Consequences

Consequences

by Soul Hunter and TacomaSquall

Chapter One:

War Criminal

I drew my arm back and whipped it forward.  The fishing line spooled out from the reel, telescoping out into the water that lapped against the edge of Fisherman's Horizon.  I had grown to like the solitude of fishing.  It gave me a lot of time to think about the choices I had made.

The Posse had come with me into this self-imposed exile.  Raijin was trying to convince the gruff harbormaster to permit us to leave on our boat, named The Sorceress' Folly, on a multi-day fishing trip.  Fuujin headed to the store to purchase some supplies.

I stood on the deck of The Sorceress' Folly, my body automatically shifting with each wave that slapped against the boat's hull.  The Folly was a thirty-foot boat, with a small cabin, a wheelhouse above the cabin, and a ladder into the water.  Every inch of her was mine.

I looked at a number of boat designs when I made the decision that I wanted to have a boat.  I chose the design and selected the materials (wood, steel, and fiberglass) that were used.  I spent time with Master Fisherman Herring, learning how small craft are constructed, and applied the knowledge I gained.  I put in the long hours it took to build it, and then brought it to Master Herring for his approval.  I took great pride in the fact that he thought I had done a good job.

Fishing from a dock is nowhere near as exciting as fishing from a boat.  Since you are not at a fixed point, you can move where the fish are, as opposed to waiting for the fish to come to you.  This gives you a better chance of getting some good fish, especially if your boat has been equipped with high-tech fish-finding equipment.  More importantly, when I am on a boat, I can get some privacy.  The fish don't care about what I did during the recent war against Ultimecia.

I've heard the people of Fisherman's Horizon talk about me, when they think my back is turned.  They call me the traitor, and the bastard, and the murderer.  They've called me the Sorceress' Knight.

Of course, they never say anything like this when I'm turned towards them.  They're too afraid of me.  I finally gained the notoriety that I hungered for when I was enrolled in Balamb Garden.  Why does the taste of this greatness feel so much like ashes in my mouth?

There was a tug on my line, and I jerk the pole up, over my left shoulder, to set the hook.  The line went slack for a moment, and then went taut, as line started to spool out.  I had one.

I began to reel the line in rapidly, fighting the insistent pull of the fish on the other end of the line.  Grudgingly, the fish began to be dragged back towards the Folly.

I had to give the fish credit.  It fought me with just as much tenacity as Squall ever showed in our duels.  Unlike my duels with the Rain Boy, however, the outcome was never in doubt.  In a matter of minutes, I had reeled in a twenty-nine inch, approximately fifty-pound salmon.  Satisfied, I leaned against the railing of the Folly.

"Yo!  Ahoy the Folly!"

I turned back to the pier, where I spotted my friend.  Raijin was standing on the pier, Fuujin beside him.  His bronzed skin shone in the sunlight, and he was grinning broadly like the idiot everyone thought he was.

Raijin didn't want to worry about the bigger issues, so he always tended to let either me or Fuujin do the thinking for him.  Because of this cheerful avoidance of serious thought whenever possible, a lot of people tended to think of Raijin as a shallow, dim-witted brute.  We actively encouraged others to think that about Raijin, because most people tend to underestimate those that they think are stupid.

Beside him, Fuujin stood coolly.  Her gaze flicked all around her, as she scanned for threats constantly.  Our life as despised villains since the War brought out the paranoiac in my one-eyed friend.  Everywhere we went, she assumed there were people who would attack us for what we did in Ultimecia's service.

Sitting on the wharf beside them were a number of packages.  I assumed they were the supplies for the fishing trip.  Looking at their sheer bulk (one of the packages was as wide as Fuujin), I was amazed that she was able to manhandle them into place without help.

Meeting my gaze, Raijin gave me a broad smile, and a thumb's-up.  Evidently, Master Herring had approved our excursion during this lull in the storm season.

Fuujin spoke urgently.  "SEIFER."  She gestured for me to come closer.  "DANGER."  Through no fault of her own, Fuujin was unable to easily string words together into sentences – she said it was because of an accident that happened in Deling City when she was a young woman, the same accident that left her with a single eye and prematurely silvered hair.  That same accident had caused her to be unable to modulate her voice.  Everything she said came out in a stentorian shout.

