Chapter 9: Inaguration
The ride back to Balamb was, thankfully, uneventful. Squall had had enough of surprises for one day. Zell and Selphie were sitting in their seats, tired and exhausted, but in good cheer. Seifer looked bored, while Squall himself just sat back in his chair and let the adrenalin from the last few minutes of his mission seep away.
Within a couple of hours they were back in Balamb, the Salamander sailing in for the docks. Most of the other ships were either docked or had returned to the Garden-owned harbor where they were stored between missions. As soon as the vessel came to a stop by the dock the door swung open, and Squall stepped out, Zell and Selphie right behind them. Squall paused to breathe in the clean air around Balamb, the quiet port town a stark contrast to Dollet's warzone.
Other SeeDs and cadets were also milling around the docks, and from their numbers it seemed that everyone had survived the battle unharmed. The Garden soldiers talked casually among themselves, the SeeDs recounting their battles with the Galbadians, often gesturing with their hands to show how they had fought or describing certain manuevers. The cadets had somewhat less to say, since the only cadet unit to have seen anywhere near as much combat as the SeeDs was Squad B. Squall caught an envious look from the captain of Squad A directed at himself and Zell, and the cadet felt a slight bit of satisfaction at deflating the vain support cadet.
Behind the trio of cadets followed Seifer, who strode out like some conquering hero, standing tall and proudly. He pushed past the trio and headed for the edge of the crowd.
"SEIFER!" came a call from the edge of the congregated SeeD force, and Fujin and Raijin pushed through to stand before their fearless leader.
"How'd it go?" Raijin asked eagerly, wanting to hear of Seifer's exploits.
"Man," Seifer said with a shake of his head. He gestured back to the trio behind him. "All they did was get in my way. Being a leader ain't easy."
"Pompous jerk," Zell muttered, while Squall just shrugged.
"SAFE?" Fujin asked, sounding somewhat concerned. Seifer's response was a look of shock, as if he thought the idea of him being harmed was absurd.
"They were only Galbadians," Seifer remarked with a grin. Fujin nodded, and with that, the Disciplinary Committee took their leave of the SeeD group.
By this time, most of the SeeDs were either heading off in groups into the town for some rest and relaxation, or were heading for their vehicles to go back to Garden.
"Good job!" Quistis called behind them as she exited the vessel. She strode across the dock, smiling proudly. Then Quistis paused for a moment, searching the docks with her gaze. "Where's Seifer?" she asked. Squall shrugged and pointed down towards the other end of the docks, in the general direction Seifer had taken. Quistis sighed and shrugged. It seemed obvious she had wanted to talk to the captain about something, doubtless his blatant disregard for orders.
"Well, that's typical," she remarked. "Be back at Garden by sundown. You're free 'till then. Dismissed." With that, Quistis walked back into the vessel, probably to talk to Xu or the pilot about something.
The trio of cadets, tired and worn out, headed for their car. Only, as they approached the parking lot, the last vehicle left on the lot roared to life and sped away, heading up the road. Without even getting a look at the driver, Squall knew it was Seifer behind the wheel.
"HEY!" Zell shouted in surprise and anger. "Dammit, that was our ride! There goes Mr. Ego . . . ." Squall shrugged, expecting nothing less from Seifer.
"Might as well walk it," he remarked, and started off for the edge of town.
"Walk? Ah, man," Zell muttered.
"Hey, at least we get some exercise," Selphie said optimistically.
"Exercise?" Zell responded, sounding surprised. "What do you call that whole 'Run away! Galbadian robot on our asses!' thing?"
"Our job," Squall added from ahead, without missing a beat. Zell sighed, defeated.
"Hey, at least let's stop by my place," Zell added as he followed them out of the docks sector. "We can take a break, and my mom's a good cook!"
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Cid sighed as he looked over the report from the battlefield, while sitting in his office. Losses among the friendly Dollet troops had been high, especially from around the main road into the city, where SeeD reinforcements had to be diverted from supporting the soldiers to fighting off another group of Galbadians that had come from what was supposed to be a secured sector. That unsecured sector, the Central Square, was left that way because of Seifer Almasy's actions, and for that, Dollet's Parliament was fuming.
"Our best and our worst," Cid muttered, looking over the report on Seifer's actions. Apparently, he had spotted a group of Galbadians sneaking through the area and had ordered his squad to leave their post to find out what was going on. However, he had done this without asking for authorization from the mission commander.
Despite the brashness of his actions, Seifer and Squad B had located the Galbadians repairing the Dollet Comms Tower, which was an unusual action. The Galbadians had been quietly asking Dollet to repair the tower over the last few months, but the Dukedom had refused, instead stating that there was no need with HD cable communication. No one had expected the Galbadians were this serious about repairing the tower, but it was done, even if Galbadia had been forced out of the city for now. It could have been a more permanent drive if Dollet's Parliament had offered more money for the SeeD intervention; as it was, Garden had only received enough payment for them to come in and assist in a counterattack, and not enough gil had been offered for a long-term deployment to force Galbadia out. If they wanted to badly enough, the Galbadians could retake the city now. It wasn't SeeD's concern anymore now that they had the gil and their troops had withdrawn.
Though Dollet's Parliament had been loathe to turn over the rest of the payment, considering Seifer's irresponsible actions. The Duke himself had been complaining about how much they had to pay for mercenaries who didn't even do their jobs. It was bad enough that they were paying nine- digit figures of gil for less than two-dozen soldiers, but it seemed some of those soldiers couldn't even be relied on!
Seifer's actions had indeed revealed Galbadia's true intent with the attack, but a what cost to Garden? Would Dollet ever trust SeeD and Garden again now?
"Seifer . . ." Cid muttered quietly, shaking his head. That boy had been nothing but headaches throughout his whole time at Garden. He wondered if this was the incident that would finally provoke an expulsion. Expulsion had never been used on a cadet or SeeD who misbehaved in combat before, but then, neither a SeeD nor a cadet had ever so blatantly disregarded orders like this.
There were so many issues . . . .
Cid sighed and returned to reviewing the reports. If Seifer's actions had been irresponsible and insubordinate, then those of his team had been perfect. Zell Dincht and Squall Leonhart had shown sufficient tendencies towards obeying orders. Despite Dincht's protests, he had obeyed his captain's decision to go after the Galabdians, as had Leonhart. And both cadets had shown excellent combat skills, taking down numerous Galbadians and also a marauding Anacondaur.
But, it was immediately afterward that the two had come into their own, as had the messenger from Squad A, Selphie Tilmitt. In the battle at the top of the tower, the report said, the trio had shown remarkable teamwork and skills, and Leonhart had turned out to be quite the leader, formulating battle plans on the fly and using each member of his impromptu squad to their best abilities, even taking advantage of Seifer's independent actions.
Then there was the escape from Dollet with the Galbadian weapon in hot pursuit. Throughout that pursuit, the trio of cadets had shown skill, judgement, and teamwork, bringing down the spider machine repeated times. Tilmitt's supportive actions with magic and Dincht's daring and brilliant manuver with the grenades had both shown the necassary requirements for being a SeeD.
And then there were Leonhart's own actions, including his selfless and brave act of holding off the machine and drawing it after himself, allowing his injured and spent comrades time to escape and alert Quistis so she could bring the weapon down. That kind of act was uncommon, even among the inducted SeeDs.
All three cadets had shown they belonged in SeeD. Cid Kramer entered their names and ID numbers into the "Approved" list on his computer, and then moved to the next set of reports, from Squad D.
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"Ma!" Zell shouted as he stepped through the door leading down into his house. "I'm home!" Squall and Selphie were right behind him, and were struck by the wonderful aromas coming from the kitchen. So much better than Garden's preprocessed food.
The Dincht household was like many of Balamb's residential buildings, which had been built like apartments as one long, low line of dwellings running down the length of the street. Essentially, each Balamb house was part of the same structure, just divided off into seperate homes for seperate families. The actual floor of the homes was a little below the level of the streets outside, almost giving the one the impression of descending into a burrow when one went down the steps leading inside. Despite being slightly underground, the Balamb houses were far from dark, being well-lit by high windows, and featuring second story bedrooms.
Squall entered the first room of the house, the main den and entry hall. The room was tidy and clean, as expected when a woman ran the place. Squall could see various knick-knacks and a few electronics scattered around the mid-sized room, and a nice throw rug covered the floor. The whole room was of a dark beige color, that of the stone it was made out of, but the color actually gave the room a cozy effect. There were several archways leading out of the room, one to a living room directly across from the entrance, a second leading to a set of stairs that went up to the bedrooms, and a third that Zell was dissappearing through, and where the aromas emerged from, doubtless the kitchen where Mama Dincht was cooking.
"Zell!" a heavyset woman happily in the kitchen as Zell pulled her into a hug. "What a surprise!" She glanced over her son's shoulder to see Squall and Selphie, the latter also entering the kitchen, being drawn in by the wonderful smell of whatever was being prepared on the stove. "Are these your friends?"
"Kinda," Zell said with a nod. "We ended up working together today."
"Oh, you're not off today?" Mama Dincht asked as she resumed her cooking.
"Nah, outdor class," Zell replied. "Hopefully the last one!"
"Oh the exam!" Mama Dincht exclaimed. "I heard about it! Tell me, how did you all do . . . ?"
