Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ As the Paths Diverged ❯ Two for Joy ( Chapter 2 )

As the Paths Diverged

WARNINGS

1) I don't own the Final Fantasy characters, series, or plotline.  I guess I own this, but if you steal it, I probably won't do anything about it.

2) Rated PG-13 for language and violence.

3) Let's place the story about a year after Ultimicia.

Two for Joy

          It had been a long year for Seifer Almasy.  So close, but he could never get what he truly wanted.  They dangled it in front of his face and expected him to be content.  They were doing him a favor and hoped he would be happy.  He'd rather be dead.  Yes, it had been a long year for Seifer Almasy.

          Sure, he had Raijin and Fujin, and fishing was fun, but for a year, Balamb was boring.  Everyone in town knew he was there, but he still had to remain incognito.  The first few days he wore the trench coat, his reception was less than pleasant.  They didn't kill him though, which is more than could be said about other towns.  So in Balamb he remained; biding his time.

          Then they came.  He knew today was the day.  Today was the day they'd let him back in Garden.  So what if he wasn't a SeeD.  He was the Sorceress's Knight.  Doesn't that count for anything?  Of course it did.  If it didn't, why was everyone coming to Balmb today?  Quite obviously, it was a welcoming parade for his return to Garden.  Maybe they forgot to inform him of it.  No, no, it was a surprise.  Seifer always loved surprises.  A heavy rain continued from the night before as Seifer stood by the docks.  Group after group of cadets passed him and filed onto the reserved boats.  To his utmost disappointment, Seifer watched the cadets completely ignore his existence. This may have been due to the fact that he wore a dark hoody.  Seifer was barely recognizable.  It was better that way.

          He knew his old friends recognized him as they passed though.  He saw the fire in Chicken Wuss's eyes.  Selphie looked away intentionally.  They noticed him, but the wounds were apparently still too deep.  But maybe not to Squall.  The brunette looked directly into his eyes as he passed.  Through the stoic mask, Seifer thought he saw a little compassion, but that was stretching it.  Regardless, nobody said anything to Seifer. 

          "730 HOURS," Fujin shouted, sneaking up on Seifer.

          The blonde jumped a bit but quickly regained his composure.  "Can't sleep," he muttered.  Through the down pouring rain, the two watched the last SeeD boat leave the dock.  "They have to come back eventually."

(0000000000)

          Of course Zell saw Almasy.  How could he miss him?  After fighting the Sorceress's knight on several occasions, nobody could forget him.  It stung Zell to see him today though.  Luckily, Ma claimed she had yet to meet him.  Zell assumed he'd been creeping around like a rat, which is exactly the way he wanted it.  Seifer still hadn't repaid his sin to society.  Zell wasn't ever sure if the wounds would heal.  But seeing him today was unnerving to say the least. 

          The rain pattered softly on the deck of the boat as they traveled south.  Zell hated the constant up and down motions of the boat, but it was never seasickness.  Today was especially bad however and Zell did a lot of sitting.  The sea was angry that day, like an old man trying to send back soup at a deli.  The smaller the boat, the worse it was though.  Luckily, there were quite a few glove fighters this year, so they were given one of the medium sized vessels.  After the passage of Fisherman's Horizon, the rain stopped completely.  Zell descended to the cabin below the ship to address his cadets.

          "Morning Cadets," Zell called as he reached the last step.  He landed awkwardly on the edge of it and half fell before regaining his balance on the floor.

          "Good morning Sir," his students responded, unfazed.

          "Lights," the blonde yelled, after regaining his composure.  The entire room went dark and a monitor lit up the right wall.  Zell pulled out a laser and a picture of a diamond shaped structure appeared on the screen.  "This is Centra Ruins," Zell began, pacing about the room.  "It has been noticed that a rebel GF is causing an abnormal amount of damage to its home and surrounding areas."  Our objective will be to subdue the GF and bring it back to Garden for research and possibly junctioning. 

          Zell clicked through a few more pictures of the structure and then called for the lights again.  "You will be broken into groups of three.  There will be one rifle shooter and one swordsman guaranteed, so there's no calls of disadvantage.  Good luck, you'll need it."  With that, the blonde went back up to the deck.  He didn't trip this time.

(0000000000)

          "Ethan Gouldren," he introduced himself, as he tightened his gloves.  The group had finally made it past the sandy beach and walked along Centra's dry, cracked ground.

          "Ash Bender," said a gun slinging woman.  She was about 5'4 but somewhat heavy.  This wasn't helping them speed wise.

