Devil in a White Dress
By Shiva's Night
Disclaimer: all the proper nouns in this story (along with the story line itself)
belong to SquareSoft, the proud creators of the Final Fantasy series. They rule.
Though I had been eagerly awaiting my inauguration into SeeD ever since I came
to Garden seven years ago, I had been dreading this dance, and suddenly I remembered
why. It took ten minutes tops for mind numbing boredom to settle in. It clamped on to
me like a leaden vice. What the hell did people find so entertaining about these stupid
things anyway? To me it was just an excuse for people to show off their nice clothes and
girl or boyfriends. Big yawn. With a sigh of resignation, I let my eyes unfocus until the
dresses of the women on the dance floor were nothing more than swoops of color,
weaving and intertwining.
I sipped my champagne absently. It was a little too sweet and left a bad taste in
my mouth. 'Screw champagne,' I thought. 'It would take more like a quart of gin to
make this party exciting. Hey, maybe that's not such a bad idea…' I eyed the bar across
the room and wandered if they would care that I was underage. I could always ask
Quistis. She was already eighteen, and I was sure she'd get me a drink if I asked. But
did I really want her hitting on me all night like she had at the Fire Cavern? I rolled my
eyes skywards. Why couldn't she just understand that I just wanted to be left alone? I'd
probably just end up making her miserable anyway.
At that moment, my train of thought was broken as one of the pinpricks of light
suspended in the black velveteen sky fell away leaving a silvery streak behind it. I sighed
again, wishing that I could go with that lonely star to wherever it was headed. It had to
be better than that ballroom. I frowned as my skin began to prickle with the
uncomfortable sensation of someone watching me. I leveled my gaze and found myself
looking straight into a pair of big brown eyes. Doe eyes. The dark-haired girl they
belonged to looked obviously pleased that I had noticed her. She smiled impishly and
pointed to the skylight with a slender forefinger. Her eyes sparkled with mischief as if
she were saying, "I know your secret." My eyebrows arched upwards as I was taken
aback by her boldness. I cocked my head slightly and found myself laughing mirthlessly
at her inside my mind.
'She must not be from around here,' I noted silently, remembering the last girl
who had been dumb enough to make a pass at me. She had been a SeeD cadet in one of
my classes. All I remembered was that the girl had approached me, I had snapped, she
ended up crying, and I laughing. As I recalled, I had ended up telling her exactly what I
thought of her and her shallow, giggling friends. Since then, none of the girls from
Garden except Quistis, who was obviously deranged, had come anywhere near me,
which was just fine as far as I was concerned. 'But here's this unfortunate stranger
walking towards me now,' I thought to myself. 'Someone should have a heart and warn
her what she's getting into...' I envisioned myself as a steel jawed snare like the ones that
fur trappers use to catch foxes. No one ever saw the danger. No one intended to tangle
with me, but once they became ensnarled, they would chew their own arms and legs off
to be free of me.
I glared at the girl as she neared me, hoping for her sake that she would catch the
vibe, turn tail, and leave well enough alone. No such luck. She continued on her death
march, a happy bounce in her step, her ivory colored dress brushing seductively against
her thin thighs.
Okay, so I had to admit it. She wasn't a bad looking girl. Actually, she was quite
beautiful. She looked like how they always describe Snow White in storybooks. You
know, lips as red as roses, hair as black as ebony, and skin as white as snow; the whole
nine yards.
The dark stranger arranged herself in front of me, assuming a flirtatious pose. She
was wearing high-heeled shoes that made her almost as tall as I was. She leaned close to
me and took liberties studying my face, criticizing and evaluating. I felt awkward and
somewhat violated. If we had been in a less crowded place, I would have shoved her
backwards or screamed at her to go away. I would have grabbed her, digging my nails
into the soft, white flesh of her arm, and shaken her until she understood that mine was a
world with no place for parties and pretty dresses. It was a world she could never know.
However, as apathetic as I was to what people thought about me, I didn't want to draw
the attention of everyone in the place by acting like a psychopath. I would have to get rid
of her some other way. To start with, I curled my lip in disdain as if I had just been
approached by a lesser being. The girl leaned even closer to me until I could smell the
flowery perfume of her hair and broke the silence between us. Her voice was soft and
smooth, almost dreamy with an optimistic lilt to it that sounded a bit forced.
