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batsutousaiTitle: Silver Wings
Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII
Author: Batsutousai
Pairing: Squall Leonhart/Seifer Almasy
Rating: Mature
Warnings: AU, canon violence, Sorceress!Squall, original character death, mind rape, mental torture
Summary: On that fateful day, when a child grown visited his childhood home and a dying sorceress passed on her powers, it wasn't another sorceress they found, but a young boy running lost.
A/N: Wherein Bats realises she's written herself into a period of multiple years where nothing interesting is going to happen. Ugh.
Of note, Squall starts thinking of Ellone as 'Elle' this chapter, instead of 'Sis', though he does still refer to her by the latter. (Honestly, your author kept catching herself starting to type 'Elle' a couple chapters from now and came back and tossed the name change in here, given the time skip.)
Squall didn't realise Quistis had joined Garden until the winter holidays. To be fair, he didn't share any of his classes with her – she had tested into the top classes for all of the theoretical subjects, and was a beginner with both magic and combat – and had learned to avoid the cafeteria during peak times, to lessen the chances of anyone but Zell trying to sit with him (the martial artist was determined to make a friend out of Squall, which may or may not have had anything to do with his inexplicable ability to always walk away from the food lines with a hot dog, and Squall had decided it was too much effort to be outright hostile). Instead, he spent time in the library when the cafeteria was crowded, working on assignments in relative quiet.
He probably would have continued being unaware of her, except he'd let Seifer taunt him into an early-morning sparring session, then got dragged to the cafeteria at completely the wrong end of lunch for his preferences. He didn't complain, though, because Fujin and Raijin had both gone home for the holiday, so he knew Seifer was lonely. And when Seifer was lonely, he became about twelve times more obnoxious than usual, and the best way to keep him from doing things like leaving a box of howling puppies outside Squall's door was just to give in to his demands for Squall's time as soon as he showed up.
Anyway.
Squall ended up in the cafeteria at exactly the wrong – or maybe it was the right, considering – time, and he let himself be dragged down to sit with Seifer, so he was in the prime spot to hear a someone very firmly say, "My answer is still 'no'."
A male – an older boy, who had failed the SeeD exam at the end of last year, Squall recognised upon glancing back – laughed and leaned a little further forward, towards someone with long blonde hair.
Whatever he said to her must have been pretty horrible, for she jumped to her feet and smacked him across the face. "Get away from me, Matagne!" she snapped, her voice ringing a couple bells in Squall's head.
"How dare you smack me, you little–" Matagne started, stepping forward, towards the girl. As she stepped back, Squall recognised her profile and felt his eyes widen.
"Oiy, Matagne," Seifer called lazily, and Squall closed his eyes against the inevitable confrontation, "why don't you stop picking on girls and find someone who's not afraid to fight back?"
"What, like you, Almasy?" the elder boy called back, and Squall's magic, spreading out across the floor to make sure he knew where everyone was, in case things turned nasty – which they usually did, with Seifer – kept track of him as he stepped closer. "You know, that glorified gun of yours doesn't make you a good fighter, and everyone in Garden knows you can't cast magic worth shit."
"But I can," Squall interrupted before Seifer could do anything stupid, turning in his seat to look back at where Matagne had frozen, halfway between Quistis and the table Seifer and Squall were sitting at. "Are you done?"
The older boy very visibly backed off, holding up his hands as if to ward off whatever spell Squall might throw at him. "Yeah, Leonhart. I'm done."
Squall nodded and turned back to the last of his cafeteria pie, further relaxing when he felt Matagne walking away from both his table, and Quistis's.
Seifer let out an angry snarl. "What the fuck, Leonhart? I don't need your protection."
"And I don't need yours," Quistis snapped as she stopped at the end of the table, towering over them.
Seifer sneered up at her. "Cool your non-existent tits, Trepe; I wouldn't protect you if you paid me."
Squall sighed and stood. "I'm going to the library, if you're going to be like this," he informed his sparring partner before nodding to Quistis and stepping around her.
Twenty minutes later, Quistis was sliding into the empty seat across from him at Squall's usual library table, a pile of books in her arms. She glared at him when he glanced up at her, and he responded with a shrug before returning to his work.
It honestly didn't surprise him when she started sitting with him in the library every meal time, once classes started back up, though she avoided him and Zell in the cafeteria.
