Temporal Storms

Prologue

Though the cold winds from outside the northern crater could be heard crying, it was a chill of another kind inside its depths. Events were unfolding that would mean the end of the world. The stage had been set, and the audience watched on with mixed emotions. A scientist watched on enraptured by what he thought was the proof of his hypothesis. A young woman watched in fear and sadness as what she knew was a death sentence to the world was going on in front of her. A burly dark skinned man watched the man he had once hired, the man he had been following as his leader; give away the object that would mean the end of their world. A red wolf like creature watched as the man who once helped save him, was now making sure that they were all doomed. Two others, a woman in a revealing red dress and a man in a white business suit watched on in confusion as the man they knew as their enemy gave the object to what looked like a large block of ice with half a figure in it. Everyone's blood ran cold as the crater started to shake; the object accepted by the figure inside the ice accepted the gift from blond haired man who had once been regarded as companion, leader, childhood friend, and enemy.

"Cloud! NO!" the young woman screamed.

It was too late though. The damage was done, and all that was left to do was to run. As the group ran from the area to safety, blue light shot up and engulfed the man called Cloud, the ice cube like object, and the half of figure inside. Safely bored an airship, the young woman, the burly man, and the red wolf watched as all hell broke loose from the center of the crater. Blue light shot from it as large monsters were awoken and set free upon the world. One nearly hit the airship causing the young woman to be knocked unconscious and to the hard floor. The burly man ran to her side as the wolf and several others continued to watch.

"By the Planet…." The wolf breathed. "…..we were following a mad man."

A light breeze made the curtains in the room flutter lazily. Although the sounds of gulls could be heard, the wind had that hint of fall that was just starting to take over the world. The only thing that was disturbing this peaceful scene was a low constant beep from a machine in the room. Monitors and IV bags were hooked to a patient in the infirmary keeping a constant vigil on his recovery, or almost lack thereof. The recovery would have been a lot faster and smoother if Dr. Kadowaki knew what her patient was suffering from. As it were, he had been brought in one storming afternoon, wearing strange foreign clothes with a little armor, and dripping wet. At first the doctor thought it was because of the storm. That the poor man had gotten caught out in it, but then she saw that there was something odd mixed with the water dripping from him, something almost a florescent green. She thought it may be poison at first, but that made no sense, so she took a sample from his clothes after they had been stripped from him.

The same substance seemed to be in the man's blood as well. She was shocked by this and almost had the thought that this patient wasn't human. That couldn't be the case though. He didn't look like anything else but human. Could he be a hybrid maybe? She checked these samples against other known species in the data bases and found nothing like it.

She came to the conclusion that she had never seen this substance before and would have to check other sources. So she had checked books from the library of the academy, but still found nothing. Completely puzzled, she sent the samples to another doctor. One in Esthar who might could help. That had been almost a week ago and she had still heard nothing back from him.

The strange substance along with the clothes and armor were not the only things odd about this patient. His hair was a golden blonde that stuck up at odd angles on his head looking a little like the back end of a chocobo. His eyes though were all together a different story. Being a doctor, she had checked them when he first come in and had been taken aback. They were glowing an odd bright blue. She had noticed it a little at first, but one night when a nurse had been making her rounds to check on the patient, the silly girl had screamed and drops the clip board she had been holding. Thinking that a monster had broken into her infirmary, Dr. Kadowaki had run in and gasped. The patient had opened his eyes in the pitch dark room and they were shining like two orb shaped glow sticks. She was reminded of a cat's eyes at night though these were not slit and not gold or green, but blue and a bit brighter.

Dr. Kadowaki had ushered the nurse from the room and told her to keep the glowing eyes to herself. The last thing she needed was a bunch of students coming around the check out the new patient. After the event though, she herself had gone to tell Commander Leonheart of the strange patient and his condition. The young commander seemed disinterested in it all, not that that was out of his character, but told the doctor to continue to keep a close eye on the patient. Not that the doctor had to be told that. She had continued to take care of the strange man to this day, almost a week since he had been found.

He had not moved, nor had he spoken. He would only open his eyes now and then and stair off into nothingness. Dr. Kadowaki figured the poor man must have been catatonic from whatever ordeal he had faced. She had tried a number of times to communicate with him to no avail. She didn't give up though. She would continue to try and get him to say something to her. She would speak when she come in to check on him, commenting on the weather or some events from the news papers. Anything that might rouse the young man.

Today was no different. She come in and smiled as she noticed his eyes were open. She walked over to check the monitors as she commented on how it was getting chilly and she would soon have to start closing his window so he wouldn't catch cold. She then walked over to him to check his vitals, first reaching for his wrist to check his pulse. She nearly jumped to the ceiling when he moved his arm away quickly to grab her by her own wrist, causing her to gasp.

"Wh…who are you…?" he asked with a horse and shaky voice.

"Oh my…Sir…you're in….an infirmary…" she said as she tried to pull free.

For a man who had been in a catatonic state for almost a week, he was strong. She felt like her wrist was about to fracture under his grip.

"In…..firm….ary…" he murmured, but didn't let go of the doctor.

"Yes….could you…maybe please…..let go?" she asked.

He immediately let go of her wrist. Dr. Kadowaki heaved a sigh of relief and rubbed her now sore appendage. She looked the patient up and down. For someone who was a little on the thin side, the man was strong. Given her stockier form, she figured if worse come to worse she would have been able to easily handle this frail patient by herself. She saw differently now. She would have to remember that and let the commander know.

"Sir, what is your name?" she asked as she picked up her clip board from the table where she had set it before she had tried to check his vitals.

