Chapter 4: Meeting Avalanche
Author's Note: I do not own anything in the VHD, Evil Dead, Harry Potter, or FF7 universes. They are the properties of their respective owners. Please R&R.
Shortly after Cloud left a van appeared. Stopping in front of the party, the driver got out. He was a middle aged man with black hair and was dressed in a blue business suit.
"Greetings, I'm Reeve, a friend of Cloud." Reeve said, extending his hand to D, who he knew to be the leader of the group. D didn't return the gesture; instead he merely looked at the man. Reeve wasn't put off as he was used to dealing with indifferent people. Ash decided to take over. Shaking Reeve's hand firmly, he began to give introductions.
"I'm Ash Williams. Pretty boy over there is D. I'll let Red, Shorty, and Four eyes introduce themselves." The teenagers came up to Reeve and told them their names. Reeve then took them into Midgar and into a little bar called Seventh Heaven. Behind the counter there was a very beautiful woman. Long, luxurious black hair cascaded down her back and she greeted the group with a kind smile. Her eyes were a reddish-brown and only added to her beauty. She started to say something, but the words died in her throat when she spotted D. Like every woman to come into contact with him, D's looks had momentarily distracted her. Shaking her head she tried again.
"Welcome, I'm Tifa Lockheart."
Ash instantly ran over to her, and grabbed her hand. His words came out in a rapid flurry of noise. "Hi I'm Ash Williams, do you want to go out with- Ash was suddenly cut off by Hermione coming up to him and slapping him on the back of the head.
"I apologize for Ash, he's a little too eager sometimes. I'm Hermione Granger, thank you for taking us in." Hermione said, dragging Ash away from Tifa. Ron and Harry introduced themselves and then Tifa turned to D who was looking at the scene impassively.
"And you are?"
"D." The hunter then turned towards a dark corner of the bar. A lone man was sitting at a table. The man had extremely pale skin like D and long black hair also. He was garbed in red and black and had a metal gauntlet shaped like a claw on his left hand. His eyes flashed with a red light as they locked with D's black orbs. Ash stood with mouth agape and he looked at D and then at the man in red, then back to D.
"Hey pretty boy, I think we've found your long lost twin." A twinge of consternation appeared in D's face as he heard those words. The man stood up and walked over to the group.
"Vincent Valentine." Vincent said, in a cold voice. Just then a huge red wolf walked into the room. Ash stooped down and talked to it.
"Hey Fido, can you play dead?" The wolf looked at him with a very angry glare. And then it spoke.
"I don't know, can you? By the way my name is Red XIII or Nanaki, not Fido." Nanaki said in a cultured voice. Ash quickly backed away, a startled look in his eyes.
"Man, ever since I've met up with you guys everything can suddenly talk." D and the teenagers weren't surprised; they had all seen stranger things on their adventures. Tifa had another smile on her face.
"Yeah, sorry I didn't mention Nanaki earlier. He's actually one of the last remaining of his tribe and is smarter than most humans." Harry could empathize with Red XIII because he had also lost his family. Suddenly two loud voices came from outside cussing and arguing.
"I'm telling you nothing's better than some F tea." One voice said. The second voice quickly shot back in deeper tones.
"You goddamn fool; beer is the only drink for a real man." Then the two men entered the bar. One was blond and had a cigarette in his mouth. At his side, he carried a huge spear and had flight goggles on his head. His blue eyes looked at the party with surprise. The other man was black and had a crew cut. He was a solid mass of muscles and instead of a right hand, he had a machine gun. He quickly joined his friend in being surprised. Tifa made their introductions for them.
"The blonde is Cid Highwind; he's one of the best mechanics in the world."
"The F best, and don't forget it!" Cid yelled. Tifa just rolled her eyes and went on.
"Barret Wallace is our founder and one of the best fighters around."
"Don't lie, I'm the best." Barret said. Ash came up and held up his chainsaw.
"I know your pain." Ash said. Barret looked at his chainsaw and smiled.
"Finally, another person who knows what it's like to lose a hand." The two went off into a corner to talk about their shared disability. Both Hermione and Tifa rolled their eyes at the pair.
"What do you mean by founder?" Hermione asked Tifa.
"Well, we're not all here yet but I'll tell you anyway. We started off as a small group called Avalanche, dedicated to bringing down our monopolizing rulers the Shinra Corporation but we eventually became aware of a new threat and saved the planet." Then Cloud came into the bar followed by a slim girl dressed like a ninja and what seemed to be a large stuffed doll with a cat on top of its head. Cloud started to introduce them.
"This is Cait Sith, our resident gambler and this is- but he was quickly cut off by the spunky young girl.
"I'm the great ninja Yuffie!" she exclaimed. "I'm going to see if these guys have any Materia." Then she cast Detect on her eyes. She noticed nothing on the three teenagers or the guy talking to Barret, but then she laid eyes on the pale guy. Her eyes became blinded by an area around his left hand. She covered her eyes. "Make it stop!" then she dismissed the spell.
"Are you alright?" Ron asked.
