Sorry, reader. I promised a lot of action, and haven't exactly been showing you a lot. Yet…so don't worry! The next few chapters shall be all out fighting! (Michael Kenny, Author)

Ch 6 – Selection Began

The day had finally come.

Zell hadn't gotten one wink of sleep, he had been so nervous. It was like someone had cast Confuse on his stomach, the organ seeming to twist and turn the whole night.

Angel had fallen asleep in his arms at the Secret Place, so he had carried her back to her room. Placing her on the bed, he had brushed a lock of hair from her perfect face and walked out.

He had gone straight to his room, sitting at his Desk and re-reading the letter for the hundredth time. To Zell Dincht… He had almost memorized it; he had read it so many times. And now the day had come.

Swinging his legs onto the floor, he stood uneasily. He had trained all day yesterday, but it hadn't quelled the monster growing in his stomach. It gnawed at his insides, threatening to tear him apart…

He shook his head and moved to the bathroom, turning on the cold water in the basin and splashing his face. The shock woke him up, and also sent shivers down his spine. He looked up at the dripping face staring back. The baby blue eyes that girls found irresistible. The blond hair cut and pushed back so the front was spiked. The twisted tattoo on the side of his face like fire in zero gravity, lacing and twisting across the left side of his face. It was his face, angular and smooth. It was his face, amazingly spared from the scarring that his body carried. It was his face, and he was who he was. Zell Dincht. Instructor. Hero. SeeD.

He shook his head again and snorted, before peeling off his shorts to step into the shower.

*          *            *

Irvine was checking his watch again when Zell came tearing outside the main entrance, his bag slung over his shoulder. "Geez, Zell, where have you been?" Irvine wondered as Zell stopped before him, placing the duffel down beside Irvine's bags.

"I didn't get much sleep last night…too nervous. So I had a cold shower, then went to the cafeteria to grab some grub…what, am I late or something?"

"Selphie just went off looking for you. You know what time it is?"

Zell shrugged. "No." he said simply.

Irvine doffed his wide-brim cowboy hat and scratched his red hair. "It's time to GET A WATCH, that's what time it is."

"Well, I'll remember that when I GIVE A DAMN, say, on the twelfth of NEVER?"

The boys then snickered at their conversational outbursts as several cadets passing by gave them and the large dragon-ship behind them weird looks. Balamb Garden hadn't been able to move for a while now, stuck on snow-laden Trabia, and the Ragnarok had been forced to sit outside the main entrance for a couple of days. It had collected quite a bit of snow on top of it in that time, like someone had thrown a gigantic white blanket over it's spiky form.

Selphie walked out of the Trabia entrance, shaking her head and looking about. She spied Zell and Irvine standing by the Ragnarok's docking entrance, and moved up to them.

She slugged Zell in the arm. "Thanks for making us wait for a full hour in the freezing snow, Zell!" she cried, punching him in the arm again.

"Owww!!" Zell whined, ducking behind Irvine for protection. "I'll be needing that arm, thank you!!"

"You can't hide that easily, you! Hey! Get back here!!" She yelled as he skedaddled up the docking ramp into the Ragnarok, Selphie close on his heels.

Irvine shook his head, picked up all the bags, and walked up the ramp, pressing the 'seal entrance' button with his nose.

*          *            *

The flight to Obel Lake was surprisingly brief, the Ragnarok not hindered by gravity and the contours of Gaia like Gardens were. It seemed to simply slash through the atmosphere like a dragonfly, zipping up, down, through and above clouds, thanks to the crazy flying of Selphie.

Three barrel rolls and a rough landing later, they had arrived at Obel Lake with time to spare.

Walking out of the Ragnarok, it was clear to see that theirs was the most flash of vehicles – the only thing that came anywhere close to drawing attention was the Presidential limo, black and sleek, parked just to the left of a large stage erected in front of the lake. Roshfall Forest lay just northeast of the lake, and there was at least a hundred Galbadian soldiers fanned out, in case a wayward monster managed to stumble into the ceremony.

