Disclaimer: I borrowed a few lines for my action sequence from Vampire Armand by Anne Rice and some Greek myth...because I totally suck at action scenes!

Lex Talionis

Chapter 12

Three weeks through the whole play commotion, rehearsals had to temporarily stop because of the three important characters who had to be sent on a mission at Winhill. Instead of doing workshops, they took the opportunity to do the costume and props, while the three who were sent out took the moment to stretch out their stiffened muscles for it has been a while since they got out for an exercise. Selphie made sure that while their enthusiasm was still boiling, everything must be prepared. Most of their time and effort had been concentrated on the play for they barely had two months left before the big show.

Seifer looked at his script one last time before he stood up and headed for the exit.

They had finally reached Winhill after several hours of sky travel.

The moment they ran down the Ragnarok, Seifer, Squall and Zell were greeted with a hoard of monsters.

The air resounded with the eerie screeching of the Bloodsouls. One immediately fastened on Seifer's back, another seized his shoulder draining out his blood. While they held him on the spot, the rest buried their teeth on his flesh.

"Bastard monsters!" Seifer became furious at the pests that he pulled out his Hyperion and effortlessly killed every Bloodsoul off.

"So, what's your order captain!" Zell enthusiastically saluted at their leader with a sarcastic grin the moment he regained his composure.

"Simple, scout the area and eliminate all monsters."

"Got it!"

"Wuss, you secure the Village Square here while Squall and I will head to the other houses in the village."

"No sweat!"

Although things weren't very smooth-sailing between Seifer and Zell, the play had given them the opportunity to bond at least that Zell made resolves to exert extra patient nerves whenever he spoke with Seifer, and discarding the idea that calling him wuss would be an insult.

"Squall, you head straight south while I'll go to the east side of the village. Meet me at the fork after an hour."

"And the GF we're supposed to get rid off?" Squall asked, wondering why Seifer's orders didn't concern the GF their client has specifically stated to kill, other than the uncontrolled monster break-ins in the village.

"Oh yeah...as captain, I order you to report to me any sightings of the beast, got that?" Seifer arrogantly ordered. "Now let's head out!"

"Roger!" Squall and Zell saluted in unison as they headed out for their posts.

With the orders given out, Seifer went straight to the east side of the village slashing and hacking away, but he eventually felt the strain after killing off every monster which stood his reach. Junctioned to three GFs, pumping his Stats and with Elem-Atk junctioned to 100 Deaths, it had given him easy victories over Bloodsouls, Righties, Lefties and Visages. AbilityX4 allowed him to junction Str+60%, Vit+60%, maxing out his to 255 his Strength and Vitality, plus the Auto-Haste and Mug, he was surely having the time of his life. He felt invincible over such low-levelled monsters. He barely had to use magic; he even abstained from using Shell and Protect to buff up his defences. Junctioned onto Cerberus, Doomtrain and Bahamut, he knew he had no chance of being knocked out.

"Enjoying yourself Squall!" he managed to splutter when both comrades crossed paths.

"Not as much as you seem to be enjoying yourself." He sarcastically groaned as he hacked out a Bloodsoul.

"HA!" he bothered to react with just a grin before thrusting another unsuspecting Bloodsoul.

Each swing of his Hyperion resonated with the gust of air that he sliced through if not the flesh of his victims. Left and right he thrust the blade slashing away in frenzy circles and killing off anything that touched his sharp blade.

Casting Meteor and Ultima in three consecutive turns with the help of Cerberus' Triple, he got to have a few seconds to suspend his hand from swinging.

"Yo guys! C'mon, the big boss was spotted comin' this way!" Zell came yelling at the two, frantically waving his hands at a distance.

"About time!" Seifer grinned at the news.

"Let's go, no time to waste." Squall ran ahead of Seifer, but was quickly overtaken.

"What's wrong Squall, can't keep up?" he snickered when he advanced a couple of steps from him.

"...Whatever." he doubled his steps in effort to reach the sprinting blonde before him, but to no avail.

Seifer got to the place together with Zell. It took another minute before Squall arrived gasping for air.

