Succession of Witches

Chapter Two-Martial Law

"Kramer got word from Martine today," Seifer said as he entered the room, closing the door silently behind him.

I looked up from the book I had been reading (another version of the history of the Sorceress and her Knight) and watched mutely as Seifer crossed our small living room to come and stand in front of me. I didn't have to say anything, I knew by now that Seifer would relate this new information without any prodding from me.

"Martine wants you in Galbadia. Kramer wouldn't tell me why, though," Seifer sighed, dropping down on the cushion next to me. "I presume he's jealous of all the attention you're giving Balamb."

"Balamb is my home," I said simply, looking back down at my book. I stared at the page until the type blurred together, making reading impossible.

Seifer snorted, resting his head on the back of the couch and looking up at the ceiling. "Martine doesn't give a fuck. He probably just wants you to parade around his precious Garden, smiling and waving and drawing a crowd."

I grit my teeth; I hated politics. "I'm not going," I told Seifer simply, knowing that, once again, I had no choice in the matter. If Cid wanted me to go to Galbadia, then I was going to Galbadia.

Unfortunately, Seifer had been my Knight long enough to know this as well. "We won't have to stay there long," he said in a softer tone of voice. We had been through this dozens of times before: I'd refuse an order (only within earshot of my loyal Knight, of course) and he'd do his best to warm me up to the idea, if only so I wouldn't bitch the whole trip.

I shook my head, still refusing to look at him.

"Have you ever been to Galbadia?"

"Yes," I said through gritted teeth. (A good bit of my training to become a Sorceress had taken place in Martine's Garden.) "I hate the place."

Seifer shifted and the couch squeaked in protest. "I haven't been," he said, "I've never even left Balamb."

Oh, I hated it when he did this to me. "Fine then," I snapped, springing to my feet. "You go!" I was stomping into my room before he could say anything else, slamming the door behind me.

~~~

"Squall," I whined, dragging my feet, "Let's stop. Please, Squall? We haven't rested since we fought that damn…thing."

"Balamb's just up ahead," Squall replied simply, his voice slightly hinting at irritation.

Selphie scooted up next to me, hugging my right arm. "Yeah, Squall," she said, weariness dragging her voice down a pitch. "Diablos was almost too much for us; Zell and I are about to drop." She had pulled us both to a stop and was rubbing her face against the sleeve of my jacket. I had the urge to pat her head. "And you junctioned him," she added pointedly, "Surely you're just as tired as we are?"

"We can rest on the train," Squall said and continued walking, never once glancing back at us.

I looked down at Selphie and she looked up at me. She sighed, pressing her face into my jacket sleeve one more time before letting go and striding forward. I watched her for a few moments, having to stifle a laugh at the way she mimicked Squall's walk, looking back at me to see if I had noticed. I grinned at her, saluted, and jogged up to join them.

Balamb was as peaceful as ever; everyone stopped to say hello as soon as they caught sight of me. It was kind of nice, really, to be surrounded by a group of people that were so amiable; to be welcomed for once, instead of shunned. That was why I liked Selphie; by nature, she was a kind person, welcoming of almost-anyone. She had even tried to be nice to Seifer.

Squall, on the other hand…

"Zell!" the old druggie outside the repair shop waved me over. Selphie followed eagerly, giggling into her hands, while Squall strolled over to the drawpoint across from us.

"Yeah?" I asked warily; the guy was harmless, but he had a tendency to ask some pretty…eh…strange questions. I guess I was just lucky this time.

"Why don't you go'n say hi to yer mom?"

Oh, yeah…My mom…

"Sure," I agreed, dragging Selphie away and waving half-heartedly. The skinny brunette called out an enthusiastic goodbye that brought a smile to the man's face. Squall followed along behind us, obviously upset that even more of his time was going to be wasted on Zell's hick friends. The jerk.

"Which one is your house, Zell?" Selphie asked excitedly, grasping my left hand in both of hers and hopping up and down. Her hair bobbed comically.

"That one," I smiled, pointing, my irritation at Squall momentarily forgotten.

Selphie giggled and pulled me forward. Squall followed silently behind.

"Hi, Ma! I'm home!" I called as I entered, automatically spotting my mother at her post in our small kitchen.

"Zell?" she queried, turning and wiping her hands on her apron. "Is that you?" she smiled as soon as she caught sight of us.

"Yeah…Uh, Ma, these are my…erm…friends," I wasn't sure how Squall'd take that one; I knew Selphie'd be delighted. "This is Selphie," the happy girl in yellow extended her hand, smiling widely. "And this is Squall," our party leader just nodded, looking away almost immediately.

"It's nice to meet you," Selphie said to my mom, still shaking her hand.

"And you too, dear," my mom replied, not seeming to mind that Selphie was unwilling to release her hand. Eventually, though, Selphie did, and instantly demanded to see my room.

"No," I said outright, "It's sacred, y'know? I don't let anyone in my room," I looked pointedly at my mom, but she just laughed.

"Oh, you three get along now," she said, ushering us out the door. "I'm sure you have more important things to do than hang out with an old woman like me. Now scoot, scoot," and she made little scooting motions with her hands.

Squall was out the door before either me or Selphie, and thus missed the bear hug my mother tried to suffocate me with. On the short stroll to the trains, Selphie couldn't stop telling me how cute it was.

This was gonna be a long trip.

