Okay, Chapter four is on its way! See I told you I would have this done a
lot faster than chapter three!! =) At least you don't hate me!... or at
least, I don't think you hate me... anyway, summer school's starting for
me... so I don't think I'll have much time to work on this fic (again)
but, I'll try my very best... absolutely very best to get next chapter
uploaded for you guys! Love you guys so much!! Without your wonderful
reviews, this fic would never have existed! Thank a bunch! Now, I'd like
to reply to your wonderful comments!
Lady Aliena - I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who takes such long breaks! =) But I still feel bad... so I'll try to get this fic finished soon k? Ya, this different POV's wasn't my original plan to write this fic... in fact I was planning to base it all on either Quistis or Seifer's POV... but then I realized that so much would be left out if I did that... so I decided to test this way! I hope it's all right... but either way, thanks for the review! Really appreciate it!
anime-diva - Hiya! This fic isn't really supposed to be a cutesy fic... but if you see it that way, I'm not stopping ya! =)
Quistis88 - I'm glad you're not mad! And you're probably one of the few people who bother reading my little blurbs... lol! I hope these pointless blurbs don't waste much of your time! I didn't think that last chapter was all that great... but I'm glad you liked it! It means a lot to me!
aoshi-loves-misao - I'm so happy that you love my fic!! Well, I hope I didn't leave you waiting too long for this chappy... but here it is! Btw, I agree, Seifer is sexy ~.^
Lovelace - Well, when you get to read this chappy, you'll see if Quistis falls for it or not! And I'm really sorry how all the characters in my ficcy are. I know they're OOC, but my excuse(s) are... 1) my fic takes place a few years after the end of FFVIII (or at least, I think it was that...), so their attitudes have changed a little... but most importantly, 2) I haven't read any FFVIII fics or anything of that such for like, a very long time, so I tend to forget things... also... 3) I didn't actually finish the game ... and so, I don't know how the characters really are... I'm very sorry! And my last excuse... is that I haven't written/thought about this fic for such a long time, so now I don't remember what was going on, or how the characters are... so I'm pretty sure some (if not all) the characters will go a little more OOC... once again, I truly apologize for my lack of knowledge/ability to write with such accuracy! But I do really appreciate your comment! It only helps me write better (at least, I think it should...). Also, I'm glad you like the story so far! And I made the chapters long for a reason... I didn't like those short chapters that most fics I read a while back had, and I wanted my readers to enjoy a long read (cuz I enjoy them... most of the time)... and also, I know I stated this in one of my previous blurbs, but I was hoping to make this a long story, but with few chapters... you know what I mean? One question... what does 'Ja mata ne' mean? I'm very slow to these things... ...
PrincessPeach - To clear things up, this is a Seiftis! I'm sorry the story (thus far) does not make it seem like it, but I'm making this a Seiftis... so don't worry about it!
thugstra - Thank you very, very much for reading this fic! And also loving it! ^.^ I hope I didn't leave you hanging for too long! I promised to get this chapter out sooner than the last, so here it is! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Of course I know Kianne! I'm the one who created her! ^.^ She's not that old, but she's older than the rest. In this ficcy, Seifer's about 20, 21ish and Kianne is about 23, 24ish. I hope that clears that up! Oh, and yes, Seifer's costume was a 'knight' sorta symbolizes his shattered dream... but it was just a costume... so his 'dream' of being a knight might not actually be his true dream... you get it? I tend to go on and on about something, but end up not knowing what I actually meant... lol! Once again, hope you enjoy this fic! Btw, I think Seifer/Quistis are better too!
VegaKeep - I don't know what it is, but somehow your reviews always make me smile... actually, all my reviews do... but that's beyond the point... How do you manage to do that? Maybe you should review more often! ~.^ Lol, juss joking! It's up to you whether you want to review or not... I was sorta worried this fic died too... but then I was reading over the reviews for this fic over again, and then I realized that I shouldn't let my wonderful reviewers down, so I continued this! Aren't you proud of me? Cuz I am =) So you think 'Selphie is up to something regarding a certain warrior and teacher'? well lemme me tell you this... it's our little secret aite? ~.^ wait... we already had a secret... so this is secret number two! Lol... well, I can't tell you anything about that... but you just gotta read the fic to find out if she actually is 'up to something' or its just your imagination! Thanks for reviewing!
Ghost140 - Well here's chapter 4! I hope you enjoy and thanks for reviewing!
Okay! Now that that's all done! (yay!) Let's continue with the story... shall we? Recap of last chapter... umm... oh right! Seifer's trying a new plan to get back at Quistis... but it doesn't seem to be working... Selphie and Seifer are getting closer in their BROTHER/SISTER relationship (sorry, gotta clear that up). Back with Irvine and Zell, well they haven't had much luck finding out what was going on in that little town... but their scenario ended off with Zell opening the door to a person who claims to be room service... but there is no room service in that little hotel!! Last chapter ended off with... well, just read and you'll see!
- -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - --- -- - -- - -- - -- - -- -
-- - -- - -- - --
(Quistis)
"It's because I like you."
My mouth dropped open.
"Damn..." I paused for a moment. "He is SO fine!"
Seifer turned around to see who I was talking about. He placed his hands on the table with a small thud and pushed himself up from his seat.
"Excuse me, Instructor." Without letting me say a word he stormed out the cafeteria, my eyes following him until he was gone. Reassuring myself that it was safe, I began laughing.
"Seifer, you can't possibly think I would fall for that!" I said aloud while wiping a tear from my eyes. "You're so predictable! I knew you couldn't hold in your 'innocent' act for long! I've known you for far too long to not know that! After all, I did teach you before. You underestimate your 'favourite' Instructor." I got up and threw out the remains of Seifer's lunch, still laughing. Some people in the cafeteria were looking at me strangely, but I couldn't care less, it was worth it to embarrass him like that.
* * *
(Irvine)
"Ugh..." I heard a voice beside me groan.
I opened my eyes to be greeted by darkness. The only light that passed into this room was through the window, and it had the curtains draped over it. I had a pounding headache and I couldn't remember what I was doing here.
"Who's in here?" a voice across from me called out.
I tried to stand up, but my wrists were tied behind the chair I was sitting on a chair and my legs were tied to the legs of the chair.
"What the hell?" Another voice beside me yelled out. "Why the hell am I tied up?" The voice was unmistakable.
"Zell?" The voice across called out again.
"Mark!" Another voice spoke out.
"Gerald... does that mean everyone else is here? Irvine? Tony?"
"Accounted for." Tony responded.
"Still alive." I finally said. My throat seemed dry and my voice sounded rasp.
"So you're done roll call now, may I interrupt?" a more feminine voice asked before the lights flicked on.
I had to close my eyes before they could adjust to the light. When I opened my eyes again, I saw the five of us, each tied up to a chair, but still looked unharmed. A cloaked figure stood in front of us. I began to remember what had happened.
I recall Zell asking me if we ordered room service before hearing him swear. I called out to Zell to ask what happened, but he didn't answer. So, I jumped out the shower, wrapped a towel around my waist and opened the bathroom door. When I did, I saw Zell lying on the ground and a cloaked person sitting on the bed. The person pointed a gun at me, and then... then... I was shot.
"Who the hell are you?!" Gerald screamed.
"The person from the restaurant." Zell calmly stated.
"Oh, so much for the formal greetings. Yes, I am the one from the restaurant, and yes, I know what you all are doing here, and no, I'm not going to kill you. I'm not the one who will." She replied.
"Ugh... how long have we been here?" Tony asked while struggling to free his wrists.
"Two days. I guess I must have drugged you guys a little too much."
"What do you want with is?" I spat out at her.
"Your help of course... but I didn't expect Cid to send so many people." She replied. "It's too dangerous. You guys are too noticeable."
"Headmaster? You know Headmaster Cid?" Zell asked.
"Know him? Of course I know him! You see, I'm the one who asked him for help!"
"Then... you must be Mr. Withers!" Mark exclaimed.
"Pretty feminine for a guy." Gerald mumbled.
"That's because I'm not a guy." 'He' pulled back 'his' hood. 'His' chestnut hair tumbled down to 'his' waist. This 'Mr. Withers' character took off 'his' cloak to reveal 'his' curvy figure. 'Mr. Withers' was actually a woman. Her face was still covered with a piece of cloth, but her grey, dull, and cold eyes were revealed. Under her left eye, small scars could be seen hidden under the cloth.
"What's with the 'mister' then?" Tony asked.
"It's an alias. It's so I won't be found out that easily... just you like five boys... unfortunately you boys didn't keep your identities. Here's a tip juniors, on a mission, always keep your aliases, even when talking amongst yourselves... you never know if someone planted a bug near you." She lectured.
"Okay, so why tie us up then?" I asked.
"To get your attention."
"Then let us go."
"I can't... you see, you guys still don't trust me. If I let you go, then you'll attack me." Her cheeks moved up from underneath the cloth, which indicated that she was smiling.
[Damn... she's good. I wonder is she's been in these kinds of situations before. If she has, then all the more reason that she should not be trusted]
"Then tell us what is going on here and what you want us to do." Zell spoke out.
"This town... it never used to be so... dead. It was once a lively, colourful place. There were lots of children here too. They used to all go and play on the streets, laughing a joking, as if nothing could ever stop them. They all went to the only school here as well. All the children loved it there. Then, one day, everyone in the school got ill. The children, the teachers, and the staff. They had to close down the school, and day by day, those who were ill began to die. Everyone in town was scared because of this unknown illness, so some decided to leave. They would pack up their bags, but before they could leave... they would mysteriously die." She slowly began untying us, while continuing this tragic story. "It was a warning. I know it was. The children dying was the first warning. Then those who wanted to leave was the next."
"Wait... you said the school... but we've never seen any school around here." Mark pointed out.
"Not anymore. It was burned down. It is now the cemetery. It wasn't burned down because of the illness... no. It was because somehow... all the dead corpses were found there. Everyone who had died was found there. They were all lined up, side by side. Arms folded across their chest. Each one holding a single black rose... with blood dripped on the petals. It was very frightful." She paused a moment, wiping a tear from her eye. "There are only a handful of people left alive in this dreadful town... but I know one of them is responsible for this. I just know. All these deaths is just a warning... something big is soon to happen. I just know it."
"Then why need us to help you? It seems like you have everything under control." Tony stated flatly.
"I need you to kill him."
"Can't you? And are you sure it's a 'him'?" I asked. I noticed her playing with a bracelet, opening and closing the little case it had. But each time she did, it was the same thing inside. Empty.
"My arms can no longer hold my weapon anymore. They are far too weak. Thus I cannot kill. Besides, what if he gets me first?" She replied softly.
"Weapon?" Zell questioned.
