Chapter 36

Rekindled

Gerra awoke with Sorceress Rinoa standing over him, the pale blue of her attire coming into focus before her smiling face. She was a marvel to him, as Quistis had been. Never had he expected to meet a Sorceress other than Ultimecia.

'It's okay, Gerra,' she said kindly. 'I've restored you to full health.'

He tried to sit up but was startled by a squeal of delight and a flashing white form leaping on top of him, pinning him to the bed and hugging him tightly. It was Thalassa, back in that white uniform and matching beret he had learned to dread.

'Thank Hyne you're okay!' she said happily.

Despite the bedsheet separating them, the feel of her body pressed so close to his gave him a jolt of excitement. Though he quickly banished it from his mind and returned the hug.

'What happened?' he asked. 'I accepted my death during that fall!'

Thalassa moved off him to the edge of the bed. Gerra realised how many people were in the room as he sat upright against the soft headboard.

Rinoa spoke first. 'Ifrit saved you. Just! You've been unconscious for twenty-four hours!'

He was in a pleasant hospital room, the sunlight filtered by blinds and a few bouquets of flowers on the nightstand to his left. In the middle were the most magnificent lilies he had ever seen, probably conjured by Rinoa herself.

At the foot of the bed were three more White SeeDs. Two of them looked to be a generation older than Thalassa. A man and a woman. The male looked to be of Balambi descent, though either the tell-tale black hair was short enough to be covered by his beret, or he was bald. Conversely, the woman had curls of blonde hair almost down to her elbows. Next to them was a younger, freckled woman with strawberry blonde hair; around Thalassa's age, she looked at Gerra in wonder. Raine was also there, standing in the corner and looking good in full SeeD uniform. She gave Gerra a soft smile when they made eye contact. She was holding a new quarterstaff, and Gerra recognised it as Raijin's. Next to Raine was a bearded man with a brooding expression and a tell-tale scar between his eyes, who Gerra knew could only be the Lionheart. He wore a fashionably undersized leather jacket and the gunblade of the same name was sheathed at his waist.

'Hyne, I've never been so popular!' Gerra remarked, breaking the pall of strained silence.

Rinoa giggled, making eye contact with her Knight. 'He's definitely Seifer's descendant!'

Thalassa spoke again. 'That's my Captain, Kurin,' she pointed at the older man, then the woman. 'And my Deputy Captain, Celes. They've been with White SeeD since the beginning.'

Kurin gave Gerra a single nod. 'We were curious to meet the one Thalassa has been travelling with. I trust she has kept you safe.'

'We send her to pick up intelligence in FH, and she ends up gallivanting across the western continent with Ultimecia's future Knight!' Celes said. 'She can turn any mission into an adventure!'

Thalassa gestured to the younger White SeeD. 'That's Relm, one of my childhood friends. We grew up together on the ship.'

Relm smiled awkwardly. 'Yeah, we go back. It's nice to meet you, Gerra!'

She spoke with a Centran strine somewhat like Gerra's own. He guessed that Relm and Thalassa had met when the latter had been living with the nomads.

'What happened to Ultimecia?' Gerra asked hesitantly, his gaze sweeping across them all.

Thalassa answered. 'She commanded her forces to retreat. They crossed the border into Timber, and her fleet has already reached Dollet, but they'll be back! Leo killed Quistis! Ultimecia took her powers along with Eden, too!'

Gerra put his face in his hands, saying nothing. When he raised his head, he looked through the window. The skyline of Galbadia City had been forever altered, with all the tall buildings cut down. The glorious emblem of the Arch of Triumph was now a crater in the middle of the capital. As was the once impressive Presidential Palace, sunken like the hopes of the Galbadians.

Rinoa had moved to one of the visitor's chairs, sitting elegantly with her back straight and her hands on her slender thighs. Her Knight had moved to her side. Gerra looked to them.

'I'll have Leo's head for what he did!' he vowed. 'If Seifer hadn't used so much of Ifrit's energy, I could have stopped it! Leo's here because of me! It was my fault!'

