Memories of Orchids
Part One
Seifer walked slowly down the familiar halls of the Garden. He felt the rush of memories inside him; the sights, the sounds, even small things like the smell of the orchids in the Garden reminded him of his youth.
Youth. He was still only 24. He felt so old now, six years after the second sorceress war. His old life was gone, and he had drifted through life since… a job in Balamb town, moving onto Deling city, even down to Winhill to try and escape the pain and emptiness that had dogged him all these years. He felt the strangest sense of belonging when his old adversary Squall had invited him to give a lecture at the Garden.
Life at the Garden had, of course, moved on. Squall had married his sorceress, Rinoa, which did not surprise him in the slightest, and they had a young daughter, Yuna. Irvine was with Selphie, again no surprise. Then there was Quistis and Laguna. Seemed that if Quisty couldn't have the son, she could have the father at least. They seemed happy. Good for them. And how about Fujiin and Zell. Seemed that chicken-wuss was exactly what Fujiin needed to lighten her up a bit. And Raijin and Ellone…
Everyone had moved on in his or her lives except him.
He stepped towards the 2f classroom… his old classroom. Quistis was waiting for him, a large smile on her face. Nervously he cleared his throat. Quisty ran to him and hugged him, forgetting all protocol. Soon she regained herself and turned to her class. She spoke out brightly "Class, I'd like to introduce to you a very honoured guest. Now, myself and Mr Leonheart (Seifer stifled a giggle)…. As I was saying, Mr Leonheart and myself decided that you might have been getting a very one-sided account of the second sorceress war. We decided to send for the only person we knew who was on the other side during the battle, our old orphanage brother Seifer Almasy."
There were a few excited and nervous murmurs in the classroom. Only one student stayed still, her lips parted in absolute awe….
Quistis continued. "Yes, it is THE Seifer. Who can tell me something about our guest?"
The quiet girl in the front row raised her hand confidently. The classroom groaned as Quistis pointed at her for the answer. "He was a student at this very garden-"
"-Very good" Quistis replied.
The girl started again "And he was leading the B squadron at the time of the Dollet communications scandal-"
"-Yes, very good…"
"-Where he failed his SeeD examination but found out some very useful information for Garden-"
"Yes, thank you-"
"- And after he failed he ambushed the Timber telecommunication centre and went missing, presumed dead-"
"THANK YOU. Does anyone else have any information of Mr Almasy?"
The class remained silent. The girl sunk down in her seat, still looking at Seifer.
Quistis started up again. "Well, since there seems to be no other students prepared to make any comments, Seifer, would you like to take it from here?"
Seifer stepped forward, still bemused by the girl and her knowledge. "Erm, yes, of course. Well, firstly I'd like to say that it's a pleasure to be back here at Garden. No doubt you know all the basics of the second sorceress war, such as the name of the four modern sorceresses involved?"
The class stayed silent. Seifer could feel the intense arrogance and boredom of these kids. They were just like him when he enlisted for Garden. Only one person looked ready to contribute, but she stayed quiet when she saw the look on Quistis' face.
Seifer continued, "Can nobody tell me? How about you?" he said, looking at the girl. "What's your name?"
She blushed "I'm a-a-Aadeane Olab, Sir" All the other kids laughed, mimicking her and throwing bits of paper at her. She pulled frantically to remove the paper from her long white curls. Seifer went on regardless. "Well, Miss Olab, do you know the names?"
She was soon back on form. "Of course. They were Sorceress Edea, Sorceress Adel, Sorceress Rinoa and Sorceress Ultimecia."
Seifer shuddered at that name
"And…. And what were their roles?"
"Ultimecia originally possessed Edea to get to the prodigy Ellone, who was in her care. After Edea's powers were transferred to Rinoa, Ultimecia used Rinoa to free the equally evil Adel from space."
"Very good. And who's knight was I?"
She smiled at him, her large brown eyes sparkling. "I've been meaning to ask you that. I can't seem to work it out"
Seifer knew now where to start. He sat himself on the desk and began to tell his story…
**************************************
Overall, he thought the lecture had gone well. Of course, a few students had fallen asleep; he knew the kind of people that took modern history. But Aadeane stayed transfixed, her soft eyes intently watching him as he told her his story. She seemed to be the only other person in the room as he recited his tale.
He stayed behind after the lecture to see the new generation of "Trepies" crowd round the lovely Quistis. O.k., maybe things hadn't changed as much as he'd thought.
One other person was still there.
Aadeane, rather than crowding instructor Trepe or going to the cafeteria for break, was sitting sliently at her desk, working at her computer. She looked serious and compelling; Seifer had to find out what she was studying.
He walked over to her. "Hey, what are ya doin?"
