I DO NOT OWN FINAL FANTASY VII or XIII, ANY OF THEIR CHARACTERS OR ANY USED DIALOGUE FROM XIII…ALL OF THAT WOULD BELONG TO Square-Enix.
Sergeant Farron, otherwise known by her codename: Lightning, moved past the numerous cubicles in the Guardian Corps HQ with purpose. She needed to see her C.O. about certain rumors that had been floating around; normally she would not have cared about a stupid rumor, but this was something that truly bothered her. Moving up the flight of metal stairs that separated the Captain's office from the rest of the Headquarters, Lightning knocked twice on the metal door before she was allowed in with a deep "Enter."
Pushing open the metal door, Light stepped into the office: for being the head officer's workplace it was little more than a glorified cubicle, same carpeted floor and gray walls, but with the exception of a great mahogany desk, squashy swivel chair and a lone window directly behind the desk.
Inside was the portly Lieutenant Amodar and Captain Matsuki; Matsuki, who was an experienced and one of the strongest and most honorable soldiers in the whole Corps, was beginning to look like the sixty-five year old man that he was. Silvery hair cascaded down from underneath his peaked cap and his cream uniform looked baggy on a quickly frail turning body.
"Oh Farron," he said in a voice that did not reflect the exterior age "What can I do for you?"
Snapping into a crisp salute, Lightning said with authority "Sir, permission to speak freely?"
"Granted. Now what's on your mind?"
"Captain, I only came to see if the rumors are true sir?"
"Rumors of my retirement?" he inquired lifting his eyebrows in surprise.
"Yes Captain,"
"Farron, I'm surprised at you!" Amodar scolded lightheartedly "You ought to know not to believe everything you hear-"
"-Actually," interrupted Matsuki with a hardness in his voice that made Amodar turn in surprise. "The Sanctum thinks that it's time to retire this old dog"
"That's outrageous!" fumed Lightning "You've been the best Captain the Bodhum Corp ever had, they can't just toss you out like yesterday's rubbish!"
"Calm down Farron," said Matsuki as though he was calming a raging toddler, "It's not completely the Sanctum's idea."
The revelation was as startling to Amodar as it was to Lightning. "Yes, Perenelle thinks that I ought to start slowing down after thirty years, and I have to follow an order from my CO" he said with a chuckle.
"But-" started Lightning but she was stopped as Matsuki held up a hand.
"No 'buts' Farron, my mind is made up and my wife has been looking at retirement cottages in Eden. We leave at the end of the week."
Lightning bit her tongue in order to keep herself from saying anything naïve or stupid, but Amodar made the comment:
"Well, er, is there any word on who is replacing you sir?"
Matsuki reclined in his swivel chair with a defiant look on his face "Well, the damn Sanctum tried to cheat me of my right to choose a successor by trying to put one of those PSICOM bastards in my office." He suddenly began sporting a grin that made him look years younger "but I fought that with a lucky bluff!"
The lieutenant exchanged confused looks with the strawberry-haired sergeant, "A lucky bluff sir?"
"I told 'em I already had someone in mind, wasn't until later that day that bluff became fact!" he said triumphantly.
"You have a replacement already?!" asked Lightning, totally forgetting authority, but Matsuki ignored this rudeness.
"Yes I do, he's got incredible history, outside the Corp, and he's coming all the way from Gaia."
Both officers gasped, equally stunned;
"From Gaia?" breathed Lightning; it was basic geography that Gaia was several continents to the west.
"What's a guy that far from home doing here in Cocoon?" asked Amodar truly intrigued
"I found him, looking to join the military, but when I looked over his history, there was no doubt in my mind that he'd be my replacement."
"But sir!" said Lightning defiantly, cutting off Amodar, "You don't know anything about this guy and, if you'll forgive me sir, I'm not comfortable with letting an outsider run the Bodhum Corp…"
"…Well that's too bad" said Matsuki coldly, causing Lightning to step back "If it were a choice between an outsider or some bullshit, hot-shot from PSICOM I'd much rather have the outsider!"
Matsuki and Lightning stared each other down hard, two powerful minded people locked in a battle of opinions, but in the end it was rank that won the battle as Lightning stood up straight and gave her Captain a respectful and apologetic salute.
"I apologize for speaking out of line sir," she said soberly.
"Don't worry about it Farron," replied Matsuki, waving of his hand. From the midst of the silence, Amodar coughed and spoke very carefully:
"So, er…when does the new Captain arrive?"
"His twenty-four hour observation is tomorrow" replied Matsuki reclining in his chair "and he takes over full-time the day after." Lightning clenched her fist tightly but didn't say a word.
"I want both you up front with me tomorrow when he arrives, kind of a welcoming committee, eight hundred hours sharp, understood?"
"SIR!" cried both officers.
