Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 or any of the characters from FF8.
AN: Thank you all for your reviews. They are all greatly appreciated! As always, shout outs at the end. I'm not going to waste any time blabbling about nothing so I'm just going to get right to the story! Please R&R!
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Chapter 5: The Rival
I had just finished my lesson with Kiros. He said I was improving faster than any metasite he'd ever seen. But he still beat the living crap out of me. The only advantage I had over him was my size. Since I was so small back then, I could try to sneak inside his defense and land some blows. Or so I thought. He was way too quick for me. He had all these tricks that would counter my every move.
Covered in sweat and tired as hell, I went to visit Ellone. This was my routine. I started doing this three times a week as Ellone told me to do. But as time wore on, I visited her more and more frequently not because she told me to, but because I wanted to. Ellone had a way of making people soften up. It was a gift of her, she would talk to me about almost anything and we'd have fun. It helped ease the pain of my parents' death.
Ellone was the first person in Garden whom I think I really loved and cared for. She treated me like an older sister which is why she earned the nickname "Sis". She bought me Christmas presents, took me out to the movies, and helped me with my schoolwork (hey, metasites have to go to school too you know?).
A year passed and one day when I went to Ellone's office something peculiar happened. My metasite sensed somebody in there as well before I got to the door. Judging by the sound of the footsteps, it was a kid like me. I was thinking maybe Ellone had a patient. Some kid probably got injured, it wasn't rare and most of the time I'd just leave if Ellone had work to do. I was just about to leave when the door opened.
A kid about a head taller than me with short blond hair, curious eyes, and good-looking features stood at the door. I looked up at him and he cocked his head and scowled.
"Wow, Seifer! You were right! How'd you know Squall was coming?" Ellone interrupted the moment from behind the kid.
"I heard him coming that's why I stopped talking." he said.
"Oh I see. Squall, this is Seifer Almasy, the headmaster's nephew." said Ellone.
Mature as we were, we were still kids. We stared at each other and sort of said a half-hearted "Hi".
"Should I come back later? Maybe this isn't too good a time for you" I asked Ellone.
"Oh not at all Squall, come in. You might as well meet Seifer anyway since he's going to be starting his classes tomorrow." she said.
Seifer closed the door and returned to his seat leaving me standing alone feeling quite awkward.
"I see." I said. I wasn't much of a talker.
"Seifer has been training privately with the headmaster. I just had to run the tests to get his metasite data before he could properly begin his classes."
"Yeah I'm a metasite. How long have you been here Squall?" he asked.
"Two years" I said.
"Oh okay, so you've been training the whole time?"
"Actually, Squall is one of our top students here." Ellone said proudly.
"Really? Well, maybe I'll meet up with you sometime in our lessons then. I've been training since I was three with my uncle. He didn't want me to attend the classes until I was older." Seifer said.
"How old are you?" I asked. Pleased that I could actually ask something in this conversation.
"I'm eight now. You?"
"Seven" I said.
"Cool, I have to go back to my uncle's room since he's going to give me my dorm. Hopefully I'll see you around Squall." he said.
"Yeah, see you later."
"Bye Seifer" said Ellone.
Seifer walked out the door and left me with Ellone. She was cleaning out some test tubes and syringes and I decided to help.
"He's a nice kid. You guys should get together some time." Ellone said.
I nodded. He did seem like a nice guy but I wasn't exactly the type of person who would make friends very easily. We continued to talk about nothing in particular and I left after an hour. Normally I would love the conversations I had with Ellone. As I said, she had a way of making people open up. However, today was different. My mind wasn't even in the conversation. It was with Seifer. Something about that guy wasn't quite right. I had fought a lot of older metasites and I knew how older kids acted. They were snobbish and rude. But Seifer was different. He had a calmness about him that I was sure meant something else...
The next day, I found out what I sensed in Seifer.
During my private lesson with Kiros, Ward walked into the training center. Following him was a tall blond kid in standard Galbadian uniform, Seifer.
Once again I felt that strange sense of confidence radiating from Seifer. It was unlike any of the kids I had ever fought before.
"Hey Kiros, I brought a little friend here. He's the headmaster's nephew." said Ward
"Well, Squall and I are training right now. I'll talk to you guys when I'm done." said Kiros.
"Oh, I was hoping you'd let Squall spar with Seifer and see what his skill level is."
Kiros looked Seifer up and down as if sizing him up. Seifer still stood motionless and just the faintest hint of a smirk on his lips.
