The Final Fantasy. Darkness in Blue (Episode 2) By S.Lionheart (An FF8 FanFic) Hello Guys and gals this is the second episode episode of my FanFic. Hope u like it^_^ As usual send comments to lionheart6789@hotmail.com In a place where the sun shines and the flowers sway to the song of the wind and birds. Where a love was found and blossomed like a beautiful rose. A promise made here, a promise fulfilled. A place that seemed to never change with everlasting time. A darkness grew. A swirling mist of black stars rose from the ground. The stars dispersed covering the blue sky turning it into a disturbing shade of dark blue. Edea looked outside her window and found it very strange that the blue sky had suddenly become so dark. She got up from her seat and quickly went outside, feeling a strong surge of magic nearby. Though she was no longer a sorceress she still had her instincts and investigated the source of the surge. What she saw horrified her. A dark portal grew from the middle of the field and a bolt of lightning struck the portal. A Crystal tomb rose from the ground and inside was a young woman. Edea gasped and readied herself. She knew something evil was in that tomb and she wanted to destroy it. The Crystal began to emanate strongly. It began to crack and then suddenly it burst into a million pieces covering the field with shards of broken crystal and standing before Edea was a young woman, with eyes the colour of chestnuts and raven black hair that reached her shoulders. She wore a sky blue dress with dark blue trimmings and around her neck a silver chain. A golden pendant was threaded into the chain and it hung loosely on her chest. A lionness engraved into the pendant glowed a disturbing colour of violet. She stood there power leaking from her soft and pale hands. "No it can't be.......it can't be ........you." stuttered Edea "Why can't it be me, weak SORCERESS" sneered the woman "No I am no longer a sorceress........" Edea said "HA that's why you are weak." the woman said "I will take this planet and silence it FOREVER. HYNE'S CREATIONS WILL BOW BEFORE ME AND ONLY MY HUMAN RACE SHALL RULE." "Your.....race?" stuttered Edea. "Yes the origin of the pitiful Hyne.......it does not matter now. Rejoice human for you shall die a quick death." scorned the woman. Then the woman held her hand out and a bright ball of green energy grew at her finger tips and when the ball reached its peak it flew towards Edea. "Rinoa Noooo." Edea screamed Edea attempted to dodge but was caught in the ball of energy. The ball engulfed her entire body and screams could be heard as Edea's body was struck continuously by lightning. When the woman thought it was enough she dispersed the energy and it returned to her, into her locket. Edea collapsed onto the field and opened her eyes. "....Cid....." she whispered as as she lay there and rested for an eternal sleep. The woman cackled a terrible laugh as the shards of crystal began to glow and their light, reaching the sky spread and created a forcefield around the continent of Centra. "I wonder who your Rinoa is?" the woman giggled. A familiar face, a scar on his forehead and rusty gunblade on his side it could only be...... "Seifer!" Squall gasped. "Yes I guess you can call me that Squall."said Seifer as he sat down beside his old enemy and rival. "What happened to you after Ultimecia?" asked Squall "why didn't you return to the garden?" "I was ashamed......you already were hailed as "saviour of the future" so I decided it was my time to disappear and so I did along with Raijin and Fujin." answered Seifer "You know.......you were always welcome back here." Squall said. "I know but it was just a feeling I had in my stomach...so there" said Seifer."Now where's Rinoa? Is she practicing her powers?" enquired Seifer. "............No........sh....she died 10 years ago." Squall said, his face looking like he wanted to pass the subject. "Oh..........I'm sorry" Seifer apologized. For a while there was an awkward silence but then........ "Squall come to the bridge immediately" said the announcement. "Sorry gotta go" Squall said as he lifted himself off his seat. "Let me come with you" Seifer offered "Ok whatever" Squall said coldly "Still as cold as always" thought Seifer. Eliza kept playing the piano, her eyes were red with tears. Eliza did not know why she cried because of her mother's death. It never bothered her before when she was eight, maybe it was just all the pent up rage inside her. She kept playing the piano, a neverending piece filled the quad and the corridor, her soft and thin fingers playing each note softly and strongly, it's crescendo and decrescendo reflected the rising and falling of Ultimecia's Empire. It had become one of her most favourite pieces of the Romantic Era. The era that hailed peace in the Garden and the world. That era ended with the death of her mother. Eliza was born with a love for music. Everywhere she went there were different sounds she wanted to imitate, the chirping of birds, the whisper of the wind or the strong protrudiing sound of Thunder. She loved them all. She had been learning piano for much longer than she had been learning how to use the gunblade. Even though she felt resentment towards all sorceresses she still couldn't help but feel that if Ultimecia wasn't around this beautiful piece would never be made. She ended her concert to the shadows as an announcement was heard on the intercom. "Eliza, Aiko and Lyle come to the bridge immediately!" Eliza got up and went straight for the elevator. Well not exactly. She stopped to wash her face of all the tears she had shed before heading to the bridge. On her way she felt something move. At first it was just a little rumble then a giant splash could be heard. The Garden was moving again! This was the first time the garden had moved since....since anyone could remember. It was finally moving from it's position at Fisherman's Horizon and using as the sea as it's runway, the garden took off into the air and spread it's wings out and flew. Seifer was a bit shocked with the Garden's sudden departure from the water. "I knew the garden could float but I didn't know it could fly!" exclaimed a perplexed Seifer. "Really? Well the garden started to fly a few years after Ultimecia's demise. The Ragnarok was built into the garden's engines by the engineers at Esthar." "Why?" "It