1 Chapter Three
The road to Balamb was pretty long, though, the security was really heavy. About once every half an hour there was a checkpoint. The Garden had to take extreme caution of bring to the Garden illegal stuff, and stop anyone from smuggling valuable creatures from the Garden.
But, Xu and Squall made the trip. Squall's driving isn't very good, with the fact that he practiced at the simulation room in the Garden for about a couple of hours. In his luck, There isn't a lot of traffic that day. Or else, he would been crashed a couple of times already.
Other than the fact that animals keep crossing the road in front of them, the ride was pretty smooth. They enjoyed the scenery. There are a lot of waterfalls, which Squall and Xu stopped to rest at one. They had to go into some canyons on the trip. One of them is so deep, that they couldn't even see the light at the top. There were bridges that were so high, that they were as though driving on cloud. There were tunnels to pass through that were so long, one of them lasted a good twenty minutes.
They talked almost all the way through the trip. They talked about their friends, their classes, their hobbies, and their favorite memories. At one time, Xu was so sleepy, that she fell asleep right there on the front seat. Squall stopped at the side of the road and took a little rest too. He was really nervous that he said something that shouldn't be said. But, Xu seemed really relaxed talking to him and all.
After a three-hour trip, they finally saw the ocean. Both of them let out a big sigh at the same time. They curiously looked at each other, and laughed.
Balamb was within their sights. Squall tried again to squeeze out what they are going to do.
"So, what are we gonna do on this …beautiful day?"
"You'll find out when we get there… Well, it has something to do with the Final Exam." Xu replied.
"Really?…" Squall stretch the word. "Like what?" He tried again.
"Like I said," Xu laughed. "You'll see."
Finally, they are back in civilization again. Squall has been in Balamb before. It was with Zell last time they were permitted to go. They visited Zell's mother at his house. Balamb is really comfortable compared to the Garden. It has everything a big city need. It has a harbor, a shopping center, grand hotel, train station, and an airport. But, Balamb is small. It is almost as big as Balamb Garden.
Xu directed Squall, who is driving the car, to drive past the shopping center, past the train station and airport, and they stopped at a fancy and old looking one-story building. She told him to park the car at the side of the road.
"Well," Xu said with a sigh. "We're here.'
Squall got out of the car, and quickly got to the other side. He opened the door, and extended out his right hand.
"Thank you." Xu said as she took his hand and, got out of the car. "This," She started saying. "Is the house of the Master Materia. She is said to have nearly every magic Materia there is."
"Really? I wonder if he'll give me some of his Materia."
Xu smiled. "That's what we are here for." She walked toward the door of the house.
"You know this guy?" Squall asked, quickly following her.
"She's not a guy. And yes, I know her." Xu replied. "I have my connections."
"Ohh…" Squall said.
The house was decorated with ancient looking statues of mystical creatures, and hieroglyphics that looked oddly like animals. The front door was really tall. It is about as tall as the Behemoth they fought.
When they walked in, the stuff inside was totally different, and from way different centuries. There are monitors all along the walls of the house. A high captain chair in the middle of the room, which is surrounded by mazes of switches and buttons. Each monitor projected a different monster, all of them seemed to be in their own habitat.
"Wow." Squall gasped with amazement.
"Yeah," Xu said. "I did the exactly same thing the first time I came here."
Xu sat down on a chair near the entrance. "You better sit here too. She doesn't like to be disturbed while mediating."
As Xu said, he sat down next to her. He turned toward Xu. "How come I've never heard of… What's her name?"
"Her name is Julia." Xu said. "You don't know her because she is suppose to stay in this house, and nobody is suppose to know about her. But, you know, secrets always leak out. Year after year, there are visitors come here to look at her Materia, and sometime tried steal them. But, Julia always manages to stop them somehow.
"She's been here for thirty years, and she's getting old. She needs to let someone else to keep her Materias. So, she sent a letter to Sid, asking him to send top students to come here to receive Materias. So he sent me and some other students here to receive one. And, here's mine."
She took out a blue stone from her pocket. It was inscribed with hieroglyphics, much like the ones outside the door. Squall recognized the symbol.
