Fox and Hound
Chapter Eight
"CONDITION?"
Fujin was perfectly capable of speaking normally, but in times of stress, she sometimes reverted to her old manner of speech. And this was definitely a time of stress.
Seifer shook his head, his brow furrowing in a scowl as he stubbed out his third cigarette in ten minutes. Frowning down at the unconscious woman on the sofa, he answered his long-time comrade.
"How the fuck should I know, Fu? This isn't exactly my area of expertise." His specialty was ass-kicking and smart-ass remarks--not healing.
The slim, silver-haired woman slipped a comforting arm around the blonde knight's shoulders. "Kane says she's been through this before and come out all right. Heartlilly seems to agree."
Seifer nodded mutely and gave Fujin a weak smile. Hyne, he hoped so. If anything happened to Siobhan, they were all pretty much fucked.
Come on, Red, wake up…open those eyes and look at me…tell me to go fuck myself…SOMETHING….
********************
"Hello tall, blonde and handsome. You look like you could use a friend."
Seifer shifted his gaze from his half-empty glass of cheap Trabian whisky to the barstool next to his. A tall redhead with large, storm-cloud grey eyes and a gamin's smile regarded him with amusement.
"Piss off, lady," he growled. "I'm not interested in female companionship." He turned his sullen glare back to his glass.
A throaty chuckle issued from the unknown quantity on the next stool. "Well, that's just fine, toots," she laughed, "because I'm not offering any--not the kind you mean, anyway."
Scowling, the ex-knight drained the remaining whisky from his glass before replying. "What the hell do you want then? I'm not exactly in the market for a friend."
The redhead rolled her eyes. "I know, I know," she said, her grey eyes sparkling with laughter, "the great Seifer Almasy, ex-sorceress's knight and professional asshole. Runs with scissors, doesn't play well with others, yadda, yadda, yadda."
So she knew who he was. Big deal. He could give a fuck.
The bartender approached and his companion ordered a bottle of absinthe. Quirking a russet eyebrow, she inquired, "And what are you drinking, hot shot?"
"Trabian whisky."
His companion's nose crinkled in distaste. "Chocobo piss," she scoffed, "bring him Galbadian--it's on me," she said, cutting of Seifer's protest that he couldn't afford the more expensive liquor.
The bartender poured their drinks and headed off to the other end of the bar to check on the other customers. Seifer sipped the whisky, enjoying the mellow warmth that caressed his tongue.
"It's been a while since I've had anything this good," he commented, "Thanks." What the hell, not many women voluntarily sought his company these days. And if this one was willing to keep plying him with expensive liquor…well, might as well be pleasant and see what she wanted.
The woman shrugged, "No problem." Pulling out a silver cigarette case, she plucked a slender cigarette from its interior and placed it between her lips. Glancing from side to side, she muttered a short string of unintelligible words, the only two of which he caught were "Draconis," and something that sounded like "ignius," or maybe "ignuus."
Oh…FUCK! Not another one of those bitches!
"Yeah…'fraid so, sugar," the woman said, grinning cheerfully as she touched her cigarette to the tiny spark that danced over her fingertips. She took a deep drag from the cigarette before exhaling a thin stream of smoke that smelled like the sweet, spicy incense that Matron used to burn back in the old orphanage days.
Seifer's eyes narrowed, glinting dangerously. "Stay out of my fucking mind!"
"I didn't read your mind," the sorceress chuckled, "just your face." Eyes sparkling with mischief, the woman leaned closer to him and murmured, "Remind me to get you in a poker game sometime, Stone Face."
"What the fuck do you want, witch?" Seifer growled at the woman.
The redhead's good-humored go-to-hell smile snapped off as suddenly as if someone had flipped a switch. The thundercloud eyes crackled with lightning, causing even a hardened asshole like Seifer to blink uncertainly.
"First of all," she snapped, "the name's O'Hara, not witch. Siobhan O'Hara--got that?"
Seifer nodded. "O'Hara…yeah, got it."
Immediately, the sorceress's good humor returned. "And secondly," she continued, "I have a proposition for you."
