Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Beauty and the beast. ❯ Chapter 7

Chapter 7.

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The tall blonde and his muscled dark skinned friend shuffled through the grass towards Zell's house. A group of Seifer fans were spread out around the house.

"You guys watch in case he makes a run for it." He stood and tried to look menacing. "I'm going in."

The blonde stomped up to the door under the watchful gaze of his fans. He knocked on the door and frowned when Zell's father answered the door.

"Seifer, what do you want?"

"Where is he? Where's Zell? Is he here now? Has he left town?"

"He's not here now and I don't know when he will be back." Laguna moved to close the door but Seifer stopped it with his foot and pushed past him into the house.

"ZELL! Zell, are you home?!" He turned to Laguna. "Where is he?"

"I don't know."

"How can you not know? You're his father, you must know!"

"He went to explore a legend and I don't know when he'll be back."

"What legend?"

"The legend of the evil castle that stands in our woods."

Seifer burst out laughing. "Everyone knows that legend is a load of crap, did you tell him that? I'll just wait for him to come back then it can't take that long."

Suddenly the fans started screaming and running in circles.

"AHHHHHHHHH!!! It's the devil! RUN!!"

"D-Devil?" Laguna shot Seifer a nervous glance.

The blonde rolled his eyes. "Don't listen to those idiots. There's no such thing as a devil." He walked to the doorway. "Raijin! Raijin?"

The dark man ran past the door but Seifer reached out an arm and grabbed him before he could get away.

"What's happening?"

"T-There's a big, black unicorn!"

"What?! Unicorns don't exist!"

"It's EVIL! There's a curse!"

Seifer rolled his eyes and released the quivering man, who instantly curled into a ball on the floor.

A deep booming voice echoed through the house. "LAGUNA!"

The brunette gasped and gingerly stepped out the front door. The unicorn stood on the front lawn. Its eyes were a deep red, it's horn was dark grey and smoke billowed out of its nostrils. It stared straight at Seifer, who lurked in the doorway.

"GET OUT!"

The blonde stood tall and removed his gunblade. "Make me."

The unicorn shot balls of fire at the blonde, they all missed him but his trench coat got set on fire. "Shit!" The blonde quickly stripped off the coat.

"Are you crazy?!"

"LEAVE THIS PLACE!"

"Alright, alright, I'm going."

Laguna stared up at the unicorn. "What do you want from me?"

White smoke and lights shot up from the ground around the beast. Laguna covered his eyes and face.

"It's okay; you don't have to be afraid of me now."

The voice was different; it was no longer deep and booming but quiet, gentle and a little camp. Laguna peeked through his fingers nervously. He blinked in surprise at what he saw. The unicorn had shrunk in size, it about the size of a normal horse, its colour was gleaming white, it had long eyelashes and its eyes were bright blue.

"Sorry about scaring you but I had to get rid of those guys. This is the real me. The other me was just a mask."

"W-What? H-How?"

"I'm Ward; I've come to take you to Zell."

"Zell? Why didn't he come home? Is he alright?"

"He's fine, he lives with us at the castle and you are invited to join him."

"C-Castle? It's true? He's at the castle of evil?"

The unicorn gestured for Laguna to ride him. "I'll explain on the way."

~><~

"I can't wait to meet your dad! Is he cool?" Selphie bounced at Zell's feet.

The little blonde stood leaning on the window ledge waiting for his dad to arrive. "Yeah, I guess he's pretty cool."

Irvine leant in the wall with Edea, Quistis and Kiros.

"So, will this Ward guy bring my dad straight here?"

"Yeah, don't worry. He's a good guy."

Zell shot the candlestick a nervous glance. "He's not a walking cupboard or anything stupid like that is he?"

"No, of course not."

"Oh good, my dad will probably think he's gone mad and he's pretty funny acting already."

"Ward's a talking unicorn."

"WHAT?!"

"In real form he's a 7ft tough guy with an anchor so he wasn't too pleased when he got turned into a white, camp sounding unicorn."

"Look guys no offence but maybe you should all hide until I've had the chance to explain."

"Yeah, okay."

"Sure."

"Whatever."

The little blonde turned to see Squall standing in the shadows. He hadn't heard the beast arrive.

"He definitely can't see you."

The beast shrugged.

They all turned back to the window at the sound of hooves.

"That's Ward. Bye!" Selphie waved to Zell as they all went to hide.

"See ya later!" Zell called to them.

A large white unicorn stood on the drawbridge. Zell stood in the doorway.

"DAD!"

"Zell. Is it true? The unicorn said there was a curse, but he wouldn't tell me went to curse did."

The blonde put an arm around his father and led him inside. "I'll explain later, I'll show you to your room first."

Zell picked up Irvine from the sideboard and led Laguna up the stairs. When they came to a junction in the hallway. Zell mouthed the question to Irvine when his dad wasn't looking.

"Here, you can stay here." The blonde pushed his father into a room. "Why don't you get changed or something."

"But I've got nothing to wear."

Zell glanced at the cupboard. He hoped it wasn't like Fujin. "Check that cupboard over there, the guy who stays here isn't around at the moment."

~><~

Laguna glanced around his room after Zell had left. It was nice if a little strange; it had silver and blue walls. All the furniture matched except a strange looking clock that stood on the chest of drawers. The brunette walked right up to it and looked at the face. Apart from being ten minutes fast, it seemed normal enough. He shook off the weird feeling and removed his shirt, turning his back on the clock.

Kiros opened his eyes and grinned. Being a clock had its advantages. Zell never said his dad was cute.

After Laguna was dressed, his son bounded into the room. "Hey, are you ready to-" He trailed off when he spotted the clock. "Has that been there the whole time?"

"Yes, why?"

Zell glared at the clock as he picked it up. "Wait there for a moment." He left with the clock. "What the HELL do you think you're doing?!"

"What? It's my room, aren't I allowed to sit in my own room now?"

"You were spying on my dad!"

"Spying is such a strong word."

"I thought you were the sensible one!"

"I am!"

They both turned at the same time to see Laguna gaping at them. "H-H-H-How?!"

"That's what I said at first. You see the thing is...."

~><~

Zell explained but I'm too lazy to write the whole curse thing again.