"You know, you're the best looking guy here. Dance with me?" I snorted with
cold laughter, unable to contain the cruel snicker. 'Sure,' I thought. 'I guess if you're
into ritual scarification, I'm a real dish.' The wound marring my face was still less that
forty-eight hours old, still the color of fresh blood, still angry looking and swollen. I
wasn't exactly self-conscious of the slash because I didn't give a fuck what people
thought, but it did upset me that it gave strangers a reason to notice me and to be
intrigued. 'Ignore her and maybe she'll go away,' I instructed myself. That hadn't
worked on Seifer but it was worth another shot. I averted my eyes and shifted my weight
as if she wasn't even there.
"Oh, I get it..." she began, sounding downtrodden. "You'll only dance with
someone you like." 'Exactly!' I thought. 'And I don't like anyone so haven't got a cat's
chance in hell, even if you are 'the fairest of them all.''
"I have an idea!" she chirped happily, and before I could stop her, she reached up
and grabbed me by the chin, forcing my eyes to meet hers. I swear to god that had we
been alone, I would have bitten her. I grew hot behind the eyes and felt rage flare up like
a gas flame. When she spoke again, she had adopted a fake, exotic accent. She leaned in
close and waved her fingers in front of my face. "Look into my eyez," she instructed.
"You are going to like me...You are going to like me..." 'You are going to go
away...You are going to go away,' I echoed inwardly. The girl let go and clapped her
hands in glee.
"Did it work?" she asked, batting her thick eyelashes. 'Evidently not because
you're still here, aren't you?' I thought bitterly. She was making it painfully obvious that
she wasn't going to leave without a fight. She was the type of girl, the type of fairy tale
princess that nobody ever said "no" to, but I fully intended to be the first. I had to come
up with something, anything to make her see that this was a bad idea.
"I can't dance," I said aloud. Somehow her sad, twisted mind managed to
interpret that as "Sure, annoying, persistent little brat! I'd love to dance with you!" She
grabbed me by the hand and yanked hard, pulling me off balance. I couldn't believe how
strong she was considering she couldn't have weighed more than a hundred and five
pounds or so.
"Come on, you'll be fine!" she said, pulling hard. "Besides, I can't be on the
dance floor alone." 'I bet you're one of those girls who can't even go to the bathroom
alone,' I retaliated mentally, but I could feel my will to fight her subsiding. I didn't
exactly go willingly, but I didn't rip my hand away as I had initially been inclined to do.
She pulled me to the heart of the dance floor and placed the hand she had been pulling on
the curve of her slim waist. Okay, so she was hot, but I still didn't want to dance. She
placed one hand on my shoulder and slid the other into mine. It was soft and delicate,
very feminine.
"Okay, just follow my lead and you'll do fine!" she encouraged, and with that,
she pulled me into motion. I had been planning on stepping on the girl's feet until she
was in enough pain to drive her on a search for a better dance partner, but now I found
myself doing just the opposite, moving stiffly and looking down to avoid her toes. Why?
Maybe I admired her guts. Maybe I wasn't quite as sadistic as I liked people to believe.
The Balamb Philharmonic Orchestra was playing a repetitious waltz that had the
same melody as an old pop song that I couldn't quite put a name to. I had just about
gotten the basic steps down when the music picked up and the dark-haired one let go of
my shoulder and spun out in a fancy turn. I just about managed to follow her movement,
but I wasn't quite sure how to move when she spun back to me and I ended up colliding
with her hard. She took a couple of steps backwards and raised a hand in a gesture of
frustration. Good. I'd pissed her off. The door was wide open so I took my exit, turning
abruptly and stalking off. Any normal girl would have taken the hint. Any normal girl
would have moved on. But I had to get picked up by the psycho, right? She trotted after
me and grabbed a hold of my arm.
"Oh no you don't!" she said coolly. "You didn't become a SeeD by throwing in
the towel, did you?" Damn her and her logic. I wanted to be a SeeD. I didn't want to
dance with her. Before I could mount a protest, she had me in a death grip and was busy
putting my hands back into place. She coaxed and cajoled me back into the dance,
nudging softly. I sighed and returned to concentrating on my feet. I felt the girl's hold
on my shoulder loosen as she decided that I knew what I was doing. Bad call. I
misjudged a step and we ended up bumping into another couple. The man, a SeeD,
glared at us haughtily. I took note of his face, resolving to kick his ass at a later date. My
dance partner kept a tight grip of my hand, prohibiting my escape. She wrinkled her nose
and stuck her tongue out at the guy's date. She really was a wicked little thing in a
childish sort of way. Her dark eyes returned to my face and her lips curved into a
devilish smile. Our egos shook hands and an unspoken agreement passed between us.
