Disclaimer: I do not own the game that this story is based on. (If I did, AC would probably have been longer than the LOTR trilogy and 'Lawrence of Arabia' combined. )

Hosannas From The Basements Of Hell

Chapter 1
"Heaven"


Candles were laid out in a circle on the floor, their wax dripping lazily down the thin ivory columns as they slowly burned away in the darkness. The flickering candlelight barely illuminated the dusty cellar floor, lined with arcane letters and markings drawn in red chalk. The faint light crafted sweeping shadows, which moved slowly back and forth as the cellar's musty air was disturbed by the basement's sole occupant.

The man, upon entering the circle's center, folded his hands and bowed his head, as in prayer. He began to chant quietly, muttering the words he'd committed to memory only moments earlier..

As he did so, a faint, yet noticable change came over the room, at first slowly, almost imperceptably. He could detect a hint of sulfur, permeating the air now. A trickle of wind wind began to emanate from the center of the basement's floor where he stood, extuingishing some of the candles as it grew in force.

..Yet the light in the basement did not go out.

The figure in the robe smiled, as the crimson light spread out across the room, consuming him..


The tiny bell at the top of the 7th Heaven entrance chimed as the last of its staff exited the building. "Good night!" Nadia called as she headed out the door.

"'Night." Cloud replied idly to his co-worker, without looking up from what he was doing. It was past midnight, and he was the only figure remaining in the bar, the last of its patrons having gone home a few minutes earlier. The former swordsman was left with the task of closing up the place, and was currently arranging the last of the glasses back on their shelf. Tifa had left on an excursion to Cosmo Canyon a few days earlier, leaving him to take care of the bar and the children in the meantime.

It was Sunday night, and as such, it had been a fairly slow work day in the new 7th heaven bar in Edge, one mostly populated by regular customers, along with a few travellers stopping by for a night cap.

Cloud carried the last batch of shot glasses from the bar's sink to the shelves at the back of the room. As he placed the last glass back in its spot, he noticed a picture frame which had fallen over on the table next to him. Walking over to the table, he raised the frame and dusted it off. The blond swordsman frowned ever so slightly as he recognized the picture within the frame.

It was a photograph of the Avalanchers, taken two years ago. In the center of the photograph there stood a radiant figure, someone who was not to be found in any of their other photos..

In the middle of the group there stood a beautiful girl in her early twenties, dressed in a simple pink dress and red jacket, smiling brightly at the camera. Closing his eyes, the blond swordsman placed the picture frame back on the table, trying to force away thoughts of the past from his mind, as old feelings began to well up inside him.

He looked at the picture again. Somehow, the people in the photograph, their existences, their hopes and fears and dreams felt like they were all part of some other life that had taken place eons ago, and yet it had hardly been two years since..

Had he really forgotten about her... put her out of his mind already?

He was glad that the children were asleep. When inquired as to the late Cetra's whereabouts, he would usually tell them "She's in Heaven now." hoping that it would do for an answer.

Yet he never really believed that himself. He knew for a fact that there was no such thing as Heaven. As he and the others had learned during their fateful journey, all souls simply returned to the Planet's essence, where they remained until they were brought back to the surface as new life. Whether that law applied to every living being, however, he didn't know. He didn't know how it all worked. Whether humans and Cetra ended up in the same place, went to the Promised Land, or were reborn, or simply remained a part of the soul-swell that the Planet consisted of..

But one thing was certain. None of them would ever see her again. And that was what got to him the most. The knowledge that there was no going back. Never knowing or realizing what could have been..

Cloud sighed. He knew he couldn't allow himself to dwell on the past... and yet there was some part of him that simply refused to let go..

As he placed the picture frame back on the table, the lights in the 7th Heaven bar suddenly went out, shrouding the room in darkness. "Great. Power's out again.." Cloud thought. He didn't pay much attention to it. The town of Edge was struggling with power issues, now that mako was no longer an option, and it was not unusual for there to be periods of rolling blackouts every now and then.

The former swordsman reached for and lit an old-fashioned lamp, then began to lethargically climb up the stairs leading to the second floor. Outside, a light drizzle of rain could be heard tapping against the windows. Having reached the second floor, he made a quick stop at the end of the hall, checking in on Denzel and Marlene, who were sleeping peacefully in their beds. Satisfied that the two children were all right, he carefully closed the door, heading towards his own bedroom.

