A/N: Sorry for a late update… I was busy okay!? So just be patient with me cause I too am being bothered greatly by my conscience for not updating this thing…
Chapter 13
Preparation Mission
It was a fine day that morning, the sun was out, the sky was clear, and the birds happily soared along the swift breeze that swept across Balamb Garden. But tension was great for three unfortunate SeeD candidates who were about to face a challenging task that day.
It was early dawn, Seifer was called fourth to the Headmaster's office for a report. A warm welcome greeted him as he entered Cid's office.
"Ahhh…Seifer, just the person I wanted to see. Come, have a seat, we have much to talk about."
"Need you ask? Hmph… I don't think so, I'm sure Dincht has already spoken my part." Seifer said smirking greatly at his Headmaster.
"Hahahahaha! I knew you were much to keen, even for a spy." His Headmaster complimented with applause. "Then perhaps you can tell me the reason why you failed to comply with my last order to you?"
"WHY!? Cause you were being too hasty! How the hell do you expect me to propose to Quistis all of the sudden? I mean, how the heck would you feel if you were to propose to Dr.Kadowaki with just one order?"
Cid's face hardened the moment he imagined himself kneeling down before Dr.Kadowaki, presenting a ring. "I couldn't imagine myself doing so…but it's just unnatural for you to reason out how you followed your heart before an order."
"Correction, I used my mind and not my heart. Now then, there isn't much time for my big day ahead, if you'll excuse me, I'll take my leave." He said with utter respect as turned around for his leave. But just as he was about to exit the door, he felt something hard in his pocket, he clasped it with his palm, and felt a small box, it could only be one thing, so once again he approached Cid. "Oh, and here, you can have it back since I won't be needing it any longer, why don't you give it to Matron or something?" He said as he gently threw the small black box at Cid. As Cid opened it, a small sapphire ring sparkled with elegance resembling that of Quistis' eyes. It was a small piece of ring measuring about half a centimeter. The stone was a light colored sapphire pretty much like an aquamarine, but its luster was astonishing once reflected by light. It was an emerald cut and the ring itself is made out of pure silver that proved to be highly expensive, good thing it was Cid who paid the price.
A small smile broke on his lips as he nodded and said: "You're made a fine choice for Quistis Seifer. But take it back, I'm sure you'll be using it sooner or later anyway." Cid spoke as he threw the piece of jewel back to Seifer.
"Thanks…I have been a little short on cash lately."
"No, I didn't mean that, what I meant was that you'll be giving it to her in time." Cid said in reply as he kept his poise, but in his mind were a several big-fat arrows pointing right at Seifer with the words: STUPID! IDIOT! MORON! And many more that could refer to the young blonde's stupidity. He then went on… "Seifer… just a question out of curiosity…how much did you spent to pay for that ring?"
"…..!!!!!!?????……. ahhh….about some 37,000 gil…hehe…well…gotta run!" Seifer right away left running as he felt the old man's aura turning fierce. And the ring? He took it along with him.
Just as Seifer left the room and Cid calmed down, he called for an emergency meeting to all those involved in their little game of matchmaking. As soon as everyone arrived, he stood up and opened a suitcase on the table. Right then and there, everyone's eyes widened in amazement. The suitcase was filled with hundreds of Gils all bundled up and closely tacked with each other side-by-side.
"WHOA!!!! That's about a Billion-katrillion Gil over Gils in there!" Zell exclaimed in surprise as his eyes eagerly glared on the money.
"You dumb-ass, I say it's only about a million, am I right?" Irvine suavely spoke as he shoved Zell away from the bag.
"You're both wrong, it's only 50,000 gil to be exact." Cid corrected as he shut tight the luggage. "And no one's getting it until we get the job done between Seifer and Quistis, agreed?"
"But why?" Dr. Kadowaki motioned to question.
"Because I failed…at first, I thought of it as a joke, but now I realized that we shouldn't handle this situation lightly." He said raising his voice.
"That's nice, but isn't that suppose to be the money that we gave to Matron for safe keeping?" Rinoa asked as they turned their attention to Edea.
"But it can't be, I hid it off somewhere far in a desolated area without my husband's knowing." Edea defended as she shifted her gaze to her middle age husband.
