Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 8, SquareEnix does.
Griever
He didn't kneel before her throne this time; instead he knelt directly before her, where he was within her reach. He expected a punishment after she had erased his memories again, but only received a lethargic sigh.
"Ultimecia?" He questioned quietly, when he felt a sudden shift in the darkness around them. She smiled soothingly and she reached out to run claw-like fingers across his face.
"I have achieved Time Compression." It was all the explanation she offered but Griever knew, even without understanding the concept, that she had just become more powerful than before. He still frowned rather than congratulate the sorceress.
"Then why do you not seem pleased?" He questioned, hesitantly, fearing her anger. He became more fearful when none met him; instead, she seemed almost thoughtful.
"Griever, would you still serve me if you remembered everything? If I took back the identity I gave you and you became just Squall again?" That name. It shook him to his core to be reminded of it and as intended the memories came crashing down in a merciless flood.
He remembered the orphanage and Sis, he remembered going to the Garden, choosing the gunblade as his weapon, fighting Seifer. He remembered the mission in Dollet, that scary, giant fucking spider machine nearly smearing him across the beach. He remembered the dance; he remembered Rinoa and Timber, and the assassination, and jail, the missiles, the Garden battle, the taint. He remembered being locked in his room, experiencing those horrible visions, and killing; oh gods he remembered killing those SeeDs. He remembered the jail again, his betrayal, the acceptance he found, killing that fucking smoker, saving Rinoa, and that horrible feeling. That knowing but not knowing who she was, who anyone fucking was, but knowing he knew them and he knew what was happening. Then he remembered killing Seifer, and then he remembered who Squall was.
When he finally glanced up again, perhaps immediately or hours later, his eyes were still amber with that brilliant splash of crimson, and his hand still rose to brush his fingertips across her cheek.
"I know who I was, and I've chosen who I am." There was no way to accurately describe the surprise on her face; it was too deep, too full of shattered expectation, too full of disbelief.
"Do you fully understand the betrayal you will be committing?" She questioned, she was guarded now, trying not to hope, trying not to believe that he would actually choose her after everything.
"The only one I ever fear about betraying is you." He spoke honestly, truthfully. As fucked up as it was he loved her, loved her more than he could probably love anything else. Rinoa was still there, and yes he had cared for her, but he couldn't claim it to be love, he hadn't had the time to even consider it that.
He felt something then, a shift in the castle as something opened that shouldn't have. He stood, reaching for his gunblade when Ultimecia caught his arm, and her gaze made him freeze.
"I need you to become Griever now. Would you do that for me?" He immediately knelt again, taking one of her claw-like hands into his.
"I would do anything for you." He seethed, almost angrily as he made his vow. "Anything." Ultimecia smiled her terrifying smile and the taint consumed his mind again.
--
Go Griever; show them the power I have given you. Make them fear it! The voice seethed. The excitement and fury rather than the words was what stirred his consciousness again, and this time there was no renewal, no refreshment in his thoughts, only fury and anger as the world came swirling into focus.
Bloodlust darkened his thoughts and his mind as five distinct shapes entered his view.
"God damn, that's gotta be the scariest fucking GF I've ever seen." A skinny man with a mohawk commented, but Griever couldn't understand the words, they were meaningless to him. Only blood and hate and violence.
He snarled in fury but it erupted from his throat as a roar, massive and loud, it shouldn't have been able to come from his throat. He had but the vaguest realizations that his body was no longer his own, no longer resembled the human shell he had tried to wear the past few weeks. The true monster that had lurked beneath his skin had been freed, and it was a snarling, snapping lion filled with taint.
He lunged forward, his capacity for patience and thought already strained, and he lashed out with claws that were as long as gunblades. He was fast, and the blonde woman in pink barely had the chance to dodge in time to avoid a fatal blow. His first swipe missed, by centimeters, but his second lashed down her leg. He lashed out for a second attack to finish her off before she could recover when something hot and painful struck him in the shoulder and he staggered back.
