A Twist of Fate

Chapter 3

The moment he stepped out of his room, an air of memories swept before him. Although it hasn't been a year since he left, to him, it seemed so long leaving the only place he called home. Balamb Garden, it was a refreshing site to see, a little bit new to his eyes after the minor alterations when Cid decided to uproot a couple more trees, but the place he knew at heart was pretty much the same.

It was 8:10 in the morning and his classes was to start at eight, sharp.

"Late for our first meeting. I can sense some enthusiasm there Mr. Almasy." Quistis sternly greeted him with folded arms as he passed by the intersection.

"So, Instructor, where we off to?" he said with a cocky grin.

"For our first lesson on discipline, let's go to the library where you will write five pages stating that you won't be late for class again." She instructed as she approached Seifer with an unwilling face.

"What do you take me for, some kindergarten?" he mockingly scoffed.

"Well for starters, you certainly act like one. It's only proper to treat you as one!" she said with narrowed eyes at the man before her.

"You just LOVE to scold, don't you?"

"Under the proper terms, yes. And you really love being scolded, don't you?" she stood with her arms akimbo.

"Heh...only under proper terms."

"I don't mind arrogance Almasy, as long as you know where to put it."

"I know, and I'm putting my arrogance in your punishment because it's stupid!" he asserted putting his foot down.

"Yes, stupid punishments are meant for stupid students. Now let's go, we're doing things MY way!" she rebuked in a full authoritative voice.

"Don't push it Instructor, you'll regret it." He warned gritting his teeth, irritated by her witty remarks.

o O o

For a month, their teacher-student feud went on with a lot of arguments about each other's attitude. It wasn't an easy time for either one of them, Quistis gave Seifer that most ridiculous assignments and punishments like rewriting the whole 15 chapters of their book on para-magic, or letting him sprint around the first floor hallway 30 times, or even made him balance several books on his outstretched arms for over two hours, whatever she made him do he did but made sure he got back at her one way or the other. There was a time when Seifer hid her key card which made her sleep outside her room that night, another time was when he injected chilli on her lunch which made her tongue spew out flames, but his most favorite retaliations were during their time in class when he gets to argue with her theories and mockingly question her every lecture which often led them to argue in front of the class. The scores between them vary for either one of them gets the upper hand since they're both sharp talkers.

"Although it has not yet been approved by as to the theory of GF's ability to totally erase the memory of the host it is being junctioned to, there had been several researchers and articles proving of its claim." Quistis quoted as she showed to her students a couple of slides about their said topic. "In this slide, it shows the pattern of the genetic engineering wherein the GF junctions itself to the brain. As we can see here, the GF's DNA and its host don't completely mix, thus, once the GF is removed from the host, there is the tendency for the memory to be regained. We can say that the 'memory loss' is temporary as long as the GF is also temporary."

"That's bullshit."

"Pardon me?" Quistis paused her lecture, gaping to find the man who rudely interrupted her.

"That theory is proving false claims."

"And I suppose you have your own theory again, ?" she scoffed, folding her arms and raising a brow at Seifer.

"Don't I always?"

"Alright, but if you don't get my attention on your first sentence, I expect to see you in detention today."

"I prove as a living testimony to my claim." Seifer boldly declared standing from his seat.

"In that case, share to the class what you know."

"I'd be delighted to enlighten them with facts our beloved instructor has failed to inform." He said in a tone which ridiculed Quistis' authority. "Guardian Forces, Chapter 6, Article 3, Line 24: GFs when junctioned to the brain, junctions itself to the hippocampus of the brain, thus junctioning a GF no matter how temporary creates a permanent stain on its host. The longer the GF is being junctioned, the bigger the damage it creates. Now, the hippocampus is not just for memory but also controls a certain part of our behavior, once the memory is messed up, the behavior is also modified. Don't you read your lessons, huh Instructor?" Seifer explained, completely taking Quistis aback.

"I must say, I wasn't expecting that from you...but are you sure you're not making things up again?" she interrogated with suspicion.

"You made me rewrite the whole book on that, remember? My my, it seems we're a little bit incompetent today."

"Then if you know the lesson so well, lecture me." She dared as she placed on her hands on her hips apparently waiting to be lectured.

