Never Childhood - Part 2
By Thomas Wier
Bosofrod@aol.com

It was one month before anyone in Esthar had heard a word from Ultimecia Deling when she returned from her journey to New Balamb. With the apparent eradication of an entire SeeD force, as well as the death of President Llnaya Alaster to be accounted for, many wished to question the young heiress about her travels. However, her reluctance and total self-imposed isolation made this impossible. Many sympathized with her loss. As long as she remained quiet, then the Estharian Senate would be content to allow her room to grieve.

No one knew what transpired within her rooms. Since arriving back in Esthar, she immediately fired the entire staff that had for years been servants of the Delings. No one brought food to her, no one cleaned the rooms, and no one ever saw the young woman so much as set a foot outside. The shades were all drawn, and the phones disconnected from the inside.

Ultimecia sat in Callie's old, battered high-backed chair, the chill of the air finding ample means of entry through the empty fireplace by which she sat. Caked in the blood of Llnaya and her Grandmother, she allowed herself to dive into her own thoughts; they were now blank, desolate plains of infinite darkness. To her, it was a sanctuary where she could allow her pain to thrive unmolested. Wrapping herself within its comforting folds, she slept and brooded, feeling her powers grow in a demented parallel with her own misery.

During this time she ate nothing, drinking only when her thirst grew so severe that it inhibited her sensitivity to her thoughts. Never once did she bathe or see herself in a mirror. Gaunt, pale and covered in dust and cobwebs, she sat as though enclosed within a cocoon of despair. Wearing Callie's black Senatorial robes, she allowed her thoughts to rule her days as her blonde hair grew gray with the grime that collected about her.

Yet she grew stronger. Day by day, she could feel how quickly her powers grew when fed with her own wretchedness. She grew to hate Esthar and its people, the memories and feelings of her life on the streets resurfacing after years of denial. Much of the time, she could use her powers to traverse the streets of Esthar in her mind's eye, bringing silent, immediate death to those she saw that displeased her. Thieves and whores fell in increasing numbers, killers and sadists following suit. From their own pain, she drew even more power, adding to her own bulging reserve. All of their darkened souls merged with her own, creating a force unlike any other. Occasionally, she would even kill those of her own class, remembering the sneering looks on their faces as they regarded her and her mother with little more than curses and insults.

Griever fed from those that Ultimecia slew. As the void within her grew, so too did his own spirit. He defined himself as her guardian, a beast of such power that it mirrored Ultimecia's own. He was a spirit without form, a beast of the shadows that lurked always within sight of his master. Each day, just like Ultimecia, he defined himself further, her one true protector and loyal follower.

It was on one of these days, just as she began to awaken from her depraved slumber, that a loud knock resounded throughout the townhouse. Sitting up with increasing awareness to surroundings she knew yet had grown unaware of, Ultimecia answered the sound with a voice rough and phlegmy with disuse.

"Who is it? What do you want?"

"Miss Deling?" replied a male voice.

"Yes, who is it?"

"President Udine would like to speak with you, madame."

She sat up in her chair, stretching her tensed muscles to the point of cramps. "Who?" she called out again.

"President Udine, madame. We are to take you to him immediately."

"Very well," she muttered, and with a wave of her hand, the door opened. Standing in the entry hall were two soldiers. They both stepped back in shock as the door opened seemingly of its own accord. Then, they both choked as the musty air entered their lungs. Their startled outbursts that followed were lost upon Ultimecia's private introspections.

She stood, her bones creaking as though she were a ninety year old woman rather than a sixteen year old girl. Disheveled, she walked to the door slowly, her eyesight perfect even in the darkness.

"Um, we could wait while you freshen up, madame..."

"Let's get this over with..." Ultimecia sneered, and she pushed past the two guards, leaving behind her the stench of one who has not seen a shower in over a month. The soldiers followed about fifteen feet behind her. They whispered back and forth, but with her abilities, the words were perfectly clear to her.

"They say she's been alone all month."

"She smells it..."

"Yeah, well, keep those comments to yourself. If Udine wants her, then you'd better not insult her..."

The callous sons of bitches, she thought. They never would have given her this consideration were they to chase her through the streets for the fun of it. They never would have given a second thought to the dirty little girl of the alleys. They would have shot her, laughed about it, and she might even have been so "lucky" as to have been honored in a memorial joke or slur. Holding her hatred in reserve, she walked down the shadows to the outside world.

For as long as she had been inside without any hint of the sunlight, she did not react in the slightest when her eyes and skin were exposed to it all at once. Instead, she immediately strode to the waiting car and sat herself down, ignoring the people on the streets who watched with veiled interest as the shut-in was escorted away.

When the soldiers entered the car, they began to move speedily toward the Presidential Palace where Udine made his home.

As they sped on, Ultimecia looked out the window of the car. People, bluish buildings, other cars...all of them blurred together in one incoherent mess, a nauseating conglomeration of colors and shapes. She would close her eyes, but still she would see it, the swirling forms rending her sanity bit by bit. There was no escape from them. All she could do was suffer until the car stopped.

Preoccupied by her own anxieties, the trip lasted but a moment to her, but a moment that had wreaked havoc on her senses. She knew that she was still too immature in her powers to have ventured out so suddenly, but she also knew that Udine would certainly take her by force if she refused his invitation. When her car door was opened for her, she stepped out and frowned. There were many soldiers lining the entry to the palace...many more than usual.

"What is going on here?" she asked, irritated rather than afraid.

"Come with us, please," one of the Palace Guards said. Without any resistance, she allowed them to take her inside. Stepping onto the transporter pad, they were lifted into the depths of the palace. Various lights all pulled them inward, and Ultimecia winced noticeably at the fiber-optic relays that ran the length of the complex. Just as it was driving to the palace, so, too, was she tortured by the networks of lights that seemingly followed her, taunting her efforts to keep them at bay.

After about thirty seconds, the lift stopped, and she was pushed off of it down a large, glass-lined hallway. Through the floor, she could see the people below her, milling about without a relevant care in their heads. The sky was a deep blue, the sun casting gorgeous rays of light through the almost prism-like ceiling above. After a few seconds, however, her eyes trained on the well-armed guards who opened the doors to the President's office.

"Enter," one of the guards behind her ordered. Without any hesitation, she did just that. They formed lines on each side of the doors, making a short hallway of armed guards. As she walked in, each trained their weapons on her. Something was wrong; she could feel it distinctly.

The office was a large oval room that offered a grand view of the streets of Esthar far below. The room, despite its aristocratic charms, was rather barren, holding only a large desk in the very rear of the office. Sitting behind it like a wiry statue was President Udine, his black robes wrapped tightly about him as he pursed his bluish lips in expectant annoyance. He was much more thin than usual, old age ravaging his bent frame in proportion to his malicious deeds. Reviling him behind eyes glazed with tempered anger, Ultimecia waited for him to speak.

"Close the doors, you idiots," he growled, and the soldiers obeyed instantly. As they did so, the room grew noticeably darker, the light from the outside somehow doing nothing to enhance the scenery about them. For a moment, Udine simply sat erect, watching Ultimecia with narrow, sunken eyes that allowed no light to escape their greedy clutches. He then took a sip from a steaming cup and cleared his throat.

"Welcome, Miss Deling. I am pleased to see you after so many years..."

Ultimecia said nothing, instead folding her arms as she glared at him.

"I wish I kould say the same," she replied icily, "but I know you all too well. I have little to say to a man who weilds power to satisfy his own ego."

Udine smiled and put down his cup. Waving his guards away, they moved out of the room silently, leaving the President alone with the Sorceress before him. His next words seemed an attempt to change the subject.

"You have been to New Balamb..." he said, his voice thin and labored. Ultimecia said nothing in response, merely staring back at the one who had, by any definition, kidnapped her.

"I understand that you have been rather silent since your return to us."

Still, Ultimecia said nothing.

"Well," he said, "if you won't talk, Miss Deling, then I will."

He sat back, sighing loudly as his head sunk into the lavish headrest behind him.

"From what I have been able to discern, you are quite an enigma to many. No past, no birth records, no anything. You have no blood ties to the Deling estate, and yet here you stand, homely heiress to the greatest fortune on earth...oh, please don't be surprised if I know that you are a fraud. Despite what you may have thought, I know of each and every one of the little diseased brats that plagues our streets. Your mother was also closely watched by us, as you must certainly already know. By all means, have a seat."

He gestured to a chair, and Ultimecia sat down, if only to play along with the small man. She could care less how much he knew about her past, nor did she care about his interest in her life before Callie had saved her...but of her mother she was more interested.

"And yet," Udine continued, "you are an heiress to an ever greater prize, aren't you? You have something that now no one else on this planet has...or so you thought."

"What are you talking about?" Ultimecia snapped, suddenly weary of the interview, but finding an uncomfortable aura being exuded by the President. Her sorceress's senses began to recoil noticibly by the evil waves of energy emanating from the small man.

"It means that your position with Miss Callie Deling was no coincidence. You have been granted her...special gifts, am I right?"

Ultimecia sat stone-faced, feeling her confusion compounded by his indirect statements.

"Is there a point to this, President Udine? I have better things to do other than play truth or dare with you."

"I'm sure you do," he said with a drawn smile. "Let me get right to the matter, then. I know that you have inherited the powers of Hyne. I also know that you possess a great spirit...one that I have forever been trying to stop."

With those last words, Ultimecia sat up, her brow knitting in further agitation.

"How kould you possibly know that? What do you mean you have been trying to stop it?"

President Udine rose from his giant, throne-like chair and slowly walked to one of the windows, his silhouette a straight line down the skyline of Esthar.

"Do you see this magnificent city?" he asked, motioning toward the panoramic view of which they were treated to. "I have in my terms of office added nine-hundred percent total area to this nation, reclaiming land lost thousands of years ago to volcanic disturbances and tidal waves. I have instituted the most successful economic reforms in Esthar's history. I have subdued the warring nations and placed them under the states of protectorates and territories. I hold the power of this world in my grasp. With a mere word, I can have mountains destroyed, men imprisoned, nations reduced to rubble, cities built in monument to my power...all of this is impressive, no?"

He didn't wait for a response, however, and he continued his tirade.

"One might even go so far as to call me a god. I create life through my genetics labs, I judge life through my courts, and I end life in any manner I so choose. I am power in this world...but something is missing."

"You mean besides a soul?" Ultimecia offered in sarcastic indifference. "What are you trying to say?"

"I have been missing my place as true weilder of authority. Until now, there have been others who have held more power than I. They could manipulate matter, defy physics and control the very elements themselves."

The young Sorceress then knew where the conversation was heading. Jumping up from her chair, she paced slightly behind Udine and hissed, "You mean sorceresses."

The silhouette nodded and folded his arms.

"How could I ever truly consider myself the ultimate master of this planet until the others had been cleansed?"

The crashing realization of what she was being told alerted every sense in her body. Udine had gone beyond her impassive wall and had begun to trample upon her very nerves. Harnessing her rage, she clenched her fists and shook with utter revulsion for the creature that stood so proudly before her.

"You are the one who ordered the attack on New Balamb..."

Udine nodded again. "Indeed. Llnaya Alaster was a convenient cover. Oh, it was so simple! Just send her to secure Deling funds and no one would ever look further. Of course, it was Estharian money that finalized the deal with Balamb and Trabia Gardens for the attack."

He stretched out his arms in exultant triumph. "Such splendid irony! The Deling monies could then be used to supplement the costs. Sorceress monies for a mission to wipe out the benefactors. Then, you destroyed the perpetrators before they could be apprehended by the New Balamb authorities. No one was left to implicate Esthar in any wrong doing. I hadn't planned on that bit of luck, but in the end, it worked out even better than I could have ever dreamed possible. Brilliant!"

"You son of a bitch!" Ultimecia shrieked, red flooding her eyes as she trembled uncontrollably. "You knew my Grandma was a Sorceress! You knew and this whole time you have been waiting to kover your tracks! You used me, you used Llnaya..."

"Yes, I have used many people in my lifetime," Udine interrupted. "That is always the most efficient means of obtaining one's goals. But, I digress. You are missing the bigger picture. In the end, I found the strength that I have sought for so long. You see, I was able to harness the power of those that died in the raid. I am now, what you might call, a Sorcerer."

"Impossible," Ultimecia fumed, "there is no way for a man to akquire Hyne's gift!"

"Oh, all one needs is to have Hyne's mindset. Bless her black heart, she never discriminated on the basis of sex. I am the rightful weilder of her ultimate promise to mankind. I will be a god...just like Hyne!"

He narrowed his eyes further, a feat Ultimecia never would have thought possible on the horrible man.

