Fortunate Nuisance

Chapter 2

With a gasp, Selphie awoke from her recurring dream. Or rather nightmare. Thoughts of Seifer haunted her day and night. It seemed that nothing she could do could get him out of her head. But really, she couldn't possibly think that she could forget about it. After all, despite Seifer being the sorceress' knight and all, he was still an undeniable part of her life. Not necessarily a good part of her life, but a part nonetheless.

What Selphie found worst of all was that he was suffering. Probably from something that Selphie could never imagine facing by herself. She had no doubt he was alone. If he still had Fuijin and Raijin, then they were within a couple of meters of him, or else not at all.

Always, the look in Seifer's eyes after Selphie had lit the jacket with the lighter was what disturbed her the most. She regretted deeply having to leave him just sitting there in the dark alleyway, but she could hear her friends approaching. It didn't seem like a really good idea at the time for the rest of the gang to find Seifer. She was unsure still how they would react to find him alive and in his current condition.

Sighing, Selphie threw her sheets aside and slipped her feet into a pair of soft yellow chocobo slippers. She made her way to the washroom to begin her morning routine.

Today was to be their last day in Esthar. And this added a certain weight to her shoulders. This would mean that she would be leaving Seifer behind for sure. Disliking the thought of this, she made sure she would do something about it today. As she brushed her teeth, she began to think of trustworthy people that could accompany her.

She started with Squall, and immediately crossed him off on her mental list of people. Zell, definitely no. Quistis, possibly. And Irvine, would just make more trouble than she needed if he came along, so it was a no for him as well.

In the end however, she decided that it would be better off if she just kept Seifer to herself for now.

Commence mission: Help Seifer. Selphie thought to herself. But as she did this, another problematic thought arose.

Where would she find Seifer?

- -

"I'll be back,"

Those words floated around and around in his head as he went in and out of consciousness. Of the few moments that he was free from his torment, he could remember a presence. From the voice that he heard in his head, he could tell it was a female. These few words offered to him gave him hope. Hope that someone still cared. Despite his reassurance to himself that he could handle himself just fine, he knew deep down that he was breaking down from the inside whether he liked it or not.

Ultimecia was without a doubt still living. Or at least in Seifer's mind she was. He was not sure which it was. If she was real, or just a fragment of his imagination. He rubbed the back of his hands over his eyes as he struggled to regain his senses. When he finally felt somewhat like himself, he pushed himself off of the small sleeping bag in which is called his bed. With light seeping in through the crack of his door, he could tell that it was still day outside.

For a moment, Seifer was blinded when he flung the only door of his "home" open. For days now, all he had been able to think about was that voice. He couldn't exactly remember what happened. Mostly just a sense of something burning, and not much more.

Confusion was constant for him. He couldn't distinguish whether these memories were real or just part of a dream induced by Ultimecia's presence.

Luckily for Seifer, there had been someone willing to employ him in Esthar. The job paid barely enough for him to just scrape by, but something, he felt was better than nothing. He couldn't really believe how much he had changed throughout the whole sorceress ordeal. If anyone would have told him before that he'd end up this way, he'd probably take it as an offense and would have landed a pretty good punch anywhere where it'd leave the person sprawled on the ground.

Sighing, he continued making his way to a small factory in which he loaded and unloaded materials to be delivered. He did nothing to stop his depressing train of thought. He was thankful that at the moment he was at least free to think. Depressing thoughts and all.

- -

For what seemed like the millionth turn she took, Selphie just could not manage to find Seifer anywhere. She had even been reduced to asking around. As little as she liked the idea. The last thing she needed was people knowing that the sorceress' knight was in Esthar. But really now, he was so unrecognizable now that people could probably pass him on the street and not even know it.

One more turn and Selphie found herself in a not so nice part of Esthar. But the sight of someone ahead of her made her continue, and even pick up speed. Eventually she found herself almost in a full out sprint.

The man in front of her was exactly what she was looking for. A tall, blonde, and now thin man. When she finally reached him, she grabbed for his arm and spun him around to face her. She couldn't help but be shocked at what she saw. Seifer did not look like Seifer anymore, still, the man before her was Seifer.

Selphie watched as his eyes grew big, and seem to pop out of his head since he lost so much weight as he took her in.

"Selphie!" He finally exclaimed. After he did this though, he seemed to grow uncomfortable as he began to shift from one leg to the other as he stood while running his and through his rather long hair now. He looked anywhere but at her.

