Author's Note: This is an Alternate Universe Fanfiction. It operates on the assumption that Squall and company didn't blow up the Missile Base and did nothing to alert Balamb Garden of the incoming attack.

Also, since it is very difficult to create noticeable page breaks with document manager, I've used a line of RFs to indicate scene changes.

Reflection Force: Seed

A FFVIII Fanfiction

Brought to you by MikauKaiousei

"…reports suggest Trabia Garden is heavily damaged, though most of the students appear to be alive. We have confirmed a follow-up missile attack, headed this way. We anticipate arrival in approximately one hour."

Headmaster Cid closed his eyes, massaging his forehead. Xu, one of his highest ranking SeeDs, had just finished reporting on a massive missile attack from Galbadia. He had no idea why they were being attacked, and even less idea why Trabia Garden would suffer consequences as well.

But that could be handled later.

"Do we know any way to deflect these missiles?" Cid asked. "Are there any GFs, perhaps, that could destroy them in air?"

Xu shook her head. "I checked the records of GFs that are junctioned in the Garden. All the powerful GFs have been issued to active teams and agents. All we have left are low-tier Forces that are being used for training purposes. None are particularly defensive in nature, and none would be powerful enough to destroy a missile moving at high speed."

Cid sat down in one of the plush chairs adorning his office. "Is there any other way?"

Xu started to say something, then shut her mouth.

"If you have an idea, share it," Cid said. "I can't think of anything." Well, that wasn't completely true. But his idea wasn't even an idea; it was a glimmer of a guess.

Xu pursed her mouth. "Well, there is one experimental ability that has recently been patented. The Research Committee calls it…" She glanced at the clipboard held in her hand. "…Magic Combine. Apparently, it allows two people to combine para-magic spells, enhancing their effects."

Cid frowned. "That sounds like refining magic."

Xu shook her head. "Apparently, it's not the same thing. Here is the report on the ability." She pulled a sheet from her board, and handed it to Cid.

He pulled his glasses down further on his nose, to see the sheet.

Magic Combine, abbr. Mag-Comb. Possible variations include Mag-Combx3.

This ability allows two magic-users to combine para-magic spells, in pairs or in greater increments, enhancing their effects. While refining Thunder spells to Thundaras would be more effective, Mag-Comb is more efficient. A Thundara spell is roughly five times as powerful as a Thunder. A Combined Thunder is roughly three times as powerful as a Thunder, essentially giving the casters the power of an extra spell.

This ability also allows for the combination of final-tier spells, such as Firaga or Curaga, into even more powerful incarnations. The effectiveness of one pair of final-tier spells is less than one pair of first-tier spells, but the overall effect is still greater than that of a final-tier spell.

Possible variations include Mag-Combx3, which would allow three magic-users to combine spells for even more magnification.

We have established that one pair of first-tier spells results in 300 percent power, or 100 percent extra energy. One pair of second-tier spells results in 270 percent or 70 percent extra. One pair of final-tier spells results in 250 percent , or 50 percent extra.

We estimate that, were Mag-Combx3 to be perfected, one trio of first-tier spells would result in 350-400 percent effectiveness, with similar decay in upper tiers.

Experimentation with larger numbers of spells has not yet yielded consistent results, but is 100 percent effective in yielding better results than single pairs.

Research Committee

Cid looked up at Xu after reading the entire report. "Are you suggesting that we use this ability to protect Garden?"

"It appears to be our only recourse." She was looking very disapproving; Xu was not an advocate of experimenting with GF and magic abilities. "I contacted the head of the Research Committee and asked him to wait in your lobby."

Cid nodded. "Bring him in, then."

Xu turned on her heel and walked through his office door. She returned moments later with the Research head. He was also a SeeD, though only moderately ranked. His three-person think tank had resulted in the very successful item and card refining abilities of GFs.

The SeeD, whose name was Jasson, saluted as he entered the office. "Sir!" He was tall and thin, with black hair and very brown skin. He wore a white lab coat much like Dr. Kadowaki's.

Xu turned to the researcher. "We have been alerted to a missile attack on our Garden by the Galbadian Army. We may be able to evacuate, but our ETA of the missiles is fuzzy, at best. Do you believe your Magic Combine research advanced enough to protect us?"

Jasson had looked shocked at this news, but recovered quickly. "Under normal circumstances, no. The Garden is simply too big."

