Chapter Four
Some days you gotta
dance/Live it up when you get the chance/Cause when the world/doesn't
make no sense/And you're feeling just a little too tense/Gotta loosen
up those chains and dance
--Dixie Chicks
Quistis
had gone directly to the Instructor when we began our little
adventure. She thought that my ego might have gotten us into trouble,
and as usual, she was right. Her intuition and Squall's quick
thinking had saved our lives, but I didn't see it that way. I saw it
as a bossy little know-it-all ruining my fun. It was my mission. I
was my fight. So I had picked on her and called her names. Who
could blame me? Here I was trying to be all big and bad and had my
ass covered by a beautiful girl.
We drifted apart after
that. I took a few swordsmanship classes in conjunction with a
junctioning course and Qustis focused all of her attention on magic.
Fuujin never did get the sight back in her eye. It had been
pierced straight through. Bloody mess. We didn't ask beyond that. She
was Ok with it and kind of liked the eye patch thing and the fear it
struck into our classmates.
Fuujin and I never did talk about
what happened that night ever again. We both had opened up to each
other in ways not even conceivable in the minds of a ten year old. It
formed an unbreakable bond between us that would keep us together
throughout our years at Balamb. We let Rajin join our posse because
he was there. He was Fuujin's friend, and he had nowhere else to go.
I decided that I could not have any real friends besides Fuujin and Rajin. I hated the fact that people I loved could leave me and I couldn't do anything about it. Life was so short, so why get attached to things that you could loose.
Sound familiar? Yup, I felt the same way as Squally-boy. Only I took a different approach to solving my problem. Instead of being an annoying recluse, I reverted back to my old tough city-kid way of living. I set out on my old quest. Objective: to make everyone hate me.
It was easiest with Squall. I knew he wanted to be emotionally absent, so I picked fights, just to irk him, and I didn't get any shit like a normal little kid fight. He actually fought back, mumbling something about his sis. I always thought this strange. He never had a sister.
Then a blond chick I vaguely remembered as Quistis would come and break us up. Saying "Stop it, someone could get hurt." I always felt strange at these moments and blew it off as those feelings you get when you're tired and aren't thinking straight.
No matter what I forget, I know that the day I picked my weapon would always stay with me. I remember meeting Cid that day. He always stayed locked away or doing some important garden worked with those creepy guys. This was the first time he actually addressed us. I would have been more excited if Squall hadn't already had this lecture and already picked his weapon.
After his speech, the Garden Master, not Cid, took us into a storage closet and let us pick out any weapon we wanted to be taught how to use.
I was only twelve at the time and went for the biggest thing there. It was a sword looking thing with the butt of a gun attached to it. I recognized from a book I stole from the library. Ok, I 'borrowed it' and never intended to return it. Proudly, I showed my claim to Cid.
He looked at me and smiled. "Strange, you're the second one today to choose a gunblade. They've never been so popular. We already have some knights on hand." He laughed at his ill placed joke that I didn't quiet understand.
I sat at my seat smiling. Cool. I thought. So this is a gunblade. Just like in the book. Cid stood at the front of the room and crossed his arms.
"A weapon is not a toy, and I do not want you playing with them. They will only be used under strict supervision until you pass your licensing test. I want to warn you that. . ."
Sighing, I let my mind
drift, welcoming strange distorted pictures filled my head.
A
strangely dressed woman with a red scarf was standing on a snowy
mountain side waving her arms dramatically. 'Oh, Sir Knight . . .
Save me from the wicked dragon . . . !'
A man with long black
hair and bright green eyes waved a gunblade energetically. 'Oh . . .
Ok . . . I . . . I'll s-save you from the dragon . . .'
A huge
bright red dragon lumbers down the side of the mountain, the man
turns, surprised as the dragon rears back, ready to attack. The man
leaps forward and with his trusty gunblade, delivers blows with such
furry that the dragon never once touches him. The man turns back to
his lady, who anxiously . . .
