Damon stretched out at the lunch table to try and ease his aching muscles, but it was of no use. He was sure he was going to be black and blue from head to toe. Torrin sat opposite him rubbing her shoulder. She had hooked a repelling line wrong and fell from a two story height. The instructors were working everyone hard this week, trying to get them ready for the an examination that was going to be held in a week. Grunts and groans could be heard through out the cafeteria.
Still the Garden was great. Damon was thrilled to be back with Torrin. Together they had already hacked into the main computer system to blast rock music through the entire garden, program food dispensers to give out nothing but chocolate ice cream, and broke into Squall's office to find and hide their files. The last one had almost gotten them busted, but it was still fun.
Skylla turned out to be awesome, not like the rich brat he thought she'd be. As it turned out she was the one able to steal codes from her brother's office, plus she was obsessed with partying. Dex and Zack where now his posse. The guys. They were about as cool as you could get not to mention funny as hell. Damon sighed contently. There was no one else but Torrin before he had come to Garden. Everyone else around him was either an adult or a child. Having friends his own age was like water for a man dying of thirst.
"Hey guys!" Skylla jumped into the seat next to him. Her hair accidentally brushed his shoulder. It was scented with a light perfume and shined in the evening light.
said the deep growl from within his head and he suddenly had an impulse to grab Sky's hair.
Damon ordered his GF not to move.
Dracos, was the reason he had never had any friends. Growing up Damon hadn't been able to control him, which meant sometimes the GF took over. Dracos had the mind of a two year old, either that or a barbarian. He couldn't really tell which. Slowly the urge to reach out and grab Skylla's hair subsided.
Torrin looked up from her pasta. "Hey chica, ready for tonight?"
"What's tonight?" Damon asked.
Skylla took out a piece of paper and handed it to him. "A rave in the lower part of Balamb. Want to come? It's going to be the party to end all parties."
Damon flashed a grin. "Of course I do, besides can't have you two lovely ladies running around downtown with out an escort."
Torrin rolled her eyes. "Of course not…."
Skylla's voice went up a notch "Us damsels, alone, whatever shall we do?" Both girls collapsed in rolls of laughter.
Dex and Zack sat down next to Torrin. "What's so funny?"
The girls tried to answer but couldn't. Damon shook his head. "Coming tonight?"
"Yeah, but what's so funny?"
Torrin regained some composure. "Us needing one of you to protect us. That's what's so funny. What about you Zack?"
Zack was Dex's roommate. He pushed his brown hair out of his eyes and shook his head. "No way. What if you guys get caught?"
The group went silent and serious. Damon though about it. For most people getting caught would mean expulsion, but for them rules would be stretched. Damon wondered what it would be like to be normal. To not have Dracos, or magic or famous parents. He could do with out the first two. They weren't normal though, therefore normal rules didn't apply to them and they all knew it.
"We won't." said Torrin staring him in the eye. "Plus the risk is half the fun. Squall scares me a bit, but he's not going to stop me from doing stuff. I follow his orders when I'm in class, but not outside."
Zack shook his head. "You guys are going to find out one day that just because you're related to heroes doesn't excuse you from the consequences of your actions."
Skylla straightened her face. "Everybody shush up. Here comes Squall. We don't want him to know what we're up too. You know the rules, curfew."
Everyone immediately shut up.
Skylla turned around checking her outfit one more time in the mirror. Black tight pants with a midnight blue top, which her mother would have told her showed too much skin. Ah well, mummy wasn't there. After a lot of work she got her hair up and pinned it with silver pins. Each one winked a bit unnaturally, she would have to thank Lunara for that later.
She walked out of her room to find Torrin in a forest green skirt. It had a slit that went up really high on one side showing off the brown stiletto boots that went to her knees. Her shirt had only one strap and was the same brown as the boots. The forest colors made her hair jump out in contrast. Skylla saw she wasn't the only one staring. Dex could barely take his eyes off her. Skylla bit back the chuckle. It really was quite sweet of him.
Damon was on the couch just out of her line of view. He looked like a model. Dressed in black except for the brown jacket and red earring. His amber eyes glanced at her and he smiled. Dex wasn't bad either. He wore kakis with a white wife-beater. His hair spiked and his leather coat on his arm. She had a feeling that they were going to be the envy of every girl at the party.