"Name?" he asked. "I…I don't…"

He suddenly put a hand to his forehead as if in great pain. After a moment though, he dropped his hand back to his side on the bed.

"I don't have one. Experiments don't get names. Failed experiments don't even get a number." He said in an almost flat monotone voice.

"What?" Dr. Kadowaki asked in a bit of surprise. "Surely someone has called you by some name."

She felt pity for this man who didn't even have a name. She watched him as he appeared to be trying to think back. He then looked at her and sighed.

"That girl…..she called me Cloud." He finally said.

"What girl?" she asked curiously as she wrote the name down on her clipboard.

"It doesn't matter." He murmured. "I couldn't be her Cloud. I was just an experiment created five years ago from Jenova cells and Mako. The Jenova cells merged with that girl's memories to create me. That's what Professor Hojo and Sephiroth said right before….before….."

He put his hand back to his forehead in pain once more.

"It's alright. Don't push yourself. You should just rest for now. I'm going to be right outside this room if you need me." She said with a polite smile.

She tried not to look like she was fleeing the room although that was exactly what she was doing. This man with the strange eyes, he was completely insane. She was not equipped to care for the mentally ill. She would have to talk to Commander Leonheart at once and let him know this new strange twist of events. She told the nurse on duty to keep an eye on the patient, but to not enter the room unless absolutely necessary. The last thing Dr. Kadowaki needed was a hostage situation. With that taken care of, she hurried to the commander's office.

The Sorceress had been defeated not too long ago. Time had gone back to the way things were meant to be. Humanity was getting on with their lives. They thought she was dead. Long gone and with no way to bother them. They were wrong. Did they think her foolish enough to try and not break the cycle she was caught in? Did they think she didn't have a backup plan? She had made sure that at least this tiny bit of her remained in this world. If she had control of the body she resided in, she would have laughed. For now she just lay in an almost dormant state, watching events through her host's eyes. She was waiting for a chance to take control and regain her power. It looked like she may have to wait an eternity. The bubbly host she had didn't seem to know what sadness and grief was anymore. Since the sorceress' demise, the host acted as if everything was perfect. Why shouldn't she? She was free from the Sorceress' control, she had the young commander as her lover and practically wrapped around her little finger, and she had many friends she could talk to. The host's life was in a sense perfect. It made the Sorceress sick. She needed a source of power. Something that could give her the boost she needed to once more gain control of her host like she had before. As she brooded inside her host, she suddenly felt a small tug. Something powerful and ancient was calling out to her. Something that felt very similar to her. She had to know what it was. She wanted whatever it was. It could be the key to helping her regain her power and becoming whole once more. If only her host would investigate for her. Too bad the bubbly woman didn't seem to even notice.

"Be careful, Rinoa." Selphie called as she ran with her two companions through the training grounds.

Selphie was a young woman with a nice build and wearing a short yellow skirted outfit. She had short red hair that was flipped up at the sides and back. In her hands she carried a set of nunchucks that she kept ready at all times. Running next to her was another woman with blonde hair pinned up, but with a long strand down on each side of her face. She wore a red top with black gloves that reached her shoulders. She also wore a red skirt over a pair of black pants with black high heeled boots. She carried a long chain whip ready to strike out at any monster that tried to attack. Then there was the woman Selphie had spoken to. Rinoa had long black hair with light brown highlights. She wore a long blue top over a black tank top and a blue skirt over a pair of black shorts. On her wrist was a strange weapon that looked like a cross bow of sorts.

"Don't worry about me, Selphie. Watch your own back." She said with a giggle.

The women were training, but they were still having a good time with it. These monsters here didn't seem like anything compared to Ultimecia. Still, in case another crisis comes along, they wanted to be in shape. That and Selphie and the other woman, Quistis, were members of SeeD, the elite mercenary group that were trained here in Balamb Garden. There were other gardens, but only Balamb held the tests that would let students graduate into SeeD members.

Selphie cut down a few more monsters while Quistis took a break to watch the two younger women. She could admire how their skill had grown since before the battle with the sorceress. They were both formidable allies even if Rinoa wasn't a SeeD. While she stood lost in her own thoughts, she didn't notice the monster coming up behind Rinoa. Selphie and Rinoa were also busy joking around with one another and having a good time to notice it either. When Quistis finally did notice the Grand Mantis, she got her weapon ready, but knew she'd risk hitting Rinoa with it.

"Rinoa! Watch out!" she shouted.

The Grand Mantis struck before Rinoa could react and cut the young woman's arm. She cried out in pain while Selphie quickly moved around her friend to bash the monster's head in. Once she was sure it would never move again, she turned and looked at Rinoa.

"Oh my god! Are you alright!?" she exclaimed.

"I…I think I will be. You don't happen to have a cure junctioned, would you?" Rinoa asked sheepishly.

"Ooopsie…" Selphie said with a blush as she rubbed the back of her head and stuck out her tongue a little. "I totally forgot."

"You come to the training center and didn't junction curative magic? What about a potion?" Quistis asked.

Even though the older woman was no longer an instructor, she still tended to instruct the others from time to time. It annoyed her that such a basic need had been ignored by Selphie. She quickly had to swallow her words when she noticed that she too must have forgotten.

"Never mind. We'll just run over to the infirmary." She said smiling.

"You didn't bring any either, did you Quisty?" Selphie asked with a smug grin.

Quistis said nothing as she led the other two women from the training center. She couldn't help but smile though as she heard them both laughing.

Next Chapter 1: Strange Meetings