Sinner & Saint
Time made a steady phase forward as days turned into weeks and weeks into months. The nasty incident at Rinoa's house was a faded memory of the past and the two of them had grown to be good friends. Since it wasn't an undercover mission, Seifer got mail from Fujin and Raijin at Garden every now and then. Although Seifer told Rinoa a lot about Garden and SeeD, he never ever mentioned Squall.
Despite that all was good and there had been no other attempts to get to Rinoa Seifer grew a little worried. This could mean that the attackers had lost their nerve or that they simply wanted to wait for the ideal time to strike. Silent before the storm, it's always darkest before sunrise and all that stuff.
In order to counter this possibility, Seifer tired his best to avoid falling into a pattern. This wasn't all that difficult, since Rinoa was a very spontaneous girl, though not all of her sudden ideas proved to be good. Seifer spent his nights training in order to keep his edge up, as it wasn't much exercise in tagging along with Rinoa's window shopping.
It was close to midnight when general Caraway came home from his office. Seifer stood in the living room, looking out the window and counting passing cars. "Evening general." Seifer nodded his greeting. "You're up late, is there a problem?" Caraway asked. "Not at all, just have a small problem falling asleep." Seifer assured him. "That dream again?" Caraway asked as he poured himself a drink and loosened up the top of his shirt. "You sound like you're talking from experience." Seifer replied, taking a seat across the general. "Indeed, we all have ghosts that haunt us." Caraway said his voice muffled a little from talking into his drink.
A car drove by, its front lights gliding from one side of the living room to the other. "Tell me yours, I'll tell you mine." Seifer said. "Hmm? Well, it was close to the end of the Sorceress War. Intelligence had gotten their hands on some vital information. For some reason, Sorceress Adel was mobilizing her entire royal guard and sent them off to all sorts of weird places." Caraway recalled, his eyes replaying the incident as he remembered it. "We didn't know why, but whatever it was, it was very important to Adel. If we could sabotage it, we might get the breakthrough we needed." He carried on, Seifer listening carefully to everything that was being said.
General Caraway put down his empty drink with a cold clanking sound. "It was when they were at sea, that we decided to confront them. This was decided since the Estharian royal guard was the best of the best. Gunblade specialists, skilled magic users and veteran warriors, every single one of them. Only the best of the royal guard is recruited as the Sorceress Knight, but that's a different story." Caraway continued his tale. "We were… 600 men, armed to our teeth with all the guns we could carry, they were 12 warriors, 1 crazy scientist with a weird accent and around 3 dozen little girls around 4-6 years old." The story had come to a pause.
Caraway played a little with his glass resting on the table. "It wasn't much of a fight. Our boys didn't get to shoot much before getting sliced and diced. Of the 600, only 5 made it out alive. The only reason we were allowed to live was that we were left for dead." Caraway rose from his chair and made himself another drink. "I remember one of the guards looking down on a friend of mine. He was in really bad shape and he pleaded for mercy, that the guard would kill him so that the pain would end." Turning, Caraway asked Seifer: "Do you know what the guard did in response?" Seifer shook his head. "He said: "Death is too good for you." That's the sickest thing I've ever heard in all my life." Caraway sighed with disgust. He bid Seifer a good night and they both headed for some hours sleep afterwards.
Again, the dream returned. Why was he tormenting himself with this vision time and time again? He was way over it, wasn't he? Maybe not, but isn't two years enough to forgive and forget? He was after all, only human. Humans do blunders every now and then, right? It's in our blood.
The rain was heavy, cold and wet as usual. Even the winds were picking up. Panting and moaning, Seifer struggled to climb back up on the roof. "Awh shit, I think I've dislocated my shoulder." He remembered complaining. His left hand was trembling; dark red lines marked where Fujin's nails had peeled off his skin and his watch was missing.
Fujin was lying just a few feet away from the edge, her back facing Seifer. He was about to call out her name when stomping feet caught his attention. SeeD's, 5 of them came rushing up the stairs. Their weapons were at ready and they efficiently got an overview of the situation. "Candidate, report!" One of the female SeeD's snapped at Seifer. It was one of the Ando twins, the prodigy SeeD's from Trabia Garden. Seifer was confused, why did he have to report?
Before Seifer could stumble up with a reply, one of the male SeeD's called out. "We've got a injured one here. Looks pretty bad, internal perhaps." He was crouching down next to Fujin, pointing a tiny flashlight in her face. The Ando twin spun around. "One of ours?" She demanded. "Yes and no. She's with Balamb, though only as an observer. Nothing junctioned." The male SeeD replied. The Ando twin turn around and faced Seifer slowly, her eyes burning with fury. "I say again candidate… Report!" She barked.
Seifer was still dumbstruck. Why was he suddenly the bad guy? He might not have followed the book to the letter, but no harm was done, right? "I went inside to get a change of clothes…" He began nervously. "YOU WHAT!" The other SeeD's turned their attention to Seifer as well. "You left your post to get a change of clothes? More over, you had another candidate, with no junction or weapons take your place?" Now the second Ando twin got involved as well. "It was only for 2 minutes!" Seifer protested. Like hell these bitches could just walk over him.
The Ando twins glanced at each other then at Seifer with dubious eyes. "Because of you the outer defence perimeter was breached. More over, since you didn't report in the incident, the rest of the SeeD's were unaware of this." The first Ando twin start listing up Seifer's blunders. "HEY! I took down three of them and went to check if there were others around, then I found Mr Sadistic Bastard over there who held Fujin hostage. In the middle of all this, I wonder why the hell I didn't make a phone call. Oh yeah, I was busy doing my J-O-B!" Seifer, although tired, still had energy to have a verbal fight.
The first Ando twin struck after Seifer in an arch-like motion with her right arm. She missed by a mile and a half. "What was that…? HEY! My junction!" Seifer suddenly noticed that her attack hadn't been a physical one, but rather aimed directly at his junction configuration, quite efficiently deleting it.
That was why the Ando twins were the very best Trabia Garden had to offer, they could alter other junction configurations as they saw fit. That was their power. "Seifer Almasy, I'm putting you in custody." The second Ando twin said in a harsh voice. "You've got to be kidding me! On what grounds?" Seifer demanded. "Treason." The two twins said in perfect union. "I didn't betray anyone!" Seifer insisted. "True you killed three of them, but the forth one made it and partially completed his objective because of your screw up."
At those words, Seifer remembered. He'd zapped one assassin to death with a thunder spell, the second one he'd thrown a knife at, while the third one lay dead on the roof, but the fourth… He'd just knocked him out and he was the one carrying the sniper rifle.