"Well if we're doin' it lets move." Torrin grabbed her coat. And felt her back.
The touch was an odd movement, but Skylla recognized it. She rushed up to Tor and whispered so the guys didn't hear. "Are you packing?"
Torrin smiled. "Better believe it, us Almasys are always prepared." She winked.
Skylla grabbed her keys. And the four made their way down a back emergency exit, careful to avoid sensors by going above or below them. They didn't have to worry about the cameras at all since they had done a lot of reprogramming that morning. Everything went with out a hitch until they got to the scanner. The outside door required a code to be opened. Skylla went up and punched in what she had located on Squalls desktop, Lion's heart. The screen went black and a notice came up 100 seconds to re-enter code.
"Fuck it!" Skylla swore startling everyone.
Torrin whipped out her computer and plugged into the data base, racing the clock to hack through.
"Come on Tor!" Damon urged.
Torrin's hand was flying through the files but there wasn't enough time. "We're not going to make it."
Dex rammed his fist into the bottom of the machine causing it to shake. It blinked once, twice, then a message appeared, access granted.
Torrin, Skylla, and Damon stood with their mouths open at Dex. He just shrugged. "A little trick my dad taught me. Works great on vending machines so I figured what the heck."
"Dex I could kiss you." Torrin unplugged the computer and headed out the door, while Dex stood dumbstruck.
Skylla took hold of Dex's arm. "Come on Dex, one foot in front of the other and try not to fall on your face okay?"
Dex nodded vigorously and followed. Damon couldn't help but laugh.
Torrin was relieved when they got to the party. She had wanted to ride in Skylla's black spider. However Sky had broken several speed limits on the way there, the guys hooting and hollering the whole way. Music blaring, wind in hair, adrenaline in the blood. It was fun but Tor was glad they made it alive. Next time she drove.
The party was held in an old warehouse which only one entrance through a back alley. Skylla lead them right to it. The bouncer smiled at her and let them all in with out even checking their prints. The bar was on a raised platform with the dance floor a couple steps down. Lights flashed in time with the music which was so loud you had to shout to be heard. Catwalks lined the ceiling with people dancing on them. The place was jam packed. Mist hit her skin making her shiver. The place had an electric feel to it that made her nervous and excited all at once.
Damon grabbed Tor's wrist and pulled her out onto the dance floor. Soon they were caught up in the beat of the techno. Her and Damon had been dancing together for years so it was easy to predict his moves and go with him. She looked over and saw a circle had opened up around Dex and Skylla who where dancing together low to the floor. Damon gave her a shove and she went tumbling forward. However at the same time Dex twirled Skylla to Damon, leaving him free to catch Torrin as she fell.
Torrin couldn't help but laugh. "Smooth."
Dex winked and the two danced the next couple of songs together. A kind of innocent bliss settled over her. What Zack had said bothered her, but now that was all forgotten. She was just a girl like all the others, for a few precious moments she forgot she was an Alsmay. A fact she had been reminded of everyday since her coming to Balamb.
Skylla came over and tugged on Tor's arm. "Come on I want you to meet my cousin."
Torrin left Dex dancing with another girl and followed Skylla to the bar where they had a better view. "She's the one over there in the gold shirt."
Sure enough a ring of people were gathered around a girl dancing with a guy so low the girls long black-brown hair swept the floor. She was wearing a gold shirt that was completely open backed with a long black skirt lose enough to pull off the moves she was doing.
"That's Ellone's daughter!" Torrin exclaimed. "That's Squall's sweet little Sis's daughter is…"
Skylla nodded and finished with an evil smirk. "Eveonna, just like her to be bumpin' and grindin' and making all the guys horny! Let's join."
The two pushed through the crowed and joined Eve. The guy jumped out and they had a full audience as they challenged each other with increasingly hard moves. When the song ended Torrin was so tired she wanted to lay down and go to sleep on the sticky floor. As it was, she was very pleased when she saw that Dex had a table and drinks for all. Three girls moved towards him and sat down. Torrin gulped down the first drink without even thinking about it.
"Go easy Tor. You know the rule, SeeD candidates aren't suppose to drink."