"What took you so long?" Seifer grimaced at his heavy sweating comrade.

"What's the situation?" Squall huffed, ignoring what Seifer had just said.

"A villager claimed that this particular beast is outrageously strong. He had been recurrently coming in and out of the village to wreck havoc on the field and killing off Chicobos for some strange reason. We're given orders to eliminate it at all cost." Zell's voice became twice louder when he noticed a man-like shadow quickly making its way towards them, "Heads up! Here it comes!"

From among the hoards of monsters which came rushing down the dirt path was a familiar Guardian Force which resembled none like any. It looked almost human with its crimson cape wrapping to hide his face save for those blood shut eyes. Although it seemed the same, it was not its usual behavior, it was berserk as it quickly made its way to the flower shop, destroying everything that laid in its path and leaving the fence in shambles.

"Gilgamesh!" Seifer clearly recalled the visage of the monster which attacked him at Lunatic Pandora.

"Wut th'hell happened to Gilgamesh! He doesn't look right." Zell immediately noticed their ex-ally's immense change in visage.

"A GF going out of control." Squall answered, a bit shocked himself.

"That's no GF, that's a monster...and he's MINE!" Seifer clasped hard his Hyperion.

His palm had turned red with the pressure caused by the grip. His heavy breathing and gritting teeth made him look like a coldblooded murderer. He wanted revenge, very badly.

"Don't be stupid! You can't take him alone." Squall noticed his distress and opted to intervene.

"NO! He's MINE!" he glared at Squall with so much venom.

Squall was taken aback, he was dead serious. He saw that same glimmer of madness in the man's eyes, and it was terrifying.

"Calm down man! Let us fight with you!" Zell insisted grabbing on to Seifer's collar.

"This battle is MINE, d'ya hear!" Seifer roared, roughly pushing Zell off. "Anyone who intervenes with MY battle DIES!"

"Dude! You're being stupid!" Zell kept on pressing his fear for Seifer's life, but he didn't seem to care.

"This is an order—your captain's order. STAY OUT of my fight!" Seifer finally said something which no one should question.

"Seifer, if things don't go right, expect us to intervene."

Squall was letting him go fight alone. He knew better than to stay out of Seifer's way. After all, he knew his anger was born of a reasonable cause, retribution for his dignity. He could clearly recall the boundless power Seifer had possessed back then, they were at the brink of his mercy if not for Gilgamesh's intervention. He could have been the gallant knight who defeated the evil SeeDs and protected the Sorceress from being assassinated. Everything could have been in order, Seifer was that close to fulfil his duty, and his romantic dream.

He knew Seifer needed his dignity, and revenge was one the only option.

"The hell! Squall, that's Gilgamesh! He's gonna grind Seifer to pieces!" Zell couldn't believe what Squall just did. But Squall simply shook his head and seized Zell's hand off Seifer.

"Over my dead body." Seifer scoffed as he began to dash towards Gilgamesh's direction.

o O o

He felt sweat dripping off his shoulders, down to his fingertips, but he felt no fear, only a sense of excitement to get even. At a close-enough distance, he stopped and parted his feet to position for a stance to taunt his opponent. Narrowing his stare to his target victim, Seifer stood his ground for another few seconds focusing his energy to gather in his right hand, then leaping off the ground with one sweeping motion, he delivered a powerful blow.

Gilgamesh winced at the sudden blow to his back.

"You damn bastard! Remember me!"

The GF turned to his direction and laughed, "You were that mortal who flew off with a single swing!"

"GO TO HELL!"

Unleashing his Demon Slice limit, he concentrated another heap of aura on his right hand until he felt it strong enough to pack a punch. He casted Firaga on his opponent. The magic felt a burning sensation as the fire ripped through his flesh with such intense heat, but he felt the fiery stab rewarding when it hit its mark right in the torso. Gilgamesh, weakened by the explosion, gave Seifer the opportunity to channel his aura through his Hyperion, and release three discs of energy to slice through the opponent and cast Tornado with it. Able to pull off another stunt while Gilgamesh was helpless airborne, Seifer thrust his blade left and right at him with intense force, ripping off its red cape.

