Chapter 6 – Jailed
Darkness slowly receeded from Seifer's vision, details resolving themselves out of the gloom. The fuck? Where am I? Even turning his head flooded his body with nausea, but he did it anyways, taking in the tiny, cell-like features of his surroundings. He was laying on a small metal shelf that jutted from the wall, and a toilet was anchored to the floor at the other end of the room. Everything was metallic, and a little rusted in places.
"Hyne. This is a fucking prison cell." With a groan, he flopped an arm over his eyes. Wait, that should have hurt. I took a giant spike of ice in the shoulder. Rolling his shoulder back, he poked at it for a moment, finding a giant rip in his coat and shirt, but no blood or soreness. Healed? So, lemme get this straight. I attempted to assassinate Sorceress Edea – he felt a sinking sensation in his gut at this, as if he had betrayed the very essence of himself, but ignored it – who murdered the president, and is likely running all of Galbadia by now. She attacked to incapacitate, not kill, and someone healed my wounds. In other words, I'm being kept alive for some reason. Seifer hauled himself into a sitting position, closing his eyes against the cell rippling and roiling around him. His arms were barely strong enough to hold him upright. And, it would seem, drugged or concussed or some shit. Fuck. I can't fight like this. That realization, more than anything, made a hard knot of fear form in his stomach, but it was soon overwhelmed by anger and pride.
Biting back bile, Seifer swung his legs over onto the floor and heaved himself upright, not falling to his knees and puking by sheer force of will.
Suddenly, the entire room shook. Seifer slumped against one wall for support as the wall across from the bunk folded down into a walkway. Light, short footsteps carried a small figure into the cell – Zell Dincht. Of course. Because I'm clearly trapped in some sort of hell dimension. Diablos shifted in his thoughts with a dark rumble-laugh. Oh, fuck you too, you ugly bastard.
The Chickenwuss stood in the doorway with his arms folded, looking at Seifer with a mixture of disgust and pity. The first was fine, but it was seeing the second that made Seifer lunge forward, fist first.
Dincht just caught his fist as it fell, bringing his foot around and cracking it into Seifer's knee. The taller blond half-crumpled, barely catching himself on the edge of the bunk. Zell just shook his head. "Pathetic, Seifer." He jerked his head towards the door. "Take him out."
A pair of furry, red creatures entered the room – Moombas? Are you fucking kidding me, Chickenwuss? – and grabbed Seifer by the arms, ignoring his attempts to struggle. They dragged him out of the cell, but Seifer didn't have a chance to take a look at the prison itself. Stubborn pride wasn't enough to keep him on his feet after so much movement, and his body finally succumbed to the drugs, or the trauma, or whatever. The world tilted drunkenly, went fuzzy, and then dark.
A sharp starburst of pain in his nose brought Seifer back to reality. Blood dripped down his face and was splattered on Dincht's metal-covered glove – whether his nose was broken or just bloodied, Seifer didn't know. He jerked forward with a snarl, but chains locked his arms and legs to the wall behind him.
Zell's voice, calm and steady, cut through the panic that was slowly descending. "What is the meaning of SeeD, Seifer? Edea demands to know."
"Hyne on a fucking pogostick, Chickenwuss! Are you shitting me?"
Dincht frowned, then balled up his fist and slammed it into Seifer's stomach. He grunted in pain, but didn't say anything further.
"I'm serious, Seifer. You were the squad leader, and the Headmaster always favored you – he must have told you something. Something special. And Edea wants to know what that is."
"So you think you can just beat it out of me, is that it? Don't make me laugh, you weak little bitch. Even if I did know something, your flyswatting exercises wouldn't be enough to make me give it up."
Zell folded his arms and looked up at Seifer's face, impassive save for the little twitches of frustration at being made fun of, yet again. The new badass Zell was only a mask – inside he was just as easy to jerk around as he'd always been. The sorceress reached inside the minds of a thousand people in Deling City. What could she do to one spineless little Chickenwuss? Maybe that was why she'd chosen him over Seifer. Dincht was weak, easy to mold and reforge into exactly the kind of knight that she could want. Seifer, on the other hand, was too strong, too unbreakable, to be anyone's lapdog. His lips curled up in a sneer, and was rewarded with another fist to the gut.
