Summary: There's a new cadet in the SOLDIER program named Cloud Strife. He, actually, seems quite weak, but when he starts acting quite weird, people get suspicious. Is there something this teen is hiding?
Pairings: No yaoi until book two, unknown other pairings...
Warnings: cussing eventually, don't like don't read, read and don't like don't review! Flames will be ignored or shot down.
Me no own Final Fantasy 7. Square Enix does!!!
Prologue:
The sun was blotted out by the dark clouds. Rain was sure to come. Magnorak was sure of that as he looked out the palace window. His fox face was blank of emotion, seeing as his mind was spinning with them. He didn't know how to be acting. Sad, excited, mad, disappointed? He didn't know.
"So, you will be going undercover as a SOLDIER in training to learn more of the subject," the feminine voice behind Magnorak went over their strategy.
He, the high king of the western part of his planet, one of the most powerful demons that ever lived, and a descendant of the long since deceased Kyuubi no Kitsune, was to go to the parallel dimension to his world to investigate a disturbance. Normally, he would send a warrior or spy of his own to do this work, but this was something personal of his to be done. He wanted to take care of Hojo himself.
Hojo, a deadly scientist, most likely insane, had found out about his people. The demons.
Demons, the inhabitants of this planet and this dimension, had traveled between the two worlds for centuries. They lived in the world of humans without being noticed seeing as they took on disguises using their special abilities.
Hojo had learned about the demons living in his world and had been capturing, experimenting, and torturing demons. And, unfortunately, they were mainly Western demons, Magnorak's people.
And Magnorak wanted justice.
Magnorak, being a fox demon with nine tails like his ancestor, was a master of trickery and acting. He was planning on going to that world and staying there for a while undercover and find proof of Hojo torturing his people. Once he had solid proof he would be able to present it to the Grand Council of his whole planet and receive clearance to exterminate the crazy scientist.
But, Magnorak could not tell his people he was leaving them for who knows how long. Riots would be ensured after the announcement and decrees that he must stay would be ordered and sent in. He wouldn't be able to leave if he announced such news.
Magnorak looked back at his best friends; Kiva-the phoenix, Zalu-Kiva's twin sister and the blue phoenix, and Zeek-the shadow wolf. Zeek and Kiva both sat in their human forms on the sofa against the left wall and listened to Zalu, also in her human form, read over the plans.
They were the only ones that knew he was leaving and were put in charge of running the nation in his absence. They would announce after Magnorak had left that he had gone on a personal and very important mission and that he had put them in charge.
"You will then proceed to look into the subject," Zalu read off the file. She refused to call Hojo by his name, saying that evil beasts didn't deserve names.
"Zalu, I think he knows what to do," Kiva laughed, his ever present smile stretching across his tan face, his long, red hair dancing with his laughter. His sister swung towards him, her medium length, blue hair spinning with her, and her green eyes blazing.
"Do not interrupt! I am going to read off the plans whether you like it or not!" Zalu wagged her own, tan finger in Kiva's face disapprovingly.
Kiva's green eyes widened slightly and he waved his hands protectively in front of his chest.
"WOAH! WOAH!" Kiva tried to calm his sister down, but she had the worst temper any of them had ever seen. She got angry at the littlest of things, and it drove the three boys present in the room crazy.
Zeek just sat and watched the siblings bicker with observant, deep, blue eyes. His pale face never showing any emotion at all.
"Cut it out, the two of you!" Magnorak boomed angrily at his two friends. They fell silent and looked over at their king, their identical green eyes both showing an apologetic glow. Magnorak turned to Zalu and nodded to her. "Please continue," he said calmly then turned and glared at Kiva, "and don't interrupt!" Kiva gulped and nodded briskly. Zeek sighed and ran a hand through his short, pitch black hair.
"Well, as I was saying before I was so RUDELY interrupted!" Zalu gave a quick glare at Kiva who grinned sheepishly. "You are to join the SOLDIER program and train to become a SOLDIER. While you are there, you should have a good amount of access to the subject and even more access when you become a 3rd class. You will aim to get proof of the subject's crimes against demons and bring it back to the Grand Council. Simple, is it not?"
Magnorak looked over at Zalu, then Kiva, then Zeek, and finally turned to look out the large window.
"It's easier said then done, sis!" Kiva stated simply. Everyone knew that little fact was true. This was not simple in any sense of the word.
"What is his persona?" Zeek questioned blankly, his voice not showing any emotion. It never did. Magnorak wasn't surprised, considering what he had been through.
"Persona?" Zalu replied blankly, blinking a few times. Magnorak squeezed the bridge of his long muzzle with two long claws in agitation.
"Yes, Zalutria, persona. It means personality and history," Magnorak explained, his voice thick with irritation. He was surprised, actually, that they hadn't really identified what his undercover self would act like or what his history was.
"Well, uh," Zalu flipped through the folder in her hands in search of the answer. Zeek and Kiva both watched her search while their king stared out the window as the sky darkened even further.
"EURICHA!" Zalu proclaimed, finally finding what she had been looking for. Magnorak spared her a quick glance out of the corner of his thin, blue eyes, and then turned back to the window. "It seems we decided you would be a shy, withdrawn, and quiet teen boy. Not very good self esteem," Zalu looked over at her king, who didn't even make a move to look back at her. "You look up to the SOLDIER's general like most cadets do, and you want to be just like him." Magnorak scoffed at this. He couldn't care less about their oh so amazing General. He was exceptionally powerful, he wouldn't deny that, but he just didn't see what was so great about him or why everyone loved him so much.
