The Price of Being a Hero
Hello, I'm Ichi. I've been working on this fanfiction for a while. The initial idea was that Cloud and Denzel were sent back in time and Cloud saved Zack, but that idea was scrapped shortly. This fanfiction is highly inspired by a fanfiction called The Fifth Act, which I read an enjoyed immensely. This fanfiction is set during Crisis Core, sometime before Nibelheim, but after Angeal also deserts ShinRa.
I sincerely hope that you enjoy this fanfiction, and may I now present The Price of Being a Hero.
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series.
Chapter One: The Price of a Second Chance
A change was coming. Someone, in the distant past from before The Price, was using That. And in The False Village, the pitiful copy of The Savior's first home. There was a Chance. A Chance to give The Savior back Freedom. After all, The Owed Debt to The Savior had to be paid. The Savior had eliminated The Threat, and The Calamity. The Savior had destroyed The WEAPONs as well, but that was fine. New WEAPONs were forming. Holy was still in effect. Without The Disease, Holy and The Lifestream could take The Savior's place.
If The Chance was taken.
A slightly younger Planet. No Holy active. No Savior yet. The Savior was still a child there. The Child Savior was owed no Dept. Only The Savior had an Owed Debt. The Child Savior could take the post when it was time, and The Savior could be Free.
The Savior was near The False Village. Perfect. The Planet directed That's power toward The Savior. The Power caught The Savior. And a child.
The Planet panicked, and quickly communicated with The Younger Planet as their Lifestreams became tangled around The Savior and The Child.
The Child must live. The Savior needed The Child. Nothing must be asked of The Savior, or The Freedom would be lost.
In the slums of Midgar, Aerith Gainsborough awoke with a start. Two Lifestreams. One wiser than her familiar one, saying the Savior needed to be free, and her own, rushing to do as the wiser said.
For a moment, Aerith closed her eyes, only to come face-to-face with…
"Hello. Sorry for the disturbance. The Planet is trying to replay Cloud. We'll leave soon."
"Yeah. Once Cloud is safe, we'll leave. The Lifestream doesn't need the children following us around here. See ya."
Her eyes snapped open, a name and face glued to her mind.
Cloud Strife.
Maybe he could be her friend.
...This was not supposed to happen.
"-oud..."
It had been a normal delivery run, except for the presence of Denzel behind him on Fenrir. There was no way that that small of a change could have caused what was happening. Impossible...
"Cloud, I need you to carry the boy while I take care of the man. We'll return for the bike once we have them home."
"Okay, Mom."
He could feel the Mako inside him burning, and the Lifestream humming as the voices of his two dead friends echoed, telling, demanding, that he make the best of his new situation. And thinking of the boy who had been with him when that glow had swallowed him, Cloud knew he would try, For the boy's sake, rather than his own.
"Denzel..."
"Mom! He spoke!"
"Calm down, Cloud. We need to get them inside."
And then, the burn of the Mako and the murmurs of the Lifestream claimed him.
Denzel had known that something was wrong the moment that he awoke in an unfamiliar setting, instead of his or Cloud's rooms back at the Seventh Heaven. To him, it was obvious; Cloud never found alternative shelter in the Nibel Area unless he had absolutely no other choice. And having no other choice was very difficult for Cloud. Denzel had woken up at the hotel in the Golden Saucer, in Cid's home in Rocket Town, in Cosmo Canyon, in North Corel, and even in Cloud's Costa Del Sol vacation home. And if for some reason Cloud could not reach one of these places, then Denzel would wake up on board The Shera.
The list consisted of places that Cloud had previously taken shelter and found peace in during his hunt for Sephiroth. Of course, this brought up the question of just how, exactly, Cloud had managed to get Denzel across an entire continent to Costa Del Sol or the Corel Desert from the Nibel Area in less than a day without waking Denzel, and why he had not simply chosen a closer location, such as Rocket Town, but Denzel had a suspicion that Cloud had used the Shera as transport.
However, even with those few questionable locations he had woken up in after a run to the Nibel Area, never had Denzel woken up in an unfamiliar room without Cloud. Period. The blond warrior wasn't as openly worried about the boy as Barret was with Marlene, but Cloud did have his own unique ways of showing that he did, in fact, care. Being around when Denzel woke up on a delivery run was just one of those ways.
So it was entirely, one-hundred percent understandable that Denzel was worried about Cloud, and in turn decided to investigate the sudden disappearance. And the first step to any investigation, as Cloud had taught him, was to find out where he was.
