"Ugh. Where am I?"
Squall said. He felt disoriented, but whole. He couldn't understand it or comprehend it. It was dark, empty, and lifeless. There was absolutely nothing. Squall felt paralyzed in his tracks. Afraid to move, lest he fall off into the abyss that he was suspended in. He fingered the ring on his hand, the ring that he had known so well through the years. Suddenly, he saw underneath him a rock in the distance, surrounded by an ocean rising towards him. He braced himself for its impact, but when he finally landed, there was no impact, no pain.
I must be dreaming.
He thought. From the forests on the island came out a figure dressed in white robes with white hair. Squall looked at him oddly, because even though he had white hair, he looked like he was only 20, and he seemed to radiate with light.
"Who are you?"
Squall asked. If the figure wasn't deaf, he was mute because he said nothing. Instead, he walked up to Squall's hand and reached for the ring. Normally, Squall wouldn't have let anyone get near his ring, but he felt compelled to hold his hand out,. as if he couldn't help himself. The figure in white took the ring off and placed it in Squall's hand.
"What?"
The ring suddenly started glowing, and it grew bigger... bigger. It turned face down into his palm and grew until the face was big enough to fit his entire palm. He felt it burn into his pand, etching its mark. He didn't feel any pain, though. It was as if there was no pain. The ring glowed hotter... hotter... hotter... when suddenly, it disappeared. In its place, there was a burn mark on his hand, a white-glowing mark that seemed to radiate with power, melding with his entire body. He could feel the power coursing through his entire body, sending wave of energy echoing throughout the entire dream world, even making the white-robed figure dissappear. He was almost screaming from the pain when, suddenly, he woke up in his bed sitting up, the sweat pouring down the side of his face, staining his collar.
He stood up instantly and walked to the restroom at the end of the hall. It was before the students were officially allowed to leave their rooms, so no one was awake yet. After making sure he was alone, he washed off his face, getting all the saltiness to wash away. When his hands passed over his eyes, though, it seemed to get brighter. He stopped washing his face and looked at his palms, only to see what he had feared most. Engraved in his palm was the face of the ring, and his ring was gone. His face was blanched as his mind ran through all the possibilities, none of them making sense. One of them stood out above all the rest, though.
I've gotta hide this... but how?
Before the bell rang, Squall slid over to the elevator to get up to the headmaster's office, or what was once the headmaster's office. Since the headmaster had chosen to stay with Edea, the office was now his personal office, the commander's office. Technically, no one was allowed to use the elevator, and it disabled itself during curfew, but being the commander of the Garden had its advantages. On a keychain, next to the hanging head of the lion that was dangling on his gunblade, lay the school master key. He yanked it off and pushed it into a slot right below the up/down buttons. The elevator activated promptly, like he knew it would, and he went straight to Cid's old office.
Since the Garden had set itself down, there was no one up there piloting, and Squall was glad for it. If anyone at all were to spot his hand, who knew what would happen? He reached the intercom command switch, and sent a personal message, something that he rarely ever did. The intercom would only reach Zell's room, so Squall spoke casually, hoping that Zell would at least wake up.
"Zell. I know it's early, but get up and head over to my office. The elevator has been activated already. Bring one of your metal knuckles."
Now, all he could do was wait for Zell to arrive, and hope that the kid didn't panic when he saw the Mark of the Lion.
Zell flopped out of bed, smacking his alarm clock, which was incessantly buzzing. When it didn't stop, though, he realized it was Squall's voice coming over the intercom.
"Zell... my office... elevator... bring knuckles."
That was all Zell could really make out through the haze over his brain, but he figured what it was for.
"Coming!"
He called out to nowhere. Being as how he slept with his clothes on, it didn't take him long at all to get ready and head over to Cid's office. When he parted through the double doors and went up the mini-vator, as he called it, he saw Squall facing the sky in the commander's chair so that Zell couldn't see him.
"Did you bring the knuckles?"
Squall asked from being the chair.
"Hold up. What's this about, Squall? You don't wake up a kid at 5 o'clock just to ask for my Maverick."
He heard a sigh from behind the chair. He saw Squall swirl around, his hands clasped together.
