Final Fantasy and all related trademarks belong to Squaresoft. The story, its original contents and ideas, and any original characters belong to the author and cannot be used or reprinted without the authors permission.

Author's Notes:

This was one of my older fics, but I've gone through and revised some of its contents, mainly at its earlier stages.

It's an original story centered on Final Fantasy 8's summoned creatures, the GFs, although it will also include summons from the Final Fantasy games 6-10, Tactics and possibly future games as well. For simplicity's sake, they'll all be referred to as 'GFs', whether they appeared in FF8 or not.

Awakening

By nightdragon0

Hey there, my name's Glenn.

What can I say? I'm 18 and I'm your typical college school student. Class, lectures, hanging out with friends, sports.

I've always considered myself as being a little on the wild side. Haha, I'm always on the lookout for the thrill of things.

I could say that my life was pretty normal...but that was a long time ago.

Otherwise, I wouldn't be sitting here listening to the voice of a dragon in my head right now. Yes, he's a real dragon, named Bahamut. He's got a nasty attitude, can blow stuff up just by opening his mouth and has a head full of hot air.

Sounds unbelievable? It gets better when I say that we're really two souls within the same body.

Now, I ask you, do you want to know more? Join me then, on this journey and discover...when fantasy becomes reality...

This is my story...my Final Fantasy...

"Ah, this is the life." Glenn muttered letting the breeze blow through his blond hair. He was taller than most his age, strong built and muscular.

He was in his favorite outfit, black jeans and a blue T-shirt. Over it was a black jacket and on his hands a pair of fingerless gloves.

"Yeah, nice place huh?" Ashley added in. Beautiful, black shoulder length hair, slim built with an almost flamboyant air around her.

She was dressed in a blue pair of denim shorts and a brown short sleeveless shirt that left her stomach uncovered. A green sweater was also tied around her waist.

However, the phrase 'looks can be deceiving' certainly applied to her. For someone who looked like they could show up on the cover of a magazine, she was a hardcore outdoors sportswoman.

Also currently 18, she and Glenn had been friends since childhood.

The pair had taken the weekend off and traveled out to a popular camping/trekking site on the outskirts of their home town. It was not only a good chance to get away from the bustling city, but spend some time with each other as well.

Although it certainly wasn't allowed, the pair had strayed from the marked paths to do some exploring on their own.

Then, they came to a cliff overlooking the sea where they decided to take a break. Glenn was looking over the side when he noticed something strange on the rocky outcropping.

"Ashley! Over here!"

"What did you find, Glenn?" Ashley asked as she came over.

"I think it's a cave, just a few feet below this cliff." Glenn pointed.

Ashley squinted, being careful to get a good footing at the edge.

"I think you're right."

"Let's check it out!" Glenn suggested.

"Er, I don't know…"

"Come on!" Glenn was already digging his backpack for a rope, "It'll be OK! This cliff isn't gonna collapse anytime soon!"

"Hmmm...guess you're right." Ashley agreed. "So let's…"

"Hey! Ashley!" Came another voice.

Glenn turned to see a familiar couple running towards them.

"Aldrea?! Oh man it's great to see you!" Ashley ran up and gave the other girl a hug.

"Hey, it's great to see you too! How have you been?"

As the girls continued chatting excitedly, Glenn waved to the man who was coming up.

"Yo Brad!"

"Hi Glenn."

They shook hands. Brad was an African-American, dark skinned and had shaved bald. Glenn recalled that this big, strong 20-year-old was a national swimmer. He wore a black shirt, green jeans and a green vest with multiple pockets.

The girl, Aldrea, was Chinese. She had fair skin, a spotless complexion and the same shade of hair as Ashley. They were even the same age, with the same birth date. She was dressed in a matching long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans.

They too had been childhood friends, but had moved to different towns.

"Quite coincidental meeting you two out here." Brad commented.

"Yeah." Glenn smiled. "Strange how things work out, eh?"

"So what are you doing? Stepping over the 'Please Keep to the marked paths' sign?"

"Erm...hehehe..." Glenn muttered nervously, scratching his head.

"Isn't that what you're doing too?" Ashley shot back.

"Yeah, well, we are actually." Aldrea laughed. "I'm taking some photos for a project I'm doing about rock formations and I saw this cavern from higher up on the road."

"Oh, this one?" Glenn gestured to the opening below them. "Why settle for just the outside when we can get some inside shots as well? Come on, give us a hand!"

"Let's just make it quick." Brad nodded.

It didn't take long for them to secure a rope around a thick tree and climb down.