"Mr. Almasy. Is there
something you'd like to tell the rest of the class, or do you usually
stand with you're mouth open, drooling like a half-wit?"
I
was roughly jerked back into reality by one of the flippered garden
masters. I closed my mouth and saluted sharply. "Nosir!"
He
nodded and possibly smiled. "Thank you. Now, like I was saying,
Seifer, you will be training with Instructor Taylor. He teaches
swordsmanship. The art of the gunblade can't be too different. We
can't hire a trainer for that specific weapon because you are only
the second person to choose that weapon since the Garden opened. I
hope you plan to dedicate yourself, because that particular weapon
will take extreme concentration to master."
He turned to
instruct the rest of the class as to their classes and Instructors
and I returned to my day-dreams.
Instead of the
red-scarfed lady on the mountainside, this time it was a strange
woman with long black hair and a very tight, very revealing long
black dress. The long haired man was replaced by me and the dragon
strangely resembled Squall. I was older with a scar across my face,
dressed in black with a silver trench coat bearing a blood red cross
on the arms. The symbol of a sorceress' knight. Fearlessly I charged
at Squall, who grinned as he pulled out his weapon, a gunblade of his
own.
Fuujin was an orphan like me, but Rajin had a father who lived in Balamb. Whenever we got time off for a holiday, we would always go see Rajin's Pa. He treated me and Fuujin like we were part of his family and loved telling stories about the old days. It was the first time I ever felt paternal love that didn't involve a belt.
In between classes and periods of peer harassment, I spent a considerable amount of time on my SeeD studying. All my instructors agreed that I might be able to pass the exam at the age of 15, if I would just apply myself. Quistis and I would be the youngest participants this year. Being grouped in a generalization with a brain like Quistis was just as wonderful. Talk about an ego builder. I finally felt like I could do something right.
With the help of Rajin's Pa, I had already passed the written exam and had gotten my GF at the cavern. I heard that some students couldn't even get their GF to appear. Sad. Mine was Sraphim, a restorative GF. I wasn't upset, though people thought I would be.
By then, I had already earned a reputation as the one guy you didn't want to cross. The younger classmen always scampered away, not too fast (they feared a speeding ticket), but fast enough.
When the day of the exam arrived, I couldn't wait to be on the battle field. Cid put us in the usual groups of three. I was in a group with Quistis and Samantha, our squad leader. Two girls. I couldn't believe it. Neither one of them used a real weapon: Quistis used some string and Sam had a twig. That would leave all the fighting up to me.
I pouted through the Field Instructors instructions and missed the entire briefing; didn't really bother me. I had the goody-two-shoes, always whining and telling me what to do, and another brainy girl. We would all be guarantee passing grades with Quistis there. She would have us toe the line and do everything by the book. And Sam desperately wanted to pass after failing two years in a row. If she didn't pass this year, she'd be kicked out of Garden. If all else failed, I could pull us through with pure will.
The rest of the crew consisted of seven other squad, A-H, us being squad E. What a great letter. I figured squads E-H were just for back up. We weren't even that important.
This was a high scale operation and I was surprised at candidates being allowed to be involved. If we were to fail, there couldn't possibly be enough experienced fighters left to protect a full retreat.
We landed in Tzen, a small fishing village to the northwest of Deling. From what Quistis told me, a small religious cult had built a barricade-like structure at the north end of town and was calling it the Tower of the Blessed. There they were taking virgins form Hyne's temple in Tzen and sacrificing them to Agustra, the God of Beginnings. They all believed that in order to free their karma they must purify it by sacrificing virgins.
How sacrificing virgins to their made up god was going to help, I had no idea, but we were ordered to 'aid' the 'National Security Members' a.k.a the Galbadia military, in containing their leaders and I suspect freeing their karma in our own, more brutal way. Not that this bothered me. Any man of the cloth was suspicious to me. Who could claim to be so pure, living on faith alone? They all had to be crazy. You can't support something you can't see.