"So, Zell. You want to know what's up?"
"Hell yeah!"
Squall slowly untangled his hands, adding to the suspense. He showed his palm to the astonished Zell, not half-surprised at the look on his face.
"So, will you give me your Maverick?"
"Su...Su...Sure."
He handed over the gloves and Squall quickly covered up his hands, smiling for the first time since the strange engravings came on his hands. When he got both hands covered, he seemed to loosen up a little bit.
"Thanks, Zell. Even if you are annoying as hell, you're a lifesaver."
"Let me guess, I'm not supposed to tell anyone, right?"
"Yes."
"OK. Your secret's safe with me."
As he turned away to go down the lesser elevator, Zell turned around.
"You know, if you're going to wear a Maverick everywhere you go, it would make more sense if you enrolled in a combat class."
Squall's face darkened some. To be under Zell's command...
"All right."
He didn't really have a choice. Zell was right. You didn't arm yourself with a somewhat powerful fist to fist combat weapon without having some need for it, and everyone else would notice it, too. After Zell left, Squall decided he'd stay in his office for the hour, until it came time for him to let everyone out. It wasn't like he had anything to do, anyway.
The next morning, all the doors unlocked at the said time and almost everbody came moping tiredly out of their classes like they always did. Everyone but Squall. When the buzzer rang, he oddly found himself asleep. He almost never slept when he didn't want to, so this seemed odd. He opened his eyes slowly, carefully, feeling the breeze of the Garden on the back of his head. Ragnarok was safe in Esthar, and it didn't have the homey feeling of the Garden. He slowly came awake and looked at his watch. It read 7:12.
"In the name of Hyne! I'm late for combat training!"
He was about to run to the minivator when suddenly, the air around him shifted and he found himself standing in front of the Quad Entrance. Luckily, everyone who would have seen him was too asleep to care.
What the hell...?
He walked in quickly, looking at the ornate flowers and tiles that decorated the place. Selphie had even spruced it up, since it was now a party location, meeting place, combat training center, and sometimes docking bay. Because of this, everything had some kind of sign of their adventures, the sign of Esthar ascribed on one wall, a rack of duplicates of their weapons, a hologram of Squall, Zell, and Rinoa fighting Ultimecia, and a number of small momentos on the pedestals that were placed there. The entrance hall looked more like a museum, now, than a party area.
He walked quietly into the class, two minutes late. He expected that everyone would have stopped, but the class hadn't started yet. People were in their assigned lines, but they weren't started. Zell had his hands on a communicator, one that was used for in-Garden calls. Because of Zell, the dress code was lax, so he didn't need to change into the traditional garb. However, there was something he found intriguing on the wall as possible clothes for practice. He didn't need to change, and almost no one ever did, so all of the garments were there. Zell had stopped trying to sell them and was giving them away. Luckily for Squall, no one had seen him but Zell. Quickly, he grabbed what he saw off and the wall and walked towards the changing wall. Behind it, he looked at it. Black, elastic trousers, a ninja-style shirt that was meant for it, two armbands, and a headband.
"Hm..."
Discarding the shirt, he changed into the rest, leaving his chest visible. He smiled as he looked at the fabric on his wrists. He made several practice swings and admired the look of it. It was something new, but new wasn't bad. He stored his jacket and normal pants, as well as his gunblade, into the 'Guest' storage space. Hopefully, it would be renamed after he'd been there a while. He straightened his maverick on his fist, making sure it covered the mark on his hand, that strange glowing Lionheart symbol. As a last thing, he closed his eyes and sent a message to Ifrit and Diablo through the Guardian Voice, a skill he'd learned when he'd first learned to summon GF's, the ability to talk to them through the dimensions.
Go idle, please. Unjunction all abilities. Stay for summoning, though.
Through the dimensions, he felt an acknowledgement, and a slight sense of dissapointment. His bond with his GF's was second to none, and they didn't like to leave him. He walked out when he heard Zell whistle. He assumed his place in the order quickly. Smiling as Zell raised an eyebrow at him, he noticed that no one looked in his direction. Certainly, he was in the back of the rows, but still, most of the people in training were kids, only 12 or 13. As immature as they should have been, Squall was surprised that they hadn't been distracted and looked around. Apparently, a lax dress code didn't change Zell's attitude towards military precision and training.
