Final Fantasy Infinite Loops
Chapter 11
Disclaimer: All of the Final Fantasy characters belong to Square Enix. The original idea for the infinite loops comes from Innortal and later was codified by Saphroneth. OathtoOblivion started the Final Fantasy Loops thread and was the first compiler. I think that's everything...Oh yes Spacebattles is who hosts the Infinite Loops threads.
-o-
11.1 [tovath] [Emu Virus]
Thomas and Locke watched as Cecile tried to get her helmet back from an emu. After a moment Locke said, "So there is actually an emu virus now, weird."
Thomas looked at him. "You haven't had any problems with emus in your home loop."
"We had a loop where all the chocobos were replaced by emus, I thought it was just a variant."
-o-
11.2 [tovath]
Sansa Woke up again. After that last loop she didn't want to get up. In fact she didn't want to do anything, but curl up into a ball and cry. That wouldn't do, she knew that won't help anything. She opened her eyes to find that she was not, in fact, in her bed in Winterfall. She looked around quickly and her eye fell on a mirror. The face that was reflected back looked to be about fifteen. This was really not good.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and freaked out. She tried to grab them and throw them into the wall. She ended up flat on her back.
"Are you feeling Loopy?" asked the girl who had thrown her.
"I'm in need of an Anchor." Sansa said after she got her breath back.
"That would be my brother.' She held out her hand. "I'm Alma Beoulve, Looper of the Late Ivalice Loop."
Sansa grabbed Alma's arm and pulled herself up. "Sansa Stark, Looper of the Game of Thrones Loop."
"Anyway Lady Inias sent me up to bring you down for breakfast and classes. Do you want to go or would you like to sneak out and go find my brother?"
Sansa in-loop memories here was a finishing school for young ladies. It taught what a lady needed to know including, oddly, white magic "Possibly, Is anything likely to happen here?"
"Only thing that is going to happen before the end of term is the pranks I intend to pull on certain girls."
"What happens at the end of term?"
Corpse Brigade attacks my family estates. I could use your help making sure Teita doesn't die. Things won't actually get bad until after the King dies."
The king dies; that seems familiar. Sansa went though her in Loop memories, There were two possible heirs one was a baby and the other, Sansa suppressed a wince, was even worse than she had been at the beginning
-x-x-
It had been two days since Alma had Awoken. Their visiting Looper, Sansa, was fairly nice, if a bit twitchy, but that was nothing too odd considering how many people she knew who were a bit twitchy. At least she had finally found another Looper who likes embroidery. At this moment though she was reading a history book, a very specific history book I wonder how Vaan did that. This history book told her what changes Vaan, the Anchor for the earlier part of the Ivalice Loop had made.
"Alma, there is a man here that says he has a message from your brother." Said Baranell as she came in.
This wasn't normal for this time in the Loop. She wondered which of her brothers had sent it. If this was a variant where Dycedarg had some different information, things could get a bit dicey. She worried about this the whole way down to see the messenger, but once she saw who it was she knew that she didn't have to worry. The messenger was Leviathan in his male human form. Neither of them gave any indication that they recognized each other, of course; They were in public after all. Leviathan just handed her several letters and said that he would be staying at the Golden Spoon if she wished for him to carry any replies, then he left before anyone thought there was anything untoward going on. She would have to sneak out later to talk to him without ears on them.
She looked over the letters as she headed back to the room she shared with Teira and Sansa. There were letters from Terra; her brother, Ramza and one of the 'official' FF Branch newsletters.
-x-x-
It was much easier to sneak out of the boarding school then Sanza was expecting. Of course it helped that Alma knew exactly how to get out with the least fuss. The night was oddly light to Sansa.
"Good thing that it is a full moon tonight, huh?" said Alma.
Sansa nodded and decided not to mention that there was no moon in her world. They were going to see another Looper to find out the exact details of the political situation. They didn't have these memorized because, apparently there was a Looper in their past kept changing things. Alma had said that he spent more time goofing off then doing what he was suppose to, but she hadn't said what it was he was suppose to be doing.
The inn they went to was what many people would call respectable. The floors and table looked clean and the was no creepy rustling in the corners of the common room. When Alma asked asked after the man they were here to see though, the innkeeper didn't so much as rise an eyebow as he pointed to the stairs. "Third room don't be too loud."
They walked into the room to see a tall man with a long beard.
"Sansa, might I make known to you Leviathan, the Lord of All Waters." Said Alma before turning to Leviathan, "This is Lady Sansa Stark of the Game of Thrones Loop." Sansa was glad for the formal introduction, most loopers didn't bother with it.
Leviathan nodded gravely
They sat back into the chairs that Leviathan pulled out of his Pocket. "To start off Ramza is, of course Awake, so is Delita. Sephiroth has Looped in as Marquis Elmdore, so that should simplify things somewhat."
Sansa remembered the picture that Disparo had shown of her son Cloud fighting against someone with long silver hair."Isn't he Cloud's enemy?"
