Zariel: Unfortunately, no one will be twisting Irvine's balls off, but much more Irvine beating/bashing should come in the next few chapters. ^o^ And, sorry but this story won't get very lemony. However! We're hoping to make it somewhat limey eventually.
Vash the Unholy: With Swapping Souls, we're lucky if we update once every two or three months. -.- (Karla3: We will be writing in S.S! As a matter of fact, we're getting ready to start writing chapter seven soon!)
Squeakychris: Well, erm…he's a very strong guy…and uh…talented. . (Heh, sorry about that, our bad. But thanks for pointing out our flaw! We'll have to try and fix it soon).
A fire Inside Girl: French? That is so cool! And don't you worry! The day will come when they kiss…maaaayyyybbbbbeeeeee…. But we won't tell you when… ^o^
A/N: Okay everyone! This update was a lot faster than last one. So be merry and proud! The next update, however, may take quite a while. Instead of working on chapter seven directly after Anna finishes her chapter of 'Keep Yourself Alive', we will be working on 'Swapping Souls' or perhaps even 'Run Away with Me!'. So, it shouldn't be too long. But it may be a while… (But be happy for the moment. This is a pretty long chapter-our longest yet- so hopefully it will keep everyone sane for a little while)
Chapter 6
Rinoa slowly trudged down the hallway. She had a lot on her mind. Today the junior classmen were taking their SeeD exam, and for the field exam the teams of candidates were supposed to eliminate all monsters around Timber. It was her who was supposed to do the mission briefing and she had yet to plan what she was going to say. Zell, along with a handful of others, was taking a SeeD exam to raise his rank. She wouldn't get to see him all day.
However, the thought that kept nagging at her mind was that Selphie was back at Garden as of the previous night. The brunette had been doing a lot of thinking thanks to Quistis' lectures. Deep down, Rinoa knew she didn't want to lose Selphie as a friend. She knew that she should have been there, in Selphie's new dorm, welcoming her back to Garden.
All night, instead of planning what she should say to the junior classmen, she planned what she would say to Selphie for an apology. Now, all she had to do was find her friend so that she could finally get all of this off of her chest.
At seven in the morning, there are only a few places that one can be found. With Selphie, the most likely place would be the cafeteria. Feeling a little nervous, Rinoa turned the corner into the cafeteria only to be instantly pulled aside.
The sudden action made Rinoa wince. When she reopened her eyes, she found herself looking into two green eyes that were heavily made-up. Clutching her chest, the brunette exhaled, "Roxanne! You scared me!"
The redhead cocked her head to the side and grabbed Rinoa's shoulder. "I thought that I should tell you before anyone else got to."
"What? Is something wrong?"
Roxanne closed her eyes and dramatically bit her lip. "He must've lied to you."
"Who?"
"Squall," she said maliciously, reopening her eyes. "I saw him and Selphie last night. They were all over each other in the hallway!" Rinoa gasped and covered her mouth with a hand.
"Oh, that's not all," Roxanne smiled. "At around two I woke up because I realized that I needed to put my trash bags in the hall for the janitor to pick up. While I was setting them beside my door, I saw him come out of her room. The party had ended two hours ago, and he was just leaving. I'm sure you can guess what they were up to…" she smirked cruelly.
"But! B-But…" Rinoa thought desperately. Though she did not know Roxanne very well, she believed her. Once again, she succumbed to her old habit of jumping to conclusions.
Without saying anything to the redhead, Rinoa stomped into the mass of students, Roxanne just watched, still smirking.
Well, Selphie wasn't in the cafeteria, but Rinoa found the next best thing. Squall was sitting alone at a table, spooning his cereal into his mouth. "I can't believe you lied to me!" she roared at the unsuspecting Commander.
His eyes grew wide and he immediately stood up and looked at her.
"Rinoa…didn't we already have this fight once?"
"Yes! And I was on the verge of apologizing and believing you! But now, even if you didn't sleep with Selphie a few days ago, what were you doing with her so late last night?"
"Huh?!" Squall was now horribly confused.
"Don't play dumb!! Roxanne saw you leave Selphie's dorm at two! What's your excuse this time? Did she get sick again!!?"
"I was helping her cl-,"
"I can't believe I almost apologized to both of you! You're such an asshole! I hope Selphie knows that!" Tears threatened to flow when she grabbed the Griever ring that still hung on the chair around her neck, and snapped the entire necklace off. "Here, I should've given it back sooner!" Blinded with rage, she threw the jewelry at Squall's boots and stomped off. She felt everyone's eyes follow her as she left.
Squall's sad eyes glanced downward and he scooped up the copy Zell made of his ring. Grimacing with anger, he squeezed it in his palm, almost as if he thought he could crush it, then he violently shoved it into a pocket of his black pants. I suppose this is what I get for trying to be nice to somebody.
Still trying not to cry, Rinoa continued stomping away from the cafeteria. She was on her way to the second floor so that she could catch Quistis before her first class and hopefully talk to her. Not paying attention, she felt her body slam into something, or someone.
"Rinny? Are you all right?" Rinoa looked down to see the very person whom she didn't think she wanted to ever see or speak to again. Selphie looked just as innocent as ever, a talent that Rinoa was slowly beginning to hate.
The brunette merely sneered down at the SeeD and continued to stomp off. Selphie extended her arm, and opened her mouth as if she were about to grab on to Rinoa and say something, but slowly closed her mouth and let her go. She missed Rinoa as a friend; they used to have so much fun together. Rinoa, the carefree and free spirited one, and Selphie, the funny and all around nice one.
Selphie sighed and continued to the cafeteria. She just wanted something to eat; maybe she would go to the Quad and sit on the stage to eat. Perhaps even talk to some of her friends from the Garden Festival committee, it had been a while since she had seen a lot of them.
When she entered the mess hall, she saw Squall trudge out, hands jammed in his pockets. His face was serious, as always, but his eyes were angry. She wanted to ask him what was wrong, when she noticed something else. Everyone was staring at her and whispering about something. It made her feel very uncomfortable.
"Selphie! There you are!"
She spun around to see Renee running over to her, followed closely by Sae and Arisu. "We need to talk to you, but away from everyone else."
"Wha-? Can I at least get something to eat?"
"Sae! Get her some breakfast! Renee and I are taking her to our dorm!" Arisu said, turning to the longhaired brunette. Sae nodded and ran to stand in line.
"What's going on? Why's everyone acting so strange?" Selphie asked as Renee steered her back out of the cafeteria by her shoulders.
"We'll explain once we're in our dorm, okay?"
"We just needed to get you away from everyone in there. Damn bunch of vultures…"
Selphie was once again confused, but allowed her friends to drag her away. Before long the three of them were sitting in Sae and Arisu's dorm, waiting for Sae to bring Selphie's breakfast and exchanging nervous glances.
"Well? Now can I know what's going on?"