She had, indeed. Siobhan had told him the most weird-ass story he'd ever heard. Something about soul-mates and a pattern. Fuck if he could make heads or tails of it. She'd also told him that his actions during the Sorceress War hadn't been completely unjustified. There were reasons--good ones--behind Ultimecia's attempt to destroy the world. The debacle that had followed was the unfortunate result of the sorceress's madness overtaking her before she could accomplish her goal--that, and a complete failure to understand the true nature of Time Compression.
"Are you trying to tell me that Ultimecia was actually one of the good guys?" Shit, Seifer had spent nearly six months serving as knight to the wacked-out bitch--it had been like being linked to chaos--he hadn't detected the slightest trace of good in her.
Siobhan nodded. "Originally, at any rate," she said. "In her time, sorceresses are very few in number. They've almost completely died out--been killed off, actually. When Ultimecia discovered the Junction Ellone device, she looked back over the past in an attempt to find out why. And guess what she found?"
Seifer shrugged. "You tell me."
"She found a group of six young people: an antisocial youth, a young woman with a whip, a short man with a tattoo, a girl in yellow with sea-green eyes--"
"A cowboy and a girl with a dog," Seifer finished for her. This was no news to him.
To his surprise, O'Hara shook her head. "No--a quiet girl with silver hair and an eyepatch--and you."
"Me?" The blonde man blinked in surprise. "Me and Fujin?" Seifer shook his head. No way. This was too fucking weird.
"Irvine and Rinoa were never supposed to meet the others," Siobhan informed him. "Ultimecia somehow managed to change the pattern--I'm not sure how--" the redhead shook her head. "I don't know how they managed to defeat her--they shouldn't have been able to."
Seifer downed the rest of his drink and immediately ordered another. He had a feeling he was going to need it. O'Hara lit another cigarette before continuing.
"The six young people she saw set a series of events in motion that would eventually lead to the extinction of our entire race--it's already begun, as a matter of fact."
"So…" Seifer inquired, at a loss, "how does Time Compression fit into the picture? Destroying the whole fucking world seems a little extreme to get rid of six dipshits."
"Yeah," Siobhan agreed, "but world destruction wasn't her intention." The sorceress's brow furrowed in thought for a moment. "Have you ever played a video game?"
The blonde knight blinked in surprise. "Yeah," he answered, "but what--"
"Ultimecia believed that TC would erase her present by functioning as a sort of restart button. The events leading to her time would collapse, one into another, erasing themselves as they went, until nothing was left of that particular time line--follow me?"
Seifer didn't--quite--but he nodded mutely and waited for O'Hara to continue.
"Unfortunately, it didn't work as she expected--but long before she discovered what TC actually entailed, she lost it--was driven mad by her own powers." The redhead shrugged. "It happens to a lot of us. It's hard to contain that kind of power in the limited confines of the human body--some of us can handle it--and taking a knight helps some--but even that usually only defers the inevitable for a short time. In the end," she said bitterly, "we all end up paying the price."
O'Hara took a sip of absinthe before continuing. "She took you as her knight, knowing that Fujin would leave Garden to follow you. Then she used the Junction Ellone device to travel back into the past, made a few nudges here and there, and threw Irvine and Rinoa into the mix--two people who were completely unsuited for the life of a warrior. By changing the line-up, she believed that she could change the outcome of the battle." Siobhan shook her head. "It should have worked, but, for some reason, it didn't."
"So…" Seifer finished his drink; O'Hara's story definitely went down better with a whisky chaser. "What's your proposition? How can you change any of this?"
"By destroying Odine's little toy--and the man who created it."
Seifer nearly choked on his whisky. "How the fuck will that help?"
O'Hara looked at him as if he were the densest person she'd ever seen. "No Odine, no device. No device, Ultimecia won't be able to go back into the past. This should set off another chain of events--stretching both backwards and forwards in time--"
"The restart button," Seifer said, finally catching on. He took a long look at the sorceress. She was talking about murder as casually as she would discuss the latest best-seller she'd read. Funny. She didn't look like the type.
"Have you ever killed anyone? It's not a pretty thing, you know." Before Seifer got involved any further, he wanted to know if O'Hara was really prepared for what she was proposing--or if she was another Rinoa, dreaming dreams of glory without really understanding that dreams of that nature usually carried a heavy price.
