Final Fantasy 8: Future Bound

by Darsar

The continuation of the events of Final Fantasy 8, shortly after the conclusion of the game.

40. Chapter 40: Young Revolutionary

Chapter 40

Young Revolutionary

(Seifer)

Things were finally looking up.

Since being captured by the Galbadians, Seifer's life had been nothing but a long string of misfortunes, one after another. He had been ripped from his boring life in Balamb and dragged to the Galbadia Garden detention center and treated like a misbehaving child. From there he was hauled off to D-District prison and tortured with electricity. Then, when it looked like he and Ciel were in the process of engineering their own escape, Squall and the Esthar soldiers had captured him again, throwing him in the passenger bay to await trail and possible execution.

Even in victory, Seifer could not escape misfortune. He had escaped the passenger bay of the Ragnarok only to get shot in the stomach in a fight with Squall. He'd managed to pull himself together and return the favor, only to have his new wounds torn open by Rinoa immediately thereafter.

But now things seemed to be falling in his favor. Squall and the Esthar soldiers were gone. Seifer and Ultimecia were in command of the Ragnarok, and blazing a trail eastward over the ocean. And Ultimecia had—for the moment—stopped meddling around with time travel and instead was focusing on altering the present. As long as she stayed with him in the present, there was no chance that her machinations would undo his existence.

Best of all, she had finally begun to warm up to him again. Or, at least as much as she had ever been warm towards him to begin with. She no longer treated him like an unwelcome stranger, but now regarded him more like a servant. He was fine with that. As long as things went according to his plan, he was alright.

(Shouldn't be long now.)

Ultimecia had put Ellone under a magically-induced sleep again. Now that Ultimecia didn't had an immediate use for Ellone's powers, Ellone was nothing but a liability as long as she was awake. Although she couldn't compete physically or magically against Seifer and Ultimecia, she could still sabotage the ship or attempt to escape if she was left unattended and conscious.

Once Ellone was asleep, Seifer tucked her into one of the chairs at the back of the bridge. Her limp head fell onto her shoulder. The armrests on either side kept her propped upright, preventing her from sliding out of the chair. Seifer regarded her for a moment, making sure that she was going to stay in place, then turned and faced Ultimecia.

"What's your plan, Ultimecia?" Seifer asked.

He'd asked this question once before and Ultimecia had exploded on him. But now he got the feeling that the atmosphere between them had changed. Perhaps it was because of Ultimecia's travels in the past, reminding her of who Seifer was and all that he had done for her. Or maybe her string of successes had improved her mood. Whatever the case, Seifer felt confident that she wouldn't flay him alive for asking about her intentions.

"Now that there has been another Lunar Cry, Hyne's Fount will be primed again," Ultimecia said.

Seifer frowned. He'd never heard the phrase "Hyne's Fount" before. He waited, hoping that Ultimecia would elaborate. Instead she said, "I shall go to the Lunatic Pandora and use it to harness the Fount. I had attempted to do so using Adel, but the meddling Legendary SeeD interfered and slew her before I had the chance."

Her face twisted into a scowl at the memory.

"But now," Ultimecia said, "He will be unable to interfere. Even if he has survived his wounds, he is stranded in the ocean somewhere and will not be able to compete with the speed of the Ragnarok. We shall arrive well before him and seize the Fount. He cannot stop us this time."

Ultimecia smiled, an expression almost as frightening as her scowl. Even though it was Ciel's face, there was nothing of Ciel in her mannerisms.

"So what the hell is this Fount thing?" Seifer asked.

Apparently, Ultimecia was in a generous mood, so she explained. "Hyne's Fount is an energy source. Whether or not it pertains to the actual 'Hyne' from common mythology is uncertain. But using the power of the Fount, a sorceress can attain godlike powers."

(Power enough to destroy SeeD?)

Seifer nodded. "Sounds good."

Ultimecia inclined her head slightly, acknowledging Seifer's comment without responding to it. "The Lunatic Pandora is still hovering above Tears' Point, is it not?"

Seifer shrugged. "Should be. I mean, it was when I left it."

Ultimecia's eyes narrowed at him. "And how long ago was that?"

"'Bout a month ago."

Ultimecia sighed through clenched teeth, her good mood instantly evaporating. Seifer felt the room grow cooler. "The Estharians will not leave the Pandora on top of Tears' Point where it can accidentally trigger another Lunar Cry. They are not so stupid as that."

"Hey, that's all I know," Seifer said defensively. "I dunno if they moved it or not. I haven't been out that way since you sent me there and it ain't like the Esthar government mails me a newsletter to keep me up to date on this crap."

"Watch your tone, Knight," Ultimecia said. "Just because I have chosen to answer a few of your questions does not mean you are entitled to treat me as your inferior. You are still my knight, my servant, and you will behave as such."

Seifer clenched his teeth, biting back a sarcastic comment, then bowed his head. "Yes, Ultimecia."

(Just keep her happy…)

She raised one hand to her chin and stared out the front window, lost in thought. Fluffy clouds hurtled past the window as the spaceship dashed to the east, towards Esthar.

"They can't have moved it far," Ultimecia said. "You destroyed the controls, correct?"

"Just like you told me to, yeah," Seifer said.

"Good. That will delay them," Ultimecia said. "My concern is that they would choose to submerge it in the ocean again, to keep it from being used."

Seifer grimaced. It had been hard, back-breaking, and dangerous work to haul that thing out of the ocean in the first place. The thought of doing it again—even with the prospect of Ultimecia's help this time—did not thrill Seifer.

"She might know," Seifer said, nodding his head towards Ellone. "She was in Esthar the whole time. Plus, she's the niece of the Esthar President, or somethin' like that."

"Is that so?" Ultimecia said. She raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps she hasn't exhausted all her uses just yet."

Ultimecia strode quickly across the bridge and stood before Ellone, leaving the Ragnarok to pilot itself for the time being. With a short wave of her hand, she canceled the magical spell that held Ellone in its grasp. In a few moments, Ellone drifted into wakefulness, then blinked in alarm as she remembered where she was and who was standing before her. She recoiled in her seat, shrinking down and away from Ultimecia's penetrating stare.

