SORRY IF NONE OF THIS IS EXACT, I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO WATCH ADVENT CHILDREN OVER AGAIN, AND I COULDN'T FIND IT ANYWHERE. I TRIED TO DO THIS FROM MEMORY XD
Ruka's barking wakes me up at dawn. I groan and furrow my eyebrows, rubbing the blurriness from my eyes.
"What the heck?" I sit up. "What's wrong?" She barks again and runs down the street. Hurrying to my feet, I run after her. Several early risers step out of my way and yell for me to watch it, but I ignore them, following the dog down the muddy road. She makes a sharp right turn into and alley and we both stop, though she hunches forward and growls, teeth barred.
"Nice seeing you again." No way...
"S.." I blink to force away the flashing images of things I don't have time to place. "Sephiroth."
"Oh no," he chuckles. "Merely an image. Of course, you might just be going insane."
"Right," I frown, stepping back slowly. "Insane. Like I wasn't already."
"I'm searching for Mother," he smirks. "It would be most unfortunate if I couldn't bring her together."
"What are you talking about? You're dead! I killed you!"
"Yes, you did. But there are still pieces of me that walk this planet. I was merely giving you a warning, Aunt."
"Why?"
"Because Mother believes she can still accept you," he lifts his chin. "You are her sister, are you not? You can still be saved." He's got it all wrong...
"Just go back to wherever illusions come from," I mutter, turning and walking away. "Come on, Ruka."
"Just remember that they'll be searching for Mother. We know she's nearby."
I whip my head around to look at him, but he's gone. Maybe that sandwich was spoiled... My phone rings, snapping me out of my trance. I've been able to find the odd outlet here and there, and the people I bought this from insisted that I don't have to pay because I'm from Avalanche. I flip it open and hold the device up to my ear.
"Hello?"
"What's up, Vi?!" Yeah.. Reno and I sort of came to a point where you could say we're friends. But we're not. It just looks that way to outsiders. There are still too many road blocks: he still won't forgive me for kicking his butt years ago, I still have a hard time being around him for a long time, he's a Shinra worker, I'm a demon. But at least we're not at each other's throats anymore.
"I'm sitting in an alley and hoping that I'm not hallucinating."
"That ain't one of the symptoms, I don't think," he chuckles.
"I'll write it down just in case," I roll my eyes and lean back against the dirty brick wall, gray obviously. Because that's very obviously the only color known to Midgar. That, or the architects here are all color blind. Rather, the architects wished for all people to be color blind. "What did you need?"
"Oh #&%+, where do I start?" I smile to myself and shake my head. Typical Reno. "So we got sent out to the Northern Crater to pick up Elena and Tseng, who have Jenova's head. There were these three weirdos there lookin' for 'Mother' or whatever and they pretty much killed those two. Me and Rude got out okay, but I'm not so sure about Laney and Tseng."
"That sucks," I yawn. Then I pause. "Tseng's alive?"
"Yeah! Did you think he'd actually just go die in some Temple?"
"I dunno," I shrug.
"Anyway, those three weirdos look a lot like Sephiroth and all that crap. I was wonderin' if you could get out to the Healin Lodge sometime real soon. We can talk more there."
"Why there?" I frown.
"We have a job for you, if you'll just come over."
"We?" The line buzzes and I sigh, looking down at Ruka. "Guess we're going on a trip." On foot, it'll take awhile to get there. But once I'm out of the city, sprinting all the way there at superhuman speed will be an easy task. I've passed by the Lodge a few times, but I've never bothered to go inside or say hello. Why should I? It's just a bunch of Turks living in some weird looking house outside of Midgar.
I start walking toward the exit of Edge, Ruka faithfully trotting by my side. There's something about a gentle and helpful creature that doesn't fear my demons that makes me keep her by. And I'm not a big animal person. Vincent would probably have shot her by now for all the trouble she gets into sometimes, but it's worth it. She fetches food for us and the other people on the street, mainly the children, scares off any weirdos trying to steal our small stash of stuff, heck, she's even fought off a whole pack of Nibel wolves by herself. That's the kind of animal that deserves to live in this world.