Over the next four years, Squall fell into a pattern: Zell chattered at him during meals (unless he went home for the holidays), Quistis sat silently with him in the library, and Seifer dragged him to the Training Centre or out onto the plains to spar at least three times a week (once a day on holidays). During at least two of the three holidays each year, Squall would find Beau standing next to him during breakfast, a wry smile on his face as he told Squall he was kidnapping him for the day, and he'd get a day away from Garden with Matron and Elle, sailing the inner ocean in a scout ship and stopping at FH or – if they were feeling daring – Dollet.
It was...not a bad life, considering what he was.
Matron had reintroduced herself to Seifer at one point, when he'd 'just happened' to be on the Balamb docks when they got back, and while Squall knew he'd tried his damnedest to hold on to the memories he'd uncovered of her, he'd forgotten again within two months. Squall had been angry on Seifer's behalf, even as his chest ached with the knowledge that he was the only one, of his three almost-friends, who would remember them if they were to part for any real length of time. He wished there was something he could do, but every fact he could find said there wasn't. Not if his friends continued junctioning, which they weren't really given a choice about while attending Garden.
The spring that Squall was fourteen, Quistis took and passed her SeeD exam.
"You could easily pass next year," Quistis told him the next afternoon, voice quiet in deference to the stern librarian who, while she seemed to like Squall and Quistis, derived a disturbing sort of pleasure from kicking people out of her domain for talking 'too loud'. "Everyone knows you're a magic master, and you and Almasy are in a class of your own, when it comes to combat." Which had everything to do with the fact that they sparred without junctions or Squall's magic, so they were twice as deadly against anyone that wasn't each other.
Squall shook his head, absently spinning the lion ring he'd found on his bed one evening a couple years ago. (He had no idea where it had come from, but he also hadn't gone hunting for the information. He was sure that his roommate had been involved in putting it in his bedroom, and so would know who it had come from, but he hadn't asked at the time, and knew the boy would have forgotten by now.) "I'd rather get another few years in," he murmured. "There's no rush."
Quistis huffed and shook her head. "I don't get you sometimes, Squall."
Squall just let out a near-silent hum and turned back to his book; he couldn't very well explain that his magic had got to the point that he had to nearly exhaust it the day before Beau showed up to take him out for the day, or he and his GFs couldn't keep it under control. He needed another GF, had done so for a little over a year, but he hadn't heard anything about any new ones, and he didn't really want to ask Beau or Cid, determined to manage himself.
Still, this was Quistis, and he caught the sleeve of her new SeeD uniform as she started past him to leave. "If you find any GFs, let me know?"
Quistis shrugged. "Sure."
"I'm going to take the exam this year," Seifer declared some time in the middle of June, while the two of them walked towards the dorms after a spar.
"You need to work on your magic," Squall informed him drily, because while Seifer could cast a Firaga without fail and wasn't too horrible with lightning or cure magic, he still couldn't manage ice spells worth shit, and he had a lot of trouble with support magic.
Seifer snorted. "Yeah, yeah. Not all of us can be magic gurus. You're taking it, right?"
"No."
Seifer stopped walking, and Squall slowed to a stop a few paces ahead before glancing back at him, raising one eyebrow in inquiry. "What the hell do you mean, 'No'? Fuck, you probably could have passed two months ago and shown Trepe up, if there wasn't that fucking age requirement."
Squall sighed. "Just because you can do something doesn't, necessarily, mean you should, Seifer." He turned back towards the dorms and started moving again, tossing over his shoulder, "Anyway, I like Garden."
Seifer grumbled something behind him, too quiet for Squall to hear, then jogged to catch up. "Come on, Leonhart. If you're a SeeD, you can sail the seas all the time!"
Squall felt his shoulders tense and he shook his head; becoming SeeD might mean Beau trusted him enough to watch his own back for a couple of days aboard Alexander, but there was no way he'd be allowed to join her crew. "No," he replied quietly, "I can't."
Seifer drew in a breath like he was going to say something to that, but then he was silent for a long moment, until Squall glanced over at him curiously. "Well, maybe I'll sail the seas, then. And you'll totally owe me for keeping your sister safe."
Squall tried to envision Seifer on Alexander, dressed in the white SeeD uniform and standing at the helm, pointing at something with his gunblade in that ridiculously haughty way of his. It startled a laugh out of him.
"...I can't decide if I'm insulted that you're laughing at my plan, or if I need to start watching for the apocalypse because you actually laughed."
