MARCH OF THE UNDEAD - a FF8 Fanfic by SiLeNcEr CHAPTER SEVEN "Life, death, love, hate... Lose all meaning in battle. But all have to remember - The battle will end sometime..." *** The fire demon, the seventh lord killed all that stood between him and Setsuna. It charged with fury, but Setsuna jumped over him and ran into the fortress. "Coward!" The demon shouted after him, but he did not listen... "Very well... You were not my target anyway" It said, and charged into the fortress right after him. *** Quistis fought the darkness. She did not understand her rage. She fought as if possessed by a demon. The darkness managed to block her attack, and even to counterattack. Both of them knew however that the lord would lose this battle. Bellow them the battle raged on, with no side getting an advantage. Quistis heard a shot nearby. That threw her attention long enough for the darkness to strike her. Its blade cut her cheek, and blood poured from her wound. This was the last straw. Quistis lost control of her actions, and a moment later the darkness lay dead at her feet. She dropped to her knees, and looked at the sky. Another shot drew her back to consciousness. She remembered Irvine's words at the ruins of Trabia garden a year ago... About paying the price for saving the world. "That's it..." She said. "If I go insane but save the world... I will do what I should!" Quistis ran into the battlefield, attacking with the fury that she just discovered in herself. *** Irvine shot his cannon with an even grater rage. Selphie managed to avoid every one of his shot however. "It takes some skill to kill me." She said. "The darkness is dead wimp... You can die now!" The smith attacked, but Irvine dodged her with ease. He fired a shot right after her, and hit her in the side. Selphie growled with anger and fell to the ground. A second later she rose again and turned to Irvine. "So you are not all talk after all... But the darkness has left you weakened... And the loss of a dear person even more weakened..." "Shut up!" Irvine shouted as he fired at her. "What?" The smith smiled as she rose above him. "Did I hit a sensitive spot? You cannot protect these you love Irvine! You cannot even live with a loved person!" "That's not true!" "It is. Stop lying to yourself. Was it not you that ran away from this girl when Ultimecia was defeated" The Smith launched a gray shot of energy, which pinned Irvine to the ground. "You are weak, that is why the darkness could control you... Ever since you were born, you were destined to be a loser! You tried to fight your destiny but no one can" Another blast of energy hit Irvine. "No... That is not true! I..." "You did what?" "There was nothing I could do... I saved the world... I was..." "You were someone??? You should know it is not true Irvine... You always were nobody..." The smith did not finish. A blast blew her to the ground. The shot came from Nida's gun. He walked over to the lying Selphie. "You?" The Smith said. "You can't kill me..." "You're right. I can't" Nida said, as Irvine pointed his cannon at Selphie's head. "I can" He said and pulled the trigger. A shot filled the air. "Nida..." Irvine said. "Help the others. I'm going to seal my fate." "What are you..." "You'll know if you survive." Irvine said and went in the direction of the fortress. *** "Girl in blue!" The dark caster shouted. "Look at your comrades... They will die! You are to weak to save them..." "Rinoa!" Seifer shouted. "You must fight him!" "Rinoa, please!" Squall looked at Rinoa. "But how..." Rinoa dropped to her knees. "How am I supposed to fight?" At that moment the wall once again exploded. Through the wall Setsuna came. "Sorceress!" He screamed. "Concentrate! Find your power and release it when I tell you to!" Rinoa closed her eyes. A blue energy field surrounded her "I know! I know what to do." She said as the blue field was getting bigger and bigger. Setsuna charged the demon. The demon reflected his charge easily. "NOW!" Setsuna screamed as he fell to the ground. Rinoa let go. The blue energy formed a line of blue light that hit the caster. In a few seconds the demon was reduced to dust. Rinoa fell to her knees. Squall ran immediately to her. Seifer stood near the entrance to the hall. Setsuna looked at Rinoa then Squall and then at Seifer. "Irvine?" He asked. "I do not know." Squall answered. "Something is coming this way..." Seifer said as he looked through the hole that Setsuna made. "Squall, get Rinoa out of here. When the time comes, your final challenge will arrive and fight with you. But Seifer must be alone in order to fight his nemesis." "What about you?" Rinoa asked as she and Squall were leaving. "I have a family to avenge..." Kaede said and looked at the ceiling of the room. "Come out here! Are you chicken enough to face me???" He shouted. Squall and Rinoa left the room. Setsuna jumped high and blew through the roof. Seifer was left alone, but not for long. He went to the center of the room and concentrated. "I was meant for this..." He whispered. At that moment the red demon charged through the opening. Seifer managed to jump over it. "You are not the one..." The red demon gnarled. "I am not prepared to fight you!" "Thank the rogue lords for that... When all of you meet in hell!" Seifer answered and charged. *** Squall and Rinoa