Final Fantasy 8: Future Bound

by Darsar

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

52. Chapter 52: The Tides of Fate

Chapter 52

The Tides of Fate

(Irvine)

"Yes!" Dr. Odine said as soon as everyone walked into the laboratory. He nodded cheerfully and waved his arms, his baggy shirtsleeves flapping in the air. "Zis iz exactly what Odine needed! More test subjects! Bring them over here."

(Test subjects?)

Irvine frowned and looked over at Rinoa, who was scowling. Squall crossed his arms and shook his head. Ellone had a neutral expression, as if this sort of behavior was expected out of Odine. Odine, oblivious to everyone other than himself, gestured over at Rinoa and Selphie—who was still sleeping in her futuristic gurney, guarded by three Esthar soldiers.

"We're not bringing you test subjects, Dr. Odine," Squall said. "We're here to ask some questions."

Dr. Odine's smile evaporated instantly. He turned his body away and curled his lip in contempt. "More questions? Iz zat idiot president with you?"

Squall shook his head. "We left him behind. It's just us."

Laguna had wanted to come—he always liked to be around when people were talking about new and exciting things—but Kiros and Ward had restrained him, reminding him of the impending battle and the preparations he needed to complete. Laguna had sighed, disappointed, and sent off the others to speak with Odine while he returned to his tasks.

He had wanted Ellone to stay with him. After everything that had happened aboard the Ragnarok and with Seifer, Laguna was feeling particularly concerned about her and tried to keep her close. However, Ellone had objected, stating that she might be able to coax more information out of the stubborn doctor than anyone else, especially if the doctor got into a mood.

(Seems like Odine's already in a mood.)

Odine waved a hand dismissively. "Eh. Odine vill allow you to stay for now. Just do not get in my way!"

He turned his attention back to a strange glowing cube set on one of the tables. He picked up a pipette and dripped a pale blue liquid onto the cube. The liquid hissed and bubbled on the surface of the cube. One of Odine's assistants furiously scribbled calculations, checking the readouts from computers hooked up to the cube while Odine muttered things under his breath.

(This place is weird.)

Dr. Odine's lab was mostly unchanged since the last time Squall and Rinoa had been inside, but it was a rather different from what Irvine remembered, since it had been over a month since he'd last been in O Lab—or in Esthar at all.

The room was still as spotless and sterile as he remembered—to preserve the integrity of the results and to prevent unwanted variables from corrupting the data. Long metal desks crowded the center of the room, stacked with books and computers and test tubes filled with different colored liquids. Odine's aides—about a half dozen in all—shuffled from desk to desk and computer to computer, carrying clipboards and vials and calculators in their hands as they worked. Aside from Odine's steady mumblings, the place was as silent as a library.

In the back of the room were several giant tubes, each filled with a pale blue liquid that bubbled like soda water. Two of the tubes were empty—filled only with the mystery liquid—but the third contained a girl floating in the water. A teenage girl with short blond hair. She was dressed in a one piece wetsuit that ended at her wrists and ankles. Her eyes were closed as she floated limply in the water, seemingly unaware of her surroundings.

(Wait… I recognize her.)

Irvine had never met her personally, but he quickly recognized the Sorceress Ciel from the images he had seen from news reports on the HD cables. He remembered that Laguna had vaguely mentioned that they had captured her, but Irvine hadn't put any further thought into the matter. He had assumed that they would have imprisoned or killed her, but now that he thought about it, handing her over to Dr. Odine was a logical—although unethical—way of dealing with her.

(Well, they are a science-y type of nation.)

(Guess it makes sense that they'd give her over to their head scientist.)

"Is that Ciel y'all got locked up back there?" Irvine asked, pointing his finger across the room. He already knew the answer to that, but he wanted to draw everyone's attention to her before the conversation moved on to something else. He felt weird seeing a sorceress shoved in a tube like a lab rat. For some reason, he would have been more comfortable seeing her in a jail, even though the circumstances weren't much different.

Odine looked up at Irvine, scrunched his face up in confusion, and followed Irvine's finger to where it was pointing.

"Oh, zat?" Odine asked. "Zat is Test Subject 32G. She has proven very valuable indeed. But more research is necessary! You must give Odine—"

"Is she still alive?" Rinoa asked.

Odine blinked, as if the thought of her being alive or dead hadn't occurred to him. Then he nodded and waved a hand. "Ah, yes, yes. Still alive. Ze tube, however, keeps her in stasis. She iz no threat to anyone now. You are safe. All is safe in O Lab. No worries."

Rinoa's firm gaze held on Odine's. The doctor's small, beady eyes narrowed at her.

"You vant to steal her, eh?" Odine asked. "Steal her like you did my other experiment?"
"She's not an experiment," Rinoa said. "You can keep her here for now—just so that she can't hurt herself or anyone else—but you can't experiment on her."

"VAT?" Odine yelled, stomping his feet. "ZIS IZ MY LAB! O LAB! ODINE'S LAB! I do vat I vant!"

"Oh boy," Irvine said with a sigh. They hadn't even asked their first question and Odine was already furious. Irvine was beginning to wonder if this whole trip had been a waste of time when Ellone stepped forward.

"Doctor," she said calmly. "We can talk about the sorceress at another time. Right now, we would like to impose upon your expertise, if you don't mind."

("Impose upon your expertise?")

(Fancy way of puttin' it.)

Odine grumbled for a moment, but he gradually calmed down.

"So vat do you vant?" he asked, frowning like a child about to throw a tantrum. "Ve are very busy. Lunatic Pandora has finally returned to Esthar, and now two sorceresses—two sorceresses—attack Esthar in one day. Very busy. No time for small talk."

"We have questions about the Pandora, among a few other things," Squall said.

"Hurry, hurry," Odine said. He made a circular motion with one hand. "Odine's time is valuable!"

"First, what have you learned about the Pandora since bringing it back to Esthar?" Squall asked. "You must have gotten some new data by now."

Odine's scowl deepened, but it was not directed at Squall or his question. Rather, Odine seemed angry in general.

"No! No new data," he said. "All machines are broken! Cannot get any readings. Whole operation has been useless! Next question!"

"Y'all have learned nothing from the Lunatic Pandora?" Irvine asked.