Bastard. He snarled at the tall man with a gun, and started for him when he saw that the woman in pink was standing again, already fully healed with the quick mutter of a Curaga spell.
Fine, we won't play this one by one. He tried to speak but nothing would issue forth from his throat, only an infuriated growl.
The bloodlust in his mind cleared a little almost simultaneously with the knowledge of Magic and Draw returning. Immediately he cast Triple, following up with Flare, decimating three of the five. He snarled in irritation as a girl in blue continued to fire off Curaga spells to counterattack his assault.
Griever continued his magic assault, using Meteor, Flare, and Holy. He even drew Ultima a few times from the girl in blue, before casting it all at once, challenging their weakening magic reserves. Occasionally he would lunge forward for another physical attack, and often it would catch them by surprise. He was winning, and he felt his excitement building in his throat as he drew another round of Ultimas from the girl in blue. Just a few more and they would be dead.
But just before he could cast all the Ultimas he had drawn, the girl in blue cast a spell, one that seemed to affect her entire party but didn't really seem to do anything. He failed to realize its significance and cast Ultima anyway. The spell never struck them eight times like it had before; instead it was he who was writhing beneath its power.
Oh. Reflect. He realized as the last wave of agony washed over him and he crumpled under the onslaught meant for five.
He was weak now, maddeningly weak, but something soothing eased over him as he felt Ultimecia's presence enter his mind. No words were exchanged between the two of them, but Griever felt both thrilled and ashamed. Thrilled at the sensations he was feeling, their minds and bodies blending as they became something more infinitely powerful; perhaps this was what GF's felt when they were junctioned; and ashamed at the desperation that he felt from her.
She shouldn't need to save me, I should…But the thoughts drifted away again as he felt that maddening curtain of rage being pulled back over his mind.
He wasn't sure how long they lasted this time, he only knew his measured attacks, meant to weaken while Ultimecia prepared spells and other devastating attacks; but he knew it wasn't long. He was already weakened and the new veil of rage draped over his mind made him fail to notice what the girl in yellow was doing until it was too late.
The presence of the GF filled the room as clouds impossibly replaced the roof above them. There was movement in the clouds, and only the vague figure of a large winged creature before the might of its attack parted the clouds and the dragon within was revealed.
Griever couldn't dodge the attack, couldn't even prepare himself before the full force of Mega Flare struck him in the chest. There was agony, horrible agony, even after the damn thing dissipated, and the sudden sensation of something ripping. He had time to glance up, to see himself detach from Ultimecia, too see one claw-like hand reach out to him as he fell like a stone dropped from a cliff.
I'm so sorry. He thought, as his mind returned to normal, as he recognized who he was and what he was doing. I fai-. He struck the ground and was absorbed into Time Compression before he could finish his thought.
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(( Ugh. I really hate writing action, it's not my thing. / Anyway, I tried to stick to the game's version of battle so I hope I did a decent job. As long as you can understand it… / I love the beginning of this chapter, I did the best I could with the end so hopefully I didn't totally murder it. :) Anyway the next chapter is the last and guess what? I already have it typed! If you guys want it up I want five reviews! Five! That's it, that's all I'm asking for and the sooner I get them the sooner you guys get your resolution and I promise it's much better than this chapter! So if I get five reviews by today, I'll post the last chapter today. So don't just read, click that damn button and type me a few sentences!
Reviewers:
LaLaLa: Thanks for the critique! I always appreciate a few words like that so I can try to improve or clarify my writing! Yes I didn't really describe Griever physically in this chapter, I was telling it from Squall's POV and the limited cognitive capacity I gave him so while he notice it, he didn't really have the ability to really notice. I know that didn't help lol! I'm glad you like my style, I find darkness and character degeneration is often overlooked in fanfics, and it just happens to be my favorite thing to write!
Lionheart-92: Aw thank you! You're still an awesome reviewer!
MaverickPoint: No I understand, I'm just so glad you reviewed again! Again, I find dark themes and character degeneration a very overlooked area in Fanfiction, I'm glad I have a chance to present you with something insidious that that you consider well written and enjoy. ))