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The cadets stayed at the Dincht house for about an hour as Zell and Selphie recounted their parts in the battle over some of Mama Dincht's cooking. Squall listened mostly, and ate some, equally impressed by Ma Dincht's homemade meals.
Wow, he thought as he listened to Selphie tell of how she had tracked down Squad B, frantically following the trail of bodies leading up into the mountians. He hadn't had food like this since . . . .
That brought a pause to Squall's thoughts.
Since when did he have this kind of homemade food? He definately recalled eating food somewhere, but when? It wasn't in recent memory, and he certianly hadn't eaten any food prepared by his parents. Like many other Garden cadets, Squall was an orphan, and he had been in the Garden since being only five years old. And in all that time, he'd mostly eaten food from the cafeteria. Yet he distinctly recalled eating homemade food long ago . . . but when?
Squall shook off the question. It didn't really matter now.
"Don't we need to get back to Garden soon?" Selphie asked as she finished her part of the story. Squall glanced at his watch, and nodded.
"It's at least an hour's walk back," he replied, standing up from his chair. "We'll need to leave soon if we want to make it back by sundown."
"You're walking?" Ma Dincht said in surprise. "I thought you SeeDs came in your vehicles."
"Nah, we did," Zell clarified as the cadets got up. "But our captain had a problem with sharing."
"Oh, that Seifer, right?" Ma Dincht replied, shaking her head knowingly. Zell shrugged and nodded. Seifer wasn't just a well-known troublemaker in Garden, after all. "Well, you can expect that out of him. You kids take care, alright?"
"Hey, no problem, Ma!" Zell said with a grin.
"Yeah!" Selphie agreed. "And thanks for the food! It was great!" Squall said nothing, only nodding in agreement with Selphie's compliment and then heading back out towards the door.
"Squall, wait a sec," Zell said quickly as he reached the door. The cadet turned back to see Zell standing by the staircase leading up towards the second floor. "I need to get something outta my room real quick. I'll be out in a moment." With that, the martial artist bounded up the steps. Squall, not really wanting to just stand around down here in a strange house, took a couple of steps up the stairs after him. He reached the top of the stairs and spotted a door ajar, which presumably led to Zell's room. The fact that a large crayon sign reading "Zell's Room: Keep Out" was hanging on the door also helped. Squall stepped over to the door and was about to push it open when Zell himself threw the door open and almost ran Squall down.
"Whoa!" Zell shouted, hopping back in surprise. Then, his expression turned slightly suspicious. "Squall, were you about to go into my room?" he demanded. Squall just shrugged and nodded, not seeing the harm.
"Dude, man," Zell protested. "That's my room! Its sacred! Just . . . Look man, don't go in there, alright?!"
Whatever, Squall thought, nodding. He could sort of understand Zell's protectiveness of his "space." Squall himself hated to see anyone in his room, touching his stuff, if for no other reason than that was his own private "space."
"Okay, let's go!" Zell said, heading back down the stairs.
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"Expulsion?" Xu exclaimed in surprise at Cid's suggestion.
"Well, what else can we do?" Cid replied, shaking his head and leaning back in his chair. "Seifer's actions were not only in direct violation of his orders, but he also endangered his squadron and other SeeD forces, and also damaged our credibility with Dollet's Parliament. And do you see any possibility of him changing?"
"Not much," Xu replied, sighing. "But I would have thought the last two missions would have sunk in by now."
"He's independant. A loose cannon, so to speak," Cid added, coming forward and resting his elbows on his desk. "All he cares about is fighting and gaining glory. That is not what SeeD is about. We're professional soldiers, not wild dogs of war. Seifer doesn't seem to be able to grasp this. It seems like he will never be capable of working in a unit, and if he can't work with his team, then why should we continue training him?"
"He might turn around," Xu replied. She didn't like Seifer, but she knew the implications of him being expelled. Cid wasn't on NORG's good side right now, and the Garden's Master had high hopes for Seifer. "He could learn from his mistakes if we properly discipline and retrain him."
"We aren't equipped with the facilities to retrain him," Cid said, shaking his head. "We've never had the need for classes or instruction in this, because most of our students are already properly trained to work as a team by the time of their exams. Seifer, though . . ." Cid shook his head once more.
A long silence permeated the office. Finally, Xu broke the quiet.
"There's no choice then," she said, nodding reluctantly. "Expulsion."
"I'll get to work on the paperwork," Cid said. "I'll have to run this by NORG before we can finalize it."
"He won't be happy," Xu warned. "Seifer's the best we've got, even better than Squall. NORG's not going to enjoy losing such a potential money- maker."
"Of course not," Cid replied. "But I'd rather have NORG upset at losing revenue than a dead squad or no future contracts. He has to go."
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Squall and his two comrades reached the gates of Balamb Garden as the sun was setting. The trip had taken over an hour, unlike they'd expected, because Zell had led them along a "shortcut." While taking this route, the trio had encountered large numbers of Bite Bugs, not to mention Caterchippilars, a sort of large, worm-like monster. The shortcut had thus taken twice as long to navigate as following the road between Balamb and Balamb Garden would have.
Zell let lose a huge yawn as they arrived.
"Finally made it back," he remarked, stretching.
"Seriously," replied Selphie as she dusted the grime off her boot.
"Well, I guess we'll just wait for the test results," Zell replied. "Well, till then," he added, walking away. "See you later Squall!" Selphie followed suit, and headed off deeper into Garden.
"See ya!" she called cheerfully as she ran off. Squall nodded at them and waited for the pair to get pretty far ahead before he, too, entered Garden.
Normally, he path leading up to the entrance to the central structure of Garden had at least a few cadets, but now, at sunset, this area was unusually peaceful and quiet. Combined with the lush plants and outside waterfalls and pools reflecting the yellow and orange in the western sky, the outer grounds were beautiful, the epitome of Garden's own name. Squall took his time heading in, basking in the peace. He stretched out, exercising his tired and sore muscles. That last run from the machine had taken its toll on his body, GF enhancements or not.
All too soon, he'd reached the decorated entrance to the Garden and entered. As he advanced down the elevated walkway leading towards the elevators and the walkway surrounding them, Squall spotted some students talking by the railing, and beyond them, Headmaster Cid talking with Quistis and Xu. The cadet made his way towards the trio, but en route he overheard the pair of cadets, apparently one from Squad C and the other from D, talking.
"But radio signals are worthless, even if they get the tower to work," the D cadet spoke.
"Why?" the other cadet asked, confused.
"It was on last week's exam, remember?" the D cadet replied, sounding like it was obvious. "How any form of radio signals can't be used." The cadet glanced up as Squall stepped past. "Hey, Squall, how did you answer that question?" he asked.
"The interference," Squall responded flatly, without even slowing down as he passed.
"Exactly," the D cadet responded with a nod.
"Heh," the C cadet replied as Squall stepped out of earshot. "I must have skipped that lesson . . ."
The cadets were obviously talking about the reasoning behind the Galbadians' repairing of the Comms Tower, a question that was puzzling everyone, even Squall. Although he didn't really care about the reasoning himself, however. Online HD cables were the primary source of communication, and in areas that could not be reached by cable there were messengers who could use chocobos, a domesticated riding bird, as a form of communication. Though HD cables sometimes proved unreliable due to occasional line cuts, they were still widely used as the only form of communication due to the worldwide interference in radio signals, which had started seventeen years ago.
The interference had coincided with the end of the second Sorceress war between the western nations and the eastern land of Esthar, and it was widely considered to be no honest coincidence. The cause of the interference was unknown, with speculation ranging from being a result of the mysterious dissappearance of the vast Estharian capital city to a possible new weapon as a prempt for another war (which was still being thrown around by certian politicians who wanted more military spending). Whatever the reason behind the signal interference, radio waves were useless, which made the reactivation of the tower pointless.
But the Galbadians had spent a tremendous amount of manpower and effort to reactivate the tower, which made no sense. But, Squall reminded himself, value is subjective. Which meant, in other words, that the Galbadians placed a higher value on getting that tower up and running than they did the costs of a full-scale military action, and that meant . . . what?
It didn't really matter. Squall preffered to let the thinking be handled by those in charge.
By then Squall was close to the directory, where Headmaster Cid, Xu, and Quistis were still talking. He was intending to ask the instructor about where and when the results for the exam were going to be announced, but she was apparently talking with the Headmaster and Xu, so he patiently waited.
"Mission complete!" Xu said, seeming satisfied. "I think we did a pretty good job, and the candidates are all back safely, right? Although we didn't realize the Galbadian army was after the abandoned communication tower . . ."
"Indeed, that caught us by surprise," Cid confirmed with a nod. "Speaking of which, we've just received word from the Dollet Dukedom. They negotiated with Galbadia after we told them about the tower, and the Galbadian army has agreed to withdraw as long as the communications tower is kept repaired and the uplink remains operational. They retain rights to use and transmit data over the tower's frequency, as well." Both women seemed somewhat surprised at Cid's revelation, but then Xu shrugged a second later.
"Well, we did our jobs," she said. "At least Galbadia's out of there and we're getting paid. But we could have gotten more if Galbadia had stayed and caused more trouble." That last bit was added with a joking grin. She glanced over at Squall, who was still standing nearby.