The cave was a lot bigger than it looked. Everyone could stand up straight without hitting their heads. As Glenn shone his flashlight around, a faint glitter caught his eye.

"Guys!" he called, picking the shinning object up. "Hmmm…somebody lose their change or something?"

It did indeed look like a coin, but Glenn never got a chance to inspect it in detail.

When the group gathered around him, the floor abruptly gave way, sending the four adventurers plunging into darkness.

"Ow! Man!" Glenn awoke with a terrible ache in his head. "Hey! Everyone all right?"

One by one, the others responded positively.

"Where are we?" Aldrea wondered. The room was very dark, lit only by the glow of Brad's flashlight, also the only one remaining. She stepped back and felt a cold touch on her shoulder. Reaching up, she touched it.

It was a claw.

Aldrea screamed so loudly that the others spun round in shock. Brad shone the light, revealing it was…a statue.

"Don't scare us like that!" Brad said angrily. "We have enough things to worry about already!"

"Sorry." She gasped, placing her hand over her heart.

"But what's a statue doing here?" Glenn asked. "Some light please."

The first impression Glenn got was 'dragon'. It about a head and chest taller than him, standing on two legs, wings spread out, tail outstretched. It was built quite like a human, forelimbs shorter with five fingers, hind limbs longer, ending in three toed claws. It looked like it walked on two legs normally. The face was the standard dragon type: elongated muzzle, jaws, teeth, curved horns at the back of its head.

Glenn shook his head. He was pretty into fantasy novels, but this was just a statue. Why should he be thinking so much about it?

"Hey, there are more!" Brad shouted, moving the light. One that looked like a horse, one a bird and one that looked like some sort of oversized snake.

Glenn looked back to the dragon statue and ran his hand across its stone face. It almost felt…alive?

There was a sudden flash of light. Everyone cried out in surprise. It had come from the other side of the room.

"Over there!" Ashley pointed.

One of the 'rocks' on the ground was actually a large, prism-shaped crystal covered by dirt.

"What the?!" Glenn muttered, walking over to it. "Looks like these are some pieces broken out of it. Let me see if I can put them back."

"We shouldn't be wasting time." Brad urged.

"Yeah, I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this." Aldrea agreed.

"Chill man, this won't take long." Glenn insisted. "I'm an expert at these puzzle games and...there!"

All of a sudden, the entire cavern was engulfed in a bright flash, causing everyone to instinctively shield their eyes.

Then, a figure stepped out from behind the crystal, having seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He was extremely tall and wore a helmet over his head. The rest of his body was hidden beneath his huge black cloak. The helmet was plain, with only a single slit for the eyes and a pair of horns on the back.

Glenn felt a shiver go down his spine. No one else spoke a word; they were all too terrified. Something was seriously wrong. This figure didn't even feel human at all.

Glenn backed off until he hit the statue of the dragon. He heard an inhuman growl, then a roar from the cloaked figure. It lunged straight for him!

"Glenn!" Ashley shouted.

"Arrghhhhh!" Glenn was screaming. At the same time, he felt something move.

The stone claw of the dragon vibrated, then shattered.

Underneath was a real claw.

The rest of the stone covering broke off and the real, life dragon roared and intercepted the cloaked figure with a punch to the face, sending him flying back to the other side of the room.

Glenn watched in awe as his protector stepped out in front of him and shook the last bits of stone fragments off his wings. Glenn had been on his knees and crawled back several steps as the dragon's fierce gaze met his. The dragon held out a claw to him.

"Are you all right?" The dragon spoke with a voice that was fierce, strong and confident.

"Yes. Thank you." Was all Glenn could manage. The dragon had meant to help him up, but Glenn couldn't find the strength to raise his trembling hand.

"Hahahahahah!" The figure on the other side of the room let out an eerie laugh. His voice seemed to reverberate throughout the room.

"You still have a weak spot for the pathetic humans, Bahamut."

"And you, Dynaock, are still all talk!" Bahamut roared, pointing a finger. "Show some fight this time!!"

"Bahamut…" Glenn whispered in disbelief.

"Stay behind me." Bahamut hissed. "This will get ugly."

Glenn nodded and sprinted to the others, who had gathered at the back of the cave.

With a thunderous roar, Bahamut threw himself onto his opponent. They engaged in a vicious fist-to-claw fight.

"Jeez..." Aldrea whispered. "What is going on here?"

"I haven't the slightest idea." Brad muttered.

More sounds of shattering stone caused the group to look up. The remaining three statues had come to life as well.

The horse with a coat as white as snow. Its mane and tail were as blue as the sky. A single, golden spiraled horn protruded from the center its forehead, making it technically a unicorn.

