UPDATE: Voting has ended, and entry#3 by Sheechiiibii is the winner! Congrats! This thread will be opened for future members to view the awesome entries =)
Alright guys. Cid and I decided that it would be a great idea if members of the forum could vote for their favourite piece of writing as they do in SOTW! We've received some fantastic pieces of work.
Since writing can be a very personal thing, it would be great if you guys could offer positive feedback to the writer of the piece you voted for. Please avoid negative criticism. I'll leave it to the members who created these pieces to PM you if they would like some further feedback.
I would like to thank those who entered and those who vote!
WARNING: there are SPOILERS in these pieces.
Entry 1.
Entry 2.
CHARACTERS
We see a sterile, dim grey room, barely sizeable for a man of colossal stature. A sullen man in a shabby laboratory coat winces for a moment as he attempts to reach the colossal man’s voice box to connect what appears to be a cybernetic implant. With the lighting remaining relatively dim, the coarse silhouette of an older man sits behind the oaken desk, his chin resting on his knuckles. The colossal man fidgets his throat device and continues to do so after the sullen man in the laboratory coat takes his leave.
INTERROGATOR: (to the colossal man) You are welcome to take a seat, Mr Ward Zabac. I presume that you are now able to speak?
WARD: (with a synthesised voice) Oh crap, you gotta be kiddin’me. I sound like Stephen Hawking – not that I know who the hell he is.
INTERROGATOR: (sternly) You are aware, Mr Zabac, that President Laguna Loire has been arrested and removed from office for fiddling with his expenses. I have already interrogated your fellow adviser to the former president, Kiros Seagill, and for no real reason whatsoever, I will now ask if you can recollect and recount everything you know about Mr Loire. If I’m actually competent enough with my job, I really ought to have you and Mr Seagill locked up for helping him get away with money fiddling, but alas -
WARD: (trying to sound alarmed, but the synthesised voice cannot reproduce it) Hey, hey! I was never a friend of that guy, uhh! Yeah! He’s a bad man! He was why I lost my voice in the first place!
INTERROGATOR: But can you tell me everything you know about the man, Mr Zabac?
WARD: Well I met the guy in Deling. We were at the recruitment office as you can see. Laguna said something about getting fired from his waiter job because he had a leg cramp all of a sudden and hospitalised a small girl when the hot coffee and broken china went all over her. I said that if he gets leg cramps all of a sudden, he shouldn’t join the army, but then he was like, oh don’t worry, big guy! I will have you to help me and plus, I want to make my papa happy! I think his papa might have been dead, I don’t know. Even though we spent a lot of time chatting, I didn’t bother asking him about his parents because I wasn’t interested in that boring shit. Then we met Kiros on the way to our first assignment and we just couldn’t work out if the dude was a guy or a girl, so as far as we’re concerned, Kiros is a hermaphrodite.
INTERROGATOR: (impatiently) You know what? Never mind! Just get a move on. Good lord, I'm not exactly fond of sitting here seeing your face for that long, you know.
WARD: - but then we got to Timber. I think we were fighting a war with them, but I dunno. We were fighting more monsters in a forest than anything – we kind of wandered off from the frontlines because Laguna was scared of being shot. I dunno why he even wanted to go into the army. It’s like – he had a chick he wanted to impress or something. The chick must really dig guys with uniforms, which is great if you’re into uniform dating. I’m surprised they didn’t find us and shoot us for desertion, but hey, what do I know about war? But anyways, we stole a car and drove to Deling instead of fighting Timber people. I’ve always thought it sounded weird when they said we were fighting a war against Timber. I was picturing us shooting at lumberjacks or trees. Laguna said hey, I have a uniform now! With luck, I might get to sleep with Julia tonight!
INTERROGATOR: Who is Julia?
WARD: I dunno, some chick who was always there in the hotel bar. Can’t sing for shit man –
INTERROGATOR: (excitedly) Ohhh, Julia Carroway! Yeah, I know she can’t sing for shit, but man, was she hot! (Solemnly) When I heard she died, everything in me died that day. If only I could have had her as my wife, but noooo – chicks dig guys in uniforms these days! (Pause) I apologise. I stepped out of line. (Mumbles) Kindly continue.
WARD: So then we got into the hotel. We got a drink – well, Kiros had 5 shots, so I decided to beat him with 25 and barfed all over the sofas and had to pay for clean-ups, but Laguna then decided to go take his chances with that Julia chick and suddenly got a leg cramp again. But I dunno, he looked like he had a stroke from where I was sitting –
INTERROGATOR: (scribbling furiously while mumbling under his breath) So he’s a playboy, a coward who snuck away from battle and loves faking illnesses.
WARD: - then they went to a room and I dunno, they might have done it or something. Laguna said he and Julia did it, so it must have been true. I wonder if he had to pay her because if he had to, we were kind of fucked as we spent all the money on booze. We had no money left afterwards for the fine because Laguna the dumbass decided to park the car in the middle of the road before. The next morning I was arrested for exposing my huge anchor in public, and the police said it was indecent for soldiers to brandish their weapons on the streets.
INTERROGATOR: (sighing) This is dull. Just tell me – did you incompetent idiots get called away to war again?
WARD: Well, they decided to take us to Centra for some reason. I dunno why, because it’s a dead place and there were no wars going on there. In fact, what happened to the other people living in Centra? Are you telling me that it’s all dead bar one orphanage in the middle of nowhere? How do they get by? I think we got lost because Laguna couldn’t read maps for shit and we ended up in Superman’s icy fortress or something fighting these Esthar guys that kind of looked like Power Rangers. They beat us up. My throat was sliced open and I couldn’t speak, which was a bit grim considering we’re supposed to be the comic relief characters. My last words to him were probably something like fuck you, Laguna, but I couldn’t say it. He then tickled me instead of doing something about my bleeding because everyone knows that tickling makes people better! Oh yeah, that works wonders. Come on, we had potions, cure spells and phoenix downs for crying out loud! I’ve no idea why we didn’t use them – it’s like our brains got scrambled or something, or everyone were just complete morons. Then Laguna chucked Kiros and me into the jaggy rocks and water below, because that couldn’t have possibly made our conditions any worse, surely!
INTERROGATOR: (scribbling) Attempted murder –
WARD: That was the last I saw of Laguna and Kiros for soooo long. Thank God. I’d rather have a small kid keg me on live TV than see that ass clown Laguna again. The throat wound meant I couldn’t speak at all – and still can’t because I sound like a computer now. This sucks. Somehow I managed to float across the oceans all the way across the world to Galbadia where I was found by a seagull. This seagull nursed me back to health and they made me a prison janitor somehow. I think they wanted to arrest me and lock me up instead, but realised they wouldn’t fit me in a cell, so –
INTERROGATOR: (impatiently) Enough about you! I don’t care about you. I’m only interested in Laguna! Do you know what happened to him!
WARD: I don’t know. I heard he got a new chick, one that was probably just as dumb as Julia –
INTERROGATOR: (interjects) She wasn't dumb. Her songs actually had lyrics with more than 10 words.
WARD: - I think Laguna got a new chick. It was about a year later that I saw him again in a small town that for some reason has giant 10-foot long giant flesh eating caterpillars everywhere. I dunno why. Every time I got into a random battle in there, giant caterpillars would attack me and I wonder - how can you get giant caterpillars in a quiet village? All the males in the town were drafted to war? They couldn’t even have a home guard to stay put and make sure the caterpillars didn’t eat away the whole town? Then those Power Rangers guys from Esthar appeared again to abduct small girls – I knew that the Power Rangers liked reaching out to small children, but I didn’t know they were Catholic kiddy-fiddlers too. This little girl – she might have been called Ellen or El-own or whatever – I have no idea because back then, they hadn’t invented voiced dialogue yet – and Laguna said we had to find and get Ellen/El-own back. I said I was too lazy, but then I remembered I couldn’t speak, so he started laughing at my disability.
INTERROGATOR: This testimony is fantastic. I never knew how much of a dick the guy really is.
WARD: So then we had to go to Esthar, but guess what? We got lost again. Kiros then decided to blow most of our money away on some hookers in Balamb, while Laguna kept drinking, saying that when he was with Raine, she had only shit drinks made from fermented giant caterpillar piss or something. Winhill town delicacy that was. So we lost all our money and had to get some more. Laguna stole money from orphan charities. We yelled at him for it – well, I still couldn’t speak, but he asked us who cares. It’s not like his son would grow up in an orphanage, right? What were the chances of that happening? Kiros flipped out and said Laguna betrayed the law! He then gambled away all the money though.
INTERROGATOR: So we have a coward who flees from duty, a traffic felonist, a playboy, steals money from orphans, a diehard gambler and of course, yes – attempted murder. We’re getting enough evidence here to have that guy locked away for life.
WARD: So then two people named Jamie Camera and Stefanie Spielbergh came along and said Laguna was photogenic enough to star as the lead in their new movie called King Arthur. Laguna was Arthur, some other photogenic guy was Sir Lancelot, some guy called Bob from accounting was being Sir Gadabout – Kiros was Sir Prise and I was Sir Cumference. Basically, we thought that since there were no more charities for orphans to take money from, we had to make some more money as filmstars even though saving Ellen/El-own was kind of the bigger priority. Laguna however, said Ellen/El-own was to take a backseat to the filming of this movie. If he hadn’t been in the army, he’d have been a successful Troll-u-wood actor in western Galbadia or something. One day, Sir Lancelot forgot to show up for filming, so instead of filming his bit, they had to shoot Laguna’s Arthur bits instead, when a real dragon kind of walked in. Not a fake dragon, but a real one. What sort of idiot thought it would have been a real dragon? Movies use CGI and all that shit nowadays! Why would they have not been suspicious when a real dragon suddenly decided to show up? Excluding us,the dragon kind of killed everyone, ironically except Gadabout, the worst actor in the land, and Laguna forgot how to swing a sword, so we ran. I don’t actually know how to describe getting into Esthar. It involved climbing through a gap in some sort of illusion or something – I have no clue. To simply put it, one does not simply walk into Esthar.
