The Gunblade Saga Chapter 1
Balamb Garden
By Peptuck3
Well,
you like?
Here's the actual first chapter, going from the infirmiry to when Squall
gives Selphie the tour of Garden. There are a lot of explanations given in
this chapter (as necassary) but they do give my take on some of the important
aspects of FFVIII, such as junctioning, magic, and the Gardens. In fact,
this whole fic is my interpretation of the events of FFVIII.
One thing: When a character speaks, I'll use quotation marks. " . . . " When
a character is thinking, I use apostrophes. ' . . . '
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Sunlight shined down through
the window overhead, blinding him as he woke up. A scent of flowers and warm
spring air wafted in through the opened window, the wind carrying it playing
with the curtians over the window. Outside, birds could be heard chirping
and
singing.
He was lying on a bed, a
nice, soft bed, most likely in the infirmiry, he realized, judging by what
he last remembered. The brown- haired warrior muttered something and opened
his eyes.
"How are you feeling?" asked
a kind voice from beside him. He glanced up to see Dr. Kadawoki standing
there, holding a chart. The doctor was a middle-aged, heavyset woman, dark-haired
and with a kindly demeanor. She was wearing her usual white doctor's coat,
and had a small medical chart in hand. The image of the doctor was blurred
somewhat, likely due to the head injury he'd
suffered.
He felt a slight ache in
his forehead, but aside from that, he was alright. He sat up, feeling slightly
disoriented as his body adjusted to the new
position.
". . . . . Ok, I guess,"
he said. Kadowaki nodded and scribbled something on her chart. She glanced
back at the man and bent over slightly, looking into his face. He saw her
older face become clearer, to which the doctor
nodded.
"Looks like your eyes are
focusing. Say your name for
me."
"Squall," Squall Leonhart
said immediately. Kadowaki nodded and
smiled.
"Looks like you're fine.
No serious head or brain injuries, not too much blood loss. But why don't
you take it easier in training? Next time you might not be so
lucky."
Hmph. Squall thought back
to the 'duel' he'd fought earlier. His opponent had been the cause of all
the
trouble.
"Tell that to Seifer," Squall
muttered with a shake of the head. Kadowoki shook her head at the mention
of Seifer Almasy's name. Like nearly everyone else inside Balamb Garden,
she knew all about how reckless and irresponsible Seifer Almasy
was.
"That Seifer . . . Won't
listen to anyone. Why don't you ignore him?" Kadowaki blurted out that last
part by accident, since she was so used to advising other cadets of the same
thing. Squall's relationship to Seifer was different, however. Him, ignoring
Seifer?
Squall scoffed at that notion.
Easier said than done when it came to Seifer. If he wanted attention, then
Hyne damn it, Seifer got attention. Other people would try to ignore him,
but Squall understood that that would be hopeless. He prefferred taking Seifer
head on. From their earliest days at the academy they'd been rivals, and
Squall refused to retreat in Seifer's face. Pride was a driving factor in
their rivalry, albeit a stupid one. Neither refused to give an inch of ground
to the
other.
"I can't just run away,"
Squall said
determinedly.
"You want to be cool, huh?"
Kadowaki said with a knowing smile. She understood Squall's reasons for facing
up to Seifer. "Well, don't get hurt in the process!" Kadowaki paused for
a moment, recalling something. "Your instructor is . . . Quistis! I'll call
her now. Just wait here a moment." The doctor walked out of the room and
across the infirmiry towards the intercom on her desk, positioned across
from the medical rooms so she could monitor her patients. Squall sank back
onto his bed and rested for a moment, throwing his arm over his face to block
the sunlight. He sighed in
vexation.
Quistis could be a pain at
times, and he figured she was going to be one again. Nevermind that she was
a good, if not great instructor, but she got to be a bit nagging and troublesome
when she tried to solve others' problems or help anyone
out.
"Quistis, come get your student,"
Kadowaki said into the intercom. A voice replied, too distant to hear well.