Swiveling his chair to look out his window, Matsuki called: "DISMISSED!"
Lightning's house wasn't even a respite from the day; her mind was too garbled and unfocused that the only relaxing thing she'd managed to accomplish was changing out of her uniform and into civilian clothes (a black sleeveless shirt and jeans). The whole thing reeked of injustice: her Captain was being forced into retirement and they were getting stuck with some stranger from a faraway continent. Pacing around her living room, her TV spewing a News report as background noise, Lightning tried to get over it but to no avail. Finally relenting, she decided that a walk on the beach might help her to sort out her thoughts; pulling on a pair flip-flops, she walked out of her house into the warm, sunny evening.
The beach was normally hopping during the late morning-early afternoon timeframe, half abandoned around evening (with the exception of an occasional all night party); currently, it was quiet, except for assorted couples enjoying the sunset. Lightning observed them with a slight curiosity; she'd devoted most of her teenage life to raising her sister, Serah, and much of her adult life had become married to her work, but she'd never had time for dating.
"Just one more thing I can add to the list of things that make my life unfair," she thought bitterly, moving aimlessly down the beach. She could not, for the life of her, figure out why this bothered her: it was true that Matsuki had every right to retire but it just didn't seem right that the idea was forced into his head. She also didn't understand her unreasonable and preemptive dislike of her new captain, someone she hadn't even seen.
Walking down the beach, listening to the waves crashing onto the shore and inhaling fresh salt air, Lightning finally noticed where she was: the pier, the place she always came to when she sought answers. Stepping onto the planks and moving down the pier, she found something that she was not expecting: there was someone sitting with a leg dangling over the edge and the other pulled up to his chest and staring out over the sea of golden sparkles and blood red sky. Normally, this wouldn't have bothered her (everyone came to the pier to think, the place was famous for it) but what bothered her was that she'd never seen this guy before. As if sensing someone where behind him, he turned; Lightning quickly studied his darkened silhouette: black tank top, jeans, spikey-blond hair and glowing blue eyes. She stared incredibly, his eyes weren't glowing like he was prideful, they were literally shining like two azure stars.
"I'm sorry, am I in your way?" he asked in a slow, deep voice.
"No," she replied sharply looking away and staring distractedly into the water.
"Are you alright?"
"What?" asked Lightning eyeing him for funny business; perturbing enough to be asked the question by a stranger, it was even more so hearing the gentleness and genuineness in his voice.
"You look like you've got a lot on your mind, I know, I've been told that I wear that look all the time," he said grinning warmly.
"You wouldn't understand" said Lightning almost in a snap; if she wouldn't confess her insecurities to her sister there was no way she'd do it for a complete stranger.
"Why not try me?" he asked in a playful challenge
"What about you?" Light shot back "How can I trust you if I've never seen you in my hometown before?"
"Fair enough," he replied and then went on to spew out: "My name is Cloud, recently moved here looking for work, got a job as the head of a major…let's call it a business."
"Fascinating" said Lightning smugly "You just told me everything about you without telling me a thing other than your name."
Cloud chuckled "Alright, I told you about me so spill it."
Lightning thought for a moment. He didn't appear to be lying and he didn't seem to have an ulterior motive, and so she sat next to him, took a deep breath and began to speak.
"It's like this: I find out that my boss is getting forced into retirement, by both our superiors and he found some stranger to take his place. I don't know but I guess that I'm just not comfortable letting someone we don't know and someone my CO had just met take over."
The words tumbled from her mouth with therapeutic ease. It was very surprising that she was admitting this to him but as he listened intently, she couldn't help but feel that he knew where she was coming from, like he'd been in her shoes.
"It seems to me that you're less concerned about the 'outside' replacement but with the fact that the higher ups of, wherever it is that you work, are forcing your boss out of his job" said Cloud meditatively
"Well thank you Doctor Freud!" muttered Lightning sarcastically returning to her feet and walking away. Suddenly she stopped, turned her head slightly and said "Thanks for listening"
"Don't mention it,"
"Is there anything I can do to repay your kindness?" she asked smartly
"How about a drink?"
She couldn't see him but she could tell that he was grinning "Nice try!" she chuckled and continued down the pier.
"Hey!" he called causing her to pause, "I didn't catch your name."
Lightning smiled, "It's Light"
"Light huh? Well it was nice meeting you; maybe I'll see you around" and he was silent as he returned to his solitude.
"Yeah, maybe" she thought and began to make her way home.
Eight o'clock the next morning, Lightning stood, bleary-eyed, next to Lieutenant Amodar in a line of fellow soldiers and Captain Matsuki at the head, as the entire base awaited the new Captain. As per instruction, all soldiers were clad in their khaki uniforms, brown pants/leggings, black boots and officer's caps (standard uniform for welcoming officers of either Guardian Corp or PSICOM).