(I find that hard to believe.)

"No! Nothing!" Odine said. "Next question! Hurry!"

Irvine learned towards Squall.

"I think he's just blowing us off," Irvine whispered. "Sayin' whatever he's gotta say to make us go away."

Squall nodded. "Hmm… maybe."

"Maybe he'll wanna talk about this," Rinoa said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small ring with a green square on the end of it. To Irvine's eyes it was a completely foreign object. He was about to open his mouth and ask what it was, when he remembered Rinoa mentioning using a ring after she and Squall had escaped from the Ragnarok.

(That's gotta be the ring she was talking about.)

Odine brightened immediately. "Ah, yes! Ze Odine Ring! Proprietary item, first of its kind. It iz brilliant, yes?"

"Well," Rinoa said. She held the ring on her fingertips between both hands and gazed at the circle rather than meeting Odine's eyes. "I don't think it works like you want it to."

Odine's smile dropped again.

(Man, it's easy to make him angry.)

"It works perfectly!" Odine shouted, stabbing a finger at Rinoa. "Idiot girl iz just using it wrong!"

"You said it's supposed to mimic Ellone's powers, right?" Rinoa asked.

"Yes!" Odine said. "Ze ring iz made from core components of Junction Machine Ellone mixed with a fragment of ze Crystal Pillar inside ze Lunatic Pandora. It iz built to mimic Ellone and zat it vat it does!"

(So that's what it is.)

Irvine felt a little uneasy about the ring, now that he knew what it was. The Crystal Pillar was an enormous rock from the moon, filled with all kinds of unknown powers. To take a fragment from it and link it to another experimental machine—and then hand it over to a bunch of untrained teenagers— seemed irresponsible to the point of being insane.

"And you never tested it?" Rinoa asked.

"Zat is vat you vere supposed to do!" Odine said. "I give you ze ring to test it! And it works, yes?"

"But it doesn't work quite like Ellone's power," Rinoa said. "It only sends me back to my own past—no one else's."

"Zen success!" Odine said, raising his arms. "It works better than a ring zat does not send you into ze past, yes?"

"Yeah… I guess…" Rinoa said. "But I was hoping you would have more answers about how and why it works. You see, I found out that I can take Ultimecia back into the past with me, using this ring. But it's… different, somehow. Ultimecia can't completely take me over. I can sort of jam her power with the ring. I think that's why she hasn't tried to possess me yet."

Odine nodded. "Interesting. Yes, interesting. Go on."

Rinoa shrugged. "Well, that's it. That's everything I know."

"Doctor," Ellone said calmly. "I think Rinoa wants to know more about how the ring works, so that she can better understand it and how to use it in the future."

"I vant to know why it works too," Odine said. "Zat is why we are doing testing! You do testing, you get results, and you come up with answers! Iz how science works."

(… I don't think that's how science works, actually.)

"So then what do you know about the ring?" Irvine asked. "Anything at all? Or did y'all just slap together a bunch of random parts from around your lab and call it a success?"

Odine hopped up and down, pointing a furious, accusatory finger at Irvine.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Odine shouted. "I am a scientist! You are just children! Ze ring iz ze first of its kind! No other like it in ze whole world. And you expect me to have all ze answers right away? Zat iz not how it works! Science iz a process! It iz charts! Data! Experiments! Testing! Hard work and genius! But you all come here and treat Odine like he iz a textbook. As if Odine has nothing better to do all day than to teach science to children! Get out of my lab! All of you!"

"So you really have no idea how the ring works?" Rinoa asked, refusing to be budged by Odine's rant.

"I vill not give away my secrets to you!" Odine said. "And besides, you would not understand how it works! Ze formulas are too complex! Ze science too difficult! Who of you can perform para-magic physics conversion equations in your head? Hmm? None of you! Only Odine can understand these things! So get out and stop wasting Odine's time!"

"Save your breath, guys," a voice from down the hallway said. "Dr. Odine isn't in a mood to share knowledge. It's been a rough few days for him."

Irvine and the others turned around. Approaching from down the hall was a man with short blonde hair and glasses perched on his pointy nose. He wore a lab coat similar to the ones that Odine's aides wore, but with a different style of buttons and overall design. He stopped beside Squall and nodded his head. Irvine didn't recognize him, but Squall and the others seemed to know him instantly.

"Piet," Squall said. "We were hoping to run into you."

"Get out of O Lab!" Odine shouted at Piet. "You are banned from science! Go live in ze streets in shame! You are an embarrassment!"

Piet sighed, then turned away from Odine, ignoring him.

"What happened to you after we left the Pandora?" Squall asked.

(Aw, hell.)

(They're gonna start talkin' about things I don't know about again.)

Irvine tuned himself out and began gazing around the room, only half hearing what Piet was saying.

"Well, I'll give you the short version," Piet said. "I managed to pull a few readings from the Pandora before a guard found out that I wasn't an Esthar soldier. They nearly shot me on sight, until I proved that I was a scientist. Later, Odine caught wind of the fact that I had snuck aboard the Pandora and he threw a fit, trying to have me arrested. It turned into this big fuss and finally the President had to intervene on my behalf."

"Zat idiot President!" Odine said. "You should be in jail! You tampered with delicate experiments. You could have ruined everything with your crackpot theories!"

"Crackpot theories?" Squall asked. He turned to Piet. "Is this about the Fount?"

"Among other things," Piet said. He glanced at Odine from the side of his eye. Odine mumbled something distinctly hostile.

"Anyway," Squall said. "Ultimecia has already tried to break into the Pandora at least once. We want to know why. What's so special about the Pandora that she's so desperate to get?"

"I'm glad you asked," Piet said. "Remember how I told you that the Pandora was emitting wavelengths that were identical to Ellone's?"

"I told them zat!" Odine shouted.

"If you say," Piet said. He looked back at Squall. "Turns out there's more to it than that. You see, Ellone has two different unique wavelengths. There's the one that's her normal, baseline wavelength, and there's a second one that only appears when she's connected her mind with another person. Not only is the Pandora giving off Ellone's wavelengths, it's giving off the specific ones that only show up when she's formed a connection."

"So the Pandora is currently connected to… someone or something?" Squall asked.

"That seems to be the logical assumption," Piet said.

