Hello, fans of crossovers! Welcome to my latest story, Liberi Fatali! The idea came from this amazing pic of meru-chan, depicting the cast of Dissidia heroes in school, on the upper right corner was Squall being bugged by Bartz and Zidane, I added in Aerith for extra fun. So when it comes toward Laguna's intro, Aerith will dream about a certain black haired soldier, Bartz expericenes a female pirate, and Zidane 'becomes' a silver haired man. Selphie, Squall, and Laguna are the only people in the story who have companions from different FF games.
Summary: SeeD cadet, Squall Leonheart, and his team, consisted of Zidane Tribal, Bartz Klauser, and Aerith Gainsborough, train to become SeeDs, a group of powerful mercenaries. After they graduate, they, along with their classmates and former instructor, are chosen to help a young woman named Rinoa Heartilly and the resistance group, Forest Owls. When a plan to assassine the Sorceress, Edea Kramer, come about, Squall suddenly finds his team and himself in a strange new world which he learns of his past and has strange dreams about a young man named Laguna Loire, who with his own group of teammates share a mysterious connection to Squall and his friends.
Pairings: Squall x Rinoa, Irvine x Selphie, Aerith x Zidane, Bartz x Lenna, Zack x OC
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy V, VII, VIII, and IX all belong to Square Enix, any OCs, changes, and plotline belong to me.
Prologue
It felt like a surreal dream, a young figure stood on a shore of a beautiful sandy beach, waves rolled onto the bright colored sand. The figure was a young woman, with long light brown hair tied back in a ponytail and wrapped in a braid, wearing a sleeveless pink dress that blew in the air, but suddenly, the figure felt it was flying over the water, hearing a voice whispering to it, "I'll be here..."
"Why...?" The figure whispered back, seeing a desert where it once saw the ocean and hearing the voice whisper again. Like the woman at the beach, standing on the barren land were two young men, one had shoulder sandy brown hair tied back in a ponytail, the other had short dark brown hair, both wearing a simple white shirt and black pants, blowing in the wind.
"I'll be 'waiting'... here..." it whispered, the figure, who turned out to be a boy around seventeen year old, looked up and saw a flower field with a girl around his age standing in it. She had shoulder raven black hair with three cameral dyed strands on each side, the boy whispered back, "For what?"
"I'll be waiting here..." The whisper seemed to come from the girl standing in the field. "...for you... ...so... if you come here..." The boy stared at the knitted white wings on the back of the blue robe the girl was wearing, he kept staring at the girl as though he had seen her somewhere before.
The girl whispered again, "You'll find me..." The petals from the flowers blew in the wind, blowing through the girl's hair, she whispered once more, "I promise..."
One of the petals fell into the girl's hand; she closed his hand and grasped it. When she opened her hand, in the place of the petal was a glowing white feather, the wind released the feather from the position in the girl's hand and flew away, she smiled as she watched the feather get caught by the wind. The feather floated into a darkening area, the clouds were black.
Flying high into the sky, the feather seemed to disappear when the bright light of lighting appeared. Spinning down from the sky was a weapon; the handle looked like that of a black pistol, only longer and a chain sticking out from the end. A pendant, in the form of a mighty lion ready to roar, dangled at the end. Where the barrel of a gun was usually found was a long silver blade.
Lighting struck again as the full body of the boy came into view; he had shoulder spiky dark brown hair and bright sea baby blue eyes. The boy wore a long black jacket, over the white sleeveless shirt he wore was a necklace, dangling at the end was a pendant, similar to the one that dangled at the end of the chain on the weapon, on his left arm were three belts wrapped around his lower arm, covering his hands were black leather gloves, holding the pair of black pants on his legs up was a series of belts, larger than the ones wrapped around his arms, a pair of black boots were on his feet. His right hand grabbed the handle of the weapon and patted it on his shoulder as another boy walked up.
He had short pulled back platinum blond hair and light icy blue eyes, wearing a long sliver long sleeve jacket over a black undershirt with white lining, black gloves, black pants and black boots, in his hands was a weapon similar the brown haired boy had, only there was no chain or pendant on it.
The brown haired girl ran toward the blond haired girl, ready to attack. As the brown haired girl swung her blade, white feathers seemed to surround it, in his mind, the boy saw a close up to the white wings on the blue robe of the girl he had seen earlier, the girl turned around and looked to where she was, he also saw the woman from earlier laying on the ground, covered in blood.