When we reached this 'tower' I was in awe. It actually was exactly like they said: a barricade-like structure. Honestly. There was no other way to explain it.
Quistis stood faced us. "Ok. We are supposed to free as many captives as possible. They are being kept, according to our information, in the back left part of the fort. We should meet squads D and F there as well. How we are supposed to get in, I have no idea."
I rolled my eyes as I unsheathed my gunblade. "Of course they are in the back. Where else are they supposed to be, the front?"
Sam frowned in concentration. "Well, it would make sense to put them in front. No one would expect that. Or in the middle of the fort. That would make it harder for a smallish group of mercenaries, like us, to free captives."
Good Hyne. She was worse than Quistis. I pointed my blade at her. "You talk too much."
Quistis intervened before any bloodshed occurred. "Listen you guys, we have to find a way back there."
Being put out by Sam gave me a bit of a cockiness I had no right to have. I pulled my gunblade back and settled it on my shoulder. "Why don't we just go up to the front gate and knock?" I grinned as I stated to strut toward the fort.
"You idiot!" Quistis growled. "This is a test, and an important one. I will not have my grade ruined as well as me making it into SeeD this year because of you. Now get back here and behave."
I winked at her, "Don't worry, sweetheart, I won't ruin your grade, maybe your reputation, but never your grade."
Quistis growled in irritation as I sauntered off near the outskirts of our intended destination after Sam, who had left us during our bickering.
On the battlements we could see the guards patrolling. In the darkness we couldn't see any of our allies, but were reassured that they were there from the 'bird' noises they made.
That has got to be the worst idea anyone could come up with. They were no trees around for Hyne's sake, so where exactly were the birds going to nest? Guards paid no attention. I could have very well knocked and asked if they could come out to play and they would have obliged me.
Sam had us hide out behind the left rear wall. We were there to wait for the other squads and a diversion. Of course no one told us what this diversion would be, but we still had to wait. Then our orders were to get over the wall and into the fort. Said diversion would get the guards off of the wall leaving us way to save the precious captives.
While we waited, Sam sat down and polished her weapon. It was a weird half moon blade attached to a thick ash staff. Curiously I asked her what it was.
She smiled at me, apparently pleased I noticed. "A glaive. It was my father's. He used it in battle. When he married my mother, it was used to support the other end of our clothesline, if you could believe it. When my mother died, he lost all will to live and sent me here, to Balamb. I decided to use the same weapon as him. He killed himself about two months after I received the glaive."
"Oh." I said as I sat down to wait. Damn. I hadn't asked for a life story. I only wanted to know what it was called. I've noticed that people do that. Talk just for the hell of it.
I closed my eyes and thought about the upcoming battle.
A garden was looming in front of me. Balamb Garden. I was standing on pedestal with men on motorcycles on either side of me. With a single swift motion, I waved my hand . . .
We heard noise off in the distance. I came back and grinned. "It's starting."
I had my doubts on wither or not we could win. Twenty-four SeeD candidates, fourteen SeeDs and a platoon of Galbadia soldiers vs. a really strange religious cult. I only could hope that their god was fake. Even with my beliefs being what they were, going against the power of the God of Beginnings frightened me. I pulled my gunblade out and set it on my knees, studying my reflection.
To get my mind off everything else, I tried to call small magic spells to awaken Sraphim. He was good company, even if he was a GF that didn't bring pain. He wouldn't wake. My compatibility with him was down so he felt he didn't have to listen. I'd get'em eventually.
Quistis pulled out her whip and crouched down near the wall. "Shhht! Someone's coming. It doesn't sound like the other groups. Footsteps are too heavy."
Quickly Sam joined her and tried to become one with the shadows. With the sound almost upon us, I out my blade safely back in its place and joined the two girls. Around the corner came several Galbadia soldiers.