Now we had something to prove. We got right back in step with the music and nailed
that dance to the wall. Every turn, every spin, every step done in perfect time.
The girl was obviously enjoying herself now. Well, these storybook princess
types were supposed to like dancing, right? The waltz ended with a wide turn. With a
swish of black hair, the girl in the shimmering ivory dress spun away from me, extending
her arm out behind her like a wing. Gutsy and graceful...how'd that happen? The music
ended just as she returned from the move. I held my ground this time and instead of
colliding as before, she ended up close against my chest, her fingers curling around mine.
The scent of her glossy hair fogged my mind.
Before I had time to wander what all this meant, the dark expanse of sky above
the glass skylight exploded into cascades of colorful sparks. The fireworks were a
welcome diversion, and my lips drew into a lazy smile despite myself. I was vaguely
aware of the girl's chocolaty eyes resting on my face. My mind mulled over how I was
going to get rid of her. How about the absolute truth? "Don't take it personally. I just
don't like people." I was sure that whatever I decided to say wouldn't exactly break her
heart. A girl that intoxicatingly venomous probably had boys chasing her from here to
high yonder.
My thoughts were interrupted when her weight shifted. I realized that she was
looking over my shoulder. At what? I wasn't sure. Probably her next candidate for a
dance partner, poor sucker. At any rate, she caught sight of who or what she was looking
for and stepped back from me. I frowned as she raised a hand in an amicable gesture.
"I'm sorry but I really have to go," she said quietly, sounding slightly
embarrassed. "Thank you. Bye." Her voice was all that remained as she slunk off into
the crowd, just one pretty girl in a million. 'Isn't that just the way of it?' I thought
tiredly. 'People stick around for as long as you've got what they're looking for and when
you're used up, it's off into the crowd, just another Snow White.' Luckily for me, I
didn't care. I dug my hands into my pockets and headed for the balcony to catch some
fresh air and a cigarette. It was going to be a long night.
By Shiva's Night
Disclaimer: all the proper nouns in this story (along with the story line itself)
belong to SquareSoft, the proud creators of the Final Fantasy series. They rule.
Though I had been eagerly awaiting my inauguration into SeeD ever since I came
to Garden seven years ago, I had been dreading this dance, and suddenly I remembered
why. It took ten minutes tops for mind numbing boredom to settle in. It clamped on to
me like a leaden vice. What the hell did people find so entertaining about these stupid
things anyway? To me it was just an excuse for people to show off their nice clothes and
girl or boyfriends. Big yawn. With a sigh of resignation, I let my eyes unfocus until the
dresses of the women on the dance floor were nothing more than swoops of color,
weaving and intertwining.
I sipped my champagne absently. It was a little too sweet and left a bad taste in
my mouth. 'Screw champagne,' I thought. 'It would take more like a quart of gin to
make this party exciting. Hey, maybe that's not such a bad idea…' I eyed the bar across
the room and wandered if they would care that I was underage. I could always ask
Quistis. She was already eighteen, and I was sure she'd get me a drink if I asked. But
did I really want her hitting on me all night like she had at the Fire Cavern? I rolled my
eyes skywards. Why couldn't she just understand that I just wanted to be left alone? I'd
probably just end up making her miserable anyway.
At that moment, my train of thought was broken as one of the pinpricks of light
suspended in the black velveteen sky fell away leaving a silvery streak behind it. I sighed
again, wishing that I could go with that lonely star to wherever it was headed. It had to
be better than that ballroom. I frowned as my skin began to prickle with the
uncomfortable sensation of someone watching me. I leveled my gaze and found myself
looking straight into a pair of big brown eyes. Doe eyes. The dark-haired girl they
belonged to looked obviously pleased that I had noticed her. She smiled impishly and
pointed to the skylight with a slender forefinger. Her eyes sparkled with mischief as if
she were saying, "I know your secret." My eyebrows arched upwards as I was taken
aback by her boldness. I cocked my head slightly and found myself laughing mirthlessly
at her inside my mind.
