Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, places, or ideas of Final Fantasy VIII. I wish, though.
Chapter Forty-Eight
A One-On-One Talk
The door shut behind Squall and he was facing Griever, staring into his red eyes. Griever turned abruptly, whipping his long cloak behind him. He turned his head slightly.
"Come. We need to talk." He began to walk away and Squall was forced to follow without so much as a word.
Griever led Squall down the hall that Hyne had brought them but Squall immediately noticed that Griever was taking him somewhere completely differently.
He followed him down the long hall from the room they were just in, then a turn left into a smaller hall, then a right, followed immediately by another right and then one last turn left into a small room.
Upon entering the room, Squall saw that it was something of a shrine. Lions were everywhere. There were paintings of lions, rugs with lion designs, stuffed lions, and even a coat of arms with lions encircling a black heart with a star inside. He was pretty shocked to see so many lions and wondered why Griever had brought him here.
"To teach you." The rough voice of the guardian was heard.
"Teach me? Teach me what?" Squall drew his eyes away from his surroundings and focused them on the guardian that stood before him.
"Everything that I can to warn you. I have a great deal that should be said but I have been forbidden to speak of it to anyone who is not of my blood. Not even can I tell Mater without severe punishment. I have been carrying a heavy burden for many, many years. I've been forced to wait patiently in the shadows, but now, no longer. I can finally tell someone without breaking my promise." The form of Griever began to change then. The guardian slowly turned in a complete circle. Squall thought he could hear faint chanting of strange voices echoing throughout the room. A black pool appeared at the bottom of the cloak and began to rise, slowly covering the guardian. Squall took a step backward in alarm but watched with fascination. Finally, the pool covered all of Griever and then, like the shattering of glass after the water within has been frozen, the black pool split apart. Griever stood before Squall in a completely different form than beforehand. His body was now half human-half lion, and he looked identical to the lion of the crest Squall had seen on that door. He had a long mane of brown hair with tuffs of white, dark skin, eyes that glowed red, arms and legs that started lion but ended human. He had a muscular chest and the same two letters upon his chest that had been seen on the crest. The rest of his body was lion from the waist down, and Squall even saw his tail that lay behind him, unmoving.
"Now, you see me in my true form. I do not show myself to anyone, but to those who know my meaning. I may seem strong but I am weakening. I have lost much of my power since your birth." The guardian said sadly.
"With my birth? What do I have to do with the decrease of your power?" Squall shook his head, putting a hand on his hip. "I didn't do anything."
The guardian nodded and turned away from Squall and began to move toward an opening that Squall noticed to be an entrance, or exit rather, to an old balcony. Squall stood grounded at the spot and could only stare, listening.
"Ah, but you did. You may not have known it, but you have." Standing outside, Squall could barely see him against the black skies. "I was told once by a wise man many years ago that one day the birth of one so strong would replace me when the age of manhood was reached. It has been a long time since these words were spoken to me, and I thought them to be silly. I thought that no one could replace me, but I soon began to notice that I was slowing down. My power, I noticed, was slipping away from me, no longer mine. It has been decided that I will soon be forced to give my power to the one who will take my place."
Squall found his feet moving toward the guardian out on the balcony. He knew what was being said, but he didn't need to hear it between the lines. He needed to hear it outright.
"And who will be the one who is to take your place?" He struggled to keep his voice from wavering as he approached this true form of Griever.
The guardian turned to him abruptly, "Do you have to ask?" He stared at Squall with a virtually harsh glance to match his tone.
Squall shook his head. "No, I should not have to ask you that, but I should be able to ask this: Why me? Why has my birth made your power decrease and begin to slip inside me? What makes me the one who must take this?" He demanded. He didn't seem happy.
Griever's response was a sad one. "Because it was written many years ago. Before the hands of Time began to move, your destiny and mine were sealed. My true destiny was not to protect the ones who have proven to be the pulse of this world and the next but to step down and allow one who is worthier to take the place of a power greater than all combined. It is growing closer to the time for me to return to my home. I grow weak for rest, for death. You, on the other hand of Fate, are destined to surpass me. You are stronger than I will ever be, wiser than my whole being. Yo must take Destiny's path, for Fate has worked hard to get you to it!" Griever exclaimed loudly, trying to convince his blood what must be done.