"Not anymore, at least not when he is Awake," said Leviathan, "He started Looping a little while ago. Apparently being caught in an endless time loop has been good for his psyche for some reason. So what this means is we will have some extra help containing the upcoming mess. I believe that the plan is to first get the Death Corpse working for them. Delita thinks they should have that taken care of before break." Alma nodded and Leviathan continued. " My hopes for this Loop is to capture one of the Lucavi, but I will that aside for something more pressing if I must."
"More pressing… What would that be, sir?" Sansa thought about other political problems that could happen.
"Why your training, of course. This is a good Loop for it." He looked off into the distance suddenly. "I will be back soon." Then he turned into a giant serpent and disappeared.
"What just happened?"
"Levithen is what is called an esper, occasionally he gets summoned." said Alma nonchalantly, "He will be back soon."
An In-loop memory flashed through Sansa's mind of a book that talked of monsters that could be summoned. "He's…What is he?"
"Well, under the scientific definition he is human."
Sansa wanted to believe that, but that statement sounded to much like a false reassurance to be trusted. "What does that really mean?"
Alma smiled a a real smile. "Espers can interbreed with humans so scientifically they are the same species, but magically they are quite different. They are however just as intelligent and at least as moral as humans, not that is saying much sometimes."
Sansa relaxed and Alma waved her hand as if waving away the past topic. "So what combat skills do you want to work on?"
Sansa made a face "Why do I have to have more combat training?"
"Because if you don't chose one, my brother will drag you through an overview of all the job classes." Alma shrugged " He did that for me after he stopped being overprotective. You could try the Dragoon job class, at least the jumping abilities will be some use outside of battle."
"What does that entail?"
"Learning how to use a spear and jump in full armor." Said Alma, "It is less ridiculous than it sounds, it involves being able to attack from above is good and being able to survive jumping off cliffs and castle walls. That can be really useful for faking one's death."
"Or for pulling someone else over the edge," said Sansa starting to think of what those skills could used for.
"Thinking about something from your baseline?"
Sansa nodded, but she didn't want to talk about it. "So why does Leviathan want to capture a Lucavi alive."
Alma sighed "The Occuria did something and then Ajora did something. We are not sure what either of those things were but the effect was to transform some beings that we think used to be espers into the Lucavi. Leviathan wants to figure out what happened, so that he can make sure it never happens to his people again."
-o-
11.3 [Flametusk]
Noctis cursed as he failed to catch the arapaima yet again.
"Alright. This thing is impossible to catch. I need better fishing gear. Maybe I'll ask around in my next fused loop, see what there is."
"What was that Noctis?" Gladio asked.
"Nothing Gladio, just me grumbling about this fish that I can't seem to catch, even with literal months of experience with this thing on the line."
"Ah. Perhaps a change in scenery might do you some good. We've been camped out here at the Vesperpool for days. By the way, breakfast is ready." Ignis said as he and Prompto walked up to them.
"Thanks Ignis. How about we head over to the other end of Lucis? Go to Galdin. Relax on the beach."
"How about we go to Altissia instead? Luna and Leviathan won't wait forever."
"Yeah, you're right Prompto. Okay then. To Altissia it is!" Noctis pumped his fist into the air, still holding his fishing rod.
"Besides. Maybe you'll find better fishing supplies there." Gladio said.
"I hope so."
-o-
11.4 [Flametusk]
"So, I have to go to the bottom of this Antitower place?" Cecil asked the witch, "Where can I find it? Somewhere underground, right?"
" Yes, yes. Right through this door. I'm glad the Warrior of Light has some sense of logic. You'll need it to take care of the Antitower's guardians," Matoya said.
-x-x-
"A giant talking frog, one of those a spriggan things, what's next? A giant killer rabbit?" Cecil asked nobody in particular as he turned the corner, before stopping in shock.
"Of all the things to be brought from my branch in this fused loop, why did it have to be THOSE?" Dancing in front of him were six dolls.
"We are Calcabrina! Adorable dolls! Terrible dolls! Yip-ho-ho!"
"Nope," Cecil said before pulling casting the strongest fire magic he knew, while simultaneously burning them with a flamethrower he took from his Pocket.
"Nope. Not going to deal with you. Not a chance. Nope," he said before throwing some grenades at the scorched splinters of what remained of the dolls.
And then they merged. Right before the grenades exploded.
-o-
11.5 [HarmonyChoas]
Zidane glared at the two Alexandrian Soldiers that had rounded their corners, Blank ran out of hiding to assist him. The plan had gone off without a hitch... until he Woke up, freezing in his tracks, trying to get his memories straight.
"Why did you freeze up Zidane?" Blank said, stealing a Potion from the Soldier behind Zidane as he did the same with the Soldier in front of him.
"Sorry, just Woke up." Zidane replied.
"What, were you sleep walking through all of this?"
"Eh, something like that." Zidane said as he attacked the soldier in front of him, the guard blocked it and threw him back before casting Mini.
