I really love this story. I am a total sucker for Time Compression fic of any kind, but this one is mind-bendingly wonderful.
I love the way that the sorceress seems less to be an entity than she is a collections of evil motivations, an amalgam of hateful energy. She can't even remember who she is for several minutes at a time. Maybe this is a product of the beginnings of Time Compression.
I love the way you describe the sorceress' awareness of her absolute awesome power right alongside of her inability to remember her name just after she has caught a hint of it on the wind.
I love the willful, almost playful way that the sorceress decides not to compress time just yet.
I find it intriguing the way that the sorceress shares Squall's memories? Rinoa's? I am not sure, but it's a good uncertainty.
I love the way the sorceresses' thoughts encompass those memories, as if to show her mastery over them. I really enjoy that she doesn't want to change the past for some reason.
I am impressed by the blurring between Rinoa and Ultimecia that occurs at the end and Rinoa's disorientation that is so similar to Ultimecia's.
It's subtle and poetic and very well-written.
Author's response
The whole thing was a product of those "Ultimecia-is-Rinoa" arguments which I don't quite buy but I find myself exploring the idea anyway. Someone suggested that maybe the sorceress 'remembers' the memory of her predecessors, and well, it resulted in this piece.
Thank you for your comments. I'm glad you liked the fic.