IX: A Garden in Winter

While staying as a student in Balamb, Amy soon discovered that the school semester ended somewhere around late December. The last few days would consist of the written exams for SeeD candidacy, the field test, and the final "real-life" test that separated the students from the SeeDs (the only other time this happened was in the final month of the spring semester; Amy was in the fall semester).

So far, Amy had adjusted well to her new life. In the past few months, she grew quite close to the people around her. From the matron Edea, she learned of the escapades of the "other" Amy, as well as the girl's mysterious disappearance. She grew close to Selphie, and even became co-chairwoman of the Garden Autumn Festival. As for her three supposed best friends…

Though Seifer had been a pain and a half in his old days, now that he had his memory stricken from him, he was a saint. Girls started to admire him more and more, and Amy herself admitted to staring at him at least once. It was later theorized, by Quistis and Edea, that Seifer had lost his memory in something called the "Time Compression", or else it had something to do with "Ultimecia's control abruptly stopping", and thus leading to mental trauma. Whatever the reason, Seifer seemed as reluctant as everyone else to gain his old memories back.

As for Fujin, her relationship with the pilot of the Garden grew very healthily. Though many people thought they were an odd couple (Amy later learned that even this was an understatement), the sight of seeing them together brought warmth to many people's hearts. Few could believe that the Fujin in love with Nida and the Fujin who had held Balamb Town hostage were one and the same.

Raijin, though hardly able to contend in the mental arena, proved to be the big brother Amy never had. Every time a man made improper advancements towards her, the big guy would almost always ward them off. Via Raijin, Amy became acquainted with Xu, who was often responsible for keeping him in line. This coupling was even stranger than Fujin's and Nida's, and some even expected it to break off completely. Amy hoped these rumors were false; she was starting to love all three members of her "family" very much.

As for Instructor Grate, she and Amy became friends outside of the classroom. Grate even told stories about the Savage Six, and how she missed those "good old days" and her fellow comrades. Oftentimes, though, the older woman would mistake Amy for the Ice Warrior, so the blue-haired girl had to question her counterpart's past. Selphie had said that the "other" Amy Mizuno was at Garden two years before she arrived, which would have been about three or so years ago. Perhaps "that" Amy and Instructor Grate had a history……

Well, none of that really mattered now. All Amy concerned herself over was getting through the semester and finding a way back home. Even though she had made many good friends there, and had gained a very healthy though strange reputation, she missed her real home dearly, and would have shaved her head if it meant going back (her parents might have flipped to see that).

As for SeeD candidacy, Amy passed the written test with flying colors. Rumors flew about that the test was so strict, that if anybody didn't get a perfect score then they would fail. Of course, since Amy passed, it was logically assumed that she made no error. Instructor Grate became sourly disappointed that very few of her students made the grade; she would have to exact proper discipline later.

Amy's field exam was a tough one. Along with Grate, she was expected to venture deep into the snow-covered Balamb island forest, fight the monsters, and retrieve a rare Guardian Force that only recently became known. The task seemed easy, but Grate assured Amy that finding (and fighting) GFs was no walk in the park.

Letting out some cold air, Instructor Grate saluted the Garden faculty standing watch around the entrance to the forest. Both were dressed in appropriately-warm clothes.

"Instructor Vera Grate and Amy Mizuno reporting." The faculty parted ways and allowed them inside the snowy forest. Amy was even given the opportunity to set a time limit for her task. Since she didn't know the landscape well, and wasn't sure if she could face the GF without her powers, she decided to play things safe and asked for half an hour.

Aside from the fact that Grate was her support, Amy was on her own. She had to navigate the thick forests herself, and was also expected to battle the brunt of the monsters there. As per instructions, Grate gave Amy a GF so her abilities could be enhanced, but Amy refused to use it unless emergencies called for it. It was the Cactaur, a strange cactus-like creature that sprayed deadly needles on all enemies.

Instructor Grate, a master of the dueling sword, fought the enemies like they were preschool children. In fact, even as the deadliest creatures advanced towards her, she rarely even moved except to swing her sword or duck out of the way. Amy had not chosen a particular weapon as her "master", since up until recently she had not been accustomed to such fighting, so she just chose something she felt would suit her best, and picked out a Katal from the collections.

