Post by idx on Dec 10, 2010 17:55:16 GMT -5
I awoke with a start with cold sweat lightly coating my forehead, my heart feeling like it was going to burst through my chest at any moment. And to make matters worse, I had the worst headache. I had a dream, but it felt much more real. I dreamed I was walking to some place in the dead of night, but at the same time I really wasn't. Felt more like I was being drawn somewhere but not really knowing where. I can't remember what happened after I got to wherever it was I was going to. The only thing I can think of is that it must've been horrible. Never have I felt this kind of dread, anger, and fear all at once that caused my bones to tremble.
I sat upright with my back against the wall, trying to rub the goose bumps from my arms. It was morning and my room felt normal but my arms were freezing. I looked down and what I saw made my muscles tighten; what appeared to be black claws slowly got smaller until my hands returned to normal. What the hell is going on? I thought to myself. Something is happening to me and I have a feeling it won't be good when things get rough. After looking myself over for anything else abnormal, I couldn’t see a thing. My eyes must have been playing tricks on me. I do admit that maybe I was causing too much stress on my body and mind by thinking about the tournament, causing me to hallucinate. Stress is funny that way.
Suddenly out of nowhere, someone knocked on my door, causing me to jump in surprise. Who can that possibly be? No one knocks on my door. I opened the wall closet and threw on my usual outfit. I know it’s nothing to look at, but I was the tallest one here in Garden so I didn’t have a suit or anything yet. I guess it takes a while to make them for taller people. After I fastened the final buckle on my boot, I strapped Destiny to my back and opened the door.
“About damn time you opened the door,” Marc said loudly. “I was starting to think you were still sleeping and was about to bust the door open myself.”
Closing the door behind me, I said, “Good thing you didn’t because I would’ve been pretty pissed.”
It’s been a few days since the fight we had that ended up with us fighting together to take down a Behemoth and since then, Marc has been hanging around me lately. I’d much prefer if he didn’t but thanks to him, no one came up to me anymore. I was starting to like this newfound peace but I still prefer to be alone. Win some lose some I guess, right? But one thing I noticed is that Marc didn’t seem to be as arrogant as he used to be. Whenever we overheard a student talking about a monster they killed or something, Marc would just chuckle to himself and shake his head slightly. I knew he was still arrogant but at least he wasn’t being a complete ass anymore. Now that I think about it, I don’t even think he has any friends. I’ve never even seen him with a girl. It’s not like he isn’t attractive because in the class me and Marc have together, I can hear the women giggle and whisper whenever he was around. Only thing I got were just stares or glances my way. Of course, whenever I would look in the direction I felt their gazes, they would quickly look away. Not that I really cared. I didn’t need the distractions of “friends” or women to keep me from my studies and training. The reason why I kept Marc around is because of his fighting skills. Not that I needed his protection but I can’t really spar with anyone else. He’s the only one that gives me a challenge. Not only that, he’s the only student at Trabia Garden that managed to hit me after I’ve learned how to fight.
I walked passed him and grabbed a letter from the mail slot on the wall. It was probably from the Headmaster. I didn’t really feel like reading it right now so I slipped the envelope into the breast pocket of my lab coat. Right now, my main concern is food. Marc and I headed to the cafeteria and prepared for the long line that was sure to be waiting for us with a very welcoming spot right at the end. On our way there, I couldn’t help but notice the lack of students. Usually the halls were filled with them, running to class, hanging out with friends, or sometimes the pair of Triple Triad players sitting against the hallway walls. But it felt like this Garden was just…dead. Even when we entered the cafeteria, there were only three students in line and only one sitting at one of the tables.
“Where the hell is everyone?” I asked out loud.
Marc chuckled a little bit before giving me his answer. “Wow! What the hell were you doing yesterday? It was hard to miss the fact that SeeDs from both Balamb and Galbadia Garden were crowding the halls. Not only that, the day before yesterday one of the participants from Galbadia stole one of the helicopters right from under our noses! Anyways, they’re all probably at The Island Closest to Heaven right now. Airships and sea vessels were here in numbers yesterday. The ones that have stayed behind actually wanted to ride there with you.”
Once I stepped into the line of now one student, I said, “Why would anyone want to ride with me? It’s not like I know these people on a personal level.”
Marc laughed. “Oh, I dunno. Maybe because they believe you’ll win and want to be in the presence of Trabia’s “could be” champion.”
“Well,” I started to say but the person in front of me had walked away, two hot dogs and a glass of juice on his plate, and the woman behind the counter asked what I would like to eat. “Five hot dogs and a big glass of milk, please.”
