Chapter 1
"Somewhere between God and the Devil passion is and the way there is sudden and the way back is worse."
- Jeanette Winterson, The Passion
Rain was coming. Clouds hung in the grey sky over Balamb, and the sea shuddered almost expectantly, awaiting the storm. Seifer Almasy spread his hand and watched the water beneath him through parted fingers. The line of his fishing rod swirled this way and that, caught in the churning waves. Seifer ignored it. He was remembering a time almost a year ago, when he had stood on this pier and watched Balamb garden flying overhead, heading home.
Time had passed so quickly since then, and Seifer hadn't really known what to do with himself. He had travelled around the world, looking for a place where he could feel alive again, where he could expend some of the vibrant energy that built up in his soul, day by day. No matter where he went, though, it was always the same. Everybody knew who Seifer Almasy was. He was a legend, but a legend of a very different kind to Squall and the others. At first there had been fear. When he visited Timber, news of his arrival spread like wildfire across the town, and he had found himself shunned and avoided. People would part for him on the pavement, staring and whispering as he passed, "That boy's not right." When he travelled to The Sorceress Memorial in Esthar, he found himself surrounded by an entire garrison of soldiers, their quaking squad-commander asking him politely to leave. After the fear came the hatred and the derision. His appearance in Deling drew a sizable mob of hecklers. "Get out of here!" they screamed. "Why aren't you in Balamb with your witch?" The anger Seifer had felt that day had been immeasurable.
Of course, he knew why they loathed him. He reminded them of a past they all wanted to forget, a past where they had all been seduced by Ultimecia into war with the rest of the world. It was the same with everyone from Seifer's past. He could see it in their eyes and hear it in the silence. "Ultimecia was destroyed. The world was healed. So, Seifer, why are you still here?" He was a bad memory, an angry ghost that couldn't rest.
Of course, the world had changed since the struggle against Ultimecia. Now that T.V. and Radio transmissions were functioning again, the media had pulled back into full swing. Worldwide communication - something Seifer's generation had never seen, brought events and concerns from around the globe to every home with a T.V. set. People were once again made aware of places other then their hometowns. It was like the world was waking up from a seventeen year old dream, trying to remember who or what it was. Seifer knew he had changed too. He'd had a lot of time to think about what had happened to himself and to the people he knew. When Balamb garden had flown overhead, proud and victorious, he had expected to feel hatred. Instead, he had smiled at the sight. His fingers clenched into a fist, and came crushing down onto the hardwood of the pier. Yes, he thought. You were glad they had won, weren't you? Glad they had survived. Damn you.
His own proud words to Squall echoed in his ears. "One of these days, I'm gonna tell ya 'bout my romantic dream!" he had said. Seifer had known, even then, that he was willing go to any length to realise what he perceived to be his destiny. Looking back, he realised just how dangerous his passion had been. He had deluded himself with daydreams of romanticism and high-adventure, but all he really wanted was power. Power that would get him noticed, feared, and respected by both enemy and friend. He had never cared where that power came from. If an angel came down and offered him a place in the host of heaven he would have accepted it just as readily as an offer from the Devil himself. Good and evil didn't matter, Seifer had just wanted to fight, to surpass his rival, Squall, and to be able to scream up at the sky that he was alive - a mortal who was ready to challenge the gods themselves.
But fate had been unkind to Seifer. He had been drawn on the loosing side. Looking out at Balamb harbour and the whitening, restless sea beyond it, Seifer shuddered to think what would have happened if his side had been victorious. It would have meant the total destruction of the world as it was known. Everything would have been drawn into the maddening embrace of time compression. It was nothing less then oblivion, and when the time for its completion had drawn near, Seifer would have welcomed it with open arms. After his final defeat by Squall aboard Lunatic Pandora, he had been consumed with hatred. He would have uncurled his fingers and burned the entire world if he'd had any strength left in his shattered body. As it was, he lay in the darkness, and waited for oblivion to take him.
* * * *
Instead of facing the end of his existence, Seifer had found himself in a washed out world - white, and drained of colour. He didn't really understand what was happening, but he felt something uncoiling from his mind and slithering into the darkness of the past. The hatred dropped him from its embrace like a spurned lover, and the red haze of insanity that had consumed him for so many weeks was finally lifted. Raijin and Fujin had found him wandering the ghostly remains of Lunatic Pandora, as it drifted aimlessly away from Tears Point. He had still been dazed and confused at that point. They had taken him back to Balamb the first chance they got so that he could recover. He hadn't spoken to them much at first, or to anyone at all. He was prone to spend time lost in thought, staring into space, trying to remember. They had managed to get a couple of properties in Balamb, courtesy of Garden authorities, and moved in there, despite the concerns of the locals. They spent a lot of their time with Seifer, going fishing, hanging out with him, and generally trying to coax the old him back to the surface.