~~~

"Martine promises you won't have to be there long," Seifer reminded me, stuffing another pair of boxers into my suitcase. The only way to get me packed was for him to do it himself. I was adamantly refusing to assist in anything relating to my transportation to Galbadia. I was just lucky he was in a good mood and hadn't thrown anything at me yet. The last thing I needed was a pair of boxers in my face, smearing my makeup. Ack, makeup. Ileesa and Edea had had fun dressing me up again. This time, they had settled on a dress that was far tighter than the first and I had had the hardest time figuring out how to walk in it. Seifer had laughed his frickin' head off.

"All you have to do," Seifer continued, oblivious to the scowl I was directing at him, "is check out this magical…whatever it is…follow Edea's orders and come home. It doesn't sound so bad to me."

"That's because you don't have to worry about screwing up," I whined, tugging at a sleeve.

Seifer chuckled. "You'll do fine. You handled the situation in Balamb well enough."

"That was different. In Balamb, all I had to do was subdue a rampaging swarm of Bite Bugs; and you did most of the work!"

Seifer shrugged. "Have a little faith in yourself; I know you'll do okay."

I felt a blush fighting to stain my cheeks. I looked up at my Knight; he had stopped, right in the middle of folding a night-shirt, and was looking at me with the strangest expression on his face. It was almost…calculating…but a lot softer. Caring, maybe? Was that the word I was looking for?

Nah.

Seifer grinned suddenly, tossing my shirt carelessly into the suitcase, and strolled forward. I narrowed my eyes and watched him warily. What was he up to?

I found out that answer soon enough.

Seifer pounced, grabbing my wrists and pinning me to the bed. I yelped in surprise and tried to fight him off. "If you're not careful," my Knight warned, laughing, "You'll mess up your hair."

"That's not fair," I pouted, but stopped struggling, I felt the blush threatening to surface again.

Seifer just grinned his idiotic grin, watching me scant moments before saying, "You'll do fine, Zell; I won't let anything bad happen." And then, much to my horror-delight?-my Knight leaned down and kissed me lightly on the nose. Then, just as quickly, he had released me and was back to packing. I lay stunned on the bed, blinking up at ceiling stupidly, until Seifer chuckled and threw a pair of boxers at me.

~~~

A few trippy dreams and Selphie sing-a-longs later, we arrived in Timber, located Watts, and found ourselves in the middle of one crap-tastic plan. Thank you, Cid, for loaning us out to a bunch of terrorists who hadn't the foggiest idea what they were doing. Some headmaster you are. Tch.

I glared at the toy model of Deling's train for the last time. I was with Selphie, we should just blow the thing to smithereens and be done with it. But no, the Forest Owls' "princess" wanted to kidnap the president. Okay, big "What the Fuck?" sign there. You can't just kidnap a president; that's the kind of shit that starts wars. I hated that Squall was going along with it, that because of Cid's freakishly vague orders we had to go along with it.

I was pissed, and I had to be nice, because these people were paying us. Oh yeah, "The customer is always right."

What a load of…

"Zell." What was that? Was Squall actually addressing me? And here I was, under the impression that he'd rather eat himself alive than have to converse with me for over five seconds. Wow. Now I felt special. Tch.

Yeah, I know, I'm a bitter little bastard.

"Yeah?" I turned around to face him. He looked grumpy (good for him). Was it time to go, already?

"We're heading out; make sure your GFs are junctioned."

"Okay, sure," and I did just that.

~~~

Ahh, Galbadia, how I loathe thee… We had been here merely three hours and already I was sick of the place. And because I disliked the place so intensely, Seifer figured that, as my Knight, it was his job to dislike it just as much. He had taken to glaring at anyone who looked like they were approaching me for a chat, and that had changed their minds quick enough. I had never been so grateful to anyone in my life.

Finally, after a brief conversation with Martine, Seifer and I had been shown to my quarters, and I had locked the door as quickly as possible, pulling an over-stuffed armchair into a corner and curling up in it. I watched silently as Seifer unpacked our things, wondering if it'd be okay for me to change now; I had already done my "wave and smile at the public" bit and I was ready for a nap.

I decided at last that I didn't care if I got in trouble or not, that I had to get out of this dress. So I pulled some shorts and a T-shirt from the suitcase Seifer was unpacking and went to the bathroom to change.

Of course, I quickly came to an impasse.

"Seifer?"

He was there instantly, scouring the room for threats.

