Riona (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rionaleonhart) wrote2013-04-13 10:44 am
rionaleonhart) wrote2013-04-13 10:44 am
Fanfiction: With These Signs Upon Our Souls, Chapter One (FFVIII/FFXIII)
Well, this is long overdue! I shouldn't talk about the things I'm writing, really, because I always take ages to actually get them into a postable state. Still, at least it only took nine months for me to get the first chapter of this up; that Merlin-Gwen bodyswap thing took me over three years. Fingers crossed I can get future chapters out at a slightly more sensible rate.
Title: With These Signs Upon Our Souls, Chapter One
Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII/Final Fantasy XIII
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 1,800 (this chapter)
Summary: The exam brief is simple enough: protect the fal'Cie from the Timber resistance. Squad B are about to get the mission as wrong as humanly possible.
Xu explains the field exam on the train to Timber. Resistance has been building against the occupying Galbadian forces, and there are rumours of a possible attack on the town’s food production fal’Cie. If an attack is launched, Galbadia thinks it’ll be launched today. Squad B’s task is to remain with the fal’Cie and protect it from any intruders.
Something about it is bothering him, Squall thinks, skulking around at the back of his mind, but he can’t work out why. Not that it matters. It’s not his job to question the mission; it’s his job to carry it out.
It seems easy enough. There may well be no attack at all. Of course, in that case nobody’s likely to pass the exam; it’ll be a test of who’s best at standing around and waiting, and it’s hard to find out who’s SeeD material from that.
The other issue is that for some reason Squall has been put in charge of this squad, and that means he can’t just focus on following commands; he needs to keep the others in line. Zell is overzealous and Squall is almost certain that he’ll forget they’re supposed to keep unnecessary chatter to a minimum, but at least he seems willing to follow Squall’s orders. Seifer...
“We are authorised to use only nonlethal force against resistance members,” Xu is saying. “The occupying force are already unpopular and don’t wish to make themselves more so. Of course, Garden’s reputation is also at stake.”
“Oh, one of those missions,” Seifer says, rolling his eyes.
“Yes, Seifer, one of those,” Xu says, coolly. “You’ve already taken every opportunity to show us how good you are at sticking your gunblade in things; this time, try showing us that you can exercise restraint.”
Seifer could be a problem.
-
The building that houses Timber’s food production fal’Cie is enormous, dominating the central square. Two Galbadian soldiers stand guard outside it. They both nod at Squall as the squad approaches, and one of them unlocks the large double doors – the doors are always kept locked; there was a time when tourists were allowed to visit the fal’Cie under supervision, but Squall vaguely recalls that that practice was stopped after some kind of incident – and stands back to let them through.
They step into a spacious stone-built room, a few degrees cooler than outside. It seems very dark after the bright sunlight of the square. Squall stays still for a moment after the heavy doors have closed behind him, listening to Zell’s echoing footsteps, waiting for the glare to fade from his eyes.
When his eyes adjust he sees that the fal’Cie isn’t actually here; it must be some sort of hall preceding the fal’Cie’s chamber. A similarly tall, elaborate pair of carved double doors stand opposite the ones they came in by. It’s not hard to guess where they need to go.
Squall takes two steps towards the second set of double doors, and they open.
A young woman stumbles through the gap in the doors and lets them fall shut behind her, with a bang that echoes around the stone hall. She’s holding her arms around herself, and the first thing Squall notices about her is her clothes, blue and black. Not SeeD, not Galbadian army. A civilian?
The second thing he notices is that she’s injured, bleeding and bruised and unsteady on her feet, as if she’s taken on something far beyond her ability in a fight and barely managed to get away.
A resistance member? They may already be too late, if she was in the fal’Cie’s chamber.
The woman stumbles, falls to her hands and knees on the stone flags.
“Hey,” Zell says, uneasily, “d’you think she’s—”
“Rinoa!”
Squall jerks back as Seifer bolts past him. It takes him a moment to realise Seifer was the one who shouted – his voice was almost unrecognisable – but by then Seifer is already by the stranger, trying to help her to her feet. She half-rises but then falls again, with an inarticulate noise of pain.
And something changes in the atmosphere of the room. For a moment Seifer goes completely still and silent, and then he curses viciously. Zell draws in a breath sharply beside Squall. Squall doesn’t understand what’s happened at first, and then he sees it: an elaborate black brand on the stranger’s forearm. Her injuries are the least of her worries. She’s a l’Cie.
“The fal’Cie did this to you?” Seifer demands.