"Tell me," Ultimecia said. She rested one hand on the backrest of the chair, leaning over Ellone. "Where is the Lunatic Pandora?"

Ellone didn't answer immediately. Her eyes flicked from Ultimecia's, then to Seifer's. Seifer shook his head, indicating that he wasn't going to help her.

Ultimecia slammed her fist onto the backrest, startling Ellone and making her yelp. "Where is it?" she asked, in a calm, neutral tone.

"Th-they said they were gonna move it," Ellone said. "They want to bring it to Esthar. Dr. Odine wants to study it, but Uncle Laguna wants him to work on a way to destroy it for good. They've been—"

"I don't care about that," Ultimecia said. "Is it at the city now or not?"

Ellone nodded meekly. "I think so…"

"Is it under guard?" Ultimecia asked.

Ellone looked away. "I don't know. It wasn't in the city when I left."

Ultimecia glared at her, but didn't press any further on that subject. "What's the strength of the Esthar air force?" she asked. "Have they developed the Centra Replicators yet?"

Ellone narrowed her eyes and formed her mouth into a soundless "o" shape. "I… I don't know what those are. I don't have much to do with the military. I'm just—"

"This ship," Ultimecia asked, her voice growing more impatient. "Are there others like it?"

(Other Ragnaroks?)

A memory flashed across Seifer's mind. He had seen other ships like the Ragnarok before. But it wasn't in this time period, and not worth mentioning to Ultimecia.

"No, this is the only one," Ellone said.

Another wicked grin spread across Ultimecia's face. "Excellent," she said to herself. "I have caught Esthar in an age when it is most vulnerable. I had feared that I would need to travel back even further in order to find a suitable time to claim the Fount, but it seems that Fate continues to serve me."

Behind Ultimecia, Seifer sighed quietly. He was growing rather annoyed by Ultimecia's constant references to concepts that he had never heard before. Hyne's Fount, Centra Replicators, Legendary SeeDs. He didn't remember her being so cryptic last time they had met. She had never been open or forthcoming with him, but it used to be that when she spoke, her orders were direct and clear. Now Seifer had no idea what was going on or why.

(And why's she keep talking about Fate?)

(I thought she said Squall was the one "warded by Fate" or whatever.)

(Whose side is Fate on?)

"You have served well," Ultimecia said to Ellone. She passed a hand over Ellone's face. A moment later, Ellone was once again asleep in her chair. Her limp body slid down a little until the armrests caught her and held her in place.

Ultimecia spun around. "This is what you need to know, Sir Knight. We are going to the Pandora, where I will obtain the power of Hyne's Fount and use it to complete the time compression spell."

Seifer's heart sank.

(She's still goin' on about friggin' time compression.)

He had hoped that her time spent in the past—her time spent watching her plans fail and her ambitions shatter—would teach her that the answer didn't reside in the past, but in the present. Seifer's present. He'd hoped that she would return to his time and focus on accomplishing real, solid, achievable plans. But apparently, no amount of failures would convince her to change her mind. To her, there was no other solution. It was time compression or nothing.

"I will need you to be at full strength," Ultimecia said. She waved a hand over Seifer's stomach, and the wound there—which he had almost begun to forget about—vanished in seconds. The sudden void created by the absence of constant pain nearly overwhelmed him. His eyes opened up and his mouth dropped open. He had to put one hand on a nearby chair to keep from falling over.

When the feeling of euphoria passed, he got a hold of himself, and focused on his long-term goals. Although he knew he was about to risk Ultimecia's wrath, he had to at least try to talk her out of using time compression. He wanted her to destroy SeeD—but not all of existence. Compressing time into a singularity seemed like overkill to him, especially now that she had mentioned that Hyne's Fount could give her godlike power.

(Can't she just destroy SeeD and leave the rest of time the hell alone?)

Seifer summoned up his nerve and asked, "Why?" He crossed his arms.

Instantly, he detected a shift in the air. The temperature plummeted several degrees and the air seemed to fill with an invisible, choking fog. He expected this reaction from her, and he would not let it sway him. He wanted answers, not more riddles and bizarre future terminology.

"Why what?" Ultimecia asked, speaking each word slowly, an unspoken threat dripping off every syllable.

"Why not just destroy SeeD now?" Seifer asked. "You said the Fount will give you godlike powers. So what's to stop you from just blowing up SeeD? Boom. Done."

"Don't you think I have tried?" Ultimecia asked, her voice rising in fury. "I have impaled the Legendary SeeD with ice. I have battled him three times in two different bodies. You yourself have fought him, you have shot him. He is warded by both Fate and prophecy and he cannot be slain like a normal mortal. And as long as he lives, I shall never be free of him."

"I killed him," Seifer said confidently. "I shot him and he fricken died."

"It's unlikely that he is dead," Ultimecia said coldly. "The only way for me to know—the only way—is through time compression. To negate all life, all prophecies, all fate, all destiny. Only then can I be sure of his destruction."

Seifer wanted to snarl, but he held it in check.

(Damn it, Squall ain't nothing special!)

"What damn prophecy?" Seifer asked. "Never heard of this 'Legendary SeeD' stuff until you started talkin' about it."

"I am done answering questions," Ultimecia said. She turned her back on him. "You will assist me in acquiring Hyne's Fount or you will be destroyed."

(I'll be destroyed by Time Compression…)

(… Or I'll be destroyed by Ultimecia.)

Seifer snorted.

(Hell of a choice.)

If Ultimecia was telling the truth, then time compression would erase all life in the universe—including Seifer's. There had been a time a few weeks ago when Seifer had been too angry to think clearly, when he was completely on board with the idea of faithfully serving Ultimecia and undoing all existence. To hell with the world, and to hell with himself. Burn it all, was his thought.

But in the time since their last encounter, Seifer had a chance to think, to reason, and he had come to the conclusion that he rather enjoyed being alive. Although he hated SeeD and Squall and everything associated with those two concepts, he didn't hate them enough to throw his life away in a suicide mission.

