Chapter 26
A butterfly flaps its wings
The train jolted into life just after the doors slid seamlessly shut behind me. I sighed in relief, glad that so far my plan was going to...well, plan I guess. It was all going to plan, yeah...whatever the plan is.
Right I think I should start again.
-I have already had this discussion with myself- I thought as I walked down the long sunlit corridor in search of the private SeeD cabin, -and I'm not going back on my decision now.-
I had decided that I wasn't going to have a plan and I was going to play it ad hoc, straight off the cuff, purely because I worked best when I improvised (please ignore my spectacular display of improvisation on our SeeD exam as an example) but mainly because I also had no idea what I was doing.
Other than trying to find the private SeeD cabin.
The train chugged along noiselessly, only the ever so slight sway to and fro giving away the fact that we were moving at all. I was sure that the idiot that had forced me to come out here in the first place, Zell Chicken Dincht, was on this train. He had to be, I was sure of it, I knew how his mind worked and this is just the kind of thing he'd think was clever. Running off to try and save the day and win back any lost affections because that's the kind of thing he worries about, and this was the most efficient mode of travel to Timber.
The door at the opposite end of the corridor swished open suddenly. The dark clad figure of a train guard entered long slim hallway, walking with his head down as he whistled annoyingly.
-Ah- I thought, -this could be useful...-
He continued along, not watching where he was going, and thus didn't see me until I was standing right in his face. He let out a startled yelp that was entirely unbecoming of a man in uniform. I simply smiled back predatorily and watched him try and scrape back some semblance of dignity.
"Can I help you?" he asked roughly.
"Why yes," I said amiably, "I'm looking for the private SeeD cabin, someone's waiting for me."
"Oh," he replied a little suspiciously, "is that so? That's a restricted area of the train you know..."
"Yes it is," I said back, pressing the fact that I was at least four inches taller than him by looming over his smaller form, "take it you need some proof?"
"That would help," the train guard relaxed a little, obviously expecting me pull out my ticket; his blood pressure almost doubled however when I simply tore Hyperion from her sheath and pointed it at his throat.
"Good enough for you?" I asked as his mouth dropped open in a silent 'o', "don't make a sound or I'll make sure you can't. Take me to the cabin now."
He just nodded, turning to his left in a mechanical fashion to face the wall I had been walking past only a moment before. I was about to tell him to cut the monkey business because that was obviously a bloody wall, when I realised that there was an almost imperceptible card reader socket placed discretely into the paneling. The guard fumbled with his card keys, finally finding the right one before dropping it from shaking hands and swallowing loudly.
"Could we maybe hurry it up here?" I prompted, pushing Hyperion's sharp point into the soft material of his jacket, forcing a slick ripping noise from the fabric.
"S-sorry s-sir," he managed to stutter, practically leaping on the wayward card before slotting it into the wall with shaking hands.
The door appeared from nowhere. One second there was no door, next second there was a grand overly fanciful door visible in between the wrought steel panels. I whistled low and long, enjoying the tremble it sent through the train guard, and turned to him once more.
"Don't suppose you could open that for me hmm?" I asked with a smile.
"Mmm," he simply hummed and nodded, avoiding my eyes with an almost frantic disposition.
He succinctly typed in a pass key to the panel which had appeared along with the door and the ornate doors slid effortlessly open. I shoved him inside, looked about and then hopped into the room before anyone decided to pass by. The door automatically closed and I sighed in relief.
"P-please," the train guard was stuttering, his face twisted now into an almost maniacal grin, while his eyes filled with tears, "don't k-kill me..."
"Alright," I said, nodding, loving the confusion spreading through his features, "I won't. Now turn around."
He shook as he slowly trundled around on the balls of his feet, whispering to himself that this was the end, he was going to die, blah, blah...as soon as his back was to me I reached out and squeezed the pressure points at the base of his neck and his aorta and he froze, sighed, then slipped gracelessly into an unconscious heap on the floor.
Great, this is all going spectacularly to my plan of not having a plan.
Well, I managed to hold onto that thought until I turned around, wondering why Chicken Wuss wasn't ranting at me yet, wondering if maybe he was asleep or perhaps not even here at all...until I finally located him.
He was just as unconscious as the guard at my feet, laying at a awkward angle in the middle of the floor, breathing evenly. Well, that's unexpected.
-Has he passed out?- I wondered unsurely, wanting to make so many jokes at this moment about his complete idiocy, but finding the whole situation a little too strange, -Or did someone attack him?-
I quickly backed up against the smooth wall of the cabin, watching patiently as the lights of the cabin flickered into life as the train manoeuvred into the underground tunnel. The cabin wasn't very large, holding a long L-shaped couch in one corner and a bunk bed in the opposite corner. Nowhere to hide, nowhere to conceal a person, but then perhaps it was a gas? However I wasn't unconscious yet, so that gave me some time to search.
