Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VIII, or any of its characters. I do own the characters that I created though.
Sophia opened her eyes. She felt Seifer's arms holding her. She looked up and saw Seifer's forest green eyes staring into her eyes.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
She nodded. "What happened? The last thing that I remember is getting hit really, really, really hard."
"We were attacked and Ragnarok landed pretty hard but I don't think it got scratched up or damaged that much." Seifer helped her stand. Quistis stood up and rubbed her head.
"Is everyone okay?" Sophia asked.
"Yeah." Rinoa stood up. Squall sat in the corner.
Zell jumped up and stretched. "That was one hell of a ride."
"Please don't say 'Let's do that again!'." Quistis shook her head.
"Let's do that again!" Zell mainly said that to irritate her.
Quistis sighed. "Does anyone know where we landed?"
Everyone looked at each other. No one said anything. Zell looked out of the window.
"What is it, Zell?" Quistis walked and stood beside him. "Snow. Nothing but snow and mountains. Where did we land?" She asked no one in particular.
"I've never seen this place before." Selphie narrowed her eyes. "How far off were we from Balamb Garden?"
"Not very far, actually. I may have been speeding, but it was really just in circles. I didn't want to go that far from the Garden just in case." Sophia wiped the blood from her forehead off. "Hey, uh…shouldn't Trabia Garden be near?"
"I think it is, but I don't remember this place so…there's a good chance that Trabia garden isn't near." Selphie rocked back and forth.
"Maybe if we-" Sophia was interrupted.
"Maybe if we just stroll around out there then report back here." Zell suggested.
"I was just-" Sophia was interrupted again.
"We should report back here in the next hour if we haven't found Trabia Garden by then." Zell started punching the air. Again.
"Let's go with what Zell just said." Sophia said. She was happy that Zell didn't interrupt her again. The group walked outside.
"It's freezing!!" That was the first thing that came out of Sophia's mouth when she stepped outside. She rubbed her bare arms. Her sleeveless shirt wasn't exactly suitable for below freezing weather.
"We'll split up. Seifer and Sophia," Zell thought that those two would be the best couple. "Rinoa and Squall, Selphie and Quistis, and Irvine and I."
Sophia and Seifer walked through the snow. They all had ropes leading back to Ragnarok so none of them would get lost.
Sophia slowly walked through the knee high snow. 'It's so cold. I really should've brought a coat or something to keep me warm.' She felt something cover her shoulders. She looked up and saw Seifer placing his trench coat on her. "What about you? Are you gonna get cold?" She noticed that he had a sleeveless shirt on too.
"I'll be fine. I'm used to this type of weather." He reassured her.
"Thanks." She slipped her arms in the coat. It felt SO warm. The trench coat was of course a bit big for her, but she didn't care. She was now warm.
The two had already walked for about forty-five minutes, and there was still no sign of Trabia Garden. Sophia noticed Seifer was getting really cold.
"We should head back now. It'll be much, much warmer in Ragnarok." She looked over at her brother. He stayed silent. "Seifer? Seif? Please answer me." She froze in her tracks. Seifer did so too.
"I'm…I'm fine." Seifer choked out the words.
"You don't look too good. Here. Take your coat back. I'm fine now." She tried to hand his coat back, but he refused.
"I told you…I'm f…fine." He choked out the words once more.
"Please. You really don't look good. I'm fine now, I really am. So you can take it back. Please. Don't be stubborn now." Sophia watched as he fell to his knees. "SEIFER!!"
"I don't think we're where we think we are." Zell strolled along, obviously bored.
"I agree. So you think Seifer's datin' Sophia, eh?" Irvine looked over at Zell.
Zell nodded. He knew that he wasn't supposed to tell anyone, but he just had to tell Irvine, and plus…Irvine promised that he wouldn't tell anyone.
"Do ya think she'd like a guy like me? I mean, what if Seifer and her broke up mysteriously and I, like, showed up outta nowhere and tried to comfort her. Do you think she'd go out with me?" Irvine asked.
"Uh……I don't know. I guess she would. How am I supposed to know? You're just gonna have to try. And anyway, how ya supposed to brake those two up?" Zell kicked some snow up into the air.
"Trust me. I've gotta plan." Irvine turned around. "It's 'bout time to head back, so…let's go. I don't think Trabia Garden is anywhere near."
