No One Knows Like I Do
Usual disclaimer blah blah blech....
A/N: It is I, your extremely humble scribe...Oh my gawd! I cannot believe it's been over a month!!! Aaaiiiiieeee!!!! I'm soooo sorry! I feel so terrible...please don't hate me...
Chapter 14 - Stirrings in the Dark
Fujin and the group finally arrived at the Presidential Palace after about a half hour of walking. Rose had complained practically the whole way there while Fujin silently wished for her to shut up. Seifer was also heavily on her mind even though she would never admit that. The thought of him distracted her greatly and she knew that this exam required her full attention. Even so, she couldn't focus.
The group stood before the entrance of the palace awaiting the lift to take them up to the main entrance. It finally arrived and Fujin was the first to sit on it waiting for her companions to do the same. As far as she was concerned, there was no time to waste.
"Finally! It took long enough for us to get here," Rose complained sourly. She flopped down on the chairlift leading to the interior of the palace and proceeded to rub her right foot.
"We still have a ways to go, you know," Isazu replied dryly as he too seated himself. "We still have to go into the sublevels of the palace."
Rose let out an agitated sigh in response.
Seifer was slowly getting more annoyed by her attitude. "Look, could you stop complaining already? Your voice is annoying." He exasperatedly sat down next to Fujin.
"Oh, sorry about that stud," Rose cooed. "Okay, I'll behave." The chairlift suddenly took off which caused Rose to fall over clumsily ruining her "sophisticated" demeanor.
Seifer tossed his head back and snorted sarcastically. He then turned his head to Fujin who was already sitting on the chairlift, instinctively checking on her. She wore a blank expression something that Seifer was used to seeing whenever she would become withdrawn. He chose to ignore her this time not letting his guilty conscience get the best of him. After all, there was a mission in front of them and he couldn't afford to let his emotions affect his performance.
The chairlift arrived at their destination and the party rose walking in the direction of the main entrance of the Presidential Palace. As they walked by the first set of doors, Rose looked up and saw a picture of Winhill above the metal double doors.
"Why is there a picture of that hovel above the doors?" Rose sniffed.
"SILENCE!" Fujin snapped, irritated. Rose talked too damn much for her liking.
"Thank you Fujin,î Isazu sighed. "but could you not be so loud about it? Do you want the senior SeeDs to think that we aren't getting along?"
"Oh don't mind the ghoul dear heart, she's just a creepy little bitch," Rose said breezily while waving her hand lazily at Fujin.
Fujin did her best impression of implanting ice daggers into Roseís body by glaring at her. If looks could kill....you know the saying. Rose glanced at Fujin impassively, pretending that Fujin's glare didn't disturb her. Seifer, on the other hand, was glad that he wasn't on the other end of Fujin's glare for once.
"Rose," Seifer said flatly.
"Yes, lover?"
Seifer strolled up to Rose and leaned forward putting his face close to hers. Rose's heart skipped three beats (at least she thought so) and she fluttered her long eyelashes playfully.
"Rose, do you think you could do me a favor?" he asked softly as if he was trying to seduce her. Fujin looked on and raised her right eyebrow wondering if he was trying to make her jealous.
"What...?" Rose answered breathlessly.
"Would you..SHUT THE FUCK UP?!" Seifer stepped back and angrily stormed off into the building following behind Fujin and Isazu. Fujin almost didn't hide her amusement too well, but she managed to keep a straight face.
Rose's cheeks immediately flushed with embarrassment as she realized that she had just been played. She kicked at the ground in the disgust, then lifted her head in indignation and followed behind the rest of the group.
As soon as they stepped through the doors, the group was greeted by the Presidential Aide who was dressed in a flowing blue and white robe, which was common attire for the Estharian civilians.
"Ah, you finally made it. I assume you all know what the problem is, but I'll just explain whats been happening for the past few weeks." The Aide took a step forward and continued. "You see, there have been technical failures within Esthar's mainframe. It's highly unusual to have such a failure, but this could be the result of the last Lunar Cry." The Lunar Cry was a hideous phenomenon, which caused monsters from the moon to rain from the sky. "Monsters may be affecting the performance of the systems and we need young SeeD candidates, like yourselves, to solve the problem."
"And where can we access this palace's mainframe?" Isazu inquired while slightly puffing his chest up.
"In the sub levels of the palace. See that elevator over there?" The Aide gestured toward what looked like a freight elevator. "You take that down and you need this key to access the lower levels." He placed the key in Isazu's outstretched hand and nodded. "Good luck to you all."
The group watched the Aide walk away until Isazu broke the silence.
"Come on, let's go. We're on a time limit you know." He strode ahead quickly away from the group.
"Yeah, yeah, we know Mr. I-know-every-fucking-thing," Seifer scoffed as he and the others followed behind him.
"Hey, you don't have to get like that with the dear boy," Rose nagged. "He's only trying to do what he's supposed to do..."
Isazu stopped and turned to face Seifer. "Look, do you wanna pass or not? We all know you have a history of NOT following the rules." Seifer found himself two seconds away from decking Isazu, but for once he controlled his dangerous temper. "Go on and hit me. Just remember that your grade is the one that will suffer, not mine." Isazu waited for Seifer to act. Seeing that he didn't, Isazu turned and continued to walk toward the elevator.
"Son of a bitch..." Seifer muttered angrily.
"DESERVED IT." Fujin pushed past Seifer roughly. "BASTARD."
"Ouch..." Rose empathized. "Don't worry about her being so rude. I'M not against you."
"Who cares? I don't need you sympathy girlie." Seifer also stepped on the elevator with Rose right behind him.
"There's no need to get so snappy," Rose pouted cutely hoping she would win Seifer over. Her efforts resulted in a failure.
Fujin let out a loud exasperated sigh and narrowed her eyes at Rose. "LAST TIME. SHUT UP."
Rose threw her hand up in Fujinís face snobbishly. "Whatever you freak. I'm just going to pretend that you aren't talking to me."
Seifer leaned against the rail in the elevator and folded his arms. Even though he and Fujin were on the outs, he still didn't appreciate Rose calling her a freak. That was crossing the line. "Princess, just do us all a favor and get serious. This isn't one of your stupid little social gatherings; it's a mission. So act like it."
Rose chose to remain silent for once. Fujin snickered quietly to herself, which caused Rose to glare at her indignantly. Fujin returned the gesture by raising her visible eyebrow, daring her to say anything.