"Are both of you ready?" asked Matsuki to Amodar but looking at Lightning
"I guess so sir," replied Lightning unsurely
"Well ready or not here he comes, correct sir?" chimed Amodar
"Correct, now suck in that jelly-roll Amodar!"
"I'm going to miss your sense of humor sir," Amodar chuckled (although he did inhale deeply in an attempt to make himself thinner).
"CAPTAIN APPROACHING, TEN-HUT!" came a sudden voice resounding over the room, all soldiers snapped into a straight-backed attention. Using her peripherals, Lightning tried to get a look at her new Commanding Officer: all she could see was someone clad in black moving briskly down the lineup. Suddenly, he came into full view: he only wore a single black sleeve on his left arm and a large sword hung from a harness on his belt. On his left shoulder, was a dark pauldron emblazoned with a silver wolf emblem and two azure streaks symbolizing his rank as Captain.
However, Lightning received another huge shock: underneath his peaked cap was a head of spiked golden locks and all too familiar glowing blue eyes. She caught his eye, to which he smiled gently and turned back to Matsuki; standing at attention with a fist at his chest, in a crisp salute, he said strongly
"Captain Cloud Strife reporting for duty sir"
~o Cloud's POV o~
Fenrir's engine roared loudly as Cloud pushed it for all it was worth. He understood why he was running but he couldn't force himself to forget what happened. The memory had been burned into his mind and it just kept replaying, over and over again. Using every ounce of his mental strength to push it back to the back of his mind, Cloud failed miserably at stopping a fresh replay as it swam before his eyes and his ears could only hear what he'd been told:
[Flashback]
He'd been feeling under the weather for the last several weeks and he'd gone to the best medical officer on Gaia. Sitting in her office, Cloud watched as the amber-eyed, former Tsviet, entered into the room;
"Cloud Strife," she said in her usual dead sounding voice.
"Well Shelke?" he asked cautiously, "What's the bad news?"
"I've been studying your blood samples and after comparing them to my own, I've reached the conclusion that you and I are suffering from the same symptoms." She sighed gently "There's really no easy way to tell you that the two of us are dying."
The words hit Cloud like a truck, "What?!" he asked disbelievingly;
Shelke pulled a yellowish folder out of her desk, "You and I are suffering from, what I call, chronic Mako Withdrawal; normally it would be common among ex-SOLDIER or ex-DEEPGROUND members, but I'm afraid your case is far more severe than my own."
"What do you mean?" asked Cloud causing Shelke to sigh once again "Due to the length and extremity of exposure to Mako radiation, we are in the final stages of our lives.
"As you are aware, when the body is exposed to Mako it tends to adjust by way of Mako Addiction. There are very few SOLDIER members to ever come down with the addiction but, then again, no one else has had the prolonged exposure that you and I have had. And as you know, when Mako reaches a certain level of natural contamination it becomes pure poison to the human body."
"How come we haven't felt the effects before?" asked Cloud breathlessly absorbing his fate.
"We have had Materia to quell the effects, but because the crystals are falling out of use, we are losing the one medicine that we have against it," replied Shelke emotionally stoic but physically saddened.
Cloud was breathing heavily and his mind racing; taking a calming deep breath and wiping his face, the words he dreaded to ask tumbled from his mouth "How long do we have?"
For the first time, Shelke did not answer him straightaway, but fidgeted uncomfortably,
"Shelke?" he asked again, a little more sharply.
"That's just the thing Cloud, we are in different stages of the disease." Seeing the confused look on his face, Shelke pulled up a diagram of five different human figures, each shaded a different color of blue to red and pushed it against the wall with a shard of tape.
"A healthy SOLDIER, or in my case, DEEPGROUND, would be here in stage 1" she held a finger up to the blue colored human "No poisoning, just a body filled with radiation. I am here," she said drawing a finger from the green figure to the yellow figure "I'm currently transitioning from stage 2 to stage 3, when fifty percent of the Mako has altered into poison." She sighed calmingly, "You on the other hand, would be here" placing her finger on the orange figure "Stage 4: where seventy-five to ninety-nine percent of the Mako is converted."
"Those numbers seem like overkill," said Cloud "Shouldn't we have been dead by stage two?"
"Normally, but the extreme rise in vitality brought on by the Mako exposure has drastically heightened our endurance levels. Unfortunately, you and I will be dying the slow and painful way."
"Death by symptoms?" he asked somberly
"Yes," she replied equally as dark.
"What should we be on the lookout for?"
Shelke sighed a fourth time as she took her seat "Common symptoms that I've suffered are usually episodes of extreme pain, hemoptysis (coughing up blood) and the occasional fainting spell. I recommend staying close to whatever Materia that you have, it should act as morphine substitute and subdue the pain, though attacks are random so keep some on you at all times."