"Then what's it connected to?" Irvine asked. He was glad that—so far at least—he was able to keep up with the conversation.

"Here's where Odine and I differ," Piet said. Odine snorted loudly and crossed his arms. "I think the Pandora is currently linking the present and the future. The Pandora is what allowed the six of you to travel into the future. Therefore, the Pandora is currently being used to transport you all into Ultimecia's time. It would explain why we never encountered these types of waves until after you guys went into the Pandora."

"Ha!" Odine said. "Ze idiot reveals his folly! His theory cannot be correct because Odine did not detect ze new readings until weeks after zis boy and ze others left Esthar! Your theory iz wrong!"

"Then show me your data!" Piet said, his voice rising. "I know for a fact that you weren't doing remote readings on the Pandora until recently. I have a sneaking suspicion that the Pandora has been emitting these new waves all along, but you didn't think to look for them until a few days ago."

"I vill not show you my data!" Odine said. "You are not a real scientist!"

Irvine shook his head.

(Jeez.)

Piet sighed. He turned away from Odine and looked at the others. "And now you get a glimpse into the wonderful world of Esthar's science department. It's a wonder we get anything done around here."

"It iz a wonder Odine gets anything done with all these idiots in his lab!" Odine said. He made a shooing motion with both hands. "Leave!"

"I'm still waiting for you to actually prove me wrong," Piet said. "I won't go until you cough up your data."

"NEVER!" Odine said.

"Then we're stuck here," Piet said. He turned back to the others.

"Your theory makes sense," Squall said. "I myself was beginning to think that it was the Pandora—coupled with our GFs—that allowed us to travel to the future."

"That seems to be the case, yes," Piet said. "But there's a lot we still don't understand about how GFs work and how they actually junction to people. And that leads to my next point: I think the Lunatic Pandora is basically a giant Guardian Force."

"Do not listen to him!" Odine said. "He will make you even dumber than you already are!"

Piet ignored him. "In addition to disagreeing about the existence of Hyne's Fount, Dr. Odine has always denounced Parallel Energy Theory."

"IT IZ NONSENSE!" Dr. Odine said.

(Parallel Energy Theory?)

"That sounds… complicated," Irvine said. He scratched his head. "Care to give us the easy version?"

"It's actually pretty simple to explain," Piet said. "Basically, the theory posits that para-magical energy can take two forms. In one form, it behaves like a Guardian Force. In the second, it behaves like sorceresses and monsters. The theory does a lot to explain what Guardian Forces are, and how they're different from sorceresses and monsters."

"Iz nonsense!" Odine said. "GFs are a form of condensed para-magic! Iz only one type!"

"Then how do you explain monsters?" Piet countered. "Condensed para-magic forms into monsters, not GFs. None of your experiments have ever been able to produce a Guardian Force from para-magic!"

"MORE TESTS ARE NEEDED!" Odine shouted, hopping up and down.

"I've given you my data from the Lunar Base," Piet said. "And our findings show the same thing. Too much energy concentrated in one area forms monsters, but never GFs. That's because GFs are made from different energy!"

"Iz only one type of energy!" Odine said.

(This is gettin' us nowhere.)

"Could y'all put the bickerin' aside for a moment?" Irvine asked. "I'm confused enough as it is without having you two shout at each other like an old married couple."

"Seriously," Rinoa said.

"Sorry," Piet said. Odine said nothing. "Anyway, using the Parallel Energy Theory, I might be able to answer some of your questions. You see, the theory goes on to state that sorceresses are women who can channel the first type of energy—called 'Reconstructive Energy'—while Ellone is a woman who can channel the second kind—called 'Connective Energy.'

Piet continued, "Using Reconstructive Energy, a person can manipulate the elements, alter the structure of matter, and basically perform feats of power that ordinary science cannot explain. Connective Energy, however, cannot alter matter, but instead links two disparate subjects together, either linking them together through time or linking them through space. This theory is a very new field of study and since Odine is so against the whole idea, there's hardly any research on the matter, but I think we're on to something."

"On to a bunch of lies!" Odine said. "Your theory iz wrong!"

Everyone ignored him.

"So the Lunatic Pandora is full of this Connective Energy?" Squall asked.

"That would make the most sense," Piet said. "And it would explain why Ultimecia wants it so badly. She's only a sorceress, which means that if she wants to meddle with time, she needs access to both Connective and Reconstructive energy. The Lunatic Pandora is by far her best supply of both."

"But wait," Rinoa said. "I thought Squall figured out that Ultimecia is both a sorceress and an heiress, like Ellone."

"Oh, right," Squall said. He nodded. "I did."

"Oh… you did?" Piet said. He rubbed his chin. "Hmm…"

"HA!" Odine shouted. "Your theory iz broken! Even children can see through your idiocy!"

Piet paused for a moment, then his eyes widened. "Actually, it's even worse than I first thought. My original theory was that Ultimecia was trying to use the Pandora to link together two things, perhaps linking her time to ours or something along those lines."

He paused. Eventually, Rinoa asked, "And then?"

"But obviously that can't be the case," Piet said. "If she already has access to Ellone's powers, then she wouldn't need the Pandora's Connective Energy."

"So then what does she want?" Squall asked.

"Something that she can't get in her time," Piet said. "My guess is Hyne's Fount."

Odine scoffed and laughed.

"Think about it," Piet said. "We still haven't found a reliable way to access the Fount. If it exists—and I'm fairly certain it does—it must be deep underground somewhere, deeper than our drills can reach. In order to get at it, you would need a device capable of connecting together objects across long distances. We already know that the Pandora can link the planet with the moon. Linking together with Hyne's Fount should be comparatively easy."

"And what would she do with Hyne's Fount?" Rinoa asked.

Piet looked grim. "With that much power, the better question would be, what can't she do? Adel was able to single-handedly conquer Esthar with the power. There's no telling what Ultimecia wants, but it's unlikely that we'd be able to stop her from getting it, once she has the Fount."

Odine stepped forward. "All just guesses! Silly fake scientist fills your heads with lies. He has no proof! No research! No evidence!"

"Well, I would have some research if you would—" Piet began, but Squall cut him off with a wave of his hand. Rinoa turned to Squall.

