by NightsDawne
Chapter 6: It's You That's In My Dreams I'm Begging For
Seifer paced the floor of the disciplinary room. He doubted they could keep him here, they'd never managed it before, but he had no certainty that the rest of Balamb Garden was on the other side of the door. He glanced back to where he'd left Irvine, wrapped up in his coat and curled into a little sleeping ball across two chairs, little sniffles still escaping him from time to time. The faculty member had made no further instructions, ignoring Irvine completely and paying no attention to Seifer's wandering around. Seifer smirked a touch and lit up a cigarrette. Nothing. Ordinarily it would have earned him another four hours. He walked over and bent down across the faculty desk, blowing his smoke directly into the hidden face of the man behind it. Not so much as a flinch, much less a reprimand. It was as if they didn't notice he wasn't in his seat, quietly doing some ridiculous assignment like the other cadets.
He heard a noise behind him and whipped around to see one of the walls bowing, fluid. It was the wall that he and Irvine had burst through, although it had sealed behind them leaving no trace of the train tunnel. He swallowed, backing up, keeping himself between the wall and Irvine. Griever wouldn't come in here, not while the lights continued to shine so brightly. The wall warped again, a brown boot sticking through it. He looked to the faculty desk but the man was as busy as always writing the same damn memo he'd been working on the entire time they'd been here. None of the cadets looked up. He looked back to the boot, pushing itself through the resistance of the wall. He tilted his head. He knew that boot. He was used to it stepping on his toes. A small hand pressed against the wall, pushing at it forcefully. "Selphie?"
Seifer stepped forward, grabbing the hand. It tried to pull back, startled, then wrapped itself around his hand. He pulled, the wall rippling as Selphie stumbled through, falling against his chest. "Selphie! What are you doing here? You have to get out of here, it's too dangerous."
Selphie hugged him tightly. "Do you have to have so many buried memories? It took forever to find you, Seify. Your head's a trip."
He furrowed his brow, rubbing her back softly. "Can we try making sense for a bit, babe? It's been a rough day already."
She looked up at him, laughing through a sob. "You don't know where we are, do you. Ellone sent Irvy back to find out what happened to you, what the sorceress did to you. Only something went wrong. You and Irvy got trapped inside your own memories. We're in your mind, Seifer."
"In... my mind?"
"Yeah, and it's a pretty wild place. I can't believe a big brave gunblader like you is afraid of clowns."
He furrowed his brow. "I haven't been afraid of clowns since I was three, Selphie."
Selphie dusted off her knees. "Well, it's all a bit jumbled and crowded in here. Anyway, we have to find Irvy and get out again before Griever finds us. He can hurt us here. He's still real in your mind."
"Irvy's over there." He gestured to the little bundle in his coat. Selphie tilted her head, following his finger.
"Um.... what happened to him?"
"He's just scared. You know how little kids can be. He fell asleep, though."
Selphie looked at Seifer, grabbing his chin in her hand. "Okay, I guess things are a bit out of focus for you, Seify sweetie. Irvine is six feet tall, remember? Wears a cowboy hat? Almost eighteen?"
Seifer turned to look at the kid. Wait, Irvine was only a year younger than him, that was right. But he wasn't. He was five years old and Seifer had promised he'd go to Galbadia and get him, take care of him. "I.. he's... Irvy."
Selphie skipped around him and over to the chairs, crouching down and stroking Irvine's hair. "You sure he's alright?"
"Yeah. He was crying but he dropped right off when I rocked him." Seifer ran his hand through his hair, trying to think. "You said we're in my head, in my memories. I think he got trapped in one. I was supposed to run away and find him in Galbadia only I never got the chance."
Selphie pursed her lips. "Okay, we teased Quisty about being a cradle robber but this is a bit ridiculous. We're just going to have to hope it works itself out when he gets back to his own body."
Irvine stirred, lifting his head and squinting. "Sefie?"
Selphie nodded. "Hi Irvy. Do you want to go home?"
Irvine nodded, sitting up and putting his arms around her neck, a little hiccup making him twitch. Selphie smiled, wrapping her arms around him and picking him up, then looking to Seifer. "Let's get out of here before that vampire shows up again. Matron should never have let you stay up and watch scary movies so often."
"How do we get out?" Seifer retrieved his coat, sliding it on, taking a final drag of his cigarrette before throwing it to the side.
"Matron said it would be a mirror that showed the other side."
Seifer nodded, putting his arm around her shoulders and heading for the door. "We'd better get looking, then. .... Vampire, huh?"
"Chased me all the way through the train tunnel. Now why couldn't you have nice sweet memories, like maybe ice cream stores and trips to the park and feeding squirrels?"
"Don't complain. I've got a clown."
"Mmhmm, thirty feet tall and brain sucking." Selphie reached out one hand, touching Seifer's as it grasped the doorknob. "Seify.. I love you."
"I love you, too, Selphie."