"Not bad for a mere mortal." Gilgamesh praised as he ripped the rest of his cape to reveal his scarred undead body.

"Let me add another scar!" Seifer advanced and readied to attack.

Too late!

But Gilgamesh wasn't very human and defied the limit of human speed. He pulled out his Excalibur and sliced Seifer deep on the chest.

He fell crouching to the ground.

The gash stretched from his waist up his shoulders which bled furiously. His grey coat quickly tainted into a ruby hue.

"Get up!" the GF kicked him right at his wound.

"Dammit, Seifer!" Zell made advances to approach him, but Seifer glowered at him.

"STAY BACK! This is my battle, go find your own!" he growled, staggering up and using his Hyperion for support. He felt weak, which infuriated him.

When he got his composure back on his feet, he clenched his gunblade and swung it to clash with the Excalibur. The two blades sang melodic as they swooped through the air and collided with a metallic thud. He drove him back with a fast volley of thrusts. He was rushing at him like a lunatic, forgetting all his lectures on encounter and thrashing the air with his Hyperion in a fierce crazy series of circles. Then he parried frantically left and right.

Seifer only managed to give small scratches whenever he caught reach. But it only took a few swings for Gilgamesh to thrust another blow at Seifer causing him to fall back flat on the ground. The pain he felt was terribly dreadful that he closed his eyes at the sting.

"Master!"

He heard a familiar voice calling him, but saw no one in sight.

"Master!" the voice called out again.

He spun his head around then back again taking quick glimpses at every side for the voice who was calling him.

"Master!"

He was sure the voice emanated from Gilgamesh, but it wasn't him calling.

"Who are you?" Seifer murmured, still flat on his back.

"Lucifer! I'm junctioned onto Gilgamesh. Draw me out, let me help you!" the voice came ringing into Seifer's ear.

Lucifer...

He could very clearly remember that name, the name he had been calling out for over ten years until just a few months ago. The very name who was the prince of light and darkness of his youth. Lucifer, the GF who both made him live and killed him at the same time. The GF who gave him gallant memories and made him all forget in exchange for constant nightmares. It was a bittersweet camaraderie for the both of them, but it was Seifer who tasted the bitter side after the war. It was Lucifer who made him sane through the years by letting him forget about his past, but it was also he who gave him madness and left him to thrive on the memories of insanity. He couldn't forgive him, for his betrayal and treachery, but he couldn't also die, not in the hands of Gilgamesh.

He gritted his teeth for the pain he had to endure to get up was unbearable.

"Your persistence will kill you." The GF warned as he took a stance, but Seifer was quicker this time and drew out Lucifer before falling back down after receiving another gushing sweep from Gilgamesh.

"Fuck, I'm gonna die!" he said to Lucifer in biting whisper.

Laying on a bed of white poppies stained red with the pool of his own blood, it was a perfectly wonderful place to die.

"GET UP! I'm not letting you die today!" he heard his GF's voice echoed within him.

And without warning, he felt an unfathomable gush of energy flowing through his veins. He tried to stretch his arms in supplication, but they were already beginning to feel stiff and firm with muscles. His arms became armed with crooked claws; his mouth brimmed with fangs; his hair grew long and silver; and out his back sprouted forth a pair of black wings ripping through his coat.

Lucifer had junctioned himself onto Seifer's body, bestowing immense power into his entire system. It was a shock to his system that he struggled to get up. When he did, he spread his black wings dove-like which caused the poppy petals to flutter in the air around him.

"WHOA! The hell happened to Seifer!" Zell freaked out at the sight of Seifer's new appearance.

"An absolute body junction...just like what Griever and Ultimecia did." Squall, though sounded calm, his eyes were wide with shock. "I hope his body can handle it." He added a second later with a hint of concern.

Seifer stood up and compelled himself to control the boundless power scourging his body with heat. He breathed hard and slow, taking hold of what was left of his own strength, not Lucifer's.

"Seifer, don't be stupid! Let me help you!" Lucifer's voice screamed within him.

