Chapter Six—Starting Up
"SeeD?" Seifer sneered, his blue eyes flashing. "I'm afraid you're mistaken..."
The guard (or very pissed off TV crewman) didn't seem to care. "Hands up," he commanded, brandishing his rifle. Yes, Mr. Man, I know you have a very dangerous weapon; I'd appreciate it if you didn't wave it at me. Sheesh. Some people…
As it turned out, it wasn't just me that brought out the ass in Seifer; other people had that effect on him too. "SeeD?" he was practically sniggering, "I don't see any SeeDs anywhere. Are you referring to Zell here?" and he gestured at me, "Because I hate to break it to you folks, but he's not a SeeD."
"Hands up!" the guard repeated. The corner of his mouth was twitching. That couldn't be good…
"And I'm certainly no SeeD. Can you believe that, Zell?" Seifer had turned to me, determined to show just how shocked he was at being mistakenly classified. Tch. "I mean, really, me!" and he said this with the most effeminate, surprised voice he could muster.
"Alright, buddy, we've no time for this," and one of the guards behind us prodded Seifer in the back with his rifle. Okaaay…That was a bad move…
"Well…If you insist," Seifer said. Oh, I did not like that tone of voice at all. It implied pain and many more wiseass comments. "I guess we can play SeeD for you," and before any of us could even blink, Seifer had drawn his gunblade and had it pressed right up against the neck of the guard in front of us. The poor guy stood there, his eyes and mouth wide. His bottom lip trembled pathetically as Seifer followed his Adam's apple with the edge of his blade. A manic gleam had lit up his ice-blue eyes and he licked his lips. Hyne, he looked like a starving wolf. I was just waiting for him to growl…
"Let him go! Now!" ordered Nameless Guard #2 from behind us.
I turned around slowly. The two remaining guards stood and quivered, the muzzles of their guns wavering at us. Now, I wasn't the best Sorceress to ever grace the earth, but I could more than handle these goons. I waggled my fingers at my sides, eagerly awaiting the rush of Power that was fast approaching. "I'm only going to warn you once," I said clearly, making sure the two men had heard me, "Put your guns down."
Seifer snorted next to me, his attention still on the poor guard at the edge of his blade. "Gotta play the hero, eh, Zell? I shouldn't have expected anything else."
Thankfully, the guards in front of me were still aiming at me, or I would have been tempted to zap Seifer with a nice Thundaga. Oh well, I had given them their chance. "Your loss," I told them, smiling grimly at their twin looks of shock as golden energy began to coil around my body. The little snakes of Power slithered their way to my fingertips, where they gathered and sparked. I began to lift my hands, spreading out my fingers till a web of sizzling energy was tracing back and forth over the digits.
When I had first gotten my Powers, I had loved to sit and play like this, watching the patterns I could make with the golden energy. The guards seemed to appreciate this as well; they watched the movements of the crackling wisps across my fingers, almost with a deer-in-the-headlights blankness. It was only too easy to set the Power on them.
Twin golden streams smacked the two guards right in the chest, knocking them backwards. They slid across the smooth tile floor, their guns clattering harmlessly to the ground beside them. Behind me, I could make out a thud as Seifer's guard fell to the ground. I turned, finding that the man was still alive, just scared beyond belief. His gaze kept flicking from Seifer to me and then back again; the poor bastard couldn't decide who he was more afraid of. Seifer eventually solved that problem for him by smacking him on the head with the flat side of his blade. The man collapsed into an ungainly heap on the floor.
Seifer prodded the unconscious guard with the toe of his boot before turning to me, a lopsided grin plastered on his face. He had just opened his mouth to say something when reinforcements arrived, once again mistaking us for Garden's mercenaries.
"Here. Sit," and Seifer directed me to a very poofy armchair he had pulled out of a corner. I obeyed, too stunned really to do anything else. I immediately sank right down into the chair. It was so comfortable I really couldn't help but toe off my shoes and bring my legs up. I wrapped my arms around them and rested my chin on my knees, watching Seifer as he paced in front of me. He had brought up a single gloved finger and was stroking his bottom lip. His brows were furrowed in thought.