"You hid it on the ground somewhere in the desert!? What if a treasure hunter finds it!!!??? Then what will I get if I win!!!???" Selphie exclaimed all nervous
"Don't worry, I it's not on the desert." Edea said giggling
"Then perhaps you hid it somewhere deep under water?" Nida butted in
"No…it's not under water as well…" She replied in confusion
"ARGH! Can we just dump that topic please!? Don't you trust the Headmistress?" Xu interrupted in annoyance
"Ehem, as I was saying… you all guessed wrong, this money is a new set that I will add from before… meaning to say that the money at hand is now exactly 100,000 Gil." Cid explained as the rest remained speechless with his proposal.
"100,000 gil!!!!!!????" They all exclaimed in unison
"That's right. Right after my experience trying to adjoin the two, I felt a sudden interest of how things will turn out to be. So I thought… why not arouse your adrenaline as well? Further more, I thought of making the rules a little more laid back…you can now go in pairs to help each other, but if you win, you will have to split the money….and by all means, cheat and do a please as long as it's 99.9% safe, the 0.1% is only for a little excitement, BUT! You can only try out once, so, like me, I failed, so leave the rest up to you! Now go and make me proud!" Cid finally spoke his speech
A few hours later, the three were all prepared. As they arrived at the front gate Quistis gave out the instructions.
"Okay, so here's the plot: Xu and I will assist you to the Deep Sea Research Center. We will use the Rangnarok and you will enter the ruin on your own, if you need assistance, Xu and I will be just there at the ship. Now, for your objective: You are to go down to the deep sea shelter itself and collect blue orbs that are found all over the place. You need to grab at least 20-25 pieces measuring in about 7X3 inches. Once you grab what you need, immediately return to the ship because staying there also takes you a step closer to danger. Any defiance to those orders may cause you your approval to take the actual SeeD test itself…so just please cooperate." With Quistis' final remarks, they headed out to the sea ruin.
On the Rangnarok, Xu was piloting the ship while the rest waited for their arrival. Rinoa was peeping out on the glass window, while Irvine was busy polishing his rifle leaving the two behind with nothing to do. The place was quiet, neither one of them could start up a conversation. Quistis tried to ease herself by checking on some test papers that she brought along with her for the trip, she knew it was going to be a long day, so why not do something productive? She thought. Everyone had their business to attend to, except for Seifer that is…he felt uneasy being so quiet and bored, so to take away his boredom, he stood up and went for a short walk around the vessel. Quistis, unable to bear his pity towards the poor guy went after to check on him.
"You know, if you feel so dull being in this ship for a long time, instead, why don't you warm yourself up? I know you will face several battles ahead of you…" She said as she approached him who was looking dumbly at the iron ceiling.
"Hmph, I don't need some stupid warm up before going into combat, all I need is my sweet ol' Hyperion to do the job." He said lowering his gaze to meet hers.
"Ah yes, I forgot, I'm facing the great Seifer Almasy of Balamb Garden right now." Quistis kidded as to lighten up the gloomy atmosphere.
"Ha, that's rich… but why do we have to grab these small stupid stones anyway? Why do we have to waste our time by going there and messing around the place's peace while all the while we can sleep and relax on our weekend? What is this dumb old blue stone anyway?" Seifer complained since he planned on going fishing that day. It's quite rare of him to complain about going into missions especially when it involves a challenge, but it's also common for him to be very moody when someone or something interrupts his set plans.
"Well Seifer, let me educate you with the purpose of the Blue Orb. As you can see its great shimmer is the stone's hidden energy that is trapped within. This stone will be needed and required to be use at Esthar during your SeeD examination. This is a key that you will be using to open up doors and other passageways of the monument. Now do you understand Mr. Almasy?"
"Yeah sure, you didn't have to be so formal you know. Argh! Whatever it is the reason why Cid had to let us take the stupid SeeD Preparation Mission is all bullshit! I just hope we get this over and done with as soon as possible." By this time, Seifer was really getting impatient at the situation. So Quistis left him if she knows what's good for her…
After several hours of travel, they soon arrived at the location. Seifer hurriedly went down and slaughtered every Blood Souls that were in sight of the landing area. He was about to jump down the big tree stem that was blocking his way when Quistis harshly threw at him a small piece of rock, cause if it were any bigger, he could have been paralyzed…or worse…comatose.