"But there is one other out there...one who foolishly interfered in the raid, regardless of how it benefitted me in the end. There is one who's very existence defies my place as heir to eternity..."

Udine turned to look at her, his eyes ablaze with reddish light. Surprised but unmoved, Ultimecia stared back, her own eyes awash in a similar light from her sheer rage.

"Yes, Ultimecia, I have been watching you, ever since you were just an up-and-coming little whore like your worthless mother. She was easy enough to catch in time. In fact, her death helped me to build up a base of power within myself."

"No," Ultimecia snarled, "my mother was not..."

"Oh yes, of course she was! How else could Callie Deling have felt such promise within you? I, too, have studied the ways of the sorceresses, Ultimecia. I know how power is transferred. I knew that in time, you would be ready to be harvested..."

Ultimecia didn't know what to do. She could feel her anger ready to leap from her body, her powers on the brink of release. All that kept her from evaporating President Udine where he stood was an unanswered question.

"Where is my mother?"

"Oh, I think you know the answer to that, child!" Udine stretched his smile almost comically across his face, stretching the emaciated skin to the point that it looked as though it would tear off of his skull.

"Within me is the spirit of the mother! All I need now is the fresh young child...the one that I allowed to return home from New Balamb to build up her strength, so that mine own might be the greater for it. I grow impatient with you, however. Perhaps it is better that I end you now, before you become too strong. Either way, I must insist that your powers become mine, Sorceress Ultimecia!"

"And I insist that you give me my mother!" Ultimecia shouted back. Unable to contain herself anymore, she unleashed a blast of energy that shattered the huge window before them. When the energy wave had passed, Udine stood unscathed.

"I thought you might not surrender," he said quietly. "I was hoping for that!"

Throwing down his hands in an archaic gesture, he disappeared. In his place was a large column of fire. Without warning, it lunged toward Ultimecia. She could feel its intense heat as it rushed forth, a blinding pillar of white, fiery death. Instead of moving, Ultimecia instinctively threw out her hands with a loud cry, and the fire stopped in place, being slowly turned to ice by the Sorceress's spell.

"How quaint..." came Sorcerer Udine's horrid voice, and from out of nowhere, a blast of lightning crashed down before Ultimecia, blasting the ice into millions of shards. They flew through the room, swift, jagged missiles that embedded themselves in the walls. Ultimecia raised her arms to guard her face just in time, as several of them tore through her flesh, drawing blood all about her arms. She yelped in pain, gripping the tender flesh to try and stop the bleeding.

A blast of energy appeared as the Sorcerer materialized momentarily. It shot out toward Ultimecia, intent upon finishing her off. Dodging to the side, Ultimecia let out her own blast of energy to the spot where Udine had been. He moved, but it was enough to scare him away for a moment. That was one thing Ultimecia knew that she could use: he had no practice with his abilities, and would only attack directly.

Then, Udine appeared just in front of her. Aided by his increased powers, he lifted Ultimecia with an unseen force that drew her out toward the shattered window. She struggled against it, but after a thought, she allowed Udine to carry her. Without any comment, he flung her out into the sky, hoping to send her crashing down to the ground three hundred stories below.

Instead, Ultimecia gathered her own strength and focused it on the wind about her. Catching it, she created a gust that shot her back through the window, sending her on a collision course with Udine. Shocked, he merely watched as the young Sorceress crashed into him.

"Get off of me!" he shouted, and Ultimecia did, but only to give her a better shot at the tyrant before her. Ignoring the blood that oozed freely from her body, she let out a blast of energy that met the Sorcerer point-blank. With a satisfying sizzling sound, it blasted him into the far wall, the odor of burned flesh wafting throughout the room.

"That was very unkind..." Udine screeched painfully. As he rose from a crumpled heap, he lashed out again, this time with a blast to match Ultimecia's. By will alone, Ultimecia absorbed the blast without injury and sent it immediately back at Udine. It, too, sent him sprawling.

"Guards!" he cried out, suddenly frantic with the knowledge that he had gotten in way over his head. "Guards! Get in here now!"

"I think not..." Ultimecia breathed, and just as the doors were being opened, she used her power to force them closed again, holding them against the soldiers.

"I think," Ultimecia said, walking toward Udine, eyes wide with anticipation, "that you have something that belongs to me."

"No..." Udine gasped, charred beyond recognition. "Please, maybe we can work something out...really! I'll pull all of the SeeDs off of Esthar's streets! I'll help the poor! I'll do something or other, really!"

"Kan you end misery?" she asked of him in a whisper, crouching to meet his gaze, her nose nearly touching his. "Kan you bring back to me those years stolen from me? Kan you give me the childhood that I never had? No, you kannot. Maybe I might have shown you mercy before...who knows. I have no konnektion with mercy now. I have no konnektions at all! Kan you bring me back to myself? Kan you heal the konnektions that you severed?"

She stood, smoothing out Callie's robes. "No, but you kan give me something."

"Anything! Name it!" Udine coughed in agony, unable to move so much as a finger.

"Give me back my mother."

As she hovered over him, Udine began to sob while Ultimecia prepared to finish the man off. It would only take one more strike, she reasoned, and he would be ready to release all of the Sorceresses that he held captive within his soul.

The light from the office that followed illuminated the evening sky, forcing all within a mile to look upwards in amazed wonder. The only thing greater was the cry of anguish from their dying ruler as he released his spiritual captives, each escaping painfully, one by one.

Esthar awoke the next day to the sound of their holovisions blaring the sound of the national anthem. The holovisions had been set to turn on automatically if the President were ever to address his subjects. It was no different for Sorceress Ultimecia. Millions awoke to what was assumed to be another pointless address by Udine, but soon found themselves confused as a pretty young girl met their sleepy gazes.

"People of Esthar," Ultimecia began, "I kome before you to make an announcement of momentous import. Last night, our dear President Udine lost his life. It is with the power of my lineage as both a descendant of the Deling family and the honorable blood of Hyne that I proklaim my rule over you."

She sat back in her throne, looking into the camera that faced her and narrowed her eyes.

"I shall address the Senate tomorrow in order to klarify any further koncerns. That will be all."

The cameras were turned off, and Ultimecia looked about her. Assembled were the most prominent men and women in Esthar, all of whom had accepted the Sorceress's rule. Many were simply glad to be rid of Udine, but all were afraid of her arcane power; all of them were under its control. Standing in her new flowing red robes, Ultimecia addressed them.

"I will be quite blunt with all of you: I have no interest in the well-being of this nation or its people. I am using Esthar for its resources so that my own designs may be met. A month ago, I began my life as a Sorceress. By my divine birthright, I am the only rightful heiress of humanity. In fact, this kountry may very well be destroyed upon my slightest whim. It matters not, for you, the sinful sloths that have over-populated this world are nothing more than puppets to me. I say this without fear of reprisal, as the powers that I have absorbed kollektively have made me the greatest force ever known in the history of kreation. You shall all pay for you sins in time, but in order to retain some degree of dignity, you will serve me."

She stepped down from the rasied dais on which her throne sat. Her robes swayed as she walked, revealing runic marks that had been painted all along her body in keeping with ancient custom. Her hair, a flowing river of blonde silk, fell behind her like a golden light that highlighted her burning red eyes. She had even had a pair of large, black wings sewn into her dress, in order to imitate the look of her ancestor, the Sorceress Hyne. As she stood, all bowed before her, the effects of her power a contagious toxin that melted their sensibilities as if they were ice in her hand.

"We serve you, oh Gracious One..." they chanted, driven into religious mania by the forces that held them. All that they cared about was pleasing her. All that they feared was her wrath.

"My Sorceress," one man called out, dressed in the robes of a chamberlain, "I mean not to interrupt, but we have received official notices of independance from Galbadia and Dollet. They refuse to acknowledge our presence with the death of President Udine."

"Really?" Ultimecia mewed, "that is...arrogant." She felt her anger bubble inside of her. How could they refuse her rule? Didn't they understand how much she had suffered? Didn't they appreciate what it had taken her to get where she was? It mattered not. She would not allow them to make a fool of her!

"Who among you heads the military?" she asked, ready to begin her vengeance.

"That would be me, my leige," came a deep voice from the middle of the crowd assembled before her.

"Stand up now," she ordered. "Face your Sorceress."

He did. A man in full-length black and grey robes with a large sword at his waist, he bore the marks and medallions of a general.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I am General Ian Loire," he said proudly. "I am at your service."

He could have been no more than eighteen years old, but his mannerisms suggested a maturity that went beyond his age: a child prodigy or something similar. Ultimecia liked him immediatly. Here, she knew, was someone that she could delegate authority to.

"You are of Laguna Loire's progeny?"

The man nodded. "I am, my Sorceress."

"I have a special task for you."

He bowed and knelt back down when motioned to do so. She eyed the rest of them and said, "It will be business as usual for now. Go about your duties as you always have. In time, you will kome to understand your place in my plans. You are all dismissed...except for General Loire."

They did leave, and Ian Loire remained in place, kneeling before his Sorceress. Looking him over, Ultimecia smiled and walked over to him, teasing his hair with her manicured nails. He trembled slightly under her hands, and this pleased her greatly.

"I am beginning to understand the purpose of my life," she said, speaking not so much to him as she was to herself. "I kan see my goals outlined in the darkness...so faint... and yet they kall to me. I kan see that this world is doomed, if not from me, than from some evil of its own design. I have made myself into the perfekt sorceress in order to bring this about."

She placed her hands on his shoulders and put her lips by his ear. "You are going to help me."

"How, Great One?" he asked timidly.

"Oh, General, to be so frightened by so young a child...how you gladden my heart! I have chosen you to be my ambassador of war, one who will lead Esthar's army into battle against those who would dare to defy the sorceresses."

"Who might that be?" he asked again, not even daring to look in the eyes the one who held total control of his mind.

"You will destroy Galbadia and Dollet...and all SeeDs...you shall slaughter them wherever they are. You will seek them out from among the rocks where the slime hides."

"Of course, my Sorceress," he said, although his very being shook with revulsion from such an order. She could tell that his spirit was trying very hard to rebel against her control. Let him, she thought. He could do nothing against her.

"Yes, you will seek them out, rip open their empty chests and prove to the world just how evil they truly are!"

"Yes, my Sorceress..." he chanted.

"For now," Ultimecia went on, "you will be my knight."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them, her shattered mind instantly fixating on Squall. How she missed him! Forcing the thought back, she turned her attentions once again to Ian Loire. He could do in the mean time...but he could never replace Squall.

"I'm sure that there is something that you could do for your Sorceress..." she purred, and brushed his cheek gently with the back of her hand. "I'm certain that you have other abilities other than those of battle..." To have him so helpless before her was quite exciting, but she held herself in check. It was not time for such things as romance. She had a world to conquer. Still, after looking at Ian's handsome, chisled features, she knew that his moment would not be far off.

"Such an exquisite creature," she murmured, and then she slowly guided Ian to his feet with her fingers pressed softly under his chin. His dark eyes met hers, twinkling with a light all their own. There was an innocence about him that she found wonderful and hideous at the same time; wonderful for her longing to recapture it, hideous for her inability to do so.

"But," she continued from her thoughts, "if I can't be pure, than neither shall you..." She smiled, crinkling her nose as she had done when she was younger. "Well, I think this has been a productive interview. You will begin the assault at once. Use all men and weapons that you must. You have them and my power at your disposal."

"Yes, my Sorceress," he intoned. Then, turning on his heels, he left the room, leaving Ultimecia alone.

"I think I shall have that talk with the Senate now," she giggled to herself, her plan beginning to unfold before her. Callie would be so proud!

"Grandma, Mother..." her voice was suddenly raw with emotion, "I will prove myself to you!"

The Senate chambers were composed of a large, domed room of blue marble that held many desks. There were about three hundred Senators, each one going over the business of the day. To Ultimecia, who arrived with many armed guards, it was a great insult. They had not even taken her proclamation of rule seriously. Were she not already planning to allow them to share Udine's fate, they would be very sorry for their transgression.

One little man ran up to Ultimecia, ignoring the guards.

"Who might you be, madame?"

"I am Sorceress Ultimecia..."

"Ultimecia...Deling?" he asked, looking down at an electronic clipboard.

"Yes, I'm here to speak to the Senate, but..."

"Splendid! I think we can squeeze you in to the first order of business for the day!"

She would have corrected him about her title, but he was efficient enough to allow her to address the Senate first, so she let him go on his merry way. He quickly scurried up to the main podium and issued the role call. Then, when he had everyone's attention, he began the day's daily business.

