Hidden Pasts Chapter 11
By Katie Herdman
They landed outside the ruins and got ready. Everyone was quiet, they were
sure that this was it, the final battle. All they had done before now would
be judged at this hour.
When
they were ready they walked in. Above them the clouds
gathered.
There was silence, no monsters roamed, they had all disappeared frightened
of what would come.
Squall
knew this place well from when he Irvine and Quistis had battled Odin to
receive him as a GF, so they took the lead. On they walked past the ghosts
of old.
For
some reason, Squall knew where he had to go. He felt as if Andria was calling
him.
“Squall,
do you know where you’re going?” Ling looked questionably at him.
Squall nodded and carried on walking. He had to go the room where they had
battled Odin.
*****
In
the room they saw that Odin’s throne was missing. In its place was a
hole and a set of steps leading down the hole.
“Well
we’ve come this far,” said Raijin, “might as well go on.”
Seifer
looked at Squall, “Why don’t you go first, you are our great leader
after all.”
Squall
was hesitant; he couldn’t see where the steps led to when he looked
in. They went off into the darkness. Seifer pushed Squall into the hole,
and then followed him.
One
by one they went down into the darkness. How far they went down they
couldn’t tell.
*****
Andria
woke up slowly. Her head felt like it was on fire and she couldn’t see
properly. She tried to move her arms to massage her head, but she found that
they wouldn’t move she was chained down.
When
the ache in her head finally went, she saw Leraikhe opposite her also chained.
They were chained to the wall somewhere underground that was all she could
tell.
“Ready
to die yet,” Leraikhe asked, looking coolly at her. Andria ignored him.
Ten
strange people dressed in robes walked in and started to light the candles
around the room. Andria watched them to see what they would do next.
Eight
of them went to the altar in the middle of the room and prayed for a few
minutes, the other two disappeared.
When
they returned they were carrying two small bowls with a black oozing liquid
in, which they smeared on Andria and Leraikhe’s foreheads. It smelled
disgusting to Andria and when it touched her skin she felt the evil power
that it had.
Abaddon
then stood in front of her she hadn’t seen where he had come from. They
stench of the liquid made her feel dizzy. As she fell unconscious all she
could see was his smile, he had finally won.
*****
“Where do we go now,” Selphie asked Squall.
Why
did they ask him, he knew as much as they did …next to nothing? He
didn’t know anymore, Andria wasn’t speaking to him.
A
huge roar came out from behind them. A giant beast leaped from the shadows.
“Run,”
Ling shouted and promptly fled in the opposite direction.
There
was no way out now, the beast had cut off their exit. Squall followed
her.
*****
Rinoa ran a top speed. The thing had long since gone, but she wanted to make
sure. Rinoa stopped to catch her breath.
Damn,
she thought. There had been no one following her and she didn’t recognise
anything around her or remember the way she had come.
“Hello,”
she called out hesitantly. There was no reply. A rock landed beside her foot,
but Rinoa didn’t have time to turn round. Something hit her face and
she was knocked out cold.
*****
A small dwarf shuffled up to Abaddon.
“Master,
they have been found and contained just as you ordered. Would you like us
to kill them?”
Abaddon
thought, they were a nuisance and a threat to him, but …”Keep them
alive …I want them to see what happens next.”
The
dwarf bowed and turned to go.
“Although,”
added Abaddon, “I could use Heartilly for a while, it would be honourable,
of me to show her the truth about her love, for my
entertainment.”
*****
Rinoa was standing by the door to the 2F balcony. There was a voice inside
her head.
“Open
the door,” it whispered.
Rinoa
obeyed the voice and stepped through.
Squall
was there with Andria. They were kissing! Rinoa’s heart stopped at that
moment.
“It’s
a lie,” she cried.
“No,”
whispered the voice, “it is the past you see and it cannot be changed.
Do you want to see what happens next?”
“No…”
Rinoa moaned.
In
her heart she felt it was true. There had been something going on with Squall.
Either she hadn’t wanted to see it or she had been too blind. It
didn’t matter now.
There
was a pain in her chest, Rinoa felt like she was breaking. She wanted to
wake up now; she didn’t want to stay in this dream world any
longer.
*****
“I wonder why they hit Rinoa,” said Selphie, “none of us got
hit.”
