Final Fantasy VIII: Tempus Veneficarum



'Thirty seconds!'

The call sounded up and down the row of soldiery, barely audible over the dull roar of the airship engine. After a labourious three hour flight, they were finally with reach of their target; the Dukedom of Dollet. The soldiers checked their equipment one last time and lining up at the drop points, ready for the order. The last few moments passed slowly, each second an eternity in their minds.

'... Jump!'

They surged forward, one by one dropping down into the chutes below. Within seconds they were in freefall, a thousand metres from the ground and hurtling toward the city of Dollet at breakneck speed. All around them hundreds of their comrades dropped from other airships, a great rain of red, blue and grey steel. At the last moment, less than a hundred metres from the ground each man deployed his paramagic drive, floating down gracefully the last few feet.

The invasion of Dollet had begun.

---

Balamb Garden

A young man strode briskly through the Garden's great halls, treating the occasional instructor to a commiseratory grin. Of the four classes currently of age to face the SeeD field test, only students in his class had passed the written test... Which meant that he would have to accompany them for their first taste of real combat. Joy. Some of his fellow instructors were jealous, others keen to copy his successful teaching style; personally he would have preferred the little brats not pass so soon... It meant a damn sight more paperwork for one. He zoned out for a minute, trying to sort out in his mind which students had passed or failed the preliminary test, more commonly knows as the Fire Cavern... The last thing he wanted to do was spend an hour traipsing around that hellhole again, especially right before heading into the field for real. From what he had heard of the field test so far, there wasn't much to worry about... but complacency is a dangerous thing.

A buzzing in one ear dragged him out of himself and the instructor waved one hand around irritably. The offending party voiced his objection with an indignant hiss before settling down on the man's shoulder, clacking its chitinous jaws together sulkily. The pair entered the central lift, which was unfortunately not empty... 'Lerwick. Your kids had better be ready.' Instructor Martine Dorn was, to use a polite term, a prick. His own class was full of trouble children, kids with no motivation or too much; his spartan style was supposed to instill discipline in them. Instead it had turned every student in the Garden against him... and Dorn knew it. None of his class had qualified for the SeeD field test, a point that Duncan Lerwick found rather amusing. 'Oh aye Martin, they'll be ready. They may be a tad... eccentric, but they've got potential.' The lift door slid open and Duncan took the chance to escape Dorn's overbearing presence. 'Fuck you Lerwick, it's Mar-tyne! And you still owe me that 50 gil!' The retreating Duncan gave a wave over one shoulder as he sped off toward his classroom, praying that he wouldn't have to deal with Dorn again today...

As per usual, he arrived at his lecture hall before most of his students. Duncan nodded approvingly to the few that had turned up and set about preparing what little paperwork he would need for today's homeroom. The chittering mass on his shoulder took off, alighting on a parrot perch off to one side, wherein it began trying to lick itself without success. There were five minutes left until the first bell rung... and an hour before the 23rd SeeD Candidate Field Test begun.

Waking up in his room of his newly appointed home, Xerox yawned and checked the time.There was still some time left before the first bell rang. While changing his clothes and brushing his teeth, Rue, his best friend a Moomba, woke up as well. "Morning Rue." Rue waved, and walked away. Since the Moomba didn't need to do things like wear clothes, brush teeth, or wash his face in the morning, Rue would normally get breakfast for Xerox. They lived happily like this. Xerox and Rue both had only been in Balamb Garden for a month and a half.

Xerox was appointed to go to Balamb to sit the SeeD test. The instructor whom he was allocated to was Duncan. Duncan was a good instructor, but a problem was he was a bit lazy, some people knew this. Xerox has been requested to make things that would help Duncan with his work before. Some successful, others ... excessive ....

Moving on, after finishing his morning routine, he grabbed his giant spanner and strapped it onto his back. Grabbing his toolbox, Xerox walked over to the Cafeteria. Inside, were a few others, having some breakfast. Sitting next to Rue, who had grabbed his breakfast, Xerox passed the toolbox over to Rue, who would sometimes carry it for him. Putting his spanner aside, Xerox ate peacefully. Once he had finished, there was about fifteen minutes left before the first bell. Picking up his spanner, Xerox went to homeroom, with Rue following him.