As the door closed, a figure crept from the shadows of the room's corner, moving towards the two children..


Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a stealthy figure darted up the steep pathways of the Da Chao mountainside.

The young ninja stopped for a moment, hiding in one of the mountainside's many crevices, pausing to clean the blood from her shuriken. Satisfied that her weapon was clean again, Yuffie Kisaragi leaned her back against the rocky mountain wall for a second, catching her breath.

She had passed a pack of wolves only moments before, while travelling up the mountain. Most of them had passively ignored her, but the alpha male of the group had begun snarling at her as she approached, preparing to attack.

Left with no other option, the young ninja had unlatched her combat shuriken, cutting down her attackers in the air as they jumped at her, then continued running up the mountain path without stopping. Threat as they might have been, she was careful to obey her clan's rule of hunting. They were only allowed to kill the the male ones, and even then, only if absolutely necessary. The other wolves had briefly considered chasing after her, but decided against it, allowing the trespasser to escape.

Normally, the young ninja would be in bed at this hour, sleeping comfortably, but she had a special reason to be out tonight. Now all that remained was to find out whether that reason was a valid one..

Yuffie began moving again, ducking into an opening in the mountainside. She found herself inside a narrow tunnel leading deeper into the mountain itself. Most people, once inside the maze that was the series of caverns underneath the Da Chao would find themselves hopelessly lost, but having navigated them since she was a little girl, Yuffie knew most of these tunnels as well as the back of her hand.

However, she discovered that she was not alone there tonight..

As she got further inside the cavern, she heard voices, coming from somewhere below. A low fire was burning deeper inside the cave. Peeking out across a ledge, Yuffie noticed three figures gathered on the floor below her, their bodies covered in heavy black robes, their hands folded and heads bowed.

"Lord Belial.." one of the figures spoke reverently, as another, slightly larger one approached them.

"Ose." The other figure replied, in a gravelly voice, one that seemed somehow closer to an animal's growl than a human voice. "How are our plans moving?"

"Very well, your Lordship. We have cleared the pathway to Cocytus, and the tablets will soon be found.."

"And the ones that stand in our way?" Belial asked, cutting his cohort's reply short.

"Not to worry." Another figure replied. "They are being taken care of."

"Tonight, Heaven shall burn." A third figure added, grinning insanely.

"Good." Lord Belial replied. "Enuma Elish will soon be ours, and then all of our sacrifices will pale in comparison with our achievements."

"Amen." The other figures replied as one, bowing their heads.

"What the hell?" Yuffie thought. "What are they talking about?"

Holding her breath, she carefully edged closer, peeking further out, her movement causing a few pebbles to roll down across the edge..

The noise alerted the robed figures, whose reaction was violent, to say the least. "Who's there!?" One of the figures called.

"Shit!" Yuffie thought. She slipped back, looking frantically for a place to hide.

The robed figure in charge turned to the others. "Search the tunnels." He ordered. The robed men began to scatter, scouring the tunnels, knives and torches in hand.

Several minutes later, the hooded figures left, satisfied that no-one else was there.

From her hiding place on top of the cavern roof, Yuffie breathed a sigh of relief. Relaxing her muscles, she released her sprawled grip on the rock, she let herself fall softly to the floor. "Who the hell were they?" She thought. It looked as though her reason for being there tonight was a very valid one indeed..


Cloud lay on top of his bed, still fully clothed, staring at the ceiling. He felt unusually restless tonight. He wasn't certain whether it was that feeling of nostalgia brought on by the photograph he had discovered earlier that night, but something was weighing heavily on his mind, preventing him from falling asleep.

Deciding that trying to fall asleep was futile, he decided to make a quick round of the building. He got up from his bed and exited his room. As he made his way towards the staircase, he noticed that the door to the children's bedroom was wide open..

"What? I swear I closed that door earlier.." Cloud thought.

Rushing over to Denzel and Marlene's room, he realized to his horror that their beds were empty. The children were gone, missing..

Wasting no time, he practically leapt down the stairs, picking up his sword from its sheath as he headed for the doorway of the 7th Heaven bar. As he reached the doorway, he saw that Denzel and Marlene were out in the street just outside 7th Heaven, being led away by a figure dressed in a brown robe.

"Come along, little ones." The figure said to them, urging the sleepy children onwards. The children passively followed him, as if in a trance.