The boy also saw a strange person wearing a strange mask, the girl continued to look around, the masked person just sat in her place, but the boy saw the person again, this time she wasn't wearing the mask. The image of the man cradling the blood stained woman appeared, the other man was crying. The image of the masked person appeared again in his mind, but now behind her was the girl and the woman.
The mask disappeared as the person had her eyes closed with the girl and the woman still behind her. The girl grasped a silver ring on a chain around her neck as the person walked to a door and walked through it. The fight between the two boys had just started going on.
The blond haired boy had a smile on her face, which wrote a sense of worry on the brown haired boy's face. The blond haired boy spun and swung his blade, but the brown haired boy blocked the attack by raising his blade. He pushed the blond haired girl away and the fight continued, the two boys trying to knock each other's weapon out.
The brown haired boy swung his blade, but missed the blond haired boy, who smiled slyly, and used his hand to beckon the brown haired boy to come toward him. The brown haired boy groaned, seeing the image of the man cradling the blood stained woman again in his mind.
In a long shot, the two boys continued to fight each other, neither of them were able to draw blood from each other. Sparks flew as the two silver blades collided with each other, the brown haired boy saw a new image in his mind, it was the blond haired boy in some kind of parade, with him was the mysterious person.
He saw the girl again, still grasping the silver ring around his neck. As the fight continued, the brown haired boy saw the person, the two men, the girl, and the woman again in his mind.
Now, the brown haired boy began to swing his blade more wildly than before, he attacked the blond haired boy four times, and though each attack was blocked, they did knock the boy back a little.
The blond haired boy knocked away the blade of the brown haired boy and tried to hit him, but he got out of the way and grabbed his blade. The brown haired boy spun his blade coolly and then charged the blond haired boy, having his left hand out.
But the blond haired boy had his blade prepared for a magic attack, he used the spell and knocked the brown haired boy down to the ground, he couldn't get up because of the smoke from the spell. He saw the image of the woman stained in blood again.
The blond haired boy grinned and swung his blade across the brown haired boy's forehead. The image of the girl still grasping the silver ring around her neck was still in his mind. The blood from his forehead splattered on the ground in the shape of a crescent moon.
The brown haired boy looked at his enemy, anger written on his face, which was covered in the blood of his new wound. As he stood up, his foot slit across the rock ground, his blade sparked and scrapped the ground as he pulled upward to strike the blond haired boy, the images of the person, the girl, the blond haired boy, the men, the woman, and himself in his mind were overtaken by a flurry of black feathers.
Through them, he could see the girl smiling at her. She came out of the flurry and leaned toward the boy, who had a curious look on his face. They embraced into each other. And that is where the dream ended; the boy was laying on a hospital bed, a young female doctor watching over him. There was a bandage over his forehead, clearly hiding the new scar he received from training. The doctor smiled as he began to wake up, sitting on the bed. "How are you feeling?" Dr. Kadowaki asked him.
With a groan, he answered, "My forehead hurts…." "No kidding," Dr. Kadowaki said with a laugh, then took a closer look at her patient. "Looks your eyes are focusing. You should be fine. Say your name for me." "Squall Leonheart." Squall told her, which she wrote down on her clipboard. Dr. Kadowaki smiled at him, "Why don't you take it easy in training? Next time you might not be so lucky." "Tell that to Seifer." Squall sighed; Seifer was the boy who he fought during training. The doctor seemed to agree, "That Seifer….. Won't listen to anyone. Why don't you just ignore him?" "I can't just run away." For some reason, Squall and Seifer have always hated each other; no one seemed to know the reason, not his instructor or his partners.
"You wanna be cool, huh? Well, don't get hurt in the process. Let's see, your instructor is... Quistis! I'll call her now. Just wait here a minute." Dr. Kadowaki left the room to dial his instructor. "Quistis? Come get your student. Yes, yes... His injury's not serious. It'll probably leave a scar. ...Right. Now please come by." While that was going on, Squall just laid back on the bed, through a window a girl appeared and knelt down. She smiled, "So… we meet again, Squall."
Squall looked at her surprised; she had short raven black hair and the same sea baby blue eyes. She stood up and left, leaving him in confusion. Soon afterwards, his instructor and partners came into the room. His instructor was a bright young woman with bright blond yellow hair and bright sea blue eyes. She wore a dark blue uniform; the red collar around the neck was red with gold lining and a unique design in it. Her black skirt stopped at her knees, where her knee high boots began.
