Reflection in a Pool of Tears

by Rugstar

Follow the tale of a dying SEED as he recounts his rise to power. His life is tainted as everything he holds dear is taken from him. A story of joy, love, pain, revenge, cruelty, honor and determination. PG for language. The Betrayal is up! R&R PLZ!

2. First Love

Disclaimer: I do not (unfortunately) own Final Fantasy 8 or any references I have made towards it in this story. The parts of it that aren't owned by square enix however, are all mine. If you're going to use it or anything at least get my permission first.

'

We became a boy of eight who was, and always will be, me. From that moment, we were under vicious assault. I ducked a kick that was aimed directly where my head was mere milliseconds before.

"Ooooo almost." I said with a mocking smile. The other person was a girl of eight whom I had known for a long as I could remember. She had short blonde hair that fell to her shoulders, sparkling blue, mischievous eyes and a face that always seemed to be smiling. I had not met a person yet who didn't smile back every time she looked at them. Her name was Josie. She and I were both orphans, bought by Balamb Garden, the premiere mercenary force in the world. We were best friends and almost inseparable. From the moment we were taught to fight, we had competed against each other. We trained from the moment we woke to the evening bell, which signaled bed for all members below the age of fifteen. As a result we were among the best of the juniors in the garden. As juniors had yet to prove ourselves in hand-to-hand combat and so could not begin training with weapons. The Garden was huge, housing many thousands of people, even the juniors numbered in the hundreds. As a result there were many streamed classes with only the members of the elite class given the opportunity to become trainees. Josie and I were part of that class, and in truth we were among the best. But this didn't matter to us. The only thing that ever mattered was beating the other. Throughout all the spars that we ever had, not once had one of us come out a winner. Seeing that I was somewhat bemused Josie attacked again. She threw two quick punches, one to either side of my head followed quickly by a third that would have broke my nose. I took a single step backwards, and turned my duck into a sweep that Josie leapt to avoid. Immediately I rolled out of the way. She landed where my head had been moments before. I regained my feet and we both took stance with childish grins on our faces.

"My turn!" I yelled as a hero's catch phrase and leapt at her. My single wild punch missed by miles but I kept my momentum and followed up with a series quick kicks. Josie backed up and took stance. Again I rushed her and again she backed up and took stance. She was only a metre or so from the wall and sensing a victory I once again attacked. Patience was never a virtue of mine. I swung a quick roundhouse kick at her head but she deftly ducked. I used my turning momentum and followed through with a sweep, which again Josie avoided. Again I used the momentum of the spin and thrust my fist upward in an uppercut. This time I was rewarded with the touch of flesh. Immediately I saw my mistake. I watched, as if in slow motion, Josie had turned much too far in the air. I watched open-mouthed as she planted her hands on the ground and, in a backward cartwheel motion, flipped over and planted her feet on the wall. Only instinct and reflexes lent me the speed to pull my hands up in front of my face as she kicked off the wall and smashed her feet into my forearms. With an amazing display of agility she flipped back onto her feet. She had a grin from ear to ear. Even though my forearms were stinging I forced myself to grin back.

"Nice move," I admitted "but I saw it coming a mile away." Josie just laughed. We took our stances once again but before we could begin, the breakfast bell sounded. Josie yelped and leapt off towards the showers with me close on her heels. The breakfast staff always made us breakfast hours before everyone else so the bell was our signal to begin the race to the showers. It was no coincidence that we finished a draw.

As this was the last day before the trials that would determine whether we were ready to advance, class was brief and relatively uninformative. Our teacher, the master of martial arts at Garden, was showing us one last time about the finer points of tactical fighting that we would be expected to show on our trial the next day in order to graduate to trainee. Having integrated these techniques into our fighting style weeks ago, Josie and I decided that flicking pieces of paper at each other was lots more interesting. This was typical behavior which earned us several angry glances from the master, or 'Gramps' as Josie had nicknamed him, but it wasn't until one of my wads missed and hit Joseph, the eldest and most experienced student, in the ear that we stopped. Joseph was sixteen and had narrowly missed out on passing last year. He was, understandably, bitter. Joe immediately stood up and spoke to Gramps.

"Why do we have to put up with this, sir," he said in poorly controlled tones.

"Sit down. Think of it an incentive to pass the trial. You will move on and leave him behind," the master said with tact. "Nah-uh," said Josie standing up in protest "we're both passing this year, Meanie!" she said the last to Joe.

"Perhaps when you get old enough to get some, you can put some money on that." Joe said with a smirk.

"We have money!" Josie shouted indignity.

"You do?" said Gramps "where from?" Josie blushed.

"We ummmm got it from a full member." she said in excuse. In truth, we had won almost 500 gil from arrogant fools like Joe. Needless to say, we always got good odds. The master frowned but said no more.

"OK then, put your money where your awfully little mouth is." Joe said, clearly looking as though he had won a point.

"I will put my ha..." Josie started.

"Ok." I said cutting her off. Josie turned and gave me a roguish smile. Joe laughed and sat to write an agreement for the bet, which all three of us signed. When any others in the class put there bets in the odds were announced. Josie's eyes lit up when we were given 5 to 1 odds. Not once did we consider that we might lose. We never did.

As always we were advised at the end of the lesson not to train until after the trial and as always Josie and I ignored the warning. We justified it to ourselves by saying it was a warm up. By the time the trials came around both Josie and I were nervous, though we would never admit it to each other. Our class was told to line up in single file from eldest to youngest, as per tradition. That meant Joe was first up. It also meant I was dead last with Josie right in front of me. There were fourteen other people left in line. Joe was called through the door that we were lined up in front of and so the wait began. Although there was usually about half an hour before the next person was called, each trial seemed to take hours. No one spoke though out the time. Several times conversation was started but seemed to fade away in mid-sentence. I smiled as I watched Josie try to stop her hand from shaking first by putting in on a table and then by wringing it with her other hand. I tapped her on the shoulder to show her my own trembling hand. She started to smile but didn't finish. Painstaking hours crept by until, finally, it was Josie's turn. She turned and winked at me before she went through the door but her face was pale. Fifteen minutes later my own name was called and the door opened. Josie had spent the shortest time in the room. I hoped that this was a good thing. I walked into a huge room lined with nothing except white walls. The roof was high and the floor was made out of a strange substance that was soft yet stable. In the center of the room stood the master, bare chested and sporting several bruises and a bloody nose. I had heard rumours that he often let himself be hit to determine the strength of the juniors. We took stance. I had no doubt that despite his hair was turning grey he was a fighter of tremendous skill. We stood there for several minutes watching each other's form and composure. Suddenly he lunged at me. He swung his fist low and hard in a punch that would have winded me. I easily spun away. He attacked again with a slow roundhouse, which I ducked. There was something wrong. Again he lunged out and I leapt back. He was a lot slower than I had expected. I attacked back and we began in earnest. A block met each punch that was thrown and neither of us could hold an advantage. His style had too many faults I realized at once. A few moments later I realized he must be trying to lure me into a rash attack or opening in defense before he would show off his real speed and strength. This must be the tactical fighting part of the trial. We fought for a few more minutes before I allowed an opening in my defense. He was on it like lightning. He swung a punch faster than I would have thought possible. Too bad for him that I was expecting it. I spun in unorthodox fashion, not away, but towards him, using my momentum to drive my elbow into his back. He had underestimated me and I was rewarded by a curse and stumble. I immediately turned and prepared to continue my attack but the master had already regained his footing and was counter attacking. He attacked so furiously that I barely kept up. Each of his attacks met nothing but stout defense but I knew it could not last forever. Back and back he pushed me until I was a mere metre or so from the wall. Then he threw a punch that would have knocked me unconscious. I made my decision in a split second. I threw my weight backwards and was helped along by a less than friendly knock on the chin. I planted my hands on the floor in a cartwheel position and let momentum carry me to the wall. I then kicked off with all the force I could muster, as I had seen Josie do once before. Gramps had seen his mistake quickly and had long before stepped away. I regain my footing and then my stance. I wondered how he knew what was coming before I realized that Josie must have given him his bloodied nose with the same move. I smiled at the thought. As I prepared myself for another attack, the master signaled me to stop.

