And now, the answer to Seifer's question:
Disclaimer: I've done this 34 times. Please tell me that you guys know that I don't own anything!
Chapter Thirty-Five
Family Time
Squall looked down at his wet clothes then cast a guilty look over at Rinoa. She returned it with a shrug.
"Never mind," Squall muttered. He tried to ignore Seifer's snort.
"So what are we gonna do?" Irvine asked. "No, wait. Let me rephrase that. How many times are we going to come up with something to do only to have something that happens to set us back again?" Squall drummed his fingers on the table to get everyone's attention. He deliberately ignored the question that Irvine put in front of him.
"Okay, I think I have a plan," Squall started.
"Wait a minute! Before we go into any plans or anything, I want some answers and want them now. Now I don't normally demand a lot of things, but I'm demanding right now! Something is going on that you all aren't telling!" He pointed at Squall, Rinoa, Quistis, and Seifer. For once, the president didn't look too happy.
Squall turned his gaze to Seifer. "Do you care to explain?" His voice was quiet yet pinpointing. He nodded. He owed it to them all, at least.
"Well?" Laguna asked. He was losing his patience. Seifer drew in a deep breath.
"First of all, the one you're dealing with is not Ultimecia." The looks that he received from the other party that didn't know were quite hilarious. "No joke. It's actually her daughter Rianna. Rianna is a Natural-born sorceress. She was born with her powers. She didn't receive them from any other sorceress. Because her mother was an extremely powerful and uncontrollable sorceress, her powers created Rianna. That process is extremely rare, but when it does happen, it's extremely deadly. Rianna has powers that are truly unbelievable. With the power she has, she could destroy the world without Time-Compression. She has got to be stopped."
"A Natural- born sorceress? That doesn't seem, well, authentic." Laguna replied, in doubt. "How do you defeat a sorceress like that?"
"Well, a Natural-born sorceress is almost the exact opposite of a normal sorceress. It's kinda of strange that she has all this unimaginable power, but she hasn't really done anything yet. But anyway, the one thing that has a major effect on her is simple. Surprise, yet destructive attack." Seifer replied.
"What? You mean attack with weapons?" Zell wondered, rapping his knuckles on the thick, wooden table.
"Not really. Remember, Natural-born sorceresses are the exact opposite."
"An emotional attack maybe?" Squall looked at Seifer very curiously.
"Exactly. I happen to know what Rianna desires. I know at least one of her weaknesses. She may be all-powerful, but even the most powerful of individuals have dangerous weaknesses. I can help you in that area." Seifer smiled, a smile that had not been seen in two years. It was a real smile.
"But why are you so willing to help now? Two years ago you did everything in your power to try and stop us. Why now?" Irvine asked, slightly slamming his hand down on the table. Everyone else couldn't help but nod in agreement with him.
Seifer sighed. Did he have to explain everything over and over? "I'm just sick of doing all the dirty work. I don't want to see my friends or my home get hurt. I know I never showed it before, but I guess you guys are my friends." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his face burning.
Quistis smiled at him. He was so embarrassed now. There was a very long silence following Seifer's confession.
"Seifer, you said that physical attacks won't have any effect but emotional attacks will. Why's that?" Squall asked. He had changed the subject as quickly as humanly possible.
Seifer looked up to meet everyone's questioning eyes. "Well, physical attacks can be used to a certain extent but you're warned against it because she can counter them with an evil approach. Using an emotional attack tactically will work better because she isn't emotionally stable."
"What? She's not emotionally stable? Elaborate please!" Selphie exclaimed, finding this way too complicated for her.
"Well, because she was neglected as a child, she happens to have a harder heart than a normal human. Play your cards right and if you can get inside, you can wreck havoc and bring her down. But it'll take some work. You see she yearns for something she can't have because of who and what she is. She desires to feel wanted." Seifer explained as best he could.
"Wanted? What exactly do you mean by wanted?" Laguna inquired. He was afraid of where this conversation might be headed.
"What do you think?" he answered, somewhat mischievously.
The rest of the meeting went on with the discussion of the new and very dangerous menace Rianna. Laguna and Squall both stayed very quiet. This just didn't seem right.
"I'd like to talk with you in private. Want to go for a walk?" Laguna leaned over and whispered to Squall, practically unnoticed by anyone. Squall nodded.
"Hey guys! I've just had an idea. You guys try to get as much info as you can on Rianna and these Natural-born sorceresses. Seifer, tell them everything. No secrets, okay?" Laguna waited so it could all sink in. "Squall's going to come with me. I think I've got a plan." Laguna motioned to Squall and the two walked out.
