Chapter 3 – Fire Cavern

Seifer made his way to the front gate. A petite girl with long dark hair was waiting just outside. When she saw him appear, she smiled and ran towards him.

"Hey Princess!" Seifer greeted with open arms.

She went running into his embrace. She giggled as he kissed her cheek.

"I have it all set up for tonight. You just gotta show up looking pretty. "

She looked up smiling at him.

"Thank you so much, Seifer. This is going to be huge!"

She hugged him again.

Seifer saw his two comrades, Fujin and Raijin coming towards him from Garden.

"I have to go right now. Tell the guard at the front gate you're my date for the ball when you get here. I'll see you then."

He turned back to the school and left with Fujin and Raijin. The girl got back in her car and drove off.

Squall made his way to the front gate and found Quistis waiting for him. She had changed out of her instructor uniform into something Squall thought looked more suitable for a night out than the Fire Cavern. Her skirt appeared too tight to really move in let alone walk. How the hell is she going to fight in that if he needed support? He sighed as he approached her. Good thing he was more than capable of holding his own…he would hate to depend on her for back up.

She smiled as he walked towards her.

"Are you all set? Do you have your Guardian Forces?"

Squall nodded.

"Alright, let's go! Shouldn't be a far walk."

They walked along a well beaten dirt path to the Fire Cavern. Flanking either side of the entrance were Garden Faculty, dressed in their robes and caps that completely obstructed their faces and hands from view. Squall often wondered what they really looked like but figured it wasn't really any of his business.

"State your intent." One of the faculty guards addressed Quistis.

"We are here for the Fire Cavern trials"

The other faculty guard responded.

"Objective: To obtain a low level GF, a SeeD member must support. Are you ready?"

Squall replied. "I am ready."

"I am his support. Instructor number 14, Quistis Trepe."

"How long should you need? Give us a time in accordance to your skill."

Squall replied "Ten minutes."

Quistis smiled, raising an eyebrow. "Feeling confident, eh?"

Squall gave her a sideways glance.

….whatever…

The Garden Faculty guards stepped away from the entrance. Squall entered and Quistis followed.

The temp arose tremendously from the outside of the Cavern. Molten lava bubbled and flowed on either side of the narrow slate grey winding path. The hot air reeked of sulfur, which stung his eyes and made it hard to breathe. Squall now understood the time limits…its to let them know when to come looking for your body.

Quistis began to speak as they made their way deeper. "My job is to support you in battle. The rest is up to you."

"Fine." Squall said indifferently.

They walked a bit more. The heat kept growing more intense the further they went in.

Quistis giggled.

"You know, the boys often choke on this test when I come with them. Guess my charm must make them nervous."

Squall stopped and shot her a sharp look that made his gunblade appear dull. She smiled back at him. He turned his head back and rolled his eyes.

I cannot believe this instructor…what the hell?!

Quistis laughed as he started to walk away.

"Squall, I'm just KIDDING!"

He shook his head and refused to look back at her.

"I'm just trying to keep you relaxed. That is all."

It only classifies as a joke if it's funny. That wasn't funny…that was just...weird, Squall thought to himself.

Good thing I only said 10 minutes. I doubt I can endure much more of her.

Squall heard popping and bubbling up ahead. A floating ball of fire obstructed their way.

"Bomb monster!" Quistis exclaimed. Squall readied his gunblade in a two hand grip using an offset stance.

"Ice magic should make this guy easy. But, if you ever don't know there's…"

"…always scan. Got it." Squall finished.

Squall threw a frost spell at the fire bomb. It began to sizzle and shriek like something straight outta hell.

Quistis threw a ice spell of her own as it started to come at her next. Squall took the opportunity to come in from behind and slice the elemental in half with his gunblade.

Shortly, the fire bomb's friends decided to join in the fun. Squall and Quistis both took turns throwing ice and freeze spells while the other either sliced them in half or obliterated the offending creature with a whip.

After the last elemental was dispatched, Quistis caught her breath. The air was starting to get to her. Squall appeared to be ready for more.

"I guess I was right. You and Seifer are in a class of your own. You both have amazing strength and potential."

"Thank you, Instructor."

"Are you ready?"

Squall continues to approach the Guardian Force floating over the molten lake in front of them. He waves off Quistis.

"Well, you seem confident enough."

Squall sized up his opponent. Ifrit, the Guardian Force of Fire was formidable looking to anyone. The beast appeared to be about 9 feet tall and looked like it could hurl a city bus down a street like it was a toy. He had proud, black horns, hooves for feet, and a face that would haunt your dreams.