Zidane, caught off guard by the spell he thought was a Blizzara spell, barely managed to dodge it... leaving Blank to take the blow for him. Zidane, tried to run into his Pocket but found it was a No Pocket Loop at the very least and was hit by another Mini spell from the other Soldier.
"This way!" Zidane heard Blank shout at him from the room they changed in, having ran the instant he realized he was shrinking. Zidane ran after his friend, dodging the boots of the Soldiers... only to run into a wall of ice.
"Where do you think you're going boy?" A Soldier asked, grabbing Zidane and giggling as he struggled in her grip.
"Grrr. Let me go!" Zidane shouted.
"Not until we have your friend and Queen Brahne sees you." She sighed happily. "I love my job."
"I've got the other one ma'am." The other Soldier said walking out with Blank. "And if the Queen let's them live, I got a date too." She giggled, Zidane looked at Blank, who shrugged helplessly.
"Ugh, if I were any other Squad Leader you'd be facing at least a reprimand for that. They are kinda cute though." The Soldier holding Zidane said as they walked up the stairs to get to Queen Brahne.
"What is it?" General Beatrix demanded as they came in.
"We bring prisoners ma'am."
"Oh? Male or female... or is it another Qu?"
"Male, ma'am." The Soldier said, holding Zidane out, the other one doing the same with Blank.
"I'll take them to her majesty, go back to your posts." Beatrix said, the soldiers saluted and walked off when they gave them to her. She then walked down over to Queen Brahne. "Your majesty, some soldiers just came by and dropped off some prisoners."
"Oh? Show them to me." Brahne said, Beatrix set them down on a tray in front of the queen and backed up a few steps. "So, what exactly are you doing snooping around my castle little boys?"
"Ooo! Prisoners? Mom, can I see?" A horribly familiar voice said. Zidane looked around and spotted her, Eiko, still with her horn on, he looked around more and spotted Princess "Dagger" "Sarah" Garnet, also with her horn still on.
"What? You have two daughters!?" Blank exclaimed in shock.
"Actually I have three, however I only recently adopted Eiko here from some sort of destroyed village on another continent. In case something happens to Garnet, and Sarah after I am gone from this world." Brahne said. "Garnet is, unfortunately, sick so she's not here at the moment. Anyway," She glared at the two thieves. "What are you doing here?"
Zidane sighed. "We came to kidnap Princess Garnet." He blinked. "Wait-"
"Hmph. Thought so." Brahne said. "The tray you're standing on makes the person tell the truth. So good luck lying, and if you somehow do, the tray will burn your tiny bodies to a crisp."
"Wait, you knew about this?" Blank asked.
"Well of course! Regent Cid and I are good friends, and he has told me to expect some criminals to attempt to take Garnet away. He gets rid of criminals and we get more toys. It's beneficial to both sides... of course he doesn't know what we do with you, but he doesn't care, and if you had gotten away with it, he'd tell me how to better my defenses after getting a report from the kidnappers and returning her."
"Huh... that's actually pretty smart." Zidane replied. "How long have you been at this?"
"Hmmm, six years I think."
"Um, mother?" Sarah asked, walking over to them. "Can I have all of them? Garnet got the last batch."
"Hmmm. Sure. But let's wait until the end of the play before we grab them."
-x-x-
"Ugh, that took way too long." Sarah said as she collapsed on her bed, both Zidane and Blank were in her hands, bouncing up and down as her hands did. "Zidane... are you Awake?"
"Oof! Yeah, Dagger. I'm feeling a little Loopy after that last bounce. How are you?" Zidane replied, getting his bearings as she let go of them.
"Sorry about that." Dagger said, giggling. "Well, my mother is far more stable this loop... although it seems that Kuija hasn't visited, she knows how to make Black Mages. In fact, Vivi is the Magic Adviser to my mother. Although, he hasn't Woke up to my knowledge."
"How about Rusty?" Zidane asked. "Is he Awake?"
"What are you talking-" Blank was cut off by a knock on the door.
"Princess!" Steiner's voice came from the other side of the door. "We have the rest of them."
"Come in!" The Princess replied, Steiner, the rest of the Tantalus crew, Vivi, and all three Black Waltzes walked into the room. "Zidane's Awake."
"Good. That thief will finally get some sort of justice for stealing you away for all of these eons." Steiner replied, though he looked a little ill.
"Sorry, but if I don't do it then someone else who's not as nice as me will do it." Dagger said as she cast Mini on Marcus, Baku, and Cinna. Then she grabbed them and put them all on her bed.
"Hey, uh, Princess?" Blank asked. "Can I have a favor? Uh..." He blushed. "Can you get me to Le Flavor? I'd rather not become a stain because I stood up a guard... on the off chance that I meet her when not with you."
"Huh? Oh! Yeah, sure." Dagger said, she then turned to Vivi. "Are you Awake?"
"Yes, I am, Princess." Vivi nodded. "Seems to be a Null Loop."
"Well... since Kuija hasn't shown up at all, wanna make this Loop a vacation until he or Garland does?" She looked at Zidane.
Zidane shrugged. "Sure. Besides, when am I going to have the chance to explore this place at this size?"
