A Promising Young SeeD
Chapter 12
Turning Into Stone
Quistis started to rub her temples, knowing a headache may be coming on. This was all too much information. Rinoa? Training her powers? Because she was afraid of Garden? The weapon? There had to be more to this story.
Not to mention Seifer's revelation. That powerful sorceresses can only be killed by a knight or another sorceress? She supposed it made sense. Maybe that was why they interred Adel. And wanted to freeze Rinoa. She wondered how many people knew that information. Based on the way Seifer spoke, it would imply that it was only an intimate knowledge between sorceress and knight. It certainly wasn't public knowledge at Garden. Did Esthar know? Somehow she doubted that. Odine might, though… but that little weasel would keep that information to himself.
Did Squall and Rinoa know? They had to. How could Seifer have known unless it was some strange revelation that was given upon becoming a knight? Seifer had entrusted all of them with that information. Zell included. Raijin had seemed just as surprised as her.
That still didn't solve the problem of who was making the drugs, or selling them, and how? And if they were going to do anything, they needed proof. They all had suspicions, but without proof this entire thing was pointless. Proof could lead to consequences.
Finding said proof was going to be complex. They needed more information about Odine. But, Odine was an extremely paranoid man. And for good reason. Zell and Seifer's hacker could certainly help. They could at least get information to start with. At some point, she and Zell were also going to have to return to Garden. She was worried about Selphie, but at least Zell had some sort of channel with Irvine, so they had eyes inside, somewhat.
Lastly, she was going to have to get the attention of one of the government big-wigs that frequented Phantasmagoria. They needed a phone, a laptop. Something. Anything. Figure out who in the higher-ups was involved, with unequivocal evidence. It was the only way to take them down. Pure brute force wasn't going to work here. They needed to be extremely strategic.
This was so complicated, and each layer they unraveled made it even more so.
Seifer had stopped rubbing her leg. His arm was wrapped around her shoulders. At some point she had leaned against him, relishing in the comfort of being within his circle. It seemed like his earlier ire was forgotten.
She wasn't really sure what they were at this point. Fake lovers? Real lovers? Playing some sort of game? But, that didn't really matter right now. First off, they probably weren't making it out of this alive. Second, she found she really no longer gave a shit what anyone thought. And third, being in his bubble made her feel invincible, powerful, and in a strange way, loved. Like something that had been missing for a long time had finally returned.
Seifer certainly seemed perfectly happy to take anything she was willing to offer. And then some.
"Wuss, lemme see what Rinoa brought." Seifer's voice pierced through the silence that had settled over the room since his revelation.
"Oh, right." Zell looked at the small envelope in his hand, hesitated briefly, as if he wasn't sure if he should allow Seifer near his precious cargo, before shrugging and tossing it across the room to him.
"The fuck, Chicken-wuss!" Seifer caught it easily with his free hand, but seemed extremely perturbed. "What if this shit was explosive or something?"
To his credit, Zell appeared sheepish. "Sorry, dude."
Extracting his arm from around Quistis, Seifer carefully opened the envelope revealing a small ampule filled with clear liquid. It couldn't have been more than two cubic centimeters' worth.
"This is the cause of all this crap, huh?" Seifer held the vial carefully in his hand, holding it up so the light from the chandelier shone through it. There was a strange reverence in the act. His grip tightened and he closed a fist around it, covering the glass completely.
For a brief moment, Quistis was afraid he was going to crush it in his hand. As if crushing it would have prevented or stopped any of this mess.
Instead he let out a deep sigh and lobbed the ampule back to Zell, who caught it in both his hands.
"That little thing caused all this pain. Some stupid fucking clear liquid fucked my brain. Fucked your brain," he gestured with a nod of his head to Quistis. "Fujin, Selphie, the diamonds…"
Seifer heaved a sigh. "What are you waiting for?" Go and get it in your machine already, Wuss."
"It's more complicated than—"
Seifer appeared extremely unwilling to listen or care what Zell had to say next.
The envelope that the tube had been delivered in was still sitting on Seifer's lap. It wasn't a true envelope per se, more a folded-up piece of paper that had been intricately bended to create a small pocket. It had become un-folded during all the throwing and opening, and Quistis realized it was marked on the inside.
Reaching forward, she plucked it from Seifer's knee and continued to unfold it, smoothing it out on her lap. There were a bunch of dots, dashes, and symbols written on the inside.
