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batsutousaiTitle: Silver Wings
Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII
Author: Batsutousai
Pairing: Squall Leonhart/Seifer Almasy
Rating: Mature
Warnings: AU, canon violence, Sorceress!Squall, original character death, mind rape, mental torture
Summary: On that fateful day, when a child grown visited his childhood home and a dying sorceress passed on her powers, it wasn't another sorceress they found, but a young boy running lost.
A/N: Yes, it was necessary that I leave this chapter where I do. XD
Alexander was already gone, packed with SeeDs meant for the mainland, when they returned. After a forced nap, courtesy of an overprotective knight, Squall spent the next couple days alternating between reading through Odine's notes and keeping up with the FH technicians' work. When the reports from from scout ships started coming in on the second day, he moved his work out to the dock, so the SeeDs didn't have to make their way up to Garden and make the locals nervous. (Seifer seemed to appreciate the change, as he could join him and fish nearby, or chat with Elle when she joined them.)
On the sixth day, the repairs were completed and Balamb and Trabia moved down the tracks, towards Galbadia, until they were out of sight of FH. There, they rigged up a pass way between buildings and Fields joined Squall, Seifer, Cid, and Beau – who had returned the day before – up in the Balamb Garden conference room. (Which was no longer a shared office, thankfully, as the FH technicians had kindly knocked out a few walls and built Cid and Squall new offices on opposite sides of what had once been Cid's office and was now the bridge.)
"Was the scientist in Esthar of any use?" Fields asked a bit helplessly.
Squall sighed and shook his head, tapping a finger against the stack of papers that he'd dropped in front of him when he'd sat. He'd gone over everything at least twice, and he still didn't have anything useful to help them out. "If this was Sis, she would eventually have to break the connection because it would exhaust her, but if the sorceress is using Odine's damned machine, it's very likely she can keep up the contact indefinitely."
"Or at least until some determined SeeD knocks down her front door," Seifer muttered.
Beau shook his head. "It's very likely that anyone who could have stopped her in her time has already failed."
"There's got to be something we can do," Cid whispered, looking completely run down.
Someone knocked on the door and they all looked up as it opened to admit Elle, Laguna and the dark-skinned man (who Elle had said was named Kiros) behind her. "Sorry to interrupt," she offered with a bright smile, "but some allies showed up asking if they could lend a hand."
"Oh? We have allies?" Beau asked sarcastically.
"What sort of help are you offering, President Loire?" Squall asked, and Seifer chuckled behind him when the other three at the table all jerked in surprise. "Apologies, everyone. President Laguna Loire of Esthar and Kiros Seagill, meet Headmistress Angelica Fields of Trabia Garden, Headmaster Cid Kramer of Balamb Garden, and Captain Beau Owens of the SeeD ship Alexander."
Everyone sort of traded stiff nods before Laguna cleared his throat and stepped around Elle. "I know you said something about needing to protect coastal towns, so we bought Estharian soldiers with us to lend out. Maybe cover some towns further inland."
"Sis, go into my office, get me the map on the wall," Squall ordered, mind already racing to figure out how many more towns they could protect with the additional help.
"How many soldiers did you bring?" Seifer asked, even as Beau pointed out, "A lot of those towns aren't going to react well to seeing Estharian soldiers running around."
"The way the Galbadians are acting, I suspect they'll be more welcoming than we think," Fields pointed out.
"About eighty," Laguna said.
There followed a moment of silence, then Fields turned to Squall and said, "Remind me never to doubt your ability to lead SeeD again."
"You doubted me?" Squall returned drily as Elle slipped back into the room and hurried over to Squall with the map marked with troop placements. "You two may as well come in," he added to his father and Kiros.
As the Estharian duo entered the conference room, Squall stood and leaned over the table, pushing the map into the centre so everyone could see it. "The sorceress knows that Sis was somewhere along the coast last year, and very likely is aware that she travels by ship, which is why I believe she'll focus on coastal towns. If the Estharians can agree to listen to a SeeD, we can spread them out and keep the locals from thinking Adel's come back, or whatever they want to call it."
"We'll talk to them," Kiros agreed.
"Excellent." Squall glanced up. "Did you come in ships, or–"
"Ships."
Squall pointed at Beau. "I know you just got back, but I'm sending Alexander back out to lead the Estharians around to the various towns. Try to keep it at a one SeeD to three Estharians ratio, but use your best judgement if anyone is being difficult."
Beau let out a put-upon sigh and flopped back against his chair. "But I'm tired, kid."
Squall rolled his eyes, aware that the man was just putting on a show. "Thank you, Beau."
Beau snorted and leaned forward to take the map. "Did you want me to leave now?"
Squall sighed and dropped back into his chair. Seifer caught it so he didn't go flying backwards as he said, "Unless someone has an idea for how to deal with the bitch."
Beau pointed at Seifer. "I don't take orders from you, Almasy."
"Shut up," Squall muttered before his knight could respond.
"Do you know what this sorceress is looking for? What her plans are?" Kiros requested as he and Laguna settled at the table.
"For the most part," Squall agreed, sitting up straight and holding up three fingers. "She wants Sis for some reason, she wants to destroy SeeD, and she wants to destroy the world."
Laguna moaned. "I don't like it when Odine's right," he complained.
Kiros absently patted Laguna's shoulder. "Dr Odine suspects this sorceress is attempting to create something he calls, I believe, 'Time Compression'. He hypothesises that, if a sorceress casts the same spell at three different points in time, it will create a paradox and time will collapse upon itself. Depending on the strength of the sorceress, this may result in an area where only she and some chosen few can exist."
