¸.·´¯`·»Searching Overture«·´¯`·.¸
"Retrieval process?" Seifer asked raising his eyebrows. Cid wanted him to hunt down Quistis Trepe and bring her back to the Garden?
"Technically she is still SeeD. When she left she was never properly discharged" Cid said.
"She only left because Miss Princess demanded it" Seifer said with a snort. Sometimes he wondered what he ever had seen in Rinoa.
"Focus please, Seifer" Cid said drawing the cadets attention back to him. Seifer glared at Cid, waiting.
"Well where is she?" Seifer snapped crossing his arms impatiently across his chest. Cid smiled slightly shuffling papers again.
"Well that's part of the problem, we don't know," Cid said. Seifer ever so casually propped his booted feet up on Cid's mahogany desk, arrogance sprawled across his face.
"You want me to play gopher for you then?" the ex-knight asked pulling a pack of cigarettes out from him inner jacket pocket.
"Don't smoke those in here!" Cid snapped. Seifer chuckled a bit shaking his head.
"Calm down, Headmaster" Seifer said slipping the pack back where it belonged.
"You will leave immediately. Upon the arrival of Quistis Trepe in the Garden you will be promoted to full-fledged SeeD" Cid said obvious annoyance showing in his face.
"Yes sir" Seifer said standing up giving him a half-assed salute before leaving the office. To his surprise sitting in the little red waiting room was Selphie. Her bright yellow dress clashed amongst the colors giving him a headache almost immediately.
"Is it true, are you SeeD?" she demanded little fists balled up on her hips.
"Might as well be" Seifer said giving her his cocky smirk. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. It occurred to him that Selphie might know where Quistis was making his easy mission even more easy.
"Hey, sunshine, you wouldn't know where I could find my former instructor?" Seifer asked wrapping an arm around her shoulder; smirk still sprawled across his face.
"Quistis? What do you need her for?" Selphie asked pushing his arm off her shoulders.
"My life wouldn't be complete without the chance to rub it in her face that I made SeeD, under someone else's tutelage. Nida no less"
"Why have you always gotta be such an ass!" Selphie exclaimed stomping hard on his toe before heading into the Headmasters office. Seifer grinned and chuckled. He loved it when he could get under someone's skin that easy. He sauntered off to his room to pack his things, to head off for his easy mission.
Why in Hyne's entire universe did he think that this mission would be easy? It was obvious if Quistis Trepe didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be. Seifer groaned slumping down into the seat on the train. Another train ride to another city. Deling City, Dollet, Winhill, Balamb; none of them had any clues to where Quistis was. He eyed the phone hanging on the back of the seat bitterly still debating on calling Selphie. He knew that little cheery annoyance knew where Quistis was. No one had seen the blond former Instructor.
Seifer was at the end of his sanity, so he picked up the phone and dialed the Garden's number.
"Balamb Garden, how can I direct your call?" Xu's voice issued forth from the phone bringing and instant smirk to Seifer's face.
"Xu, baby, how ya been?" Seifer drawled into the phone leaning casually back in to the seat.
"Almasy?" Xu questioned practically growling into the phone.
"Not happy to hear from me?" he asked.
"What do you want?" she asked her voice angry.
"Are you still mad about that whole skinny dipping incident? I swear, babe, no one saw you walking back into the school"
"Only half the student population, not to mention the pictures all over the network" Xu said growling. Seifer laughed remembering the incident. It had been one of his best. Luring Xu to the beach, convincing her to go skinny-dipping, and then disappearing with her clothes. Not to mention all the pictures he got of her walking back into the school. Then the posting of them in her Cadet profile on the Balamb network. Ingenious.
"Just put me through to our resident ray of sunshine's room please" Seifer said rolling his eyes.
"What do you want Selphie for?" Xu asked.
"To talk, it's dire to my mission" Seifer said his voice containing a slight growl.
"Oh of course, Mr. Almasy the all mighty lapdog" Xu said clicking the phone over to drop him on hold. Seifer laughed, the day was turning out not to be so bad after all. A few minutes later the he heard the phone being picked up.
"Hello" a man's voice drawled into the phone heavy with the sound of sleep.
"Irvine? Xu was spossed to put me through to Selphie" Seifer said massaging his temples a bit.
"Yeah, she sent you to the right room. Let me get Selph" Irvine said Seifer wincing a bit as the phone clattered loudly on something. He heard the sound of muffled voices for a moment and then
"Hello?" Selphie sounded sleepy as well.
"What are you two doing asleep at one in the afternoon" Seifer asked voice dripping with arrogance.
