long time no hear from me, huh? I can't say I'm back to my writing but this idea has been kicking around in my head since the end of Dissidia 012 and I finally put just a touch of it down in writing thanks to a new piece of artwork by Dune (type 'dune cloti art' into your image search). Spoilers for the ending of Dissidia 012 obviously but for those that haven't followed the Dissidia-verse, at the end of 012 a group from Cosmos' side band together and die fighting monsters called manikins in order to close the rift the monsters are coming out of and keep their teammates in future cycles of battle from being overwhelmed by them. Tifa is one of those fallen warriors of Cosmos and when she dies, the deal is that, not having been killed by one of the warriors of the cycles but rather by monsters instead, she will not be revived for future cycles. The whole group knows this and goes into battle with the monsters anyway, willing to make that sacrifice. The warriors of Team Martyr vanish in a glow, some with smiles on their faces and the game ends. The next video games picks up with a new cycle of war and none of the warriors fighting in it on Cosmos' side have any memory of the team members that died for their sake previously (Shinryu, the dragon that is in charge of the cycles, consumes the memories of the losing side at the end of each cycle, 'cleansing' them before starting the next set of battles). Cloud however spends the entire game of 013 looking for his reason to fight and never finds one for himself, ending up fighting to support the dreams of his companions instead. What he doesn't remember is that he was on the opposite side in the last cycle (012), serving Chaos instead of Cosmos, and that he died trying to defeat the god he was supposed to be serving in order to end the cycles of war for good and keep Tifa, a warrior of Cosmos that didn't remember him, safe. He failed and as Chaos was erasing him from existence entirely, Cloud prayed to Cosmos to protect Tifa. Cosmos saved Cloud to become one of her warriors in the next cycle and he, as well as his teammates, went on to find a way to end the cycles of war for good in 013 and go home.
My question though is what happened to Team Martyr from 012? They weren't revived in the next cycle and they didn't show up at the end of 013. Canon sources are vague and it's generally assumed that they returned to their home worlds after their deaths in the Dissidia universe. This story of mine is speculation that things weren't as straight forward as that and there is another story (or video game) waiting to happen after the end of Dissidia 013. This is just playing at what the beginning of that story might be. (this is a one-shot. I'm not committing to a full on story. Just a 'what if' SE ever thought about making Dissidia 014) So here you go, oh best beloveds and my gentle readers. Life may have sidetracked me but when I need courage I remember my support from all of you and it's a lot easier to keep in the race. May each one of you have a very merry Christmas and an awesome new year ahead of you. God speed and God bless.
Going Home
by TamLin
Around him the flower field faded but Cloud kept walking. He could feel something solid under his feet, like stone or rock, rough but not rough enough to trip him and ahead… ahead was a warm light and home. Home. He hadn't realized how badly he'd wanted, needed that, until the moment he'd stood in the flower field and known it was time to go back. Back home, back to where he belonged, back to where he was –
Loved.
Home to that person that loved him. Home was in her arms.
The edges of his memory almost gave him a face, soft hair, warm eyes, strong arms and he stumbled, catching himself because he'd picked up speed. There. There was where he wanted to be. Where home was. His Promised-
Land?
His steps faltered again but this time it wasn't from eagerness.
Wait.
No. Wait. Wait, he was missing –
He turned his head, blue eyes a glow in the dark, narrowed as he looked over his shoulder behind him but there was nothing there. Only overwhelming, swallowing darkness that even the light from in front of him didn't reach into and he was so tired of darkness. There was nothing back there for him.
No one following him.
He turned his gaze back to that warm light – and he didn't move.
Wait...
Wait.
Someone should be following him. No. Not following. Someone should be HERE. At his side. With him. His eyes lifted to the light again but – it wasn't home. Home should be right next to him. Home should be where he was. Home should be –
"Tifa!"
The name exploded from somewhere deep in his gut, somewhere that pulled at all of him, the core of him and wrenched everything out of place. The memories came back in a trickle and then in an overwhelming flood, driving him hard to his knees, and the crack of them on the stone as he fell was loud in the dark. He'd – fought for... Chaos? Cycle after cycle. The memories tumbled inside of him like a storm. Until –
"Tifa – "
Tifa... She'd arrived and he'd lost his will to fight. All that had mattered was her, not sides, not gods, not repetitive battles. Just - her. She'd been too new, too young in the cycles to know him but -
he'd remembered her...
That hair, that smile, the gesture of her hands, the shift of her body, the sound of her voice against his ears. He'd remembered her.
He'd fought Sephiroth for her, fought Chaos for her, died for her, prayed to Cosmos for her and –
In the utter dark his eyes opened, huge and horrified.
And she hadn't been there. The next cycle. He'd fought for Cosmos. They'd won. But –
Protect my precious friend. Tifa.
That had been the deal. The plea. And yet – Cosmos had used him as one of her warriors but –
Where was Tifa?
Why hadn't she been with him?
Why wasn't she next to him now?
Staggering, suddenly finding it hard to stand under the enormity of that sudden weight, he got back to his feet. Cosmos was supposed to have protected her! Why wasn't she here? Where was she? He'd given everything for her safety and he'd… failed?
He'd failed.
If he hadn't failed, she'd be here. Now. With him.
His eyes went back to the light but it seemed cold now, lifeless and dull. That wasn't home. Home was where he belonged and he didn't belong there. He'd been a part of the cycles, this damned War, too long to believe for a second that she'd been sent ahead to wait for him. There was only one place the losers in the cycles went.
Shinryu.
The stomach of the dragon.
Cloud's eyes narrowed.
Like hell was he leaving without her.
The light was easy to turn his back on and he began running. Back into the darkness. Back to the fractured worlds. Back to where his heart, his home, was still being kept.
He'd find her. He'd find her and he'd rip that dragon open with his bare hands to free her if that was what it took. And then –
then they'd go home.
Together.
What Cloud didn't know, yet, was that he wasn't the only warrior turning his back on the light and pounding desperately back through the dark. He wasn't the only one that refused to go 'home' without the person they cherished at their side. Shinryu carried something far more precious than memories inside of him - but not for long.
Not for long now at all.