Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ sore kara... ❯ iseki da ( Chapter 19 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: awwaw 
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 02.20.2003 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.3K | Visits: 202 | Status: Completed
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 02.20.2003 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.3K | Visits: 202 | Status: Completed
Standard disclaimers apply.
-------------------------------
sore kara...
-------------------------------
iseki da
As Cloud started down the corridor, he took a good look at the environment.
The place large and circular, with exits branching out from the common corridor to a deeper portion of the building. Cloud had come out from what he assumed to be the eastern part of the block and was currently rounding the path near the second exit in this part of the place. In the middle of the large room, to his right, was a tall cylindrical tube-like thing which looked strangely like an enclosed elevator Shinra used to use at Junon. Maybe it was, he wouldn't know. Nevertheless, he trudged silently down the hallways, his boots producing large sounds which echoed off the walls of the building, emphasizing the emptiness.
The blond mercenary stopped at a battered sign which hung outside one of the paths which led to an exit.
He read it.
"Balamb Garden..."
His eyes scrolled down to the next line.
"... Quad."
Lightning flashed overhead, through the translucent glass panels of the Garden, followed by a fantastic peal of thunder.
"Welcome to my school." Squall's cryptic voice mumbled from behind Cloud, making him nearly jump out of his skin. The rain now beat down harder on the building, making minor sounds hard to pick up. Cloud turned around anyway, to stare at the SeeD standing behind him.
In answer to Cloud's questioning eyes, Squall merely shrugged.
The blond mercenary then turned his head away from the rusty sign, parched with age, to look at the surroundings once again.
Undoubtedly, this could have been a rather beautiful place, with nice shades of gold and blue dominating it's interior design. However, that was all gone, as far as the eye could see. In it's place were faded colours of yellow and maroon, glaring sullenly at the onlooker. The sturdy floors looked absolutely underused - for a long long time. The wrinkled walls curled up to reveal their underlying structure, festered with insects trying to build their homes into it.
The building was broken. It was in total ruins.
"... This is your school?" Cloud tried not to sound too incredulous. "The Garden you told us all about... ?"
Squall barely managed to pull off a shrug. He sighed, turning to rest his hands on the railings of rusted gold which circled perfectly around the center elevator area.
They were reduced to a miserable silence, the sound of the rain beating down on the Garden's roof panels the only interference.
"Hey," Cloud suddenly spoke out softly, almost in a whisper, "you can still show us around, you know. Maybe this place hasn't changed as much as it appears to have..."
He was bluntly cut short by an explosion from behind him.
"Too much flour, Zidane!"
"Yes, sir!"
The smoke from the explosion gradually dissipated into the air, and both mercenaries could hear loud metal sounds drifting to their ears from the cafeteria region. It was frighteningly obvious that they absolutely did not want to know what Zidane and Kuja were currently cooking up in the cafeteria at all.
"..." went both.
The blond-haired mercenary then blinked and said, "Dinner... can wait."
His companion agreed, almost immediately.
"I could show you around, like, now?" Squall was decidedly more enthusiastic than he was just now. He began a brisk walk forward, pointedly ignoring the cafeteria and the metallic noises the kitchen utensils inside were making, not even bothering to check if Cloud was following him. "Skipping the all-glorious cafeteria, where hotdogs used to rule, the next exit in the Garden would lead to the dormitories, where gossips, news, and rumours spread like an infested grapevine..."
The leader of SeeD finished his factual commentary and stopped at the sign which read "Balamb Garden - Dormitory".
He stared at the entrance for a while, re-living the memories of his everyday life in the quiet Dorm rooms, re-playing every single moment he had in his time when the world was still peaceful, and the Garden was still the home to the many colourful people he had met and known. He took a step forward, meaning to go into the Dormitories proper but jolting to a stop without really knowing why.
A dull pain hung over his heart. He usually associated this pain with regret of some sort - but over what, he had no idea...
He heard footsteps walking past him, and when he turned to look he saw that Cloud had already gone ahead of him and was strolling casually down the corridor with slow and deliberate steps. He thought of calling out for the blond to stop so they could explore the ruined dorms together, but something held him back from doing that. Instead, he quietly caught up with his companion and together they walked down the rounded corridor, past the parking lot, until Cloud came to a stop in front of the training ground.
He spun around.
"You don't have to follow if you don't want to."
He smiled, slightly.
"I can only imagine how it feels to walk down the destroyed corridors of a place that used to be your home."
A pause.
".......... it's okay, really..." The moody teenager blinked and replied, trying hard to repress his sigh. "... I just... never really realized how much I missed this place until I came here again..."
