Hey! I Could Be A Messenger From Hyne, Ya Know!- A Misadventurous Romance Story

Chapter Fifteen-A Deal With The Devil - Or Worse, Doctor Odine!(Tilmitt)

ANBelting 'em out, I am! I truly hope that my speed with these isn't affecting the quality of this story. . I'm not sure how many more chapters there'll be, to be honest. I sort of want to end this soon, but I did have a couple more plot arcs I wanted to put in, so you might have to bear with me. Sorry! This chapter is again dedicated to PinkStarz(what a review whore!), but also to all of those fans who stuck with me through thick and thin while I took my sweet time delivering to them SeiferXSelphie goodness!

tiger

I blinked in total confusion at Seifer, wondering if he'd finally snapped. He'd been acting all strange and schizophrenic ever since we got out of the missile base, looking down at his hands every now and then and sometimes even punching himself in the side of the head. Maybe it was his way of disguising his relief at being alive or something.

Not only that...but he'd called me Sefie.

Which, up until now, I thought I'd only wanted to be called by Irvine. It was a shock, to hear that name come from someone else(namely, from Seifer, the world's biggest jackass). But not unpleasant. It took me back to the days of my childhood, where I wore my cute little jumper, and I could see Seifer when he was younger too, harassing Zell in shorts and a T-shirt. He was a prankster back then, for sure, but he hadn't yet obtained that hard, cynical look in his eyes. I could almost hear him saying...

"Hey! HEY! Watch where you're driving, why don't ya?!"

AH! I hurriedly swerved the highway truck that we had stolen from the highway building(built Esthar tough, it had actually survived the blast) out of a treacherous ditch. Flushing with embarrassment, I fiddled with the radio and glanced sideways at Seifer.

He didn't seem angry, or annoyed, just preoccupied again. Well, it HAD been an eventful couple of days. I realized with a start that I was BUSHED. The first thing I would do when we got back to Esthar Garden would be to sleep, sleep for a hundred years, perhaps until a prince charming came to wake me up. Ahhh, that sounded nice.

While I was still fiddling with the radio, Seifer spoke again.

"Hey, Sefie - who're those guys?"

I jerked my head upright and slammed on the brakes just in time to avoid a group of people standing right in the middle of the road. Damned idiots. If this was another hunger strike for GF rights I'd go absolutely insane.

No...hunger strikers wouldn't be wearing the uniform of the Galbadian army.

"Hmmm,"I said, leaning back into my seat and looking over at Seifer."Looks like they're here to finish what they started with you."

His face grew puzzled, and he shrugged. I rolled my eyes.

"They attacked you, remember! Don't tell me you've forgotten THAT already?!"

The puzzled look didn't go away, but at least he nodded."What should we do?"

(Why the hell is he asking me? He's usually the great formulator-of-plans.)"Ah...well... I suppose we have to fight our way out, right? It's not like we can surrender."

NOW he started to look NERVOUS!"Well..."

At 15:47 EST(Esthar Standard Time), I officially lost it."What the hell is going on here?!"I shouted, tossing my hands up into the air in exasperation."You've been acting nutty ever since we got out of that explosion! Did it scramble your brain or something?!"

Seifer took a deep breath."Well, Sefie - "

"Halt! Come out of the vehicle with your hands up!"Whatever he wanted to say was interrupted by the approach of the Galbadian soldiers, carrying rifles with a newly added, somehow more menacing bayonet at the tip. I sighed.

"Come on,"I muttered, sliding out of the truck door, not putting my hands up, but instead using them to whip my Strange Vision around threateningly."Let's just take care of these idiots and get back home."

Strange, that I considered Esthar Garden to be 'home' now.

"Resistance will be put down with full force in regards to the man,"the superior officer was telling the underlings."Subdue the lady with appropriate force, however, she MUST be taken alive. A 5,000 gil bonus to the man who captures her!"

(What the - ? Capture...me? Why?) I barely had time to think all that before almost the whole damn army corps was on top of me, their captain's promise of a gil bonus a prime directive for them to attack me all at once."Slow!"I cried, somewhat in a panic, and rolled away from them, tucking my limbs under to shield my important organs.

A few, obviously protected from Slow status, struggled after me. I clunked one on the head with my Strange Vision, feeling not seeing. I was just getting ready to cast Meltdown on another when two grabbed me from behind, and I felt my nunchaku being ripped from my hands.

"Silence!"shouted the other hoarsely, and I felt the connection to my junction spells dissipating. It didn't, however(contrary to popular belief), leave me unable to talk.

"What do you - sleazeballs - want with me?"I grunted, kicking at them and trying to free my arms.

"Ain't none of your concern,"one of them grunted back, wincing as my elbow stuck him on the chest."Quit strugglin', we ain't gonna hurt ya."

Riiiiiight. I struggled harder, but I was losing. I wasn't that pig Zell, I was relatively useless without a weapon and they'd prevented me from casting spells, about my only redeeming quality. I searched around desperately for something, ANYTHING, to save me.

I only found him. But hey, you take what you can get, right? In matters of life and death like this, sometimes you have to swallow your pride and yell.

"SEIFER, HELP!!!"

He glanced up from the perimeter of the battlefield(what was he doing over there, anyway?) and desperation appeared on his face as he swung the Hyperion around clumsily in an attempt to reach me.