was Laguna's "reward" for saving-the-world." said Squall with a hint of anger in his voice. Up the elevator came 3 warriors. Lyle Kayar -A strong and adventurous young man who had a big heart and was very popular with the girls at the garden but never flirted with them. He had always been so quiet. He came from a rich family in Galbadia and was brought up to be a strong man. He had been training at the garden since he was 12 and continued until he was 19. He became a SeeD when he was 17. He shared his feelings through poetry and writing. He loved writing. His dorm was filled with books and famous articles and magazines. Although on the outside he seemed quiet and charming but when in battle he had fierce strength and undeniable loyalty. But sometimes in battle his decisions are hasty and clouded by his feelings. Lyle sometimes thought too much with his heart than his mind. Aiko Hateshinai-The 'seductress' of the garden. She had good looks and she knew it. Being born into a family where beauty is of the essence she was the first to leave her family and join the elite force SeeD. Aiko was the type that thought of boys over duty and she would string boys along often misleading them before breaking their hearts. Aiko seemed to be oblivious to how hurt the boys were but then again she didn't really care. She was often very vain about herself and her beauty. Often Squall wondered why she would want to join SeeD if she just wanted to flirt. If she wanted that she should've joined Galbadia Garden. Eliza Heartilly-Squalls own daughter. She was a strong fighter but often made foolish decisions that were sometimes even klutzy. She flunked the SeeD test 3 times before finally passing at the age of 18. A fragile young girl who was unsure of her identity as her father's daughter or his student. Her emotions sometimes took over her body and sometimes she will fight with passion and sometimes just drift off into her dreamworld, a place she can live in without the need to care for other's. Squall thought that if he could encourage her to be a SeeD that maybe she would open herself up more but then again the opposite could happen and the rift between father and Daughter could grow even more. As the Garden glided through the air Squall briefed his three soldiers on their mission. "We have received a distress call from the Neo President of Esthar, Mr Soren has requested the SeeD's help in eliminating a monster threat that has engulfed the central part of Esthar and is attacking the Presidential Palace. We must act swiftly. I have decided to send you three as you are all capable of handling such an attack." Squall instructed. "Sir, how did the monsters get in?" enquired Lyle. "At the moment it is not certain how the monsters got through the new barrier that surrounds Esthar....but it is thought that supernatural forces allowed the monsters in." replied Squall "Supernatural forces? does that mean a sorceress?" asked Aiko. "It could be but we are not sure at this moment."said Squall "We are going to drop you off as close to the Presidential Palace as possible. After that you're on your own. You must get rid of as many monsters as possible and rescue the civillians trapped inside." Squall instructed. A small figure appeared before the three soldiers. He was an old man. His face showed signs of age and he had thin, shrivelled arms that almost looked like claws. He wore what seemed like old rags. He had a grey beard that was rough and coarse. His eyes were a strange colour of indigo and emerald green. The man spoke with a raspy voice as he opened a box and presented the team with three bands that looked like very high tech watches "Here are three magic bracelets for you to put on." the man started "These bacelets are the cutting edge in magic technology. You will be the first to use and cast magic. You are the first people to try these bracelets on. No one since the time of Ultimecia's death has used magic and with the death of Rinoa......well." He looked at Squall unsettlingly. Squall gestured him to continue. "Well these bracelets look like watches but in them is stocked energy for casting different spells. All you do is select the spell you wish to cast and aim at the enemy. The spells in the bracelets really is just stray energy we have managed to capture, confine and separate. I have classed the energy inside the bracelets as level 1 spells. I hope to find more spells to capture and put in your bracelets. Unfortunately drawing spells spells from enemies is not possible but we are working on it." the man ended his talk by giving Aiko and Lyle their bracelets. Lyle put his on immediately and then stood to attention. Aiko played around with hers a bit before putting the bracelet on. Eliza refused to put hers on. "No I will NOT use magic" Eliza said angry. "Come on Eliza it's for your protection." Squall begged "No I don't need your protection father." Eliza snapped Squall, Aiko, Lyle and Seifer were shocked by this remark. Seifer was even more shocked. He didn't know Squall had a daughter! "Thank you Shand save the bracelet for another time" Squall said. Shand nodded and walked away taking the bracelet with him. "Everyone take the weapons from your dorm room. You will lead an attack in 15 minutes and a backup squad of SeeD members and cadets will be assembled as you distract the monsters fom their attack." Squall ordered "Dismissed" he instructed as everyone walked to the elevator. "Ellie......" Aiko started "I'm sorry about what I said before......I know how close you are to your mother." Aiko apologised. "Thats ok.........I guess" said Eliza. "Eliza why didn't you take the bracelet like your father ordered?" asked Lyle "Well.....um....never mind I'll tell you another time. For now we have to concentrate on our mission." Eliza said. "Yeah ok then" Lyle said blushing slightly. Well thats the second episode. Only one point I'd like to make out. -I said Aiko's full name as Aiko Hateshinai. In Japan people introduce themselves last name before first so it's supposed to be Hateshinai Aiko. What relevance does this have? Well it only affects the meaning of the name. The name "Hatesinai Aiko" means roughly " Everlasting Lovechild" A useless fact but I thought it would be nice to point out. Hehe I know this FanFic had no action but there will be in the next one hehehe. ^_^ Dozo Arigato (Thank you)