Guardians' Tales
Chapter IV: Welcome Party
Era: Tranquil-Mystic Calendar
Cycle: June 21, 2548
Time: 16:53 Galactic Standard Time, 07:10 Resident Time
Star Cluster: HUB
Planet: Resident
Location: High Orbit, Fifty Minutes to Touch Down
Terra's POV
We waited a long time for the sound of claws and scythes against the hull of the ship, but it never came.
"Did we make it?" Xion asked.
"Cura!" I chanted and healed the gash on Shin's chest. "That should do it." I said and looked up into his brown eyes.
He looked at me too and seemed to tense when I place a hand on his chest to make sure there wasn't a scar. "T-thanks…" He replied.
I felt myself blush slightly, "Don't mention it." I quickly stood up. "I should check on Roxas."
Sora's POV
I looked at my palm and saw that it was flashing 00:00:23. "We did it." I breathed out. I sat next to Xion after I said it. I was just too relieved that we were done to be excited that we passed. "We passed the test with twenty-three seconds to spare."
"That would be correct, Mister Hikari." There was the sound of Commander Sark's voice. It was followed by a bright light and we were suddenly thrown back into the real world, torn clothes and all.
"Congratulations guys!" We heard Tifa exclaim as she and Aqua jumped down from the stadium seats.
"You are now official members of SOLDIER!" Aqua added to our relief.
I saw Isaac and the others come over to meet our dorm advisors.
"Alright!" Isaac replied rubbing his neck, probably hurts from that crash landing he did. "I wasn't sure if I could take another wave of Behemoths."
"Me neither." Shin added putting his silver sword back in his sheath.
"Lucky for you guys, you won't have to any time soon." Tifa replied adding an extra wave of relief.
"Congratulations, Squad Seven." Tron said. "You have passed simulation seven and are now enrolled as freshman at SOLDIER Institute. You already know your Dorm Advisors, now you will be escorted to your dorm in the resident area of the campus."
"You heard the glowing man. Follow us and you will soon be able to rest." Thank you, Cosmos. After the day I had, I need a break.
After a twenty minute walk, we reached our dorms on the western coast of the island. Each dorm looked like a mansion standing at two stories tall. It was still raining outside so we had to use umbrellas, but we had to pair up since there weren't many. Riku, Xion, and me shared one with Roxas, Naminé and Tifa sharing another. Kairi and Aqua shard one more and Terra and Shin shared the last one. Isaac wore his hood since he was the only one with a hooded piece of clothing.
"Here are your dorms." We were escorted to the one on the far right. "This will be where you guys will be staying, The Ark. It has the best view of the ocean no matter the time of day."
"Why do they call it, The Ark?" Xion asked as we reached the front door.
Aqua tensed up a bit while Tifa searched her pocket for the key. "It's named for the Celestial flagship that lead the campaign against Orphanim Imperium during the Celestial War." Tifa replied.
I noticed everyone seemed to either shift uncomfortably or in Naminé's case grimace slightly, Kairi even more so, Isaac and Roxas didn't seem to pay it any mind. "Why do we have to stay in a dorm named for the Celestials?" Kairi practically spat out. Where did that come from?
"Because the Ark was the most powerful weapon at the Celestials' disposal. It symbolized peace and unity during the division. It is supposed to give you guys a sense of belonging." Aqua tried to reason with Kairi. I wonder what her problem is.
"Where was that unity when they left the galaxy to be plunged into turmoil while they hid behind a veil?" Kairi looked like she was about to explode.
"You know what the texts say Kairi."
"Were you there Aqua? Do you even know if they were really locked away in a pocket dimension because they were playing the martyr, or were they just saving their own skins?"
"…" Aqua didn't respond. She just looked at Kairi with a mxture of remorse and pity.
"The same could be said for your argument, Kairi." Isaac replied from the back, causing us to turn to face him. "You don't know what happened during the final days of the Celestial War. If it wasn't for the remaining Celestials, you probably wouldn't be here right now."
Kairi walked up to the Isaac and stood less than a meter away from him. "Don't you dare defend them Isaac."
"Someone has a chip on their shoulder. What's the matter? You parents raised you with the seed of petty hate?" Isaac shot back at her in a half-joking, half-condescending voice, his slight accent emphasizing his point.
"My parents are dead because of the Celestials." Kairi growled silently. That explains why she doesn't like the Celestials. "They were killed on a patrol ship en route to the Andromeda Cluster by a Celestial ship."
"Do you have any proof?" Isaac challenged, which he probably shouldn't have.
"I'll get proof once I hit First Class." Kairi replied getting closer to him.
"More like you want a reason to start another war." Isaac replied keeping his demeanor calm and standing his ground.
"I'm not trying to start a war! I'm not like Orphanim."
"You want to raise suspicion on a species without reason. You have eliminated every other reason for your parent's deaths, Space Pirates and the possibility that they simply got themselves killed doing something stupid." SMACK! Oh that's got to hurt. Kairi hit Isaac square in his jaw, snapping his head to the side briefly and slightly stumbling back from the force of Kairi's strike.
"Don't. You. Dare!" Kairi spat out venomously.
"Whatever." Isaac shrugged it off and moved past her. "You claim you're not like Orphanim, that you're simply trying to find proof of a murder. But all I see is a whiney bigot trying to carry out her sense of justice. You are no different than Orphanim."
We just stood silent at the remark, no one was expecting Isaac to act like that. Even Aqua looked taken aback by Isaac's reply. Kairi was shaking with anger, her back to us. She definitely wanted to say something in reply, but she just could not find the words.
"Door's opened!" Tifa beamed cheerfully and we all went inside the large mansion.
Isaac walked past Aqua and gave her a simple look, not one of malice or contempt, just a neutral look. "I'm not apologizing, Aqua." He said.
Aqua just gave a tired sigh. "I didn't think you would. I just wish you went a little easier on her." She looked at Kairi, who was being comforted by her little sister.
"He went too far." I heard Shin comment next to me as we went through the door.
"You think so?" I replied.
"I know so."
