Gevurah
---KumoDango

Tales of the Abyss belongs to Namco, Final Fantasy VIII belongs to Squeenix.

Spoilers for the end of ToA and FFVIII.

Gold.

Everything was bathed in gold light. But Luke didn't mind, it wasn't the same gold that shone on his fingertips when he used a hyperresonance and he certainly didn't feel the normal fear whenever he used one. No, this was different. It felt…warm and he felt loved. Cherished even.

It also gave Asch a healthy skin glow, not the ash gray face he had seen earlier when he caught Asch when he fell on top of the fonic glyph bubble. Gold swirled around the bottom of the glyph and manifested into a shape in front of Luke, half twisting to maintain a body image yet half fading into a mass of gold.

So the world did not vanish. To think, that the world I saw would be rewritten. You have done admirably.

Luke smiled and shook his head. It wasn't just him that changed Auldrant. Ion, Peony, Uncle, and his friends all helped together to abolish the Score. He couldn't have done it without them and…he wouldn't have made it to Van without the help of Asch.

Asch.

It didn't feel right. Why was he granted the right to be alive while his original was not? Didn't we promise? That you'd come back otherwise Natalia and I would never stop grieving? Luke tightened his hold on the lifeless body in his arms. Another promise broken. Who would marry and lead Kimlasca with Natalia?

Fragment of my light, do not grieve

Luke looked up, confused. Lorelei was suppose to go back to the fon belt right after he released him. Why was he still here? Luke felt a little self-cautious, he didn't like to show weakness in front of anyone, be it humans or entities.

My scion is not yet dead

Luke jerked his head in surprise. But Asch was dead! He saw it himself through their connection. The way Asch suddenly grasped his chest in pain, and those damn Oracle Knights taking advantage of his weakness and stabbing him with swords not once, but three times. But Asch in a fit of rage killed all of them before collapsing against the white pillar. He whispered to Luke the rest was up to him and he just…died. Luke saw trails of gold leaving Asch's body going into him. Asch's hyperresonance. He felt Asch inside him, granting him the power to use the second-order hyperresonance.

No, it is not both of your time to end. There is still a way. Trust me.

Lorelei went closer circling around Luke and Asch. Closer and closer until Luke couldn't see Asch but could still feel him in his arms. Trust me. Luke did. He didn't want his life to end like this. Both he and Asch had promises to keep.

This time lacks the seventh fonons needed. We must go somewhere else.

Luke closed his eyes, falling in the sea of gold. He allowed his body to finally rest. Gold light exploded in Eldrant and he felt Lorelei guide him and Asch soaring up into the sky and into the fon belt. He didn't feel scared; if it was Lorelei there was defiantly a way to save Asch. So for now, Luke rested.

I trust you.

"Booyaka!"

Squall rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. Next to him, he could hear Rinoa giggle. It was stifling in Balamb Garden, so Selphie proposed to hunt around Island Closest to Hell since the Gnats and T-Rexaurs in the training facility had become too easy to kill.

"Blizzaga!"

And down goes another Blue Dragon. Zell was fighting a Grendel with Quistis as his magic support. Zell was just flying over the place punching and kicking the Grendel where ever, to Squall it seemed like Quistis was having a hard time trying not to shoot Zell accidently with a magic spell. Irvine and Selphie were having fun taunting a Ruby Dragon with Squall and Rinoa as their back-up. Not that they needed it, from the looks of it Selphie was enjoying making the dragon angry.

Every time the Ruby Dragon would cast Firaga Selphie would counter it with Reflect. The Ruby Dragon then cast Reflect on itself, hoping to foil the enemy's plan. However it didn't expect Selphie's and Irvine's plan. Selphie managed to angle the Reflect spell just so, that the Firaga spell flew to Irvine's direction.

So now Squall and Rinoa watched as the duo played ping-pong while the dragon watched confusedly and angrily that its own spell was being toyed with. SeeD were suppose to be professional mercenaries, yet here were one of them acting like a small kid.

It didn't even make sense to Squall either. Reflect was only suppose to reflect one magic spell only once back at the enemy. What are Trabia Garden teaching SeeD candidates nowadays, thought Squall a tiny bit amused.

It was nice to see everyone having fun and all, but considering that this is a Ruby Dragon Squall felt the need to be concerned. He still remembered how much their claws hurt when the gang found the Deep Sea Research Center and fought two Ruby Dragons after answering those damn life philosophy questions. Then fought the King of the Dragons himself, Bahamut.