"Would someone explain what exactly a Loop is?" Baku asked.
"I will. Just so you know Zidane, you're kinda cute at that size." Dagger said, kissing him lightly as Steiner, Vivi, and the Black Waltzes left.
Zidane smiled. "What, and I'm not when I'm normal sized?"
-o-
11.6 [Flametusk]
Odin looked at his terminal.
"Well, that's interesting," He said to himself.
"At least it's not Kefka. I wouldn't even be entertaining thoughts of this if it was. But I don't really see the harm here," he said before pressing yes.
-x-x-
Ultros was watching another poor sucker getting blown out of the coliseum by Typhon, when his view of the arena was suddenly replaced by a few familiar faces, and the cheering of the crowd was replaced with music.
More worrying was the smell of calamari accompanied by a burning sensation.
"Ouch! What did I ever do to deserve being burned in front of an audience again? I was being a good octopus, I swear!" Ultros yelped as another burst of flame hit him.
"Ow! That one really hurt! Don't cook the cephalopod! Seriously though, I'm actually feeling out of the loop about why you're attacking me. And why I'm back here," Ultros paused thoughtfully until he was struck by a bolt of lightning.
"If I leave will you stop burning me?" He asked.
"So you admit that you aren't worthy of Maria's hand you lowborn cuttlefish?" Locke asked.
"Yes, yes, now lemme outta here!" Ultros said, before crawling to the exit.
Right after the octopus left, Locke Awoke and let out a Ping, only getting one in return. A glance at Celes showed him that she wasn't Awake, before he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
'Did Ultros say again?'
-x-x-
When Ultros went outside, he noticed that the world didn't look very destroyed at all.
"Am I back in time? That must mean one thing. I was sent back in time so that I can stop Kefka and save the world! I knew I was more than a washed-up old octopus!"
-x-x-
"I think that we have a new Looper, Terra," Locke told her on the airship.
"Really? Who is it?"
"I'm... not sure you'll like this."
That set Terra's nerves on edge. "It's not Kefka, right? Or Gestahl?" She asked nervously.
"What? No. Neither of them, and I hope they never loop," Locke said.
"Then who is it?"
Locke's response was interrupted by a voice.
"I've recently discovered that it is my destiny to save the world and stop Kefka. But, uh, Typhon can't carry me up to that giant floating island. So I'm gonna just hitch a ride here. I'm sure you understand," a purple fanged octopus said.
"Yeah... I'm pretty sure Ultros is looping," Locke said, his face resting on his palm.
"Are you calling me crazy?" The cephalopod in question demanded.
"No, I'm saying that you're time traveling now. For some reason," Locke replied while Terra gathered her thoughts.
-x-x-
"I don't believe you. I'm here on a mission to save the world, and become famous from it!" Ultros said, before squirming off of the airship, and crawling towards the top of the floating continent.
-x-x-
Ultros found himself in a river looking at a raft after that huge monster obliterated him.
"I might have been a little hasty not believing you," he said, looking towards Terra.
-o-
11.7 [Garebel]
Anakin blinked at the sight before him.
He, Padme, Ashoka, Leia, & Luke were at the Spira Casino, all Awake, with Luke & Leia being in their teens(for the Loop.). They were only going to take a vacation, here.
However, a giant sphere of water was not a usual part of a casino.
The group uneasily walked up to the casino, wondering if they came to the right place. A girl was nearby near a speeder, and was trying to do something with it.
"…Sinspite little…!" She cursed out, before banging on the speeder. Luke, seeing this, rushed over. He took a few of her tools, and, guessing on her purpose, quickly repaired the speeder. The girl looked quite amazed at the kid's extreme amount of skill. "Thanks, I was wondering how I was to fix this Machina!" The girl growled out, though not at Luke.
'…Machina? Wait…'. Luke thought before he let out a Ping. The girl looked at him before Pinging back. "Huh, a visiting Looper?" Luke asked the girl who nodded.
"Almost my whole gang are here. Rikku, Looper from Spira ." Rikku told Luke who nodded.
"Luke Skywalker, one of the Anchors of the Star Wars Branch, My father is actually the other Anchor, but we Anchor different time periods." Luke explained, before asking, "what's up with the sphere of water, though?"
"It's actually used for our Branch's Sport, Blitzball. Want me to explain it?" She asked Luke who shook his head.
"I actually came here with my Family, who are all Awake, plus a student of my dad's. Might be better to explain it in one go, than multiple times." He explained to Rikku, who nodded.
"Alright, Let's go!" Rikku yelled out, before grabbing Luke's hand, and basically dragged him along.
-o-
11.8 [Facepalmist]
"Squall!"
Squall blinked. And then blinked again at what he had just Awakened to. Namely: Edea's Orphanage, looking distinctly less run-down than he tended to see it outside of flashbacks. That and Edea ('Matron...') herself, who did not look much younger but did look a bit more worried.
This loop didn't look like it was going to last long. It seemed he'd come to awareness just after defeating Ultimecia in the future.