"Squall," she said. "Maybe that's what the Centra Ruins are for. Maybe it's like… a synthetic Lunatic Pandora that the Centra built in order to gain access to the Fount. It's how Adel got to it, after all."

Squall nodded. "Right. You have a point. It also might be what caused the Lunar Cry that destroyed the Centra as well. We'll have to look into that."

Irvine felt lost again, since he didn't know anything about Rinoa's memories or her trips back into Adel's past. He stood off to the side and tried not to get in anyone's way.

"Is it even possible to use the Pandora again?" Squall asked Piet. "I mean, if it's already being used to transport our past selves into the future, then shouldn't that mean that Ultimecia can't use it?"

"Ah, good question," Piet said. "And that gets into a unique property of Connective Energy. You see, unlike Reconstructive Energy—or anything else in the world for that matter—Connective Energy can be in multiple places at once and do many things simultaneously. That's why several people can all junction the same GF—or even summon the same GF—at the same time, without any loss of power. The energy can be anywhere that it is needed. So Ultimecia could, in theory, still use the full power of the Pandora, even if it's already in use doing something else."

"Interesting…" Squall said.

"I know, right?" Piet said. "This is a fascinating field of study, and one that's being squashed because of Dr. Odine's biases."

"Your theories have no evidence!" Odine said. "No data! Pure speculation!"

"Because you won't let us do testing!" Piet said. "You won't approve the funding!"

"Because you are an idiot and your ideas are terrible!"

"Stop it! Stop it!" Irvine said, stepping between the two. "Or I'll shove both of y'all into one of those tubes over there. Jeez, the kids in Garden behave better than this."

The two scientists calmed down and Irvine stepped back to the side.

"So… does that mean Connective Energy is infinite?" Squall asked. "If it can be many places at once, then is it an unlimited source of power?"

"Yes and no," Piet said. "It's unlimited, but it can't do anything on its own. It's limited by the energy that it's connecting. Namely, the power of the person using it and the power that it's connecting to. That's why people junctioning the same GF don't have the same powers. Because the GF is merely a conduit, connecting the user to another energy source. When the energy source is depleted—or when something happens to the user—then the Connective Energy is rendered impotent. Think of it like a power cable connecting a computer to an outlet. It's useless on its own; it only allows the electricity to reach the computer."

"So then when we junction GFs…" Squall said. "What exactly are we connecting to? Where does our magic come from?"

"The energy stored within yourself," Piet said. "We've already proven that ordinary people can store large quantities of para-magic within themselves. However, they cannot access it without a GF to connect to the energy and draw it out. That's why you can sometimes draw magic from people even if they don't junction. It's possible to accidentally store para-magic, if one comes into contact with it."

He continued on. "But again, this is a very new field of study," he said. "I can't say for sure whether or not this theory is correct, but all of our findings so far indicate that it is viable. Guardian Forces and Sorceresses are two halves of the same coin, and one is able to influence the other, but they never truly merge together. If we were allowed to conduct more research, I'd have more detailed answers for you. But as of right now, that's all I've got."

"Just guesses," Odine muttered. "Not real science."

"But if I'm right," Piet said. "… If I'm right, then Ultimecia is trying to get to the Pandora so she can gain access to Hyne's Fount and unleash unimaginable destruction. I wish I had more I could tell you, but that's all I know. I believe wholeheartedly in both Hyne's Fount and Parallel Energy Theory. But in any case—whether I'm right or wrong—it would be disastrous if Ultimecia got inside the Pandora and accessed its energy. Whatever she's planning, it can't be good for us."

At that moment, the lights in the room flashed red, causing all the aides in the room to momentarily stop working. Everyone looked around.

"Attention, citizens," Laguna's voice said over an intercom in the ceiling. "This is your President speaking."

"Shut up!" Odine yelled at the ceiling, shaking his fist.

The automated message being broadcast over the system paid no attention to Odine's outburst and continued on. Laguna's voice was calm and even, as if he was reading from a prompt. "Galbadian troops and vehicles are being transported across the Horizon Bridge. It is the opinion of the entire military staff that this is unquestionably a hostile attack against Esthar. Our defenses have been mobilized to counter this threat. I urge all citizens to remain calm and move into your designated safe areas. Take only what is absolutely necessary and follow the commands of the military. We estimate the first Galbadians will begin making landfall soon. In addition, will Squall, Ellone, and all the others associated with that party please report to the President's temporary forward operating base for further instructions. Thank you. This message will repeat."

The lights flashed red again, and the entire message restarted from the beginning. Odine waved his hand at the ceiling and returned to his work, ignoring Laguna's statement.

(So…)

(It's beginning.)

(Outright war between Esthar and Galbadia.)

The two largest and most powerful militaries in the world were going head-to-head. Irvine knew that the outcome of this battle would have repercussions that could change the course of history for generations.

If Galbadia won, then there would be no nation left on the planet that could challenge their power. Galbadia could begin systematically sweeping across the world, slowly crushing and subjugating every other nation until the entire world was brought to heel. They certainly had the troops and the supplies to carry out such a massive operation.

But if Esthar won, it would give the Galbadians their first major defeat in battle since the Sorceress War almost twenty years ago. Esthar would return to the world stage, not only as a possible rival to Galbadia, but as a serious threat to Galbadia's existence and way of life. Galbadia's military superiority would be called into question, and their war-mongering policies would finally be challenged.

(This is a pretty big deal…)

"Well…" Piet said, "I'm really not much of a fighter, so if you guys don't have any more questions, I'm going to retreat to the nearest shelter. Not that I don't have faith in the Esthar military, but I don't like to take unnecessary risks."

Squall nodded to him, granting him permission to go. Piet turned and hustled out of the laboratory. Within a few moments, his footsteps had vanished down the hall and he was gone. Squall turned and looked at Dr. Odine and his aides.

"What about you?" Squall asked. "Is it safe to stay here?"

"No one can make ze great Odine abandon his work," Odine said, gazing at a chart. "Not stupid President Laguna, not Galbadia, not anyone."

With that, he continued shuffling around the room, ordering his aides and checking various equipment.

(Well, can't say he ain't determined.)

"So," Irvine said. "Should we go find out what Laguna wants with us?"

"Not yet," Squall said. He gestured at Selphie. "We can't keep lugging Selphie around like an overstuffed suitcase."

