A Promising Young SeeD
Chapter 13
Pedestal
There was a clock on the plain white wall in front of her. Near the locked door. Locked from the outside. Large bolt. Key. Fire-grade. She wasn't going to be able to bust that down. 1520. They would come in twenty-five minutes to give her another dose of her medicine. She had twenty-five minutes to remember everything she needed to.
Remember Deling City. Who you saw. Who they were with. What they had.
A warning. There was a warning she needed to give.
Then it went black. They drugged her. Everything was confusing after that.
Remember… remember
Selphie Tilmitt.
My birthday is 16 July. I am currently twenty-three years old. Well, maybe I'm twenty-four. I don't know how long I've been locked in here.
Currently in four-point restraints in some sort of hospital ward. Can wiggle my left hand enough to slip it out of the cuff and remove the rest of the restraints.
Two big baddies will come in approximately twenty-three minutes to inject me with something. I need to be quick. Kill one with the needle, strangle the other. With what? Leather. The restraint. I won't have much time… and I'm not strong enough yet. Patience, Selphie. Patience.
Then I'm going to fucking blow shit up. To hell with all of this.
I need to see Irvy so I can warn him. Warn him of what. No. Of whom.
Irvine Kinneas. Birthday 24 November. 185cm of pure perfection. My Irvy…
No, go back to your plan. Keep remembering…
My birthday is 16 July. In eighteen minutes, the big baddies will come inject me with medicine…
Selphie Tilmitt
Selphie Tilmitt…
Xxxx
Zell idly played with the trinket in his hand, flipping it over along his knuckles and in between his fingers. A habit he'd acquired when trying to concentrate. Something he had been doing for years. Music played softly in the background from his laptop speakers. Some sort of reggae at Raijin's request. He felt like he was missing something. Something obvious and important.
"What is that thing anyway? That thing you're always fussing with, ya know?" Raijin asked from his position in a recliner he had dragged into Fujin's old room—for the specific purpose of sitting and watching Zell while he worked and asking questions.
Zell paused his fiddling and tossed the object over at Raijin. "It's my good luck charm. My Pa was a fisherman. This is sea glass that can only be found on the beaches on Long Horn Island. I've had it since I was little. The water is more salty there or something, so it produces this special glass."
"Cool," Raijin commented, tossing the blue stone back towards Zell. "I just figured all glass was the same, ya know?"
"Yeah. They produce specialized glass nearby in Dollet. Kind of their thing. Use the sand from the local beaches and shit," Zell paused. "It's sturdier or something… Holy shit… Raijin, you're a genius!"
"I am?"
"Give me the vial that the drugs came in, will you?"
Raijin shrugged and grabbed the vial from the bedside table, tossing it Zell's way.
Grabbing a hammer from his bag of equipment, Zell smashed the vial with a practiced well-placed hit, shattering it into small pieces.
"What the hell, dude? Are you crazy?" Raijin jumped from his seat, grabbing the hammer out of Zell's hand.
"You can tell where glass is made if you break down its components. Hyne, I should have done this two weeks ago." Zell systematically placed a few small shards of the broken glass on a small slide, adding water with a pipette as his spectroscopy machine hummed to life.
Raijin dropped the hammer unceremoniously to the ground with a thunk. "And if we know where the glass is made…"
"We might be able to figure out where the drugs are made. Bingo."
"Not bad, chicken-wuss. Color me impressed."
Seifer's voice drifted in from the doorway, his bulky frame leaning against it casually. There was a small rag in his hand that Zell recognized immediately as a weapon cleaner. Similar to the one he often saw Squall use on his gunblade.
Compliments from Seifer were about as rare as rain in Esthar, at least when coming Zell's way. He tried not to let it make his chest swell. But it still did. "Uh… thanks."
"You ready for tonight?" Seifer asked casually.
Zell shrugged. Truth be told, he was feeling rather apprehensive about the entire plan. "Ready as I'll ever be, I guess. Why can't Raijin do this again?"
Seifer barked out a hearty laugh, as if Zell had made some hilarious joke. Raijin apparently thought it entertaining as well.
"Rai? A honey-pot? Oh man, you're kidding, right?"
