Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy VIII.2 ❯ Lone Leon ( Prologue )

Disclaimer: Sorry I didn't put this in before…I don't own final fantasy VIII that belongs to square, all of the characters (except my originals) belong to Tetsuya Nomura …I think that's his name.

 

Prologue: Lone Leon

 

Squall Leonhart woke up, he looked outside his window, the dome-shaped Balamb Garden looked normal as ever. He took a shower and got dressed in his usual garments. Black pants, a white shirt, a black leatherjacket with white fur at the collar, and his belts.

Squall had lived in the military academy of Balamb Garden since he was seven years old; he had short, messy brown hair, and grey green eyes. Now at age seventeen, he was ready to take the `SeeD exam'. A SeeD was a code name for Balamb Garden's mercenary force. It was a strict rule that one had to be fifteen years to participate in the exam, but hardly anybody got it right off the bat.

As an advantage to living in Balamb Garden, Squall carried around his own unique weapon. It was called a gunblade. It was like a normal sword, but the handle was a gun handle. Once the trigger was pulled a surge of energy was sent through the blade and toward the opponent, creating an explosion-like effect.

Among the students of Balamb Garden, Squall was known as the `Lone Wolf'; Squall had no friends, spoke to no one, and distanced himself from everybody. He wasn't part of a club, he didn't belong to a sports team; he was just Squall, the loner. But there was someone who, ever since the two of them met, saw himself as Squall's ultimate rival.

Seifer Almasy was head of the Disciplinary Committee, along with his two friends, Fujin and Raijin. Seifer was taller than Squall; he had short blonde hair, and blue ice-cold eyes. He wore a white trench coat with black pants and a black shirt; he had an extremely hot temper along with a cocky attitude. Raijin had a tan muscular body, brown hair, and brown eyes. He wore a small vest to show off his body and baggy gray pants, but he wasn't very smart. Fujin was the girl in their team, but she was by far the scariest person ever, she had shoulder length gray hair, an eye-patch over right eye, and red pupils. She wore a blue long sleeved jacket and blue pants, and spoke in loud, one word sentences.

Squall walked down the halls and up the elevator to his first class. When he sat down, he saw Seifer eyeing him rudely.

“…Do you need something?”

“Move, Leon.” Seifer demanded.

“No, I got here first, go find somewhere else to sit.”

“No! I am NOT going to sit up front with all those stupid teacher's pets!”

“Kick someone else out of their seat.”

The intercom then spoke up over the quarreling, “Excuse me, Squall Leonhart, you left you books in the library, please come and reclaim them.”

“Damn…” Squall muttered, getting up from his seat. “Better run.”

“Later Leon,” he heard Seifer say as he ran out of the classroom, “Thanks for the seat.”

Squall ran as fast as he could to the elevator and then to the first floor, down the steps and halfway around the Garden to get his books. As he grabbed them, he ran back to his classroom, which was harder because he was carrying two books in his hands. He got back in the elevator to the second floor and into his classroom.

“Did I… miss anything?” He asked, gasping for air.

“Nope. Only your seat.” Seifer said.

“Good.” Squall sat down.

The doors to the classroom opened. “Good morning, class, let's begin our lesson.”

Instructor Trepe strode over to her desk. The class watched as she sat down. Instructor Trepe was the youngest instructor in Balamb Garden, she was also a SeeD. Even though she was still eighteen, she was very mature.

“Ah… yes, the mysterious country of Esthar. This is a very short chapter, but it holds a very important subject, I suggest you take some good notes. Now, Esthar is the country to the east, next to the abandoned country of Centra. Seventeen years ago, Sorceress Adel ruled, she gave orders to her soldiers to kidnap a girl to be raised as a successor; which caused the Sorceress War, Galbadia would have done something, but they were suffering from losses and injuries from the war in Timber. But…one day, Esthar became completely silent, as if Adel had suddenly disappeared. It's been that way for about sixteen years. No one knows what happened; if Adel's alive or not, if they're planning another, stronger war, or even worse.”

“Um… but what about Galbadia?” One student said, “Isn't it true that they're attacking various countries in order to gain power?”

“That is true, but most of their attacks are delayed by SeeD members…remember, back then, the world didn't have SeeDs, they riled on their own power. This is obviously why Timber lost its independence.”

“Hey, what about that `Fisherman's Horizon' place? Isn't it true that it's governed by Esthar?”

