"What," Seifer demanded.
The guard chuckled. "I was just wondering if you believe in Hyne, Almasy."
"What's it to you?"
"Well, if you don't, you'd better start 'cause it seems she's got a soft spot for you."
Seifer glared back at him hatefully and decided to go back to sleep and ignore the pompous bastard.
"Get your ass up and get dressed, Almasy. Lt. Commander Trepe is coming down in ten minutes, so you'd better be ready," the guard said and dropped a stack of neatly folded clothing beside the door.
Seifer didn't want to see Quistis. To see her would be a reminder of what he was leaving behind. Reluctant to leave the warmth of the blanket, he grunted and threw the heavy thing off of himself.
Once he was dressed, he sat down on the blankets and yawned. He couldn't imagine what Quistis wanted or why the guard had made it sound so official.
It could only mean one thing, really. It was time for him to go.
He supposed he was ready. Death might even be a welcome thing. Had he been permitted to live, he didn't know if he could deal with the nightmares anyhow. Lately they'd become a little too intense, and always, when he waked, he was back in the place he'd been when she had ruled his mind. He wondered if perhaps this was her way of getting revenge on him for failing. He could accept dying. He wasn't afraid of that. He'd never been afraid of dying, even when it was staring him right in the face. No, it was what he would be leaving behind that concerned him. There had been, for a fleeting moment, the promise of a new life, a chance for him to be a better man. It depressed him to think that he'd never have a chance to prove everyone wrong, but he supposed he didn't deserve a second chance anyhow.
After all, he had killed people. And he'd gone along willingly at first. Nothing could change that, and he knew very well that he deserved what he got.
"Seifer," Quistis' voice called.
He looked up to see her at the bars, hands clasping them tightly as a hint of a smile played across her lips. He'd expected to see her crying, but instead she was dry eyed and had a look of resolve on her face. He could see how exhausted she was, however hard she tried to hide it, for there were dark circles under her eyes and she appeared as though she might fall asleep right there.
"What do you want?" he asked, irritated that she'd be smiling about his impending doom. He'd meant to be mean to her, but Hyne, he hadn't meant to drive her to be like Xu.
"You're getting a trial," she said and grinned.
For a moment, he didn't believe it. "A what?"
"A trial. That's where they put you on the stand and make you testify before a judge and jury. You know, a trial?"
"Always the wise ass," he said and got to his feet, still unable to believe what he was hearing. Only minutes ago, he'd been thinking about how he could handle being executed, and now she was telling him he had another shot at being a free man. "How did you get me a trial."
"Squall pulled a few strings."
"He did, hunh?" Seifer mused and he scratched his chin in contemplation of this new development. "Never expected him to do that."
"I threatened him," she said and smiled.
Seifer gave her a smirk. "So, you think you can get me out of this?"
"I doubt it, but I'm going to try," she said
Seifer laughed out loud at this and shook his head. In just a few short minutes, his fate had changed. It might have been a long shot, but he found himself with renewed hope, and he was surprised to discover how much he really didn't want to die. If he had even a slim chance of going free, he hoped for it. But not too much. It would be devastating to go through the pain of a trial, only to be executed anyway, and he forced himself to remember that was likely to happen.
Quistis closed her eyes and sighed, leaning her head against the bars. It was then Seifer saw how tired she really was. She needed sleep, and badly. He reached out through the bars and laid his hand upon her cheek, despite his intentions to drive her away. She smiled faintly and opened her eyes. Then, she pushed his hand back through the bars. "We don't have much time," she told him, and it sounded almost like a scolding.
"How much time is 'not much?'"
"Three days," she replied and she rubbed her tired eyes.
"Three days?!" he cried. "Here I thought I had a fighting chance, and you're basically telling me I'm fucked!"
"No," she said. "Not yet anyway. And besides, it's more of a chance than you had before isn't it?"
"Not much of one."
"Would you like to forget the whole thing then?" she asked. "Guess who got the job of defending you, Seifer? Me. Right now, I'm too tired to think straight and I'd rather go to sleep, but to save your ass, I've got to stay awake. For the next three days and nights I will have to sacrifice more sleep for you because I'll be too busy busting my ass to prepare your defense, so quit whining!"
Seifer was a bit taken aback by her outburst and he grinned. There was that passion again, the passion she was so good at hiding until her buttons were pushed. "Go to sleep then. I don't care."
Quistis threw daggers at him with her eyes and turned away from the bars, as if to leave.
