Chapter One: The Northern Legacy

"Today marks the tenth anniversary of the Prime Incident and as you can see and hear, citizens hailing from Nibelheim to Cosmo Canyon have come out in droves to celebrate this solemn affair. It was on this day, that seven brave souls gave their lives to save the entirety of the western continent, but it was not without further sacrifice for the surrounding areas were heavily damaged due to the immense shockwave that followed resulting in the loss of over eight hundred lives.

It was due to this incident that the use of the Minerva Units came under heavy fire from the people across the globe and the government was forced to erect the Valor Law: an edict in which the use of the Minerva Unit was to be strictly used to eliminate the JENOVA nests that are now a global epidemic. Whether this law has lowered the cost of lives due to rogue Minerva Unit users remains to be seen.

Ah, it seems that Archduchess Helena Fair has arrived with her son, Marquess Fair. The City-State of Gongaga was one of the most heavily affected areas of the Prime Incident. Your Excellency? A word if you would?

"I want you to thank you for joining us today."

"Of course." Archduchess Helena's smooth voice echoes across the static speakers. "It would be a deep dishonor if my son and I would not be here to mourn the loss of our people."

"Of course and if you could, Your Excellency, what you would you say to the families of the team that was at ground zero that day?"

"I cannot thank them enough for giving their lives for all of us." Helena began, her voice softening in thought. "Though it was not without sacrifices of our own, the fact that you and your team decided to give your souls for us speaks of the dedication that will resound through the generations of the people you have saved."

"And...do you have anything personal to say to the son of Commander Crimson Strife? The former ODIN Unit?"

"I do: never forget, little one, of the honor and pride that your name holds. It matters not the harsh words of others, but the love your father held for you-"

A hand, covered with sweat and oil, reached over and switched the handle to the radio off, plummeting the small workstation into a swift and cold silence, but Cloud cared little, turning back to the helmet that sat before him. It was a fine piece of equipment, but the thing about Lightning Elementals was that it hurt like a bitch when a wrench was put to it. Then again, he supposed that he shouldn't complain about working on a Minerva Unit that belonged to the Amicitia Family. It was honor and Cloud would consider it an honor if it hands weren't covered with blood and bruises thanks to the unstable defensive mechanism. Honestly, how did Gladio handle this wretched Unit?

Cloud scooted away from the desk, cracking his back and allowing a small hum of satisfaction at the motion. Being bent over a table didn't do any favors for his posture and back, but tinkering away at Minvera Units was his lifeblood and he wouldn't give it up for all the gil in the world.

"Cloud!" a rough voice called out that was followed by the banging of the workshop door to reveal a short, tan skinned, blond-haired woman who looked worse for wear donning a pair of oil-stained overalls that had seen better days. "How's that helmet coming along?"

"Fine," Cloud grunted, reaching up and waving away the smoke that seemed to follow his mother like a bad smell. "What are you doing here, Ma? I thought you had business at the Base?"

"I finished my business." Clarissa Strife slammed the door to the workshop shut with enough force to knock one of Cloud's many, many toolboxes off the shelf and to the floor earning a small huff and roll of the eyes. "And mind your manners, boy. I can still bend you over my knee."

Cloud's lips twitched at the empty threat. "You could if you hadn't blown out your right knee taking out that Behemoth outside the village." Cloud grinned when Clarissa reached over and clipped on the ear before snatching the helmet off the table to give it an inspection.

"I did what I had to and if I didn't, you dear old Da would have come back from the Stream and ripped me a new one." Clarissa spun the horned helmet to inspect the back a little closer before reaching over to grab a screwdriver - much to Cloud's chagrin and started tinkering with the ponytail that hung from the back of the head.

"It's hard to remember that this hair is just a group of fine sensors." Clarissa murmured, setting the helmet back down in front of Cloud. "The IXION Unit is one of the more older models. You know it actually holds a God Core?"

