A/N: I have to apologize for how long it took me to get this chapter done. School has been keeping me pretty busy, and I actually put off a whole afternoon's worth of homework to finish this chapter. Hopefully the rest of the story will get done much more quickly. I also apologize if there are a few inconsistencies in this chapter. I don't think that there are, but I had to go back and rewrite a few parts of it to make some things work, so hopefully I caught everything from the first version that doesn't work with this one.

Forever searching, never right
I am lost in oceans of night

Chapter 13: Oceans of Night

Seifer sat enveloped in hot, swirling water up to his chin. He'd gotten into the hotel with no problem. Quistis had apparently kept her word and called ahead. He'd been unsure as he used her ID card in door lock, but without pause the light flashed green and the door locks slid out of place, letting him into the large SeeD suite. He sat in the living room area now, his feet sticking out of the jacuzzi and dripping water onto the carpet as he sunk down to let a jet pound between his shoulder blades. Watching the water swirl over his body, he let out a long breath.

The hotel suite was more accommodating than any lodgings he'd had for a long time. A large king sized bed sat in it's own room, with a TV propped on a dresser at the foot, and three fluffy pillows perched at the top barely covered by the comforter. Another TV was in the living room area, along with a couch, desk, coffee table, and a kitchenette cozied into the opposite corner near the door. Still feeling a little uncomfortable with the niceness of it all, Seifer had strewn some towels about and thrown his clothes in the living room before deciding to take the bath that Quistis had suggested.

Only better.

He'd found a little bottle of sweet smelling bubble bath in the bathroom and had considered adding it into the tumbling mix of the hot tub. At length, he'd decided against it, not wanting to smell quite so fragrant and in fear of being overwhelmed by the rising tide of bubbles it would produce.

He knew she'd help. It was just the way she was. Always had her hands in everything, couldn't keep her nose out of other people's business. And her thriving for a sense of control made her more than willing to take charge of any situation she felt was not being handled up to her standards. And that was Seifer...sub-standard screw up desperately in need of someone to point him in the right direction. He was beginning to realize what had a hold of him was something he couldn't escape on his own, because he'd already accepted it. He'd welcomed it inside, and the vestigial remnants of that decision had hollowed out a place for the beast inside.

Pulling his hands up out of the water, he looked at them closely. They were average hands. Fingers a little longer perhaps than was strictly manly, but good, strong, blunt tips. Palms only slightly calloused from years of wearing gloves, criss crossed with long but faint lines. He wondered which one was supposed to be his life line, and then ascribed it to one just under his fingers for it's relative shortness.

He'd never expected to live a long, full life. Even when he was little, he didn't remember feeling much hope for what the future promised him. Meaning, for him, had never existed in the course but in it's destination. Death would render him purposeful. For a while, he thought he'd known what that purpose was.

Leaning his head back, he remembered the movie. It was still vivid in his mind...the knight dressed head to toe in shining armor and the delicate sorceress trapped by the lumbering red dragon. And then it had flashed across the screen and into his life. The gun blade...Hyperion. And since that moment, he knew it was meant for him. To live, to fight, and to die for his sorceress.

He frowned.

He had no sorceress any longer. Or anyone, for that matter, who he could defend and die for. With a snort, he thought of Rinoa. It was Squall who'd gotten the dream, along with everything else.

A small grumble rose up in his chest like something dislodging deep inside of him.

Whimpering softly, he let his head drop below the surface of the water. Turbulence surrounded him, a roar in his ears to match that issuing from deep in his heart.

It was too soon, too inopportune a moment. But like a wave of nausea, he felt it roll over him.

What would Quistis think? Would she still forgive him?

Surfacing and gasping as black spots began to swim before his eyes, he hoped she'd still understand. Glancing toward the door, he willed her to come through it. To rush to the rescue. To ease away the terror, exorcise the demons.