Zell, Selphie and Irvine walked away from the Ragnarok, Selphie activating the security system. The doors of the giant spaceship closed immediately, several lock down measures suddenly on-line. The SeeDs tried to ignore the stares the crowd gave them as they picked their way through. "Ooo, a buffet!" Selphie squealed, pulling Irvine after her. "We'll see you later, Zell!"

Zell was beginning to feel a little better about himself. He was in his element here, a place where people with the same ideals as him got together and beat each other stupid. The climate was also good. The sky was blue, not a cloud in the sky, and the grass smelled clean-cut. The crowd seemed to be converging around the stage, all the contestants mingling with the audience.

Zell, hands in pockets, looked over the crowd with a professional eyes, weaning out the potentials. There were fighters of all shapes and sizes, some tall and lean, others fat and stubbly, mostly men with a few women peppered here and there. Most fighters were dressed conservatively – either tight clothing, comfortable for the person's technique, or loose and baggy, allowing for more movement. All were dressed casually.

There were also many different nations. The Galbadians, with their open confidence and loud voices, Estharians, with their intelligence and quiet words, Centraians, their black skin standing out in the crowd as easily as a Marlboro in a crowd of Bomb-obs.

Zell was so caught up in checking out the competition that he didn't look where he was going, bumping into someone and causing them and him to fall over in surprise. He picked himself in an instant and tried to help the person up. "I'm sorry…" Zell said, concerned, but his offered hand was swatted aside as the person picked themselves up, his apology interrupted by the mans cold gaze.

Zell looked up at the 6' 5" man, Zells 5'5" dwarfed by the huge male. The man looked down at him with barely concealed fury. He had white hair, and looked like he ate rusty nails for breakfast. "Look where you're going next time, you little punk." The man muttered, his accent labelling him Galbadian over the noise of the crowd, before brushing past Zell roughly, staring him straight in the eye before disappearing into the crowd.

Zell shook his head, looking after the rude person. Why is it that whenever there's a tournament, there's always a guy who thinks he's gods gift to fighting?

He shook his head once more and turned to move on, to see three people staring at him, a girl and two guys. They were dressed in casual clothing, and didn't seem like anything special – except for the way they held themselves up, their stances, the way they looked over at the crowd – it all screamed SeeD.

Walking over to them, he led out a hand to the nearest, a girl with blond hair and brown eyes. "Hi! My name's Zell Dincht."

She took the hand in a firm grip and shook it. "July Grimale." She announced, her blond hair fluttering in the breeze. She was dressed in a white blouse and skirt, and looked nothing short of gorgeous. She narrowed her eyes as she seemed to remember something. "Zell Dincht? The Sorceress Hunter…"

Zell took back his hand and scratched the back of his neck with embarrassment. "Heh…nobody has called me that in a while now…it's always Sorceress Hero…"

"But…you are the man who hunted the Sorceress?" One of the pair of boys asked. His hazel eyes locked onto Zells, as if to say you're not really the Sorceress Hunter, you faker. He was dressed in brown pants and a blue shirt, with 'I'll kick your ass' written on the chest. His brown hair fluttered in the wind, cut short at the front and left long at the back.

Zell sighed. "Yeah…I was the one who lead the team through Esthar, and Squall chose me to go point in the Castle…he said it was because I was good at finding things, I was a 'hunter'." He shrugged. "The name stuck."

The third boy didn't say anything. He simply looked at Zell with his brown eyes, dead to the world. He had long, black hair pushed back into a pony tail, and was wearing a black jumper with black trousers. Zell became to feel uncomfortable. "And you are?" He asked, turning to the boy who spoke.

"Sam Gangee." The boy said, offering a hand. "I…I just feel a little gypped, to tell the truth. I always thought that the Sorceress Hunter was…taller."

July smirked. "Nice going Sam. Great way to make the SeeD who killed the Sorceress feel little."

Zell held his hands up before rumour got the better of him, before the boy with cold eye spoke up. "He didn't kill the Sorceress. Irvine beat Sorceress Edea, and Squall finished off Ultimecia."

