Chapter 5:
It's Starting
(Zell)
Galbadia Gazette: "Galbadian Chief Military Advisor: Rebellion in Timber 'Not a Concern.'"
Dollet Free Press: "Increased military presence in Timber. Duke of Dollet remains neutral."
Deling City Authority: "Elections Proceeding as Planned."
Dollet Editorial: "It's Not Our Fight."
Deling City Authority, Special Election Coverage: "Ancelin Vaschel, CEO of Galbadia Natural Resources, Inc., Announces Candidacy."
Video File: "General Caraway Responds to Allegations."
The Balamb Tides: "Foreign Uncertainty: Import Prices Rise."
Galbadia Gazette: "Increased Security to Protect Presidential Candidates."
The Plainsman: "Analysis of Presidential Hopefuls."
Deling City Authority: "No Truth To Allegations of Extra Troops in Timber."
Video File: "Galbadian Troops Attack in Timber. MUST WATCH!"
Dollet Free Press: "Duke of Dollet Urges Cooperation with Galbadia."
Obel Times: "Media Blackout Continues."
Deling City Authority, Special Election Coverage: "First Presidential Debate Scheduled."
Video File: "General Caraway Promises Peace."
Video File: "War is Coming."
(Man, I dunno who to believe.)
Zell sighed and slumped against the backrest of his chair. With one gloved hand, he rubbed his eyes. Compared to some of the other students in the library, who had been tearing through screen after screen of news articles for the better part of the day, Zell had only just begun to work through the torrent of news spewing from all sources. But he'd never had much patience for reading textbooks or online news articles, and he was already exhausted after his short search. He looked at the clock on the wall.
(What? I've only been here fifteen minutes? No way!)
Zell sighed again. All he wanted to do was see if anyone had reported sudden appearances of sorceresses. He figured it would be big news if that happened. Instead he found a wall of reports coming from Galbadia and the surrounding areas, mostly covering the impending election and addressing—but never really explaining—the situation in Timber.
The Garden's news aggregator automatically refreshed the page, bringing up another dozen new links. Zell skimmed them, but saw nothing about sorceresses, sudden appearances, or mysterious events.
(I guess that means we're all clear.)
He sighed once more, this time in relief. Garden had enough problems on its hands without having to worry about all the sorceresses from time compression coming back into the world.
(How many did we defeat? Ten? Fifteen?)
Too many, in any case. If all those sorceresses came back all at once, there would be a global panic, enough to make the rebellion in Timber seem as trivial as an argument between friends. Furthermore, he didn't want anything troubling his mind when he went to Esthar. No lingering doubts about the fate of the world distracting him while he was away.
At least, no more doubts than he had already.
With a keystroke, he shut off the monitor of his computer. He pushed back the chair and stood up, stretching out his stiff body. His elbows, shoulders, and back cracked as he reached up to the ceiling. A couple students glanced up at him, glaring, then went back to their studies. Zell scratched his head and yawned, then stepped away from the terminal.
Before he was three steps away, another student swooped into his empty chair and turned the monitor back on. With classes back in session, a brewing war in Galbadia, and now a sorceress teleporting into the cafeteria, the library terminals had become in high demand. Every single one was currently filled, with another half dozen students milling around, waiting for one to become available.
Zell walked past the shelves of books and headed to the front desk. Behind the desk was a girl, slightly younger than Zell, in a blue cadet's uniform. She was working her way through a stack of books on the desk, scanning their titles into a computer and setting them aside into a second pile.
He knew that she was one of Ami's friends, but Zell could not, no matter what, remember any of their names. Ami had introduced all her friends to him in one flurry of names and faces, leaving Zell hopelessly lost. He knew one of them was named "V-something." Or maybe it was "B-something." Zell couldn't recall. In his own mind, he knew this girl as "Braid," because she kept her waist-length black hair in a tight braid. Other than that, Zell knew almost nothing about her.
Zell stepped up to the desk and knocked twice on the wood.
"Heya," Zell said. "You seen Ami around? I gotta tell her somethin'."
"Tell her what?" Braid said. She smiled as if she had a secret, which was a frustrating habit all of Ami's friends seemed to share. It made Zell feel like he was missing something important.
"Somethin' important," Zell said. "Is she around?"
Braid dropped the book in her hand and gasped. The book landed on the desk with a thud. Zell jumped, startled both by the sound of the book hitting the desk and the girl's sharp reply to his simple question. He knew that he was prone to saying the wrong thing, but there was no way that asking after Ami could be worth gasping about.
(… Right?)
Ignoring Zell's question, the girl turned to the desk's computer and closed out of its current program. She opened up a chat log and began furiously typing. Zell leaned over the front desk to get a view of the screen, his feet dangling off the floor. He managed to see what she was writing a moment before she sent it to whoever was on the other end of the chat.
"ALERT!" Braid's message read. "Code A-Z. Level 3! Library!"
She closed the chat log and opened the library's inventory program. The screen was filled with a list of book titles and identification numbers. Zell pushed back away from the desk and landed on his feet.
"What's a code A dash Z?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing you need to worry about," Braid said with another secretive smile. "Just… hang on, one sec, okay? Don't move."
He nodded. "Okay."
Interacting with Ami's friends was like going to a far away land where nobody spoke the same language and had bizarre customs. Zell had given up trying to fit in to their strange culture of code messages and "alerts" and decided that the best way to avoid making waves was to hold perfectly still.
And that is exactly what he did. In less than a minute, three more of Ami's friends scampered into a library, all dressed in cadet uniforms, and each carrying miscellaneous items. They crowded around Zell, who was busy standing still. He drew his arms up to his chest, defensively, as if surrounded by sharks. Two of the girls stood on either side of him and grabbed him by the arms, pulling him away from the front desk and towards the exit.
"AAH!" Zell yelped, drawing a furious "SHH!" from several sources within the library, including Braid. Since he was no longer able to stand still, he defaulted to the next defensive posture: going limp. He relaxed his muscles and allowed the much smaller girls to pull him around the school like a trained puppy.
While the two girls escorted Zell into the hall, the third talked rapidly.
