It was dark and humid in the Training Center of Balamb Garden as a lone fighter stood calmly as he stared down a pair of grats; plant-like monsters who were able to utilize poison and sleep attacks in conjunction with beating their prey into submission with their whip-like tendrils. The grats let out a low grumble as they continued to sway back and forth, just waiting for their target to make the first move.
The lone warrior chuckled at the grats' hesitation as he readied himself for a battle. He wore a black T-shirt, brown cargo pants, grey boots, and a dark brown tactical vest. On his forehead, he wore a light green bandana that complemented his hazel eyes. The bandana kept the sweat from his golden-brown hair from pouring down his face and obscuring his vision as he grabbed a hold of his weapon of choice: a six-foot tall scythe with a two-foot long curving blade.
The man smiled as he remembered the looks on his SeeD instructor's face when he elected to wield the scythe he named "Tempest." In all the years that Balamb Garden had been in operation, no one had ever chosen to use a scythe, as many thought it was both a strange and impractical weapon compared to the usual stock that most SeeD candidates chose.
This man, however, liked being different. He specifically chose the scythe as his weapon because no one had attempted to master a weapon like this. True, in the hands of a novice, a scythe was a clumsy and slow weapon. But in his hands…
One of the grats eventually became impatient and decided to hurl its acidic gastric juices, which the warrior deftly dodged. His scythe in his left hand, the man quickly ran towards the attacking grat and drove the blade of Tempest deep into the monster's gullet, slicing it open. The grat screeched in agony as its mate started swiping at the warrior with its tendrils in a wild yet focused manner. The warrior in turn removed his blade from the first grat and started blocking the second's swings and blows with Tempest's staff. He could have just backed away (grats being relatively slow creatures) and avoided the onslaught altogether, but he wanted to test his reflexes. Finally, the grat realized that its physical attacks weren't working as it reeled back and unleashed a cloud of sleeping gas. The warrior quickly backed far enough away to avoid the gas as he circled around his opponent until the grat's back was to him. In a flash, he brought his scythe down hard on the grat, cleaving the plant monster into two identical halves.
The warrior let out a sigh of relief. While grats were not by any means the most dangerous of monsters, he had no illusions of being invincible. He fought and trained for many reasons, but one of them was not the desire for some cheap thrill. As he finally caught his breath, he felt the familiar tinge of someone or something casting a para-magic spell. He quickly readied his weapon as he searched for the magic's source.
Before he could determine the spell's origin, he soon realized that he was in no danger. He chuckled as he called out towards the brush:
"Miss Trepe, that's not very nice, you know? Spying on a student while he's trying to train, using a Scan spell on him without his permission…some people might get the wrong idea if they heard about this!"
The brush started to shake as a feminine figure emerged from the shadows. "Only in your dreams, Cyrus Ranto. And it's 'Instructor Trepe' to you."
Cyrus laughed as he rested his scythe on his left shoulder. Quistis Trepe, dressed in her traditional cream-orange vest and long skirt, shook her head in disbelief as she walked up to her student. Ever since she and her friends defeated the time sorceress Ultimecia and ended the Second Sorceress War seven years ago, she had had her hands full as a full-time SeeD instructor. And in all those seven years, no student had caused her more problems than Cyrus Ranto. As skilled as he was in combat, he was notorious for skipping classes and napping in the ones he bothered to show up for. Still, despite his attitude towards classroom work, he always managed to pass them all…something that Quistis both admired and hated.
"Oh, yeah…sorry, Instructor," Cyrus sheepishly apologized. "But still, I am a bit curious as to why you're stalking me. Don't you have some other students you could be spying on?"
"I wasn't stalking you, you pervert! You didn't show up for my class on High-Level Elemental Magic and I was worried…although I can't imagine why I should care about some slacker like you."
"So you do care," Cyrus pointed out, which only seemed to infuriate Quistis even more. "All right, calm down Instructor. I'll behave. So, you tracked me down here and watched me make salad out of a couple of monsters. And then you go and scan me?"
Quistis forgot her anger as she ran her fingers through her honey-blonde hair and slyly smiled, "Well, since you refuse to actually show up to class, a Scan spell's the only way I can keep track of your progress. I do have to admit…for a slacker, you are showing steady growth."
"I don't suppose you'd like to share your findings with your favorite student, now would you?"
