Final Fantasy VIII: Heavenly Scent
C h a p t e r F o u r : A f t e r
9:03 pm
Cid had just gotten into the Garden after enjoying a splendid evening in the balmy Balamb Town when a SeeD approached him quickly. "Headmaster, Dr. Kadowaki wants to see you immediately in the Infirmary."
Cid mentally groaned. 'A headmaster's work is never truly done.' he nodded and turned to the left of the large directory, taking his time to get to the Infirmary.
The headmaster stepped into the outer room of the Infirmary, not really knowing what to expect. The doctor spotted him and left her desk to greet him. "Finally you're here Cid!" she exclaimed.
The man stood there slightly annoyed, "Well what is it that's so urgent?" he inquired impatiently.
"Rinoa has been injured. She's sustained some flesh wounds and significant blood loss, maybe some trauma. She almost went into shock."
Cid's mouth opened, almost speechless. "How did this happen? Has Squall been notified?" his mind was reeling, attempting to absorb all of the possibilities.
"Squall was notified immediately, thank god we recently upgraded this place. We had just the right equipment to handle this situation, which wasn't here before."
Cid nodded automatically, not actually hearing what was being said. "Is she stable?" was all he said.
The physician nodded, and Cid sighed with relief. "She's not in any critical condition, but I think it would be wise to keep her here for a few days. Oh, Seifer was there when it happened, he'll give you a report in the morning."
Cid Kramer nodded once again. "Is that all?"
The doctor paused for a while, then gave her answer "No... another was injured as well."
"Who?"
"Well he isn't a member of Garden. Seifer told me he was visiting. All he could say was that his name was 'Masaki'."
Cid was dumfounded... then he groaned, out loud this time. The man wasn't even part of the staff yet... and after this incident, he would likely storm off. "Sprained left hand. His left collarbone suffered an incomplete fracture thank goodness. He sustained heavy bruising to his left shoulder as well, so the medical staff will have to immobilize his arm for some time. Fortunately, those are the worst of his injuries. The rest are just minor contusions and lacerations." droned on the doctor, stating every fact with scientific preciseness.
"My god, what the hell happened?"
"Well details aren't very clear right now, but it's apparent that both of them were injured while encountering T-Rexaurs in the Training Center."
"Alright doctor, please keep me informed on his developments, but will Masaki be able to walk tomorrow?"
Kadowaki raised an eyebrow. "All of his injuries have to do with the upper body, so walking won't be a problem. But I think we should find out who he is first. No one seems to have seen him before."
"I'll take care of that, just worry about his health." Cid ordered, preparing to exit.
"That's what I was trained for."
11:26 am
The Next Day
Level 3, Headmaster's Office
"...And that about wraps it up sir. When Masaki and I reached her, she was already unconscious. Like I said, I revived her, but one of the T-Rexes knocked me out for a while. I regained consciousness after Masaki had taken one T-Rexes. The only thing is that he was out cold. I managed to dispatch the last one." Seifer concluded.
The headmaster nodded, but opened his mouth to speak "What I don't understand is how two monsters could have done this much damage to experienced fighters. Was Rinoa not junctioned?"
The Assistant Commander took a minute to think about the question. "To be totally honest sir... I don't think those monsters were at the training levels. In fact, I think they were way stronger than what's allowed in Garden. Also, there's been talk of Guardian Force power fading slowly, ever since the Second Sorceress War."
Cid took in these new possibilities. "Thank you very much Seifer, you can return to your usual duties. I'll have a look into these anomalous monsters, and I'll speak with the monster keeper." he said in a dismissing tone.
The blonde man stood from the leather guest seat, and made for the door, only to pause midway. "Just one question sir."
"Yes?"
"Just who is Masaki, and what's he doing here?"
"Masaki is... or perhaps now was a candidate for the new teaching position in melee combat department."
Seifer gave a surprised expression "Have you looked through his profile?"
Cid chuckled, wasn't he always careful? "With a toothbrush, and it's impressive. However... you heard about the big fiasco during the Esthar-Galbadia War? The... 21st Elite Unit being accused of war crimes in Winhill?"
"Actually it was the 24th sir, and I take it he was part of that disbanded unit?"
The headmaster confirmed with a nod. "I don't think you have to worry, I believe we can trust him."
