This fic is an alternate version of the FF8 story. I asked myself, "What would the story be like if Squall was female?". The idea has grown from that. There are also other changes to the story and characters. If you have completed this game, then you will know the basic story. But in this one, things are slightly different. This story contains many, many spoilers, so if you haven't completed the game then be careful how much you read.
~Ancisace
Standard Warning #52345: All characters in this story (with the exception of Nephele) are the property of Squaresoft. The character Nephele is the property of Craig "Ancisace" Ancliff. (Although the name comes from ancient Greek legend. Want to hear it? Email me ^_^)
I don't own Squaresoft or any of their characters. I do own this really cool rare copy of "Needful Things", which has the cover printed upside down. (Serious)
If you want to sue me, good luck. I am not a real person. I am actually a statue, magically imbued with life by Aphrodite, who had taken pity on the female sculptor who had fallen in love with it. This means I am not officially alive, and therefore not subject to copyright law.
…………………
What If...?
Chapter Two: Recovery
"Now hold still. This is going to sting a little, ya know!"
"Gah! Jeez, what the hell is that stuff!?"
"It's only rubbing alcohol. It's not poison, ya know!"
Fujin shook with silent laughter as Raijin dabbed sterilising solution onto Seifer's head wound with a piece of cotton wool. Seifer glared at her.
"Whats. So. FUNNY!?" He yelled, startling Raijin, who fell over.
Fujin folded her arms and smirked.
"CRYBABY"
"Shut up! This bloody hurts. Nephele is a stupid BITCH!"
Raijin tried to change the subject. He didn't like to see Seifer and Fujin fight.
"What are you gonna do about her, Safe? We could report her, ya know?"
Seifer sank heavily onto his bed and scowled.
"Nope. They give us free reign here but even the faculty morons would say 'Well? Look what you did to iher/i"
The thought of Nephele's injuries seemed to cheer Seifer up a little, and when he spoke he sounded more like his old self.
"Lets get finished up here, and then you guys can help me get ready for the SeeD exam. I figure that if we give that faculty guy a few gil he can get me a decent damn team..."
…………………
Nephele opened her eyes, and there was a few seconds of panic when she couldn't get one of her eyes to work. Then rationality stepped in and pointed out the pressure on her eyes was cold cloth, and that it was a bandage around her head. The bandage was holding something cold and jelly like against her eye. She gingerly prodded the skin around the poultice. It was tender to the touch, and it was obviously going to be a real beauty of a shiner in a couple of hours. There was nothing to see, so she lay back on her pillow and drifted off to sleep again. As she closed her eyes, she thought she heard a vaguely familiar female voice say her name.
…………………
Her high heels clipped their even beat as Quistis made her way to pick up her student. The message didn't say, but she knew it would be either Seifer or Nephele. It always was. Her hunch was that it would be Nephele. Fortunately, Doctor Kadowaki had said the student would be able to take the SeeD exam today. If they missed it, they'd have to wait at least 3 months before they would be allowed to resit. Quistis wasn't thinking about this, however. She was thinking of about her student.
SeeDs were expected to be reasonably strong, irrespective of gender. The female students worked as hard as the men to build stamina. She herself did an hour of weight training an evening. However, all of them (herself included) had unthinkingly added a limit. None of them were willing to sacrifice their looks for a battle advantage.
The legends of the world spoke of a race of female warriors that lived long ago. They were supposedly incredible archers. In order stop them getting in the way, these warrior women would cut off their right breast so they could fire their huge longbows properly. They didn't care what the looked like. All they cared about was being the best. Nephele was like that. If Nephele had chosen an archer's path, she would have removed a breast to make firing easier. If Nephele had chosen magic like in the old stories she'd sell her soul for a few extra spells.
Nephele had chosen the gunblade. The gunblade was not a weapon for the weak. The Gunblade was a male-only weapon not because of sexism but basic biology. Nephele was the only female gunblade specialist in the history of SeeD, and probably the world.
