King's Heart (part 22 of 31)

A Taste of What is to Come

Adel woke up from her sleep and looked around. She had felt something…a spike in power that was in no way normal. She got out of bed and walked out to the beach. Even if she had been evil, it was as if being reborn had also cleansed her soul. She felt more at peace with the world, even knowing that if people found out who she was there would be no place for her to stay.

“No place but here.” She whispered. She looked up at the bright moon, a strong smell of ocean wafting about her nose. It was cool and natural, unlike the hot sun and artificial smells of Esthar.

“Adel?” Edea called, walking down the steps.

“Oh, Matron.” She hesitated, unaware that the name came naturally. She wondered why she didn’t call the former sorceress Edea. She was, in a round about way, older than Edea after all. Edea on the other hand didn’t seem to take notice.

“What are you doing up so late?”

“Nothing.” Adel lied. “I couldn’t sleep. I suppose I’m still not used to the time change from here to Esthar.”

“Is that were you stayed?” Edea asked.

“After my defeat at the Lunatic Pandora, I woke up in this form. After some confusion, I realized that there was no possible way I could die. I had no one around to transfer my powers to so I was reincarnated. I wandered around, fighting off monsters before I reached Esthar. I couldn’t very well tell people who I was; they’d lock me in that chamber again. I figured the best course of action was to seek someone who knew my predicament better, hence I wandered to the Garden.”

“You poor thing…it must’ve been hard.” Edea said sympathetically.

“Don’t talk down to me like I’m some kind of puppy.” Adel snapped, growing cross with the unfamiliar show of affection. She crossed her arms. “I didn’t ask to be in this body.” Edea tried hard to keep a smile off her face.

“I apologize.” She replied quietly. “Now, come along. The only way to get used to the change in time is to sleep when others sleep.” Adel took one glance over the wide expanse of ocean, thinking about the power surge and then followed the Matron back inside.

-

-

“Group A, are you in position?” Squall asked through his communication device.

“Group A, in position. Everything appears clear, no sign of anything…” Quistis trailed off. “Actually, something has been bothering me. We haven’t run into a single monster or living creature since we began patrolling.”

“They must’ve been scared off by the noise. Alright, you keep patrolling, make sure no one goes out and no one gets in. We’ll head for the center now.”

“Roger that.” Quistis replied. Squall drew his gunblade and nodded to the others.

“You ready?” He asked.

“You bet!” Zell said, pounding his fist against his hand. Rinoa nodded, checking her pinwheel.

“Alright, Group B, head out!” The three of them charged into the town. When they entered, everything was quiet save for the faint crackle of fire. The shop at the edge of town had burned. Squall looked solemnly. A burned corpse lay inside the shop, one of probably many casualties.

“Any survivors?” Rinoa asked tentatively. Zell peeked into all of the burned buildings a look of horror spread on his face.

“Doesn’t look like it.” He replied.

“Let’s keep going, there may still be time to save the people inside. I don’t see smoke at the center of town yet.” Squall said and they began running down the dirt path. As soon as they hit the bridge, they found someone still breathing.

“What happened here?” Zell asked as Squall knelt down to inspect his wounds. Fatal…he thought. He probably won’t make it.

“We…everything was…just like normal. Then…the young man from the shop just…just…” The man coughed once more and went limp. Rinoa covered her mouth and Squall shook his head.

“A young man from the shop?” Zell repeated. “So…it wasn’t an outsider.” Something from inside the large mansion drew their attention. It was a loud crashing noise, as if something large, glass and metal had fallen from a high place.

“Group A, Group A, can you read me?”

“We read you.” Quistis replied through the comm.

“We’ve just detected something suspicious. Rendezvous at the bridge immediately.” Squall ordered.

“Roger that.” Quistis said. She turned to Irvine and Selphie, who were still looking around for anything out of the ordinary.

“We’ve just gotten orders to meet them. Come on!” She said and the three of them began sprinting towards the center. When they got there, Squall and the others had secured the opening to the mansion.

“We’re going in.” He said and kicked open the door. All was quiet besides the loud banging of the door hitting the wall. The group peered inside, slowly and cautiously making their way in. The loud crashing had apparently come from the chandelier which lay on the ground.

“Hyne!” Selphie shrieked, pointing to the wall next to them. There lay in a bloody and charred heap, one of the SeeDs. His body lay in a crumpled and broken way. Blood ran from his eyes and head, almost obscuring his features. One of his arms was hanging, half off and in that hand was the communicator used to contact the Garden.

“Jeez…” Irvine hissed, kneeling to inspect him. “What in Hell could’ve done this?”

