Squall looked up, startled, as Fujin and Raijin marched angrily into his office. He paused in the middle of signing his name on an important document. As soon as Fujin was in front of his desk, she slammed her hands down angrily.
"SEIFER!" she bellowed.
"What do you mean?" Squall asked calmly.
"Seifer's ... gone. Got knocked on the head and taken, ya know?" Raijin explained his comrade's outburst.
"How do you know this?" Squall asked.
"SEE!" Fujin said, seizing Squall's arm. She dragged him through Garden to Seifer's dorm room, Raijin following. They ignored the looks people were shooting them. They stood in the doorway of Seifer's dorm room, where Fujin first pointed at the rock, the blood, and finally at the drag marks leading to the window.
"FIND!" Fujin yelled, her eye watering. Fujin had lost her other eye to a Grat when she first started training. She wore a black patch over her empty eye socket, which was heavily scarred.
"Do you have any idea who would have a grudge against him?" Squall asked.
"WORLD," Fujin sneered sarcastically in response to the stupid question.
"I mean anyone specifically," Squall explained.
"Balamb, Balamb Garden, Galbadia, Galbadia Garden and Trabia Garden would all hold grudges, ya know?" Raijin replied.
"Under the circumstances, which place is more likely to hold a grudge?" Squall asked.
"Balamb Garden," Raijin said without hesitation.
"Why?" Squall asked, testing their motives.
"Nobody else knows where his dorm room is, ya know?" Raijin replied. "It's probably someone we know really well, ya know? And whoever it is, it's someone who was here when we were, too."
Squall had to admit that it was likely to be true. "I'll send a message over the intercom," he said, leaving the room.
When Seifer woke, it was still damp. He seemed to be in the same room. He took a good look around the room, and noticed that there was low-level lighting set in the lower part of the walls. His left ankle throbbed, because of the manacle that linked him to the ring. He sat up, and then peeled back the bottom of his trousers to look at the damage. His ankle had swollen slightly from him moving around in his sleep. He had grazes on his ankle, which stung, as they slowly started to seep blood. His head felt better after resting. He lay back down, with his arms folded under his head to support it.
He sat up, startled, when he heard the door click as it was unlocked, and then swung open. A man entered holding a gun, which was pointed at Seifer.
He stayed by the entrance, and squeezed the trigger. Seifer felt it hit him, and was surprised to feel no pain. He suddenly felt sleepy, despite his nap before, and he slumped forwards.
When Seifer finally returned to consciousness, he found himself in the same situation that Squall had been in about a year ago. He finally realized where he was. He was in the Deling District Prison, more commonly known as the D-District Prison. He was chained up on a cross-like metal board, on the same place where Squall had been tortured as he had ruthlessly questioned him. He was holding up the majority of his weight by his arms. Although he was able to support his weight, the muscles in his upper arms and shoulders were starting to protest from holding his body up for so long.
He rattled the chains binding his arms to the cross as he tried to break free. He heard someone nearby laugh, a laugh that was full of hate.
"You won't break free that easily," said a person who stepped out of the shadows concealing him, and stood before Seifer.
"Nida! What in Hyne's name are you doing here?" Seifer asked, surprised.
Something about this question made the other person laugh again.
"What? Don't believe I could do this sort of thing?" he said. He then imitated himself as he would talk in Garden. "Yes sir, no sir, reports negative, sir," he mimicked.
"But why? I don't understand." Seifer asked, confused.
"Why isn't important. Now that I have you here, I can have a lot of fun!" he said, a manic gleam in his eye.
Seifer felt a shudder run through him, as he imagined what sort of things he might have planned.
"What sort of fun?" Seifer asked warily.
"My sort of fun. Stuff that's fun for me, but I doubt you'd like it," the other man said, looking up at Seifer.
The muscles of his arms and shoulders were hurting even more now, after trying to break free. He closed his eyes for a moment, and located a space in the back of his mind where he could dull the pain ... for now.
"What's the matter? Is that hurting you?" he said, in a mock attempt of sympathy.
Seifer gritted his teeth, as he looked down at the man tormenting him. "When are you going to let me go?" Seifer asked, hoping he wasn't going to get the answer he was expecting.
"Not for a long time. Of course, it all depends on how you behave, as well," he replied, with a demonic grin plastered over his face. "No more time to chat. I have to go. I have much more important things to do," he said, and started to walk off.
"Wait a second!" Seifer called, thinking of something.
"What?" the other man replied.
"How can we be in the D-District Prison? It was destroyed a fortnight ago, wasn't it?" Seifer asked, frowning in thought.
