He had to think of something.

‘Correction, I have to think of something without falling off the wall’ he thought, pulling himself up after almost falling over.

If only he knew how many there were.

Well, he was about to find out; the door was opening.

Seymour did the first thing that came to his mind: e slammed it back closed on the person’s face. While the person and someone else—that meant there were only two—were arguing and screaming Seymour struggled to pull himself off the floor.

His efforts were squashed—rather literally—when the door opened again, and the first person to enter was cut off from not only complaining about the darkness, but from walking as he tripped over Seymour.

Seymour tore out his knife, but before he could move to attack, someone grabbed him by the hair and threw him out of the room and into the light.

They cocked the gun and aimed at his head, taking advantage of his injury and not caring about it at the same time.

Seymour stabbed the knife right into the only target he could get at: his attacker’s foot. He rolled away and the man screamed and fired, hitting the floor.

By now the first assassin had collected himself and was in the doorway, cocking his own gun.

"Motherfucker!" the second yelled, dropping his gun to bend down and take the knife out. "No. No don’t you dare!" he yelled at his partner, stopping halfway.

"But—the rules!" the first one said, aiming the gun at his partner. "Can’t let injured—Can’t—I have to!"

"That’s only if they can’t walk, dumbass!"

"Your foot’s stuck to the floor!"

"Not for long! Don’t you dare! I’m fine. Shoot him, not me!"

"But, you’d leave a trai—" he was interrupted as a chair met with his face.

"You bastard!" the second one yelled at Seymour who was on the floor from the force of throwing furniture and holding his chest.

‘Fucking hell!’ Seymour thought. ‘I can’t lift things, I can’t walk… Ow, I can’t breathe too hard. What the fuck happened to me?"

"Seymour, what’s going on?" they heard Jyscal yell.

"Shit!" the assassin said. "SHIT!" he yelled, tearing the knife from his foot. He looked at Seymour, then at the doorway. Then at Seymour again and then at the doorway again. Killing Seymour and not getting caught both weren’t going to work for him and he needed to choose fast.

Seymour by now had crawled his way to the gun, dropped by the man hit by the chair.

"Fuck you!" the assassin yelled, throwing the knife at Seymour and running off simultaneously. The knife missed, landing in the wall a few inches away from Seymour, who decided he was lucky. If the assassin had counted on suicide to save him, he’d bed dead; he had no idea how to use a gun.

"Seymour, you had better have a damn good—" his father yelled, entering the room. Going silent and still as he saw the damage.

Three other chairs had been flipped over in Seymour’s attempts to either stand or roll out of the way. There was a strange half set of footprints from a puddle on a dented floor. Seymour was on the floor, holding his chest, which was bleeding again from popped stitches and was staining another part of the floor. His hand was on a gun—the previous owner had forgotten to take the safety off—and his knife was in the wall, a few inches from his ear.

"I didn’t do it," Seymour said.

"front door, outside, both of you," Jyscal ordered. "Now."

"I can’t move," Seymour said.

"Then learn. Fast," Jyscal said, picking Seymour up and setting him against the wall to grab hold of it himself. He was not helping his son in the least, merely moving him so as to see who was in the basement. "Great. He’s dead."

"That’s a bad thing?" Yuna asked, catching Seymour as he fell, nearly falling to the floor, but he managed to carry himself enough to prevent it.

"If he were unconscious, we could hold him for questioning. We could have used him alive, Seymour."

"While ironically I have been waiting all my life to hear those sentiments from you about me."

"If you are fishing for sympathy, this is the wrong time for it, Seymour!"

"I stopped trying to get that from you decades ago," Seymour said, winced in pained as he kept moving down the wall, one hand on it, the other on his bleeding stomach. "I sprained my ankle, too," he whispered to Yuna."

"You need help?" she whispered back.

"No."

Yuna knew what that meant. He definitely needed help, he just wasn’t going to accept any, especially not with his father around. That was why he was whispering about his ankle.

Yuna shook her head. Breaking him of this stupid habit would take time—if it were possible at all.