Zell smiled politely "You know you're SeeD history. You guys from the Galbadian Garden?"

They all shook their heads.

"Trabia?"

Again, they shook their heads.

"Well, you're not from Balamb, so…" Zell's eyes widened. "You guys are White SeeDs! Cool!!"

"Amazing." The boy with cold eyes said sarcastically. "He can put two and two together."

Zell chuckled. "He doesn't really like me, does he?" He asked the other two.

"Nah, he's always like that." The girls said with a giggle.

The boy stood up, and walked forward, moving to gather Zell's attention. "We are participating in the tournament as well. And we are expected to win." With that, he walked off, disappearing into the crowd.

July grinned uneasily and scratched her head. "He's acting more emotionless everyday now…"

Zell smirked. "Sounds like someone I know…"

Suddenly a megaphone attached to the stage floor came to life. Will all invitation participants gather near the west side of the stage, I repeat, will all contestants who were invited by President Justice please gather near the west side of the stage, thankyou.

Zell looked over to the White SeeDs. "You going my way?"

Sam smiled. "No, sorry. We're here to sign up. We haven't got the kudos to gather a personal invite from the President."

Zell shrugged. "Oh well. Maybe you'll gather some kudos in this tournament." He waved goodbye to them as he walked over to the west side of the stage, watching them walk away smoothly. Estharian fighters, and now White SeeDs. I'm beginning to get a bad feeling about the info Watts gave us…

Before he could mull over it a bit more, something caught his attention. Or, to be precise, someone caught his attention.

It was the person who he had bumped into. His white hair, looking silver in the noon sunlight, and large height identified him to Zell immediately. He stood on the west side of the stage, where a microphone was situated. He tapped it once to make sure it was on, and then spoke. "Welcome, honourable guests, to the very first International World Martial Arts Tournament. In the next few weeks, the best and strongest of you will be fighting for the grand prize of twenty million Gil!" A few fighters cheered, and the white-haired man chuckled. "Yes. This obviously isn't any ordinary tournament."

Turning to the back of the stage, pulling a remote control out of his pocket, he pressed a button and lowered a large screen from the backdrop. A picture of the world came on-screen, and Zell recognised it as the one Watts showed them. "This tournament shall be held on different parts of the world, each one different from the other in various ways, to make the arenas as fresh to you as possible." He pressed another button, and the four areas on the map sprang up.

Area 1 enlarged, showing Obel Lake. "The first set of battles, round 1, shall be held here, in Galbadia, the first in the tournament where a ring will be used. GF use and magic use are not allowed. Where the actual ring is will be revealed shortly."

Area 2 enlarged, showing the ruins outcrops of Centra. "The second set of battles, Round 2, shall be held in the Serengetti Plains. The arena is open field – GFs and all magics are allowed."

Area 3 enlarged, showing the snowy white lands of Trabia. "The third set of battles, Round 3, shall be held on Winter Island. The second half of the island will be cordoned off for the fighters. This arena is also open ground, GFs and all magic allowed."

Area 4 enlarged, showing the blank red rock of the Estharian plains. "The fourth set of battles, round 4, shall be held on the Great Plains Of Esthar. The battleground shall be blocked off from Esthar City. Open area as well, GFs and magic are allowed."

A large question mark came up on screen. "Where the fifth and final battle shall be held, will be revealed only to the last two contestants. It shall be in a ring, but GFs and magic shall be allowed. That's all I can reveal right now."

The screen went dead, and Zell turned his attention to the white-haired announcer once more. "Whilst GFs and magic are allowed, the fights will also be scored for viewers and the audience. While use of magic is allowed, use of GFs will deduct from your score at the end of the battle. However, if you are able to defeat a GF, you're score will be doubled." He crossed his arms.

