Disclaimer: All FF8 characters are courtesy of Squaresoft Enix
Advent of the Necromancer: Book I
Chronicles of Past and Present
Chapter 2: First Generation
—Capital City of Balamb—
"Zell! Hurry up or you'll be late!"
Zuleima Alkhash-ka Dincht tried to look stern as she berated her blonde haired husband, but failed. Zell's appetite was truly a wondrous thing! She ended up smiling fondly at him. That immense appetite of his had been the determining factor that gained him the Matriarch's approval. When he had brought her to Balamb Garden, the greenness of the landscape had enchanted her, but she had been horrified when he had shown her his 'favourite food' in a place that he called 'cafeteria'. It had taken her a while, but she had finally been able to wean him out of his 'hot-dog' phase. For this accomplishment alone, Mother Dincht had given her the highest of praise by hailing her as a 'Miracle Worker'.
"Daddy! Hurry up...!"
"...or you'll be late, Daddy!"
Two little blonde tornadoes with flying pigtails latched onto either side of the poor man who was trying to finish up his breakfast. They each tried to best the other by trying to plant the most kisses on inflated cheeks puffed up by too much food and chewing.
"—Grunt—Daw-d-dw-y —munch, munch—gowt-ta—munch—e-awt "
"Ewww! Mommy! Mommy! Daddy's talking with his mouth full!"
Two identical pairs of rounded honey coloured eyes stared at him in fascination.
Zell Dincht swallowed everything in one big gulp, and pushed himself away from the table. He lifted his twin daughters to sit on each side of his lap.
"Daddies are allowed to do that, munchkins."
That earned him a censorious glare from Zuleima.
Every time he looked at the twins, he felt his chest expand. They were so beautiful. They were exact minute replicas of their mother, with the same dusky skin, the almond-shaped honey-coloured eyes, and her exact same delicate features. When Cid had sent him to lead a small team of SeeD to find the fabled Guardian Force Djinn in Kashkabald Desert, he hadn't known that he would be stumbling into an unknown civilization! They had been completely unprepared for the desert. They had greatly underestimated the harshness of the never changing landscape, and had gotten themselves completely lost. Had Zuleima's people not taken pity on them, they would've all died of dehydration and exhaustion.
"Zoraida. Melinda. Please allow your father to finish his meal, and start to get ready for school. Don't forget this afternoon teacher is taking you children fishing—"
"Yay! Fish! Fish!"
"I like to fish!"
"I bet I'll get more than you, Zelly!"
"I bet I'll get more than you, Melly!"
"I said it first!"
"No! I said it first!"
"Nah! Daddy is first!"
The two little girls let out a shriek of delight when Zell lifted them, one on each strong arm, and carried them to their room under the disapproving golden gaze of his wife.
§ § §
—Esthar Garden—
"Seifer."
"...Hmm?"
"The reception is tonight."
"...Hmm?"
"Are you listening!"
"Do I have to?"
One sea green eye peered at her lazily, the other remained closed. As if the effort had been too much, the eye closed again. Quistis, who had been enjoying a quiet cuddle sitting on his lap, untangled herself from his arms to sit up, and glare at him.
"Seifer! COMMANDER Almasy!"
"Why do we have to go? Call Puberty-boy over. It's daddy's littl' party..."
He wrapped his arms around her again, and pulled her back against his chest. Quistis sighed, resting her head against him, and closing her eyes. It'd been a long time since they've had any time to themselves...Was it only last month that she'd been able to see everyone at Gabriel's birthday? Apart from attending the small gatherings to celebrate their children's birthdays, everyone was so busy! Now that some of the children were SeeD, and had to go on missions, even those celebrations had to suffer.
She lifted her head to place a light kiss on Seifer's jaw, causing him to make a small sound of contentment. All of last week, he'd been away, staying at the Estharian Aerospace and Aeronautic Research Facility, busy with Johan Piet in the Sibelius Project. She'd hardly had a break herself, with the neverending rounds of faculty meetings, and the evaluation of potential candidates for the Field Exam Simulation. 'We've both been very busy with work, but I've really missed him...'
If she didn't have Xu helping her, she wouldn't even be here, enjoying a nice cuddle with Seifer in his office. When was the last time that they had trained together? She really hated to break the moment with, again, the same thing: work and duty, but she knew how difficult he could be sometimes with certain things...
"Remember the agreement we made with Squall and Rinoa when Esthar Garden was being built?"
He pretended not to hear, which exasperated her.
"Seif—"
Seifer tightened his arms around her, and kissed the top of her head.
"I know, baby, I know...but can we enjoy a quiet moment to ourselves just now?"
She placed a butterfly kiss on his neck, and replied, "Hmm..."
