Chapter 9: Ignis et Terra

"You awake Felicis? Felicis?" I heard Merule say.

My eyes slowly began to open and white light streamed in. Where was I? Midgar was never this bright. I felt my head and felt a bandage that looped around my forehead. Oh yeah, Merule had injured my and I had passed out. "How long has it been?" I groaned.

"Two days," Merule answered. When my vision cleared I saw that Aurale, Let, Larch, and Serae were there too. I had found a handful of my friends. They weren't dead, they were never dead. I felt a tear slip down my eye.

"Hey, Felicis! You really okay?" Let asked worriedly.

"Yeah," I smiled covering my eyes with my arm. "I've really never been better."

Before I knew it Merule began to lead us to find Varst and Rael. I was glad that majority of the element warriors were siblings. It was so much easier to find them since they traveled together. After we found the Thefter brothers Xantus would be the only one left to find. Too bad he was the one we were going to have trouble finding. Nobody had heard from him, he just disappeared one day and no one heard from him again. On the other hand everyone else was in contact in a safe set up. When Let or Larch needed to talk to Merule and Serae Aurale would do it for them. And when Aurale wanted to get in contact with the Thefter brothers she would contact with Merule and Serae. Ravine twins, to Aurale, to Engel sisters, to Thefter brothers. Nobody would be able to find any of them that way since only one person knew where they were. "Is everyone besides Aurale living out of Midgar?" I asked Merule.

"Midgar doesn't suit us very well, Aurale is the only one still there." Merule answered. "Let and Larch… hey Varst and Let know where you guys live right?"

"They live in Modeoheim," I said.

"Man, I should have picked Modeoheim, it's better than where I was living," Merule answered.

"Where were you living anyway Merule?" I asked curiously.

"Huh? Oh me? Banora of course." She smiled. "Didn't you see all of the apples?"

"Oh," I replied feeling dumb. "And where are we going now?" I asked.

"Nibelheim, those idiots chose some tiny town with a backwater name. Apparently nothing ever happens there so that's where they wanted to go."

"Man, two years. Those two must've grown up huh? Varst is 18 and Rael is 15, they're so much older now!"

"Yeah, well they're living overall normal lives. Varst is a medicine maker and Rael just does Rael stuff." Merule smiled when she talked about Varst. Maybe she still liked him from when we were younger. "But it's so ironic that Varst, who is in love with making poisons that could be fatal to a person is saving people's lives making medicines that could heal a person." She laughed. I could tell that she still really liked him. Then the dream I had popped into my mind. The dream where Zack confessed to me, told me to choose between Zaneit and him. Come to think of it I never heard my own answer. I shook it off, it was only a dream anyways.

We finally reached Nibelheim and just like Merule had said it was a small town in the middle of no where, right next to a mountain and a reactor. Everything was calm and everyone seemed friendly. She led us in to a small building a chime on the door rung.

"Welcome! What can I do for-!" A messy blonde haired boy popped up from behind a counter. I knew it was him from the scar across his nose. He stopped talking and his mouth hung wide.

"Merule? Wait? Is that-?" Varst began then Merule interrupted.

"Okay Varst, this might seem crazy but just don't freak out. I already did some collateral damage to her and it wouldn't be healthy for you to go and attack her too."

Varst scoffed. "I'm not you, I wasn't going to try and kill her anyways." Then he walked forward and picked me up like I was a feather. Varst did that a lot to me when I was younger, usually just to show off his strength that no one else had. "You're alive Felicis, you haven't changed one bit."

"You're not surprised?" I asked.

"Nah, just about everyone in Nibelheim has heard of the 2nd Class SOLDIER named Felicis, no last name. I knew it was you from the moment I heard of you. Pretending to be a boy all these years, but you're still so light. Hopefully no one is going to pick you up like I do or they'll realize it immediately, but then again you're so flat, they won't realize anyways right?" He laughed.

I punched him right in the nose for that one.

"That's what you get," everyone said, but Varst.

"Well, why don't you look around okay?" Varst groaned.

