Where am I?
He was standing on cold metal
ground. It was dark, except for a bright light in the center of the room, but
his eyes hadn't yet adjusted.
I've been here before...but where is
here?
Why can't I move?
Why am I naked?
Tied to a pole, that's what he was.
Tied with steel bands if what he felt was any clue. And naked he was, in a
crouching position that better served his modesty, but did not disguise the
fact that he was indeed, naked. His eyes were beginning to adjust.
Who is that? I've never seen him
before.
He was an attractive man, tall and
dark-haired. His eyes burned bright green, almost unearthly, and he stood with
his arms folded staring at...
Squall! Rinoa!
Zell,
They dully returned his gaze and
mouthed words that he couldn't make out. They were also tied up and naked,
secured tightly to poles. But there was a pole to the left of Squall, one that
had no person tied to it. And there was one person missing...
Where's Quistis?
Why are you all looking at me like
that?
The gazes were dull, lifeless,
broken. No one tried to communicate anything anymore,
they just stared at him, through him.
Where's Quistis?
Answer me.
Where's Quistis?!
Where's Quistis?!!
Finally, there was a response. As
one, the group's eyes moved upwards slowly. The light got brighter.
Oh my God.
Quistis
was floating, naked, in the center of the white light. Her blue eyes were wide
open and the pupils were gone. Then the light disappeared, and she fell. Blood
spurted in all directions, and the sound of cracking bone made him wince. He
opened his eyes and barely kept from retching. Large spikes protruded from
almost every inch of Quistis' now dead body. Her blue
eyes were still wide open, staring at him, pleadingly, before the intelligence
in them slowly faded.
QUISTIS!!!!!!!!
He began to scream.
* * *
"Seifer?"
Wide blue eyes. "Seifer!" Full of worry.
"SEIFER!" Pain on the side
of his face.
Seifer
bolted upright, knocking Quistis back a few steps. He
looked at her, incredulously. "Did you just slap me?"
"I'm sorry, I couldn't wake
you," she bit her lip. "Are you okay?"
She was alive. ALIVE! He wanted to
whoop with joy. "Yes, I'm fine." Then what he'd actually seen came
flooding back to him. He jumped up and stared at his bed, breathing hard. The
sheets were twisted all about. "What happened?"
"I don't know. One minute I was
sleeping, the next, you were screaming at the top of your lungs." She
looked over her shoulder at the door. A brow lifted. "Hopefully no one
else heard, though I don't see how that could have happened."
"Um-sorry," Seifer rubbed his head.
"Did Seifer
just apologize?" Quistis gasped
melodramatically. "Oh dear! I don't know if my
heart can take it!" She pretended to faint, falling in a heap on his bed.
Her hair fell over her face, leaving one blue eye visible. He said nothing.
Tilting her head, she sat up and pulled him down next to her. "At the risk
of sounding incredibly cliché, do you want to talk about it?"
"No."
"Why
not?" She drew her legs up beneath her and leaned forward. "Seifer, are you all right? You seem...disturbed."
"I am."
"By a
nightmare?" Quistis put on a phony smile.
She knew how disturbing nightmares could be. "It's only a dream."
"But it wasn't!" Seifer got up and began pacing around the room. "It
was more of a vision. It was...awful."
"A
vision?" The blonde woman bit her lip. "Will you tell me what
happened in it?" Seifer opened his mouth to
speak, but she cut him off. "It's not weak to tell me, Seifer.
I want to know what happened. It's important!"
Seifer
frowned at her, but sat down. "I was tied to a pole, and couldn't get
free. It was a dark room, and everyone was there. They were all tied up, too.
There was this white light, and a man with green eyes
watching us. And then-" Seifer gagged, then slapped a hand over his mouth.
"Then you watched as someone
died horribly," Quistis finished, her eyes
filling with pain, as she bit her lip.
Blue met blue. There was a click,
almost hypnotic. "How did you know?" Seifer
asked, lowering his head close to hers.
"I've been having the same
dream for about two months. It isn't fun, watching those you love die," Quistis didn't move away.
"Squall died in yours?"
The words sounded bitter, even to Seifer.
"Squall?"
Her blue eyes blinked in surprise. "No, I meant everybody. Everybody's
died. Disgustingly." She whispered," Who died in yours?"
"You did."
A choked gasp escaped her lips, and
she pressed a hand against her stomach. "I've never died in mine. I was
always in the middle of a light, floating, watching everyone else die. Of course, they say you can never dream your
own death." Her voice was almost inaudible. "How did I die?"
"You...Quistis,
I can't tell you that!" Seifer shook his head
emphatically. "It was inhuman."
"You never died in mine, Seifer. But you were always there. Across
from everyone, watching."
"I wasn't with them in
mine, either. I was...I don't know," Seifer
jerked his face away from hers. He was
always away from them. He reached for a
lifeline, a change of subject, a dismissal. "It's probably just a
coincidence."
"Seifer...I
guess so," Quistis agreed, her voice full of
disbelief, but accepting the end of the discussion. She stood up and pushed him
back on his bed. "Good-night, Seifer."
"Good-night, Quistis."
