Prologue. Fated Children

Everything was chaos around the small boy. The crowd on all sides jostled him with unseeing ignorance, knocking in all directions, but always driving him forward down the hot, noisy corridor. Just as the boy started developing claustrophobia, the corridor opened out into a wide hall, and the crowd spread out, allowing him a moment's breather, trying to shut out the noise of shouted conversations and a thousand feet battering the wooden floor. He folded his arms, his blue eyes darting around the hall uncomfortably, certain that everyone was looking and laughing at him, with his rucksack, backpack and the cheap, unbranded shirt and shorts that had been all his mother could afford to send him to Midgar Garden in. The hall was a perfect circle located at the top of the school, and the midday sun was streaming in through the glass and iron dome that served as a beautiful ceiling. On the boy's left, a set of stands curved halfway around the wall, and the other students were already busily climbing up them, grabbing the best seats, reserving some for friends and breaking out into occasional scuffles. The last part scared the boy slightly, and he made sure to hurry past any fights, trying his best not to be noticed despite how much he stuck out with his blonde spiky hair and ponytail. He knew he only had himself to blame in truth. What had he expected people to do in a military school? Play hopscotch and skip together? Even so, he chose a seat halfway up the stands, so low that he couldn't see over heads and high enough that he was far from the front row, hoping that no one would want to fight him for the place. He shoved his bags down under his seat, looking down at the centre of the hall and, despite all his nerves and fears, growing excited.

The centre of the hall was surrounded by a ring of thick rope, holding in a thin layer of sand to cushion the falls of those who would soon be fighting inside the simple ring. Today was the first day of the new year at Midgar Garden, the greatest military academy in the world, and that meant one thing to the gathered students. It was the day of the annual demonstration, a fight between the school's two most promising fighters, staged to inspire the flood of new children. The students were almost all present now, aside from a few stragglers, and the noise of their chatter was raising to ever higher levels as they spotted Instructor Hewley taking up his position next to the ring, from where he would referee the fight, watching closely to ensure neither of the combatants fell outside of the boundaries or tried any underhand moves, his hand flying to his gigantic sword when any trouble started. He was a giant of a man, his black hair down to the back of his shoulders and his beard trimmed neatly short. He was one of the instructors that no students dared to defy, and it was easy to work out why when you saw the bulging muscles of his torso, and his sharp black eyes made sure he spotted any wrongdoing almost immediately. These added to the sword nearly as long as he was tall, and very nearly as wide as him made him the most feared teacher at the school. His presence signified more than just authority to the children, however. They knew that his arrival meant that the fight was moments from beginning, and the small boy's heart started to ram into his ribcage as the noise reached fever pitch.

…

As the two combatants stepped onto the battle stage, both wearing their uniform, the crowd began to roar deafeningly loud, watching two of the finest that any garden had raised squaring up. On one side, there was a young man with hair that looked like what it was, a mess of crazy black spikes. He desperately resisted the urge to give his uniform yet another once over, hoping that nothing was out of place. He was one of the students who was proud to wear the blue and yellow colours of the school, and he wanted to set an example to the new students who were sat in the crowd. He did a couple of squats where he stood, trying to look like he was warming up, but really he was working off his nerves, which were sparking and jangling at the number of people watching him. Then he stood up straight, pulling his weapon from it's sheath and falling into a battle stance, his legs spread in a fighting stance. His sword was simple, a curved cross guard protecting his hands and a blade about the length of his arm. He swung it in a circle over his head, bringing it down to face his opponent, a glimmer of light coming from the materia he had equipped in the two slots in the blade and from his unnatural blue eyes.

While he had been preparing, his opponent had been stood casually, his arms folded and his green eyes regarding him with something that looked akin to amusement. Whereas the first boy's uniform was practically symmetrical in it's neatness, this boy seemed to care very little that he was stood before every single one of his peers and instructors. He had the sleeves of his blue school jacket rolled up so far that the garden crest was barely visible, and was wearing the zipper of the jacket so low that his white shirt was visible almost all the way down to his belt. When he noticed that the black haired boy was ready, he pulled his long katana from his belt, letting it hang by his waist in a lazy stance. This blade was just as grotesque in proportions as Instructor Hewley's, but was needle-thin by comparison, barely a few inches wide but just as long, if not longer. The light caught the curve of the weapon as he angled the weapon to point it towards his opponent, flicking his long silver hair over his shoulder so that it fell down to his waist.

