We hide ourselves from the world,
Never showing our feelings
Our emotions.
But when you find someone
They'll break your shield.
And what will they find inside?
Hyperion clattered to the ground, Seifer falling after it. Exhausted, he drifted into sleep with dreams and nightmares intertwining like DNA strands.
'My Knight. Seifer Almasy. What a foolish concept.' This creature, shifting between its three forms, a woman, a monster and a demon. Its faithful pet transforming from winged devil to lionesque monster. The Sorceress from the future, the present, the past, looked down upon him.
'Would you like to be free, my child? Would you like to have another chance at being a SeeD? I can change the past, alter your future, construct your now. But if I do that, you may destoy me.' She slid her icy fingers along his cheek. 'But my little Knight wouldn't do that. He *needs* me. He *needs* me to define who he is.'
'No! I don't need you! I never did ...' Seifer lifted Hyperion to his fighting stance and waited for the Sorceress' next move. Griever's eyes glowed and he bared his teeth, growling viciously. Ultimecia raised her hand and the beast silenced, melting into a four-legged animal. She looked down upon him, laughing as she herself melted from that same abomination into a creature with a hollow shell for a face.
'You *need* me. You *crave* me. You don't know what you are! Answer me this, child; Who are you?' She stared at him intensely, the light glowing brighter. The Knight dropped his gunblade down to his hip and watched her carefully.
'I am Seifer Almasy. Child of no one. Raised by Matron. I am the wielder of Hyperion. I am the friend of Fujin and Raijin. I am ... me. This is me.' He spread his hands to the side, showing himself as he stood. Hyperion slid from his hand and onto the emptiness beneath his feet. 'I am no longer your Knight.'
Ultimecia dropped her head towards the ground and the light faded out. Her skin melted and formed back into a woman. The wings on her back rose slightly and she turned towards Griever. The creature screamed in fury as one of the Sorceress' baby angels absorbed it back into time, sending it where it belonged. She smiled and did the same to the man in front of her.
Seifer smiled as the angel fell down from the white light. Such an ironic view of her powers. The baby's wings started to dissolve like the Griever's. Ultimecia gasped as Seifer calmly leaned down and picked up Hyperion.
'Your power is derived from the fear of the Sorceress. But now, that I do not fear you, or what you can do, you have no power!' Seifer ran forward and pulled Hyperion down above her head.
The blonde stopped and a look of shock contorted his face. Hyperion fell behind his head and he, to his knees clutching his stomach. Ultimecia smiled down at him.
'Children are *always* scared that their elders will hurt them.'
Seifer shot awake from his dream, panting. He held his hands to his head and screamed at the top of his lungs. After a few moments, he took a deep breath and panted again. A roar from deep in the cave answered him. Suddenly he turned angry.
'Shut up, you fucking Grendel!' The echo faded away into the stone walls. Seifer reached over and hefted Hyperion into his lap. His hand wrenched the hilt until his knuckles turned white under the worn gloves. A Bite Bug floated into the room and was met with the blade of his weapon. The two pieces slid to the ground.
He pulled out a filthy piece of cloth and wiped the green blood off the gunblade. The blonde sat down and gathered his coat into a bundle which he slid into the brown bookbag he had found. He didn't want to stay here any longer. It was another place polluted with bad dreams and memories.
But he did need a place to stay the night. Balamb city was nearest.
~*~*~*~
'Ma? I'm home. Ma?' Zell looked around the kitchen and moved into the living room. He shrugged and took the stairs two at a time up to his room. Everything was *still* exactly as he had left it. It made the blonde wonder if he Ma Dincht ever went into his room at all when he wasn't home.
A note taped to his dresser proved him wrong. He threw his duffle bag onto the bed and tore the note off the piece of furniture. Scribbled in his mother's neat writing was:
Zell,
Sorry, I couldn't be here when you came home. But I had to leave and head over to Timber on the train for a few days. I'll call you when I get there tonight.
Love, Ma
Zell sighed and tossed the note into a drawer. What could he do now? Well, may as well take a walk around town and say 'HI' to everyone.
He closed the door tightly behind him, not that he really need have bothered. No one stole from anyone else in Balamb.
