Disclaimer- FF8 and all of its characters belong to the Almighty Square Enix – still!

Chapter 1

BALAMB GARDEN – BALAMB 1730 HRS

"This is no ordinary attack! This is the third one this week! Not to mention all the other constant attacks reported for the past 2 weeks! I don't think that this latest one is just a coincidence! No matter how far apart the incidences took place!" Cid Kramer was getting nervous. There had been almost 10 reports of random attacks around the world in different towns and cities and yet nobody had any clue as to who was responsible for these carnages. There was no warning whatsoever. As recounted by the survivors of the incidents, they were living their routine lives when suddenly a group of four men wearing black rampage their villages, towns or cities and destroy everything. Families were separated, friends were brutally killed. And before any types of rescue teams or reinforcements could arrive, they disappeared without a trace. The SEEDs, the Galbadian Elite Forces, and the Estharian army had been on the case for two whole weeks and all they could deduce is that all these assaults are convicted by the same group of people.

"Four men! It wouldn't be long before they would run through our doors and cause the same rackets! Do you have no clue as to who they are and what is going on?" Cid's eyes scan the faces in the room like a hawk. "DAMN IT! SQUALL, QUISTIS, ANSWER ME! I can't believe it! I have two brilliant SEEDs here with me and none of them has a clue as to what is going on!"

Squall glanced over at his second in command. Quistis glared at him, daring him to speak, yet threatening him at the same time. Squall shook his head and sighed. "Allow me to speak, sir."

"WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M WAITING FOR!" Cid yelled his face red with anger. "SPEAK!"

"Squall…" Quistis spoke out in a stern voice, urging him to stop.

"IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO SAY TO ME, YOU MIGHT AS WELL JUST SHUT UP, TREPE!" Cid cut her off.

Quistis crossed her arms and turned away from him with a frown on her face. She hated it when the headmaster gets angry with her. He'd be so hard to reason with whenever he gets angry. But what she and Squall were experiencing today is something so much more than just 'anger'. It was anger mixed with frustration, annoyance, irritation and impatience all together.

"Although none of the survivors we've met had seen the faces of these men, there was however one old man from Timber who had seen the face of one of them, sir…" And as he said this, he glanced over at Quistis, whose expression had suddenly turned stoic. Squall let out a sigh.

"Continue!" Commanded Cid.

"From the description he gave us, it is likely that one of these men is…"

"I'm LISTENING commander!"

And Squall couldn't help but glanced over at Quistis once more as he said this, "Seifer."

"Sir, Seifer has no reason to go around killing people this way!" Quistis protested.

"He did it once, he could do it again!" argued Squall.

"Squall! We talked about this! He was POSESSED!"

"Oh yeah? He sure as hell didn't sound like he was POSESSED!" he mocked. "And why are you all protective over him all of a sudden anyways?"

"I am not being protective on his behalf!" she argued. "I know my students, Squall. Seifer isn't someone who would do such a thing!"

Squall snorted. "Whatever."

"Enough you two! Alright then, Squall, if you truly believe that Almasy is behind this then I want him captured immediately! In whatever condition, dead or alive! This havoc has got to stop!" Commanded Cid before he walked out of the room.

"Alright then, my second in command, since you're so convinced that your beloved ex-student is as innocent as you claimed him to be, I want you to lead a team of 3 party members and track him down! That way I could perhaps lead you out of the dark!" ordered Squall.

"Excuse me, but Almasy is anything but a beloved ex-student of mine! He is an annoying pain in the ass! But no matter how much of a pain he is, he, just like SOMEBODY who is ALSO a pain in the ass at times, is not a blood-thirsty man!" countered Quistis. "For Hyne's sake have some faith in your own childhood friend Squall!"

"Whatever. Tomorrow morning, you set out for this mission." And he walked out of the room.

"If Seifer is as evil as you viewed him to be, I will be the one to bring him down!" She shouted after him before sitting down on the sofa of her office forcefully, crossing her arms and frowned. She picked up the case files from the coffee table and start reading them over again for the 5th time since she'd received them this morning.

"It isn't Seifer." She read over the description of the attackers given by the old man once more. No matter how much she hated him, no matter how cocky and arrogant he was, Seifer is not a killer, and she of all people, should know. He was her student! And once upon a time, he was her friend. He was one of them. But that was not the only reason Quistis was convinced that the man described by the old man named Brad was not Seifer. According to Fuujin and Raijin, Seifer is supposedly living a peaceful life in Fisherman Horizon. He has no reason to go around killing people, does he? She shook her head to try and stop thinking about this issue. After all, she had many other things to sort out. She has 5 teams of SEEDs dispatched at all the sites to check on, and 3 meetings to attend before setting out for a mission herself tomorrow morning. She doesn't need more trouble, especially one called 'Seifer Almasy'.

"Whatever Seif. If you're really behind all of this, I promise you, I'll be your downfall."

A/N: Phew – first chapter done! Sorry about the grammar " haha – I'm still working on it – my English I mean. So what do you guys think about this? – Plz review