INTERROGATOR: (irritated) You know what? You’re boring everyone. Just cut to the chase. I want to know how this dumbass became President of Esthar. How did such a moron get elected into the highest office in Esthar?
WARD: He wasn’t. They just said: here, Laguna! Have these presidential powers and feel free to rule for as long as you want! It’s not like I was happy about it. I said this was madness, then he just said: this is Esthar – which didn’t make much sense.
INTERROGATOR: (incredulous) What the hell was wrong with you all? Why would you pick that idiot to be President?
Who’s ever heard of a President that stupid? Guys called George?!
WARD: It’s a bit of a long story.
INTERROGATOR: (impatiently) No, thank you then –
WARD: Dude, you wanted to interrogate me and here I am giving you all sorts of useful crap –
INTERROGATOR: (irritantly) Sir, I implore you – just quickly finish talking –
WARD: (interjecting) I’ll throw this boat anchor at you! (The Interrogator immediately falls silent)
(pause)
INTERROGATOR: Some of us have wives and kids to get back to, you know. Of course, not like I enjoy seeing them or anything, considering my wife is starting to look like Jocelyn Wildenstein and I kind of fancy selling my kids to get a new wife.
WARD: So we somehow got drafted in to work for the resistance to take down Sorceress Adel, who was seriously the most macho woman I have ever seen. In fact, we weren’t even told that she was supposed to be a chick. Kiros said he took one glance at the manly sorceress and said that was probably enough to make him consider coming out of the closet. We did laugh at him when we found out that Adel was meant to be a woman though. Then we laughed again because we still weren’t sure what the hell Kiros was supposed to be. Man, so many people have questionable genders here. It’s a bit worrying. I think Laguna totally pissed himself with laughter that he gave himself a leg cramp again. We decided to cryogenically freeze Adel, so we conveniently built something that could cryogenically freeze her. So we tricked Adel to come to our cryogenic thingy, but Laguna caught a glimpse of her macho midriff.
INTERROGATOR: Mother of God –
WARD: (interjecting) Laguna said that it was the most attractive midriff ever and that he always wanted to feel dominated – like his secret fetish, with leather and all – so he decided to try and woo Adel with the same skills he tried on Julia. Yup, he had a leg cramp – a real one this time. In fact, I think he really did have a stroke this time and ended up wreathing in agony. Adel got so embarrassed at seeing this pathetic man in front of her that she volunteered to cryogenically freeze herself. I don’t blame her; Laguna was kind of pathetic. With all the leg cramps, he was like he took an arrow to the knee or something. Then Laguna got all the credit for (condescendingly sarcastic in tone, but you can't tell from his synthetic voice) PUSHING her into the tomb thing. Yeah, good luck moving them manly abs. Laguna can’t even manage to pick up a crate of bloody beer. The Esthar people got so thankful that they decided to make this totally foreign guy their president, because that is exactly how politics works.
INTERROGATOR: The hell? Why do we have manly women now? It’s usually the guys who look like chicks.
WARD: Then Laguna’s new girl died at childbirth for some reason. We’re a modern society with modern amenities, yet people can still easily die left and right from childbirth. It’s kind of weird. I guess our healthcare and hospitals are just shite. I guess Laguna should have tickled her better or something, because he wasn’t there and didn’t even know he had a baby son. He was too busy living the high life in Esthar as president. I heard he had four illegitimate children called Storm, Tempest, Windy and It’s-A-Bit-Wet-Today-Isn’t-It. But for some reason, the kid he got from that Raine woman is called Squall. Stupid ass name, I know. What’s that got to do with the other names? Laguna said it’s a stupid name and that he would have called him Dave.
INTERROGATOR: Mr Zabac, this has been an atrociously dull story, but that is all for today. (Looks directly at audience) Next, I’m going to interrogate our fashion guru, Kuja, and find out just how he manages to stuff his tail up his ass. Then we shall discuss whether it’s wrong to find Kuja sexually attractive or not. Stay tuned.
WARD: Oh good! I was about to ask if I could leave. If you’d have said no, I would have thrown this anchor at you –
Entry 3.
Voting ends in a week!
Alright guys. Cid and I decided that it would be a great idea if members of the forum could vote for their favourite piece of writing as they do in SOTW! We've received some fantastic pieces of work.
Since writing can be a very personal thing, it would be great if you guys could offer positive feedback to the writer of the piece you voted for. Please avoid negative criticism. I'll leave it to the members who created these pieces to PM you if they would like some further feedback.
I would like to thank those who entered and those who vote!
WARNING: there are SPOILERS in these pieces.
Entry 1.
Tears spilled from her eyes as she stumbled through the garden, eyes dulling with each passing second. Tch. The life was fading from her again. How many times had it been, then? How many times had she gifted this power to the past, given her essence, her power, her very being to Edea Kramer in a desperate attempt to change the past; to change what was to come?
It had to have been dozens, no, hundreds of times now. Her violent campaign to change the past had failed. Again. A derisory, gurgling chuckle escaped her lips as the blood from her fatal wounds bubbled within. Not much time left, but now she could try again, repeat the years again. Although many of them would have to be spent dormant. Time needed to be spent gathering her power once again, after all.
There she was. Edea Kramer. A simple woman of simple fashions, none of the illustrious feathers and fur she would have her don later. And thus she was utterly helpless, her physical body gone from this world as her love...her love...no. He was no longer her love. He belonged to a world without her now. A world without the compression of time, the plan that succeeded. He belonged to the her of their time now. She would let him enjoy his life while it lasted.
The fatal flaw of a Sorceress romancing her knight had been discovered much too late. A Sorceress did not, would not, could not age. She had lost Squall as a grey haired, sickly elder while she remained the eternally young Sorceress Rinoa in his stead.
She had gone mad for a time back then, she thought. As someone who had honed her powers to even greater lengths, she knew the secret to not only passing on her powers, but passing on herself with them. After all, she was eternal. She wished to see Squall one last time. Was that so bad?
She had leaped through time without care for how time would adapt to her. She had the ability to, after all, so why not exercise it? She required no Ellone to do so. She wasn't Ultimecia.
And when she passed on her powers to Edea Kramer, at the time but a child, she had realized her mistake. She was doomed to lie dormant, having overestimated her powers. Trapped within the mind of Edea Kramer, forever an observer. This was her eternal punishment for daring to fool with the bonds of time.
Until Edea received her second batch of Sorceress powers from Ultimecia herself.
And yet....something felt right about Ultimecia transferring her powers. Too right. Indeed, they had felt almost familiar. Oh how she had resisted feeling so unified with that omnicidal woman's powers, but she could not resist. As they joined with Edea Kramer, so too had they joined with her.
She was powerful;more powerful than she had ever been. But she still didn't have enough power until several years later, when the true Ultimecia of the future sent herself through time trying to possess Edea. Without hesitation or difficulty, Rinoa used her now superior powers to rend Ultimecia's consciousness, effectively destroying her utterly.
Had she done it? Had she saved the past from Ultimecia?
And yet...did that not mean she would never meet Squall in the past? Would time erase her from existence? Erase her love for Squall? Would she not be real? No. No! She couldn't allow that. Wouldn't allow it! If she was to be removed from time then what? Then what?!
Her morality churned in repulsion as she manipulated the energy of Junction Machine Ellone to her advantage, usurping Edea's body with a whispered apology. She would remove everything. Time, her friends, her past self. Couldn't she simply bring them all back once she had full control over the past? Her defeat at the hands of a legendary SeeD would not happen. Could not happen. She had to protect herself and her friends. Her sense of identity. The world she had come to love.
None of it mattered if she couldn't be happy.
____________________________________
A pink light flowed from her chest and into Edea Kramer. She was passing herself on yet again. Saving her past self from that eternal dormancy yet again. Growing more powerful each time, yet never enough to become the victor at the precipice of all that carnage.
She had tried to end the world just to rebuild it and be with Squall. Yet time and time again she couldn't word it, couldn't show it. Couldn't be anything else other than a monster to be destroyed. At the end she was just another enemy to be destroyed, another lingering piece of dark magic to be stamped out, by her greatest love of all people.
No, no! She wanted to see him again. She wanted to be with him again without all this loss. Without becoming Ultimecia. Without becoming that violent thing of the past. She had set all this pain upon the past's shoulders yet again. She couldn't fix it? She couldn't fix anything?!
"I...can't...disappear yet," she whispered, and with a final choking sob, Rinoa, Ultimecia, and her emotions were gone from the world. Gone from this time. Yet her eternal struggle continued. Rinoa had become Ultimecia. Ultimecia had become Rinoa. Time repeated itself endlessly. Would it ever change? Would the cycle ever be broken?
That was out of her hands now.
It had to have been dozens, no, hundreds of times now. Her violent campaign to change the past had failed. Again. A derisory, gurgling chuckle escaped her lips as the blood from her fatal wounds bubbled within. Not much time left, but now she could try again, repeat the years again. Although many of them would have to be spent dormant. Time needed to be spent gathering her power once again, after all.
There she was. Edea Kramer. A simple woman of simple fashions, none of the illustrious feathers and fur she would have her don later. And thus she was utterly helpless, her physical body gone from this world as her love...her love...no. He was no longer her love. He belonged to a world without her now. A world without the compression of time, the plan that succeeded. He belonged to the her of their time now. She would let him enjoy his life while it lasted.