"Class. As you know, we've been learning how to counter magic with physical strength."
Zell said, now off of the communicator.
"As you know, there is a common belief that only a person's own magic field, called vitality by some, can block magic attacks. However, I beg to differ. I've called in an expert on the subject to provide some much needed training to you kids."
From the back of the room, Squall heard a shoe hitting the tile, probably the specialist. Yet... that sound... Rinoa.
"Everyone, before you turn around to see the specialist, I would like you to meet our new student. Student, step to the front of the room."
No one even looked at him until he got to the front of the room. Squall would probably have a talk with Xu. Being the quartermaster, she would be the person who would acquire the funds to get him a raise. He got up to the front, and it was only then when a couple of whispered voices started to come to the forefront.
"Now Squall. I don't normally do this, but you will be today's demonstration. I believe you have unjunctioned yourself?"
"Yes... sir."
Calling him 'sir' was going to take some getting used to.
"All right. Rinoa, begin the test."
A couple of gasps came from the children when Rinoa floated over their heads to the platform. Rinoa smiled when she saw Squall, and he gave a half-smile back... for a split second. When Rinoa reached the platform, she deactivated her float and touched down. Squall almost smiled when she mouthed, 'you look good.' Squall remembered that he wasn't wearing a shirt or jacket, and he felt almost embarrassed. Almost. Rinoa walked backwards another 2 meters, so that she was about 12 feet away.
"This, class, is where most magic attacks and defense will occur."
Zell said, sounding more like a commander than Squall normally saw him.
"Therefore, this is where we'll make our tests. First, we try the ice attacks, since our wonderful commander is without any form of protection. Then it's up to the sorceress what will be next."
Squall's eyes got a little wide at that. He hadn't suspected any of this, and this idea was a little more than he could take. However, Zell had given him some pointers back during their days against Ultimecia, and he put his hands out to intercept the attack. Now Rinoa spoke.
"Some magical attacks, like 'ice', are physical, but that's not what we're looking for, so I'm going to use a series of energy beams that are the equivalent power, effect, temperature, etc. as their physical counterparts."
Squall raised his hands as Rinoa raised a hand. From the corner of his eye, Squall could watch an eye close, and he could feel a student scanning him. It didn't take long for Squall to realize that this student was analyzing his own natural vitality, strength, etc. and looking for some kind of trick, some kind of vitality focus, a quick reflect magic, or something that would be otherwise... cheating. Suddenly, from in front of Rinoa, a sphere appeared. Out of it came a beam that lanced out towards his head. Quickly, he blocked it before him, and was almost stunned at its power. Rinoa wasn't holding back, and his hand felt like it was just drenched in liquid nitro. However, he was able to resist it for as long as she kept it up, and it ended quickly.
"Now, we increase it to blizzara power."
"Wha..."
He didn't get to finish before a much deeper sphere opened up, and Squall was hard pressed to guard his thigh in time, the target she was striving for. The pain was searing, and through the white that came in front of his eyes, he saw the child who was scanning him raise an eyebrow. He didn't know why, but he couldn't concentrate enough to think. The pain reached his brain and he almost swam before the beam stopped. He hit the floor in almost agony, and he could almost sense the pity that Zell and the others had for him. The last time Rinoa 'maxed out' her blizzara magic's power, with an Estharian reconnaisance agent, one of the most reputable scanners in the world, she had been rated at only 27 colions below the power of Hyne, higher than even Ultimecia. A colion was a rating of magic that the mind, when scanning, mysteriously used. Rinoa frowned and walked over to Squall.
"Squall. Do you want me to do this? I could destroy you on accident."
"No... problem. Just stop using the ice attacks. Without a jacket, they hurt like hell."
"Right."
She moved back to her previous position as Squall slowly got back up.
"Class. My last attack will not be an ice attack. I will use a thunder attack. Thundaga."