The elevator finally reached the lower level of the palace and the group was greeted immediately by the smell of expired monsters. What made it even worse was that it was almost completely dark so any monster could ambush them at any given moment.
"Ugh! What in the world is that smell?" Rose cried while pinching her nose.
"Smells like something died down here," Isazu coughed as he switched on his flashlight. "My guess is that it's some of the monsters that were left over from the Lunar Cry."
"Ewww..."
"How are you gonna be a SeeD if you keep acting so..prissy?" Isazu asked incredulously. "You probably shouldnít really be here." He was growing tired of Rose's girlieness as it were.
"ENOUGH. SHOULD SPLIT UP." Fujin interrupted anxiously. She shined her flashlight around to get an idea of what they could possibly face. Seeing nothing, it made her even more suspicious.
"Right. I'll take Fujin with me and Rose you go with Seifer since he's the only one you'll listen to," Isazu ordered. Fujin almost started to protest, but thought better of it. Rose however practically leaped in the air in joy. It took all of Fujin's willpower to keep from kicking her in her shin.
'Just what I needed,' she thought bitterly. 'This is just fucking great.'
"Remember, if you see anything suspicious, call the other team. Try to arrive as fast as possible. All right then, let's split."
~*~*~
"I don't want any problems from you princess, got it?" As Seifer and Rose walked around, he suddenly got the impulse to use his headset. He decided to test out the headset that he was given. Impulsively, he called Fujin's name.
"Fujin?"
A burst of static blared through the headset and then Fujin's voice finally came through. "YES?" Seifer was nearly taken aback by the bitterness hung heavily on Fujin's voice.
"Just testing.....I haven't found anything."
"AFFIRMATIVE," she replied sharply and then cut the transmission off.
Seifer groaned quietly. "She's supposed to leave the transmission OPEN."
'It's now or never,' Rose thought cunningly. She walked up behind Seifer and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Seifer, I think it's about time to leave the past behind," she said quietly.
He reached up to her hand and took it off his shoulder slowly. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? Don't talk about things you don't know shit about," he spat angrily.
"Oh, but I do. It's obvious to see that she doesn't care about you anymore.. I mean, she's been avoiding you and everything..." Rose was trying her best to sound really sincere. 'What other things should I say to make him feel better..? I really have to come off as if I care..which I don't.'
"Why don't you mind your own business?" Seifer continued to walk ahead while shining his flashlight in suspiciously dark corners. "We don't have time to talk about this now, okay?"
'Have it your way, but I'll get you later.' Rose smirked slightly to herself. "Fine...."
The pair continued to search around the lower levels. 'What exactly are we looking for? This is a waste of fucking time...all this damn searching and shit...' Suddenly, Isazu's voice blared over the transmission as if he knew what Seifer was thinking.
"Seifer and Rose, can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear."
"Yeah man."
"Listen, are you looking for the entrance to the mainframe?"
"The entrance? You mean the main computer is in a room all to itself?" Rose asked.
"Yeah. That's what you should be searching for. Fujin and I haven't found it yet. Have you noticed anything suspicious?"
"Besides the darkness down here? Seifer and I haven't seen anything yet."
"Well let me-" Isazu voice suddenly broke off as if he was distracted. Seifer and Rose could faintly hear Fujin saying something and by the tone of her voice it didn't sound good.
"You two, get to Sector 2 immediately!" Isazu exclaimed. "Use your maps to find us. Hurry!"
"We're on it!" Seifer answered.
"Sounds really urgent," Rose supposed.
"No shit. Get a move on." Seifer was already running towards the direction the pair came from earlier.
"Hey, wait up!" Rose started after Seifer, barely able to keep up. "How are we supposed to know where Sector 2 is down here?"
"Didn't you pay attention to your surroundings? When we first came down here, we were in Sector 1. Right now we're in Sector 3. So which way do you go?"
"Oh right. Well, I wonder what the big emergency is?"
"Stop running so girlie and keep up. Then you'll find out," he answered edgily. He started to worry about Fujin and wondered if she was in a lot of danger. 'I hope she's okay... Please don't let it be too serious....'
~*~*~
"What the hell is that thing?" Isazu cried. What stood before him and Fujin was a strange creature. It was large and intimidating and resembled a panther. What made it almost indistinguishable was that wires were weaved through its skin. Each time that a wave of electricity would shoot through the wire, the monster jerked violently.
"UNKNOWN. BE ON GUARD." Fujin didn't exactly know HOW to guard herself. Her guess was that the monster was weak against any water attack since it seemed to feed off electricity.
"What's going on?" Seifer voice rang out as he and Rose rounded a corner.
"Oh Hyne! What the hell is that?!" Rose balked while stepping backward.
"We don't know," Isazu answered shakily, "it's just been standing there. Be ready, it may strike."
"R-right........"
The team took their own personal defensive stances. Isazu readied his Bo staff; it was similar to Raijin's but not quite as large. He also took a stance similar to Raijin's as well by holding the staff beside him and crouching his knees slightly. Rose took a girlie stance, clutching her bow in front of her while the other hand rested on the arrows in the quiver. She shivered slightly while faintly wondering if this was going to be the day she died. The way that Fujin and Seifer were standing showed their years of experience. Both looked comfortable with the weapons at ready and they kept their breathing rate at a normal level while the other two remained uptight.
"HELPS TO RELAX," Fujin announced to the other two.
"W-what? Y-you must be out of y-your mind!" Rose exclaimed shrilly. "Can't you see how...hideous it is?!"
Suddenly as if her shrill voice set it off, the monster darted in Rose direction.
"Oh shit!" She knew in the back of her mind that there was little that she could do to stop the monster. Fear struck her and she did was close her eyes and try to brace herself for the attack.
Before the creature could even make contact with Rose's body, Seifer cast Fira. The fireball made direct contact with its back and it growled dangerously. Before it could dart in Seifer's direction, Fujin launched her pinwheel high in the air. It circled around the group before it lodged itself into the panther's side.
This time the mutated panther roared in agony. Instead of launching itself toward Fujin, the panther stood up on its hind legs.
"That can't be good," Isazu reasoned. "I don't think now would be a good time to strike it."
"Gee, you think?" Seifer sneered. He looked around suddenly and asked, "Where's Rose?"
As if on cue, an arrow soared through the air and jammed itself into the panther's head. The creature let out a high-pitched shriek that nearly deafened the group.
"What the hell were you thinking?!" Seifer cried as he covered his ears.