Once outside of city limits, I ready myself to run. A speeding bike suddenly veers around the corner of the road and I barely have time to yank Ruka out if the way before they zip past. Jerk, I glare at the blonde biker's back. Who the heck is that anyway? Sighing and lacing up my boots tighter, I take a deep breath and start running, Ruka struggling to keep up with my enhanced speed.
"Cmon Rukie," I call over my shoulder. She barks twice and runs faster, tongue hanging out of her mouth and flapping in the breeze. We get to the lodge only to find the rude guy climbing off his bike. I narrow my eyes and quickly slow to a stop just as he turns and gives me a confused look through his shades. And then we just blink at each other.
"Cloud?"
"Violet." I stare a moment longer at the man who's been missing for months before I remember him almost hitting my dog.
"What's your problem!? You almost hit her and you didn't even stop to apologize!"
"... Sorry," he mumbles, taking his sunglasses off. Ruka peers out from behind my legs and growls. "Is that the reason you followed me?"
"No," I frown, looking up at the building. "Did Reno call you too?"
"Yeah." He turns and walks up to the door, me right behind. Ruka sits behind me by the front door, Cloud opening it.
"Stay," I firmly to the dog. Suddenly, and arm swings out and pushes me out of the way of a swinging-armed flurry of red and navy blue. Then a hand pulls me into the lodge and slams the door, Cloud's mako blue eyes studying me for a second before he lets go to block a swing from Rude, who I kick hard in the side before punching his really hard face. Really hard... I cringe and shake my hand, hunched over slightly. Dear Lord that burned! Rude groans and Cloud frowns at him. I merely enjoy the sound of Reno yelling at a snarling Ruka.
"No! Don't bite me you #&%+ dog! Stop it! Agh!"
"Impressive. You fight like the SOLDIER you once claimed to be." I freeze and swivel around to see someone in a wheelchair rolling into the room with a white sheet over them. That doesn't conceal the half of their face that let's me see who it is though. "And you, you still have the fighting fire in you that you had during the Jenova War."
"Rufus Shinra," Cloud mumbles, sounding tired, and, well, depressed. I glance at him out of the corner of my eye before looking back at Rufus. "You survived after all."
"If you were wondering, I managed to get out before the building collapsed completely. Unfortunately, I was not unscathed..."
"I don't care how you survived," I cut him off. "Why did you have Reno call us in?"
"Kadaj and his group are and violent- as dangerous as they come. Thats why we decided it might be best to hire a little muscle."
"Too bad, I'm a delivery boy now," Cloud replies flatly. I shake my head.
"I'm just some random person living on the streets."
"Ah yes. But also one of Hojo's creations, correct?"
"I wasn't created," I snap. "Just... Messed with."
"No matter. After doing some research it has come to my knowledge that you are the most powerful being this Planet has seen, aside from Sephiroth, of course."
"... Chaos?" I ask quietly.
"Only stronger because you have not yet found your power." I furrow my eyebrows and look down at the smudge visible on his hand. So you have it too, Shinra. "But now we're getting off the subject. You two are all we have. Violet, you used to be a hunter..."
"Used to. Not anymore."
"But your fighting is..."
"Shut up about my fighting and power," I interrupt him. "Is that it?"
"I'm still out here!" Reno's voice is muffled through the door. Shut up, mo mo.
"These men call themselves the Remnants. We believe they are the spirit energy Sephiroth has left behind, and they live to look for their Mother and complete the Jenova Reunion."
"Think about it," Reno chips in again through the metal. "Together, we could rebuild Shinra!" Cloud actually seemed to be considering Rufus's offer until Reno butted in, but now the blond shakes his head.
"Not interested," he says firmly before opening the door and stomping out.
"Geeze, he's got an attitude problem," Reno huffs, brushing off his dark sleeve dramatically. "What do ya say, Vi?"
".. I'm not helping to rebuild the same empire that destroyed the lives of millions, killed my family, and stole my humanity," I reply, staring Rufus dead in his cold eyes while doing so. And then I leave. Ruka grins at me and slobbers my hand before following me to the roadside. Cloud's in the driveway, just getting settled on his bike.
"Violet."
"Huh?" I turn to look at him. "What do you want?"
