Author's note: Alright, the gallery puzzle here... Sorry if it seems that I wasted a lot of time solving this here, but I really like this puzzle, it's interesting, very logical, and reminds me of the 7th Guest great game, have you played? You should. Besides, Seify gets to be the star :)

And in other news, I'm starting to write a new SeiferxZell fic :) It'll be called Stop Crying Your Heart Out, so be sure to read it :)

to JadeAlmasy: Aww, thanks so much :)

to Hikari Heijin: Thanks, I love it too :)

to angelsobsession: The special thanks was for signing my guestbook :) Thanks so much and yes, I'll try to add some romance in the end ;)

to Iskander: Heh, thanks ;)

-Squall's POV-

Well, here we are, at the intersection atop the stairs again.

"Left or right?" Irvine asks, keeping up with his game show host -role.

"Right!" Selphie says, jumping again.

I sigh and we take a small stairs to the right. Then down some more stairs.

"Oh wow, look!" Selphie says, pointing down.

"Yes?"

"It's the main hall!"

"...yes?"

She shrugs. "Nothing. Just thought it looked cool."

"Sure," I mumble and open one of the two doors.

"What's in there?" Selphie asks, jumping behind my back to see over my shoulder into the room.

"It appears to be... an art gallery," I reply, opening the door wide open and entering the room. It truly is an art gallery, lit by chandeliers and with amazing paintings on the walls.

"Wow, this one is cool," Selphie says, walking up to the biggest painting in the middle of the room, opposite to the stairway.

"What's its name?" Irvine asks, walking up to it too.

"It's too faint to read..."

"Whoa, look at all these paintings!" Selphie says, walking around. "Ignus."

"It means fire," I say.

"Really? Cool!" she says, moving onto the next painting. "Inan...dantia. What does it mean, Squall?"

I shrug. "I don't know. Seifer would."

"Hey, the door's locked!" Selphie says after trying the door between the two paintings.

"You think we gotta find something here to get out?" Irvine asks. "Like a... key, or something?"

"Yeah, that makes sense," I say.

"But where do we look?"

I look around the room. The stairway leads to catwalks with more paintings. "I think...."

The others turn to look at me, waiting.

"I think that the paintings are the answer."

"The paintings? Well which ones?"

"I don't know," I mumble, scratching the back of my head. Seifer would know, he's good at these things.

"Well you're the boss, you decide on what to do," Irvine says.

"I....."

"Yes?"

"I'm gonna go get Seifer."

"What?"

"He's good at puzzles. I'm sure he can figure it out."

"You know what," Irvine says. "We can't have two members in one party and four in the other. How about I go find the others and tell Seifer to come to you guys?"

"You're leaving us?" Selphie asks.

"I'll see you soon," he replies, stroking her hair.

-Seifer's POV-

Never thought walking alone in the castle would be so... well not scary, I'm not scared of this place, but.... well, kinda unnerving. You never know what's gonna jump up from the shadows. I try to whistle to keep myself in a light mood. Soon I'll get to be with Squall again, and then everything'll be alright.

"But what does it mean?" I hear Selphie ask when I enter the door.

"Hey guys."

Squall spins around. "Seifer, so good that you came."

"So you're having some kind of an emergency here?" I ask, looking around in the candle lit room. Quite cozy, actually. The first sane-looking room in the castle.

"Yeah, we think it's a puzzle."

"A puzzle, eh?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. I like puzzles...

"I know, that's why I sent Irvine to get you."

"So, what kind of puzzle?"

"Well we think it has something to do with the paintings."

"Yeah, over there's Ignus, which means fire," Selphie explains. "And then on the other side of the door is Inandantia, but we don't know what it means."

"It means flood."

"Really? Oh cool! And then, in the corner, there's ugh... Iudicium."

"Judgement...."

"Fire, flood, judgement," Squall says. "What do you think they mean?"

I shrug. "Impossible to say yet. What's that painting?" I ask, nodding at the painting behind them.

"Ugh, it says Intervigilium."

"That's sleep."

Squall shakes his head. "Still makes no sense."

"Well let's go upstairs and have a look."

I climb the stairs, followed by Squall and Selphie.

"Oh wow, what a pretty lady!"

"Not yet, Selphie. We have Vigil here."

"What's that?"

