Chapter 3: SeeD

ding ding ding

The all too familiar chimes of the intercom blared through the speakers of the Garden. It was 2:00 pm in Balamb. All the students, faculty and SeeDs in the Garden know what the announcement is going to be. A new voice was heard throughout the Garden for the first time.

"Good afternoon Balamb Garden. All those who will participate in today's SeeD exam, please report to the Quad in 30 minutes. All students who will be participating in the SeeD exam are required to wear their uniforms. Moreover, scoring will begin once a student enters the Quad. Classes and all other class-related appointments are suspended for the rest of the day. Thank you and have a nice day, Balamb."

Quistis Trepe-Almasy sat in front of her class as the announcement ended and the chimes started blasting through the speakers again. She was offered the position immediately after Headmaster Cid's funeral, but she declined. She would have loved to be the Headmaster of Balamb Garden, but she knew that the pressure would get to her. She decided to decline the position. Besides, she loves her job, right? Her true passion is in educating young students to become SeeDs... Right?

"Alright, class! Homeroom is dismissed! SeeD examinees, please stay as I would like to have a word with you. This will only take a minute." Quistis announced to the whole class. The computer in her desk started descending and the students started exiting by pairs, by threes, by cliques, leaving behind three students sitting in front of their desks. Louie Leonhart sat in the second row, awaiting the announcement of his homeroom instructor-aunt. On the last row sat Carlos Almasy, the blonde-haired boy Louie has been sparring with in the morning. Louie turned to Carlos and mentioned for him to leave, to which, the blonde boy refused to do so. Confused and annoyed by the situation and by how cocky Carlos Almasy can get, Louie just turned back to the front.

Louie turned to find that a third student passed the written SeeD exam in the class. The third student was a girl, with straight brown hair that is now tied up in a neat ponytail. Her tawny green eyes seem to glow with anticipation as she looks at her instructor, awaiting instructions, announcements or whatever it is her instructor is planning to tell them. Louie's gaze was fixated upon her. She seems extremely familiar. The young Leonhart tried to inspect the face of this "new" girl from afar as he looks at her with more and more curiosity in his eyes.

"I believe you are all prepared for what is to come. No one knows the SeeD exam but the Commander and the Headmaster and although we have the son of the Commander here, I am sure that the Commander would never..." Quistis went on and on.

The brown-haired girl started taking everything down while Louie kept staring at her, figuring out where he has seen her face before. Was she a student in Balamb before the exam? Where had he seen her before?

Balamb? Galbadia? Trabia?

Suddenly, the brown-haired girl turned towards Louie and caught him staring. Her heart-shaped face tilted in curiosity, then her wide-set eyes softened and a thin smile spread across her face. Maybe he saw her from his dreams.

Louie was petrified when he was able to finally see her in the front.

Centra?

The young Leonhart realized he was staring and immediately turned his head toward his notes, pretending to listen to his instructor/aunt. After a few seconds, he tried to look at her again, and was surprised to see her smiling while writing her notes.

"... Alright, you may go now." Quistis said as she started packing up. Louie quickly got up and ran to the door, avoiding the gaze of the brown-haired girl from across the hall. Carlos ran after him.

"Hey! Hey, wait up! Louie!" Carlos started shouting and running in the hallways as Louie sped up towards the elevator. The blonde-haired boy finally caught up to him in front of the elevator doors.

"What the hell, dude? Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Dude. Did you see the girl.. behind me in homeroom?" Louie started to breathe heavily because of all the running.

"Yeah. She and some other students transferred from T-Garden to take the SeeD exam here, why?" Carlos replied. "Wait a minute. Do you.. like-"

"No! Shut up! It's just that... she looked... she looked so much like-" Louie heard footsteps from the corridor and stopped talking immediately. It was the brown-haired girl with dark green eyes walking towards the elevator. She caught sight of the two and smiled.

"Where the hell is the elevator?!" Louie thought as he smiled back to the girl. Behind the girl was Instructor Quistis Trepe-Almasy.

"Carlos?" Quistis called out. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Yeah mom!" Carlos replied as he started to run towards Quistis, who was turning back to the classroom.

"Dude, is this about you taking the SeeD exam?" Louie pulled Carlos's arm as he inquired.

"No, dude. I passed the written exam. I just told you I failed to make you feel good about yourself."

"What?!"

"See ya!" Carlos said as he ran, looking back at Louie. At that moment, Carlos passed the brown-haired girl who was walking towards the elevator. Louie noticed the girl getting closer and decided to look back at the elevator buttons and put his hands in his pockets. The whizzing sound signified that the elevator is getting nearer.

"When the elevator gets here, I can just get in and close the doors in front of her. Yes. No. No no no that would be rude. And stupid. And too... conspicuous. Maybe I just have to relax. I mean many people look like other people, yeah. Maybe that's it."