"Yes, yes, his injury's not serious, it'll probably leave a scar." Quistis,
on the other end, said something in reply. ". . . Right, now please come
by."
Squall laid there for a moment,
relaxing on the bed, and relaxing even more when he heard Kadowaki leave
the infirmiry. He liked being alone, in solitude, without anyone bothering
him. Some time passed, with Squall just listening to the sounds of the birds
outside and the calls and laughter of other cadets in the courtyard outside
or in the Quad, north of the
infirmiry.
"Squall," a soft voice called
from the adjoining room. He turned his head quickly, to see a young girl,
a few years older than himself, looking through the glass between his room
and the next. "So we meet again," she said, turning to leave. Squall blinked
in confusion, and sat up slightly, looking into the glass as the girl walked
away. The next room was darkened, so the glass reflected the image of Squall
and his own room, making it difficult to see the girl's
features.
"Who?" he wondered. Squall
blinked again and shook his head, something telling him that this girl was
familiar. But by the time he'd looked back into the room, the girl was gone.
A quick glance around told him that whoever she was, she had disappeared.
"Who was that?" he
muttered.
Even as he spoke, Squall
heard the door to the infirmiry hiss open. In strode a young woman, the same
age and height as Squall, clad in a black uniform with gold trimming, a
knee-length skirt, and boots. She was blonde, with long hair that hung down
either side of her face in front, and done up in the back so it doubled back
on itself before coming down. She wore glasses over her large, blue eyes,
which rolled as she looked at Squall. The woman sighed, put her hands on
her hips, and smiled at Squall
knowingly.
"I knew it would be either
you or Seifer!" Quistis Trepe remarked, stepping across the room to stand
beside Squall, who sat up. She crossed her arms and bent over, looking Squall
in the eye. "Come on, let's go. The field exam's
today."
Squall got up and walked
out of the infirmiry behind Quistis. As he stepped out, Squall felt the warm
air of springtime hit him. Judging by the sunlight shining down from the
opposite side of the Garden to the east, and the students moving around,
it seemed classes hadn't started
yet.
'Must still be early morning
then,' Squall thought as he followed Quistis down the infirmiry's steps and
along the breezeway. Quistis waved and greeted a burly, muscled cadet as
he walked by, then slowed down so Squall could catch up with
her.
"Squall, is there something
on your mind?" she asked him as he came alongside her. Not even looking at
her, Squall opened his
mouth.
". . . Not really," they
both said at once. Squall paused and turned back to his instructor, annoyance
crawling over his face as Quistis began to
giggle.
"What's so funny?" he asked,
a bit
indignantly.
"Funny?" Quistis stopped
laughing after a moment, and waved her hand, dismissing the idea of her finding
humor in Squall's discomfort. "No, no, its not that. I'm just happy. I feel
like I'm begining to understand my student a little, that's
all."
Squall shook his head as
he turned back and resumed walking. "I'm more complex than you think," he
countered.
"Then tell me," Quistis said,
matching Squall's pace. "Tell me more about
yourself."
"It's none of your-" Squall
began.
"Business!" And Quistis finished,
chuckling again. Squall stopped, and glared down the breezeway. Quistis,
her point made, walked past him. After a moment, Squall followed her, the
path taking them into the central structure of Balamb
Garden.
Balamb Garden was an immense
building, towering over a hundred feet into the air. It was somewhat conical,
with a rounded tip. The central structure of Balamb Garden loomed over the
whole Garden grounds, painted white for the most part but with many decorative
touches all around the main building. Directly above the central building,
rotating in the air, was an immense glowing ring that slowly spun around
the entire structure. Squall wasn't sure how it remained aloft (physics wasn't
his specialty) but it certianly gave the building an almost otherworldly
air. Even after spending twelve years at Balamb, Squall was still awed by
the immense ring
overhead.
