Hidden Pasts Chapter 1
By Katie Herdman
The
moon was shining bright. Squall Leonhart looked up at the night sky, then
turned and smiled. Rinoa looked so lovely that he had to kiss her, and he
did.
Finally
when they broke away she laughed. Oh how he loved to hear that laugh. On
the balcony of the Garden with the most beautiful night sky and a kiss from
Rinoa, life was perfect.
*****
Later
when the party had ended, Rinoa realised that she hadn’t seen Squall
for a while.
“Selphie,”
she asked, going up to the cheery girl, who was now rubbing her eyes with
sleep, “have you seen Squall? I haven’t seen him since I left the
balcony.”
“I
think he’s still there,” Selphie replied.
Rinoa
thanked her and they said their goodnights. Returning to the balcony she
could see why he had stayed. The moon looked even fuller and there were even
more stars littering the sky.
“Why
are you still here?”
“…Don’t
know.”
“Is
something wrong,” she asked looking concerned. Squall had an odd face
on, like there was something different, it gave her the creeps. He turned
and looked at her, he looked beautiful silhouetted in the moonlight. His
scar gave him nobleness and power. Rinoa couldn’t believe that he was
hers.
“No,
why don’t you go to bed. I just want to stay out here a little
longer.”
With
those last words he looked back at the sky.
Walking
away, Rinoa took one last look at him and said,
“You
can talk to me you know, Squall. I’ll always be here for you. Ultimecia
is dead and I am the last sorceress, it’s over.”
He
just looked at her then continued staring at the sky. How beautiful he seemed,
but also so sad. Rinoa loved him, maybe one day he would see how
much.
*****
Why Squall had become so transfixed with the sky he didn’t know, but
there was one star there that had caught his eye before. To him it was brighter
than the rest and it shone out like a beacon.
Closing
his eyes, Squall breathed in the sweet smell that lingered in the air, the
salty smell of the sea nearby and the smell of the trees far below, and another
smell there, sweet and perfumed, but he couldn’t tell what it
was.
Opening
his eyes again Squall looked up once more for his star, but he couldn’t
find it. It wasn’t there. He quickly scanned the sky, a star couldn’t
move that quickly. Soon he found it; or rather it had found him because the
light from it was growing by the second. Soon the light was so bright that
he covered his eyes and then he cried out as he fell.
From
a few metres away a SeeD student heard Squall’s cry and came running
and saw him lying on the floor, but he never got to him. As he started to
run to him a figure dressed in black clothes blocked his way and made him
stop dead in his tracks.
Before
he even had time to see it, a blade swooped round and slit his throat. As
the blood trickled towards the comatose Squall, the strange person drew a
symbol on the wall in the student’s blood. Far away, Squall never heard,
nor saw what happened.
*****
He was young again, sitting on the beach by the Orphanage. It was late and
the sea was coming in close, very close. It was coming up past his waist.
He couldn’t move; he wanted to. He feared that if he didn’t then
he would drown. Suddenly there was a soft, haunting voice behind him whispering,
“Don’t
worry, the sea won’t come in any further.”
Squall
wanted to turn round. He wanted to see who it was, but he couldn’t.
It didn’t matter though as the person came and sat down beside him.
It was a girl, the same age as him, with flowing brown hair with a tint of
red to give her fire. Soft brown eyes that could look into anyone’s
soul and know him or her. There was great power behind those eyes. She seemed
innocent, but guilty of something at the same time, like there was something
that was troubling her, but too hard for her to talk about.
Her
small, slender hand reached out and clasped Squall’s. He felt he knew
her, although he could not remember where from. She then spoke again,
“What
you will see was meant for you to see. Don’t be frightened. Come and
find me.”
Everything
faded away into darkness, and then Squall heard a woman
scream.
*****
What greeted Squall when he woke was pure horror. There was blood all around
him. The body of a student lay nearby. Quistis was leaning over it, white
faced and shocked. Squall thought she was going to be sick and he didn’t
blame her.