"I don't care, I'm thirsty, I'll say I'm sick and stay home tomorrow." She said as she grabbed another one.
"Dex I want to introduce Eveonna, my cousin."
"Call me Eve." She reached across the table and shook his hand.
Skylla looked around her. "Where's Damon?"
Torrin pointed up at a catwalk. "He is up there with all the ladies, as usual."
Skylla bit her lip. "Oh…I'm going to go dance with him, coming Eve?"
"No you go ahead, I'll chill here."
"Cool! Later!"
Torrin watched Skylla disappear into the crowd. When she was gone Torrin turned back to the table. "I think someone's crushing on someone."
Dex looked after Skylla. "I'd say your right."
Eve stood up trying to see, "Which one? The hottie with the Amber highlights and eyes? Does she have a chance?"
Torrin leaned back and took another sip. The warm burn sensation coating her throat. The drinks where starting to kick in. "Don't know? Damon's sort of a player. He's only had two or three, depending how you count, serious girlfriends. That's the price of beauty. It's hard to get close to people."
"Not all guys are like that. I don't think Damon is. He seems like an idealist to me. Probably just wants to feel excepted for something other then looks." Dex complained.
Eve shook her head, only then did Torrin catch the earring. "You're a sorceress?"
Eve smiled. "Uh-huh. Always have been. My mom says…"
A huge blast tore across the room and before Torrin knew it she was thrown, then everything went black for her.
Damon was on the floor dancing when a wave of fire and debris came racing at him. In a split second he summoned Dracos and a wall of fire surrounded him and Skylla. His thoughts caught up with his actions too late. He had just betrayed his deepest secret. There had been no time to do anything else though. Without the firewall's protection they would have been a brunt husk of flesh. From the smell around him he knew some people had already ended up like that.
Skylla turned to him open mouthed. "You have a GF? Were you given it so soon?"
Damon shook his head. The heat radiated around them. "No, it's an illegal GF. Please keep it secret." His voice sounded a bit desperate.
"You have nothing to fear from me." Skylla reassured. "I have one myself. Come on! Together we just make it out of here. Skylla held out her hand and a white wall of light joined his. Together they walked straight through the hole that the blast had created. Their flames holding the real ones at bay.
Eveonna picked herself off the dirty floor. The room was filled with people screaming and scrambling for the one exit. They were so close to where the blast had taken place that she wasn't sure how they had ever gotten out of it without being burnt. Both Dex and Torrin laid on the floor knocked out. Eveonna got up, trying to hold back a wince of pain. She looked up at the exit.
It was jammed with people all trying to avoid the flames. Some were clearly getting trampled, but people were too panicked to notice. Eve took a quick look around her. No one was looking her way. She took a deep breath and hoped anyone who saw her assumed it was magic she worked.
She cleared her mind and summoned her GF. Demtrin's presence washed over her like a warm wave and she couldn't help but smile.
The large voice resonated through her.
She did as Demtrin asked and touched the wall. A cold tingling sensation raced up her arm and the world froze in black and white. Then everything started to blur and run together as if it were melting. Slowly the colors started to reappear and Eve felt the falling sensation. Then it was over. She stood in the alleyway with her hand out stretched.
She bent down and checked the pulses on her cousin's friends. They were going to be alright. Patrol vehicles where already arriving at the scene. Eve, not willing to be caught, turned and started to walk down the alley. An hour later a motorcycle raced out of Balamb.
Dex opened the back door as quite as he could which was made difficult by Torrin All those drinks had finally caught up with her. Damon came through and grabbed Torrin's other arm. The place seemed quite enough so far but they weren't about to go pressing their luck.
"Come on Torrin honey, you can make it." Skylla coaxed.
Torrin took a couple steps forward and then went limp. "I don't feel…*hic* good."
Dex scooped her up into his arms and Tor let out a squeak. Everyone froze for a minute, but the Garden faculty didn't come running.
Damon. "Let's get out of here before we're caught."
They ran as lightly as they could, heading straight to the dorms. The Garden seemed it's normal self. No alerts posted, the TV screens flashed the SeeD symbol and everyone else was asleep. Still Dex felt like he held his breath the entire way back to the girls bedroom. Skylla opened the door with a sigh of relief. However it was premature.