"All the others are prisoners here, too, you know. You got your entire squad captured. I could ask Instructor Trepe my questions, I guess, or Selphie, but I don't really want to hurt them. I'd rather protect them from you." He straightened, and that goody-two-shoes bullshit righteousness practically blazed out of his eyes.
"Is that what this is? Protecting your precious little friends? From me? Because from where I'm hanging, you look a hell of a lot more like a torturer than a knight." Seifer squashed a quick flash of fear at the mental image of the messenger girl or the instructor hanging on a wall, at the mercy of Dincht's fists. Over my dead body, you piece of Marlboro shit.
"It's nothing you don't deserve. You're a bully, Seifer. You've always been a bully, and that's all you ever will be. If I can just make them all see that, and see that Edea loves us so much, that she wants the best for us, then I can convince them to join the right side. We're going to change the world. We're going to save it."
"So it's the evil mercenary versus the great and noble sorceress's knight, huh? Don't make me laugh. You couldn't save a Hyne-damned thing if your life depended on it. I may be a bully, but you're weak, you've always been weak, and that's all you'll ever be. So give it your best shot, Chickenwuss, but I guarantee I'll be a red smear on this wall before I tell you shit." Seifer hawked and spat a glob of blood-tinged gunk right in Dincht's eye.
Zell's face screwed itself up in absolute fury, and slammed his fist into Seifer's nose again, the cartilege giving way with a sickening crunch and an explosion of pain.
The next time he came to, dried blood crusted thick on Seifer's face and neck, and his eyes felt puffy and swollen. Little fucker definitely broke my nose. He couldn't open his eyes more than a sliver, and the back of his head felt rather soft and pulpy where it had impacted the wall.
A strange masculine voice echoed off to the left. "The missiles are prepared for launch, sir."
Dincht sighed. "The Lady Edea is sad to hear that you're being so stubborn, Seifer. She has no choice now but to destroy SeeD, and the Gardens that produce them. Why can't you just be reasonable? If you'd just tell me what she wants to know, we could show mercy." His voice sounded off, less crusader for justice, more robot following orders.
Missiles? Destroy...the Gardens? Hyne, that's fucked. Seifer couldn't really say that he was overly attached to the place, but slaughtering hundreds of people, a lot of them kids... That was beyond his ability to even process. A small corner of his brain was almost appreciative – it would eliminate most of her opposition in one fell swoop, and send a powerful message to the entire world that Galbadia and its new queen were not to be fucked with.
It would also mean that she, and Dincht, would win.
Dincht –
Seifer coughed and cleared his throat. "How...how the fuck is blowing up two schools 'saving the world'? Can't see a bleeding-heart Chickenwuss like you being okay with that."
"I don't want to do this, can't you see? And neither does she. But the Gardens are evil, they want to kill the one woman who can bring peace to this world, just so they can continue to turn a profit. It's sick! They take kids, and they turn them into weapons for their own ends." Desperation cracked through the emotionlessness that had permeated his voice before, and Seifer almost felt bad for the 'wuss. The witch was rewriting his entire worldview, twisting it to suit herself. Zell was breaking under the force of her will.
"But you're a SeeD, you moron. If you had such a problem with it, why did you go through the training yourself?"
"Because I didn't know any better! I was blind to what was right in front of me. But now – now I see." There was a sickening amount of devotion wrapped up in that last sentence. Seifer wanted to puke, and not just because he was pretty fucking sure he had a concussion.
"I'm sorry it had to go this way, but just remember, Seifer – all those lives? They're on your hands. Not that that bothers you, I guess. You, over there – continue the interrogation. I want his answer, no matter what it takes."
A soft affirmative sounded somewhere off to the right, followed by footsteps out. Finally. Now what?
A crackle and the smell of ozone were the only warnings that Seifer had. Electricity arced through his body, frying nerve endings and arcing along synapses. He slammed his head back against the wall again with the pain, squirming in his bonds, but refusing to scream.
