

Without missing a beat the SeeDs fought on, pummeling the guardian force until its movements grew sluggish, each blow they dealt feeling like a stab to her heart. With much anger she stepped forward proclaiming "I now will junction myself unto Griever"

The room around the SeeDs began to dissipate, the walls became nonexistent as the group found themselves on a floating cliff. It took only a few seconds for the colossal lion and the lonely sorceress to join as one. With weapons at the ready, the heroes sprang forward. Several minutes later Ultimecia could feel Griever start to struggle. She pushed her pain to the side as it became more and more evident that she was fighting a losing battle. One final blow was cast on Griever before the spectacular creature was defeated in a display of explosions.

The sky surrounding the floating piece of land grew dark; no longer even a sky, just nothingness. She could feel her body changing and could vaguely see the faces of the SeeDs in what appeared to be shock. As she settled into what she knew would be her final form she drew a ragged breath before continuing the last leg of her fight.

She had known that they would defeat her. She knew that for she herself had fought the exact same battle before. No longer was she operating under any delusional attempts to change her fate. Fate was just too strong. Their unrelenting attacks fell upon her as her hope died slowly. Between the blows she croaked out in an ever-unwavering voice "Reflect on your childhood...your sensations...your words...Time...it will not wait. No matter how hard you hold on...it escapes you..." he will leave you…

Her words seeped with loathing at which was directed more at herself than those who stood in front of her. In her mind she frantically ran through everything she could have done differently. Hold him closer… kiss him deeper… never let go… never forget… She soon grew weak; her tormentors showed absolutely no signs on ceasing... they weren't even winded. It was only a matter of time before a thousand slashes from him brought her crashing to her knees.

She could hear them moving about, shouting things to each other as the Time-Compressed world fell out from beneath them. She could feel her body being pulled by an uncontrollable force as she let herself give in to the need to pass on her powers.

After stumbling through time and space she found herself in an open courtyard complete with white columns. She limped around, before looking up to see a woman dressed in black standing next to the aging leader of the SeeDs. They were talking, though their words were nearly indecipherable. Ultimecia mumbled a soft cry before transferring the festering burden of her powers to the woman standing before her.

Once her obligation as a sorceress was fulfilled she was hurled back into her own time. Her wounds were bleeding freely now, she was unable to move. Her consciousness was slipping away, her heartbeat slowing. In her last moments she found herself haunted by her failure to save him... save herself from the unforgiving pain of love… the unrelenting torment of losing him…

She thought of how everyone would be thankful of her ascension off of their plane of existence. After all, she was the tyrannical figure from whom the near extinction of the entire human race was made possible. She strained her memory in an effort to remember the last person to care for her, her knight... her wonderful… oh so caring knight… "I'm… almost… there…sq…" A single tear fell from her yellow eye onto her pale, blood-soaked face. She felt a kind of numbness crawl across her body as her shallow breathing ceased.

Ultimecia, Rinoa, The Angel wing Sorceress, the great Sorceress who conquered lands beyond her time died trying to save her hero, her love, her life, her Knight…

Thanks to my sister christel and uncle ben for proofreading/revising my fic!