Icicle knight Fiery SeeD
Chapter 4
//\\
Garden had been drifting a full week before it finally came to land, and Seifer was not the only one whose temper was near the breaking point. There was still no word from Fujin, Chicken-wuss, and Tilmitt, though all indications pointed to them as dead. Normally, Seifer would never have accepted such vague calculations, given that Garden Intelligence was normally very precise and accurate. Recently however, the destruction of Trabia Garden coupled with the persecution suffered by several Garden agents stationed in Galbadia, had caused the majority of key players in Garden's various networks to go underground to avoid the Sorceress's attention.
Which meant that cabin fever was not his only reason for unleashing holy hell on holographic monsters in the Training Center. Not only was he bored, but he was slowly going insane with worry over what had happened to the team he'd sent out. Frankly, he had a new appreciation of what it meant for the Headmaster sending SeeD squads into the field.
But despite all that worry and anxiety, despite Cid's quiet and private statement that Garden was essentially at war with the Sorceress, life at Garden continued as normal; well, as normal as it could b e when aboard a floating training facility that was out of control. Even the addition of Kinneas didn't arouse much of a stir, even given the fact that Kinneas had never taken the SeeD exam, he was treated as if he were any other transfer student, and despite the obvious gaps in his paperwork, a given since he was the only assumed survivor of his Garden. It had made the paperwork itself a bit tricky, as there were no signatures from his old headmaster and Garden master, or his primary Instructor, but the sniper fit in with the cafeteria crowd as if he'd always been there.
Seifer remembered being surprised that Kinneas had never taken the exam: given the sharpshooter's obvious skills he would have thought that he would have been pushed along the fast track to SeeD. But the Galbadian had some odd hang-ups about magic, and a positive phobia around Junctioning. He'd made up for it as much as he could with his skill with his gun, but no purely physical skills could match the endurance boost and reaction enhancement that Junctioning gave, to say nothing of the spells that you could gather and use, and numerous abilities that came with different GF's. Some SeeDs regarded Junctioning on the same level as weapon maintenance, something that was such a no brainer that it regarded very little thought. He knew that Trepe had actually sat down with the Cowboy, trying to get to the heart of the sniper's refusal to even let a GF near him, without much success.
Everything, all the little dramas and concerns of Garden came to a crashing halt as Garden came to land. Everyone knew exactly when it happened, could pinpoint the exact instance when they felt the grinding jar as the facility slammed heavily into the docks of wherever the fuck they had come to land, damaging both the docks and the Quad quite extensively. Seifer happened to be nearby when it happened, and looking over the damage could only curse. While he thought the damage could be repaired, it was above the level that anyone in Garden was qualified to repair.
A runner came up to Seifer, with orders from the Old Fart to take a squad and go into the nearby town in hopes of finding someone or some ones who could fix Garden, and possibly give those at Garden a hint or two in the steering of their own facility. Given the shitty state of the docks Seifer rather doubted that he would find anyone, but hey, orders were orders. Not to mention, it beat going insane from boredom aboard Garden. He'd never been one for Triple Triad, which was apparently all the rage among Cadets, SeeDs and Instructors alike, but he found to be completely moronic.
It had been a simple matter to grab Trepe and Kinneas (he'd wanted to bring Raijin, but the muscle of his posse had been nowhere to be immediately found) and make his way past the rubble and splintered wood that made up the destruction zone and toward the town. They'd hardly gone 5 feet along the maze of docks and pilings when another messenger caught up to them, this one from the mayor of the town, apparently called Fisherman's Horizon, stating that he wanted to speak with represtentives from Garden as soon as possible.
This brought them here: sitting cross-legged in a circle on the ground as if they were 5-year olds at story time, listening to a small, mousy man in a hideous oversized tropical shirt and shorts; who, eyeing their obvious weapons as if they were diseased, was spouting the most moronic drivel in the history of the world. It was only due to sheer stubbornness that Seifer tried to keep a hold on his temper and refrain from carving up the landscape.
Mayor Dobe of Fisherman's Horizon opened the exchange by asking when Garden was planning on leaving. This was surprising, because while some civilians were quite active in their dislike for Garden, they were at least careful to hide that in the presence of SeeDs and other Garden personnel, purely for self-preservation reasons around mercenaries who took killing to an art form. When the mayor was told that Garden would leave as soon as the repairs were complete, he promptly volunteered the services of the best maintenance crew in the town.
Seifer's eyes narrowed, and before he could stop himself, demanded to know exactly why the mayor was being so accommodating. Even SeeD clients were rarely so helpful to those they employed, and the mayor had made his dislike of Garden clear.
When Seifer heard the reply, he could hardly trust his ears, the answer was so ridiculous. Apparently, the people of Fisherman's Horizon believed that violence attracted violence, and with the SeeD's violent lifestyle, were thus a danger to the safety of the town the longer they stayed. Seifer could almost see Trepe nodding her head out of the corner of his eye, just as he let out a loud snort of derision.
