I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or any of the characters in Final Fantasy 7 or content from said game, my own characters are my own design and I own them, so ask if you want to use them at all.
Chapter 4 – truths, the face beneath appearances.
The group continued to walk through the Mako-less land till they reached fields of grass, Luke jumped on to a boulder and focused a small amount of angelic power on his eyes causing his vision to stretch further than normal, "there's a village over there, light guard, no metallic structures, a perfect place to rest" Luke said before jumping off the boulder, "ah' don't see shit" Barret said as he tried to look for the village Luke pointed at.
"I think he meant that village" Aerith said pointing to a miniature dot in the distance, "That's miles off, how did you…" Cloud questioned, "Like I said, I'll explain, when we're safe." Luke said before turning to look at the town, the group continued to walk towards the structure, 4 hours passed before they finally reached the town gate and Tifa looked at the welcome sign, "So this is Kalm?" Tifa asked as she looked at the busy town.
"Yo, I'll be waitin' at the inn… Hurry up and get your butt over there!" Barret shouted before walking towards the inn, "ok, everyone meet at the inn in one hour, the group went their separate ways, both Cloud and Luke entered the weapon shop as Aerith entered the materia shop, Tifa entered the grocery shop for supplies as Red made his way to the inn.
Weaponry shop
Cloud went to look at a weapon rack as Luke walked to the front desk and rang the bell, as he waited for the man he noticed two Falchion blades in one of the sword bins, Luke walked over and picked them out, "light handle but a much longer blade, sharp… the edge would slice through falling silk" Luke said to himself befora a man came to the front desk, "may I help you?" the man asked, "yes, I would like to buy these in exchange for my long swords" Luke said while placing both his longswords on the desk.
"Hmm, twin longswords, what an odd pair, and you want to exchange them for those blades." The man said as he looked to notice the length of both sets of blades were identical, he picked one of the longswords up and weighed it, "the blade's lighter than normal and quite sharp" he said before spining it once in his hand, "I see you know your swords, those two Falchions have been in this shop for some time, most people see them as long swords" the man said before sighing.
"I get it, they think their heavy and don't go near them, tell you what, you can have my long swords, and I will give you 2,000 gil for the twin Falchions" Luke said placing 2,000 gil on the table, the man gratefully accepted Luke's price and Cloud looked at him, "2,000 gil, money doesn't grow on trees you know" Cloud said as he looked at Luke, Luke stopped as he walked past a heavy blade and picked it up.
"Mythril, lighter than normal, powerful, because of its lightness and balance it's easier to swing, I think you should get this Cloud" Luke said while handing Cloud the sword, Cloud tested the sword before nodding, the two of them picked out weaponry for the others before paying and leaving the store, "so, what's with the part?" Cloud asked Luke, "Barret's gun arm" Luke said before the two entered the hotel.
Materia shop
Aerith looked at the matira on display before looking at the amount of money she had, "hmm, Earth based Materia, I think I'll get 6 of them, 3 Anomaly Curative Materia and 2 Poison inducing materia" Aerith said to the attendant before feeling a tap on her sholder, "hi Aerith, I got the groceries, tents, medical equipment, food and liquds, how are you on your end?" Tifa asked before the attendant came back with a box.
"Oh I'm almost done, just need to pay" Aerith said before handing the money to the attendant and leaving the shop.
Hotel room
Barret placed his gun arm on the table and Luke pulled out his tool kit, "you sure this'll work" Barret asked, "you keep moving and it won't" Luke said as he placed some goggles over his eyes. Luke activated a blow torch and began to work on dismantling Barret's gun arm, he added new parts and re-connected the gun arm in a different form, "it's a sub automatic energy cannon, fires 3 shots of energy bolts that comes from the bodys Mako, much like how you're summon a large ball of energy at the front of your gun." Luke said as Barret pointed his new toy at the window.
Several smaller holes appeared near the rim of the gun and Barret smirked at them, "is that ma old gatling barrel." Barret asked Luke, "I was able to intergrate it into the gun, now you can use a chain of weaker bullets or 3 strong ones" Luke said before turning off his blow torch and cleaning his toolkit up, Tifa and Aerith enthered the room and they both sat on the beds. "Well seen as everone's here, we each have some questions and they'll all be ansered truthfully." Cloud said as everone nodded.
"Ok, Luke, why don't you tell us the truth, all of it" Tifa said to Luke, "could you be more specific?" Luke asked Tifa, "that strange form when they were attackin' the pillar" Barret said, "your knowledge of cultures and other races" Cloud added, "how effects like poisonous gasses don't affect you" Red added to the list, "firing magic without Materia" Tifa added, "ok, firstly the whole magic firing business is something to do with my blood." Luke said as he looked at the window.
"Your blood?" Cloud asked, "you're not going to believe me but, I have angel blood running through me." Luke said before Barret looked at him, "Bullshit!" Barret yelled before everyone looked at Luke, Luke unbuckled his gauntlet and it slid off revealing a glowing mark pattern on his lower arm that was slowly receding, "ok, that's fuckin' creepy." Barret said as the group stared at it. "This mark that is slowly receding, is a sign of my angelic powers." Luke said as Cloud looked at it.
"I get it, the more power you use or the more times you use it, those marks grow" Cloud said before Luke nodded, "You were covered in poision, used a large fireball on that beast and enchanted your range of sight, each one took a bit of power to do." Red XIII said while looking towards Cloud, "That other form Barret saw, was my Reaper form, it's more blood thirsty and also came from my ansestor." Luke said while looking back at the group.
"You got shot several fuckin' times and the bullets passed through you" Barret said as Luke looked at him, "a Reaper can not be harmed by human methords, he can walk through walls and remove a soul from someone's body, to stop a Reaper you can ether cause the person to revert by using Holy water, or kill it with a Reapers Scythe or Holy embuened weaponry." Luke said before looking out the window and crossing his arms.
"Where do you come from?" Tifa asked as Luke smirked, "the planet we're on to other planets is called Earth 3, I come from a similar planet called Earth 4 but it's more advanced, my mother sent me here with her angelic powers to train, my knowledge of cultures and races comes from books, not everything in them is myth, I'm sorry to have kept secrets from you, from now on I'll be more honest with you" Luke said before Barret nodded and turned to Cloud.
"So let's hear your story…… You know, the one about Sephiroth and the crisis facing the planet. Let's hear it all." Barret said as Luke sat down on a chair and began working on outfitting his gauntlet with the new piece of armour, "……I used to want to be like Sephiroth so I joined SOLDIER. After working with Sephiroth on several missions, we became friends." Cloud said as he leaned against the wall.
