1 Chapter Six
…
Fire… Red… Flame… Machine Gun……?
Squall opened his eyes. He can see a man in a body armor. He has pale black hair, a bit darker than Squall's dark brown. He is hold a machine gun, trigger held down, flooding a bunch of other people of bullets…
"Squall?." He heard a voice. Gentle yet sharp. He felt something on his arm; warm and soothing. He closed his eyes again, and felt a rush as if he's falling.
…
Opening his eyes again, he saw a face. He knows this face. With brown hair draping down at him, softly tickling his face. Russet eyes locked onto his. Gentle features of her nose and mouth…
"Xu." He softly said.
A curve formed on her lips. "Squall."
He saw that her midsection was covered with cushioned bandage.
He tried to get up, but a straining pain exploded from his back. He gave up and laid back down. "Ugh…" He groaned.
"Don't move." Another voice came from behind her. "Your spine's a bit messed up…"
Zell came and crouched down next to Xu, who is on her knees. A mess of scars covered Zell's left cheek. Brown spots stained his yellow hair.
"Your face…" Squall said.
"You had your share. I got mine." He said, grinning.
"Hell with this…" Squall tried to get up again. In spite of the pain, he sat up.
Selphie and Quistis were far from him. Quiet sobs can be heard from here.
He closed his eyes. Splitting headache lingered in his head. "What happened…" He questioned.
"The monster kind of exploded and knocked all of us unconscious…" Zell said.
"We came in after we heard the bang, Than we brought you guys out." Xu cut in. "Zell had some burns. Selphie seems ok… But she's kind of moody."
"Are you ok?" Squall asked.
She nodded. "…Yeah."
Slowly, Squall put his right hand around her waist. "…I was worried."
Xu took his head, and placed it on her cheek. Warm breath of hers felt as a breath of life. She drew him into a hug.
"…Me too."
-----------------------
A transport arrived after two hours, after everyone finished their Exam.
Team Larco wasn't even hurt. They just accidentally dropped the receiver into the lava. Quistis got so mad that she took five points off their final grading average.
The transport that came for them was like a grand cruiser. With every entertainment you could think of. Arcade, Recreation room, Basketball court, pool. Zell ate his face off when he saw the buffet table.
Squall left Zell alone, and guided Xu to an empty quarter. She fell asleep the moment she sat on the bed, right into Squall's lap. Squall carefully set Xu on the bed. He left her alone too.
"Finally reached puberty, huh?" A voice cackled behind him.
Squall turned around. Seifer, with an overcoat and his own Gun Blade in hand, glared at him.
"What do you want?" Squall said sharply.
"Nothing…Except to…congratulate you on your…fine performance at the test." Seifer voiced out, and burst out laughing.
"Shut Up!" Squall spat out. "You haven't been able to pass the test for two years!"
"Better watch your mouth, junior…you don't want another scar on your forehead." He threatened, holding up his blade at him. Then turning around. "I've got better things to do…" And left.
Shaking his head in disapproval, Squall walked the other way.
An hour after, they've reached Balamb Garden. Lower grade students and teachers were in formation to greet them. In lines, they disembarked the cruiser.
"Great work everyone!" Sid rang out. "Hope you all did good on the exam. Please return to your dorm to change into your normal suits… Then, meet in you class room to get your grading scores."
Squall walked slowly toward his room. He saw Xu walking toward hers a distance away. She waved at him. Squall gave a nod of acknowledgement.
At his room, he changed into the normal clothes; A black leather jacket with the shoulders that are covered with feather. After a look in the mirror, he set off for his class on the second floor.
Prepared as he was, nervousness settled upon him once again.
The classroom was fully seated. Mostly everyone was talking to someone else excitedly; Slapping each other high fives, or telling someone how good they aced it. Squall seated himself onto a chair, waiting for his grade.
Ten minutes passed. Still no one got called for his or her results. The class quieted down a bit, getting a little restless.
"Where the heck are they?" A guy questioned to no one.
Finally, Quistis finally came into the room.
"Alright, everyone! Take a seat." She said over the raising voices. Everyone did so.
She sat down herself into the chair behind the front desk, and she took out a folder.
"Everyone, hope all of you did a nice job on the Exam. However… only a number of you will be graduating." An uncomfortable silence settled in on everyone.
