************AUTHORS NOTE, PLEASE READ!!!***************

Okay, the past couple days, I've gotten a couple reviews on this story, and I'm really REALLY flattered you like it. :D  But I just wanted anyone to know who would like to know that I am COMPLETELY REWRITING this fiction.  I've already gotten a few chapters written, if you want more information, please email me (my email address is in my profile) or just go take a look at my profile, there are some author's notes there that are quite recent.  I should start having this story up again soon, but the first chapter and the following chapters will be strikingly different.  I only have this one chapter still up so I can keep my reviews—I can't save them to my hard drive, and I use some of them to help me come up with new ideas for this revamped plot.  Thank you so much for reading it though, and thank you for reviewing!  I hope the new version will meet your standards just as well! :D

Brazen Angel

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Disclaimer:  I don't own 'em, so don't sue me, kay?

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Chapter 1:  Serpentine Walls

Darkness.  In every direction, everywhere he turned, there it was.  The black nothing consumed his every being.  It made his head throb, his heart ache, and his body cold.  There was nothing for him here, yet there was nowhere else for him to go.  He ran through the endless shadows, searching for a way out, an absolution to the madness.  The silence made his ears ring in pain, and there was no telling how much more he could stand.  Like a lost little child, he cried out into the darkness.

"Somebody!" he exclaimed as he continued to run, in which direction he did not know.  "Anybody?!  Where are you!?!  Where am I?"  His pacing became slower and slower while his heart beat faster and faster.  He began rubbing his hands together, rolling the ring on his right hand up and down his finger.  The ring his love had given him their first year together.  A silver band with and angel carved in it; she had given it to him in exchange for his ring.  He carefully made sure the ring was tight on his finger and continued to search for anyone. 

Why can't I see anything? he thought to himself.  Where is everyone?  Just as his thoughts echoed through his mind, a soft breeze penetrated the darkness, and a woman's voice called to him over the wind.

"Squall…."

Squall stopped in his tracks and squinted through the endless night in hopes of finding the owner of the voice.  When he had no success, he called back.

"Who are you?" his voice echoed.  He turned in all directions, looking for a sign of any type. 

"Squall…" the voice repeated, this time louder, more musically.  "Squall…Where are you…?"

"I'm here!!" Squall replied, waving his arms in the air as if someone might be looking for him. 

"Come to me…" said the voice as another breeze fluttered by, brushing Squall's cheek.  It was warm and inviting, and Squall couldn't help but close his eyes to savor the warmth it gave him.

"Where are you?" he whispered into the shadows, his eyes still closed, in awe of the feeling this new warmth gave him.  It enveloped his every being, and it reminded him of what it was like to be a baby wrapped tightly in a warm blanket being held close to the heart of its mother.  He didn't want to let go.

But in an instant it was ripped away from him.  He gasped as the feeling was sucked out of his body, only to be replaced by icy coldness.  All of a sudden, he couldn't breathe.  He clutched his chest and began to fall to his knees as the warm breeze changed to a high-paced whirlwind of arctic bitterness.

"Squall…HELP ME!" cried the voice, and Squall howled as pain shot through his body.  It was not a mortal pain.  This agony came from deep inside him, from his very core, like his heart was being wrenched from his body with a fork.  His nerves went haywire as his body convulsed to the ground, and then he was unconscious.

What seemed like moments later, Squall found himself seated in a dimly lit room with a circular wall.  Squall groaned as he opened his eyes and glanced around the room.  The wall had paintings on it, he noticed.  Dark paintings, paintings of the most evil creatures he had ever seen before in his life.

Where the hell am I!? he asked himself.  And that's when he heard the voice again.

"Squall…You made it…You came to save me…"

"Who are you?!" Squall demanded, looking around the room for an answer.

"Your life…" the voice echoed.  "Your soul…Your everything."

And as it spoke, someone stepped forward from the shadows to face him.  Squall gasped.

"Rinoa…" he whispered gently.  He reached out for her, but he couldn't.  He couldn't move.  "Rinoa…" he panted, realizing he was loosing his breath, "why am I here?  Why…are you…here?"

"To warn you…" she whispered, but her lips didn't even move.  She seemed to speak with her eyes as they were gazing upon him with a sense of foreboding.  "In times of trial…" she continued, her eyes widening.  Squall saw shadows move behind her and two hands were placed on her shoulders, and she closed her eyes.  Slowly, she looked down at her hand, at his ring.  Carefully, she pulled it off her finger.  "I needed your love…"

Two eyes appeared above her head; two eyes the faintest electric blue, but no face.  Just eyes.  A hissing noise rang in Squall's ears, and he soon realized he was surrounded…by snakes.  The deadliest serpents he had ever seen were slowly making their way to him.  All but one.  The largest of them all moved away from him.  Towards Rinoa.  Squall watched with fear as the scaly, unearthly creature slid up her body and engulfed her, just like the thousands of serpents were engulfing him.  They were crushing him.  Squall gasped for air as the snakes tightened around his chest. 

"Rinoa!" he cried in torment, but to no avail.  Her eyes stayed closed, and she shook her head, seemingly unaware of the serpent that had wrapped itself around her fragile body. 

"I needed you, Squall…" she whispered, and the eyes above her head shone bright with malice.  The ring in her hand fell to the floor.  "But…"

"YOU CAME TOO LATE!!" cried a second voice, this one deeper, more malevolent, and the electric blue eyes flared, illuminating the room with an evil glow.  Squall cried out in pain before he took his last breath.  The ring on his hand slid off his finger and made a clang on the cold, hard ground.

The last thing Squall heard before he collapsed was the deep, malicious laughter of the voice, mixed with the soft cries of the only woman he had ever loved.

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Squall Leonheart bolted awake, cold sweat dripping down his face.  He gasped for air, taking in all he could get to sustain himself.  His heart was beating rapidly, causing him to clutch his chest.  As he calmed down, he began rubbing his neck, his eyes closed, feeling his chest, shoulders, and arms to assure himself he was still alive.

He looked down at his right hand.  It was still there.  He sighed with relief; he still had his ring.  He ran his fingers through his hair, damp with sweat, and felt his heart rate slowly come to a normal beat.  He shook from the adrenaline still running through his body.  What on earth could have caused him to have such a horrible dream?

Squall sat straight up in his bed, recollecting his thoughts.  Those eyes.  Those electric blue eyes.  He shivered slightly at the thought of those eyes hovering the way they did, with the hands that matched clutching his love and ripping her away from him.  The feeling still left him cold.

"Get a hold of yourself, Squall," he muttered to himself.  He looked over at his clock.  It read 5:37 a.m.  Oh well, he thought while standing up and stretching.  It's about time for me to get up anyway.

He yawned, grabbed a towel and headed for the bathroom to get a shower.  It was just a dream, he told himself, and ambled quietly out of the room.