Final Fantasy VIII 1. Beginnings

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Final Fantasy series, that's the ownership of Squaresoft. I do own copies of the games, which I have paid for! I hope they forgive me if I've ruined the plots of their masterpieces in this fic!  
  
Basically this is a fic from Shiva's point of view showing her travels between the worlds. It uses summon characters from FF4-FF10 but only those that appear relatively frequently or that I can be bothered to mention. A few minor plot spoilers but surely you've played all the older games??  
  
Anyway enjoy the babbling that is to commence (WARNING: this was written at extreme speeds over the course of a couple of hours by a hyperactive mind.)  
  
Pointless  
  
We exist to serve, to protect. We flit and float through many worlds and dimensions. Forever attached to these beings called humans. We find ourselves in charge of these groups of heroes as they fight to save their world in danger.  
  
What of our world? Ours is a world of a metaphysical plane, more of thought than matter only on our surrogate worlds do we really achieve physical existence.  
  
Our destinies are varied, some of us appear only once in a single world to turn up and vanish when their job is over. Where they go I have no idea. Some begin as a force for good and then turn bad, others are the reverse. Then there are the few like me, continually moving from place to place, people to people. Could it be we are the cursed or blessed ones for this immortality?  
  
But then we have no choice, we are all at the whim of the major force of Fate whom is perceived by humans as a God incorporeal. Humans feel this God gives them free will but Fate is predetermined, all must play their parts, the human mind with its ideas of choices and possibilities give themselves the illusion of this free will.  
  
My infinite existence has shown me that Fate can be likened to evolution, the right path will always be taken since the other choice will not work under Fate's selective pressure and will thus always be a failure, removed from reality echoing only as a thought of what could have been. We have many names; Summons, Aeons, Espers, Eidolons, Guardian Forces, what we are, is beings of extreme power.  
  
My name is Shiva. I began my existence as a human but sacrificed my life to become what was known as a Fayth. This was in a world called Spira, perpetually tormented by a monstrous force called Sin. A chosen one called a Summoner can draw upon the spirit of the Fayth to create a being called an Aeon.  
  
Hence that was me, I was called, created a number of times, replicated, but each and every one was me. I was forged in a realm of cold and ice and thus my new form came to embody this and I became the 'Ice Goddess'.  
  
Two of my closest friends also began their journey in this way. The man named Ifrit became a beast of fire, so misunderstood. Seen as gruff and brash, an unintelligent aggressive beast, in truth he is a gentle caring being, his rage and aggression arising from his sense of honour and protectiveness to those who called upon him.  
  
The second was a young boy, intelligent and mature in some ways giving him power. However his youth came with pride and cockiness. Oh Bahamut that noble being, how fitting for him to be a dragon. To these two I am inextricably linked for we three always arrive in the same time and place.  
  
Then there are those whom I never saw again. After the destruction of the root of Sin, the Fayth were freed, our ties to Spira gone and so we moved. Valefor, Ixion, Anima... I wonder what happened to them. Did they go elsewhere, become something else or were they truly freed?  
  
As for my triumvirate we were sent to a planet called Earth to a secret place called the Land of Summons where other beings similar to us resided.  
  
There in this realm were two rulers, a King and a Queen. The King's true form was a water serpent; fluid, cool with a usually calm temper which could flare up in waves. His name was Leviathan. Asura, his queen, was a three-headed goddess of healing. Here Bahamut's pride and powers were a problem and he exiled himself to the planet's moon seeing himself as a god to look over us all.  
  
Luckily my and Ifrit's temperaments were better suited to Leviathan's kingdom and here we met two beings whose paths we would cross more than once later on.  
  
Ramuh, a wise old man with the power to control lightning.  
  
Titan, a fearsome giant that shook the earth.  
  
I took to Ramuh warmly, if such a thing was possible with my cold body. Whereas Titan's loud personality was too much for my own quiet one although he and Ifrit bonded relatively easily.  
  
For millennia we remained there until Leviathan brought a human girl to us. The power of the Mist ran through her, marking her as one who could call us once we saw fit to let her.  
  
Rydia that sweet green haired angel, how I miss her so. She was so concerned with her friends for they faced a force that was preparing to unbalance the world. So we four went with her as she returned and along the way we met someone who would be a frequent if inconsistent fellow traveller.  
  
Odin; a heroic warrior whose honour was stronger than his armour. His chivalric ways were charming although his old fashioned attitudes were not.  
  
I also found out what had become of another trio from Spira. To my dismay they had become corrupted and pawns of this world's evil. My dear Magus sisters; Cindy, Sandy and Mindy. Forever together, looking out for each other but their yearning for a motherly figure led them to be twisted and abused by Valvalis, an Elemental Fiend. I wept tears of ice as I watched them expire and prayed they found peace.  
  
