Testing for SeeD

Raven stood at attention in front of the Headmaster of Balamb Garden’s desk. He was wearing the SeeD uniform, all pressed and ready to go. He stood, waiting on his sister to appear and tell him exactly what he needed to do to pass this test. Over the past few months, Raven had worked his way through the many classes the Garden had to offer. He had sat through classes with seven and eight year olds, fought countless fiends in the simulator, and still had juggled that along with two kids and a whole other world he needed to take care of. The fact that he was able to get trough the classes and learn an entire new fighting style was just short of a miracle.

Raven was proud of what he had accomplished in learning how to wield a gunblade. Not only had he learned how to wield it, but he had also learned to use it alongside a weapon just as terrible as it, the gunshield. Over the past month, he had perfected the ability to use both of them at the same time, enabling him to be a terror in close quarters combat. In fact, that pride in his work, paired with the drive to beat out every damned record his father had in place from the times when he was a SeeD, was the whole reason he had chosen to use the combo that very day.

Raven glanced about nervously, though, as he stood there. There was still so much to learn about this place and what was expected of him. Even with all of his experience on the battle field, including multiple tours of duty, being apart of a secret agency’s black ops, and waging a war against an entire government, Raven was still at a loss for how things worked here. There was just so much to soak up in such a short amount of time. Maybe he should have waited longer before trying for this… No, everyone was counting on him to do this. He had to complete this and prove to others that he was just as good, if not better than anyone else here.

He had to do this for himself too. He had to prove to himself that he could conquer any challenge that arose. That he could still do what he had chosen as his career years ago. He wanted more than anything to prove that he could do the impossible, to become a SeeD in mere months, instead of the years that it normally took. That would make him a legend. His name would go down in the history books and would not be forgotten. He would be remembered, not as a man who killed for his fame, but worked for it. That meant more than anything to him. Because it was the future generations that would bear his name that would have to deal with the sins of the father.

Raven gripped the handle of the Lion’s Pride. The feel of the steel beneath his fingers gave him reassurance. This was going to be a defining moment in his life. He had to pass, there was no other option. Raven turned to look at the elevator as he heard it ding, signaling that someone was about to come through its doors. Well, I guess it’s time to face the music.

Shade entered the elevator feeling rather anxious than usual, but her normal sense of composure hid it well as always. She never bothered with SeeD exams. That was always an appointed duty to the Instructors. But not this one. This was Raven. Shade would see to her brother's final exam herself. The whole morning Shade thought over his triumphs of late. Even if he weren't her brother, Shade couldn't be more proud. Who was once just some pain in the ass soldier from another world dragging her hide into every mission he needed assistance with, had now become an unexpected, but grateful major part of Shade's life.

And it all started with a body bag she drug him around in.... That first day they encountered each other was the very day the bantering started and always trying to out best each other. Still, Shade could even remember back then how strikingly odd it was how the two of them seemed to be in sync in mind and maneuvers when fighting side by side. She simply chalked it up to whatever training the both of them endured in their past, but now with truth known between them, it was apparent that genes ran thicker than time and space could ever separate.

So it was no surprise that a smirk of pride crept along Shade's face within the elevator as it rose up to the 3rd floor to her office where she knew Raven would be waiting. Where her brother, Fury waited. A fleeting thought swept past her mind as to how different things may have been had he not been taken away.... if they had the chance to grow up together side by side, if tragedy never struck her dimension. No doubt the Garden would collapse with the two of them going through the program motions together.

By the time the elevator reached just the second floor, she thought of just the previous months. How Raven arrived so unexpectedly that day, only to stalk the Garden for several days before approaching her with such a startling revelation to their relation. How she took it so horribly wrong. A guilt that would forever haunt her dreams and conscience. Still, he managed to discover the truth all on his own, through where ever the time rifts took him, revealed to him, in what would shatter any normal person's sound sanity, And before such truth had a chance to sink in, it was fighting for his daughter's life that followed. Then their mother appearing from yet another dimension. Yet Raven remained striven through it all, bound and determined to pull through whatever means necessary to accomplish and achieve any goal with his sound mind in check.

Alivia and Serenity were priceless bonuses above it all. And Raven raised them well as any loving father would.

How could Shade not be so proud of her brother? How could she hide it once those elevator doors opened? She had no choice in the matter. Once the elevator alerted her it breached the third floor, Shade beheld a stone cold passive expression upon her face as she always did. She only took a single step out with one hand pressed against the door to keep it open, and met Raven's emerald gaze head on. In silence, which was the usual between the two when a serious issue was at hand, Shade motioned with her free hand for Raven to come into the elevator. Once he complied, Shade released the door for it to close and take them back to the Main Floor.