"For fuck’s sake!" Jyscal yelled, destroying his royal demeanor, and grabbing Seymour by the neckline of his coat.

Jyscal dragged Seymour outside, Yuna following in case Jyscal intended a fight, one that Seymour would lose worse than usual given his current state.

"There, you’re outside," Jyscal said, dropping Seymour on the ground, then noticing the wall near the door (which had finally been replaced). "Shit."

"What now, I land on your foot?"

Jyscal kicked him slightly. "I told you I do not like such glibness."

"Sticks and stones," said, rolling over to see what his father was so angry about, and why Yuna wasn’t speaking up.

‘LEAVE OR DIE, HALF-BREEDS!’ was written on the wall in runny paint.

"Indeed," Jyscal said. "However, words can sting, Seymour, and I know exactly which ones can hurt you."

"Why are we out here?" Yuna asked, wishing she could come up with something better to stop them from quarreling.

"I had thought it would be a safe place for you two, but apparently my enemies have proved me wrong."

"You were planning to leave us out here forever?" Yuna asked.

"I was hoping to discuss the current situation fully, with you two."

"You had to drag us out here to tell us we’re screwed."

"Seymour, I told you to stop that!" Jyscal said.

"There are details you’ve been keeping from us?" Yuna asked.

"You never seemed to concerned about details the first time around, I remember," Seymour said.

"Hey!" Yuna said. "I learned my lesson about that!"

"No you didn’t!"

"If you two don’t mind!" Jyscal yelled. "This is why I tell you nothing! You are just two children who are too spoiled to understand how dangerous this all is!"

"I was a summmoner!" You said. "How can you say I don’t understand that my life could be in danger?"

"Because you don’t act like it, that’s why," Jyscal said. "I am at a very crucial point in negotiations with the Al Behd. I cannot babysit you two. Nothing in the palace is safe. I am running out of time, and I am running out of patience. One of you, since you both think you’re so smart, tell me what I am going to do with you!"

Yuna was at a loss for words and eventually found herself staring at her own feet. Seymour smirked.

"Something interesting Seymour, or are you just being stupid?" Jyscal asked.

"You only have one option, don’t you?"

"I am not giving in to these people!" Jyscal yelled.

"Exactly," Seymour said, rather smug for someone lying in a heap on the grass. "You’re going to do the same thing you did last time you felt you had no choice. But now that everyone knows about it, sending us to Baaj would ruin your reputation. Either way, you lose to them."

"Rather astute of you, Seymour," Jyscal said, eerily calm. "Indeed, that is the only option left."

"Truthfully, I was waiting for this to happen, assassins or not ever since you came back."

"And that is why, stupidly, you found it to be the only place to hide."

"You can’t send me Baaj!" Yuna yelled.

"Then think of something!"

"Bring Anzi back here!" Yuna said. "This whole place stinks and she’d keep half of all this from happening!"

"And what will keep her from becoming a target?"

"Bring my friends here, then. They were my guardians, they can handle this!"

"But can they handle all three of you?"

"There’s five of them, three or four Al Behds with an airship, and they might get Kimahri to help. I’m pretty sure they can watch three people, one of whom can’t walk."

"This isn’t a hotel!"

"Then send us to Beseid, it’s better than Baaj!"

"You’re the one who’s been causing all the trouble around here." Jyscal asked Seymour, stepping closer to him and bending down to look him in the face. "What’s your view on all this?"

"Right up your skirt if you move in two inches."

"You think you’re so witty, don’t you?"

"No, I think I’m going to bleed to death and that I should enjoy it as much as possible."

"Here, you married, him, he’s your problem," Jyscal said to Yuna. "Fix him up, go upstairs and contact your friends and make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid in the meantime." He stormed back into the palace.

"At least we didn’t start any fights," Seymour said.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

"I managed to help him up the stairs and cast something on him, but it’s not doing much. Tell me one of you knows how to do bandages right," Yuna to the sphere. Again she was speaking to all of her friends, this time with less screaming and wrestling.

"Anzi can," Wakka said. "But she’s supposed to be over here."

