One
Ultimecia had become the most powerful Sorceress of all time, a natural and logical outcome given her mastery and control of time and her successful execution of time compression. In the process, she had absorbed the powers of every Sorceress in existence, the very paradox of compression allowing her to steal powers from every moment in history, even moments that could not have happened logically.
And now in a world where everything and nothing existed all at once, she held it all. Control over time itself. Time flowed at her whims, her selection. She was immortal. She was powerful beyond all limits, and it was folly for the group SeeDs from the past to have come to her future, which was also technically the past.
However, not all were defeated. Among them was one had stood a slim chance at being a problem. But she was now neutralised like the rest, and Ultimecia had time on her hands to have some fun. Her plan that she would set in motion would in mortal terms take some time... but of course, with full control, such a thought was meaningless to her.
The cell door opened, but the occupant did not even stir as the Sorceress entered, chuckling.
"I wonder, little girl. What will you say to me this time? What words will you curse me with?"
Ultimecia regarded the last survivor of the group of six. She lay there, covered in dirt and blood, chained to the wall. Her clothing was slightly ripped and torn, and the downtrodden girl simply sat in place even as her hands were freed from the shackles with a wave of her captor's hands making them vanish.
"Ah, you are submissive today... I knew this would happen but for you this took a long time. For me, waiting was no problem of course, but... Why have you surrendered now?" She queried.
The girl glared up, with dry eyes, that had long since lost the capacity for tears.
"Just do it. We lost. You killed everyone and you just keep torturing me. Just kill me too." Rinoa practically begged.
Ultimecia laughed.
"Killed? Why, Rinoa! Nothing so crass! Your friends are immortal..."
"You froze them in time, you'll never undo it and you made it so my magic and items wouldn't work. They're as good as dead."
"And so you wish to join them now? Oh, but Rinoa. We had just begun to know each other..." Ultimecia sighed.
"I don't want to know you." The raven-haired prisoner spat.
Ultimecia nodded... and then Rinoa found herself chained up once more. Ultimecia was gone.
Rinoa had lost all track of time, not that it meant anything. Ultimecia had explained it. Rinoa was moving, breathing, and living... but not ageing. Like Ultimecia herself, Rinoa was immune to time, but her clothes were not. Tears, dirt, and damage built up until she wore nothing but rags.
She had not needed to eat or drink or even sleep. Ultimecia had frozen her need for such things. She had also frozen other functions to keep things somewhat cleaner, but only in that Rinoa's own body was not contributing to the dirt of her clothing. Once, when she had been trying to amuse herself to stay sane she had tried to tell Ultimecia the possible benefits of such power.
Ultimecia had smirked, noted that yes, it did serve as the ultimate deodorant and could be useful for those other things... and Rinoa had blinked as she came out of a time freeze once again, apparently a long time afterwards.
And so, it meant that in a way, all she had now was her captor. No one fed her, no one brought water. No one needed to. Rinoa had at first thought she would go completely insane, until Ultimecia had told her the truth.
"You will not go insane... not entirely. You'll remain sane to a point, but the isolation and the mind games I subject you to? They will not affect your psyche. Only your defiance. Only your will..."
And so, Rinoa had tried to prove her wrong. Stopped trying to stay sane, and for a long time, she had thought maybe she would go mad.
When she was told just how right Ultimecia had been ten years later of trying, she had been horrified to realise that she had stayed for ten years trying to go insane, and had barely noticed it. She had been even more horrified to realise that the revelation should have driven her mad but could not for the obvious reasons.
And now her defiance had broken, and she had no idea how long that had taken. And she had no idea how long it would until Ultimecia would return.
She would be left alone. Unable to even go insane to protect herself from the despair of isolation.
She returned a time later.
"Please... How long since you were last here?"
Ultimecia smirked.
"I like the begging, but you have no need to know. It cannot drive you mad no matter how much you want it, girl. So never mind that. Where were we last? Ah, yes... We were getting to know each other..."
Rinoa stared her in the eyes.