"What?! What are you talking about?!" Rose protested loudly as the sound subsided.
"Don't you know that when a creature takes a stand like that, that you SHOULDN'T attack it? What's wrong with you?!" Isazu hollered in shock.
"BE ON GUARD!" If there was anything worse than what just happened, it would have to be a group of people arguing while a monster readied itself. Fujin watched the creature carefully trying to anticipate its next move. Respectively, the creature did the same. Fujin cast Scan, all the while thinking that the spell would offer little insight as to what the panther's intentions were. She was right in her thinking; the spell did nothing to help.
"MAY BE WEAK AGAINST WATER." Fujin herself was not stocked with any water spells at the moment. She turned and faced Rose. "HAVE ANY?"
"Any what?"
"WATER SPELLS."
"I have a few," she answered curtly.
"GREAT." Fujin lifted her hand above her head and blue light coursed through her body as she drew a few water spells from Rose. She didn't really think she would need them since she had Leviathan junctioned to her as well as her faithful GF Pandemona. Fujin only took them to annoy Rose.
"Did I say you could do that?" Rose demanded.
"DON'T CARE." Fujin exchanged a look with Seifer instinctively that meant to distract the monster.
Seifer immediately charged toward the monster while extending his left palm. A small fireball appeared in the center as he came closer to the monster. In the same fashion in which he had attacked Squall a year ago, he stunned the monster with the fireball and struck it with his Hyperion. For extra damage, he fired the gun on the gunblade. He continued to hack at the monster while Fujin prepared herself for a strong water attack by way of the GF Leviathan. Since water wasn't her element, it would take more out of her to summon the GF.
A strong wave of electricity passed through the panther. Jerking violently, it lashed out at Seifer by swiping its large paw across his chest. The force of the blow sent Seifer flying off his feet. As he fell, he rolled up into a ball and ended up on his feet once more.
"Arrrgh! Son of a bitch..." Seifer motioned towards Isazu. "Help me out man!"
Isazu charged towards the panther and cast a weak water spell to knock it off its feet. As the panther recovered, Seifer and Isazu continued to attack it relentlessly. Since its head already had an injury Rose fired more arrows to the injury.
Fujin was finally ready to cast Leviathan. She lifted her hand to her chest as if she was pulling power from and in one smooth motion, she lowered her hand. The whole group vanished while they still attacked the panther. A beam of light shot through the air and the water dragon suddenly appeared. It formed a wall of earth that served as a place for a frightening amount of water to cascade down and drown the panther. After Leviathan finished its attack it vanished without a trace. The group reappeared in the same fashion in which they left.
"Did it work?" Rose asked as she peered around for the panther.
"I think so..." Isazu replied. "Fujin?"
"WHAT?" she answered breathlessly.
"You okay?"
"AFFIRMATIVE."
Seifer walked slowly around the vicinity still feeling as though something was incomplete. "Hey..I don't think we've seen the last of it."
"What do you mean? Are you saying you still sense it's presence?" Isazu asked while readying his staff.
"It was too easy...it still has to be here."
"AFFIRMATIVE." Fujin launched her pinwheel in the air and it circled around the group in a graceful arc. The pinwheel disappeared in the darkness of one part of the sector. The group waited in silence until finally they heard the pinwheel strike something. Apparently Fujin's mark was dead on because the panther roared in agony once more. A burst of light suddenly lit the area and then they heard the panther malfunctioning.
"How the hell....?" Isazu asked in awe.
"I think she killed it..." Rose balked. 'I hate to admit it, but that was GOOD,' she thought.
'I knew she was good, but THIS good? Damn....' Seifer thought admirably.
"Great job Fujin! Wow! That was excellent!" Isazu held up his hand for Fujin to give her a high five. She looked at his hand strangely and then slapped his hand with hers. "With that thing out of the way, we should inspect this place thoroughly to make sure that there aren't any more threats."
"So let's hurry then. I just want to get this over with," Seifer said.
The group walked through each sector of the lower levels, shining their flashlights in suspicious places and killing off smaller monsters as they went. After a couple of hours, Isazu decided they were finished because they had finished off all the monsters that were down there.
"I'm gonna contact Xu and let her know our status." Isazu cycled through different frequencies until he finally reached Xu's. "Group C to bridge, come in bridge."
"This is the bridge. What's the situation?" Xu garbled voice answered.
"Mission accomplished."
"Really? Scan the area to make sure."
Isazu quickly scanned the area using a mini radar system that was as small as a wristwatch. After a minute or two, he spoke into the headset once more. "All clear."
"Okay. Did you find anything suspicious?"
"We encountered some type of panther like creature that seemed to be feeding off electrical currents. I speculate that the creature was feeding off the computer systems, thus creating a malfunction."
"I see. Aware the Presidential Aide of the completion of your mission. Once you do that, return to the Ragnarok."
"Roger. Out." Isazu turned to his teammates. "All right everyone, let's go up so we can tell the Aide of our situation."
The group took the elevator back up to the main floor of the palace. The alerted the Aide of the situation and assured him that there wouldn't be any more problems in the lower levels.
"Thank you all for solving the problem. It is greatly appreciated." A warm smile spread across his face. "I think you would make fine SeeDs...good luck to you all."
With that, the group left the Presidential Palace. They all loaded up on the lift to take them back down to the entrance. Once they were back down to the skyway, they began their walk back to the Airport. The whole way, Rose complained about how she never had to walk so much in her life and that a Madison shouldn't have to go through this and any other snobby things she had to say.
~*~*~
"Welcome back SeeD candidates. First, I would like to congratulate you all on a job well done. However, don't get too ecstatic, you score will weave out the strong from the weak. Even though you all accomplished your given mission, some of you acted incompetently and uncooperatively. Overall, I must say that I was pleased." Xu really knew how to bring down overly confident students. "Once we get back to Balamb Garden, graduates will be called by name on the announcements. Until then, you are all free to wander about the ship and most of all, relax."
Students excitedly talked about their missions and how they miraculous saved a teammate or something like that. All the while, Fujin sat in the seating area of the Ragnarok thinking about Seifer.
'I hate this. What was I thinking by admitting everything to him? And he acted just the way I was afraid he would. Scared,' she thought bitterly.
Some of that is your fault, you know, the voice chided.
'Yeah, I know.....'
You screwed up once more.
'I know, I know...'
So what now?
"I don't know..," she spoke aloud.
"Fujin?" The voice startled her, but she slowly lifted her gaze. Seeing that it was Raijin, she relaxed slightly.
