Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 8 or its characters. They are ALL copyrighted by Squaresoft. ALL the chapters in this fic follow the same disclaimer!!!! I just own my created characters.

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Chapter 11 – Dreaded Past and Terrifying Future

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"Lemme see!" Selphie wailed as she ran over to Squall and literally tore the gun from his grasp. She eyed it adoringly from every inch and corner until she gave her approval. "Yeppers, its Irvine's alright."

"Go figure……" Squall muttered under his breath, luckily for him, Selphie didn't hear.

"So, what exactly does this mean?" Quistis asked as she slowly got up from her sitting position, trying to resist pain evident in her leg.

Squall quickly surveyed the hut they were in. To the normal eye, it seemed like any ordinary hut – its two twin beds were old, cryptic antiques here and there, etc. However, Squall knew there had to be a catch. 'Why exactly would the enemy leave Irvine's gun out in the open. Was it that he wanted to lure us into a trap by giving us an easy clue? Or was it that he wanted to throw us completely of track, making us head in the wrong direction?'

"Squall! I want to know what you're thinking!" Selphie commanded him.

Sighing, the commander slowly shared his thoughts to Quistis and Selphie, who nodded at both options. A moment of silence existed among the three conscious people as Squall worriedly gazed at an unconscious Rinoa as he let his thoughts run wild, thinking of their next move.

Quistis watched Selphie sigh hopelessly as she fell to her knees, hugging Irvine's metallic shotgun. No matter how much she thought about it, only one answer came to the front of her mind. "Squall, we need to split up." she murmured dryly, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Selphie looked at her surprisingly, while Squall stared in disbelief. "Are you crazy Quistis? For one thing, we have no clue what traps Dragoon has in store for us. Two, they are numerous amounts of monsters that I even haven't seen that Dragoon has to offer. And thirdly, you guys are in no shape to split up the team evenly, with Rinoa unconscious, and you two injured from our previous encounter. And…………"

Quistis put her hand up swiftly, stopping Squall in his tracks. "Look Squall. I know your intentions are good and all, but think of it from a logical point of view. What you said, there are not one, but two options we have to choose from. If we choose one of them together as a big group and are wrong, then we'll no doubt be risking Irvine's life. However, if we split up into two groups and followed both options, we have a much higher chance of saving him."

As much as Selphie wanted to disagree with Quistis, she found her logic to be quite convincing. Selphie did not want to separate from Squall, mostly because he knew what he was doing. However, Squall had made good points before, saying how dangerous it was, but if they were going to find Irvine alive, it would be better to cover more ground. "Squall, Quisty is right. We have to split up. The more ground we cover, the higher the chance we have of finding Irvine."

Looking furiously at Quistis, then to Selphie and back to Quistis, Squall let out an exasperated sigh. They were right. Their main objective at the time was to find Irvine. "But how are we going to break up the group?"

Quistis and Selphie both smiled. Wasn't it obvious to him? "We'll go together." both girls said in unison. "…while you look after Rinoa." Selphie added.

'Damn, I was hoping that would stop them from actually going through with this idea.' Squall had hoped fruitlessly. It was not that he didn't trust them, but from how he saw them battle earlier, he knew they wouldn't stand a chance if they ran into one of Dragoon's more stronger monsters if they continued to fight they way they did against the orcs.

"UGH! Ok, fine, you guys win." Squall grudgingly accepted as he threw his hands in the air in defeat. "But not before letting me give you girls some pointers."

Selphie and Quistis smiled and nodded furiously.

"First of all, never forget to junction yourself. Just forgetting to perform the action lessens your chance for survival by almost one-hundred percent."

From the tone in Squall's voice, both girls knew that if they did disobey Squall's pointers, and if they would still be alive after all this, Squall would probably kill them himself.

"Secondly, avoid battles at all costs. Most of Dragoon's top monsters are as strong as our Guardian Forces, even stronger. I'm pretty sure you witnessed that back as his stronghold at the Lunar Base on the moon."

The girls nodded, patiently waiting for more information that would save them in a tight spot.

"Thirdly, if you ever see anything suspicious, never approach it quickly! Always, and I do mean always, check your perimeter. It can always be a trap. And while on the topic of trap, don't forget about what I told you about Dragoon's ability to create your worst nightmares in the most realistic illusions possible. Yeah, I know – pretty ironic."