'She must not be from around here,' I noted silently, remembering the last girl
who had been dumb enough to make a pass at me. She had been a SeeD cadet in one of
my classes. All I remembered was that the girl had approached me, I had snapped, she
ended up crying, and I laughing. As I recalled, I had ended up telling her exactly what I
thought of her and her shallow, giggling friends. Since then, none of the girls from
Garden except Quistis, who was obviously deranged, had come anywhere near me,
which was just fine as far as I was concerned. 'But here's this unfortunate stranger
walking towards me now,' I thought to myself. 'Someone should have a heart and warn
her what she's getting into...' I envisioned myself as a steel jawed snare like the ones that
fur trappers use to catch foxes. No one ever saw the danger. No one intended to tangle
with me, but once they became ensnarled, they would chew their own arms and legs off
to be free of me.
I glared at the girl as she neared me, hoping for her sake that she would catch the
vibe, turn tail, and leave well enough alone. No such luck. She continued on her death
march, a happy bounce in her step, her ivory colored dress brushing seductively against
her thin thighs.
Okay, so I had to admit it. She wasn't a bad looking girl. Actually, she was quite
beautiful. She looked like how they always describe Snow White in storybooks. You
know, lips as red as roses, hair as black as ebony, and skin as white as snow; the whole
nine yards.
The dark stranger arranged herself in front of me, assuming a flirtatious pose. She
was wearing high-heeled shoes that made her almost as tall as I was. She leaned close to
me and took liberties studying my face, criticizing and evaluating. I felt awkward and
somewhat violated. If we had been in a less crowded place, I would have shoved her
backwards or screamed at her to go away. I would have grabbed her, digging my nails
into the soft, white flesh of her arm, and shaken her until she understood that mine was a
world with no place for parties and pretty dresses. It was a world she could never know.
However, as apathetic as I was to what people thought about me, I didn't want to draw
the attention of everyone in the place by acting like a psychopath. I would have to get rid
of her some other way. To start with, I curled my lip in disdain as if I had just been
approached by a lesser being. The girl leaned even closer to me until I could smell the
flowery perfume of her hair and broke the silence between us. Her voice was soft and
smooth, almost dreamy with an optimistic lilt to it that sounded a bit forced.
"You know, you're the best looking guy here. Dance with me?" I snorted with
cold laughter, unable to contain the cruel snicker. 'Sure,' I thought. 'I guess if you're
into ritual scarification, I'm a real dish.' The wound marring my face was still less that
forty-eight hours old, still the color of fresh blood, still angry looking and swollen. I
wasn't exactly self-conscious of the slash because I didn't give a fuck what people
thought, but it did upset me that it gave strangers a reason to notice me and to be
intrigued. 'Ignore her and maybe she'll go away,' I instructed myself. That hadn't
worked on Seifer but it was worth another shot. I averted my eyes and shifted my weight
as if she wasn't even there.
"Oh, I get it..." she began, sounding downtrodden. "You'll only dance with
someone you like." 'Exactly!' I thought. 'And I don't like anyone so haven't got a cat's
chance in hell, even if you are 'the fairest of them all.''
"I have an idea!" she chirped happily, and before I could stop her, she reached up
and grabbed me by the chin, forcing my eyes to meet hers. I swear to god that had we
been alone, I would have bitten her. I grew hot behind the eyes and felt rage flare up like
a gas flame. When she spoke again, she had adopted a fake, exotic accent. She leaned in
close and waved her fingers in front of my face. "Look into my eyez," she instructed.
"You are going to like me...You are going to like me..." 'You are going to go
away...You are going to go away,' I echoed inwardly. The girl let go and clapped her
hands in glee.
"Did it work?" she asked, batting her thick eyelashes. 'Evidently not because
you're still here, aren't you?' I thought bitterly. She was making it painfully obvious that
she wasn't going to leave without a fight. She was the type of girl, the type of fairy tale
princess that nobody ever said "no" to, but I fully intended to be the first. I had to come
up with something, anything to make her see that this was a bad idea.
"I can't dance," I said aloud. Somehow her sad, twisted mind managed to
interpret that as "Sure, annoying, persistent little brat! I'd love to dance with you!" She
grabbed me by the hand and yanked hard, pulling me off balance. I couldn't believe how
strong she was considering she couldn't have weighed more than a hundred and five
pounds or so.
