Chapter Six
When True Night Falls
"First thing's first!" Squall shouted over his shoulder as they ran through the abandoned halls of Balamb Garden. "We need to get Irvine, and then we make a break for Ragnarok! There's no excuse to why it should not be working! It was built for deep-space flying, and so there's no reason why the cold and darkness should affect it!"
"Squall, we have no idea what's out there!" Quistis shouted back, further behind as she was helping Seifer maintain his balance as they ran. "If they're this bad in the Garden, then think of what it has to be like outside, where there has been no light for the last several days! We'll be swamped!"
"We're kind of running out of time, Quistis." Squall shot back, disregarding that she was merely maintaining her traditional cautionary role. "And we're running out of options. We can either finally do something about this thing, or we can just wait here and wait for it to take us. I don't know about the rest of you, but I would rather not settle for the latter."
"I was able to scratch up some Aura and Holy Stones from the supply closet." Rinoa panted next to him. "I think they're a little old, but still good enough to buy us some time to get to the Ragnarok. If those are creatures of shadow, then any sort of light should drive them back, right?"
"I hope so." Squall said in a lowered voice so only she could hear. "If not, then we might not make it some here to the ship." Rinoa did not respond back, but Squall could see her swallow hard from out of the corner of his eye.
They rounded the corner quickly, turning into the hallway that lead to the SeeD cadet's apartments, which was uncharacteristically cold and quiet. But through the darkness, Squall caught sight of something crumpled on the ground, slumped against the wall opposite of one open door. When they drew closer, Squall recognized the long disheveled hair and tan-colored duster that signified the "something" as Irvine.
The cowboy appeared to be unconscious, and half of his was face was covered in something dark that was not shadow. Squall knelt beside him, gesturing for Dr. Kadowaki to bring their sole lantern forward so he could get a better look at their downed companion, and was shocked to see that Irvine's face was bloody.
"Irvine." Squall shook his friend's shoulder; Irvine groaned. Squall shook him harder, making his voice sterner as he spoke louder. "Irvine!" This time the violet eyes fluttered open, unfocused and disoriented. "What happened?"
Irvine's eyes snapped open and he sat bolt upright as he suddenly remembered everything that had happened to him before he was knocked out cold. "Where's Selphie?"
"Gone, it seems." Rinoa reported, stepping out of the room. It was then that Squall noticed that the door to Selphie's dorm room had been knocked clear out of the wall, the electronics that operated it sparking and smoking, and he got the immediate impression that it had been the force of Irvine's body slamming into it that had done the trick. The idea of tiny, carefree Selphie being capable to do something of that magnitude sent a shiver down his spine. "Squall, we have to get going."
Squall nodded as he worked on throwing Irvine's arm around his shoulder and hauling the cowboy to his feet. "Why?" Irvine hissed through gritted teeth. It was no surprise that he was sore after hitting the door with that much force. "What's going on?"
"We have to get to the Ragnarok. I can explain on the way."
The hallways of Balamb Garden became colder than death itself as they came to the entrance, and except for the pool of light created by their lantern, they were completely surrounded by darkness, like a huge, unending void stretched around them. Squall knew that the Ragnarok had been parked towards the east side of Garden, but they would never find it in this damned blackness, especially with two injured men in tow. "Rin." Squall spoke her nickname once, but she understood his meaning without having to question it. Out of the corner of his eye, Squall saw her pull a red, glowing Stone from her pocket, haul back and throw it into the darkness.
Brilliant red and gold light exploded in the black gloom, so bright and radiant that it felt as if they were suddenly staring into the sun, making them throw their hands before their eyes as the light felt to be piercing through their skulls. Even through the blinding light of the Flare Stone, Squall could see masses of hundred of shadowy creatures recoiling from the glare, looking and moving very much like giant, monstrous cockroaches. They were unlike any creatures that they had even seen before, and were as cold and dark as the night around them. These were unnatural creatures, spawns of the darkest nightmare that had no place in their world; whatever they were, they were hardly creatures of Hyne.
"How long will those spells last?" Seifer asked.
