Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or any of the characters in it… you know the rest.
Chapter 4: Haunting dreams
I have awakened within you. After twenty years of sleep, I have awakened.
Who are you?
Bring me the blue sorceress. I will provide what is necessary. I will provide all that is needed.
Who are you? What do you want?!
That is all for now, my servant…
Who…?
If you bring me the blue sorceress, I can make all your dreams become reality. The blue sorceress… Bring me the blue sorceress… All will become clear once you get the blue sorceress…
"WHY!?" Seifer sat up suddenly, wide awake and drenched in sweat. He had seen a person in a shadow, male or female he couldn't tell, for they were cloaked in the darkness and their voice was one that could have been of either gender. He had been standing in a circular area with a strange symbol on the ground beneath him. It had looked like a silver cross with dark vines surrounding it. Only instead of leaves, it had knife blades. Each blade was caked with dry blood. The symbol had been glowing while the shadow was speaking to him, but had stopped abruptly when it left. Left? Was that the right word? Its presence had remained, but a physical being was no longer there. Then flames had burst all around him, but never entering the circular area. That was when he had woken up.
But he had no memory of the dream whatsoever. Except for one phrase. The blue sorceress… Bring me the blue sorceress… All will become clear once you get the blue sorceress…
**********
At the next biweekly meeting of the leaders of Balamb Garden, the topic was, of course, Seifer Almasy. What to do with him, how to treat him, and his status at Garden since he never became an official SeeD.
"…Squall, I don't see why you let him stay here in the first place," Xu said suddenly, voicing everyone's thoughts. "You've never been the type for giving second chances."
"She's right. Why did you let him stay? I thought you vowed never to have anything to do with him after the whole Ultimecia mess. You said he was 'the Sorceress' lapdog' and that we were to 'leave him to deal with his own life'." Everyone nodded in agreement with Quistis' statement, waiting to hear their Commander's answer.
"Actually, I don't really know why I let him stay. Something is telling me that we need to give him a chance. Of course, I don't think he should, but last time I didn't listen to that voice in my head, I… we almost lost Rinoa." He glanced over at the raven-haired woman. "So this time, I'm going to listen to it. I'm not going to make another mistake like that one again. He's been acting decently so far, and until something bad happens, it should be all right if he stays here." Squall shrugged. Then he muttered, "That is, if he doesn't mind the cold attitude the students give him all the time…"
"………"
"I think that's all we had to discuss," Xu said after an awkward silence from everyone. "Commander?"
"Yes, that should cover everything. Meeting adjourned."
Selphie stretched and then said energetically, "Okay! Irvy, let's get back to planning for that Garden festival! [Irvine groaned in reply, "The things I do for love…"] By the way, any of you guys interested in joining the committee? I was kidding! Just kidding!" she cried at the looks of terror that the others gave her.
One by one, they all left the conference room, each to a different destination. Selphie practically had to drag Irvine to the quad where they continued to work on the Garden festival, which was coming up in a few weeks. She had almost everything done already except for some details.
Soon, Squall and Rinoa were left in the room alone. "Umm… Squall?" Rinoa said finally. "How has life been here at Garden? I heard you broke up with Quistis a little while ago. It must have been hard on you. (When we broke up, you wouldn't talk to me for a month or so…) No," she shook her head when he opened his mouth to deny it. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it right now. But if you ever need to, I'm here. Remember that." Rinoa gave him a little hug, like a younger sister would, and left the room leaving a frozen Squall behind.
Squall sat down in his office a while later, staring at the picture he had taken with Rinoa a few years ago. Times had changed. All of them had moved on by now and were making a new life for themselves. All of them except for him. Even Seifer was trying to get a new start. Granted, he wasn't getting a very warm welcome into the world, but he was making progress. Only Squall remained in the past. He had spent countless hours thinking about what had happened in the past. Oh sure, he thought about the future, but it just wasn't really important to him. Why bother? He had already given up hope that Rinoa would come back to him. It seemed that she was happy with… what's his name? Taese? Inside, Squall knew that it was only right that they were together, yet… something was holding him back. Fear of rejection? Maybe, but it seemed to be more than that. He would think about it later.
**********
Seifer sat in his room that night, writing in his diary. He had kept one ever since the Ultimecia mess, since he began to try to be good inside and find out who he really was behind that mask of an proud and arrogant man who acted as if he were king of the world.
Dear diary,
Today was another normal day, at least as normal as a SeeD training facility can be. Students ran around criticizing me among other things. That I don't really mind, I'm used to it, having heard it daily for the past three years. What bothers me is that I keep hearing a phrase in my head. Get the blue sorceress… Bring me the blue sorceress… All will become clear once you get the blue sorceress... But what does it mean? Blue sorceress… the only one I know of is Quistis. Why do they need Quistis? And who is telling me to get her? All will become clear… All what? Every time I'm close to remembering who or what is telling me to do this, I get a splitting headache so bad that I can't think at all. There's no use going to Doctor Kadowaki because I doubt that this is a normal headache. Someone or something doesn't want me to know something… I'm already busy enough trying to get some of their trust back, I don't need some unknown force telling me to kidnap Quistis… Who are you and what do you want?! I'm going to ponder this sometime later. Maybe I'll get an answer after I've rested some…
A/N: I finished the game a few days ago (finally ^_^;) so I have a better idea of what's going on now. Hehe. This is my first fic, so be please be nice to it. Well, flames are okay too. I'll just ignore them though. Any suggestions are welcome! As always, please r/r! Thanx!