"I'm an ex-Galbadian SeeD member. I left after my last mission. The mission that has paralysed my life." She replied. There was a short pause before she spoke out again. "Anyway, I'll find out who it is, and you will kill him. Once this is over... something else is bound happen. This is just a sign... something big is going to come..."
Before I could say anything, someone knocked on the door from the other side.
"Excuse me, Mr. Thompson, you haven't paid for last night's stay." It was the shaky receptionist.
"Ya, I'll be there in a moment." Zell called back.
"We'll meet tonight at the cemetery." 'Mr. Withers' grabbed her cloak and was about to jump out the window when I grabbed her wrist.
"And why should we trust you?" I hissed at her.
"Because I'm you're last chance for survival."
* * *
(Friday Night)
"You know, that chick really gives me the creeps! You sure we can trust her?" Gerald asked me while we walked down to the cemetery. Zell and the others were at the hotel. Just in case.
"She's the only lead we got right not. Besides what do we have to lose?" I replied.
"Our lives perhaps?"
I chuckled. "Don't worry. Everything's gonna be all right." I tried to lighten the mood and reassure him... and myself.
When we reached the cemetery, we saw a figure slumped over by the gate. As we got closer, it turned out that the person was 'Mr. Withers'. Her throat had been slit.
"Shit. Now we have nothing!" Gerald swore to the darkness of the night.
I looked her over and my eyes focused on her bracelet. It was slightly opened, as if someone didn't close it properly. I carefully lifted her arm and opened the little silver object on chain of the bracelet. Inside there was a little piece of paper with small, neat and legible writing scrawled on it. The letters 'ID' was on the top left corner of the paper. A line neatly crossed though the letters. It looked as if the person couldn't underline it properly or the person meant to cross it out, but didn't want someone who was reading it to know. I couldn't quite tell.
"Not quite." I took the paper out and examined it.
"30113 - NTSTRCP. What do you suppose that means?"
"I don't know... but we're gonna find out."
* * *
(Saturday)
(Selphie - Beach)
"Hey Seifer, is it true?" I asked him as I took a seat on the warm sand. The sun was shining and the ocean seemed to glisten through the sun's rays. Seifer on the other hand preferred to stand... or maybe it was because he didn't even want to come. I had to drag him from his dorm.
"What?" He asked seemingly in annoyance.
"That... you like Quistis."
Seifer began to chuckle. "Haha... no."
"Oh! So it's just another one of those stupid rumours!" I said, somewhat relieved. "Did you know some of the students are going around saying that you said you liked Quistis? That is so ridiculous! Can't believe I had to question that!" In a strange way, I was hoping it was true... maybe Seifer wouldn't hate Quistis so much if he got to know her better... and vice versa.
"I did say it." He stated out flatly.
"What?!" I jumped up from the ground. I stood there looking at him, blinking often and thinking it over in my head. "Okay. So... you DON'T like Quistis... BUT you DID say that you did?"
"Right to her face." A smirk crept on his face. A smirk. Something he used to always do... something I hadn't seen recently till now. It frightened me slightly. What if he became the person he used to be?
"Seifer! That's bad! What if she believes it?!"
"She doesn't... yet. If I can keep this up, then she will." He laughed wickedly. This scared me even more. Could this possibly be a sign?
"That's terrible Seifer! How can you play with her feelings like that? You know what? I hope you can't keep up with this little charade." I replied rudely. As much as I did wish those two would learn a lesson through all this, I did not want my friends being hurt.
"It's a win-win situation for me. If she believes it, then I can make her hang on the end of a thread and torture her. If I can't... then it would still embarrass her."
"I can't believe you can be so cruel." [I thought you changed.]
"Selphie..." I cut him short.
"Oh no!" I exclaimed as I had just remembered something. "Shoot! I forgot! I'm helping Kianne tutor today!" I brushed the sand off my bum and started running towards the garden. After a few seconds, I remembered I left Seifer behind, so I stopped and turned around. "Wanna come with me?"
"No..." Again I cut him off.
"Please?" Without letting him reply, I ran back to him and grabbed his arm, dragging him along with me.
It wasn't long before Seifer and I were in the library, watching Kianne help one of the junior class men how to read. After about five minutes of watching her in complete boredom, the kid asked if he could go. Thankfully Kianne allowed him to scurry out to join his friends.
"You're late Selphie!!" Kianne frowned at me. "Oh hi Seifer." She turned her head to smile at Seifer, but when she faced me again, her frowning resumed. "So what's your excuse missy?"
"I'm so sorry! I forgot!! I'll make it up to you and buy you some ice cream!" I apologized. Right after, I leaned towards Seifer and whispered, "She absolutely loves ice cream."
"You had better!" She continued to frown at me, but soon she wasn't able to keep up the charade and began giggling softly.
"So where's the next little kid who needs help?" I asked. I knew Seifer was getting annoyed, impatient, and whatever else because of the expression on his face.
"I'm not sure, maybe she's late." There was an awkward silence before Kianne continue to talk. "Have you seen Irvine lately?"
"He's on a mission." I didn't really want to talk about him. Maybe it was because every time I talked about him, I would think of our break up. Sometimes I still wish we were together, but other times I would just believe that we weren't meant to be.
"Oh? So that's where he's been! No wonder he hasn't come to visit my class lately!"
[No doubt to flirt.]
"And it's not what you think either Selphie! Irvine comes to my class occasionally to help me grade papers or tutor some students." She said as if reading my mind. "He usually comes in when you're busy." She added. "How are things between you two now?"
"Alright I suppose."
"You know Selphie... Irvine is a really nice guy. And you do know how much he loves and cares for you... maybe you guys should talk things over with one another."
I have to admit, Irvine was really fun to be around. And he did show me that he cared for me a lot. And I did like him a lot... but I guess jealousy caught up to me. I really didn't like it when he looked and flirted with other girls... although I did know that other girls meant nothing to him. And I guess it wasn't right for me to just break up with him and not even letting him know why... until a few months later... when Kianne had to tell him. I don't know what it is... but something was just pulling me from being with him again.
"Well what about you? Didn't Zack ask you out?" I wanted to get off the subject of Irvine.
"Uh... Zack? I'm not even interested in him! And besides, he's my student... AND not to mention that I'm six whole years older than him. I don't think it would ever work out anyway!" She responded, as if totally forgotten about our last subject.
"It doesn't really matter if he's your student... nor about the age difference. It only counts if you both like each other... but since you don't... it okay. Besides Kianne... there are so many guys in the garden that like you!"
"Like? I doubt it. Maybe adore, but not like. They only respect me as their Instructor." She replied.
"Uh... more Trepies wannabes." I heard Seifer mumble beside me.
"Well, what about you? Don't you like someone? I see you daydreaming sometimes! It must be about a guy you like!" I squealed, like a little girl gossiping with her friend.
"Well... there is this one guy..." She mumbled. "Besides, I just can't get over Wilson... and my brother... I miss them both so much... sometimes I feel too shamed to be with someone else. I need to visit Autumn soon."
Autumn Shrine. It was a shrine dedicated to all those poor innocent people who were killed during the short-lived Galbadia-Balamb war. Both Kianne's fiancée and brother died there.
"Oh! You should have seen! There's this adorable little puppy I saw at Balamb! It's so adorable! Too bad garden won't allow pets... otherwise I would have got him!" Kianne exclaimed completely changing the topic.
"Oh! I've always wanted a puppy! Ever since... since... um... ever since I could remember!" I chirped in happily.
"I'm leaving." Seifer got up and walked out the door.
"Seifer!" I called to him, but he ignored me.
"Just let him go... he'd be bored by anything we talked about." Kianne was right. Seifer wouldn't care what we had to say about boys, or adorable things like puppies.
"So who's this guy you like?!" I bolted back at her.
Her face flushed red. "Well, he's kinda of a secret..."
* * *
(Squall)
I stood in front of Quistis' dorm. Debating whether to knock or not. I had never been to her dorm, nor did I really want to. I had looked everywhere for her earlier, I just had to tell her. But now, here I was, in front of the door, unsure if I should talk to her. I just had this strange, awkward feeling that she liked me or something along those lines. Maybe it was just my imagination. Either way, I had been avoiding her as much as possible.
I heard some noise from inside. I was afraid the door might open and she would see me standing in front here, like an idiot unsure of what to do. So I knocked.
"Who's there?" She asked.
"It's Squall. I have to talk to you."
The door slid open. She was dressed in her usual peach battle suit attire. "What brings you here?" Her voice made her sound a little shocked.
"The SeeD exam. It's been moved up." I stated.
"To when?"
"This week. Wednesday is the written and Friday is the mission."
She didn't say anything. I suppose it was because she didn't know what to say.
"Seifer." I spat the word out like venom. "He MUST be gone. If you can't get rid of him by the SeeD exam... then fail him. No matter. Fail him."
"Fail...?" She said the word out slowly. "But what if he actually passes?"
"He won't. You won't let him pass. No matter what." Did she not understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?
"Headmaster." She eventually said something. It seemed like she was taking her sweet little time to process the information in her head. "What if he finds out?"
"He won't. If worst comes to worst, I'll defend for you. But Seifer. He must be out of the garden and out forever by Friday."
"Friday." She whispered the word.
I turned around to leave. "Remember. He MUST go." I said to her without looking back.
* * *
(Monday)
(Quistis)
"Good morning Seifer. How was your weekend?" Mine was terrible. All I could think of was a way to fail Seifer without getting my ass in trouble.
"Fine." He stated rudely. Perhaps he was still annoyed with me for laughing at him in the cafeteria.
"Well Seifer, as much as I would miss you," Sarcasm was written all over my head. "I have to inform you that the SeeD exam has been moved up to this week. The written is on Wednesday, and the mission is Friday. You shall be writing your exam with Kianne's class. Understand?"
He only snorted at me.
"Seifer, since you failed last time due to poor listening skills, we'll have to work on that today. I want you to..."
* * *
(Wednesday)
(Seifer)
Monday and Tuesday had been hell for me. My Instructor decided that I needed to work on my listening skills when all she told me to do was scrub the bathrooms couple million times. But I didn't give any hell. I didn't talk back, I didn't curse, I didn't remark about anything, all I did was listen to her every command. I did not even have time to get back at her for Friday. I could not, I would not fail this again. This was the only goal I had left that I could possibly still accomplish. I would not let anything get in between my goal. Not even for a chance to get back at Quistis.
"Good morning! I hope you all slept well!" Kianne announced in her usual cheery mood. "Well, we all know what today is... right? I hope you all studied, because you cannot fail this portion of the exam or else you cannot become SeeD this semester."
I sat in one of the back seats, the rest of the students sat near the front. For a while I thought they were avoiding me, but I let that slip past my mind. Why would I care anyway?