Instructor Grate had little difficulty in fending off enemies, but Amy, on the other hand, found herself desiring to use her special powers. She knew that it was impossible with Grate watching--the woman might think Amy really was the Ice Warrior, returned from the shadows, so transforming into Sailor Mercury was out of the question. Slowly, since Amy was not the fighting type, the blue-haired girl got the hang of battles and ended up a fairly worthy opponent, though of course she would never be as good as her teacher.

Finally, ten minutes into the frosty forest, the two stumbled across the lair of the GF. It was a Sylph, a creature renowned for its impressive healing and defensive powers. It was fairly large for such a creature, easily as big as a truck, and was covered with a glimmering light. It had four translucent wings, and sea-green hair, and a sort of bluish tint to its skin. It halfway reminded Amy of her friend Michelle Kaioh.

"Well, this is it," said Grate. "And we still have twenty minutes to spare. Amy, do you think you're ready to face this creature?"

"As I'll ever be!" stated the girl. Aiming her twin Katals at the Sylph, Amy charged first and cut a mean gash in the creature's belly. The Sylph emotionlessly looked down at her injury, waved a silky-blue hand, and healed the wound before Amy could blink.

"That… won't get us anywhere," muttered Grate. Sheathing her sword, the instructor decided to give her student a hand and summoned forth a strategic spell. Since Amy did not have such advanced techniques, Grate would have to cast the Reflect spell herself.

"Okay!" shouted the instructor. "You should be able to harm it now! But don't use magic, or else it'll bounce right back at you!"

"Got it!" Clasping her Katals tightly, Amy dashed forward and gave the ethereal Sylph two mighty cuts on its abdomen. The creature, vaguely aware that it was injured, healed itself in vain and only succeeded in making her attackers feel more refreshed. Still, it kept its beautiful face, even as white blood seeped down its body and froze in the December air.

"My turn," growled Grate. She dashed forward, and performed an earth-shattering sword technique on the creature. A mighty uppercut hack split the fairy's body apart, and even as her life faded, the girl kept her unemotional gaze. Amy gritted her teeth, and summoned Cactaur to finish the creature off (she had become quite good at summoning in the past few weeks).

Once the needles were dug in, the creature fainted to the floor in a defeated heap. It quickly submitted defeat, and with a little patching-up on Grate's part, it turned its service to Amy. Now with the job done, all Amy had to do was get out of the woods before her time was up. The battle had taken only about eight minutes, so if she hurried, she would have just barely made it.

"Okay," sighed Grate, emerging from the snowy woods after her student. "You did well. Not as good as I hoped, but pretty well. I know you're not one built for physical prowess, but don't worry--there's plenty of positions open for a SeeD strategist. Who knows, you may be a General someday." Amy smiled politely at her teacher's compliments, and spent the rest of the cold morning walking back to the Garden.

Once the ladies arrived, Grate dismissed Amy and gave her permission to idle around until the SeeD exam. The orders would have to come from Cid himself, and it would probably be late in the day, so Amy would have a lot of time to kill before anything happened. Later, she learned that the agonizing wait was actually part of the test. Anxiety often begat adrenaline.

"Oh, and Miss Mizuno?"

"Yes?"

"You'll know of who your teammates are and what your job will be shortly. In the meantime, I suggest you continue to train until you're absolutely sure of your skills."

"Right. Thank you, Instructor Grate." Both women saluted the other, and Grate left Amy so she could go about the business of pointing out the perfect place to have the exam. Amy, on the other hand, took Grate's advice and made a beeline for the training room. Her body quaked with the nervous excitement of actually going into a real battle, and she hoped that she met with success. Of course, becoming a SeeD was unimportant--merely another stop along the path of finding a way home.

Closing comments: A Katal is the object that Kiros used to fight in the game. I wasn't completely sure on the proper name for it, so I just guessed. The Sylph is a GF that I made up myself. As for the other details (Amy's love interest, any possible competitions, Seifer's condition, the strange relationships, etc.), those will be solved as I get to them. Sorry the chapter was short; the tenth promises to be longer.