"You didn't say yes, did you?"
"No," I shake my head, looking down. "That would be stupid."
"Good," he nods.
"Hey," I tilt my head, taking a mental note of the cloak over his arm. "Tifa's worried you know. Want me to tell her you're alright for you?"
"She worries to much," he sighs, looking down at the front to his bike. "Sure, I guess. I gotta go do something."
"I don't care, but that's nice to know," I shrug. "But she's having a really hard time. I think you should at least talk to her." The I turn to go.
"You have the stigma?" I pause and study the road for a moment, thinking.
"Yeah. Everywhere. Took the vision outta my eye. What's it you?"
"And you're homeless too," he comments.
"It was nice seeing you," I say abruptly, walking away with Ruka on my tail. She barks and I huff, setting off in a sprint again, Cloud probably shaking his head at my back. He zooms by, careful not to hit the dog, and disappears down the road.
The first thing I notice when I get back to Edge is the absence of children. The second is that no one seems to care that they're gone. Ruka whines and starts running. I tiredly follow her, my head pounding. What's wrong with me today? Did I catch something somehow?
Impossible.
I caught Geostigma.
That's different, it has nothing to do with germs. Rather, the mako explosion you've had and your DNA.
Thanks Smarty Pants.
Ruka whines and paws at something, and my heart skips when I see what it is. The Moogle girl... Her stuffed moogle lies in a mud puddle, stained and dirty. I pick the toy up and frown. What happened? Shadow chuckles.
Go to church.
Hey, I'm not the only one here that needs Jesus.
Go.
Okay, geeze.
I stand and hurry toward Aeris's Church. At least, that's what Tifa called it once. On the way, I begin to get a bad feeling about something ahead and summon Nightmare, pushing past debris and piles of long dead peoples' bones, charging into the open footed church. Don't worry, I took note of the motorcycle outside. Inside though, is an entirely different story. My head begins to ring just as I catch sigh of Cloud and Tifa passed out on the floor. I gasp when the pain in my Geostigma patches grows unbearable and my knees give out. The sword clatters to the floor and my head begins pounding louder and louder...
"I swear Rufus said they'd be here yo.. Hey Vi!" I don't reply to Reno's greeting, just grip my arm and clench my jaw to force down the urge to scream. There's no way to explain how much a Geostigmic attack hurts, it's that bad. Like acid burning very slowly through an infected wound.. "Violet! You okay?!" Reno's bright red hair comes into view, and I can feel a hand on my back from where he crouches beside me, but his voice is distant and his image fuzzy. "Rude, come help me out, man!"
...vVv...
I jump awake, only to see that I'm in a dim room. Frowning, I slowly slide my legs over the edge of the bed and stand.
"I'd take it easy if I were you." I jump and whip around to see Reno and Rude standing in the back of the room, arms crossed. Reno smirks, eyebrows raised. I see something stir in the corner of my peripheral vision and turn to see Cloud awakening as well, Tifa already sitting up.
"We found you guys all passed out at the church," Reno explains when Cloud gives him a confused look.
"But Violet wasn't there," Tifa frowns.
"I'd just gotten there," I mumble, staring into space and absentmindedly tracing over my bandaged arm.
"And you had some black oozey attack thing," the redhead finishes. "You got it bad, Vi."
"Like I didn't already know," I glare at him. He shrugs.
"The children were taken by Kadaj's gang," Rude reports. "To the Forgotten City."
"Cloud, you have to go save them," Tifa gives him a scared look. The blonde stands, shaking his head.
"I can't... I can't save anyone."
"Gods, you think you have it so #-%+ hard!" I finally snap loudly. "You hate being alone, so just let people in!"
"I.." Cloud stops, looking down. Yeah, that's right. Be ashamed, you bad puppy.
... You spend too much time around that dog.
Shut up.
It's still going to be written on your tombstone.
No it's not!
"I can't," the blonde breaks the silence.
"Dilly dally shilly shally," Tifa murmurs.
"Hm?" He frowns, brows furrowed.
"Dilly dally shilly shally!"
"I think she wants you to move on, man," Reno rolls his eyes. And I think she's finally lost it. Cloud thinks a moment more before looking at me.
