Two chapters in two days... there must be something wrong with me lol! Well i hope you all like this chapter! On with the story!
"Huh? What's this?" Max floated in complete darkness, actually now that he looked about, he was falling. He kept falling, but he felt no wind, nor could he see the bottom. An endless dark abyss. Max thought he knew this place, as if he had once been there before. Then he remembered, this had to be the darkness of his heart. His heart while he was with Ultemicia. Even while under her control, Max had hated the evil and hate deep within himself, and fought with all his might to overpower it. But, he thought, hadn't he already overcome this darkness? Maybe not fully…
"Hey," Said Max as though he had just woken up. "Everybody, let's hurry up to Ultemicia."
He hoped for, but did not expect an answer from the dark void around him. Maybe one voice from his new friends, just someone's voice would be enough.
"Hello my son," Ultemicia's voice came as the only answer. "Welcome home."
"Mother?" Max shook his head.
This couldn't actually be happening, could it? How could she still reach his mind even after breaking farther away from her control?
"Yes son, I am here. I have been searching for you and now you have come back to me, back to your home."
Her voice did anything but comfort him. He had to escape from this place; he had given up his Sorceress Knight dreams long ago. No more, no more pain, no more darkness, Ultemicia had no control over him anymore!
"No! I will not let you do this to me!"
"But my son, you said we could rebuild the world."
Max stopped falling into the darkness.
"My Friends and I will rebuild the world and you have no power over that! I don't care if I am your child; I refuse to let you destroy a world still filled with strong and caring people like Squall and Rinoa to protect it!"
He began to glow a faint blue as his magical powers rose. He was going to do whatever he could to free himself for this dark prison, and if it meant using what little magic he had left to do so, so be it.
"No my son! Do not do this! Don't you want to be my loyal Knight once again? To serve beside me as we rule our new world together!"
Max did not answer. As he raised his magic to it limits he let out one last scream as it exploded around him and dissolving the darkness that covered him. As the darkness cleared from his sight, Max saw that he had not moved from his previous spot and the others were now closing in on him. He glanced only for a second as they approached and soon he fell to the ground. Had he really used that much magic to free himself?
"Max! Max!" Rinoa ran to him and lifted him. "Come on Max wake up! You have to wake up!"
Max opened his eyes and smiled a bit.
"There you are!" Said Rinoa with a nervous giggle.
He looked so much older now, she though, had he always looked like that?
"Rinoa," Breathed Max. "Just go on, ill be okay right here. Get to Ultemicia and beat her."
"No we can't leave you like this!" She turned to the group running to them. "Right Squall, we can't leave him!"
Squall nodded back and lifted Max on his shoulder holding one side. Zell tried to help him carry max, but Squall simply shook his head.
"We need as many people to fight as possible right now. You guys keep moving forward."
As Squall semi-dragged Max with him, the rest of the group continued to fight the gigantic masses of monsters on their way to Ultemicia. With tow of the strongest fighters currently either dragging or being dragged, the battles too a bit longer than they had hoped, but after tackling three Ruby Dragons, they could see Ultemicia standing in the center of Tears Point. The monsters seemed to stay away from this area and left a wide-open path to the main cause of the chaos surrounding them. Squall set Max down near the entrance to the area and began to walk towards Ultemicia until he felt Max tug on his leg.
"Wait." He said dropping his hand rather pitifully. "You can't… fight her yet. If you fight her now… she'll kill us all."
Squall stood there a bit confused.
"What do you mean? I thought you said if we wait any longer, she'd be able to gather the power of the Moon."
Max nodded back. It was true, the longer they waited the closer she would come to reaching the Moon's core, but something seemed off about this whole situation. He looked up at Squall.
"I don't feel right about this." His energy was beginning to return, much quicker than he thought. 'Wait.' He thought. 'Maybe she's charging her magic here.'
The rest of the group still hung around Max and Squall, and Max noticed them all glowing slightly.
"Hey!" He called to them. "Do you guys feel your magic returning?"
They all nodded to him.
"So I guess I was right. Ultemicia is recharging herself in this place." He stood with no help from the others and drew his sword. "After we all gain back our magic we will attack. I want Quistis, Selphie and Irvine to make sure none of us dies. Zell, Rinoa, and Squall you will come with me for a frontal assault. We will need every bit of strength you can muster. Everyone… We may not make it out of this alive, but if I die, I could not be happier than to have met this group of friends. Thank you."
Squall walked up to Max and patted him on the shoulder.
"We won't let you die." He smiled.(A/N yes SMILED)"I won't let Ultemicia kill another one of us."
Max smiled back and felt his power fully return. This would be it, the final battle with Ultemicia. A Son and Mother, Sorceress and Knight. With his friends behind him and ready to battle, Max Caron walked forward to face his ultimate enemy with light in his heart and strength in his soul.
So much has happened to the Final Fantasy VIII crew... and much more will happen. How will this battle turn out? If things go the way i want... this chapter could take a while to write so stay with it! I hope you liked reading this chapter as much as i did writing it! Vincent Sekod