She was a tall, imposing women with large, well-defined muscles. She hadn't gone so far that she looked freakish or like a man in drag, but she tended to intimidate people, especially men. They were afraid she might beat on them if they tried to hit on her.
Quistis pushed the door open, and entered the infirmary. Nephele was lying on the bed, apparently sleeping. Quistis saw the bandage around her waist, and the mud and blood that covered her clothing and stained the sheets.
Dr Kadowaki nodded a greeting to Quistis, who walked over to the medic.
"Well?"
Dr Kadowaki shrugged.
"Nephele has bruises, scratches, a black eye and a 7" long wound on her side. I'd tell her to take it easy, but..."
"...But she wouldn't pay any attention." Said Quistis, finishing the sentence for her.
Dr Kadowaki smiled.
"That's right. I used to know another girl like that. She was good, but she wouldn't listen to her doctor. Always rushing off to train and study when she should be in bed for another month. I wonder what happened to her?
Quistis looked over the top of her glasses at Kadowaki and smiled a little half smile.
" I'm a little inexperienced for that kind of line. Perhaps when I've actually finished a school year, Jane?"
Dr Kadowaki gave a little mocking curtsey
"As you wish, Instructor Trepe"
Quistis smiled, saluted stiffly and walked into the partitioned off section of the medical bay, smiling and shaking her head.
Nephele had woken up. She was rubbing her forehead and wincing. She watched Quistis walk into the room and close the door behind her. She sat on the corner of the bed and sighed.
„As soon as I got the message, I knew it was going to be either you or Seifer"
Nephele said nothing. She just waited for Quistis to continue.
„You two are going to kill each other one day. Be more careful in future, okay?"
Nephele shrugged her shoulders.
„Are you done?"
„You do realise your lucky to be alive?" said Quistis
Nephele shrugged again
„…What-"she began
„-ever" finished Quistis. „Get cleaned up and then report to class, okay? I have an announcement to make…"
Nephele sat up in bed.
„What about?"
„Hadn't you heard? The SeeD exam is today…"
Chapter 3 coming soon!
~Ancisace
Standard Warning #52345: All characters in this story (with the exception of Nephele) are the property of Squaresoft. The character Nephele is the property of Craig "Ancisace" Ancliff. (Although the name comes from ancient Greek legend. Want to hear it? Email me ^_^)
I don't own Squaresoft or any of their characters. I do own this really cool rare copy of "Needful Things", which has the cover printed upside down. (Serious)
If you want to sue me, good luck. I am not a real person. I am actually a statue, magically imbued with life by Aphrodite, who had taken pity on the female sculptor who had fallen in love with it. This means I am not officially alive, and therefore not subject to copyright law.
…………………
What If...?
Chapter Two: Recovery
"Now hold still. This is going to sting a little, ya know!"
"Gah! Jeez, what the hell is that stuff!?"
"It's only rubbing alcohol. It's not poison, ya know!"
Fujin shook with silent laughter as Raijin dabbed sterilising solution onto Seifer's head wound with a piece of cotton wool. Seifer glared at her.
"Whats. So. FUNNY!?" He yelled, startling Raijin, who fell over.
Fujin folded her arms and smirked.
"CRYBABY"
"Shut up! This bloody hurts. Nephele is a stupid BITCH!"
Raijin tried to change the subject. He didn't like to see Seifer and Fujin fight.
"What are you gonna do about her, Safe? We could report her, ya know?"
Seifer sank heavily onto his bed and scowled.
"Nope. They give us free reign here but even the faculty morons would say 'Well? Look what you did to iher/i"
The thought of Nephele's injuries seemed to cheer Seifer up a little, and when he spoke he sounded more like his old self.
"Lets get finished up here, and then you guys can help me get ready for the SeeD exam. I figure that if we give that faculty guy a few gil he can get me a decent damn team..."