"Enjoy your night out?" came Squalls smooth voice.
The group froze, they were in deep deep trouble.
Still the Garden was great. Damon was thrilled to be back with Torrin. Together they had already hacked into the main computer system to blast rock music through the entire garden, program food dispensers to give out nothing but chocolate ice cream, and broke into Squall's office to find and hide their files. The last one had almost gotten them busted, but it was still fun.
Skylla turned out to be awesome, not like the rich brat he thought she'd be. As it turned out she was the one able to steal codes from her brother's office, plus she was obsessed with partying. Dex and Zack where now his posse. The guys. They were about as cool as you could get not to mention funny as hell. Damon sighed contently. There was no one else but Torrin before he had come to Garden. Everyone else around him was either an adult or a child. Having friends his own age was like water for a man dying of thirst.
"Hey guys!" Skylla jumped into the seat next to him. Her hair accidentally brushed his shoulder. It was scented with a light perfume and shined in the evening light.
said the deep growl from within his head and he suddenly had an impulse to grab Sky's hair.
Damon ordered his GF not to move.
Dracos, was the reason he had never had any friends. Growing up Damon hadn't been able to control him, which meant sometimes the GF took over. Dracos had the mind of a two year old, either that or a barbarian. He couldn't really tell which. Slowly the urge to reach out and grab Skylla's hair subsided.
Torrin looked up from her pasta. "Hey chica, ready for tonight?"
"What's tonight?" Damon asked.
Skylla took out a piece of paper and handed it to him. "A rave in the lower part of Balamb. Want to come? It's going to be the party to end all parties."
Damon flashed a grin. "Of course I do, besides can't have you two lovely ladies running around downtown with out an escort."
Torrin rolled her eyes. "Of course not…."
Skylla's voice went up a notch "Us damsels, alone, whatever shall we do?" Both girls collapsed in rolls of laughter.
Dex and Zack sat down next to Torrin. "What's so funny?"
The girls tried to answer but couldn't. Damon shook his head. "Coming tonight?"
"Yeah, but what's so funny?"
Torrin regained some composure. "Us needing one of you to protect us. That's what's so funny. What about you Zack?"
Zack was Dex's roommate. He pushed his brown hair out of his eyes and shook his head. "No way. What if you guys get caught?"
The group went silent and serious. Damon though about it. For most people getting caught would mean expulsion, but for them rules would be stretched. Damon wondered what it would be like to be normal. To not have Dracos, or magic or famous parents. He could do with out the first two. They weren't normal though, therefore normal rules didn't apply to them and they all knew it.
"We won't." said Torrin staring him in the eye. "Plus the risk is half the fun. Squall scares me a bit, but he's not going to stop me from doing stuff. I follow his orders when I'm in class, but not outside."
Zack shook his head. "You guys are going to find out one day that just because you're related to heroes doesn't excuse you from the consequences of your actions."
Skylla straightened her face. "Everybody shush up. Here comes Squall. We don't want him to know what we're up too. You know the rules, curfew."
Everyone immediately shut up.
Skylla turned around checking her outfit one more time in the mirror. Black tight pants with a midnight blue top, which her mother would have told her showed too much skin. Ah well, mummy wasn't there. After a lot of work she got her hair up and pinned it with silver pins. Each one winked a bit unnaturally, she would have to thank Lunara for that later.
She walked out of her room to find Torrin in a forest green skirt. It had a slit that went up really high on one side showing off the brown stiletto boots that went to her knees. Her shirt had only one strap and was the same brown as the boots. The forest colors made her hair jump out in contrast. Skylla saw she wasn't the only one staring. Dex could barely take his eyes off her. Skylla bit back the chuckle. It really was quite sweet of him.
Damon was on the couch just out of her line of view. He looked like a model. Dressed in black except for the brown jacket and red earring. His amber eyes glanced at her and he smiled. Dex wasn't bad either. He wore kakis with a white wife-beater. His hair spiked and his leather coat on his arm. She had a feeling that they were going to be the envy of every girl at the party.
"Well if we're doin' it lets move." Torrin grabbed her coat. And felt her back.