"...do we want to know how he reached this conclusion?" Seifer asked into the silence, sounding like he really didn't want to know.
"I didn't ask," Laguna admitted with a helpless shrug.
"So she would need Ellone to send her back a second time and complete this 'Time Compression'," Fields observed. "I'm not sure how this helps us, beyond knowing we need to keep Ellone away from her."
"Which we were already doing," Beau added.
"Dr Odine believes that, if you were standing at the centre of the paradox when it occurred, you would be able to ride along it to where the sorceress resides and exist for a short time in the place that she created. Kill her, the paradox should heal itself."
"Time travel," Seifer murmured and Squall nodded in understanding.
"What are the chances of this working?" Fields asked.
Laguna gave them a helpless shrug. "I have no idea. Dr Odine thinks it can't go wrong, and he's usually right when he comes up with these crazy ideas, but it's not like anything like this has ever been done before."
"And it's not like we have much choice," Squall offered quietly. When everyone looked at him, questions in their eyes, he explained, "We can't destroy her as she is now; she'll just hop to another sorceress if we kill Matron, and again if we kill that host. Sorceress Magic doesn't die, and if the successor is struggling to adapt to her new magic, she'll be completely defenceless against this sorceress.
"The longer we let her reign, the more damage she'll do. SeeD can't be expected to run damage control forever, and there are cadets and some of our people trying to stay under the radar in Galbadia Garden right now. The sooner we can deal with her, the sooner we can get them to safety, and we do need to get them to safety."
"Agreed," Fields said, voice quiet, while Cid rubbed at his face across from her; he'd been in the room the first time Tonberry had reported what some bored Galbadian soldiers had done to a female cadet they'd cornered.
"How do you want to handle this?" Beau asked. "We can hold off on deploying the Estharians."
"It's going to take us a day or two to figure out where Galbadia Garden is right now, anyway," Seifer pointed out. "Squall can send Shiva with you and, once you're clear, you can meet up with us." He squeezed Squall's shoulder, and Squall glanced back at him. "Going ahead to meet her on Alexander should cut down on potential casualties."
"I figured as much," Squall agreed before looking over the table again. "Sis will come with us on Alexander. We'll have to come up with some sort of signal you can let out to tell Balamb and Trabia to move in and deal with the Galbadian soldiers, in case there's no obvious tell that we've managed what we came for, but that can wait until later. For now, Captain Owens, if you would gather your men and kindly get out of my Garden, I'd be grateful."
"Cold, kid," Beau said with a laugh as he rose. He looked at Laguna and Kiros and asked, "Who's coming down with me to make sure your people don't think I'm blowing air out my ass?"
"I will do so," Kiros replied, standing gracefully. "Laguna, stay where I can find you," he added, eyeing the president knowingly.
"Check the cafeteria when you're done," Elle suggested. "Anyone in Garden can point you the right way."
Laguna perked up and turned to Squall. "Ha! I told you lunch wasn't a request!"
Squall groaned and rubbed at his eyes. Seifer snorted and called, "On second thought, come back up here when you're done. Elle, give the man your ID so the lift will let him back up." Then he squeezed Squall's shoulder and reminded him, "Shiva."
Squall glanced to the side and Shiva obediently appeared. "If you would, Shiva."
"It is my pleasure," she promised before following Beau and Kiros from the room.
They spent a few minutes more discussing how to handle Galbadia Garden, Cid clearly desperate to get things hammered out before Squall left.
Finally, Fields stood in a rush and declared, "Cid, we have plenty of time to hash the details out later. Right now, I'm hungry, and the Commander needs to stop avoiding his family lunch. We're done."
Cid glanced towards Squall, and Seifer started laughing behind him. Squall rolled his eyes at his knight and promised the headmaster, "I'll write something out for you this afternoon, and we can spend tomorrow going over it. Go downstairs and get something to eat. And tell the kitchen to send up something for five, so I don't have to steal from the bridge crew."
"Cafeteria balcony's out of the water right now," Seifer added cheerfully to Cid. "You should go get some fresh air. Hyne alone knows how badly you need it."
Cid sighed and nodded. "You're not wrong," he admitted as he stood. "Angelica, are you staying on Balamb, or heading back across?" he asked as the two heads started for the door.
"Oh, I suppose you're closer..."
Elle shifted down two seats so she could sit in Cid's recently vacated chair. "Do you think this will work?" she asked, expression troubled.
"I think we're on the right track," Squall offered.
"There's time travel involved in this," Seifer added, moving his chair to slide between Elle and Squall. "Squall and I have known that for a while now."
"You have?" Laguna asked curiously as he slid into Fields' abandoned chair, next to Squall. (Squall didn't need to feel his knight's amusement to realise that Seifer had moved between him and Elle just so Squall would end up sitting next to his father.)
Squall stared at his father for a long moment, trying to decide what to tell the man.
'He'll discover the truth eventually,' Quezacotl pointed out. 'He seems the sort to want to know you.'
'I think you should just lie to him through your teeth,' Diablos announced. 'He looks gullible.'
"Diablos, go to hell," Seifer snarled.
Squall blinked and looked over at his knight, surprised.
Seifer reached up and brushed his oddly un-gloved fingers against Squall's cheek. "I agree with Quezacotl." He grimaced. "For once."
Squall held his knight's gaze for a long moment, drawing strength from the calmness in the familiar green eyes, before he turned to Laguna and quietly explained, "I'm a sorcerer. The sorceress I got my powers from when I was five, is the same sorceress possessing Matron now."