"Hey!" she called to him. "You did pretty well out there!"
"Of course," Quistis replied for him. "He is by best student." Squall simply shrugged at the compliment and said nothing.
"Not very social, though," Quistis added. "If you're waiting for the results for the exam," she added, "they should be announced soon. Just wait here." Squall nodded and began to walk past the trio, looking for some secluded spot where he could wait without the annoyance of having to talk to anyone.
Apparently, the Headmaster had different intentions, since he nodded to his two subordiantes and stepped over to Squall as he began walking away. The older man tapped Squall on the shoulder, catching his attention.
"Tell me," Cid asked, smiling. "How did it feel to be out there on the battlefield?" Squall considered that question for a second, and also what it meant. Cid might be testing him, seeing how he thought he'd done and his attitude towards the battle and his job. The old man was a clever one.
To tell the truth, his first battle had not been the frightening thing other cadets spoke of. Perhaps it was merely that Squall was better conditioned or more determined. Then again, it might have had something to do with the fact that he hadn't gone into the battle without experience in the department of killing humans. Few cadets ever truly experienced their first real life-or-death battle before the exam, and it was often a wake-up call for them. Squall, on the other hand, knew the feeling of killing men before he'd ever set foot on the sands of Lapin Beach. So when the enemy had come, he had never frozen up or hesitated. They were the enemy, and they were trying to kill him and his comrades; he acted accordingly.
Cid was still waiting for an answer, so Squall gave him the one that really described his feelings toward the battle in Dollet.
". . . Whatever," Squall said, and continued past Cid. The headmaster watched him go, considering Squall's response.
"'Whatever'?" he said thoughtfully. Them the old man smiled. "'Whatever'! That's great! 'Whatever'!"
As Squall continued to walk away from the group around the directory, he found a spot along the walkway where he thought he could be alone and undisturbed. He stopped and leaned against the railing, closing his eyes and relaxing, enjoying the silence.
"Hey, Squall!" called the familiar voice of Seifer, breaking the silence. Squall's eyes snapped open and he looked over to his self-styled rival as the white-coated cadet approached, a wide smile on his face.
"Did you hear about the tower?" Seifer asked, shaking his head. "Damn Galbadians were after it all along! And they never would have known about it if we hadn't found out ourselves! Man, if we hadn't had to pull out, Dollet wouldn't have been forced to negotiate with Galbadia, either." Seifer laughed. "If it weren't for that stupid withdrawal order, we'd have been heroes!"
"You were only looking for a fight," Quistis accused Seifer from behind his shoulder. The captian turned towards his instructor, a mockingly hurt expression on his face as he regarded her and Xu, both approaching.
"My dear instructor," Seifer said, his voice also dripping with sarcastic hurt. "Those are rather cruel words for an aspiring student." He smiled, his hurt expression turning somewhat harder. A sneer appeared on his face. "A mediocre instructor like you would never understand."
Even Squall was shocked by the condescending insult. Quistis's expression turned to amazement, while Xu's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Don't be so stuck on yourself," she said sharply. "You'll take all responsibility for leaving the designated area and jeapordizing the operation." Seifer shrugged in response, still sneering.
"Isn't it the captian's duty to take the best possible action?" he questioned. Xu crossed her arms and leaned forward, staring Seifer dead in the eye.
"You'll never be a SeeD," Xu told him with all seriousness. It seemed almost like she knew beyond a doubt Seifer would not pass. "Calling yourself a leader, or even a squad captian, is a joke." Xu's words were spoken with conviction, and were as hard as steel. Seifer had been told off before, but Xu's words were the most blunt, direct, and convinced he'd ever heard. His eyes narrowed, and his jaw clenched tightly. His hands balled into fists and trembled in anger as he turned his gaze down to the floor.
Xu was apparently satisfied with the brief but blunt deflation of Seifer's limitless ego, and turned around to walk off. Quistis was about to follow, but hesitated as Cid Kramer walked towards the group. He nodded at Xu as she passed, then stopped next to Quistis. They spoke for a moment, then she nodded, bowed and walked after Xu. Then the Headmaster turned back to Seifer.
"Seifer," he called, getting the captian's attention. Seifer looked up at Cid, who watched him for a moment, then shook his head.
"You will be disciplined for your irresponsible behavior," Cid began. "You must follow orders exactly during combat." Cid paused, scratching the back of his head. "Though I'm not entirely without sympathy for you," Cid added. "I don't want you all to become machines. I want you to be able to think and act for yourselves. I am . . . ."
Cid trailed off as one of the red-robed Faculty approached.
"Headmaster," he began. "You have some business in your office. And NORG would like to speak with you after the ranking ceremony." Cid sighed and nodded.
"Very well," he replied. Cid looked back up at Seifer. "There . . . There are many issues at hand here. I am sorry Seifer. Disciplinary actions will be taken." With that, the Headmaster turned and walked towards the elevators, leaving Seifer alone in silence and anger.
"Dammit . . ." he hissed under his breath. Seifer glanced up at Squall, but said nothing, and stalked off.
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The results from the exam, it turned out, were not announced by the directory, but instead the students were told to wait in the second floor hallway ringing the Garden's upper classroom level. When Squall arrived up there he'd found an assembled group of the students who had participated in the exam, either standing around looking anxious or bored, or talking among themselves.
"Sup?" Zell greeted as the quiet cadet arrived. The martial artist was pacing anxiously.
Squall glanced around, marking many of the cadets he'd seen taking the exam. He counted eight other cadets, all from the exam, plus Fujin and Raijin, the two other members of Seifer's posse also waiting for something. The unusual brother and sister pair just stood impasively by the archway, the taller Raijin seeming bored, while Fujin looking more focused and, to a degree, angry. Her one eye seemed to radiate hostility, which appeared to be directed mostly at Squall.
"What are they doing?" Squall asked to Zell, who shrugged.
"Hell if I know," the martial artist replied. "The faculty said they're gonna announce the grades one by one. Selphie already went, and so did some other guy from Squad D. Wonder what the hell's takin' 'em so long."
Squall shrugged at that, and then glanced over to where Fujin and Raijin were standing. Fujin still stood impassively, while Raijin had opted instead to walk around, still looking bored. Squall could see Fujin's one visible eye glaring his way, as if she were trying to cut him down with her gaze. Raijin, whose pacing brought him close to Squall, noticed the two looking at each other.
"Heh," Raijin said quietly to Squall, leaning over. "Fujin was sayin' that it'd be all your fault if Seifer didn't become a SeeD." He glanced back over to his sister, who still glared at the taciturn cadet. "Man, she can be pretty scary, ya know!"
Squall shrugged the warning aside, and just as easily shrugged off Fujin's glare as he took up an unoccupied spot on the wall, far from everyone else, and waited.
The cadets were there for a good twenty minutes, and still no word. Squall, despite his patient nature, was starting to get irritated. he was about to begin pacing like Zell or Raijin when the distant sound of the elevator's "bing" got the whole group's attention. They all perked up as the sounds of footsteps, the steady ones of a Faculty member, approached.
The robed Faculty entered the hallway, and held up a piece of paper in front of his face, though his yellow hat still obscured his features. Squall thought he spotted something weird about the Faculty's hand that was holding the paper. He had very elongated fingers, longer than those on a normal human.
'The hell?' Squall wondered, even as the Faculty spoke.
"Dincht," he announced in a monotone voice, as if ordering coffee. "Zell Dincht." The martial artist's response was immediate and likely could have been heard in Balamb.
"OOOHHH YEEEEAAAHHHHH!!!" Zell shouted, fists pumping as he leape din the air. "See ya!" he called over his shoulder as he ran towards the elevators. The Faculty, seeming to not even notice Zell's triumphant roar, continued.
"Leonhart," he spoke. "Squall Leonhart." Squall felt a rush of exultation at the seemingly calm announcement. He had done it: he was a SeeD!
Still, despite the feelings associated with the announcement, Squall did not betray his emotions, and only nodded, stepping past the Faculty.
"That is all," the Faculty ended. "Dismissed." Squall heard a chorus of groans behind him from the dissappointed cadets, and he couldn't help but feel a bit bad for them. A few curses and the sound of a GF-enhanced fist pounding the wall joined the groans as Squall stepped into the elevator.
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Cid's office was expansive, Squall saw as he and Zell joined Selphie and the other cadet in the Garden's command center. The room was wide and open, with little furniture or knick-knacks cluttering the space. Instead, Cid had several display cases and tables set up on either side of the room, along with a few plush chairs and couches for people to sit in. The floor, surprisingly, was not carpeted, instead being made of polished marble, with many designs painted on it, and a red strip leading right to the Headmaster's desk. The desk was not the massive one a person would normally expect, but instead a modestly sized piece of furniture with a laptop and a small pile of papers and folders neatly placed on the opposite side. Cid himself sat in a large chair, almost like a throne, adorned with the Garden's white and black sigil, and also featured a pair of flags with the same sigil. Instead of a back wall, Cid had a single huge plate glass window that extended across the entire length of the office, and up high towards the vaulting ceiling above. The top of the room must have been a good twenty feet overhead, if not more. Several doors led out of the office, obviously leading to Cid's own quarters.