"Now, with a statement to the Senate, Miss Ultimecia Deling, recent Executor of the Deling Estate." The clerk led Ultimecia toward the main podium.

"You may begin whenever you are ready," the clerk stated. Without answering him, Ultimecia stepped up.

She took the podium with unequalled stoicism. Looking over the assambled Senators, she let out a slight sneer before speaking. It was obvious to her that they considered her presence to be a harmless nuisance, and her anger boiled over to a feverish degree. They would understand her presence in but a moment.

"Members of the Estharian Senate, I kome before you today with a matter of great importance and signifikance. You are all very well akquainted with the news of my Grandmother's death at the hands of SeeD mercenaries. I was to believe that this projekt would be funded by Deling family monies. I have, for this past month, blamed myself for Kallie Deling's death.

"It has come to my understanding, however, that despite treaty and protokol, this body was involved in the under-funding of the SeeD raid on New Balamb, for the only way that President Udine kould have akquired the funds for such an operation would have been to go through you, and no money from the Deling family ever made the transfer to the SeeD akkounts."

There was a slight murmur of surprise throught the room, but no one openly spoke against her as of that moment.

"I am led, therefore, to believe that full responsibi-lity for the lives lost falls upon your shoulders."

This time there were shouts of protest, but none that she allowed to interfere with her address.

"You have made a grievious error, senators. You have awakened the power of a great and terrible people...my people. My people, who have forever been mistreated by this delegation, forever persekuted and stripped of all of their diginity. They have been hunted through your streets, slaughtered to satisfy your own superficial fears and prejudgments. As the last of this great line of noble spirits, it is my responsibility to end your korruption."

"Miss Deling," one senator interrupted as the others began to churn in wrathful agitation, "is there a point to this tirade? Just what is it that you are trying to say?"

"My intent, delegates," replied Ultimecia in open contempt, "is to liquidate this body and place sole authority in my hands. I am using my inherented authority and reinstating the rule of the Hyne Dynasty. Esthar is now under my total kontrol as Sorceress...unless someone would like to challenge me on this issue?"

The Senate chamber erupted into chaos as each senator shouted back in angered surprise while others simply laughed. Papers flew, cries of protest reflected off of the smooth, white walls - the sound was deafening. Ultimecia had been prepared for this, however. She knew how the small men would react once they learned that she had taken their miniscule power from them.

"Sorceress!?" Senator Aldrict scoffed, bolting to his feet, his sanctimonious voice reverberating through the microphone he wore, "What nonsense is this, Miss Deling? Are you telling us that you have the power of Hyne? You have no autonomy here! What authority leads you to believe that you have the right to declare any sort of rule? I had thought your announcement earlier this morning to have been a sad joke! Why are we even listening to this psychobabble?"

"Bekause, Senator, if you fail to follow me, you shall die." Her voice was so even, so calculated, so menacing, that the room slowly fell silent. The threat of death was one that was very new to them, and it hit with more impact than even Ultimecia had anticipated.

"I...um..." Aldrict stammered, his confidence challenged and shaken, "...that is...if you ARE a Sorceress, young lady, why don't you prove it to us? Why don't you prove that you are entitled to the title you claim with such confidence?"

All eyes fell on Ultimecia, unsure of how she would respond. Many were busy trying to figure out why the sweet young girl they had met through Callie had suddenly attempted a total coup. The sixteen year old girl did not present an imposing figure, nor did she seem of tyrannical stock. Still, she somehow managed to fill the room with a presence more terrifying than anything they had ever known before.

"If your insignifikant mind needs to see through your eyes, Senator," Ultimecia stated with icy bitterness, "then I shall be more than happy to oblige you."

For while, it seemed as though nothing was happening. Aldrict merely stood in place, staring back at the Sorceress with a glossy, complacent look.

"This world has long been held in the grip of men," Ultimecia spoke with sudden calm, not even seeming to address anyone in the room. Her eyes widened as she spoke, as if she had been possessed of pure evil.

"Those men have for millennia been the ruin of this world."

Aldrict began to choke, his eyes widening as he grasped for his throat. No one dared move to save him, though, as all knew the source of his affliction. They looked to Ultimecia, her mouth moving apart from the sounds of her voice, as though light and sound had been perveresely altered.

"They have taken with arrogance what they klaim to be theirs. Their sense of possession has decimated the innocent and destroyed families, children...the land itself."

Blood began to course from underneath Aldrict's eyes, dripping rapidly upon his pressed white robes. As it soaked the fabric, he weakly turned his head toward the other senators and let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"I plan to take it all back...for the Sorceresses!"

Her eyes suddenly flashed a bright white, and Aldrict's body was simultaneously torn apart internally. Large red and muscular arms burrowed their way our, each tipped with five sharp, black claws. The remains of Aldrict's corpse bulged at the joints as though he had been a rag doll set with a small firecracker inside of him. The other senators were frozen in terror, unable to move or speak. Instead, they all watched as the a giant creature burrowed it way out from their co-conspirator's skin.

"I shall begin with this legislative body..." Ultimecia went on, "as I unfold each and every one of you, so that the rest of the world might see plainly the evil you have hidden for so long...a death beyond death..."

After mere seconds, Aldrict was no more, and where he once stood was now a hulking, crimson beast with massive black horns and a head of a lion. Rearing back, it let out a deep, resonant roar, shaking the very building with its ferocity.

"Yes...you shall all serve me...the one borne of your streets; the child you left to die as a kommon whore! I promise you an eternity of utter hell for the one you kreated of your own free will."

No one could move. They all watched as the Sorceress walked toward the beast that was once Senator Aldrict. With a slow, graceful stride, she walked right up to the monster and grabbed it suddenly by one of its horns. With unseeming power, she slammed its head into the marble floor with a crash.

"Who," she asked of the beast which growled in pain, "is your master, you hideous thing?"

With an unintelligible moan, the red hulk seemed to respond, and the answer pleased Ultimecia.

"Yes, you serve your Sorceress. You serve me... Katoblepas."

Then she whirrled on the other Senators.

"I proklaim this day to be the day of the Rebirth! A rebirth of a glorious new age...an age that will see an end to this forsaken reality!"

The next two years went by in a frenzy of parades, wars, and darkness. Ultimecia had gained total control of the people of Esthar, becoming far more merciless that her predecessor, Sorcerer Udine. Executions were a common event, and now something that was enjoyed by the commonfolk as entertainment. The poor were swept off of the streets and into concentration camps where they would be processed as slaves and forced to work. Their payment was one more day of life, given one day at a time. The rich were mutilated for their connections to the previous regime, even though they, too, had been held enthralled by Ultimecia's mind warping powers. For all of the bloodshed she caused, and all of the destruction she had wrought, she was still hailed as the savior of the world. She reveled in their forced praise, hiding from her own misery in the anguish that she created, building up a wall of control and vanity to satisfy her need for protection from her own self-loathing.

Soon, Dollet fell, Galbadia fell...all of the other nations paid tribute to the Sorceress Ultimecia as she blasted the world back into the Dark Ages. As her contempt for life grew, so did her desensitization to the chaos and misery she created. Soon, much of the world had been reduced to a barren wasteland. Unlike Adel, Ultimecia had subdued the world, and in an extremely short amount of time. She held nothing back, daring to attack even where Adel would have been cautious. Within the first two years of her reign, all hands raised in salute to the "Sorceress of Great Life," a title that Ultimecia used to differentiate herself from Adel.

Often, she would also fill her nights will time spent with Ian Loire, forcing her random torment upon him in various forms. It was a comfort for her to have him with her, but he was more a being to be used for his ability to withstand emotional and physical pain. When she felt herself suddenly slip into fits of horrified recollection, she would send for him, use him, and send him on his way back to the front to fight, although those left to slay were few and far between.

In fact, the only group that still existed in opposition to her were the SeeDs. They no longer had their Gardens, those being made into prison camps, but they did form an undergrund movement against her. They were not much of a threat, but dozens of assassins had been captured and executed for their attempts on Ultimecia's life. With every day that passed, so grew her hatred for SeeDs and their frustrating perseverance. Many times, she personally slew those SeeDs that had been captured, earning her the undesired title of "Mistress of Pain."

But as she conquered, the world began to bore her, and the pain she had found so easy to repress began to leak from the cracks in her psyche, fewer things occupying the part of her mind that she used to fight against her inner torment. She knew that she must soon begin her final plans.

Late one night, she sat in her throne room, torches casting the only thin veils of light that shimmered and danced across her red dress. At eighteen, she had assumed Hyne's look in it's entirety, pulling back her hair into horn-like protrusions from her scalp which she had died gray. Her red dress was very revealing, a homage to Hyne's personal vanity. Now, however, her false feelings of pride and ambition had begun to wane, leaving her with little more than fragments of horrible memories and black, empty thoughts. Often, she would sit for a day at a time, looking ahead into nothingness.

That was what she found herself doing that night, but as surprising as it was, she had a brief glimmer of a memory...something that Callie had told her long ago...

"Time compression?" she whispered, the thought growing in clarity. Subconsciously, she could sense her increased despair, and knew that she would not be able to hide for much longer. There had to be a more permanent solution. If anything would save her, it would be time compression.

"Guards!" she shouted, and two of them entered the room and bowed low to the ground, both nearly kissing the marble tiles. "Get me Professor Eldrin of the Akademy."

They bowed and went to find the distinguished scientist who headed the Esthar laboritories. She sat back in her throne, contemplating her next move. If memory served, there existed something in Esthar that could help her. That thought, however, gave way to another as Ultimecia allowed the darkness to overtake her.

"My Sorceress..."

"Griever..."

"What are we doing now?"

"I have found a new plan...something from before."

"You often spoke of this time compression with fear. Now you seem excited."

"It may be our one last chance."

"What would you have me do?"

"Nothing, for now. Simply grow. I will take kare of the details. I have this world in the palm of my hand. There kan be no stopping us now."

"Very well. I await your command."

"Go to sleep, Griever."

Just as she snapped out of her trance, the guards returned with the Professor and two of his commrades. They were all elderly men, nearly carbon copies of President Udine. She disliked them on sight. All of them rubbed their eyes sleepily, but they were careful to be alert to Ultimecia's every command.

"My Sorceress," Professor Eldrin stammered, "may I introduce Dr. Cyas, and Dr. Lindain, my assistants. How may we be of service?"

"I have recently had an epiphany," she began. "I have, in my childhood, studied the works and klassified files of the notorious Dr. Odine. His work...interests me."

"And what work would that be, my Sorceress?" Dr. Cyas asked.

"My first order of business, gentlemen, is to find a certain piece of equipment konstrukted by Dr. Odine."

Professor Eldrin adjusted his spectacles about his ruddy nose and asked, "What would that be, my Gracious Sorceress?"

"I wish to find the Junktion Machine Ellone."

There was silence for a moment as each of the scientists eyed each other with knowing uneasiness. Standing with her arms folded, Ultimecia frowned evilly as they fidgeted amongst themselves. Professor Eldrin raised the question that had first leapt into the minds of each of his colleagues.

"You um...know of the device?" he asked timidly. "I had no idea that anyone had ever even heard of the thing."

"I do and have, Professor," Ultimecia answered coolly. "I have also studied the experimentation done with Ellone Loire. Where is it?"

"We have had it under constant sealed storage, my Sorceress. It is a very dangerous device..." Dr. Cyas's reply was edged in a mutual fear: that of his ruler and that of revealing so powerful a machine. He was cut off, however, by Dr. Lindain.

"Yes! There is a great deal of stored magic contained, and it has been left in stasis for so long. I wouldn't dare release it...wouldn't dare! Turning it on could cause many problems...many problems!"

"Regardless, I expekt you to take me to it immediately," Ultimecia shot back. "I am in no mood to diskuss the moral trivialities so selektively placed in your minds. This is not a request, it is an order, gentlemen."

Instantly, they snapped into action, each one scrambling to find some piece of equipment that each kept on their person. Within seconds, they had assembled a set of five odd, playing-card sized computer chips.

"What, Ultimecia asked, are these?"

"These are the keys to Junction Machine Ellone, my Sorceress! We keep it sealed in this building on containment level four."

"This building?" she asked. "Why?"

"President Udine wanted it kept out of the hands of those who might abuse its power. Even he feared the Machine, Gracious One."

"Then that is where you shall take me immediately." Her voice was edged in consternation at hearing her old rival's name spoken out loud, but her anticipation allowed that to pass. The scientists all looked to their feet, dejected in their inevitable loss. Without further comment, they took the keys and led the sorceress to a room that branched off of the throne room. In that small, unassuming space, there was button hidden by a trick wall panel. The elevatoran elevator in the back of the room. It was sealed electronically, and all five keys had to be used simultaneously to open it. When it was finally opened, Ultimecia saw that it was large enough to hold thirty people safely.

