Final Fantasy : Historical Bonds
Chapter 1 - Return Of The Tyrant
DISCLAIMER: Final Fantasy VIII, and it's characters are all property of Squaresoft Inc. Further to that, several names of places or objects may also be the property of Squaresoft, and do not belong to me.
Any other characters that appear within the following story, and are not in the game are copyright of the author. (That's ME!)
NOTE: If you wish to reproduce this fiction in any way, please contact the author before you do so.
No Copyright infringement intended.
P.S - The songs parts have nothing to do with the story. They are merely tracks I have been listening to while writing this story. A kind of thank you to those bands and artists I suppose. That and I think they in some way relate to the chapter as well.
By: Fat Zombie
Enemy decides who I will be,
Now I'm penalised and lost,
Can't find the end of me,
I've got one life to live in this world I've sinned in.
Taken from [minus] - Enemy
Squall walked up the steps towards the elevator of Balamb Garden. To his left he could hear shouting, emanating from the cafeteria. He turned to investigate, and was confronted by Zell, running as fast as he could towards Squall's vicinity. The biggest food-fight in the history of Garden could be seen behind Zell, as could Xu running at full pace.
Zell stopped at the edge of the large pond that surrounded the elevator. Squall watched as his eyes darted around. Finding no escape route by which he would not be seen, Zell took a deep breath and dived into the pond. Xu came dashing up to the area, and scanned around for any signs of the martial arts expert.
"Have you seen Dincht?" Xu asked Squall.
"I, Uh" Squall replied, quickly glancing at the blurry mass situated under the surface of the water.
Xu slowly rolled up her sleeve and plunged her arm into the water. She reached down and then, finding her target, pulled Zell back out of the water by the collar of his shirt.
"Oh man" Zell spluttered as he gasped for air.
"C'mon you half-wit" said Xu. "The next time you choose to start a food-fight, I'd suggest you not throw a piece of cauliflower at the Chief of Supplies head".
"I wasn't trying to start a food fight" explained Zell. "I was merely protesting at the fact that we had been served something that no one likes".
"You were protesting by throwing it at me?" questioned Xu.
"It seemed to be the easiest way to get the message across at the time" answered Zell. "It all started because I hit that big guy instead of you, and he threw something back at me".
"Are you trying to blame someone else now?" asked Xu.
"No, it was because you ducked out of the way that the big guy got hit, and it just went off from there" Zell paused in thought. "So in a way, you really messed up on this one".
This forced a fierce frown from Xu, which in turn wiped the grin off of Zell's face. She dragged him around the edge of the pond and up the steps towards the elevator. The doors slid open and she entered, still pulling Zell behind her. Squall followed them in, trying to avoid getting too close to the soaked form of Zell. Xu pushed the button to take the elevator to the bridge, and it slowly began to glide upwards.
"I'm cold" Zell whined as the air conditioning activated while the elevator continued upwards.
"Well you should have thought about that before you went for your little swim, shouldn't you" Xu replied sarcastically.
The elevator gently bumped to a stop at the third floor, and the doors slid open. All occupying it walked out, and split their separate ways.
"Not so fast" Xu said, quickly grabbing hold of Zell. "You're coming with me to see Cid".
Squall walked over to a desk at the side of the room, and sat down in front of a console that was situated on the table. He typed in his access codes and began to search through the roster of active SeeD members for candidates for upcoming missions. He scanned down the list of names in alphabetical order, only paying to the 'Surname' and 'Active/Inactive' columns. He scrolled down through the 'A's', and noticed the name Almasy.
Squall was surprised to see that his record hadn't been deleted. He was about move to the next record when something caught his eye. The word 'ACTIVE' was shown clearly in the corresponding column. He brought up the full details on the console, in an attempt to gain some understanding for the situation.
SeeD Member File - Restricted Access
Name: - Seifer Almasy
Age: - 19
Active/Inactive: - Active
History: - Former Disciplinary Committee Member
- Went AWOL after an un-successful SeeD field exam
- Served as Sorceress Edea's Knight
- Discharged as a result of previous actions
- Reinstated and placed under the supervision of Instructor Trepe
- Reinstated by request of Instructor Trepe
Additional Information: - Expert Tactician and Gunblade Specialist
Squall closed the file and logged off the console with a smash on the keyboard. He got up and walked into the elevator, impatiently jabbing the button for the second floor. Just as he did so Zell came down from the bridge.