"Alright," he said at last, finally ceasing his pacing and sitting down on the bed across from me. "You agreed to cooperate, right?"
I nodded, warily.
"I'm just gonna ask you some questions, okay?"
"Okay…" I narrowed my eyes. Why was he being so nice? Where had his scar gone? Why did he insist I was the Sorceress? As soon as he was done, it was gonna be my turn to ask questions.
Seifer exhaled, rubbing tiredly at his eyes before speaking. "I want you to relate to me everything you've done since you got up this morning."
Huh. That didn't sound too hard. Alrighty then… "We had a mission," I told him, "Me, Selphie, and Squall. We were hired by this chick Rinoa to help her execute a bunch of half-assed plans. She wanted us to storm the TV station, take over, and declare Timber's independence. Only problem was, President Deling got in front of the cameras first. The whole thing had been set up to announce the Sorceress as some sort of ambassador," here I went off on a tangent, "Now, I don't buy that shit at all. Ambassador? Of what? She's just gonna help him take over more cities. I mean—"
"What happened after that?" Seifer interrupted. He obviously didn't give a damn about my theories of corruption in the government. Fine then. His loss.
"Anyway, after that Squall got pissed at Rinoa for being stupid and she ran off. (Good riddance, I say.) And Selphie came back and then Quistis came on air and was like, 'Yeah, we're knee-deep in shit, come dig us out,' and so we burst into the station and, lo and behold, you're there being all, 'I'm an idiot with too much testosterone who's gonna screw everything up by holding the president hostage.' So…uh…yeah. Then I opened my mouth and blew our cover and endangered Garden and then you were like, 'Way ta go, Chickenwuss. I'm a prick, watch me run off with the president while you guys clean up after me.' So then I was pissed, because, like you said, you're a prick, so I ran after you and when I finally found you the president was gone and you were talking to this chick. So I charged you, because, you know, you're a prick, but I missed (How the fuck did I miss? You're twice as big as I am?) and ended up flying at this woman, but she disappeared through wall and then I fell through after her, and you were all like, 'Zell, come back! I want to torment you some more! I'm a prick!' and I was like, all falling and shit. So then I realized the chick was the Sorceress and I was like, 'Damn, this is bad,' but I was still falling, and then I finally came to the end of the little wall-vortex-thing. Then some guy came and latched onto me and was all like, 'Whine, whine, I'm a wiener, follow me, something about Cid… Seifer's a prick, he's gone crazy and shit…' And so I let him drag me through this damn place until he threw me in with you. And that's everything."
Seifer had sat on the end of the bed, watching me silently until I had finished. When he finally spoke, all he said was, "I take it you don't like me very much." And I could have sworn he had a spark of humor dancing in his eyes.
I just snorted. "Is that all you're gonna ask me? I have some questions myself, y'know."
Seifer shook his head. "No, there's more." Goody. "You mentioned the Sorceress and the…president? Deling, right? Do you happen to know the Sorceress' name?"
"No," I sniffed, rubbing at my nose; it had started itching. "I don't remember if they said it on-air or not."
Seifer sighed. "Alright. Then…how do you know me?"
Okay…Why was I getting the feeling Seifer thought I was someone else? "From Garden. You were always picking on me; you know, just being a prick"
"Balamb?"
"Yeah…"
"Alright. Your turn. What do you want to ask me?"
"How do you know me?"
Seifer grinned wryly, revealing a nice set of sparkling white teeth. Mmm…Shiny… "I always saw you around at Garden. From the first moment I arrived, I knew who you were: Zell, the heir to the Sorceress' powers. I even went into training to serve you. After you inherited the old Sorceress' powers, I became your Knight. Since then, I have rarely left your side."
Whoa… Yeah… Something was fucked up on, like, a Behemoth-sized scale.
"What…" I shook my head, starting over, "You're not kidding, are you?"
"No. And I don't believe you are either."
"Fuck, no."
"Then what do you think has happened?"
I don't know… "I'm dreaming?" I ventured timidly.
