Ha ha, okay, so another apology is in order. It's been like ten months now and for that I'm sorry. Most people have probably given up on the story by this point. It's entirely my fault, but it's also hard to find incentive to write without feedback. I'd really like to hear what people think about the story. Anyways, the next few months should be pretty open, so I hope to get a few more chapters of this posted.

Chapter 3: First Test

A week and three days had passed since the incident in the park, and Cloud was exhausted. Even though they only had class every other day, he felt like his head was going to explode. Not only did they have normal homework from the morning classes, such as English and Math, they also had assignments in both fighting and Materia. Cloud had been hoping to spend a lot more time working on all the homework with Aerith, but ever since the incident at the park, she'd been rushing home as soon as school ended and he hadn't built up the nerve to call her. He didn't really think he was at fault, but he figured the best thing to do was wait until she was ready to call him.

'At least it's a Friday.' Cloud thought in relief.

Knowing how hard the students ended up working during the week, the teachers were generally fairly forgiving with the amount of work they assigned over the weekend. Seeing his friend's cars already in the parking lot, Cloud hurried inside, eager to get a seat next to them.

"We've got something very special planned for you instead of the normal afternoon classes," Reeve announced after the bell had rung. "Instead of heading to Cid's class like you normally do after lunch, please meet in the gym for an announcement." Ignoring the storm of questions that followed, Reeve turned and began writing math equations on the board.

"What do you think it is?" Cloud leaned over and whispered to Vincent.

"Not a clue, we've never had something like this happen before, maybe it's just some new Friday only class?"

Curious, Cloud could do nothing but pay attention and take notes while waiting for lunch to finally arrive. He did notice Aerith and Tifa whispering together a few seats over, however, and most of the rest of the class also seemed to be paying less attention than normal.

The bell signaling the end of morning classes finally rang, and everyone rushed out of the room, eager to eat lunch so they could find out what the surprise was. Cloud and Vincent went to their usual table and started eating, while talking about what the teachers could possibly have planned.

"Wow, incoming," Vincent said suddenly, cutting off what Cloud had been saying.

Cloud glanced over to see what Vincent was looking at, and was surprised to see Aerith and Tifa walking towards them.

"Hey guys, mind if we join you?" Tifa asked.

"Not at all," Cloud replied, glancing at Aerith curiously.

She sat down opposite him and took a few bites of her sandwich before looking directly at him. "Look, I'm sorry Cloud, I've been pretty rude to you this last week. You didn't even really do anything wrong, I was just so angry at Zack. Will you forgive me?"

Cloud smiled, feeling elated inside. "Of course I forgive you, I figured you just needed some time to yourself and I didn't want to risk being burnt or frozen by trying to pressure you."

Aerith smiled at this, and Tifa actually burst into laughter.

"You guys seem to be having fun," a new voice said behind him and Cloud turned around to see Yuffie standing there. She winked at them and sat down next to Aerith, nabbing one of the girl's chips and popping it in her mouth. "So, I heard you guys have something special this afternoon, any idea what it might be?"

"No idea," Cloud replied in frustration. "What about you girls?" he asked.

Aerith and Tifa glanced at each other before leaning in. "Do you remember what the teachers said on the first day?" Aerith whispered. "They said the main reason we were all paired off was for the new tests… Maybe one of those is today."

"What!? A test already!?" Cloud exclaimed in horror.

"Oh wow, I so don't envy you guys," Yuffie said, putting a hand to her mouth as she tried her hardest not to giggle.

"Well we've only had two weeks of school," Vincent said, "It's not like it could be that hard of a test."

"Hopefully," Tifa muttered.

The four of them finished their meal and said goodbye to Yuffie before heading to the gym with the rest of the class. To their surprise, they found a bunch of weird tables with what looked like four Materia embedded in the top. Each table also had two chairs, one on either side of the table. Barret was standing in the center of the room, along with the rest of their teachers and he beckoned the students to gather around them.

"As some of you may have guessed by now, we're going to be having a pop test," he explained, grinning at them.