"Okay guys, your rooms are labeled and your bags should already be waiting for you." Tifa told us. "We just need to wait for-" "We're here, dearie!" She was cut off by the sound of a motherly voice.
We looked up to see three balls of red, blue, and green light flying towards us. The red one materialized into an elderly woman wearing a red dress with a pointy hat and yellow veil tying it to her head and a yellow streak down the center of her dress. "I'm Fauna." She introduced herself.
"I'm Flora." The green light materialized into another elderly woman in the same attire as Fauna, except it was green of course. She was slightly thinner than Fauna and only a hair shorter.
"And I'm Merryweather." The blue light Materialized into another elderly woman in blue. She was much shorter and a little more rounded than Fauna and Flora. "We are the Three Good Fairies."
"Though that's just what everybody calls us." Flora added in a motherly tone.
"We just help the students out around campus and the like. We even enchanted the brooms that handed you the cards this morning." Fauna added matching Flora's tone.
"Now we are here to give you guys your uniforms." Merryweather said.
"Do we have too?" Xion whined. She doesn't like wearing uniforms. I don't blame her given the perverts back home.
"Not to worry, dearie." Flora told her. "These clothes are special and will take a differing appearance depending on who your inner self is." I saw Terra tense slightly out of my peripheral, I just brushed it off as her being embarrassed. "They are self-repairing and just as protective as the most advance armors."
"All except for Shin and Isaac." Fauna told us.
"So without further ado." Flora started.
"Let's get you guys changed!" Merryweather beamed.
"Sora, why don't you go first?" Tifa pushed me forward. Man how strong is she? She pushed me like I was an inflatable ball.
"Hmmm. I think red would do nicely." Fauna waved her wand and a red beam of light flew out and hit me. My torn jeans and white shirt turned red, well my shirt turning pink, but it still counts.
"I think green is much better." Flora turned my cloths green.
"No, blue!" I think you can see where this is going.
"No, green!"
"Red!"
"Blue!"
"Red!"
"Green!"
"Blue!"
"Red!"
"Oh, would you just decide already?" I pleaded with the three fairies feeling really dizzy from the flashes of light I had been hit with.
"Oh my! Sorry about that, Sora." Fauna replied. "Alright girls, all together now. And no more squabbling." They all flicked their wands and I was hit with all three balls of light.
My cloths flashed a bright white light briefly. I looked down to see that my wardrobe had changed completely. I was now wearing a black short sleeved jacket with black jeans. The jacket had white trimming around the sleeves and gray covering the shoulders, the light flexible armored variety, it was unzipped in the center to reveal a blue T-shirt with red pockets on the front. My pants, while black as a base color, had deep midnight blue around the crotch area and yellow straps that looped from my hips to form an X on the front and back and a yellow strap around my thighs. The straps served to hold up the cargo pockets on the sides. My shoes matched my clothes with a black base coloring and a yellow secondary on the heels with a black stripe separating them in the back, blue straps forming an X on the top of my feet. My hands had black fingerless gloves with white stripes that formed an X and a yellow band around the wrist. I still had the necklace Hayner gave me around my neck.
"Whoa! This is amazing, thank you!" I exclaimed.
"Don't mention it, now whose next?" Fauna asked with a warm smile.
"You look amazing, Bro!" Xion exclaimed. She always was big on clothing, but in this sense, I really do look awesome. "I can't wait till it's my turn." Oh, this is gonna be good.
Kairi's POV
Looks like I'm next. I passed by, ugh, Isaac… I thought he was alright at first, but now I really don't want to so much as look at him.
I approached the Good Fairies, passing Sora who got a decent wardrobe change. I guess this is how Aqua got her clothes. I hope I get something amazing like Aqua.
They hit me with their magic and I felt a warmth envelope me as I was enveloped with light. When it faded, I looked down to see a one piece, pink, spaghetti strapped top with three zippers on the front that ran the length of the top and opened into a skirt and had a black hood on the back. The spaghetti straps being connected to the hood. I had on a white under shirt and a black and gray striped wrist band. Around my waist was a black belt with two looping straps, one held up a black bag on my left hip. I wore Lavender high top converse with two black strings tied around my lower shin, just above the shoes, and two black straps in an X shape for laces.
"This is so… Cute! I really like this look." What? It's a good look. Not to mention my mood certainly improved.
"We're glad you like it, dearie." Flora replied with a bright smile.
Riku's POV
I wonder what they are going to hit me with. Though I'm sure it will be nice. The clothes are based off our personality so no matter what, it will be cool.
Merryweather looked at me and said. "Oh, you must be Zack's little brother." Here we go…
"Y-yeah." I replied apprehensively. Every time I hear that it is usually followed by a cringe worthy and embarrassing remark.
"We were surprised to see how down to earth his clothes were when he went through the transmutation process." Really?
"Grounded how?" I asked.
"I think it would be better if you see for yourself."
"For now, let's see if you are as full of surprises like him." Flora replied before I was engulfed in light.
I came to with clothes very different to what I had on before. I wore a sleeveless vest that was unzipped down the front revealing a black sleeveless shirt. The collar of the vest was folded out to reveal the yellow lining. The bottom of the vest had a yellow and a blue stripe around the waist. Finally were my faded blue jeans held up by a black belt with a double pin buckle, and white shoes with black laces and a grip with a yellow ring around the sole of my shoes. My left hand had a white glove that left my palm open and stopped half-way up my forearm.
"Not half bad. I was expecting something a little more snarky. I guess I am full of surprises."
"The clothes reflect who you are, not necessarily who you think you are." Fauna told.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I'm afraid that's for you to find out, Riku." Flora replied. Should have figured that would be the case.
Xion's POV
Yes! I get free room and board AND free clothes. Score! I can't wait to see how awesome my clothes are.
"You must be, Xion." Merryweather said.
"Yes, Ma'am!" I beamed.
"My, aren't we excited." Flora giggled at my eagerness.
"Let's not keep Xion waiting." Fauna said before I was hit with the beam of light. When the light faded I looked to see that I was wearing…an all-black desert cloak that was tattered near the bottom. This can't be right?
"Try opening the cloak, dearie." Flora suggested.