"Thanks for your time Shelke," said Cloud shaking her hand and moving towards the door but stopped as his hand clasped the doorknob.
"You never answered me earlier, how long do each of us have?"
Interlocking her fingers and resting her chin on them, she replied solemnly "Are you sure you want to know?"
Cloud was silent for a moment and then replied with "Yes."
"Well, if I'm lucky, eighteen months;" she looked Cloud deep in his Mako blue eyes "If you're lucky: six months."
[End Flashback]
The worlds resounded throughout his skull at a volume that almost completely drowned out Fenrir's mighty roar. With a full tank of gas and only six months to live, Cloud decided to do what he was best known for: running away. Unable to face his friends and tell them his inevitable fate, he'd simply packed a duffle bag, loaded up his bike and took off like a bat out of hell until he'd run out of fuel somewhere on the continent of Spira.
Fortunately, he had broken down not far from a rundown little diner with a working gas pump. Pushing it up to the pump and paying the attendant for the fuel, Cloud moved inside to the diner.
The interior was more rundown than the exterior: the checkered floors were sticky, the muddy brown booths were shredded to pieces, and the whole place radiated an odor that only be obtained by years of the neglect from a sponge. Taking a seat next to the only other man at the equally grungy bar, Cloud ordered a single cup of coffee which the enormous waitress appeared to conjure up magically. Cloud drank gratefully, though quickly wishing he hadn't: the black liquid was repugnant, but it was hot and calming to his mind and body.
"Probably should have warned you," said the man to his right jokingly, "The coffee here is little more than Chocobo piss."
"Thanks for the warning," replied Cloud dryly going against his better judgment and taking another sip.
"You're not from around here, are you?" he asked casually, returning to his sandwich
"What makes you say that?" replied Cloud pushing the greasy mug away.
"You ain't dressed like you're from Spira," he replied lightly
"You're one to talk," said Cloud testily but quickly followed with a sad sigh "It doesn't matter, I can't go back."
"I see" said the man clearly finding that he'd stepped on some toes. Cloud turned to face him, but his gaze was caught by a patch on his green jacket.
"You're a bush pilot?"
"Very observant" he said with a bright smile that drastically contrasted with his dark skin.
"I'll pay you whatever price you ask, if you take me to the end of your line"
The pilot looked taken aback "You really must want to get away if you want to go as far as Cocoon!" Seeing the unchanged look on Cloud's face, he suddenly took a very business-like tone "Any cargo?"
"Only myself, a duffle bag and a motorcycle" replied Cloud.
"That simple huh? Okay, it's two thousand gil…" he was cut off as Cloud dumped the gold from a leather pouch and into his hand. The pilot stared incredibly but then his wide grin was back
"Alright," he said shaking Cloud's hand. "I'm Sazh Katzroy and I'll be your pilot."
[Time Skip…one day later]
Cloud hadn't known the term Terra Incognita since he was thirteen, when he'd left Nibelhiem for Midgar. Eden was a magnificent, shining metropolis with rumbling traffic and streets littered with tourists. Even from the sky, he felt slightly intimidated.
"Hey buddy," called Sazh from the cockpit, "Not that it's my business but what do you plan to do now?" Cloud opened his mouth to answer but quickly found it closing like a deflated balloon, feeling like a total idiot that he hadn't given it some thought. His silence was enough of a response for Sazh,
"You ought to consider the military, good guy like you would probably do well as a soldier."
Cloud didn't bother to tell him how close his guess was.
Twenty minutes later, Cloud found himself driving Fenrir straight into the heart of downtown Eden; after deciphering Sazh chicken-scratch handwriting, he followed the pilot's instructions and eventually managed to find the recruiting office.
It was a large, dome-shaped building flowing with constant traffic of arrogant-looking teenagers going in and bald, terrified ones coming out (Cloud ran his fingers through his spikey locks, remembering nostalgically when the Shinra Military made him shave his hair). Parking and dismounting his bike with a kick to the kickstand, Cloud moved briskly into the building.
The walls of the interior were as whitewashed as the marble floors and a sharp smell, as though the whole place had been cleaned with rubbing alcohol. Moving up to the desk, a dark-haired girl in a cream uniform, and chewing gum like a cow, handed him a stack of papers and a pen and referred him to a sitting room with teenagers (both male and female).
The paperwork was fairly simple and he was through it in less than ten minutes, but all he had left was a single question that confused the hell out of him: there were two boxes and next to each of them was a choice of either PSICOM or Guardian Corps. Unsure of how to answer, Cloud when for broke and turned to a mousy haired kid next to him
"Excuse me?" he said, drawing the boy's attention "What's the difference between PSICOM and Guardian Corps?"