She simply crossed her arms and kept her steel hues fixed straight ahead. Where she wore the same drabby tattered clothes, Raven was in the usual SeeD uniform for such exams. Without a word, or look of acknowledgement, Shade silently approved that he truly did fit into the SeeD mold wearing it. Instead, Shade gave him what information permitted to a student when taking the final. "We're heading to the caverns south east from here. Once there, you can choose the time limit you think you can achieve. Shade never expected this to be so hard, but she simply couldn't show any sign of favoritism in this. The only reason Shade took on Raven's final was because there was no way in hell she was risking Raven's well being to some Instructor's screw up.

So with a set mind, a firmly set face, her jaw clenched, and her nerves a complete wreck, Shade led the way once the elevator doors opened again. She spared no glance to anyone they passed by as they left the Garden entirely. She matched her pace identical to Raven's as they walked side by side, leading anyone to bolt out of their way. Once outside of the facility's perimeter, there was a SeeD vehicle waiting, much similar to any basic military multi terrain truck. Once inside, and on their way, Shade gave him what little information she could. "Alright, so here's the drill. I can't get involved in this unless it's absolutely necessary. I know you already know that, but I know your limits better than some random Instructor would. Anyone else would call the exam off prematurely because they don't know how far you push yourself like I do."

The drive to their destination was rather quiet, since Shade couldn't give him details of the exam either. It was a good thing too. Or Raven would most likely strangle her while she was trying to drive. Once at the site, Shade parked the vehicle a few yards away from the cave entrance. It didn't appear so grand from the outside, since the inner dwelling of the cave dropped beneath the ground at a gradual slope. Shade motioned for Raven to follow, keeping her pace rather casual as the entered the domain. It was remarkably silent, yet dark of course, save for a faint light glowing up ahead. She headed straight for the light without pause, or giving Raven any inclination as to what it was or how far they were going. It wasn't until they reached the source that the two now stood before a grand glowing jewel upon an ancient looking pedestal. It was rather large, enough to take two hands to hold, and the misty glow gave off an inviting warmth. Without a word, Shade slowly reached out with her leather gloved hands and cupped the bottom of the jewel and carefully turned to hand it to her brother. "Now take this.... She even raised an eyebrow at her brother and interrupted any possible protest he might have. "....and don't tell me no, Raven. It's part of the exam, so you have to take it."


Once he did, Shade side stepped around him and proceeded to walk back out of the the dreary cave. "Now wait right there..."



Bahamut now has 400MP to use, the same as Raven, since Raven has more creations to use, where Bahamut only has his spells.

Bahamut sat within the mountain caverns of his home in World 8, it was a rather interesting world to be in, then again all the worlds were. Each and every one of these individual worlds had their own set of rules, own set of societies, every single one of them, unique. Every single one of these worlds had a Bahamut, but none were the true King of Dragons himself. Bahamut always wondered to himself why theses worlds were so different, was it because of the magic? That couldn’t be it, the magical energies were generally the same, he could still use the same magic wherever he was, though the effects varied slightly.

Whichever way Bahamut viewed it, the humans of this world were bold, their bravery so boundless that they would dare disrespect the King of Dragons and steal a gem from his great hall. As Bahamut searched through his patrols, his mind was thinking about ways to make the humans pay for their shameless acts, a simple announcement wasn’t enough, Bahamut needed to make an example of one of these heretics. Normally Bahamut wouldn’t be fazed by such a thing, but the stolen treasure was one that held great sentimental value to him, a relic from his family.

As Bahamut collected his thoughts, a signal from within his chambers told him that someone was still within his cavern. Even more to add, the intruder had another strange signature around it, the same signature that belonged to Bahamut’s family heirloom. Bahamut’s eyes narrowed as he focused on the signature, the rage building up inside of him, the thief not only took one of his most prized possessions, but he even had the gall to come back to his lair and mock him with it.

Bahamut let out a monstrous roar from the core of his being, shaking the earth around him with its might, the foundations of the cavern cracking from the sonic force. Bahamut arose from his throne, his rage radiating off of him as he started his murderous venture towards his target. Bahamut spread his wings proudly, his Hexa Fangs engraving massive gashes in the ancient stone. With a single stomp cracking through the earth, Bahamut launched himself into the air, smashing against the top of the chamber as he made his climb.

With a thunderous crash and a bellowing roar, Bahamut came from the ground like a dolphin breaking through the surface water, the shrapnel of the rocks shooting in every which direction like dangerous droplets of water, dust looming through the cavern like a creeping sea mist, and through the black and brown vapour, Bahamut shone through like a golden light, his scales like luminescent treasures individually knitted upon his massive body. Bahamut’s eyes shone through the darkness like bright rubies, but reflected the fire of rage that was within his heart. Bahamut’s eyes fixed on the thief, a young man, possibly early-mid twenties.

