DISCLAIMER: This FanFic is copyright 2003-2004 of Phoebe Flessas. You are not allowed to post this fic on your website without my permission. Do not print this document and use it for profit or commercial purposes; you are not allowed to post it anywhere using your own name. Should the above conditions be violated, you will be hunted down by my lawyer and have your butt kicked faster than you can say Squall is cool. Over and Out. Characters remain copyright of Squaresoft Inc. ++++++++++++++++++++++ ElvenWorks Presents ++++++++++++++++++++++ ======================================= A Final Fantasy VIII Mythology FanFic ======================================= By ElvenGirl ==--==--==--==--==--==--==--== # At Death's Field # ==--==--==--==--==--==--==--== Dedicated to Yami Squall. Squall looked around impatiently. Surely standing in this bizarre emptyness didn't really thrill him. He was especially put off by the fact that this emptyness looked so damn much like the emptyness he had almost lost himself into after he had drove his Gunblade through Ultimecia's chest the one final time. That time around he had freaked his head off. But this time, he was determined to keep his cool and see what he was going to face. "WELCOME..." Squall looked around for the owner of the voice, without replying. "I HAVE WANTED TO SEE YOU FOR SOME TIME NOW." "Who are you?" Squall asked. "I AM THE DARK ANGEL...I AM THE BEING THAT DENYES ALL LIFE...I AM THE ONE WHO REAPS THE SOULS...THE ONE WHO FILLS THE SOULS WITH SORROW... THE ONE WHO RELIEVES THOSE IN PAIN AND DESPAIR...I AM--" "Why don't you just say you're Death and get it over with?" Squall said, stuffing his hands in his pockets casually. "ERRR...WELL...YES. I AM DEATH." Squall snorted. "So, the Grim Reaper, isn't it?" "PRECICELLY...WAIT, DON'T YOU CALL ME THAT!! I HATE IT!" Squall shook his shoudlers. "Sorry." "WELL YOU LITTLE SQUIRT...DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHY I BROUGHT YOU HERE?" "Hmm...I could guess." Squall said, and very oddly a faint smile showed up on his face. "You're pissed with me?" "YES." "Thought so. Why?" Death appeared before him. Out of preferance he didn't show himself as a scythe-carrying-skeleton -soooooo typical- but as a fully fledged man, in is mid-30s, wearing black clothes and a robe with a hood, with a pale, thin face, black, greasy hair and solid black eyes,and of course, yelding...a scythe. Squall observed him curiously for a few moments, then his faint smile grew a bit woder, and more amused. "*You* are Death?" "WERE YOU EXPECTING SOMETHING MORE IMPRESSIVE?" Death asked sternly. "Not really...For a moment I thought you were gonna show up as Brad Pitt or something...like 'Meet Joe Black'..." Squall sarcased. Death was stunned a bit. "WHAT? DO YOU THINK I'M NOT IMPOSING ENOUGH??" "No, I just think you look dumb." "..." Death was speechless. "YOU HAVE A BIG TONGUE TO TALK...I'LL CUT OFF THAT APPETITE YOU HAVE FOR IRONY." "Fine, suit yourself...so, you were saying?" "...ERRRR...WHAT WAS I SAYING BEFORE?" Squall sighed. "You were about to tell me why you brought me here..." he said, bored. "WHAT THE HELL?...ISN'T HE FREAKED?? I'M DEATH FOR GOD'S SAKE, HE SHOULD'VE BEEN TREMBLING." Death thought. "YOU'VE ESCAPED ME TOO MANY TIMES --" he said. "You're not the only one." "YOU'VE HUMILIATED ME--" "That's what I do best." "I CAN'T UNDERSTAND HOW A KID LIKE YOU CAN BE SO MUCH TROUBLE--" "*Old* news." "TO EVERY GREAT ENEMY THAT A MORTAL MAY FACE--" "Its a talent." "I GREATELY DESPISE YOU--" "I'm so glad." "I WILL CRUSH YOU HERE AND NOW--" "Get in line..." "AND YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO ESCAPE ME AGAIN--" "Oh, I'm so depressed..." "PREPARE TO DULGE IN THE ABUSS!!