Irvine frowned. "Y'all ain't thinkin' of leaving her here with Odine, are you?"

(I ain't gonna let the doctor treat her like his little lab rat.)
Odine perked up at the prospect of having another sorceress to study. But Squall immediately shook his head and Odine frowned and turned away.

"No," Squall said. "I want to wrap up the situation with Ultimecia now. We can't have the threat of Ultimecia looming over us this whole battle. As it stands, if something happens to Selphie—if she wakes up or if the gurney malfunctions—then Ultimecia will awaken right here, in the shadow of the Lunatic Pandora. It would be catastrophic."

Irvine tried to jump ahead, to guess where Squall was going with this, but he found that he couldn't figure out Squall's thinking. So he shrugged and decided to ask the obvious question.

"Then what's your plan?" Irvine asked.

"We have to close the loop," Squall said. "We have to send Ultimecia back into the past—to a place where we already know she is unable to leave."

"And what place is that?" Irvine asked. He imagined a prison, or a place underground. Using Ellone's power to seal Ultimecia into a tomb of some kind so that she would be unable to interfere with the present. Irvine would be okay with that, especially if it meant getting Selphie back. He turned and looked at her placid face. He thought about Ultimecia taking possession of her, and a nauseating mix of horror and anger twisted in his gut.

(I won't let Ultimecia take her again.)

Instead of answering Irvine's question, Squall turned to Ellone.

"Sis," he said. "You said that when you were aboard the Ragnarok, Ultimecia made you connect her to Edea and Adel, right?"

"Yes," Ellone said. "She went back in time and performed the same exact actions she had before—becoming ambassador of Galbadia, attacking SeeD, and so on. Nothing changed. It's… odd to know that I was the one who helped enable her to cause so much damage. Odd, and a little disturbing."

Squall shook his head. "It's not your fault. Anyway, you never said that she forced you to send her back to Rinoa, right?"

"No, we never got that far," Ellone said. "She stopped searching the past once Adel died."

"Good," Squall said. "So here's my plan. If we can send Selphie and Ultimecia back to the moment right when Rinoa got possessed inside the Lunatic Pandora—just after Adel died and before time compression started—then that would close the time loop. Once there, the past version of you will then send her back to young Adel, and from there she'll continue her journey backwards in time. In any case, she'll no longer be a threat to the present, because she'll become part of the past. Am I right?"

Ellone hesitated. "It seems plausible. But risky. What if this isn't meant to happen? What if this isn't the moment when Ultimecia goes back and possesses Rinoa? Won't we risk changing the past or creating a paradox?"

"We can't change the past, remember?" Squall said. "If we try and it works, then that is what was meant to happen. If it's not meant to happen, then it won't work at all. In either case, we won't know for sure until we try."

Ellone grimaced. "I don't know…"

"The alternative is to leave Selphie in a stasis for this whole battle," Squall said. "If we do that, we run the risk of something happening to her, and Ultimecia breaking free. Personally, I think that's a greater risk. And anyway, eventually we'll have to address the situation with Selphie and Ultimecia. We might as well do it now, before the fighting starts and before Ultimecia decides to jump to another body."

"But Ultimecia's power," Ellone said. "She can interfere with my connections. Something terrible might happen."

Irvine recalled the looks on Squall and Ellone's faces when they had tried connecting directly to Ultimecia. He could understand why Ellone would be nervous about trying anything like that again.

"You managed to connect Rinoa to young Adel without any problems," Squall said. "I think it will work. My guess is Ultimecia only objects when you try to connect directly to her. She won't stop you if you're just connecting her further back in the past."

"What if Ultimecia isn't inside Selphie?" Ellone asked. "What if I connect and it's just Selphie in there?"

(I'd like that.)

"Then we'll know that this wasn't the right time," Squall said, shrugging. "Eventually—at some point or another—Ultimecia is going to go back in time and connect to Rinoa just after the fight with Adel inside the Lunatic Pandora. We know this because it's already happened. What we don't know is when exactly she makes the jump from the present into the past. I think now is a good time to find out."

Ellone sighed. "Well, I said I wanted to help you all. And I suppose this is a good way to use my powers."

Squall nodded. "Thank you, Sis. I know you're worried, but we're about as safe as we can possibly be. Selphie is asleep, you've got all of us here, Rinoa has the Odine Ring, and we're inside one of the most technologically advanced laboratories in the world."

"It iz ZE most technologically advanced!" Odine corrected. "None can surpass ze Great Odine!"

"We don't need to wake Selphie up first, do we?" Irvine asked.

"I don't think so," Squall said. He looked to Ellone for confirmation.

"No, I've connected with sleeping people before," Ellone said. "Should be the same as always. I hope."

"WAIT!" Odine said, shuffling over to the group. "If you are doing experiments, you must let Odine get data!"

"Selphie ain't your lab rat," Irvine said. He crossed his arms.

"It iz a simple test, cowboy!" Odine said. "Just allow Odine to plug his computer into ze sorceress' transport gurney. I vill read and measure the output. Zat is all!"

"And nothing will happen to Selphie?" Irvine asked.

"Machine only measures what gurney output says," Odine said. "Does nothing to person inside."

"Whatever," Squall said. "We'll allow it. Just make it quick, alright?"

Dr. Odine spun around and snapped his fingers at his aides. Immediately, they all stopped what they were doing and rushed over to grab a computer and some devices from the shelves. They hurriedly set up a small console beside Selphie and connected a few wires to an input in the side of the gurney. Odine swung a chair around and sat down facing a monitor.

"Proceed with ze experiment!" Odine said with a wave of his hand.

"Ready, Sis?" Squall asked.

Ellone took a breath, then nodded. She closed her eyes and bowed her head in concentration.

(Whatever happens next is meant to happen.)

He repeated that to himself several times, a mantra to cool his nerves. He was still uneasy, and found himself reaching inside his trench coat, his fingers curling around the handle of his shotgun, ready to draw.

Several seconds passed. Odine stared intently at the computer monitor, watching the lines on a graph move up and down. He mumbled some things to one of his aides, who wrote down notes on a piece of paper.

The silence was unbearable for Irvine. He turned to the doctor and asked, "What do you see, doc? What's goin' on?"

