Disclaimer: NO I DON'T OWN FFVIII. THE GAME IS COPYWRITED TO SQUARE. Hopefully I can write video game story line and then the ch's will belong to me. Until than cries Authors note is at the bottom of this chapter. Read the authors note to know what is going on w/this fic. 11 reviews yay

Chapter 5

Falling from you Pedestal

The young blonde man dressed mentally congratulating himself on becoming a Seed. He knew that his mother was very happy with him. She was rooting for him throughout the graduation as she cried; this was the little man she raised for 10 years and now he had finally graduated.

He had come home for a little nap in order to prepare himself for the Seed ball that was mandatory and where his Seed rank would be given out. After showering, brushing his teeth, doing his daily stretches. He was now getting dressed in form fitting gray slacks and a gray shirt that was a customary seed uniform. He was doing last minute checks to make sure everything was perfect.

'Your father would be proud.' His dragon counter part said.

'Who is my father?' He asked.

'It is not my place to tell you that.' the dragon slumbering inside him stated before going quiet.

Zell let out a long sigh he enjoyed the company of the dragon but sometimes it could be like talking to a wall. The dragon seemed uncomfortable with certain question mostly anything that spoke of his past. He looked up in the mirror and gave himself a smile he loved his dark blue eyes. He started for the door. He wanted to get there early so he could have some personal time with the hotdog table. After 30 seconds of walking to the door he stopped.

"Dark blue?" he did a double take. He proceeded to walk towards the nearest mirror His eyes from the day he was born has been a bright baby blue color not dark blue. He checked again closing his eyes for a few seconds then opening them. Dark blue in his slight panic he did not hear the slight chuckle form the dragon or the words 'it begins tonight'.

"You failed." No two words infuriated the blonde man as much as those two

"You failed" This was his third time failing the SeeD examine. He faced the woman standing a few feet away from him with fire burning in his eyes.

"I thought you said I wasn't going fail!" He yelled at the sorceress.

She laughed lightly and looked at him. "Who said you failed? All is going according to my plan." She held her head high looking over garden's Secret Area. "Yes all is going to plan. You want your dreams to come true?" she now turned to face him.

"Yes"

"Than trust me, she also failed and I need her to complete my plan."

If only these children knew the power they possessed, She laughed lightly. Yes she possessed great power but the children's was raw and untapped. She knew who the strongest was and she need her. The plan would require a lot of magical power and she was just the one to harvest it.

Turning to her knight she said in a soothing voice "Go to her and show her dreams and she will follow…" the words spoken the woman slipped into the shadows and vanished.

"What are her dreams?" he questioned himself. Could it be that she shared the same dreams as him.

He looked over the garden it was brightly lit for the SeeD ball the he was supposed to be apart of. Unfortunately for him Balamb Garden failed him again. He clenched his fist tightly. He knew she would be attending she had to it was her job as an instructor. Something the sorceress said finally made its self-present "she also failed" what could she have meant by that. The only thing he could think of was her teachers examine, was that it? The mighty Quistis Trepe Failed a measly teacher examine. He laughed lightly at the thought. Oh yes maybe this was a good time to convert her to their side.

The blonde made haste from the Secret Area to his dorm room. Might as well make this last day fun. With an evil chuckle the door to Seifer Almasy's room slid shut.

"WHAT NO MORE HOTDOGS!!!!!!" Zell's voice pierced thru the air and caused several people to laugh. It was a common thing Zell always arriving late and never being able to get a hotdog, even at his own Graduation Ball he couldn't get one. Usually this would make another person laugh if she wasn't willowing in her own self-pity.

She was overlooking the balcony at the ball she failed 3 times already and was now demoted back to the simple rank of a Seed again. If it wasn't bad enough they didn't just make her a Seed again, they made her Rank 28 Seed. They didn't even give her a shot at the A rank, they only saw it fit for her to be rank 28 she was one of the best but not the best, A rank meant you were the best. Wasn't she the best at one time? She was the only person to achieve Seed at the age of 15 and an Ex-teacher at the age of 18, cruel irony wasn't it.

She was the Ice Queen shouldn't she be with the Ice King. They seem perfect for each other yet she was rejected. She laughed bitterly. The irony that she was rejected didn't hurt as much as she though it was just they way that he brushed her off did. She took off her mask of ice and was severely hurt. This is why she chose to be cold and unfeeling so she wouldn't be hurt. She was hurt and this was the second time she failed. She poured her heart and soul out to him and all she ever got was a measly "Go talk to a wall." Looking over a balcony and thinking about your failures was talking to a wall in a sense.

"Hey Quitsy," someone spoke to her from behind. She knew the voice it was Zell. Her newly discovered younger brother. She blinked back tears that were threatening to fall and turned to face him. She could say he looked strangely handsome even with his Black tattoo that covered part of the left side of his face. He was dressed in the decorated gray slacks and the gray colored shirt. In his hand he held 2 glasses filled with champagne. He offered her a glass and kept one for himself.

"Hey Zell" she replied back to him tentatively trying to keep the sadness out of her voice. "Why aren't you dancing like everyone else?" she questioned him.

"They ran out of hotdogs before I could get any and my date went to the bathroom." He shrugged his date was the girl that liked him from the library. He held no romantic feelings for the girl yet she wanted him to be more. He needed a break so he came to find his sister and talk to her for a bit before he went back inside.