Squall turned away from the guardian, unable to accept that this was his destiny, but he knew what it meant. He knew what was now in store for him.
"You are not meant to die. Life for you should not be ended. You have proven yourself to be the one who is strong enough to take my place and right the wrongs that have been forced upon those who did not deserve them. I am weakening as I stand before you now. It is becoming increasingly difficult to stay in this form, my true form. Soon, it must be done. Soon, you must accept what is being presented to you. I am weary, and I long to rest at ease. I have caused much good but also a much greater pain. I carry a heavy burden that will follow me to my own demise. This burden I will not present to you, but keep until Time stops."
"Do I have any other choice?" Squall asked, his back still turned to the guardian.
"Death. If I die without one to replace me, then you die and it will be as if there was no Leonhart family. We will be erased from the past and none will know that we once roamed the world." Griever answered in all truth. It will be like all the other times. "It will not happen automatically, of course, but it will begin with the Final Battle."
"Rianna?" Squall asked. He turned his head only slightly in order to see the guardian.
"Yes. It will start with her, but she is not the Final Trial itself. She is only the beginning of a great doom."
"So I must choose to be you?" Squall inquired. He began to walk away again.
"Not me, but my position. You must become what I was. You must become Griever."
"You're not Griever?" Squall turned around at this to face him now, unsure of what was being said by the guardian.
"I was but now, no longer, I am not. Upon the moment of your birth, I lost that title. I have just held the power until it was time for you to accept it. That time is approaching quickly and you must decide what you will choose."
"I have to do this, don't I?" Squall frowned.
"Yes. By choosing to take the power, you will be welcomed to a spot here under Mater's Realm. You will be the King of the Guardians. You will know everything, including the truth."
"What about Rinoa?" Squall demanded.
"She will know eventually." The old guardian tossed it aside like it was nothing.
"Will I never see her again?" Squall didn't want to be apart from her.
"Not for a while, but you will meet with her again. But there are trials that you must go through before you can become Griever. There are trials that will test just how strong and loyal you are, and these trials could be what saves everyone from what is to come."
"So in other words, things are being left up to me?" Squall spat bitterly. He hated having to be relied on by other people. It made him very uneasy.
"In the end, yes. But you must understand, this was foretold for you a long time ago. Your future was sealed and there is no way to change that future." Griever explained to him.
Griever slowly began to lose his shape. The black pool was beginning to take over him again, taking him back to his other form.
"My time is running out, and I have one last score to settle. I hold a promise with your sorceress and I will keep that promise. You and your comrades will be leaving very soon on the search for the Final Battle, and I will perform my last task. When I appear to you again, I will be in my true form. It is then that you must give me your decision. But you must remember, no matter what you choose, you will be alone in it. It will be only you in the end. No one can decide for you." The guardian warned him. He was now standing before Squall in his cloaked, hidden form.
"In the end, aren't we always all alone?" Squall whispered softly.
"Yes. That has always been the means of our destruction." The guardian said very miserably.
"Our destruction?" Squall looked at him alarmed.
"Yes. Never has a Leonhart had one by his side at the very end. We push them all away until we have pushed ourselves away. It is something that was written out for us when we became like this. There is always one who promises to be there until the end, but never has it happened. When Time's mighty hand stops, we will be alone and stand beside no one but the wind. No one will hear our calls and our destruction will be our own doing." Griever sighed and wanted to shed tears for the one who had slipped away when he was still mortal.
"Why must things be so depressing?" Squall wondered out loud, not actually expecting an answer.
"Because we are cursed." Griever answered softly.
"Cursed?" Squall wasn't expecting that.
"Yes, cursed. We have been cursed from the beginning and will be cursed until the end. We are our own creators and our destroyers. We have lied to protect ourselves to make us seem so great but we are not. And that is why it is so crucial that you become the Lion. There is a terrible rage within you. Unless you destroy that rage, it will consume you. You are our future and our future should be bright."
"A terrible rage?" Squall asked.
"Yes, there is evil within you that is determined to destroy. When it awakens, you will do terrible things. That is why you are the main target of the Black Bird and the sorceress. It is what you hold inside that is wanted."
"What I hold inside?" He wondered. "Am I a demon?"
"Not quite. But you are the descendent of one. We all are, but you are the one who is most affected. You are the one who holds the two sides."