"Hyne's holy fucking balls, don't tell me that you actually believe that bullshit? Sure, you've been lucky so far if you live like that, but sooner or later, some asshole with a taste of destruction will happen upon this place, and all the pacific ideals won't do squat to protect this place. The only way to discourage bastards like that is with a few good whacks with a sharp weapon."
"That is the way we live here, Mr. Almasy." The mayor said with an attempt of dignity that was ruined by his clothes. "It has served us well since before you were born, and who are you to say differently?"
Seifer stood, re-sheathing Hyperion as he did so. Deliberately, he loomed over the mousy mayor, watching as the shorter man paled rapidly as Seifer allowed a nasty smirk to cover his face. "Because," he said far too softly, "I happen to be that exact kind of bastard, and the only thing saving your town at the moment is that right now you do more for me in one piece than destroyed."
With that, he walked out, flashing a quick hand-signal to Trepe to stay and continue talking. Hopefully, she could patch up the damage Seifer's temper tantrum had caused. Once out in the twilight air, he breathed deeply, wondering exactly why he'd reacted the way he had. What was it about the mayor's words, besides the use of "Mr. Almasy", as if he were some old fart, that so pissed him off? What did it matter to him if the entire town was slaughtered? An image flashed into his mind: people running, screaming for mercy that the attacking soldiers did not grant as they methodically cleared the town, and later, a little blond boy, the only survivor, desperately begging and pleading with a woman whose sea-green eyes gazed sightlessly at the sky, to get up. Was that his mother? Then the image was gone, leaving Seifer even more unsettled.
Moodily, Seifer stumped along the wharf, not wanting to go back to Garden and face the crowds there. This whole situation didn't make sense. First Leonhart, the absolute last person he would expect, goes AWOL in the middle of a mission; then turns up working for Garden's ultimate enemy, who also happened to be the Headmaster's beloved wife of all things. Then, not only did Leonhart repeatedly torture him for a question he didn't know, but cruelly told him that there was nothing he could do to save the 3 Gardens from destruction, knowing that the part of Seifer that longed for glory, recognition, and yes, justice, would fall into complete and utter despair at such a message. After that, having to send one of the few people in Garden who was 120% behind him at all times at the hopeless task of trying to stop or slow down the launch of the final missiles, only for those missiles come right on time and having Garden saved only by the luck of fate and timing, and having to assume that his faithful lieutenant was dead, along with the others assigned to the task. This stupid town had nothing to do with any of the issues and cares that he was hauling around at the moment, so why was he taking it out on them?
Abruptly, he halted. There, that was the call of a Blizzard spell, and that looked like Diablos's Gravity Ball above those rooftops. The dark GF's attack was followed by the awe-inspiring sight of Quetzalcoatl soaring up into the sky in preparation for one of his lightning attacks. The lightning bird was followed by a visible gust of wind; one Seifer knew could only come from one Junctioned to Pandamona. Fujin nearly worshiped that GF, never letting even Seifer Draw it from her, not even when he'd been running on empty and could have really used the boost.
They were alive. Seifer never knew exactly when he'd started running. Shit, right now he could even kiss Chicken-wuss, sickening as the thought might be. After what might have been 5 minutes of sprinting, he came to where Fujin, Tilmitt, and Chicken-wuss, all none the worse for wear, even though Fujin's shirt was scorched, Tilmitt's dress was dirty, and Chicken-wuss had a scratch running across one arm, were fighting a full company of Galbadian soldiers. It was clear that they had the situation under control, but he wanted to ask a few questions to at least one survivor. Darting into the fray, he ducked another massive gust of wind, unsheathing Hyperion as he went, and slipped around the back of the fight to lay a soldier out with a Sleep spell. Hyperion was for defending himself when Fujin realized that he'd stolen her kill. It didn't take long for even weary SeeDs to finish the fight, and Seifer braced himself for their reactions. He didn't know Tilmitt that well, so couldn't predict how they would react to seeing him again, but Chicken-wuss and Fujin could easily want to vent some feelings on his person and he wanted to be prepared for it.
The three of them simply looked at him. He kept Hyperion down, not wanting to provoke them. There were very few people on the planet who Seifer Almasy got fucking scared of at times. Really, there were only two: Leonhart, and Fujin. He didn't tell anyone, because ignorant fucks like Chicken-wuss would get the wrong idea that he was a pushover, but there were times when around Leonhart or around Fujin, when the only thing to do was duck and cover. One such memorable time that had occurred quite recently, was just after Seifer had laid the scar on Leonhart's face: the look in Leonhart's eyes, the complete and utter rage clearly visible there, doubly striking with emotion normally so foreign to the apathetic boy, that drove all blue out of his rival's gaze, leaving them a awe-striking shade of pure silver, had even Seifer Almasy thinking oh fuck. Fujin could match the level of that moment at times, in terms of how utterly complete her rage could be. It had never been turned on him, thank Hyne, but that didn't keep it from scaring the utter shit out of him when it did happen. Seifer had to acknowledge, that Fujin just might make an exception for beating the shit out of him in these circumstances.
