Chapter One
Ten Years Later

The Ultima Affair had taken its toll on him. The mirror no longer beheld an arrogant, fiery lad, full of dreams of life, but reflected a boy aged beyond his years, with dull green eyes and only a whisper of what he use to be. Angrily Seifer turned away from the mirror, ashamed of whom he was, of what he had become. A lapdog, the Sorceress Knight, a fool. He was lucky to be alive. Galbadia had wanted his head on a platter, but it was Matron and the 'heroes' who had stepped in and spoken for him, claiming that he too, was processed, and could not be held accountable for his actions. Which was true. He was let off without a trial, and had fled to Esthar, where he had remained in hiding since then. Just because he was allowed to go free, it didn't mean that he was forgiven, and there was a few out there that had tried to extract their own revenge, all falling beneath Seifer and his beloved Hyperion. Since he arrived, he had hit a new low in his life, and had dabbled with drugs and alcohol, leading to an addiction. He had nowhere to go, and no one to help him. He hadn't felt this hapless since his was a young boy, unsure of what his fate would be. He walked across the dirt covered floor to his bed, which was in reality nothing more than a mouldy mattress covered in an even moulder sheet, complete with a moth eaten blanket. He flung across the bed and thought of his options. He could do 3 things A) go and live with Cid and Edea in Centra Islands until he was back on his feet, B) find a way back home or C) crawl back to Garden and hope that they would take him back. Not much choice. He sighed. Option A was out. Cid and Edea would gladly take him back in, but despite helping him when the Ultima Affair was over, he could not bring himself to go near Edea. Whenever he looked at her, he would remember what had happened to him when Ultima had them both under her control. Her cruel smile, her hands reaching out towards him, the pain that filled his body and tore at his mind while she whispered pretty words in his ear... no. He couldn't cope with the memories now, it would be worse around her, no matter how much they tried. There was no way that he could return home – it was too dangerous for him still, and besides, if he had that kinda money, he wouldn't be living in this hell hole. That left option C) crawling back to Garden. The thought of begging garden to take him back left a sour taste in his mouth, but he had to do what was necessary to regain himself. Silently he packed up the few possessions that he owned – a set of clothes, Hyperion and the choker that his father gave him before he died. Placing the choker back on, he walked out of the cockroach infected building and started to cross the badly lit street when...
BANG!
And then there was darkness.



"I told you to slow down, but no, you had to go fast didn't you. Now you just hit and nearly killed one of the people your meant to be helping," said a voice.
Another voice spoke. "Oh man, I said I was sorry, I didn't mean to hit him, and he's still alive" The other voice scoffed. "Huh barely. If you had just decided to stay back at the Palace instead of hooning around the back streets of Esthar, he would be going where ever he was going, and we wouldn't be in this mess."
"Oh stop getting your undies in a twist Kiros. This is easily fixed. All we have to do is take him back to the Palace, fix him back up, give him a decent meal and send him on his way. No problems!"
The other voice sighed. "Very well Laguna, but not a word about this to anyone, especially Squall. Your son would not be very pleased with you..."
Huh, Laguna? Kiros? eh what? Squall's whose son?
"...Ward, come grab the boy and Laguna watch out for the..."
"Ouch!"
"... curb." Another sigh. Then blackness again.