The room that Denzel had woken up in clearly looked to be the room of another young boy. It was lived-in and bordering on messy, with clothing strewn about and posters covering the walls. However, one poster in particular caught and held Denzel's attention. It was one of the old ShinRa SOLDIER recruitment posters, one of the ones with General Sephiroth staring into the room. It frightened the boy.
Such posters were burned these days. After Sephiroth went insane, and Meteor, and more recently the Remnants, the former General was an omen of ill-will. His image was destroyed and hated even more than ShinRa. Cloud would often become oddly silent when he took the time to notice what the common public thought of Sephiroth. 'He was insane, and I do hate him for Nibelheim and everything else,' Cloud had said with a small frown, 'But before that, before he found Jenova, Sephiroth was a hero. More people should remember that.'
Denzel was too young to remember the Silver General. All that he knew about Sephiroth came from listening to Cloud and the rest of AVALANCHE talking about their adventures. And in those stories, Sephiroth was always the end of days. Denzel's first-hand encounter with the remnants did not do much to clear the former General's reputation either.
If only Denzel had been around the few times that the Turks and Cloud had gotten to talking about the days before Nibelheim, when Cloud was just a lowly recruit, and no where near being a hero.
However, the thoughts about Cloud's opinion of Sephiroth were a poor distraction from his goal. In order to rescue Cloud, Denzel would need to clear his thoughts. This wasn't just some game he was playing with Marlene at the bar, with Cloud actually asleep in his room after a long delivery run. This situation was real, and Denzel was the only one who could save-
"Oh! You're awake. What a relief! Nibel Area winter storms are dangerous; I was afraid you would be out a few days."
The brown-haired boy raised his eyes and turned to the door in an instant. Standing there was a woman with tightly-braided blond hair flung over a shoulder, wearing a blue dress and a green apron. The woman was very pretty, right down to her blue eyes and oddly familiar soft smile.
However, that smile soon faded into an expression of worry when Denzel failed to answer, "Are you alright? I found you and your father on the path leading up to Mt. Nibel," the frown deepened and the woman's tone turned incredulous, "Really, riding a motorcycle on that path! In the middle of winter! With a child! Oh... Anyway, could you tell me your name, young man?"
Denzel turned his eyes back to the poster of Sephiroth, embarrassed at being called a 'young man'. Most people just called him a kid; it was a nice change. This woman certainly didn't seem like the type to support Sephiroth. She was far too kind for that!
"...I'm Denzel."
The woman looked Denzel over in response, and then nodded, "Well, Denzel, I'll loan you some of my son's old clothing. What you're wearing is hardly suitable for a Nibel winter. It's only just barely suitable for a Nibel summer! Stay here; I'll be right back."
Denzel nodded absently as the woman left, and stood to inspect the room closer. A few toys were piled in the corners of the room, a pile of books were stacked on the desk on the wall opposite the bed, and a half-filled duffel bag sat next to the dresser. But despite all of this, Denzel's eyes landed on the out-of-place Sephiroth poster. Why anyone would want a poster of him made no sense to Denzel.
"You really seem interested in my son's poster. Are you also a fan of General Sephiroth? Or planning to apply for SOLDIER when you're older? It seems like all of the young boys want to be in SOLDIER these days... My son is actually leaving to apply himself. Anyway, here are the clothes. They should fit you."
Denzel jumped, startled by the return of the woman, and automatically spun around to answer, "No! I don't want to be a SOLDIER. I want to run deliveries on Fenrir! ...But I need to learn to fight first, 'cause even Fenrir can be attacked by monsters. Like that pack of Kalm Fangs on the way to the Chocobo Farm..." Denzel realized he was going on about his dream to someone who was essentially a total stranger, rescuer or not, "Uh, thanks for the clothing, Mrs..."
"Oh, just call me Beckah. Being called 'Mrs.' makes me feel old! And my husband is dead anyway..." Beckah passed the clothing to Denzel and turned to leave, "I'll leave you to change, then. And feel free to go play outside when you're finished. It's rather boring in here, and I made sure to include a coat and boots in that pile."
With that, the door closed behind Beckah and Denzel set about changing his clothes. The provided clothing included woolen socks and a sweater, along with long pants and outdoors wear. To top it off, the hat that Denzel had been provided with for some reason resembled the face of a cartoonish Nibel Wolf. After changing, Denzel was surprised at how much warmer he felt. Almost too warm, actually, considering that he had felt perfectly normal before.
