Let Me Make It Alright
Chapter 7: "Once More With Feeling"
By Angry Angel
Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own anything related to the Final Fantasy series. It's all property of Squaresoft, or Sqare Enix if you prefer. So please, be kind and don't sue me
Important Note: I am yet again working on reposting this story. I found several mistakes in the first chapters, and some things I simply wasn't too happy with. I hope you can forgive the mayhem that this story will be until I actually manage to repost all the chapters I found to be erroneous. Unfortunately, I'm sure that there will still be plenty of mistakes to be found -- Blame it on English not being my first language if you're feeling kind, or blame it on me being a lazy bum and horrible speller if not.
Reposted chapters will be marked by two quotation marks ("). I know that reposting will go slow, but hopefully I'll be finished before the revelation of the very last chapter of "Let Me Make It Alright".
Now, on with the story!
Let Me Make It Alright
Chapter 7: "Once More With Feeling"
By Angry Angel
"QUESTION!"
Emerald orbs rolled towards the sky pleadingly at the sharp comment, which was equally a question and an order at the same time.
A tall blonde cleared his throat and turned around in his spot.
"’Sup?"
His voice was husky, almost as if his favorite pastime consisted of gargling gravel. 185 pounds of muscles were well distributed over his 6'1" frame, which was aptly clad in a long grey trench coat, heavy boots, loose black pants and a pale, worn out olive green shirt. His facial features were strong and angular, framed by perfectly straight, gelled back blond hair.
He was Seifer Almasy, oozing manliness from every pore, and he was fully aware it.
"Deling City. Why are we here?"
The short woman at his side had a pretty face, but it was mostly obscured by her long tresses of silvery-white hair and a large, black eyepatch. She was dressed in rather masculine clothes that hid her feminine figure very well. At first sight, she could have easily been mistaken for a man.
Seifer smirked at that thought, immediately picturing his friend Fujin in the same lavatory as himself, doing things that he wasn't even quite sure that he really wanted to see.
Damn, drifting off again.
"Ya, Seifer, why we here, Deling City ain't very friendly with us no more, ya know."
Shaking his head in exasperation, Seifer tapped the edge of his gunblade Hyperion against his shoulder. Mentally, he cursed himself for taking Fujin and her slightly moronic siamese twin Raijin along. The latter was even taller and bulkier than Seifer himself, dressed in a somewhat savage-like fashion and gifted with a brain the size of a pea. Both him and Fujin could be extremely annoying, particularly when thrown together, but on the other hand, they were the only friends that Seifer was left with.
Taking it even further, they were probably the only friends that Seifer Almasy had ever had.
"I told you knuckleheads that I’m looking for work here. It’s not like I told you to tag along, so quit whining."
"Seif, we're yer friends, ya know. Can't leave ya alone here, ya know."
The left corner of Seifer's mouth raised in sync with his left eyebrow at that comment, causing the slanted scar across the bridge of his nose to crinkle just slightly.
"I can handle myself pretty well on my own, thank you."
"Why Deling City? They know you here. Stupid." Fujin huffed, arms crossed in front of her chest.
"Hey now, watch who you’re calling stupid, Fu! Fact is, they know me everywhere," the blonde shrugged. "I might as well start out in a place I feel somewhat familiar with. After all, I've been sitting out long enough."
He secured the holster of his blade at his belt again and adjusted the position of the duffel bag he had been lugging around on his shoulder, before he eventually screened their surrounding with an attentive eye. They had barely entered Deling City and now stood near the entrance to the train station, watching cars and buses pass by in a mad scurry. It was well after ten at night, but Deling City was one of those places that never fell quiet.
"OK. Work, where?"
"Ya know," Seifer purred, "you really need to get better at the talking thing, Fu."
She shot him a death glare that reminded him very much of one that he had seen many times before. The face of a dark haired, perma-scowling pretty boy materialized in Seifer's head, but he pushed the image away quickly. If there was one person that he really did not feel like thinking about that moment, it was "holier-than-thou" puberty boy Leonhart.
