Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or any part of the series.
Author's Note: Hi! How's everyone? Yes! I haven't updated for a looooooooong time... Yes, it was hell for me. Me not updating was just not... me. Writing stories (especially fanfictions) has been a part of my life ever since I started doing it. I mean, I couldn't imagine myself suddenly stop writing stories. Seriously. If I don't write stories, I'd go crazy.
Anyway, I'm really, really (thousands times) sorry for not updating for like, almost a month. Many things came up; requirements, work... Yes, I'm working, as a writer, and I write at least two articles a week... 'twas not really easy. These things held me up, and they kind of made me depressed because they halted me from doing anything like writing this story... or any of my stories for that matter. And... I was also playing something... which gave me more ideas to come up with for my next fanfictions... it involves a pink-haired girl who wields a gunblade... XD
Oh, and I thank you for Cerulean Crystal and Niqsta for sending me pms to check me out... I'm okay, and I hope you guys are too. I'm really sorry, again, for not being able to update. Really, shame on me.
Hope you enjoy this one. I made this one long (I kind of combined two chapters in one) to make it up for the weeks that I haven't updated... Hope you enjoy this chapter. ^^"
Squall forgot to make the phone call.
The President of Esthar was overlooking the vast body of water from the large Estharian airship the crazy scientist named Odine provided him. Operating the whole thing were soldiers from the Estharian army, flying their way to Ragnarok's location at Tear's Point. Good thing his son's airship had a built-in locator in it, which made it easier for them to track it. Without it, they were left to guess where Squall wanted the army for back-up, especially without the phonecall he promised. Laguna only shook his head at his son's clumsiness and chuckled.
"What's with that laugh?" A man with broad figure and muscular body who was standing beside him asked, as they both carried on looking over the passing ocean.
"Nah. Just remembered how Squall forced me into this in the first place, and then forgot to make the important phonecall."
The other man smirked. "Maybe he hangs around with my boy too much."
Laguna laughed heartily. "Tidus is a good boy. And I wish Squall hangs out with Tidus as much. He has to get himself off his grumpiness."
"Heh." The bulkier one stepped closer to the windows. "Grumpy ones are usually the smarter ones."
"Well, I'm not grumpy." Laguna replied.
"Neither are you smart." The other one retorted.
"Ouch." The President shyly scratched the back of his neck.
"But hey, at least my boy asked help from the Al Bhed instead of going there alone. He wouldn't make it back alive from Tear's Point." The bulkier one said. "At least he was thinking before he leapt to save his girlfriend. But..." He paused, turned around to face Laguna and shook his head. "now he gave me problems. I have to take him back before his mom kills me."
Laguna laughed loudly. "You? Jecht of the Zanarkand Abes? Dead scared of your wife?" He laughed again. "It's hard to believe, but I gotta love that part."
"Yeah, yeah." Jecht waved his hand dismissively, slightly annoyed with the other man's teasing. He turned back to the window and stared at the distance, as if anticipating the appearance of the monument from Tear's Point.
Laguna looked at him sympathetically. Despite the tough facade the blitzball star was trying to show, he knew he was worried sick for his son. He placed his hand assuringly on Jecht's shoulder and smiled when the taller one turned to look at him. "I know. I'm worried too. Squall's out there, and even though he's a SeeD, I still hope nothing bad happens to him. But don't worry." Laguna said. "Tidus and Squall will be fine. You'll see. After all, they've been watching each other's back since they were kids."
Jecht ran his fingers through his hair. "Yeah. Guess you're right. They'll look out for each other. At least until I reach that place."
Laguna nodded. "Yep. Me too. We got their backs this time."
Jecht thought for a moment before finally nodding and turned back to look out of the window. "What about the General."
"Eh..." Laguna scratched his head. "Well, he already knows. He's on the move."
The player chuckled. "You are dead when Squall knows about this."
"I feel bad for the man." Laguna replied defensively. "I mean, he's a father too. When the same thing happens to my kid, I want someone to tell me, too."
"Ah..." Jecht folded his arms in front of his chest. "Yeah, what the hell. What does Squall know about being a father. Besides, it's his girlfriend's father he's dealing with. Let him face whatever upshots there is for being a boyfriend. Let him take responsibilities."
Laguna frowned at Jecht. "That's being too harsh!" Jecht looked at him curiously before Laguna's face softened. Then, he turned away. "But you're right. It's all part of growing up. He'll have to face this, eventually."
The hallway was getting darker as Squall and Cloud ran further. And as they pushed through, Squall recalled what Yuna told him before they separated from the group.
"... if you finally summon this aeon, she will aid you in your battles for the rest of your life. And you, will officially become her summoner."
Officially become her summoner? Then that would make him a summoner, if he becomes succesful in summoning her. Whoever she is.
Her. A female aeon?
Squall shook his head out of his thoughts. He couldn't expect himself to possess the great power of summoning if he didn't even know how to summon the aeon in the first place.