"This exam is three hours long. An additional half an hour will be given if necessary. Otherwise, you cannot leave this room for any reason until you have completed the exam. You may start..." She paused to look at her watch for a while. "Now. Good luck."
I looked on the booklet that was supposedly my exam. I scanned through the first page. My first exam I did back when I was still that arrogant bastard was a lot different from this one. But this one was still easy. [This is going to be a piece of cake.] Besides, I got a hundred last time, how could I make a mistake on the written?
About twenty minutes later I had completed my exam. It was too easy. I got up from my seat and walked to Kianne's desk. She was reading a book. As I neared her desk, I saw her little day planner. It was opened to this week. Strange thing was that Thursday was highlighted. When I got even closer, I noticed two words neatly written under the date. Selphie's Birthday. [So her birthday is tomorrow. Should I get something for her?] I handed my test booklet to Kianne. Surprise was written all over her face.
"You're done?" She asked, taking the paper and flipping through. "Are you sure you answered every question?"
"Yeah." I replied, about to leave.
"That was quick..." She mumbled, glancing over my answers.
"It was easy." I strode out the door, still wondering if I should get Selphie a birthday present. I never did before... but that kid was something different. She seemed... special to me. Though no one but Matron has ever been special to me.
* * *
(Thursday)
"How was the test yesterday?" Quistis asked me. I didn't know why she seemed to start every day with a little idle chitchat, but it annoyed me.
"Easy."
"Let's just hope you don't fail tomorrow." She smiled wickedly at me.
I clenched my teeth together. I hated when she said that. "Instructor, permission to leave session today." I stated flatly.
"Why Seifer? Is it because you don't like me? Oh wait... I'm mistaken. You DO like me." She laughed.
"Personal reasons." I wanted to go to Balamb and find a gift for Selphie.
"Tell me."
"Personal reasons." I said again.
"Seifer, you know, if you don't tell me, I won't let you go."
I didn't reply.
"Okay, have it your way. Today, we'll be in the Training Centre. I want you to kill five of every monster in there."
We headed into the Training Centre. It wasn't long before I was done my task. Sweat was sliding down from my forehead. Maybe if I took off my trench coat it would be easier for me. I didn't. I didn't want to. It was like a change... that I could not accept.
"Instructor. Permission to leave session." I asked her again. It wasn't really of a question.
"Like I said the previous three times you have asked. If you tell me, then I'll let you go." She sounded annoyed. Every hour I had been going up to her and asking her the same question, and every time she was giving the same reply.
"Personal reasons."
"Then my answer is still the same."
I turned around back into the Training Centre. I was bored. I didn't want to train anymore. I wanted to leave. I walked to the Secret Area and stood there thinking for a long while.
[What would I do if I make it into SeeD? Where do I go from there? Should I stay in Balamb? Or should I leave? If I left, what would be the purpose of making it into SeeD? But what if I fail? Where would I go from there? I would be forbidden to enter any garden. What would I do?]
I gazed at nothing in particular. I didn't know what to do afterwards. It had come too soon. I didn't feel ready. I was unsure. I didn't know what I wanted anymore. I took out a cigarette from my pocket and put it between my lips. I didn't smoke often, but sometimes it was nice to have just to relieve myself. I was just about to light it, when Quistis walked into the Secret Area.
"Didn't anyone tell you that smoking is hazardous to your health?" She pulled the cigarette from my lips and put it between hers. She grabbed my lighter and lit the cigarette. She took in a deep breath and blew out the smoke.
I didn't say anything. She didn't say anything. We both didn't know what to say to each other. We just stood there, looking out of the garden. Not thinking. Not saying anything. Not moving.
"Seifer," She finally spoke out. "you may go."
I took this advantage to get away from this awkward situation and headed out. Before I left, I heard Quistis say something to me.
"Hey Seifer... good luck tomorrow."
Good luck. I didn't know why she said that just now. But I remembered she had said it to me before. 'Instructor, I hate it when people wish me luck. Save those words for a bad student that needs them, eh?' I had said that to her. 'Ok then... Good luck Seifer.' She said that back to me. Things are so different now... yet... it feels like nothing has changed.
* * *
(Thursday Night)
(Selphie)
I sat on my bed whimpering. It was my birthday today. And no one remembered. Except for Kianne, except she had told me earlier in the week that she couldn't do anything till this weekend. If Irvine had been here, he would have decorated my entire room, and made a surprise party for me.
Two delicate tears fell from my eyes and onto my blanket. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. I sniffed and wiped the tears from my eyes.
"Coming." I said out. I slipped on my slippers and walked to the door. I pushed the button and the door slid open. I was surprised to see Seifer. "Hey Seifer!" I smiled brightly at him, hoping he couldn't tell that I had been crying.
"Selphie, you're not busy are you?"
"No. Not at all. Come in!" I moved out of the way and he walked in. He was holding a big box. I wondered what was in it.
The door slid close and I jumped onto my bed. Seifer just stood there.
"So what brings you here?" I smiled up at him.
"Here." He thrust the box at me.
"What is it?" I tilted my head to the side as I took the box. It was pretty heavy.
"Open it." He instructed.
I obeyed his instructions and lifted the lid. Inside, there was another box, only that one had holes in it. Also, inside the box were little gifts wrapped up in birthday wrapping paper. Although the wrapping was quite sloppy, I was still happy. He remembered my birthday.
"Happy Birthday." The words seemed foreign to him, and they came out sounding awkward, but I didn't care. He had remembered!
I dropped the box on my bed and jumped to hug him tightly. He was very surprised and didn't know how to react. Soon, I let go of him and picked up the box with holes.
"What's this?" I asked as I opened the box.
When I opened it, my eyes widened. Inside was a little puppy. It was a beige-ish white colour and was very small. It had medium length hair and a bushy long tail. It looked at me with adoring brown eyes, then jumped up to lick me in the face. I giggled when it did that.
"This is the best present ever!" I picked up the doggy and held it close to my face. "You're so cute! Yes you are! Yes you are!" The puppy licked me in the face. "We have to give you a name don't we?"
Seifer took a seat at my desk.
"What should I name her?" I asked.
"Him. The dog's a he."
"Oh. Okay. What should we name him?" The puppy squirmed out of my hands and fell into the big box full of sloppily wrapped gifts. He began rummaging through the stuff, ripping the wrapping off.
"He's yours, you should name him."
"Hmm..." I looked at the doggy. He was just so cute! "I know! We should name him Seify! After his daddy!" I picked him up. "Right Seify? You'll be named after your daddy!"
"What?!" Seifer got out of his seat. "You're not naming him Seify."
"Why not? Seify is such a cute name!"
"I'd rather have it called Almasy. Not... the other one."
"Fine! Whatever. You can call him Almasy, but I'll call him Seify! Right Seify? You like that name don't you Seify?" The dog barked joyfully. "See! I told you he likes Seify." I turned to face the dog again. "You like Seify better than Almasy right? Do you like the name Almasy?" The dog barked again.
"I have to go, tomorrow's my SeeD exam. Happy birthday Selphie. And remember, pets aren't allowed in the garden... don't let him get loose." Seifer pushed the button that slid the door open.
"Oh! Good luck Seifer!" Seifer began walking to his dorm before I called out to him again. "Hey Seifer... how did you know I liked puppies?"
He stopped walking. "I remember you talking about it to Kianne." He said without turning around.
So Seifer does care about others. Seifer has changed...
* * *
(Mark)
"Ugh! This is fukkin' pissing me off!!" I swore. My head was beginning to hurt and I hadn't figured out anything about this piece of fukkin' paper.
"Hey, chill. Don't stress yourself over this..." Tony said, trying to calm me down. He paused for a while before continuing. "Hey, can I use your notebook?" He said, referring to my laptop.
"Fine, whatever. Do whatever you want." I slammed the piece of paper onto the desk beside Gerald's glass of water.
"Hey Tony, how's things with you and that cute receptionist downstairs? Scoring any points yet?" Gerald asked. He was lying down on the bed, facing the ceiling.
"No... I hardly ever see her. It's like she's never around." Tony replied.
"That's right... I haven't seen her lately either. She's not even here at night... I remember coming back with Irvine from the cemetery and she wasn't at the desk when we were back..." Gerald remarked.
"Have you figured anything yet?" Tony asked me, after a moment of silence.
"Nothing! I don't know whether this stupid line is an underline or if it's crossing out the stupid letters!" I shouted angrily.
"Do you know what it means?" Gerald asked me.
"It's an ID number. This stupid town gives everyone an ID. The number is someone's ID. But I still don't know if it is the person we're looking for, because I don't know if this is a fukkin' underline or not!" I slammed my fist onto the table. The glass tipped over and water splashed onto the table and on the piece of paper. "Fukk."
Tony got up from the laptop and helped me clean up the mess. He picked up the paper and examined it.
"Yo... something's wrong with this." He said, looking at the now wet paper.
"What now?" I asked in a stressed out tone.
"The letters ID disappeared." He showed me the paper, and sure enough those letters were gone. Strange thing was, was that the other numbers and letters were still there.
"What do you think that means?" Gerald asked, getting up from the bed.
"It means... these letters and numbers aren't a person's ID number." I replied, thinking it all through in my head.
"Does that narrow anything?" Tony asked while drying the table.
"It does... it means... that it's definitely not that chick at the restaurant." I replied, running the possibilities in my head.
"Say what?"
"The numbers, they were Jana's ID number. But... I don't think it's her. 'Mr. Withers' must have known she would be killed soon... so she probably wrote the letters 'ID' to fool whoever killed her."
"Come again?"
"Gerald, you told me that when you got this piece of paper, the bracelet was already opened. I'm guessing our murderer must have knew about 'Mr. Withers' figuring out who he is. So he must have killed 'Mr. Withers' and looked at the piece of paper. The paper had the letters 'ID' to fool him. So he probably left the paper in the bracelet so we could find it, and then would blame Jana for the murders... because it is her ID number!" I told them. It was all coming to place now.
"But, that scary chick said it was a guy... how could Jana be suspected?" Gerald asked.
"Remember her saying how we always need to keep aliases? And her alias was 'Mr. Withers' so it could mean that whoever our murdering is, is actually a man disguising as a woman!" I snapped my fingers for a better effect.
"Ugh. That seems disturbing." Tony remarked as he went back to my laptop. "So have you figure out who it is?"
"No... but I will soon." I sat beside Tony watching him trying to enter a chatroom.
"Damn this! Your laptop sucks shit. It won't even let me chat!"
"It's been like this since we got here. It won't let me enter anything that allows me to interact with others outside. Seems like something's blocking it on purpose." I replied as I looked at the name Tony was entering in. "T0NY TH3 H0T DUD3?" I asked, arching an eyebrow. "What's with the numbers?"