Some of the other instructors saw Xerox and Rue as problematic. For one, Rue was a Moomba, that caused some problems with some of them, and the other thing was Xerox's creations. A couple have ... broken down would be putting it lightly. Others have been useful. Reaching the lecture hall a eight minutes before the first bell. Only a few other students had arrived. Sitting down in his seat, he noticed Duncan had arrived, five minutes before the first bell.

"Duncan, Can I ask something quickly? Is it alright for Rue to come along for the Field Test? I mean, you should know he doesn't cause problems ... normally. I mean, sure there have been some but that's because of my ... failures .... Anyway, Rue can come right?" Xerox asked Duncan, with Rue sitting on the floor next to Xerox. The two were almost inseparable, growing up as best friends, almost like brothers.

-----Balamb Garden: Emergency Exit Deck-----

Syrus sat against the wall of the Garden on the outside deck. He knew he wasn't supposed to be there but it was the best way to clear his head before class and the easiest way to get there since it was just right down the hall. It was also the best place to let some of his magic energy free. Nothing big just a fire ball that would hover above his shoulder siphoning off some magic. He didn't want to do it inside the Garden as people might start asking questions. That was the one thing he didn't want...questions. He had been at this garden since he was fifteen and had been able to shake the Estharians off his tail and without having anyone find out he could use real magic. Also no one knew his true nationality either. Cause if anyone knew there was a giant technologically advanced city out in the mountains and desert they would either try to find it or think he was a nutter. For four years he had keep all of this a secret and he was doing a damn good job with it. Hopefully on the field test today he wouldn't blow it. He was assigned to Duncan for his instructor and this wasn't his first time being under the man. He didn't have a problem with him but he knew that Duncan tried to take the easy way out on most things so it kinda made him feel a bit better that he wouldn't have to see heavy combat. Not that Syrus couldn't hold his own. No he very well could.

Suddenly the ball of flames changed to a blue green color. "I know what time it is." The ball changed back to red and flared a little bit. "I know, but don't worry so much it is just right down the hall besides I am not done tempering the blades yet." The flame for a second looked like it sighed as if it was his mother giving up on trying to get the boy to do the right thing. Something that he did every other morning was temper the gunblades with fire. He would light his hands and rub up and down on them making sure that it cleaned them and that it kept them sharp. He had learned this shortly after he had gotten his GF Phoenix. She was a great wellspring of knowledge and acted like his mother. Matter of fact she was the little ball of flame that sat on his shoulder. One thing that Syrus could do was talk to his GF after she had been junctioned to him. Most people either ignore them or just simply don't have to capacity to talk to their Guardian Force. He loved Phoenix with all that he was because she was the first living thing, besides the headmaster, that actually cared for him.

The first bell had finally rung so Syrus got up to this feet and stashed the gunblades in his trench coat. It perfectly hide them from on coming enemies and when it was time to strike (FLASH) and you would hear a shot ring off. He was proud of his gunblades but they would see blood today he figured so might as well have them presentable. He looked over the Phoenix. " Sorry but I have to go to class now. Hopefully this test will be easy though." The ball of Phoenix fire turned pink and a lick of flame flew of it and landed on his cheek. It didn't burn but he felt a warm sensation. "I know and yes I will be careful." With that Phoenix plumed out and Syrus opened the door. He rigged it back to set off the alarm and thankfully no one was in the hall as he strolled down the hall and into the classroom. "Morning teach!" He said to Duncan. He also noticed that the new kid Xerox had made it into class and his pet moomba was there too. Syrus smiled out of the corner of his mouth. He actually like that little thing and while Xerox was talking to Duncan he managed to sneak in a head rub really quick before setting down and grabbing a mint flavored tooth pick from his pocket. Popping it in his mouth he sat at his desk and waited to see what would unfold.