"...It would take a great deal of urgency and desperation to be able to summon it."
He was clueless, he didn't know what she meant. She said that the aeon she lent him would grant him great powers that would aid him in battles. That would be easy, since he already junctioned the aeon, he should be able to perform certain abilities and cast magic. But summoning it was also something he often needed to do during battles, and if there are conditions to summon this one, then that might be a problem.
She said it would take a great deal of urgency. He was in a great deal of urgency. Just thinking about Rinoa in trouble already gave him worry and cruciality. Yet where was the aeon?
Rinoa. He hoped she was alright. He hoped he won't be too late to save her from whatever Hojo was planning. The man was capable of doing many perilous things, considering all the experiments he had done to hundreds of people during the war in Esthar-
No. He didn't want to think of it that way. He couldn't handle the thought of RInoa becoming one of his present experiments. He wanted to think that she already escaped. But what if she did? She still wasn't out of harm's way, knowing that the whole place was notoriously infested with monsters that could rip her head off with ease. And what did she have to fight with? She had nothing but her hand to cover herself and legs to drive her off from a battle.
He felt Cloud slowing down, until the both of them stopped on their tracks. Cloud turned to him with a worried look on his face.
"Squall, you okay?" He asked.
The brunette faced him and nodded silently.
The blond looked at him one more time with concern before looking around. It seemed that they have reached a forked road.
"I don't know which way from here." Cloud said nonchalantly, with a hint of worry in his tone.
"We have to decide quickly. Time is running." Squall replied.
"My gut instincts says left. We should go left."
Squall narrowed his eyes. "Let's split. I'll take right, you take left."
Cloud shook his head. "No, we can't afford to separate!"
"But we'll never get to them if we both take the wrong one!"
"And we will never reach them alive if fight these monsters alone! Just trust my instincts and let's take lef-"
Suddenly, before Cloud could finish his sentence, a spark of lightning suddenly boomed from the left side. A girl's gasp was heard followed by a menacing laugh. The sparks were then replaced by splashes of water, accompanied by a shriek from the girl.
Cloud's eyes widened. "TERRA!"
"GOTCHA!"
Terra shrieked as two cold hands suddenly grabbed her shoulders. She was turned around forcefully and faced her horrored kidnapper; a tall, middle-aged man with pale-white skin and horrednously colorful sreaks of make-up on his face. His long hair was tightly tied up his head, decorated with bouncy accessories, matched with his red, puffy clothes. He looked just like a clown, a menacing one that could be suspected as a serial killer. She knew him too well, ever since she was a child.
She gasped. She didn't dare utter his name.
"Missed me?" The villain asked sarcastically.
Terra casted fire on her arm and shoved the clown's arm off her. With Kefka distracted and screaming furiously from the burn she caused, Terra took her chance and ran away from him as fast as she could.
"You're not getting away with this!" Kefka yelled angrily.
Terra closed her eyes tightly and murmured a wind spell directly to her feet. And in an instant, she was floating, with the wind dragging her faster than she could with running. She wasn't planning on doing it at first, as she wished to reserve every bit of her strength before she could reach for help. But then, she won't be able to reach for help unless she casted a spell on herself to make her escape quicker.
He chuckled a sinister laugh behind her, for her pathetic attempt to outrun his speed that was thrice as fast as she was. She heard it and she knew of this. Then she panicked. She waved her hand as she turned around, then shards of ice appeared and shot towards the clown. But Kefka easily deflected it with his red, shield spell. He then countered her attack with a water spell, but before it left his arm, Terra was able to correctly guess the next magic spell he had to cast and commanded thunder to strike him. But Kefka was too fast and waved the water spell to Terra. The Esper shrieked from the unexpected haste of the enemy and stupidly casted water to deflect the spell.
But his spell was much stronger than hers, and she stumbled backwards from the force.
"Get it now, my pretty?" Kefka said as he floated closer to Terra. "You can run from me. You can't even fight me. I'm much, much stronger than you are now. A god of magic. You're coming with me to finally fulfill my dream. A dream that I know you will share with me someday. An army of Espers to take over the world and elminate the disgusting human race."
Terra shook her head. "No. I-I can't let you! Everyone... Everyone's future..."
Kefka frowned dangerously. "You dare deny me?!" He swung his arm to his other side, about to strike the poor mage. Terra closed her eyes and covered her head helplessly with her arms as she readied herself to the assault. Suddenly, the expected attack didn't come and everything seemed to have paused.
She wasn't hurt. Nothing happened. Terra wondered if Kefka casted an instant death spell on her and if she was in some limbo where souls gathered. Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw black clothes on a tall figure standing in front of her.
Black clothes?
She blinked and fully opened her green orbs, then looked up. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized that the black clothes belonged to a familiar guy with spiky blond hair.
"Cloud!"
