The Garden sailed overhead with
ease, Seipher couldn't help but notice it from Balamb docks. It carried the
others he had forgotten, the others he had hurt. He felt the sorrow within him,
but the details had become fuzzy, hard to recall. His Smile was a little sad
as he went back to fishing, his friends fishing as well near him. They were
original... They had stood by him. Seipher held one hand to his head, to the
scar. Time was so hard to judge for some reason... How long ago had his anger
driven the others away... How long ago had he reached for the dream... How long
ago had he failed. He put those thoughts away hoping they would leave him like
his memories... and stayed in the time with his friends.
Day rapidly became night... and then day again, Seipher sat comfortably outside
the shack like house he had managed to find. He looked comfortable, near enough
to the water that he could have thrown a stone into the waves. Bottles of cheap
booze lay near him, they too provided a blissful peace from the memories. The
memory that he had thrown something big away to follow his dream. To be the
Sorceress' Knight. Memories of fire, and his blade, The gunblade:Hyperion. Which
rested beside him leaning on one leg. The day faded away in a blissful intoxicated
slumber. The dreams, of standing on something large, while it moved under him.
People all around praising... not him, he was the knight... but the Sorceress.
They adored her all. He could almost see himself, standing there against them,
trying to save her again and again....failing. What became of it all? In his
mind he could see the pain that his dream had caused, somehow it didn't seem
so romantic now. Night fell, its darkness hiding the flaws of his little
place in the mud. Seipher felt strangely alone, waiting for Fuujin and Raijin
again. When they arrived, it felt OK again, throwing bits of wood on a fire,
the warm red and yellow light flooding the area in direct contrast to the blue
that let the stars shine so. They spoke until early the next day,still surrounded
by the darkness, the fire having died enough to let the blue light of the moon
though. Eventually they left, Seipher remaining alone at the hut, his hammock
beckoning. The dreams awaiting... none of them happy.
While Seipher slept off the drinks outside a spectacular light show was going
on in the sky a beam of power, followed by another blasted at the moon from
near over the horizon, scarring the surface before breaking it up into pieces
of different fates... The silvery dust lingered in space while a few select
pieces fell to the planet, burning up in a fireshow in the sky over balamb city.
The tide swelled, greater than hit had for years as the place began to violently
flood. Seipher awoke with a headache as the water reached him. He grasped his
two closest and near only possessions, the Hyperion and his fishing pole; Heading
directly for the door. He grasped onto a tree, outside. Not able to get much
further in the rapidly rising water. Drowning was a new, and not so pleasant
feeling. Seipher struggled to hold his breath as the huge tide took its time
withdrawing. The moon back in its place in the sky, as if nothing had happened...
Seipher didn't notice... His place... the only thing he had left was gone, the
hut's materials being cheap and poorly put together breaking up and washing
out to sea. Seipher still felt he was a soldier, but this was something he couldn't
fight... It broke him. Like the past blow in a long fight. He was down.
Seipher stood on the edge of balamb
city, where the docks should have been. He was standing alone on rubble. A whole
day had passed since he had left his ruin behind. The place was devastated and
it seemed he couldn't go anywhere without running into a SeeD trying to help
out. He had tried to help as well, but found himself alone... and in the way.
He had even seen Zell going to his family as the garden was taking flight again.
The best he could think of was to yell out Chickenwuss. Now he remained, alone
on the rubble of his life. Not even his dream to carry him on. He stood there,
alone and cast his fishing line out. Casting it a great distance, but still
not reaching the clear water beyond the rubble. He had given up his hotel room
for a family... but the city was still short on emergency beds. Seipher felt
each of these like Zell punching him in the gut. These were things he couldn't
fight without either the dream... or 'them'. He had failed... totally and completely...
in everything he had ever set out to do. So much time had past but it felt like
nothing... so much time lost. He knew deep down that he could never go back
and try again. There was only one things left to do... a cowards retreat.
Seipher just stood there, his final wish to enjoy just a few moments more fishing,
Something snagged his line, cracking the rod as he violently reeled it in. The
car door was less than a satisfying catch.
She spoke up from behind him, without
fear... Without hate without anything but good feelings. Poking a joke as his
latest catches expense. Seipher replied, laughing a bit himself not knowing
who she was. Who would willingly walk up to him and just joke... He had been
known for drinking... since he failed the last time. His temper was rumored
to be bigger than his ego. Seipher wondered who it was as he fell, his rod got
devoured by the sea, hooked one something that was sinking further out. The
hard iced up ground was his support. Seipher recalled the voice, from some far
distant thing in the past. Selphie stood there, talking to him as if nothing
had happened... as if his coming to blows with the other SeeD's over his dream
wasn't enough to rattle her. Seipher stood up, wondering how somebody could
have forgiven him... when he couldn't even forgive himself for what he couldn't
remember. Selphie just didn't seem to care. She was just filled with life, and
the energy that comes from happiness. Seipher couldn't bare to crush this out
of her, he could hardly bring himself to say something angry for appearances.
Seipher returned to the garden, reluctantly on her invitation. Wanting solely
to make up for the past, and perhaps make a future for himself. Seipher couldn't
bring himself to believe in a new dream, but deep inside him he believed Selphie
was an angel... an angel sent to him in his darkest hour with what he needed...
light.
