[Author's Notes: Okies, a big big thank you goes out to everyone who's reviewed. In particular: rhapsodisiac, Bloodhazard, and revlis. This chapter's dedicated to you guys. I'm glad you're enjoying the fic so much.

And again, I'm unhappy with this chapter, too. I'm not gonna point out what I don't like about it (because that'll just drawn your attention to it ), but I still would rather have waited until my beta reader had gone through this. She's been slacking off lately… (And that's my job…) So…anyone wanna be a co-beta reader? C'mon, you know you want to… You get to read new chapters before anyone else… (No, that's not a bribe; where did you get that idea?) But seriously, if you're interested email me (rungrandmarunyahoo.com). And thank you. ::bows::

Oh, and on a side note: As of now, chapter five is halfway finished. So hopefully you won't have to wait too long for it. ]

Succession of Witches
Chapter Four—Tell Me

What...What had just happened?

My body shook uncontrollably as I sobbed, hugging myself and staring down at the floor. The tile was blurred and bobbed up and down. This was why I just didn't cry. But I was crying now, wasn't I? I just couldn't seem to stop. My eyes felt swollen and hurt, dammit; and my sobs tore at my already raw throat. It sounded like I was hyperventilating, gasping for air. I had to calm myself down...

"Din—" Seifer cleared his throat, "Zell...?"

Don't even talk to me... You...You... I hiccoughed and wiped at my nose pathetically. Put simply, I was a mess. I had to stop crying. So, I bit my lip in an attempt to stifle the sobs. Soon, I had pierced that thin line of flesh and blood flooded my mouth. I had to swallow quickly to keep it from dribbling down my chin.

"Your...Your hair..."

Okay, that was it. "What the fuck is wrong with my hair?!" I nearly spit it at him, flipping up my head and fixing him with the meanest glare I could muster. Red-tinted spittle flew onto the floor.

Then...

Seifer squatted down in front of me, concentration crossing his features. I grit my teeth and growled at him, the effect being ruined by a hiccough moments after. Seifer was reaching for me, and instinctively I shied away; the tears blurring my vision so much that I didn't realize what he was reaching for until he had wrapped his fingers around a lock of my hair. It was threaded with beads, I noticed. Seifer must not have gotten them out earlier.

He let the strand of beads drop, leaning back to look me over. What was his problem?

"Where's your jacket?" he asked, scowling. "Why is your hair different?"

Jacket? "What are you..." hiccough "...talking about?"

"Where did you go?" Seifer was staring at me intently, all the anger from earlier having disappeared completely.

"Where...did I go?" What...? Why...why was he asking me this? Why had he hit me? "You were there," I sobbed, "I was sucked into the source and then..." I had to stop to wipe my nose on the back of my hand. "I came out here... But...but how did you get here? Where...Where's Martine?"

"You're not Zell." Seifer stood, taking a few steps away from me.

"What do you mean, I'm not Zell?!" I cried, trying to get to my feet as well. "You're the one who just...just turned into a prick!" A homophobic prick, apparently. "You're supposed to be my Knight! Why...Why did you hit me?!"

Seifer looked as if someone had just slapped him in the face. I wish it had been me. "Your...Knight?"

"Yes, you jerk!" I had to wipe my nose again. At least I had stopped crying for the most part. "What did you do, forget?!"

Seifer's shocked expression quickly changed back into one of anger. "How could I forget something I never was in the first place?!"

Okay, that stung. "You...You bastard..." How could you say that to me after...after... I shook my head, blinking fresh tears from my eyes. "How could...could you..." How can you act so different? "What did I do to you?" My hands clenched into fists, unchecked magic crackled over my knuckles. My emotions were boiling up inside me; pushing against my skin and threatening to rend themselves from me by force. I was shaking; the force of my emotions, my anger, was shaking me. "What did I do to you," I hissed through grit teeth...I couldn't control it anymore...My anger, hurt, sorrow...Everything was feeding the Power that coiled like a snake inside of me. I was lifting my head, my eyes fixing on Seifer; he took a step back, confusion lacing his pretty features. "What did I do to you..." I repeated for the third time, my words coming out in a snarl, "...to make you act this way?!"