They
were stuck in a room. It looked more like a cave to Squall. The opening had
a barrier on it. They had passed through into it, but they couldn’t
pass back out.
“…
and where is Vincent, Sia and Ling.”
Squall
held on to Rinoa. The bleeding from a wound on her head when she had been
hit had stopped some time ago.
Squall
looked down at her and moved a strand of hair away from her face. Her eyes
fluttered and she slowly opened them. Squall smiled slightly. Rinoa looked
confused for a second, then realised.
She
brought her hand up and slapped Squall across the face.
“You
bastard!” she screamed. Everyone apart from Seifer stood looking shocked
at Rinoa and Squall.
Seifer
smiled, the downfall of the all-perfect Squall Leonhart. He was glad he had
joined them on their quest now; he couldn’t miss
this.
Tears
flowed down Rinoa’s face, Squall looked shocked at her.
Rinoa
looked at everyone watching her. They didn’t know.
“So
Squall, do you want to tell them what you’ve been doing.”
Squall
suddenly realised what she was talking about. He lowered his head trying
to hide the shame on his face.
“Rinoa,
what is going on,” Quistis asked.
“Your
wonderful Commander slept with her.”
Rinoa
couldn’t bring herself to say Andria’s name.
“Who?”
Zell asked, wide eyed.
Seifer
rolled his eyes, “What she means by “Her” chicken-wuss is
Andria.”
Quistis
looked at Squall, “Is it true Squall?”
Squall
nodded.
“Yes,”
he whispered.
He
couldn’t keep quiet or deny it now.
Squall
looked at Rinoa’s tear stained face, he had broken her. Zone and Watts
had told him to look after her and all he had done was destroy her. He had
lost her forever; she would never forgive him.
Quistis
stared shocked at him; Squall could do this. Andria was a manipulator; maybe
he had been under a spell of hers.
“You
don’t remember Quistis, do you,” Squall said to her.
“What?”
she asked.
“About
Andria, none of you, Selphie, Zell, Irvine… Quistis. She was at the
Orphanage with us.”
“You’re
lying,” cried Selphie.
“Actually,
Squall’s right.”
Seifer
joined the trial and received hated looks from them all, especially Rinoa.
That he could defend his enemy.
“I
don’t believe this,” muttered Rinoa, “I feel sick thinking
of it.”
“I’m
sorry,” Squall said.
Rinoa
laughed hollowly at him, “Too late Squall.”
Squall
felt helpless, but he knew that he had brought this on himself. A familiar
voice then penetrated his thoughts, but it wasn’t Andria, Sati was talking
to him.
“Go
to the opening,” she said. Squall walked away from Rinoa’s accusing
stare, from all of them.
When
he stood in front of the opening, his hands took on a life of their own.
He
placed them on the barrier. Pain shot through his body, but the barrier
disappeared. Squall fell to his knees, he was exhausted. Even Seifer was
speechless.
“How…
how did you do that?”
Selphie
put her hand out where the barrier should be; there was nothing, not a crackle
or anything.
“How?”
Fujin whispered, “…did he do that?”
Squall
used the rock nearby to prop himself up. There was a pain all over him, it
made his chest hurt even more when he breathed.
“Zell,
Selphie,” he said when he finally go his breath back, “take Rinoa
back. I don’t want her in this fight any further.”
“But-,”
protested Zell.
“Just
go.” Rinoa stood defiant in front of Squall, “You can’t tell
me what to do anymore Squall, and I want to finish this fight.”
“No,”
Squall said, “you want revenge on Andria and it isn’t the right
time now, go Rinoa.”
Zell
and Selphie pulled Rinoa away. Squall was still in charge and he was right,
Rinoa would only try to kill Andria if they found her in time.
“Quistis,
you Seifer, Raijin and Fujin are coming with me.”
“Where
are we going,” Raijin asked.
“To
find Andria.”
Author’s
Note
Please,
please don’t hate me for the Andria/Squall thing, I needed it, besides
I really hated Rinoa and I wanted to get my own back on her. (I have my
reasons)
When
I said that Seifer joined the trial, I meant that Squall was on trial for
what he did to Rinoa. Seifer was his defence (odd!!), Quistis was the judge
and Rinoa was the executioner (It’s all a big
metaphor)
.