"Hey Squall, wait up" Zell called out. Squall gave Zell a stern look, which stopped him in his tracks as the elevator began to drop downwards. "OK" said Zell. "I know when to stay away".
Zell pushed the button by the door and waited for the elevator to return to his current floor.
'Wonder what's wrong with him' Zell thought. He was awoken from his momentary daze as the air conditioning from the left blew a stream of cool air out of the elevator as its doors opened. He pushed the button for the first floor and watched the Garden entrance from the high perspective of the elevator. The front path was brimming with activity. Countless people walked through the gates, and many were sat on the benches that lined the edges of the path. The elevator again omitted a soft bump to signify its arrival on the first floor, and Zell stepped out as the doors opened. He looked to his left while walking towards the steps, to see how many people were going to the training center. After spotting only a few, he turned back towards the steps. He was confronted by a girl with dark shoulder length hair, which also encompassed lighter, almost blonde streaks through its length. She wore a SeeD uniform, and was currently falling up the steps towards him.
"Whoa, easy now" said Zell as he caught her. "You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah" she replied in a slightly embarrassed tone. "Thanks" she added before continuing on her way to the elevator.
Zell's glance stayed transfixed on the girl, even after she entered the elevator. Zell didn't move until she had been carried upwards and out of his view. He was knocked out of his trance as a SeeD cadet pushed past him and knocked his shoulder.
'That was weird' thought Zell confusedly.
* * * *
Squall walked briskly down the corridor towards the classroom.
"Quistis" he growled as he walked through the door.
"Squall" answered a surprised Quistis. "I've got a class" she finished, nodding her head towards the forty SeeD students now all staring at Squall.
"Dismissed" said Squall, addressing the whole class. The class continued to stare at Squall confusedly. "You're all dismissed" he said impatiently.
The class didn't need to be told again. All forty cadets stood up and made their way out of the room as quickly as they could.
"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" asked Quistis angrily. Having just become an instructor again, she didn't appreciate people interrupting her lessons. "You should not be disrupting their classes, their exams are in two weeks".
"Will Seifer be taking those exams?" Squall asked.
Quistis blinked and looked away.
"What" said Squall. "You thought I wouldn't find out?"
Quistis continued to stare down at her desk, and didn't reply.
"So what's the deal?" Squall asked. "Why have you brought him back".
"Haven't you noticed the quality of cadets we're getting" Quistis explained. "We'll be lucky to get more than two graduates out of the class that just left, we need more good-".
"That's bullshit" Squall interupted. "We need more good cadets so you bring back a failed one".
"He's got a lot of good qualities" argued Quistis.
"And a lot more bad ones" Squall argued back. "He's doesn't work in a team, he doesn't follow orders and he doesn't care about anyone else but himself".
"That's not completely true" said Quistis.
"I haven't seen much evidence to prove me wrong" stated Squall.
"Then I'll get you some" said Quistis quickly.
"You expect me to stand by while you endanger the lives of the cadets he's teamed with?" asked Squall.
Quistis did nothing but glare at him.
"I just hope, for everyone's sake, that you know what you're doing" sighed Squall while stepping backwards and raising his hands, as he left the room.
"So do I" Quistis quietly said to herself.
* * * *
"HEY, NIDA" someone called. Nida looked up to see Zell jogging towards him.
"Oh, hey Zell" acknowledged Nida.
"Hi" said Zell, sitting down. "Listen I want to ask you something".
"Oh" replied Nida. "Okay then, shoot".
"Well, Uh" Zell struggled to ask the question. He'd never talked to anyone about this kind of thing before. "Have you ever looked at someone, and for the whole time you could see them, it was like everything else stopped, and there was nothing else outside of that person?"
"Why?" asked Nida cautiously.
"Well" Zell paused uncomfortably. "Because that just happened to me".
"Who?" Nida asked.
"I don't know" replied Zell.
"Excuse me" Nida said flatly.
"I don't know" Zell repeated himself. "I've never seen her before".
"Well now that could cause a problem" said Nida. "What does she look like?" he asked. "Maybe I know her".
"Uh, she's got dark hair with streaks of blonde-like colour through it, down to her shoulders" answered Zell.
"I might know who you're talking about" stated Nida.
"Well, who?" Zell asked impatiently.
