Chapter 4: Unknown Revelations
*Tidus Point of View*
I was staring intently, as I had vowed to do, at the teacher standing a couple rows ahead of me. I absentmindedly scratched my blonde hair as I listened to Sir Auron. Go through the first lecture of the year.
"Something most of us may try to do," explained Auron calmly, "is simply to run forth and swing our weapon as hard as possible. If that were the best way to fight, you might as well be singing a tree branch at your foe. However, I will not be the one to tell you that this is a safe profession. You are soldiers. Death is certain to some of you, and unlikely to many others.
"But it is my job to prevent most of you from ending up dead on a battlefield. I will teach you the most basic techniques you may learn, and then we will move on to more difficult assignments. With the proper training, any one of you can dispatch any foe that you may face. Always remember that discretion is the better part of valour. You would do well to remember it." He spoke loudly but tonelessly to the entire class of about 40 or 50 people.
Each ornately decorated desk that the pupils sat at had the students name previously filled out with a seating plan. At least I gathered that much. There were rows, each higher than the last, like in a Sphere Theatre, so every person could see the teacher. Each desk also had two walls forming a sort of boundary between each desk, to which a dashboard was attached. It was definitely a strange formation, well, compared to my old school, but it was interesting anyways. But that was unimportant.
What mattered to me was that Sir Auron knew something about me. I could see it in his eyes, however veiled they could be, and I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach. And these feelings of mine, well, they're usually right on.
I already made a few friends, and even an enemy or two. Well, at least I disliked the comments one group of muscleheads yelled out to me. One of them called out after the class had filed into their seats that I should be some pansy-assed male model rather than a "real man who fights". I hated guys like that, they think they're so tough but in reality they're weak and cowardly. People judged me my whole life, and I wanted to make them see more than skin-deep.
As always, there were girls. Man, these uniforms sure left much to the imagination. Knee-high skirts, tight tops for the girls, and proper blue suits and ties for the guys. But lots of the girls were cute, as always, and strangely about a dozen of them seemed as interested as I was in Longsword training. Regardless, I didn't even get the same feeling from them as I did from Yuna.
Each uniform had the insignia of Balamb Garden, a crest composed of a lion in the middle and the words "Liberi Fatali" composed around its metal edges. Like everything in this place, they were comfortable and warm. Those deep green and blue eyes floated into my mind again, but Sir Auron snapped me back to earth. I mentally slapped myself for spacing out so quickly. I bent over my binder and dashed down some quick notes relating to the current topic.
"The longsword is a weapon for both beginners and masters of the arts of war. It is our most popular weapon, and the most uniform for the SeeD Troops." Auron explained.
I jotted down these trivial notes. Simple, but hey, just in case right? I reminded myself of my sub-par marks in some of my classes back at Balamb High School. I was never really a failing student, just struggling in some classes and doing great in others. But this was different. Math and English wouldn't save me now. Only the years of fitness I put in for my Physical Education class and all my hours of training – Blitzball and otherwise – would save me now. Instead of a pencil and a paper, I had a sword and an opponent. Things were looking up.
*Yuna's Point of View*
The answer is. . .Umm. . ." Come on, I knew this one! "Archangel. . . Gali!" I responded with a gasp.
"Impressive, miss Yuna." Rewarded my teacher, a light-haired, fair- skinned woman named Angela, who insisted that we call her by her first name. Not that I had a problem with formalities, but it seemed so rude. "Archangel Gali is indeed the angel that is said to have simultaneously brought about Healing Magic into this world."
As far as I can remember, I was always a good student. I went through Homeschooling, because my parents were so poor, so my father taught me everything he could. He said I was a smart child, and even though he gave me hard questions I always seemed to pass with flying colours. But when Tidus' earlier question came back into my mind, the question about why I was a mercenary, I found myself drifting off again.
I think I became a fighter because I truly wanted to help people, not hurt them. I would never fight and hurt any other human, but I could heal them and save them, right? And I also had plans for the money soldiers apparently made in this day and age. I found it strange that, though SeeD was created only to ultimately defeat Ultimecia, they had even more business in the passing years. Lunar Cry's were still happening, though it was still 8 years until the next one. Realistically, you'd think people wouldn't want to be mercenaries as much. But business doubled, tripled even with these mercenaries. I planned to get enough money to make sure that my parents could live in luxury like they constantly tried to give me.
And if I met people along the way, like a certain cheerful young man, then I guess I could survive. After all, it was people like Tidus that kept me going, people who smiled for no reason but because they wanted to. People like that deserved life, and I took it upon myself to make sure they kept it.