(What is he DOING? Low-level grunts like these should be no problem for him!) A terrible thought occured to me.(Is he...doing this on PURPOSE?)

"You wouldn't...would you?"I whispered faintly, in time with the soldier captain's voice - "Sleep!"

There was no concious thought after that.

I stirred faintly, feeling damp and cold. Where was I? How had I gotten here? What had happened to Esthar Garden?

I sat up, remembering bits and pieces in a daze. The journey from Grandidi Forest in Esthar to wherever I was now was nothing but a blur. I would wake up sometimes, demanding to know answers, and the soldiers who had captured me would respond to them promptly with another casting of Sleep. They were keeping me permanently Silenced, too, and who knows what they'd done with my Strange Vision. I wasn't being treated too harshly for the most part, but after being forced to sleep for long hours in the back of an army caravan, various parts of my body began to tingle and ache.

Nothing compared to the pain of betrayal, though.

"Seifer..."I sighed aloud, and looked around at my surroundings. It was a pretty posh room, with velvet drapes and a fireplace, as well as the canopied bed I was now laying in. Gold-framed paintings depicting various beautiful women were placed here and there, and soft classical music was playing in the background. Not bad at all, for being a prison.

I slowly got out of the bed, relieved to see that I was still wearing my battered wardrobe. Feeling despondent, I went over to the door and tried the knob. As expected, it was locked. A heavy oak door, too, with no hopes of me being able to break it down. Feeling curious about the lack of people, I decided to try a spell.

"Fire!"I whispered at the door, and nothing happened. Nothing good, that is.

"Oh, ho ho ho,"a voice crackled, seemingly from out of nowhere, and I jumped."Zere iz a magic field all around zis building,"the voice went on."Even a mighty zorzeress like yourself vill have trouble escaping from here."

My heart plummeted to the floor."Doc Odine?"I asked aloud, looking around and locating the speakers from where his voice was coming.

"Zat is correct,"the doctor replied simply."I am zorry to have used such...hoztile actions againzt you, but you must understand...ve vould do anything to contain a zorzeress vith your level of power."

"Sorceress?"I whispered in disbelief."No way! That was always Rin, she was the big-time sorceress!"

"Zat is also true,"Doctor Odine admitted."She vill be joining you shortly, however...ze Leonheart boy iz giving us a bit of trouble. He fails to see ze dangers zat you zorzeress's poze to our vorld."

"Dangers? But you STUDIED Adel!"

"Yes, yes, to figure out a vay to defeat her. You zorzeress' are an interesting group, and vhile it iz true zat I vould like to study you for ze rest of my life, I understand that it iz not pozzible. I vill make do vith vhat little time I have, zen I vill seal you away again, az per my mazter's orders."

"Master's orders? And who's your master?"

A short, obvious response."Dictator Powell."

"But you're under the employment of the Estharan government!"I contradicted him."Is Sir Laguna - I mean, is President Loire supporting this?"If my ever-so-congenial Sir Laguna were behind this plot, I really would die. How many betrayals can you have in a day before it gets to be too much?

Doc Odine laughed."Of courze not. Ze Prezident iz too zoft-hearted on zese zorzeress', I think."A pause."All zat's left iz to wait for ze Zorzeress Rinoa to arrive, and zen ve vill prozeed."

I snorted haughtily."Squall won't give up! You'll see! He won't let you have Rinoa."

"Hmmm..."Odine was comtemplating."Most likely, zat is true. Ve vill probably have to kill him. He iz not az amenable az zat other one."

I felt my face crumble. So, it was true. I couldn't blame Seifer, though. He'd been forced to dance to the tune of not one sorceress, but three! And to find out that I was one...

...I was one? I was...a sorceress?

"This doesn't make any sense!"I cried up to the speaker."I'm not a sorceress! Alanna said I was a candidate for sorceress EMBODIMENT, but that doesn't make me one automatically! What's going on?!"

Silence."Hey, what's going on here?!"

Only more silence greeted me. I sighed deeply, all my previous energy gone, and plopped down on the bed. I really hoped that Squall would be able to protect Rinoa. She was right to love him, to put all her faith in him. He WOULD protect her, wouldn't turn his back on her. He'd already been through hell and back for her. I was a little envious - all I had was a foul-mouthed, arrogant beast who'd gone and left me when I needed him the most...

(Needed him?)I bit my lip and rolled over onto my stomach. It was true, when I thought about it. I'd put my faith in him, I'd called out for help that one last time, and he hadn't come to save me. Hadn't TRIED.

Ugh, this pillow they'd given me was damp! I sat up in disgust, appalled that my entire FACE was wet from this nasty pillow. I chucked it on the floor, a sob escaping my throat. A sob? No way... I was crying?!

It was true. Giant tears ran in rivulets down my face.

"Stupid idiot Seifer, I hope you rot in hell for making me cry!"I shouted, and flung myself face down on the bed until I cried myself to sleep.

'I hope you rot in hell!'

Little did I know, that my wish was about to come true.

ANHmmmm. All of the mystery(and I mean all of it! you might have to go back and reread a couple of chapters!) will be cleared up in the next chapter, but it's definitely not the last one! (Ha ha ha, second to last.) These past few have been really short, but the next one'll be a doozie! Be prepared for it! As always, I love you, my fans. Ja!

tiger