Quistis shrugged as she handed Cyrus a computerized tablet that SeeD developed in concert with Esthar to store the data extracted from a Scan spell. Cyrus quickly found the entry containing his information as he perused the data:
Cyrus Ranto
Level: 12
Weapon: Scythe
Specializations: Chemistry, Engineering, Combat
"Hmm," Cyrus mused as he handed the tablet back to Quistis. "I'd have thought my level would be higher than that. Maybe I need to find stronger monsters to train against."
"Don't read too much into it," Quistis suggested. "We're still not 100% sure these Scan Readers show everything. Besides, it doesn't measure a person's will to win…and that's one thing that every SeeD has to have to be successful."
"Fair enough," Cyrus conceded. "But getting back to the subject on hand…why are you REALLY here, Instructor? I doubt you'd go through this much trouble just to check up on me."
Quistis sighed. After a few seconds of silence, she answered, "I heard that you didn't show up for your GF Junction Session yesterday. The Garden Faculty members were livid and are looking to expel you."
"Oh, is that all?"
"Be serious for once, Cyrus!" Quistis demanded. "You elected to junction with a GF, you underwent all the necessary pre-junction treatments, and then you just blow it off? Skipping class is one thing, but this? What possible reason could you have for not showing up?"
"A very good one, I assure you," Cyrus calmly said as he started to tap his scythe on his shoulder very nonchalantly. GFs, or Guardian Forces, were powerful spirits that governed various aspects of nature, time, and space. By merging with the GFs in a process called "junctioning," a normal human being can gain power surpassed only by those of a sorceress. But such power comes with a price: a GF lends its master its strength and knowledge, but takes away a person's memories. Balamb Garden was the only establishment outside of Esthar that was allowed to do research on the Guardian Forces, and was the only organization that permitted their use. However, because of the inherent risks, junctioning with a GF was the decision of each and every SeeD and SeeD cadet, and every precaution was taken to ensure that the candidate was in peak physical and mental condition to handle a GF junction.
The process was both expensive and painstaking, so the Garden Faculty were understandably upset that one of their candidates went through the pre-junction treatments and not show up for the junctioning itself. Quistis was about to go on a tirade when a pair of voices shouted back at the entrance of the Training Center.
"Student ID Number 57854, Cyrus Ranto!"
Cyrus shook his head as a pair of stocky men in white robes and red overalls ran over to where he and Quistis were standing. Their hands were hidden in their oversized sleeves and their faces obscured by large, flat yellow hats. These two were Garden Faculty members, non-military officials whose only responsibility was to enforce the rules and standards of the Garden Code, as well as ensure that the Garden remained financially afloat. Seven years ago, they worked as agents of the Shumi Garden Master NORG…now, rumors abound as to who or what the Garden Faculty members actually answer to.
"Well, well…if it isn't the Yellow-Hat Brigade," Cyrus mockingly stated. "And what brings completely useless pricks like you out here in the Monster's Lair?"
"Silence!" one of the Faculty shouted. "You underwent pre-junctioning treatment and refused to show up for the GF Junction Session. We've known of your 'issues' with classroom tardiness and your general disrespect of certain instructors and Garden Faculty members. You refuse to conduct yourself in a manner befitting a SeeD, and we have no choice but to expel you from Balamb Garden. And we will be sure to pass this along to both Galbadia and Trabia Gardens, so don't be thinking you'll be able to…"
Cyrus cut the Faculty member off with a wave of his hand. "Wait just a damn minute and let's get a few things straight, Yellow-Hat! One: while I might not show up to class every now and then, I have yet to turn in a late assignment or fail a class. Two: the only people I 'disrespect' are those that deserve it. And three: as I was explaining to Instructor Trepe, I have a very good reason for no-showing yesterday, and if you'd just…"
"ENOUGH!" the second Faculty member yelled. "There's nothing you can say that is going to change our mind, so come peacefully before we have to call in 'reinforcements.'"
Quistis, silent through this whole exchange, immediately became worried. The Garden Faculty's idea of "reinforcements" usually referred to something big, nasty, and with a lot of sharp teeth. "Hold on! Your people have already been warned by the Commander that such actions against students were forbidden. Let me handle Ranto…I'll take him to the Commander myself."
"Hah! We know better than to entrust something like this to a mediocre instructor like you!" the first Faculty member boasted as Quistis started seething. "Cyrus Ranto, come with us."
"Listen, you two assclowns! The reason I skipped the Junction Session…"
"We don't care," the second Faculty member muttered as he brought his right hand to his lips and blew a whistle.
