Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII, or the rights to it. I only wish I did. Curse you Square Enix! I want the rights! -.-; However, although I am borrowing the world, and some characters, some are of my own creation. Lucrea however, doesn't belong to me. She belongs to herself. Read and enjoy. Flame and die. (disclaimer applies to all chapters hereafter)


.:I:.

It had been far too long...Life seemed so unjust, so unfair. The defeat of Ultimecia had made everyone glad, but deep down, he hated it. She treated him like dung, but he hated it.

He had desired that power so much...it was his dream. Now, four years later, he did not even have Fujin or Rajin to make him feel better, to remember the good times, to be a posse.

Now his dreams were nothing. He'd lost Rinoa, his friends, and any chance of being something greater than he was. Currently he resided in Galbadia.

Since the defeat, he'd gone there, thinking to stay a little while, and it slowly turned into something more. He'd become a drinker, while everyone else moved on with his or her life.

It hurts. Everything hurts, but maybe if I keep takin' in the booze, I'll die, and end this...He thought, taking another swig of Krakka, borderline wasted.

I'm nothing...He thought again, as someone walked into the bar, and sat on a stool next to him, ordering a drink.

Everything seemed so loud in the bar. He winced, putting his head down against the counter, before chugging the last of his Krakka. "...Keep 'em comin'." He mumbled, the bartender shaking his head in distaste.

The woman that had settled at the bar glanced at him, raising a brow. Seifer looked back at her. He reminded her of Fujin in a way, only more elegant.

Her hair, although grey, was longer, flowing over the back of her shoulders, and she was dressed to kill, quite literally.

"Who the hell are you?" He muttered, downing another Krakka in one gulp. Now he was drunk, on the fringe of passing out. He glared as she sighed, his vision swimming before his eyes as she answered. "Your savior." He took those words, though he barely remembered them, into blackness. He'd passed out before he ever reached the floor.