Consequences
by Soul Hunter and TacomaSquall
Chapter 5:
Balamb Garden has
three main levels. The first level is
where all of the students are housed, along with all of the services that were
necessary to see to their well-being. The second floor contained the classrooms, where cadets learned the
skills that were deemed necessary for a well-rounded SeeD. The third floor contained the living
quarters and office of the Garden's Headmaster, Cid Kramer, along with the
flying fortress' command center.
Today was the day of
the trial, and morning broke to a sky filled with thunderheads. Looking out the cell's window, I could see
the rain washing its way down the windows of the brig. Mingled with that runoff was runoff from the
two floors above mine.
I sighed. It was time for this farce to get started.
The door to my cell
buzzed, and Quistis strode into my cell, flanked by two SeeD troopers. Both were armed with lances, and looked to
have been trained in Dragoon tactics. I
was sure that I could have taken them in a fair fight, but there was no way
that this would have been a fair fight – they were likely Junctioned to some
beefy Guardian, like the Brothers or Diablos.
Quistis looked very
uncertain. "It's time to go," she
almost whispered. I wanted to grab her
shoulders and shake her. It was obvious
that she expected me to pull some idiotic stunt during this.
I nodded and strode
forward, ignoring the guards. I
resolved to not let them do anything to touch my self-possession. I was going to need every shred of pride and
dignity I could muster. I was walking
into hell, and I knew it. If my self-control
wavered one bit, I could easily throw this entire thing away. I couldn't allow anyone to see the disgust I
still felt for these proceedings, or my nagging suspicion that it wouldn't
matter what I said or did.
We walked along the
corridors of the first floor, passing Rowan King as he did his morning laps
around the main concourse of the Garden. I smiled. The kid was a little
naïve, but he was not a bad guy to have around. He should be nearing his graduation soon.
Quistis walked
alongside me in silence. In the
silence, one could hear the clicking of her dress uniform's heels against the
marble floors of the concourse. They
raised an interesting counterpoint to the heavier footfalls of the dragoon
guards and my nearly-inaudible tread. Each step the young instructor took seemed to peal the ticking of a
clock – the clock that was marking the time I had left in which to escape from
the travesty that was about to ensue.
We marched to the
elevator, where the guards motioned for me to step into the car. I shrugged and stepped in. There was no sense trying to escape. There were too many SeeDs for me to be able
to dodge them all in an escape attempt, and I was certain that Casanova was
hiding somewhere, his eyes shaded by that ridiculous cowboy hat, waiting for an
excuse to fill me full of Pulse Ammo.
Quistis stepped into
the car with me. To my surprise, the
dragoons did not, stepping back and offering a brief SeeD salute to Little Miss
Instructor. They must be Trepies, I told
myself.
I looked over at
Quistis. She shrugged at me, and
sighed. "I don't know how in the hell I
am going to defend you, Seifer. You
were honest with me before, so I'm going to tell you a little truth in
return. Xu has a pretty solid case
against you. I have nothing to offer as
extenuation for your actions. Even
though Ultimecia seduced you, you still chose willingly."
I nodded. Fair enough. "Why isn't Edea on trial then? After all, she chose to accept Ultimecia, instead fighting her with all
of her will."
Quistis' eyes went
wide with shock. "WHAT?"
"Ask her." I smirked at Quistis. "You weren't the only visitor I had during
my confinement here." I was amazed that
I had caught her so off-guard. She
should have been looking at the logs which showed who visited me. She missed a detail.
Quistis' eyes
narrowed behind her glasses, and she punched the button to take us to the third
floor of the Garden. We ascended in
silence, which was just fine for me.
The doors opened, and
I looked into the Headmaster's office. I was amazed at the transformation it had undergone since the last time,
more than a year before, I had been up here. To the right of the elevator was a ladder that led up to what I presumed
was the Garden's command center. It was
from there that Squall commanded the Balamb defense during the clash of Gardens
over the Centra plains.
The Headmaster's
office had been truncated, and there stood a set of double doors in the middle
of the far wall. Four SeeD dragoons
stood there, in full dress uniform. They
snapped to attention, while I goggled in surprise. When I was at Balamb, there were only two SeeDs who specialized
in the acrobatic fighting style of the dragoon. I remembered that they were two of the troops who had fallen
beneath Hyperion's blade during the battle of Gardens.
I looked at
Quistis. "What if I had tried something
while we in the elevator?"
She grated, "The car
of the elevator was being monitored. If
you had been stupid enough to attempt an escape there, they would have pumped
the entire elevator shaft full of anesthezine gas and knocked us both out."
I grinned puckishly
for a moment. "It's a good thing I
didn't try to escape, isn't it?"
She nodded
tersely. We marched towards the guarded
doors. One of the SeeDs, wearing the
braid of an attaché from a different Garden (I think it was Trabia), saluted
Quistis. "Who approaches this Hall of
Inquiry?" he intoned.
"I am SeeD/Instructor
Quistis Trepe, advocate for the defense. With me is the accused, Seifer Almasy." Quistis seemed uncomfortable with the formal challenge and reply of a
SeeD court-martial. To the best of my
knowledge, this trial would be a first – a SeeD or SeeD Cadet being tried for
treason against Garden. For some
reason, that did not comfort me.
"You may pass, Instructor
Trepe. Take the accused with you." The SeeDs stood aside, allowing us to
proceed to the double doors. Quistis
pushed on them with one delicate hand, and they slowly opened.