"The ring battle rules are as follows – no magic, or GF use. An anti-magic field will be cast over this ring here, so if any of you try to use magic, it will be deducted from your score. Remember that." He smirked. "If you are knocked unconscious, you will be disqualified after ten counts. If you are knocked out of the ring, you will be disqualified. And, try to avoid this, but if a person dies, the fighter remaining shall be the winner. These fights are all out. No holding back."

Zell's eyes suddenly narrowed. "Where have I heard that voice before…" he muttered to himself as the white-haired man raised a hand to all the negative yells from the less talented fighters.

"Now, now…I'm sure that most of you are skilled enough to avoid death, but if someone does die, we do have a fully qualified medical team, fully stocked and junctioned with Full Life and Life, so don't worry." He smiled sympathetically. "But there will be a way to weed out those people who aren't skilled enough to participate. Now, pleased follow me."

There was a smattering of applause from the people sophisticated enough to know to clap, and confident enough of their skill to not be offended, and the white-haired man jumped off the stage and began to move through the crowd. The fighters began to follow the man, and Zell shrugged, deciding to follow the crowd.

They walked away from the stage, then the crowd, then the entire field, moving deep into the Roshfall wood. The white-haired man stopped suddenly, turning on a heel, grinning like a clown. The group of fighters, around a hundred strong, looked about themselves nervously. Warrior senses kicked in, and many realised that they hadn't junctioned anything for the formal occasion.

The white-haired man spoke up. "As you might have figured out by now, there are only five rounds, and we'll need a good forty people. So, in the time honoured fashion of Galbadia…"

Five hundred soldiers suddenly burst out from the foliage, guns and swords draw and levelled at the nigh-to-defenceless fighters.

The white haired man grinned evilly. "…Lets have a free-for-all."

*          *            *

It was like a flip-picture – one second there were a group of men and women surrounded by five times their numbers armed with guns and large, sharp objects – the next the forest became a battleground, Galbadian soldiers and fighters equal flying in all directions as the free-for-all began.

Zell looked to his left and right, as the people standing around him before had suddenly flung themselves at the Galbadians, the sounds of gunfire and fists breaking skulls filling the air. Fighter's battle screams echoed through the forest, Galbadian death rattles mingling with the sounds of war.

A Galbadian wielding a sword suddenly slashed his way through the crowd, making his way towards Zell. The sword slashed and stabbed it's way through the air at Zell, who simply deflected the swings and stabs with the adamantine coverings on his Ehrgiez gloves, and blasted him to atoms with a Firaga blast. He had remembered to junction today.

Swaying away from the soldiers ashes, he slapped a swing of a sword with his hand and punched the soldier full in the face, before nutting him and throwing him over his shoulder into the crowd. Moving through the crowd, searching for the white-haired man, he ducked as a fighter's arm flew over his head, smashed his fist into a Galbadian soldier's helmet, and blocked a blow from a crazed fighter, who tried to follow through but found it hard to do with the two broken arms that he suddenly procured from the boy with the tattoo on his face.

Spinning on a heel, Zell took out three soldiers with a roundhouse kick, and smashed a fist into another soldier's face, before picking him up and flinging him into the mass of soldiers. Bullets suddenly filed the air around him, and he ducked and weaved through, the one getting too close for comfort deftly deflected by the adamantine on his gloves. He moved towards one soldier armed with an automatic rifle, grabbing the barrel of the gun and ripping it out of his hands, before kicking the man straight in the chest, sending him flying. Zell spun, using the gun as a club, smashing four soldiers across the face, before flinging it at a sword-wielding soldier, the butt of the gun connecting with the soldier's head, knocking him unconscious instantly.

Madness arose from the crowd as the Galbadians pushed it up a notch, the order for 'Magic!' screamed out from the side-lines. Suddenly fighters felt their energy dwindle slightly as soldiers quickly and effectively drew magic from them, and the fight became a big blasting effect, Fire and Ice elementals sizzling their way through the forest as lightening laced it's way from the air into the targeted person.

Zell found himself suddenly ducking and diving for cover as Fire, Ice and Thunder magic laced their ways through the air, coming very close to ending his short yet eventful life. Seeing a wave of Firaga magic coming his way, he countered with Blizaga, aiming the attack at the ground, creating a wall of ice. The wall shuddered as the Firaga attack hit – but held. Just.