Seeing that Squall was finished, Selphie and Quistis went to take leave, stopping short at a call from their leader.

'I don't know how to say this…………' Squall thought in his mind, '…but…' "Please, take care of yourselves out there. I……" Squall choked on his words. Never, never in a million years had he pictured himself actually sharing his feelings with anyone, with the exception of Rinoa, and that was also a sometimes thing.

Both girls smiled with tearful eyes as both gave a reassuring wink towards Squall. "Don't worry 'bout it Squallie!" Selphie exclaimed. "Why would we want to go when we just got you back?"

As they left, both girls thought the same thing. 'Squall has changed………for the better.'

-----*****-----

Seifer stared at the air in utter disbelief. He just could not, would not believe what had just happened. The chicken wuss had disappeared, along with the monster, into thin air. "Just how the fucking HELL could it happen!? I don't understand!!!!!!!!" he exclaimed loudly as he punched his fist hard onto the ground.

Zack looked sympathetically at Seifer. Even though he wasn't as angry as Seifer, he too, was devastated at the loss they had just suffered. Apparently, this Dragoon guy was much stronger than he could ever imagine. Why exactly he took this case, he would never know. But when the Trabia headmaster called him for this mission, he knew he just had to agree………………

"Zack, being the best fighter in Trabia, will you accept this mission?"

Zack looked at the headmaster of Trabia in shock. If he did accept this mission, not only would he have a huge adventure on his hands, but he would also be working with the four SeeDs and the ex-sorceress that were responsible for defeating the wicked witch, Ultimecia, herself. It was an opportunity not to be wasted.

Without any doubt lingering in his mind, he quickly accepted the mission.

Their first battle was intense, and Zack thought they were not going to make it. Whenever he fought, he always held a solemn face and a steady, unemotional mind – it made things much go much smoother in battle for him. Then they retreated, something which Zack hated to do, but knew it was necessary in war sometimes.

Then, when Squall, the man he only heard about in stories, came back from his supposed death, it only rekindled his hope that they would succeed. Sure, some of the stories he heard of Squall depicted him as a seven-foot gun-blade warrior who could make enemies cower in fear with just the look he gave with his cold-hearted eyes.

Even though that was not the picture he saw back at Balamb Garden of Squall, his respect for him didn't waver at all. He knew Squall was just as good. To even re-insure his mind, the gun-blade which Squall owned looked like the one from legends.

And with the little child in his hands, he even seemed to be a caring person, once you looked past his rough exterior. He secretly hoped that he would be teamed up with him – fighting side by side. However, that was not the case………yet at least.

Coming back to reality, Zack just couldn't shake one thing that lingered from the back of his mind. It was like………he belonged to this group; like he should have been there from the beginning with them. However, for some strange reason, he was separated and lived his life separately. He felt a connection to them………more so to one of them than the others, though he didn't know which one. Then again, this all could be a figment of his imagination. Making friends was always hard for him. Everyone he met always ended up with the same view of him – a loner.

Chastising himself quickly for losing focus, Zack currently thought of all the options they had. One – go find the others and tell about the tragedy. However, he quickly checked off that option – more bad news would only lead to more panic.

Two – continue looking for Irvine fruitlessly as they had been so previously. They didn't have any clues whatsoever about his whereabouts, and more than likely, they were wasting time while Irvine's, and now Zell's life hung in the balance. Zack softly shook his head, checking that option off too.

Three – the only other option he could think of; look for Dragoon and more of his monsters. Zack shuddered at the thought. True, looking for either one could lead them to death, but if they were going to have any chance in rescuing Zell and Irvine, they needed to get stronger.

"Seifer, do you have any ideas on our next move." Zack asked solemnly, trying to block all emotions he held within. That was the way of the warrior, he believed.

Seifer angrily stared at the sorry excuse for a gun-blader, and was about to say something about him being heartless, when Zack unexpectedly continued.

"I know what you're going to say Seifer……" the black haired gun-blader said. "……that I'm being heartless and should be worrying about Zell's disappearance and all, but if we do that, then what's the point?"

