Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII and all of its characters are property of Square Enix. I do not profit from it, apart from getting entertainment from doing my fanfiction and improving on my language and writing skills. Also, all events and characters are purely fictitious and any similarities to people or events in real life are purely coincidental.

Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII

Author: Azarethian Titan

Beta-Readers: Emerald-Latias

Listening to: A whole chunk of Evanescence songs, Prepare the Way (WoW Worship), Mighty to Save (Hillsongs)

Warnings: Slight spoilers for the Galbadian missile base (after you escape from D-district Prison), some swearing from Seifer, gaudy colours worn by Selphie, some implied nudity from Seifer

Author's Note: The fourth installment of my Christmas story... I'm aware that it's a tad bit rushed... I would have loved to explore a lot more in this story too... but oh well. Please enjoy.

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.:Chapter 4:.

---:Realm of Nightmares - Debris of Broken Lives:---

"I'm far from forgiving you... ...I'm willing to give you a chance..." Selphie

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"My knight," a sensual voice purred dangerously as she combed long fingers through short blonde hair, "You failed me... you failed to extract information from those meddlesome SeeDs."

Seifer turned his face away from where his head lay and looked up at his Sorceress. Emerald eyes stared into golden. Instead of the raven-haired sorceress that sat before him, a silver-haired female sat before him, black wings draped lazily upon her throne. Casting his eyes downward fearfully, Seifer whispered, "I'm sorry... Ultimecia..."

"Look at me," Ultimecia hissed as she gripped Seifer's face and jerked his head such that their eyes connected once more. Staring pensively into childlike eyes, her hardened expression softened. How could she blame her knight? He was, after all, new to such methods of cruelty. Gently patting her thigh, she motioned for him lean his head upon her thigh once more.

Gently stroking blonde strands, she whispered, barely loud enough for Seifer to hear, "Such failure will not be tolerated in future... for now, watching this... shall be punishment enough..."

Waving a claw-like hand, the air shimmered before them, forming something that looked akin to a mirror. Upon it, images and colours shifted, never staying in place till it focused upon a group of six, all standing in the desert.

Smiling mirthlessly, the Sorceress sneered, "It appears your quarry discusses among themselves."

What, neither could hear. However, missiles soon appeared in the distance, shooting off to one of the Gardens. Seifer stared curiously at the brunette dressed in yellow as she slumped to the ground, looking defeated. She looked familiar... the messenger girl?

The Sorceress smiled cruelly as the scene unfolding before them shifted once more. Snow dotted the landscape, the entire area surrounded by grey, snow-peaked mountains. People, looking similar to Balamb Garden SeeDs and cadets, moved around in the area, getting along with their daily activities. Children ran around on the snow-blanketed ground, laughing joyously as they chucked snowballs at everyone around them. The scene itself looked innocent and peaceful enough.

Trabia... Garden...? Seifer wondered briefly as his mind slowly clouded once more. The scene before them shifted once more, as missiles collided with the building. Screams suddenly filled the room as Seifer watched the scene unfold once more with disinterest. Various body parts and debris flew around. As the dust cleared, it revealed that the area had turned into one of great bloodshed as dead bodies littered the ground.

Claw-like hands stroked his face as the voice whispered, "Let this be burned into your memory forever..."

Eyes drooping, the last thing Seifer saw was a decapitated head which was lying in a pool of blood, eyes staring hollowly at him and mouth twisted in horror.

---

Seifer gasped as he shot up from the bed. Looking frantically around the room, he found himself in his dormitory, not within Ultimecia's grasp. Taking deep breaths to calm himself down, Seifer placed a hand on his forehead and closed his eyes. Wiping hair that was matted onto his forehead due to sweat, he sighed.

Swearing, Seifer muttered under his breath, "Fuck... when will these nightmares stop?" I haven't had one since that one a few weeks ago...

Glaring into the darkness and shivering slightly at the sudden chill, Seifer grabbed the blanket that had pooled to his waist and drew it over himself. With that, he closed his eyes and drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

---

Seifer blinked sleepily as he was jolted out of his sleep once more. Cheerful rapping was heard from his end as the glared reproachfully at the door, burning holes through it. Glancing at the window, he realized that it was probably past afternoon, maybe lunchtime, with the sun shining merrily into the room. However, he felt like he hadn't had any rest at all and to put it simply, he felt like crap.

Giving a slight groan, Seifer stretched, his bones giving a small crack. Dragging himself over to the door, he punched the code in to activate the opening mechanism of the door. He was not prepared for what he saw.

Momentarily blinded by violent yellow and hot pink, he blinked in surprise at the brunette figure standing before him. Messenger girl? As his vision cleared, Seifer averted his gaze to avoid being blinded once more by the disgustingly bright colours. He was also not prepared for what came next.

Stumbling backwards, Seifer attempted to regain his balance as Selphie suddenly thrust a large brown box into his arms, merrily announcing that it contained the rest of his clothes and personal effects. Huffing slightly, Seifer attempted to balance the heavy box that was about topple over. It was amazing how much strength such a petite figure could have. How she had managed to nearly blind him with her clothes in spite of the box's size, Seifer would never be able to fathom.

Seifer stared at the box and glanced at Selphie, something he immediately regretted. "Damn it, Messenger Girl! Do you have to wear such bright colours," Seifer demanded as he covered his eyes with a hand, balancing the box with the other.

For a moment, there was silence. Wondering on the sudden lack of sound, Seifer chanced the possibility of impairing his sight and peeked through his fingers. Selphie was blushing furiously as she stared pointedly at his nether regions. Apparently, something there had captured her attention and rendered her speechless.