Quistis hung up the phone and scribbled a note to herself in a tired, loopy scrawl. Leaning back in her chair, she rubbed her lower back and finished off the last of her coffee, grimacing as it slid coldly down her throat. She stuck her tongue out and made an unpleasant sound before getting up to clean it out in the lounge. Outside, the sun had already set and her desk lamp glowed yellow in the darkened confines of her office. After straitening everything on her desk, she was just reaching to open the drawer and pull out her last bit of paperwork when the phone rang with a sudden, jarring blare.

Jumping half out of her skin, Quistis lunged at it without thinking and picked it up. "Hello?" She winced...Balamb Garden, this is Quistis Trepe, how may I help you? She considered giving the official greeting for a fraction of a second to cover her blunder before the man on the other end spoke up.

"Quistis?"

"This is her."

There was a short sigh of relief. "This is Harold, from down in Balamb."

"Oh, Harold." She lowered herself into her chair. "What's up?" Balamb Garden was the official police agent in the city of Balamb, and Harold acted as one of their strange sort of dispatchers, reporting all of the bigger crimes up to higher authority. Another robbery? Quistis wondered. They'd finally caught the man responsible for a string of robberies in the town over a month ago, and she sincerely hoped that he wasn't calling to inform her they'd begun anew.

"Murder," Harold reported dryly, much to Quistis' relief.

"Where?" she asked.

"On the beach, just outside the hotel," he sighed. "I know it's late, but we would really appreciate it if you would send someone down to take care of this tonight."

The hotel? It would make a valid reason for her to go there. She cleared her throat. "Actually, I was going to come into town tonight on other business. I'll send some people ahead of me and then take the report."

"Thanks a lot. Have a nice evening."

Returning his sentiments, Quistis hung up the phone. There hadn't been a murder in Balamb in years. Trouble certainly seemed to live on Seifer's heels. Of course, this could hardly be blamed upon him. She'd fill out a quick report before going up to see him, using the disappearance as an excuse to survey the hotel as she went up to his room. It was good timing, really. Quistis crinkled her nose a little, realizing how impersonal death had become to her. Picking up the phone again, she dialed a four number extension and waited.

"This is Dr. Kadowaki."

"Hi, this is Quistis. I have a big favor to ask of you, Doctor."

"Sure. What is it?" The older woman was always willing to help Quistis out of a jam.

"I just got a call from Harold in Balamb, and apparently someone was killed outside the hotel," Quistis informed her. "They want the body out of there before morning, and everyone who could handle it is off duty right now. Would you be willing to go down there and process the scene?"

"It's not really my specialty," she pointed out. "But I'll do my best."

"Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it," Quistis sighed with relief. "Just try and get the body out of there, I'll be down shortly to block off the scene and file a report."

She hung up the phone feeling as if the situation had been handled. Pulling out some paperwork from one of her desk drawers, she began on the last bit of filing for the night. There was an incredible amount of red-tape involved in Garden's bureaucracy, and it was deeply dark out before she finished and sat back in her chair. Cracking her back, she stretched and groaned and reached out to flick off her desk lamp.

Leaving her office, she stopped at a desk with a small machine that had a slot and numbered buttons. Pulling open a drawer, she pulled out a plastic card and punched the keys for a moment before sliding the card through. It beeped in confirmation, and she slid it through one more time as it checked over the work it had done the first time. Quietly slipping the card into her pocket, she went down to her room.

Wishing she could take her uniform off, she instead straitened her hair and started toward the garage to get a car. There weren't many available, but she managed to get one with a mostly full tank without much trouble, authorizing it on her new ID which she'd given a wide blanket of powers to. There were certainly perks to being close to the top.

The car's lights flashed down the hollow looking passage way and out across the road and grass as she shifted into gear and drove slowly (responsibly) out into the night.

Distantly, she wondered what Seifer was up to. If he was behaving himself. She supposed that after spending time in Trabia, he was simply enjoying the many amenities of civilization. Perhaps a long, hot shower with plenty of foamy shampoo and soap, followed by a large cup of steamy coffee and a relaxing evening in front of the television. She had a flash of him painting his toenails before she reluctantly admitted the fantasy was more hers than Seifer's. More likely he was pacing the room waiting for her to get there, wondering if he'd been betrayed but cocky in the way only Seifer could be that she could never do that to him.