"Eh…" Arisu started timidly, "Well, you know Roxanne, right?" Selphie shook her head. She had never even heard of her, then again she didn't pay too much attention to names, only faces. "Well, she's probably the biggest snot in Garden, her dorm is next to your new one."
Selphie gasped, "She's the one Irvine was cheating on me with."
Renee nodded and Arisu looked at her feet.
"What about her?" Selphie pressed on.
Suddenly the door opened and Sae stood there, "She's spreading rumors about you and Squall." Everyone looked at the doorway where Sae stood, holding a tray of food. "Here, Selph," she handed Selphie the tray with some dry cereal and a small carton of milk.
As Selphie prepared to eat, she asked, "What kind of rumors?"
"Well," Renee started, "According to her she saw Squall leave your room around two."
"So? It's true, he wa-,"
"No, no, no! Selph! She's insinuating that you two were having sex!" Arisu exclaimed.
Selphie dropped the carton of milk she was holding; thankfully it wasn't opened yet.
"Not that we believe anything that's being said, but what exactly was happened between you two last night?" Sae asked.
"He was helping me clean up after the party! I swear! That's all!"
"Oh…" everyone seemed somewhat disappointed.
"Well, if you really had slept with him it would've been really cute…"
"Arisu!" Selphie scolded.
"What? It's the truth!" she said defensively.
"Still…" Renee spoke up. "We don't want people spreading lies about her or Squall. Cid would crap up his back if it reached him, even if it is just a rumor."
"True…" Arisu agreed.
"Okay, then it's settled!" Sae smiled. "Arisu and I will be your bouncers for the day…after we take our exam that is."
"And Seifer and I will be on rumor patrol," Renee smiled and did a fake salute, "I
hereby vow to beat the crap out of anyone who does so much as mention the rumor!" "Okay, so what do I do?" Selphie asked.
"Just…whatever you normally do."
"I don't have any classes today. And Cid hasn't asked me to do a mission in a long time."
"Well, you can volunteer to supervise the junior classmen during their field exam. That's what I'm doing," Renee beamed.
"She's volunteering to supervise for Seifer's group," Arisu whispered into Selphie's ear. The small SeeD giggled.
"Or you could take an exam today to raise your rank!" Sae added in.
"But I haven't studied…I wouldn't have a prayer in passing it."
"Well, maybe you could find someone else who is free the rest of the day and go do something with them."
The only people who came to mind were Rinoa and Irvine. Selphie dreaded the though of approaching Irvine at the moment. "Rinoa!" she exclaimed.
"Uh, Selph! I'm not sure that's a very good idea!" Renee called after her, "Rin believes every word of that rumor! I wouldn't go near her at the moment!!" But it was too late. Selphie was running down in the hall in the direction of Rinoa's dorm.
"Rinny!" she knocked on the door. "Are you in there?"
"I don't want to talk now."
"Look, I know you hate me at the moment. But you have to believe me; none of the things you have heard are true! Squall and I aren't sleeping with each other! We aren't even really seeing each other!" Rinoa remained silent, but still listened to every word that Selphie was spewing out. "I know that it's easier for you to believe what everyone else is saying, and I understand that you don't want to believe anything that I'm going to tell you. But, if you do ever want to be friends again…I'm game."
For a while, she awaited the response from Rinoa. Finally, she heard a quiet reply, "I'm game too."
Smiling, Selphie walked away. Maybe, just maybe, she and Rinoa would become friends again. Selphie hoped it wouldn't be too long.
"How'd it go?" Renee asked the approaching SeeD.
"I'm not sure," Selphie answered truthfully.
"So, have you figured out what you're doing today?" Arisu asked.
"Nope!" she smiled. "I have an entire day to blow, so I'll talk to Cid and see if he has anything for me to do."
"Work!? On a free day!!? What the hell's wrong with you!? Are you feeling all right?" Sae asked.
"Well…there's nothing else for me to do…so I might as well do something productive."
"Okay, granted," Arisu smiled. "We better go though. Sae and I are going to try to weasel our way out of taking the test." The two waved goodbye to their friends and walked out of the dormitories.
"I'll go with you to see Cid then," Renee beamed.
Sae and Arisu slunk around a corner, and traded secretive glances. Arisu nodded and ran into the classroom where Quistis was busy typing up something on her laptop. While the Instructor was preoccupied, the blond girl grabbed a copy of the exam and ran out, screaming, "Sae! Sae! I've got the secret documents!"
Quistis looked up abruptly and pulled her glasses off. "Ms. Doehring!! What may I ask, do you think you're doing?"
Arisu smiled, their plan was working. "Busted," she mumbled.
"Give me the exam," Quistis said calmly, extending a hand.
Eyes fixated on the floor, Arisu handed the papers back over to the Instructor. "Take a seat, girls. The test will be starting shortly."
"What!!?" Sae exclaimed. "We just tried to steal a copy of the test! Shouldn't you automatically fail us?"
"You're trying too hard, weaklings," came a taunting voice. Seifer stood in the doorway, smirking.
"Hello, Seifer," Quistis said monotonously. "Take a seat. And girls, the reason I didn't excuse you from the test is because I'm under strict orders from Cid to make sure you take the exam at all costs."
Seifer sat in a desk, crossed his arms across his chest, leaned back in the chair and swung his feet onto the desk. "Did Renee tell you your duties?" Sae asked him.
"Yeah, and I promise I'll get to it after the exams," he said, closing his eyes.
"What's this you're talking about?" Quistis asked curiously.
Before anyone could answer her, someone else burst through the door in a rather dramatic manner. It was Zell. He ran in, looked around desperately, let out a sigh of relief, and ran to where Quistis sat at her desk. Panting from obviously running, he put all of his weight onto her desk and leaned forward to where he was right in her face. "They've found me, I have to leave the country." And with that, he darted in the direction of the door again.
"Sit down, Zell, and don't give me that crap. You aren't getting out of taking your test again," the blond Instructor laughed.
Seifer joined her in laughing, "But I have to admit that was a pretty good one for you, chickenwuss."
"Okay, now what duty?" Quistis asked, going back to their previous topic.
"Roxanne is spreading rumors about Squall and Selphie. She knew about the party, and she saw Squall leave a few hours late," Arisu explained.
All of the color seemed to drain out of both Quistis and Zell's faces. "Did she know who all attended?"
Seifer shrugged. "Who knows? But it's my job to help prevent the spreading of rumors."
"If Cid knew I was at a mixed party passed curfew, my job would be at stake!" Quistis said worriedly.
"I just hope Rinoa doesn't find out," Zell muttered.
"No more talk about this, we can't afford to be overheard!" Sae pointed out. Everyone nodded and sat in desks. Slowly, but surely, the room started to fill up with non-SeeDs and SeeDs alike. Squall was the last to enter.
The room was very noisy as everyone talked loudly to each other. Squall's entering didn't make the noise level any better, as several heads turned to look at him and the students whispered amongst themselves.
