*Warning* Spoilers contained. For optimal reading, read Into Thin Air up to Chapter 23
Beta: [Queen] Bebedora.
Into the Darkness: The Seifer Almasy Trial
If Seifer had been anyone else, the conditions he endured would have been the recipe for every human rights violation protester's wet dream. However, he hardly expected those hippies at Fisherman's Horizon to give a rat's ass about him—no matter how much doing so would piss off Garden. That bridge had been burned.
Some misguided part of him had expected his home Garden to be better than D-Cell, but that was a mistake as he sat in isolation in a 12X7 holding cell underground. He had pride in passing with good marks in interrogation and prisoner of war exams, but even the best minds can be eventually broken or lost with sensory deprivation. Even the food he was served lacked texture or flavor. A single day felt damn near like an eternity, and he lost count long ago.
So, when he was finally transferred to another room where Cid patiently sat next to one of Garden's lawyers, Seifer didn't give as much as a sneer as the guards roughly secured his hand's cuff to the metal table. Instead, he studied their guardedly neutral expressions to get a feel for what he was in for. For a homely man like Cid, knitted vests and thin round glasses was the only armor that man could pull off. He would be mistaken for a volunteer at the infirmary's front desk long before being assumed the head of an orphan military program. That wasn't by mistake.
The fool next to Cid was likely one of the many lawyers Garden kept on the payroll. Just one of those Dollet-made suits cost more than an entire mission pay for a Rank C SeeD—meaning that one tailored piece could be worth more than his life.
Damn, that left an astringent aftertaste in his mouth.
"Mr. Almasy, I'm-"
"I don't really give a shit who you are," Seifer cut him off to look at Cid. He wasn't about to let them beat around the bush. "If you're here, I'm guessing Rinoa has told you everything by now, right?"
Continuing to be the cowardly ass Seifer knew him to be, Cid remained impartial as his lawyer spoke for the both of them. "It's true that we have heard that time compression had led to some rather interesting developments... "
Seifer released a grateful laugh as he glanced up to Hyne. It's not that he didn't trust Heartilly to fulfill her end of the bargain, but she was shrewd. He realized he had zero reassurance that she wasn't going to leave him high and dry at the first opportunity she had. Especially after how things went down between them.
He allowed himself a small moment of relief before he directed his focus back on the two men before him. "Listen, I'm not expecting any pats on the back here, but can we at least address the fact I haven't seen sunlight in the last … how fucking long have you kept me in here?"
Cid looked down as the lawyer next to him leaned over to pull a manila envelope from a black lacquered briefcase. Seifer was generally good at reading a room, and the message coming across was far from optimal.
"Don't tell me," Seifer said, leaning back in his chair as if to keep his disappointment in check. "Her story doesn't fit the narrative Garden was looking to tell, does it?"
He tried to pull his hands instinctively to cross his arms, but the chain's length kept his hands above the table. Having himself physically constricted like this was driving him to the levels of insanity he had yet to experience. Holding up his hands as far as the length would allow him, Seifer looked to Cid, "Is this really necessary? I turned myself in."
"Very necessary," the lawyer shot him down, making Seifer clench his fists in frustration.
He had to stay calm. He knew this wouldn't be a walk in the park even with Rinoa's help, but the exhaustion brought about from sleep deprivation made him dysregulated. The room's lights were too bright, causing his head to throb like it had endured a weekend bender.
"You're right in your observation, Mr. Almasy. The story is not one Garden is particularly interested in making public." The lawyer acknowledged.
"Well," Seifer lifted his chains up once more, "I'm not exactly in the negotiating position, now am I? If you want this off the record, then let's make an arrangement."
"Mr. Almasy," the lawyer choked back a laugh. "The situation outside, well son, how do I put delicately? Riots are starting around the world, necessitating your trial and subsequent execution. For order to be restored, Garden needs the circumstances surrounding what started these events to be clear. A message where two illusory individuals claiming to have 'possibly' altered a devastating course set into motion by Garden? Well, that is anything but clear."
"So, the truth is too inconvenient?" Seifer balked before looking at the shell of an excuse of a father figure who remained silent. "Is that your opinion, Cid? I protected your wife. Hell, Rinoa might be the only reason why Edea is alive today. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
"I never asked you to do that, Seifer," Cid said as his disconcertingly cold eyes met with his. "In fact, I think I made my expectations clear at the beginning."
He felt flames from the pit of his stomach reach a bitter conclusion in his mouth. It never occurred to him that Edea was that expendable in Cid's eyes. He had portrayed the pathetically wounded, estranged part so well that Seifer never guessed he held separate cards close to the vest.
"I'm sure you can explain the morality of that decision after Rinoa takes the stand to speak on my behalf," Seifer held his ground despite it feeling like it was thinning beneath him. "Edea was like a mother to us. I think the others may feel differently after hearing what I helped prevent."
