A Page in Time Reopened

"So once again, history repeats itself," sighed Storm as he looked at Rinoa's sleeping figure.

Squall looked bewildered at Storm's last statement. "What? I don't understand…what do you mean history repeats itself?"

Storm approached Rinoa's sleeping figure and felt her pulse from her wrist, unsure of how to break the news to Squall. "The legend of Imogene and Gualtiero will once again resurface in another time, another place. Seven hundred years have passed since Imogene had transformed into Hyne. Seven hundred years since Ultimecia's birth. The time where the compression happens will take place in another three hundred years, a millennia after the curse had been delivered by her own hand. Every century, the slumbering one shall rise from her sleep to seek Gualtiero's kind, and every century she was always defeated by the forces of good. This time, however, after seven centuries, Ultimecia could have the upper hand in this game of chance. Unless that child is realized, no form of magic will be able to put to an end the chaos that she shall bring into this universe." Storm whirled around to face Squall. "Time is running out Squall. When her child is born, Ultimecia's kingdom shall enter this world and you will never see the light of day again. She was never defeated in time compression. It is in the passing of seven centuries that the witch could finally be sealed in the darkness."

Squall was stunned by Storm's last words. He was breathing heavily, this time unable to organize a plan that would bring an end to the coming disaster. On one hand, if he fails to deliver the child, he could put the world in danger. On the other, he could be risking Rinoa's life. "What has Rinoa have to do with this?"

Storm chanted a few words in an ancient tongue of archaic Estharian and passed a blue light over Rinoa's head. To Squall's amazement, a glowing symbol appeared on her forehead, iridescent of a faint shade of pale blue. It appeared to be the angel wings that used to appear from behind her back when she summoned her darker side, yet intertwined within the wings was another vaguely strange symbol which looked almost alien to Squall. It seemed like the silhouette of a lion. "I don't understand Storm. Is that Griever?"

Storm nodded as he made the mark disappear from her forehead. "You are right Squall, that symbol does represent Griever. And contrary to what you're thinking, Rinoa isn't the embodiment of Ultimecia. The only reason why Ultimecia was able to take hold of this Guardian Force's powers is because the symbol is the key, the key to…" And before he could finish, the door behind them opened and Seifer entered the room. When Squall turned to look at the spot where Storm used to stand, no traces of his presence remained. 'This is strange...how did he disappear so quickly?'

Seifer looked around and asked Squall, "Where's the doc? Wasn't she just here earlier?"

Squall was alarmed at the abruptness of Seifer's question. Unable to make up any good excuses, he conceded with saying, "Uh…I think she took a bathroom break, if I'm right."

Seifer smirked and went to Quistis' door. "I find it odd that the good doctor would leave her patients with you, knowing that the only thing you know how to handle in this office is a surgical blade," Seifer sarcastically remarked as he punched in the code that unlocked Quistis' door.

"Hey, even doctors have to take their bathroom breaks. Besides, I guess that's the only here you know how to handle as well," Squall answered dryly.

Before Seifer opened the door, he paused for a moment and looked at Squall. "You know, I don't get it. How would a decent instructor like Quistis suddenly lash out at Ouragan as if she were a half-drunk vegetable clueless about what she's doing. It just doesn't fit together."

Squall asked Seifer, "Don't you think it is possible that she might have gotten drunk?"

Seifer shook his head and replied, "No, no…I don't think she would have been stupid to do something like that. I was with her in lunch and she was just having some of the dining hall food. No alcohol in sight."

Squall wondered for a moment before saying, "Doctor Kadowaki hasn't checked on her yet, but I'm guessing she will be fine."

Moment later, Doctor Kadowaki entered the infirmary. "Hello Squall and Seifer. Well, it's about time that I check on Quistis. I'm really sorry that I didn't have the time to do this earlier dear but Rinoa's condition is extremely important as of the moment. Quistis apparently isn't in mortal danger so do forgive me Seifer."

Seifer chuckled and answered, "No problem doc. Just make sure that you check on her and I'll probably consider not shaving your head."

Doctor Kadowaki's eyes widened and turned into X's before Seifer said, "JUST JOKING DOC!!!"

Doctor Kadowaki breathed a sigh of relief while fanning herself with her hands. "For a moment there Seifer, I really thought you were going to shave my head. But yes, I will check on her. And in the meantime Squall, I will have to give you this prescription. It is medication for Rinoa once she can leave this office." She approached the brunette and gave him a slip of paper before whispering into his ear, "I want you to check in your room. I placed a tome in the kitchen table. Read this note before it burns."

She then went to Seifer and said, "Okay, you on the other hand must stay here. You may go now Squall. I will take care of Rinoa."

Squall left the office and used one of the hover circles to transport himself towards the dormitory. Making sure that no one else was with him, he gingerly opened the slip of paper that Doctor Kadowaki/Storm gave him and found himself confounded with the intricate symbols of ancient Estharian written all over the paper. However, in a few seconds, the characters seemed to run around the sheet, as if they were worms moving about a flat surface. Soon, they rearranged themselves to form legible words, and later Squall found himself reading a message Storm had wanted to tell him before Seifer had abruptly come in to disturb their conversation. The note read:

"I left a large book called the Grimoire in your kitchen. You cannot open it without placing your hand over the insignia in the center. You must then identify yourself, according to what the book commands you to do. You will find whatever information you need in that tome. Be careful though, as within these walls are eyes and ears that seek the wealth of knowledge in that manuscript. After you read it, burn it. It will not be destroyed. It will come back to me. Be extremely careful with it, as I have given only you the access to the forbidden text.

