BALAMB GARDEN (WEEK 5)
She walks through Timber's streets in a fog, abandoning Irvine and Zell, moving as far away as she can. Zell's magic still buzzes and pops in her brain; her wrist is sore from the Odine bangle. The skin is raw and red, bleeding some where the metal has scratched her when the bangle exploded.
She is still wary of the tidal wave of magic that had threatened to break.
There is a moment, though, in which Rinoa stops her wanderings of Timber's ruined street. Ultimecia's magic is still there-- it is a sick, slippery black thing that makes her want to throw up when it winds through her mind. Ultimecia has drawn off of her too many times, leaving her slimy, vulgar magic everywhere that she has touched.
Maybe...
She tries to stop the thought before it gets out of hand, but it sticks in her mind like a burr, irritating and impossible to ignore.
Maybe...I can use this.
After all, Ultimecia's made a game of using Rinoa's magic whenever she pleased. Who was to say that it wouldn't work the other way around? Zell's done his part, getting her free of that damn bracelet, and now that the idea's occurred to her, there's no reason that Rinoa can't act on it, can't put her own spin on Time Compression.
The idea is so laughably obvious that she doesn't know why she hadn't thought of it before.
She closes her eyes and reaches into that tangled black nightmare of magic, scared to death but knowing there's no other way, not if she ever wants to see Squall again (and not just Squall, but everyone).
She reaches, grabbing at threads of magic-- Zell first, obviously, magic popping like live wires. Quistis, off in the distance, a bitterblue glow. Irvine, gunpowder and desperation. Selphie is bright and bold, and she even finds Seifer, all heat, rage, smoldering pride.
Ellone is gentle and delicate, while Edea is cold, hard to coax.
Her magic is spitting out like a net, tangling around everyone she can reach, trying to avoid the dark smears that Ultimecia has put on everything. There is a moment in which Rinoa thinks that she will not be able to hold onto everything, that this net will snap and they'll all be lost.
But then she finds it, the one she's been looking for. Squall's magic is a powerful, solid wall, an impossible barrier. Rinoa gathers up everything she's got left, and pushes through it as hard as she can.
The world bends and twists, and the red queen is screaming, screaming... Rinoa holds fast to her net and yanks it back to her as time-space collapses, a star going supernova.
Then there is a brilliant explosion of light, then darkness, and silence.
When Rinoa wakes, it is to the gentle lapping of water, and she is floating in Balamb Garden's fountain.
ALL PLAYERS IN BALAMB GARDEN.
She is still wary of the tidal wave of magic that had threatened to break.
There is a moment, though, in which Rinoa stops her wanderings of Timber's ruined street. Ultimecia's magic is still there-- it is a sick, slippery black thing that makes her want to throw up when it winds through her mind. Ultimecia has drawn off of her too many times, leaving her slimy, vulgar magic everywhere that she has touched.
Maybe...
She tries to stop the thought before it gets out of hand, but it sticks in her mind like a burr, irritating and impossible to ignore.
Maybe...I can use this.
After all, Ultimecia's made a game of using Rinoa's magic whenever she pleased. Who was to say that it wouldn't work the other way around? Zell's done his part, getting her free of that damn bracelet, and now that the idea's occurred to her, there's no reason that Rinoa can't act on it, can't put her own spin on Time Compression.
The idea is so laughably obvious that she doesn't know why she hadn't thought of it before.
She closes her eyes and reaches into that tangled black nightmare of magic, scared to death but knowing there's no other way, not if she ever wants to see Squall again (and not just Squall, but everyone).
She reaches, grabbing at threads of magic-- Zell first, obviously, magic popping like live wires. Quistis, off in the distance, a bitterblue glow. Irvine, gunpowder and desperation. Selphie is bright and bold, and she even finds Seifer, all heat, rage, smoldering pride.
Ellone is gentle and delicate, while Edea is cold, hard to coax.
Her magic is spitting out like a net, tangling around everyone she can reach, trying to avoid the dark smears that Ultimecia has put on everything. There is a moment in which Rinoa thinks that she will not be able to hold onto everything, that this net will snap and they'll all be lost.
But then she finds it, the one she's been looking for. Squall's magic is a powerful, solid wall, an impossible barrier. Rinoa gathers up everything she's got left, and pushes through it as hard as she can.
The world bends and twists, and the red queen is screaming, screaming... Rinoa holds fast to her net and yanks it back to her as time-space collapses, a star going supernova.
Then there is a brilliant explosion of light, then darkness, and silence.
When Rinoa wakes, it is to the gentle lapping of water, and she is floating in Balamb Garden's fountain.
ALL PLAYERS IN BALAMB GARDEN.