"I hope so sir, but I think I'll be a bit more wary now." Seifer insisted, and then finally exited the office.
Garden
The daily hustle and bustle was not even hampered one ounce by the occurrences of yesterday. Seifer made his way to the cafeteria. 'I think I'll take a break from training for a while...' he thought.
Seifer certainly hoped that the proposal for developing a new Garden would go through. This place was getting a bit old, and upgrades were happening slowly. He spotted the fearless leader sitting on a bench facing the library entrance with his head down. "Commander, I'm sorry about Rinoa-" he started.
"Cut the crap Seifer, my name's Squall. And it's not your fault. I should thank you and this mystery guy. I almost lost her again, because of some paper pushing shit." he muttered.
'This doesn't sound like Squall... in this sort of situation he wouldn't be thanking everyone.' supposed the former dark knight.
"But I could have done so much more. I got too caught up in reviving Rinoa, I didn't even pay attention to the threat. Masaki's the only guy who deserves thanks, he took out one of the damn fiends and softened the other one up." Seifer retorted, showing humility, which wasn't too common for him as well.
"Masaki? Is he a cadet or something?" Squall queried, looking curious, even in his downed state.
Seifer fumbled on his words "Uh... well... he was just visiting, I met him very briefly before we... heard Rinoa's scream."
"Hmm... Well, I think I'm gonna go grab some lunch for Rinoa, the medics said that she's can handle solids."
"Oh?, I was just going down to the cafeteria."
Squall rose from his seat, feeling a tad better, and the two rivals approached the cafeteria.
Infirmary
Sunlight filled into his vision, and he winced, not able to handle such a high volume. He could already tell that something was wrong with his left arm, otherwise it wouldn't feel so stiff. Mini explosions went off in other areas of his body, his muscles awakened to aches and pains. 'This is what I get for saving some girl.' he thought, chuckling inwardly.
Masaki squinted his eyes and searched for some remaining energy to get himself up from the cot. Looking at his attire, he observed that he was in a hospital gown, the type that left the butt unprotected, he hated those. Glancing down at his arm, he scoffed "My arm is going to atrophy at the rate I'm torturing it."
He couldn't wait to get out of here.
C h a p t e r F o u r : A f t e r
9:03 pm
Cid had just gotten into the Garden after enjoying a splendid evening in the balmy Balamb Town when a SeeD approached him quickly. "Headmaster, Dr. Kadowaki wants to see you immediately in the Infirmary."
Cid mentally groaned. 'A headmaster's work is never truly done.' he nodded and turned to the left of the large directory, taking his time to get to the Infirmary.
The headmaster stepped into the outer room of the Infirmary, not really knowing what to expect. The doctor spotted him and left her desk to greet him. "Finally you're here Cid!" she exclaimed.
The man stood there slightly annoyed, "Well what is it that's so urgent?" he inquired impatiently.
"Rinoa has been injured. She's sustained some flesh wounds and significant blood loss, maybe some trauma. She almost went into shock."
Cid's mouth opened, almost speechless. "How did this happen? Has Squall been notified?" his mind was reeling, attempting to absorb all of the possibilities.
"Squall was notified immediately, thank god we recently upgraded this place. We had just the right equipment to handle this situation, which wasn't here before."
Cid nodded automatically, not actually hearing what was being said. "Is she stable?" was all he said.
The physician nodded, and Cid sighed with relief. "She's not in any critical condition, but I think it would be wise to keep her here for a few days. Oh, Seifer was there when it happened, he'll give you a report in the morning."
Cid Kramer nodded once again. "Is that all?"
The doctor paused for a while, then gave her answer "No... another was injured as well."
"Who?"
"Well he isn't a member of Garden. Seifer told me he was visiting. All he could say was that his name was 'Masaki'."
Cid was dumfounded... then he groaned, out loud this time. The man wasn't even part of the staff yet... and after this incident, he would likely storm off. "Sprained left hand. His left collarbone suffered an incomplete fracture thank goodness. He sustained heavy bruising to his left shoulder as well, so the medical staff will have to immobilize his arm for some time. Fortunately, those are the worst of his injuries. The rest are just minor contusions and lacerations." droned on the doctor, stating every fact with scientific preciseness.
"My god, what the hell happened?"
