A Dissidia Duodecim Final Fantasy Story
Chapter 03 - Zidane's Plan
"Come on Bartz! You've got to get up, we'll be late for breakfast." Squall sighed, shaking his friend who just complained and pulled the covers over his head. The gunblade wielder sighed and rolled his eyes, starting to get dressed into his new uniform quickly, checking the time to see it was now 6.45am and Bartz was still sleeping.
"We're going to be so late…" He mumbled to himself, doing up his shirt and throwing a pillow up at Bartz who was still snoozing on the top bunk. "Get up!" He yelled at the boy who rolled over and fell off the bed with a loud thud. "Oh for the love of-…" Squall slapped his hand to his forehead.
In room 713, Lightning was pacing again while Tifa was combing her hair on her bed. The dark haired girl glanced up at her room companion, and tilted her head.
"You do that a lot don't you…" She asked. Lightning simply ignored her and changed the subject.
"Are you ready yet?" She crossed her arms over her chest, not making eye-contact with Tifa.
Biting her lip and smiling, Tifa stood up.
"Yeah…but you know…you didn't have to wait for me…" Lightning narrowed her eyes and opened the door.
"Fine…I won't tomorrow…" She walked off down the corridor.
"W-Wait that's not what I-" Tifa quickly followed her.
Laguna stood in the corridor holding his dorm door open for Zidane who was cutting a hole in his trousers for his tail to go through. At the other end of the corridor Cloud was walking slowly, looking nervous and uncomfortable in the outfit they had. The uniform was black, with a dark red lining around it, and for the girls they had skirts instead of trousers. Eventually, Squall managed to force Bartz through the door and down the corridor, shutting their dorm and jogging so they caught up with the other ex-Cosmos warriors, now fellow students.
The group walked together down to the Hall, Warr pushed open the doors, everyone looked at him, finding it strange seeing him without his usual helmet. As the doors opened, they saw that their teachers, ex-rivals were all seated at the table, and six tables were set out in the Hall. The warriors walked inside, the double doors closing slowly behind them as they stood awkwardly, everyone silent.
"Good morning students." Garland sneered as they entered, looking over their uniforms inspecting them. "Before you sit for breakfast…I will make sure you're tidy enough to deserve having some breakfast to begin with." He turned to Dark nodding to her. The embodiment of the void swayed to her feet and glided down to the warriors.
"In a line…so we can inspect…" She ordered, and the warriors lined up, some of them trying to wipe themselves down in an attempt to look tidier, while others seemed to keep their cool about it.
The woman slowly made her way down the line, stopping to inspect each warrior in detail. She took Firion's face in her hand, and tilted his head down, inspecting him.
"Tidy…you may sit." She pointed at the first table and he moved over to sit down as she released his face. She inspected Warr, happy with his appearance, pointing at the second table. She then reached Cecil and smirked, pulling some of his hair out firmly. He let out a grunt of pain, his eyes stinging with tears from the sudden yank at his head. The woman smelt his hair. Golbez shuffled slightly in his seat, but said nothing.
"You are…acceptable." She nodded to him, and he sat down at the third table, his hand nursing the back of his head gently.
The Cloud completely ignored Kni, and he blinked then glanced at Garland who nodded for him to sit at the fourth table. She reached Yuna, using the palm of her hand to turn the girl's face from one side to the other side. "Hm…you will do…" She murmured to the brunette, who hurried over to the fifth table looking uncomfortable.
She reached Laguna, a smirk forming on her lips from his confident but nervous expression. Leaning close, she took some of his hair in her hand, running her fingers through it.
"So…silky…we…like it. You may also be seated…" Laguna, his cheeks a bit pink, hurried to the table the woman pointed to, touching his hair where she'd laced her fingers only moments before.
One by one she went through the warriors, sending them all to their tables - three warriors per table. Finally, she reached Terra and smirked.
"You…missed a button on your shirt…child." The woman pointed to Terra's top button and she gasped in fear shaking slightly.
"B-But I…was sure that I…had done it-" The Cloud backhanded the girl hard across her face making her cry out in pain and hold her cheek. A few of the warriors gasped, some of them stood, and Kni called 'Terra!'.
"SIT." Garland ordered the other warriors, and they obeyed…much to their disapproval as they watched Terra silently cry.