"You call that a friend?" Barret asked in surprise, "Yeah, well…… He's older than me, and he hardly ever talked about himself." Cloud said looking out the window, "So I guess you'd call him a war buddy, we trusted each other. Until one day……" Cloud said turning his gaze away from the window, "one day?" Luke asked, "After the war it was SOLDIER's duty to put down any resistance against the Shinra. ……that was 5 years ago. I was 16……" Cloud said as he described what happened in detail.
Flashback
Cloud sat in the back of a truck as it drove through the wasteland, Cloud walked to the back of the truck and noticed a soldier with motion sickness, "it's sure raining hard. Hey, how are you doing?" Cloud asked before looking at the soldier's face, "I'm all right." The soldier said trying to hold his stomach, "I wouldn't know… I've never had motion sickness." Cloud said before patting the grunt on the shoulder as Sephiroth shook his head.
"Hey. Settle down." Sephiroth said while keeping his arms crossed, "They gave me some new Materia. I can't wait to use it." Cloud said with a smirk while looking at his new Materia, "…just like a kid." Sephiroth said while shaking his head, "You going to brief about this mission?" Cloud asked slightly grinning. "…this isn't a typical mission." Sephiroth said with his arms folded and his eyes closed.
"Good!" Cloud said as his grin grew, "Why do you say that?" Sephiroth questioned as he opened one eye to look at Cloud, "I joined SOLDIER so I could be like you. But by the time I made First Class, the war was already over. My big hopes of becoming a hero like you ended with the war. That's why I always sign up whenever there's a big mission. Kind of a way to prove myself. Say, how do you feel, MISTER Sephiroth?" Cloud asked curiously as he sat next to Sephiroth and continued to grin.
"…I thought you wanted a briefing? Our mission is to investigate an old Mako reactor. There have been reports of it malfunctioning, and producing brutal creatures. Then, we'll locate the problem and neutralize it." Sephiroth answered as he looked at Cloud and motioned him to act seriously. "Brutal creatures… Where?" Cloud asked as his grin disappeared, "The Mako Reactor at Nibelheim." Sephiroth replied while looking towards the back of the truck.
"Nibelheim… That's where I'm from." Cloud stated as he thought about his hometown, "Hmm…hometown…" Sephiroth mused while looking at the roof of the truck, suddenly the truck crashed into something and a Shinra guard looked through the window at Cloud and Sephiroth, "Sir …s, something strange just crashed into our truck!" the guard stammered before Sephiroth got up and picked up his sword and walked to the back of the truck.
"That would be our Monster…" he informed the soldiers as he jumped out of the truck and Cloud followed him, as the two 1st class SOLDIER's got to the front of the truck they saw a giant mutated green dragon, Cloud was about to grab his Buster Sword when Sephiroth readied his Masamune, "there's no need for that…" Sephiroth said before leaping at the beast and slicing its head clean off as Cloud stared in astonishment.
End of Flashback
"Sephiroth's strength is unreal. He is far stronger in reality then any story you might have heard about him." Cloud stated as he looked out the window, "and now, he's on a war path… How did he go from the hero to mass slaughter?" Luke asked as he leaned his backside against a table, "I'll get to that in a minute" Cloud said as he looked at Luke, "So… Where do you come in?" Aerith questioned looking at Cloud.
"Me? I was mesmerized by the way Sephiroth fought." Cloud answered as Tifa leaned next to him, "what happened when you reached Nibelheim?" Luke asked before Cloud continued.
Flashback
Sephiroth walked towards the gate at Nibelheim and looked at the town as Cloud caught up, "How does it feel? It's your first time back to your hometown in a long time, right? So how does it feel? I wouldn't know because I don't have a hometown…" Sephiroth stated as Cloud looked at his hometown, "Ummm…how 'bout your parents?" Cloud asked as Sephiroth looked at the sky, "My mother is Jenova. She died right after she gave birth to me. My father… What does it matter…? All right, let's go." Sephiroth replied before walking into the town as Cloud shrugged his shoulders.
End of Flashback
"Yo wait a minute!! Isn't that, um…? The name of Sephiroth's mother… I remember Jenova. That's that spook livin' in the Shinra building." Barret said blatantly interrupting Cloud, "I got a look at it…" Luke stated looking at Barret, "ok, how?" Barret questioned as Luke smirked, "my angelic powers allow me to see what stories an item or person held, they even allow me to see inside containers, but I have to physically touch the item or person in question" Luke said as Barret looked at him.
"What did it look like then" Barret said looking at Luke, "headless, from the neck it looked like a sword cut the head off" Luke said before Tifa scowled, "Barret, Luke, would you please let us hear what Cloud has to say? You can ask questions later." Tifa said in an irritated tone as Cloud smirked, "Tifa, I was only……" Barret stopped as he was interrupted, "Okay Cloud, continue." Tifa said interrupting and ignoring Barret.
"…The town was quiet. Everybody must be staying in their houses, afraid to come out because of the monsters. No, maybe they're afraid of us…" Cloud continued with his story as he looked at the ceiling.
Flashback
"We leave for the reactor at dawn. Make sure you get to sleep early. All we need is one lookout, so you others, get some rest. Oh, that's right… You may visit your family and friends." Sephiroth said as he entered the inn before Cloud entered his mother's house to find she wasn't home, "I guess she's out" Cloud said before leaving the house and looking at Tifa's house. "maybe…" Cloud said before entering Tifa's house.
He looked around the house to find no one was in, he looked up the stairs, again it was empty, he walked to Tifa's room and opened the door after knocking to see it was empty, "so this is still Tifa's room" Cloud said while looking round, Cloud looking in her dresser to see her underwear drawer before quickly closing it, "damn it Cloud, that's her underwear draw, not her diary location." Cloud berated himself before looking at Tifa's piano.
Cloud walked over to the piano and began to play a strange tune, he then sat on her bed and played a more elaborate tune before accidentally hitting a wrong key, Cloud stood back up and left the room before leaving the house, Cloud made his way to the inn and noticed Sephiroth was looking out of a window, "What are you looking at?" Cloud asked before Sephiroth looked at Cloud.
"This scenery…… I feel like I know this place. …… …We have an early start tomorrow. You should get some sleep soon." Sephiroth answered before Cloud nodded and took his room key, "I've hired a guide to the Mako reactor. I've heard she's young, I hope we can rely on her…" Sephiroth stated as Cloud walked up the stairs to his room and got some sleep.