Aside from the Headmaster himself, a group of high-ranking SeeDs, including Xu and all the participating instructors, Quistis among them, and a small group of Faculty, stood by as witnesses to the ceremony. The four cadets approached Cid in a line, and came to a stop together, standing at attention.
"These are the four cadets that passed today's exam," one of the Faculty announced. Cid nodded and rose, smiling.
"First of all, congratulations," Cid began. "You honor this Garden with your induction. However, from now on, you are members of SeeD. As such, you will be dispatched all over the world for this Garden's benifit." Cid turned to the witnessing SeeDs and instructors.
"We are proud to introduce you to the newest members of SeeD, Balamb Garden's elite mercanary force," he said to them, gesturing to the four cadets. He turned back to the cadets.
"As SeeD soldiers," he addressed them, "you are combat specialists, the best the world has to offer. But, that is only one aspect of SeeD. When the time comes . . ."
"Headmaster, it is almost time for the meeting, and NORG is waiting," the announcing Faculty broke in, stopping the Headmaster. "Please make this short." Cid sighed and nodded, and Squall glanced over at the Faculty out the corner of his eye. Cid's sigh, and also the way he had been interrupted downstairs seemed unusual, almost as if the Faculty were trying to keep Cid from babbling too much. Now that he thought of it, Squall knew he'd seen the Headmaster talking to cadets and SeeDs before, and every time he'd begun to say something about the meaning of SeeD, a member of the Faculty had intervened. He couldn't remember the exact instances, but he definately recalled them. What were they trying to hide?
The Faculty member was speaking.
"SeeD is a valuable asset to Garden," the Faculty said. "Its reputation is soley dependant on each of you. Handle your missions with care," he ended, turning back to Cid. "Is that what you wanted to say, Headmaster?" Cid sent a vexed glare at the Faculty, indicating that it obviously wasn't what he'd been intending to say, but the Headmaster said nothing as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black case. The Faculty noticed the movement and nodded.
"Here is your rank report," he stated as Cid worked his way down the line of cadets, starting from the far left and moving right. Squall was on the far right end.
Selphie was first. Cid approached her and opened the case, taking out a Garden insignia with a number on it, a sign of her rank. He handed it to the small cadet, and smiled.
"I'm looking forward to the Garden Festival," he told her quietly, to which she also smiled and nodded. then, Cid moved further down to the cadet in Squad D who'd made SeeD. Nee was his name, or something. Squall had never known him at all. Cid handed the new SeeD his rank and whispered something about standing out to him. Then, the headmaster stepped up to Zell, who was practically trembling in excitement, like a kid who needed to go to the bathroom really badly.
As Cid gave Zell the rank, he whispered some advice on controlling emotions, to which Zell reddened slightly, and nodded. As Cid approached Squall, Zell stood ramrod straight.
Cid stood before Squall, and opened the case, pulling out the Garden insignia.
"Finally," Cid whispered with a grin. "A gunblade specialist." He handed Squall the insignia, which he took. With that, Cid stepped away and returned to his desk. He stood directly in front of it, and nodded at the assembled group.
"This ends the SeeD inaguration. All SeeDs and faculty, dismissed."
With that order, the older SeeDs and the Faculty filed out. The new seeDs left with a bounce in their steps, while Zell practically bounded out the door in joy. Squall turned to join them, but as he did so, his eyes fell across something in one of the display cases.
An old gunblade, a decades-old model, with the letters "C.K." escribed on the handle. Squall glanced back at Cid, who only smiled and nodded.
"I was once a soldier too, just like you," Cid remarked, to which Squall nodded in new respect for the Headmaster.
"We'll talk privately one day," Cid added as he gestured towards the door. "But you've got things to do now. Go on. Get out of here. Nothing interesting happening up here, now."
Squall nodded again, and saluted Cid before leaving. As the new seed left, another Faculty approached the Headmaster.
"Sir," the Faculty said with a bow. "NORG would like to speak with you concerning an expulsion."
-------------------
The elevator descended, carrying a lone Squall, and as the lift dropped down to the second floor, the new SeeD took a second to look over his new insignia. He was surprised (pleasantly for once) to see a total of nine small bars lining the sigil. Each bar was an indication of that SeeD's rank, and Squall had made rank nine, one of the highest a new SeeD could hope to attain, and one that instantly catapulted him into the five-digit figures when it came to his monthly salary.
As Squall stepped off the elevator on the second floor, he spotted both Zell and Selphie, prancing around like some forest elves, in pure joy. Around them were a group of cadets and SeeDs, a welcoming committee, including those cadets who had failed to pass. The martial artist spotted Squall and grinned even wider.
"Squall, let's get back to class!" Zell shouted.
"Why?" Squall asked, uninterested.
"What do you mean, 'why'?" Zell demanded, acting as if it was obvious. "Don't you know what all SeeDs do when they graduate?" Squall shook his head. He had never cared for SeeD traditions himself.
"They give a speech in front of the entire class," Zell said with a grin. "Although I suppose you'd be exempt, seeing as how your speech would be three words long."
"Whatever," Squall replied, shrugging. Zell's words had hit the mark precisely, however.
"But after the speech, there's the inaguration party! OOOHHHHH YEEAAHHHHH!" Zell cheered before moving off. Squall just shook his head and sighed. The last thing he wanted right now was another social function. He glanced back up at the other three inductees, and then in front of himself as a tall figure loomed up, towering overhead.
Seifer stood with his posse, looking at Squall impassively. Zell also noticed the two rivals, and recalling what he'd heard between Squall and Raijin, and combining that with those two's history, moved up beside Squall and tensed, preparing in case the taller cadet lashed out.
Squall, on the other hand, simply locked eyes with his rival. The two stood there for a moment, neither moving. Then, to everyone's surprise, Seifer nodded.
"Good job," he said, without a trace of his usual sarcasm. Seifer held up his hands, clapping them together. Fujin joined him, as did Raijin, and then many other cadets and SeeDs. A few cheers sounded from the group as well.
Selphie and Zell blushed, the smaller cadet putting her hands to her cheeks in embarassment. Zell's grim, combat-ready expression faded and was replaced by a wide smile, and the other new SeeD, behind them, also grinned.
Squall blinked in confusion at the congratulations he was recieving, then nodded in thanks, not sure how to take it.
-------------------
His new dress uniform was hanging up over his bed, Squall saw. The black and gold outfit was contained inside clear plastic wrapping, neatly pressed and ready to wear. Before donning the new uniform, Squall took a moment to see how much time was left until the obligatory party. About an hour or so, it seemed. Good.
Squall doffed his cadet uniform, throwing off the sweat-soaked and dirty outfit pants, shirt, and jacket, then grabbed his new uniform and headed for the bathroom shared by him and his new and unknown roommate. He glanced into the second dorm as he passed the open doorway, noting whoever the person was, they were not in. He reached for the bathroom door, and the sound of very cheerful and very familiar humming from the other side was his only warning as the door swng open and Selphie Tilmitt slammed headlong into Squall for the second time that day. As with before, Selphie fell back on her butt, while Squall still stood, off guard but otherwise fine.
"You alright?" Squall asked as Selphie stood up, shaking her head. He noticed she was fully clad in her new SeeD uniform, complete with black jacket and skirt, gold trim, and a red tie and boots.
"Augh, I'm fine," Selphie replied, standing up. "We keep on doing tha- " Selphie stopped and stared at Squall. It was rare indeed to see Squall Leonhart, among the most attractive and desirable males in Balamb Garden, only in his boxers. Most other men his age would have been embarassed in that situation, but Squall just stepped back and to the side, so Selphie could get past him.
"I take it you're my new roommate," Squall remarked as Selphie cleared out of his way. "Unless you have something for sneaking into other people's showers." Selphie actually laughed at the deadpan comment as Squall stepped into the bathroom and shut the door. He spent a good, long twenty minutes in there, turning the water temperature up as high as he could stand it. The many bruises, scrapes, and cuts he'd taken on the exam, as well as his sore muscles, complained immediately, but then soothed and felt better. Squall finished the shower, drying off and feeling better than he'd had all day. His duel with Seifer, the battle against Ifrit, and the prolonged Dollet mission, combined with the many miles he had covered and the numerous battles against marauding monsters, would have exhausted any man. The hot shower had mended that.
He donned his new uniform, and was quite pleased with it, upon examining it in the mirror. The tailors had done an excellent job with the uniform, and he had filled it out well. Like Selphie's, this outfit featured a black jacket with gold lining, along with a black belt and a small bandoleer running from the middle of the belt up to his left shoulder. The jacket was much longer than the one on the female uniform, Squall noted. The male uniform also included black pants and boots. He felt some pride welling up at looking at himself in the mirror. He was a SeeD now. After all these years, he had finally become a SeeD.
Squall stepped out of the shower, fully dressed in his new uniform. Selphie had been waiting for him, and as he emerged, she looked him over. The small SeeD grinned and gave Squall a thumbs-up.
"Heeey! Lookin' good!" she complimented him, to which Squall only shrugged. "Alright!" she then said, pumping a fist in the air. "Let's hit that PAAH-TAY!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Wow, this chapter was both very short and very long. Long, in the sense of how much it covered, but short in actual length. But, bleh. I'm better at fight scenes myself. Look at how long the boss battle in Dollet was!