“So you are the one who took one of my greatest treasures. I was expecting someone more... impressive” Bahamut scoffed as he looked down at the man, moving his massive head lower to take a closer look. The appearance of the man was rather simple, though Bahamut didn’t know if humans considered him attractive, but something about the man seemed familiar. The weapon the man was wielding, a gunblade, also added to Bahamut’s suspicion. “But I think I see what you wish to accomplish here, you wish to prove yourself against me, Bahamut the King of Dragons.”

Bahamut spread his wings, the light around his body destroying the darkness of the cavern. Bahamut was ready to face his opponent, the King of Dragons never back down from a challenge, when one so brave would dare to challenge him. Bahamut reared his head back and unleashed another powerful roar.

“Very well, let us get started” Bahamut declared, his body suddenly lighting up even more than before, showing Bahamut's magical energy overloading and focusing into a spell. Suddenly, the light began to crackle, sending bolts in every which direction. Bahamut let loose another bellowing roar as he unleashed his spell, bolts of lightning firing out at the man, making thunderous boomed as Bahamut’s voice echoed past screaming. “LIGHTNING!!!”


(Lightning - 10 MP)

Raven followed Shade in silence through the Garden and out to the vehicle that was going to take them to their destination. There, he continued to ride along in silence as Shade made a brief explanation of what was going to happen. Raven just nodded to her, letting her know that he understood before going back to his thoughts. He was trying to figure out where they were going before they got there, so that he could somehow prepare himself, but he still did not know this world well enough to be able to discern the destination.

So instead he focused on the one thing that kept him calm these days; his children. They were the rock that ground him in reality and allowed him to control the emotions that had ravaged him over the past few months. Ever since he had found out about his history, Raven’s emotions had gotten the better of him in situations where he would have normally kept his cool. They controlled him in a way that mad him angry, which in turn gave his emotions even more power. But thankfully, Raven had his kids to focus on. When he focused on them, he could easily calm himself. He could become the collected soldier he had always been and he became the deadly edged weapon that had allowed him to survive multiple tours of duty on the surface of Pulse.

Raven snapped out of his thoughts as the vehicle came to a slow stop. He climbed out of the car and followed Shade along to the cave. There, Raven did exactly what she said when she said it. According to Raven’s training, he who had the power was god. Shade definitely had the power in this situation, so he followed her words like law. He grabbed the ruby and placed it in the small bag he had brought with him and waited, just like she told him to. He watched her walk away with an arched eye-brow. He knew exactly what was coming next. Some form of harm or misfortune was going to befall him for taking that stone. That was how she worked, how she got him back. He had his snide comments; she had her painful pranks that she just turned her head to.

But Raven’s head whipped around to face the cave as the ground rumbled and he heard the loud growl. He drew the Lion’s Pride from its sheathe and pulled his Lastwall gunshield from his back. He stared into the darkness of the cave with his emerald eyes as the large dragon emerged. The magnificent creature spoke down on him before leaning his head in to better inspect Raven. So this was his challenge? Raven thought about turning around and flipping Shade off, but thought better of turning his back to a dragon, especially one whom seemed so arrogant. ”Pretty big talk from an overgrown lizard.”

Before Raven could react, though, the dragon announced that they were going to begin. He began to ripple and crackle with power. Raven could tell exactly what was coming and decided it was best to wait for the whole attack to commence before moving. The dragon roared the command word and lightning flew forth from him. Luckily, because of that command word, Raven had time to react. He pounced up into the air, flipping over top the beast. As he reached his zenith, Raven aimed downward with his shield and fired a slug from the shotgun built into it at the dragon’s head. The recoil sent him through the rest of the flip, unable to see if he had hit or not. As he came down towards the beast, he attempted to land on its back. He swung his blade downward, trying to stab it into the dragon’s back and halting his fall. Hopefully, the move would continue through, because if it didn’t, Raven would be left at the beast’s feet and well within it’s reach to counter.

Bahamut watched as the human boy skillfully dodged his attack, the lightning passing harmlessly through the boy’s movements, the magical bolts of nature’s power smashed against the rocks, causing small bits to fly around in every which direction. Bahamut cursed to himself over missing, but the first shot was to see if the boy had a good reaction time, one enough to face the Dragon King at his full potential, without handicap or attempt to hold back. This boy had proven himself at least skilled enough to dodge Bahamut’s attacks, even if it was a lucky start, the boy’s true potential would show itself soon. However, in the back of Bahamut’s mind, the Dragon King had a single train of thought running through.

The fact was that Bahamut couldn’t shake the fact that this boy was so familiar to him, it wasn’t a feeling that could be so easily dispersed. The boy’s body, the way he moved, the way he looked, even the weapon he used all seemed so familiar to him. Bahamut couldn’t think of any other person other than Squall Leonheart, the man who had defeated him long ago when Bahamut paratraveled along the worlds. If this boy was anything like Squall, Bahamut was in for a good battle.