I opened it to find more black except so much more awesome. I had on a dress similar to Kairi's except it was a black halter top without a hood and had an icy blue pattern in the form of jutting icicles that rose partially from the bottom of my dress and up the sides of my torso, giving a frosting effect that you would see on windows, the bottom sides of my dress were indented by two inches to allow better movement. A silver zipper down the middle with a dangling silver necklace that was attached to the lip of the top with two long silver pull strands on either side that fell to my stomach. I had on long sleeves that stopped at my bicep and pointed up towards my shoulder and on the back of my hand. The rim of the dress held a smaller frosted pattern and the sleeves had a frost pattern rise up from my hand to the bend o my elbow. The whole dress, sleeves included, were outlined in icy blue trim to accentuate the frost pattern motif. My shoes were knee high converse with, guess what, icy blue laces along with thigh high black stockings. To finish off, I wore an icy blue necklace with a black rotating hour glass attached to it, the sand was the same icy blue as everything else. I looked like a wicked sorceress in these clothes.
"This is amazing! Thank you so much!" I was practically jumping with joy.
"You are quite welcome, dearie." Flora replied with chuckle.
Naminé's POV
I wonder what I'll get as a uniform. Everyone else looked so amazing and in some cases so simple. I wonder which one I'll get.
"No need to fret over it, Naminé." Fauna told me, probably sensing my anticipation. "The clothes are a reflection of who you are."
"There is no such thing as ugly in this fashion show." Merryweather added.
I took a hesitant step forward, but I was full of anticipation at the idea of my uniform. "Okay, I'm ready."
"Here we go girls."
I was hit with their magic and looked at my clothes. I was wearing a simple one piece night gown that was no longer than Kairi' top. It was white as snow and soft as silk, being made of lace. On my feet were glass blue beach sandals with a golden star fastener on the straps around my ankles.
"How elegant." I heard Merryweather say.
"Simple, yet stunning. You are a special one." Fauna told me to which I blushed slightly from the compliments.
"Thank you very much." I replied and hurried back to the group.
Roxas' POV
Looks like it's my turn now. I wonder what my clothes are going to look like. Sora and Riku look like absolute badasses, Kairi and Xion look like femme fatales while Naminé…Naminé looks absolutely gorgeous in her dress. Oh man, am I staring? I hope not. I don't want to seem awkward or creepy around her.
"Ah, you must be Areith's little brother, Roxas." Flora told me. "She has the loveliest kiosk on campus."
"Thank you, Flora." I replied, not really wanting to think about it.
"And it's good to see you are doing better than the last time we saw you. I'm sure your clothes will reflect that strength of will you have." Fauna added, making me rub the back of my head. "All together now."
I was engulfed in their magic and when I came to my clothes had changed like the others. I wore a white, short sleeved, hoodless jacket with a folded out collar that revealed the scarlet red lining of my jacket. It had a black cross-stitch pattern along the shoulders with black trim around the sleeves. The front was unzipped revealing the black turtle neck short-sleeved shirt with a zipper tag that resembled a four star shuriken with grey trim around the hem of my shirt. My pants were white along the legs and black around the crotch. My shoes were black on top and grey the rest of the way with red straps in the form of an X, like Sora's. I had a black and white checkered wrist band with a black wrap around the base of my left index finger and white around my middle finger.
"Looks like you will be just fine, Roxas." Flora said.
"Thanks you guys. These look amazing."
Terra's POV
Looks like I'm the last to go. Everyone else got some nice new clothes. Hopefully mine isn't anything like Apocalypse.
"Are you the last to go, dearie?" Fauna asked me.
"Yes ma'am." I replied hesitantly.
"There is no need to worry dear." Fauna told me.
"The clothes will be lovely." Flora added.
"We've never had a student receive clothes that were out of character for them." Merryweather added.
"Now just relax and let our magic do its...well, magic!" Fauna finished.
They waved their wands and I was engulfed in a warm light. I looked down to see my clothes now resembled a red, halter top dress, like Xion's, that stopped at my waist where multiple pink and purple sashes rested. The red dress had a lovely floral pattern and matching red gloves that extended up my arms and stopped just before my shoulders with a floral pattern at the top, the gloves opened at the bottom to reveal a little bit of my back hand and left my palms exposed. I had a pink cape that hung off my shoulders and down to me heels that slowly transitioned into lavender. I had on white tights with red shoes that had golden heels and tips. I'm glad they aren't high heels or I would have to fly all the time. I noticed that I had a ribbon on my head, probably to match my dress since there wasn't a mirror in the room
"How lovely. You must have a loving personality." Merryweather said.
I'm glad that's the only thing they got from it. I'm sure the red means something else. "Thank you very much."
"Well dearies that is all that we came here to do." Merryweather said.
"Oh, we almost forgot." Flora shot a beam of light at Shin, it managed to fix his tattered attire. "Much better."
"Well we won't keep you much longer. Have fun getting settled into your dorm and enjoy your time at SOLDIER." With Fauna's last words the Three Good Fairies turned into balls of light and flew off.
Sora's POV
"Well now that our fashion show is over maybe we can-" "Arf, arf!" What was that?
"Asili!" Isaac exclaimed as a puppy came barreling down the stairs, it was jet black and had platinum-sapphire markings on its fur that resembled that of wind and storm clouds. It had fur that plumed up its forelegs, hind legs, and around its ankles. "How you doing, girl?" The puppy jumped into his arms and he rubbed it enthusiastically.
"Oh my gosh! Is that a puppy?!" Terra exclaimed moving next to the two.
"Actually it's a wolf cub that I've raised for the past few years."
"Can I pet her?" Terra slowly got closer to the cub.
"If she'll let you." The wolf cub, now on her back from the intense petting, looked at Terra with curious eyes.
"Hello, Asili. I'm Terra." Terra reached out a hand and Asili…walked away. "Wha?" She squeaked out in disbelief.
"Why am I not surprised?" He looked back to Terra. "Sorry about that. She doesn't like anyone else petting her."
"But…" Uh oh, I know that look. Xion used to do that before she cried every time she saw a dead cat on the road.
