It happened, just the same as it always had before, yet something seemed different. I was far away from my brothers, but I knew that they were on this world.
I could sense power emanated from the world and the people on it. These powers were scattered all across the planet. Even amongst them, I could sense my brothers and the locations they presided over. If what I thought was true, then they would have no memory until I found them.
I only hope that I can get to them before the power in them corrupts their minds.
XXX,
Wind opened his eyes, staring at the cold stone floor as he gathered his bearings. Yushara and Penton were far from him and that very thought chilled him. Though they once used to be an individual being, Wind was the center of all of the memories and without his presence; his two brothers had no memory.
Wind stood up slowly, noting that his clothing was different from what he had been wearing in the previous life. He was now wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and a black short sleeve shirt, along with a pair of motorcycle boots with circular harnesses on the sides. He could see that his jeans were tucked perfectly into the boots and the leather stopped just under his thigh.
He quickly pulled his jeans out of the black leather as he looked around the room he was in. It was the typical hideout that he was usually stuck with; four concrete walls, thick enough to mask his power inside the room, which was around twenty square feet. A single light was hanging from the ceiling, the glow illuminating the entire room. There was a sink, stove and refrigerator nestled in one corner, all in very dingy condition. In the corner opposite of the 'kitchen' was a single twin bed in pretty decent condition. In the final corner was a simple curtain, which Wind figured housed the toilet and shower.
There was a coat stand next to the door of the windowless hideout, his black leather trench coat hanging on it along with a black cloth trench coat that he had never seen before. He pondered for a moment before opening the fridge door to see the contents. Like always it was empty, save for a carton of milk and a half filled container of white rice.
He slammed the door shut and stepped over to the stand, his boots clacking on the stone floor. He scooped up the cloth jacket and put it on, feeling the heavy weight come down on his body. He felt a slight bulge in the inside pocket, Wind knowing that it was most likely his handgun, a Colt .45 semi-automatic with a thirteen round magazine. It gave him a reassuring feeling that this world still had ballistic weapons, but it also made him wonder where his part of the Murasame was at.
He opened the door after removing the gun from his pocket and taking the holster that came with it and setting it up on his belt for quick access. Bright light flooded the room, blinding Wind for a brief moment.
As his eyes adjusted to the bright natural light, he saw that his little hut was tucked away in the middle of the woods. It was around the end of the summer season for this area, so the temperature was beginning to drop.
He could sense where the most populous amount of people was concentrated at, so he did the simplest thing he could do. He began to walk in the direction it was all coming from.
XXX
It was another bleak day in the city of Timber, the dark clouds settling in to block out the sun. The trains were rolling through the town, but one was slowing to a stop, a train that was rolling in from Midgar. The train's brakes screeched as the friction slowed the train down, the hulking machine coming to a halt at the station platform.
Only a handful of people emerged from the train, including a woman who stood out from the rest. She was around twenty-four, five-eight with an attractive face that accentuated her pale blue eyes. Her skin was fair and her hair was a strawberry blonde that came just to her shoulders with a feathered look to it. She was wearing a red tank top with a black skirt that came up just above her shapely knees.
She had a black leather purse draped on her shoulder as her black strap heels clacked on the tile floor, heading to the Timber Hotel for the meeting she was nearly late for. Her daytime job for the time being was a real estate agent for Midgar Retail, which she was planning on leaving soon. She wasn't sure what she was going to do, but she knew this wasn't her future.
She walked into the hotel and headed straight inside the lunch room where her client, Bombay, was waiting. "Rheika, it's so good to see you again," he said as he stood up, holding a chair out for her.
She sat down as he pushed the chair in. "It's good to see you as well," she responded, taking a deep breath as she prepared her pitch. She was trying to sell him the land where the Temple of the Ancients used to be, but the price he wanted was far too low.
"So have you been able to think of a new price for me yet," Bombay asked, getting his cup of coffee refilled. The waiter asked Rheika if she wanted anything, but she politely declined.
"I've been able to lower the price down to five hundred thousand gil, but that as low as we can take it." Rheika held her breath as she waited for him to respond.
Bombay held his face in a pensive look for a moment before releasing a smile on his lips. "That sounds much more reasonable. I'll take the deal!"
Rheika audibly exhaled, thinking, that was easy! I wonder what he wants to do with all of that land…
She stood up at the same time as Bombay, extending her hand. He clasped it firmly and shook it once, that smile still on his face. "Aren't I supposed to sign something?"
"Oh right!" she exclaimed, pulling out an electric pad the size of a television remote from her purse. She clicked a few buttons on it as it hummed to life. She switched it to the page that held the contract and extended it to him. "We'll also need you to pay at least half of it now…"
"I'll just go ahead and pay for it all right now, if that's ok," Bombay interrupted as he took the pad. He scribbled his signature on it as he slid his gil card through the side, the machine beeping in approval. He handed it back to her saying, "Pleasure doing business with you."