"This way, Exalted One," Dr. Cyas said. Ultimecia brushed past the other scientists and took her place in the center of the elevator.

"Proceed," she ordered, and they joined her on the elevator. After a minute of silence, the elevator stopped, and the doors opened with a gentle whoosh. Cold air rushed inward from the chamber, denoting the chill air of disuse and neglect. All was dark, and Ultimecia could see nothing with only her mortal eyes.

"Just a moment, my Sorceress...my Sorceress," Dr. Lindain muttered, and he hit a button on one of the keys. Instantly, huge solar lights hummed into life, illuminating a room before them that was easily as large as the entire Palace of Esthar.

"We are now three miles below Esthar, directly underneath the Great Plains," Professor Eldrin explained. "There is nothing above us, so any explosion would not affect the outer world beyond a slight tremor...or at least that is what the simulations told us. We monitor the Machine daily, just as we and others before us have for years, in order to determine the correct balance and alpha configurations, plasma relays, magical output levels, para-capabilities...all things that allow us to control the sheer presence of the device, although many of the factors I have mentioned are still...sketchy, even after all this time. Dr. Odine was brilliant, but he lacked a great deal of foresight. The maintenance of J.M. Ellone costs Esthar more than our entire military budget four times over."

"So what you are telling me," Ultimecia sneered, "is that you have no idea what this thing is or how to deal with it...but you know how it is supposed to work?"

A slight cough later, "That is correct, Great One."

"And why is that?"

"Because," Dr. Lindain interrupted, "the existence of this machine defies all natural laws. Even with the basis of magic, there is nothing that can explain how Dr. Odine ever conceived of such a work...nothing to explain. Ellone has almost no natural ties to physical laws other than its casing, which is itself a hybrid of titanium-alloy and an element that can only be classified as 'unknown...' as unknown. It should not be here, and it continues to baffle us. Its very presence is a slap in the face to everything that humanity has come to know about the world. The ideas behind it are even more complex. If you will step this way...this way..."

The doctor led the rest of the group toward a large, freestanding pillar in the center of the room. Overhead, pipes and wires of various shapes, sizes and colors attached themselves in a plethora of locations to the pillar. The Estharian crest adorned it in several spots, a further reminder of the bygone days of the nation's period of enlightenment.

"My Sorceress," Professor Eldrin announced, "I present to you the greatest mystery in all creation: Junction Machine Ellone - Inner-Dimensional Quasi-Physi-Mental Doorway, and the bane of every practical notion of scientific sense and sensibility."

The Sorceress walked toward the machine slowly, her eyes finally taking in the doorway of her own fate. For the first time, she could actually feel time compression within her grasp, even though she had no idea what she would do with the Machine. The Machine, she knew, was the key to her happiness. She thought of Squall, of the promises they had made, of her mother, of Callie...how all of their pain would no longer exist. She nearly burst into tears, but controlled herself, contenting herself with mild tremors of relief and discovery.

"So beautiful," she breathed, running her cat-like eyes up and down the towering mechanism.

As Ultimecia inspected the equipment, all of the scientists silently congratulated themselves as though it had been they who built the machine in the first place. Professor Eldrin was especially pleased with the Sorceress's initial reaction to the discovery. He prepared himself for the accolades he was certain to receive. Oblivious to their ruler's inattention, they all readied themselves for praise and rewards, doing an about-face from their previous apprehensions and concerns. Indeed, their moral objections now seemed highly selective with the anticipation of praise and perhaps even monetary reward.

"So this is Junktion Machine Ellone..." Ultimecia mused, running her hand over the massive, sleek blue casing. "This is the machine that will allow me free reign over another's mind?" Inside, she knew there was a computer so powerful, so advanced, that it would have never been created were it not for the innovative genius of Doctor Odine. Everything was finally coming into focus; all of her work had not been for nothing, after all.

"Just as Dr. Lindain said," the Professor answered with a hint of pride. "It was built during the rule of the Odious One. It is para-magic enabled to allow for a junction with anyone who shares the powers of Hyne in any period of history...in theory."

"Perfekt," Ultimecia hissed, regaining her composure. "I expekted nothing less. How might I manipulate it?"

"That would be simple, Majesty," Dr. Cyas beamed. "Simply stand here." He indicated a small platform that could comfortably hold one. There were no instruments, no levers or buttons - just a solid chamber that extended into the darkness of the ceiling.

"Very well," Ultimecia said, and she stepped within without hesitation. As she did, there was a flash of blue light. Determined, she looked back at her assembled scientists. They were busy inserting their keys, a look of childish curiosity clouding all of their faces.

"Now what?" she asked impatiently.

"Now the rest is up to you, Gracious Sorceress," the Professor stammered. Her cold demand had unnerved him. "The abilities you hold are the control mechanism. None of us could ever say just how it is that J.M. Ellone works. The only one who was able to make it work even the slightest bit was the Nefarious Adel. Ellone Loire herself was the only one who could skip time without any sort of aid."

"I see..." the Sorceress replied. She knew what she had to do. She had to put Squall out of her mind. He was gone now, and only the mission had any meaning. She had to force a thought, and he could not be her focus.

"I will require this time to myself. Go now and return in an hour's time."

Her command was heeded instantly, although reluctantly, and they clambered over each other to leave. Soon, Ultimecia was alone in the dimly lit room with Junction Machine Ellone.

"You are my gate to eternity," she whispered to the darkness above her. "You are the path to my redemption." She closed her eyes and focused. Once her eyes were shut and her mind quieted, she could feel herself drift, much more violently than in her normal thoughts. The pull was so forceful that she fell back against the wall of the machine, as her body was unprepared for such a jolt. With unforeseen cruelty, it began to unravel each thought in her consciousness, memory by memory. Without warning, she was torn from her own mind, and her body was able to let out a brief, shrill cry of agony before her mind no longer dwelled there. For awhile, there was nothing but darkness, and she was afraid that she might have died, so great was the pain in her head. Crying out in anguish, she heard her echoing misery reverberate against the walls of the cold steel cylinder in which she stood, a conduit of mystifying power.

Then, with as little warning as it had begun, she plunged into a well of bluish light that stretched out in all directions. The sudden nature of the journey and the horrifying sensations that accompanied it had taken a toll on her nerves. Grabbing each of her wrists with her opposite hands, she tried to stop shaking. It proved futile, and she finally decided to try and figure out where she was, despite the pounding in her head.

Looking around, it seemed to Ultimecia that the light extended into infinity. For one short, blessed moment, her physical and mental torment fled, leaving a soul behind as pure as she had ever known. She could forget herself in this vast space of unknown composition, knowing herself to be the only one besides the young Ellone Loire to find so wonderful a realm.

"So beautiful..." she whispered, her soft voice echoing through the great span of time that now lay at her fingertips. The feeling was beyond description, and yet it wasn't to last. As soon as she tried to figure out where she was, the purpose of her sojourn came crashing back to her.

"So from here, I might rule eternity." The thought had a certain appeal, thought it came much too late for her. Ruling worlds was not her goal. There, in a realm between all possibility, all things became crystal-clear. Blanketed in the light of eternity, she knew...could feel...that her soul was being pulled into every space of time in existence.

But where to go first? She had in her mind's eye depicted this scene many times over, but she had never prepared for anything as grand as this. How would she know where to go if she didn't know where she wanted to be? She felt the pull again and grew irritated, fighting against it as it clawed at her soul. She could do nothing to move in any direction. For a moment, she thought she was stranded in that space forever.

"...edea..."

Looking around frantically, Ultimecia's eyes tried to spot the one who had spoken. There was no one.

"Who is there?" she asked, her voice somewhat tinted in fear. She hadn't expected anyone else in the vortex with her, and the fact was unnerving...as well as infuriating.

"Who is there!!" she shouted, her fear becoming steadily overshadowed by a silent rage. Who would dare to interfere with her mission? Who had followed her inside of the machine?

"...edea...time..."

The voice was louder then, echoing across the void before her with intense clarity. It was so complete of a voice, something she had never anticipated. But where was it coming from?

"...edea...time...compression..."

The last two words caught her attention immediately. Time compression. Edea Kramer was related to time compression? How?

"Who is there?" Ultimecia shouted once more, and yet no one would reply.

"How does Edea affekt me? Where do I go?"

A sudden thought filled her mind, and it grew to become all-encompassing. She almost allowed a tear to fall from her ice-cold eyes, remembering for a moment the time she had spent with her love...her knight. Forgetting her mission, she was overpowered by a new desire.

"I can go see Squall!" she cried, losing her practiced accent in her euphoria. The darkness within her melted away, and she could see clearly back to the past...back to a time when she was safe in the arms of her knight. "I will find him!"

There was then a rumble throughout the vortex, as though time itself was responding with deep resentment to the very idea. Even so, she ignored the thought, wanting nothing more at that moment to rush back to Squall, wherever he might be.

"...your squall is dead...find edea...she is the key..."

The voice was low and soothing now, but the message at once a reminder and an injury. The memories of her final glimpse of Squall's face before he was erased pained her, and she began to cry despite herself.

"Your knight is gone," she reminded herself, choking back the last of her tears, "now you have to do this on your own." She didn't fully convince herself, but she had no choice but to press onward. Only the goal mattered.

"...Edea...find Edea..."

The voice was finally crystal clear, free of its masked identity, as though it had broken through a great barrier to be free from the darkness about it. With no small amount of terror, Ultimecia realized that the voice speaking to her was her own!

"Find Edea. I shall say no more."

It was not a request, but rather an order from herself, though where the voice came from was beyond her understanding. Shocked beyond comprehension, Ultimecia did the only thing she could do; she pictured Edea Kramer within her mind from the books she had read. She was a small woman, but very beautiful and graceful. Constantly dressed in black, she was the sorceress that had revived the order and blessed it with a revitalized name...

...all of that, Ultimecia thought, would most likely change.

"Edea..." she called out, and with her own powers, she searched throughout the void, her essence traveling through all times and places, looking for the Benign One...the only one that could help her find Ellone. It did not take long.

There was an answer from somewhere in time, a place that in her mind's eye Ultimecia could see quite well. It was the world she knew, but plunged into chaos. Edea was cold, lonely, and frightened. Her voice was shrill and tremulous, and it answered Ultimecia as though she had been given an answer to a prayer. Silently, Ultimecia thanked Dr. Odine for the ease with which his machine actually worked.

"Please help me!" Edea cried out, and Ultimecia's blood froze. She could sense the pain of the Benign One, and it both angered and terrified her.

"What is wrong?" Ultimecia asked, her voice through time Edea's only lifeline.

"They want to kill me..." Edea sobbed, and Ultimecia frowned in disbelief.

"Kill you?" she asked, "whatever for?"

"I am a sorceress..." she replied, and the cold misery of her tears stung like a scalding blade. "They want me to use my powers for their own gain..."

"Who?" asked Ultimecia.

"The Galbadians. They want me to help them rule the world!"

This gave Ultimecia some pause, enough to help her forget Edea's suffering. Somewhere in that time period, Ellone would be alive, and if that were true, she could also take Galbadia and use them to find her. In one fell swoop, she could atone for her previous failure. It was all too easy, she thought with a self-congratulatory grin. The only obstacle would be Edea herself...

"Edea," Ultimecia began, "do you want me to help you?" Her confidence returning, she knew it would be no difficult task to take control of Edea Kramer. The situation was win-win.

"Who are you?" Edea asked, doubt and fear screaming in protest to the idea of her even speaking to a distant soul.

"I am your future," Ultimecia answered. "I seek to restore the honor of the sorceresses in a time where they are reviled as mere beasts to be slain with impunity."

She knew that she would have to hide her emotions from Edea, and only let her see enough of her soul as she needed her to see. If she had seen what had become of Ultimecia's own soul, she would never allow her free reign over her own. Hating to become so deceptive, but finding it necessary for her own ends, Ultimecia forced a pleasant thought meant for Edea to find. Thankfully, she took the bait.

"You are of Esthar?" Edea asked carefully, still uncertain.

"Yes, Benign One...a land that I rule."

"Like Adel..." came the expected response. "With fear?"

"No," Ultimecia said, choosing her words carefully, "with wisdom and truth." It was going very well so far, and she could do little to keep her excitement in check. She felt so close to her own goal, closer than ever before. Only the thought of Squall's face stayed her exuberance.

"I...I can trust you, then?" Edea asked, feeling her way in the void as if in darkness. She had her.

"Of kourse," Ultimecia said, regaining even her accent, "I am a friend. All you must do is give me kontrol for a short while. I will help you."