One of his partners was also a young woman, she was a bright woman, long light brown hair was tied back into a ponytail and wrapped in a braid with a bright pink ribbon to keep it place, bright emerald green eyes sparked with excitement and happiness as she stared at her partner, Squall's other partner was a young man like him, he had shoulder length sandy brown hair tied back into a ponytail and bright cheerful sea-green eyes, there was something wrapped around his waist as though to hide something.
The three of them walked up to the window and saw Squall lying on the bed. The blond haired woman closed her eyes and sighed, then smiled at him with the two others at her side. They entered the infirmary and walked up to him, the brown haired woman said, smiling, "Oh, Squall, look at you. Will you ever learn?"
"Of course not, Aerith, he and Seifer will never learn." The man said with his hands behind his head, the blond haired woman turned to him, "Hush now, Zidane. I knew it would either you or Seifer! Come on, let's go. Today's the field exam." Squall got off the bed and the group led the infirmary, walking down the hallway. Aerith was talking with Zidane if he had studied for the field exam, while Quistis walked with Squall, she asked him, "Squall, is there something on your mind?" Squall told her, "...Not really." "...Not really. Hahaha!" "What's so funny?" "Funny? No, no, it's not that! I'm just happy. I feel like I'm beginning to understand my student a little. That's all."
"I'm more complex than you think." "Then tell me. Tell me more about yourself." "It's none of your..." "...Business!" Quistis, along with Aerith and Zidane, laughed at this and they all continued to walk down the hallway, passing many of the SeeD cadets wander down the hallways and across the courtyards. Aerith looked up at the exterior of Balamb Garden as they walked to one of Balamb Garden-Classroom. Quistis, Squall, Aerith, and Zidane entered, the students, including Squall, Zidane, and Aerith, went and sat down in their assigned seats.
Quistis began to say, "Good morning, class. Let's start with today's schedule. There seems to have been some rumors flying around about yesterday... Yes, the field exam for SeeD candidates will begin 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 will have free time until the exam. Just be sure you're in top condition. Meet in hall at 1600 hours. I'll announce the team assignments there. Any questions? Oh, and Seifer! Do NOT injure your partner while training. Be careful from now on. Speaking of which, I have a new student which joining Squall's group, Bartz Klauser. Field exam participants, I will see you all later."
The students left as a young man with short light brown hair and bright sea blue eyes walked up to Squall, he smiled and bowed, about to introduce himself when Quistis shouted to him, "And Squall, I need to talk to you." Squall sighed and stood up with Zidane and Aerith, then began to walk with them and the new member of their group, Bartz. As soon as they reached the door, Quistis turned to them and asked, "Squall, where are you going? I thought I told you I needed to talk to you. Your team hasn't been to the Fire Cavern yet, have you? You won't be able to take part in today's SeeD exam if you don't pass the prerequisite."
Aerith and Zidane looked away, Bartz did the same, confused, Squall sighed and thought of an excuse, '...I was gonna go this morning, but Seifer...'"Hm? Do you have a good excuse?" "...Not really." "Then let's get going. If you're not too confident yet, you can review your studies at the study panel. I'll be waiting at the front gate, so come down when you're ready. You can access the study panel from your seat." Squall nodded and the group left the classroom as they heard a young female voice, "I'm late, I'm late, I'm LATE!"
A girl entered and bumped into Squall. She fell down and Squall almost did, but recovered with Aerith and Zidane catching him. "Are you alright?" Bartz asked the girl, who had dark brown hair and bright green eyes; she nodded and stood up, smiling, "There. Tee-hee, I'm fine. Sorry. I was kinda in a hurry. Oh yeah! Hey, did you all just come from that class? Is...registration over?" Squall, Aerith, Zidane, and Bartz nodded, the girl shouted, "Woo...Oh, nooo... This place is soooo much bigger than my last Garden! Oh, hey, hey. I just transferred here with my best friend. Do you think you could give me a quick tour of this Garden?"
"Don't have the time." Squall told her, the girl sighed, "Oh, bummer. That's too bad. Well, see ya." She left for the classroom, and the group left for the part of the Garden Quistis was waiting for them. She was at the Front Gate, smiling at them as they appeared, "I have a few things to explain before we head off. GF give us strength. The stronger the GF, the stronger we become….. Everything ok up till now? Once we get to the Fire Cavern, I'll explain how to junction magic. Use the command 'Draw' during battle and stock magic from your enemies. Be sure to have some stocked! Ready to go? The Fire Cavern used for the test is located east of here."