"Are there circumstances where you could pull this off?" Cid asked. "Speak up, man!"

Jasson nodded, hesitantly. "It would require the variation of the ability my report mentioned. We have made progress on that since I submitted that report. The three of us are able to use it with regularity, although it appears to require about a week's worth of training to pick up."

"What do you need? Tell us, and we'll get it for you." Cid stood up. "The lives of my students are of the most importance, of course, but this facility represents significant financial investment. To have it destroyed…would not be good."

Jasson saluted again. "It would require enormous numbers of Protect, Shell, and probably Reflect spells. Probably in the thousands. If we could get a number of SeeDs transferring those spells to the three of us as we used the Combine ability, we could create a very large shield. If you'll give me a few minutes to calculate it?"

Cid nodded. "Xu, begin evacuation of all students. Make an announcement that all SeeDs are to report to the Directory, and any of the three spells that students have junctioned are to be transferred to a SeeD. Ask that the other two Researchers come here. Oh, and have any spell stones brought to the Directory, as well." Xu nodded, and left. Moments later, Cid heard the chiming of the announcement system, and Xu's voice giving clear instructions.

Meanwhile, Jasson was scribbling frantically on a notepad, punching buttons on a calculator he had pulled from his jacket pocket. After a few moments, he looked up.

"I estimate one thousand, two hundred of each spell. I'd like to have as many more as possible, just for safety's sake."

Cid nodded again. "I believe we have one hundred of each type of spell stone in our stores. That will help a little."

Jasson nodded. "We'll also need to figure out where to perform this casting. The three of us will have to be within sight of each other, but the shield will only extend about twenty percent beyond the triangle we form. We'll need to be…" He scribbled and punched again for a few seconds. "…at least five hundred feet apart to fully protect the Garden."

Cid thought for a moment. "What about the roofs of the spokes? Could you stand on those?"

Jasson nodded. "That's probably the best we'll be able to do."

Cid stood up. "Then let's go."

RFRFRFRFRFRFRFRF

Ten minutes later, Cid, Xu, Jasson, and the other two members of the Research Committee stood before the entirety of the SeeDs stationed at Balamb Garden. The five SeeDs stood in a row before the directory, and the crowd of SeeDs waited in the entrance hall.

"A crisis faces us," Cid began. "I do not have time to explain the details. We must act immediately. Researcher Jasson will explain the procedure." He stopped back.

As Jasson began to speak, the other two Researchers walked away from the small group, on opposite sides of the hall.

"We will first need to concentrate all the Protect, Shell, and Reflect spells as much as possible. There should be forty-seven SeeDs here, so if you would make three groups of fifteen?" He quickly counted off two groups of fifteen. "One group please stand with Kirby, the other before Steph." He named the other two members of his Committee. Kirby Moyar was a dark-skinned man from Balamb City. Steph Taver was a small, red-headed woman who had transferred from Trabia Garden to further study para-magic.

"The remaining SeeDs please stand with me." Jasson took a moment to wipe his forehead with his sleeve. "Now, please transfer all Shells to Kirby's group, all Reflects to Steph's group, and all Protects to mine. Quickly, please."

Spells flew through the air as small capsules of light. The pulses were blue, pink, and green. In about two minutes, the transferring had stopped.

"Please double check now. If anyone has any spells that do not belong in their group, transfer them accordingly." A brief flash of green flew from Kirby's group to Steph's.

"Thank you. Now, we are going to utilize an experimental ability to combine these spells into a massive shield around Garden. Everyone should have at least one Haste spell. Does anyone not?" A few hands were raised. Jasson raised his hands. Small flashes of red light flew from him to the lofted hands.

"One at a time, you will transfer your entire stock of spells to the Committee member. Once you are completely emptied, use your Haste spell to get as far away from Garden as possible, just in case. Does everyone understand?"

There were no sounds of dissent.

"All right, let's move! Follow us!" Jasson, Kirby, and Steph began to run out of the Garden, each carrying a bucket of spell stones. The SeeDs followed, a silent wave of black-clad soldiers preparing to defend their home.

Steph and Kirby broke away once they exited the main building. They had completely emptied themselves of para-magic, except for a full stock of the spell they needed, one Firaga spell, and one Float spell. Jasson used the Float now, and rose off of the ground. He walked toward the nearest spoke of the Garden. The spell compensated, allowing him to reach the blue, curved roof.

