Chapter 62

A Dragoon's Fate

Mog's danger warning woke Raine in the predawn hours. Aranea slept undisturbed, her breathing now slow and even, her half of the bed closer to the curtain dividing the circular space from the passageway. Raine's sleepiness swiftly faded as she sat bolt upright. She reached for her quarterstaff.

What's wrong, Mog?

Argus is in grave danger, kupo! he said frantically. There's been a huge disturbance in the aether!

'Helen!' Raine presumed automatically, startling Aranea. As the captain stirred, Raine's bare feet hit the concreted floor. 'Aranea, wake up! Something's happening to the Argus!'

'Huh?'

'Imperials are here! It's gotta be Helen! Mog can feel it!'

Although the captain had only recently resumed soldiering, she was at battle readiness just a second after Raine. Though it would have been a startling sight, the two women bolting down the passage at breakneck speed, armed with spear and staff, dressed in their night clothes. They were close to Argus' quarters, and quite a distance from the male dorms, too.

They could already see Argus' door standing open, and there were shrieks coming from within, the President's unmistakeable booming voice. When they reached it, they could see two guards laying dead on the floor, their greatswords fallen from their grasp. Argus himself was in a foetal position, wearing just a tank top. Both hands were covering his crotch, or what was left of it, and they were covered in blood. He was shrieking, pushed back against the put-up desk, looking at his assailant in terror. His holstered revolvers were hanging from the chair behind it, and his broadsword was near the same position he had placed it earlier, though it had fallen over.

The women had her back to them, though Helen's sun-kissed strawberry blonde hair was distinguishable, now without the service cap. Yet it was not quite her. Her hands were onyx, with Raine initially thinking they were gloved, before realising they were blood-dripping talons.

'Ultimecia!' Argus cried to them.

Raine's heart skipped.

Dear Hyne, no! she thought, as she and Aranea darted around the bodies, poised to strike. It can't be!

Helen silenced Argus with a flick of one talon, his voice disappearing in an instant, even though his jaw was working overtime. Then she turned to face Raine and Aranea. Her jawline had changed, her face paled and covered with tribal patterns, and the rowan eyes had turned into a glowing yellow. It was indeed the face of Ultimecia, who everyone at the Island had been made to study from Quistis' paintings, though she was presently without the raven wings.

Her other arm moved, and Raine automatically felt her pace slowing, as though she were running into a strong wind. It was the same with Aranea, who began frantically waving Dragonhair before her movements ceased completely. Raine was a fraction behind, unable to move a muscle, and she realised with horror that Ultimecia had stopped time around them, just as she had done with Thalassa at Galbadia City. She heard the doors slam shut behind them.

Oh, Hyne, no! Not like this! Raine thought desperately, then communicated to Mog, If you can reach Brothers, warn them what we're up against!

'So, you are Ellone's daughter,' Ultimecia said, looking at Raine. 'The one they now call the Lioness!'

There was no trace of Helen's country drawl in that diction, which was unlike any accent Raine had ever heard. It was not high-class Esthari, nor Adel's archaic Centran. It was something else entirely. The way Uncle Squall said she had spoken in the future.

The yellow eyes shifted to Aranea. 'A splendid performance in your latest outing, Aranea! I confess I did enjoy it. I am partial to the theatre myself, and my performance here might have just knocked you from your mantle!' She switched to the drawl. 'Half-witted Helen, eagerly responding to the Supreme Leader's call to escape her inbred family! "Come to daddy," he said!' She pointed a talon back at Argus. "Open wide for Sepultura!"' She cackled mirthlessly. 'Some anacondaur I've left him with!'

Argus gave her a look of pure loathing. Despite his grievous injury, he was still a soldier. During her speech, his bloodied right hand was reaching around the desk for his sword, and it had found the hilt. Yet a single violet ray shot from that outstretched talon, lancing through his skull. Killed instantly, Argus slumped to the ground with his exposed rear facing them. With another swift hand motion, Argus' body was engulfed by scarlet flame. 'And with this, New Sarona will die in its infancy! With the rest of the GF bearers enroute to Steiner Christophe's coronation, there was never a better time to strike! Though the appearance of SeeD forced my hand!'

