[Ficlet] Dissidia: Final Fantasy - Idle Curiosity
Title: Idle Curiosity
Pairings: None
Rating: PG
Summary: Cloud of Darkness knows why Ultimecia wants to compress time.
Warnings: Mild violence
Notes: Request for rijsg
When Ultimecia was summoned to fight in the conflict, she had little regard for the whims of the gods. She also didn't care all that much for the prospect of returning to her own world. Ultimecia did not care for her world. All she cared about was Time Compression, and that was something that could be achieved as long as time existed. Even so, she was happy to find a remnant of her castle in this new world. It had been explained to her by Garland that it was a fragment of her memory, brought to life by the conflict. She swore to him that when she was finished with her work, it would be more than just a fragment.
The cycles went by, and Ultimecia's goals remained unchanged. She fulfilled her duties as a warrior of Chaos whenever it suited her, but spent far more time trying to find a way to begin the Time Compression process. Her allies, if they could even be called that, all knew what she was up to, but merely left her to her own devices, many of them having pursuits of their own to tend to. Even Chaos himself didn't seem to mind. He allowed her to do as she pleased and privately admired her for her ambition despite her situation. Ultimecia spent many an hour conjuring possible methods of Time Compression and attempting to find one that would work. If only she could harness the immense power of the gods! She would be able to crush all that stood in her way and be the solitary queen of her own timeless realm.
"Still contemplating, we see," a voice said, echoing off the walls of her castle. "Tell us, Ultimecia. Are you any closer to...Time Compression?"
Ultimecia stiffened slightly, then crossed her arms delicately with a frown. "I don't remember inviting you here," she growled as the Cloud of Darkness rose from a dark portal in the floor. "Have you not any manners? And to answer your question, it's none of your business."
Cloud of Darkness was not disturbed by such a rude greeting. Ultimecia was never friendly to begin with, and it didn't expect her to start now. "And is that how you greet a guest? We would say that you lack manners as well."
"Why are you here?" Ultimecia demanded, cutting out the banter and getting straight to the point. She highly doubted that it was out of friendliness. The sooner she sent Cloud of Darkness on its way, the better.
One of the tentacles at Cloud of Darkness' waist snaked its way over Ultimecia's shoulder and as the witch lightly knocked it away, it answered, "Call it idle curiosity."
"Then sate it elsewhere," Ultimecia snapped. "Now leave before I eject you myself."
The two tentacles hissed at Ultimecia and snapped at the air. Cloud of Darkness asked, "Are you threatening us?" Ultimecia's reply was to attack with a magical spike. One of the tentacles clamped onto it with its jaws, preventing its master from being impaled. "You will regret crossing us." The tentacle snapped the spike in two, and Cloud of Darkness jumped back, tentacles swinging rhythmically. Dark balls of energy flew at Ultimecia, who blocked them with her wings.
Ultimecia did not care that the two of them were technically on the same side. No one on the side of Dischord did. There was little pretense of friendship between the warriors, and none of them trusted any of the others. Golbez was a suspected traitor, though nobody had proof of it. Gabranth had disappeared some time ago, and none of them cared enough about that moaning mutt to find out what happened to him. The ten warriors of Chaos simply shared the same enemies and once those enemies were eliminated, they would turn on each other until only one was left standing. Any combined forces were done only for selfish interests. And Ultimecia's interests right now involved teaching Cloud of Darkness a lesson.
If I'm feeling charitable, Ultimecia thought, perhaps I will let her live.
"You will never do it," Cloud of Darkness taunted, closing the gap between them. "You will never compress time."
"I did it once, I will do it again!" Ultimecia replied. "You are speaking to a witch of time!" She retreated to the great spiral in the center of the castle, grinding on one of the rails. Cloud of Darkness matched her pace, taking to the other rail.
"'Witch of time,' you say?" Cloud of Darkness smirked. "It's time you stopped fooling yourself, Ultimecia."