The touch was an odd movement, but Skylla recognized it. She rushed up to Tor and whispered so the guys didn't hear. "Are you packing?"
Torrin smiled. "Better believe it, us Almasys are always prepared." She winked.
Skylla grabbed her keys. And the four made their way down a back emergency exit, careful to avoid sensors by going above or below them. They didn't have to worry about the cameras at all since they had done a lot of reprogramming that morning. Everything went with out a hitch until they got to the scanner. The outside door required a code to be opened. Skylla went up and punched in what she had located on Squalls desktop, Lion's heart. The screen went black and a notice came up 100 seconds to re-enter code.
"Fuck it!" Skylla swore startling everyone.
Torrin whipped out her computer and plugged into the data base, racing the clock to hack through.
"Come on Tor!" Damon urged.
Torrin's hand was flying through the files but there wasn't enough time. "We're not going to make it."
Dex rammed his fist into the bottom of the machine causing it to shake. It blinked once, twice, then a message appeared, access granted.
Torrin, Skylla, and Damon stood with their mouths open at Dex. He just shrugged. "A little trick my dad taught me. Works great on vending machines so I figured what the heck."
"Dex I could kiss you." Torrin unplugged the computer and headed out the door, while Dex stood dumbstruck.
Skylla took hold of Dex's arm. "Come on Dex, one foot in front of the other and try not to fall on your face okay?"
Dex nodded vigorously and followed. Damon couldn't help but laugh.
Torrin was relieved when they got to the party. She had wanted to ride in Skylla's black spider. However Sky had broken several speed limits on the way there, the guys hooting and hollering the whole way. Music blaring, wind in hair, adrenaline in the blood. It was fun but Tor was glad they made it alive. Next time she drove.
The party was held in an old warehouse which only one entrance through a back alley. Skylla lead them right to it. The bouncer smiled at her and let them all in with out even checking their prints. The bar was on a raised platform with the dance floor a couple steps down. Lights flashed in time with the music which was so loud you had to shout to be heard. Catwalks lined the ceiling with people dancing on them. The place was jam packed. Mist hit her skin making her shiver. The place had an electric feel to it that made her nervous and excited all at once.
Damon grabbed Tor's wrist and pulled her out onto the dance floor. Soon they were caught up in the beat of the techno. Her and Damon had been dancing together for years so it was easy to predict his moves and go with him. She looked over and saw a circle had opened up around Dex and Skylla who where dancing together low to the floor. Damon gave her a shove and she went tumbling forward. However at the same time Dex twirled Skylla to Damon, leaving him free to catch Torrin as she fell.
Torrin couldn't help but laugh. "Smooth."
Dex winked and the two danced the next couple of songs together. A kind of innocent bliss settled over her. What Zack had said bothered her, but now that was all forgotten. She was just a girl like all the others, for a few precious moments she forgot she was an Alsmay. A fact she had been reminded of everyday since her coming to Balamb.
Skylla came over and tugged on Tor's arm. "Come on I want you to meet my cousin."
Torrin left Dex dancing with another girl and followed Skylla to the bar where they had a better view. "She's the one over there in the gold shirt."
Sure enough a ring of people were gathered around a girl dancing with a guy so low the girls long black-brown hair swept the floor. She was wearing a gold shirt that was completely open backed with a long black skirt lose enough to pull off the moves she was doing.
"That's Ellone's daughter!" Torrin exclaimed. "That's Squall's sweet little Sis's daughter is…"
Skylla nodded and finished with an evil smirk. "Eveonna, just like her to be bumpin' and grindin' and making all the guys horny! Let's join."
The two pushed through the crowed and joined Eve. The guy jumped out and they had a full audience as they challenged each other with increasingly hard moves. When the song ended Torrin was so tired she wanted to lay down and go to sleep on the sticky floor. As it was, she was very pleased when she saw that Dex had a table and drinks for all. Three girls moved towards him and sat down. Torrin gulped down the first drink without even thinking about it.
"Go easy Tor. You know the rule, SeeD candidates aren't suppose to drink."
"I don't care, I'm thirsty, I'll say I'm sick and stay home tomorrow." She said as she grabbed another one.
"Dex I want to introduce Eveonna, my cousin."