"I wanna go home." Irvine dropped his head against Selphie's cheek, hugging her neck. Selphie giggled, her eyes shining as she looked up at Seifer, making the fears of Griever slip away from him, carrying a light stronger than anything a flourescent bulb could produce. He smiled down to her and ruffled Irvine's hair, then opened the door and walked through.
They were in the Lunatic Pandora, the lunar rock crashed to earth, a monster-filled maze of green crystal tunnels and caverns. Selphie blew out her cheeks, shifting Irvine up a bit on her hip. "Okay, no clowns, no vampires. We can do this, Seify. It's your head, think. Which way do we go?"
Seifer looked left, then right, brow furrowed. "To the central chamber. To Adel. You want me to carry him?"
"I got him, he's pretty light when he's this little. I'd never try this on the other side. You want to ride piggyback, Irvy?" Irvine nodded, wriggling around as she shifted him to her back, kicking his legs over her arms and looking over her shoulder. "Okay, ready."
Seifer nodded. "Right. Let's roll." He lead the way down the right hand path, his eyes narrowing. If it was his head he'd be damned if they ran into monsters in it while he had Selphie and Irvy to protect. He'd rip them apart with his bare hands if he had to. Selphie's footsteps echoed off the walls along with his own as they wound around and around until all sense of direction was lost, the path looping back on itself, but he was sure of the way. The chamber was clear in his mind. He smiled a bit as he heard Selphie singing to Irvine, one of her impromptu compositions.
"Irvy, Irvy, not so curvy, likes his hat and um.. don't like grats, all the girls love Irvy, Irvy, and he loves his Quisty, Quisty.."
"That doesn't rhyme." Seifer looked over his shoulder.
Selphie wrinkled her nose at him. "Oh shush or I'll start singing my train song."
"Okay, okay. Don't threaten me." He turned forward, seeing the three entrances in front of him. He walked to the one that led to the chamber, pausing for a moment before stepping into it. He lifted his eyes to the glowing, throbbing fallen pillar in the center of the room, the moving corpse of the sorceress Adel floating in the visible end of it, her white face distorted by grotesque lines around her eyes and dark lips like a bloody gash in her face. He reached out to steady Selphie as she tripped in after him. "I think it's a mirror. I remember it being a mirror to somewhere."
Selphie lowered Irvine to the ground, grasping his hand. "Matron said it would show the other side, though, the way out."
Seifer shook his head. "It doesn't lead out. I don't know where it goes but it doesn't go back to reality." He chewed on his lip, eyes narrowing in thought. "This is crazy."
"Well, it's your head, silly."
"Right, and you think your head would be any better organized, babe?"
"Monstew!" Irvine yanked on Selphie's hand, pointing behind them. Seifer and Selphie turned to look in time to see a serpentine shadow cross the doorway.
Seifer pushed Selphie and Irvine behind him, backing toward the center of the chamber. "Fuck, he found us."
"What do we do, Seifer?! It's blocking the only exit!" Selphie wrapped her hands protectively over Irvine's chest, the little boy cowering against her stomach.
"... No it's not. Go through the mirror."
"What? In with Adel?"
"It's not the way out so it'll still be in my mind, right?" Seifer looked at her. "We can't stay here!"
Selphie swallowed, eyes widening as Griever roared, shards of crystal shaking loose from the ceiling at the resounding noise. "Okay, Seifer, I trust you. Come on, Irvy."
Seifer grabbed her hand, holding it tightly as he stepped towards the amber glow of the mirror. "Don't let go, I don't want us to get seperated." Selphie nodded, grabbing Irvine's hand and pulling him after her. Seifer took a deep breath and plunged into the amber. It melted around him, feeling like molten glass. For a moment he was face to face with Adel, her dead eyes gazing mockingly into his as her arms reached for him, then his feet slid out from under him and he started falling. He heard Selphie and Irvine scream as they were pulled down with him. "Don't let go!" He felt Selphie's grip slipping and clenched her hand so hard he thought he might break it. His back struck something that stung like cold concrete and he felt himself sinking, water choking him. He kicked, forcing himself upward, still holding Selphie's hand. He sucked in a painful breath as his head broke above the water and pulled Selphie up, her hair over her eyes as she sputtered for breath, Irvine clinging to her, looking like a small drowned rat as he kicked, trying to stay afloat. Seifer wrapped his arm around Irvine, leaning back to keep his head above water, sliding his other arm around Selphie's waist as she pushed her hair out of her face. A clear moon shone above them in a pitch black sky. He kicked instinctively towards where his memories told him the shore was. Irvine's small legs gave out halfway and he sagged limply against Seifer's chest, coughing.
Seifer's limbs were aching and weak by the time he dragged them onto the shore, falling on the sand in exhaustion. Selphie dropped down next to him, breathing hard. Irvine sniffled softly and curled up between them, shivering in his drenched clothes. Seifer dropped his arm over both of them and closed his eyes.