"You bastard! How can I trust you after what you did to me!" he screamed back, enraged.

"Because I give you my word."

"And if I don't take it!"

"Then we die together."

"You're being an idiot!"

"That's what I get after being junctioned to you for ten years."

Seifer heard his GF laughing.

In brief silence, he was considering between life or death. What sense was it to die in the hands of Gilgamesh? It was living that made perfect sense.

"Then let's live together!" He finally made up his mind, he was going to fight Gilgamesh, and he was going to win no matter what.

When Gilgamesh saw him gawp, he sniggered, "Welcome back from hell."

"Yeah, they said they got the wrong guy...you're the one they're expecting!" he retorted as he rushed at him with his Hyperion aiming right straight at the GF with full force.

Should his wound ever become a burden, it would distract him and that would cause him his downfall. He knew too well that Gilgamesh was not to be underestimated for he knew too well that it was no ordinary monster he was fighting up against. Lucifer told him to fight the pain by distracting himself through bold vigorous movements. He pranced left and right swinging his gunblade in exaggeration back and forth. His wound bled furiously down his torso making it twice as uneasy with the ever reoccurring sting.

Gilgamesh, noticing the sudden outburst of energy, casted Meltdown as means of weakening him through the force of gravity. As the magic sucked Seifer into a vortex, his knees forced him to fall and kiss the ground.

Making an effort to stand back up on his feet, Gilgamesh took on his defenceless state as an opportunity to thrust another blow at Seifer. This time the wound stretched across his back and gave out another gush of piercing sensation.

He got up trembling not of fear but of the loss of blood and energy by the deep set of wounds. At that point, he was sure he was not going to make it if he didn't get Gilgamesh on the next move. With one last effort to kill off Gilgamesh, he made several bold thrusts which the GF parried easily. But just when Gilgamesh thought he'd catch his breath, Seifer swept his foot and slashed him on the ground right across the neck. It was just a scratch, but it bled furiously.

Without second thoughts, he thrust his hand so fast, it blurred. He grabbed the belching wound and swore through his teeth, "Regret the day you hit me!" then stabbed Gilgamesh with his gunblade right through its heart, once, twice, then on the third, he ripped the blade through Gilgamesh's back making a his mouth gush out with blood.

Seeing Gilgamesh's body fading before him into dust, he felt a load off, but was exchanged with the reality of his pummelled state. His eyelids fluttered when he saw the flower field tilt and then float. He rocked on his feet until he felt his knees fold to fall. Someone caught him, but he didn't bother to know who it was.

o O o

And in a moment which seemed so brief, like he just blinked, he slowly opened his eyes. His vision was hazy, just the unbearable pain scourging his body was notably clear to him; the memory, the vision, all seemed a blur.

Numb…

He felt numb, but beneath the deadness of his conscious sensation, he could clearly note the splurging pinpricks of electrifying throbs emanate within his flesh. Between pain and nothingness, he felt something cool flowing within his limbs, a familiar healing aura move about his body to temporarily overwhelm pain with the chilling essence of magic.

"About time, you've been unconscious for 36 hours." He heard a weary and mellow voice whisper right beside his ear.

Startled, with which he shifted his eyes to the left and fixed them full upon the person sitting right next to him.

It was her,

Quistis.

Her face was a bit pale from the lack of sleep and worry. She sat on the stool right next to him, her body partly laid on his bed with one hand stretched behind his head lightly stroking the tips of his hair while the other hand hovered above his wounds, channelling him with cure spells.

When she saw him turn, she reclined back on her seat, freeing herself from any contact with him. It was then he felt the full horrendous soreness in his body.

"What happened?" were the only words he could utter before an unnerving impulse from his inflicted wounds caused him to groan in agony.

She held his hand in a tight grip, temporarily diverting his senses to the touch and warmth of her palm. Her eyes locked at his gaze, transfixed into those emerald spheres which for the first time seemed so fragile.

She gave him a weary smile.

"You were knocked out by the loss of blood and by Lucifer's powers. Your body was in overdrive. It couldn't handle a GF being junctioned into your entire system." Her whisper was so light that it barely touched Seifer's ear. She didn't want even her voice to cause any more pain.