"I already said. I don't want to know you. I know enough".
"Really? But I know you so well... Did you know the Time Compression lets me see all of history? Your birth... Your first words... your first steps... the car crash that killed your mother... first day at school, first crush on a boy, first time you thought you hated your father, I know every moment of your life. I know you better than you do. It would only be fair for me to let you know me, would it not?"
"What were my first words, then?" The prisoner demanded.
Ultimecia smirked.
"Ironically... They were 'Dada'. Is that correct?"
Rinoa's silence was taken as a yes.
"But to know me I give you an offer... I know you, little girl, and I know what you feel for your friends... And for that boy. You will come with me..." Ultimecia said. And without resistance, Rinoa followed.
Rinoa knew where they were going. Rinoa knew it all now. She knew to try and strike Ultimecia would result in nothing but being left in the dungeon a second later, from her perspective. But when Ultimecia froze her like that she was left without any idea how long it was for... And she knew she was lucky for it.
The reason she was lucky was in the room Ultimecia led her to. This was where they stood.
Her friends, frozen for she had no idea how long. Their time frozen in that they could not move... but not entirely.
Normally being frozen in time was a simple area of effect that lasted a few real moments, and for the victim, it was like blinking. They were completely frozen, unaware of the passage of time, with even their last thoughts being cut off and continuing before the confusion set in.
Ultimecia, however, had mastered the spell. She could freeze selectively.
Rinoa had been shown exactly what happened to her friends. In the battle, she had been frozen the normal way, and "awoke" in the dungeon. And then Ultimecia brought her here and demonstrated.
First she had frozen their nervous systems, but nothing else. Impulses to organs were halted, and they were paralysed, but not frozen. They had slumped over, unable to blink, unable to scream, just minds in rag doll bodies with organs that could not even protest as blood and oxygen were cut off.
She had another trick in play at the same time. To not kill them, it only lasted a second in reality. But she fooled them into having it last for as long as she wanted. When she did it to Rinoa, she allowed it to last for three days.
And when they had stood back up, she froze their bodies but not their minds. Leaving them trapped as statues of flesh, staggering and reeling from the shock of their stretched out freeze from before. No pain, no lack of feeling, but feeling the same thing trapped only as their thoughts without seeing anything but the same sight, hearing anything but the same sound.
She then froze sensations. She had hit Selphie with a tiny shard of ice, which had melted, but had stuck into her and from Selphie's perspective, never left. The feeling of that shard of ice was frozen, stuck in her long after it was gone, until Ultimecia released it as even the little pinprick of ice had driven the SeeD into maddened screams of pain.
She had done the same to Rinoa by freezing the pain of a papercut.
And then as the finisher, she did it all. She slowly froze them. First they felt their hearts stop, and their lungs cease taking in air. They heard sounds stretch out, and sights lingered on for seconds. Their movements felt like moving through thicker and thicker liquid, and their fear grew and grew. In the end, they were frozen in time, their last thoughts of terror and fear. Thoughts they were frozen on for eternity.
Only they had frozen though, and their bodies, mounted as trophies, showed this. There was no dust or dirt on them: Frozen as they were it would not stick to them, somehow, and slid off. Their clothing was not the same. Dirt and dust had accumulated there. Moths had eaten holes, and even on their timeless bodies what they wore had been ravaged by time.
Irvine's long coat bore tears and rips in it from the battle, and holes had developed from time. His face was frozen in sheer surprise, even as the rim of his hat now dangled in front of it. His gun barrel had turned rusty, and in some places the leather of his boots had began to rot, as had the canvas of his jacket. Woodworm feasted on the wood of the guns stock.
Quistis had her glasses dusted over, and the frames were green edged as the copper in them had corroded. She hadn't even been wearing them in the fight: Ultimecia had put them on. Her clothing had been synthetic leather, but it had faded in colour. Below her fogged up eyes, she had her mouth half open in terror. Her whip however had rotted and snapped. There were tears and rips in her clothing, not the work of moths, but of Ultimecia's attacks using ice needles.