"A...alright," Edea stammered, and suddenly a doorway in the void, invisible but assuredly there, appeared. It was Edea. Pushing against the unseen force that held her at bay, Ultimecia fought back with all of her might, focusing all of the mental energy she had in her immediate control. Inwardly, she let out a triumphant yell as she felt the force lose its grip on her. She was free!

Ultimecia wasted no time and plunged headlong into the nothingness before her. She approached the void, her mind being swallowed by that of another. Letting the darkness wash over her, she knew that she had made it one step closer to her goal. She was within Edea's mind.

The first thing she felt was disorientation. It was so new to be contained within another mind, and very confusing. Edea was right alongside her, and she was just as disoriented as Ultimecia.

"Your powers are weak," Ultimecia noticed in dismay, coming quickly out of her confounded state.

"They have waned over time," Edea agreed, and she seemed to place herself in the background as Ultimecia took control.

"You won't be able to see for awhile," she told Edea. "I must be able to have komplete kontrol if I am to help you."

"Alright," came the familiar response.

"Good," Ultimecia said, and she opened her eyes. She was in a small prison cell, both metallic and dirty. Above her, the ceiling extended into darkness where the cries of tortured prisoners echoed through the conduits that ran the length of the walls. Rats scurried about in the shadows, looking for stray prison rations with fearless bravado, even in the presence of the humans before them. For a moment, Ultimecia thought of the alleys...

"What is wrong?" Edea asked, sensing her sudden fear.

"Nothing," Ultimecia answered, shaking the head she now found herself in as thought to clear her thoughts. She was alone and unbound. Apparently, the Galbadians thought little of their charge.

"That mistake will be make quite klear to them," Ultimecia noted satisfactorily, regaining her confidence.

"Don't hurt anyone," Edea begged. "Please..."

"We shall see what happens," Ultimecia answered back. "Just leave everything to me."

Standing in the new body was a strange sensation, since all of Edea's nerves and senses besides speech, hearing and sight still exclusively belonged to the Benign One. After a few cautious steps, however, Ultimecia was able to move about with ease. Inspecting her bleak surroundings, she soon discovered the only exit.

"They put one simple lock on the door," she mused. Raising her arm, she pointed at the door, hoping that her own powers had transferred to the time period she found herself in. She was answered when an energy blast blew the door completely off of its hinges and clear into the cell across the hall. Immediately, alarms began to blare, and Edea/Ultimecia took her first steps out into the hall.

It was like a dream, Ultimecia thought just then, watching everything move so slowly as compared to her. Soldiers dressed in ancient blue Imperial Galbadian uniforms ran at her, guns at the ready. Their bullets, however, did nothing but fall to the ground at Ultimecia's command. With little more than a gesture, she evaporated the soldiers without effort.

"What is going on?" Edea asked, and Ultimecia pushed her further back in their shared mind without response. She could not be bothered by her moral complaints at that moment. Turning to face more soldiers, Ultimecia slew them in the same manner and headed for the marked exit of the prison. She would simply walk out of there and meet with just whoever it was that was heading the Galbadian government at that time. They had a lot to answer for.

"Why are you doing this?"

"To help you, of course."

"No, I can sense in your soul something that wasn't there before. Why do you hold so much hatred?"

"I am trying to help you..."

"To do what? Why help me? There is something that you want."

"Indeed there is. I need to hold Galbadia under my control. This era must be made my own."

"But why?"

"I could never explain to you. You are a sorceress, but you have not see the things I have seen, nor have you felt the hideous things I have felt. I cannot live with these things for too much longer."

"What..."

"Do not bother yourself with me. There is but one enemy I have, and it can be caught but through one method..."

"What has caused so much pain within you?"

"Aren't you going to beg to be free of me? Aren't you going to try to save your world, sorceress, oh Benign One?"

"Why? Is it in danger?"

"Oh, it most certainly is now!"

Even in the middle of the night, Deling City was alive with life, people bustling to and fro without regard to those about them or their surroundings. Large, garish neon signs lit the streets in an aural cacophony of light. From the various shops and restaurants wafted the smells of various foods, all merging into one odiferous scent. It was loud, it was noisy, and to Ultimecia, it was disgusting. The assault on the senses was almost too much to bear.

"How much further?" she asked the driver of the bus she had all to herself.

"Not much further," the entranced driver answered. "The Presidential Residence is just up this street."

Ultimecia looked ahead through Edea's eyes. A rather large, gaudy building was coming into view. The front gate was guarded on all sides by six soldiers in full uniform, each one carrying a rifle or like weapon.

"Stop this machine," she commanded him, and the driver stopped it. He opened the door for her, and Ultimecia stepped out and walked slowly but with confidence toward the President's mansion. As she expected, she was halted by the guards. Caring not for their expendable presence, she moved as if to walk past them.

"Stop where you are!" one of them shouted, and he looked her over with curiosity and a loose veil of arrogance. She was not, she realized, dressed very formally. They had kept Edea locked up for what had to be weeks without the benefit of a shower or change of clothes. The black dress that she wore reeked from the long period of neglect, and her hair was a mass of tangles, dirt and sweat. Gesturing to the others, the soldier pointed his rifle at her and added with a sardonic leer, "don't get too many of your kind out here!"

"I am here to see your ruler," Ultimecia barked in Edea's normally placid voice. "Who is the master of this small nation?"

Another one of the soldiers nudged one of his comrades and said, "She wants to see the President! I guess the corner got a little dry..."

He stopped his crude joke as Ultimecia shot out her hand. Grabbing for his throat, he choked loudly as he fell to the ground, writhing to break free of the unknown grasp that was ending his life. He did not succeed.

Without warning, the soldiers' instincts kicked in, and they immediately opened fire. Focusing her energy, Ultimecia stopped each of their bullets, sending them back with a wave of her hand to their origin. With little effort, she had cleared her own path to the presidential residence. Looking momentarily at the large crowd of people that had gathered behind her, she smiled inwardly and entered the large mansion, the doors swinging open from her slightest thought.

"What are you doing!" Edea shouted from within, her very essence trembling in horror with the bloodshed she beheld through the sense of hearing alone. She had pushed from the back of her own mind and was now contending with Ultimecia once again.

"I am trying to end a great deal of foolishness..." she replied absently, her thoughts focused on her goal, rather than the task of appeasing the deposed Edea.

"What foolishness?!" she cried, pleading for a sane response, "What is it that you want?"

"Life is foolishness...life is agony..." Ultimecia answered, and with a forceful thought, she shoved Edea back once more, and continued her pursuit of the President.

The room she found herself in was immense: a reception hall large enough to accommodate many visitors. Fountains bubbled majestically in the center of the room, and many exotic plants dotted the room in an almost tasteful manner. Large columns of marble formed a path down the center of the room. The president lived in great luxury, though primitive by Ultimecia's standards. Turning away from the splendor, she waited before she would be noticed. It would be better, she decided, to let them come to her.

She didn't have to wait long. Coming down an elegant set of marble stairs was a man dressed in a black suit, escorted by several soldiers. He was clapping, a broad grin across his face. Every bit the politician, Ultimecia recognized the face.

"Vinzer Deling," she rasped in a surprised yet controlled statement. Callie's great great grandfather was standing before her in perfect health, as smarmy as his photographs had revealed. "Destiny is on my side."

"What do you plan to do, kill him?"

"No...not yet."

"What could they possibly do for you? You are obviously more powerful than them! Let them go!"

"Hmm...no, I don't think so. I require their assistance."

"I don't understand what you are doing!"

"You most likely never shall."

"What do you intend to do here?"

"I need to speak with this man..."

"He will not listen to you."

"I think he will. He had best. I will make that quite clear."

"How?"

"He would not listen to the Benign One, but he will listen to Sorceress Edea!"

The president merely stood off to the side as his guards surrounded the sorceress. With a satisfied grin, he walked toward Edea/Ultimecia and offered her his outstretched hand.

"Edea Kramer," he purred, "what an exquisite pleasure! I am very surprised to see you here. Perhaps my accommodations for you were...not to your liking?"

He received no response, Ultimecia standing still, yet amused by the small man. He had no idea who he was dealing with.

"You are looking quite tired. Perhaps you might join me for..."

"STOP THIS ALL NOW!" Edea shouted within her own mind. She was becoming quite bothersome, and she knew that if she were to keep control over Edea, she would have to keep the Benign One as a slave. Kicking Edea once with a sharp thought to the back of her mind, Ultimecia immediately began to pour out all of her learned social charms from childhood. They would serve her better than her powers...for the moment.

"I would love to," she said smiling, and taking the offered hand, she was led into a small reception room with many comfortable sofas, chairs and love seats. The carpeting was deep and luxurious, she was sat on on of the chairs while two guards closed the doors and positioned themselves on either side of the room. President Deling sat opposite Ultimecia and looked her over briefly. He seemed unconcerned with her appearance, seeing an opportunity rather than a filthy woman.

"I wonder," he began instantly, taking out a cigar and clamping it in the left corner of his mouth, "if you would be able to explain something for me."

"I shall try," Ultimecia answered, composing herself modestly on the chair. Folding her hands in her lap, she awaited the president's question with a dignity to rival her finest childhood etiquette instructors. It mattered not that she was dirty from her stay in prison, nor did it matter that her odor was less than pleasant. She was in total control of the discussion.

"Why have you come back here?" the president asked. "Why didn't you escape while you had the chance...and the obvious ability to destroy this entire continent?"

She smiled once more, unable to hide a sharp edge in her eyes that bellied a hint of contempt. Callie's great great grandfather was disappointing. His death was inevitable, she knew, which made her mission all the more important. If she destroyed him, Callie would never exist, and time compression would be the only way to erase her pain.

"I hold a desire to see this world unified," she replied after some thought, "and if it must be under the arm of Galbadia, then so be it. I know my place."

"And that would be...?" the president prodded.

"I am your icon. Fear will motivate people to follow you, a fear that only I can generate with my lineage."

For awhile, President Deling merely sat smoking his cigar, puffing occasionally to denote a sense of contemplation.

"You would make an excellent politician..." he noted. Ultimecia narrowed her eyes at what she perceived to be an insulting remark, but continued her statement.

"You have been too lax in your efforts at subduing this warring planet. History will judge you harshly. Your military efforts must be accelerated."

"This," Deling replied, "is quite a change from the timid woman who stood before me but three days ago in tears at the very idea of killing a single soldier..."

Ultimecia smiled cruelly. "That was then, this is now. I have had time to rethink my position."

With a snap of the president's fingers, one of the soldiers strode over to him, ready for his ruler's orders.

"See to it that the Sorceress is given the Imperial Suite and a clean change of clothing..." Looking her over, he added, "Something black."

"So this interview is over?" Ultimecia asked. "Frankly, I expected you to be more careful."

Vinzer Deling smiled his poster-boy smile and leaned back. "When you have been in politics as long as I have, you learn to trust your instincts. My instincts say that having you around will be, for lack of a better phrase, good for business."

He stood up and added, "the guards will show you to your quarters. I will talk with you again, I am sure."

He began to walk out, but turned back once more, looking the Ultimecia/Edea over.

"Hmm..." he remarked absently, "Cid Kramer is a lucky man."

At the mention of the name Cid, Edea once again became an active force in her own mind. Shrieking with fear and pain, Edea was fighting back, and Ultimecia fell to the ground, clutching at her head. Inside, she searched out Edea, but could not find her. She attacked from the shadows of a mind she knew far better than her futuristic adversary, and it was enough to drive Ultimecia mad.

"Edea, what is it?" Deling asked, his face twisted in concern over his newest weapon. Kneeling next to her, he motioned for his guards to bring her to her feet. For a brief moment, she regained control, and with tears welling in her eyes, Ultimecia looked to the president and asked harshly, "Do you have anything to suppress mental functions? Anything at all?"

"We have cerebral crowns for moderate brain-surgery in the residential hospital..." he offered, confused and bumbling. Ultimecia could not wait for the small man to collect his wits. Grabbing him by the collar, she shrieked at him, "Then bring one to me immediately!"

Deling nodded to his guards as Ultimecia released him, and they ran to find one of the crowns. Bringing her over to a chair, Deling her down and paced impatiently as Ultimecia clawed at Edea's head frantically. The pain was becoming intense, and she hoped that the idiotic soldiers would be able to accomplish their one simple task quickly.

"Are you alright?" Deling asked.

"I will be fine when you get me that crown," Ultimecia hissed through clenched teeth. It seemed like hours before the soldiers actually returned, carrying a rather garish device of cold steel.

"Ugh!" Ultimecia groaned when she saw the thing, "such a barbaric thing...hurry up and give it to me!"