Seifer, again about to say something, was again interrupted by Zack, who again, unexpectedly continued.

"I think we have to get stronger. Look at what happened when we faced Orgoth the Relentless earlier. We stood no chance at all against him. If we even want to have a hair of a chance to rescue them, we need to be able to overwhelm our opponents. I mean, if we were beaten so easily by Dragoon's minions, just think what would happen if we faced Dragoon himself! Instant death!"

He wanted to say something, but didn't take to effort to try. Seifer knew that Zack wasn't going to stop, and something inside him told him that the raven-haired fellow was talking sense.

"We have to look for monsters, and not the other way around. Let the hunters be the hunted. I believe if we actually ambush these monsters, if possible, we could maybe find out their weaknesses and at the same time, maybe even uncover some valuable information of where Zell and Irvine could be held."

When Zack spoke no more, Seifer slowly contemplated at what his comrade in arms had just said. Smiling to himself, he slowly got up and clutched the Hyperion, his trusty gunblade, and cocked Zack an arrogant smile. He was right. It was time to for the hunted to become the hunters. He was tired of running. "Where do we start Zacky boy?"

Zack, surprised that his logic was being accepted, retuned the arrogant smile with one of his own. "I suggest with those tracks."

Seifer eyed them curiously. 'How come we didn't notice them before?' Deciding to not ruin a good clue, Seifer was about to move when he noticed something. "But they lead out of the village."

Shrugging, Zack also clung to his rose red gunblade, although unnamed. "Whoever said that everything was in Shumi Village?"

Smirking, both men followed the trail. Maybe making friends would not be as hard as it was in the past for Zack. Just maybe he would earn the respect of one, or luckily, all seven.

-----*****-----

Watching the two girls leave the hut, Squall returned his attention towards Rinoa, who seemed to show no improvement in her status. Quickly checking her forehead, he sighed in relief as her fever had tremendously decreased.

'So, what's the next move, master?'

"Nothing…" Squall whispered.

Bahamut was surprised at the answer. 'Nothing……but……'

'We wait until Rinoa recovers. We can't do anything without her.'

Silence followed the two of them for a couple of minutes when a thought that Bahamut had been thinking for awhile came to the forefront of his mind. It was now or never, the beast commanded himself.

'Master……'

'Yeah Bahamut?'

'You're probably going to kill me for keeping this observation a secret for so long, but I believe Mistress Rinoa still has some of her powers within her body.'

Bahamut became worried when Squall gave no answer, not even an acknowledgment to his statement. As he was about to state it again, Squall answered.

'I………I know……'

'But, if you knew……I mean……how…why?'

Exhaling strongly, Squall looked at Rinoa's body, resting their peacefully upon the bed. 'I still feel a bond connecting my mind to her mind just as strongly as I felt it during the battle with Ultimecia; the bond shared between a sorceress and her knight – I still feel it.'

Bahamut knew the "how" answer was going to be the easy part. But for some reason, the answer to the question "why" would take a bit more to answer. The dragon waited patiently.

'I……after Dragoon absorbed the powers from Rinoa, I actually felt happy; happy that my responsibilities as a knight were over. Don't get me wrong Bahamut, I still would have protected her with my life, but there was a huge weight taken off me when I realized that Rinoa would not be subjected to the side effects if I ever failed my role as a knight – going into madness; losing control of her powers; creating a world of chaos – that would never happen to my Rinoa.'

The guardian force was about to say something, when Squall continued to talk.

'Actually, I knew of this fact for awhile.' At this, Bahamut seemed surprised. 'It was before you found me……' Squall trailed of.

'Master, you don't need to go into this if it's about your past.'

Apparently, Squall did not hear Bahamut's opinion, as he continued on with his story. 'It was after the moon explosion. Somehow, I had teleported along with Dragoon to some distant planet; Dragoon's birth planet to be exact as I later found out. In no time at all, Dragoon had me his prisoner. One day, I had managed to escape my cell. Being tortured constantly was no way I wanted to live the rest of my life. I'm only eighteen. Anyway, as I was stealthily walking the corridors, I mistakenly overheard Dragoon talking to someone………someone who gave me great fear for some reason……more fear than Dragoon did.' Squall paused, taking a deep breath. 'Don't ask me why I felt this way, that someone could give me more of a reason to be afraid than Dragoon – again, it was a feeling. Anyway, as I said, I mistakenly overheard Dragoon tell this strange figure that in fact, he did not assimilate all of Rinoa's powers into his body and was one of the reasons why the powers weren't adjusting to his body correctly. He was missing some of them.'