Squall bit his cheek to keep from laughing again and shot Seifer an unimpressed stare. "I do, actually, know how to laugh, Seifer. The mechanics are fairly standard."
Seifer rolled his eyes as they stopped outside the door to the room he shared with Raijin. "Ah, and there's the Leonhart we all know and hate."
Squall snorted. "Anyway, you haven't been on a boat since you were a kid. What makes you think you'd even be able to stomach it?"
Seifer gave him one of those looks he saved for when Squall let it slip that he knew more about the blond than Seifer himself did. "Leonhart, if I can stomach your lack of humour, I can stomach anything."
"Whatever," Squall tossed back before continuing down the hall to his own room.
Quistis returned from her first mission in early November, looking a little ragged around the edges. She found him in the library during the busy hour of dinner and fell gracelessly into her usual chair across from him.
Squall took a moment to consider her, then said, "You should probably go to bed before Kadowaki spots you."
Quistis smiled a bit helplessly. "I came from her," she insisted.
Squall nodded. "Of course you did."
Quistis shook her head and leaned forward against the table. Her shoulders tightened for a moment before giving up the battle and letting her slump comfortably against the sturdy wood. "Realised I've no idea what GFs you have," she said, words slurring just a little as she rested her head in the crook of one elbow.
"Shiva, Quezacotl, Pandemona, and Bahamut," he recited as he started putting his things away.
Quistis blinked at that. "You haven't been to the Fire Cavern?"
Squall grimaced. "Ifrit and I...don't get on. I'm too much like Shiva."
Quistis huffed. "Is that why you won't take the exam? You don't want to junction Ifrit?"
"Headmaster Cid was there the first time I tried; he knows better than to ask it of either of us again." Squall picked up his bag as he stood. "Let's get you to bed, Quisty."
Quistis shook her head and shoved herself into a sitting position, slipping a hand into one pocket. She pulled out two unfamiliar crystals and put them on the table. "I didn't have much use for Brothers, and I got Leviathan from another SeeD who said he couldn't make him do anything. I didn't even bother trying with him." She gave a huge yawn, jaw cracking, and shook herself. "I'm happy with Ifrit."
"Someone has to be," Squall murmured as he reached out and took hold of the dark purple crystal she'd called Brothers, first, letting it sink into his palm.
His magic rumbled pleasantly in the back of his head as two new presences joined him, joined together by a thin strand of energy. They had a solid feeling to them, very steady on their feet, and Squall raised his eyebrows when he realised they had their base in the earth element; no wonder his magic liked them. He had to assume Quistis hadn't liked them because they would be useless against any opponents using float, or any monsters what could fly. Which would actually make most SeeDs pass them over, too used to thinking of GFs as tools, rather than creatures deserving of respect.
The other crystal was blue streaked with aqua, reminding him of his days at sea. When he let it vanish into his palm, he heard a splash inside his head and a new being rumbled in discontent.
'Desist, Leviathan,' Shiva ordered, standing firm against what was clearly a GF strong in water. 'You are freed, here.'
'I remain trapped!' Leviathan raged, and Squall felt like his head was filling with water. 'I want the sea!'
"I'll take you to the sea," Squall whispered, holding his head and trying to keep it steady. "Next time I go out, you can swim the day away. I promise."
Leviathan settled at that, the water draining away. 'How long?'
"One month," Squall promised, deciding he could probably wheedle Cid into letting him take one of the SeeD boats out for the day if the Alexander got stuck somewhere.
'I will hold you to that, Sorceress,' Leviathan warned before settling back against Squall's magic, his bulk easily blocking the parts of the ever-growing magic that the Brothers weren't able to hold back.
When Squall opened his eyes, he found Quistis holding his shoulders, eyes wide with exhaustion and concern. "Squall?" she whispered when he looked at her.
He shook his head, still feeling strangely waterlogged, like the time he'd almost drowned at the orphanage, playing in the water and getting caught by what he now knew had been a rip current. One of the older orphans had been the one to save him, catching him under the arms and swimming along the beach a ways until they could return to shore. Matron had been frantic.
"I'm fine," he told Quistis, blinking away the unexpected memory. "Leviathan is...difficult. But we've reached an accord."
Quistis slumped in relief, and Squall grabbed for her, supporting her by her elbows. "Bed," he ordered.