"What? The regular way was taken, so I had to use numbers!"
"Oh shit..." I mumbled.
"What now?"
"I know what 30113 - NTSTRCP stands for... We're in some serious shit right now."
* * *
(Friday - SeeD exam)
(Seifer)
"Good morning class! I hope you all slept well! Today, as you all know, is your second portion of your SeeD final! There are three squads, each with three people. Squad A is Robert, Cliff, and Laura. Laura will be your Squad Leader. Squad B is Steve, Avina, and Seifer. Seifer is your Squad Leader. Squad C..." Kianne's voice just droned on.
I was Squad Leader. Again. But I would not fail this time. I worked so hard to redeem myself, and I would not let anything or anyone stop me from becoming SeeD this time. Not even myself.
"Squad A is to clear out Sections 23-30. Squad B, you guys clear out sections 14-22. Squad C clears out the remaining sections. After you clear out your sections, you will station yourselves in these positions." Kianne pointed to three different areas on the map in front of us for our three squads. "Instructions will be given from there. One more thing before we head out, if any orders are disobeyed, you will fail. And believe me, you will not see the end of that either." She warned.
She sounded so different from how she normally was. But I guess it was because this was the SeeD exam. Quistis stood beside Kianne, in her usual upright, Instructor-like position. She didn't say a word. Nor did she look in my direction.
"We have 4 hours to accomplish this! Now head out!" Kianne shouted. Everyone ran out into the field and in their respective sections.
It wasn't long before we had cleared our sections. The girl in my squad... I think her name was Aleena or something like that, kept on shouting with joy.
"This is so fun! And I was stressing out about this!" She would shout out after killing some monsters. The other guy in my squad, Steve I think, kept on rolling his eyes, but nodding his head.
"We're going to our station now." I said, looking at the map and walking in the direction we were to go.
We were in a destroyed little town. I heard it was because of the short-lived war between Galbadia and Balamb Garden almost immediately after the Sorceress Wars. There were two towns that were destroyed. This measly little one, and another one. But all that was left of the other one was a little shrine for all the people who had died because of the short-lived war. Autumn. The shrine had been named after the town. I remember Kianne saying her brother was there, and some guy. Probably her fiancée.
We were stationed in this town because apparently there were huge amounts of monsters gathering here. We soon arrived at our position and we waited for Kianne to give us more instructions.
"This is so boring! Let's go kill some more monster butts!" The girl would keep saying.
"We already did! Aren't you tired of killing yet, Avina?" the guy said as he sat down on a huge piece of concrete.
"No..." Her voice droned on.
I noticed the ground was trembling ever so slightly. It seemed to be coming from behind us... probably somewhere near the area where Squad C was stationed.
"Shut up!" I growled. She immediately closed her mouth.
I listened even more carefully. It wasn't long before I noticed the small rocks on the ground trembling. Something was coming. And it was coming fast.
"Hide!" I shouted, running to where Steve was, behind the concrete.
Avina was too slow. Before we knew it, we saw a huge stone grey, flying beast swoop by and grabbed Avina his it's huge claws. The bird had a metal circlet around its head. The enormous gust of wind blew both Steve and I backwards. Avina screamed. When we were able to get up, we saw the bird flying towards a tower to the north.
"Holy shit!" Steve swore. "What do we do now?" He looked at me.
I didn't know what to do. If we went to help her, we would have to leave our position. And that meant we disobeyed commands. And we would fail. I did not intend to fail. But on the other hand, if we didn't help her, she could die. I didn't know what to do.
"Steve!" A girl behind us shouted. "A huge ass bird swallowed Stan and headed in your direction!"
We both turned around to face the person who was running up towards us. "That thing took Avina too! What should we do?" Steve exclaimed.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to help them! Rosie's being a wuss and won't leave her position. We can't just let that thing get them!" She shouted at us.
"Well? What should we do?" Steve turned to face me.
Good question. What should we do? I wasn't too sure. I didn't want to fail, but I still wanted to be heroic... and in a strange way, I didn't want those two to be hurt.
"Fukk that, let's go!" I shouted at them and began running to the tower.
We ran through the winding path of this town and soon came to where Squad A had been stationed. All three of them were still there, but they weren't moving. It was as if fright had made them turn to stone. However, as we reached them, I noticed that they were still, not moving, not even breathing. They were paralysed. I noticed a communicator that one of the held in his hand, so I pulled it out and pushed the button.
"What's going on?" Kianne's voice came through with a lot of static.
"A huge ass flying bird, heading to the tower. Two students have been taken, and Squad A is paralysed. I'm going to kick some bird's ass!" I shouted into the communicator and threw it down, and continued running towards the tower. Steve and the other girl followed behind.
From the communicator, I heard Kianne's voice shouting, "Seifer, no! Get back to your position! This is an order!" but I ignored what she had to say.
Soon we reached the tower. I could barely see the bird perched on the top. We looked around to find a way to the top, and sure enough on the other side of the tower was a ladder leading to the top. We quickly climbed the ladder, but slowed down when we neared the top.
"Wait. Let me see what's going on." I whispered to them.
Quietly I poked my head up and saw the bird perched on the side of the tower with its eyes closed. Avina stood beside it, a horrified expression all over her face. She was also paralysed. To the other side of the bird, there was a person. He looked like he was putting something on the head of a monster. He wore a reddish suit. I could tell by the suit that he was a Galbadian soldier.
The three of us all crept up without being noticed until we took a step towards the man. The bird suddenly opened its eyes and squawked out loudly. The man turned around in surprise and saw all three of us there. He smiled.
"Didn't expect company. Here let me entertain you with my pet." He pointed at us and the bird immediately flew towards us about to send a gust of wind to us. But I was too quick.
I ran up to the thing and swung my gunblade at it. I sliced one of its wings off. The bird cried out in pain.
"You hurt my pet you bastard!" He shouted at me. "But that's okay." The soldier pointed at the paralysed Avina, and immediately the bird swallowed her up.
"AVINA!!!" Steve shouted out.
Just as he finished, the sliced off wing began glowing and soon a new wing sprouted out from the wound.
"Nifty isn't it?" The man said, gesturing to the circlet on the bird's head. "With this baby, my pet can regenerate... not only that, but it will do whatever I command it to do. Like attacking you for example!"
Suddenly, the bird swiped one of its wings at the girl. She flew backwards and landed just on the edge of the tower with a loud thud. When she got up, she was all bloody. Her outfit was slashed as if she had been cut with claws, and blood dripped from the newly formed scars on her face.
"Tanya! You all right?" The next thing I knew, Steve flew backwards too. Only this time, he could barely get up. "Ugh... Seifer... I don't think we'll pass today..." Steve said while kneeling down, with both hands on the ground to support his weight. He was getting closer and closer to the ground as the seconds ticked by. He was going to go soon...
"I don't care!" I shouted out angrily. "If we fail, we fail with high marks! I'm not going to let you die here!" I cast a cure spell on both of them.
The healing process would be a slow one, and it took time for them to regain their strength, I knew I would have to handle the monster one-on-one for now. Slash after slash, but still the bird did not fall. I was getting exhausted, I had wounds all over my body. Steve was losing energy fast again, and the other girl, Tanya could barely stand. It was going to be over soon. I didn't have any more cure spells with me, Tanya was too weak to cast any, and Steve also ran out. I guess I was destined to die here...
Suddenly, the bird began hacking out it's own guts. The pinkish flesh flew out of its mouth and splattered all over us. We didn't even have the strength to brush it off.
"What the hell?" The soldier exclaimed when the bird coughed out its flesh.
After a short moment, and watching this grotesque scene, a katana appeared from inside its stomach. The blade came from the top and neatly made it's way downwards, until it was large enough for something inside to open it up. To our surprise, it was Avina. She quickly came out from the beast's stomach, pulling along the other guy who had been swallowed earlier. Once they were out, the beast fell down, never to get up again.
"See ya later suckers!" The soldier shouted at us as he jumped off the tower.
A few seconds later he rose back up in the air with something that looked like a jetpack on his back. I tried to raise my gunblade to shoot him, but I soon realized I was paralysed. The guts of the monster must have paralysed me. I knew the others wouldn't be able to move either... I failed for sure. I failed to obey commands. I endangered the lives of my Squad. I nearly let one of them die. And worst yet, I managed to let the enemy escape. I was a failure.
"See ya later, fukker!" Kianne screamed as she ran up beside me. She held a rocket launcher, with her shoulder supporting the weight and fired at the soldier who had already travelled quite a distance already.
Kianne shot. The rocket flew directly at him. She hit him. A blast of explosion was heard. Smoke started appearing from where he was. He was dead. Annihilated. Mission Complete? I didn't know.
"Seifer! I told you to stay put!" She screamed at me.
Right then, I knew it. I knew I had failed.
* * *
(Saturday)
"Good morning Balamb Garden! This is Xu with today's morning news! First off, would Miss Kianne Lee please report to the office IMMEDIATELY. Secondly, the garden will be landing in Balamb shortly. All students are free to roam around, but remember, all students must be back in their respective dormitories by 2200 hours on Sunday. A little reminder is that the SeeD graduation has been moved up by one week, which means the graduation party will be held on Friday of next week. Now to congratulate our newest SeeD members."
Xu paused for a long moment with papers rustling through the intercom. I needed a miracle... but I knew it wasn't gonna happen. I was assigned Squad Leader, but I failed to lead my squad. Because of my incompetence, I failed to obey instructions. And because of that, I endangered my team members' lives, which nearly killed one of them. There's no way I would pass. Now, my goal of becoming SeeD was crushed. And even Headmaster couldn't help me anymore. I would be kicked out of the garden... and where do I go from there? I didn't know.
Xu cleared her voice over the intercom before speaking. "Our newest members are..." Another short pause. "Derrick Aborgale, Tabitha Almans, ..."
I took a deep breath.
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Okay, I apologize, I seem to have mixed up Tony and Gerald from last chapter... so I go edit chapter three right after this.... I'm terribly sorry! Also, I'm editing chapter 1-3 again, so that there are less grammar and spelling errors! I'm so sorry about that also!
Maybe it's just me, but I felt like this chapter was a little rushed... I hope it wasn't that bad... ...
One more thing, thanks for reading, and possibly reviewing! Really appreciate it! And I'll try to get chapter 5 up soon! Thanks once again!
