Title: Amor Vincit Omnia
Author: AeriasAWriter
Notes: This is Post-Game, about a year after and in an AU. There are a couple of things that didn't happen in the game. There's cussing, lewd remarks, and later there'll be lots of violence and sex so it's Rated R. Both hetro and yaoi couples.
Couples: Irvine x OC, Seifer x Squall, Zell x undecided, Nida x Rinoa
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Akira. This is a nonprofit work and is only practice for when I actually decide to work on my novel.
Chapter 1
"Hey, Chickenwuss! Come on over here!" Zell heard the cry over the already buzzing noise of the yet to be filled dinner time cafeteria.
Zell's head snapped up with a throaty growl. His fierce, sapphire blue eyes sweeping quickly over the large room searching for the person that seemed to have a death wish. But all he saw was a tall blond standing beside a table in the back of the almost empty lunchroom. A smaller brunette sitting at the table next to him.
Zell's blue eyes narrowed suspiciously when Seifer nonchalantly motioned for him to come closer, to join them. He stood and slowly strode across the cafeteria to where the other two young men were. Squall watched calmly through moonstone eyes without comment, taking the hot cup of herbal tea that Seifer handed to him.
"What in fucking hell do you want, Almasy?" Zell gritted his teeth loudly with only a slight nod to Squall, who continued to watch the two blonds with a blank look. Seifer smirked down at the irritated younger blond teen. His jade green eyes flickered with a mischievous amusement.
"Relax, Chickenwuss. And stop glaring at me like that and sit down. If I wanted to jump your scrawny bones I would just do it. It's not like it would be worth the effort. I have my doubts about how good you are in the sack." Seifer said with a haughty chuckle.
Zell's jaw dropped near to the floor in a shock.
". . . . . wait," Squall whispered as best as he could. His throat was tender and sore, his voice came out harsher than he wanted. The corner of Squall's pale mouth twitched upward in his version of a grin while Seifer pressed Zell into an old blue chair beside him. The tall, scarred blond looked back to the matching scarred, petite brunette.
"Anyone else, oh wise and sacred Headmaster?" Squall snorted in contempt at the title, but almost imperceptibly smirked back at his ex-rival. He enjoyed being the one that was in charge. Especially over his ex-rival.
"Irvine," Squall whispered in a harsh voice.
"Eh? The cowboy?"
Squall nodded vaguely, then cleared his throat. Painfully. Seifer pushed the forgotten cup of hot tea closer towards him. Squall sighed, picking up the cup of streaming herbal tea he took a sip. With a satisfied nod, Seifer turned to scan the quickly filling cafeteria.
Zell glanced back and forth between the two ex-rivals, his mouth slightly agape in scandalized surprise. SEIFER CONCERNED ABOUT SQUALL?!?
Squall caught Zell's look and frowned at the smaller boy.
"Hey! Cowboy! Headmaster wants to see you!"
Zell looked up at Seifer caught Irvine's attention. The bright-eyed cowboy gazed over at the trio questioningly from where he had entered the cafeteria with Selphie and Rinoa, before moving towards them. His long stride quickly carrying him across the way to the back table. He smiled at Zell, nodded to Squall, and blatantly ignored Seifer.
Squall motioned for the unashamedly irritated Irvine to sit beside the bug-eyed, curious Zell. Then Seifer gracefully slid back into his own seat beside Squall, placing his hands behind his head.
"Squall! What's this all about?" Zell asked, angrily glaring at Seifer across the table from him. Seifer arched his back and stretched with an almost feline grace, smiling at Zell as he showed off how flexible he really was.
The smaller blond stuck his tongue out at him. Seifer chuckled while Irvine glared and tried to keep his best friend seated before he did something foolish.
Like get his ass kicked be Seifer, Irvine thought.
Squall glanced over at Seifer before picking up his steaming cup of tea, almost daintily taking another sip. And with the approval of a nod from Squall, Seifer was the one that answered.
"Quiet, Chickenwuss. Headmaster's got a bad case of sore throat and can't talk or when he does croak something he can't say it too loud. So I'm the official Headmaster's spokesperson for now," Seifer smirked as Irvine and Zell glanced at each other confused.
"That does explain the unusual presence of honeyed tea that Squall's drinking, but why were we called over to speak to the likes of you?" Irvine asked, his words dripping with venom. Seifer tilted his head slightly with a sneering smirk firmly on his lips.
"Careful how you talk to me, Cowboy. And to why I'm here, it's all because the four of us are needed to investigate a new sorceress. One that just came into her powers about two days ago."
Zell shook his head in disbelief.
"Another one!?! What in the fucking hell is this? The Year of the Sorceresses?" Zell slumped down further into his chair, but Irvine lost all sense of ease. The cowboy's spine became as rigid as a steel post.
Squall glanced back and forth between his two now silent friends and wondered which one was taking it better. They both were lost within their own thoughts and Squall couldn't even decide if either was taking at all well.
"Why him?"
Squall was startled by the sudden inquiry as Irvine looked up into his moonstone eyes. The cowboy spoke again, louder.
"You heard me. Why is he here?"
The young headmaster swallowed the last of the healing tea and pulled a notebook from his inner jacket pocket. Shoving the thin black spiral across the table, he watched Irvine open it. The cowboy's eyes darting over the words written on the first page.
"Hey! I wanna know too! Read it out loud." Zell pouted up at his best friend. Irvine nodded warily.
"I'll go straight to the orders, skipping the flattery. 'SeeDs Almasy and Leonhart are assigned to travel to the village of Notil-'"
"Wait! Notil? Where's that?" Zell asked, confusion spread across his face. Seifer smirked down at him. Irvine glared at both.