Quistis took a paper out of the folder. "As I read out your name, please report to the elevator."
"Nida." A girl walked slowly out of class.
"Jinn." A tall dude walked out too.
"Xu." She stood up. Looked at Squall warmly, and walked out.
"Zell." He mouthed the word "Yes!" And quickly left, half skipping.
"That is all the normal graduates." Quistis said.
Squall suddenly choked a bit. "How could this happen?" he muttered.
Quistis started again. "Now, for the honor graduates. Selphie and Squall. Please go to the elevator as well."
It was done. For five years, Squall waited. Now it has finally came.
Standing up, Squall walked out, finally with a grin on his face.
"Whasup, man!" Zell greeted him outside, hand in the are, expecting a high five.
Caught up in the moment, Squall put his up too. And they slapped skin.
"We did it!" Xu ran at him, and tightly caught Squall right in the abdomen.
Still hurt from the injury, he gasped as streaks of pain eroded from his back.
"Sorry…" Xu let go, said as he groaned in pain. "Kinda forgot…"
Selphie was in tears again, but from the fact that she actually past the test. Zell went over and whispered to her about something, and brought her over to where They are standing.
"You creamed Ifrit. That was probably it." Zell said as he came over.
"Yeah, I guess…" Selphie quietly said.
After some more talking and joking around, the elevator door opened.
All of them stuffed themselves inside. The door shut itself soundlessly in front of them. Forces of gravity pushed them down as the elevator ascended upwards.
The door opened once again, but this time, a place where they never been before. Lavishly fashioned gold drapes hang from the ceiling. A high arch yielded the entrance to a room further inward.
Alone on a stretch of red carpet, Sid stood. All of them formed a straight line which panned across from Sid.
"Ladies, Gentlemen… All of you showed great skills and bravery to have passed the exam. You should be proud of yourselves" Sid said.
All of them gave Sid a salute.
"Of course, some of you showed more than you had in you… Miss Selphie Timmitt, please step forward."
Selphie shyly took a step.
"You did something that no other SeeD candidates have ever accomplished. Please look in the back of this room."
She turned, and gave a small yelp of panic.
All of them flashed toward the door of where they came in.
Squall almost fell as he saw, clear as day, a shape of red floating there. It was Ifrit.
The flaming creature glided slowed toward Sid.
"Watch out, Professor!" Zell said as it drew level to Sid.
"No reason to panic." A shadowy figure moved slowly to viewing distance.
Julia walked and stopped in front of Ifrit. It did some kind of bow to her, as if understanding her status as a Summoner.
"Julia?" Xu blurted out.
"Miss Julie here have something to say to you, Selphie." Sid said, while stepping back a step.
"My Ifrit here has never been defeated… Until to day." Julia said in a whisper.
The monster roared, and glowed white, and the outline of it shifted from a huge, spiky figure, to a short and smooth lined person.
As it stopped glowing, everyone gasped. It took the look of a motorcycle riding, punkish person.
"I said I give up, babe! Why'd you whooping me like that!"
Confused as they were, all of them took a step back.
"I..did..n't..know they could do that…" Xu whispered into Squall's ears.
Squall scanned him up and down. He incredibly resembles Zell, with its spiky yellow hair, and a blue highwater.
Zell stepped toward it. "Why do you gotta jack my style?"
It shrugged. "Gotta look like something."
"So…You telling me that summons can look like anything?" Selphie questioned.
"That's correct." Julia said.
Ifrit drew a few punches, and took a punch at a wall on the side. He retracted holding his hand, in pain. "I can't believe how you human ever beat me."
"Back to the point…" Julia cleared her throat. "Since you defeated Ifrit in battle, you automatically receive him as your own. So, here he is."
She walked up to Ifrit in awe, and stuck out her hand. "Nice to meet you."
It looked at her hand in doubt.
"You are suppose to shake it." Julia said.
"Oh…Right." It took Selphie's hand and shook it.
"Man," Zell said to himself. "I guess I'm only beginning to figure her out, now that she's making friends with something that tried to make marshmallow of her…"
Once Selphie is done looking at her new lethal weapon, Xu asked, "So does this means that all of our Summons can transform into human form?"