Balamb Garden was one of
only three structures like it around the world, all of which belonged to
the worldwide Garden organization. Another Garden was located on the Monteresau
Plateau inside the Republic of Galbadia, on the continent to the west of
the Balamb continent. The other Garden was located in the frigid northlands
of Trabia. Each Garden had its specialties. Balamb Garden trained SeeD special
forces and also conducted research into the powers of Guardian Forces. Galbadia
Garden trained officers for the Galbadian army and also produced SeeD special
forces, and conducted technological and weapons research. Trabia Garden operated
an exchange progam, sending its students to Balamb for SeeD training, since
their Garden was too small. Trabia Garden also conducted research into magic
and magical
theory.
Actually, it wasn't "magic,"
it was "para-magic." The techniques called "magic" used by Garden and other
armed forces around the world were actually just the manipulation of magical
energy. With the appropriate training, and having the appropriate spell on
hand, anyone could use magic. The problem was getting the magical energy
itself. Spells could be refined from the bodies of creatures and monsters,
from certian magical objects, or taken from magical "fountians" which sprouted
from the ground, containing magical energy. Garden also used their own method
for obtaining magic, known as "Draw." Drawing allowed one to call forth magic
directly from monsters and the "fountians" which Garden reffered to as Draw
Points.
Squall's Garden, Balamb,
utilized powerful beings known as Guardian Forces in conjunction with physical
training and practice with the use of magic to produce their elite SeeD special
forces. Cadets at Balamb Garden trained hard to become SeeDs, also going
through classes involving more "mundane" skills, such as mathematics, sciences,
arts, etc. In effect, each of the Gardens was like a combination military
academy, elementary, middle, and high school, and a university. But the special
thing about the Gardens were that they were absolutely free. Anyone who wanted
to and proved they had the right stuff could join at no cost. Garden didn't
make its money off of its students, at least not immediately. Aside from
the money from the Galbadian government to train officers, Garden earned
its income entirely off its SeeD special forces, who were hired out as
mercanaries in conflicts around the globe. A SeeD's job was exceedingly
dangerous, but it was also exciting and very well-paying, which was the lure
that brought many cadets in. And all of those cadets trained hard, endured
all the studying, practice, and training, in order to reach this day. The
day when all the training was put to the test, to determine whether one was
fit to be a SeeD or
not.
The day of the field
exam.
* * * *
*
Squall stepped through the
doorway on the second floor and into Quistis's classroom. Hers was the last
in the hallway, just before the Training Room, a large dojo-like area where
the Garden cadets
trained.
He walked across the classroom,
passing the seats and study panels, large computers where cadets did their
work and studies, and also used as terminals for Garden's online community.
The panels were arranged in three lines, extending to the back of the classroom.
A wide window at the back of the classroom provided illumination during the
daytime. Most of the class was already assembled, sitting and talking among
themselves. All of the students were around Squall's age, middle to late
teens, and most of them wore their cadet uniforms. For both males and females,
the uniform was dark blue, with a jacket featuring silver trim and slivery
shoulders featuring beautiful, flowing designs. Males wore matching dark
blue pants and boots along with silver collars on their jackets, while females
wore short skirts, boots, and a yellow
scarf.
Right behind Squall came
Quistis.
"Good morning, class!" Quistis
called with a bright smile. Many, very many, of the guys in the class, smiled
right back at Quistis. There weren't many instructors her age in Balamb,
and of those, none were quite as beautiful as Quistis. A testament to this
fact was the existance of the "Trepies," Quistis's own personal (and highly
obsessive) fan
club.
Squall reached the far left
end of the classroom, where his seat and panel were located. He moved to
sit down, then saw Seifer sitting across from him, at the rear center panel.
Well, he wasn't sitting so much as reclining back in the seat, his arms up
on the back as if he were relaxing at home instead of attending class at
a military institution. The white- coated cadet turned his head to look at
Squall and an obnoxious grin, one that Seifer had patented specifically to
show how superior he was, emerged on his face. Squall could clearly see the
dark line running from the right side of his nose up to the left side of
his
forehead.