          "Ty Deiter," muttered a dark haired man with a generic broadsword.  Previously, Ty had lost his sword for twenty minutes, so their group was a good deal behind the other teams.

          "Great, I'm stuck with a moron and a ham troll," Ethan thought as they trudged forward.  With his failure at the Fire Cavern, this year was looking grim.  "I've go the map, so we basically gotta go northeast."  After their late start, Ethan made sure he had the map.  Obviously competency was lacking in his ragtag group.

          The trio walked silently across the plain for almost a half hour before the structure came into view.  The sharp, dry air stung their skin and the dull sound of the ocean had vanished completely.  All that was left was arid ground.  Finally, the structure loomed before them.  Small flashes appeared all over the structure and it smelled of gunpowder.  They were late.

          "My Blue Heaven," Ty read as they entered the facility.  A sudden scream caused the group to look up.  About thirty feet above, Death, riding a horse, was creating havoc.  They were much too late; the GF was already in battle.

          "Dammit," Ethan said aloud.  He had made one small mistake in the Fire Cavern and was grouped with a bunch of morons.  These circumstances wasted an entire year of work. 

          "Should we go up?" Ash asked, looking to Ethan.

          "I have no clue," Ethan snapped.  "You're the group leader."

          "Oh…well I'm not sure.  What do you think Ty?"

          "Ethan got us here pretty well," Ty said, thinking very hard.  "I differ to him."

          With both his teammates looking to him, Ethan ran his hand through his short brown hair.  "No…no we shouldn't go up.  Let's stay here and have some tea and crumpets.  We can giggle and be merry."

          Both Ty and Ash looked at him inquisitively, not sure whether or not to believe him.  Before Ethan could hit either of them, an eruption of screams was heard above them.  The GF had wiped out an entire group and began to gallop away.  The horse made a giant leap and soared in slow motion over Ethan's head.  The trio dove to the floor as the beast galloped away behind them. 

          "Now we follow it," Ethan ordered, getting up quickly.  He pulled Ty to his feet, and through a group effort, they helped Ash up.

          Waiting patiently on the plains, the GF beckoned to the group.  This was their chance.  Before anyone acted, Ty ran a quick scan.

NAME: Odin

HP:  ???

WEAKNESS: None

DRAW: Stop, Death, Double, Triple

- A legendary GF that sleeps in a dungeon.  Zantetsuken cuts anything that stands in its way.

          "That was helpful," Ethan muttered to himself.  He watched Ash cock her gun and Ty unsheathe his sword.  They spread themselves in a half circle around Odin.  "Here goes nothing."

          The GF seemed weakened.  Odin's horse was trotting with a limp and he had a large cut on his arm.  Regardless of his injuries, Odin took out his sword and pointed it at his challengers.  The opponents glared at each other; daring the other to make the first move. 

          Ash did just that.  The shot was propelled out of her Valiant and the sound resonated across the plain.  Surprisingly it was dead on, and the group anticipated blood.

          With what seemed like a friendly hand gesture, Odin twirled his sword and deflected the bullet.  Deservedly angry, the GF kicked his horse in the side and began to charge.

          Never did such a fear take over Ethan's body.  Ifrit was a bit spooky, but the hell beast didn't have a seven foot sword.  Luckily, he found his legs did not fail him.  Ty was also apparently very good at running.  Ash was not. 

          As soon as Ethan noticed the hooves were not coming for him, he reared around to see Ash in a bad way.  Grimacing, Ethan watched Ash collapse to the floor.  He pushed the thoughts of ripped skin and gushing blood out of his head.  If he couldn't see it, it didn't exist.  Wiping the sweat off of his forehead, Ethan suddenly saw how real the situation was.  The dry air made it hard to breathe and all he could smell was dirt.  Ash was on the ground.  Ty was east.  Ethan was west.  Odin was between them.  Ethan wasn't sure what to do anymore.  His brain told him to keep fighting for the SeeD spot.  His heart told him to run.  It told him to run as far away from that monster as he could possibly get.  Ethan's legs were failing him, as he was torn between charging or retreating.  Suddenly, a calming thought overcame him.  "I'd rather die than spend another summer at Aunt Penny's house."  He repeated this to himself once and then twice.  Ethan's legs stopped twitching and his metal knuckles felt quite heavier.  Retightening his gloves, Ethan started his sprint towards Odin.

          Seeing Odin turn towards the charging Ethan, Ty let out a sigh of relief.  Steadying his nerves, Ty sheathed his sword and ran towards the mountains.  After seeing Ash get gutted like a fish, Ty had made up his mind to "fuck this noise".  He gave Ethan a quick wave over his right shoulder and burst into a full sprint.