Thus, he was utterly unprepared for the yellow and copper blur that literally jumped into his arms. "Seiferrrrr!!! You're alive!!! I mean, Fujin was sure that you'd make it but I couldn't help thinking that you were all dead I mean after I saw those missiles go off and I'm sorry I couldn't stop them like I promised to and I thought that Balaam was going to follow Trabia in being completely destroyed, and I'm sooooo sorry I was just a minute or two off on the self-destruct sequence I set that was all I could do and, and-"
"Tilmitt, get off me so I can breathe!" Seifer ordered, prying the energetic girl off him. "I can't get a word in edgewise!" Over Tilmitt's yellow-clad shoulder, he could see Fujin give a satisfied smirk. She had enjoyed watching him sweat over her imagined reaction, he realized almost numbly, and had deliberately restrained herself so that Tilmitt could catch him completely off guard. Now she allowed her smirk and single eye to show all the emotions that she could never allow herself to show more openly: relief that Seifer was alive, hope that Raijin and Garden were ok, and a bit of sadistic enjoyment that Seifer had feared her wrath over the assignment he had given. It was Fujin to the core, and Seifer allowed himself an answering smirk that replied in kind. It was the kind of communication that was only capable between warriors that knew each-other extremely well, and Seifer's anxiety dropped a couple of notches at the sight. He was the impetus for the posse, the one who gave it direction. Raijin was the physical muscle to get things done. And Fujin was the mental driving force, which kept the other two going long after they were ready to drop on their own. It didn't matter what was before him, with Fujin at his back, it felt like it was manageable, and not the insurmountable weight it had been before. As long as his posse was behind him, anything could happen.
"GARDEN?" Fujin enquired, blunt as always.
"Safe. Apparently, all Gardens have the ability to fly, so just before the missiles arrived, we found the controls and got it working. And I do mean just before, the missiles were on final approach when we got it going." The three of them relaxed at the news. None of them had wanted to face that Balamb Garden could have easily followed Trabia's fate. As they recovered their composure, Seifer suddenly grinned at Zell in a way that made the Chicken-wuss back up a step or two. "Guess what, Chickie. Someone got his exam results overturned thanks to not only saving your butts in Timber and Galbadia, but Garden's collective ass as well. Care to guess who?"
The shorter blond was shaking his head, muttering "...no, this is a dream….can't be…" under his breath. Seifer's smirk stretched wider. "Can't quite hear you Chicken. You'll have to speak up."
"TRUTH?"
Seifer sighed as Fujin deprived him of his target, but answered her anyway. "Yep. Somehow Trepe herself put in the recommendation. Still not quite sure why she did that, but hey, I'm not complaining!" he grinned happily, then absently kicked the downed soldier that he'd saved in the ribs. "We'd probably better take this guy in. I know for a fact that the Old Fart will have some serious questions for this guy to answer, as he might be able to tell us somewhat of what the Sorceress is planning."
As expected, Fujin was the first to grasp the implications. "INTELLIGANCE, DOWN?"
Seifer nodded. "After the Sorceress arrested several key players in our Galbadian networks, everyone else has gone underground in hopes of avoiding Her attention. Fucking stupid if you ask me, but what can you expect? They didn't ask to be dragged into a war between a power-hungry Sorceress and Garden."
Belatedly, Seifer realized that the other three were almost painfully out of date in the news department, having been out of contact for a full week. And maybe he shouldn't have let the information slip, as most of Garden wasn't privy to that information as well, it didn't really matter. He knew that Fujin would die before admitting information she wasn't supposed to know, and the Chicken and Tilmitt should have learned this at their graduation, same as Leonhart.
"Garden's reason for existing; is to counter any Sorceress who feels like trying her dainty hands at world domination or suchlike. Apparently She already knows it, or was just smart enough to guess that whatever plans She had would be easier to accomplish without Garden in the way." He scowled, kicking a hapless pebble that happened to be in his path. "That is if the stupid mayor still decides to help fixing Garden after…" he trailed off.
While the other two SeeDs looked questioningly at Seifer, Fujin stared unblinkingly at her leader. "TEMPER?" she asked; a resigned note to her usual monotone.
"Not my fault," he defended himself reflexively. "The town has some stupid-ass notion that absolute pacifism will protect them, because they claim that violence attracts violence or some other such shit. Those soldiers you got rid of would have steamrollered over the town with all their pretty ideals underfoot if you hadn't stopped them."