“We met a dying man out there. He gave us a few clues. Apparently, the suspect is one of the villagers, a young man from the shop. But that’s all we know. We don’t know what he is exactly, or what he’s doing but it’s obvious that it came on suddenly.” Squall explained. A soft thud came from the upstairs bedroom and all six of them turned their heads to look. Squall motioned for them to stay ready and follow him. They made their way quietly up the steps and when they neared, they began to hear voices.

“No…no…no…” Someone muttered. “Nothing here is of any use to me. I need to know who they are. Don’t you agree, Napee?” Squall recognized the name. Napee was a SeeD two years his senior. Was she still alive?

“BAH!” The voice continued. “Nothing here is of any use to me.” Squall motioned for them to charge the door and he kicked the door open again and the six poured in.

A young man, dressed in white and gold clothing stood at the bookshelf, pulling books down in frustration. He appeared to be looking for something. When he heard the six of them, he turned around, an old dictionary in hand.

“Don’t move.” Squall threatened but the young man moved anyway.

“Ah, more Garden lackeys. Don’t you ever get tired of rushing in like this? I’m trying to find something that will aid me in my quest.” He said calmly. Quistis tightened her grip on her whip. Squall glanced over at the bed where Napee lay. She was in cleaner condition than the corpse downstairs but her eyes were wide and lifeless nonetheless. Two other bodies lay on one side, one piled on the other and they too wore the SeeD uniforms.

“They’re all dead…” Zell whispered.

“Ah, sorry about that. They were getting in my way. I lost control of my power when I accidentally burned down those building. I lost control of myself too for a while…which is why Cednar back there is in a bit more of a mess. I was going to let these three go but they insisted on getting in my way. I tried to explain that I didn’t mean to kill him but…well…I suppose you SeeD are proud creatures, eager to avenge your comrades’ death and whatnot. Pity…I actually liked Napee a little.” He sighed and threw the dictionary aside.

“Who do you work for?” Squall demanded.

“Work for? I work for myself. No one controls me, after all, how could they? I am Hyne after all.” The room went deathly silent. Zell had an urge to laugh at him.

“Hyne?” He repeated. “You?”

“Zell…” Squall warned.

“You are nowhere near Hyne.” The martial artist spat. “You’re a mental case!” The man narrowed his eyes.

“Really, how disrespectful of you.” He hissed. “You are a rude little creature.” He raised up both hands and lifted Zell of the ground, flipping him backwards into the wall.

“Zell!” Selphie shouted. Squall charged with his gunblade but the man deflected it with his hand.

“Would any normal human have this kind of power? I am Hyne!” He shoved Squall through the window down onto the concrete below.

“SQUALL!” Rinoa shouted and ran over to the broken window, peering down at him. He got to his feet.

“I’m ok.” He hissed. Hyne suddenly jerked his head towards Rinoa, seemingly transfixed by her. His eyes narrowed questioningly before they glowed red with anger.

“So…the sorceress finally rears her head. I was wondering when you would waltz right into my hands. It was fate that I landed here.” Selphie looked from “Hyne” to Rinoa and quickly put herself in between them.

“Don’t you touch her!” She snapped. “Hyne” made a disgusted hiss and blasted her backwards onto the bed. He took a step towards her and Rinoa readied herself for combat. Irvine shot at him but the bullets merely deflected off of some invisible barrier.

“I suppose you had to come out of hiding sometime.” He sneered.

“What do you want?” Rinoa demanded. He took another step.

“Really, I wonder why the SeeD are working with you when they should be destroying you, like I will in but a moment. You’ve grown careless, Edea.” Quistis’s eyes widened in confusion.

“Edea?”

“You stupid fools. Did you not know that she was a sorceress? Edea! Edea Kramer. Only Edea Kramer has that aura. I suppose you SeeD are worthless after all when you can’t even sense a sorceress that’s been traveling with you!” He shouted, not taking his eyes off of Rinoa. Zell charged forward and punched right through the barrier and landed a good blow to Hyne. Unfortunately, Hyne grabbed Zell’s fist and threw him out the window as well. Irvine stood with his pulse bullet ready. But before he could even fire, Hyne bent the barrel of his gun, yanked Irvine with his mental energy and flung him onto the bed along with Selphie.

“I’ve waited a long time to stop you.” He said moving ever closer to her. Rinoa summoned all of the magic within her and cast her strongest spells. Hyne was momentarily surrounded by flames before a simple wave of the hand extinguished them.

“Powerful. I believe you scorched me. But no matter.” Quistis decided it was her turn to act. With one quick lash of her whip, she caught Hyne’s arm…along with his attention.

“I believe each and every one of you has a death wish.” He said calmly, turning to her. He stopped and his mouth hung open.