"What's funny about that? Raijin's a good-looking guy!" Zell gestured towards the large man standing behind him. "And he's a good actor too!"
Seifer was nearly doubled over, tears practically forming in his eyes. "Oh my Hyne… you're actually serious. Rai, he doesn't know?"
"I'm gay, ya know?" Raijin clamped a strong hand on Zell's shoulder reassuringly. "Thought everyone knew that."
Zell blinked. He had no idea. Not that it mattered. "You are?"
"I'm a good actor, but not good enough to be able to convince a girl I'm attracted to her, ya know."
"Remember that game of spin-the-bottle at Garden, Rai? When we were like twelve?"
Raijin chuckled. "Fu was so upset—thought it was personal. Got up after kissing her and just said 'yeah, not for me, ya know?'."
"And then the girl from the library nearly…"
"Uh, guys?" Zell piped up.
Seifer cleared his throat. "Right. Anyway, I need you to run this through your machine, wuss." He handed Zell the gunblade cleaning cloth in his hand.
"Why? Want to know what your grease is made of or something?"
"Just fucking do it. Specifically, this part." Seifer gestured to a small corner where there was a microscopic brownish stain.
Blood?
Zell didn't bother asking any other questions—he knew Seifer would just ignore him anyway. "I won't be able to run it until tomorrow—machine will be busy for about fourteen hours."
"Fine. Anything from my hacker?"
Zell shook his head. "Sorry, man. Nothing from the dates Rinoa wrote down."
"Rinoa didn't write that shit down. Squall did. You told the Archivist that it was from Rinoa? No wonder they haven't found shit—probably looking in all the wrong places."
"No way, man. What makes you think Squall wrote that?"
"The handwriting, idiot. He's been my rival since we were six, I damn well know what his stupid writing looks like. His dots are all meticulous and in order. Rinoa's handwriting looks like a thirteen-year-old doodling on a notebook. Fix this shit, already!" Seifer ordered, before stalking out of the room in a huff.
"Asshole," Zell muttered under his breath.
Raijin, used to it, merely shrugged. "Alright, let's get you ready. Facial piercings out—and we gotta dye this hair. You need to stick out less, ya know?"
Zell grumbled. "Fine. Let's do it. Turn me into a honey-pot, or whatever."
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Raijin entered the kitchen, his arms full of various trash, hair dye-bottles, plastic gloves, disposable combs, and a towel that was now ruined. Tossing it into the rubbish bin, he nearly jumped out of his skin when Quistis cleared her throat.
She hadn't meant to startle him, just alert him to her presence. She had been in here ruminating.
Quistis and Seifer had been spending the last few weeks making public appearances and showing up at Phantasmagoria—Seifer had to work the club consistently from Wednesday to Sunday anyway. Since the revelation about Odine and D-district, Seifer hadn't made any more attempts to have sex with her, and she was too insecure to ask why not. And she certainly wasn't going to make the first move. Despite how far they'd previously gone, he seemed hesitant to take that last step.
More than hesitant. Blatantly avoidant. To the point where she suspected he stayed out later than he needed to, sometimes not coming home until daybreak.
All it did was make her want it more. It left her craving and hollow rather than fulfilled.
It certainly didn't help that being in Phantasmagoria put them in anything but a mood. While the first trip had awakened a desire in Quistis and resulted in sexy stolen kisses, future trips were solely methodical. A complete turn-off.
Seifer was slowly and delicately weaving a picture for the government bigwigs to watch. The picture was this: poor naïve Quistis, beautiful and oh-so-willing, caught up by the big bad wolf. And what a big bad he was. Controlling, dismissive… He made it clear that when they were in public he controlled what she ate, what she wore, who she spoke to. For all anyone might think, she wasn't even allowed to go to the bathroom without his permission. To make her seem completely dependent on him.
Or so it seemed.
Poor beautiful Quistis, desperate to be saved by some rich older man from her evil drug-kingpin lover. So cliché it was laughable.
But it was working. She could sense the vultures circling, eager to pluck her away.
But she didn't think it was the act that was causing the distance.