"Only for a few moments, so let's move." Quickly but carefully, they struck close within their one safe haven in the dark and dangerous world as they steps beyond the Garden's front steps. Whenever they reached the end of the pool of light, where the creatures started to claw at their boots from the darkness, Rinoa would throw another Stone further out than before, extending their path a bit more each time. The effect of the Stones was doing a good job at keeping the monsters at bay, but it was still not enough. They were moving too slowly, and the supply of their only mean of defense was almost exhausted.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, the deep red haul of the Ragnarok looming overhead reflected back the light of the last Flare Stone, giving them all a temporary feeling of relief. Still, they were so close, and yet still so far away. They had one Stone left; a Holy Stone with enough power to banish even the darkest demons, but once it was gone, then they would be completely at their mercy. "Once the Stone is thrown," Squall kept his voice very low, as if fearing that the creatures that surrounded them were listening in. "we make a break for the cargo bay and not look back, no matter what. Irvine, Seifer, do you think that you can make it?"
"Don't worry about us." Seifer said, and Irvine nodded curtly. "Everyone just worry about getting themselves there. If one of us falls behind, the others can't risk being taken down with them. No exceptions." Squall could see Quistis' fingers tighten their grip on his trench coat, but she did not argue. Squall did not like the decision, either. The thought of having to leave anyone behind angered him, but right now, he knew that they did not have much of a choice; they had to get to Centra, no matter what, even if it meant making some sacrifices. He extended his hand back to Rinoa and felt the smooth pressure of the Holy Stone being pressed into his palm. Before she pulled her hand away, Rinoa gave his fingers an encouraging squeeze. The realization dawned on Squall as he suddenly came to terms with the fact that Rinoa might even be the one who was left behind and his heart sank, but he knew that there was no going back.
The Holy Stone gleamed like a pearl, even in the darkness, radiating power that was already banishing the evil around it despite its tiny size. Turning slightly so he was facing the cargo bay, Squall drew his arm back and threw the stone into the darkness as hard as he could.
White light exploded between them and the end of the Ragnarok, brighter than day, making the light of the Flare Stones seem dim by comparison. The creatures that surrounded them screamed in agony, a thousand horrible voices chorusing through the air as they retreated back into their safe haven. Spots flashed before Squall's eyes, but they wasted no time as the last survivors sprang forward, using the light of the Holy Stone to their full advantage as they made for the ship in a dead-out sprint.
The power of the Holy Stone was greater than Squall had anticipated, as it kept a clear path for them all the way to the great airship. It was when they reached the cargo bay that they encountered the problem.
"Oh, holy Hyne!" Squall cursed loudly when his eyes came to rest on the thick-inch ice that sealed the doors shut. And things had been going so well, too. Gritting his teeth, Squall dug his fingers into the latches of the massive doors, the cold biting through his thick leather gloves almost immediately, but they were still shut tight. The others followed his example, putting all their strength into trying to free the doors, but no amount of human power was going to open those doors in the amount of time that they had. And to make matters worse, the light of the Stone was failing. Squall wished more than ever that they were still Junctioned to their GFs; one Firaga spell would take care of the ice with no problem. They should have saved a Flare Stone, which would have been more than effective, along with taking out a good chunk of the doors with it; Selphie would not have been pleased if they did that.
"Squall, what do we do?" Rinoa's voice was filled with dismay as black once again replaced white, and the agonized cries of the creatures became furious howls as they began to close in on the party as close as they dared to.
"Stand back!" Squall shouted, and everyone backed up quickly as Squall drew Lionheart from its sheath, the blue blade cutting through the night. Swinging the Gunblade over his head, Squall drove the point of the sword in between the medal doors. Blue sparks exploded upon contact, and the ice evaporated immediately upon contact as the blade sliced neatly down the doors. When the last of the ice had been melted away, Seifer and Irvine seized the latches and pulled, and the doors swung wide open just as the spell was extinguished, and they were once again plunged into darkness. Tripping and stumbling over each other, they scrambled into the Ragnarok as the sounds of the enraged demons rapidly rushed up to meet them. Squall picked himself up and moved to slam the cargo doors closed again before the creatures had a chance to reach them. The doors shut with a loud bang, and they were once again, for the time being, safe.
Breathing deeply, Squall moved along the inside haul of the ship, being careful as in not stepping on anybody, but not daring to remove his hands from the wall even for even a second. "Everyone, wait here. I'm going to try to find the bridge." He just hoped that he knew the Ragnarok well enough to find it with little trouble, but yet again he was finding himself underestimating how hard it was to maneuver well in the dark. He was fortunate enough that somehow, the ship had switched over to emergency power, looking very much as it did when he and Rinoa had first found it, so all the doors stood open, and the pale glow of the emergency lights beyond the cargo bay made the rooms seem as bright as if they had been illuminated with flood lamps.