Balamb Garden - Classroom

---

The gentle tracing of digits over the smooth surface of pearl-colored orbs conveyed the absent-minded curiosity of the Orb Junctioner as she sat at her seat. With their instructor not yet in, Eika was experimenting, so to say. Seeing how far the Orbs could traverse around the classroom had become a consistent thing as of late. Oh, to joy, one of the Orbs would be bought into her arms to allow her arms to cradle it oh so gently. ...Right, someone had asked her yet another question today, having found her in the class early as always. Another fortune to tell, another future to give light to.
"Yes...Let's see...The love you seek will find you at this upcoming test. Take care to cherish what will come, yet...do not take what is given to you for granted. Should you treat it without appreciation, it will disappear before it ever even comes 'round. Is that understood?"

The ever-so common "squee" of delight fell from the questioning girl's lips as she thanked Eika and ran off to tell her friend, a small "donation" junctioned into her orbs prior to leaving of her morning "regular". Ah, it was a normal life. She'd finally gotten used to the majority of the machinery here to the point that she could use it, but...Nothing quite bit fixing things with her Orbs when she could. ...Oh! Their instructor had come in. Quick to stand, the small blue PuPu doll that had clung to her shoulder would hop on top of her desk as they would both salute the male proceeding over them.
"Good morning, Instructor Duncan."

Nom-Nom -- her "pet" PuPu doll -- would rush over to perform it's daily little task of dropping an apple on his desk before hopping back up her leg and crawling it's way onto her shoulder. Whether it was a subconscious thought, or just the will of the doll itself, it had taken to nabbing apples from the cafe to give to him ever since the fifth day of class. ...Well, now that that was out the way, she'd drop to her seat as quietly as she could, bring her orbs down to roll underneath her desk, and keep one on her lap to hold as she waited. Today would be the SeeD field exam...As far as she knew, she was the only one that Specialized in her area, but would that make it harder for her to cooperate in a team with other students?...She couldn't tell whether it was terror, anxiousness, or excitement anymore.

ELM guidelines, test results, yesterday's notes... Where the hell... Sorting paperwork was never a fun job, but when you manage to lose something as vital as your class register, you know you're in for a long day. Perhaps it would be worth Duncan's time to clean his desk every so often, but who had time for that? He sighed, more frustrated at himself than anything, when a voice caught his attention. His eyes roving the class, Duncan mentally matched voice and face to... yep, it was Eika Munashii giving her customary morning salute. And there was that little... thing that always followed her about... 'Morning kid. I'd keep an eye on your balls today; where we're going, you might risk losing a few.' He took the doll's daily offering with a faux pompous bow and made a show of buffing the skin on his shirt. While he would never admit it, Duncan had grown to rely on... PuPu's (God, he hated that name...) apples. Instructors had to be up hours before their students to prep lesson materials and the damn cafeteria wasn't open at 4am.

As Duncan flicked out a multi-tool and began industriously carving chunks out of his adhoc breakfast, another of his students arrived with a nonchalant swagger. Syrus was a bit of an unknown, having trained elsewhere before coming to Balamb; he had only been assigned to Duncan's class in the last year. Still he was a good kid, if a bit loud... Before Duncan could reply, another student came up to talk to him directly. Xerox Craft, strange name notwithstanding, was a very odd child. Not only did he had the most unusual fighting style Duncan had ever seen, he also had a penchant for picking up weird bits and pieces, such as, as a totally objective example... that damn Moomba. Rue was quickly becoming a celebrity in campus, popular among the students and staff alike, although Duncan himself wasn't much enamoured with the ginger cat-monkey; the little bastard kept shedding all over his classroom. With this in mind, he felt that his expression of disgruntlement was rather justified as Xerox fielded his question. Since Duncan knew what the mission would entail, he personally would have said no, but... 'Loathe though I am to say this, Garden regulations allow every SeeD candidate to bring one non-human pet or companion for the field test, same as the Fire Cavern. So yeah, he can come. BUT! If I find so much as a single ginger hair on my uniform, then my office will be getting a new Moomba skin rug, capisce?' He gave the furball in question a meaningful look to emphasise the point.