"Alright then. Squall, spar with Seifer." he said.
I walked up to Seifer and he called his metasite armor. Green tendrils surrounded him and the bony exoskeleton developed instantaneously. Seifer's metasite was green and was quite bulky yet sleek at the same time. His armor was more angular than mine, with lots of sharp edges all over the place. It made a nice contrast with my own metasite.
He drew his blade from his back. I could see why since the blade was a heavy broadsword styled metablade. It was glowing green and I knew it was razor sharp on both edges. I already had Lionheart drawn and the blue blade shimmered in my grip.
I raised my sword and saluted him in typical dueling fashion. It was one of the things Kiros stressed. I was to salute every opponent I met before a metablade duel. Seifer raised his own sword and saluted in his own style. Then he used one hand to hold the sword out in front of him pointed at a slight downwards angle. It was then that I saw he had the same pistol grip that my metablade possessed only his was thicker.
I lowered my blade down to my side and stood waiting for his attack. Seifer pushed off the ground and came at me with blinding speed. I had time just to duck under the blow that had sent at me.
I countered it with a slash of my own but was deflected by that heavy blade of his. I wasn't fast enough to get through his blade. He swung that sword at me and I brought my own sword up to meet it but was knocked backwards and into a tree. Seifer then attacked again and I once again brought my blade up to parry the strike but ended up just being slammed into the tree. I winced at the pain and rolled off to one side using my boosters to assist me in gaining my balance again. No sooner had I gotten to my feet had I been knocked down again. It was hopeless, I couldn't deflect his blows and my own feeble attempts to attack were not quick enough to penetrate Seifer's defenses. It didn't take long for Seifer to get his blade under my own and press is against my throat.
That was the first time I had ever tasted defeat in a fight. And I didn't like it. I didn't like it at all. But Seifer extended an arm and lifted me up. We both took off the metasite armor and he smiled down at me.
"Wow, that was the toughest fight I've had yet. No wonder Ellone said you're good." he said.
I looked up at him and could feel growing respect for this kid. I had never been beaten before by kids who were older than him and he was complimenting me. Ward thanked me for sparring with Seifer and they left Kiros and I.
"He's a strong one." said Kiros.
That wasn't what I was expecting at all. I thought Kiros would start yelling at me or something. But he didn't.
"I couldn't deflect his blows." I told Kiros.
"I know. We'll have to work on it. You should spar with him more often. He'll help bring your own level up." Kiros had a strange tone to his voice. Something I had never heard before. "The headmaster has been training him for a while now. But I have no doubt that you will one day defeat him."
I nodded. Seifer was my primary goal. I had to defeat Seifer.
Although it sounds like I hated Seifer. The truth was I really liked him. We quickly became good friends since nobody our age could match our skill. I looked up to him as well. He was like an older brother to me. Eventually, Ward opened up a separate class for us and we attended group classes together.
My goal to defeat Seifer was still there. But it lacked the sort of hatred that fueled my ongoing promise to avenge the death of my parents. Seifer was beating me but I was quickly catching up to his skill. I would practice my speed and striking strength by myself. Kiros taught me a new technique which is one of the advantages of a single-edged sword. I could put my armored hand on the back of the blade and use it to absorb vibration and give extra strength to my parry. This technique paid dividends against Seifer because the more I worked on it, the more hits I could take from Seifer.
I went everywhere with Seifer. It seems like when you're younger, one year makes a real big difference. He seemed so much more mature than I was. But now thinking back, that was wrong. I had dealt with kids way older than Seifer and they didn't possess that same maturity. Little did I know, that "maturity" would slowly fizzle up and die.
Day after day, week after week. Seifer and I began to drift apart. He met up with two other kids, Fujin and Raijin. They formed their "posse" and sort of excluded me. Seifer and I still sparred with each other but he spent most of his time with his posse. I spent my time with Ellone.
On the outside, I was as cool and calm as I had ever been. But Ellone could see right through me. Somehow, I had connected with Seifer. It felt like I was no longer an outcast since he was only a year older than me but just as powerful. Even a metasite like me doesn't want to be the outcast. Nobody does.
"Squall, it's just a stage Seifer is going through. I know you wish you guys hung out more and stuff but it's time he made his own friends." Ellone said.
"Oh I don't really care." I said.
"Don't lie to me Squall. I know you care."
"Alright, alright. Busted."
