Two Weeks Ago

Cyrus remained hidden outside of the Fire Cavern as the Garden Faculty guarding the entrance finally left for the day. Since leaving Balamb Garden after curfew was against the rules, the Faculty figured that no student would be clever enough to sneak out of Garden nor would they be stupid enough to challenge its guardian without supervision.

"Guess that makes me both clever and stupid," Cyrus thought with a grin as he quickly left his hiding place and entered the Fire Cavern. Normally, the only time a SeeD candidate would ever enter this cave was to pass their pre-requisite exam before the final field SeeD test. But Cyrus was determined to not only gain the support of this cavern's guardian but make the Garden Faculty look like the fools they were.

Even though it was a cool autumn night, the Fire Cavern was anything but cold. The pools of lava surrounding the narrow path leading deeper into the cave made the air incredibly hot and humid, almost making it impossible for Cyrus to breathe. Despite spending three days training and fighting glacial eyes to get the materials he'd need, he had no idea just how inhospitable the Fire Cavern would be. It was made all the more difficult due to the fact that he wasn't junctioned and had to trek through the lava pools with his own strength.

Cyrus decided that whining and complaining about how tough this mission of his was going to be wasn't going to help, so he put that aside and took a quick drink of water from one of his three canteens to fight off the dehydration. As he finished his drink, he noticed a pair of spherical monsters float towards him. They were bombs, fire elementals infamous for self-destructing and killing their prey in the subsequent explosion. Cyrus dropped his canteen and, with a pair of swipes from Tempest, sliced the two monsters in half before they even had a chance to attack. The bombs' combustible blood stained his scythe's blade as he quickly flicked his weapon in an attempt to clean it.

Cyrus continued to push through the Fire Cavern, fending off several red bats and buels before finally reaching the end of the path. A ring of volcanic rocks jutted out and surrounded a pool of lava that seemed to release even more heat than the lava he had spent the last eight minutes trudging through. Cyrus finished off the last of his water as he approached the stone ring, Tempest in hand.

The lava pool erupted in a geyser of molten rock and fire as the cavern's guardian emerged from the flames. He hovered above the lava as he noticed the human standing below him.

"Mortal, what brings you to my domain? It is awfully late for an exam."

"This is no exam, mighty Ifrit," Cyrus replied. "I come here by myself, in the hopes to challenge you."

"Alone is right," Ifrit noted. "I can sense you are unjunctioned. Challenging me on your own could be considered unwise if not suicidal. Especially considering that your Garden has other Guardian Forces that you could junction with."

"That it does," Cyrus admitted, "but I don't believe in power that you don't have to work for. I have nothing against the GFs that Garden provides us, but how can I possibly respect the strength they could lend me if I didn't have to work for it? That's why I'm here: I want strength…I want the power to fight and win. But I want to earn it."

Cyrus dropped into his ready stance as he continued, "So I decided that the only way for me to gain the power of a GF and earn it was to come here and challenge you for the right to junction with you. I will fight and earn your respect…or die trying."

Ifrit chuckled as he dropped onto the path in front of Cyrus. "Interesting. Well said, human. But I am not holding back. Get ready!"

Ifrit lunged at Cyrus with inhuman speed and connected his large fist into Cyrus's chest. The force of the blow sent Cyrus flying back, and would have driven him into the lava had the SeeD candidate not thrust his scythe into the ground to slow him down. Cyrus ignored the pain as he got back on his feet and rushed Ifrit. As he brought his scythe down on Ifrit, the demon bobbed and weaved to avoid the blade. Ifrit retaliated with a fire spell that Cyrus blocked with Tempest, receiving only mild burns on his arms.

Now angry, Cyrus slashed at Ifrit and managed to draw blood, digging his blade into Ifrit's left pectoral, leaving a jagged but shallow wound. Cyrus, his confidence rising, continued hacking and swiping away until Ifrit ended his assault by grabbing the scythe with his right hand. As Cyrus fruitlessly struggled to free Tempest from Ifrit's grasp, the demon glared at his human opponent and growled.

"Yield, mortal. You cannot beat me. My strength far surpasses yours, and without a Guardian Force you will not be able to overcome that."

"True, I can't outmuscle you…but thankfully, that's not what I had in mind," Cyrus stated as he reached for a vial from his vest. "Open wide!"

Cyrus tossed the vial into Ifrit's face as it shattered and materialized as a powerful ice attack. Ifrit howled in pain and anger as he tried to claw the ice from his eyes. Eventually, the demon roared and summoned flames to melt the ice and free his vision. It was then that he noticed that Cyrus was standing behind him, his scythe blade pressed up against his throat.

Still recovering from Ifrit's initial attack, Cyrus stood firm regardless. "So, what was that about yielding?"

Despite his predicament, Ifrit had to laugh. "This is somewhat embarrassing. Outsmarted by a mortal? I must be getting soft. Very well, I will join you…even though you are a cheater."

Cyrus eased Tempest's blade from Ifrit's throat as he shouldered the scythe. The pain in his chest was becoming more than he could stand as Ifrit extended his hand and commanded, "Take it. I will junction myself to you, warrior. Then, we will see what we can do about that injury of yours."

Cyrus smirked as he grabbed the demon's hand with his own. In an instant, Ifrit disappeared in a flurry of flames that began to circle Cyrus. The SeeD cadet immediately felt as if his body was on fire as a tribal outline of Ifrit's head branded itself to his arm, sealing the pact and completing the junction. Once the flames subsided, Cyrus felt his aches disappear as the pain in his chest and the burns on his arms started to heal. Not only that, the once-unforgiving heat of the Fire Cavern didn't bother Cyrus anymore as he started getting used to his newly-won strength.