And then my Power burst free, winding over my body and making me go rigid; I gasped at the sheer force of it. The gold, electric-like wisps of my Power covered me, twisting and twisting and lifting my hands. My fingers stretched out, pointing at Seifer...

"Zell...?"

My Power gathered at my fingertips, growing and growing and I couldn't stop it... I didn't want to stop it...

Because he had hurt me...

"I thought I could trust you..." my voice wavered with my anger, my pain... And still the fire-gold bolts of Power charged over my body, propelling me forward...

I stepped...

Seifer was staring at me, wide-eyed and obviously confused. I didn't really want to hurt him, I didn't. But I couldn't control myself, I couldn't help it...

And then I noticed it.

There...

...right between Seifer's golden brows...

...was a scar. A scar he had never had before.

It took all of my strength to lower my hands; to concentrate enough to get my Power under control.

What...

What was going on?

###

What the hell was I doing? What was Seifer doing?

I broke away from his embrace, stumbling backwards and narrowly avoiding tripping over a stool. "Wha... Wha...?"

Why the fuck did Seifer look so hurt?

"Zell?" and he started approaching me.

"No!" I waved my arms frantically in front of me, trying to ward him off. "Stay away from me!" You psycho! What the fuck had that been about? Seifer... Seifer I'm-An-Evil-Little-Prick Almasy had just kissed me.

And I had enjoyed it.

NO!!

Bad thoughts, bad thoughts... Please, Zelly, let's handle one thing at a time... Now is not when you should be questioning your sexuality!!

Instead...

Let's question Seifer's.

Oh yeah, I'm bad.

"What did you just do, Almasy?! Why did you do it?!" I thought you hated me...

Wait...

Oh, I get it. Damn, Seifer really is a prick.

"You're toying with me, aren't you? Think you can humiliate me even more, is that it? Playing mind games, Almasy?!"

The unscarred blonde stopped advancing, utter hurt and confusion taking the place of his usual arrogance. He opened his mouth to say something, but no way was I letting him get any wisecracks in.

"Well it's not working! I am unfazed!!" But I wasn't; by no stretch of the imagination.

Wait a minute... There was something...

Oh...

Wow...

Squinting to get a better look, I said, my voice suddenly lacking the pissy note it had held earlier, "Where'd your scar go?"

Seifer looked so completely confused that I almost felt bad for him. He had to try several times to speak, and when he finally managed it, all he was able to get out was a hoarse, "Huh?"

"Your scar!" I exclaimed, waving a pointed finger wildly. "On your forehead!"

"Wha...?" and Seifer actually brought up a hand to feel around his forehead. Did he not know it was missing? "My...my scar?"

"It's gone!" By Jove!

"But...?" Had I really confused him this much? Usually it was I that was in this state of mental dishevelment.

"It's gone," I repeated again, stepping forward and poking him right between the eyes, where his scar had been previously. "Gone," I said again, just to make sure he was getting the message.

Apparently, poking Seifer in the head was going just a bit too far. Frowning, the blonde grabbed my hand, pulling it back a bit and staring at it intently. I had to resist yanking my hand away; who knew how he'd take that.

"Gloves..." he whispered, more to himself than to me. "Where'd you get these?"

When it was apparent he wasn't going to let me go, I started tugging lightly, testing his grip. "From the weaponsmith in Garden, like everyone else. Hyne, Seifer, when'd you get so stupid?"

Seifer's frown deepened, and he finally looked up from my hand. Fixing me with an intense blue stare, he yanked me forward, and I collided with his chest. (Which was nice and firm, by the way. Wait, no!! Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad...) Then, he roughly grabbed my chin and forced my gaze upwards until I was staring into his eyes.

"When did you get them?" he asked, in an eerily calm voice.

I was suddenly very fucking afraid.

"When I started my training...same as everyone else..." Sensing that wasn't enough to satisfy him, I added, "Right after I passed the test to be a SeeD candidate."

We stood, staring silently at each other, until Seifer exhaled sharply, his minty fresh breath blowing into my face. "Zell, you were never a SeeD candidate."