Siobhan's smile faded and, for a moment, the playful façade fell away, revealing a pained, haunted expression in the normally laughing grey eyes. "Yes," she said quietly, "I've killed before--and you're right, it's not a pretty thing. I can remember the face of each man I've killed--and I see them every night when I go to sleep." Tortured grey eyes locked onto his as the sorceress continued speaking. "I don't enjoy killing," she said, "but--Odine--I think I would enjoy snapping his neck." Siobhan's lips stretched into a hungry, lupine grin. "I think I'd enjoy that very much."
Sorceress and Knight sat in silence for a few moments. Siobhan, smoking one of her apparently unlimited supply of spiced cigarettes; Seifer, contemplating the bottom of his empty glass, trying to reach a decision.
"So…" Siobhan said finally, taking another sip of absinthe, "are you interested, or not?"
Was he interested? Seifer considered the sorceress's story. O'Hara was either cracked, or she was the world's biggest--albeit most original--liar. And yet…there was a weird sort of logic to her tale. During his time with Ultimecia, Seifer had often felt that something had gone sadly out of whack--that he wasn't supposed to be on the side he'd "chosen." He wasn't supposed to be fighting his friends.
"OK, O'Hara," he said at last, "You've got yourself a knight."
The sorceress laughed. "Oh no I don't," she said.
Seifer turned a puzzled countenance to Siobhan; the redhead smiled and pointed off to the side. "She does."
Turning slightly to look in the direction that Siobhan was pointing, Seifer's eyes widened in surprise as a slim woman with silver hair and an eye patch approached him.
"Fujin?" he exclaimed, "You're a sorceress?"
A small smile played about his old friend's lips as she answered, "AFFIRMATIVE."
********************
So Seifer had thrown his lot in with Siobhan and her wild-ass scheme to restore the time continuum. Hell, it wasn't like he had a lot of career opportunities at this point. Together with a few other members of the Sisterhood, they had rescued Rinoa from the D-district prison. Seifer had argued against that--Rinoa had always been a ditz, and rescuing her just wasn't worth the risk, in his opinion. Siobhan and Fujin had been adamant, however. Rinoa was a sister sorceress--therefore, rescued she would be. Much to Seifer's surprise, Rinoa wasn't quite the pain in the ass that he remembered. Maybe gratitude for her rescue was responsible for the change, or maybe even dipshits like her eventually matured.
Princess Heartlilly notwithstanding, Seifer had never regretted his decision to join O'Hara's merry band. In addition to serving as Fujin's knight, he'd become Siobhan's military advisor. And Siobhan was a damn good leader in his opinion. Unlike those idiots at Garden, she wanted and expected Seifer to disregard previous orders, if necessary, and to adapt to circumstances when and if they changed. She wanted a general who could think and act quickly in a crisis, and who didn't have to request for new instructions every time something unexpected happened. She trusted his judgement…she trusted him. For that alone, he'd be willing to follow her through hell barefooted.
And now, she lay unconscious on a fucking sofa in her adoptive father's house, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. That really pissed him off. More than anything else, Seifer hated feeling helpless. Fujin seemed to understand some of what the blonde knight was feeling--hell, of course she did, he'd been her knight for nearly two years now. And the bond between them was…intense.
The silver haired sorceress brushed her lips against his hair. "She'll be all right, " she said quietly.
A trace of Seifer's habitual smirk played about his lips. "She'd better," he said, "or I'll kick her ass."
As if in response to the blonde knight's threat, Siobhan's eyelids fluttered open.
"Irvine?" she murmured, her grey gaze flitting restlessly around the study.
"Nah, Red. It's just me and Fujin."
Siobhan shook her head, trying to clear away the cobwebs that still fuzzed her brain, and struggled to sit up. "Shit," she swore softly, "I hate that bitch."
The redhead's comment surprised laughter from Fujin and her knight. Siobhan scowled up at her two friends, then broke into a slight smile as she realized how her words must have sounded.
"I meant Tisiphone," she explained, "Not you, Fujin."