Not only was the throat cut severely, but also the eyes had been gorged out
and were resting in the student’s bloodied hands. Squall coughed to
try to stop him retching. The smell of blood was overpoweringly sickening.
Through her tears Quistis looked over at Squall and asked him that one question
which he wanted to know himself,
“What
happened?”
Squall
just looked up at the symbol written in the poor man’s blood, on the
wall, an upside down, five-pointed star.
*****
In Cid’s room Quistis arrived, early for the meeting that the headmaster
had called. It had been the worst thing she had ever seen. Squall hadn’t
seen anything; or rather that’s what he had told Cid. Quistis didn’t
know what to believe, but she could not believe that any human being was
capable of doing anything like that, definitely not Squall.
Zell,
Selphie and Irvine walked in at that moment. Selphie looked extremely pale.
Apparently, she had known the student. Squall then walked in followed by
Rinoa, and then Cid and Edea last. As soon as Squall walked in everyone jumped
to attention.
“Although
I don’t approve of her idea, Edea and I wish to send you on a mission.
She will speak to you briefly now about it.”
“Thank
you dear,” Edea said, and then turned to the group.
Cid
had not been happy about what she wanted to do, but Edea knew of no other
who could do the job. Looking at Rinoa, Edea pitied her, for she had not
part in these SeeD’s past, she would be left out. Edea didn’t want
to send her because she would come too close to the truth and she would not
like what she saw, but she could not stop her going, just request
it.
“Firstly, what happened this morning I know Squall had no part
in it and I also know that you will not find whatever killed that man by
yourself. So I am asking you to find someone who can help you, and bring
her back here to Garden. The woman’s name is Andria Perne, she is
a witch.”
“Another
sorceress? But I thought that I was the only one,” asked Rinoa, intrigued
by the statement.
“No
she is a witch, she does not pass on her powers to others,” replied
Edea.
“I’m
really, really confused,” said Quistis.
She
still felt sick.
“Find
Andria and everything will become clear.”
Edea
hoped that no one would ask the question that she didn’t want to answer,
but sadly that was not so. “How do you know of her?” asked Squall.
He looked coldly at her as if he knew she was hiding something.
“That
is not important right now, just find her, but I will request that Rinoa
stay here as it might be better for her.”
“If
you don’t mind, I would like to go with them. I want to meet this
woman,” said Rinoa.
No…you
wouldn’t, thought Edea. Rinoa would not like her. Witches and sorceress
didn’t go together.
Throughout
the meeting Squall could not stop the growing feeling that the name was familiar,
he had heard it before. Was it the woman connected to the girl in his dream?
Squall
kept pondering that thought. He had seen her on the beach at the orphanage,
and she spoke to him of the present.
“What
you will see was meant for you to see …Come find
me.”
Squall
had a headache from all the thinking. Who was trying to get their attention?
Her? But she was just a little girl. How was he supposed to find her when
he had to go find this woman?
He
hadn’t told anyone the dream; he figured that it was only for him to
understand when the time came. Edea knew something though, he could tell
that she was trying to hide it deep down, but for what purpose he could only
guess.
“Right,
you have you’re orders. When you find her, tell her what happened,
she’ll know what to do. Here’s all the information we have on
her.
With
that Edea handed Squall the file. She then turned and left.
“Edea
is very distraught about all this, but believe her, she isn’t crazy,”
pleaded Cid.
They
all nodded, saluted and then left not sure what they would find, but also
not sure what that would lead them to.
Author’s
Note
Firstly,
the reason why the first chapter is so violent is because it sets up the
rest of the story, (you’ll find out later). Also the dead guy description
sort of came from the film Event Horizon (crap film, but I loved some scenes).
Secondly,
if you didn’t know this, a 5-pointed star (a pentagram) inside a circle
represents God in all his divinity. An upside down one represents Hell and
Satanism.
.