Chapter 7
In which some Characters get to Know Each Other, and the Quest for the Mysterious Materia begins

August and Marlene sprinted through Galbadia Garden, aiding SeeDs and SeeD trainees in their battles against the monsters that had chosen to take refuge from the storm inside the Garden. August's sword, claws, and muzzle were stained with the blood of many monsters, and steam issued steadily from Marlene's gunarm. Malrene blasted a few holes in a Creeps that was trying to sneak up on them just as August pulled his sword out of the body of a Wendigo. An announcement came over the intercom. "Monster threat contained. All SeeDs and SeeD cadets report to the auditorium. Grades and prizes will be given for participation in battles."

Marlene tugged at August's arm. "Come on! Let's go see if we won anything!"

August paused for a moment. "I'm not even a cadet here..."

"Oh, come on! They'll probably pay you or something!"

The two headed for the Auditorium, which was steadily filling with students, SeeDs, and Instructors. When all were seated, a screen snapped to life behind the speaker's podium. It showed a large graph with a few hundred bars. Four bars stood out farther from the rest. A man stepped up to the podium, dressed in an Instructor's uniform.

"Ladies and gentlemen! I am proud to announce that Galbadia Garden has been succesfully cleared of monsters! When we find out which student left their window open, there will be hell to pay." Nervous laughter rippled through the auditorium, as some people couldn't tell whether the man was joking or not. HE smiled. "The graph you see behind you is a representation of how much damage was inflicted on monsters by certain students. As usual, GFs killing monsters were not counted." A moan rose up from a section of the auditorium. He continued. "Scores were also weighted on the difficulty of monster faced. 1 HP from a T-Rexaur weights about the same as 25 HP from a Geezard. Extra points were added for coming to the aid of fellow students. Points were deducted for running away from a battle. Points were not deducted for allowing another student to take over a battle for you. However, the student that took over the battle would have recieved more points than you, since they scored the kill. This line," A red line appeared in the middle of the screen. "This line represents the minimum needed to pass your Attack score. If you're below that, don't worry about it. You'll have chances to make it up."

"We will now be giving prizes to the top scorers. Will these four people please come to the stage. Vincenzo Gabbiani. Boris Vasilyevich. Umm..." he scratched his head. "The girl with the gunarm and the cat man. Please come to the stage."

Marlene squealed almost directly in August's ear. "We won! Come on! Let's go!" August let Marlene tug him up to the stage, where they stood alongside a tall Galbadian carrying a baseball bat and an Estharian wearing metal-plated leather gloves and headphones. The announcer stepped up to August and Marlene.

"Name and student number?"

"Marlene Wallace, 058693."

"And you, sir?"

"August Polo. I'm just a visitor here..."

"Thank you." He stepped back to the mike. "Vincenzo Gabbiani! Boris Vasilyevich! Marlene Wallace! August Polo! These four are our top scorers! They each receive 2000 Gil and an automatic increase in SeeD rank once they become SeeDs! In addition, they will have their names placed on a plaque in the main Quadrangle. Observe these four! At this moment, they are... The Flowers of Garden!"

Vincenzo leaned down to whisper in Marlene's ear. "Instructor Travis used to be a chocobo race announcer." Marlene giggled.

Boris leaned a little closer to August. "I hate being put on pedestal like zis. It makes me feel like I am sideshow freak."

August nodded. "I know how you feel. I'm blushing under this fur."

Boris chuckled. "Ah, a man with humor. 'He who laughs has everything he could ever need.' The Estharian philosopher Astarte said that."

"He was very wise."

"She."

"Oh." Instructor Travis was still speaking.

"...And let each and every one of you strive to meet the ideals set forth by our Headmaster, Sinnius Sinclair, and attempt to raise yourselves to the level of greatness achieved by your fellow student, Irvine Kinneas. You are dismissed. The Cafeteria is serving hotdogs today in honor of this momentous occasion. Those of you coming from Balamb Garden are apt to be disappointed, but we try our best. Thank you."

Instructor Travis turned to the four as the rest of the students filed out of the Auditorium. "How did you like my little speech? 98.7% pure chocobo manure, I'm afraid." All five laughed at that. He shook hands with Marlene and August. "I'm Reynald Travis. I specialize in teaching GF N-dimensional metabiochemistry, for those of you who are interested in why a GF works the way they do. I'm afraid I have kind of a small class right now..."

August smiled. "I've always wondered about GFs in general. I'll try and sit in on a few classes while I'm here. I might not understand them, but I'll at least be able to spout some jargon to impress my friends."