It appeared that while he had taken his vacation here, everyone in the city had taken their vacation somewhere else. Zell headed back to his house and grabbed some fishing gear from his room. He headed down towards the pier and sat down. Casting his line, he set the pole into a holder. Patience was never really his thing.
Zell started to shadowbox that ever invisible opponent. He did a tornado kick followed by a quick punch. The martial artist turned towards a physical target. He jumped at it, doing a high kick and using his momentum to flip backwards and hitting his invisible enemy in the chin with both feet. He stopped and posed, ready for a non-existance attack. He fell to the ground, missed by the kick, and swung his foot out to trip up his enemy.
The blonde jumped to his feet again and started again with simple combo punches. First, a right jab, left uppercut, right low hit. He stopped short with a left jab coming only inches from a man's face. He stared up at him, dumbstruck. Zell somersaulted backwards and set himself in a fighting stance.
'What are you doing in my city, Seifer? Did your mistress release you from your collar and leash?' He stared the older boy down, threatening him to try and attack.
'I'm not here to fight ...'
'Yeah, fucking, right!' Zell screamed at him.
'You don't believe me? Here, Hyperion.' Seifer pulled out the gunblade from its scabbard and threw it on the ground, letting it skid to Zell's feet. Zell reached down and picked up the heavy weapon, looking at Seifer.
'What are you doing here?' Zell asked quietly, slowly.
'I needed a place to stay the night, so I came here. To the hotel.' Seifer gestured behind him to the tall pale blue building.
Zell looked him up and down. 'You don't even have any money, do you?' Seifer shook his head.
'How where you gonna pay?'
'I wasn't. I was just gonna leave part way through the night. Add another check to the list of things I've screwed up.'
'No.' Zell handed Hyperion back to its owner. 'Come stay at my house for the night. Ma's not home.' Seifer stared at him, lost in this sudden attack of graciousness.
'Why?'
'It's my hometown. I can be hospitable in my own home. Besides, Ma would kill me if she found out that someone I knew was in town and I never invited them to stay.' Zell let go of Hyperion and went to gather his fishing gear. A particularly big fish grapped the rod as he was taking it out. Caught off guard, Zell fell into the water. He surfaced a minute later holding the fish triumphantly above his head and his bangs stuck down over his eyes.
Never showing our feelings
Our emotions.
But when you find someone
They'll break your shield.
And what will they find inside?
Hyperion clattered to the ground, Seifer falling after it. Exhausted, he drifted into sleep with dreams and nightmares intertwining like DNA strands.
'My Knight. Seifer Almasy. What a foolish concept.' This creature, shifting between its three forms, a woman, a monster and a demon. Its faithful pet transforming from winged devil to lionesque monster. The Sorceress from the future, the present, the past, looked down upon him.
'Would you like to be free, my child? Would you like to have another chance at being a SeeD? I can change the past, alter your future, construct your now. But if I do that, you may destoy me.' She slid her icy fingers along his cheek. 'But my little Knight wouldn't do that. He *needs* me. He *needs* me to define who he is.'
'No! I don't need you! I never did ...' Seifer lifted Hyperion to his fighting stance and waited for the Sorceress' next move. Griever's eyes glowed and he bared his teeth, growling viciously. Ultimecia raised her hand and the beast silenced, melting into a four-legged animal. She looked down upon him, laughing as she herself melted from that same abomination into a creature with a hollow shell for a face.
'You *need* me. You *crave* me. You don't know what you are! Answer me this, child; Who are you?' She stared at him intensely, the light glowing brighter. The Knight dropped his gunblade down to his hip and watched her carefully.
'I am Seifer Almasy. Child of no one. Raised by Matron. I am the wielder of Hyperion. I am the friend of Fujin and Raijin. I am ... me. This is me.' He spread his hands to the side, showing himself as he stood. Hyperion slid from his hand and onto the emptiness beneath his feet. 'I am no longer your Knight.'
Ultimecia dropped her head towards the ground and the light faded out. Her skin melted and formed back into a woman. The wings on her back rose slightly and she turned towards Griever. The creature screamed in fury as one of the Sorceress' baby angels absorbed it back into time, sending it where it belonged. She smiled and did the same to the man in front of her.
Seifer smiled as the angel fell down from the white light. Such an ironic view of her powers. The baby's wings started to dissolve like the Griever's. Ultimecia gasped as Seifer calmly leaned down and picked up Hyperion.