"Take the left door" he said pointing to the left-most of a couple of doors that I hadn't noticed before. He exited to the right. The entire ordeal had felt quick but I found that I was exhausted. Feeling out of place in the giant trial room I quickly made my way to the left door. I opened it and stepped through.

The sight inside made me gasp with delight. Almost as big as the trial room itself, this room had every type of weapon imaginable lining the wall. With all the restraint of a kid in a candy shop I all but ran to the first shelf. I drew the first weapon from its holder and began to test it. It was a short sword, which was often used with another of the like. It took a few swings before I knew it wasn't for me and moved on. All my fatigue left me as I took the better part of ten minutes to sample all of the weapons and narrow it down to three. The first was a rapier, difficult to master but potentially deadly in the hands of and expert. The second were katars, usually the choice of assassins and other close combat experts. The last, a bronze-tipped staff, a brilliant focus for mages but also, could be deadly in the right hands. After a short deliberation, I decided on the rapier. I took one last look at the room before heading towards the exit. I was just about there when I notice a weapon that I had not seen on my first inspection. It hung on a very small rack of three and the other two spots were empty. I picked it up to find a blade that was merged to a gun handle. The angle of the handle made it strangely adaptable and despite being young, I could tell that a person might use this weapon for a lifetime without ever truly mastering it. I smiled. The rapier had long before found its way to the ground. I wrapped the gunblade's sheath around my waist and strode out of the room.

I walked through the door to a flurry of action. Before I knew it, slim arms were wrapped around my neck squeezed me tightly.

"We did it, we did it, we did it!" Josie was shouting in a singsong voice. She let go and proceeded to dance around in a tight circle still singing the same three words over and over. I laughed and could not help but join in. Before long we had a dance routine to go with the song and were practically bouncing off the walls with joy.

"This is the pride of Balamb Garden?" a gruff voice said. It was Joe. He had been hiding in a shadowed corner, all but forgotten by Josie. We immediately stopped our dance to stand in front of him, arms outstretched and sly grins on our faces.

"OK ok," he said, "I'll give you your money. Just gimmie a couple of days." Not even he could restrain a smile at the joyous grin Josie gave him. I could not help but notice the rapier that hung at his side. I spun around to Josie and drew my blade. Josie smiled even wider and retrieved a blade that was exactly identical to my own from the corner of the room. I smiled back which caused Josie to giggle. I responded likewise, and before long we were in fits of laughter on the floor. For eight-year-old children who were members of an elite mercenary force that required quick maturity, this was as good as it gets.

Although we were given the traditional two months of rest time, neither Josie nor I could resist the urge to try out our new weapons the very next day. We kept up the routine of training throughout the morning and afternoon, with any other fun being fit into the middle. We started slowly at first, choosing to move in slow steady motions to find our form and style, but by the end of the two months we were beginning to pick up the pace. Quickly each of us began to form our own distinct style and technique that best complimented our strengths. Finally the two months break was up and we were brought back to all new challenges. Instead of just one class, we had a list of many. We had to pass each of these classes before we could compete for the right to become a full member of SEED. We were told that each year a tournament takes place that trainees that have completed all classes might compete. The winner becomes the next member of SEED. Josie and I were glad to hear that due to the fact that we had chosen an unusual weapon, we would have no teacher for weapons training, but instead would be teaching ourselves. This meant more training time. Our other classes were tactical warfare, stealth and combat magic. Josie and I were all of a sudden thrust into an adult's view of battle. No longer could our skill at combat compensate for our age. Although we were both bright for our ages, we were not ready for the mental challenges of our new subjects. We continued to train each day but it was not until three years later that we were truly ready for the trials of our additional classes. By the end of this three year period we were among the best trainee's combat-wise, adept at all magic's and skilled assassins but still had not passed tactical warfare. As eleven-year-olds we were at the age where we had begun to mature in mind and body but if we failed this year, we would have to wait another two years before we were able to compete for a full membership. And so we did something we had never done before. We crammed. We began with the basics and worked our way up until we had all but covered the entire year's work. We had worked all night and violated curfew but at last we had a chance of passing.

I awoke the next morning, tired and with a vague headache, but ready. Although I had woken up before most, I had still slept in. I dragged myself out of bed, grabbed a uniform and dressed as hastily as I could before leaving my room to meet with Josie. She was, of course, already there.

"You're late." she said with a smile.

"I can't have been too late." I answered, noticing her slightly bloodshot eyes. This did nothing to detract from the beauty that had all but grown over the years. Her body was thin and lightly muscled but concealed a wry strength that we both possessed. Not old enough yet to fully appreciate my situation, I none the less noticed hints of the women that she would someday become.

"Shall we begin," I asked drawing my blade.

"I think we should probably skip today," she responded with the severity of missing her best friends birthday "if I get anymore tired I think I might fall asleep on the desk."

"Fair enough," I said, slightly dejected. Instead we spent the last hour or so formulating strategic defenses and counter-attacks for a dozen situations. Two bells later and it was finally time. Nervous and anxious we strode into the class and received our trials. The class was separated into different rooms before we were allowed to begin. I read the brief of my situation. I was commanding an army that was stuck in a seemingly hopeless position. Out manned and outgunned it did however possess an interesting field position. My task was to advise for the best possible course of action. The land offered a multitude of actions but after a hurried review of available forces, enemy position and mobility only two options were valid. The first was to take cover in a nearby forest. After pages of calculations, reviews and taking all reasonable circumstances into consideration, I found that at least a third of my remaining forces would be able to retreat and live to fight another day. Not satisfied, I began work on the second possibility. Also near to my forces was a mountain that would be a sure advantage for my superior gunners. However standing in between my forces and the mountain was an enemy party of infantry. This force, however, did not include any chocobo riders or gunners of their own. Furiously I began work on how this group might be managed. I found with dismay that if this force were attacked then the survivors would not be sufficient enough to hold back an assault on the mountain. Ready to give up and stick with my first answer, I gave the land formation one last review. That's when I saw it. A mere two hundred metres from my own forces stood a rock formation perfect for an ambush. Although it was not big enough advantage to hold back the inevitable might of the united enemy army, it none the less could certainly handle an enemy party barring the way to a particular mountain. Again I worked calculations and formations until I was convinced that not only would it work, but also my forces might actually be able to repel enemy forces from the mountain. I grinned from ear to ear as I specified my answer then clarified tactical formations and relevant calculations. I did a final review of my answer before all but skipping to the door. This all took three hours. I was not at all surprised when I saw Josie open the door to her room before I had closed mine. She smiled and gave me a thumbs up, which I replied with a wink. We handed in our papers before heading back to the training room.