"Hey, hey. It's just how she is. She didn't like my sister when they first met, but she opened up to her. Just give her some time." Isaac replied in a very big brother tone.
"Really?" Terra questioned with that puppy dog look on her face, and oh my Goddess does that need to be nerfed. I doubt anyone could say no to that!
"Yes." He replied reassuringly.
"Okay, then I'll just keep trying till she accepts me." Terra clenched her fists in determination.
"That's the spirit." Isaac rose to his feet and headed for one of the couches. I should probably mention what the dorm looks like after that runway show we just had.
The interior was fairly large and we could see the kitchen through a doorway in the left corner of the room, behind the large couch that Isaac, Riku, Xion, and Tifa were sitting on. Aqua, Naminé, and Roxas were seated on the medium sized couch to the left of the large couch closest to the front door, and Kairi was sitting in a small chair to right of the larger couch, a pair of sliding doors behind her. We had entered through the front door that opened into a small hallway that led to the main room we were now situated in. A large flat screen TV hung on a wall on the far right side of the room. To our left was a staircase that led to the second floor that spanned a long way across the top, many of the rooms were spaced out around the perimeter of the house, four in the center, five on the left, and five on the right. It was a pretty nice set up.
"Okay guys we'll let you get unpacked real quick and then you'll meet us back down here to meet your Dorm Overseers." Aqua told us.
We quickly went up to our rooms, our names already written on plaques, mine being the second from the center-right. Kairi took the room next to me with Riku being on the far left closest to the left wall. Isaac was in the room closest to the right wall with Shin's room being adjacent from his. Terra was in the room next to Shin's and Xion was in the one next to hers. Tifa took the room on the far wall like Aqua did on the opposite side since they are our Dorm Advisors. Naminé was in the room adjacent from Riku and Roxas was next to her. The two rooms on the far ends of the walkways were the bathrooms.
Half an hour later, we met up in the main room to get ready to meet our Dorm Overseer.
"So who is our Dorm Overseer?" Roxas asked.
Tifa replied to Roxas' question by jumping off the balcony. "You actually have two. One is on a trip in another part of the galaxy, but the other is Sergeant Johnson's older brother."
The collective response to the reply was. "What?!" Yep, that about sums it up.
"You mean our Dorm Overseer is Mister Hell Jumper's older brother?" Riku replied with a nervous tone and fell onto the couch.
"Uh huh."
"Oh great, that means we're going to have to run drills morning, noon, and night." Kairi stated her frustrations as she took her place back in the chair and folded her arms.
"I'm sure he's not all bad." Naminé added.
"Older brothers can be tougher than the younger siblings." Very funny Xion. I know she aimed that mark at me. I tell one boyfriend that I'll cave his face in and she labels me for life.
"And other older brothers can be a real pain in the neck." Riku added which really makes me wonder exactly what kind of person this Zack guy is.
"Times like this makes me glad I have an older sister and a brother figure." Roxas added. "I don't think I could put up with that on a daily basis."
"Cloud is the kind to let you do your thing." Tifa replied, I guess this Cloud guy is the brother figure Roxas was talking about. "Until you piss him off. That guy has a short temper." Uh oh.
"Not to mention the Giant Buster Sword he lugs around with him." Roxas, I fear for you.
"I'm still not sure I want to meet the older brother of the Sergeant." I commented. "He seems like he is type of guy to plant a grenade down your throat and make you run laps around campus before it explodes just because you looked at him funny." Every looked at me with wide surprised eyes. "What? Am I the only one that feels that way?" They didn't answer, they were just staring at me. "Guys?" Xion pointed behind me and I instantly felt scared.
"Oh don't stop now." I heard a gruff voice say from behind me. I slowly craned my neck to look behind me, hoping that whoever was behind me wasn't who I was thinking. "You were just starting to earn brownie points." To my dismay I came face to face with the yellow sunglasses of Sergeant Avery Johnson. To add greater fear to my crawling skin, he was casually tossing a grenade in the air and catching it with one hand.
"Uh…" I squeaked out pathetically. The Sergeant smirked at my reaction. "How long have you been standing there sir?"
"The whole time." He replied nonchalantly.
"The whole time?" I echoed in a squeak.
"The whole time recruit." He was still tossing the grenade and I was really starting to get scared. He looked up to the rest of the room and removed his yellow sunglasses. "I see the Good Fairies have paid your dorm a visit." He took note of our new clothes. "How would you like to test how durable those new threads are?" I really hope he doesn't mean the grenade.
"Don't scare them too much Avery." An even gruffer voice called from behind him and I felt the floor shake ever so slightly as the man stepped forward.
He was the same skin tone as the Sergeant, except he was a whole foot taller and much bigger in regards to muscle, he looked like a freaking body builder without looking like he needs to stop going to the gym. His black hair was arranged in corn rows, like Isaac's except they were fully cornrows and didn't fall into dreadlocks and had a well-kept goatee that connect to his side burns and hair. He wore an off-white vest with white fishnet over his torso, revealing his ripped chest, and had dog tags around his neck. His left arm had a rounded skull tattoo with flames extending off the back, that kind of resembled wings if you look at it right. He wore green combat pants and brown boots like the Sergeant. His most noticeable feature being that his right hand was robotic and fully articulated.
"Hey there, newbies. The name's Barret Wallace. You've already met my brother."
"I'm guessing you're the Sergeant's older brother." I said as the man towered over me, still shaking in fear.
He looked down and me and gave an amused smile. "Nah, little man. I'm the youngest by a year." What?!
"I'm the oldest." Another voice called from behind Barret. The voice was more fatherly and laid back.
Another man with the same skin tone as Barret and Avery appeared from behind Barret. He was half a foot shorter than Barret and taller than Avery. His hair was in a flat top afro, not a voluminous afro, but it was still an afro none the less. He wore a lime green trench coat that stopped at the mid of his thigh and had large black cuffs, collars, folds on the front with lime green trimming and silver buttons, the left shoulder was colored a lemon yellow. Underneath was a white dress shirt unbuttoned on the top four buttons, tucked into his tan pants, and what appeared to be a black sleeveless under shirt that underlined his collar bone. He had a black belt and two black straps on his thighs that held up two holsters with oak handles and black metal, I know what kind of weapon he uses. And finally he had black boots with straps on the top.