"Excuse me," Edea Kramer asked, this time addressing him. "Have you seen a little boy?"
"You don't have to worry. The boy won't go anywhere," he replied in the traditional manner.
Squall had long since come to the conclusion that it was the certainty with which he said it that reassured her, much as it did now. "I think so, too. Poor thing..."
Right on time, the mortally-wounded Ultimecia materialized and began to lurch over to where the two were standing. The anachronistic SeeD dipped her a calm nod and a comment of "Ultimecia, Edea Kramer. Matron, Ultimecia."
"...The sorceress?" Edea wondered.
"Yeah. She was trying to compress time, a long way into the future. We just defeated her, so she's probably here to pass on her powers." Squall shrugged. "Time-loop shenanigans, don't ask - I don't think I'll be here long enough to explain too much anyway."
"I...can't...disappear...yet," mumbled the dying sorceress, staggering towards Edea.
"Well, if it's me or one of the kids... And I am a sorceress already. All right, Ultimecia; I shall take your powers," Edea declared.
Ultimecia promptly did so, passed away, and sublimated into the cobblestones for good measure. Edea staggered. "Is this...the end?" she gasped.
"In a sense," Squall agreed, stepping away as she straightened.
Edea took a breath and shook herself, focusing more intently on the strange young man. "You called me Matron...and come to think of it, you knew my name too. Who are you?"
Squall dropped into parade rest. "A SeeD, from Balamb Garden. Which your husband-slash-knight told us were your ideas - though that might've been you not mentioning me to him, or him not mentioning me to us." The loop-memories hadn't yet surfaced, but it was highly unlikely for anything in them to enlighten him regarding that particular detail. "Garden trains SeeDs. SeeDs are trained to defeat the sorceress - specifically, the sorceress we just defeated...and will defeat. I repeat: time-loop shenanigans, don't ask - please, it's even more complicated than it sounds and the time warp won't let me stay for much longer."
Edea blinked. "What are you saying? You're..."
"Yes," he interrupted. "I'll be returning shortly. I've done everything needed to close the time-loop."
A pitter-patter of small feet sounded from behind Squall as his young analogue dashed up. "...I can't find Sis. ...Am I...all alone?"
By the time the man's presence had sunk through the boy's misery, Squall had already begun responding. "You're not alone, kid. You got Matron, you got the other kids here. You'll find your Sis one day. But not until it's time." Young Squall blinked up at him. "Ask Matron, she'll tell you."
The boy duly turned to his Matron, who duly distracted the boy, though she spared the SeeD a subtle nod as Commander Squall Leonhart saluted and began to walk off toward the nearby field adjoining the orphanage.
...Only for said time-traveller to stop in his tracks. "...Oh what."
Squall's loop-memories had just hit, such as they were. A lot of things were hazy already, without the aide that Yggdrasil's remote memory-cache otherwise afforded him. But one glaring divergence had just leapt out at him in his preliminary skim:
Trabia Garden had a Headmaster, a headmaster that they had met in the aftermath of that Garden's bombing. And apart from him presumably being in his thirties, that headmaster had been such a dead ringer for Squall that the others had honestly wondered if they were related.
The man hadn't said anything. Then again; if his suspicions about just why the time warp hadn't reclaimed him yet were on target, Headmaster 'Leon Crest' wouldn't have said anything anyway. For much the same reason Cid wouldn't have said anything - or for that matter, why Edea hadn't said anything.
Yet more time-loop shenanigans. Figured.
Well. At least it didn't look like this loop would be so short anymore. In fact, it began to dawn on the increasingly cheerful ex-Commander and Headmaster-to-be that this coming decade-plus could be a golden opportunity for self-improvement...
Meanwhile, his younger self's footsteps retreated, their timbre changing to that of clumsily trodden floorboards as they faded out of hearing. Another set of footsteps approached.
"You're still here," Edea noted. "Do you know how to get back? Do you know where?" She paused, seemingly searching for how to phrase her words. "Are you going to be all right by yourself?"
Squall gazed out across the field, which was in full bloom. He smiled. "I'll be all right, Matron. Because I'm not alone."
There was a beat of silence. Then two, then three.
Then Squall snorted, both at his own superstitious nonsense and at the World Tree for so often playing along with it...albeit not in this case.
"But as it turns out, I just remembered meeting an older version of myself in the future. It seems I still have a role to play. So it looks like I'll be going back the long way." He turned to Edea. "Since there's only one Squall permitted in this time and place Mrs. Kramer, call me Leon for the time being. Now, I'm wondering if Cid is at home and whether I can speak to him? because I have a business proposition to do with a school..."
-x-x-
In the end, Squall had elected to tread lightly as far as dropping future knowledge on the flabbergasted knight and his typically serene sorceress. Ultimecia rarely ever bothered enough with her hosts/puppets to steal the more intricate details of their lives, but it had been known to happen in some few loops. Edea had understood, and reacted with some relief when he added that the same stipulation would apply to her husband.