Seifer noticed her movement and paused his stare-down of Zell to glance over at the paper. "Those look like—"
"Dates? And coordinates?"
"In Garden code, no less…" Seifer added. "Is it a message?"
"It has to be." Quistis jumped up from the couch, rushing to Zell, much to Seifer's chagrin. "Zell, figure out where and when this is. You're not going to be sleeping for a few days, I think."
"Used to it," Zell muttered under his breath.
Seifer stood as well, coming to stand next to Quistis quietly and plucking the paper from her fingers. "No, Zell has to focus on the drug. We give this to my hacker. Hyne knows they're better at this shit than Chicken-wuss anyway."
Zell bristled.
In a rare moment, Seifer gave kudos where kudos was due. "Don't get me wrong, Dincht. That machine of yours is awesome. You've done a ton. But we need you focused on the drug. My hacker is better with the hacking crap, or whatever that is, you know?"
"He's right, ya know?" Raijin added from his seat.
Quistis reluctantly agreed.
Zell mumbled something unintelligible that sounded like acceptance, holding out his hand so Seifer would return the paper with the coordinates.
"There are only five people we can trust. Everyone in this room, and my hacker. That's it, got it? I don't want any more surprises. You can talk to your cowboy, but if he's at Garden he's still a liability, only need-to-know. Got it?" Seifer pointed a finger accusingly at Zell.
"What about Squall and Rinoa?"
Seifer sighed, folding his arms and looking up at the ceiling. "No. When push comes to shove and Squall has to protect Rinoa over us… who is he going to choose? He knows that too. They both do. And Squall doesn't want to have to make that choice. You've gotta trust me on this."
No one spoke as that information sunk in. It wasn't untrue. But that didn't mean that it still didn't sting.
"Look, it's been a day. Can we just talk more tomorrow? I know you have a bunch of money shit to show us, Dincht, but…" Seifer waved his hand in the air dismissively.
No one argued. It was almost three-thirty in the morning at this point.
"Um… okay, I'll get these numbers to the Archivist and see what turns up. Hopefully I'll have some more answers tomorrow."
"Yeah, yeah—" Seifer muttered, heading to his bedroom. He entered, but left the door open. The sound of the shower turning on again was heard a few moments later. Maybe he was trying to warm up after his freezing cold one?
Quistis glanced at the open bedroom door, then over to Raijin and Zell. Raijin shrugged and bounded up the stairs to his own room, but Zell stayed, staring at Quistis with an unreadable expression, his arms folded in front of him.
She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Don't start…" Quistis didn't want to hear how she was making a massive mistake. That she must be completely insane for jumping into bed with a psychopathic ex-knight turned drug kingpin. That she was going to get completely and utterly ruined and hurt—
"He cares about you," Zell said it as a fact. Not a question.
"He has for as long as I can tell. And Seifer takes care of the people he cares about," Zell continued.
Also a true statement. Seifer always took care of his posse. Were they all part of his collective now? And while he had been a thorn in her side at Garden, he also had her back on missions before he went rogue. He always did take care of her…
Seifer ignored people that didn't mean anything to him. They were inconsequential to him. He didn't bother picking on the trivial. He picked on Zell, because Zell had forgotten him. He picked on Squall for the same reason. He bugged people that meant something to him, desperate for attention. If Seifer ignored someone, that was when one should be concerned. It meant he no longer cared. And to Seifer, like fucking and fighting, love and hate were intimately attached, almost indistinguishable. The whole time, he had been trying to get them to see him.
To remember.
"You've been lonely a long time. I'm not gonna tell you to be careful, cause you're an adult and know what you're doing. If he makes you feel good, then who am I to say shit? One thing though… I'm not sure he's all right up there anymore." Zell pointed to his temple with a single finger.
"None of us are," Quistis muttered quietly.
"Ain't that the truth." With that declaration, Zell walked over to her and leaned down, placing a soft kiss on her cheek. "Anyway, I got a ton of work to do—better make some coffee. Have a good rest."
"Thank you, Zell," she whispered earnestly.
Zell. Man of mystery. Full of wisdom at the unlikeliest of times. Quistis was lucky to call him her friend.