The drive was boring and uneventful, and Balamb was quiet and nearly barren when she pulled to a stop in front of the hotel. The salty sea breeze ruffled through the stray bits of hair that had escaped from her ponytail, and the happy cobalt blue hotel stood illuminated by a set of lights strung around its exterior.

She parked in front of the hotel and spent a few moments sitting in the car, reluctant to get out and attend to her duties. Dr. Kadowaki had left hours before hand, and she hoped that she had things under control so that Quistis could get on with her business. At last, she finally stepped out into the night and walked around, among the bushes, to the other side of the hotel where a blaze of lights and people were bustling about. A number of young men and women in SeeD uniform were helping the doctor, who stood in the middle of the melee barking out her orders. She was still in her hospital garb: a plain purple dress, nude nylons, white coat, and chunky white shoes. She looked almost out of place, like a little grandmother, in the middle of a murder scene.

When she noticed Quistis, she broke off from the group and waved.

"How's it going?" Quistis asked, peering over her shoulder at the body which was already enclosed in a yellow body bag.

"I called in some of my med-students," Kadowaki replied. "Good practice for them, to handle the body and the autopsy. I'll oversee, of course, but they've been doing a wonderful job so far."

"This going to be cleaned up by morning?" she asked, searching her mind for possible members of a second team she could send in.

"I think so," Kadowaki nodded. "The autopsy won't be in until late tomorrow, but I think I can venture a guess right now as to what killed him."

"You can?" Quistis was surprised.

"Animal," she shrugged. "I mean, it's obviously an animal attack, not a murder. The guy was torn to ribbons. Whatever it was, isn't something that I've seen before."

Kadowaki's word's made something at the back of Quistis's mind tingle. "An animal?" she murmured.

"With your permission," Kadowaki continued. "I would like to request the Esthar PD's file on the animal killings that have been happening in Trabia."

"You think this is related?"

"I've seen injuries from every kind of creature on this entire island, and I've never seen anything like this. It's definitely something foreign, and with all the ships we regularly get in port from Trabia, I think there's a very good chance this may be the work of the same animal."

Quistis frowned and thought for a moment. "I saw a wolf the other night when I was out walking."

"There haven't been wolves in Balamb for hundreds of years," Kadowaki replied. "I've heard that there are still some in Trabia. It's possible that this could have been done by a wolf, but it would have had to of been quite a large wolf."

"Oh, this was a monstrous wolf," Quistis assured her. "Definitely ask the EPD for their files." She glanced around. "I'm going to take a look around the hotel for...tracks and things. Unless you need me here. You seem to have things under control."

"I think we'll be fine. I'll send you a report as soon as I have one."

Quistis gratefully left, her mind prickling. Trabia's problem had suddenly become Balamb's, and the fight which had been so divorced from her was now on her front step. Perhaps it had been a mistake to tell Bella she could have time off. She was the only one with experience in this case. Regretting that she would have to break the news to her when she got back to Garden, Quistis slowed her pace and walked through the front door of the hotel and her mind began to work over the possibility that perhaps Bella wasn't the only one who could handle the case. Not when another well equipped man had just recently arrived from Trabia.

Quistis sent the receptionist a dazzling smile and grabbed a mint from a small glass jar on her way toward the stairs, which she quickly unwrapped and popped into her mouth to rid throat of the aftertaste of a long day of bad coffee. The Balamb hotel was very nice for the small town atmosphere it existed in. But Balamb was somewhat of a resort town. A booming fishing industry, the income provided by the constant comings and goings of Garden, and tourism provided most of the town's considerable income. It was a pleasant, safe place to live and visit, and people seemed to flock to Balamb come vacation time. On her way up the stairs, Quistis dodged a little girl who went careening down the steps, followed shortly behind by a bedraggled looking mother who cast Quistis an almost apologetic glance.