"Oh you as well," Rheika said as she returned the pad to her purse. She shook his hand once more and turned on her heels, walking out of the hotel. She took a left and headed toward the bridge that overlooked the train tracks. She leaned against the stone railing, watching the trains fly by.
She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't notice someone lean on the rail next to her. She continued to ignore this person until he said, "It's gonna be a nasty day."
She yelped and jumped back a few feet, looking at this stranger. He looked around her age, but there seemed to be a kind of complex mystery for someone his age. His height was good, around six-one and had slim yet muscular arms and legs. He was wearing a brown sweater that matched the brown khaki pants on his legs. Even the boots he had on his feet were brown, the toes pointed out just a little. His hair was a sandy brown color as well, not too long but long enough to keep messy for a rebellious look that was helped by his hazel eyes.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you like that, though it is going to be bad." He kept leaning against the rail, watching the trains.
"You should be sorry. Didn't anyone ever tell you not to sneak up on people like that?" Rheika said, her pulse slowing back to her regular rate. She couldn't take her eyes off of him for some reason, though she was able to sense that he had a great power within him.
He
ignored what she said, blandly replying with, "By the way, my name
is Penton. What would your name happen to be?"
She looked at
him, stunned for a moment before replying. "My name is Rheika."
She was going to say some more to him but was stopped by a large drop
of water landing on her head. She looked around and could see even
more drops of water landing on the ground.
Penton held out his hand to her, politely asking, "Do you want to go someplace that won't get wet?" He continued to hold out his hand as she blankly stared at it, the rain starting to pick up.
"Uh, yeah, sure," Rheika replied, grasping his hand. His hand was warm and his grip was firm, but there was a reassuring amount of gentleness in it as to not be intimidating.
Penton led them to an apartment complex, the door locked with a simple keycard. He swiped his card through the door and held it open for Rheika to get inside just as the rain began to pour down.
XXX
Seventh Heaven was busy, just like it should be on a Friday night. It was a good size bar, plenty of room for a hundred people in the front if needed, even including the seven pool tables. There were several games of pool going on along with a few rounds of darts, but mainly there was the consumption of all kinds of alcohol.
The chatter and noise ceased for a moment as the doors swung open, everyone turning to look to see who was entering. A man was walking in, but that wasn't why people stopped all of their functions. It was what he was wearing that was attracting so much attention.
This man was about six foot even, wearing white leather pants, a white button down shirt with a black shirt underneath and a white leather trench coat. Even the stranger's boots were pure white, completely unscathed. His hair was jet black and was cut close to his head, giving his face a professional look to it. He had a six foot long katana strapped to his back, the sheath jet black, creating a sharp contrast to the mass amounts of white on his body.
He strode casually up to the counter, sitting down on the stool and ordering a single malt scotch. The bartender gave him his drink as the noise picked back up, though some people were still unnerved by the huge sword on his back.
The people left him alone for a little while, but another man stumbled into the bar, clearly drunk, and slumped down on the stool next to the stranger. He gave the white-clad man a strange look before slurring out, "What the hell are you wearing, boy?" This man looked to be about forty years old, while the stranger was probably about twenty-two.
"It's really none of your concern, I'm just enjoying my drink," the man in white replied, his voice low but the sound was rich and full. He continued to sip the scotch, not paying attention to the drunkard who was becoming slightly more irritated.
"You got a name, boy?" The drunkard was getting even more irritated by the stranger, who continued to drink his liquor.
He held the moment for a little longer before saying, "My name, though it is no concern to you, is Yushara. Now please, leave me alone." The intoxicated man was getting pushed, hard, in the ego. He was puffing up his chest, trying to look intimidating. "I asked you nicely. Don't make me have to tell you to go away."
Those few words set the man off. He reeled his fist back and threw it forward, but Yushara clasped it firmly in his palm. "This didn't have to happen," Yushara said as he stood up, his coat billowing lightly. He walked closer to the man as he tightened his grip on the man's fist, adding pressure to the bones.
"Mister, please," the bartender pleaded, but his words were ignored Yushara. His eyes seemed to darken as he slowly added force to his grip, snapping the bone in his ring finger. The drunken man cried out as he slumped to his knees, several tears rolling down his cheeks.
"You should have just left me alone," Yushara said as he broke the bone in his index finger. The other man shouted in pain as even more tears rolled down his face. Yushara seemed to be enjoying the activity, taking a sadistic amount of pleasure out of it. "This could have all been avoided if you had simple gone away."
