Chapter 3- Nightingale
(A/N: VERY longly overdue chapter... if anyone is even reading
this... I'm really sorry for the delay. My schoolwork kicked in and
all these issues... AHHH!!! he he he well I hope this will be
interesting for you queifer lovers out there.)
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, except for Shinsei,
Eterna, and the Angel story line... k?
When Quistis first came upon the "turf" of Seifer Al- well more
rather Shinsei Shugotenshi... she hadn't really expected it to be so
... Well... exquisite. Many different kinds of swords hung on the
wall with foreign jewel designs and crests engraved on their hilts
and even on the blade itself. On another part of the wall, different
types and shapes of metal were engraved with similar designs as with
the swords. It was as if... they were made.. for a... human?
Her sapphire eyes cast the room a dreamy look and became wide as
saucers when they came across the ceiling. A beautiful mural of
gorgeous angels were painted across the entire ceiling. The detail
was absolutely amazing. The expressions, the clothing, and
especially the pearl white wings of the creatures captured her in
absolute awe. The picture was in itself addicting and left the
spectator absolutely inspired.
Her crimson lips mouthed the words "amazing..." as she continued to
stare. After a few minutes, her consciousness finally clicked back
into reality, back into the main room of dorm 601 of the
instructors' quarters, back into the space where she stood only 2
feet away from Seifer Almasy.
While Quistis had been in her dreamy spell, Seifer had just stood
there, hands in pockets, staring at the Instructor in a rare moment
of curiosity. And for once, he noticed something that no one else
did...
'Curiosity... a branch of childish adolescence... it's amazing that
so many people at this Garden have kept it for so long...'
Shinsei has spoken these words not long ago, when he too had
undergone that same spell that Quistis was going through at this
very moment. He closed his eyes and smiled to himself.
It seems as if the Instructor hadn't lost her 'childish
adolescence' either... talk about irony...
He cautiously walked over to the starry-eyed Quistis and placed a
hand on her shoulder. Quistis slightly jumped and turned around, her
face in shock. She closed her eyes, let a sigh of relief go, and
again returned to her "professional" state.
"Seifer... don't scare me like that!! I swear you..." Before she
could go on complaining, he immediately changed the subject.
"Like it?" Seifer asked, as he tilted his head up to the ceiling.
"Yes, actually... Who painted it? Shinsei?"
"No... The angels came down here and painted it themselves..."
Seifer replied with a sarcastic tone.
"Well forgive me for asking..." Quistis said with a little
annoyance.
"Whoa... don't have to get all pissy at me..."
"Eterna could've painted it you know..."
"Have you seen Eterna's drawings? Or so-called drawings? A fly
could've done better..."
"It can't be that bad..."
"Then you don't know Eterna."
Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Quistis slowly walked towards one of
the cases of metal clothing. She touched the box where it was kept
in and turned back to the blonde boy.
"Did she make this.. this..."
"Armor? Yeah... fine piece of work huh?"
"Very... how can anyone make this... this armor...?"
"It's not that hard actually..."
"YOU know how to make this?"
"Sure.. I mean how else are you supposed to fight withou- ah,
nevermind."
Seifer shook his head as if to go on to another subject while
Quistis stood there, her eyes locked on him, waiting for him to
continue.
"Go on..."
He turned towards her, his sapphire eyes locked on hers and all of a sudden... the subject seemed too stupid and too unrealistic to fall back on anymore.
"You wanted to know how I got here... didn't you?"
"Yes.. umm my apologies."
Now THIS was unexpected...
"For what?"
"For not allowing you to explain before I fell into my trance."
"Heh. Sure... why not."
"Have you ever heard of the nightingale?"
"We're just jumping on all kinds of topics today aren't we?" He
slowly walked towards the main table and pulled out a chair for the blonde. "Have a seat."
"This is.. odd of you.."
"What is?"
"Pulling out chairs for people. It's not normal for you."
"Then you don't know me either." Their eyes locked again in some
kind of awkward mutual understanding. Wait... Mutual...
understanding?!?! Quistis and Seifer? Heh... Now that's what I call
Irony... (hence the title of my fic ^_^)
"Now, about the Nightingale..."
"Why do you wanna know?"
"I just do... It's something that Shinsei talks about sometimes, and
I wanted to actually understand it."
"Why didn't you ask puberty boy or chicken-wuss?"
He hasn't changed a bit. Quistis thought
"Well, Squall wouldn't bother to answer and I don't think Zell would
know."
"What makes you think I would know?"
"Because you live with Shinsei."
"That doesn't necessarily mean I know."
"Well, do you?"
"Why are you asking again?"
"Are you doing this on purpose just to get me..."
"Angry? Maybe I am, maybe I'm not."
"You're a real puzzle, Seifer Almasy."
Another unexpected remark.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I'll explain if YOU explain about the nightingale." Amazing... the
cat had finally trapped the mouse in the corner.
"Ok fine... well there's really not much to explain. It's a legend
about how an emperor loved the song of a mechanical bird."
"There's more..."
"No there isn't."
"Yes there is..."
"I think I would know a little better than you would..."
"Seifer..." Quistis only gave him a soft glare, yet he found himself
giving in... a little too easily.
"Alright... fine. Let's see.. a nightingale is an exotic bird with
an enchanting song. Throughout ancient legends, this bird has been
hunted down as a treasure for the melody of its beautiful song.
It's been said, that one hunter finally captured it and locked it in
a cage. But...."
"But...?"
"But through hopelessness and despair, the bird never sang its song.
The villagers of the hunters tribe tried to get it to sing, but of
course it never did. Finally, a mystic woman came to the village and
told them that putting it in a cage wasn't going to get them
anywhere. She quickly unlocked the cage and the nightingale was
set free."
"Did it begin to sing again?"
"Damn right it did."
"Ah.... so Seifer how long have you been here at Garden? I haven't
seen you around lately..."
"That's because I'm not allowed to."
"Allowed to? Allowed to what?"
"Be outside this dorm of course." Quistis' eyes reacted in shock.
"Really? Why?" Seifer rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Let's see... ummm I wrecked up the Garden, fought alongside Ultimecia, launched an all out attack on this Garden, joined Rinoa with Adel... must you really walk me down memory lane?"
"I never asked you to explain..."
"You asked why. That was enough." Quistis closed her eyes and nodded
slowly in understanding.
"You haven't been singing lately... have you?" Needless to say, Seifer suddenly found himself lacking the words to retaliate.
~*Tsuzuku*~
(A/N: ok... the legend of the nightingale might not be exact... but
it's something I've heard over time. After watching big-o on cn this
totally popped into my mind as inspiration for one of these
chapters. Good? Bad? a lil help here!!! And again, sorry I'm so
late. Punctuality isn't exactly my best feature ^_^*.