The Forgotten Hero - In the ancient days people would rely on coal. The coal wasn't clean and it caused pollution. Still, very few people had anything to say about it. It was cheap and efficient. About fifty years ago a new resource was harbored and enslaved by Shin-Ra Electric Corp. Shin-Ra called this new energy Mako. Mako energy comes from the planet's life stream. This being said people were using the planet's life to make their lives more comfortable. The planet was dying. Still, Shin-Ra didn't care; it was an even cheaper and more efficient fuel. The people were growing angry with their excuse, thus attacks on the company began to happen, and the great Sephiroth became a hero.
A war broke out between Shin-Ra – which at this point managed to take over most of the world- and Wutai. Shin-Ra's men started to weaken and thin in number. They needed to do something and fast. The scientists that worked for Shin-Ra tried something that has never been done before; they infused potential soldiers with Mako energy. Various tests showed that the men who had Mako infused in them had their senses enhanced. They could see further, their hearing was acute and they had the nose of a wolf. To add onto this groundbreaking discovery, their physical strength and reflexes heightened exponentially. This tilted the war in favor of Shin-Ra with these new warriors; SOLDIERS.
Sephiroth – the greatest SOLDIER – single handedly took out an entire army without breaking a sweat. He was the reason that Shin-Ra won this war against Wutai. He was the reason that many boys left their small towns to try and join SOLDIER and have their names in the newspaper. Still, no one would be a hero like Sephiroth.
However, things for Shin-Ra were starting to waver and their golden years were coming to an end. Different fiends were, and still are, showing up more frequently and were causing issues at various Mako plants. People were pointing fingers at Shin-Ra saying that these monsters were being created either through science experiments or through radiation. Then, there was the issue of the new eco-terrorist group; AVALANCHE. AVALANCHE was targeting these Mako plants and blowing them up. Shin-Ra needed to move fast once more.
There were issues at a small town called Nibelheim. Sephiroth was sent out to investigate the monsters that were rumored of clawing their way through the nearby mountains, by the Mako plant. The investigation took weeks, but there were very few reports being turned in. The ones that were turned in had little information. Some said that Sephiroth locked himself up in the mansion. No matter what happened, everything turned to chaos.
The Mako plant was destroyed. Then, Nibelheim was burnt to the ground. Very few survived the horrendous attack. Those who did survive were mentally scarred by the memories. No one knows for certain what happened. Shin-Ra says that AVALANCHE was responsible for the attacks. Others say that Sephiroth went insane from the Mako infused in him and destroyed Nibelheim. No matter what, this once great hero's name is now a stigma and has vanished from the face of the world.
Recently, there have been reports of a man in a black cloak. People say that underneath the hood of the cloak are glowing eyes – something that only SOLDIERs who have been infused with Mako energy would have. Whenever they recount their encounters, they become hushed and whisper that they caught glimpses of silver hair, threatening to flow from the hood, It's been known that these people utter words that suggest the man carries a long sword that strongly resembles the one Sephiroth was known for wielding; Masamune. Are these reports something of that of a child's fantasy, or is there some truth behind them? Could Sephiroth – the forgotten hero – still be wandering among the endless world that we call Gaia? –Verna Alm; Gaia's Global
"Interesting," A man mumbled through a cigar placed firmly between his plump lips. He scratched his chin, which reminded him that he has neglected to shave from the past two days. His eyes scanned over the pieces of papers that he held in his seemingly swollen hands. He then took the cigar from his mouth and tapped onto an ash tray before speaking, "Very interesting."
The said man, who seemed to have a keen liking to the word "interesting," stood up. His round belly threatened to pop the buttons of his short-sleeved collared shirt. His belt seemed unnecessary, as his encouraged med section did a fine job of keeping his pants up. The plump man waddled his way over to a cord glass door.
The door opened into a room that was bustling everywhere one looked. Various phones seemed to make a choir as they rang off the hook. Keyboards clacked as fingers seemed to endlessly strike them in a fast motion. People were calling to one another from across the room holding various papers that made noise whenever it was moved. It seemed to be chaotic, but it was business as usual.
Now, the plump man made his way through the narrow aisles of cubicles and desks. It was a wonder that his enlarged figure didn't get stuck, but somehow he managed. This man looked at the different name plates that were on the cubicles or the desks. Finally, the man stopped – it seemed he has arrived at the destination he was aiming for. He had arrived at her cubicle.