"You never question us…" She pulled the girl close staring into her eyes, her own red orbs gazing coldly at her. "Do not…let us down again child…" Her voice was a deadly whisper as her hand trailed down the girls neck, reaching her button and doing it up slowly before letting go of her and pushing her towards her table. Terra whimpered and sat in her chair quickly, shaking and staring at her lap, her hair falling over her stinging face.
Garland allowed Dark to take her seat at the teacher table again, then looked over to Ultimecia. The Sorceress nodded once as she saw Garland look over, then raised her hand in the air, muttering a few words, food appearing on each table, including the teachers.
"Thank you Miss. Mecia. Now, you may all eat…however Branford, you will only be allowed one helping."
Everyone began to eat their food, Warr was cautious, still not fully trusting anything that was happening. Golbez glanced over at the concerned warrior and spoke up over the quiet murmur of conversations.
"Do not be wary Warr…we would not poison our students…we are after all…trying to teach you, if any of us went against Chaos's Orders we would be poisoning ourselves…figuratively speaking of course…" Cecil's brother nodded to Warr, who mumbled a soft thank you before eating his food properly.
While everyone was eating Garland spoke to them about their classes.
"The tables you are sitting at will be your class groups for today…you will all have different lessons at different times…you will be allowed one break, for fifteen minutes…lunch will be here at 1pm. And dinner is 7pm. You will be working all during those times, and after dinner you may have free time to explore the grounds, train, or do whatever you wish. You will return to your rooms at 10pm."
Lightning looked up at Garland as she ate her food, then her eyes wandered across the other teachers. Her gaze reached Exdeath and she inhaled her toast chocking slightly. Bartz slapped her back firmly looking puzzled, before he too looked up at his enemy and stared. Some of the teachers smirked at Lightning's coughing, everyone glanced over at her and she took a gasp of breath.
"I-I'm…alright…" She panted, swallowing and sighing in relief, looking away from Exdeath quickly. "Thanks Bartz…" She muttered and he just nodded, also looking away from Exdeath.
Exdeath was sitting calmly, eating his breakfast slowly, taking long bites. Sephiroth glanced down the table over to the man, and realised why Lightning and Bartz looked so taken-aback.
In order to eat, Exdeath had removed his helmet, and his appearance was far from what even Sephiroth himself had expected. He blinked slightly, then Exdeath, sensing his gaze, turned to stare right at him. Quickly, the silver-haired Science teacher looked at his food to avoid the man's creepy stare.
The other teachers also took their own discreet glances at Exdeath, to see what was going on and why everyone seemed awkward. Then Jecht looked over his mouth hanging open.
"Holy shi-" Kuja stood firmly on his foot under the table to shut him up.
"Ow, what was that for?!" Jecht angrily mumbled at the Posture teacher, who simply rolled his eyes and sighed.
After everyone had finished, Garland stood again as the plates and glasses disappeared from view.
"Hey I wasn't done!" Tidus blinked as his toast disappeared. Jecht smirked, and Garland let out a sigh, whilst his fellow cosmos students mainly face palmed or rolled their eyes.
Garland cleared his throat, and Tidus fell silent and mumbled an embarrassed sorry, scratching the back of his head.
"You are all dismissed, you will find a timetable in front of you so you all know where to go for the day. Go, prepare for your first lessons and do not let us down…" As the students were dismissed, they stood, took their papers and headed into the entrance hall, reading the timetables to see what they all had and with who.
Bartz jogged over to Yuna who smiled warmly and waved. He grinned and stood beside her.
"So, we've got Science class with Sir Sephiroth first, right?" The youth beamed at Yuna who nodded.
"Yes I believe so…" She replied to him, looking around. "Vaan is meant to be with us too…Oh, there!" The girl spotted Vaan who was talking with Zidane, but then also moved over to his two classmates.
"Ugh…Science first? This sucks." He sighed, putting his arms behind his back as Bartz nodded in agreement and Yuna giggled. The three looked at their timetables, then moved off to Sephiroth's quarters of the school.
As they moved away, Terra stood still, leaning against the wall staring at her timetable but not really taking in the words on the paper. The teachers were leaving the Hall now, and she glanced up, watching them, her eyes wandered over the woman who had slapped her, and their gazes met for a second. The woman smirked before turning back to the Sorceress, talking with her casually as they moved off to their designated teaching quarters. She quickly returned to looking at her timetable, her heart beat quickened in fear.