"Eh," Odine said with a curl of his lip. "Normal fluctuations of brain waves, all within ze normal parameters." He paused and narrowed his eyes. "Hm? Zat is interesting." He leaned closer to the monitor.

"What?" Irvine said, stepping over to the monitor and pressing in close beside Odine. "What's interesting? I don't want anything interesting to happen right now."

(The more boring the better.)

Odine scowled at him and elbowed him away. Irvine stepped backwards and scanned over Odine's shoulder, looking at the graphs and numbers, but none of it made any sense to him. It might as well have been written in a foreign language.

"What's happening, Doctor?" Squall asked.

"Brainwave spike from ze sorceress girl," Odine said. "Might be nothing. Might be Ellone has made ze connection, causing brainwave spike. Impossible to tell. More testing iz needed."

(Brainwave spike from Selphie?)

Irvine couldn't tell if that was good or bad, but he felt increasingly nervous about the whole situation. Ellone had been concentrating for quite some time now and nothing had happened. From Irvine's understanding, the whole process should have only taken a few seconds. Long enough for Ellone to establish the connection, link Selphie to Rinoa's past self, and then allow the past version of Ellone to link Rinoa to young Adel. But now it had been almost a full minute, and Ellone was still in the same position, her eyes closed and her head bowed.

Just as Irvine was about to open his mouth to say something. Ellone's eyes popped open and she raised her head. She didn't say anything, instead standing in the corner of the room, blinking at the light.

"Well?" Irvine asked. "Did it work?"

He tried to swallow, but his throat was dry.

(Something's wrong.)

"I couldn't… quite make the connection," Ellone said slowly, as if she was coming out of a dream. Her words were slurred. "The gurney is in the way. Blocking the… connection."

Before anyone could say or do anything, Ellone took two steps forward and bent over to the gurney. An Esthar soldier reached out to stop her, but she had already stuck her hand out and pushed a series of buttons to deactivate the gurney's protective bubble. The soldier yelped and grabbed Ellone by the shoulders and tossed her away from the gurney. She tumbled down to the floor and slowly sat up, still blinking and disoriented. Surprised by this unexpected action, everyone turned to look at Selphie's gurney.

There was a hiss of escaping gas as the pressurized interior of the gurney popped open. The green bubble around Selphie vanished, leaving her lying on the slab, exposed.

"Interesting," Odine mumbled again, his eyes fixed on the monitor. But no one paid any attention. The three Esthar soldiers huddled around the gurney, trying to fix whatever it was that Ellone had done. They blocked Irvine's view of Selphie, forcing him to shuffle around and stand on his tiptoes to see her. He caught a glimpse of her face, still slack with sleep and unmoving.

(She hasn't woken up yet…)

Squall knelt down beside Ellone. She continued to stare vacantly into the distance. Squall rested a hand on her shoulder, his eyes narrowed.

"Sis, why'd you do that?" Squall asked.

"Hm?" Ellone said.

Irvine tried to get the attention of one of the Esthar soldiers. "Is Selphie gonna wake up now?" he asked.

"No, no," one of the soldiers said. "The sedatives will still keep her under for a few minutes."

"So then what are you waiting for?" Irvine asked. "Close the thing back up!"

"It'll take a second," the Esthar soldier said, pushing buttons on the console. "She did an emergency shutdown of the system and now we have to reboot the program. It'll just be a second."

The uneasy feeling in Irvine's stomach had turned into a sensation like having a lead weight in his body. He didn't know what was happening, but he knew something was wrong, very wrong, and if they didn't act quickly, it would be too late.

(Too late for what?)

Irvine turned and looked at Squall and Ellone. Rinoa stood nearby, anxiously chewing on her lip and watching the situation with Selphie.

"Sis," Squall said again calmly. "Why did you do that?"

"Do what?" Ellone asked, her eyes focusing and her voice becoming stronger.

"Very interesting," Odine said, continuing to look at the monitor.

"What's interestin—" Irvine started to say. But he cut himself off when he looked down at Selphie and saw her eyes wide open.

(No!)

The computer in front of Odine exploded into sparks, spraying the doctor with glass. He yelled out in pain and surprise and tumbled backwards out of his chair, falling onto the floor as he shielded his face with his sleeves. The aides in the room scuffled backwards, trying to get away from Selphie. Odine rolled on the floor, groaning and muttering.

The Esthar soldiers reached for their guns, but Selphie threw out a wave of ice that slammed into all three of them, hitting with a solid thump and the sound of their armor breaking and their bones crunching. The guards were thrown into the far wall, slamming into glass test tubes and computers and other bits of Odine's experiments.

"Selphie!" Irvine said, rushing forward instinctively. He wasn't sure what he was planning to do, but his body responded to the situation faster than his brain did. He had released his hold on his gun—even in this situation, he refused to draw his weapon against her.

Selphie turned and looked at him with hateful, unfamiliar eyes. She raised her hand and Irvine felt an intense pressure slam into his chest. He didn't see what had hit him, but suddenly he was airborne, with all the air blasted out of his lungs.

He crashed into the far wall and onto a table, the sharp angles of a computer terminal digging into his back. He tumbled off the table to the hard floor, banging his elbows and knees on the cold surface. A shelf full of empty vials fell on top of him, covering him in shards of glass that bounced off his hat and trench coat like hail. The world spun in circles and blood hammered in Irvine's ears. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind.

(C'mon!)

(Get up!)

He shook his head again and reached out a hand to the nearest desk. He grabbed the edge of the desk, glass shards cutting into his fingertips and through the palms of his gloves, and pulled himself—staggering—to his feet. As he stood, more glass shards fell from his hat and passed before his eyes. His chest felt bruised and it hurt to breathe, but he was fairly certain that his junctions had saved him from any serious injuries.

He looked across the room to where Selphie and Rinoa were engaged in a pitched battle. Rinoa used both hands to hurl blinding white orbs of energy at Selphie. Selphie was no longer inside the gurney, but standing beside it, swatting aside Rinoa's attacks with ease, smiling manically the whole time. The deflected magic orbs flew into the walls and ceiling, letting off small explosions, spraying chunks of the wall in every direction. Odine's aides cowered down behind desks, trying to stay out of the carnage. Odine himself was on the floor, curled in a ball, muttering to himself and rubbing at his bloody head. The Esthar soldiers were in three heaps around the room—unconscious or dead, Irvine couldn't tell.

