Disclaimer:
Pay attention, this is the one, and only time I will tell you this.
I do not own Final Fantasy 8, I am not the owner of any video game, manga, anime, comic book, or television company, SO LEAVE ME ALONE, LAWYERS!
I sigh as I look around wearily, I was sitting on a huge-ass chain-thing, and everyone was getting ready for battle.
'Listen to my story…' Selphie sat down next to me, and wrapped her arm around my shoulder in a calming gesture, 'This…May be our last chance.'
The sounds of waves crashing… seagulls flying overhead… people working on a boat.
It's all the same here.
I chuckle, and I recall the day I got here.
======Flashback======
I winced as I got up, I looked around, I was in some sort of field.
'Where… am I?'
I looked myself over, no scratches, and, thankfully, I was in a sweatshirt and jeans, and I felt… shorter, somehow.
I also noticed one other thing.
"HOLYSHITITISCOLD!"
I wandered for a while, and came upon a beach.
…And land sharks.
"SHIIIIIIIITTTTT!"After some distance sprinting(And subsequent collapsing), I came upon a forest.
…And some dinosaurs.
"SHIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTT!"
Then, after some more distance sprinting, I came upon a wall.
And ran into it.
"Owwww…"
Then, I felt something in my neck, "Ow.", I pulled it out, and noticed it was a dart.
"Huh, weird, what's a dart doin- Oohh… pretty colors…"*Thud!*
In the Trabia Garden Infirmary, Dr. Diane Rae looked at her new patient in confusion.
"Let's try this again. Scan!"
The same readout came up.
Name: Nathan
Age: 12
Height: 5'7
Gender: Male
Weapon: None
Description:Confused and in a daze, he only wants to know where he is.
Diane Rae pondered the readout long and hard.
The Description section, more often than not, gives a summarized version of the targets life story, with an addenda on their weapon of choice.
Either this kid REALLY wants to know where he is… or he's an amnesiac.
Either way, he seemed fit enough… maybe he could join their SeeD program?
======End Flashback======
And so, I did.
But, unfortunately, I had to have a last name in order to finish signing the papers.
The only decent sounding one I could think of(that wasn't my own) was, sadly, Uzumaki.
And so, I became Nathan Uzumaki.
I was introduced, in class, everyone's kind… except, of course, the resident "Queen".
Everyone's met a "Queen", selfish, manipulative, has tons people under her thumb, and the school can't do jack squat about it because she's still following the rules.
I tried keeping my distance, and succeeded.
Of course, that didn't keep her from teasing me.
Luckily, that all stopped the moment I kicked her ass in Triple Triad, the game everyone loves.
Apparently, the social ladder there revolved around it, and I beat the person at the top.
Thereby making me the awesomest kid on site…apparently.
Now, here's the aggravating part about Triple Triad.
The card company CEO know that GFs can refine cards into items, and as such, SeeDs and SeeD Trainees aren't allowed to purchase cards.
At the same time, SeeD Trainees are assigned one Gamblers Spirit upon gaining their first GF.
So, in other words, I would have to go outside and risk my ass for a card game.
After a year, I was able to get my weapons.
In truth, I am an Opportunist, I try making myself skilled in most weapons(At the very least, "Doesn't utterly suck" level), but my specialty is with the Hookblades.
Long reach, and has the ability to disarm your foe.
Made a lot more sense to me than a sword.
After all, why stab your foe, when you could steal his sword and stab him with that?
But I'm not at that point yet, back to then.
It was in Junction class, I met my first friend, Selphie Tilmitt.
My initial reaction was 'Dawww… She's adorable!'
After she handed my ass back to me in sparring practice, I agreed with most kids on one simple fact, Do not piss off the Cerebramancer!.
To clarify, a Cerebramancer is a person who can take the magic flowing around us, and refine it into usable magic. In some cases, though, it comes out imperfect, and she would have to immediately discharge it.
But still, she does an excellent job of creating magic.
And then came the day we were supposed to go out and get my GF.
Hoo boy.
I remember that heart attack of a day like it were yesterday.
=========Flashback==========
"C'mon Nathan! Hurry up!" a floating Selphie called out from her place past me.
Unfortunately, I don't have Float on me, and Selphie keeps forgetting that fact.
"I'm sorry, do you want to climb?" I said, getting over a large snow-capped boulder.
