New fic! :D This was originally submitted for my English essay test, but it was not chosen, so I decided to put it up on Fanfiction.net. I got a darn low mark for it, way low beyond any of my past results, and I am so not satisfied. But what can I do? I can't go up to the teacher and say, "Remark my paper!" Well, maybe with a Gunblade, I could :P

So, now, I'll post this thing up, and I'll listen to your comments, not to the teacher's remarks. Whatever. And tell me in your review whether this fic is okay or is absolutely junk and deserves to be destroyed. I wouldn't mind as it'll tell me how my writing's progressing.

Okay, enough talking. Read on, and judge.

DISCLAIMER: FF8 belongs to Squaresoft, story belongs to me.

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Dreams of a Fallen Knight

As told in Seifer's POV

"So…how'd I look in my moment of triumph? My childhood dream, fulfilled. I've become the Sorceress' Knight."

- Seifer Almasy, Final Fantasy VIII -

Dreams. Everyone, you, and me. We all have our own dreams. No, not those dreams you get when you go to bed at night. And certainly not those dreams that kids these days like to have: dreams with their loved ones, dreams of being rich, et cetera. No. I'm talking about the dream that you have in your life: your aspiration. For those ignorant fools out there, it's ambition.

Ambition. What has it got to do with me? Me, the great Seifer Almasy, labelled 'a problematic child', a show-off, and a snob by most people in Balamb Garden, have an ambition? No way. But hey, we are the same. We are humans that have dreams, and I think I certainly have one.

* * *

Maybe being an orphan at a young age made me into what I am today. Matron Edea and Uncle Cid took care of me from the day I realised myself. I've never met my real parents, and I hate them for ditching me from the start. Even many years later, they didn't bother to come looking for me. I kept thinking, am I that bad until I am refused by my own blood parents? I used to cry to sleep wherever I thought of that at night.

Matron said that it was not my fault. She said something about circumstances changes, but since I was young at that time, I don't really understand what she was saying. All I know is, I hate my parents, whoever they are. Who ditched me. Who never came for me. Who never was there for me from the start. Until now. Pathetic parents.

And the neighbourhood was not that kind either. Just because I'm an orphan doesn't mean they have the right to bully, no, torture me. When I was five, I was repeatedly bashed up by those big-sized punks with muscles for brains, taking me as their daily punching bag for practice. Even after Matron warned them off, they kept coming back for more. Until one day.

Matron was telling me a story that night. Your typical good triumphs over evil type of story. But to me, it was different. That very story sparked my interest. It was about a good sorceress and an evil mercenary. She told me that the good sorceress had a loyal knight, and the two of them fight side by side against the evil mercenary, who in the end was defeated. The loyal knight was called a sorceress' knight. So I told Matron, "I want to be a knight, too. A sorceress' knight."

"A Sorceress Knight?" she asked and laughed. "You have to be strong to be one." And strong I learned to be. I sifted through Uncle Cid's old weapons magazines to learn more about weaponry, their power, flexibility, and stuff like that. Then I came upon the weapon called the Gunblade.

The Gunblade, like its name, is a one-part gun and one-part blade that was said to be the most powerful weapon but needed quite a number of years to be fully mastered. I like that weapon. Who cares how many years it'll take as long as it could dish out great damage to any opponent? I made a wooden one, and although unable to 'explode upon pulling the trigger', it still made a pretty good weapon to me.

And those punks? Were they so surprised. They'd never expected the weak me, 'Weakling Seifer' to fight them. But I did. I brought out my Gunblade, and fought my first battle in life. And I won. I won, even though I came back all bloodied and injured, almost frightening Matron to death, what with all the blood and dirt. But I won. Since that day, those punks never came near me again. And I told Matron proudly, "See? I'm strong now. I can be a Sorceress Knight."