He realized then that he'd screwed up. She really was going to walk away! "Quistis, I'm sorry. Come back."
She turned around and glared at him. "Oh, you want to live?"
"Yeah," he said and looked at his feet.
"Are you positive, because I don't have time to waste if you're going to screw with me like this."
He nodded. "No more. Promise."
"Fine, then. Let's get on with this." She slipped a couple pads of paper and a box of pencils through the bars. "Write down as much as you can remember, anything you think is important. How it started, how it felt to be controlled. Anything you can think of and any ideas you might have that could help us out."
"I don't know if I can do that," he said slowly. "You know what happens when I think about her."
"If you want to live, you're going to have to, Seifer, and you're going to have to talk about it on the witness stand," she said and crossed her arms. "I know it'll be hard, but you're just going to have to look the beast in the eyes and do it."
"All right," he agreed, albeit reluctantly. "If my head explodes from the pressure, tell chicken-wuss I'll miss him."
Quistis, unexpectedly, rolled at his comment, laughing so hard that tears rolled down her cheeks. Hyne, she really must have been tired for her to find this so amusing. When she calmed herself, she demanded he get to work. "I've got some research to do right now. The guards will bring the desk and bed back in shortly, so behave yourself." Then, she turned to leave.
"I'll try," he called as he watched her go. "By the way. You're pretty sexy when you get mad."
She extended her middle finger and gave a glance over her shoulder.
Seifer could almost swear he saw a hint of a smile on her face as she walked
away.
Frustrated did not even begin to describe how Quistis Trepe felt as she
sorted through the stacks of books in the library in search of any information
on sorceress possession and their effects. She was beyond frustrated.
Three days was not enough time to prepare an adequate defense, but she
didn't dare ask for more, for she got the feeling that even three was a
stretch. She was betting that the trial would merely be a formality,
rather than a chance to save him, but she hadn't passed this on to Seifer.
It was her hope that a jury would feel sorry for him and wonder how they
might have ended up had they been in Seifer's shoes.
But first, she had to gather evidence and records regarding the effects of possession and the particular books she was seeking were not on the shelves. "Damn it," she muttered and headed to the desk, where Zoe Dincht, otherwise known as the pigtail girl or Zell's wife, was working.
"Zoe," she asked as she handed the girl a list of books she needed, "Can you find out who has these? It's important."
"Well," Zoe said and she flipped one of her pigtails off her shoulder, "I'm not really supposed to . . ."
"Please?" Quistis asked. She didn't want to have to pull rank, but she'd do it if necessary.
"Just give me oooneee minute," Zoe said, and she bit her lip as she punched a few buttons on her keyboard. "You're in luck. Rinoa's got them."
"Thanks, Zoe. You're a lifesaver," Quistis said and she felt like hugging the girl. But there wasn't time for that. Time was a wasting.
Quistis practically ran up to her room, ignoring those who greeted her on her way, leaving behind a wake of confused and surprised staff and students. She knew if she stopped to say hello, the greater part of her day would be wasted making small talk with everyone, for once she started, it never stopped. Once she got to Rinoa and Squall's door, she pounded on it hard and bounced on her toes in anticipation.
After a few moments, Rinoa opened the door, looking rather rumpled. Her dress was slightly askew and her hair was a mess, not to mention there was a deep pink in her cheeks and her lipstick was smeared. Quistis just knew she'd interrupted something, and she might have giggled if there were time.
"You have three books I need," Quistis said. "The ones by Dr. Odine."
"Um," Rinoa said and she stepped back from the door, letting Quistis in. "Let me go get them."
Squall sat awkwardly on the couch, and there was lipstick smeared at the corners of his mouth. "Hey," he mumbled.
"Shouldn't you be at the office?" she asked, amused.
"Lunch break," he replied.
"At 9:30 in the morning?" Quistis asked. "Squall, I've heard of
afternoon delight, but . . ."
"Enough!" Squall cried, embarrassed. "Leave me alone, will you?
I can take my break whenever I please, and do whatever I please
with it!"
Quistis giggled and turned to Rinoa who made a noise of delight as she found the books. "Thanks, Rinoa. I owe you one."
"Unhunh," Rinoa said and literally pushed her to the door. "Ok,
bye now."
When the door closed behind her, Quistis started to laugh. It seemed
everything was funny this morning, and Quistis knew it had a lot to do
with her lack of sleep. She had to remember to stay focused if she
was going to do this. It would not be very kosher of her to try to
defend Seifer with nothing but punch drunk humor. She knew, at some
point, she would have to sleep, whether there was time for it or not.