In a T-shirt.
Without gloves.
Yeah, Trabia students go through cold resistance training.
Theoretically speaking, we could swim through the ocean to the Shumi Village naked if we wanted to.
…Not that we would, colds are still colds in Trabia, and it would be embarrassing as hell.
The 100 Blizzagas they give us to junction to our Junction Bracers probably help a bunch too.
What are Junction Bracers?
They are created by Doctor Odine, they enable even civilians to junction magic, but you can only have two at a time, they only work half as good as a GF Junction, and you can't use your junctioned magic, and are given to SeeD Trainees if they have to leave Garden before getting a GF.
(A/N: Hey, he had to base the Junction: Ellone machine off of SOMETHING, didn't he?)
Selphie, however, was lucky, and managed to find a GF in a Tonberry that somehow found it's way all the way up here, she didn't need them.
She made her way ahead, beyond my vision.
I grumbled and as I climbed over a boulder, I heard her scream.
"Selphie!" I hurried over the boulder, and jumped from boulder to boulder, fear of falling gone for the moment, and I quickly caught up.
My heart about stopped.
She was stuck with her back to the cliff, a full-grown Ruby Dragon prowling towards her.
It raised it's paw, as I looked on in horror.
"No…"
It swept it's paw, hitting Selphie, causing her to go flying, and hit a boulder.
She didn't get up.
"No… No… Nonononono…"
The Ruby Dragon took in a deep breath, readying a flame attack, and I screamed out, "NO!"
The world faded to shades of black and white.
I was dimly aware of something dribbling down my cheeks, but I didn't care.
I jumped, and landed in front of Selphie, the Ruby Dragon saw some more prey, and fired a fire ball at me.
I deflected it with my arm, suffering no damage, and in a borderline demonic voice, snarled out "Dragon Render."
I kicked it into the air as my hookblades fused together, spinning them rapidly, I leaped, and passed through the Ruby Dragon.
I landed, and saw that the thing was split in half.
A single slash later, and its head laid in my backpack, sticking out ridiculously.
Then, I looked over to Selphie, there was a puddle of red liquid forming around her.
I'm not quite sure what happened after that, but I recall picking her up, and then being inside Trabia Garden, carrying her bridal style.
People gave us wide berth, except for one guy, he tried attacking me, and was violently thrown against a wall.
(Later, people told me that my clothes and skin were pure white, my arms were coated in blood, and I had some on my clothes, also, my eyes were bleeding, the sclera and the iris both were blood red, which, in certain lights, looked pitch black.)
I burst into the Infirmary, and got the attention of Dr. Rae.
After she began casting Curaga on Selphie, I blacked out.
As I regained consciousness, I idly noted one thing.
'Ow. Ow ow. Owowowowowsore!'
Pain.
I opened my eyes, and saw Selphie asleep in a chair, bandages wrapped around her stomach.
'Ow. Dawww… Ow.'
Dr. Rae comes in, and I look at her curiously, and bob my head towards the sleeping Selphie.
She whispers, "She heard you risked your life to save her, and wanted to be there when you got up. You worried us all, dear." I winced, and pulled out my arm, making a 'come here' gesture.
Dr. Rae came over, and I whispered, "What was…How bad… How bad was she hurt?" I asked, Dr. Rae replied, "She hit a jagged part of that boulder, it cut up her back pretty bad." I felt guilty, it was my fault, in a way.
If I had been there, or even acted instead of gawking like an idiot, she wouldn't 've been hurt at all.
"It's thanks to you she survived." I looked at her in confusion.
"According to eye-witnesses, you suddenly appeared in the school Quad, and made a beeline for the Infirmary. Apparently, this is why you're so wounded right now, too.""…What?"
She sighed, and said, "You managed the improbable, and used a Limit Break without a Guardian Force equipped."
Voice raspy, I asked, "How… does that… hurt me?"
"Guardian Forces grant immense strength boosts, among other things, it enables one to stand and fight through the recoil that a Limit Break brings. I'm not sure if that was you handling it, you panicking about Miss Tilmitt, or if it was just the effects of your Limit Break, but you appeared to be hysterical."
That last word echoed in my head.
"Hys…teria."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Limit Break is… Hysteria."
I breathed a laugh, and said, "Heh… Fits… I worry… panic… too much."
I looked to Dr. Rae, and said "…Water?…Please?"
