He was silently reading a book when he heard a loud commotion of a certain blonde fighter barging in the doors and making his way to the hotdog line. Squall shook his head as he turned the page. Getting up early was a part of his routine and was certainly a good one since it enabled him to place practice and his extra studies into a demon hunter's busy daily schedule.
The book he was currently reading was a book about the Ice Blade techniques that was to be learned with a katana but Squall crossed the Ice Blade Arts with a similar form of gunblade techniques. He was almost done reading the book – only a couple pages left but the only obstacle left was to decipher the ancient mage scroll that contained the deadly arts that can be used when junctioned to Shiva.
Each Guardian Force had a set of arts that can be used to empower the fighter even more. Since each GF had secret abilities, they had to unlock each one by mastering the arts and skills that was required for each level. There were fifty levels of arts and so far, he had a good portion of them mastered.
Squall knew that his ultimate goal was to master the set of Shiva Arts and use them well. However, a part of him felt that the Shiva Arts weren't the right ones for him… He felt that he was destined for another form of arts but Destiny had given him this one.
Of course, Squall didn't mind since Shiva was an appropriate GF for him. Usually, the GF reflected on a person's personality, strengths and weaknesses. However, the best results can be obtained if master and GF were alike and shared a bond. In this case, the match seemed right…
"Hey Squall!" said Zell as he sat down in front of his former roommate with a giant plate of hotdogs that made Squall wonder for the thousandth time if Zell was actually a human or a red dragon in a human disguise.
Squall merely nodded as he continued reading. ('There has to be more around these arts,') thought Squall. ('The pages have gaps in them… It's almost as if some erased the letters from existence…')
"What are you doing?" asked Zell as he downed his fifth hotdog. "Studying for a class?"
Squall shook his head and replied, "It's for my own personal benefit."
"Geez, man. You're taking this job too seriously…"
"Maybe."
Zell frowned but turned his attention back to his breakfast. That was how conversations with Squall usually were. You ask him a too personal question and wham, he replies with one word and discussion over.
Squall closed his book and got up to leave.
"Where are you going?"
Sigh. "Out to the library where it is not so………noisy."
'This guy needs more of a social life,' thought Zell. 'He needs to seriously chill out before he collapses from overwork or something like that…'
*********************
Seifer Almasy polished his gunblade, the Hyperion, in the corner of the cafeteria and watched as Squall walked his way – toward the exit. Seifer resisted the urge to yell out and tease Squall as he always had but today, something held him back.
Ever since he had joined the Balamb Garden Academy, Seifer's goals were to exceed everyone else. In a way, he did succeed that goal but in a way he did. There was one person that he had yet to defeat. That person was Squall Leonhart.
When he first met Squall, the image of a soft-spoken and anti-social person appeared. In other words, to Seifer, Squall wasn't a threat but he was proved wrong during a sparing class.
The instructor had called out the names for the next pair of fighters.
"Almasy and Leonhart," said the instructor. "You two are next."
A few older students giggled among themselves since the new student, in their eyes, stood no chance against Seifer. Grabbing dull edged practice swords; the two opponents entered the matted area.
"Ready to get your @$$ kicked?" taunted Seifer as he looked into the calm stormy eyes of his opponent.
Squall made no response but simply got in a fighting stance. Seifer shook his head as he readied his sword and charged in – aiming for the weak points in Squall's stance.
Before the sword struck though, SWISH! A small breeze passed Seifer and his sword sliced through air. WHACK! The dull side of the katana landed a perfect blow to Seifer's back.
'That little bastard used the weak point as a decoy,' thought Seifer as he turned around and faced Squall. 'He's fast but not fast enough…'
Grasping the hilt with both hands, Seifer ran forward again and swung a few slashes. After about the fifth blow, Seifer switched the sword from his left to right hand and arched the blade up in an uppercut.
'Bye,' thought Seifer.
CLANG!
The two blades met in midair. Seifer sighed. The kid was good, he actually lasted over two minutes…
'But playtimes over,'
Breaking off the face off with the swords, Seifer skidded back a few feet and looked at his opponent again.
'He's too calm… You can't tell what he plans to do next… But it seems like he can't tell what I'll do either…'
In a flash of black and white, the two dull edged swords met together and sparks filled the air. Both moved with high speed and the slashes were only an arc of silver to the human eye.