The ex-SOLDIER(-wannabe??) let his glance rest on the thoughtful teenager, trying to guess what he could say to be of some help in bringing Squall out from the abyss of dark discerns.
"Do you miss her?" He suddenly asked, without really thinking.
The SeeD shifted his weight and curiously stared at Cloud. "Miss who?"
"That girl, Rinoa - the one you kept droning on and on about when we first picked you up in the Sleeping Forest." Cloud's brilliant grin did nothing to help stop the teenager from developing a sudden blush. He looked away uncomfortably.
"........... sure......" He muttered after a long while of staring at nothing. "She made me realize... alot of things about myself and the people around me I wouldn't have otherwise..." Breaking off, he stole a glance at the entrance to the Training Center, trying not to remember but failing rather badly. "I took her on a tour around the Garden once too... And frankly speaking I suck at being a tour guide. She had to prompt me most of the time." He allowed a little snicker to escape from his mouth. Then he noticed that Cloud was staring at him with a bemused expression. "What?"
"Oh, nothing, really." The blond almost laughed out loud when he said that. "I can just imagine you bringing a girl to fight monsters on your first date." He flashed a purposeful grin and pointed to the entrance of the training ground. "Like here."
"Right." Squall rolled his eyes. "What's wrong with bringing girls to fight monsters? They can kick really hard if they want to, you know."
There was a chuckle.
"What, you too?" The SeeD turned his lips upwards slightly at the blond-haired mercenary, who blinked at looked at him weirdly.
"Me too what?" He asked, befuddled.
"You chuckled just now, I'm assuming that's because you've had to face some girl power at one point of time or another." The dark-haired teenager nodded sagely.
"Girl-power, yes, but... I didn't chuckle."
There was silence.
"Are you sure?" The teenager turned his suspicious eyes on his companion.
"Sure I'm sure. I didn't hear anybody chuckling, either." The blond mercenary raised an eyebrow, quietly contemplating what was going on.
The pallid laughter rang out softly again, echoing around the Garden interiors, sounding like wind chimes in autumn. Squall turned in all directions, trying to pinpoint the origin of the sound, leaving Cloud confused as he apparently could not hear anything, besides the rain. Eventually, Squall's eyes rested upon the entrance of the training center.
At that, Cloud turned to look as well.
A blurry image of a girl stood there, looking behind her shoulders and playfully beckoning at her audience, before disappearing into the dimly-lit hallway of the training center. She had dark hair, and was dressed in light blue. The pair of white wings on the back of her overcoat were unmistakable.
"Rinoa..." Squall barely managed to gasp before jolting himself into a run, all common sense out of the window for the moment, causing Cloud to look at him like he was out of the world.
"Wait!" Cloud called out a little too late, as Squall had already disappeared into the dark hallway in pursuit of... something he couldn't see. After a while of gaping, he decided to give chase. No point staying and no point leaving a tempermental Squall alone. They had enough problems on their hands already.
In the distance, a shadowy figure watched until both the targets disappeared into the darkness, before slipping into the bank which used to hold water beneath both sides of the corridor, smiling sinisterly.
A little while later, the mysterious laughter rang out once more; this time tainted with mischief.
In the background, the chant of the succession of witches could be heard, singing silently in an eternal loop - as if they had been there from the beginning, and will be there to the end...
-------------------------------
Zidane and Kuja both looked up at the same time, in a similar motion, cocking their ears to try to catch something. They then turned to look at each other, expressions stern.
"What was that?" Zidane asked, putting down the bowl of flour and eggs he had been busy beating. "It sounded like someone just laughed."
"Chuckled, Zidane, 'chuckle' is the right adjective for it." Kuja snottily corrected his fellow genome, ignoring the death glares he was earning from the tail-boy with his attitude. He, too, put down the basket of rotting fruits and vegetables and concentrated on the environment instead.
"There she goes again!" Zidane pointed at nowhere in particular, when the chuckle was repeated.
The silver-haired man frowned slightly. "And what makes you so sure it's a 'she' who's making all these noises?"
"Aw man! You know who you're looking at here?" Zidane spun around and posed, causing his older counterpart to immediately turn blue in the face. "It's the ladies' man Zidane! Of course I'd recognize a chick's voice immediately!"
Kuja groaned inwardly. *At least he kept THAT part of his old character intact.* Waving the comments aside, he picked up the basket of food once again and passed them to Zidane. "Forget it. It probably wasn't important. Anyway, just mix these stuff into that bowl you're beating and we'll heat it over a fire with some water... and the broth will be ready for feeding." A malicious grin spread over his features. "I've always wanted to test this mixture..." He mumbled meaningfully to himself under his breath.