I turned to face Marc again. “I was training pretty hard these past few days. I managed to find a safe place to sleep in the Training Center even. I didn’t leave until last night when I decided I’d rather sleep on my bed this time.” The woman gave me my food and I walked to a table closest to the entrance of the cafeteria.
As Marc was getting his food, I took out the envelope and placed it to the side of my food. I’ll just wait for Marc to read it for me. It didn’t have the Trabia Garden seal so it obviously wasn’t from the Headmaster. Marc sat down in front of me, his tray filled to the top with different kinds of meat and a small bowl of salad and a glass of water.
Noticing the letter, he looked up and asked, “What’s that letter?” before taking a big bite of chicken.
“No idea,” I replied. “You want to read it first?” Without waiting to think about it, Marc reached to the letter and snatched it quickly, some crumbs escaping his mouth. “No problem!” he said in a teasing manner, making it sound like it was a love letter of some kind. After opening the letter he started reading while taking little sips of his water.
I’ve always been a fast eater so by the time I heard him laughing his ass off I was eating my final hot dog.
“Wow, this must be the most pathetic letter I’ve ever read! Whoever this “Dilaminous” guy is seriously needs to…” Marc started saying loudly but as soon as that name left his mouth, I grabbed the letter from his hands so fast that mark jumped in surprise. The letter read:
Muthrik,
You must be thrilled to be the only student from Trabia Garden participating in the Holy Mission tournament, and I would be too, if I were you. Here's the thing though; traditionally tournaments like these are won by prestigious winners who go on to achieve great things. Now I don't know about you, but I am already well on my way towards my destiny. On Sunday, anyone who comes up against me will not stand a chance, so I suggest you take it upon yourself to lay down for me if you are unfortunate enough to face me. If you do, then you will receive mercy from me and can escape from the competition unharmed. I will even allow you to keep you dignity by hitting you once, hard, so that you can sell my attack and make everyone think you at least tried. Regardless, you know that you cannot possibly win, so I highly suggest you think my proposition over.
Yours faithfully,
Dilaminous
Wow, some people take games way too seriously I thought to myself before crumbling up the letter and throwing it into the paper trash bin 30 feet away. I knew what he was trying to do but unfortunately for him; I too have an agenda for this tournament and I too plan on crushing any who stand in my path. I felt more flattered than anything that he wanted me in his “group”, but I have and will most likely always prefer to be by myself. I’d much rather worry about myself than those around me. Marc was the exception of course because he already established himself and it was obvious when he fought.
“I actually found it quite funny,” Marc said as he was finishing up his steak. “But at the same time I was kind of expecting something like this to happen. Only a fool would think everyone would play fair at this tournament.”
“Agreed,” was my reply after finishing my glass of milk in three gulps. “I actually thought Renea would be the one to do something like this but I’m not really surprised it was Dilaminous. I’ve read his file and studied it like I have with the others and he makes your arrogance seem as little as slamming the door in someone’s face.” I stood up. “Alrighty, then,” I said as I stretched out my arms. “I’m going to head to the vessel now.”
As I was leaving the cafeteria, I noticed a handful of students waiting just outside the entrance, talking amongst themselves but stopped when they saw me. These must be the students wanting to ride with me, but even though I told Marc I was going to the ship, I had no intention of actually riding it to the tournament.
I stopped and looked at the students. “I’m sorry to say that I don’t plan on riding the vessel with you guys. Once you get onto the ship just tell the Captain I found a faster way and am already on my way there.” The others looked at each other, looking confused. But I didn’t dwell on it. I walked right passed them and headed to the side exit of Trabia Garden. Any other student would think this was suicide, what I was about to do, but I know I can withstand this cold temperature just as easily as warm weather. Once outside, I casted the Haste and Float spell on me and with the great speed Haste has given me, I flew towards the place where the Holy Mission was taking place at lightening speed, the Island Closest to Heaven. It didn’t take long for me to get there. If I would’ve taken the ship the ride would have probably been about four hours longer.
From the afternoon sky, it was pretty easy to find this place. There were other, smaller islands surrounding the Island Closest to Heaven but it was hard to miss the huge, open top arena. It actually looked more like a coliseum than an arena. I can see huge flags and banners here and there with the emblems of Trabia, Balamb, and Galbadia Garden. There were tents scattered in front of the arena in groups. They were divided up by Gardens.
I made my landing behind the area where the Trabia Garden student tents were. I wasn’t as nervous as I was before the tournament like I used to. Now I felt confident.
