Chapter 27

To Defy Fate

With Tiamat's appearance, the Galbadians must have known where Reina was, as they sent scores of their aerial exosuits directly for her position. When they got within the Valkyr's defensive barrier, they fired their mounted cannons at the bridge's windows with relentless intensity. They all aimed for Reina, their faces grim with determination. The Praetorians moved to form two defensive rows in front of their Empress. With a cackle and a quick sweep of her arm, Reina hit the Galbadians with a crescent barrage of purple magical force that cut into them from above and below, blowing the would-be heroes and their enhancement suits to pieces.

Laughing again, Reina raised her arms outward and grew those raven wings that she had seen on the image of her future self. Her hair and appearance also changed. She had reserved this avatar for Leo until now, but it was time for the world to behold Sorceress Ultimecia. With a single wingbeat, she left her Twelve behind, ignoring their concerned cries as she flew through the shattered windows.

Ultimecia looked immediately for the telltale colours of Rinoa or Quistis. Though she saw only more exosuits approaching, their hail of optimistic gunfire veering aside as she bent the air in front of her. She extended one of her taloned palms in their general direction, a red glow surrounding it and matching the colour of her gown. From it shot projectiles of light in the shape of arrows, tearing into the pilot of every exosuit, sending the mechanised units plummeting like hail to the ocean.

'You believed that would be enough to best me, Caraway?' Ultimecia shrieked with her amplified voice, wanting the challenge to be heard by the entire enemy fleet below. She did not hesitate to use another huge asset against them. 'Come forth, Leviathan! Drag them into the deep!'

The bound sea serpent immediately appeared above the ocean surface, facing the south-western fleet. Leviathan called forth a monstrous tsunami as Ultimecia watched with satisfaction. Many frigates and destroyers were enveloped within it, the crews swept overboard, many vessels capsizing. The Galbadian aircraft carriers were able to weather the tide. With Bahamut occupied by Tiamat, Leviathan was free to hurtle into the side propeller of a carrier, rendering it inoperable and leaving it with a gaping hole in its side. Leviathan disappeared beneath the waves, seeking to do the same with the others.

Above Ultimecia, Bahamut begun to fly from Tiamat – towards Battleship Island, which was being sallied by several Esthari battleships. Tiamat collected Leo from the Valkyr's deck, and they approached Ultimecia as she fluttered calmly in the air.

'To the Lionheart!' Ultimecia said. 'We will drown SeeD early and krush the hopes of the Galbadians before taking the city!'

'Yes, Your Grace!' Leo responded.

They approached the enormous military research vessel that had been abandoned by her mother's researchers, generations before. The Lionheart would know of her arrival. Ultimecia scanned the sea of fighters below, the SeeDs and cadets easily identifiable by their uniforms, which most of them were now wearing openly in defiance of her. She saw the Lionheart near the centre of the broad deck, the impressive gunblade of the same name – manufactured by Esthar – gleaming in the dull light, making swift work of her marines and emboldening his people. The SeeD leader wore the same, undersized leather jacket from when she had fought him in Timber. As well as the lion's mane.

Ultimecia swooped toward the legendary SeeD, Leo following on Tiamat's back, Harbinger raised to the sky. Squall's permanently reserved expression betrayed nothing as they neared. He planted his feet, fixing his eyes on them. An Esthari marine took advantage of Squall's distraction, lunging at him, but was effortlessly cut down. Ultimecia landed softly on her feline feet. Leo dropped from Tiamat and recalled his GF. Then Squall resonated with Bahamut's aura. With a broad arc of his gunblade, flames of the same colour encircled the three of them, separating them from the raging battle.

'We meet again, Lionheart,' Ultimecia said, her raven wings at their full span behind her. 'You and Rinoa eluded me on the Forested Plains. Sadly, she is not here to save you this time.'

'They were right,' Squall said. 'You are Ultimecia.'