The fatal flaw of a Sorceress romancing her knight had been discovered much too late. A Sorceress did not, would not, could not age. She had lost Squall as a grey haired, sickly elder while she remained the eternally young Sorceress Rinoa in his stead.
She had gone mad for a time back then, she thought. As someone who had honed her powers to even greater lengths, she knew the secret to not only passing on her powers, but passing on herself with them. After all, she was eternal. She wished to see Squall one last time. Was that so bad?
She had leaped through time without care for how time would adapt to her. She had the ability to, after all, so why not exercise it? She required no Ellone to do so. She wasn't Ultimecia.
And when she passed on her powers to Edea Kramer, at the time but a child, she had realized her mistake. She was doomed to lie dormant, having overestimated her powers. Trapped within the mind of Edea Kramer, forever an observer. This was her eternal punishment for daring to fool with the bonds of time.
Until Edea received her second batch of Sorceress powers from Ultimecia herself.
And yet....something felt right about Ultimecia transferring her powers. Too right. Indeed, they had felt almost familiar. Oh how she had resisted feeling so unified with that omnicidal woman's powers, but she could not resist. As they joined with Edea Kramer, so too had they joined with her.
She was powerful;more powerful than she had ever been. But she still didn't have enough power until several years later, when the true Ultimecia of the future sent herself through time trying to possess Edea. Without hesitation or difficulty, Rinoa used her now superior powers to rend Ultimecia's consciousness, effectively destroying her utterly.
Had she done it? Had she saved the past from Ultimecia?
And yet...did that not mean she would never meet Squall in the past? Would time erase her from existence? Erase her love for Squall? Would she not be real? No. No! She couldn't allow that. Wouldn't allow it! If she was to be removed from time then what? Then what?!
Her morality churned in repulsion as she manipulated the energy of Junction Machine Ellone to her advantage, usurping Edea's body with a whispered apology. She would remove everything. Time, her friends, her past self. Couldn't she simply bring them all back once she had full control over the past? Her defeat at the hands of a legendary SeeD would not happen. Could not happen. She had to protect herself and her friends. Her sense of identity. The world she had come to love.
None of it mattered if she couldn't be happy.
____________________________________
A pink light flowed from her chest and into Edea Kramer. She was passing herself on yet again. Saving her past self from that eternal dormancy yet again. Growing more powerful each time, yet never enough to become the victor at the precipice of all that carnage.
She had tried to end the world just to rebuild it and be with Squall. Yet time and time again she couldn't word it, couldn't show it. Couldn't be anything else other than a monster to be destroyed. At the end she was just another enemy to be destroyed, another lingering piece of dark magic to be stamped out, by her greatest love of all people.
No, no! She wanted to see him again. She wanted to be with him again without all this loss. Without becoming Ultimecia. Without becoming that violent thing of the past. She had set all this pain upon the past's shoulders yet again. She couldn't fix it? She couldn't fix anything?!
"I...can't...disappear yet," she whispered, and with a final choking sob, Rinoa, Ultimecia, and her emotions were gone from the world. Gone from this time. Yet her eternal struggle continued. Rinoa had become Ultimecia. Ultimecia had become Rinoa. Time repeated itself endlessly. Would it ever change? Would the cycle ever be broken?
That was out of her hands now.
Entry 2.
[ACT VIII]
CHARACTERS
- Ward Zabac
- Unnamed (and possibly lonely inside) interrogator dude
- Some random scientist dude...doing some usual science things
We see a sterile, dim grey room, barely sizeable for a man of colossal stature. A sullen man in a shabby laboratory coat winces for a moment as he attempts to reach the colossal man’s voice box to connect what appears to be a cybernetic implant. With the lighting remaining relatively dim, the coarse silhouette of an older man sits behind the oaken desk, his chin resting on his knuckles. The colossal man fidgets his throat device and continues to do so after the sullen man in the laboratory coat takes his leave.
INTERROGATOR: (to the colossal man) You are welcome to take a seat, Mr Ward Zabac. I presume that you are now able to speak?
WARD: (with a synthesised voice) Oh crap, you gotta be kiddin’me. I sound like Stephen Hawking – not that I know who the hell he is.
INTERROGATOR: (sternly) You are aware, Mr Zabac, that President Laguna Loire has been arrested and removed from office for fiddling with his expenses. I have already interrogated your fellow adviser to the former president, Kiros Seagill, and for no real reason whatsoever, I will now ask if you can recollect and recount everything you know about Mr Loire. If I’m actually competent enough with my job, I really ought to have you and Mr Seagill locked up for helping him get away with money fiddling, but alas -
WARD: (trying to sound alarmed, but the synthesised voice cannot reproduce it) Hey, hey! I was never a friend of that guy, uhh! Yeah! He’s a bad man! He was why I lost my voice in the first place!
INTERROGATOR: But can you tell me everything you know about the man, Mr Zabac?
WARD: Well I met the guy in Deling. We were at the recruitment office as you can see. Laguna said something about getting fired from his waiter job because he had a leg cramp all of a sudden and hospitalised a small girl when the hot coffee and broken china went all over her. I said that if he gets leg cramps all of a sudden, he shouldn’t join the army, but then he was like, oh don’t worry, big guy! I will have you to help me and plus, I want to make my papa happy! I think his papa might have been dead, I don’t know. Even though we spent a lot of time chatting, I didn’t bother asking him about his parents because I wasn’t interested in that boring shit. Then we met Kiros on the way to our first assignment and we just couldn’t work out if the dude was a guy or a girl, so as far as we’re concerned, Kiros is a hermaphrodite.
INTERROGATOR: (impatiently) You know what? Never mind! Just get a move on. Good lord, I'm not exactly fond of sitting here seeing your face for that long, you know.
WARD: - but then we got to Timber. I think we were fighting a war with them, but I dunno. We were fighting more monsters in a forest than anything – we kind of wandered off from the frontlines because Laguna was scared of being shot. I dunno why he even wanted to go into the army. It’s like – he had a chick he wanted to impress or something. The chick must really dig guys with uniforms, which is great if you’re into uniform dating. I’m surprised they didn’t find us and shoot us for desertion, but hey, what do I know about war? But anyways, we stole a car and drove to Deling instead of fighting Timber people. I’ve always thought it sounded weird when they said we were fighting a war against Timber. I was picturing us shooting at lumberjacks or trees. Laguna said hey, I have a uniform now! With luck, I might get to sleep with Julia tonight!
INTERROGATOR: Who is Julia?
WARD: I dunno, some chick who was always there in the hotel bar. Can’t sing for shit man –
INTERROGATOR: (excitedly) Ohhh, Julia Carroway! Yeah, I know she can’t sing for shit, but man, was she hot! (Solemnly) When I heard she died, everything in me died that day. If only I could have had her as my wife, but noooo – chicks dig guys in uniforms these days! (Pause) I apologise. I stepped out of line. (Mumbles) Kindly continue.
WARD: So then we got into the hotel. We got a drink – well, Kiros had 5 shots, so I decided to beat him with 25 and barfed all over the sofas and had to pay for clean-ups, but Laguna then decided to go take his chances with that Julia chick and suddenly got a leg cramp again. But I dunno, he looked like he had a stroke from where I was sitting –
INTERROGATOR: (scribbling furiously while mumbling under his breath) So he’s a playboy, a coward who snuck away from battle and loves faking illnesses.
WARD: - then they went to a room and I dunno, they might have done it or something. Laguna said he and Julia did it, so it must have been true. I wonder if he had to pay her because if he had to, we were kind of fucked as we spent all the money on booze. We had no money left afterwards for the fine because Laguna the dumbass decided to park the car in the middle of the road before. The next morning I was arrested for exposing my huge anchor in public, and the police said it was indecent for soldiers to brandish their weapons on the streets.
INTERROGATOR: (sighing) This is dull. Just tell me – did you incompetent idiots get called away to war again?
WARD: Well, they decided to take us to Centra for some reason. I dunno why, because it’s a dead place and there were no wars going on there. In fact, what happened to the other people living in Centra? Are you telling me that it’s all dead bar one orphanage in the middle of nowhere? How do they get by? I think we got lost because Laguna couldn’t read maps for shit and we ended up in Superman’s icy fortress or something fighting these Esthar guys that kind of looked like Power Rangers. They beat us up. My throat was sliced open and I couldn’t speak, which was a bit grim considering we’re supposed to be the comic relief characters. My last words to him were probably something like fuck you, Laguna, but I couldn’t say it. He then tickled me instead of doing something about my bleeding because everyone knows that tickling makes people better! Oh yeah, that works wonders. Come on, we had potions, cure spells and phoenix downs for crying out loud! I’ve no idea why we didn’t use them – it’s like our brains got scrambled or something, or everyone were just complete morons. Then Laguna chucked Kiros and me into the jaggy rocks and water below, because that couldn’t have possibly made our conditions any worse, surely!
INTERROGATOR: (scribbling) Attempted murder –
WARD: That was the last I saw of Laguna and Kiros for soooo long. Thank God. I’d rather have a small kid keg me on live TV than see that ass clown Laguna again. The throat wound meant I couldn’t speak at all – and still can’t because I sound like a computer now. This sucks. Somehow I managed to float across the oceans all the way across the world to Galbadia where I was found by a seagull. This seagull nursed me back to health and they made me a prison janitor somehow. I think they wanted to arrest me and lock me up instead, but realised they wouldn’t fit me in a cell, so –
INTERROGATOR: (impatiently) Enough about you! I don’t care about you. I’m only interested in Laguna! Do you know what happened to him!