It was just as I had finished searching the couch and was moving on to the beds that I heard him stir. I swung round, brandishing Hyperion, and was faced with an unsteady, groggy Zell as he pushed up from the floor and stood swaying in front of me. It took a couple of seconds for him to register who I was, but it took less than that for him to strike out. His eyes opened wide in his sockets, like a pearl in an oyster, and he lunged forwards. It was only because he was so unsteady that I was able to dodge his attack, shifting nimbly to the side to allow him to fall past me, grabbing hold of the large black collar of his short jacket and hauling him round into a neck hold, his body pressed flush against my own. He struggled briefly but still seemed weak from whatever it was that had affected him. I brought Hyperion slowly round to his throat, pressing the metal against the bared flesh before speaking softly into his ear.
"Leaving without even saying goodbye? Didn't your mother ever teach you manners?"
"Fuck you Seifer," he spat back, his voice laced with venom, "at least I have a mother! Let me go!"
"Tsk, tsk, then didn't she tell you it isn't clever to antagonise crazed men holding sharp objects to your throat?" I asked slowly, enjoying every minute.
"...You'll be expelled for this," he finally hissed back after a pause, his tone holding less recrimination and more hatred now.
"I'm not the only one," I said back, forcing the point home, "I'm not the only bad boy to run away from home today."
"Like you have a good reason," he spat back instantly, "why are you even here!? If you want to try and force me back..."
"Don't flatter yourself!" I finally shouted, spinning him out of my grip and onto the couch to my right, holding Hyperion out in front of me to stop him from attacking, "You think I'm here because of you? Don't make me laugh."
"Well if you aren't after me then...Oh I see," his said as he pushed up on the plush material, gaze hardening, "you can't win him over this way Seifer, he doesn't want you, I think he made that clear this morning..."
"The only thing made clear this morning is that he doesn't want you on his team any more Dincht," I yelled back.
"That's a lie, he stood up for me, he knew this was all your fault!"
"Oh yeah, very mature, play the blame game, that'll get you far," I sneered, "you'd better buck up and accept the truth, stop hanging onto this false reality you've created, because it's all going to cave in around you sooner or later."
"Shut up Seifer!"
"Make me."
I simply stood, glaring defiantly at his sprawled form as he forced himself into a sitting position, his muscles bunched and ready to spring at the smallest opening in my defences; I didn't let that happen.
"You don't love him," he said finally, shaking his head, "you're so selfish."
"And what would a chicken wuss like you know about love?" I said back scathingly, "You call me selfish when all you can think about is securing him for yourself, not even knowing what you really want, forcing your affections onto him like some hormonally challenged teenager."
"I am a teenager," he yelled back indignantly and childishly.
"Well I'm not," I said back with a glare, "and I know what I want and I know what he wants and I'm not going to let some insignificant brat like you ruin it. Understand?"
"Like hell I do," he smirked back defiantly, "who would understand the workings of a twisted mind like yours?"
"Huh, talk about the pot calling the kettle black," I scoffed, "but really, I didn't come all this way to play toss the insult with the likes of you. I just came to find you so I could get you out of the way."
"Oh, you make it sound so..." I tensed, sensing the anger in his voice rising and readied myself; he looked up and tried for a sneak attack, launching from the couch to slip under the guard I hadn't even noticed I'd let down.
His right fist slashed up past my face, the wind of it ruffling my hair as I danced back and readied my spell. As he fell into stance, dancing to the right, jabbing with his left hook and trying to trip me with his fancy footwork, I slowly released the Sleep spell I'd been saving for just such an occasion. Zell stumbled, shook his head and glared at me, shook his head again now clutching at his temples, eyes fluttering, closing, knees buckling, limbs loosening, muscles relaxing. For the second time in as many minutes Zell found himself unconscious on the floor of the private SeeD cabin, breathing softly. I sighed and shook my head.
-Pathetic- I thought to myself, -and you think you're worthy of him. Seriously, you looked in a mirror lately Dincht?-
I walked over to the sofa and sat down, making myself comfortable. So far this had all gone swimmingly. Hmm, maybe passing the SeeD exam was worth it after all, I could get used to this kind of luxury. However, after this stunt, that might not be an option anymore.
Nah, that's too depressing, I don't want to think about that right now.
The train tannoy system bing-bonged, an announcement asking for Steward Hallock to report to car 10 rang out against the silence of the room. I looked down to the unconscious Steward on the floor, sporting a large name badge with Hallock emblazoned on its black lacquered surface, and hoped that I could be off the train and out of here before they began scouting the train for him. This was an express train, faster than the one Squall and Co had taken, should get in about fifteen minutes after theirs...
I hope...I really hope he doesn't kill me when he sees me. I really have more right than him to be angry after all. Still, this is a really freaking stupid plan Seifer Almasy.
What have you gotten yourself into this time?