"I'm not surprised," Cloud uttered, turning back to the deep gray helmet that was currently in his mother's capable hands. "It belongs to one of the Five Families."

Clarissa huffed, handing the helmet back to Cloud who was careful to set it back on the workshop table. "You know I don't like dealing with those families, boy."

"We might not like dealing with them, Ma, but they keep us fed and clothed and Nibelheim on the map." Cloud's lips thinned. "I don't know what would have happened if the Lucis-Caelum Family hadn't vouched for us."

Clarissa's eyes darkened and her own lips thinned. As much as she wanted to snarl at the thought, her son was right. After the Prime Incident, the majority of the land blamed Crimson and his team for the Incident, stating that if it wasn't for them, half of Gongaga's population wouldn't have been wiped out nor would Cosmo Canyon shifted six miles due to the tectonic plates shifting under the strain of the explosion and the shockwave that followed. It was a blame that Clarissa was willing to let her departed husband bear until Ignis Scientia, a member of the Lucis-Caelum Family and wielder of the IFRIT Unit, had discovered the remains of a vast JENOVA's nest beneath the site of the explosion forcing the entire the nation to realize and come to one conclusion:

Crimson had saved them all.

It didn't replace the people that had been lost nor did it ease the pain, but it put the people's mind at ease knowing that their families didn't die because of the arrogance of a single man.

However, even with Crimson's heroic actions, Nibelheim had become the sacrificial lamb and what was once a prosperous town that was known for its rare metals and materia was nothing but a ghost town on the brink of starvation and madness until Regis Lucis Caelum, former operator of the ETRO Unit, was found injured and on the brink of death by Cloud Strife, whom was quite adept at healing, cared for the injured operator, not knowing who he was at the time.

Clarissa, knowing exactly who the man was, kept quiet and allowed Cloud to clear his family name with hands that she had taught to dismantle, create, destroy and heal. She watched as her only son revived Nibelheim with a small, shy smile and a steady grip that had helped Regis back into the ETRO Unit with a promise to return on his lips. And return he did with supplies that would last them until next winter which was enough to time to get the town back on his feet when word spread that Regis Lucis Caelum, Head of the Lucis-Caelum Family had been saved in the desolate town of Nibelheim - the town where Crimson was born and raised. The man who had taken several lives in the process of saving the entire land.

Her son had single handily saved them all, just as his Father before him.

"Ma?" Cloud called out with a touch of bemusement. "You okay? You're not drinking that alcohol from the Base are you? You know that stuff is laced with Cosmo Juice-"

"I know what it's laced with, child." Clarissa flicked him on the ear and the sour mood that seemed to premade over them vanished with her son's jibe. He would never change, this one. "Who do you think was the first one to lace it with the stuff? Your Pa brought it back after his debriefing with the Cosmo Elders and its been a love story in the making ever since and it was one of the factors of why-"

"I don't need to hear the story of my conception - for the fifth time." Cloud cut in, deadpan, tossing the helmet back in his mother's direction. "The repairs are done so you can take them back to Gladio at the Base."

Clarissa huffed, examining the horned helmet, nodding in approval and tucking it underneath her arm. "I'll return it in the morning. It's almost dusk and Gladio could use the break before turning to his family."

Cloud winced, lifting himself off the workshop chair and joining his mother as the left the small shop. Nibelheim was a mid-sized town with its standard homes, shops, and inns, but what made the town famous was Strife Repair Shop - a little hovel of a thing in the business of making the world a better place by repairing Minerva Units - suits of thick armor that were said to be infused with metal, mako, and the spirits of the Cetra, the original creators of the Minerva Units named after the Goddess who blessed them with the plans to bodies of armor to fight against JENOVA, an exterrestial being who came from the stars and its nest of monsters.

"He's fighting with his Da again?"

"No." Clarissa chuckled softly, shooting him a fond look. "He's fighting with Ignis again. It seems that his sight is getting worse and Gladio doesn't want him being operator to the IFRIT Unit."