"Okay, Zell, this has to be perfect," the girl said. In his mind, he knew her as Blue Ribbon, for the four tight blue bowties she always wore in her hair. "And with our help, it will be!"
"Nothing to worry about," the girl on his left said. Her hair was black and curly, so Zell called her Curly.
"It's fool-proof!" the girl on his right said. He'd never actually seen her before, but her short, almost boyish haircut inclined him to call her "Tomboy." With some effort, he probably could have come up with more suitable nicknames, but he honestly intended to learn all their names one day, and didn't want to waste mental powers on the subject.
"Anyone can be a romantic," Blue Ribbon said. "It's just a matter of preparation."
(I have no idea what they're talking about.)
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Zell said.
He and the girls marched down the hallway and found themselves in the main Garden area. He thought they would let him go when they reached the central walkway, but they held their grips on his arms and directed him left at the intersection, towards the front gate. Students walked past, eyeing the odd scene before them, occasionally smirking, but not saying anything aloud.
"Now is a critical stage in your relationship!" Blue Ribbon said. Her tone of voice was odd. Only after a couple of moments did Zell realize she was talking as if she was making a soliloquy on stage, belting out lines of poetry written by some long-dead playwright. "Here, epic romances are forged or shattered! You love Ami, right?"
He had no idea how to answer that question. He liked Ami, for sure. He wanted to know her better, to spend more time with her. He could see himself falling in love, later. After a few months or so. But love? Now?
(Love is a big, big word…)
Zell gulped. "I… umm…"
"Of course he loves her!" Curly said. Zell felt relief. He didn't care what they said, so long as he didn't have to answer the question. Still pulling on Zell's arm, Curly looked into the distance at something Zell couldn't see. Her voice became dreamy and soft. "Theirs is a love destined by the stars!"
"They write stories about love like this!" Tomboy said.
(Oh, geez.)
The group marched past the walkway that led to the front gate, and continued on towards the infirmary. The girls' grips on his arms were starting to hurt, their nails were digging into his skin. Although their tone of voice suggested excitement, he felt like he'd done something wrong and was being dragged before the teacher to confess.
Blue Ribbon revealed what was in her hand: a couple of magazines. She shoved one under Zell's nose, filling his field of vision. She couldn't hold the magazine steady, so the words and pictures bounced and blurred in a confusing mass of colors and lines. He stumbled over his feet. He could see enough of the magazine to notice that one section had been circled with red marker, but that's all.
"See your horoscope for today?" Blue Ribbon asked. "It says that today is a great day for deep confessions. If you admit your true feelings, they will be returned! So you couldn't have picked a better day for this!"
"You must have known," Tomboy said. "That's why you picked today. Instinctively, you knew."
"Destined by the stars!" Curly said.
(?)
"Huh?" Zell said.
Blue Ribbon pulled the magazine away, finally allowing Zell to see where he was going. The girls rounded past the infirmary, heading down towards the quad now.
(Where are they taking me?)
"Where…" Zell said.
"Fellas Magazine has some great advice for guys in their new issue," Blue Ribbon said. She shoved this magazine in front of Zell, once more blocking his vision. "Pay attention to this."
"Don't talk too much about yourself," Tomboy said.
"Don't make any rude noises," Curly said.
"Don't ask questions that are too personal," Blue Ribbon said.
"Compliment the girl, but be sincere," Tomboy said. "Don't just make stuff up."
Zell quickly lost track of who was talking, as the three began rattling off relationship advice, often talking over each other. Listening to them was worse than sorting through the Garden's news aggregator. At least the aggregator stopped occasionally.
"Don't tell lies."
"Don't chew with your mouth open."
"Keep your feet on the floor."
"What's going on?" Zell asked.
"Don't slouch."
"Don't look at the time."
"Be polite and courteous."
"Don't tell off-color jokes."
"Huh?" Zell said.
"Avoid uncomfortable subjects."
"Be attentive and listen."
"Look at her, but don't stare."
"Don't be too loud or too quiet."
The group moved past the quad, heading towards the cafeteria. Zell began losing track of where he was and what he was doing, the constant chatter on all sides overloading his brain.
(HELP ME!)
"Be confident and assertive, but not arrogant."
"Smile often."
"I don't… huh?" Zell said.
"Avoid excusing yourself from the table more than necessary."
"Don't fidget."
"And above all, have fun!" Blue Ribbon said, an impossibly wide grin stretching across her face. The three girls stopped talking long enough for Zell to inhale. He hadn't even noticed that he'd been holding his breath until his lungs screamed in relief at receiving fresh air.
The three girls stopped in front of the hallway leading to the cafeteria. Curly and Tomboy let go of Zell's arms, leaving red claw marks on his skin where they'd held him. Both handed him the items they'd been carrying the whole time. He took the items out of sheer reflex, not even knowing what they were until he held them.
"Here's a small box of chocolates," Tomboy said.
"And a white rose," Curly said. "Go get 'er!"
Zell looked at the rose. It was freshly picked, tiny drops of water clinging to the petals. He looked at the chocolates: a fancy brand Zell knew was imported into Balamb from overseas. He looked down the hall into the cafeteria, then to Blue Ribbon, then Curly, then Tomboy.
(Rose. Chocolate. Cafeteria. Smile often. Don't be rude. Rose. Chocolate. Fellas Magazine. Rose Chocolate. Cafeteria. Don't slouch.)
"WHAT'S GOING ON?" Zell screamed.
A couple of passing students eyed him curiously, and took a wide berth as they walked around the group. Ami's friends all took a step back, momentarily stunned by his outburst.
"Fellas Magazine says you shouldn't scream," Tomboy said, whispering.
"Please…" Zell said, panting. He didn't know why he was out of breath, but he was. "Tell me what's going on…"
"Ami's in the cafeteria," Blue Ribbon said. "She's on her lunch break. Didn't we tell you?"
"NO!" Zell said. "You didn't tell me anything except… umm…"
He tried to recall some of the dating advice they'd given him, but couldn't recall a single word of it.