One week later we were told that we had both passed and that we may be participating in the tournament in the next year. We were to report to the main hall for a sign up and briefing. It wasn't until we got there that we realized the sheer number of people that would be competing. The hall was filled with young and old, short (though none as short as us) and tall. We had only just made it on time and it wasn't long before everyone's attention was called to the stage. Josie and I darted through gaps in between people and managed to get close enough to make out the two people who were on the stage. The first I had never seen before, yet I knew exactly who he was. He wore a long grey robe and was perfectly rigid. He was an ancient man with short grey hair and a tall wizard hat. All this meant nothing, for the energy that flowed from him was nothing short of tremendous. He had an aura of pure power radiating from him. Remembering how I had scoffed as my combat magic teacher told us that a water spell could blast through thickly plated steel, I had no doubt that this man could do just this. He was a member of the Council Of Seven, which was by far the greatest authority at Balamb Garden. The council controlled everything, from the protection of the students to the cafeteria menu. The second person on stage, looking quite proud of himself, was Joseph. He had surprised everyone by winning the tournament this year and was now a full member of SEED. Shouting above the voices of hundreds of bodies he fulfilled his small part in tradition.

"I, as the newest member of SEED, would like to welcome you all here today for the sign up for next year's tournament," he said in a practiced tone "next year one of you will be taking my spot here today. But for now, I would like to welcome Illion who will brief you on the coming contest." Applauded off the stage, he somehow managed to spot Josie and I in the crowd and filed through the press of bodies to meet us. Illion wasted no time asking for attention but rather cast a few silence spells into the crowd effectively quieting the worst offenders. The message got around quickly.

"Everyone form a single line in front of the stage." he said. Briefly I admired the way he could command everyone so easily with a single sentence before moving into the line.

"I will be moving down the line, one by one, to determine which of you will be entered in the tournament." Josie and I frowned at this. We waited for more information but none was coming.

"We weren't told about this." I said.

"What, did you think they were going to enter all these people into a tournament that only goes for a couple of days?" said a forgotten Joe.

"So how does he know who the best fighters are unless he see them fight?" asked Josie.

"That's the thing," Joe replied with an air of self-importance that made me laugh "it's not always the strongest fighters that get in." He obviously knew more but wouldn't say unless we asked him. Curiosity fought with my urge to ignore him from now on. Curiosity won.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I said.

"Well take that guy over there," he replied pointing to a guy not far from us in the line. "He's by far a better fighter than anyone else, even me, but for years Illion has not let him enter." I watched the guy that Joe had pointed out. Even though the rest of the line was packed, everyone gave him a wide berth. In truth everyone near him looked terrified. "Yeah, he's a delinquent," said Joe, following my thoughts. "In fact if they let him in this year there ought to be a very interesting set of finals." Again he put on a smug smile waiting for the inevitable question. Josie beat me to it.

"Keep talking, you jerk." She said with a frown.

"Look at him a bit harder." He said with an even smugger smile. Again I looked at him, this time studying him carefully. He wore a black overcoat that went all the way down to his ankles. Under this he wore a grey shirt and long black pants. Around his neck hung a silver chain and his hair was the purest of whites, clashing horribly with his clothes. He was the only one in the room besides Illion that was out of uniform. His face was hard and his eyes were grey and lifeless. I was still confused until I heard Josie gasp. Again I studied him looking for something out of the ordinary. Then I saw it. Although his coat hid his weapon it didn't hide his sheath. The sheath was the same as mine, which meant that so was his weapon. I let out a low whistle.

"Yep imagine that. If you are both as good as everyone seems to think, then we might have the only three gunblade users in the entire garden in the finals. Anyway I gotta go, you know, official SEED business." With this he walked away.

"I can't wait until one of us gets in and wipes that smug smile of his face." I said staring after him.

"That guy gives me the chills" Josie said, still looking at our fellow gunblade user.

"Never mind, whether he's in or not we'll still beat him." I said with a confident grin.

"I sure hope so." Josie said, unconvinced. Illion interrupted our conversation.

"Turn around please, my dear" he said with a light tap on Josie's shoulder. She had the good grace to blush slightly and turned to face him. He placed his hands a few centimetres from her ears and mumbled a few words. He frowned slightly before saying,

"Yes, you shall compete." Without another word he took a step and began the same process to me. Again he frowned, this time deeper, but he still gave the same answer.

"You also will fight." Without another word he moved to the next person.

"Well, that's it then, lets get going." I said, eager to get back to training.

"Wait a moment," she replied. I followed her gaze and saw her watching Illion who was now several people behind us. A few minutes later I found out what it was that Josie wanted to see. Illion had made it to the teen with white hair and black clothes. On impulse I asked a woman nearby what his name was.

"Leon" she replied. I turned to see him talking to Illion with obvious contempt. Without raising his hands to Leon's head, Illion nodded ever so slightly before moving on. A triumphant grin that sent shivers down my spine spread over the teen's face as he stormed off. I heard Josie mutter a word that she must have learnt from the older men in our classes. Without another word we walked from the room.

With no more classes to attend, Josie and I focused on training for the upcoming event. We expanded our usual training rules to include magic as the tournament also allowed it. Never being the best students of the arts we none-the-less could do all the elemental, guard and some status magics with ease. Our mental reserves were also quite large allowing us to do a few more powerful spells or many not so powerful spells. We began to work on expanding our mental prowess. One of us would cast a protect while the other tried to break it. One would cast a shell and the other would blast it with spells. By the time the tournament came around we were confident that our spells were the best in the trainee class. In this time, our mental capabilities had grown which was not all to do with the training. We had matured, time doing what any amount of training could not accomplish. So it was that the morning before the biggest moment in our lives, we were training once again. We had eaten breakfast and were preparing for what would be our last training session.

"How 'bout we do our best today." Josie said suddenly. I stared blankly at her.

"Oh come on, you're better than you show in training and so am I." She said with a smile.

"OK then, but I don't know if you'll be able to keep up," I said with a grin.