A gentle hum was heard from Charlotte as she walked through the halls of the Garden. Normally, she would have been early. Today, however, she had actually overslept. For most people it meant waking up on time, but the girl was always early to rise. She had a nightmare of sorts and for whatever reason, completely missed her alarm. By the time she had gotten ready and left her room, most everyone else had been up and about. And so instead of her usual peaceful walks in the morning, she found herself shoving through people just to get to where she was going. It was annoying more than anything, and she doubted she would be able to have one last review from her books by the time she would get to the classroom. Eventually, the gods were merciful, for as she hopped onto the elevator, she finally had a chance to both breathe and relax as she was alone. Her solitude was more comforting than anything, though it disappeared as the doors opened and revealed a hall full of people.

At least now she didn't have to push past anyone. The classroom was not to far, and she reached it with little trouble. The bell had not rang yet--truly fate had been merciful. Had she been late, she would never live it down. Mind you no one would really care (maybe the teacher) but she made it a point to always be punctual, so that it itself was just her own way of stressing herself out. As she entered the classroom, she wasn't surprised to see a bunch of students already there. As the teacher was occupied with another student, she didn't bother for a greeting, instead taking a seat at her desk. She let out a huff of air, blowing her bangs out of her eyes as she sat there, slightly irritated. No last minute reviews, she was sure they'd start soon. Sure she had studied day and night since the day she started here, but it was always better to be safe then sorry.

Charlotte leaned back in her seat and stared at the ceiling. She wasn't liking how today started at all.

"Yes sir" Xerox's eyes rolled. Not exactly liking the attitude of Duncan towards Rue, and the meaningful look directed at Rue. But he was glad Rue could come along. As he went to return to his seat, he noticed Rue was annoyed. "What's wrong?" he asked. Getting a few gestures from Rue, he sat down, and turned to Syrus. "Hey Syrus was it? I don't mind you getting along with Rue or anything, but Rue doesn't like being pat. So, please don't pat him. He doesn't mind getting along and being friends with people, just that he doesn't like being pat. Alright?" Body contact, like patting, was a special reserved thing to Rue. Only a few people whom he could have trust and was very close to could do that. Xerox being one of them.

Looking around there were still a few who had yet to come in. Noticing Eika, the Orb Junctioner, he curiously watched her and her PuPu doll. He hasn't really spoken to her, but from the looks of it, he saw that she had trouble with most things technological. Quite the polar opposite to Xerox himself. He wandered how the doll moved. Was it one she controlled or did it have a life of it's own of sorts, or possibly was it an A.I. doll. This always piqued his interest, and he would study it like so to try to determine if it was or not. But he never did this for more than a minute at a time.

Looking at the hall, there were some spectators who would poke their heads in to the classroom to. Most of which were looking in Xerox's direction. Well to be more accurate, Rue's direction. With a majority being females, Rue was popular in the school, with lots of people wanting to pat him and cuddle him. Rue didn't like such body contact with them. Since Moombas did not talk, Xerox had to accompany and translate a lot of his gestures, or sometimes even sounds. He did not know why, but he could actually understand the sounds Moombas made when talking to each other.

Sitting in his seat, all he could do now was wait for the bell to ring and for first period to commence. Today was the SeeD test. Xerox was excited over this. Finally, I can get some funding for my inventions.

Syrus shrugged it off. "Just being friendly but whatever I'll keep my hands off." Syurs turned from Xerox and looked over at the Orb Junctioner that he was now staring at. Weird girl but he liked her enough and knew enough to stay away. Once he got to close and one of the orbs started to drain or damped his magic he couldn't tell which but those orbs were dangerous, or so it seemed to true magic users such as himself. So the day it happened he just went back to his room and claimed to be sick.

Syrus then turned his attention to Charlotte. The girl was probably the only normal one out of the other two in the room besides his instructor. Syrus decided to call over to her "Hey you ready?" She looked like something was up as she stared at the ceiling. "I mean this should be easy so don't worry to much, yeah?" He was trying to give her some reassurance, but then again he wasn't to great at it.

A voice brought her out of her thoughts and back into the classroom, much to Charlotte's dismay. Without moving her head, her eyes went straight to the source: the red head. She probably knew his name, but she was never any good at matching them to faces. She closed her eyes, opening them as she looked at him once more. She wasn't too interested in conversation, but she was not one to ignore people. That would just be rude. And she wasn't a rude person...well, maybe she came off as such, but she didn't mean it. She let out a small sigh, fluffing her hair slightly.

