The way home
I might be wrong
'Life's a bitch' thought Seifer, as he glared in disgust at the prostitutes approaching the taxi taking him and his comrades to their destination. 'Everything goes wrong, everyone turns sour, and I'm no different. But why can't life be happy for at least one day? Happiness is an emotion that I'm unsure of, along with love and commitment. What are they anyway? How exactly can you tell when you're feeling it? Especially if your heart is made of stone?' He asked himself…he asked himself the same sort of question everyday.
"Well hey there boys, in need of some satisfaction?" Came a sultry voice at the passenger window. 'She's trying too hard' he thought. Annoyed at the bother, Seifer wound down the window and stuck his head out a fraction. "Now listen you cheap little whores, get the fuck away from the car and I swear I'll snap your friggin necks, you hear me?" He said venomously. The three girls backed away, their tacky PVC boots clacking and clicking against the paved road.
The traffic lights bared the green light, and the engine revved. Seifer stuck up his middle finger to them as the taxi sped away, and the faint sound of abuse being thrown at him grew ever quieter as they made their way up the road. Seifer laughed to himself and shut the window. "Satisfaction…heh yeah right. I'd have more fun with a dead chocobo." The silence turned to laughter, and the very formal atmosphere seemed to been lifted.
Since being on the mission to Deling, Seifer had thought about Quistis a lot. She plagued his thoughts non-stop come to think of it. He replayed that whole incident. The things they said in the training centre, what he heard from Selphie, the argument they had in her dorm when she woke up. She hated him, from what she said had confirmed it, but he never expected to tell her how he felt about it, it was very unlike him…and he was embarrassed. But what did it mean to her? Did she even care? He doubted it very much. What got him was that he actually thought that he could be in love with her. He wasn't sure how, or even if he did, but he felt something he couldn't describe when she was around and it went into overload that night. It really bugged him that he couldn't quite figure out what it meant.
He thought it was lust. She was a beautiful woman no doubt about it but it seemed to go deeper than physicalities and sex, he wanted more. He longed for her respect, her love. He craved it. He let out a sigh of disappointment…he know all too well that he would never get it. His chain of thoughts broke as the car screeched to a halt. Seifer opened his door and stepped out, 'DELING STATION' read the sign above him. "Come on people move it, we're here." He hollered to his team mates.
Seifer walked over to platform 4 where their train was stationed. He reached into the breast pocket of his black shirt and pulled out three tickets. He handed them to the ticket guard and he eyed them briefly. "…Mr Russell, Mr Astin, and Mr Rennison, is that correct?"
"Yes that is right." Said Seifer.
"The train will be departing almost immediately. You should board now."
"We understand. Thank you." He gave him a slight nod of acknowledgement, and the SeeDs filed onto the cabin.
The sliding doors shut behind them, and two of the SeeDs began to walk away and explore the train, when Seifer outstretched his left arm in an order to wait. "Stop," he said. "This is a trap, they know who we are."
The shortest of the three stepped forward. "How do you now this?" He said rather cautiously. Seifer looked around the cabin and inspected part of the wall farthest away from them. He put his hands to it and felt for a seam, which pulled downwards revealing a large obscure symbol painted in red paint and outlined in a thick black line. "As I thought." Said Seifer. "What the hell is that?" Cried the small SeeD. "Well Korben, this is the sign of a rebel faction I've heard of. Followers of the late sorceress, Ultimecia." Seifer said that name with such scorn, as he bitterly recalled the days when she was alive. "They call themselves The Alaudae."
This time the taller and rather plump of the SeeDs spoke, "well, why are they after us?"
"Not us, me. I was Ultimecia's knight as you may remember. When I broke free of her mind control and deserted her, it was considered betrayal. And now they're after me… how nice."
"What can we do?"
"Right now, nothing. All of us have to stay here."
"Can't we fight them?" Korben asked.
"With three SeeDs? We may be qualified SeeDs, but that's not enough. What you're talking about is suicide." Seifer told him. There was a brief silence before Korben spoke again. "Where are they taking us?"
"Probably their temporary hideout. They're always on the move."
"What about the radio? Why don't we contact Garden?" Seifer thought about it.
"…Do we know if it's secure? They could be tracking any communication." He inquired.
"It's designed to be secure"
"Ok, give it to me." Seifer ordered. He took it, and tapped in the line number. The sound of static filled the cabin. "This is student no. 140577, Balamb Garden do you read?…"
"Affirmative. What is your position cadet?…"
"Me and my tem have been led into a trap, and are on a train. I have reason to believe that this is The Alaudae, and I have no doubt that they are after me…"
"I understand. Where did you take the train?…"
"Deling station, platform 4, at 10:37pm exactly…"
"Ok we're on it. Sit tight helps on the way…" Seifer turned off the radio and handed it back. Balamb knew of the Alaudae. When Seifer was readmitted into Garden, it was to keep him hidden and safe from these people, and he was so grateful to them, Squall included. But right now, he was feeling anxious. How long would they be? And what exactly did The Alaudae want to do with Seifer now they finally had him? He didn't want to know.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Yay next chapter up! Thanx for the reviews, I nearly didn't continue. I'm not sure if I like this chapter, but I guess it's okay, would do you think??? J
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Disclaimer: I'm making up for all the ones I didn't include…I don't own anything, the big people in Squaresoft do, you all know it. L