Julia shook her head. "No. Only the ones that are calm enough to be in contact with human without ripping them up would transform their appearance."
"And you call that calm." Zell muttered again.
"Ok, everyone!" Sid loudly said over everyone. "Time for some rest. Remember, the Graduation Ball is in three days. Buy your tickets soon! Dismissed!"
Slowly, all of them toddled out toward the elevator. It took them back into the main hall. Now, it is empty 'cause of the lateness.
Selphie turned around, seeing Ifrit following her, she asked, "So you're suppose to stay this way?"
"No!" He said. "I mean no. I should go now…Here." Ifrit's human form extended his arm, revealing a red stone. "Here's my summon. Say 'Hell Fire' when you want to use it." Than he was gone.
"It's so creepy," Selphie said. "That you're standing that close to something that can fry you until you're extra crispy."
"Then welcome to the real world…" Squall said mindlessly.
He saw Xu walking soundlessly away from them in the corner of his eyes. Everyone sense of his instinct told him to follow her as she inched toward the dorm area. But, he acted as he didn't see her.
Squall gave a hug to Selphie and a five to Zell, and slowly walked toward the dorms. The other two, however, started toward the Training Center. Better leave them by themselves too, Squall told himself.
As he rounded the corner toward his room, he saw a shadow. It was like a human, slim, like a girl maybe. But the shadow showed as the flesh was coming hanging off the bones as they swayed in the person's motion.
What the…, Squall mouthed as he quickly backed up. He thought with his back against the wall. That is either a mutant or a girl with serious skin problem.
He stood there, unsure of what to do. Cold sweat covered his forehead. He shut his eyes.
I must be dreaming, I must be dreaming…, he thought to himself.
Whatever that thing is, mutant of whatnot, he gave himself a dose of confidence, I should face it off.
Gun Blade out of the sheath, Squall quickly rounded the corner again.
Nothing.
Not even a sound, worst a Mutated girl, was there. He stared at the empty hallway, and drew blank.
He groaned, I should lay off on the "me to the rescue" stuff…
©( Copyright Omega 2000-2002. All text is the property of Authors Tao Li and Jeanie Owen. All rights reserved.
…
Fire… Red… Flame… Machine Gun……?
Squall opened his eyes. He can see a man in a body armor. He has pale black hair, a bit darker than Squall's dark brown. He is hold a machine gun, trigger held down, flooding a bunch of other people of bullets…
"Squall?." He heard a voice. Gentle yet sharp. He felt something on his arm; warm and soothing. He closed his eyes again, and felt a rush as if he's falling.
…
Opening his eyes again, he saw a face. He knows this face. With brown hair draping down at him, softly tickling his face. Russet eyes locked onto his. Gentle features of her nose and mouth…
"Xu." He softly said.
A curve formed on her lips. "Squall."
He saw that her midsection was covered with cushioned bandage.
He tried to get up, but a straining pain exploded from his back. He gave up and laid back down. "Ugh…" He groaned.
"Don't move." Another voice came from behind her. "Your spine's a bit messed up…"
Zell came and crouched down next to Xu, who is on her knees. A mess of scars covered Zell's left cheek. Brown spots stained his yellow hair.
"Your face…" Squall said.
"You had your share. I got mine." He said, grinning.
"Hell with this…" Squall tried to get up again. In spite of the pain, he sat up.
Selphie and Quistis were far from him. Quiet sobs can be heard from here.
He closed his eyes. Splitting headache lingered in his head. "What happened…" He questioned.
"The monster kind of exploded and knocked all of us unconscious…" Zell said.
"We came in after we heard the bang, Than we brought you guys out." Xu cut in. "Zell had some burns. Selphie seems ok… But she's kind of moody."
"Are you ok?" Squall asked.
She nodded. "…Yeah."
Slowly, Squall put his right hand around her waist. "…I was worried."
Xu took his head, and placed it on her cheek. Warm breath of hers felt as a breath of life. She drew him into a hug.
"…Me too."
-----------------------
A transport arrived after two hours, after everyone finished their Exam.
Team Larco wasn't even hurt. They just accidentally dropped the receiver into the lava. Quistis got so mad that she took five points off their final grading average.