"Why aren't you dancing?" it was his turn to question her.

"I have a lot of things on my mind. If this wasn't mandatory for me I would be in my room." she stated.

"Care to talk about it?"

"Not at the moment…" She gave him a weak smile and took a sip from the glass he gave her. Facing the balcony she looked out at the sky again and up to the stars, no shooting stars to be found. Zell took this as a good time to leave, when he stepped back into the room he froze in mid stride he had to blink several times to make sure what he saw was actually happening. The Ice King: Squall Leonhart was on the dance floor dancing and seemed to be enjoying himself. He was dancing with a attractive brunette with a light cream colored dress on. Of course squall was dancing with the only person who seemed to be out of place at the ball.

Shaking out of his daze he went to go find his own date.

Seeing the blonde 17-year-old leave another blonde male made his way towards the ex instructor. Getting close to her ear he waited a second to see if she noticed his presence, after a few seconds he open his mouth to speak in a soft but firm voice he simply asked.

"How does it feel to fail?"

The woman's shoulders visibly stiffened as she heard the man's voice she turned towards him eyes narrowing. One could almost feel the hatred for the man who stood before her; everything seemed to come back to him, her career, her failures and other emotions, one could not simply name, he was the center of them all.

Seeing her eyes soften slightly he pressed himself against her body placing a arm on either side of her he moved so her back was pressing against the balcony's railing.

"How does it feel to fail" he asked her again.

"I hate it…" she said not really sure where this was going.

"What if I said you didn't fail and this was part of a bigger plan?"

"What do you mean I didn't fail?" She now questioned him. She didn't like where this was going. "I saw the reports, I saw my mistakes. I saw them shred my license in front of own my eyes, I saw them discuss the rest of my career and demote me down to rank 28 how is that NOT failing?" Tears were now running down Quistis Trepe's face as she said this to him.

Not knowing why himself Seifer put his arms around the woman in front of him. Somewhere deep inside he felt pity for this woman she was just like him trying hard to achieve perfection and to be the best at what he did. She cried and he comforted her yet no one inside knew that the two were there maybe it was best that way.

"Follow me." He said his voice soothing her in her weakened state. Nodding into his chest he took her hand and proceeded to lead her to his room maybe just maybe there was a chance she would follow him. Making their way thru the dance hall no one seemed to notice them leave. He sent a glance towards puberty boy's direction and noticed him dancing with his ex, jealously filled him but only for a moment as he remember what he had to do.

He led her to his room and stepped inside she followed hesitantly, what was she to expect. He turned around to her again his trademark smirk plastered on his face and kissed her. She went stiff. Seifer Almasly was kissing Quistis Trepe. She knew that her emotions centered around him for a long time. Every single emotion that one could feel she felt it for this man. In a way she was his rival just as Squall was his rival they always argued and tried to be better than the other. The only difference was that she was his teacher where Squall was his classmate. Yes there were strong feeling for this man maybe it just took this kiss to invoke them. Suddenly she became the dominate one and she was kissing him harder as feeling she didn't want to feel took control over her body. She sighed into the kiss letting her emotions take control of her for once.

For once in her life Quistis shed her mask and became what she always was: A woman. A woman just like any other woman she had needs. For once in her life maybe she should give into her needs and let her mind rest for once. So she did for a few hours Quistis Trepe disappeared off the face of the earth and all that was left of her was a woman.

Outside a woman with flowing black hair was transparent; one would think that this woman was a ghost, maybe she was a ghost. The woman's red eyes glowed with mirth for this was where it all began. The instructor didn't know it nor did the knight but both would be her pawns in the grand scheme. Yes all was going according to plan. Crimson colored lips curled upwards in a cruel and somewhat sadistic smirk. Yes this was the beginning of the end of the world. As quickly as she came she vanished into the rising of the sun over Balamb Garden.

End of Chapter 5

A/N sorry hehe I had things on my mind issues and all this other crap as usual going on in my life. Heh and the fact that I have to beta read my own fics isn't working out well . Umm yeah I was actually going to discontinue this story but I know the few ppl that did read it would be upset, that and the fact that I have a sequel in mind already. It's supposed to be called "Shards of Eternity". Sad thing is I can't work on that fic till this one is done because this is a prequel to that fic. FFXI is evil and I find myself hating it more and more each passing day. I want to get WoW (World of Warcraft) but have no money to buy it I'm also supposed to be changing colleges again. So see I'm busy as hell lol. I'll try to write another chapter of "Shattered Reality" for a X-mas gift to you few loyal readers. Please remember to Review so I can be motivated to write this. Plus I get to respond to reviews starting next chapter. This chapter I just wanna thank you guys who reviewed and yell at Verdanii because they keep calling me a girl. I'm a 19 yr old gothic BOY TYVM.

Hmmm I'm also writing a X-man Fanfic massive A/U and OC there and writing an Anthro story. I'm going back to redo chapter 1-4 cause every time I read them I semi wince. Plus I become a better writer the older I become right so.I need to redo them epically changing birthday girl and omitting that one scene from the fic. Rinoa will be introduced that chapter but in a different way. I was trying to have some awareness of time by having it in march cause I wanted to play around with Zell a bit. Instead I'm going to have everything take place in January when no one has a b-day. So if you think you know of a good title for "Birthday Girl" please leave it in a review. Tell your friends to come a read also.

Bows to audience than spreads his raven black wings and flies away.