Final Fantasy VII: The Story 2nd Instalment

Emerald Princess of Vernea

Bonus Instalment: THE ORIGINAL CRISIS

Chapter One: The Original Crisis

Professor Gast stood by his machine, checking it over. The video was recording from a single monitor on the ceiling near to the door. The position of the camera was vital—it would give a clear picture of the entire laboratory. It wasn't just a laboratory, though… it was their home.

Ifalna stood to one side, watching as the Shinra professor worked on the machine. Seeing the professor in his smart lab coat and slick black hair made her feel strangely inadequate in her cotton red dress and purple skirt, which was tied around her waist. Her long brown hair fell loosely across her back, moving in gentle waves. She played nervously with the hem of her skirt as she waited for the professor to complete his checks. When he was finally ready he nodded and turned toward her.

"Camera's ready!" the professor said cheerfully. He pushed one final button on the console to begin the recording, and then leaned back casually against the side of the console. "Then, Ifalna, please tell us about the Cetra."

Ifalna nodded. She took a deep breath, swallowed deeply, and then began. "2000 years ago," she said, knowing her voice sounded awkward and unnatural, "our ancestors, the Cetra, heard the cries of the Planet. The first one's to discover the Planet's wound were the Cetra at the Knowlespole."

"Tell us, Ifalna…" Professor Gast interrupted smoothly. "Where is the land called 'Knowlespole'?"

"Knowlespole refers to this area," explained Ifalna. "The Cetra then began a Planet reading."

"Ifalna, what exactly does a Planet-reading entail?"

Ifalna hesitated a moment, and then turned away. She played with the hem of her skirt. "…I can't explain it very well," she said timidly, "but it's like having a conversation with the Planet… It said something fell from the sky, making a large wound." She took a few steps forward, careful not to look directly at the camera or the professor. "Thousands of Cetra pulled together, trying to heal the Planet… But, due to the severity of the wound, it was only able to heal itself over many years."

"Do the Ancients, rather, the Cetra, have special powers to heal the Planet?" asked Professor Gast. He stood up from the console and crossed his arms, looking at Ifalna intently.

There was something different about the way Professor Gast looked at Ifalna. He looked at her with soft affection, his eyes gazing at her face and hair with a caring expression. It was not the look of a scientist interviewing a subject. It was more the look one gives to someone they cared for. Ifalna seemed to realise this and quickly blushed, turning her head away.

"No, it's not that kind of power," she said quickly to cover her embarrassment. "The life force of all living things on this Planet becomes the energy. The Cetra tried desperately to cultivate the land so as to not diminish the needed energy."

"Hmm, even here so close to the North Cave, the snow never melts," said Gast, lowering his head in thought. His scientific mind was working away, piecing together all the information Ifalna was giving him. Already a number of theories were forming in his mind. "Is that because the planet's energy is gathered here to heal its injury?"

Ifalna looked down, and her brown hair fell around her smooth face. "Yes," she replied. "The energy that was needed to heal the Planet withered away all the land… then the Planet… The Planet tried to persuade the Cetra to leave the Knowlespole, but…" She choked and covered her mouth with her hand.

"Ifalna…" said Gast in concern. He watched Ifalna as she struggled to hold back the tears that were welling in her eyes, before he turned and headed toward the console. "Let's take a break here," he suggested. He was about to turn the video recorder off when suddenly Ifalna turned around and shook her head.

"I'm all right…" she said. She rubbed her eyes and brushed down her dress, flicking strands of loose hair from her face before continuing her story. However, she still found the telling difficult. "When the Cetra… were preparing to part with the land they loved…" She turned away. "That's when it appeared! It looked like… our… our dead mothers… and our dead brothers. Showing up spectres of their past."

"Who is the person that appeared at the North Cave?" Gast asked. "I haven't any idea."

"That's when the one who injured the Planet… or the 'crisis from the sky' as we call him, came." Unable to hold back her tears any longer, Ifalna broke down into tears. They flooded down her cheeks as memories passed onto her from the Planet passed through her mind. Images and flashes of the past zipped before her eyes. She could see everything that happened as though it was happening in front of her. What the Cetra of the past could see, she could see. What they felt, she felt.

"He first approached as a friend, deceived them, and finally… …gave them the virus. The Cetra were attacked by the virus and went mad… transforming into monsters." Ifalna fell to her knees as the image passed through her mind. Gast walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. She was trembling, but still she went on. "Then, just as he had at Knowlespole… He approached other Cetra clans… …infecting them with… the virus…"

She was shaking terribly now. Gast, unable to watch Ifalna suffer the burden of remembering any longer, shook his head and strolled over to the recording console. "You don't look well," he said, his back to her. "Let's call it a day."

He switched the console off.

Emerald: Just as a note, this bonus instalment file will contain not only the Gast files, but any extra bonus instalments I write in the future. Such as Lucrecia's Cave… and anything else I can't think of right now. Might as well stick the rest in one file as short stories. I may… note the word may end up sticking Up the Pagoda in here… but I like that as a separate one. We'll see. Plenty of time yet.