I have to get free! Raine thought, though could not even move her eyes, could not even blink. Dragonhair left Aranea's motionless hand and was caught in Ultimecia's talon.

'Praetorian Kain gave his life for his Empress,' she said. 'He looked the part with Dragonhair, and claimed he too was descended from the Highwind clan. I miss Kain dearly, and in honour of his sacrifice, Dragonhair will be bestowed upon a lancer of my choosing!' Now she regarded Raine again. 'Raine, your mother was the only friend I have ever known. Due to that, I will not harm you. I once spared Ialantha to win the favour of the Grandidi tribes, and for you, Aranea, I shall do the same. It is your people's loyalty I wish to reclaim, and I know how much they adore you. I came here to slaughter the pig, and he is now roasting before us.' A clear crystal appeared in her palm. 'Yet in return for your life, Raine, you will be surrendering the Quicksilver Moogle!'

No, please!

Yet she was as helpless as Thalassa had been to save Carbuncle. Mog was at full power but could do little to resist the combined might of Ultimecia and Eden. Raine saw a silver line appearing between her and the magicite, like a thin ray of moonlight. With every second that passed, a quicksilver glow in the magicite became more complete.

No! Minimog was her GF! She had won him over with the purity in her heart, and she had performed incredible feats with him! With Thalassa, she had held off a legion of Lunarians! Mog had gifted her the power to kill Sepultura and shatter the hand of Gargantua! She had stood in defence of the tonberries at the Necropolis! She had fought off Praetorian Gabranth and Selena Vlahos simultaneously! Without Mog, she would have never gained her monikers. They had forged an unbreakable bond deeper than any friendship. In Ultimecia's bestial hand, he could spend millennia as a puppet! It was not fair! This could not happen!

Don't let her taaakkkeee mmeee, kuupppooo! Mog cried, his voice becoming more distant with each syllable.

The fury had welled in Raine like the fiercest of ocean storms. Golden light eclipsed everything else in the chamber, and in that moment, both she and Aranea untensed as the vacuum they had been caught within disappeared. Ultimecia's cat's eyes widened, reflecting the gold glow. A whorl of water vaulted her into the ceiling, with Dragonhair clattering to the ground. The water force was shifted by a howling gale, carrying Ultimecia across the chamber like a broken mast caught in the height of an eons long struggle between Leviathan and Pandemonium, with Raine slamming the Sorceress against the far wall in a highly condensed version of her patented Squall attack.

Mog returned to Raine in full, while Aranea deftly rolled for Dragonhair, coming back to her feet with it in hand. Ultimecia did not move, an arm and a leg clearly broken, and Raine wondered if she had snapped her neck.

'This is it, we can end the war!' Aranea cried.

While Ultimecia remained immobile, she was shrouded by a silvery white cocoon, which Raine realised was the colour of Eden. She and Aranea bounced off it. Through the sphere, Ultimecia's body glowed as she moved gingerly. While she could not self-heal, she could make up for any shortcomings by drawing upon the vast reserves of the Elder GF.

'Curse you mortals and your limit breaks!' Ultimecia snapped, her head rising. 'Yet you are something more, Raine! Hyne's Descendants always know when they meet another who can harbour the power. Your mother was a worthy candidate, too. With her unique abilities, Ellone could have shaped our race's history in her own image! She could have prevented the Fracture of Centra and the need for the Great Migration! She could have even altered the Fall of Hyne itself!'

Raine had been striking the barrier repeatedly while Ultimecia spoke, though neither Thunderstroke nor Dragonhair could breach that cocoon. The Sorceress was already on her feet, and now looked unharmed. Her hair had turned a similar silver shade to Aranea's, and her country tan had faded to a ghostly white. Raven wings had forced their way through Helen's tunic. Raine now thought Ultimecia both beautiful and gruesome in the same breath.