Sophia took off Seifer's trench coat and put it on top of him.
"Come on now. Put on the coat. You have get up and move around so you don't freeze." Sophia shook him a bit. He just laid there. "Seifer! Please get up! You're scaring me and I don't get scared that often! So PLEASE get up!" It was no use. Her brother was out cold. She screamed out in frustration. She had no way to pull Seifer back to Ragnarok. She might've been strong for a teenage girl, but she could NOT pull a man that was probably well over one-hundred and fifty pounds.
'Maybe the others are already at Ragnarok and if I pull on the rope, they might see it moving, and then come get us.' She gently tugged on the rope. To her surprise, the rope seemed to be a little loose. She cocked her head. 'What the-' She continued pulling on the rope. The other end of the rope showed up. She held both ends in her hands. 'The rope's been cut! But who cut it?!' The roped didn't look like it had been broke off by her pulling on it. Something or someone had cut it. She heard heavy footsteps running their way. She saw something big coming towards them. She immediately tried to summon her GF. Nothing happened. 'I can't use magic here. Isn't that just my luck?' Since she couldn't use magic, she grabbed Seifer's arms and tried to drag him. She dragged him until she saw a small cave nearby. She looked into the distance and saw the creature getting closer. It was none other than a Blue Dragon. 'Just perfect.' She stood Seifer up and let him lean on her. "Come on, Seif. You've gotta walk with me. Running would be okay too, ya know." It was like he had heard her because he started walking, but the Blue Dragon was faster. The Dragon seemed to have gotten distracted by something, long enough for Seifer and Sophia to make it to the small cave.
"Where are they?" Zell paced around inside Ragnarok.
"I don't know. It's been ten minutes since we were supposed to come back to Ragnarok." Quistis sat comfortably in a chair.
"Well, I'm going to go out and follow the rope. They couldn't have gotten lost. I made sure the rope was tight." Squall opened the door and walked outside. Ten minutes later he returned. "Th-the ropes been cut." He sat down.
"What?! How is that possible?!" Rinoa stood up.
"A monster could've gotten to it. Let's fly Ragnarok around and try to find them. A blizzard's comin' and it won't be safe for them to be out there all alone." Squall stood up and sat back down in the driver's seat.
Sophia lit a fire. The wood that she found in the back of the cave burned quickly, and the fire wasn't that big at all, but it at least warmed them up a bit. Seifer was laying a foot away from the fire, covered up in his coat and away from the cave entrance. Sophia sat right beside the fire. They were lucky that something had distracted the Blue Dragon long enough so they could get to the cave. She crawled over to Seifer and laid beside him and cuddled under the coat. She tried not to fall asleep, but she was just so tired. Her eyes quickly closed.
"Look! Cave spotted!" Zell pointed out of the window.
"I see it, Zell." Squall told him.
"I know, I know. I said that just in case you didn't see it." Zell walked back over to his chair and sat down.
Squall landed Ragnarok a few yards away from the cave. "Who's gonna come with me?"
"I will! I will!" Zell jumped up and down.
Squall thought the last thing that he needed was a maniac with him during a blizzard. "Irvine." He pointed to Irvine. "Zell, you stay here and entertain the women."
"But Squall!" Rinoa jumped up from her seat. Squall and Irvine were already out of Ragnarok before she could beg him to take Zell instead.
Zell turned a cd-player on. "Let's party!!"
Selphie, Quistis, and Rinoa sighed.
Squall and Irvine walked inside the cave only to find Seifer and Sophia. They were both sleeping beside a pile of wood that looked like it used to be a fire. They were both cuddled under Seifer's trench coat. Squall walked over to them and gently shook Seifer. He didn't wake. He then tried to wake up Sophia, but she didn't wake either.
"Looks like they're both out cold." Irvine walked over to them. "I'll take carry Sophia back to Ragnarok." Irvine immediately took Sophia out from under the coat and picked her up. Before Squall could reject, Irvine ran back to Ragnarok. Squall put Seifer's coat in one hand, and helped him stand with the other.
"What happened?" Seifer asked quietly.
"I don't know. You're gonna have to ask Sophia whenever she wakes up." Squall handed Seifer his trench coat.
