Chapter 1: Introductions

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VIII, Squaresoft or the original characters of the game. I do own the ones I created.
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Hi! My name is Kaisa Edea Almasy. I am 5'9", 133 lbs., with green eyes and blonde hair. I am sixteen years old and a cadet at Balamb Garden, an elite training facility for SeeDs. SeeDs are hired mercenaries that are sent all around the globe to take care of military and personal problems. My weapon of choice are Sais, small dagger-like knives. My parents, Seifer and Quistis Almasy, are SeeDs at Balamb Garden, as is my older brother. In addition to being a SeeD, my mother is also an Instructor. She teaches several classes and I have been in all of them on my way to achieving the rank of SeeD. She is an excellent teacher and is one of the most highly regarded instructors in the Garden. My father is a top-notch SeeD and is only dispatched on extremely important missions, because he is too good a SeeD to lose, not that he would ever be killed on a mission. My dad is the best fighter I have ever known.

My mother and father grew up in Cid and Edea Kramer's orphanage in Centra. After that, they were both enrolled in Garden. My mother was a child prodigy and became a SeeD at 15, then obtained her instructor's license at 17. She actually instructed my father to become a SeeD on several different occasions. My father was somewhat of a problem child and didn't pass the SeeD exam until he was almost 19. By then, he had taken it at least twice, probably more and had been brainwashed by the sorceress Ultimecia during the second Sorceress Wars. That is all I'm saying about that subject because I love and respect my dad and don't like to think about the things he was forced to do under the sorceress' control.

After the Sorceress Wars, my father came back to the Garden and my mother was his personal teacher. They didn't get along at first but after he finally passed the SeeD exam, their respect for each other turned to love. He proposed to her two years after returning to the Garden. They were married a year later. They probably would've been married sooner but an attack on the Garden left my mother with amnesia for a few months and they had to work through that.

Two years after they were married, my brother, Lucian Gabriel Almasy was born. He is 6'3", 199 lbs., with blonde hair and blue eyes. Everyone calls him Luke. Unfortunately for him, he inherited our mother's farsightedness and has to wear glasses when he reads. He usually wears contacts though. He is eighteen years old and a SeeD at Balamb Garden. He passed the exam when he was sixteen, which makes him above average but not quite the prodigy our mother was. He is also planning on getting his instructor's license after a few more years. He says that he's enjoying being a SeeD too much right now to trade it all for sitting behind a desk. He shares our father's love of fighting. His weapon is the Hyperion Gunblade.

Because both my parents are orphans, I have no real aunts or uncles but since they grew up with others in the orphanage that came to Garden, they are like my aunts and uncles, even though they aren't my blood relatives. Also, my dad's best friends, Raijin and Fujin Denko are like family as well.

My Aunt Rinoa and Uncle Squall were married about five months before my parents. They have three children, two girls and a boy. Their oldest child, Raven Julia Leonhart, is nineteen and a sorceress like her mother. She is 5'4", 115lbs, with black hair and grey eyes. She became a SeeD at the age of seventeen. Because of her sorceress blood, she is skilled enough with magic that she needs no other weapon. The Leonharts second child is a boy name Taylor Allen Leonhart, but all of his friends call him Tal. Tal is sixteen and is one of my very best friends. He is 5'8", 154 lbs, with dark brown hair and blue eyes. His weapon preference is the Blaster Edge like his mother. The youngest Leonhart child is Raine Selene Leonhart. She is fourteen and training hard for her SeeD exam. She hopes to be able to take it by the time she is sixteen. She is 5'2", 108 lbs., with dark brown hair and brown eyes. Her weapons are Kali Sticks.

Uncle Irvine and Aunt Selphie Kinneas are another pair of people that grew up in the orphanage. They were married two months after my parents. Their first child, Vaughn Irvine, was born about a month before my brother. He is 6'1", 191 lbs., with blue eyes and brown hair, which he wears down to his shoulders. He passed the SeeD exam with my brother and because they are so close in age, they were practically raised together and as a result, are best friends. Vaughn is a flirt like his father and there is hardly a girl in Garden who doesn't swoon when he smiles. Luckily, I am not one who falls victim to his charms. His weapon is the Shotgun.

The Kinneas' other child is a girl by the name of Kayla Allie. She is sixteen, 5'5", 119 lbs., with auburn hair and green eyes. She is perky and cheerful exactly like her mother and even chose her mother's weapon, the nunchaku. Kayla is my very best friend in the whole world. We are like sisters. We share a dorm room right now, but as soon as we pass our SeeD exam, we will get our own rooms. We aren't looking forward to that. We've shared a dorm since we were ten. It will be hard to be separated.

Another aunt and uncle are Uncle Zell and Aunt Cammi Dincht. Aunt Cammi and Uncle Zell were married in a double wedding with Aunt Selphie and Uncle Irvine. They have four children. The oldest, Cale Lester is about six months younger than my brother. He is best friends with him and Vaughn. They are practically inseparable, more so than me, Kayla and Tal. Cale is 5'6", 158 lbs., with dark blonde hair and blue eyes. He is a SeeD also and his weapons are his fists. He is an expert martial artist and learned from his father. Next are the Dincht twins, Gavin Melville and Morgan Janelle. They are fourteen. Gavin is older by a few minutes. He is 5'2 ½ ", 129 lbs., with blonde hair and brown eyes. His weapon is the spear. Morgan is 4'11", 93 lbs., with blonde hair and blue eyes. Her weapon is the whip, which my mother has trained her to use. The youngest Dincht, Kitara Ani is twelve. She is 4'8", 80 lbs., with brown hair and brown eyes. Everyone calls her Kit. Kit is just beginning her training as a SeeD. While she hasn't quite decided which weapon she will use, she is strongly leaning towards a bo, or fighting stick, similar to her mother's weapon.

My last aunt and uncle are Fujin and Raijin Denko. They were married almost a year after my parents but their only child, Tristen Nero Denko, was born shortly after my parents wedding. The Denkos had a secret relationship that no one knew about until it was uncovered that my Aunt Fujin was pregnant. By that time she was almost 8 months along. Because she is so small to start with, she didn't really show until then. Tristen is twenty years old. He is 6'6", 236 lbs., with silver hair and violet eyes. His weapon is the Katana and he is so skilled with it that he makes it look like an extension of his body. If Vaughn can make almost all the girls in Garden swoon, then Tristen makes all of them. He is tall like his father, but all other traits came from his mother. He has very pale skin and almost never says a word unless it's important. He turns heads everywhere he goes and any girl (including me) would jump at the chance to be his girlfriend. Unfortunately for us, he and Raven Leonhart have been dating since their early teens and they are so much in love that no one even entertains the thought that they might break up. It's just as well; they are the most talked about couple in Garden. They really are perfect for each other.

Now that you have been introduced to everyone important that lives in the Garden, I'll get on with my story. It all started the day of my SeeD exam.