"Quiet! Quiet everyone!" Quistis ordered loudly. "Now, listen as I give instructions! I want all SeeD candidates with me on the left side of the room. All SeeDs taking an exam to raise their rank sit on the right with Squall. Once the tests are passed out, no talking will be permitted. Those who do talk will be asked to leave immediately. Because this exam is a standardized test, any writing utensil other than a number two pencil will void your results. If you do not own one, we have a limited supply of extras available.
"And as we like to say, 'when in doubt, answer C,'" she laughed at her own joke. All of the students didn't seem to like the test humor; most were not there because they wanted to be. She cleared her throat and started again, "If you have any questions please ask either me or Commander Leonhart. We are here to help."
"Does anyone have any questions as of now?" Squall asked, looking around the room. No one seemed to have anything to ask, until a junior classman boy in the back piped up.
"Is it true that you slept with Selphie last night?"
Quistis' eyes grew wide, and she covered her mouth with a pale hand. Squall's face hardened, "Get out," he said harshly, pointing a gloved hand to the door. "Go talk to Cid about whether or not you'll be staying in Garden for your disrespect." The boy smirked as he left the room; Squall's hard gaze followed him the entire way out.
"Damn…" Seifer muttered to himself as he watched the younger boy leave. "What a way to make a scene."
"If anyone else wants to ask me questions pertaining to anything other than this exam, you may join him." Eyes wide with fear, the students said nothing more.
"Was that really necessary?" Quistis whispered in Squall's ear as she readied to pass out the exams.
"He wanted to be a SeeD? What kind of a SeeD doesn't respect his colleagues?" Squall defended himself quietly.
Quistis shook her head, "But now I'm afraid you'll cause the rumor to spread to the Headmaster himself."
"Damn, I didn't think of that!!" he slammed his hand against the desk, causing several students to jump.
"Here," she dumped the exams for the junior classmen into his hands. "I'll try to catch up to him before he gets to the Headmaster's office and talk to him; just pass these out for me."
Squall nodded as Quistis rushed out of the door. As he passed out the exams, he noticed that hardly anyone dared make eye contact with him. He liked it that way.
Cid glanced up at the two girls who had entered his office. "Hello, what can I do for you ladies?"
"Um, sir, I was just curious as of whether or not you had anything for me to do today," Selphie bowed slightly. "I have the day off, and nothing to do. If you need help with anything around Garden, I'm free."
"Actually, Selphie, you may be in luck," he smiled up at her. "Are you good with computers?"
"Yes sir!"
"I've had several students put in requests for some sort of 'spirit wear' recently. If you could make a design on a computer for some t-shirts, sweaters, that sort of thing, I would really appreciate it."
"Why, sure!" she smiled broadly. "It sounds like fun!"
"Well then," he dug through his desk and finally pulled out a floppy disk. "This disk has the Garden emblem and seal saved on it. Take however long you need to get this done. There's no rush."
"I will hereby do my best to create a super-cool design for our Garden shirts!" she exclaimed, raising a fist into the air. "For the enjoyment of the students of Balamb Garden! And for all other Gardens everywhere!"
Renee laughed to see Selphie back to her old self. She definitely missed the spontaneous and hyperactive person she first met upon arriving at Balamb Garden.
Cid waved merrily at the two girls, and went back to his paperwork.
"Well, I need to find a computer to work at," Selphie said as the two walked out of the office. When they got to Xu's desk, they noticed Quistis walking with a boy; she was leading him to the elevator.
"We decided not to inform Cid of your behavior, but you will be serving a detention with Seifer…" she was saying.
Renee smiled at the sound of Seifer's name. After she snapped out of her trance, she announced, "Okay, I need to go to training."
"For what?"
"Everyone who volunteered to supervise the junior classmen has to go to a training session. You know, for the worst case scenarios."
"I suppose."
"I'll see you after the exams! Good luck finding a computer!"
The two waved goodbye and went their separate ways. Renee headed for the Quad where the rest of the SeeD volunteers were assembling whereas Selphie walked for the library in hopes of finding an unoccupied computer.
Squall leaned back in Quistis' leather office chair, anxiously awaiting for the Instructor's return. His ice-blue eyes swept over the classroom when he saw a hand shoot up.
"Do you have a question?" he asked quietly as he approached her desk.
"Can I move to a different location?" she asked timidly.
"Is there a reason why you ask this?" she nodded her head toward a boy who occupied the chair next to her.
He was talking to himself, almost as if he were debating the answers to himself. "When battling an enemy with abnormally thick armor or hide, you should first: a) determine the enemy's 'weak spots' by casting SCAN, b) have you strongest attacker attack it….Okay. So I can rule out answers c and d, because those are just bogus. Now, I'm not so sure whether the answer is a or b…"
"Sir, I'm sorry, but there is no talking permitted as long as exams are out," Squall stated firmly.
The boy looked up and glanced to both sides, then pointed to himself in a questioning manner.
"Yes, you," Squall confirmed.
The boy scoffed. "Oh, I'm so sure you can hear me thinking." He rolled his eyes and looked back down at his test. "Man, Commander Leonhart can be such a jerk! How'd a stiff like him get in charge?"
The girl tried to suppress her laughter. Even Squall found it somewhat difficult to not laugh, but he knew he couldn't allow him to take the test. "This is your last warning, either you stop your talking or you leave."
"I'm back," someone said quietly, touching his shoulder. "You can focus on just the SeeDs. I'll take care of the junior classmen."
"Thanks, Quist," he sighed and walked back to the right side of the room.
The room was relatively quiet. Seifer sat in his desk; his feet were still propped up. From the looks of it he hadn't done so much as look at his exam. Instead he was folding his scrap paper into a very complex-looking airplane. Quistis sat at her desk reading something. While she wasn't paying attention he threw the paper projectile at her, aiming precisely at her left nostril. He was ecstatic when it hit, though Quistis was not.
"Who did that?" she demanded. "Who threw this?" she held up the paper airplane. Her gaze shifted until she was looking straight at Seifer as if she expected him to plea guilty. "Was it you?"
"Nope. He did it," Seifer pointed to the boy in the desk next to his. Quistis narrowed her eyes as if saying 'it's on now'. Oh, how Seifer loved to antagonize her. Once her back was turned, he threw an eraser at her back. Her shoulders tensed and she turned to look at him again.
"Is there something you want, Mr. Almasy?" she asked through gritted teeth.
"Yes, actually there is." He leaned over his extended legs, "Quisty…"
"You will refer to me as Instructor Trepe," she said coldly.
"Ah, yes ma'am," Seifer gave one of his trademark half-smiles. "I just wanted to comment on how incredibly sexy you look today."
"Bite me, Seifer," she spat, rolling her eyes. She then turned on her boot heel and sat back in her leather chair. Seifer snickered and leaned even further back in his chair.
