Prologue

The streetlamps flickered above the quiet streets of Edge. The only sounds to be heard were the chirps of early morning birds and the soft blare of Fenrir's engine, the motorcycle leisurely gliding through the empty road. The bike's rider took out his cell and glanced at the time before snapping it closed.

6:42am. Sighing, Cloud continued on his way to 7th Heaven. Deliveries to the WRO headquarters always took a while, but it was nice to see Reeve, Cid, Yuffie, Shelke and Vincent, even if nothing has really happened since Deep Ground's defeat 6 months ago.

He sped up, remembering he promised Marlene and Denzel he'd be back around 7 this morning. Hidden inside the young man's pack were gifts for the two kids. For Marlene, he bought a bracelet with a sweet little heart charm on it. Yuffie had tried to convince him the buy a matching one for Barret, but Cloud, while he knew the man loved his daughter; Barret won't put on such jewelry for the life of him. Besides, there weren't any bracelets that would've fit him!

He had a few problems, though, with Denzel's present. The curly haired boy was almost a teen, and certainly showed it. So, with lots of consideration (and some calls to Tifa), Cloud chose one present he knew the boy would love: a red WRO beret. Cloud smiled at the memory of when Denzel had proudly told them he was going to join the WRO. It took quite a few days to convince him that you had to be an adult to be accepted.

Cloud was also really looking forward to seeing Tif-

CRASH!

Cloud grunted in pain as his head hit a curb. Purple, yellow and red dots obscured his sight. A warm liquid seeped from his forehead, dripping down his face. He closed his eyes as he turned onto his back.

"Grrrrrrrrrr"

His eyes snapped open in panic. Through blurry vision, he made out four shapes… of monsters! They were hefty dark boney creatures, with pointed ears and round heads. He struggled to stand up, so he could run to get First Tsurugi, but once he stood, he found they cornered him. He cursed under his breath. Then, they pounced.

Cloud punched one of the catlike fiends in the eye, only to be bitten by another. He recovered, and tried to hit it, but was attacked by the other three. They ripped out some of his blonde spiky hair. His right earring was ripped out of his ear. Their claws tore his black shirt, and drew scarred his chest.

"Escaped" he tried to listen to the whispering that they seemed to be doing. Caught off guard, the larger one rammed into Cloud's body. "Experiments" Cloud was slammed into the wall of an alleyway. "Find" he stood, preparing to fight ankle was bitten by one fiend, and tore some of his pale skin off. "Capture and sedate" Pain and numbness shot through his left leg, causing him to collapse on one knee.

"Don't destroy" Cloud tried to kick them with the other leg, only to have it caught by a mouth. "Smells like" Fangs were sunk into him again. He tried shaking them off, but found that his legs were immobile. "Mako" The numbness crept up his body, and he struggled to stay conscious. He watched in dismay as all of them crouched back, ready to pounce. Unable to fight back, or see clearly for that matter, Cloud cursed, anticipating the kill.

High whines flooded his ears. A flash of white pushed all of the monsters away from him. "Specimen L" the beasts screeched, "SPECIMEN L!" The flash raised a sword Cloud recognized as his own, and charged. Cloud watched this small blur of white, which had to be a child, strike all of the beasts down in one shift blow. The beasts shrieked as they faded away.

"Are you well?" he heard the child whispering softly. The voice was high and melodic, like bells. Cautiously, the child turned towards Cloud, placed First Tsurugi down, and kneeled next to him. For the first time, through his blurry vision, Cloud made out a shape on the child's back.

"An… an Angel?" Cloud fought to stay awake.

"No" the child stated gently as Cloud was slowly falling into unconsciousness.

"My name is..."

And the whole world turned black.

AN: Yes I know it's short! This Chapter is just the prologue, so the chapters will be longer.

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