Again, Bahamut thought that his master was finished with his tale, but apparently, Squall was revealing everything, almost like he was in a trance, staring directly at Rinoa.

'I was caught shortly after. Apparently, Dragoon found out I overheard his secret.' Here, Bahamut witnessed Squall as he gulped down hard, still staring at Rinoa however. 'He gave me the ultimate punishment, something worse than death – an injection. I have…………his blood coursing through my veins.'

Shock – the only word that could come close to describe what Bahamut was feeling. His master had always mentioned that he was connected to Dragoon somehow, but in this fashion, he had no idea. Suddenly, he became filled with rage. All he knew was that the next time he came across the fucking son of a bitch, all hell would be raised.

'I……I……' Squall was close to tears, and the crystalline droplets started to form under the brim of his eyes. 'I have some of those sorceress…………sorcerer powers now, to be exact, and it's eating me from the inside out – corrupting me in one sense. That's why I didn't want to come back; that's why I didn't want to reveal myself. I was afraid that I would end up hurting everyone I cared about. But in the end, I knew I had to come back. Knowing that you had remaining powers dormant within yourself, Dragoon would undoubtedly come here to take the rest, no doubt wanting to kill you as well; I had to come.'

Now the guardian force became confused. Who was Squall actually talking to? He surely didn't have any sorcerer powers.

'Dragoon's blood is slowly taking over my body, and in no time, these powers, since he has control over them…………he'll have control over me.'

Bahamut was about to state that Squall had finally lost his mind when, through Squall's eyes, he saw Rinoa awaken. Smiling, he gave the two the privacy they never asked for.

Rinoa quickly started to shed tears as she stared Squall in the eyes. She had no idea what to say. For starters though, she too, knew for so long that she still had powers within herself, but refused to acknowledge their presence, desiring to be a normal young adult, like so many she envied across the world. But no, in the end, it didn't turn out to be that way at all. After all, once a sorceress, always a sorceress, with or without their powers. It was to that end that she unknowingly accepted the cruel fate she was destined to bear alone.

But with the powers came one special gift. For some reason, Rinoa remembered sensing the same bond she could never become tired of – the bond to her knight. She knew of the bond……that it existed……she still felt it……and therefore could never accept the fact that Squall was believed to be dead during those three years he was not by her side. She still felt that bond.

However, that fact was not what she was worried about right now. At last, finally, when she thought she would forever be reunited with her knight……her love……her gentle storm, once again life decided to take him away from her. 'NO!' she fiercely said to herself. 'Not this time. Not now…not ever!'

"Squall………I had no idea." she said between her tears. This was much worse than she could ever imagine. She knew it would be bad – his past – but she soon found it was so much more than she expected it to be.

Her knight smiled forgivingly as he smoothed out her hair. "Well, now you know." he answered back, shedding a few himself.

"But…there has to be a way we can cure you Squall!" With newfound hope, she quickly rose from the bed to sit next to Squall. "There just has to be one!"

Shrugging hopelessly, Squall tried to change the subject. "It doesn't matter anymore. What matters is to res…………"

"Why don't we inject MY blood into your body too!? To combat Dragoon's! After all, I still have some powers left, right?"

Squall was totally surprised at the idea Rinoa conjured. He stared at his angel for awhile before returning to the recesses of his mind. He had strangely never considered the idea. Rinoa's blood within him – to combat Dragoon's. It was a huge long shot. With the blood of two different people – two very different people to be exact– both with the power of sorcery coursing through in their blood – the battle between the two could very much destroy his body. Squall figured the final question went down to whether or not he could endure such a struggle, even at such a crucial time too, with Dragoon on the loose. But on the other hand, he would rather die than follow the commands of Dragoon. Sure, he had thought of suicide a lot, but whenever he came close to a positive decision, Rinoa would always appear in his mind, and that alone, was another reason to stay alive – to protect her.