He was holding his sword firmly in front of him, blocking Kefka's arms that was supposed to give Terra her painful blow. He was struggling with Kefka, who then pushed himself from the sword and jumped backwards. Cloud swayed the sword upward and positioned it with his hands on a fighting stance. He glanced over his shoulder to Terra, who was sitting on the ground, startled.
"Terra." Cloud's sky-blue eyes looked sicerely at her. "You okay?"
She nodded. "I'm fine." Terra pushed herself up and stood.
Suddenly, Cloud's brunette company ran to the Esper's side. As he stopped, he turned to her. Terra looked at him warily.
"Rinoa!" He said breathlessly, looking hopefully at Terra. "Isn't she with you? Where is she?!"
"Calm down, Squall." Cloud said cooly, his eyes still on the raging Kefka. "You're frightening her."
"Are you... Rinoa's boyfriend?" Terra asked.
Squall turned to her, his expression shocked. Agitatedly, he grabbed Terra's shoulders and looked at her directly in his eyes. "Do you know where she is? Please, tell me where I can find her!"
Terra nodded. "We parted when we came upon the forked road not too far from here." She said. "I came from that hall." She pointed north, the path that lead back to where she and Rinoa separated. Squall turned to that direction. "Go straight, then turn left. Rinoa should still be there. I hope you find her soon."
The SeeD turned to her. "Alright." He let go of her. "Thank you."
"Heh heh heh heh..." Kefka laughed. "You'll never find that guinea pig. This place is infested with that madman's monsters, she probably ended up their supper. Trust me." He gave Squall an assuring wink, successfully annoying him.
Squall growled and tightened the grip on his gunblade. He ran towards Kefka, When Cloud's large silver Buster sword suddenly appeared in front of him, halting his way. Squall looked at him confusingly.
"You should go find Rinoa now." The SOLDIER said, turning to Squall. "I already got this. I owe him this fight since I was a kid." He lowered his sword and faced Kefka. "This battle is mine."
Terra's eyes widened as she watched Cloud faced her captor bravely. Not letting him face it alone, she ran to his side. "And my battle too." She said.
Cloud quickly turned to her, with bewilderment written all over his face. "Terra?"
"For my parents, for myself..." She looked at Cloud. "And for you."
Cloud's eyes narroed, his eyebrows creased upwards. "For me?"
Terra nodded. "Sorry for making you worry back then, at Nibelheim. And for not listening to you." She looked down onto the ground with a pained expression. "This is all my fault. I'm the one to blame why you're all here. Why Rinoa is here. I put everyone in danger just because I didn't listen to your warnings. So now..." She looked up. "I'll face them, and make it up to everyone else. I'll end this problem, so no one will bother anyone anymore. And so that, you won't have to worry anymore."
Cloud fixed his stare at his childhood friend. "Terra..."
Kefka faked a loud yawn. "Are you done? Because this is getting old..."
Squall looked at them confusingly, while Cloud sensed his presence. "Squall, you should go now." The blond said.
Terra turned to Squall. "Please find her." She said, her hands clasped together on her chest.
Squall took a last glimpse on the three and nodded. He then ran away to the direction Terra gave him in search for his endangered girlfriend. Squall looked at them confusingly, while Cloud sensed his presence. "Squall, you should go now." The blond said.
Squall took a last glimpse on the two and nodded. He then ran away from the battlefield to the direction Terra gave him in search for his endangered girlfriend.
The mage turned back to the enemy, while Cloud, with his buster sword held forward, glared at Kekfa.
"Now I can finally deal with you."
Rinoa had been running forever. She was almost out of breath, yet she still couldn't find the dead end of the silent, empty hall. The quietness was almost deafening, creeping her of the chances that a single sound from anything at all would be a sound of a monster. And she was alone, completely defenceless and unarmed. Slowly, she was regretting about parting ways with Terra. At least she would have her magic to fight off monsters, or Hojo, or even Kefka.
She slowed down and finally stopped. She turned around and glanced at the path behind her, checking if someone was following her. There was no one.
Rinoa closed her eyes and exhaled her breath she didn't know she was holding for a while. She shook her head, almost laughing at the paranoia that was growing inside her. Of course no one was following her. Sure it was almost two or three hours since she had company (that was Terra). Maybe it was only about an hour since she last saw Terra, but she already lost count of time. And she hardly cared. She just wanted to get out of the place.
Rinoa turned back to her path and began walking again.
Suddenly, something grabbed her by her mouth and pulled her backwards. There was that damp cloth again, pressed on her mouth, waiting for her to breathe in whatever chemical it was that would make her unconscious again. But Rinoa already knew better and she did her best not to breathe. Instead, she gathered all her strength and struggled against her captor so he could finally let her go. But the lack of oxygen was not making her any stronger than the person. But this did not let her give up.