Squall addressed him. 'From what you've told Thalassa, none of this is your fault, Gerra. You were just unlucky that Leo was able to follow you here. If not for you, we would all be dead now. The surviving SeeDs would be cowering at Wilburn, waiting for Galbadia to turn them over to Ultimecia.'

'But Ultimecia has Eden now!' he argued. 'What is she waiting for! She will destroy the rest of the city once his full power has returned!'

'Probably,' Squall said dispassionately.

'Forgive me if I'm missing something obvious, Lionheart,' Gerra said, 'but how did Eden become enslaved so easily?'

Squall sighed heavily. 'Eden went into hibernation after his attack at the Monterosa, and only Quistis could have pulled him out of it prematurely. It was a risk, but we needed Eden back at full power in case Galbadia City was lost. Had we been forced to regroup at Wilburn, Eden was our insurance. With such a spectre hanging over the Great Plains, we could have forced Ultimecia to sue for peace. Caraway had already drawn up plans to concede southern Galbadia to the Empire if she would let the north remain an independent state. Its liberty would have been guaranteed by Quistis and Eden for generations to come.' He paused. 'But now, we're anxiously waiting Ultimecia's return. Losing Eden could mean everything we have achieved so far has been for nothing.'

Gerra interlaced his fingers. 'And the events of my timeline could still come to pass.' When no one commented, he asked, 'So, where do we go from here? How many more GFs are free?'

'There's going to be a memorial service for the fallen at the Tomb of the Unknown King,' Squall explained. 'The most notable of them will be buried there. Quistis, Seifer, Raijin, Xu,' he glanced at Rinoa.

'And my father,' Rinoa said slowly. 'President Caraway.'

'After this,' Squall carried on, 'we'll be recruiting the remainder of the free GFs. Alexander, whose last summoner was Sorceress Edea, should be residing somewhere in southern Centra. Phoenix, who you have expressed a desire to junction with. Even Diablos, as impossible as that feat may seem, but now, failing to recruit the Dark Messenger is not an option.'

Captain Kurin spoke now. 'We believe that the Tonberry King and the Jumbo Cactuar have returned to their homes. But hopefully they will join the fight against their former enslavers! Celes and I hope to bring them to the fold, before Ultimecia can descend on their lair's once again. It is our hope that they will pledge their entire races to the Allies!'

'You've been saying Phoenix's name in your sleep, Gerra,' Thalassa told him, 'in addition to Leo's. Only one junctioned with Ifrit can descend into the magma at the Fire Cavern. We can smuggle you into Balamb, and I'll accompany you to the pit myself.'

Gerra just nodded. There was no question of him not taking that journey. He needed more power if he was to confront Leo again, let alone Ultimecia.

'And of course… Griever.' Squall whispered the name. 'Bahamut and our other GFs do not know where the Winged Lion slumbers. But with Eden now a puppet of Ultimecia, we hope that one of the GFs who remained loyal to Griever in their civil war of legend will reveal his location.'

Gerra thought about this. Like most, he always believed Griever was just a fantastical legend. Ultimecia had scoured the entire world but had been unable to locate Griever in the future. Though if the Winged Lion truly existed, and could be brought to the fight, his power would match his fellow Elder, Eden.

'The Guardian Forces seem oblivious to Ultimecia's scheming,' Rinoa piped up. 'Apparently, they do not communicate that well following the War of the GFs, which is how they've been slowly divided and conquered.'

Squall murmured in agreement. 'Rinoa gathered as much from Sacred and Minotaur. Nida had similar misgivings about Siren.'

'The GFs didn't realise what was happening to them until it was too late!' Gerra growled. 'Ultimecia was already too powerful after winning the war!'

'We are very fortunate Leviathan has returned to us,' Celes commented, looking apologetically at Thalassa. 'But it was at the expense of Carbuncle.'

Thalassa bowed her head in shame. 'I vowed to keep Buncle safe from the Empire, and I failed! But with Leviathan's power, I have a shot at getting him back!'