The transport that came for them was like a grand cruiser. With every entertainment you could think of. Arcade, Recreation room, Basketball court, pool. Zell ate his face off when he saw the buffet table.
Squall left Zell alone, and guided Xu to an empty quarter. She fell asleep the moment she sat on the bed, right into Squall's lap. Squall carefully set Xu on the bed. He left her alone too.
"Finally reached puberty, huh?" A voice cackled behind him.
Squall turned around. Seifer, with an overcoat and his own Gun Blade in hand, glared at him.
"What do you want?" Squall said sharply.
"Nothing…Except to…congratulate you on your…fine performance at the test." Seifer voiced out, and burst out laughing.
"Shut Up!" Squall spat out. "You haven't been able to pass the test for two years!"
"Better watch your mouth, junior…you don't want another scar on your forehead." He threatened, holding up his blade at him. Then turning around. "I've got better things to do…" And left.
Shaking his head in disapproval, Squall walked the other way.
An hour after, they've reached Balamb Garden. Lower grade students and teachers were in formation to greet them. In lines, they disembarked the cruiser.
"Great work everyone!" Sid rang out. "Hope you all did good on the exam. Please return to your dorm to change into your normal suits… Then, meet in you class room to get your grading scores."
Squall walked slowly toward his room. He saw Xu walking toward hers a distance away. She waved at him. Squall gave a nod of acknowledgement.
At his room, he changed into the normal clothes; A black leather jacket with the shoulders that are covered with feather. After a look in the mirror, he set off for his class on the second floor.
Prepared as he was, nervousness settled upon him once again.
The classroom was fully seated. Mostly everyone was talking to someone else excitedly; Slapping each other high fives, or telling someone how good they aced it. Squall seated himself onto a chair, waiting for his grade.
Ten minutes passed. Still no one got called for his or her results. The class quieted down a bit, getting a little restless.
"Where the heck are they?" A guy questioned to no one.
Finally, Quistis finally came into the room.
"Alright, everyone! Take a seat." She said over the raising voices. Everyone did so.
She sat down herself into the chair behind the front desk, and she took out a folder.
"Everyone, hope all of you did a nice job on the Exam. However… only a number of you will be graduating." An uncomfortable silence settled in on everyone.
Quistis took a paper out of the folder. "As I read out your name, please report to the elevator."
"Nida." A girl walked slowly out of class.
"Jinn." A tall dude walked out too.
"Xu." She stood up. Looked at Squall warmly, and walked out.
"Zell." He mouthed the word "Yes!" And quickly left, half skipping.
"That is all the normal graduates." Quistis said.
Squall suddenly choked a bit. "How could this happen?" he muttered.
Quistis started again. "Now, for the honor graduates. Selphie and Squall. Please go to the elevator as well."
It was done. For five years, Squall waited. Now it has finally came.
Standing up, Squall walked out, finally with a grin on his face.
"Whasup, man!" Zell greeted him outside, hand in the are, expecting a high five.
Caught up in the moment, Squall put his up too. And they slapped skin.
"We did it!" Xu ran at him, and tightly caught Squall right in the abdomen.
Still hurt from the injury, he gasped as streaks of pain eroded from his back.
"Sorry…" Xu let go, said as he groaned in pain. "Kinda forgot…"
Selphie was in tears again, but from the fact that she actually past the test. Zell went over and whispered to her about something, and brought her over to where They are standing.
"You creamed Ifrit. That was probably it." Zell said as he came over.
"Yeah, I guess…" Selphie quietly said.
After some more talking and joking around, the elevator door opened.
All of them stuffed themselves inside. The door shut itself soundlessly in front of them. Forces of gravity pushed them down as the elevator ascended upwards.
The door opened once again, but this time, a place where they never been before. Lavishly fashioned gold drapes hang from the ceiling. A high arch yielded the entrance to a room further inward.
Alone on a stretch of red carpet, Sid stood. All of them formed a straight line which panned across from Sid.
"Ladies, Gentlemen… All of you showed great skills and bravery to have passed the exam. You should be proud of yourselves" Sid said.
All of them gave Sid a salute.
"Of course, some of you showed more than you had in you… Miss Selphie Timmitt, please step forward."
Selphie shyly took a step.
"You did something that no other SeeD candidates have ever accomplished. Please look in the back of this room."