"What about history? I get the gist of my personality," the large, golden fox questioned, turning fully towards his friends.
"Well, uh, it seems you are from a small town called Nibelheim," Zalu squinted at the name of the city, wondering if she had gotten the spelling or pronunciation right, but shrugged it off.
"Why there? Isn't that, like, a really small place to come from?" Kiva questioned, not really seeming to care about it. Zalu was about to retort to him, but Zeek beat her to it.
"It's small and withdrawn and seems like the place where someone with this personality would come from. Besides, a good amount of cadets come from this place," Zeek said in his monotone voice.
Magnorak nodded in agreement. "I find it to be a fine place for my being to have come from," he stated calmly.
Zalu also nodded. "Yes, and we have a couple warriors stationed there that we can inform of your mission and can be assigned as friends of your character," she nodded again as if telling herself it was surely a great idea. Magnorak hesitated a moment and thought over the idea.
"Which warriors?" he asked slowly, not knowing which they should tell and which not to. Some of his warriors he didn't think would be best to inform of his mission. He trusted all of his people, of course, but some he thought might not be able to handle certain news.
"Erm," Zalu thought over the files in her head. She counted on her fingers then answered, "Mana, Dradle, Lucia, Tifa, and Nachi." Magnorak arched a furry eyebrow at her answer.
"Only five?" the king questioned and Zalu nodded. She had a photographic memory, which came in handy many times.
Magnorak sighed, sat down behind his large, wooden desk and began to look over the list.
Mana the vampire. He was a trustworthy man, but he was always drinking and yelling out nonsense. That nonsense, one night, might just be the king's mission. Maybe he wasn't really the best choice.
Dradle the chimera. He was a bit crafty, but totally devoted to his nation. He could use his crafty talents to keep the mission a secret and make everyone believe that he really was part of Magnorak's past. He would probably be a good choice to ask for his assistance.
Lucia the cobra hybrid. She was a very seductive woman, living up to her snake demon heritage, and she was great at telling a lie. She wasn't really the best actress, though. Maybe if she were given a past act that resembled her true self and true past they could work with her.
Tifa the werewolf. She was a kind being, very trustworthy, and probably the best choice out of the five. She was definitely one to tell the mission to.
Nachi the mutant. He was known as the village idiot. He was actually a genius with an I.Q. higher then most professional scientist, but he was pretty crazy. He might be able to be told the mission and if he goes and yaps about it, no one would believe him.
Magnorak nodded at his decision and turned to Kiva.
"Dradle, Lucia, Tifa, and Nachi are to know of the mission. You make up their connections to my fake persona, but make sure they fit in with their current personas and with their personalities. Then, send out the information to them via letter," Kiva nodded at his king's demand and ran out the door with a mock salute.
"There is one more thing," Zalu pulled her king's attention back to her as she skimmed her fingers over the file. "It says here you are to fail your first attempt at becoming a SOLDIER to keep up with your personality," Zalu looked up at her king apologetically.
"Why doesn't he just act like he just barely makes it into SOLDIER on the first test? It would be a lot better," Zeek recommended but Magnorak flicked one of his long tails at him for him to be silent.
"I find that to be fine," the fox demon said slowly, not really sure if he himself really was fine about it. If he became a SOLDIER then he would have more access to Hojo and the sooner he became a SOLDIER then the sooner he could find proof.
Just then, a flash of lightning lit up the window behind the fox king, lighting the room with a yellow glow and long shadows. A boom of thunder shook the large palace the three friends sat in and all the lights shot off. Magnorak looked behind him, out the window, to see rain pouring down from the sky and hammering against his window. The nation's capital below him bustled with demons as they either ran to get out of the rain or hurried to get in it.
An eerie blue light lit the room and the king turned back to his friends to see Zalu lighting a candle with her blue flames and setting it on her leader's desk.
"Creepy," Zeek said flatly, not sounding at all unnerved. Actually, he liked it when it was dark, scary, or creepy.
"Anyway, I found that if you are a SOLDIER, you do have more access into the subject's lab, but you will not have as much time to do it," Zalu said calmly, her face lit with the blue light.
Magnorak nodded slowly. That made sense in a way. And, if he was just a simple cadet when he went to the lab, he wouldn't seem as suspicious. But, if he were to ask Hojo any questions that showed a much more developed mind, then he would have to have a back up story for his knowledge. Him being a big book worm would probably be his best bet, and so he would need to purchase a good amount of books to back up the theory.
"What's my persona's name?" Magnorak question blankly as yet another flash of lightning and quake of thunder echoed in his ears.
"We haven't decided. You get to choose it," Zalu stated, pulling out a black pen from her jean pocket. She dabbed her tongue against the tip of the pen, put the point against the file in her grip, and then looked up at her king expectantly.
Magnorak looked down at his desk for a moment, not sure how to reply. He turned to look out his window yet again and stared out at the city he lived in.
He lived in the capital city called Strife.
Magnorak stared at his city for a few seconds longer then looked up at the darkness above the city that was pelting the buildings with water.
"My name will be Cloud Strife."