Quistis nodded and reached for her bag, only to almost fall over. Squall steadied her and grabbed it instead, then helped her from the library and towards the dorms. She had to point out her new single, and he ended up having to take her ID from fumbling fingers and run it for her, but they made it inside in the end.
"Get some sleep, Quisty," Squall murmured as he pulled the blankets up over her. He left her bag next to the door, then left her to return to his own room, where he could hopefully get some more work done before he made his own way to bed.
Beau did, indeed, come in December, and Squall had barely managed to wait until they were out of harbour before he let Leviathan form in the water. The water dragon had clearly enjoyed himself, keeping pace with the scout ship and snacking on fish while those on the ship watched him and caught up.
Letting him out was almost as effective as having Leviathan sit in his head the entire trip outside of Garden, in terms of keeping his magic under control, and Squall almost hit himself when he remembered what Shiva had told him about his GFs using his magic to keep solid form. If he hadn't been so dumb, he could have just summoned Bahamut or a couple of others for the trip and keep his magic under control that way.
'It hardly matters now,' Bahamut said, amused. 'You never leave, beyond sailing with your family, and Leviathan can serve as a drain now. He certainly enjoyed it.'
'There is freedom in you, Sorceress,' Leviathan agreed. 'For so long as you grant me the gift of swimming the sea, I shall lend you whatever of my strengths that I might.'
"Thank you," Squall replied, honestly grateful for the promise, because he didn't want to force Leviathan to remain with him, but it was painfully clear that he needed the GF to help manage his magic outside Garden.
In true Seifer fashion, it wasn't his inability to cast any ice or support magic that had him failing the SeeD exam, but his inability to work with other people.
"They were idiots," he muttered for what was probably the twenty-fifth or so time since the assessments had been given to everyone who'd failed three days ago. (Not that Squall had been keeping track or anything.)
Squall had decided to just ignore him, beyond a noncommittal hum, while Fujin and Raijin had apparently hit their limit on the first day, if the speed with which they'd climbed aboard the transit to Balamb Town had been anything to go by. Zell, likewise, had fled home for the two-week holiday, and Quistis was out on assignment again, which meant it was just Squall and Seifer. And Seifer's bitching.
"The directions they gave us were stupid. And what sort of moron puts a wom–"
"Don't make me tell Fujin you're being misogynistic again," Squall warned, admittedly fond of the way the small albino responded to anyone – Seifer included – looking down on someone for their gender. The fact that she wouldn't back down from anyone was impressive; the fact that she'd ended up in the infirmary with a broken arm and shattered collarbone for her daring was not. (Though, the boy who'd attacked her had ended up in the bed next to her, looking twice as bad, before the end of the day was out, and Seifer and Raijin had borne their punishment for attacking a fellow cadet with pride.)
Seifer huffed. "You're not even listening to me."
Squall rolled his eyes, then glanced up when he felt a familiar tread through his Quake magic. "Good," he murmured as he closed his book and shoved it into his bag.
Seifer glanced over his shoulder, then let out a whine when he saw Beau striding towards them. "Even you're abandoning me, Squally?"
"I'm really not," Squall promised as Beau reached them.
"Hey, kid," the captain greeted. "I've come to break you out of here for some fresh air."
"Both of us," Squall insisted as he stood. "Seifer's coming too."
"What?" Seifer said, looking up at Squall in confusion.
"I don't have permission to take Seifer off the island," Beau reminded Squall, because being the leader of SeeD's mobile fleet did not, in fact, give him blanket permission to run off with random cadets for the day. Even when the unofficial guardian of those cadets lived on his ship.
Squall pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it over to the captain, then reached down to pull Seifer to his feet. "Come on. I want to see how well you manage a day on a boat."
"I feel like I should be more concerned about the fact that you got Cid to sign off on this, but I'm really not," Beau decided as he slipped away the paper with Cid's written permission for the captain to take Seifer out on a scout ship for the day. It had been a lot less loosely worded than the permission the headmaster had given for Squall, but, then, the Alexander's crew wasn't really Seifer's family, as they were Squall's.
Squall shrugged, tugging Seifer along with them as they made for the cafeteria entrance. "I've been bribing him with birthday cake for the past seven years. At this point, he'd probably let me take over Garden for the day, if I asked him."