After Zell headed to the kitchen, Quistis entered Seifer's—and she supposed—her room, shutting the door and locking it behind her. She quickly undressed out of Seifer's shirt and her panties and stepped into the bathroom; Seifer had left the door slightly ajar. Which from Seifer was about as close to an invitation as the man would give. His back was to her and the bathroom was mostly dark, the only light coming from a skylight at the top, casting the room in a grey light. Steam quickly surrounded her as she stepped into the large walk-in shower, and she gently placed a hand on Seifer's back.
He didn't startle, surely having heard her enter. Turning around, he gripped her hand in his own, lacing their fingers together as he met her eyes.
Quistis bit her lower lip, mentally debating whether she should say anything. Before she could open her mouth, Seifer exhaled.
"I'm sorry," he finally said. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, and… what you saw."
"It's okay," Quistis' voice was as soft as his. This was the second time she had heard Seifer apologize to her in a matter of a month or so. Had he changed that much?
"Being around a sorceress—" he trailed off.
"I understand. It's… I should have told you Rinoa had been going to Esthar."
"C'mere…" He tugged her hand as a request that she readily accepted, melting into his embrace. Tucking a finger under her chin, he angled her mouth to his and slanted his lips against hers, warm water dripping between them. Seifer kept their fingers laced, giving her hand a soft squeeze as he deepened the kiss.
Quistis gave a pleased groan, running her fingers through his wet hair, pushing it back from his face. She had to step on tip-toes to reach him.
Finally they parted and Seifer let out a chuckle. "Fucking Rinoa… I've got about the worst blue-balls known to man. Not to mention stressed the fuck out. Hyne."
Quistis privately wondered if Seifer had come into the shower hoping to alleviate some of that discomfort.
"I can help with that," she murmured quietly. Surprising herself.
"You don't have—"
"I want to." It was true.
Quistis slowly sank to her knees in front of him, his body blocking the water from splashing into her face for the most part. She trailed her hands down his chest and abs as she went and could feel him trembling slightly underneath her fingers.
There was a certain sense of apprehension. And, if she were being honest, a little nervousness and feeling out of her element. This was not something Quistis Trepe normally did. Sex was purely technical. A means to an end. She never had any desire to submit or waste time with something like this.
But her persona, the one she had taken on in this adventure with Seifer... It was certainly something she would do. And persona Quistis and real Quistis were slowly becoming one person. Maybe it was a side of herself she had long denied. Maybe it was a dormant part of her that she'd never explored because she had never found the right person to allow herself to be vulnerable. To be sensual. To really trust.
With those thoughts, she took Seifer in her mouth. He gasped and let out a prayer to Hyne, she was pretty sure.
She wasn't very experienced in this particular act, and when Seifer's hand came over hers, encouraging it to a certain pace to help with her mouth, rather than feel embarrassed, she felt reassured. Using his other hand, he pushed wet hair from her face, away from her lips with an extremely, surprisingly, gentle touch. She dared to look up at him through wet lashes and found him staring down at her with a look of pure awe on his face. Not lust. Awe. Something she had never experienced in her past.
And then it clicked. Quistis had always viewed this particular act as one of servitude and submission. But, maybe, with the right person, it was all a part of love-making. Something she could enjoy as well. Mutual submission to each other. Complete trust.
It all kept coming back to that word. Trust.
It didn't take long before Seifer was trying to warn her off. She swatted his hand away and swallowed him, causing a litany of curses to tumble out of his mouth.
He tugged her to her feet, crushing her in an embrace and pressing kisses along any skin he could find. Her cheek, her shoulder, the shell of her ear, finally her lips, muttering words of praise and amazement.
Before she could respond or bask in her smugness, he was on his own knees before her, hoisting one of her legs over his shoulder and pressing his mouth to her core with a hungry groan.
While she had been gentle and hesitant and slow, he was relentless and ravenous, mouth and hand working in tandem to bring her to an earth-shattering release as hot water pelted her from above.
Mutual submission. Trust.
Afterwards, she realized, the only thing keeping her from sinking to the floor was Seifer's strong hands holding her up by her bottom, pushing her against the cool tile of the shower. He slid up her body, wrapping an arm around her waist to steady her, a cocky grin on his face. He quickly rinsed his face before shutting off the water and grabbing large fluffy towels for both of them.
Carrying her bridal style, they somewhat dried off before climbing under the sheets naked, Quistis resting her head on his chest, Seifer's arm curled protectively around her. The desert night air of Esthar was cool and dry, fanning in through an open window, the low hum of the city below barely audible.