"The names, Sazh Katzroy. I'm one of your Dorm Overseers. John is on a vacation, but you'll meet him later, I'm sure. He's the Astronomy and History teacher here and has a habit of just popping up." Sazh told us. "I hope my brothers haven't given you too much trouble." He told me as he moved closer.
"No, sir." I replied noting the amused grin that Avery wore.
"Relax, kid." Avery told me. He finally put the grenade away and alleviated any and all tension in the room. "I was only messing with you. And call me Avery when we aren't on missions." The three moved into the room and examined all of us.
"Pretty promising group this year." Barret said as he examined Riku, Shin, and Isaac. "They may make First Class in no time."
"Maybe, Barret." Avery replied examining Roxas, Naminé, and glancing back towards me. "But they still have a long way to go."
"I don't know about that Avery." Sazh commented. "They may surprise us." He stopped on a wall in between Terra, who was still trying to pet Asili, and Kairi. "What do you think little guy?" Who is he talking to?
"Cheep!" A little baby chocobo, no bigger than my palm, popped out of his afro. "The Chocobo agrees."
Terra turned around at the mention of a chocobo, her eyes gleaming with enchanted stars. "Did you say, Chocobo?" She asked, looking at the small bird who just tilted its head in curiosity at the stars of wonder in Terra's eyes.
"Yes I did, little lady." He reached his hand up and the chocobo jumped into his palm. "You want to hold him?"
"Yes!" She beamed and held out her hands.
The chocobo jumped into her hands and she gently pet the feathery chick. "You must be, Terra. Aqua told me we had a student who loved chocobos." Sazh said with an amused smirk. Terra just continued to pet the bird, oblivious to the question. "I'm going to take that as a yes. Well, we have an opening at the stables. Dahj, Marlene, and Vanille could sure use a hand. If you're interested, then I could put you on the list. You'll be paid for your time of course."
Terra looked up with even bigger eyes. "Would I?"
"You'd have to keep your grades at a certain level." Aqua interjected. "But if you can handle it, then there should be no problem."
"Sign me up, Mister Katzroy!" Terra replied without hesitation.
Sazh chuckled at Terra's enthusiasm. "Okay then, Terra, and call me Sazh."
"Well if you're done introducing yourselves." Barret interrupted. "How about we head to the bar and grab a bite."
"Alright then, come on you lot, we can get to know each other on the way." Sazh replied and we left the Dorm.
We were on the ferry heading back to island across the way, the weather had let up slightly, but the rain was still coming down. Like I figured when we landed, it was more of a civilian layout rather than military. The sky was still cloudy and it was drizzling slightly, but the waves were calm enough to safely traverse.
"Yo, spikes!" I heard Barret boom.
"Yes?" I turned to see him hand me a blue card. When I took it from him, the card flashed white for a split second before dissipating and showing my name and picture on it.
"This is your SOLDIER card. It has you allowance on it and can be used at any shop throughout the galaxy. You will keep this card as long as you are enrolled at SOLDIER and you can get more money by doing missions…on the off chance a high school freshman actually gets sent on a mission. Even then they aren't dangerous and you will have an upperclassmen to escort you."
"Nice. How much is on it right now?" I asked.
"Since you guys passed the toughest test with the lowest number of members, you get two thousand Gil."
"Two thousand Gil?!" I exclaimed.
"Yep, don't spend it all in one place." Barret grinned and put me in a head lock that almost popped my head off like a zit.
Best. Day. EVER! Minus the head squeezing bit.
We arrived at a bazaar where cars were not able to travel, it was more of a board walk since it was by the beach. It was circular with a fountain in the center and had a variety of shops from a grocery store to a clothing store to a weapons shop. We were headed to a bar on the far end next to an item, weapon, and armor shop hybrid.
"Here we are!" Sazh exclaimed. "The Seventh Heaven." Written in cursive in red neon lights above the building read Seventh Heaven, just like Sazh said. "This is my own little piece of paradise. When I'm not looking over the chocobo or teaching classes, I'm here serving drinks and food."
"It looks fancy." I heard Naminé comment.
"Thanks, Naminé, took me a few years to get it fixed up after the previous owner let it go to hell." Sazh eyed Barret out the corner of his eye.
"I already told you, it was like that when I got it." Barret replied with his hands raised.
"It may have been in a bad way when you got it, but it was your responsibility as a property owner to fix it up and maintain it." Avery chastised the muscled little brother.
"Not you too, Avery." I could tell Barret was feeling outnumbered. For someone as built as him to be backing down from Sazh and Avery, those two must be tough.
"Well, come on in guys and I'll give ya a full course meal." Sazh pushed open the oak framed glass doors by the golden bar drilled into the front. The interior was nice. What, too vague? Alright then, picture the fanciest restaurant that you've ever been in; seats by the windows in cubicles, low over hanging lights that varied between bright and dim settings depending on the time of day, wooden tables and leather seats, a bar with high standing stools and a stage on the far right of the restaurant.
"Wow. The restaurants back home look nothing like this." Naminé commented.
"Sazh spared no expense in setting this place up." Tifa told us. "He even employs students here to make a little extra Gil."
"Really?" Xion asked.
I quickly shot down her hopes. "You're too young to work in a bar Xion."
"Don't be a killjoy, Sora." Xion whined.
"If I didn't say it, Squall would have."
"You two are no fun." There she goes pouting again.
"She could work here." Sazh said leading us to a large round table next to the stage. We sat down with the guys on one side and the girls on another. Asili was seated next to the table.
"Really?" She asked with genuine interest.
"You can't handle any of the alcohol and you would have to leave from work before night rolls around. Other than that, she can work here no problem." Sazh replied leaning back in his chair. You would not think this mellow guy to be the older brother of Mr. T and Major Payne.
