Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Hidden Pasts ❯ New Friends ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter Two

Seifer Almasy yawned and looked up at the night sky. The stars twinkled in their eternal hold. Something was different, something had begun, and Seifer could feel it.

Turning to his posse Raijin and Fujin, he smiled. How loyal they had been when he had been "possessed" by Ultimecia. Now he could see why they had asked for the old Seifer back at Lunatic Pandora. His dreams had been warped by her evil. Although he would never tell them, he owed them everything.

"Seifer, lets just rest a while. I mean we have been walking all day, ya know, and it is gettin' dark," Raijin moaned, but beside him Fujin plodded on silently. Seifer could always count on her; she would do anything for him, without question.

Scanning the horizon, Seifer muttered, "Just a little further."

*****

"So, where's our destination," asked Zell form the pilot's chair of the Ragnarok. "Deling city," it says here that they sometimes stay at the hotel there," replied Squall from behind him.

Squall was looking at the pictures in the file. There were only two. The first was of a Chinese girl, the same age as Quistis. Her jet-black hair was long, but it was tied back. As the file said, her name was Ling. She was standing in a street in Dollet and she was looking at an alleyway. Her clothes were all black and in her hand she held a crossbow, like Rinoa's, but it was different.

The second picture was of a boy. Apparently he was called Drew and he was sixteen. He was posing for a photograph at…Balamb Garden. Squall couldn't believe it, and he looked harder to make sure. Yes, it was definitely Garden. That was how the Quad looked.

He passed the photo over to Quistis. She looked at it and then back at Squall, surprised. "How…?"

Squall just shrugged his shoulders.

*****

Touching down outside the Galbadian capital, the team walked into the city. Ever since Ultimecia had been defeated both Galbadia and Esthar had decided to try and work out their differences. It would take time, but they might get there eventually.

*****

Because they had just missed the bus, they all decided that they would just walk to the hotel. It was the hotel that Squall had gone to when "Sis" had sent him to his father, Laguna's past.

Walking past a shop, a door flew open and a woman came flying out crashing straight into Irvine. "They just keep falling over themselves to be with me," exclaimed Irvine.

He then helped the young woman. "If you were that keen you could have just said." Selphie punched him smartly on the arm. "Owwwwwww," he cried. The woman just pulled a face.

When Squall saw the woman as she dusted herself, he just stared shocked. Rinoa had to prod him to wake him up. "Are you by any chance Ling?" he asked. "Yeah. Why? Who are you?"

"We're SeeD's. My name is Squall Leonhart and we've been instructed to find a friend of yours, Andria Perne."

"Why do you wanna find her?"

Butting in, Irvine said, "I'm free now if you want to go out…" He never finished as a kick from Selphie shut him up.

Ignoring Irvine and Selphie, Squall continued, "It's about a murder in our Garden, and we were told that she could help us."

"I take it Edea sent you," sighed Ling, "we have problems of our own right now. I don't think she can help you."

"Please," asked Selphie, "he was my friend."

"Okay, but don't blame me if she tells you to get lost."

*****

Walking down the steps of the Galbadian Hotel, the guy looked around. He was about 19 with hazel eyes that used to bounce with energy, but with all that he had seen they quickly lost their sparkle. His hair had also once been completely black, but that was also changing to a grey. Most people thought he had an odd appearance for a teenager, but most people hadn't gone through what he had.

He went and sat down next to a girl. Around her neck was a small pendant with a right way up pentagram. Her hair went just below her shoulder line and it hung loosely around her shoulders and curled inwards at the bottom. She wore boots with a short heel, tight black trousers which showed long, thin legs, a white top and a long, black coat. She turned and smiled when he sat down.

"Hi Vincent. So…what's to report?"

"Sia and Drew will meet us a Timber. It was where we were going next wasn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Right they'll meet us there. Oh, and Cid called the Hotel to see if we were here."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, well they've had some trouble at the Garden, seems one of their people were killed in strange circumstances, so they've sent some SeeD's to try and find us."

"Oh God! Cid knows how busy we are. He shouldn't have wasted his time." Andria sighed, "I suppose we'll just have to stay lost."

"Andria, do you really think…" Vincent seemed unsure about hiding from SeeD.

"Unmovable," Andria said quickly.

Looking at her, Vincent didn't know what to do with her. He loved her and he was certain she knew. Well she was a witch and they'd known each other since they were eight, which is why he knew that she would never be his. Her heart belonged to another.

"Go find Ling," she said finally, "we're leaving now." Vincent got up to leave, then turned back to her.

"She's found us."

Looking up Andria saw the SeeD's.

*****

Andria quickly caught Vincent's arm and dragged him behind the bar. As the bartender knew her he didn't ask questions.

"So where is she," asked Zell.

"I'll go ask reception if she's left," replied Ling.

At that point Irvine came in with his remarks as if on que,

"While you're there maybe you can get us a room together."

Ling gave him a nasty look and walked away. From behind the bar, the bartender showed Andria and Vincent out another way. Andria was furious, but not at Ling, she wasn't to know what the SeeD's wanted. There was a familiar presence when they walked down the stairs. She wished she had gotten a good look at their faces. As she knew some people in SeeD, she might have recognised them.

"Look I am really, really sorry Andria. I didn't know you didn't want to speak to them," apologised Ling.

"It's okay, I understand, you weren't to know. Come on, let's get out of here."

As they started off to the train station, a gang of monsters set them upon.

*****

"What was that?"

Rinoa heard the scream first.

"Let's go," said Squall. The SeeD's pounded up the stairs and out the door, but what they saw was unbelievable.

Three teenagers were fighting some monster, but they looked different from any monsters that the SeeD's had ever seen before. Their faces were grotesque looking. The girl Ling was fighting one, as was a boy. Another girl was nearby battling three of them.

*****

The vampires were strong, Andria knew that, but they were no match for her. The first vampire she side kicked in the face. He went down. For the second one an inner crescent and a jump kick in the jaw brought her to her knees. She then stabbed him with the dagger in her hand.

The third one tried a different approach. He jumped over her head and quickly turn kicked her in the back before she could turn round. Andria hit the railings and hung on to them. When he rushed at her again, she used the railings to balance her and she then leaned on her back and brought her feet up right into the vampires jaw. She grabbed her dagger and slayed him straight away.

As Ling and Vincent killed their last one, Andria and Ling hi fived. Andria then turned round and looked into faces she hadn't seen in a long time.

Author's Note

A bit of useless info: Ragnarok is the Norse word for Armageddon. Just thought you'd like to know.

Also I am sick of people mixing up witches with sorceresses. In FFVIII sorceresses were never called witches. So I have both witches and sorceress in my story.