Seifer sat on the edge of his bed, looking out the window at the brilliant golden sunset. The buildings of Esthar, with their magnificent glass and crystal facades, played with the sunlight as it streaked across the sky. The beauty of the dazzling prismatic display awed Seifer, but his current situation didn't allow him much time to reflect on the wondrous city. His mind raced in circles, trying to figure out how he'd come to be a prisoner in Esthar. A well-treated prisoner, true, but a prisoner nonetheless.
Stop. Relax. Breathe.
Years of training at Garden served him well. His warrior's discipline returned to him as he took a series of deep breaths. Slowly, deliberately, he calmed his nerves, found his center, and reviewed the facts for the hundredth time.
He remembered participating in the sack of Esthar, watching the monsters from the Lunar Cry engulf the city. He remembered fighting with Squall, and losing. He remembered handing Rinoa over to Adel, and watching Squall rescue the girl. After that, his memories turned hazy and indistinct.
He had a fleeting memory of waking up in a vat of liquid, and seeing Laguna Loire, the actor from the Sorceress' Knight films watching him. That he wrote off as a hallucination.
Then he awakened in this room, overlooking the city of Esthar. The guards posted outside his door clearly didn't view talking to him as part of their duty. So, without their help, Seifer assumed that someone incarcerated him for his actions in service of the Sorceress. And those actions, he surmised, would render him a war criminal.
Still, he found his confinement quite luxurious. The massive room had a dazzling view of the Esthar skyline, a moderately diverse library, and a host of other amenities. Seifer found himself wishing for a television, just so he could start to figure out the state of current events, but other than that, and, of course, his restricted freedom, he had no complaints. The conspicuous absence of a television, though, did indicate to Seifer that his captors didn't want him to see his face all over the news.
Besides, how many hours had he spent in Balamb Garden's detention center for one infraction or another? If he could stand that, he'd be damned if this… hotel room could break his spirit.
For want of anything better to do, Seifer flopped back on the bed and began mentally compiling a list of the crimes he would have to answer for. He approached the issue several different ways, but in the end, found it simplest to break the list down by individual jurisdictions that would want his head.
Balamb Garden. Galabadia Garden. Trabia Garden, if there's anything left standing. Deling City. Balamb Town. Esthar. Timber.
Which leaves three places for me to hide: Fisherman's Horizon, Winhill, and Dollet.
Fisherman's Horizon will be glad to extradite me to Esthar, and Dollet is too close to Deling City. That leaves Winhill.
With this in mind, Seifer began planning his escape route. He began with Esthar, proceeding from the assumption that he would not be able to secure an escape vehicle. From Esthar, he'd have to move up the railroad track to Fisherman's Horizon, where he'd have to maintain a low profile until he could return to the mainland. He proceeded through a half-dozen contingencies before he felt satisfied. This done, he started reverse engineering plans, beginning with Winhill, and tracking his steps back to Esthar.
Of course, this all assumes I escape. I'll probably be executed before I even get the chance.
A knock on the door snapped him out of his reverie. The sound surprised him, as he normally only expected it at mealtime. The fact that someone knocked at his door outside of the routine indicated that it could well be a visitor, or, at least, an executioner.
At any rate, it's time to get some answers. With any luck, whoever it is will have a weapon, or be of sufficient rank to make a passable hostage.
Seifer stood up and crossed the room, so he stood directly in front of the window. This way, he reasoned, anyone entering the room would have to look directly into the brilliant sunlight, hopefully blinding them long enough for him to spring into action. He needed nothing more than a fraction of a second. Not only had he spent many years in Balamb Garden's detention center, he also spent many years breaking out of Balamb Garden's detention center. A well-honed skill, which, he hoped, would serve him here.
"Come in," he called out, tensing his muscles so he could make his move the moment the door opened.
The door slid open, and Seifer's hallucination confronted him again: Laguna Loire. Dumbfounded, Seifer's escape plans slipped quietly out of his mind.
"Hi," Laguna said, walking over to Seifer and extending a hand, "Laguna…"
"Loire," Seifer finished. "I know who you are, but why'd they send you?"
"Pardon?" Laguna asked. "Why'd who send me?"
"My captors. Why would they send a movie star?"
"I see," Laguna said, beginning to get the picture. "I suppose, technically, I'm your captor. I'm the President of Esthar."
"So Esthar won the coin toss? When's the execution?"
"Whoa! Who said anything about an execution?"