As Bahamut remained distracted by his thoughts, the boy had already begun his own retaliation to his attack. The boy moved over Bahamut’s head and unleashed an unknown projectile on the back of his head, causing the Dragon King’s head to lurch forward from the impact. Though from what he could tell, the strike wasn’t strong enough to break through Bahamut’s head plate, but it was definitely strong enough to hurt. Before he could recuperate from the first attack, Bahamut was attacked once again, a sharp pain rolling down his back, the feeling indicated that Bahamut was struck by a blade, which rode down his back. Though the blow was strong enough to scratch Bahamut’s scales and draw blood, from what Bahamut could tell, it didn’t cut deep enough to get stuck in it. This suspicion was confirmed when Bahamut turned to see the boy at his feet.

“An impressive display human, to take advantage of my large size and assuming that in such a large form and confined space, I couldn’t maneuver well. A fine showing of battle capability.” Bahamut declared, and what he said was true. The boy did indeed perform at an optimal answer, dodging and then counter attacking, taking advantage of Bahamut’s natural limits. Bahamut contemplated going all out, and out of respect for the boy and his abilities, Bahamut decided that he should. “Since you performed so well, I believe it would be wise for me to take you on with my full range of power”

Bahamut started to collect ambient magical energy, the condensation starting to become so concentrated that the air seemed to glow with waves upon waves of magical energy, but the small cave wasn’t enough to hold all of the magical energy. To combat this, Bahamut used his Hexa Fangs to blow the top off of the the cave, allowing the dragon king free range of the sky. Bahamut leaped in the air in incredible speed, letting the free wind and magical energy surround him. Bahamut looked down at the boy, displaying his shiny silver teeth as a sign of a smile.

“Now, I believe it is time to truly begin. Let us get the introductions over with, I am Bahamut, King of Dragons” Bahamut introduced himself, letting his wings spread wide as a display of pride of his title. Bahamut’s Hexa Fangs launched once again towards the boy, all 6 sword like appendages firing at incredible speeds aiming to skewer him through. “And I shall be the one to write your requiem”

(Hexa Fang -10MP)

(Mega Flarex2 charge start -60 MP)

Raven swore as his feet struck the ground. While his sword was able to dig into the beast’s hide, it wasn’t able to hold true. It tore free as he fell downward and landed with a dull thud at the dragon’s feet. He instantly went into motion, even as the beast turned his head to look at him. He dashed further back into the cave, back towards Bahamut’s tail. The dragon… commended him on his abilities? Raven turned and looked quizzically at the terrible lizard. Surely he couldn’t be serious. He was going to perform to the best of his abilities and Raven was going to end up fighting this thing from the inside.

The cave lurker began to radiate energy again. The waves licked and gently washed over Raven as the dragon reared back to aim his wings at the ceiling. As the spell was set loose on the roof of the cave, the king of the sky tore off the ground, his tail waving behind him. The tail swung wildly, crashing into Raven and sending him sprawling across the ground. He stood up but was instantly assaulted again by the crashing debris. Raven threw up his shield as the stones pinged and dinged off the metal. He glared up at the sky where he could see the monster swirl. Fine, if you want to play like that…

As the beast looked down on him with disdain, Raven glared up at Bahamut. At that distance, the “King of the Dragons” wouldn’t be able to see the gold hue bleeding into the iris of his eyes, blotting out the green. What he could have seen, if he wasn’t too busy with his grand introduction, was a sphere of fire erupting in front of him. As Bahamut spread his wings and fired the swords at him, Raven stepped towards the flames. The first two swords whisked through the ball and bit at Raven. The first sword, luckily, struck his shield, deflecting harmlessly. The second one wasn’t so lucky. It flew through the flames and struck him in the shoulder that carried his gunblade. Raven was staggered backwards for a moment, but barreled through the flames.

Stepping out the other side, Raven raised both of his arms to the side while the flames flickered and waved all over him. The flames created a mask of a lion’s face over his own, while out of his back sprung great wings made entirely out of fire. The third sword struck him just as he did so, but as it came in to pierce his skin, it somehow became redirected. The flames shot out and brushed it off to the side. The same happened to the fourth. When the fifth and sixth came to do the same, they took a different path. Instead of just being brushed off, they were flung straight back out towards the hulking beast.

The cut he had on his forehead that he had received from the blow of Bahamut’s tail began to get smaller and the piercing wound in his shoulder also healed. He grinned maniacally under the mask of the lion as he shot off into the air. He flew straight up at the dragon, his shield up and his blade straight ahead. He was like a bullet shooting straight for the beast’s chest. He was going to cut straight through the dragon. He shouted over the winds, ” And I’m the guy who’s gonna kick your ass!”

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Rage of the Lion: 230 MP

170 MP remaining