Instead of chastising him, the boy smiled patiently "New to the country huh?" (Cloud nodded once) "Well, Guardian Corps is more along the lines of a police force, but for a strapping guy like you I'd recommend the Public Security Intelligence Command, more commonly known as PSICOM. That's where the real action is."
Nodding in appreciation, Cloud placed his pen in the box next to the bolded words of PSICOM and twitched his wrist, leaving a small black checkmark. "Who knows" thought Cloud glumly "Maybe I'll get lucky and die in some battle."
"Thanks-" he said looking for a name to insert,
"Thomas Allen," he replied shaking Cloud's hand.
"And you are?" he asked as Cloud stood up; Cloud thought for a moment and then said in his usual somber demeanor,
"Cloud Strife."
As he left the room, Cloud had the disturbing feeling creep down his spine that he suddenly had a roomful of eyes on him.
Fortunately, the dark-haired cow was not there when he arrived, unfortunately a mean looking redhead in black had replaced her. He handed her his paperwork, which she glanced over before looking up at him and saying crossly "Sorry, but PSICOM doesn't accept people who aren't native to Cocoon."
"I'm sorry?" said Cloud taken aback
"Are you deaf?" she said rather rudely "PSICOM doesn't want outsiders! Now, either get lost or I'll call security on you!" she finished with a nasty "Have a nice day Mr.-M-M-Mr." she'd looked at the clipboard to use his name but had gotten tongue-tied, breathless and wide-eyed, staring at him in shock and horror.
"That won't be necessary," replied Cloud coldly "I'll show myself out." The feeling that he was being watched haunted him again as he walked away from the desk.
…
Cloud sat, with his palm digging deep into his forehead, in a booth at a pristine diner across the road from the recruiting office. The waitress who had brought him his coffee was, so far, the third nicest person he'd met on Cocoon (it also helped that the coffee was much better than the swill he'd ingested on Spira). Suddenly, the door blew open and a livid elderly man stormed in swearing at the top of his lungs.
"Oh dear," said the waitress as the man's cursing startled off some patrons "What could have happened to upset the Captain so much?"
"JESSICA!" shouted the cook, "BRING ME SOME OF THE STRONG STUFF!"
As the waitress named Jessica readied to moved away, Cloud said quickly "Excuse me?" she turned looking slightly harassed, "Whatever he orders, put it on my bill." the waitress spirits brightened a bit, she flashed him an appreciative smile and moved off; "No matter how angry he is" Cloud muttered to himself "He's still having a better day than I am."
Several minutes passed, the fall of footsteps caused Cloud to look up, standing over him was the elderly Captain, "Jessica tells me that you're footing the bill for my usual," he said in a voice that did not reflect the years embedded on his skin.
"Hope you don't mind," said Cloud casually making the Captain smile.
"I just thought I'd personally thank and apologize to you for my rude behavior" he stuck out his hand "Captain Ian Matsuki,"
"Cloud Strife" he replied, reaching out and shaking the Captain's hand. The Captain's arm immediately stiffened, and his eyes filled with shock and awe; "You know?" said Cloud with a grin and cocked eyebrow "You're the umpteenth person to give me that look."
Matsuki shook his head and then collapsed into the opposing bench "Please forgive me, but I'm a little star-struck."
Cloud shifted his gaze downward and muttered into his mug "What do you mean? I'm no celebrity."
"Are you kidding?" asked the Captain incredulously "You were the hero who saved the world from Meteor, you found the cure for Geostigma, and you defeated Sephiroth twice! I'm sorry to have to burst your bubble son, but there isn't one person on this continent who doesn't know your name."
Cloud grunted unenthusiastically, running away from death only to discover unnecessary and unwanted fame was not exactly what he expected to find on Cocoon.
"So, can I inquire as to why such a renowned hero is here on humble Cocoon?"
"Looking for work" Cloud lied quickly.
"You crossed six continents, looking for work?" recalled Matsuki skeptically and with a silver eyebrow cocked.
"Correction, I crossed six continents to get rejected by the military" Cloud admitted with a grin.
"Ah, so you're the infamous PSICOM reject" said the Captain with clear understanding coming across his face, but this time it was Cloud's turn to raise an eyebrow. "When I left, a PSICOM soldier was getting chewed out pretty heavily by her CO, apparently she denied admission to quite a famous warrior."
"That's too bad, maybe now she'll learn some manners" replied Cloud taking another sip of his drink; Matsuki roared with laughter.
"May I ask why you came in here so fired up?" asked Cloud putting his mug down; Captain Matsuki's good natured features suddenly, and almost frighteningly, contorted into a mask of outrage and thundered
"The damn military was trying to cheat me of my goddamn rights! Thirty years I've been a dog for those scumbags and they think I'm not competent enough to pick my own successor!"
"Sounds rough," said Cloud calmly as the waitress came and refilled his drink "Who did they have in mind?"