"You kidding? Didn't pay attention in geographics, did ya. It's a small rural village about thirty miles east of Dollet." Seifer said pointing in the general direction of the said village.
Squall nodded to the tight-lipped Irvine to continue reading.
"-to investigate and examine the new sorceress, Akira Trandin. If she proves to be corrupt in her ways then the mission becomes to execute the sorceress before she gains full control over her powers. SeeDs Dincht and Kinneas will provide back up. Leonhart is the assigned Squad leader. Headmaster Cid." Irvine clenched his fists tightly, his breathing a little less at ease.
"Headmaster Cid is back? We should go see him and Matron. I didn't realize that his vacation was up yet. Hey! Squall's not the Headmaster anymore! You're out of a job, huh, buddy. Ha! And Seifer! Your out of a job as well! Mr. I'm-The-Headmaster's-Speaker-Now. Hey? Squall? Are you going to look for another Garden that needs a Headmaster? Talk about weird. I wonder-"
"ZELL! You're almost as bad as Selphie! Stop TALKING!!!" Irvine frowned, his eyes like glowing coals. Squall, Seifer, and Zell regarded the cowboy with wide eyes. Seifer reached over to push Zell's gaping jaw closed with a index finger. He turn to regard the younger man with a big smirk.
"Whoa, Cowboy! Easy on the commands there. Someone might actually think that you've got balls under that belt."
"Fuck you, Seifer," Irvine growled.
"Oh, I think I might be able to pencil you in somewhere. Wha'cha want? Top or bottom?"
"Mother fucking asshole! Go fuck Rinoa!" Zell snapped, touching Irvine's shoulder gently with only a snarl for Seifer. The taller blond's eyes glinted dangerously, but he merely made a big show of yawning.
"For one thing, my mother is dead. And even if she weren't, I'm really not into the whole screwing family/incest thing. And for another thing, I already have fucked Rinoa. . . talk about utterly and totally boring!"
Squall stiffened slightly and quietly watched the bickering with a smoldering gaze of anger on Seifer. The fighting getting so intense that Squall was sure they were about to start throwing punches.
Until Irvine finally stalked off, Zell running then after his long time best friend to calm him down. Seifer turned to smirk at the shorter Squall. The brunette glared back at the taller blond.
"What?" Seifer asked.
"You don't even like her! Why on earth are you defending her?" Seifer started to get mad at the accusing look Squall's face held.
"Oh, get a fucking clue, Squally-boy. She only wanted to have "Her" own precious sorceress's knight. That's why she wanted you so bad. And would you really have wanted to be a fucking knight? Especially for the likes of her. Deny it all you want, but you and I both know that there wasn't a fucking way in hell that you could have been the knight that she wanted. You would have killed yourself first before becoming that whore's knight."
Squall ducked his head guiltily, but Seifer only reached across the table and grabbed his chin between his thumb and index finger. He roughly pulled Squall's face up to look him in the eye as he continued.
"Because you know what, I can tell you right here and now that being a sorceress knight for a stupid bitch sure sent my life to hell. I can barely step foot outside of the Garden without being chased by a angry mob, stared at by weird little kids, or having things be thrown at me-" Seifer broke off in a growl.
The tall blond glared down at Squall angrily. Flames almost seemed to threaten to spill from his jade eyes in his rage. Squally mutely stared at the usually calm, level-headed blond.
". . . . . . . . . . Whatever," Squall croaked harshly, standing.
He left Seifer behind and decided to go find Quistis. He strangely felt like if he stayed he'd lose control of his emotions.
A very dangerous thing to do if you don't even know what emotions you are experiencing yourself, he thought. I'll just ask her to help me understand.
Squall exited the cafeteria with a long stride.
Zell smiled downward at Irvine gently. He had chased the taller young man through the garden and up to the roof of the SeeD dorm rooms. The cowboy huffed and looked out over the garden, the view form the dorm's roof breathtaking. He rested his elbows on his knees and put his face in his hands.
"What's the matter? I know that Seifer's a major dick wad and an all around asshole, but you didn't hav'ta blow up at everyone like that."
"Shut up, Zell," Irvine said softly. Zell sat down beside the brunette with a black cowboy hat. The cowboy gazed out over the distant mountains, his hair fluttering in the brisk breeze.
"You know, sometimes I wonder if being a SeeD is worth it. Any of it."
Zell looked over at his unusually solemn best friend and heaved a sigh. It looked like tonight was going to be a long night with such solemn company.
"I think that we all wonder that same thing at one point or another. Life as a SeeD ain't easy. You'd be very, very hard pressed to find anyone that would even be willing to tell you otherwise. I have my reasons to stick with it."
Irvine looked up. His eyes sad as they watched Zell.
"I like fighting. I like getting a job done and done well. I was raised to believe that you follow orders to the very best of your ability no matter what. And I wanted to be just like my grandfather. That's why I'm still here. You'll have to decide for yourself whether the lifestyle is worth it or not for you. That's not a choice that someone else can make for you."
Irvine stared at Zell in shock. The small blond blushed and turned to look over the landscape below. His eyes coming to rest on a distant wild chocobo, reminding him to check on Boko later.
"It sounds like you've thought about it a lot," Irvine whispered.
Zell ducked his head so that his eyes were lost in deep shadow, the descending sun disappearing behind a large cloud.
"That's because. . . I have."
Silence ensued, unbroken by either boy as they watched the sun set. The stars becoming apparent and the moon shining brightly in reflected glory of the vanished sun.
Then without a word, both boys stood and headed inside. Neither saying even good-bye before going their separate ways. Irvine going back to his and Selphie's room while Zell headed for the training garden.
More Notes: I had to resubmit this chapter because I left out the warnings, rating, disclaimer, and couples list. I got it up now so that's good. I hope you readers can keep reading and review so I have a reason to continue. .