"Don't blame Mayor Dobe for our beliefs." Seifer was spinning around before the new speaker had finished his sentence. Hyperion at the fuck's nose, he silently gave the startled nobody a pointed warning of what happened to those who startled SeeDs, before stepping back a step and allowing him to continue. Coughing a bit nervously, the man continued. "He wasn't always like that. But the exodus from Esthar took a large amount of his courage and taste for battle. His philosophy made sense to us, so we stayed with him when we settled here, rather than go elsewhere."
"Agree with it or not, it's still fucking stupid." Seifer paused, going over the words once his gut reaction had been spoken. "And where the fuck is Esthar? I've never heard of it."
The old man snorted, apparently already recovered from his experience at the business end of Hyperion. "I'm not surprised, given that they closed their borders after the downfall of Sorceress Adel. Follow the train tracks on the backside of town all the way into the mountains, you'll get there eventually. We left just before the dropping of the curtain; Adel was issuing crackdowns right and left, getting really paranoid due to all the resistance groups that were forming at the time." He shuddered. "You never want to see a paranoid Sorceress, or even live in the same country as one. "
"I'll keep that in mind." Seifer said sarcastically, "Let me get this straight. So, this Sorceress, Adel was it?, is getting really antsy, and Dobe decides that it's no longer worth it to try and stick it out, so he gathers a whole bunch of people together, leaves the country, and on the way decides that fighting only creates more fighting, so he will set up a community based on the sunshine, rainbows, flowers, and little puppy dogs notion that the big, bad, nasty world will leave you all alone just because you don't have any weapons. Forget soldiers, what happens when monsters roll into town? Stay indoors and hope they go away?"
Recognizing the signs of a circular argument that could only end in murder, and it would be murder given that Seifer had Hyperion while the local was unarmed, to say nothing of Seifer's skills and experience, Fujin inserted herself between the two disagreeing parties. For a moment, Seifer saw red- how dare Fujin get between himself and his prey – before realizing what she was up to and deliberately relaxed; not saying anything as he turned on his heel and stalked back to Garden, leaving the others to gather up the prisoner and follow.
Despite the slightly somber mood, nothing could stifle Tilmitt's gleeful shout when Garden came into view, nor dampen her cheerful spirits as she callously dumped her share of the prisoner's deadweight on Zell, before rocketing up the dock. Infected by the energy, even Seifer had to crack a smile, it was impossible to stay depressed around Selphie Tilmitt that was for sure. His good mood was only improved when he learned that the mayor was still up for fixing Garden if it meant that they could leave faster. Somehow, Tilmitt managed to convince the repair teams to fix up the old stage that had been in ruins for years as well, not to mention wrangling up enough talent to put on a spur-the-moment talent show. The fun and hilarity (and Seifer would never forget the sight of the Cowboy, dressed in one of Tilmitt's spare jumpers, singing a ballad in a surprisingly good voice, nor the way the Chicken had thought the gunslinger was a girl) was almost enough to allow the entire Garden to forget about the constant buzz of tension that had infused the place after almost being blown to smithereens. It couldn't last, Seifer knew that. But for the moment, he could relax, insult the Chicken, and lay his cares aside.
//\\
Three days later, after they'd finally left Fisherman's Horizon; there was an announcement throughout Garden to search the facility for a girl named Ellone. Seifer could only assume that the name had something to do with the prisoner that had gone through Interrogation or possibly the ship that had pulled alongside Garden recently. Seifer had just been getting into the search, when a second announcement came, thanking everybody for their co-operation. He'd been near the place specified to bring the girl if they found her, and decided a bit of eavesdropping couldn't go amiss. Cid had been sparring with details ever since he'd made SeeD, and Seifer was tired of operating in the dark. Finding the place, he casually walked past the open door, sneaking a peek inside as he did so, before finding a place to listen. The Old Fart was in there, along with 3 SeeDs wearing strange white uniforms, and a civilian girl with a green shawl, maybe two or three years older than Trepe. That must be the mysterious Ellone, though just how had a civilian gained access to Garden, let alone hiding out in the facility for as long as she must have?
"…we were worried." Mind ticking a mile a minute, Seifer paid close attention, though what the Head Weirdo in White was saying didn't tell him anything. He wasn't the only eavesdropper; Chicken-wuss had been in the area as well, not to mention Kinneas.
"Worried? What for?" that would be Ellone's voice. For some reason, Seifer's hackles rose at the sound of it, though he couldn't say why. The light voice was nothing unpleasant to listen to, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something had happened because of that voice, or….the lack of it. As Leonhart would say, "Whatever."