*Wakka's POV*
What was he talkin' about now? I mean, now he's just confusing me even more. This was my first Gunblade Lesson, and already I was losing it. He was showing us some kinda picture of the Gunblade, and telling us about the anatomy of it. What the heck? I thought we'd be fighting! And now he was telling us all about the way it was made and why it was made? Oh come on, get to the good stuff, ya?!
One thing I noticed about the guy was that he rarely spoke more than a few simple words. At least he spoke accurately, ya? I heard that when he fought, he was invincible, each attack that he was assaulted by he parried no problem. I drifted into a daydream.
I remember Balamb High, all the kids that wanted to be jus' like me, ya? Me an' Tidus. We were so popular. Now we gotta rebuild our fame in a bigger school. But I remember my whole life like it was yesterday. . .well, for the most part. Don't remember my parents. Fiends saw to that when I was still little.
I remember all those years. I guess I was six when me and Chappu, my little bro, were orphaned and put into an orphanage on the Centra Continent. When I was eight, Chappu went out. . .and didn't come back. When I went looking for him, I found him dead. Fiends attacked him. Don't wanna remember that. I only remember bein' angry like hell, and then I didn't even go back to the orphanage for a day or two, I just kept hunting fiends and monsters, so angry that my brother died. I did a lotta damage for an eight year old before one of them knocked my unconscious and someone saved me. . .I don't remember who, I just remember seeing a giant sword and a flash of blonde hair, and a day later, I woke up in the orphanage. The caretaker, Edea, just told me that the man had given her some money and had disappeared after resting for an hour. Just up and left. Said he was goin' after someone, that he had an old score to settle.
Soon after, Edea had an older couple come in and they took me away to their farm, on the outskirts of Balamb City. There, in Elementary School, I met Tidus, ya know. Even these long months later weren't enough to keep me from rememberin' Chappu's death. I was so angry and bitter, but once I met Tidus, he made me happy again. Every time he cracked some joke or did some stupid thing, I got a little closer to being my normal self. Eventually, I went back to it, and since then, me and Tidus have been best buds.
I guess that's why I was in military school, to make sure that no one ever had to go through what I did with Chappu. To make sure that no one would ever have to feel that pain.
*Tidus Point of View*
I was staring intently, as I had vowed to do, at the teacher standing a couple rows ahead of me. I absentmindedly scratched my blonde hair as I listened to Sir Auron. Go through the first lecture of the year.
"Something most of us may try to do," explained Auron calmly, "is simply to run forth and swing our weapon as hard as possible. If that were the best way to fight, you might as well be singing a tree branch at your foe. However, I will not be the one to tell you that this is a safe profession. You are soldiers. Death is certain to some of you, and unlikely to many others.
"But it is my job to prevent most of you from ending up dead on a battlefield. I will teach you the most basic techniques you may learn, and then we will move on to more difficult assignments. With the proper training, any one of you can dispatch any foe that you may face. Always remember that discretion is the better part of valour. You would do well to remember it." He spoke loudly but tonelessly to the entire class of about 40 or 50 people.
Each ornately decorated desk that the pupils sat at had the students name previously filled out with a seating plan. At least I gathered that much. There were rows, each higher than the last, like in a Sphere Theatre, so every person could see the teacher. Each desk also had two walls forming a sort of boundary between each desk, to which a dashboard was attached. It was definitely a strange formation, well, compared to my old school, but it was interesting anyways. But that was unimportant.
What mattered to me was that Sir Auron knew something about me. I could see it in his eyes, however veiled they could be, and I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach. And these feelings of mine, well, they're usually right on.
I already made a few friends, and even an enemy or two. Well, at least I disliked the comments one group of muscleheads yelled out to me. One of them called out after the class had filed into their seats that I should be some pansy-assed male model rather than a "real man who fights". I hated guys like that, they think they're so tough but in reality they're weak and cowardly. People judged me my whole life, and I wanted to make them see more than skin-deep.
As always, there were girls. Man, these uniforms sure left much to the imagination. Knee-high skirts, tight tops for the girls, and proper blue suits and ties for the guys. But lots of the girls were cute, as always, and strangely about a dozen of them seemed as interested as I was in Longsword training. Regardless, I didn't even get the same feeling from them as I did from Yuna.