"Excuse me, are you... getting in?" The brown-haired girl was inside the elevator, waiting for the young Leonhart, who was lost in thought.

"Oh yeah." Louie snapped out of his daze and awkwardly boarded the elevator. With a last look at the floor, the brown-haired girl pressed the close door button. The blue glass doors closed and the elevator started to descend. Silence filled the elevator. Finally, the brown-haired girl spoke.

"So..." the brown-haired girl never dared make eye contact. "You must be the commander's son."

"Louie.." The boy turned to awkwardly look at her. "I… Uhm.. It's Louie Leonhart.. I figured it would be awkward to call someone the commander's son all the time"

The elevator was silent. Nice going, Louie.

Then, a small laugh escaped her lips and he caught a glimpse of her teeth. The awkward air in the elevator seemed to dissipate and he focused on her smile. It was absolutely..

Charming.

"What?" the girl turned towards the boy.

Shit. Did I just say that out loud.

"Nothing."

Silence again. Man, I'm bad at this. Why is this elevator ride taking so long?

"So are you excited?" the girl broke the silence.

"No... not at all, I... in fact I'm kinda..." Louie turned and attempted eye contact "Nervous."

The girl turned towards her "elevator buddy" "Hmm. The young Leonhart, nervous of an exam-"

"It's not just an exam, you know." Louie commented.

"It's..." Louie's face darkened at the thought of what it really is.

"What?"

"It's nothing. Nothing." He smiled.

Silence.

"Sorry." She apologized.

He smiled.

"I understand. This must be tough for you." She said. The ground floor was near. "It's hard being a Leonhart, huh?"

"You don't even know the half of it." Louie replied.

Why was I talking to this girl again? About this?

The blue glass cylinder doors opened and the two young cadets walked out of the elevator.

"So where are you headed?" the girl asked.

"I'm gonna get some food. Kinda hungry." The boy rubbed his stomach.

"Yeah me too. I'm going to the town with my boyfriend, you wanna come with?"

"No thanks!" the two walked down the stairs.

"If you're worried about being the third wheel, it's totally not an issue."

"No no it's not that. It's just... No.. No thanks!" Louie replied, hiding the awkwardness he felt with an attempt at a smile.

"Alright."

The girl started walking away but stopped, as if she remembered something important. She ran back up to the stairs, where Louie is and reached out her hand to shake his hand.

"I almost forgot. I'm Celine."

"I'm…. The commander's son" they both smiled.

"I guess I'll see you later, commander's son.?"

"See you later."

The brown-haired girl named Celine started running back down the stairs. Just then, the elevator opened and out came Carlos Almasy.

"So, do you have a new girlfriend?" Carlos walked towards Louie.

"Shut up!" Louie started walking down the stairs.

"So what were you going to say, bro?" Carlos caught up to Louie and they started walking with the same pace towards the cafeteria.

"Do you remember when we visited Matron when the Headmaster just died? We were snooping around and found old pictures of Matron and the Headmaster?

"Yeah. I remember that. Why?" Carlos was getting curious.

"I couldn't sleep much that night so I snuck out of our room and went to the fireplace. I lit the fire and I saw a box in front of the fireplace. It was the box we were looking at. I figured I would return it so as not to get us in trouble but I couldn't resist opening it."

"So you opened it?"

"Yeah I did. and I saw a picture that we missed."

"Of who"

"Of Matron. She was about our age. She was wearing a long black sleeveless dress and her hair was shorter back then."

"What's this have to do with the girl?"

"The girl looked exactly like Matron in that picture."

By this time, the two entered the cafeteria already.

"Dude are you sure about this? I mean I know Matron too. I would've seen the resemblance." Carlos said as he grabbed a red tray from the pile

"Bro, I'm telling you there IS something about that girl that connects to Matron. To us." Louie replies as he grabs the next tray

"Yeah there is. And it's that you like her" Carlos finally retorted.

"Shut up!" The young Leonhart had to admit, she was beautiful. Her wide-set eyes implied a perfect mixture of innocence and adventure. They were tawny green, which brought with it a mystery and a depth that made him even more curious about her. And her smile was magic. It's like it would make anybody smile with her.

Regardless, this isn't about how pretty the girl is. It's about how she resembled Sorceress Edea in that picture. Besides, she has a boyfriend.

The two brought their lunch to the nearest table when a familiar face showed up in the cafeteria.

"Dude! Balamb Garden is enourmous! I mean, I've always been in Deling and never been to any of the Gardens and WOW its' just... WOW" a brown-haired boy wearing the Garden uniform walked towards Louie's and Carlos's table.