"Don't mind if I do." He ridiculed with a bow. "Guardian Forces are independent energies with the innate nature of being parasitic. They start with your memories since they attach themselves to the hippocampus, so once that one is tampered, your whole being is also tampered because our actions are justified through our memories, so losing it also means losing part of our being. So, those damn bastards pretend to be your ally for some time, but in reality all they do is corrupt your brain in your thirst for power."

"That explains his issue in previous war then." A conceited cadet tried to murmur to his seatmate, but Seifer overheard.

"Buzz off Mole-face! It's not like you know anything, with GFs refusing to junction themselves to you because of being grossed out by your enormous mole. Hyne! I could clearly see that thing a mile away—including those hairs growing from its disgusting black core."

Seifer's brutally offensive insult shut the cadet up, without saying another word the cadet sulked on his desk, self-conscious.

"Alright Seifer, that enough!" Quistis interrupted in contemptuous tone. "I think we heard enough from you...it's already dismissal." She added less fractious, "Now, I won't be giving any assignments for today to give you time to study for your test on Thursday. The test will cover up Chapters 1 to 5, and our lecture today on GF theories. Study well because I'll be giving a 60-item quiz." She waited for the wailings to stop before she continued, "I guess that's it for today's meeting, I'll see you all on Thursday. You're now dismissed."

Seifer impatiently waited for the entire class to clear the room before he approached Quistis.

"So, did I get myself another detention my dearest Instructor?" he amusingly asked, rather proud of winning over her that period.

"Go away Seifer, an hour with you isn't amusing or worthwhile. Let me remind you that your foolishness becomes my burden, so I'm more than happy to let your obnoxiousness slip for today." She reproached with shrugged shoulders.

"I knew it! Admit it, my theory beats yours."

"I'm not in the mood to argue today...I'm rather tired." She said in a lazy, drone-out way.

"You're just being a sore loser. I bet you were pretty impressed! Too bad I didn't have time to lecture everything I know."

"Are those 'Chapter 6, Article 3, Line 24' even accurate?"

"Nah, I made it up—but I'm hell as sure that my theory makes better sense than yours."

"Of course, what can I expect from my most outstanding student?" she grunted, monotonous and sarcastic.

"Outstanding? Why Instructor, I'm flattered."

"Oh, you shouldn't be. What I meant by outstanding was, you're my student who stands outside of this classroom the most."

"I didn't know you were this funny."

"I wasn't being funny. You. Tomorrow. Stand out the hallway. Arms outstretched. On my period."

"The fuck! The hell did I do! Some sore loser you are!"

"Seifer...?" She looked at him and for a moment which silenced his indignation.

"What!"

"Please shut up..." she uttered with an almost pleading voice as she quickly gathered her things from the desk and left him.

"Sure bitch." He teasingly saluted, amused that she was giving up.

She was after all, fighting a losing battle.

But perhaps she still had the upper hand, after all it was Seifer who'd be standing in the hall with numbing arms.

But at least he could still smirk at his victory at the moment, knowing that Quistis had raised the white flag at him.

o O o

Another week passed and the three girls were enjoying their lunch at the cafeteria, chatting over random issues and gossips. Selphie, Rinoa and Quistis, the known heroines of the previous war had finally gotten some privacy after several weeks of media publicity. Their trip to the future and back became a fuss for a while, but after a new booming issue came up, their articles had been moved to the archives which they were more than thankful for. It was fun while it lasted, but living a highly publicized life just wasn't their thing. It was only one of the few times when they had the opportunity to get together for chitchat without being surrounded by a crowd of concerned listeners and interviewers.

"I saw Seifer and Squall arguing again the other day...I think it was over a hotdog." Rinoa tattled with a mix expression of concern and hilarity, "Then just this morning, I saw them prattling like buddy-buddies. Those two are hopeless."

Selphie giggled, "I bet those two will be squabbling again tonight."

"Uh, Rinoa?" Quistis muttered, but bit her lip to stop herself. She felt uncertain about opening the topic, knowing what had happened between them, Seifer and her, two years ago.

"Yup? What is it?" she asked, friendly as usual.

She shook her head, "It's nothing..."

"No, it's not 'nothing'. Tell me, what is it?" she asked again as if seized by a grave sense of concern.

"What's wrong Quisty?" Selphie added with the same level of worry.

It took a while before she replied, her eyes intently gazing at Rinoa. "This is gonna sound weird, perhaps even stupid...but what EVER made you like Seifer before?"