"SOME HOTSHOT FROM PSICOM!" roared Matsuki "THEY AREN'T EVEN RESPECTFUL ENOUGH TO PICK SOMEONE FROM MY OWN BRANCH OF THE MILITARY!"
Suddenly, his mask of rage turned into an arrogant grin "BUT I STOOD MY GROUND AGAINST THOSE S-O-B'S, I TOLD 'EM I'D ALREADY MADE MY DECISION AND I'D BE FILING THE REPLACEMENT ANYDAY!"
Cloud grinned, impressed, "Very nice, who did you pick?"
The Captain's face fell drastically "No one, it was a bluff and I've got squat!"
"I shouldn't worry about it Captain, I'm sure you'll find an appropriate replacement" said Cloud staring distractedly out the window. Then Matsuki's body perked up, his eyes brightening like the sun and a grin splitting his face like a Cheshire cat.
"You're right, and I think I know who my replacement will be."
"Who?" said Cloud absently, putting his lips back to his mug; the Captain still grinning broadly only said
"You"
The surprise of the comment caught Cloud completely off guard, causing him to spit out his coffee in a mist of brownish-black.
"W-what?!" he coughed "M-me, w-why?"
"It makes perfect sense!" chortled Matsuki victoriously "They wanted to replace me with someone from PSICOM and you got rejected from them, what better way to piss them off than by teaming up, eh?"
Cloud felt as though he'd swallowed a lemon, "Well—I—I" he sputtered thoroughly shocked.
Matsuki sighed "I understand. It's a lot to absorb and I realize that it's a lot to ask, but my regiment guards a highly populated town and I would feel comfortable knowing that they're safe with you protecting them.
"Let me clue you in on something else, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that there's a long standing rivalry between PSICOM and the Guardian Corps. If PSICOM were to take over a populated tourist attraction, it would quickly a tyrannical boot camp for civilians! I'll be damned if I let some punk from PSICOM take everything away from the people, who've trusted me for thirty-'effing'- years, and turn them into PSICOM puppets!"
Cloud listened to Matsuki's rant intently, his opinion of the Public Security Intelligence Command quickly worsening. He had come from Gaia looking for a quick and easy way out, taking the Captain's place would mean he'd have to face his maker in the way he was intended to: slowly and painfully; on the other hand, he couldn't leave an entire town to become the plaything of some psychotic military faction. He sighed, silently cursing his emotions, and asked dryly,
"What do I need to know about your regiment?"
Matsuki, grinning fanatically, asked placidly "Do you like the beach, Captain?"
The tang of salty air bit at his nostrils as he drove the Fenrir through the seaside town of Bodhum. Captain Matsuki wasn't kidding when he called this place a tourist attraction: the quickly lowering sun had painted the sky a dark crimson but that did not hinder the fun of the multitude of civilians still having fun. Numerous restaurants and pubs littered the main street and off in the distance was an enormous boardwalk filled with both people and miniature theme park attractions.
Scanning the streets, trying to find the location that Matsuki had scribbled on a napkin, his eyes finally fell upon a worn wooden sign of a motel called: Leviathan's Paradise (Cloud thought the name would have been more appropriate for a tavern but he made no complaints as he twisted his hips slightly to the right). Driving up to the main office, which was nothing more than a box painted an ugly color of teal with an equally ugly red shingled roof, Cloud came to a smooth halt and rapped the window smartly with his knuckles.
Suddenly a dumpy, middle-aged woman with flaming red hair and sporting a set of immaculately cleaned teeth as she smiled broadly, rolled into view, startling Cloud slightly.
"Er, hi" he said "I'm-I know who you are sweetie-pie!" she said in a high pitch voice that sent unnerving chills across Cloud's skin. "Captain Matsuki called me, told me you'd need a room," she held up a small silver key attached to a plastic number one "Kings Suite, end of the lot."
As he reached over and grabbed the key, the woman's toothy grin split even wider (if it were anatomically possible) "That's a nice bike, maybe you could take me for a ride sometime," she said with a flirtatious wink that sent a shiver down his spine.
He smiled politely, and as she turned away, he muttered under his breath "Yikes," and sped off; pulling up the cement drive that separated the King's Suite from the rest of the motel, Cloud got full blast of new quarters.
The King's Suite was a wide square box with a diamond roof, painted an ugly teal and sporting red shingles that matched the rest of the motel, suspended high above on massive stilts. Pulling into the makeshift garage, directly beneath the house and kicking down the kickstand, Cloud's boots connected with the gritty sand. Taking note of the proximity of the beach and all of the sand, Cloud thought that perhaps a tarp would be a wise investment for Fenrir's sake.