'Obviously, even without Eden, Ultimecia's power has doubled in succeeding Quistis,' Squall stated. 'She has even taken on the appearance of her future self. The Sorceress we knew as Reina was still relatively young, only a few years older than myself. She was actually friends with Ellone when she was held in Esthar.'

Rinoa took over from her Knight. 'Normally, a Sorceress would not lose control of her appearance until she is nearing the end of a human's lifespan. My predecessor Edea told me that, when this happens, we begin to resemble our true nature. Though Ultimecia believes she is destined to follow in the footsteps of her future self, and has probably imitated that avatar by choice. Then again, as demonic as she looks now, she was not as unsightly as Adel.'

As if Gerra did not already know it. He was one of a privileged few who had got to know Ultimecia intimately. Not that he could ever admit that to anyone here, although he assumed that they suspected it. Gerra looked at Rinoa again, then diverted the subject.

'You were Adel's successor too, correct? And you were junctioned with Eden in the Second Sorceress War. So, you once had more power than Ultimecia does now.'

Rinoa nodded. 'I agreed to take Adel's power because I was already a Sorceress. We realised later that Selphie or Quistis could have succeeded her, but there was no time. Gilgamesh cut off Adel's head! She couldn't die without a Successor, and I had already agreed to be the one.' She paused. 'At that point, it was a mercy!' she reflected.

'But I was only seventeen, and everything changed for me too quickly. I had inherited most of Hyne's Half, thinking I had the whole of it, and I wasn't ready for such responsibility. Gaining Edea's power initially put me in a coma, although Odine believed that was due to the future Ultimecia's meddling. Heck, before the Battle of the Gardens, I wasn't even sure about continuing to fight with Squall and the others. I couldn't fight at their level! I wasn't a SeeD!'

Gerra observed that, even years later, the events of the Second Sorceress War still visibly frustrated Rinoa. Squall put a calming hand on his Sorceress' shoulder, and she took it in hers before she continued.

'I did as much research as I could into Hyne's Descendants after we defeated Ultimecia in the future. At Garden, I had access to copies of almost every tome regarding Sorceress history. I'm not sure if you're familiar with Adel's history, Gerra?'

'I know enough,' Gerra responded. 'That she was born in ancient Centra. That her succession of Emperor Axtius was unpopular with the Senate, and that they backed the rebellion led by one of Axtius' bastards, Zefer. Zefer's claim was also backed by Sorceress Matoya, and led to the civil war that was partially responsible for the old empire's fracture. After leading her loyal followers to the eastern continent, Adel founded Esthar at the foot of the Tower of Babil.' Gerra hesitated. 'Though after two thousand years, Adel's human body had reached its limit, much like her predecessor Zenobia. And after struggling to find a worthy Successor, she and Odysseus Vlahos birthed a girl in vitro. They called her Reina.'

Rinoa nodded. 'Adel was the only child of Emperor Axtius and his first wife, Artemisia – who died shortly after her birth. I witnessed much of Adel's youth through Ellone, and I had some empathy for her. Defeating her wasn't easy. The future Ultimecia was possessing her mother after she woke from her cold sleep, giving orders to Seifer. Ultimecia tried to junction my body to Adel's in a way that still gives me nightmares! I ended up merged with her chest, unable to move at all as she siphoned my power!'

Squall carried on the tale as Rinoa stared into space. 'We couldn't properly attack Adel through fear of hitting Rinoa. She kept raining down meteors and firing energy blasts at our GF's barriers. We were saved only when Gilgamesh appeared behind her, beheading her with Odin's sword. Adel's death was part of the plan to stop Ultimecia, leaving Rinoa as the only remaining Sorceress – or so we thought. We needed Ultimecia to possess Rinoa, so Ellone could send her far into the past and begin Time Compression. That was the only way we could travel to the future and defeat her.'