Out of nowhere, my head felt like it was about to burst. The pain of my headache was so intense that I vaguely felt my knees hit the ground but just as quickly as it came, it started going away. And then I heard a voice. But it wasn't from someone else, it was inside my head.
So the time has come has it? I’m ready. Are you? said the Voice. Suddenly, I felt the same feelings of a strong sense of anger, fear, and dread. What the hell was going on with me?
I sat upright with my back against the wall, trying to rub the goose bumps from my arms. It was morning and my room felt normal but my arms were freezing. I looked down and what I saw made my muscles tighten; what appeared to be black claws slowly got smaller until my hands returned to normal. What the hell is going on? I thought to myself. Something is happening to me and I have a feeling it won't be good when things get rough. After looking myself over for anything else abnormal, I couldn’t see a thing. My eyes must have been playing tricks on me. I do admit that maybe I was causing too much stress on my body and mind by thinking about the tournament, causing me to hallucinate. Stress is funny that way.
Suddenly out of nowhere, someone knocked on my door, causing me to jump in surprise. Who can that possibly be? No one knocks on my door. I opened the wall closet and threw on my usual outfit. I know it’s nothing to look at, but I was the tallest one here in Garden so I didn’t have a suit or anything yet. I guess it takes a while to make them for taller people. After I fastened the final buckle on my boot, I strapped Destiny to my back and opened the door.
“About damn time you opened the door,” Marc said loudly. “I was starting to think you were still sleeping and was about to bust the door open myself.”
Closing the door behind me, I said, “Good thing you didn’t because I would’ve been pretty pissed.”
It’s been a few days since the fight we had that ended up with us fighting together to take down a Behemoth and since then, Marc has been hanging around me lately. I’d much prefer if he didn’t but thanks to him, no one came up to me anymore. I was starting to like this newfound peace but I still prefer to be alone. Win some lose some I guess, right? But one thing I noticed is that Marc didn’t seem to be as arrogant as he used to be. Whenever we overheard a student talking about a monster they killed or something, Marc would just chuckle to himself and shake his head slightly. I knew he was still arrogant but at least he wasn’t being a complete ass anymore. Now that I think about it, I don’t even think he has any friends. I’ve never even seen him with a girl. It’s not like he isn’t attractive because in the class me and Marc have together, I can hear the women giggle and whisper whenever he was around. Only thing I got were just stares or glances my way. Of course, whenever I would look in the direction I felt their gazes, they would quickly look away. Not that I really cared. I didn’t need the distractions of “friends” or women to keep me from my studies and training. The reason why I kept Marc around is because of his fighting skills. Not that I needed his protection but I can’t really spar with anyone else. He’s the only one that gives me a challenge. Not only that, he’s the only student at Trabia Garden that managed to hit me after I’ve learned how to fight.
I walked passed him and grabbed a letter from the mail slot on the wall. It was probably from the Headmaster. I didn’t really feel like reading it right now so I slipped the envelope into the breast pocket of my lab coat. Right now, my main concern is food. Marc and I headed to the cafeteria and prepared for the long line that was sure to be waiting for us with a very welcoming spot right at the end. On our way there, I couldn’t help but notice the lack of students. Usually the halls were filled with them, running to class, hanging out with friends, or sometimes the pair of Triple Triad players sitting against the hallway walls. But it felt like this Garden was just…dead. Even when we entered the cafeteria, there were only three students in line and only one sitting at one of the tables.
“Where the hell is everyone?” I asked out loud.
Marc chuckled a little bit before giving me his answer. “Wow! What the hell were you doing yesterday? It was hard to miss the fact that SeeDs from both Balamb and Galbadia Garden were crowding the halls. Not only that, the day before yesterday one of the participants from Galbadia stole one of the helicopters right from under our noses! Anyways, they’re all probably at The Island Closest to Heaven right now. Airships and sea vessels were here in numbers yesterday. The ones that have stayed behind actually wanted to ride there with you.”
Once I stepped into the line of now one student, I said, “Why would anyone want to ride with me? It’s not like I know these people on a personal level.”
Marc laughed. “Oh, I dunno. Maybe because they believe you’ll win and want to be in the presence of Trabia’s “could be” champion.”
“Well,” I started to say but the person in front of me had walked away, two hot dogs and a glass of juice on his plate, and the woman behind the counter asked what I would like to eat. “Five hot dogs and a big glass of milk, please.”
I turned to face Marc again. “I was training pretty hard these past few days. I managed to find a safe place to sleep in the Training Center even. I didn’t leave until last night when I decided I’d rather sleep on my bed this time.” The woman gave me my food and I walked to a table closest to the entrance of the cafeteria.