"I… Seifer, I…" She wasn't exactly sure what she wanted to express. There was so much pent-up emotion and confusion.
Seifer hushed her, his hand tracing lazy circles on the bare skin of her arm. "I know. Me too, Quis, me too."
With that, they fell asleep.
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Quistis awoke at noon. This went against every military training instinct she had, to wake this late, but since this mission had started, much of their work was done under the cover of night.
With sun streaming in, the heat of the day had started to permeate the room, making it go from a nice cool to a sticky humid. Only a sheet covered their bodies, and at some point, in the night, they had switched positions. Seifer's warm body was flush against her back, his arm curled around her, hand on her stomach, his breath tickling the back of her neck. Quistis was acutely aware of the fact that they had slept nude, and the natural consequence of a man waking in the morning was pushing against her backside.
She unconsciously ground her hips into him and he let out a soft growl. Apparently Seifer was awake too.
His voice was gravelly with sleep, stubble on his jaw. He nuzzled her cheek affectionately with his own. "Want to finish what we started?" Straight to the point.
"Gods, yes." Quistis had never wanted anything more in her entire life. While he had satisfied her in other ways, all it had done was leave her craving more. To feel him fully. Turning in the circle of his arms, Quistis wrapped her arms around his neck, nuzzling her cheek to his in return, pointedly avoiding the morning breath they both probably had.
His hand snaked between their bodies, travelling south. Quistis had no patience for foreplay at this moment, too deep was her desire, instead she rolled their bodies, pushing Seifer onto his back.
He looked up at her in surprise, and grinned. "Well, alright then. Someone's eager."
Straddling his waist, Quistis leaned down to nip gently at his neck before moving to her mouth to his ear, biting the shell gently. "You have no idea."
Seifer shuddered underneath her. "Oh, I think I had some idea. I've wanted you since we were cadets…"
Quistis smiled, kissing the edge of his ear again.
He groaned. "Cut it… or I'm not going to be able to—" He ground his hips up into her in response, aligning them.
Reaching down, he helped position himself with one hand while gripping Quistis' hip with the other. She sank onto him with a deep moan and they both stilled for a moment, basking in the sensation. He felt—
Bang Bang Bang.
"Guys!" Zell's voice called from the other side of Seifer's door, while his fist hammered the wood. "Guys, you have to see this!"
Seifer closed his eyes and held his fists at his side on the mattress. He was shaking, not with pleasure, but with a very controlled rage. As he breathed through his nose, Quistis got the sense he was counting down mentally.
"Maybe he'll go away," she offered hopefully.
"Guys! Come on! Time to get up, anyway!" Zell continued to bang on the door.
Sighing, Seifer hauled Quistis off of him easily, grunting as he pulled out of her, his displeasure apparent on his face. The moment was utterly broken. Cursing under his breath, he pulled on some exercise shorts and adjusted himself to hide his throbbing erection. Fumbling through a drawer, he found one of his t-shirts, adorned with the logo of some sports team, and a pair of panties to toss towards Quistis. She had never been more annoyed with Zell in her life.
"Hang on, asshole!" he yelled towards the door, and Zell finally stopped knocking.
After ensuring Quistis was decent, he finally opened the door, all but tearing it off its hinges, eyes filled with fury.
"What did I tell you about knocking on my door!" Seifer sounded like he was about to rip Zell's head off.
"Only if it's an emergency, dude! I remember."
"This better be a fucking emergency…" Seifer gestured for Zell to enter the room. Quistis remained on the bed, under the sheet from the waist down, trying to calm herself down.
Zell entered the room, seemingly clueless about what he had interrupted, laptop under his arm. Sitting on the bed like he owned it, he flipped open the laptop and typed in a password, gesturing for them to watch what he was doing.
He pulled up an image of spikes of differing heights and troughs about ten segments long. Segments that were highlighted with notes underneath.
"I swear to fucking Hyne, Chicken-wuss…" Seifer settled on the bed next to Quistis, his eyebrow twitching. "If you're wasting our time with some—"
Quistis hushed him with a hand on his forearm, though she herself was fairly irritated as well. And, frankly, extremely horny.
"This is the original drug that you guys were infused with. The Garden GF-removing drug." Zell gestured to the meaningless spikes on the screen. "My spectroscopy machine breaks down all of the chemical components. See? All these spikes are actually fractions of light, because each molecule—"
"Zell, I think you should cut to the chase…" Quistis wisely intervened before Seifer threw Zell's computer out the window.