"Tell me what you know! What is the meaning of SeeD?"
The lightning stopped, and Seifer sagged in his bonds. He licked his lips and smiled, brain still sizzling with pain. "...Is that it?"
"What was that!?"
"I said, is that it? I thought this was supposed to hurt, not tickle."
The man snarled and threw the lever again, and Seifer's howling, agonized laughter echoed off the walls until everything went dark again.
"Seifer? Can you hear me? You need to hold still, okay?"
...What? Quistis? How...
A sharp snarp-crunch and Seifer's nose was, once again, in immense amounts of pain, drowning out the burns on his wrists and ache in his gut. A moment later, the tingling sensation of a potion washed over his face, easing the pain somewhat. A cool hand spread some of the liquid over his eyes, reducing the swelling enough that he could crack them open. He did so, but groaned and immediately shut them against the influx of light.
"I need you to drink this, okay? It should help with your concussion."
A small vial was pressed into Seifer's hand, and, with help, he raised it to his lips and drank. Tastes weird. X-Potion? Where'd we get one of those, anyways?
Wherever it came from, it worked, and fast. Seifer could feel the tingling spread throughout his entire body, smoothing over open wounds and easing pains. His nose popped a little – Quistis must not have gotten it set completely right – and he could breathe again.
"Hyne, Trepe. Where have you been all my life? You're a fucking saint." He squinted his eyes open a fraction, the pale blob hovering over him slowly resolving into Quistis's face.
She snorted. "I'll remember you said that, the next time you call me a pain in the ass, since I'm sure you won't."
Seifer smirked, then abruptly shot bolt upright, almost headbutting Quistis in the process. "Fuck! We have a problem. Galbadia's launching an attack on Balamb and Trabia Gardens."
A gasp from elsewhere in the room caught his attention. Tilmitt, who had been standing guard in the doorway of the torture chamber with nunchaku in hand, was staring at him with the most horrified expression that Seifer had ever seen on a person. "Trabia! But – why –"
"Something about destroying all SeeDs, I don't know, Dincht was talking like a madman and I was kind of being tortured at the time. Let's get the fuck out of here, and worry about it then." With some difficulty, he hauled himself to his feet, waving off Quistis's outstretched hand. "Where's everyone else? And how did you guys get here?"
Quistis folded her arms across her chest, worry pinching her eyebrows together, but still holding on to her composure. "Irvine somehow avoided being captured, and General Caraway sent him in to get Rinoa, who then badgered him into coming back and helping her rescue the rest of us." Her tone was almost appreciative, and Seifer thought that Rin might have finally earned herself a few brownie points with the Instructor today. "They're trying to secure an exit route while Selphie and I came in and got you." Reaching down, the blonde woman produced a shining length of steel and handed it to him, hilt-first. "You'll need this – there's an anti-magic field over the prison."
Shouldering Hyperion, Seifer walked out of the torture chamber, squeezing Selphie's shoulder as he passed her. "Don't worry about it, messenger girl. We're not going to let them win, no matter what it takes, got it?"
She nodded at him, her eyes lit up with furious determination. "Definitely."
The three of them went up the nearby flight of stairs with no opposition, into a large circular room where the other half of the squad waited.
At their entrance, Raijin immediately ran over with a yell, wrapping Seifer in a giant bone-crushing hug. "You're alive, ya know!? We were so worried, ya know?"
Groaning under the force of the hug, not to mention the completely unwanted physical contact, Seifer restrained himself – barely – from headbutting Raijin in the temple. "Let me go, you moron!"
Fujin, fortunately, came to the rescue with a well-timed kick to the back of Rai's knee. "IDIOT." She transferred her attention to Seifer, and damn-near smiled, though it probably didn't look like it to the others. "FINE?"
Seifer found himself almost-smiling back at her, the sight as welcome as Quistis had been earlier. "Yeah, I'm alright. You guys all okay?"