"Oh…" Blue Ribbon said. "Well… she is. And she's waiting for you. We told her you were coming."
"Just stick to our advice and you'll be fine," Curly said. "Remember, everything you do is guided by destiny! Fate won't let you fail!"
Zell was about to ask another question, but he bit it back. Asking them questions would just confuse him more than he already was. He had only wanted to know where Ami was, and now he knew she was in the cafeteria. That was good enough.
"Thanks," Zell said. He nodded to the three girls, and headed down the hall into the cafeteria. The third girls wished him luck as he left the main area of Garden.
As he crossed the threshold into the cafeteria, his emotions finally cooled off and he was able to think again. He realized that he was still holding a rose and a box of chocolates, but he'd forgotten why.
(Something about off-color jokes…)
He looked around the cafeteria. The sorceress had appeared in this room only a couple of hours before, and students were still skittish about coming back, so there were fewer students around than usual. That made it easy to spot Ami across the room, sitting by herself and reading. Zell smiled, and worked his way between chairs and tables to get to her.
"Hey," Zell said, approaching Ami's table. She looked up from the book. When she saw him, she smiled shyly. Zell didn't know if she knew any other way to smile.
"Hi, Zell…" she said, her voice soft and warm. As usual, her brown hair was dressed in pigtails, and she wore the same blue cadet's uniform that all her friends wore. Her face was pale, and her eyes dark.
She looked down at his hands, still clutching the items her friends had given him.
"Are those for me?" she asked.
"I uh, yeah!" Zell said. He awkwardly reached out, offering his gifts to her. "They… uh… yeah. Here."
He didn't feel that the occasion warranted gift-giving, but he couldn't very well give the rose and candy back, or tell Ami she couldn't have them. But in any case, it was free stuff for Ami, so that had to be a good thing.
"Thank you," Ami said. She grasped the flower and brought it to her nose, inhaling gently. She took the box of chocolates and set it down on the table beside her book. Zell noticed that, even though it was her lunch break, she hadn't brought any food. Only her book sat on the table before her.
"Please, sit," Ami said, gesturing to the empty chair across from her. She set the rose down, laying the stem across the top of her chocolates. Zell jumped into the chair across from her, the legs screeching on the tiled floor.
"So… um… hi!" Zell said. He smiled, and cleared his throat.
"Hi again," Ami said, staring into Zell's eyes. For a moment their eyes met, and Zell forgot what he was going to say.
"So your friends are… um, interesting," Zell said.
Ami chuckled. "I hope they weren't too rough on you. They can be really hard sometimes. Especially Lora."
(Oh man, which one's Lora?)
"Naw," Zell said. "They were nice. Just… excitable."
"That's good."
Ami watched Zell from across the table, one finger brushing against the tips of the rose petals. Zell drummed his fingers on the table. He felt excited, impatient, and nervous, like he was expecting something big to happen, but he couldn't figure out why. Several seconds passed before he remembered why he came.
"Oh!" Zell said. He snapped his fingers. "I came to tell you. I'm um… I'm going to be going to Esthar. I'm sorry."
"Esthar?" Ami said. "Why?"
"Squall thinks it's the best way to find out about why a sorceress showed up here," Zell said. "We're gonna ask Doc Odine and Ellone about it, see what they can come up with."
"Oh…" Ami said. The smile drifted away from her face. "I see."
Zell leaned forward across the table, setting his hand on the book, wanting to touch Ami's hand, but not sure if he should. The phrase "Level 3," from the message on Braid's computer, came to mind.
"It's only for a couple days," he said. "Just to talk. Then I'll be back."
Ami smiled sadly. "I'll miss you."
A funny tingle ran up Zell's back, making him need to clear his throat before he spoke. "I'll miss you too."
"Everyone said today was the day you'd make us official," Ami said. "Guess I'll have to wait until you get back, hm?"
Zell bit his lip. "Official? Officially what?"
"Officially boyfriend and girlfriend," Ami said. "They said it was fate that it was going to happen today."
"Oh…" Zell said. "You mean we aren't officially boyfriend and girlfriend?"
Ami shook her head. "You never asked."
(So that's what this is all about.)
Zell smiled. "Well, hey. I ain't one to fight against fate. Wanna be my girlfriend? My official girlfriend?"
Ami reached forward and rested her hand atop his. "Yes. Of course I will."
Zell turned over his hand, wrapping his fingers around hers. He'd never before been reluctant to go on a mission, or shy away from a chance to see the world. But for the first time since he first walked through the front gate, he didn't want to leave Garden.
The elevator brought Zell to the third floor, where he stepped into the Headmaster's receiving room. He knocked politely on the door and waited to be admitted. When Cid's voice gave him permission to enter, he opened the door and stepped through.
Inside, huddled around Cid's desk, was the Headmaster and Matron, along with Quistis, Xu, Squall, and Rinoa. Xu had a map spread out on Cid's desk, and was marking something on it with a pen. Squall was leaning over the desk and studying the map.
(Looks like I'm just in time.)
"You weren't gonna leave without me, were ya?" Zell asked. He jogged over to the desk and stood by the others. When they looked at him, he waved and smiled.
Squall straightened up and glanced at the others, then put a hand on his hip. "Actually, we were," he said. "I was just going to make the announcement over the intercom in a few minutes."
Zell jumped, making the same expression he had when Braid dropped the book on the desk.
"Huh?... What?"
"Sorry," Squall said. "It's just me and Rinoa going."
"No point in sending more people than necessary," Quistis said. "All of us have very important jobs at Garden now. We're not just regular SeeDs who can come and go whenever it's convenient for us. We have responsibilities here."
"Yeah… but…" Zell said. He clenched one hand into a fist, struggling to find a good counterargument.
"And you've still got to prepare for your tests tomorrow, Zell," Edea said. "People here in Garden are counting on you."
"I know… but…" Zell said. He clenched his fist tighter, as if he could physically squeeze a good idea out of his brain. So far, it wasn't working.
"Quistis is going to take over command while I'm gone," Squall said. "Rinoa and I are going to be out of communication, but I doubt anything is going to happen here or in Timber. Our spies in Timber have been pretty quiet for a while now. Everyone seems to be in a holding pattern, waiting for the other side to start something. Hopefully that won't change."