"Sleeping, Duh?" Selphie retorted. He snickered shaking his head.
"Look, Selphie, I need your help. I still can't find Trepe," He said at last. She giggled a little with a small sigh.
"Don't you ever read the newspapers?" Selphie asked with a yawn.
"No time" he replied getting impatient.
"See of you can dig up a copy of yesterdays paper, that might help ya Almasy" Selphie said with a giggle before dropping the phone on the receiver. Seifer stared incredulously at the receiver in his hand before hanging it back up. Yesterdays newspaper. He'd have to go to a library, or see if someone on the train had one. He looked around at all the suites and decided to get this over with.
So he stood up and cleared his throat a bit.
"Anyone got a newspaper from yesterday" he said loudly his booming voice catching all of their attentions. Some of their eyes widened when they say the blood red crosses smeared down his sleeves. Others just rolled their eyes and looked back to whatever they were doing.
"I do" came a small voice suddenly from behind him. Seifer whirled around spotting a small girl with red hair sitting next to an older copy of her. Mother and daughter. A newspaper was spread out in front of the small girl a stack of crayons to one side. Colored streaks ran across the black and white writing.
"This is yesterdays," the small girl said looking up at him with doey brown eyes.
"Mind if I look at it for a sec" Seifer said walking over to her.
"Sure! No problem!" the girl said moving her crayons off of it and offering it to him with her small hand. Seifer took it form her flashing a smile before looking over the front page. The black print screamed out at him.
TIMBER REVOLUTIONARY FRONT TO MEET WITH GALBADIAN GOVERNMENT.
Quistis Trepe, newly elected head of the Timber Revolutionary Freedom front has arranged a meeting between herself and the other ten members of the Revolutionary council. They will be speaking of Timber's freedom and hoping to arrange an alliance so that Timber is no longer vulnerable to attacks.
Seifer scanned the article quickly eyeing the picture of her surrounded by ten other people. He had to smile because the small girl had drawn glasses and a mustache on all of them. Seifer knelt down next to the girl and grabbed the black crayon.
"She looks more like this" Seifer said as he drew Quistis' nose upturned a bit more and her arms folded across her chest. The little girl giggled smiling up at him with her sparkling brown eyes.
"You know her?" the girl asked as Seifer stood up.
"I used to, a long time ago. She was my teacher" Seifer said.
"A teacher? What's it like to be in school?" she asked. Seifer frowned looking at the mother, all kids her age should be in school.
"We've never had the Gil to send her to school" the mother said shortly. Seifer suddenly noticed their poor clothes and ragged shoes. His lips formed a firm line, and he shook his head. Since when did he care? When did he become charitable? He sighed digging into his pocket for some Gil. He set it on the girl's newspaper with a small smile before turning and walking back to his seat.
"Hey! Thanks mister!" the little girl called after him, her mother's exclamations ringing in his ears. Perhaps it was that she was a kid, that it had touched him. He sighed staring out the window sullenly. Quistis was in Timber, how lucky it was the train was heading there right now.
Timber looked the same it did the last time he had been there. Dirty, and overpopulated for such a small town. The Galbadian government hadn't allowed them to build any new housing at all. Families were living three to a home, and there were no jobs. People crowded the streets begging for Gil. Unfortunately there was no Gil to give, Timber's economy had gone totally down hill. Seifer sighed heading for the Hotel hoping to get a room. It a dingy place set far in the back of town, they had one room left the other all being rented out as homes. Seifer gladly took it and went up to the top floor to drop his luggage.
He fled the hotel heading for the nearest bar, deciding to get drunk before he went to find Quistis the next day. He strode down the streets of Timber like he owned the place, gray trench coat swirling out behind. People gave him a wide berth usually ignoring him all together.
Heaviness crowded his mind; he paused in the middle of the street.
(~ In the ally to your left, go now ~)
Seifer frowned glaring down the dark alleyway off to his left. He shrugged before turning into it and following the stony walls. There was scratching noises ahead, and suddenly a muffled shout. His feet moved almost without thinking, drawing the shining gunblade at his side. He burst into the square at the end of the ally gunblade tight in his grip. A woman was lying on the ground two men standing over her. His eyes glistened spotting the shock of golden hair lying on the dirty floor of the ally.
"What have we got here?" Seifer said with a smirk before launching into an attack.
A/N: I am trying very hard to keep Seifer in character. I hope that you all think he is. I also hope that this story that this story is original.
Stay tuned for Quisty next chapy! :) Thank you everyone for all the great reviews!! :D