Cid looked to the lawyer and delivered a nod as a form of permission. With thick, bumbling hands, the lawyer slipped out a white piece of paper from the manila envelope and placed it in front of Seifer.
"Ms. Heartilly has declined to testify on your behalf. As a private Galbadian citizen and our client, she is not required to give a written statement or speak if she does not wish to. I think you would recognize her signature at the bottom."
Touching the piece of paper would have felt like a death sentence, but he also couldn't tear his eyes away from the undeniable ink stains marking her betrayal.
"More importantly, your trial is under our jurisdiction. I'm certain our courts would deem Ms. Heartilly's testimony as a violation of the non-disparagement clause of her contract, which would, in turn, invalidate it."
Gutted, Seifer could manage to do nothing more than look down at the metal table. The reflective surface was marred with scratches from those who had found their way to where he was sitting.
He waited for the anger to tear through him. It wouldn't come. Instead—only numbness. This response was so foreign to him—he was accustomed to strength, arrogance—that he needed a moment to accept it. And now he was convinced it might never leave. Nothing would make Heartilly break from her loyalty to Timber. Even Squall did not hold that kind of influence. Did that make the certainty of his fate easier to live with? That was difficult to answer.
"You thought all of this through from the start." Seifer surmised.
"From Garden's perspective, events that never came to pass can't be prosecuted. It might not come to pass at all because of your intervention, which doesn't make for a particularly compelling case for Garden to intervene on your behalf."
"If I die, there is a strong chance that nothing will be prevented."
The lawyer's rebuttal came with a shrug, "The Sorceress said that too, but she was rather sparse on the details of that. If Garden did indeed have a hand in the creation of Ultimecia, as you both claim to be the case, we have a strong suspicion that the real line of succession stems from the Sorceress herself."
"Undoubtedly," Seifer said woodenly. "But unfortunately for you, she is viewed as a self-sacrificing hero. You know as well as I do, your SeeDs will protect her, and so the misery will repeat itself, over and over, because you appear to be unwilling to break the cycle."
An arch formed from the bush of the lawyer's eyebrow. "Unless there is another story here that would serve us both?"
Seifer wasn't drawn to reading between the lines anymore. "Like what?"
"Like how a student trying to protect the only mother figure in his life ended up being possessed by a sorceress against his will. I could only imagine the sympathy that would pour out of this administration for you."
Seifer laughed. The last thing anyone would ever think he would want from someone was sympathy. "You know that kind of possession isn't possible. What purpose would that narrative serve?"
He thought for a moment before offering a new, pensive response. "You want something to use against Rinoa. You're looking to seal her. That's not on the table. I'm not lying about something she's not capable of doing."
"I watched the whole city of Deling come under Ultimecia's influence," the lawyer riposted.
Irritated that the lawyer was speaking about things beyond his comprehension, Seifer looked to Cid. "I know you recognize a mesmerization spell, Cid. If that's all it took to be considered "possessed" then any status spell which impacts behavior could fit that bill."
"Edea was possessed by Ultimecia," Cid returned.
"Ah, yes, but you're leaving out the inconvenient truth that a Sorceress can only invade another Sorceress's mind through the shared bond of Hyne divinity, but only by choice," Seifer snarled. "Edea allowed Ultimecia to use her, and Adel proved that there is a choice. Adel's consciousness was priority upon her awakening."
"So, you're saying Rinoa allowed Ultimecia to unseal Adel?" The lawyer suggested, raising a brow.
"No," Seifer emphasized, "I'm saying Rinoa's ability to defend her consciousness upon inheritance after the battle was compromised, and you're straying from the point. No sorceress can possess people. Manipulate their fantasies? Oh, hell yes, I'll vouch for that. Did Ultimecia hijack my consciousness? No."
"That's an unfortunate position to take." The lawyer leaned back in his chair.
Seifer bit back a snarky response, but he grew tired and irritated from going in circles regarding things Cid damn well knew. "It doesn't even sound like you need me. Why don't you have your living, breathing wife lie for you?"
As the words left his mouth, it struck him like a revival spell. And judging how Cid's face drained of color, Seifer could place bets on what that could only mean.
"Betrayals seem to be the theme of the day." Seifer smiled, but it was the kind he gave when his chi ran with white-hot anger. "Matron is unwilling to testify for you, meaning you don't have evidence one way or another. Which is why you're here, trying to use my life as your ace card for the testimony."
Seifer could help let his laugh bellow from the absurdity of it all, which unexpectedly acted like a hairpin trigger.
"Listen here you ungrateful child," Cid exploded, leaping from his chair, and slamming his fist down on the metal tabletop. It echoed through the small cell. "Did you forget who saved you from a life on the streets or who ensured you had food in your belly at night?"
