It's another Norco Fanction!! That is, a fiction by Norco.
I own nothing, except for my computer, the clothes on my person, and my sanity. 
Sometimes not even that...
norco@fantasysquare.com

The Soldiers of Fear - Chapter Two

*Author's Note : Time passes differently in the two worlds. It's been a few 
months for Squall & Co, while its been a few decades on Cloud's World.

-=Squall=-
I have never been to a wedding before. This was my first. We sat in the chapel 
at Balamb, a large crowd of SeeD's, the local media and townsfolk in the 
auidence to watch the first wedding in the new chapel. The bride was up on the 
altar, looking radiant as always. And the groom . . . 

Seifer, if at all possible, was glowing even more than his wife to be, Quistis 
Trepe.  The two always seemed to oddly matched, although Quistis had shown more 
interest in me. A wedding .. how odd. I suppose it was on the cards though. 
About three months ago, during our battle with Peregrine, Seifer's feelings had 
come to the surface. She'd been hurt, and he lost it. Since then, the two of 
them have been inseperable. And Quistis seemed to have taken a liking to Seifer.
  "Seifer Alamsy, do you take Quistis Trepe, to be your wife, to cherish, to 
hold and love, as long as you both shall live?" the priest intoned. Get on with 
it!, I thought silently, wishing they could just get to the happy part. Seifer 
beamed at the priest and Quistis in turn.
  "I do." The priest nodded, and turned to Quistis, who was draped in bridal 
ware, and on the whole, looking rather radiant. 
  "Quistis Trepe, do you take Seifer Alamsy, to be your husband, to cherish, to 
hold and love, as long as you both shall live?" he intoned again. She swallowed, 
and then for some reason, fell over in a fit of giggles. Seifer frowned 
slightly, and looked at me, a look of pure bewilderment. I don't know either, I 
thought. He got the message, and looked back at his wife. 
  "Oh, I'm so sorry, I just -." Another fit of giggling, this time, causing the 
audience to start to chuckle. By now, tears were streaming out of her eyes. Most 
of the auidence were now openly laughing, Seifer just looking dumbfounded. 
Finally, after what seemed like ages to me - and probably Seifer - she looked 
up, wiped the tears from her face, and smiled. "I'm sorry," she tried again, "I 
just started giggling!" The minister, slightly peturbed, blinked, and asked the 
question again.
  "Quistis Trepe, do you take Seifer Alamsy, to be your husband, to cherish, to 
hold and love, as long as you both shall live?" Damn, I was starting to get 
tired of hearing that sorta stuff.
  "Yes!" she said, the giggles returning, and before anyone could say another 
word, she latched onto Seifer, upon which they kissed. 
  "You may, um, kiss the bride," the priest said sullenly, probably annoyed that 
he hadn't gotten to say it. Well, more fool him.

The procession slowly proceeded outside, after the usual dance, congratulations, 
and reception, the two moved outside and around the corner to the nearby pier. 
The media and townsfolk seemed a little surprised. The usual ritual was to jump 
into a beautiful car, and drive away. They'd even prepared a car with cans on 
the back. I stood next to Seifer and Quistis.
  "Make sure to feed the chocobos while you're there, eh?" I whispered. Chocobo 
Lane, in Winhill. A quiet place, where they could get away from it all. Which is 
what they needed.
  "Will do. You and Rinoa have a good time too, eh?" Seifer whispered back, 
watching Quistis pelt the boquet over her arm to the mob of young single women. 
They all scrambled to reach it, and a young woman, around 23, pulled it free, 
and held it aloft. I turned back to  the newlywed, who were boarding their small 
craft. A roar went up from the crowd, shouting all sorts of well wishes and 
goodbyes. I smiled, and said, "Don't forget the autopilot!" Seifer grinned. He 
and Quistis disappeared, and the crowed disapated. I found Rinoa, and took her 
hand.
  "Will that be us someday, Squall?" she asked, looking at me with large brown 
eyes. Damn, she's using the eyes! 
  "Well, I doubt we'll be going to Winhill. What about that Trabia resort?"
  "Yea, well, that would be great. But we have to get married first, don't we." 
She sounded a little trodden down. I took a deep breath. It was now or never. 
The only thing that could stop it was -
  "Squall and Rinoa, please report to the headmaster," the combadge squawked. I 
groaned inwardly. It would have to wait.
  "Come on, let's go." Rinoa sighed, and jogged towards the town entrance.

-=Interlude=-
Somewhere, in the depths of space, far from the worlds of Squall and Cloud, the 
bowels of space shifted, and reorganized, exploding in a brilliant and dizzying 
vista of colors, becoming a rip in space-time. From the maelstrom of color and 
light, emerged a ship. Monstrous beyond description, a melding of dark metal and 
flesh, a thousand times bigger than the largest moons in the cosmos. It took a 
few minutes for the massive ship to emerge from the interdimensional rift, and 
when it did, it almost immediately started moving.