"Galbadia has taken control of all the major port cities and most of the small harbor towns as well. In short, everywhere we could put in is now under Galbadian control. They are very serious about hunting you." That was White Weirdo #2 this time. The guy continued, slightly softer, "The kids were heartbroken that we couldn't collect you as planned because Balamb was occupied- who are you!"
The martial artist slammed into the room the instant his hometown was mentioned. That's right; Seifer had nearly forgotten that the Chicken was a momma's boy, one of the few cadets who actually had a family that welcomed him into their arms whenever he had leave. And with the stories Seifer had heard of Ma Dincht's cooking, well, no wonder the shorter blond spent every opportunity he could at his parents' home.
"What was that about Balamb?" Seifer, too late to stop the Chicken from giving away their presence, banged his head on the doorframe in complete exasperation. Why did the other blond even try to appear mature, when incidents like this one proved otherwise? Right now, Chicken-wuss sounded like a whiney boy who was attempting to liberate his stuffed chocobo from the bullies. The rolled eyes beside him indicated that Kinneas agreed with his assessment.
Any reply to Zell's demand was cut off by Ellone's delighted cry of recognition. "Seifer! Irvine! And Zell! I almost didn't recognize you three! And –"Hyperion cut off the remainder of her excited call, though the three SeeDs in white tensed at the sight of the weapon.
"How is it that you know me?" Seifer's voice was flat. He was very tired of games, of hints given and never followed up until the completed picture bit him in the ass. Abruptly, Exeter moved, the barrel of the shotgun forcing Hyperion down until it touched the floor. "Save it" was the Cowboy's quiet advice.
Grumbling, Seifer obeyed, sheathing the gunblade. The point had been made, and that was the important part. For her part, Ellone didn't look as if she had just been threatened by a very deadly weapon, and one that required an obscene amount of skill to wield with any degree of control at that. She-she almost looked as if she were pouting, as if she were upset about something that she had half-expected to happen, but had wanted to be proven wrong about. "So you don't remember me as well," she whispered, half to herself. "Squall and Quisty didn't either, but I hoped that some of you guys would."
"Ellone, this isn't the time for this." Seifer spared half a glance to glare at the interfering Headmaster. He was so close to getting some answers, so close he could almost taste them. He knew better than to protest however, at least not in front of strangers. The hierarchy of Garden had to appear undisturbed to outsiders, if only to avoid loss of face that could result in missed contracts. Granted, Garden hadn't been receiving contracts for a while, and the last time they had taken on supplies had been in Fisherman's Horizon's jacked up markets.
She nodded, following her white-clad escorts out of Garden and onto their ship. After they were safely away, Seifer's attempts to get some answers was interrupted by Zell's urgent demand. "What's happening in Balamb?"
The older man sighed. "As you heard, Galbadia has taken control of all the major ports and harbors in their efforts to locate that young lady. She's safe as long as she keeps moving, but the longer she escapes their grasp, the more determined Galbadia will be in retrieving her, and the harsher they will be to those under their thumb. As for specifics Zell, your guess is as good as mine."
"I'll take a team there." Seifer offered. When everyone still in the room just looked at him, he shrugged. "Hey, Chicken-wuss won't be able to sleep until he assures himself that mommy-dearest and his stuffed chocobo are all right. Besides, I'm getting a little stir-crazy, the last time I had a fight that did more than take the edge off was with Leonhart. It'll be interesting to see how a town full of soldiers will stack up in the comparison." At the continued incredulity, he dropped the joking air, and moved directly into the aging Headmaster's face.
"Look Sir," he said, biting off the formality that he knew the older man hated. "You told me when you promoted me that the reason you did so was because you needed more commanders around Garden. Since then however, you've kept me cut off from what Intel you've managed to get, and hamstrung whatever you passed onto me to the point of uselessness." He cut of the protest he could see rising in the man's face. "No, this isn't about glory, or adventure, or any of that kind of shit. I'm one of the most experienced people you've got, and you have a war to command. Hyne's balls, if it blows up in your face, you can always claim that I was acting on my own, and that Garden thus bares no responsibility."
"Why are you being so eager to do this Seifer?"
"Truthfully? So Chicken-wuss can check on his mom." At the incredulous looks, he snorted defensibly. "Come on, he's lucky to be one of the few in Garden who actually has a home to go back to. I can respect that. Not to mention, right now he's so damm distraught that teasing him would be just too easy. It's no fun to make them cry if you don't have to work for it."
"I can't order you to do this."
"I'm volunteering; you dumbas, much as that word gives me hives. I'll go round up some other merry volunteers and we'll go on our merry little way."
Abruptly, the old man looked far too happy for Seifer's liking. "Glad to see that you're taking your responsibility seriously. May I also assume that you'll be willing to lead a party to Trabia as well?"
Confused, Seifer just looked at Cid. "What's at Trabia?"