Ifrit sneered at Squall even more so then it's resting face defaulted to.

The hellish being started to form a fire ball and then proceeded to unleash it upon Squall and Quistis. Both Squall and Quistis rolled out of the way. Squall rolled up on his knees, closed his eyes, and concentrated as he summoned Shiva, the Guardian Force of ice. As Squall summoned, Quistis covered him by shelling out Ice spells upon Ifrit until the Guardian Force appeared.

"They have Shiva?!" the beast exclaimed.

Squall commanded Shiva to use Ice Storm. The blue, feminine being reached up and shot ice at Ifrit. The beast howled.

Quistis continued to throw ice spells at Ifrit as Shiva readied itself for another attack. Shiva then blasted Ifrit with another ice storm.

Ifrit raged. "Impudent humans!"

Squall smirked at the beast as he ran up to it, gripping his gun bladed two handed and leaping towards it as he thrusted the blade downward, striking the beast across its torso. He landed just short of the edge of the molten lake, then twisted and swung upwards.

He cast an ice spell at it. The beast howled and staggered backwards.

"For me to lose to a human." Ifrit growled. "Very well, I will join you."

Squall held up a device. The Guardian Force poured itself into it. Squall flipped a small switch on the device and put it into his jacket pocket.

Quistis approached him.

"Very good! You've captured your 1st Guardian Force. You are now ready for today's exam. How does it feel?"

"Good…I guess." Squall answered.

As usual, Squall's face and body language betrayed no sense of excitement. He acted like he's caught Guardian Forces every day since he could walk. You would never guess this was his 1st he's caught.

Well…the 1st that Garden was aware of.

"Good, you guess?"

Squall stood and looked at her. His head was beginning to swim from all the sulfurous fumes inside the Cavern. His stomach was getting ready to turn inside out.

"Right...we should probably head back." Quistis said.

Squall and Quistis hurried their way back along the path.

"7:54..that's record time." Quistis said as they approached the entrance.

Would have been faster if you weren't talking…Squall thought.

Squall stuffed his irritation down. Wouldn't pay to get knocked down points for misconduct, even if the instructor wasn't behaving like one of Deiling City's women of ill repute.

Squall was thankful she took his hint and was quiet the rest of the way back.

"You did very well back there. Let's go over Guardian Force care. Now you…"

Squall held his hand up.

"I took the test last week. You gave me an A."

Quistis blushed.

"My mistake." She laughed.

"OK, guess all there is to do is change into your SeeD uniform and assemble in the 1st floor lobby. I'll see you there."

Squall saluted her and walked into the school.

The Brown haired girl started to follow Squall as she saw him enter the school. A hand caught her shoulder.

"Why don't you come up with me, dear? There's something I need to tell you."

The girl turned to look at the older man who stopped her. He kindly smiled at her.

"Y-yes, sir."

The older man gestured her to follow him to the elevator. They went up to the 3rd floor and entered into a stately decorated office. The man sat on the desk.

"I know you want to speak to him, but I can't let you distract him right now. Besides, the fewer that know you're here, the better. Things are graver than I thought."

"Things are always graver than you thought!" The girl protested.

"My dear, please trust me when I tell you this is all for yours and his own good. There are things at work you cannot possibly understand."

"You always say that! If you had just let me return…"

"Return to where? The borders are sealed off and the terrain to get there is virtually impassable."

The girl looked away. Her soft brown eyes stared to well up.

"He didn't even seem to recognize me.."

The older man chuckled.

"Of course not. He was a small child then. You were a child then! And now you are a beautiful young lady."

No…it was different. I knew you couldn't understand, she thought to herself.

"ok.." the girl said softly. "I'll stay hidden."

The older man smiled.

"I promise you, when this is all over, you two will be reunited."

The girl turned and hugged the older gentleman. He hugged her back.

"Please let me know if you need anything. I don't want this to feel like you're being kept captive or not feel like Balamb isn't a home, but please just use some discretion for now."

The girl nodded.

"You'll have to excuse me. The cadets should be ready for their exam downstairs. Why don't you go and take a look at our library? Our staff has done an amazing job at curating some proper works."

"Ok."

The girl left the Headmasters office, feeling dismissed as usual. She knew ultimately he meant well, but he just couldn't understand…just like most of the adults she and Squall had been bounced from. No one could see or understand what she could. She could see that her brother was slowly losing himself…his mind felt like a stranger's. She imagined this was part of the curse she must endure because of her power… in the end she truly was alone.

It was at this time the girl was done with waiting on well meaning adults and decided it was time for her to take action. If she was to save him and herself, it was the only way.