"SEIFER ALMASY, GET BACK HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT! I HAVE NOT GIVEN ANY ORDERS FOR YOU TO RUSH IN THERE!" Quistis exclaimed all furious at Seifer's hoarse behavior.
"Alright! Alright! But you didn't have to be so violent." He replied as he slowly retreated back to the landing site.
"Okay, so here are the bags where you will be placing the blue crystals. Now let me warn you that the monsters in the vicinity are not to be played with, several people have lost their lives in this place. Irvine, Rinoa, Seifer, please be very careful all right? This is now your chance to become a SeeD so do your best and good luck! You may now go and enter the ruin." Quistis meekly said. The two hurried off while Seifer was left behind. So she took this chance by giving him encouragement. "Seifer, this is it, do your best and don't be ignorant with your actions, remember, this is the last time that you'll be taking this test, so don't fail me."
"HAH! Tri-faces, Malboros, Ruby Dragons, they're all the same, MORTAL!" Seifer bragged with confidence.
"Seifer, I'm serious…please, be careful." She seriously said worriedly looking at him.
"Hmph, don't worry! I can even handle this myself, why worry? Rinoa the dreaded sorceress and Irvine the seductive sharpshooter are comin' along, things will be fine…I promise." Assured Seifer before he ran after his two colleagues.
As the three entered the ruin, several Bloodsouls and Anadactur immediately ambushed them. They easily defeated them, but as they went down deeper into the ruin, they faced tougher opponents, but luck was with them, they were not able to face any Malboros or Ruby Dragons.
When they arrived at the stone ruin, they were able to spot some blue orbs close by. They quickly mined them and placed them on the specialized container. As they were about to leave, a sudden rush of blood in Seifer's vein caused him to become curious of his surroundings. He dared them to descend to the deepest recesses of the ruin where Squall was able to defeat the Ultima Weapon. Though both hesitated, he was able to pull through insisting since he was the Squad Leader.
"OH COME ON! Don't be such a bunch of chicken-wuss like Zell, how bad can it be? The Ultima Weapon no longer exist." Seifer insisted pulling them by their wrists.
"I know that! But we shouldn't linger around any longer, it's still too dangerous!" Rinoa warned as she had a bad feeling about the whole idea.
But soon after, their curiosity overcame their precaution. They carefully descended, when they reached somewhere near the very bottom of the ruin, certain roars could be heard. This intrigued Seifer, while made Rinoa even more tensed. Irvine on the other hand was also a bit scared since he came close to death when they battled out the Ultima Weapon, but he too wanted to see the site once more for himself and also prove to the two that he's as gutsy as Seifer.
As they proceeded on their sidequest under the ruin, the groans became louder and louder. When they arrived at the bottom, they hid somewhere behind a big massive rock. Before they could peek and see where the roars came from, Seifer, being in the mood for a thrill had an engaging idea.
"Wait, don't peek, I want a real surprise from here. On the count of three, I want us to all jump out from here and surprise ourselves with what's hidden behind this large boulder, and at the same time shock the ones behind it…whatever it is." He softly whispered at them.
"Seifer, you are a fool to even think of that! You don't know what's hidden behind this rock, what if those were Hexadragons!?" Rinoa protested
"If so, then I'd be a piece of cake! They're as easy as those stupid Grats!" Irvine affirmed who was also in the mood to show off.
"If you two wanna die, then fine! But I don't plan on dying without children." Rinoa argued back still not convinced by the two guys. But Seifer got sick of the raven-haired sorceress and couldn't hold his excitement much longer, so he made a solution.
"Alright, I'm going in, and so are the both of you. Irvine, grab Rinoa's arm, at the count of three we jump."
He held Rinoa's arm into a grip and so did Irvine, before Rinoa could once again complain Seifer started counting.
"One, two, THREE!"
Both men jumped together while Rinoa tagged along with their valiant leap. But their excitement soon turned to shock and terror for what they saw was more than they could bear. Hoards and hoards of Ruby Dragons were there biting and pushing each other for space. No one could explain the phenomenon, but as to their hypothesis, during the incident of the Lunar Cry, the part where most frightful monsters fell on the Battleship Island, and packs of Ruby Dragons were able to reach to very depths of the ruin after the Ultima Weapon was vanquished. Only those Dragons are wise and capable enough to reach those parts, considered as the "King of the Dragons" they indeed are the greatest Dragons that ever walked the planet.