The reaction from the students was immediate as most of the class began to panic. "What?!" "No way!" "Already?" "Not fair!"

"Shut the hell up!" Barret roared, quickly quieting the class. "This is going to be an introduction test, mainly to teach you how the new system is going to work. You're still going to be graded of course, but the main point here is just to prepare you guys for future tests."

"What's with the weird tables?" Zack asked, walking over and poking one of them.

"Those are the new testing system," Barret explained. "Bugenhagen will explain more about them in a moment. Before that, however, I want to discuss the general rules. As we explained on the first day of class you will be taking your tests in the pairs we already assigned. Hopefully you've been working with your partners over the past two weeks and gotten to know them well. Cooperation and coordination during these tests will be critical."

Cloud glanced over at Aerith guiltily, and caught her looking at him in the same way. The only time they'd worked together had been that day at the park.

"There are, of course, a few rules you have to follow," Barret continued. "The test in itself is similar to a maze. Each team will begin at some part along the outside and your goal is to reach the center. Various obstacles will block the way, and you'll have to work together to figure out how to proceed. It is also important to note that each team will have to cover the exact same amount of ground to reach the center. The difference between paths when they split is simply the obstacle blocking you. If you find yourself stuck on a puzzle too long, it may be wise to backtrack to the last intersection and attempt the one along the other path."

"You will be graded on both performance and speed, so you're not free to take as much time as you want, while at the same time you can't afford to be sloppy. In addition, since it is a singular maze there is a chance that you may run into another team during the process. Teaming up with them is permitted, although I will warn you that while teamed up the average score of both teams will be awarded to each team. This means that a strong team will most likely lose points for teaming up with a weaker one, although it depends largely on the situation. It's up to your judgement to decide if you want to work together, but forcing the other team to do so is not allowed."

"Sabotage is strictly forbidden. If two teams meet up and decide not to work together, they must either wait for one of the teams to finish first, or else backtrack. Additionally, any attempts to cheat and bring in additional Materia or weapons will result in an automatic failing grade. Other than what I've listed, you're free to do whatever you want. Are there any questions?"

"Are we only being tested on afternoon classwork then?" Cloud asked.

"No," Reeve responded, "approximately half of the test will be from morning class lectures, so I hope you've all been paying attention and doing your homework." Several students shifted uncomfortably at this.

Seeing that there were no more questions, Barret gestured for Bugenhagen to come forward.

"As Barret mentioned, the tables around the room will be how you are tested. All you have to do is sit down and place a hand on each of the Materia in front of you. You'll find yourself, along with your partner, at the start of the maze and when the signal is given you may begin. Now, please take your seats and enter the maze."

"This sounds like it should be interesting," Cloud said to Aerith as they walked over to the nearest table.

"I'm so glad I've done all the homework so far, you have too, right, Cloud?"

"Err, yah, of course I have," Cloud lied. In reality he'd done most of it, although he'd spent the previous day just relaxing around the house since he was so burned out. 'Ugh, it figures the day I decide to be lazy it comes back and makes me regret it.'

Together they sat down and placed their hands on the Materia, unprepared for the wave of blackness that suddenly engulfed them.

Aerith woke up to find herself lying on the floor of a dark stone room, lit by a single flickering torch. Another shape not far away was moving, and she reached for her staff on the ground next to her before realizing it was just Cloud.

'Was this supposed to happen?' she wondered, getting up and dusting off her dress before bending down to grab her staff and strapping it to her back before walking over to see if Cloud was okay.

"You alright?" she asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. It would have been nice if they told us to expect something like this," Cloud muttered.

"Maybe it's just part of the test. Or maybe something went wrong…" Aerith trailed off in concern.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it, where are we?"

"I'm not sure, I just woke up a few seconds ago so I haven't taken a look around yet."

Together, the two of them explored the small room they found themselves in, but it seemed like it was just a small square room without any way out. Aerith noticed that Cloud had his hand on his sword the entire time.

"If this is part of the test then I have no idea how to get out of here," Cloud said angrily after they'd made a close inspection of all the walls.

