"Disfigured Lattice"
A twisted version of FFVII By HenryCH (henrych@hotbot.com)
Chapter 12- 'The Nightmares Of The Past'
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I didn't think that there was
anything you needed to know to carry on the story so here's the continuation of
DL.
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII is copyright 1997 to Square Co. Ltd. All rights
reserved. The characters and names featured in this story are (partially)
property of Square Co. Ltd. No infringement was intended. (Please, do not sue
me!!!)
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1.Arrival
Aeris looked over at Cloud as he
pulled the hood of his drab cloak away from his head looking over the town they
had just entered Kalm. She pulled her own cloak's hood from her face before
turning to Cloud. "This is the place?"
"I think so." Cloud
replied as he pulled up his hood again to keep the rain off his face.
"The inn is over there."
Red replied as he tugged his own raincoat awkwardly back into place as he moved
forward.
Cloud watched as Red moved forward
towards the Inn. He turned to Aeris who was looking over the landscape that
they had just travelled. "You okay?" Cloud asked.
She turned back to him and gave him
one of her killer smiles. "I was thinking. This is my first time out of
Midgar for so long. I never knew how this world looked."
He moved over to her allowing his
hand to move onto her shoulder. "When I was with SOLDIER. I travelled
around quite a bit, most of the time in the back of Shinra trucks, which I
can't stand because of my motion sickness..."
Aeris looked at him amused.
"You have motion sickness?" She couldn't help but laugh.
"Well most of the time when I
have room to move around or somewhere pleasant to sit I just hated being on
moving vehicles, it made me very moody. Anyway as I was saying over those
mountains." He pointed to the mountains over the other side of the Midgar
wastes. "Is the plains and small forests near Junon, beyond that are the
tropical islands. Over to the west there is a massive desert and a large canyon
near my hometown." He then turned the other way towards the north.
"And over there are the snowbound plains of the northern continent."
She looked over, towards the
direction Cloud had faced. "What else is over there?"
"I'm not too sure. I know there
is an excavation site but I only know that through friends." He replied
honestly
"Maybe, one day we'll travel
there." Aeris said.
"I hope so." Cloud replied
before looking back towards the Inn. "We better hurry." He said as he
started leading them towards the hotel.
"Your right." Aeris replied
as she followed.
---
He and Aeris reached the floor that
their room was on and entered it to see the rest of the gang waiting.
"You're late Cloud."
Jessie stated from her position on the bed.
"Sorry 'bout that." Cloud
replied.
"So Spike tell us 'bout your
story." Barret stated. "The one 'bout Sephiroth and the fate of the
planet."
Cloud sighed, the memories flooding
back into his mind. "Alright you all should get comfortable it's rather
long." He started when they had sat down. "Well it's a long story."
He stated again. "I'd been in SOLDIER for five years, a year before I
received the rank of Lieutenant-Commander and First-Class-Star, so I was second
in command to Sephiroth."
2.The Look Into The Past
~Flashback~
/It was five years, I
was seventeen, I left my hometown of Nibelheim fiver years before after being
recruited by the Turks. On that day was the first time I had been home since I
left./
'Hey how you doing
Cloud?'
/'That was Zack, my
Partner and best friend. We'd known each other for two years ever since he
joined SOLDIER and reached First-Class before me by a few months./
'Yea, I will be.'
/I answered./
'I wouldn't know
Buddy, I've never had notion sickness.'
/'I shock my head as I
felt the effects of my motion sickness drop slightly. Zack was one of these
people who knew how to make someone laugh. He had a gift of befriending people
in more ways than one./
'Sit down.'
/That was Sephiroth,
he was quiet like that, not saying more than was necessary, unless it was just
us two. Sephiroth seemed to take an interest in me, and always questioned me
about the past a bit. I learned not to mind especially when he would disclose a
piece of his clouded past to me./
'What are you excited
about anyway?'
/I asked Zack. He'd been hyper all journey.
This wouldn't have usually troubled me but as I hated being in motorised
vehicles as compact as these trucks, so my temper was shorter than usual./
'They gave me a new
piece of Materia. I can't wait to use it.'
'Hee, hee, hee, just
like a little boy.'
'So anyway what is
this mission about anyway?'
'We are going to a Mako
Reactor in this area. There has been a fault in the reactor and it's been
making monsters.'
'Monsters! Where.'
/That was Zack, if
there were three things he liked it was life, fighting and women./
'The Mako Reactor at
Nibelheim.'
'Nibelheim? Hey Cloud
aren't you from Nibelheim?'
'Yea.'
'Hum, hometown.'
/There was silence
until we reached Nibelheim, however like always it didn't stay that way. Zack and
Sephiroth went ahead into town while I reattached my helmet and helped out the
truck drive. When I caught up with them there was trouble./
'Everyone inside!'
/I knew when Zack took
that tone, things were serious. I drew my Butterfly Edge ready to help them out as I entered the
town I saw Zack and Sephiroth facing a huge Dragon./
'S#&t! It's
strong!'
'Riley!'
'Sorry Sir.'