"I hold two sides? What are you talking about? I don't understand!" Squall growled, aggravated. He felt like splitting something in two or punching a hole in a wall somewhere.
"Let me put this as simply as I can. Years ago there was an old prophet by the name of Dravon. He was a good friend to our family and taught your great-great grandmother, Gale. Anyway, he foresaw the future, and actually, he saw two possibilities of the future and told them both to Gale. She immediately told them to me once she got the chance to do so. Dravon also saw what those two future's world revolves around: They revolved around the one more powerful than me. I already knew of your coming by this time. I could see that in the stars, and I knew exactly when you were to be born and what was in store for you. At least, I thought I did. I did not see the coming of Galliella's grandchild. I did not see Ultimecia or the release of Rianna. But I did see the talent that you would hold, the leadership, but more importantly, the wisdom. I saw all of that and knew that you were the one who was destined to relieve me. But I took what Dravon said to heart. He told Gale that one so powerful would be born from one so pure and innocent and would grow to be a strong leader, but would hold a terrible evil inside that wished to destroy all. This evil must be destroyed before the return of The Black Bird or any hope would melt away. In other words, you are the one who could easily destroy both worlds. You are how the ending will come unless you take Destiny's path." Griever stared into Squall's eyes, trying to make him understand.
"Why me?" Squall whispered.
"Because you are the Final Storm." Griever answered, equally quiet.
It was extremely quiet for about five minutes as the two just stared at each other. Squall wanted to look away from those absorbing blood-red eyes. He wanted to believe that this was just some crazed nightmare that he would soon wake from. He didn't want to believe any of this, didn't want to be hearing these words. He didn't want to be a monster. He didn't want to be a destroyer.
"Let me tell you something." Griever put a hand on Squall's shoulder. He noticed that his "hands" were black with little tuffs of white and long fingernails that were almost like claws. "History, our history, my history, your history, and the history of the worlds, is depending on you. Throughout the many years, since the beginning, we have corrupted history with lies. We have disappeared and reappeared. There is much that has been covered up to protect our prides and our lineage. We are not as wonderful or majestic as we have made ourselves out to be. It is time that the truth is told. It is time that we fix the mess that we made. Only then will our tortured souls rest in peace. We are all counting on you. You are the one who should fix our mess, right our wrongs. You are the purest of us all and the most wicked."
"So I have the potential to do both great good and great evil?" Squall asked. He finally broke away from Griever's gaze and hung his head.
"Yes." The guardian answered him sadly.
"Is there no option besides death?" Squall asked, lifting his head. He didn't want to die, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to be a guardian for the Leonharts.
At this question, Griever slowly turned away from Squall and nodded.
"Yes. There is one last option, but it is not a healthy or wise one."
"What is it? Would it keep me alive or on my own world?" Squall asked, frantically stepping forward.
"Yes, it would keep you, as you call it, alive, but at a great price. It will torture you for the rest of eternity. It is a bad choice, I assure you."
"Would I be able to see Rinoa?" Squall demanded.
"Yes, but not in the light that you would want to." Griever kept his back to Squall. He attempted to say as little as possible on this option. He did not want Squall to choose it. He did not want him to make the same mistake that all of them had made. That should not be your destiny.
"Tell me, please. I don't want to be away from Rinoa. I've worked too hard to keep her beside me. I don't want to have to let go." Squall pleaded. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked to the side. He didn't want to be torn away from what he depended on.
"I understand how you feel. I know your pain, but sometimes we have no choice but to leave those we love behind. The other choice is not one that should even be discussed. It requires the sorceress, and your wish is to destroy her, not help her." Griever realized that what he had just said was partially wrong. The trials to obtain his title involved the sorceress, but this choice was far worse tan that. "Your fate should not be doomed to a choice such as that. You will be with the one you love, but you must wait. Your strength and wisdom must be tested alone. She is what keeps you alive. She protects you as you protect her, but you cannot always rely on her."
I know that already. Squall thought bitterly. But it is going to be hard to let go.
"I know. It is hard to let go, but you have to. It is up to you, no one else."
"I hate being relied on." Squall muttered.
"Come, they'll be expecting you back soon." Griever headed, himself toward the door. Squall followed somewhat reluctantly. Griever didn't even touch the handle before the door flew open, but instead of walking out of it, he moved away to allow Squall to go through.