Rydia and her party returned to the Land of Summons to ask Leviathan and Asura for assistance. By their laws, Ryadia and her company would have to prove themselves before they were granted the privilege. And prove themselves they did.  
  
Only Bahamut seemed unfazed by this when they discovered him on the moon. His rivalry with Leviathan pushed him to show he would not be bested by a group of humans. I admit I laughed at his surprise as Rydia and the others used Bahamut's own power against him and defeated him. The length of time it took for me to get his forgiveness for that!  
  
As before the evil entity, this time the embodiment of a beings hatred, was overcome and we were released only to be sent to another world by Fate.  
  
A world cleft in twain, split to seal an evil void of immense power containing numerous demons. Powered by fading crystals, shattered by a malevolent sage. Four warriors entwined by Fate were to be my next masters.  
  
In this twin world I was alone, sealed away by humans who feared me. My friend Ifrit was used by scholars in an ancient library whilst Bahamut was sealed in the other half of the world.  
  
My newer friends Ramuh and Titan were roaming free whilst Odin shared a similar fate to mine, imprisoned in the basement of a castle.  
  
If I were able to believe in coincidence I would've been amazed to find that Leviathan was sealed in the same way as Bahamut. I felt sorry for him for he was torn from Asura his lover.  
  
As before there were new beings drawn to this world to aid the four warriors but to be called we had to be won over. As the first to be found I was able to watch the drama unfold for Bartz and his friends.  
  
A creature that could petrify with its eye called Shoat was my first encounter of a novel being in this world.  
  
Further ones were a stone man named Golem whom for his rescue repaid Bartz by being a shield for him.  
  
Carbuncle was a real dichotomy. She was a raging beast when first encountered but became a loveable creature when tamed.  
  
Leviathan and Bahamut were freed, as their lithograph seals were broken whilst Bartz was more than able to meet Odin's challenge.  
  
The final addition to our group was Phoenix, reborn from a dragon, a bird of fire and life that reminded me of Valefor.  
  
After severe losses for Bartz and the sight of two worlds remerging we were plunged into the Void, aided in the destruction of evil demons and the overcoming of X-death the mage whom sought the Void's power.  
  
One character from this world really struck a chord with me. He was subordinate to X-death yet really only longed to fight, exhilarated each time he crossed paths with Bartz. The eight-armed warrior finally found redemption by sacrificing himself to enable Bartz' party to reach X-death. This intriguing character would never be seen again... how wrong I was in thinking that!  
  
And so another world saved yet more that need to be helped. Forever wondering if this world was to be my last, Fate rolled my dice again and I ended up in a world swarming with beings like me. They were called Espers.  
  
There were so many I wish I could remember them all. There were at least a dozen whom I never saw again but many had followed me from Bartz' world.  
  
In fact they all had! Phoenix, Ifrit, Ramuh, Shoat, Odin, Golem and Carbuncle were with me especially my closest companion Ifrit, my opposing element yet we were inseparable.  
  
Here a creature given a shot at redemption by Fate had joined us. Siren had been a monster on Bartz' world, a temptress that used her prey's desires to lure them to her so she could devour them.  
  
It seemed that after her death at Bartz' hand she had become an Esper and the guilt she bore made her resolute in her duty to come, so that like me she would give up her form to become a special stone called Magicite when the world's heroes came upon us.  
  
It turned out that one of these heroes was half-esper, a girl by the name of Terra, same as the planet. Her father was Maduin whom I never knew that well. But on this world Espers and humans were separated due to their persecution of us.  
  
This made me wonder of Leviathan and Titan who hadn't seemed to come to Terra. A fear chilled me (something that is near impossible) in that maybe they'd already been found by the evil forces here and drained like the others.  
  
An element in us I'd never seen embodied by us before was represented her. Alexander, a holy colossus was such. A being of staunch principles and opinions was forever arguing with those of a more pragmatic approach to the world.  
  
In this world Odin became a protector and found love with a human enabling him to attain a higher power transforming himself into a being named Raiden.  
  
As for my poor sweet Bahamut, he hated his stay on Terra for he had to be held inside a disgusting monster known as DoomGaze until he was freed. His delight at this event was such that he surpassed his vigour that he'd shown in the previous worlds.  
  
Terra and her band of friends, who numbered almost as much as the Espers they had aiding them, set out to heal the world as it was ravaged by a power crazy mad-man. This Kefka was indeed a difficult villain to slay but it was finally done, for if it hadn't then Fate would've been overturned, for heroes must always conquer evil.  
  
