Candidates Return
Upon their arrival at Balamb, they were welcomed by the same veteran SeeD that have seen them depart. "Congratulations on making it back, everyone."
Everyone nodded as they passed the SeeD. Seifer was out first, now awake. Raijin and Fujin were there to greet him. Fujin asks, "SAFE?"
Over the many years that Squall knew Fujin, he began to realize that she didn't talk normally. She either talked differently because she couldn't talk any other way or because she wanted to. Squall believed it was the latter of the two. She used very few words in her sentences and spoke in an abnormally loud voice. He believed that she talked this way to make sure everyone heard her.
Seifer responded with a nod of his head and a smirk on his face, "Was there ever any doubt?"
"Yo man, we were worried, ya know?" Raijin said. "So how'd it go? Did ya have fun?"
Seifer turned to him, "Jeez, being a captain isn't easy. It seems as if everyone tries to get in your way," and the disciplinary committee walked off laughing and talking. Behind him, Squall heard Zell curse under his breath.
He turned around to wait for the rest of the group and then turned to Xu as she started talking, "Well, congratulations, everyone! You all made it back and now I wish you the best of luck," when Squall walked off, she turned back to Quistis, "Gee, I wonder what was so important for the Balamb Force to evacuate…"
Squall walked out of the harbor area into the parking lot with Zell, walking at a steady pace towards the car which they used to drive to Balamb. Squall was looking down at the ground as he walked, still a tad bit shaken by the exam, when he heard Zell's shouts in his ear. "HEY!!! Well, there goes Mr. Ego…" Squall looked up just in time to see their car speeding down the road out of town. They took the car! He held Zell back from running and said, "We might as well walk it."
Zell looked at him and groaned, "Oh man! My legs are sore as it is…"
Squall, Zell, Selphie, Quistis, and Xu walked through the streets of Balamb, greeted by stares and gawks at the uniforms that they are wearing on such a hot day. Squall realizes that he is actually sweating. Wow, it really is pretty hot today…
On the way out of the town, Zell walked down a couple of steps into a house below street level. In the corridor, Squall saw him talking to an elderly woman, perhaps fifty. That must be his mother… Zell's mother looked like a typical elderly woman. She wore an apron most of the time and she walked around in a light robe of the color baby-blue. Atop her head, she wore nothing more than a mere hair net to keep her long hair, turned white with age, out of her face. She was a bit plump and nothing on her body except her white hair hinted towards her age.
Zell hugged his mother and ran out of the corridor, joining up with the rest of the group to head back to Balamb Garden.
The road back to Balamb was quiet as the group paced along it. It was the same type of road that led to the Fire Cavern. Squall noticed that everyone except Xu and Quistis were sweating. He thought that it was because of they were wearing skirts while everyone else was wearing pants. Random thoughts continued to pop into his head until he realized that they are at the gate of Balamb Garden. He felt his body begin to pump adrenaline as he thought of his chances of getting into SeeD. He knew they were slim, but he wouldn't dare give up hope now. When they walked into the gate, Zell stretched his arms and legs and patted Squall on the back, "We're finally back!"
"Yeah, my legs are killing me!" Said Selphie as she leaned down and rubbed her red legs. They were obviously in pain.
"I guess that we wait for the test results now…well, see you later," Zell said, "and good luck, man."
Quistis and Xu wished them all luck at the same time and Squall began to walk towards his dormitory. He stopped abruptly, though, and decided to take the long way to clear his head.
* * *
As Squall took the long way to his dorm – through the main hall, then loop around towards the quad and walk through the back door of that – he thought of nothing except how he could have done things better on the exam. If I had destroyed that Galbadian Spider, I would have surely gotten a better grade… He sighed and then thought what am I saying – I don't even know what grade I got and I'm already blaming myself for practically failing.
As he walked past the main hall, he saw Quistis, Xu, and Headmaster Cid already there. He listened to the conversation from afar and the three didn't even notice him.
Xu said, "Mission complete! I think we did a pretty good job, don't you?"
"Yes, we did do a good job," said Quistis, "although it was unfortunate that we didn't realize that the Galbadians' main cause was acquiring the abandoned communication tower."
"A couple of minutes earlier, we have received word from the Dollet Dukedom," replied the headmaster, "that the Galbadians agreed to withdraw under one condition – that the tower remain operational and repairs remain undisturbed." Cid knew that this statement would raise some eyebrows; that was his first reaction as well.
Xu and Quistis exchanged looks and Xu responded, "Well, at least the ruckus is over and the G-force is out of there," she then joked, "but, we could've made more money if they stayed."
The joke signified that nothing else of importance was going to be said, so Squall went on his way. Half-way to the quad, he saw Seifer resting on a bench. Seifer turned to him, "Did you hear about the communication tower in Dollet?" Squall nodded. Seifer got up clearly frustrated, "We would have been heroes – heroes – if it weren't for that pointless withdraw order…"
Yeah? Well, you were in no hurry to stay once you heard about it…
Behind him, Squall heard tapping footsteps and then Quistis's voice, "Oh, Seifer, get real – you were only looking for a fight, nothing more."