"Seifer? Hmmmm...well let's put it this way, you get the idea that a guy can be classified into different categories like cute, hot, charming, handsome…well, I personally think he is qualified under all those categories." she creased her forehead to think, but slowly, her lips curved to a beam. "There's also a lot to like about him. He's strong, he's brave, smart, honest, and even his cockiness I admire, just the way he speaks, it makes so much sense." Rinoa thought to herself twice before admitting. "He has this appealing quality in him that goes beyond physical charm. Just the way he does things makes you wonder what's he up to. Some of the most exiting days of my life at Timber were spent with him. He's always full of surprises...we got into trouble a lot, but that's the fun part." she said it with a giggle as she looked at the two girls beside her eagerly listening to what she was saying. She paused for a while and went on with a voice which became a bit serious. "I know he can be very stubborn, but I guess that's just the way he is. I mean, he's kinda nice in his own way, you just have to understand that his ways aren't as gracious as others...but once you get the hang of him and he starts to care about you, I guarantee he'll be one of the people you can really count on. He's a sincere guy you know, never a hypocrite, that's why you have to give the effort to befriend him—" Rinoa suddenly bit her tongue, that's when she realized she had spoken too much. "Oops..." she covered her mouth with her palm, blushing and embarrassed.

Quistis was just smiling at her the whole time she blabbered about him. Apparently Rinoa has seen the better side of him, or was she just too optimistic to turn every bad trait into something positive? Whatever she saw in him made Quistis think,

There was hope after all.

"Wow, I never thought how much you liked him." Quistis commented folding her arms.

"Yeah...that was like a mega-super-sweet thing to say about Seifer." Selphie chuckled, still staring at Rinoa wide-eyed.

"Guys, swear you won't tell Squall about what I said!" Rinoa pleaded with guilty eyes.

"Our lips are sealed! Right Quisty!" Selphie enthusiastically assured.

Quistis grinned and nodded in approval.

"Wait...why did you ask again?" Rinoa curiously asked with speculative eyes at Quistis, "You don't happen to...?"

"Don't be silly, he's my student! My accreditation for licensure is at his mercy and I'm already running out of time...he still never listens to me." Quistis explained before Rinoa said anything more.

Rinoa smiled and gestured Quistis to come closer to her face. When she was close enough, she asserted in a low voice, "I let you in on a secret. You want his attention? Get to know him."

The words rang a bell to Quistis. They had practically known each other their whole lives; they spent their early childhood together as well as their whole teenage life, yet somehow Rinoa was right, they grew up together without pretentions, yet he too never pretended when he met Rinoa two years back. If there was one thing she knew about Seifer besides having a disturbing personality, was that he was never a hypocrite. It made her think,

The only difference was their relationship with Seifer.

She opened her mouth hoping to cling onto the topic, but the bell rang and she had to get to class, so instead, words which came out were, "I have to go. I'll see you guys later...thanks again Rinoa." She beamed, winking at Rinoa.

o O o

To the days which followed, Quistis spent her time figuring out what made Seifer act the way he does. Quistis, taking into serious thought what Rinoa had meant about surprises and exciting adventures with him made her consider a couple propositions Seifer had been ranting about for weeks, just to see what he really wanted.

During one of their field training over at Rinaul Coast to spar with some mid-levelled Fastitocalon, just to stretch out their muscles over by a nice view, as so suggested by Seifer, they took a few minutes to sit on the sand for a little breather which gave them the opportunity to get into a more private conversation.

"Its name was Lucifer..." Seifer's soft murmur mingled with light thrashing of the sea.

"Who?" Quistis asked in a perplexed expression to match her tone.

"My GF who's been junctioned to me for ten years...nearly drove me to madness."

"Oh...?" she didn't know what else to say, she didn't know what he was trying to say.

"I take my stand, GFs can eventually take control over your mind if junctioned for too long."

"Oh that—you really don't give up do you?" realizing that he was referring to one of their arguments in class a few days back, she just had to chuckle.

"There's somethin' about the sea that just makes me feel honest, so just listen up will ya?"

"Go on then, I'm listening..."

"I junctioned Lucifer when I was about eight and I never removed him out of my system ever since. He's a disturbingly powerful GF, managed to even kill Odin...but it eventually corrupted my mind after it took out what's left of my memory. Nearly drove me mad during the war with him and Ultimecia taking over my mind...I had to let him go after the war."