Glancing around one last time, Aerith was surprised to see something on the wall opposite the torch. "Was that door there before?"

"No…" Cloud walked over cautiously and drew his sword. "Stay behind me, I'll go first."

Aerith smiled to herself and followed as Cloud opened the door and went through. On the other side they found a narrow hallway that led into the distance, lined with alternating torches on either side. After a while, they came to a fork in the path, the two ways onward leading off at different angles.

"Which way?" Cloud asked her.

"Well, Barret said it doesn't really matter so I guess we just pick one. How about right?"

Cloud nodded and glanced back, smiling when he saw her holding her staff like he'd taught her. "Don't worry, no matter what happens I won't let you get hurt."

'He's so cute.' "Thanks Cloud," she replied as they walked on.

A few minutes later they came to another small room, except that this one had a table in the middle. A cursory glance around the room didn't reveal any way to proceed. Together they approached the table and saw a piece of paper lying in the center of it.

"Who was the original founder of the Shinra Company?" it read.

"Ugh, a history question? I hate history," Cloud said. "Did we even cover this? I have no idea what the answer is."

"Actually, you're right," Aerith replied, slightly confused. "This is something we haven't covered in class. Thankfully it's pretty common knowledge around here. The Shinra Company hasn't been around all that long, actually, the founder is Rufus' father. I don't know his name though, everyone just calls him President Shinra."

Her response seemed to be enough, however, as a door shimmered into existence on the wall opposite where they had entered the room.

"This isn't so bad," Cloud said, a little cockily as he continued on through the new door.

Aerith was a little bit more hesitant, but she did have to admit that so far things seemed pretty easy. If all they had to do to reach the center was answer a series of questions, it didn't seem like it could be that difficult.

"Remember, we're being timed," she said, as she followed after him. "Let's jog a bit."

Nodding, Cloud picked up the pace and they soon reached another room. Instead of a table with a piece of paper on it, however, there were nine pillars arranged in a square rising from the floor, each with a Materia on top. The Materia in the upper left was glowing blue, but all the others were red.

"What do you think we have to do?" Cloud asked. "Make them all the same color?"

"That seems like a safe assumption," Aerith replied, nodding. "You want to try first?"

Nodding confidently, Cloud stepped forward. "Since they're red I'll assume that means it's a fire Materia."

She watched him concentrate for a while, but saw no noticeable effect on the Materia he was touching. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know, I'm trying to channel fire through it like we did with the candles, but it's just not responding at all."

"What if you try and use ice? That's the only other Materia we've learned to use in class, so if that doesn't work then we'll need to think of something else." She left it unsaid that she'd actually already mastered lightning Materia as well, outside of class.

"Okay, I'll try that, although I'm still really bad with ice," Cloud replied hesitantly. A moment later, however, the Materia he was touching, along with all the Materia directly adjacent to it, turned blue. "Wow, it worked!"

"Nice work Cloud," Aerith said encouragingly, proud to see how far he'd come in just a week. "So it looks like if you channel ice into one of the red orbs, it makes it and all the others around it except for the diagonals blue," she mused.

"This'll be easy!" Cloud exclaimed, grabbing another red Materia and concentrating again. This time, however, the orb and the other red ones next to it turned blue, except the blue orb that was also next to it instead returned to glowing red. "Errr, what?" Cloud asked in confusion.

"I see," Aerith said thoughtfully. "It looks like channeling into a Materia simply switches that one along with all the surrounding ones to the opposite color."

They also quickly discovered that they had to channel fire into the blue orbs in order to get them and their surroundings to change color.

"So, not only is it testing our ability to use different Materia back to back, it's also testing our logic skills in order to figure out a pattern that will make all the orbs the same color. I assume that since the majority of them started out red, the solution we're looking for will result in all nine of them set to blue," Aerith concluded.

Grimacing, Cloud set about randomly changing colors, trying to get them to all change to blue through luck. After a few minutes, however, Cloud realized he was back exactly where the puzzle had started, with the upper left orb blue while the rest were once again red.