Seifer's room was on the third floor, the only major suite on that floor. Trudging tiredly up the steps, she finally emerged on the third floor landing and started down the hallway, her ID clutched in her hand. Seifer's door was closed and quiet when she approached, and purely out of consideration she knocked once before sliding her ID into the slot.

The room yawned open before her, a hot, dark cavern.

As she stepped inside, closing the door softly behind her, a damp and heated scent overtook her senses. Her skin tingled strangely, the hair on her arms standing up on end. It was a musty sort of smell, like horse lather only slightly less pungent. Groping along the wall, she reached for the light switch. She found it only a few inches in from the door, and as her hand brushed by it, the light over her head flash suddenly on, throwing the room into stark, yellow relief. She had to blink once or twice before she could start taking in her surroundings.

The carpet was a deep, wine red color. She stood in the doorway, a kitchenette to her right that hadn't been touched. In front of her, the living room area opened up. Curiously, she walked past a table with a phone and room service menu and into the living room. Seifer was nowhere to be seen, but towels were strewn across the floor in random disarray. The hot tub sat stagnant and full. Pausing beside it, she reached down and dipped her fingers into the water. It was cold, and so had obviously been sitting full for quite some time. Wondering why Seifer hadn't emptied it after he was done, she walked toward the last doorway and dried her fingers off on her skirt.

In the silence of the room, her footfalls seemed to echo loudly, and she found it hard to believe that Seifer wasn't aware that she was there yet. Or maybe he was. She hesitated, not trusting him. Was this some sort of trap? She wouldn't put it past him. How could she really be sure of how much he'd changed? He was, after all, Seifer Almasy. But the image of him from that morning came back to her mind, his pathetic form flashing across her vision. No. He was in no position to try and take advantage of her gullibility.

The bedroom was dimly illuminated by the light Quistis had turned on on her way in. The bed sheets were crumpled, the bed spread thrown to the floor, and Seifer was laying in the middle of it. The sheets were wrapped around his legs and waste. His chest, bare and heaving, protruded out from them and his arms were thrown out to either side. The smell that she'd become aware of on coming in hit her again, and she realized that it was coming from him. It wasn't quite an unpleasant scent in so much as it carried the disturbing olfactory message of an overheated, overrun body.

"Seifer." She seated herself on the side of the bed and reached out to wake him up. His skin was scathingly hot under her touch and surprisingly dry. She'd half expected him to be clammy, but instead he felt parched and baked. "Seifer," she repeated, jostling him.

He groaned and turned his head toward her, but in the dark she couldn't tell if he was looking at her or not.

"Hyne, you're burning up," she breathed, sweeping her other hand across his forehead. "Come on, get up."

"Quistis?" he murmured. Seemingly with great effort, he rolled toward her. It evidently took more energy than he had, because he sunk against her once he got onto his side and his upper half flopped down wrong-side-up.

"Good lord," she put an arm around his torso and gathered him up. His fingers worked feebly against her back as she heaved him up into a sitting position. Drunkenly, his head lolled back and his mouth fell open. "You've got to help me out a bit here," she informed him, maintaining a firm hold upon her sense of calm.

Grunting, she managed to get him out of bed. He helped where he could, but he was extremely weak and not quite lucid. Eventually, she managed to get him into the living room where she urged him into the cool tub of water he left sitting. He quivered and twitched when it touched his skin, but as she finally got his entire body submerged he began to relax and sunk down until only his head poked up above the water.

Keeping a close eye on him, she fetched a plastic cup from the bathroom and, after ripping the wrapping off, filled it with cold water in the sink. Dropping to her knees beside the hot tub, she coaxed Seifer to drink some and noted that his temperature already seemed to be dropping. In the light, she could see a rosy flush across his skin that was slowly beginning to recede back within his body. As his blood dropped back, his consciousness came forth, and she soon found his green eyes staring across the water at her.

