What If?
Chapter 4
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.)
I don't own Squaresoft or any of their characters. I do own a Siamese cat called Sapphire, who I love very much despite all her deformities
What If? 4 ~Meetings And Partings
Nephele swung her legs out of bed and winced. Dr Kadowaki told her to stay and rest, but as expected she refused. Tutting quietly to herself, Kadowaki showed her how to change her bandage, and made her promise to comeback if there was even the faintest trace of infection.
Quistis was waiting in the corridor. Nephele walked right past her, but Quistis fell into step beside her anyway. She sighed theatrically.
"Why do you let him get to you?"
There was no need to say who they were talking about.
" I can't just walk away…" said Nephele, irritably.
There was reproach in Quistis' voice when she answered.
"Why not? That's what you do to everyone else, isn't it?"
Nephele paused for an instant, and for an instant it looked as though she would say something. Then she shook her head, and carried on warning. Quistis counted to three under her breath.
"Whatever" said Quistis and Nephele in perfect harmony. Quistis giggled.
XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX
Seifer was sat in a chair in the room he shared with Raijin, snoring gently. His sleep pattern had been knocked out of whack lately with all the weird dreams e had been having, so he grabbed the chance to snatch a couple f minutes sleep whenever he could.
Seifer, Wake Up
The voice was cultured, but there was a touch of cold malice in every syllable. It could make "Good Morning" sound like a threat. If a sword could speak, this would be how it would sound. Seifer opened one eye.
"What do you want? Can't this wait?"
The voice ignored him.
Seifer, I Believe You Gave Your Word To Nephele That You Would Fight Her Without Junctioning Me. Nephele Did Not Junction Her GF. Why Did You?
Seifer smiled nastily.
"I won. That's all that matters," said Seifer, closing his eyes again.
IT IS NOT ALL THAT MATTERS! roared the voice. Seifer's eyes opened in surprise.
Following The Warrior Code Is What Matters! Keeping Your Word Is What Matters! And To Think You Have Aspirations To Be A Sorcerers Knight! Added the voice, scornfully
Seifer looked shocked. The voice continued.
I Know All About Your Dreams, You Pathetic Little Fool. I Live In Your Mind, Remember? But No Longer. I Withdraw My Services. I Refuse To Serve Anyone With No Honour. I Shall Leave You Now.
There was silence, and Seifer had the horrible sensation that his brain was being sucked out from his nose. And then there was only silence and stillness. The chair tipped back and clattered onto the floor. Seifer looked this way and that, searching the room desperately and looking confused and angry.
"HEY! Come back, dammit!"
Silence was the only response. He closed his eyes and tried to junction, knowing it was futile but doing it regardless. Nothing happened. He threw back his head and roared with rage. He took a quick step forward and punched the wall as hard as he could. His fist went through the mirror that hung there, into the wall behind it and leaving a massive dent into the plaster. He turned to the right and kicked out at Raijin's bookshelf. The wood splintered and tore free of the cheap screws that held it in place. The air was fled with flying paper. Seifer drew his sword and sliced through the chair, cutting through the wood and leather like water. He span with the follow through, using the momentum to add force to the blow he aimed at the doorframe. The sword passed through the wood and into the wall behind it, where it stuck.
Seifer left it there. He kicked his way through the devastation and into his bedroom. He sat down heavily onto his bed. The exertion had opened his wound again, and blood was pouring down his face, but Seifer ignored it.
"SEIFER!"
Raijin and Fujin appeared with weapons drawn. They relaxed slightly when they saw Seifer, but they kept their weapons out. They looked at him for an explanation.
"It was an accident," he said.
"ACCIDENT?" commented Fujin, looking at the sword protruding from the doorway. Seifer didn't look at her. Fujin and Raijin exchanged glances, and Fujin gestured towards the door. Raijin nodded.
"I'll just…I'll go and…um…uh…be back later, ya know?"
He left the room, looking mournfully at the ruins of his treasure book collection on the way out. Fujin sat down on the bed next to Seifer. He looked at her.
"You aren't going to leave me alone until I tell you what happened, aren't you?"
Fujin laughed silently.
"NATURALLY" she smiled.
"My GF just left me."
"WORRIED?"
"No, angry. How dare he walk away from me like that? Just because I didn't follow all the bloody rules…"
Fujin's eyes narrowed.
"NEPHELE?"