Zell had been injured in the battle, and the gash on his arm looked like it was still open, but nothing flowed and the blood there did not dry. His shirt and shorts were peppered with tiny moth holes, their colours faded as he stared into nothing. The metal of his gloves had turned to nothing but rust.
Selphie had the small hole from the ice needle in her right arm, a little gap with some blood around it that would never dry. The rusty chain of her giant nunchaku had snapped in the middle, and woodworm bit into the wooden sticks. Her dress was a mess, patches and holes eaten into it in many places. She looked confused, but her eyes were widening in horror.
And there was Squall. Frozen in a defiant grimace, his Gunblade in hand, now nothing more than rust. His jacket had the same problems as Irvine, and the moths had set about his other clothing too.
She could never look at him long to study the effects of time even as he stood still.
She did not regard them at all, not wishing to see what had become of them again. She did not want to see new additions to the rust, dust, dirt and rags that they were becoming. She did not want to see how long it would be until time claimed their clothing and weapons and made them just bizzare statues entirely.
"I brought you here to give you an offer. " Ultimecia began, and Rinoa glanced at her, then away. She stood beside Squall, leaning on the frozen male.
"Look at me, Rinoa." She commanded. Rinoa complied, lest she find herself back in the dungeon or worse, to have nothing happen to her at all.
"Now, the offer... You wish to be with this boy again, correct?"
"...Yes." Rinoa said softly.
"Then I will, if you are good, grant that wish. You see... I wish to try something new... And I wish you to help me."
"Why should I?" Rinoa demanded.
Ultimecia smirked, stroking Squall's unresponsive cheek.
"Simple, girl. You obey me and be my loyal slave and when you have done what I ask, I shall free this boy... Just this boy, and he will be yours once more. But first... first you must be mine.
"But..." Rinoa considered it even as she stuttered in confusion.
Squall could be free... but she had no reason to trust Ultimecia. She wanted to be with them all again but, could she be with Squall? What if Ultimecia kept her word? It could take years for her to do what Ultimecia asked, she might never be done.
But....
What if?
Two
She sat trying to ignore what she was chained to. Tried to ignore having saw everything while she was trapped unable to move.
Tried to ignore that she and they were never getting out of here.
Rinoa found it difficult though. The collars around their necks held her hands up so close to them she could feel that they remained warm, even though they'd never move again.
Selphie and Quistis were frozen in time and Ultimecia had said they would be there forever. Rinoa had no reason to doubt her since she had... She had been so powerful.
They never stood a chance. They were outclassed, overpowered in minutes... They'd been fools.
No! They had to try! She had to try! Anything to escape, anything to help her friends.
But... Why was she kept unfrozen? Why wasn't she being made into a statue-still trophy of herself frozen forever?
'I have two options... I fight...' She thought.
She saw the outcomes. She won, she saved everyone... Or she lost and joined them.
'...Or I give in...'
She guessed the outcomes here too. She'd be left here as a living trophy chained to her two friends... or she'd join them.
'Okay. Either I win, I never feel a thing again, I get trapped here forever, or I still never feel a thing again...'
She heard the door open, and had made her choice as Ultimecia entered.
"Hello, girl! I have brought you a visitor..." She chuckled.
'A visitor?! One of the guys! I never saw what she did with them... I hope they're... Well, safe. Even if they're like Quisty and Selphie just let them be alive...'
It was not one of the male members of the party.
It was her.
She looked clean on her skin, but her clothing was just dirty rags. There were badly darned tears, large holes, and patchwork made with what looked like the frayed threads of her cardigan, and what seemed to be random patches of cloth and leather. Her mirror image in ragged clothes did not even look at her as she shuffled in, and knelt at Ultimecias left side... Like an obedient dog...
"What... What is this?" The chained Rinoa asked. The other one glanced at her, at Selphie and Quistis, for just a second, and then just looked back at the floor.
"...This is some trick. An illusion... You want me to think I'll give in and become your dog or something!"
