Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ As the Paths Diverged ❯ One for Sorrow ( Chapter 1 )

As the Paths Diverged

WARNINGS

1) I don't own the Final Fantasy characters, series, or plotline.  I guess I own this, but if you steal it, I probably won't do anything about it.

2) Rated PG-13 for language and violence.

3) Let's place the story about a year after Ultimicia.

A/N: This has been edited as of 12/3/04.  Chapter 2 has seen the most of the revamping, so you may wish to at least reread that if you have read it before.

One for Sorrow

          "As you well know," Quistis Trepe sighed, brushing her hair out of her eyes.  "The SeeD exam will take place tomorrow morning."  She paused as a paper airplane flew from the back of the class and landed softly on an empty desk.  The last three rows of her class were asleep and she counted four people playing computer games.  It was the end of the year and she could hardly blame them.  Quistis still had to teach summer semester, but little to few students stayed the summer.  The only ones who did were the incredibly stupid or the incredibly homeless.

          "We'll be departing Garden at approximately 700 hours," she continued after readjusting her glasses and clearing her throat.  Thankfully, the bell sounded and let out her second to last class of the semester.  "This is the last chance for some of you," she called as her students filed past her.  "Be prepared."

(0000000000)

          "I failed the last four." Zell grumbled, looking down at his clipboard.  "Just to let you know."  The cool ocean breeze was more and more refreshing each time he returned to Garden.  Covered in ash and sporting several small burns, the blonde brought his glance to the next student.  "Gouldren, Ethan?"

          "Yeah."

          "Junctioned?"

          "Yup."

          "Right.  Let's roll," Zell muttered, nodding his head towards the Fire Cavern.  The blonde was somewhat disappointed with this next cadet, but he'd seen a lot worse today.  He had short brown hair and was about 5'7.  Zell was a bit shorter, but Ethan was a lot smaller physically.  "I'm not going to have to whip out a phoenix down for you am I?"

          "No sir," Ethan retorted, keeping his head on the path.  The wind began to pick up a bit, but the humidity was increasing as they approached the cavern. 

          "Not a whole lot of good glove fighters this year," Zell continued, more to himself than Ethan.  "Do you smell that?"

          "Uh…"

          "Oh never mind; that's me," the blonde laughed.  "Ignore that."

          "Ok."

          A brief silence stood over the two as Zell realized Ethan wasn't up for a hearty conversation.  Stoicness never stopped him before though, so it wasn't long before Zell thought of another question to ask.  "So what kind of gloves do you have?"

          "Uh…standard Metal Knuckles sir."

          "Name's Dincht, not sir,"

          "Oh…" Ethan muttered, stumbling over a crack in the path.  "Sorry, yeah I know who you are.  I just thought you were going for the whole intimidation factor."

          "Yeah, but I hate bumbling cadets," Zell nodded, snatching a gnat out of the air.  "If you try to do everything by the book; Ifrit will bite your head off."

          "I think I'm pretty well prepared, Zell."

          "Dincht!" Zell exclaimed, shaking his head.  "It's Dincht.  Why the hell can't anyone get that right today?"

          "Sorry Dincht," Ethan quickly apologized.  It was only five minutes into the exam and he already felt retarded.

          "Good," Zell smiled, as the path turned to dirt.  The Fire Cavern loomed directly in front of them.  "How many minutes do you want?"

(0000000000)

          "What time is it Irvy?" Selphie asked between sips of coffee.  The Cafeteria was slowly thinning out and the night lights were coming on.

          "'Bout 2000 hours," the cowboy responded, looking down at his watch.  "Fancy we should go up?"

          "I fancy we should," Selphie smirked, grabbing Irvine by the hand.  The two made their way through the deserted corridors to the elevator.  The low hum of the Garden soothed the air as the elevator sounded; signifying it's arrival.  "Any good cadets today?" Selphie asked, skipping into the lift.

          "A few," Irvine admitted as the elevator lurched up.  "How about you?"

          "I have FOUR cadets," Selphie whined.  "Nobody wants to learn the Nunchaku anymore."

          "Are any of them any good?"

          "All of my children are brilliant," the brunette beamed.

          "Wow, I wish I could say the same," the cowboy laughed.

          "That's because you're not affectionate," Selphie pouted.

          "Not true," Irvine said smoothly.  He wrapped his arm around Selphie's waist and smiled.  "It's just that everyone who's too scared to fight with a sword wants a gun."  The elevator dinged again and they stepped out in front of Squall's office.

          "Poor you," the brunette sulked.

          "You're telling me."  The cowboy opened the door for Selphie and they joined Squall, Rinoa, Quistis, and Xu. 

          "Everyone here?" Xu questioned, looking around the room.

          "Zell…" Squall muttered, not looking up from the floor. 

          As if called for, the blonde burst through the doors.  Still covered in ash and smelling quite profusely, Zell took a seat adjacent to Rinoa.  "Sorry.  A cadet panicked and gave Ifrit with some fire spells."

          Rinoa and Irvine giggled, but Squall kept his head down. 

          A brief silence flooded the room as the lion gathered his thoughts.  "The SeeD mission has been decided for tomorrow," Squall muttered, getting straight to the point.  "At 700 hours tomorrow, we will be departing to Balamb.  From there, we will receive a ship transport to Centra."

          "Centra?" Zell interrupted.

          Squall just glared at him.

(0000000000)

          "I totally fucked up man.  Just totally."

          "Slow down, it can't be that bad."

          "I knew 20 minutes was too short.  Should have tried thirty.  There's no way I'm going to get into SeeD."

          "Settle down Ethan.  Did you kill the thing or not?"

          "Yeah, but that was after 27 minutes of Zell seeing me act like an idiot."

          "Well if you killed it, it couldn't have gone that bad."

          "True. The lesson for the day is that Ifrit plus fire equals bad shit.  How the hell was I supposed to know that?"

          "Oh…"

(0000000000)