Squall was on the opposite end of the room, near the doorway to the exit. He was bruised and battered and standing unsteadily on his feet. He shuffled forward, drawing his gunblade and holding it out in front of him. As soon as Selphie saw him approach, she deliberately swatted one of Rinoa's attacks back at him. His eyes widened and he tried to duck out of the way, but the attack hit him hard in the shoulder, throwing him across the room towards Irvine. Irvine ducked and rolled out of the way, just as Squall went sailing over his head, crashing into the same spot that Irvine had hit moments before.

Squall fell to the ground and was still for a second.

"Squall?" Irvine hissed, trying not to draw Selphie's attention. "Squall!"

Squall groaned, but did not immediately rise.

(Damn it all.)

At the other end of the room, Rinoa and Selphie continued to fight. Now they were circling each other, dashing between the desks and computer terminals, slinging magic at each other and trying to gain an advantage over the other. Odine's experiments blew to pieces behind the two battling sorceresses. Already the laboratory looked like a bomb had exploded within it.

Ellone stood in the corner, dazed and blinking like she couldn't understand what she was seeing.

(What happened to her?)

Irvine's mind raced, but he knew he'd have trouble figuring it out the answer under the best circumstances. Now that there was a fight going on, he had other things to worry about and he set those questions aside. The "why" of the situation was irrelevant. All that mattered was stopping Ultimecia without harming Selphie. Irvine could spend time worrying about details after the fighting was done.

He drew his shotgun—not sure if he could use it against Selphie—and took a step forward. Selphie saw him immediately and swatted one of Rinoa's attacks at him. Irvine crouched as the white orb went sailing over his head and crashed into something behind Irvine. He could hear something break, and he assumed it was another one of Odine's experiments blown to pieces.

He heard glass crack and shatter, and suddenly frigid water was pouring down his back and soaking through his clothes. Irvine yelped in surprise and twisted away from the cold wetness. As he turned, he looked up and saw that the tube containing Ciel had been breached. Water flowed freely from a massive hole in the center, and cracks spidered outwards with soft crunching noises.

Irvine jumped out of the way just as the glass tube broke completely, spilling all of its contents—both the water and Ciel—onto the floor at Irvine's feet. The sorceress girl lay limply in the broken glass and water, her damp hair strewn across her placid features.

(Aw, hell.)

Irvine looked to Squall for advice, but Squall was only just now pulling himself up onto his elbows. Irvine flicked his eyes over and saw Rinoa and Selphie still dueling relentlessly. Selphie caught one of Rinoa's white spells, held it in her hands a few seconds, then threw it up at the ceiling above Rinoa.

Rinoa ducked as the lights above her shattered, spilling sparks and glass down onto her. While Rinoa was distracted, Selphie leapt over to Ellone and gripped her hard on the hand. Irvine frowned, wondering what she was doing.

(Whatever she's up to, I gotta stop her.)

Irvine reached into his pocket and began fishing around for his dark ammo, which would incapacitate a person—but not kill them. But before he loaded a round into the barrel of his gun, he remembered that Selphie would still have her battle junctions turned on, which would mean she would be immune to the effects of Irvine's bullets. He cursed silently.

(I ain't used to fightin' against SeeDs.)

A second later, Ellone jerked to attention in Selphie's grasp. Ellone closed her eyes and bowed her head. Rinoa hopped up from behind a desk, standing between Irvine and Selphie near the middle of the room, a blazing ball of white energy in one hand ready to throw, when suddenly Rinoa twitched, then grasped at her head like she has been shot between the eyes. The spell in her hand dissipated and she bent over in pain.

She fell first to her knees, landing in the glass and water on the floor, then fell flat on her face, completely unconscious. Irvine's eyes flicked to Ellone, and realized what was happening.

(She's using Ellone to connect with Rinoa!)

"Rinoa!" Squall yelled, struggling to get to his feet. He drew his gunblade and lurched unsteadily towards Rinoa's body.

Before he could take more than two steps, there was an explosion from behind Irvine, which threw both Irvine and Squall down to the wet floor. Stunned, Irvine rolled over onto his back to see what had hit him.

There, standing just in front of the broken glass tube, was Ciel, dripping wet and furious. Her hair was stuck to her face in random swirls, her hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly. Selphie turned to look at this new threat, and for a moment the two sorceresses gazed at each other, neither saying anything.

(Now what?)

Irvine could only guess what Ciel was thinking. He had never met Ciel in person, but from everything he had heard about her, there was no way to predict her next action. He knew she hated SeeD, so she might turn her rage on Squall and Rinoa, fighting for revenge for everything that had happened since Timber and the D-District Prison.

But there was also the question of how much Ciel remembered from her time being possessed by Ultimecia. If she still remembered being used by the sorceress from the future—and if she recognized that Selphie was now the one being possessed—there was also a chance that Ciel would side with the SeeDs and fight back against her oppressor.

(That might be hopin' for too much.)

Squall leapt to his feet and charged forward towards Selphie, taking this moment of distraction and using it to his advantage. He raised his gunblade high above his head and crossed the room in a three quick bounds, his mouth open in a silent snarl.

But Ultimecia was ready for him. With one hand still gripping Ellone's wrist, she used her other hand to create a transparent shield in the air. Squall's gunblade swung down and crashed into the barrier, producing a blinding burst of light and the sound of a gunshot as Squall fruitlessly pulled the trigger on his weapon.

The edge of his blade hovered a finger's width away from Ultimecia's outstretched hand, held in place by her magical barrier. Squall gripped the handle of his weapon with both hands, fighting to push through Ultimecia's shield, but she was much too strong. Sparks shot out from the edge of Squall's blade at the point where it pressed into the shield. Selphie smirked at Squall mockingly, holding him off with hardly any effort.

Irvine turned to look for Ciel, but she was gone. Somewhere in the chaos, she had ducked out of sight. Irvine glanced around and then bent over, peering under the tables, but all he could see were the huddled shapes of Odine's aides and the wreckage of the laboratory.