'Your power is derived from the fear of the Sorceress. But now, that I do not fear you, or what you can do, you have no power!' Seifer ran forward and pulled Hyperion down above her head.
The blonde stopped and a look of shock contorted his face. Hyperion fell behind his head and he, to his knees clutching his stomach. Ultimecia smiled down at him.
'Children are *always* scared that their elders will hurt them.'
Seifer shot awake from his dream, panting. He held his hands to his head and screamed at the top of his lungs. After a few moments, he took a deep breath and panted again. A roar from deep in the cave answered him. Suddenly he turned angry.
'Shut up, you fucking Grendel!' The echo faded away into the stone walls. Seifer reached over and hefted Hyperion into his lap. His hand wrenched the hilt until his knuckles turned white under the worn gloves. A Bite Bug floated into the room and was met with the blade of his weapon. The two pieces slid to the ground.
He pulled out a filthy piece of cloth and wiped the green blood off the gunblade. The blonde sat down and gathered his coat into a bundle which he slid into the brown bookbag he had found. He didn't want to stay here any longer. It was another place polluted with bad dreams and memories.
But he did need a place to stay the night. Balamb city was nearest.
~*~*~*~
'Ma? I'm home. Ma?' Zell looked around the kitchen and moved into the living room. He shrugged and took the stairs two at a time up to his room. Everything was *still* exactly as he had left it. It made the blonde wonder if he Ma Dincht ever went into his room at all when he wasn't home.
A note taped to his dresser proved him wrong. He threw his duffle bag onto the bed and tore the note off the piece of furniture. Scribbled in his mother's neat writing was:
Zell,
Sorry, I couldn't be here when you came home. But I had to leave and head over to Timber on the train for a few days. I'll call you when I get there tonight.
Love, Ma
Zell sighed and tossed the note into a drawer. What could he do now? Well, may as well take a walk around town and say 'HI' to everyone.
He closed the door tightly behind him, not that he really need have bothered. No one stole from anyone else in Balamb.
It appeared that while he had taken his vacation here, everyone in the city had taken their vacation somewhere else. Zell headed back to his house and grabbed some fishing gear from his room. He headed down towards the pier and sat down. Casting his line, he set the pole into a holder. Patience was never really his thing.
Zell started to shadowbox that ever invisible opponent. He did a tornado kick followed by a quick punch. The martial artist turned towards a physical target. He jumped at it, doing a high kick and using his momentum to flip backwards and hitting his invisible enemy in the chin with both feet. He stopped and posed, ready for a non-existance attack. He fell to the ground, missed by the kick, and swung his foot out to trip up his enemy.
The blonde jumped to his feet again and started again with simple combo punches. First, a right jab, left uppercut, right low hit. He stopped short with a left jab coming only inches from a man's face. He stared up at him, dumbstruck. Zell somersaulted backwards and set himself in a fighting stance.
'What are you doing in my city, Seifer? Did your mistress release you from your collar and leash?' He stared the older boy down, threatening him to try and attack.
'I'm not here to fight ...'
'Yeah, fucking, right!' Zell screamed at him.
'You don't believe me? Here, Hyperion.' Seifer pulled out the gunblade from its scabbard and threw it on the ground, letting it skid to Zell's feet. Zell reached down and picked up the heavy weapon, looking at Seifer.
'What are you doing here?' Zell asked quietly, slowly.
'I needed a place to stay the night, so I came here. To the hotel.' Seifer gestured behind him to the tall pale blue building.
Zell looked him up and down. 'You don't even have any money, do you?' Seifer shook his head.
'How where you gonna pay?'
'I wasn't. I was just gonna leave part way through the night. Add another check to the list of things I've screwed up.'
'No.' Zell handed Hyperion back to its owner. 'Come stay at my house for the night. Ma's not home.' Seifer stared at him, lost in this sudden attack of graciousness.
'Why?'
'It's my hometown. I can be hospitable in my own home. Besides, Ma would kill me if she found out that someone I knew was in town and I never invited them to stay.' Zell let go of Hyperion and went to gather his fishing gear. A particularly big fish grapped the rod as he was taking it out. Caught off guard, Zell fell into the water. He surfaced a minute later holding the fish triumphantly above his head and his bangs stuck down over his eyes.