"Yeah, just because that bitch was dumb enough to trust me, he blamed me for taking advantage of it."
"REVENGE?"
"Nobodies ever killed a GF, Fujin."
"SO?"
Seifer brightened up at this.
"DAMN RIGHT! So what if he's a GF? He betrayed me; he has to pay just like everyone else when the time comes. Stick him on it."
Fujin nodded, and held out her hand. Seifer gave her an appraising look.
"When the time does come, you're going to be there right beside me, right?"
"ALWAYS", smiled Fujin
Seifer laughed and took her hand and shook it. Fujin reached out with the other and put her hand on his shoulder.
"ALWAYS" she repeated, this time with a deadly serious expression replacing the smile.
XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX
After a shower and a change of clothes, Nephele started to feel more human, and less likely to decapitate random passers-by for heinous sins such as breathing too loudly. She was feeling almost cheerful as she pushed open the door and entered Instructor Trepe's lecture room. As usual there was a crowd around her desk, but Quistis still managed to be polite to them every single damn day. Quistis was even managing to smile. Nephele couldn't see how she could stand it.
If they did that to me, they'd still be cleaning the blood out of the carpet, thought Nephele. Call it personal differences then.
Seifer was sat in his usual seat at the back of the class, with his feet resting on his workstation and wearing that maddening grin of his. She gritted her teeth and walked past him, totally blanking him as she sat down. She thought she heard him chuckle to himself, but she forced herself to ignore him. She glanced at the monitor, and realised she had forgotten something important. Switching on the console and pressing a few buttons brought up her personal files. She pressed another button, and closed her eyes. There was a sense of pressure behind her eyes, and then: -
Ahh, its good to back. The Elsewhere is nice to visit but I'd HATE to live there…
"Welcome back, Shiva" said Nephele in the privacy of her head.
By Lord Hyne! You are wounded! said Shiva, ignoring the greeting.
"Its nothing. Can you help me?"
I'll do what I can, but only if you let me look in your memory to see what happened. I'll wager diamonds and starlight that he cheated.
"So be it. Anything interesting happen back home?" thought Nephele, who was always polite to her GF if she wasn't to anybody else.
This world is my home, answered Shiva. I was merely born in The Elsewhere.
"Sorry"
No matter. Actually, something strange HAS happened. Some of the youngest GFs have vanished. I could not sense them anywhere, either in The World or in The Elsewhere. It is most disturbing. No GF can hide from another GF, and yet they seem to have gone
"Do you think they are probably dead?" asked Nephele, with characteristic bluntness.
Perhaps, conceded Shiva. It is possible to kill a GF, but it is rare indeed. I believe it has only happened once in the last one thousand five hundred years. For so many to die at once is almost impossible? Even though they were young, they would not be so easily destroyed. It is a mystery.
Nephele said nothing, either in her head or aloud. Quistis was standing up, and the crowd around her desk was reluctantly dispersing and taking their places. Nephele turned off the terminal and leaned against it with her arms folded.
"Good morning, class!" Quistis said, cheerfully. "I'm sure you will have all heard the rumours, and yes, the SeeD field exam will take place later today."
A murmur of conversation rippled across the room in a kind of audio Mexican wave. Quistis waited for the hubbub to die down before continuing.
"All those who failed last weeks written exam, and those who have yet to achieve the required course credits will remain here. Those taking the field test have free period, but will assemble in the main hall at seventeen hundred hours SHARP. If you aren't there at that time, you will be automatically given zero marks. Be there or be failed. Its your choice"
Quistis put a piece of paper down on her desk, and looked over the top of her glasses at Seifer.
"Seifer, DO NOT injure your partner while training. Consider this a formal warning."
Seifer gave a mocking half salute in response. Nephele gave him a dirty look. Seifer smirked back at her.
"There is one final note. The library are announcing an amnesty on overdue. If you return them by midnight tonight, you will pay no charge for being late. They asked me to make sure that you got this message for some reason, Natalie"
One of the girls on the front row turned crimson. Quistis pretended not to notice.
The bell rang. Automatically, people began to gather together their possessions and cram them into bags, chatting excitedly amongst themselves. Almost immediately, the crowd formed around Quistis' desk like a blobra engulfing its prey. Nephele waited at her desk until everybody left, and then she walked over to Quistis and waited.
"Can I help you?" asked Quistis.