But sleep would eat up precious hours she could be researching and preparing.
Damn it all to hell!
In her room, she brewed a fresh pot of coffee and got to work. The books were full of first hand accounts of possession, testimonials and excerpts from Dr. Odine's research. As much as Quistis could not stand the man, the fact remained that he was the most knowledgeable person on the planet when it came to this particular subject. Everyone knew this to be true, so any evidence his books could provide might help.
Quistis hesitated and decided to go one better. She reached for her rolodex and began to flip through in search of his number. If she could get ahold of him, and get him to agree to testify, it would be to their advantage. The inevitable price, of course would be that he'd want to study Seifer, and Quistis wasn't sure if he'd be willing, but she didn't care. She could only hope that Seifer would agree to it to save himself. Odine might even be able to help him out with the nightmares and the headaches if he let him.
"O lab, this is Kendra, may I help you?" A cheerful feminine voice answered.
"Hello, My name is Lt. Commander Trepe, from Balamb Garden. I was wondering if Dr. Odine would be available to speak to me some time today about Sorceress possession."
"Just a moment," the girl replied, and Quistis was treated to a musak version of 'Eyes on Me.'
After a lengthy pause, Odine's voice greeted her. "Vat the hell do you vant?! I've got important research to complete!"
"I'm sorry to bother you, Dr. but I'm working on a defense for Seifer Almasy, and I was wondering if you could help me out."
"Seiver Almasy . . . Seiver . . . Ultimecia's Knight? You hav him?"
"Yes sir, I do. He's going to trial in three days, and any information you may have that can help me would be appreciated. On the topic of sorceress possession, of course."
"I know everysing there iz to know about zat."
"I know sir, that's why I called you."
"I am not a SIR. I am a Doktor. You vill call me zat or nosing at all."
"I apologize, Dr." Quistis was beginning to regret calling him. She'd forgotten how arrogant and rude the man could be. But if it helped the case, she'd have to bear with it. "Can you help me."
"Yes, yes. You vant me to testify, no?"
"Your testimony would help us, Dr."
"And vat do I get in return? Hmm?"
"He's agreed to let you study him. Remember, he was possessed by Ultimecia. Just think how much you could learn from him."
"How dare you tempt me! You are a horrible woman!" Odine screamed, and Quistis was forced to hold the phone away from her ear.
"Will you agree?"
"Fine. I vill do it, but you must allow me to study him.
Just tell my receptionist ven and vhere. I vill take care of ze rest."
Seifer was having a difficult time doing what Quistis asked of him. His hands shook as he tried to write, and his head throbbed worse than it ever had. After a while, he snapped the pencil in half and got up from the newly returned desk. How the hell was this going to work if he couldn't even write more than a sentence without the blinding, piercing pain in his head? There had to be a way to block it out, but he'd be damned if he could think of one.
He paced his cell for a while, contemplating his chances. They weren't great, he was sure of that. It would be hard to get a jury to find his story sympathetic. Granted, he had been under duress, but how could they prove that? It was easy enough to say it, but hard to prove.
Wait . . . Edea had been possessed by the evil bitch. Perhaps she'd testify on his behalf. He didn't know if she'd be believed either considering her actions during the whole mess, but he'd bet they'd never put her on trial, even now that she wasn't a sorceress. So, perhaps they would listen to her. She had known him his whole life, and despite whatever she may have done during the War, her prior history was spotless. She was also one of the founders of SeeD, the very organization that was created to defend the world against the sorceress. The only reason he'd gone with her in the first place was because she was Matron, and being her Knight had seemed like a dream come true.
Until he realized that it wasn't Matron he served . . . and by then,
it was too late.
Hastily, he scribbled this down on his note pad and smiled. It wasn't
much, but it might help.
After her conversation with Odine, Quistis spent several hours reading through the books so that she would at least be up to speed on what happened to people who'd experienced it and the kinds of things they did while under a Sorceress' control. It was interesting reading, and it was a pity that she couldn't read all of it. There wasn't the time, so she merely scanned the pages and wrote down anything she found interesting.