Seifer took it and put it back on. "Where is she?"
"Irvine carried her back to Ragnarok." Squall started to head back.
"She's gonna kill him." Seifer muttered as he followed Squall to Ragnarok.
Sophia opened her eyes only to find Irvine carrying her. They both were now inside Ragnarok. She immediately punched him and landed on her feet. He fell backwards. She stomped over to the driver's seat and sat down.
Irvine rubbed his nose. "I think she likes me." Selphie immediately smacked him. A guy should never say those words about another woman while his girlfriend is in the same room. Selphie stomped over to her seat and sat down. Irvine now rubbed his right cheek, then sat down in his chair. 'Women.' He thought amongst himself.
Seifer laughed silently. 'I knew he'd blow it sometime.' He watched his sister start up Ragnarok.
They saw Balamb Garden a couple hours later. When they landed Ragnarok, Cid was waiting outside of Balamb Garden. Everyone walked out of Ragnarok.
"Where have you been? It's been nearly five hours." Cid watched Seifer as he carried the sleeping Sophia inside Garden.
"It's been a long day and I think we all would like to get some sleep." Quistis said quietly, obviously very tired. They all quietly, but quickly, made their way to the Dormitory and went to their separate rooms.
Two hours later, Sophia found herself in her bed. She found a note on her desk. She silently stood up and walked over to the desk. She looked at the note, then stomped out of her room and down the long hall. Seifer ran to catch up to her.
"Did you get a note too?" He asked her.
"Yep." She yawned. "Why would he want to speak to both of us?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe chicken wuss got us into some trouble that we don't know 'bout."
"Maybe." Sophia stepped inside the elevator. Seifer did so too.
When they arrived in Cid's office, they walked over to his new desk. After finding out that Balamb Garden could fly, he arranged his office so the elevator to the driving room wouldn't be in the way, even though it was in the middle of the room.
"Good evening, you two." Cid greeted them. Seifer and Sophia sat down in some chairs.
"What'd ya wanna talk to us 'bout?" Sophia asked, leaning back in the chair.
"Well, I was really surprised when I looked over your application to join Balamb Garden. I didn't know when'd have another Almasy added to Garden." Cid sat comfortably in his chair.
"That's not a problem, is it?" Sophia asked.
"No. I was just wondering that since you were here, if you wanted to take try to become a SeeD. If Seifer did a wonderful on his fifth try," Cid looked over at Seifer. "then I thought that his sister would do a great job."
"SeeD? Isn't that some special force that works for Gardens?" Sophia asked. She had heard of SeeD's before, but she never really knew exactly what they did.
"Yes. I will only need to see how well you can use that gunblade of yours. So, would you like to try to become a SeeD?" Cid looked back at Sophia.
"Well…uh…um…I…I don't know. My original job is to train Seifer and the others for the war that is coming, and…that is really all that I was told to do, so I guess what I do outside of the time that I'm using to train them, I can do, join or participate in anything that I want to. So, yes. I would like to." Sophia was positive that the person who told her of her mission, would be okay with what she chose to do with her spare time.
"Good. Your test is simple. All you have to do is show me how well you can fight, and if you pass the test, you will then be a SeeD." Cid leaned back in his chair.
"Okay." Sophia looked over at Seifer, who now decided to speak.
"Why did you call me here?" Seifer asked Cid.
"Because I wanted you to get to know your sister better. You are to be one of the people that she fights." Cid explained to him. "I wanted it to be a challenge, so fighting her brother should be one. Is okay with you?" He looked at Sophia. She nodded. "Good. Your test is in a two days, so prepare yourself."
Sophia nodded once more, than stood. "I will be in the 'Training Center' if anyone needs me." She left.
"Oh, and Seifer," Cid stopped Seifer before he could leave. "If your sister needs any help during her stay here, you are to be the one who helps her, okay? And please don't let her do anything like she did with Zell." Cid knew Sophia was the one that had hung Zell upside-down in the cafeteria.
"Okay, okay." Seifer sighed, then left the room.
Cid trusted Seifer to do his job correctly. Okay, so Matron was the one who trusted him more than Cid did.
"Don't worry. He'll be fine." Matron reassured Cid.
"I know. I know." Cid closed his eyes and prayed Seifer would do this right. 'I mean, how hard could it be?'
