It's Good to be Alive! – Chapter 13: To Die For
Chapter Summary: A celebration no more…
Author: Illusor Meaneld
Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.
Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7. They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) amusements.
Shera paced anxiously across her kitchen floor. Her infant son Orlandu slept peacefully in his cradle on the table. She did not worry about him, as he lay under the watchful eye of Reeve who was smiling at the dozing form. Flicking her brown hair out of her face she strode once again to the phone. She had already called several dozen times in an effort to contact her husband, but each and every attempt ended with her speaking to the bewildered Co-Pilot. Cid had left his phone in the ship, and Cloud… who was supposed to be with her spouse, refused to answer his. Shera sighed as she dialed the number once again. She couldn't stop trying… no one had contacted her all night. Ring… ring… she sighed heavily, Cloud's phone would go to answering on the fifth.. Ring… ring…
"Hello? Hello?" A man's voice answered, Shera blinked stunned for a moment, the voice didn't sound familiar.
"Cloud?" She queried softly? She heard a lot of clamor and some scuffling noises on the other end.
"Is Cid there??" She asked quickly,
"I don't know any Cid…" The voice gasped, full of humor. Shera was starting to lose her patience. She vaughly thought she heard Cid's voice in the background, and pressed the phone to her ear.
"Is this Shera?" The unknown man wheezed.
"Yes… who is this?" She demanded,
"Hi! My name's Zack! I'm an old friend of Cloud's…" The man proclaimed enthusiastically, cut off by a series of loud noises and cracking sounds. Suddenly there was silence,
"Hello? Zack?? Cid??" Shera called into the receiver,
"Zack?" Reeve questioned, raising his head to look at her, she tossed him a harried glance, and unable to explain it herself she clicked on the button for 'speaker phone', Placing her handset down.
"Zack? Are you there?" She urged again. She could hear the background racket much better now, and the scuffling and insults reached her ears, Considerably confused she went silent for several moments. Suddenly there was crunching noises, rather like hurried footsteps
"Shera? Shera?? Is that you?" Came Cid's almost frantic voice.
"Cid?" Shera gasped.
"Oh thank the Planet!" Her husband sighed in relief. So many thoughts whirled through her mind, he was alive! he was okay! … Why hadn't he called??
"Where have you BEEN Cid?" Shera exclaimed in exasperation.
"Vincent went missing…" The pilot started to explain.
"Your co-pilot told me about that…" Shera interrupted, but she paused as she thought of the quiet gunman. "Is he okay?"
"Yeah we found him, he's fine! He…" Cid went suddenly silent, rapid shouts ensued from further off, and a roar suddenly filled the room. Shera jumped, startled backwards, and young Orlandu woke suddenly crying loudly. "Oh Sh-BEEEEEEEEEEEEEPP" Came from the phone, the sound of several touchtone buttons being clenched at once. As the ringing died Shera looked behind her, Reeve was gently rocking the cradle cooing at her infant son, who was slowly settling under the man's attention. Turning back to the speaker phone she stared,
"Vincent! Vincent! Calm down!!" She heard the shouts, another howl punctuated the cries.
"What's going on?!" Came the stranger Zack's voice.
"Run Yuffie RUN!!" Barret seemed to yell. The young Ninja's shriek was audible.
"Vincent's Limit Break!" She heard Cloud explain. More grunts and crashes,
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG… Rang through the receiver,
"STOP SHOOTING!!" She heard Cid bellow, "You're just gonna make him mad!" More roars and a series of oaths.
"Which voice is that?" An unfamiliar Tenor inquired.
"That one doesn't talk!" Nanaki shouted. Shera blinked several times.
"IT'S GONNA EAT US!!!" Zack's Voice shrieked. More screaming ensued,
"Ack ! Don't run TOWARDS it beastie! Where are you going?!" Cait Sith whined, Reeve's eyebrow shot up.
"NO! No! That One's…" The tenor tried to shout,
"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!" Zack wailed,
"Don't run!! You'll only make him chase you!!" Tifa cried. BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG
"BARRET STOP SHOOTING!!!" Shera's husband hollered
"That's the WEAKEST ONE Zack!!" yelled the strange tenor
"WATCH OUT!!" Cloud shouted! A horrified screech echoed, followed by more snarls, barks and growls.
"Sorry Shera!" Cid suddenly yelped into the receiver, "Tense situation… I'll be home soon, gotta go!" Another roar and more gunshots
"Stop shooting laddie! You're gonna …" Cait Sith shouted, and then abruptly the line went dead. The room went suddenly quiet, only the soft sniffling of young Orlandu and Reeve's comforting murmur held absolute silence at bay.
"I am never… going to throw a party again." Shera said quietly, Reeve glanced up at her, reaching one hand into a half-eaten bag of potato chips and lavishly dunking one flake into a half-full bowl of sauce. Another similar bowl sat emptied on the other side of the table.
"But Shera… This onion dip…" The man explained playfully, "It's just… TO DIE for!" Shera glanced at him and sighed, smiling as he continued to help himself to the snacks.
THE END!
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((Author's Note: Thank You so much for reading my first fan fiction! If you've gotten this far than I would assume you've taken the time to read all of it!
Please tell me what you think: Leave me a Review, don't be afraid to be harsh! Constructive Criticism is more than welcome!
This is not the end! The story won't just HALT here! I have a Sequel in progress, and later I will add an "Epilogue" for this story as well. So please write me a Review so I know what to fix and work on.
I would also like to offer special thanks to Kysic, and CornCob, for their consistent reviews and commentary. And to all of the rest of you at for the over 1,000 Hits and 20 reviews! My story ended up at a little over 21,000 words. Thank you so much for being patient with me!
P.S. http://thesaurus. is a completely awesome site for writing ANYTHING! XD ))