'She didn't want to!' Raine said vehemently. 'And your future-self made her life hell! You may have been the only child to show my mother kindness when she was being held in Esthar, but she thinks you're a monster after everything you have done! And for everything you might yet still do!'

For a split second, her words seemed to give Ultimecia pause. Though as soon as the doubt in her resolve was there, it was gone.

'You think your words can sway me, girl?' she asked. 'Your mother used to reach out to me, you know, while I was in hiding. Connect to me. Never once did she think of revealing my existence to SeeD, or to agents of the Cowardly Lion. Though after the Second Sorceress War, your mother must have realised that I was fated to become Ultimecia. After I emerged, the contact increased twofold, and I was forced to learn to block her out. Obviously, I could scarce afford to be sent to Ellone's dreamworld during a battle. She could still Connect if we were both asleep, though after I killed Edea, she never presumed to do so again.'

'I'm not surprised!' Raine declared. 'She loved Edea! Enough to name my sister after her!'

Aranea had renewed her attack, cutting and thrusting at the barrier with the spearhead aflame. It had started to wane, if only faintly, reassuring them that Eden did not grant her invincibility. Raine joined her now.

'Not so fast!' Ultimecia said mockingly, spreading a claw, and Raine felt time slowing around them again. 'Think you can grasp the Ethereal a second time, Raine?'

Uncle Squall had told her that once one had a achieved a limit break, it became easier to do so subsequently. That one's body remembered the sensation of being one with such potent force. Potential Sorceresses even more so, as Rinoa, Selphie and Quistis had often demonstrated during titanic battles.

Though as it turned out, Raine did not have to. The door behind them crashed open. The bulk of Sacred could be seen beyond it, though he was too large to fit through the opening, so was recalled. Liu, Zhang and Minotaur darted into the room, followed by every Dragoon except for Sanakht, who was likely back on guard duty. Baldur too appeared at Aranea's side, claymore in both hands.

'Ah, the dragon knights reassembled!' Ultimecia said wryly. 'Yet one cannot place spears in the hands of a score of dropouts from Galbadia Garden and expect me to believe the Dragoons have come again!' A midnight blue crystal appeared in her hand now, Tiamat's magicite. 'Some second coming this shall be! You would all smoulder in the wake of true dragonfire, which I am now going to demonstrate!'

Every single lancer save for Aranea was engulfed in a pillar of one of Tiamat's white-blue flares, in a very selective and sadistic attack. So violent was the magic that it consumed the bound half-Elder's power in one, the glow of the magicite fading to almost nothing. The Dragoons did not have a chance, even those who had drawn on fire magic, as Tiamat's flares were superior and non-elemental. Their sunburst uniforms melted unto their flesh before it was burnt completely from their bones, their weapons glowing red from the potency. The screams were hideous before the fires got to their larynxes. Just yards from Raine, Sanakht's brothers toppled like a couple of burning fortresses.

Aranea had since abandoned her assault on the barrier, looking catatonically as her dying comrades. Baldur, the twins, Minotaur, and a reappearing Sacred pounded at the coccoon to little avail. They would not break through in time to save anyone, and it was already too late. Ultimecia's cat's eyes looked at them all scornfully in turn. When the flares disappeared, the scarlet flames blanketing Argus seeming meagre by comparison.

Ultimecia's form flickered. A series of thin black lines enshrouded her body, becoming frequent and clear enough to form a pillar. A black cloud appeared in the ceiling, and Ultimecia floated into it. As soon as she was gone, the cocoon disappeared, as did the red fire. Argus was now unrecognisable as the Dragoons, a pile of charcoal bone and ash on the floor.

'Fuck!' Zhang swore, wheeling around at the devastation. 'Fuck!'

'That hag,' Sacred grunted, just before being recalled a second time.

Aranea sunk to her knees. Baldur looked her sorrowfully, then was instantly in motion, running to meet the Saronan grunts that were gathering outside the door.

'Our Supreme Leader is dead!' he shouted. 'Ultimecia is within the mesa! Send warning to Sanakht at the gate and tell him what has happened to the lancers! I need to contact my brother! Argus let the line of succession be known, and General Vossler is now our ruler!'