"I have a question. Have you ever heard of GF being killed?"
"No I haven't, but I'm no an expert on Gfs. I can look for you if you really want to know. Why do you ask?"
"Never mind"
Quistis gave her a certain Look, but then she smiled.
"Okay. Good luck with your field exam, Nephele"
With that, she left the room. Three of the group that hung around Quistis walked over to Nephele and gave her jealous looks.
"Damn, I can't believe she wished you luck!" said one.
"Yeah, she never said anything like that to us!" said another
"Maybe if I aced my written test, I coulda gotten her to say that to me!" sighed the third.
Nephele pushed past them and left the room.
I hate to say I told you so, but-
"Then don't" cut in Nephele
I've speeded up the healing of your injury. It should be fine by midnight; though I cant do anything about the scar. Serves you right for trusting him to keep his word…
Before Nephele could reply, she was suddenly knocked to the ground by a hard, fast moving yellow mass. The object bounced off and rolled on the floor, coming to a stop against a potted plant.
Nephele jumped to her feet. She advanced on the yellow apparition, with clenched fists and bared teeth.
Stop, Nephele! It was an accident. Keep your temper! said Shiva. Nephele backed down a little.
"Owwwww" said the yellow thing.
"…."
The yellow thing got to its feet, and Nephele saw that it was a woman about the same age as her and about a foot shorter. Her mousy brown hair was short, and lacquered into a complicated shape. She was wearing a bright yellow cotton dress, which was rather short (but which even Nephele had to admit looked very good on her), a pair of daggers in holsters in a belt around her waist, and an expression of slightly concussed cheerfulness. She rubbed the back of her head and smiled.
"I'm really, really sorry about that"
"…."
The girl looked up at Nephele and tilted her head to one side. She saw a tall, muscular young woman with large tired eyes. Her dark blonde hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail secured by a red ribbon, although a few loose strands hung from her fringe. She was wearing a tight blue shirt underneath an open black leather jacket. It was hardwearing and businesslike, if not very eye-catching.
"Gee, your big! I bet you work out for like, hours. Wow cool, is that a gunblade? I thought you had to be a guy to use one!? I couldn't even lift the one they tried me with! You must be pretty strong as well as big! Anyway, were you just coming form Instructor Trepe's class? Am I too late?"
Disarmed by the girl's exuberance, Nephele didn't even think to be rude to her.
"Yes I have. Class just finished. You just missed her"
The girl sagged visibly. First her knees bent, then her shoulders droop, and then she gave a world-weary sigh.
"Great! And I really wanted to be on time too! I just transferred from Trabia garden 'cause you have to come here to take the field exam, and this pace is sooo much bigger than my old place. "What's your name? My name's Selphie!"
"…."
Nephele was about to tell her to get out of the way when Shiva spoke.
Why not answer her. I mean, it can't hurt, can it? Besides, she's already apologised to you.
"Very well" she thought
"My name is Nephele. Now mo-"
"Cool name. Is that foreign? Say Nephele, would you mind showing me around? This place is waaay too easy to get lost in."
Partly out of curiosity about this strange newcomer, and partly out of the need to kill four hours, Nephele found herself agreeing. Selphie clapped her hands. "Alright! Lead on, Nephele!"
With a what-have-I-let-myself-in-for? expression on her face, Nephele left the corridor and headed for the lift, with Selphie just behind her.
"Where are we going?" asked Selphie.
"The lobby."
"Cool"
Once out, Nephele explained how to read the map, and showed her the various areas of the building. Selphie bombarded her with questions about Balamb, the staff, the pupils, and about Nephele. The replies she received were mostly short and to the point. Eventually, they were back where they started. Selphie grabbed Nephele's hand and shook it enthusiastically.
"Thanks for your help! I really appreciate it!"
Nephele managed to retrieve her hand. Selphie turned to leave.
"Good look in the exam! Hey, maybe we'll end up on the same team! Wouldn't that be cool?"
"…."
Selphie walked off in the direction of the dormitories. Nephele shook her head.
What a cheerful young lady. But goodness me, could she talk! said Shiva
"I though she'd never shut up" said Nephele, bitterly.
I was impressed by your restraint. You aren't normally that patient, especially with people who you don't know. What do you intend to do now? It is three hours until you are due to report to the main lobby…
"I'm going to the training grounds."
You wish to practice even more? After this mornings session?