Zell coughed. "Right. So, this output is the original drug." Clicking a few buttons, he pulled up another image of a bunch of spikes and superimposed it on the original. "And this is the diamonds. At least the ones you had, Seifer. See the highlighted spikes? They are where the drugs are identical."
The images were nearly identical. The entirety of the GF-removing drug was glowing on the screen of the diamonds. Though there were some extra peaks—chemical noise—on the image of the diamonds.
"So what does that mean? And what are all those other spikes?" Apparently, Zell had gotten Seifer's attention, he was interested in whatever this was.
"The noise in the diamonds is probably filler. Something to make a liquid into a solid. Diluting the original drug somewhat. But, there is no question. The diamonds are the exact same chemical composition as the GF-removing drugs. They are the same thing. Completely."
"It's why I'm immune to them," Quistis whispered softly.
Seifer merely cursed under his breath, suddenly appearing very withdrawn.
Zell closed his computer. "So, what does that mean, Quis? Seifer? Does that mean Garden is selling drugs? Or is it whoever made the original? There is no way this is a copycat. Whoever is making the diamonds has access to the GF-removing drug. Someone had to have the original GF-removing drug in order to turn them into solids—into diamonds. Otherwise the chemical fingerprint would be a little different."
"Fuck," Seifer muttered, leaning forward and burying his face in his hands. "Fuck, Fujin, it's all my fault."
The name he mumbled was no accident.
"Seifer…" Quistis tentatively reached forward, gently rubbing her hand along his bare back.
Seifer didn't look up from his hands as he continued to speak. "Didn't you say Odine Lab transferred a bunch of money to D-district, Wuss?"
Zell's eyebrows shot up, slightly confused at the sudden change of topic. "Um… yeah. A huge amount. Like, stupid huge. Shortly after that, Garden transferred a large amount to Odine."
"When?"
Zell reopened his computer and typed quickly, nibbling on his lip-ring as he did so. "Uh… about two and a half years ago."
"Fuck, fuck, fuck." Seifer slammed his fist onto the bed, before covering his face once again. He was shaking slightly. Quistis wasn't sure if he was about to scream or cry.
"What is it, Seifer? Why… oh." It dawned on Quistis. Clear as day. "Odine paid for you. The conditions of your release from prison. Odine paid D-district to do research on you…"
"What? Why?" Zell asked.
"Because that creep is obsessed with sorceress and knights, obviously. It all comes back to the fucking sorceresses!" Seifer had moved his hands from his face and was unconsciously running one along his Odin tattoo, scratching the skin slightly.
"You think he used the opportunity to research you as a knight? The drug was just a lucky coincidence? What… what did he do to you?" Quistis gently placed her hand over Seifer's, trying to stop him from drawing blood from where he was now frantically scratching his arm.
Seifer scoffed. "I never saw Odine! I didn't even know he was involved. Hyne, he probably didn't want me to know. If I had known Odine was involved I never would have… We were in some medical facility in D-district. It was that stupid Dr. Sanford. And that fucking lunatic? What didn't he do to me? Tests. Blood. Piss. Tissue samples. Other samples. Hyne only knows. I only remember some of that hell. All the fucking drugs…"
"Dr. Sanford?" Quistis looked up to meet Zell's eyes. They knew that name. He was the doctor that had come in to replace Kadowaki at Garden. There was no way it was a coincidence.
Seifer stood and began pacing the room like a caged animal. Then again, Seifer had always been something of a caged animal, pent-up and ready to pounce. But one you could admire and let loose when needed. This Seifer was feral. He was rabid. Dangerous, and not in a good way.
Zell seemed unfazed by Seifer's pacing, though Quistis could tell he was ready to intervene at any minute, based on the clenching and unclenching of the muscles in his arms and hands. "You think Garden paid Odine to create the drug after he had Seifer? Odine saw an opportunity to research knights and took it? Giving money to D-district? Does that mean Odine is the one making the diamonds?"
Quistis nervously chewed on her lip, her eyes never leaving Seifer, watching him as he paced back and forth. "No. Odine only cares about his research. I can't see him manufacturing drugs for illegal sales."
"Either way—" Zell began.
Seifer stopped pacing and interrupted him. "We need to break into O-lab. We've got no other choice."
beta: colobonema 3
