Damned To Me

Chapter One: Squall VS Seifer

It was recruitment day once more. Seifer had seen so many of these in his lifetime. People came and went, happy or disappointed, but whatever the outcome, no one ever forgot the experience. Students, who were lucky enough to have passed last year, milled about watching everyone else who had aspirations and dreams of glory. Students walked with pride, they were the chosen ones, and they felt they had the right to look down on all those merely trying. SeeD's rushed about trying to keep everyone organised, at least the SeeD's who weren't on missions, and these members of Garden didn't look down on anyone, after all, they had been left behind too.

Seifer loved recruitment day. Back in his student years it had been the perfect opportunity for punishing those who were causing trouble, and to cause trouble himself. The disciplinary committee, in which he considered himself the leader, had filled their days making everyone else's miserable. But only three recruitment days meant more to him than the others, one of them being his own, and the other two, the ones he had seen as a commander.

The rules were very simple. Applicants of 5-8 years would be taken on straight away. They would not have to pass any tests other than simple reading and writing, maths and fundamental magic theory. No child was rejected; the test simply placed them in groups of ability. The next few years determined whether or not they could survive the hard life of SeeD. Many left before taking any real exams.

Applicants in the 9-16 range would take a written exam. After the age of 15, applying for Garden became much more difficult. It was assumed that by the age of 16 you would have a sound knowledge of the world, and if you were serious about a career in SeeD you would have already become familiar with your chosen weapon. The test consisted of higher-level maths, intermediate magic, a understanding of functioning, and a sound knowledge of the law in each country. Children studied hard if their heart was in it, and those who simply just wanted a job and wouldn't study got left behind.

There was also a category for over 16's, which usually consisted of middle-aged men who'd fallen in love with the idea of a military lifestyle; who saw the life as something glamorous that was portrayed on the TV. Sometimes there were genuine fighters, people who had studied independently, ex-soldiers, and occasionally people who were under government orders never to reveal how they'd received their training.

Finally to be taken on as a candidate, the applicant would have to show their skills in a simulated battle. This was done by fighting against an opposition who had the same weapon as yourself. Of course it wasn't a real fight. The Applicants just had to block a few attacks, then counter-attack. The 5-8 year olds found this extremely fun, being allowed to hit someone with a weapon was a dream come true. To the 9-16 year olds, it was a lot more serious, they knew they were being assessed for judgment, and since there was not a lot of time fore displaying their skills, what they did show was important.

Seifer smiled as he took his place on the raised platform. The training centre had been emptied to accommodate a large seating venue. The seats were filling up fast. Every year the already made students were given the day free from lessons and usually spent it at the recruitment arena. Of course some saw it was great opportunity for a long needed lye-in, or an outing into town. Seifer enjoyed recruitment days a lot, he liked the desperation and excitement that hung in the air.

The first contesting applicants were beginning to arrive. They were being shown into a clearing away from the jostling audience. They made a long line and were sorted into ages, alphabetical order and choice of weapon.

"Seifer, you could have called me," someone whispered into his ear. It wasn't a soft whisper of secrets; it was the harsh whisper of not wanting anyone to hear what was said.

Seifer turned around quickly to meet with the eyes of Rinoa Heartilly, she had an annoyed look on her face. He should have called her really; he knew how angry she got when she thought she was being left out. But since she'd never before taken any interest in recruitment days, he hadn't bothered.

"I didn't think you'd bother showing up," Seifer said trying to wrap his arm around her middle, but Rinoa pulled away.

She was still feeling angry and was determined to make him work hard to get her smiling again. She knew her moods made him irritated. He liked her compliant and happy, as that way he was able to do what he wanted. When Rinoa was angry, she wanted to know everything he got up to.

"I just came to tell that I would have come, had you called and asked me," she said folding her arms and stepping out of his reach.

Seifer frowned, was it him, or did that just not make any sense? Finally under Rinoa's angry stare, he understood that she wanted him to ask her. He didn't really care, but he also didn't want the hassle the alternative would bring. Rinoa was waiting.

"Will you sit down next to me?" he asked patting the seat beside him. "It'll be starting soon."

Rinoa looked at him, trying to work out whether he was mocking her or not. He seemed to be sincere so she seated herself beside him. However, if she could have read his thoughts, she would walked the other way. Seifer was looking at her standing over him, his thoughts were along the lines of 'sit down you stupid girl, or you'll make me miss the beginning!' lucky for him, Rinoa didn't see anything impatient in his manner.

"How'd you manage to get back so early anyway, I thought you were still on that stupid missing child mission?" Seifer asked, his eyes firmly on the arena although there was no one there yet.

"Don't call it stupid, Seifer, it was very important!" Rinoa said indignant. "We found the child, a young girl, unharmed, and our mission finished early. The others stayed in the city, I came back to see you."