"Come on, you'll be fine!" she said, pulling hard. "Besides, I can't be on the
dance floor alone." 'I bet you're one of those girls who can't even go to the bathroom
alone,' I retaliated mentally, but I could feel my will to fight her subsiding. I didn't
exactly go willingly, but I didn't rip my hand away as I had initially been inclined to do.
She pulled me to the heart of the dance floor and placed the hand she had been pulling on
the curve of her slim waist. Okay, so she was hot, but I still didn't want to dance. She
placed one hand on my shoulder and slid the other into mine. It was soft and delicate,
very feminine.
"Okay, just follow my lead and you'll do fine!" she encouraged, and with that,
she pulled me into motion. I had been planning on stepping on the girl's feet until she
was in enough pain to drive her on a search for a better dance partner, but now I found
myself doing just the opposite, moving stiffly and looking down to avoid her toes. Why?
Maybe I admired her guts. Maybe I wasn't quite as sadistic as I liked people to believe.
The Balamb Philharmonic Orchestra was playing a repetitious waltz that had the
same melody as an old pop song that I couldn't quite put a name to. I had just about
gotten the basic steps down when the music picked up and the dark-haired one let go of
my shoulder and spun out in a fancy turn. I just about managed to follow her movement,
but I wasn't quite sure how to move when she spun back to me and I ended up colliding
with her hard. She took a couple of steps backwards and raised a hand in a gesture of
frustration. Good. I'd pissed her off. The door was wide open so I took my exit, turning
abruptly and stalking off. Any normal girl would have taken the hint. Any normal girl
would have moved on. But I had to get picked up by the psycho, right? She trotted after
me and grabbed a hold of my arm.
"Oh no you don't!" she said coolly. "You didn't become a SeeD by throwing in
the towel, did you?" Damn her and her logic. I wanted to be a SeeD. I didn't want to
dance with her. Before I could mount a protest, she had me in a death grip and was busy
putting my hands back into place. She coaxed and cajoled me back into the dance,
nudging softly. I sighed and returned to concentrating on my feet. I felt the girl's hold
on my shoulder loosen as she decided that I knew what I was doing. Bad call. I
misjudged a step and we ended up bumping into another couple. The man, a SeeD,
glared at us haughtily. I took note of his face, resolving to kick his ass at a later date. My
dance partner kept a tight grip of my hand, prohibiting my escape. She wrinkled her nose
and stuck her tongue out at the guy's date. She really was a wicked little thing in a
childish sort of way. Her dark eyes returned to my face and her lips curved into a
devilish smile. Our egos shook hands and an unspoken agreement passed between us.
Now we had something to prove. We got right back in step with the music and nailed
that dance to the wall. Every turn, every spin, every step done in perfect time.
The girl was obviously enjoying herself now. Well, these storybook princess
types were supposed to like dancing, right? The waltz ended with a wide turn. With a
swish of black hair, the girl in the shimmering ivory dress spun away from me, extending
her arm out behind her like a wing. Gutsy and graceful...how'd that happen? The music
ended just as she returned from the move. I held my ground this time and instead of
colliding as before, she ended up close against my chest, her fingers curling around mine.
The scent of her glossy hair fogged my mind.
Before I had time to wander what all this meant, the dark expanse of sky above
the glass skylight exploded into cascades of colorful sparks. The fireworks were a
welcome diversion, and my lips drew into a lazy smile despite myself. I was vaguely
aware of the girl's chocolaty eyes resting on my face. My mind mulled over how I was
going to get rid of her. How about the absolute truth? "Don't take it personally. I just
don't like people." I was sure that whatever I decided to say wouldn't exactly break her
heart. A girl that intoxicatingly venomous probably had boys chasing her from here to
high yonder.
My thoughts were interrupted when her weight shifted. I realized that she was
looking over my shoulder. At what? I wasn't sure. Probably her next candidate for a
dance partner, poor sucker. At any rate, she caught sight of who or what she was looking
for and stepped back from me. I frowned as she raised a hand in an amicable gesture.
"I'm sorry but I really have to go," she said quietly, sounding slightly
embarrassed. "Thank you. Bye." Her voice was all that remained as she slunk off into
the crowd, just one pretty girl in a million. 'Isn't that just the way of it?' I thought
tiredly. 'People stick around for as long as you've got what they're looking for and when
you're used up, it's off into the crowd, just another Snow White.' Luckily for me, I
didn't care. I dug my hands into my pockets and headed for the balcony to catch some
fresh air and a cigarette. It was going to be a long night.