left the fortress. The battle outside was over. SeeD's and Galbadians regrouped and charged inside. The garden was still burning. Some SeeD's were fighting the fire, while others attended the wounded with Dr. Kadowaki in charge. Squall and Rinoa went into the forest surrounding the battleground. They sat under a tree. "Stay here Rinoa..." Squall said after a moment of resting. "I still have to defeat the dark lord... Then we will get out of here..." "And then what... They might call for you again... And again..." "I have a plan. When I fight, follow me stay close to me... I fell that I must see and hear you to defeat it..." "Squall... I love you." "I love you too..." *** Irvine went through the halls of the fortress with no interest in his own safety. He knew these halls well, because the darkness could not shake his consciousness of himself, even when he took his own form. Thanks to that Irvine knew how to destroy the fortress and he planned to do that. His cannon fired as the halls behind him were littered with those demons witch stood in his way. Irvine could not stop thinking about the Smith's words... "She was right... I could not protect the ones I loved... First Selphie then Amy... I am useless... But I can still do something for the others." He thought as he went into another hall. *** The roof of the fortress exploded. Quistis looked at the two figures that went through it. One of them was Setsuna the other she did not recognize. She ran to a SeeD and took his binoculars. Setsuna was attacking with rage, but his adversary countered his every blow with ease. He seemed to be talking, but she did not hear what about. Quistis ran to the place with they landed. She arrived there after five minutes. Both of them were standing, looking at each other with rage. "A demon may not slay a demon, Setsuna" Setsuna's enemy said. "Maybe so... But I know of a certain... Trick." Setsuna smiled and focused. Dark energy surrounded him... "You see... This is the time of humans, not demons... I simply guided this one's actions when I felt he was in danger. Now I fell he can do without me." As Setsuna finished talking, the dark energy surrounding him lifted. As it left Setsuna's body, Kaede returned to his human form. The dark energy formed the shape of Setsuna. "No!" The demon lord shouted, as Kaede's blade sliced him in two. He looked at Kaede, then at Setsuna. "Clever." He said and died. Setsuna looked at Kaede. "You've done good..." Setsuna said. "Yeah..." Kaede answered. "I'm sorry I was not able to save your family. The demons had a good plan. Do not worry however... You've already won. Go to the engine room and say goodbye to a friend." Setsuna turned to Quistis. "Take good care of him... I shall be watching. Kaede smiled briefly. For the first time Quistis saw him smile. They both ran into the fortress. *** Seifer looked at the red beast in front of him. They've been fighting for 10 minutes, but none of them showed any signs of weakening. "Someone is going to die here... Soon" He said in this small break in the fight. "Do not talk human. Fight me!" The beast answered and charged. Irvine once again jumped over it. This time the demon turned itself around and bashed Seifer with such force, that he crashed into the wall behind him. This made Seifer mad. His eyes went red and Seifer lost control of his actions. *** Irvine reached his goal. It was a small room that contained only a black ball of energy. He opened the door that led into this chamber. It had lots of entrances - the doors surrounded the black ball. Irvine smiled. "Time for a reckoning." He said and aimed at the ball of energy. "No!" Kaede shouted as he and Quistis entered the room through one of the doors. "Do not! It will hill you!" "So?" Irvine turned to them. The expression on his face and the empty look in his eyes told Kaede that he could not stop him, no matter what he said. "I failed them... All of them... Selphie, your sister... I could not protect them." "Irvine!" Quistis shouted. "There was nothing you could do! You did your best and that is what counts." "Shut up!" Irvine shouted as he dropped to the ground. "Kaede is not dead! You do not know what I am talking about! How could you? You never truly loved anyone until recently! You cannot possibly know what I feel!" "Stop blaming yourself." Nida said as he entered the room. "I could not protect Selphie as well and you know I cared for her! You have to understand that it is not the end of the world, even if someone close to you dies." "I..." Irvine stood up again. "I have always thought of myself... Of my needs and dreams... Never of anyone else. Even know I think only of myself. I want to end this... To make people think that I died honorably in battle... That I sacrificed myself so that we would win. Please... Please keep the secret that I died as a coward." Irvine fired his gun. Quistis managed to jump out of the room. Kaede pushed Nida out of the room through another door. At that moment the ball exploded. The flames of the orb consumed Irvine. The fortress started to fall apart. Kaede grabbed the half-conscious Nida and started to run out of the fortress. *** Before Irvine destroyed the orb, but after Seifer destroyed the last lord, Squall was taken away by a black mist. He knew what summoned him and whom he was about to meet. The