* * *
Two days on a boat were not agreeing
with him. Seifer turned green for the fifth time in
the past ten minutes, much to his embarrassment. Thankfully, Quistis said nothing. On the other hand, she hadn't said
much of anything since the night of the dream. They'd each had more nightmares,
but one of them was always aware enough to wake the other. Nothing was said,
they just both returned to bed, though not necessarily sleep.
"Why exactly are we not taking
the train?" Seifer asked, watching as the tracks
stretched on near the boat.
"Something's wrong with the
circuits in Timber," Quistis replied absently.
"Tracks weren't shifting, trains weren't
starting, resulting in a lot of crashes. And it was completely random.
Sometimes, everything was fine, other times, nothing went right. So they shut
the station down. And since all trains from Esthar
and Balamb come from Timber, there were no
trains."
"Stupid rustics.
They couldn't figure out what was wrong?"
"Everytime
they fixed the problem, something else happened. But Timber's main source of
business came from tourists passing through. They should get the trains up and
running soon."
He frowned. That piece of information
bothered him. Seifer glanced at Quistis.
She was leaning forward on the railing, staring vacantly at the ocean, chin
resting in her hands. "You're just a walking talking newspaper."
"Being up-to-date doesn't mean
I'm a newspaper." She didn't look at him, eyes fixated on the water.
"You aren't contemplating
throwing yourself in are you?" Seifer frowned at
her. Quistis stood up and turned to look at him.
"Don't be-"
"-ridiculous," he finished
for her, grinning maddeningly. "Just making sure.
Who would vouch for my job well-done if not my chaperone?" He smirked at
her.
Her eyebrow raised.
"That is only if you do a job well-done."
"What else would you expect
from me?" He bowed mockingly.
She sighed. "Nothing
but the best, Seifer." She resumed her
railing position. "I'll hold you to that, should you attempt to try
anything not involved with the mission."
He winced as the barb hit home.
"Come on, Quistis, I didn't do anything wrong
during the field exam."
"Except leave your post, which
is why your rank isn't as high as it could be." Her head turned to face
him. "Luckily, you redeemed yourself by carrying...oh, what is his
name?" Her hand went to her forehead, as if to make her remember.
"Well, by carrying that one injured cadet. Although if
you hadn't succeeded, you both would have been dead."
"But I knew better than
to die," Seifer bragged, resting his elbows on
the railing as he leaned back against it.
"You should have known better
than to risk it," Quistis shrugged. "But
Cid didn't feel the same way."
"I guess I was lucky you weren't
grading my squad. I would be doing it again, instead of working on a
mission," Seifer grinned maliciously. "You
know how much I loved those exams."
"No, Seifer,
I would have passed you, if only because I hate seeing the same people taking
it so many times."
"Ouch. You're in rare form, Quistis. Something on your mind?"
He caught her surprised glance. "Not that I care."
"Glad to see you haven't
changed, Seifer.
You had me worried," Quistis countered.
"No, nothing is on my mind. Nothing that shouldn't
be." A pointed look. "What about
you?"
"I still haven't died in
mine."
"I haven't in mine."
"What do you think it
means?"
"I honestly don't know."
"This is getting nowhere,"
Seifer groaned. "How long before we reach
Timber?"
"Another two-," she broke
off as she caught his knowing smirk. "I don't know, why don't you ask the
captain?" She signaled the end of the discussion by turning back toward
the ocean.
"Will do," he grinned as
he walked away, grateful that she didn't see him clamp a hand over his mouth as
he turned green again.
Quistis
watched as he left the deck, and bit her lip to keep from smiling. She wasn't
too fond of boats either, but at least she didn't get sick.
The tracks seized her attention. Her
brows furrowed. She hadn't said anything to Seifer,
but the train incidents bothered her. They bothered her a lot. Why would the
entire Timber depot suddenly malfunction? It had been running since...well,
long before she had the GFs to take away her
memories. The equipment was checked regularly, so no failures would occur, because
of the business it brought to Timber. Not to mention, it was the fastest method
of transportation between the continents. Not counting Squall's Ragnarok of course, she smiled to herself. Now that was a
ride.
She pushed back off the railing,
leaving one hand on it, as she looked in the direction of Timber. Well, maybe
they would find out some more details when they asked about Martin Rueday. She had a feeling that the two were linked. That's
ridiculous, she told herself. You don't even know who this man is. How could
you have a feeling that the two are linked when you don't know the specifics
behind either one? On the other hand, Cid hadn't told them the reason to keep
an eye on Rueday, and like-what was it Seifer said-beat dogs, they'd
followed orders without any questions. She hoped this didn't turn out like the
"Forget it," she said to
herself. "You just warned Seifer about the same
thing you're thinking about. Cut it out." Her head lifted and she stared
into burning green eyes. Startled, she took a step back and blinked. There was nothing there.
"Uh...well..." Quistis bit her lip. The same eyes as the
nightmares. She managed a laugh. "Must be my
imagination!" Still unconvinced, she almost dashed back to the
cabin. Was that a warning of some kind? Her blue eyes narrowed. She was never
one to turn down a challenge, and Seifer...She
laughed. Seifer looked for a challenge. Her chin
lifted. They would do their mission as planned. And if anyone got in their way,
they would find out what happened when they messed with an unwilling chaperone.
* * *