Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ As the Paths Diverged ❯ Six for Gold ( Chapter 6 )

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.

Six for Gold

          Seifer Almasy wasn't sure if they were going to shoot at him.  He wouldn't have been surprised in fact.  He had been partially blamed for blowing up this fine little foundation.  Actually he had been fully blamed, but that was irrelevant.  What did matter, was Seifer knew that it was against the customs of Trabia to turn any peaceful refugee away.  This was mostly due to the year-round, harsh, winter conditions which Trabia Garden suffered.  It was also a bitch for students to go for a stroll on a Friday morning, only to find themselves tripping left and right over frozen corpses.  Therefore, Trabia Garden found it better to grant refuge to meager travelers.  According to precedent, Garden would grant up to two months refuge to any wandering person.  This is what Seifer was banking on.  Putting on a smile, Seifer approached the entrance to Trabia Garden. 

          A new door had been installed into Garden, but it was still malfunctional.  A malfunctioning door still trumped having to climb over the wall.  Regardless, Seifer approached the door with a heavy sense of uneasiness.  The tall blonde pushed a small patch of snow off of his jacket and began to knock.  As expected, he didn't receive a warm welcome.  They quite obviously were expecting him.

          On top of Trabia Garden's wall, four riflemen appeared and took aim at Seifer, Raijin, and Fujin.  They all looked similar, as their heavy parkas covered most of their bodies.  The arctic wind failed to pierce their coats and they took aim without hesitance.  "You are not welcome here Seifer," one of them called.  "Return from whence you came."

          Seifer had been in this situation too many times before.  He snickered to himself and looked up happily to his aggressors.  Wrapping his hand around Hyperion, Seifer contemplated putting them in their place.  It took every ounce of his strength not to attack them.  Who were they to deny him access to anything?  Didn't they know who he was?  Didn't the Sorceress's Knight strike fear into the heart of the commoners anymore?  He was righteous.  They weren't better.  No he could rip them all.  He could tear and shred them.    

          "We mean it," another rifleman called.  "Take the boat back to Balamb.  We'll never let you in here without a fight."

          Seifer snarled and glared at his opponents.  If a fight is what they wanted, a fight they would get.  The tall blonde began to unsheathe Hyperion.

          "We fight ya?" Raijin asked as he awkwardly approached Seifer.

          Seifer looked to the riflemen and then to Raijin and Fujin.  They would easily be victorious.  It would be simple to storm Trabia Garden.  Hell, they could even give all the SeeDs in Garden a run for their money.  However, a quiet thought suddenly crossed Seifer's often dense mind.  Taking Garden by force would never work.  "No.  Sheathe your weapons."

          "But Seif…" Raijin protested.

          The tall blonde pushed him backwards and stared up to the riflemen.  Brute force had been his downfall before.  If Seifer learned anything from being the Sorceress's Knight, it was that cunning is just as important as strength.  No, he could never conquer Trabia and expect them to accept him as their leader.  He would have to move in slowly and infect their Garden.  Like a disease, he would have to spread himself across the school and contaminate the students' hearts.  It was a slow, tedious process, but Seifer set his mind to it. 

          "We come for immunity," Seifer called to the riflemen.  "Trabia Garden will grant refuge to any person who calls for immunity."

          "Garden does not protect armed criminals," one of the riflemen spat.  "Garden will not give shelter to you Seifer."

          Unsheathing Hyperion, Seifer threw it five feet away from him.  Looking to their leader, both Raijin and Fujin also discarded their weapons.  "We're unarmed and call for immunity," Seifer smiled, placing his hand on the metal door.  "Are you going to let peaceful refugees freeze in the snow?"

          A long silence passed as the riflemen slowly lowered their guns.  After a few minutes of glaring between the two parties, a long dark haired man climbed to the top of the wall with the riflemen.  "Let them in," Alexi growled, looking directly at the tall blonde.  "Send them to my office."

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          "Is he junctioned?"

          "No."

          "Is he armed?"

          "No."

          "You have the emergency plan in place?"

          "Zell is in position," Quistis nodded as she looked at the sleeping Ethan on her computer screen.