Opening the door to the room he was in, Denzel peeked out into the hallway. To his right, Beckah was entering a different room; in front of Denzel was a staircase, which Denzel sped down in his excitement to see where he was and explore. When he and Cloud got back home again, he would have a whole new story and adventure game to share with Marlene. Apparently the appeal of having a story for his best friend appealed to Denzel more than his previous caution and confusion about the situation.
In fact, the caution and confusion was all forgotten as Denzel rushed out into the mountain air and began to explore.
Normally Cloud never would have decided to pass up a trip on The Shera. A ride from Cid usually would mean he was in Rocket Town, which would mean that Cloud' only other option to get back to Edge was through Neo-Nibelheim. Avoiding Neo-Nibelheim was pretty high up on Cloud's priority list, but this time the area had been calling to him. So, using the fairly true excuse that Denzel wanted to see more of the Nibel Area, Cloud turned down a ride, resolved to visit the Golden Saucer on the way home, and set back the way they came. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to follow an urge probably influenced by the Planet while Denzel was with him.
…His ideas usually looked crazy in hindsight.
Either way, it was too late to remedy his mistake. At least this time no one was dead for it. Moving on was the safest option; just open his eyes, stand up, ignore how he became Mako-enhanced in favor of being thankful for the regenerative abilities Mako granted, and locate Denzel and Fenrir. If necessary, curse his dead best friends for no doubt trying to 'help' cheer him up. Easy enough. Cloud had followed that routine several times before.
Step one, open his eyes. It was really gloomy. Gray. Familiar. But… not really. Cloud's head started to pound. Where was he..? He had been here before, of that he was certain. But then, why couldn't he remember? Everything since he woke up from his first case of Mako poisoning was frighteningly clear. Only his time in and before the Labs was nearly a complete blank- nearly, because visiting the labs had brought back memories that Cloud would have rather forgotten. Although, there were some memories that had been lost forever- Wait. Could he have been here before Nibelheim? Cloud was officially baffled.
The only places where he had stayed before Nibelheim Cloud had revisited, except- the original Nibelheim! But how? Old Nibelheim had burned!
Only moments later, after he had managed to sit up without making any noise, did Cloud decide that cursing his dead best friends was definitely necessary. The woman tidying up with room was someone that Cloud knew was dead. Suddenly Cloud felt that he needed to get out of town as quickly as he could. For someone with Mako enhancements, that was actually pretty fast under normal circumstance. But with flashbacks to worry about- there was a reason that Cloud avoided Neo-Nibelheim, besides the fact that it shouldn't exist- and Denzel to take car-
Denzel!
Forgetting all about where he was, Cloud launched to his feet- and promptly became tangled in the quilt covering him. The result was Cloud's face meeting the floor with a dull thud. Mentally scolding himself for not thinking before leaping so as to avoid such a Zack-like moment, Cloud lifted his face to make sure that he hadn't broken anything. SOLDIER strength was dangerous if thrown around with no control. Even if Cloud hadn't done anything to catch himself, he could still do a lot of damage to anything in his path. Mako changed everything. Including how hard your head was.
However, Cloud didn't see any damage. That, for some reason, filled him with relief, although Cloud could not place a cause on why. His room- where the only things he actually minded being broken were kept- was in Edge. Even if this was the old Nibelheim, even if his friends had sent him to the past. His home was gone. The bar, where Tifa made sure to fuss over him and his phone rang nonstop with delivery orders and requests to buy his special racing chocobos, and where he could work on any number of pointless tasks along with the more worthwhile duty of taking care of Denzel- That was the closest thing to home he had. He might even call it home in his mind, not wanting to face the embarrassment of the various reactions his living friends would have if he admitted the bar was home. But thoughts of home aside, Cloud did see something when he raised his head.
His mother. Cloud had all but forgotten what Beckah Strife looked like. Cloud felt his face hit the floor again, and winced as he heard a board crack. He was in the old Nibelheim. His head already was throbbing in pain. But then again… No. Cloud was sure. No one was quite as pretty as his mother had been. She was unmistakable. Especially since memories that he hadn't heard from in years seemed to have returned upon seeing her. Alright, he was in the past… Drat. He had no clue what had caused this! The story would be crazier and even more unbelievable now that would be typical if Cloud did know the cause! Not that Cloud would tell anyone in the first place. So, cover story…
"Dear? Are you alright? My name is Beckah Strife. I found you and your son out on the path up Mount Nibel. Could you please answer me?"