As morning came Cloud got out of bed and readied himself for his mission, when he was ready Cloud made his way to the front of the Shinra mansion to meet up with Sephiroth, "Once the guide gets here, we're heading out." Sephiroth informed Cloud while leaning against a wall as an older man walked up to him, "Listen to me, Sephiroth. In case something happens…" the man stopped as Sephiroth held up one hand, "…Trust me." Sephiroth reassured the man before putting his hand back down as a black haired girl walked behind Cloud smirking.
"I'll be all right, Dad! I have two men from SOLDIER with me." The young woman said as Cloud turned in surprise before being even further shocked to see the guide was none other than Tifa, "Tifa! You're the guide?" Cloud said as he tried to hide his surprise with little success, "That's right. I just happen to be the number one guide in this town." Tifa boasted turning to Cloud with a smile on her face, "It's too dangerous! I can't involve you in something like this!" Cloud said as he tried to convince Tifa.
"Then there's no problem if you protect her. …Let's go." Sephiroth stated as he pushed himself off the wall and began to walk towards the road to the mountain, "Ummm…Mr. Sephiroth! Please let me take one picture for a memento! Tifa, can you ask him for me too…?" a man said holding a camera before the group got into a pose as Sephiroth became annoyed at the situation. "Cheeeeese!" the man said before taking a picture.
"Great, thank you! I'll give each of you a copy once I get it developed!" the man stated happily before Sephiroth quickly walked towards the mountain hoping he wouldn't bump into someone else wanting to take his picture, Tifa guided them up the first part of the mountain to a rope bridge, "It gets harder from here! Follow me!" Tifa warned them before the group began to cross the rope bridge as one of the soldiers stopped for a moment before the rope on one side of the bridge broke.
The soldier who stopped tried to find a way to grasp the rope from his end of the bridge as Tifa held on to the side, the other side of the bridge gave in and broke before the group fell, Cloud slowly regained consciousness and looked around to see if everyone was ok, "Everyone seems to be all right. Can we get back to where we were?" Sephiroth asked Tifa as she brushed off her short jeans.
"These caves are intertwined, just like an ant farm… Oh, and Sephiroth… There seems to be one person missing…" Tifa told Sephiroth as she looked around for the missing person, "It may sound cold, but we've got no time to search for him. We can't go back now, so we must go on. We'll travel together from here." Sephiroth said before going into one of the caves, as the group entered the cave Cloud noticed the strange glowing roof, "What's this?" Cloud asked as he looked at the cave roof.
"A mysteriously coloured cave…" Tifa answered before Sephiroth looked at them both, "It must be the Mako energy. This mountain is especially abundant in it. That's why the Mako Reactor was built here." Sephiroth said before continuing further into the cave, the group followed and entered an area with a fountain of some form, "…And what's this?" Cloud asked Sephiroth, "A Mako fountain. It's a miracle of nature." Sephiroth informed the group as he stared at its majesty.
"It's so beautiful… If the Mako Reactor continues to suck up the energy, this fountain will dry up too…" Tifa said in a disappointed tone, "Materia. When you condense Mako energy, Materia is produced. It's very rare to be able to see Materia in its natural state." Sephiroth said as he continued to look at the fountain, "By the way… Why is it that when you use Materia you can also use magic too?" Cloud asked as he looked at Sephiroth.
"You were in SOLDIER and didn't even know that? …the knowledge and wisdom of the Ancients is held in the Materia. Anyone with this knowledge can freely use the powers of the Land and the Planet. That knowledge interacts between ourselves and the planet calling up magic……or so they say." Sephiroth said as he looked at the group, "Magic……a mysterious power…" Cloud said before Sephiroth started to laugh deeply.
"Did I say something funny?" Cloud asked as Sephiroth stopped laughing and turned to face Cloud, "A man once told me never to use an unscientific term such as mysterious power! It shouldn't even be called 'magic'! I still remember how angry he was." Sephiroth said while smirking, "who was it?" Cloud asked while tilting his head to the side.
"Hojo of Shinra, Inc. … An inexperienced man assigned to take over the work of a great scientist. He was a walking mass of complexes." Sephiroth said before walking past the fountain to another tunnel, "A Mako fountain… So this is where the knowledge of the Ancients is." Tifa said before realizing that Sephiroth had walked in to the tunnel, the group followed and soon found there way to the Mako reactor.
"We finally made it. We sure took the long way through." Tifa said as she noticed the guard from before walking up to the reactor doors, "Tifa, you wait here." Cloud said before he walked towards the reactor, "I'm going inside too! I wanna see!" Tifa said as a guard pressed in a button combination on a keypad next to the door, "Only authorized people are allowed in. This place is full of
Shinra's industrial secrets." Sephiroth said before walking up the stairs to the reactor.
"But!" Tifa protested before a guard got in the way, "Take care of the lady." Sephiroth ordered the soldier before walking inside the reactor, "Mm, man! Better take real good care of me then!" Tifa shouted to the soldier before crossing her arms in a huff. Cloud entered the reactor and walked down to the lower levels. The two entered a room with several chambers and Sephiroth walked up the stairs in the centre of the room to a door at the back of the room.
Sephiroth tried to open the door before looking at the sign above it, "This is…… Jenova, right? The lock won't open…" Cloud stated as he looked at the door, Sephiroth walked back down the stairs and looked to his left to see a broken valve "This is the reason for the malfunction. This part is broken. Cloud, close the valve." Sephiroth said before Cloud walked over and began to turn the valve as Sephiroth looked inside one of the pods.
"Why did it break…?" Sephiroth questioned as he looked inside the pod, "…now I see, Hojo. But, even doing this, will never put you on the same level as Professor Gast." Sephiroth said as he moved way from the tank and turned to face Cloud with his arms folded, "This is a system that condenses and freezes the Mako energy…that is, when it's working correctly. Now…what does Mako energy became when it's further condensed?" Sephiroth asked Cloud.
"Uh, ummm…… Oh yeah! It becomes a Materia." Cloud answered as Sephiroth nodded, "Right, normally. But Hojo put something else in there. …Take a look. Look through the window." Sephiroth said before Cloud walked up to the pod and looked through the window, as he looked through he saw a human like monster, "Wh…what is this!?" Cloud asked in surprise as he backed away from the container.
"Normal members of SOLDIER are humans that have been showered with Mako." Sephiroth said as he turned around and walked away from Cloud, "You're different from the others, but still human. But, what are they?" Sephiroth stated as he walked next to the pod he looked in and turned to face it. "They've been exposed to a high degree of Mako, far more than you." He then said turning to face Cloud, "…is this some kind of monster?" Cloud asked the silver haired warrior.