Squall barely raised his hand when the last sphere appeared, lancing out a painful blast of thunder through his body. He started jerkily vibrantly, trying to think about what he was going to do. His vision started to black out, and his hand started to feel weakened. Suddenly, he felt his hand heat up. It wasn't the blazing heat of thunder, but a sort of pulsing energy. His vision cleared and he saw the lightning twist around him, hitting the wall behind him, blowing a gaping hole straight through it into the cafeteria. Several people in the room gasped, and the military precision evaporated under the awe. Suddenly, the thundaga didn't go around him. It went into him. The one who was scanning him was the only child to not look at him awestruck, and his eyes were closed. Squall relished in the power of the thundaga, feeling it absorb into him. Rinoa's eyes got wide as Squall yelled out,
"Rinoa! Ultima!"
Rinoa was slow to respond, but she produced an ultima beam, and it seemed to hit him at the same time, fusing with the lightning already in his body. His voice was almost vibrating through the halls as he felt his own powers rise.
"Flare! Blizzaga! Holy! Death! Bio! Tornado! Full life!"
Rinoa was almost paralyzed with fear of what he was asking. If his mysterious power ran out, he'd be dead. However, she still raised her hand and created the other powers, which themselves shot into him, fusing with everything that was in him already. The power of the beams seemed to become one with him as his pupils seemed to dissapear and his eyes became white. His open chest started gleaming with sweat, but at the same time, it seemed to pulse with energy. It's physical appearance didn't change at all, but it was... different. Together, they became one with him and when all the spheres stopped hitting him, he kneeled down in something that felt like exhaustion. People watching from the cafeteria just stared and the different kids watching him all backed off in fear. All except the one.
Indigo read his scans as the thundaga hit Squall. It read everything as normal. No force fluctuations. Then, suddenly, he saw a reading. On his hands, a foreign power expanded around him, a field of energy which, in his mind, read as some kind of distortion field. The lightning's power reading was nothing compared to this new source. Suddenly, it phased into another form, some kind of power absorption field. Was this what he had been looking for all his lives? He waited until the beams all shut off so that he could get a straight reading of Squall without their interference. The power fields, the fusion of the powers into the physical body, it all made sense. All his studies were true, his suspicions. Finally, his destiny was almost complete. All he had to do was complete his mission.
Squall said. He felt disoriented, but whole. He couldn't understand it or comprehend it. It was dark, empty, and lifeless. There was absolutely nothing. Squall felt paralyzed in his tracks. Afraid to move, lest he fall off into the abyss that he was suspended in. He fingered the ring on his hand, the ring that he had known so well through the years. Suddenly, he saw underneath him a rock in the distance, surrounded by an ocean rising towards him. He braced himself for its impact, but when he finally landed, there was no impact, no pain.
I must be dreaming.
He thought. From the forests on the island came out a figure dressed in white robes with white hair. Squall looked at him oddly, because even though he had white hair, he looked like he was only 20, and he seemed to radiate with light.
"Who are you?"
Squall asked. If the figure wasn't deaf, he was mute because he said nothing. Instead, he walked up to Squall's hand and reached for the ring. Normally, Squall wouldn't have let anyone get near his ring, but he felt compelled to hold his hand out,. as if he couldn't help himself. The figure in white took the ring off and placed it in Squall's hand.
"What?"
The ring suddenly started glowing, and it grew bigger... bigger. It turned face down into his palm and grew until the face was big enough to fit his entire palm. He felt it burn into his pand, etching its mark. He didn't feel any pain, though. It was as if there was no pain. The ring glowed hotter... hotter... hotter... when suddenly, it disappeared. In its place, there was a burn mark on his hand, a white-glowing mark that seemed to radiate with power, melding with his entire body. He could feel the power coursing through his entire body, sending wave of energy echoing throughout the entire dream world, even making the white-robed figure dissappear. He was almost screaming from the pain when, suddenly, he woke up in his bed sitting up, the sweat pouring down the side of his face, staining his collar.
He stood up instantly and walked to the restroom at the end of the hall. It was before the students were officially allowed to leave their rooms, so no one was awake yet. After making sure he was alone, he washed off his face, getting all the saltiness to wash away. When his hands passed over his eyes, though, it seemed to get brighter. He stopped washing his face and looked at his palms, only to see what he had feared most. Engraved in his palm was the face of the ring, and his ring was gone. His face was blanched as his mind ran through all the possibilities, none of them making sense. One of them stood out above all the rest, though.