'At least he didn't get away
unscathed,' Squall thought with a slight degree of satisfaction. He took
his seat and looked back up towards Quistis as she sat behind her desk at
the front of the classroom, positioned in front of a huge viewscreen, currently
showing a map of planetary
orbits.
"There seem to have been
some rumors flying around since yesterday," she began. Quistis waited until
the entire class's attention was focused on her before continuing. "Yes,
the field exam for SeeD cadets is later this afternoon. Those not participating
and those who failed last week's written test are to remain here in study
hall. Field exam participants have free time until the exam. Just be sure
you're in top condition." Several students looked around excitedly at the
announcement and talked among
themselves.
"Any questions?" Quistis
asked the classroom. "Oh, and Seifer," she called. The blonde cadet looked
up at Quistis, a "Who, me?" expression on his
face.
"Do NOT injure your partner
while training. Be careful from now
on."
A mixture of disgust, surprise,
and anger worked its way onto Seifer's face. He glanced over at Squall, then
looked back at Quistis. Anger took over in his expression and he slammed
his fist down on the top of the panel, as close to an aknowledgement of the
order and simultanious beratement as one could expect from
him.
"Field participants, I will
see you later. And Squall," Squall glanced up at Quistis as she stood. "I
need to talk to
you."
The cadet sighed, knowing
what Quistis would say. The Fire Cavern. He still needed to go there. Squall
paused and turned on his panel as the rest of the class filed out, among
them Seifer, who had nothing to say to Squall, surprisingly. Ignoring Seifer,
he quickly logged in and requested the Guardian Forces registered to
him.
Login: [Squall]
confirmed.
GF data for [Squall] . .
.
Searching . .
.
GF registered under [Squall]
are:
[GF
Quetzacotl]
[GF
Shiva]
Squall drew the two GFs out
from storage. A small door opened underneath the panel, and out came a small
drawer, containing a yellow and a blue stone. Squall lifted the small stones,
no bigger than a large gem, and immediately felt the power of the Guardian
Forces Quetzacotl and Shiva, entities of lightning and ice,
respectively.
Guardian Forces were powerful
entities of pure energy. They embodied tremendous magical power, and when
pursuaded or defeated in battle, would give their powers over to meager humans.
Guardian Forces were said to be avatars of the gods of creation themselves,
allowing only small part of their essence to exist in the mortal world. These
avatars were the beings that lended their aid to humans when defeated or
convinced. Guardian Forces could be called on directly, at which point they
emerged and wreaked havoc on their summoner's foes, or in a few cases, bestowed
healing and power on their allies. However, Balamb Garden utilized Guardian
Forces in another
manner.
Balamb Garden, drawing on
knowledge obtained by the legendary Doctor Odine in the eastern nation of
Esthar, discovered a way to combine a Guardian Force's powers with magical
energy to give an otherwise ordinary human incredible power. The power of
the GF could strengthen a man's muscles, harden his skin, toughen his body,
increase his reflexes and speed and even add to and sheild from magical assaults.
Guardian Forces were used in this manner by Balamb Garden's SeeD forces,
giving them a tremendous advantage on the battlefield, especially against
ordinary humans who did not possess the edge a GF
granted.
Squall held the stones a
moment longer, then concentrated on them. The stones were the key to summoning
the Guardian Force or using its powers. When the GF was either defeated or
convinced to join a human, the human recieved a stone as a symbol of their
ownership. Whoever possessed the stone could utilize the Guardian
Force.
As Squall concentrated, the
Guardian Forces' stones glowed, then just . . . dissappeared, absorbed into
Squall's body. He felt, in the back of his mind, the distant, alien thoughts
of the pair of
GFs.
Garden's method of using
GFs was known as "junctioning." The actual act of junctioning a GF was not
difficult to learn, if one knew how to utilize magic. Magic and Guardian
Forces were deeply connected, though Squall wasn't learned in the complexities
of the relationship. All he really knew was that with the aid of the GF,
he could use magic with ease, and strengthen himself, and if need arose,
to summon the GF
itself.