"Watchman, a guard," I say, walking to the right and around a corner. "Vividarium."

"That's Garden, right?"

I look at Squall and smile. "Very good."

He smiles a bit and looks away. "So what do all these paintings have in common?"

"Don't know yet, but let's look at all of them first and then decide."

"Venus!"

We turn to look at Selphie.

"It says Venus! That's love, right?" she asks.

"Yes, it's love."

We return to the stairs and proceed past them.

"An eagle," Squall says quietly. "What does Viator mean?"

"A messenger..."

"Hey, it's a swordfish!" Selphie says and giggles.

"What does it say?"

"Xiphias. Does it mean swordfish?"

"Yeah, it does. Now let's take a look at the pretty lady. What does it say under the picture?"

"Ugh... It's a long word, it says... Xera..meli..nae."

"I think that means.. Red clothes."

"Cool! There's two more paintings here," she says, moving to the end of the catwalk.

"Xystus and... what does it say, Inaudax?"

"Yeah, that's it."

"They mean three-lined road and cowardice."

"So that's all the paintings then."

"What do you think?" Selphie asks.

I look around the gallery again. This sure is a tough one... But not to worry, I'll figure it out. Somehow....

What the-- I move closer to the barrier and look down.

"What is it, Seif?" Squall asks, following me.

"There's a clock," I say. "On the floor."

"Yeah, so it seems."

"Well what time is it then?" Selphie asks, followed by a little giggle.

"There's three pointers. Four, six and eight."

"You think it's somehow relevant?"

"I don't know... yet."

Ignus... Inandantia... Iudicium.. Interviglium... Vigil.. Vividarium... And Inaudax. There's five names beginning with I. Venus and Viator... Four beginning with V. And three with X.

I. II. III. IV. IX. One, two, three, four, nine... Five paintings.

V. VI. VII. VIII. Five, six, seven, eight. Four paintings.

X, XI, XII. Ten, eleven, twelve.

"Seifer?"

"Shht."

Three paintings. That's twelve paintings altogether. Like the twelve hours of the clock.

"What's he doing?" Selphie whispers.

I turn to them. "I solved it."

"What?!" Selphie shrieks as I run down the stairs, faintly realizing they're following me.

I walk up to the main painting with no name. Twelve options appear. The names of the other paintings. I choose four, six and eight. Vividarium, Intervigilium, Viator. The name tag under the name now says "Vividarium et Intervigilium et Viator."

"In the Garden sleeps the Messenger," I mumble.

"Oh Hyne, Seifer, how can you be so smart?" Squall asks and kisses me.

Selphie gasps.

Squall pulls back and closes his eyes. "I didn't just do that... did I just do that?"

I nodd. "You did just do that."

He turns to face Selphie slowly.

"I knew it!" she says. "I knew it and nobody would believe me!"

"Please don't tell anyone," Squall says cautiously.

"Of course not!"

Squall sighs.

"You have to do it yourself."

"What?"

She nodds, looking self-sufficient for some reason. "Of course you have to tell them. You can't go on hiding forever. How long have you been hiding?"

He glances at me. "Three years, maybe."

"Three years?! Hyne Almighty..."

"Well anyways, the puzzle is solved," I say.

"Oh, right! Great work, Seifer, you're so smart!" Selphie says. "Hey, maybe the door's open now!" And she runs to it.

"What did you say it means?" Squall asks me.

"In the Garden sleeps the Messenger."

He frowns. "What do you think it means?"

I shrug. "I have no idea. But the Garden can't be a coincidence."

"Sleeps the Messenger... Maybe it refers to a SeeD?"

"A SeeD that Ultimecia knew, maybe?"

"Sounds reasonable. But why is he a Messenger? And why does he sleep?"

I shrug and look at the painting again. It's changed. It used to be gray and cloud, now it's lighter and shows ruins of some kind. "Wonder what that place is."

Squall shrugs too. "Maybe some place important to our dear hostess. Which reminds me..." He looks up, over my shoulder. "You think that woman in the red dress.... could be Ultimecia herself? When she still was... normal? If she ever was, that is...."

I look at the painting too. "I don't know, maybe. Could well be. But why all the other paintings? Are they important too? The story of her life? Allegories, maybe?"

"Guys, are you coming?" Selphie asks from the next room. "I found a really cool place!"