"I give up," he sighed as he slid to the floor, looking exhausted. "All that energy channeling has wiped me out too."

Aerith stepped forward and looked at the puzzle for a while, before she reached down and began to change the orb's colors in quick succession. A few seconds later she managed to solve it with only eight orb changes.

"Wow," Cloud said in shock, eyes wide, "that was seriously impressive Aerith!"

"It wasn't really that great," Aerith replied blushing, but feeling really happy with herself.

To their relief, their assumptions had been correct and another door onwards appeared once all the orbs had turned blue. They ran down the next hallway to make up for lost time, and took another right path when a second fork appeared. A little later, they came to yet another room, except this time instead of a small square it was more of a long hallway, about twice the width of the ones they'd been traveling so far.

As soon as they stepped inside the seemingly empty room, however, a large number of imps, skeletons, and zombies appeared out of nowhere and began rushing towards them.

"Now this is more my style!" Cloud exclaimed, pulling his sword from his back and charging the enemies.

Aerith grabbed her staff and chased after him, but by the time she caught up all the enemies were gone, and the door onward had just finished appearing.

"That should make up for a bit of the time I wasted back in the other room," Cloud said happily as they continued on down the next hallway.

"I wonder if it's weird that we haven't run into anyone else yet," Aerith wondered out loud.

"They're probably all just way behind us, eating our dust," Cloud replied, giving her a huge grin.

'I really, really like Cloud…' Aerith realized as she grinned back.

The next room they came to was identical to the first, another table with a piece of paper on it was waiting for them. This time it read, "What is the integral of four x cubed plus eight x squared minus five x plus 2?"

"What an easy math question, I've got this no problem," Cloud said with confidence. "The answer is twelve x squared plus sixteen x minus five."

"No!" Aerith cried out, her eyes widening as Cloud instead gave the derivative, but it was too late.

There was a large explosion, and suddenly there was a red dragon in the room with them. Before either of them could do anything, it swept its tail directly at Aerith. She felt it connect with her stomach, driving the wind out of her and sending her flying backwards to crash into the wall. Everything went black when her head struck the floor hard.

"Aerith! Aerith please don't die! Wake up!" Cloud called desperately. 'I failed her! I may have killed her!"

When her hand reached out and gently grabbed his arm and he saw her beautiful green eyes open, Cloud let out a sigh of relief.

"You gave the derivative silly, not the integral," Aerith said softly before breaking down giggling.

"How can you joke around when you're that badly hurt?" he asked as she slowly got to her feet.

"It's not too bad, although I'll be thankful to get out of here and have Bugenhagen take a look at my head," Aerith reassured him.

"I failed you, I got you seriously hurt. Zack was right, he'd be better at protecting you."

Before Cloud realized what had happened she slapped him.

"Don't you dare discredit yourself like that. You did the best you could and obviously prevented that thing from killing both of us. If I hear any more nonsense like that from you, I'll slap you again."

Looking ashamed, Cloud helped her to her feet and they continued on through the next door in silence. They only had to go a short way until they found a pure white door blocking their way. They opened it and everything was engulfed in white.

When he opened his eyes, Cloud found himself sitting at the table in the gym with Aerith opposite him, blinking her eyes.

"Congratulations, you're the third team to finish."

Cloud looked over and saw Reeve approaching them. "How far behind were we?"

"Tifa and Vincent just finished about a minute before you guys, although Sephiroth finished around ten minutes ago, even solo. That's not really important though, do you guys want to know how you did?"

They nodded together and Reeve went on.

"You got an A for your first room, your second room would have been a B since Cloud wasted so much time randomly changing the colors, but Aerith set a new record of only eight touches to solve the puzzle which resulted in another A."

Cloud smiled broadly and gave Aerith a high five.

"The next room was an A as well, Cloud cut through those enemies quite professionally. Your final room was where everything fell apart."

Cloud looked down at the table, unable to meet Aerith's eyes. 'Damn it.'