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Oh my... I am so stupid!!! Okay, I'm very sorry I had you all waiting so long for this stupid chapter!! It was supposed to be up on Friday, but because of my lack of intelligence, I managed to make such a stupid mistake in this format, that it wouldn't upload properly... I'm terribly, terribly sorry!!! So here it is, at long last, chapter 4! Also, I edited chapter 1 so now there are less grammar and spelling errors! And I think I edited this chapter, but I can't remember 'cuz I was so pissed off over the weekend wondering how I could upload this properly... I can't believe how stupid I am!!
Lady Aliena - I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who takes such long breaks! =) But I still feel bad... so I'll try to get this fic finished soon k? Ya, this different POV's wasn't my original plan to write this fic... in fact I was planning to base it all on either Quistis or Seifer's POV... but then I realized that so much would be left out if I did that... so I decided to test this way! I hope it's all right... but either way, thanks for the review! Really appreciate it!
anime-diva - Hiya! This fic isn't really supposed to be a cutesy fic... but if you see it that way, I'm not stopping ya! =)
Quistis88 - I'm glad you're not mad! And you're probably one of the few people who bother reading my little blurbs... lol! I hope these pointless blurbs don't waste much of your time! I didn't think that last chapter was all that great... but I'm glad you liked it! It means a lot to me!
aoshi-loves-misao - I'm so happy that you love my fic!! Well, I hope I didn't leave you waiting too long for this chappy... but here it is! Btw, I agree, Seifer is sexy ~.^
Lovelace - Well, when you get to read this chappy, you'll see if Quistis falls for it or not! And I'm really sorry how all the characters in my ficcy are. I know they're OOC, but my excuse(s) are... 1) my fic takes place a few years after the end of FFVIII (or at least, I think it was that...), so their attitudes have changed a little... but most importantly, 2) I haven't read any FFVIII fics or anything of that such for like, a very long time, so I tend to forget things... also... 3) I didn't actually finish the game ... and so, I don't know how the characters really are... I'm very sorry! And my last excuse... is that I haven't written/thought about this fic for such a long time, so now I don't remember what was going on, or how the characters are... so I'm pretty sure some (if not all) the characters will go a little more OOC... once again, I truly apologize for my lack of knowledge/ability to write with such accuracy! But I do really appreciate your comment! It only helps me write better (at least, I think it should...). Also, I'm glad you like the story so far! And I made the chapters long for a reason... I didn't like those short chapters that most fics I read a while back had, and I wanted my readers to enjoy a long read (cuz I enjoy them... most of the time)... and also, I know I stated this in one of my previous blurbs, but I was hoping to make this a long story, but with few chapters... you know what I mean? One question... what does 'Ja mata ne' mean? I'm very slow to these things... ...
PrincessPeach - To clear things up, this is a Seiftis! I'm sorry the story (thus far) does not make it seem like it, but I'm making this a Seiftis... so don't worry about it!
thugstra - Thank you very, very much for reading this fic! And also loving it! ^.^ I hope I didn't leave you hanging for too long! I promised to get this chapter out sooner than the last, so here it is! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Of course I know Kianne! I'm the one who created her! ^.^ She's not that old, but she's older than the rest. In this ficcy, Seifer's about 20, 21ish and Kianne is about 23, 24ish. I hope that clears that up! Oh, and yes, Seifer's costume was a 'knight' sorta symbolizes his shattered dream... but it was just a costume... so his 'dream' of being a knight might not actually be his true dream... you get it? I tend to go on and on about something, but end up not knowing what I actually meant... lol! Once again, hope you enjoy this fic! Btw, I think Seifer/Quistis are better too!
VegaKeep - I don't know what it is, but somehow your reviews always make me smile... actually, all my reviews do... but that's beyond the point... How do you manage to do that? Maybe you should review more often! ~.^ Lol, juss joking! It's up to you whether you want to review or not... I was sorta worried this fic died too... but then I was reading over the reviews for this fic over again, and then I realized that I shouldn't let my wonderful reviewers down, so I continued this! Aren't you proud of me? Cuz I am =) So you think 'Selphie is up to something regarding a certain warrior and teacher'? well lemme me tell you this... it's our little secret aite? ~.^ wait... we already had a secret... so this is secret number two! Lol... well, I can't tell you anything about that... but you just gotta read the fic to find out if she actually is 'up to something' or its just your imagination! Thanks for reviewing!
Ghost140 - Well here's chapter 4! I hope you enjoy and thanks for reviewing!
Okay! Now that that's all done! (yay!) Let's continue with the story... shall we? Recap of last chapter... umm... oh right! Seifer's trying a new plan to get back at Quistis... but it doesn't seem to be working... Selphie and Seifer are getting closer in their BROTHER/SISTER relationship (sorry, gotta clear that up). Back with Irvine and Zell, well they haven't had much luck finding out what was going on in that little town... but their scenario ended off with Zell opening the door to a person who claims to be room service... but there is no room service in that little hotel!! Last chapter ended off with... well, just read and you'll see!
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(Quistis)
"It's because I like you."
My mouth dropped open.
"Damn..." I paused for a moment. "He is SO fine!"
Seifer turned around to see who I was talking about. He placed his hands on the table with a small thud and pushed himself up from his seat.
"Excuse me, Instructor." Without letting me say a word he stormed out the cafeteria, my eyes following him until he was gone. Reassuring myself that it was safe, I began laughing.
"Seifer, you can't possibly think I would fall for that!" I said aloud while wiping a tear from my eyes. "You're so predictable! I knew you couldn't hold in your 'innocent' act for long! I've known you for far too long to not know that! After all, I did teach you before. You underestimate your 'favourite' Instructor." I got up and threw out the remains of Seifer's lunch, still laughing. Some people in the cafeteria were looking at me strangely, but I couldn't care less, it was worth it to embarrass him like that.
* * *
(Irvine)
"Ugh..." I heard a voice beside me groan.
I opened my eyes to be greeted by darkness. The only light that passed into this room was through the window, and it had the curtains draped over it. I had a pounding headache and I couldn't remember what I was doing here.
"Who's in here?" a voice across from me called out.
I tried to stand up, but my wrists were tied behind the chair I was sitting on a chair and my legs were tied to the legs of the chair.
"What the hell?" Another voice beside me yelled out. "Why the hell am I tied up?" The voice was unmistakable.
"Zell?" The voice across called out again.
"Mark!" Another voice spoke out.
"Gerald... does that mean everyone else is here? Irvine? Tony?"
"Accounted for." Tony responded.
"Still alive." I finally said. My throat seemed dry and my voice sounded rasp.
"So you're done roll call now, may I interrupt?" a more feminine voice asked before the lights flicked on.
I had to close my eyes before they could adjust to the light. When I opened my eyes again, I saw the five of us, each tied up to a chair, but still looked unharmed. A cloaked figure stood in front of us. I began to remember what had happened.
I recall Zell asking me if we ordered room service before hearing him swear. I called out to Zell to ask what happened, but he didn't answer. So, I jumped out the shower, wrapped a towel around my waist and opened the bathroom door. When I did, I saw Zell lying on the ground and a cloaked person sitting on the bed. The person pointed a gun at me, and then... then... I was shot.
"Who the hell are you?!" Gerald screamed.
"The person from the restaurant." Zell calmly stated.
"Oh, so much for the formal greetings. Yes, I am the one from the restaurant, and yes, I know what you all are doing here, and no, I'm not going to kill you. I'm not the one who will." She replied.
"Ugh... how long have we been here?" Tony asked while struggling to free his wrists.
"Two days. I guess I must have drugged you guys a little too much."
"What do you want with is?" I spat out at her.
"Your help of course... but I didn't expect Cid to send so many people." She replied. "It's too dangerous. You guys are too noticeable."
"Headmaster? You know Headmaster Cid?" Zell asked.
"Know him? Of course I know him! You see, I'm the one who asked him for help!"
"Then... you must be Mr. Withers!" Mark exclaimed.
"Pretty feminine for a guy." Gerald mumbled.
"That's because I'm not a guy." 'He' pulled back 'his' hood. 'His' chestnut hair tumbled down to 'his' waist. This 'Mr. Withers' character took off 'his' cloak to reveal 'his' curvy figure. 'Mr. Withers' was actually a woman. Her face was still covered with a piece of cloth, but her grey, dull, and cold eyes were revealed. Under her left eye, small scars could be seen hidden under the cloth.
"What's with the 'mister' then?" Tony asked.
"It's an alias. It's so I won't be found out that easily... just you like five boys... unfortunately you boys didn't keep your identities. Here's a tip juniors, on a mission, always keep your aliases, even when talking amongst yourselves... you never know if someone planted a bug near you." She lectured.
"Okay, so why tie us up then?" I asked.
"To get your attention."
"Then let us go."
"I can't... you see, you guys still don't trust me. If I let you go, then you'll attack me." Her cheeks moved up from underneath the cloth, which indicated that she was smiling.
[Damn... she's good. I wonder is she's been in these kinds of situations before. If she has, then all the more reason that she should not be trusted]
"Then tell us what is going on here and what you want us to do." Zell spoke out.
"This town... it never used to be so... dead. It was once a lively, colourful place. There were lots of children here too. They used to all go and play on the streets, laughing a joking, as if nothing could ever stop them. They all went to the only school here as well. All the children loved it there. Then, one day, everyone in the school got ill. The children, the teachers, and the staff. They had to close down the school, and day by day, those who were ill began to die. Everyone in town was scared because of this unknown illness, so some decided to leave. They would pack up their bags, but before they could leave... they would mysteriously die." She slowly began untying us, while continuing this tragic story. "It was a warning. I know it was. The children dying was the first warning. Then those who wanted to leave was the next."
"Wait... you said the school... but we've never seen any school around here." Mark pointed out.
"Not anymore. It was burned down. It is now the cemetery. It wasn't burned down because of the illness... no. It was because somehow... all the dead corpses were found there. Everyone who had died was found there. They were all lined up, side by side. Arms folded across their chest. Each one holding a single black rose... with blood dripped on the petals. It was very frightful." She paused a moment, wiping a tear from her eye. "There are only a handful of people left alive in this dreadful town... but I know one of them is responsible for this. I just know. All these deaths is just a warning... something big is soon to happen. I just know it."
"Then why need us to help you? It seems like you have everything under control." Tony stated flatly.
"I need you to kill him."
"Can't you? And are you sure it's a 'him'?" I asked. I noticed her playing with a bracelet, opening and closing the little case it had. But each time she did, it was the same thing inside. Empty.
"My arms can no longer hold my weapon anymore. They are far too weak. Thus I cannot kill. Besides, what if he gets me first?" She replied softly.
"Weapon?" Zell questioned.
"I'm an ex-Galbadian SeeD member. I left after my last mission. The mission that has paralysed my life." She replied. There was a short pause before she spoke out again. "Anyway, I'll find out who it is, and you will kill him. Once this is over... something else is bound happen. This is just a sign... something big is going to come..."