Laguna's eyes had gone wide, but he was saved from answering by the door opening and a cadet stepping cheerfully in, bearing a platter with cafeteria food. Kiros was behind her, carrying a smaller tray with drinks and wearing a wry smile.
"Commander, do you mind if I–?" the cadet started hopefully, eyeing the stack of hot dogs that the cafeteria always sent up when Squall or Cid requested food.
Squall rolled his eyes. "By all means, Cadet Garnett. Take two."
She flashed him a bright grin and wasted no time in escaping with her prize.
As Kiros settled next to Laguna, the president looked up at him and complained, "Ward won the bet."
Squall blinked and looked over at the two disbelievingly. Had Laguna and his friends...?
"So," Kiros said as he set the tray of drinks next to the platter of food, "you're a sorceress. Or sorcerer?"
Apparently they had. Squall sighed and tried to ignore Seifer's amusement at the back of his mind. "Seifer prefers sorcerer, but I've never cared."
"What gave him away?" Seifer asked, amusement obvious in his voice. "It was the GFs, wasn't it?"
Kiros shook his head. "Commander Leonhart's familiarity with Sorceress Magic, coupled with your protectiveness, Sir Almasy."
Seifer huffed. "Oh, come on. That crazy freak deserved a little scare."
Laguna let out a nervous laugh. "Well, yes. But most people can resist the urge to hold a knife to his throat."
"Seifer doesn't have that sort of self-control," Squall deadpanned and Elle laughed.
Seifer leaned forward to get a drink and flashed Squall a smug smile when he glanced over. "You love my lack of self-control, Squally."
Squall raised an eyebrow at him, then glanced past him to Elle. "Sis, could you go grab a cadet for me? Have them collect Kadowaki; I think Seifer's hallucinating."
Elle shook her head, grinning, and stole Seifer's drink when he sat back up. He let out a huff and leaned back across the table to get another one for himself. "I think he'll live," she declared.
"Is that your professional opinion, Dr Ellone?" Seifer asked, amusement warm at the back of Squall's mind.
"It is," Elle agreed, tossing her chin up and trying to look official.
Laguna burst out laughing and Squall allowed a snort. "I supposed that will have to suffice," he decided, keeping his tone dry and refusing to look at Seifer, who he could feel smirking at him. "If he starts acting oddly, however, I may have to seek a second opinion."
'My opinion–' Diablos started.
"No one cares about your opinion, Diablos," Seifer shot back. "In fact, why don't you just take your opinion and–"
"I don't have to junction you any more, Diablos," Squall pointed out. "Stop pissing Seifer off."
"Seifer can hear Squall's GFs," Elle explained to Laguna and Kiros while Diablos curled up in the back of Squall's mind, clearly showing he was going to behave. For the moment.
"That's interesting," Kiros replied and Squall glanced at him, one eyebrow raised. "Can you hear his GFs?"
Squall shrugged. "Not so far. But Seifer hasn't heard them either." He glanced over at his knight.
Seifer shrugged himself. "I can sense them in a way that I never sensed Ifrit, but, no, I can't communicate with them. That's Squall's trick."
"I didn't realise you'd junctioned anyone," Elle admitted, frowning. "You're not worried about the memory loss?"
"I haven't noticed any loss," Seifer replied carelessly, though Squall knew his knight worried about the possibility. Still, he'd been junctioning Cerberus since shortly after they'd started sleeping together, and had junctioned Alexander when a scout ship dropped him off a few days before, and he hadn't lost any of the memories he took pains to keep tabs on. Nor had he lost the memories Squall knew he'd have been happy to forget, so they were both beginning to accept that, while Squall's magic wasn't connecting them to Seifer's GFs the way it did to Squall's, it was supporting them sufficiently that they weren't touching Seifer's memories. Which was a better outcome than they'd hoped for.
Squall shrugged when Elle turned her frown on him, but was saved from answering by Laguna suddenly bursting out with, "Do you have wings?"
Squall blinked a few times, then turned to his father. "Why?" he asked, honestly curious why that even came up.
Laguna looked uncomfortable. "I just...you mentioned them, in Odine's lab, so I thought...I'd ask..."
Squall blinked again, still confused about why it mattered. "He does," Seifer supplied, amused.
"What?!" Elle reached forward and shoved at Squall's arm. "How come I've never heard anything about this?" she demanded when he looked over at her.
"I don't–" Squall groaned and rubbed at his forehead. "It's not that big of a deal, Sis."
"It is," Kiros murmured. When Squall looked over at him, he explained, "Esthar's done a lot of studies on sorceresses. We know a sorceress' wings are the physical representation of their power, and that sorceresses with very little magic never develop any; the larger the wings, the greater the power." His eyes narrowed. "More importantly, they tend to mirror the sorceress' state of mind."
Squall forced himself not to tense.
"Is that why Adel's were...skeletal?" Elle realised.
"Yes," Kiros agreed, still watching Squall. "It's believed that the wings were originally pure white and feathered, like the angels the Church of Hyne likes to plaster everywhere. The further they are from that, the more likely the sorceress will go mad. According to Esthar's findings."
"My wings are grey," Squall bit out, wrapping his fingers in the chain of his necklace.
"They're silver, Leonhart," Seifer corrected. "And feathered," he added for everyone else.
"Silver?" Laguna repeated, surprised. Next to him, Kiros's eyebrows raised.
Elle huffed. "Now you have to show me, Squall."
Squall looked over at Seifer, stomach churning, and his knight leaned forward until their foreheads were pressed together. "I won't force you," Seifer whispered, voice a gentle breath against Squall's lips, "but you know my thoughts." He wrapped his hand around where Squall's fingers were tangled in his necklace. "Do you want me to lock the door?"