There was a moment of eerie silence, as though nobody even dared to breathe in the presence of such deadly fighters. The moment was broken violently, as the silver haired boy darted forward in a blur, his katana slicing downward onto the blade with an echoing clang. The crowd gasped, then started cheering. Most of them hadn't even seen the blade move, such was the silver haired fighter's speed.

Suddenly, they moved again, the dark haired boy pushing the katana away and slicing at his enemy's midriff as he darted backwards. The tip of the blade just managed to slice his shirt open, but the katana wielder had already darted around the blade, bringing the vicious weapon up to slice at his opponent's head. He just managed to duck under it, cringing slightly as he watched the ends of a few hairs floating to the floor as the silver haired boy's blow swung far wide but only slightly off target. The dark haired boy brought his fist up into his opponent's stomach, forcing him backward with a roar of strain, before spinning and bringing his blade in a strong horizontal slash while his opponent was still stumbling. The silver haired boy allowed himself to fall backward, his body almost parallel with the floor, falling underneath the horizontal slash. He gathered a spell from his junction gear, casting an aero spell into the floor beneath him. The spell backfired off the floor of the ring, sending sand whipping away from him and pushing him forward and upward. He used the momentum to lunge at his rival, stabbing his unusually long blade forward. The dark haired boy dodged backward, casting a bolt spell as he did. It was a simple matter for the silver haired boy to deflect the lances of electricity with his blade, but it gave his opponent the distraction he needed to dodge out of his reach. They both stood for a moment, barely out of breath and grinning widely at each other as the crowd carried on shouting for more.

"Not bad, Zack! Maybe they'll let you join SeeD after all!" The silver haired boy called out with a smile as he swung his katana in a flourish, driving the audience wild.

"Oh, I'm sure they'll let me in after I kick your sorry ass, Sephy!" Zack called back, his full face smile on show as normal.

The only person who wasn't enthralled by the incredible display of strength and skill was the only person who wasn't watching. As far as he was concerned, Zack and Sephiroth were just a pair of show offs, and he didn't care which way the fight went. One of them would walk away from this fight with an ego even greater than before, and that was going to annoy him one way or another, seeing as he had no choice but to see them both. He flicked his brown hair out of his eyes, throwing yet another irritated look at the bumpkin sat next to him. All the other students had met his scowling looks and angry brown eyes, and had left the seats around him vacated. This blonde kid had somehow been too self absorbed to notice, and had sat right next to him, and it had been aggravating the boy since.

'He better not be counting on me as his first friend…' He thought taking in the boy's cheap clothes and eager expression fixed on the two fighters. He probably wouldn't last a week…Before he could get any angrier, a clang of metal drew his attention back to the ring. Sephiroth had yet again charged at Zack, flicking sand into the air as his katana raked upward through it in a vertical slash. Zack sidestepped the slice, countering with a one handed slash aimed at Sephiroth's head to distract him from the growing ball of fire in his hand, hoping he wouldn't spot one of the two green stones in his sword glowing as it powered the spell. Just as Sephiroth parried his blow left and readied his katana for a counterattack that would end the fight, Zack thrust his left hand forward, the fireball now larger than Zack's head and spitting little tongues of flame as he struggled to contain it. It shot from his hand like a blistering bolt of lightning, exploding against Sephiroth's chest and flinging him backwards through the air. The silver haired student cursed, driving the end of his long blade deep into floor, driving a deep rut into the wood beneath the sand and bringing him to a sliding halt. Deathly silence reigned in the hall, save for the scuffles of Sephiroth climbing to his feet, a plucking noise as he pulled his sword from the floor a thump as the remains of his shirt and jacket fell from his body, revealing the taught muscles that rested beneath. He looked down, seeing that he had been only inches from falling out of the ring and being disqualified. A smirk lifted his mouth on one side, and he walked back to his starting position with calm confidence, making Zack drop back into his battle stance.

