"I am Ultimecia.Time shall compress... ...All existence denied."

-Ultimecia

LOVE BEFORE HOPE

Temoren moves towards Balamb Garden. He nearly drags his feet along as he reaches the entrance, exhausted from everything. And depressed from what had happened earlier. A guard watches him come in, not stopping him because he knows who it is. As Temoren makes it inside the Garden, he begins to notice people whispering and looking in his direction. Not just one or two, but everyone. How have they heard about the shooting already? Or the suspension, which wasn't a big deal anyways. Or perhaps something else has happened?

He looks like hell, and he eventually realizes it. Maybe that is why everyone is looking at him. He looks down at his pants, they have grass stains and tears in them in various places. His hair is shuffled in all various directions, his eyes bloodshot. But, why does he need to care about what he looks like? Today is a good day. Today is the day he will quit the SeeD for good. Then, he will go back to his room in Balamb, sit down with a drink, look out onto the harbor, and then eat his gun. What else was there to do? He doesn't know this 'Ultimecia'. He no longer cares either.

He turns to look at the other SeeD's nearby. They quickly look away whenever they see his gaze turn to them. He looks from side to side, slightly confused by this situation. He makes his way up to the main office, where the officers are. As he arrives, they all stop their conversation and look back at him. He stops and scratches his head a little, and then walks further into the room. Finally after more silence, one of the officers stands up and walks towards Temoren, he stops a few feet away.

"Temoren." He says, in a dead serious tone.

"Sir, I need---"

"I'm talking to you, son." The officers spits out, interrupting Temoren's resignation.

"What is it?" Temoren raises a brow.

"We've had a situation come up while you were gone." The officer says, almost hesitantly.

"A situation, huh?" Temoren begins to wonder what is worse than shooting your own sister, then quitting your job, and your life.

"A sorceress situation. We might have the 'one' on our hands."

Temoren's eyes open wider, all the thoughts of quitting escape his mind at this news. "Who!"

"We don't know. A castle has appeared...in the south."

"Are you sure?" The negative thoughts begin to return, though at lesser strength than before.

"Positive. This is not a drill."

"Oh, and all the others were just practice?" Temoren grinds his teeth a little.

The officer takes a few more steps forward, and gets right into Temoren's face. "I don't recall giving you permission to bitch." He says, flatly, looking right into Temoren's eyes.

"They are evil, and must be dealt with. To save the past."

His sister wasn't evil.

"Gear up...head out." The officer continues on, looking right into Temoren's eyes.

Temoren looks back coldly at the officer, with hatred and disgust, but the words slowly slip out of his mouth, still with purpose and confidence. "Yes, sir."

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Gilmahn looks up at the huge doors in front of him. A large staircase leads all the way up to them, with huge pillars on both sides. The sky remained dark at all times, he no longer knows if it is even daytime anymore. He begins to go up the stairs one at a time. His steps seem loud since the general area near him is completely silent. Every once in a while he looks back and forth, surprised by the quiet himself. He pushes hard against the large doors, needing all the effort he has to start pushing it open. He walks carefully into the castle, taking a long look around at the entrance room. There are old fashioned chairs off to the side, and a fancy twirling staircase right in front of him. The entire room is lit by candlelight. He had never seen this castle before, and it already has an old and creepy atmosphere to it.

"I'm here for you Rinoa. To help you. You don't have to run away anymore." He says, his voice echoes around the empty chamber. He nods, acknowledging she doesn't seem to be in hearing distance.

Gilmahn begins to ascend the next stairway, using the thick wooden railings to help him up each step. He had walked the entire day to get here, and now all these stairs. He leaves the main room for one of the side ones. It is a smaller room, and he passes through that one quickly, opening a small door. He walks carefully into the next room, looking around. Then he peers down and jumps back a little, noticing there is a large clock on the floor, and more stairs to the side.

"This place is bizarre..."

After a few seconds he steps past the clock. The gloomy feel sends a shiver up his spine, and he shakes a little, clenching his cloak tighter. He moves through another door to yet another room with stairs. He admires the giant painted glass windows above him. It seems like forever before he makes it to what seems to be the bottom of a tower. Gilmahn looks up in amazement at the long spiraling stairs that go all the way up to...somewhere.

"Ultimecia, it doesn't have to be like this." He says, continuing to look up at the stairs. He begins to move up them, while still keep his gaze all the way up. Eventually he looks back down and begins to quicken his pace, his feet slamming hard against the wooden stairs. A loose stone comes down from higher up, and falls past him as he continues moving towards the top. He sees light coming from an opening, the moon. He walks through the opening outside to a balcony, high in the air. He looks to his left and jumps back a bit as he spots a large blue dragon, standing nearby on all four legs, its head close to the ground.

"Tiamat, my friend. What are you doing out like this?" Gilmahn says in a friendly and curious tone, he smiles a little. Though, instead of a nice reply, the dragon opens its mouth, revealing sharp teeth. It makes a low growl at him.

"My friend, what has happened to you? What's wrong?" He gets the same reply, except this time the growl is a bit louder. Tiamat slowly stands taller, and moves up onto two legs, looking down at the man in front of him.

"Always the loyal one. Though, I am not here to harm her. We should be allies still, should we not?" The dragon spreads its large wings out to both sides. He begins to flap them lightly and hovers only a foot or two off the ground. The moon shines brightly right behind the dragon. It seems to close to them.

"If this is how it must be, then so be it." Gilmahn slowly moves his hand to his scimitar, and pulls it out with enthusiasm, and rests it up on his shoulder, looking at the dragon. "Your move, dragon. I won't make the first move to back stab an ally." He says coldly.

Tiamat begins to move closer, still hovering near the ground. He spits out a small ball of fire at Gilmahn, he side steps out of the way, then jogs at the dragon, making a slash at its wing. Tiamat moves back, and then comes back forward, even more angry than before. It tramples over Gilmahn, knocking him onto the stone floor, and flies past him. Tiamat turns around and flies back down, grabbing Gilmahn in his mouth. It flies higher, heading towards a tower that was higher up than the other one.

Before making it the entire way, Tiamat drops Gilmahn from its mouth. Gilmahn falls a decent length through the air and hits hard against the ground of a long walkway leading to the next tower. He hits, and rolls over on his side, and stops moving.