The vessel's occupant, or rather, the vessel itself, was hungry. And there was 
only one way to satiate the hunger. To subdue the native species of this galaxy. 
Through Fear. Through Power. Through Death. Only then, would the hunger go away. 
First on the list was a nearby twin mooned planet. The ship/creature moved 
towards it, sensing the potential energy of it's myriad inhabitants. A fine 
opening course for the feast that awaited it. 

-=Interlude : Zidane=-
My name is Zidane Tribal. It was a warm, yet pleasand day at Alexandria Castle. 
Steiner, his wife Beatrix, Dagger and I were enjoying a picnic outside in the 
gardens, a welcome change from the stuffy confines from the castle. I'd managed 
to shoo the normal cadre of guards away from Dagger, and she seemed to be having 
an enjoyable time, acting not as a Queen, but as a young woman, assisting 
Beatrix in teasing and insulting Steiner. It was so strange, seeing her actually 
letting her hair down. Not being Queen Garnet, of Alexandria, but being just 
Dagger. It was great. 
  "Rusty, can you pass the salt," I asked Steiner, before he could come back 
with a snappy remark to his wife and friend. He was not impressed, the edge he 
had now lost. I smiled at him. "Come on, Rusty, ladies, have some food!" They 
seemed to have forgotten we were here for a nice lunch, not to trade insults. 
Beatrix and Dagger moved over, unpacking the delicious foods. We ate, talking 
about our adventures, joking, and remembering the times we'd shared.

It was late that afternoon. Steiner and Beatrix had returned to the castle, 
leaving Dagger and I alone. She'd fallen asleep underneath the apple tree we'd 
ate lunch under. How peaceful and serene she looked in sleep. I bent over, and 
gentle kissed her on the cheek. She stirred, and smiled at me. I smiled back. 
She reached up with delicate and tender hands and kissed back. For a few 
moments, we just layed there, kissing gently. We sat up, and watched the sun 
begin to set.

A sun that suddenly went dark. What in the name of Vivi's grandfather was going 
on here?? Suns just DON'T explode! Dagger was on her feet as well and she looked 
at me.
  "What is it?" she asked, fear and worry creasing her face. For the first time 
in my life, I didn't know what to say.
  "I don't know." Far away, we could hear screams of fear, and see the panic 
rage amongst the people. They were scared. And there was nothing we could do. No 
monster, no enemy, no nothing. By all rights, i should have been running around 
madly. But for some reason, I wasn't. A part of me was screaming "Don't let it 
end!!" But I wasn't. I accepted that there was nothing I could do, to stop this 
unexplained disaster. Dagger, by now, was weeping. All that we'd fought for, to 
be destroyed by something that had no face, and no body to fight. I drew her 
close, for the final moments.

-=Interlude=-
As powerful as the supernova was, the sheilds protecting the creature/ship that 
caused the supernova were infinitly more powerful. It cruised through the 
destructive wave, hoping to assimilate the remains of the planet, and absorb the 
psychic stain the fear had caused the inhabitants. The planet exploded, and with 
a swiftness defying it's ungainly and bukly appearance, the ship swept in, 
devouring physical remains of the planet. Deep in the bowels of ship, a small 
organ quested out onto the psychic plain, searching for the stains of fear, the 
stains that would provide it with life. And it found them, and like a greedy dog 
near water, began to lap it up, to absorb it. However, something caused it to 
frown. Amongst the delicious taste of the peoples fear, there was a slight 
distate, similar to a grain of dirt or sand in a sandwich. It was just 
noticeable, but not of enough concern to throw away the feast. Something on this 
planet was not afraid at the end. It was calm, at peace. The creature thought 
about it for a moment. About the creature it had observed, accepting it's fate. 
About the creature named Squall, the Lionhearted that the creature would meet up 
with soon. And Christopher, Lionhearted Cloud's progeny. They were all 
different. Some, linked by Jenova. Others, like the man on the surface of the 
devoured world, were an advancement of evolution. Perhaps, these were signs that 
this galaxy was emerging into the realm of sentience, no longer ignorant, and 
aware. And with that awareness woud come power, power that would definately 
challenge the power of the creature. The creature known as the Eternal One. The 
beings, if left long enough, would challenge the Eternal One. These different 
ones would be able to rally the normals into an organized attack. That was 
unacceptable. But the fear from those on the doomed world had give the Eternal 
One strength. 

LET THEM TRY AND STOP ME, the creature boomed, it's massive voice echoing for 
thousands of light years over the psychic plains. 

The booming voice was heard by two people, who were, strangely enough (give the 
time differential), both asleep. And, as one, they woke up. Both Squall and 
Christopher knew exactly what it was.  And it was now here. 

END OF CHAPTER 2