A part of him had become disillusioned with Ultimecia's single-mindedness. He felt an urge to turn around and walk away. Take the remaining escape pod and leave Ultimecia behind. After all, if the rules of time operated the way that Seifer thought they did, then Ultimecia wouldn't be able to change anything at all. No more than she had been able to change the past through Edea or Adel. Not by herself, anyway. She needed an agent in the past working with her, assisting her—a knight. Although she would never admit it, she needed Seifer in order to complete her plans.

(If I leave now, her plans will fail.)

(Fate or destiny or whatever will stop her dead in her tracks.)

He looked at Ellone and briefly considered doing just that. Then he sighed and shook his head. Ultimecia needed Seifer to complete her plans, and Seifer needed Ultimecia to complete his. She was the power and the strength in the relationship. Without her, he was just one man alone, fighting against the world. What could he hope to accomplish by himself?

(I gotta think of a way to change her mind.)

(Make her use the Fount thing in the present, not the past.)

He walked over to one of the empty chairs on the bridge and sat down. He put his elbow on the armrest and propped his head on his fist. He tried to think of arguments he could use to sway Ultimecia, or of ways of tricking her, or overpowering her.

But the steady hum of the Ragnarok's engines and the comfortable chair beneath him combined with the rush of unnecessary endorphins still coursing through his veins from his healed wounds. He closed his eyes for just a moment and—without meaning to—fell into a deep sleep.

At first, his dreams are of the usual fare. He dreams of his gunblade, flashing in the morning sun. He dreams of being atop a mountain, looking down at far green fields. He dreams of Garden, filled with students going to and from classrooms. He dreams of Fujin and Raijin, standing in the hallway outside the Garden library. They mutter something nonsensical to him, but somehow his dream self knows what they said, and knows that it was funny. The three laugh together, their concerns and worries momentarily forgotten.

But then the dreams get darker, get murkier. He slides erratically from place to place. He is in Garden, he is in D-District. Ciel is with him, Ultimecia is with him. He hears voices shouting, voices crying out.

He finds himself in the tavern in Balamb, sitting alone at a table. The tavern is full of faceless people, drinking from empty glasses and playing games with blank cards. A soft whining noise rises in the back of his mind. He spins around in place, then stands up begins walking in slow motion, searching for the source of the noise. The noise grows louder, hurting his ears.

He sees that there is a bright jukebox in the corner of the wood-paneled room, blasting that one continuous whining note. The others in the bar seem unaffected, but it is driving Seifer mad. He storms towards the jukebox, intending to shut it off or put his boot through it—whichever will stop the noise faster. But as soon as he lays his hands on the bright console, the entire world vanishes and he is lost in a sea of blackness. An infinite empty void of total absence. Thankfully, the piercing noise stops.

"Squall?" a female voice asks in the dark. Seifer narrows his eyes, then recognizes Ellone's voice.

(Damn it.)

"Is this another one of yer tricks?" Seifer asks. His rational mind becomes alert now, and he realizes that he must have fallen asleep on board the Ragnarok. He is momentarily worried that Ellone is trying some elaborate ploy to escape, but he is comforted by the knowledge that Ultimecia is still there on the bridge and still in control.

(Ellone can't stop us.)

(It's already too late.)

"Oh… it's you," Ellone says. Seifer looks around, trying to find the source of her voice, but it seems to be coming from everywhere.

"Don't sound so disappointed," Seifer says.

"Why are we here?" Ellone asks. "Why are we connected?"

Seifer shrugs. "I sure as hell don't know. Thought you were the one in charge of this stuff."

"Oh, I'm sleeping again," Ellone says, seemingly unaware of the fact that Ultimecia has put her into a magically induced sleep. "Sometimes I connect to people without meaning to when I'm sleeping. It seems like my power is harder to control when I'm not awake."

"Well, then disconnect me," Seifer says. "It's damn boring here in the dark."

"No. Not yet," Ellone says. "I want to talk."

Seifer scoffs. "Women. Always wantin' to talk."

He thinks that maybe if he can rile up Ellone, make her mad, maybe she'll disconnect him and let him wake up again. He plans to be as obstinate and rude as possible until she lets him go.

"Seifer, please," Ellone says. "Why are you doing this?"

"Doin' what?" Seifer asks. He continues to search around, looking for Ellone, but she is nowhere.

"Working for Ultimecia," Ellone says. "You know that she wants to compress time. You must understand what that means, right?"

"Yeah, I ain't stupid," Seifer says. "I've got that part figured out."

(If she compresses time, I'll disappear…)

"Then why?" Ellone asks. "You said earlier that you and she are the same. What did you mean?"

"I meant what I said," Seifer says. "We got the same goals."

"Which are?"

(Power.)

(Influence.)

(Vengeance.)

(Infamy.)

But he says none of these things. Instead he says, "I wanna change the world." Which is as close to the truth as he can admit to Ellone without making himself seem like a monster.

"This isn't the way to do it," Ellone says. "The kind of change that Ultimecia wants—"

"I know what Ultimecia wants!" Seifer snaps. "Better than you do. Better than anyone."

(Do I?)

Lately her behavior has been very erratic, very unpredictable. Granted, he never knew her very well to begin with, but something is definitely different about her. But he can't allow Ellone to see his indecision, his lack of faith in his sorceress.

"Then why are you helping her?" Ellone asks.

"She's just…" Seifer says. He struggles for the right words, but cannot find them. He is forced to say something that is close to what he feels is the truth, but isn't quite what he means to say. "She's… misguided. She got it in her head that she needs to compress time to save herself. Don't you get it? She's tryin' to protect herself!"

"Protect herself from what?" Ellone asks.

"SeeD!" Seifer says, as if the answer is obvious. "The mercenaries who hunt her across time! They wanna kill her."

Ellone hesitates. Then her voice says, "Ultimecia is evil. She needs to be stopped."

"She's only tryin' to compress time because SeeD drove her to do it," Seifer says. "They started the whole thing."

"So you want to stop SeeD, is that it?" Ellone asks.

"Yes! I wanna change the future." Seifer says. At last, it seems like Ellone is beginning to understand him. "I wanna make it so that there is no SeeD in the future. If there's no SeeD, then Ultimecia won't try to compress time. I'll save Ultimecia from SeeD and I'll save the world from Ultimecia at the same time. Everyone goes home happy."

(I'll be the hero.)