Signed,

Storm

P.S. I shall be back to talk to you soon enough. I hope you will find everything you need. Best of wishes and please continue with the mission. Time is running out."

Squall folded the note carefully and put it on the floor. Even before he could cast a Firaga spell on it, the slip of paper was engulfed in flame and disintegrated into ashes. Squall stared at the glowing embers of the paper, mesmerized by the faint orange as if the slip of burned pulp had a soul of its own. 'If this is the kind of magic that Storm has, what kind of magic would the third resurrection of Ultimecia have?' he wondered as the hover disc transported him across tunnels and tubes that eventually led to the great hallway leading to his room.

Leaping out of the device, he sprinted to his suite and locked his door securely behind him. He cautiously entered the kitchen, but was surprised to find nothing. Just as he was about to open one of the side cabinets, the stove spewed a two-feet high column of flame that eventually materialized into the grimoire. Floating in the midst of the flame, the book emerged from the source of energy that engulfed it and approached Squall, resting on the center table. Squall placed his hand on the cover of the book. Not a moment too soon, Storm's began echoing from within the pages of the well-sealed tome and ordered, "Squall, recite these words after me. 'Great seal of the ancient stratos, call upon the serpents that dwell within thine arcane wombs, and bring to rise the ancient soul of the tortured beast, the keeper of wisdom, and the Guardian of all ages.'"

Squall repeated the words, and a few seconds after that, a bright light turned shone across the entire pad. The ground seemed to shake violently before the book's stiff leather cover flung open, revealing the pages of an ancient text so vague that Squall couldn't even make out the pictographs. Without warning, the book dislodged itself from his hands and the pages rapidly shifted from one to the other until it arrived at the section describing the Imogene and Gualtiero legend. The pages glowed for a moment, and Squall once again witnessed Storm's magic at work as the pictographs reassembled themselves to look more like a language that Squall recognized. When the lines had arranged themselves into legible letters, the book once again moved itself closer to Squall, as if it was moving in junction with Squall's thoughts.

The book led Squall to a page that had illustrations of Imogene at the moment she cast the spell on her lover. As predicted, the artist who drew the page expertly played with shades of blue to create a myriad of colors that would create several illusions of light. The next picture showed Imogene turning into a wisp of smoke, and then the one following that displayed her seeking the four corners of the earth for a soul worthy of her powers. To the right, a page of text described the final moments of Imogene as the woman that she was. It read, "And Imogene's body disintegrated into a wisp of smoke, capturing the essence of her powers. A mist departed from the window from whence the great light came forth. A few weeks later, after seeking a host, a great sorceress of evil was born, the Hyne that would soon corrupt the souls of good mages."

'I don't get it,' Squall told himself as he looked at the pages. 'Where does Rinoa's part in this thing come in?' He looked through the rest of the pictures that illustrated the scene. It showed the portrait of a golden-haired woman clad in a flowing red robe, one with a child in her hand. 'So this is Hyne…she does look a bit like Ultimecia.' Beneath her feet was a man with his head crushed beneath her foot, his blood flowing into a golden goblet beneath her feet. The man didn't look like Gualtiero, but on his chest was a symbol much like a coat of arms that resembled a creature that looked much like the Guardian Force Griever. 'Wait! This is…Rinoa's symbol!'

Squall jumped in surprise when he heard a knock on the door. Casting a Fire spell quickly on the book, he burned it and used a cleaning spell he had learned from Rinoa to clear the ashes away from the table. He ran to the door and opened it, finding Ouragan standing before him.

"Er…Ouragan…hi!" he managed to say. He was surprised to find the superintendent of the Garden standing before him. "Uh, do you need something?"

Ouragan entered his apartment and sat down on one of the revolving stools. He whirled around to face Squall, and said, "I don't understand Squall, why does Quistis hate me?"

Squall looked puzzled and asked, "What do you mean she hates you? Don't you even realize that she's crazy about you?"

Ouragan turned to Squall. "She is? But why didn't…I don't understand Squall…what did I do?"

Squall sighed and explained, "You basically ignored her when she wanted your attention. When you did give her attention, it was as if you were treating her only as a friend. But you know, Quistis really was in love with you. What Sei…some guys would give just to get that kind of attention from her."

Ouragan gave Squall a puzzled look. "I don't know what you are talking about. I always thought we were friends. In fact, I thought she liked Seifer."

Squall felt like he wanted to tip a pot of boiling water on Ouragan's head. "Are you that insensitive to her? She was giving out every signal possible, even more than what Rinoa would have given me. Now, I don't know what you did that made her go berserk, but you have to apologize to her. I really think she needs someone to comfort her right now, and that should be you in that clinic, not Seifer."