"Exactly. And it's Hojo of Shinra that produced these monsters. Mutated living organisms produced by Mako energy. That's what these monster's really are." Sephiroth said as he looked at the pod, "Normal members of SOLDIER? You mean you're different? H…hey, Sephiroth!" Cloud said as Sephiroth pulled out his sword and looked at the pod, "N…no…… …Was I?" Sephiroth said before he slashed the container, Cloud could only watch as Sephiroth continued to hack and slash the container.
"…Was I created this way too? Am I the same as all these monsters……" Sephiroth questioned as he continued to slice the pod, "…Sephiroth." Cloud said as Sephiroth breath in and out deeply, "You saw it! All of them…were humans…" Sephiroth said before looking at the damaged container, "Humans!? No way!" Cloud yelled shaking his head, "…I've always felt since I was small… That I was different from the others. Special, in some way. But…not like this…" Sephiroth said as he continued to look at the pod.
One of the organisms tried to burst out of its pod but as soon as it released itself the beast died as steam rose out of the pod.
End of Flashback
"Damn, Shinra! The more I hear, the more I hate 'em!" Barret said as the others looked at him, "So, Sephiroth thought he was an experiment, I can see why he turned in to a mad man." Luke said as Cloud nodded, "……who would have ever thought the Mako Reactor held a secret like that." Tifa said as she looked at the ceiling, "That would seem to explain the increase in the number of monsters recently. I think we should listen carefully to Cloud. Don't you think so Barret?" Red said to batter while getting in to a more comfortable position.
"Keep talking." Barret said while looking at the rest of the group, "Tifa… You were waiting outside then?" Aerith asked Tifa as Tifa looked out the window, "I can see why, most corporations with secrets wouldn't want the public to know" Luke said as he moved his shoulder till it made a cracking sound before Aerith looked at him in disgust, "hey Luke, on your planet, were there corporations like Shinra? Tifa asked him, "one or 2 corporations, but the government shut them down because of illegal research," Luke answered as he looked at Tifa.
"You mean like what Hojo was doing?" Cloud asked before Luke nodded, "so, what happened after Sephiroth found out about his origin?" Luke asked before Cloud looked at the group, "We returned to Nibelheim. Sephiroth confined himself at the inn. He didn't even try to talk to me." Cloud answered as he looked at the floor, "Then all of a sudden he just disappeared, right?" Tifa asked before Cloud nodded, "We found him inside the biggest building in Nibelheim." Cloud said looking at Tifa.
"The villagers used to call it Shinra mansion." Tifa said as Cloud looked at the ceiling, "Long ago, people from Shinra used to live in that mansion…" Cloud said as he closed his eyes.
Flashback
Cloud looked around the Shinra manor for Sephiroth but found no sign of him, "hmmm, where did he go?" Cloud asked himself before climbing the stairs to the second floor, Cloud saw a Shinra guard at the end of the corridor and noticed he was looking towards a door, "sir, Sephiroth entered that doorway but when we entered the room he was gone" the soldier said before Cloud nodded and entered the room.
Cloud leaned against a brick wall causing one of the bricks to fall inwards revealing a secret passageway, Cloud made his way through the passageway as he heard Sephiroth's voice, "…an organism that was apparently dead, was found in a 2000 year old geological stratum. Professor Gast named that organism, Jenova… X Year, X Month, X Day. Jenova confirmed to be an Ancient …X Year, X Month, X Day." He heard Sephiroth say as he reached a door.
Cloud entered a room and saw Sephiroth looking at a book, "Jenova Project approved. The use of Mako Reactor I approved for use… My mother's name is Jenova… Jenova Project… Is this just a coincidence? Professor Gast… Why didn't you tell me anything? …Why did you die?" Sephiroth questioned not acknowledging that Cloud was in the room, Cloud decided to leave Sephiroth to his own thoughts and left the room making his way back to the inn.
Cloud slowly woke up in the night and went to check on Sephiroth, as he neared the lab he heard maniacal laughter and entered the lab with caution, "Who is it!? Hmph…traitor." Sephiroth said looking at Cloud, "Traitor?" Cloud questioned as Sephiroth got out of the seat he was in and walked towards Cloud.
"You ignorant traitor. I'll tell you. This was an itinerant race. They would migrate in, settle the Planet, then move on… At the end of their harsh, hard journey, they would find the Promised Land and supreme happiness. But, those who stopped their migrations built shelters and elected to lead an easier life. They took that which the Cetra and the planet had made without giving back one wit in return! Those are your ancestors." Sephiroth said as he glared at Cloud.
"Sephiroth…" Cloud said hoping to get his attention, "Long ago, disaster struck this planet. Your ancestors escaped… They survived because they hid. The Planet was saved by sacrificing the Cetra. After that, your ancestors continued to increase. Now all that's left of the Cetra is in these reports." Sephiroth said as he paced around the room turning his head to look at Cloud, "What does that have to do with you?" Cloud asked Sephiroth as the manic continued to pace round the room.
"Don't you get it? An Ancient named Jenova was found in the geological stratum of 2000 years ago. The Jenova Project. The Jenova Project wanted to produce people with the powers of the Ancients……no, the Cetra! …I am the one that was produced." Sephiroth said as he entered the library while Cloud tried to get in the way, "Pr…produced!?" Cloud said in surprise, "Yes. Professor Gast, leader of the Jenova Project and genius scientist, produced me." Sephiroth said as he looked back at the desk.
"How…how did he…? Se…Sephiroth?" Cloud said in shock as he looked at Sephiroth, "Out of my way. I'm going to see my mother." Sephiroth said as he shoved Cloud out of the way, Cloud followed Sephiroth out of the manor to see the town was ablaze, Cloud looked all over the town and found a man tending to a wounded man, "Hey it's you! You're still sane, right? Then come over here and help me! I'll check this house. You check that one over there!" the man said before the two searched the houses but found no survivors. He came out and looked towards the sky. "Terrible… Sephiroth… This is too terrible…" Cloud said as he shook his head, Cloud suddenly heard a man cry in pain before he turned to see Sephiroth kill two more people, flames surrounded the bodies and Sephiroth, Sephiroth calmly looked up at Cloud before turning towards the wall of flames behind him and walked straight through it.
Sephiroth disappeared and Cloud ran at the flames and jumped through them before running through the mountain range to the reactor, as Cloud reached the reactor he saw Tifa crying over a body "Papa… Sephiroth!? Sephiroth did this to you, didn't he!? Sephiroth… SOLDIER… Mako Reactors… Shinra… Everything! I hate them all!" Tifa shouted while picking up Sephiroth's sword and walking in to the reactor.