"Terra, are you okay?!" Kni put his hand on the girl's arm as he made his way over to her. She nodded slowly.
"Y-Yes…thank you…you don't need to worry about me…really…I'm fine." The girl managed a weak smile and Kni nodded at her.
"I've got History now…how dull…" Terra smiled at her friend as he sighed from his first class.
"I'm sure it won't be so bad…I've got Posture…" She replied, scanning over where she needed to go as he waved at her and walked off with Cecil and Laguna, heading for Garland's quarters.
She watched him go smiling at his kindness, before turning to find Kain and Firion, so they could find Kuja's quarters together.
Lightning headed upstairs to her room, changing into the fitness uniform and sighing to herself, walking out of the school main doors and down across the field where she could see Jecht waiting impatiently. Squall called out to her.
"Hey LIGHTNING! HEY!" She didn't stop walking, just ignoring him until he finally caught up, catching his breath slightly. "Thanks for waiting." He sighed.
"Any time." She replied bluntly, then rolled her eyes as Warr made his way over. "Ugh he's with us?" Squall smirked a bit.
"Don't be harsh…he's a good guy…" The brunette man wasn't sure why he was defending Warr, but he just shrugged as the three walked over to their teacher.
Tifa found Shantotto and Zidane, hurrying over to them quickly.
"Hey Tifa!" Zidane grinned waving and she smiled and returned the wave. Shantotto simply sighed and started to walk towards The Emperor's quarters.
"Come on you losers. Why are you all so cheery…are you forgetting this is the school of DIS-CORD?" She rolled her eyes, wiggling her hips as she walked off. Zidane pulled a face behind her back and Tifa stifled a giggle, following the other two.
"I don't know if I'll be able to stand this…" Cloud muttered to Tidus as they waited for Prishe so they could have their first Magic Lesson with Mr. Palazzo. Tidus nodded in agreement.
"Yeah man…I mean…this guy is completely nuts…how can he teach us anything?" Prishe jogged over.
"Sorry about the delay. Let's go." The two males nodded at her words, and moved towards Kefka's quarters, all of them secretly dreading what the lesson would hold for them.
Golbez sat beside his fellow Chaos teachers, he didn't have to teach for a few hours, so the remaining teachers gathered together to discuss their classes and what they thought of the cosmos students they would soon be teaching. The man then sat in silence, gazing out of the window watching the lake ripple from the small breeze of the morning.
The Sorceress nursed her cup in her hands, sipping the tea then sighing slightly, trying to break the silence between the Chaos teachers. Only the day before, it had been rare for the Chaos warriors to all sit amongst each other in a group, and so they weren't used to each other's company. The Cloud was tickling her tentacles softly, cooing at them and smirking as they bit onto Golbez's cape, trying to rip it. Golbez let out a long sigh and The Cloud pulled the tentacles away slowly, biting her lip to stop a smile forming.
Gilgamesh was standing by the back window chuckling to Exdeath who was standing beside him letting out a deep laugh and pointing out of the window. The other Chaos teachers glanced over and listened in to their conversation.
"Who knew that the Warrior of Light could run so fast…" Gilgamesh smirked watching the Fitness class, finding it very entertaining. Exdeath nodded slowly at his comment then replied.
"And that Lion…he is much like the alpha male…lazy…" Exdeath crossed his arms over his chest.
Ultimecia stood, and moved over to the big window, standing beside Gilgamesh and looking down at the three Cosmos students. The other teachers decided to move to watch too, most of them found great entertainment from watching the old Cosmos warriors doing laps and press-ups at Jecht's command.
"The pink one…she moves swiftly…" The Cloud watched the girl as she finished her laps before the two males, then seemed to be giving Jecht some back-chat. Ultimecia looked down at Lightning and Jecht as they argued, her eyes wandered over the girl's strong figure and she found a smirk forming on her lips. Golbez let out a low sigh as Jecht tripped Lightning up as she walked off.
"Watch your step Farron." Jecht grinned slightly and she narrowed her eyes at him, trying to look less stupid from her trip. Squall finished his lap, jogging over to Lightning as they waited for Warr to finish. Squall looked up at the huge school building, looking to third floor and noticing the big window, where the other Chaos warriors were standing, watching them.
"Do we have to have an audience?" He asked blankly, folding his arms. Lightning looked up at where Squall was looking then sighed as she saw the Chaos teachers looking down at them.