"How nice. You got paid for the expected time of the mission, not the actual time I suppose?" he asked warily. He had changed many rules since becoming commander. Charging for expected mission times was one way of making extra money on a mission, and Seifer liked money.

Rinoa was especially bad at this; she thought it was exploiting people in their time of need, especially since Seifer always reckoned the missions would take double the time they usually took to complete. He expected her to say no, but she surprised him.

"Of course, that's the rules now, isn't it?" she replied, her voice sounded as though she wished to please him by what she was saying.

Seifer grinned.

"That's my girl," he said pulling her in a kissing her roughly on the lips. Before Rinoa could respond or insist he be gentler, his attention was lost on the arena again.

"Sir! Here are the names of the students that will be competing in round one. I believe more will arrive later," Quistis said, handing over the sheet with all the important information upon it. Seifer inspected it closely; he was always on the look out for things that were suspicious.

"Thank you Quistis," he replied smiling smarmily. Quistis returned his smile and then caught Rinoa's eye, causing her to blush slightly and walk away.

"Have you two been flirting again whilst I was away? Seifer you promised me that you wouldn't do that anymore!" Rinoa asked. Seifer looked at her for a second, she looked hurt, but she couldn't command his attention. He felt sorry for her, but for all the wrong reasons.

"I like having her call me Sir. It makes up for all the times she bossed me about when she was my instructor. It's fun watching her crawl after me for a good word, how tables turn, hey?"

Rinoa turned her back on him, but Seifer just looked at his list.

Matt Valentine

Leigha Speltan

Dan Leaton

His eyes skimmed over the rest of the list, but somehow they managed to keep wandering back to Quistis. She was talking to one of the hopeful candidates. He seemed the same age as himself with spiky blondish hair. Something about him appeared familiar to Seifer, though he couldn't place it.

Quistis, it seemed was quite impressed by this stranger, she kept blushing as she spoke, even her body language told that something was intriguing her. The dark-blonde didn't look too bothered about it was she was telling him, and kept searching the faces of the crowd instead. His electric blue eyes searched until they locked with Seifer's.

Something about him was not welcoming, how he held eye contact for far to long was comfortable. There was something hard in his eyes, something dead. Seifer broke contact and attempted a conversation with Rinoa. But she refused to speak to him; her thoughts were miles away in a land where Seifer and Quistis were the item, and she was out of the picture. He gave up on her and decided to start the event instead.

The crowd hushed as Seifer took the centre stand. He welcomed out Matt Valentine. Matt had chosen a fight of just hand-to-hand combat. To challenge him was Zell, the Garden's leading martial artist. Seifer liked to watch Zell make a fool of himself. There was no doubting that he was good, that one kick or punch would knock a man out, but Zell had a clumsy way about him that usually made him look like he didn't know where he was.

The two men both took up a battle stance. Zell bowed and delivered a high kick to Matt's head, but it was dodged. The next kick was intercepted but the final blow hit home. Dr Kadowaki rushed over to help the boy, but he had already managed to stand up. He looked around in a daze and finally stooped forward. Zell offered to help him to the infirmary, but Matt Valentine wasn't to be beaten yet, looking at Zell he punched him in between the eyes.

"Ahhh!" Zell screamed falling backwards on the ground. Matt sat down also and the crowd burst into applause and laughter.

Seifer laughed so hard she thought he was going to split in two. Rinoa, who had at first applauded the boy, stopped clapping when she heard the laughter.

"Seifer don't laugh. That was a sneaky thing for that boy to do, you shouldn't laugh."

Seifer wiped a tear from his eye.

"You were applauding him. The kid used trickery, so what? He passed the exam, didn't he? You'd have already realised what these kids are prepared to do to get in, if you could have been bothered to attend before."

Rinoa huffed and stood up.

"I'm going to see Zell," she declared before walking away.

Next up were Leigha Speltan and Dan Leaton. They both chose to fight with magic, and both failed to reflect the attacks. Seifer shook his head, it was the same every year, candidates applied but they were never of a high enough standard to be selected. Many more hopefuls had their dreams crushed, before it was the turn of the mysterious weird blonde candidate to step forward.

Seifer's interests were even raised higher, when the stranger declared he would use a Gunblade. Nobody chose those weapons anymore. Hi-tech guns and magic were all people were interested in today. Mainly because the level of fitness you needed to reach didn't have to be as high as someone with a more demanding weapon.

There were other Gunbladers in the Garden, it had become popular for a time, but had died away again as most things do. But instead of choosing someone from among their number, Seifer decided that he'd rather test this applicant himself.

"Your name?" Seifer asked, as he walked over.

"Texas Milton," the stranger replied calmly.

Seifer nodded, but some how he was disappointed. This name hadn't rung any bells.