"My dear instructor, those are some rather cruel words for an aspiring student like me," Seifer sighed, "Never mind, miss. A mediocre instructor like you couldn't possibly understand." Seifer, choosing his words carefully for the previous statement, knew Quistis's weakness - she despised being ordinary or normal. She wanted to be above others – to be better, and calling her mediocre did more damage than any petty insult could have ever done. Seifer's words paid off as Quistis was thrown back, speechless, and Xu stepped up to defend her.
"Seifer, don't be so full of yourself – you are officially taking full responsibility for leaving the designated area, and being a complete pain in the ass for all of us."
"Isn't the captain's duty to take the best possible course of action as he sees fit?"
"Oh, be quiet," replied Xu, "You'll never be a SeeD, and calling yourself a captain is a joke."
Seifer glared at her and then slowly sat down, his eyes never leaving hers. Xu turned around and walked off but Quistis was frozen in her tracks gawking at Seifer. Headmaster Cid walked up behind her and whispered something in her ear, making her apparently feel better so that she could walk off in the same direction Xu went. Then Headmaster Cid began to talk to Seifer.
"Seifer, I heard about what happened, and you shall be disciplined properly for your irresponsible behavior out there today. You must understand that you have to follow orders exactly in combat. The slightest mistake can prove enough to eliminate any chances of victory," then on a lighter note, his face not as tense, Headmaster Cid continued, "But, I am not entirely without sympathy for you. I mean, I don't want my students trained to be machines," Cid then noticed Squall who was standing there, listening to the whole conversation, "Oh Squall, I didn't notice you there, how are y-"
The Headmaster was cut off by one of the garden staff employees, who had soundlessly appeared behind him, "Headmaster, you have some business in your office, what with all of the issues at hand here today…"
Cid turned from the employee, who was stereotypically dressed in purple with a yellow mask atop his head, to Squall, and said, "Sorry I can't talk more, but I wish you luck, just like all the rest!" He then turned away to follow the garden staff up to his office. Squall decided that it was too late to nod in acknowledgement, so he also turned away to head in the other direction, leaving Seifer alone.
Half way from the Quad to his dorm, Squall heard an announcement ring through the garden, "All students who participated in today's field exam, report to the second floor hallway. I repeat – all students who took part in the field exam today, report to the second floor hallway." This was definitely not the highlight of Squall's day, seeing that the only elevator that leads up to the second floor hallway was back in the main hall. Squall turned around lamely and proceeded to walk back to the main hall, noticing along the way that Seifer was not sitting at the bench where the argument recently took place. Whatever…
As he rode up the cylindrical glass elevator with the same marble floor as the main hall, he knew right away what the announcement was for, but didn't want to think about it. He had to, even though he didn't want to, and his knees started shaking. He rested his head against the wall of the elevator, feeling an uncontrollable weakness in every part of his body. Anxiety…
* * *
When the elevator came to a lurching stop, Squall opened his eyes and lifted his head off of the wall of the elevator. He took a deep breath and headed outside. He walked into the hallway, now crowded with everyone who took the exam – some twenty or thirty people. Among the few, he saw Zell pacing back and forth. He walked up to him and said hello.
"Oh, hey, man. I'm nervous out of my mind, and all of this waiting isn't helping much," said Zell and gave a nervous chuckle, "Well, good luck to you, Squall." He stuck out his hand, yet Squall still refused to shake it. Zell seemed confused and he looked at the palm of his hand, "What, do I still have some ketchup stains on it?"
Squall smiled weakly and said, "Good luck, Zell."
Zell gave another nervous chuckle and continued to pace back and forth looking up once in a while to see whether the garden staff who was to deliver the results was there yet. Squall turned around and found an empty space next to the wall to rest his seemingly heavy head. He balanced on one leg with the other leg perpendicular to the wall and he closed his eyes.
In a few moments, he opened his eyes to the sound of a raspy voice saying Zell's name, "Zell? Zell Dincht?"
"OHHHHH YEAHHHHH!" Apparently, Zell was just accepted to SeeD. Squall saw Zell do a sort of victory dance and triumphantly walk off toward the employee.
The garden staff then looked down at the paper held in one of his or her robed hands again and called out another name, and then, "Squall? Squall Leonhart?" At the sound of his name, Squall shivered uncontrollably and felt himself break into a sweat even though he knew that he got in.
Squall cradled off the wall and walked toward the garden staff employee. When he walked by, he heard the employee say, "That is all, you are all dismissed."
The students moaned and grumbled at the sound of this statement. They were all extremely disappointed. A few girls even broke into tears. Nevertheless, they could do nothing about it. They shall have to wait another two years to take the field exam again.