On the other side of another door was a sudden burst of red light; a sign illuminating the relieving words "Emergency Use Only" over a glass case set into the wall. Squall broke out the glass with his elbow, and examined its contents while carefully avoiding the last remains of broken shards, hoping to find something worth using. The pickings were slim, as the emergency supplies were standard, but the entire thing did not go to waste. After pushing aside the fire extinguisher, Squall withdrew the First Aid kit and set it at his feet; they would need it to take care of that nasty gash on Irvine's face. There were a few long, thin cylinders inside that Squall recognized as emergency flares, and he pocketed those quickly. A small pistol was also among the contents, but Squall just ignored it. It would be of no use here. Finally, he found what he was looking for: a flashlight. Relief flooded him as he switched it on, the surprisingly bright beam cutting through the darkness like a super-heated knife.
Now that he had better means to see by, Squall quickly found the elevator that lead up to the command deck. Most likely the elevator was not working, so the bypassed it completely and scaled the emergency ladder quickly.
Almost all the primary lights were off, except for a single red button flashing towards the middle of the massive flight panel. Squall ran over to it and red a small plate under it: "Main Power Grid", and the button was in the "off" position. Squall nearly rolled his eyes at it. Ragnarok was one of the most advanced vehicles for air and space travel, but switching on the power was as easy as flicking a kitchen light switch. He had always thought that it would have been more complicated. There was a keyhole off set from the light, and he withdrew the master key ring from his pocket, quickly finding one that read, ironically, "Master Power Grid". He inserted the key into the keyhole and turned. There was a click, the telltale hum of a generator warming up, and in a blinding flicker that made him blink several times, the main power kicked in, illuminating the ship in light that he had not seen in days.
That was the easy part. Now all we have to worry about is getting it off the ground.
He hoped that the lights turning on was a signal for the others to come up to the bridge, as Squall really could not afford to time to go back and get them. Right now they needed to get the hell out of here and to Centra as quickly as their trusted ship would get them there. The sounds of running footsteps began to drift to him from the decks below, and he worked hurriedly and making the preparations needed to take off, turning on switches and making the appropriate dial adjustments as the others appeared from the elevator that led up to the bridge.
"We may be out of trouble for right now, but we're still not completely out of the woods." Seifer said as Quistis helped him to sit down, leaning against the wall. "Our two best pilots are gone. Are you certain that we can get to Centra in one piece?"
"What, you don't honestly believe that Selphie and Zell were the only ones who could fly this, do you?" Quistis asked, making her way up to the main flight panel and all but pushing Squall out of the chair. "Out of the way, Leonhart, you're only doing more damage than good." With a few flicks of her wrists and her fingers dancing like mad, the main engines of Ragnarok came to life with a massive roar, sending up billows of steam and it incinerated the last remaining ice that may have still been clinging to it, and the whole ship gave a violent shudder as it lifted from the ground, rising quickly into the night air. "We're lucky that that the navigational system still works," Quistis reported, flipping a few more switches and twisting another dial. "Or we'd never find our way there."
"How long until we reach Centra?" Dr. Kadowaki asked, who was finally proceeding in cleaning the mess of nearly frozen blood off of Irvine's face. "Ah, despite all the blood, it's really not that bad, hardly more than a scratch. It won't even scar."
"Oh, darn." Irvine said dryly. "So much for my admission into the Scars-for-Men club."
"About two hours, if we fly fast." Quistis said, ignoring Irvine's failed attempt at humor. "The only thing is, I'm not sure if the boosters would be handle it. We just have enough fuel to get to Matron's, so we can't afford to burn it quickly."
They did not speak much on the way back to the old orphanage, and nervous anticipation hung thickly in the air. Squall was unable to look out the window for very long. It was as if they were falling into a gaping black hole, a place where neither time nor space existed, a place that even light could not escape. He sank onto the floor next Rinoa, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulling her close, grateful for the heat of her body warming his own. It seemed as if she was the last solid support he had left to hold onto in the world, but the intense quiet that was pressing down around him was beginning to make his ears hurt, and more than once he felt like screaming just the break the Hyne-awful silence. Even if they were able to escape from the shadow, how long would their sanity hold out?
It was, undoubtedly, the longest and most torturous two hours of his life.