"Only one way to find out," she said, laughing. And so we drew our blades. We took stance and began to circle each other. We circled left. I focused on her eyes, eyes that I knew better than my own. All other thoughts drifted away until the only thing left was the presence of Josie and I. Still I watched her eyes. A slight twitch signaled her attack. She thrusted and I dropped my blade to knock hers aside. As soon as my blade had knocked her's off course I reversed its direction and swung for the opening under her arm. She spun with incredible agility and speed I had not seen before and knocked my blade away. I grinned. Looks like she can keep up after all, I thought. We took stance again and again my thoughts knew only the blue of her eyes. I remember my stealth teacher saying that a beauty was one of the most dangerous weapons in an assassin. This second of wayward thought cost me. I felt the air around me surge and watched as Josie drew energies needed for a fire spell. Quickly I opened my mental reserves and pulled out enough for a shell. Our cries were simultaneous as we cast our spells. Josie's spell was weaker than I expected but this was explained as she quickly recovered and lunged again. A slight manipulation of the energy I held around me turned my shell into a protect. Josie's blade clashed with my spell and she immediately began to hammer away at my guard. Not wanting to use to up too much of my mental reserves I quickly disengaged the spell and spun away. Using speed and strength that I had held back to this day, I used my momentum and lashed out. Surprised, but more than equal to the task Josie parried. I let loose a quick swing of my blade to either side of her head (both were easily blocked) before slashing furiously at her chest. Once again showing amazing agility, Josie back-flipped under my blade. Before I could press my attack, she leapt forward with a thrust. I again attempted to knock her blade aside. Before our blades clashed she changed the direction of hers. Using her wrist, she spun it up and over mine. Finding myself over extended and dangerously open, I quickly drew energy and shouted "Fire!" Josie was forced to back off. We again took stance and I took in everything I could. We were both panting and sweating from sudden exertion. Josie's body was glistening, which again gave me a familiar fluttering in my stomach. With more effort than before I again focused on her eyes. We again began circling. I waited for the moment that Josie's gaze wandered for the slightest of moments before I attacked. With a flurry of slashes, I forced her back, making sure that her every effort was concentrating on defending herself. Noticing that she was beginning to regain her composure I surged forward again. I noted that Josie took the increased speed easily yet refused to speed up herself. Back and back I pushed her. Our blades made the air ring and I wondered if I would exhaust myself before she would make a mistake. As if summoned by my thoughts, one foot clipped the other as she was backing up and with a sharp intake of breath she fell backwards. Dropping my blade in mid-swing I grabbed her arm, and yanked her back up. The result was both our gunblades crashing to the floor and Josie's face a few inches from mine. Again we looked into each other's eyes, only this time with a completely different purpose. We stood there for what seem like hours.

"Looks like your right, I can't keep up," she said, wrapping her arms around my neck. I couldn't find the words to answer so instead I just smiled. She smiled back. My heart leapt and before I knew it she was kissing me. Unconsciously I wrapped my arm around her waist and returned the favour. We parted and I at last found some words for the occasion.

"You know I love you right?" I said, my voice only just above a whisper.

"Yeah, I know." She said, before winking and walking off towards the showers. This was a moment that would haunt me for the rest of my life.

We spent the rest of the day not worrying about training, but having fun. Normal, everyday, twelve-year-old fun and for a while I was able to forget that the next day could be the turning point in my life. Much faster than I would have liked, the evening bell rang and we were forced back to our own dorms. I laid down and immediately started thinking about that morning. Filtering through the facts I came to one important issue. I had beat Josie but only because she had wanted to be beaten. I found I hard to believe that she would try to trick me but I found it more unbelievable that after her displays of agility she would simply trip over her feet. After a few more moments I realized that she was probably holding a lot back even though she said that she would do her best. I also realized that I couldn't be mad because I was doing the same thing. My thoughts moved to the moments that had followed. I couldn't stop the smile that crossed my face as I remembered the touch of her lips on mine. Just the thought made my lips tingle and my face flush. It was a nice feeling, I admitted to myself. Not as good as fighting her, but nice all the same. We would fight soon, Josie and I. We would fight and at last we will not stop until one of us won. I smiled at the prospect. My last thought was of how 'nice' the feeling would be when I finally beat her.

I awoke the next morning and in a manner of habit, pulled on the nearest uniform followed by my sheath. With a pang of nerves I remembered what day it was and instead of my normal course to the training room I took off to assemble in front of the garden. I got there with only five minutes to spare, but apart from Josie (who had beat me there) and myself there were only thirteen others.

"What's going on?" I whispered to Josie.

"From what I heard, this is it. Everyone else is petrified of that Leon guy." She answered.

"What! There is supposed to be ten times this number. Surely he can't have scared them all off." I said a little too loudly.

"It's not that, it's just that they know they can't beat him, so really they would just be wasting their time competing." Said a woman with brown hair that I had never met before. Our talk was immediately cut off by the entrance of Leon followed only seconds later by Illion. If either felt any surprise that only sixteen people were here to contest for full membership, they hid it well. Moments later a SEED vehicle, that would best be described as a long van, pulled up. Illion motioned for us to get in the back. There were no windows and we drove with no idea at all of where we were going. Although it was a long trip, not a word was spoken. Every moment that passed I felt the nerves inside me grow. I looked around the back of the van and found that everyone was looking a bit pale. Everyone except Leon, who was instead staring into space with a slight smile on his face. After what felt like hours, the van finally stopped. We filed out and took in the sight that was presented to us. If I was nervous before, I nearly fainted now. In front of us stood a stadium. It looked big enough to seat five hundred people but as it was, there were only about three hundred in attendance. All wore the uniform of a full member. My mind reeled as I realized that if there were this many not on dispatch, there would be ten times that amount that are. The arena floor was covered with what looked like sand with no small amount of rocks spread through. I was brought back to the task at hand by Illion, who motioned for us to move into an entrance in the wall. I caught a glimpse of Josie, whose face was now turning a faint shade of green. I imagined that mine wouldn't look too different. We were led to a small room where Illion proceeded to unroll a piece of paper. Written on it was the draw for the tournament. I saw with horror that I was in the first fight. Josie was in the fourth fight and Leon in the last. On another inspection I found that the earliest Josie and I would have to fight was in the semi-finals and neither of us would have to fight Leon until the very last duel. I turned my attention away from the draw to listen to Illion who was reciting the laws for the tournament.

"As always there are very little rules in this event but they are to be followed to the word," he began "Magic will be allowed as will all weapons. A fight will continue until one person surrenders, is unconscious or has drawn first blood. Needless to say, you are not out to kill your opponent. Should this happen the offender will be put under a full council trial to determine the cause of the tragedy. The fight will be signaled over when a whistle sounds. Are there any questions?" his tone said quite clearly that he was expecting none, "Good luck to you all." With this he walked from the room. From the shadows, Joe took his place.

"OK first two fighters with me, the rest of you take that staircase. It will take you to front row seats in the stands." Without a moment to spare he grabbed my sleeve along with the sleeve of a lithe looking man of about twenty.

As he ushered us through a doorway he said as an afterthought "Oh by the way, before you begin you must bow first to the council and then to each other." A second later I heard the sound of hundreds of people clapping and cheering. Looking around I saw that there seemed to be a lot more people than I first thought. I was terrified. Forcing my legs to move I took my first trembling step towards the center of the arena. With visible effort I managed to block out everything around me and focus on our battlefield. It was a flat arena that's only physical feature was two white circles that we would stand on to begin our duel. I focused on the rock crunching underneath my shoes and I knew I would need to watch my footwork. At last my opponent and I reached the center of the arena. We each took a circle. Remembering Joe's last words he and I turned almost in unison to where the council was seated and took a deep bow. As did this I wondered if it was possible for a person's heart to beat so hard that it would burst out of his chest. I turned and repeated the bow to my opponent.

A loud voice said, "Begin!" and immediately my nerves fled away. I drew my gunblade and focused on my opponent. He had drawn a rapier. My stance changed accordingly and I looked into his eyes, as he looked into mine. We circled, all the while closing the gap between us. Watching the way he moved, I knew that he was able to wield the sword he carried with sufficient speed. I compensated by drawing enough energy that would allow me to cast a quick protect spell. We closed the gap to within a metre. He lunged at me. I riposted and he began a flurry of quick slashes, which I again parried. His strokes began to slowly move higher and lower on my body, trying to open my guard and expose my mid-section. A slash of my own blade made him back up. He held his blade in front of him, point out to avoid a rush. I was suddenly struck by inspiration. With a quick intake of breath I began to draw the energies I needed. The young fencer did like-wise preparing him self for a shell.