"You coming?" I nod and Tifa frowns.
"I want to.."
"No," he turns around to face her. "You stay here, just in case. Alright?"
"Fine."
We head outside and Cloud scoots forward on his bike so that I can fit on the seat. Then I cling tightly around his waist and he takes off, zoom it across the desert around Edge. I lift my head off his back and watch the rocky land pass, wondering what happened to Ruka. She'll be alright. Then I think of Vincent. Does he even know what's going on? He obviously knows about the Stigma, but how about the Remnants? How would he even hear about them? No offense to him, but he's a little... Disconnected in the 'World' file of his brain.
We continue on through the setting sun, reaching the shore by dark. Thankfully, the still organizing WRO built draw bridges across the cramped islands that lead to the Forgotten Capital. I won't bore you with the details of me clinging Cloud and the blonde driving over the speed limit to a creepy forest, so I'll just jump a little.. There we go.
We finally get to the 'city', eerie trees glowing with a spooky blue hue. Cloud leans forward against the handlebars, and I let go, gripping the sides of the bike with my legs as I summon Shadow's sword and keep an eye out for any creepy Sephiroth wannabes. Then I hear the gun shot.
"Cloud?!" I yell, trying to get his attention. He start and turns his head around to look at me before looking forward and narrowly dodging the bullet heading toward us. Ahead stand three men dressed in black, two firing their gunblades at us and the one in the middle smirking. Just like Sephiroth... I shudder. The side of the bike open and I lift my feet onto the seat of the motorcycle to avoid getting them sliced off. It's not exactly the best idea to crouch on the back of a speeding bike, but what else can I do when I'm riding with a psycho?
The man in the middle, who I now assume is Kadaj, draws a double bladed katana, signaling into the air with one hand. Several children drop from either side, my heart dropping when I see Moggle girl. What did he do to her? Then in front drops a crowd. Cloud tenses when he sees Barret's daughter Marlene and Tifa's adopted orphan Denzel in front. The bike suddenly spins out of control, sending me flying into a tree and leaving Cloud sprawled out on the dirt. He grunts when the air is knocked from his lungs, motorcycle spinning away. Kadaj and the other two jump over it and calmly continue toward him. They all have cat eyes... I think once I've gotten to my feet. Kadaj bends over so that his green eyes clearly meet Cloud's.
"I'm glad you could make it!"
"We just came for the kids," Cloud glares at him.
"See these people!?" Kadaj exclaims, straightening to pace in front of the children. "He's our big brother, and she's our aunt. But alas," he circles around me and Cloud. I narrow my eyes and resummon Nightmare, which disappeared when I was thrown off. "In our happy flock, they're what you call the black sheep." He unsheathes his katana and points it at Cloud's face.
"Cloud!" A small voice calls, distracting Kadaj and giving us time to stand up, back to back with weapons raised. Kadaj launches himself into the air and flips, landing perfectly a short distance away. Cloud quickly blocks a barrage of bullets, me switching to Sacrifice and firing an arrow at the short haired guy. He smirks and flashes blue, teleporting right before it can hit its mark. He reaches me in a quick flurry, jumping up and barely missing a punch fired by an electrically powered object on his arm. I focus on dodging his attacks, narrowly missed by both his Dual Hound and a bullet that whizzes by my ear, grazing the skin.
The guy suddenly switches to attacking Cloud, who flips backward through the air to avoid a blow. He then raises his Fusion Sword, trying to bring it down on the Remnant, but the man grabs his ankle and throws him to the ground. I glare at him and swing Nightmare. He blocks the strikes before grabbing the end of Shadow's blade and jerking me forward into him.
"The name's Loz. Nice to meet you, Auntie." I yelp as he swings me toward Cloud, proving that I underestimated him. The long haired guy comes out of nowhere just as we get our feet, kicking Cloud backward into me and we both fly backward, more bullets coming toward us.