"Persistent girl, are we?" The person's deep, make voice said between his clenched teeth. Rinoa's eyes widened by the familiarity of it and struggled even more. He was more fearsome than the silence she had to deal with earlier, and worse than any of the monsters she was scared of facing alone. He was Hojo, and he was pulling her farther away from her spot.
Finally, by luck and continuous attempts of her struggling, she managed to kick him on his weak old knees, which made him yell in pain and stumble down. Rinoa took her chance to run away, though she began to feel a bit dizzy from the drug that partially entered into her nose. Still, she resisted and firmly ordered her legs to run, far far away from the mad scientist that could turn her into an abomination. She ran forward until she saw a faint glint of light on the right side of the hall. As she got closer, the vision of it became clearer and clearer, giving her the sight of a laboratory. She hurriedly entered it. It may not be the safest place at her current situation, but the tables, shelves, and the messy setting could be enough to give her some space to hide or protect herself from the scientist that was catching up with her.
That, and her body was growing weaker, slowly giving in from exhaustion. She needed a place to hide, and fast.
The moment she stepped into the room, she searched for the farthest furniture she could hide with from Hojo, and saw a large bookshelf as her best option. With the last bit of her strength, she ran towards it. Then, she noticed that her visions of things were becoming double, and they came in different strange colors. She squinted, trying to adjust her sight, but it made no different. Her head was spinning, draining all of her energy, but still was leaving enough to let her at least reach the bookshelf.
She grabbed the edge of the large piece of furniture and pulled herself behind it. She slid herself down to the floor, her back against the shelf, her lungs letting out short, quick breaths. She knew she wouldn't last long, and Hojo would catch up with her very soon, but she just couldn't push her body to go on. Not anymore. She tilted her head up and closed her tired eyes, resting them even for a while. But it only tempted her to sleep more and more, and she didn't want that. She needed to stay awake. That was her only weapon to protect herself from Hojo.
Suddenly, she heard the door open. He was already inside the laboratory, searching for her. She heard him groan, probably from the kick she gave his knee. She wished it did him a permanent damage so he would become crippled and finally give her the rest her body desperately needed. But the loud steps he was making were obvious signs that he could still walk. He was struggling to walk, but still walking nonetheless.
Rinoa closed her eyes tightly, fighting back her tears of fear. Here we go again.
Then, she suddenly had the urge to open her eyes. She did, and her brown orbs obeyed. In front of her, behind the bookshelf where she was hidden, was a glass window. Her eyes looked through it to see a hall with a small pathway below. She initially had an idea to break the glass and jump into that pathway that could serve as her escape. It sounded like a stupid plan, but she never really had much choice.
But then, there was still that problem about breaking through. How on earth would she break the glass? She didn't have anything with her, and she didn't exactly have enough strength to break the glass.
Suddenly, there was an approaching figure. She thought it was a monster at first, but as it got closer, she squinted her eyes and realized it was a human figure.
She wished it was not Kefka, and true enough, the figure didn't look much like a clown. Rather it was a tall figure with brown, shaggy hair with a fit body wielding a large sword that looked like a...
Gunblade.
Rinoa smiled a weak smile. It was Squall, and he was searching for something, almost frantically. Could he be searching for her?
She parted her lips and whispered his name.
Suddenly, he stopped, right in front of her line of vision. Then, as if he heard her call, he looked up to where she was sitting and his eyes widened at the sight of her weak state. Rinoa looked back at him and gave him another smile.
"My hero." She said softly. "Are you here to save me?"
Then, from behind, someone grabbed her shoulder and pulled her out from her spot.
"RINOA!"
Squall yelled as he watched Hojo hoisted Rinoa up violently from where she was.
Just when he finally found her.
Without thinking, he leapt up to the glass windows and broke through with his gunblade. Shards of glasses flew at all directions, sprinkling a few on Squall's hair and clothes. But he hardly cared or noticed as he searched the room for Rinoa. He turned at all corners but he couldn't find any sign of her. Only the boiling liquids inside the flasks welcomed his arrival.
How could they disappear too quickly?
"Looking for someone?"
Squall turned around to the direction of the voice, only to see Hojo holding an unconscious Rinoa in one arm, and pointing a needle from a syringe on her neck with his other hand.
The brunette growled, his brows meeting dangerously close. "Let her go."
Hojo chuckled. "Do you think that stupid line will do anything? Do you think I will actually do what you say I should do? Why my boy, you never learn do you?"
Squall's eyes narrowed.
Hojo smirked. "Know who you're going against, child. I am Hojo, the world's greatest. I've done hundreds of experiments on hundreds of humans. They are nothing to me but filthy beings that need modifications to make them even worthy of lives. Human beings make this world dirty. Very, very dirty. Their worthlessness disgust me. Truly disgusting. For years, I couldn't imagine how this world had dealt with such living things.
And then, there was Jenova. The goddess, the saviour. With her cells, I created a being I designed to be the perfect human being. My ideal human being. You know him. Cloud Strife.