          Ethan didn't even see Ty leave.  Instead, he kept his full attention on Odin's seven foot sword.  Other than that sword, the brown haired cadet saw no immediate threats.  As Odin turned towards him, Ethan knew what was coming.  He had seen the same slice come towards Ash.

          In two quick gallops, Odin was inches from his challenger.  With a quick twirl of his wrist, the GF expected to feel his sword pierce the small cadet.  To his utmost disappointment, his sword met no resistance.  After a moment's pause, Odin felt his horse quiver a bit under him.

          Looking down to his knuckles, a wave of panic overtook Ethan.  The metal knuckles had broken like glass in a mirror, and streams of blood were running down his palm.  He had slid under the horse and drove his fist into one of its' rear legs.  It was like punching a steel plate.  The pieces of metal stuck in the horse's leg had not even drawn blood.  Attack phase number one had failed.  As he laid on the cracked ground, a million thoughts ran through Ethan's head.  He could still hear the gunfire and explosions from the ruins.  Why the hell were the cadets still fighting over there?  Hadn't they realized that Odin wasn't there anymore?  The thought of Ash and Ty being the average cadet made Ethan realize maybe they were just that stupid. 

          Odin's horse screeched like a hybrid of a bat and an elephant.  Taking a step backwards, the horse hoped to trample the annoying cadet. 

          The incoming hoof chased all logical thought out of Ethan's head.  Making a quick roll to the left, Ethan felt the ground shake and crack under the weight of the horse.  A cloud of dust rose and covered the cadet.  His sinuses filled with the scent of dirt and his eyes watered heavily.  Ethan slowly found his feet and backed away from Odin.  Luckily, Odin watched him slowly peddle backwards and did not attempt another charge. 

          The loss of blood and pulsing adrenaline caused Ethan to succumb to a wave of dizziness.  He tripped over his own feet several times as he stumbled away from the GF.  Ethan suddenly considered his bravery to be a little foolish.  There was no way he was going to be able to take down the GF alone.  Maybe if he just kept backing away, Odin might find interest in something else - such as a small rabbit or squirrel.  Luckily, this was working for him.  Odin stared at him inquisitively and showed no sign of continuing the fight.  Ethan let out a sigh of relief and wiped off the river of sweat that was running down his forehead.  As he continued his mini-retreat, Ethan suddenly felt his legs get taken out from under him by what felt like a curb. 

          The cadet fell backwards onto his tripper.  Surprisingly, it was squishy and he bounced off of it and fell back to the sandy ground.  Shooting his glance sideways, Ethan recognized the "curb".  His face went white and he felt his breakfast rise from his stomach.  He had just rolled over Ash's bloody corpse.  Looking down at himself, Ethan saw that his hand and his shirt were now covered in her blood.  The vomit rose again; stronger this time.  In a flash Ethan threw off his shirt and began to madly wipe his hand into the desert ground.  With one hand still spewing his own blood and the other covered in Ash's,  Ethan grimaced but held his stomach down. 

          At this point, Odin changed his mind about letting the boy go.  With the cadet obviously horrified about something, Odin began a slow trot towards him.  The two weren't more than ten feet apart, so there was no need for a full gallop. 

          As Ethan saw Odin approach, he felt his own demise coming on.  With a broken right knuckle and nothing to serve as a distraction, the cadet felt screwed.  Then it dawned on him - what he needed was help.  Reaching desperately into his back pocket, Ethan pulled out a phoenix down. 

          Odin was done fooling around.  When he was inches from the boy, he brought his sword into a low sideways slice.  At the very least, he would cut off the cadet's legs.  Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, a glitter of red caught his attention.  Before he could react, the pudgy cadet he had slain earlier shot back to life.  Her gun misfired as she moved into a sitting position.  Odin saw the bullet move in slow motion.  He attempted to get his sword up in self-defense, but it was too late.  At the last second, Odin jerked backwards, almost falling off of his horse.  The bullet nicked the tip of his horn, shattering the sharp point of it. 

          As Odin was busy with Ash, Ethan lunged at the GF.  This was his one and only shot and he prayed it worked.  Moving to the horse's head, Ethan took a swing at it's eye.  Like gripping a handful of glass, Ethan pushed it as far into the tissue as he could.  His hand began twitching as more of his blood ran down his arm. 