"Mixing up integrals and derivatives gave you guys a D for that room, although the fact that Cloud actually managed to defeat the red dragon instead of retreating boosted you up to a C. In the end, with a third place finish, your final grade for your first test… is an A, barely. Congratulations."

Cloud jumped a little when he felt Aerith's hand rest on his. "We did great Cloud, next time we'll even make sure to beat Sephiroth, okay?" she said encouragingly, smiling at him.

"Yeah, thanks Aerith."

"Now, I need to take Aerith to the clinic to see to her wounds. Cloud, please go over and wait with the other students who have finished, Barret wants to talk with everyone before people go home."

"Hey Cloud," Tifa greeted him as he walked over, "How'd things go? I can't believe we actually beat you guys. Wait, where's Aerith?" she asked as she noted her friend's absence.

"I totally messed up," Cloud muttered, shaking his head and looking at the floor.

"What the hell did you do to Aerith?!" Tifa growled as she jumped to her feet and grabbed his shirt by the neck.

"Stop it Tifa," Vincent said quietly, and to Cloud's surprise she actually let him go. "I'm sure they've talked it over and it's none of our business."

Tifa still glared at him, but she sat back down and together the four of them waited for the rest of the students to finish their test. Cloud was very confused when Zack and Tseng ended up finishing in second to last place. He did, however, notice Zack shooting Sephiroth a nasty glare, which was returned with an arrogant smirk.

'I wonder what happened with them…'

"Aerith you're okay!" Cloud heard Tifa shout out, and he glanced over to see Aerith walking towards them next to Barret. She broke off to join them when Barret turned to head to the front of the class.

"I'm fine," she whispered once she'd taken her seat next to Tifa. "One little Cura spell and I feel as good as new."

Before Tifa could ask why she'd needed such a strong healing spell, Barret began speaking. "Now that you've all taken the trial test I hope you understand what the rest of the year is going to be like. Of course in the future the tests will be much harder, and there will be far more than simply four questions. I also hope you learned how serious these tests are, any injuries taken during them are quite real. Of course, if it ever came down to a life threatening situation, the teachers would immediately intervene, but the tests are designed to keep the chances of this actually happening very low."

"To that end, I ask you to get to know your partners even better and continue to work together. In the future, a single student will not be able to carry the team through the entire test, both of you need to identify and strengthen your weaknesses. For now, I know you're tired and you most likely don't want to be sitting here listening to me, so I'll end it here. Congratulations to you all and I look forward to the remaining school year. There's no homework, enjoy your weekend."

There was a thunderous cheer from the students at the final declaration and everyone jumped to their feet, excited to have an entire weekend free to do whatever they wanted.

"Party! Saturday night, my house!" Elena yelled. "Girls only!"

"Party, Saturday night, my house!" yelled Rufus in response. "Guys only!"

Laughing, everyone headed to the parking lot.

"Hope to see you this weekend!" Cloud shouted to Aerith as he backed his motorcycle up.

"I'm sure we will," she responded, smiling as she got into her car.

End Note: I really liked this chapter. The entire story was in fact based around this entire testing concept, and the basic idea for this chapter is what created the entire story. With this chapter, I was able to play around and figure out what I wanted to see in future tests, although I have to admit I'm worried about those chapters. It's going to be hard creating a longer, more difficult test that doesn't just drag along. The line breaks also didn't want to save for some reason so I was forced to use a double hyphen, hopefully that won't continue in the future.

In regards to the test itself, the three by three Materia square puzzle is indeed solvable in only eight moves. It took me forever to design it, but the only other length I could find was three moves, which was far too short. Hopefully I explained the rules of that puzzle well enough to be understood. If someone can manage to solve it in less I'd love to hear about it, please e-mail me the solution. (Remember, the upper left of the nine starts blue, the rest are all red.)

The integral question was included both because it amused me, and because it seemed like a good question for a High School math section. In case anyone is interested, the correct answer is: x to the fourth plus eight thirds x cubed minus five halves x squared plus two x plus an unknown constant.

Next Chapter: Guys Night/Girls Night