"Whoever isn't ready at this point doesn't deserve to be here, really." The blonde responded as-a-matter-of-factly, though she did quirk an eyebrow at him. "'m fine. Though...I can't say the same for others. Most people are fine when it comes to written tests and the like. The field is where you truly see people's strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes people overestimate themselves or freeze up when they see the enemy up close." Her tone was more nonchalant at this point, and she gave him a shrug.

He smiled at Charlotte. "Well we shall see then right?" Syrus didn't know about anyone else but Charlotte and he seemed to have everything under control. He didn't know her story but with that short conversation he saw something in her that told him that this test was going to be nothing to her. Of course he could be very wrong but the strength of her words gave her an air about her. Syrus wanted to train while waiting on the others but he knew that teach wouldn't want him slashing and firing his gunblades. So he decided to access the computer at his desk and check some of the manuals.

The bell tolled as the last few students slipped into class. Duncan gave them a moment to organise themselves, sitting back in his chair with steepled fingers, mentally reviewing the day to come. This year's test was a particularly dangerous one; Sod's law that it would be his class. His gaze roved the room, looking each examinee in the eye as if to gauge their nerve. If things got rough out there, some of them might never return. Scary thought.

Once everyone was situated and silence had fallen, Duncan finally spoke. '... As you know, today is the field test for SeeD candidates. Those of you who failed last week's written test, well tough luck. You lot aren't to leave this room til day's end.' More than half the class groaned plaintively. 'The rest of you lovely people will be following yours truly onto a real, God's honest battlefield. There will be blood and glory to spare, so get your heads on straight. But that's for later; in the meantime...' He stood heavily and began to tap away at his lectern console. Within seconds, each student got a notification at their own console; for those on the test it was a set of warning orders and disclaimers. For the rest, a twenty page workbook to be completed by the end of the day. 'Read through all that shyte and print out your disclaimers and will. I need them all signed and presented to me in half hour's time or else you are not coming on the test. This is not optional boys and girls; last thing Garden needs is your parents suing because you did something dumb on mission.' The forms were standard Garden waivers, absolving the Garden and its staff of any and all responsibility should the signatory come to any harm. Duncan had signed so many over the years that he didn't even bother reading them anymore. 'Oh don't look so shocked... You'll get used to this crap if you ever do become SeeDs and more besides... Well? What are you waiting for? Start signing.' As the class dissolved into little groups to discuss and complete their tasks, Duncan took a slow wander around the room, stopping here and there to help a student confused or stuck on a form, or to mock a one for a mistake.

...Huh. Her eyes stared down at her terminal, poking at it a few times before she remembered how to get to her notifications - Ah! There it was. With her eyes scanning over the electronic screen and her lips moving at a quick pace as she silently read over the instructions, she promptly ignored anything defining wills or disclaimers towards harm or death and a flourish of the fingers had it printed out and signed off within mere moments. The will part had been done a long while ago (those paranoias you had when you were a technological retard), so it left the disclaimer that it wouldn't be the Garden's fault if she did get taken out to be scanned over with a few glances before that, too, was understood to the basic concept of "we aren't paying you if your child fucks up".

Thus, by the time Duncan rounded over next to her terminal, she held up the completed will and disclaimer for him to take. To follow she had some actual semblance of understanding behind it?
"It moreorless says that the Garden can't lose money for stupidity leading to our deaths, and I've signed it as instructed. I completed my will on the fourth day of being at the Garden, as well, and I've completed reading the set of warnings and instructions. Is there anything that needs to be done, Instructor?"
Hey, she might be shit at computers, but she could read fast at least. Three cheers from Nom-Nom for quick reads.

Syrus opened the file that was sent to him in the notice and signed both copies. He then clicked the print button, grabbed the papers and went over to Duncan avoiding the orbs at all costs. "Here ya go teach. Filled out and signed." He went back over to his desk He went over battle scenarios in his head as he sat there waiting. He did most of them fighting with his gunblades and the few paramagics he had junctioned saving his real magic as a last resort. He figured that who ever he was going to paired with was going to be able to hold their own he just hoped that it wasn't Eika. As he had said before he liked the girl enough just those orbs. He wondered what would happen if he was paired with the others and how it would affect his style. He still wasn't too worried but he still hadn't seen some of the other members going with them.