Seifer breathed hard through his clenched teeth. "I've been laying down too long. Help me up, will ya?" he said lifting his head, but Quistis quickly reacted and gently pushed his forehead with her palm back on the pillow.

"Seifer, don't be foolish! You're not well yet!" she reprimanded.

"Is that any way to treat a patient? Now don't get cocky with me, I'm stronger than you think." Seifer insisted, hovering just below perfect consciousness. He stirred and tried to get up, only to feel a terrible and nauseating pain stabbing his limbs, to his relief he realized Quistis had laid him back down.

"Seifer Almasy! That's enough!" her yell echoed in the Infirmary.

"Shhhhh...Quistis, please, don't shout at the patient, he needs his rest." Gavin interrupted after overhearing their struggle. He never really wanted to reproach Quistis, but as a doctor he knew his side was with the patient. But then added just so to be fair, "Seifer, Quistis is right, you're not well yet, at least for now. And please don't cause Quistis any more trouble, she hasn't slept yet since the other day you were admitted." He calmly stated in her defense.

His lips pressed together in a cautious line. The pretty-boy doctor made a point, it sucked, but it silenced him.

Quistis appreciated what he did and gave Gavin a grateful smile.

"Sure, I'll behave. Now, if you don't mind, why don't you two lovebirds get your relationship somewhere where it can't disturb the patient." His words were meant to tease, but it came out all too sarcastic.

"Of course, I'm sorry." Gavin pardoned, and looking at Quistis, he gestured, "Quistis, you might want to rest now. I'm sure Seifer will be all right, he's already stabilized. He will be fine, rest assured."

"Okay...but just one more minute."

"Alright, I'll give you two some privacy. I'll just be outside the hallway...I'll bring you to your room." Gavin said to Quistis as he opened the door and left.

"Quite a boyfriend you have there." Seifer grumbled as soon as Gavin closed the door.

"Why Seifer, are you jealous?" she smirked and gave a perceptive look.

"Heck! The hell should I be?" he gave her back a smug set of jades.

She rolled her eyes, irritated. "You're right, why should you!"

"Because he's no one I should worry about, right?" he added with a crooked grin, and right away saw the immediate awareness light in her eyes.

She gave him a truthful answer with a single horizontal sway of her head and a beam of affirmation to her gesture. Quistis made that clear, however the latter information seemed a little obscure.

"Although, I happen to have someone else in mind."

She could have asked herself a thousand to a million times over and over again, but wouldn't possibly make out an answer as to why she had said those vague but admitting words at all. She knew who she was thinking, it was pretty clear, but was afraid to ask if they were of the same wavelengths likewise. She felt goose bumps with who she found herself thinking and what she saw flutter in that man's face.

"Who?" He lifted one eyebrow, his voice became huskier than before.

"No one you should know about..." She bit her lip, trying to figure out from his expression whether that was enough for an answer.

She waited, but he didn't speak. Seifer was staring at her curiously, that same familiar edge of frustration even more distinct now in his eyes. He floundered as he examined her face, clearly not happy with her response.

She wondered when it would be okay to start reproaching him. What she said earlier certainly didn't do her any favor, just suspend a heat tension with her flustering and his dissatisfaction. Fine, since the heat was up, might as well let it boil. Thus, her expression became hard and in a click all hell broke loose, "You jerk! Don't ever do that again, acting so big as if you can take on the world alone! You're such a selfish fool! Don't you realize how much you made us all worry!" She took a breath to calm herself. She was obviously very concerned, but felt so frustrated she just had to give him a piece of her mind. "You could have died out there! You could have just run—"

"RUNAWAY!" Seifer exerted too much effort that another electrifying impulse made him close his eyes, but he forced it open. He stopped, clenching his teeth in sudden agony. He made an effort to calm himself. "C'mon, you know me better than that..." his voice became less impulsive, it was obvious he didn't want to feel the pain again.

"Well you have friends now you know, people who care about you. You don't have to fight your battles alone anymore..." Quistis' voice too became mellow, "You big dummy...you had me worried." She finally said a coherent reason to her anger, quickly looking away, and giving him time to compose his face.