At breakfast, Seifer was calmer than usual and it made Rinoa worry. "5 gils for your thoughts." She said, sipping her coffee cup. "Hmm? Nah, it's nothing." Seifer mumbled before hiding behind the newspaper. "Well, you're awfully quiet over such a small thing then." Rinoa said, giving up in trying to get under his skin. "I didn't get much sleep last night, that's all." Seifer sighed from behind the newspaper. "Bad dreams again?" Rinoa sympathised. "You have no idea…" Seifer mumbled with a mouthful toast. "Of course I don't, because you won't tell me about it!" Rinoa actually slammed her palm in the table, causing cups and plates to rattle.
Slowly Seifer lowered the newspaper. "You want to know it that bad?" He asked carefully. "Yes, yes I do." Rinoa said sincerely. "When I had my first Field Exam, I failed miserably. I nearly got an innocent bystander killed because of my arrogance and overconfidence." Seifer said dryly. "Although I paid for my mistakes, the bystander forgave me and it all belongs to the past, it still comes to haunt me whenever something important comes up, like a Field Exam." He continued, folding the newspaper before slapping it on the table.
Rinoa thought for a moment before asking: "You said the bystander forgave you, Garden obviously forgave you since you're still a SeeD candidate and allowed to take Field Exams, but what about yourself?" Seifer blinked for a moment. What was she getting at? "I mean, it doesn't matter if all the kings and queens pat you on the head and shoulder, telling you it's okay, if you can't forgive yourself." Rinoa pointed out, gesturing with her arms as she spoke. "Are you giving me a psychoanalysis over the breakfast table Ms Heartilly?" Seifer mumbled, resting his chin in his hand and his elbow on the table.
She got up form her chair and walked around the table. Then, quite gently and with warm feelings, Rinoa hugged Seifer from behind. "It's not good for you to dwell to much on the past. You only die in the present if you do." Rinoa whispered in his ear before kissing his cheek lightly. "Is that so?" He replied. "Yes, that's what my mother told me." Rinoa confirmed.
Later, just past noon, Rinoa wanted to go shopping. "Why may I ask?" Seifer groaned, as he knew that the one that would do all the carrying would be him. "A friend of mine just had her first baby and I want to give her a little congratulation present." Rinoa beamed as the two of them walked out of the house. "Just don't buy the whole shop, even if you've got the budget for it." Seifer mumbled to himself.
They arrived at Timbers largest shopping centre and headed straight for the nearest baby shop. Rinoa happily talked with the shop clerk while Seifer kept an eye out for anything suspicious, though he really wanted to get out of the shop a.s.a.p. "It's a boy and he's got red hair. That one looks nice, but do you have matching socks?" Rinoa talked and talked as minutes ticked away. Will she ever finish, Seifer wondered.
Finally Rinoa settled with a set in bright blue with white bears for pattern, white socks and a matching blanket. "All done?" Seifer asked as she walked up to him, holding a bright green paper bag in her hand. "Just about, as soon as we've lunch we can go home." Rinoa smiled. "Cake I trust?" Seifer sighed. "Oh how kind of you to suggest that." Rinoa giggled and locked her arm in his.
It took some time, but they found Rinoa's favourite bakery and settled down to have a slice of cake each. Seifer didn't have much of an appetite, so he ended up just poking his cake around with his fork. Rinoa on the other hand happily scooped down her slice in a jiffy. "Excuse me, Ms Rinoa Heartilly?" A stranger asked her unexpectedly. "Uhm? Yes, that's me." Rinoa replied somewhat surprised. "There's a phone call for you." The stranger replied. "Oh? Thanks. I'll be right back Seifer." Rinoa told him as she got up. "Uhm… where is the phone?" She asked a little embarrassed. "In the back ma'am." The stranger answered.
Seifer kept on poking his cake a little more before it struck him. No one knew that they had gone out. Even if they knew that he and Rinoa had gone out, how did they know they were here, now? Caraway would call home then just leave a message or call Seifer on his cell phone should it be important. Seifer shot out of his chair and walked on hurried feet into the back. He found the phone, but no Rinoa.
The receiver hung by the cord, dangling around as if it had just been dropped. He picked it up and listened. "Well, well Mr Bodyguard. Guess you're a amateur after all." A digitally distorted voice chuckled in the other end. "Who are you and what do you want?" Seifer grunted, feeling his temper rising. "Tsk, tsk, tsk... asking questions you already know the answers to… who'd thought you're a SeeD. Oh that's right, you're not. You're just a SeeD Candidate." The voice sighed. "You're so dead that people will wonder why you were born in the first place." Seifer said with an effort to keep from shouting.
A pause followed and only sounds of someone being pushed around could be faintly heard in the background. "S-S-Seifer…?" It was Rinoa's voice, trembling and anxious. "Rinoa? Are you all right?" Seifer asked, trying to remain calm, though feeling a ton lighter in just hearing her voice. "There's… a knife. I'm scared." Rinoa was on the verge of tears.
Seifer looked around. The bakery chefs hardly took notice of him, but somehow the kidnappers had to be nearby. Were they in the backyard maybe? Nope, they were in the 3rd floor. It would take too long to get Rinoa down to the ground floor. Were they still mobile? Didn't sound like it, as he couldn't hear any walking feet in the background. They must be watching him, otherwise how could they tell who picked up the phone?
In the phone, Seifer could hear that Rinoa was shoved out of the way and the digitally distorted voice returned. "Now, the bitch is safe and sound. Lets talk business soldier boy." It snapped. "I'm listening." Seifer said, sounding calm. "You better. Tell general Caraway that he has 48 hours to arrange an assassination on president Vinzer Deling. Make sure that he takes all the heat from the fuzz that follows." The instructions were simple and straight to the point. Professionals no doubt Seifer concluded.
"Whack of the tyrant, get a scapegoat and liberate Timber. Killing three birds with one stone, clever. Once this is done, what will happen to the girl?" Seifer asked. "Don't know, don't care. How does that sound to you?" Before Seifer could talk back, the conversation ended with a dull sounding click.
Seifer hung up the phone calmly. He took a moment to just breathe deeply and trying to grasp the situation. Then, in a spontaneous outburst of rage he shoved the phone off the table and into the nearest wall with a loud bang. One of the oldest tricks in the book and he fell for it face first.
Make the threat real, bond guard and target together, make them relax and then… strike. He couldn't have done it better himself. Strictly speaking should he inform Caraway about this, both about his own failure and the kidnappers demands. From there they would come up with a counter plan.