"You used this place as a machine to turn innocent children into killers. Stop pretending you hold a higher morality!" Seifer was just as surprised by his indignant response as the lawyer sitting next to Cid, but hell had opened the flood gate, and despite being desperate to do so, Seifer couldn't stop himself.
"All I ever was to you was a tool to manipulate Squall—to push him physically into improving and to become your perfectly compliant soldier to build up your legacy! My life hasn't been worth two shits to you until you realized I might be the only person who could remove Rinoa from Squall's life. Why can you not see me as worthy in my own right?"
"You want to know why, Seifer? It's because you're weak." Cid shook his head in sad disbelief. "Hyne, it may have even been my fault because I overindulged you."
Seifer snorted, a curt laugh bursting from his lips.
Cid paid it no mind as he continued. "It was clear you couldn't live outside your fantasy world, so I let you pretend. Play around with your silly disciplinary committee or whatever it was you called yourselves. I even let you play the hero by fulfilling that wretched girl's contract. I figured maybe, just maybe…"
"What? That you'd fix me?"
"I figured that you would finally grow up if you saw Squall leave with her and go to Timber." He pursed his lips and stared him down. "Instead, you proved once and for all that you would always be a petulant little boy willing to run away from his potential."
"That only proves you don't know anything about me, Headmaster…"
Cid's face flushed scarlet, his eyes wild with indignation. "Even now, you still operate in your fantasies, pretending as though anything you might have done during time compression is more impactful than what you could do now. Rinoa absorbed three sorceresses' divinity, and the only guarantee this world has that the sorceress' threat might be squelched is via her own elimination. There are no romantic notions in saving the world. Just blood and sacrifice!"
"If you keep trying to manipulate me, I swear to Hyne..." Seifer warned, feeling himself teetering on the edge of destructive madness.
"What is wrong with you, boy?" Cid shouted as the lawyer grabbed his arm. "She chose Squall over you. She signed your death warrant, but I'm allowing you to live and you won't even take what's being given to you on a silver platter!"
Seifer gave a small laugh in despair. Cid's narcissistic psychopathy could nearly rival his own, but Cid was far from wrong. If his life were not to go on, there was no telling if anything they had done could prevent the future they saw. His confession would be for the greater good, but why did he make it seem so easy to betray an oath? Was the promise he made to Tempest to serve as her knight any different than possession? Because while every survival instinct instructed him to agree and live, his decision on the matter was long decided before he had given it much thought. His track record of not giving a fuck for his own life had been pretty well established.
His throat dry from rage, his voice scratched the surface in a quiet whisper, he forced out a response. "You're right, Cid. I guess I just don't have what it takes to survive in this world."
"Mr. Alsmay—" The lawyer attempted to intervene, directing Seifer's ire to him.
"The answer is, fuck you," Seifer violently cursed back, reeling with anger with himself for what he had just done.
A red-faced Cid stared at him silently for a minute as if he expected Seifer would come to his senses after his outburst. But Almasy held strong, keeping his gaze locked to the etched swirls in the table.
"You're going to regret this, Seifer," Cid warned from his chair.
Seifer looked at him in defiance one last time and saw a man who had never measured up to his own greatness in his mind. If there was anything for Seifer to leave this world proud of, it was that he was the exact opposite of him.
"The only regret I have, Cid, is all the times I stood close enough to kill you but didn't."
He could see the horror in the short man's eyes, which gave Seifer a sweet sense of pleasure between the waves of fatigue.
Leaning back in his chair, Seifer gave an apathetic shrug. "At least I won't have to live with that regret long."
Cid's chair screeched as he pushed backward, the metal legs scraping on the cheap linoleum flooring. Seifer could feel the light breeze as Cid passed him on the way out of his life. He would say good riddance, but something repressed deep in him ached in a way where he wished they would just kill him now.
"I want a lawyer." Seifer coldly stated, unflinching. "And not you, if I wasn't clear enough."
The lawyer's bushy eyebrows furrowed together, studying him. "Our world is never going to accept Sorceress Rinoa. Now with what that man knows. He is going to do everything he can to drive them apart."
Seifer toyed with that knowledge for a second before responding.
"I can't say I blame him. I even gave that a shot myself."
Layla's Notes:
Happy New Year's Eve, Everyone! Can you believe it? 3 posts this year! Okay, in reality that's terrible, but look at what year it is [2020]. I think that should mean something. It does to me at any rate. I don't have much to add other than I'm just working on completing this (I will not make this a saga.. GAH). I owe my life once again to the most amazing Bebedora for smoothing out the errors. As you can see, she does a lot. I hope you all remain safe and well into the new year and here is hoping it's a better one.