Raijin somehow seemed to sense what she was needing and wanting to hear. He was surprisingly astute and sensitive. Maybe that's why he and Zell got on so well. They were both shockingly wise and empathetic—able to figure out and solve a problem before anyone was even aware it existed.
"It's 'cause he's in love with you, ya know," Raijin suddenly said, as if it was obvious. Not meeting her eyes, he focused unnecessarily on washing his hands.
"Wh-What?"
"You care too, don't you?" Raijin finally turned to look at her.
Quistis remained silent, a noticeable blush spreading across her cheeks.
"Thought so. Or else you wouldn't be so upset that the boss is pulling away," Raijin sighed. "Look, after Fu… it was really bad, ya know? I didn't think Seifer was gonna make it, to be honest. I thought he might…"
Raijin turned to the fridge, opening it and staring mindlessly. "When we started the business, started working on the diamonds and taking down the guys who made them… it gave Seifer a purpose. Something to do. Kept him alive, ya know? Then when you showed up? Since you've been here I've seen the boss smile, ya know? I hadn't seen him smile in over two years. Now that he has you… he's terrified, ya know? Seifer barely made it through Fujin. I don't think he can handle losing you."
There was no response that seemed appropriate. Most mercenaries never had real relationships or long-term commitments for this very reason. In fact they were actively advised against it in garden. Poor life-expectancy didn't exactly go hand-in-hand with 'happily-ever-after'. Who wanted to go through that pain? But it had happened now, and they couldn't exactly stop it. They were inevitably drawn to each other. Quistis wondered if that was what had happened with Squall and Rinoa as well.
Was there a chance? Even a small shot in hell for a happily ever after?
"You and Zell…" Raijin continued, his voice quiet. "We've got hope now, ya know?"
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Breaking into O-Lab was bound to be complicated. Planning it was going to take time and a lot of prep work for Zell and Seifer's hacker. They needed to know camera locations, door codes, the blueprint for the building. And they needed an access card that would at least get them into the front door, if not into the laboratory itself.
It turned out that after some research and social media digging, Zell and the Archivist found an O-Lab secretary who just so happened to enjoy going to Phantasmagoria. Going by her thirsty posting history, she seemed to be into bad boys. A newish recruit on a starter wage—Odine was a painfully stingy employer, Zell was unsurprised to discover—who worked 14-hour shifts that finished right around the time Phantasmagoria was heating up. Her profile picture was of the tattoo on her lower back, which Seifer claimed was a 'tramp stamp' and meant she would be easy pickings. The plan was simple: hit on her, dance with her, get her to invite Zell back to her place if needed, steal her key-card, clone it before she noticed it was missing, and return it.
Zell had reluctantly volunteered, even if he was now trying to get out of it, his nerves kicking in. Spiking his now black mohawk to perfection, dressed in tight jeans and an even tighter white t-shirt that showed off every single muscle of his chest, arms, and abs, as well as the intricate tattoo sleeve on his arm, he was ready to brave Phantasmagoria. How had Quistis done this so many times? In what seemed like so long ago? How did she still put on this act with Seifer?
Acting. He just had to get into character. Maybe channel Irvine's swagger. Seifer's confidence. Squall's mysteriousness. Raijin's presence.
Show time.
Spotting the girl, he flirted with her effortlessly, plying her with drinks until she was laughing and dancing with him on the dance floor. Zell was shocked at how easy it was. If this were reality, he may have been genuinely interested in her. He knew Quistis and Seifer were watching with amazement and disbelief from the VIP section. Who knew Zell could play the honey-pot?
After about an hour, he realized the girl was thoughtless enough to bring her keycard to Phantasmagoria with her. She must have come straight from O-Lab. Zell managed to slip her ID card from the pocket of her jeans under the guise of feeling her up. Mission accomplished. Coding it quickly in the bathroom, he slipped it back into her pocket as he kissed her. Extracting himself from her afterwards turned out to be a much more complicated affair.
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Zell made it home late that night. Or rather. Early in the morning. The couch was mussed, a tell-tale sign that Quistis had been there. Likely waiting for Seifer.