'Will Sanakht be in danger?' Liu asked.

'No!' Raine said instantly. 'Ultimecia used that teleportation spell when possessing Edea! She will have projected herself outside of the mesa. She'll be riding Eden back to Timber already.' She looked at the blackened piles that had been robust human beings not a minute ago. 'She got what she came for, and she cut us deeply in the same stroke.'

'Raine,' Aranea said hoarsely, and Raine knelt in front of her. 'The Dragoons are finished. Sarona is finished. Jericho's a great man, but the fervour will die down if things go wrong in Timber. The west will fall!'

Raine was silent for a moment, looking at the twins, who had come to either side of the captain.

'No, Aranea,' she said firmly. 'Ultimecia said it herself. Sarona loves you. You and Baldur need to guide Jericho in the coming weeks, to give him your utmost support. Luna, Deist and Sanakht yet live, and with them, you still have the foundations of the Dragoons.' She picked up Dragonhair, rising and presenting it to Aranea. 'On your feet, Captain! Rise up! You need to avenge this, to make Ultimecia rue the day she spared us both!'

Her words sparked a flicker in the captain's eye, the embers of dragonfire. Rising, Aranea grasped her birthright firmly, with both hands.

'I will, Raine!' she said. 'I swear it on the Highwind clan!'

'Now let's get to work!' Raine addressed Baldur now, who had returned to them. 'The time for sheltering has passed! Ultimecia has shown how safe we are within these caverns. You are in charge until your brother returns from Centra, am I not mistaken?'

'I am,' he responded.

'First, honour the fallen, give them the respect they deserve, though you need to get your people to mobilise! Start moving south at first light and scatter everyone's ashes on your beloved Hasberry. You are at war! Memorials can be held later, after Timber. Your complete force doesn't have to congregate at Jericho City, but even if it did, Ultimecia won't risk depleting Eden before the invasion. Not so soon after this, and not while Rinoa has Griever.'

Raine pondered her next words, as Baldur said, 'Yes, ma'am. You're right.'

'I will carry out the mission Argus wanted to send me on, but I won't violate Timber's sovereignty, and any Timberian moogles will be released back over the border after its liberation. In fact, no moogle will be required to junction with a Saronan if they don't want to,' she said firmly.

'Understood, ma'am,' Baldur replied.

'I won't be going alone, either. The remaining Dragoons will all be coming with me. Liu and Zhang, too. Contact Jericho and ask him to reach out to Galbadia Garden, to hire Siegfried and Nadia, too. Two more heroes of the revolution.' Raine paused, and Baldur nodded immediately. She looked at Aranea now. 'Watch how we fight, observe how we operate. SeeD and Garland cannot teach you how to become Dragoons, Aranea, but what we can help you with is building a regiment to take pride in.'

Aranea did not argue. She looked ready to follow Raine into the Roshfall this instant, the Lioness she had just witnessed throwing Sorceress Ultimecia around this very chamber. Raine only hoped that she could convince herself of her own words, more than anyone else. That she could recall every lesson she had ever learned about what it meant to be a SeeD, before she departed her uncle's organisation forever.

(A/N: Happy new year, people! I've always been one to see the year starting from my birthday in reality, and that's when I usually set goals for the following twelve months. I turn 32 in March, and I'm hoping to spend a couple pf weeks cityhopping in Germany this time, in addition to seeing relatives near Hannover that I haven't seen since before the pandemic.

But anyway, 2022 wasn't bad for me. I started the year unemployed after seven years service to a well known restaurant chain, and was essentially drifting, which is why I used to post chapters so regularly last winter. I was thrilled to be able to go on a backpacking trip as the pandemic became a thing of the past. I moved back to my hometown in the spring and offered my services to another restaurant chain, but now I've left the catering industry altogether, and am doing a night hygiene job I can do with my eyes closed. Which has worked wonders for my writing actually, as I mostly work alone, and can plan out the chapters I'm working on without distractions; the actual writing is just getting it down.)