Seifer shook his head. He was looking off to the side, chewing his bottom lip in thought. Maybe it had been a rhetorical question… "It had something to do with the source…with the portal you fell through…" he sounded more like he was just thinking aloud, than anything, but his remark got my wheels turning…
Sure… Of course it had something to do with the portal. I had always knew it was the Sorceress' fault. She was, like, all-powerful and shit; of course she could send me into some trippy dimension if she wanted. But… Then what had happened to the other Zell? The one that Seifer had thought he was kissing? Seifer had mentioned something… A source…thing…
"Seifer," he was close enough for me to stretch out a leg and prod him with a socked foot. He turned to me, an expectant look on his face. "What's a source? That…thing you mentioned…"
"A source… I guess… It's probably the same as what you fell through: a Sorceress portal."
"And did…Uhm…The other me fall through that?"
Seifer nodded, his eyes narrowing as he realized I was onto something.
"Then your Zell is probably in my world. So, I guess this means all we have to do is find that source-thingy. I'll go through it, find your Zell, and stuff him back through my portal. See? That makes sense, don't it?"
"Yes… That should…actually work." Seifer sprung to his feet, "C'mon," he said, grabbing my shoulder and lifting me up.
"Wait…wait a tick! I've gotta," and I was hopping around on one foot, trying to get my red high-top back on, "put my shoes on!"
... ... ...
Walking just a few steps behind Seifer, my eyes on the floor, my thoughts whirled in drunken patterns. I wasn't too concerned about the source. It had been settled in my mind that I was going home, and I wouldn't even dwell on the fact that my little half-assed plan might fail (Rinoa was rubbing off on me, dammit.) Instead, I thought about something that had already occurred to me: Seifer had kissed me because he had thought I was someone else. Well, not really someone else, but…whatever. The point was, sentiments like that usually are usually based on strong feelings. The only strong feeling I had ever had for anyone was my hatred (or very very strong dislike) for the other-Seifer. I had never even really thought of kissing anyone like that before, male or female.
I mean, there had been this girl, a transfer student, who had come to Garden for a semester when I was thirteen. She had really long, curly red hair and freckles, and had thought I was dreadfully funny. I had trailed after her like a lost puppy, jumping at her every whim. I remembered how one time I had worked up the courage to hold her hand and for weeks after that I thought that was the most wonderful feeling in the world. I could still remember how small her hand was in mine, how smooth. She had painted her fingernails a light blue color to match her skirt. I remembered worrying that she'd think my hand was too sweaty, too dirty. She had just looked up at me and smiled, swinging our hands between us.
Now, I couldn't even remember her name.
But still, that little crush hadn't even been enough to stir up any really deep emotions in me. But Seifer, this Seifer, must have felt something for the other Zell. And that…that confused me. I mean, I would never have even imagined that there could be anything but hate between us. But these two…
Hyne, this Seifer had said himself that he had rarely left the other Zell's side. What would that have been like? If I had just let him kiss me, and not jerked away, would he have… Would he have leaned down and whispered in my ear; whispered the only feeling that I could think of that would beget such an action? If he had kept on thinking I was the other Zell… What would… What would have happened next?
Why was I thinking this?
I shook my head to rid myself of the thoughts. We were probably almost there, anyway; what good would if have done me had I answered that question? I'd never see this Seifer again anyway. I'd go home, right back into the arms of the one person who hated me the most in the entire world. Fuck.
"It's right in here," Seifer whispered, stopping in front of a doorway I only vaguely recognized. He pressed a single gloved hand to the small of my back, steering me into the room. Even after he had closed the door and led me to the chamber's center, he still didn't immediately remove his hand. His middle and index fingers were rubbing my back through my jacket. I swallowed nervously, looking up at him.
Seifer seemed, once again, lost in thought. He was scouring the room, his eyes moving quick as lightning from corner to corner. I started to move away from his touch, opening my mouth to protest, but then that damned question came back to haunt me. What would have happened next? If I just let him keep stroking my back, what would happen next? Did I want that much to find out? Was it even that much a matter of want? I needed to find out what would happen next.
So I didn't move. I stood there, stupidly forgetting why we had come to this room in the first place. That didn't matter so much anymore. All I cared about was concentrating on the little circular movements of Seifer's fingers.