Seifer's boots were noticeably absent from the threshold despite it almost being daybreak. Zell had done something that night that he never thought he would do. And he felt a little sick about it. And more than a little guilty. Which was stupid. He was single. But he knew he could never see this girl again. Which made him feel like a jerk.
In any other world, maybe he'd date her. She was nice, and liked his tattoos and she was fun. But even if he could see her again, if he wasn't in the middle of the most important mission of his life… something was off. Someone else was occupying the space in his brain. Or rather, two other people. One, a mystery presence behind a computer, and the other, a girl with pigtails, running the library at Garden.
Zell sighed. He was frustrated and wanted to take it out on someone. And he heard the perfect victim jiggling his keys in the door.
He had Seifer by the neck, pressed against the wall before the asshole even got the chance to close the door.
Zell slammed Seifer hard against the plaster, jerked his body back, and slammed him again for good measure, tightening his grip on Seifer's throat, his other forearm pinning Seifer's arms down, preventing him from fighting back.
Seifer was quick, but Zell was faster. And once Zell had someone in a hold, they weren't getting out. Even if they were much taller.
Seifer glared at him with furious eyes. "What the fuck, Dincht. Get the fuck off me before I kill you."
"I'd like to see you try," Zell responded with equal fury. "I defended you, dude. To Quisty. What have you been playing at?"
A puzzled look crossed Seifer's face briefly. "Playing at? I figured you of all people would be glad I haven't slept with her."
A technical point at best. It was clear they had done plenty. Everyone in that condo had learned just what Quistis sounded like.
Zell's eyes narrowed. "I actually thought you were going to take care of her. I was trusting you. I thought you wanted to make her happy."
"So you want me to fuck her?"
That answer only deserved one response. A sickening crack echoed as Zell's fist met Seifer's jaw. Zell scoffed, stepping back from Seifer and letting him nurse his wound.
Seifer didn't bother trying to counter, just rubbed his jaw gingerly. "Okay. I deserved that," he muttered.
"I never thought I'd see the day when Seifer Almasy acted like a fucking coward," Zell practically spat out. "Man up, asshole."
"Fuck off," Seifer grumbled, finally managing to toss his shoes off and heading to his room.
Zell knew he'd got the message. He waited in the living room, arms crossed until he heard voices drift from Seifer's room.
"It's almost morning."
There was the sound of clothes shifting, and sheets rustling.
"Do you smell that? Petrichor."
"…what? Oh, you're right. It's going to rain?"
"Remember when Matron taught us that? If you smell the earth, get inside before the rain comes…"
"We would have to find Zell, because if it was a thunderstorm, he would always be scared…"
"Such a chicken-wuss." Seifer's voice sounded fond, rather than chastising, and Zell felt a small tug of nostalgia.
Silence.
"Look, Quis… I freaked out when I found out about Odine. Thinking of Fujin, and… but, I promise I'll do better. I'll do my best."
"We all get scared sometimes, Seifer."
"I know I said no one could save you, but…"
"I don't need a knight, Seifer. I just need you here. Just hold me."
"I won't run anymore."
A pause.
"Seifer?"
Zell couldn't be sure, but it almost sounded like Seifer was choking up.
"Shhh… it's okay. It's okay…"
Zell decided that was enough listening in, and headed up the stairs to get some much-needed rest. Confident that Seifer and Quistis would be okay.
He was about to crumple in an exhausted heap on his air mattress on the floor when the blinking of his computer screen got the best of him.
Curiosity won, and he logged into the screen to see what message was waiting.
From: The Archivist
Hey Ruby Dragon Man, You were right about the message being from the Commander. Found this gem from nine months ago, footage at Presidential Palace in Esthar. President Loire has horrific firewall for the most advanced city. Good god. Also attached are the camera locations, hacking codes, and blueprint of O-Lab. Good luck. Stay safe ;-)
Zell pulled up the video attached to the video, deciding that the O-Lab work could wait until after sleep.
A hazy CCTV type footage appeared, black-and-white, but with audio. It was somewhere in the presidential palace. The unmistakable form of Odine was waddling around.
"Vait! Commander!"
Squall's voice came off screen. "I'm not going to repeat myself. I won't hesitate to rip your head off if you don't leave her alone."