The bird was like a large eagle, except it seemed to have feathers made of fire. In addition, its tail fathers were all the seven colors of the rainbow.

The last one was a huge serpent with wings at the center of its snake-line body. Its body was colored Ocean blue.

The unicorn charged, lowering its head and aiming its horn. Bahamut saw it and dove away, allowing his comrade to ram Dynaock. Though he was able to avoid being impaled by the horn, the force of the blow knocked him back.

The firebird screeched and launched a pair of fireballs from the tips of its wings. The serpent reared up and fired off a stream of water from its mouth. Dynaock drew a sword from his robes and deflected both attacks away from him.

"Humph. I have no time to play games with you and your friends." Dynaock sneered. "So much precious time has been lost. Farewell!"

With that, he flew up and smashed through the ceiling, sending bits of rock flying everywhere.

"Get back here coward!" Bahamut roared. He spread his wings and flew up, attempting to follow.

"Bahamut, wait!" The firebird screeched.

Too late, Bahamut hit some unseen force, which roughly threw him back to the ground.

"We were sealed here, remember?" The unicorn said in a distinctively female voice. "There's no way for us to leave."

"Grrrrr. You're right." Bahamut muttered as he got up, dusting himself off. "But they can..."

He was looking at the four humans, huddled over in the corner.

"Don't be afraid..." The unicorn said gently. "We're not here to harm you."

"I'm quite sure they're sincere about it." Brad said. "They did save our lives, after all."

The others nodded.

Aldrea stepped up to the unicorn.

"Wow..." She gasped. "You're the most beautiful horse I've ever seen."

"Actually, I'm a unicorn." She replied, shaking her mane from side to side. "That is also my name. Pure, graceful and fast, so naturally I should be the most beautiful unicorn you've seen."

"Sorry, she's like that sometimes." Came the voice of the firebird. It was female too. "I'm Phoenix , the bird of fire."

"Call me Leviathan." The winged serpent introduced himself. "The guardian of the sea."

"I, as you may already know, am Bahamut. The king of dragons."

"We thought you guys were, you know, just legends." Ashley staggered.

"But what are you guys anyway?" Brad inquired.

"We were given many names throughout the ages; Espers, Summonings, Eidolons, Mystic Beasts." Bahamut growled. "Call us what you will."

"For now, you might prefer the term Guardian Forces, or GF. However, we can save this for later." Phoenix spoke. "There is a matter of great importance that we must discuss."

"Yeah, who was that maniac that attacked us?" Glenn asked, shivering. "He really creeped me out."

"Dynaock may seem to be somewhat human." Leviathan answered. "But this is true in appearance only. He is really an ancient sorcerer from times unknown who has terrorized many worlds with his forbidden Chaos magic."

"Centuries ago..." Bahamut explained. "There once was a gateway between our home dimension and yours. Dynaock's plan was to conquer and rule both worlds. My people fought and drove him out of our world. When he fled into your realm, the four of us pursued him."

"Why not a whole army?" Brad asked.

"Back then, we were at dispute with the humans. We had been summoned over the ages to fight alongside them, and yet, as time passed, the humans begun to fear us. The rest of our people would not risk their lives to save your race, but the four of us would not be turned away. Even as the gateway to our home world closed behind us, we continued to fight."

"We fought to protect those who despised us." Unicorn said sadly. "The humans who feared what was different, what they did not understand."

"That's a sad truth about us." Aldrea sighed.

"At war with both the humans and Dynaock, we were unable to destroy him. Finally, we led him here and used the powers of the crystal you see there." Bahamut pointed to the glowing crystal on the other side of the room. "To seal away both ourselves and our enemy. Until a certain someone so happened to go messing around with it."

Everyone glared at Glenn.

"What?! How was I supposed to know?! It's not like there's a 'Do Not Touch' sign on it or something!"

"Wouldn't have mattered, you never read signs anyway." Ashley said to herself.

"We're not blaming you kid." Unicorn replied, stepping forward. "But now he has managed to break his bonds and escape, while we remain here, confined by our own actions."

"That is why we need your help." Phoenix said with a determined look in her eyes.

"But what can we do against him?" Ashley asked.

"You must allow us to inhabit your bodies." Phoenix explained. "In a process known as junctioning. Not only will it enable us to leave this place when you do, but we will be able to appear and battle Dynaock when necessary."

"We will do nothing to affect your free will," Unicorn said, "but the choice is still yours."

The four humans looked at one another.

"Hey guys," Glenn spoke up, "this may be moving it a bit too fast, but since they asked so nicely, let's do it!"