“I was just – I was trying to—” She cuts herself off and closes her eyes for a moment, shivering, trying to slow her breathing down.
“What the hell, Rinoa, I told you not to get involved! You knew the exam was today!”
“I couldn’t just do nothing,” she snaps.
Seifer raises a hand, and Zell gives a surprised squawk. When Seifer brings his hand down again and the stranger – almost certainly a resistance member – is bathed in green light, Squall realises that he was Drawing. It’ll count against him on the evaluation – Drawing from conscious squadmates is strongly discouraged – but Seifer has always refused to stock Cure spells of his own.
Some of her smaller injuries have started to heal when the light fades, but she still probably needs medical attention. Not that it can do much for her, now that the fal’Cie has her. In any case, the first thing to do is to establish whether the mission has been failed.
“Did you attack the fal’Cie?” Squall asks, stepping forward. “Did you destroy it?”
She looks confused. “Why would I” – she lets out a hiss of pain, grabs her ankle with one hand – “would I try to destroy it?”
Squall frowns. “You’re a member of the Timber resistance, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, but we need to eat too. I wasn’t going to attack our main food source.”
“If you didn’t intend to attack the fal’Cie,” Squall says, his frown deepening, “why are you here?”
She swallows. “I just wanted to talk to it.”
“Talk to it?”
“You know, negotiate.” Her shivering is getting worse. “I wanted to get it to stop providing food to the army. But...” She hugs her knees to her chest, wrapping a hand around her forearm to hide the brand.
This doesn’t make sense. A resistance member took the risk of breaking in just to talk to the fal’Cie?
Actually, that’s not the only strange thing about this situation. Why did it make her a l’Cie? Squall had assumed the fal’Cie was acting to protect itself: she was attacking it, so it gave itself some measure of control over her. But if she was just trying to talk...
Was she just... convenient? The fal’Cie wanted something done, so it grabbed the first available human and forced her to do it?
It’s certainly a possibility. Does that mean it would have tried to make them l’Cie while they guarded it, though, if this girl hadn’t been available?
In that case, it still might. He’s heard of multiple l’Cie being assigned the same Focus before: if the first is unwilling or incapable, if it’s too large a task for one person to accomplish.
He draws breath to say they should be careful and realises a split-second before he speaks that it’s not actually what he’s going to say at all. The sight of the injured resistance member, gripping her l’Cie brand – she just wanted to talk to it – sparks something in him, a feeling or a memory, and he says, very calmly, “I’m going to destroy the fal’Cie.”
There’s a moment’s silence. It doesn’t last long.
“Are you crazy?” Zell demands, at the same time Seifer says, still looking at the resistance member, “Leave the finishing blow to me.”
“You can’t!” the resistance member exclaims. “Timber will starve!”
“They can trade for food,” Seifer says. “Or learn to hunt for themselves. It’s not gonna get away with this.”
“Does anyone else care that this is the exact opposite of our mission?” Zell asks, desperately. “And also that it’s crazy and that thing will definitely kill us?”
“Wouldn’t’ve expected you to suggest it,” Seifer says, looking askance at Squall. “Guess I taught you well.”
Just hours ago, Squall thinks, he was on the train, worrying that Seifer might do something rash and screw up the mission. It’s almost funny. “This isn’t about you.”
“If it’s about me, forget it,” the resistance member implores.
Squall frowns. I don’t know you, he thinks. He decides against saying it.
“Has anyone ever killed a fal’Cie?” Seifer asks, looking thoughtful. “Maybe it’ll release you from your Focus.”
She shakes her head. “Seifer, you’ll die. Even if you don’t, you’ll just be cutting off a town’s food supply. I’m not gonna let you do this.”
Squall turns and walks through the doors to the fal’Cie chamber as they argue, and there it is: the fal’Cie Anima, exposed and huge and almost motionless, staring at him with its blank eyes. There’s nobody between them; the resistance member must have come alone. Squall has the feeling it’s waiting for him to make the first move.
He isn’t surprised when Seifer follows him in a moment later.
“Planning to take all the glory for yourself?” Seifer asks.
Glory? Nobody is going to thank them for this. “I thought she didn’t want you to fight.”
Seifer shrugs. “That’s what Sleep spells are for.”
The doors open behind them again, and Squall glances back. Zell.
“Squall,” Zell says, his eyes fixed on the fal’Cie, his voice shaking like a Caterchipillar that’s been hit by a Tornado spell, “you are insane. That thing is gonna kill us. Do you understand? We’re all gonna die.”