In one, she found a story that was particularly fitting. In it, a young girl named Bertha Thomas was possessed by Sorceress Gracianna, Adel's predecessor. The sorceress, who was just a girl of thirteen herself, used Bertha to steal things and bring them back to her. Gracianna amassed a wealth of riches this way, and though she'd promised to share everything with Bertha, the girl got nothing. For several years, Gracianna used Bertha to do her bidding, and though she never harmed anyone, Bertha was eventually caught and thus imprisoned. When Gracianna released her hold on Bertha's mind, the girl could not remember anything before the sorceress, only what she was made to do for her. Any time the girl thought of Gracianna, she immediately felt sharp stabbing pains behind her eyes.
Just like Seifer.
Quistis found several more accounts like this one. One where a sorceress had a man kill off her rivals. One with a sorceress with a penchant for practical jokes who used her sister as the brunt of them. There were many, and all of them followed the same pattern. The sorceress lured them in, seized hold of their mind, made them do things, then left them practically shattered when they were let go.
Quistis' eyes were tired from reading and it was getting late, so she decided to go down and check on Seifer's progress. She gathered up the notes and the books and headed down to the basement, where she found Seifer hunched over a note pad, having great difficulty holding his pencil. His face was beaded with perspiration and he grimaced in pain.
"Coming along slowly, I see," she said as she opened the door and took a seat on the edge of the desk.
"Quis, I don't think I can do this," he said and laid his head against her knee. It sent a thrilling sensation through Quistis' body, and she forced it away, though it made her cheeks flush.
"Come on, Seifer. You have to," she urged quietly. She placed her hand on the back of his neck and began to massage his tense muscles. He needed to relax or he'd give himself a heart attack. She felt bad for pushing him so hard, but with so little time and so much to do, she didn't have any other option.
"Mmm," he groaned as her hands moved to his shoulders. "Keep doing that."
"Don't fall asleep on me, now," she said.
"Nope," he said and sighed. "Making any progress?"
Quistis smiled to herself. "I got Dr. Odine to testify on the
mechanics of Sorceress Possession."
Seifer lifted his head and stared up at her. "That's great."
"Hmm," she said and gave him a crooked grin. "The bad news is that you have to let him study you."
"What? No way!"
"If you don't, then he won't testify."
"Crap."
"Were you able to come up with anything?" she asked, curious as to what he'd managed to get down.
He handed her the paper and sat back in his chair, closed his eyes and sighed. "I think we should talk to Matron."
Quistis nodded slowly as she read. There wasn't much to read, and his handwriting was like chicken scratch. In most places, she couldn't even make out but a word or two. "What's this?" she asked and pointed to a section that looked like he'd merely scribbled.
"Frustration," he said and rubbed his eyes.
She put the pad back on the desk. "You're right. Matron's testimony would certainly be to our credit. Rinoa's too."
"Rinoa?"
"Ulti . . . she used Rinoa to set Adel free."
"Oh, right."
Quistis wondered if Sorceresses experienced any after effects of possession, and she couldn't recall reading anything about that in Odine's books. She'd have to ask Rinoa, she supposed and wrote that down in her own notes.
With surprising suddenness, Seifer scooped her off the desk top and pulled her into his lap. "Seifer, what are you doing?" Quistis cried in outrage.
"What do you think?" he asked with a lecherous grin.
"Let me up," she demanded. "Now."
It was then that he cupped the back of her neck and kissed her. At first, she fought it, but then she couldn't help herself. Despite the protests in her head, she kissed him back, wanting badly for this to last. It had to last . . . for if not . . .
When Seifer's hand began to travel slowly up her thigh, Quistis came to her senses. She pulled away and glared at him. "We don't have time for this," she told him in a frosty voice.
His eyes searched her face for a moment. His expression was serious as he said, "We might never have time for this."
Quistis knew he was right, but she didn't want to think about that. For now, all she could focus on was the trial and she'd deal with the inevitable consequences of either outcome when the time came. "You don't have another chance, either."
"Quis . . . I," he began then he stopped and his expression hardened.
"Aw hell. Get out of my face, Trepe. I've got work to do."
The next day, Quistis came to Seifer's cell bearing a tray full of cafeteria hot dogs, a large thermos of coffee and a stack of notebooks she'd filled during the night. She was surprised to find an exhausted Seifer slumped over a stack of his own notebooks, scribbling furiously with his teeth bared at the paper.
"You been working all night?" she asked as she sat down.
"You too?" he asked and nodded at the bundle in her arms.
"Of course. Brought lunch," she said. "I hope you're ready because we're going to practice cross examination today. I'm going to warn you, I'll say things that are going to piss you off, and you have to try not to bite my head off, ok? That doesn't make you look good in front of a jury, so try and control your temper."
