Please don't kill me. We will get back to Rikku in the next chapter. In fact it's almost done now. But I wanted to pull away from that to give you another side of the story. Warning! This chapter is very Seymour-centric. If you don't like him (as I don't) I'm sorry. But it was necessary. Though I must admit, it was rather fun to write about him. His character is very intriguing..
Disclaimer: -checks mail- Nope, the rights still haven't made it to me. So I guess that means it still belongs to Square.
--
"Lord Seymour, I must object. Do you really think this is the time for you to take this trip? The Al Bhed have been sited around here. They could attack at any time."
The blue-haired master stopped in his tracks and turned. "Do not worry Trommell. If anything should happen, I trust you will be able to take care of it." He turned away again as he waited for a porter to carry his baggage for him. With a nod he was gone.
Trommell watched as he was helped into a waiting carriage outside. When his lord was out of site, he left the foyer and went back to his own living quarters within the mansion. Lord Seymour would not be back for almost two weeks. In the meantime, he had things to take care of himself.
--
Seymour sat in the chocobo pulled carriage looking over some documents in his lap. It was true that Al Bhed had been seen sneaking around his city, but he trusted Trommell to take care of things as need be. He was needed in Bevelle and could not stay just to take care of such a small matter. In his hand he held a hand drawn picture. It was the man he was supposed to be meeting with. An older gentleman, a man who had seen many things in his life. Though he had never personally met the man, he had seen him around as his father was close friends with him.
His father, a devoted man to the temples; killed twelve years ago. He shut his eyes momentarily in respect. He opened them again refusing to dwell on what could not be changed. He placed the picture to the side and lifted out other papers that explained why he was taking this trip to begin with.
Potentate Mika was the leader of all of Spira. He was a wise man known for thinking things through before taking action. He was closing in on eighty years, but still had a mind as sharp as a pin. No, Potentate Mika did not get where he was without hard work. The people knew this, and as such revered him.
This was the man Lord Seymour was to see. Mika had called him on a very private matter, and he was to tell no one why he was going. The carriage hit a bump, and he merely raised a brow as papers fell to the floor at his feet. With a sigh he leaned over to pick them up. This was going to be a long trip, he could sense it. Once they were back in order, he neatly placed them back in his case. He closed the case and lay it next to him, he then closed his eyes for some much needed sleep. This meeting was going to be quite interesting.
It wasn't long after he had just fallen asleep when the carriage stopped. He sat upright and waited to hear what was going on around him. The door opened and a blond haired man stood posed to kill him. He had goggles to hide his eyes, and a tight fitting yellow diving suit.
"Hello there." Seymour greeted without fear. "Can I help you?"
"Yeah, you sure can." He answered roughly. He was about to speak again when he fell forward half in the cabin. A solder stood behind him holding the butt of a rifle over him in case he were to move again.
"Sorry sir. He must have slipped through somehow." The man apologized.
"It is quite alright. Is he still alive?"
"Yes, I believe he is." Was his answer as the solder checked for a pulse. "What would you like done with him?" He kept his eyes downcast as he did not feel worthy to gaze upon the carriage rider.
"Bind him, but leave him with me. I would like to speak with him when he awakens."
"As you say sir."
Seymour watched as the man came to several hours later. The goggles had been removed some time before so when he finally opened his eyes, Seymour could see that his eyes were not spiraled like the Al Bhed eyes that he expected to see. "You have awaken. I am glad."
The man struggled with his binds before conceding to the fact he would not be going anywhere. "What do you plan on doing to me?"
"To you? I believe that was the question I should be asking you. After all, were you not the one to attack me, while wearing Al Bhed clothing?" He spoke softly, but firmly.
"Only to get you to see that the Al Bhed are an evil group. They cannot be trusted."
"I'm sorry to hear that. But I hold true to my belief they are not as bad as what you seem to think they are." Seymour countered.
"Even after what they have done to Lord Jyscal?"
Jyscal Guado worked hard to bring all races together in peace. It was well known his dream that all of Spira would be able to live together in harmony. He had become an acquaintance to Cid of the Al Bhed tribe during his world trips.
One day he had come home feeling defeated. Cid and he had a disagreement. How could they reach an agreement, he wondered for the next week. His sixteen year old son watched as he would pace the mansion in his thoughts. Many times he asked why he was so worried about only one tribe. Surely with so many others races, one wasn't worth this much hassle.
But his father would sit him down in the study and explain to him how everyone needed to be treated fairly and equally. You can't make everyone happy, but you can at least help them to understand each other. And even though Cid could be stubborn and such, he still would forgive the man and move on. It was a lesson never to be forgotten in the teenagers life, and the last lesson he would learn from his father. That night his father was killed while he sat up alone in his study.
Seymour saw it all. He came downstairs to see a knife being forced into the chest of his father. He heard the labored breathing of his father as he took his last breath, and then his last words. "This changes nothing. No matter what you do, I forgive you." Even as he lay dying and suffocating in his own blood, he still managed to forgive.
