Well, with "For the Love of Midgar" finished and "Sail Away With Me" and "No Promises" nearly finished I wanted to write something new. This is based on the film "Sword of Xanten" (Awesome movie lol) and of course, I've changed a few things to make it a bit more mine. Enjoy.
Title: Sword of Nibelheim
Author: Beeria
Pairings: Cloud x Aerith/Cloud x Tifa/Vincent x Yuffie
Summary: A Prince, at the age of eight, watches his parents' be murdered and after drifting down a river he cannot remember anything. Ten years later, he follows a meteor to where it crashes to the ground. There, he meets Aerith, Queen of the Cetra who he eventually falls in love with. The problem is, Princess Tifa is desperate to have his love, at any cost.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the plot despite wishing it when I blew out my birthday cake candles : (
Prologue
He was not sure what had awakened him but he had a feeling that it was something to do with the sickening feeling in his stomach. His room was dimly lit and he could see that the candle on his bedside table was slowly dying. He thought, as he lay silently in his bed that he could hear something outside but he tried to ignore it. He scrunched up his eyes and turned over, determined to get back to sleep.
But then, his curiosity kicked in and he wondered what could be making such a noise at such a late hour. He lifted his blankets off him and shivered as the cold hit his skin. He rolled over and placed a bare foot on the wooden floor, one after the other before standing still for a moment as he caught his reflection. His blue eyes were wide with fear but also excitement and his blond hair was messy from sleeping. He turned around and crept towards his door, his feet making a slapping sound on the floor.
When he stepped onto the carpet of the corridor, he stopped again and looked each way. He turned right and came to a long spiral of stone steps. The candle torches were dim but he could see fine because they were close together. Slowly, he began to ascend them, ignoring the feeling of cold stone against his bare skin. Up and up he climbed, determined to reach the top and find out what was troubling him. The stairs turned at the top and he was faced with a large oak door.
He stared at it carefully knowing that it was his last chance to turn around. But something in his mind was urging him on. Something in his mind was telling him to walk through that door onto the highest turret of his family's palace. As if in slow motion, he saw his hand reach out in front of him and clasp around the cool metal handle. With a small squeak, he pushed it down and nudged the door open.
He looked around carefully, his eyes trying to adapt to the dark. There seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary at all. He was about to shut the door and go back to his room when he suddenly had an urge to walk to the edge of the turret and look over onto the courtyard below. He stepped out and quietly shut the door behind him before he walked towards the stone walls.
What he saw made his eyes grow wide and his hair stand on end. Right below him, in the courtyard of his father's castle a battle was going on. The Prince gripped the wall in fear as he watched, desperately hoping that the cries of pain and the clash of metal was just a nightmare and he would wake up in a second, warm in his bed. He closed his eyes, hoping that it really was just a dream but when he opened them he was far from relieved. Suddenly, a thud caught his ears and he turned his head and gasped as he saw a ladder leaning against the wall. But that wasn't the only thing terrifying the royal heir. It was the fact that a silver haired man was climbing up it, his smirking green eyes fixed on the boy.
The Prince jumped back and screamed immediately as he felt someone grab his shoulder.
"Hush Cloud." Came a command from a voice he was all too relieved to hear. He turned and threw his arms around his father's waist, sobbing uncontrollably. There was another set of footsteps approaching but Cloud noticed how his father wasn't getting ready to attack. Slowly he moved his head to see and sighed in relief as his mother ran up to them.
"Jessie, you take Cloud and go." The King commanded. Jessie took Cloud's hand tightly before she lifted him up, his head resting on her shoulder. For a moment, she hesitated.
"Zack…" She began but he wasn't having any of it.
"I said go!" He hissed. Jessie nodded slightly before she turned and ran back into the palace. Cloud clung tightly to his mother as she raced down the stone steps and into the corridor. He shut his eyes again but this time to stop the tears of fear from falling. He opened them again when he felt the cold night air on his skin once more. His mother was running across the courtyard to where one of the soldiers was waiting by the gates.
Cloud peered up at the highest turret and watched as the silver-haired man leapt over the wall. Immediately, Cloud's father reacted and raised his sword to fight. As the swords clashed, Cloud looked down, not wanting to see the outcome. He looked up once more and immediately wished he hadn't. Another silver-haired man, who had shorter hair than the other, had come up behind Zack, taking advantage of the fact that he was busy with the other. Cloud watched in horror as the second man plunged his sword into Zack and the scream of pain that ripped from his father's mouth ripped his ears. He wasn't sure which had been louder, his father's scream of pain, his mother's cry of anguish or the laughter of the two silver-haired men.
"Me and my brothers always work together." The longer haired one cried out for everyone to hear. The soldier at the gates rushed forward and grabbed Jessie's arm, taking her by surprise.
"My Lady, we should go." He whispered urgently, ushering her quickly through the gates.
As they ran across the field, his mother sobbed continuously. Cloud was too shocked to do anything but cling to her, his eyes wide from the scene that kept replaying in his mind. His head was on his mother's shoulder, facing the opposite direction and in the distance he could see his home, his Nibelheim growing further and further away. They came to a sudden halt as the Prince moved his head away from the disappearing city of his birth. What he saw immediately made him feel sick. His mother's grip tightened a little around him as they crouched down. Cloud's breathing grew quick as he stared at the men around the fire.
The light from the fire only half-illuminated them but this made them all the scarier in his opinion. There were over a dozen from what he could guess and he could not help but feel that it was hopeless to run anymore. Especially since another silver-haired man seemed to be the leader of the small group. He looked a lot like the man who had climbed the ladder at the palace except his hair was a little shorter and his face a little paler. He was dangling an arrow in between his fingers, his bow lying by his feet.
The soldier who had led them from the palace, signalled for them to move and Jessie began crawling as quietly and quickly as she could. Cloud glanced once more across the campfire and saw the silver-haired man's eyes look up slowly, the arrow still moving between his fingers as a smirk moved across his lips. Before he could open his mouth to say anything, he felt cold water splash onto his body as his mother leapt into the river and began swimming as fast as she could while she kept a hold of Cloud.
The whistling sound cut through the air as the arrows flew across the bank, aimed at the three people in the river. The soldier was hit first, dying instantly. As cold as it seemed, the Queen had no choice but to ignore him. She had to save her son. She grabbed a large plank of wood and placed Cloud on it. He turned to see if she was mounting too but he could only stare in shock and horror as his mother's body drifted away, three arrows showing from her back.
The man stopped pulling the anchor up as a large plank of wood came into his view. It was gently drifting down the river but that wasn't what had caught his attention. There was something lying still on top of it and as it came closer, he realised it was a small child, a little boy. He grabbed the oars of his boat and quickly made his way towards the wood. He reached over the edge, grabbing the plank and guiding it to his boat. The movement caused the boy to stir and open his blue eyes. The man grabbed the child under the arms and lifted him into his boat.
"What happened lad? What are you doing floating down the river?" He asked. The boy looked up at him, his eyes filled with confusion as a small frown appeared on his face.
"I don't know." He replied, looking into the man's face. The blonde-haired boy noticed the man raise an eyebrow and tried again to search his memory. Nothing.
"I don't remember."