I've gotta hide this... but how?
Before the bell rang, Squall slid over to the elevator to get up to the headmaster's office, or what was once the headmaster's office. Since the headmaster had chosen to stay with Edea, the office was now his personal office, the commander's office. Technically, no one was allowed to use the elevator, and it disabled itself during curfew, but being the commander of the Garden had its advantages. On a keychain, next to the hanging head of the lion that was dangling on his gunblade, lay the school master key. He yanked it off and pushed it into a slot right below the up/down buttons. The elevator activated promptly, like he knew it would, and he went straight to Cid's old office.
Since the Garden had set itself down, there was no one up there piloting, and Squall was glad for it. If anyone at all were to spot his hand, who knew what would happen? He reached the intercom command switch, and sent a personal message, something that he rarely ever did. The intercom would only reach Zell's room, so Squall spoke casually, hoping that Zell would at least wake up.
"Zell. I know it's early, but get up and head over to my office. The elevator has been activated already. Bring one of your metal knuckles."
Now, all he could do was wait for Zell to arrive, and hope that the kid didn't panic when he saw the Mark of the Lion.
Zell flopped out of bed, smacking his alarm clock, which was incessantly buzzing. When it didn't stop, though, he realized it was Squall's voice coming over the intercom.
"Zell... my office... elevator... bring knuckles."
That was all Zell could really make out through the haze over his brain, but he figured what it was for.
"Coming!"
He called out to nowhere. Being as how he slept with his clothes on, it didn't take him long at all to get ready and head over to Cid's office. When he parted through the double doors and went up the mini-vator, as he called it, he saw Squall facing the sky in the commander's chair so that Zell couldn't see him.
"Did you bring the knuckles?"
Squall asked from being the chair.
"Hold up. What's this about, Squall? You don't wake up a kid at 5 o'clock just to ask for my Maverick."
He heard a sigh from behind the chair. He saw Squall swirl around, his hands clasped together.
"So, Zell. You want to know what's up?"
"Hell yeah!"
Squall slowly untangled his hands, adding to the suspense. He showed his palm to the astonished Zell, not half-surprised at the look on his face.
"So, will you give me your Maverick?"
"Su...Su...Sure."
He handed over the gloves and Squall quickly covered up his hands, smiling for the first time since the strange engravings came on his hands. When he got both hands covered, he seemed to loosen up a little bit.
"Thanks, Zell. Even if you are annoying as hell, you're a lifesaver."
"Let me guess, I'm not supposed to tell anyone, right?"
"Yes."
"OK. Your secret's safe with me."
As he turned away to go down the lesser elevator, Zell turned around.
"You know, if you're going to wear a Maverick everywhere you go, it would make more sense if you enrolled in a combat class."
Squall's face darkened some. To be under Zell's command...
"All right."
He didn't really have a choice. Zell was right. You didn't arm yourself with a somewhat powerful fist to fist combat weapon without having some need for it, and everyone else would notice it, too. After Zell left, Squall decided he'd stay in his office for the hour, until it came time for him to let everyone out. It wasn't like he had anything to do, anyway.
The next morning, all the doors unlocked at the said time and almost everbody came moping tiredly out of their classes like they always did. Everyone but Squall. When the buzzer rang, he oddly found himself asleep. He almost never slept when he didn't want to, so this seemed odd. He opened his eyes slowly, carefully, feeling the breeze of the Garden on the back of his head. Ragnarok was safe in Esthar, and it didn't have the homey feeling of the Garden. He slowly came awake and looked at his watch. It read 7:12.
"In the name of Hyne! I'm late for combat training!"
He was about to run to the minivator when suddenly, the air around him shifted and he found himself standing in front of the Quad Entrance. Luckily, everyone who would have seen him was too asleep to care.
What the hell...?
He walked in quickly, looking at the ornate flowers and tiles that decorated the place. Selphie had even spruced it up, since it was now a party location, meeting place, combat training center, and sometimes docking bay. Because of this, everything had some kind of sign of their adventures, the sign of Esthar ascribed on one wall, a rack of duplicates of their weapons, a hologram of Squall, Zell, and Rinoa fighting Ultimecia, and a number of small momentos on the pedestals that were placed there. The entrance hall looked more like a museum, now, than a party area.