Instead of a conventional elemental spell, I shouted "Protect!" Blue energy responded to my call and I summoned a barrier strong enough to turn aside steel. I leapt at him. Surprised by this unconventional attack, he none-the-less thrusted with a blow that would have skewered me. Instead it hit my spell and was knocked aside. Now inside his guard I flicked my blade and nicked the skin of his arm. It was barely a graze but I had drawn first blood. I heard a whistle sound and pure elation filled me. I suddenly became aware that the crowd was cheering. My mind reeled at the fact that I had just made it to the next round. Confidence surged as I realized that the ordeal had lasted a little over five minutes. My opponent and I bowed once more to the council and once more to each other before walking from the arena. Once in the privacy of the room, which we had only just left, I offered him my hand. He smiled and shook it.

"Nice move, I would have never expected it in a million years." He said.

"Neither would I, I just thought of it on the spot." I said laughing. Joe cut off further discussion as he sprung from the shadows to show us to the showers.

Ten minutes later I made my own way up the stairs. Immediately two blue eyes sprang up in front of my face. Josie all but grabbed my head and kissed me. Before I could act or speak she was recounting how I had won, and how stunned the other contestants had looked. Only stopping to take a breath, she then started recounting what had happened in the current fight. From what I gathered from her excited gibberish, there was a fighter/mage dueling the woman with brown hair that had spoke to me earlier. The mage was winning. The winner of this duel would be my next opponent so I sat down to watch the fight. Unfortunately I didn't get much of it. The mage used a water spell to stun the woman before a quick jab of his staff split her lip. The whistle sounded. Slightly disappointed that I had missed the rest, I turned to Josie who looked as though she was going to start bouncing off the walls.

"Don't worry," I told her "you won't be nearly as nervous when you get out there." She looked dubious but I managed to get her to sit and watch the next duel. Two men strode out to the centre of the arena. The first was a huge man that looked to be in his early thirties. Strapped to his waist was a great sword so big that I would have found it hard to pick up. The second was only a few years younger, but had a much lighter broadsword, one of the most popular weapons at garden.

"My money's on the broadsword" I said to Josie.

"That other guy's got muscle on his muscle, I say the great sword." she responded sportily. It was only a few moments into the duel that I realized I was wrong. I saw that the older man could use his sword just as fast as the other could use his broadsword. I was saved the embarrassment of having to admit it though as Joe, who was to take Josie down the stairs, tapped her on the shoulder. Now starting to look sick, she turned to me and tried to give a smile. I gave her a thumbs up and she was gone. A few moments later I cheered with the rest of the crowd as the great sword edged to the other man's throat. The whistle punctuated his honorable surrender. Now starting to get butterfly's in my own stomach I watched as Josie and another woman (whom I later learned was named Charsie) walked out to the center of the arena. Even from up in the stands I could tell that both were shaking. They both took their places and bowed in near unison to the council and then again to each other.

"Begin!" shouted a male voice, and now that I had my wits, I could tell it came from one of the council. Josie drew her gunblade. Her opponent drew two short swords. Both fighters squared each other up and began to advance. Having a much more aggressive style than me, Josie none-the-less had to center her guard to counter the difficulties of dual blades. Charsie immediately tried to split her guard by swinging simultaneous high and low blows. Josie ducked beneath the high blade and parried the low blade, turned and tried to catch a quick win by slashing at the other woman's exposed side. A swift blade allowed Charsie to parry and bring her other blade to the attack. With a twist of the wrist Josie parried. With this the fight was truly started. Instinct and reflex took over the two fighters as their blades whirled so fast it made the air whistle. Jumping back to avoid a vicious double swing, Josie quickly drew energies and executed an efficient 'fire' spell. Not having enough time to cast shell, Charsie instead leapt to the side. Rolling back on to her feet she found that Josie was now airborne and a mere metre from her. Linking her blades in a cross-guard she caught Josie's gunblade and pushed her away. Again drawing energy, Josie this time sent a thunder spell cracking towards Charsie. Ready this time, the dual blade trainee nullified it with a shell. Both fighters again took their stance. Both were now breathing heavily from the exertion. Always quick on the offensive, Josie advanced. Charsie stood her ground until the last moment before spinning to give her momentum for a powerful high and low combination attack. With speed I had not seen before, Josie parried both blows before sending one of her own to graze the chest of her opponent. It happened so fast that many in the crowd had not seen it. As a red line was revealed through Charsie's cut uniform the whistle blew and Josie was awarded the win. Positively glowing, she almost skipped back the room below. I grinned. When we fought, it was going to be a good one.

Josie and I spent the next hour or so recounting our superb triumphs and it was not until the last fight of the first round that I realized that we still had a long way to go. Leon was called to meet his competitor and Joe downstairs. Silence seemed to follow everywhere he went as people stopped to watch him walk by. Finally noticing that I was in the next duel, I started to warm up. The familiar pang of nerves once again began to build up but not to the extent of the first fight. As the two contenders made their way to the arena I began to make my way down the stairs.

I heard the shout of "begin" but before I could poke my head outside of the downstairs door, the whistle sounded. I ran to the door to find that Leon was already walking back, leaving his competitor lying on the rocky ground. Medics ran to his assistance but as it turned out, the wound was not too serious. Still, I couldn't help but think that anyone that could win so convincingly could do it without injuring the other fighter. Leon passed by me in the doorway without a sound before heading back up the stairs. Seconds later Joe and the fighter/mage came down. My opponent had a dark complexion and dark hair. I smiled shook the mage's hand and wished him luck. He politely returned the courtesy. I frowned when I saw his staff strapped to his back. Blades of any kind had a disadvantage against the versatile staff and he obviously was a more powerful mage then me. All in all this might be a good fight, I thought to myself. Finding myself shoved through the doorway by Joe, I began the seemingly endless walk out to the arena. My nerves were now beginning to start in earnest, along with it a surge of doubt. Quenching these with memories of my first win, I found myself standing on the white starting circle. The mage and I bowed to the council and to each other before drawing our weapons.