Shouldering his duffle bag and lifting his metal case under his arm, Cloud moved for the door. He pulled the whitewashed door open, proceeded up the carpeted stairs, enclosed in almost a tomb of whitewashed drywall and encountering a second door hindering his way, Cloud pushed the little key into the lock and pushed, only to be hit in the face by a blast of icy air conditioning. The taste of the tacky motel did not reflect in the interior decoration: his boots clomped heavily onto polished hardwood floors, the central square was filled with decorative leather furniture, and a large flat screen TV was mounted above of a gas fireplace.
Cloud sighed, the excess luxury was more than likely a result of his "fame". Taking his first steps across the room, a sudden angry pain erupted in his chest; his duffle bag fell to the ground with a light thud but the metal case cracked open as it crashed onto the floor and spilling crystal spheres all over the floor, as he crumpled to his knees, clutching his heart.
Why did you run? Came a voice in his head that was all too familiar You know you can't escape from me. The pain was overwhelming, splitting his skull and ripping apart his senses. It doesn't matter where you run…vision fading and reaching out his free arm for one of the many glowing spheres, a distant pressure against his leg was too much for him, and as he fell into black the voice came back with a final chilling message…you will always be my puppet.
Cloud returned to consciousness with a rough gasp; he was facedown, cool hardwood pressed against exposed areas of skin and fuzzy vision gradually clearing. His gaze shifted towards the window: the sky was still deep crimson so he couldn't have been out for too long; pushing back onto his hands and knees, a sharp stabbing pain seared throughout his head. Something else was wrong, an acrid, alien taste was in his mouth; sticking a finger in his mouth, Cloud's eyes stared in horror as his glove became stained a watery crimson. Moving himself over to the couch, propping up his legs and gently reclining his head onto the leathery arm, Cloud found the unconscious thud from earlier: jammed into his thigh, was a shining red orb where one of his loyal summons' (for the umpteenth time in his life) saved him.
Suddenly, his pocket began buzzing; pulling out his cellphone, Cloud looked at the screen: he had a missed call.
You have, 500 new voicemail (Cloud swore in disbelief) First new voice message:
"Cloud, we'd you go?" came Yuffie's voice; Cloud immediately dialed seven, deleting the message.
He shuffled through the messages, he'd even received voicemail from Vincent (and that was saying something), before slamming his phone shut. After the little 'clap' faded away, the phone began to ring: flipping open the screen, he could only stare as 7th Heaven awaited him to answer the call. Cloud sighed and then, in an act that surprised even him, he punched the squashy button with the little green phone on it and put the receiver to his ear, speaking hoarsely
"Yeah?"
"Cloud?" came Tifa's voice, sounding as equally worried as it was relieved, "Thank goodness…hold on, you never answer your phone, is something wrong-"
"-What do you want?" asked Cloud sharply, quickly interrupting the brawler's voice.
"You took off in such a rush: what's going on, is something wrong, where are you?"
Cloud let her multitude of questions wash over him as his mind worked on his plan of action although he absentmindedly spit out "Cocoon."
"Cocoon? Oh, you're on a delivery" was the response, with even more relief than before.
"No," Cloud replied bluntly
"What?"
Cloud was silent, both to allow his mind to weigh his next few words and to allow Tifa to figure it out herself. "Well what are you doing there?" she asked slowly "When are you coming home?"
"Tifa, I'm not coming back," said Cloud deeply
"WHAT?!" Tifa's voice was both shocked and alarmed "WHY?!" I
t had finally come, much to Cloud's dismay, the moment had finally come when he'd have to tell her the horrible truth. As he opened his mouth, he found his voice wouldn't work and lips wouldn't move; he sighed once again before finally remastering his voice "No…the less you know the better, good-bye Tifa."
Cloud took the phone away from his ear, the whole time he could hear Tifa speaking very loud and terrified ("No! Wait Cloud don't hang-"), but she never finished her sentence as Cloud pounded his thumb onto the little red phone.
Flicking through his options and, after a moment of waiting, Cloud watched as all five hundred messages disappeared in a flash of light, closing his phone with another small 'clap.' He placed the phone onto the glass coffee table, and quickly turned his back to it by retreating out onto the wooden deck. He breathed heavily taking in deep lungful's of salty sea air.
Then a strange sound wafted up to his ears, it was a low, mournful sound that haunted the sands of the beach like a phantom. Scanning the beach for the source of the sound, Cloud's eyes fell upon a lone gray wolf sitting in the sand and howling loudly, though being completely ignored by the sparse amount of people remaining on the beach. Cloud's mouth bent into a frown and he took off from the deck and was down the stairs charging for the beach his eyes burned with anger. It couldn't be, the damn thing couldn't have followed him across six continents!