"No, girl. You already did give in... for time is not linear. Not any more. But, I'll let my slave tell you, shall I? You both know each other already I would imagine..." Ultimecia chuckled, and then left.
"...Bitch!" Rinoa screamed as she left. Ultimecia's amused laughter echoed for nearly a minute as she left.
"...You shouldn't be so defiant. Why can't you ever give in easily?" The slave said.
"...Screw you. You're just some illusion. You're not real."
Slave sighed.
"I was as stupid as that once. I thought I could hold out, but Mistress told me all twenty-eight years were in vain. I lasted the longest of all of us but it was still in vain... "
"What are you talking about?"
Slave looked up at her now, and even though it was all an illusion as far as Rinoa was concerned, all a trick...
...It was like looking into a personal hell in those eyes. There was... nothing but despair. Nothing but servitude. There might have been some hope there but it was not allowed to run rampant. This illusionary her, this clone... She scared her.
What if this was really the price of fighting Ultimecia. What if this was a warning to have her give up and spare herself the pain?
...No. It was a trick.
"You aren't the first one of... us. Neither was I. Mistress... She controls time. She keeps letting us try again and again and we just lose. Sometimes she takes us as trophies. Sometimes she destroys our minds and turns us into monsters. Sometimes she just destroys us."
"Bullshit." Rinoa protested.
"It's true. I've seen it. I've seen three of us as gargoyles. They look like monsters to you when you walked the castle, but if Mistress lets you, you see the real statues. Those versions of us were all scared. But they're not awake any more. Mistress doesn't like her statues aware."
Rinoa laughed, but not from humour.
"Ooh, scary. Tell me all these lies and then when I'm freaking out try to trick me with something, right? You're just in my head, some spell or trick..."
Slave then stood, and to Rinoa's shock, embraced her. She did not feel like an illusion.
But... Ultimecia was powerful. She could make an illusion this powerful.
"...That doesn't prove anything... You.. .You..." She found herself stammering.
"The others thought so too. But... They were me. And they were you. Two of us broke in the end, and we'll be here as long as it takes... I'll do what I must to serve Mistress..."
Rinoa shook her head.
"No. No way. I'd never do this. I'd sooner die than become some puppet. Get a better lie, Ultimecia!" She screamed at the door.
"How? How would you die?" Slave asked.
"...Hold my breath, strangle myself, try to cut my wrists... I'd try! I'd never give in!"
"...You may not, but I did. And it's impossible to die. Not unless the Mistress lets you. Hold your breath."
Rinoa frowned
"What?"
"Hold your breath." Slave repeated.
She did so. Slave began counting.
Rinoa was confused as Slave reached one hundred.
"Do you feel light headed? One hundred and one..."
One hundred fifty.
"Dizzy?"
Two hundred. Feeling worried but holding still...
...Holding still?
"Surely by now your lungs should ache. Over three minutes... You nearly drowned trying for half that time in the pool last... That summer before we hired the SeeDs."
Rinoa released her breath.
"How? How can that be?"
"You don't need to breathe. At all. Have you felt hungry? Thirsty? Can you even hear your heart beating faster as you get more and more frightened?"
Rinoa felt panicky... As she realised it was all true. She couldn't hear it. Couldn't feel it, even as panic rose and should have cause something to happen...
"...How..." She said in confusion.
"Mistress is how. But you don't need to be like this. You don't need the fear of being immortal gnawing at you forever. You don't need the memories. You're lucky. You can become Mistresses, but you don't have to stay you. The two before gave in eventually... And you will too. It's all a matter of time..." Slave said.
Rinoa could not think of what to say next... And had no idea if she even wanted to fight any more...
'But you don't need to be like this.'
No. She had to fight! She had to...
But what for? She might fight for years... She had saw the proof herself that she was going to be kept like this for a long time...
'You don't need the fear of being immortal gnawing at you forever. '
But if she gave in she wouldn't be herself. She'd be betraying herself...
'You don't need the memories. You're lucky. You can become Mistresses, but you don't have to stay you.'