(Not Squall. Not anyone else.)

Ellone pauses and considers this. "So… you truly don't want to destroy the world?"

Seifer snorts and grins. "What? And deprive the universe of my beautiful face? No, Sis. I wanna live. I wanna live a long, long time."

"But you can stop this!" Ellone says. "If you stop Ultimecia now, then you can save the world from time compression."

"Why would I do that?" Seifer asks. "Me and Ultimecia are on the same side."

"And what side is that?"

"The side that fights against SeeD," Seifer says.

(Ain't it obvious?)

Ellone's voice continues, but only in hesitant starts and stops, as if she can't quite form the proper words. Seifer waits for her to finish. Ellone says, "But… you used to want to be a SeeD yourself. You spent years at Garden. It's your home, Seifer. Why do you hate them so much?"

Seifer already knows the answer. He has spent a long time contemplating this very question. He sneers confidently and says, "Sis, do you have any idea how many times I did that damn Field Exam?"

"No," Ellone says.

"Fourteen times," Seifer says. "Fourteen lousy, fricken damned times."

"I don't understand," Ellone says. "Why does that matter?"

"I was the best!" Seifer says. "I was better than Squall, I was better than everyone else. But every time the Exam came up, other kids graduated and I failed. Kids who were years younger than me got the nod, while I busted my ass and got nothing. SeeD always says they want strong, capable individuals. But that's a load of bull! They want pawns. No-brained little puppets they can throw into a fire. People like me have no place there. I don't fit in. I was just wastin' my time tryin' to become a SeeD. I only just realized when I met Ultimecia."

(When I discovered my real destiny.)

"So this is vengeance then?" Ellone asks. "You want to get back at them for keeping you out?"

"Yeah, at first it was," Seifer says. "Ultimecia said she was gonna destroy SeeD, and man, I jumped on that like a starving dog on a steak dinner. I woulda done anything she asked, so long as Squall and the rest of SeeD got what was comin' to 'em."

"But then what happened?" Ellone asks.

"Time compression bugged me," Seifer says. "Destroying all of existence wasn't my thing. Like I said, I wanna live a long time, and apparently that wasn't in the cards for Ultimecia. But then something happened that really changed my mind. Gave me a new idea, you could say. A way to serve Ultimecia without letting her destroy the world."

"What was that?"

"Hell, you're connected to me right?" Seifer asks. "Why don't I just show you? Let's go back to the Lunatic Pandora. Right after Adel died. I'll show you what I saw."

"I'll try," Ellone says. "But as I said, it's harder to control my power when I'm asleep."

"You'll figure it out," Seifer says. He closes his eyes and waits for the whining noise and the headache that indicates that Ellone is forming a connection. But then he realizes that she is already connected, and that nothing else needs to happen.

When he opens his eyes again, the endless dark room is gone and—

He is running.

He has done his part in the performance, executing every step of Ultimecia's plans. Ultimecia had commanded him to find the Lunatic Pandora. He has done so. She commanded him to bring it to Tears' Point. It is now there. And then she commanded him to unite the two sorceresses—Rinoa and Adel—to maximize their combined strength.

All this and more he has done and now he flees from the battle. The battle between the two junctioned sorceresses and the SeeDs. Across a green bridge behind him, in a cavernous room filled with light and strange Esthar technology, the revived Adel is fighting Squall and his friends. The sounds of the magic and gunfire and explosions shake the walls of the Lunatic Pandora and reverberate in his chest.

He jumps down a ladder, landing on a platform. He jumps down to another bridge and passes Ellone and Laguna, who are cautiously walking towards the sounds of the battle. Ellone opens her mouth to say something to him, but Seifer charges past her.

He rushes into tunnels of green stone and tunnels of gray metal, running aimlessly through the labyrinth. He has no idea where he's going and doesn't care, just so long as he keeps moving away. Soon he finds Fujin and Raijin standing in a metal hallway, talking to each other. They both turn and look at him. Seifer slows down and approaches them.

"Hey, look who it is, ya know?" Raijin says. His friendly tone is forced and unnatural.

"SEIFER?" Fujin says.

"We thought that was you makin' all that racket back there," Raijin says. "The hell's goin' on, man?"

"I don't know," Seifer says. "But it's gonna be big. We gotta clear outta here."

Raijin and Fujin exchange a glance. "And go where, ya know? You wanna walk back to Esthar?"

"IMPOSSIBLE," Fujin says.

Seifer scoffs and poses dramatically. "As if," he says. "We'll just take the Ragnarok back. Shouldn't be too hard to fly it if Squall and his dumbass friends can handle it."

Fujin and Raijin exchange another glance.

"Sounds good," Raijin says. "But uh… if ya don't mind me askin'… are you with us now?"

Seifer narrows his eyes. "Whaddya mean? Course I'm with you."

Fujin scowls. "SORCERESS."

"Ya, man," Raijin says. "Are you with us, or with her?"

Only a few minutes ago, Fujin had delivered a long and passionate speech about friendship and the meaning of their posse. It was one of the very few times Seifer—or anyone else—had heard her speak in complete sentences. Yet despite her emotional plea, despite the fact that she did something out of character for her, Seifer had ignored her.

(What choice did I have?)

(They made me choose between them and Ultimecia.)

"I'm with you," Seifer says, because that is what they want to hear. In truth, he's not sure whose side he is on anymore. The last few days have been very confusing and difficult for him. He is growing disillusioned with Ultimecia's plan, but he has gone too far now to go back and side with the SeeDs.

From down the hallway, the sound of battle stops. The rumbling in the walls of the Pandora ceases. The three posse members glance around, then look at each other.

"Guess it's over," Seifer says.

"Wonder who won?" Raijin asks.

And then reality breaks apart.

The green stones around them glow with ever increasing intensity. The walls—the hard steel walls—begin to soften and warp like melting jelly. The colors of the world bleed into each other, and the ground below Seifer's feet becomes mushy and vague. Beside him, Fujin and Raijin flicker in and out of existence, as if they are light bulbs and someone is playing with their switches.

"Hey, Fuge! Rage!" Seifer yells, but his voice does not carry across the distance like it should. Instead, the words come out of his mouth and then warp and twist, echoing, growing louder, growing softer, looping back to the beginning, changing pitch and tone. The sound of his deforming voice fills his mind, drowning out all other noises.