Ten minutes later… The two fighters were still going at it – both refusing to give up.
"Stop!" called out the instructor. "Very well. Leonhart and Almasy, this duel will be ranked a tie since we still need to give the rest of the class an opportunity to spar. Take your seats."
Seifer sheathed his gunblade and wasn't sure what to think of. In a way, he was happy that he had someone worthy to spar against but on the other hand, Squall was somewhat of a threat to him.
"Hey boss!" said the heavy built Rajin as he took a seat opposite of Seifer. "Whatcha lookin' at?"
"SEIFER," addressed Fujin in her monotone as she took a seat beside her brother. Glancing at Rajin, who was trying to see what Seifer was looking at, Fujin delivered a swift kick to his shins. "IDIOT."
"OWW! Well, it doesn't hurt to be curious ya know?"
Fujin rolled her eye and glared at Rajin as if to say 'What else can he be looking at?' "LEONHART," she said.
"Oh! I see. Do you want us to jump him or something?"
Seifer shook his head. "No, I doubt that you can," he said. "Besides, today is the exams and I want to see how well he does."
Rajin shrugged and started talking about other things, occasionally receiving a kick from Fujin. Undisturbed by his friends' behavior, Seifer glanced at the exit that Squall had passed through not too long ago.
For some reason, he actually hoped that Squall would do well in the exams… The exams can vary from year to year and Seifer had enough experience from last year to know that the exams weren't as easy as anyone thought them to be. Last year was a battle against a blue fairy. The looks of the petite fairy was unthreatening but the magical attacks it launched were…
Frowning, Seifer recalled the reason why he failed.
'Well, how was I supposed to know that it should never be decapitated?' he thought.
The judges had marked him down for "blood thirst" and "unnecessary act of violence." Not to mention a few hundred other things that weighed his score down into the dumps.
'But at least this year, I know what's coming…' Clutching his hand into a fist, he was determined. This year, he would be a full-fledged demon hunter…no matter what.
********************
Selphie glanced at her wristwatch and hurried up her pace as she ran down the hallway. She had just arrived back from a dispatch-training mission and found out that today was the final exams.
'Geez, they could have been more organized and told me before I went,' she thought as she zipped down another hallway. 'Or at LEAST THE BUILDING IT WOULD BE AT!!!'
Selphie stopped at a corner and caught her breath. It was only an hour before the exams would start and she didn't even know where the exams were going to take place. Well at least, she only had to see where the biggest crowd of students were and go there right?
'Inspiration Selphie, inspiration to keep on going!'
She got up and ran again. The elevator doors grew near when…
WHAM!
Selphie was thrown back as she collided with someone. Her nunchucks went flying and landed a few feet away.
"Ow…" said Selphie as she rubbed her head. "I'm sorry…"
She looked up and a hand was offered to her. Accepting it, Selphie got back on her feet and dusted her dress off. Nunchucks were handed back to her as well. Selphie tucked the nunchucks back into her belt and faced her helper. She gasped in the process.
It was Squall Leonhart.
Selphie had heard about him and the rivalry between him and Seifer. The two amazing blades men of Balamb Garden… She had known that Squall had been a bit of a cold lone wolf so she never got a good look at him. But now that she did, he looked stunning.
'Has the collision shaken her head?' thought Squall as he looked at the girl standing in front of him in an almost petrified state. 'I better leave now…'
He picked up his fallen book and headed past the girl.
"Hey wait!" said Selphie. "I'm Selphie Tilmitt. Sorry about running into you but I just got back from a dispatch training mission and got word that the final exam was today."
Squall turned around and nodded. "That's correct," he said. "It will be held in the open arena about… Fifty minutes from now."
"Cool! Thanks! But why the area?"
"It is being held in the area because instead of written tests, we will face an actual demon for hands on experience."
"Oh… I see. Well, see ya later at the area Squall! Good luck!" Selphie ran off in the opposite direction.
Squall frowned but said nothing as he entered the double doors to the library.
'He's so hot!' thought Selphie as she headed back to her quarters to go some last minute preparations. 'However, the sniper I saw last year at the school competitions was hot too…'
Selphie sighed as she changed her shoes. She knew that all of this wouldn't help her in her cause but she knew that a positive attitude was the best thing a person could do. Glancing at the bracelet on her wrist she closed her eyes.