Travis chuckled and turned to Marlene. "And you, young lady. That's quite an interesting weapon you have strapped to your right appendage. I saw some of the tapes. You're very impressive, if I do say so myself. If you do as well in your studies as you do in battle, you'll pass the SeeD Exam with no problem!" Marlene blushed and thanked him.

"And now we come to the infamous team. Gabbiani and Vasilyevich. Has there ever been a contest that you two did not finish in the top five in?"

"Yes, sir." Vincenzo spoke up. "We once came in 6th and 7th in a tree-climbing contest. Neither one of us can climb worth spit."

Boris chuckled. "Ve climb about az well az a dyslexic moogle, I'm afraid. Better to ask monkeys to sing zan us to climb."

Travis chuckled again and handed them each an envelope. "In there is a SeeD voucher for 2000 Gil. If a merchant won't accept it, feel free to beat him up. And let me personally congratulate you on your work." He shook hands with each of them and turned away, then paused and turned back towards Marlene. "You've just transferred here, right? You should go see the Headmaster about quarters." He walked off.

Boris clapped August on the back. "So, my monster hunting friend! All zis action has given me appetite! What say Ve head for ze Cafeteria?"

August shook his head. "Sorry. I need to see the Headmaster about getting quarters of my own. I might catch up to you guys later, though."

Marlene and August headed for the elevator to the Headmaster's office. August pushed the button for the elevator. A slightly metallic voice spoke from a speaker next to the panel. "Marlene Wallace, you are cleared to enter the Headmaster's office. August Polo, please have a seat in the waiting room to your left." Marlene shrugged and climbed onto the elevator. August stood for a moment, then headed into the waiting room. He sat on one of the couches, folding his legs into a lotus position.

"What's going on here? Security wasn't this tight when Martine was Headmaster..." He relaxed and let his mind wander. "Om mani padme hum... Om mani padme hum..." Reality flowed through him like water, and he soon felt his consciousness separate from his body.

Marlene stepped into the Headmaster's office. Sinnius Sinclair sat at his desk, poring over a small stack of papers. He looked up. "Marlene? It's a pleaure to meet you. Please, have a seat." Marlene sat down in one of the soft chairs around the desk. "I was just looking over your records. I must say, I'm impressed. No major disciplinary action, except for that noodle incident..."

"With all due respect, sir, I was framed on that one."

"Yes, it says here that they were unable to find any actual evidence of your involvement except for your being in the Cafeteria at the time. Well, that's all in the past. You know, looking at your scores and activities, you seem very similar to another student that came from Trabia..."

"Who?"

"Tilmitt. Selphie Tilmitt. Your scores are extremely close to hers, and you have nearly the same personality type. This could turn out interesing." He glanced at the screen in the desk. "Hmm, you and August both need quarters, right? You're in luck. There's a double open in the 3F West Dorm. Room 317."

Marlene's face lit up. [I]Oh, good! I don't have to deal with the awkwardness of having a roomie I barely know![/I] She stood and saluted the Headmaster. "Thank you, sir. Permision to be excused?"

"Granted. Go on and get settled." She walked out of the room.

Riding back down, she was about to burst with excitement. She opened the door of the waiting room to find August sitting in the lotus position. His aura showed him to be in a deep projective trance. She sat on the couch next to him, emptied her mind, and let her spirit follow his.

August floated above Galbadia Garden, looking down at the busy lives within. He then turned his attention ot the storm. There was a... wrongness about it, something he couldn't quite put his finger on...

*Lovely night, isn't it?* August nearly jumped in surprise. Marlene's consciousness floated next to him.

*Indeed. But something is amiss. Can you not feel it?*

*Oh? Oh. Yes. There is something wrong. This storm is not... right.*

*That's the only way I could describe it, too. It's like a sickness to the inner eye...*

*Wait! Did you hear that?*

*I think so. Where's it coming from?*

Marlene's soul pivoted. *Fisherman's Horizon! Come on!*

Marlene's consciousness drifted in the direction of FH, and August followed behind.

