Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the Final Fantasy franchise or characters.
Author's note: Hey guys, long time since I've written anything, bear with me while I get back in the swing of things.
Sorceress Paradox
Chapter One: Beginnings
[Instructor Tilmitt report to the bridge. Repeat, Instructor Tilmitt report to the bridge]
Selphie rolled her eyes as her students whooped and whistled, teasing and asking their petite melee instructor what she blew up this time. "All right, all right folks, settle down," she laughed out, quite used to the jokes. "While I'm out practice defense and evasion techniques, and..." she paused for dramatic effect, a twinkle in her emerald eyes, "If any of you bail to make mischief for Instructor Dincht again, you'll be my sparing partners for a month, got it?" She nodded, pleased to see her students gulp in fear at the prospect. Selphie had a reputation for being insanely strong and brutal when it came to sparing, and her students were not fond of the idea having to spar with her. She left the training room to a chorus of subdued 'yes ma'am's.
{I wonder what they want from me?} Selphie speculated as she made her way to the Garden's central elevator. Since becoming an instructor over a year ago Selphie had only been summoned to the bridge twice. Once for a specialized SeeD mission as a test pilot for the new Estharian airship Niblheim, and again shortly after to be reprimanded for accidentally blowing up the new airship. {How was I supposed to know it wasn't designed to match the Ragnorak's speed…} she silently fumed again as she waited for the elevator.
The elevator ding'd open and Selphie's eyes widened as she entered. Already waiting inside were her friends and fellow instructors Zell Dincht and Irvine Kinneas. {What is going on?} she wondered.
As if reading her mind Zell nodded to her and asked, "Do you know what this is about? I got a text from Squall telling me to come to the bridge."
Irvine nodded and tilted his trademark cowboy hat, "I got a message on my terminal in the classroom from him, telling me the same thing, then I heard the P.A. call for you," he stated, smiling his most womanizing smile at Selphie. Zell noticed and groaned.
The brunette just shrugged, completely used to and unaffected by the cowboy's charm, "I don't know what it's about, only that it has to be serious for Squally to summon us." The three friends became quiet, remembering back to the last time all of them were on the same mission.
{It's been seven years since the Ultimecia Disaster, and almost as long since the three of us have been on a mission together,} Selphie thought as the elevator rose to the third floor.
After the defeat of Sorceress Ultimecia and her plan for Time-Compression, what the world deemed as the Ultimecia Disaster, the Six Heroes had disbanded their team, though not their close bonds. The team had consisted of Galbadia Garden sniper Irvine, Balamb Garden SeeDs Selphie, Zell, Quistis Trepe, and Commander Squall Lionheart, and the young sorceress Rinoa Heartily. Before the Disaster each of them had been exceptionally strong, with the exception of Rinoa, having been trained from childhood as soldiers. After the Disaster, the group had become insanely strong, to the point that newly-opened xenophobic Esthar and newly-toppled power-hungry Galbadia both feared them as a military threat and no longer represented neutrality that Garden stood for. To ease everyone's fear Squall had disbanded their perfect team and since had made sure to never put any of them in the same team or on the same mission.
Selphie looked up as Zell exclaimed, "Woah!" Again her green eyes widened in surprise as the elevator opened up on the third floor to show the last two females of their old team, the tall Quistis and the charismatic Rinoa.
"Oh my gosh Rin!" Selphie gushed as she quickly embraced the young sorceress. "I didn't even know you were back! It's great to see you!"
Rinoa smiled, "You too Selphie," her smile quickly became serious, "But I'm afraid it's not with good news."
"What happened?" Irvine asked. "Weren't you on a simple research assignment?"
Quistis shook her head, her blue eyes scanning the room, "Not here Irvine, we'll discuss this in a moment." Her head turned as the door to the bridge opened and Lieutenant Xu motioned for the group to follow.
Zell opened his mouth to say something, paused, then closed it, as if he had thought better of it. {Yeah, Zell, I'm thinking the same thing,} Selphie thought as they followed Xu to the conference room connected to the bridge. {What's with all the cloak and dagger stuff?} She glanced around her at her friends, {I was called over the P.A., Zell was summoned through a text, and Irvine got an e-mail. Why did Squall use so many different methods to summon us. It's almost as if he didn't want everyone to know he had summoned all of us…}
Selphie's suspicions were confirmed when the group entered the empty conference room. The small room was engulfed in an Odine Barrier. One of Odine's few inventions that wasn't solely dedicated to the control of sorceress powers, the barrier was designed to not only protect those within from physical and magical attacks, it was also designed to block all types of sensory penetration for the outside, so that no one, sorceress or otherwise, could see, hear, touch, or even sense with their mind what was going on inside. Selphie shivered as she entered the barrier and it scanned her biological signature. She always got the creepy crawlies whenever she entered this O. Barrier; a few years ago when it was first installed she had accidentally tried to cross the barrier before she was registered as 'safe personnel' and got a serious zap.
After entering the barrier they found the room wasn't really empty; their leader Squall had been in the room behind the barrier all along. Beside him was the infamous Dr. Odine himself. The small group of comrades took their seats at the table quietly, sensing the seriousness of the strange situation.
Squall stood, his gray eyes calm as he waited for Xu to close the door and take her place. He nodded to each of them in turn, saying "Thank you for coming. I apologize for all the secrecy, but what you're about to hear can't leave this group." He waited for the rest to nod their agreement, then turned to his wife Rinoa, "As you all know Rin was recently in Esthar doing research with Dr. Odine, what you don't know is what they were researching." He gestured to the sorceress, "Rin will you explain?"
The dark haired woman nodded and stood, "I know some of you are familiar with some of my teachings in my class," she started. Selphie and Quistis looked at each other; the three women would often discuss their various specialized classes over coffee dates. Rinoa's class was Philosophy of Hyne, Sorceresses and Sorceress Embodiment. A class they all believed to be vital to SeeDs and future SeeDs, so that they could understand the difference in Sorceresses and their various powers. Another underlying reason for the class, was to help spread the understanding that not all Sorceresses are evil. The last two Sorceress Wars, the most recent the Ultimecia Disaster, had caused a global fear and hatred of all Sorceresses. Rinoa smiled at them and continued. "One of my favorite lectures is the Chicken and the Egg question, in reference to the power of Sorceresses. My research with Dr. Odine was on that very theory," She leaned forward unto the table, becoming very grave. "And we stumbled onto a very scary and very possible connection between the beginning of the Sorceresses and Ultimecia..."