"Begin" was the cry from the sidelines. Immediately I felt the inward pull of energies towards my opponent. I stood a little lighter on my feet, waiting to see what would happen. I awaited an attack that never came. A few seconds later I realized with horror that he was just stockpiling energy, using my confusion to set himself up with an almost inexhaustible supply of energy. I had never seen this idea before and subsequently was at a loss of what to do about it. Not wasting any more time, I attacked. He continued to draw energy until the last moment before using his staff to knock aside my clumsy blow. Circling his staff, he swung for my head. I leapt back and took stance. The mage again began to draw energy. In a split-second of thought I realized just how brilliant a strategy this was. Knowing that I lacked the physical strength seriously harry him, he could just continue to draw energies until he was ready to attack himself. Not knowing what else to do, I drew energy and quickly cast a fire spell. Easy manipulating his drawn energy he cast a powerful shell which all but made my own spell fizzle out. I began to think that it may have been an idea to spend the tedious months needed to learn the reflect spell. I leapt at him and tried to break through his guard. Again he held out till the last moment before knocking me away again. My head was spinning with a lack of options. From the beginning of the duel I had no time to think and I fought to retain composure. Knowing that any kind of attack would be futile I did the only thing I could do. I waited. A slow smile began to spread across his face as he watched me submissively back up as far as I could away from him. I was confident that I could break inside his guard if things turned nasty but I was not yet sure if I wanted to show my true speed and strength to those in the stands. I began to weigh my options. A few seconds later my choice was taken away from me. With a cry of elation he shouted "Protect!" followed immediately by "Shell!" He had put all his drawn energies into these two spells and I knew that I could beat on them all day, and still not be able to break them. Despair gripped me as I realized that my chance of victory had just been snatched away. Again he began to draw energy, this time fashioning it into an offensive spell. Concentration overtook him as he closed his eyes put his efforts into casting the spell that would put me out of the competition. The hopelessness of my situation weighed heavily on my mind but still I was determined not to go out without a fight. I drew energy of my own and at the same time emptied my mental reserves. Immediately I cast a shell around myself. Drawing more energy to fuel my spell, I took one last look around. Above the stadium I noticed clouds rolling in. That they were storm clouds manifested by my opponent I had no doubt. Now knowing that his attack would be a thunder one, I began to think of any possible advantages that this would give me. For the second time that day, inspiration struck. With new I hope I threw caution to the wind and began to draw energy. Drawing the obvious water particles need for a water spell I began to lay them over my shell. On and on I worked, furiously trying to thicken my shield of water. All the while the storm clouds grew closer. I found this to be a blessing in disguise, as with them came the moisture that I needed if I had any hope of succeeding. The mage and I worked liked demons to advance our spells. Like this we remained until, at last, the clouds overhead closed, blocking out most of the sunlight. The air was deathly silent. Suddenly I felt the air around me tear asunder as he targeted me for his spell and I heard his voice ring out.

"THUNDARA!" In a flash of blinding light, lightning lanced from the sky and struck me head on. Immediately I felt my hard won energies slip and I screamed with the effort of holding my shell together. I felt the electrical energy race through the barrier of water that I had created before trying to break through my shell. Just as I thought it would never end, it was over. I was sweating with extreme exhaustion but I had captured my opponent's thunder attack. Using a clever scan spell I found the mage shocked but just as tired as I was. With my last shred of energy I cast one last water spell. A torrent of water burst from the barrier I had created and with it went the electrical energy of my opponent. It hit the mage dead on. I was impressed with the second that his shell held the torrent back, but it quickly fell to the tremendous power of his own spell. He fell to the ground, unconscious. I, however, stayed awake long enough to hear the whistle sound and my being declared the victor before, I too, fainted onto the rocky ground.

I awoke several hours later, to find myself surprisingly refreshed. As the memories of the last duel came to me, I jumped to my feet to take stock of myself. I found that I had not one sore spot on my entire body. My wonder grew again as I realized that my mental reserves were once again full. I glanced around the room. I was in a long corridor that was filled with beds identical to mine. Besides mine, the first three were filled. The first was with the mage that I had beaten. Next to him was the familiar figure of Josie followed by the huge man with the great-sword. I swallowed an urge to laugh as I saw that the fighter with the sword was bigger than the bed by a considerable margin. Giddy and lighted-headed from my win I walked from the room and, with some difficulty, found my way to the staircase to the stands above. I found it a bit damaging to my pride that no one noticed when I took my seat, but the current fight soon engrossed me too. It wasn't long before my common sense returned. Like the bolt I lightning that had hit me today, I was suddenly struck with the thought that if this fight was already on, then Josie must have already had hers. I realized that I should have known this from the moment that I saw Josie and the great-sword guy in the beds. Again a thought hit me. If Josie won then we would be fighting after the next duel. Finally we would be forced to compete at our best. Instead of the expected nerves, I felt calm and completely collected. I simply couldn't wait. As if summoned by my thoughts, Josie sat down next to me. She tried to keep a grin from spreading across her face but failed miserably. I grinned back, knowing that she had won.

Moving a bit closer to me, she said in a near whisper "Don't look but that Leon guy has been staring at you for the last five minutes." I laughed out loud.

"For you to know that, you would have to have been looking at him for just as long." I replied.

"Don't you think that it is at all weird that he would watch you instead of the fight that will determine his next opponent?" Josie asked unperturbed. I frowned slightly as this crossed my thoughts. I changed the subject.

"So we will fight at last." I said, not bothering to hide my joy at this prospect. Taking a quick glance at the fight in the arena below, I motioned downstairs.

"I'm going to warm up." I said while shooting a look in Leon's direction. I found that he was no longer looking at me, but instead at Josie. I thought nothing of it and walked downstairs.

My eyes were closed as I blocked out everything except my own mind. Focusing down into nothingness I found equilibrium by gripping the handle of my sheathed blade. Slowly, silently I drew it and took stance. With effortless grace and style I held it horizontally outwards before moving into a very slow slash at where my opponents head would be. Stopping with the point of my blade exactly between my imaginary opponent's eyes I began an equally slow slash downwards, this time stopping in between the phantom's knees. I began repeated the process two more times, just as slow, taking a step forward each time. I remained motionless for a brief moment before repeating again, this time taking three backward steps. Again halting for a second I again repeated the forward slashing, this time with a slight increase in speed. I was not in the least surprised when I felt my blade touch another. I didn't need to open my eyes to know who it was so I continued without hesitating. Meeting equal resistance at the downward motion, I fell into a rhythm. Any who were watching would have found us perfectly in unison, one of us would advance as the other fell back. Each end to the cycle would bring about an increase in speed and by the time that the whistle outside sounded, our gunblades were nothing but a blur. We stopped at this sound. I opened my eyes to find Josie doing the same.

"Ready?" I asked with a slight smile.

"As ready as I'll ever be." She said with a full grin. Our conversation faded away as Leon and a girl of about the same age as him walked through the doorway to the arena, no longer needing the guidance of Joe. The girl had a set of throwing knives sheathed about her waist. Holding the door ajar, Josie and I watched their progress into the middle and allowed the previous fighters to pass. One sported a shallow cut to the hand. We watched as both current fighters made their way quickly to the centre.

They both bowed (Leon's was very shallow) and the call of "Begin" was shouted. Immediately the girl drew a knife and threw it.

With a lazy contempt, Leon held his palm out at it and called "Slow". The dagger obediently slowed down and Leon easily plucked it from the air. With the same attitude he threw the knife back at her. It moved so fast that I lost it in mid-flight but I could not mistaken where it landed as the women cried out in pain. The knife was protruding from her foot. With absolute coolness, Leon bowed the council and then to her before walking back towards us. I noticed that not a few spectators in the crowd were on their feet in rage. I could not help but agree with them. I managed to maintain self-control as he walked past me, but my hand was quivering. Naturally Josie couldn't resist. She rounded on him the moment he passed through the door.

"You bastard!" she shouted, "you didn't need to do that!" Turned slowly before a slow smile grew on his face. It kept growing till it was nothing besides an evil grin. He took no pain to hide his happiness that he had upset her and with a wink, he turned and walked back up the stairs. I had to grab the back of Josie's shirt to stop her from following.

"Your not trying to get out of our duel are you?" As angry as she was, she couldn't resist my bait.

"You only wish." She retorted. Still furious she walked out the door. It was not until we began the long walk out to the center did a frown cross my own face. Leon was good. Very good. He had cast a slow spell with no effort at all. I had felt no disturbance even though it was a relatively powerful magic. My frown was replaced with a smile as I realized where I was. I noticed Josie's upbeat step and knew that she was just as excited as I was. We reached the center and bowed to the council before bowing to each other. Over the sound of my own heartbeat, I heard the sound I had wanted to here all day.

