First off, I apologize for the extremely delayed update. A whole lot of college/other work to do, combined with a fantastic (read: overwhelmingly annoying) case of writer's block, accounted for the problem. But, in good news, I finally have time to write once again. So, without further hesitation, on with the chapter!
Book I, Part I: Mortal Conflict - A Hero's Challenge
Chapter XII: Arrival
[March 17, 2152 | Trabia, Plains | 4:26 PM]
"We'll be approaching Trabia in about...ten minutes, give or take a few," Buddy instructs, glancing back from his control panel to the rest of us.
"Alright," Yuna replies, nodding. "Just let us know when we're there."
"Just what are we going to do when we get there?" Rikku asks, looking at Yuna.
"Check the place out, of course," I cut in, looking over at my girlfriend. "What else?"
"Lunch?" Rikku replies, cheekily.
"I opened the door..." I mutter, shaking my head as Rikku giggles along with Yuna.
"Looks like she slammed it on you, Ben," Angel cuts in.
"Thanks. I needed that," I say dryly, wandering over to stand near Rikku.
We entered the Trabian region a few minutes ago. Everyone was quickly reminded of the climate of Gagazet, what with Trabia's harsh winds and bitter temperatures. The beauty of the snow-covered plains and mountains, however, more than made up for the slight change in climate. Down below, we happened to see a smaller village, one that Angel quickly identified as Shumi Village. That led to an explanation about just who the Shumi were, one that amused me at Tidus' expense.
"I'm picking up something on the sphere screen," Buddy tells us, pointing to the larger screen over the bridge.
"Trabia Garden?" I ask, moving over to get a better look.
"Looks like it," Angel replies, also stepping over. As the image clears up, the sight makes my eyes widen.
Not only has Trabia Garden been rebuilt, it's better than ever, if anything. The entire structure is enormous, easily larger than either Balamb or Galbadia Garden by far. The structure, by large, resembles Balamb Garden in the architectural sense, but even more streamlined than the other Garden. Where the ring would be at the bottom of Balamb Garden, Trabia instead has nothing; however, the compound itself is more spread out. If the ring is indeed the main source of flight for Balamb Garden, having one for Trabia would do little good, as the building is too large and spread out for flight to be an easy task. Smaller buildings dot the area around the main complex, making the Garden seem even more like a military installation.
That isn't all for Trabia Garden, however. In the distance, partially built into one of the mountains, I can see another building that resembles a medieval castle. The details are a bit fuzzy from the distance we're at, but I'd guess that the building is just as big, if not bigger, than Trabia Garden itself. To the innocent observer, if most of the world hadn't known that Trabia Garden was once destroyed, most people would never know it from looking at the area now.
"Just land somewhere around here," Angel instructs, turning to Buddy. "Wouldn't want them to think that we're attackers. We can walk up to the main Garden." Buddy simply nods, slowing the Celsius and beginning to descend as the rest of us continue to examine the Garden through the main window.
"Is the other Garden as big as this one?" Yuna asks, looking over at Angel.
"Nope. Galbadia Garden is smaller than this one. Mainly because it's even more strict about military affairs than either of the other Gardens," Angel replies.
"How long has it been since Trabia was destroyed, Angel?" I ask, curiosity getting the better of me.
"Hm...just under a year, give or take a month or two," Angel says after a moment of thought.
'Nearly a year after Time Compression...anything could've happened between then and now.'
The Celsius finally touches down onto the snowy plains of Trabia, bits of snow flying everywhere as our ship comes to a halt. Quickly, I head for the exit, wanting to see the large Garden in more detail.
[March 17, 2152 | Trabia Garden, Front Gates | 4:39 PM]
It isn't long before we reach the outside of the Garden. Myself, Angel, Yuna, Rikku, Paine, and Tidus are the only ones who decided to come; Shuyin, Lenne, Brother, Buddy, and Shinra opted to stay behind. The sun is shining brightly overhead, but it does little to warm the ambient air. Luckily, it isn't snowing right now, or it would probably be a lot colder.
Far off in the distance, I can see a large group of people, probably SeeDs of some sort, training outside in the plains with various weapons. However, it is what is closer to us that piques my interest. Two people are standing several yards apart, weapons drawn in obvious preparation for a duel. The figure on our left is a young boy with short, jet-black hair, wielding a pair of elegant rapiers. His blue jacket is clearly military, with yellow stripes of some sort along the right shoulder. His long blue pants and black boots complete the outfit, and he stands tall while facing the other figure.
The other figure is an older male, with longer brown hair that spikes out to the sides somewhat. His outfit consists of a black shirt with sleeves ending halfway between the elbow and wrist, with a red line from the collar down to the chest, and two silver lines running parallel to either side of that from the shoulder to the waist. His black pants are much the same type as the other figure's, as well as his boots. The exception is a silver line on the left leg of his pants, and possibly the right as well. In his right hand is a beautifully crafted katana, and his left hand seems to be completely metallic, with small sharpened blades taking the place of his fingers.