"You should have finished the fight while I was down." He said simply, pulling his sword up into his own fighting stance and taking the fight seriously for the first time, holding the wicked katana at shoulder height, both hands aiming it directly at his opponent. Within a heartbeat, they had met in the middle of the ring, their swords crossed and a cloud of sand rippling away from them, kicked up by the force of their weapons colliding. Zack was no longer smiling. The strained expression on his face, along with the juddering of his arms showed just how hard Sephiroth was pushing in the clash. With a contemptuous smile, Sephiroth sidestepped to the right, whipping his sword down one handed, making Zack stumble forwards. He used this moment of weakness to draw a blizzard spell into his right hand, a halo of blue sparkles dancing around his palm. Zack spun around, holiding his sword in front of his torso to try and block the spell, but Sephiroth was expecting the move. Within a second, the end of his katana darted in under the cross guard of Zack's sword, and flick of his wrist sent the weapon spinning out of Zack's hands. Just as Zack made a desperate dash for the weapon, Sephiroth let the blizzard spell loose, and a boulder of ice flew crashed into Zack's abdomen, shattering into shards that glittered like diamonds as they fell through the air and knocking Zack off his feet and winding him. He had only managed to struggle to his knees when he felt the tip of Sephiroth's sword resting against his neck. He looked up into the green eyes with an irritated scowl, dusting melting shards from his jacket.

"Next time, I will finish you while your down." He grumbled as the audience burst into applause, taking Sephiroth's outstretched hand.

"Thanks for warning me, I'll make sure to not fall over next time." He replied with a grin, making Zack grudgingly grin back. They both turned to face the right hand side of the stands, performing a salute by raising their right hand until it was at shoulder height, it's back facing someone the students in the stands couldn't see. The man they had saluted walked from where he had watched the fight, stood by the sidelines, his hands in his red waistcoat's pockets and with a small smile on his face. The students' cheering halted as they spotted the man, and they waited in respectful silence as he walked up to each of the combatants, shaking both their hands with a little nod of his head. Then he turned to face the rest of the gathered school. He looked more like a grandfather than the Headmaster of the greatest fighting school in the known world, but Cid Kramer was the beloved head teacher and figurehead of Midgar Garden, and it was thanks to him that the school existed in the first place. So despite his diminutive looks, his tidy brown hair, his round glasses and his outdated formal attire, he received more respect and attention than most of the instructors.

"I tell you, almost every time gather you here it seems, that you all have potential. So much of it! Enough natural talent for the entire world! But me always telling you probably gets boring after a while…"

"Damn straight, yo!" A voice yelled from within the audience.

"Thank you for your contribution, Reno." Cid chuckled, "Now where was I…ah yes! I always see the annual demonstration as a better way of dong this! I'm far too old to be flipping around anymore, but these young men have shown you what I always say! This annual display of strength, skill and passion is, in my mind, the best way of showing you all that there truly is a SeeD in all of you!" He finished with an open armed gesture, as though he was readying to embrace all of his precious students. Everyone applauded, even the ones who hadn't been listening. Even the ones who hated school respected Cid . "Now off you go! Curfew starts at ten O'clock, sharp, and lessons start tomorrow at 9. Until then, have fun!" With one last handshake for both Zack and Sephiroth, he set off at a slow pace, his hands behind his back and his eyes scanning the new students with a happy expression.

Zack and Sephiroth lingered on the sand for a moment, looking around in the crowd for the new students, easily visible seeing as they were allowed to flaunt the Garden's strict dress code for one day.

"What do you think to her?" Sephiroth asked with a little smirk, returning his katana to his belt and pointing out a nervous new girl with short blonde hair and brown eyes, who was trying to balance a stack of pamphlets with one hand and read a map with the other in the middle of the surging crowd that was heading for the cafeteria.

"Eh, too much of a tomboy for my taste." Zack replied, taking in her faded blue jeans and white t shirt while returning his sword to it's sheath.

"I meant as a fighter!" Sephiroth replied exasperatedly, letting out a weary sigh with his eyes closed. One of his roommate's many bad habits was his attitude to women…

"Oh. Cannon fodder." Zack corrected simply, watching with amusement as she dropped her leaflets and tore the map simultaneously, drawing a small chuckle from Sephiroth.

"And what about…" Sephiroth started, then stopped when he met the eyes of another student across the room. His eyes narrowed viciously, and his arms folded as he turned to stare him out. As with everyone, he was in uniform, but he was unmistakable. His pointed face was clearly visible thanks to his black hair being pushed so that it swept halfway down his back, his pure black eyes glaring back at Sephiroth. Suddenly, a boy with bright red hair in a rough ponytail popped up next to him out of the crowd, slapping him on the back as a greeting and distracting him from the staring contest.

"Is that the disciplinary committee's new recruit?" Zack asked in disbelief, watching Tseng slapping the redhead around the back of his head for his childish behaviour.