§ § §
—Balamb Garden—
Squall squinted over the reports flashing on his computer screen for the ninth time, and rubbed his fingers tiredly against the bridge of his nose. Even if he shared the job with Seifer, and had the assistance of both Fujin and Nida, the administration of Balamb Garden was overwhelming. Why did they make the agreement to co-commandeer both Gardens? It used to be that the running of Esthar Garden was very easy. To be there had been almost like taking a six-month holiday with the children (take or leave some Laguna induced stress), hence the arrangement with Seifer and Quistis, but that was a long time ago! Even though E-Garden was a smaller outfit, it had grown into such a complex facility that its administration had become almost as unwieldy as B-Garden's.
Both Seifer and he were really thankful to be surrounded by such loyal, not to mention competent friends. Sub-commander Fujin Naosu made sure that all SeeD were in tip-top shape, and kept track of ranking and specialty. Sub-commander Nida, mission coordinator and dispatcher, oversaw all the details in the planning and deployment of any operations or mission. Together they made quite an impressive team. Raijin Kumo had taken over the task as Head of the Tri-Garden Disciplinary Committee with an almost Seifer-like seal, but without his penchant for breaking Garden laws!
Has it really been two decades ago? He still remembered the shock he felt as if it were yesterday. His own father, President Laguna Loire of Esthar, had proposed Seifer Almasy as a possible candidate to commandeer the still to be constructed Esthar Garden. Everyone knew Laguna's thinking was, well... different from everyone else's, but to propose that firecracker... Everyone, with the sole exception of Matron, had been dumbfounded by the idea. After all, only a year had passed since Seifer's acquittal, and although he had finally passed his SeeD exam, it had seemed rather crazy to make him a Garden Commander out of the blue...
In the beginning, Esthar Garden was only going to be a satellite of Balamb Garden; however, with time and the needs of the huge continent where it was housed, Esthar Garden evolved into a stand alone Garden. It was a testament to Laguna's power of persuasion that within a month after becoming officially SeeD, Seifer was dispatched to Esthar leading a squad of nine SeeDs—and with the blessings of Headmaster Cid. Not being completely crazy, Laguna had wanted Seifer to prove himself capable of leadership in situations where fighting needed to be done with reason instead of a gunblade.
Squall smirked to himself at the memory. Of course, Almasy hadn't been told what was in store for him... All he knew was that he would be leading a mission to Lunatic Pandora as he was very familiar with that structure. After he himself had the time to think some more about the situation, he had added the weight of his own support to Laguna's proposal. Maybe his motives had been evil, but it had amused him greatly to envision that firebrand rebel-rouser seated behind a desk with a mound of paperwork!
They were wise to have kept Almasy in the dark about the possibilities of becoming the Commander of the future E-Garden... Had that hot-headed ass known of their intent for him, he would've more than likely sabotaged his own chances! He just enjoyed the fighting too much to give it up in exchange for a damned glorified desk job! (Dammit, he would give up this post in a second if only he could!) Once the Headmaster and Laguna had been satisfied with Almasy's performance, they began phase two of their plan, and had sent an extremely reluctant Quistis to act as his aide and advisor. (Those two had been very cunning in having Matron do the asking...)
He had to admit, Laguna might look goofy, but a guy that had been democratically elected over and over again to preside over the most technologically advanced nation on the planet, must have something worthwhile residing in his brains. Time had proven Laguna to be correct. With Seifer's intimidating presence and his rather abrasive personality, Esthar Garden had been built in record time. And in spite of everyone's bad premonitions, Seifer had ended being one hell of a Commander (of course he would eat his favourite jacket before he admitted that much to Almasy...). Every month's end he and Seifer had a meeting via screen-teleconference just to keep each other posted on the on goings of both Gardens.
They had both agreed a long time ago that they would spend a six month term on each Garden, alternating the leadership. True to form, Seifer's arrogant I-don't-take-no-for-an-answer personality got results... With Almasy things got done, or they'd be hell to pay... Any time they needed to negotiate, Seifer would be the first envoy. He had to admit that their strange arrangement worked out pretty well. Almasy was always there to bulldoze any new changes that needed to be made, and afterwards he would step-in to iron out the details.
It had been a rather rough ride, but somehow the Garden Organization had reached their present state of harmonious collaboration. With Cid's advise they had redefined some of the roles within the Garden system. Galbadia Garden had only participated in the talks concerning standardized SeeD testing and ranking, but had bailed out of the talks regarding Garden autonomy and jurisprudence —probably out of sour grapes. In any case, this brief collaborative impetus resulted in the birth of the "Inter-Garden SeeD Ranking Agreement" codenamed IGSRA. This important item of Garden statute had been initially proposed by Headmaster Cid, but had been surprisingly backed by Martine himself. (The only thing that old fart had actually approved).