Junctioned with his Guardian
Forces, Squall paused to concentrate some more, focusing magical energies
of spells he had on hand. He'd used up most of his magic he had stocked yesterday
in an three-hour long romp in the Training Center downstairs. But he still
had a number of Thunders and a few Cure spells, which he junctioned. The
electrical magic of his Thunder spells he focused on his physical strength,
while the restorative magic of the Cures he junctioned in order to toughen
his body. Squall's muscles bulged slightly as magical power strengthened
them. Done with his junctioning, Squall rose from his study panel and crossed
the room to where Quistis
waited.
Quistis was chatting with
a group of the "Trepies," but as Squall approached, they apparently decided
to make
room.
"You haven't been to the
Fire Cavern yet, have you?" Quistis asked, to which Squall nodded. "You won't
be able to take part in today's exam without passing the prerequisite and
fighting
Ifrit."
"I know," Squall responded.
'I was gonna go this morning, but Seifer . . . ' Squall thought to
himself.
"Hm? Well, do you have an
excuse?"
'A very good one, how about
getting my head cut open?' Squall thought indignantly. But even as he thought
that, he remembered that the whole reason they'd gone out to "train" in the
first place was due to Seifer rather agressively demanding it and Squall
not backing down. The whole fight had really been over pride. And pride was
no
excuse.
"No, not really," Squall
said.
"Then let's get going," Quistis
replied. "I'll be waiting for you down at the front gate, so come down when
you're
ready."
With that, Quistis walked
out of the room, waving to the trio of Trepies as she passed through the
doorway. Squall moved to follow, and as he reached the door, he could hear
a few mutterings from behind
him.
"I . . . I'm so jealous!
Maybe I should take that subject too . . ." one person said, sounding
appropriately
envious.
"Alone with Instructor Trepe
. . ." another envious person muttered, unsurprisingly
male.
"If anything happens to
Instructor Trepe, the Trepies will get you back!" called the last of the
trio. Squall glanced over his shoulder at the girl who threatened him, and
shrugged at her remark before stepping through the door. As Squall headed
down the hallway, he went over what he'd
need.
'Gotta load up my gunblade,
it'll be in my room, along with my other equipment. Need to stock up on some
magic. There's a draw point outside, and there's plenty more magic available
from the monsters outside the grounds. And I'll need some breakfast, didn't
get a chance to eat before when Seifer said we should
train-'
Squall was apparently so
deeply in thought that he didn't hear the steps of the cadet running down
the
hallway.
"I'm late, I'm late, I'm
LATE!!!" was Squall's only warning before a five foot tall human missile
collided with him as he rounded a corner leading to the main elevator. Even
caught off guard, Squall still wasn't knocked off his feet by the impact,
though the cadet, a girl his own age, fell flat on her
rear.
"Waaah!" she cried as she
dropped. Squall glanced down at her, slightly annoyed at her blundering,
but then, he hadn't exactly been all that alert himself, so he had no one
to blame.
"You okay?" he asked her
as she shook her head slightly, making the brown curls of her hair rising
up all around her head like a mop bounce a bit. She was tiny, and also remarkably
cute, somehow reminding Squall of a plushy toy moogle. The girl looked up
at him with her green eyes as she climbed back up to her feet. Squall didn't
recognize her, though he thought she might be from Trabia Garden; a group
from the northern Garden should have arrived that
morning.
"There," she said upon regaining
her balance. "Tee-hee. I'm fine." She smiled, making her seem even more cute.
"Sorry, I was kind of in a
hurry."
'I couldn't guess,' Squall
thought.
"Oh, yeah! Did you just come
from that class?" she asked, to which Squall nodded. "Whoo . . . oh, nooo
. . . This place is sooo much bigger than my last
Garden!"
'She is from Trabia,' Squall
thought to himself,
nodding.
"Oh, hey, hey," the girl
said suddenly. "I just transferred here, you think you could give me a tour
of the
Garden?"