Squall stared into the green eyes, helplessly reassured by Seifer's offer to lock the door. He'd already taken a step in trusting his father and Kiros with his secret, but it was hard to break a lifetime of fear, especially when it came to letting people know exactly how powerful he was. Laguna and Kiros had fought Adel; who knew how they'd react to the size of his wings.
'You've already told Laguna that you're currently fighting the sorceress you got your powers from,' Quezacotl pointed out. 'Better he see the proof now, in a controlled environment, than find out when someone drops that you think she can use forbidden magic.'
'Anyway,' Leviathan added, 'Sis wants to see. You can't deny her.'
Seifer chuckled and pressed a brief, warm kiss to Squall's mouth before getting up and moving towards the door.
"Fine," Squall muttered, standing and kicking his chair out of the way as he stripped his shirt off. He waited until he'd heard the click of the door locking before he closed his eyes and let his magic loose.
"They are silver," Laguna breathed, awe in the words.
"They're beautiful!" Elle exclaimed and Squall opened his eyes to look at her when he felt her chair move against the floor, giving her room to stand. "Can I touch them?" she requested, eyes bright and delighted.
Squall blinked. "Yes," he decided and extended the nearest one slightly towards her.
"Gentle," Seifer called from the other side of the room, where he was leaning back against the door and eyeing Squall in a way that said he wanted to cause trouble.
Elle huffed at Seifer's warning, but her fingers were very gentle as she brushed them over the feathers. "They're so soft," she whispered.
Squall shrugged and his wings shifted with the motion. "Feathers do tend to be soft," he pointed out.
"What could silver mean?" Laguna asked, looking at Kiros.
Kiros shrugged and met Squall's stare. "You'll forgive me if I press, but sorceresses make some of us nervous."
"I'm aware of how much of a threat I am," Squall returned, forcing his voice flat. "SeeD was formed with the intention of destroying any sorceresses who fall to the madness."
"And you're leading them?" Kiros asked, both eyebrows raising.
Squall snorted, but it was Elle who explained, "SeeD has two separate groups, and Squall's the only person familiar enough with both Alexander and the Garden-trained SeeDs to be able to direct them all." She sighed. "Uncle Cid forced the position on him."
"Trust me, I think it's insane," Squall promised, glancing towards Seifer's grim smile. "But at least, here, I can be sure they're strong enough to take care of me, should it become necessary."
"And what's the likelihood of that?" Kiros demanded.
"Kiros," Laguna complained.
Squall considered the dark-skinned man. "Who knows. I have no intention in going mad, but I'll be the first to admit that I don't always have control over my magic."
"And your knight?" Kiros asked, looking towards Seifer.
"Seifer's only been my knight for a month," Squall admitted. When Laguna and Kiros both turned to stare at him, clearly horrified, he shrugged. "My GFs acted in his place, and he's always had a calming influence on my magic." He snorted. "I had no idea what was going on until Matron explained it to me."
"Matron... You called the sorceress who is being possessed that," Laguna recalled while Kiros frowned in thought.
"Edea Kramer, Uncle Cid's wife, raised Squall and I," Elle offered. "She's been a sorceress since she was a child, so she helped Squall manage his powers. She was the one to suggest GFs might serve in place of a knight until he found someone."
"Technically," Seifer offered with a smirk, "Squally told Matron that GFs would serve."
"What?"
Squall sighed. "The man who appeared with the sorceress I got my powers from," he explained to Elle, "had this scar." He touched the line crossing diagonally between his eyes.
"Time travel," Elle muttered before she pressed her face against the feathers she'd been stroking.
Squall let his wing curl around her and got a grateful smile for the effort.
"What is your power?" Kiros asked and Laguna perked up, clearly interested. "You're obviously strong. Stronger than Adel, possibly."
"Ooh, now that's an exciting thought," Seifer offered, glee in his voice and at the back of Squall's mind.
"What was Adel's strength?" Squall asked, curious. "No one ever had an answer for me when I asked, but the way they spoke about her, I almost expected someone to say she specialised in forbidden magic."
Kiros and Laguna traded troubled looks. "She did," Laguna offered. "Meteor, mostly, but rumour had it she could cast an Ultima if necessary."
"It would leave her laid up for days, though," Kiros added while Squall looked over at his smirking knight. "She usually stuck with Flare or Holy if she wanted to make a statement."
Seifer started laughing.
"Why is he...?" Laguna asked, frowning towards the knight.
"I can cast multiple Ultimas without any noticeable drain," Squall explained tiredly.
Laguna and Kiros stared at him, both looking vaguely horrified.
"I don't tend to use more than time and space magic, but I can also use forbidden magic."
Seifer stepped forward to lean on the far side of the table, smile wide and sharp. "To give you an idea–"
"Seifer," Squall growled, shooting his knight a look that would have shut any other person in Garden up.
"–it drains Squall to keep the GFs in the physical world, and Bahamut requires more energy than Shiva, say. Before we got Garden mobile, we got word from Tonberry and Diablos, who were hiding in Galbadia Garden, that the sorceress was sending missiles to both Trabia and Balamb. Squall traded Bahamut for Diablos, and sent him to Trabia to protect it, then destroyed, what was it, Squally? Twelve missiles before they hit Balamb?"
Squall sighed and rubbed at his face. "Seifer, stop trying to scare them."
Seifer snorted. "If I wanted to scare them, Leonhart, I'd ask when the last time they saw a ruby dragon was."
Squall narrowed his eyes at his knight, fingers unconsciously wrapping around his necklace. Seifer just met his gaze, unapologetic. "That's enough," Squall ordered.
