Authors Note: I do not own anything that you recognize from ff8 I do how ever own the plot and the characters Winter and Lorelei Kerian. There is a prequel to this story, if I get good reviews on this one, I might post it for those of you interested in reading it.
Prologue: The Beginning
A dream is a very big thing for someone who is unallowed to dream. It is hard to pinpoint the moment this dream was born, all I know for sure is that it was. Where did this all begin? How did I end up here? I don't know the answers to these questions and I probably never will. It's always hard to put your finger on the exact moment that your entire life began to spin farther and farther out of control. However, I do know the exact moment my life began. If I were a smart ass I would say "When I was born!" But, no, my life began many years after that. My life began, surprisingly, at Balamb Garden.
I can remember it all so well now. Even after all these years. It surprises me how just two short months could change your whole outlook on life. I was sent on an assignment by my Master, the leader of what we like to call the Organization. That's right, original, I know. No, we are an unnamed and unidentifiable organization of bounty hunters and assassins. I just happen to fall under both of those categories. You are probably thinking, aren't those the same thing? No, there are very small differences, but there are differences nonetheless.
BOUNTY HUNTER: 1) A PERSON WHO HUNTS OUTLAWS OR WILD ANIMALS FOR THE BOUNTY OFFERED FOR CAPTURING OR KILLING THEM. 2) A PERSON WHO SEEKS A REWARD FOR RECOVERING VALUABLE PROPERTY
ASSASSIN: A MURDER WHO KILLS ONLY PROMINENT OR POLITICAL FIGURES FOR MONETARY BENEFIT.
As I said, I am both. It just so happens an unidentified client hired an assassin to target the one and only Seifer Almasy. Never before had I questioned my work. Something wasn't right about this assignment, there was more to it that was being hidden from me. Rule #1: Never question your assignment. Rule #2: Never become involved with target. Get close but not too close. Let's just say in my stay at Balamb Garden, both of those flew out the window while it was still shut.
Many things happened in my stay there. Devastation is the only word that can be used to describe it. Emotional devastation that is. Apparently, I didn't do quite the satisfactory job as was expected by me. After all, I am the most famous in my field. Not to brag, or anything. However, Master sent his second in command, Matrix to assist me. Matrix was never one to play by the rules. His motto, "Bring them out by breaking them down." That was his plan to destroy the infamous Sorceress' Knight.
The first attack was on Headmaster Cid, the person I respected the most. He showed me that despite my past, whatever it may be (he obviously didn't know), I would be accepted at Garden and treated as an equal. Which I was, every step of the way. Thankfully, Matrix did not succeed in the poison attempt and left Headmaster in a coma, which he awoke from after two weeks, however I read in the paper it was a much longer recovery. The next to be brought down? A former associate of mine, Mariah Almasy. Yes, Seifer's darling little sister. Taken from the orphanage at the age of five, shortly before Seifer was sent to Garden. She was brought into the Organization, for the same reason I was, to be trained to serve in Master's upcoming army of Magitek soldiers. We were both injected with Magitek infusions, leaving us with strange abilities which helped us to be the best in our field. However, after a failed presidential assassination Mariah's memory was erased, she was given the new identity of Stell Katura and sent to Galbadia Garden with no recollection of the things she had done or the people she killed.
How did Matrix bring her down, you ask? He got to her daughter, Zelda Dincht. No one was more important to Seifer than his sister and niece. Matrix found a way to poison her, just as he had with Cid, despite the fact Zelda was only one and a half at the time. I know that she recovered fully, also, I know this personally. Zelda, the daughter of Zell Dincht was the second traitor to Balamb Garden, following in her uncle's footsteps at the innocent age of 17. Her life long best friend, Nathan Kinneas, Beside her every step of the way. Poor kid. But that's another story for another time.
Only one person rivaled that kind of importance in Seifer's life: Nicolette Rianna Branford-Figaro. More well known as Cole Branford. An orphan who was living on the streets of Esthar until she was caught pickpocketing the President himself. Laguna Loire took her in as his own and raised her. Matrix attacked her in her room after hours, putting her in the infirmary. The truth all came out, however, the night the final attack was to take place. The final showdown in the infirmary of Balamb Garden. I'm not sure exactly what happened, all I know is that the assignment was aborted and I was killed on the scene. The joys of Magitek... they can always raise the dead.
This is where my life began. I saw a world not my own, one I would die to live in again. As a free soul, not owned by an organization. I want that kind of life for my daughter. It's funny how I know exactly what happened to the people I encountered at Balamb Garden, but for all they know I could still be dead.