Fu nodded sharply, and Raijin straightened up from his knee-favoring, half-crumpled stance. "Rin busted us out, ya know? No thanks to that guy. Rin hadta make him come back for us." He jerked his head over to indicate where Kinneas was fiddling with some controls, Rinoa glowering at him while he did so.
On hearing her name, Rinoa glanced over and favored Seifer with one of her biggest, brightest smiles. "Good to see you're okay. I was really worried when you weren't in the cell with the rest of us. What happened?"
Seifer shook his head. "I can fill you all in on the details later. Right now, we need to get the hell out."
"The exit's right through this door," she waved a hand at the door across the room, "we were just waiting for you."
Flashing her a cocky grin, Seifer swept Hyperion from side-to-side in a few warm-up slashes, then headed for the door, expecting the others to fall in behind him.
The exit led to the open air and a catwalk to another major structure, and was guarded by one of Galbadia's elite soldiers. I don't give a damn how 'elite' he is – he's one man against seven. Not that I couldn't take him by myself, of course. Seifer charged him, Hyperion screaming against one metal-covered arm.
The man fell back, stumbling, but managing to press a button on the support strut next to him. An automated voice rang out a warning about prisoners and termination, and then two humanoid drone mechs dropped in from above, separating Seifer from the rest of his team. He dimly registered the crack of Kinneas's shotgun and the whistle of Rinoa's blaster edge behind him, before turning his attention back to the man who'd called them.
Even alone, with stiff muscles and only his gunblade to rely on, a Galbadian soldier wasn't much of a challenge. After a few feints and one lucky strike that made Seifer's left arm go almost completely numb, Hyperion was buried in the soldier's gut. Ripping it out and turning, Seifer saw one of the flying mechs go down, riddled with bullet holes and with its "face" caved in from Raijin's staff. The other was hassling Tilmitt and Quistis, whose weapons were less effective against its armor shell, until Quistis dropped her guard, let it get within striking range, and then fried it with lasers that came out of her eyes.
The mech fell smoking and sparking to the ground, two large furrows scored up the entire length of its body. "When the fuck did you learn how to do that, Trepe?"
The blonde woman just smirked. "Oh, a couple of years ago."
"Sure, you had to wait until you weren't my sparring partner anymore to learn something actually goddamned useful like that."
Selphie ran over next to Seifer and waved a hand in his face, impatiently. "Can you guys do this later? We have to go, remember?"
Rinoa stepped over to a railing and looked down. "Guys – we have a problem. This...wasn't like this when I came through."
The desert sands, rather than being an arms-length or two away, were far enough below them that Seifer could barely make out the shapes of the dunes. Fuck. Well, isn't that just fantastic?
Glancing straight across, Seifer noticed that the opposite support strut was twisted, like a corkscrew, perfect for drilling up and down into sand. "Fucking Galbadians. Alright everybody, we'll find our own damn way out. Move it!" He waved a hand at the catwalk.
The group set off across the walkway, with Seifer pulling up the rear, when a godawful grinding noise echoed through the air, making the entire prison shudder. Behind them, the plates of the catwalk started dropping away, fast.
"Move your asses! Now!"
Time seemed to slow as Seifer watched the prison chew into the ever-approaching desert, and all six of his group make it across – Rinoa, then Kinneas, then Tilmitt and Trepe, and finally his posse – but as Seifer himself pushed off against the catwalk to make the final lunge to safety, the metal slipped away so that all that was beneath him was a churning maelstrom of sand. He was left suspended in midair for a half-second that felt like an eternity.
Something as unyielding as iron caught around his wrist as he fell, and Seifer looked up to see Raijin half-dangling off the side of the prison, a surprising ferocity on his normally-stupid face. Fujin knelt next to him, her own hand extended. "SEIFER!"
He heaved himself upward with some difficulty, locking his hand around Fujin's wrist. His posse hauled him up as the place where his legs had been descended into a flesh-stripping sandstorm.
The three of them sprawled on the metal surface of the support as it came to a halt, choking on dust. As the air cleared, Seifer became conscious of the rest of their little group clinging to the railing, all accounted for. So it was just me who had the near-death experience, yet again. It'd be nice to share those around a little more. Still, he couldn't deny a quick flicker of relief at their safety.