"YES?"
"Come on Fuj, it's me, ya know," Raijin pleaded. He hated when she would take that tone with him.
"Sorry. What?"
"I was just checkin' up on ya." Raijin moved a little closer to her. Usually Fujin would either push him back or move back herself, but she remained fixed in her seat. "I'm worried about you, ya know."
Fujin simply chose to remain silent.
"I know that you're all torn up over...ya know. If ya wanna talk about it.."
Fujin shook her head firmly. "NEGATIVE."
Raijin winced at her tone of voice and then sighed lightly. "Yeah..okay. I, uh..I'll just leave ya alone.." He turned and slowly walked away from his sister. Once there was a little distance in between them, Raijin suddenly charged back towards her.
"I can't take it anymore Fuj! Ya can't keep doing this to yourself, ya know!" he cried while firmly grasping her shoulders. "It isn't YOU! You're so much stronger than this! What's happened to ya?!"
A small group of students gathered around the pair wondering what all the commotion was about. Oblivious to the gathering pack, Fujin stood still, glaring at her brother.
"I don't care if ya stare at me like that. All I care about is you, ya know. I can't stand just standin around like I don't know what's going on. I said I would stay outta this, but I just can't take it anymore, ya know! Hyne.." His hands still remained on his sister's shoulders while he breathed heavily. Raijin was staring deeply into her face even though Fujin's glare was even more piercing. Underneath that, he saw the pure anguish that tried she tried so hard to hide. They remained that way for several long minutes; Raijin still standing in front of her, staring at her while Fujin glared back.
"I'm sorry..." Fujin finally said weakly.
"What?" Raijin swallowed hard trying to push the lump in his throat down.
"I'm sorry..I didn't know..how worried you were."
"Yeah I'm worried. This scares me, ya know...I'm used to seeing ya all tough and...cold. But I know ya better than anyone. I know that ya have feelings too...I'm just not used to ya showing that.."
Fujin had no idea of what else to say. She felt terrible that she had Raijin worried sick about her. As much as the big lug could be moronic, she still cared about his feelings.
"Ya know...I really think that you should just tell him." Raijin finally removed his hands from her slight shoulders.
"What?"
"Tell him."
"Wha..I can't do that.."
"Fujin!" The sharpness in Raijin's voice nearly made her jump. "That's how ya got in this situation in the first place! Both of ya just don't..talk."
"It's not that easy," Fujin sighed.
"Sure it is. Ya just made it more difficult that it had to be."
As much as she hated to admit it, Raijin was right. Personally, she had enough of all the ignoring and the cold shoulders, but she didn't want to be the first to end it.
"He has to come to me," she said quietly.
"Oh..well.."
"I'm not crawling back to him."
"Ya wouldn't be, all ya gotta do is just say how ya feel, ya know."
"He has to do it first." Fujin stood her ground firmly.
Raijin slightly chuckled. "Well I can't change your mind.."
'He has to come to me..he needs to see how it feels..let his pride hurt for a change.'
~*~*~
Seifer walked aimlessly around the Ragnarok, trying to clear his head.
'It's funny..when we were fighting that monster, Fujin looked to me to help her out. Does that mean anything? Nah...probably doesn't...but still. Dammit..' Everything was just too confusing
"Dammit!" Seifer exclaimed.
"Are you okay?" a voiced asked.
Seifer whirled around and immediately saw Rose. "What do you want?"
"I can't help but notice how much pain you're in." Rose moved closer to him and instinctively Seifer stepped back.
"I don't need you girlie. Back off."
Rose laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Just hear me out. Please?"
Seifer let out a ragged sigh. He didn't care anymore; he just wanted her to go away. "Fine. Go ahead."
"I know you care a lot about her.."
Seifer lifted a gloved hand in front of her face. "Hold it. Since when did you care? I know you don't give a shit about Fujin."
"Well that's true, but I do care about you."
"Oh really?" Seifer snorted. "That's funny. So you call lusting after me, CARING? Yeah, okay."
'Now it's finally time to hatch my plan.." Rose mused. "I know I act like a little..ditzy, but I'm not really. It's just that..well..I really don't know how to act around you. I mean, you're gorgeous and I guess that's kinda my weakness."
"What are you saying?" Seifer asked in a bored tone.
"What I'm saying is that I do care and..yes I know I have three boyfriends, but they mean nothing to me. Look, I'm not really the snobby and whiny schoolgirl you've come to know."
"This is all great and everything, but I could really care less."
"Just give me a chance! It's clear to see that Fujin does NOT care about you anymore! She keeps giving you the cold shoulder and ignoring you...you don't deserve that. I never knew you guys were really a couple, but come on. What kind of girlfriend does that to you? I could treat you a lot better!"
"Is that so? I've seen how you treat Kyle, and the other two. So what, do you expect to be able to lead me around like I'm your dog? Yeah right, princess." Seifer turned his back to her to emphasize that he didn't want to hear anymore.
Before she realized what she did, Rose clapped her hand on his shoulder once more and harshly spun him around. "Would you just listen? I know you're all broken up over her, but maybe it's time to move on. It's obvious that she's not coming back to you."
'Maybe she's right,' Seifer thought sadly. 'I guess I blew it then..'
'I think I almost have him!' Rose mentally squealed.
"I just don't want to see you unhappy. I know it's all of a sudden and everything, but I can't help but tell you how I feel. You understand don't you? I mean, the SeeD dance is coming up fast too..I'm sure you wouldn't want to be dateless. Maybe we could..you know...go together. It's not like Fujin's going to want to be anywhere near you." Rose managed to say all this with a lot of sincerity in her voice since it was partly true. "Just think about it..okay? I'm really not as bad as I seem. Just give me a chance.."
After a long silence, Seifer finally spoke up. "All right then, fine. I guess I have no choice then."
Is Rose REALLY being that sincere? Will things work out for Fujin and Seifer? Well I know all the answers.. and you may speculate. :) Oh please..it's all so predictable..but FUN!!
Author's Note:
I would really like to apologize for my negligence. There's just been too many things going on in my life right now and let's just say I was spreading myself thin. You can keep track of my daily life at this address: http://www.xanga.com/windgoddess and if you have been, then you know I've been going through some real shit (excuse my French).
I hope you all understand..and again, I'm really sorry. I'm hoping that the next chapter won't take this long...in fact, I'm pretty sure it won't take two months.
Your extremely humble and shameful scribe,
Fujin: Wind Goddess
Usual disclaimer blah blah blech....
