A/N: This is set after Dirge of Cerberus, and I hope you like it :) Please Review and let me know what you think.
Disclaimer: Wish I did, but most definitely do not own Final Fantasy, but the OCs are mine.
Fourteen Thorns and a Glass Chocobo
Chapter 1:
When the World Regenesis Organization attacked Deepground in the ruins of Midgar, something was unearthed, and something was awakened. Deep in the bowels of the ruined city slept something unimaginable. Of all the secrets Hojo had kept, this one was the most lethal. Buried away for years slept the last and final Sephiroth clone. Who he was before his form was cruelly mutilated, no one knew, but now all he was known as was fourteen. The only indication that the creature had any sense, any coherent thought was his restless pursuit. What he was searching for was known to a few, but as waves of destruction plagued the planet it became apparent that something was being hunted.
"Another town's been attacked," Elena, a Turk of ShinRa, informed her newly rejuvenated boss. It had been the third town to be destroyed in the last four weeks.
"No, it's been annihilated," Rufus replied heavily, reading the report she had placed on his desk. Not a single soul left alive, not a single stone left intact. In essence, the small town had been erased, just as the others had, from the planet.
"Another one?" Reno drawled, despite his cavalier tone, worry clouded his eyes as well. This was getting out of hand. It had been months since this had started, and so far all they could get was a number: fourteen.
"Has Tseng found anything?" Rufus asked, his eye brows furrowed uncharacteristically. The director of the Turks was currently sifting through the records in Nibelheim, trying to find answers. Their tattooed foe could only be one of Hojo's experiments; a Sephiroth clone on a rampage.
"No yet," Elena replied, her own eyes creased in worry.
"Well we know what he's chasing, so why can't we just go grab her?" Reno asked, waving his EMR for effect.
"At this point I think we'll have to," Rufus decided after and after deliberating for a moment, he nodded at his three Turks, and the three strode out the door. Unfortunately the order came too late, for that night, Fourteen struck again.
On the whole, people are unsuspecting beings, going about their business with little thought to their own futures. Very few can ever sense their own ends, their own fates, but a rare few feel it in their very bones. They know when their clocks about to stop. Despite the festivities just outside her hotel room door, Lenora Eris knew her luck was all but gone. For months she had been running from town to town, hoping that somehow the destruction following her around was just a coincidence. Now she was certain that whoever was out there was chasing her. With a sigh she looked at the protection charm her mother had given her long ago. It was a glowing silver orb, barely the size of her thumb, hanging off a silver chain; it was materia of some sort, not that it had ever done anything useful.
"So much for protection," she murmured, recounting that her mother had told her that wishing on this charm for protection would call forth the heavens themselves as her warriors. Even though Lenora knew this was just a story, she still prayed a little, hoping for a champion to come to her aid. For a second the materia seemed to glow, but Lenora blinked and it was gone.
A loud yell and the sound of a fight downstairs told Lenora that he was here, and this time she had nowhere to run. Grabbing her small bag and shrugging into her coat, Lenora hurried downstairs. Outside was complete chaos. A fire was burning at the heart of the town and the ground was already lined with blood. Across the square she saw a man wielding a sword in one hand and a gun in the other. A tattoo on his neck spelled fourteen in roman numerals.
"You," he looked at her with dark, mad eyes. True insanity lingered in his face, in his every movement, along with his undeniable power, "Now we can call forth the angel himself."
"Why are you doing this?" Lenora asked, looking at the carnage around her. She did not understand about the angel, nor did she know why she was needed. Lowering his weapons slightly, the man walked casually across the street and met her nose to nose. Putting her best possible poker face forward, Lenora tried to stay strong.
"The Angel awaits, his blackened wing will stretch across the sky," the man purred malevolently, "To erase his death, the materia of life is needed," he raised his gun so it was aimed right at her heart, "Hand it to me."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Lenora replied, her voice faltering from fear, she knew exactly what he wanted, but knew she was going to die either way. He roared in frustration, and cocked the gun. Her mother's protection charm was what this man wanted but Lenora didn't know how to tell him it didn't work.
"I will find it-" before he could finish, a revving rang throughout the square, of not one, but multiple motorcycles from behind her. Turning to see what her captor was looking at, Lenora's jaw nearly dropped straight to the floor.
Out of thin air, three men materialized. Clad in black leather, with silver hair, they rode through the square, reaching her just as the man bolted out of their grasp, faster than any human.
"Leave him," the shortest quickly ordered as Fourteen rushed out of sight, "other's are coming." The other two took point, while he took a defensive stance in front of Lenora, who was still trying to find her voice. Before she could ask what was going on, the sound of a cocked gun made her tense. Looking around the square, Lenora tried to pinpoint the source.
"We mean you no harm!" the sound of a megaphone informed them from the shadows and sounds of an entire garrison could be heard in the darkness.