--" "Been there, done that...Heard it before too." Death grew depserate. "WILL YOU LET ME FINISH A SENTENCE WITHOUT INTERRUPTING?!?" Squall had been throwing wedge-quotes mid-sentence with such a cool and insolence and casualty Death was spited. "Sorry, its a habit." Squall chuckled. "So, let me get this straight: you're mad at me because I don't want to snuff it so easily, right? And now...let me guess: you want a duel." "EXACTLY." "Well, I don't really have the time...or the mood..." "WHY YOU LITTLE PATHETIC BERK!! I'M DEATH FOR GOD'S SAKE! DEATH AWAITES NO MAN!!" "And you say *I* humiliate you." "YOU WILL FIGHT ME HERE AND NOW. THERE SHALL BE NO INTERFERANCE. I WILL CRUSH YOU NOW, AND DO THE JOB I OUGHT TO HAVE DONE EARLIER." "You do that...*if* you can convince me..." "PREPARE THYSELF!!" "Oh please, this is so boring." Death raised his scythe and made it turn into a sword. He pointed it at Squall. "I'M GOING TO ATTACK YOU!" "Why did you have to spoil the surprise?" Death attacked, weilding the sword over his head, with thuding footsteps, and inhuman speed. Squall merrily smiled. He sidestepped. Death passed right by him, stunned by Squall's action. He hadn't draw his Gunblade, he had not charged up some spell, he had done nothing more than sidestep. He stopped abruptly and turned around to face him. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? DRAW YOUR WEAPON, DEFEND YOURSELF!!" "Why should I? You're Death, aren't you supposed to be almighty?" "I WANT A FAIR FIGHT." "No objection, though 'fair' has a different definition for either of us." "ARG!" Death yelled and attacked Squall again with a swift move. Again, Squall merely sidestepped and taking wide steps backwards, leaning backwards, sideways and ducking lightly at his own pace, he evaded Death's swings, smiling. Death finally stopped, panting. "Had enough already? Oh come on, is it so hard to manage a teenager?" "THIS MIGHT BE...HARDER THAN I THOUGHT. HE'S GOOD." Death thought. "WHY THE HELL WILL YOU NOT DEFEND YOURSELF?" "This is more fun." "FUN!!? YOU DARE TO SARCASE ME!" "Sarcasm is an art. Now irony, that's a *fine* art." Death attacked him again. This time Squall did not sidestep. He merely jerked his hand and jabbed Death somewhere on the chest with his fingers. "HUH??" Death was froze on the spot, the sword raised overhead, his legs still in a runner's motion, but his whole body as stiff as stone. "WHAT THE??" Squal lowered his hand. "Pressure points. Basic Garden training. Zell and most other hand-to-hand combadants never really got the jest of this stuff, but Rinoa tells me I am a good chiropracter and massager." "WHAT IN THE WORLD DID YOU DO TO ME?!" "I repeat: pressure points. I jabbed you at a motion-managing nerve. It'll go away after a while." "NOW I KNOW FOR SURE WHY I DESPISE YOU SO MUCH...YOU CAN BE INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING." "Thank you, that's a compliment. By the way...is this going to keep for long? I am getting a little bored, plus this is a waste of time, and I am sitting an exam tomorrow, and Quistis will strangle me if I do not do well. There, she might even spare you the trouble." "I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO ESCAPE AGAIN!!" "Fine, have it your way..." Squall sighed. "But I warn you, you're not gonna like what I'll be doing next." "WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO? WE SAID A FAIR FIGHT, IT'S NOT LIKE YOU TO ATTACK A...A FROZEN PERSON." "Who said about attacking?" Squall said and raising his hands he clasped them around Death's head. "WHAT'S HE UP TO?" Death thought. *C-CRAACK!* "OOOOOWW!" Death bawled. "THAT-HURTS-YOU-KNOW!" "Now you look better you know." Squall had permanently titled Death's head sideways in a very comic way. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" "The art of the chiropracter..." "FIX IT UP NOW!" "You sure? It's gonna hurt..." "ERK!" "Wait, I thought Death can't feel. How come do you feel pain? And by the way, how come you feel so pissed off with me?" "WELL, I DO HAVE SOME HUMAN WEAKNESSES. I DO HAPPEN TO WORK AMONG PEOPLE ALL DAY YOU KNOW!" "Oh, I see..." Squall said, crossing his arms over his chest. "So, what do you say, we stop fooling around now and you let me go? I have a lot of studying to do." "OF COURSE NOT!!" Death bawled, as he finally felt he was able to move a bit. "...WOULD IT BE TOO MUCH PAIN FOR YOU TO FIX MY NECK BEFORE I KILL YOU?" Squall raised an eyebrow. "You know, for Death, you're pretty pathetic." "..." He strode up to Death and clasping his hands on Death's head, snapped it back in place. *C-C-CRAAAACK!