"I'm fine it's just whatever magic that guy has on him, it's too much for me to see." D didn't respond. Cloud looked around and accounted for everyone.
"Now that Tifa has filled you guys in on who we are, it's only fair that you tell us about yourselves." Ash stood up and tried to speak but he was cut off by a voice emanating from D's left hand.
"You can't even remember 3 little words, let alone our whole journey." Left Hand said. Cloud and Vincent instantly spotted the carbuncle living in D's hand. Ash got pissed off.
"Shut up, you little freak!" Vincent and Cloud both glared at D who remained indifferent to the whole affair. Then Lefty spoke again.
"I'm Doe-eye's permanent traveling companion. We, and I mean me and Mr. Lonely here, were hired to guard these three teenagers and make sure they made it back alive. Ashley here was also contacted but he joined up for the fun of it all. We had just finished the mission when the guy we had mortally wounded sent us here. And that, in a nutshell, is what happened." As the carbuncle called Ash by his full name, the house wares employee looked like he would blow through the roof. What D said next though cut through Ash's anger. D knew he could trust these people and that they would never trust him unless he was completely honest with them.
"We're from Earth. Also, I'm a dhampir, a half human half vampire. Ron, Harry, and Hermione are students at a school of magic and Ash is a warrior who has fought off an army of the undead and he also works at a supermarket. I hope this clears up any suspicions you might have had about us." Avalanche was stunned. Cloud quickly snapped out of it and turned towards the teenagers.
"The only ones we haven't heard from are you three." Hermione stepped forward.
"Everything D says is true." She said. Ron stood next to her.
"Ash may not look like much, but he's very handy in a fight." Harry walked up beside Ron.
"And D, well he's something else entirely but one thing he is not is a liar." Harry said.
Ash then came up and looked Cloud in the eye.
"Listen up, Needle Noggin; we're all pals here right? So trust us already." Tifa came up to Cloud and looked into his eyes.
"If Aeris were alive, she would want us to help them." She said. Cloud winced at the mention of that name. Sighing, he turned towards the strangers.
"Alright, my original offer stands. I'll give you lodging and help you find a way home. But I feel uneasy. Recently I've been having visions of him returning. Maybe we met for a reason and not by chance. I'll be at the church at the center of town if you need me." Cloud said, leaving the bar. Tifa sighed and showed the strangers their rooms.
Harry was excited. His nightmares were over and Voldemort was dead. All that was left was to find a way back home and then he could start a family with Ginny. He had matured in this journey and was no longer so moody. There really was no reason to be with D around. D made Harry feel that all the pain he had experienced in his life was just a tiny blip of what D had been through. It was enough to make him happy again for the first time since 5th year. Before he entered his room, D came up to him.
"Meet me in the morning outside with Ron and Hermione. You have training to do."
The next day the trio was outside Seventh Heaven along with D and Tifa.
"Since you can't use your natural born magic, Tifa is going to train you in the use of Materia." Then Tifa stepped in. D then took his leave.
"Alright, from what D has told me you rely on wands as a medium to cast your magic. Materia is like that but on a more personal level." She took out three green orbs and tossed them to the trio. "This is Fire Materia. Each element has its own Materia, but its uses don't stop there. You can use it to mimic an enemy's ability, breathe underwater, and even summon powerful monsters. Focus on the energy within you and release it through the Materia." Ron raised his hand and nothing happened. Harry created a little spark. Hermione, on the other hand, caused a huge pillar of fire to erupt from the ground. Tifa clapped her hands.
"Great job Hermione, that's how you use it correctly. Now we are going to stay out here until you are all able to use the basic Materia spells." Harry and Ron groaned. Hermione and Tifa just rolled their eyes and continued training.
D walked to the church that Cloud said he would be at. Coming to the doors, D quietly slipped in. Cloud was waiting for him.
"Hey, D, what do you want?"
"I want to know who you were referring to the other day."
"Sephiroth, the strongest fighter on the entire planet and the same man who nearly destroyed it twice."
"Why does he keep on returning?" D asked, but then noticed that time had seemingly frozen. Cloud stood stock still and D couldn't hear his heart beating. A woman's laughter rang out behind D.
"He looks so silly like that, don't you agree?" a soothing voice said. D turned around and saw a woman dressed in pink and red carrying a basket of flowers.
"You're Aeris." D said, ignoring the woman's previous comment.
"Nothing escapes your eyes, do they?" Aeris said. D didn't answer. Aeris sighed and continued. "Sephiroth is unique. Like you, he has an incredibly strong will to live. That's why he always comes back. The planet rejects him from ever really dying because to accept him into the Lifestream of the planet would corrupt it beyond repair. I summoned you here specifically to ask for your help."
"And if I refuse?" D asked. Aeris laughed as if the dhampir had told a very funny joke.
"You won't refuse. It's in your nature to help those in need. And besides, if you don't stop him, your friends will never return home." Then Aeris vanished, leaving D standing in front of a confused Cloud.
"What just happened?"
"Aeris asked for my help in stopping Sephiroth."
"And are you going to help us?"
"Yes. All of us will." D said.