As they stood there, they were silent, astonished of what they saw. None of them spoke a word, nor even moved a budge. All three were just there, standing with eyes wide open and jaw dropping from shock and fear. At first, they were lucky not to be noticed. Cold sweat dripped everywhere around their body every second. Their minds were blank, they thought of no means on how to escape their dreaded nightmare. As minutes passed by, Seifer was able to regain his consciousness; he slowly stepped back grabbing Rinoa and Irvine along for their escape. Slowly they walked the opposite direction, not looking back, not making any sudden moves. As they were about to reach a spot where they could hide, a small fiber from nowhere came in contact with Rinoa's nose. She struggled to avoid the most terrible-possible thing that could actually happen that very moment: get the attention of the Dragons.
"Ah---A—Ahh---AAAACHOOOOO!!!!" Rinoa sneezed so loudly that over a dozen Ruby Dragons was caught by her attention.
"Bless you, and now…we're doomed…" Irvine snapped, still capable of breaking a joke.
"Gulp… I think we better run…RRRUUUNNN!!!" Seifer exclaimed as he ran as fast as possible grabbing the two along with him.
They ran up with much effort and speed, but to no avail. Several Ruby Dragons chased them up and tried attacking them, luckily enough, they were agile and avoided such assaults. As they passed through the various levels, the dragon decreased in numbers since only the smaller ones could pass through the gates of each area that when they reached the top, only about seven Dragons remained. Though less in number, Ruby Dragons are still fierce creatures that are to be feared. Though the three could now fight against them, their energy already dozed out from all a running and evading.
As soon as Quistis caught sight of them and the Dragons, she quickly healed them with several elixirs. Then when they were able to recover enough strength the party started.
Seifer started out by casting triple on himself. Irvine summoned Diablo while Rinoa cast Aura on herself. Quistis also cast Aura on herself and Xu. With the preparations at place, they started attacking the Ruby Dragons one by one. They were able to kill three Dragons after several turns. But it was getting hard now since the continuously attacked with Breath. They first knocked out Xu, followed by Irvine and Quistis. Only the two fighters were left standing. Rinoa's HP was reduced to a hundred, while Seifer kept on healing himself keeping his HP up to 7685. Rinoa was already trembling from pain, after a while, she was able to turn herself into the sorceress. Before the Ruby Dragon could attack her, she was able to pull off Hell's Judgement and reduced the all Dragons' HP by one.
Since she used up too much strength, she ended up fainting, leaving Seifer to finish off the job. Since the Dragons' HP were only 1, with all his might, he reached his limit break and swiftly glided through the air and stabbed the Dragons right on their hearts using Fire Cross.
With that, the battle concluded, he then quickly revived his KOed party members by casting Full-cure on them. When they were able to regain enough strength, they headed back for Balamb Garden.
Quistis was quietly standing near the glass window at the end or the bridge towards the elevator. Seifer cautiously approached her then asked:
"Are you gonna tell the Headmaster what just happened?"
She slowly turned her gaze towards him and said: "What do you think?"
"…you might…"
"It's my job. It's my responsibility to report everything that happens on this mission."
"If so…then I guess I just failed." He softly mumbled stopping down his head.
"Why will you fail? You just defeated four Ruby Dragons alone and saved our lives, now who in the world with the right mind would fail are hero such as yourself?"
"HUH!? But--"
"My job is to report everything that I witness. Why? Was I there with you when you stupidly dared Irvine and Rinoa to do such a mindless act? But…if you think that the Headmaster should be informed about this, then why not?"
"NO! PLEASE! I beg you, you can't tell him what trouble I just put you guys through." Seifer pleaded on his knees surprising Quistis
"Okay, okay! Don't worry, my lips are sealed and so is Xu's…but I just don't know if Rinoa plans on doing the same thing."
"Nah, I wouldn't worry too much about her, I'm sure she too wishes to pass this test."
"I guess so you're right, but you owe me one for this."
"Yeah, sure…thanks."
And so when they arrived, Quistis gave her report without mentioning Seifer's stupid mistake. They were able to sleep tight that night for a few days from now, the real test will begin…
A/N: And that's that! Don't forget your REVIEWS okay? Please tell me how bad do you think I am when it comes to writing action scenes…cause this is what really held me back from updating. Til next time, see ya!