* "OOOOOOOOOWWWWW!" "Sorry." "OUGH..." "That might've hurted a bit more than it should've." "PREPARE YOURSELF!!" "A thank you would've been nice..." Death attacked him with his sword. "Here we go again..." Squall again evaded Death's blows with ease and somewhat, boredom. "STAND STILL YOU LITTLE CRETIN!" Death bellowed. "Hey, that..." Sqall said, with a twitch, and grabbed Death by the arm "is not...very...POLITE!" he added as he flipped Death over his shoulder and threw him over his head. "WHOAHH!"Death gasped as he landed with a thud on the ground. Squall undusted his hands. "Keep foul words in your mouth, eh? Swearing is one thing I don't like, unless I'm the one swearing." Death got up. "ERK...YOU'RE NOT BAD AFTER ALL." he said. "BUT I WILL KILL YOU!" he added, attacking again. "Oh, give it a rest..." Squall sighed. As Death came ramming at him, Squall sidestepped and stretched his leg. Death tripped on it and fell over on his stomach. He cursed and got up. He looked around for Squall, but he had just...vanished. "HUH?" he thought. "QUICK TO RUN, ARE YOU BOY? GET OUT HERE AND FACE ME!!" he bawled with a smile, certain Squall had started to break. No responce. Death was stunned. He looked around, trying to find Squall, unable to understand where he had hid himself. "WHERE THE HELL DID HE GO?" he thought. "Pssst..." Death gulped. He didn't dare to turn around. Just now he realised it. Squall was right behind his back all the time. Back to back, they were just standing idle for a few moments before Squall launched himself up with a jump as Death tried to surprise him with a wide, reaper swing and then landed his boot's sole right on Death's chest with a hollow sound. Death was flung backwards and fell on his back. He got up. "FINALLY DECIDED TO GO SERIOUS, EH?" "Not really. I'm not a hand-to-hand fighter. This is merely a tag. 'Cause if I start fighting, you know you will regret it..." He emphasised the last phrase, saying it slowly. "FOOL!" Death bawled and atacked him again with his sword pointed ahead, lethaly. "I warned you." Just as the blade came crashing towards him, Squall jumped up again and spun himself as he launched over a surprised Death and landed straight behind him. Death's momentum was such, he didn't manage to stop right away, but only after Squall had unleashed another kick that hit him square on the back and sent him head-first on the ground. "Why don't you make this easier and stop? You see I'm not willing to snuff it, give it a rest you old idiot." "DON'T YOU INSULT ME!! I'VE SPENT ETERNITY REAPING SOULS, I CAN'T LET ONE HUMILIATE ME BY ESPACING THE UNAVOIDABLE!" "Who talked about avoiding death?! Man, you've got to sort out your priorities. I don't want to *avoid* dying you buffoon, I know its unavoidable. But who wants to die when he's only seventeen?" "YOU'VE BEEN FACING ENEMIES AND DIFFICULTIES THAT WOULD KILL ANY MAN! YET YOU KEEP ON LIVING, ESCAPING ME JUST TO SPITE ME. AND YOU'RE ONLY SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD! WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT WHEN YOU GROW OLDER?!" "...More acceptance of death's concept." "WHAT?!" Death grimaced. "I'm still a kid, death is far away from me. Once I grow older, I'll start to compromise with the idea. Its inconceivable for a teenager to have death as a companion." "YOU HAD!!" "There's an exception of every rule. But still, I was forced into that loony, wasn't my idea. What did you think I am, a mazochist?" "STILL! I CANNOT HAVE YOU ESCAPE ME!" Squall frowned. "Man, are you thick-headed or what? Alright you old fart, I gave you a chance. Let's have that silly duel you want, I'm tired of playing." "PLAYING?!"Death said chocked. "I'VE BEEN RAMMING YOU SO HARD AND YOU CONSIDEDR IT A GAME?!" "It was amusing