Cloud jumps to his feet, my head pounding from both the tree beating I got earlier and all the flying around I'm doing today. The blonde uses his split swords to block the bullets fly toward him, only to get kicked again. He slashes at Kadaj, who expertly evades the attacks. Managing to get by Cloud's side unsteadily, uncontrollable flickering of green lights in my vision the second my eyes meet Loz's. He yells out, drawing his Dual Hound back and slamming it into the ground. Skinny Rapunzel Man sneers and leaps over the wall of earth, firing still. He's persistent.
Cloud blocks the bullets for me and sends a blue wave of energy their way, breaking the wall of debris with Blade Beam. One rock hits me hard in the for head and I fall onto my back with a groan. Ow.. We're getting our butts kicked. Through the floating dust, Cloud doesn't notice Loz coming until the Remnant's electrified weapon sends him flying back from the charge. Then he and Yazoo team up on him, flurries of blue, blades, and bullets everywhere.
The duo becomes too much when the blonde is launched into the air, still forced to fight with the long haired dude. Cloud's sword is sent into one glowing tree and Loz drives his fist into it. The giant plant begins crashing toward the ground, Cloud fighting off bullets and trying to get his blade out of the wood desperately. They go up again just as I manage to get to my feet, head spinning and blood dripping from a wide cut in my forehead.
Need help?
Not now, Shadow. Don't want to scare my 'nephews' away, now do we?
... You can't be serious.
I roll my eyes and hold my hand out to nothing for my sword. Nothing. What the...? Cloud hits the ground beside me and a boot meets my back, sending me face first into the dirt. I let out a small shout of pain when an electrified weapon digs into my back and fires, leaving me laying on the brink of unconsciousness on the ground. I catch sight of a red object flying around, too blurry state to make out, and Cloud's out cold, so I can't ask.. The world suddenly becomes a dark, swirling world of red, something snatching up Cloud and then something else lifting me into the strangly warm... Thing.
We fly away (geeze, I might as well be a bird) and wind up by some sort of pond, the redness disappearing and me dropping to my hands and knees, still a little dizzy. At least Shadow's making quick work of healing me. Cloud lies in the grass by my side, blood smeared down the side of his face and on his arm. I hear a foot stepping on the grass and freeze, turning my head to see someone I haven't seen in six whole months, and talked to three times over that time. Still unsteady, I scramble onto my feet and latch my arms around his waist. He tenses, mostly in surprise, and slowly hugs me back.
"Jeebus, Vincent, I haven't seen you in forever."
"... Yes, I has been awhile, Violet."
"I missed you," I hug him tighter. He merely tolerates my squeezing until I let go, and I only do that to kiss him, missing that feeling so much. When I pull away, his eyebrow his raised.
"Are you done?" I huff, hands on my hips.
"Nice to see you still care." He glaces down toward the grass.
"I apologize for any..."
"I was kidding," I roll my eyes. "You looked like a freaking scolded dog there for a second. And how on Gaia did you just become a flying blanket?"
"That's a secret," the side of his mouth quirks up just a little bit. We hear rustle and look over to see Cloud sitting up with a dejected look on his face, staring into the water.
"See? I knew I'd be no help."
"Hey, I would've been shot a million times if it wasn't for your mega sword," I tease. He just sighs.
"Vincent. What do you know about all this?" Vincent straightens. Oh Lord, here comes the pacing.
"I come here often." That doesn't answer his question. Vince pushes the side of his cape out, making it flap out of his way dramatically. Then he begins walking toward Cloud. "I've seen what Kadaj's crew is doing." He drops to a crouch and grabs Cloud's upper arm. The blonde gasps, cringing as his eyes flicker between his own and Sephiroth's. "The Stigma." So Cloud does have it. Why was he such a jerk earlier then? "It's a symptom of alien matter infesting the body. The body tries to eliminate it and over compensates." He stands and slowly walks around our past leader. I frown. Someone's been doing their science homework.
"Inside our bodies is a current like the Lifestream. That current is what fights off and malevolent intruders." Cloud frowns and looks down.
"What do you mean by intruders?"
I sigh and sit down on the grass, missing my cloak now. It went missing months ago when Ruka and I were escaping a whole frikin avalanche of behemoths.
"The Sephiroth gene," Vincent begins again. Dang, he talks a lot once you get him to open his mouth. "Jenova's mimetic legacy. Call it what you want."