In order to restore the world and prevent humans like Kefka arising again, magic was removed from Terra, so too were we Espers. 


	2. Endings

Was it finally my time? Would I cease to be? It appeared not as once more I was pulled through space and the matter between that which humans can decipher to a more modern, more technological world than even Terra, which was simply called the Planet by its inhabitants.  
  
It was here that the Planet's own lifeblood was being drained by the humans plagued by greed while a group of rebels, semi-led by the tortured soul of a mercenary, were drawn into Fate's design by their seemingly simple action.  
  
If ever we were cramped it was in this world. Entrapped in small orbs of crystallised Lifestream, the blood and soul of the Planet, called Materia.  
  
We were scattered across the land to be found by this group called Avalanche as they were pulled from their original course of revolution into a more serious path of saving the planet.  
  
Again some of my friends remained with me whilst others seemed lost. My brothers Ifrit and Bahamut were by my side once more with Bahamut outdoing Odin's escapades on Terra by evolving two new forms; Neo and ZERO. Even now he won't let that go. "*Sigh*"  
  
It seems that Alexander is with us as are Ramuh and Phoenix. To my delight I was reunited with Leviathan whom is still in sorrow at not being able to relocate Asura, while I'm less ecstatic at Titan's reappearance.  
  
However my gains are tempered by my loss as my adorable Carbuncle has been taken from me whilst poor Siren may finally have made peace and been given the redemption she seeks.  
  
Another thing of change I noticed here was my own appearance. Scantily clad in two bands of fabric, I was so embarrassed I nearly melted!  
  
Cloud Strife, the mercenary, was linked to the threat to the Planet, a man named Sephiroth. Cloud had thrown Sephiroth into the Lifestream years before in protection but now he had returned with a plan to become one with Planet by obliterating it.  
  
This was the first time I felt sympathy for the antagonist. Sephiroth was much like Cloud. Tortured, confused and manipulated. He had been created to kill and destroy, fused with the cells of the alien Jenova that he saw as his mother, the alien that really pulled both his and Cloud's strings through its cells they contained within them.  
  
In the end these two warrior's souls met one on one and since Cloud's had been able to heal and reform, he emerged victorious. The meteor Sephiroth had summoned still approached the planet but then the Lifestream repelled it and the world went a pale green.  
  
After that I don't remember anything much that had occurred there and even so Fate had torn me from there and instead I was implanted in the mind of a young girl. Luckily my cellmates were old friends and allies. We were together from the start; me, Ifrit, Bahamut, Ramuh, Leviathan and Odin as well as Atomos, a creature I last encountered as a minion of X-death's on Bartz' world. It seems Fate is keen on redemption.  
  
Alas our peace wasn't to last as the girl, Garnet was to be abused by her adoptive mother Brahne and we were torn form Garnet's subconscious.  
  
Separated and confined to precious stones I pondered on Fate's sense of humour and their ideas of torment as they forever forced us into these tiny living spaces to be found as the heroes came across us.  
  
Ramuh was lucky, he was able to break free of his confines and lead Garnet to the rest of us.  
  
Travelling with her as protector was a young thief with a monkey's tail... Zidane was his name I believe. Within him lurked intense power for he was in fact a renegade Angel of Death created by Garland, the lord of Terra, the twin of this world Gaia.  
  
Zidane only came to know of his origins as we reached Terra, spurred by the seeking of Kuja, Garland's original, flawed Angel and soulless puppet. However Kuja rebelled upon knowing he was soon to die and decided to destroy the Crystal that sustained both worlds.  
  
Kuja succeeded in damaging it, as he was defeated unleashing Necron, a being that resided in the Void beyond.  
  
The parallels of Garnet's world and Bartz' hadn't escaped me and I forever wondered whether they were two different places or in fact one and the same only at a different time or dimension.  
  
Necron was a laughable opponent, Zidane, Garnet and their friends found him less challenging than Kuja ever was and so balance was restored.  
  
Garnet became Queen of Alexandria where Alexander himself had been the Guardian until I saw him brutally destroyed by Garland's ship the Invincible. Zidane had vanished as he dived into the living, seething tree Iifa, seeking Kuja, whom his good nature deemed his erstwhile brother. He later returned much to Garnet's delight, whom had been heartbroken at his loss.  
  
Before I forget I must mention Eiko, a young girl from the same tribe of Summoners as Garnet had been. It was with her I had found Phoenix and Carbuncle.  
  
I was glad to see Carbuncle still existed and had found someone who shared her bubbly personality and also craved company.  
  
