Sadly, the first addition to this archive is a story I had to abandon. La Vita Nuova was my attempt at a Peggy Sue story where Ultimecia was reincarnated as Rinoa. I thought Ultimecia, when you read between the lines to get her life story, was actually a tragic figure. Sadly, my motivation to write this story has petered out, so I am, albeit reluctantly, archiving it. Sorry.

LA VITA NUOVA

CHAPTER 1:

A SECOND CHANCE

Ultimecia had never had the luxury of a proper childhood. SeeD's persecution murdered her childhood as effectively as they wished to murder her. They had embarked on their pogroms with little heed to what pain they caused others.

Which was why Ultimecia was embarking on the beginnings of an audacious plan. To compress time, bring the power of all Sorceresses in history into herself, along with all of time and space, and rule as a Goddess over all creation, denying existence to all who would do her harm. Which, to her mind, meant all of humanity in general, and SeeD in particular. She didn't care whether she was Goddess over an empty and small universe, as long as she didn't have to feel pain anymore. As long as she had the power to decide her own fate.

As part of her plan, she had obtained a Junction Machine Ellone device, a device that could send her consciousness back in time. Amongst other things, she needed to find the very girl that the machine was named for, the girl who possessed the same powers, who would be key to her plan.

Ultimecia never considered the fact that her plan, borne out of hurt and desperation that twisted her heart and soul into the most extreme misanthropy, would in fact perpetuate a cycle that would bring the very persecution she attempted to halt into existence. She would have dismissed the possibility out of hand: it was not she who was the author of her own persecution, but the SeeDs.

In a perverse way, though she would never know it, she was right. Memories and well-meant warnings about Ultimecia twisted and distorted, and along with it, the mission and ethos of SeeD. The well-intentioned dream of Cid and Edea Kramer, embodied by Squall Leonhart and his friends, was twisted into fanatical hatred. The Kramers, Leonhart, and his friends were all but deified, and Sorceresses, save for Edea and Rinoa, were demonised. The creed of SeeD became like a religion, and not of a kind and moral sort, but of fanaticism and blinkeredness and hatred, determined to stop Ultimecia from emerging by any means necessary. It took centuries to happen, but it still did.

Once, Ultimecia loathed her powers. Now, she embraced them. And why shouldn't she? Power was all she had left. Not love, not friendship, and not acceptance. All of those had been dangled in front of her, and torn ruthlessly away.

Ultimecia took the Junction Machine Ellone into her art gallery. It was a risk, given that SeeDs tried daily to infiltrate her castle and murder her. But she wanted to be surrounded by her beloved artwork, and trusted to her monstrous minion Trauma to protect her if she was attacked.

Sadly, it was a mistake. As she used the machine to project her consciousness centuries into the past, looking for potential candidates to control, SeeD mercenaries broke in. Trauma fought valiantly, but was unable to save his mistress when one SeeD managed to shoot her, while her consciousness was still in the past.

As Ultimecia slumped, blood drooling from her mouth, her chest a crimson ruin that matched her habitual crimson robe, cries of elation erupted from the SeeDs, and a cry of woe erupted from Trauma. Sorceress Ultimecia was dead! The world, past and present, was safe!

That may have been true, save for the fact that killing someone while their consciousness was junctioned to someone in the past had unforeseen consequences. At the time, Ultimecia was searching for Edea Kramer, whom she thought was uniquely placed to start her plan. However, she had been briefly junctioned to a child, still in the womb, still developing, with the dormant power of a Sorceress. A child, ironically, that in the previous timelines, she had tried to exploit, but who managed to turn on her.

But as Ultimecia was torn away from her body, screaming as she was sucked into the foetus she had only briefly looked at, she never knew she was going to get a chance the child, and herself, never got. A childhood. A gift of immeasurable value…

Rinoa Caraway was a strange child, to say the least. When she was born, General Fury Caraway almost immediately demanded a paternity test. He had believed his wife, Julia (née Heartilly, the famous singer of Eyes on Me), to have had an affair, and even when the paternity test came up in his favour (that is, he was indisputably the father of Rinoa), their relationship was strained for some months afterwards, not helped by the demands of parenthood.

Of course, it wasn't without reason that he had such suspicion. His daughter had been born with silvery hair, with a black streak in the middle. And her eyes had a distinctive baleful ring of gold around the pupil, in the centre of black irises. Both he and Julia had dark hair and dark eyes. After several more paternity tests, and the doctors putting the strange features to a random mutation, Caraway reluctantly accepted the girl as his own.

He also kept one thing the doctors discovered a secret of the highest order. Rinoa was a Sorceress, a rare one born rather than having the power transferred from a dying Sorceress to one who had the potential to wield such power. Only Rinoa's parents knew she was a Sorceress. And, once she understood what it meant, so did Rinoa. Whenever she used her powers, raven-black wings sprouted from her back, giving her the air of a fallen angel.