Charlotte soundlessly and quickly scrolled through the pages. She highly doubted her parents cared if anything happened to her, though she could understand why others may want to be on the cautious side. Once her papers were printed, she brought them back to her desk. She glazed over most of it, but ended up filling out whatever was needed and signed it without reading most of it. She knew the risk already, though she assumed not everyone was aware (which raised the question as to why would they not know). Within minutes she finished, stacking the completed and signed papers next to her.

As some people were still finishing, she took the opportunity to take out her notebook, though to her dismay, saw that she had forgotten it. Good one, Charlotte. She mentally berated herself. The blonde let out a small groan, though she leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms.

Syrus looked over at Charlotte. "Something the matter or are you just glad all the paper work is done?" Syrus was sure glad it was out of the way even though he had no parents to speak off, which thankfully no one had asked questions about yet, and that the he was a ward of the Garden itself meant that the Garden did have some responsibilities but not by much. Syrus also didn't care about the will either. He had no possessions other than the gunblades and well if he died in this battle he hoped that someone would pick the blasted things up and use them as he did. They were no museum pieces that was for sure but the didn't look old or dull so someone was sure to keep on fighting with them if they happened to find them.

Looking through the disclaimers on the screen, Xerox read them quickly, printing them out. His will was simple, since his possessions would go to Rue, and if something happened to Rue, it would go to the Shumi Village people. Signing it off, Xerox went to put the disclaimer form on Instructor Duncan's desk. Since there wasn't anything else left, he returned to his desk and looked over to Rue. Rue understood what he wanted.

Both Xerox and Rue look around for scraps during their free time, so there was always material to make things with. Rue left the room for a moment, but returned soon after, with some scraps, putting it on Xerox's desk. Getting out his toolbox, he looked over the different pieces of scrap metal. "Hm..." He shuffled the pieces, looking for the ones that stood out to him. Thinking about what to do, he figured that he should build battle armor gauntlet prototype alpha 012.

Using a mini welder instead of paramagic, Xerox melted some of the pieces, making a wires for connecting. Making the outer shape of the gauntlet, he was making intricate mechanisms inside the gauntlet. If he had a full battle armor along with the gauntlet, he would probably be able to distribute power and strength, enabling stronger hits. The gauntlet had a few gestures to use. Testing out the functions, with out all the parts to attack when doing the gestures, he was taking his time. He didn't need to rush, since it wasn't an emergency. Building away, as time went by. Rue kept watch over Xerox work his way with the scraps. To him Xerox's work was almost magical.

A sense of pride filled him as Duncan toured the classroom. None of his students had overreacted to the intentionally blunt nature of the waivers; it was the first stage of their test, even if they weren't yet aware. From the moment the bell had rung, they had been scrutinised and graded on their attitude. He tried to quash a smug smile as he mentally compared his class to Dorn's. After a few minutes wandering, Duncan collected the first set of completed paperwork from Eika. 'Nope.', he replied with a lopsided smile. 'That's the boring bit done. Once everyone's ready we're off. In the meantime... uh... play cards or... something.' As if to emphasise the point, he tossed a Triple Triad card down in front of her, his little way of rewarding the fastest working student. Enoyle, one of the rarer ones. Duncan treated her to a cheeky wink and moved on, picking up completed forms as he went. He accepted Syrus' forms with an offhand nod, surreptitiously double checking the mystery student's will; who would an orphan leave his possessions to, he wondered... No-one much, by the looks of it. It was the kid's choice at the end of the day, so Duncan wasn't going to push the point. With a sudden flood of self awareness, Duncan realised the time; fifteen minutes til assembly. He picked up the pace, collecting the last of the paperwork and badgering the slowpokes until every form was in order and stowed away.