"I certainly will not abandon others in need to aid." Aldrea added in.

"I'm in it with you guys!" Ashley smiled.

"So am I." Brad finished, "Well, what are we waiting for?"

"You have our deepest gratitude." Unicorn nodded. "First, we'll need to pair up."

Aldrea stepped up to Unicorn.

"My family owns a horse ranch out in the country. I guess I'd feel most comfortable with you." She reached out hand. "May I?"

Unicorn nodded and let Aldrea stroke her mane.

"You've really got to tell me how you got your mane this neat! Even my dad's best horses aren't half this good!"

"We'll have plenty of time to talk about it." Unicorn smiled. "Anyway, my powers are based on healing. I have a special ability known as Healing Horn."

"I consider the water my second home." Brad spoke up. "So I think it wouldn't be so bad to get the sea snake as a partner."

"I'll choose to take that as a compliment." Leviathan replied. "I bring with me the wrath of the seven seas into combat. Tsunami is my special attack."

The winged serpent stretched out the tip of his tail. Brad was confused for a second, and then he laughed and shook it with his hand.

"Fire huh?" Ashley muttered, looking over Phoenix. "Beautiful..."

"...Yet deadly." The fiery bird finished. "It's pretty obvious, but I'm a fire elemental. My Phoenix Flame technique can be used to heal as well as harm."

She spread her wings, sending a shower of sparkling embers drifting to the ground. Almost instantly, it was as if there was some unspoken sense of understanding between the pair.

"Partners?" Ashley winked.

"Partners."

"So, you're rrrrrreally the king of the dragons?" Glenn walked up and tapped Bahamut in his scale-covered chest.

"Don't push your luck human." The dragon growled. "My attack is the Mega Flare. Its very name strikes fear in the hearts of my enemies. It rips apart all who dare to oppose me…"

"Ignore his babbling, that's what he says to everyone." Phoenix cut in.

Bahamut nearly fainted, but managed to regain his composure.

"I know the feeling pal." Glenn reached up and patted him on the shoulder.

"They're actually more alike than they look." Ashley laughed.

"And what's that supposed to mean?!" both Glenn and Bahamut shouted simultaneously. When they realized it, they turned and glared angrily at each other.

Everyone else burst out laughing.

"Fine, but then I get to be leader here!"

"Whatever, but I'm still in charge here!"

Again, the pair found themselves glaring at each other.

"Stop copying everything I say!!"

The laughing continued.

"Personality is personality I guess." Unicorn commented. "But back to business here. Hold hands…or well…whatever appendages you've got!"

So it was hands to horns, wings, tails and claws. Each of the humans felt a slight jolt going through their bodies.

"That's it?" Glenn asked. He reached down and found a pendant hanging round his neck. The others discovered they each had one as well. The pendants were engraved with the images of the respective GFs.

"Those are important for calling on us." Leviathan informed them. "Don't lose 'em!"

"But someone tell me how the hell are we supposed to get out of here?" Glenn asked, looking up. The hole in the ceiling seemed extraordinarily high.

"You climb." Bahamut said coldly.

"What?! Are you kidding?!"

"Actually…we are!"

The GF burst out laughing while the dumbfounded humans stared.

"Damn, aren't we allowed to have a sense of humor?" Bahamut straightened up. "We'll fly you people out of here and then you're on your own. Our powers aren't too strong after being stuck in stone for so long, so we'll inhabit you bodies after that."

He knelt down, allowing Glenn and Aldrea to climb onto his back. After which, he carefully picked Unicorn up and took off together with Phoenix , Leviathan and their partners.

Glenn remembered approaching the bright opening, then, next thing he knew, he was standing out in the open with the others. The GFs were nowhere to be seen.

"That was quick." He muttered.

(Rather slow, aren't you?) Bahamut's voice rang out in his head.

Glenn jumped.

"You guys hear that?"

(He's not the only one.) Leviathan's voice added in. (OK, those pendants work as communications devices between us while we're like this.)

(The four of you are the only ones who can hear us, so don't worry too much.) Phoenix continued.

(Hey, just get back to whatever you were doing before!) Unicorn urged. (Besides, you're not going to get anywhere just by standing here!)

"This is a story no one's ever gonna believe!" Aldrea said, excitement showing in her voice.

"And we shouldn't tell anyone anyway." Bard decided.

Glenn noticed their backpacks where they'd left them, under a tree. He ran up and tossed the bags to the rest of his companions.

"Hey, what's the rush?" Ashley asked, catching her pack.

"Let's get going!" Glenn cried, strapping on his backpack. "This adventure is just beginning!"