Jigsaw by Mintaka

Chapter 1 - Watery Wastelands

He sat cross-legged on the water; it looked like he had been there for years. In reality, he had only been there for a mere few seconds. But he didn't know that.obviously. The man had been dead for nearly a year now, but he didn't know that either.

He blinked.

"What?" He said aloud.

He began to open his eyes and immediately shielded his face from the incoming light. Gradually the sting in his eyes began to subside and his focus was returning, allowing him to see the lines on his palms.

He lowered his arm and surveyed the scene.

All around him was ocean, with a blue cloudless backdrop. He put his hands on the ground, trying to raise himself off the hard floor, but he slipped and fell with a splash. He gasped. Underneath him were fish, millions it seemed. The sunlight reflected into the water, making the sea life appear to glow.

"What the hell?!"

"Good morning Mr Almasy, so glad to see you have finally made it." The booming voice came from nowhere.

Seifer bolted to his feet. "Hello? Who's there? Tell me, what the hell is this?!"

"Calm down dear boy, all will be explained.how do you feel?"

Seifer guffawed. "Pretty shitty actually."

The voice chuckled. "As to be expected."

His brow creased. "What do you mean?"

"I haven't the time to explain to you fully I'm afraid, so I'll be brief." He paused, "you died almost a year to the day ago in an accident." The voice silenced.

"What damn accident? I can't remember anything about that." He yelled.

"In time Mr Almasy, in time."

"No, this is crazy!"

"I'm afraid not, it's all real."

"Oh yeah right, ok. So I'm standing here in the middle of a friggin ocean, listening to the damn sky telling me that I'm dead. Really normal, that!"

The voice became serious. "It will all make sense soon Mr Almasy, but I need you to co operate."

He sighed and shook his head. "Fine, what do you want from me?"

"This needs to processed with an open mind, so listen properly. This place is called Deloria. All you need to know, is that it's a dimension far out from that of the mortals. But you are here for a reason. You have a job to do. I need you to watch someone back in the mortal world."

"So I'm a ghost?"

"Very similar to one, yes. But it's more than that. I have delegated you certain powers to perform the task I set you. So call yourself what you will."

"What powers exactly?"

"Not known to mortals that's for sure, but it will all depend on your will, that's all I can tell you for now."

"Ok, fine, so what is this task?" He inquired.

"Well at the moment, everything seems normal back in Gaia. But we now know that something is coming but there will be no time for war. It will spread through the dimensional mass, and corrupt everything. Cliché I know, but as I said, I can only be brief, so not to get caught."

"By what?"

"Our interaction is being hacked into as we speak. I cannot miss this chance."

He sighed.

"An old friend of yours is the saviour, but she doesn't know it yet. This thing does, and is tracking her down."

"Who is it?"

"A Miss Quistis Trepe."

Seifer narrowed his eyes. "What?! Hey, but."

"She is under your protection now Seifer." The voice interrupted.

"But how will I know what to do?!"

"I'm sending a friend with you. Go now."

The sky was cracking like glass around him. Each blue shard of sky fell into the water below, revealing a mass of storm clouds.

"Hey, wait, who are you?

The voice was fading, but made out a single syllable word, "God"

Seifer started to notice the waves going over his bare toes. 'It's  becoming real." He thought.

The clouds parted like pages of a book, and a piercing scream of a woman entered. Seifer felt it pulse through his very soul and he clamped his hands over his ears. Unable to bare it, he tumbled to his knees.

His body fell straight through.

Hmmm, new fic, what do you think???