Mugen ~ 無限 ~ Part I
Chapter 1 – Prima Luce
The view from the bridge had always fascinated him. So many colors and images flashed before his eyes. It was like an endless slide show, enlightening his mind to the amazing wealth of knowledge and beauty in the outside world. He could stare at the view for hours and hours, even if it is irrelevant to his job description. Being the head pilot of Balamb Garden gave him the privilege of wasting his life away in front of large glass windows.
I'd take this over risky SeeD missions any day. Nida stretched and yawned.
He plopped himself down onto the hovering pilot chair he ordered from Esthar. The Torama-hide seat took a slight dip, then rose until Nida is satisfied with the view. He tapped a few buttons on the armrest. The chair tilted backwards and locked into resting position.
"Ah, the wonders of air pressure technology."
Nida wriggled a little in his chair, adjusting to the spring dampness trapped in its leather surface. "I need to talk to somebody about getting a better cooling system in here". He muttered.
He felt sluggish, enveloped by the heat of the sun. He closed his eyes. He needed some hard-earned rest after piloting the Garden to Fisherman's Horizon overnight. It was the annual Entrance Ceremony at Balamb Garden that day. There was nothing for Nida to worry about until the Commander issues the order to leave. Since the Garden was being repaired for its rusted gears, he had all the time in the world to unwind before his beloved window view.
"Wake up!" A rolled-up copy of the latest Timber Maniacs hit his feet. Nida rubbed his eyes as awareness slowly seeped in.
"What…?" His voice wobbled in his half-dream state.
"The mechanics in F.H. want to talk to you about the new piloting gear." Xu frowned. "You weren't relieved of your post! Why are you sleeping?" She put her arms behind her back in her usual authoritative pose.
"Gee Xu, calm down. You're acting like it's that time of the month again". Nida yawned. "You and your violent outbursts..."
Xu kicked a lever on the ground and Nida's hovering pilot chair came tumbling down.
"What did you do THAT for?" Nida yelled, fully awake now.
"For making a highly inappropriate comment to your superior officer!" Xu replied sharply.
Nida grimaced at the rank-pulling and put his right arm around Xu. "Come on Xu, it was a joke!"
Xu flung his arm off her shoulder and stepped onto the platform that transported her down from the bridge.
"Women…" Nida sighed. He bent down, silently surveyed the wreck that was his precious hover chair. "There goes ten thousand gils I'll never see again".
"Commander?" Rapid knocking followed. "Commander? The ceremony will begin soon."
Squall's fingertips raised onto his forehead. Why is it that they must pick the warmest, most humid day of every spring for these pointless orientations? He mumbled an acknowledgment before taking one last look at the mirror by the door.
"Did you memorize your speech?" a voice called out from the bathroom.
"Yes." It's the same speech every year. Squall took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his dark brown hair.
"Did you polish your shoes? I want you to look like a real commander Squall." Rinoa shouted from the bathroom.
"Whatever." A real commander? I've never asked for any of this. I've never wanted to be this "leader" that you all made me out to be. Squall glanced at the holo-clock on the nightstand. "Are you done yet Rinoa?"
"Almost!" She hurriedly gathered her layered dark hair into a ponytail with a light blue ribbon. "Can you go get Storm and Nellie?"
"Yeah. I'll meet you at the quad." Squall walked out of his office.
"Thanks Squall." Rinoa flashed her best smile in front of the mirror. Storm is going to be among the new students this year. Rinoa smoothed the pastel blue dress around her. It's incredible, how quickly time pass us by.
Marta looked at the piles of plastic trays in front of her. "I sure wish life is more than washing dishes and making hotdogs." She mumbled. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a figure stealthily stepped into the kitchen. "Right on time." She acknowledged the frequent visitor. The man flipped over the kitchen counter and landed beside her. "Here it is." He whispered. "The only thing left of that place." A small hardcover journal was thrown into Marta's lap. "Marta, you promised". The man looked around impatiently. "I ain't got time to waste. Entrance Ceremony's about to start and I've gotta head out soon."
"The tray on the counter..." Marta replied absent-mindedly. The object in her hands brought back so many memories. Marta sighed. I wish he is here right now.
"I should've never been so harsh to that boy, forcing him to become someone he is not." She raised a hand to her face and wiped her tears. "Any news of him?" The lunch lady lightly patted the dust off of the journal.
The man at the counter was busy stuffing the famous Balamb Garden hotdogs into his pant pockets, oblivious to Marta's inquiry.
"Boy! I asked you a question!" Marta raised her voice. It is difficult for her to believe that this incompetent fool is actually a member of the elite SeeD mercenary organization.
"Wa? I ono wa yur tawken aou." He replied with his mouth full.
"Never mind." Marta carefully placed the book into her apron pocket. "Thank you for bringing this to me."
"Nuu pobum." The man replied. Pieces of chewed up hotdogs began to fall out of his mouth. "Ah, 'cuse me."
The familiar melody that signifies incoming intercom messages blared through the speakers.
"Good morning. This is your head pilot Nida Alcazar speaking on behalf of Assistant Commander Xu Larter. The Entrance Ceremony will begin in approximately fifteen minutes. It is kindly requested that all new and transferring students to report to the quad immediately. Parents and guardians please form a line at the Garden Front Gate for the mandatory I.D. and security checks. I repeat, the Entrance Ceremony will begin in the quad in approximately fifteen minutes. All students and their guardians are expected to report to the quad and to the front gate respectively." There was a slight pause, a woman's voice could be heard in the background arguing with Nida.
"Fine, FINE!" Nida's voice was filled with annoyance over the intercom. He cleared his throat. "Although this is completely inappropriate and unnecessary." He paused. "Zell Dincht, please report to the library. Your wife is on a rampage…" A thump was heard. "Oww, Sara. That hurts! Anyway… Zell, your wife needs you to get changed and bring the kids to the quad. Okay, I've had enough of being beaten up by menstruating women today." The intercom buzzed from the banging of the microphone.