The ride back to Balamb was, thankfully, uneventful. Squall had had enough of surprises for one day. Zell and Selphie were sitting in their seats, tired and exhausted, but in good cheer. Seifer looked bored, while Squall himself just sat back in his chair and let the adrenalin from the last few minutes of his mission seep away.
Within a couple of hours they were back in Balamb, the Salamander sailing in for the docks. Most of the other ships were either docked or had returned to the Garden-owned harbor where they were stored between missions. As soon as the vessel came to a stop by the dock the door swung open, and Squall stepped out, Zell and Selphie right behind them. Squall paused to breathe in the clean air around Balamb, the quiet port town a stark contrast to Dollet's warzone.
Other SeeDs and cadets were also milling around the docks, and from their numbers it seemed that everyone had survived the battle unharmed. The Garden soldiers talked casually among themselves, the SeeDs recounting their battles with the Galbadians, often gesturing with their hands to show how they had fought or describing certain manuevers. The cadets had somewhat less to say, since the only cadet unit to have seen anywhere near as much combat as the SeeDs was Squad B. Squall caught an envious look from the captain of Squad A directed at himself and Zell, and the cadet felt a slight bit of satisfaction at deflating the vain support cadet.
Behind the trio of cadets followed Seifer, who strode out like some conquering hero, standing tall and proudly. He pushed past the trio and headed for the edge of the crowd.
"SEIFER!" came a call from the edge of the congregated SeeD force, and Fujin and Raijin pushed through to stand before their fearless leader.
"How'd it go?" Raijin asked eagerly, wanting to hear of Seifer's exploits.
"Man," Seifer said with a shake of his head. He gestured back to the trio behind him. "All they did was get in my way. Being a leader ain't easy."
"Pompous jerk," Zell muttered, while Squall just shrugged.
"SAFE?" Fujin asked, sounding somewhat concerned. Seifer's response was a look of shock, as if he thought the idea of him being harmed was absurd.
"They were only Galbadians," Seifer remarked with a grin. Fujin nodded, and with that, the Disciplinary Committee took their leave of the SeeD group.
By this time, most of the SeeDs were either heading off in groups into the town for some rest and relaxation, or were heading for their vehicles to go back to Garden.
"Good job!" Quistis called behind them as she exited the vessel. She strode across the dock, smiling proudly. Then Quistis paused for a moment, searching the docks with her gaze. "Where's Seifer?" she asked. Squall shrugged and pointed down towards the other end of the docks, in the general direction Seifer had taken. Quistis sighed and shrugged. It seemed obvious she had wanted to talk to the captain about something, doubtless his blatant disregard for orders.
"Well, that's typical," she remarked. "Be back at Garden by sundown. You're free 'till then. Dismissed." With that, Quistis walked back into the vessel, probably to talk to Xu or the pilot about something.
The trio of cadets, tired and worn out, headed for their car. Only, as they approached the parking lot, the last vehicle left on the lot roared to life and sped away, heading up the road. Without even getting a look at the driver, Squall knew it was Seifer behind the wheel.
"HEY!" Zell shouted in surprise and anger. "Dammit, that was our ride! There goes Mr. Ego . . . ." Squall shrugged, expecting nothing less from Seifer.
"Might as well walk it," he remarked, and started off for the edge of town.
"Walk? Ah, man," Zell muttered.
"Hey, at least we get some exercise," Selphie said optimistically.
"Exercise?" Zell responded, sounding surprised. "What do you call that whole 'Run away! Galbadian robot on our asses!' thing?"
"Our job," Squall added from ahead, without missing a beat. Zell sighed, defeated.
"Hey, at least let's stop by my place," Zell added as he followed them out of the docks sector. "We can take a break, and my mom's a good cook!"
-------------------
Cid sighed as he looked over the report from the battlefield, while sitting in his office. Losses among the friendly Dollet troops had been high, especially from around the main road into the city, where SeeD reinforcements had to be diverted from supporting the soldiers to fighting off another group of Galbadians that had come from what was supposed to be a secured sector. That unsecured sector, the Central Square, was left that way because of Seifer Almasy's actions, and for that, Dollet's Parliament was fuming.
"Our best and our worst," Cid muttered, looking over the report on Seifer's actions. Apparently, he had spotted a group of Galbadians sneaking through the area and had ordered his squad to leave their post to find out what was going on. However, he had done this without asking for authorization from the mission commander.
Despite the brashness of his actions, Seifer and Squad B had located the Galbadians repairing the Dollet Comms Tower, which was an unusual action. The Galbadians had been quietly asking Dollet to repair the tower over the last few months, but the Dukedom had refused, instead stating that there was no need with HD cable communication. No one had expected the Galbadians were this serious about repairing the tower, but it was done, even if Galbadia had been forced out of the city for now. It could have been a more permanent drive if Dollet's Parliament had offered more money for the SeeD intervention; as it was, Garden had only received enough payment for them to come in and assist in a counterattack, and not enough gil had been offered for a long-term deployment to force Galbadia out. If they wanted to badly enough, the Galbadians could retake the city now. It wasn't SeeD's concern anymore now that they had the gil and their troops had withdrawn.
Though Dollet's Parliament had been loathe to turn over the rest of the payment, considering Seifer's irresponsible actions. The Duke himself had been complaining about how much they had to pay for mercenaries who didn't even do their jobs. It was bad enough that they were paying nine- digit figures of gil for less than two-dozen soldiers, but it seemed some of those soldiers couldn't even be relied on!
Seifer's actions had indeed revealed Galbadia's true intent with the attack, but a what cost to Garden? Would Dollet ever trust SeeD and Garden again now?
"Seifer . . ." Cid muttered quietly, shaking his head. That boy had been nothing but headaches throughout his whole time at Garden. He wondered if this was the incident that would finally provoke an expulsion. Expulsion had never been used on a cadet or SeeD who misbehaved in combat before, but then, neither a SeeD nor a cadet had ever so blatantly disregarded orders like this.
There were so many issues . . . .
Cid sighed and returned to reviewing the reports. If Seifer's actions had been irresponsible and insubordinate, then those of his team had been perfect. Zell Dincht and Squall Leonhart had shown sufficient tendencies towards obeying orders. Despite Dincht's protests, he had obeyed his captain's decision to go after the Galabdians, as had Leonhart. And both cadets had shown excellent combat skills, taking down numerous Galbadians and also a marauding Anacondaur.
But, it was immediately afterward that the two had come into their own, as had the messenger from Squad A, Selphie Tilmitt. In the battle at the top of the tower, the report said, the trio had shown remarkable teamwork and skills, and Leonhart had turned out to be quite the leader, formulating battle plans on the fly and using each member of his impromptu squad to their best abilities, even taking advantage of Seifer's independent actions.
Then there was the escape from Dollet with the Galbadian weapon in hot pursuit. Throughout that pursuit, the trio of cadets had shown skill, judgement, and teamwork, bringing down the spider machine repeated times. Tilmitt's supportive actions with magic and Dincht's daring and brilliant manuver with the grenades had both shown the necassary requirements for being a SeeD.
And then there were Leonhart's own actions, including his selfless and brave act of holding off the machine and drawing it after himself, allowing his injured and spent comrades time to escape and alert Quistis so she could bring the weapon down. That kind of act was uncommon, even among the inducted SeeDs.
All three cadets had shown they belonged in SeeD. Cid Kramer entered their names and ID numbers into the "Approved" list on his computer, and then moved to the next set of reports, from Squad D.
-------------------
"Ma!" Zell shouted as he stepped through the door leading down into his house. "I'm home!" Squall and Selphie were right behind him, and were struck by the wonderful aromas coming from the kitchen. So much better than Garden's preprocessed food.
The Dincht household was like many of Balamb's residential buildings, which had been built like apartments as one long, low line of dwellings running down the length of the street. Essentially, each Balamb house was part of the same structure, just divided off into seperate homes for seperate families. The actual floor of the homes was a little below the level of the streets outside, almost giving the one the impression of descending into a burrow when one went down the steps leading inside. Despite being slightly underground, the Balamb houses were far from dark, being well-lit by high windows, and featuring second story bedrooms.
Squall entered the first room of the house, the main den and entry hall. The room was tidy and clean, as expected when a woman ran the place. Squall could see various knick-knacks and a few electronics scattered around the mid-sized room, and a nice throw rug covered the floor. The whole room was of a dark beige color, that of the stone it was made out of, but the color actually gave the room a cozy effect. There were several archways leading out of the room, one to a living room directly across from the entrance, a second leading to a set of stairs that went up to the bedrooms, and a third that Zell was dissappearing through, and where the aromas emerged from, doubtless the kitchen where Mama Dincht was cooking.
"Zell!" a heavyset woman happily in the kitchen as Zell pulled her into a hug. "What a surprise!" She glanced over her son's shoulder to see Squall and Selphie, the latter also entering the kitchen, being drawn in by the wonderful smell of whatever was being prepared on the stove. "Are these your friends?"
"Kinda," Zell said with a nod. "We ended up working together today."
"Oh, you're not off today?" Mama Dincht asked as she resumed her cooking.
"Nah, outdor class," Zell replied. "Hopefully the last one!"
"Oh the exam!" Mama Dincht exclaimed. "I heard about it! Tell me, how did you all do . . . ?"