" I have to kill something. Now."
Nephele walked off with the sound of Shiva's laughter in her mind.
XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX
Time passed, the way time always does. Soon, Nephele was waiting in the lobby. Headmaster Cid walked in, with Quistis alongside him. Headmaster Cid was the founder of garden, and was once an excellent fighter. The years had not been kind. Nowadays, the only thing he carried was a metal cylinder one and a half feet long, hanging from a hook on his belt. He used it as a pointer when giving lectures.
Everybody stood to attention. Everybody except Seifer. He just sneered at everybody. If Headmaster Cid noticed this slight he didn't give any sign. He gave a nod, and everybody stood at ease.
"In a few moments, you will depart for your SeeD final Examination. For most of you-" At this he glanced at Seifer, "this will be your first experience of real combat. Lives will depend on your very actions and decisions you take and actions you carry out. Kinda makes you nervous, doesn't it?"
This drew a few smiles from some of the more worried looking students.
"Don't worry. If you fail to achieve your objectives, we will have a squad of qualified SeeD standing by, so need to worry about that. If I can give you one piece of advice, it is to be cautious. Remember that what you see is not always what is there. The retreating enemy may be calling for reinforcements, and Mister Alamasy, if you wish to add to this briefing perhaps you would be so kind as to come here!"
Seifer seemed surprised that Headmaster Cid had heard his muttered comment, but he walked to the front, wearing that annoying smirk of his. Headmaster Cid reached down, and removed his pointer its resting place.
"Mr Alamasy, would you please be so kind as to describe what this object is?"
Seifer gave him a strange look, and shook his head slightly. Then he sighed, as though the whole business was wasting his precious time.
"It's a cylinder one and a half feet long, with a diameter of about an inch. Its made of metal, with a rubber hand gip around the middle" He said, in a sing-song voice.
"Really?"
"Really. Is that it?"
Headmaster turned away, holding the pointer by the grip in the middle so that it was parallel to the floor. Then with a flick of the wrist, he span it until it was in an upright position. There was a click, and a whooshing sound. Both ends of the pole extended until the pointer was a foot long. There was a click as a two-inch blade locked into position at the uppermost end. The inoffensive pointer was now a short but deadly looking spear. He whirled around, swinging the spear with both hands. The pole caught Seifer on the ankle. He yelled in surprise. Headmaster Cid rammed the spear but into Seifer's stomach, and brought the pole up to meet him as he bent double. It smacked him on the forehead, and Seifer fell felt on his back, stunned. Cid stood over him, with the spear point resting gently on his throat. He leaned closer to make sure that Seifer could hear him.
"Even seemingly harmless things can present danger to the unprepared. A lesson worth learning, I believe"
He chuckled to himself in a way that reminded Nephele of Quistis. He twisted the handle, and the spear slid back into place as though it had always been a harmless piece of metal. Nephele looked at him with renewed respect. He certainly knew how to grab somebody's attention.
"Just do your best out there. True failure comes from never trying in the first place. Instructor Trepe will complete the briefing. Once again, I wish you the best of luck." With that, he turned, and walked off to the elevator.
Quistis clapped her hands for attention. Everybody turned to look at her.
"Alright everybody, listen up! Due to exam failures and drop outs, we can no longer run you in the teams you have worked with before. Team one, you've a new person to replace Van Hoek. Make her feel welcome. Most of the old team three won't be participating, so those in team four are now in team three."
Quistis looked over at Seifer and Nephele, who were glaring at Quistis suspiciously.
"Now that Marcus has dropped out from SeeD, there is a new vacancy in team two. Zell Dincht?"
Nephele and Seifer looked at Zell, who was shadow boxing as usual. He jabbed twice with his right, followed by a left hook. He happened to glance at the assembly and noticed everybody looking at him. He turned a quick cartwheel, added a back flip to the end, and landed on his feet with a big smile on his face.
Nephele and Seifer looked at each other.
"Oh, brother!" they chorused.
Seifer stalked off, followed by Raijin and Fujin.
Nephele raised her hand.
"I wanna change my team."
"Teams are not negotiable. Besides, Zell's just a little excitable."
"Excitable? He's just loud." thought Nephele to herself.
Nephele…said Shiva, in a warning tone of voice.
"Everybody meet up at Balamb docks! STAY WITH YOUR TEAMS! Everybody, move out!"