WARD: I don’t know. I heard he got a new chick, one that was probably just as dumb as Julia –
INTERROGATOR: (interjects) She wasn't dumb. Her songs actually had lyrics with more than 10 words.
WARD: - I think Laguna got a new chick. It was about a year later that I saw him again in a small town that for some reason has giant 10-foot long giant flesh eating caterpillars everywhere. I dunno why. Every time I got into a random battle in there, giant caterpillars would attack me and I wonder - how can you get giant caterpillars in a quiet village? All the males in the town were drafted to war? They couldn’t even have a home guard to stay put and make sure the caterpillars didn’t eat away the whole town? Then those Power Rangers guys from Esthar appeared again to abduct small girls – I knew that the Power Rangers liked reaching out to small children, but I didn’t know they were Catholic kiddy-fiddlers too. This little girl – she might have been called Ellen or El-own or whatever – I have no idea because back then, they hadn’t invented voiced dialogue yet – and Laguna said we had to find and get Ellen/El-own back. I said I was too lazy, but then I remembered I couldn’t speak, so he started laughing at my disability.
INTERROGATOR: This testimony is fantastic. I never knew how much of a dick the guy really is.
WARD: So then we had to go to Esthar, but guess what? We got lost again. Kiros then decided to blow most of our money away on some hookers in Balamb, while Laguna kept drinking, saying that when he was with Raine, she had only shit drinks made from fermented giant caterpillar piss or something. Winhill town delicacy that was. So we lost all our money and had to get some more. Laguna stole money from orphan charities. We yelled at him for it – well, I still couldn’t speak, but he asked us who cares. It’s not like his son would grow up in an orphanage, right? What were the chances of that happening? Kiros flipped out and said Laguna betrayed the law! He then gambled away all the money though.
INTERROGATOR: So we have a coward who flees from duty, a traffic felonist, a playboy, steals money from orphans, a diehard gambler and of course, yes – attempted murder. We’re getting enough evidence here to have that guy locked away for life.
WARD: So then two people named Jamie Camera and Stefanie Spielbergh came along and said Laguna was photogenic enough to star as the lead in their new movie called King Arthur. Laguna was Arthur, some other photogenic guy was Sir Lancelot, some guy called Bob from accounting was being Sir Gadabout – Kiros was Sir Prise and I was Sir Cumference. Basically, we thought that since there were no more charities for orphans to take money from, we had to make some more money as filmstars even though saving Ellen/El-own was kind of the bigger priority. Laguna however, said Ellen/El-own was to take a backseat to the filming of this movie. If he hadn’t been in the army, he’d have been a successful Troll-u-wood actor in western Galbadia or something. One day, Sir Lancelot forgot to show up for filming, so instead of filming his bit, they had to shoot Laguna’s Arthur bits instead, when a real dragon kind of walked in. Not a fake dragon, but a real one. What sort of idiot thought it would have been a real dragon? Movies use CGI and all that shit nowadays! Why would they have not been suspicious when a real dragon suddenly decided to show up? Excluding us,the dragon kind of killed everyone, ironically except Gadabout, the worst actor in the land, and Laguna forgot how to swing a sword, so we ran. I don’t actually know how to describe getting into Esthar. It involved climbing through a gap in some sort of illusion or something – I have no clue. To simply put it, one does not simply walk into Esthar.
INTERROGATOR: (irritated) You know what? You’re boring everyone. Just cut to the chase. I want to know how this dumbass became President of Esthar. How did such a moron get elected into the highest office in Esthar?
WARD: He wasn’t. They just said: here, Laguna! Have these presidential powers and feel free to rule for as long as you want! It’s not like I was happy about it. I said this was madness, then he just said: this is Esthar – which didn’t make much sense.
INTERROGATOR: (incredulous) What the hell was wrong with you all? Why would you pick that idiot to be President?
Who’s ever heard of a President that stupid? Guys called George?!
WARD: It’s a bit of a long story.
INTERROGATOR: (impatiently) No, thank you then –
WARD: Dude, you wanted to interrogate me and here I am giving you all sorts of useful crap –
INTERROGATOR: (irritantly) Sir, I implore you – just quickly finish talking –
WARD: (interjecting) I’ll throw this boat anchor at you! (The Interrogator immediately falls silent)
(pause)
INTERROGATOR: Some of us have wives and kids to get back to, you know. Of course, not like I enjoy seeing them or anything, considering my wife is starting to look like Jocelyn Wildenstein and I kind of fancy selling my kids to get a new wife.
WARD: So we somehow got drafted in to work for the resistance to take down Sorceress Adel, who was seriously the most macho woman I have ever seen. In fact, we weren’t even told that she was supposed to be a chick. Kiros said he took one glance at the manly sorceress and said that was probably enough to make him consider coming out of the closet. We did laugh at him when we found out that Adel was meant to be a woman though. Then we laughed again because we still weren’t sure what the hell Kiros was supposed to be. Man, so many people have questionable genders here. It’s a bit worrying. I think Laguna totally pissed himself with laughter that he gave himself a leg cramp again. We decided to cryogenically freeze Adel, so we conveniently built something that could cryogenically freeze her. So we tricked Adel to come to our cryogenic thingy, but Laguna caught a glimpse of her macho midriff.
INTERROGATOR: Mother of God –
WARD: (interjecting) Laguna said that it was the most attractive midriff ever and that he always wanted to feel dominated – like his secret fetish, with leather and all – so he decided to try and woo Adel with the same skills he tried on Julia. Yup, he had a leg cramp – a real one this time. In fact, I think he really did have a stroke this time and ended up wreathing in agony. Adel got so embarrassed at seeing this pathetic man in front of her that she volunteered to cryogenically freeze herself. I don’t blame her; Laguna was kind of pathetic. With all the leg cramps, he was like he took an arrow to the knee or something. Then Laguna got all the credit for (condescendingly sarcastic in tone, but you can't tell from his synthetic voice) PUSHING her into the tomb thing. Yeah, good luck moving them manly abs. Laguna can’t even manage to pick up a crate of bloody beer. The Esthar people got so thankful that they decided to make this totally foreign guy their president, because that is exactly how politics works.
INTERROGATOR: The hell? Why do we have manly women now? It’s usually the guys who look like chicks.
WARD: Then Laguna’s new girl died at childbirth for some reason. We’re a modern society with modern amenities, yet people can still easily die left and right from childbirth. It’s kind of weird. I guess our healthcare and hospitals are just shite. I guess Laguna should have tickled her better or something, because he wasn’t there and didn’t even know he had a baby son. He was too busy living the high life in Esthar as president. I heard he had four illegitimate children called Storm, Tempest, Windy and It’s-A-Bit-Wet-Today-Isn’t-It. But for some reason, the kid he got from that Raine woman is called Squall. Stupid ass name, I know. What’s that got to do with the other names? Laguna said it’s a stupid name and that he would have called him Dave.
INTERROGATOR: Mr Zabac, this has been an atrociously dull story, but that is all for today. (Looks directly at audience) Next, I’m going to interrogate our fashion guru, Kuja, and find out just how he manages to stuff his tail up his ass. Then we shall discuss whether it’s wrong to find Kuja sexually attractive or not. Stay tuned.
WARD: Oh good! I was about to ask if I could leave. If you’d have said no, I would have thrown this anchor at you –
----------
[END OF ACT]
Entry 3.
When I come to I'm lying on a smooth surface, cold and sharp, it almost reminds me of ice but there's no pain or sharpness. Cringing away from the discomfort of lying there, I try to pick myself up, slowly so that I don't further hurt my throbbing head, which is heavy with a strange ache of some sort. I open my eyes expecting to see my friends and the castle we were in, where the final battle took place, something I recognise at least, but to my surprise it's nothing like that. Instead I am in a vast white plain, there is no ground beneath my feet, to sky or roof above me, nothing behind and nothing in front, it's like a deep bright mist but so thick that it encompasses everything and everyone. I start to worry, where is everyone? Will they hear me if I call out? “Squall, Zell, Selphie?!” I call, my voice hoarse from the same thickness that I feel in my head, I clench my eyes closed and try to breath calmly.
I focus my mind and try to think of my friends, try to think of where I need to be and who I need to be with. I hear something in the distance, sounding so small but at the same time so large in the vast silence that surrounds me. Focused, I start running in the direction I heard the sound come from, my eyes still closed and my thoughts still on my friends. I can see them clearly in my mind. Strong Squall, the one who led us through this whole journey, unwilling and distant at first but taking charge and responsibility despite his resistance. Beautiful Rinoa, the girl I was so envious of at first, and still am in many ways, her youth, her courage, it's the driving force behind Squall, although I am jealous I cannot grudge her his love. Loyal Zell, the stubborn youth whose enthusiasm has so often made our journey interesting or tedious, his determination and loyalty is like no other. Joyous Selphie, like a light in the dark times we've been through, she has always stood firm and happy, no matter her personal pains she always tries hard to be the laughter of the group. Flirtatious Irvine, though I do not appreciate his lecherous ways, I can't say I do not feel flattered by his remarks or feel for his obvious attachment to Selphie that she seems determined to leave ignored. I can see them together, standing waiting for me, waiting for us to go home.
I hear more sounds, clearer this time and I can make out Zell's booming voice clearly “Shut up! Just calm down and think where we have to go.”
I hear Selphie next, her voice more subdued and serious than I've ever heard it “Careful guys! Don't pick the wrong time”
I reach them then, understanding dawning on me as to what they are describing “Whatever you do, don't fall into a time warp!” I open my eyes and see them, they are running beside me, the light is so bright it nearly blinds me now, and I can see their movements as though there is a trail where they once were, fading into the distance as they run through this thick haze. Our movements and slow and it's hard to keep moving, it's all I can do to picture our time, our home, the ones I love and run towards it, imagining running through a vast plain towards the warmth of home. I realise that Rinoa and Squall aren't with us, and think of saying something to the others. I know they are here somewhere, I can feel them, almost hear their voices, but it's too far away and faded for me to make out. I hope and pray that they come through and find us before it's too late.