Death. But since you want me to get serious, I will. Remember, *you* insisted." Squall said, and growing very, very serious, finally drew his Gunblade. "W-WHAT?" Death gasped. He glared at Squall. His posture and stance were different from so far. He had lost his light-of-heart and casual attidute, and his coolness had evaporated, changing into determination and ferocity. The sarcasm had became seriousness, and the mocking audax teenager into a bad-ass fighter, with even badder intentions. Death gulped. "YOU'RE TELLING ME YOU'RE GETTING SERIOUS *NOW*?" he said. "All the way. A game's a game, fighting is another story...entirely." "*GULP!*" "Well then Death, go ahead." "..." Death made a thought. "YOU KNOW WHAT?...I QUIT." "..." "IF YOU GAVE ME SO HARD TIME WITH JUST...PLAYING...I'D RATHER NOT KNOW WHAT YOU MIGHT DO TO ME WHEN YOU GET SERIOUSLY INTO FIGHTING." "Really? You want to stop it here?" Squall asked. "YEAH, I THINK SO. MAYBE THIS IS STUPID. I GUESS ITS NORMAL IF I FAIL ONCE." Squall calmly sheathed his Gunblade. "Well, that's not permanent. You've got to come pick me up later." "REALLY?" "Yeah, of course. When I'm a rickety old geizer, I'll give you a holler. You can come pick me up then. I'll come quietly." "YOU MEAN THAT?!" "Yes. But I warn you, if you try to pick me up before that time, it will be nasty." "I'LL...I'LL KEEP THAT IN MIND..." "Thank you." "THANK YOU, THIS WAS A GOOD FIGHT." "You're welcome. I had fun too." "...I WON'T COMMENT ON THAT." "Sorry." "BUT TELL ME SOMETHING...WHAT REALLY KEEPS YOU GOING?" "One word Death, one word...Stubborness. Does miracles, and can give someone hell." "TELL ME ABOUT IT." Death sighed. "BY THE WAY, COULD YOU PLEASE KEEP THIS QUIET? IT'LL BE BAD FOR MY REPUTATION, HAVING BEEN DEFEATED BY A KID." "Alright..." Squall said. "OK THEN...NOW GO, GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE, I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO FACE YOU AGAIN!!" ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The end! This ends another of my loony fanfics...Well, to tell you all the truth, this was my very first attempt to write a FFVIII fan fic, so it's not exactly the best you might've read. Anyway, I kept it as it was originally written, just to have something to compare my most recent writting to. Hope you at least laughed a bit. I'd like to apologise to Death for making such a fool out of him, but I couldn't help it; I just LOVE ragging at serious concepts...this time it was Death, tommorow, it might be religion, or something worse...Be prepared, and keep some pills ready, just in case. ==--==--==--==--== Thank Yous: ==--==--==--==--== Much thanks to my computer and its WordPad function, Thanks to my daddy for giving me time on the PC to write this crap. Thanks to Desmond, AKA Griever_Maximun, my best friend in FS, for all his support and devotion. I really apreciate it man, you're the best. There are no words to describe what you mean to me. Friend, nearly-brother, hubbie in FS, and someone that likes me for who I am. I can't thank U enough. Thanks to Alex, AKA Yami Squall, you're a good blocke kid. Thanks for all the laughs U give me at MSN, I need them, the good company and of course, the Ranma comics! I am eternally grateful. I wish you everything best in life. Thanks to Scott, AKA Drizzt Do'Urden, the insane and top RPGer of FS. You're a really good friend Scotty, I owe you a lot, inspiration and fun too. Thanks! And don't forget, in RPG's I will always be your partner-in-crime! Thanks to FS for posting most of my insane work, you people rock!!! Keep it up! Thank YOU for reading this. Be cool, be real, BEHAVE and keep the FS fun alive! Thanks to God, because I am here. Thanks to my bro, Costa, because he really liked this bit of work...oh, and for the FFVIII OST CDs too, thanks bro!! Yours truly, Phoebe FS's Master Pillowfighting elf, FS's Resident Phyco Author of Fantasy Fiction in Making, and FS's Music Junkie that's beyond detoxification. Peace everyone, and I love ya! And watcha, I'll be back!!