"We don't really see ruby dragons in Esthar," Laguna commented uneasily. "Why? Did something happen to them?"
"Squall destroyed them all," Elle whispered and the air went tense.
"Why?" Kiros demanded, standing and towering over Squall even with Laguna sitting between them. "What could have possessed you–"
"It's none of your fucking business!" Squall snarled, pulling his wings in tight around his body. "And you!" he added, turning on Seifer.
Seifer jerked back and pressed a hand against his forehead.
'Sorcerer,' Bahamut cautioned.
Across the room, Seifer firmed his jaw and started around the table, steps firm and even against Squall's Quake magic.
'You need to calm down,' Quezacotl insisted.
Squall squeezed his eyes shut and tried to remember the breathing exercises he'd been practising since he was a child, but they remained just out of reach, hidden behind the old terror of what would happen when people found out what he was, how dangerous he was. And, too, that ancient fear of what his magic might do, what it was capable of if he didn't control it.
Warm hands cupped his face. "Squall," Seifer whispered, voice feathering warmly against Squall's mouth and nose, "I'm sorry." The words were honest, painfully so, and Squall knew how much Seifer hated to apologise, even if he was in the wrong.
Squall opened his eyes and stared into the familiar green gaze, muted by regret and pain. He took a deep breath, let Seifer's gentle touch soothe him. "You keep doing this," he heard himself whisper.
Seifer's eyes squeezed closed. "No self-control," he whispered, and it should have been a joke, but it just fell flat, edged in bitterness. "I'm sorry."
Squall leaned into Seifer, wings shifting out of the way and closing in around his knight's back, cocooning them in feathers and cutting them off from the rest of the room. Seifer's hands dropped to Squall's waist, pulling him close and pressing warmly against his back. Squall closed his eyes again and rested his head against the other's chest, letting the sense of solitude and his knight's touch ease away the last traces of fear and the suggestion of anger.
"Our foster sister died," Elle said, sudden in the silence of the room, and Squall stiffened. "She was killed by a ruby dragon, which almost killed Squall, and another one almost killed me. Squall...he's the one who found Gee. He..."
"Didn't react well?" Laguna offered, voice tired and tinged with understanding.
Squall swallowed and forced himself to step back from Seifer, retracting his wings. Seifer let him go, but he caught Squall's left hand and stepped to the side, taking up his familiar position. Squall turned his gaze on the two from Esthar and quietly commented, "You might say, I suppose, that I went mad."
Kiros flinched and Laguna closed his eyes, expression pained.
"When I woke up, I was in Balamb Garden, and Seifer was standing over me, commenting that I wasn't a student."
Seifer's hand jerked in his and surprise flooded the back of Squall's mind.
"I didn't know that part," Elle said. When Squall glanced over at her, she smiled and looked over at Seifer. "You woke him up."
"He creeped me out," Seifer insisted and Squall bit back a smile as he looked over at his knight. "I had no idea who he was, but he clearly knew who I was."
"I had no idea GFs usually stole memories," Squall offered, not bothering to hide his amusement. "No one ever told me. It wasn't until Dr Kadowaki was asking how much I remembered, that Shiva and Quezacotl explained why she was worried that I'd been junctioned while in a coma." He sighed and rubbed his thumb against the back of Seifer's hand, gaze dropping to the floor. "I told her I couldn't remember anything after my birthday. I didn't want anyone worrying about me."
Seifer let out a loud snort and pulled Squall's hand up. He took a second to strip Squall's glove off, then pressed a kiss to the back of his hand, eyes catching Squall's when he looked up. "You don't get that option any more, Leonhart."
"Because you're an overbearing asshole?" Squall suggested.
Seifer considered that for a moment, then kissed Squall's hand again. "Pretty much," he agreed.
Squall sensed Laguna getting up and walking over to them. He looked over to find his father staring up at Seifer, expression serious. When Seifer raised an eyebrow at him, Laguna demanded, "Can you keep him safe?"
Seifer's other eyebrow raised for a moment, then he narrowed his eyes. "Are you questioning me, President Loire?" he asked, voice gone low and hard.
"Yes," Laguna shot back, unflinching, and Squall blinked as his opinion of the man rose a few notches. "Can you keep my son safe?"
Surprise flashed across the sense of Seifer at the back of Squall's mind, quickly followed by understanding. "So far as he'll let me," he offered, dropping the hostile tone. "He's stubborn, my sorcerer."
Laguna's mouth twitched. "He gets it from his mother," he offered before shaking his head and pinning Seifer with his stare. "Can you keep him sane?"
"I'm going to do my damnedest."
"Good," Laguna declared before hurrying back to his chair and falling into it. He tugged his right leg up onto the seat and curled around it, wincing.
"Laguna..." Kiros sighed.
Seifer snorted and stepped forward, dragging Squall with him. "I'm hungry."
Squall yanked on Seifer's hand and gave a pointed twitch of his wings once his knight had looked back. "I can't sit with these," he pointed out.
"Of course you can. Come here." Seifer snagged his chair and turned it so he could sit, then motioned to his lap.
"No."
Seifer raised an eyebrow at him. "Leonhart, sit."
Squall stared at him for a moment, mentally considering the state of his magic. It was still too upset to settle under his skin, apparently blaming itself for Seifer's head...ache... "Dammit," he let out, realising he'd been angry enough at his knight that his magic had hurt him.
Seifer tugged on Squall's hand. "Sit."
Squall gave in and settled in his knight's lap, wings shifting uncomfortably out of the way. "Oh, shut up," Squall ordered them as Seifer turned them back towards the table. "If you'd fucking behave for once, we wouldn't be having this problem."