She turned, and gave a small yelp of panic.
All of them flashed toward the door of where they came in.
Squall almost fell as he saw, clear as day, a shape of red floating there. It was Ifrit.
The flaming creature glided slowed toward Sid.
"Watch out, Professor!" Zell said as it drew level to Sid.
"No reason to panic." A shadowy figure moved slowly to viewing distance.
Julia walked and stopped in front of Ifrit. It did some kind of bow to her, as if understanding her status as a Summoner.
"Julia?" Xu blurted out.
"Miss Julie here have something to say to you, Selphie." Sid said, while stepping back a step.
"My Ifrit here has never been defeated… Until to day." Julia said in a whisper.
The monster roared, and glowed white, and the outline of it shifted from a huge, spiky figure, to a short and smooth lined person.
As it stopped glowing, everyone gasped. It took the look of a motorcycle riding, punkish person.
"I said I give up, babe! Why'd you whooping me like that!"
Confused as they were, all of them took a step back.
"I..did..n't..know they could do that…" Xu whispered into Squall's ears.
Squall scanned him up and down. He incredibly resembles Zell, with its spiky yellow hair, and a blue highwater.
Zell stepped toward it. "Why do you gotta jack my style?"
It shrugged. "Gotta look like something."
"So…You telling me that summons can look like anything?" Selphie questioned.
"That's correct." Julia said.
Ifrit drew a few punches, and took a punch at a wall on the side. He retracted holding his hand, in pain. "I can't believe how you human ever beat me."
"Back to the point…" Julia cleared her throat. "Since you defeated Ifrit in battle, you automatically receive him as your own. So, here he is."
She walked up to Ifrit in awe, and stuck out her hand. "Nice to meet you."
It looked at her hand in doubt.
"You are suppose to shake it." Julia said.
"Oh…Right." It took Selphie's hand and shook it.
"Man," Zell said to himself. "I guess I'm only beginning to figure her out, now that she's making friends with something that tried to make marshmallow of her…"
Once Selphie is done looking at her new lethal weapon, Xu asked, "So does this means that all of our Summons can transform into human form?"
Julia shook her head. "No. Only the ones that are calm enough to be in contact with human without ripping them up would transform their appearance."
"And you call that calm." Zell muttered again.
"Ok, everyone!" Sid loudly said over everyone. "Time for some rest. Remember, the Graduation Ball is in three days. Buy your tickets soon! Dismissed!"
Slowly, all of them toddled out toward the elevator. It took them back into the main hall. Now, it is empty 'cause of the lateness.
Selphie turned around, seeing Ifrit following her, she asked, "So you're suppose to stay this way?"
"No!" He said. "I mean no. I should go now…Here." Ifrit's human form extended his arm, revealing a red stone. "Here's my summon. Say 'Hell Fire' when you want to use it." Than he was gone.
"It's so creepy," Selphie said. "That you're standing that close to something that can fry you until you're extra crispy."
"Then welcome to the real world…" Squall said mindlessly.
He saw Xu walking soundlessly away from them in the corner of his eyes. Everyone sense of his instinct told him to follow her as she inched toward the dorm area. But, he acted as he didn't see her.
Squall gave a hug to Selphie and a five to Zell, and slowly walked toward the dorms. The other two, however, started toward the Training Center. Better leave them by themselves too, Squall told himself.
As he rounded the corner toward his room, he saw a shadow. It was like a human, slim, like a girl maybe. But the shadow showed as the flesh was coming hanging off the bones as they swayed in the person's motion.
What the…, Squall mouthed as he quickly backed up. He thought with his back against the wall. That is either a mutant or a girl with serious skin problem.
He stood there, unsure of what to do. Cold sweat covered his forehead. He shut his eyes.
I must be dreaming, I must be dreaming…, he thought to himself.
Whatever that thing is, mutant of whatnot, he gave himself a dose of confidence, I should face it off.
Gun Blade out of the sheath, Squall quickly rounded the corner again.
Nothing.
Not even a sound, worst a Mutated girl, was there. He stared at the empty hallway, and drew blank.
He groaned, I should lay off on the "me to the rescue" stuff…
©( Copyright Omega 2000-2002. All text is the property of Authors Tao Li and Jeanie Owen. All rights reserved.