He clamps his gloved hands to his ears but still the sounds pursue him. Fujin and Raijin flicker once more, then vanish completely, leaving Seifer alone in the bleeding, melting hallway.

Soon everything has merged together into one smear of color all around him, and one single, irritating note in his ears. He shuts his eyes and tries to scream, but nothing happens.

Everything fades to black.

When he opens his eyes, he is on an unfamiliar shoreline. Teal blue ocean waves lap along the white sand beach. Gulls circle overhead, crying shrilly. He's laying sprawled on his belly, his arms and legs bent in awkward shapes. Rough stones on the shore bite into his skin, forcing him into wakefulness.

He lifts his head up, and a layer of sand clings to his skin and hair. He shakes it off and blearily looks around. To his left there is nothing but the sea, drifting off into hazy blue infinity. To his right, the shoreline continues inland for a few dozen paces before hitting a dirt shelf. The shelf is covered in tangled green grass, thick with weeds and ugly flowers. Further inland, Seifer can see the outlines of mountains—brown and speckled.

He puts his hands on the beach, his fingers sinking into the sand, and pushes himself upright. He stands and slaps off the thin layer of sand that clings to his clothes.

"FUGE!" he yells up the beach. He turns and faces the other direction. "RAGE!"

Only the gulls answer him.

He mutters a curse under his breath and tries to find where he is. But even if he had been a perfect student in school, he would have had difficulty identifying this shoreline. It is just one of many similar beaches around the world, nearly indistinguishable from all the rest. Seifer has no idea where he is—although the brownish mountains to the distance seem to indicate that he's somewhere on the Centra Continent, if he recalls correctly.

It is then that he realizes that he is not the only thing in the area. Movement from the sea catches his eye and he turns to look. There, far out beyond the shore, five hulking shapes are cruising towards him. He raises one gloved hand and uses it to shield his eyes from the dull sunlight.

After a few minutes, the shapes become discernible. He realizes that it is five Gardens, or at least five Garden-shaped objects. They are traveling in a V-formation. The lead Garden is instantly familiar to him. The sea-blue paint on the metal exterior. The tall central structure ending in a point, making the whole thing look like a giant seashell. It's Balamb Garden. It has undergone some massive aesthetic changes—adding gun turrets, armor plating, and reinforcements—but the outline is still recognizable.

He also identifies Galbadia Garden, flying just to the side of Balamb Garden. G-Garden, too, has undergone changes. While it still retains its red motif and the design of a viper on the front, it now has numerous structures on its roof that resemble helipads and runways. These structures are dotted with winged machinery that Seifer has never seen before.

The other three Gardens he does not recognize. There is a purple one in the shape of a cylinder. Unlike its peers, it is not armored or laden with gun turrets, but the imposing walls look to be nearly impenetrable. Beside the purple Garden is a pale blue one, with recognizably Estharian designs and technologies gracing the exterior. The fifth is squat—the shortest of the five—and colored a deep forest green. He can see no weaponry or armor at all on the green Garden, and it trails at one of the ends of the V-shape, guarded by its more intimidating brethren.

He considers running away, but then can't imagine why he would bother. The Gardens have probably already seen him, and even if they haven't, why would five Gardens bother with him at all? He's just one guy alone on the beach. Hardly worth the attention of a whole Garden.

He stands defiantly on the beach and awaits the arrival of the Gardens. He doesn't expect them to stop for him, or even acknowledge his existence, but he wants to get a closer view of them as they pass him by.

It's then that he hears the screeching sound in the sky, as if some terrible monsters are ripping into some animal and screaming as they feast. He's startled and looks up, wondering what kind of monsters live in this strange otherworld.

It's not monsters in the sky, but at least one or two dozen Ragnaroks. Or, more precisely, not Ragnaroks, but spaceships following a similar general design. Many of them carry the same dragon motif as the original Ragnarok, but are painted in green or gold or purple or bronze. Some are designed like snakes, with vicious fangs and glowing eyes. A few others are modeled after monsters that Seifer does not recognize. But all are terrifying in their own way.

The fleet of spaceships cut through the sky at supersonic speeds. Like with the Gardens, Seifer expects them to fly straight past him without a second glance, so he is surprised when one of the ships breaks from the formation and begins to descend towards the beach.

He watches the ship for several seconds until he realizes that it is specifically heading towards him. His eyes widen and this time he genuinely does consider running away, but as he frantically looks around, he sees that there is nothing between him and the spaceship barreling down upon him. If the people aboard the ship want him dead, then there is little he can do to stop it.

He turns to face the ship as it slows and descends. He draws his gunblade, puffs out his chest, and spreads his arms wide.

"Come get me!" he yells. If he is meant to die here, he'll do it standing. He'll do it fighting.

He braces himself, expecting to be peppered with a line of artillery fire or blown up by a missile. Instead, neither happens. The ship—which is blood red and shaped like a coiled snake ready to strike—hovers above him for a few seconds, kicking up sand and debris. Seifer averts his eyes and wraps an arm around himself to keep his trench coat from being blown in all directions.

With a high pitched whining sound, the engines throttle down and the ship softly lands on the beach beside Seifer, no more than a few dozen paces away. A hidden door in the belly of the snake folds open, and seven soldiers come marching out. They are composed of both men and women, mostly in their teens or early twenties. They're hard—both in their bodies and in their expressions. They carry futuristic rifles, sidearms, and grenades. Their uniforms are white with tan joint pads.

The seven soldiers fan out and surround Seifer with absolute military precision. Within moments, he has soldiers on every side of him and gun barrels pointing from every direction.

"Who the hell are you?" Seifer asks them. Their uniforms aren't marked with obvious signs of rank, and since they're all roughly the same age, Seifer can't tell which one is the leader.

One of the soldiers marches up to him and stops a few paces away and points a gun in Seifer's face. At first he thinks it's a skinny, effeminate man, until the person speaks, revealing herself to be a woman.

"State your purpose," she says with a thick, peculiar accent. Seifer frowns in confusion.