Nodding slowly, Squall agreed with the idea. "Rinoa, it's a long shot, but it might just work. But we can't do it at the moment."

"Why not!?" she exclaimed incredulously. "We need to do this NOW. Don't think I'm letting you go Squall Leonhart. I did once, and it almost killed me. It's a mistake I'm never going to perform again. Right here, right now. Blood transfusion. Let's go!" And to prove she was not kidding around, Rinoa rolled up her sleeve and stuck her arm right in front of Squall's face.

Chuckling, Squall found himself becoming ever more optimistic about his chances to survive. Before, it was close to nil – now, after Rinoa – it was near the other end of the spectrum. "Rinoa, I would love to. But we don't have any of the tools, and if we do this transfusion right now, we both would be inactive for a while, leaving us easy prey for Dragoon. You would be tired from a loss of blood while my body would be adjusting to the new presence within myself. It's not a smart move."

Hearing the blunt truth for herself, Rinoa gradually agreed with Squall. It was pretty reckless of her to think they could do this right now, in the midst of all the tension surrounding them. She mentally smacked herself for being so childish. It seemed that despite the fact Squall was more open about his feelings than before, he still held onto a great amount of maturity and calmness – something Rinoa would have to obtain soon too, she figured.

She nodded. "Kay. But what are we going to do in the meantime." For the first time, Rinoa looked around the hut. "Hey, where are Selphie and Quistis?"

"Not here." Squall simply stated.

Rinoa instantly became furious with the short answer. 'Not here!? That could mean anything! Absolutely anything!' "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Sighing, Squall explained what had happened earlier, and how Quistis and Selphie chose to split up themselves. After he was done, Rinoa's expression did not change much.

"And you let them go!? WHY?!"

"Hey! It was two on one and plus, they were so adamant about it." Squall nervously stated, putting up his hands in defense. "And you can't say their wrong, because they're right. It was the only way we could find Irvine the fastest. And speaking of finding Irvine, we better start heading out ourselves."

Rinoa nodded. Thinking it through, her friends were right. If they were going to save Irvine, it would be better to cover more ground. And with less to a party, the less they could be seen. "Alright, but where are we going to head to?"

As the couple walked outside of their hut, they were met by a barren wasteland that contained no life whatsoever. Just as Squall felt his spirits were at a high, just seeing this land made him depressed as hell. "Around here. Selphie and Quistis went further on ahead."

Without much hesitation, Rinoa readied her projectile weapon, Shooting Star, and followed Squall into the neighboring hut across from the one they stayed in. Again, unbeknownst to Rinoa, Squall had not unsheathed his gun-blade. As both entered the hut, they found it to be a bit larger than the one they had rested at. For one thing, there was only one bed, besides two, more antiques on shelves here and there and other useless household products……at least for Shumi's that is.

"I wonder why the huts at the back end of the village weren't burned down as the ones in the front." Rinoa pondered out loud as she made sure she stayed no more than five feet away from Squall.

"Who knows?"

Rinoa shrugged at the answer. She was about to call the search quits when something in the corner of her eye caught something. She would never have noticed it concealed in the darkness if not for the firefly that casually flew past it; a closet. 'Why in the world would a closet be doing in a hut?'

Moving towards it, she found it already to be opened and even more surprising to her, found it only to contain a ladder, leading to what she could only fathom as an underground passage. Beckoning instantly for Squall, he came within the second and smiled. "Bingo."

Slowly, the two climbed down, Squall being the first one to check if the passage, or whatever the ladder gave away to, was safe. Confirming, he softly called Rinoa down.

Once the couple was situated safely into the secret passage, Squall looked ahead. What light was apparent quickly died deeper into the passage. Looking at the walls, they were clearly underground, with walls made of dirt confirming that observation.

"Guess we need some light, huh?" Rinoa stated as she muttered something that Squall had no clue what it meant. Sounded like an ancient language of some sort and he could only guess that Rinoa was muttering some type of spell. Soon enough, a small flame appeared in front of her.

"That's a handy trick."

"Yep. Now, shall we?" Rinoa asked.