"How long do I have to decide?" Squall asked.
"When I appear to you again, you must choose." The guardian answered, not giving him specifics.
Squall nodded and walked out of the room. He suddenly realized that he had no idea where to go, but turning around, he saw that the door was shut. He silently cursed himself for not paying more attention when the guardian brought him here. He figured that he would have to find his own way back and turned around again. Immediately, he was stunned. He was no longer looking down a tiny hall, but he was staring at two thick wooden doors. He opened them, just out of plain curiosity, and found himself back in the room with Rinoa, Doron, Seifer, and Irvine. Looking around the room, he saw that Selphie, Zell, and Quistis had rejoined them. They were all dressed in their normal fighting attires.
"Where ya been man?" Zell asked loudly upon seeing Squall.
"Talking." he answered in a way that meant no more questions about that should be asked. The subject should be dropped. He turned his full attention to Selphie, Zell, and Quistis. "It's good to see that you're okay. We were worried."
"Thanks!" Selphie said brightly. It had taken the old woman a heck of a long time to get her quiet after she began to scream, but she was better now. Yep, she was happy!
"We're hanging in there." Zell laughed. He was craving like mad for a hotdog, and it was killing him. Literally.
Quistis nodded in agreement with the other two. She then looked at Squall with a frown on her face of deep concern and fear. "What are we going to do now? Don't we still need to worry about Rianna?" She asked him.
"Yes. We still need to worry about Rianna, but we don't know where she is. We can't necessarily wait for her to show up, but we don't know where to look for her." Squall answered quietly.
"Ah, I believe I may be able to help you there." Doron said, pointing a very white finger up. He stepped up to Squall with Rinoa behind him. "I have been talking with Lady Rinoa, and she told me about the occurrence at Rianna's castle, and I believe I know exactly where she now resides."
"You do? That is awesome!" Selphie exclaimed in the essence of happy.
"Yeah! Now we can go kick some Rianna tail!" Zell punched the air. Everyone rolled their eyes except for Doron who looked only slightly surprised.
"So where is she?" Irvine asked. He had been sitting by the fire and finally stood to join the little group that had formed.
"Well, by how the Lady Rinoa described it, I believe that you sent her to place by the name of Ecnera." The wise, old man answered. "It is a place that few mortals ever hear of and it can only be reached by magic. It is not a happy place but cold and dreary and filled with puzzles, rhymes, and mazes. That place used to be the banishment for evil-doers a long, long time ago."
"Well, how do we get there?" Seifer asked. He wanted to get this done as soon as possible. He wanted to forget it as soon as possible, too. There was nothing good about any of this at all. It was nothing but a tragedy waiting to happen.
"I will have to send you there using my magic and some very ancient spells. That is the only way." The warlock answered.
"When can it be done?" Squall asked.
"By all means, immediately. You must find Rianna and defeat her very soon before the alignment or our worst fears will come true." Doron exclaimed.
"The alignment?" Rinoa asked. She had been rather quiet since Squall entered the room. There was something strange about him, something distant.
"Yes. We must stop her before she is able to awaken the spirits of those long past who threatened they would return to punish those you wronged them. The alignment is the key there and we must stop that from happening!" Doron ushered them all into a very large circle. He took a small, leather pouch out of an unseen pocket and held it in one hand. With the other, he blew out all the candles that lit the room along with the fire until it was pitch black.
They heard the rustle of the pouch and saw a glow that came from the powder inside. He took a handful of the stuff and began walking along the inside of the circle, spreading the stuff around and chanting in a very low voice. When all the powder was in the circle in different patterns on the floor, his chanting became louder. The situation was only just bit abnormal. They saw his hands come together and different color spark fly, and then everything went black.
A/N: Well, only 2 left to go. Halleluiah for that! This has gone on way too long! Don't get me wrong, I love this story, and it is my masterpiece but it does get old when you've been working on it for over two darn years. I need to get involved in something different before I go nuts. But don't worry! I promise to finish the whole thing! And that is a promise I intend to keep because my editor would kill me if I didn't finish, and she's crazy when she gets mad! Well, I got work to do, guys! See ya in a few hours! Later Days, Hours, Minutes, Whenever! Lol!