The wall suddenly blasted inwards as three Galbadians threw themselves at it, smashing through it as if it was paper. Zell grimaced, grabbing a soldier by the face and throwing him back over where he came from, before punching another in the stomach and kicking him into the third. More bullets found their ways to Zell, and he quickly beat a retreat, ducking behind a tree trunk. The tree trunk was quickly becoming woodchips, and Zell had to think fast.

Holding his hand out from behind the battered tree trunk, he blasted three Fire attacks to the left – before flipping to the right, his diversion working perfectly as the Galdabians concentrated their fire to where the flames erupted.

Moving through the woods, avoiding some battles, slipping past some others, Zell suddenly found the White SeeD's, protected under a Shell. July was holding her arms up, her legs buckling as the magical shield absorbed an attack. Jumping up and off a Galbadian soldier's head, he fell through the shield, coming up with a roll. He saw the two boys, the one with grey eyes with a large blood clump on his stomach, the one called Sam lying beside him without a leg.

"What happened?" Zell yelled over the sounds of fire, magic and people dying.

"Sam got hit by a Blizaga, took the leg off. A Fira hit Grey in the stomach. Grey was supposed to be our support medic, and I'm busy with the shield."

Zell saw that she was bleeding from a cut to her shoulder and a cut to her leg. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine! Just concentrate on them for now! I can't keep this shield up for long!"

Zell nodded, kneeling next to the cold-eyed boy, obviously named Grey. His wound looked less serious then Zell expected, and he watched as Grey opened his eyes and feebly tried to push his hand away. "Don't need your help…" he muttered.

"Like it or not, we need as many people alive as we can right now, so your going to get my help." Placing his hand on the wound, Zell concentrated slightly, watching the green light trace through the veins in his arm and flow into the wounded boy, the injury healing almost completely.

Grey opened his eyes, now focused, and pushed Zell out of the way, jumping up onto his feet immediately and threw himself, screaming like a premenstrual banshee, into the melee. "Well…" Zell muttered, moving onto Sam. "That was brief."

Taking Sam's leg stub into his hands, Zell looked around for the other half. "If you really want him at his full potential, I need the rest of his leg!"

"What do you want me to do about it? Go and get it for you?" July screamed as her legs buckled at another magical attack.

Without warning, a wayward bullet flew straight through the magic shield, blowing the girl's chest clean open, blooding spilling from her mouth and torso as she fell to her knees, her arms dropping, her spell nullified as her soul dwindled…and faded.

Zell scrambled over to her, grabbing her and pulling a bottle of liquid from a pocket. He always kept one for emergencies, and this consisted as an emergency. Ripping the cork from the neck of the bottle, he poured the Phoenix Down over the wound, watching as it healed over, lungs and heart taking shape quickly before being closed over by skin. It healed her over…but her soul would have to return by itself.

Now seething with rage, Zell stood. The Galbadian who had fired the shot took careful aim once more, the bullet traversing the battle ground straight to Zell's face…who deflected the bullet with his Ehrgiez glove at the last second!!

Zell then jumped, rebounding off a tree and bashing into five soldiers, grabbing two by their fatigues-fronts and using them as battering rams, barrelling his way through their ranks with the two seriously injured soldiers before him.

Running out of soldiers near him to run over, he threw his two battering rams at the nearest group of soldiers and drew energy from within him, feeling it pour into him as he cast Forbidden magic.

"Aura!!" He screamed, the Forbidden magic drawing hidden strengths from his muscles, making him glow a bright gold. His magic levels now forced to top their peaks, he screamed out loud, his battle cry making the whole battle seem to stop. Fighters froze in mid-punch, soldiers froze during mid-swing, and they all watched the glowing fighter as his cries echoed through the forest.