Each uniform had the insignia of Balamb Garden, a crest composed of a lion in the middle and the words "Liberi Fatali" composed around its metal edges. Like everything in this place, they were comfortable and warm. Those deep green and blue eyes floated into my mind again, but Sir Auron snapped me back to earth. I mentally slapped myself for spacing out so quickly. I bent over my binder and dashed down some quick notes relating to the current topic.
"The longsword is a weapon for both beginners and masters of the arts of war. It is our most popular weapon, and the most uniform for the SeeD Troops." Auron explained.
I jotted down these trivial notes. Simple, but hey, just in case right? I reminded myself of my sub-par marks in some of my classes back at Balamb High School. I was never really a failing student, just struggling in some classes and doing great in others. But this was different. Math and English wouldn't save me now. Only the years of fitness I put in for my Physical Education class and all my hours of training – Blitzball and otherwise – would save me now. Instead of a pencil and a paper, I had a sword and an opponent. Things were looking up.
*Yuna's Point of View*
The answer is. . .Umm. . ." Come on, I knew this one! "Archangel. . . Gali!" I responded with a gasp.
"Impressive, miss Yuna." Rewarded my teacher, a light-haired, fair- skinned woman named Angela, who insisted that we call her by her first name. Not that I had a problem with formalities, but it seemed so rude. "Archangel Gali is indeed the angel that is said to have simultaneously brought about Healing Magic into this world."
As far as I can remember, I was always a good student. I went through Homeschooling, because my parents were so poor, so my father taught me everything he could. He said I was a smart child, and even though he gave me hard questions I always seemed to pass with flying colours. But when Tidus' earlier question came back into my mind, the question about why I was a mercenary, I found myself drifting off again.
I think I became a fighter because I truly wanted to help people, not hurt them. I would never fight and hurt any other human, but I could heal them and save them, right? And I also had plans for the money soldiers apparently made in this day and age. I found it strange that, though SeeD was created only to ultimately defeat Ultimecia, they had even more business in the passing years. Lunar Cry's were still happening, though it was still 8 years until the next one. Realistically, you'd think people wouldn't want to be mercenaries as much. But business doubled, tripled even with these mercenaries. I planned to get enough money to make sure that my parents could live in luxury like they constantly tried to give me.
And if I met people along the way, like a certain cheerful young man, then I guess I could survive. After all, it was people like Tidus that kept me going, people who smiled for no reason but because they wanted to. People like that deserved life, and I took it upon myself to make sure they kept it.
*Wakka's POV*
What was he talkin' about now? I mean, now he's just confusing me even more. This was my first Gunblade Lesson, and already I was losing it. He was showing us some kinda picture of the Gunblade, and telling us about the anatomy of it. What the heck? I thought we'd be fighting! And now he was telling us all about the way it was made and why it was made? Oh come on, get to the good stuff, ya?!
One thing I noticed about the guy was that he rarely spoke more than a few simple words. At least he spoke accurately, ya? I heard that when he fought, he was invincible, each attack that he was assaulted by he parried no problem. I drifted into a daydream.
I remember Balamb High, all the kids that wanted to be jus' like me, ya? Me an' Tidus. We were so popular. Now we gotta rebuild our fame in a bigger school. But I remember my whole life like it was yesterday. . .well, for the most part. Don't remember my parents. Fiends saw to that when I was still little.
I remember all those years. I guess I was six when me and Chappu, my little bro, were orphaned and put into an orphanage on the Centra Continent. When I was eight, Chappu went out. . .and didn't come back. When I went looking for him, I found him dead. Fiends attacked him. Don't wanna remember that. I only remember bein' angry like hell, and then I didn't even go back to the orphanage for a day or two, I just kept hunting fiends and monsters, so angry that my brother died. I did a lotta damage for an eight year old before one of them knocked my unconscious and someone saved me. . .I don't remember who, I just remember seeing a giant sword and a flash of blonde hair, and a day later, I woke up in the orphanage. The caretaker, Edea, just told me that the man had given her some money and had disappeared after resting for an hour. Just up and left. Said he was goin' after someone, that he had an old score to settle.
Soon after, Edea had an older couple come in and they took me away to their farm, on the outskirts of Balamb City. There, in Elementary School, I met Tidus, ya know. Even these long months later weren't enough to keep me from rememberin' Chappu's death. I was so angry and bitter, but once I met Tidus, he made me happy again. Every time he cracked some joke or did some stupid thing, I got a little closer to being my normal self. Eventually, I went back to it, and since then, me and Tidus have been best buds.
I guess that's why I was in military school, to make sure that no one ever had to go through what I did with Chappu. To make sure that no one would ever have to feel that pain.