-------------------
The cadets stayed at the Dincht house for about an hour as Zell and Selphie recounted their parts in the battle over some of Mama Dincht's cooking. Squall listened mostly, and ate some, equally impressed by Ma Dincht's homemade meals.
Wow, he thought as he listened to Selphie tell of how she had tracked down Squad B, frantically following the trail of bodies leading up into the mountians. He hadn't had food like this since . . . .
That brought a pause to Squall's thoughts.
Since when did he have this kind of homemade food? He definately recalled eating food somewhere, but when? It wasn't in recent memory, and he certianly hadn't eaten any food prepared by his parents. Like many other Garden cadets, Squall was an orphan, and he had been in the Garden since being only five years old. And in all that time, he'd mostly eaten food from the cafeteria. Yet he distinctly recalled eating homemade food long ago . . . but when?
Squall shook off the question. It didn't really matter now.
"Don't we need to get back to Garden soon?" Selphie asked as she finished her part of the story. Squall glanced at his watch, and nodded.
"It's at least an hour's walk back," he replied, standing up from his chair. "We'll need to leave soon if we want to make it back by sundown."
"You're walking?" Ma Dincht said in surprise. "I thought you SeeDs came in your vehicles."
"Nah, we did," Zell clarified as the cadets got up. "But our captain had a problem with sharing."
"Oh, that Seifer, right?" Ma Dincht replied, shaking her head knowingly. Zell shrugged and nodded. Seifer wasn't just a well-known troublemaker in Garden, after all. "Well, you can expect that out of him. You kids take care, alright?"
"Hey, no problem, Ma!" Zell said with a grin.
"Yeah!" Selphie agreed. "And thanks for the food! It was great!" Squall said nothing, only nodding in agreement with Selphie's compliment and then heading back out towards the door.
"Squall, wait a sec," Zell said quickly as he reached the door. The cadet turned back to see Zell standing by the staircase leading up towards the second floor. "I need to get something outta my room real quick. I'll be out in a moment." With that, the martial artist bounded up the steps. Squall, not really wanting to just stand around down here in a strange house, took a couple of steps up the stairs after him. He reached the top of the stairs and spotted a door ajar, which presumably led to Zell's room. The fact that a large crayon sign reading "Zell's Room: Keep Out" was hanging on the door also helped. Squall stepped over to the door and was about to push it open when Zell himself threw the door open and almost ran Squall down.
"Whoa!" Zell shouted, hopping back in surprise. Then, his expression turned slightly suspicious. "Squall, were you about to go into my room?" he demanded. Squall just shrugged and nodded, not seeing the harm.
"Dude, man," Zell protested. "That's my room! Its sacred! Just . . . Look man, don't go in there, alright?!"
Whatever, Squall thought, nodding. He could sort of understand Zell's protectiveness of his "space." Squall himself hated to see anyone in his room, touching his stuff, if for no other reason than that was his own private "space."
"Okay, let's go!" Zell said, heading back down the stairs.
-------------------
"Expulsion?" Xu exclaimed in surprise at Cid's suggestion.
"Well, what else can we do?" Cid replied, shaking his head and leaning back in his chair. "Seifer's actions were not only in direct violation of his orders, but he also endangered his squadron and other SeeD forces, and also damaged our credibility with Dollet's Parliament. And do you see any possibility of him changing?"
"Not much," Xu replied, sighing. "But I would have thought the last two missions would have sunk in by now."
"He's independant. A loose cannon, so to speak," Cid added, coming forward and resting his elbows on his desk. "All he cares about is fighting and gaining glory. That is not what SeeD is about. We're professional soldiers, not wild dogs of war. Seifer doesn't seem to be able to grasp this. It seems like he will never be capable of working in a unit, and if he can't work with his team, then why should we continue training him?"
"He might turn around," Xu replied. She didn't like Seifer, but she knew the implications of him being expelled. Cid wasn't on NORG's good side right now, and the Garden's Master had high hopes for Seifer. "He could learn from his mistakes if we properly discipline and retrain him."
"We aren't equipped with the facilities to retrain him," Cid said, shaking his head. "We've never had the need for classes or instruction in this, because most of our students are already properly trained to work as a team by the time of their exams. Seifer, though . . ." Cid shook his head once more.
A long silence permeated the office. Finally, Xu broke the quiet.
"There's no choice then," she said, nodding reluctantly. "Expulsion."
"I'll get to work on the paperwork," Cid said. "I'll have to run this by NORG before we can finalize it."
"He won't be happy," Xu warned. "Seifer's the best we've got, even better than Squall. NORG's not going to enjoy losing such a potential money- maker."
"Of course not," Cid replied. "But I'd rather have NORG upset at losing revenue than a dead squad or no future contracts. He has to go."
-------------------
Squall and his two comrades reached the gates of Balamb Garden as the sun was setting. The trip had taken over an hour, unlike they'd expected, because Zell had led them along a "shortcut." While taking this route, the trio had encountered large numbers of Bite Bugs, not to mention Caterchippilars, a sort of large, worm-like monster. The shortcut had thus taken twice as long to navigate as following the road between Balamb and Balamb Garden would have.
Zell let lose a huge yawn as they arrived.
"Finally made it back," he remarked, stretching.
"Seriously," replied Selphie as she dusted the grime off her boot.
"Well, I guess we'll just wait for the test results," Zell replied. "Well, till then," he added, walking away. "See you later Squall!" Selphie followed suit, and headed off deeper into Garden.
"See ya!" she called cheerfully as she ran off. Squall nodded at them and waited for the pair to get pretty far ahead before he, too, entered Garden.
Normally, he path leading up to the entrance to the central structure of Garden had at least a few cadets, but now, at sunset, this area was unusually peaceful and quiet. Combined with the lush plants and outside waterfalls and pools reflecting the yellow and orange in the western sky, the outer grounds were beautiful, the epitome of Garden's own name. Squall took his time heading in, basking in the peace. He stretched out, exercising his tired and sore muscles. That last run from the machine had taken its toll on his body, GF enhancements or not.
All too soon, he'd reached the decorated entrance to the Garden and entered. As he advanced down the elevated walkway leading towards the elevators and the walkway surrounding them, Squall spotted some students talking by the railing, and beyond them, Headmaster Cid talking with Quistis and Xu. The cadet made his way towards the trio, but en route he overheard the pair of cadets, apparently one from Squad C and the other from D, talking.
"But radio signals are worthless, even if they get the tower to work," the D cadet spoke.
"Why?" the other cadet asked, confused.
"It was on last week's exam, remember?" the D cadet replied, sounding like it was obvious. "How any form of radio signals can't be used." The cadet glanced up as Squall stepped past. "Hey, Squall, how did you answer that question?" he asked.
"The interference," Squall responded flatly, without even slowing down as he passed.
"Exactly," the D cadet responded with a nod.
"Heh," the C cadet replied as Squall stepped out of earshot. "I must have skipped that lesson . . ."
The cadets were obviously talking about the reasoning behind the Galbadians' repairing of the Comms Tower, a question that was puzzling everyone, even Squall. Although he didn't really care about the reasoning himself, however. Online HD cables were the primary source of communication, and in areas that could not be reached by cable there were messengers who could use chocobos, a domesticated riding bird, as a form of communication. Though HD cables sometimes proved unreliable due to occasional line cuts, they were still widely used as the only form of communication due to the worldwide interference in radio signals, which had started seventeen years ago.
The interference had coincided with the end of the second Sorceress war between the western nations and the eastern land of Esthar, and it was widely considered to be no honest coincidence. The cause of the interference was unknown, with speculation ranging from being a result of the mysterious dissappearance of the vast Estharian capital city to a possible new weapon as a prempt for another war (which was still being thrown around by certian politicians who wanted more military spending). Whatever the reason behind the signal interference, radio waves were useless, which made the reactivation of the tower pointless.
But the Galbadians had spent a tremendous amount of manpower and effort to reactivate the tower, which made no sense. But, Squall reminded himself, value is subjective. Which meant, in other words, that the Galbadians placed a higher value on getting that tower up and running than they did the costs of a full-scale military action, and that meant . . . what?
It didn't really matter. Squall preffered to let the thinking be handled by those in charge.
By then Squall was close to the directory, where Headmaster Cid, Xu, and Quistis were still talking. He was intending to ask the instructor about where and when the results for the exam were going to be announced, but she was apparently talking with the Headmaster and Xu, so he patiently waited.
"Mission complete!" Xu said, seeming satisfied. "I think we did a pretty good job, and the candidates are all back safely, right? Although we didn't realize the Galbadian army was after the abandoned communication tower . . ."
"Indeed, that caught us by surprise," Cid confirmed with a nod. "Speaking of which, we've just received word from the Dollet Dukedom. They negotiated with Galbadia after we told them about the tower, and the Galbadian army has agreed to withdraw as long as the communications tower is kept repaired and the uplink remains operational. They retain rights to use and transmit data over the tower's frequency, as well." Both women seemed somewhat surprised at Cid's revelation, but then Xu shrugged a second later.
"Well, we did our jobs," she said. "At least Galbadia's out of there and we're getting paid. But we could have gotten more if Galbadia had stayed and caused more trouble." That last bit was added with a joking grin. She glanced over at Squall, who was still standing nearby.