Before I could say anything, someone knocked on the door from the other side.
"Excuse me, Mr. Thompson, you haven't paid for last night's stay." It was the shaky receptionist.
"Ya, I'll be there in a moment." Zell called back.
"We'll meet tonight at the cemetery." 'Mr. Withers' grabbed her cloak and was about to jump out the window when I grabbed her wrist.
"And why should we trust you?" I hissed at her.
"Because I'm you're last chance for survival."
* * *
(Friday Night)
"You know, that chick really gives me the creeps! You sure we can trust her?" Gerald asked me while we walked down to the cemetery. Zell and the others were at the hotel. Just in case.
"She's the only lead we got right not. Besides what do we have to lose?" I replied.
"Our lives perhaps?"
I chuckled. "Don't worry. Everything's gonna be all right." I tried to lighten the mood and reassure him... and myself.
When we reached the cemetery, we saw a figure slumped over by the gate. As we got closer, it turned out that the person was 'Mr. Withers'. Her throat had been slit.
"Shit. Now we have nothing!" Gerald swore to the darkness of the night.
I looked her over and my eyes focused on her bracelet. It was slightly opened, as if someone didn't close it properly. I carefully lifted her arm and opened the little silver object on chain of the bracelet. Inside there was a little piece of paper with small, neat and legible writing scrawled on it. The letters 'ID' was on the top left corner of the paper. A line neatly crossed though the letters. It looked as if the person couldn't underline it properly or the person meant to cross it out, but didn't want someone who was reading it to know. I couldn't quite tell.
"Not quite." I took the paper out and examined it.
"30113 - NTSTRCP. What do you suppose that means?"
"I don't know... but we're gonna find out."
* * *
(Saturday)
(Selphie - Beach)
"Hey Seifer, is it true?" I asked him as I took a seat on the warm sand. The sun was shining and the ocean seemed to glisten through the sun's rays. Seifer on the other hand preferred to stand... or maybe it was because he didn't even want to come. I had to drag him from his dorm.
"What?" He asked seemingly in annoyance.
"That... you like Quistis."
Seifer began to chuckle. "Haha... no."
"Oh! So it's just another one of those stupid rumours!" I said, somewhat relieved. "Did you know some of the students are going around saying that you said you liked Quistis? That is so ridiculous! Can't believe I had to question that!" In a strange way, I was hoping it was true... maybe Seifer wouldn't hate Quistis so much if he got to know her better... and vice versa.
"I did say it." He stated out flatly.
"What?!" I jumped up from the ground. I stood there looking at him, blinking often and thinking it over in my head. "Okay. So... you DON'T like Quistis... BUT you DID say that you did?"
"Right to her face." A smirk crept on his face. A smirk. Something he used to always do... something I hadn't seen recently till now. It frightened me slightly. What if he became the person he used to be?
"Seifer! That's bad! What if she believes it?!"
"She doesn't... yet. If I can keep this up, then she will." He laughed wickedly. This scared me even more. Could this possibly be a sign?
"That's terrible Seifer! How can you play with her feelings like that? You know what? I hope you can't keep up with this little charade." I replied rudely. As much as I did wish those two would learn a lesson through all this, I did not want my friends being hurt.
"It's a win-win situation for me. If she believes it, then I can make her hang on the end of a thread and torture her. If I can't... then it would still embarrass her."
"I can't believe you can be so cruel." [I thought you changed.]
"Selphie..." I cut him short.
"Oh no!" I exclaimed as I had just remembered something. "Shoot! I forgot! I'm helping Kianne tutor today!" I brushed the sand off my bum and started running towards the garden. After a few seconds, I remembered I left Seifer behind, so I stopped and turned around. "Wanna come with me?"
"No..." Again I cut him off.
"Please?" Without letting him reply, I ran back to him and grabbed his arm, dragging him along with me.
It wasn't long before Seifer and I were in the library, watching Kianne help one of the junior class men how to read. After about five minutes of watching her in complete boredom, the kid asked if he could go. Thankfully Kianne allowed him to scurry out to join his friends.
"You're late Selphie!!" Kianne frowned at me. "Oh hi Seifer." She turned her head to smile at Seifer, but when she faced me again, her frowning resumed. "So what's your excuse missy?"
"I'm so sorry! I forgot!! I'll make it up to you and buy you some ice cream!" I apologized. Right after, I leaned towards Seifer and whispered, "She absolutely loves ice cream."
"You had better!" She continued to frown at me, but soon she wasn't able to keep up the charade and began giggling softly.
"So where's the next little kid who needs help?" I asked. I knew Seifer was getting annoyed, impatient, and whatever else because of the expression on his face.
"I'm not sure, maybe she's late." There was an awkward silence before Kianne continue to talk. "Have you seen Irvine lately?"
"He's on a mission." I didn't really want to talk about him. Maybe it was because every time I talked about him, I would think of our break up. Sometimes I still wish we were together, but other times I would just believe that we weren't meant to be.
"Oh? So that's where he's been! No wonder he hasn't come to visit my class lately!"
[No doubt to flirt.]
"And it's not what you think either Selphie! Irvine comes to my class occasionally to help me grade papers or tutor some students." She said as if reading my mind. "He usually comes in when you're busy." She added. "How are things between you two now?"
"Alright I suppose."
"You know Selphie... Irvine is a really nice guy. And you do know how much he loves and cares for you... maybe you guys should talk things over with one another."
I have to admit, Irvine was really fun to be around. And he did show me that he cared for me a lot. And I did like him a lot... but I guess jealousy caught up to me. I really didn't like it when he looked and flirted with other girls... although I did know that other girls meant nothing to him. And I guess it wasn't right for me to just break up with him and not even letting him know why... until a few months later... when Kianne had to tell him. I don't know what it is... but something was just pulling me from being with him again.
"Well what about you? Didn't Zack ask you out?" I wanted to get off the subject of Irvine.
"Uh... Zack? I'm not even interested in him! And besides, he's my student... AND not to mention that I'm six whole years older than him. I don't think it would ever work out anyway!" She responded, as if totally forgotten about our last subject.
"It doesn't really matter if he's your student... nor about the age difference. It only counts if you both like each other... but since you don't... it okay. Besides Kianne... there are so many guys in the garden that like you!"
"Like? I doubt it. Maybe adore, but not like. They only respect me as their Instructor." She replied.
"Uh... more Trepies wannabes." I heard Seifer mumble beside me.
"Well, what about you? Don't you like someone? I see you daydreaming sometimes! It must be about a guy you like!" I squealed, like a little girl gossiping with her friend.
"Well... there is this one guy..." She mumbled. "Besides, I just can't get over Wilson... and my brother... I miss them both so much... sometimes I feel too shamed to be with someone else. I need to visit Autumn soon."
Autumn Shrine. It was a shrine dedicated to all those poor innocent people who were killed during the short-lived Galbadia-Balamb war. Both Kianne's fiancée and brother died there.
"Oh! You should have seen! There's this adorable little puppy I saw at Balamb! It's so adorable! Too bad garden won't allow pets... otherwise I would have got him!" Kianne exclaimed completely changing the topic.
"Oh! I've always wanted a puppy! Ever since... since... um... ever since I could remember!" I chirped in happily.
"I'm leaving." Seifer got up and walked out the door.
"Seifer!" I called to him, but he ignored me.
"Just let him go... he'd be bored by anything we talked about." Kianne was right. Seifer wouldn't care what we had to say about boys, or adorable things like puppies.
"So who's this guy you like?!" I bolted back at her.
Her face flushed red. "Well, he's kinda of a secret..."
* * *
(Squall)
I stood in front of Quistis' dorm. Debating whether to knock or not. I had never been to her dorm, nor did I really want to. I had looked everywhere for her earlier, I just had to tell her. But now, here I was, in front of the door, unsure if I should talk to her. I just had this strange, awkward feeling that she liked me or something along those lines. Maybe it was just my imagination. Either way, I had been avoiding her as much as possible.
I heard some noise from inside. I was afraid the door might open and she would see me standing in front here, like an idiot unsure of what to do. So I knocked.
"Who's there?" She asked.
"It's Squall. I have to talk to you."
The door slid open. She was dressed in her usual peach battle suit attire. "What brings you here?" Her voice made her sound a little shocked.
"The SeeD exam. It's been moved up." I stated.
"To when?"
"This week. Wednesday is the written and Friday is the mission."
She didn't say anything. I suppose it was because she didn't know what to say.
"Seifer." I spat the word out like venom. "He MUST be gone. If you can't get rid of him by the SeeD exam... then fail him. No matter. Fail him."
"Fail...?" She said the word out slowly. "But what if he actually passes?"
"He won't. You won't let him pass. No matter what." Did she not understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?
"Headmaster." She eventually said something. It seemed like she was taking her sweet little time to process the information in her head. "What if he finds out?"
"He won't. If worst comes to worst, I'll defend for you. But Seifer. He must be out of the garden and out forever by Friday."
"Friday." She whispered the word.
I turned around to leave. "Remember. He MUST go." I said to her without looking back.
* * *
(Monday)
(Quistis)
"Good morning Seifer. How was your weekend?" Mine was terrible. All I could think of was a way to fail Seifer without getting my ass in trouble.
"Fine." He stated rudely. Perhaps he was still annoyed with me for laughing at him in the cafeteria.
"Well Seifer, as much as I would miss you," Sarcasm was written all over my head. "I have to inform you that the SeeD exam has been moved up to this week. The written is on Wednesday, and the mission is Friday. You shall be writing your exam with Kianne's class. Understand?"
He only snorted at me.
"Seifer, since you failed last time due to poor listening skills, we'll have to work on that today. I want you to..."
* * *
(Wednesday)
(Seifer)
Monday and Tuesday had been hell for me. My Instructor decided that I needed to work on my listening skills when all she told me to do was scrub the bathrooms couple million times. But I didn't give any hell. I didn't talk back, I didn't curse, I didn't remark about anything, all I did was listen to her every command. I did not even have time to get back at her for Friday. I could not, I would not fail this again. This was the only goal I had left that I could possibly still accomplish. I would not let anything get in between my goal. Not even for a chance to get back at Quistis.
"Good morning! I hope you all slept well!" Kianne announced in her usual cheery mood. "Well, we all know what today is... right? I hope you all studied, because you cannot fail this portion of the exam or else you cannot become SeeD this semester."
I sat in one of the back seats, the rest of the students sat near the front. For a while I thought they were avoiding me, but I let that slip past my mind. Why would I care anyway?
"This exam is three hours long. An additional half an hour will be given if necessary. Otherwise, you cannot leave this room for any reason until you have completed the exam. You may start..." She paused to look at her watch for a while. "Now. Good luck."