One of the chefs began picking up the smashed phone when Seifer noticed something sticking out from his belt. A small wire of some sort? It went in under the chef's shirt and crawled upwards all the way up to his glasses.
Odd Seifer thought. Then he remembered from his Surveillance and Espionage subject 3 years ago. Tiny cameras could be implanted in glasses, giving a perfect 1st person perspective. Not to mention that there wasn't much suspicious about glasses at first glance, hence you could record a lot completely undisturbed. Galbadia Garden had used that trick for years.
As the pieces came together, Seifer recalled what Rinoa had told him the first day they met. "Spare me the whole SeeD business. It is no secret that the Galbadian army recruits straight from Galbadia Garden." Could they be SeeD dropouts' maybe? That would explain their professional approach and technical equipment. Seifer felt confident enough to act, so he walked up to the chef and yanked him up.
The chef was taken completely off guard and his colleagues stopped doing their work as Seifer started to make quite a scene. "Where are they taking her?" Seifer barked straight into the startled chef's face. "Who's taking who…?" The chef stammered, looking ready to wet his pants any moment.
Seifer lifted him up a few inches extra and slammed his back against the wall a few times. "Don't toy with me you little shit! If you do insist on playing dumb, they won't be able to count body parts when I'm done with you!" Seifer's temper was climbing rapidly, just like back then.
Another chef headed out the door, probably to fetch security. Good, Seifer could use someone to beat into pools of protein waste in order to blow off some steam. "Rinoa Heartilly, daughter of general Caraway, the girl in the bright blue cape that talked in the fucking phone you just picked up!" Seifer had a thunder spell right at his fingertips, pale blue sparks danced and flickered between his fingers. "I-I-I-I don't know what you mean! I swear!" The chef desperately replied.
Seifer's patience went dry at that point, so he slammed his right palm flat in the chef's face, releasing the thunder spell as he did. "What about the camera glasses then! You just use them to record the pretty girls that buy your stupid cakes!" He screamed so that the chef heard him, despite his cries of pain. "I'm just a chef!" The chef broke down into tears, his left cheek suffering from a second-degree burn wound.
Security crashed through the doors, grabbed Seifer from behind and pulled him away from the terrified chef. What little anger management Seifer had left, flew out the window just then. He broke free from the first guards grasp and threw a frying pan filled with melted butter in the face of another. Shrieking in pain, the guard covered his face with his hands and staggered around in circles. Seifer planted a solid punch in his guts, knocking the winds out of him, causing the guard to collapse of the floor, gasping for air like a fish on land.
The first guard came at Seifer a second time, though this time armed with a baton. From under his coat, Seifer drew and sliced his gunblade at the guard. He didn't kill him, just made a clean cut through the baton and tiny cut across his forehead. "Do you want to go one more time or help your buddy?" Seifer mocked. The guard glanced nervously at what remained of his baton, then checked his forehead and saw a little blood on his hand. Without a word the guard threw away his baton and kneeled down to help his partner. "Wow… he can think." Seifer mumbled.
Seifer walked slowly over to the chef, whom had just sunk back like a bag of potato's after Seifer had let him go. Towering over the chef, Seifer used the tip of his gunblade to lift the chef's chin up so that their eyes met. He just raised his eyebrows, indicating that the chef better talk if he wanted to avoid further unpleasant experiences. "My niece… she's an optician. She… she gave me these glasses after my old ones broke a couple of days ago." The chef whimpered. "I'd like to make an appointment… where can I find her?" Seifer said with a dead cold tone of voice.
On the outside there had gathered quite a crowd, but Seifer didn't care. In fact he kind of liked it, to be bathed in gazes of amazement, admiration and fear. He just sheeted his gunblade, picked up Rinoa's shopping bag and left the scene. "HEY! You can't just walk away!" The second security guard, who had his face covered in melted butter called after him. "Sorry, I don't waste my time on vermin." Seifer half shouted over his shoulder.
Rose's optician store wasn't too far away from the old TV station in Timber. The whole block was practically deserted as the TV station was merely an icon from an era of radio waves. It had its time and now it was in decay. A little girl was giving milk to a street cat, but other than that the street was empty.
"Hey there." Seifer greeted the little girl as he walked up to her. "He-hello." The girl responded somewhat nervously. "I was wondering if you could do me a little favour?" Seifer asked, kneeling down for a moment. "Mommy doesn't want me to talk to strangers." The girl replied timidly. "That's a good rule, but I was wondering if you could just wait right here and look after this bag for me?" Seifer asked, handing her the bright green shopping bag. The girl glanced at the bag, then at Seifer and back again before nodding.
Seifer crossed the street and drew his gunblade as he walked. He was pissed and now it was payback time, big time. There was a young man standing behind the counter, nearly every piece of furniture was made out of glass. Shelves, tables, counter and there were a lot of mirrors scattered about to boot. "Good day sir. How can I be of assistance?" The man asked politely. Seifer didn't waste time, he threw a fireball at the man's face and planted 2 quick shots with his gunblade to shut up his screaming.
Muffled voices from the basement could be heard, followed by what sounded like 3-4 people scrambling away in a hurry. Seifer quickly kicked up the door to the backroom and froze for a fraction of a second as he stood face to face with a lady armed with a shotgun. Luckily she hesitated that one fatal second that gave Seifer all the edge he'd ever need. A quick stab with the gunblade both knocked the shotgun's barrel out of Seifer's way and disabled the enemy.
Behind the injured woman there was a spiral staircase leading down to the basement. Seifer quickly stepped over the groaning woman and rushed down the staircase. As soon as Seifer sat foot on the floor, the lights died out and a bright blue laser grid got turned on. A steady bleeping sound told Seifer that automated gun turrets'd gun him down if he didn't mind his step.
If they couldn't kill him, they wanted to delay him long enough for them to make their escape. Backtracking was no good as it would take him too long to find a way around the store and get his bearings from there. Still he didn't have the time to tiptoe his way through this blasted grid, nor could he take out the turrets from afar since it was pitch black in the room.
Seifer spat a few curses and cast a protect spell on himself. It would hurt, but if he moved fast enough, he should be able to keep up the pace and hunt down the kidnappers. As soon as he crossed the first line, the turrets began spitting out led at a rapid pace.
The protect spell blocked some bullets completely, others had their course seriously altered, while a few made a clean cut and hit Seifer. Thankfully they only hit in less vital areas, though he had to do something about his wounds as soon as he was on the outside or he'd be moving too slow to catch the scumbags that had taken Rinoa.