"Survivors, if the signals we're receiving are correct. I don't want to get anyone's hopes up," Tilmitt's hopes up Seifer read between the lines," and I was hoping to be able to send someone up there to check it out."
Seifer thought it over. While the mission didn't sound like that much of a problem, transportation was. Balamb was a harbor town; it would be relatively easy to catch up to garden from there even if he had to steal a boat to do so. Trabia Garden was not in so convenient a location, given that it was smack dab in the middle of the Trabian Mountains, miles from either coast, not to mention the rough passage between the straights to the northern Continent. It would be difficult to get there from Balamb, not to mention catching up to Garden. The team would have to be under radio silence unless in extreme emergencies, thus calling in to find Garden's location would be like painting a neon sign on the backs of the team that said, "WE'RE HERE!!" for Leonhart and his Sorceress to find.
Cid sweetened the pot. "I'll give you a ride to both locations and pick you up."
That sealed the deal. Giving his trademark smirk, the blond gunblader snapped off a smart salute, before nodding and turning around. Now, to go harass his dream teams for the missions into volunteering as well…..
//\\
Disgusted, Seifer toed the Galbadian corpses out of his path. Chicken-wuss had gone nuts when he had seen the state his hometown was in when Garden had found it swarming with soldiers. The resulting rampage through the streets to be sure his momma was ok had drawn the attention of the entire garrison, requiring himself, his posse, and Kinneas to watch the idiot's back. By the time "little Zelly" had been reassured that Ma Dincht was still in one piece, nearly the entire contingent of soldiers had been slaughtered by the SeeDs. Hyperion dripped red onto the stained cobblestones.
Reaching his prey, Seifer grinned as he leveled Hyperion's still wet point at one of the few survivors, the fat fuck that had played at commanding the pathetic troops stationed in Balamb and the surrounding area. He let his teeth show as a wet spot bloomed on once meticulously maintained trousers. Bending down, he asked in far too soft a voice for his expression, "If I let you live, will you take a message for me?"
The man nodded frantically, obviously far too gone in terror to think about what he was agreeing to; except that it meant a chance that he would live. Seifer truthfully didn't want to send the message, hated what it implied, but felt that he owed his rival at least one last consideration.
"Good," Seifer purred. "The message is for Squall Leonhart, Knight to your Sorceress. Tell him that unless he leaves his Lady's service, than the gloves come off. No more playing, no more sparring. Tell him that I will come after him with intent to kill, and that if he comes across me again; he'll end up with a lot worse than a scar. It will be war. Come back to Garden, or War. Got that?"
"Y-y-yes. I got it."
"Good. Now, to sign my message….." Hyperion swung, carving a line identical to its master's scar on the fat fuck's forehead. Seifer felt only disgust when the pathetic excuse for a man fainted from the pain. He'd taken a hit like that, and managed to get all the way back to Garden with the deadweight of his rival on his back. Turning, he nodded to Fujin. "Heal that enough so it doesn't get infected, but make sure it scars. Then dump him someplace he'll be found with a copy of my message pinned to his shirt. I don't trust him to deliver it in one piece. "
"AFFERMATIVE."
Seifer turned on his heel. Balamb had been cleared, at least for the moment. Some little voice was telling him that he didn't have time to waste hanging around Balamb, that he was needed elsewhere. And as the little voice was the same one that tended to tell him if a bullet was heading towards him with his name on it, he tended to trust it. If only it could be more specific.
//\\
The remains of Trabia Garden felt far too calm, Irvine decided. Given that hyperactive Selphie came from the place, a part of his picturing of the place had been infected with that same energy. Not only was the expected atmosphere missing, but there was far too little of any activity for the sniper's peace of mind.
Walking around the remains of what had been a thriving Garden, he kept an eye out for Selphie's distinct yellow jumper, knowing that because of it, she ought to be readily visible. He ignored Seifer's irritated eye on his back as best he could. He knew the tall blond wanted answers, and seemed to sense that he had at least some of the ones to the questions that had to be tearing the other boy to pieces. Not to mention, the gunblader was fairly vibrating with nerves for some reason, and had been ever since they had left Balamb. Cautious questions from his self-proclaimed posse had been answered by incoherent snarls. Apparently, Seifer didn't know what was bothering him any more than the rest of them did.
While waiting for Selphie to finish her conversations with her fallen friends, Irvine cast his mind back to what he knew of the whole situation he knew they were in, not just the whole debacle with the Sorceress, but the sheer coincidence of having his childhood friends reunited at such a tumultuous time. It was all he could do to not laugh at the irony, because once he started, he wouldn't stop.
Apparently Seifer noticed the mirth. "Something you want to share with the others, Kinneas? I'm sure everyone here would be fascinated to know what it is you're thinking. "
He hesitated. He still remembered how Seifer could be as a child, and what he's seen recently, showed that some habits from that time remained, and if anything, had been improved on. "Nothing much. Just a coincidence." He tried to play it off as nothing, knowing that if Seifer's curiosity was aroused, than nothing could make the gunblader leave it be.