"Actually, that’s why I’m contacting you. Jyscal’s pissed and nothing works around here. Either all of you, including Anzi, come over here and watch everyone or we’re honeymooning on Baaj."

"You’re kidding!" Wakka said.

"I don’t think he has much of a sense of humor, Wakka," Yuna said.

"He never did," Seymour said, who was lying on the part of the bed not occupied by the sphere. Yuna had it turned towards her, so the others couldn’t see him.

"Hi, Seymour!" Rikku greeted.

"We have to watch Anzi AND Seymour?" Auron asked.

"Well, and me," Yuna said.

Yuna knew Auron rolled his eyes behind his glasses. In fact, Seymour knew, as well. "Same to you," Seymour said.

"Maybe we should leave Auron here," Wakka said.

"I’m sure Anzi would appreciate it," Lulu said.

"What has he been doing to Anzi?" Seymour asked.

"Bitching his head off as if it were any of his business," Paine said.

"Leave him there," Seymour said. "There’s enough of that here already."

"He’s right," Yuna said. "I think we’re going to run out of chairs soon."

"You can’t just leave me here when she’s in danger," Auron protested.

"Yeah we can," Wakka said.

"If you want to help, then learn to keep your mouth shut!" Lulu said.

"Where is Anzi now?" Seymour asked.

"The team’s watching her," Wakka said.

"Look, there’s been enough trouble and more than enough fighting already. You had better convince Jyscal you’re a better alternative than ditching both of us on Baaj Island."

"And you had better do a good job," Seymour said.

"Keep your shirt on," Wakka said.

"He doesn’t wear a shirt," Rikku said.

"Look, if he does something stupid, I’ll punch him in the face, how’s that?" Paine said.

"As long as there’s at least one person watching each of us," Yuna said. "He’d find his way here anyway, wouldn’t he?"

"What did I do?" Auron asked.

"Welcome to my world," Seymour said.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

The difficult part hadn’t been getting down the stairs, but getting down the stairs in one piece. Yuna wasn’t strong enough to help Seymour keep his balance, and he did not appear to be well. He had to concentrate on simple things, such as standing up and walking without tripping. Yuna doubted he was fully focusing on her when he looked at her, or that he could. Even on flat ground, he would lose his balance now and then. It only worried her more when Jyscal took Seymour from her and carried him roughly down the stairs.

Once all three of them were outside, things weren’t exactly improving. Again Jyscal dropped Seymour on the ground. The first thing Seymour did was make his way to a few bushes to throw up.

It took Yuna’s help—and the wall’s, which hadn’t been cleaned of its graffiti yet-- to get him to stand up. It took only the wall to keep him up, although he kept having to catch himself when he began to slump.

Jyscal didn’t seem to care. Yuna doubted that he did.

Just as Yuna and Jyscal were getting bored, and Seymour looked as if he were about to take an impromptu nap, they heard footsteps, then arguing.

"Looks like they’re here," Jyscal said, sidestepping slgihtly before Anzi crashed into him.

Instead, Anzi crashed right into Seymour, who lost his balance and collapsed on her. "Oh, I missed you so much! I was so worried. Who wrapped these, they're a mess! You look horrible, come on, we’re going to get you cleaned up."

"Nice to see you t—" Yuna said, watching Anzi drag Seymour inside. She was interrupted as Rikku crashed into her, bowling her over in the doorway.

"Yunie!"

"Makes ya kinda glad you don’t’ have many friends, huh?" Wakka said. Jyscal was not mused and his expression made it painfully obvious.

"And Lulu told me I was the one who should keep my mouth shut," Auron said.

"Both of you keep them shut," Lulu said. "And Wakka used to say I had no tact."

"Tact or not, I would appreciate it if you would remember you have a duty here," Jyscal said. "And do try to cause as little chaos as you can." He shoved his way past Yuna, who was almost lifted off the ground by Paine and Rikku hugging her, and was immediately yelled at by Anzi.

"WHAT THE BLOODY FUCK HAPPENED HERE?"

"Remind me never to leave the room dirty with her around," Wakka said.

"And so it begins," Lulu sighed.

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