Writing this to try out a new style. The prologue is quite short, sorry. Not completely compliant with CC and all the other spin-offs as I have only played the original FF7 and watched AC.
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Paradigm
prologue
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Cloud wakes alone in her church, surrounded by whispers. Empty voices lean down to his ears, linger for unheard moments. He blinks, moves his head slowly, wanting to find out why it aches so much, to find out where he is and why. The murmurs vanish rapidly and along with them go pictures in his mind of memories he can't remember.
A church. It always feels like somebody is talking silently, so he shrugs of what he has heard and seen and lets his eyes explore the infinite space, closed-off by the damaged roof. Cloud closes his eyes again, trying to recall what he has done last.
Midgar. He arrived in Midgar the day before?... or some time ago to join Shinra's Soldier program. Tifa's (worried) pensive face swims in his vision. He had promised her (not to disappear for so long again, yeah, he missed them as well) to become a Soldier First Class like Sephiroth, a hero.
He must have been too tired to go right to Shinra's corporate building or to find a proper inn. The church is run down, there are cracks visible in the stone walls, pieces of supporting beams lie dead on the floor and Cloud knows that he must be in some part of the slums because above the plate everything is clean and in good condition. Something like this wouldn't be left alone, wouldn't remain standing on its half-broken groundwork.
He stands up from the long wooden bench and wonders again how he has come to fall asleep here; shortly after stepping out of the train it's like a veil hangs in front of his memories. Flinching as something slides to the floor next to him and produces a loud metallic clank, which echoes off cold walls – and the noise shudders, he bends down seconds later to inspect the object.
A huge sword, one that appears to be made of smaller swords somehow clipped together and it looks too heavy for a normal person to lift. Instinct makes him reach for the hilt nevertheless and he is surprised to be able to pick it up quite easily. His head, still aching, tells him that his arm shouldn't be able to support the weight, but his body doesn't let go. Lifting it seems easy and familiar, almost reassuring. Unskilled, he swings it experimentally, almost hitting the row of benches in front of him. Swishing trough the calm air it stirs up a breeze (maybe there is some kind of materia equipped), which runs from the doors at back of the church to the front, the point where an altar should be but isn't.
Cloud is surprised to see (Aerith's) flowers grow from the place with the broken parquet, which is illuminated by the artificial light of the slums coming through a broken ceiling, instead of seeing a well of gentle turquoise water, and he is confused as to why he imagines seeing water in a church he's never been to before. The light yellow and white blossoms sway softly in the ghostly wind, laughing.
For a moment he feels as if he has finally returned home, despite having just left it, despite being in a strange city. He wipes away the sleep from his eyes and slings the giant sword across his back (with confidence?). Again his head tells him it's too heavy, but his legs remain steady as he walks out (hesitatingly) into the darkness of the city under the plate.
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continue?
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