A/N: It is I, your extremely humble scribe...Oh my gawd! I cannot believe it's been over a month!!! Aaaiiiiieeee!!!! I'm soooo sorry! I feel so terrible...please don't hate me...
Chapter 14 - Stirrings in the Dark
Fujin and the group finally arrived at the Presidential Palace after about a half hour of walking. Rose had complained practically the whole way there while Fujin silently wished for her to shut up. Seifer was also heavily on her mind even though she would never admit that. The thought of him distracted her greatly and she knew that this exam required her full attention. Even so, she couldn't focus.
The group stood before the entrance of the palace awaiting the lift to take them up to the main entrance. It finally arrived and Fujin was the first to sit on it waiting for her companions to do the same. As far as she was concerned, there was no time to waste.
"Finally! It took long enough for us to get here," Rose complained sourly. She flopped down on the chairlift leading to the interior of the palace and proceeded to rub her right foot.
"We still have a ways to go, you know," Isazu replied dryly as he too seated himself. "We still have to go into the sublevels of the palace."
Rose let out an agitated sigh in response.
Seifer was slowly getting more annoyed by her attitude. "Look, could you stop complaining already? Your voice is annoying." He exasperatedly sat down next to Fujin.
"Oh, sorry about that stud," Rose cooed. "Okay, I'll behave." The chairlift suddenly took off which caused Rose to fall over clumsily ruining her "sophisticated" demeanor.
Seifer tossed his head back and snorted sarcastically. He then turned his head to Fujin who was already sitting on the chairlift, instinctively checking on her. She wore a blank expression something that Seifer was used to seeing whenever she would become withdrawn. He chose to ignore her this time not letting his guilty conscience get the best of him. After all, there was a mission in front of them and he couldn't afford to let his emotions affect his performance.
The chairlift arrived at their destination and the party rose walking in the direction of the main entrance of the Presidential Palace. As they walked by the first set of doors, Rose looked up and saw a picture of Winhill above the metal double doors.
"Why is there a picture of that hovel above the doors?" Rose sniffed.
"SILENCE!" Fujin snapped, irritated. Rose talked too damn much for her liking.
"Thank you Fujin,î Isazu sighed. "but could you not be so loud about it? Do you want the senior SeeDs to think that we aren't getting along?"
"Oh don't mind the ghoul dear heart, she's just a creepy little bitch," Rose said breezily while waving her hand lazily at Fujin.
Fujin did her best impression of implanting ice daggers into Roseís body by glaring at her. If looks could kill....you know the saying. Rose glanced at Fujin impassively, pretending that Fujin's glare didn't disturb her. Seifer, on the other hand, was glad that he wasn't on the other end of Fujin's glare for once.
"Rose," Seifer said flatly.
"Yes, lover?"
Seifer strolled up to Rose and leaned forward putting his face close to hers. Rose's heart skipped three beats (at least she thought so) and she fluttered her long eyelashes playfully.
"Rose, do you think you could do me a favor?" he asked softly as if he was trying to seduce her. Fujin looked on and raised her right eyebrow wondering if he was trying to make her jealous.
"What...?" Rose answered breathlessly.
"Would you..SHUT THE FUCK UP?!" Seifer stepped back and angrily stormed off into the building following behind Fujin and Isazu. Fujin almost didn't hide her amusement too well, but she managed to keep a straight face.
Rose's cheeks immediately flushed with embarrassment as she realized that she had just been played. She kicked at the ground in the disgust, then lifted her head in indignation and followed behind the rest of the group.
As soon as they stepped through the doors, the group was greeted by the Presidential Aide who was dressed in a flowing blue and white robe, which was common attire for the Estharian civilians.
"Ah, you finally made it. I assume you all know what the problem is, but I'll just explain whats been happening for the past few weeks." The Aide took a step forward and continued. "You see, there have been technical failures within Esthar's mainframe. It's highly unusual to have such a failure, but this could be the result of the last Lunar Cry." The Lunar Cry was a hideous phenomenon, which caused monsters from the moon to rain from the sky. "Monsters may be affecting the performance of the systems and we need young SeeD candidates, like yourselves, to solve the problem."
"And where can we access this palace's mainframe?" Isazu inquired while slightly puffing his chest up.
"In the sub levels of the palace. See that elevator over there?" The Aide gestured toward what looked like a freight elevator. "You take that down and you need this key to access the lower levels." He placed the key in Isazu's outstretched hand and nodded. "Good luck to you all."
The group watched the Aide walk away until Isazu broke the silence.
"Come on, let's go. We're on a time limit you know." He strode ahead quickly away from the group.
"Yeah, yeah, we know Mr. I-know-every-fucking-thing," Seifer scoffed as he and the others followed behind him.
"Hey, you don't have to get like that with the dear boy," Rose nagged. "He's only trying to do what he's supposed to do..."
Isazu stopped and turned to face Seifer. "Look, do you wanna pass or not? We all know you have a history of NOT following the rules." Seifer found himself two seconds away from decking Isazu, but for once he controlled his dangerous temper. "Go on and hit me. Just remember that your grade is the one that will suffer, not mine." Isazu waited for Seifer to act. Seeing that he didn't, Isazu turned and continued to walk toward the elevator.
"Son of a bitch..." Seifer muttered angrily.
"DESERVED IT." Fujin pushed past Seifer roughly. "BASTARD."
"Ouch..." Rose empathized. "Don't worry about her being so rude. I'M not against you."
"Who cares? I don't need you sympathy girlie." Seifer also stepped on the elevator with Rose right behind him.
"There's no need to get so snappy," Rose pouted cutely hoping she would win Seifer over. Her efforts resulted in a failure.
Fujin let out a loud exasperated sigh and narrowed her eyes at Rose. "LAST TIME. SHUT UP."
Rose threw her hand up in Fujinís face snobbishly. "Whatever you freak. I'm just going to pretend that you aren't talking to me."
Seifer leaned against the rail in the elevator and folded his arms. Even though he and Fujin were on the outs, he still didn't appreciate Rose calling her a freak. That was crossing the line. "Princess, just do us all a favor and get serious. This isn't one of your stupid little social gatherings; it's a mission. So act like it."
Rose chose to remain silent for once. Fujin snickered quietly to herself, which caused Rose to glare at her indignantly. Fujin returned the gesture by raising her visible eyebrow, daring her to say anything.