Finally all of Zell's straining, sweating, and clenching yielded one valid objection to their plan.
"But… you can't just send two people all the way to Esthar!" Zell said. "You're going by foot, right? It'd take too long. And too dangerous! You need at least three people."
"There's no other way," Squall said with a shrug. "But I think Rinoa and I can handle ourselves."
"If it makes you feel better…" Xu said. She pointed to the map. Now that Zell was closer, he could see that she'd drawn a red line from Fisherman's Horizon, along the Horizon Bridge, through the mountains, and to Esthar. "I found them an easier route past the Great Salt Lake. There used to be service road that bypassed around the lake, back when it was still, you know, an actual lake. If the road's still there, then that will make things quicker and safer than going through the lake, like you did last time."
"Still!" Zell said. He stomped his foot. "You said 'we' were goin' to Esthar. 'We' means 'us,' man!' We means us!"
Squall narrowed his eyes in thought. His face relaxed when he remembered the conversation. "Oh, right. Sorry, Zell. I did say 'we' didn't I?"
"Yes, you did!" Zell said.
"I meant Rinoa and I," Squall said. "I didn't mean all of us."
(Aw, man…)
Zell slumped his shoulders, barely supporting his own weight, like a rag doll tied to a post. His head was down, eyes staring at the floor.
"I didn't think you'd get this upset," Squall said. "You seemed excited to be an instructor. I thought you'd want to stay here anyway."
There was a long, awful pause. Squall had a point. A part of Zell—a very large part—wanted to stay in Garden. He wanted to become an instructor and teach hand-to-hand combat to the students. He wanted to stay with his brand new Official Girlfriend—even if her friends were weird. And he wanted to stay close to the Garden in case something did break out in Timber.
But at the same time, he didn't want to feel left out, or left behind. If Squall was going somewhere, Zell wanted to go too.
"Zell," Rinoa said. She stepped up to him and bent over, trying to put her face between Zell's and the floor, so that he could see her. "You gotta promise me something, okay?"
Zell looked at her from the side of his eye.
"Promise that if anything happens in Timber, you'll help them out, okay?" Rinoa said. "You and Quistis gotta watch Timber for me when I'm gone. Don't let anything happen to them. I don't want to leave, but… I have to know about the sorceress that appeared in the cafeteria. And I have to know more about Adel. We'll be back as soon as we can. But you have to promise me, Zell."
Zell grumbled.
"Zell? Promise me," Rinoa said.
He sighed. "Okay. Okay, I promise. Nothing will happen to Timber on my watch." He straightened up and met her gaze. "I swear."
She straightened up as well, smiling and nodding. "Thanks."
"Really, Zell," Squall said. "Don't take it personal. We're not leaving you behind because you're unimportant to us. We're keeping you here because you're too important to Garden."
"Right," Quistis said.
"I'm not takin' it personal," Zell said, even though he was. "I was just… I guess I was lookin' forward to another adventure, you know? Like the good old days."
"The good old days?" Squall said. He crossed his arms.
"Yeah, like when we went to Esthar last time."
"Zell… that was not even a month ago," Squall said. "And the world almost ended last time we were in Esthar. Those days weren't 'good' or 'old.'"
"Tch. Why you always gotta be so serious, man?" Zell said. He shook a fist at Squall.
"He wouldn't be Squall if he wasn't," Rinoa said with a smile.
Early the next morning, Zell and a half dozen other SeeDs stood in the second floor hallway, awaiting the results of the written portion of their instructor exams. Inside the classroom, behind the closed door, Edea was busy grading the tests. There was nothing for the SeeDs to do except wait.
Zell had his hands in his back pockets as he paced a straight line back and forth, back and forth in front of the classroom door. Quistis hadn't been lying when she told him that the test was mostly composed of SeeD protocol and common sense questions, but he'd expected them to be multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank. Maybe True or False, if he was lucky.
In the actual test, Zell and the others were given hypothetical situations, and provided with blank papers to write essays on how they would react in those situations. He didn't know the best answers, so he just answered honestly. The questions seemed like potential real-world problems, and though Zell knew his answers might be foolish, he thought dishonesty would only hurt him in the long run. Better to tell the truth and fail outright, rather than lie and screw up a classroom full of students.
He'd had about a week to prepare for the test, but of all that time available to him, he'd only used the previous night. To his credit, he had been expecting to either get called off to fight in Timber, or brought along to Esthar. It seemed like the odds of him actually having to take the test at the end of the week were rather slim.
But Timber had stayed quiet—or relatively quiet—and Squall and Rinoa had left for Esthar, leaving him behind with his "responsibilities," as Quistis had put it. If he'd known the future, he definitely would have studied. He wasn't one to shirk his duties, but sometimes he got confused as to what exactly his duties were. With all these potential threats emerging around the world, it was hard for Zell to know where to focus. What if he'd spent all his time studying, only to be sent to Timber, and be unprepared for that? Or sent to Esthar, without having combed through the Garden news aggregator first?
Just when he thought the anticipation would make him either explode or go crazy, Edea opened the classroom door and poked her head into the hallway.
"Zell Dincht," she said, before ducking back into the classroom.
"Oh! That's me," Zell said. He froze in mid-stride. "Wish me luck, everyone!"
The other SeeDs mumbled incoherently. Zell assumed they were wishing him luck and stepped into the classroom, shutting the door behind him. Edea sat down at the front desk with a small stack of graded papers next to her. Behind her was a blank screen the size of a chalkboard, for when classes were in session. Edea held Zell's test in her hands, holding it close to her so that Zell couldn't see the grade. He stood across the desk from her and summoned a little more patience to wait for another few moments.
"Hey, you did mine first!" Zell said. He adjusted his uniform collar and dusted off his shoulders. "Is it cause I'm your favorite?"
Edea smiled. "No, it's because Xu is proctoring your next test, and I want to make sure you arrive with plenty of time to spare," she said. "Xu has a lot to do today, and this is the only time she'll be able to take you. Miss this window, and you'll have to reschedule for another day."