"There you go, Sora. I can earn a little cash on the side to help fund this card that Barret gave me." Speaking of which, Barret and Avery were at the bar chatting to this girl with pink hair. She looked to be about the same age as Aqua and Tifa.
"Once you hit seventeen, then you'll be able to handle the alcoholic beverages when severing, or if you hit First Class. You still can't drink it, but you can serve it." Aqua commented.
"I do it all the time and I'm only nineteen." Tifa added.
"So, you guys want to talk about yourself a bit?" Sazh said. "I'm gonna be in charge of you for a while. Probably until your freshman year of college, if you plan to stay that long. We might as well get to know each other."
"Well you already know our names." Riku commented.
"And you've seen what we can do." Roxas added. "So we might as well talk about our personal lives I guess."
"How about our two mysterious dorm mates?" Tifa said pointing to Shin and Isaac.
They glanced up and looked at each other. They looked like they were silently discussing who was going to go first. They looked back to us and Isaac was the first to talk.
Isaac's POV
Looks like I have some explaining to do. Might as well start with the basics. "The names Isaac Gospel. My Family calls me by my middle name, Moses. If they ever visit you know why." They nodded in understanding. "I think I mentioned earlier that I was blind didn't I?"
"Yes." Terra replied still holding the baby chocobo in her hands and petting it softly. "You said you learned a spell that can cure natural blindness and to my knowledge there is no such spell. At least not one that I have heard of."
"There isn't." I replied simply.
"Then how did you get your sight back?" Terra asked. They all had a decent look of confusion on their faces when I said it wasn't a spell.
I leaned back in my chair, my cloak draped over the seat and my arms exposed. "Let's see, how to best explain this without going into a class lecture." I tapped my finger on the table for a second before I leaned forward again. "Have you ever seen a movie called, The Matrix?"
"Who hasn't?" Riku replied with a wave of his hand.
"Remember when Morpheus asked Neo what reality really is?"
"Yes?"
"He explained that every sensation of the body; Touch, Sight, Smell, Taste, and Hearing are just electrical signals interpreted by the brain. I can command lightning and channel it through my body. One day when I was eight, my Babu, err, my Grandfather, told me to try channeling the lightning through my eyes."
"That seems extremely dangerous." Sazh said.
"It was and it hurt… A lot. Sort of like having a hot rod shoved into my eye. It worked though, and the first thing I ever saw was my mother's face. Eight years and I finally knew what my mother looked like instead of having to guess from placing my hands on her face. I didn't even know what the color of my skin was until that day."
"That must have been horrible." Terra replied. "Just being hit with a darkness spell is scary by itself. Being blind must be horrible."
"Actually, it's a blessing. I never judged anyone by appearance so I was always honest. But the best part, is that I got an extra feature. A fun little side effect."
"What would that be?" Shin asked.
"I can see the life aura of anyone and anything that has ever existed. I call it my Aura Gaze."
"What does that even mean?" Shin asked skeptically. "You can tell if someone is good or evil?"
"Not necessarily, since that is entirely subjective. Where I come from, we don't even have a word for hero or villain."
"So if you can't tell if someone is good or evil, can you tell what kind of persona they have?" Sazh concluded.
"Yes, I can tell if someone is more likely to extend an olive branch or jam a blade in your back just by looking at the shade of their color. I can even see their current mood." They looked at me like I was crazy, I'm use to it by now. "I can see you're not really following. Okay, here's a good example. Shin's blade is a silver color whenever he draws it normally. That's because the color of his Aura is silver, I saw it in the simulation. If for some reason, his silver hue turns to more of a dull gray color, then he is not in a joking mood."
"That makes since." Shin said. "Dull silver means bored or serious."
"If for some reason it starts to drip, like the silver is being smelted, then he is probably pissed. If there isn't a variation of the color then, he would change to a different color to match."
"So you can literally judge a book by its cover." Kairi replied, with a twinge of bitterness. She's still upset from earlier, I'm sure.
I released a short ironic chuckle. "Not completely. I still make mistakes. That's why I've been using my Mortal Sight for the past five years. It lets me see everything the way everyone else sees it. Call it a…reality check."
"Is that why you yelled at me earlier?" The room fell silent at the remark. She just glared at me, waiting for my reply.
Sora's POV
Isaac met the challenging gaze of Kairi. Whatever he says next is going to determine how they interact for the next few months, I'm sure. "I yelled at you, because you were judging a people wrongfully and without any basis other than what was written in some old book. Nothing personal to you, just a little peeve I have." He leaned back in his chair and rested his arm on the back of it. "All because I made a mistake that came back to bite me in the rear."
"What was that?" Naminé asked.
He didn't respond for a while, he just sat there, probably remembering whatever it was he did.
"Isaac?"
"Probably a sensitive subject. It's understandable really, everyone has a subject they can't talk openly talk about."
"Whoa!" We all exclaimed when this eccentric guy in a brown trench coat and blue suit with a red tie and white dress shirt and red converse suddenly appeared, his voice like that of a Northern English accent. Where did this guy even come from?
"Oh, hi there! Didn't mean to scare you. Well~, I did mean to surprise you, but I didn't mean to scare you."
"Who are you?" Roxas asked with an understandable sense of confusion in his voice.
"John Smith, Doctor John Smith. I'm your Dorm Overseer along with Sazh." Okay, this guy is weird. "Anyway, how've you been, Moses?" He must be someone close if he called Isaac by his middle name. They obviously aren't related. This guy was Caucasian with slightly spiky brunette hair. What happened next can only be described as a lightning round of banter.
"I've been well, Doctor. I'm just here to solve a problem back home." Isaac replied.
"Oh~, you're sister, eh?" He relied with an 'I'm sorry to bring that up' look.
"Yeah."
"She's been like that for five years now. Your mother must be heart broken."
"She's been working with our clerics to help her ever since it happened."
"I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. There wasn't much anyone could do."
"You'll find a way to help her. You're good at solving problems. Well~, not as good as me, but still good."
"Can someone explain what just happened?" I cut in feeling my head spin from the fast banter that was happening before us.
"Yeah! I still want to know who you are." Roxas added. "You just show up and start talking out of nowhere, you obviously know Isaac, but you haven't explained who you are."