"A feather!" Elle called and Squall glanced back to see her picking up a fallen feather.
"You can moult?" Seifer asked.
Squall shrugged and smiled at Elle's hopeful expression. "I can't promise how long it'll remain, but you can keep it if you want."
Elle smiled and pressed it against her chest. "Thank you, Squall. Maybe it'll be my lantern." She nodded towards where Tonberry's lantern still hung from one of his belts, resting against Seifer's knees.
"Perhaps it will," Squall agreed before glancing back at his wings, wondering what his magic was up to.
"Ignore it," Seifer murmured, arm curling around the back of Squall's waist and hand pressing warmly against his side. "Get me a hot dog, would you?"
"You didn't think this through," Squall replied before leaning over and collecting food for both himself and his knight.
That seemed to be a signal for the others, because everyone reached for the platter and collected something.
Squall was almost finished with the chicken salad the kitchen staff had – likely very grudgingly – included when a question occurred to him that would probably make Laguna and Kiros very uncomfortable; Seifer would approve. "What's the Tomb?" he asked.
Laguna shot Kiros a panicked look, completely ruining the blank stare that Kiros turned on Squall.
"Oh, that's right," Seifer said, voice somewhere between amused and nasty. "You have some sort of Tomb that blocks over-the-air communication, don't you?"
"They're going to find out," Laguna said, failing at keeping his voice down. "And the reason she was sealed was that no one could defeat her."
"No," Kiros hissed, much quieter, "she was sealed because no one can be trusted with that much power."
"I'm not really liking the impression I'm getting here," Seifer announced.
"Adel isn't dead, is she?" Elle asked.
"No," Laguna admitted and Kiros closed his eyes in defeat. "The resistance was never able to kill her when they tried, so they contracted Odine to build a chamber they could trap her in forever. He knew Adel's interest in him was waning, so he did it."
"So she's trapped in something of an eternal Stop?" Squall asked, titling his head to one side.
"That's not...a bad way to describe it," Laguna agreed.
"Where is she?" Seifer demanded. "Where could you possibly put her to keep some mad idiot from setting her free?"
"She's in space, orbiting the moon," Kiros announced.
'Well,' Diablos helpfully commented, 'that would serve as a good deterrent for idiocy.'
'For humans,' Bahamut agreed. 'Some of us don't suffer from the lack of oxygen.'
'Some of us can't break orbit,' Leviathan snapped.
"You three can shut up any second now," Seifer remarked.
"While it's nice that she's out of the way," Squall said, staring at his father, "as Commander of SeeD, I cannot, in good conscience, ignore that Esthar has a mad sorceress in reserve. Especially since her presence is, I assume, the reason that we can't communicate via air waves."
Laguna looked hopeful. "If we brought her down, could you kill her? Accept her powers?" Kiros tensed next to him.
Squall snorted. "I don't want more Sorceress Magic, and I'm not sure I could accept it, anyway; the way the criteria was explained to me, I was only an option because there was no one else around when she died."
"And the magic already knew it was going to you," Seifer added cheerfully.
"Time travel," Elle muttered.
Squall rolled his eyes. "Get on Dr Odine," he suggested. "See if there's a way to...oh, I don't know, split the Sorceress Magic, say? Find a few strong-willed women willing to accept it." He looked out the windows behind him, faced out over the ocean. "It's going to take us a while to get Galbadia under control, after everything. That should give Dr Odine time to create whatever he might need, then we can deal with Adel." He looked back at the two from Esthar. "Does that sound acceptable?"
"We'll have to run it by the Council of Ministers, but I can't imagine they won't approve it," Laguna agreed.
"They might, just to be difficult," Kiros warned. "Opening our borders is not a popular idea. If it wasn't for the fact that a sorceress is involved, they'd never have approved sending out soldiers to assist in protecting non-Estharians."
"Well, it's good to know where we stand with our neighbours," Seifer said with a snort.
Squall offered Kiros a mean little smile. "I have GFs capable of simply going into space and collecting or destroying Adel's Tomb. Cooperation, I believe, is the best in everyone's interest."
Kiros blinked. "Are you threatening Esthar, Commander?" he asked, but there was a gleam of something suspiciously like approval in his eyes.
"If that's what it takes," Squall agreed.
"I thought we weren't starting another war," Seifer said, but his amusement was warm at the back of Squall's mind.
"Well, if we're done with the first one by then..."
Seifer wasn't the only one who laughed.
Galbadia Garden, it turned out, was waiting in Centra, not far inland from the Cape of Good Hope, over the Lenown Plains. Squall ordered the Gardens to hold position in the water, just out of sight of Lenown Beach and Galbadia Garden, and had Alexander bring him, Seifer, Elle, Laguna, Kiros, Zell, Quistis, Irvine, and Selphie ashore. (He hadn't bothered arguing about his friends coming with, as Irvine had insisted that they deserved to be there with Matron was freed, and Elle had sided with Laguna when he tried to tell his father he was better off remaining behind. He was torn between irritation and a sense of gratitude that at least he wouldn't have to worry about Matron or Elle while he and Seifer were playing in time.)
They held position where the sand of the beach gave way to the grass of the plains, Squall and Seifer in the lead, Beau and the two SeeDs he'd brought from Alexander just behind them. Everyone else was arrayed around Elle, hands on their weapons and staring ahead at the red Garden. None of them were wearing SeeD-issue clothing, not even the Alexander's crew, to keep the sorceress from having any sort of warning about who was coming.