Crashing through the basement door and out of the turrets field of fire, Seifer didn't have time to take a breather, no matter how much he wanted one. Fumbling around in his coat, Seifer found a potion bottle and drank it with bottoms up.
The effect was immediate and his wounds healed so fast actually hurt. The bleeding had stopped, but the bullets were still inside his body, so running wouldn't be painless. Gritting his teeth, Seifer got to his feet and dashed up the stairs and found himself on street level again.
He scanned the street in both directions, but saw no trace of the kidnappers. Was he too late? Did they really move that fast? Rinoa wasn't much of a fighter and they most likely had her feet and hands tied up, so all she really could to was wriggle around. SHIT! Would this prove to be the end of his mission, his exam? If he failed this time, he just might get thrown out of SeeD. Headmaster Cid had covered for him a lot of times before, but Seifer was always pressing his luck. Luck didn't last forever, nothing did.
A door opened with a bang behind Seifer and he spun around, fire spell ready and gunblade set to strike. "You're really something different, bodyguard!" It was the same digitally distorted voice. Three guys and Rinoa came out of a building. At a closer look, Seifer noticed that Rinoa was not only back tied and had her legs tied up, but she was also blindfolded. The two thugs held her by the arms as their boss did all the talking.
He wasn't much of a guy. Short, skinny, dressed in dirty clothes and he hadn't seen a hairdresser for years, or so it seemed. "I guess this works out just as well. Sending your head to general Caraway along with a note of our demands must be even more efficient." The leader chuckled. Seifer saw that he had an artificial vocal chord strapped around his throat. Probably a replacement from an injury that generated the synthetic voice which Seifer had heard on the phone.
Seifer relaxed his pose just a bit. Let's not rush this, he thought. Rinoa is the one he had to worry about, the three others he could beat into tomato soup if he saw it fit. "What? No "let the girl go" or anything like that? What kind of SeeD doesn't care about his client?" The leader demanded. "As you said, I'm just a Candidate. Besides, Caraway is my client, not her." Seifer replied coldly. "But she's your primary objective, her well being that is." The leader pointed out.
As much as he hated it, the little fucker had a point. Rinoa was in enough danger to make Seifer flunk his exam. Still, he could try to minimize the damage. No, not try. Do or do not, there is no try Seifer reminded himself. "So you want my head, is that it? Come on over here and collect it then, dirtbag." Seifer called out.
He did have one ace up his sleeve. Rinoa had assumed that Seifer had come from Galbadia Garden, which hardly ever uses para-magic. Just maybe these punks had come to the same conclusion. If that were the case, Quezacotl would give them one hell of a surprise. Just a little while longer, Seifer thought as his mind fanatically worked to summon the Guardian Force.
The leader smiled at Seifer coldly. "You think you can take me in a one on one fight? HA! You arrogant little ass, I'll gladly give you the last lecture of your life." He barked at Seifer before drawing his weapons, dual combat knifes. They were quite plain looking, probably bought at your local hunter or sports store. Since he relied on such a basic weapon, that meant that he was either cocky, stupid or so skilled that weapon didn't really matter.
Seifer sent his fire spell at the charging leader, but it vanished just before impact. A bright yellow light flashed barely a feet away from the leaders face and the fire spell reappeared, hurling straight at Seifer. No way! This punk ass actually had the brains to use reflect for magical defence! Seifer managed just in time to block with the broad side of his gunblade, but the impact knocked him off balance.
The leader smirked as he closed in on the staggering Seifer. "Amateurish!" He snorted before unleashing several quick, though weak slashes at Seifer's torso. Seifer's staggering got worse and he lost his footing, causing him to fall down on a kneeling position. One knife found its way all the way down to the bone in Seifer's right arm. Crying and cursing out in pain, Seifer dropped his gunblade.
Seifer soon found his neck wrapped in the leaders right arm. He pulled out the knife from his arm and tried to slice at the leader with the knife, but the blocked airways made it hard to stay focus. "Now hold still soldier boy, this might sting a bit." The leader laughed.
Just then the clouds above them darkened and sounds of close by thunder filled the air. The leader paused a bit, looking up at the sudden weather change in wonder. His facial expression changed from puzzlement to outrage once he realized what was coming next. "YOU GO TO HELL!" He shouted with his knife raised high over his head. "Ladies first…" Seifer gasped and couldn't resist the temptation to smirk.
Quezacotl came down from the skies through a massive bolt of thunder, tearing the point of impact to shreds, throwing rocks and dust around violently. "Don't hit the girl!" Seifer mentally instructed as Quezacotl charged up to attack. "Understood master." The majestic spirit replied. Sparkles filled the air and they hissed like angry snakes before exploding into a dome of white light that blinded everyone.
The dark skies cleared up, leaving only a smouldering crater where Quezacotl had struck down its massive thunder attack. The leader still clung to Seifer's neck, though there was no strength in his grip. He was reduced to a badly burned and dying corpse. Seifer on the other hand was doing just fine. His clothes were a total mess of course and he had dirt all over his face, but other than that he was in top condition.
Seifer rose from his seated position and dusted off his clothes. "Why… why didn't you die…?" The leader asked weakly, his synthetic vocal chord badly damage, making him hard to understand. "With 97 thunder spells junctioned to elementary defence, it's going to take a little more than a simple lightning GF to take me out." Seifer winked at the defeated leader.
Looking down the street, Seifer saw the two thugs that guarded Rinoa had been blown back by the impact of Quezacotl's thunderstorm attack. Even Rinoa lied flat on her back. Seifer chuckled a little to himself before half running over to the thugs. "Hey are you guys ready for round two? I'm all warmed up and good to go." He said to them. They exchanged nervous glances before scrambling away the best they could.
Seifer did consider chasing them down and bring them in for questioning, but they were most likely just thugs with no brains. They didn't know more than what they needed to and without their mastermind, they wouldn't cause any more havoc. It might even work in his favour, as they would possibly spread word of what happened here and that would scare off other potential kidnappers. "Yes, yes. Mess with the best, die like the rest." Seifer chuckled to himself.
A weak moan caught his attention and he glanced over at Rinoa. Then he froze solid in shock. Through the right side of her belly a big iron girder stood right up. She was sweating and bleeding badly. Seifer knew what he had to do. Cast a cure spell or make her drink a health potion, but he just couldn't get his body moving. Hell, even his mind was jammed up.
A kitten walked up to Rinoa and licked her sweaty face. Seifer felt like he could start moving again, little by little. "Here kitty, kitty…" A little girl's voice could be heard. Seifer's eyes shot forward and saw the same girl that he'd asked to look after Rinoa's shopping bag. "There you are kitty! Bad kitty, don't run off like that. Mr Jameson's dog might get you." She put down the bag and scolded the kitten.