He took his position behind the lectern once more, his expression turning a bit more serious. 'Ok. Your paperwork will be kept onsite as per Garden Code 34:7. In the event of your death whilst on duty, Garden will act as per your will and testament. If your body is recovered, it will be released to your designated executor ASAP.' With a snap of his fingers, Duncan called the buzzing mass back to his side. From its perch at the side of the room, the bug zipped over and plonked down on his shoulder, hissing affectionately. Vinzer was a pain in the arse sometimes, but nevertheless a valuable companion and weapon. 'Easy bit's over. Aurum, Kroth, Munashii, Craft, Syrus and Marx, go get your kit together and assemble in the lobby in ten minutes. You are to wear standard uniform for this test. I know, but I have to wear mine too. Deal with it. Armour and load-bearing equipment are permitted.' Come to think of it, he had barely seen any of his class in the standard uniform... Balamb Garden was too damn lenient on these things. '... Come prepared. I'll see you in ten.' With that he gave the class a crisp salute in the traditional SeeD manner and left the classroom.

---

Ten minutes later Duncan stood in the lobby. He had elected to go with half his normal kit today, mainly for the sake of convenience; Galbadian armour took ages to put on. In the end he had only bothered with the gauntlets. As he tinkered with his rifle, a refined man stepped over, wearing a military style trench coat. 'Instructor Lerwick. I hear you're leading the northern strike team.' He caught Duncan completely unawares, leaving the poor SeeD fumbling his response. 'Er, y-yes sir. We, I mean I will be taking the candidates for their test, as planned. I have six, all solid.' The old man grinned in response, thought it was more of a leer. 'Oh I'm sure. I look forward to seeing them in... action. The Master is keen to see how the situation develops; after all, you have more than one child of interest in your class.' His eyes bored into Duncan's; the old man didn't need to say what he meant. Fuck this up and you'll burn. He prayed that his students would arrive soon and give him a reason to disengage from this old barstard...

Syrus went up to Duncan before leaving the class room and gave him a thumbs up. He then left the room and to the elevator. Upon its opening Syrus got inside. Void of other people thankfully. Syrus smirked as he thought of putting his uniform on. "Good thing I had a coat made for that in that style too." He said out loud but to himself. The elevator dinged and Syrus walked out. "Guess it is time to get ready." Syrus began to run to his dorm Upon arriving he went into his room and put on his uniform and matching coat. He then re-equipped his gunblades to each side so that they were again hidden. He then closed the door and left. He had also grabbed his cards just in case he needed to refine them.

Syrus approached Duncan and another man of whom Duncan was talking to. "Well then it seems that two men with trenches are going to be on the field and I am pretty sure that one of them is going to do just fine." He said as he clapped the other man on the back and winked at Duncan. "Instructor Duncan I am reporting for my SeeD test sir!" He said quickly gaining composer but with a smile.

Balamb Garden -- Lobby

---

...Ah....A....gift? A smile fell upon the girl's face, genuine happiness placing itself upon her expression as she picked up the card and slid it into her pack for safekeeping. With a meager "thank you, Instructor" given and a bow of the head, she was at full attention by the time he began to dismiss them to get their packs. She had played the card game a few times...But there weren't quite enough people on campus (save the Card Maniacs) to teach her much about properly enjoying the game...At least it was something she could be considered decent at, if nothing else, and that was good in itself! ...Right?

Anyways, she was up and at it the moment he told them to go, Nom-Nom hopping on one of her orbs and balancing to the best of his poor little body's abilities as the four mystic concentrations floated by her side. Bowing to Duncan before taking her leave, her Pupu followed her motion and she was out the door. What to get, what to grab...Ah, truly...She needed to extract the spare magic she'd been collecting in her room above all else. So off to the dorm rooms it was (when the elevator finally arrived)! Once she was in her own room, she stripped out of her oriental-styled clothing and fumbled her way into her uniform (probably ran her face into the wall at least once) to get herself collected, grabbed a set of potions and phoenix downs from the case next to her bed, and cleared her throat before holding up an entire other container -- one manifesting a swirl of colors. Ah yes, junctioned magic that she'd been "paid" with for offering her predictions.

One orb was pointed to, sending a bout of flames through its core as she junctioned fire magic into it.

A second orb contained a formed tundra as she junctioned blizzard magic into it.