"That's why you always save out a piece!" Seifer realised, having made a point to always be around to help Squall eat the cakes he brought back with him. He'd make a crack about the leftover piece each time, but he'd never once asked who it was for. He wrapped an arm around Squall's shoulders, neither of them faltering in their steps at the change in position, and said, "Your deviousness is inspiring."
Squall sighed. "I don't know why everyone seems to think I'm devious."
Beau snorted. "Get in the car, kid."
Squall let Seifer have the front seat, giving himself the chance to stretch out across the back seat and mentally prepare himself for the day away from Garden's calming presence on his magic. Beau, used to the way Squall always went disturbingly still and silent while they were in the car, kept Seifer distracted.
When they got out at the docks, a man in a ratty sea captain's coat was scowling at the two SeeDs blocking him from the ship, and Squall and Beau sighed in tandem.
"On the boat, you two," Beau ordered before stepping forward to join his SeeDs, back straightening as he went.
"Come on." Squall led the way around the brewing confrontation and up the boarding ramp to where Matron was awaiting them.
"Hello, Squall," she said, pulling him into a hug. When he stepped back, she managed a fond smile for Seifer, though it was clearly strained by the confrontation on shore. "Hello again, Seifer."
Seifer considered her, memories flickering behind green eyes. After a moment, recognition gleamed through and he shot Squall that familiar 'you always know more about me than I do' look before stepping forward into the hug Matron offered him. "Hi, Matron," he murmured, arms wrapping tight around her.
"Goodness," Matron complained good-naturedly, "you need to stop growing, Seifer." She glanced over at Squall, who was the same height as her and still growing. "You too, Squall."
"I'll keep an eye out for shrinking magic," Squall replied, deadpan, and Matron laughed, while Seifer rolled his eyes. "Is Sis hiding?"
"She's below," Matron agreed. "Is Seifer coming along?"
"I decided he needed some sea air," Squall said by way of response as he made his way toward the steering cabin and the hatch that led down to the hold under the deck.
"Don't bring her up until we're under way!" Matron called after him, and Squall waved his understanding as he tugged the hatch open.
Elle was lying in a gently swaying hammock, eyes closed and a book resting on her stomach. Squall gave himself a moment to watch her sleep, the part of him that seemed to be ever searching for her quieting for the moment.
When he sensed feet on the boarding ramp, though, he stepped forward and gently shook her shoulder. "Sis?"
Brown eyes blinked sleepily open and stared at him without understanding for a beat before they lit with pleasure. "Squall!" she called, turning in the hammock and letting her book fall to the ground. "Oh...bother..." she complained as the hammock refused to free her.
Squall laughed. "If you can sit up, I can lift you out."
Elle smiled and shook her head, even as she shifted so Squall could pick her up enough to free her from the hammock. "Perhaps not the best place to take a nap," she admitted.
Squall shook his head and drew her in for a hug as soon as she was on the ground. She wasted no time in hugging him back, hands tight against the small of his back.
The hatch opened again at the other end of the hold. "Squall?" Beau called down.
"Yeah?"
"I don't feel like shouting a conversation; get up here. Elle, as long as you stay in the cabin, you should be fine."
Squall gave Elle a boost at the hatch, while Beau tugged her up, easing her passage up the ladder, and Squall scrambled up after her. Beau kicked the hatch shut, then pinned Squall with a tiredly amused look. "The sea dragon disturbs the locals."
In Squall's head, Leviathan cackled.
"I'm pretty sure that was his intention," Squall replied with a shrug, already resigned to his newest GF's sense of humour, after four months of him making comments in regards to Squall's daily life. "I'll wait until we're out of sight of Balamb to let him loose, but I can't control him once he's in the water."
"That's all I ask." Beau squeezed his shoulders and motioned for the SeeDs to start them away from the docks. "Are you sure Seifer coming along is a good plan?"
"Seifer's here?" Elle piped up, shading her eyes against the sunlight outside the cabin.
"He failed the exam," Squall admitted with a grimace. "He needed out of Garden, both because it can't be helping, and because someone will probably try putting him out of their misery if he doesn't stop complaining."
"That means no tricks with the fish," Beau pointed out. "Unless you want to chance him catching on."
Squall shook his head. "I haven't given myself away to him yet, have I?"
Beau sighed and squeezed his shoulder. "You haven't," he agreed quietly. "You'll have to forgive me my concern."
Squall shook his head and rested his own hand on the hand Beau hadn't removed from his shoulder. "I don't. I understand why. And I'm...grateful." He grimaced. "Most of the time."