Sophia's gunblade cut though a T-Rex and quickly took it out. Her gunblade was made specially to fit her needs, and she would be needing to train Seifer and the others so she needed a powerful weapon. The gunblade was a gift from Hyne himself. He was the one who ordered her to train them and get them prepared for the upcoming war. She heard footsteps walking up behind her. She spun around and held the gunblade up to the person's neck. She was so fast, Seifer didn't have time to react.
"Oh. It's only you." She let the gunblade fall to her side.
"You seem happy to see me. What's wrong?" Seifer rested his own gunblade on his shoulder.
"Oh, nothing's wrong. It's just that I think Irvine's been hittin' on me." Sophia knew he was because he kept winking at her.
Seifer laughed. "He hits on every woman he sees. You don't have to worry 'bout him. I'm pretty sure Selphie will take care of him."
"Oh, are them two, like, together?" Sophia asked.
"Yep."
"So why does he continue to flirt with other women?" She asked.
"Who knows?" He shrugged his shoulders. "If we don't hurry, we'll be late for hot dogs at the cafeteria, and that's the best food they have there."
Sophia nodded and followed him out.
That night, after Sophia and Seifer had left the cafeteria, they both walked towards Seifer's room. The cafeteria was out of hot dogs by the time they had arrived there, and Zell was fussing at the cafeteria lady for not saving him one, so they were both pretty tired. Them two were the ones who had to drag Zell out of the cafeteria, since everyone else had tried and no one had had any luck moving him. Sophia leaned against Seifer for support. She was a bit clumsy, since she was very tired. Seifer had his arm around her shoulders.
"You want me to walk you over to your room?" Seifer asked.
"Uh? Oh…nah. I'll just sleep in your room for…tonight." She yawned.
"Well, you've got to leave early in the morning then 'cause people might suspect somethin'." Seifer yawned too. It was going on nine o'clock at night. It had taken them forever to get Zell out of that cafeteria. They were lucky that they were awake enough to eat.
When they walked inside Seifer's room, Sophia immediately fell down in the chair and dozed off. Seifer picked up Sophia, laid her on the bed, then covered her up. He sat down in the chair and fell asleep.
'I see you have found them.' A man's voice told Sophia.
Sophia opened her eyes. Hyne never showed himself to her, but he always sent a messenger in her dreams to talk to her. The voice did NOT sound like the messenger that Hyne usually sends her in her dreams.
"Who is this?" She asked, looking around in the pitch black that surrounded her. She couldn't see anything.
"It is Hyne." The man's voice told her.
She quickly bowed when a man with long, silver haired wearing white clothes appeared before her. His bright blue eyes stared down at Sophia.
"Please, stand." Hyne ordered her. She obeyed.
"Why have you come to me?" She asked him. She knew better than to ask the God himself questions, but she couldn't help herself.
"I came to tell you how long you have until the war comes." Sophia listened with interest as he said this. "You have only three weeks until the Sorceress has come back from the dead."
"But that isn't nearly enough time to train them!" Sophia yelled. She quickly calmed down once she remembered who she was talking to. "I'm sorry." She bowed again.
"That is alright. I understand your anger. I did not expect to find out that she would come so soon. You will just have to adjust your schedule so that it fits within those three weeks. I will appear to you again just two days before the Sorceress is to attack. Until then, I wish you luck on your mission." With that said, Hyne disappeared. Sophia was now left to think to herself.
'What am I going to do? It's almost impossible to train seven people for a war that they did not even expect. Well, I'm just going to have to do my best, and if they are not fully trained when the three weeks are up, then I will just have to fight with all that I've got.' Sophia knew that with herself alone, she had a five percent chance that she would win. But if she trained the chosen seven to be as strong as her, then their chance to win would be raised by thirty-five percent. They had a forty percent chance to beat the Sorceress. Forty percent was a lot better than five percent. She was hoping that along with the GF's, they would have a much better chance to defeat her. And plus, her GF wasn't like any other GF. It was stronger than a normal one. She knew that once the Sorceress came back from the dead, and that she would be ninety times stronger than she was before she was killed. She stared out into the darkness.
'Then it's settled. In three weeks, I will have them fully ready to fight Sorceress Ultimecia.'
