Chapter Seven
Ever just the same, Ever a surprise, Ever as before/Ever just as sure as the sun will rise/Tale as old as time, Tune as old as song/Bittersweet and strange, finding you can change/Learning you were wrong/Certain as the sun rising in the east/Tale as old as time, Song as old as rhyme
Disney
"As you all know, this will be your final exam in my class." Caroline smiled brightly at us, the sun making her hair glisten. "The point of this test is to test your magic skills as well as your junctioning abilities. Weapons are permitted on this test and it is up to you to choose the correct magic. Auto junctioning is forbidden. To pass this test, you must obtain 150 points. The points go as followed: For every T-rexaur you defeat you get 10 points." She grinned at me, as if we shared a private joke.
Quistis rolled her eyes as Caroline continued. "Every Hexdragon 40pts, every Grendel 50 points, every ruby dragon 80 points and for every Marlboro you will be awarded 100 points." Again, she smiled, "Though I advise you not to attempt to fight a Marlboro at this or any other level. I will be around if you need help, but every time I am called; your team will loose a collective 20 points. Students who remain KO'ed after a battle will be graded on their points they obtained before passing out. Time is pending. Listen for my call. Begin."
Quistis grinned as she pulled out her whip and junctioned 100 blizzergas to it. The she junctioned 68 full-lifes to HP. Turning to me she smiled.
"No auto-junction. Need help?"
I grunted under my breath. She knew junctioning wasn't my strong point, but I'd be damned before I got help on this test. I grinned wickedly as I held out a ball of black matter.
Quistis gasped. "Seifer! Where the hell did you get ultima spells?"
Happily I junctioned them to strength. "Over there." I pointed to the beach where we had landed the Falcon. "And I drew them off Caroline during long lectures."
Quistis waved a finger at me. "Naughty, naughty. You'll have to be punished later."
I grinned evilly at her. "Send me to your room after the test."
We finished junctioning and headed off away from our class. By the time we reached the end of the island, we hadn't fought one fiend.
"The hell." I muttered. "You'd think Cid did this on purpose."
Quistis shook her head, wiping the sweat off her brow. "I know what you mean. It's strange."
Then a T-rexaur bounded up to us, almost comically.
Quistis cast bizzerga on it and I followed that up with my limit break Blood cross. It flopped to the ground with a deflated squeal.
I groaned in frustration. "Two hours and we have only got ten bloody points!"
Quistis grinned. "Yeah, well. What can you do?"
I started to pace, and by chance got a glimpse of another group, barely holding off a herd of Hexdragons. Excited, I gestured to Quistis.
"Come on, we can rack up at least 100 points down there!"
She slowly stood and followed me down the hill.
The students gratefully backed up and let us defeat the fiends. In the next 30 minutes, we had KO'ed 4 of them. That gave us a total of 170 points. We had passed the class exam, but not the instructor exam. I became frantic.
"Hyne! What the hell are we supposed to do? Any minute we could get called back and we fail."
Quistis giggled.
Angrily I swung my arm and gestured wildly. "Glad you're having fun, miss. We are so Hyne damn close."
Quistis moth dropped open and she dropped her voice down to a whisper. "Seifer, look over there." She pointed toward the hill we came over to save the other team.
I crouched down to look. Slowly lumbering up the hill was a medium sized Ruby Dragon. I looked at my partner. "Think we can take him?"
She shook her head wearily. "No, but we have to try, right?"
Saying a silent prayer to Hyne, I ran off to the hill, toward the Ruby Dragon and engaged in combat with it, Quistis following closely behind me.
I cast blind, and Quistis followed up with a meltdown. He retaliated, knocking Quistis unconscious even through the haze of my blind spell. As quickly as I could, I cast life on her. She knelt, still groggy. When her turn came, she cast haste on me. I attacked with an upward slash across his chest, slitting his left arm open. Quistis used her limit break laser eyes. He stumbled to the right, but I was there to meet him. After a side swipe, he was staggering from side to side. With a downward plunge, I struck him in the stomach, feeling the hilt recoil when I pulled Hyperion's trigger.
With dragon blood dripping down my arm, I stood back, thinking it was over. Quistis grinned at me, and I bowed. Her eyes widened as she fell unconscious again as the very alive dragon used Breath. I brought her to life again. She cast curaga on both of us, bringing herself back to full health, my HP being slightly less then hers. With a determined grimace, she lashed out with her whip, and killed the beast. With a last attempt to bring us with him, he cast Breath again.
I cursed to every god I knew as I slipped away into unconsciousness. My last sight was Caroline running up the hill. I woke up in the Infirmary several hours latter, both Quistis and Caroline were at my bedside. Neither looked very happy.
I slowly sat up, wincing as the bright light made my eyes water. "Hey, y'all." I drawled, smiling at them both. "What's up, girls?"
Quistis forced a grin. "I made Instructor. The Ruby Dragon put me at exactly 250 pts."
I congratulated her and looked at Caroline. "Why are you here? To inform me of my new instructorship?"
She shook her head. "Sadly, no. You are not going to be an instructor, or a SeeD."
I leaned back on my pillow, groaning. "Oh."
Quistis took my hand in hers. "Cid wouldn't allow it. Time was called and he said that since you were unconscious at the end of that battle, you would only be scored on your 170 points."
I glared at Caroline. "I was all there when the bastard drew his last breath. It was like a booby trap thing. I killed the damn thing. Did either one of you speak for me?"
Caroline smiled sadly. "Yes. We both did. Cid stood firm. He didn't think you could handle being an instructor before, but was pressured to prove it. Even with both me and Quistis supporting you, he wouldn't change his mind. Cid is a proud man. Doing so would have meant he prejudged you wrongly."