Then, they came. Squall, Ellone, Quistis, Irvine, Selphie, and Zell. The happy bunch. All stuff about being Sorceress' Knight was slowly forgotten. After that, I can't remember anything else that happened during the late years of my childhood until I arrived at Balamb. Damned those Guardian Forces for taking away my childhood memories.

* * *

I was about ten when I enrolled at what everyone was talking at that time the best academy in the world, Balamb Garden. Despite the fact that it was a good place does not mean I have finally found paradise.

As usual, I'm the kid with trouble. Wherever some idiot provoked me, I'll trash the hell out of them. After all, most people don't listen to words, so showing strength was enough to make them fear me. Then, Uncle Cid who became the Headmaster formed the Disciplinary Committee, with me as the leader and two more others, Fujin and Raijin. Unexpectedly, we all understood each other perfectly even though we barely knew each other. I decided, I've finally found my true friends who will always be there for me. We became a Posse. And we terrorise the whole Garden, punishing wimps and people who stand in our way.

People like Zell. That wuss was always annoying to me from the start, hence the constant picking on him. But not Squall. Squall Leonhart, the goody-two shoes, the best student in class, the best this, the best that. Everybody loved Squall. He practically gave me hell everyday be it in classes or training sessions, only done not using strength nor brains, but like some sort of psychological warfare. So, to teach him a lesson, I challenged him to a duel, and gave him that big fat scar, not knowing that he was strong enough to withstand it; he slashed me back in revenge. Up to this day, we share the same signature diagonal scar on our faces, only slanting in different ways. Way to go, Leonhart.

* * *

But honestly, I'm really tired of all this. Tired from all that fighting, rivalry, competition, crap. Looking back at how far I've come, I've lost more than I've gained.

My parents. Gone from the start.

Happy memories of that place from my childhood were swallowed up by the blasted Guardian Forces. One of the many bad side effects of using this powerful summon creatures. And they sometimes wouldn't even come once summoned. Stupid GFs.

Even the golden chance to become a SeeD was gone. I've failed once, and they were willing to give me another chance, but they still refused to accept me in just because I 'don't listen to orders.' I felt that I have the qualities and skills to become a great mercenary for Garden, but those fools sitting in the Garden office is just way too blind to see that.

Fine. Leave it that way. I don't frickin' care anymore. I totally lost it when I went to Timber just to take that dictator Vinzer Deling as hostage. As revenge for everything. Finding no way to run, I thought I'd just killed him, hand myself over and prepare to be tried and maybe, executed.

But no. Sorceress Edea came and offered me something in exchange for a chance to see a brand new life again: to be her Knight. To be a real Sorceress' Knight. Not like those in the stories told by Matron. This one is real. I took it as my one last chance to break away from all the hell they have been giving me all this years, and become her Sorceress' Knight, just like my childhood dream.

And this time, nobody's snatching it. They'd better not. Or else I'll attend to whoever it is personally.

* * *

But becoming a Knight is no easy feat. I couldn't protect the Sorceress when we were under attack by the horde of SeeDs, led by Squall. I lost the fight, and the Sorceress had to pitch in to save my ass, until she finally wounded him with her Ice Strike. And when the leader's down, the entire squad went down, too. The Galbadian soldiers arrested them, and the bunch was sent down to the D-District Prison. But they're all tough nuts; unwilling to spill any information regarding SeeDs and why they opposed the sorceress. Electrocuting Mr.Leader Squall too was no longer fun after that. They managed to escape anyway.

Then we met bastard Squall and his SeeDs again at the Master Room in Galbadia Garden. With the training I'd got after that untimely defeat in Deling City, I let him taste the power and anger I had stored up in me for all this time. Apparently, it did not pay off my hard work, and I was defeated once more by my rival.

* * *

MASTER ROOM, GALBADIA GARDEN

As I watched them left, I slowly picked myself up from the cold floor. This time, I would not forgive him so easily. As the Sorceress' Knight, I've got my pride, my dignity, and my power-hungry ego. I can't give up that easily. No way.