Beau chuckled and drew away, turning to look back towards the retreating town behind them. "You should be fine to take Elle out. And let out the dragon."
Squall gave a sharp salute and followed Elle out towards where Seifer and Matron were standing at the prow. Seifer was staring ahead, squinting against the rush of wind and clutching at the railing, as though he wasn't sure of his balance on the moving deck. "Hi, Seifer!" Elle called as she got in range to be heard over the wind.
Seifer glanced back, startled. "You're Squally's sister?" he asked, having never actually had occasion to meet her.
Elle's smile dimmed slightly, but she nodded and held out a hand for a handshake. "I'm Ellone."
"Finally, a name," Seifer joked as he shook her hand. "I was beginning to think you were called 'Sis'."
Squall snorted as he easily balanced against the railing and leaned forward, out over the water. "Leviathan," he called, loosening his firm grip on the GF, who had wanted to come out closer to the town.
Leviathan formed next to the ship, long nose coming up to nudge against Squall's forehead while Seifer let out a shocked sound behind him. "You lack all sense of humour, Sor–"
"Stay next to the scout ship," Squall interrupted, pinning the GF with a hard stare. "I don't need the townspeople refusing to let us dock there because you're an ass."
Leviathan sank slightly, his head and ear frills lowering in shame. "You take so much fun out of my life," he complained.
Squall reached down and stroked along Leviathan's nose, just barely within his reach. "I'll ask Beau if we can swing by Dollet. You can torment them."
"Squall," Matron said, disapproving, even while Leviathan seemed to perk up.
Squall straightened and was surprised to find Seifer standing next to him, knuckles white against the railing. "This is Leviathan, a Guardian Force," he offered. "Leviathan, you know Seifer."
Leviathan raised himself in the water again, so he was on height with Seifer's wide eyes. "Indeed I do. He scorns us, as most do." He turned away.
"It's not scorn," Squall muttered, rolling his eyes.
Seifer turned disbelieving eyes on him. "You actually do talk to them," he realised.
Squall shifted, uncomfortable at the reminder of all the times Seifer had caught him talking to his GFs.
Elle leaned over the railing on Squall's other side, holding her hand out for Leviathan, who swam back over obediently. "Squall's always had an unusual relationship with his GFs. When he first got Shiva, I kept being uncertain if he was talking to me, or her."
"But, they don't talk," Seifer insisted.
"No, you just don't listen," Squall shot back, the argument familiar.
"Boys," Matron interrupted, disapproving.
Squall bit his tongue and looked away, out past Leviathan, towards the Galbadian continent. "I'm going to ask if we can swing by Dollet," he decided, pushing away from the railing.
"Squall," Matron warned.
He escaped before she could tell him off for bowing to his GF's nasty sense of humour.
"A little birdie seems to think you're wasting your potential," Beau commented as he came over to where Squall was sitting curled around the railing, watching Leviathan tormenting some Galbadian battle cruisers in the distance.
Squall looked back towards the cabin, where one of the SeeDs was showing Seifer the ship's controls. "You agree with him, that I should just take the exam."
Beau hummed. "I think there's about half the story that he's missing, and probably about three important details you're trying to keep from Edea and myself," he commented and Squall winced. Beau ruffled his hair. "I think you could do a lot of good as a SeeD, and if you weren't trapped by Garden's class schedule and our missions, we'd probably see a lot more of each other."
Squall sighed and explained, "My magic's calmer at Garden. It's harder to control away from Balamb, and my GFs can only help so far."
Beau sat down next to him, leaning through the holes in the railing the same way Squall was and looking out towards the ships in the distance. "We can find you more GFs, if you think that would help." Squall shrugged. "And I expect it'll be more inclined to behave if you actually used it when you were away from Garden; don't think I haven't noticed the way you always mess with the fish."
"What's to say I'll even get a mission that I can use my magic on?" Squall complained, rubbing at his chest. "It's all time and space magic."
"And forbidden," Beau reminded him.
Squall snorted. "Right. If we ever need someone to start a war, I'm a one-man bomb."
Beau squeezed his shoulder. "You've got a year, kid. I'll tell my people to keep their eyes peeled for GFs." He pushed Squall until he glanced over, taking in the tired smile on the familiar, weather-worn face. "Waiting until you're nineteen is not going to make this any easier, Squall," Beau pointed out, voice as gentle as the truth was harsh. "For all you know, whatever it is at Balamb that's suppressing your magic is just making it that much more violent when you leave. You may find it easier to manage after a month away."