"Isn't that Leviathan?! The summoning Materia!?" Squall gasped with excitement. And he cleared his throat "I saw it once in a magazine."
He knows that there's a lot of summoning Materias. But he has never seen one real life. They are supposed to be very rare and they are difficult to get.
"Yup." Xu said proudly. "And you're here to get your own."
"But, the bad thing is, that you gotta take this back here to regenerate every two and a half week." Xu said with a little disappointment. "Which totally messed up my last dress rehearsal…"
They waited there for about half an hour. Xu walked around the room for a bit, looking at the monitors. Finally, a clang in the back door broke the silence that hang in the air.
A woman in her eighties appeared from behind the door. She is dressed really old-fashioned. It's like that she was from fifty years ago.
"Hello, Miss Julia." Xu said respectively.
Squall stood up, and walked to the side of Xu.
"Ahh… Xu is it? How is it, my child?" The old lady said in a scratchy voice.
"I'm good, Miss Julia."
Julia walked in front of Squall, and scanned him up and down.
"And who is this young man?"
"This is a friend of mine. His name is Squall." Xu introduced.
"Unless my eyes deceives me." The old lady said. "He is a very well dressed young man. Don't see them every often"
"Yeah," Xu said. Her face blushing "I guess."
Julia circled Squall and Xu once, and stopped in front of them again.
"You must be here to regenerate Leviathan, Is it?"
"Yes."
"And you," She said to Squall. "Must be here to get a Materia, is that right?"
"Yeah." Squall answered causally.
"Hmm…" Julia turned, and walked toward the back door. Xu followed, and so did Squall.
The back yard is full of life. Exotic plants were growing everywhere. Occasionally, creature which Squall never seen before pop out from behind bushes.
"This is my home, as you know." Julia said. "This is also where I keep all my Materias."
Squall frowned a bit. When Summoning Magic is not in use, they are supposed to be far away, not staying with its owner. Squall turned to look at Xu, but she is listening attentively.
"The Materias I own, mostly Summoning Materias, are embedded in this fountain." Julia pointed to a Fountain in the center of the small garden. It's just like a regular fountain. But, inside, It's full of Materia stones.
"Sid told me about the break out at the Garden. It was an unfortunate accident. But, thank goodness, you two were there."
Xu tilted down her head, and smiled.
"And," Julia said. "He sent me a letter telling me all about it. He's saying that you," She pointed at Squall. "Are good enough to earn one of my Materia."
"Yeah, sure." Squall answered.
She turned around, and froze.
"Miss Julia? Are you all-"
But before Xu could finish, Julia, though an old lady, swung a bamboo stick that was in her hand heavily at Squall.
Squall, for being a quick hand, drew out his Gun Blade, and blocked the stick on the side of the blade. He didn't want to hurt the old lady if he had cut the bamboo stick.
Julia relaxed the grip of her hand, and let the stick drop down to her waist.
"When you fight, you shouldn't be soft on your opponent. Even if… she is an old lady." Julia said.
Xu laughed a bit when she said that.
"Well," She turned to Squall. "It's your pick."
Squall walked slowly toward the fountain, and knelt down to get a better look at them. He did know much Materias, so he just closed his eyes, rambled through the stone, and picked one.
"Ah…" Julia quickly took the stone from his hand. "This is one of my favorites."
She walked quickly back into the house. Squall got up, and walked after Xu into it to.
They went back into the house. The old lady was placing the stone in a kind of examining machine. She pressed on a button on the machine. The machine began to make strange kind of noise, and the stone began to glow icy-blue. Then, the machine whirled to a stop.
"Meet Shiva, the Ice elemental Summoning Materia." Julia said.
All the screens on the walls blinked to the same picture. A human figured creature rotated on the spot. It is much like a woman, but with ice-blue colored skin, her eyes are piercing blue. Instead of hair, she has thin sheets of ice hanging down to her knee.
"This is an very good Materia." Julia said, looking at it. "It has very little experience. But, its attack, Diamond Dust, is really powerful."