"Nevaeh Tarik, I think her name was" answered Nida. "She transferred here from the new Trabian academy a few weeks ago".
"How do you know her?" asked Zell.
"I had to show her around the Garden when she transferred here" Nida explained. "She's entered as a SeeD, so I suppose she took all her exams at the academy".
Zell sat silently in thought, resting his head on his hand. Nida also sat in silence, grinning at Zell.
"What you grinning at?" asked Zell suddenly.
"Me?" asked Nida. "I'm just realizing that our little Zell is growing up".
"You know they say sarcasm is the lowest form of wit" stated Zell.
"The only people who say that are the one's that can't use it" replied Nida smugly.
"Yeah, well" said Zell, feeling beaten. "You can't tell anyone".
"Tell anyone what?" said Nida, while smiling.
"That's it" said Zell. "Just keep it that way".
"Don't worry" said Nida. "You're secrets safe with me".
Nida stood up, nodded a goodbye to Zell and turned away towards the doorway.
"Oh" said Nida suddenly, turning back around to face Zell. "If you don't want anyone to know that something's up, then I wouldn't sit in the library for too much longer" he suggested. "Because someone's definitely gonna realise something's not straight".
"Oh right, thanks" replied Zell, this time not detecting the sarcasm in Nida's statement.
Nida merely rolled his eyes and headed out of the library. Zell sat for while, confused by Nida's reaction, but then decided to leave so as not to create any more suspicion. As Zell left the library, he saw Squall exiting the elevator.
"SQUALL" he called out as he ran over to the foot of the steps.
"Oh, hi Zell" Squall replied in a laboured manner.
"Hey, why so glum" Zell asked.
"Not glum, angry" answered Squall bluntly.
"Still?" Zell said, without thinking. "Uh, I mean, why?"
"I'll tell you at the cafeteria" answered Squall. "You wanna go and get a hot dog?"
"They still got some?" Zell asked excitedly.
"Don't tell anyone but" said Squall, leaning towards Zell. "I got the cook to keep some of them back for senior SeeD members".
"Ah, see" said Zell. "That Commandership of yours does have its benefits" he said while smiling, as the two made their way towards the cafeteria.
* * * *
"How's it goin' teach?" said Seifer, while leaning against doorway of the classroom.
Quistis, who had not noticed him until now looked up from her desk.
"Oh" she sighed. "Hello Seifer".
"Well thanks for the warm welcome" he said sarcastically.
"Sorry" said Quistis, now seeming a little more interested. "Welcome back".
"You know, you're about the first person who's made the effort to say that to me today" said Seifer. "The people here are just as rude as they were a year ago".
"Yes, well that's not without reason" stated Quistis.
"Well, I suppose so" admitted Seifer. "But I wasn't myself then".
"Let's hope not" said Quistis authoritatively. "Because I'm warning you-"
"You're warning me?" interupted Seifer. "Listen instructor, you don't serve as a Sorceress' Knight and learn nothing" he explained. "I can follow orders now, I followed Edea's".
"Well we all would have better off if you hadn't in that instance wouldn't we" retorted Quistis. "And you seem to have retained your bad attitude".
"I prefer to term it as confident" said Seifer.
"Or just plain arrogant as most people would see it" Quistis quickly added. "I've now been set the task of getting rid of that arrogance, and I'd like some co-operation on your side if you don't mind".
"It all depends on your perception" argued Seifer. "I'm good at what I do and I know it, and that's why people don't like me".
"So everyone else has to adjust for you?" asked Quistis flatly.
"They have to accept me as the way I am" stated Seifer. "I'm not asking them to change, and I'm not going to change" he explained, moving from his leaning position to a fully upright one. "It's as simple as that" he added, while turning and walking through the door.
Quistis sat and rested her head on her hands in thought. Was he right, and no one was giving him a chance? Or was it that he loved confrontation so much, that he engaged in every form of it whenever he could? Quistis couldn't work it out.
Author's Note: - So, what do you think? This is really just a small part of the story. Depending on the reaction I get, more will go up soon. I have much more of the story done, it's just not all stored on my computer yet. Like I said, if this first part gets a good reaction, then more will be coming soon. Reviews are welcome, but constructive criticism only please. Anyone that just writes a whole load of offensive crap will be wasting no one else's time but their own.
The next chapter should see the proper introduction of Nevaeh and a new mission for the SeeD team.
C ya...