dark lord was a knight of average height, in heavy, black- colored armor. In one of his hand he held an axe about half of his height. In the second he grasped a sword about two meters long. He wore a helmet that revealed only his red eyes. "You come to end the deed of destruction." He said. "I come to kill you." Squall answered. "I will not resist." The dark lord dropped his weapons. "Why?" "You are strong... Even my own generals became confused when they met you and your friends. You humans are your own worst enemy. If you would not quarrel all the time maybe all of you would have survived." "So when I kill you, it will be over." "For you - yes. If you wish you might disappear, I guarantee that your friends will think of you as dead. Nobody saw you leave my fortress. And it is about to be destroyed." "Why do you give up so easily?" "Easily? Do not think that if I give up, you did not pay a heavy price for your victory. I killed a lot more chosen than usual. We deceived even the prophecy itself. And besides... We shall come back again and again. Sooner or later you humans will not be prepared. And than we will have our revenge..." The dark lord did not finish. Squall's blow split him in half. *** The fortress exploded. Most SeeD's and Galbadians managed to escape. The explosion killed the Eshtar army's remains. Quistis and Seifer managed to get far away from it before it blew. There was no sign of the others. Some people said that they saw the Galbadian Ragnarok take off and head into an unknown direction. Seifer and Quistis both knew that Squall and Rinoa were inside. A hospital was established outside Balamb Garden. These heavily wounded were transported to Galbadian hospitals. Others were treated on the spot by dr. Kadowaki and all the medical staff that survived the garden's explosion. Cid survived and went to Fisherman's Horizon to get a group of mechanics to fix the garden. For the first time today Quistis got the chance to sit. She and Seifer did not say a thing. No words were necessary. She did not know what happened to Kaede, but she was simply too tired to think about it. She sat under a small tree, on the edge of the meadow on witch then hospital was established. Seifer sat next to her. "It is finally over." He said. "Yes... It is over." "Where do you think Squall and Rinoa went?" "God knows... But those two did not want to fight in the first place... Maybe they don't want to celebrate their victory as well." "What about the others?" "Shade and Amy were killed. Irvine sacrificed himself. And Kaede..." She paused. She remembered that they were separated when the fortress started to fall apart. "I do not know if Kaede got out in time." "Quistis... We might be the only survivors if not counting Squall and Rinoa." "We might... I do not know... So much has happened." She stopped. Both of them thought about the future. It was nearly sure that Eshtar will not appear again for a long time. Galbadia will finally realize its dream of world domination, as it will be the only force left. But they both wondered what will become of the garden. Cid interrupted their thinking. Both of them stood up and saluted him. "Good heavens! Do not salute me!" He started. "I do not deserve that." "Sir?" Quistis sat down again. "I heard what happened. I know who died. I guess you are the only chosen alive and willing to show your face." "Not exactly." A voice said. Its source was tall man in Galbadian armor. "Kaede!" Quistis said. She stood up and ran up to him. He put his arms around her and for the first time they kissed. "Ahem!" Cid interrupted. "Sorry sir." Kaede straightened. "Nida is going to be OK, the doctors are patching him up right now." "Kaede." Cid made a serious expression on his face. "I'd like to... Apologize. You and your family did all you could to stop us form attacking early. We did not listen to you because we though of ourselves. We nearly paid the highest price for that." "It's okay... As long as we did not die, your mistakes can be forgiven and most certainly will." Kaede paused. "Right now we have our own dead to burry." *** The large banquet hall in the presidential palace was filled with people. The heroes of the party were Kaede, Quistis and Nida. Except them many other people were there. Biggs and Wedge - the Galbadian duo, the new president of Eshtar Kiros and his assistant Ward, Cid and his wife Edea, Nida and the handicapped Zell. Many others were there, celebrating their victory over the dark force that endangered them. In the middle of the room, on specially prepared places the portraits of the fallen stood. The quiet and intelligent Shade, his sister Amy, the free spirited Selphie and the brave Irvine. They were celebrating their victory over the forces of evil. This time was later referred to as the 'March of the undead'. Quistis and Kaede were the new guardians of the prophecy - making sure that in the next 1000 years humanity is victorious again... But that is another story. *** On a small island East of Eshtar another celebration was taking place. Only two people were there, but it was all they needed and wanted. From that day only few people seen Squall and Rinoa - but they survived the march. And they did much, much more. But that also is another story. END OF THE MARCH OF THE UNDEAD By SiLeNcEr silencer@polbox.com