"I thought I told you. I'm John Smith, though most just call me The Doctor, I'm your Dorm Overseer, and I didn't 'just show up out of nowhere.' I walked through the front door." The Doctor replied pointing a thumb at the door and feigning what seemed like annoyance and child-like hurt, like Roxas had accused him of stealing.
"You're our Overseer?" Kairi asked.
"You better believe it little missy and I do say, you lot are fantastic you are. That was some test, I even helped Avery design it for you lot to take. Never imagined my own dorm would be the ones to take it and you were down a man! That's just fantastic, simply fantastic." Someone get a speedometer for this guy. I'm fairly certain his mouth just broke the galactic speed limit.
"Why do I sincerely doubt that you are qualified to look after us?" Riku replied skeptically.
"Because I can single handedly teach every class at SOLDIER and still have time to grade the papers before dinner." He boasted excitedly and plopped down in the seat right next to Aqua. "So Shinryu or Shin or do you prefer Verus? Tell us a little about yourself. I already know a bit about Moses, but I have no idea about you and that fancy sword of yours." How is this guy such a fast talker and still so clear at the same time? He's like a squirrel on a caffeine drip.
"I don't even know what you said." Shin replied. "I'll just say that I prefer to be called Shin. I'm here to take Biology because I was saved by a Dragon."
"Oh~, a Dragon. Haven't seen one of those in a while, especially here on Resident. What kind of Dragon?" The Doctor asked leaning closer on the table.
"A Silver Rathalos."
"Oh~. Those are particularly ferocious. I wonder why it didn't just gobble you up and expel you into a dung pile." Gross.
"I don't know, just sorta happened. For some reason I've been entranced by other life ever since."
"I know that feeling." The Doctor added with an excited smile. "I can help tutor you, if you like. I wrote the curriculum requirements for all the science courses just last night and it is going to get difficult later in the year."
"You wrote the curriculum requirements last night?" Riku replied with visible disbelief.
"Yeah~, I meant to do it this morning, but I just didn't feel like waking up so I wrote it from start to finish last night. Took about an hour to do really, even with the revisions." We just sat there staring at him blankly. The stuff this guy was saying is just too ludicrous to be even considered true, and the scary part is that we actually believed everything he was saying.
"You are unreal." Riku replied slouching in his chair.
"I get that a lot. So, Riku was it? You want to tell us a little about yourself? I hope you're nothing like your brother. He's a hard worker, just needs to focus a little more on his work and less on the girlies."
"For the last time! I'm nothing like him! I'm just here because Zack said it would be a 'good experience' and I would figure out what I want to do with my life." Riku replied defensively.
"Still undecided huh?"
"Pretty much." Riku huffed, probably tired from correcting everyone.
"You'll figure it out. Always happens in your high school years."
"I highly doubt that."
"Not with that attitude. Hikaris." Man this guy can bounce around. "Why are you here?"
"Well…" I started. "We are kind of here to avoid getting separated."
"Oh! What happened?" Doctor Smith asked with genuine concern.
"Our mother died last year in a ship explosion." Xion replied solemnly.
"What about your father?" Sazh added leaning forward, his voice like that of a caring parent.
"We don't know what happened to him. Mom never talked about it." I added.
"Your mother was the famous reporter Jinsei was she not? I worked with her on a couple of my trips out into the galaxy. I'm so sorry that she died." The Doctor replied.
"We still don't know what happened, just that it was out by Demon's Run and that she was investigating something."
"Maybe we'll find something out if we attend school here." Xion added.
"Maybe. But let's get off that depressing topic." Doctor Smith said, switching his tone from solemn to interested. "What do you want to do while you're here?"
"I'm thinking about being a pilot." I replied.
"And I want to be an Actress!" Xion beamed.
"Oh~, acting. I love acting, especially Shakespeare. I can help you two with your majors if you like."
"That would be nice, Doctor Smith." I replied. Personally, I don't think taking piloting lessons from someone this wacky is the best idea.
"Please, just call me The Doctor, everyone else does. What about you Terra? Any reason why you are here?"
"Well, I would like to learn to control my magic a bit. Aside from that, I want to be a veterinarian." Terra replied still rubbing the chocobo, but stealing a glance at Asili who was curled into a ball next to Isaac.
"I can see that. Though you'll have a tough time with Asili. She doesn't even like me! Can you believe that? An animal that doesn't like my charismatic personality. I never thought I would meet one that wasn't trying to kill me." The Doctor replied pointing at himself for emphasis, I am seriously hoping that half the stuff he is saying is exaggerated.
"I'm going to keep trying though." Terra replied firmly.
"Good luck to you then. You'll need it with that one." The Doctor replied. "What about you Roxas? I saw your sister earlier. That shop of hers has really gotten popular."
"Aerith is doing fine, Doctor. I told her about how I wanted to go into photography and she recommended SOLDIER since they would let me do hands-on field practice."
"Aerith couldn't have been righter if she was a teacher here. She has a lovely garden that is sure to help you on projects and I can get you some prime shots that no one else on camps can get without getting vaporized by a super nova."
"I'll…keep that in mind." Roxas replied hesitantly. I don't blame him, the Doctor seems more like a nutty professor.
"Finally is the Kokoros. I know your sister pretty well. She was my assistant for the longest time, then again she needed some lessons on math and her arts and craft."
"Doctor!" Aqua exclaimed.
"Oh, I'm sure it's nothing they didn't already know. So what are you two here for?"
"Well, I'm here to be an artist." Naminé replied.
"Arts and crafts. Hopefully you'll do better than Aqua in that department. Her stick figures are nothing to brag about."
"Doctor!" Aqua replied. Aqua was getting flustered by now. "Why does everyone criticize my drawings? They're cute in a way."
"Because they are just too easy to make fun of." Tifa added with a teasing smirk.
"Anyway, I know a few talented artists who could help teach you a thing or two."
"Thank you, Doctor, I'll look forward to meeting them." Naminé replied with a warm smile that I swear Roxas was trying his best not to ogle over.