'I am,' she boasted. 'The Age of Ultimecia is foreordained. Your treasured SeeD is destined to be ripped from the earth. It is inevitable, Lionheart, for I have seen far into the future. Every last one of my enemies fall during these battles. I alone control your fates.'

The SeeD leader remained still.

'Whatever,' he said dismissively. 'We killed you in the future, and you were more powerful then.' This statement made no sense to Ultimecia, who had seen nothing of her downfall in Leo's mind. Squall continued. 'We knew that you would appear one day. Kurin and I made it SeeD's chief purpose to await your arrival, no matter how many decades or centuries it took. But your coming was much sooner than we imagined! Now, we've got the chance to stop that future from ever happening!'

'Do you presume that you can alter fate?' Ultimecia responded. 'You cannot hope to stand against my Knight and I alone. It is over, Lionheart. Surrender, and I shall kill you quickly. As I did with Irvine.'

For the first time, Squall's face betrayed emotion. Anger.

'Irvine was one of my closest friends, and I didn't realise how much he, Zell and the others meant to me until after I cut you down in that nightmare of a future!'

His sapphire aura intensified again, almost obscuring him. Squall gripped the hilt of Lionheart with both hands and leapt high into the air. He turned in a full circle, a line of blue fire rushing Ultimecia and Leo from behind him. They were sufficiently protected, but the channelled power of Bahamut was enough to make them both stagger. Ultimecia felt the dragon GF's fury on her exposed skin. When the SeeD leader landed squarely to face them again, she gave him her shrill cackle.

'For your sake, I hope that was not the best you can do!'

She summoned her hurtling swords, their points all aimed at Squall from above.

'Allow me, Your Grace,' Leo stepped forward. 'Lionheart, it's an honour to meet you. In my time, your name is held in reverence by what little opposition remains to Sorceress Ultimecia. You're the legendary SeeD, valiant Knight to Sorceress Rinoa. You led the defeats of both Edea and Adel and almost triumphed over Ultimecia herself. Alas, you failed. The remaining Children of Fate are killed in Galbadia; that is written. You cannot prevent Ultimecia's conquest. It is futile.'

'You're from the future?' Squall asked.

'Correct. I am Leonidas Christophe, former head of imperial forces. I now serve as Ultimecia's Knight in this time. But I did not seek to interfere with the past. That is the intention of another, a traitorous cur that I am currently in pursuit of.'

Squall faintly shook his head. 'I've seen that future, or fragments of it. Why anyone would willingly serve Ultimecia is beyond me.' The SeeD leader looked back at his nemesis. 'I wasn't aware you had any human followers, Ultimecia. When we reached your castle, we met only enslaved beasts. The only other people there were the ravaged bodies of White SeeDs you'd left to rot outside your gates.'

A younger Reina had often dreamed about constructing a gothic castle on the most fertile land there was, once the world was hers.

'Edea's rats?' Ultimecia said scornfully. 'Once I have eliminated you, they will be following you to the Netherworld! This time, I will ensure that White SeeD never exist in the future! My future!'

The hovering swords shot towards Squall, but a sapphire flare shot from his free hand and shattered them in mid-flight. Leo wordlessly moved in front of Ultimecia and approached Squall.

Two shapes appeared over the ring of fire, one riding a jet of flame and the other propelling themselves high with two thunderbolts, falling to either side of Squall. They were both handsome young men with dark hair, wearing gloves and SeeD uniforms, and looking similar enough to be brothers. The one with longer hair held nunchucks. The other, wearing sunglasses, held a straight sword. Ultimecia could sense them brisling with para-magic. Squall looked more worried than he had done while on his own.

'Liu, Zhang, get out of here!' he shouted. 'That's an order! You're no match for them!'

'Sorry, boss!' the one with long hair said, swinging the nunchucks as he took a stance. 'But you're not facing them alone!'

'Isn't this what we train for, sir?' the other asked. 'To stand against Sorceresses like her?'

Ultimecia laughed again. 'Gallant, but foolish. You lack Guardian Forces, and para-magic is like stage pyro compared to true sorcery!'