The world around us shudders and seems to stretch. I can see nothing but white again as everyone around me seem to expand away. There is a burst of pain all over my body, knocking the air from my lungs and the strength from my limbs. I crash to the ground but can hear nothing and feel nothing, my eyes are shut but behind my eyelids the light has gone. My mind seems to have left me and for a while I feel a distinct sense that I am separated from my physical being, like my spirit is floating in the air around my body and I have no control over my life. Time, space, love, life, everything ceases to exist for that simple few seconds* and in my blissful ignorance I almost don't want it back, the surreal nothingness is refreshing from the pains and heartache of living.
Abruptly I am back inside myself though and I feel a weight hit me from above. I suck air into my mouth in tremulous gasps, my arms spasm and panic hits me. Where am I now? Are we back? Is everyone with me? What is it that hit me? My eyes peel open much slower than I'd like but the mugginess in my mind and a thickness in my limbs prevents me from controlling myself as I'd like. The pain in my head throbs back into play and I see the world around me spinning wildly. I feel sick. Pressing my forehead to the ground I try to steady my breathing but the weight on me is making it harder. Coughing slightly I try to focus my vision again and realise we are back in the Lunatic Pandora, I see Laguna first, standing above a hunched figure in the corner of the room, he is holding her hand and I realise it's Ellone. He looks over at me with worry in his eyes and I manage a shaky smile.
We're back – we made it – we're home. I almost jump when the pressure atop me shifts, but then I see an arm drop down by my head, see the edge of yellow cloth and hear a delicate moan. Moving my body to the side, I move my arms to catch Selphie when she falls from my back. On my side now, I struggle to my knees, positioning Selphie on the ground carefully while she shakes and cries blindly, presumably going through the sensations that had only just left me. I look around and see Irvine moving to stand, wobbling a little and then leaning against the wall, his legs are unsteady and they tremble wildly before he sinks back down to the ground, what little strength he'd gathered leaving him.
I look to the side where Adel's chamber sits, but I see a distortion in the air in front of it, just centimetres from where my feet lie. It looks like a black hole, but it wriggles and waves like it's alive, purples and blues and darkness erupting seemingly from thin air. It looks like it's bubbling and hot but the air is cool. This must be where we came from – the time rift that Ellone is keeping open. Scanning the room further I realise we're still missing Zell, Rinoa and Squall. I think of my options, look to where Ellone and Laguna are, where Irvine is propped against the far wall, where Selphie is laying by my knees and try to think of something I can do to help.
There is a flare of expansion from the distorted hole and with a surge of fear for Selphie I lean over her to protect her, pressing my face to her neck and trying to cover her as much as possible. The air shimmers around us for a moment before receding again, an ice cold breeze soothing my still-sore body. I hear a thud from in front of us and lift my head to see Zell land heavily on his back, sprawled out on the floor and seemingly unconscious. Desperate to get everyone to safety, and with Selphie slowly coming to, I decide to get my friends out of harms way. I try to pick Selphie up to transport her further away to where Laguna and Ellone are but my strength is still a far cry from what it should be and I cannot get her more then an inch from the ground.
Feeling desperate and useless I am about to try again when someone else swoops down and lifts selphie from my grasp. It's Laguna. I let her go and watch as Laguna carries her over to where Irvine is and sets her next to him. She leans into his shoulder and he wraps an arm round her shoulder, no doubt taking advantage of this time to be close to her and it's the look on Irvine's face that makes me smile and believe for the first time that we are going to be okay. We saved everyone, we stopped time compression and Ultimiecia, we've done it and no matter what happens now, I'm sure we'll be okay and we'll be together. I look to the time rift again before lifting slowly on my shaking legs. I expect to be more shaky but once I'm up I am relatively stable. I decide to go to Laguna, since he might be able to tell me what to do.
“What's going on? Are Rinoa and Squall on their way?” I ask as I settle next to Laguna. Ellone doesn't look well, her face is pasty white, her eyes clenched shut and she's gripping Laguna's hand like a lifeline.
“I...don't know” Laguna says, his eyes intent on Ellone.
“What do you mean? They could be lost?” The idea of such a thing causes the previous contentment in my heart to evaporate in an instant and panic and sadness to grip me.
“Ellone is...”
“What!? What's goin' on guys? Argh! My head!” Zell has woken and is on his feet, stumbling around in our direction.
“Ellone is trying. There's nothing we can do. They must find their way back themselves.”
I try to think of something we can do as terror grips me. Squall...how can Squall be lost – he's our strength, our leader, if he can't find his way back how did we ever manage? Guilt grips me – I should have called out to them, I shouldn't have left there without us all being together. But the time for doing something to help has past and now all we can do is wait and put our faith in them.
“...Hey guys?” Zell flops down beside me, splayed out on his back with his arms out at his sides. His breath is loud and heavy.
“Hm?” I acknowledge him.
“Should we maybe...get out of here?” Immediately I'm thinking the negative; how can we leave when two of us are not here yet. Leaving now without them would be like giving up on them coming back.
Zell explains himself “Just because, you know, I'm feeling kinda weird and we did just go through something pretty strange. What if there's something wrong with us?”
“What?” Selphie is still sitting against Irvine, but is now looking at us, seemingly more aware of her surroundings now.
“We'll leave once we're together” I say, “and if were not together then...”
“We'll leave once Ellone has closed the time warp and make sure everyone is safe and healthy.” Laguna says. He keeps his eyes on Ellone though, a desperate look in his eyes despite his calm words. I suspect this more serene Laguna is down to him being under pressure.
I've heard the strength of a person can be measured by the way they handle stress. If that's the case I'm certainly not half the person Laguna is. This situation reminds me of the way I felt as a teacher, I thought I was doing well, I thought I could lead the students to be better and help them into their calling. I was wrong. I couldn't handle it when the students weren't doing well, hardly noticed it in fact when they struggled and was irresponsible in that respect. Back when the missiles were heading to Garden I remember not being able to come up with anything helpful, just standing by and depending on others to tell me what was needed. I wished someone could tell me what was needed to fix things this time.
“I can hardly believe she's actually gone.” I'm in agreement with her, it is hard to believe, after fighting her in some way shape or form for the past half year I keep thinking she must have somehow evaded us, that she can't really be gone.
“Yeah...”
We fall back into a sad silence then, I start thinking on all the things I've never said to Squall that now I'll likely never get a chance to. I used to think I loved him, and to tell the truth I'm still not sure that I don't. How does one know when they are in love? Is it the quickening of your heart when they're close to you, or the emptiness in your chest when they're gone? Is it the heat in your face, the sweat in your palms when they look at you, say your name, talk to you? Is it the feeling that you'll be lost without them, that if they're gone you'll never be able to breath another breath? I don't know...
If I do love him, then my chance has already been and gone. I knew that pretty soon after meeting Rinoa. I'd always been jealous of her, right from when I first laid eyes on her pretty face, her doe eyes and her smooth complexion. I'd always been admired for my looks and knew the reason I envied her initially was simply because I recognised that she was superior in that respect to me. I'd never thought myself so vain until I met Rinoa. Nowadays I envy her for a much different reason, though her beauty if still part of that.
I regret those feelings now, thinking that I may never see her again. I've said some pretty harsh things to her, scolded her when she was only trying to help, taken my anger and frustration out on her because my feelings towards her had never been so positive. I do value her as a friend though, through the jealousy and the hurt that Squall's love for her brings, I do see her as a companion, part of our team and to think that all my bad words spoken will forever be left without apology leaves me almost as distraught as the thought of never seeing the two of them again. Oh to go back in time, to have never said such things on the cusp of surely the darkest emotions, to have told Squall how I truly felt, even if I knew it could never be reciprocated, even to have reached out to them such a short time ago, while I could still feel their presence, while there was still a chance to help them. I mustn't think that way though, there is still-
“Ahh!” Ellone!? She's gripping her head, Laguna hovering around her, his face a mask of dire worry, I bring myself closer, hoping to help or comfort her in some way, I see Irvine and Selphie come closer too out of the corner of my eye.
“Ellone? Ellone, are you okay? What's---” I hear Selphie let out a gasp as well, as we see the blood dripping from Ellone's nose. It's not a lot of blood, just a few drips really, but it's what it entails that has us all clenching our fists and tension rising in the air.
Laguna looks down at the floor, at a loss of what to do. I wonder why he doesn't tell her to stop. Isn't she like a daughter to him? He must care for her more than our friends, yet when he whispers to her, in a voice too rushed for me to make out, he seems to be soothing her, and encouraging her to keep trying.
“Is she okay?” Selphie says.
“What's wrong with her?” Irvine is looking over Selphie's shoulder.
“Is that blood?!” I want to say something too, but don't know what to say, I don't want to say anything that might make Laguna tell her stop, but I also wouldn't want her to be in danger if there is no chance for them any way.
“Calm down everyone.” I say “Just...” Laguna is looking at me, his eye begging, pleading for help, but it's not me he's asking.
“Wh-what's that?!” I look at Zell just in time to see the dark hole behind him shift, tightening up into a small ball before expanding large enough to have Zell scurrying up against the wall with the rest of us. Instinct tells me to turn my face away, but I can't stop looking. It looks like a bruise, the colours blending into the black hole in the centre. Now it encompasses almost the entire room and is so cold I'm shivering, but in moments it recedes again and left in it's place is a body in the centre of the room. The time rift shudders a little and then continues as it had before. Ellone breaths heavily beside me.