"Is it just me," Quistis' sudden words made them all jump so badly that Squall's chest actually hurt. "Or is it getting lighter outside?" Picking himself up off the ground and trying to make his pulse slow to a normal rate, Squall looked out of the cockpit window and had to blink a few times to make sure he was seeing right. The sky that was stretched out before them was no longer the unending pitch-black, but rather the dark steely blue that he remembered was the color of the normal nighttime sky. And, a few minutes later as the sky continued to steadily lighten, small pinpricks of light began to spot the sky. Squall recognized them to be stars, and his heart gave a huge leap.
They had made it. They had escaped the shadow.
The Ragnorok swooped low to the rocky landscape of the Centra continent, hugging the ink-black coastline and followed it to a very familiar peninsula, and Squall felt relief flood him at the sight of the ruins of a broken orphanage, but in his eye, it was still no less than a sanctuary, and a very old home. However, there was something else near the stone structure that none of them were counting on. Another airship had landed near the house, smaller and slower than the Ragnorok, but still baring the crest of Esthar on the tailfin and side of the haul.
"Who on earth could possibly be out here?" Rinoa asked, coming up beside Squall to get a better look at the craft.
Squall took a moment to glare at the ship, a strangle lolling feeling turning in his stomach. "I don't even have to guess." He said dryly.
They landed the Ragnorok safely beside the other Esthar ship, just as the red fuel light began to blink, before they carefully disembarked. The first thing that Squall noticed as they stepped beyond the cargo doors was that the air was warm; it felt like he had just stepped out from a walk-in freezer and into a steamy sauna as the warmth of the air seemed to be melting the cold out of his skin. And the world all around him seemed to be lighter. He could actually see the crests of the low-rising hills that surrounded them, the stone structure of the old orphanage, and the white swells of the ocean waves as they lapped at the shore. But the most prominent feature about the whole thing was the fact that the darkness that seemed to swallow the rest of the world had not touched Centra. There was something deeper afoot here…
"Squall!"
Squall barely had time to turn to see who it was that called his name before something slammed into him from a full-out run, nearly sending him sprawling to the ground, and it took him a moment to realize that the thing wrapped around him, essentially squeezing the very breath from his lungs, was none other than his father, President Laguna of Esthar. "I'm so glad you're alright, we've been so worried! No contact from the Garden in three weeks! We were beginning to think that the worse had happened!"
"Nice to see you too, Laguna." Squall choked out, trying hard to push the older man away from him so he could breath again. "…what are you doing here, anyway?"
"The city was under complete siege." Kiros said as he approached the group of SeeDs, followed closely by Ward, whose face was dark as a storm cloud. "At first it was the citizens, who were completely ravishing everything in sight. We couldn't get our out police force to stop them, because they were part of the riot. And when they disappeared – to where, we don't know – we were overrun by these…demons, is the best way I could describe them. We tried to contact Garden, but all forms of communication's been severed, so we had no choice but to flee the city. We're the only ones that got out."
"We went all over the world, trying to find a place to escape from whatever's been going on, but everywhere we went, it was the same thing. Deling City, Timber, Dollet; all of them are deserted and overrun by those creatures. We were fortunate enough that Mrs. Edea Kramer's home was the only place in the world that seemed to be untouched."
"And Ellone? How's she?"
"With Edea, having tea. I think it will be both a huge burden off both their shoulders to see that you're all… okay." Squall took considerable notice in the tone of Kiros' voice as he cast a nervous glance among the remains of the group, and he knew that they could not cover up the fact that Zell and Selphie were still missing, although the rest of them were safe.
"We should get inside. Irvine and Seifer still need to get their injuries treated."
Edea had never before looked so horrible, and Squall thought she had looked her worse when she had come out of Ultimacia's control. Her normally orderly hair stuck out at odd angles and there were dark circles under her eyes, as black as the former sorceress' eyes, and her pale skin stood out starkly against her dark, creased dress. At the sight of them a sort of light that had been long extinguished was re-ignited in her eyes, and long forgotten relief flooded her features, silently questioning the authenticity of the six people that stood before her. She then stood up so suddenly that she knocked over her chair, rushing over to embrace all five young adults at once. Squall winced as his skull knocked against Seifer's, but was nonetheless to be back in her maternal embrace.
"Oh, my children," Edea breathed exhaustedly, kissing their cheeks and foreheads between phrases. "My children, I'm so glad you're all safe! We were beginning to fear for the worse!"