"Oh…" Zell said. Even though he was being sarcastic, he was hoping she would say he was her favorite. He quickly forgot his minor disappointment and asked his next question. "Wait, why is Xu doing my next test?"
"Don't you know?" Edea asked. "Her weapon specialty is also hand-to-hand, like you. She's the most qualified to judge your skills."
"Huh… never knew that," Zell said. In all his time at Garden, Zell had only seen Xu a handful of times. And whenever the two met, she was usually engaged in administrative tasks. He'd never seen her fight before, and had never wondered what her weapon specialty was.
(Learned somethin' new today.)
"Anyway, you passed," Edea said, handing him his test. Zell took it and glanced at it, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw the "76%" written at the top. He needed a seventy or higher to pass. A better score would have given him more authority in his classes, but as long as he was an instructor and didn't have someone breathing down his neck all the time, he was okay with whatever result he got. With a lowly score of 76, Zell would need to first consult higher ranking instructors or the Headmaster before making certain decisions, but it was a minor inconvenience. He'd have chances to raise his score later, if he chose to do so.
"Not with flying colors," Edea said, "But you did pass, and that's the important part. I'd heard that written exams were never your strong point anyway."
"Yeah, I'm a man of action," Zell said, pumping his fist.
Edea raised an eyebrow at Zell's gesture, then continued. "Some of your answers to the questions were… interesting. Would you really break up a fight between two students by turning it into a training session?"
Zell shrugged. "Why not? I'm supposed to be teaching them how to fight, right?"
Edea smiled. Unlike the secretive smiles of Ami's friends or the shy smile of Ami herself, Edea's smiles were warm and motherly. Whenever she smiled, Zell always felt proud of himself, even when he hadn't done much to be proud of.
"True," Edea said. "Anyway, Xu is waiting for you at the training center. Best run along Zell. And good work."
Zell saluted her. "Thank you, Matron."
"I'm not officially a faculty member; you don't have to salute me," Edea said.
"Eh, I wanted to anyway."
Edea smiled again. "Thank you, Zell."
Zell handed the test back to her, then exited the classroom, all the exhaustion from the previous night of cramming now gone from his body. He leapt through the doorway and shouted, "I passed!" into the hallway. The other SeeDs mumbled congratulations and resumed waiting anxiously for their own results. Zell ignored their lukewarm response and high-stepped his way down the hall and to the elevator.
(The hardest part's over now.)
With the general written part out of the way, all that was left was for him to pass a specialized test of his competency in his specific subject. For Zell, that meant a practical test of his fighting skills and technique, which was a test he was not only confident about, but honestly excited about.
Once inside the elevator, he thought about telling his friends how he passed the written exam. But then, with a rush of sadness, he remembered that most of his friends were gone. Irvine and Selphie were in Trabia, and Squall and Rinoa had taken a car to Balamb the previous afternoon. The enthusiasm leaked out of him, and by the time Zell reached the first floor, he was no longer in the mood to high-step anywhere.
Zell exited the elevator and headed down the stairs to the circular walkway. He considered detouring to the library real quick, to at least tell Ami about his success, but decided against it. It would be a lot more exciting if he waited until after he passed both tests before telling her. Plus, he didn't want to keep Xu waiting. Having to reschedule his practical exam would ruin everything.
He headed down the long, slightly green-tinged hallway into the training center. He stepped through the perimeter doorway and into the secondary paddock that kept the monsters from sneaking into the school. There, standing in the middle of the small field, waited Xu, holding a pen and a clipboard.
Beside her was a tall, male SeeD dressed in a tight-fitting t-shirt and slacks, the definition of his thick muscles showing clearly through his clothes. His hair was blonde, almost translucent, and cropped in a short military cut.
"Hiya, Xu," Zell said, stepping into the middle of the field. The soft dirt slid under his shoes. "Who's this guy?"
"This is Dax," Xu said. She nodded to the muscle man. "He'll be your sparring partner. Dax, this is Zell."
"Awesome," Zell said. "Nice to meet you."
He extended his hand for a shake, but Dax rolled his eyes instead. From the corner of his mouth, he whispered to Xu, loud enough for Zell to hear, "You're making this punk into an instructor?"
By the time the word "punk" slipped through Dax's lips, Zell was already infuriated. A lifetime of suffering trash talk from Seifer had shortened his emotional fuse to little more than a nub.
"What did you call me?!" Zell yelled. His voice echoed through the training center. Some creature on the other side of the fence rustled in the undergrowth, slinking away from Zell's shout.
"Damn, he's loud," Dax said, dramatically rubbing his ear with one hand. He looked up and down at Zell. "And skinny. You sure he's a combat specialist?"
Zell balled up the fingers of his right hand and punched the palm of his left.
"Can we fight now?" Zell asked. "I'm ready to fight. Just say the word."
"Both of you, knock it off," Xu said. She pointed the end of her pen at the two SeeDs, her voice filled with iron. "If you two can't control yourselves, I'll remove both of you from consideration."
Zell took a step back, surprised. "Huh? Remove both of us?" he asked. "What do you mean?"
"Dax is the second choice, if you fail either of your tests," Xu said. "If you can't pass the tests, he'll be next in line for consideration."
Dax smirked.
"I thought it was just me…" Zell said.
(No one tells me anything.)
"It's never just you," Xu said. "That's an important lesson to learn in SeeD. There will always be others ready to take your place if you fail. I find that fact to be comforting, knowing the mission will be completed, even if I am not the one to complete it."
Zell found no comfort in that thought, but didn't say so aloud.
He took a deep breath to clear his mind. The lack of sleep and the stress of the past couple of days made him less confident than he felt when he first stepped into the training center. And looking over Dax's impressive physique once more, Zell, for the first time, considered the possibility that this exam wasn't a guaranteed win for him.
"Well, I passed the written test," Zell said, half to himself and half to Xu. "This oughtta be a piece of cake by comparison."
"That's the spirit," Xu said. "And don't worry, you're still the primary candidate. All you have to do is beat Dax and you're fine."