"So how much of that do you think was bogus?" Irvine whispered to Rinoa. She shrugged.
Once out of the room, Laguna relaxed somewhat.
"They didn't buy it. I know they didn't," Laguna shook his head, pretty much ashamed of what he had done.
"Well, do you blame them? You lied right through your teeth!" Squall replied as he and Laguna headed away from the President's quarters.
"Do you think Seifer knows we don't quite trust him?" Laguna didn't want to talk on this exact subject with Squall.
"Sir, it's more than obvious," Squall retorted.
Squall and Laguna walked in silence until they found an empty room.
It was a small room, unused like many in the huge palace. The room was quite bare with the exception of a small table and some chairs. It was probably a room used by guards for various reasons.
"Would you like to know how much I truthfully distrust Seifer?" Laguna asked. Well, he had already started this subject. He might as well finish it up. Squall shrugged before hesitating and then nodded.
"Well, it's not entirely Seifer, but he's part of the reason. Until we find a way to destroy this Rianna, now this is assuming that what Seifer is telling is true; none of you are leaving Esthar. I'll be moving you all into separate rooms and you'll stay here until we find some plan that is effective. He doesn't have the best reputation, and I cannot allow this to get any worse than it already is," Laguna told him, keeping his voice as even as possible.
"So, in other words, you're going to keep us locked up as prisoners here in Esthar?" Squall asked with a notable amount of sarcasm in his tone, almost mockingly.
Laguna sighed. He would actually be brain dead to try to lock up a bunch of SeeDs. "Well, no. I just don't want any of you to get hurt. You're all my family to me."
"Sir, we'll be fine. With all due respect, we're trained for this sort of thing. There's nothing to worry about. We can handle this situation. We're professionals," Squall tried to convince the worrisome President.
"True, but remember, even professionals can make mistakes," Laguna countered. Squall rolled his eyes.
"No, Squall. Son, don't roll your eyes at me! I worry. I worry about all of you, but I worry the most about you. You're my son. This may seem weird, or even strange, but I can see bits of myself in you. It's the little things, son. The little things that stand out. You look some much like your mother, and I'm grateful for that. You are the only thing that I have left of her. There's only so much you can do with a picture. It can't talk back to you. It pains me so much that I couldn't watch you grow up. I never got to see your first steps, or hear your first word. Matron told me all about your growing up, but it's not the same as being there. You have no idea of how much I wish that I could change the past, but I know that I can't. There is nothing I can do to bring your mother back. She's gone forever, but I know that she watching over you and me both. When I look to the sky, I can almost see her beautiful eyes smiling back at me. I may not have been the best father in the world. But I do try. Give me some credit, and please, don't hate me for my bad mistakes. Your painful past is my entire fault. It was a chain reaction that started years and years ago. When I made that decision to not go back with Ellone, I started a chain of bad events that all happened to you. I will take the blame for everything. I want to take it all back. I want to change it all for the better, but that just isn't possible. I'm sorry. I wish I could do better." Laguna fought with himself to continue to talk and stare Squall in the eyes.
"It's not your fault. If you want to blame anyone, blame fate. But I can thank you for one thing: If you hadn't left Deling City to go to the army or not visited Raine, I wouldn't know Rinoa. I want to thank you for that. But don't put the blame on yourself." Squall found that it took some effort to say thank you to this man who was his biological father. "It also doesn't help that I'm not used to this."
"What? Not used to what?" Laguna asked curiously. Squall almost looked embarrassed.
"Well, not used to this. It's this situation that I'm in now. I was so used to being alone for so long, but then, I met Rinoa, and then everything just turned upside-down. I found myself with a group of people that I now openly call my friends. And to top things off, my father shows up. As I said, I'm not used to this." He looked away, no longer able to look at this man.
Laguna smiled at that. Squall had told him something he had never told anyone else. Now, it was his turn.
"Squall, I know that I haven't been the World's Greatest Dad, but, as you said, I'm not familiar with this situation before either. Nobody told me I had a son until a couple of hours before you and the others showed up here. Nobody told me how to be a father, how I was supposed to act, and nobody certainly told me it would be this hard. But I just want you to know, for all it's worth, that you are my son, and I love you as a father should." Laguna did a brave thing then. He leaned over and hugged Squall. Squall couldn't believe that Laguna was acting this way. He didn't know what to say.