"We're just happy to see you're safe, Matron." Quistis said, hugging Edea and Cid simultaneously. "We tried to contact you in every way possible, but nothing would go through!"
"We've been completely stranded since the beginning of his whole mess, as President Laguna has been describing it to us." Cid informed them. "But, for some reason, this darkness and the illness hasn't touched the Centra continent; at least not the orphanage, to say the least. Why we have been spared, we do not know." Cid glanced back and forth at the remainder of the group, and was no doubt taking note of their reduced numbers. "Where are Zell and Selphie?"
Quistis shifted uneasily on her feet, and Irvine cast his eyes downward, biting his bottom lip to hold back his emotions.
"…It's best if we all sat down so we can explain." Squall said slowly, trying to reword their experiences to make it seem as lease horrible as possible. "It's a long story."
They all gathered around the old, worn and yet well-known oak table in the kitchen (after a round of hugs from Ellone), and each of them were served a cup of strong tea before Squall began to speak. Squall thought that he tasted a hint of some spirit within the dark liquid, and he took note of how Rinoa clutched at her cup with both hands, as if trying to absorb the heat of the beverage into her own body. The kitchen table, which had to be older than the orphanage was, had always been the center of the household in their childhood, used always for all their meals, the arts and crafts that Edea supplied them with on rainy days, and for the few "family meetings" that they had to attend before they were all split up. The whole story was told in an almost monotone sort of voice, starting from their last trip to Esthar and going to their current standing. Everyone listened in intently, as if there was something they had missed along the way, as Dr. Kadowaki worked efficiently in wrapping Seifer's torso in medical gauze to prevent infection and thoroughly cleaning the claw marks across Irvine's face.
When the story was finished, silence blanketed the room, with only the sounds of the ocean beyond to be heard. There were a million questions that Squall wanted to ask, but there was only one that swam clearly through his mind that he had wanted an answer to for a very long time. "Matron… we read in some of the old library documents that after every Sorceress scare, there was some sort of counter-cold bug that seemed to effect the entire world, and after each one, the illness and its symptoms became increasingly worse. Do you have any idea what that could mean?"
Edea only continued to stare at the dark tabletop, where her eyes had been during the entire story, and finally, shook her head. Squall felt his heart plummet. "No… I - I am sorry, Squall, but I've never even heard of anything like this before."
"…it's not your fault, Matron. I didn't expect you to know what this was about. I don't think anyone knows…"
"What was that thing about what Selphie said?" Kiros asked thoughtfully, his arms crossed before him. "Something about 'The Dark One'?"
"That's right!" Laguna said. "Why don't we go looking for that guy, or just wait until he shows up? I mean, if we get the jump on him and get him before he can get us, then that'll put a stop to all this insanity, right?"
"I think that by the time this 'Dark One' guy shows up, it'll be too late." Squall said flatly, before getting up to leave the table entirely. For a few moments after, no one spoke, until at least Rinoa got up and followed her fiancé out the door.
Laguna sighed, and put his head down on the table. "I just can't seem to say anything right, can I?"
Kiros and Ward both shook their heads.
Squall stood up on one of the low-rising hills before the ocean, head tilted back as he enjoyed the warm breeze playing through his unruly hair. Might as well enjoy this while you can, Leonhart. You might not get another chance.
The sudden sensation of an arm looping through his own made him look back down, and he almost smiled at the sight of Rinoa leaning against him. "What now, Squall? We made it this far, but where do we go from here?"
"I'm…not sure, Rin." Squall answered quietly, looking back out towards the western shore. Something moved out of the corner of his eye, and even in the weak moonlight, he recognized the tall, lanky form as Irvine, walking away from the house. Squall was about to go after him, to call him back, but Rinoa placed a slender hand on his chest to keep him from going any further.
"Let him go, Squall. He's thinking about Selphie. Besides, we're safe here. He'll be alright." Despite his own best instincts, Squall nodded and looked back up at the sky, taking note of the thin sliver of the moon that hung in the sky, appearing to be the brightest object in the sky. It was so strange to see the moon again… His past astronomy classes came back to mind, and he pinpointed the phase at the waning crescent… one more night, and there would be no moon, and that brilliant silver luminescence would be gone…
The notion hit him like a lightning bolt.
New moon. And when the new moon was out, there would be no light…
"Rin. I know what it means. I know what it was Selphie was saying!"