"Now listen to me. You should try to meet some friends of your own too. There are lots of kids in the Garden, I'm sure some of them are right for you. Seifer's not the only one." she said
I nodded. It made sense. But it's tough when one is young and already has so much pressure. I wanted friends who looked past who I was and didn't want to be friends with me just because I was the most aspiring metasite ever to come to Garden.
"Okay sis, I'll find some friends." I said.
There were hundreds of metasites at Garden. I haven't even seen half of them. I had a lot to think about. Ellone wanted me to go find new friends, Seifer and I were growing apart, and then there was the fact that I would be s tarting my first mission soon.
This was just the start of my life. Seifer and I not only grew apart, eventually it became a lot more than just a friendly rivalry. But that is down the road. Right now all I had to do was find some friends.
AN: Okay, this chapter was quite happy. I introduced Seifer and his relationship with Squall. I built Ellone up a little bit more, and how she affects Squall as well. Over the course of this story, hopefully you guys will be able to see the changes in Squall and the characters around him and how these changes tie into his attitude in the original "Metasite" story. Alright, enough ranting =P shout out time!
remote mine: don't forget to review THIS chapter! Hahaha well, Ellone is quite a pretty girl in the game so I thought that was just a bit of comic relief implying she gets hit on by lots of guys =P
XxMazLeonhartxX: thanks for the review! Yeah, Squall is more overcome by anger than anything right now hahaha I won't say when, but the death of his parents will return in this story *hint hint*
Selphie Tilmitt-Kinneas: lol thanks a lot! Squall is a prodigal child so naturally he is talented which is what this whole story will basically revolve around hahaha Squall's talent =)
trekken46: yup the prequel is well on its way! But don't worry, the other one is far from finished. This is just a little side story ~_^
Ari-Morrigan: hehe Squall has quite a ways to go in his development as a soldier. Entertaining as it would be to see Squall kick the shit out of Jason and the guys, it would not work well with the story hahaha so I had him kick the shit out of the three stooges to make up for it =P
Etherealist: I reviewed your story! FINALLY! It's very good. And the religious training thing...well...I don't even know WHAT to say to that! =P Hopefully this chapter will have less...thought provoking parts in it lol...
Keep those reviews coming please! I really appreciate it! Thanks!
AN: Thank you all for your reviews. They are all greatly appreciated! As always, shout outs at the end. I'm not going to waste any time blabbling about nothing so I'm just going to get right to the story! Please R&R!
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Chapter 5: The Rival
I had just finished my lesson with Kiros. He said I was improving faster than any metasite he'd ever seen. But he still beat the living crap out of me. The only advantage I had over him was my size. Since I was so small back then, I could try to sneak inside his defense and land some blows. Or so I thought. He was way too quick for me. He had all these tricks that would counter my every move.
Covered in sweat and tired as hell, I went to visit Ellone. This was my routine. I started doing this three times a week as Ellone told me to do. But as time wore on, I visited her more and more frequently not because she told me to, but because I wanted to. Ellone had a way of making people soften up. It was a gift of her, she would talk to me about almost anything and we'd have fun. It helped ease the pain of my parents' death.
Ellone was the first person in Garden whom I think I really loved and cared for. She treated me like an older sister which is why she earned the nickname "Sis". She bought me Christmas presents, took me out to the movies, and helped me with my schoolwork (hey, metasites have to go to school too you know?).
A year passed and one day when I went to Ellone's office something peculiar happened. My metasite sensed somebody in there as well before I got to the door. Judging by the sound of the footsteps, it was a kid like me. I was thinking maybe Ellone had a patient. Some kid probably got injured, it wasn't rare and most of the time I'd just leave if Ellone had work to do. I was just about to leave when the door opened.
A kid about a head taller than me with short blond hair, curious eyes, and good-looking features stood at the door. I looked up at him and he cocked his head and scowled.
"Wow, Seifer! You were right! How'd you know Squall was coming?" Ellone interrupted the moment from behind the kid.
"I heard him coming that's why I stopped talking." he said.
"Oh I see. Squall, this is Seifer Almasy, the headmaster's nephew." said Ellone.
Mature as we were, we were still kids. We stared at each other and sort of said a half-hearted "Hi".
"Should I come back later? Maybe this isn't too good a time for you" I asked Ellone.
"Oh not at all Squall, come in. You might as well meet Seifer anyway since he's going to be starting his classes tomorrow." she said.