Maybe... maybe that was for the best? To... to just forget. To not know the betrayal after it was done...
'No!'
No! No, she couldn't. That was the trick, the illusion speaking. That Slave wasn't her. Ultimecia was trying to get into her head...
'You don't need to be like this...'
That wasn't true!
'You don't need the fear... gnawing at you forever... '
She could bear it!
'You don't need the memories.'
She had to bear it...
'You're lucky...'
...But it would be difficult...
'You can become Mistresses...'
...Could she really bear it?
'You don't have to stay you.'
And if she wasn't going to be herself she'd...
'You don't need to be like this...'
She'd be able to keep going.
'You don't need the fear...
The real her would be gone...
'You don't need the memories.'
She wouldn't remember...
'You're lucky...'
She... She could just forget it all...
'You don't have to stay you.'
She could escape..
'You don't need to be like this...'
I don't... need to be... like this...
'You don't need the fear... gnawing at you forever... '
I don't... need the fear... gnawing at me... forever...
'You're lucky...'
I'm... lucky...
I can bear it... If I... I become Mistresses. I'm lucky... I don't need...
Outside, Ultimecia smirked. This one was breaking down fast... Her Slave was getting better at this...
Three
As she walked down the corridor with the holes in the wall letting her see just how vast this castle was, Rinoa was scared, and not afraid to admit it.
The others were... separated from her. She was alone in this castle, and magic wasn't working! No GF would respond, it was just her and her pinwheel against the monsters.
Unless, someone found her or she found someone.
Shouting names however had been a bad idea. The Glacial Eye in that hallway had almost got her when it heard her shout for the others, and she had no plans to attract more attention.
'Keep it together, Rinoa! You'll find someone. Just keep your ears and eyes open...'
She heard a noise behind her, spinning round to see... nothing. She was filled with the urge to challenge anyone there...
'And that would be stupid. I shout hello, the dragon just burns me into cinders... Or eats me, or whatever else dragons will do.'
When she turned back to face the way she had been going, there was another sound behind her.
'Okay, screw this!' She thought, and dashed down the corridor.
It led into a fairly open, but nearly empty and poorly lit, room. Just four statues standing there, not much light on them... Some kind of gallery? Either way much of the room was in murky shadows, but Rinoa was fairly sure the statues were stone.
Still, she wasn't going to walk in between them if she could help it. She'd rather avoid this room but the corridor behind was spooky too so...
'Here goes nothing... I wonder what's hiding in here ready to kill me...' She wondered.
At this, the lights came on, and Rinoa froze as if they were an oncoming car and she a rabbit. Her heart pounded in her chest and she wanted to run like hell...
'Me and my big thoughts!'
She finally found herself responding to run, seeing an exit distant, and dashing for it. She tugged on the door.
'Locked! Should have saw that coming...'
And then there was a sound. Like a spell being cast...
She turned and for the second time in this room, froze.
The statues... Were coming alive! All four of them jumped from their pedestals and advanced upon her.
"...Wha...What?! What the hell is this?!" She shouted aloud.
The four statues in the shadows had been hard to identify, but now in flesh and walking towards her, their identities were clear.
They were her. Dressed only in her biker shorts and her black sleeveless top. No sign of her cardigan or blue skirt and every one of them barefoot. They were all a bit grubby, with dirty smudges on faces and the rather large amounts of exposed skin. Their feet were the worst off for obvious reasons, but their hair was oddly neat, if a little dirty. Each of them had blank eyes and faces, no sign of emotion at all. Their eyes looked not really at her, but through her. Each was identical at first glance, but there were differences.
One had just the shorts and shirt, nothing else. The only difference was one strap of the top was snapped. Another had shackles and chains around her ankles, a short section of chain trailing off each. A third had the shackles on her wrists, with the short chains hanging off again. The last wore a collar, a chain hanging from the front, dangling like a necklace. That was all that set her four selves apart...
No... They weren't her. This was some trick! They were just illusions of her!
"Nice try!" She shouted, firing her pinwheel...