If anything, it was the business side where the tips and tricks were dispensed. Contacting the Shumi Tribe - and if need be, the outcast individual NORG - for assistance with returning Balamb and Galbadia Gardens to basic functionality while researching the possibility of restoring mobility, with a priority on restoring Balamb Garden as Vinzer Deling would doubtlessly funnel his own funding-streams into the Garden that would go on to polish his elite troops. Warning Cid that the Garden Master would almost certainly betray him in his greed and megalomania, and would most likely buy the loyalty of the Faculty and attempt to suborn the Galbadian Headmaster. Giving him a summary of both Garden's overt purpose and its primary gil-generating mechanism, as a military academy that produced and managed the world's preeminent mercenary corps. Noting that most of the children currently here would either enter one of the Gardens or sign on to Edea's less mercenary, more immediately mobile White SeeD corps for Ellone's protection. Mentioning the extreme utility of Guardian Forces in combat, as well as the personal cost of their continued use.
All of these things would help Cid to keep an eye out, though Squall privately held doubts that the middle-aged orphanage host would truly be up to the task; there was a reason that NORG had been able to take such an iron grip on Garden, and it had mostly been because Cid had given it to him. (That, and his loop-memories of what was to come hadn't exactly filled him with confidence...) But what would help, at least initially, was the ten million gil that he left with Cid as seed money for the enterprise.
Fortunately, his Pocket was not off-limits; otherwise he would have been lucky to lay hands on even a tenth the size of that investment. The looks on their faces, he privately admitted, would have been priceless if not for the enormous sum required to bring it about.
Come the next morning, Squall emerged from his Tent, which had been erected on the far edge of the field. (Edea had offered him to stay the night, but he could tell that she was more than a little uneasy about his continued presence in this time, let alone under her roof.) It would be a dusty trek eastward that day to the Chocobo Forest of Fun, which he would have to walk as his Pocket wasn't exactly big enough yet to store something as large as the Ragnarok in. At least he had a Chocowhis, so he would be fine even if the forest turned out to be devoid of guides - and at least he did have enough room in his Pocket for a speedboat, otherwise even a chocobo would have not helped him get back to civilization and he would've had to rely on whoever ran supply to the Cape of Good Hope region for a lift.
And if nothing else: at least he had all that research into emulating para-magic and other abilities that were assumed to require a junctioned GF to function - which was a very good thing right about now, because his array of GF's had not traveled back with him. No doubt his stealth was going to get a workout. He'd not yet managed to emulate the field that was generated by the Enc-None ability, so it was either practice his stealth or rely on those skills he had managed to learn for himself.
...But whatever. He had trust in his Loops-honed skills and experience as well as his natively-attained fitness - and he did have some stat-boosters stockpiled, so there were options in case of an emergency.
That still left the question of where to go. Sure, in a little over a decade he would have to be in position at Trabia Academy. But in the meantime...
"...Fisherman's Horizon," Squall decided. The pacifistic nature of its denizens might irk him, but FH was otherwise a good balance between high technological advancement and low levels of paranoia regarding random drifters who couldn't provide proof of their identity. Not to mention, a couple years there would go a long way to setting him up with that identity.
And just as importantly, the place had a junk shop. He'd been waiting for some spare time to learn the ins and outs of weaponsmithing, ever since that Spira loop as Kimahri. Rikku had confided to him about a certain near-legendary attribute that she thought she could customise onto one of their weapons, if only they could find enough Dark Matters. The time-displaced SeeD was not particularly optimistic about his success in the short term, true; but the ability to customise his weapons for more power, efficiency or durability, let alone to make or optimise them with materials to hand, was obviously a worthy goal to strive for.
And that was without taking into account the benefits if he should ever succeed. To build and wield with his own hands a gunblade with this 'Break Damage Limit' attribute... More: if he could further apply the process to alter his comrades' weapons... if he could perfect the method and teach it to the Card Club Joker for use on SeeD's weapons, maybe to the Esthar scientists before the Lunar Cry to upgrade their Eliminators...
A world without monsters. To anyone else in the world, it would have been sheer absurdity. To Squall, a man whose life had revolved and always would revolve around a titanic struggle against the foreboding future and the god in humanoid form that bestrode it? To a soldier who had spent an eternity riding Lionheart's edge between devoting himself to fight and allowing himself to relate to those important to him?
"Nothing to lose... and everything to gain."
Now that, that was something he wanted to see at least once in his cyclical, seemingly infinite existence. Almost as much as he wanted his friends to join him within it.
-o-
11.9 [tovath]
Once again Zidane, Dagger and Vivi had landed on Pinnacle rocks and once again they were asked to look for manifestations of Ramuh. The first one was by the Gargan Roo curricle, it said "But the happy family was not to be, for an evil man was searching for the power of magic. He searched though ancient texts and eventually found the same way into the Esper world that the woman had."
That was not what he usually said. "A variant maybe?" said Dagger. Zidane and Vivi just shrugged
In the pond under the roots of the tree past the moogle, Monty, was the next manifestation that said "The girl grew up with no control of her fate until she met Tritoch. He freed her from her chains. She made friends, but didn't understand her magic." On top of the branch above the pond and Monty was another manifestation who said "A human found her way into the Esper world. She fell in love with an Esper named Maduin. They had a child."