"Yazoo," the leader turned to face the slim man wielding a rather large gun himself.
"I've got the snipers, Kadaj," he replied coolly. With a flick of his long silver hair, he fired a three shoots into the distance, and the sound of three bodies thumping against the cold earth echoed for but a second, and then the war started.
"Loz, grab her!" the leader yelled again and pulled out a magnificent silver sword. He quickly dispatched the first soldier that came at them. At some point, between being shot at and having the large, short haired man shove her bodily into a small crevice, Lenora realized that the soldiers were from the World Regeneiss Organization. If anyone could help her, it was them.
"Stop this!" she grabbed the man named Loz by the arm and yelled in his ear, "Stop!" in return he shoved her back in the crevice and ran off to support the other two. As she watched from her crevice, Lenora realized how thoroughly outmatched the WRO men were. Her three saviours fought elegantly and effectively, cutting every single man down until the square was empty. Feeling shocked, Lenora did not resist when she was yanked out of her hiding spot. Never had she seen such cruel bloodshed before.
"Are you alright?" the leader, Kadaj asked, wiping his bloodied weapon clean. Though his words were meant to be kind, his eyes were empty and his tone lacked any sort of warmth.
"Y-you killed them all," Lenora stuttered back, watching with awe as Yazoo was standing over a soldier, who was barely conscious, but still alive.
"Your protection is our duty," Yazoo replied in the same cool voice, raising his weapon at the defenceless man before him.
"D-don't..." the man begged barely above a whisper. The shot that rang through the square confirmed that these men were not merciful to those they fought against.
"Oh my god," Lenora bit against the tears that threatened her eyes. All the lives that were lost, not only today, but every day before that, were all because of her cowardice. And now this. It seemed her mother's protection materia had worked, but Lenora did not know if her saviours came from heaven or hell. Turning heel, Lenora ran as fast as she could only to crash into the tall one from before.
"Why are you running?" he asked pulling her back to the main square were the other's waited; "It's not safe."
"Please let me go," she begged as he dragged her back, now the tears were flowing freely. Both Yazoo and Kadaj were watching her struggling against Loz interestedly, like she was a caged animal, which in some ways, she was, "Take whatever you want."
"This is the one we were sent to protect?" Yazoo raised an eye brow at his brother. It occurred to Lenora to feel slightly insulted, but she could only assume that she looked like a pitiful mess and bit back the angry retort that sat in mouth.
"We don't get redemption until we fulfil our purpose here, even if it is her protection," Kadaj shrugged back and then looked around once again at the ruined town, "It's time we move." With swift nods, the two moved forward and Kadaj pulled her onto his sleek black motorcycle. Before Lenora could protest, they were speeding down the road, with no signs of return. With trees and forests rushing past her, Lenora had no choice but to hold on for dear life as they rode through the night. Not a word was exchanged during this trip by anyone, leaving Lenora to try and sort her thoughts.
The names of these men sounded familiar, and with some horror, she realized these were the remnants from a few years ago that had resurrected Sephiroth, and also died. To add to this, they had, for some reason, protected her rather than killing her. This little circle continued in her mind until the bike came to a swift stop, jolting her back to reality.
"The Forgotten City?" she looked around at the strange white trees and the odd cone shaped building that dominated the square. It would have been a serene place had it not been for the three monsters that stood beside her.
"It's defensible," Kadaj explained, looking almost reminiscently at the familiar forest, "Yazoo will take the first watch, and I second." Taking a firm clasp of her upper arm, Kadaj partially led and partially dragged Lenora inside the cone shaped building and down to the main part of the city. Most of it looked untouched except for a few small shacks by the entrance, where Lenora assumed the boys had stayed last time they had been...alive.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked as Kadaj led her to a small one bedroom shack that had a small bathroom in one corner and a crude kitchen.
"You called, we answered," Kadaj replied vaguely, while Loz started to unpack some basic supplies.
"The lifestream said we could get salvation," Loz tacked on the last part unthinkingly and then flushed when Kadaj glared at him for his slip of tongue.
"And your well on your way," Lenora retorted, sarcasm flowing freely from her tone, "Killing an entire squadron of men will really help your case with Minerva." After deliberating, Lenora had decided that these men were dangerous, but they wanted her alive, so she could get away with being bitchy. At least for now.
Kadaj glared for a second and then dropped to the floor of the shack and leaned against the wall, "I would suggest you get some sleep while you can." The malice in his tone suggested he was not impressed by her mocking words.
"Bite me, Silver," Lenora shot back instinctively. For the last several weeks, she had been living in fear, and with her rescue from certain death, she felt some of her fighting spirit returning to her. Instead of listening to him, Lenora got up and walked out of the shack and when nobody came to get her, she climbed back up to the forest.