“Rinoa...?” There she is, lying on the floor as we had all done just a short while ago. I can imagine she's going through something similar now. Everyone visibly relaxes, hope isn't lost then – Squall will be on his way too.
“Hey guys?” Zell goes over to her, where she still lies silent and limp on the ground. I frown, where ware the shakes we had all gone through? Why is she so still, looking closer I can't even see her...
“She's not breathing!” Zell flips her over onto her back as the rest of us approach, Laguna and Ellone excluded. Rinoa's face is paler than I'd ever seen it, her eyes shut lightly and her body so deathly and unmoving. Pressing my cheek to her chest I wrap my fingers round her wrist, trying to listen and feel for a pulse.
“What's wrong with her? Is she dead?!”
“Quiet, Zell, please.” I need silence to concentrate. I can make out a light thrumming against my fingertips, but it's slow and very light, I can hear a beat under my ear but it too is lacking and fading.
I refuse to panic. I know CPR, all SeeD do, but I know it more than the others – I was a teacher, it was part of my training. I know CPR, but that's when the heart has stopped, I try to remember what to do in this situation, but can't think of anything. I have to do something though, anything. So I place my hand on her chin and my mouth on hers and try my best to get her breathing again. Zell starts to cry, Selphie probably is too, but I won't think about them, I won't think about anything but whether Rinoa's heart is still beating and when she's going to breath again.
“...She's not...” Ellone's voice is distant, shaky and little more than a whisper. I keep working. “With us...Rinoa? She's...not with us. She's still...still...”
I don't want to listen, I don't want to believe it, but Rinoa's pulse is almost gone and there is no indication of her coming around. I can feel wetness in my eyes trying to be free but I smother them down, chock back my tears; I don't want to cry, there's enough crying.
After the next couple of breaths I stop feeling her heartbeat. Frustration and anger wells inside me – this isn't how things are meant to be! Changing tactics, I interlock my fingers and begin pumping her chest, breathing into her mouth between pushes.
“Where is she then?!” I say desperately “Where is she?!”
“Rinoa...” Ellone's nose is bleeding worse now. “Stop...Rinoa...please.”
I barely see anything for a few moments, brightness encompasses the room. Immediately I'm thinking we're back in that white nothing but that passes quickly. Rinoa is breathing again, but she coughs and there's blood on her lips. We need to get her our of here. Now.
“Zell, Irvine, can you get Rinoa to help?”
“There's a car outside, that's what we came in. Take her to Dr. Odine's, there's a hospital in the lab, they'll look after her.” Zell was already up before Laguna has finished, with Rinoa in his arms, Irvine and he set for the door. Selphie hovers a moment before running along after them. I want to go with them, but something stops me. I realise I still want to stick to what I said before – I don't want to leave unless we're all here. I don't want to leave without Squall.
So I walk slowly over to Ellone and Laguna, take a seat next to them I want to let my tears fall bu they don't come now. I try to tell myself that what happened with Rinoa could have happened to any of us, that it had nothing to do with her being in time compression so long, but Ellone's words, and my own feelings when I first got back, tell me that's not true. I remember feeling like I was outside my body, that I was floating and almost didn't want to return. I don't know for sure but something tells me that's what's happening and it makes me feel hopeless for Squall. The silence is deafening.
Something like half an hour passes and I keep thinking of how the others must be at the car by now, if not on their way back to Esthar. Ellone's nose stopped breathing a while ago, but the way she's sagging against the wall speaks volumes about how bad holding the time rift open is for her. I doubt she'll be able to do it much longer.
At least we got Rinoa back, it's not as bad as it could have been. I hear a loud groan in the distance, a sound like the bending of metal and a few screeches follow. There's no sound after that though so I just figure it must have been something unimportant. Laguna heard it too, he's looking at the entrance to the room. Something in his face has me looking too.
It's Rinoa. I'm speechless, how can she be standing there as if she's fine when her heart had stopped half an hour ago? When she wasn't breathing at all for minutes? Where are the others? How did she get here?
Rinoa walks over to us, past me she kneels down in front of Ellone. Laguna moves to the side, stands up and watches. It's all I can do to watch as well, stunned and unable to think of what's going on.
“Ellone?” Her voice seems stable, she doesn't falter or whisper. There's still blood on her lips and I can hardly conceive that she coughed that up when her voice seems so smooth now, as if it never happened.
“Ellone, how long do you have left?” Rinoa places a hand on Ellone's arm, a comforting gesture and I see a few tears slip free of Ellone's clenched eyelids.
“I...can't...”
“It's okay. Don't push yourself.” I can see Rinoa take a breath, she looks like she's steadying herself for something. “Do you think...can you find him? Is he coming through?” I can feel my chest stop as my breathing pauses. I look to Ellone, praying that she says yes.
She doesn't. Her head droops and more tears flow.
“It's alright, it's alright...it's alright, Ellone.” She looks at Laguna.
“I...need you're permission. As the president of Esthar. I'm the last Sorceress left, I need you to allow me to go back in there.”
“No, Rinoa!” I just can't hold my tongue here. “You can't go back in there, you'll never come back!” She doesn't reply, and my heart drops when she doesn't even spare me a glance.
Laguna seems torn. “Don't ask me that Rinoa, please.” He looks away, obviously upset by her question. “As the president of Esthar, I can't let you go, to do so would be to put the world at jeopardy, if you were to get trapped in time, what would happen to your powers? You're the last, Rinoa, we need you here where we know you and your powers are safe.”
“I have sorceress powers, it's true. But, it's because of those powers that I need to go. I'm the only one who can bring him back.”
“I wasn't finished.” Laguna smiles, but I can tell it's empty. “As a president, I can't tell you to go, and as a person it would be so selfish for me to tell you to go, knowing full well that if you're trapped in time, you'll be trapped forever. But, I can't tell you not to go. There are things left unsaid, things I want, and things I might never get a chance to do or say...” So Laguna's been having thoughts the same as me?
“Laguna...I need your answer, there's not much time.”
“As a president, the answer is no, I cannot let you go. As a man, and as a father, I'm asking you to bring my son back”. Laguna turns his back now and I see his head bow, I can't begin to imagine what he's feeling now. Son? So Squall is Laguna's son?
“...Rinoa.” I see Ellone move, she hold Rinoa's hand in a tight grip, trembling heavily. “If you are lost in time...you'll never age...you'll never be free...it'll be eternity in limbo, a fate worse than death...”
Rinoa smiles one of her beautiful smiles, a true real one that reaches her eyes and makes her shine. “That's why I have to go.”
“I can't...I don't have enough strength...to bring you back.”
“Then give me your power, I'll come back with him.” My eyes are wide on the two of them. Give her power, is that possible? “I can take it from you, I know I can, I can feel it inside me – I can take your power and I can use it. Let me, Ellone, please.”
She doesn't give Ellone time to answer though, instead she drops Ellone's hand and grasps the side of her head, pushing their foreheads together and closing her eyes. An electricity seems to rise in the air, thick and so heavy I can barely breath in it. My eyes are trained on the two of them though, I'm fully aware that this may be the last time I'll ever see Rinoa. I don't cry though, I'll cry later.
The rift gets bigger again, pulsing and growing bright and shining, almost blinding. It reaches out for us and I can't help but flinch away. Looking back at Rinoa and Ellone I see Rinoa reach out and grasp the necklace on Ellone's neck. She looks at me for the first time since she got in the room and I can barely hear her say “Quistis...thank you...” Then I cry, as the light reaches out and envelopes us all in a burst of ice cold wind, I cry for the friends I can't imagine ever seeing again.
--------
The air is fresh and the wind is calm. I can feel the grass tickling my face, it's almost soothing. Breathing deeply, I open my eyes slowly. It's bright and warm, and I'm lying in the field of flowers beside Edea's orphanage. It's a beautiful day, and the flowers are in full bloom. I know why I'm here, it's all I could picture and all I could see through the pain and the feeling of being torn appart. I wasn't sure if I could make it but here I am.
When I am is another matter though. My hand is closed around something, and I open it up to see Ellone's little necklace sitting innocently in my palm, it brings a smile to my face. And warms my heart that Squall's sister would put her faith in me. It's not broken and I don't want to loose it, so I tie it around my own neck, placing the pendant next to Squalls ring. My fingers linger there, a pain in my heart blooming as I think of him lost somewhere in time. I'm the only one who can find him, the only one who can bring him back.
My eyes drop. I don't even know how to use my sorceress powers, let alone these new powers Ellone has given me. I will though, I'll learn to use them, to travel time and find him. First of all I need to know where in time I am. I look to the orphanage. It's not the ruins I expected to see, instead it's in good condition, the bricks are white and the garden has toys and clothing hung up on lines in it. The past then? Time to find out.
I focus my mind and try to think of my friends, try to think of where I need to be and who I need to be with. I hear something in the distance, sounding so small but at the same time so large in the vast silence that surrounds me. Focused, I start running in the direction I heard the sound come from, my eyes still closed and my thoughts still on my friends. I can see them clearly in my mind. Strong Squall, the one who led us through this whole journey, unwilling and distant at first but taking charge and responsibility despite his resistance. Beautiful Rinoa, the girl I was so envious of at first, and still am in many ways, her youth, her courage, it's the driving force behind Squall, although I am jealous I cannot grudge her his love. Loyal Zell, the stubborn youth whose enthusiasm has so often made our journey interesting or tedious, his determination and loyalty is like no other. Joyous Selphie, like a light in the dark times we've been through, she has always stood firm and happy, no matter her personal pains she always tries hard to be the laughter of the group. Flirtatious Irvine, though I do not appreciate his lecherous ways, I can't say I do not feel flattered by his remarks or feel for his obvious attachment to Selphie that she seems determined to leave ignored. I can see them together, standing waiting for me, waiting for us to go home.