"It's not here." It took me nearly a full minute to register that, and by that time, Seifer had removed his hand was striding even farther into the room, kicking at the floor in various places. "The damn thing isn't here," he hissed angrily.
Okay, this wasn't supposed to happen. My plan had been foolproof. The damn portal wasn't supposed to disappear.
"Not here?" Was that my voice? Since when had my voice trembled like that? Sounded that pathetic? "But… I just…"
"Goddammit!" Seifer cursed. His voice echoed angrily through the empty room. "Goddammit!"
"What do we do now?" I asked, following Seifer with my eyes. He had started pacing the room, each pivot accompanied by an obscenity.
"We have to find Edea, we have to let her…" he trailed off, stopping mid-step. "No," he said suddenly, "No one can know what happened. If we told Edea, Cid would find out, and then Martine… Shit."
"What…what would happen if Martine found out?"
"The whole goddamn country would panic. I'd get thrown into jail for letting Zell get lost, and you'd be handed over to Odine to be used as a fucking science experiment. The whole fucking lot of them would probably think it was better the Sorceress was gone. No chance of a fucking uprising then. When there's no one to threaten your authority, you're better off." He was ranting. His eyes were wide, wild; his lips moving fast in order to expel the quick stream of words.
I did not want to be a science experiment.
"So what to we do?" I demanded, doing my damnedest to reign in my worry, my sudden fear of being attached to a computer or left to float in some tank.
"Nothing, there's nothing we can do. We just have to wait for Zell to find a way back. He's a Sorceress, he had create one of those damned portals… Goddammit, why isn't he back yet?" Seifer was frantic. If there had been anything to throw in the room, he would have thrown it. I was just lucky he hadn't thought of turning his anger on me. Other Seifer would have.
"So we wait," I said quietly, trying to calm him down. "Maybe your Zell just hasn't come to the end of the portal yet. It took me a long time to come out here."
Seifer nodded, quickly grabbing onto the excuse. "Yeah, that's probably what happened. You might have been falling long before we even found the source." Seifer stopped pacing, looking up at me with his blue eyes flashing. "Alright, so we wait. He'll try coming back here… I'm sure of it. Until then, we'll just have to cover up the fact that he's gone. You'll have to pretend to be him; if only for a few hours."
Okay, so I had to pretend to be me. Wow. I bet that was going to be strenuous.
The last of the guards fell to floor; little streaks of golden energy still crackled over his body like a lightning storm. Seifer sheathed his gunblade, looking at the mess at our feet and smirking. He seemed rather proud of himself. And why shouldn't he be? We had fought our way through wave after wave of those damned soldiers in blue. Apparently, they had taken over the TV station and had been disturbed by our presence. I think we had finally managed to beat it into their skulls that we weren't SeeD, at least. The last few rounds of guards we had beat up had started addressing us with, "Oh shit! It's them!" Seifer had found that extremely funny.
"Is that all you've got?" he belted out to the empty hallway. He was practically panting, streams of sweat dripped down from his brow, and still he was awaiting a real challenge. I could read it from his posture, from the glint in his eyes. My Seifer had looked like that too. At least that was one thing they shared; they had an undeniable lust for the battlefield, for combat.
"I don't think there're any left," I told him, wiping my own greasy forehead. Using my Power for such a concentrated amount of time really wore me out.
Seifer snorted, shaking his head roughly. Beads of sweat swung from damp strands of blonde hair. He whipped his head backwards, combing a single hand through his hair and molding it back into place. "We should get going then." He flashed a white smirk in my direction. "If we hurry we can catch up to the rest of your team."
"Tch," I frowned at him, rubbing the back of my neck. I tangled my fingers in my hair, tugging lightly at the few captured strands. Sweat caused them to slide easily from my fingers. "So? Lead ahead," and I gestured with a little flick of my wrist.
Seifer bowed, extending his arms in mock supplication. "Right this way, my Lady."
I swear, if I had even the slightest bit less self control, I would have killed him, danced on his body, and bowed to my audience of unconscious soldiers.