Revealed beyond the
doors was a large room, with benches sufficient to seat two hundred
observers. The observation area was
packed with representatives from every city-state and nation that had survived
the War against Ultimecia. A small
delegation from Timber sat next to a delegation from Galbadia. The Timber party kept glaring at the
Galbadians, who returned the glares with a disdain that would be shown to a
provincial by a nobleman. A small group
of Estharian observers were present, and at their head was their reclusive
President, Laguna Loire. A few
representatives were present from Dollet Dukedom, including a boy who
brandished a small placard that read, "Free Seifer." The boy rapidly pulled the placard down, when his mother jabbed
him in the ribs with a hard elbow.
A rail divided the
observation area from the front of the court, where the trial's business would
be conducted. Two tables stood about
four feet from the railing, with chairs between the railing and the
tables. Sitting at the right table was
Xu Kirishima, her immaculately-pressed dress uniform almost glistening in the
light of the Hall of Inquiry. I
presumed that we would go to the table on the left.
Beyond the tables was
an open space about as long as a Caterchipillar. Beyond that open space stood the dais upon which the judge sat,
the raised surface of the bar screening it from the space in front of it. Cid sat in the judge's box, his mien somber.
Besides the judge's
box was the semi-enclosed area where witnesses would testify. It was of a certainty to my mind that my
fate would be sealed by a stream of witnesses sent to that box.
To the right of the
stand, there was a narrow opening, and then the two benches of the jury
box. The twelve people who were sitting
within would be the ones who determined my fate. Eight men and four women sat within the box. Two of the men and one woman wore the
uniforms of Balamb Garden's SeeDs, and one other man wore the uniform of one of
the White SeeDs. I was surprised to see
a man in the uniform of the Galbadian Army. The other seven jurors were dressed in civilian clothes, which was a
source of shock to me. I thought this
was a military proceeding!
All eyes turned
towards me, following my progress towards the defense table avidly, like a
T-Rexaur watching its target for prey behavior. A hush descended over the crowd, and I could hear both my soft
tread and Quistis' clicking footfalls. I felt a sudden sheen of sweat appear. I was in front of the enemy.
Looking in their
eyes, I could see that many there had already judged me guilty. They felt this was merely a formality before
the grand spectacle that would ensue from this event, the event they would brag
about to their children. That they had
watched Seifer Almasy, the Sorceress' Knight, executed.
Their arrogance
fueled a white-hot rage in me. How dare
these lemmings judge me? They hadn't
been through the crucible the way I had. They hadn't fallen prey to the temptations that I faced and fell before. They have not known the pain of betrayal by
their closest friends, and then realized that it was them and not their friends
who had been wrong all along.
Fuming, I strode with
Quistis to the defense table. She
sensed my tension, somehow, and whispered, "If you let them get to you, you
die, Seifer."
I nodded silently to
her as we arrived at the table. It was
made out of unfinished heavy oak, and we sat down in the chairs set out for
us. The chairs were unyielding and
uncomfortable to sit in.
Cid rapped a gavel
after we sat. "This session of the
Balamb Tribunal will now come to order." The echoes of the gavel lingered in the silence that followed.
Finally, Cid broke
the silence. "This court is convened,
in accordance with the SeeD Charter, for the sole purpose of trying SeeD Cadet
Seifer Almasy for one count of Grand Treason and over 300 violations of the
SeeD Disciplinary Code."
"Due to the severity
of these charges, the members of the jury are to be held sequestered during the
course of these proceedings. There will
be no contact permitted between jurors and the outside community. The jurors are specifically instructed to
ignore any events outside of their chambers for the duration of this trial."
"We will begin with
opening statements." Cid looked at
Xu. "Commander Kirishima, if you would
begin."
Xu nodded and stood
to her feet. She looked at the gathered
observers, and then at the jury. She
turned to face Cid, pointedly avoiding going any further and looking at Quistis
and I at the defense table.
She asked the
courtroom, "Why are we here today?"
"We are here, in the
aftermath of the most grievous conflict to inflame the world since the fall of
the Centra, to look at the deeds done by a single man. A man drunken by the power granted him by
the Sorceress Ultimecia, who betrayed his friends and mates at Balamb
Garden. An arrogant young man, who
believes that he is better than everyone else around him. A young man who felt that no deed was
unforgivable in his quest for fame and romance."
"Seifer Almasy was a
senior at Balamb Garden when he heard the siren call of Ultimecia's
promises. I will show you how he chose
to respond to that call, and his actions once he was at Ultimecia's side. In the course of the next days, I will show
you his descent into depravity."
"I will show you how
Seifer Almasy ascended to command of Galbadia Garden after it was seized by
Ultimecia. We will hear of the many
lives lost when he commanded Galbadia Garden to attack Balamb Garden over the
Centra Plains."
"Finally, I will show
you the choices that Almasy made that led him to these situations. This is critically important. Almasy chose his destiny. It was not chosen for him. He willingly followed the orders of
Ultimecia with a savagery and cruelty that daunted even SeeD Commander
Leonhart,"
Xu looked at the
jurors, making eye contact with each of them in turn, before ending her
statement. "There is no question that
Almasy did what he is accused of. We
will show you irrevocable proof of that in the next few days."
A hush descended, as
Xu strode back to her chair. As the
raven-haired SeeD sat, Quistis rose to her feet.
I do not know what
she can do to combat Xu's assertions. They were true…
To Be Continued…