One particular night, something seemed to snap inside of him. Flying into a rage he pulled Hyperion from its case and began trashing his small house. Paintings, photographs, vases, everything was cut to pieces, pulled off shelves and smashed, or hurled as far as the enraged Seifer could throw them. Investigating the commotion, Raijin and Fujin found him bursting out of his front door and down towards the sea. They had followed, screaming at him to stop, to tell them what was going on. He had stopped on the shore, his breath ragged, and raised Hyperion, pulling it back as if he were about to cast it into the sea. Raijin had grabbed his arm, and Seifer turned savagely to add him to the carnage, but when his eyes rested on his two very concerned friends he had stopped. Hyperion clattered to the ground and Seifer to his knees. He'd said nothing, and Raijin and Fujin had led him slowly and carefully back to his house.
Since then, the Seifer they knew had re-emerged. He became more outspoken and commanding again. Announcing that he was restless, he'd set off to travel the world. When he returned, almost five months had passed since the Ultimecia incident. At the time, Balamb Garden had returned to its original position, outside Balamb itself, for repairs and a refit. A lot of the staff were away helping with the re-construction of Trabia Garden so Seifer had taken the opportunity to do something he'd been thinking about doing the whole time he had been away. Ignoring the piercing looks he received from SeeDs and trainees alike he strode into the Garden like he owned the place - just like the old days. He waited for one of them to stop him or challenge him but none of them seemed to know what to do. It wasn't long before he was accosted by a face from the past. "Instructor," he had said, a thin smile on his lips. She had appeared to block his route in the main hallway, flanked by a couple of SeeDs. Her expression was cool and impassive. "What are you doing here, Seifer?" she asked, her tone flat and unafraid.
"Don't worry, Instructor," he said, indicating the long black case he held in one hand. It was embossed with the symbol of the Fire Cross, the martial technique that Seifer had spent many years studying. "This is just a social call."
Quistis Trepe looked down at the case. "Your gunblade?" she asked.
"Yes," Seifer replied, simply.
Quistis' eyes narrowed. "You're giving it in?"
Seifer nodded. That transparent, eh? he had thought bitterly.
"Why?"
"That's my business, Instructor," he said, his smile never leaving his face.
Quistis had given a signal, and the SeeDs had parted to let Seifer through.
"I'll need to see Headmaster Cid," added Seifer. "Be sure to get me permission to see him."
Quistis shook her head and walked over to the directory, opening a Comm.-panel on the side. "Headmaster? This is Quistis. Seifer Almasy is here. Yes, I thought you'd want to see him. I'll send him down right away." She turned to him. "Looks like you're in luck. The Headmaster will see you. His office has been re-located to the first basement level. These two will escort you there," she said, indicating the two SeeDs.
"Thanks," spat Seifer, his expression and tone indicating a sentiment of the exact opposite. Not waiting for his two escorts to catch up, he headed off for the elevator.
"It's a shame, Seifer," Quistis' voice called after him. "After all that training you and I went through."
Seifer didn't answer, he entered the lift and turned to stare at her as the SeeDs caught up with him and entered the code for the Headmaster's office. His eyes locked with Quistis', each trying to read the other's expression. Then the lift doors had slid closed, breaking their gaze, and Seifer had not seen her since. Wordlessly, he had handed in his gunblade to the Headmaster, ignoring the bespectacled man's questions, and then left the Garden as quickly as he could.
If beset by monsters on the plains of Balamb, Seifer was now seen fighting with a simple machine gun. After a while, he even stopped wearing his distinctive trench coat, and he was never seen using the magic techniques of the Fire Cross again. When a concerned Raijin and Fujin asked him if he was changing his image to hide from the past, they were met only with laughter and cold, harsh words. People still stayed away from him, his legend enduring even as he changed. He managed to get a job in Balamb, holding back a spate of monsters that descended from the northern mountains.
* * * *
A flash of lightning brought Seifer out of his reverie. And that just about brings us up to date, he thought. The rain had started, but he ignored it, the water running off his short black jacket in a torrent. He sighed. It's not as if all this introspection and backtracking does you any good. He shifted uncomfortably on the hard planks of the pier. When you open your mouth you're still just the same Seifer Almasy that everyone expects.
A shout from up-harbour caught his ear and he turned to see Fujin waving frantically. "What?" he shouted over sound of the sea and storm.
"There's something on the T.V. I think you should see!" she screeched back. "Besides, if you stay here any longer you'll be washed away!"
This had better be good, he thought, packing away his fishing rod and, with hunched shoulders, jogging back up the pier towards Fujin and the house.
He got inside to see Raijin starring intently at the screen built into one wall. Trying to shake himself dry, he looked to see what all the fuss was about. The transmission appeared to be a live report. It showed a newscaster in a location Seifer couldn't discern. The urgent tone in the reporters voice matched the scenes of devastation behind him. Flames crackled into view, and the camera was rocked by the occasional explosion.