"What do you mean!?" Ultimecia snarled, preparing a magic spell.
"You, Ultimecia," Cloud of Darkness chuckled. "You...are afraid of time."
Ultimecia lost her concentration and her spell fizzled into nothing but errant energy. It was at that moment the rail ended, and had she reacted one second later, she would have lost control of her movements and crashed. Leaping from the end of the rail and onto the floor, she aimed some of her strongest magic at Cloud of Darkness.
"Did we...strike a nerve?" Cloud of Darkness asked, escaping the magic's blast range. "There is truth in what we just said, isn't there? You humans never change, always seeking to conquer what you fear most. Time Compression is just a way for you to hide from time, in a place where it can never hurt you. Now tell us, what are you so afraid of? Death? Aging? Or perhaps time cruelly stole something which you held dear."
"You wicked wench!" Ultimecia screeched, dozens of piercing spikes surronding Cloud of Darkness. They all struck at once and many of them were deflected by thrashing tentacles. Some of them did go through, digging deep into Cloud of Darkness' body. However, it didn't even seem to notice as it rushed the witch. Before Ultimecia could cast another spell, Cloud of Darkness rushed up to her, one of its tentacles closing its jaws onto her arm. It spared her no pain, clamping down so strongly its jagged teeth dug into her flesh drawing blood. Ultimecia grit her teeth, but refused to cry out. She would not give Cloud of Darkness that satisfaction.
"It looks like we win this one," Cloud of Darkness said, tugging her forward. "Now, what should we do?" She ran a finger across Ultimecia's neck. "We could slay you right here and now." The hand then trailed down Ultimecia's exposed chest, adding insult to injury. The tentacle released its grip on Ultimecia. "However, we will let you live. We are very interested in seeing if you will succeed in compressing time or not. After all, what you seek is not unlike the Void." Cloud of Darkness disappeared into the ground, narrowly escaping Ultimecia's wrath as she stabbed the floor with a long and narrow spike in both hands.
"I will," she spat, slamming her fist into the ground. "I will compress time. And when I do, you will be the first to die."
Pairings: None
Rating: PG
Summary: Cloud of Darkness knows why Ultimecia wants to compress time.
Warnings: Mild violence
Notes: Request for rijsg
When Ultimecia was summoned to fight in the conflict, she had little regard for the whims of the gods. She also didn't care all that much for the prospect of returning to her own world. Ultimecia did not care for her world. All she cared about was Time Compression, and that was something that could be achieved as long as time existed. Even so, she was happy to find a remnant of her castle in this new world. It had been explained to her by Garland that it was a fragment of her memory, brought to life by the conflict. She swore to him that when she was finished with her work, it would be more than just a fragment.
The cycles went by, and Ultimecia's goals remained unchanged. She fulfilled her duties as a warrior of Chaos whenever it suited her, but spent far more time trying to find a way to begin the Time Compression process. Her allies, if they could even be called that, all knew what she was up to, but merely left her to her own devices, many of them having pursuits of their own to tend to. Even Chaos himself didn't seem to mind. He allowed her to do as she pleased and privately admired her for her ambition despite her situation. Ultimecia spent many an hour conjuring possible methods of Time Compression and attempting to find one that would work. If only she could harness the immense power of the gods! She would be able to crush all that stood in her way and be the solitary queen of her own timeless realm.
"Still contemplating, we see," a voice said, echoing off the walls of her castle. "Tell us, Ultimecia. Are you any closer to...Time Compression?"
Ultimecia stiffened slightly, then crossed her arms delicately with a frown. "I don't remember inviting you here," she growled as the Cloud of Darkness rose from a dark portal in the floor. "Have you not any manners? And to answer your question, it's none of your business."
Cloud of Darkness was not disturbed by such a rude greeting. Ultimecia was never friendly to begin with, and it didn't expect her to start now. "And is that how you greet a guest? We would say that you lack manners as well."