Then the group left for the Fire Carven, Quistis sighed and turned to the group, "Ok...Junctioning magic. Now pay attention. I'll be explaining how to utilize the magic you have stocked. When you draw a new magic, try experimenting with it when you junction. This is how you become stronger. Ok, ready to go? Oh! You know how to use your gunblade...?" Squall nodded, Aerith smiled as she held her staff close, Zidane just twirled his daggers, and Bartz sheathed his broadsword. Quistis smiled and nodded, "Oh, ok. I was just concerned, that's all. Alright, let's go!" A Garden Faculty member stood by the entrance, he told them, "Objective: To obtain a low-level GF. A SeeD member must support. Are you ready?"
The four students saluted the faculty member, Squall told him, "We're ready." "I'm their support. Instructor No. 14, Quistis Trepe." She told him, he nodded and said, "Select a time limit. Choose one suited to your abilities. Challenging yet reasonable." "40 minutes should do," Aerith told him, he nodded and said, "Very well. Good luck." The two members moved from the doorway and the group entered. The two Garden Faculty members move back into place and the timer began, Quistis said, "My job is to support you in battle. Everything else is up to you." "Fine." "You know, the boys often choke on this test when I come with them. I guess my charm makes them nervous."'...Whatever.' Squall thought to himself, Quistis smiled, "I'm just kidding! Trying to keep you relaxed, that's all."
"I guess I was right. You and Seifer are in a class of your own. You both have amazing strength and potential." Quistis said to Squall after a fight with a Bomb. Aerith smiled and hugged Squall, stream seemed to blow out Zidane's ears as he tried to run to spilt them, only to be stopped by Bartz. Squall just gently pushed Aerith, who smiled and everyone went to the Fire Pit, Quistis turned to her students, she said, "Ok, this is it. Are you ready? You seem confident enough." Suddenly, the earth began to shake and Ifrit flew out of the Fire Pit and roared loudly, causing everyone to cover their ears. The battle with Ifrit began; Aerith waved her staff in the air and summoned the Guardian Force of Ice, Shiva. "They have Shiva! Impudent humans!"
But he was defeated by the power of Shiva's ice, "Ugh, I underestimated Shiva. Very well, I will join you." A bright light appeared around him and he became a crimson red jewel which landed in Aerith's hands. Everyone, but Squall, smiled and headed for the Fire Pit. Quistis breathed a sigh of relief and said, "There isn't much time, but let me go over this real quick. Good, you got yourself a GF. If you junction that GF, you'll be able to use the Elem-J ability. Here's an explanation on Elements." She quickly explained, and looked around, sighing, "There's a lot of Fire elemental monsters here, so junction Blizzard to your Elem-Atk. You'll have an easier time with Fire elemental enemies."
The group walked back to Balamb Garden, they stopped at the entrance, Quistis turned to them and smiled, "Well done. Let's see... I thought there was something else I needed to go over with you before you take the SeeD exam... Oh yes! Taking care of your GF. This is something you have to watch out for. Now change into your uniform and assemble at the 1F Lobby." She went to the Garden; the group went to the dormitory, when Aerith walked to the left,
Squall, Zidane and Bartz walked to the room on the right. Squall's cadet uniform was hanging on its hanger; Zidane's was placed messy on his bed while Bartz's was folded neatly on the floor at the foot of Zidane's bed. The three of them got changed into their uniforms, once they were changed; Aerith knocked on the door and smiled, already wearing her uniform. Then the group headed down to the Garden's south centre, Quistis was there in her teaching uniform, "Squall! Aerith! Zidane! Bartz! Over here!"
Squall, Aerith, Zidane, and Bartz entered, approaching their instructor, she told them, "I'll be announcing the squad assignments for the exam now. Let's see...You'll be with... Zell Dincht. Quite a lively fellow." Squall was the only one who had a displeasing look on his face, "Lively? He's just loud. Can I switch members?" "I'm afraid that's not possible. Over here, Zell!" Zell was a bright young man with blond yellow hair and bright blue eyes, he was seen in the Garden, throwing feign punches and kicks. He performed a cartwheel, which was followed with two back flips. He turned around, smiled and gave the thumbs-up. "Whoa! I'm with you!" He rubbed his hands on his pants, then extended his hand to shake. Aerith giggled while Zidane and Bartz smiled as Squall refused to shake his hand, Zell retracted it. He nervously laughed, "You don't get along with Seifer, do you? Heard he whooped you pretty bad this morning."