He pulled himself to his feet with a groan, Fu and Rai doing the same on either side of him. He clapped them both on the shoulder and grinned faintly. "Thanks for the save, guys."
Raijin beamed up at him. "We're your posse, ya know? Besides, you woulda done the same for us, ya know!"
"AFFIRMATIVE." Fujin busied herself by tossing the sand out of her hair to avoid anyone seeing her smile.
Would I have? Seifer wasn't so sure, and for some reason, that doubt bothered him. Seifer Almasy didn't do doubt and uncertainty – he carved his path forward without ever glancing back, without the time or need for pointless self-analysis. But now the back of his mind was chewing over this idea of sacrificing himself for a member of his posse, and it was goddamn irritating. Of course he wanted them to think he would, but the idea that he actually might had somehow never crossed his mind.
Seifer glanced over and caught Quistis giving him an all-knowing look – though, honestly, Quistis pretty much always looked at everyone like that. Always acting like she has everyone figured out. Especially me. Guess again, Instructor. She kept any commentary to herself for once, and just shook her head. "That was way too close, for all of you."
"No shit, Trepe." Seifer and his posse rejoined the rest of the group, which was missing a person. Wait, where–
Selphie peeked around the curve of the support strut. "I found some personnel transports. Let's get the heck outta here already!"
Best idea I've heard all damn day.
The group migrated to where the two vehicles sat, there for the taking, with Selphie already behind the wheel of the bright-ass yellow one. Quistis and Rinoa exchanged a look – since when are those two on the same page? – and headed for the yellow transport, with Quistis throwing a "Want to ride with us, Fujin?" over her shoulder.
Fu smirked and waved at the three remaining (all male) group members before following the other women.
Kinneas looked like he was going to cry, which almost made getting stuck with him worth it. "Uh, hey, ladies...?"
"Let it go, cowboy. They're not interested." Seifer tucked his hands into his pockets and trudged towards the remaining vehicle, too tired to give Irvine the amount of shit he deserved. He made a mental note to use this as ammunition in the future, though.
The two vehicles roared out into the desert, passing over miles of empty dust, miraculously unpursued. When they reached a hard-packed trail, they took it until it split, and Selphie's transport came to a shuddering halt, Selphie herself bouncing out into view. Raijin did the same with Seifer's, and they all piled out to see what the hell was going on this time. "What's up, messenger girl?"
Selphie climbed up on top of a half-buried structure and stomped a foot. "You said that the sorceress is going to launch missiles at Balamb and Trabia Gardens! Don't you think we need to DO something about that!?"
Quistis folded her arms and leaned forward, staring at the ground. "The only thing we can do is get to Balamb Garden and warn the students. Surely the headmaster can contact Trabia."
"We don't know that! What if Galbadia cuts off communications to the Gardens? And we'd never be able to make it there in person. We have to interfere with the launch, stop the missiles somehow!" Selphie's voice was near frantic, but her face was set in a look of ferocity that Seifer had only seen on GFs and a few monsters.
She's serious – it doesn't matter what happens, she's going to do this, even if she has to do it alone. It was almost admirable, that single-minded determination.
"Tilmitt's right. A two-pronged attack gives us the best chance for success. There's a Galbadian missile base not too far from here – we'll send a squad there, and another squad back to Balamb to warn them. If they can get a message out to Trabia, great, but we can't count on that. That's where Tilmitt comes in." Seifer leveled a look at the young woman. "I'm putting you in charge of the missile base team. I'll head up the Balamb squad myself."
The tiny brunette snapped herself into a protocol-perfect salute. "Yes sir!"