          The results were immediate.  Odin's horse whinnied and balanced onto its' hind legs.  Between the bullet and the bucking horse, Odin was holding on for dear life.  He luckily grasped the reigns and kept his balance upon the horse.  While Odin was finding his balance, the horse took on revenge of its own.  In a second's time, the horse wheeled around and connected one of its hooves to Ethan's chest. 

          The air was pushed out of Ethan's lungs and he landed three feet away from Odin.  The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth as he struggled to breathe.  The cadet watched in horror as Odin simply stuck his monstrous sword into Ash and watched her crumple again to the ground.  Ethan was on his own again.  This time, he was in a bad way.  He survived longer than many of the other candidates.  Maybe that would count for something.  He also did a lot of damage to that stupid horse.  Ethan watched it stumble clumsily towards him.  The horse's eye was highly damaged if not blinded all together.  With as much effort as he could muster, Ethan rolled onto his side and turned his back to the GF.  He considered it best not to see the sword go into him.  If he didn't see it, it didn't exist.  It was agony as he listened to the horse slowly approach.  The horse's steps resonated across the silent plain and slowly became louder as they approached Ethan.  He felt a hoof stop right by his head, and he knew that his demise was imminent.  Dust settled in his hair and once again invaded his nose.  Ethan pulled his legs up to his chest and prepared for the pain.  He waited.  And waited.  And waited some more.  It never came.  Then he heard it.

          "Yeah, group 332!" exclaimed a very excited girl.  "We found the GF!"

          Ethan couldn't believe his ears.  It was about fucking time.  Rolling onto his other side, Ethan watched as Odin approached the group of three.  There was no way in hell he was going to let them take his GF.  It was Ethan who had blinded the damn thing, and it would be over his dead body that some bumbling group would put Odin down.  Running on pure adrenaline, Ethan clumsily got to his feet.  He looked more like a nomad than a cadet.  With no shirt and a hand that looked like it was put through a wood chipper, Ethan limped towards Odin from behind.

          Despite having a handicapped horse, Odin continued his old battle tactics.  He deflected two bullets with his sword, and started to approach the nearest attacker.  He brought his sword above his head, but as he lowered it, he met a sudden resistance and missed the cadet.  Shooting his glance to his sword, Odin saw a pair of hands was challenging him for control.  The GF looked behind him to find the one who blinded his horse.

          Ethan hung on with all he was worth.  Luckily, the horse wasn't moving too quickly, and he was able to stabilize himself.  He put his hands above Odin's on the hilt of the sword and tried his best to jerk it away from him.  Needless to say, he was failing quite effectively.  Odin still controlled ninety percent of the sword.  Ethan caught a tough elbow into his already bruised chest.  Struggling to just hang onto the sword, Ethan prayed for a miracle.

          Surprisingly, that miracle came in the form of group 332.  While Odin was distracted with Ethan, the gunman took aim and fired again at Odin.  It connected.

          Right before Ethan was about to fall off, he heard the shot.  Odin's left horn exploded violently.  A wave of pain must have shot through the GF, as Ethan watched Odin lose his grip on the sword.  With one final tug, Ethan ripped the sword out of the monster's hands.  In slow motion, Ethan watched the sword fly out of both of their hands and twirl in the air.  Both Ethan and Odin made a grasp for it.  Hyne was smiling on the cadet that day however.  Odin caught the blade and Ethan caught the hilt.  With his last ounce of strength, Ethan pushed forward and pierced Odin with his own sword.  The sound was deafening.  Both Odin and the horse screeched in as high a pitch as they could muster.  Instead of falling to the ground, the GF disappeared into thin air.  Ethan fell ten feet to the ground and blacked out.  He was still clutching the sword.  

          "Very well.  I will join you."

(0000000000)

          The rain had finally stopped in Balamb, but Seifer didn't take off his hood.  Row after row of SeeD cadets passed him by on their way back to Balamb.  He saw the uneasiness in Chicken Wuss's eyes.  Dincht never liked him much.  But now was the time.  He was sure of it.  Squall was going to ask him to come back to Garden.  Surely someone of his stature, his ability, would not be denied a job in Garden.  He'd file papers.  He'd mop the floors.  Just a tiny job was all he was looking for. 

          But surely today was the day.  That's why Squall was the last one out of the boat.  He wanted to speak to him privately.  That was understandable.  Seifer's heart traveled into his throat as Squall finally passed him.  This was it.  This was the moment he had waited so long for.

          The brunette passed without even looking at him.

          "Another talk wouldn't hurt," Seifer though.  "He'll see my way this time."

(0000000000)