"Damn it all to hell." I pounded the side of my cot. The demons were right, again.
Of course, I never would have thought Cid would deliberately screw me like this just to save a little face. Hell, we all thought him to be an idiot anyway. Letting me have those points wouldn't have made a difference.
"So, I have to take the SeeD field exam tomorrow? I still have time to take that stupid pretest, right?"
"No." Caroline whispered.
'What the hell do you mean, NO?" I yelled.
"Cid won't allow it. He said something about you already having a chance this year."
"A chance he didn't even want to give me." I seriously considered murder. "You're telling me I have to wait until next year to try for SeeD?"
Caroline's voice got softer. "No."
I looked at her. "No?"
She nodded. "No."
Quistis took my hand again and squeezed it tightly. Bravely she took a deep breath. "Cid has decided that Instructors can try out for SeeD at age fifteen only if they are prepared to spend a year in training to become an Instructor. Whether or not they actually decide to become one is up to them, but they still have to undergo the classes. If this path is chosen, but you fail, you must skip a year of tests to train harder."
I growled angrily.
Quistis stood up and looked out of the infirmary window. "He's just doing this because its Seifer. Oh, Caroline, it just isn't fair. Why does it have to be like this?"
Caroline shook her head. "I know it isn't fair. It isn't entirely Cid's fault. He had those flippered idiots breathing over his shoulder. He has to appease them. Contrary to all appearances, Cid doesn't control this school."
I swung my legs over the side of the cot. "To hell with that. I understand him not letting me take them tomorrow, but I am sure as hell taking them next year."
With that I strode down the garden hallway in my hospital gown, unaware of my bare bottom being viewed to every student in Garden. After a long, rather boring argument about student rights and what not, Cid gave in and agreed to veto the 'Skip one year' rule. After talking to Caroline, she informed me that it was because no one but us four knew about it. It didn't hurt his pride to go back on something in front of a bunch of children.
Later that night, I found a letter on my bed from Quistis. In it she told me that she liked being around me, but felt that I was smothering her. She said that she needed some time alone, to think of things. She said, and I quote,
Being around someone as egotistical as you makes me feel insecure, like a skinny girl at a weight watchers meeting. I need time to be by myself so I can find out if being with you is really what I want, what I need. I know I don't want a boyfriend whose own selfish desires hold me back in a career that I dream of.
Then she signed her name with a flourish. No "Love', No 'Your Friend" No 'See ya later', not even a 'sincerely.'
So much for getting involved. I wondered if my failing that test was one of the reasons she left me. If I had passed, would we still be together?
I felt a sharp pain, then left my room and headed for the training center. I need to kill something. When I got there, Caroline was waiting. If she was waiting for me or not, it didn't matter. She was there. So I talked to her. I felt no guilt because she wasn't MY instructor any more and Quistis wasn't MY girlfriend any more. So I flirted shamelessly and let one thing lead to another.
I woke up later that night with a sick feeling in my stomach. I woke Caroline up and told her to get lost, But not in as nice of words. With her gone, I was swallowed by my sadness, my emptiness. I curled into a fetal position and cried the rest of the night.
The next morning I was informed that Quistis chose to take her instructors training at Galbadia Garden. She would come back next year. After forcefully extracting when she was leaving from a Trepie, I managed to catch her before she left. I brought a single red rose and my apologies.
She took both and threw them in my face. I wanted to confess my undying love for her, but all that I could manage was a weak "Quistis. . ."
Angrily she spun around. "NO. Don't you ever, ever call me that again. I'm Instructor Trepe now, especially to you, Seifer."
Had she said that in any other voice, I would have thought she was kidding, but I could see in her eyes she was dead serious. She handed my the card key I gave her for my door, incase of 'emergencies'. Then she left without a look back.
Over the next year, I drifted from girl to girl, never remembering names, forgetting dates. Calling one girl another's pet name. I didn't care. No girl was worth getting serious about. They pretend to be pretty and considerate, friendly even, but if you dare to let them into your heart, they will destroy it. Not that the girls cared either. They were just in it for my body and reputation. They expected a wild ride and a wild ride I took them on, but all in all I was careful, always protected and made sure each girl was alright.
A gesture thought by many to be noble, but I was only worried about myself.
I wondered sometime if I could have changed these things. If I could have prevented becoming as cruel as I was. If I had gone to Quistis that night. If I had stayed away from Caroline. But that night was good for me in a way. I came to know the difference between intoxication and the real damn thing.
Had I cared, I would have met Quistis the day she came back, but I went shopping with Fujin. Not that either one of us liked shopping. I just wanted to be out of Garden and Fujin being the kind of person she is didn't ask any questions.
I found a white trench coat with a blood red cross on it in a gift shop. There was only one left, it was almost like it was meant to be, so I bought it. It went well with my dreams what with the blood cross and knights. And it matched my regular outfit perfectly.
Fujin went straight for the weapon shop and upgraded her shruiken with some materials I brought her from one of my 'dates'.
I tried to spend as much time in Balamb as I could, but you can't shop forever. I hadn't learned the fine art of browsing. So I returned.
When I saw her, I had to look away. Then was drawn back like a moth to a flame. The little girl I had dated turned into the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Gone was her blue jeans and white tank top. She was now wearing a tight pink skirt that reached mid-calf with a pink tank-thing on top that peaked open on the bottom just enough to see her navel. Her blond hair had grown and she wore it flipped up in the back.
I wanted to great her, hug her, and tell her how much I missed her. But our eyes met and she glared sternly at me. I smirked at her and turned and walked away.
