Squall walked into his meeting hoping for some good news. Maybe, he thought, just maybe whoever's responsible has turned themselves in. Maybe they've had a crisis of confidence or something. Anything! Unfortunately, the news Cid had for Squall was not good. Squall opened the door to Cid's office.
"Ah, Squall. Sit down, please." Cid's tone of voice was a lot more serious than normal. Squall sat down, realising that his hopes for good news were about to be dashed spectacularly.
"Have the investigators finished yet?" Squall asked.
"Not yet," Cid replied. He fidgeted for a while, before delivering the bad news. "Squall, today in the mail, we received a package containing a videotape. It was addressed to you."
"Why did I not receive it?" Squall asked.
"We're screening all incoming mail against explosives," Cid responded. That made sense to Squall- Cid was probably humiliated that he let those bombs go off, he wasn't about to let anything through his grasp. "Squall," he continued, "I think you should watch this tape, and watch it very soon indeed." He handed Squall the package. Squall flipped it over and read the handwritten address-
Squall Leonheart,
Balamb Garden.
Squall knew he recognised the handwriting from somewhere, but couldn't put his finger on it. Thanking Cid, Squall got up and left, an uneasy feeling brewing in his stomach. He arrived back at his quarters, sat down on his bed, pushed the video in the machine and pressed play, only to be confronted by a face that Squall knew, and knew very well.
"Hello, Squall," said the face from his past, now staring at him from his television.
"Seifer," Squall whispered under his breath. The face may have changed somewhat- his hair was longer and he was sporting a full beard, but the sneer was still the same. That stare was still the same. That voice was still the same. That scar, almost identical to his own, was still the same. Squall did not have time to collect his thoughts before the recording started up again.
"I expect you're surprised to see me, aren't you? After all, when you defeated Ultimecia in compressed time, you pretty much thought I was dead, didn't you?"
I hadn't really given it much thought, Squall mused to himself, while trying to make out Seifer's surroundings. They weren't much- simply a room with a light, a bed and a picture Squall couldn't quite make out on the bedside table with the lamp.
"Well I'm very much alive," Seifer continued, "just on the off-chance that you're bothered. By now, Squall, you should be sitting in a Garden which has had a vast chunk blown out of it." Seifer stopped his pacing, which he had done all throughout the recording, and sat down on the edge of the bed and grinned. "That was me. Or, should I say, two of my followers. I believe you know them- two young students by the names of Wayne and Nicole. Very easily influenced people, or at least, they were when I convinced them to join me."
Squall couldn't believe it. Suicide bombings? It was almost too hard to comprehend- that Seifer could persuade two young students to take their own lives just to hurt him. He didn't envy Cid the task of telling their parents.
"If you're by any chance wondering what it is they're joining me in," Seifer continued his ramble, barely allowing Squall chance to think, "Well, let's just say I've been keeping myself busy since Ultimecia's defeat. I travelled around a bit, stayed with a few friends, if you can call them that, and eventually ended up in Deling City. Do you remember that place, Squall? Where you first humiliated me, four months ago? Well, while I was there, I had a revelation. I realised that I could directly credit all the bad things that had happened to me since to one person- you."
You brought this all on yourself, Seifer, Squall thought.
"Oh, sure," Seifer continued, "You had help, from the instructor, or should I say EX-instructor, the little messenger girl, that cowboy thing you're so fond of. And let's not forget everyone's favourite chicken-wuss either. But what hurt me the most, Squall, where you really stepped over the line, was that you had to bring HER into it."
Rinoa, Squall thought. His girlfriend and Seifer's ex.
"I saw you two at the graduation ball," the increasingly demented Seifer continued, "the way you couldn't take your eyes off of her. You make me sick. Is there something about everything that I have that you want, Squall? Even when we were kids, at the orphanage, I longed for Elle to spend time with me, to talk to me the way she talked to you, but no. You had to have her all to yourself. All yours, no one else's. We enrolled at the same Garden, in the same classes, and you have to top me there as well. I take up the gunblade, and you decide that you will as well. My command of the mission, my entry into SeeD, you take it all away from me. All that I could understand- you simply wanted to be the best, and I was just another obstacle to be stepped on."