"...at this stage can't tell exactly what is causing this phenomenon, but Garden representatives are on the scene now. Yes...yes, I'm just getting reports that the famous Squall Leonheart is available for comment and we'll move to him now."
The camera cut to an interior location and a very irate look Squall, who'd evidently been shoved in front of the cameras against his will. Seifer caught himself. This was the first time he'd seen Squall since their last, decisive battle. He looked a lot older. His eyes, particularly displayed a maturity that must have come from the responsibility of carrying a legend. An off camera voice spoke. "Can Garden shed any light on today's shocking events?"
Squall shifted uncomfortably, but when he spoke it was with clear authority. "We don't know exactly what caused the duplicate Garden to appear, or where it came from originally."
"So this was not the Balamb Garden?"
"No. As we all know, Balamb Garden is currently in-station at Balamb itself and has been for the past seven months. We've already confirmed that it is still in position."
"What about claims that this incident is not isolated, and that other anomalous portals are opening at points across the globe?"
Squall blinked. "I have no idea whether those claims are true or not. What I can say is that all of SeeD is here to combat any potential threat. We will investigate this phenomenon and prevent it from occurring again so that disasters like the one that occurred today do not occur again."
"Thank you, sir."
Squall nodded gravely and turned to leave. The camera cut back to the original newscaster. Seifer turned to Raijin. "Okay," he said. "What the hell is going on?"
Raijin looked up, as if noticing Seifer for the first time. "Uh, somethin' really weird, ya know?" He pointed at the screen. "We were just watching the evening news, and then this guy comes on with a newsflash. Apparently, a duplicate of our old Garden appeared outside Esthar a few hours ago and crashed into one of their super-freeways. Look!" Raijin cried suddenly. "They're showing it again!"
Seifer turned back to the screen, and was greeted with securi-cam pictures of what looked like a heavily damaged Balamb Garden. It was materializing out of what appeared to be a huge vortex of swirling light and colour. Trailing debris, it banked and listed heavily, careening into one of Esthar's massive freeways. Evidently, the Garden's shields were down, as the impact cut deeply into its armour. Seifer watched, incredulous, as the Garden swung around, carrying a piece of the huge freeway with it, and then, it's anti-gravity failing - crashed into the ground. It tore up huge mounds of compacted earth, the scar in the ground becoming longer and longer as the Garden continued on its rails of destruction. Hitting yet another pylon, it swung to a halt, still wracked with internal explosions. The camera panned back to show the portal diminishing and closing in on itself. There was a low rumble, and then the screen went white. The reporter appeared again.
"It was at that point that the Garden's magnetic reactor went critical, destroying the Garden itself and knocking out most of the electrical equipment in southern Esthar. Luckily, few civilians were injured in this incident, but as for casualties aboard the Garden itself, we can only speculate."
Fujin came to stand by Seifer. "What do you think this means?" she asked.
Seifer shrugged. "I have no idea. But one thing I do know is that it's none of our business." He turned meaningfully to face both Raijin and Fujin. "Understand?"
"But Seifer, that's our Garden, and..." started Raijin.
"No," snapped Seifer. "It was our Garden. Hell, it only looked like our Garden anyway. Who knows where it came from? It has nothing to do with us. It's not our responsibility." Suddenly, the T.V. picture turned to static. "Hey," Raijin frowned. "What's up with it?" As he reached for the remote, the lights flickered and went out. The resulting darkness was lit momentarily by a huge flash of lightning. The three comrades looked at each other in confusion as the ground began to shake. A piercing scream came from the street outside. Instinctively, Seifer took charge. "Both of you get back to your house and grab your equipment. I'll meet you outside."
"Seifer, what's go...?" Raijin began.
"Now," Seifer commanded, and the two nodded and hurried for the door. Heading upstairs, Seifer pulled his machine gun from its cabinet and swiped plenty of ammo before heading for the door himself.
The street was in chaos. Many people had fled from their homes when the tremors began and were charging down the street in the direction of the harbour. The slashing rain and crackling lightning only served to heighten the sense of panic that had descended over Balamb. Seifer considered stopping one of them to find out what was going on, but he knew blind flight when he saw it. Looking up the street, he tried to make out what they were running from. Raijin and Fujin arrived and took up battle positions either side of him. The three stared in shock at what was happening just outside Balamb. "It's one of those portals!" screamed Raijin over the din. Sure enough, the boiling clouds and arching lightning seemed to be coalescing into a singular point. It looked just like the portal Seifer had seen moments ago on the television. No wonder people were running scared. "It's smaller then the other one!" observed Seifer. "Follow me! We're gonna stop whatever's coming through!" He began to run up the street. After only a moment's hesitation, his posse followed.
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