* * *

Cloud awoke, climbed out of bed, and was getting into his clothes when he remembered where he was. He looked around the room hurriedly. Abyss must still be in bed. Cloud finished dressing and examined his sword and armor. He had been carrying the Enhance Sword with him, since he was working on his Materia. It was a shame he hadn't had the Ultima Weapon, but at least he wasn't stuck with the Nail Bat. Yuffie had laughed like crazy when she saw him carrying the Nail Bat around. He sighed and picked his armor up off the chair. The Escort Guard. Not the best thing, but it would have to do. Satisfying himself that all his equipment was intact, he checked his Materia. Several were missing. He quickly reviewed how his Materia had been set up.
Weapon:
Magic Counter-Restore, Knights of Round-MP Absorb, Counter-Deathblow, Contain-All

Armor:
Master Command-Mega All, Fire-All, Enemy Away-Luck Plus

He was missing his Master Command, KOTR, Enemy Away, and Magic Counter Materia. He sighed and shifted his Materia around.
Weapon:
Restore-All, Contain-MP Absorb, Counter-Deathblow

Armor:
Luck Plus-Mega All, Fire-All

That left two empty linked slots in each piece. He quickly looked around, realizing he couldn't find his Ribbon. Something hard in his pocket revealed itself to be a Champion's Belt. He sighed. This was not a very good situation. The stairs behind him creaked and he spun around to see Abyss standing there with a bemused look on her face.

"Well, I see you're up early..." She moved down the stairs and walked over to him. She placed a hand on his forehead. "You seem to be fine. Temperature's normal, anyway."

"You didn't happen to see what happened to my other Materia, did you?"

"Other Materia?"

"Yes, I had about four other pieces of Materia in my equipment. Do you know what happened to it?"

"No, that was all you had. You were surrounded by a bunch of multicolored shards when I found you, though. Does Materia explode?"

Cloud thought for a moment. "I'm not sure. It seems to be kinda tough, but who's to say it can't be destroyed? Maybe the transition to this world was too much for some of it."

"I'm sorry. Was it important?"

"Not really. It just would have made things much easier."

"Actually, I was thinking about Materia last night and I realized it sounds a lot like my grandmother's lucky crystal. Here, this is it." She held out her hand. Nestled in the palm was a small red sphere. Cloud took it, and it pulsed with a dim red light. "This is Materia, all right. But I can't identify what it summons."

"You can have it if you like, I have no use for it."

Cloud stuck it in his armor. "Thank you."

Abyss looked at the floor for a moment. "So, you're going to be leaving soon..."

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be. Here." She took a backpack from behind the couch. "This contains a lot of the things you'll need to travel. All the items you were carrying are in here too. You didn't have much." She went to a bookshelf and took down an old, dusty book. "This is a book of legends. Maybe you can find out something to help you."

"Thank you."

"You should be going. But... can you at least stay for breakfast?"

Cloud laughed and agreed. After a hearty breakfast, he said his goodbyes to Abyss and set out. She told him his best bet would be to catch a train for Galbadia Garden at Timber. The library at the Garden was better than anything he could find in Timber, Deling City, or Dollet. He could find out just about anything there. The train from Timber dropped him off at East Academy Station, where he walked through the woods to Galbadia Garden. A few students eyed him suspiciously as he walked through the halls, but no one challenged him. He spent a little time in the library, then decided he would need to see the Headmaster for permission to stay here for a while.

* * *

Pandora stood in a large round room. Five short pedestals were arrayed around the room, four at the walls and one in the center. A hallway led further in. Pandora moved slowly along it, noting that the walls looked like they had been involved in some ancient conflagration. The stone appeared melted, like wax from an old candle. As she moved further along, light grew and voices began to whisper just at the edge of her hearing. The hall ended and she stepped out into a large domed hall. A bright white fire burned in the center of the hall. Walking closer, she saw that it was not a flame, but merely light emitted by something in the heart of it.

Chime.

"What?"

Chime.

"Please, I don't understand."

Chime.

"You're uneasy... but happy?" She looked around. "Because I'm here? I'm sorry... I don't understand. Please, talk to me."

Chime.

"No good. I don't understand the rest... Are you afraid?" The whispering voices grew louder.

Chime.

"What? An evil... consciousness?"

Chime.

"What? Really?"

Chime.

She raised her hands and looked at them. "You mean these?"

Chime.

"I... I'll try."

Chime. Chime. CHIME!

The light dimmed a little, revealing the shape within the light. Tall and straight, the crystal glowed from within with a pure, holy light. The light pulsed brighter, and Pandora felt her body being lifted off the floor and flung backwards by an irresistable force as the voices crescendoed. She could finally make out the words the voices were crying.

"Save us..."

As her vision faded, a face intruded on her awareness. Ice-blonde hair framed a livid scar and eyes that looked completely black. The lips twisted into a sneer. The smell of something burning invaded her nostrils. She opened her eyes to find...