No such luck."Let's hear about this supposed 'coincidence'. If nothing else, it will pass the time until Tilmitt gets done sobbing over her friends."
Irvine sent Seifer a glare for his callous description of Selphie's grief, which the blond unsurprisingly shrugged off. Apparently the arrogant blond was used to shrugging off worse; if what he'd heard of the typical behavior of Seifer's reported rival was true. But then, Seifer always had an innate ability to piss people off, and had enormous endurance for the consequences of those actions.
Thinking about that, reminded him of the original tangent that had attracted Seifer's attention in the first place. Now, how to start….
"I wasn't born in Galbadia," he began. "I can't quite remember what exactly happened to my parents, but when I was about 4 years old, I was living in an orphanage on the Centra peninsula. There weren't all that many kids there, mostly orphans from the Sorceress War, so that meant that I got to know everyone else there pretty well. My best friend there was a girl just a little younger than me, though you'd never know that with how much energy she had." He couldn't restrain the smile at the thought of how cute Selphie had been in all of her bloodthirstiness when she had incited him to play war with her.
"Wait…" Selphie said, just coming back from the cemetery. "Was this orphanage a big stone house on the beach?"
"That was near a lighthouse?" Quistis added.
Irvine couldn't fight the grin that was threatening to erupt onto his face. They were remembering. "That's right, you both guessed it.
"And didn't we set off fireworks on that beach at least once?" Zell's tentative query broke visibly broke down further walls that had been sectioning memories away. Even Seifer was getting into it. The only ones who were excluded from the trip down memory lane were Seifer's two constant shadows.
Seifer noticed their slight discomfort. "Go talk to the survivors, see if they want to come back to Garden with us, maybe offer them a shot at helping us hand the Sorceress her prissy ass on a shiny silver platter. Who knows, some of them might be interested in a little revenge." He told them softly. Once again the arrogant blond surprised Irvine. He wasn't sure that Seifer would ever stop catching Irvine off guard, and suspected the gunblader to not so secretly revel in shaking other people's impressions of him up.
"Yeah, and you got us in so much trouble because you decided to be a crybaby tattletale." Irvine rolled his eyes, recognizing Seifer's bully mode as their unofficial leader responded to the martial artist earlier question. It had never failed to force Zell to react, with tears when they were younger, and fists and temper now. The arrogant blond blinked, likely coming to the realization that he had also been present at the orphanage as well. Abruptly, sea-green eyes narrowed, but didn't respond to Irvine's questioning glance that invited him to share his revelation with the group.
Irvine shrugged. It was Seifer's business whatever it was. Realizing that the blond was not going to talk, the gunman rejoined the conversation just as Zell was questioning the fact that he had parents in Balamb, so why had he been at the orphanage? He was just a fraction too late to stop Seifer from getting another shot in.
"Haven't you ever heard of adoption, Chicken-wuss? Hyne's balls, I wouldn't be surprised to figure out that most, if not all of us, were adopted before we ended up at our various Gardens. And before we go any further with this, you're all forgetting two very important people."
"Important how?" the look on Quistis's face was skeptical.
The tall blond snorted. "First off, what about the woman who took care of us? Matron, as we called her, remember her? Her name's Edea Kramer." When he only received uncomprehending looks, he spelled it out. "Edea Kramer, also known as Sorceress Edea." While the group displayed their shock to that news, the gunblader continued. "And it gets better. There was another kid there at the orphanage with us, even if he didn't join in for most of our games, too busy being a bigger crybaby than little Zelly here over Sis."
It took a moment for Irvine to connect the dots. Anti-social, crying over Sis, he could almost picture the person Seifer was describing. Trying to remember, he found himself gazing up at the sky, at the massing bruised clouds that threatened to rain. Rain. Clouds. Squall. Squall Leonhart, Seifer's main rival, and current Sorceress Knight. By the look of the others faces, the same realization had hit them equally hard.
"How did you remember that he'd been there?" Irvine found himself asking. He hadn't recalled Squall's presence, and he was the only one who actively avoided the memory draining caused by the use of GF's, thanks to the informative seminar on them he'd attended at Galbadia Garden several years back. Why had Seifer, who hadn't Unjunctioned Ifrit since he'd known the blond, and added new GF's into his head at every opportunity, recalled something that he hadn't?
Said blond gave his trademark smirk, the one that made Irvine wish he was allowed to blast to smithereens with Exeter. "Well, Puberty-Boy and I never quite stopped fighting each other. We spent half our time at the orphanage fighting, and the other half being punished by Matron for it. I don't think we ever stopped, because we were still beating on each other every chance we got at Garden."