But considering how confused the dragon looked while Selphie and Irvine fooled around, Squall couldn't summon any concern for the crazy duo. He smirked to himself; he doubted anything could beat them. After all, they did survive Time Compression and defeated Ultimecia. Ruby Dragon is like a Bite Bug compared to the sorceress.

Zell walked over to the couple, cleaning his hands from the blood of the Grendal. "They sure look like they're having fun."

"Fun is good and all, but they really should kill the Ruby Dragon before it harms them." Quistis said shaking her head. "At the rate they're going, they'll never stop."

Rinoa giggled. "Any volunteers?"

Squall raised a hand and focused. It would take more than a simple spell to take down the Ruby Dragon, seeing how Selphie and Irvine didn't even do any damage to the monster. Gesturing towards the ruby-monster he called forth his most trusted ally, Come Shiva-

"Look out!"

Startled by Rinoa's warning, he quickly jumped back away from the dragon with everyone else following his move. A golden pillar of light came from the sky blinding everyone. Squall threw up an arm to shield his eyes and tried to see through the light. The Ruby Dragon gave a huge roar before disintegrating into orbs of gold drifting up into the sky.

Zell brought everyone's attention back to the ground. "Wh-what the hell is that!?"

The spot where the dragon disintegrated was occupied by a huge dome of golden light, the same one that killed the Ruby Dragon. Squall looked a bit more closely at the dome, it seemed to be pulsing with life. It receded getting smaller and smaller until two forms could be seen.

Selphie gasped. "It's people! People are in there!"

True to her words, the gold faded and two young men could be seen. Both had long deep red hair but one wore white clothing, although stained with blood and gold lining. The other wore black with red and silver lining.

They both had their eyes closed and would've looked like they were sleeping if it wasn't for the puddle of blood slowly spreading beneath the two figures and the death grip the white-clothed man had on the other. Squall did a double-take, their faces…it was far too alike. Perhaps they were twins.

"Wait," Squall stopped Selphie before she could rush forward to the people. "We don't know if they're dangerous or not."

"Come on Squall," protested Irvine. "What harm could they possibly do to us?"

"Do you want to end up like the Ruby Dragon?"

"…Good point."

"But we can't let them bleed to death!" Rinoa said, noticing the alarming rate of blood.

"Let me scan them," Quistis got in position to cast Scan. "If they aren't monsters, we save them. Agreed?" Everyone nodded. Quistis motioned towards the bleeding pair, sending the scanning magic hoping to gain information on them. She weaved the blue strands around the pair, probing, searching but only to be blocked painfully by a barrier.

You shall not hurt them!

A pulse of energy knocked everyone off their foot. Quistis fell clutching her head. "Ah!"

"Quistie!" Selphie rushed towards the blond. She helped the blond up casting curative magic to help ease away the headache. She waved off her friend's hands and stood up.

"I'm fine, thank you, Selphie," Quistis smiled in reassurance to the brunette. She gazed curiously at the redheads. Pulses of energy were still blasting from the pair but not strong enough to knock everyone off their feet again. It just had enough energy to prevent anyone from getting close, even magic.

"They're not monsters, just humans. That's all I know, something was blocking my way. It seemed protective, not hostile." She said quickly, not to cast any suspicion. "It's like…they're afraid something will happen to them."

Summon me.

"Shiva?" Squall said confused. It was rare for a Guardian Force to talk to their summoner. They were usually a quiet presence in the back of their minds; they rarely mingle in mortal affairs. The entities only spoke when they agreed to be summoned to lend aid in battle.

There is no time to explain. Summon me!

Squall raised his hand and focused summoning the ice goddess. Ignoring the stares of his comrade, he put his palm facing the strangers and beckoned the ice maiden. "I summon thee. Come, Shiva!" Squall felt the familiar energy well up inside him welling up and leaving from his outstretched arm.

Shards of ice burst from the ground. A lone figure could be seen inside. The woman opened her eyes, flicked her wrist and she broke free from her prison. The woman was completely blue – hair, skin, everything- and had an air of a royalty. Squall and the others were a bit surprised to see the normally inadequate clothed summon actually dressed. She had an ice-blue skirt cape and a translucent shawl around her arms that seemed to defy gravity.

The SeeDs noticed the energy pulses stopped. The white-clad boy opened his eyes at the new presence around him. The others could see him loosen his grip as he peered curiously at Shiva.