"Hey!" she called to him. "You did pretty well out there!"
"Of course," Quistis replied for him. "He is by best student." Squall simply shrugged at the compliment and said nothing.
"Not very social, though," Quistis added. "If you're waiting for the results for the exam," she added, "they should be announced soon. Just wait here." Squall nodded and began to walk past the trio, looking for some secluded spot where he could wait without the annoyance of having to talk to anyone.
Apparently, the Headmaster had different intentions, since he nodded to his two subordiantes and stepped over to Squall as he began walking away. The older man tapped Squall on the shoulder, catching his attention.
"Tell me," Cid asked, smiling. "How did it feel to be out there on the battlefield?" Squall considered that question for a second, and also what it meant. Cid might be testing him, seeing how he thought he'd done and his attitude towards the battle and his job. The old man was a clever one.
To tell the truth, his first battle had not been the frightening thing other cadets spoke of. Perhaps it was merely that Squall was better conditioned or more determined. Then again, it might have had something to do with the fact that he hadn't gone into the battle without experience in the department of killing humans. Few cadets ever truly experienced their first real life-or-death battle before the exam, and it was often a wake-up call for them. Squall, on the other hand, knew the feeling of killing men before he'd ever set foot on the sands of Lapin Beach. So when the enemy had come, he had never frozen up or hesitated. They were the enemy, and they were trying to kill him and his comrades; he acted accordingly.
Cid was still waiting for an answer, so Squall gave him the one that really described his feelings toward the battle in Dollet.
". . . Whatever," Squall said, and continued past Cid. The headmaster watched him go, considering Squall's response.
"'Whatever'?" he said thoughtfully. Them the old man smiled. "'Whatever'! That's great! 'Whatever'!"
As Squall continued to walk away from the group around the directory, he found a spot along the walkway where he thought he could be alone and undisturbed. He stopped and leaned against the railing, closing his eyes and relaxing, enjoying the silence.
"Hey, Squall!" called the familiar voice of Seifer, breaking the silence. Squall's eyes snapped open and he looked over to his self-styled rival as the white-coated cadet approached, a wide smile on his face.
"Did you hear about the tower?" Seifer asked, shaking his head. "Damn Galbadians were after it all along! And they never would have known about it if we hadn't found out ourselves! Man, if we hadn't had to pull out, Dollet wouldn't have been forced to negotiate with Galbadia, either." Seifer laughed. "If it weren't for that stupid withdrawal order, we'd have been heroes!"
"You were only looking for a fight," Quistis accused Seifer from behind his shoulder. The captian turned towards his instructor, a mockingly hurt expression on his face as he regarded her and Xu, both approaching.
"My dear instructor," Seifer said, his voice also dripping with sarcastic hurt. "Those are rather cruel words for an aspiring student." He smiled, his hurt expression turning somewhat harder. A sneer appeared on his face. "A mediocre instructor like you would never understand."
Even Squall was shocked by the condescending insult. Quistis's expression turned to amazement, while Xu's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Don't be so stuck on yourself," she said sharply. "You'll take all responsibility for leaving the designated area and jeapordizing the operation." Seifer shrugged in response, still sneering.
"Isn't it the captian's duty to take the best possible action?" he questioned. Xu crossed her arms and leaned forward, staring Seifer dead in the eye.
"You'll never be a SeeD," Xu told him with all seriousness. It seemed almost like she knew beyond a doubt Seifer would not pass. "Calling yourself a leader, or even a squad captian, is a joke." Xu's words were spoken with conviction, and were as hard as steel. Seifer had been told off before, but Xu's words were the most blunt, direct, and convinced he'd ever heard. His eyes narrowed, and his jaw clenched tightly. His hands balled into fists and trembled in anger as he turned his gaze down to the floor.
Xu was apparently satisfied with the brief but blunt deflation of Seifer's limitless ego, and turned around to walk off. Quistis was about to follow, but hesitated as Cid Kramer walked towards the group. He nodded at Xu as she passed, then stopped next to Quistis. They spoke for a moment, then she nodded, bowed and walked after Xu. Then the Headmaster turned back to Seifer.
"Seifer," he called, getting the captian's attention. Seifer looked up at Cid, who watched him for a moment, then shook his head.
"You will be disciplined for your irresponsible behavior," Cid began. "You must follow orders exactly during combat." Cid paused, scratching the back of his head. "Though I'm not entirely without sympathy for you," Cid added. "I don't want you all to become machines. I want you to be able to think and act for yourselves. I am . . . ."
Cid trailed off as one of the red-robed Faculty approached.
"Headmaster," he began. "You have some business in your office. And NORG would like to speak with you after the ranking ceremony." Cid sighed and nodded.
"Very well," he replied. Cid looked back up at Seifer. "There . . . There are many issues at hand here. I am sorry Seifer. Disciplinary actions will be taken." With that, the Headmaster turned and walked towards the elevators, leaving Seifer alone in silence and anger.
"Dammit . . ." he hissed under his breath. Seifer glanced up at Squall, but said nothing, and stalked off.
-------------------
The results from the exam, it turned out, were not announced by the directory, but instead the students were told to wait in the second floor hallway ringing the Garden's upper classroom level. When Squall arrived up there he'd found an assembled group of the students who had participated in the exam, either standing around looking anxious or bored, or talking among themselves.
"Sup?" Zell greeted as the quiet cadet arrived. The martial artist was pacing anxiously.
Squall glanced around, marking many of the cadets he'd seen taking the exam. He counted eight other cadets, all from the exam, plus Fujin and Raijin, the two other members of Seifer's posse also waiting for something. The unusual brother and sister pair just stood impasively by the archway, the taller Raijin seeming bored, while Fujin looking more focused and, to a degree, angry. Her one eye seemed to radiate hostility, which appeared to be directed mostly at Squall.
"What are they doing?" Squall asked to Zell, who shrugged.
"Hell if I know," the martial artist replied. "The faculty said they're gonna announce the grades one by one. Selphie already went, and so did some other guy from Squad D. Wonder what the hell's takin' 'em so long."
Squall shrugged at that, and then glanced over to where Fujin and Raijin were standing. Fujin still stood impassively, while Raijin had opted instead to walk around, still looking bored. Squall could see Fujin's one visible eye glaring his way, as if she were trying to cut him down with her gaze. Raijin, whose pacing brought him close to Squall, noticed the two looking at each other.
"Heh," Raijin said quietly to Squall, leaning over. "Fujin was sayin' that it'd be all your fault if Seifer didn't become a SeeD." He glanced back over to his sister, who still glared at the taciturn cadet. "Man, she can be pretty scary, ya know!"
Squall shrugged the warning aside, and just as easily shrugged off Fujin's glare as he took up an unoccupied spot on the wall, far from everyone else, and waited.
The cadets were there for a good twenty minutes, and still no word. Squall, despite his patient nature, was starting to get irritated. he was about to begin pacing like Zell or Raijin when the distant sound of the elevator's "bing" got the whole group's attention. They all perked up as the sounds of footsteps, the steady ones of a Faculty member, approached.
The robed Faculty entered the hallway, and held up a piece of paper in front of his face, though his yellow hat still obscured his features. Squall thought he spotted something weird about the Faculty's hand that was holding the paper. He had very elongated fingers, longer than those on a normal human.
'The hell?' Squall wondered, even as the Faculty spoke.
"Dincht," he announced in a monotone voice, as if ordering coffee. "Zell Dincht." The martial artist's response was immediate and likely could have been heard in Balamb.
"OOOHHH YEEEEAAAHHHHH!!!" Zell shouted, fists pumping as he leape din the air. "See ya!" he called over his shoulder as he ran towards the elevators. The Faculty, seeming to not even notice Zell's triumphant roar, continued.
"Leonhart," he spoke. "Squall Leonhart." Squall felt a rush of exultation at the seemingly calm announcement. He had done it: he was a SeeD!
Still, despite the feelings associated with the announcement, Squall did not betray his emotions, and only nodded, stepping past the Faculty.
"That is all," the Faculty ended. "Dismissed." Squall heard a chorus of groans behind him from the dissappointed cadets, and he couldn't help but feel a bit bad for them. A few curses and the sound of a GF-enhanced fist pounding the wall joined the groans as Squall stepped into the elevator.
-------------------
Cid's office was expansive, Squall saw as he and Zell joined Selphie and the other cadet in the Garden's command center. The room was wide and open, with little furniture or knick-knacks cluttering the space. Instead, Cid had several display cases and tables set up on either side of the room, along with a few plush chairs and couches for people to sit in. The floor, surprisingly, was not carpeted, instead being made of polished marble, with many designs painted on it, and a red strip leading right to the Headmaster's desk. The desk was not the massive one a person would normally expect, but instead a modestly sized piece of furniture with a laptop and a small pile of papers and folders neatly placed on the opposite side. Cid himself sat in a large chair, almost like a throne, adorned with the Garden's white and black sigil, and also featured a pair of flags with the same sigil. Instead of a back wall, Cid had a single huge plate glass window that extended across the entire length of the office, and up high towards the vaulting ceiling above. The top of the room must have been a good twenty feet overhead, if not more. Several doors led out of the office, obviously leading to Cid's own quarters.