Before we can blink, the battle has begun, the brown-haired combatant racing at his opponent with blinding speed and bringing the katana down in a cleaving blow. His opponent waits until the last moment to counter, blocking the strike and lunging out with a rapier, only to have it swatted away by the figure's clawed left hand. A stab from the same hand is dodged, both rapiers moving in a sweeping arc that is blocked by the katana, pushing both blades down and away. Both figures step away from each other, as white light gathers around the rapier-wielder.
"Holy!"
A beam of light shrieks towards the katana-wielding figure, whose eyes widen as he quickly draws a magical sign in the air. The Holy spell engulfs him then, a deafening explosion of energy lighting up the area.
The next move belongs to the rapier-wielding figure, as he backflips high into the air, just in time to avoid a trio of bursts of fire that explode from the debris kicked up by the Holy spell. As he lands from the flip, the katana-wielder is already upon him, slashing hard and fast with his glowing, clawed left hand. The rapier-wielder deftly blocks each slash of the claw with some sort of fiery red energy barrier, before ramming his shoulder into the chest of his opponent, catching him off-guard. A spinning slash follows, driving the swordsman back as the black-haired figure launches into a series of rapid slashes.
The brown-haired swordsman ducks under the first slash of the rapiers, knocking away each of the next two with both his katana and claw before dodging and countering the next few strikes, small cuts tearing the shirt of the rapier-wielding boy. The boy backs off several yards, white light gathering around him again as the katana-wielding figure, sensing his opponent's move, begins to draw another magical symbol in the air.
"Ethereal...Blast!"
"Thunder Flare!"
A dense blast of pure white energy erupts from the rapier-wielding boy, slamming into his opponent. His opponent's attack, a sphere of electrical energies, engulfs him as well, shocking him severely as both attacks kick up a cloud of dust. As the smoke clears, both figures are revealed to be standing, the rapier-wielding figure's clothes smoking slightly from the force of the electricity. His opponent merely smirks.
"Not bad."
"It's what I do," the black-haired boy replies, putting away one of his rapiers. "En guard." The katana-wielder doesn't miss a beat, slashing down and back up with the katana so fast that it's hard to follow the movement.
"Air Slash!"
A wave of pressurized air blasts from the sword, the rapier-wielder dodging nimbly around both it and the katana-wielder's subsequent charge. The katana-wielder aims low with his sword, delivering a swift blow that's blocked by the rapier. The brown-haired swordsman's stance then shifts as he strikes hard at his opponent's left side, tearing through both clothes and flesh to deliver a long gash across his side. The rapier-wielder winces just slightly, spinning back and beginning to glow once again, the white light mixing with a yellowish-looking aura. The katana-wielding figure tenses, green energy gathering around his clawed hand before he thrusts it out.
"Palm of Destruction!"
The energy roars towards his opponent, who takes the blast unflinchingly, the energy protecting him from harm before surging into his blade, a whitish-blue aura surrounding the rapier.
"By the name of the house of DeValle, I cast thee into the pit! Judgement...Requiem!"
One moment, the black-haired boy is yards away from his opponent, sword glowing brightly. The next, he is several yards behind the brown-haired swordsman, his glowing rapier now dimmed. One word is uttered.
"Defeat."
The area around the katana-wielder suddenly explodes ferociously, pieces of dirt and debris nearly evaporating from the force of the white energy that tears a crater into the ground. All of us shield our eyes, unable to look at the bright energy burst.
The light finally dims, revealing the effects of the attack. The katana-wielder is supporting himself on one knee and his katana, the sword stabbed into the ground as he leans over, breathing heavily.
"I...concede the fight," he gasps, looking over at the rapier-wielder. The black-haired boy just nods, placing his rapier back in its sheath before falling to a knee and placing his hand over the large cut on his side, blood slowly flowing from the cut.
"You made sure I wouldn't forget it," he replies, wincing.
"Those are the breaks..." the brown-haired figure says, smirking. Quickly, he draws another symbol in the air, white light gathering around both of them and mending their wounds. "You're improving."
"You're not making it a simple matter," the black-haired fighter responds, looking over at his opponent.
'More Symbology...' I think to myself, watching both fighters intently. Both fighters seemed to have near-flawless technique, and immense amounts of power to back it up, if the last attack is any indication. With a final nod to each other, the brown-haired fighter walks off towards the Garden, as the other fighter turns to us.
"Welcome to Trabia Garden. I am Katanas DeValle, the head Combat Alchemy instructor here at the Garden," he says, bowing slightly in respect. Nodding, I return the bow, everyone else doing the same before Yuna steps forward.