"Hey Krys! How's Balamb treatin' you!" Carlos asked as he pulled a chair for his friend. Unlike his father, who specializes in shotguns and rifles (and women), Krystof Kinneas concentrates on only one type of gun - the Magnum. His gun was specialized for his own fingers. The handle fit perfectly and was made of hypoallergenic rubber. The barrel is pure silver and the trigger is lightweight aluminum. His bullets are made of light material to increase the speed of each shot. He had a special condition known as Heterochromia Iridium. One of his eyes is a deep royal blue, like his father's and the other eye was a lighter grayish blue. It gave him an ominous appearance when you first see him, but as he speaks, the ominous quality disappears.

"Fine, the hotdogs are not as good as Deling's but the fish here is amazing, even in the cafeteria!" Krys replied.

"You seem to be in a brighter mood today. Could you at least try to lower your voice?" Louie was getting tired from seeing so much energy in one person. Krys is his friend, but there are times when he would just like some peace and quiet and enjoy his breakfast without any noise. He could only imagine if the other one was here. He would implode.

"Did you get a new GF?" Carlos was a little bit more accommodating, although he could usually stand Kinneas. It was Dincht that brought him on edge.

"No. I didn't yet. I'll be going later, during your SeeD exam.-"

"Speaking of which, we better get to the Quad. It's almost 2:30." Carlos said as he stood up from the cafeteria table. Louie soon stood up as well.

"We'll see you later, Krys!" Carlos shouted as he walked towards the exit of the cafeteria.

"Tell him we wish him luck with his GF." Louie whispered to Carlos as they walked out.

"Oh! And Goodluck with your GF!" Carlos shouted more.

Xu pressed the "1" button on the elevator controls. The blue glass doors closed and the elevator began its descent. It stopped at the 2nd floor to let a passenger in.

"Quistis! Oh thank Hyne I saw you! I'm so stressed out!" Xu was panicking when Quistis entered the blue glass elevator. The elevator doors closed again.

"Quistis, I am freaking out! I... I... I don't..."

Quistis pushed the stop button on the elevator. The elevator stopped descending. Quistis grabbed Xu by the shoulders. "Xu, breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out. You are the headmaster of this Garden for a reason, Xu. You have been given this job because you are ready for this job."

"This job was supposed to be yours, you know. Everybody knows it was supposed to be you. Everybody thinks it's still supposed to be yours." Xu was starting to calm down.

"I can't do it Xu. You can. I am an educator. You are a Leader. That's the difference between you and I. And to hell with what everybody thinks! What matters is what you think. You think you are ready to be a headmaster and that is why you accepted this job. Alright? Don't be so high-strung." Quistis hugged her co-SeeD and her best friend since Garden. Quistis would be lying if she said that there was no part of her that wanted the Headmaster position. But seeing her friend right now, she wouldn't be able to handle that much pressure, especially not without her husband, who was in Galbadia Garden.

"Thanks, Q!" Xu said as she pushed the stop button on the elevator again. The elevator continued its path down to the 1st floor. When the glass doors opened, Quistis and Xu walked towards the Quad together. When they got there, the instructors and the SeeDs were busy keeping order among the examinees. With all the excitement of the events of the day, and the hormones that accompany being a teenager, it may not be such a good idea to make them wait for fifteen minutes. Xu went up to the stage.

"Everybody. Please settle down. All SeeD examinees are requested to go back to their assigned seats. All instructors and SeeDs must come up the stage." Xu's voice blared through the microphone, causing a big change in how the students behave. One by one, the students started sitting in their assigned seats. This may be a simple thing but it is a sign of something good for Xu, the new Headmaster of Balamb Garden.

"Before we begin with assignments, I shall remind all of us what SeeD is all about in the new age. SeeD is Garden's mercenary force that is aimed at vanquishing the worldwide threat that is Ultimecia. Now, we all know that Ultimecia's plans have been thwarted by our dear SeeD heroes with the help of Sorceress Edea and our late headmaster, Cid. But we all face the danger of Ultimecia's past catching up to us. Ultimecia is human after all and as a human she will be born, she will be grown up and she will be a sorceress. SeeD is now aimed at stopping the creation of Ultimecia. Your goal in the SeeD exam today is to prove to us that you are worthy of the name SeeD, for SeeDs are not killing machines, SeeDs are saviours of the world."

"Now, onto your missions, each of you will be given a Squad and commands will be given to the leader of the Squad and the leader is responsible for the overall effort of the Squad towards your goal. You will be graded according to your Conduct, Judgement, Attack, Spirit, and Attitude during the entire mission. The SeeD members assigned to you will explain what you will do in your exam."

"Now, before I dismiss you to your assigned SeeD officers, in the words of the late Headmaster Cid, you are all training to be the pride of Garden! The elite mercenary force, SeeD! Learn from them, obey their commands and accomplish the mission. Prove yourselves worth of becoming a member of SeeD. Best of Luck!"