"Well, what do you normally do with war criminals? Let them linger in some inaccessible political prison? That option is a perennial favorite in Galbadia. Do I get a trial? I've always loved courtroom scenes."
Seifer found himself pleased with the conversation thus far. He'd managed to steer it almost point-for-point. Seifer missed his opportunity to assault Laguna -- President Loire, if he spoke the truth -- physically. In his weakened state, Seifer knew, he didn't dare attack without the advantage of surprise in his favor. With that avenue closed to him, Seifer settled for attempting to disorient Laguna into revealing something that might prove useful.
"Who said anything about war criminals? You aren't a war criminal!"
"So why do you have me locked up here?"
"For your own protection."
"Ha!" Seifer snorted. "That's amusing."
"Listen," Laguna said, speaking slowly and deliberately in order to keep his explanation cogent. "This is the Presidential Palace of Esthar. You are here, as per my request, in protective custody. There are, however, a number of people -- both inside and outside Esthar -- who would like to see you executed for war crimes. I'm trying to keep that from happening. I just need to buy some time until I can figure out what we're going to do with you, and then you'll be free. I promise."
"And why, exactly, do you want to help me?"
Laguna rolled his eyes. "Why does everyone keep on asking me that question? Don't you know you're not supposed to punch a gift horse in the mouth?"
"It's 'look,'" Seifer said, "you're not supposed to 'look' a gift horse in the mouth."
"Anyway," Laguna said, "that's hardly the point. The bottom line is that I don't want to see you torn apart by an angry mob. If I wanted that, I wouldn't have wasted my time with bringing you back to your senses."
Seifer shot back a question. "What do you mean by that?"
"Do you remember anything after you offered Rinoa up to Adel?"
"No." He squinted, trying to call the pictures back into his mind. "I remember Squall grabbing Rinoa away from Adel. Then everything started to… melt. Like wax. Then… nothing. So either something major happened or you've been slipping some heavy drugs into my food."
"Time Compression. We all experienced it a little differently, but that's what you remember. What you aren't remembering though, is the time you spent hospitalized here in Esthar."
"Why was I…?" Seifer asked.
"After getting trounced by Squall and his friends, Ultimecia made one last bid for power, and she did so by possessing you."
"The ceremony…" Seifer whispered, almost to himself.
"What?"
He blinked, turning to Laguna. "She said we'd always be together. That I'd never be out of her reach. That she'd never let me go. It was my reward, for being her loyal Knight."
"It was her escape plan. She almost managed to take total control of your body." Seifer nodded gravely at this.
"You should have just killed me. It would have saved everyone a lot of trouble."
"What?" Suicide seemed like a foreign notion to Laguna. "How can you say that?"
"Think about it? Where exactly am I supposed to go? Even if I leave Esthar alive, there's still no shortage of people who'd like the chance to spit on my grave. You may as well execute me now. I'm sure it would do wonders for your popularity…"
"No one is executing anyone!" Laguna finally exclaimed. "I need a little time to come up with a plan."
"Laguna?" Kiros' voice filtered through the door as he knocked. "You're needed in your office. It's urgent."
As he stood up, Laguna looked over at Seifer "Don't do anything foolish, okay? I don't know how long this will take, but I need you to wait here."
"I hardly think I'm in a position to go anywhere." The cynical expression on Seifer's face vanished when he saw the intensity in Laguna's eyes.
"Say the words." Laguna commanded.
"Wha-"
"The oath. I want to hear it."
Seifer bowed his head, and called up the words he knew so well. He spoke them clearly, as he had a hundred times before. He'd spent hours in front of the mirror, practicing. He'd recorded himself on tape, so he could study every syllable of every word. He'd recited the words with a mouthful of marbles to perfect his enunciation. He'd shouted down thunderstorms, to master the volume.
"A Knight's honor is his armor. It protects him and it demands his constant care. He must remain vigilant, and on guard against the smallest flaw. A Knight's honor is his sword. It is the weapon he wields to protect his Sorceress, it is the torch he carries to drive back the darkness. A Knight's honor is his essence. A Knight without honor is without his reason, his purpose, his breath, or his blood.
"On my honor as a Knight, I swear this oath with you and the heavens as my witness. Should I break this oath, may the road always wind beneath my feet, never leading me home, until the darkness comes to claim me."
Laguna nodded curtly and walked towards the door.
"Of course, your realize," Seifer said, feeling a weight closing in on him, "that I traded away whatever honor I had to curry Adel's favor. After what I've done, you can't consider me any kind of a Knight."
Laguna paused in the doorway. "Sounds like it's time to start over."