But then you came. You, one of those common humans, yet you are just as good as he is. You became his rival, and you defied his perfection. Now he's nothing to me, he failed my vision to make the perfect human being.
Then, that Esper came. Haha! Now that was a miracle. That mage came to finally fulfill my dream to create the perfect being. Her cells with Jenova's, together they will not only create the perfect being, but the most powerful thing in this Cosmos. My Project Ultemecia. I've failed this experiment on my sevety-seven attempts. Though I am proud to say that I succeeded with one trial, but that old hag needs weeks of recharging to fully function for one day. Oh, but she truly is powerful, her strength is unimaginable. But her stamina is not enough. So, I will be trying my seventy ninth now, on this girl. Among all other test subjects I had, she is, by far, the youngest one, and one of the most compatible ones." He tilted his head closer to Rinoa's, his nose brushing against his hair. "She will be a success, I'm sure."
"LET HER GO!" Squall swung his sword on his side, about to assault Hojo, until the scientist positioned the syringe closer to Rinoa's skin. The SeeD gasped and halted.
"You're not going to attack me, if you don't want this experiment to finish quickly." Hojo said, in a tone that sent shivers down Squall's spine.
Slowly, Squall lowered his gunblade down his side, his eyes never letting go of Hojo holding Rinoa. Then, as if admitting defeat, he bend his head down, his eyes casted to the floor. Hojo grinned at the sight of the fallen SeeD.
Suddenly, before the scientist could catch his breath or blink, Squall swiftly swung his gunblade to Hojo and pulled the trigger, shooting one of his bullets to Hojo's shoulder. The scientist, due to shock and the powerful impact of the weapon, was forced backwards to the farthest wall, letting go both the syringe and Rinoa. His unconscious subject fell to the ground.
"Rinoa!" Squall dashed towards Rinoa and slipped his free arm under her, lifting her up. He felt her back moving up and down, and indication that she was still breathing. Relieve soon washed over him when he saw the syringe still full of that substance, and was thrown far away from his girlfriend. He looked up and searched for Hojo, only to find him struggling to get up while holding his profusely bleeding shoulder, wincing as he did. Squall turned to his gunblade, just as shocked as his enemy was at the impact of the single bullet he released. Though it was obvious that the shot still was not enough to finish Hojo, he still was not surprised. That man's insanity could've gotten the better of him, and who knew what kinds of genes and things he injected to himself. But he had to finish him anyway, and he would.
Carefully, he pulled Rinoa up and delicately placed her under a desk. It was, by far, the safest place he could find for her from whatever chaos that may ensue from the confrontation between him and Hojo. He turned around and was about to stand up when he felt her hand grab his arm followed by a weak moan from Rinoa. Squall turned to her.
"Rinoa..."
"Squall... don't... don't go."
The SeeD knelt in front of her as he gently held her hand. "It's okay. It's gonna be okay."
Rinoa's brows furrowed above her half lidded eyes. She shook her head. "No... Squall, I'm... I'm sorry. About before."
Squall's brows creased upwards. He knew she meant about the silent treatment she gave him earlier that day. Or was it the day before? He could hardly catch up with the time. But it was long done, and whatever happened was least of his concerns. After all, she never really needed to apologize for anything.
"No, Rinoa, it was me. I should've supported you more. If I didn't say those things, you would've told me where you were going. You should have been talking to me. And I..."
He stopped, and his breathing quickened. He looked down, inhaling and exhaling, searching for any feeling of relief. Then, he felt Rinoa's soft hands, touching his face. He turned up to her, and watched her smiling at him. He wanted the moment to last forever, but Hojo's presence suddenly took over his consciousness.
Then, as if reading his mind, Rinoa spoke. "We'll talk later."
Squall quickly nodded. "Yeah..." Then, he stood up and turned to the limping Hojo, his soft expression turning dangerously deadly again.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Hojo laughed loudly and menacingly. Squall's frown went deeper. "Gotta say this. You're probably the most powerful SeeD I've ever met." He let go of his still bleeding shoulder and stretched his back. "You know, I've been stupid. I should've kidnapped you instead and made an experiment out of you. Then again, it would've been difficult capturing you. But your girlfriend there made an easy bait. Or maybe, I can use you both. I can use both your potentials and combine your cells. Then your offspring... will make a good use."
"Well that's not gonna happen." Squall said as he swung his gunblade and placed it on his shoulder. "And the old hag could be the last one you'll ever do."
Hojo's grin grew deeper and larger as he reached something from the side pocket of his lab gown. He took it out and revealed another syringe with green-like substance. "Not quite." He said playfully before piercing it through his arm.
Squall's eyes widened and stepped back. He briefly turned over his shoulder to check on Rinoa, who still managed to look shocked at Hojo's actions despite her weak state. Squall turned back to Hojo warily and held his gunblade with his two hands.