Only for it to miss. It came back, and she readied to try again, only to yelp as a fireball from one of the... Illusions nearly burnt her alive. She rolled out of the way, but the trailing edge of her cardigan caught the blaze and began to smoulder. At least it wasn't on fire.
"No fire! Leave her alive and intact!" A voice commanded.
'Ultimecia?! She's ambushing us alone one by one... Damn it!' Rinoa thought, then cried out as an ice attack froze her left foot to the floor.
She struggled to free herself as they advanced, snapping the block off just as they neared. She fired her pinwheel...
...They hit it with a spell, and it fell encased in ice.
'...Oh, crap. Now what do I do?!'
Thinking quickly, she looked back at the ice... in shards. It was worth a try. She dived for it, only to be hit with a lightning spell. She screamed as the shock coursed through her, falling down and groaning in pain. She felt arms pull her up and tried to struggle.. but a weakened version of the spell was used to keep her stunned.
She was dimly aware of three things. The sound of four pairs of footsteps dragging her along, that she seemed to be blacking out every few minutes, and that she seemed to be getting shocked every few minutes.
When she was lucid enough she was sure the latter two were connected...
It all stopped in a courtyard. There was a fountain there, but it seemed to be off.
"Stand her up!" The voice from before commanded.
Still dazed from the shocks, Rinoa's head span as she was pulled upright.
"Good... Now, strip her."
"W...Wait... No!" Rinoa weakly protested as hands began tugging.
She tried to fight, but it was useless. Less than careful work ripped her cardigan off her.. with a few new holes added by the electrical assaults. Her skirt was yanked from her, and she tried to bat the hands that ripped her top off by inserting themselves down the front of her chest, but it was useless. She tried to kick as her shoes and socks were pulled off, but in moments winced slightly as her bare feet hit the rough gravelly rock of the path.
Her shorts were literally torn from her as her bra was snapped, one strap limp before the whole garment was removed. She had gained a little more strength to try and protect the last shred of her dignity... Only to scream with another electric shock, and pass out for long enough to awaken and see her panties being tugged from her legs.
She tried to cover up, but found the four Illusions held her back from doing so, as the woman approached. She presumed it was Ultimecia.
"Well, well... An exhibitionist, are you?"
Rinoa squirmed as Ultimecia ran a hand up her side.
"Not that much to exhibit but very nicely formed nonetheless... A nice package overall. No wonder that boy wants to see this, eh?" She laughed.
"...Ugh... It's... It's better than being some... some sort of..." She tried to form an insult, even as Ultimecia kept poking, prodding, stroking and feeling her body... then she realised.
It wasn't Ultimecia, and they were not feeling her up. They were moving her. Forcing her up onto the top of the fountain.
"Now, Rinoa... You will be helping me. You see, this fountain, it... Lacks something. It is not on for it is so bland but perhaps you can help..."
The four "Illusions" of her force her into place, one foot on top of the water spout recessed into the pedestal, one just held up, slightly on her toes. Her legs were slightly spread, and her hands were forced to almost, but not quite, cover herself up. Her right arm cupped under her chest and her left was on her hip rather than providing coverage.
Her head was then tilted up slightly, and her pose was held in place by the four "Illusions".
"What... What are you doing to me..." She protested, squirming a little.
"You are helping me, Rinoa. Helping me improve my castle... You and the other four of you..."
"...I don't understand..."
Ultimecia smirked.
"Oh, but you will..."
And there was a sound, and then Rinoa felt water pressure below her foot... And then like something was going into it.
She screamed in shock as she felt her whole foot grow cold... and her ankle too... And felt it.
Water was pushing into her! Freezing cold water!
"What are you doing?!"
"The water is merely working to transform you. It must go up your body to reach your mouth, and so as you convert it makes a channel by itself."
"...What?" Rinoa said, confused, and now very frightened. Her knee was cold, and she felt the icy water flowing inside her leg...
"You are becoming a fountain, of course!" Ultimecia grinned.