She took the stone out of the machine, and gave it to Squall. Xu was at his side, looking at it with great excitement.
"When you want to use it, put the words "Diamond Dust" in your mind." Julia said.
"Thank You." Squall said. The stone felt very cold, as though it just came out of a freezer. He quickly put it into his pocket.
They waited for Xu's Leviathan to be regenerated. They looked at the different Materias that Julia has. Julia generously opened her most treasured belongings. They stopped on a collection of different amulets.
"Wow!" Xu exclaimed. "This is beautiful!" She picked up a small, silver ring.
"Oh, man. Look at this." Squall picked up a silver chain, with a pendant hanging on to it.
"These are some of my collections of Griever relics." Julia explained.
"Griever?" Xu said curiously.
"The Griever is the ultimate Summoning Materia. It is also called the Silver Lion. That what you people get your name."
"Really?…" Xu said.
Julia picked up a bracelet, and chuckled. "I used to collect these stuff when I was young. Now, they're just precious metal. People like you who come here always try to steal one of them."
"That's awful." Xu said disapprovingly.
"It doesn't really matter." Julia said with a wave of her hand. "I was just about to ask you guys if you want one."
"Really!?" Xu asked. "Oh, oh, can I have this one?" She pointed at the ring.
"Yeah. Sure. Take anything ." Julia said. "I'm going to give them away anyway."
"I guess I'll have this one." Squall said , holding the chain.
Xu, though, kept going. "I'll have this one , this one. Oh, and I gotta have this…"
Squall walked toward the screens where they kept flashing with pictures. One of them caught Squall's eyes. It also, looked human, like Squall's Shiva. Its whole body is cover with the colors black and red. It has huge, black wings, and its face is barely visible because it was covered with some kind of mask. It kind of reminds Squall of a bat.
"Miss Julia." Squall called out.
Julia walked slowly toward him. "Yes?"
"What's that?" Squall pointed to the creature, now flying away.
"That's Diablos, a Summon." Julia said, kind of painful. "It took me five months to get that one. It's very hard to control it."
"Wow." Squall said. "How many Summoning Materia do you have?"
"Now, about twenty-seven."
"It must be a really hard job." Squall said, while looking at the monitors.
"No. Not really if you put your mind into it."
Xu is finally done picking out her accessories.
"Need a bag." Said Squall.
"No, thanks." Xu said, while smiling. "I've got my own." She took out her hand bag, and poured a handful of rings, bracelets, and necklaces into her bag.
Xu's Ifrit is finally done recharging. Julia gave it back to her.
They left through the front door.
"Visit often." Julia said.
"We will." Squall answered.
They finally got back into their car. Xu took out the ring she first got, and put it on her finger.
"Put on yours, Squall." She said.
Squall took out the chain from his pocket, and put it around his neck. The pendent was a picture of Griever's head. It's pretty heavy, so Squall guessed it is must made of pure silver.
Squall started the car. Xu, this time directed Squall to a restaurant. A guy valet parked their car, and Squall, looking strangely formal, walked Xu in.
Dinner went on smoothly, they talked about the Exam, about what they think is going to be, about what they might face, and what they do to finish the job. They had mostly sea food. Squall really liked the food there. Xu seemed to like it to, though it's very expensive.
"So, how do you like her?" Xu asked.
"She's alright." Squall answered.
"I know some where we could go tomorrow. It's a little beach around here. It has the most beautiful lagoons you've ever seen!"
Squall shook his hand. "How about after the exam. I have my head stuck in it way too deep to be doing something else."
"Ok. How 'bout the second day after?"
"That'll be fine."
They finished the dinner at about 7 at night. Xu was very sleepy, she sat in the back and rested. Squall on the other hand, wasn't. He drove all the way back without yawning.
When they stopped at the Garden's garage, Squall woke Xu up, and walked her back to her dorm. They said good night. With a long hug, Xu closed the door.
Squall sighed, and walked slowly backed to his dorm, half asleep.
©( Copyright Omega 2000-2002. All text is the property of Authors Tao Li and Jeanie Owen. All rights reserved.