Among some low branches in the pond was a third manifestation who said "Many Espers were captured and taken to be drained of their powers. As for the half esper child, she was found to be 'most interesting.' Her mother objected to her being taken away and so was killed."
"This is Terra's story."
There was a chest with a mythril armlet on the way to the last manifestation. Zidine snagged that: No sense in turning down free treasure, even if he had a whole pile of them. Next to the chest was the last manifestation who said "The half esper came to me in great distress, not understanding why. Her friends freed the captured espers to help her. But now I am here. Why?"
" Do you think that means..." said Dagger
"Well, let's go find him and ask him."
The place that they could meet the full version of Ramuh was on a branch under the bridge. Dagger told him, "If I put the story pieces in the right order the story is 'A human found her way into the Esper world. She fell in love with an Esper named Maduin. They had a child. But the happy family was not to be, for an evil man was searching for the power of magic. He searched though ancient texts and eventually found the same way into the Esper world that the woman had. Many Espers were captured and taken to be drained of their powers. As for the half esper child, she was found to be 'most interesting.' Her mother objected to her being taken away and so was killed. The girl grew up with not control of her fate until she met Tritoch. He freed her from her chains. She made friends, but didn't understand her magic. The half esper came to me in great distress, not understanding why. Her friends freed the captured espers to help her. But now I am here. Why?"
"And the answer to your question is that you are Looping." said Zidane "What this means is...
-o-
11.10 [Flametusk]
"Is Tidus alright?" Yuna asked Auron.
"I don't know. He's been this way since he Woke in Dream Zanarkand. Something about Sandworms and some place called Blenjeel."
"So he had a Jedi Knight loop. I understand what he's going through." Yuna said, as they watched Tidus horribly murder all of Bikanel's Sand Worm population.
"Did he really swim all the way from Dream Zanarkand?"
"He learned to swim before walking, this loop. Perfected the Jecht Shot before he learned to talk. Jecht is really proud of him, unlike most loops." The legendary Guardian replied.
-o-
11.11 [Flametusk]
Alphinaud found himself back in time again, this time on the boat to Limsa Lominsa five years after the Calamity.
It wasn't often that he ended up at this part of the boat, it usually only happened on the rare occasion that he was the Warrior of Light, himself.
As the ship approached the city, however, Alphinaud noticed something was... different.
'I wonder what the cause for the music is?' He thought to himself.
-x-x-
Try as he might, Alphinaud couldn't discern the source of the music playing non-stop. It changed when he fought a creature, or when he was in a certain place, and so on.
-x-x-
"I found it difficult to believe that the Amalj'aa have an orchestra waiting for me to face Ifrit. Less difficult to believe that Ysayle's faction was ready to perform somewhere unseen but definitely not inaudibly for when they called upon Shiva. But the exact same music, without a single difference, on the way to Azys Lla? Something doesn't seem right. Unless... this musical accompaniment to my travels are part of the Echo this time? What are your thoughts Krile?"
"That would be the most reasonable explanation. The only thing that doesn't make sense is that you've experienced these events without the Echo manifesting itself. Without being the Warrior of Light at all. It would seem that these alternate lives of yours are visions of what could have been. But to what purpose I wonder?" The Lalafell said.
"The most curious part of all this, though, is how variable the five years between the Calamity and the Warrior of Light's arrival to Eorzea. Myself, in this case. And why nobody else with the Echo ever experiences this. Although I suppose it's just unique in how it manifested in me," Alphinaud speculated. "However, I could do without the repetitiveness of the music in conversations such as these."
-o-
11.12 [Chronopie]
"Oh hello. I see fire in those eyes! How do I put it? They've a strong sense of duty!"
"Oh not this again." Tiz muttered.
"Like whatever you start, you'll always see through, no matter..." Anne's tone changed slightly, "what..."
Tiz looked right. Edea, Magnolia and Yew were glaring at the fairy with something much like hate. Which made some sense, he had to admit, given that she'd sent Kaiser Oblivion and Agnes to the far end of time, and then turned the light of the Holy Pillar on the very moon itself.
Quite honestly, She'd won. They'd be pouring their hopes and dreams into the hourglass later, and time travel would be involved, but for now, she'd won.
"This isn't right." The fairy murmured, distractedly, as she examined her black attire. She'd been on the cape of... What was the name of that place? "Caldisla... Norende?"
At that, Tiz started. The villainous Fairy was clearly remembering things she shouldn't have known about.
It was Edea's startled shout that alerted the others to Tiz's frenzied Leap, Ciggma Khint's Spellfencer Asterisk primed with Firaja, even as his pants faded into Barras Lehr's Monk attire.
-x-x-
"Oh hello. I see fire in those... eyes..."
"Hello Anne." the formerly (?) dying Tiz sat up, before the Fairy clad in white's astonished gaze.