I strode closer to my two closest friends.  My pulse quickened at the thought that the hounds that had been pursuing me had finally caught up.  I wished I had Hyperion at my side, but it was stowed in the room that I had rented from Master Herring, at the far end of FH.

"What's going on?"

"SeeDS!"

I heard the sound of booted feet running on the pier.  I looked beyond my friends and sawa squad of SeeDs rushing us.  There were six of them, including those two insipid twins with the diamond cutouts in their uniforms.  Arika and Niska were cute, but all they could talk about was Quistis and Triple Triad.

Raijin and Fuujin turned and spotted the oncoming enemies.  I watched as my two friends, who both knew I was unarmed, charged forward to engage the SeeDs.

The SeeDs pulled up short at the sight of Raijin's massive frame bearing down on them.  The never even noticed Fuujin, as she called upon a Holy spell junctioned to her GF, Ramuh.  The SeeDs were blasted backwards by the force of her spell, and two of them collapsed.

The other three SeeDs, including the diamond twins, stopped and hurled three small items at my friends.  Too late, I realized what the items were.  Horrified, I looked on as Raijin intercepted them, trying to stop any attacks from reaching me.

The three small stones detonated, blasting Raijin with Holy, Meteor, and Ultima in rapid succession.  The spells were too much for the big man to take, and he collapsed.  He lay face-down on the pier, barely breathing.

My eyes narrowed as I saw someone walking towards the battle.  A slender, raven-haired woman, she also wore the diamond-cutout uniform of a SeeD woman.  However, the uniform never looked tawdry on Xu Kirishima, unlike the way it looked on those Nahar twins.  She met my eyes, and she sighed.

"SeeDs!  Stand down!"  Xu had that same drill-instructor voice that I had last heard during my expulsion from Balamb Garden, before I tried to kill President Deling in Timber.  Her order compelled obedience and the SeeDs fell back.

"What a pleasure this is, Xu," I commented.  I wasn't going to let her have the pleasure of seeing me flustered.

"I doubt that you will agree when you hear what I have to say, Almasy."

Her habit of always referring to others by their last name only was one of the reasons I had hated Xu when I was still at Balamb.  "Fine, Kirishima," I snapped.  "Why don't you tell us why you're here.  Hurry up, because I and my friends are going out on my boat as soon as you leave."

"Very well," she stated coldly.  "Seifer Almasy, I am here to place you under arrest.  You are wanted for war crimes connected with your actions during the Second Sorceress War.  If you insist on resisting arrest, I am authorized to use any force necessary to take you into custody, including lethal force."

Fuujin cried, "NEVER!"  She Drew magic from one of the fallen SeeD warriors, gaining access to Life magic.

I sighed.  They would never let me get away.  If I successfully resisted, they'd just send more after me the next time.  I had few illusions of being able to take on the mustered might of the entire Balamb Garden, even with the Posse by my side.

The side of me that still hungered to be a great hero, even after having that dream twisted by Ultimecia, chimed in.  You deserve this treatment.

I nodded curtly.  "Fuujin, back off."

"WHAT?"

I repeated myself.  "Back off.  There's no sense you getting hurt trying to stave off the inevitable."  I looked at Xu, and added, "I will give myself up to you, under one condition."

Xu wryly noted, "You are in no position to make conditions, Almasy."

"Nonetheless, if you want me to go peacefully, you will give me what I want."

"And what would that be?"  Xu asked.

"There will be no charges made against Fuujin or Raijin.  They followed me out of their friendship, and eventually tried to stop me from serving Ultimecia."

She nodded.  Xu was a very logical woman, and this would be the best compromise, for her people and the citizens of FH.  "Agreed."

I held my hands out to her.  "Let's go," I told her.

I avoided looking at my friends as the SeeDs led me away.  The only consolation I felt was that I had at least spared my friends' lives.  Neither of them would have permitted my capture, so long as they lived, if I was resisting.

To Be Continued …