She took the kitten in her arms and rubbed her face into its fur, before looking up at Seifer. "I've still got your bag mister." She said to him. "Yeah… thanks." He replied, sounding very out of it. "Is she your friend?" The girl asked Seifer, nodding at Rinoa. "I guess you could say that." Seifer admitted. "She's hurt. Aren't you going to help her?" The girl then asked.
Seifer blinked at the girl. Suddenly he felt like he'd just been brought back from the dead. The initial shock had worn off and he was again thinking rationally. "Of course I'm going to help her. Hand me the bag will you?" He said, kneeling down by Rinoa's side and cutting her free from the ropes. The girl handed Seifer the bag and he used the baby blanket that Rinoa had bought to stop the bleeding. Rinoa was in such a bad shape that he didn't dare using cure magic on her.
He picked her up in his arms and supported her as best as he could. It wasn't easy, as the iron girder had a piece of concrete attached to it in the other end, causing the iron girder to sway around, making the wound worse. First he had to get that thing out of her, then heal her with magic and potions. Seifer didn't have enough potions, but he knew a good spot to draw some cure spells. "Thanks for your help girl, you're a real lifesaver." Seifer said before he half ran with Rinoa in his arms.
Time was the enemy. Rinoa was pending between being awake and falling unconscious. "Rinoa, can you hear me? Talk to me. Don't you dare pass out on me now. Talk damn it!" Seifer tired to keep her awake, while looking for a good spot to perform improvised surgery on her. "S-s-s-s-s-sure… I'm awake… what…do…you…waaaaaaant… to talk…about….Mmmm…?" Rinoa mumbled, sounding half asleep. "Anything, just keep talking to me." Seifer replied, panting lightly.
They rounded another corner, but it was just another naked street with trash lined up along the house walls. "Do you like pets Rinoa?" Seifer asked her as he noticed a poster for dog food on the wall. "Mmmm? Pets? My face's wet…." Rinoa mumbled weakly. "Yeah? Probably because a kitten liked you in the face, I think it liked you." He replied, still scanning the street for something he could use as a hospital bed. "Nah… I'd rather…have…a…dog… Cats….are…..cuter…..but……less……." Rinoa was drifting away. "Less what? C'mon Rinoa, tell me. I'm dying to know." Seifer panted, feeling frustration building within him. "…fun…cats…are...less…fun." Rinoa sighed as if it was her last breath of life.
Seifer's frustration got mixed up with panic and the sensation of helplessness. Suppressing a scream, Seifer stomped up to the first and best door he found and kicked it open. A mother and her two sons shot out of their chairs in the kitchen as Seifer made his entry. "She's injured badly, I need to use your bedroom." Seifer said. The mother didn't hesitate one second. "This way, quickly." She said in a bossy tone of voice and led the way upstairs.
From the second floor, they headed up to the attic, which was a spare bedroom. "You're safe here. I'll get some towels and hot water." The mother said, gesturing towards the bed. Seifer nodded his thanks and put down the injured Rinoa as gently as he could. It was first then he noticed that his hands were trembling. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. This was not a time to show weakness!
The mother returned with towels and a deep dish with hot water. "We've got to get this iron girder out of her body. Do you have a pencil?" Seifer asked, taking of his coat and threw it on a chair. The mother handed him a pencil, which Seifer planted between Rinoa's teeth. "Soak the towels in water. I'll pull it out and you minimize the bleeding with the towels." Seifer instructed and planted his hands on the iron girder.
They exchanged glances, then nodded to each other. Seifer pulled and the mother practically dived over Rinoa's wounds with the towels. Rinoa's body jerked around in pain, a muffled groan escaped her jaws and her face was one of agony. Then there was a deadly silence. Rinoa didn't move, she just lied there like a life-sized doll. "SHIT!" Seifer spat, throwing the iron girder now covered with Rinoa's blood away.
Seifer placed two fingers on her neck and checked for a pulse. Nothing, he didn't feel a goddamn thing. He cursed his own stupidity and violently jerked of his leather glove before checking again. Still nothing and Rinoa's chest wasn't showing any sign of movement either. "Don't you dare die on me now! I'm not going to take this selfish shit, not even from you!" Seifer shouted out of despair and began giving mouth-to-mouth along with heart massage.
Drops of sweat dripped from Seifer's nose as he tried over and over again to bring Rinoa back. "C'mon…! Fight! Show some goddamn backbone for once!" Seifer called out as tears began popping out of his red shot eyes. Suddenly Rinoa's back jerked backwards in an arch and she coughed deeply. Seifer actually dropped flat on his butt, crying openly with relief. He rested his hand on Rinoa's neck to make sure she had a pulse. The beat that he felt on his fingertips was the best thing he'd felt in years.
Rinoa's breathing was steady, as was her pulse. Her bleeding had settled down, but she wasn't conscious just yet. Since she wasn't awake, she couldn't drink any health potions so Seifer had to go out to stock up on some cure spells, but he was reluctant to leave Rinoa in her state with a house of strangers.
The mother of the house patted Seifer on his shoulder as she noticed his troubled look. "Don't worry. She's safe here. Soundwave and his thugs were wrong to use this girl to get to Caraway." She said reassuringly. Seifer glanced up at her. "You knew…?" He stuttered. "Of course. Almost everyone in Timber belongs to a resistance cell, though some more extreme than others." She admitted. "So what does that make you?" Seifer asked, getting back on his feet. "Neither friend or foe." The mother smiled. "Great… I picked one hell of a summer to quit smoking." Seifer sighed before heading downstairs.
Seifer found what he needed just down the street and healed Rinoa the best he could with cure spells. Rinoa's wound patched up nice and clean. It hardly left a scar, though the cure spells didn't bring Rinoa back to a conscious state. "Magic is a wonderful thing, as is science, but both of them only goes so far. We better just wait and leave the rest to Hyne." The mother said while cleaning up the attic.
He nodded his agreement and took a seat on the floor next to the bed. He took Rinoa's hand in his and gently stroked it with his thumb. Wait for her to wake up, just like back then, Seifer thought. His mind began to be filled with clouds of sleep. It began to drift away, back to that time with Fujin.
In the Balamb Garden infirmary, Fujin lied on the bed, at least half a dozen life-supporting machines were hooked up to her body. Bleeping, pumping and monitoring at a dull, steady mechanical pace. Seifer sat by the side of the bed, his face buried in his hands. Fujin's head was wrapped in bandage and her injured eye was covered up as well.