“I’m not asking you to get involved,” Squall says, quietly. “If you want to, you can wait outside.”
“What, and leave you to get yourself killed?”
“If you’re worried about passing the exam, contact Garden and tell them what I’m doing. You’re allowed to move against the squad leader if he acts to endanger the mission.”
“I’m not worried about becoming a SeeD, you idiot, I’m worried about you!”
Squall frowns. “Why?”
Zell gapes at him.
And then Seifer is cocking his gunblade beside him. “You two boys can have all the heart-to-hearts you want later. This was just about to get interesting. We gonna fight this thing or not?”
He’s speaking casually, as if he’s only in this for a good battle, but there’s a break in his voice even Squall can’t miss. Who is this resistance member?
Not that it matters.
Squall draws his blade.
“Hey.” Zell catches hold of the sleeve of Squall’s uniform jacket. “As I might be about to die for you, can you at least tell me why you decided to pick a fight with a fal’Cie?”
“I never asked you to do anything for me.”
“C’mon, man.”
Squall hesitates. “It took something important from me.”
“What, really? Must’ve been a hell of an important thing. What was it?”
He hesitates again. It’s a strange answer, he knows, but it’s the only one he has.
“I can’t remember,” he says.
Chapter Two
Title: With These Signs Upon Our Souls, Chapter One
Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII/Final Fantasy XIII
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 1,800 (this chapter)
Summary: The exam brief is simple enough: protect the fal'Cie from the Timber resistance. Squad B are about to get the mission as wrong as humanly possible.
Xu explains the field exam on the train to Timber. Resistance has been building against the occupying Galbadian forces, and there are rumours of a possible attack on the town’s food production fal’Cie. If an attack is launched, Galbadia thinks it’ll be launched today. Squad B’s task is to remain with the fal’Cie and protect it from any intruders.
Something about it is bothering him, Squall thinks, skulking around at the back of his mind, but he can’t work out why. Not that it matters. It’s not his job to question the mission; it’s his job to carry it out.
It seems easy enough. There may well be no attack at all. Of course, in that case nobody’s likely to pass the exam; it’ll be a test of who’s best at standing around and waiting, and it’s hard to find out who’s SeeD material from that.
The other issue is that for some reason Squall has been put in charge of this squad, and that means he can’t just focus on following commands; he needs to keep the others in line. Zell is overzealous and Squall is almost certain that he’ll forget they’re supposed to keep unnecessary chatter to a minimum, but at least he seems willing to follow Squall’s orders. Seifer...
“We are authorised to use only nonlethal force against resistance members,” Xu is saying. “The occupying force are already unpopular and don’t wish to make themselves more so. Of course, Garden’s reputation is also at stake.”
“Oh, one of those missions,” Seifer says, rolling his eyes.
“Yes, Seifer, one of those,” Xu says, coolly. “You’ve already taken every opportunity to show us how good you are at sticking your gunblade in things; this time, try showing us that you can exercise restraint.”
Seifer could be a problem.
The building that houses Timber’s food production fal’Cie is enormous, dominating the central square. Two Galbadian soldiers stand guard outside it. They both nod at Squall as the squad approaches, and one of them unlocks the large double doors – the doors are always kept locked; there was a time when tourists were allowed to visit the fal’Cie under supervision, but Squall vaguely recalls that that practice was stopped after some kind of incident – and stands back to let them through.
They step into a spacious stone-built room, a few degrees cooler than outside. It seems very dark after the bright sunlight of the square. Squall stays still for a moment after the heavy doors have closed behind him, listening to Zell’s echoing footsteps, waiting for the glare to fade from his eyes.
When his eyes adjust he sees that the fal’Cie isn’t actually here; it must be some sort of hall preceding the fal’Cie’s chamber. A similarly tall, elaborate pair of carved double doors stand opposite the ones they came in by. It’s not hard to guess where they need to go.
Squall takes two steps towards the second set of double doors, and they open.
A young woman stumbles through the gap in the doors and lets them fall shut behind her, with a bang that echoes around the stone hall. She’s holding her arms around herself, and the first thing Squall notices about her is her clothes, blue and black. Not SeeD, not Galbadian army. A civilian?
The second thing he notices is that she’s injured, bleeding and bruised and unsteady on her feet, as if she’s taken on something far beyond her ability in a fight and barely managed to get away.
A resistance member? They may already be too late, if she was in the fal’Cie’s chamber.