Finally, after a good twenty minutes, following a warning chirp from Tonberry, a group of six Galbadian soldiers with jetpacks flew out to them. "State your intentions!" the one in the lead ordered.
"We've brought the Time Witch Ellone!" Squall shouted back. "We request safe passage to deliver her to Sorceress Edea!"
The flyers took a moment to confer, then one of them turned and flew back towards Galbadia Garden, while the rest of them trained their guns on the group and stayed in the air.
"Easy," Beau murmured to someone behind Squall. "We don't want a firefight."
Tonberry chirped another warning before the flyer who had left came back into view. The group conferred again, then the leader dropped to the ground in front of Squall. "We'll escort you. Anyone draws a weapon or thinks to try casting something, everyone dies. Clear?"
"Crystal," Seifer returned, voice honeyed.
Squall just sighed and nodded, then motioned for the Galbadian to lead them in.
Galbadia Garden didn't settle down to let them step aboard. Rather, their escort ferried them up to the entrance one at a time, leaving them to face a line of more soldiers with guns pointed at them.
"I am getting a little sick of all these guns," Zell muttered. "No offence, Irvine."
"I agree with you," the sharpshooter agreed, keeping his voice down.
Once everyone was aboard, they were led up to the headmaster's office. On the way, Squall felt Tonberry join them, tiny steps obvious to his Quake magic. He slipped between Zell and Quistis to walk next to Elle until she noticed him and leaned down to pick him up. If any of the Galbadians noticed the addition, their steps didn't change, and Squall let himself relax.
Matron was waiting for them in Martine's office, a dead-eyed Galbadian standing at her side. Her eyes narrowed on Squall when he stepped off the lift with Seifer, Beau, the two Alexander SeeDs, and Quistis; the rest of the group would be coming up in the next trip, the lift too small for all of them with their guard detail. "Sorcerer," she hissed.
Squall inclined his head. "Sorceress."
"What is your name?" Seifer asked, loud and obnoxious. "Because I'm just going to start calling you Sorceress Parasite if you don't give me something else."
"Show deference to Sorceress Edea!" the dead-eyed Galbadian shouted, pointing a sword at them.
Seifer took a step forward, clearly unconcerned by the threat. "Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm quite fond of Sorceress Edea. I'm talking to the other sorceress, the one controlling her. The one who's tried to kill my sorcerer twice now," he added, voice dropping.
The sorceress laughed and leaned forward as the lift opened, showing Elle at the head of the group, arms wrapped around Tonberry. "For bringing me what I seek, I shall grant your request: I am called Ultimecia."
"I liked Sorceress Parasite better," Seifer decided.
"Seifer," Squall called as he stepped forward to stand next to his knight. When Matron's wrongly-coloured gold eyes turned to him, he asked, "Am I correct in assuming you aim to enact Time Compression?"
Matron's eyes narrowed at him for a beat before she let out a cold laugh and settled back in her chair, hair ornaments clicking. "Such a quick little Sorcerer. It really is a pity you are one of the cursed ones."
Tonberry let out a loud chirp before he appeared in Squall's mind. Almost immediately after, Matron slumped in her chair, eyes falling closed.
"Bring Edea back," Laguna directed, and Squall glanced back to see his father had an arm wrapped around Elle's shoulders, supporting her.
"What have you done?!" the dead-eyed Galbadian screamed.
Guns cocked all around them, too many, and Squall didn't even bother thinking about it, just blanketed all the Galbadian soldiers in Stop.
The man at the head of the room clearly had some sort of protection against Sorceress Magic, for he waved his sword towards Squall, screaming, "You've killed–"
Seifer smoothly drew Hyperion as he stepped forward, dodging the wild sword swing, and cut the Galbadian's head off. "That was pathetic."
"Seifer?" Matron whispered weakly.
Seifer gave an obnoxious little wave. "Good to see you looking like yourself again, Matron. Sorry Squally and I can't stick around, but we're leaving behind some replacements."
"You have your orders," Squall called over his shoulder as the room seemed to melt around him. Seifer wrapped an arm around him, pulling them tightly together.
"Commander!" Beau called, and Squall could just make out him saluting before they were falling through water.
Squall turned to face his knight as his magic strained against his skin. He spared a brief grimace for his jacket, then let his magic free. His wings burst forth and wrapped around him and Seifer, blocking out the strange world around them just as the ocean turned to sky.
Squall drew back his wings when he felt solid ground under his feet, revealing a castle towering above them, dark clouds swirling around it and half blocking out the moon.
"Well, this looks friendly," Seifer remarked, eyeing the massive doors before them. "Can I make a bet on the number of nasty, violent monsters waiting for us inside?"
Squall looked up the wall, towards the castle ramparts and cast out with his Quake magic. "She's in one of the upper floors," he announced when he found her. "We can fly up there."
Seifer laughed and tugged Squall back against his chest. "I'm all for skipping the violent monsters."
"Yes," Squall replied as he wrapped his arms around his knight, "I rather thought you might be."
And then they were heading up, towards Ultimecia.
"Greetings, Sorceress Parasite!" Seifer called as he shoved open the door that led to the room that Squall knew Ultimecia was in.
"Greetings, Knight," the woman's voice purred before Bio rushed over Seifer.
"Oh, ow," Seifer remarked drily as he stepped the rest of the way into the room, Squall's magic having absently brushed the familiar spell away from his knight. "I don't think I can stand any more."
"Don't be an ass," Squall ordered as his wings settled comfortably against his back, having been required to stretch awkwardly to get through the low door.
Ultimecia stood from her throne, eyeing Squall's wings. "Your power is impressive, Sorcerer, but you are no match for myself." She flicked a hand at Squall and darkness surrounded him.