It wasn't like that, Squall thought.
"But then," Seifer continued, "you have to take the one thing I cared about most. The one thing I loved most."
Squall bristled- he wasn't too keen on Rinoa being described as a "thing". Besides, Squall thought, you let her go. If you loved her that much, you'd have fought to keep her.
Seifer continued his seemingly endless rant.
"You take her, and you feign love for her, just to get at me."
Squall started to feel his blood boil. His fists clenched, his anger at hearing someone tell him what his feelings for Rinoa were.
"Well you know what, Squall? You're pathetic."
Squall could barely contain himself.
"Then what the f**k do you call yourself, Seifer?" He muttered, just under his breath. Squall rarely cursed, so it took something major to do so. However, Seifer was oblivious to this outburst, and continued on, regardless.
"I think it's about time I showed you how truly pathetic you are in my eyes. You know that little suicide bombing? Well that was just the start. There are over a hundred people I've recruited. I've fed them some bull about Garden being evil, done a little brainwashing, but that's not important. What is important, Squall, is that they're out there. And we're going to hurt you in the same way that you hurt me." At that point, Seifer got up and picked up the picture that had been in the background all along- a picture of himself and Rinoa on a paddleboat, both sporting big cheesy grins. He smirked as he looked at the picture.
"If I were you, Squall, which thank god I'm not, I'd never let her out of my sight- you never know when you'll wake up one day, only to see her throat slit from ear to ear. Goodbye." With that, Seifer started laughing, and by the time he'd got up and turned off the video camera, his laugh had become burned into Squall's head. Calmly, but deliberately, Squall got up, ejected the video, and with an outburst of pure rage, hurled it through the window with all his strength. He was breathing heavily, still full of adrenaline from what he'd seen, when he turned and saw Rinoa standing at the entrance. She'd entered the room, and he was so caught up he hadn't even noticed.
"Ah, Squall. Sit down, please." Cid's tone of voice was a lot more serious than normal. Squall sat down, realising that his hopes for good news were about to be dashed spectacularly.
"Have the investigators finished yet?" Squall asked.
"Not yet," Cid replied. He fidgeted for a while, before delivering the bad news. "Squall, today in the mail, we received a package containing a videotape. It was addressed to you."
"Why did I not receive it?" Squall asked.
"We're screening all incoming mail against explosives," Cid responded. That made sense to Squall- Cid was probably humiliated that he let those bombs go off, he wasn't about to let anything through his grasp. "Squall," he continued, "I think you should watch this tape, and watch it very soon indeed." He handed Squall the package. Squall flipped it over and read the handwritten address-
Squall Leonheart,
Balamb Garden.
Squall knew he recognised the handwriting from somewhere, but couldn't put his finger on it. Thanking Cid, Squall got up and left, an uneasy feeling brewing in his stomach. He arrived back at his quarters, sat down on his bed, pushed the video in the machine and pressed play, only to be confronted by a face that Squall knew, and knew very well.
"Hello, Squall," said the face from his past, now staring at him from his television.
"Seifer," Squall whispered under his breath. The face may have changed somewhat- his hair was longer and he was sporting a full beard, but the sneer was still the same. That stare was still the same. That voice was still the same. That scar, almost identical to his own, was still the same. Squall did not have time to collect his thoughts before the recording started up again.
"I expect you're surprised to see me, aren't you? After all, when you defeated Ultimecia in compressed time, you pretty much thought I was dead, didn't you?"
I hadn't really given it much thought, Squall mused to himself, while trying to make out Seifer's surroundings. They weren't much- simply a room with a light, a bed and a picture Squall couldn't quite make out on the bedside table with the lamp.