Without thinking, Cloud raised his head and burst out a response, "So you're my aunt!"
In the following silent moment, Beckah looked absolutely shocked and Cloud mentally cursed himself for the second Zack-like action of the day.
Finally, it was Beckah who broke the silence, "I'm your… aunt? There must be some mistake."
Unable to take back his words now and praying that the cover story worked, Cloud pulled forth what little knowledge of his family history that remained in his memories, "You are the younger sister of Artemis Strife, right?"
Beckah nodded slowly, a frown set in her features, 'Well… yes. But Arty died twenty-four years ago."
Cloud mentally praised himself for remembering the name of his long diseased uncle, "Artemis Strife was my father. I was only a year old when the explosion in the Mythril Mines killed him. When my mother died seven years ago, I started trying to find father's family. I didn't have any luck for a long time. But last year I found father's journal and it mentioned Nibelheim. Around that time I found Denzel, though, so I waited until this year to visit." Cloud was proud of his cover story. Artemis Strife was a virtual unknown- not even the Turks would be able to find much on him, and no one knew if Artemis Strife had started a family or not. The story might just hold up under closer inspection.
"Arty's son…" Beckah whispered, disbelieving, "Alright, prove it. Arty always had a very unique name in mind for his first born." The woman crossed her arms and looked down at Cloud.
Cloud had never been so relieved that his mother had honored his uncle's memory by using the name that Artemis Strife had intended to use, "Cloud, Ma'am. Cloud Strife."
For a long moment, Beckah stared at him, as though daring him to be lying. And then, the petite woman smiled, "Well then… Welcome to the family, Cloud. Will you be staying long? Oh! And Cloudy- that'd be my son; funny how alike you two look- will want to meet you. Cloudy's always wanted a brother; an older cousin is just as good. And- oh my, we'd better untangle you first!" Beckah laughed, embarrassed at getting carried away.
Cloud resisted the urge to go silent and hide in his mind. No matter how uncomfortable with the situation he was, this was family… Instead, Cloud forced himself to answer in a soft voice, "No, it's fine. I'm already untangled," And he was, "I won't stay long, Ma'am. I was just curious. Denzel and I will head back to Kalm tomorrow."
Beckah frowned at the suddenly much quieter behavior, reminded of her son whenever the other children were picking on him. In an attempt to cheer up her 'nephew', Beckah pulled Cloud to his feet, "None of that! You're family. Although, if you really must leave tomorrow… at least take your cousin with you? You live in Kalm? Cloudy wants to enlist, join SOLDIER. Kalm and Midgar aren't too far apart, right? Then maybe you could escort him."
Cloud started at Beckah with wide eyes, not quite believing what he had heard. Him? Escort his younger self to Midgar? The enhanced man thought about it a moment. He didn't really want to, but Midgar at the very least might be able to help him set up his delivery service in this time. The downside was ShinRa and Sephiro- Sephiroth. Alive. That meant… he could change everything! Kill Sephiroth and Hojo, destroy Jenova- No. He had Denzel to take care of and Denzel had to come first. When the time came, Cloud would take on Sephiroth and destroy Jenova. By then Denzel would be able to find work if Cloud didn't survive.
His hate would be set aside. For Denzel.
Finally, Cloud nodded, coming to a decision. He would open his delivery service in Kalm, after escorting- the mentally dubbed- 'Spiky' to Midgar. All the way to the ShinRa building, because the slums were no place for a child, "I'll do that. I did trouble you so… It's the least I could do."
Beckah's answering smile made Cloud look away in embarrassment. It seemed that Tifa really had taken on the roll of mother… Damn! He wasn't a child to be taken care of… Stupid Tifa…
Cloud pushed himself into a sitting position and studied the room again, attempting to remember it a little better. However, he quickly halted in that plan. Cloud would leave as quickly as possible. He would rather these memories stay buried. Climbing to his feet, the man looked back at Beckah, "Where's Denzel?"
Beckah smiled at Cloud's concern for the young boy, "No worries. He was fine, so I bundled him up and sent him out to play. There isn't much in here for children to do."
Cloud suddenly felt a sense of dread. Outsiders were never treated well by most people in Nibelheim. Becoming increasingly anxious, Cloud headed for the door, pulling up his goggles to cover his eyes, "I'm going to go find him."
Beckah Strife only sighed and watched the man walk away. He was hiding something, she was sure of it.
After all, only SOLDIERs had eyes shining with Mako, and she had seen two pairs of eyes with that glow today.