Squall's Story

The dawn had barely broken when Cecil's group found Kain's campsite. The moment they stepped foot on the shores of the mystic lake, the little Onion Knight had attacked Kain verbally.

"Kain! You owe us an explanation! What were you and Golbez planning?"

There were gasps heard from Squall, Firion, Tidus and Prishe who were totally unaware of the matter. All eyes turned to stare at Kain, but he did not flinch.

"I'm afraid it does not concern you," he replied calmly.

"Oh yes it does!" the Onion Knight adamantly insisted. "So you admitted planning something with Golbez? You… you're a traitor!" Shaking with anger, the Onion Knight drew his sword and aimed them at Kain as he jumped forward.

Screams can be heard from Yuna, Bartz and Prishe, each telling the Onion Knight to stop in their own ways. But before the blade of his sword can reach Kain, the Onion Knight was countered by none other than Lightning. With a swift slash of her gunblade, she knocked the Onion Knight back effortlessly.

"Get a hold of yourself!" She lashed at him, much to the shock and awe of their fellow companions.

"He's a traitor!" the Onion Knight indignantly protested.

"You know nothing of traitors! You're just a kid!" Lightning said furiously, losing her temper. But the Onion Knight seemed to be impacted more by her words than any of them expected. Those watching the argument were expecting the stubborn little knight to pick up his sword and charge forward once again. But he did not. Instead, he stood there, pale in the face and dumbstruck with a look mixed of anger and disappointment.

"Now, now, it's not the time for this," Jecht said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "Thing is, we got another problem on our hands and it concerns you," he said, pointing at Squall.

"Me?" Squall asked with an eyebrow raised, his voice ringing with skepticism. He must have felt that Jecht had pointed at the wrong person.

"Yes you, kid," Jecht said impatiently. "It concerns Tifa. She's being controlled by the time witch, and she personally requested that you come and save Tifa," again putting an emphasis on 'you'.

Squall looked even more incredulous now as he struggled to protest out of the situation, "Why should it be me?" But the other warriors were too busy discussing this sudden development that his words were left unheard by a majority of them.

"Does it matter?" Lightning asked him impatiently, apparently still fuming from her previous exchange with the Onion Knight. "Tifa's our ally, we can't leave her."

"We'll all go!" Tidus said excitedly, "We'll help Tifa!"

Squall breathed a deep, long sigh. It was going to be a long day.

…

The large group of Cosmos Warriors made their way to Ultimecia's favorite hideout, a dilapidated castle. The castle lie in shambles with its remaining walls covered in moss and ivy. Despite its current state, it has the unmistakable air of grandeur that Ultimecia loved.

"Whoever built these things?" Tidus remarked as they stepped into the castle. Sunlight seeped through cracks in the walls as they travelled down the musky corridors. They moved warily, straining their ears to detect any signs of movement. It was not long before the narrow gloomy corridor brought them to a courtyard.

There, standing in the middle of the courtyard, eagerly awaiting their arrival was Zidane. He gave an almost maniacal laugh as they arrived and said, "Welcome. Ultimecia's been expecting you. But I'm afraid you're too much of a crowd… My lady requests that only Squall shall go on."

Squall turned to his companions, bewildered. His gaze clearly asking them what he should do. Jecht nudged him forward, softly whispering, "We'll catch up once we're done with this one." Reluctantly, Squall headed through a set of doors behind Zidane and travelled through the corridors alone.

Squall never had qualms about working alone. But this was different. This was a mission which he did not even want to accept. He failed to see why saving Tifa was now his responsibility. Squall was never good with people and that meant that rescue missions were a burden to him as well. With a great sigh, he gripped his gunblade and hastened his pace, resolving to get this over and done with.

He soon found himself in a throne room where Tifa sat, waiting. Except it was Ultimecia in Tifa's body. Her eyes lit instantly at the sight of Squall.

"My, Squall…" she said in an amused tone, "You came after all…"

"Now let Tifa go," Squall said succinctly.

"Never one for pleasantries, are you?" Ultimecia crooned, "But I want to enjoy this. And today… you play by my rules." She slowly got up from her throne and created purple arrows which froze in midair, all pointing in his direction. "Now, shall we?" she asked, an evil smirk formed on Tifa's face.

Without further warning, the dozens of arrows rained down on him. Squall reflexively defended himself, blocking arrow after arrow and deflecting them back in Ultimecia's direction. But the arrows disappear as soon as they touch her, as though she was a water body, leaving only ripple-like energy forms in their wake. She casually walked up towards Squall who was busy deflecting arrows and readied another spell in her hands. As Squall deflected the last of the arrows, she hurled a blue ball of energy at him.

Squall could not block this magical blast and the effects hurled him several feet across the room. He cursed to himself as he picked himself up. Having to defeat Ultimecia without hurting Tifa's physical form turned out to be troublesome after all.

At this rate, I have no choice but to hurt Tifa badly enough that Ultimecia can't continue using her, Squall thought bitterly. He quickly evaluated his next moves before Ultimecia launched her next series of magical arrows. He ran in her direction as he deflected the arrows. The moment he was close enough, Squall unleashed a number of thunder balls, all aimed at Tifa's arms and legs.

The move worked well beyond his imagination. Ultimecia lets out a high-pitched squeal with every thunder ball that hurt her and as the last ball struck her limbs was covered in burn marks. Cursing under her breath, Ultimecia struggled to keep herself steady.

"You… You're not getting me out of this body!" she screamed madly at him. But Ultimecia knew deep down that as unwilling as she was to give up the body, the battle will get nowhere. Hissing angrily, Ultimecia finally gave in.

At that instant, Tifa's body crumbled to the ground. Squall rushed to her side, holding her up. Tifa slowly opened her eyes and smiled weakly at Squall before whispering to him, "you came… my knight came… I'm… glad…"

Squall shook his head fervently, "I'm no knight. If I was, you wouldn't even have to go through this."

But before Tifa could say anything, Ultimecia interrupted them. "Enough! You two can continue your loving moment in the afterlife!" Her voice was highly deranged now, straining to contain the immeasurable rage inside her. She readied another magic spell in her hands, chuckling psychotically as she did so…

But she never got to launch her final spell. At that very moment, a sword pierced through her chest. She gave a final look of shock and anguish before fading away into countless black feathers.

Beyond the raven-colored feathers, Squall caught sight of the armor-clad Warrior of Light and on the doorway stood all his other companions, including Zidane.

"It's all over now," the Warrior of Light announced, "Zidane is back and it seems Tifa has returned too."

Squall gave a small nod before carrying Tifa up. She was still weak from her ordeal, but she gave him an appreciative smile. Once they set up a camp, Yuna would be able to heal her wounds.

"Now that the witch's gone, we can set up a camp on the courtyard." Zidane suggested, "It's a pretty nice spot." He too looked exhausted by his experiences. With a murmur of agreement, the group headed out towards the courtyard where they faced Zidane earlier.

Halfway out of the throne room, however, the Onion Knight gave a sudden loud exclamation. "Wait! Lightning and Kain are missing!"