"Why are you here?" Ultimecia demanded, cutting out the banter and getting straight to the point. She highly doubted that it was out of friendliness. The sooner she sent Cloud of Darkness on its way, the better.
One of the tentacles at Cloud of Darkness' waist snaked its way over Ultimecia's shoulder and as the witch lightly knocked it away, it answered, "Call it idle curiosity."
"Then sate it elsewhere," Ultimecia snapped. "Now leave before I eject you myself."
The two tentacles hissed at Ultimecia and snapped at the air. Cloud of Darkness asked, "Are you threatening us?" Ultimecia's reply was to attack with a magical spike. One of the tentacles clamped onto it with its jaws, preventing its master from being impaled. "You will regret crossing us." The tentacle snapped the spike in two, and Cloud of Darkness jumped back, tentacles swinging rhythmically. Dark balls of energy flew at Ultimecia, who blocked them with her wings.
Ultimecia did not care that the two of them were technically on the same side. No one on the side of Dischord did. There was little pretense of friendship between the warriors, and none of them trusted any of the others. Golbez was a suspected traitor, though nobody had proof of it. Gabranth had disappeared some time ago, and none of them cared enough about that moaning mutt to find out what happened to him. The ten warriors of Chaos simply shared the same enemies and once those enemies were eliminated, they would turn on each other until only one was left standing. Any combined forces were done only for selfish interests. And Ultimecia's interests right now involved teaching Cloud of Darkness a lesson.
If I'm feeling charitable, Ultimecia thought, perhaps I will let her live.
"You will never do it," Cloud of Darkness taunted, closing the gap between them. "You will never compress time."
"I did it once, I will do it again!" Ultimecia replied. "You are speaking to a witch of time!" She retreated to the great spiral in the center of the castle, grinding on one of the rails. Cloud of Darkness matched her pace, taking to the other rail.
"'Witch of time,' you say?" Cloud of Darkness smirked. "It's time you stopped fooling yourself, Ultimecia."
"What do you mean!?" Ultimecia snarled, preparing a magic spell.
"You, Ultimecia," Cloud of Darkness chuckled. "You...are afraid of time."
Ultimecia lost her concentration and her spell fizzled into nothing but errant energy. It was at that moment the rail ended, and had she reacted one second later, she would have lost control of her movements and crashed. Leaping from the end of the rail and onto the floor, she aimed some of her strongest magic at Cloud of Darkness.
"Did we...strike a nerve?" Cloud of Darkness asked, escaping the magic's blast range. "There is truth in what we just said, isn't there? You humans never change, always seeking to conquer what you fear most. Time Compression is just a way for you to hide from time, in a place where it can never hurt you. Now tell us, what are you so afraid of? Death? Aging? Or perhaps time cruelly stole something which you held dear."
"You wicked wench!" Ultimecia screeched, dozens of piercing spikes surronding Cloud of Darkness. They all struck at once and many of them were deflected by thrashing tentacles. Some of them did go through, digging deep into Cloud of Darkness' body. However, it didn't even seem to notice as it rushed the witch. Before Ultimecia could cast another spell, Cloud of Darkness rushed up to her, one of its tentacles closing its jaws onto her arm. It spared her no pain, clamping down so strongly its jagged teeth dug into her flesh drawing blood. Ultimecia grit her teeth, but refused to cry out. She would not give Cloud of Darkness that satisfaction.
"It looks like we win this one," Cloud of Darkness said, tugging her forward. "Now, what should we do?" She ran a finger across Ultimecia's neck. "We could slay you right here and now." The hand then trailed down Ultimecia's exposed chest, adding insult to injury. The tentacle released its grip on Ultimecia. "However, we will let you live. We are very interested in seeing if you will succeed in compressing time or not. After all, what you seek is not unlike the Void." Cloud of Darkness disappeared into the ground, narrowly escaping Ultimecia's wrath as she stabbed the floor with a long and narrow spike in both hands.
"I will," she spat, slamming her fist into the ground. "I will compress time. And when I do, you will be the first to die."