Left to their own device, Trabia, Balamb and Esthar decided to go ahead and work together, therefore fleshing out what is today known as the Tri-Garden Agreement. While respecting each Garden's idiosyncratic nature, they had agreed to abide in all matters of Garden jurisprudence by the same statutes. Each Garden would have their own Commander-in-Chief and Headmaster.
As Commanders-in-Chief of Balamb-Esthar Garden, Seifer and himself took care of the mercenary and military side of Garden. They also oversaw the general administration of the facility. The position of Headmaster had been redefined to better meet with their ever evolving needs. The headmaster would concentrate on the supervision and administration of all the teaching and testing of SeeD in both Esthar and Balamb Garden. In addition, both Commander and Headmaster positions held a seat in the Tri-Garden Council, which would also include in its make up the democratically elected leaders of the territories that hosted the Gardens.
At the time, the Council was in draft mode only, finding a headmaster for Balamb and Esthar Garden had been a more pressing issue. Eleanor had only been a month old, when they had tried to persuade Quistis to take the post. They had all —with the notable exception of Seifer— tried to talk, cajole, bribe her to accept. But Quistis had been unmovable. Even after much persuasion, and with the promise of appointing Xu as her assistant, Quistis had absolutely refused to take on the job. Nothing anyone said, even Matron, had any effect on her...
Squall smiled at the memory, she had only accepted thanks to Seifer's Almasy unwitting help...
...
... ...
"I couldn't possibly take on such an important post, and take good care of my children at the same time. Being an Instructor is more than enough..."
"Yo, Quisty! If that Asshole can be a decent commander, I bet you'll make an even better Headmaster!"
Except for Seifer who just smirked at the comment, everyone else gave Zell a glare.
"—Ahem—Zell, I believe it best if you leave the others to convince Quistis." Zuleima told her husband quietly.
"Really, Quisty! This job has been hand-tailored to fit you! Ever since Squall and Seifer agreed to share the responsibility of Balamb and Esthar, you will be able to oversee both places, and Xu's there to help you..." Selphie tried to reason with her friend.
"My Selph is right darlin', you're the best candidate for the job." Irvine added his own five gils worth.
"I'm sorry, I'm very flattered that you think that, but look at me! Gabriel is not even four yet and Eleanor is just a baby.." Quistis was adamant in her refusal.
"You tell 'em babe, you're a mother first and foremost!" Seifer said smugly.
Quistis narrowed her eyes at her husband, "What do you mean by that?"
"Our children should be your first and ONLY concern..." Seifer replied arrogantly.
The rest of them remained silent as the couple's argument unfolded...
"Are you implying that I might not be competent enough to handle both?" She asked him with indignation.
"I'm implying nothin'! Don't put words in my mouth!"
"Very well," Quistis stared at everyone present and smiled, "In that case, I accept the post."
"What?" Her husband shouted.
"You heard..." Was her smug reply...
... ...
...
And the rest was Garden History. Quisty proved to be an extremely proficient Headmistress. Thanks to her, admission to any Garden was highly sought after. The student population of both Balamb and Esthar Garden had doubled and their admission requirements had become more stringent, specially for those seeking to enter the upper levels. Quistis had made it mandatory that these students pass both an academic as well as a weapons test...
RING! RING!
"Squall, here." He looked at the clock. It was probably Rinoa calling to get him to leave the office early.
"Hi'ya, loverboy! Ready to call it a day?"
"In five minutes."
"Don't forget tonight's dinner is special, Foehnny is home."
"Yeah, I know."
"As your doctor, lemme remind you to..."
"I'll see you in five minutes, Rinoa" He interrupted her because he know that once she got started on her favourite topic there would not be stopping her.
"Oh...OK! You promised, bye."
"Bye." —Sigh—
§ § §
—Trabia Garden—
A petite figure hummed to herself as she stared at the decorations that were in the boxes. Deep indigo eyes stared critically at the assortment of streamers, balloons and other festive material visible from the boxes. Maybe she should sort the stuff out now, so that later they would know what they had, and what they had to get...
"Syl, baby, I knew you'd be here!" A tall lanky figure wearing his signature camel coloured duster and ten gallon hat approached the girl and lightly kissed the top of her head.
"Daddy! What're you doin' here?" Identical pairs of indigo eyes stared at each other, one pair puzzled, the other smiling.
"Your mother wants ya ...Something 'bout the festival committee at Balamb..."
"Oh! Oh! I almost forgot! Thanks for reminding me, daddy!" Sylvie Kinneas-Tilmitt stood on tiptoes and gave her father a quick peck on the cheek, "Gotta run or mom will kill me!"
Irvine Kinneas watched his daughter's quickly retreating figure and sighed. It would be nice if she were as quick with other things not related to the Garden Festival...
§ § §
To be continued…