He cast a glance up at the clock. 20 seconds had past since the last time he'd looked. This was going to be a long day. Dr Kadowaki came in and offered him a cup of steaming fresh coffee. He took it, but didn't drink it. For some reason he felt a little better just holding it in his trembling hands. What had he done? How was he going to live with himself after this? What was he? Some kind of sadistic monster that didn't care about others when he should?
Dr Kadowaki glanced at the monitors and studied some of the print outs more carefully before sipping her coffee. "Any news?" Seifer asked with a hoarse voice. "There's always news Seifer, however I'm not sure it's the kind of news you want to hear." Dr Kadowaki replied calmly. "I… insist." Seifer said after some thought.
She sent him a curious glance, but said nothing. Dr Kadowaki's eyes then landed on Fujin's pale, sleeping face. "Examination shows that the attacker used status magic when cutting Fujin in the eye. Unfortunately, we don't know which kind nor the dosage so we can't treat it properly." She began. Seifer wanted to cry, but fought the tears back and swallowed the emotional ball that was swelling in his throat. "Because I killed him, his junction setup was lost…" He said, feeling the tears pressing on harder than before.
Dr Kadowaki said nothing to Seifer's confession, despite that she knew that he was absolutely right. He mentally thanked her for her silence and waited for her to continue. "Because of this injury, we can't give Fujin a synthetic eye. We might not even be able to give her a glass eye either, depending on how long the healing takes." Dr Kadowaki said. Seifer tightened his grip around his coffee cup. The coffee inside was splashing around slightly, though he didn't spill a drop. "What else?" He managed to squeeze out with an effort.
The pause that followed made Seifer's heart turn to stone and sink to the bottom of the sea of emotions. The next piece of information was going to be bad, very bad. Why else hesitate? Dr Kadowaki took a long drink from her coffee cup and sighed heavily before speaking up. "Fujin has a concussion and it's bad. The longer she sleeps, the less likely it is for her to ever wake up." Seifer felt like being eaten alive from the inside and out by maggots. Rippling feeling of dying washed through his blood. What did he do wrong? What could he have done differently?
He hadn't slept since he came back from the Field Exam. The dreams wouldn't let him. Dr Kadowaki suggested either sleeping medicine or magic, but he'd declined. He was afraid that if he went to sleep now, his sanity would leave him forever. "Even if she does wake up…" Dr Kadowaki brought Seifer back to reality, even though he'd rather run away and hide from it right now. "…there's no guarantee that she will be the same. She might even be completely unsuited for SeeD."
Seifer lowered his head in complete defeat. All he wanted was to save Fujin, but instead he'd sent her off into the deep sleep before death. Perhaps it was even worse than that, maybe she'd wake up as a total vegetable or set back to infancy. She could hate him with all her heart and soul. She could even make an attempt to take his life and he'd probably let her, since right now he felt like he didn't deserve any better. Even death was too good for him.
The doors to the infirmary slid open and the Ando twins entered. "Mr Almasy, they're expecting you." The eldest said. Seifer raised his head and looked at them. He made a face and nodded before rising from his chair. As the youngest of the twins put handcuffs on Seifer, he looked over at the sleeping Fujin. This might be the last he ever saw of her. Pity, because he'd always liked her smile.
Other SeeD students step aside as the Ando twins led Seifer from the infirmary to the elevator in the main hall. Even though he had his coat over his wrists to hide the handcuffs, there was no doubt that the great Seifer Almasy was being brought to the headmaster's office in chains. Seifer glanced around at the various faces. They all had a mix of surprise, denial and disappointment on them. Even Squall showed some interest in the big, but mute commotion that took place.
Inside the elevator the twins flanked Seifer, each twin locked her arm with his. Seifer couldn't help but smile a bit at his situation. So this is what a man's got to do in order to make two women lock arms with him at the same time, he thought to himself as the elevator climbed to the third floor.
Seifer woke up because of a pinching sensation on his hand. "Humph, give it a rest. I feel like shit and need my beauty sleep." He mumbled into the bed sheets. "Oh you're just the worlds worst doctor aren't you?" Rinoa's voice called out to him from afar. "Rinoa!" He suddenly was wide-awake. Seifer sunk down a little as he noticed it was all in his head. Rinoa was still sleeping.
The mother came up with a plate of food and drink for Seifer. "How is she?" She asked as she put the plate down on the floor next to Seifer. "No change. How long have I been asleep?" He asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Half a day." The mother smiled. "Shit, and I'm supposed to be a professional." Seifer laughed despite of himself.
Rinoa looked so peaceful as she breathed at a steady rhythm, though Seifer knew that behind that calm surface, Rinoa could have terrible nightmares, reviewing the last moments before she lost consciousness over and over again. "Shouldn't you report this to general Caraway?" The mother gently suggested. Seifer nodded and found his cell phone.
Browsing though the installed numbers, Seifer felt something in his hand. It was just like… a small squeeze. "Rinoa…?" He asked her, but she didn't respond in any way. "I think she's coming around, look over her while I make the call." Seifer said and got to his feet.
Seifer stepped down the stairs and stopped halfway to speed dial general Caraway. The phone rang and Seifer was worried on how the general would react to his much-delayed report. Lying would only make matters worse. Stick to the truth and take responsibility, just like back then Seifer reminded himself as the call came through.
A stranger answered the phone. "General Caraway's residence." The stranger grumbled. "This is Seifer Almasy, I'd like to speak with general Caraway please." Seifer said, feeling increasingly nervous. This was going to go straight down to the hot place, express elevator with no additional stops, Seifer just knew it.
There was some mumbling in the background before Caraway came to the phone. "Almasy? Where the hell have you been all day! Police reported to me that there was a huge electrical surge that knocked out 30 blocks and that they found a badly burned body at the centre." Even a guy like Caraway could get bent out of shape Seifer thought before taking a breath and gave his report.
Summer came to an end and Rinoa would soon be able to leave the hospital. General Caraway had decided that they'd both move back to Deling City as soon as Rinoa's health allowed it. Seifer on the other hand was due to report back at Balamb Garden to get his Field Exam evaluated, but first he'd like to give Rinoa one last visit.
Rinoa was sitting in her bed, drawing some sketches to help pass the time when there was a knock on the door. "Come in." She said, putting her pencil and drawing aside. The door opened and Seifer stuck his head in through the crack. "Seifer! Well come on in, don't be shy." Rinoa smiled at him.