…………………
Nephele opened her eyes, and there was a few seconds of panic when she couldn't get one of her eyes to work. Then rationality stepped in and pointed out the pressure on her eyes was cold cloth, and that it was a bandage around her head. The bandage was holding something cold and jelly like against her eye. She gingerly prodded the skin around the poultice. It was tender to the touch, and it was obviously going to be a real beauty of a shiner in a couple of hours. There was nothing to see, so she lay back on her pillow and drifted off to sleep again. As she closed her eyes, she thought she heard a vaguely familiar female voice say her name.
…………………
Her high heels clipped their even beat as Quistis made her way to pick up her student. The message didn't say, but she knew it would be either Seifer or Nephele. It always was. Her hunch was that it would be Nephele. Fortunately, Doctor Kadowaki had said the student would be able to take the SeeD exam today. If they missed it, they'd have to wait at least 3 months before they would be allowed to resit. Quistis wasn't thinking about this, however. She was thinking of about her student.
SeeDs were expected to be reasonably strong, irrespective of gender. The female students worked as hard as the men to build stamina. She herself did an hour of weight training an evening. However, all of them (herself included) had unthinkingly added a limit. None of them were willing to sacrifice their looks for a battle advantage.
The legends of the world spoke of a race of female warriors that lived long ago. They were supposedly incredible archers. In order stop them getting in the way, these warrior women would cut off their right breast so they could fire their huge longbows properly. They didn't care what the looked like. All they cared about was being the best. Nephele was like that. If Nephele had chosen an archer's path, she would have removed a breast to make firing easier. If Nephele had chosen magic like in the old stories she'd sell her soul for a few extra spells.
Nephele had chosen the gunblade. The gunblade was not a weapon for the weak. The Gunblade was a male-only weapon not because of sexism but basic biology. Nephele was the only female gunblade specialist in the history of SeeD, and probably the world.
She was a tall, imposing women with large, well-defined muscles. She hadn't gone so far that she looked freakish or like a man in drag, but she tended to intimidate people, especially men. They were afraid she might beat on them if they tried to hit on her.
Quistis pushed the door open, and entered the infirmary. Nephele was lying on the bed, apparently sleeping. Quistis saw the bandage around her waist, and the mud and blood that covered her clothing and stained the sheets.
Dr Kadowaki nodded a greeting to Quistis, who walked over to the medic.
"Well?"
Dr Kadowaki shrugged.
"Nephele has bruises, scratches, a black eye and a 7" long wound on her side. I'd tell her to take it easy, but..."
"...But she wouldn't pay any attention." Said Quistis, finishing the sentence for her.
Dr Kadowaki smiled.
"That's right. I used to know another girl like that. She was good, but she wouldn't listen to her doctor. Always rushing off to train and study when she should be in bed for another month. I wonder what happened to her?
Quistis looked over the top of her glasses at Kadowaki and smiled a little half smile.
" I'm a little inexperienced for that kind of line. Perhaps when I've actually finished a school year, Jane?"
Dr Kadowaki gave a little mocking curtsey
"As you wish, Instructor Trepe"
Quistis smiled, saluted stiffly and walked into the partitioned off section of the medical bay, smiling and shaking her head.
Nephele had woken up. She was rubbing her forehead and wincing. She watched Quistis walk into the room and close the door behind her. She sat on the corner of the bed and sighed.
„As soon as I got the message, I knew it was going to be either you or Seifer"
Nephele said nothing. She just waited for Quistis to continue.
„You two are going to kill each other one day. Be more careful in future, okay?"
Nephele shrugged her shoulders.
„Are you done?"
„You do realise your lucky to be alive?" said Quistis
Nephele shrugged again
„…What-"she began
„-ever" finished Quistis. „Get cleaned up and then report to class, okay? I have an announcement to make…"
Nephele sat up in bed.
„What about?"
„Hadn't you heard? The SeeD exam is today…"
Chapter 3 coming soon!