Disclaimer: Characters from Final Fantasy belong to Squaresoft, but there are other characters in here that belong to me. Those characters, and other terms and such, are under my copyright, so please don't take them or use them.
Started: February 25 (26), 2000
Finished: March 24, 2000
Chapter 3:
End of Worlds
It was only a matter of time before he would snap.
He wasn't normally claustrophobic, but the black walls were beginning to get to him now. Hours must have passed since he had seen anything that would end the monotony of the whole thing; every tile was the same from the last, except for that lone one that had suffered greatly when Seifer had smashed his boot into the wall in anger. That had been at least an hour ago.
And now the wrath of Seifer Almasy had returned once again.
"Goddammit!!" His two companions winced visibly as his curse rang through the hallway. "How #*(&^ long is this hallway?! We've been walking forever!!"
"What do you propose we do then, Seifer?" Rufus queried, irritated. He rubbed his temples slowly and shut his eyes. "Do you want us to turn around and go back the other way?"
Seifer glared and again wished for his missing gunblade. Algus grimaced as the tension in the area became thick, then piped up, "Let's keep going. I'm sure we'll find something sooner or later."
Fortunately for Algus, they found the end of the corridor not too long after.
* * * * *
The sun was only beginning to rise as the ex-Disciplinary Committee reached the gates of Balamb Garden, which had been mobile sometime in the past but was now secured to the ground again. Fujin took one glance at her comrade and noticed the worn-out look on his face. "WAIT HERE," she ordered firmly. "BRING ASSISTANCE."
Raijin was only too happy to comply, falling to his knees and sitting there, panting. The teenage girl took off quickly, running across campus and approaching the security gates. She barely took notice of the guard, leaping over the railing and dashing straight into the heart of the Garden.
"H-- hey!" shouted the old gatekeeper, running from his post and chasing after Fujin. "Stop! You can't just run into the campus!!"
Fujin paid him no heed, looking around the area before approaching the central staircase, which led to the elevator. She had just placed her foot on the first step when the headmaster, Cid Kramer, came out of the opening elevator and started down the stairs.
The man took one look at her and blinked his brown eyes in shock. "Fujin?" he managed, frowning. "What business do you have here?"
Apparently, he was just as unforgiving as the whole Garden was over the subject of the Galbadia Garden attack. She shifted and was about to speak when the guard grabbed her arm. "Hey, now! You're going right back off the campus, young lady."
"RAGE!" Fujin wrenched her arm out of the man's grasp and prepared to kick him, then thought better of it and turned her attention back to the headmaster. "HEADMASTER, HELP. SEIFER, HURT."
The frown only deepened at that. "Seifer? He would dare show his face around here after what he's done?"
"SEIFER, HURT! HELP!"
"This better not be a trick, Fujin. If it is, then you'll be spending your time--"
"NOT TRICK!" With that, Fujin turned heel and ran back towards the front gate. The two older men looked at each other grimly, then went after her.
Raijin looked up in relief to see Fujin running back, followed closely by two other people. He pulled Seifer off of his back and laid him on the ground, rolling his aching shoulders. "Finally, ya know?" he sighed, smiling as Fujin knelt next to him. "I was getting tired of talking to Seifer all alone, ya know?"
Fujin gave him a blank look, not having the strength to get angry again. She brushed back Seifer's hair and shook her head. "COLD," she managed. "ALIVE?"
"Well, he better be!" Raijin said, trying his very best to make a joke of the situation. "It wasn't any picnic carrying him all that way, ya know??"
The albino managed a frosty glare for his troubles, and the dark-skinned teenager grinned boyishly. Cid and the gatekeeper approached, shock evident on their aged faces. "Great Hyne," Cid was muttering, kneeling down and taking a look at the prone form before him. The wounds were too real to ignore. "What happened to him?"
"UNKNOWN."
"We don't know, ya know?" translated Raijin. "He ran out on us earlier and when we found him . . . he was like this, ya know?"
Cid shook his head slowly and turned to the other man. "Marcus, go wake up the doctor," he ordered. "Tell her its an emergency."