I hear more sounds, clearer this time and I can make out Zell's booming voice clearly “Shut up! Just calm down and think where we have to go.”
I hear Selphie next, her voice more subdued and serious than I've ever heard it “Careful guys! Don't pick the wrong time”
I reach them then, understanding dawning on me as to what they are describing “Whatever you do, don't fall into a time warp!” I open my eyes and see them, they are running beside me, the light is so bright it nearly blinds me now, and I can see their movements as though there is a trail where they once were, fading into the distance as they run through this thick haze. Our movements and slow and it's hard to keep moving, it's all I can do to picture our time, our home, the ones I love and run towards it, imagining running through a vast plain towards the warmth of home. I realise that Rinoa and Squall aren't with us, and think of saying something to the others. I know they are here somewhere, I can feel them, almost hear their voices, but it's too far away and faded for me to make out. I hope and pray that they come through and find us before it's too late.
The world around us shudders and seems to stretch. I can see nothing but white again as everyone around me seem to expand away. There is a burst of pain all over my body, knocking the air from my lungs and the strength from my limbs. I crash to the ground but can hear nothing and feel nothing, my eyes are shut but behind my eyelids the light has gone. My mind seems to have left me and for a while I feel a distinct sense that I am separated from my physical being, like my spirit is floating in the air around my body and I have no control over my life. Time, space, love, life, everything ceases to exist for that simple few seconds* and in my blissful ignorance I almost don't want it back, the surreal nothingness is refreshing from the pains and heartache of living.
Abruptly I am back inside myself though and I feel a weight hit me from above. I suck air into my mouth in tremulous gasps, my arms spasm and panic hits me. Where am I now? Are we back? Is everyone with me? What is it that hit me? My eyes peel open much slower than I'd like but the mugginess in my mind and a thickness in my limbs prevents me from controlling myself as I'd like. The pain in my head throbs back into play and I see the world around me spinning wildly. I feel sick. Pressing my forehead to the ground I try to steady my breathing but the weight on me is making it harder. Coughing slightly I try to focus my vision again and realise we are back in the Lunatic Pandora, I see Laguna first, standing above a hunched figure in the corner of the room, he is holding her hand and I realise it's Ellone. He looks over at me with worry in his eyes and I manage a shaky smile.
We're back – we made it – we're home. I almost jump when the pressure atop me shifts, but then I see an arm drop down by my head, see the edge of yellow cloth and hear a delicate moan. Moving my body to the side, I move my arms to catch Selphie when she falls from my back. On my side now, I struggle to my knees, positioning Selphie on the ground carefully while she shakes and cries blindly, presumably going through the sensations that had only just left me. I look around and see Irvine moving to stand, wobbling a little and then leaning against the wall, his legs are unsteady and they tremble wildly before he sinks back down to the ground, what little strength he'd gathered leaving him.
I look to the side where Adel's chamber sits, but I see a distortion in the air in front of it, just centimetres from where my feet lie. It looks like a black hole, but it wriggles and waves like it's alive, purples and blues and darkness erupting seemingly from thin air. It looks like it's bubbling and hot but the air is cool. This must be where we came from – the time rift that Ellone is keeping open. Scanning the room further I realise we're still missing Zell, Rinoa and Squall. I think of my options, look to where Ellone and Laguna are, where Irvine is propped against the far wall, where Selphie is laying by my knees and try to think of something I can do to help.
There is a flare of expansion from the distorted hole and with a surge of fear for Selphie I lean over her to protect her, pressing my face to her neck and trying to cover her as much as possible. The air shimmers around us for a moment before receding again, an ice cold breeze soothing my still-sore body. I hear a thud from in front of us and lift my head to see Zell land heavily on his back, sprawled out on the floor and seemingly unconscious. Desperate to get everyone to safety, and with Selphie slowly coming to, I decide to get my friends out of harms way. I try to pick Selphie up to transport her further away to where Laguna and Ellone are but my strength is still a far cry from what it should be and I cannot get her more then an inch from the ground.
Feeling desperate and useless I am about to try again when someone else swoops down and lifts selphie from my grasp. It's Laguna. I let her go and watch as Laguna carries her over to where Irvine is and sets her next to him. She leans into his shoulder and he wraps an arm round her shoulder, no doubt taking advantage of this time to be close to her and it's the look on Irvine's face that makes me smile and believe for the first time that we are going to be okay. We saved everyone, we stopped time compression and Ultimiecia, we've done it and no matter what happens now, I'm sure we'll be okay and we'll be together. I look to the time rift again before lifting slowly on my shaking legs. I expect to be more shaky but once I'm up I am relatively stable. I decide to go to Laguna, since he might be able to tell me what to do.
“What's going on? Are Rinoa and Squall on their way?” I ask as I settle next to Laguna. Ellone doesn't look well, her face is pasty white, her eyes clenched shut and she's gripping Laguna's hand like a lifeline.
“I...don't know” Laguna says, his eyes intent on Ellone.
“What do you mean? They could be lost?” The idea of such a thing causes the previous contentment in my heart to evaporate in an instant and panic and sadness to grip me.
“Ellone is...”
“What!? What's goin' on guys? Argh! My head!” Zell has woken and is on his feet, stumbling around in our direction.
“Ellone is trying. There's nothing we can do. They must find their way back themselves.”
I try to think of something we can do as terror grips me. Squall...how can Squall be lost – he's our strength, our leader, if he can't find his way back how did we ever manage? Guilt grips me – I should have called out to them, I shouldn't have left there without us all being together. But the time for doing something to help has past and now all we can do is wait and put our faith in them.
“...Hey guys?” Zell flops down beside me, splayed out on his back with his arms out at his sides. His breath is loud and heavy.
“Hm?” I acknowledge him.
“Should we maybe...get out of here?” Immediately I'm thinking the negative; how can we leave when two of us are not here yet. Leaving now without them would be like giving up on them coming back.
Zell explains himself “Just because, you know, I'm feeling kinda weird and we did just go through something pretty strange. What if there's something wrong with us?”
“What?” Selphie is still sitting against Irvine, but is now looking at us, seemingly more aware of her surroundings now.
“We'll leave once we're together” I say, “and if were not together then...”
“We'll leave once Ellone has closed the time warp and make sure everyone is safe and healthy.” Laguna says. He keeps his eyes on Ellone though, a desperate look in his eyes despite his calm words. I suspect this more serene Laguna is down to him being under pressure.
I've heard the strength of a person can be measured by the way they handle stress. If that's the case I'm certainly not half the person Laguna is. This situation reminds me of the way I felt as a teacher, I thought I was doing well, I thought I could lead the students to be better and help them into their calling. I was wrong. I couldn't handle it when the students weren't doing well, hardly noticed it in fact when they struggled and was irresponsible in that respect. Back when the missiles were heading to Garden I remember not being able to come up with anything helpful, just standing by and depending on others to tell me what was needed. I wished someone could tell me what was needed to fix things this time.
“I can hardly believe she's actually gone.” I'm in agreement with her, it is hard to believe, after fighting her in some way shape or form for the past half year I keep thinking she must have somehow evaded us, that she can't really be gone.
“Yeah...”
We fall back into a sad silence then, I start thinking on all the things I've never said to Squall that now I'll likely never get a chance to. I used to think I loved him, and to tell the truth I'm still not sure that I don't. How does one know when they are in love? Is it the quickening of your heart when they're close to you, or the emptiness in your chest when they're gone? Is it the heat in your face, the sweat in your palms when they look at you, say your name, talk to you? Is it the feeling that you'll be lost without them, that if they're gone you'll never be able to breath another breath? I don't know...
If I do love him, then my chance has already been and gone. I knew that pretty soon after meeting Rinoa. I'd always been jealous of her, right from when I first laid eyes on her pretty face, her doe eyes and her smooth complexion. I'd always been admired for my looks and knew the reason I envied her initially was simply because I recognised that she was superior in that respect to me. I'd never thought myself so vain until I met Rinoa. Nowadays I envy her for a much different reason, though her beauty if still part of that.
I regret those feelings now, thinking that I may never see her again. I've said some pretty harsh things to her, scolded her when she was only trying to help, taken my anger and frustration out on her because my feelings towards her had never been so positive. I do value her as a friend though, through the jealousy and the hurt that Squall's love for her brings, I do see her as a companion, part of our team and to think that all my bad words spoken will forever be left without apology leaves me almost as distraught as the thought of never seeing the two of them again. Oh to go back in time, to have never said such things on the cusp of surely the darkest emotions, to have told Squall how I truly felt, even if I knew it could never be reciprocated, even to have reached out to them such a short time ago, while I could still feel their presence, while there was still a chance to help them. I mustn't think that way though, there is still-
“Ahh!” Ellone!? She's gripping her head, Laguna hovering around her, his face a mask of dire worry, I bring myself closer, hoping to help or comfort her in some way, I see Irvine and Selphie come closer too out of the corner of my eye.
“Ellone? Ellone, are you okay? What's---” I hear Selphie let out a gasp as well, as we see the blood dripping from Ellone's nose. It's not a lot of blood, just a few drips really, but it's what it entails that has us all clenching our fists and tension rising in the air.
Laguna looks down at the floor, at a loss of what to do. I wonder why he doesn't tell her to stop. Isn't she like a daughter to him? He must care for her more than our friends, yet when he whispers to her, in a voice too rushed for me to make out, he seems to be soothing her, and encouraging her to keep trying.
“Is she okay?” Selphie says.