He gave her a mock salute and yawned. "I'll be happy when I can sleep again."
"You and me both," Quistis replied, mirroring his yawn. She poured the coffee and contemplated bringing her own pot down, for she had a feeling it was going to be a long day. She eyed the pages and pages Seifer had written and picked them up. "Looks like you got a lot done."
He nodded. "Got a bitch of a headache, though."
"Understandable," she mumbled as she began to read while Seifer ate
one hot dog after another.
Seifer was a bit exhilarated to know that he had three solid witnesses on his side. No matter what the prosecution had planned for him, he knew that if a jury believed his behavior was that of a man under duress, he would be found innocent. Still, with the preconceptions they all must have had, he wasn't confident that they would rule for his release. He knew a jury was supposed to be neutral, but who in the world would have been? All of them lived through it, and unless they lived in a cave somewhere, they knew what he'd done.
Quistis had been interrogating him for three straight hours and his head ached as if a large, ugly tumor were growing rapidly right behind his eyes.
"Was your relationship with Edea Kramer sexual?" Quistis asked, and Seifer noticed her blush.
"What?" he asked startled.
"They're going to ask you this, you know, so answer it. Was your relationship with Edea Kramer sexual?"
Seifer felt his cheeks grow warm. "Yes."
"Yes?" Quistis asked, shocked and she stared at him in disbelief and disgust.
"Yes. Do I have to explain?" This was a part of it he'd rather not go into, for it sickened him a little to think about it.
"You'll have to."
"Fine," he muttered and crossed his arms. "It was part of the seduction. I was . . .just a stupid kid. She offered it and the hormones took over."
"So Edea Kramer lured you in this way?"
"No. Ulti . .Ultimecia did, using Edea's body," Seifer said and he grimaced as a sharp pain stabbed him right between the eyes. His head was throbbing and he wished they would stop. "Edea had nothing to do with it."
"You entered into this part of the relationship willingly."
"At first. By the time I realized what was happening, it was too late," he said. He rubbed his eyes and groaned.
"Good," Quistis said and nodded to herself as she sat back in her chair. "You're doing good. We might just have a chance."
Seifer noticed how truly exhausted Quistis looked. Her eyes were bloodshot and her hands trembled a bit from the amount of caffeine she'd ingested over the course of the day. She needed sleep, and she needed it badly, or else she would collapse before they even got to Deling City. "Quis, I think you should rest."
"Nope," she said and took another sip of her coffee.
"I'm serious. I know you want to save me and all, but it's not going to happen if you keep this up," he said and took her hand.
"There's not time for that," she said and she yawned again.
"Look, I know time is a factor, but you're not good to me if you're going to fall asleep in the courtroom," he said with a laugh. "Why don't you go lay down for a little while, and I'll wake you up in an hour or so?"
Reluctantly, she nodded and went to the bed, where she curled up beneath the blanket. "Just an hour?"
He nodded and turned to the pages that were scattered everywhere and began to organize them by subject. In her exhaustion, neat and tidy Quistis Trepe had lost her sense of order and reason. Seifer smirked at this and glanced back at Quistis, who was already fast asleep.
An hour later, Seifer too was drained to work any longer and all he
wanted to do was rest. Things were going really well, and he saw
no harm in letting Quistis sleep through the night. Carefully, he
climbed into the bed beside her and sighed as his arm went around her waist.
It wasn't long before he, too was asleep.
***notes***
Reviews....wow....if my other stories had gotten this kind of response....whew! Thank you guys! Whatever, I'm happy that people are reading and enjoying this. And I am enjoying torturing the FFVIII characters to no end. They're kind of like voodoo dolls . . . *L* Hmph. I'm worn out. Going cross eyed from staring at my computer so much. Starting to get callouses on my fingers from typing so much. *L* Did I make Quistis OOC in this chapter? Bah. *shakes head* Too much thinking!
I tried to lighten things up a bit with this one, even though it was a bit boring and there was a lot of dialogue. I'm not a fan of stories that consist mostly of dialogue and no description, so I try to stay as far away from doing that as possible...but there are only so many times I can make certain points before everyone gets sick of hearing them. The angsty nature of the previous chapters kinda dragged me down too and I promise it won't all be angsty. I've got a few interesting things planned, and Seifer's starting to get his smart mouth back again. Yay!
Refugee....you are awesome. Thank you. :)