"Of course, Mr. Kramer," Marcus, the gatekeeper, said, getting up and hurrying back into the Garden.
"Now, Raijin," Cid started, sizing up the young man, "are you strong enough to help me get him to the infirmary?"
* * * * *
"You never told us, Seifer. . . Why were you bleeding back there?"
The tallest of the three frowned and looked at his questioner, Rufus. "It really sounds crazy . . . I don't believe it myself."
"At this point," Algus murmured, "I think there are no proper boundaries for crazy. I'm sure we all agree that this isn't possible, and yet is possible right now."
"You know, you sound very smart for someone your age, Algus," noted Seifer, glancing at the younger boy.
". . . Well, I think it's better to sound intelligent than selfish at this point," Algus admitted. "I usually have this major superiority complex."
Rufus cracked a smile at that. "How fortunate; we all have another thing in common." He brushed back his blond hair and again questioned Seifer, "What happened to you, Seifer?"
"I can't really explain it, but . . . I'm switching between two places whenever I sleep," Seifer sighed, brows knitted together as he remembered the experience. "And . . . the last time I switched, there was this guy watching me in the dark. He ran, and I went after him. . . The guy ended up looking exactly like me."
"Wizardry?"
"A clone?"
Seifer shook his head. "If it was one of those things, my look-alike didn't say anything about it. But, dammit, he used my own attack against me! He used my own Limit Break against me!"
"Limit Break!?"
". . . Limit Break?"
The eighteen-year old went on, not paying heed to his two companions' outbursts. "He-- he. . . I think he killed me."
Silence.
Then, ". . . Now we all have another thing in common." Rufus stuffed his hands in his pockets, wrapping his right hand around the pouch containing materia.
They did not speak to each other again until they finally reached the end of the straight corridor. Rufus stopped in front of the exit, a metal door, and then turned to the other two blondes. "We've finally reached an end to this hallway," he said lowly, voice serious. "From here on, we can't be sure what lies ahead of us. I suggest we get ready for anything."
The two younger men nodded, and Rufus opened the door.
And their gasps rang throughout the long length of corridor they had just passed.
* * * * *
Dr. Kadowaki was standing as the door to the infirmary opened up, admitting Raijin and Headmaster Cid, who were holding a wounded Seifer Almasy, and Fujin, who trailed behind. She took one look at Seifer's wounds and inhaled sharply. "This is worse than what Marcus told me," she stated as she directed the two men into the next room. "Lie him down on the center table. I sent Marcus to wake up the three highest-ranking medics in Garden." She was checking for a pulse and cutting through the blood-stained trenchcoat remains as the others looked on.
"Will he . . . uh, be all right, ya know?" whispered Raijin, clearly concerned for his friend and leader.
The doctor didn't even look up as she replied. "It's too early to be sure, and I'm supposed to remain positive in regards to my patients' health, but . . . it doesn't look good."
She wasn't quite sure, but Fujin thought she felt something in her die at those words.
* * * * *
"What the hell are those things?!" Seifer screamed as he dove out of the way of a fiery object that flew at him. Rufus and Algus barely got through the doorway as well as they came to face with the first creatures they had seen since joining together.
They were hissing, snake-like creatures with stingers for tails and eyes that belonged on dangerous felines. Each one was longer than Seifer was tall, each one thicker than all three young mens' wrists combined. Ringed black and gold, they stood out against the dark corridor walls.
One lashed out at Seifer, catching the edge of his pants with its stinger. Cursing, the teenager kicked the small monster, sending it flying backwards. Surprisingly, it simply coiled back up and began hissing again. Seifer shook his head and rejoined his two companions.
The three blondes stood together, back to back to back, for a moment, sizing up their dozen opponents. "Well, I guess this is as good a time as any to use our magic," Rufus stated, already reaching into his pocket. "Nothing too destructive, though, or we'll blow ourselves up."
Seifer hesitated as he clutched the orb in his pocket. He rarely ever used GFs because of their side effect of destroying past memories. Could he bear to forget his real world? His posse? His very being?
"Scatter your chilly sharp blades! Ice!"