“Those are only rumors, the only known fact is that they are the town in-between the bridge from Timber to Esthar, Horizon Bridge. At the beginning of the bridge in Timber, there is a half-mile high wall so no one can cross, the only transportation to Fisherman's Horizon is by ferry, and they don't go as far to Esthar. The bridge from Timber to Esthar is approximately seventy-nine miles long. From Fisherman's Horizon to Esthar is fifty-three miles. But… aside from all this information, the thing you need to be focused on is Para-Magic.”

Instructor Trepe got up and scribbled the name Dr. Odine on the chalk-board, “Can anyone tell me who this person is?”

“Dr. Odine?” One student joked.

Instructor Trepe shrugged, “Dr. Odine is the one who actually created Para-Magic. Does anyone here know what Para-Magic even is?”

“It's an energy source that resembles magic originally used by sorceresses.” Squall answered.

“Very good, does anyone know what else Dr. Odine is famous for creating?”

“Well, he didn't actually create it; he discovered it, the Guardian Force.”

“Correct again, Mr. Leonhart, now, is there anyone else other than Squall who can tell me what a Guardian Force is?”

“A Guardian Force or GF, is a monster who gives its powers to another human or whatever after they are killed.” Seifer said “After their departure, they transform into a simple item that looks like a mini plug-in thingy and is placed into the carriers mind, you know, they like…push it into the back of their heads.”

“Thank you, Mr. Almasy. The `plug-in thingy' is called a junction, though. And when you insert it into you r brain, it's called `Junctioning'.” The bell rang; the students all got up and left, except for the `Trepies', a group of people who respected Instructor Trepe.

“Excuse me, Instructor Trepe?” one of then said, “I want to ask you about your necklace, it has a ring on it and I really like it. The blue stone is very pretty, where can I get one?”

Instructor Trepe clutched her ring, “You… can't. It's one of two in the world. An ancient Centran artifact, the legend says that, as long as the two fated lovers wear the ring, no matter what, they will always be brought back together. Even if they claim to hate each other, they'll always come back for the other, even if they don't realize it.”

“So… the other one who wears it must be a boy you like.”

“A boy I liked. I broke up with him.”

“But, that rings origin…”

“It can't be true; it's been three years since then.”

Squall walked around the Garden and to his dorm room, he lay down on his bed; he pulled out of his pocket an old locket, opening it up, he saw his writing etched into the side

 

Don't Forget

3-3-47

 

“Now the year is 2057…I can't believe it's been so long…” Squall heard someone knocking at his door, Squall closed his locket and walked to his door, “What do you want?” he said.

“Hey, Leon… what's up?”

“What do you want, Seifer?”

Seifer entered Squall's room, “Haven't you heard of knocking?” His roommate said.

Seifer glared at him. “I did knock, you moron.”

Squall's roommate backed up, afraid of making Seifer angrier than what he already was.

 

“So, Leon,” Seifer said, “You want to have a battle?”

“Not now, I'm busy…”

“Busy doing what? Folding your clothes? Come on!”

“Tomorrow…”

“Tomorrow, Leon, is the field exam… or so I've heard…”

“Tomorrow morning, then.”

“Oh, some exercise to stretch our muscles, eh? I like your thinking, Leon. Fine, 4:30, you and I, training center, tomorrow.”

“…Whatever…”

Seifer left Squall's dormitory double. Squall sighed, and began staring at his locket again, aside from

his writing etched inside of it; there was a picture of a family, and a simple strand of long, radiant black hair.

Squall fell asleep, in his dream; he was in a house with massive blood stains on the walls. He saw a man, his shirt stained with blood; he was smiling down at him. Squall then realized that he was in a younger body. He looked behind the man; three people were sprawled on the ground, dead from stab wounds.

“Its okay, Squall…” The man said coldly, “Those people were bad, and wanted to hurt you, so I got rid of them.”

Squall looked at the tip of a blade the man was hiding behind his back, dripping with blood. The man held out his hand,

“Come with me, I want to help you…”

Squall lurched out of bed choking, after coughing a couple of times, he saw that the chain of his locket was slithering down his throat; he took out and threw it on the ground. He then jumped up and snatched it from the ground.

“…Sorry…” He whispered. Squall then put the locket into his pocket and headed down to the cafeteria for lunch. When he got there, he saw his three `favorite' people in the world. Fujin, Raijin, and Seifer huddled together at the vending machine.

“SEIFER. DRINK?” Fujin said.

“Can I get some water?” Raijin said, “I'm thirsty, ya know?”

“IGNORE.” Fujin yelled.

Squall walked up to them, waiting in an inexistent `line'. He tapped Seifer on the shoulder, asking to get a drink before Fujin destroyed the machine like last time.

“Um… Seifer, I.”

“Squall, can't you see the disciplinary committee is busy?” Seifer said, scowling at Squall, “Don't bother us now.”