"Call me Eve." She reached across the table and shook his hand.
Skylla looked around her. "Where's Damon?"
Torrin pointed up at a catwalk. "He is up there with all the ladies, as usual."
Skylla bit her lip. "Oh…I'm going to go dance with him, coming Eve?"
"No you go ahead, I'll chill here."
"Cool! Later!"
Torrin watched Skylla disappear into the crowd. When she was gone Torrin turned back to the table. "I think someone's crushing on someone."
Dex looked after Skylla. "I'd say your right."
Eve stood up trying to see, "Which one? The hottie with the Amber highlights and eyes? Does she have a chance?"
Torrin leaned back and took another sip. The warm burn sensation coating her throat. The drinks where starting to kick in. "Don't know? Damon's sort of a player. He's only had two or three, depending how you count, serious girlfriends. That's the price of beauty. It's hard to get close to people."
"Not all guys are like that. I don't think Damon is. He seems like an idealist to me. Probably just wants to feel excepted for something other then looks." Dex complained.
Eve shook her head, only then did Torrin catch the earring. "You're a sorceress?"
Eve smiled. "Uh-huh. Always have been. My mom says…"
A huge blast tore across the room and before Torrin knew it she was thrown, then everything went black for her.
Damon was on the floor dancing when a wave of fire and debris came racing at him. In a split second he summoned Dracos and a wall of fire surrounded him and Skylla. His thoughts caught up with his actions too late. He had just betrayed his deepest secret. There had been no time to do anything else though. Without the firewall's protection they would have been a brunt husk of flesh. From the smell around him he knew some people had already ended up like that.
Skylla turned to him open mouthed. "You have a GF? Were you given it so soon?"
Damon shook his head. The heat radiated around them. "No, it's an illegal GF. Please keep it secret." His voice sounded a bit desperate.
"You have nothing to fear from me." Skylla reassured. "I have one myself. Come on! Together we just make it out of here. Skylla held out her hand and a white wall of light joined his. Together they walked straight through the hole that the blast had created. Their flames holding the real ones at bay.
Eveonna picked herself off the dirty floor. The room was filled with people screaming and scrambling for the one exit. They were so close to where the blast had taken place that she wasn't sure how they had ever gotten out of it without being burnt. Both Dex and Torrin laid on the floor knocked out. Eveonna got up, trying to hold back a wince of pain. She looked up at the exit.
It was jammed with people all trying to avoid the flames. Some were clearly getting trampled, but people were too panicked to notice. Eve took a quick look around her. No one was looking her way. She took a deep breath and hoped anyone who saw her assumed it was magic she worked.
She cleared her mind and summoned her GF. Demtrin's presence washed over her like a warm wave and she couldn't help but smile.
The large voice resonated through her.
She did as Demtrin asked and touched the wall. A cold tingling sensation raced up her arm and the world froze in black and white. Then everything started to blur and run together as if it were melting. Slowly the colors started to reappear and Eve felt the falling sensation. Then it was over. She stood in the alleyway with her hand out stretched.
She bent down and checked the pulses on her cousin's friends. They were going to be alright. Patrol vehicles where already arriving at the scene. Eve, not willing to be caught, turned and started to walk down the alley. An hour later a motorcycle raced out of Balamb.
Dex opened the back door as quite as he could which was made difficult by Torrin All those drinks had finally caught up with her. Damon came through and grabbed Torrin's other arm. The place seemed quite enough so far but they weren't about to go pressing their luck.
"Come on Torrin honey, you can make it." Skylla coaxed.
Torrin took a couple steps forward and then went limp. "I don't feel…*hic* good."
Dex scooped her up into his arms and Tor let out a squeak. Everyone froze for a minute, but the Garden faculty didn't come running.
Damon. "Let's get out of here before we're caught."
They ran as lightly as they could, heading straight to the dorms. The Garden seemed it's normal self. No alerts posted, the TV screens flashed the SeeD symbol and everyone else was asleep. Still Dex felt like he held his breath the entire way back to the girls bedroom. Skylla opened the door with a sigh of relief. However it was premature.
"Enjoy your night out?" came Squalls smooth voice.
The group froze, they were in deep deep trouble.