Rinoa struggled, but the water, and conversion, worked their way up. She cursed and screamed, but in the end, much of her lower body was stone, and the wave was now going down her arms, when she felt the feeling of the water bursting into her throat. She choked for a second... And then watched a jet of water shoot from her open mouth.
Moments later, eyes wide in terror, and scream of horror lost in the freezing spray, the rest of her was stone. Rinoa was now a fountain.
The four that held her pose then moved to not hold her, but surround her. Stepping down from the pedestal, they disrobed, removing the only clothing they wore, the now soaked shorts and shirts, but those with shackles and chains left them on. Each burned their clothing with fire spells, and then the four entered the flow of the water. Even with the freezing chill none of them betrayed any discomfort - they did not even develop goosebumps. They were soon cleaned up, the dirt and grime washed away.
Now clean from head to toe, but still dripping in water, they moved to surround the stone Rinoa. And then as one they embraced the fountain, and each other. Each placed a hand on the statue - a leg, a foot, her buttock, her right hip - and one on each other - shoulders, chests, buttocks, or holding hands - and then, froze.
Four statues of time stopped bodies stood around the fountain of stone. Water splashed onto them, but apart from that which was in their hair, it did not seem to make them wet. It ran off them as fast as it sprayed from the mouth of the fountain.
It would run off them for eternity. In time the shackles would rust and wash away, and soon nothing would set the four apart from each other, and only being stone and spraying ice cold water from her mouth would set the fountain apart from them.
Four
Ultimecia heard her Slave approach behind her.
"It... It's done now, right?" She said timidly.
Her Mistress nodded.
"Yes... It is..."
"Then... Let him go. You said this was the last thing you needed me for, so let him go..."
Ultimecia pondered.
"...I am a woman of my word, girl. I will release him. Come with me..."
Walking from the fountain, Rinoa followed her mistress...
Her heart didn't flutter at the sight of him until Ultimecia allowed it to. She felt the need to breathe, the beating of her heart, the... remorse.
"...What did I do..."
"What you had to. To save him. And there he is." She was told.
She thought for a moment.
"...Yes... Now, please... Please, mistress, release him!"
She had stolen one of the intact cardigans from a version of herself, but her skirt, shorts, top, and shoes had seen better days. They were patchwork and crude repairs. Squall, for his part, looked pristine.
Rinoa had begged to be able to dress him in the clothing of a version of Squall Ultimecia had planned to turn into a gargoyle. To make it more amusing, her mistress had agreed... as long as Rinoa removed the age-worn clothing from the frozen male herself, and at the same time, removed her own... Only putting them back on as Squall was dressed again.
His gunblade, more rust than metal, had been discarded, and he had been slightly reposed. And now, he was a few dozen meters away, still frozen, with the defiant look.
"I will release him. Go to him."
And with that, Squall blinked, for the first time in years.
"What... "
He looked around, and saw Rinoa.
"...Rinoa?"
With tears once more, she nodded.
"Yes... Yes, Squall... It's me!"
She began to run, arms outstretched. He ran too, heading to meet her. The two of them saw each other near, ready to embrace for the first time in decades...
...And there they stood. Both thought their last thoughts, thinking they were about to embrace. Squall confused at her reaction, she elated it was finally happening.
Ultimecia had released him, as promised. She had said nothing about afterwards.
"Perhaps some day you will reach each other... But you are now both together forever."
She chuckled.
"Well... almost. It's all just the beginning of the game for me now. But for you two... It's such a lovely ending."
She admired them for a moment, and then her new fountain. She had the time. Her next guests were not scheduled to arrive until she so wished it.
She went to her throne room, and observed as she allowed her guests in. Five overconfident young SeeDs, one little weak Sorceress...
Six new playthings.
"Now... Who will I play with now?" She asked herself, checking her group over again.
No matter what though, she had it planned out. She knew the outcome could be that this group might very well overcome her. It was a slim possibility, but the rewards of all this fun outstripped risk.
And she was confident of a lovely ending... and more games to come.