"The hell kinda accent is that?" he asks. She hits her consonants hard, especially her P sound. The S sounds in her "state" and "purpose" come out long and sibilant, like a hiss. Her vowels are deep and guttural.

(She sounds like Ultimecia.)

"Why are you here?" she asks him, her voice rising. Her W sounds like a V.

"Sun tanning," Seifer says. "Care to join me?"

She frowns, clearly not amused. She glances down at her weapon and hits a switch. There is a mechanical hum, like an electrical circuit being charged. Seifer has just enough time to register alarm and widen his eyes before she pulls the trigger.

A beam of concentrated electricity leaps from the gun and hits Seifer in the chest. His whole body twitches and convulses. His eyes roll in the back of his head and he collapses.

Instantly he's surrounded by the other six soldiers. He tries to fight them off, but his arms and legs are limp and frail. One soldier easily yanks Seifer's gunblade out of his hand, while others quickly work to bind his arms behind his back.

(Damn it.)

"Jormungandr, come in," the woman says, speaking into a thumb-sized radio clipped to her collar.

"This is Jormungandr," a voice replies.

"One civilian found on the beach," she says. "Armed with an ancient model of gunblade. He appears to be alone. Doesn't seem to be a local. Advise."

"Is he affiliated with the sorceress?" the voice asks.

"Unclear," the woman says. "He's uncooperative."

"Is he a threat?"

"He's been neutralized," she says. Seifer snarls at her, but that's all he can do.

"Bring him aboard," the voice says. "He might have intel about the sorceress."

"Understood," the woman says in a bored tone. She nods her head towards her companions, and rough hands seize Seifer and drag him to his feet. He can barely stand, the remnants of the electricity still firing in his muscles. They half drag and half carry him to the red snake ship and through the entrance.

Inside looks much like the Ragnarok, with the same Esthar-style metal interior and bizarre technologies. The soldiers all clamber inside and the last one in pushes a button to close the hatch behind them. Someone sends an all clear message via radio and the ship lifts off the ground with a smooth motion.

The soldiers toss Seifer against the wall. He falls hard on his side and a lance of pain shoots up from his shoulder. He weakly scrambles up into a sitting position, ready to fight the next person who comes at him, but everyone keeps their distance. Some of them mill around aimlessly. A couple hover near the woman who spoke to him, apparently waiting for her next order. Two more in the back hold Seifer's gunblade and admire it, pointing at the features and whispering excitedly to each other.

"Put it down," Seifer yells at the pair. They glance up at him, roll their eyes, and go back to checking out his gunblade. Seifer snarls and makes a mental note to kill those two first, before anyone else.

A few moments later a door soundlessly slides open and a middle-aged man steps through. He wears small glasses pushed high up on his nose. His hair is streaked with gray. He wears a modified version of the off-white uniform that all the other soldiers are wearing, with darker joints and more defined lines. The others all stiffen to attention, and he nods for them to carry on as he approaches Seifer.

"What have we here?" he asks in the same peculiar accent as the woman. Seifer narrows his eyes and doesn't respond.

"I told you, sir," the woman says. "He's uncooperative."

"Ultimecia's servants rarely make things easy on us," the man says in a sad tone.

"You know Ultimecia?" Seifer asks. He's not really interested in cooperating with these people, but he would like to have some idea of where he is and what's going on.

"Know her?" the man asks. He laughs, and all the others laugh as well. But it's a forced, nervous laugh. "Do you know the moon? Do you know the sun? That's a silly question. Yes, we're aware of Ultimecia. You might say we're in the business of dealing with her."

(In the business of… oh.)

"So yer SeeDs?" Seifer asks.

"Isn't it obvious?" the man asks. He gestures to his uniform. "We don't exactly make it a secret."

"Never seen that uniform before," Seifer asks. "What happened to the old black uniforms?"

The man looks shocked. "Oh my. Those went out of use centuries ago. We adopted the White SeeD uniform as our standard across all Gardens. Are you…" he narrowed his eyes and changes tack. "How long have you been in Ultimecia's service?"

(He said "centuries ago.")

(Where the hell am I?)

Seifer doesn't respond to the man's question.

"Do you think this is a trap, sir?" the woman asks. "He might have a bomb."

The man scratches his chin. "Hmm. Something tells me there's more going on than just that." He turns his attention back on Seifer. "What year do you think it is?"

Seifer has no idea. He couldn't even manage a guess at this point. Rather than appear foolish by saying something wrong, he elects to say nothing. Maybe they'll mistake his silence for defiance, rather than ignorance.

The man shakes his head. "And we were doing so well up until now. You were so talkative."

"You think he's from another time, sir?" the woman asks.

"Ultimecia has been known to meddle with time magic," the man says. "I will not be surprised no matter what the answer to this riddle is."

"The hell's goin' on?" Seifer asks.

"Don't you know?" the man asks. He raises a single eyebrow. "I'd imagine Ultimecia would want all of her servants to be on guard today. Even a lowly grunt such as yourself."

"I ain't no grunt," Seifer says. Throughout all this, it never occurs to him to deny involvement with Ultimecia. He sees no reason to be afraid of the truth.

"Are you a knight then?" the man asks. He gestures back towards Seifer's weapon. "You have an ancient gunblade in your possession—the weapon traditionally associated with sorceress knights. At least, in the old legends."

A proud smile crosses Seifer's face. "Yeah, I'm the sorceress' knight."

"Oh dear," the man says. "It seems Ultimecia keeps her knights in the dark even more than her monsters. I truly pity you, good sir knight."

(Pity me?)

"What the hell are you sayin'?" Seifer asks, his anger slowly boiling over.

"You really don't know?" the man asks. Seifer shakes his head. "It's the final battle. All that remains of SeeD against all that remains of Ultimecia and her servants. We are on course to assault her castle today and bring an end to her tyranny."

"Psh, won't happen," Seifer says.

The man shrugs. "We shall see. Admittedly, Ultimecia has bested us more times than I care to admit. But this time… this time, I feel, will be different."

"It's clear he doesn't know anything useful, sir," the woman says in a bored tone. "If you ask me, I think Ultimecia exiled him for being incompetent."

Seifer glares at her.