Seifer closed the door and returned to his seat leaving me standing alone feeling quite awkward.
"I see." I said. I wasn't much of a talker.
"Seifer has been training privately with the headmaster. I just had to run the tests to get his metasite data before he could properly begin his classes."
"Yeah I'm a metasite. How long have you been here Squall?" he asked.
"Two years" I said.
"Oh okay, so you've been training the whole time?"
"Actually, Squall is one of our top students here." Ellone said proudly.
"Really? Well, maybe I'll meet up with you sometime in our lessons then. I've been training since I was three with my uncle. He didn't want me to attend the classes until I was older." Seifer said.
"How old are you?" I asked. Pleased that I could actually ask something in this conversation.
"I'm eight now. You?"
"Seven" I said.
"Cool, I have to go back to my uncle's room since he's going to give me my dorm. Hopefully I'll see you around Squall." he said.
"Yeah, see you later."
"Bye Seifer" said Ellone.
Seifer walked out the door and left me with Ellone. She was cleaning out some test tubes and syringes and I decided to help.
"He's a nice kid. You guys should get together some time." Ellone said.
I nodded. He did seem like a nice guy but I wasn't exactly the type of person who would make friends very easily. We continued to talk about nothing in particular and I left after an hour. Normally I would love the conversations I had with Ellone. As I said, she had a way of making people open up. However, today was different. My mind wasn't even in the conversation. It was with Seifer. Something about that guy wasn't quite right. I had fought a lot of older metasites and I knew how older kids acted. They were snobbish and rude. But Seifer was different. He had a calmness about him that I was sure meant something else...
The next day, I found out what I sensed in Seifer.
During my private lesson with Kiros, Ward walked into the training center. Following him was a tall blond kid in standard Galbadian uniform, Seifer.
Once again I felt that strange sense of confidence radiating from Seifer. It was unlike any of the kids I had ever fought before.
"Hey Kiros, I brought a little friend here. He's the headmaster's nephew." said Ward
"Well, Squall and I are training right now. I'll talk to you guys when I'm done." said Kiros.
"Oh, I was hoping you'd let Squall spar with Seifer and see what his skill level is."
Kiros looked Seifer up and down as if sizing him up. Seifer still stood motionless and just the faintest hint of a smirk on his lips.
"Alright then. Squall, spar with Seifer." he said.
I walked up to Seifer and he called his metasite armor. Green tendrils surrounded him and the bony exoskeleton developed instantaneously. Seifer's metasite was green and was quite bulky yet sleek at the same time. His armor was more angular than mine, with lots of sharp edges all over the place. It made a nice contrast with my own metasite.
He drew his blade from his back. I could see why since the blade was a heavy broadsword styled metablade. It was glowing green and I knew it was razor sharp on both edges. I already had Lionheart drawn and the blue blade shimmered in my grip.
I raised my sword and saluted him in typical dueling fashion. It was one of the things Kiros stressed. I was to salute every opponent I met before a metablade duel. Seifer raised his own sword and saluted in his own style. Then he used one hand to hold the sword out in front of him pointed at a slight downwards angle. It was then that I saw he had the same pistol grip that my metablade possessed only his was thicker.
I lowered my blade down to my side and stood waiting for his attack. Seifer pushed off the ground and came at me with blinding speed. I had time just to duck under the blow that had sent at me.
I countered it with a slash of my own but was deflected by that heavy blade of his. I wasn't fast enough to get through his blade. He swung that sword at me and I brought my own sword up to meet it but was knocked backwards and into a tree. Seifer then attacked again and I once again brought my blade up to parry the strike but ended up just being slammed into the tree. I winced at the pain and rolled off to one side using my boosters to assist me in gaining my balance again. No sooner had I gotten to my feet had I been knocked down again. It was hopeless, I couldn't deflect his blows and my own feeble attempts to attack were not quick enough to penetrate Seifer's defenses. It didn't take long for Seifer to get his blade under my own and press is against my throat.
That was the first time I had ever tasted defeat in a fight. And I didn't like it. I didn't like it at all. But Seifer extended an arm and lifted me up. We both took off the metasite armor and he smiled down at me.
"Wow, that was the toughest fight I've had yet. No wonder Ellone said you're good." he said.
I looked up at him and could feel growing respect for this kid. I had never been beaten before by kids who were older than him and he was complimenting me. Ward thanked me for sparring with Seifer and they left Kiros and I.
"He's a strong one." said Kiros.