The scientist began shaking violently, groaning as he did. He stumbled down, halting himself before falling completely with his arms extended to the ground, pushing himself up. Then, he yelled, his voice sounded too agonizing the Squall could feel the pain that was going through inside him. Squall's grip on his sword grew tighter by the minute.
Suddenly, a large, black wing emerged from Hojo's heaving back, his face still downcast. When he looked up, his glowing blue eyes revealed two dark dangerous slits. He pushed himself from the ground with his arms and legs and began hovering above with his flapping wing.
Hojo... Squall's eyes narrowed at the sight of Hojo's monstrous new form. What have you done?
"Jenova..." He spoke with his arms extended on his sides, almost in marvel with his work. "She and thrice of her powers." Hojo then landed on the floor firmly, his new weight almost breaking the ground.
"Now," He said casually, turning to Squall, who was already in his fighting stance. "where were we?"
A second later, the two dashed towards each other.
"CLOUD!" Terra screamed at the wounded SOLDIER as she casted a circular shield around them.
Kefka, who was already heavily wounded, threw another firaga spell, and Terra winced at its impact, losing her control of their only shield. Cloud was lying on the ground behind her, grabbing his arm, the same one wielding his buster sword almost too weakly. Slowly, he stood up and limply got himself back on his feet. Terra looked at him over her shoulder unbelievingly.
"Cloud! Wha..."
He didn't reply to her call, nor did he look at her. Instead, he stepped in front of Terra and as if protecting her and held his sword forward, just like what he did prior the fight. Cloud's mako-enhanced eyes looked back at Kefka, who gave him a mocking laugh at his valour.
"Such a naive boy." Kefka swayed his arm backwards, blue-colored fire illuminating in his hand. Cloud narrowed his eyes, weakly raising his sword further in defense.
Then, Kefka swung his hand towards Cloud, the fire flying off from his hand.
"CLOUD!!!"
The blonde pushed himself from the ground and dashed to the direction of the approaching fire.
"NOOO!!!"
Cloud cursed under his breath before the spell exploded on his face. He fell backwards, his body hitting the hard floor.
Terra gasped and hurriedly ran to his direction. She fell on her knees by his side and lifted his blistered face in her arms.
"No..." She sobbed as she examined the unconscious Cloud. His bruised face was full of blisters, and a streak of crimson blood streamed from his forehead down to his jaw. The sight of his beaten self made Terra's sobs turn into tears falling down her cheeks.
"One down." Kefka breathed. "That pesky little-"
"Enough..." Terra muttered between her clenched teeth, her eyes closed tightly and her brows creased together.
"Shut up and face me!" Kefka extended his arm as yellow lights of the thundaga spell started to gather in his hand.
"I SAID ENOUGH!" Terra turned and casted a fire gathered in a large ball of burning light at Kefka. And as soon as the tip of it touched his skin, it exploded massively, but silently.
The clown yelled as he felt himself thrown ten good meters away from the battlefield. He fell violently on the ground, and rolled profusely, breaking his arm in the process. Kefka shrieked in pain as he finally stopped and grabbed his injured limb. He rolled himself on a more comfortable position at his side as he went on moaning and groaning in pain. It overwhelmed him too much that he failed to notice the mysterious female purple figure with disproportionate hands and feet, and long purple spiked extended from her head. She was hastily floating towards Kefka, another set of fire spell beginning to gather in her hands.
"You have done enough." She said.
He dashed away again from the mutated scientist as he threw another spell at him. Apparently, Squall learned a new spell from the mysterious aeon. It came in red, shooting so swiftly towards his enemy, with a speed almost as fast as light. Though it would seem to be powerful enough to kill a nimble monster in one shot, it still was no match to Hojo's newfound strength. Squall was practically running for his life, deflecting Hojo's occasional attacks with his gunblade.
"Here I thought you can surpass my creation that is Cloud Strife." The monstrous scientist said as he got closer to Squall. "It appears you are still one of those filthy humans after all."
Squall growled as he quickly stepped backwards. "C'mon..." He quietly muttered between his teeth, calling for the aeon's help. "This is a desperate situation... c'mon..."
Rinoa watched in horror as Hojo slowly cornered Squall, with him winning the fight. She suddenly forgot her nearly unconscious state and decided it was about time she help the SeeD. She looked around for something, anything at all that might aid Squall in the battle he was losing, but only saw chairs, tables and flasks inside the laboratory.
Then, an idea suddenly popped into her head as she looked at the flasks. Hojo's talks of experiments and his "project Ultemecia" he shared with Kefka and Squall reminded her of the syringe Hojo dropped before the fight. It should still contain whatever genetic modifications Hojo had planned for it, and it could help Squall... that is, by injecting Hojo's experiment into her system. She looked around the room for the syringe and finally saw it lying on the floor among the scattered rubbles of broken glasses caused by the fight, though fortunately resting far from the battling pair. Wincing in pain, Rinoa forced herself to leave her spot and crawled her way to the small thing she considered to be Squall's only hope of winning. As she finally got near it, she reached her arm out and took it with her shaking hand before staring at it. Once she injects it to herself, whatever was inside it would be permanently flowing inside her. And whatever effects it will have, whatever it can turn her into, will be something she would have to deal with for the rest of her life. There won't be turning back.