“But I just want to…”

“Go away.”

Squall sighed and stood behind Raijin, where he figured the end of the `line' was.

“Hey, look, it's Squall ya know!” Raijin said to him cheerfully, “You want something, ya know? Fujin's treat!”

“RAGE!” Fujin stomped over to the two and kicked Rajin hard in the shins and waked back over to the vending machine. Raijin clutched his leg.

“Ow… Hey Squall,” Raijin's voice turned to a dull whisper, “Fujin can get a little harsh at times, ya know? You should watch it too, ya know?”

“WHAT?”

“Oh, nothing, ya know.”

“GOOD.”

Raijin sighed with relief; a student ran in, Squall recognized him as Zell Dincht, the hot dog fanatic. He charged into the cafeteria, colliding with the cafeteria bar, knocking himself down, he immediately got back up. Panting, he said,

“Are there any hotdogs left?”

The cafeteria woman shook her head, “Sorry, sold out, try again tomorrow.”

“Ah man, I have to get here earlier!” Zell kicked at the floor and walked away. This scene stirred up a few questions between the four teenagers.

`What the…' Squall thought,

`HELL…' Fujin thought,

“Was that…” Seifer thought,

“…Ya know?” Raijin thought

It was Seifer who broke the silence, “…Speeding…” He said, “Let's go `arrest' that student for breaking academy rules…”

“AFFIRMATIVE!”

“Roger, ya know!”

Squall watched as the three left in a hurry and helped himself to can of Mountain Dew. He waltzed around the cafeteria and found himself a place to sit. He quietly drank his soft drink while eyeing some people, watching them as they talked to each other. Some people were watching him as well. Squall finished his drink and walked back to his dormitory. In the hall, he saw Instructor Trepe waiting at his door.

“Instructor?” He asked, puzzled, “What are you doing here?”

“Squall, I need to tell you, you still haven't gone to the Fire Cavern you need to go soon, or else you won't be able to participate in the field exam. You need to take a SeeD to support you, I'm available tomorrow morning, you can go as early as 4:00, and don't worry about disturbing me, I'm up at 3:45.”

“…Yes…I'll be there.”

“I knew I could count on you. I'll be waiting.”

“Yeah…”

Squall watched as Instructor Trepe walked back to her class room. Then turned to his dormitory, he sat on his bed, thinking.

“Early as four, huh? Oh no…Seifer's going to kill me if he finds out I bailed on him…but…if he never catches me and I tell him I slept in and forgot, I'm pretty sure he'll buy it. I hope.” Once again, Squall Leonhart had nothing to do, got bored, and fell asleep. When he woke up, his clock read 4:37. Squall bolted out of his bed and began to get dressed, when he realized he was already dressed.

“I need to get out of here before Seifer catches me, the Fire Cavern is more important than some dumb reputation… Am I insane! They're BOTH important! Oh man, what do I do?”

“Shut up Leon, you can still go to the Fire Cavern…”

Squall turned around, “Seifer…”

“I've been waiting for you, Leon, This fight won't take long.”

Squall thought about it, “No… I'm not going, leave me out of this.”

“Yeah, like hell! Now move it Leon! Into the Training Center!”

Squall was pushed all the way into the Training Center by Seifer, who refused to let him go into the Fire Cavern. Squall hoped that the fight was quick and that he sent Seifer sprawling to his knees.

“Seifer, I'm mad at you right now, don't expect mercy.”

“Good, I wanted you angry.”

“You don't want me angry…”

“Fine.”

The two boys charged at each other, their gunblades clashing, the clanging of metal echoed all through the training center, Squall and Seifer jumped back and attacked each other again. They both missed each other, and went for each other again. Squall swung at Seifer, casing him to pause, Squall swung at him again and again, Seifer using his gunblade as a shield, found his chance, and attempted to hit Squall.; but he jumped back out of the way, after that charged for Seifer. Squall then noticed his mistake, Seifer was using Para-magic to conjure fire, he thrust it at Squall. Squall tried to use his gunblade to shield him, but it wasn't enough, he fell over backwards and on the ground. Seifer lifted his gunblade and slashed Squall downward between the eyes. Blood splattered on the ground, Squall looked up, but instead of seeing Seifer, he saw HIM.

“Don't be afraid to step forward, Squall…” He muttered, smiling. Squall saw the blood stained house, and the knife behind his hands.

“SHUT UP!” Squall, enraged, swung upwards to attack him, but hit Seifer Upwards between the eyes, opposite of his cut. Seifer fell over unconscious. Squall realized what he had done.

“Seifer…I…” Squall fell forward unconscious as well.