In response, Squall launched another flare at her. Leo batted it aside, but the young SeeDs rushed him, clearing a path between Squall and Ultimecia. With one beat of her wings, Ultimecia rose level with the sapphire wall of fire.

'Shall we dance?'

Esthar was only slightly bolstered by the arrival of the remainder of the Dollet force. Although Tyris had exceeded her own expectations and gathered almost twenty thousand of the survivors. She had herded them across the Monterosa with Ramuh's lightning, back towards Brothers' Canyon. The Old One had enlarged his image, hovering high above the chasm like a thunderous deity, visible to the Esthari from miles away.

A few hundred had refused to answer her call, instead throwing their weapons down and falling to the ground, begging Hyne for deliverance. She had instructed Ramuh to kill them. Most of them had met her unquestioningly on the eastern side of the chasm. Tyris had tried to reignite their fighting spirit, vowing that they would add their numbers to Memnon's force and avenge Eden's holocaust. That she would thrust her lightning spear into the heart of Sorceress Quistis herself. Knowing her feat on the Thunder Plains, they believed her. Some kneeled before her, other thrust their weapons into the air, chanting 'Stormbringer!'.

When Tyris was confident there was not a single soldier left running across the Monterosa, she had given the command to resume the march west, leading the line herself. They passed through the eerily abandoned town of Locomota. Although occupying the empty houses and hotels seemed tempting, Tyris forced them to march through the town's central road, not making camp until they were well clear of it, almost at midnight. They did not dare question her. She knew it would have been harder to keep track of them all or stop them from stealing, had they stayed in the town.

At first light, Tyris confirmed with Ramuh that none of the troops had fled the half-heartedly erected camp. It took them another two days to reach the northern side of the Great Plains, making good progress before the downpours of the north slowed them, moving west then south around another mesa. The contingent encountered few monsters, the small numbers of bite bugs and geezards quickly dispatched. The clouds hovered forebodingly on the day they were due to join the battle, but thankfully spared them any more rain.

They were on course to join the battle a couple of hours late, Tyris announcing her presence via her earpiece as soon as she was in range. Thankfully, it was Selena who was within range, not General Zebalga.

'Lieutenant Pandemona!' Selena acknowledged. 'Reports said you were approaching! Thank Hyne you survived! Why haven't we heard from you?'

'My phone was damaged in the ambush, ma'am,' Tyris said, with some hesitation. 'Most of the radios are out, too. Lieutenant Akechi is dead.'

Selena was silent for a moment. 'And her GF?'

'Lost.'

Selena did not press her any more, for now.

'Okay, Lieutenant,' she said. 'You are to continue to the Galbadians' eastern flank immediately! I'm cut off from there; the Thunderstroke is unopposed and has been killing us by the hundreds!'

Uncle Rai! Tyris thought again, remembering Ramuh's warning.

As would be expected of her, Tyris summoned Ramuh at the front of her force just before they tore into the opposition's side, and the inspired Esthari charged with war cries after dozens of Galbadians fell. Ramuh ensured that the westerners he struck were killed instantly, to spare them from the crazed Esthari brutally skewering their paralysed bodies while they lay helplessly on the ground. Tyris recalled Ramuh and hung back as quickly as she could, her troops now paying her no mind. She ran steadily, now seeking only to wound, and at that only in self-defense. She could sense Quetzalcoatl some distance away, and found herself irresistibly pulled in the Feathered Snake's direction.

Surveying the bodies and weapons littering the plains, Tyris stopped at a fallen Esthari holding a katana. Ensuring that there was no one watching her, she dropped her spear and removed her gladiuses in their sheathes. She took the katana from the dead's soldier's hands and cleaned it on the fabric of their uniform. Then she took their sword belt. The single-edged, curved blade was slightly heavier than one of her short swords and felt alien in her hand.

