Final Fantasy VII (YAOI):

"Nameless Enigma"

~~~Prologue~~~

The Journey to a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step.


Slums: Sector 5, Midgar

December 24th, Year XXXX (80 years before 'Crisis Core')

11:55PM

Here I am again. I always come to this place for some comfort. People usually do since it's really the only place that accepts the lower ranks of society. It's both a cursed and blessed sanctuary in many ways. In other words, it's a nightmare. As I ride my motorcycle through its dark and narrow streets, I wondered if ShinRa could truly change things around here. I saw how the company rose to the top. I was used as one of the keys to complete its foundation. I know it could be viewed as a dirty method, but I was willing and so were the others. I just hope these dirty methods would fade in time...especially now.

Before I knew it, the church—my destination—was already in my line of vision.

I parked my motorcycle in front of the aforementioned church, and slowly lowered my black sunglasses. It's what I use instead of a helmet. I was dressed in a way to intimidate as usual. I wore a black turtleneck shirt with chest straps—a Nibel wolf with a skull in its mouth at the intersection—that are connected to the shoulder pads and jeans. Between the shoulder pads and the cloth of my shirt, I wore an ankle-length, black, high-collared and long-sleeved leather trench coat. My hands were covered by fingerless maroon gloves, and my limbs wore black cotton pants. The pants were designed with a Gothic silver belt that had dangling and hanging chains with crosses and skulls. The eye-holes of the skull were occupied by rubies, while the crosses had deep blue sapphires in each corner and the center. My black combat boots tucked the ends of my pants inside, starting from below the knees. My short layered black hair had silver highlights as the bangs slightly covered my crimson eyes. Some people say I look like a gangster, and others mistook me for a vampire.

I sighed contently and got off the motorcycle. I clipped my keys to my belt, and then pat the seat of my vehicle as if it was a child's head. Oh how I love this motorcycle! I gave a smug smirk before I turned to the church, and started walking towards the entrance. I opened the double-doors with ease, and saw the one sight I could never get sick of yet made me feel at home.

The moonlight gave life to the colorful glass windows of the church, as each light reflected on the altar. The combination of colors somehow reminded me of kaleidoscopes. No more people who had enough faith come here anymore, so this is considered abandoned. Although I may not be much different from having enough faith religiously speaking, I cannot pass up the opportunity of witnessing such beauty. Even if no influence or authority made a move to destroy this sanctuary, I know it'll grow old in time.

Time...a great teacher to all, yet one that kills its own children and students. We take it for granted, thus not knowing its true worth unless lost. Yet no matter how much struggle, it pushes us to move forward and gives more reasons to move on.

"Mountains will crumble, temples will fall, and no man can survive its endless call." I murmured to myself. Not long after I spoke, I heard the Lifestream sing. I felt Gaia's delight, and slowly but surely, I saw the sparks of both the flow of the Lifestream and the snow. I whispered, "Merry Christmas, Midgar. Happy Holidays, Gaia."


(72 Years Later...)

As I thought, everything has changed. However, it all happened for the worst. ShinRa had rotten for money and power as I had feared. They are slowly killing the Planet itself. The Slums had just gotten bigger in population, poorer in status, and more cramped in space. War is also starting to show its bloody fangs between ShinRa itself and Wutai. An organization called AVALANCHE seems to be planning to join the chaos soon.

Most of all, as predicted, my beloved church had truly started to crumble.

What surprised me, however, was the little girl who occupied it. It would seem that she's a descendant of the Cetras...a very strong one at that. She had managed to grow flowers within the church through her powers at such a young age! In two years, she became attached to me and it's a shame that I could only say goodbye to her with a letter that I left on Christmas Eve. I wanted to see her grow up, but I just couldn't stay. It was too dangerous, especially with her heritage on the line!

Whether it was for her sake or mine—maybe even both—I stayed away as much as I can.

I hopped on to my long-time friend and partnered motor with my old yet still fresh-looking clothes. This time, I had a goal to fulfill and a job to finish. As my motorcycle came to life, it sprinted with full speed and powerfully roared with excitement. My thoughts came out loud as if I was narrating a story.

"My name is Xerxes Ruthven, SOLDIER First-Class General and entitled 'Death Knight'..."

I swerved as I took another turn to the left expertly. A man yelled at me angrily but I ignored him, and just smirked.

"...at least I used to be. I'm over that kind of work. Right now, I'm nothing more than..."

I abruptly stopped my motor, and found myself on a cliff that overlooks Midgar. I placed my sunglasses slightly lower for a clearer view, and whispered to the wind as I finished my sentence out loud:

"...a Nameless Enigma."

As I adjusted my sunglasses back and rode away, I smirked as I heard the Calamity's scream of outrage and the Goddess' call to her people.


A/N (AstridClaire): This has a pairing of ASGZ X OC X Cloud with some minor pairings for now. The OC may seem godlike or Gary-Stu, but I don't care...I have a logical explanation plot-wise for his "perfection". DON'T LIKE, DON'T READ! THIS IS RATED M AND YAOI! PLEASE R&R!

A/N (EmSAh): If you can, please find time to check AstridClaire's works. Her updates are VERY SLOW, but I'm sure she'll speed things up with the right amount of support!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Final Fantasy VII.