"You're well informed." That's what I said! Mentally anyway..
"Tseng and Elena..."
"They were attacked," I cut in. "By Kadaj and his gang, right? Reno told me about how that went down." Vincent nods once toward me.
"They were brought here half dead. They must've been brutally tortured. I did what I could to save them but, well, we'll see."
"Tortured?" Cloud asks, still staring at the water.
"They had it coming."
"What do you mean?" I frown. He frowns right back.
"They got their hands on Jenova's head."
"Then when Kadaj says they're looking for Mother..." Cloud pieces it together, and so do l.
"They're talking about her head," I finish.
"Heaven's dark Harbinger, the calamity Jenova. If they wanted to, they could recreate Sephiroth."
"Kadaj... What is he?" Cloud mumbles.
"Hm. I'd rather not know." Something rustles in the bushes. Cloud grabs his sword, Vincent unholsters his gun, and I take an automatic fighting stance. You're gonna pay for not letting me have your sword.
Sucks to be you. Aren't you an archer by trade?
By trade, no. Preferably, yes. But I still don't like firing into eyeballs when the person's two feet away.
Out of the branches comes a little girl, Marlene Wallace to be exact. She runs toward Cloud, feet pounding against the ground until she reaches him, clinging to him.
"Marlene!" His eyes widen, grabbing her shoulders.
"Cloud! Denzel! And Tifa!"
"Tifa is alright," he answers calmly.
"I wanna talk to her," she demands. Cloud searches his pockets and shakes his head. I sigh and find that mine's gone too. She then turns to look at Vincent, not scared like most children. "May I?" In answer, he merely holds his cape out. No pockets, eh Vince? When did he change his wardrobe to something with more buckles? I like it. "You don't have a phone?!" He has a PHS that's not even worth crap, kid, and that's all. He merely stares at her look of disbelief.
"Vincent," Cloud looks up. "Will you bring Marlene to Tifa?" Are you kidding me?! "I need to go to Shinra and get a few answ.."
"I can't do that," Vincent shakes his head. Child phobia?
"But I..." Marlene's face falls and she pushes away from Cloud.
"Forget it Cloud! Why do you ever pay any attention to us!?" She rushes toward Vincent and hides beside his long giraffe legs, the red cape coming around her like a mother bird's wing. I guess not! Cloud sighs.
"Marlene, please give me some time."
"She doesn't have to," I lift my chin defiantly. "Even though it would be for the best."
"Violet," the blonde starts.
"No," I shake my head. "You might not be her real dad, but you're the only father figure while Barret's gone. What's that going to teach her? That men are supposed to neglect her?"
Sometimes, I think you'd make a great feminist.
I don't know whether or not I should that as a compliment.
Take it as you will.
"There's a battle to be fought, but it's not as simple as just fighting. Do you understand, Marlene?" Cloud asks after letting my words sink in.
"No, I don't understand!" Marlene yells through Vincent's cloak.
"Cloud," Vincent breaks in. "Are you sure this is about fighting?" Cloud's eyes drop and he stares at his boots for a really long, awkward moment.
"Are sins... Ever forgiven?'
"... I've never tried." Aw, Vinnie... There's a long pause.
"Well I'm gonnna try. Marlene," he looks up. "Let's go home." She peers out from behind the cape, smiling, and nods.
"Uh huh!" Cloud turns to look me.
"You staying?" I nod, ignoring the look Vincent gives me. "Alright. See you, I guess." He takes Marlene's hand and pulls her after her, heading for his tipped bike. Once they're gone, Vincent turns to look at me.
"I told you to stay in Midgar."
"And I did." I cross my arms. Let the sucky reunion begin!
LONG... ALL MY CHAPTERS SEEM TO BE LONG THESE DAYS. YOU CAN TELL I GOT YOUTUBE TO WORK FOR A LITTLE BIT DURING THE FORGOTTEN CITY, WHICH IS THE PART I PRETTY MUCH HAVE DOWN IN MY MEMORY ANYWAY, BUT EVERYTHING ELSE WAS LITTLE BITS I REMEMBERED OR MADE UP. I'M COOL LIKE THAT ;)