A third crackled inside with lightning as thunder magic would fill its core.

And the very last that Nom-Nom rested upon would contain a series of soothing green sparks from cure magic being poured into it.

There it was! All in all, she had the capacity to be as versatile as she needed to be for today's test -- and wasn't it good that she'd collected all of this magic? With a bit more than necessary taken in order to refine it on the way to the testing site, she turned on her heel and walked out in the Garden uniform to go meet up with the rest of the group and Instructor Duncan. Once she was at his side, she noticed Syrus and another man there -- an Instructor, most likely, judging from the ace comparisons. Despite such, she would salute as practiced, her doll ever-dutiful in mimicking her motion to show his respect as well, whilst her Orbs rested close by her side to keep from crowding the area.
"Eika Munashii, reporting for today's SeeD Test, Instructor Duncan."

Once her show of respect and report was in, she would bow to both and allow the spheres around her to float back a bit -- provide some room, so to speak.
"It is with hope and only the respectable amount of confidence that I foresee this test being successful."
And yet, she chose not to use her little fortune-telling here. That'd...give Duncan a bad name if she tried her voodoo woodoo stuff in front of a potential colleague.

Listening to Duncan, Xerox stopped with his work. He was able to test a number of mechanisms, but only had time to integrate two for now. "Rue, put the other pieces away. We need to get ready." As Duncan gave a salute, Xerox did likewise. Leaving the classroom, Xerox headed to the elevator, with Rue following behind holding the gauntlet.It seemed someone had gotten on first and that Eika was waiting for it. "Rue, go down the elevator safely okay? I'll be heading to the dorm first." He jumped off the side railings, spreading out his lab coat and pulling some strings. Poles inside his lab coat assembled into a glider fashion, and he glided down to the ground floor. One of his gadgets made inside the lab coat, for use in such cases.

Heading to the room quickly, Xerox changed into the uniform. He wished he could bring his lab coat, but knew he probably couldn't. Grabbing his tool box, he saw Rue come in. Putting his giant spanner down, he checked his tool box. Rue tugged at him, once he had checked. "What is it Rue?" Xerox asked. The Moomba indicated something that flew and was shooting as well as something to press as a shield. "Ah ... those. Flying Assist Turret (FAT) Alpha 014 and Deployment Shield(DS) Beta 043. Yeah, I'll bring those." Reaching his arm out, his arm suddenly went into a warped space. It was his Junction Ability, Extra Spatial Storage. Bringing out a hand held sized ball with a rotor and rotor blades on top, making it hover and fly about. And then a bracelet with a button on it. Rue tugged some more. "You want to use them?" Xerox asked. Rue nodded. "I can't let you use the FAT. It's still in the alpha stage. It won't understand you in the first place. I'll let you use the DS though." The FAT had two modes, command and automatic. The automatic feature was still functioning poorly at the moment. The command mode was voice activated. He had number of things inside the ESS. To access it, all he needed to do was think and think of the item, and there it is.

Making a final check, Xerox looked over everything. He was in uniform, he had his spanner, and his toolbox. His gauntlet was with him too, in the toolbox. The FAT was flying around with a good number of rounds. It shot out pieces of scrap metal, since Xerox didn't bother making them into proper bullets. Rue was equipped with the DS. It seems all was in order. However, the FAT broke down, just before he could leave. "Ah ... I haven't charged it yet. Damn it." He realized. "Oh well. I can't do that right now anyway. I should check my paramagic." This was something Xerox was still not very used to. He checked the numbers of his paramagic, 30 demi, 25 cure and 12 fire. He didn't stock up on paramagic much. He knew he had a good stock of potions and tents and other things in his ESS. He hoarded them, since they could be used in his inventions as well. With that all covered, he went off to the lobby.

On the way to the lobby, people were wondering what it was that Rue was wearing. The pair ignored them until reaching the lobby. It seemed like there were a few who had got there before him, but a couple still missing. He noticed Eika and Syrus with Duncan and another instructor. "Instructor Duncan Sir! Xerox Craft reporting in for the SeeD test, Sir!" Xerox saluted Duncan, with Rue, keeping some distance behind Xerox, and doing likewise.