Now surrounded by fire, the energy travelling from his shoulder to his fist, which shook with barely concealed fury. Raising it high above him, he screamed the two words needed to activate the limit break – "Burning Rave!!" – before smashing his fist into the ground.

For an instant, nothing happened, Zell's fist simply digging into the ground…then the tremor started. The very ground shaking, it split open and began to spew lava out of the jagged crack made in the earth.

The attack had been directed at the main body of soldiers, who were taken down with minimal fuss, screaming s they fell into the chasm that closed as quickly as it was cleaved.

Zell, still glowing bright gold, turned to the crowd of fighters. Their numbers had been more then halved. Zell counted twenty who could still stand under their own strength. "Where is the man with white hair?" he muttered through gritted teeth, his anger barely concealed as energy was forced to move faster through his body.

Grey moved from the middle of the survivors, looking up to Zell with his cold eyes. "He ran away when you finished the rest off." He muttered, pointing back towards the field. He was covered in blood, his black clothing slashed and torn.

Zell narrowed his eyes and muttered "Haste" before disappearing from view.

*          *            *

The white-haired man ran pretty fast for an old guy, but he was still no match for Zell in his upgraded condition. One second the man was all alone, running for his life – then next he was confronted by the golden boy with the tattoo on his face, as well as a evil look that would put the devil to shame.

Zell picked the man up and threw him at a tree, which he travelled through and into another tree behind it, smashing onto the ground with a thump, the first tree trunk just missing his head as it landed beside him.

The man raised his hands in a defeated gesture. "No!" He screamed shrilly. "Don't kill me! Please!! I was only following orders!!"

"My fellow warriors are dead…" Zell said. "And you didn't even give them a chance. Hell, most of them hadn't even bothered to junction anything today!"

"They'll be fine…" the man muttered slowly, calmingly. "A med-team is going through the ranks right now reviving all the dead, and heal all the wounded."

Zell narrowed his eyes. "I don't believe you."

"Why would I lie?! You'd only find out in a few minutes anyways!"

"Why did you do it?"

The man picked himself up painfully. "To weed out the weak, obviously…all the people who remained standing are now allowed to enter the competition now."

Zell sighed, the yellow light fading as his emotions calmed themselves down. "You could have done it some other way…exhibition matches, maybe…"

The man sighed. "You haven't changed one bit. You of all people know that if you aren't prepared for anything, then you shouldn't be in the scrum."

Zell narrowed his eyes…before widening them in realisation. "I know who you are now! Commander Biggs!!"

The former Galbadian officer smiled. "Yes…that's my name."

"What are you doing hosting a martial arts tournament?"

Biggs snorted. "Why should I tell a punk like you?"

"Because, adding all the times we fought in the Sorceress mission, this is the fourth time I've beaten you." Zell said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"…Well, lets just say your not the only one who has friends in high places."

Zell narrowed his eyes, but before he could speak he heard someone running up behind him. He turned to see July coming up, panting from the sprint she had just had to do in a skirt. "Wow…" she breathed. "You sure can move fast."

"I cast Haste." Zell said simply. "What's happening back at the clearing?"

"As soon as you left all these Galbadians came out of the woods and began to revive everybody! It's amazing! First they attack us, then they heal us up? What's going on?!"

Zell grimaced, and looked down at Biggs. "It was the Galbadians' way to select competitors for the tournament. All the people who aren't revived by the med-team are now allowed to fight."

July looked up at Biggs with a look that Zell didn't like. "My friend lost his leg. Your boys can't find it, and now the heal time is way over. He's a cripple! He was supposed to be our fighter! He was supposed to win for us!!" She took a step forward and raised a fist, hammering it down at the old man's heavily sweating face with unbridled rage.

The fist was arrested by Zell's hand, which wrapped around it like tinfoil, his large gloved hand enclosing her tiny fist tightly. July looked up at Zell with fury. "What do you think you're doing?" She yelled, wrestling her fist away from his grip.

"What will you gain from killing him?" He retorted equally violently. "Satisfaction? Vengeance isn't one of the procedures in the SeeD rulebook."