Seifer hesitated a bit. "Uhm… I've got something for you." He said a bit sheepishly. "Go on… spill the beans, you know how much I hate secrets." Rinoa teased, still smiling. Seifer opened the door a little more and a tapping sound filled the room.
In through the door walked a dog. It looked around in the room before walking up to Rinoa's bed and rested its head on the edge of the bed. It looked up at her with a pair of lost puppy eyes. "He's name is Angelo. He was meant to be put to death because he didn't have a home, so I thought…" Seifer stopped talking.
Rinoa looked up from Angelo's puppy eyed face and into Seifer's. Tears took form in the corner of her eyes and soon they drew rivers down her cheeks. "Oh Seifer, thank you." She said simply while hugging him.
They chatted a bit about Angelo, what he liked to eat, his home habits, tricks he could do and games he liked to play. Finally Rinoa found the courage to ask Seifer what she really wanted to. "So… what happens next?" She asked and at those words, the atmosphere of the room dropped considerably.
Seifer evaded her eyes for a moment before replying. "I go to my home and you go to yours." He shrugged. Rinoa shook her head in disagreement. "That's it? You just switch all of this off, like some sort of light switch?" She demanded. "We can't… keep this up, me in Balamb, you in Deling. It wouldn't work." Seifer replied, though he sounded like he spoke with a heavy heart.
Angelo whined a little and Seifer rubbed the back of his head as comfort. "If I send you letters, will you write back?" Rinoa asked, staying on the subject. "Most likely, but I don't know for how long. I might get stationed in Fisherman's Horizon over night, making all your letters piling up at Garden." Seifer pointed out.
Rinoa's face turned into a sad frown. "Is this why you got him for me?" She asked Seifer, stroking Angelo's head gently. "Partially…" He admitted, looking out the window. "What about you? Got any plans? Follow your mothers path down the musical line or…?" Seifer said, changing the subject.
Angelo ate some snacks from Rinoa's hand as she spoke. "I don't know what to do. I'm confused. So much has happened over so little time. I need time to digest it more than anything I think." She said. He nodded. "If you want something to do, why not fight for Timber's independence?" Seifer suggested.
Rinoa blinked at him. "Seriously?" She asked as if she'd heard him wrong. "Well, you don't like your dad much and the resistance fractions in Timber did help you out a lot. Might as well go as far as say that they saved your life back there." He said. Rinoa considered what he said, before declining. "I know nothing about military, tactics or that kind of thing." She said.
Seifer made a face at her reason for backing off. "Who said you need to make bombs and blow them up, or plant a sniper on a roof to take out some VIP?" He asked. "You mean there are other ways to achieve Timber's independence?" She wondered. "Sure, there's hardly a problem that doesn't have multiple solutions. Just show some backbone and go out there and get 'em." Seifer enthusiastically said.
Rinoa frowned. "Even if we do as you say, at some point we'll be forced to come into open revolt with Galbadia. That means we must become fighters sooner or later, there's just no way around it, unless you're a… sorceress." She objected. "Then become a sorceress." Seifer said simply.
Angelo followed their little debate with interest, but quickly found the edge of Seifer's coat more interesting once Rinoa started laughing. "Just like that, huh? Become a sorceress, over night? I wish I had your confidence." She said once she'd calmed down. "Another option is of course to hire SeeD to do the fighting for you." Seifer said, pouting a bit because Rinoa was still struggling to keep a straight face.
Rinoa started laughing even more when hearing that. "Hire SeeD! HE, HE, HE, HA, HA, HA! Oh darn that hurts, my tummy! Gils don't grow on trees Seifer. There's no way I can raise enough money to hire a SeeD to do my fighting, let alone a small squad." Rinoa laughed so hard, she almost flopped herself out of bed.
"Look, should it ever come to that I'll put in a good word for you with my headmaster. He's a kind-hearted man, so if you got to talk to him rather than those asses in administration, you might get lucky. You don't get any SeeD's if you don't try anyway." Seifer said, reaching out to Rinoa with his hand, worried that she might actually fall out of bed.
Rinoa wiped her tears away, still giggling a little before calming down. "That's true, nothing comes out of not trying. But I need to find a group and get familiar with it and everything…" She said. "Don't sweat it. Only chance you've at getting inside Garden and meet the headmaster is at the graduation ball. Unless someone passes their Field Exam this semester, there won't be another one until next year. That should be enough time, right?" Seifer replied.
Before she could answer, Seifer's cell phone buzzed into life. "Excuse me a moment." He said before stepping away from the bed and answering the phone. "Yes?" "Seifer? This is Quistis speaking. I just wanted to tell you that I now function as your instructor and would like to have you back at Garden by this evening. If you take the 13:15 train you should make it." Quistis babbled on. "Instructor's licence, eh? Wonder how Mr Leonhart feels about that." Seifer couldn't pass on a chance to pull Quistis leg. "Just get back to Garden Seifer, I'll send Xu to pick you up." Quistis said before hanging up. "Eh? No wait, not Xu…!" Seifer objected in vain.
"Time to say goodbye?" Rinoa asked from the bed. "Looks like it." Seifer sighed. He looked at Rinoa who had that sad frown again. "I could say something incredible cheesy to make you feel better, but nothing comes to mind so I'll just settle with: I'll see you when I see you." With that, he left and didn't look back.
Rear-viewSame old, same old so I'll just skip the blah, blah part and get on with it, 'kay?
Why I wrote this thing:
Basically I heard a song titled "Still Here" preformed by Kristian Valen. The song itself is very, very cheesy, but somehow it worked. A part of the lyrics really stood out. It went as follows:
Are you slipping away?
This is hard for me to say
I'm barely holding on
So scared of the unknown
I'm still here
Holding your hand
Close your eyes
I'll stay beside you
I'm still here
I won't let them find you
I'll be lying right here by your side
Even though my heart is breaking
Seeing you like this
I'll face it
Don't be afraid
You're not alone
With this in the back of my head, along with the melody to set the emotional mood for the overall story, I began doing my thing (writing in case you haven't noticed by now). I really wanted to get under Seifer's skin, to experiment with the relationship between Seifer and Fujin. There's defiantly something there, as clearly demonstrated when Fujin starts talking normally to Seifer at the end of disc 3.
The initial idea was that Fujin and Raijin joined SeeD the same year Zell did (at age 13-14). From day one, Fujin and Raijin looked up to Seifer 'cause he's Garden's number one student, and Squall's senior (hey, numbers don't lie. Squall is 17 and Seifer is 18, so shut your noise hole).