Irvine straightened up, still glancing around for Ciel. Since Squall and Selphie were fighting near the only exit to the lab, there was no way that Ciel could have escaped without them seeing her.

(Which means she's still gotta be here.)

At the moment, Ciel was the only person in the room with any ability to fight against Ultimecia. Irvine and Squall were strong, but with Ellone and Rinoa out of commission, they would be hard pressed to survive this battle—let alone win it.

(And I won't kill Selphie.)

"Your fight is futile, SeeD," Selphie said mockingly to Squall. She pushed forward with her hand and the shield extended rapidly, sending Squall stumbling backwards as he fought to hold his grip on his sword and keep his balance. "Even if you strike me down, I shall claim another sorceress and return. From my castle across the eons, I will attack again and again and again until I am victorious. Even if I cannot kill you, I can outlast you."

(I gotta do somethin'!)

The only thing that came to Irvine's mind was to shoot Selphie. He grimaced and shook his head.

(But it's Selphie!)

Even when she was possessed by Ultimecia, Irvine couldn't bring himself to attack her. He would have to come up with something else. He would rather die than kill her.

He looked at Selphie and Ellone, and noticed what he hadn't been paying attention to before: Selphie was holding on to Ellone's hand.

(Why?)

Then he recognized that pose. That was what Selphie did whenever she summoned Shiva—at least, it's what she did now that she had become a sorceress. She always held on to Shiva like that. Irvine had never bothered to question this behavior, but now that he thought about it, keeping in physical contact with Shiva seemed to help her control and guide the GF.

Sudden understanding washed over him as Irvine made the connections in his mind. Ultimecia was using Selphie's power to control Ellone, forcing Ellone to connect with Rinoa and keep her out of the fight.

(Maybe that Piet guy was right.)

(Maybe it's all the same type of energy.)

Ultimecia had already proven that she could forcefully claim another person's GF, back when she had stolen Bahamut from Zell. If Ellone was full of the same energy that composed a Guardian Force, then it stood to reason that she was also vulnerable to being possessed by Selphie's power.

("A spike in brainwaves.")

When Selphie had still been safely asleep, Dr. Odine had noticed an increase in Selphie's brainwaves when Ellone had made the connection. Had Ultimecia been able to reach out and possess Ellone, even then? Is that why Ellone decided—for no reason at all—to open up Selphie's gurney and allow all this to happen?
Irvine didn't know, and he didn't have time to think the situation through. Squall was already circling around Selphie, gunblade in hand. Ultimecia—through Selphie—laughed aloud. Squall leapt across the room and struck with his gunblade. Ultimecia raised her hand and easily caught the blade once more in her shield.

"You cannot fight forever," Ultimecia said.

(I have to shoot her.)

(It's the only way.)

Squall didn't stand a chance against Ultimecia by himself. And it was becoming clear that Squall didn't have any bright ideas of his own, or else he would have tried something more creative than just rushing directly at her again and again. If something was going to happen, it would have to be Irvine who did it.

Irvine's mind raced, casting about for some solution to the problem. He looked at Rinoa, crumpled up on the floor a row ahead of him. He was about to look elsewhere, when he remembered that weird looking ring she had been carrying.

(She said it had protected her from Ultimecia.)

That wasn't much information to go on, but it was all Irvine could think of at the moment. Keeping his head low and trying to move silently, Irvine crept along towards Rinoa, while Ultimecia and Squall fought. He heard Squall cry out in pain while Ultimecia laughed, but Irvine refused to poke his head up. If Ultimecia turned this way, she might suspect that he was doing something and then try to stop him.

He got beside Rinoa just in time to hear an explosion tear a hole in the ceiling. Ultimecia yelled something mocking towards Squall, but Irvine's ears were ringing too much to hear it. He looked at Rinoa and saw a tiny lump in one of her pockets.

Delicately, he reached two fingertips into Rinoa's pocket and plucked out the ring. He held it between his fingers and examined it.

It didn't seem like much. Just an ordinary ring with a green square full of circuitry on the end. In truth it was rather ugly. While the sounds of the battle continued to rage on, he thought about what he should do next.

(Ellone is connected to Rinoa.)

(And Selphie is connected to Ellone.)

(This might not work, but…)

Hoping for a miracle, Irvine grasped Rinoa's limp hand and stuck the ring over her index finger. She twitched in her sleep and whimpered softly, her brow creasing in discomfort. Startled, Irvine dropped her hand and pulled back.

Just then, Ellone's eyes snapped open and she gripped her head with one hand. Selphie turned to look at her and then was immediately struck by the same headache that Ellone appeared to be suffering from. Both of them dropped to their knees, in obvious pain.

(Oh damn!)

Fearing that he had made a mistake—that he was somehow doing horrible damage to Selphie and the others—Irvine grabbed Rinoa's hand and yanked off the ring. Immediately, Selphie and Ellone collapsed on the floor, motionless and silent, as if they were both machines connected to one power source and Irvine had just unplugged them.

In the staggering silence that followed, Squall got to his feet, his face bleeding and his coat torn. He looked at Irvine, then looked at the others.

"What did you do?" Squall asked.

"Hell if I know," Irvine said with a shrug. "Somethin' with this ring."

He held up the ring in his fingers, allowing Squall to look at it.

Squall shook his head and muttered. "Last time I ever accept untested equipment from Odine."

"Yeah, no kidding," Irvine said. "It worked out for us this time, though."

Irvine stood up just in time to hear a pair of bare feet slapping across the floor. He looked and saw Ciel running from her hiding place—the inside of a floor cabinet in the corner of the room—and sprinting for the door.

"Hey!" he shouted, holding up a hand. Ciel didn't stop or slow down. She vaulted over Selphie's body and vanished into the hallway.

"Damn," Squall said. "We have to get her. Ultimecia will probably try to take her next."

Once again, the lights flashed red, and Laguna's voice came over the intercom.

"Attention," Laguna said. "Galbadia has reached the city limits. All citizens not in their designated safe areas should immediately seek shelter in their homes or the nearest fortified building. Do not go outside. Protect yourselves and stay away from the fighting."

(I wish that I could, Laguna.)

(But wherever we go, the fighting always seems to find us.)

Squall dashed into the hallway, and Irvine raised his shotgun and gave chase.