Squall shook his head. "No. It's definitely growing. It's–" He waved his hands helplessly in front of him for a moment before dropping one to his lap, the other tapping his chest above his necklace chain. "It's like it's expanding, has been for...forever, really. It was harder to notice when I was a kid, because it was always...I don't know. It wiggled, I guess. It was never still, not like it is at Garden."
Not like it is now, Squall realised with some surprise, mentally considering the calm ball of darkness curled up at the back of his mind. "Why didn't anyone tell me?" he asked his GFs.
"What are– Oh," Beau said, clearly realising Squall had changed his intended audience.
'WE ARE KEEPING AN EYE ON IT,' Sacred insisted.
'idiot! that wasn't what he meant!' Minotaur shouted.
Squall tried hard not to sigh at the Brothers, their argumentative manner already familiar.
'So long as it's not causing trouble, we didn't see the point,' Bahamut replied, a careless shrug echoing through his words. 'We would have told you later.'
'This is your time,' Shiva soothed, shooting icy magic towards Bahamut. 'We didn't want to interrupt you with something that is good news.'
"Excellent, more like," Squall corrected. "But I don't know the reason, and that bothers me." He glanced over at Beau, who had turned back to watch where Leviathan had finally got bored with the Galbadians and vanished under the surface of the water. "Sorry," Squall offered.
Beau snorted. "I'm used to you getting lost in your head, kid."
Squall let a helpless smile turn his mouth at that simple truth for a brief moment, before he remembered his current confusion and frowned. "My magic, right now, it's the same as at Garden."
Beau frowned himself at that, rubbing at his chin around the bars. "You're going to need to talk to Edea. She's the only person who might have any idea what's going on."
Squall glanced back towards where Seifer was holding everyone else's attention in the cabin, then slumped. "Yeah, I know."
Beau sighed and ruffled his hair. "Hey. How old are you, now?"
Squall made a face. "Fifteen. Why?"
Beau smiled. "You're allowed to ask for help, kid." He got up, groaning the whole way, like every motion hurt, and Squall shot him an unimpressed look. Beau grinned back down at him. "I'll send Matron your way. And maybe consider heading towards FH for some lunch, if you think you can behave your mayhem urges," he added, looking at where Leviathan was surfacing carefully enough that the ship only moved gently in the displaced water.
"I'm entertained enough for today," Leviathan decided, flipping his tail and causing a splash of water to rain down over Squall and Beau.
"Great. Thanks," Beau muttered while he turned to leave, Squall chuckling quietly at the rail.
"He is right," Leviathan commented, nudging Squall's legs with his nose. "This refusal of yours to ask for help is helping no one."
"I did ask for help," Squall insisted, slumping against the railing. "That's how I got Brothers and you."
'You asked a peer for help,' Quezacotl commented. 'Perhaps it is not so good an idea, this one of making children soldiers.'
"I'll let Cid know you think so next time I speak to him," Squall snapped. "I'm sure he'll find your thoughts–"
'Stop being rude because we're right,' Shiva ordered.
'You're not that childish,' Bahamut added drily.
Squall rubbed angrily at his face. "I'm sorry. You're right, I'm just–"
"You're a wreck," Leviathan deadpanned, even as he rested his nose on Squall's knees, giving the railing a look that was probably meant to melt it. "We forgive you for it, however; you're only human."
"As opposed to what? A fish?"
"They are certainly chewier."
Squall pressed his foot up against Leviathan's jaw. "They are not, you liar. They're bony."
"The ones you eat, perhaps," Leviathan agreed. "Jellyfish, however..." His head frills shivered. "Yum."
"Ew, no. Get out of my lap," Squall complained, having spent two days throwing up the first and only time he'd let himself be dared into eating jellyfish. "I don't want your jellyfish breath that close to me."
Leviathan raised his head, ran his tongue across Squall's face, then dove under the surface of the water with a cackle.
Squall stared after him, disbelieving, while his GFs laughed in his head. He shook himself after a moment and climbed to his feet so he could lean over the railing. "Get back here so I can Ultima your ass!"
"Squall," Matron said from behind him, amusement and disapproval in her voice, and he realised some of the laughter he'd thought had been all in his head had, in fact, been from her.