Ten minutes later, I was good enough to get out of bed.
Naturally, that was when Selphie woke up, and glomped me hard enough to throw me back on the bed.
She hugged me for a bit, and I hugged back.
'Please, don't scare me like that again.' ran through my mind.
Unbeknownst to me at the time, it ran through her mind, too.
=========End Flashback=========
Yeah, she and I watch out for each other.
I looked into my backpack, where a full set of Inferno Fangs were, it took Trabia a few years to extract them all safely, there were about fifty of the things, I was supposed to give one to Balamb's Blue Mage as a sign of good faith.
Back to the recap. we got our first nicknames for each other a week after that incident.
===Flashback===
Selphie and I were walking to class, when we passed by a trio of girls.
One sighed, "Look at them. Don't they look adorable together?", hearing that comment I blushed slightly.
Another said, "Yeah, they do. Hey, do you think the rumors are true? That he saved her from a full-grown Ruby Dragon?"The third one chuckled, and said, "Yeah! Then he would be like her knight or something!"
The second one laughed, and said, "Then that would make her his princess!"I chuckled slightly as we continued on.
In class, I pulled out a chair for Selphie, and said with a look of humor on my face, "After you, Princess." .
In turn, she said, "Why thank you, sir Knight." we stared at each other for five seconds before we couldn't hold it back anymore, and starting laughing.
===End Flashback===
Yeah, things were good until the following week, when I had to get my GF.
===Flashback===
We, once again, were climbing the mountain range, where Ramuh, the Spirit of Lightning was rumored to be.
THIS time, we stuck close to each other.
After a while, we made it to a relatively flat area, and there we found a cabin, with a fire going in it, if the smoke coming out of the chimney is any indication.
I knocked on the door, and an elderly man came out.
"Yes? May I help you?"
"Yes, we- uhh… We're looking for the…The Guardian Force known as Ramuh, would you happen to know where it is?"
The old man looked inquisitive for a moment, before recognition sparked in his eyes.
"Ah! Yes! Ramuh can typically be found across the gorge around this time, if you hurry, you can still make it!"
My head darted from left to right, looking for the gorge, when Selphie said, "Would it be possible for you to lead us to the gorge?"
The old man nodded, and said, "Gladly."
-Minutes later-
Walking along a narrow part of the cliff face, the old man said "Watch your step!"
Naturally, I looked down, and almost fell.
-Minutes later-
Tiptoeing past a marked Ruby Dragon den, the old man said, "Ssshhh… Be quiet."
Stubbed my foot on a rock, hurt like HELL!
-Minutes later-
There was a rickety bridge and a gorge just around the boulder, the old man had said.
But the old man also said that if he didn't get back to his stew, it would scorch, and left.
They turned around the boulder, and, indeed, saw a tall being, lightning sparking from his body every now and then, looking out towards the sea.
And the bridge looked so rickety, it was just plain ridiculous.
Naturally, I was the first one to start running across, Selphie came after me, I was almost across when I heard a cracking noise, and Selphie scream.
That one noise causes my stomach to drop.
I spun around, and only saw a pair of hands clinging onto a board.
'Shit!' I jerked around, Ramuh was getting up to leave, 'Double shit!'
In my mind, the pros and cons were weighed, and a decision was made.
'Fuck Ramuh.'
I turned, and ran towards the panicking Selphie, helping her up.
We walked briskly towards the way we came, when we heard a cracking noise.
We turned around, "SHIT! RUN!" on the other end of the rickety-ass bridge was a Golem.
Golems are huge-ass things that weigh more than three cars put together.
Basically, it can make a frisbee out of anything less than an tank by merely sitting on it… if it were smart enough to think of that.
They aren't exactly the smartest creatures in existence.
And it was trying to make it's way across the bridge.
Which is why we were running towards the safety of the mountain.
*CRACK!* *SNAP!*
I jerked my head back, the bridge was falling!
We were close to the mountain, but the bridge fell.
Selphie managed to grab the cliff edge, and I grabbed her hand.
We were stuck.
I looked behind us, and the Golem had fallen hundreds of feet onto the ground below, shattering into oblivion.
I looked up to Selphie, she was struggling to keep herself and me held up at the same time.
I couldn't let her die… I just couldn't…
I took a shuddering breath, and said, "Hey, Selphie." she continued in her struggle, but opened an eye, and strangled out, "What?" I smiled, a tear flowing down my face, "Stay strong for me." And with that, I let go.