That wasn't what I was expecting at all. I thought Kiros would start yelling at me or something. But he didn't.
"I couldn't deflect his blows." I told Kiros.
"I know. We'll have to work on it. You should spar with him more often. He'll help bring your own level up." Kiros had a strange tone to his voice. Something I had never heard before. "The headmaster has been training him for a while now. But I have no doubt that you will one day defeat him."
I nodded. Seifer was my primary goal. I had to defeat Seifer.
Although it sounds like I hated Seifer. The truth was I really liked him. We quickly became good friends since nobody our age could match our skill. I looked up to him as well. He was like an older brother to me. Eventually, Ward opened up a separate class for us and we attended group classes together.
My goal to defeat Seifer was still there. But it lacked the sort of hatred that fueled my ongoing promise to avenge the death of my parents. Seifer was beating me but I was quickly catching up to his skill. I would practice my speed and striking strength by myself. Kiros taught me a new technique which is one of the advantages of a single-edged sword. I could put my armored hand on the back of the blade and use it to absorb vibration and give extra strength to my parry. This technique paid dividends against Seifer because the more I worked on it, the more hits I could take from Seifer.
I went everywhere with Seifer. It seems like when you're younger, one year makes a real big difference. He seemed so much more mature than I was. But now thinking back, that was wrong. I had dealt with kids way older than Seifer and they didn't possess that same maturity. Little did I know, that "maturity" would slowly fizzle up and die.
Day after day, week after week. Seifer and I began to drift apart. He met up with two other kids, Fujin and Raijin. They formed their "posse" and sort of excluded me. Seifer and I still sparred with each other but he spent most of his time with his posse. I spent my time with Ellone.
On the outside, I was as cool and calm as I had ever been. But Ellone could see right through me. Somehow, I had connected with Seifer. It felt like I was no longer an outcast since he was only a year older than me but just as powerful. Even a metasite like me doesn't want to be the outcast. Nobody does.
"Squall, it's just a stage Seifer is going through. I know you wish you guys hung out more and stuff but it's time he made his own friends." Ellone said.
"Oh I don't really care." I said.
"Don't lie to me Squall. I know you care."
"Alright, alright. Busted."
"Now listen to me. You should try to meet some friends of your own too. There are lots of kids in the Garden, I'm sure some of them are right for you. Seifer's not the only one." she said
I nodded. It made sense. But it's tough when one is young and already has so much pressure. I wanted friends who looked past who I was and didn't want to be friends with me just because I was the most aspiring metasite ever to come to Garden.
"Okay sis, I'll find some friends." I said.
There were hundreds of metasites at Garden. I haven't even seen half of them. I had a lot to think about. Ellone wanted me to go find new friends, Seifer and I were growing apart, and then there was the fact that I would be s tarting my first mission soon.
This was just the start of my life. Seifer and I not only grew apart, eventually it became a lot more than just a friendly rivalry. But that is down the road. Right now all I had to do was find some friends.
AN: Okay, this chapter was quite happy. I introduced Seifer and his relationship with Squall. I built Ellone up a little bit more, and how she affects Squall as well. Over the course of this story, hopefully you guys will be able to see the changes in Squall and the characters around him and how these changes tie into his attitude in the original "Metasite" story. Alright, enough ranting =P shout out time!
remote mine: don't forget to review THIS chapter! Hahaha well, Ellone is quite a pretty girl in the game so I thought that was just a bit of comic relief implying she gets hit on by lots of guys =P
XxMazLeonhartxX: thanks for the review! Yeah, Squall is more overcome by anger than anything right now hahaha I won't say when, but the death of his parents will return in this story *hint hint*
Selphie Tilmitt-Kinneas: lol thanks a lot! Squall is a prodigal child so naturally he is talented which is what this whole story will basically revolve around hahaha Squall's talent =)
trekken46: yup the prequel is well on its way! But don't worry, the other one is far from finished. This is just a little side story ~_^
Ari-Morrigan: hehe Squall has quite a ways to go in his development as a soldier. Entertaining as it would be to see Squall kick the shit out of Jason and the guys, it would not work well with the story hahaha so I had him kick the shit out of the three stooges to make up for it =P
Etherealist: I reviewed your story! FINALLY! It's very good. And the religious training thing...well...I don't even know WHAT to say to that! =P Hopefully this chapter will have less...thought provoking parts in it lol...
Keep those reviews coming please! I really appreciate it! Thanks!