"Pretty." Selphie commented softly, entranced by the newly revealed gold eyes. It seemed to radiate a soft glow from where she stood.

"Lorelei." Rinoa fidgeted with the two rings on her necklace when Shiva spoke. The name felt familiar but she couldn't put a finger on it. She didn't have time to dwell on it as a golden light flashed breaking Rinoa from her thoughts.

"Undine." An unworldly voice came from the young man. But that wasn't all, the golden light came back but instead of blinding the gang or sending shockwaves of energy, it merely glowed gently around the talking redhead. "No…you are not Undine. You are half of her."

"It's like he's possessed by that light." Zell whispered. He continued when he felt everyone looking at him. "I mean look, there's something off about the guy."

"I agree." Rinoa felt a hand drawing her close to a comforting body. She looked up, Squall's eyes asked for more information. "There's something else there, something far more ancient then all of the Guardian Forces."

"You think it's a new Guardian Force?" Asked Quistis.

"Let's listen." Squall suggested. He was curious, he didn't think it was a new GF. He had never heard of a GF acquiring such a realistic human form. He and his comrades moved in closer to listen better to the conversation.

Shiva answered Lorelei. "Yes, Leviathan holds the other half of Undine's powers. But I go not as Undine anymore, I go by as Shiva." She looked sadly at her kin. "My brethren, why are you here? You are not of this time."

"It was the only way." Lorelei sighed mournfully. "The world that I had foreseen has been changed, but with that change the world weakened significantly." The seventh fonon entity stroked lovingly at his mirror image. "I owe much to these two. I could not leave my scions to perish. It was easier to revive my fragments here, for the seventh fonons are much more abundant. "

"They are the ones that abolished the Score." Shiva stated impressed. "But how will you save them? You and they are not of this time. They're eternally damned to stay here."

Lorelei shook his head. "If you are here, Undine's half, then Origin should be here as well. "

"Excuse me," Rinoa interrupted gently. The two gods stared back at the sorceress. "Could you save this talk for later? You're still bleeding." True to Rinoa's words, the puddle of blood that formed underneath Lorelei had gotten a little bit bigger as the two gods were conversing.

"Ah, a descendent of Hyne." Lorelei smiled at Rinoa, and then turned his gaze to Squall. "And her knight. It is a pleasure. "

"I had forgotten, in my haste to revive my fragment I had forgotten to heal him as well." He bowed his head to Shiva. "My time is almost over, maintaining a conscience here is harder than I thought. I leave my fragments in your care. They will know how to find me."

The gold light that was surrounding the redhead disappeared. Weary emerald eyes opened and looked upon Squall and the others. The young man then widens his eyes in panic, his head moving frantically as if searching for something. He moved to stand up, but he noticed that something was lying on his lap, he looked down.

"Asch." The young man whispered. The others watched as he raised a shaking hand to check for a heartbeat. He smiled. "Good. He's still alive." The man slumped over.

"Curaga!" The warm healing light surrounded the redheads, closing any wounds for now. The temporary first aid would do until they would bring the duo to Balamb Garden. Assured that the redheads would live, Squall faced his summon.

"Shiva, what did you mean by the Score? Who is Lorelei?" He demanded.

"Even I do not know the full details." Shiva's figure started fade. "His fragments will clarify when they awaken." Squall felt Shiva settle back in his mind. It seemed that after Lorelei left, she resumed her usual attitude about mortal affairs.

"Let's bring them back to Balamb Garden." Squall sighed. He really hated the unknown; he could feel the headache coming. "We'll get our answers then."

I'd never thought I'd do a cross-over story, but this one just came to me.

There were some aspects of FFVIII that made me think, "Hey, this and this looks like something in ToA!" Then I started day-dreaming. I wasn't really sastified with ToA's ending cause you didn't know which one came back. I really wanted both of them to come back, so I theorized this: The light that shot up into the air, what if it was Lorelei bringing Luke and Asch to another place? To be revived and heal so they could come back?

And then there was FFVIII's ending. I really wanted Squeenix to make another Laguna-Squall interaction, cause the hints of them being father and son and the whole Rinoa being a sorceress. Squall's still the commander right? Isn't it is duty to kill sorceress? But if I added that into this story, I'll never complete it. So I'll just be content on finishing ToA's ending. =insert smiley face=

I have the rest of the chapters to still write and I apologize if my theories contradict something other things. I just wanted to write this out, and actually create a story with a plot instead of drabbles.

Which reminds me, I need to write another drabble for Loving Snow. Oops.