Squall was a loner, and he
didn't like people, but that didn't mean he was uncaring. He was willing
to show the girl around, though he wouldn't have exactly jumped for joy at
the job. In any other situation, he would have helped her, but right now
he had a lot to
do.
"Don't have the time," Squall
said, to the girl's
disappointment.
"Oh, bummer," the girl muttered.
She began to walk away, waving at him. "That's too bad. Well, see
ya."
Squall watched her walk down
the hall, and felt just a bit bad for her. It was hard to not help her, since
she was so cute and endearing, even to the taciturn
Squall.
'Yeah, too bad,' he thought.
'She could use-wait, the
directory!'
"Hey," he called after her.
The brown-haired cadet stopped and looked back. "I can't take you on a long
tour, but at least I can show you the directory." She brightened immediately.
It was a good compromise; the directory would at least ensure she wouldn't
get lost
again.
"Whoo-hoo!" she shouted.
"Alright, let's go!" The pair headed down the hallway towards the
elevator.
This particular hallway was
more of an ornate bridge connecting the classrooms to the central elevator
shafts. The classrooms were positioned on the second level, in a ring around
the central elevators. To reach the elevators, one had to cross the bridges
connecting the shafts with the classroom hallways. There were a good fifty
feet between the first and second levels, so one on the bridge was offered
a spectacular sweeping view of the interior of Balamb
Garden.
The central structure of
Balamb Garden was mostly open space, at least around the first level. There
were a series of walkways arranged like the spokes of a wheel connecting
the various first level facilities. Each walkway connected with a central
circular walkway, which surrounded a raised platform where the central elevators
were
located.
Seperating the central platform
from the walkway was a raised pool that surrounded the elevator platform.
Ornate and beautiful fish statues acted as fountians for the pool. The water
filtered down underneath the walkway to spill down into an outer pool that
ran underneath the connecting walkways to the various facilities. Throughout
the expansive room were numerous plants and shrubs. Combined with the flowing
water and the general student life, these gave Balamb Garden a vibrant, lush
atmosphere, that of an indoor
paradise.
As Squall reached the elevator,
it rose up and out stepped another cadet, clad in casual clothes and not
his uniform. The cadet was looking at a handful of cards in his hands, and
it took him a second to notice Squall as the pair began to step past
him.
"Oh, hey," the cadet said,
causing Squall to turn to face him. "You want these?" he held up the handful
of cards. "My brother gave them to me, but they're not my thing. You want
them?"
Squall glanced at the cards,
which were, unsurprisingly, for the insanely popular card game Triple Triad.
Triple Triad was played around the world, even getting advanced, formalized
rules in many places, and was rapidly replacing poker, blackjack, and many
other forms of gambling. Garden had had the Triad craze since as far back
as Squall could remember, and even had their own card club clique. While
Squall himself wasn't a fanatical player of Triad, he certianly wasn't alien
to the game, and had his own modest
deck.
After inspecting the cards,
Squall shrugged. "Sure, why not?" he said as he pocketed them. They were
low-powered cards, the kind you'd expect from a beginner's deck, but he could
still use them as
backups.
With that done, Squall and
his lost charge entered the elevator and headed down to the first floor.
As soon as the elevator reached the first level, Squall gestured to a large
panel positioned between the elevators and the main
entrance.
"That's the directory," he
said. The girl nodded, smiled her thanks, and headed down to the directory.
His job done, Squall looked north, to where the dorms were located. He had
a lot to
do-
"Umm, question," the girl
called, catching Squall's attention. He turned around and saw her standing
by the directory, looking confused. "How do you work this
thing?"
Another sigh of vexation
escaped Squall's lips as he stepped down the stairs connecting the upper
platform to the walkway. He stepped up to the directory next to the girl,
and tapped a button. A screen showing a general map of Balamb Garden's first
level
appeared.