Selphie quickly became aware of what just happened, and called out, "NATHAN!"
As I free-fell, A question popped into my head, Was it worth it?
A melancholy smile appeared on my face, 'Yeah, it's worth it.'
The ground hit faster than I expected.
*Thud!*
(A/N: Would've been a hell of a place to leave things hanging for now, but my plan was for the first chapter to be up until Balamb.)
I groaned as vision returned to me.
Either I was in limbo, or Hell involved large amounts of back pain, because Heaven's supposed to be lacking pain.
And I should have WINGS! Where the hell are my wings?
I blinked my eyes open, there was someone crying, and the place resembled a cabin.
I got up slowly, wincing every inch I moved, 'Good God Almighty! Do all people who die this way get a effed up back?'
Then, arms wrapped around me, the sobbing grew muffled as my shoulder felt damp.
I turned my neck, wincing some more, and saw a familiar head of brown hair.
"…Selphie?"
A hand reached up, and smacked me in the back of the head.
"Ow! What was that for?" She got up, tears streaking down her sad face.
"Y-you idiot! Y-y-you c-cou-could've d-die-died!" She then hugged me tightly, as if worrying I was going to vanish, "D-don't you e-ever scare me li-like tha-that again!" I returned the hug, tears leaving streaks down my face too, barely noticing the pain in my back and neck fading away.
Just beyond Selphie's head, I saw the old man, who in a flash of light, grew to be ten feet tall, , beard nearly reaching down to his feet, wearing a spiky necklace and a white robe with a scepter in his right hand, he nodded to me, and I felt a presence in my mind.
I held Selphie close, inwardly, I was raging.
'A TEST! A fucking TEST! That JACKASS! He risked Selphie's life, and then mine, ALL FOR A DAMN TEST!'
I kept apologizing for weeks, she was still upset with me at that point, but still, we were friends again.
By the end of the month, we got back to calling each other "Princess Selphie" and "Sir Knight".
By the end of the year, I was starting to forgive Ramuh.
===End Flashback===
"By the way, you STILL haven't said sorry about that, jackass."
"Hey, it was a test to see if you were self-sacrificing enough to have earned me. If you hadn't done that, and let your girlfriend die, I would've smote you into oblivion! We've been over this!"
"You. Do. Not. Risk. Selphie's. Life. PERIOD! END OF DISCUSSION!… AND SHE IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!"
"Deeeeniiiiiiaaaalllll!"
Anyway, still haven't successfully forgiven the jackass.
It would help if he wasn't a JACKASS, and would say SORRY!
…Anyway, it was two years after that, we finally made SeeD Cadet ranking… Right after the only SeeD exam of the year.
But it was in the last year that our new nickname rose up.
===========Flashback=========
We were paying attention in class, as opposed to certain people in the back row.
"-it was shortly after the defeat of the Sorceress Adel that Esthar sponsored our Cerebramancy program, which is where we attempt to teach the ability of refining ambient magic in the surroundings into magic, either to junction, or to cast. Miss Tilmitt here-" he gestured to Selphie, who blushed slightly at everyone staring at her, "- is, so far, the best result the program has produced, being able to consistently create magic out of thin air, with a failure ratio of one out of fifty-six point three attempts." she got applauded, causing her to blush brighter.
After class ended, we gathered up our supplies, and I pulled out her chair, and asked, "So, they got the idea for Cerebramancy from studying the Sorceresses?" Selphie nodded, "So that means that you're the closest thing we have to a Sorceress?" blushing, Selphie nodded again, I chuckled, and she dropped a book, "Let me get that for you, Sorceress Selphie." she rolled her eyes, stepped away from the book, and said, "Alright, my Knight." And just like a similar incident three years ago, we both held it in for about five seconds before bursting out laughing.
======End Flashback======
And that's how everyone got to calling us The Sorceress and her Knight.
…Would you believe that I still had all 100 of the issued Blizzagas?
Yeah, well, they seemed useful, so I kept them saved up.
…And I never did find out how they unfused my hookblades...
My head bashed against the wall, eliciting an "OW!" as the ship hit a wave.
"Balamb Docks are in sight!" well, that was my cue to wake up Selphie.