Seymour ran and hid after that. He said nothing until the next day when a servant girl came in and found his father. Her scream woke the house, and it was then he found the courage to tell what he saw. "Al Bhed." He had said. "Al Bhed came in and stabbed him. He didn't stand a chance. But he still forgave them for what they did."
"No!" Jyscal's head-butler had screamed. Many jumped at his outburst. "We must avenge his death. We must tell all of Spira what has happened here tonight."
And so, even though he did not want to, Seymour proceeded to tell the temple monks what had happened to his father. After that night, Spira was never the same again.
Seymour inwardly winced at the name. "My father was a forgiving man. He would not like to see Spira divided as it is now. I am merely following him in his footsteps. To finish what he had started as it were."
"Even if it may cost your own life? Al Bhed killed my wife in cold blood. All she wanted was peace like you, but they killed her anyway."
"Hmm. I see. What is your name? Only so I may be able to help you." He changed the subject before it became heated.
"I am Judan."
"You look rather young to have had a wife. Might I also ask your age?"
"I-I guess so." He stuttered. "I am twenty-five."
"Not as young as I had supposed then. I would like to meet these Al Bhed you mentioned. Perhaps I might be able to talk to them. Seeing as you are wearing their clothing, I can only speculate that you know of their location."
"But my lord, they are an evil group. You could be killed." Judan protested.
"Just as you would have done had you not been caught?"
"I wasn't going to kill you. Only slightly hurt you, so that you would open your eyes to the truth."
"I understand. You do realize that by Spiran law the punishment for your actions could cost your life?"
"I-I. I'm sorry, my lord. Forgive me." He replied trying to appease the man who sat across from him. His life was on the line and he would do anything asked in order to save it.
"Very well. Tell me where I may find this tribe and I will talk to the temple monks when you are facing death."
"Thank you, sir. They can be found in the plains outside of Luca."
"Luca, huh? You have been most helpful. Now relax and sleep." As he spoke, the man's eyes drifted closed. It would be a long time before he woke up again.
--
Potentate Mika sat in his expansive office waiting on his guest. He had called on Lord Seymour of Guadosalem some days ago. He should have been there by now. His fingers tapped the polished wood desk in front of him. He was a very patient man by nature, but thoughts of something happening to his guest troubled him. There were many thieves on the road, any one of them could have attacked. He tried to distract himself by going over the papers in front of him. His attention was soon drawn back to the young man he had called for.
Eventually a servant entered the room and bowed low to the old man behind the desk. "Sir, we have just received word that Lord Seymour is on his way at this moment. He should be here within the hour."
"Thank you, Audrey." He replied to the man. He stood and made his way around the desk to the man who was laying almost prostrate on the floor. "Audrey, you have been with me for many years, have you not?"
"Yes, sir. Ever since I was a child." He answered still on the floor.
"Stand up for me." He did as he was told as the potentate moved behind the desk once more and stared out his glass wall that overlooked the city. "Answer me honestly, what do you think of Lord Seymour of Guadosalem?"
"He is a great man. Though flawed in the fact he believes he can make peace with the Al Bhed. They have killed his father, and still he persists. That is what I think anyway."
Mika turned to face the servant again. "And most of Spira would agree with you on that. But yet, he is young. There is still time to help him see the truth. I believe he would make a good leader in my place. Do you not agree?"
"Sir? I do not understand."
"I am going to be eighty next month. That's too old to be worrying about running Spira and managing politics." He clasped his hands behind his back as he wandered around the room. Audrey stayed where he was following his master with his eyes. "Lord Seymour is young, idealistic, zealous. The people would love him. If only we could persuade him to change his feelings of Al Bhed."
"Perhaps if you are the one to talk to him, sir. I'm sure he would agree."
"I believe so too. That is why I have called him. He is just the man to take my place once we remove some of his foolish notions. Thank you, Audrey. Now if you will excuse me, I have work that must be done before our guest arrives."
Audrey bowed one last time before he let himself from the room.
--
"How goes the search for the girl? Have you found her yet?" The master asked when he was alone. The servants voice drifted through the room from the commsphere that sat on the desk.
"I'm sorry sir. It's as if she just disappeared. We can't even find a trace she existed at all." He answered quickly.
The master turned away from the sphere to look out the window. A small snarl crossed his features before resuming the normal face of indifference. "I see then. Perhaps if your life was on the line, you would be more willing to search." He threatened.
"I'm sorry sir. But we have searched everywhere. There is no trace of her." The man panicked. Just what did the master have planned?
"I am sorry too. I really need that girl. Without her I cannot hope to finish what I have planned. But unless you can give me one reason why I should let you live..." He trailed off leaving the rest up to the imagination of the servant.
"We will search again sir. No stone will be left unturned this time. I will be sure of that myself, if it pleases you."
"That it does." He turned from the window and turned off the sphere. This conversation was finished. "How hard can it be to find one Al Bhed girl?" He questioned the air. "Maybe it's time to call in a favor owed. And I know just the man."
--