"Um... do you always go to bed naked," Selphie questioned, still looking pointedly at Seifer's nether regions.

Confused, Seifer looked down, before he was harshly reminded that he had gotten into bed naked the night before, due to the lack of clean clothes. Swearing out loud, Seifer lunged towards the door, ignoring the group of giggling girls that had gathered at the entrance of his room due to curiosity, and punched the code to shut the door.

Rummaging through the box, Seifer quickly put on some clothes, all the while feeling Selphie's stare as he blushed furiously. Sure, he liked to boast about his physical attributes... but that didn't mean he was an exhibitionist by nature... especially not toward messenger girls...

"By the way, I'm here to invite you to having lunch with us..." Selphie called out merrily, voice sounding a bit forced.

Seifer smirked at what she said. Messenger girl indeed... Just then, a certain thought that had been nagging at the back of his mind announced itself to him. "Wait!" Seifer called out as Selphie made to run through the room of his door.

Still grinning, Selphie turned to him and smiled sweetly. A bit too sweetly. "Yeeeesssssss?"

Seifer blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "You don't hate me?"

Selphie's smile faltered slightly as she asked in turn, "Why're you asking that?"

Seifer scratched the back of his neck nervously, "Well... I sent the missiles to destroy Trabia Garden..."

"Well," Selphie spoke slowly, as if to pick her words carefully, "I'm still far from forgiving you... but I believe that you were controlled by Ultimecia and you weren't in total control of your actions... so, I'm willing to give you a chance... to prove that maybe, you're actually worth forgiving. The rest of us believe that too..."

Seifer cocked his head to one side as he stared at Selphie. I see...

Selphie smile returned, though it looked slightly smaller this time, as she bounced off towards the door, this time punching in the code to open the door and shoo away the giggling girls still congregating there, all eager to get a glimpse of Seifer. "Okay, meet us in the Cafeteria... we're at the usual table. By the way, my name's Selphie Tilmitt!"

Vaguely disturbed and feeling oddly lighter, Seifer stepped into the tiny bathroom to freshen up...

---

Seifer stepped into the Cafeteria, searching for where Messenger Girl had allegedly claimed the group would be. On the outward appearance, Seifer seemed to be confident, proud even, impervious to anything. However, he was a writhing mess of nerves inside. All around, he could feel hostile eyes watching him, the noise level of the area taking a sudden nosedive.

It was only when he spotted a girl dressed in violent yellow and hot pink that he smiled. Boy, was he glad to see Messenger Girl. Sure, she was far from actually liking him or getting over her hate... but at least, she was willing to give him the chance to set things right.

Pushing Seifer to sit next to Zell, ignoring the withering glance sent her way by both Seifer and Zell, she moved over to climb onto Irvine's back. Quistis and Rinoa sent him a small smile each while Squall looked up and glanced at Seifer, before looking back down at his food and chewing methodically. The tension in the air was so thick that Seifer swore he could cut through it with Hyperion.

Quistis coughed nervously as she picked at some carrots on her plate with her fork. Delicate fingers adjusted wire-frame glasses as she looked at Seifer, giving him a miniscule and slightly stiff, but nonetheless sincere smile, "So... umm, Seifer... how has your stay been?"

"Peachy Trepe, just peachy."

Giving a small nervous laugh, Quistis joined Squall in the activity of food staring as silence resumed, occasionally broken by Selphie's excited chattering and the clinking of cutlery. Sitting stiffly, Seifer turned to Selphie, who was currently sporting a cowboy's hat and bouncing on Irvine's lap. "Tilmitt... thanks..."

Selphie's chattering ceased as a stunned expression appeared. Going rigid, Selphie's mouth was set in an uncharacteristically grim line as she nodded to him in response.

Violet eyes glanced at Seifer as Irvine's expression seemed to relax slightly. Chuckling and holding Selphie down with both hands, he drawled, "Darlin', the only person you'll be playing nice with is with me." Winking suggestively at Selphie, Irvine grinned. Selphie blushed at his comment and mumbled something that sounded vaguely of changing her room's access code.

Turning to Seifer, Irvine now sported aloofness. Taking the cowboy hat back from Selphie, he tipped it towards Seifer, expressing recognition.

"Ow! Quistis! I get it," Zell yelped out as he rubbed his side, grimacing as if in pain.

Quistis merely looked away, staring out of the window at the far end of where they were and smiled serenely.

Glaring at her, Zell looked briefly at Seifer and muttered something that sounded vaguely like Chicken Wuss. Now smirking, Seifer leaned in closer, whereby Zell also leaned away, and placed a hand on his ear, "Whaddya say Dincht? You want to be called Chicken Wuss some more?"

Feeling a hard kick in his shins, Seifer yelled as he looked at his assailant. Squall merely looked at him sharply with stormy blue eyes before turning back to his food. Scowling, Seifer muttered darkly, "Fine... I'll stop calling you that and we'll be cool…"

Seifer now sat in silence as he watched as everyone resumed their previous conversation, with the exception of Squall, all ignoring Seifer now. The tension around was still dense. However, it seemed to have lightened slightly as Quistis subtly gave him an encouraging nod.

Maybe he was still a far way off from not being hated deeply by everyone around him... but this was a start.

A start with the ones who actually mattered.

Here's the end of chapter 4. I know that it's going a bit fast with all that forgiveness and all. I'm not planning on resolving anything here, just within the group only. Seifer is still a far way off from actually fully recovering from it, as well as the others. But it's a step in the right direction, I guess. Now, I'd like to take the time to thank all my lovely Betas for taking time to look through this chapter. You guys are awesome!

P.S By the way, I'm intending on doing a re-write at some point of time, so that I can explore a lot more on this stuff.