Seifer turned and surveyed the other five members of his team, ticking through the merits of one team over the other in his head. Rinoa is still a civilian, and a client. I can't send her on an infiltration mission into enemy territory. Quistis would be competent in either team, but Galbadia doesn't recruit many women, and she has pull in Balamb Garden. Raijin and Kinneas, though rather stupid, are both native Galbadians, male, and of the right physical build for a typical soldier. Tilmitt is clearly the brain of this operation, and those two should be adequate muscle. Fujin... Seifer frowned. The thought of handing over his entire posse to someone else was an unpleasant one, but he couldn't short Tilmitt a squad member when his own team was just acting as a glorified messenger. Besides, Fu always ranked well in sneaking sims. She's quick, quiet, and can get shit done. Missile base it is. Can't say that I don't feel a little better knowing that Tilmitt has some decent backup, too.
"Rin, Trepe, you two are with me. Tilmitt, you take Kinneas, Fujin, and Raijin with you to the base. Stop those missiles, got it? I'll be expecting you to return my posse to me at Balamb Garden when you make your report."
Selphie flashed him a megawatt smile. "We'll all be careful, so don't worry about us. You take care of yourself, Seifer."
Rin rushed over to throw her arms around Selphie, damn near blubbering, with Quistis close behind her. Kinneas mostly just looked nervous.
Seifer walked over to where his posse stood together. "You guys look out for Tilmitt, got it? Support her like you would me, and make sure Kinneas keeps his ass in line."
They nodded, Fu barking out a sharp "AFFIRMATIVE."
Raijin glanced around and then leaned in, whispering loud enough to be heard by the entire group. "We thought we'd be going with you, ya know? Balamb Garden is our home, too."
"I know. And the way you can best protect it is to help get those missiles stopped. I'm counting on you both." He reached out and clapped them both on the shoulder. "Frankly, I'm a little jealous. You guys get to be the big damn heroes this time."
"Why not come with us? Quisty and Rin can handle a message by themselves, ya know?"
Not a terrible idea, especially for Raijin. Blowing up a missile base sounds a lot more fun than going back to Balamb Garden. Especially since Cid's gonna want to know what happened with the Chickenwuss, not to mention the assassination mission... The impulse that was always there seized him, to charge headlong into battle without a thought for duty or the consequences, to do the thing that would bring him the most glory and fame, that would prove to everyone that Seifer Almasy was Not To Be Fucked With. For the first time in his life, he squashed that impulse. "I can't. Rin's my client, my responsibility. And I have a report to make. You guys kick some ass for me, got it?"
Getting nods from them again, Seifer went and found Irvine leaning against the yellow transport, trying for the confident mask he'd worn before the assassination mission. As Seifer walked up, he fumbled and let it drop. "I'm happy to help Selphie, but are you sure this is the best idea? I'm a sniper, not an infiltrator."
"I wouldn't have put you on her team if I didn't think it was a good idea, Kinneas. All you have to do is follow Tilmitt's lead. No one's asking you to do anything more than that." Just be the good little soldier that Galbadia Garden trained you to be, and you'll be fine.
Selphie had finally resurfaced from the hugs and well-wishes of Seifer's team, so he waved her over. "You got a plan, Tilmitt?"
"We should be able to get inside the base with this vehicle. Quistis found some spare uniforms in the back on our way here – getting in shouldn't be too hard. As for what happens after that, I'm just going to wing it. We'll find some way to stop the missile launch, and then we're gonna blow the place to smithereens!" She punched the air, all confidence and reckless determination. Seifer found himself grinning back at her.
"Sounds like a good plan. Try not to get yourself killed in the process."
Selphie winked at him. "Will do. Try not to flirt with Quistis too much in front of Rinoa, it's really hurting your chances of getting back together with her." Before Seifer could formulate any sort of thought, much less reply, Selphie planted her hands on her hips and yelled, "HEY! Missile base team! We're LEAVING!"
FLIRT? With TREPE? Hyne, what the fuck is she on? Seifer blinked away his confusion and filed the statement under the mental heading of 'Selphie Tilmit is a genuine fucking nutcase' as the missile base team passed him to climb into the yellow personnel transport. Kinneas and Fujin nodded in his direction, while Tilmitt and Raijin waved, the latter so hard that Seifer thought his hand might fall off. Without another word, half of his squad roared out into the desert.
Seifer turned to Rinoa and Quistis, who were standing behind him. "Let's get this done, shall we?"