"Heh, I think an audience makes it more fun…Now, gimme 100 press-ups." Warr had just finished his lap, then he heard Jecht and sighed before getting down and starting to press-up. Squall narrowed his eyes at The Sorceress as she waved at him, before getting down and starting his set. Lightning looked back at Jecht, pausing for a moment.
"Farron, start your press-ups now."
"Whatever." She got down, and started.
"That's another 100 on top of that, for being a cheeky bitch. That includes you two. You can thank Farron later." Jecht smirked proudly, Lightning opened her mouth to protest but Squall shot her a killing glare that made her just sigh and continue.
Jecht looked up at the Chaos warriors and grinned waving up at them cheerily. Dark rolled her eyes and floated away from the window, Golbez shook his head and followed her, Exdeath and Gilgamesh turned their backs on the window and Ultimecia crossed her arms. Jecht looked down at his students instead, who were panting and sweating.
"What number are ya all on?" He asked and Warr mumbled '84' Squall managed to say '82' and Lightning muttered '80'.
"Well HURRY UP! Or you'll miss your break." He smirked and decided to lean against Lightning's back as she tried to press-up. She let out an angry growl, but made no comment to stop him adding more to the total.
The Sorceress watched them from the window, and again she found her eyes looking over the young woman's body as she held all of Jecht's weight.
"My my…she is…strong…" Her voice was no louder than a gentle murmur, and she was addressing nobody in particular. Golbez looked over to the woman and saw her intense stare.
"She fascinates you…why is that?" He asked, and the woman shot him an almighty glare, moving from the window to finish her tea.
"Fascinate is not the word for it Golbez…merely…curiosity. Her strength…her confidence…her attitude. What would it take…to break that all away…? What would be left of the girl if someone were to snap her-"
"Ultimecia…you seem to be forgetting, we are meant to teach the old warriors…not play with them." Golbez interrupted and she fell silent, sighing and finishing her tea.
"I wouldn't expect you to understand my thoughts Golbez. After all…many of us considered you a traitor…you seem all too keen to keep the Cosmos warriors safe…one might question your reasons for siding with Chaos in the first place." With that, the woman stood, and left the room, some feathers swaying after where she'd moved. Golbez let out a long, tired sigh, and also stood.
Cecil Kni and Laguna were facing some difficulties in their history class with Sir Garland…finding it hard to stop their minds from wandering as he spoke to them with his deep, powerful voice.
"LOIRE! Pay attention!" His voice exploded with volume and Laguna, who had momentarily closed his eyes, sat bolt upright blinking slightly.
"Sorry Sir…" he sighed, leaning his chin on his hand and glancing at Cecil who was smiling slightly and then Kni who was holding back a big grin in case Garland decided to shout again.
"As I was saying… Discord and Harmony have always been opposed…since the very beginning of time itself. This on-going clash of sides has caused initial problems throughout many worlds…no doubt including your homeworlds also. It seemed the very essence of Cosmos and Chaos's rivalry had spread througho-" Garland was interrupted from a knock at the door; he sighed as his speech was halted again.
"Yes?" He angrily announced. The door opened and Dark waltzed into the room casually.
"We apologise for the interruption Garland…we have been told to speak with Harvey about his classes tomorrow…" The woman's eyes looked over Kni, narrowing at him. He looked away quickly from fear and her gaze then moved to Cecil who waited for Garland's permission to leave.
Garland let out yet another sigh. "Very well then…Harvey, hurry back when you're finished, otherwise you'll have extra study work to do…" As Cecil stood from his chair and made his way towards the door, Laguna's eyes had been admiring the evil woman who had entered the room. They trailed over her body, and widened slightly as his leg started to cramp under the table.
He let out a grunt of pain, his leg shot up and he kneed the table then cursed loudly. Garland looked over at him angrily and Dark pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle a threatening chuckle.
"LOIRE! That is the SECOND time you have irritated me! If you're not careful I'll-Loire…I'm over here…look at me when I'm talking to you." Laguna looked into the woman's eyes and she rose her eyebrows slightly before he quickly turned to Garland.
"…If you're not careful Loire…I'll be giving you the first 'detention' in this school's history…and it will not be pleasant…" Laguna cleared his throat and mumbled another apology as Cecil shook his head, knowing perfectly well that the man had been checking out the Chaos warrior and his leg had cramped up.