Cloud tilted his head to the side at the information. "I don't understand. Ignis' sight has never been at its best and the rings around IFRIT's wrists are sensors that help identify targets and Ignis is used to the lack of sight which only enhances this ability almost ten-fold."

"That's good and all, but Gladio is in love with Ignis and no matter how good his Minerva Unit is in defeating JENOVA's Nest, it matters not when one fears the other being killed."

"Ah." Cloud didn't understand, having never been in love, but he understood the love of family and he supposed that Gladio felt that about Ignis as well. "I hope that all goes well with them in the end."

"I'm sure it will, Cloud." Clarissa hefted the helmet underneath her arm and directed him towards their small home with a tired smile. "Come. We still have to cook and clean seeing as I'm sure Gladio would like a bit of breakfast before he returns to his territory."

Cloud groaned at the thought. While cooking was rather easy for him, feeding an Amicitia was no simple task. The blasted family was known for their ravenous hunger.

"Off you go, sunspot." Clarissa urged again, pushing him into the house and closing the door tightly with a small grunt, satisfied to hear the lock engage. A simple door lock wouldn't stop the monsters that wandered down the mountain, but it would give them enough leeway to ready themselves.

"Ma?" Cloud called out, stripping himself out of his work clothes and tossing them on his bed. "Are we going to visit Da in the morning after we send Gladio off?"

At the question, Clarissa face drew tight and her lips thinned. Crimson Strife - her husband- was buried on top of the mountain and on the anniversary of his death, mourners would make the trip to thank him for his service and she couldn't bear it, but she knew Cloud wanted to see his Da and it wouldn't be right for her to deny him the right when she was uncomfortable with the thought.

"Of course," Clarissa responded, her will to clean and cook vanishing with the dropping of her stomach. "I think I'll just buy that blasted child breakfast tomorrow - I'm exhausted."

Cloud, realizing what he had done and asked, paled and made to stand, but Clarissa shook her head and dropped the helmet on the table. "No fault of your own, baby, just a touch sensitive."

"Ma-"

"Off to bed with you, child, I've no patience for your pity tonight." Clarissa waved him off before going to her own bedroom and clicking the door shut and leaving the younger man to his thoughts.

Cloud watched the door long after his mother shut herself behind it before he shuffled off to bed himself, all but collapsing on top of it with a long sigh. He knew his mother closed up around this time around the year, but he was thankful when so many jobs came in that she had no time to mourn. It was fine until he opened his mouth to ask about the memorial and it was usually a fine question, but the radio broadcast dedicated to the Prime Incident was what stirred up buried feelings. He knew his mother heard seeing as it interrupted other stations across the continent before returning to their proper channels, which was why his mother was so cheerful - she didn't want to mention the broadcast and he wanted nothing to do with it.

But-

"It's my Da," Cloud uttered with a shaky smile. "I want to see my Da."

Cloud closed his eyes, hoping to bring the image of his departed father to his mind, but was disheartened when nothing arrived. It was, after all, ten years since he had last seen him and he was only but a child. Sure, his mother had pictures scattered across their home, but it was just that - pictures. It was nothing but a piece of paper without the memories attached and Crimson was just that to him: a picture. He thought that by seeing his father's grave, it would bring up memories of him, but nothing surfaced but despair at the loss and pity for his mother who looked as if she was ready to jump off the summit of Mt. Nibel when she saw her husband's grave.

Cloud shook his head, turning his head to his mother's closed door and closed his eyes. He would apologize tomorrow and see if his mother still wanted to go to the summit. If not, then he would go outside the village to look for metal so that his mother wouldn't. It was one of her least favorite tasks for their little shop.

It was unfortunate that Cloud never got the chance to apologize or go to the summit to visit his father. For when he woke, Nibelheim would be set aflame, the air filled with smoke and the ground stained with blood.