He looked left and right as he settled himself. Steph was making her ascent, and Kirby was already in place.

"SeeDs, prepare to transfer your magic! Get into a line now!" Jasson yelled, knowing that his partners were giving the same instructions. "The spells will burn off quickly, so be prepared to transfer a constant stream!"

When everything was situated, Jasson looked up and cast his Firaga into the air.

An orb of concentrated heat appeared over his head, erupting into a storm of flame. When it faded, an exact replica appeared over Steph, and then over Kirby. That had been their planned signal.

He quickly raised his hands, facing his palms toward the two SeeDs joining him in this venture. Excitement thrilled through him. He was in the experiment of a lifetime. Of his life.

Circles of light appeared around his wrists as he initiated the ability. A beam of yellow light shot from his right hand toward Steph, and a similar ray came from Kirby to hit his left hand. Within seconds, they had created a stable energy pathway.

"Begin casting!" he shouted. The connection between them didn't allow direct communication, but it did transfer ideas. He felt the magic rise in his colleagues, and focused his own powers.

Blue light rose around him as he began casting Protect. The trick to making the Magic Combine work was casting the spell on the person you were connected with. The ability sucked the energy in and sent it along the pathway back to the caster, magnifying it through velocity. With the three-way Combine, all three people had to cast their spells on the next person in line. The magic would ricochet around the triangular connection, gaining even more velocity.

He directed his Protect spell toward Steph. He saw the brief flare of the casting aura, and felt a Reflect spell surge through him, followed by a Shell, then his original Protect.

All this took barely five seconds. He immediately recast Protect, and recast again, and again. Energy surged through him, first in waves, quickly becoming a constant stream. He closed his eyes, focused only on casting his Protect spells.

He barely felt the tingle of spells transferred from the SeeDs. His attention narrowed, and his whole world consisted of keeping that energy stream flowing, throwing more and more power into it.

RFRFRFRFRFRFRFRF

The missiles screamed over the ocean. Clouds of combusted fuel trailed behind them. Their black-and-red shells glinted malevolently in the sun as Balamb island grew before them.

RFRFRFRFRFRFRFRF

From a distance, an observer would have seen the beginning of the enormous protection spell as a thin line of light drawn across Garden. That line thickened quickly, and became a pulsing beam. For perhaps two minutes, it was tri-colored, but the pulses began moving so rapidly it lost all hue and became merely white.

From closer, that same observer would see the SeeDs on the ground below the massive spell taking place. One by one, they connected themselves with the river of power, dumping their spell into it. The first few that transferred their spells maintained contact for nearly thirty seconds, but the interval between SeeDs quickly lessened, until they were transferring their spells in one giant pulse. As they finished, they cast their Haste spell and ran away from the Garden, moving at twice normal speed.

When the last SeeD of each group had expended their spells, they took the bucket of stones, refined them into spells via GF, and sent that last burst of energy into the Committee.

The last SeeD of Steph's group, a newly-graduated SeeD named Nida, looked closely at the woman above him as he finished the transfer. She was floating in the air, higher than the Float spell should have allowed. She was actually rising. He could barely see her through the pink haze surrounding her body, and the thick white bars of light connecting her to the other casters.

The same aura surrounded Jasson and Kirby, although in blue and green respectively.

There was a brilliant flash, and the bars of light vanished. The three SeeDs flew into the air, leaving an aftertrail of light that faded quickly. They met in the air above Garden.

They had completely lost definition, and were merely man-shaped blazes of colored fire. They met, forming a much smaller triangle. The blue flame, what remained of Jasson, shot higher into the air.

Nida heard a ragged voice shout "Protect!" An arc of searing blue light sliced through the sky, crossing the Garden. It began to turn ponderously. When it had completed half a revolution, an even larger arc spread from the center of the first and traced a second circle, much faster. When they lined up, they vanished in another flash of blue. The dome of light hid from sight quickly after.

There was another cry, this time sounding like "Shell!" The pink figure rose into the air where the blue one had vanished. This time, the pink flame expanded, forming enormous petals of light that curved over the Garden, then reversed, creating a second dome, this time of rose-colored light. It also faded from view.

The final apparition was the green one, who seemed to shout "Reflect!", although by this point his voice was more mental than physical. The green flame soared into the air, making a column that rapidly expanded, leaving a flowing yellow shield in its wake.

The third dome, when completed, vanished just like the other two. Nida woke from the trance the awesome sight had put him in, and looked around.