Dax snorted. "If he beats me."
Zell bit back a retort, struggling to control himself. Despite his emotional nature, he knew that he'd never been good at fighting while angry. If he couldn't tamp down his rage, Dax was going to walk all over him.
Xu backed off and stood near the fence, facing the two sparring partners. Zell unbuttoned his SeeD uniform, revealing his regular civilian shirt underneath. He hung his coat from the branch of a nearby tree and, with one smooth motion, pulled down his pants and leapt out of them, revealing his calf-length blue shorts underneath. From inside his two massive pockets, he pulled out his travel-worn red sneakers and his gloves and slipped out of his SeeD dress shoes. Dax stood across from him, arms crossed, impatiently tapping his biceps.
When Zell finished dressing, he stepped into the middle of the field and nodded to Xu. She nodded back.
"Standard Garden sparring rules apply," Xu said, reading a script directly from her clipboard. "No magic, no summons, no items, no junctions. Skill against skill alone. Points will be awarded for successful hits, aggression, and technique. No illegal strikes or holds. Failure to comply will result in instant disqualification. The fight will continue until I decide there is a clear winner. Zell, if you win, you pass the test. If you lose, you fail. Do you understand?"
"Gotcha," Zell said.
Xu looked at Dax. "Understand?"
Dax nodded.
Zell pressed a finger to his forehead and disconnected from his Guardian Force. Without his junctions enhancing his physical abilities, the world seemed to speed up, and Zell felt as if someone had put a heavy backpack on his shoulders. He shook his arms and legs loose, to both limber up and accustom himself to being without his junctions for the first time in days, maybe weeks. He jumped in the air a couple times, getting his heart rate up and his legs warm.
Dax smirked as he got into a fighting stance. "You better hope Dr. Kadowaki has an open bed in the infirmary," he said.
Zell started to reply, but then he felt Xu's icy stare fall on him. They'd already annoyed her enough, and Zell didn't want to push her any further.
(I can't let him get in my head.)
"Let's just do this," Zell said. He raised his fists and got into his combat stance.
Xu nodded, apparently pleased. She wrote down something on her clipboard.
"Zell, are you ready?" she asked. He nodded. "Dax, are you ready?" Dax nodded. Xu raised her clipboard and readied her pen to take down scores. "Begin."
Zell sized up his opponent. Dax stood a full head taller than Zell, with a longer arm reach to match. In terms of mass, they weren't even close to the same weight division, as Dax was nearly twice Zell's size in every measurable way. Maybe if Zell had his battle junctions on, he would be able to compete with Dax's raw strength, but without them, engaging with Dax directly would not only result in a swift defeat, but probably a long stay in the infirmary.
Dax rushed to close the gap, trying to get Zell either to attack or retreat into a corner. Zell circled to his right to escape, and Dax pursued in long strides, controlling the middle of the paddock and forcing Zell to the outsides. An arrogant smile played on the edges of Dax's lips.
After a few seconds, it became clear that Dax wasn't going to make the first move. Big guys like Dax, Zell knew, often liked absorbing their enemy's first attack, then countering with a massive fight-ending strike of their own. That kind of strategy only worked when there was a huge size difference between the two fighters.
(Which… there is.)
Furthermore, the nature of the spar was in Dax's favor. There was no need for him to win the fight: only to cause Zell to lose. If Zell continued to circle around the whole fight, then Zell would be removed from consideration. Zell had to be the first to engage, whether he liked it or not.
(If he's gonna make me move first, then I gotta make my first move a big one.)
Zell narrowed the angle of his circling, spiraling closer and closer to Dax. He kept a careful eye on Dax's body language and his footwork, watching to see if he was going to try to jump and close the distance before Zell had a chance to strike. Dax smiled, and curled his fingers, gesturing for Zell to come even closer still.
When he was still well out of arm's reach, Zell attacked. He dug his feet into the soft soil and leapt, angling his body to the side and flying through the air. He saw as Dax's eyes grew wide with shock a moment before Zell drove both of his heels into Dax's abdomen, just below the ribcage. A wheezing grunt escaped Dax's lips. Dax tried to clamp his arms down on Zell's ankles, but Zell used the recoil from his attack to pulls his legs back, roll on the ground, and spin away before Dax could catch him. He got to his feet and turned around, keeping his eyes on his opponent, expecting a counterattack.
But his blow was far more effective than he anticipated. Instead of chasing Zell down in a fury, Dax was standing where Zell had left him, gritting his teeth and holding his gut with both hands, his knees shaking. Even Dax's muscled abs couldn't absorb the impact of Zell's attack. For a moment, Zell thought his opponent was faking his pain, trying to trick Zell into a hasty follow-up attack, until he saw Dax's eyes watering as he struggled to regain his breath.
(No way Dax would pretend to cry, just to knock me off guard.)
Zell knew then that he had an opening, and he took it. He charged again, running at full speed and drawing his right hand back for a crushing haymaker to Dax's smug face. But pained as he was, Dax was still not out of the fight. Zell saw him brace his feet and move his arm up to deflect Zell's punch before it landed.
When Zell was in range for his attack, he feinted with his right hand and ducked down to his left. Dax, trying to block a haymaker that was no longer coming, moved to Zell's right, leaving a clear opening. Zell drove his fist into Dax's abdomen, hitting the same spot he'd kicked moments before. Dax coughed in pain, but still managed to recover and swing his arms wildly around, forcing Zell to duck under the blow.
Dax's twin fists whooshed over Zell's head, brushing along the tips of his hair. Even wounded, Dax's hands carried the force of a pair of speeding trucks. But he was slow, and as long as Dax couldn't connect, Zell was fine. Zell fired off two quick rabbit punches to Dax's gut and jumped away. Once more, Zell paused and assessed his opponent. He'd successfully wiped the smile of Dax's face and replaced it with burning pain and rage. Dax held desperately to his fighting stance, but was clearly stunned, off-balance.
(I can win this.)