She looked up at him sharply, and tried to hide her work. Seifer managed to see two words: "Lunatic" and "Pandora"
The words made him inhale sharply. "Why are you looking at this?" he said harshly.
"Erm, nothing, one of my family worked there once… I better go"
She sped out of the door and towards the lift. Seifer followed her, not noticing he had run past Rinoa.
"Aadeane! Wait!"
The girl ignored him, waiting patiently for the lift.
"Aadeane, look, you don't want to study that thing too much. There are things which happened at the Lunatic Pandora that no-one should know about…." He paused momentarily, thinking of how he almost sacrificed Rinoa to Adel in those green halls…
"I know. I know it all…."
And with that she stepped into the lift, watching Seifer as she ascended up to 3f.
"Aadeane!!!! AADEANE!"
Seifer's cries were futile. He turned to see Rinoa. She was smiling softly. "Hello Seifer."
He could not help but smile back at her. Still beautiful. "Hello Mrs Rinoa Leonheart!!"
She laughed. "It still sounds odd!" there was a pause, and then she asked him "Would you like to join me in the cafeteria?"
Seifer smiled again…. It was so long since he had smiled like that. "Of course"
As they ventured towards the cafeteria Seifer could hear the familiar noises of his youth… "Does anyone have a couple of spare gil?" "How long is this queue! I have to be at lectures in a few minutes" "Whadaya mean there's no more hot dogs! DAMN!!"…. Wait a second…it couldn't be… "Chicken-wuss?"
Rinoa smiled at him. "Yup. He's still here. But that's Commander Dincht to you, Mr Almasy. He's in charge of battle training. He has his own dojo in the garden now"
"Really?" Seifer could not quite believe it. His own little Zell, a martial arts master? Maybe he felt surer of himself. Never mind. Seifer could change that.
As they entered the Garden, Fujiin spun round. "SEIFER!!!!!" she called out in her brittle tone. Zell turned to look also, dropping his last hot dog as he did. "You!!!!!"
Seifer decided to ignore the little girly chicken for now. He swept up Fujiin in a large hug, causing her to trip over her own rigid form and even quietly laugh. "SHOCK" was all she could say, so he turned his attentions now to Zell. "Well, guess we better get on now you're going with my best friend, ya chicken-wuss"
"DAMN MAN!!!!! Don't call me that!!!"
Seifer laughed his evil little laugh and went to sit with Rinoa, who had found a secluded table near to the back of the cafeteria. "So" she started up. "How have you been since…."
"Since the war which nearly killed all of us, DID kill Squall, turned your life into a constant battle to stay sane and caused the deaths of thousands through my mistakes? Not that good"
He looked away from Rinoa, desperately looking for a distraction, but he was surprised when she stated. "It's not done with yet, you know."
Seifer looked back at her, suddenly. "What do you mean?" he asked her, his voice tinged with fear.
"Don't you feel there's something still missing, Seifer? I mean, me and Squall have found our place, so has everyone else…"
"Look, do you have a point!"
Rinoa smiled in a slightly frustrated way. "I noticed you met Aadeane. Start there."
She left Seifer sitting at the cafeteria table, pondering what she had just said. Zell came over to join him "So, how's things Seifer?" He hung his head "Not now, peanut brain"
Over the last few weeks Seifer had become closer to Aadeane… as close as she would allow him anyway. He felt a comfort with her that he'd never felt with anyone… not with his two best friends Raijin and Fujiin, not with Rinoa… not even with Matron. She accepted him, and did not ask too many questions about his past. Maybe it was because she had no place here either. She seemed strangely out of place at the Garden, though he could never quite work out why…
"SEIFER!!!!!"
That was her. She trotted up to where he stood and hugged him fondly…. Her hug made him feel strange…
"Hey, what are you doing down here?"
Her face went more serious. "Listen, there's something I've been meaning to tell you for a while now… but I've been too scared that it might change the way you feel about me…"
Seifer was puzzled "What do you mean?"
Aadeane shifted her weight uncomfortably "I can't talk here. Meet me in the training centre tonight"
Just then the lift arrived. Without saying anything Aadeane jumped in. Seifer was left looking on after she had left.
Rinoa walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Be careful, Seify-chan" she spoke softly in his ear. "She may seem like a flustered young girl, but she knows how the earth feels and can hear the voices of the ages."
Seifer looked at her bemused. Then he stormed off back towards the quad.
Aadeane waited patiently. The monsters watched her cautiously, circling her to protect her. As Seifer approached they went to attack him, then backed off at a single look from Aadeane. "What the hell is going on?" hissed Seifer, unable to understand what was happening around him.
Aadeane laughed. "I don't know if you'd believe me if I told you!"