"Ten years! That's no kidding...no wonder you were clueless." Quistis reacted in shock.

"Hmph!" Seifer spluttered, "That's what you do when you want to forget the stupid memories you make. Whenever I try to remember and can't come up with any...it makes me feel...glad. Heh! So much for my childhood."

"You know, our childhood wasn't really that bad...I had good ones, back at the orphanage." She uttered, snuggling her knees close to her chest.

"I bet...I wonder what's for dinner?" he blankly said stretching his arms wide in the effort to change the topic.

"Don't you want to remember?" Quistis warmly said, changing his topic back to hers.

"Remember what?"

"Our childhood...how we used to play together by the lighthouse...the trouble we use to wound up to—especially when we lit up those fireworks, my, how Matron scolded us." Quistis told, laughing at the memory.

"I already told you, there's nothing to remember. My memory is impossible to retrieve...the last thing I could remember was the last SeeD examination at Dollet, but that's also getting to be a blur. Beyond that, it's already pitch-black."

"Then let me help you."

"Nah, don't bother...I don't wanna remember." Seifer insisted without interest and in a tone a bit irritated. He stood back up, "If you really wanna help, then c'mon, because I wanna go and make new ones!" he lightly yelled back at her at a short distance waving his Hyperion in the air.

At that moment, Quistis didn't know how or what to think of him. He was one troubled person, more than she ever was, more than anyone she had ever known, yet somehow, there was something about Seifer which drew her to him.

Was it that childhood instinct that was once misunderstood with Squall reawakened in Seifer?

Whatever it was she felt, pity or longing to help him, call it whatever, it existed, though she didn't know what.

It was from words dropped by chance that, little by little, everything was revealed to her. As each day passed she would learn in their talks about his dreams, ideas, hopes, beliefs. The information would come very slowly, as it might chance to fall from their random conversations or from his out-of-the-blue thoughts. When he thought of something to say, he was carried beyond himself by the inspiring force of idealism. Bit by bit, she came to understand the secrets of Seifer's life, and he, in turn. For a long time he had found his only entertainment in the pleasure of other people's misery...and the quiet pleasure of looking at the sea. The thought of concern never escapes her when he starts talking about opinions on people...and about his dreams of achieving an ideal society in particular.

He held strong opinions on people which often came out, surprisingly, accurately honest. At first it was a point of topic which often led to arguments, but eventually it subsided into a means of communication, which, further led to a good mutual friendship. Opinions became the fundamental tie to their relationship; he who held strong ones and lots of it, while she, who loved listening and taking it to heart. His opinions eventually began to matter. She, who held seriously the opinions of others, has found amusement in what Seifer had to say.

He became her new challenge, to understand him, while she became his constant audience and possibly his only critic. She found new excitement in his words and unconventional attitude towards an uptight world which has somehow made an impact on how she saw things. Squall, who only listened and gave her a cold shoulder, was quickly overshadowed by Seifer, who, though was not the best listener, always had answers to all her questions which she eventually became fond of. Just talking to him and receiving unexpected responses made him her constant companion.

In her effort to change him, she too changed one way or the other.

Sneak Preview:

Take Your Bets!

Chapter 4

"GOOD MORNING!" Selphie greeted, gleefully hopping about the Headmaster's office and patting everyone on the head.

No one was in the mood to react just as energetic, save for Rinoa who happily hopped with her.

"Selphie, dear, can you please stop bouncing about the room and start the forum." Edea calmly requested with the slightest hint of irritation.

"WHOO-HOO! That's the spirit!" Selphie concluded her series of hops with one big jump. When her feet touched the ground, her face quickly turned from jovial to dead serious. "We are gathered here today for a very special reason...a reason so grave that if left unresolved, our conscience will haunt us for the rest of our LIVES!"

"What the heck are ya blabberin' about!" Zell blurted in utter frustration.

Instead of a repartee, she simply chuckled, holding in a bigger excitement. She called for Rinoa to help her unveil a rolled up tarpaulin. Then releasing it at the same time, they exclaimed in perfect unison, "Seifer Almasy and Quistis Trepe Love Matchmaking Bet Contest 101!"

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?" Xu reacted the second the two spoke the title.