"Okay, okay… A deal. Ve will make a deal."
"…I'm listening."
"A sample. Zen I villl tell you. Show you zee weapon."
Zell's eyes widened. Had Squall not been told about the weapon that they were designing? The cannon? Was he being pushed out of Garden? Because of Rinoa?
"Not good enough."
"Fine—I will give you everything on the weapon. It cannot beat her anyway—she is too powerful. I vill give you all my notes—and on the monsters. I will also tell everyone. Tell them all that the Sorceress is no threat. That I know this to be true. I vill make sure she is safe in Esthar."
"One sample. That's it. Hers or mine."
"Hers! Hers!"
Squall appeared on screen and shook Odine's hand. "Don't try anything stupid," Squall warned under his breath.
Odine was shaking his head rapidly, the glee on his face apparent even in the grainy footage. "Of course, of course! May I say, Commander… why not go to zee Garden for zis? You are in charge, no?"
"That's my business."
The footage cut out. Had Squall struck a deal with Odine to protect Rinoa? For a sample of what? Apparently the vile Odine wanted a sample of both Squall and Rinoa and only got one… Was this all for his research?
Squall's actions started to make more sense. As did Seifer's warning. Squall and Rinoa weren't their enemies, they were certainly on the same side… but Squall had a greater mission. To protect his sorceress. And that trumped everything. But why would Squall have wanted them to see this video? So they knew that Squall had lost trust in Garden? So they knew about the weapon? So they knew that Odine had some sort of sample from Rinoa?
Zell was in so far over his head. He needed Quistis and Seifer to make sense of the madness. He ran a hand through his hair, leaving it stuck up at odd-angles. Shutting off his computer, he turned to his spectrometer which had finished analyzing the glass sample.
"Looks like the glass matches the sand in Dollet. It's a start at least," he whispered to no one in particular.
This whole thing just kept getting more and more confusing.
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
After reconciling, Seifer and Quistis slept like the dead. Quistis eventually awoke well into the afternoon, Seifer's arm curled protectively around her form. She had never felt more content in her life, and the peaceful look on Seifer's face as he slept hinted that he felt the same.
Seifer had been an impossibly gentle lover. Surprisingly, so. It was not what she expected at all, but it certainly wasn't unwelcome. It was like nothing else she had ever experienced—and she had a funny feeling it had less to do with the act and more to do with the partner.
Suddenly she understood Seifer's hesitance to take this step. How could she go to anything else after experiencing that? It was so much more than sex. How could she have been so naïve to think it wouldn't be so much more.
"Stop over-thinking. Too early for that shit…" Seifer mumbled in her ear, his eyes still closed.
Quistis turned in his embrace so she could nuzzle her face into his neck. "I'm not over-thinking. Just… last night was—"
"Intense?"
Quistis felt relief at his affirmation. "That's an understatement. I never knew… is it supposed to feel that way?"
"Fuck if I know. I've never 'made love' before. But If that's what it is, well, shit, we should have been doing this ages ago." Seifer put up air quotes in an attempt to make his statement seem less significant.
Quistis remained very still, but managed to whisper. "Me too."
"Aw, come on, don't go getting nervous on me now, Quis." Seifer rubbed her shoulder encouragingly. "Not after what you said last night when I was inside you. Not after I've seen you come so hard you—"
Quistis shot up, slapping Seifer in the chest, her face red. "Okay, okay. Stop!"
Seifer had a content smile on his face, chuckling slightly. He reached his hand up to brush some stray hair behind her ear affectionately. "We're good, okay? Everything is good. It's you and me."
She nodded. "Right. You and me."
They both smiled at each other for a while, unwilling to break the moment. Eventually Seifer cleared his throat. "And if you want an encore… I could be talked into it. If you asked nicely of course. Or maybe even begged a little. I rather enjoy the sound of you begging…"
Quistis glared at him, but it was hard to actually be angry. Oh, Seifer. He never could help himself. Ignoring her glare, Seifer pulled her down for a devastatingly sweet kiss. Rolling their bodies, he positioned himself on top of her, fully intent on repeating what they had done hours previously.
Until they were interrupted by a knock and a voice. "Guys, are you up? I need to show you something."