"Leave her Loz," Kadaj stopped his brother from getting up as she left, "Yazoo is outside. Let him handle it" With a small chuckle, Loz sat back down. Out of the three brothers, Yazoo was the only one that truly understood the mysteries of the human mind; he understood how to hurt someone and how to comfort them and how to manipulate them to his will. Unlike Kadaj who had a knack for providing physical pain, Yazoo used more subtle tactics to torment his victims.
Unknowingly, Lenora poked her head outside the cone shaped building and peaked into the clearing, looking for the long haired Yazoo. Once she was sure it was empty, Lenora stepped out and looked around suspiciously. Strolling casually, Lenora sat down on one of the three sleek bikes that were parked not far away. Her best shot at escape was hot wiring one of these and taking off. Luckily for her, Lenora had been trained by her mother in covert illegalness, and so was well aware of the intricacies of hot wiring a vehicle. And high jacking a glass chocobo...but that was another story entirely.
"How far do you think you would get?" a cool voice from behind her made Lenora freeze. Looking slightly amused, Yazoo stepped into the clearing and folded his arms. Far from looking angry, he looked more inquisitive if anything.
"Far enough," she huffed back and stepped away from the motorcycle with an air of annoyance about her. Refusing to meet his eye, she instead walked over to the deep pool of crystal like water and experimentally looked into its depths, ignoring the man behind her. Lithely, Yazoo knelt down next to her, close enough that his shoulder touched hers. Though she flinched at his sudden presence, Lenora continued her petulant silence and refused to acknowledge him. Being the skilled manipulator he was Yazoo could see in her reflection that anger that burned in her eyes.
To test her limits, he turned his head to face her and moved in so his lips were right by her ear, "Do you know of the story about the angel and devil?" The whisper was low and smooth. Stubbornly, Lenora refused to turn, and continued facing forward, "An angel sat in the alter in the forgotten city and she prayed for the protection of the planet," the whisper tickled her neck, and Lenora moved away slightly, only to find that the stubborn silver moved forward as well, "The devil wanted to destroy the planet and plunged a knife through her chest-"
"Why are you telling me this?" Lenora asked standing up abruptly, her self control snapping. Slowly, Yazoo stood up as well and triumphantly stepped towards her again, stalking his prey with dancing eyes.
"You prayed too and ended up summoning monsters," Yazoo explained slyly, "does the prayer make you an angel or do the ones you summoned make you a devil?"
By the sudden angst and guilt in her eyes, Yazoo knew he won this round. It had taken all of two minutes for him to understand this feeble human. Despite her obvious guilt at all the lives lost in her name, Lenora hadn't been able to change anything and had maybe even made it worse. She was like all the rest. Then she said something he did not expect.
"Monsters don't get redemption," she countered, taking great pains to match his tone, though her voice didn't quite reach the coolness that his voice had. Looking taken aback for but a quick second, Yazoo quickly reined his emotion. So this little fox wanted to play.
"Something to bear in mind, little bird," Yazoo replied taking another step forward, pinning her against a tree, one final step pressed his body against hers, "We are not saddled by mercy, or forgiveness," he let her tremble beneath him as he continued, enjoying his dominance over this girl, "our existence was created with the sole purpose of bringing the harbinger of chaos to this world, and we almost succeeded."
"Almost," Lenora emphasized, her voice wavering.
"It seems you have something that could serve to do the same thing," Yazoo finished and realization filled her eyes. Lenora understood why she was being hunted.
His blackened wing will stretch across the sky.
The senseless words from Fourteen's mouth suddenly had meaning. Sephiroth.
From the deep pits of his mind, Cloud Strife tried to find any last vestige of patience that he could bestow upon the red headed Turk that stood at his front door. It was two o'clock in the morning and despite popular belief, Cloud was only human, and deeply wished to be back in his comfy bed rather than arguing with the insistent Turk and his bald partner.
"Reno, I will give you ten seconds and then I'm going to let Tifa handle it," Cloud knew this threat would work. Tifa was less then pleasant when woken at ungodly hours, and Reno knew that from experience; there was a scar on his left thigh from a whisk to prove it.
"Hear me out!" Reno begged. With a sigh at his partner, Rude pushed a slim manila folder into Cloud's hands. Still glowering, Cloud grudgingly opened it and quickly skimmed the thin report that lay inside. Unbelievingly, he shook his head and reread it, hoping this was some mistake.
"There is a materia capable of bringing people back from the dead?" he clarified with a raised eye brow, "And a Sephiroth clone is after it?"
"And it seems the Remnants are back as well," Rude added indicating to the backside of the last page of the report that contained the account of the latest town that was destroyed. Cloud looked grimly at the Turks before him. There was only one direction in which this could go.
Calamity.
Again.
