Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ A Semi-Charmed Life ❯ Enrollment ( Chapter 2 )

 

Chapter 2

As expected, the halls of the Academy were packed to every corner with students and faculty going from one place to another. Leo was overwhelmed by the amount of people in such a small area; he needed to get out of the hallway fast. He soon found his way into the cafeteria. There were a few students sitting and talking at the tables, or some standing in line waiting for food, but Leo was much more content with this crowd than the pandemonium that was happening in the hallway.

He soon found himself his own table, sat down, and lifted the heavy book from underneath his arm, The Academy's Guide to Everything. Leo sighed as he opened the book; turning to the introduction.

 

Her majesty, Dean Brahne, started this academy along with her now deceased husband, Sir Garland, seventeen years ago. The goal was then, and still is today, to provide the gifted and above average individuals of Gaia the opportunity to expand on their skills in magic and combat. Our two most famous programs include the Eidolon Guardian program, as well as the SOLDIER program.

In the Eidolon Guardian program, students are trained to master in the arts of summoning great beasts and gods from ancient times, who have outstanding capabilities to protect and serve their master. It is mandatory for these students to also study either Black or White Magic.

The SOLDIER program readies it's students to join the most elite fighters for Shinra Inc. Their endurance and strength will be tested and built, and if graduated, one has a guaranteed position in SOLDIER. It is not mandatory for these students to study magic, as they will be trained to use various energy stones known as materia.

We hope that you take your studies seriously and treat this professors with the utmost respect, as they're taking time out of their lives and sharing their amazing abilities with you.

Sincerely, Zorn and Thorn

 

Leo concluded that the introductory notes were odd as he casually flipped through the pages, each chapter containing the different abilities that are possible to learn for each subject. It seemed like a lot, and the boy was surprised when his usual feeling of overwhelm did not surge through his body.

"Hey! Can I borrow that?" A feminine voice called out. Leo lowered the book, his eyes meeting a set of huge brown eyes belonging to a girl. She looked about his age, and had red hair that was done back in a neat ponytail. She looked a little annoyed. "...Can I?"

"Oh you mean my book!" Leo concluded. "Yeah, sure," he said as he handed the manual to the girl as she pulled up a chair to sit across from him, even though she was not invited to do so.

Leo's green eyes inspected the girl as she hurriedly flipped through the pages, as though she were looking for something in particular. He noticed she must have found the page she was looking for, as her finger trailed down the paper. He thought now would be the best time to introduce himself.

"I'm Leo," he started.

"Erin," she replied, not raising her eyes from the paper. Leo sat there awkwardly, he never knew how to deal with strange girls who suddenly decide to sit with him and take his books.

"Are you new here? What courses are you taking?" Leo asked, as he concluded that this would be as good of a time as any to start making friends.

"You sure ask a lot of questions," the girl known as Erin concluded as she closed the book and slid it back to Leo. She sat back in her chair and arched her back as if she were stretching it. "I've signed up for the SOLDIER program, being as you're pretty much set for anything after that. I hear Shinra treats their army very well..."

"I see," Leo responded as his eyes trailed off somewhere else. He did not agree with the Shinra Company at all. In fact, the whole idea of them sickened him. But he was bound to meet supporters throughout this school, being as the SOLDIER program was a high demand.

"How about you?" She asked.

"I'm enrolling in the Summoner program," he replied. "It seems like a heavy load, but I find that kind of thing fascinating."

"Yeah, I think so too..." Erin answered, nodding her head in agreement. "I hear a lot of them get sent to some far away place and have to go on some pilgrimage or something. That's not really my cup of tea..."

Leo's eyes went wide, he never heard that part of it before. He flipped through the pages of his manual, trying to find more information. Perhaps that was just an option, now his mind was fluttering with unwanted ideas.

"Well, I should be off now," Erin concluded as she sat up from her chair. "It was nice to meet you, Leo. I'm sure we'll see each other again."

"Yeah, nice meeting you too," Leo halfheartedly responded, not looking up from his book as his eyes frantically scanned the page he was on.

Rand casually strode into the cafeteria, his eyes scanning the crowd. Once he saw Leo, who not to his surprise, looked stressed out, he put his hands in his pockets and headed to the table where his friend sat. He noticed Leo was vastly reading a page in a book, and didn't notice Rand come up behind him. So he decided to let out a huge slap on Leo's back, which immediately caused him to jump.

"Don't do that!" Leo commanded, quickly shifting his eyes to Rand but then back to the book. Rand let out a chuckle and slid a chair from another table over beside his friend.

"What's eating you?" Rand asked as Leo scowled down at the paper.

"Well, I heard from someone that if you graduate the Summoner program you end up having to go on some deathly pilgrimage to some horrible faraway land, and..." Rand had a feeling Leo was slightly exaggerating his story, but sat back to let him finish anyway. Once Leo was done his rant, Rand had his hands resting behind his head.

"I think you're being melodramatic," Rand concluded. "It's probably an option, yes. And probably a lot of graduates do it. But I haven't read about anything like that being mandatory, so don't worry about it."