He toyed with the man for a few more moments before he snapped the rest of his bones to dust. "I'm sorry for the commotion, sir," Yushara said with zero apology in his voice, slapping twenty gil on the counter. He looked at the injured man on the floor with a smirk before he stepped back outside into the streets of Midgar.
XXX
Kaio was walking through the empty corridors of Balamb Garden, trying to do something to tire himself out. He had been having issues sleeping the last few nights, and since this Garden had no actual curfew, he was wandering around the main part of the school.
Kaio was a good looking individual even though he was only five-ten and sixteen. He had close cropped red-brown hair and gray eyes that seemed to shimmer in the twilight. Currently he was wearing a red polo shirt with a white t-shirt underneath with a pair of black jeans on his legs. His feet were adorned with a pair of Converse All-Stars, bought in from Kalm, and though it wasn't on him right now, he had a red leather jacket tucked away in his dorm.
He stopped by the elevator and sat down, trying to think of what he could do to get tired. He didn't want to go to the training room since he didn't feel like having something go wrong and have to wait until the morning to be saved. He couldn't leave since the night watchman was more alert than the one during the day, so his options were very limited.
He was stuck in his thoughts when he was bumped in the leg by someone. He looked up to see Zeo, his teacher and the first person that he met at Garden. "Still having issues? I told you to see the nurse about that."
Zeo was not an intimidating manta only five-seven in stature, twenty-four and looking it. He was currently wearing his SeeD uniform, his blonde hair and pale green eyes not matching the clothing at all. Kaio looked at him for a second before turning his head, saying, "I know, I just don't have the time right now."
"Yeah, sure you do. You don't have any more exams the rest of the year. As a matter of fact, you have the rest of the year off," Zeo said, sitting down next to him. Kaio looked back over to him, taking in a deep breath then letting it out slowly.
"I know. What I think I need is to go and do something, an adventure of some kind, you know?" Kaio looked at Zeo, who seemed to be contemplating what he had just said. Kaio had always thought it had sounded foolish for wanting it, but he knew that it may be what he needs.
Zeo thought for a few more minutes before saying, "You know what, you may be right. I have some weeks of vacation built up, so if you want to, I can take you out for a few journeys."
The look on Kaio's face was priceless, a look of pure shock on it. "Are you freaking serious? You'll travel with me around the world?"
"Yes, I will. All I need you to do is get your axe, some money and your jacket and meet me at the entrance in twenty minutes. Can you do that?"
"Damn right, hold on just a bit," Kaio said as he jumped up from his perch, running back to his room. He scooped up his jacket from the table he shared with his roommate, also grabbing his money card from his nightstand. The last thing that he picked up was the red case that held his Crimson Devil, the axe that he trained with from his first day at school.
He was about to leave when he remembered that he should leave a note for his roommate, Gil Radcliffe. They had always gotten along in the few years he had been there and was sure it would be the polite thing to at least leave him a letter or something.
He sat down at the table and pulled over a sheet of lined paper. He began to scribe his letter, telling Gil that he would be back in a few weeks and to not touch his stuff or sell it without his permission. It was a typical goodbye letter, full of the sappy things he was trying to avoid but he couldn't help it. When he was done, Kaio set the paper in the bowl that Gil used for breakfast every morning, hoping he would see it and not try to eat it.
He was back out in the front in thirty minutes, breathing heavily from the amount of running he had been doing. Zeo was waiting for him by the gate, letting the guard know what they were going to do. He looked over to see Kaio running to him, smiling as he told the guard, "See you in the fall." He clasped his hand on the shoulder of Kaio, taking a deep breath of the fresh air.
"I'm ready to go, are you?" Kaio looked to see that a scythe was strapped to Zeo's back. He had never seen the weapon that made Zeo such a capable fighter, and now he knew why he was so feared.
"I am all set and ready. I arrange a boat to take us to the mainland, so we should be arriving by morning in Junon. We won't be back here until the fall semester starts again, so say goodbye to this place for now," Zeo said as he walked through the gate to his waiting car. Kaio ran to keep up with him, looking around the pitch black fields. He could hear the sounds of some of the monsters that lived in the area, but he didn't care about that now. He was looking forward to doing something to break up the monotony of his everyday life.
Things could not be going better, Kaio thought as he opened the passenger door, pulling his body in and slamming it shut behind him. He set the axe case in the backseat of the vehicle as Zeo got in, buckling up as he started the engine. The machine lurched forward as the small trek to Balamb Town began, Kaio fidgeting in his seat, unable to contain his excitement.
Zeo looked over at the teen, noticing his energy. He smiled to himself as his car rumbled forward, knowing that he was doing the right thing.
A/N: Please Read and Review, tell me what you liked and didn't like about the story and I'll work on it in the next chapter. Thank you for reading.