"Oy, Sorceress Selphie, wake up. Waaaaakkkkkeeeee uuuuuppppp…" She was out of it.
'Hmm… lets see… how can I do this? I don't want to smack her upside the head, THAT never turns out well for me. I do NOT want to turn into a fish again! It took them weeks. WEEKS, to get me turned back…Ugh. I'm gonna have to joy buzzer her again.'
I applied what Thunders I had to Strike Element, and held up two fingers, causing a small bolt of lightning to arc between them.
With that, I gently poked her arm…
*Zzzzzzt!* *Chik!* *KerWHAP!*
I was on the ground, clutching my face, as Selphie held her arm, nunchaku laying by her side on the bed.
"Gaaaaaggghhh… Remind me to not do that again."
She giggled a little, and said, "Better than the time you stood over me and tried that."
I winced, that girl could kick!
She rolled her eyes and cast a simple Cure spell, saying "Get up, Knight, or do I have to kick you to see if-" I was on my feet in an instant.
I parted my hands, and said, "Any bruises?".
Her response? Cure on Strike Element, and her hand on my face.
I noted that my skin felt less painful by the time she took her hand away.
Then, I toppled over, and she fell on top of me as the ship docked, causing us both to blush, shock keeping us still.
A sailor came in, and said, "We are at p-" he looked at us, and a knowing smirk grew on his face, "…I'll leave you two to it.", the door shut, and we both blushed brightly.
We both decided to keep each other at arms length for now.
Authors Notes:
Woot! Done with Chapter Zero!
Alright, explanation time.
The various little new details are me running over plot holes with an asphalt truck.
If you want to know the reason why the Card Making Company doesn't want SeeDs to buy cards?
Hehehe, guess. Who doesn't want anything to do with SeeD?
If you still don't get it, it'll be revealed in due time.
No pairings so far, and if I write this right, there might not be(Except for SquallxRinoa, that's Canon), although, there miiiiight be some MexSelphie later, if I feel like it.
The relation Selphie and I have are either "Best Friends" or "Big Bro-Little Sis".
Also, the way SI thinks is how I think in real life, I seldom curse, but it's all out in my head.
I will be playing Triple Triad ad nauseum, why? Because it's fun, Random doesn't exist, and I get cool doodads for it.
I will also be bringing up a few tricks I found a while back.
If any of you have played Alice: Madness Returns, you know about Hysteria, if you don't, here's an explanation on my version.
In Hysteria, my skin hardens to where it can deflect most things(key word, MOST), and strengthens me enough to punch through a boulder, it effects me sort of like Rinoa's Angel Wings limit break, as in it lasts until the danger's passed, or for a certain amount of time(ten, fifteen minutes, tops), time slows down for me, my eyes begin bleeding from the strain, causing them to go blood-red, to me, the world fades into shades of black and white, but blood shows up vividly, my clothes turn white, as in snow white, causing shadows to be blatantly visible.
The thing is, the world changing bit, that's from my perspective, the clothes changing bit, and the bit where my eyes start bleeding? Everyone sees that.
You might be wondering, "How did he get there?", That, my dear readers, will be explained in due time.
I will also remember most of my time on Earth.
In my opinion, Scan works by getting the information the user wants, with Squall, it would be battle information, with a doctor, it would be medical information, for Irvine, it might include women's measurements somewhere in there, for me? In a panic about Selphie?
"Selphie? No."
The Junction Bracers are what I assume Odine made prior to the Junction: Ellone machine, since, after all, junctioning a magic is one thing, junctioning a PERSON is another thing entirely.
Also, the GF Junction abilities have gotten a name change(They aren't gonna go around calling it Ess-Tee-Are-Jay, for crying out loud).
Str-J to Strength
Mag-J to Clarity
Spd-J to Speed
Vit-J to Defense
Eva-J to Dodge
Hit-J to Accuracy
Spr-J to Will
HP-J to Endurance
Elem-Atk-J to Strike Element
Elem-Def-J to Elemental Defense
Stat-Atk-J to Strike Ailment
Stat-Def-J to Ailment Resistance
And if you want an example of the hookblades, think Jet's off of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
And that's all for now, folks, see you next time!
Read and Review, please!
[Edit(November 24th, 2011): Reread the Altimate Rewrite and found out it was Cerebramancy/mancer, not Cebremancy/mancer. Whoops!... Happy Thanksgiving!]