Suddenly, the almost perfectly quiet classroom was loud again as one of the SeeDs yelled, "Hyne! Screw this!" She then stood up, violently threw the test down, and stomped out of the room. Squall stared wide-eyed at her until she slammed the door behind her. He and Quistis exchanged amused looks then went back to 'supervising'.
"Pst! Squall!" The Commander averted his gaze to the blond martial artist sitting in front of him. Zell was motioning for Squall to come over, so he got up and walked over to the blond's desk.
"Yeah?"
"What's the answer to question number twenty-three?" he whispered.
"Sorry. Can't help you."
"C'mon man! I studied so hard! I got all of the other questions right! Just tell me!"
"If you got all the others right then you're bound to pass."
"Yeah! But…" Zell lowered his voice. "I'm in competition with that junior classman over there."
Squall followed Zell's eyes to a girl with black hair with gold highlights. "Oh, that Kacina Owens girl?"
"Er, everyone calls her Kace…but yeah. But, damn she's smart! My only prayer in beating her score is getting all of the questions right!"
"Tough." Squall straightened back up, but Zell grabbed the back of his jacket.
"Pleeeaaassseee?"
"She's taking the SeeD entrance exam! What you're taking is ten times harder!"
"That's not the point! I just barely passed the SeeD exam when I took it!"
"Sorry."
"Hyne! I thought you were a friend!"
"You thought wrong," Squall leaned against the wall and Zell said nothing more. In a brooding way, he looked back down at his test, he hadn't resigned to himself giving up…yet.
A few minutes passed, and Zell reluctantly held up his hand. "I'm not giving you the answer, Zell," Squall said.
"I know, I know. I just wanted to go to the bathroom!"
"Go, then." Squall jerked his head in the direction of the door. "Five minutes, Dincht."
"Right…right. Five minutes, gotcha," and he ran out of the door.
Squall continued to supervise all the while keeping an eye on the clock. True to his word, exactly five minutes later Zell returned. But, he walked in a little too suspiciously for being a chickenwuss that had just gone to the little boys room. Not only was he walking suspiciously like a spy would in a stereotypical spy movie, it looked as if he was carrying something big and black behind his back.
When Zell was sure that Squall wasn't looking (which he was but Zell really isn't very perceptive), Zell dropped the case, opening it up as quickly and quietly as he could, and pulled out his saxophone. His case lay open in next to his desk, inside of it had a sign that said, 'Gil for the pathetic SeeD'.
Quistis and Squall traded glances, then looked back at Zell, who was now playing such melodies as 'Dance with the Balamb Fish'.
"I'm done dealing with him, your turn," Squall sighed.
Quistis tried to stifle her laughter, then she walked over to Zell. "Ahem, Zell…I'm sorry, but you'll have to practice your saxophone another time. Put it up, now," she said, trying to sound cross.
"But it helps me think!" he whined, then his face brightened up. It was apparent that he just had an idea. Beaming, he put the saxophone down and dug through his book bag, finally pulling out the Garden Student Handbook. He shoved it into Quistis' arms.
"Wha-?"
"Go on, find the part where it says 'no musical instruments during exams'!"
All of the students turned their heads and watched, wondering if the renowned Quistis would lose to the 'chickenwuss'. The Instructor merely chuckled, placed her hand to her forehead and shook her head. Then, surprisingly, she started to flip through the Handbook.
"See? Told ya s-!" Zell smirked, but he was interrupted when Quistis flashed a page in front of him, pointing to a certain paragraph.
"Read it aloud, Mr. Dincht."
Blushing, he did as he was told, "No making of any noise whatsoever during exams…"
"And, would practicing your saxophone be considered noise?"
Zell looked appalled, "No! It's music! Clinical researches prove that listening to instrumental music is good for your brain and helps people think more clearly!"
Quistis smiled again, "Those are awfully big words for you, Zell," she joked. "Just put up your horn, and-"
"Shit! Stupid f**king exam! Son of a bitch! Who the hell would ask such a f**king dumbass question like that!!?" All eyes were now on the other side of the room, where it seemed as if one of the SeeDs had come down with a severe case of Turret's syndrome.
"Squall, take care of him!" Quistis yelled to the sitting Commander, then she looked back to Zell who had already began to play a new song on his saxophone. Sure enough, Squall got up to handle the situation.
"Man, what a day to be taking a test! This could easily be turned into a sitcom!" Sae mumbled to herself, though it was too quietly for anyone to hear. Her legs and butt hurt from sitting so long. Not only that, but she did not want to take the test in any way, shape, or form. So, she decided on trying to pull the last of Squall and Quistis' strings.
"The wave everyone! Do the wave!"
People's necks were starting to hurt, and/or they were getting whiplash from turning their heads so fast. Unfortunately, no one in the room seemed interested in doing the wave with Sae, except for Arisu who realized what her friend was trying to do.
After the saxophone was confiscated from Zell, the SeeD stopped shouting profanities, and Sae and Arisu had sat back down, Squall walked over to Quistis, whispered something in her ear, then he left the room. He wasn't gone very long, but when he returned, it seemed as if everyone gulped simultaneously.
In his hands he was carrying duct tape, and lots of it. No one dared ask what he intended to do with it, they each had a pretty good idea. The rest of the exam seemed to move pretty smoothly. Everyone concentrated on finishing before the time limit, except for Seifer.
"Ten minutes left!" Quistis announced, looking at her watch. "When you're finished, put your exams in the appropriate basket, then you may leave. Results will be posted somewhere between noon and one. Everyone, try your hardest to finish…that means you too, Seifer."
The blond rolled his eyes and took his feet off of the top of the table. "Better get crackin' then…"
"How do you expect to finish your exam when you haven't even been working on it?" Quistis sighed.
"You'll see my dear Instructor," he cooed. From the looks of it, he was just filling in random bubbles.
Slowly, everyone was walking to the front of the room and dropping off their tests, mumbling to each other how about how thankful they were that it was finally over.
"Five minutes…" Squall warned.
Seifer stood up triumphantly and dumped his test into Quistis' hands instead of the basket. "And I even got it done early," he grinned.
The Instructor rolled her eyes and scanned over the test, surprisingly from what she had seen, a lot of it appeared to be correct. As a matter of fact, most if not all of the answers were correct.
"How? How did you-? B…B-but…how?"
"It's my seventeenth time taking this test, I memorized the answers." Then he walked out of the room, carrying himself in a cocky manner. The last of the students left after him.
"Well, that was interesting, wouldn't you say, Squall?"
"Whatever. I'm going to bed."
"Sleeping? On your day off? Surely you can think of something better to do?"
"Nope. Bye."
Quistis watched as he walked away, and sighed, "Same old Squall." Humming to herself, she picked up the last of her belongings and put them in her desk. "I think I'll see Selphie before I have to report for Field Exam duties…"
Rocks started whimpering and pawing at the door. "I know you don't have to go to the bathroom. We just got back from the Training Center ten minutes ago." Selphie called over her shoulder. She knew the dog wanted to get out of her cramped dorm, as a matter of fact Selphie felt the same way. "I'm almost done, Rocks. Then I'll take you training with me!"