The other sorceress waved a hand dismissively at her friend, "I know."
Siobhan's face turned suddenly grave as her eyes met Seifer's. "Irvine," she said suddenly, "He's on his way--now. We've got to get away before he gets here! She'll kill him--she showed me!"
********************
Zell stared at the squad he was supposed to lead into the Fox's lair.
Shit. They look so…young.
The martial artist shook his head. Hell, it wasn't like he was that much older, himself. And he'd only been about these kids' age when he and his friends had taken out Ultimecia. But still…
"Lieutenant Dincht? Is anything wrong, sir?"
Zell turned to face Nichols, one of the re-con team who had been observing the Sisterhood's safe house for the past two weeks.
"No. Nothing's wrong," Zell answered, "Just thinking." Regarding his squad with an uncharacteristically serious expression, he asked, "Any of them have experience fighting sorceresses? Any field experience at all?"
Nichols shook his head. "I don't think so, sir--no sorceress experience, anyway. They're all recent graduates, so they've gone up against regular troops and lower level monsters." Nichols's expression revealed that he was no happier about the SeeDs' lack of experience than Zell was.
The martial artist had to forcibly restrain himself from pounding his fist against the floor. What the hell were you thinking, Squall? How the fuck am I supposed to carry out this mission with a bunch of damn rookies? Heaving a bone-weary sigh, Zell got what information he could from Nichols.
"So…what can you tell me? How many sorceresses're in there?"
"Hard to tell--they come and go…but our best guess is around thirty."
Ten rookies against thirty sorceresses…great. Zell shook his head. This was going to be a slaughter. Forget the fist, he was ready to pound his head against the floor.
"Security? Defenses?"
Nichols shook his head. "Again--it's hard to tell. According to our plant, there's usually two sentries just inside the door and nothing else--but all of 'em have seen action. Except for the kids, of course."
"Kids?" This was news to Zell. Squall had mentioned nothing about kids being present when he gave Zell his orders to leave no survivors in the safe house. The commander must not have known. "How many?"
The re-con specialist gave him a helpless look. "We're not sure…we've seen five or six--but there could be more…"
Shit. The more Zell learned about this mission, the less he liked it. After approaching his squad and sorting out their various specialties, he liked it even less. All ten had GFs, but only three were specialists: one of those had defensive and healing magics junctioned, the second, destructive, and the third, forbidden. All three had only mid-level spells. Two snipers, ranks 15 and 17; three martial artists, ranked 7, 10, and 12. One sai specialist, rank 10; one bo fighter, rank 8. Only the three summoners had full compatibility. Yep. It was going to be a slaughter, all right.
Squall, if I get out of here alive, I'm gonna kick your round, firm, and fully packed ass from Garden to Balamb and back again. Even if he had to face a firing squad later, it would be worth it.
Zell briefed his squad on the situation as Nichols had described it to him. He also tried to explain exactly what they could expect when battling a sorceress. As he went over the best strategies to use, he noticed the bored and long-suffering expressions on the rookies' faces.
Hyne…they're as cocky as we were…
"I know you all think you know what to expect," Zell said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "and I'm real sorry if I'm boring ya--but none of you have the slightest fucking idea what it's like to battle a sorceress. A little experience with mid-level monsters and regular troops means precisely dick--so listen up, 'cos I'm only gonna go over this once."
Much to the martial artist's satisfaction, he now had the squad's undivided attention. Once again, Zell explained the tactics that each fighter would use. Then, because they had irritated him, he drilled them over the briefing for an additional fifteen minutes. Finally, he dismissed them, instructing them to be ready to move out in one hour.
Without appearing to do so, Zell unobtrusively watched his squad as they broke ranks and went off to relax for a moment, or to make final equipment checks and prepare for the upcoming battle. He heard various fighters exulting about "finally getting to kick some sorceress ass," accompanied by high-fives and cries of "Hell yeah!" or "Damn straight!" Zell shook his head in disgust.