"Ms. Alm?" The man spoke. He then puffed his cigar in a different direction. After all, he didn't want to seem rude, no he had a favor to ask of her.
A girl, who was holding a phone close to her ear looked up and held a finger. She moved the mouth piece of the phone away from her as she said, "Just one moment, please."
She turned her direction as she stared straight ahead of her, seemingly at nothing, as she continued the conversation she had on her phone. "I know, Mister Deline! If you-!" The girl paused and tapped her fingers on the desk in an irritated manner. "Look, I just want to come and take a few pictures of the establishment, maybe interview a few people, and then I'll be on my way. I won't do any snooping, nothing! I don't even have to go into the late president's office! I just want some visual pieces to support my news story." The girl paused once more. "Uhuh, yeah…Alright. Thank you for your time. Uhuh….Have a good day." The girl hung up and placed the phone back to its designated holding place.
"Is everything alright, Ms. Alm?" The husky sized man questioned the girl in front of him.
The girl glanced up from her chair and sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "I was trying to get an appointment set up to write a news story on the late President Shinra's death, but it's gotten me nowhere. I was going to use it to add onto the article that I turned in recently to you, but they won't let me within a miles radius of the building."
"I'm glad to hear that!" The man spoke suddenly. Ms. Alm – as he called her – blinked. Was the man even listening?
"Excuse me?" She asked slightly offended.
"I want you to have a series for this article!" The man waved his cigarette in the air. The girl watched it warily, this place was filled with papers and it would most definitely burn faster than Sector 7 blew up.
"Series?" The girl leaned back and crossed her arms, "What exactly do you have in mind?"
"I'm afraid to say it, but people are losing interesting in the newspaper. Why should they read it when the news is around with pretty moving pictures, or even the internet?" The man leaned against the wall. "Now, we need something new! Something exciting!"
"And my series would be something new and exciting?"
"Yes!" He pointed his cigar at her, which caused her to wrinkle her nose at the foul smell, but he paid no attention. "I want you to write about this mysterious cloaked figure! Every week you'll have a new…what do we call it?...chapter! You'll be trying to locate this cloaked figure and report anything suspicious this man does! Make it up if you have to!"
"Make it up- but!"
"I won't hear of it, Ms. Alm!" He waved his cigar around in a no-no manner. "People will look forward to seeing how this develops. If you're lucky, you might even find the one person you've deemed the forgotten hero!"
Ms. Alm furrowed her eyebrows together, finding Sephiroth? Now that would be something of her interest. Still, who's to say that Sephiroth was even alive? This person in a black cloak could just be someone's figment of imagination that just so happened to catch on. But if she could find Sephiroth…That wasn't something she wanted to suddenly turn down.
"Alright," Ms. Alm nodded. "I'll do it!" The plump man smiled arrogantly, causing her to rethink things. "But it's not just because I want to meet Sephiroth!" She protested. "I just want to get out of this lousy excuse of a city."
The man nodded knowingly that this was mostly a lie. He knew that Ms. Alm was growing restless in the city with no actual sun, but he also knew that she wanted to meet Sephiroth more than anything.
The man started to waddle away before pausing and turning his head to look at her. "You do take pictures, too, don't you?"
"Yes, why?" Ms. Alm glanced over to the camera gathering dust on her desk.
"Take pictures while you're traveling around," The man checked his watch. "You should probably leave as soon as possible. Shin-Ra's headquarters will be closing soon, so you could probably sneak in through then."
Ms. Alm quirked an eyebrow at him. He wanted her to become a criminal now did he? She turned around and gathered her things while smirking ever so slightly. Now things were starting to get interesting.
-A/N-
Hello~! I hope you did enjoy that first chapter. I know, I know…I went more into detail describing the fat guy than I did Ms. Alm. However, I really don't know what I want her to be yet. I'm still molding her figure, trying to figure out every bit of her being! I'm trying to learn from my mistakes in my last fan-fiction series, Crimson X and Madness, and am working on making this fan-fiction better! I honestly think I'll have an easier time with that…Considering I've been in love with this game since I was three years of age and writing for the characters will be easier.
If you would be so kind to review with what you want the love interest to be that would be fantabulous~! I'm still debating if I want it to be Sephiroth…Somehow…Uh…Review please~!