Seifer was beginning to get angry. "Just tell me Aadeane!"
"Just tell you… it sounds so simple when you say it like that..." she said, in a far richer and calmer voice than before… kind of familiar…like "her" voice. "My name is not Aadeane. It's Odine. The Odine Child, to be precise. And yes, I am the daughter of the scientist." She sat herself down on the ledge that jutted out into the stream and sighed. Seifer sat down next to her as she continued. "My life is a closely guarded secret. Adel demanded to have a child who could inherit her powers. So the good doctor agreed, purely for the good of magical science, you must understand. I was born from Adel, and then placed in Odine's Laboratory for the first few years of my life. They needed me after Ellone disappeared. I was locked away in a small sterile blue room. It was a strange thing, to never have seen the sun or the moon… But I knew they were there. I could feel that they were there. That's what they used to call my genetic memory. They did so many tests to prove theories; how a sorceresses power can be passed to anyone who has a psychic of physical link to them at the time… like Rinoa had with Edea, like Edea had with Yanthé. Then Laguna came to power, and he entrusted me to Edea and the White SeeDs. She called me Odine from O lab, and then people started to record it as Aadeane Olab. Life wasn't quite so terrible on the white SeeD ship. Everyone had a past there, I felt needed… but… but I could still hear mother's voice in my head. She told me every day how cold she was… how lonely she was… how she looked forward to the day she would be free so that she could show them… The things she used to tell me she would do… Then one day, she told me of Ultimecia's plans. They horrified me far more than anything else she had ever told me… She spoke of you… a brave a daring young knight… one who would save her from her loneliness and bring forth a new age for the sorceress… when she said it like that I felt happy and safer… then I realised that if she returned, time compression would begin and we would both be destroyed. I was powerless"
She stopped to face Seifer. He looked straight back at her, into her eyes. He couldn't believe it, just a few weeks ago Aadeane had just been an anorak in his eyes, a geeky awkward kid who knew too much and didn't fit in. The kind of girl he would have tripped up in the halls a few years back. Now, as he looked closer, he could see the red sparks in her eyes…
"By Hyne!!!!! Your eyes!"
"Yes, I've been meaning to tell you…"
"When your mother died you took her power!"
"Well, not exactly. I took them when Rinoa was put back into my mother as a child… I suppose I did. I always knew I would. Edea did too, no doubt… that's why she sent me away from the white SeeDs, back into Centra, in case… Just in case I…"
Seifer paced around. "I can't believe it! You, a sorceress! I thought… I thought that part of my life was over…"
The red in her eyes flared. "There's more, but I cannot tell you now! Not if this is how you react. If you are shocked by this, Seifer Almasy, then you wait, just you wait…"
Seifer didn't even watch her leave the training centre. Instead he just sat on the small pier. He was reminded of his time in Balamb with Raijin and Fujiin after the time compression had ceased. Back then the happiness overwhelmed him… a strange, slightly hollow happiness. He could hear her voice in his head even after the time compression…. Her….
"Ultimecia" Seifer forced himself to say her name aloud.
"What about her?" said a voice in the background. Seifer knew it only to well. "I was not talking to you, Leonheart."
Squall came at sat next to him. "No need to be so rude, Seifer. I thought all the rivalry was behind us."
Seifer remained silent… Squall always tried to be the better man….
"You love Aadeane, don't you?"
Seifer looked incredulously at Squall. In love with her? He hardly knew her… a few weeks ago he didn't even know her name, he'd never touched her orchid white skin, never gazed into her deep brown eyes, never tasted her honey-touched breath… did he love her?
"Of course I don't. Don't be ridiculous" he told Squall, but he didn't even believe it himself.
Squall sighed and looked dead at him. "I know it's a difficult thing to face, Seifer. Loving any woman is difficult, but one who holds all the power of the world in her hands…"
"You can't compare your experiences with mine. Squall. Rinoa is different, your experience of the sorceress is different.."
"So what are you going to do then?"
Seifer stayed silent. Maybe the stupid bastard would take the hint…
"Why don't you take her to the Sorceress Memorial?"
Seifer looked at Squall. What was he suggesting!?!
"The Sorceress Memorial?"
"Well, yeh. That's what finally made me realise how I felt. And maybe it will be for the best, seeing as she is the inheritor of the powers of Adel and has her genetic memory… maybe they could research more ways to… Oh, sorry" he stated suddenly seeing Seifer's face. "Rinoa told me everything!"
Seifer shook his head. "So I just take her. What would I say? "Oh. Sorry Aadeane, but I'm going to have to sacrifice you for the sake of research again, hope you're not too miffed?"
Squall got up and picked up his gun blade. "Just think about it, Seifer."