Taking up my trusty Gunblade, Hyperion, I made my way towards the auditorium. I saw Sorceress Edea standing there, contemplating the SeeDs.

"Worthless fools!" she cried. "All SeeDs must perish!"

And the battle began. I ran and protect Sorceress Edea, intercepting the duel. "Let me…handle him."

"Proof your worth to me then, my Knight," she whispered, and I nodded. Facing my rival once again, I said, "I'm the Sorceress' Knight. You'll never…get past me."

"We'll see about that!" answered Squall. And we fought. Blade met blade, and its clashes rang loudly in the huge room. Dodge, roll, block. Slash, slash, block. Argh! Got hit. Pain shot through my right arm. Crimson blood started flowing out, staining my trench-coat sleeve. The blood dripped out from the cut, hitting the floor with a sickening plop. Disgusting. But I ignored it and the pain. I've got a battle to be fought and won. I lunged at him again.

Fire…Cross…No…Mercy…I pointed Hyperion at Squall, and the weapon glowed. Then numerous flaming fireballs appeared, and I shot it at him. The fireballs hit him right on target. He evaded some, but the fireballs still managed to scorch his sides. He countered back, slashing more frequently, and more deadly.

Soon, I felt myself weakened. I couldn't even block his incoming attacks now. After many blocks and attempted slashes, he delivered his final blow, sending me sprawling onto the floor, almost knocking me out. I stood back up again, and walked a few steps towards him, but my injury refused to let me go on.

"Ughaaah!" I collapsed onto the floor again, Hyperion barely able to support my weight. My vision went slightly fuzzy. "…Damn, I'm disgraced."

Sorceress Edea just shook her head. "Defeated…Useless fool." She faced the SeeDs. "Enough play. SeeDs must die!" After this few words, I coughed out more blood, and felt myself giving in to the agony that quaked in my whole body; darkness finally claimed me.

* * *

I lay there, defeated and my whole body rocked with aching muscles and bruised injuries for who knew how long. Is this the end? It can't be…I'm not done yet…

Soon, I felt the pain slowly subsided. I no longer felt the throbbing pain of agony that I went through, although I still felt weak. Somebody must have healed me, but who?

I slowly opened my eyes and forced myself to stand up. I wiped the dried blood from my mouth and looked around, surveying the damage done. Puddles of blood were here and there. Scorched walls and holes on the floor that were made by me. Broken shards of glass lay everywhere, and the slumped figures of the fallen SeeDs lying unconscious. Sorceress Edea was seen nowhere.

Then I saw a faint glimmer of someone familiar in a red dress and two raven-black wings folded behind materialised in front of me. She walked towards the form of a girl on the floor whom I recognised was Rinoa and disappeared. Suddenly, Rinoa stood up like a puppet on strings moving and turning towards me, she opened her eyes slowly, and stared with a cold expression. I knew she was being possessed temporarily by Sorceress Ultimecia.

"Oh, my loyal knight, Seifer," said Rinoa. The hollow voice was not that of Rinoa, though.

"The sorceress is alive…" She paused. "…The sorceress demands."

I eyed her questioningly. Then I nodded slowly.

"Find the legendary Lunatic Pandora, said to be hidden beneath the ocean. Only then shall the sorceress provide you with dreams again," spoke the voice.

"As you wish, Ultimecia." I thanked her silently for giving me, her failed Knight another chance to redeem myself even though I have screwed up one many a times. As I leave the place, I vowed not to fail her anymore.

I will find the Lunatic Pandora. I will. And you shall give me my dream. For I am after all, your Sorceress' Knight.

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It's a bit different, I know, and I think (…bad memory, can't remember fics I've read…), I think they are a few fics about Seifer's life which is similar to mine posted up in FF.net. Well, I did this on my own without any reference (some dialogues were taken from websites which I lost the address….) but the rest is my own. So….what do you think about it?