A low roar emanated from the deep thicket as the ground started to shake. Out from the brushes emerged something that most Balamb Garden students went out of their way to avoid in the Training Center. It was close to fifteen feet tall, had bright red scales, a very long and powerful tail, and a large mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. This was the fearsome and powerful dinosaur that struck fear into even a great many SeeD…
"T-Rexaur," Quistis whispered as she went for her chain whip. She wasn't junctioned, so a fight with an adult T-Rexaur wasn't going to be easy. This particular monster was ancient, and T-Rexaurs were constantly fighting amongst themselves for breeding and territorial rights, making the few that reached adulthood incredibly strong and tough. And once the T-Rexaur got a whiff of any of the humans, it'd pursue them with extreme prejudice and make snacks out of all of them. She started uncoiling her whip when Cyrus stepped out in front.
"Hey, Instructor," Cyrus said in a calm and unexpected manner. "You're not junctioned, are you? You're tough, but that thing…it's on another level. Why don't you protect the two Yellow-Hats and keep them from losing it? I'll handle Rexy here."
Quistis's fear turned into confusion as Cyrus settled into his combat stance, his scythe held behind him with his left hand with the blade pointed towards the sky. "What? Are you insane? You can't seriously think you can handle a T-Rexaur by yourself? And in case you've forgotten, you're not junctioned either!"
"Oh, really?" Cyrus mused as he pulled a pair of vials out of one of his vest pockets. "Look, Instructor…there's a lot more to me than you realize. I've got everything I need right here. And for the last time, I didn't NEED to be junctioned yesterday…I never said I didn't WANT to be junctioned."
Quistis pondered what her student was saying as he reeled back and tossed the two vials directly into the T-Rexaur's face. The vials exploded in a cloud of black mist, blinding the mighty beast. Cyrus gave Quistis a quick smile as he ran towards the now-roaring T-Rexaur, both hands on Tempest. Quistis was about to tell Cyrus to stop until she noticed a large amount of energy begin to pour out of the scythe wielder. It felt as if Cyrus and the jungle environment surrounding him was about to burst into flames.
"So, that's how it is," Quistis though as she started to chuckle. What a strange student Cyrus was…
The energy that swirled around Cyrus exploded as he drove his scythe into the hind leg of the T-Rexaur. The force created a giant cloud of dust that obscured Quistis and the Faculty member's view of the battle as the sounds of roaring and scythe swipes continued. A few seconds later, the sounds of combat halted, and Quistis waited anxiously as the cloud started to dissipate. Her suspicions were proven correct as one of the Faculty members stammered, "W-w-what is the meaning of this? How is this p-possible?"
"You Yellow-Hats are all the same," Cyrus's voice rang past the swirling dust. "You continued to treat this Garden and its students like your puppets, just like your old master NORG did seven years ago. All you want to do is make us all into machines, devoid of anything resembling individual intelligence or identity. And when someone deviates from your idyllic vision of what the Garden should be, you want to either throw them out or have them meet their untimely death.
"The reason why I didn't go to the Junction Session was because I didn't want any of the GFs that the Garden was going to just hand me like they were just another weapon or piece of equipment. I wanted power, this is true; but I wanted to earn it. Fortunately, I found exactly what I was looking for: a GF who forced me to earn his respect and the strength he could give me. I didn't show up yesterday…because I was already junctioned."
As the dust settled, the SeeD candidate stood on top of the T-Rexaur's corpse facing Quistis and the Garden Faculty, scythe resting on his shoulder and a smile on his face. Behind him, standing eight feet tall with dark brown skin and patches of orange fur all over its body was a great horned demon with the face of a wolf. The demon seemed amused as he asked in a booming voice, "Cyrus, it seems as if those mortals are surprised to see me."
"Can you blame them, Ifrit? After all, I just made those two creeps in white look like idiots. And besides, you're a pretty intimidating sight, pal."
Ifrit chuckled as Cyrus joined in. The battle was over, and whatever consequences came of his actions, Cyrus would face them head-on and fight to stay. This Garden was his home, and he wasn't ready to leave…
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Author's Notes:
Been a few weeks since I posted anything, but here it is! Expect the first round of chapters to be mostly character development (low on plot, BIG ON PERSONALITY). Hope you like this first chapter...expect Chapter 2 by next week at the latest.
Nappa: Vegeta, what does the scouter say about Cyrus Truth's amount of reviews?
Vegeta: IT'S OVER NINE-THOUSAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNDDDD!!!
Me: Yeah, I wish.
Anyway, review...it's good for you!
Later,
"The Exile" Cyrus Truth