As Marc was getting his food, I took out the envelope and placed it to the side of my food. I’ll just wait for Marc to read it for me. It didn’t have the Trabia Garden seal so it obviously wasn’t from the Headmaster. Marc sat down in front of me, his tray filled to the top with different kinds of meat and a small bowl of salad and a glass of water.
Noticing the letter, he looked up and asked, “What’s that letter?” before taking a big bite of chicken.
“No idea,” I replied. “You want to read it first?” Without waiting to think about it, Marc reached to the letter and snatched it quickly, some crumbs escaping his mouth. “No problem!” he said in a teasing manner, making it sound like it was a love letter of some kind. After opening the letter he started reading while taking little sips of his water.
I’ve always been a fast eater so by the time I heard him laughing his ass off I was eating my final hot dog.
“Wow, this must be the most pathetic letter I’ve ever read! Whoever this “Dilaminous” guy is seriously needs to…” Marc started saying loudly but as soon as that name left his mouth, I grabbed the letter from his hands so fast that mark jumped in surprise. The letter read:
Muthrik,
You must be thrilled to be the only student from Trabia Garden participating in the Holy Mission tournament, and I would be too, if I were you. Here's the thing though; traditionally tournaments like these are won by prestigious winners who go on to achieve great things. Now I don't know about you, but I am already well on my way towards my destiny. On Sunday, anyone who comes up against me will not stand a chance, so I suggest you take it upon yourself to lay down for me if you are unfortunate enough to face me. If you do, then you will receive mercy from me and can escape from the competition unharmed. I will even allow you to keep you dignity by hitting you once, hard, so that you can sell my attack and make everyone think you at least tried. Regardless, you know that you cannot possibly win, so I highly suggest you think my proposition over.
Yours faithfully,
Dilaminous
Wow, some people take games way too seriously I thought to myself before crumbling up the letter and throwing it into the paper trash bin 30 feet away. I knew what he was trying to do but unfortunately for him; I too have an agenda for this tournament and I too plan on crushing any who stand in my path. I felt more flattered than anything that he wanted me in his “group”, but I have and will most likely always prefer to be by myself. I’d much rather worry about myself than those around me. Marc was the exception of course because he already established himself and it was obvious when he fought.
“I actually found it quite funny,” Marc said as he was finishing up his steak. “But at the same time I was kind of expecting something like this to happen. Only a fool would think everyone would play fair at this tournament.”
“Agreed,” was my reply after finishing my glass of milk in three gulps. “I actually thought Renea would be the one to do something like this but I’m not really surprised it was Dilaminous. I’ve read his file and studied it like I have with the others and he makes your arrogance seem as little as slamming the door in someone’s face.” I stood up. “Alrighty, then,” I said as I stretched out my arms. “I’m going to head to the vessel now.”
As I was leaving the cafeteria, I noticed a handful of students waiting just outside the entrance, talking amongst themselves but stopped when they saw me. These must be the students wanting to ride with me, but even though I told Marc I was going to the ship, I had no intention of actually riding it to the tournament.
I stopped and looked at the students. “I’m sorry to say that I don’t plan on riding the vessel with you guys. Once you get onto the ship just tell the Captain I found a faster way and am already on my way there.” The others looked at each other, looking confused. But I didn’t dwell on it. I walked right passed them and headed to the side exit of Trabia Garden. Any other student would think this was suicide, what I was about to do, but I know I can withstand this cold temperature just as easily as warm weather. Once outside, I casted the Haste and Float spell on me and with the great speed Haste has given me, I flew towards the place where the Holy Mission was taking place at lightening speed, the Island Closest to Heaven. It didn’t take long for me to get there. If I would’ve taken the ship the ride would have probably been about four hours longer.
From the afternoon sky, it was pretty easy to find this place. There were other, smaller islands surrounding the Island Closest to Heaven but it was hard to miss the huge, open top arena. It actually looked more like a coliseum than an arena. I can see huge flags and banners here and there with the emblems of Trabia, Balamb, and Galbadia Garden. There were tents scattered in front of the arena in groups. They were divided up by Gardens.
I made my landing behind the area where the Trabia Garden student tents were. I wasn’t as nervous as I was before the tournament like I used to. Now I felt confident.
Out of nowhere, my head felt like it was about to burst. The pain of my headache was so intense that I vaguely felt my knees hit the ground but just as quickly as it came, it started going away. And then I heard a voice. But it wasn't from someone else, it was inside my head.
So the time has come has it? I’m ready. Are you? said the Voice. Suddenly, I felt the same feelings of a strong sense of anger, fear, and dread. What the hell was going on with me?