Cloud followed Tifa into the reactor to stop her, "Mother, I'm here to see you. Please, open this door." Sephiroth said as he held his arms up in the air at the door that wouldn't open as Tifa entered the room, "How could you do that to papa and all the townspeople?" Tifa yelled before charging at Sephiroth as he turned to face Tifa, Tifa brought the sword down but Sephiroth caught his sword with both his hands stretched out.
Sephiroth kicked Tifa causing her to slam back first against a pod before falling down the stairs, Sephiroth turned and entered the Jenova room as Cloud entered the room and lifted Tifa off the ground, Cloud check to see if Tifa's vitals were fine as she leaned her head against him, "…You promised… You promised that you'd come……when I was in trouble…" Tifa said slowly as she looked up at Cloud.
Cloud placed her down and made sure her back was supported, Cloud turned to looked at the door to the Jenova room and walked towards the door, Cloud punched the keypad causing the door to open before entering, as Cloud entered he saw Sephiroth looking at a statue of some description, "Mother, let's take this planet back together. I've thought of a great idea. Let's go to the Promised Land." Sephiroth said as he continued to stare at the statue.
"Sephiroth… My family! My hometown! How could you do this to them!?" Cloud yelled as his anger grew before readying his Buster Sword as Sephiroth laughed deeply, "They've come again, mother. With her superior power, knowledge, and magic, Mother was destined to become the ruler of the Planet." Sephiroth said as he looked towards the ground and slightly closed his eyes.
"But they… Those worthless creatures are stealing the Planet from Mother." Sephiroth said as he slowly moved closer to the statue "But now I'm here with you so don't worry." He said before ripping the statue from the device to reveal a tank, Sephiroth smiled at the tank as he saw a blue naked lady with a head frame that said Jenova inside the tank.
"What about MY sadness!? My family…friends… The sadness of having my hometown taken away from me!? It's the same as your sadness!" Cloud yelled, he glared at Sephiroth as the mad man laughed as he turned to face Cloud. "My sadness? What do I have to be sad about? I am the chosen one. I have been chosen to be the leader of this Planet. I have orders to take this planet back from you stupid people for the Cetra. What am I supposed to be sad about?" Sephiroth retorted as he stared at Cloud with his icy green eyes while grinning.
"Sephiroth… I trusted you… No, you're not the Sephiroth I used to know!" Cloud stated half sadly, half angrily before charging at Sephiroth.
End of Flashback.
"……and that's the end of my story." Cloud finished as he looked outside the window, "Wait a damn minute! Ain't there more?" Barret questioned looking at Cloud, "I agree with Barret, what gives?" Luke asked as Cloud looked at them both, "……I don't remember." Cloud said looking at the floor, "What happened to Sephiroth?" Luke asked as Cloud looked at him, "In terms of skill, I couldn't have killed him." Cloud answered thinking about the incident.
"Official records state Sephiroth is dead. I read it in the newspaper." Tifa said as Luke looked at her, "knowing Shinra, they probably own the news paper, they'll have made some form of cover up like the reactor exploding." Luke stated with his eyes closed, "……I want to know the truth. I want to know what happened then. I challenged Sephiroth and lived why didn't he kill me?" Cloud asked as Tifa moved closer to him to comfort him.
"……I'm alive, too." Tifa said to Cloud as Aerith scratched her chin, "Seems like a lot of this doesn't make sense. What about Jenova? It was in the Shinra building, right?" Aerith questioned as both Luke and Barret nodded, "Shinra shipped it from Nibelheim to Midgar." Cloud informed them as he looked at Aerith, "Did someone else carry it out after that? It was missing from the Shinra building." Aerith asked as Luke pushed himself off the table.
"Sephiroth must have carried it out" Luke answered as Tifa and Cloud nodded, "Damn! Don't none of this make sense! I'm going, going, going, gone! And I'm leavin' the thinkin' to you! Yo, Cloud! Let's get a move on!" Barret shouted as he walked towards the door, "dude…sleep" Luke said before Barret stopped in his tracks, "oh…yeah…good point." Barret agreed before the group went to sleep, in the middle of the night Tifa woke up and walked over to Cloud's bed, she softly woke him up and sat next to him.
"Cloud, when I was harmed by Sephiroth, how bad was it?" Tifa asked as Cloud looked at her, "even when I was angry at Sephiroth I was still worried about you." Cloud answered before Tifa smiled and returned to her own bed, Luke was the last to wake up and looked around to see everyone had already left, Luke quickly got dressed and entered the square to see them all waiting for him, "well about damn time you got up" Barret said as Luke scratched the back of his head.
"Sorry, I must have overslept… any idea where were heading to?" Luke asked as Cloud looked at the entrance, "One of the people we asked said he saw a man in a back coat with silver hair heading to the Mythril Mines." Cloud answered as Luke nodded. "Ok, let's go." Luke said before the group left Kalm and made their way to the Mythril Mines, 3 hours passed and the group reached a marsh, Luke used his angelic power to see a small cave entrance at the opposite end of the marsh and smirked.
"There's a cave entrance on the other side of this marsh" Luke said before walking towards the marsh, Cloud stopped him and looked along its surface, "what?" Luke asked before Cloud picked up a stone and tossed it into the marsh, as the stone landed a long and giant snake like beast jumped out of the marsh and dived to where the stone landed, "One beast… not that hard" Luke said before Cloud tossed 3 stones in, 3 more of the beasts dived at the areas where the stones landed and Luke stared in astonishment.
"Ok, normally I'm all for fighting large beasts but I'll take a different approach this time" Luke said nervously before the group looked around, "how about that farm," Aerith suggested as Luke looked at it, "Aerith, I don't think our answer is on a farm" Luke scoffed as the group smirked at Luke, "what?" Luke asked before the group made their way to the farm.
As they entered Luke looked at the giant yellow birds in the pen and stared in surprise, "ok, what the fuck, are those?" Luke asked as he pointed at the huge birds, "Chocobos" Tifa answered as Cloud entered the barn, "ok, what do they do?" Luke asked as one of the yellow birds walked up to where they were and stopped at the edge of the fence, "well, what are beasts of burden on your world?" Tifa asked as the Chocobo pushed its beak on Luke's head.
"Normally horses, what does this thing want?" Luke asked as he pushed its beak away, Aerith walked over and picked up some strange looking grass before feeding it to the Chocobo, "it was just hungry" Aerith replied before Luke looked back at the bird, "what are horses?" Tifa asked as she stroked one of the Chocobo's neck, "four legged animals that could run at 50 miles or more an hour" Luke said before Tifa looked at him.