"Wow, this is pretty impressive. This is the power of GF junctioning, huh?"

"It is," Ifrit's voice said inside his head, "And by working together, we can unlock much more of one another's potential. Have faith in me, and I will return that faith with the strength to combat any foe."

Cyrus nodded as he replied in his mind, "I wouldn't have it any other way, Ifrit. Glad to have you along, partner."

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Present Day

As Cyrus reminiscing about his battle with Ifrit and the partnership he had forged with the GF, he had completely drowned out the sound of the Garden Faculty member running down his every last offense to Commander Leonhart. As Cyrus stood by the door of the Commander's third-floor office, he finally set his internal thoughts aside as the Garden Faculty member finished his tirade:

"…disrespect to instructors and Faculty members alike, constant tardiness, and general lackadaisical attitude are unbecoming of a SeeD. Not only that, he broke Garden rules by sneaking out past curfew and ventured into the Fire Cavern unsupervised. And by what can only be described as pure stupid luck, he fought and defeated Ifrit and junctioned with him without permission. This Cyrus Ranto is not worthy of remaining a student, and I demand on behalf of the entire Garden Faculty that he be expelled and forbidden from attending Garden ever again!"

"He seems angry," Ifrit whispered from inside Cyrus's mind as the Faculty member finished his report. "What is his problem?"

"Don't mind him," Cyrus mentally replied. "He's just bitter."

"Even so, he seems adamant about having you removed as a student of this Garden. I would think that would be…disruptive towards your goals and aspirations."

"Don't worry," Cyrus reassured Ifrit. "Whatever happens, happens. No sense in worrying about something I have no control over."

Ifrit smirked at Cyrus's attitude as Commander Leonhart, who had said nothing at this point, stood up and said in a cold tone, "Thank you, Izu. You may leave. I want to speak with Mr. Ranto privately."

The Faculty member bowed deeply, knowing full well that the Commander barely tolerated his and his associates' presence at Balamb Garden. He quickly made his way to the door, stopping only to look at Cyrus and snicker as if he had already won. After leaving the office, Commander Leonhart motioned for Cyrus to approach his desk as he sat back down.

Cyrus stood right in front of the large desk and saluted the Commander, who was dressed his official SeeD uniform. Out of all the authority figures at Balamb Garden, he respected Commander Squall Leonhart the most. Not only because he was the one who led SeeD in the Second Sorceress War and was one of the six who fought and defeated Sorceress Ultimecia during Time Compression, but Squall Leonhart was considered the best swordsman in the world. Add to that that he had mastered the incredibly powerful and complicated gunblade…oh yes, Squall Leonhart had definitely earned Cyrus's respect.

Still, as much as Cyrus respected Commander Leonhart's combat abilities and leadership skills, he had to admit that the man acted a bit aloof and cold. He never once looked Cyrus in the eyes as he finally asked, "Well, Cadet?"

"Well…what, sir?"

"What do you have to say about the Garden Faculty's accusations?"

"There's nothing to say, Commander. The Garden Faculty has made their assumptions about me, and I have to admit that they are right. Not about that whole "he's a degenerate slacker" stuff, but I did break Garden's rules by sneaking out and challenging Ifrit. As such, you are within your rights to punish me…even expel me."

Commander Leonhart scoffed as he finally looked up and made eye contact. He then asked, "Then tell me, why did you break the rules? Why challenge Ifrit?"

Cyrus lowered his gaze as he answered, "Because I have my own set of rules. Rules that I abide by above all others. And Rule Number 7 states 'Strength comes from hard work and sacrifice.' Any other way that grants you power doesn't make you strong. It just makes you dependant.

"Don't misunderstand me…I have no problems with relying on others. It's just that I want to be strong on my own as well. If I'm not strong enough, how can others ever trust me to watch their backs? At least, that's the best explanation I can give you."

The stoic and unflinching face of Commander Leonhart betrayed a small smile. "Good enough. You're dismissed."

"Sir?"

"You fought Ifrit and earned his respect, and you did it without junctions or support. If anything, I should be congratulating you. As it is, you did break Garden rules. Your punishment is to spend two hours every day helping Quartermaster Yuno in the armory until the next SeeD exam in four weeks. And you are to make a better effort to show up to class. Am I understood?"

Cyrus smiled and saluted. "Yes sir! Thank you, Commander."

Cyrus did an about face and walked out of the Commander's office. "See, you were worried about nothing, Ifrit."

"So it would seem. I knew Squall would be reasonable."

"Why? Because I embody what SeeD is all about?"

Ifrit smirked. "Not quite. It is because, after being junctioned with him seven years ago, I know for a fact that he hates the Garden Faculty as much as you do."

Cyrus laughed as he reached the elevator and pressed the first floor button. "Well, that works too."

As the doors closed on the elevator, Cyrus took one last look at Commander Leonhart as the doors to his office closed. The elevator started to descend as Cyrus muttered under his breath:

"Thank you, Commander. I'll make you and SeeD proud. I swear it."

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Author's Note:

A week...a day...okay, so I'm going to be a bit random with my uploads. Still, at least I will be uploading somewhat frequently. Whoo-hoo!

Please review...or I'll be forced to fire my lazer. Seriously, don't make me do it...that meme is already WAY overdone.

...............................BLAAAAAAAAAHH!!!!!!!!!

Thanks,

"The Exile" Cyrus Truth