For a 3rd time the laughter burst into their heads, forcing them to drop whatever hideous thing they were trying to cook. Immediately after the laughter they heard a song. A song that was familiar. It was sung in a language they did not understand, but in a tune they could recognize. It seemed to loop for an eternity, until the voices quietly faded into a murmur to the back of their minds.
They both looked up at the same time.
"Hubba mumba." Zidane was still in shock. "I'm not doing some funny prophesying thing again am I?"
Kuja pretended to stare out of the window. "Nope, land is still looking as barren as it was when we came. Rain is still pouring too. You didn't screw up, my boy, not this time." He grinned at the monkey. "Congratulations."
The boy looked away, annoyed. "So what just happened? That song... it was awfully familiar..."
"I know." Kuja stopped him halfway, a glint of recognition in his eyes. "I know this song... I used to hear it... read about it a lot..."
"What kind of language is fithos, lusec, wecos and vinosec anyway?" Zidane was more than miffed. He prided himself on being academically enabled, a skill he needed when talking to girls of all languages. This one utterly stumped him, though. He was hit in the forehead by a flying saucer tossed at him by Kuja.
"It's an anagram you idiot." He shook his head, mumbling the next sentence under his breath. "I can't believe we're related."
Rubbing his sore head, Zidane asked, "So do we still keep cooking something for Cloud, or... ?"
At this, Kuja frowned.
"Something doesn't feel right..."
"Nothing ever feels right to you, I'd bet." Zidane snorted. That earned him another flying saucer.
"Drop what you're doing, let's go find the others." Kuja was already strolling towards the exit of the cafeteria when he finished saying that. Zidane could only blink at the older man with bewilderment. Nevertheless he followed, not wanting to be left behind without instructions - for fear that he would end up blowing the entire cafeteria to bits. Also, like Kuja, he had a nagging feeling tugging the back of his head, telling him there was something wrong, and that he needed to do something about it.
As they started down the corridor towards the infirmary, the feeling of dread encompassed them whole.
They had a feeling they were already too late.
-------------------------------
iseki datta
13/5/2002
Footnote:
Contrary to popular opinion, 'fithos lusec wecos vinosec' is NOT Latin. It is an anagram of 'succession of witches' with the words 'l, o, v, e' left out. :D
Thanks to Nefas for providing me with that inspirational song! XD
-------------------------------
sore kara...
-------------------------------
iseki da
As Cloud started down the corridor, he took a good look at the environment.
The place large and circular, with exits branching out from the common corridor to a deeper portion of the building. Cloud had come out from what he assumed to be the eastern part of the block and was currently rounding the path near the second exit in this part of the place. In the middle of the large room, to his right, was a tall cylindrical tube-like thing which looked strangely like an enclosed elevator Shinra used to use at Junon. Maybe it was, he wouldn't know. Nevertheless, he trudged silently down the hallways, his boots producing large sounds which echoed off the walls of the building, emphasizing the emptiness.
The blond mercenary stopped at a battered sign which hung outside one of the paths which led to an exit.
He read it.
"Balamb Garden..."
His eyes scrolled down to the next line.
"... Quad."
Lightning flashed overhead, through the translucent glass panels of the Garden, followed by a fantastic peal of thunder.
"Welcome to my school." Squall's cryptic voice mumbled from behind Cloud, making him nearly jump out of his skin. The rain now beat down harder on the building, making minor sounds hard to pick up. Cloud turned around anyway, to stare at the SeeD standing behind him.
In answer to Cloud's questioning eyes, Squall merely shrugged.
The blond mercenary then turned his head away from the rusty sign, parched with age, to look at the surroundings once again.
Undoubtedly, this could have been a rather beautiful place, with nice shades of gold and blue dominating it's interior design. However, that was all gone, as far as the eye could see. In it's place were faded colours of yellow and maroon, glaring sullenly at the onlooker. The sturdy floors looked absolutely underused - for a long long time. The wrinkled walls curled up to reveal their underlying structure, festered with insects trying to build their homes into it.
The building was broken. It was in total ruins.
"... This is your school?" Cloud tried not to sound too incredulous. "The Garden you told us all about... ?"
Squall barely managed to pull off a shrug. He sighed, turning to rest his hands on the railings of rusted gold which circled perfectly around the center elevator area.
They were reduced to a miserable silence, the sound of the rain beating down on the Garden's roof panels the only interference.
"Hey," Cloud suddenly spoke out softly, almost in a whisper, "you can still show us around, you know. Maybe this place hasn't changed as much as it appears to have..."