"Oh, a Chocobo can run at 150 miles or more" Tifa said as Cloud came back out the barn, "no way can they run that fast" Luke said before Tifa and Aerith smirked at him, "they said that all the Chocobos have been rented, but one of them gave me an ability Materia that allows us to attract a Chocobo" Cloud stated before the group began to walk away from the farm as Cloud placed the lure Materia into his arm.
10 minutes passed before a Chocobo walked near them, Luke smirked and ran towards it as Cloud hit his head with his hand, the Chocobo saw Luke running towards it and ran away from him, Luke continued to run after it and jumped to grab the Chocobo's neck, the Chocobo moved out of the way and Luke landed in a puddle of water face first, Luke pulled himself to his feet and ran after the Chocobo, the bird slowed down and began to eat some grass as Luke crept closer to it.
Luke jumped at the bird and grabbed the bird's leg, "AH HA!" Luke yelled as the bird looked at him before running over the plains slamming Luke face first against the ground as it lifted its foot while it was running, "ow, ow, ow, pain, ow, shit, ow, bugger, ow, blast, ow, damn, ow, shit, ow, fuck, hurt, pain, ow, mommy!" Luke cursed each time his face was slammed against the ground and brought back up before letting go and sliding across the ground on his face.
"Ow…" Luke cried out in pain as he slowly pulled himself off the ground and spat dirt at the ground as the Chocobo looked at him, "you're mocking me…" Luke said as he gritted his teeth, the Chocobo walked up to him and pressed against his chest, Luke gazed in shock before picking up some grass and feeding it to the Chocobo, the Chocobo chirped before kneeling down, Luke got on the bird's back and rode it back towards the group.
As Luke caught up with the group he looked at each member to see that they each had a Chocobo except Red XIII, "where… did you find them…" Luke asked in a surprised and annoyed voice as he gritted his teeth, "oh, well unlike you, we took the smart root" Barret said while grinning, Luke scowled as they crossed the marsh, the group stopped as they saw one of the long snake beasts impaled on a large rock spike with several katana slash marks.
"Is it me, or is Sephiroth showing off?" Luke questioned as the group looked at the large snake like beast, "We should keep moving." Cloud said as he rode his Chocobo towards a cave entrance, the group followed and entered the Mythril Mines, the group released the Chocobos and the giant birds ran off, the group continued through the cave as Luke held his Trigger Blade in the air to light their path, the group walked into a large area with several tunnels.
A bald man in a suit walked out of one of the tunnels and looked at the group, "Just a second!" the man said walking towards the group, "joy, let me guess… another Turk?" Luke asked while tilting his head to the side and rolling his eyes, "quite perceptive of you, I'm Rude of the Turks and seen as you know all about the Turks, this won't take long. It's difficult to explain what the Turks do…" Rude stated as he straightened his tie.
"Kidnapping, right?" Cloud asked with his arms crossed, "To put it negatively…you could say that. …But, that's not all there is to it, anymore." Rude answered before looking towards a glowing area of the cave as he searched his mind to find what to say next, Elena walked out of the same doorway and looked at the group before turning towards Rude, "Sir! It's all right, Rude! I know you don't like speeches, so don't force it!" Elena reassured Rude before looking back at the group.
"…Then Elena, explain.' Rude said as Elena smiled, "I'm the newest member of the Turks, Elena. Thanks to what you did, your friend there being stupid enough to get captured by me" Elena scoffed as Luke glared at her and his friends all looked at him in surprise, "ok, so I was wrong to think that she was unskilled based on her looks…" Luke said trying to defend his actions. "Luke, there's a term called digging your own grave" Barret said as Luke glared at him.
"In any case, our job is to find out where Sephiroth is headed. And to try and stop you every step of the way. Wait a minute, it's the other way around… You're the ones that are getting in our way." Elena said with a serious face, "gee, now we know what your orders are…thanks for telling us" Luke said mocking her. A younger man walked out of the tunnel and looked at the group, "allow me to introduce myself, I am Tseng, leader of the Turks" Tseng stated while performing a polite bow.
"…Elena. You talk too much." Tseng said to Elena, "Sorry…Tseng." Elena apologised slightly flustered and embarrassed, "No need to tell them about our orders. Now go. Don't forget to file your report." Tseng said as he pressed a finger against his forehead, "Oh! Right! Very well, Rude and I will go after Sephiroth, who's heading for Junon harbour!" Elena stated before both Tseng and Rude looked at Elena in annoyance.
"…Elena. You don't seem to understand." Tseng said to Elena in an annoyed tone, "Oh! I'm, I'm sorry…" Elena apologised again becoming more flustered, "…Go. Don't let Sephiroth get away." Tseng ordered Elena and Rude as he looked at them both, "Yes sir!" both of them said in unison before Elena walked back through the tunnel as Tseng looked at the group.
"…Reno said he wanted to see you after he finishes filing the report on the incident at the support column, He wants to show his affection for you all…with a new weapon." Rude informed the group looking at Luke, "well, we look forward to it" Luke boasted as Rude left, Tseng noticed Aerith and smiled. "Aerith… it's a pleasure to see you're alive, until we meet again." Tseng said while bowing before walking through the same tunnel.
"Ok, for the leader of the Turks, he's more polite than I would have thought him to be." Luke said looking at the tunnel the 3 Turks walked through, "ah see you point, I thought the leader of the Turks would be more evil than that" Barret agreed looking down the same tunnel, Cloud climbed up to the tunnel and walked through the tunnel before the others followed, the group emerged in the open air and saw a forest in front of them with a path leading into the forest.
The group travelled through the forest as both women looked at the forest's majesty, Luke stopped as he noticed 4 precariously placed rocks on the outside of the path as Cloud and the others walked on, suddenly the floor caved in below Cloud and the others and Luke looked down the hole at them, "wow, quite the weak ninja trap," Luke muttered sarcastically as a 4 star shuriken flew towards him, Luke quickly turned and ducked to the side as the throwing star flew close to his back.
Luke noticed the star land in the ground and placed two fingers in front of his face, a blinding flash of light came from the star and a female ninja pounced from a tree branch, she grabbed her throwing star and attacked Luke with it but as it sliced through him the ninja noticed it was only an after image, the girl was about to turn before a sword with magical engravings hovered near her face, "move and I pull the trigger causing the flames to burn your face." Luke said holding the Trigger Blade close to her face.
"You made a few mistakes attacking us, one, you didn't consider any of us wouldn't be familiar with ninja techniques, two you attacked the person who spotted your trap and three, you tried a very old and inexperienced trick." Luke said holding the blade in place as the female ninja looked at the blade, the ninja used her throwing star to knock the blade out of Luke's hand and kicked him in the chest.