"I'm Yuna," she says, smiling, "and these are my friends." Yuna then turns to us, waiting for us to introduce ourselves.
"I'm Rikku! Nice to meet you!"
"Paine."
"My name's Tidus."
"Call me Angel."
"Name's Ben."
"A pleasure to meet all of you," Katanas says, nodding. "I'll assume that this is your first visit to Trabia Garden?"
"That's right," Yuna says.
"I see. I'll have Darius show you around, if you wish," Katanas replies.
"We'd like that," Yuna agrees, nodding.
"Right this way, then," Katanas says, as we all begin to follow him towards the entrance to Trabia Garden.
[March 17, 2152 | Trabia Garden, First Floor, Lobby | 4:54 PM]
If Trabia Garden looked big on the outside, it's even more massive on the inside. There are three main floors to the Garden, it appears, instead of Balamb's two. The lobby area is quite large, several desks lined up at the far side of the room with a set of double doors between each pair, and to either side at the ends of the row. Benches also line the walls, the seats covered with brown leather. Over near one set of double doors, I can see Darius talking with another figure, who tells him something before walking back through the doors. Darius turns to us, only to frown slightly as he sees our group with Katanas.
"I'd ask how you got here," he says, "but I really don't care all that much."
"Nice to see you too, Darius," I say flatly.
"If you wouldn't mind, Darius, please show Yuna and her friends around the Garden," Katanas says, more of a statement than a question.
"But, Katanas-"
"Darius..."
The look on Katanas' face is stern, and Darius sighs, giving up the brief argument.
"Alright, fine...come on. Sooner I do this, the sooner it'll be done with," he mutters, motioning for us to follow.
[March 17, 2152 | Trabia Garden, Second Floor, Classroom 6-B | 5:06 PM]
"This is one of our classrooms," Darius says, leading us inside a large, empty room. It resembles one of the classrooms at Balamb, but the desks are even more advanced and more numerous. There are at least 60 desks in the room, not counting the two at the front for the instructor's use.
"Most of our desks were made in Esthar. That's why they're more complicated than the ones at the other Gardens," Darius explains, seeming to sense our impending question.
"How many students do you have here?" Paine asks, curious.
"Anywhere between six thousand and eight thousand," he replies.
'That's a lot of students...'
"Now, on to the next stop," Darius says, turning and beginning to walk down one of the long corridors. The six of us follow him for several minutes, turning down another hall and walking into a room even larger than the first. It appears to be some sort of lab, with magical items and other materials placed on shelves and in cases. The desks aren't desks at all, but instead long tables with chairs, spanning a large 'U' shape around the room.
"This is one of our Alchemy labs. Anything that our students do in a class concerning Alchemy takes place here, short of actual practice after learning the basics," Darius explains, taking us inside. I just look around the room, watching as Tidus, Yuna, and Rikku pick up several items and examine them. Darius' face gives a slight look of annoyance, but it's gone before any of the three notice.
"You can come back and look later, but I'd like to get this over with. I've got a class to teach in about...20 minutes."
"You teach here, too?" I ask, curious. Darius just nods, as if we should already know that fact.
"I teach Gunsmithing. My older brother, Revolver, teaches Blacksmithing, and Katanas teaches Combat Alchemy, along with other things," he replies.
"I see..." I mumble, taking a final glance around the room as Darius leads us out.
Around 10 minutes later, we approach what seem to be the dormitories for Trabia Garden. Stepping over to a door, Darius snaps, the lock unlocking itself automatically. Pushing open the door, Darius steps inside the doorway, leaving the light off. In the dim light, I can see several boxes stacked on a desk, as well as a bed. Not much else is in the room that's visible to us, with the exception of a chair or two and television.
"This is my pad," he says calmly. "It's pretty nice. But...I do need to clean it up first." Quickly, he shuts the door, as Angel's face turns to one of confusion.
"What was that?" Angel asks.
"The papers?" Darius remarks, shrugging. "Just some information I've gathered on a few people."
"I mean-"
"Well, anyhow, that's all for my little tour," Darius says, cutting Angel off before he can continue. "Feel free to look around." Another snap, and I can hear the door lock itself once again. "Just stay outta my room." With a final cold look, Darius vanishes, leaving all of us standing around in the dormitory hallway.
'That was odd...' I think to myself, eyes traveling between the door and Angel.
"Well, you heard him," Tidus says. "Shouldn't we look around a bit more?"
"Yeah! This place is huge, Yunie!" Rikku says, grinning from ear to ear.
"Oh...I guess so," Yuna says. "We can meet up at the Celsius later, okay?" Nods from all of us confirm the statement, before each of us wanders off in a different direction to explore the rest of Trabia Garden.
Finally beginning to set the stage for the entirety of the story...at least, location-wise. Still a lot more to be described, which will continue next chapter. As always, please review!