Ouragan looked down on the floor as he sighed heavily. "I feel like a bum. I should have paid more attention to her. It's a good thing Quistis isn't suicidal."

Squall agreed and added, "Yeah. Whatever it was that made her go berserk, I'm sure it was some kind of pain she was holding in for the longest time. I know what Quistis can do with her emotions. She bottles them up and bursts out randomly when she feels like it's too much for her to handle. It has happened before. I think you triggered it somehow when she felt that you ignored her too much."

Ouragan combed his hair with his hand in a very stressful manner. "Squall, I wish I could somehow make it up to her. If I only knew…I…I don't know. Maybe I would have done something about it. I mean, I do like her but…"

"But what?" Squall interrupted him irritably. "But you can't start a relationship because you're the superintendent? But you can't have a relationship with her because she's too young?"

Ouragan shook his head and weakly said, "No, it isn't that. Squall, I'm afraid to commit. I may have the best job in all the Gardens, and I may have control over the largest legion of the best SeeDs, but I don't think I can handle a relationship. I just can't. It's too hard Squall. I'm even surprised that you or Irvine could still have girlfriends while holding some of the most important positions in Garden, but that is something that I cannot do."

Squall sighed again and said, "Look, there isn't much you can do but apologize to Quistis and to comfort her whenever you can. It's the best thing that you can do. I'm sure she feels pretty bad to make you feel like crap after saying all that stuff to you. So, if you apologize and she apologizes, you're even."

Ouragan stared at the floor. "I hope I could find the strength to do this. I've never done something like this before. I mean, this is totally new to me."

Squall sat down on one of the stools and said, "Yeah, it's hard. It was hard for me too. I guess it would be harder for me because I was never a people person like you are. You'll get over it."

Ouragan added after a long pause, "Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go check on Quistis. Thanks for your time Squall."

Squall smirked and replied, "Yeah, anytime commander. Anytime…" He accompanied Ouragan to the door when Ouragan stopped and said, "Squall, there is another thing you need to know. Remember how you were able to kill so many of the creatures in the training center?"

Squall looked at him skeptically and said, "Yeah? So what about that?"

Ouragan smiled and announced, "Well I'll be proud to tell you that among all the students we've ever taken in this Garden, whether the 21-year old SeeDs or older more experienced ones, you're the only one who was able to tackle the beasts and have won so quickly during the first round of monsters in the history of this training center. I myself could not have executed something like that. We're really proud of you Squall, I am too. I just hope those two clowns (Irvine and Zell) would survive the training room without getting chewed by one of the creatures."

Squall looked surprised and asked, "Really? So what does this mean?"

Ouragan chuckled and answered, "It means that you get to skip a level of Training. While the others are still in the Beginner's level, you will be moved up to the Intermediate level. This really is good news Squall. You may very well be our youngest graduate, provided that your fighting skills do improve. Instead of going through the entire program, there is a possibility that you would go through the remaining three quarters of it."

Squall then asked, "So does that mean that I get to go back to Balamb a few years earlier?"

Ouragan nodded and answered, "Of course Squall, that will surely happen. But first, you must take a written exam, and after seeing your grades from the old Garden, I am very sure that you will be able to pull of an extremely good score in the next exam. How does that sound?"

"That sounds perfect. Thanks for letting me know," Squall told the older commander with a smile.

"The pleasure is all mine Squall. You earned your way through the system. Now, the question is, do you have what it takes to beat it?" Ouragan challenged him.

Squall shrugged his shoulders and said, "We'll see. Only time will tell."

"Indeed," Ouragan said before pushing the door's open button. "Well, have a good time Squall and I hope all goes well for you and Rinoa."

"Thanks Ouragan," Squall replied. Just as Ouragan was about to get out of the room, a poof of smoke appeared behind Ouragan and a woman clad in a hooded robe materialized in between them. She had long, metallic claws sprouting at all directions from her fingers.

Turning around and swiping at Ouragan, the woman was able to fling the accomplished commander across the hall with sheer force. She then whirled to face Squall, and was just about to do the same to him when he took his gunblade and blocked her hand.

The woman screeched in pain as the impact of Squall's adamantine weapon clashed with her claws, and she was about to hit him again when Squall swiped at her with his weapon. Quickly though, she was able to block the blade of the Lionheart and kicked Squall in the shins, knocking him on the floor just so she could make her move. Just before she could dig her claws into Squall, Ouragan came from behind and pounced on her back. Struggling to get the 6'5" man off her back, she dislodged one of her hands from his grip and pierced him through the stomach, causing Ouragan to fall back and spit blood. Squall cast a Curaga spell on him before stunning the woman with one of his gunblade's bullets and pinning her down with one of Rinoa's powerful stop spells (the ones she taught him).

Once she was helpless, he bent over and asked her, "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

The woman, still covered from head to toe beneath her robe, hissed, "I am Raven."

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Whoo! That was much faster than usual! I hope this chapter's good for you guys. Now please do review, since I tried my best to write this chapter as fast as I can so that you won't have to wait. I worked really hard on it, and I would appreciate it greatly if you took the time to review. Enjoy and have a wonderful spring semester!