"Well details aren't very clear right now, but it's apparent that both of them were injured while encountering T-Rexaurs in the Training Center."
"Alright doctor, please keep me informed on his developments, but will Masaki be able to walk tomorrow?"
Kadowaki raised an eyebrow. "All of his injuries have to do with the upper body, so walking won't be a problem. But I think we should find out who he is first. No one seems to have seen him before."
"I'll take care of that, just worry about his health." Cid ordered, preparing to exit.
"That's what I was trained for."
11:26 am
The Next Day
Level 3, Headmaster's Office
"...And that about wraps it up sir. When Masaki and I reached her, she was already unconscious. Like I said, I revived her, but one of the T-Rexes knocked me out for a while. I regained consciousness after Masaki had taken one T-Rexes. The only thing is that he was out cold. I managed to dispatch the last one." Seifer concluded.
The headmaster nodded, but opened his mouth to speak "What I don't understand is how two monsters could have done this much damage to experienced fighters. Was Rinoa not junctioned?"
The Assistant Commander took a minute to think about the question. "To be totally honest sir... I don't think those monsters were at the training levels. In fact, I think they were way stronger than what's allowed in Garden. Also, there's been talk of Guardian Force power fading slowly, ever since the Second Sorceress War."
Cid took in these new possibilities. "Thank you very much Seifer, you can return to your usual duties. I'll have a look into these anomalous monsters, and I'll speak with the monster keeper." he said in a dismissing tone.
The blonde man stood from the leather guest seat, and made for the door, only to pause midway. "Just one question sir."
"Yes?"
"Just who is Masaki, and what's he doing here?"
"Masaki is... or perhaps now was a candidate for the new teaching position in melee combat department."
Seifer gave a surprised expression "Have you looked through his profile?"
Cid chuckled, wasn't he always careful? "With a toothbrush, and it's impressive. However... you heard about the big fiasco during the Esthar-Galbadia War? The... 21st Elite Unit being accused of war crimes in Winhill?"
"Actually it was the 24th sir, and I take it he was part of that disbanded unit?"
The headmaster confirmed with a nod. "I don't think you have to worry, I believe we can trust him."
"I hope so sir, but I think I'll be a bit more wary now." Seifer insisted, and then finally exited the office.
Garden
The daily hustle and bustle was not even hampered one ounce by the occurrences of yesterday. Seifer made his way to the cafeteria. 'I think I'll take a break from training for a while...' he thought.
Seifer certainly hoped that the proposal for developing a new Garden would go through. This place was getting a bit old, and upgrades were happening slowly. He spotted the fearless leader sitting on a bench facing the library entrance with his head down. "Commander, I'm sorry about Rinoa-" he started.
"Cut the crap Seifer, my name's Squall. And it's not your fault. I should thank you and this mystery guy. I almost lost her again, because of some paper pushing shit." he muttered.
'This doesn't sound like Squall... in this sort of situation he wouldn't be thanking everyone.' supposed the former dark knight.
"But I could have done so much more. I got too caught up in reviving Rinoa, I didn't even pay attention to the threat. Masaki's the only guy who deserves thanks, he took out one of the damn fiends and softened the other one up." Seifer retorted, showing humility, which wasn't too common for him as well.
"Masaki? Is he a cadet or something?" Squall queried, looking curious, even in his downed state.
Seifer fumbled on his words "Uh... well... he was just visiting, I met him very briefly before we... heard Rinoa's scream."
"Hmm... Well, I think I'm gonna go grab some lunch for Rinoa, the medics said that she's can handle solids."
"Oh?, I was just going down to the cafeteria."
Squall rose from his seat, feeling a tad better, and the two rivals approached the cafeteria.
Infirmary
Sunlight filled into his vision, and he winced, not able to handle such a high volume. He could already tell that something was wrong with his left arm, otherwise it wouldn't feel so stiff. Mini explosions went off in other areas of his body, his muscles awakened to aches and pains. 'This is what I get for saving some girl.' he thought, chuckling inwardly.
Masaki squinted his eyes and searched for some remaining energy to get himself up from the cot. Looking at his attire, he observed that he was in a hospital gown, the type that left the butt unprotected, he hated those. Glancing down at his arm, he scoffed "My arm is going to atrophy at the rate I'm torturing it."
He couldn't wait to get out of here.