Cloud recognized the figure. He he had been at the 7th Heaven earlier that night, seated in the corner of the room, idly nursing a drink. No-one had paid the lone figure much attention and had left him to his own devices.

"Hey!" Cloud called towards the figure. "What do you think you're doing!?"

The robed figure paused, turning around. "Keeping them safe." The man replied. His face now partly revealed, Cloud could see that the figure was a rather frail-looking old man, seemingly one who posed no great danger..

"Let the children go." Cloud said, brandishing his sword.

"The Emissaries.." The old man replied, seemingly paying no attention to the threat. "They are watching you."

"Get away from them." Cloud replied in a low, threatening tone of voice, advancing towards the old man. "I'm not asking you again."

"Very well." The old man replied, letting go of the children, who seemed as though they had just become aware of their surroundings.

"I see they have decided to offer you a... display of their power.." The old man continued. "I would keep them away from this place, if I were you." He said, gesturing towards Marlene and Denzel, who were returning to the blond swordsman.

"Who are you?" Cloud asked, looking back up from the two children, after making sure that they were unharmed, but the figure in the robes was already gone.

"What the hell, man? Wuz going on here?" Barret asked, coming up the street. "I heard some kinda racket goin' on this way."

"I don't know." Cloud replied. "But I don't think it's safe here. Can you take Denzel and Marlene?" The blond swordsman asked.

"Yeah, no prob." Barret replied.

"Keep them safe." Cloud said. "I'm going to take a look around the house, see if anyone else is prowling around."

"Awright, man." Barret replied. "Jez be careful."

Cloud nodded. "You too."

"C'mon, kids. Let's go." Barret said to the children, leading them back to his place. Marlene cast a worried glance at Cloud, who was heading back inside the 7th Heaven building, before being ushered along by her foster father.

Wanting to make absolutely certain that apart from himself, the house was completely empty, Cloud began to examine every corner of the room critically. As he did so, something strange began to happen. As if by an invisible hand exerting its force upon it, the gas valve of the bar's cooker began to unscrew itself. The faint sound of gas leaking into the air could be heard, as the valve turned..

Placing his lamp next to one of the open windows, Cloud began to check the cupboards as potential hiding places, silly as it seemed, he wanted to be thorough in this matter.

Suddenly, strong gust of wind blew the picture frame over, exposing its open back, sending the photograph contained inside flying out the door.

"What the-" Cloud thought, as saw the photograph disappearing. "No!"

For some reason, in that instant, all he could think of was saving that photograph, Aerith's photograph, from being destroyed or lost. He sprung up from his crouched position, chasing after the flimsy piece of celluloid as it floated through the air. As he reached the exit to the 7th Heaven bar, another, stronger gust of wind blew his lamp over, sending it crashing to the floor..

The effect was instantaneous.

The lamp's fire, escaping from its glass confines, sparked the gas-soaked air, causing a violent explosion which sent Cloud flying out onto the street, incinerating the building.

The wind outside fanned the flames, sending them spiralling upwards throughout the building. Wincing, Cloud picked himself up from the street, doing his best to ignore the many bruises he'd accumulated during his landing. As he sat up, he noticed the photograph of the Avalanchers laying next to him.

Then he realized that it had caught on fire... The picture burned away, slowly melting the celluloid towards the centre.

"No.."

Aerith's picture, the only surviving record of her existence, vanished before his eyes in an ever-shrinking halo of fire. The photograph they had taken back when she was still among the living.

...The photograph that had just saved his life.

Rising up from the ground, the blond swordsman watched helplessly as 7th Heaven burned to the ground, embers rising from the inferno before him.

Discarding the burnt photograph, he turned away, stalking down the dark streets of Edge. He knew this was not a random occurence. There were forces at work here, and someone was going to answer for this...


Author's Notes:

And... roll credits on the first episode. Hope you guys enjoyed that. Now, this is something new for me. An experiment, if you will. Normally when I write, I plot out my stories somewhat, but this time around I have no real idea where I'm taking this, story-wise or character-wise. It's starting out as Cloud/Aerith, but if you guys have other ideas, I'm always open to suggestions. Anyway, let me know what you think. Cheers!

Ps. Kudos to anyone who knows where this story got its title from.

Pps. For those of you waiting for the next chapter of Empires, it's on the way. Unfortunately, my Uni exams are coming up, so you might have to wait a while longer. Thanks for your patience.