"Yes. I faked the destruction of the prison so that I could use it for my own purposes. Does that comfort you?" he replied, and walked out of the room.
The man with the gun was in front of Seifer again, and fired a second shot into Seifer. Seifer was asleep within moments, with the drug quickly taking effect.
"And please could anyone with any information about Seifer's disappearance come and contact me. Thank you." Squall finished, and the familiar Garden chime rang throughout the building.
"All we can do now is wait," Raijin said, sitting down heavily in one of the chairs lining Squall's office. He put his head in his hands, and stared morosely at the floor.
"WILL. FIND," Fujin consoled.
"I have a question to ask both of you," Squall said.
"WHAT?" Fujin responded.
"Where do you think Seifer would be held?"
"I don't know. I would say the D-District Prison, but that got destroyed 2 weeks ago, ya know?" Raijin said.
Fujin didn't say anything, but shrugged her shoulders.
"It's probably in Galbadia. It would be stupid to keep him in Balamb, because he would be noticed, ya know?" Raijin continued.
"Right. You two wait here. I'll be back in a minute," Squall said, before he walked through the door, closing it behing him.
Fujin and Raijin looked at each other, silently communicating. Fujin sat in the chair next to Raijin, where they both waited in the silence of the office, which was interrupted by the rhythmic ticking of the clock on the wall.
Squall returned after about 5 minutes with Selphie, Irvine, Zell, Quistis and Rinoa.
"We're going to use the Ragnarok to try and find Seifer. Selphie will be the pilot, and we'll all keep our eyes open for him," Squall explained.
"Shouldn't we carry out Seifer's mission first?" Rinoa asked.
"No. We need to find our client before we can do that," Squall answered.
"Booya! Let's go!" Selphie said, her eyes shining with delight of flying her beloved aircraft.
They walked out of Squall's office with Fujin and Raijin, and managed to squeeze everyone into the elevator. They filed out when the doors opened again on the first floor, then they walked out of Garden and stood next to the gleaming red airship.
They all boarded, and Selphie immediately went to the cockpit of the magnificent dragon. Everyone followed Selphie, because it was the place with the best view. They all grabbed hold of something while Selphie powered up the engines, and the Ragnarok slowly started to gain altitude.
"Now remember! We're going to fly over Balamb to find any suspicious areas where Seifer might be held. If we can't find anything, we'll do the same to Galbadia!" Squall yelled over the noise of the engines. Selphie nodded.
Selphie carefully piloted the Ragnarok towards the fire cavern. What was surprising was the large stone blocking the entrance. Squall indicated for Selphie to land. Squall, Zell and Irvine exited the Ragnarok and walked towards the blocked entrance.
"It's been there for quite a while," Irvine observed.
"We still need to check it. There's no telling if it has been used as a lair before they took Seifer," Squall explained.
"Move then!" Zell said, facing the rock. Squall and Irvine moved out of the way. Zell closed his eyes, concentrating, and raised his arms over his head. "Water!" Zell said, pointing his hands towards the boulder. The rock exploded, as the water crushed it.
Zell waited a few moments for the remnants to shift, and then entered the fire cavern, followed by Squall and Irvine. The place was hot, with steam rising continuously from the lava. They walked through the cave, looking for anything unusual. They finally reached the crater where cadets usually faced Ifrit before being allowed to enter their practical SeeD exam. Suddenly, Ifrit leapt out of the crater, spraying lava everywhere.
"The one who you seek is not here," Ifrit roared, before the trio could say anything. "Look in the place you expect the Knight to be, Lion of Balamb. It is a place you have all been yourselves at one point in the Ultimecia incident." Before anyone could ask him about his peculiar statement, he had disappeared back into his fiery home.
"What the hell do you think that means?" Zell snorted, looking at his companions.
"It sounds like the Guardians know where he is, and either can't tell us or won't tell us." Squall said. While Irvine and Zell pondered the meaning of the cryptic message, Squall silently communicated with his GF, Bahamut. "Where is he?" Squall asked the King of Dragons.
He heard Bahamut laugh, as if this question amused him. "You know in your heart where he is. Learn to forgive him, and you will find him. You may find the answer is more obvious than you realize."
Squall frowned, and then relayed the information Bahamut had given him to his comrades.
"There's no use staying here. We might as well go back to the Ragnarok and look somewhere else," Irvine said. Both Squall and Zell agreed, so they made their way back to the entrance, and then boarded the Ragnarok.
Thanks for reading! Please review!
Thanks to Gunblade Girl and Matron Raenee for reviewing!
Ruby Dragon