The elevator finally reached the lower level of the palace and the group was greeted immediately by the smell of expired monsters. What made it even worse was that it was almost completely dark so any monster could ambush them at any given moment.
"Ugh! What in the world is that smell?" Rose cried while pinching her nose.
"Smells like something died down here," Isazu coughed as he switched on his flashlight. "My guess is that it's some of the monsters that were left over from the Lunar Cry."
"Ewww..."
"How are you gonna be a SeeD if you keep acting so..prissy?" Isazu asked incredulously. "You probably shouldnít really be here." He was growing tired of Rose's girlieness as it were.
"ENOUGH. SHOULD SPLIT UP." Fujin interrupted anxiously. She shined her flashlight around to get an idea of what they could possibly face. Seeing nothing, it made her even more suspicious.
"Right. I'll take Fujin with me and Rose you go with Seifer since he's the only one you'll listen to," Isazu ordered. Fujin almost started to protest, but thought better of it. Rose however practically leaped in the air in joy. It took all of Fujin's willpower to keep from kicking her in her shin.
'Just what I needed,' she thought bitterly. 'This is just fucking great.'
"Remember, if you see anything suspicious, call the other team. Try to arrive as fast as possible. All right then, let's split."
~*~*~
"I don't want any problems from you princess, got it?" As Seifer and Rose walked around, he suddenly got the impulse to use his headset. He decided to test out the headset that he was given. Impulsively, he called Fujin's name.
"Fujin?"
A burst of static blared through the headset and then Fujin's voice finally came through. "YES?" Seifer was nearly taken aback by the bitterness hung heavily on Fujin's voice.
"Just testing.....I haven't found anything."
"AFFIRMATIVE," she replied sharply and then cut the transmission off.
Seifer groaned quietly. "She's supposed to leave the transmission OPEN."
'It's now or never,' Rose thought cunningly. She walked up behind Seifer and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Seifer, I think it's about time to leave the past behind," she said quietly.
He reached up to her hand and took it off his shoulder slowly. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? Don't talk about things you don't know shit about," he spat angrily.
"Oh, but I do. It's obvious to see that she doesn't care about you anymore.. I mean, she's been avoiding you and everything..." Rose was trying her best to sound really sincere. 'What other things should I say to make him feel better..? I really have to come off as if I care..which I don't.'
"Why don't you mind your own business?" Seifer continued to walk ahead while shining his flashlight in suspiciously dark corners. "We don't have time to talk about this now, okay?"
'Have it your way, but I'll get you later.' Rose smirked slightly to herself. "Fine...."
The pair continued to search around the lower levels. 'What exactly are we looking for? This is a waste of fucking time...all this damn searching and shit...' Suddenly, Isazu's voice blared over the transmission as if he knew what Seifer was thinking.
"Seifer and Rose, can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear."
"Yeah man."
"Listen, are you looking for the entrance to the mainframe?"
"The entrance? You mean the main computer is in a room all to itself?" Rose asked.
"Yeah. That's what you should be searching for. Fujin and I haven't found it yet. Have you noticed anything suspicious?"
"Besides the darkness down here? Seifer and I haven't seen anything yet."
"Well let me-" Isazu voice suddenly broke off as if he was distracted. Seifer and Rose could faintly hear Fujin saying something and by the tone of her voice it didn't sound good.
"You two, get to Sector 2 immediately!" Isazu exclaimed. "Use your maps to find us. Hurry!"
"We're on it!" Seifer answered.
"Sounds really urgent," Rose supposed.
"No shit. Get a move on." Seifer was already running towards the direction the pair came from earlier.
"Hey, wait up!" Rose started after Seifer, barely able to keep up. "How are we supposed to know where Sector 2 is down here?"
"Didn't you pay attention to your surroundings? When we first came down here, we were in Sector 1. Right now we're in Sector 3. So which way do you go?"
"Oh right. Well, I wonder what the big emergency is?"
"Stop running so girlie and keep up. Then you'll find out," he answered edgily. He started to worry about Fujin and wondered if she was in a lot of danger. 'I hope she's okay... Please don't let it be too serious....'
~*~*~
"What the hell is that thing?" Isazu cried. What stood before him and Fujin was a strange creature. It was large and intimidating and resembled a panther. What made it almost indistinguishable was that wires were weaved through its skin. Each time that a wave of electricity would shoot through the wire, the monster jerked violently.
"UNKNOWN. BE ON GUARD." Fujin didn't exactly know HOW to guard herself. Her guess was that the monster was weak against any water attack since it seemed to feed off electricity.
"What's going on?" Seifer voice rang out as he and Rose rounded a corner.
"Oh Hyne! What the hell is that?!" Rose balked while stepping backward.
"We don't know," Isazu answered shakily, "it's just been standing there. Be ready, it may strike."
"R-right........"
The team took their own personal defensive stances. Isazu readied his Bo staff; it was similar to Raijin's but not quite as large. He also took a stance similar to Raijin's as well by holding the staff beside him and crouching his knees slightly. Rose took a girlie stance, clutching her bow in front of her while the other hand rested on the arrows in the quiver. She shivered slightly while faintly wondering if this was going to be the day she died. The way that Fujin and Seifer were standing showed their years of experience. Both looked comfortable with the weapons at ready and they kept their breathing rate at a normal level while the other two remained uptight.
"HELPS TO RELAX," Fujin announced to the other two.
"W-what? Y-you must be out of y-your mind!" Rose exclaimed shrilly. "Can't you see how...hideous it is?!"
Suddenly as if her shrill voice set it off, the monster darted in Rose direction.
"Oh shit!" She knew in the back of her mind that there was little that she could do to stop the monster. Fear struck her and she did was close her eyes and try to brace herself for the attack.
Before the creature could even make contact with Rose's body, Seifer cast Fira. The fireball made direct contact with its back and it growled dangerously. Before it could dart in Seifer's direction, Fujin launched her pinwheel high in the air. It circled around the group before it lodged itself into the panther's side.
This time the mutated panther roared in agony. Instead of launching itself toward Fujin, the panther stood up on its hind legs.
"That can't be good," Isazu reasoned. "I don't think now would be a good time to strike it."
"Gee, you think?" Seifer sneered. He looked around suddenly and asked, "Where's Rose?"
As if on cue, an arrow soared through the air and jammed itself into the panther's head. The creature let out a high-pitched shriek that nearly deafened the group.
"What the hell were you thinking?!" Seifer cried as he covered his ears.
"What?! What are you talking about?!" Rose protested loudly as the sound subsided.