They did, and she placed it over her head eagerly. As she did so, the noise quieted down considerably, although Edea's voice was still quite distinct. She couldn't inflict pain anymore, however, and that was the important thing.

"Perhaps we can pretty that up before we present you to the public," Deling joked, and Ultimecia stood to meet him. Already tired of his brutish manners, she decided that she had best retire for the night...or at least, retire Edea's body.

"I will be taken to my quarters now," she insisted, and Deling nodded slowly, suddenly frightened by the intense, demonic look Ultimecia was able to bring out in Edea's tranquil eyes. He stepped aside, brushing her demeanor aside, and allowed the soldiers to escort her to her room. She looked back once and glared at Deling, who was already sitting in his large, comfortable chair, puffing his cigar in imagined triumph. He would soon receive his.

In her chamber, Ultimecia found a black dress and a hot bath waiting for her. Although Edea herself would feel the relaxing waters rather than Ultimecia herself, she appreciated the idea that she would no longer smell of the D-District Prison. After cleaning up, she put on the dress and sat in a chair overlooking the city square. It was deserted, save the various soldiers that stood guard over the peaceful streets. The crowd that had assembled must have been quickly dispersed. Playing with the ring on her finger, she could hear Griever purring gratefully under his sorceress's hand.

After sitting for a moment, she soon realized that she had best go back to her own era. It would ill suit her to lose control over her own realm...especially during a war. Within Junction Machine Ellone, she was extremely vulnerable. Also, she did not trust the nerves of her scientists to keep her whereabouts a secret should the battle fall within Esthar's borders.

"So you must leave..." Edea's voice said, anticipating a time when she could retake her own mind.

"Yes," Ultimecia said, "but please do not think that I have not thought this far ahead. The cerebral crown will hold you at bay...even without me here."

The idea of sitting alone in her body, unable to move, terrified Edea, and she began to struggle in vain against the crown's psycho-magnetic fields.

"You can't leave me like this!" she protested, struggling with all her might to regain control. Convinced of the crown's stability, Ultimecia felt comfortable enough to relinquish control and find her way back to her own time. Letting go of her psychic hold on Edea's battered frame, she felt herself slowly slip away. Closing her eyes, she knew that when she opened them again, she would be in the underground laboratory in Esthar, ready again to assume her role in destiny's cruel drama. She let her thoughts fall on Squall as she returned, Griever growling softly through the breadth of time.

Many of her days were consumed within the confines of Junction Machine Ellone. Forsaking food and sleep, she created herself anew within Edea Kramer as a fanatical monster. She made many trips into the past, sometimes spending as many as four days at a time without ever going back to her own realm. During these times, Catoblepas and Tiamat would guard her. She would then be compelled to return, the machine having drained her to total exhaustion. As if addicted to some drug, she would then return as soon as she had regained enough of her strength.

She needn't fear for herself while she was away, either. No one dared to interrupt the Sorceress. One scientist had gotten too close to Ultimecia as she conducted her business in the past. Tiamat had found him; no one else ever did again. In fact, many had met a similar fate for doing as little as bringing food down to their ruler out of pity for the sweet young child she had once been. Catoblepas and Tiamat, however, cared not for such motivation. They had their orders, and they followed them exactly and without allowance.

Not only did her mannerisms change, but her total appearance as well. Her eyes, before narrowed upon the advent of Callie's murder, were now ablaze with the fierceness that come to those who have denied sanity in favor of a more obsessive enterprise. The pursuit of time compression was her only goal, and she ignored the pain that her endeavors caused; her inner-self was writhing in agony over the grief she still stockpiled within the diseased pit of her soul. Possessed with an other-worldly desire to end her own hidden agony, she pressed onward, tasting the end of her torturous existence within her grasp.

The few moments spent in her own time were like a dream to her. She spoke to no one, handing over the war effort to her Council. She never slept there, the dreams and thoughts that would haunt her being to great. Growing thinner, Ultimecia had become a shell in her own world, a figurehead of power in the Estharian government, for her psychic hold had begun to wane the more time she spent in the past. The war with the SeeDs progressed, many of them dying, but still pressing forward with the same tenacity that they had during the first days of the struggle. It was only the fear of her unpredictable reprisals that maintained her position as ruler - that and her chosen guardians who watched over her as she brooded, ate what little she would, or was within Junction Machine Ellone.

Ellone. That was a name she grew so weary of hearing, even though it was her own lips that brought it's foul sound to her ears. She had been unsuccessful in all attempts to find the child that the history books had spoken of, and it had driven her beyond rage that every time she came up empty-handed. She could sense the child nowhere, and didn't even have the slightest idea of what she looked like. Were it not for the existence of Junction Machine Ellone itself, she would have guessed that such a person had never even lived.

Of course, no one dared to speak to her after awhile. The look in her eyes and her gaunt face halted any such notion. For a time, she would go weeks without so much as bathing, preferring to spend her time, as she would tell herself, "more productively." Her usual activities had been replaced with the ritualistic behavior of one driven by a self-imposed need that met a darker wish for destruction. Many times, she caught herself before she could swallow poison, a vain attempt to still the horrible sensations that her sorceress powers only magnified to an almost unbearable degree. All of those acts were useless, she would try and tell herself. She knew that the only way to rest without fear of the void was to destroy the void itself, and there was only one way to do that. She had to compress time into one simple moment...a moment that would not end until she chose for it to. Realizing this, she would fall to her knees in tears, clawing at her hair in utter torment. Junction Machine Ellone had brought her so close, but the closer she got, the more impossible her task seemed. It was all happening too easy, and the Galbadians of the past were too ready to follow her every whim. Something was going to go wrong.

It was during one of the stormy nights in Esthar that Ultimecia found herself unable to sit still, let alone sleep, so she decided to continue her time with Edea in the past. Escorted by Catoblepas, she walked slowly, dragging her feet in weak steps toward the only thing that could bring her a small bit of respite. She was very close to having total control over the Galbadians. After that, she would have her own way with the military and their vast resources. It would be a simple matter to find Ellone, then.

"You are tired, my sorceress..." Catoblepas said, its gruff voice twisted in concern. "Please, ride upon my back, and I shall take you where you need to be."

Ultimecia turned her head toward her guardian and smiled weakly. In a small way, the altered politicians of Esthar had become her most loyal followers. She could still, surprisingly, muster up enough time to speak with those who had proven their worth.

"No," she answered, "I would fall asleep too easily."

Confused, Catoblepas asked, "But would that not be a good thing, my Sorceress? You are so tired, and I grow more concerned for you day by day."

"I need to stay fokused," she said, her accent blurring her words as she pushed herself onward. How she wished that she could still see Squall! She wanted to bury her head in his chest, to hide from the terrors of the world. Not even her own dark power could comfort her now. He was gone, and now she wanted him like she wanted nothing else. Even a denial of her existence would prove unnecessary if she could but hold him again. Her knight was dead, and she felt as though, by all rights, she should be, as well.

"My Sorceress...!" Catoblepas protested, but Ultimecia cut him off before he could continue.

"You will be silent now! I will not suffer such insolent insubordination! When I say no, that is precisely what I mean!"

The beast never spoke again, the sound of its great breathing the only sound loud enough to dare and pierce the Sorceress's veil of voiceless introspection.

They neared the great doors to the laboratory in which the machine was housed. Using its great bulk, Catoblepas pushed it open for its master. Bowing slightly on its forelegs, it stepped back into the shadows to guard Ultimecia as she went about her work.

Lowing softly, it held its own concern for her in reserve, not wanting to arouse the anger of the most powerful being on earth. For all of her weariness, the one who could feel the power of Ultimecia the most were none other than those that she herself had created. Catoblepas could sense her strength, a strength that was infinitely greater than the day it had been reborn into its horrific form.

Now, however, all it could do was wait as he watched his tired master torture herself within the confines of the giant machine. A flash of blue light was its indication that its master no longer had any idea as to what went on about her. Here, she was most vulnerable, and here he would protect her until doomsday, if needs be. Settling down in the dark corner of the great room, it stayed immobile but alert, ready at any moment to strike for the sake of its Sorceress.

Ultimecia awoke within Edea's mind, conscious of the cowering sorceress deep within the recesses of her own mind. There was no longer any pain, Edea being too weak after so many take-overs to offer any resistance to her. Ultimecia paid her no heed, as the crown was doing its job well enough. Looking about her, she was still sitting within the chair that she had always sat herself in before going back to her own era. It was dark, the silvery curtains that hung in rivers of shimmering fabric reflecting the light from the streets below her. For a moment, within the luxurious accommodations the Galbadians had prepared for her, Ultimecia found a small bit of peace.

It did not last long, however. She had only begun to shut her eyes when there was a knock at her door. Opening it with her powers, she sat still, waiting for the worthless creature that had broken her own bit of tranquility to speak whatever bit of nonsense that he or she had on their pathetic mind. How fortunate for them that they had arrived when she did, as the runic spell she placed about Edea's body would have incinerated them had they approached her while she "slept."

"Oh Great Sorceress Edea," came a timorous female voice, "the President bids me to bring you to him. It is almost time for the broadcast."

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Ultimecia remembered Deling's idea to take over the Dollet communications tower and broadcast his intent at uniting the nations in a peace conference. His juvenile pursuits only held remote interest for the Sorceress, as she had been thinking about how to use the broadcast to her own advantage.

"I shall be down within the next ten minutes," she said. Standing, she turned to face the servant who brought her the message. Letting out a startled cry, the young girl dropped her serving tray. The red, bird-like mask that covered the face of the Sorceress had startled her. It had been added with Ultimecia's own powers as a way of decorating the hideous cerebral crown. Along the one side of her head where the device had been the most garish, a conch shell had been added. The pain that it caused Edea must have been great, as the device had been further implanted into the skull to increase its effectiveness. Dressed in the finest black dress of Deling's late wife, Ultimecia looked very much the image of the witches history had made the sorceresses out to be.

"Ye...yes, Sorceress Edea...I shall tell the President," the servant girl muttered, and she quickly ran away. Not even noticing the vast amounts of food that had been laid out for the Sorceress for breakfast, Ultimecia left the room, heading for Deling's study.

Walking down the halls, she passed guards and servants who quickly removed themselves from her path and bowed hastily. If there was a conversation being held, it was halted until the Sorceress was gone. As it was, the air of the manor was very subdued, everyone being careful to not say or do the slightest thing that might incur her wrath. As in her own realm, many servants had died for simply disturbing "Edea" during her contemplations.

She reached Deling's sitting room, and without a word, the soldiers that guarded its heavy oak doors opened them for their mysterious guest. Closing them quickly behind her, they sighed in unison when they finally lost sight of her.

Ultimecia looked around the room when she entered. With the President were two soldiers, one obviously of a lower rank in a blue uniform, but the other well armored in red. All were sitting around Deling's massive desk, but rose to greet her as she approached them.

"Edea, welcome!" Deling smiled, and he gestured toward the soldier in red. "This is Lieutenant Biggs of the Seventy-first Battalion, G-Army Special Forces. They were responsible for taking Dollet's tower."

Lieutenant Biggs offered his hand, but Ultimecia merely looked past it to Deling and said, "When was this operation going to be brought to my attention? I was just recently informed of any action against Dollet." That Deling would go behind her beck, even though she had already heard of the operation, was appalling. Her plans must not be confused, and she knew that soon Deling would mess them up for good if she didn't take power herself.

"Should I have mentioned it?" Deling asked, himself confused. "I'm sorry, Edea, but it didn't seem as if it were so important as to bother you with it." He let out a small chuckle. "After all, people have been, well, dying for even mentioning less to you."

"Nevermind," Ultimecia hissed, totally ignoring the two soldiers, "what is your intention with this broadcast?"

"Ah, that is precisely why I have asked you to come here this morning!" he announced cheerfully. "I wish to make an announcement to the world for our desire for peace, and to introduce you as Galbadia's Ambassador of Peace."

"Me," Ultimecia emoted, more of a statement than a question. She understood Deling's rationale; no one would ever argue against Galbadia's right to sovereignty over all of the nations if she were to present her own nation's demands. It would be a peaceful conclusion to the war, but a peace bought with fear. Indifferent to Deling's strategies, she sat herself down and waited for the despot to continue.

"We will be making the broadcast today from Timber. I see that you already look marvelous for the camera, too!" He gave Ultimecia another one of his plastic smiles and waved Biggs and his subordinate out of the room. After they had left, Deling lit one of his cigars and reclined in his chair, blowing smoke rings as he spoke to the Sorceress.