He was bluntly cut short by an explosion from behind him.
"Too much flour, Zidane!"
"Yes, sir!"
The smoke from the explosion gradually dissipated into the air, and both mercenaries could hear loud metal sounds drifting to their ears from the cafeteria region. It was frighteningly obvious that they absolutely did not want to know what Zidane and Kuja were currently cooking up in the cafeteria at all.
"..." went both.
The blond-haired mercenary then blinked and said, "Dinner... can wait."
His companion agreed, almost immediately.
"I could show you around, like, now?" Squall was decidedly more enthusiastic than he was just now. He began a brisk walk forward, pointedly ignoring the cafeteria and the metallic noises the kitchen utensils inside were making, not even bothering to check if Cloud was following him. "Skipping the all-glorious cafeteria, where hotdogs used to rule, the next exit in the Garden would lead to the dormitories, where gossips, news, and rumours spread like an infested grapevine..."
The leader of SeeD finished his factual commentary and stopped at the sign which read "Balamb Garden - Dormitory".
He stared at the entrance for a while, re-living the memories of his everyday life in the quiet Dorm rooms, re-playing every single moment he had in his time when the world was still peaceful, and the Garden was still the home to the many colourful people he had met and known. He took a step forward, meaning to go into the Dormitories proper but jolting to a stop without really knowing why.
A dull pain hung over his heart. He usually associated this pain with regret of some sort - but over what, he had no idea...
He heard footsteps walking past him, and when he turned to look he saw that Cloud had already gone ahead of him and was strolling casually down the corridor with slow and deliberate steps. He thought of calling out for the blond to stop so they could explore the ruined dorms together, but something held him back from doing that. Instead, he quietly caught up with his companion and together they walked down the rounded corridor, past the parking lot, until Cloud came to a stop in front of the training ground.
He spun around.
"You don't have to follow if you don't want to."
He smiled, slightly.
"I can only imagine how it feels to walk down the destroyed corridors of a place that used to be your home."
A pause.
".......... it's okay, really..." The moody teenager blinked and replied, trying hard to repress his sigh. "... I just... never really realized how much I missed this place until I came here again..."
The ex-SOLDIER(-wannabe??) let his glance rest on the thoughtful teenager, trying to guess what he could say to be of some help in bringing Squall out from the abyss of dark discerns.
"Do you miss her?" He suddenly asked, without really thinking.
The SeeD shifted his weight and curiously stared at Cloud. "Miss who?"
"That girl, Rinoa - the one you kept droning on and on about when we first picked you up in the Sleeping Forest." Cloud's brilliant grin did nothing to help stop the teenager from developing a sudden blush. He looked away uncomfortably.
"........... sure......" He muttered after a long while of staring at nothing. "She made me realize... alot of things about myself and the people around me I wouldn't have otherwise..." Breaking off, he stole a glance at the entrance to the Training Center, trying not to remember but failing rather badly. "I took her on a tour around the Garden once too... And frankly speaking I suck at being a tour guide. She had to prompt me most of the time." He allowed a little snicker to escape from his mouth. Then he noticed that Cloud was staring at him with a bemused expression. "What?"
"Oh, nothing, really." The blond almost laughed out loud when he said that. "I can just imagine you bringing a girl to fight monsters on your first date." He flashed a purposeful grin and pointed to the entrance of the training ground. "Like here."
"Right." Squall rolled his eyes. "What's wrong with bringing girls to fight monsters? They can kick really hard if they want to, you know."
There was a chuckle.
"What, you too?" The SeeD turned his lips upwards slightly at the blond-haired mercenary, who blinked at looked at him weirdly.
"Me too what?" He asked, befuddled.
"You chuckled just now, I'm assuming that's because you've had to face some girl power at one point of time or another." The dark-haired teenager nodded sagely.
"Girl-power, yes, but... I didn't chuckle."
There was silence.
"Are you sure?" The teenager turned his suspicious eyes on his companion.
"Sure I'm sure. I didn't hear anybody chuckling, either." The blond mercenary raised an eyebrow, quietly contemplating what was going on.
The pallid laughter rang out softly again, echoing around the Garden interiors, sounding like wind chimes in autumn. Squall turned in all directions, trying to pinpoint the origin of the sound, leaving Cloud confused as he apparently could not hear anything, besides the rain. Eventually, Squall's eyes rested upon the entrance of the training center.
At that, Cloud turned to look as well.
A blurry image of a girl stood there, looking behind her shoulders and playfully beckoning at her audience, before disappearing into the dimly-lit hallway of the training center. She had dark hair, and was dressed in light blue. The pair of white wings on the back of her overcoat were unmistakable.