Rinoa took over again. 'We always assumed that was why Elle opted sent the Ultimecia into Adel's past, rather than Edea's. At such an advanced age, Adel was the obvious choice for the time compression spell, giving Ultimecia two significant waypoints in time. But Elle later explained it was because Adel never mistreated her in Esthar, despite believing Reina to be the more suitable Successor. She visited Adel's youth to try and understand what made her so tyrannical. I think it was the presence of myself and Ultimecia that warped the young Adel in the first place. That experience made Adel aware of two different eras, manipulated her into casting Time Compression and demonstrated Elle's power. Elle would not even be born for a very long time!'

When no one else spoke, Gerra said, 'We all felt the effects of Time Compression. Ultimecia theorised about performing such a feat in my timeline, saying she desired to be remembered across all eras, not just in written word. I didn't believe it was possible, but then I witnessed it for myself. Thalassa said it was stopped was because the Children of Fate were able to defeat her, but Odine and I decided to try and prevent it altogether.'

Rinoa continued. 'After the war, I struggled to contain my powers. There was an accident in Garden. I saved some cadets from a t-rexaur that broke out of the Training Centre. But the magic I used was much more potent than I had intended, killing a junior classman. There was an outrage after that, both within Garden and within the media. I had no choice but to leave Garden. Squall resigned as Commander to fulfil his duties as my Knight. I fashioned our dream home for us by Obel Lake. But within a week, I had burnt it to the ground in my sleep!'

Rinoa looked at her Knight. 'If not for Bahamut, Squall would have been killed! I hoped I would have been able to adjust, in time. But there were other incidents, too. Everything Ultimecia had done to alter my life had scarred me. The post-traumatic stress went through my mind one day while Squall was fishing the Obel, and there was nothing I could do to prevent it. I boiled a whole section of lakeside, and thousands of dead fish rose to the surface. Knowing this couldn't go on, we travelled to Edea's House. Edea advised me to return to Esthar, to seek Odine's help. The country was in chaos following the Cry, but we made it to O-Lab.

'Odine said he could either exorcise or split my power. Quistis, the wisest of us all, knew that if Hyne's Half was held in stasis somewhere in Esthar, it could be seized by a more malevolent woman and start another war. And as it happened, Reina took power in Esthar shortly after that! Quistis and Selphie agreed to receive a share of my power, and so the Divide happened.'

'That was very noble of your friends,' Gerra commented. 'I was moved when I first learned about the Divide. I've only known such deep bonds of friendship with one other, and he died many years ago.' Gerra shut his eyes for a moment, then continued. 'Quistis almost ended the war with that pulsar! It was an honour to fight by her side.'

'It was an honour to have known her,' Squall professed. 'I wouldn't have even made SeeD by the time of the last war if it wasn't for her! She dragged my sorry ass from the infirmary to the Fire Cavern on the morning before my SeeD exam.' The Lionheart gave a rare smile. 'A few days later, I ended up in command of her in Galbadia.'

Gerra remembered something else. 'Has Sorceress Selphie recovered?'

'Almost!' Rinoa said happily. 'She will be joining us here tomorrow!'

'What of Tyris?' Gerra asked.

Raine noticeably stiffened, though it was Thalassa who answered.

'She's going to be debriefed at Battleship Island. Hopefully, she'll be joining us.'

Then Raine spoke, her voice deadpan. 'My dad's GF freely junctioned with her. We'll need her power whether we want it or not.'

Gerra understood. Tyris must have killed Raine's father on the Great Plains.

'And Ifrit?' he asked. 'Her brother, I mean. Ultimecia wanted him murdered!'

'Ifrit is safe,' Squall assured him. 'He's already been moved from Wilburn, and his mother is watching over him. Ultimecia or Christophe won't be able to locate him again.'

Squall looked at Kurin, and moved to depart, Rinoa following.

'We'll secure a vessel to get you to the Fire Cavern, right after the service,' Squall informed him. 'Thanks for everything, Gerra.'

The White SeeDs also moved to go, Raine leaving with them, Thalassa remaining at the bedside.

(A/N: Thanks for your patience, people. I had a great time city-hopping in Spain. I'm going away again next month, as I booked a trip to Valencia pre-pandemic and the hotel was kind enough to let me postpone it for two years. I'll be getting a ferry to Ibiza from there. I can't wait!)