"What?" Rinoa asked, a look of urgency on her face.
"'When true night falls…' Rinoa, she was talking about the new moon! Tomorrow night, when the shadow of the planet covers the moon, there will be no more natural light! We only have until tomorrow night to stop this thing!"
"When true night falls… Squall, the new moon sets at six o'clock tomorrow night. We only have a few hours to figure this out!"
Squall cursed under his breath. Only a few hours…that was hardly enough time, and he didn't even know where to start looking…
"Hey, maybe I'm like, seeing double…" The sound of Irvine's voice behind him pulled him temporarily out of the turmoil. "but last time I checked, we only had one moon, right?" Blinking in puzzlement, Squall cast his glance up to the spot where Irvine was looking, and blanked in shock at an exact duplicate of the waning moon hanging opposite of where it was supposed to be, over the eastern horizon.
"That's it then." He said in an almost monotone voice. "I bet you that that holds whatever answer it is we're looking for! Come on, we have to tell the others, we don't have much time!"
"It's insane!" Quistis said in an almost indignant fashion when Squall, Rinoa and Irvine finished their story. "We have neither the time nor the resources to get all the way up to the moon!"
"But it's the best chance we got!" Squall shot back shortly. "Don't you think that two moons in exact opposite locations is a little odd? This is the best clue we got to finding whatever it is that's causing this thing, and I'll bet my Gunblade that that imposter satellite has the answers! Now are we going to do; are we going to sit here like gorged geezards and wait for the end, or are we going to make one last attempt to do something about it?"
"This can't be any more insane than purposely causing Time Compression to fight some all-powerful psycho-bitch from the future. I'm in." Irvine said defiantly, cocking Exeter in a dead-serious manner.
"The hell if I wait for those things to swallow me alive." Seifer agreed. "Leonhart, if we're going to do this, then we have to do it now."
"How are we going to get up there?" Rinoa asked. "Ragnarok has no fuel left!"
"Don't worry about that." Laguna said, stepping forward, all hints of his good-natured attitude completely gone from his handsome features, and he wore the unnatural seriousness like some very dark mask. "You five just need to prepare for this. Give us fifteen minutes, and you'll have your ship up in the air with no problems."
"You're going to need items. There's no telling what you'll run into up there." Edea said, stepping forward. "Follow me, we'll get you all set up as Mr. Laguna works."
There was little arguing after that; even Quistis shed her shroud of doubt and became just as determined as the others as they split into two groups. Squall and the others followed Edea, Ellone and Dr. Kadowaki to a supply closet to be loaded up with medical equipment and the few spell Stones that Edea had in her possession while Cid, Laguna, Kiros and Ward headed outside to work with the ship. They made short work of the supply closet, but were still able to produce a good amount of the stronger healing potions and support Stones; Hi-Potions and Phoenix Down, mostly, but they were fortunate enough to find a few X-Potions, three Elixirs, and, luckily, one Mega Phoenix and a Megalixir. Each person was armed with a small amount of Shell and Protect Stones, if they needed to heighten their defenses, but in their past encounters, Squall was unsure of how reliable they would be. It was not nearly enough to make Squall feel necessarily comfortable with doing what they were about to do, but it was better than going completely unprepared. Before they returned to the Ragnarok, Edea presented them with a small box that she had been keeping in case of emergencies. Squall opened the dusty wood lid and saw a good handful of magic spell Stones inside, and good ones at that. There were a few Aura Stones, but mostly Flare, Holy, and even a small amount of Ultima Stones, glowing a dark and ghastly green among their brighter white magic counterparts. Squall distributed the Stones out among his companions before handing the box back to Edea, kissing her cheek as he did so.
The question to how they were exactly going to get up to their destination was answered when they went outside. Squall was unsure or whether he was supposed to be surprised or not when he saw Laguna and the others draining the fuel from their own transportation vehicle and into the fuel tank of the Ragnarok. "I'm not sure how far it will take you," Laguna explained as they approached the massive ship. "But I'm pretty sure that it will be enough to get you as far as you need to go. The last thing you need to be worrying about are the engines dying on you. I'm not exactly sure how we can get you back, either… As soon as this thing starts to clear up, then I can arrange for a rescue squad to get up there and bring all of you…"
"Laguna… Laguna!" Squall had to speak his name a little more firmly the second time to get the man to stop rambling. Laguna stopped in mid sentence, turning around to stare at his son with confused eyes. However, the established silence seemed to put the natural uneasiness between them again, and it took a few tense moments to pass before the tension began to lessen. The chocking part of it was that it was Squall who spoke first.