"What about you, Kairi? You look like you're here to get something done." The Doctor added with a point of his finger.
"…" Kairi didn't respond immediately. She just sat there for a moment not really acknowledging the question.
"Don't be shy now. You can tell me." The Doctor coaxed like he was prodding an infant.
"I'm just here to figure out what happened to the Savant and make sure it doesn't happen again."
"The Savant? That was the ship that got destroyed near the Andromeda Plane if I'm not mistaken. Nasty business, that was."
"A lot of people think it was the Celestials, others think it was the Space Pirates." Kairi replied, glancing at Isaac who was leaning back in his chair and petting Asili's fur.
"Which camp are you in?" The Doctor asked, though he seemed to somewhat challenge Kairi at the same time. Like he was probing her for an answer to something other than the question he was asking.
"I'm in the former." Kairi replied simply, shooting a glance towards Isaac.
"Is that so?" The Doctor asked again, almost as if he was playing guidance counselor.
"Yes." Kairi replied firmly.
The Doctor smirked and leaned back in his chair. "Then you will be in for one fantastic year." And that was it. That was all The Doctor said to Kairi's response and goal. No reprimanding and no arguments. "Now how about we get something to eat? You lot will be starting your first day of classes on Monday. So enjoy yourselves while you can."
"Hey, Serah!" Sazh called to the pink haired girl tending the bar and Sazh's younger brothers. "A few drinks and something to eat for the newbies."
"Coming!" The girl came over and brought us some drinks. She was wearing a sleeveless white button up dress shirt under a white sleeveless jacket with a pink plaid pattern near the bottom. She had on a red plaid skirt with black stripes and black lace along the hem, black thigh high stockings and ivory high top converses. Her left arm had a black string ribbon tied on it and a black bangle on her right bicep and a silver necklace with a silver spiral shaped attachment with a blue crystal nestled in the top center. Her eyes were a deep blue and she had a very mature atmosphere to her. Her pink hair was tied into a long ponytail on the left side of her head and draped over her shoulder. I could barely see some black cat earrings hidden under her curly pink hair.
"Meet Serah Farron. She is a freshman in college like Aqua, an excellent archer. She works part time here with-"
"Sorry we're late!" A high pitched accented feminine voice called from the doors.
"Vanille…" Sazh finished, putting a hand on his forehead.
We looked to see a girl with bright, fire red hair and a pink halter top with a orange and yellow skirt and a brown fur pelt around her waist. Her hair was tied into pig-tails and had a multilayered and multicolored tribal bead necklace that connected to a long single strand of beads that hung down over her torso. Now that I see her, she has a lot of beads hanging from her top and skirt. Her arms had a lot of rings around her wrists of varying colors. She wore beige boots with white fur on the hem.
"Daddy!" Two kids exclaimed causing Sazh and Barret to turn around.
Vanille was holding the hands of two very young children on either side of her. One looked like Sazh's son. He had on dusky pink overalls and a blue and green zipped up jacket underneath with a white polo shirt and brown boots. His overalls had a number of pockets and patches on them. I could tell he was Sazh's son because of the Afro he had on his head, I don't think Avery would let his son's hair grow that long and Barret looks like he would have his kids wear sleeveless shirts. The kid looked to be about six years old, barely out of second grade.
The other was a little Asian girl, about the same age as Sazh's son, brown hair braided in a long ponytail in the back and a bob cut in the front. She wore all white, a sleeveless white turtle neck and skirt with a floral design and white shoes with socks that matched her skirt design.
"Dahj!" Sazh said with an elated tone as he rose from the table and went to meet his son. The little Chocobo that Terra had been petting flew out of her hands and went to meet the boy too, landing in his growing afro. Sazh picked him up in a big fatherly hug.
"Marlene!" Barret commented and went to hug the…little girl? There is shenanigans afoot!
"Where did you go off to?" Sazh asked.
"We went to tend the Chocobos, Dad!" Dahj replied.
"Yeah, they were real nice to us and Miss Vanille let us ride around on them when we were done." Marlene added.
"Did she now?" Sazh said and eyed the red head.
"I walked with them while they rode on the Chocobos. The Chocobo looked like they enjoyed letting the kids ride on their backs." Vanille replied in her weird accented voice. "Oh! You must be Sazh's Dorm." Vanille replied when she noticed us. "My name is Vanille Dia Oerba." Gesundheit. "Though most people just call me Vanille, my name is kind of hard to pronounce." No kidding.
"We saw the test today, Daddy!" Marlene added while sitting on Barret's shoulder.
"You guys were amazing! The glowing sword and the Behemoths were so cool!" Dahj added. "But Vanille covered our eyes near the end when Terra was fighting a Behemoth with a really big sword." He pouted as Sazh put him down.
"As she should have." Avery replied walking over from the bar with a cup of clear liquid in his hand. "It may be a simulation, but you two are too young to be exposed to that kind of violence."
"But Uncle Avery~!" Marlene and Dahj replied.
"No buts, you two." Barret replied. "Your Uncle is right. Maybe when you're older you can watch the entire thing."
They pouted for moment, but then they replied. "Okay~."
"Now come over here and give your Uncle a hug." Avery said as he lowered to a crouching position and the two kids ran over and gave the soldier a hug.
"Now how about we get you something to eat." Vanille commented and went behind the bar. Sazh and Barret sat down at the table with us and we waited for something to eat.
"So Doctor, I noticed you changed again. Last time I saw you, you were wearing a long scarf and a hat." Isaac said.
"Well you see, a lot of things happened and I had quite the expansive wardrobe change since last you saw me. Even got a new nose." The Doctor pointed to his…nose? "Though I didn't become ginger. I really wanted to become ginger this time." What? "Maybe next time." What does that even mean?
"Is that so?" Isaac replied and Vanille came back with a tray of various foods.
"How about a toast to a fantastic and eventful school career?" The Doctor stated and raised his glass in the air.
"I'll drink to that!" Sazh exclaimed enthusiastically and raised his glass as well. We all joined in afterwards.
"To an eventful school year." We shouted and took a sip.
Asili is Swahili for nature