It seemed as if the dog was able to understand her, he started wagging his tail and then he ran over to her bed, jumped on to it and lay down. He was watching her intently, his tail flopping left and right, waiting for her to put down her pencil and pick up his leash.
Selphie continued to work on some design ideas. To her left her radio was playing some rock music softly, to her right her digital clock was blinking 2:57. She knew that the SeeD candidates were probably getting ready to leave for Timber. She smiled as she imagined the looks on Sae and Arisu's faces as they left for their first mission.
Rocks began barking impatiently. "Okay! Okay!" She added the finished touches to the designs and held them away from her so she could see them at a distance. "Perfecto!" she applauded herself. "What do you think?" She showed the thumbnails she had drawn to Rocks. The golden retriever barked and jumped off of the bed, then he ran to the door.
"Hold on! I'll take you training, but let me show these to Cid first."
She kneeled down beside her dog, kissed him on the head and slung her backpack over her shoulder. "Be back in a bit. And Rocks, this time stay out of my makeup." The dog sadly walked over to his corner and curled into a ball. "Don't try to make me feel bad! I'll be back!"
Smiling, she shut the door to her dorm behind her, locked it and walked over in the direction of the elevator. It was a long walk but she didn't pass very many people. Because of the exam, only about one out of every five people were actually in the Garden building.
"Hey, Selphie!" someone said from behind. She recognized the voice to be one of the junior classmen that she tutored. She was all dressed up in her Garden uniform and her black and gold hair was pulled back into a bun.
"why, if it isn't Kacina Owens?" Selphie winked, "How'd you do on your exam?"
"I got a 97%!"
"That's my student!" Selphie exclaimed, giving her a high five. "Way to go Kace!"
"We just got our squad assignments for the field exam."
"Oh? What did you get?"
"…Squad leader…" she mumbled, looking at her feet.
"That's great! Who all is in your squad?"
"Well, there's Sae and Arisu…"
"You should've have too much trouble with them," Selphie laughed.
"They're not who I'm worried about though."
"Who has you worried then?"
"Seifer is in my squad too."
"Oh…" Selphie racked her brain for something she could say to encourage her, but she was at a loss. If she were in charge of Seifer she would be worried too.
"Do you know who your SeeD supervisor is?" she changed subjects.
Kacina shook her head. "We aren't supposed to know, and they aren't supposed to reveal themselves unless something goes wrong."
"Well, good luck! I know you'll do awesome! You're already the top of your class."
"Thanks. Bye, Selphie! See you at next week's tutoring lesson!"
Selphie watched Kacina walk away and wondered why she wanted tutoring. She was already such a smart girl. "Hurry!" the SeeD called after her, "You don't want to miss your train!"
When Selphie reached the top of the stairs that lead to the elevator, she heard a cry of "High ho, Silver!" Then saw Seifer running for the entrance with Sae and Arisu following behind. Sae was pointing forward and screaming, "Awaaayyy!"
"We're gonna miss the train!!" Arisu was panicking as she strapped her dagger sheath onto her belt and ran.
"Man, this is gonna suck. The weather channel said that Timber has been experiencing storms on and off all day," Seifer complained. The trio disappeared out the doors.
"Kacina is going to have her hands full," Selphie laughed and stepped into the elevator. The metallic doors shut and she felt the contraption jerk upward.
She started imagining what it would be like when Cid saw her thumbnails and how hard she worked on them. She was definitely proud of them!
"Hello, Cid!"
"Why, Selphie! I didn't expect to see you back so soon! Is there anything you need?"
"No. I just wanted to show you my progress." She would place the designs in front of him. "Which one do you want to put on the shirts?"
"Selphie! These are amazing! I have never seen anything so creative! The colors stand out, the designs are unique…I couldn't possibly pick just one! We'll print them all off!"
"You flatter me!"
"You are truly a very talented and capable SeeD! I'm going to raise your rank to A!"
"Rank A!!?"
"Yes, and you will be getting quite the pay-raise as well…"
Suddenly the flickering of the elevator's lights stopped her fantasizing, then the elevator jerked violently before stopping all together. The elevator was pitch-black.
"Huh? What's going on?" she shrieked. She hated being in dark cramped spaces. Almost as quickly as the lights flickered off, they came back.
"Teachers, we apologize for the interruption," an intercom spoke from far away, it was barely distinguishable from the inside of the elevator. "Garden just experienced a power surge and temporarily lost power. If you were using the classroom terminals please wait about ten minutes before turning them back on. Again, we apologize for the interruption."
"Okay, so the elevator should start back up…any second now…" Selphie waited and waited, but the elevator was no longer responding. She sighed and sat on he floor. "Where's the emergency phone?" she began looking around.
"Come on, all elevators have emergency phones for this reason! Aha! Found one!"
She pulled the phone out and it immediately dialed the programmed number.
Meanwhile up in the cockpit, Nida was steering the Garden as he did everyday. He had dropped off all of the junior classmen off outside of Balamb so they could ride the rain to Timber, now he was piloting the Garden over the ocean.
He loved the ocean it was big…and blue…like the Garden…he liked Garden too. As he hummed 'The Sailor's Hornpipe' the telephone to his left started ringing.
"Hey, Xu! Xu!" he yelled.
"I'm busy!" she answered from her desk outside the cockpit, "you get it."
Trying his hardest to keep one of his hands on the steering wheel, he leaned to his left, extending his arm and trying with all his might to grasp the ringing phone. Finally he managed to grab it.
"Hello?" he answered, trying to stay balanced in his awkward position.
"Who's this?" came the voice on the other line.
"You called me!"
"Yeah…umm…oh wait! Is this Nida?"
"Yes."
"This is Selphie! How's your head? I heard that Sae and Arisu nailed you with a thirty pound barbell."
"Better. Nothing too serious. Is there a specific reason why you called? I'm trying to steer Garden and this makes it sort of difficult."
"Oh, yeah! Well…um…I was in the elevator during the power surge, and it never started back up. Is there any way you can operate it manually from up there?"
"I'm not sure. Here, I'll page Xu." Nida looked to his right, that's where the page button was, but the cord on the phone restricted how far he could move. Not only that, but he still had to steer Garden. It was very easy to get lost at open sea when one isn't paying attention.
He stretched his right foot out to his side and started kicking at the pager button until he finally managed to press it.
"What, Nida? I said I was busy," Xu said, walking into the cockpit. When she saw Nida's position she rolled her eyes.
"We have a situation with the elevator. Selphie's stuck in it because of the power surge."
Xu nodded, "I'll inform Cid and ask him what to do. In the meantime keep talking to her and make sure she stays calm."
"B-But! I'm steering!"
"Put her on speakerphone!"
"I've run out of limbs to do that with!"
Xu approached him and took the phone from him. Nida stood back in a comfortable position.