The woman stumbles, falls to her hands and knees on the stone flags.
“Hey,” Zell says, uneasily, “d’you think she’s—”
“Rinoa!”
Squall jerks back as Seifer bolts past him. It takes him a moment to realise Seifer was the one who shouted – his voice was almost unrecognisable – but by then Seifer is already by the stranger, trying to help her to her feet. She half-rises but then falls again, with an inarticulate noise of pain.
And something changes in the atmosphere of the room. For a moment Seifer goes completely still and silent, and then he curses viciously. Zell draws in a breath sharply beside Squall. Squall doesn’t understand what’s happened at first, and then he sees it: an elaborate black brand on the stranger’s forearm. Her injuries are the least of her worries. She’s a l’Cie.
“The fal’Cie did this to you?” Seifer demands.
“I was just – I was trying to—” She cuts herself off and closes her eyes for a moment, shivering, trying to slow her breathing down.
“What the hell, Rinoa, I told you not to get involved! You knew the exam was today!”
“I couldn’t just do nothing,” she snaps.
Seifer raises a hand, and Zell gives a surprised squawk. When Seifer brings his hand down again and the stranger – almost certainly a resistance member – is bathed in green light, Squall realises that he was Drawing. It’ll count against him on the evaluation – Drawing from conscious squadmates is strongly discouraged – but Seifer has always refused to stock Cure spells of his own.
Some of her smaller injuries have started to heal when the light fades, but she still probably needs medical attention. Not that it can do much for her, now that the fal’Cie has her. In any case, the first thing to do is to establish whether the mission has been failed.
“Did you attack the fal’Cie?” Squall asks, stepping forward. “Did you destroy it?”
She looks confused. “Why would I” – she lets out a hiss of pain, grabs her ankle with one hand – “would I try to destroy it?”
Squall frowns. “You’re a member of the Timber resistance, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, but we need to eat too. I wasn’t going to attack our main food source.”
“If you didn’t intend to attack the fal’Cie,” Squall says, his frown deepening, “why are you here?”
She swallows. “I just wanted to talk to it.”
“Talk to it?”
“You know, negotiate.” Her shivering is getting worse. “I wanted to get it to stop providing food to the army. But...” She hugs her knees to her chest, wrapping a hand around her forearm to hide the brand.
This doesn’t make sense. A resistance member took the risk of breaking in just to talk to the fal’Cie?
Actually, that’s not the only strange thing about this situation. Why did it make her a l’Cie? Squall had assumed the fal’Cie was acting to protect itself: she was attacking it, so it gave itself some measure of control over her. But if she was just trying to talk...
Was she just... convenient? The fal’Cie wanted something done, so it grabbed the first available human and forced her to do it?
It’s certainly a possibility. Does that mean it would have tried to make them l’Cie while they guarded it, though, if this girl hadn’t been available?
In that case, it still might. He’s heard of multiple l’Cie being assigned the same Focus before: if the first is unwilling or incapable, if it’s too large a task for one person to accomplish.
He draws breath to say they should be careful and realises a split-second before he speaks that it’s not actually what he’s going to say at all. The sight of the injured resistance member, gripping her l’Cie brand – she just wanted to talk to it – sparks something in him, a feeling or a memory, and he says, very calmly, “I’m going to destroy the fal’Cie.”
There’s a moment’s silence. It doesn’t last long.
“Are you crazy?” Zell demands, at the same time Seifer says, still looking at the resistance member, “Leave the finishing blow to me.”
“You can’t!” the resistance member exclaims. “Timber will starve!”
“They can trade for food,” Seifer says. “Or learn to hunt for themselves. It’s not gonna get away with this.”
“Does anyone else care that this is the exact opposite of our mission?” Zell asks, desperately. “And also that it’s crazy and that thing will definitely kill us?”
“Wouldn’t’ve expected you to suggest it,” Seifer says, looking askance at Squall. “Guess I taught you well.”
Just hours ago, Squall thinks, he was on the train, worrying that Seifer might do something rash and screw up the mission. It’s almost funny. “This isn’t about you.”
“If it’s about me, forget it,” the resistance member implores.
Squall frowns. I don’t know you, he thinks. He decides against saying it.
“Has anyone ever killed a fal’Cie?” Seifer asks, looking thoughtful. “Maybe it’ll release you from your Focus.”
She shakes her head. “Seifer, you’ll die. Even if you don’t, you’ll just be cutting off a town’s food supply. I’m not gonna let you do this.”