          "Let's have at it then," Squall muttered, pulling up a chair.

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          Ethan slept well in his new room.  With no windows, the pitch blackness let him snooze well into the afternoon.  Today would not grant him these pleasures.  With a 'thump', the overhead neon lights cast blinding white light throughout the room.  Needless to say, Ethan didn't snooze for much longer.  As the cadet wiped the sleep from his eyes, he heard a merry little cry come out of the ventilation duct.  "At least it was happy," Ethan thought to himself.

          At first, Ethan thought he just imagined it.  Still, a small seed of fear had been planted in his heart.  Ethan decided it was in his best interest to leave the room and join the company of other people.  As he reached the door, another merry cry, louder this time, resonated throughout the room.  He knew he heard it this time.  The cry sounded very familiar; causing Ethan to freeze in his place.  He cautiously reached for the knob and turned.  Shockingly, the door was locked.  Ethan didn't even know the door had a lock. 

          "Hello?" Ethan called, knocking lightly on the door.  His room was in a desolate dorm hallway and it was unlikely that anybody would be around.  Still, he thought it best to give it a shot.  "Who locked the door?"  Ethan heard one more cry and then the vent burst off of its' screws.  Before him stood a ten inch tall Cactuar.  Its' hip and creative dancing failed to faze Ethan.

          "Open the fucking door!" the brunette yelled, as he pounded his fist onto the steel.  He was done screwing around.  This door needed to be open now.  "Monster!  Short, sharp monster is on the loose!"

          On the other side of the door, Zell snickered to himself.  He knew that this wasn't going to end well.  He knew that Ethan would most likely end up in the infirmary.  There wasn't too much humor to be found in this situation, but Zell invariably always found some.  Just the whole visual of the cactuar dancing around the room tickled his fancy.  The blonde found cactuars humorous in general.  So as Zell laughed to himself, he kept his ear to the door and prepared himself to run in if things became too ugly.

          Seeing his efforts were in vain, Ethan regained his composure and turned to the dancing, green Cactuar. Maybe this wasn't as bad as he thought.  The so called monster appeared to be quite jovial.  By Ethan's standards, the Cactuar seemed to be enjoying himself, which is all he could ask for. 

          "Cactuar!" the monster cried as he alternated lifting his left arm and right leg.  He then sexily danced over to Ethan's bed and did a little jig there.  New places were always fun for Cactuars.  Actually old places were pretty fun too.  Like other Cactuars, this one had a good time, all the time.

          The cadet became mesmerized, as the Cactuar shed needles onto his bed.  The fear drained out of Ethan's system as the seemingly harmless monster hopped off the bed and meandered across the room.  According to his logic, the Cactuar was basically harmless.  How could such a small, joyful individual bring him harm?  Now Odin, that man had some attitude and a sword.  But this little guy….well he couldn't be more dangerous than a pincushion.  Ethan's logic was wrong.  Do not follow his logic. 

          "Whoa, whoa, whoa, where's the party buddy?" Ethan asked, approaching his dancing visitor.  He had abandoned all of his inhibitions and contemplated petting the small creature.  After seeing the two inch long needles on its' head, Ethan decided against it.

          Surprisingly, the Cactuar did not return Ethan's feelings of love.  Frankly, he didn't like the kid.  The cadet was much too tall.  Yes that was it.  Ethan was much too tall to dance with Cactuar.  Therefore, the green dancing machine contracted its' body and spewed its' needles across Ethan's face.  The Cactuar believed that would send a clear message on where their friendship stood. 

          Ethan thought he died.  If he did, he was surprised that it wasn't painful at all.  Those needles must have been highly poisonous or something.  Strangely, heaven clouded up quickly and a cold rain began to fall.  Ethan took this as a good sign, as he didn't expect it to ever rain in hell.  Just the whole cold water and fire and brimstone thing seemed oxymoronic.  Then Ethan noticed that he wasn't in heaven after all.  He was still in that blasted room.  Dammit he hated that room.  Suddenly there was a sound that brought a shiver down his spine.  Odin's horse neighed defiantly as the GF appeared.