Aside from the Headmaster himself, a group of high-ranking SeeDs, including Xu and all the participating instructors, Quistis among them, and a small group of Faculty, stood by as witnesses to the ceremony. The four cadets approached Cid in a line, and came to a stop together, standing at attention.
"These are the four cadets that passed today's exam," one of the Faculty announced. Cid nodded and rose, smiling.
"First of all, congratulations," Cid began. "You honor this Garden with your induction. However, from now on, you are members of SeeD. As such, you will be dispatched all over the world for this Garden's benifit." Cid turned to the witnessing SeeDs and instructors.
"We are proud to introduce you to the newest members of SeeD, Balamb Garden's elite mercanary force," he said to them, gesturing to the four cadets. He turned back to the cadets.
"As SeeD soldiers," he addressed them, "you are combat specialists, the best the world has to offer. But, that is only one aspect of SeeD. When the time comes . . ."
"Headmaster, it is almost time for the meeting, and NORG is waiting," the announcing Faculty broke in, stopping the Headmaster. "Please make this short." Cid sighed and nodded, and Squall glanced over at the Faculty out the corner of his eye. Cid's sigh, and also the way he had been interrupted downstairs seemed unusual, almost as if the Faculty were trying to keep Cid from babbling too much. Now that he thought of it, Squall knew he'd seen the Headmaster talking to cadets and SeeDs before, and every time he'd begun to say something about the meaning of SeeD, a member of the Faculty had intervened. He couldn't remember the exact instances, but he definately recalled them. What were they trying to hide?
The Faculty member was speaking.
"SeeD is a valuable asset to Garden," the Faculty said. "Its reputation is soley dependant on each of you. Handle your missions with care," he ended, turning back to Cid. "Is that what you wanted to say, Headmaster?" Cid sent a vexed glare at the Faculty, indicating that it obviously wasn't what he'd been intending to say, but the Headmaster said nothing as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black case. The Faculty noticed the movement and nodded.
"Here is your rank report," he stated as Cid worked his way down the line of cadets, starting from the far left and moving right. Squall was on the far right end.
Selphie was first. Cid approached her and opened the case, taking out a Garden insignia with a number on it, a sign of her rank. He handed it to the small cadet, and smiled.
"I'm looking forward to the Garden Festival," he told her quietly, to which she also smiled and nodded. then, Cid moved further down to the cadet in Squad D who'd made SeeD. Nee was his name, or something. Squall had never known him at all. Cid handed the new SeeD his rank and whispered something about standing out to him. Then, the headmaster stepped up to Zell, who was practically trembling in excitement, like a kid who needed to go to the bathroom really badly.
As Cid gave Zell the rank, he whispered some advice on controlling emotions, to which Zell reddened slightly, and nodded. As Cid approached Squall, Zell stood ramrod straight.
Cid stood before Squall, and opened the case, pulling out the Garden insignia.
"Finally," Cid whispered with a grin. "A gunblade specialist." He handed Squall the insignia, which he took. With that, Cid stepped away and returned to his desk. He stood directly in front of it, and nodded at the assembled group.
"This ends the SeeD inaguration. All SeeDs and faculty, dismissed."
With that order, the older SeeDs and the Faculty filed out. The new seeDs left with a bounce in their steps, while Zell practically bounded out the door in joy. Squall turned to join them, but as he did so, his eyes fell across something in one of the display cases.
An old gunblade, a decades-old model, with the letters "C.K." escribed on the handle. Squall glanced back at Cid, who only smiled and nodded.
"I was once a soldier too, just like you," Cid remarked, to which Squall nodded in new respect for the Headmaster.
"We'll talk privately one day," Cid added as he gestured towards the door. "But you've got things to do now. Go on. Get out of here. Nothing interesting happening up here, now."
Squall nodded again, and saluted Cid before leaving. As the new seed left, another Faculty approached the Headmaster.
"Sir," the Faculty said with a bow. "NORG would like to speak with you concerning an expulsion."
-------------------
The elevator descended, carrying a lone Squall, and as the lift dropped down to the second floor, the new SeeD took a second to look over his new insignia. He was surprised (pleasantly for once) to see a total of nine small bars lining the sigil. Each bar was an indication of that SeeD's rank, and Squall had made rank nine, one of the highest a new SeeD could hope to attain, and one that instantly catapulted him into the five-digit figures when it came to his monthly salary.
As Squall stepped off the elevator on the second floor, he spotted both Zell and Selphie, prancing around like some forest elves, in pure joy. Around them were a group of cadets and SeeDs, a welcoming committee, including those cadets who had failed to pass. The martial artist spotted Squall and grinned even wider.
"Squall, let's get back to class!" Zell shouted.
"Why?" Squall asked, uninterested.
"What do you mean, 'why'?" Zell demanded, acting as if it was obvious. "Don't you know what all SeeDs do when they graduate?" Squall shook his head. He had never cared for SeeD traditions himself.
"They give a speech in front of the entire class," Zell said with a grin. "Although I suppose you'd be exempt, seeing as how your speech would be three words long."
"Whatever," Squall replied, shrugging. Zell's words had hit the mark precisely, however.
"But after the speech, there's the inaguration party! OOOHHHHH YEEAAHHHHH!" Zell cheered before moving off. Squall just shook his head and sighed. The last thing he wanted right now was another social function. He glanced back up at the other three inductees, and then in front of himself as a tall figure loomed up, towering overhead.
Seifer stood with his posse, looking at Squall impassively. Zell also noticed the two rivals, and recalling what he'd heard between Squall and Raijin, and combining that with those two's history, moved up beside Squall and tensed, preparing in case the taller cadet lashed out.
Squall, on the other hand, simply locked eyes with his rival. The two stood there for a moment, neither moving. Then, to everyone's surprise, Seifer nodded.
"Good job," he said, without a trace of his usual sarcasm. Seifer held up his hands, clapping them together. Fujin joined him, as did Raijin, and then many other cadets and SeeDs. A few cheers sounded from the group as well.
Selphie and Zell blushed, the smaller cadet putting her hands to her cheeks in embarassment. Zell's grim, combat-ready expression faded and was replaced by a wide smile, and the other new SeeD, behind them, also grinned.
Squall blinked in confusion at the congratulations he was recieving, then nodded in thanks, not sure how to take it.
-------------------
His new dress uniform was hanging up over his bed, Squall saw. The black and gold outfit was contained inside clear plastic wrapping, neatly pressed and ready to wear. Before donning the new uniform, Squall took a moment to see how much time was left until the obligatory party. About an hour or so, it seemed. Good.
Squall doffed his cadet uniform, throwing off the sweat-soaked and dirty outfit pants, shirt, and jacket, then grabbed his new uniform and headed for the bathroom shared by him and his new and unknown roommate. He glanced into the second dorm as he passed the open doorway, noting whoever the person was, they were not in. He reached for the bathroom door, and the sound of very cheerful and very familiar humming from the other side was his only warning as the door swng open and Selphie Tilmitt slammed headlong into Squall for the second time that day. As with before, Selphie fell back on her butt, while Squall still stood, off guard but otherwise fine.
"You alright?" Squall asked as Selphie stood up, shaking her head. He noticed she was fully clad in her new SeeD uniform, complete with black jacket and skirt, gold trim, and a red tie and boots.
"Augh, I'm fine," Selphie replied, standing up. "We keep on doing tha- " Selphie stopped and stared at Squall. It was rare indeed to see Squall Leonhart, among the most attractive and desirable males in Balamb Garden, only in his boxers. Most other men his age would have been embarassed in that situation, but Squall just stepped back and to the side, so Selphie could get past him.
"I take it you're my new roommate," Squall remarked as Selphie cleared out of his way. "Unless you have something for sneaking into other people's showers." Selphie actually laughed at the deadpan comment as Squall stepped into the bathroom and shut the door. He spent a good, long twenty minutes in there, turning the water temperature up as high as he could stand it. The many bruises, scrapes, and cuts he'd taken on the exam, as well as his sore muscles, complained immediately, but then soothed and felt better. Squall finished the shower, drying off and feeling better than he'd had all day. His duel with Seifer, the battle against Ifrit, and the prolonged Dollet mission, combined with the many miles he had covered and the numerous battles against marauding monsters, would have exhausted any man. The hot shower had mended that.
He donned his new uniform, and was quite pleased with it, upon examining it in the mirror. The tailors had done an excellent job with the uniform, and he had filled it out well. Like Selphie's, this outfit featured a black jacket with gold lining, along with a black belt and a small bandoleer running from the middle of the belt up to his left shoulder. The jacket was much longer than the one on the female uniform, Squall noted. The male uniform also included black pants and boots. He felt some pride welling up at looking at himself in the mirror. He was a SeeD now. After all these years, he had finally become a SeeD.
Squall stepped out of the shower, fully dressed in his new uniform. Selphie had been waiting for him, and as he emerged, she looked him over. The small SeeD grinned and gave Squall a thumbs-up.
"Heeey! Lookin' good!" she complimented him, to which Squall only shrugged. "Alright!" she then said, pumping a fist in the air. "Let's hit that PAAH-TAY!"
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Wow, this chapter was both very short and very long. Long, in the sense of how much it covered, but short in actual length. But, bleh. I'm better at fight scenes myself. Look at how long the boss battle in Dollet was!