"Begin." Josie and I didn't move. We stood there staring at each other.

After a few seconds I called to her "What's say we cut straight to the main game."

She smiled and called back "You know it."

We drew our blades in unison and my heart gave a leap of joy at the moment. Josie immediately ran at me. I watched her bright eyes as she looked into mine. I waited until she was a couple of metres away before I leapt at her. Our blades clashed loudly as we threw our weight into this first attack. We contended our strength for a couple of seconds before disengaging. Honoring my earlier statement I attacked with all the strength I possessed. Josie did the same and again our blades clashed horribly. Quick on the offensive Josie slashed at my mid-section causing me to jump back. Palms outstretched, I drew energy before furiously sending it crackling at Josie in the form of lighting. She followed suit only altering her spell to a shell. With a cry of effort I slashed at her. She parried easily before thrusting at my throat. I ducked just as easily and thrusted my own blade upwards. Josie jumped back. I found that I was grinning and that Josie was doing the same. We were both panting from the sudden exertion but I, at least, loved every moment of it. Again Josie jumped at me. I spun away and we again joined the battle. On and on we fought, past the level of endurance and skill that we had ever shown in training. Our gunblades were a blur as the very air rang with the sound of their clashing. Time and circumstance lost meaning as my mind concentrated completely on sparkling blue eyes and the tip of a gunblade. Ten minutes of fierce fighting later, we again pulled apart. I extended my senses and took in as much as I could. Josie was dripping with sweat and was breathing heavily. I felt a drop of my own perspiration fall to the rocky ground. Again Josie leapt at me. She whirled her blade above her head and used her weight, strength, speed and the force of gravity to try to break my guard. It very nearly worked. My legs crumpled under the power of the blow. I was forced to drop to one knee and use the ground as a brace. Josie bore down on me with seemingly limitless endurance. My arms burned but I held the little ground I still possessed. My knee ached as it was pushed firmly into the rocky ground. My body was resisting my every effort to hold on but I was not ready to lose this fight, not by a long shot. With strength that was born from pure desperation I pushed upwards. With a shout of exhaustion I forced Josie's blade away. I again focused my concentration on the task at hand. The whistle blew. Forgetting where I was, I wheeled in confusion. This confusion only increased when I realized what the whistle meant. I looked at Josie only to find her just as confused as me. This confusion soon gave way to disappointment and then again to utter frustration. I followed her downward gaze and found that my knee was torn apart. My own disappointment gave way to amusement.

"Looks like you won." I said drowsily. Josie gave me a dirty look.

To my amazement she turned to the council and yelled "Oi! That's not counted! I didn't draw that blood!" I could not help but laugh out loud.

A strong woman's voice called out "You didn't need to. The rules clearly state that the fight will end when first blood is drawn. First blood has been drawn and you are the victor." Her voice could be heard even though she didn't shout.

"Well then I surrender!" called back Josie. I found this also to be incredibly funny. A derisive snort issued from a different council member.

"You cannot surrender after a duel is over!" said and man's incredulous voice. Thwarted and in a complete rage Josie stormed back towards the stands. I forced my legs into a jog and shouted after her

"We'll find out another day!" She would know what I meant. Again I laughed and stared in wonder after a girl of twelve who had just argued with the leaders of the most powerful mercenary organization in all knowledge.

By the time we walked back to the little room below the stands, Josie's mood had not improved in the slightest.

"Can you believe they stopped the fight over I bit of gravel rash. I mean..." I stopped her in mid-sentence.

"You have another fight to prepare for, and I dare say it'll be against Leon. Go and get some rest." She refused at first, as I knew she would, but I threatened to put a sleep spell on her if she didn't. She eventually agreed.

"You'd better not think that you've got yourself out of fighting me properly," she said with a roguish smirk "we will find out one day." Unable to resist, I kissed her before promptly sending her to bed. She complained that I acted like the mother she never had before walking off. Unable to throw off disappointment that I was out of the competition, I did at least feel happy that it was Josie that had done it. Remembering that Leon's next fight would be now I rushed upstairs, determined to finally see him in action. I found that he and his opponent were making their way out to the centre. Fearing that if I sat down I might faint in exhaustion, I instead stood at the railing. Leon's opponent was a plain looking fellow that looked as though he might be good at a few different weapons. He was muscled, but not to the point of bulkiness, lithe but not amazingly light on his feet. He had a broad sword sheathed around his waist, which I thought suited him perfectly.

I watched as the two fighters did the traditional bows, before the shout of "begin" was cried. The well-balanced fighter drew his broad sword and simply waited until Leon made his move. After several minutes , Leon drew his weapon. It's blade was almost completely clear and I could see through with only a slight distortion.

I gasped out a single word: "Mythril!" This legendary substance was as expensive as it was rare. It was treasured by weapon makers as it exhibits amazing strength while being extremely light. The point of Leon's gunblade would be just as sharp as the day he had bought it, even if he had been cutting rocks with it. Mythril was also rumored to have some magical properties, but no proof had ever been shown. Leon began to walk towards the broad swordsman. The other fighter responded with a fire spell, which was effortlessly dissipated with a shell. Leon kept walking. The swordsman waited until Leon was within his sword length until he struck. He swung an overhead strike aimed for Leon's throat. Moving so fast that it was hard to follow, Leon dodged the side before brutally slashing the swordsman's chest. Without stopping Leon walked back to the stands as the other fighter collapsed. My heart took an extra beat as I realized that Josie would be fighting him next. Never being one to worry, I none-the-less thought about what might happen if Josie lost.

"She won't lose," I said quietly before moving down to the room below. Josie was still asleep. Illion's voice sounded across the stands as he announced that the final duel would be fought one hour from now. Time crept by slowly and I was left alone to my worries and fears. Each passing second caused my nervousness to grow and not even my training could help me to clear my thoughts. No matter how much I tried to convince myself that by the end of the day Josie would be the newest member of SEED, I couldn't escape a feeling of impending doom.

This went on for the better part of the hour that I was forced to wait. At the height of my apprehension and with only ten minutes remaining, Josie entered the room looking better than she had looked all day.

"Is it my imagination or is there something very strange about those beds." Josie said in greeting. I agreed at once before relaying the news of her next duel.

"You have less then ten minutes left until you start. You probably already guessed it, but you are fighting Leon. Oh, by the way Leon's gunblade is made from mythril so watch out." I said all this very quickly. Josie laughed.

"I would have to watch out whether it was made from mythril or not." She teased. I ignored her bait.

"He fights well you know." I said after a pause.

"So do I." Josie said matter-of-factly. I couldn't think of anything else to say so I settled for staring at her. "You don't think I can win?" she said with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know. That's the problem." I barely whispered.

"Oh lighten up will you. I'm going to try win a tournament, not a war." She replied with a smile. "I will either win or I won't, there's nothing I can do about it now."

"I don't know what I would do without you." I said for lack of other words. Josie giggled.

"Let's hope you never have to find out. But I'll take that for you way of saying good luck." With this and a tap on the shoulder by Joe, she followed a silent Leon out of the room and out onto the arena. I raced upstairs to regain my seat. With baited breath I watched as the two gunblade fighters made their way to the centre. They got there all too soon. They bowed to the council. They bowed to each other. I could not help but worry. I could not help the uneasy feeling that I got every time I looked at Leon.