I looked on the booklet that was supposedly my exam. I scanned through the first page. My first exam I did back when I was still that arrogant bastard was a lot different from this one. But this one was still easy. [This is going to be a piece of cake.] Besides, I got a hundred last time, how could I make a mistake on the written?
About twenty minutes later I had completed my exam. It was too easy. I got up from my seat and walked to Kianne's desk. She was reading a book. As I neared her desk, I saw her little day planner. It was opened to this week. Strange thing was that Thursday was highlighted. When I got even closer, I noticed two words neatly written under the date. Selphie's Birthday. [So her birthday is tomorrow. Should I get something for her?] I handed my test booklet to Kianne. Surprise was written all over her face.
"You're done?" She asked, taking the paper and flipping through. "Are you sure you answered every question?"
"Yeah." I replied, about to leave.
"That was quick..." She mumbled, glancing over my answers.
"It was easy." I strode out the door, still wondering if I should get Selphie a birthday present. I never did before... but that kid was something different. She seemed... special to me. Though no one but Matron has ever been special to me.
* * *
(Thursday)
"How was the test yesterday?" Quistis asked me. I didn't know why she seemed to start every day with a little idle chitchat, but it annoyed me.
"Easy."
"Let's just hope you don't fail tomorrow." She smiled wickedly at me.
I clenched my teeth together. I hated when she said that. "Instructor, permission to leave session today." I stated flatly.
"Why Seifer? Is it because you don't like me? Oh wait... I'm mistaken. You DO like me." She laughed.
"Personal reasons." I wanted to go to Balamb and find a gift for Selphie.
"Tell me."
"Personal reasons." I said again.
"Seifer, you know, if you don't tell me, I won't let you go."
I didn't reply.
"Okay, have it your way. Today, we'll be in the Training Centre. I want you to kill five of every monster in there."
We headed into the Training Centre. It wasn't long before I was done my task. Sweat was sliding down from my forehead. Maybe if I took off my trench coat it would be easier for me. I didn't. I didn't want to. It was like a change... that I could not accept.
"Instructor. Permission to leave session." I asked her again. It wasn't really of a question.
"Like I said the previous three times you have asked. If you tell me, then I'll let you go." She sounded annoyed. Every hour I had been going up to her and asking her the same question, and every time she was giving the same reply.
"Personal reasons."
"Then my answer is still the same."
I turned around back into the Training Centre. I was bored. I didn't want to train anymore. I wanted to leave. I walked to the Secret Area and stood there thinking for a long while.
[What would I do if I make it into SeeD? Where do I go from there? Should I stay in Balamb? Or should I leave? If I left, what would be the purpose of making it into SeeD? But what if I fail? Where would I go from there? I would be forbidden to enter any garden. What would I do?]
I gazed at nothing in particular. I didn't know what to do afterwards. It had come too soon. I didn't feel ready. I was unsure. I didn't know what I wanted anymore. I took out a cigarette from my pocket and put it between my lips. I didn't smoke often, but sometimes it was nice to have just to relieve myself. I was just about to light it, when Quistis walked into the Secret Area.
"Didn't anyone tell you that smoking is hazardous to your health?" She pulled the cigarette from my lips and put it between hers. She grabbed my lighter and lit the cigarette. She took in a deep breath and blew out the smoke.
I didn't say anything. She didn't say anything. We both didn't know what to say to each other. We just stood there, looking out of the garden. Not thinking. Not saying anything. Not moving.
"Seifer," She finally spoke out. "you may go."
I took this advantage to get away from this awkward situation and headed out. Before I left, I heard Quistis say something to me.
"Hey Seifer... good luck tomorrow."
Good luck. I didn't know why she said that just now. But I remembered she had said it to me before. 'Instructor, I hate it when people wish me luck. Save those words for a bad student that needs them, eh?' I had said that to her. 'Ok then... Good luck Seifer.' She said that back to me. Things are so different now... yet... it feels like nothing has changed.
* * *
(Thursday Night)
(Selphie)
I sat on my bed whimpering. It was my birthday today. And no one remembered. Except for Kianne, except she had told me earlier in the week that she couldn't do anything till this weekend. If Irvine had been here, he would have decorated my entire room, and made a surprise party for me.
Two delicate tears fell from my eyes and onto my blanket. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. I sniffed and wiped the tears from my eyes.
"Coming." I said out. I slipped on my slippers and walked to the door. I pushed the button and the door slid open. I was surprised to see Seifer. "Hey Seifer!" I smiled brightly at him, hoping he couldn't tell that I had been crying.
"Selphie, you're not busy are you?"
"No. Not at all. Come in!" I moved out of the way and he walked in. He was holding a big box. I wondered what was in it.
The door slid close and I jumped onto my bed. Seifer just stood there.
"So what brings you here?" I smiled up at him.
"Here." He thrust the box at me.
"What is it?" I tilted my head to the side as I took the box. It was pretty heavy.
"Open it." He instructed.
I obeyed his instructions and lifted the lid. Inside, there was another box, only that one had holes in it. Also, inside the box were little gifts wrapped up in birthday wrapping paper. Although the wrapping was quite sloppy, I was still happy. He remembered my birthday.
"Happy Birthday." The words seemed foreign to him, and they came out sounding awkward, but I didn't care. He had remembered!
I dropped the box on my bed and jumped to hug him tightly. He was very surprised and didn't know how to react. Soon, I let go of him and picked up the box with holes.
"What's this?" I asked as I opened the box.
When I opened it, my eyes widened. Inside was a little puppy. It was a beige-ish white colour and was very small. It had medium length hair and a bushy long tail. It looked at me with adoring brown eyes, then jumped up to lick me in the face. I giggled when it did that.
"This is the best present ever!" I picked up the doggy and held it close to my face. "You're so cute! Yes you are! Yes you are!" The puppy licked me in the face. "We have to give you a name don't we?"
Seifer took a seat at my desk.
"What should I name her?" I asked.
"Him. The dog's a he."
"Oh. Okay. What should we name him?" The puppy squirmed out of my hands and fell into the big box full of sloppily wrapped gifts. He began rummaging through the stuff, ripping the wrapping off.
"He's yours, you should name him."
"Hmm..." I looked at the doggy. He was just so cute! "I know! We should name him Seify! After his daddy!" I picked him up. "Right Seify? You'll be named after your daddy!"
"What?!" Seifer got out of his seat. "You're not naming him Seify."
"Why not? Seify is such a cute name!"
"I'd rather have it called Almasy. Not... the other one."
"Fine! Whatever. You can call him Almasy, but I'll call him Seify! Right Seify? You like that name don't you Seify?" The dog barked joyfully. "See! I told you he likes Seify." I turned to face the dog again. "You like Seify better than Almasy right? Do you like the name Almasy?" The dog barked again.
"I have to go, tomorrow's my SeeD exam. Happy birthday Selphie. And remember, pets aren't allowed in the garden... don't let him get loose." Seifer pushed the button that slid the door open.
"Oh! Good luck Seifer!" Seifer began walking to his dorm before I called out to him again. "Hey Seifer... how did you know I liked puppies?"
He stopped walking. "I remember you talking about it to Kianne." He said without turning around.
So Seifer does care about others. Seifer has changed...
* * *
(Mark)
"Ugh! This is fukkin' pissing me off!!" I swore. My head was beginning to hurt and I hadn't figured out anything about this piece of fukkin' paper.
"Hey, chill. Don't stress yourself over this..." Tony said, trying to calm me down. He paused for a while before continuing. "Hey, can I use your notebook?" He said, referring to my laptop.
"Fine, whatever. Do whatever you want." I slammed the piece of paper onto the desk beside Gerald's glass of water.
"Hey Tony, how's things with you and that cute receptionist downstairs? Scoring any points yet?" Gerald asked. He was lying down on the bed, facing the ceiling.
"No... I hardly ever see her. It's like she's never around." Tony replied.
"That's right... I haven't seen her lately either. She's not even here at night... I remember coming back with Irvine from the cemetery and she wasn't at the desk when we were back..." Gerald remarked.
"Have you figured anything yet?" Tony asked me, after a moment of silence.
"Nothing! I don't know whether this stupid line is an underline or if it's crossing out the stupid letters!" I shouted angrily.
"Do you know what it means?" Gerald asked me.
"It's an ID number. This stupid town gives everyone an ID. The number is someone's ID. But I still don't know if it is the person we're looking for, because I don't know if this is a fukkin' underline or not!" I slammed my fist onto the table. The glass tipped over and water splashed onto the table and on the piece of paper. "Fukk."
Tony got up from the laptop and helped me clean up the mess. He picked up the paper and examined it.
"Yo... something's wrong with this." He said, looking at the now wet paper.
"What now?" I asked in a stressed out tone.
"The letters ID disappeared." He showed me the paper, and sure enough those letters were gone. Strange thing was, was that the other numbers and letters were still there.
"What do you think that means?" Gerald asked, getting up from the bed.
"It means... these letters and numbers aren't a person's ID number." I replied, thinking it all through in my head.
"Does that narrow anything?" Tony asked while drying the table.
"It does... it means... that it's definitely not that chick at the restaurant." I replied, running the possibilities in my head.
"Say what?"
"The numbers, they were Jana's ID number. But... I don't think it's her. 'Mr. Withers' must have known she would be killed soon... so she probably wrote the letters 'ID' to fool whoever killed her."
"Come again?"
"Gerald, you told me that when you got this piece of paper, the bracelet was already opened. I'm guessing our murderer must have knew about 'Mr. Withers' figuring out who he is. So he must have killed 'Mr. Withers' and looked at the piece of paper. The paper had the letters 'ID' to fool him. So he probably left the paper in the bracelet so we could find it, and then would blame Jana for the murders... because it is her ID number!" I told them. It was all coming to place now.
"But, that scary chick said it was a guy... how could Jana be suspected?" Gerald asked.
"Remember her saying how we always need to keep aliases? And her alias was 'Mr. Withers' so it could mean that whoever our murdering is, is actually a man disguising as a woman!" I snapped my fingers for a better effect.
"Ugh. That seems disturbing." Tony remarked as he went back to my laptop. "So have you figure out who it is?"
"No... but I will soon." I sat beside Tony watching him trying to enter a chatroom.
"Damn this! Your laptop sucks shit. It won't even let me chat!"
"It's been like this since we got here. It won't let me enter anything that allows me to interact with others outside. Seems like something's blocking it on purpose." I replied as I looked at the name Tony was entering in. "T0NY TH3 H0T DUD3?" I asked, arching an eyebrow. "What's with the numbers?"
"What? The regular way was taken, so I had to use numbers!"
"Oh shit..." I mumbled.
"What now?"
"I know what 30113 - NTSTRCP stands for... We're in some serious shit right now."