"You're sick," she announced needlessly.

"Mmm." He nodded a little.

"Why didn't you say anything to me about it?" she asked. "Garden wouldn't refuse you medical help. I'm going to go get Dr. Kadowaki."

He frowned. "Don't do that."

"Why not?" she demanded. "You're running a high fever, Seifer. When I got here you were hardly conscious. That's dangerous."

"I'm not running a fever," he grunted, sitting forward now. Indeed, his temperature seemed to have dropped considerably. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"You just admitted that you're sick," she pointed out. "And now you want me to believe that you're fine?"

"No," he sighed, sinking low in the water. "But Dr. Kadowaki can't do anything to help me. And I'm not going to see her."

"Hyne," she rolled her eyes. "You're so stubborn." For the moment at least, she decided to give up on trying to convince him to seek medical attention. She knew he wasn't about to change his mind, and whatever was wrong had passed. She fetched him a towel from the bathroom and held it as he got wearily out of the hot tub. He shivered a little as the air hit his skin, sending gooseflesh up his arms and across his chest. His boxers were plastered to his body, looking heavy and uncomfortable. He snatched the towel away from her and, wrapping it around himself, disappeared into the bedroom. He reemerged after only a few seconds, the towel secured tightly around his waste.

"I'm starving," he announced, flopping down on the couch.

"Order room service," she shrugged. "It's on Garden."

"Is it?" he arched an eyebrow.

"Garden foots the bill for all charges to this suite," Quistis shrugged. "That way foreign guests don't have to deal with any money, it all goes automatically to Garden."

Seifer ripped open the room service menu, and Quistis seated herself next to him as he picked up the phone and proceeded to order what amounted to an entire meal and then some. His stomach growled loudly as he hung up the phone, and his leg twitched with impatience as he waited for his food to arrive.

"How long did they say it was going to be?" she asked blandly, tossing around what she really wanted to ask him in the back of her head.

"About fifteen minutes," he replied with a long sigh. "But it better be ten, or I'm going to be dead before they get here."

Lost in her thoughts, Quistis was a little divorced from the oddity of the situation, having walked in to find Seifer asleep and burning up only to moments later be perfectly healthy and rumbling with the fully fledged appetite of an adult grizzly bear. He sat back and fiddled with the end of his towel, seeming to be uncomfortable for the first time since Quistis had entered.

"Thanks for everything," he murmured. "The room, throwing me in the bath, not killing me..."

"Well...I've got another thing that just came my way you might be interested in," she admitted, turning to face him. His face betrayed only hints of interest, but his attention was riveted on her. "When you were in Timber, did you hear anything about a string of deaths that were connected with some sort of animal?"

Seifer nodded a little, his features blanching.

"We sent some SeeD's to investigate them. You met one of them, Bella Cevario," she plowed on. "They weren't very successful, her partner died and she came back with a broken jaw." She carefully decided to omit that she knew he was the one who broke Bella's jaw. "Tonight I got a call about a murder here in Balamb, and it's strikingly similar to the ones in Trabia. Bella can't do very much at the moment, but you were in Trabia when the last killings happened there."

She watched him closely as she spoke and could see his heart hammering as a vein in his neck pulsed hotly. He looked positively terrified, and Quistis felt a sudden rush of certainty.

"You saw it, didn't you, Seifer?" She leaned close. "You know what sort of monster this is."

He said nothing, but she knew that she was right.

"I want you to help hunt this thing down. Making this kind of capture will be the perfect thing to get you back into Garden's good graces." She reached out and took his hand, which laid hotly in her own. "You're in a better position than anyone to bring this thing in, and Garden will owe you a huge debt of gratitude for it. I'll suggest that they readmit you."

Seifer swallowed deeply and stared at her, his green eyes wide, and then with an almost imperceptible motion nodded. She smiled brightly at him, convinced she had found the prefect path to his redemption. This monster was the key to Seifer overcoming his past, she knew it.