With that, Leo hesitantly put his book down; Rand was probably right. He scanned the cafeteria to see more and more people coming in. Everyone seemed to have a look of excitement and motivation.

"Let's go enroll in our courses before they're all filled up," Rand suggested. "Just because we've been accepted, it doesn't mean we are guaranteed seats anywhere." Leo nodded his head in agreement and the two left the cafeteria.

As the two boys got closer and closer to the Registry Office, they noticed the people in the hallway were getting slightly more pushier and pushier, and a slight murmuring arose around them. Above the office was a huge, black, rectangular screen with green writing on it. It was a chart, and each heading was the title of a different course, with names appearing under the headings.

Suddenly, Leo and Rand could feel something press between their legs with a surprising amount of force, making the two boys lose balance. They both looked down to see a girl with short, purple hair and a huge yellow bow, no taller than their waste line, squeezing between the two of them.

"Excuse me," she demanded as she pushed between them. Leo and Rand looked at each other with surprise, she looked much too young to be attending this school. "I said, excuse me!" With that, she pushed with such force that the two boys fell over, knocking over a girl behind them. The three ended up in an opening on the floor that seemed to be outside the huge intertwining of people.

"What was that all about!" Cried the voice of the girl whom the two boys knocked over. "I've been waiting in line for twenty minutes, almost got to the registry desk, and then some bozos go and knock me over! Who do you think you are?"

Leo nervously turned around but was relieved to see a girl with long, light brown hair and an annoyed look on her face.

"Yu!" Leo said excitedly as he and Rand stood up on their feet. The girl looked up at them with her chocolate brown eyes.

"Well, if it isn't tweedledum and tweedledummer," she concluded with a smirk on her face. Leo and Rand held out their arms to help her stand up. "It's only the first day, and you guys are terrorizing the place, huh?" She concluded as she dusted herself off.

"It wasn't us, it was that little pipsqueek over there!" Rand accused as he turned back to the line up. The girl with the purple hair was standing up at the counter talking with a lady.

"Whatever, Rand. It's not polite to blame things on girls... Especially little girls," Yu explained as she put a lollipop in her mouth and put her hands on her hips. The three friends walked back into the crowded line up. Fortunately for them, people didn't mind that they budged back to where they were standing earlier. "So what've you guys been up to? I haven't seen you since the ninth grade!"

"No kidding!" Leo responded. "Not a whole lot, I heard from Juliet that you were coming here as well."

"Yup!" Yu cheerfully stated. "I did my first year Black Magic and first year Summoning last year; now I'm in the Advanced classes... I'm thinking of maybe taking up some Ninja courses too."

"Sounds like a lot," Leo concluded. "I'm wanting to take Black Magic and Summoning too. Are they hard?" Yu shrugged.

"Not really," she replied. "Lulu, the Black Magic teacher is pretty stern. But if you show her respect and don't goof off, you'll be fine. I heard that the Dean's very own daughter, Garnet, is teaching first year Summoning this year. That should be intense, because she exceeded everyone's expectations with her abilities when she graduated last year. So is this guy taking Black Magic as well?" Yu asked, pointing her thumb over to Rand who was gazing off into the distance.

"Are you kidding me?" Rand suddenly asked, snapping out of his trance and turning to Yu. "Do you know how dangerous Black Magic is..."

"Oh here we go," Leo sighed as Yu stared at Rand blankly. Leo's eyes trailed off into the crowd when he soon saw a tall man clad in white, with long white hair, locking his cold red eyes with Leo's. The man let out a small grin as Leo's body froze. A feeling of nervousness flooded Leo's body, and it felt like they were the only two in the room.

"...and that's why I choose to learn White Magic instead," Rand concluded.

"Well it's probably for the best anyway," Yu responded. "You're most likely gonna get beat up a lot this year, so you'll need all the help you can get." She smirked.

"Hey guys, it looks like its our turn to sign up," Leo noted quietly, as his eyes shifted away from the mysterious man.

"Leo," Rand observed, "you look like you've just seen a ghost."

"It's nothing," Leo replied. "Let's take a look at this..." Each of Leo's friends peered on either side of his shoulders as he looked down at the screen. "There's four spaces left for First Year Summoning. Should I put us in that, Rand?" Rand nodded his head as Leo typed in their names. "Black Magic... Oh wow, thirteen left? I guess it's not as popular as I thought." Leo then put his own name in there. "White magic... Uh oh, Rand, it looks like there's no seats left in it."

"What!" Rand asked frantically.

"Guess there's more hypocondriacs like you this year, Rand." Yu smirked.

"Well, I'll put myself on the waiting list," he decided.

Leo then passed the screen to Yu, who had to put in a password, being as she attended the year before. She chose her Advanced Black Magic and Advanced Summoning courses.

Once they were done, the three got out of the line up and looked at the screen that was above the registry office. It seemed to have the names of the people in all the courses. There was suddenly a beep on the screen as the White Magic heading flashed. Someone's name disappeared and suddenly Rand's name entered the bottom of the list.

"See? That's fate working right there," Rand smiled satisfactorily as Leo rolled his eyes.