"Begin" was called. Both gunblades were drawn and the two duelists took their stance. Both fighters advanced. They stopped just within striking distance of one another. There they simply glared at each other. I now found that my heart was beating faster than it had been before my first fight. Leon struck. Josie parried. Josie struck. Leon parried. Neither of the attacks were executed well as each fighter tried to gauge the others ability. I barely noticed that some time during this I had jumped to my feet. Josie attacked and was again fended off. Leon followed with the same. Neither used any more speed or strength than was absolutely necessary. They then fell into a rhythm of attacks and defensive actions. They fought with endurance that knew no limits as they were both well within their capabilities. The fight raged on and half an hour later I realized that they were now fighting with a lot more skill than the beginning. Suddenly Josie was presented with an opportunity that every fighter dreams about. While being forced back by another attack from Josie, Leon tripped. Simply tripped on a stone behind him. My heart leapt with hope as Josie unleashed her speed and strength into a blow that would finish the duel. Leon was a blur as he nimbly dodged away. My heart hurt all the more as it fell from its height into the pit of my stomach. My own face was a reflection of Josie's. Open mouthed amazement. I knew I could not hope to match the speed that Leon had just shown and unless Josie was a lot better than I thought she was, neither could she. Knowing that he had just dealt a winning hand, Leon grinned. More noticeably than usual, it sent shivers down my spine. He attacked immediately. Pushed to the limit of her skill, Josie managed to fend him off. Relentlessly, Leon attacked again. This time Josie couldn't stop him and he soon managed an unguarded strike at her arm. This I figured was the end of the fight so I was completely amazed to find that Josie had inspected her arm to find that only her sleeve was cut. No blood had been drawn. My mind whirled at the precision this feat had shown. Surely it was an accidental fluke. Leon allowed her enough time to regain her stance before again attacking. Josie was again unable to contend which resulted in another cut sleeve. So the first time wasn't an accident! He could actually clothes without touching flesh. I was struck by a sense of helplessness. He was a lot more skillful than I could have imagined. It seemed to have no effect on Josie, however. Although exhausted by her attempt to defend herself she put everything she had into an attack. With contemptuous ease, Leon counter attacked. This resulted in a slash across Josie's chest. Again only her uniform was cut. Comprehension hit me. Leon didn't mean just to beat Josie, he meant to humiliate her. I raged silently at this indignity. My anger grew as I watch him taut her. I noticed the fatigue on Josie's features and prayed that her pride would allow her to surrender. I knew that it wouldn't. With graceful ease Leon raised his arm, palm outstretched. Loud enough for all to hear, he spoke one word: "Fira!" I cried out as a searing wave of heat surged towards Josie who emptied her reserves to create a shell strong enough to stop it. She was revealed through the smoke, unscathed but beaten. In less than five minutes Leon had depleted her mentally and physically. She was now panting heavily and looked as though she would collapse on her feet. Her eyes, however, showed that she would not stop until first blood was drawn. In complete contrast, Leon was not in the least fatigued despite the skill that he was fighting with. Brought back to my own position I noticed that my knuckles had turned white from gripping the rail too tightly. My mind was reeling at the fact that Leon had just cast a level two element spell with no effort at all. What mattered more was that I had not felt the energy being manipulated, which indicated extraordinary control. This took the several seconds break that Josie got. Without lowering his hand Leon fired another spell, this time a weak fire. With willpower alone, Josie attempted to raise a sufficient shell. Leon's spell broke Josie's easily. The fire hit Josie's shoulder and disintegrated that part of her uniform. She stumbled but somehow managed to keep not only upright, but her ground as well. I saw with dismay that she was still not bleeding. The duel continued. Leon waited until Josie reached some semblance of self-control before he again cast another fire. Again Josie was unable to match it and it crashed into her other shoulder. Josie did not give ground. Leon laughed. Josie made an effort to lift her gunblade, which had found it's way to her sheath. She drew it and again took stance. I have no words to describe the burning pride I felt for her then or the hatred I felt for Leon. Slowly Leon's grin grew wider and he waited for her to catch her breath before casting one last fire at her. It was a weak one but was aimed specifically to burn away her remaining clothes. I noticed briefly that my hands no longer rested on the rail but instead on the hilt of my gunblade. Still no blood had been draw. Completely naked in front of the entire stadium Josie collapsed to her knees in exhaustion. Anger fueled my thoughts as I watched Leon walk slowly to her and pull back his gunblade. Time stood still as I watched. With a cry of pure effort Josie moved to one knee and pulled her own gunblade upward at Leon's head. I watched as Josie's blade glanced the rocky ground, creating a small spark. I watched it continue its way up. I watched as Leon's face changed from complacency to alarm. I watched as Josie's gunblade created a gash across Leon's nose and between his eye's. Blood was drawn. The whistle sounded. I leapt in pure joy and for the first time during the fight, allowed my gaze to drift from Josie. Shouts and cheers erupted from the SEEDs in the stands. I found that no small number of them had weapons in hand in response to Leon's affront. I looked back down to the arena and felt my blood freeze cold. Josie was still kneeling in front of Leon. Leon's face was running with blood but I could not mistake the anger on his features. I watched the moment in slow motion as he drew back his gunblade.

"YOU BITCH!" he screamed. Pulled back behind his head, the mythril of his blade seemed to blow up in a shade of sickly green. The putrid color lit up the arena as he slashed downwards, almost completely decapitating Josie. I watched her drop to the ground. I stood frozen as I watched the blood pour from her neck. My joy was ripped away under a wave of sorrow. Rage unlike any I had ever dreamed before took over my mind. I unconsciously drew my blade and leapt from the stands. Aware that I was not the only one, I watched as SEEDS rushed towards the beacon of green light that was Leon's gunblade. He was running for the exit and was easily cutting down anyone who stood in his way. This phased me not in the slightest and with tears of anger and sadness running down my face, I took off after him. The nearest SEED recognized me as a trainee and moved to stop me. I dodged easily. She called out to another in front of me. I blasted him with a water spell without slowing down. The only thing I could think about was getting at Leon. The rage I felt was maddening. I saw I was gaining on him. I was only a hundred metres away. Suddenly a wave of drowsiness hit me like a physical blow. I stumbled but kept my feet. I turned to the stands and saw Illion standing his hands outstretched towards me. Fearing my chance for revenge was going to be taken from me, I somehow found a way to pick up my pace. Tears blinded my vision and my face was twisted in a mask of rage. My mind replayed the moment that I had just witnessed and kept all thought of exhaustion from my body. I was only fifty metres away. Illion's second sleep spell hit me harder than before and I fell to the ground. Regaining consciousness in mid-fall, I immediately rolled back to my feet. I took off again, fueled by my anger. I was only twenty metres away. Leon turned and saw me. He saw the blade in my hand and grinned. He pointed towards Josie with his now green blade but did not slow down. Anger again refreshed me as I close the gap to ten metres. I felt my every muscle tense, ready for the moment that I would bring my blade to bare on Leon's body. I outstretched my hand to cast a spell that would knock him from his feet. Then I felt Illion's third spell hit me. It was incredibly powerful and I collapsed to the ground, beaten. The last thing I saw before I fell into darkness was the limp form of Josie, lying in a pool of her own blood.