"Hello, Selphie. Is everything all right?" Xu asked her.
"Yeah. It's not like it's dark. But I promised Rocks I'd be back soon."
"He'll understand. We'll try to get you out of there as fast as we can. Nida is going to stay on the line with you, all right? I'm going to tell the Headmaster and we'll get one of the technicians on it in no time!"
"Okay."
Xu smiled wearily and pressed the speakerphone button. "I'll be back to tell you what is happening later," then she left the cockpit.
"So, Selph. How's life treatin' ya?"
"Not bad. I can't complain. It's just…I'm trapped here…with no food, no water and very little air."
"You'll be fine. Oh, and what's this I hear about a party? Why wasn't I invited?"
"You were unconscious," she laughed.
"I see how it is."
"…How long do you think I have before I run out of air?" Nida could tell she was paranoid.
"What all do you have with you? Maybe you can bust out by yourself."
"Hmm…" he heard her dig through her bag, "One pixie stick…broke, a pen, lots of paper, a hairbrush…"
"Let's put it this way. What kind of magic do you have junctioned? And before you say 'Ifrit' I'll warn you now, DON'T SUMMON A GF IN THERE!"
Selphie looked at her feet. She was very proud of her fire based GF, but she knew that she couldn't summon him. Nida continued to lecture her on all of the reasons why summoning a GF would be a bad idea.
"I haven't done a lot of training lately…and most of the magic I have junctioned is very powerful and left over from when we traveled around the world a couple months ago…"
"Like what?"
"Ultima…" Immediately, Nida panicked and started to list off even more reasons why using Ultima would be disastrous, but she didn't need to hear that. She knew that if she used Ultima, in an elevator at that, the janitors would be scraping her remains off the walls for weeks. "Um…Meteor…but that would end up being like dodge ball, only deadly. And I've never been good at dodge ball…"
"Do you have any simple spells? Something that cause minimal bodily harm?"
Selphie thought for a few seconds. "Thundaga…" This caused Nida to sigh exasperatedly. "Seriously! That's my weakest offensive magic!"
"You don't have any normal thunder spells?"
"Nope! When Squall's GF learned 'Third level magic refine' I was all over it!"
"Apparently."
"Well, electricity got me into this mess, it'll just have to get me out. Besides, maybe the electricity in the spell will jump-start the wires."
"No, wait! Selphie! Don't cast Thun-"
"THUNDAGA!" He heard her cry. The sound of unmistakable thunder resonated through the cockpit (coming from the speakerphone), followed by a high, terrified scream. After that, the line went dead.
"Selphie? Selphie!!? SELPHIE! ANSWER ME!" Nida yelled desperately in the direction of the phone. No response came, just a puff of black smoke from the speaker. Eyes widened in horror, the pilot kicked desperately at Xu's page button, all the while screaming, "XU! XU! GET IN HERE!"
The brown-haired SeeD came running, "What's wrong now?" she asked between breaths.
"We've lost contact with Selphie!" he yelled desperately.
"What happened?" she asked, running over to the phone.
"She cast a third level thunder spell, attempting to jump-start the wires."
"Thunder? Third level!!? What kind of an idiot casts thunder in an elevator? That elevator is made of metal! She runs a one in three chance of being electrocuted!"
"You think I don't know that!? I tried to stop her!"
Xu was anxiously fumbling around with the phone cords, unplugging and re-plugging certain wires. Then the cockpit was once more filled with noise, be it from Xu's efforts or another reason. Static sizzled on the speakers and the two SeeDs were also able to distinguish the sounds of electricity surging.
"Selphie? Are you still there?" Xu said, trying her hardest to stay calm.
Nida leaned closer to the phone, listening intently.
"Oh, Hyne…" came a faint murmur from the speakers. "Please, deliver me through this, I'm sorry for everything I've ever done…"
Xu clutched her chest and let out a sigh of relief. "She's still alive."
"Hurry and tell Cid! We need to get her out of there!"
"He's in a meeting with Martine in his office, the door is locked. He should be done soon though."
"Why can't you page him? This is an emergency."
"I tried. I think he turned his pager off."
"Oh, Hyne…" Nida shook his head as Xu walked away, then looking back at the phone (and keeping his hands on the steering stick) asked, "Selphie, can you hear me?"
"I'm sorry for everything! I'm sorry about tricking the Shumi away from their Ultima drawpoint so I could draw without paying…"
"Nida? What is going on?" Quistis was now standing behind him. "I had to walk up here because the elevator wasn't responding. I waited for ten minutes! Do you have any idea how steep those stairs are!!?"
"Selphie's stuck, she just used a thunder spell, she can't hear us anymore, but she's still alive," Nida explained quickly.
"What!?"
"And I'm sorry for sticking gum in Quistis' hair back in the orphanage, and then cutting it out."
"I FORGIVE YOU, SELPHIE!"
"And I'm sorry for accidentally hitting that moomba with my nunchuck while training. I'm sorry for putting wasabe in Nida's hotdog…"
"That was her!?"
"I'm sorry for throwing Zell's back out when I jumped on him trying to get away from a Funguar. I'm sorry for kicking Irvine in the balls…actually, I'm not sorry, but forgive me anyway! He deserved it!"
"She's too far away from the phone to hear us," Quistis said, thoughtfully. "She probably knew she had to stay away from the walls, so she moved to the center of the elevator."
"And I'm sorry for ruining Squall and Rinoa's relationship, but even if it is wrong, please help me through this! I want to see him again. Even if he doesn't feel the same way about me, I love him. Yes, Hyne! I admit my love for Squall Leonhart!"
"That's it. It must be the lack of air. I think she just lost it," Nida shook his head sadly.
"I'm sure she is still perfectly sane," Quistis smiled.
Xu walked back in. "Nida, we need to get her attention, Cid is now trying to get one of the technicians who aren't busy to get her out." Then she turned to the blond Instructor and smiled, "Hi, Quistis. When did you get here?"
"Not too long ago."
"Hey, you want to help me out? I'm supposed to talk to the technician when he gets here and I need someone to take calls at my desk." Reluctantly, Quistis left the speakerphone.
"Okay, I have a plan. I'll just have to yell as loud as I can on the count of three. One, two…"
Eyes shut tight, Selphie continued to mouth her prayer. Electricity was still surging through the elevator's metallic walls and every few seconds the button panel would spit sparks at her. SeeD training really came in handy in t his situation. Something like this should be the field exam, she told herself. Training had given her the knowledge to cast shell and reflect on herself. That way the thunder spell wasn't so much of a threat, that is as long as they lasted.
"Please…please…" she repeated quietly. Her mind was screaming for help.
"Selphie?" a distant voice called.
"Hyne!!? Is it really you? Oh please, oh please, oh please save me!"
"Get closer to the phone," the voice demanded.
What a strange order…But she did as she was told.
"It's me, Nida."
"Nida? You're Hyne!?"