Once in the headmaster's room – a room with a red carpet stretching the length of it, going past a 19th Century Classical Wooden French desk at the far side of the room. Atop the desk rested a tall mirror stretching half of the length towards the ceiling. On the other side of the carpet, an exhibit of a wide variety of weapons leans against the wooden wall, with weapons from a gunblade like the one Squall has to a pair of nunchaku like the ones the messenger girl had. As the group was led along the red carpet that laid neatly atop a dark marble floor, they reach a small staircase consisting of three steps also carpeted red that lead up to a chair resembling that of a king's. Wow, the Headmaster has style…
Squall was led into a small row of people, consisting of Zell, another student that he doesn't know, himself, and the messenger girl – Selphie.
The Garden Staff told Cid, "These are the four students who passed the field exam today."
The Headmaster, sitting in the throne of a chair, got up and began his small speech, "First of all, I would like to say – Congratulations! We are proud to accept you four into SeeD. SeeD mercenaries are combat specialists, as you all already know. From now on, you, along with the rest of SeeD, are going to be dispatched the world over. But, this is only one aspect of SeeD – when the time co-"
Cid was interrupted by the Garden Staff, "Headmaster, it is almost time for the meeting – please make this as short as you possible can." Then without waiting for a response, the employee turned to the four students in front of him and began, "SeeD is a valuable asset to Balamb Garden. Its reputation is based on, and upheld, by each and every one of you. Handle your mission with care." Then he turned back to Cid, "Is that what you wanted to say, sir?"
Cid opened his mouth to talk, but he just nodded yes.
The employee then turned back to the four students and gave each one of them a slip of paper, "Here is your SeeD rank report!
He eyed the small rectangular sheet that was given to him. It included the many factors that contributed to his final score, even though Squall didn't understand how they came up with these numbers. His final rank was 9 out of 10. He was a SeeD.
Wow, I never thought that I did this good…hard work really does pay off…
Squall heard Zell yelling at the other end of the line of students, "WHOOO-HOOO, this day just keeps getting better and better – SeeD rank 9, baby!" Zell is the same rank as me…good for us.
Headmaster Cid gave the students a chance to pat themselves on the back the way Zell was doing aloud, and then he leaned close to all of them to give them a good piece of advice. The first person he whispered to was Selphie, "I'm looking forward to the Garden Festival – best of luck." The next person he talked to was the person unfamiliar to Squall, "Do your best even if you don't stand out." Then Squall saw the Headmaster talk to Zell, "Try to control your emotions a little bit from now on, ok?" Zell nodded and Cid moved on to Squall, "Ah, finally, a gunblade specialist in SeeD. I wish you best of luck, Squall." After this, Cid walked back to his chair and sat down, "This ends the SeeD inauguration address. Dismissed!"
Squall and the group walked across the red carpet to the cylindrical glass elevator and they took it down to the main hall. There, a small ground has gathered consisting of many of the people that didn't make it into SeeD. Among them was Seifer. Zell saw him and prepared for another fistfight but to his surprise, Seifer began to clap. At first very quietly, but growing ever louder; then Raijin and Fujin join in with smiles on their faces. Pretty soon, the whole main hall was filled with the sound of clapping, with Seifer at the front. Even though Seifer was clapping, he had a look of hatred on his face. He turned to Zell and he saw his face turn red from embarrassment. He turned back to Seifer and his posse, nodded, and walked off to his dorm, now absurdly craving some rest.
When he reached his dorm, Selphie the messenger girl is the one to greet him. When he saw her, she was dressed in a new kind of uniform, and Squall recognized it right away.
"Well? How do I look?" She picked up her arms and danced around in a circle.
"…Giddy..."
Selphie giggled and goes, "You got one, too. Go and put it on!"
Squall followed her orders and walked into his dorm, closing the door behind him. He changed into his SeeD uniform with pride. It looked completely different from the cadet uniform. The SeeD uniform was of darker color, almost black, and it had matching black pants as well. To cover the neck, there was an elevated collar, with a complex metallic design in the front. A metal chain, silver, connected the two halves of the collar, which swung freely from both sides of the neck. The pants were baggy, leading down to tall black boots, shining as if light was constantly reflecting off it. He admired it in the mirror. Sure as hell fits better than that cadet uniform… He opened the door and Selphie walked in, "Hey, lookin' good! Now let's go to that party!!!"
"Wait a minute, there's going to be a party?"
"Of course, didn't you hear?"
"…No…"
"Well, don't worry…now you heard and you're coming…"
Selphie grabbed his hand and led him out of the door, "Let's hit that pah-tay!"
As Squall was being dragged, he caught sight of the same glass of Orange Juice he had early this morning. Now it was nine o'clock at night, more than twelve hours later, and Squall was going to the SeeD inauguration party.