Zell jumped in close to his opponent, twisting away from a heavy, but slow punch, and countering with a quick jab to the chest. Zell's fist bounced off Dax's pecs ineffectually. Now dangerously close to Dax's truck-like fists, Zell circled around and around his enemy, ducking, jumping, and spinning away from Dax's every move and countering with jabs, knees, and elbows to Dax's torso, aiming for that tender spot in his abs.
Zell's relentless assault would have beaten an ordinary foe into submission, but punching Dax was like hitting a concrete pillar. Despite his frenzy, Dax was nowhere near defeated, and any one of Dax's attacks would be enough to drop Zell in a hit. One wrong move, and the fight would end with Zell on the ground, wondering what his name was.
After a minute of punishment, Dax finally tried a new strategy, dropping to the ground and kicking his foot out, trying to sweep Zell's legs from under him. But his movements were slow and getting slower. Zell easily stepped over the graceless attack and booted Dax hard in the spine. Dax lost his balance and fell face first into the dirt, snarling in pain and anger. Zell stepped back and gave Dax time and space to regain his feet.
Shakily, Dax dragged himself up on his hands and knees. Sweat poured down his face, turning his pale hair dark brown. Dirt and sweat and a little bit of blood stained his newly ripped shirt. Dax punched the soil of the training center and roared.
(Uh oh.)
Dax got to his feet in an instant, charging at a dead sprint right at Zell, his arms open wide for a crushing tackle. There was no time to circle away, and no room to duck under or around the attack. Zell planted his feet, raised his arms, and tightened every muscle in his body, hoping to absorb as much of the blow as possible.
Dax threw his shoulder into Zell's chest with the force of a shotgun blast, picking him up off the ground and carrying him several steps backwards. Zell grunted through clenched teeth as all the air escaped his lungs. Despite the pain, Zell managed to focus on what he needed to do.
Before Dax could drive Zell down into the ground, completing the tackle, Zell managed to loop his arm over Dax's head, and put him in a tight headlock. Dax's momentum carried the two grunting and screaming men hard towards the ground, but at the last moment, Zell twisted his body just enough to slam the top of Dax's head into the ground, then land on Dax's head with the rest of his body, using Dax's own strength and weight against him.
Dax's thick skull bashed against Zell's ribs, then skidded along the dirt for almost a full pace. Zell wheezed out what little air was left in his lungs as a ball of pain swept from his torso all along his body. His vision flashed white. But even with the pain, he'd come out the better for that exchange. Zell was hurting, true, but Dax was almost unconscious after that tackle. Dax moaned and went limp momentarily, allowing Zell to rip Dax's arm off from around him and roll away before Dax could recover.
Gasping, sweating, and choking, Zell stumbled to his feet and clutched his sides. Dax was still fighting to get upright, weaving drunkenly when he tried to raise himself up, inevitably collapsing back to the ground. Once more, Zell stepped back and gave his foe a chance to recover. This time, Zell knew, Dax wouldn't have the strength for a surprise tackle.
A shrill whistle cut through the air, startling Zell. He looked to the source and was surprised to see Xu standing a few feet away. In all the tension and excitement, he'd completely forgotten that he was being watched and graded. During those few minutes of combat, nothing except the fight had crossed Zell's mind.
"Enough!" Xu said. "I'm calling it. Zell, you win this fight. Congratulations, you have passed the test."
"OHHHH YEAAHHH OW ow ow!" Zell said. He winced and clutched at his side. "Ow…"
Dax finally managed to stumble to his feet, but still he was far from steady. He slurred his words as he said, "Not… not fair! I was still in that fight! You called it early!" He stumbled around, gasping for air. His face was dirty and streaked with blood. He clung to a nearby tree for balance.
Xu gave him a look. "You were beaten," she said. "Zell was the clear winner in all categories, and you were reduced to wild swinging and desperation attacks. Even if you'd scored a lucky hit at the end, knocking Zell out completely, I would still be tempted to call the fight in Zell's favor. Now, you are dismissed. Thank you for your help, Dax. Go check in with Dr. Kadowaki before you do anything else."
Dax swore under his breath. He shuffled slow painful steps out of the paddock. He pushed open the gate and disappeared into the hallway.
"Psh! Sore loser," Zell said, his confidence once again restored. His side still ached horribly, but he let go of it and pretended it didn't bother him.
Xu stepped forward in front of Zell. "I admit," she said, "I wasn't expecting you to win so easily. Dax is one of our best, especially at sparring."
"Really? He didn't seem so hot," Zell said.
"He doesn't have your experience," Xu said. "He's only been on a handful of missions, and most of them didn't involve direct combat. Anyway, congratulations again. I'll present the results to Headmaster Cid. You are dismissed. I suggest you check with Dr. Kadowaki as well, but I'll leave that to your discretion."
Zell considered his wounds. He didn't think anything was broken, but he wanted to be sure.
(I'll wait until Dax clears out, then I'll go see her.)
"So am I an instructor now?" Zell asked.
"There are no further tests, if that's what you're asking," Xu said. "You'll still have to create a complete lesson plan and submit it to the Headmaster for approval. Also the Headmaster is going to want to speak to you as well. And oh, Quistis said to tell you to hand in your lesson plan as soon as possible, because the Headmaster is pretty fussy about that sort of thing. Just a heads up."
"Aw… I still gotta do a lesson plan?" Zell said. "Can't I just… wing it?"
"It can't all be fun and games and broken bones," Xu said. "Come on. There's still a lot of work to do."
(How long can I stare at a piece of paper before I lose my fricken' mind?)
Zell sat at his desk in his dorm room, tapping the tip of a pencil against a blank sheet of paper. After three hours of pacing, staring, twitching, itching, blinking, sighing, grunting, punching, and napping, he had reached the unavoidable conclusion that he had no idea how to write a lesson plan. That wasn't to say that he had no idea what he was doing. He knew what lessons he wanted to teach his students and how he wanted to teach them. In his mind, he could visualize each movement, how to balance his weight, use an opponent's weight and momentum against them. He understood the "lesson" perfectly. It was the "plan" he was having troubles with.