"No. We thought we lost you. What's your current status?"
"Hungry," she replied, being sure to not get too close to the phone that dangled out of the box it had been stored in. She didn't want to be electrocuted.
"Sorry, can't help you there," Nida said, static overlapping his words.
"Nida, if I die in here, I want you to deliver my eulogy, since you were the last person I talked to."
"Don't talk like that!" he scolded her. "Quistis was just in here a few seconds ago, but she left with Xu so she could talk to the technician. You'll be out of there in thirty minutes, tops."
"That's great! But in case something horrible happens, you're the man, Nida. You deliver my eulogy."
"O-Okay, Selph," he said uneasily.
"Better get some paper and a pen, 'cuz I'm gonna tell you what to say." She heard him scramble for something. "You ready?"
"Uh…y-yeah. I guess."
"Okay. Tell Zell that it's okay to still wet the bed, and I'm sure that Rinoa will understand if she finds out. Tell Squall that he doesn't need to be self-conscious about his pink cast, I think it's cute. And tell Quisty that I'm going to need someone to take over the Garden Festival Committee in my stead and I want her to do it…"
"Nida!! Who the hell is driving this thing!?" Xu's voice came through the phone.
"I'm busy!" he snarled.
Selphie felt the Garden swerve and then felt a jolt as it landed on solid ground once again.
"Sorry about that, Xu landed Garden. What were you saying?"
"Okay…umm…" started to say something, but her head was beginning to throb. "Tell Rinoa…" Her own words seemed to echo in her brain. She was running out of oxygen. She blacked out and with a thud, landed on the floor.
"Selphie? Selphie!!!?" Nida's voice came from the helplessly dangling phone. The girl was not able to answer.
"Squad B! Your job is to secure all the shops in the southern part of town! Squad C! You are positioned by Timber Maniacs," Rinoa barked orders. She was practically having to scream to project her voice over the sound of rain slapping against streets and the tops of buildings and trains.
"Eliminate all monsters within your area, not a different Squads'. Points will be deducted for leaving your area unless ordered by your leader. However, the leader will need a valid reason to leave as well." The brunette stopped pacing in front of the SeeDs (as she had seen her father do to his Galbadian troops) and smiled. "Best of luck to all of you. As most of you know the order to withdraw takes priority. A messenger will be sent to inform you of the evacuation time. Tardiness in unacceptable. If you are late getting back to the vessel, more points will be deducted. Good luck!"
With a salute, all of the candidates ran to the area they were supposed to patrol.
"Where we goin' captain Kace?" Sae beamed.
"Um…Miss Heartilly said as Squad A we need to secure the train station. So, move out!"
The four SeeD candidates ran until they reached the station.
"There won't be any damn monsters here unless they intend to catch the train to Galbadia," Seifer rolled his eyes and sat on a crate.
To Seifer, this was standard procedure. The pressure didn't bother him, but Kacina was freaking out. "O-Okay. Sae and Arisu, you keep watch at the entrance. If you see anything let us know."
The two girls saluted and ran to where they had been ordered. Rain continued to pour, making it difficult to see.
"This sucks," Arisu complained loudly. "I would much rather be stuck in study hall than here!"
"I totally agree!" It was silent for awhile, as the two boringly watched for monsters.
"Sae! Arisu! Over here!" Kacina cried. Hurriedly, they ran back to where she and Seifer stood.
"What is it?"
Kace pointed to a Wendigo hiding near a trashcan. "We have to get rid of it, right?" she stated, strapping on her brass knuckles. Seifer drew his gunblade, Arisu her daggers, and Sae her shurikan. Before anyone else, Seifer charged and brought the beast down in a fierce attack.
"Wow! Great job!" Kace said.
"That was no fun. I'm sure Weak and Weaker could've killed that son of a bitch without a problem." He began to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Kace asked.
"To find some real competition."
"No you don't," she said, stepping in his way. "As your Squad leader I order you to stay."
"Do you think that's ever stopped me before?" Just as he was getting ready to push past her, they heard a shriek from behind.
"Incoming!" Arisu yelled. Kace and Seifer looked at the girls confusedly, then looked back up to see an Elnoyle.
"Where the hell'd that come from!? Those are native to Esthar!" Seifer exclaimed.
From within a building, Renee had been watching Squad A. This was not what she had in mind when she volunteered. The only benefit was getting to watch Seifer. When she say the flying fiend she immediately consulted the paper that had a list of reasons to help the candidates (complete with mini-beastiary). She ran her finger down the list until she saw Elnoyle.
"Shit," she swore. Then, grabbing the hilt of her katana, ran out to help them. An Elnoyle was way too advanced for them to be fighting at their stage.
Seifer wasn't having too hard of a time keeping up, but the girls were having problems evading the fiend's attacks. Already, they had taken severe damage and Sae's support magic wasn't helping too much. Too sore to attack, Arisu was pummeling the monster with all of the magic she had available. Kace and Seifer were the only two that were attacking.
Everyone was getting weaker until suddenly they were healed. Renee came running, she had apparently used a Megalixir. "Gee Ren, are we glad to see you!" Sae said, sounding relieved.
"Just doing my job!" she yelled. "Everyone, if you have a protect spell, I suggest you use it now!"
In unison, everyone did as they were told. "Kace, as Squad leader, we await your orders."
"Wha-? You're a SeeD!" Kace complained. When Renee didn't say anything she racked her brain, "Attack like crazy!" she finally said.
"Yes, ma'am," Seifer shouted.
After a few rounds of attacking and Renee's high level GF, the Elnoyle was defeated. "You'll be getting…a lot…of gil…for that one…" Renee said between breaths. She brought a potion bottle to her lips and downed the pink liquid, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, then stood up to leave.
"You can't leave us!" Arisu yelled, grabbing Renee's arm.
"I'm sorry, I'm supposed to only supervise." The SeeD sheathed her katana and started to walk back to her building.
"Hey, Renee!" Seifer yelled after her. She turned around, her wet brown hair sticking to her face. "You're an awesome fighter."
"Thanks."
"Got a date for the inauguration ceremony?"
Renee felt her face burn red as she vigorously shook her head. "I'll pick you up at seven," he winked. Beaming, Renee walked off.
"You know, Seifer, in order to go to the party you have to pass the exam…" Kace reminded him.
"Don't worry, I will pass."
"That's what you said last time," Sae chided.
"Yeah, and the time before that, and the time before that…"
"Squall?" the intercom blared, interrupting his nap. The Commander rolled over in his bed and stared angrily at the speaker.
"What?"
"You are the only technician available we need you in the office ASAP. Don't eve bother changing," Cid's voice droned on, "We have a crisis."
"Okay," Squall mumbled, throwing his feet over the side of his bed. He heard the intercom click off. "Damn, some day off," he groaned, pulling on his boots. Before he left, he threw his sling over his arm, grabbed his jacket and ran out the door.