Luke flipped as he flew backwards and landed on his feet before catching his Trigger Blade, he looked up to see the female ninja had disappeared, the ninja crept on a branch behind him and readied her throwing star, the female ninja jumped from the branch and brought her throwing star overhead, Luke sensed the ninja's movements and turned with a kick both startling the ninja and sending her into a tree.
The ninja rubbed the back of her head and tried to get up before quickly stopping as Luke held the blazing Trigger Blade in front of her head, (A/N Blazing- the Trigger Blade is once again covered in a coat of flames.), "Man…… I can't believe I lost… You unruly and spiky-headed jerk! One more time, let's go one more time!" the ninja yelled glaring at Luke, Luke moved his Trigger Blade away and walked back towards the pit.
"Sorry, I'm not interested." Luke said as he looked down the pit, "Thinkin' of running away? Stay and fight! FIGHT, I said! C'mon…… What's the matter? You're pretty scared of me, huh!?" the ninja said before Luke turned to the ninja and looked at her, "lady, I just beat you once, I'm not scared of you nor am I intimidated, now if you don't mind I've got to help those who are important, my friends" Luke said before turning back to the pit and summoning a rope from his storage device.
"Ok, what's the deal, aren't you going to turn me in or kill me or something?" the ninja asked, "although that is tempting the code I follow strictly states that I should only kill if there's no other way, you can go if you want I wont stop you" Luke stated before dropping one end of the rope into the pit, the ninja looked at Luke in surprise, he had all the right to finish her off but he didn't, the ninja nodded before walking up to Luke.
"Hmmm" she said as Luke noticed her while Cloud grabbed the rope and handed it to Tifa, "yeah?" Luke asked surprised that she was still there, "I was wondering if I could tag along, you know, fight for you guys since you beat me in combat" the ninja said as Luke looked at her while tying the rope to a boulder, he looked at the sky contemplating the situation before looking back at the ninja, "ok, you can join us, but you've got to pull you weight" Luke said as the ninja nodded.
"I'm Luke Naferos" Luke said holding one hand out, "I'm Yuffie Kisaragi" Yuffie said shaking Luke hand as Cloud got out of the pit, "did I miss something?" Cloud asked as he looked at the two, Luke introduced Yuffie to the group and the group continued towards Junon as Luke explained what he was and where he came from to Yuffie, the group continued along the coastline till Tifa spotted a strange structure.
"Hey, you think that's Junon?" Tifa asked as Luke used his angelic powers to get a better view of the structure, "Most likely, it has a massive cannon." Luke said as the group continued towards Junon, as the group entered Junon they noticed the buildings were old and rundown, "What happened to this town? It's so run-down…" Cloud asked before Luke looked at him, "remember the slums in Midgar, my guess is the rich people live in a better area and leave the poor to rot." Luke answered looking at the platform above.
Cloud noticed a little girl running down some steps to the sea, the group followed the girl and saw a dolphin before the girl started playing with it, "He-y! Mr. Dolphin! My name is……Pri-scil-la! Now you say it." Priscilla said as she looked at the dolphin, Cloud slowly walked up to the girl and she turned to face him, "Who are you guys? Are you members of the Shinra, Inc.?" Priscilla asked Cloud, "No! You got it all wrong! We're fighting against the Shinra!" Barret said in a panic.
"…That's how it is." Cloud continued before the girl scowled at Cloud, "I don't believe you! Get out of here!" Priscilla yelled pointing at the stairs, Tifa noticed a giant flying sea serpent darting to wards them and gasped, "Look at that!" Tifa shouted pointing at the creature, "Be careful Mr. Dolphin!" Priscilla yelled before the serpent knocked her into the sea, Luke ran towards the sea while the same white markings ran up his arms towards his chest.
Luke jumped into the sea and swam deeper struggling to catch up with an unconscious Priscilla as she sank, (A/N another angelic ability to hold an entire lung of air for 48 hours, because this spell costs a constant amount of power, the markings grow over time.), Cloud looked at the beast while grasping the handle of his sword, Red jumped at the serpent diving in to its chest as Barret readied his gun.
Cloud held his sword in the air before bringing it down causing a blade beam to slice the sea serpent, Barret shot 3 bolts of energy from his gun, the shot struck the serpent in the head causing it to glare at Barret, RedXIII glowed an orange colour before jumping at the serpent again and sinking his fangs deep into the serpent's chest, the serpent cried out in pain as Red filled with more energy, Yuffie smirked as she got a clear shot and struck the air with her 4 star shuriken causing an orange blade beam to slice the serpent again before throwing her 4 star at the serpent.
Luke finally reached Priscilla and grabbed hold of her waist before heading to the surface as the marks continued to grow causing a large amount of pain to surge through his body, Barret noticed the serpent scream at the group and grinned, "Eat this…" Barret said before loading a grenade on to his gun and firing it at the serpent's mouth, the serpent swallowed the grenade and smiled at Barret before its chest blew open with a massive explosion as the serpent crashed to the floor.
Luke and Priscilla surfaced and Luke placed her on the ground, before listening for any form of breathing, "Priscilla!!" a man shouted as he ran towards the girl, Luke stood on his knees and closed his eyes while placing his hands opposite to each other, white blobs of energy come from his hands as the marks began to grow on his left arm (A/N that's the one without the gauntlet), a small glowing ball generated in-between his hand before Luke lowered it into Pricilla as the man got to the group.
"What is he doing to Pricilla?" he asked in panic, Pricilla suddenly woke up and coughed all the water she swallowed out, "Priscilla, are you alright?" the man asked before picking her up and looking at Luke, "whatever you did…thank you" the man said gratefully before walking off with Pricilla in his arms, the glowing marks on Luke's left arm slowly receded to his hand before disappearing, Cloud noticed the glowing marks under Luke's shirt and gauntlet as Luke held his right arm.
"I get it, there's a price to pay for the amount of power, the more you use the more painful it is, that's why you don't use anything to strong" Cloud said as he looked at Luke, "I got a question, what happens if those marks cover your body?" Yuffie asked Luke as Cloud made his way towards the stairs, "I would fall unconscious for 20 to 30 hours" Luke answered as the group stared at him, the marks under his gauntlet and shirt vanished as the group made their way to the run down part of Junon.
The man that carried Pricilla off spotted the group and walked over to them, "thank you for saving Pricilla, I talked with the woman in that house and she said you could stay for the night" the man said before Cloud nodded and entered the woman's house, the group went to sleep without talking. Luke woke up at 6 Am and looked at the clock as a paper bird flew into the house, the bird folded into a letter Luke proceeded to read it before removing the contents of the letter.