"Probably, Tseng's really scraping the bottom of the barrel by the looks of it." Sephiroth replied with a smirk, watching the rest of the DC surrounding Tseng. A blonde boy with green eyes proceeded to berate the redhead, acting as though he thought he was the leader. A tall, dark skinned boy with short black hair looked on nervously, backing the blonde up with the occasional half comment, keeping one nervous eye on a shorter girl with an eye patch and grey hair, who kept shouting one word insults that carried across the noise of the entire moving mob of students. One boy stood on the edge of the group, his head shaved and wearing a pair of sunglasses, making no noise whatsoever but still watching the others' every move. Tseng started moving away towards one of the two exits from the hall, and the others followed him, remaining loud or silent as they walked.

"Cmon, we should move as well, you need to get changed." Zack said to his roommate, stretching his arms as he walked the opposite way to the crowd, yawning lightly.

"Nope. I can manage a meal without a shirt on." Sephiroth replied, wading into the crowd without looking back.

"I'd rather you didn't." Zack muttered with a scowl, looking uncomfortably at Sephiroth's bare back as he started to follow through the mass of students. "Whoa!" He called, stopping dead in his tracks, much to the chagrin of the people behind him. Sephiroth was already at the hall's exit.

"What?" He shouted back.

"I nearly forgot my little brother!" Zack replied, turning back and looking over a sea of heads to try and spot the younger boy.

"Get a move on!" He heard Sephiroth's urgent shout coming from across the crowd behind him, getting fainter by the second. "I'll save you a spot, but I can't save you a hotdog!"

Where the hell is he? Zack wondered. Then, he felt eyes boring into him, and looked down to see a small blonde boy staring up at him.

"Y-you were am-mazing!" He stammered nervously, looking up with what could only be described as hero worship.

"Er, thanks." Zack mumbled in response a little awkwardly. Then, his expression lightened slightly. What with his crazy spiky hair and cheap clothes, the boy reminded him a lot of himself at that age. Then an idea struck him. "Hey, you didn't happen to see a brown haired boy a bit older than you with blue eyes did you?" The boy nodded enthusiastically in response.

"He's over there!" The boy pointed behind the stands eagerly, his rucksack falling from his shoulder at the sudden jerk.

…

It was uncomfortable behind the stands. Just a load of boxes and pipes and other stuff the janitor's hid there. That didn't matter though. The young boy was determined to stay there sat on a box until his brother gave up searching for him. He was sick of being dragged along everywhere he went, Zack busily trying to get him to socialise with people. He scowled deeply, flicking his brown hair out of his eyes. He would socialise when he wanted to, not when he was told.

Then, the boy saw his brother's spiky black hair popping around a crate. Unfortunately, he moved too quickly for the younger boy to hide.

"So this is your new hidey hole, huh?" Zack said, frowning slightly. When his brother didn't reply, he sighed lightly, sitting down next to him. He instantly turned away, folding his arms. "Hey." He prodded the boy lightly, trying to get him to turn around. He didn't… "Aren't you gonna say anything?" Zack asked, trying to start a conversation.

"How did you find me?" The boy asked, sounding irked.

"A blonde kid showed me where you went." Zack replied, looking a little sad at how his brother was treating him.

'Great! I knew it was a bad idea letting that country kid sit next to me!' The boy raged in his mind, but didn't move an inch in reality.

"Come on, Seph is waiting for us to come eat now." Zack tried.

"I'm not hungry." The boy replied, still not looking at his brother.

"You sure? You don't have to eat, you know? You could just come and meet a few new kids?" Zack tried to coax him, but the boy's scowl darkened. So it was this old argument again? Come and talk to everyone, I'm popular, so you can have some of my friends!

"I'm fine…" He replied flatly, determined to not look into Zack's blue eyes

"You know, you're not gonna have many friends if you spend all your time alone." Zack growled, a little bit of anger showing in his face.

"…whatever." He muttered in response.

"Fine! You know what? I'm gonna let you be lonely from now on!" Zack shouted at him, standing up. "But don't you ever tell me I didn't try to help you, because if you're all on your own in the future, well, that'll be your fault, Squall!" He walked around the corner of the scaffolding without another word.

Squall was glad his brother was gone. He preferred it when people just left him alone…

...

Well, for all of you reading this for the first time, i hope you enjoyed it! For all of you who have read the old version, i hope you liked the changes i made.

Greater description of the Garden and it's inner workings will follow in chapter 2.