Never a SeeD... Wha...? "Of course I was! We took our exam together, remember? You were our goddamn Squad Leader, for Hyne's sake!"

"Zell," Seifer said patiently, as if explaining to a little child, "I was never a candidate either. I started training to become a Knight as soon as I arrived at Garden."

"Knight?" That's what whiny-hysterical-guy had mentioned more than a few times...

"Yes, Zell. I trained to become a Sorceress' Knight."

Oh, this was just too good... "YOU'RE IN LEAGUE WITH HER?!"

"Who, Zell?! I'm your Knight!"

Oh... Oh, Hyne... I think it's finally happened... My brain's stopped...

###

I felt the Power recede inside of me, coiling back into its familiar position. "What...?" I stammered, feeling my whole body sag with exhaustion. (Fighting the Power of a god'll do that to ya.) "What's going on?" I was looking to Seifer for answers, but all he could do was gape at me. I stumbled forward, and this time, he didn't back away. "I'm not...This isn't Galbadia, is it?"

"Gal...Galbadia?" Seifer looked just as confused, as tired, as I did. "Fuck no, Zell. We're in Timber." Then, seeming to reconsider something, he added, "Don't you... Don't you remember?"

Timber? I shook my head. "No...We weren't in Timber. We were in Galbadia; me, you, and Martine, and you had found the source for me and I...I was sucked in..."

"Zell," Seifer said stonily, "I've never been to Galbadia."

"But..." I searched his face; he didn't seem to be lying.

"I don't know who Martine is..."

This...can't be happening...

"And I haven't a clue what a...a 'source' is."

"A Sorceress portal," I told him simply, sinking to the floor, "as it turns out." I hugged my knees to my chest and rested my forehead on top of them. "Why am I in Timber?" I asked myself silently, desperately fighting not to cry again.

"You were here on a mission," Seifer answered me, softly. I hadn't been expecting an answer. "You, Squall, and Tilmitt, I think that's her name. You three were sent here to help...liberate Timber..."

I looked up at Seifer, regarding him slowly, "But I don't know who they are."

Seifer just stared at me, thinking to himself, for a few moments. Finally, he spoke: "What..." he cleared his throat, and I noticed his cheeks were tinged the slightest shade of pink, "Why did you hug me?"

That...wasn't the question I'd been expecting. I found I couldn't answer him right away. What was I supposed to say to that? 'Well, up until a few minutes ago, I was madly in love with you.' I don't think so. Finally, I settled on, "I was just happy to see you. I...didn't think you'd hit me."

And, score one for me, Seifer actually looked guilty. "Happy to see me? Zell, you... You hate me."

"No I don't," I replied automatically.

"Yeah, ya do."

I frowned. "No, Seifer, I don't hate you. I'm not exactly too fond of you at the moment, but I've never hated you."

Seifer looked positively dumbstruck.

"How could you think that?" I whispered. "After everything I told you...After...you kissed me..." I trailed off, knowing that I was blushing but fully unable to do anything about it.

"I kissed you?! When?!" Seifer had this incredibly cute, scandalized expression on his face.

"The first time was when--"

"I kissed you more than once?!" Yup, scandalicious. (Oh, Hyne, all this crossdressing is turning me into a woman...)

"Yes, twice," and I held up two fingers to show him.

"Why don't I remember that?!"

I shrugged; I was beginning to develop a theory because, if I didn't do something I was going to go insane. "I imagine it's the same reason I don't remember my supposed teammates."

Seifer did a wonderfully precise impression of a fish while I collected my thoughts. Somehow, somehow, the Sorceress portal I had traveled through had led me (and this was stretching things a bit) to a world/time period in which Seifer and I knew each other, but under different circumstances.

I knew I read sci-fi novels for a reason.

"So...So..." Seifer scrunched up his face, "Did we both just get selective amnesia?"

Oh, that was a good theory too, and more plausible than mine, but... "I don't think so...I wouldn't just forget people, or that you had a scar..."

"I've always had a scar..."

"No you haven't."

Seifer opened his mouth to say something, but settled with a grunt. "Well, do you have any better ideas?"

"Not better, but I do have ideas," and I gave him my most charming grin and sat down to begin explaining.