He assumed that he would just be able to start with the basics and then work with students to improve their skills. Not really a structured, planned class so much as an improvised teaching session. That seemed to suit Zell's style. But the lesson plan was mandatory, and Zell once more found himself outside his comfort area.
The intercom chimed. He barely heard it over the synchronized tapping of his pencil and his foot. Cid's voice came over the intercom, catching Zell's attention.
"Will Quistis, Xu, and Zell report to my office please," Cid said. The intercom chimed again and shut off.
Zell looked up when he heard his name.
(Huh. Wonder what he wants.)
Cid's voice had been calm and professional, so Zell doubted that it was anything urgent. But the sun had already set, making it pretty late for Cid to be calling together a meeting. Zell's first thought was that Selphie and Irvine had finally figured out a way to communicate with Garden. Then he thought maybe Squall and Rinoa were in touch, maybe with answers about the sorceress incident.
Hoping for either of those two scenarios, Zell rode the elevator up to the third floor and opened the doors to Cid's office. Quistis, Xu, Edea, and the Headmaster were already there and waiting for him. They huddled around Cid's desk.
(Man, why am I always the last one to show up?)
"Sup," Zell said as he approached the others. He stood in front of Cid's desk and waited to hear the word.
"Well, good news and bad," Cid said. "Good news: after all this media blackout nonsense, we finally received a broadcast from Timber. From their TV station no less."
Zell thought back to the last time Timber's TV station had made a broadcast. It had been to announce the new ambassador, Sorceress Edea, in a fiasco that ultimately ended with Seifer teaming up with the sorceress and Zell almost destroying Garden with his big mouth.
(Bad memories…)
"Cool. And the bad news?" Zell asked.
"See for yourself. All three of you," Cid said. He gestured to the computer monitor on his desk. There was a paused video on the screen. Xu, Quistis, and Zell gathered around to watch. Cid and Edea stepped back to give the SeeDs room.
"This is a video that Timber TV station has been broadcasting on loop for the past twenty minutes or so," Edea said. "They're playing it over both radio waves and cable, so pretty much anyone in the world with any means of communication can hear it. For some reason, Galbadia hasn't been able to shut it down, but it's probably just a matter of time before they take this off the air."
(Wow, must be important.)
Cid pressed a key on his terminal and the video began. On the screen, a young woman not much older than Zell was standing in front of a podium. Zell recognized the podium as the same one that had been used when President Deling was making his speech announcing that the Sorceress Edea was to be the new ambassador for Galbadia.
(No doubt that it's the TV station.)
While the set was the same as Zell remembered, it had been heavily vandalized. The Seal of Galbadia on the front of the podium was crossed out with red spray paint, and various signs and slogans were hanging in the background. A Timber National Flag was hung over the backdrop. The wall was charred black in places, with several long gashes in the plaster, hinting that there had been a battle in that room.
The woman behind the podium was dressed in a ragged red t-shirt. Her short blonde hair was tied up with a stained red bandanna. She was slender, but her voice was unnaturally deep, giving her words an intimidating weight. There was a long cut on her right arm, slowly oozing blood the same shade as her shirt. She seemed not to notice.
She gripped edges of the podium with both hands and leaned forward towards the camera. She looked slightly off screen and said, "Are we live?"
There was a muffled affirmative from out of view. The woman adjusted her footing and stared directly into the camera.
"This is a message to the citizens of Timber, and a warning to the government of Galbadia," the woman said. "For seventeen years, the nation of Timber has been trampled, demoralized, and ravaged by the tyrant Galbadian army. Our natural resources have been stolen, our people murdered, and our nation humiliated. But no more."
She slammed her fist onto the podium, making it shake.
"Today, we throw off the bonds of the imperial Galbadian government and reclaim our sovereignty. We have seized control of the Timber TV station, the first step to taking back our country. I am the Sorceress Ciel of Forest Wolf, and I declare the nation of Timber to be free and independent from this day forth!"
A small chorus of applause broke out in the TV station, surrounding the sorceress as she stepped down from the podium, smiling triumphantly. Then the screen went black. The video automatically jumped back to the first frame and paused, ready to repeat the message.
Zell jumped up and looked around at the others. "Wait! She said sorceress, didn't she?"
"Indeed," Edea said.
Quistis crossed her arms and asked, "Is she bluffing?"
"It would be quite a dangerous bluff," Edea said, "To claim to be a sorceress when one isn't. If she said that and did not have the power to back it up, Galbadia would swiftly crush her. But seeing as they haven't destroyed her yet—or even managed to take down the broadcast—we suspect that she's telling the truth. This girl is almost definitely a sorceress. We can find no reason for her to lie."
"But… I thought Rinoa was the last sorceress," Zell said.
Edea nodded. "She was the last sorceress. It seems that the incident in the cafeteria was not, as we had hoped, an isolated event. If other sorceresses from time compression have found their way here, to our time, they could have very easily passed their powers on to others, starting an entirely new generation of sorceresses."
"So there could be more out there," Quistis said. "Several more."
"It seems likely, yes," Edea said. "Rinoa and Squall's mission in Esthar has now become of the utmost importance. Discovering the cause—and hopefully the remedy—for this situation is now paramount. The world can ill afford to have a group of untrained and dangerous new sorceresses emerging all at once."
"Not to mention that this girl Ciel has pretty much guaranteed war between Timber and Galbadia," Xu said. "Squall was waiting for the situation to boil over, and I think it we can call this pot officially boiled over."
"But I thought Caraway wasn't gonna interfere?" Zell said. He looked for reassurance from the others, wanting someone to rationalize what was going on. "He said he was gonna stay out of politics and just hang on until the election was over. Right?"
"He still has his career to think about," Cid said. "He cannot allow Timber to violently carve out independence under his watch. For the world's most powerful military to be beaten by a lowly nation like Timber… It'd be the greatest humiliation Galbadia has suffered in living memory. He'd be stripped of his command and very likely run out of the country. He has not made any official announcements yet, but it is only a matter of time. The Sorceress Ciel has forced his hand."
"Oh man," Zell said. "This is bad."
"Yes," Cid said. "It seems SeeD's services will be necessary once more."