"Thank you."
If Laguna had seemed dumbfounded before, now it looked as if he had been hit upside the head with a sandbag. Even Kiros and Ward exchanged surprised looks with one another. Finally, the dumb-struck expression faded from the President of Esthar's face, and, not wanting to ruin the moment, only smiled and nodded, and was rewarded with a small, ghostly smile from his son.
"Come on you guys, this thing isn't going to solve itself!" Quistis' voice broke the moment and Squall could see that she and Seifer were already on the threshold of the cargo bay with Irvine not too far behind them. With a curt nod, Squall shook Laguna's hand, embraced Edea and Ellone one last time, and followed his companions into the Ragnorok.
"Please be careful!" Ellone called after them as the last hint of Rinoa's blue duster disappeared behind the closing hull doors.
Squall and Rinoa arrived on the bridge just as Quistis began to warm up the Ragnorok's engines once more, only this time, "warming up" was hardly the term that Squall would use to describe the massive howl of the engine, making the whole craft shudder so violently that it almost knocked him off his feet. "I'd put my seatbelts on if I were you, folks. We're about to make the speed of sound look like a crawl." Complying without so much as another word, Squall and Rinoa quickly sat down in the nearest chairs and buckled themselves in as securly as possible as the massive ship rose from the ground, the first set of boosters immediately kicking in. The engines roared so loudly that Squall almost clapped his hands to his ears, but found it impossible as the afterburners flared to life, and he was pinned back into his seat to an extent that about the only thing he was capable of was breathing, and even that took some effort.
The Ragnorok circled the peninsula once, careful to avoid knocking out the orphanage of the ears of the spectators below, keeping its altitude low until it was safely over the water. If Squall had been feeling the G's before, it was nothing compared to when all the boosters were ignited at once and the Ragnorok took off at a near vertical angel into the night sky, hurtling at breakneck speed towards the imposter moon.
Squall kept his eyes shut most of the trip – flying never bothered him, but flying at speeds where it felt like the ship was coming apart beneath his feet was another story – until Rinoa's shocked cry made his eyes snap open. "My…my God!" Pushing himself up in his seat, Squall paled at the sight he saw. Were his eyes playing tricks on him, or were they…flying directly at a carbon copy of Ragnorok? Then it dawned on him…
"That's not the sky…it's a mirror! Whatever's behind this thing is behind that mirror! Irvine, ready the main cannon, and everyone else, brace yourselves! I think we're going in!" Irvine made no reply, only peeled himself out of his chair and making his way shakily over to the weapons control panel, using all his strength to pull the lever that would power the main cannon. Something below their feet began to whine, picking up speed and intensity as the small needle in the gauge beside the initiating lever began to move from green to yellow to red as the cannon powered up. "Irvine! Is the cannon almost ready?" They were running out of time as the twin noses of the ships rushed to meet each other with alarming speed.
"Almost done!" Irvine shouted back, having to brace himself on the panel to keep the intense G-force from knocking him over. The intense shaking of the ship seemed to be rattling his eyes inside his skull, and was just barely able to see the needle cross into the red and a small light blink on, reading in clear red letters, "READY". Gritting his teeth, Irvine fought the forces of gravity to pressed the red fire button.
A solid beam of white light was launched from under the nose of the Ragnorok as the shot from the cannon hit the massive mirror, and the thing shattered before their eyes into a million silver fragments. The shards pummeled the body of the ship, no doubtedly causing some severe open wounds (Selphie was strangle him for that), but at the moment, it was not important. They did not even pause to think that they had faced the possibility of being knocked out of the sky; they were too busy gawking silently at the monster that loomed before them.
Floating in the sky was a massive black castle, looking like a chunk of volcanic rock that had been twisted and mangled by giant hands into the shape of some sort of semi-recognizable edifice. The whole thing, just by looking at it, radiated an ominous and evil presence just by the very sight of it that sent icy-cold tremors crawling down Squall's spine.
"Maybe you know better than I do…" Seifer said quietly. "But a black castle floating in thin air can't be anything good."
Squall shook his head slowly, not taking his eyes off the thing that they were approaching all the more closely every second. "Not by my past experiences, it's not."
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To Be Continued…------