"He took Sam's leg! He's ruined his livelihood!! He must pay!"

Zell looked over at Biggs, who was now cowering behind the shattered tree trunk, looking around in fear. "He will pay…" Zell growled. "…But not now." He pointed back to where they came from. "Come on. Let's get back to them. I think the real selection ceremony will begin soon." He walked off in the direction that they came from, and July gave Biggs a look that chilled him to the bone, before choosing to follow the Sorceress Hunter.

*          *            *

July caught up with the blond warrior easily, falling in step beside him. They walked in silence for a few minutes, before she looked up at him. "How did you do that?"

"How did I do what?"

"Make yourself not kill him."

Zell hesitated in his answer, stepping over a fallen tree before replying. "It's not right to kill whenever you feel like it. If you do that, then you're no different then the person you wish to kill, if you have a reason. All the people I have killed, I have either been under attack by, or trying to prevent them from hurting other people. There's a fine line between murder and self-defence, and if you don't know how to walk along that line, you shouldn't be in our kind of business."

July nodded, falling silent once more. Zell looked down at her, reassessing her character. At first he had taken her to be a fighter, but had realised during the battle with the soldiers that she didn't have the build or durability to be a fist-fighter. The amount of time she had held the Shell up had signified her role in the White SeeD group – she was the magic specialist, most probably the fighter's healer.

Her blond hair flowed around her face naturally, the slight breeze making her have to push it out of her eyes every now and then. Her eyes were a lush green, which looked serious right now as she thought about something. She was frowning slightly,  and was moving her lips slowly, as if she was going over something to say.

"How's your chest?" Zell asked her.

She looked up at him with horror. "Excuse me?" she asked indignantly.

He pointed at the gaping hole in her blouse revealing a lot of cleavage. "Your chest. You were shot. I had to use a Phoenix Down to revive you."

She looked down at the hole, before drawing it closed with her hands. "Its…it's fine, thankyou." She said quietly, her face flushing crimson.

Zell chuckled and shook his head.

*          *            *

When the group of fighters returned to Obel Lake, they emerged from the forest to see the whole crowd of spectators standing behind a line of Galbadian soldiers. Expectant faces looked out of the crowd, as well as worried and frightened ones.

Zell saw Selphie and Irvine standing behind the barricade, looking for him, and he walked over to them. "Zell!! What happened?!" Selphie yelled as he walked up.

"The Galbadians just tried to choose fighters for the tournament the old fashioned way. By grouping us together and slaughtering us to watch the strongest survive."

Irvine didn't bring his shotgun to the ceremony, but he still had his Vincent Valentines hidden up his sleeves. "Those bastards…" he muttered, the heavy calibre pistols sliding slowly into his palms.

Selphie shushed him and pushed the guns back into his sleeves. "No…not here."

"She's right." Zell muttered. "I think I'll be needing you guys intact for the tournament after all. This isn't the walk in the park we thought it would be."

"How many fighters are left?" Selphie asked as she watched the fighters mingle with the crowd once more, the barricade dropping. "They all seem to be alive…"

"The Galbadians revived the ones they could and gave them a letter of compensation for the time and money they wasted coming to the ceremony. There were only forty survivors, meaning there will be forty fighters in the tournament."

Irvine's frown simply grew deeper. "A pretty harsh way to select competitors, even by Galbadian standards. I thought this new President would be different then Deling, but I guess I was wrong." He shook his head and turned into the crowd. Selphie cried out for him, but he had vanished in the mass of people.

She turned back to Zell, her eyes shining with border-tears. "He's very patriotic, you know…" She whispered, wiping the tears from her eyes. "It's not his fault, but he always thinks it is…"

Zell nodded. "I know, Selph. I know."

Suddenly there was a fanfare from the stage, and the Galbadian national anthem rang out over the P.A. "I guess they're about to announce who will be fighting." Zell said to Selphie. "Let's go."

"But what about Irvine?"

Zell's eyes narrowed. "He can take care of himself…as long as he doesn't do anything stupid…"