          "He feeds off of emotions, so Odin will be summoned when you have a strong feeling of hatred, pain, or fear," Zell's voice echoed inside Ethan's head.  "His attack will invariably kill your opponent with no hope of resuscitation."

          With two quick trots, Odin unsheathed his sword.  The dark rain clouds blocked out the bright neon lights and puddles were beginning to form on the floor.  As Odin glared down the Cactuar, it stopped dancing. 

          Unlike Ethan, Odin successfully struck fear into the tiny Cactuar.  This may be due to the fact that Ethan lacked a horse and an eight foot sword.  Regardless, the cactuar decided to act quickly.  Contracting its' small frame, needles again were dispelled from the Cactuar's body. 

          Odin was unfazed.  He swung his sword in front of his hose and deflected most, if not all, of the needles.  Odin paused for a few moments as if to show the cactuar that it was going to be slaughtered very shortly.  Kicking his horse in the side, Odin charged at the small monster.  With a few quick slices, the Cactuar was torn from limb to limb. 

          As if it were a dream, Ethan found himself back on the floor of his room.  The rain clouds and Odin had disappeared and the room was deafly silent.  Then the pain began.  Every single needle in his face sent his nerves into a frenzy.  He brought his hands up to take them out, but the needles just stuck into them.  An almost appetizing aroma of sliced Cactuar hung in the air while blood ran down Ethan's face and palms.  He wished he was dead. 

(0000000000)

          "I have recovered your boat," Alexi smiled, offering a seat to Seifer, Raijin, and Fujin.  He closed his blinds quickly, as a small mob was beginning to form in the lobby below his office.  Alexi knew very well that this plan could backfire.  If he could get Seifer to leave the Garden quickly, he would be donned a hero.  If they caused a ruckus here, he was the one who let them in.  Alexi was determined to act quickly.  "Trabia Garden will even offer you a better vessel for the return trip if your current one is undesirable."

          Seifer watched the smile fade from Alexi's face as a long silence covered the room.  They had no intention of leaving anytime soon.  Seifer quite liked it here.  Trabia was no Balamb Garden, but it was as close as he was going to get.  The tall blonde would go as far as to say that he liked this very office.  The spacious room had plush chairs, white carpet, and an angelic mural on the ceiling. 

          This contrasted greatly from Squall's dark office, which Seifer saw a lot of upon his capture from Lunatic Pandora.  Those were some of the worst days of his life.  Even worse than being defeated emotionally, he was forced to withstand an emotional attack.  Like an unwanted animal, Seifer was smuggled into Balamb Garden in the dead of night and tied up in Squall's dark office.  Zell, Quistis, Selphie, and Irvine were all there and looking repulsed by him.  Worst of all, Rinoa would barely look at him, more or less talk to him.  So after Squall made many phone calls to Balamb leaders, the town agreed to not lynch Seifer.  With this guarantee, Seifer was kicked out of Garden and told to never return.  He would be back in Balamb Garden soon though.  Everything had been set in motion. 

          "So with full food accommodations and a 2500 Gil donation from us, you should be back to living comfortably in Balamb," Alexi concluded, breaking Seifer away from nostalgia.  "I don't want to rush you, but how would you feel about departing tomorrow morning?"

          A cold silence flooded the room and only the strong wind could be heard whistling outside.  Slowly, Seifer focused his gaze on Alexi.  "We're no longer welcome in the town of Balamb," the large blonde snarled.  "We have two months refuge, and we plan to take full advantage of that."

          Alexi's face went pale.  He likely couldn't kick Seifer out of Garden without a fight.  Bloodshed was the last thing he needed.  But by doing nothing, his own students would soon behead him and he'd be exiled from his home.  Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Alexi's mind raced.  "I'm sure after a few phone calls, Balamb will reconsider…"

          "I seriously doubt that," Seifer snickered, leaning forward in his chair.  "I assure you, Sir, in two months; we'll be out of your hair.

          "You're nothing but vermin!" Alexi suddenly exploded.  He slammed his fist down on the desk to emphasize the point.  "I will have you out of here in two weeks!"

          "Where's our dorm?" Seifer asked, smiling from ear to ear. 

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