Seifer gave a rasp chuckle at the memory of said brunette, which caused both of his friends to shoot him confused glances. He merely dismissed them with a wave.
"Right. Guess we might as well try downtown."
He led them to one of the numerous bus stops, where they caught the first vehicle that took them to the heart of the city: the shopping mile.
Lights flickered at them fully from all around. Cars, shops, hotels, bars - Deling City sure carried its famous nightlife reputation for a reason.
Seifer let his jade green eyes roam the facades, searching for nothing in particular, when his attention was snared by the sudden eruption of a hard, male voice behind them.
"Hey, you!"
He turned slowly, fully aware of the hostility that laced the man's voice. Throughout the past months, Seifer had gotten awfully used to being assaulted from behind, more often than not for the crimes that he had commited under Ultimecia's control.
All in all, he had certainly learned to pick up on a potential fight when it crossed his path.
"You talking to me?"
He narrowed his eyes at the sight of five men lined up behind him and his friends, who had already turned around as well. His right hand immediately found the hilt of his Hyperion, but he decided not to draw it just yet.
"Yah I am talking to you, sorceress knight."
It didn't take the man spitting on the ground for Seifer to make out the rather obvious insult. Groaning in exasperation, he shifted his weight onto one foot and carelessly dropped his bag, zeroing his emerald gaze in on the man's face. The guy looked to be in his late thirties, dressed in simple clothes that gave away the blue-collar worker. His friends appeared to root from the same social environment, all of them too easily deceived and angered by things that they didn’t even came close to understanding.
Seifer sighed.
He had come across this particular kind of men far too many times.
"And what could I possibly do for you?" he mocked.
"We'll pay you back for all the shit that's happened!"
"Hn. Funny, I don't recall ever meeting you."
"Yah, but your goddamned troops did when you were still the sorceress' lapdog!"
"Well, ain't I deeply fucking moved now," Seifer spat sarcastically, scorn glinting in the depths of his predatory green eyes.
"You're going to pay for it, Almasy!"
"Can't wait."
The blonde smirked cockily as he finally unsheathed his blade. Next to him, Fujin had drawn her throwing star and Raijin had steadied his oak staff in his huge hands. Their opponents obviously couldn't match neither their weapons nor their skills, but to Seifer's surprise that didn't seem to bother them the least bit. Only two of them were carrying guns, the other three were completely unarmed.
'Fucking idiots.'
Almasy frowned inwardly at the thought of fighting men without arms. On the other hand, they most certainly had asked for a beating.
"If you want me to part you a new asshole, be my guest," he jeered.
The man spat out again, fury flaring in his pale grey eyes.
"Asshole, huh?" he suddenly sneered. "Fucking faggot."
It wasn't until then that something inside Seifer Almasy snapped. He was used to a cornucopia of insults all aiming to strike his chords, but the only one that managed to rise his temper was the accusation of him being gay.
Maybe because it was true?
Growling, Seifer violently squashed the thought as he lashed forward and punched the man square in the face for his chancy insult. Despite the fact that it was only a left hook, he sent the man crashing to the floor with a loud thud.
"Ah, shit!"
The other men withdrew slightly, obviously taken by surprise. They hadn't expected the former sorceress knight to be quite as impressive as he turned to be.
Seifer towered above the startled guy, who was rubbing his aching jaw arduously.
"Any other requests for a face remodelling?" he hissed hotly.
Just as the men were about to shake their heads and retreat, a loud voice cut in behind Seifer.
"What the hell is going on here?"
With a swirl of his long coat, Seifer Almasy turned around and stood face-to-face with a group of black-clad young men and women that he estimated to be around his age. In the length of a heartbeat, his conscience had soaked up everything there was to know about them.
Everything that mattered, anyway.
"Great... just my fucking luck..."
He lowered his head, sighing like a wounded animal.
SeeDs.
=To be continued!=
Teeeheee... so this was Seifer's grand entrance, I hope you liked! He cusses quite a bit, but that's kinda how I imagine him, I guess. I hope nobody is insulted hehe.