Let Me Make It Alright
Chapter 11: "Like Peaches And Cream"
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 11: "Like Peaches And Cream"
By Angry Angel
"Well this is just fucking peachy!"
Seifer Almasy's hand sliced the air harshly before it came to a thudding halt at the nearest wall. A deep frown was etched into his features, eyes glittering rapturously as he slammed his anger and frustration into the concrete. A fierce growl escaped his throat, guttural like the cry of a wild beast.
Finally, his body relaxed and he slumped down onto the narrow bed of his isolated cell. The tall blonde's thoughts wandered off to his friends, wondering if they had been thrown into just another cell in Galbadia Garden, or if, unlike him, they had simply been released. Either way, he was stuck, and that thought didn't appeal to him at all.
He couldn't quite determine how long he had been held captive in the Garden prison already, but he figured that it had to have been two days at least. They had brought him food and water, but nobody had actually bothered to tell him anything of importance. For the life of him, Seifer just couldn't figure out of what use he could possibly be to the Galbadian SeeDs of all people.
Way back when, after the Ultimecia incident, Squall Leonhart had let him take his leave without asking any questions. Yes, back then, Seifer had felt free, physically at least. Naturally, his mind was still returning to the evil witch Ultimecia and her obscure tortures quite frequently, but he had learned to live with it, and even gotten used to it in a way that was hardly explainable.
Being caught in a prison cell, however, was not something Seifer Almasy would ever get used to, or even accept, for that matter.
Just as he had reclined his back against the wall and closed his eyes in the feeble attempt to get at least some sleep, his attention was stirred by the electronic hiss of his cell door opening. His eyelids snapped open in that never quite latent form of passive alert right away, and his emerald gaze zeroed in on his visitors.
"Was about fucking time you-"
The rest of the sentence got stuck half-way in Seifer's throat as his mind finally processed the image that his eyes had fed it. Standing in the doorframe were two figures, one just slightly shorter than the other. The first belonged to a slender, long haired blonde female with piercing blue eyes and aristocratic features, whereas the latter was slightly taller and more muscular in his build, and actually turned out to be a young man with spiked blonde tresses and a black tattoo that snaked intricately across his left cheek.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me."
Seifer stood up slowly, all the while not taking his eyes off the two young visitors in front of him. They looked at him quietly, both screening his frame and his face with different spectrums of feelings spilling from their features.
"The chickenwuss and the instructor. The hell are you doing here?"
The spite had returned to Seifer's rasp voice, fueling his eyes with arrogance and barely hidden glee. He noted the anger burning from Zell's blue orbs as fires of sapphire, but the martial artist was apparently trying to restrain himself and his quick temper. His hands were gloved and locked to fists, but they remained slightly shaking at his sides as he stared blankly at his old archrival, Seifer Almasy.
"Seifer," Quistis finally broke the silence stiffly.
He gave her his trademark smirk, tipping a non-existent hat in an impressive imitation of politeness. She merely rose a perfectly plugged eyebrow at the gesture, folding her arms in front of her chest tightly as her lips thinned to a line.
"We're here to pick you up."
"Pick me up, eh? To go where?"
"Balamb Garden."
The tall blonde locked his hard gaze onto her's, but she did not falter under his stare. Coldly, she rooted him to the spot, waiting for an answer of some sort.
"Why?" Seifer finally asked, mistrust glinting in his eyes.
"You'll find out soon enough," she stated simply. "The choice is your's, Seifer. Stay here and rot in this cell, or come with us and do as we say. I couldn't care less, either way."
That, of course, was a lie by any standards, yet Seifer did not manage to pick up on it.
"I didn't do anything," the former sorceress knight eventually tried carefully. "You can't keep me here."
"We can and we will. You know that as well as I do."
Seifer Almasy was a man that could have been accused of being many things, but he most definitely was not stupid by any means. He knew that Quistis Trepe was right, and as much as the idea of returning to Balamb Garden disgruntled him, it also seemed a lot more appealing than the concept of staying in his cell for whoever knew how long.
"Suppose I come with you," he mused languidly, "how long will I have to stay?"
"I can't tell you. I don't know. You will find out when we get there."
Quistis sighed. She had known that it would be difficult to face Seifer again. She didn't carry any hateful feelings for him as her boyfriend Zell did, but she wasn't exactly fond of him, either. Seifer had always been a thorn edged into her flesh, and as much as she had tried, she had never quite gotten around to liking him. Looking at him right then, it seemed as if he hadn't grown up a bit in the months that he had disappeared. He was a little taller maybe, his hair slightly longer and a little dishevelled, his face perhaps more angular than it used to be. He was still handsome, she had to admit that. More importantly than that, though, she knew only too well of the effect that the blonde had on their leader, and she fully agreed with Selphie and Cid; Cocky, self-assured and loud mouthed Seifer Almasy was their last hope of breaking the invisible barriers that Squall had erected about himself.
"You've been around puberty boy for too long, instructor. You're starting to have inner monologues."
"Shut up, Seifer!" Zell hissed roughly, one fist lashing forward in a threatening gesture.
"Or what, chickenwuss? Gonna stroke me with those pretty gloves of your's? C'mon, you know you want to."
"You fucking-"
"Shut up, both of you!" Quistis interrupted angrily.
Letting out a drawn sigh of exasperation, the young woman commenced to massage the back of her nose with her eyes closed, before she eventually turned to face Seifer again.
"Look, Seifer, either you come with us and conduct yourself or you stay right here where you are, is that clear?"
Seifer let out an angry grunt. He had always had issues with the entire concept concerning authority figures, and Quistis Trepe sure as hell was no exception.
Unfortunately though, his choices were rather limited on this one.
"Clear," he snorted reluctantly.
"At least we got that settled, then. We came with Ragnarok, so we'll be back at Balamb in no time. Your gunblade is stored away safely out of your reach, so don't try anything you would regret."
"Gee whiz, not very trusting these days, are we?"
"What reason would we have to trust you?" Zell spat.
"It's enough, Zell. Let's just get this over with."
Despite the rage flaring in Zell's eyes, the martial artist was sufficiently successful in controlling his temper, though it did involve quite some effort. He had always disliked Seifer, even before the blonde had been under Ultimecia's control. What Almasy had done in her name didn't matter much to Zell. He knew enough details of the case to rest assured that Seifer had indeed been mind controlled, but to the spunky blonde, he was a characterless bastard all the same.
"One thing. Where are Fujin and Raijin?" Seifer asked evenly.
"They left. We released them."
Seifer couldn't quite decide whether he liked that idea or not. He would have appreciated to have his friends along on his glorious return to his old school, but on the other hand, things might just be less complicated without them.
"Aight," he voiced his uncalled-for approval.
"You ready?"
He nodded his head curtly, and when he left the cell trodding nonchalantly in between Zell and Quistis, he didn't even glance back once.
=To be continued!=