Retaliation: Afterpiece Noir
Author’s Note: Final Fantasy VIII, it’s characters, places, weapons, etc. All belongs to Squaresoft INC., I own none, will own none. I only own the previous events that took place in “Retaliation”.
Prologue
They were all dead. There was nothing I could do now.
She was right in front of me, but there were no signs of the light I had seen earlier. She was a predator, so much like me; an avenging angel at large.
“Things might’ve been different between us.” I said.
“Yeah, right!” she replied, mocking me with her voice, whipping me down, “I would’ve been Mrs. Leonhart, and then would have to fight with the mere memory of Ms. Rinoa Heartilly!”
The power of the words made me fall down on my knees.
“Life knocks you down, doesn’t it?” she asked, still playing games with my mind, “Like they say; ‘How reality’s plane can wear you down, and make you an insane man who only frowns!”
I ran by bloodstained hands through my whitening hair with a sigh. I had gotten the revenge of Rinoa, and my murdered friends.
But what about me?
Who could I have cut the price tag of my broken life?
The answer brought me to this pit, where it would all end. The afterpiece was on, the final scene was here. The final scene, labelled as Mata Léao, “to kill the lion”.
I pushed my illusions aside. Nothing I could do now. I couldn’t save them new. But I could save myself by giving up. It would save the time.
“So, how does this end?” I asked.
“Through you.” She replied, “Badly.”
It would end through me. I knew it. I should’ve known it all my life, that I couldn’t find peace from my past. It was like a ghostly shadow, following me.
“It doesn’t have to.” I said, “It didn’t have to be this way.”
“It did.” She replied, “It so totally did. Because, everything that had happened before effects this here moment as well!”
She raised her weapon.
“Farewell, Squall.” She said.
In my moment of death, I felt a cold, metallic object, pressing against my leg. With a shaking, bloodstained hand, I reached out to see what it was. I touched the little knife.
Looking at the chessboard, I saw that it was my turn to make a move.
So I made my move-
Chapter One: The Afterglow Of A Dream