Luke sat down at a table and wrote a letter before enchanting it into a bird and watching it fly out the window, the rest of the group woke up shortly afterwards and made their way back to the beach, as the group walked on to the beach they saw Pricilla playing with the same dolphin before the group walked up to them, "Are you all right now?" Cloud asked before the girl turned and smiled at Cloud, "Umm…thanks for helping… I'm sorry, I mistook you for one of those Shinra, Inc.…" Pricilla apologised while tapping the ends of her index fingers together.
"It's ok, it was an easy mistake" Luke said before Pricilla walked up to him, "I'll give you something SPECIAL! It's an amulet. Take good care of it, okay?" Pricilla pleaded as she handed Luke a red coloured Materia, "that's a summon Materia, it's used to summon mythical beasts like this one" Tifa informed him while holding a similar one, "how did you get that?" Luke asked looking at Tifa as she smiled, "remember the Chocobo farm, I picked it up when I fed that Chocobo." Tifa answered while grinning.
Luke slotted the red Materia into his left hand sword and sheathed both his swords before loud music could be heard nearby, "What's that music? It sure sounds lively." Barret questioned as he looked at the upper plate. "I heard that they're rehearsing the reception for the new Shinra president." Pricilla answered as she looked at Barret, "Rufus!? I gotta pay my respects." Barret said readying his gun.
"Grandpa and grandma told me this beach was beautiful when they were small. But after the Shinra built that city above, the sun stopped shining here, and the water got polluted… I was raised on that story and hate Shinra so much, I could die!" Pricilla explained as she looked hatefully at the cannon, "You think Rufus is thinking about crossing the ocean from here, too?" Aerith asked as Luke looked at the cannon, "it stands to reason, the only town on this continent with a dock, I saw we pay a visit" Luke said as Yuffie smirked.
"Yuffie, can you use your ninja skills to run up that metal column" Luke asked the ninja, "Sorry, no solid ground to start from, if we could get an inside man, the rest of us could sneak in" Yuffie answered while looking at Cloud, "yeah, but why would he want to cross the sea unless Sephiroth has already…" Luke mused thinking to himself, "Cloud, didn't you finish Rufus off?" RedXIII asked Cloud who placed a hand in front of his face to think.
"We gotta get to the town up there… Mebbe we could climb the tower," Barret suggested looking at the tower, "No! No! There's a high voltage current running underneath the tower. Don't wander near it, it's dangerous! But…you might be able to if Mr. Dolphin helps you. Follow me!" Pricilla replied while walking towards the sea, "High voltage tower…… I guess this means Cloud'll be all right." Tifa said as the group nodded in agreement.
Priscilla pushed Cloud into the water before a dolphin jumped out, Cloud landed on a support beam on the tower and noticed a ladder beside him, Cloud climbed the ladder and noticed a giant airship as he reached the top, he stared at its greatness before walking into a building.
With the others
Luke handed a rope to Yuffie who ran at a wall, Yuffie quickly placed her foot on the wall and ran up it, as she reached the top she grabbed the edge and landed safely on the upper platform, Yuffie tied the rope to a lamppost and the rest of the group climbed up to the platform, "nice work Yuffie" Luke complimented the ninja while pulling the rope up to make sure no one spotted it, the group spotted a military vessel that soldiers were parading towards and Barret smirked.
With Cloud
Cloud looked through the corridor to see several soldiers in a hurry before one of them spotted him, "Hey! You still dressed like that? Come're!" the man ordered entering a room before Cloud followed, "Today's the big day when we welcome President Rufus! Hurry up and change!" the man explained to Cloud and 3 other men, "It's the Shinra uniform. I'll change. Brings back memories…" Cloud said as he held the uniform and remembered the first time he wore one.
"Wow! You look good in it! You remember the greeting procedure, right!?" the man asked before Cloud looked at the man while questioning what he was talking about, "…the look on your face says you forgot. All right, I'll show you again! Do just like we do." The man answered as the two soldiers showed Cloud a performance with their guns, "hmmm, now all we need is something to finish off with…" the man said as Cloud did his signature battle pose causing the 3 guards to be amazed.
The soldiers and Cloud left the barracks and saw no one was there, "Oh…no…!! No one's here! Late---!? Hey, Rookie! It's because you're running around like that!!" the leader of the group snapped while looking at Cloud, "Captain!! We'll take a short cut!" one of the soldiers suggested to the captain, "Right! Good idea. Get over here!!" the captain said, 10 minutes passed as the parade continued, Cloud got into the parade perfectly, after the initial parade Cloud and the other soldiers did a performance routine to Rufus near a gun firing station.
Rufus watched the routine as Heidegger walked up to him, "How's the job? What happened to the Airship?" Rufus asked Heidegger, "The long range airship is still being prepared. It should be ready in about three more days." Heidegger replied while doing a strange laugh, "Even the Air Force's Gelinka?" Rufus questioned before Heidegger did the same laugh again, "Stop that stupid horse laugh. Things are different than when father was in charge." Rufus snapped as Heidegger stared in surprise.
"Is the ship ready?" Rufus asked while constantly staring forwards, "Yes sir, we'll get it ready quickly." Heidegger answered before the two left, "Alright listen up, because you did so well with that performance I've assigned you to Rufus' send off performance" the Captain said before all 4 of the soldiers nodded, the soldiers were taken back to the barracks to train before they were instructed to meet at the dock.
Cloud met the other soldiers at the dock, the group began the send off as Cloud spotted RedXIII as they performed the routine, the routine ended with the whole group doing Cloud's victory pose and Rufus smiled, "Well done. Keep up the good work for Shinra, Inc." Rufus complimented the soldiers before walking on to the ship as Heidegger walked up to Cloud, "Here's a special bonus for you!! A token of the President's kindness! Don't forget it!" Heidegger stated while handing Cloud a box.
As the group disbanded Cloud crept on to the ship and opened the box to reveal a new sword, Cloud slightly smirked at the irony of Shinra giving him a weapon and placed the new sword on his back, Luke tapped Cloud on the shoulder and Cloud smirked, "I guess you found a way on…" Cloud said to Luke as he spotted the whole group in sailor suits, "nice new weapon, we dropped by the shops for supplies." Luke said as Cloud noticed the swords at Luke's belt.
The swords were once again long swords with the hand guard ends pointing in the same direction of the blade, he noticed each member had new weapons and smirked, "so I guess we're all set…" Cloud said before the boat took off, the military vessel drove towards the open water as the group planned their next move.
End of Chapter