He walked quietly into the class, two minutes late. He expected that everyone would have stopped, but the class hadn't started yet. People were in their assigned lines, but they weren't started. Zell had his hands on a communicator, one that was used for in-Garden calls. Because of Zell, the dress code was lax, so he didn't need to change into the traditional garb. However, there was something he found intriguing on the wall as possible clothes for practice. He didn't need to change, and almost no one ever did, so all of the garments were there. Zell had stopped trying to sell them and was giving them away. Luckily for Squall, no one had seen him but Zell. Quickly, he grabbed what he saw off and the wall and walked towards the changing wall. Behind it, he looked at it. Black, elastic trousers, a ninja-style shirt that was meant for it, two armbands, and a headband.
"Hm..."
Discarding the shirt, he changed into the rest, leaving his chest visible. He smiled as he looked at the fabric on his wrists. He made several practice swings and admired the look of it. It was something new, but new wasn't bad. He stored his jacket and normal pants, as well as his gunblade, into the 'Guest' storage space. Hopefully, it would be renamed after he'd been there a while. He straightened his maverick on his fist, making sure it covered the mark on his hand, that strange glowing Lionheart symbol. As a last thing, he closed his eyes and sent a message to Ifrit and Diablo through the Guardian Voice, a skill he'd learned when he'd first learned to summon GF's, the ability to talk to them through the dimensions.
Go idle, please. Unjunction all abilities. Stay for summoning, though.
Through the dimensions, he felt an acknowledgement, and a slight sense of dissapointment. His bond with his GF's was second to none, and they didn't like to leave him. He walked out when he heard Zell whistle. He assumed his place in the order quickly. Smiling as Zell raised an eyebrow at him, he noticed that no one looked in his direction. Certainly, he was in the back of the rows, but still, most of the people in training were kids, only 12 or 13. As immature as they should have been, Squall was surprised that they hadn't been distracted and looked around. Apparently, a lax dress code didn't change Zell's attitude towards military precision and training.
"Class. As you know, we've been learning how to counter magic with physical strength."
Zell said, now off of the communicator.
"As you know, there is a common belief that only a person's own magic field, called vitality by some, can block magic attacks. However, I beg to differ. I've called in an expert on the subject to provide some much needed training to you kids."
From the back of the room, Squall heard a shoe hitting the tile, probably the specialist. Yet... that sound... Rinoa.
"Everyone, before you turn around to see the specialist, I would like you to meet our new student. Student, step to the front of the room."
No one even looked at him until he got to the front of the room. Squall would probably have a talk with Xu. Being the quartermaster, she would be the person who would acquire the funds to get him a raise. He got up to the front, and it was only then when a couple of whispered voices started to come to the forefront.
"Now Squall. I don't normally do this, but you will be today's demonstration. I believe you have unjunctioned yourself?"
"Yes... sir."
Calling him 'sir' was going to take some getting used to.
"All right. Rinoa, begin the test."
A couple of gasps came from the children when Rinoa floated over their heads to the platform. Rinoa smiled when she saw Squall, and he gave a half-smile back... for a split second. When Rinoa reached the platform, she deactivated her float and touched down. Squall almost smiled when she mouthed, 'you look good.' Squall remembered that he wasn't wearing a shirt or jacket, and he felt almost embarrassed. Almost. Rinoa walked backwards another 2 meters, so that she was about 12 feet away.
"This, class, is where most magic attacks and defense will occur."
Zell said, sounding more like a commander than Squall normally saw him.
"Therefore, this is where we'll make our tests. First, we try the ice attacks, since our wonderful commander is without any form of protection. Then it's up to the sorceress what will be next."
Squall's eyes got a little wide at that. He hadn't suspected any of this, and this idea was a little more than he could take. However, Zell had given him some pointers back during their days against Ultimecia, and he put his hands out to intercept the attack. Now Rinoa spoke.