I nodded.

I left the shop alone and wandered around. There really wasn't anything to do here was there? I wondered where Rael was. Just when the thought rose in my mind a blonde haired boy left a house, "I'll get it right away he smiled." A lady stood at the door with a smile on her face. His hair was spiky blonde like…

"Cloud!" I cried in disbelief, but the boy didn't turn. The lady at the door's head snapped right to me though. I chased after the boy that was running over to a nearby door. I caught him and he turned at me. Then I realized who it really was. "Rael," I gasped. Rael looked so much like Cloud except for his eyes which were a dark grey instead of cerulean blue.

"Felicis," he gasped back. Then his face lit up in to a smile and he hugged me tightly. "It's really you!" He cried. "Boy, you're taller!"

"That's what I should be saying to you Rael! Your hair is all spiky now and you're really tall! I mistook you for someone else!" I cried back. All of a sudden the woman at the door ran over to me and caught my hand.

"When you said Cloud, who did you mean?" She asked frantically.

"Cloud Strife," I answered. "He's my friend from back where I live."

The lady's face broke out in to a smile.

"Isn't that your son Mrs. Strife?" Rael asked her and my jaw dropped.

"Are you Cloud's mother!" I said in disbelief.

The woman nodded, you should come over! I have a lot I want to ask you about Cloud!"

"Yeah, Felicis. I'll grab Mrs. Strife's mail and I'll be right over too." Rael smiled.

"You seem close to Rael," I smiled. Once we got in to her cozy house.

"He's my errand boy, this town likes him a lot. He just up and appeared along with his brother two years ago and they've supported this town ever since." Mrs. Strife said.

"That's just the kind of people they are." I smiled.

"You also seem very close to the boy."

"Childhood friends. This is the first time in two years that I've seen him, everything's been pretty complicated."

"SOLDIER duties?"

I looked at her surprised. "How did you know that?"

"Rael talks about you often, he told me that the SOLDIER everyone's heard about was probably you. Brave women are good, standing up in a war of men."

"Well I just want to be SOLDIER." I laughed both happy and embarrassed about being praised.

"You are just the kind of girl that I want Cloud to marry!" She laughed.

I turned bright red. "C-Cloud still thinks I'm a boy!" I stammered. "That would never happen!"

"Oh really? We should fix that shouldn't we? How is Cloud doing with his love life anyways?" Mrs. Strife chuckled.

"Horrible," I laughed back. "He's never around any girls at all." "Except for you my dear."

"I don't count, he thinks I'm a boy."

"You mistook Rael for Cloud didn't you?" Mrs. Strife asked.

"Yeah."

"I did exactly the same thing when I first saw him. He really did look like Cloud. He's been like a son to me ever since he came to this village though. How is Cloud doing in chasing his dream of being a SOLDIER?"

"He hasn't reached it yet. He's still an infantryman, but I'm sure he'll make it soon. I'll make sure of it," I grinned.

"Yes, that would be great. Please take care of my son, Felicis."

"Will do," I smiled. "I'm afraid I might need to borrow the Thefter brothers from this town though. It's important," I said.

"Go right on ahead. You probably need them more than this town does."

"Thank you Mrs. Strife. I promise that I'll tell Cloud you said hello," I smiled.

"Thank you dear," Mrs. Strife smiled back.

All of a sudden my phone rang and I checked my messages.

From: Director Lazard

To: All SOLDIER members

Felicis

Status: missing

All troops on look out duty. Find him immediately.

That couldn't have been good.

Name: Varst Thefter (Incendia)

Age: 18 years

Birth date: August 13th

Occupation: Fire element warrior

Unusual features: scar across nose; spiky blonde hair

Family: Rael Thefter (little brother)

Weapon: Fire; poisonous gas

Name: Rael Thefter (Terra)

Age: 15 years

Birth date: March 23rd

Occupation: Earth element warrior

Unusual features: Fire tattoo on left arm; spiky blonde hair

Family: Varst Thefter

Weapon: sword