"You don't have to be the World's Greatest Dad. As long as you're there, I can accept that. Don't hate yourself over things that are out of your power. You can't make fate move in the way that you want it to. Don't try to change the past. Things may not be perfect, but they're nearly there now. You're my father and you don't have to try so hard." Squall muttered. He felt Laguna grip his shoulder before he let him go.
"So you don't hate me then?" he asked, hiding tears. A grown man shouldn't have to cry.
"I don't hate you. It wasn't your fault. What has happened to me in the past, happened for a reason. I don't regret anything. It's pointless to regret it. You shouldn't either," Squall answered truthfully.
"Thank you."
Squall and Laguna just stayed in that little room talking for hours.
At about quarter 'til eleven, Laguna insisted that Squall get some sleep.
"We probably still don't have a plan, but we'll work something out tomorrow. Everyone should get some sleep." Laguna stood to stretch out his limbs and then headed over to the door.
"Does everyone know that we have new rooms?" Squall asked, following Laguna.
"By now they should. I made this decision while dinner was being prepared," was his answer.
Squall and Laguna talked only for a while longer. The conversation ended when Laguna told him where his room was and the two parted for the night.
Squall walked down the hall and realized he never asked Laguna where Rinoa was staying…
Laguna reached the hall to his quarters to find that he had forgotten to tell Squall something.
"Oh, well. He'll find out soon enough." Laguna muttered to himself. He entered his dark room. Everyone had gone to bed. Tonight would be a very long night for some of them. Not many of them trusted Seifer. What he said didn't make much sense. Seifer had been known to be untrustworthy and destructive. Right now, Laguna feared for everyone's safety. Especially Rinoa's. Seifer had tried to kill her last time, and he was surprised that Squall looked so cool about it.
Laguna sat down at his desk with a cup of coffee. Could Seifer truly be on their side? Was he really trying to help, or was this just some sort of twisted trick? Even if it wasn't, they couldn't take any chances.
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Squall opened the door to his new room to find Rinoa sitting in a chair. She looked a little shaken up.
"Hey," was all he said. He figured Laguna put them in the same room together.
"Hi. Laguna put us together," Rinoa spoke very softly. She was tired but scared to sleep. She was still very much afraid of Seifer and had a very good reason to be.
Squall moved over to her and, very uncharacteristically, hugged her.
"You're scared, aren't you?" he asked, sitting on the arm of the chair. She slowly nodded.
"I still feel uncomfortable around him. Every time I see him I think of what happened two years ago. He tried to kill me. I don't think that's something you can just forget about. I don't trust him." She hung her head and gripped her hands, nervously.
Squall took her hands in his before she squeezed them off.
"He's not going to hurt you again. I promise. I'll break every bone in his body before he lays even a finger on you," Squall told her bitterly. Maybe his and Seifer's differences weren't settled.
"You're still mad about that, aren't you?" Rinoa asked, quietly.
"Huh?" Squall was surprised by her question. "Mad? What do you mean?"
"At Seifer. You've tried to be nice to him. But every time you look at him, I can see an undying hatred behind your eyes. It's scary in a way. You're always on guard now, and you never sleep. You don't trust him, do you?" Rinoa watched him stare at the wall. He was thinking.
"No. No, I don't trust him. Can you blame me? I don't trust him because I'm afraid of what he might do. Laguna doesn't trust him either. We're just not sure if he's really on our side or playing a nasty trick. Hell, he could be working for his own benefit from the best of both worlds. We're not even sure if there is such a thing as a Natural-born sorceress." Squall stood and walked over to the window.
The sky outside was black and bleak. Not a star shone in the sky.
Eternal darkness was coming.
A/N: Hey, all! For you guys out there, who are Seifer fans, please don't think that I am bullying up on poor Mr. Almasy. When I played the game and got to where he wanted to junction Rinoa and Adel together, I took that as attempted murder, and you will see that in my other stories. You'll see soon why I've been targeting him. He does a very bad thing. But I'm not going to give it away. And the thing with Squall and Laguna, that was something I remember that I wanted to put in there. I had to alter it a little though. What I had originally written down wasn't too comprehendible. Well, that's it for me. 'Night, peeps! But ultimately Later Days!
E/N: I'll tell you what the bad thing is! He gets Rinoa pregnant and has a secret mind device that controls the Ruby Widow, and when he tries to destroy Esthar with the Ruby Widow he accidentally blows up all the hotdogs in the world! NOOO! And then Irvine gets magically teleported to China where he learns Martial Arts and whoops Seifer's butt and the earth randomly explodes. -goofy grin-