She looked at the monstrous Hojo. He turned out to be a fierce being, almost inhuman the moment he took out a syringe from his pocket and pierced it into himself. As Rinoa watched him hovering above Squall, chasing him almost too murderously as his desire for Squall's blood was obvious in his eyes, it became apparent to her that she might turn into something like him. Then, she turned to Squall. If she didn't do anything, then something might happen that she might regret. And regrets are always realized far too late. But Squall, he knew of that, and he risked his life to save her from her captors. There was nothing for him to regret because he couldn't say he never tried. He did, and he was fighting for his and his girlfriend's lives as he swung his gunblade once more in defense from his enemy's clawing attack.
Rinoa winced for a split second as she watched Squall struggle too hardly. She couldn't watch him get hurt. Not anymore.
She closed her eyes tightly, and with all the might left in her, Rinoa pierced the injection through her arm and pushed all its contents inside her bloodstream. Once it was empty, she threw it aside and felt her arm jerk for a second. She had the sudden urge to gasp for air and inhaled as deeply as her lungs would allow her. And the moment she exhaled, she felt much more awake than she was before. Whatever it was inside that syringe, it did her good... for now.
She turned again to Squall, and he was struggling more than ever. His gunblade was in front of him, pushing the forceful Hojo from clawing the brunette's skin to his death. She didn't know what to do, she didn't know anything about battles. But she had to do something, especially that Squall was gripping his gunblade to his dear life. Suddenly, she felt an electrical tingling sensation from the tips of her fingers. She turned to it and saw sparks of yellow light flowing and dancing out from her hands. Was she supposed to touch Hojo and electrocute him to his death? Or was she supposed to point her finger to him and wait until electricity shoots him? Whatever she was supposed to do, she didn't know. But she had to try something. Rinoa raised her arm and pointed it at Hojo. She didn't know what would happen, but it had to be worth the try.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, thunder shot down from the sky and assaulted Hojo on his spot. Rinoa's eye went wide and gasped as she looked at her hand then to Hojo, who was thrown far away from where he was previously fighting Squall. Rinoa aimed her arm to the scientist again cautiously as she ran her way to Squall's side.
The SeeD was just as dumbfounded as Rinoa after seeing the damage she had done. The impact of the thunder spell was so strong, it burnt half of Hojo's wing. When he felt Rinoa on his side, he quickly turned to her, his eyes full of doubt and shock, and his mouth gaping open.
"Wha..." He managed to mutter.
Rinoa did not turn to him while still focused on Hojo, whose attack she anticipated at any moment. "I'll explain later. We should be going out of here now."
Suddenly, Hojo disappeared, leaving no sign nor any trace of him.
Rinoa gasped and Squall narrowed his eyes.
"Oh Hyne..."
"Come on!" Squall stood up and pulled Rinoa by her arm. "Let's go before he-"
"LOOK OUT!" Rinoa suddenly shrieked as she abruptly pushed Squall behind her and extended her arm towards the large shards of shooting ice.
"Stop." She commanded at the blizzard spell as she waved her hand. Then, as if obeying her order, they did stop, pausing midair before finally falling to the ground. Their absence on air gave Rinoa a clearer view of Hojo, who was flying by the place's high ceiling, obviously astonished and amused at the same time by Rinoa's suddenly demonstration of his experiment's success. She didn't have to tell him that she injected his project into her system, he knew she would eventually do it, but not before watching her beloved in the brink of his defeat. He knew everything, he planned it well. And he had further plans.
Rinoa folded her arm to her chest and waved it again to Hojo. But instead of a typical elemental spell that came out of her palm, a small, meteor-like thing came out of it and shot right at Hojo. The scientist bent his torso to his side, letting the spell pass him by, successfully dodging the attack while still staring wittingly at the young couple.
"Amusing..." Hojo said while folding his arms against his chest. "Truly amusing. What do you know, my experiment does work."
"Experiment?" Squall breathed out while looking questioningly at Hojo, then to Rinoa.
She turned her head to him over her shoulders, her eyes downcast. "I injected it in me."
Squall's eyes narrowed in disbelief. "What?"
"I'm sorry!" Rinoa looked directly at the brunette's eyes before swiftly turning back to Hojo. "I'm sorry, okay? He's going to kill you if I don't do something!"
"And you think it helped?" Hojo slowly began to raise his arm over his head, as black and red smokes started to gather behind him. Rinoa extended her arms protectively in front of Squall while he quickly raised his gunblade in front of them as a shield from whatever was coming, and grabbed Rinoa's waist with his free hand.
