Final
Fantasy VIII Nightmares
Disclaimer: All
Final Fantasy VIII characters belong to Squaresoft. All Buffy related scenarios
and belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.
Prologue:
A Nightmare's End
Into every generation,
a chosen one is born. One who will recieve the powers of Hyne and use them against
the demons, the dragons and the geezards. She is the sorceress.
"Singin' in
the bathtub, dooby dooby doo....."
Taking an overly
deep breath, Zell dunked his head beneath the bubbles again, still rubbing the
apple scented bar of soap under his armpits. This had to be the most blissful
experience of his life. After a day of battles, action and saving the world
from monsters and whichever new form of evil was threatening Balamb or anywhere
else in the world, he could finally relax and enjoy bathtime. His bathtime.
His hair soaked, even he couldn't resist the temptation and gave himself the
most outrageous mohican ever to grace Garden's interior. But that didn't satisfy
his bathtime pleasure. He lowered his eyes to the bubbled and grinned wildly.
This was something that just HAD to be done.
Stepping out of
the bath, wrapping a towel around his waist, Zell admired himself in the mirror.
Yes, he definitely suited a bubble beard. Twisting himself around to get a variety
of poses in, he nodded in agreement. He was the Bubble King. Since he had full
access to the mirror, he decided to put it to even greater use. Knowing that
he was alone, he released his grip on the towel around his waist and flexed
his muscles in the mirror. Those fists of his were still in great shape, as
was he.
A large splodge
of bubbles slid from his chin and dropped to the floor. Looking down at them,
Zell's attention was first drawn to his surroundings. What the HELL was he doing
on the stage in the Quad? More to the point, what was a bathtub doing on the
stage in the quad? That was when he heard the voice. Someone whispering his
name over and over again almost hypnotically.
"Psst...Zell....over
here...."
Zell spun around
to see someone stood in the shadows, the faint glint of the stage's lights reflecting
in their sapphire coloured eyes. Even their half concealed body wasn't enough
to fool Zell. "Seifer..." he hissed, wondering briefly what the former
SeeD cadet was doing in Garden. That was when it happened.
Seifer grabbed
what looked like a curtain tie and tugged it hard. Like a stage from one of
the older theatres, the curtain that was shielding Zell from the rest of the
Quad was parted and he was left standing alone in the stage, his jaw hanging
ajar as he was greeted by the sight that had been hidden by the dark, rose coloured
curtain.
Every single SeeD,
both cadet, Instructor and member were all gathered in the quad. Quistis was
there, her face a pure mask of utter disbelief. Selphie was there and while
Zell almost expected her to errupt into a fit of giggles, she imitated Quistis'
look of utter shock. He spotted everyone else darted around in the crowd of
otherwise nameless faces. Irvine, Cid, Edea, Rajin, Fujin and Nida. Squall and
Rinoa were stood in the centre, clearly not knowing what to say. But there was
one face that Zell had been hoping to the Guardians would not be there. The
girl from the library.
At that point,
Zell convinced himself that the whole situation couldn't even get any worse.
He was wrong.
The very second
he'd locked eyes with the girl from the library....the towel around his waist
slid off.
**********
"B...bastard...."
Zell groaned, tossing and turning in his bed. Despite this somewhat unusual
outburst, Squall continued to shake him. "Maybe, but you still have to
attend classes" he replied somewhat flatly. Garden wasn't a daycare centre
and Zell certainly didn't need any of this bedside manner stuff. He could get
himself up like every other SeeD in Garden. However, as reluctant as he was
about it, he was the Commander of SeeD. If Irvine had been complaining about
Zell's sleeping habits then he would have to sort it out, despite the somewhat
lengthly argument that took place regarding Irvine's capabilities when it came
to waking up Mr Dincht.
"Huh....huh?"
Zell blinked the sleep out of his eyes, slowly sitting up. "Squall? Whatcha
doin', man? Somethin' happened?" he hastily pulled the blanket over his
waist and chest. Not only was the image of his nightmare still haunting him,
but he didn't wish to see Squall's reactions to the pajamas he was wearing.
"You were
having a nightmare" Squall said bluntly. "Irvine said you haven't
been sleeping well lately." The inner struggle came back. Was he supposed
to ask if he was alright or simply tell him to get over it and return to class.
He thought about it some more. What would Rinoa say?
"Are you okay?"
Well duh! People
having nightmares are just peachy, Squall!
Squall mentally
told his conscience to sod off. He was learning social skills the way a child
learns to ride a bike. Eager to learn but still prefers to walk and take it
slow.
"Y-Yeah, I'm
okay. Just been havin' a few rough night's that's all. So what's our mission
for today? Who's ass we gonna be kickin' this morning?"
"The T-Rexaur's"
Squall replied, standing up. "All missions are either completed or in the
process of being cleaned up. We still have to train and we're going to do that
today."
Before Zell could
launch into a fit of whining or a small lecture, Squall made a hasty exit back
into the dormitory corridor of Garden. He'd been up less than thirty minutes
and he could tell it was going to be one of those days.
Before striding
off towards the Training Centre, he could faintly make out a groan of utter
disappointment from the other side of Zell's dorm room door.