Then there was to establish the basis for their future relationship, the one we see hinted in the game when you talk/confront Fujin and Raijin. I combined this with the fact that Seifer, for whatever reason, fails his SeeD Field Exams (Xu has even lost count of how many attempts Seifer has made). Also I added in a reason for why Fujin is missing one eye and talk the way she does (knife cut and concussion).
It is the guilt and the trauma from the very first Field Exam that, in this version, prevents Seifer from passing his Field Exams. Basically, he gets afraid, then angry over his own weakness and losses his temper, which again results in reckless actions and decisions.
This whole thing plays out as bad dreams, the trauma surfaces every time Seifer is to take a Field Exam. Yes, Seifer is arrogant, he's cocky and generally speaking an ass from head to toe, BUT I dare say that it is merely a public mask he wears. Edea did hit a nerve when she called Seifer a boy at their first meeting in the Timber TV station, remember?
Also, I wanted to experiment with the whole Rinoa & Seifer setting. I'm sure it's been done dozen of times before, but who cares? Each time is a new time sort of speak (meaning you should read all of 'em… groan). I might have missed a bit on the part where Rinoa and Seifer began getting close, but the general idea is that after "the spell" on Rinoa's house got broken, she went to Seifer for safety. Rinoa being Rinoa, managed to stir Seifer's emotions a tad as well (hey, if you can bring romance into a guy like Squall's life, you're DAMN good), though in this case they end as good friends that COULD have ended up as lovers.
Fujin & Raijin:
They're just mentioned in the beginning, though a past version of Fujin, before she lost her eye and her normal speech (and behaviour?) is seen in Seifer's dreams.
Quistis & Squall:
Again, they're mentioned just in the beginning to keep the standard faces of Balamb Garden present. Also the fact that Quistis is working hard to get her instructor's licence gives you an idea of where in the FFVIII timeline this story takes place.
Ando twins:
They just came out of nowhere! Still they turned out pretty cool. Might wanna use 'em at a later date. Oh, and the whole deal with blowing away junction setup… it's not total BS. Griever has that power and I think he's the only one too or maybe Ultimecia has it as well, or gets it when she junctions with Griever at the start of the 3rd stage of the final battle. ANYWAYS… Griever can only knock away 1 stat at the time, whilst the Ando twins can smack the whole shebang in one blow.
General Caraway:
I never got a real good fix on this guy, so I settled with somewhere in-between loving father, mourning widower and veteran from the sorceress war against Adel. He loves Rinoa, make no mistake about that. However, he's a soldier and a damn good one at that. So there isn't much that ranks higher than duty for him. Maybe because duty is all that he has left after Rinoa began despising him and he lost Julia in a car crash. The fact that he loves Rinoa, even if she doesn't care for him, leaves Rinoa with mixed feelings. She hates him for his uniform, but loves him for his heart. Torn between the two must be most disturbing, especially at that age (16-17).
Seifer Almasy:
"Seifer's just being an ass. All you have to do is ignore him." Zell advised Squall just before they learned that Seifer was going to be their squad leader. When I watched an anime show called Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO for short), there was one episode that took on the source of bullying, why bullies are "born" if you will. In the anime series case, the bully was a girl and the bullied was a boy. The girl had a big brother that took it out on her whenever their father gave him a hard time ("These grades stink! What am I paying your school for!" and he "kidnapped" her favourite doll and later tore it to shreds). The girl found out that she picked on the kid in her class because she was afraid. Like master Yoda in Star Wars says: "You're afraid. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate and hate leads to the Dark Side."
This all made sense, but I needed something that Seifer was afraid of. And in came Fujin. I already suggested the idea that Fujin and Seifer were close because of Seifer feeling responsible for making Fujin who she is in the game (one eye missing and odd talking) to Eden (my unofficial co-writer for those of you who don't remember my rear-view talk in my "Dance Mr Leonhart" fan-fic. Shame on you BTW). Much to my delight, she liked the idea so I went with it. Okay, I'm a simple guy. Big deal…
Rinoa Heartilly:
I was scrolling through the info section in FFVIII's game menu when I stumbled over one of the definitions of SeeD. There it said that SeeD mainly did either open confrontation stuff, like the Dollet Field Exam in the game, or undercover work. I figured I just wanted to add a little body guarding to the record just for show.
Rinoa is given Angelo mainly because she's now gotten used to having someone like Seifer, who's strong and acting as a protector (DUH! He was her bodyguard…). However, Seifer can't sit and hold her hand forever (Squall will take care of that ), so he gives her Angelo. He can be taught tricks that oddly enough is handy in combat and he's mans best friend to boot. Not the same as Prince Charming Leonhart, but it will do until the SeeD graduation ball next year, right Ms Heartilly?
Healing magic & items:
Some of you guys might frown over a few things. "Why didn't Seifer just cast cure, Cura or Curaga on Fujin/Rinoa, HUH!" or maybe "Why didn't Seifer just use Phoenix down or full life!" Well, all for the sake of a little drama. Besides, IMO Phoenix down, revive, full life and all that other "back from the dead" stuff is strictly for GAMEPLAY reasons ONLY. If you're dead, you're dead. You can't be brought back to life just-like-that. If that were possible, surely Laguna would revive Raine or Rinoa her mum, right? Right! No? Then stop complaining. Sheesh…
Tiny Guardian Forces:
I just wanted them to be a little bit more than just big-assed guns that blow away everything within miles and miles. Like, when configuring your junctioning, you actually talk to a mini version of a fully summoned GF as that's the sucker that's controlling the whole system. In fact, it IS the system. Of course it could be argued that only the person with the GF junctioned should be able to see the mini avatar, but screw it. Besides, when Seifer tries to cheer Rinoa up with some static electricity, I just can't help laughing.
Length:
It only got so long because basically I'm telling two stories in one. Seifer's dreams and Seifer's second last Field Exam (his last being the one in Dollet, with Squall and Zell tagging along just to impress the girls).
Typos & grammar:
English isn't my main language (though its on a good second, as you might have noticed by now), hence there will be some typos and grammar errors scattered about. I try to keep them down to a minimum, but I fear that they'll always be around in my fan fics (unless someone bother's to hunt them down that is). If you think this is bad, you should read my Japanese writings. Now THEY suck.
Legal disclaimer:
Such a bore, but here we go (don't wanna get sued y'know); I don't own Final Fantasy VIII (no matter how much I'd like to). It's cast, character design, world, locations, items, music, and generally speaking the whole shebang (aside from a few so-called "original" characters and locations placed in this fan fic by me) belongs to Square-Enix. Hats off for you guys, and keep 'em high quality games coming if you please.