"Hmm… Ultimecia usually executes the servants who displease her," the man says. "I cannot imagine her being so lenient as to let one of her servants live after committing some crime or transgression. Can you?"

"I don't have a better answer, sir," the woman says with a shrug.

The man sighs. "Well, good sir knight. We cannot afford excess baggage on this flight. Especially not when it's one of Ultimecia's servants. Nor do we have the time to properly interrogate you. So is there anything you'd like to say before we dispose of you?"

"Go to hell," Seifer says.

"Those are terrible last words," the man says. He straightens up and presses a button on his collar radio.

"Pilot, contact the Fenrir and the Loki," he says. "Tell them to beware of falling debris coming from out of our front hatch."

"Understood," a voice on the other end says.

The man turns to the other soldiers. "Open the hatch and toss him out."

Seifer makes his move. He gets to his feet and begins focusing on a spell, but is instantly enveloped in another wave of electricity, fired once again from the woman's gun. His mind goes white, and all his limbs are reduced to mush. He collapses hard on the floor, barely aware of his surroundings. He can feel hands dragging him somewhere, as well as the rush of high winds against his skin, but beyond that, everything is hazy. Someone mutters something in his ear, but he cannot hear it over the howls of the wind. Then the hands around him let go, and he's falling.

Spinning, twisting, plummeting.

His arms still tied behind his back.

He spins madly in the air for a couple of seconds, but then he manages to get his orientation. He angles his body against the wind and slows his violent spinning, then stops it entirely. He looks down and sees the hard brown dirt rushing up to his face. Ahead of him, in the far distance, he sees an enormous black castle, hovering high above the shore. Even without anyone telling him, he knows instinctively who lives there.

(Ultimecia.)

The ground rushes up to meet him, and once more everything is black.

Seifer opens his eyes and finds himself once more in the empty black room. The memory has ended, but Ellone is still connected to him.

"And then what happened?" Ellone asks. Still, she is nowhere to be found, her voice echoing from the darkness.

"I woke up in Balamb, with Fuge and Rage," Seifer says. "Back in our own time. Had my gunblade with me too."

"Your gunblade as well?" Ellone asks. "Didn't the SeeDs take it?"

"Yeah," Seifer says. "I been wonderin' about that myself. Nearest I can figure, everything I took to the future came back with me. My clothes, my gunblade. Even if I wasn't carryin' it."

"I see. So that's how you escaped the Lunatic Pandora."

"Yup," Seifer says, nodding.

"So you don't know what happened after that?" Ellone asks. "What happened with the battle between the SeeDs and Ultimecia?"

"I'm guessin' they lost," Seifer says. "I mean, Ultimecia's still here, ain't she? If SeeD had won, then none of this woulda happened."

Ellone is quiet, and doesn't respond right away.

"Squall said…" Ellone whispers, half to herself. "Squall said that when they arrived in the future, the shores around Ultimecia's castle were lined with the bodies of SeeDs. Corpses as far as he could see."

Seifer shrugs. "Well, there ya go. It was a massacre. SeeD lost."

(Good.)

(If Ultimecia did it once, she can do it again.)

Ellone doesn't seem to hear him. "But he said Ultimecia's defenses were lowered. It was relatively easy to gain access. So maybe the main attack didn't stop Ultimecia, but it did allow Squall to get inside and—"

"And what?" Seifer asks. "Kill Ultimecia? He's lyin' to you, Sis. Ultimecia is flying this spaceship. She's alive, Ellone. No one can kill her. Definitely not Squall and Chicken-Wuss and Pretty Boy and all them."

Ellone ignores him and whispers, "Maybe it is fate after all."

"Tch," Seifer says. "Ain't no such thing as fate. My destiny is my own."

Ellone's voice rises, once more directed at Seifer. "So what was the point of that? Why show me that memory?"

"Cause it's true," Seifer said. "You wanna see the future of SeeD? Well, there ya go. A bunch of evil mercenaries with weird accents, flyin' around in mass-produced Ragnaroks and Gardens. Just like Ultimecia said would happen. She's the one bein' honest here."

"And that's why you think they're evil?" Ellone asks. "That's why you're taking Ultimecia's side?"

Seifer scoffs "Did you see what happened back there? They kidnapped me and chucked me out of a spaceship."

"You had it coming, you know."

"They eradicate all sorceresses," Seifer says. "A world-wide witch hunt. They kill every last one, leaving only Ultimecia behind. Ultimecia isn't evil. She's defending herself from a bunch of crazy mercenaries."

"You didn't see that happen," Ellone says. "You only saw a brief glimpse of the future. You don't know the events that led up to that."

"And what I saw proves everything Ultimecia told me," Seifer says. "She told me about what SeeD does in the future. And then I get to the future and what do I see? Everything she said is true. Yeah, sure, I didn't see the massacre of every sorceress that ever lived. But if Ultimecia was telling the truth about some stuff, then she was probably right about the rest too."

"I see…" Ellone says.

"SeeD is the one that started all this mess," Seifer says. "They're the ones who go on a spree, killin' off sorceresses. They're the ones that need to be stopped. Not Ultimecia. She's just a byproduct of their actions, you know?"

Ellone doesn't respond. She seems to be thinking, but Seifer doesn't want to give her time to think. He wants her to agree with him.

"I'm tryin' to save the world too, Sis," Seifer says. "And all the sorceresses in the future. The ones the SeeD is gonna kill. And Ultimecia too. Me and you, we've got the same idea. Savin' the world. We're just goin' about it a different way."

"I... I don't know," Ellone says.

"Look, it's real simple," Seifer says. "If there is no SeeD, then none of that stuff I saw is gonna happen. If that doesn't happen, then Ultimecia doesn't happen. She doesn't compress time. The world is saved."

"It's not that simple," Ellone says. "Things have gotten confused. The past and the present and the future are all joined together. I think… I think I'm beginning to understand. Why the sorceresses suddenly appeared in Esthar, Garden, and Timber. Why Ultimecia has come back, even though she was killed. And everything else that's been happening."

"What?" Seifer says.

"I'm starting to think that the future can't be changed, Seifer," Ellone says. "No more than the past can. I think there is a type of fate at work here, but not in the sense that most people mean when they use that word."