Hyne on a hobby-horse…they don't have a clue what they're up against…not a fucking clue…
********************
Irvine stubbed out his fourth cigarette in the ashtray of his rental car. He'd been parked about a half block from Jared's house and had spent the last twenty minutes arguing with himself and the GFs as to whether or not to get out of the car and knock on the door. The cowboy suspected that his earlier anger wouldn't last long once he was face-to-face with Siobhan, and he wasn't sure he was ready to forgive her. He wasn't even sure that he wanted to forgive her.
WHO DO YOU THINK YOU'RE KIDDING? Diablos asked, YOU'VE ALREADY FORGIVEN HER.
NOT ONLY THAT, Cerberus 2 chuckled, BUT YOU'LL PROBABLY END UP APOLOGIZING TO HER.
You're probably right, Irvine thought, a wry half-smile playing across his lips. How did women do that? How did they always manage to make men feel guilty when they were in the wrong?
THEY KNOW THAT YOU MEN ARE ALWAYS THINKING WITH YOUR SECOND HEAD, Cerberus 3 growled, THAT'S HOW. IT GIVES THEM A HUGE ADVANTAGE OVER YOU.
SO, Cerberus 1 asked irritably, ARE YOU GOING TO SIT HERE ALL DAY, OR ARE YOU GOING TO KNOCK ON THE DOOR?
Irvine was spared any further debate when Jared's front door opened. Finn appeared first, going ahead of the others to open the doors of Jared's sedan. The next two people who emerged onto the porch caused Irvine to sit up ramrod straight in his seat, peering forward intently.
Fujin and Raijin? If they're here, then--
Sure enough, there he was. Seifer fucking Almasy. The blonde ex-knight turned, facing back through the doorway he'd just come through, and extended an arm. A slender hand grasped the proffered arm, and a black-draped figure emerged onto the porch, leaning heavily on Almasy.
Find Seifer and you'll probably find ShadowFox…
Next, a grey wolf slipped through the door and padded sedately next to the figure in black as the trio made their way to the car.
Oh…shit…
********************
A/N: Siobhan sure does seem to have a thing for picking guys up in bars, doesn't she?
Ack! This was another chapter that should have been written under the influence of novacain. Especially the section from Zell's POV. Seifer speaks to me, as does Squall--well actually, he usually swears at me (we have issues, he and I), and, of course, Irvine never shuts up. But Zell…I had a lot of trouble getting inside his head. [mutters] Stubborn little tattooed freak…
Anyway…the background has been laid out, and all the players are moving into position. The story has moved rather slowly so far, but starting with the next chapter, things should get a little more…interesting. There will be ass-kicking, and poor Irvine will get yet another unpleasant surprise.
YuriNigasa: Heh…men and muses are indeed clueless and uncooperative--and when men are your muses? Oy! [smacks forehead] All bets are off! I did have qualms about making Irvine take so long to piece everything together--but remember, he didn't have all the info given to the reader, and he had no real reason to suspect Siobhan…but I probably did make him too dense…[sigh]
A Voice in the Wind: Well…your worries are over. Seifer is finally revealed to be one of the good guys…unless…Siobhan really has been lying to everyone and is, in actuality, just another evil sorceress. [evil grin] heh heh…
Ashi: Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad you like my characterization of Irvine. Like I said, he speaks to me…incessantly. It's getting him to shut up that's the problem. ^_^
Many thankies to the few of you who are reviewing. If there's anyone out there reading this who isn't reviewing--please leave a comment or two…or else…
Irvine: Or else what?
Q: [thinks for a moment]
Seifer: Don't strain anything, toots. [smirks]
Q: [grabs a passing moogle and holds a loaded wand to its head] Or else I'll kill this innocent little moogle!
Moogle: KUPO! [translation: Oh, SHIT!]
Irvine: [rolls his eyes] I don't think that's going to convince anyone.
Seifer: Yeah…anyone who'd read your fics wouldn't care about a cute, fluffy, little creature anyway.
Q: Hmmm…you're probably right. [releases moogle]. I know! If you don't review, I'll turn this whole damn story into a…[ominous organ chord] a SQUINOA!
SFX: [thunder and lightning]
Seifer: [GASP!] NOOOOOOO! Not THAT! [faints]
Irvine: [look of horror] She means it, folks…better review if you know what's good for you!