A blue crystal of ice smashing over two of the snake-creatures' heads brought him back to reality. He would have to risk the memory loss; killing these creatures came first. The orb in his hand disappeared as he began to junction with his GF, learning the name of the creature in doing so. Tritoch.
"Fira!" Seifer thrust his left hand forward, leaping flames engulfing the snakes.
Rufus pulled out a bright green, marble-sized jewel from the bag. "Bolt 3!" The ground shook as a thunderbolt stuck down on one of the monsters, a dark mark the only evidence it had been there before.
Damn, his magic's powerful, Seifer thought as he prepared another spell. I didn't draw anything that strong lately. . . "Thundara!" Another thunderbolt, considerably weaker than Rufus', struck down a monster.
"Is that their weakness?" queried Algus, kicking at a serpent that slithered too close to him.
"I guess so," muttered Rufus, in the process of casting a Bolt 2 spell. He didn't want to waste his energy in one battle.
"All right. . . Strip away the ground with glistening blades! Bolt!" Algus' own thunderbolt was weaker in comparison to his companions', but managed to kill off three already-injured ones instead of just one.
"How'd you do that!?" demanded Seifer, glancing at the younger teenager.
"My spells attack in an area, not one creature," Algus replied, already preparing another Bolt spell.
"I really don't like snakes," remarked Rufus, releasing his Bolt 2 spell. "Back in my world, there were snakes, Midgar Zoloms, that were at least thirty feet in length."
"Damn, you've got some freaky monsters in your world," Seifer replied, shaking his head as he shot Thundara at a serpent that moved in too close.
The flashes of lightning did not die down until all the snakes were dead.
* * * * *
The snakes, as luck would have it, faded from sight as soon as they all had been killed. Seifer glanced at his comrades, seeing the wariness in their eyes. Apparently, seeing monsters disappear wasn't usual in their worlds as well. "Did I mention how much I'm growing to hate this?" he muttered, removing his GF. He didn't want to keep it on unless it was unavoidable.
"No, but I can understand why," Algus sighed, steadying himself against a wall. He had ran his magic supplies to almost half its total in one battle, making him dizzy with tiredness. "Should we keep moving?"
"I personally don't want to; I'd rather rest. . .," Rufus admitted. "Do I hear any complaints?" There were none. "Now, Seifer, if I turn my back, are you going to start bleeding all over again?" A faint smile creased the white-clad man's face.
Seifer glared angrily at the older man at that.
* * * * *
Cid had left to inform his wife of the ex-Disciplinary Committee's return, leaving Fujin and Raijin to sit in the infirmary. They sat silently as Dr. Kadowaki and her three medic students worked on their fallen leader, watching at the display monitors through the observing window.
For once, it wasn't Raijin that broke the silence between the two. "SCARED." It wasn't a statement aimed at Raijin, but at herself. Fujin turned away from the window and crossed her arms worriedly.
The tall, dark-skinned young man scratched the back of his head awkwardly, glancing at the girl. "I-- I know, ya know?" he whispered hesitantly. "I've seen that look before, Fuj. . . But he'll be all right, ya know? Seifer's tough."
Fujin looked at her best friend, slowly nodding. "AFFIRMATIVE," she managed. A sigh passed her lips. "SEIFER, LIVE. TOO STUBBORN."
And then an all-too familiar, frightening sound resonated through the room, as if mocking their words in one cruel act.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. . .
The two spun to face the window, eyes wide with horror as they saw the medics scrambling around the room. Their own eyes reflected the terror that ran through Raijin and Fujin's minds, and the two members of the ex-Disciplinary Committee moved together, bracing themselves by holding hands. It was a rare moment indeed. Eyes traveled up to the display monitor that was visible through the window, and Fujin felt her breath catch in her throat. Raijin gripped her hand even tighter as the sight registered in his mind.
Seifer had flat-lined.
"Oh, God, no," must be what all you are thinking. Right? Either that or, "YES, the jerk's dead!!" Then again, if the latter was your thought, then you shouldn't be reading this story. . . Eh, never mind. Tell me what you think! ^_^
Onto Chapter 4
Back to Chapter 2
Back to The Insane