Running out onto the beach, frustration coursing through his veins like blood, Cloud ran towards the place where the wolf had been sitting but it was gone! Quickly looking up and down the beach looking for the wretched beast, but as usual, it had vanished into thin air. Then something caught his eye: a small orb in the sand where the wolf was sitting. Scooping it up, Cloud looked over the odd little sphere: it looked like Materia but instead of glowing with the essence of the Lifestream, it was opaque, metallic silver. He put it to his arm and felt coolness on his skin but it did not absorb into his body. Angry and frustrated, Cloud pocketed the little ball and found himself tromping down the planks of a nearby pier (and fighting every urge to drown himself) before plopping down at the edge.
Staring out across the water, watching as the last beams of sunlight made the surface sparkle like thousands of twinkling stars, Cloud found himself in the dangerous depths of his mind again.
"What am I doing here?" he found himself thinking "Why did I think I could run? You damn fool."
A series of dull plunking alerted Cloud that someone was approaching but when they suddenly stopped, Cloud turned in curiosity; staring at him, was a beautiful woman dressed in a black shirt and jeans, the breeze played in the strands of her long, light pink hair and she stared at him with lovely pale aqua eyes.
"I'm sorry, am I in your way?"
"No," she replied with a deep, mature voice looking away and staring distractedly into the water.
"Are you alright?" asked Cloud curiously.
"What?" was her reply as eyed him cautiously.
"You look like you've got a lot on your mind, I know, I've been told that I wear that look all the time," he said grinning reminiscently.
"You wouldn't understand" she snapped
"Why not try me?"
"What about you? How can I trust you if I've never seen you in my hometown before?" she shot back.
Cloud nodded appreciatively "Fair enough…my name is Cloud, recently moved here looking for work, got a job as the head of a major…let's call it a business."
"Fascinating" she said uninterestedly "You just told me everything about you without telling me a thing other than your name."
Cloud chuckled "Alright, I told you about me, so spill it."
She was silent for a moment, the conflict in her eyes was quite plain, then taking a deep breath she began to speak. She let loose her concerns of her boss being forced into retirement and about how a total stranger was going to be taking over. Cloud listened intently, but was secretly shocked: her whole situation, it couldn't be, the odds that she was a member of the regiment that he would be taking over was simply astronomical, almost impossible (it also didn't help that she'd never met him and already her opinion of him as her new boss was extraordinarily low).
"It seems to me that you're less concerned about the 'outside' replacement but with the fact that the higher ups of, wherever it is that you work, are forcing your boss out of his job."
"Well thank you Doctor Freud!" she muttered sarcastically returning to her feet and walking away. The plunk of her footsteps suddenly stopped and her voice came back with an appreciative "Thanks for listening."
"Don't mention it,"
"Is there anything I can do to repay your kindness?" she asked smartly
"How about a drink?"
"Nice try!" she chuckled and she became silent as she continued down the pier.
"Hey!" he called "I didn't catch your name."
"It's Light" she replied
"Light huh? Well it was nice meeting you; maybe I'll see you around" he said ambiguously; Light didn't respond but continued on her way. Cloud thought deeply about her words: when he'd heard Matsuki's story, he'd assumed that he was just a crotchety old man who was being forced into retirement. But after hearing Light's side of the story, after hearing that the higher ups wanted him out, Cloud began to question the Sanctum: something was up and he was going to use (whatever authority he had) to figure out what.
Suddenly, a sad chuckle passed his lips, just ten minutes ago he was the Cloud Strife who had runaway to Cocoon trying to find a peaceful way to die. Five minutes later he was Cloud Strife, curious and investigative new Guardian Corps Captain.
Then his mind shifted back to Light. What the hell was he thinking?! In a move that would have made Zack Fair proud, he'd actually asked her out, and after he'd told Tifa the less she knew the better! Getting to his feet and taking a calming breath, Cloud muttered to himself
"Easy Cloud, its best that you not get involved."
Making his way back to the motel, Cloud found a thin package leaning against his door. Scooping it up and brushing open the note that was taped to the front, Cloud read:
Captain Strife,
I figured you'd want to keep your personal style and look authoritative while doing it. There's also a diagram of our military salute: get it memorized; see you tomorrow, eight hundred hours sharp.
Captain Matsuki
Smiling from his first order, and pulling the cardboard box open, Cloud found a shoulder pauldron, adorned with two azure stripes and a black peaked cap. Pulling the cap onto his head and doing his damnedest to repress his insecurities of a fate he could not escape, Cloud could only sigh.
(UPDATED! I've wanted to redo the first couple chapters for a while now, so I'd better get on that).
Whoa! Deep stuff right? I understand that Cloud's POV was much longer than Lightning's but I'm hoping the POV's will balance out as the story goes on. If it's not too much, I'd really like you guys to be really hard on this story; so if it sucks: tell me please! Help me get better; Anyway, I hope you guys liked it and don't forget to Review.