"There should be a squad or two of SeeD brats back here. That's what I heard from Commander."
Another nodded. "Ok. Spread out. We have our orders."
Sam stood quickly and stepped out of the shadows. "What do you want? Do we have new orders?"
The soldiers turned and faced her. Quistis and I cowered closer to the wall. I cursed Sam for drawing attention to us. They were blind enough not to see me and Quistis when looking at Sam who was right in front of us, so chances are they would have left the three of us alone.
The solder who had given orders smirked. "Yeah girl, you have new orders. Where are the rest of your friends?"
I didn't like the tone of his voice. Neither, apparently, did Sam. "I'm alone."
"The rest went ahead with the operation. They heard the noise and left me here as a watch. What are our orders?"
The other solder laughed and pointed his gun at her. "She must be telling the truth. SeeD are too stupid to lie. Always following orders. Here's one, babe. Go to hell and give Diablos my regards."
I jumped out of my hiding place before he could shoot her. "Stop! We are on the same side."
He laughed. "Same side? What the hell you talking 'bout. You should have stayed home, kid, or remained hidden. Now you can die as well."
Sam grabbed her glaive and yelled for me to run. Everything moved slowly, like in a 'haunted house' when they have those black flickery lights. I had to protect her. For the short time I knew her, she acted like my sister, or even like a friend.
"No. I want to fight to." I said stubbornly.
She stepped forward and addressed the men. "Leave him be. He's only a boy of no consequence. Not even a SeeD."
The soldier looked puzzled and attempted to figure things out. He had grown up in a world where one takes care of ones self, not of others.
"You must be the boy's sister." He pointed his gun toward me, amazed at his apparent brilliance "I'll kill him first."
She leapt toward him, spinning her weapon. "Quistis, Seifer, you two get outa here. Now!"
The other guards pulled out weapons as well and all attacked Sam. I could do nothing but watch as Quistis pulled me away, toward the beach where an evacuation was taking place. I guess a small boy was not worth leaving a weapon wielding nineteen year old to your back.
A small group of SeeDs found us and escorted us to the boats. "That's the last of them."
A much healthier Cid was present on our boat. "Right. Asses our damages."
The SeeD saluted. "We lost four SeeDs and half of our candidates. The Galbadia platoon was a trap and the 'religious cult' was indeed a group of people who worship the god of beginnings, but never result to violence in fear of damaging their karma and going against their way."
Rubbing his eyes in a weary fashion, Cid sighed. "So it has begun."
"What sir?"
"Nothing. Get us back to Garden. We will promote those deserving, then attempt to reason with Vinzer to retrieve our dead."
"Yes, sir."
I had failed again. This time in the most horrible of ways. I wasn't defenseless this time, what with Hyperion at my side. I had just forgotten, which was a more deadly mistake. I had the opportunity to protect yet another innocent and failed.
As we sat in the second floor corridor waiting for the results of the exam to be announced, Quistis tried to comfort me. She told me that Sam had done her job and would be honored as a proper SeeD for her sacrifices. She told me it wasn't my fault.
"Wasn't my fault? Damn it, Quistis I could have helped her. I had that power. I had that chance. But I ran instead. I ran!" I felt my feelings well up inside and spill over the wall I had built.
Quistis sighed and watched the tears stream down my face. "Seifer, it wasn't your fault. Nothing you could have done would have mattered. The only thing that would have come of it would have been your death."
I wasn't that lucky. Hyne had once again spared me from death when I so desperately yearned for it. She would flaunt a door for my soul to escape through, and then close it before I could reach it.
I looked up as a garden master entered the area. "Trepe. Quistis Trepe."
She grinned happily and walked toward the elevator.
"Garamonde. Conner Garamonde."
A small wiry boy followed Quistis.
The garden master folded his hands . "That is all. Dismissed."
I had failed again. Familiar demons attacked my heart as hope was once more submerged.