Quistis sighed, flopping her head against the soft pillows in annoyance.
Seifer just shrugged. "Honestly, nothing can break my good mood right now. Not even Chicken-wuss."
Giving her a moment to get somewhat decent, he pulled on a pair of boxers and opened the door. "What? It had better be good."
Zell, undeterred, walked in with his laptop, Raijin trailing behind him.
"Two things. First, you need to see this video." Glancing between Quistis and Seifer, a small smile appeared on Zell's lips. It was impossible to deny that they were both glowing slightly.
With a few quick clicks, the video of Squall and Odine appeared on the screen.
Instead of the pacing animal that had appeared last time Seifer had learned about Odine, this time he sat on his bed, arm wrapped around Quistis shoulders, head leaning against the headboard. Had things shifted that much just from sleeping together? Was he accepting her as a calming presence?
"I can't believe Squall made a deal with that clown, right?" Zell was bouncing on the balls of his feet, obviously eager to get Quistis' and Seifer's opinions.
Seifer stroked his chin thoughtfully. "It's like I said. Squall doesn't want to have to choose between his friends and Rinoa. He's making it so he doesn't have to make that choice. He's a knight, after all. I can't be mad at what he did."
"What did he mean by sample? Why would it matter from either of them?" Zell pressed.
"Odine seemed awfully eager to get it from Rinoa and not Squall…" Quistis added.
Seifer's grip on Quistis' shoulder tightened. "He already has samples from a knight. Me. Fuck it all, I never would have gone through with that shit if I knew Odine could get his hands on it. But, he didn't want Squall to realize that he already had half of what he wanted."
"When you say samples… what do you think they are taking from Rinoa? What did they take from you?" Zell asked cautiously.
"Everything," Seifer's response was blunt and emotionless.
"When you say everything…" Quistis was hesitant, but if this was going where she thought it was…
Seifer pointedly looked towards her crotch and then to his. "I mean everything."
"What? No way Squall is letting Odine take eggs or some shit, dude. No way he would agree to that!" Zell was now jumping up and down. "You think he'd try to like… create something?"
Quistis curled her knees to her chest, suddenly extremely uncomfortable. "Why else would he want… I mean Odine is a genius and he is obsessed with sorceresses and knights. Would he try to breed? I don't know…But I agree with Zell, there is no way Squall or Rinoa would allow as extensive a… collection."
Seifer was extremely quiet, tension rolling off him in waves. Quistis imagined how it would feel, knowing Odine had certain samples from him and the possibility of what he may be doing with them.
"More reason we need to get into O-Lab, ya know? Don't worry, boss. It's gonna be okay. We're gonna figure it out," Raijin finally chimed in.
Seifer sighed. "Remember those monsters on the island that they blew up with the cannon? Some of those were monsters that were only in Ultimecia's castle, right? Maybe the samples are linked to the monsters? He has my blood and tissue samples too. Every fucking medical test known to man. We know knights have a unique relationship with the sorceress. They are the only ones who can kill them. They are granted their own special powers. Is it in their DNA or something? Can you somehow extract that power?"
"Maybe…" Quistis responded slowly. "It makes sense. But he would still have needed to see what the monsters looked like from our memories."
Seifer released his arm from around Quistis' shoulders and folded his hands in his lap. "And don't we all know someone who can just easily jump into our memories?"
"But why would Ellone help Odine?" Zell shook his head. "No way, dude!"
"Same reason Squall would. She thinks she's doing the right thing to keep people she loves safe."
Seifer was far smarter than anyone ever gave him credit for. He seemed to be deeply mulling something over.
"Did you finish getting that sample done in your machine, wuss?" he suddenly asked.
"It's running now. Should be done by tonight or tomorrow."
"Seifer?" Quistis looked over at him.
"Rinoa's blood. I managed to nick her with my gunblade. Cleaned it and gave it to wuss to analyze."
She and Zell locked eyes, wordless. He gave the smallest shrug. It felt like a betrayal, somehow, but it had to be done. They needed all the information they could get.
The blood of a sorceress. None of them could predict what Zell might find.
beta: colobonema 3