Squall recognised Maelstrom even as his wings flared and destroyed the spell. "You can't use that magic against me, Ultimecia," he offered as he drew Sheer Trigger. "I didn't come here to serve as an easy target for you. Not this time!" He dashed forward, Haste boosting his speed.
Ultimecia managed to stumble to one side, eyes wide, and Squall missed her heart, but he managed to catch her wing, and she howled in agony even as she spun and raked her clawed fingers against his shoulder.
Squall hissed and jumped back, glancing down to find the leather shredded. Blood was already staining the shirt under it and Squall grimaced as he pushed a Curaga into the wound, healing the damage to his flesh, if not his shirt.
While Squall had paused to heal himself, Seifer had made his own attack, throwing a Firaga at the sorceress and following it up with a slash of Hyperion, which cut the wrist of the hand that had caught Squall, ruining it for further use.
Ultimecia let out a scream of "Die!" and white orbs slammed into Seifer, throwing him back.
Squall grit his teeth and tossed a Holy of his own at the sorceress, recalling her attention to him so Seifer could take a moment to recover. Ultimecia replied with another Holy, which Squall managed to partially dodge with a burst of well-timed Haste. He got out a Blizzaga before the last three orbs slammed into him, rough enough to ache.
"Squall!" Seifer shouted in warning.
Squall stumbled backwards, wings shifting to accommodate, and stared up at Ultimecia, who was suddenly in front of him, having dodged his Blizzaga. She reached for his chest, claws extended, and his wings immediately pulled him back and out of danger.
"So," Ultimecia purred, something silver glinting in her claws, "this is your precious charm."
Squall grabbed for his necklace, only to find the lion's head missing. "No!"
Ultimecia laughed and threw Squall's pendant on the ground between them, poisonous magic staining the silver. "Let us see how you fare against your charm!"
The pendant rose in the air, turning in the grip of the black magic, and Squall stared in horror as his last link to Virgie was twisted into a monster of a creature: a black lion stained with red like spilt blood, and a pale grey mane.
No, Squall realised as the creature spread its wings and they glinted in the pale light cast by the too-large moon shining through the windows behind Ultimecia's throne, not grey. Silver.
"Griever, kill him!" Ultimecia screamed.
Squall looked up into golden brown eyes that were lit with confusion, so familiar it ached. "Gee?" he heard himself whisper.
"Holy Hyne," Seifer breathed, close at Squall's side.
The lion's eyes blinked and one paw was raised to observe. The lion jerked back in surprise at the sight and turned to Squall, panic in its eyes. "Squally?" it asked in Virgie's voice, small and terrified.
"I said kill him!" Ultimecia screamed and familiar green and yellow magic lit up behind the lion's spread wings.
"Leave her alone!" Squall roared. He didn't even think, just threw out a hand and told his magic to get Ultimecia away from Virgie.
His magic rushed forward in a blast not unlike a Flare, flowing easily around Virgie's new form and slamming Ultimecia against the back wall of the room with a sickening thud and the cracking of broken bones. Ultimecia screamed, proving she was still alive.
Virgie flinched away from the scream, towards Squall and Seifer. She reached for him, before recalling her claws and snatching her paw back, looking lost. "Squally, what... What's going on?"
"You got...that sorceress pulled you forward, through time, and turned you into a GF," Squall tried to explain, voice rough.
"A...GF?" Virgie repeated, looking down at her claws again. "Like Shiva?"
"Way more badass than Shiva," Seifer informed her, tone gleeful.
"Seifer!"
Seifer rolled his eyes at Squall. "Oh, don't even bother, Leonhart; you know I'm right. Your little sister is absolutely badass."
"Little sister?" Virgie whispered before letting out a roar of agony and stumbling forward. The last gasps of the Tornado that had caught her became visible around her wings as feathers dropped from them.
"The hell you don't!" Seifer shouted, slipping around Virgie and towards Ultimecia.
"Squally," Virgie whispered, reaching for him again.
Squall caught her paw, holding it tight between his hands and letting Sheer Trigger clatter to the ground at his feet. "I've got you, Gee," he promised, heart thudding too-fast against his ribs. "I won't let you get hurt again."
Virgie closed her eyes and vanished, a silver crystal streaked with red appearing in Squall's hands for a moment before it absorbed into his skin.
"Keep her safe," he ordered his GFs as she settled in his mind, small and scared.
'We will do so, Sorcerer,' Bahamut promised as the group crowded around her, blanketing her in the same way they used to do to Squall's magic, but protecting her, rather than holding her back.
Squall leaned down to grab Sheer Trigger, squeezing the familiar grip before he started forward, eyes locked on where Ultimecia was leaning against the wall, wings hanging, broken, behind her. She'd developed a few new cuts across her abdomen and arms, clearly dealt by Seifer, who was standing to one side, out of the way and breathing hard.
"No one," Squall snarled and the gold eyes focussed on him, going wide with something like horror even as one hand raised to cast magic, "hurts my sister!"
Ultimecia's eyes flashed black just before Squall's strike landed, and the room lit with rune-lined circles as Sheer Trigger bit into her chest, directly over her heart.
"Squall!" Seifer shouted as Apocalypse hit and everything went black.
1 - Water in My Eyes ||| 2 - Delusional Sunset ||| 3 - Reach For Your Metal
4 - Carry This Burden Alone ||| 5 - Somewhere Worse Than Here ||| 6 - Bound and Breakin'
7 - Clouds of Sulphur ||| 8 - I Will Be With You ||| 9 - Every Story I Have Told is a Part of Me & You
10 - Burning in the Skies |||
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