Rinoa was often a quiet, pensive, even sullen child. Not actually spoilt, but she seemed preoccupied at times, and sometimes lost her temper at the oddest of stimuli. For some reason, hearing about SeeD and Garden (after they had been founded) was one of them, and the subject was avoided in front of her most of the time, though why she would hold rancour for an organisation that was only recently established, he had no idea. That being said, she seemed at her happiest around her mother, as well as at play. But Julia's death in a car accident caused much of that happiness to go away, despite what Caraway did.

She liked going to the theatre and to operas and to art galleries, and she seemed to love that. And General Caraway did try to indulge her. Not so often as to spoil her. Oddly enough, she didn't actually throw that many temper tantrums when she didn't get her own way, and even bore some refusals with a sort of adult resignation. It was merely some pet peeves that ignited her temper, not a lack of indulgence. SeeD and Garden being the ones to avoid.

She also seemed obsessed with horology, even having a minor hobby collecting clocks and watches. It was as if she was obsessed with time, making sure she could use it to her own advantage. Punctuality certainly was something she was obsessed with, as if she wanted every second to count.

Caraway wondered if she would ever join the G-Army. A Sorceress could be a very valuable asset to the G-Army, but they would also be very much a feared figure. Even now, people told scary bedtime stories to their children about Adel, the Tyrant of Esthar (even though rumours emerged that she had been overthrown), and many Galbadians dreaded a Sorceress. There were rumours that Garden and SeeD had been founded by another Sorceress.

And in any case, Rinoa didn't look like the sort to enter the army. She seemed more obsessed with going into humanitarian work. Caraway didn't object because, as long as she didn't do anything stupid, it would be excellent PR for Caraway. At least until he learned what she intended to do: found some sort of charity designed to support and protect Sorceresses, as well as anyone else with unusual powers. The argument that ensued had been their worse, and at the age of fifteen, Rinoa Caraway left home, and adopted the maiden name of her mother, becoming Rinoa Heartilly, in a renunciation of her father.

He didn't stop her outside of the argument, even when she liquidated her own bank account, which had a substantial amount of money in it. The way he saw it, as long as she didn't embarrass him, she could do what she wished. If she succeeded and did well, then that was all for the good of it, as she felt at least passionate about her cause. If she failed, well, she would probably come back to him. At least she wasn't doing something as blindingly stupid as joining one of those resistance groups in Timber. That would be tilting at windmills even more than her idea for a support charity.

The first whisper of success came when he heard she had established an operation out of an abandoned house in Winhill. She had obtained the help of Winhill's richest resident to help fund the operation. And the organisation was already given a name that already made its intentions clear. Sorceresses were known as the Descendants of Hyne, so the name Hyne's Shield spoke volumes.

As the organisation grew over the course of the next few months, Caraway began to sigh in relief. While it was still early days yet, Rinoa had not made any egregious mistakes, though hiring a couple of known troublemakers from Timber (whose parents Deling shot right in front of them, in what had to be one of his most imbecilic moves) did seem a bit odd and suspicious. And the dog seemed a bit odd.

True, her organisation was controversial because of what it believed. Sorceresses were objects of fear, but Hyne's Shield believed that, although such abilities should not be hidden, Sorceresses were as deserving of love and care as any human being, and it was usually when they were deprived of this that they went down the route of Adel. Supporters and detractors of Hyne's Shield were equally venomous. But Rinoa moved on, relentlessly. Yes, that was the right term. She got most of her looks (oddities of hair and eyes aside) from her mother, but General Caraway knew that she had gotten more of her fire from him. But there was something, he was sure, that Rinoa had gotten from neither himself nor Julia. He just couldn't put his finger on it.

"Zone!" Rinoa called out to the dark-haired young man. "Cease your shirking and get out here! This paperwork's not going to fix itself!"

Rinoa smirked slightly when she heard the young man grumbling about his sensitive stomach as he emerged from his bedroom. He truly did have a temperamental stomach, but he frequently used stomach cramps as an excuse to skive off work. When he put his mind to it, he was a good worker. He just hated paperwork.

She ran a hand with long, almost talon-like nails on her fingers through her silver hair, with a single streak of black. Her cute face was often set into a scowl or a pensive look, though when she smiled, even her strange hair and even stranger eyes did nothing to mar her beauty. If anything, they made her even more exotic. Although she wore a long blue duster sweater with no sleeves (and a wing design on the back) over a black top and bike pants, she habitually walked barefoot, unless she was walking far.

The young Sorceress raised an eyebrow as Zone came down the stairs. They had converted an abandoned house into the headquarters for Hyne's Shield. Apparently, it used to belong to the family of a girl called Ellone (the name rang a bell for Rinoa, but she couldn't understand why). The family were murdered by Esthar soldiers working under Adel, save for Ellone, who escaped capture by them. Adel had intended to turn Ellone into her successor if she proved worthy. Ellone was actually captured some time later during a later raid. The house was abandoned since Ellone's parents were murdered, though a Galbadian soldier and travel writer by the name of Laguna Loire stayed here for a time. Rinoa recognised the name from a story her mother told her about him. She wished he had been her father, because as goofy as he sounded, better a warm-hearted goof than that somewhat distant (even if indulgent) father.

Zone slouched towards her. "Okay, Princess, I'm here." They called her 'Princess' partly because she was General Caraway's daughter, and partly because she often spoke haughtily. It was good-natured teasing, and Rinoa bore it with good humour.