"Don't you know that when a creature takes a stand like that, that you SHOULDN'T attack it? What's wrong with you?!" Isazu hollered in shock.
"BE ON GUARD!" If there was anything worse than what just happened, it would have to be a group of people arguing while a monster readied itself. Fujin watched the creature carefully trying to anticipate its next move. Respectively, the creature did the same. Fujin cast Scan, all the while thinking that the spell would offer little insight as to what the panther's intentions were. She was right in her thinking; the spell did nothing to help.
"MAY BE WEAK AGAINST WATER." Fujin herself was not stocked with any water spells at the moment. She turned and faced Rose. "HAVE ANY?"
"Any what?"
"WATER SPELLS."
"I have a few," she answered curtly.
"GREAT." Fujin lifted her hand above her head and blue light coursed through her body as she drew a few water spells from Rose. She didn't really think she would need them since she had Leviathan junctioned to her as well as her faithful GF Pandemona. Fujin only took them to annoy Rose.
"Did I say you could do that?" Rose demanded.
"DON'T CARE." Fujin exchanged a look with Seifer instinctively that meant to distract the monster.
Seifer immediately charged toward the monster while extending his left palm. A small fireball appeared in the center as he came closer to the monster. In the same fashion in which he had attacked Squall a year ago, he stunned the monster with the fireball and struck it with his Hyperion. For extra damage, he fired the gun on the gunblade. He continued to hack at the monster while Fujin prepared herself for a strong water attack by way of the GF Leviathan. Since water wasn't her element, it would take more out of her to summon the GF.
A strong wave of electricity passed through the panther. Jerking violently, it lashed out at Seifer by swiping its large paw across his chest. The force of the blow sent Seifer flying off his feet. As he fell, he rolled up into a ball and ended up on his feet once more.
"Arrrgh! Son of a bitch..." Seifer motioned towards Isazu. "Help me out man!"
Isazu charged towards the panther and cast a weak water spell to knock it off its feet. As the panther recovered, Seifer and Isazu continued to attack it relentlessly. Since its head already had an injury Rose fired more arrows to the injury.
Fujin was finally ready to cast Leviathan. She lifted her hand to her chest as if she was pulling power from and in one smooth motion, she lowered her hand. The whole group vanished while they still attacked the panther. A beam of light shot through the air and the water dragon suddenly appeared. It formed a wall of earth that served as a place for a frightening amount of water to cascade down and drown the panther. After Leviathan finished its attack it vanished without a trace. The group reappeared in the same fashion in which they left.
"Did it work?" Rose asked as she peered around for the panther.
"I think so..." Isazu replied. "Fujin?"
"WHAT?" she answered breathlessly.
"You okay?"
"AFFIRMATIVE."
Seifer walked slowly around the vicinity still feeling as though something was incomplete. "Hey..I don't think we've seen the last of it."
"What do you mean? Are you saying you still sense it's presence?" Isazu asked while readying his staff.
"It was too easy...it still has to be here."
"AFFIRMATIVE." Fujin launched her pinwheel in the air and it circled around the group in a graceful arc. The pinwheel disappeared in the darkness of one part of the sector. The group waited in silence until finally they heard the pinwheel strike something. Apparently Fujin's mark was dead on because the panther roared in agony once more. A burst of light suddenly lit the area and then they heard the panther malfunctioning.
"How the hell....?" Isazu asked in awe.
"I think she killed it..." Rose balked. 'I hate to admit it, but that was GOOD,' she thought.
'I knew she was good, but THIS good? Damn....' Seifer thought admirably.
"Great job Fujin! Wow! That was excellent!" Isazu held up his hand for Fujin to give her a high five. She looked at his hand strangely and then slapped his hand with hers. "With that thing out of the way, we should inspect this place thoroughly to make sure that there aren't any more threats."
"So let's hurry then. I just want to get this over with," Seifer said.
The group walked through each sector of the lower levels, shining their flashlights in suspicious places and killing off smaller monsters as they went. After a couple of hours, Isazu decided they were finished because they had finished off all the monsters that were down there.
"I'm gonna contact Xu and let her know our status." Isazu cycled through different frequencies until he finally reached Xu's. "Group C to bridge, come in bridge."
"This is the bridge. What's the situation?" Xu garbled voice answered.
"Mission accomplished."
"Really? Scan the area to make sure."
Isazu quickly scanned the area using a mini radar system that was as small as a wristwatch. After a minute or two, he spoke into the headset once more. "All clear."
"Okay. Did you find anything suspicious?"
"We encountered some type of panther like creature that seemed to be feeding off electrical currents. I speculate that the creature was feeding off the computer systems, thus creating a malfunction."
"I see. Aware the Presidential Aide of the completion of your mission. Once you do that, return to the Ragnarok."
"Roger. Out." Isazu turned to his teammates. "All right everyone, let's go up so we can tell the Aide of our situation."
The group took the elevator back up to the main floor of the palace. The alerted the Aide of the situation and assured him that there wouldn't be any more problems in the lower levels.
"Thank you all for solving the problem. It is greatly appreciated." A warm smile spread across his face. "I think you would make fine SeeDs...good luck to you all."
With that, the group left the Presidential Palace. They all loaded up on the lift to take them back down to the entrance. Once they were back down to the skyway, they began their walk back to the Airport. The whole way, Rose complained about how she never had to walk so much in her life and that a Madison shouldn't have to go through this and any other snobby things she had to say.
~*~*~
"Welcome back SeeD candidates. First, I would like to congratulate you all on a job well done. However, don't get too ecstatic, you score will weave out the strong from the weak. Even though you all accomplished your given mission, some of you acted incompetently and uncooperatively. Overall, I must say that I was pleased." Xu really knew how to bring down overly confident students. "Once we get back to Balamb Garden, graduates will be called by name on the announcements. Until then, you are all free to wander about the ship and most of all, relax."
Students excitedly talked about their missions and how they miraculous saved a teammate or something like that. All the while, Fujin sat in the seating area of the Ragnarok thinking about Seifer.
'I hate this. What was I thinking by admitting everything to him? And he acted just the way I was afraid he would. Scared,' she thought bitterly.
Some of that is your fault, you know, the voice chided.
'Yeah, I know.....'
You screwed up once more.
'I know, I know...'
So what now?
"I don't know..," she spoke aloud.
"Fujin?" The voice startled her, but she slowly lifted her gaze. Seeing that it was Raijin, she relaxed slightly.