When he turned around to run, he saw them.

Maybe there were ten, or twelve. They were rocketing through the air at incredible speeds. He couldn't hear any sonic booms, but he was quite sure Balamb City could.

He was also quite sure he was safer where he was. If he ran away, and the shields failed, the blast would reach him before he escaped. If he stayed here, and the shields failed, the blast would reach him extremely quickly. If he stayed here and the shields held, he'd be safe.

And there was always the possibility that, since there was a Reflect layer, that the explosion would be rebounded.

He desperately hoped this wasn't the case.

The missiles hit moments after he made this decision.

RFRFRFRFRFRFRFRF

As they reached Balamb Garden, the missiles' evasive action programming kicked in. They changed direction abruptly, soaring into the air, then arcing back down.

But instead of impacting the sea-blue building and exploding satisfactorily, a strange force gripped each one as it got close to the Garden.

Blue light shone around each missile casing, cutting off all its movement instantly. The missiles interpreted this as impact, and triggered their explosives. But the raging fireballs were contained by pink spheres that sprang up around them. Twelve pink spheres floated away from the Garden, making a circle around the behemoth school.

The pink light vanished suddenly. The raging destruction poured down onto the school.

But before it reached the building, it was again denied. This time, a yellow-green glow intercepted it. The sheer force of destruction flowed across it, making a dome. There was a moment of balance and equilibrium.

Then, Nida was proved right.

The blast was redirected violently, rocketing away from Garden at even greater velocity than before. However, instead of expanding in a bubble of death, it was propelled straight up, making a column of raging fire that slowly subsided.

The yellow shield remained after the blast vanished, then shattered. Yellow, blue, and pink lights floated down toward the Garden and the surrounding grassland.

RFRFRFRFRFRFRFRF

Nida cowered in a crouch, whimpered pathetically. He may have been a SeeD, but the sight of an explosion racing toward you like a tide of certain death was perhaps the most frightening thing he'd ever seen. He looked up slowly as the sound of the blast faded.

He saw the many lights floating down from where the shield had been. He slowly stood, reaching out to touch one of them.

Energy sizzled through him, knocking him clear off of his feet and onto his rump ingloriously.

The energy raced into his body, then exploded out of it. Green and red orbs swirled around him and vanished. He felt the unmistakable power of summoning fill him, but instead of trading planes with a GF, he rose into the air.

A white circle appeared on the ground before him. The symbol of Garden, two opposing teardrops of black and white, appeared within the circle. The whole image vanished, and fires the color of the three spells roared up from the ground. The flames condensed, slowly becoming three humans.

Or perhaps not. They had the appearance of the three scientist SeeDs, but each one glowed from within. Jasson, shining blue, smiled at Nida. Steph, haloed in pink, gave him a salute, and Kirby, covered with a yellow glow, nodded.

We have finally figured out how GFs are made, Jasson mouthed. The words were conveyed directly to Nida's brain, rather than the inefficient method of vibrating air molecules.

It's a combination of sacrifice and extreme power expenditure, Steph added.

We'd always wanted to know, but none of the GFs would share, and we couldn't even come close to it in the lab, Kirby continued.

And the discovery is a bit late, Jasson said. We're rather unable to continue our research. He shrugged. It doesn't seem as important now.

"You're…GFs…" Nida breathed. He was still hovering in the air.

Almost. We're a GF, Steph corrected him. We can only be summoned together.

"Do you have a name?" Nida asked.

Jasson smiled. We still think of ourselves as Jasson, Steph, and Kirby. But I think that will fade, eventually. I suppose you can call us…Seed.

Nida nodded. He wasn't quite sure why they were talking to him, though.

Nida. Why do GFs ever appear to humans? Kirby asked. Draw us.

Nida's eyes opened wide. "What? I don't want people in my head that I know!"

Jasson shook his head. We're not those people anymore. We only appear to be. Draw us, Nida, before this manifestation ends. We don't want to be lost in the ether.

Nida closed his eyes. He was indeed summoning them; the flying in the air was testament to that. But they weren't junctioned to him. They seemed to be using him to appear. He wondered if that meant they could be Drawn from him.

Hurry, Nida! Draw us! All three were calling, now, and their voices were growing fainter. Nida was beginning to feel tired, as well.

He shook his head. "I don't want to do this."

He raised his hand, and focused on the GF before him.

"Draw…Seed."