A/N - All Disclaimers apply. I do own the rights to Pia, Antony and any other characters I created

Chapter 19

"Well, well, so the destroyer of Ultimecia is not so perfect after all." Antony remarked as a semi-smile started to grow across his face. Squall's face was still one of shock and surprise. He never thought that the Knight of Ultimecia would do something as bold as attack him in the Garden and by himself.

"I'm quite pleased that Miss Heartilly has been taken out of the equation so early Commander Leonhart." Antony carried on, Squall could see that he wasn't expecting Rinoa to go down as easily as she did,

"Antony, why are you here? If it's to kill us, you know that it's not going to happen." Squall replied, seeing Antony's face turn into one of uncertainty and dismay.

"Commander Leonhart, I am truly sorry for all this happening, me and Pia should have come to you sooner and told you everything but it was not my decision to make." Antony said as his head went down in shame.

"I know you should have done, but apologising for it now isn't going to change what has happen over the last few days." Squall emotionally said to Antony as he remembered what happen to Selphie and Irvine in the Television Station at Timber.

"I understand that and believe me when I say that I didn't truly know what was going on until after the events in Timber had transpired." Antony replied. "I didn't know it was Ultimecia until Pia went through a couple of physical changes and that's when Ultimecia revealed herself to me."

Squall was surprised that Antony was telling him all this but he knew that Antony had come here on an order from Ultimecia and that he had to finish it to keep in her good books.

"Antony, I'll ask you a second time. Why are you here?" Squall asked him again, this time he had caught his attention and he understood that it was some kind of item.

"Ultimecia told me to acquire the Ring of Griever. The one that Miss Heartilly has got around her neck. The one you gave her." Antony answered and he saw Squall starting to understand the significance of it all.

"So you're trying to tell me that my ring is the key to the whole thing?" Squall asked, trying not to laugh. 'Of course it is, I should've have realised it sooner' he thought to himself, as he realised that Rinoa wore it around her neck with her mother's wedding band.

"Yes Commander it is." Antony replied "Sir, I don't want to fight you for it, and to be honest I don't want anything to do with Ultimecia but there is nothing I can do due to the fact that it is Pia that she is controlling." Antony carried on and Squall just nodded in agreement.

"Antony, I know what you mean and if it was Rinoa then I would do the same. Listen why don't you give me as much information as you can about what is needed in summoning Griever and I'll see what I can do about giving you the ring." Squall suggested and Antony nodded his head in agreement.

"Hey, if it isn't the other members of the posse." Seifer said as he saw Fujin and Raijin walking towards him and all they could do was shake their heads as Seifer was his old self.

"NOT FUNNY SEIFER, NOT FUNNY AT ALL!" Fujin said, making sure that the message got through to him, Raijin nodded in agreement with her as Seifer just looked in a state confusion at them both.

"I'm sorry guys, I know I shouldn't kid about at a time like this but it's hard trying to redeem myself for my past mistakes." Seifer replied as Raijin nodded to him in agreement.

"We know what your on about, we have to redeem ourselves as well ya know." Raijin replied as Fujin just stared at him and Seifer knew automatically what he meant.

"You're right Raijin, I didn't realize that you two felt that way about it. Why didn't you tell me before?" Seifer said in a sincere tone.

"We didn't want to worry ya about it, we know how you feel about the whole redemption gig. We just want you to worry about yourself and we'll worry about ourselves." Raijin replied, trying to make understand why they never told him for.

"Kinneas, what happened in Timber was a mistake and won't happen again. Do you understand me?" Selphie said as her and Irvine were walking towards Squall's office after an announcement for them all to go there.

"You initiated it if you remember or did you get amnesia after getting whacked by Pia in Timber. So don't try and blame me for what happened." Irvine commented, making sure to note Selphie's reaction to what he had said.

Selphie was a surprised at what he had just said to her. She couldn't forget the events of what had happened in Timber. "I know I started it but that doesn't mean you're not at fault either, you should've stopped me if you didn't want it to continue." She replied.

"Selphie what did you expect me to do, I still love you for Hyne's sake. So before you go off on one, just think about that." Irvine said before walking off at a quick pace.

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Squall and Rinoa were waiting in his office for the rest of the game to show up. "Squall why did you allow Antony take your ring for?" Rinoa asked, still a little confused at what transpired just a while ago.

"Rin, I did it to learn whatever he knew about Ultimecia's plan and what our best plan of action could be to make sure that after Griever is summoned that we can stop Ultimecia from trying to achieve global domination" He replied making sure that she knew what his intentions would be.

"I understand that but I thought that we would be the ones to try and acquire Griever and not Ultimecia." Rinoa commented making sure that Squall understood what she had said.

"I know what you're saying but I believe that if she does attempt to use Griever against us that we'll be able to take care of it a second time." Rinoa gave a surprised look after he said this.

"Rin, I believe this because Griever will be new to the world and that the compatibility with Pia will be around average because of it being a new relationship between the two of them." Squall finished saying as Zell and Quistis came into the office.

"Hey up you two what's going on?" Zell said as he looked at Quistis and she just smiled. Soon after Irvine, Selphie, Seifer and Laguna came in and then the meeting began.

"I had a visit from Antony Yubari earlier on today…." Squall started saying. "What! Are you two okay?" Quistis asked, but Squall knew that all of them were as surprised about it as she was about it.

"Yes Quistis, me and Rinoa are fine. He was sent her to acquire an item. The item in general was my ring, it's what Ultimecia needs to bring forth Griever to this plane." He finished saying, making sure they understood what he had just said.

The whole group looked towards Rinoa's neckline and saw that the ring was missing from the necklace she wore. "Squall, don't tell me he beat you and took it from Rinoa." Seifer chirped up.

"No, that is not what happen Seifer, Squall gave the ring to him to acquire information about what Ultimecia will need to complete the ritual." Rinoa quickly said before Squall could answer,

The group looked at Squall in another state of surprise but this time with a bit of shock in it. "Hey I thought we were supposed to stop Ultimecia from doing this spell, not help her to accomplish it." Selphie remarked as Squall started to shake his head.

"I thought that too, but think about the situation, If we don't allow her to do this then she will only try to this later on in the future." Squall commented as he looked at them all and he knew that they knew he was right about it.

"We are only going to stop her from doing anymore damage. This means if she doesn't actually leave Pia's body and attempts world domination again." Squall finished saying and he looked at Rinoa and she nodded in agreement with him.

"Mistress I have returned and I have acquired the Ring of Griever." Antony called out as he walked into Ultimecia's lair.

"Ah my dear knight, I am glad you're back. Was there any trouble when you took the ring from them." Ultimecia said as she appeared from the shadows with more veins.

"Sorceress Heartilly went down pretty easily and Leonhart well let's just say he didn't expect what was flying towards him when he turned around to see who it was." Antony said, lying to her as he said it.

"Excellent so they are down for a while. This is when we will perform the ritual. Go get ready we're leaving for Edea's orphanage as soon as possible." Ultimecia said as a grin started to spread across her face.

Sorry for the wait been a bit busy