"I am sorry that this has been such a long wait for you," he said apologetically. "We took longer in taking the tower than I would have liked. There were...unforeseen complications."

Ultimecia narrowed Edea's eyes. "What sort of complications?"

"Well," Deling said, "for one, we ran into some resistance with the Dollet Parliament, and the occupation was met with force."

"What kind of force?" she pressed, her voice edged in exhausted fury. "I do not want there to be any resistance to our efforts!"

"Lieutenant Biggs's report states that they were engaged with Dollet soldiers and SeeDs dispatched from Balamb Garden."

"What?!" Ultimecia shrieked. Bolting from her chair, she went to the window and ran her lengthened nails down it in consternation. Shuddering from the ear-rending noise, Deling tried to placate his icon.

"Now now now, I have already seen to this matter, and the SeeDs have withdrawn. The Dollet Parliament has agreed to our temporary occupation, and we were able to save millions of gil in military efforts. I think that this constitutes as a successful operation on our part."

"We must act quickly," Ultimecia snapped. "If SeeD has been involved, then they must be destroyed! We must strike back, counter with every available man we have! Not one SeeD can be left alive! We cannot lose face with the fools of this world! I...we...must have total autonomy, and every door must be opened to us! There is no time for these meaningless skirmishes!"

Deling knitted his brow in concern. The one whom he perceived to be Edea had certainly changed radically from the beautiful, kind young woman that he had seen from a distance. Now, she seemed like a tired sociopath, her actions and words making little sense to his finely tuned political instincts. Even with all of her powers, he wondered if he had made a mistake in inviting her to join his campaign. Seeing the President's apprehension, Ultimecia relaxed slightly and put on a small, mischievous smile.

"We will have to act fast, that is all. I cannot imagine losing ground so early in our plan. Galbadia will cover the earth, but only if we use our heads and show the world that no one can stop us...not even the SeeDs!"

"Oh my," Deling said nervously, glancing at his watch, "our train is leaving soon! We'd best get ready to depart. It is a short ride to Timber, but there is much to do before we go."

Ultimecia took that as her dismissal, and with her slow, methodical stride, she again wordlessly secluded herself within her chambers. Alone, she sat in her chair and looked out toward the simple people below her. In many ways, she envied the meaningless lives they led. They did not have to deal with long-dead fools like Deling. They did not carry with them so much anguish as she herself did, and they certainly did not have to deal with the responsibilities of a sorceress. Before she could even think further on this thought, however, sleep overtook her. For a few blessed hours, she enjoyed a dreamless slumber.

"Sir," interrupted the conductor of Vinzer Deling's private train, "a report from the decoy car has confirmed your suspicions. An unknown terrorist organization seized the car."

"Ah!" Deling exclaimed, "wonderful! I knew that the extra precautions would be helpful! We can enjoy a carefree journey, then! I don't know how you knew about them, Edea, but kudos to you!"

Ultimecia ignored Deling as she sat in a plush chair as the train quickly made its way to the second largest city in the Galbadian Empire. Timber had the only television station in the entire Western Hemisphere. The broadcast would be short, but an important part of assuring her dominance over the rest of the world. Now, she merely looked about her, watching the landscape pass her by with an almost serene indifference to the natural beauty she would have once admired in quiet awe.

"...my pleasure to introduce, the Sorceress!"

Deling's constant practice of his own speech was another obnoxious distraction. She was very thankful that Edea had quietly given up her struggle to regain control of her mind. She would have to act fast, though. She had no idea how powerful the Sorceress she inhabited actually was, and to lose control during her final plans would be an unbearable loss. She would have to find Ellone, and if she was correct about Adel...

"...Sorceress Edea! No, no, no, no...that's no good...the SORCERESS!!"

"Just say something to them," Ultimecia snapped hastily, hoping that it would shut him up. "They are pathetic worms, anyway."

"O-oh," Deling stuttered, taken aback by his powerful companion's venomous demand. He sat back, eyeing her nervously as she continued to sit in mute introspection as the landscape raced by.

"Honorable Sorceress, President Deling," came a voice over the intercom, "we will be arriving in Timber within minutes. We thank you both for your inspiring presence."

Looking out the window, Ultimecia watched as a small town came into view over just as the train climbed a hill. Timber was a remote town, very much out of the way from the rest of Galbadia. It stood as a lone sanctuary in the middle of vast wilderness. A couple of buildings stood prominently above the rest of the city. One of them, Ultimecia reasoned, was the television station.

"We will be entering through the v.i.p. entrance," Deling told her. "There are rumors of a terrorist organization that is trying to fight the government for independence...like they even know what independence means!"

This time, Ultimecia merely ignored her puppet and watched as the train slowed its progress. Taking the alternative tracks, they pulled into the northern end of town.

Deling stood as the train stopped, unable to contain his excitement. He was sweating slightly, looking nervous and pensive about something.

"What is wrong now?" Ultimecia snapped, her loathing of surprises fueling her angered outburst.

"I, um...I get nervous before I speak..." the Galbadian President admitted. Wiping his brow, he smiled weakly and exited the train. As he stepped out, a battalion of soldiers was standing at attention, forming a human aisle toward the rear entrance of the station. He saluted to them and looked back at the train.

Ultimecia had emerged, wearing the avian mask that amplified the effects of the cerebral crown. As she walked to Deling, the soldiers bowed, showing the customary respect for a sorceress. Charmed for a brief moment, she realized that Deling had taught them the age old tradition.

"You are looking radiant, Edea!" he beamed, even as she wore the mask. Allowing herself a weak smile while under the protective guise of her mask, Ultimecia walked toward Deling and took his offered arm. They walked into the television station amid the applause of those assembled within the building. Not even that noise, however, could drown out a familiar feeling. Unable to identify it for the moment, she concentrated on making her entrance. Soon, it would be time to announce her plans to the world.

"Was she pretty?"

"What?"

"Your mother. Was she pretty?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You have been in my mind, Ultimecia, but I have been with you the whole time. I feel what you feel."

"Nonsense. I have no idea what you are talking about."

"I think that you do. Your powers don't seem to work one way."

"My powers are not your concern. I am no one's concern."

"Why? I can feel your spirit torture yourself every day that you are with me. I can tell that you need something...but instead you are trying to hide."

"Hide?! From what? From you? I think that you had best silence yourself..."

"Are you that scared of yourself that no one can tell you what you already know about yourself to be true? Do you think that this is the way to solve things?"

"What would you know about me to be true? You do not know me, you don't know what I have seen or felt..."

"But I do. You have felt pain...such a great deal of pain for one so young..."

"Pain is relative. Perhaps what is pain to you is pleasure for me..."

"I think not. I think that you are forcing yourself to think that way...you will never find what you are looking for through destruction."

"I will find release. I will find peace. They will have rest."

"Why don't you tell me about it? Maybe I can help you."

"Ha! Why should you help me? What do you have to gain?"

"My body, for one..."

"Hmph."

"...but I also do things out of love, Ultimecia. I love all sorceresses...and to see you fall into such pain hurts me as well. How did you let such darkness overwhelm you?"

"You can't possibly understand how I feel, Benign One. You have a pure sorceress heart. Mine was borne into damnation. There is nothing but agony left for me in this world or any other. I must end it all so that I can rest... so they can rest."

"Are you truly so different from the rest of us that you set yourself so far apart?"

"I don't know who I am..."

"Then why do you seek rest from someone you do not know?"

(...fithos...lusec...wecos...vinosec...)

"Because the me inside is evil...the me inside should never be found."

"I don't think that you are evil. I think that you are frightened."

(...i want my mommy...)

"What?!"

"Nothing at all."

"You poor child..."

"I am not a child!"

"Stop trying to hide from everyone! Stop trying to hide from love!"

"LOVE!? There is no allowance for love! Love is something that is given to you by time, only time will tear it away from you and never give it back! Love forges bonds that you think will never be broken, bonds so strong that when they are finally ripped apart, you can never heal the wound! Love opens your heart, but allows it to be filled with pain! If love is so important, Edea, then why does the world fight against it in every animalistic instinct? If love is so crucial, then why is it torn from all of us? If love is so great, then why does it do nothing but ready us for torment? How can one feel love and expect it to last? Nothing lasts but agony in this world! This world is evil, this world is polluted, and it must be cleansed..."

"Ultimecia..."

"...but there can be no end to this world with time. Time is the great enemy, the beast that taunts our mortal emotions, the fiend that tricks us into caring about one another. Then, without any thought or qualm, it TEARS THEM AWAY! We are left hollow and without anything to fill us again. What is even worse is that we cannot fight back. Time is not a being that can be killed. It is a force of eternity. I will control time. I will mold it as I see fit. I will make it my slave...and then I will slay it."

"Slay time? How would you do that?"

"Hyne once tried the same thing..."

"You mean time compression?"

"I do."

"But even Hyne admitted that it could never work..."

"Her motives were not pure. She sought to control time to suit her own vanity."

"You seek revenge. How is that different?"

"I seek to end this cruel joke that has been forced upon us. Mortals have been robbed of their dignity long enough..."

"But what about those of us that have found the love that you say cannot exist? Would not death destroy their dignity as well? Would you destroy those victories that love has made? I have found love in so many, and though they are apart from me, I shall always have that treasure within my heart..."

"I seek not to kill, but to end..."

"But why give up? Why not find this love for youself?"

"My heart cannot hold such love...not when it was taken away from me."

"It can! Love is not something that can ever be taken away! It can find you again! You can be forgiven for all of this still!"

"NO! I cannot!"

"What about us, Ultimecia? Would you destroy those who have found love for themselves? Would you slay the innocent to hide you pain?"

"Yes."

"Yes? Why?"

"Because...I hate those people most of all."

"You can't mean that..."

"Why?"

"..."

"Why?!"

"Was she pretty, Ultimecia?"

(...leave me alone...)

"Leave me alone."

Ultimecia awoke, sitting in an empty room that overlooked Timber. After realizing that she must have blacked out again, she smiled. Vinzer Deling had grown accustomed to finding suitable quarters for her whenever she experienced one of her "spells." He even made excuses for her, and whenever she fell into her own mind, she never once awoke without a bed or chair underneath her. It was almost unfortunate that he had to die.

Even more pressing on her mind were the sensations that she felt upon awakening. The feeling that she had felt coming into the station was still present, only more prominent. She had to know what it was!

Standing, she felt a wave of nausea pass through her as she found her balance. The conversation that she had with Edea had unnerved her, and the unwelcome sensation of loneliness and sadness flooded her mind. Imagining the voice that she had heard so plainly, she eyes the hands of the body that she inhabited. What was she doing?

A knock at the door caused her to turn sharply, her agitation a product of her renewed torment.

"What is it?" she barked, and the door opened slowly. It was an employee of the television station.

"They are ready to begin, Sorceress."

"Tell me," she said suddenly, "who is here today?"

"Just you, the president, his body guards, and the staff, Sorceress."

Then who, she wondered, was giving her darkened senses such an alarming jolt? There was someone in the station that did not belong there...someone quite distinct in his or her yearnings.

"Where is Deling now?" she asked.

"In studio A," the employee replied.

"Take me there."

The employee bowed and led Ultimecia through the vast hallways of the television station. The walls were a dingy white, dirty from the years of disuse. Low-hung, buzzing flourescent lights lit the halls. All about, people ran to and fro with excited anticipation. It was, for some unknown reason to Ultimecia, a cause for jubilation that the television signals would be opened to the world. To her, it was a means to and end, almost unessential.

"We will be broadcasting all over the world!" the employee gushed as though he were talking to his best friend. "Galbadia's anouncement for peace will be the first mass communicated message in years!"

Peace. The very concept obviously held such a different meaning for Ultimecia than it did for all those in that ran about her. Still, something about what the man had said caused her to question him. While he was arrogant in his assumptions of her interest in his words, he was still a source of information.

"Why is this the first in so many years?" she asked. "What happened that caused the signal to be halted?"

"Well," the man said, "the Galbadian war with Dollet was one, but then there was the signal failure right after the Sorceress Wars."

"Signal failure?"

"Yeah. After we lost the signal, we also lost contact with Esthar. Pretty weird, huh?"

Realization hit Ultimecia hard, her history lessons suddenly leaping to the forefront of her memory. Not only was Ellone Loire alive during this period, but so, too, was Sorceress Adel, only she was being held a prisoner by Laguna Loire in her spatial containment field. Instantaneously, her mind raced at the possibilities that this presented. She had to force herself to keep calm as she was led further into the station, through a set of metallic double-doors that read "STUDIO A. ON AIR IN FIVE MINUTES."