* * *
(Friday - SeeD exam)
(Seifer)
"Good morning class! I hope you all slept well! Today, as you all know, is your second portion of your SeeD final! There are three squads, each with three people. Squad A is Robert, Cliff, and Laura. Laura will be your Squad Leader. Squad B is Steve, Avina, and Seifer. Seifer is your Squad Leader. Squad C..." Kianne's voice just droned on.
I was Squad Leader. Again. But I would not fail this time. I worked so hard to redeem myself, and I would not let anything or anyone stop me from becoming SeeD this time. Not even myself.
"Squad A is to clear out Sections 23-30. Squad B, you guys clear out sections 14-22. Squad C clears out the remaining sections. After you clear out your sections, you will station yourselves in these positions." Kianne pointed to three different areas on the map in front of us for our three squads. "Instructions will be given from there. One more thing before we head out, if any orders are disobeyed, you will fail. And believe me, you will not see the end of that either." She warned.
She sounded so different from how she normally was. But I guess it was because this was the SeeD exam. Quistis stood beside Kianne, in her usual upright, Instructor-like position. She didn't say a word. Nor did she look in my direction.
"We have 4 hours to accomplish this! Now head out!" Kianne shouted. Everyone ran out into the field and in their respective sections.
It wasn't long before we had cleared our sections. The girl in my squad... I think her name was Aleena or something like that, kept on shouting with joy.
"This is so fun! And I was stressing out about this!" She would shout out after killing some monsters. The other guy in my squad, Steve I think, kept on rolling his eyes, but nodding his head.
"We're going to our station now." I said, looking at the map and walking in the direction we were to go.
We were in a destroyed little town. I heard it was because of the short-lived war between Galbadia and Balamb Garden almost immediately after the Sorceress Wars. There were two towns that were destroyed. This measly little one, and another one. But all that was left of the other one was a little shrine for all the people who had died because of the short-lived war. Autumn. The shrine had been named after the town. I remember Kianne saying her brother was there, and some guy. Probably her fiancée.
We were stationed in this town because apparently there were huge amounts of monsters gathering here. We soon arrived at our position and we waited for Kianne to give us more instructions.
"This is so boring! Let's go kill some more monster butts!" The girl would keep saying.
"We already did! Aren't you tired of killing yet, Avina?" the guy said as he sat down on a huge piece of concrete.
"No..." Her voice droned on.
I noticed the ground was trembling ever so slightly. It seemed to be coming from behind us... probably somewhere near the area where Squad C was stationed.
"Shut up!" I growled. She immediately closed her mouth.
I listened even more carefully. It wasn't long before I noticed the small rocks on the ground trembling. Something was coming. And it was coming fast.
"Hide!" I shouted, running to where Steve was, behind the concrete.
Avina was too slow. Before we knew it, we saw a huge stone grey, flying beast swoop by and grabbed Avina his it's huge claws. The bird had a metal circlet around its head. The enormous gust of wind blew both Steve and I backwards. Avina screamed. When we were able to get up, we saw the bird flying towards a tower to the north.
"Holy shit!" Steve swore. "What do we do now?" He looked at me.
I didn't know what to do. If we went to help her, we would have to leave our position. And that meant we disobeyed commands. And we would fail. I did not intend to fail. But on the other hand, if we didn't help her, she could die. I didn't know what to do.
"Steve!" A girl behind us shouted. "A huge ass bird swallowed Stan and headed in your direction!"
We both turned around to face the person who was running up towards us. "That thing took Avina too! What should we do?" Steve exclaimed.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to help them! Rosie's being a wuss and won't leave her position. We can't just let that thing get them!" She shouted at us.
"Well? What should we do?" Steve turned to face me.
Good question. What should we do? I wasn't too sure. I didn't want to fail, but I still wanted to be heroic... and in a strange way, I didn't want those two to be hurt.
"Fukk that, let's go!" I shouted at them and began running to the tower.
We ran through the winding path of this town and soon came to where Squad A had been stationed. All three of them were still there, but they weren't moving. It was as if fright had made them turn to stone. However, as we reached them, I noticed that they were still, not moving, not even breathing. They were paralysed. I noticed a communicator that one of the held in his hand, so I pulled it out and pushed the button.
"What's going on?" Kianne's voice came through with a lot of static.
"A huge ass flying bird, heading to the tower. Two students have been taken, and Squad A is paralysed. I'm going to kick some bird's ass!" I shouted into the communicator and threw it down, and continued running towards the tower. Steve and the other girl followed behind.
From the communicator, I heard Kianne's voice shouting, "Seifer, no! Get back to your position! This is an order!" but I ignored what she had to say.
Soon we reached the tower. I could barely see the bird perched on the top. We looked around to find a way to the top, and sure enough on the other side of the tower was a ladder leading to the top. We quickly climbed the ladder, but slowed down when we neared the top.
"Wait. Let me see what's going on." I whispered to them.
Quietly I poked my head up and saw the bird perched on the side of the tower with its eyes closed. Avina stood beside it, a horrified expression all over her face. She was also paralysed. To the other side of the bird, there was a person. He looked like he was putting something on the head of a monster. He wore a reddish suit. I could tell by the suit that he was a Galbadian soldier.
The three of us all crept up without being noticed until we took a step towards the man. The bird suddenly opened its eyes and squawked out loudly. The man turned around in surprise and saw all three of us there. He smiled.
"Didn't expect company. Here let me entertain you with my pet." He pointed at us and the bird immediately flew towards us about to send a gust of wind to us. But I was too quick.
I ran up to the thing and swung my gunblade at it. I sliced one of its wings off. The bird cried out in pain.
"You hurt my pet you bastard!" He shouted at me. "But that's okay." The soldier pointed at the paralysed Avina, and immediately the bird swallowed her up.
"AVINA!!!" Steve shouted out.
Just as he finished, the sliced off wing began glowing and soon a new wing sprouted out from the wound.
"Nifty isn't it?" The man said, gesturing to the circlet on the bird's head. "With this baby, my pet can regenerate... not only that, but it will do whatever I command it to do. Like attacking you for example!"
Suddenly, the bird swiped one of its wings at the girl. She flew backwards and landed just on the edge of the tower with a loud thud. When she got up, she was all bloody. Her outfit was slashed as if she had been cut with claws, and blood dripped from the newly formed scars on her face.
"Tanya! You all right?" The next thing I knew, Steve flew backwards too. Only this time, he could barely get up. "Ugh... Seifer... I don't think we'll pass today..." Steve said while kneeling down, with both hands on the ground to support his weight. He was getting closer and closer to the ground as the seconds ticked by. He was going to go soon...
"I don't care!" I shouted out angrily. "If we fail, we fail with high marks! I'm not going to let you die here!" I cast a cure spell on both of them.
The healing process would be a slow one, and it took time for them to regain their strength, I knew I would have to handle the monster one-on-one for now. Slash after slash, but still the bird did not fall. I was getting exhausted, I had wounds all over my body. Steve was losing energy fast again, and the other girl, Tanya could barely stand. It was going to be over soon. I didn't have any more cure spells with me, Tanya was too weak to cast any, and Steve also ran out. I guess I was destined to die here...
Suddenly, the bird began hacking out it's own guts. The pinkish flesh flew out of its mouth and splattered all over us. We didn't even have the strength to brush it off.
"What the hell?" The soldier exclaimed when the bird coughed out its flesh.
After a short moment, and watching this grotesque scene, a katana appeared from inside its stomach. The blade came from the top and neatly made it's way downwards, until it was large enough for something inside to open it up. To our surprise, it was Avina. She quickly came out from the beast's stomach, pulling along the other guy who had been swallowed earlier. Once they were out, the beast fell down, never to get up again.
"See ya later suckers!" The soldier shouted at us as he jumped off the tower.
A few seconds later he rose back up in the air with something that looked like a jetpack on his back. I tried to raise my gunblade to shoot him, but I soon realized I was paralysed. The guts of the monster must have paralysed me. I knew the others wouldn't be able to move either... I failed for sure. I failed to obey commands. I endangered the lives of my Squad. I nearly let one of them die. And worst yet, I managed to let the enemy escape. I was a failure.
"See ya later, fukker!" Kianne screamed as she ran up beside me. She held a rocket launcher, with her shoulder supporting the weight and fired at the soldier who had already travelled quite a distance already.
Kianne shot. The rocket flew directly at him. She hit him. A blast of explosion was heard. Smoke started appearing from where he was. He was dead. Annihilated. Mission Complete? I didn't know.
"Seifer! I told you to stay put!" She screamed at me.
Right then, I knew it. I knew I had failed.
* * *
(Saturday)
"Good morning Balamb Garden! This is Xu with today's morning news! First off, would Miss Kianne Lee please report to the office IMMEDIATELY. Secondly, the garden will be landing in Balamb shortly. All students are free to roam around, but remember, all students must be back in their respective dormitories by 2200 hours on Sunday. A little reminder is that the SeeD graduation has been moved up by one week, which means the graduation party will be held on Friday of next week. Now to congratulate our newest SeeD members."
Xu paused for a long moment with papers rustling through the intercom. I needed a miracle... but I knew it wasn't gonna happen. I was assigned Squad Leader, but I failed to lead my squad. Because of my incompetence, I failed to obey instructions. And because of that, I endangered my team members' lives, which nearly killed one of them. There's no way I would pass. Now, my goal of becoming SeeD was crushed. And even Headmaster couldn't help me anymore. I would be kicked out of the garden... and where do I go from there? I didn't know.
Xu cleared her voice over the intercom before speaking. "Our newest members are..." Another short pause. "Derrick Aborgale, Tabitha Almans, ..."
I took a deep breath.
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Okay, I apologize, I seem to have mixed up Tony and Gerald from last chapter... so I go edit chapter three right after this.... I'm terribly sorry! Also, I'm editing chapter 1-3 again, so that there are less grammar and spelling errors! I'm so sorry about that also!
Maybe it's just me, but I felt like this chapter was a little rushed... I hope it wasn't that bad... ...
One more thing, thanks for reading, and possibly reviewing! Really appreciate it! And I'll try to get chapter 5 up soon! Thanks once again!
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Oh my... I am so stupid!!! Okay, I'm very sorry I had you all waiting so long for this stupid chapter!! It was supposed to be up on Friday, but because of my lack of intelligence, I managed to make such a stupid mistake in this format, that it wouldn't upload properly... I'm terribly, terribly sorry!!! So here it is, at long last, chapter 4! Also, I edited chapter 1 so now there are less grammar and spelling errors! And I think I edited this chapter, but I can't remember 'cuz I was so pissed off over the weekend wondering how I could upload this properly... I can't believe how stupid I am!!