Xu met him at the office, a worried look across her face. She looked torn, almost as if she wasn't sure whether she should tell him something.
"What's the crisis?"
"We may have had a fatality in the elevator. It was stuck and she cast Thundaga."
She? She who? "What kind of an idiot casts a thunder spell when surrounded by metal?" he asked. Xu didn't reply. The was too busy freaking out for other reasons.
"Oh no! I forgot your arm was broken! You can't do anything if your arms in a cast! Quistis! Call Kadowaki, tell her to get up here, stat! We're taking his cast off!"
Quistis nodded and picked up the phone.
"What? I just broke it a few days ago!"
"Don't you worry about that."
"I am worried, it's my arm!" he shot back.
"Look, I have a friend who is a very talented alchemist, he lives in Shumi Village. The Shumis taught him a lot, and he swears that this medicine he mixed will fix any breakage. I haven't tried any yet because I only have a few. So, if you will please cooperate, we can test this out," Xu pleaded.
Squall sighed and nodded. "Where's Cid? And who am I supposed to be rescuing?"
Xu looked extremely uncomfortable, and she was known to be calm in the most extreme situations. Something had to be wrong, but she said nothing. Xu began pacing nervously, chanting, "C'mon, c'mon, hurry, hurry dammit!"
Suddenly the door leading up from the staircase flew open and in walked a furious Kadowaki. "Xu, I must disagree! He has a compound fracture, I will not allow you to remove his cast!"
"I have a potion to fix that, just take his cast off, he needs to helps someone who is trapped in the elevator."
Still looking unsure, the doctor pulled out a small saw and started sawing at the pink cast, all the while muttering about the recklessness of SeeDs.
"I'm not sure of the effects, so you'll be our guinea pig," Xu said, holding the vial to Squall's face.
"What!? I'm not sure this is such a good idea…" he said slowly.
"Well, it's too late to go back now. The cast is off," Kadowaki announced.
Still, he had his doubts. When Xu noticed this, she yelled, "Hyne! Do it for Selphie!" When the words escaped her lips, she gasped and covered her mouth.
Squall's eyes widened and he grabbed the bottle from the SeeD's outstretched hands. "How much of this stuff to I drink?" he asked.
"The whole bottle, and he warned me that it doesn't taste too good."
He ignored her warning and downed the potion. The bitter liquid rushed down his through and left a horrid aftertaste.
"How long before it kicks in?"
"I don't know. Um…try moving your arm," Xu suggested.
"If it doesn't work he could injure himself further," Kadowaki warned.
Squall didn't care though. Selphie was in danger, and as Xu had said when he first arrived, possibly dead. No! He refused to believe it. Not Selphie. She couldn't die! He had to save her!
Determinedly, he bent his left arm at the elbow and to his amazement it felt normal. As if it had never been broken in the first place.
"Tell your friend thanks, Xu!" he said, throwing his coat on the floor.
"You know how to get to her, right?"
"Yeah, I'll manage." He opened the door and started to run down the stairs when Xu stopped him again.
"Oh! You'll need this!" She threw him a bangle. "It's made by Dr. Odine, it nullifies all lightning based magic."
Squall nodded and put it on as he continued to run down the stairs. He exited through the door that lead to the second floor and ran to the elevator, all the while telling himself that Selphie was alive. She would smile and say, "I thought no one would ever come!" or "It's about time!"
He opened the elevator doors manually and looked down into the depression. The elevator was about ten feet below, and even from the outside he could see the thunder spell surging through the wires. He took a step back, then leapt forward and slid down the cable. His boots came in contact with the metallic roof of the elevator. The trap door was located near to where he landed and he eagerly opened it. He shoved his head through the opening and allowed his eyes to scan over the inside of the capsule. His eyes finally landed on the tiny SeeD laying motionless on the floor. "Selphie!" he exclaimed. The sight of her nearly made him fall in as well.
Her face was ghostly white and se lay in a pitiful heap in the middle of the elevator. "Hyne, no, she can't be dead," he said to himself. He tied a cord around a metallic lever and lowered it into the elevator through the door, hoping it would be sturdy enough to hold both him and Selphie.
Selphie felt as if her body was not responding at all. This wasn't her first time passing out, she had a history of it, but it was the first time it happened in such an extreme situation. She could feel someone pick her up and carry her out of the hellhole.
Her rescuer was talking to her, though she didn't understand him. His words echoed in her head and was mixed with the sounds of electricity surging through many live wires.
Her head was buzzing and swarming with questions. Still, without any control over her limbs, she allowed him to carry her limp body.
She felt cold stone under her bare skin again, and she knew that she was out of the elevator, though she was unsure where. The ground next to her was moving, or more like vibrating, and the sound of many footsteps and voices were coming her way.
Someone pressed their ear against her chest. "She's still alive!" he announced. Slowly, she was able to distinguish voices, the buzzing stopped and she new she was getting ready to come to.
"But she's so pale! She looks blue! I don't think she's breathing!"
"Back! Get back everyone!" She recognized the voice to be Squall's. Was he her rescuer? Before she could open her eyes she felt two massive hands pry her mouth open, one plugged her nose and the other held her chin. "Oh Hyne, Selphie…I hope this works!"
Someone's mouth was on hers, breathing air into her. Now, with her body responding again, she was able to open her eyes. Slowly she barely opened one to see Squall, he was trying to resuscitate her, she was also surrounded by a handful of junior classmen.
The attention she was getting from Squall astonished her, so she quickly shut her eyes and pretended to still be passed out. He wasn't kissing her, but it was close enough. She wanted to enjoy him this close to her as long as she could.
Squall continued to perform the CPR, only coming up for more air to transfer to her. "Wake up…" he was pleading quietly between breaths. "Please, be all right!" With that, he blew all of the air that he had into her, in hopes that it would help her.
However, Squall's lungs were much bigger than hers, thus their air capacity was larger as well. The amount of oxygen was so overwhelming she immediately sat up and began choking on the thin air.
"Oh, thank God!" Squall exclaimed, pulling her in to hug him.
A sigh of relief swept through everyone who had been watching.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you feel sick?"
"Squall? Are you feeling okay?" she asked. That sounded most uncharacteristic of the Balamb Garden Commander. Several of the students giggled and few girls 'awed'.
"Uh…yeah…sorry…"
Selphie smiled and stood up. She still felt slightly dizzy, so she held a hand to her forehead.
"I'm taking you to Kadowaki's office."
"But…"
"You can lean on me."
* * * * * * * * * * *
Awww…isn't Squall just the sweetest guy EVER!!? ^o^ Well, we hope this keeps everyone content for awhile. (We are still in need of Beta-Readers if anyone is interested) and if you have any ideas then email us at CuteMooglez@hotmail.com!
Selphie's Chapter Seven To-Do List….
*Force Squall against his will to attend the SeeD inauguration ball
*Break up a catfight between good and evil…or…um…be a part of it
*Go on a top secret SeeD mission to prove herself!!