It was also through her I became acquainted with the true power of a former Esper. Maduin (or Madeen as he was now known) had disguised himself as a moogle, a small pink fluffy creature with little wings and a bulbous nose, to look after Eiko. Could it be he saw her as the replacement of the daughter he lost, Terra?  
  
And so I repeat myself, my journey continued and I find myself on the world where I am now.  
  
We were all separated once more, I was buried deep in the stone until weathering occurred creating a cave to my icy prison. In this world I had become a being closer to my original embodiment. As an Aeon I had a much more prominent physical form able to endure a longer period of corporeal form when summoned. Here as a Guardian Force this was the same but somewhat reduced.  
  
We are used by youthful mercenaries called SeeDs whom 'junction' us by allowing us a place in their minds where we confer upon them numerous magical abilities due to a phenomenon called Para-magic.  
  
However this ability of ours had backfired upon us as the monsters here were also able to junction us although in a far more limited capacity.  
  
This was how I found Siren, the poor girl was drawn from a monster called Elvoret still plagued by guilt and her thirst for redemption.  
  
Sweet Carbuncle was held within a hybrid creature called Iguion. Others were spared this fate, free to roam yet restricted to one location.  
  
Ifrit was one of these, the place for the for the training of SeeDs called Balamb Garden respected him so much they beseeched him to be used to test their cadets.  
  
A comical duo named Brothers had taken Titan's role here. They were transplantees from Bartz' world, monsters named Blugeon (now Sacred) and Minotaur, guarding a King's tomb.  
  
Cerberus, a three-headed dog whose personalities switched faster than you could blink. I always saw him as a cute puppy but he'd hate to hear me say that, then again maybe he wouldn't as he is always conflicted about things.  
  
Ramuh is lost although he has a spiritual daughter in Quezacotl, a bird of thunder.  
  
Two new contradictions have joined us, both entrapped in special items where they waited for awakening, these dark looking GFs couldn't be further from it. Diablos a winged prince of cool brooding darkness and Doomtrain, a kindly soul cursed with a fearsome form.  
  
It turns out SeeDs true reason for being was to combat a Sorceress by the name of Ultimecia from the future that sought to compress time, destroying existence.  
  
To aid them, this group of SeeDs, all of whom were linked by a past they had forgotten, took on as many GFs as they could find.  
  
As well as those I previously mentioned were Leviathan, retrieved from NORG, a greedy Shumi whom had a hand in the creation of Garden but sought to corrupt it.  
  
Alexander was found in Edea a possessed sorceress whose dual nature seriously hurt Alexander's black and white view of the world.  
  
Then there was Eden, a GF from the dawn of this world. Locked within a malevolent creature buried deep in the world called Ultima weapon, which was uncovered by curious humans drilling deep into the earth.  
  
Eden had become eccentric during her time alone and was so ancient we barely understood her at times. But her power had never waned in that time and it surpassed us all.  
  
In the same Facility that enabled Ultima Weapon to return to the surface we found a furious Bahamut. Experimented on and used as a power source by humans he'd become bitter and full of rage, exacting a painful assault on the SeeDs that discovered him before he was subdued.  
  
Luckily his rage has faded as he became attached to these SeeDs but flared as we came across Tiamat. I never knew this but the Tiamat we had encountered on the other worlds such as Rydia's and Garnet's was in fact Bahamut's own brother, a sort of dark alter ego.  
  
Again we located Odin, happy in his little shrine alone. His chivalric code forcing him to perform his usual challenge to the heroes that would seek him. In all this time he hasn't changed or learned, he always gives challengers a minute to defeat him.  
  
After the numerous occasions he has been beaten he'd think to reduce this time surely? However once beaten, he wouldn't be held by any of them, it seems he has become truly independent after all.  
  
Instead he came when he felt they needed him. This proved to be his undoing, as he appeared to confront Seifer, the SeeDs rival and was sliced in half.  
  
Odin's death although sad, led to the awakening of a character I never thought I'd see again. Swathed in a red cloak, hiding his many arms, Gilgamesh was reborn from Bartz' world to take Odin's place.  
  
You may have noticed I have not spoken much about myself yet or mentioned the name of those who are using my power.  
  
The truth is to say his name is to set my heart aflutter. He was the one who freed me, asked me into his mind that was so cold I fitted in like a hand in a glove. My poor love so closed off due to the hurt of abandonment, he has grown cold like me.  
  
But I will never leave him, I will go against what Fate has planned for me next if it involves me going elsewhere.  
  
So far it seems to be working for Ultimecia has been defeated, her threat now has gone and yet I'm still here, still enjoined with my dear Squall Leonhart. 


End file.

Final Fantasy VIII, Humor