He knew she was someone he could truly count on, and what she did, stayed beside him the whole time he was unconscious and healing him with her magic when she did, has proven just how much she cared. He wanted to thank her, but words came out wrong.

Too wrong.

"Go see Doctor Love before he waits too long." He gestured pointing at the door. He seemed to be wavering, torn by some internal dilemma. "And get some sleep, you look worse than me." he added with hesitation, his voice became concerned.

She looked down at her hands so she couldn't see his expression, then slowly stood up and turned around to leave. It only took her one step to feel her hand being pulled. She looked back and saw her hand being gripped by Seifer, gently caressing it with his thumb. He was sweetly smiling at her, a sense of comfort swept through her face, she knew he'd be fine.

She saw him open his mouth and spoke something, but the words came out muted that she had to read his lips to understand what he was saying.

It read something like, Thank you.

She smiled at him and stroked his head once then leaned over to kiss his forehead, then whispered beside his ear, "You're always welcome."

Her words tickled in his ear, but he couldn't say any more, he was tired. He inwardly admitted he wasn't strong enough and needed more rest. Giving her a fragile beam, he slowly closed his eyes back to sleep knowing that he was in good hands.

That night, she quietly returned and sat right beside him. Stroking his head and simply gazing at his closed eyes, waiting, hoping for it to somehow open that she may see those deep green irises again.

She felt wanting to be just beside him, just knowing he was breathing and that she wasn't losing him.

Her thoughts began to shroud with memories of Seifer. She had been thinking a lot about him lately, from the day Xu told her about how fate has entwined them from their childhood up to that very moment as she sat there,

With him.

Seifer had certainly made himself known to her in more ways than one…in fact, so much more than she had expected. Whenever she got the chance to contemplate about their companionship, she would often wonder how and why she was putting so much effort just to be with him. It wasn't like she didn't have anyone else to hang out with, but truth be told, he was without doubt the most intriguing.

Seifer had become so many things to her…a bittersweet yet constant companion (bitter and sweet varying in variables as the situation called), a honest to brutal critique, a distant nightmare, a reason for an early menopausal, a cause for migraine and arthritis, an excuse to fool around and get into trouble, a buffoon to mess about and giggle with, a someone who could treat her normally without bias, a guy whom she could struggle mentally and physically with, a person whom she related and consoled with, a good friend…and apparently, her reason for being happy.

Maybe, just maybe, that was why she was holding onto him. She was happy being with him even in silence.

She has never felt so close to any man before—emotionally. She had her share of good friends, but none of them she felt so close.

All that had been happening between them she began to consider as little signs of fate, telling her that they were meant for each other. She had been eagerly fighting off the idea of thinking too much about him for she couldn't figure out whether her standards were slowly getting low, or he was increasingly reaching up to it because she was afraid...

She felt like she was beginning to fall in love with him.

Sneak Preview:

Dancing to Fall

Chapter 13

"What are you doing!" He grumbled beneath his breath with knitted eyebrows.

"What does it look like? I'm trying to lead!" She grumbled back pulling him left.

"The heck! I'm the guy, I should lead! Didn't you take Dancing 101!" he pulled her to the right.

"That's the point! I've seen you dance and it's terrible!" she said, forcing him to step to the left.

"That was six years ago!" he retorted, forcibly dragging her to step right.

"STOP! STOP! STOOOOOOP!" Selphie's scream echoed throughout the entire ball. "Guys, that's the worst of the worst dance I've seen in my life! What's wrong with you? You're both leading each other to trip!"

A/N: Here's a little trivia, Lex Talionis means or applies to the law of "Eye for an Eye". And since Gilgamesh became the monster instead for some other made-up monster, the concept of 'an eye for an eye' made sense because I thought it cool for a plot since he gives Seifer enough reason to be angry...besides, writing with something totally familiar makes better sense when trying to picture them out. And if you remember, the name Lucifer first appeared on my third chapter...I'm just giving that story a closure—that's why he's here! So YEY!