"Uh," I blushed quite an interesting shade of red. "I can't get my dress off…"

From the mirror, I could tell he was trying not to laugh, but he was failing miserably, and his smothered mirth ended up slipping out as a series of snorts, which, of course, caused me to laugh at him. "I should have brought Ileesa with me, after all," I said, grinning at my Knight in the glass.

"Ahh, I can handle it," but he didn't look so sure. His fingers hovered uncertainly over my shoulders as he tried to sight the device that was holding my dress together.

"There's a little…clip…thing," and I tried to point out where it was.

"Okay, okay, I see it," and his brows furrowed in concentration as he fiddled with one clip after another. It took him awhile, but eventually Seifer became quite skilled at unclipping my dress. Finally, he had reached the last clip, located (get this) right above my ass. I couldn't tell who was more uncomfortable, me or him, but I had to go and think about the kiss (however innocent) before we left and then I was blushing even more.

"Do you need any help with your hair?" Seifer asked, refusing to move his eyes from my back. (Was he looking at my ass? What a pervert…)

"I probably will," I told him truthfully, "But I'll just get you to help me after I change."

Seifer nodded and, after one final glance at my ass (Pervert, pervert, pervert!) started for the door.

"Uhm, thanks," I called after him, already reaching for my T-shirt.

"Welcome."

I was out of my dress and into those shorts and T-shirt in no time flat. The change from confined to comfortable was most welcome, and I was smiling happily as I emerged from the bathroom, dropping my dress in a pile on the bed.

It was also wonderful to be free of the layers of makeup Ileesa had painted on me before I left. I patted my cheeks happily and sat down on the bed next to Seifer, who had located my Sorceress history book and was flipping through the pages. "You can help me with my hair now," I told him cheerily, my mood having turned a 180 since I changed my clothes. Ahh, freedom…

Seifer grunted and set the book aside, scooting over to sit cross-legged behind me. "How?" he asked, his voice holding the most confused tone.

"I don't know how Edea does it, she just does. Just…Fiddle with it…"

Seifer grunted again and set to work, first extracting the combs and some of the bigger ornaments and setting them in a little pile beside us. "How do you put up with this?" he grumbled, currently baffled over a string of beads he was trying to remove.

"It's my job," I told him, a bit of my good mood slipping away, "I do what they tell me."

"But you're a Sorceress," he pointed out, succeeding in removing the beads, "Shouldn't you get to do what you want?"

"No. If I started being too independent, they'd start fearing my powers, and they'd try even harder to keep me in line. I'd rather be a doll than an implement of fear."

And then, Seifer did something so surprising, so unexpected, that I found myself enjoying it. He leaned against me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"It's not your fault," but I had the sudden urge to cry, to turn around and bury my face against his chest and just sob until nothing mattered anymore. Yeah, I hated what I was, what I had to be to keep everyone happy; but there was nothing I could do about it. And Seifer must have realized that, be it by the tone of my voice or what-have-you, and that sudden, unexpected, understanding caught me off-guard.

"I'm glad you're my Knight," I told him, and he squeezed me tighter, planting a soft kiss on my cheek.

"Me too."

~~~

Needless to say, Rinoa's happy little kidnapping plan was a failure. But there's no need to worry! Cause now she's thought of something even better! Oh yeah, just feel the sarcasm; it's rolling off me in waves.

The leader of the Forest Owls had just been struck by the wonderful idea of declaring Timber's independence on LIVE TV! Oh my goodness, the excitement was uncontrollable. Tch. How did Rinoa think this was going to help? Timber was still occupied by Galbadia's soldiers. We were gonna get arrested as soon as we stepped in front of that camera. I'm sorry to sound so caustic, but little Miss Princess needed to become reacquainted with Mr. Reality.

The only highlight to the entire day had been when Squall bitched at her. Hee. How funny, in a mean-spirited sort of way. The girl had gone running off, nearly knocking Selphie off the stairs in the process of getting away. The skinny little SeeD in yellow had shook her fist menacingly after Rinoa as she'd passed. Oh, it was grand. Selphie couldn't look threatening to save her life. But I appreciated her sentiment, at any rate.

And now where were we? Standing stupidly around while a Sorceress sat, happy-as-a-clam, next to a man we had tried to kidnap merely hours previous. Galbadia's ambassador? What kind of shit was that? Not the kind I wanted to get stuck knee-deep in, obviously.

But guess what? We were about to trip and land face-first in this steaming pile of Sorceress excrement.

"Timber Team!" yelled the flickering TV screen above our heads. "Get in here now; we need your help!"

Ah yes, shit.

And so we were off, fighting our way into the TV station, only to find that (gasp) Seifer had taken the president captive. Quistis was there, doing her best to calm him down and get him to move the edge of his gunblade just a wee bit away from Deling's neck. But Seifer, being the complete ass that he is, obstinately refused. Okay, wrong move, buddy.

Then, I opened my big mouth, and royally screwed us over.

Go me!