"YES?"
"Come on Fuj, it's me, ya know," Raijin pleaded. He hated when she would take that tone with him.
"Sorry. What?"
"I was just checkin' up on ya." Raijin moved a little closer to her. Usually Fujin would either push him back or move back herself, but she remained fixed in her seat. "I'm worried about you, ya know."
Fujin simply chose to remain silent.
"I know that you're all torn up over...ya know. If ya wanna talk about it.."
Fujin shook her head firmly. "NEGATIVE."
Raijin winced at her tone of voice and then sighed lightly. "Yeah..okay. I, uh..I'll just leave ya alone.." He turned and slowly walked away from his sister. Once there was a little distance in between them, Raijin suddenly charged back towards her.
"I can't take it anymore Fuj! Ya can't keep doing this to yourself, ya know!" he cried while firmly grasping her shoulders. "It isn't YOU! You're so much stronger than this! What's happened to ya?!"
A small group of students gathered around the pair wondering what all the commotion was about. Oblivious to the gathering pack, Fujin stood still, glaring at her brother.
"I don't care if ya stare at me like that. All I care about is you, ya know. I can't stand just standin around like I don't know what's going on. I said I would stay outta this, but I just can't take it anymore, ya know! Hyne.." His hands still remained on his sister's shoulders while he breathed heavily. Raijin was staring deeply into her face even though Fujin's glare was even more piercing. Underneath that, he saw the pure anguish that tried she tried so hard to hide. They remained that way for several long minutes; Raijin still standing in front of her, staring at her while Fujin glared back.
"I'm sorry..." Fujin finally said weakly.
"What?" Raijin swallowed hard trying to push the lump in his throat down.
"I'm sorry..I didn't know..how worried you were."
"Yeah I'm worried. This scares me, ya know...I'm used to seeing ya all tough and...cold. But I know ya better than anyone. I know that ya have feelings too...I'm just not used to ya showing that.."
Fujin had no idea of what else to say. She felt terrible that she had Raijin worried sick about her. As much as the big lug could be moronic, she still cared about his feelings.
"Ya know...I really think that you should just tell him." Raijin finally removed his hands from her slight shoulders.
"What?"
"Tell him."
"Wha..I can't do that.."
"Fujin!" The sharpness in Raijin's voice nearly made her jump. "That's how ya got in this situation in the first place! Both of ya just don't..talk."
"It's not that easy," Fujin sighed.
"Sure it is. Ya just made it more difficult that it had to be."
As much as she hated to admit it, Raijin was right. Personally, she had enough of all the ignoring and the cold shoulders, but she didn't want to be the first to end it.
"He has to come to me," she said quietly.
"Oh..well.."
"I'm not crawling back to him."
"Ya wouldn't be, all ya gotta do is just say how ya feel, ya know."
"He has to do it first." Fujin stood her ground firmly.
Raijin slightly chuckled. "Well I can't change your mind.."
'He has to come to me..he needs to see how it feels..let his pride hurt for a change.'
~*~*~
Seifer walked aimlessly around the Ragnarok, trying to clear his head.
'It's funny..when we were fighting that monster, Fujin looked to me to help her out. Does that mean anything? Nah...probably doesn't...but still. Dammit..' Everything was just too confusing
"Dammit!" Seifer exclaimed.
"Are you okay?" a voiced asked.
Seifer whirled around and immediately saw Rose. "What do you want?"
"I can't help but notice how much pain you're in." Rose moved closer to him and instinctively Seifer stepped back.
"I don't need you girlie. Back off."
Rose laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Just hear me out. Please?"
Seifer let out a ragged sigh. He didn't care anymore; he just wanted her to go away. "Fine. Go ahead."
"I know you care a lot about her.."
Seifer lifted a gloved hand in front of her face. "Hold it. Since when did you care? I know you don't give a shit about Fujin."
"Well that's true, but I do care about you."
"Oh really?" Seifer snorted. "That's funny. So you call lusting after me, CARING? Yeah, okay."
'Now it's finally time to hatch my plan.." Rose mused. "I know I act like a little..ditzy, but I'm not really. It's just that..well..I really don't know how to act around you. I mean, you're gorgeous and I guess that's kinda my weakness."
"What are you saying?" Seifer asked in a bored tone.
"What I'm saying is that I do care and..yes I know I have three boyfriends, but they mean nothing to me. Look, I'm not really the snobby and whiny schoolgirl you've come to know."
"This is all great and everything, but I could really care less."
"Just give me a chance! It's clear to see that Fujin does NOT care about you anymore! She keeps giving you the cold shoulder and ignoring you...you don't deserve that. I never knew you guys were really a couple, but come on. What kind of girlfriend does that to you? I could treat you a lot better!"
"Is that so? I've seen how you treat Kyle, and the other two. So what, do you expect to be able to lead me around like I'm your dog? Yeah right, princess." Seifer turned his back to her to emphasize that he didn't want to hear anymore.
Before she realized what she did, Rose clapped her hand on his shoulder once more and harshly spun him around. "Would you just listen? I know you're all broken up over her, but maybe it's time to move on. It's obvious that she's not coming back to you."
'Maybe she's right,' Seifer thought sadly. 'I guess I blew it then..'
'I think I almost have him!' Rose mentally squealed.
"I just don't want to see you unhappy. I know it's all of a sudden and everything, but I can't help but tell you how I feel. You understand don't you? I mean, the SeeD dance is coming up fast too..I'm sure you wouldn't want to be dateless. Maybe we could..you know...go together. It's not like Fujin's going to want to be anywhere near you." Rose managed to say all this with a lot of sincerity in her voice since it was partly true. "Just think about it..okay? I'm really not as bad as I seem. Just give me a chance.."
After a long silence, Seifer finally spoke up. "All right then, fine. I guess I have no choice then."
Is Rose REALLY being that sincere? Will things work out for Fujin and Seifer? Well I know all the answers.. and you may speculate. :) Oh please..it's all so predictable..but FUN!!
Author's Note:
I would really like to apologize for my negligence. There's just been too many things going on in my life right now and let's just say I was spreading myself thin. You can keep track of my daily life at this address: http://www.xanga.com/windgoddess and if you have been, then you know I've been going through some real shit (excuse my French).
I hope you all understand..and again, I'm really sorry. I'm hoping that the next chapter won't take this long...in fact, I'm pretty sure it won't take two months.
Your extremely humble and shameful scribe,
Fujin: Wind Goddess