"Good. Watts is on his research run. We're tracking down the known Sorceresses and people with other known abilities. The girl who used to live here interests me most of all."

"Yeah, that Ellone girl. Watts actually found out where she went from the townsfolk. He did the research." He scowled, taking a paper from the pile on one of the many desks, having converted the living room into an office. "Frigging coward left me to tell you what happened, because he knew what your reaction would be."

"My reaction…" Rinoa scowled. "Don't tell me…no, on second thoughts, tell me."

"You promise not to hurt me?"

"No. Watts, though, for leaving you to pick up the bill, so to speak, I will make him sing soprano for at least an hour after I'm done with him."

Zone, with some relief, shrugged, and began reading from the paper. "Ellone was sent, along with the infant child of the then-recently deceased Raine Loire, née Leonhart, to the Kramer Orphanage on the Centra continent. And as you know from your own researches, the Kramers…"

"…Founded Garden and SeeD," Rinoa said, her voice deceptively calm. She put a hand to her face and massaged her forehead. "Oh, Hyne, why isn't anything simple or easy? Damned SeeDs…"

Zone remained silent. He had once asked Rinoa why she hated the SeeDs and Garden so much. She said that she had nightmares of them trying to murder her. When he had pointed out how ridiculous this sounded, she had promptly encased him in a Blizzaga spell, nearly giving him hypothermia. Nowadays, he liked avoiding frostbite. Or third degree burns.

Rinoa herself wasn't so sure why she hated SeeD so much. Besides the nightmares, though, she knew (though she wasn't sure how) that their true purpose was to hunt down and exterminate Sorceresses wherever they were found. But tempting as it was to go to war against them, they were military academies, for crying out loud. At least doing it this way, she could do something better than wage war.

Of course, she trained herself up so that one day, if she did have to go to war against SeeD, or anyone else who would harm her or her kind, she intended to make sure they feared the name of Rinoa Heartilly.

Rinoa blinked when a realisation came to her. Zone didn't have that much actual fortitude. He could be brave in behind-the-scenes stuff, but in confrontations, he folded pretty quickly. So the fact that he fronted up and told her about where Ellone had gone was a bit suspicious. And when she noticed a nervous glance towards a pile of papers, her suspicions grew. With a click of her fingers, the papers turned into a brief, small blizzard, that soon subsided. The papers were in a neat pile, while something concealed within was hovering near her.

Rinoa sighed when she saw what it was. "The latest issue of Girl Next Door magazine, Zone? Really? Watts finds it really easy to bribe you, you know. All he needs to do is buy the latest porn from Timber Maniacs Publishing. You know the rules here. Keep the smut out of the office or it gets burned. If you'd kept it in your room, this wouldn't be happening."

"Rinoa, please…" Zone said in a pleading tone, but Rinoa was relentless.

"An issue of Girl Next Door: 500 Gil. A subscription to a year of Girl Next Door: 5000 Gil. The look on your lecherous friend's face when you burn his issue of Girl Next Door?" She snapped her fingers again, and the porn magazine was instantly consumed by flames with a fwoosh!, the ashes dropping to the floor, and Zone screaming in grief. Rinoa smirked. "Priceless. There's some things money can't buy. For those things, there's Fwoosh(1)."

Rinoa rolled her eyes as Zone cradled the ashes. You'd think she had just burned a puppy, the way he was carrying on. She was sure he was going to even put the ashes in an urn. He should be grateful, really. What she did to him was far more lenient than what she was going to do to Watts when he showed his face…

CHAPTER 1 ANNOTATIONS:

This chapter was more to set the scene than anything else. Although I considered an OC for Ultimecia to possess, I decided fusing Ultimecia and Rinoa would be more interesting. It would certainly be a (hopefully) unique spin on the whole 'Ultimecia is a future Rinoa' fan theory, which I think is a crock, but hey, why not use it for an interesting twist?

Now, this story is going to be updated slowly. Why? I need to figure out the rest of the plot. As Ultimecia is stranded from the very future she is from, it means that much of the plot of the canon game has been wiped away. Adel will be a problem, but much of the plot will revolve around Galbadia's ambitions and how Rinoa/Ultimecia will clash with SeeD, only to grudgingly ally with them. As this will be a Squinoa pairing (sounds like some sort of exotic dish), it'll make it a bit more interesting.

And in case you're thinking Rinoa is being a bit harsh with Zone, she's trying to run a tight ship. She allows him to read his magazines in private, but she doesn't tolerate them out in the office, where someone could, theoretically, spot them. Most of her punishments are more comical than damaging (and in case you're wondering, Rinoa uses a spell to make Watts sing soprano rather than attacking his groin, physically or magically). Given how flaky they are at times in the game, opting out of dangerous situations often that Rinoa will go into, well, it's not out of the question.

Next chapter will have Rinoa's first encounters with SeeD, namely Edea Kramer, Ellone, and the White SeeDs.

1. This is a reference to a similar joke in Looking for Group, spoken by Richard the Warlock. And that is a spoof of the famous Mastercard ads.