Squall held his hands behind his back, caught.
"Don't threaten your GFs," Matron ordered as she stepped forward, pulling a handkerchief out of the pocket of her dress. "Even if they do lick you."
Squall resisted the urge to make a face, holding still so Matron could wipe off his face. As she pulled back, he complained, "He was eating jellyfish."
Matron's eyes sparkled. "Some people like them."
Squall huffed and turned back to lean against the railing. He caught sight of a white tail and narrowed his eyes. Leviathan laughed in his head as the tail moved out of sight.
Matron's hand combed through his dampened hair. "Beau said you needed to talk to me."
"Yeah." Squall gave himself a couple seconds to slump against the railing, then glanced up at her. "My magic is being...strange."
"Strange how?" Matron replied as she easily settled against the railing next to him.
"It...used to be chaotic. I think I told you, right?"
"I recall something about that, yes. I assumed, then, it was because of the time magic, but perhaps it's because of the forbidden magic."
Squall shrugged. "Or both."
"True."
"It's always calm at Garden, though."
Matron fell very, very still, something odd in her gaze when she turned to look at Squall. "Do you need the GFs, then?"
Squall shook his head, staring at her. "You know what it means?" he asked, heart thudding in his chest. Maybe, at last, he would get an answer.
Matron pressed her lips together, debating, for a long few beats, then let out a sigh and looked down at the water. "You remember how you got your magic."
"Yeah."
"After you passed out, the young man who was there told me that your magic was going to be...difficult to manage. He suggested the GFs as a way to control it until your knight was ready."
Squall's magic almost seemed to hum in contentment, and he looked over his shoulder to where Seifer was shaking his head at something Beau was saying. "Seifer?" he whispered, because that was what had changed, this trip out.
Matron cupped his cheek and turned him back to look at her. "Your magic is calm right now?" she guessed and he nodded. "But it hasn't been in the past when you've left with us?" He shook his head and she let out a sigh. "Then, yes, I expect your magic has latched on to him as its preferred knight."
Squall frowned at that. "Preferred?"
She nodded and moved her hand from his cheek to his chest, pressing gently against the spot he always pointed to when he was talking about his magic. "Sorceress Magic always picks one person, above anyone else, that it considers capable enough to control it and keep its physical body – you – safe. However, as with your GFs, it can be managed, to some extent, by anyone the sorceress her- – or him- – self trusts enough to let help. Your magic won't fight its preferred knight, but it will fight a knight that you pick."
Squall considered that for a moment, then asked, "Who's your knight?"
"My magic preferred my father," Matron admitted, letting her hand drop back to her side. "Cid took his place when Dad died, and while my magic has never completely approved, it accepted the change. Far more willingly than your magic is accepting the GFs, but, then, Seifer isn't dead."
"But...you never see Uncle Cid," Squall pointed out, frowning.
Matron sighed and absently brushed a lock of hair behind his ear. "A completed knight-bond doesn't need physical nearness. Your magic prefers your knight be near, for it's his job to protect you, and it's hard to manage that when you're apart, but it's not necessary," she explained, voice patient. "So long as both you and your knight still remain dear to one another, your magic will act as though he is standing right next to you." She shook her head and glanced towards Seifer. "I know we've cautioned you against letting anyone else know what you are, but it's clear that your magic is set on Seifer, so you may as well tell him."
Squall huffed. "I can't imagine that conversation going well."
Matron let out a quiet laugh and leaned forward to kiss his forehead. "You know him best, sweetheart. Tell him when and how you think he's most likely to accept it." She sighed. "Just don't leave it until too late; he's going to try for the SeeD exam again next year, and if he leaves Garden for a mission without a completed bond, you're going to struggle."
Squall bit his tongue against the fear that shot through him at the thought of being in Garden without the sense of calm that Seifer was apparently providing. "I'll talk to him," he promised.
"I know you will. For now, why don't you come and join everyone else for a bit. Rather than watching out for Leviathan."
Squall huffed and allowed himself to be led away.
1 - Water in My Eyes ||| 2 - Delusional Sunset ||| 3 - Reach For Your Metal
7 - Clouds of Sulphur ||| 8 - I Will Be With You ||| 9 - Every Story I Have Told is a Part of Me & You
10 - Burning in the Skies ||| 11 - Colour of Your Soul ||| 12 - Beneath My Wings
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