'Hopefully I'll pass the finals because this is for you mom and dad.'
******************
The cloaked figure watched from the nearby tree into the window of the Academy. There was another one. Selphie Tilmitt. Or whatever her name was…
'That foolish girl doesn't even realize her true potential!' thought the shadow. 'Her aura is weak but the inner untapped powers still remain there… Unlike Leonhart's aura… His aura is barely even readable, hidden so it seems like he has no aura. Why do I feel that he is hiding something?'
She was puzzled slightly by the younger man's actions. If he had a powerful aura, why did he suppress it? Didn't all demon hunters want their aura to be strong so it would repel any demons that want to attack him?
"Alyssa," hissed another figure, as she appeared beside her friend. "What are you doing? This is not a time for mortal gazing! The finals begin in less than an hour and we need to rig it."
"I still don't see why we are harming these…children, Janna," whispered Alyssa. "There has to be another way. I mean they are only kids and the more experienced ones are bigger threats."
"*Sigh* Alyssa, you don't see it do you?" asked Janna. "The older demon hunters will grow old. And their strength will diminish with their age and afterwards, who will take their place? The younger generation. The Mistress wishes for us to target the root of the threat and it involves these…children. Don't forget, one of these children may want your head on a stick."
"But they don't even know what they are fighting for. They fight because they are required to… It's not their fault…"
"So whose fault is it? The Mistress's? Lord Draken's? Honestly Alyssa, I thought you had more common sense than that. Yes, there may be innocents along the way but we must focus on our goals. It doesn't matter after all; they shall all experience the same fate!"
"But why do we fight then? You say that it's their fault but their view is the same as ours in their eyes. Why can't we stop this bloodshed circle once and for all?"
"You're mad, Alyssa. There is no way we can leave now and you know that. Look, if you don't want to do this mission, you can always go home and I'll take care of it."
"No. I'll stay Janna," replied Alyssa in defeat and proceeded to follow Jana – whom had already left. Her heart went out for these innocents but it may not be enough. Their lives were in danger and they didn't even know it yet. She looked one last time at the building and saw someone looking out in her direction. It was the boy Leonhart.
'Impossible…' thought Alyssa. ' He couldn't have seen me. Unless he felt my presence here…'
She disappeared with a swish.
Squall turned away from the library window. Why had he felt that he was being watched? The feeling was…dark. Demons… But if there were demons on campus, then they would have been gotten rid of already.
RIP!
Looking down at the scroll he was holding, a small tear appeared at the space between the parchment and the end of the scroll. Glancing at the rip, there were two corners… A layered scroll!
Carefully removing the top layer, he looked at the hidden layer. The writing was one that he had never seen before… Dashes, lines, curve and swirls that seemed to be some kind of language. However, he noticed a few blank spaces in the scroll…
'Just like in the book…' thought Squall. 'Unless…'
He felt Shiva nod in agreement in his mind. 'You're on the right track, child.'
Squall reached for the book when the intercom beeped.
"All cadets, report to the open arena for your final exams," said the intercom. "Tardiness will affect your overall score and may even result in disqualification."
Squall placed the book and scroll into the 'holding area' and headed to the open arena. Just when he discovered something, Fate intervened. The time seemed to pass so quickly…
***********************
In the library, the scroll glowed as strokes made with an invisible brush were made. The book opened to a blank page and green flames erupted from it. Burning in a passage of the arts that had been forgotten for so long. A whispering came from the two items… Barely audible but with no doubt it said:
"From the ashes let a new victor emerge… Ice is thy potential but beyond potential is the power of the link that was made. A link that made to hold the differences of the war that begun so long ago with Hyne and Narsa. The worlds that have been divided will now mend… At a cost…'
The book slammed shut as the scroll rolled up and went back into their regular positions. The librarian walked into the holding are and glanced around.
"I swore I heard something here…" she said. "Oh well…"
She turned and left as the embossed letterings on the book glowed.
~*~ Comments ~*~: Oh wow! It has been a while hasn't it? Well, thanks a lot to Dara103, Rhi-an, Kira, and Kikoken for reviewing! I hope you enjoy this chapter! ~_^