"Some magical attacks, like 'ice', are physical, but that's not what we're looking for, so I'm going to use a series of energy beams that are the equivalent power, effect, temperature, etc. as their physical counterparts."
Squall raised his hands as Rinoa raised a hand. From the corner of his eye, Squall could watch an eye close, and he could feel a student scanning him. It didn't take long for Squall to realize that this student was analyzing his own natural vitality, strength, etc. and looking for some kind of trick, some kind of vitality focus, a quick reflect magic, or something that would be otherwise... cheating. Suddenly, from in front of Rinoa, a sphere appeared. Out of it came a beam that lanced out towards his head. Quickly, he blocked it before him, and was almost stunned at its power. Rinoa wasn't holding back, and his hand felt like it was just drenched in liquid nitro. However, he was able to resist it for as long as she kept it up, and it ended quickly.
"Now, we increase it to blizzara power."
"Wha..."
He didn't get to finish before a much deeper sphere opened up, and Squall was hard pressed to guard his thigh in time, the target she was striving for. The pain was searing, and through the white that came in front of his eyes, he saw the child who was scanning him raise an eyebrow. He didn't know why, but he couldn't concentrate enough to think. The pain reached his brain and he almost swam before the beam stopped. He hit the floor in almost agony, and he could almost sense the pity that Zell and the others had for him. The last time Rinoa 'maxed out' her blizzara magic's power, with an Estharian reconnaisance agent, one of the most reputable scanners in the world, she had been rated at only 27 colions below the power of Hyne, higher than even Ultimecia. A colion was a rating of magic that the mind, when scanning, mysteriously used. Rinoa frowned and walked over to Squall.
"Squall. Do you want me to do this? I could destroy you on accident."
"No... problem. Just stop using the ice attacks. Without a jacket, they hurt like hell."
"Right."
She moved back to her previous position as Squall slowly got back up.
"Class. My last attack will not be an ice attack. I will use a thunder attack. Thundaga."
Squall barely raised his hand when the last sphere appeared, lancing out a painful blast of thunder through his body. He started jerkily vibrantly, trying to think about what he was going to do. His vision started to black out, and his hand started to feel weakened. Suddenly, he felt his hand heat up. It wasn't the blazing heat of thunder, but a sort of pulsing energy. His vision cleared and he saw the lightning twist around him, hitting the wall behind him, blowing a gaping hole straight through it into the cafeteria. Several people in the room gasped, and the military precision evaporated under the awe. Suddenly, the thundaga didn't go around him. It went into him. The one who was scanning him was the only child to not look at him awestruck, and his eyes were closed. Squall relished in the power of the thundaga, feeling it absorb into him. Rinoa's eyes got wide as Squall yelled out,
"Rinoa! Ultima!"
Rinoa was slow to respond, but she produced an ultima beam, and it seemed to hit him at the same time, fusing with the lightning already in his body. His voice was almost vibrating through the halls as he felt his own powers rise.
"Flare! Blizzaga! Holy! Death! Bio! Tornado! Full life!"
Rinoa was almost paralyzed with fear of what he was asking. If his mysterious power ran out, he'd be dead. However, she still raised her hand and created the other powers, which themselves shot into him, fusing with everything that was in him already. The power of the beams seemed to become one with him as his pupils seemed to dissapear and his eyes became white. His open chest started gleaming with sweat, but at the same time, it seemed to pulse with energy. It's physical appearance didn't change at all, but it was... different. Together, they became one with him and when all the spheres stopped hitting him, he kneeled down in something that felt like exhaustion. People watching from the cafeteria just stared and the different kids watching him all backed off in fear. All except the one.
Indigo read his scans as the thundaga hit Squall. It read everything as normal. No force fluctuations. Then, suddenly, he saw a reading. On his hands, a foreign power expanded around him, a field of energy which, in his mind, read as some kind of distortion field. The lightning's power reading was nothing compared to this new source. Suddenly, it phased into another form, some kind of power absorption field. Was this what he had been looking for all his lives? He waited until the beams all shut off so that he could get a straight reading of Squall without their interference. The power fields, the fusion of the powers into the physical body, it all made sense. All his studies were true, his suspicions. Finally, his destiny was almost complete. All he had to do was complete his mission.