"Rinoa..." Squall barely managed to gasp before jolting himself into a run, all common sense out of the window for the moment, causing Cloud to look at him like he was out of the world.
"Wait!" Cloud called out a little too late, as Squall had already disappeared into the dark hallway in pursuit of... something he couldn't see. After a while of gaping, he decided to give chase. No point staying and no point leaving a tempermental Squall alone. They had enough problems on their hands already.
In the distance, a shadowy figure watched until both the targets disappeared into the darkness, before slipping into the bank which used to hold water beneath both sides of the corridor, smiling sinisterly.
A little while later, the mysterious laughter rang out once more; this time tainted with mischief.
In the background, the chant of the succession of witches could be heard, singing silently in an eternal loop - as if they had been there from the beginning, and will be there to the end...
-------------------------------
Zidane and Kuja both looked up at the same time, in a similar motion, cocking their ears to try to catch something. They then turned to look at each other, expressions stern.
"What was that?" Zidane asked, putting down the bowl of flour and eggs he had been busy beating. "It sounded like someone just laughed."
"Chuckled, Zidane, 'chuckle' is the right adjective for it." Kuja snottily corrected his fellow genome, ignoring the death glares he was earning from the tail-boy with his attitude. He, too, put down the basket of rotting fruits and vegetables and concentrated on the environment instead.
"There she goes again!" Zidane pointed at nowhere in particular, when the chuckle was repeated.
The silver-haired man frowned slightly. "And what makes you so sure it's a 'she' who's making all these noises?"
"Aw man! You know who you're looking at here?" Zidane spun around and posed, causing his older counterpart to immediately turn blue in the face. "It's the ladies' man Zidane! Of course I'd recognize a chick's voice immediately!"
Kuja groaned inwardly. *At least he kept THAT part of his old character intact.* Waving the comments aside, he picked up the basket of food once again and passed them to Zidane. "Forget it. It probably wasn't important. Anyway, just mix these stuff into that bowl you're beating and we'll heat it over a fire with some water... and the broth will be ready for feeding." A malicious grin spread over his features. "I've always wanted to test this mixture..." He mumbled meaningfully to himself under his breath.
For a 3rd time the laughter burst into their heads, forcing them to drop whatever hideous thing they were trying to cook. Immediately after the laughter they heard a song. A song that was familiar. It was sung in a language they did not understand, but in a tune they could recognize. It seemed to loop for an eternity, until the voices quietly faded into a murmur to the back of their minds.
They both looked up at the same time.
"Hubba mumba." Zidane was still in shock. "I'm not doing some funny prophesying thing again am I?"
Kuja pretended to stare out of the window. "Nope, land is still looking as barren as it was when we came. Rain is still pouring too. You didn't screw up, my boy, not this time." He grinned at the monkey. "Congratulations."
The boy looked away, annoyed. "So what just happened? That song... it was awfully familiar..."
"I know." Kuja stopped him halfway, a glint of recognition in his eyes. "I know this song... I used to hear it... read about it a lot..."
"What kind of language is fithos, lusec, wecos and vinosec anyway?" Zidane was more than miffed. He prided himself on being academically enabled, a skill he needed when talking to girls of all languages. This one utterly stumped him, though. He was hit in the forehead by a flying saucer tossed at him by Kuja.
"It's an anagram you idiot." He shook his head, mumbling the next sentence under his breath. "I can't believe we're related."
Rubbing his sore head, Zidane asked, "So do we still keep cooking something for Cloud, or... ?"
At this, Kuja frowned.
"Something doesn't feel right..."
"Nothing ever feels right to you, I'd bet." Zidane snorted. That earned him another flying saucer.
"Drop what you're doing, let's go find the others." Kuja was already strolling towards the exit of the cafeteria when he finished saying that. Zidane could only blink at the older man with bewilderment. Nevertheless he followed, not wanting to be left behind without instructions - for fear that he would end up blowing the entire cafeteria to bits. Also, like Kuja, he had a nagging feeling tugging the back of his head, telling him there was something wrong, and that he needed to do something about it.
As they started down the corridor towards the infirmary, the feeling of dread encompassed them whole.
They had a feeling they were already too late.
-------------------------------
iseki datta
13/5/2002
Footnote:
Contrary to popular opinion, 'fithos lusec wecos vinosec' is NOT Latin. It is an anagram of 'succession of witches' with the words 'l, o, v, e' left out. :D
Thanks to Nefas for providing me with that inspirational song! XD