Squall turns and walks through the doors to the fal’Cie chamber as they argue, and there it is: the fal’Cie Anima, exposed and huge and almost motionless, staring at him with its blank eyes. There’s nobody between them; the resistance member must have come alone. Squall has the feeling it’s waiting for him to make the first move.
He isn’t surprised when Seifer follows him in a moment later.
“Planning to take all the glory for yourself?” Seifer asks.
Glory? Nobody is going to thank them for this. “I thought she didn’t want you to fight.”
Seifer shrugs. “That’s what Sleep spells are for.”
The doors open behind them again, and Squall glances back. Zell.
“Squall,” Zell says, his eyes fixed on the fal’Cie, his voice shaking like a Caterchipillar that’s been hit by a Tornado spell, “you are insane. That thing is gonna kill us. Do you understand? We’re all gonna die.”
“I’m not asking you to get involved,” Squall says, quietly. “If you want to, you can wait outside.”
“What, and leave you to get yourself killed?”
“If you’re worried about passing the exam, contact Garden and tell them what I’m doing. You’re allowed to move against the squad leader if he acts to endanger the mission.”
“I’m not worried about becoming a SeeD, you idiot, I’m worried about you!”
Squall frowns. “Why?”
Zell gapes at him.
And then Seifer is cocking his gunblade beside him. “You two boys can have all the heart-to-hearts you want later. This was just about to get interesting. We gonna fight this thing or not?”
He’s speaking casually, as if he’s only in this for a good battle, but there’s a break in his voice even Squall can’t miss. Who is this resistance member?
Not that it matters.
Squall draws his blade.
“Hey.” Zell catches hold of the sleeve of Squall’s uniform jacket. “As I might be about to die for you, can you at least tell me why you decided to pick a fight with a fal’Cie?”
“I never asked you to do anything for me.”
“C’mon, man.”
Squall hesitates. “It took something important from me.”
“What, really? Must’ve been a hell of an important thing. What was it?”
He hesitates again. It’s a strange answer, he knows, but it’s the only one he has.
“I can’t remember,” he says.
Chapter Two
no subject
Squall is the leader! I somehow managed to miss Squall being the leader the first time through. Do not ask me how.
“That’s what Sleep spells are for.” for god's sake seifer
And, oh, Squall, not understanding why Zell would be worried about him.
And chapter one! Implying there may someday be a chapter two! eeeee so excitingggg
no subject
Thank you so much! I'm really glad you like it so far. (YES, SEIFER, THAT'S THE ANSWER. Seifer and Squall are both terrible at being human beings, albeit in entirely different ways.)
no subject
I love your Squall-thoughts. They are perfect.
I will totally have more to say about this once you post the second chapter. I can't wait!
no subject
no subject
It’s not his job to question the mission; it’s his job to carry it out. Perfect Squall. I am so excited to see him and Seifer and Rinoa all argue about things.
it’ll be a test of who’s best at standing around and waiting, and it’s hard to find out who’s SeeD material from that.
hee hee perfect Squall again!!
“Oh, one of those missions,” Seifer says, rolling his eyes.
PERFECT SEIFER. PERFECT XU. PERFECT EVERYONE. <333333
“I couldn’t just do nothing,” she snaps. Rinoaaaaa
He draws breath to say they should be careful and realises a split-second before he speaks that it’s not actually what he’s going to say at all. The sight of the injured resistance member, gripping her l’Cie brand – she just wanted to talk to it – sparks something in him, a feeling or a memory, and he says, very calmly, “I’m going to destroy the fal’Cie.”
aaaaa this is perfect and I am so excited for the rest of this fix
“Are you crazy?” Zell demands, at the same time Seifer says, still looking at the resistance member, “Leave the finishing blow to me.”
Finishing blow gets the EXP!
“Wouldn’t’ve expected you to suggest it,” Seifer says, looking askance at Squall. “Guess I taught you well.”
Ugh, what a dick. Your dialogue is so good. And the interactions here are so interesting! Rinoa and Zell being the voices of reason! Seifer and Squall DESTROYING EVERYTHING.
“Planning to take all the glory for yourself?” Seifer asks.
Glory? Nobody is going to thank them for this.
I love this for how perfectly it encapsulates the difference between Seifer and Squall's worldview. They are both willing to engage in exactly the same destructive and self-destructive behaviors, they're just doing it for completely different reasons.
no subject
I'm always surprised when I replay Final Fantasy VIII and remember that Zell acts as a voice of reason fairly often. It's not something you'd expect from him, somehow.