"We weren't fighting. We were training." Squall told him, Zell smiled, "I bet you he doesn't think so. Look, Seifer's just being a pain in the ass. All you have to do is ignore him." "That's none of your business." "None of your business!" Quistis shouted, interrupting them, "Ahem...Excuse me, but… That Seifer you're talking about...He's your squad leader." "SAY WHAT!" Zell shouted loudly for Squall and the others to cover their ears, Quistis shrugged her shoulders, "It can't be changed. Seifer! Are you here?" Seifer, Raijin and Fujin entered, Squall whispered to Aerith, Zidane, and Bartz, 'Fujin and Raijin tagging along as usual... Guess that makes up the whole disciplinary committee.'
"You're the squad leader. Good luck to you." Quistis smiled at him, but Seifer waved her off, "...Instructor. I hate it when people wish me luck. Save those words for a bad student that needs them, eh?" "OK then. Good luck, Seifer." "Add Instructor Trepe to the list." Seifer whispered to Fujin, she nodded, Squall pondered with Aerith, Zidane, and Bartz, 'The list...? What is it?' Quistis cleared her throat, "Well then. You're all assigned to Squad B. I'll be the instructor in charge. Teamwork is of the utmost importance. Let's get through this exam, everyone!" "Listen up! Teamwork means staying out of my way. It's a Squad B rules. Don't you forget it!" Seifer told them, Squall, Aerith, Zidane, and Bartz sweatdropped, while Zell became angry with Seifer. Suddenly, the Headmaster, Cid, appeared, he began to explain to them their mission.
"Everyone here? It's been a while, everyone. How's everyone doing? This exam will involve 12 members from Squads A through D... You will be proceeding to a real battlefield. Obviously, the battles are for real. Life and death,
victory and defeat, honor and disgrace... Each of these go hand in hand. There's only one way or the other. How 'bout it? Are you still up for it? You will be accompanied by 9 SeeD members. Should you fail, these members shall get the job done. They always do. Well, that's one less worry on your mind. The pride of Balamb Garden! The elite mercenary force, SeeD! Learn from them, obey their commands and accomplish the mission. Prove yourself worthy of becoming a member of SeeD. Best of luck."
Seifer, Raijin and Fujin left, and Zell followed soon after. Squall, Quistis, Aerith, Bartz, and Zidane followed them to the Car Park. While Aerith, Zidane, and Bartz got in an escort car, Seifer, Zell and Squall boarded the Garden car. It left the Garden with the escort ear behind it, in the back of the Garden Car, Zell asked Squall, "Yo, Squall. Show me your gunblade, will ya?" "..." "C'mon, man!" "..." "Just a peek!" "..." "Tch, fine... Yeah, yeah. Why you bein' so selfish! Scrooooge!" "..." "Say somethin', will ya! W-What's on your mind?" "...Nothing." "...Nothing." Quistis repeated, Zell just sat there, "..." Then he got up and began punching air. "Stop that...It's annoying. ...Chicken." Seifer looked annoyed as ever, Zell shouted again, "WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!" "Heheheh..."
"Knock it off!" Quistis ordered them, Squall quietly spoke to her, "...Instructor... Who was that girl in the infirmary this morning?" "Was someone there? I didn't notice anybody. Is there a problem?" "No...not really..." "This is great... I have a chicken-wuss and a guy who just reached puberty in my squad..." The Garden Car entered Balamb and drove to the docks. The party got out of the car, staring at the sub, Squall asked, "So that's the vessel...?" "Ain't no turning back now. Huh? You scared, too?" Seifer looked toward as one of the staff shouted, "Hey! You guys are the last! Hurry up and get in!" "Don't disappoint me now."
"Come on, move it!" Quistis shouted, Seifer, Squall, Zell, Aerith, Zidane, Bartz and Quistis headed towards the vessel, Quistis shouted again, "Hurry, Squall!" As the door of the sub closed, Squall sighed, neither he or his partners knowing that this mission would change their lives forever.
Please, Read&Review! I would really like you if you do! ^^