(That's impossible.)

(Doesn't make sense!)

But before he can respond—

Seifer's eyes snapped open.

His neck was sore and his body ached. His first thought was of his stomach wound, but when he pressed his hand against his abdomen, he felt nothing but the old, stained bandages and fresh new skin beneath. He sighed. He looked over at Ellone and saw her there, still sleeping peacefully in her chair.

(Can't change the future…)

(The hell's she goin' on about?)

Seifer shook his head. Ellone was talking nonsense. Maybe she had just been dreaming all along, and was muttering in her sleep.

Seifer looked ahead to Ultimecia, who was sitting in the pilot's chair. She had taken over manual control of the ship again, her hands resting on the controls and guiding the ship towards its destination. She glanced over her shoulder at him.

"You are awake," she said flatly. "Good. We are near Esthar."

At that moment, on the dashboard controls of the ship, a speaker came to life.

"Ragnarok, come in," a voice on the speaker said. "Ragnarok, this is Esthar Airfield. What is your status?"

Ultimecia calmly pushed a button near the speaker. She cleared her throat once, and began speaking in a pleasant, unaccented tone that made her sound like she was selling candy door to door.

"This is Ragnarok," she said. "Everything is fine here."

"Ragnarok, you sent a distress signal earlier," the voice said. "Is everything all right?"

(Distress signal?)

Seifer decides that the original pilot or one of the crew must have raised the alarm before he and Ultimecia wiped them all out.

"We're fine," Ultimecia said. "Little malfunction is all. Everything's under control."

"I'm reading here that one of your escape pods has been jettisoned," the voice said. "What was the reason for that?"

"Part of the electrical malfunctions," Ultimecia said. "The rear circuitry fried and triggered the launch."

There was a long pause while the operator on the other end of the line considered this. Seifer held his breath, wondering if they would believe her.

(She sounds pretty convincing, I guess.)

"Understood," the voice said. Seifer quietly exhaled. "We've sent out a team to recover the escape pod. And in the meantime, as a precaution, we're taking over the controls from here. You're in range of our remote systems now. We'll guide you back to Esthar Airfield for maintenance."

Seifer and Ultimecia both snarled.

"No need for maintenance," Ultimecia said in her gentle tone. "Our on board team has got it covered."

"It's protocol, ma'am," the voice said. "You know the drill. We're switching over to remote control in five seconds."

There was a lurch as the Ragnarok transitioned its primary control systems. A pleasant voice over the speaker systems said, "Manual control disengaged. Switching to remote control via home port at Esthar Airfield."

"What now?" Seifer asked, rising to his feet.

But Ultimecia wasn't listening to him. She laid both her hands on the console and closed her eyes, focusing intently. Seifer knew better than to disturb her while she was concentrating, so he stayed silent and watched.

Soon, the lights in the bridge began to flicker. Sparks shot up from the control panels. A deep rumbling noise echoed through the length of the ship, and the Ragnarok began to lose altitude.

(She's overriding the system again.)

Remembering what had happened last time she tried this, Seifer jumped back into the nearest seat and fastened the safety belt. As soon as he clicked it shut, the Ragnarok dipped into a nosedive. Seifer felt a nauseating lurch as the sky vanished in the window, replaced by the white, rocky ground below them. Seifer clenched his teeth, fighting the crushing G-forces and dug his fingers into the armrests of the chair.

The ground rushed up, coming closer and closer. They passed the point of no return—or so Seifer thought—and he closed his eyes, preparing himself for a fatal impact.

(Stupid way to die…)

And then, with a painful heave, the ship righted itself and began flying straight again, now hovering so close to the ground that Seifer almost could have jumped out and landed safely without a parachute. He exhaled in relief.

(She did it.)

But Ultimecia's face was not proud or triumphant. Instead she snarled and punched one hand against the console.

"What?" Seifer asked. "What happened?"

"I can't override it," she said. "As soon as I disable the remote control, they automatically reengage it. I can't pilot this ship. I'd forgotten about the remote systems. They haven't been used in so long…"

Seifer's expression dropped.

(Which means…)

If Ultimecia couldn't control the ship, then that meant that they were going to head right for Esthar Airfield. They wouldn't be able to go straight to the Pandora, and would have to fight their way through the Esthar army just to arrive at their destination. And, depending on where the Pandora was parked, they may not even be able to reach it without the Ragnarok to give them a lift.

(Damn it…)

"What do we do?" Seifer asked. He hoped that Ultimecia had a plan, because he had no ideas at all.

"A test of your loyalty, knight," Ultimecia said, turning to look at him. "Take the heiress and use the escape pod, then bring her to me at the Lunatic Pandora. Understood?"

(This isn't part of the plan…)

Still, Seifer nodded and said, "What about you?"

"I will try to reach the Pandora by myself," Ultimecia said. "You must take the heiress and keep her out of the hands of the Estharians. If all else fails, I can still use her to travel back further in time and try again in some other time."

All at once, Seifer understood what her plan was. Ultimecia was willing to fight the Estharians to the death, because she was merely borrowing her current body. She could fight indefinitely with Ciel, and even if she was defeated, she could simply hop into another sorceress and continue her mission.

But Ellone was not so replaceable. If Ellone died or was captured, then Ultimecia wouldn't be able to go back any further in time. Ultimecia needed to protect Ellone above all else, and that meant sending her away from the upcoming battle.

Seifer hesitated. This was not what he had hoped would happen. If, by some chance, Ultimecia actually won her fight against the Esthar army and reached the Pandora, then she would continue her doomed plan to finish time compression. Seifer would not be around to divert her path or talk her into another course of action, and she would fail yet again.

(But I can't let myself get caught either.)

Seifer unbuckled himself from his chair and moved over to Ellone. She had fallen on the floor during the Ragnarok's nose dive, but was still fast asleep under the effects of Ultimecia's spell. Seifer scooped her up, cradling her between his arms, and marveled at how easy it was to carry her now that he didn't have a gaping stomach wound.

"I'll see you at the Pandora," Seifer said to Ultimecia. She did not speak or even acknowledge him. Seifer frowned, then headed for the elevator. He rode it down to the lower level, and made his way to the one remaining escape pod.