Seipher felt strange returning,
but where Selphie directed him he found it difficult to resist. Though he tried
to keep up his appearances the sea had taken from him much of his temper. There
were a new group of SeeD cadets, they needed his experience, like he needed
the others forgiveness... He would never ask for it, but he longed for it all
the same... a true second chance. He spent a great amount of time in the garden,
familiar things around every corner. Headmaster Cid was strangely forgiving,
so too seemed the students. He was once again among them, with two others. For
a moment, he thought he saw her there, Sorceress Edea. He closed his eyes for
a moment and the glimmer was gone. It seemed like everywhere he turned... A
new face, or an old one he had forgotten. Things were spinning so fast, like
a thrill ride at full pace The rush alone was enough to occupy his mind. He
hoped it would never slow, never return him to that place in his heart. The
empty place that had once held his dream. He never realized, that the dream
was still there. The dream remained there, darkened and unfulfilled. At the
center of the dream, the wish to be a hero, to stand up and have people follow
him. To inspire. Now restrained by threads of light and care for another. Perhaps
too much care, for the angel that brought him light.
He stood now, on an edge. The people surrounding him seemed to flow only support
but the darkened dream within him pressed on his mind. He didn't see it as enough
to simply exist there, No he had to make up for the past... He had to excel
and achieve greatness, He had to reach for the dream and become the hero. Something
was approaching, a question on how much he was willing to sacrifice for his
dream; he feared it greatly but at the same time welcomed it. Last time the
choice had been to scar, to give it all away for the dream. Last time had been
a mistake. His rival, perhaps the one he had tried to hurt the most now stood
at the head off all he had missed, everything that had been sacrificed for the
dream. The scar they shared from crossing blades still apparent. A reminder
for as long as they both existed of the evil he had done. Squall had, without
sacrificing anything attained what Seipher had sacrificed everything but his
life for. Seipher wanted to feel good for him about it, but his eyes were green.
He believed honestly that he would never be able to attain the heights that
Squall had. What use was it... to be the rival of somebody who had surpassed
you in every way? He felt his resolve slipping with each passing day, back into
old habits.
The ride began to slow its pace. Seipher found himself contemplating things
and events which he did not want to remember. Now that all was past, he realized
he may have missed his chance... His chance to prove himself. To attain his
dream with them. It was a thought that struck a cord deep within him. Not even
Selphie's presence... so full of life and happiness could lift his weary heart.
He had chosen long ago, that though he cared for her, they could never be anything
by his actions. His actions only brought them pain. He couldn't bare the thought
of bringing more pain on the ones who had forgiven him. He just wanted to be
ordered... and to leave his mind back there, in the past before his dream demanded
sacrifice. In the past he could barely remember. The Hyperion blazed as it struck
down an enemy. Seipher knew that to stay he had to fit in somehow, simply trying
to bring the angel happiness was not enough. Days passed, weeks followed. It
seemed like... the garden itself had slowed down just to give him time to think.
Time for the dream to taunt him. The angel stayed exactly how she was, bright
filled with natural light that blew his dark mind away whenever she neared him.
Far to bright for him to stand. Eventually the light began to dull his senses
and he fell away like the dammed iccarus who flew too close to the sun.
Seipher extended his horizons, seeking distraction where-ever he could. Spending as much time in Balamb town as he did in the garden. Dancing, surrounded in happy people he was feeling more and more out of place. Gathering wits he tried talking with cadets, but they all seemed so innocent and full of hope. He couldn't stand it. The light was so bright it had turned him from it and back to his dream. A darkened path on the beach, the sea to one side raging fire to the other. He stumbled, tattered rags falling around him. Magic lifted him up and helped him reach his goal. To stand alone at the top. To tower over other people. To be a knight, one respected. The light was like a glaring reminder of how imperfect he was. The wind cared for him, when he felt lonely, Fuujin was company. Fuujin seemed to care. It sickened him. Fuujin, who had always been so direct. So precise and accurate liked somebody so dark. Seipher craved distraction. Rinoa was looking for the same. They met one evening, under the lens like base of a drink at a bar. Rinoa managed to put herself there, Seipher tried to lift her up. This wasn't right... Rinoa wasn't that selfish. Or was she? The more Seipher looked the more he saw it. She was distancing herself, from the garden and her friends. Seipher couldn't trust her. Every time they met it was like she was wounded more. Angel blood dripping on the streets. She denied his questions, lied to his face. Stopped him from getting her help. Fought him every single step he took to help her. The reason was both taller than him and stronger. A creature human but not. How it managed to lurk and remain living in the streets of Balamb town he was unsure. He would cut it down, oh yes. The Hyperion was more than a weapon of war, it was his darkness forged.
The creature he faced did not fear, and seemed to revel in pain both its and theirs. Seipher cleaved at it violently, his coat swirling behind him. A blow that would have cleaved a normal man in two combined with the explosive force to separate those two pieces like the sun and the moon seemed to do little to the creature. Its flesh burnt, it bled seemingly endless amounts of blood. No matter what Seipher did It was like his blade could not slay this. The creature vanished leaving him full of question, and Rinoa with no answers to give him. He felt angered. He felt useless inside. His boots crushed whatever he walked on. He needed to slay this creature. Walking through the streets, searching it out. It was a distraction to pursue, one that almost cost him his life. The next time they encountered, his rival was there too. The stone faced, no emotion rock-lion. No how could they fight together. So many reasons... Squall had changed from his rival to his bane. Together they attacked the creature, grinding it down with the white and black metal gunblades. Any natural creature would have fallen to the onslaught. No, they were not a team. Seipher was not a team player. The creature was a stepping stone for his ambition. The creature caught between their two blades showed no sign of falling wounding Seipher, beating Squall until he could not think to open his eyes. Rinoa seemed distant through her pain. The creature left the three of them again leaving Seipher without satisfaction.