"I've been looking all over for you," Selphie finally stated.

"You have?"

"Yeah, well, actually," the small brunette paused, "are you going somewhere?"

"Work,"

"Let's walk and talk then,"

Selphie was unsure of what to do next. She had pretty much been buying herself time and stalling ever since she stopped Seifer. She wanted to help him, but she did not know how to approach it without insulting the man. Knowing Seifer, she was pretty sure he'd first of all, downright refuse her help, and then storm off angrily.

But nonetheless, they began to walk. Selphie found it slightly unnerving to be walking next to a silent Seifer. Definitely not what she had been used to.

"Seifer, you know...that day?" Selphie began hesitantly.

"What day? There are lots of days," Seifer said, unable to help but get a little annoyed.

"The auction day," she glanced over at Seifer to gauge his reaction as she said this. She got the exact opposite of what she expected. It was not anger, frustration, or anything related, but confusion. They stopped in their tracks.

"You know, your jacket?" Selphie tried. Still, she saw no recognition spark in his deep green eyes.

Seifer knew now, that something happened. He just couldn't remember exactly what. Silently, he cursed his mind's choice of things to forget.

"Look, unless you have a point, I need to get to work," Seifer gritted out. Both frustrated at Selphie's lack of information and at himself for being so mentally unstable.

"Don't you remember?" The brunette tried desperately on more time. Then she remembered she still had the lighter Seifer had given her. Reaching into the pocket of her yellow dress, she pulled it out and showed it to him. For a while, he merely just squinted at the object, then suddenly he snatched it from her hand.

"Where did you get this?" He asked in a rather menacing tone. Despite the harsh tone which inflicted a little fear into her, Selphie still felt glad that he was still able intimidating despite the changes.

"You gave it to me,"

"When?"

"After the auction,"

"Damnit, Tilmitt, what auction?" Seifer finally shouted in frustration.

Then another shout reverberated down the street. A short burly man bustled out of a building that could easily have been mistook for being abandoned. He approached the pair all the while leering at Seifer.

"Get yo' ass to work!" He shouted. Selphie could see the spit that flew out of his mouth and hit Seifer somewhere on his chest. The man was about Selphie's height. Seifer glared back at the man for a few seconds before he began to walk towards the building the man had exited from earlier. The short man spat a few more insults at Seifer before he finally turned his attention to Selphie.

His beady dark eyes took her in from head to toe. He seemed to like what he saw as a large grin appeared on his greasy unshaven face.

"Hm, now what would a nice young lady like you be doin' with a worthless piece of shit like him, huh?" The man asked, leaning in towards Selphie and invading her personal space.

Selphie resisted the urge to gag at his horrible breath. She opened her mouth to retort back, but was cut short as she felt the man's hands running along her arms.

At that point, Selphie had enough of this man. She pushed the man back rather violently, cursing to herself that she did not bring her nunchaku's with her. The man however, did not take this well, and advanced towards Selphie in a more aggressive manner. At first, Selphie was able to fight the man's hands off, but the short man proved to be stronger than Selphie thought as he soon had her held against the wall by her throat.

Gasping for air, she tried desperately to call for help, but her voice refused to sound. She tried to push the man off as best as she could, but the man had pushed his body against hers, leaving her with little space for her arms to gather strength and push him off.

The horrible stench of the man was definitely not helping Selphie in her situation as she took in as much air as she could manage through the man's tight grip around her neck. Selphie could feel herself losing this battle and prayed for someone to find her.

Then, out of no where, there was a flash of movement and Selphie was free. She fell to the ground into an ungraceful heap and she struggled to get air back into her lungs. She turned her attention to the struggle that was taking place to her left.

Her eyes widened to a painful point as she took in the scene unfolding before her.

Seifer sat on top of the man, his arms alternatively pulling back and forth as he repeatedly punched the man below him in the face. His long blonde hair covered his eyes. A part of Selphie was thankful for this, as she feared what she might find when she looked into them. The small brunette finally shook herself out of shock and began to attempt to pull Seifer off of the man, who now lay motionless on the floor.

She finally succeeded when Seifer gave up his struggle against her and fell to the ground exhausted. Selphie reached over with a shaking hand and felt around the man's bloodied throat.

What she feared most was confirmed as the thumping of a heart was missing.

Seifer had killed the man.

Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter. I'm glad you guys enjoyed it.

And now, I hope you all enjoy reading this chapter too!

Bishojo Beauty