The man at the counter had a guilty look on his face. "Aw, so soon?" He hurriedly squished the last few hotdogs into his jacket. "Yo! Gotta go Marta, you heard 'em".
"Bye Zell." Marta sighed and pulled on her dish-washing gloves. I bet he must be as tall as Zell by now. I wonder if he likes hotdogs.
Squall frowned at the intercom message. What was Nida thinking broadcasting THAT to the whole school? To think he was the one who was criticizing my own orders before the battle with Galbadia Garden. Squall shook his head. What a way to ruin Balamb Garden's reputation. He sighed and swiped his keycard through the door to his children's bedroom. The door slid open quickly. He was met with a frustrated boy who was trying unsuccessfully to fit into his Academy uniform.
"Storm?" Squall walked up to his son. "Need some help?"
"No." The little boy picked at his navy blue pants, which lay crumpled and inside out on the floor.
"Well when you do, you know where to find me".
Squall surveyed the room. "Where is your sister?"
"Playing with the potty." Storm pointed to the bathroom.
"You better finish putting that on by the time I have your sister dressed up and ready." Squall looked sternly at his son. Storm frowned and attempted to stand. Unfortunately he tripped over his pants, and fell face down onto the ground.
Squall sighed. It could've been a lot worse. Especially if he had sent Storm to vacation with his grandfather like Laguna had pleaded for. The President of Esthar wanted to mend his relationship with his son via his grandchildren, and Squall very plainly refused. There was no use in rebuilding a relationship that never existed in the first place.
He walked over to the bathroom and knocked slightly on the door. "It's me angel, may I come in?"
"Daddy." A tiny voice spoke from within. Squall opened the bathroom door and stepped in. The tiny girl was looking at her plastic chocobo potty with interest. Squall patted her head. "What are you doing Nellie?"
"Choco." The girl pointed at the potty.
"Yeah Nellie it's a chocobo." Squall looked into his daughter's light blue eyes. "What about it?"
The girl didn't reply. She put her tiny hands on the potty seat and attempted to put her head inside to take a peek.
"Let's not do that today." Squall picked his daughter up and dropped her off by the bed. He rummaged through her tiny closet looking for an appropriate outfit.
"Don't you have anything that doesn't have a chocobo or moogle on it Nellie?" Squall frowned. I need to discuss this with Rinoa someday.
"Daddy." Nellie tugged at her father's pants slightly. Squall looked down and saw his daughter pointing at a tiny white dress on a nearby chair. "Is this what you're supposed to wear today?" Nellie nodded. Squall examined the dress. A small tag dangled - "Made in Dollet" on one side and "2000 gils MSRP" printed on the other.
"Two thousand gils for a dress?" Squall ripped the tag off. "Come here Nellie. I need to put this on you." Squall undressed his daughter and hurriedly threw the white dress over her head. "Okay, let daddy look at you." The tiny girl's glistening eyes were made more apparent by the starch white lace dress. Squall smiled. "You're my pretty little angel."
"Wa'eva" Nellie replied. She picked up a stuffed moogle toy at the foot of her bed and walked over to her brother.
Storm, his uniform crooked, sat on the ground and attempted to put on his polished black shoes while Nellie looked on.
"Here Storm, let me help real quick." Squall reached for his son's shoes.
"No." Storm flashed Squall an angry look. "I can do it by myself!"
"I'm sure you can Storm, but we need to hurry up."
"No!" The boy turned away from his father.
"Okay. Do what you want." Squall stood up and took a step toward the door.
Nellie walked over to Storm.
"Daddy." The girl said in her tiny voice.
"What is it Nellie?"
"Shoo." Nellie pointed at her brother's feet.
"I can't do anything if your brother doesn't want my help".
"I don't need help!" Storm shouted.
"See?" Squall walked over to Nellie. "Come on angel. We need to meet Mama at the quad."
Nellie looked up at her father, then at her brother. She turned to Storm and handed him her stuffed moogle. "Stom haf moogo. Geev Daddy shoo."
Storm looked at his sister intently, searching for any hidden motives behind her gesture.
"I don't want your moogle". Storm knitted his brows.
He considered the situation for a moment, then threw his shoes at Squall.
Squall bit his lips to hold a smile. He crouched down and put the shoes onto Storm's feet. The boy turned his head away, dwelling in his bad mood. Squall helped his son up and adjusted his uniform. "Storm, you're going to be a student of Balamb Garden now. I will not tolerate this kind of behavior from you anymore."
Storm stomped out of the room.
Squall looked down at his other child. "Thank you, angel." He picked up the girl and held her securely in his arms. "Daddy wouldn't know what to do without you."
Nellie smiled, her arms wound tightly around her father's neck.
The two caught up with Storm down the corridor. The boy held onto Squall's outstretched hand in silence as they walked toward the quad.
A/N: Hi everyone! Thank you for reading the revival of Infinite Saga. The new title Mugen is Japanese for "Infinity". I am pushing out this newly revised version today, 8/31/2010 to commemorate the 8 year anniversary of this fic's initial publication (8/31/2002). Let's start with a disclaimer: Square-Enix Co. Ltd. owns everything from the original Final Fantasy VIII. This includes characters, locations, monsters, the Gardens, etc. I claim rights to my original characters Storm and Nellie Leonhart, this storyline, and original objects created specifically for this fic, most especially Nellie's Chocobo potty.
Prima Luce is Latin for "At First Light". This story is dedicated to my friend Melissa W., who has been a constant source of support and inspiration throughout the writing of this fic. See you all in Chapter 2!