The road to Balamb was pretty long, though, the security was really heavy. About once every half an hour there was a checkpoint. The Garden had to take extreme caution of bring to the Garden illegal stuff, and stop anyone from smuggling valuable creatures from the Garden.
But, Xu and Squall made the trip. Squall's driving isn't very good, with the fact that he practiced at the simulation room in the Garden for about a couple of hours. In his luck, There isn't a lot of traffic that day. Or else, he would been crashed a couple of times already.
Other than the fact that animals keep crossing the road in front of them, the ride was pretty smooth. They enjoyed the scenery. There are a lot of waterfalls, which Squall and Xu stopped to rest at one. They had to go into some canyons on the trip. One of them is so deep, that they couldn't even see the light at the top. There were bridges that were so high, that they were as though driving on cloud. There were tunnels to pass through that were so long, one of them lasted a good twenty minutes.
They talked almost all the way through the trip. They talked about their friends, their classes, their hobbies, and their favorite memories. At one time, Xu was so sleepy, that she fell asleep right there on the front seat. Squall stopped at the side of the road and took a little rest too. He was really nervous that he said something that shouldn't be said. But, Xu seemed really relaxed talking to him and all.
After a three-hour trip, they finally saw the ocean. Both of them let out a big sigh at the same time. They curiously looked at each other, and laughed.
Balamb was within their sights. Squall tried again to squeeze out what they are going to do.
"So, what are we gonna do on this …beautiful day?"
"You'll find out when we get there… Well, it has something to do with the Final Exam." Xu replied.
"Really?…" Squall stretch the word. "Like what?" He tried again.
"Like I said," Xu laughed. "You'll see."
Finally, they are back in civilization again. Squall has been in Balamb before. It was with Zell last time they were permitted to go. They visited Zell's mother at his house. Balamb is really comfortable compared to the Garden. It has everything a big city need. It has a harbor, a shopping center, grand hotel, train station, and an airport. But, Balamb is small. It is almost as big as Balamb Garden.
Xu directed Squall, who is driving the car, to drive past the shopping center, past the train station and airport, and they stopped at a fancy and old looking one-story building. She told him to park the car at the side of the road.
"Well," Xu said with a sigh. "We're here.'
Squall got out of the car, and quickly got to the other side. He opened the door, and extended out his right hand.
"Thank you." Xu said as she took his hand and, got out of the car. "This," She started saying. "Is the house of the Master Materia. She is said to have nearly every magic Materia there is."
"Really? I wonder if he'll give me some of his Materia."
Xu smiled. "That's what we are here for." She walked toward the door of the house.
"You know this guy?" Squall asked, quickly following her.
"She's not a guy. And yes, I know her." Xu replied. "I have my connections."
"Ohh…" Squall said.
The house was decorated with ancient looking statues of mystical creatures, and hieroglyphics that looked oddly like animals. The front door was really tall. It is about as tall as the Behemoth they fought.
When they walked in, the stuff inside was totally different, and from way different centuries. There are monitors all along the walls of the house. A high captain chair in the middle of the room, which is surrounded by mazes of switches and buttons. Each monitor projected a different monster, all of them seemed to be in their own habitat.
"Wow." Squall gasped with amazement.
"Yeah," Xu said. "I did the exactly same thing the first time I came here."
Xu sat down on a chair near the entrance. "You better sit here too. She doesn't like to be disturbed while mediating."
As Xu said, he sat down next to her. He turned toward Xu. "How come I've never heard of… What's her name?"
"Her name is Julia." Xu said. "You don't know her because she is suppose to stay in this house, and nobody is suppose to know about her. But, you know, secrets always leak out. Year after year, there are visitors come here to look at her Materia, and sometime tried steal them. But, Julia always manages to stop them somehow.
"She's been here for thirty years, and she's getting old. She needs to let someone else to keep her Materias. So, she sent a letter to Sid, asking him to send top students to come here to receive Materias. So he sent me and some other students here to receive one. And, here's mine."
She took out a blue stone from her pocket. It was inscribed with hieroglyphics, much like the ones outside the door. Squall recognized the symbol.