Smiling, he led the way, with Rinoa instantly grabbing hold of Squall's hand. The flame moved as Rinoa did, always staying a few feet away from her to light up the way. However, they didn't have to go far when something much unexpected caught both Squall's and Rinoa's eyes on the floor.

"A………toy flashlight?" Squall murmured as he picked it up. "What in the world would it be doing in a place like this?"

Rinoa shrugged as she took the toy and held it closer to the flame. For some reason, it clicked instantly in her mind. "It looks like the one Laguna bought Kari on our last trip to Esthar."

Squall smiled at the mention of his daughter. For some reason, he couldn't help but to think of her as the perfect little angel, just like her mother. When the rational part of his mind start to kick up again, it was strange. The inhabitants of Shumi Village were so advanced in the use of magic; they just could have used Fire to light up the way. And it was kind of hard to conceive a Shumi walking into an Esthar toy shop to buy a toy flashlight for their child. It was even harder to imagine one of Dragoon's monsters harboring such a thing.

Like the sudden sound of a gunshot, Squall found that his next thought could very much make total sense. If Rinoa had likened the toy to one Kari owned…………it could very well mean one thing.

"Rinoa………" Squall breathed with much fear evident in his voice as he risked a glance to her. From what he saw, he knew Rinoa was thinking the same exact thing.

"Kari………………no…"

-----*****-----

From the second he was thrown into the cell, he had constantly given the monster guards a headache. The stupid SeeD prisoner would not shutup! What made it worse, he didn't even seem scared of them, and didn't seem to tire from his constant barrage of yells and threats he made to them. The first prisoner surely didn't make this much noise. The first one just kept to his corner position in the cell with his head down, depressed as hell, like he had nothing else worth living for in life.

The monster finally had enough, "AAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHH!" he loudly roared, hoping to terrify the pants of the worthless human. And for a minute there, the monster thought he had succeeded when no sound came from him. Smiling, the monster regained his composure when the threats started to happen all over again.

"You just wait you fucking piece of shit till I get out of here. The first thing I will do you beat you so bad that it still be aching for years to come!"

'This human just won't shut up.' About to barge into the cell and break every single bone in his body, the monster stopped when he felt a powerful presence descending in the dungeon. Quickly regaining his self-control, the monster bowed down to his mistress.

Out of the corner of his eye, the monster noticed the worthless human becoming wide-eyed as the monster smelt immense fear starting to emanate from him.

"Your……your……your supposed to be dead!" the human stammered out.

The monster only saw his mistress smile devilishly as he suddenly revealed a pathetic little human child in her arms.

This seemed to get the human adult to shut up for the moment. And for once, the first prisoner had a reaction too, of shock, as he saw the little human child. "How…!?"

His mistress had a devilish smile upon her lips as she pretended to rock the child back and forth. She rubbed the human child's cheek ever so gently……almost too gently for the monster's liking, but that seemed to get more of a reaction from not only the annoying human, but the quiet one as well.

The monster's mistress eyed both humans piercingly before retreating with the human child in her arms. The monster had no clue what had just happened, but as long as the humans stayed quiet, he didn't care.

Both human prisoners, for the first time, truly felt terrified for the future. "Irvine……is…everything……she……going to be alright?" the monster heard one of the prisoners say, although the monster had no clue what it meant.

The other prisoner's reply, "I hope so Zell. For their sake, I hope so."

Author's Notes: Heheheh……*looks around nervously.*

Yep, let me start of my saying I'm terribly sorry for the very, very late update of Eternal Struggle II, but if you read my profile, you'd know that this school year, I just started college, and yeah, everything there has been very hectic. Gotta keep up with my studies if you know what I mean. Anyway, here is chapter 12.

As for notes about this chapter, it took me the greater part of winter break to actually remember where I wanted to go with this story, but finally knew what I wanted to do. This chapter reveals Squall's past - at least some of it and his mysterious connection with Dragoon. I hope that proved to be interesting. I already have some good stuff set up for the next chapter. But with updating that, eh, I don't know how fast exactly I'll be able to do that. If not before January 20th, then no earlier than mid March will I be able to update = spring break.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll hope you leave your thoughts about it in a form of a review, ^_^.

Don't worry - this fic will be complete and Eternal Struggle III will still come.

Until then,
vindemon64