"That's not going to help either." The elevated scientist said before suddenly shooting his arm downwards on his side. Suddenly, a loud BANG was heard, accompanied by a bright and enormous explosion. Squall hugged Rinoa and covered her protectively with his arms, while Rinoa did the same with him.
"Meet my first successful experiment," The smoke began to slowly disappear, while a tall, silhouette of a woman was emerging. Squall slowly lowered his arm from his face and Rinoa's head, then looked at the new predicament they would be facing.
Then, there she was, as summoned by the scientist; a tall, muscular woman with long silver hair that covered her naked body, embedded with black coloured tattoos engraved on her pale skin. Her piercing gold eyes were slanted downwards to her nosebridge, dangerously meeting close together. Her hands were huge, purple claws of a beast, and so were her even larger feet. She was a monstrous sight, an inhuman abomination.
Hojo smirked. "Ultemecia..." He raised his arm at the lovers' direction. "Kill them."
Ultemecia didn't move a muscle as she kept her eyes on her enemies. Squall's hold on Rinoa grew tighter and more wary, while Rinoa nervously looked up and around them for anything that might spring out at any second. Suddenly, the ground shook, and the floor was slowly breaking apart, creating cracks where light was seeping through from below. Then, as if it was his initial reaction, Squall pushed Rinoa away from him and the cracking floor.
Rinoa fell on her back hard against the ground, several meters away from Squall, who was surrounded by cracks and trying to find his way out from his dangerous spot.
"Squall!" Rinoa yelled at the brunette. She pushed herself up and stood.
Suddenly, a star-shaped emblem of light inside a circle of burning flames came out of nowhere beneath her. Rinoa gasped when the emblem quickly grew brighter, signalling a possible strong explosion around her. She looked at it blankly, as she froze on her spot, figuring out what she should be doing.
"Rinoa!" Squall called, as he jumped from one flat surface to another, avoiding the holes that were forming around him. He took a quick glance at her, and his eyes went wide as soon as he noticed the light around her growing more vivid. He felt his heart beating fast and quickly jumped his way closer to her.
Then, she turned to look at him, a late reaction to his call. Her eyes told him that she felt helpless and scared. The already brighter light around her made gave him a clearer sight of her scared face.
"No! Rinoa!"
The embled exploded around her, as she succumbed into the light.
Squall's eyes went wider. "RINOA!"
The light vanished, and its only trace it left was Rinoa's unconcscious and blistered body, lying on the ground.
His eyes dilated in despair at the vision of her.
"NOOO!!!"
He cried angrily.
Then, as if responding to Squall's agonizing howl, a huge, long metal chain with a crossed anchor suddenly shot down from the sky to the underground. Hojo frowned at its sudden appearance, while Ultemecia merely stared at it with a blank expression. Suddenly, it began pulling up something from the deep pits of the ground that seemed to be too heavy, judging from the pace of the moving chain. Until it appeared.
Slowly emerging from the ground was a large, bandaged head with dark blue spikes lining along the center of it. The bandages showed one eye from the side of its head which glowed in blue color. The lower half of its head was uncovered, revealing its mouth with long, sharp teeth and four pointed fangs evenly distributed to the upper and lower rows. Then, its body emerged, a wide, stone-hard torso covered by its long arms, crossed against its chest, firmly tied by white ropes to its sides. Its hands were proportionally large, with sharp, purple claws wringling restlessly. Two tall, shell-like objects were standing by its sides, and chains were wrapped securely around it. The monstrous figure was a bit more than four-story tall, making Hojo gape at it in pure incredulousness and helplessness.
"... if you finally summon this aeon, she will aid you in your battles for the rest of your life. And you, will officially become her summoner. This also means that you can give her any order, and she will immediately obey."
"Make them feel pain. Great deal of pain,"
"And you have to call her by her name, too."
"Anima."
It roared. A loud and painful roar. And as it did, Anima's hands stretched open, struggling to break free from its ropes. Suddenly, the ground around her opened, revealing Anima's lower half, which looked ten times more dangerous than she was; a freer, demon-like creature with long, white hair cover most part of its face, except it's mouth with longer sharp teeth and equally lethal fangs. The spikes on its head were golden yellow, with two additionally long, huge horns curved downward. Its hands were long and unbinded, and its fists on its sides were large.
Ultemecia and Hojo were pulled down under the ground before they were positioned in front of Anima's lower half. Then, it roared, much louder though more furiously, and it was the last thing that could be heard before the hellish hole on the floor finally closed up.
A/N: I'm thinking of getting a twitter or something. I don't like twitter that much, but I want to get in touch with you guys. Or maybe a blog, so I can share things with you like ideas and stuff... What do you think?
Oh, and btw, the next chapter of this story is going to be the last one... *sob* T-T