That Laguna had burnt the bacon. He quickly threw the badly burned pieces out the window and turned to see Pandora sitting up in bed. "Heh, I fixed breakfast. It's a little... crunchy, but otherwise okay..."

Pandora climbed out of bed and ran her fingers through her hair. "Did you feed Kocho?"

"The chicobo? Uh, yeah. He is supposed to get that green milk, right?"

"Right." Pandora headed into the bathroom to change. Her robe from the previous night was stained with ichor. She came back out, attired in a white jumpsuit. She went to the closet and pulled out another robe. She thought for a minute, then put it back and pulled out another one. This one had more pockets than the others, and the lining was a mottled green and brown. "My travelling robe."

She sat down and ate some of the better bacon. Laguna sat opposite her, drinking coffee (He had overcooked that too) and reading Raine's diary. Kocho hopped up on the table and tried a little of the bacon. He made a face and squarked. Pandora chuckled. "Well, I didn't think you'd like it."

Laguna looked up. "Shall we be going?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I just need to get ready. Why are you so eager?"

"Well, I was thinking about this as I was lying on the couch, and I realized that this was one of the things I'd been missing while I was President. Action. Let's get out there and kick some monster butt!" He dropped to one knee and clutched his leg. "OW!"

"What?" She hurried over to him and examined his leg. "Just a cramp. Do you always do this when you get nervous?"

"...Yeah. Heh, I guess I'm not quite used to being back in action." He stood again and glanced around the room. "You know, I'm going to miss this place..." Suddenly, a beeping interrupted his thoughts. He pulled a cell phone out of his pocket. "Yeah? WHAT?! And X-ATM? Destroyed?! What about the prototype?" He sat down. "Great Hyne... Yes, understood. I'll be back shortly." He slipped the phone back into his pocket. "Great. I leave for a couple of days and the entire country goes to pot. Someone just waltzed into the Esthar Spaceport, entered a high-security area, toasted the robot guard, trashed the hangar, and made off with a high-powered experimental ship! *sigh* I need to get back to Esthar."

Pandora stood. "I'll come with you!"

"What? No, I can't..."

"Listen, I'm either going to come along as your partner or follow you all the way there, nagging you every step of the way."

"Heh, you have a persuasive argument. All right, let's get ready."

Pandora nodded and began moving around the room, pulling various items out of drawers, cupboards, and closets. "Let's see... Various cures, potions, et cetera... Hmm." She stopped in front of her bookshelf. "A general guide to wildlife and a medical guide should help..." She slipped a couple of small books off the shelf. "What's this?" She picked up a small flute that was laying on thew shelf behind where the books came from. "Something written on it... K... U... P... O... Kupo? That sounds familiar, but I can't place it..." She put it in her pocket. Moving to the coffee table, she slipped the Alexander Materia into a pocket, then placed the piece of Black-and-White Materia into its pouch along with the rhyme. The pouch went into another pocket. She headed into the bathroom and returned with five grenades. She handed them to Laguna. "Here. Don't drop them."

"Where were you keeping these?"

"In a plastic bag in the toilet tank. Keeps them from getting too hot."

"Oh." He slipped them into a pocket.

She stood and thought for a moment, then grabbed a sketchpad off the table. "Could be useful." She turned. "All right, I think I'm ready. The only thing left is to delegate responsibility."

Pandora headed downstairs and across the square to another house. She knocked on the door. A nervous heavyset woman opened it. "Oh, Pandora! Come in. Klisty's just got done with breakfast. I assume you wanted to see her?"

"Yes." Pandora walked in, followed by Laguna. Klisty sat on a couch, watching the latest episode of "Marvin Mu and the Chocolate Chocobo", the new Galbadian educational program for children. She looked up.

"Hi, 'Dora! Thanks for saving me."

"No prob, Klisty. Listen. I have to go away for a while. While I'm gone, you're in charge of my place. You can live there if you like. Just make sure Kocho gets fed every six hours. Feeding instructions are in the book on chocobo care. If someone comes complaining of an illness, the green book will help you diagnose it and the blue one will help you cure it. Got that?"

"Okay, 'Dora. Wow, I'm in charge! Thanks! But will you come back?"

"Of course I'll come back, Klisty."

"You promise?"

"I promise! Cross my heart and hope to die."

"Okay! Take care, 'Dora!"

"You too, Klisty..."

As Laguna and Pandora walked out of Winhill, Laguna commented, "You know, you just made a six-year-old girl the doctor for an entire village."

"I know. I'm not worried. She's seven. She can take care of herself."

The two headed southeast, towards the Winhill Bluffs and Timber.