"Isn't that Leviathan?! The summoning Materia!?" Squall gasped with excitement. And he cleared his throat "I saw it once in a magazine."
He knows that there's a lot of summoning Materias. But he has never seen one real life. They are supposed to be very rare and they are difficult to get.
"Yup." Xu said proudly. "And you're here to get your own."
"But, the bad thing is, that you gotta take this back here to regenerate every two and a half week." Xu said with a little disappointment. "Which totally messed up my last dress rehearsal…"
They waited there for about half an hour. Xu walked around the room for a bit, looking at the monitors. Finally, a clang in the back door broke the silence that hang in the air.
A woman in her eighties appeared from behind the door. She is dressed really old-fashioned. It's like that she was from fifty years ago.
"Hello, Miss Julia." Xu said respectively.
Squall stood up, and walked to the side of Xu.
"Ahh… Xu is it? How is it, my child?" The old lady said in a scratchy voice.
"I'm good, Miss Julia."
Julia walked in front of Squall, and scanned him up and down.
"And who is this young man?"
"This is a friend of mine. His name is Squall." Xu introduced.
"Unless my eyes deceives me." The old lady said. "He is a very well dressed young man. Don't see them every often"
"Yeah," Xu said. Her face blushing "I guess."
Julia circled Squall and Xu once, and stopped in front of them again.
"You must be here to regenerate Leviathan, Is it?"
"Yes."
"And you," She said to Squall. "Must be here to get a Materia, is that right?"
"Yeah." Squall answered causally.
"Hmm…" Julia turned, and walked toward the back door. Xu followed, and so did Squall.
The back yard is full of life. Exotic plants were growing everywhere. Occasionally, creature which Squall never seen before pop out from behind bushes.
"This is my home, as you know." Julia said. "This is also where I keep all my Materias."
Squall frowned a bit. When Summoning Magic is not in use, they are supposed to be far away, not staying with its owner. Squall turned to look at Xu, but she is listening attentively.
"The Materias I own, mostly Summoning Materias, are embedded in this fountain." Julia pointed to a Fountain in the center of the small garden. It's just like a regular fountain. But, inside, It's full of Materia stones.
"Sid told me about the break out at the Garden. It was an unfortunate accident. But, thank goodness, you two were there."
Xu tilted down her head, and smiled.
"And," Julia said. "He sent me a letter telling me all about it. He's saying that you," She pointed at Squall. "Are good enough to earn one of my Materia."
"Yeah, sure." Squall answered.
She turned around, and froze.
"Miss Julia? Are you all-"
But before Xu could finish, Julia, though an old lady, swung a bamboo stick that was in her hand heavily at Squall.
Squall, for being a quick hand, drew out his Gun Blade, and blocked the stick on the side of the blade. He didn't want to hurt the old lady if he had cut the bamboo stick.
Julia relaxed the grip of her hand, and let the stick drop down to her waist.
"When you fight, you shouldn't be soft on your opponent. Even if… she is an old lady." Julia said.
Xu laughed a bit when she said that.
"Well," She turned to Squall. "It's your pick."
Squall walked slowly toward the fountain, and knelt down to get a better look at them. He did know much Materias, so he just closed his eyes, rambled through the stone, and picked one.
"Ah…" Julia quickly took the stone from his hand. "This is one of my favorites."
She walked quickly back into the house. Squall got up, and walked after Xu into it to.
They went back into the house. The old lady was placing the stone in a kind of examining machine. She pressed on a button on the machine. The machine began to make strange kind of noise, and the stone began to glow icy-blue. Then, the machine whirled to a stop.
"Meet Shiva, the Ice elemental Summoning Materia." Julia said.
All the screens on the walls blinked to the same picture. A human figured creature rotated on the spot. It is much like a woman, but with ice-blue colored skin, her eyes are piercing blue. Instead of hair, she has thin sheets of ice hanging down to her knee.
"This is an very good Materia." Julia said, looking at it. "It has very little experience. But, its attack, Diamond Dust, is really powerful."