"President Deling is waiting for you just through those curtains, Sorceress Edea." With that, the employee left to go about his errands. Ultimecia looked at the huge red curtains that blocked her path. Insulted with the fact that she had to open them herself, she walked inside and squinted Edea's eyes.

There were so many lights falling on one platform that she had to wait a moment before her sight adjusted to the stark contrast from the station's halls. Three camera men were in position, and President Deling sat off to the side while a man in a similar suit stood at the podium.

"We're on in less than two minutes, sir," one of the camera men said to the man standing at the podium. He nodded back and waited for the clock on the wall to count down.

"Edea!" Deling called from his seat, "Please, sit down and enjoy this momentous occasion!"

She simply eyed him back, her mask forming around her head as she hid from the bright lights. Folding her arms, she waited for her chance to speak. She thought about how shocked Deling and the the rest of the world would be, and although an insignificant part of her plan, she could not help but smile at the very thought.

Looking around, she saw the many seats of the studio in what must have once been a presidential conference center. Now, it was vacant with the exception of those who were assembled to give the address and those assigned to put it on the air.

Then why, she wondered, did it feel like someone else was there, as well?

"What? Am I on...?" the man at the podium began, and he began to speak, Ultimecia hearing none of it. Instead, she focused on the spirit that she felt. Whoever it was, it was angry. It was going to attack.

"I must be going," Ultimecia said, and with a wave of her hand, she disappeared, sending herself into another plane from which she could safely watch the transpiring action as it unfolded.

"Edea!" Deling hissed, his voice edged in irritation and nervousness. "Not now! Get back here!" He looked about him in vain to find her, but gave up when he was announced by the man at the podium. Dejected, Vinzer Deling put on his best politician's smile and strode up proudly to speak to the world.

Ultimecia, however, cared little for the speech. She watched the room, aware of every detail, her senses poised to detect whomever it was that had so offended her delicate feelings and sensory awareness. No one seemed to be in the room, however, that presented any danger. From out of nowhere, she could suddenly hear their heartbeat; an erratic, wild rhythm that spoke of its owner's desperation. She waited for them to make their move. Whoever he or she was, they had her uttmost attention.

Suddenly, someone leapt from behind a set of crates up to the podium. He bore a gunblade in his hand, one that he held tightly. Tearing from his stalking position with the ferocity of a jungle cat, he grabbed ahold of Deling and placed the fearsome weapon to the despot's neck.

Sizing him up, Ultimecia knew that this was the one who had triggered her senses. He was possessed of a spirit unlike any other that she had known, a spirit that fought for both honor and arrogance, love and pride. From him she could feel those same conflicting emotions as they intertwined, a desire for romance battling a need to be exalted upon the throne of greatness. The antiquity of his very essence suggested a strong, old-fashioned will; the darkness of his soul suggested that he could be molded.

But he was also so full of youth, one who had tasted of the cup of despair at a young age, only to impede growth and wisdom at its earliest levels. He had a vitality that forced him beyond the normal limits of man, a desire to conquer the world. However, his lack of restraint suggested that he wouldn't know what to do with it once he had it.

But from as much as she saw of his spirit, she saw little of him physically. From behind, she could not make out much except his golden blonde hair. Regardless, at that moment, Ultimecia wanted to make him hers.

"Leave him alone!"

"I can't. He is calling me..."

"He doesn't need you. He needs help!"

"He will be my champion..."

"He is just a boy!"

"No, he must fight for me."

"Why?"

"I have already lost one true knight. The position must be filled."

The young assailant dragged President Deling toward the back of the studio, suddenly frightened that he had cornered himself. There didn't seem to be a way out. The cowardly man that he held captive squirmed slightly in his grasp, but the gunblade that he held to his throat kept him from any serious attempt at breaking free. Sweat pouring from the assailant's face, he desperately looked for a way out. There was nothing he could do. He was trapped.

Pulling the man along, he surveyed the room carefully. There was nothing but an abandoned stage, a huge tarp draped haphazardly from the rafters. Dust covered every inch of the room, the scent of mildew and grime permeating the air. It was a room that had fallen into decay, a room that only enhanced his fear, magnifying it to a feverish intensity.

The Sorceress that watched him from her own protective veil of time could scarcely hold back a slight giggle, so great was her amusement and joy. Here was one, she felt, that held Squall's qualities, but retained the emotions and desires that she had thought only she held in her cavernous soul. Momentarily, she could understand the concept of love at first sight. No, he could never replace Squall, but he could help to fill a great void...for the time being. Stepping out seemingly from a wall, she faced the young man before her, her breath quickening.

"Stay away from me!" he threatened, throwing Deling in front of him.

"Such a confused little boy..." she cooed, her voice warped by the distortions in the fabric of time, as it was no longer Edea's that she used, but her own. "Are you going to step forward? Retreat? You have to decide..."

"Stay back!" the young man shouted. He seemed frightened by her sudden appearance, a look which pleased Ultimecia greatly. Certainly, this brave young man was not scared...

A young woman entered the room. Paying her little heed, Ultimecia simply pushed her back with her magic, unwilling to be detered by anything or anyone. Looking to her prospective knight, she grinned and took a step toward him.

"The boy inside is telling you to come. The adult in you is telling you to back off..." She stepped lightly, her movements accented by the very fabric of time pulsating about her, as though even eternity could feel her anticipation. The young man began to sweat, his mind obviously torn by this unexpected development. She could sense his conflict...obvious desire outweighed by foolish uncertainty.

"You can't make up your mind. You don't know the right answer...you want help, don't you?"

He looked to the captive that he held, suddenly aware of his surroundings. Facing to him what could have been a ghost, he suddenly felt very small...trapped and lost.

"You want to be saved from this predicament..." Ultimecia mused compassionately. Still, the boy's pride remained intact.

"Shut up!" he spat. Ultimecia loved the fire in his eyes, his tempered essence that held the blade so close to Deling's neck, drawing a thin line of blood; the way his hands quivered gave him away instantly. For all of his bravado, he was still innocent: a beautiful young boy her age that excited her more and more every second she stood close to him.

"Don't be ashamed to ask for help. Besides, you're only a little boy..." She loved egging him on, stirring up those passionate feelings of defiance that she drank from his spirit like an intoxicating, aromatic wine. So powerful, but so unaware...

"I'm not..." he replied, his voice low and rattled, the gunblade falling a few inches from Deling's neck. "Stop calling me a boy."

Smiling, Ultimecia knew that she had him. She knew that he could feel her desire, a desperate longing to drain every last ounce of emotion from his quivering frame and feed herself with his willing obedience...and she could feel his similar desire.

"You don't want to be a boy anymore?" she asked with false innocence. Even from ten feet away, she could feel his blood boil with fear and anger, their mutual understanding growing. Here was the one she had waited for!

"I am not a BOY!" he shouted finally, thrusting the blade back at the President's throat, who all the while watched with no idea as to what was taking place.

"Come with me," Ultimecia said with a hint of pleading in her voice, "to a place of no return. Bid farewell to your childhood."

As she spoke, three more people burst into the room. With the same consideration as the girl before them, she cast a spell and they were halted in place. All of her attention was focused on the young man before her. Surprisingly, he let Deling go, caring no more for the small man or the tyranny he represented. Her prize simply waved to those that Ultimecia had just paralyzed, and walked with her into the vortex that spun about the wall. Not even looking back, Ultimecia placed one of Edea's hands on the back of her prize, unable to feel his warmth, but able to sense that it was there. He wanted everything that she wanted, and to Ultimecia, that was victory in and of itself.

With all of Deling's pride, Ultimecia knew that convincing him to spare her new knight's life would be a difficult task. As he shouted to the young man, named Seifer Almasy, his face reddened, filled with shaken pride at his embarrassing capture. The office was dark, only thin lines from the venetian blinds illuminating the barest fragments of carpet. All the while, Seifer merely stood adamant against Deling's threats and obscenities, confident in the shadow of his Sorceress. The three of them were alone, leaving the conversation to dwell upon the most confidential of matters.

Many of the words Deling used on Ultimecia's prize infurtiated her. She was in all reality quite tempted to end the President's life then and there. Perhaps she would have, if her need to be immersed in the public eye during the act had not prompted otherwise. No, her grab for power would be made only with the proper acclaim.

Focusing again on Deling, Ultimecia stepped between him and Seifer, her eyes burning with a fierce indignation that Vinzer Deling was either too proud or too stupid interpret. Unable to cease his tirade, the President spoke even louder with the Sorceress before him, as though trying to force them through her physically to reach Seifer.

"...and such offenses against me are punishable by DEATH! Do you hear me, kid? Death! I don't mean death as in 'grab a phoenix down and you're cured,' but I mean death as in DEATH!!"

Ultimecia/Edea stepped forward, slowly raising her index finger to her lips. As if she had suddenly cast a spell or shouted with all of her might, Deling looked at her blankly and silenced himself. Instantly, he lowered both his voice and his eyes.

"Um, Edea, do you have something to add?"

"Yes," she said, casting one slow, deliberate look back to Seifer, "I do. I did not bring Seifer here so that you could embarass my new knight before me. I brought him here to become my protege, and that is something that you will have to accept."

Stepping from behind the Sorceress, Seifer smiled and sat down in a chair facing the fireplace in Deling's study, allowing her the pleasure of lambasting the President. He sat quietly, his ears attuned where his eyes were not.

"He is to be protected by this nation as a hero for his fine spirit," she continued in a warning tone. "He is loyal to me, and therefore, shall live as long as I require. If you must save your foolish pride, then tell the world that you executed him. That is not important. He stands at my side."

They were simply words, but it was the penetrating stare that Ultimecia was able to push through the barrier of time and use on the President. Obviously frustrated before the great power before him, Deling nodded and sat behind his desk, quickly removing one of his cigars and lighting it up hastily. He sat there, eyeing the back of Seifer's head with pronounced animosity.

"If he steps out of line again," Deling warned, his voice unsure and wavering, "then he is gone."

Ultimecia nodded graciously, but only with the knowledge that soon she would simply kill Deling anyway. His threats would not last long.

"I have in the meantime," he went on, "ordered the preparations to be made for tomorrow night's parade. All of Galbadia is eager to see their new Ambassador!"

Feigning a smile, Edea/Ultimecia nodded. That, she knew, was to be the night when they saw her as more than a simple Ambassador...

"See to it that Seifer has quarters secured in the manor," she snapped suddenly. "I shall be making myself ready for this momentous event."

Turning to leave, she walked over to Seifer and placed her hand on his shoulder. He looked up into her eyes, and Ultimecia's heart skipped a beat. His gaze was so self-assured, but so young and helpless...

"You must prepare yourself, also..." Ultimecia commanded. "There will be those who shall wish your Sorceress harm. I know you will be radiant..."

Seifer smiled and rose from his chair. Bowing lowly, he spoke softly, "I do whatsoever you command, your Grace."

"Now then," she added, "please stay with the President and discuss the security plans for the parade."

He bowed again, and the Sorceress took her leave, smiling as Seifer's cocky voice rang through the office as he told Deling exactly how things were going to be run. It was time for her to retire to her chambers...time to make her final plans.

Ultimecia burst from Junction Machine Ellone with a strength that surprised the still-waiting Catoblepas. Without so much as a word to her bodyguard, she entered the elevator and rushed to the top floor of the palace where her library was kept in order. Since becoming Sorceress of Esthar, she had arranged for all of the world's finest research materials to be brought for her disposal. When the doors whooshed open, she began to frantically pull at the volumes of Estharian history. One by one, they hit the floor in dusty clouds.

"Where is it...?" she breathed through clenched teeth. If she were correct, then she was in the time period where she could do much more than gain Ellone Loire's powers. After pulling out one red, velvet-covered volume, she sat in Callie's old chair and began to pour over the pages. Finally, her eyes stopped upon one passage. Grinning in triumph, she began to read aloud:

"Sorceress Adel still sleeps in spatial kontainment. In order to prevent her junctioning with any other sorceresses throughout time, a special shield was placed over her that disrupts all communications..."

Why hadn't she thought of it sooner? All that she had to do was find Adel! Once she did that, compressing time would be simple with her abilities. She would still need Ellone to ensure complete success, but in time, she was certain that she could find her.

"Junktion with Adel," she said, hugging herself with rapture, "and with her time blending into mine, the rest will surely follow..."

She curled up in a ball on the chair and closed her eyes, her unexpected happiness allowing her a few moments of respite. Her thoughts dwelled on Seifer, and the joy he would bring her those last few moments after she compressed time. After all she had suffered internally and without, soon it would be her time to find peace.

"And nothing will exist to hurt me again..." came a tiny voice from within. Exhausted beyond caring, she let sleep grab ahold and pull her under.