"'You just move the cursor
around and press the button to select an area." Squall was gonna leave it
at that, but he felt he had to be just a little more helpful. "Now, here's
an explanation of the various facilities." Squall pointed the cursor to the
northernmost section. "To the north are the dormitories, which take up the
whole North Block. Most of the students and all of the SeeDs live there,
along with a few instructors. Not many students make the commute from Balamb
or
elsewhere."
"Yeah, I'm in the dorms,
too!" the girl said with a
nod.
"West of the North Block
is the cafeteria. There's always a big rush for the hot dogs, so you'd better
get there
early."
"Got
it!"
"East of the North Block
is the garage. That's where students, SeeDs, instructors and any other employees
keep their cars. We also use it to store Garden's own vehicles. When a mission
comes up, we usually use the Garden cars." Squall moved the cursor down to
the bottom of themap, indicating the front gate. "The gate's to the south,
you know that . .
."
'That's right, I need to
meet Instructor Trepe down there when I'm ready . . .' Squall
thought.
"Hm?" the girl asked. "What's
the
matter?"
"Nothing," Squall said with
a shake of his head. "Next, we have the Quad, in the west Block. There's
an event being planned there . .
."
"I know! I know! Its the
Garden Festival! its going to be great! I'm planning to be on the commitee!
You wanna help
too!"
"Let's just move on," Squall
said quickly, not wanting to be steered in that direction. With this girl's
unbearable cuteness, she could probably convince him to do anything to help
her
out.
"South of the West Block
is the infirmiry. You can go there to get treated for injuries." 'Like mine,'
Squall thought to himself. "The doctor's name is Kadowaki," he added. "Now,
for the East Block. This is the Training Center." Squall moved the cursor
over the easternmost of the facilities. "Its the only facility open at night.
Its used for training, obviously, and it has real monsters running loose
inside. If you don't take it seriously, you could end up dead. Just be careful."
The girl gulped as she understood Squall was dead
serious.
" . . .
Okay."
"South of the east Block
is the Library. You can look up a lot of material there, but the study panels
in the classrooms are more efficient. But you can't take the study panels
back to your rooms, while you can with the books in the Library. And you
know about the classrooms on the second floor,
right?"
"Yup. I'll remember
those."
"Also, on the second floor
you'll find the Training Room, where we practice combat training, and also
our labs. And by the way, the Headmaster's office is on the third floor.
You'll need permission to get
in."
"What's the headmaster's
name?" she
asked.
"Cid Kramer," Squall replied.
"That's about it. Anything
else?"
"Nope, got it!" she said.
"Heeey, um . . . are you taking today's SeeD
exam?"
"Yeah," Squall said with
a nod.
"Then maybe we'll see each
other again later. I'm taking the exam today too, since I already finished
my training at my other Garden. Good luck to both of us, huh!" She began
to walk away. "Thanks a lot!" the girl called as she
left.
That done, Squall turned
north and headed for the cafeteria. He still had a lot to do, and his stomach
was telling him what his biggest priority was at the
moment.
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Note: I know, I know, Quetzocotl doesn't grant you the STR-J ability. Guess
what? I don't care! Excepting specific abilities, like Recover, Treatment,
STR+20%, etc. the GFs in this novelization all generally have the same
abilities.
Also, the "stone" idea comes from Greenbeans, aka Amanda Anderson, and her
fanfic "Sowing the SeeDs."
And yes, Squall is a Triple Triad player! *sticks out toungue at nay- sayers*
How else you gonna introduce the game and get Squall some cards unless he's
already at least somewhat into it?
If you haven't noticed, I'm rather detail oriented. I am constructing this
thing as if it were an actual novel, and also for those who have never played
or only partially played FFVIII, and thus, I wanted to accurately describe
every setting, person, monster, creature, or item in FFVIII. I like including
the little details (like Quistis greeting the muscular student outside the
Infirmiry) And of course, I constantly review my own work, leading me to
constantly edit and add teeny-tiny touches here and there. Perfection is
the name of my game.
Chapter 2
Peptuck3's Fanfiction