“What's wrong with her?” Irvine is looking over Selphie's shoulder.
“Is that blood?!” I want to say something too, but don't know what to say, I don't want to say anything that might make Laguna tell her stop, but I also wouldn't want her to be in danger if there is no chance for them any way.
“Calm down everyone.” I say “Just...” Laguna is looking at me, his eye begging, pleading for help, but it's not me he's asking.
“Wh-what's that?!” I look at Zell just in time to see the dark hole behind him shift, tightening up into a small ball before expanding large enough to have Zell scurrying up against the wall with the rest of us. Instinct tells me to turn my face away, but I can't stop looking. It looks like a bruise, the colours blending into the black hole in the centre. Now it encompasses almost the entire room and is so cold I'm shivering, but in moments it recedes again and left in it's place is a body in the centre of the room. The time rift shudders a little and then continues as it had before. Ellone breaths heavily beside me.
“Rinoa...?” There she is, lying on the floor as we had all done just a short while ago. I can imagine she's going through something similar now. Everyone visibly relaxes, hope isn't lost then – Squall will be on his way too.
“Hey guys?” Zell goes over to her, where she still lies silent and limp on the ground. I frown, where ware the shakes we had all gone through? Why is she so still, looking closer I can't even see her...
“She's not breathing!” Zell flips her over onto her back as the rest of us approach, Laguna and Ellone excluded. Rinoa's face is paler than I'd ever seen it, her eyes shut lightly and her body so deathly and unmoving. Pressing my cheek to her chest I wrap my fingers round her wrist, trying to listen and feel for a pulse.
“What's wrong with her? Is she dead?!”
“Quiet, Zell, please.” I need silence to concentrate. I can make out a light thrumming against my fingertips, but it's slow and very light, I can hear a beat under my ear but it too is lacking and fading.
I refuse to panic. I know CPR, all SeeD do, but I know it more than the others – I was a teacher, it was part of my training. I know CPR, but that's when the heart has stopped, I try to remember what to do in this situation, but can't think of anything. I have to do something though, anything. So I place my hand on her chin and my mouth on hers and try my best to get her breathing again. Zell starts to cry, Selphie probably is too, but I won't think about them, I won't think about anything but whether Rinoa's heart is still beating and when she's going to breath again.
“...She's not...” Ellone's voice is distant, shaky and little more than a whisper. I keep working. “With us...Rinoa? She's...not with us. She's still...still...”
I don't want to listen, I don't want to believe it, but Rinoa's pulse is almost gone and there is no indication of her coming around. I can feel wetness in my eyes trying to be free but I smother them down, chock back my tears; I don't want to cry, there's enough crying.
After the next couple of breaths I stop feeling her heartbeat. Frustration and anger wells inside me – this isn't how things are meant to be! Changing tactics, I interlock my fingers and begin pumping her chest, breathing into her mouth between pushes.
“Where is she then?!” I say desperately “Where is she?!”
“Rinoa...” Ellone's nose is bleeding worse now. “Stop...Rinoa...please.”
I barely see anything for a few moments, brightness encompasses the room. Immediately I'm thinking we're back in that white nothing but that passes quickly. Rinoa is breathing again, but she coughs and there's blood on her lips. We need to get her our of here. Now.
“Zell, Irvine, can you get Rinoa to help?”
“There's a car outside, that's what we came in. Take her to Dr. Odine's, there's a hospital in the lab, they'll look after her.” Zell was already up before Laguna has finished, with Rinoa in his arms, Irvine and he set for the door. Selphie hovers a moment before running along after them. I want to go with them, but something stops me. I realise I still want to stick to what I said before – I don't want to leave unless we're all here. I don't want to leave without Squall.
So I walk slowly over to Ellone and Laguna, take a seat next to them I want to let my tears fall bu they don't come now. I try to tell myself that what happened with Rinoa could have happened to any of us, that it had nothing to do with her being in time compression so long, but Ellone's words, and my own feelings when I first got back, tell me that's not true. I remember feeling like I was outside my body, that I was floating and almost didn't want to return. I don't know for sure but something tells me that's what's happening and it makes me feel hopeless for Squall. The silence is deafening.
Something like half an hour passes and I keep thinking of how the others must be at the car by now, if not on their way back to Esthar. Ellone's nose stopped breathing a while ago, but the way she's sagging against the wall speaks volumes about how bad holding the time rift open is for her. I doubt she'll be able to do it much longer.
At least we got Rinoa back, it's not as bad as it could have been. I hear a loud groan in the distance, a sound like the bending of metal and a few screeches follow. There's no sound after that though so I just figure it must have been something unimportant. Laguna heard it too, he's looking at the entrance to the room. Something in his face has me looking too.
It's Rinoa. I'm speechless, how can she be standing there as if she's fine when her heart had stopped half an hour ago? When she wasn't breathing at all for minutes? Where are the others? How did she get here?
Rinoa walks over to us, past me she kneels down in front of Ellone. Laguna moves to the side, stands up and watches. It's all I can do to watch as well, stunned and unable to think of what's going on.
“Ellone?” Her voice seems stable, she doesn't falter or whisper. There's still blood on her lips and I can hardly conceive that she coughed that up when her voice seems so smooth now, as if it never happened.
“Ellone, how long do you have left?” Rinoa places a hand on Ellone's arm, a comforting gesture and I see a few tears slip free of Ellone's clenched eyelids.
“I...can't...”
“It's okay. Don't push yourself.” I can see Rinoa take a breath, she looks like she's steadying herself for something. “Do you think...can you find him? Is he coming through?” I can feel my chest stop as my breathing pauses. I look to Ellone, praying that she says yes.
She doesn't. Her head droops and more tears flow.
“It's alright, it's alright...it's alright, Ellone.” She looks at Laguna.
“I...need you're permission. As the president of Esthar. I'm the last Sorceress left, I need you to allow me to go back in there.”
“No, Rinoa!” I just can't hold my tongue here. “You can't go back in there, you'll never come back!” She doesn't reply, and my heart drops when she doesn't even spare me a glance.
Laguna seems torn. “Don't ask me that Rinoa, please.” He looks away, obviously upset by her question. “As the president of Esthar, I can't let you go, to do so would be to put the world at jeopardy, if you were to get trapped in time, what would happen to your powers? You're the last, Rinoa, we need you here where we know you and your powers are safe.”
“I have sorceress powers, it's true. But, it's because of those powers that I need to go. I'm the only one who can bring him back.”
“I wasn't finished.” Laguna smiles, but I can tell it's empty. “As a president, I can't tell you to go, and as a person it would be so selfish for me to tell you to go, knowing full well that if you're trapped in time, you'll be trapped forever. But, I can't tell you not to go. There are things left unsaid, things I want, and things I might never get a chance to do or say...” So Laguna's been having thoughts the same as me?
“Laguna...I need your answer, there's not much time.”
“As a president, the answer is no, I cannot let you go. As a man, and as a father, I'm asking you to bring my son back”. Laguna turns his back now and I see his head bow, I can't begin to imagine what he's feeling now. Son? So Squall is Laguna's son?
“...Rinoa.” I see Ellone move, she hold Rinoa's hand in a tight grip, trembling heavily. “If you are lost in time...you'll never age...you'll never be free...it'll be eternity in limbo, a fate worse than death...”
Rinoa smiles one of her beautiful smiles, a true real one that reaches her eyes and makes her shine. “That's why I have to go.”
“I can't...I don't have enough strength...to bring you back.”
“Then give me your power, I'll come back with him.” My eyes are wide on the two of them. Give her power, is that possible? “I can take it from you, I know I can, I can feel it inside me – I can take your power and I can use it. Let me, Ellone, please.”
She doesn't give Ellone time to answer though, instead she drops Ellone's hand and grasps the side of her head, pushing their foreheads together and closing her eyes. An electricity seems to rise in the air, thick and so heavy I can barely breath in it. My eyes are trained on the two of them though, I'm fully aware that this may be the last time I'll ever see Rinoa. I don't cry though, I'll cry later.
The rift gets bigger again, pulsing and growing bright and shining, almost blinding. It reaches out for us and I can't help but flinch away. Looking back at Rinoa and Ellone I see Rinoa reach out and grasp the necklace on Ellone's neck. She looks at me for the first time since she got in the room and I can barely hear her say “Quistis...thank you...” Then I cry, as the light reaches out and envelopes us all in a burst of ice cold wind, I cry for the friends I can't imagine ever seeing again.
--------
The air is fresh and the wind is calm. I can feel the grass tickling my face, it's almost soothing. Breathing deeply, I open my eyes slowly. It's bright and warm, and I'm lying in the field of flowers beside Edea's orphanage. It's a beautiful day, and the flowers are in full bloom. I know why I'm here, it's all I could picture and all I could see through the pain and the feeling of being torn appart. I wasn't sure if I could make it but here I am.
When I am is another matter though. My hand is closed around something, and I open it up to see Ellone's little necklace sitting innocently in my palm, it brings a smile to my face. And warms my heart that Squall's sister would put her faith in me. It's not broken and I don't want to loose it, so I tie it around my own neck, placing the pendant next to Squalls ring. My fingers linger there, a pain in my heart blooming as I think of him lost somewhere in time. I'm the only one who can find him, the only one who can bring him back.
My eyes drop. I don't even know how to use my sorceress powers, let alone these new powers Ellone has given me. I will though, I'll learn to use them, to travel time and find him. First of all I need to know where in time I am. I look to the orphanage. It's not the ruins I expected to see, instead it's in good condition, the bricks are white and the garden has toys and clothing hung up on lines in it. The past then? Time to find out.
Voting ends in a week!
Last edited by a moderator:
We will post a sig to you momentarily and arrange an award. 