-o-
11.13 [Harmony Choas]
Vivi was walking around Alexandria, wondering what, exactly, he felt was different, when he heard his 'theme song' coming from the Morning Star Bar. Curiosity took over and he entered... and found a bunch of Black Mages playing music, they stopped when they spotted him.
"Hello there little mage." The, apparently, leader of the group said as he spotted Vivi. "I sense you're going to be on an adventure soon, would you like some music for the road?"
"Who are you?" Vivi asked.
"We're the Black Mages. This world's first and only Black Mage band... as far as we know that is. Interested in some music?"
"... How much?" Vivi asked.
"Well... since we're undoubtedly going into war zones... 1 million gil. It will cover beds, food and clothing for us all."
"Hmm... deal!" Vivi said, pulling out the required amount of gill, it wouldn't be like they couldn't get more during their travels.
-o-
11.14 [kaleidoscope89]
Alphinaud rolled away from the explosion behind him and hid behind some cover.
As the Warrior of Light for this alternative life, Alphinaud had the unenviable task of fighting the Ascians. Sadly this was not something new for him with the repeating time, but the motivation and methods tended to change from time to time. This time's motivation was most common one: merge the stars to revive Zodiark. Nothing too difficult as time would tend to reset before there was even a possibility of it happening. However this repeat was harder… because of who he had to fight.
"Resistance is futile, brother!"
Alisaie launched an aetherial blade at his hiding spot.
"Stop this, sister!" Alphinaud jumped to the next available cover as his old one exploded. "Whatever magicks the Ascians have on you, fight it!"
"Silly Warrior of Light. You think the Ascians tricked me?" Alisaie dove to his hiding spot with her aetherial blade in hand. "They only showed me the truth!"
Alphinaud frantically fought off his sister trying to kill him. His old weakness in the martial arts rectified by the experience of the time repeats. Skill-wise, he matched if not surpassed normal Alisaie's capabilities. However, he was fighting an Ascian-boosted Alisaie, making it a desperate struggle.
In the end he won the fight... by driving his own blade through his sister.
"Why did you do this sister? We could have worked together to save Eorzea!"
Alisaie coughed up blood before laughing at him. "You- You could never understand what it feels like to live underneath your shadow. Always the lesser twin. After all, who can match up to the perfect Warrior of Light?"
Her breath was becoming shallower and her vision no longer focused. Yet, she reached to his face.
"Maybe if I could save the world… You would finally see me as your equal…"
Alisaie's form went limp in his arms. Alphinaud could only cradle his sister in his arms as he cried out in anguish.
-x-x-
When Alphinaud opened his eyes, he found himself in the boat to Limsa again. The sound of the raid had awoken him, along with his usual companion.
"Oh, are we there yet, Alphinaud? You think we- why are you hugging me!?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry-" Alphinaud repeatedly apologized. He released her from the hug but held on to her shoulders. "I never thought less of you! You're my sister and I care for you no matter what!"
"Alphinaud Leveilleur stop it!" Alisaie hastily placed a hand on her brother's mouth. "I don't know what's gotten into you but it's only a pirate raid. The ship should be able to outrun it and make it to Limsa safely."
"Huh?" questioned Alphinaud once his mouth was free. "Oh right. Limsa… Yes, we should be arriving soon."
"Good. Now that you have your wits about. What was that all about?"
"N-Nothing really! Just a bad dream I suppose." Alphinaud tried to wave it off. "I dreamt something terrible had happened to you."
"Must have been a horrendous dream to cause you to act as you did." remarked his sister.
"It was…" Alphinaud stared at his hands which he knew was stained with blood not too long ago. "You know you can tell me anything Alisaie? Anything bothering you, you can tell me."
"Yep, definitely a horrendous dream."
"Please Alisaie." Alphinaud gripped her hands. "Anything bothering you. Even if it's about me."
It looked like his sister was about to give another one of her retorts but was taken aback by the seriousness on his face. There was a short pause while she seemed to consider something until she eventually decided to go through with it.
"Fine. I suppose there is something I've been wanting to share..."
"Anything." Alphinaud repeated.
Alisaie hesitated a bit before sharing. "This may sound strange but I think I've been repeating time. I know it's hard to believe but I always go back to the past at some point and- Why are you hugging me again!?"
Alphinaud laughed with tears in his eyes as Alisaie struggled in his arms.
-o-
11.15 [Flametusk]
"We'll have to take the train to Niflheim." Ignis said after they left Altissia.
"I've got a better idea," Luna, who was Awake, said. "How about we take the Regalia?"
"Lady Oracle, are you kidding? It's meant for roads. The Regalia can't handle that kind of terrain." Gladiolus told her.
"She means the Regalia Type-F," Noctis said, "It doesn't need roads. Besides, Ardyn would expect us to take the train. My powers will also not be blocked until we get closer to Zegnautus Keep."
"How do you know all this? And how did you manage to block that attack that would have blinded Ignis?" Gladiolus asked.
"I told you. I'm a time traveller."
-o-