"Well I'm very much alive," Seifer continued, "just on the off-chance that you're bothered. By now, Squall, you should be sitting in a Garden which has had a vast chunk blown out of it." Seifer stopped his pacing, which he had done all throughout the recording, and sat down on the edge of the bed and grinned. "That was me. Or, should I say, two of my followers. I believe you know them- two young students by the names of Wayne and Nicole. Very easily influenced people, or at least, they were when I convinced them to join me."
Squall couldn't believe it. Suicide bombings? It was almost too hard to comprehend- that Seifer could persuade two young students to take their own lives just to hurt him. He didn't envy Cid the task of telling their parents.
"If you're by any chance wondering what it is they're joining me in," Seifer continued his ramble, barely allowing Squall chance to think, "Well, let's just say I've been keeping myself busy since Ultimecia's defeat. I travelled around a bit, stayed with a few friends, if you can call them that, and eventually ended up in Deling City. Do you remember that place, Squall? Where you first humiliated me, four months ago? Well, while I was there, I had a revelation. I realised that I could directly credit all the bad things that had happened to me since to one person- you."
You brought this all on yourself, Seifer, Squall thought.
"Oh, sure," Seifer continued, "You had help, from the instructor, or should I say EX-instructor, the little messenger girl, that cowboy thing you're so fond of. And let's not forget everyone's favourite chicken-wuss either. But what hurt me the most, Squall, where you really stepped over the line, was that you had to bring HER into it."
Rinoa, Squall thought. His girlfriend and Seifer's ex.
"I saw you two at the graduation ball," the increasingly demented Seifer continued, "the way you couldn't take your eyes off of her. You make me sick. Is there something about everything that I have that you want, Squall? Even when we were kids, at the orphanage, I longed for Elle to spend time with me, to talk to me the way she talked to you, but no. You had to have her all to yourself. All yours, no one else's. We enrolled at the same Garden, in the same classes, and you have to top me there as well. I take up the gunblade, and you decide that you will as well. My command of the mission, my entry into SeeD, you take it all away from me. All that I could understand- you simply wanted to be the best, and I was just another obstacle to be stepped on."
It wasn't like that, Squall thought.
"But then," Seifer continued, "you have to take the one thing I cared about most. The one thing I loved most."
Squall bristled- he wasn't too keen on Rinoa being described as a "thing". Besides, Squall thought, you let her go. If you loved her that much, you'd have fought to keep her.
Seifer continued his seemingly endless rant.
"You take her, and you feign love for her, just to get at me."
Squall started to feel his blood boil. His fists clenched, his anger at hearing someone tell him what his feelings for Rinoa were.
"Well you know what, Squall? You're pathetic."
Squall could barely contain himself.
"Then what the f**k do you call yourself, Seifer?" He muttered, just under his breath. Squall rarely cursed, so it took something major to do so. However, Seifer was oblivious to this outburst, and continued on, regardless.
"I think it's about time I showed you how truly pathetic you are in my eyes. You know that little suicide bombing? Well that was just the start. There are over a hundred people I've recruited. I've fed them some bull about Garden being evil, done a little brainwashing, but that's not important. What is important, Squall, is that they're out there. And we're going to hurt you in the same way that you hurt me." At that point, Seifer got up and picked up the picture that had been in the background all along- a picture of himself and Rinoa on a paddleboat, both sporting big cheesy grins. He smirked as he looked at the picture.
"If I were you, Squall, which thank god I'm not, I'd never let her out of my sight- you never know when you'll wake up one day, only to see her throat slit from ear to ear. Goodbye." With that, Seifer started laughing, and by the time he'd got up and turned off the video camera, his laugh had become burned into Squall's head. Calmly, but deliberately, Squall got up, ejected the video, and with an outburst of pure rage, hurled it through the window with all his strength. He was breathing heavily, still full of adrenaline from what he'd seen, when he turned and saw Rinoa standing at the entrance. She'd entered the room, and he was so caught up he hadn't even noticed.