“I have no death wish. I’ve got a promise to keep.” Quistis snapped. Hyne turned his entire body towards her, completely forgetting about Rinoa.

“Two…two sorceresses have wandered into my hands. Edea Kramer and Ultimecia.” He laughed. “This is perfect!” Quistis released him, only to strike again, cutting open his shoulder.

“I am not Ultimecia!” She yelled, casting dispel. Instantly, Hyne’s barriers were broken down but Hyne didn’t care. He seized Quistis with his right hand and charged a spell with his other.

“Once I get rid of you, Edea and Adel will be mere ants under my foot.” Quistis felt the breath being choked out of her as she gasped for air. Xu…she thought. He brought the spell close to Quistis’s neck and detonated. The Instructor went limp in his hands but just to be sure, he charged another spell. Suddenly, something sharp cut into his side. With his barrier down, Rinoa had fired her pinwheel and succeeded in hitting him. He dropped Quistis, clothes and neck charred onto the ground.

“If you must die now, I suppose I can arrange for that.” He snapped but before he could take one step, Zell stormed up the stairs and hit the back of his head with enough force to break open his skull.

“He’s all yours, Squall!” Squall followed up Zell’s attack by stabbing him in the back and twisting his gunblade to cause as much damage as possible. “Hyne” coughed once and blood burst forth from his mouth, a direct result of the wound and collapsed. Rinoa rushed over to Quistis and put her ear to her heart.

“Ok…no big deal…” She said trying not to panic and cast Life. It was a moment before Quistis coughed and opened her eyes.

“Thank goodness.” Selphie sighed even though her body was in considerable pain as well. Irvine looked at his gun.

“My baby…” He sniffed. “How could he…?” Squall kicked the body onto its back and stared down. He contacted Nida on his comm.

“Nida, send in the recovery unit, make sure they find and treat all survivors.” He ordered.

“Roger that.” Nida said.

“Our work is done. The suspect has been neutralized.” Squall announced. “Let’s let the recovery unit do their job.” He sheathed his sword and walked out of the room, followed by Selphie and Quistis who were supporting each other.

“That wasn’t so bad.” Zell said, casting a small cure on his bruises.

“Speak for yourself.” Irvine muttered. “If Quistis hadn’t broken his barrier…hey…speaking of Quistis and Rinoa, why did he call you two Ultimecia and Edea?”

“I don’t know.” Quistis responded. "Right now we’re too excited to think. Let’s just get back to the Balamb before we start analyzing anything.”

-

-

In the conference room, they discussed the matter. But their theories and explanations were nothing short of impossible until Rinoa chipped in her theory.

“Well…he said that only Edea had that aura, right? Maybe…maybe he doesn’t know what Edea actually looks like. Maybe he just senses the sorceress power within Quistis and me and thinks that we’re Edea and Ultimecia.”

“But if that’s the case,” Selphie cut in, “Edea wasn’t the first sorceress. If this guy made judgments based on power, then wouldn’t he call you the very first sorceresses? The ones who started out with your powers?” The room went silent, contemplating.

“One thing is for sure, he’s not the real Hyne.” Quistis said. “And since he’s not the real Hyne, maybe he doesn’t know any Sorceresses besides Edea, Adel and Ultimecia. Winhill isn’t exactly your place for recent news. Maybe he didn’t know that Edea and Ultimecia’s powers had been passed on.”

“That still doesn’t explain just where he came from.” Irvine noted. “I mean, this guy was on the low for how many years? And just one day he decided to emerge and destroy everything?” Nida suddenly stepped into the room.

“Squall, there’s something you might need to hear.” He said.

“Go ahead.”

“This guy…he was a SeeD at the Galbadia Garden. His name is Ocelot Zeek, SeeD rank 14. He went missing about ten years ago on a mission to Deling to subdue the Galbadia army’s uprising.” The room went quiet again, this time from shock.

“The GF’s…?” Selphie whispered, trying explain how he disappeared and why he had no memory.

“I don’t know.” Squall replied. “Look, we’ve tried to make sense out of this but it’s obviously not working. Let’s all just get some sleep and try not to wear ourselves out. Dismissed.” One by one, they filed out, exhausted and sore from their battle. Quistis didn’t want to sleep though, she wanted to see Xu.

When she arrive outside her door and knocked, Xu opened the door and sighed in relief.

“You’re ok…” She was cut short when Quistis pressed her lips to hers suddenly and unexpectedly, causing her to take a few steps back. “Quistis…?” She mumbled through the kiss. Quistis didn’t respond. Instead, she gently pushed Xu back further into the bedroom, not wanting to speak for fear that if she did, all her worries about the mission would come tumbling out of her mouth and ruin their moment.