Chapter 1 – A New Generation

It's been 30 years since the defeat of the Sorceress Ultimecia, and the world is thriving in seemingly perpetual peace, with the exception of the occasional monster infestation. While the threat of the Sorceress is gone, the mighty mercenary force SeeD is still in full swing, their ranks growing by the year. With a new garden having been built in Esthar, Trabia Garden rebuilt, and the alliance between Galbadia and Balamb Gardens reforged, SeeD is an ever growing organization. Heading the organization are the six that defeated the mighty Ultimecia. Squall Leonhart, the headmaster of the new Esthar Garden and de facto leader of SeeD, even at age 48. His wife, Rinoa, now age 47, is the primary para-magic instructor for all future SeeDs. Quistis Trepe has taken over as headmistress of Galbadia Garden, due to her friendship with the aging Garden Master Martine. Selphie Tilmitt has also become the headmistress of a Garden, naturally being the Garden in Trabia. Her husband Irvine is the primary instructor for all SeeDs that wish to train in firearms. Zell Dincht has been entrusted with the position of headmaster of Balamb Garden, since he has greatly matured since his adventure with Squall.

Some of the six even have offspring of their own that are training to become SeeDs, themselves. There are even some of their friends and rivals that have children that undergo the training, as well. Selphine Kinneas is the daughter of Irvine and Selphie and is 17 years of age. She is nearly identical to her mother at that age, but is blessed with her father's hair and marksmanship. She carries twin pistols, which she calls "Flirt" and "Tease." River Loire, age 18, is the son of Ellone, and is almost identical to Laguna in every way, including his weapon, a machine gun he calls "Hailstorm." Samantha Almasy, age 18 is the daughter of Seifer, but is fortunately his polar opposite in personality. When she told Seifer she would train to be a SeeD, he handed down his gunblade, "Hyperion," to her. Then, there's Draco Leonhart, the son of Squall and Rinoa, now age 19. His appearance is almost identical to his father's, but has his mother's long hair (though his is often braided). The weapon he carries is an odd combination of polearm and gunblade, a weapon he calls the "Na-gun-ata."

The world these young people train in is a relatively peaceful one, but little do they know of the danger that awaits from the distant future...

"Is the ritual ready, yet?"

"Almost, ma'am. We're nearly finished."

"Good. We can't have any mistakes, if we wish this to work."

"Understood, ma'am. We're drawing the array to your exact specifications."

"Excellent..."

The Week of SeeD Selection Exams

The back of the training center in Balamb Garden was a menagerie for the sounds of battle as Draco Leonhart was practicing the art of the gunblade against his best friend, Spike Dragonas. Spike, though much taller than Draco, was younger and less experienced in the art of battle, but his skills with spears and lances were unmatched by any of the other students. The two of them had made it a habit to train at least once a week in the back of the training center, but they almost always ended up with a crowd to watch their matches. Draco was about to end the battle with an aimed shot towards the neck (which he would always stop, since it was sparring), but Spike caught him off guard with a spin of his spear, catching Draco's gunblade towards the back of the blade, and wrenching it from his grip, ending with the spear-tip pointed right at his heart.

"You're slacking in your gunblade skills, Draco. Maybe you should stick to polearms, like me and Yamina. You were always better with them, anyway."

Draco knew he was right, and it did piss him off slightly, but at least it was his best friend and teammate saying it, rather than some random student. "My new weapon isn't ready, yet. My dad had Headmaster Dincht go ahead and make me something a little more suitable. I'm supposed to have it sometime this week before the field exam."

"Yeah, didn't you say it was gonna be a really weird weapon?" Spike asked, unsure of what to think of Draco's choice in weapon mechanics.

"It is, but it's not about looks, it's about functionality and how well it can be used." Draco smiled as he retrieved his gunblade from the training room floor. "Anyway, we gotta get over to Galbadia. Headmistress Trepe'll be mad if we're late to her mid-range battle course again."

Since the Gardens and Esthar had joined forces, the Gardens had been given certain pieces of Esthar technology to help them run smoother, especially where the newest Garden was located within Esthar itself. The four Gardens were connected by a network of matter transporters that allowed the students to take classes at multiple Gardens at once, making it more possible for the students to become more well-rounded fighters.

When Draco and Spike arrived at Galbadia Garden, their last teammate, Yamina Phoenix, was waiting for them, her staff and Draco's naginata in hand.

"You two were almost late again! How long is it gonna take for me to pound the idea of punctuality into your skulls?"

Yamina may have been shorter than Draco, but she made up for it with incredible staff skills and para-magic abilities. Though he'd never admit it, Draco was indeed attracted to this dark-skinned beauty, who was only a mere 7 months his senior.

"Sorry, Yamina. We got caught up in our training. It's not exactly easy to keep track of time when you're in the heat of battle." Draco said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Whatever." Yamina sighed, thrusting Draco's naginata into his hands. "Anyway, how'd you two do on your SeeD written exams?"

Spike was the first to speak up. "I did fairly well, but I kinda messed up on the status immunities portion. I didn't realize that junctioning Esuna wouldn't protect from Drain or instant KO. I thought it protected against everything."

Draco interjected. "Nope. That only works if you have Esuna, Holy, and Dispel junctioned, and even then, it's not guaranteed."

Yamina turned to him. "So, I guess that means you did better, then?" Inside, she sighed to herself as she looked at Draco. Nobody ever realized that there was a mutual crush between the two of them. They didn't even realize the other was crazy about them!

Draco nodded. "Yeah. My dad helped me study for it a bit, since he knew I'd probably struggle with certain parts. All that's left are the interviews and the field exam."

Spike stuck his tongue out in disgust. "Ugh, I am so not looking forward to the interviews. They ask a lot of personal questions..."

"That may be, but it's so they can figure out whether or not you have the emotional and personal qualities of a SeeD." Draco said, trying to get it so Spike wasn't so nervous.

"He's right, Spike. The interviews may suck, but it just makes it easier for the higher ups to see if we're emotionally ready." Yamina said, also trying to comfort him, though she was also fairly nervous about the interviews.

"I guess. Well, time for class."

After their last class with Headmistress Trepe before the field exam, the three of them decided to go to Trabia Garden to hang out. It was here that Draco saw another team that was made up of close friends of his from his childhood, besides Spike. Team Storm, they called themselves: Samantha Almasy, Selphine Kinneas, and River Loire. Draco and River may as well have been cousins, since Squall saw Ellone as a sister, and they often talked to each other as such.

"Hey, cuz! What's shakin'?" Asked River, who hadn't seen Draco in over a week.

"Not much, River. How's the long-range training with Instructor Kinneas going?"

"He says that Selphine and I are showing a lot of progress in the rapid-fire department. We can both manage to hit our targets dead-center 85% of the time when we rapid-fire."

"That's great! Are you guys all taking the field exam this week?"

It was Samantha's turn to speak up, this time. "Yeah. We all passed the written exam pretty easily. Headmaster Trepe even said that I had more potential than my father did at my age, which is sayin' something, I guess." Samantha was always the most modest of Team Storm, not giving a damn what others thought of her, and not broadcasting how proficient her abilities were.

Selphine piped up with the same energy her parents were both known for. "I can't wait! These girls o' mine are gonna get one hell of a workout!" she said, indicating her twin pistols, Flirt and Tease. "By the way, y'all know the interviews are startin' in about 20 minutes at Esthar, right? We better get a move on before we're late."

With that, the six friends made their way to the transporter to take them to Esthar Garden, unsure of what to expect from the selection interviews.