"Is that why you never left Squall alone at Garden?" Quistis couldn't believe Seifer's words. It made far too much sense, in that it didn't make any sense at all. But then, her only participation in that rivalry was to try and break it up as an Instructor.
"It was the one way I could tell Leonhart that he wasn't as alone as he thought he was that he would accept, and as a bonus would also drag him out of those damm internal monologues that he would retreat into. I'll bet that all your lectures and 'I'll be there for you,' and 'I understand you' speeches got tuned right out easily enough, didn't they? He was never able to tune me out."
As interesting as this analysis of Squall's motivations in fighting Seifer at Garden was, it wasn't the purpose of the conversation. "As stimulating as this discussion may be, we're getting away from the point I was trying to make." Irvine's voice broke effortlessly into the light standoff between Seifer and Quistis. They hadn't changed their behaviors since the orphanage. Quistis being the bossy, responsible one then, and Seifer was the arrogant bully. Only they had changed: Quistis was still bossy, but far too insecure to be truly responsible. Seifer was still arrogant, still a bully even, but somehow through those same qualities had become a leader, one who could inspire hope and a purpose even in those convinced of their own failure. Irvine still remembered how Seifer had inspired him when all his nerves and bad habits were working to trip him up in the Clock tower in Deling City.
In a way, they had all changed from their time in the orphanage. That had been many years ago, and a great many things had happened to all of them since that time. But, at heart, nothing really had changed at all, they were still together, and, by and large, their group dynamics still worked the same. The coincidence he had been mulling over earlier, was that despite all the time apart, all the separate experiences, despite forgetting that they even knew each other from childhood, and all the blood, death, disappointments, fears, and tears of a life spent apart, at the core, they were still the same group of orphans who had played in the surf on the Centra peninsula.
He shared this with the group. For a few heartbeats, everything was quiet as they absorbed the words, the only sound the rustling of the wind over the ruins of Trabia Garden. As the minutes passed, everyone could nearly feel the others processing the words in their own way. Finally, Seifer pushed himself up from where he'd been sitting on some rubble, and began to walk away, jarring the rest of them out of their thoughts. "Hey, where're you going?" Selphie called to the broad figure of the gunblader's retreating back
The blond's head turned back enough for the rest of them to see his profile. "What the Cowboy said is true, but there are a couple members of our little gang who need a wakeup call so they can remember who they are. Who's with me to deliver that ass-kicking?"
It was strange, Irvine reflected, that none of them hesitated, drifting from their places to follow Seifer as if he were dragging them along with him in the wake of his personality and charisma, grabbing them before they could find the energy to resist, even if they wanted to. Quistis might disapprove of Seifer's methods from time to time, and Zell might vow vengeance for all the verbal abuse the taller blond put him through, but the gunblader's magnetic personality was enough to silence both of their fears and reservations about Seifer character. For himself, Selphie, Fujin and Raijin, there was no questioning, not even when Seifer was at his most annoying. Sure, they could get irritated with his stupidity, but Irvine half- suspected that Seifer's bouts of idiocy were intentional, as they never seemed to happen anywhere near a combat situation. That he deliberately played the fool, in order to get reactions, and to keep his followers on their toes. Irvine had no doubt that Seifer wouldn't hesitate to leave them behind if they weren't capable of keeping up in any fashion, but that only made him work harder to make sure that he didn't fall behind.
//\\
Upon finally returning to Garden, Seifer found himself ambushed by a flustered Headmaster. "Seifer! There you are. I need your advice." The Old Fart gasped as he caught up to the gunblader.
"Sure. What's going on that you so desperately need my help for?" Seifer didn't know what was going on, but hey, if it was just advice that the Old Man needed, he could oblige.
"I just got word from one of our few active networks. Galbadia Garden is on the hunt for us. And it's less than a day away."
//\\
Cliffhanger!!!! Muhahahahahaha I am evil to end this chapter here. But I deserve some satisfaction, given how much grief this chapter has given me. Not only did the fisherman's horizon scene fight me in every way possible, but the last couple paragraphs to Irvine's scene refused to allow themselves to be written for several days!!! Whew, that was tough to get out.
So, things are advancing right along. Next chapter will deal with the clash of Gardens, and there's no way I can avoid writing fight scenes. Have you noticed? I avoid writing about them and when I can't I compress them into as short a form as I can manage. Yet the next chapter is mostly one fight after another. I'm not looking forward to writing it.
This story is getting very interesting to write. It's fun to work scenes in without the imput of certain characters. Like the scene with Irvine. In the game, the reason why the whole 'we have a past togather' conversation happenes is because of Rinoa. Well, she's not in this story. How to bring it up? Things like that keep writing this fun.
Why oh why my loyal readers! Only two reviews? What must I do to entice a better performance this chapter?