She took the stone out of the machine, and gave it to Squall. Xu was at his side, looking at it with great excitement.
"When you want to use it, put the words "Diamond Dust" in your mind." Julia said.
"Thank You." Squall said. The stone felt very cold, as though it just came out of a freezer. He quickly put it into his pocket.
They waited for Xu's Leviathan to be regenerated. They looked at the different Materias that Julia has. Julia generously opened her most treasured belongings. They stopped on a collection of different amulets.
"Wow!" Xu exclaimed. "This is beautiful!" She picked up a small, silver ring.
"Oh, man. Look at this." Squall picked up a silver chain, with a pendant hanging on to it.
"These are some of my collections of Griever relics." Julia explained.
"Griever?" Xu said curiously.
"The Griever is the ultimate Summoning Materia. It is also called the Silver Lion. That what you people get your name."
"Really?…" Xu said.
Julia picked up a bracelet, and chuckled. "I used to collect these stuff when I was young. Now, they're just precious metal. People like you who come here always try to steal one of them."
"That's awful." Xu said disapprovingly.
"It doesn't really matter." Julia said with a wave of her hand. "I was just about to ask you guys if you want one."
"Really!?" Xu asked. "Oh, oh, can I have this one?" She pointed at the ring.
"Yeah. Sure. Take anything ." Julia said. "I'm going to give them away anyway."
"I guess I'll have this one." Squall said , holding the chain.
Xu, though, kept going. "I'll have this one , this one. Oh, and I gotta have this…"
Squall walked toward the screens where they kept flashing with pictures. One of them caught Squall's eyes. It also, looked human, like Squall's Shiva. Its whole body is cover with the colors black and red. It has huge, black wings, and its face is barely visible because it was covered with some kind of mask. It kind of reminds Squall of a bat.
"Miss Julia." Squall called out.
Julia walked slowly toward him. "Yes?"
"What's that?" Squall pointed to the creature, now flying away.
"That's Diablos, a Summon." Julia said, kind of painful. "It took me five months to get that one. It's very hard to control it."
"Wow." Squall said. "How many Summoning Materia do you have?"
"Now, about twenty-seven."
"It must be a really hard job." Squall said, while looking at the monitors.
"No. Not really if you put your mind into it."
Xu is finally done picking out her accessories.
"Need a bag." Said Squall.
"No, thanks." Xu said, while smiling. "I've got my own." She took out her hand bag, and poured a handful of rings, bracelets, and necklaces into her bag.
Xu's Ifrit is finally done recharging. Julia gave it back to her.
They left through the front door.
"Visit often." Julia said.
"We will." Squall answered.
They finally got back into their car. Xu took out the ring she first got, and put it on her finger.
"Put on yours, Squall." She said.
Squall took out the chain from his pocket, and put it around his neck. The pendent was a picture of Griever's head. It's pretty heavy, so Squall guessed it is must made of pure silver.
Squall started the car. Xu, this time directed Squall to a restaurant. A guy valet parked their car, and Squall, looking strangely formal, walked Xu in.
Dinner went on smoothly, they talked about the Exam, about what they think is going to be, about what they might face, and what they do to finish the job. They had mostly sea food. Squall really liked the food there. Xu seemed to like it to, though it's very expensive.
"So, how do you like her?" Xu asked.
"She's alright." Squall answered.
"I know some where we could go tomorrow. It's a little beach around here. It has the most beautiful lagoons you've ever seen!"
Squall shook his hand. "How about after the exam. I have my head stuck in it way too deep to be doing something else."
"Ok. How 'bout the second day after?"
"That'll be fine."
They finished the dinner at about 7 at night. Xu was very sleepy, she sat in the back and rested. Squall on the other hand, wasn't. He drove all the way back without yawning.
When they stopped at the Garden's garage, Squall woke Xu up, and walked her back to her dorm. They said good night. With a long hug, Xu closed the door.
Squall sighed, and walked slowly backed to his dorm, half asleep.
©( Copyright Omega 2000-2002. All text is the property of Authors Tao Li and Jeanie Owen. All rights reserved.