"We thank you Garland…for letting us borrow the Harvey." Cecil left the classroom after the woman's words, and she turned to leave, looking over at Laguna and making eye-contact with him. His eyes widened a little bit and she smirked then swayed out of the room, her tentacles shutting the door behind her.
After what seemed like an endless period of time, the old Cosmos warriors all gathered outside the great hall after being dismissed from their dinner and given free-time until 10PM. The group watched as the Chaos teachers also left the hall, some of them moving to their quarters while others moved outside to begin watching guard to make sure no students attempted escape.
Cloud motioned for the group to go upstairs into one of the common rooms in the dormitory quarters so they could all talk away from listening ears. The group followed him, and reached the room, filing inside. The room had a fireplace built into it, and was filled with comfortable chairs and a few tables.
Squall sighed and flopped into one of the chairs, his body had never been pushed to it's physical limit in this way…but the Fitness class with Jecht had really tired the young man. Warr sat beside Firion, talking to him calmly while the other students relaxed and let their minds think through their first day at the boarding school. Tifa glanced over at Lightning, who was pacing by the common room door.
Sighing, she stood and took the pink-haired woman's hand, dragging her over to the fireplace and forcing her to sit down. Lightning remained silent, she knew if she spoke she'd only seem snappy and unsocial, so she let the girl lead her and push her down. Yuna smiled over at the two, she had also been tempted to tell Light to try and sit with the rest of them, to at least attempt to relax.
"So Cecil, how was History class?" Kain asked his best friend who grinned and looked over at Laguna.
"It was…interesting. I think Laguna certainly enjoyed it…" The paladin grinned as Laguna mumbled some insult as a come back. "And what about you Kain, how were your classes?"
Kain sighed.
"They were…bearable I suppose…but my desire to leave this place only grows with each ticking minute…" A murmur of agreements rippled through the team along with some nods and sighs.
"This is stupid." Vaan added, and the students turned to look at him. "Why is Chaos even bothering to teach us all this stuff anyways? It's not like he needs new warriors now Cosmos has fallen." The room fell silent and pondered on the young man's words.
"That's not quite right…" Terra broke the silence, much to everyone's surprise. The girl had been quiet all day, more so than usual, and the team could only bring that down to the event at breakfast that same morning. The usually shy girl continued and Vaan looked at her.
"We don't know for sure that Cosmos has actually fallen…Chaos said she had 'vanished', but vanishing doesn't always have to be permanent…does it?"
Bartz looked over to Terra and smiled at her, a new spark of courage and hope had now formed in the young man from the girl's words.
"That's right Terra!" He excitedly joined in. "If Cosmos hasn't vanished for good, then that means we have to find a way outta here! And no matter what happens, we can't let these losers get to us! They're gonna try everything in their power to make us conform to the rules of Chaos's side…but we've just gotta resist until we can find a way out!" Squall nodded at Bartz's words, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder. Bartz looked up at him and grinned.
"Good luck with that." Bartz smile wavered slightly as he heard Lightning's unimpressed tone. The group now turned to look at her instead as she stood up. "I'm not trying to burst everyone's bubble here…but how do you intend on finding a way out of this place when it has no exit?" Tidus blinked from Lightning's words until they all remembered that Chaos himself had turned The Edge of Madness into the school's grounds.
"We do our research." Zidane spoke up, and Light turned to him, folding her arms, curious to hear him elaborate. The blonde youth continued. "Maybe a small group of us, like two or three, could sneak out each evening, and explore the grounds while the Chaos warriors aren't patrolling. I mean, there's gotta be some time when they have to sleep right?" The team nodded at Zidane's plan, but Light sighed, already having her doubts.
"Zidane's idea is not a bad one." Firion looked around the team of students. "We made it this far by working together, so let's get ourselves out of this mess! Starting tomorrow, we'll organise who sneaks out on which evenings, and what we plan on looking for." The team nodded and looked to Lightning.
For a moment, she looked like she was going to object, but then she rolled her eyes and shrugged; this was enough to pass for approval to the other ex-warriors. With their new schemes in mind, they were interrupted as Emperor Mateus entered the common room to shoo them off to their dormitories.
Walking away down into their separate rooms, most of the students were now filled with a small hope…only a glimmer, a possibility of escape…but still, it was something for them to act upon, and that in itself…was enough for them at this moment in time.