Moving again, Tyris saw Raijin in the distance, smashing ribcages and crushing skulls with his signature oak staff. The big Grandidi man crackled with electricity, and boasted with hearty laughter at regular intervals. Tyris observed that every female Esthari on the ground was still breathing; Raijin had simply used his GF to stun them. When the last Esthari to assail him dropped, Raijin stood atop a bluff with a rocky edge that had a sudden drop. He was looking away from her.

She drew on the Jumbo Cactuar's power, veiling Ramuh, glowing with its gherkin-green aura. Sensing the entity, Raijin turned to Tyris, standing proudly with one end of his staff on the ground, his other hand on his hip. He would not recognise Tyris with her headgear on, nor without her own weapons. She remembered her father laughingly saying that Uncle Rai had much more brawn than brains. Fuelled with adrenaline, it was likely he was not heeding his GF.

'Lieutenant Akechi, right? Raijin called jovially, dropping to a fighting crouch, his great staff now behind him. 'It's about time somebody half-decent showed up! I've barely broke a sweat, ya know!' With his free hand, he beckoned at her. 'I hate fighting girls, but with what's at stake, I'll make an exception! Just this once, ya know!'

Tyris considered revealing herself to him just long enough to make him drop his guard. She instantly thought better of it. After what she had done to Hikaru, she did not feel that her conscience could take another dishonourable kill. Alternatively, if she revealed herself to stop the fight, her cover could be blown. Tyris was not prepared to risk all until she was almost certain Esthar could be stopped.

Raijin looked to have packed on another two stone of muscle over the past dozen years. Nothing short of a man mountain, the Thunderstroke ran at Tyris before she could respond, hungry for a decent scrap. His quarterstaff was carved with Grandidi symbols and was eight feet long. Wielded from the middle, it only had slightly more range than her katana, though one sure hit from those steel edges would cave in her skull like a melon.

What should I do? she asked Ramuh desperately.

The big man was deceptively fast, his cardiovascular conditioning excellent. He quickly maneuvered so that Tyris' back was to the sudden drop. Raijin began driving her towards it with unrelenting vigour, so unceasing in his offense that Tyris could only block, each crushing impact sending vibrations down her arms.

There is no choice, child! Ramuh responded. Fight him to the death! Quetzal and I shall remain free either way.

Tyris was driven back, closer and closer, before clearing the edge. Raijin would know that her GF would shield her from the fall, but it was though he wanted to one up her all the same. She jumped before she was pushed. Raijin bore down on Tyris with a crushing blow from above as he leapt over her, sending a broad thunderbolt to the ground to slow his own fall. When they landed, Raijin had her trapped. He swung at Tyris again, cornering her against the rock face. One more herculean blow was enough to knock her down to her knees and she almost let go of the katana.

She knew she was going to have to end the fight now, or she would die. Even if she broke free, Raijin would just continue to pursue her. When Raijin telegraphed his next swing, Tyris drew on Ramuh's energy in addition to the Jumbo Cactuar's, the green-hued katana suddenly encompassed with electricity. She rose, striking underhand powerful enough break the staff in its sweeping arc. Raijin's eyes went suddenly wide, and on the downstroke, Tyris sliced through the thick muscle of his chest and abdomen.

The Thunderstroke fell, blood and lightning streaming from the awful wound. But Quetzalcoatl's essence did not flee to the sky or turn corporeal in front of her. Instead, it enveloped Tyris, joining its other half within her. The strain of being junctioned with three GFs, one opposing, almost killed her. She almost certainly would have died had she not instantly drawn the Jumbo Cactuar from its prison.

'Be free,' she gasped, using her new power to destroy the magicite, before falling back to her knees.

Jumbo appeared before her, then did an about-face and leapt into the air, replaced by its gherkin-green essence as it reached the apex of its leap. Tyris looked back at Raijin. He was drawing breaths with pained gasps, a hand to the mortal wound. She tore off her headgear and crawled to him, putting her arms around his broad torso as she began to cry.

'Uncle Rai! Oh, Hyne! I'm so sorry!'

He met her eyes in his final moments, recognition dawning.

'Ty… ris!' he breathed, dying moments later.