/The thing never
noticed me as I rushed up behind it and slammed my blade into its neck. It growled
before it tried frantically to remove me and my blade from itself. Finally my
blade gave in, snapping halfway up along the blade basically leaving me
unarmed. I watched Sephiroth rush at the Dragon and plunge the Murasame deep
into the beasts stomach sending it reeling before it collapsed and died./
~Flashback End~
"His power was what others
would call amazing but I had been with him too much." Cloud said as he
looked over the group.
"Cloud." Tifa interrupted.
"There was one thing I could never understand about that incident. Joe
told me that you had been slammed into a brick wall. Head first."
"I have my helmet to thank for
that." He pulled the helmet he had on his belt into view. "Zack
brought it for me when I was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander. It's made from a
mysterious metal called Mystile. The helmet just absorbed the hit like
it was a sponge."
"Oh." Tifa replied as she
moved back into her seat.
"Anyway..."
~Flashback~
/Zack moved over to me, passing me a
Hi-Potion from his belt passing it to me.'
'You okay buddy.'
'Yea.'
/I took a swig of the
medicine before I unhooked my helmet and attach it to my belt. I looked over at
my blade/
'I knew I should have
brought the other one.'
/I usually use a
standard Hardedge
blade but I felt that I would need the superior weapon this time, for it's
point if nothing else./
'Can't you get
another blade made up?'
/I shook my head./
'Nibelheim hasn't had
a blacksmith for nearly seventeen years.'
/I told my friend as
he looked at me puzzled./
'Who was the last one.'
'My father.'
'The Runesmith, if I am
correct.'
/He really surprised
me then. I had only told him once about my father and that was during a boring
boat journey back to Junon./
'Yea.'
'So what is like to be back
in your hometown? I wouldn't know, I don't have a hometown.'
/It was comments like
this that made me wonder about Sephiroth./
'What about your
parents.'
'My mother was Jenova,
she died while giving birth to me and my father...'
/He started to chuckle
in the way he only could, as he dismissed those thoughts./
~End Flashback~
"Hold on!" Barret
interrupted. "Isn't that the name of the headless spook that broke out of
the labs."
"Yes." Cloud replied.
"Barret, let Cloud tell his
story." Tifa scolded the burly rebel.
"Bu..."
"Please continue Cloud."
Tifa said to Cloud as he began again.
~Flashback~
/We entered the town,
people watching us as we all moved towards the well. I wasn't sure of who the
people where more afraid of the monsters or us. I looked around my old town
nothing much had changed the blacksmith was still only an item shop and the
mansion still stood out as ever./
'Man, this place is
run down alright.'
'This is my hometown
Zack, watch what you say.'
'Yes sir.'
/As we followed
Sephiroth through the town I pulled the Materia orbs in my broken weapon out
and deposited it in the local trash can. After all what use is a broken
weapon./
'You seem to be
picking up some attention boss.'
/I looked over to see
a group of adults muttering to themselves and occasionally looking over at me.
As I became more self conscious I put my helmet back on, to hide my face it was
then that one of them came towards me. It was Edward Lockhart, Tifa's father./
'Excuse me but are
you Cloud Strife?'
/I looked at the man
completely disliking the tone in his voice./
'Yes I am Cloud
Strife.'
'Well it's finally
good to see the freak has the courage to come home.'
~End Flashback~
"He said that!"
Tifa asked with slight anger in her voice.
"I still think he holds the
mountain incident against me." Cloud stated in return.
"But I told him the
truth." She told him.
"Tifa your father has always
been stubborn." He replied it was true.
"Um Cloud. What are you talking
about." Aeris asked him as she continued to fiddle with her staff.
"That's another story Aeris.
I'll tell you another day." Cloud told her before continuing with his
story.
~Flashback~
'Hey!'
/Zack instantly
started to act defensive for me. I put up a hand to silence him before saying./
'It's alright Zack.'
/I turned to Tifa's
father./
'If you have come over
to insult me Mr. Lockhart, then save your breath. I'm not the child I used to
be.'
/My remark had an
effect on him. He took a step back unsure what to make of the confidence I had
discovered while I had been away./
'I came to give you
a warning Strife. Keep away from my daughter.'
/He started to walk
away with that said I carried on staring at him until Zack said./
'What's he got
against you?'
'Don't ask.'
/I replied. Looking
towards my mother's house./
'I guess your wanna
go and talk to her. Don't you?'
'If you don't mind.'
/He shook his head in
reply./
'Na. You go talk to
your mom, I'll go tell Sephiroth where you are.'
'Thanks Zack.'
/I moved towards the
building taking off my helmet and attaching it to my belt before taking the
house key from my pocket. I opened the door and stepped inside./
'Is someone there?'
/I can't describe what
it's like to hear her voice again. The type of voice that tells you that the
muffin cakes are ready or comment on the book you were reading, the type that
comforts you when you were upset. I was glad to hear her voice again./
'Hi mom.'
/She looked at me as
she recognised me./
'Cloud!'
/She ran over to me,
where I engulfed her in a hearty bear hug./
'It's good to see you
again.'
---
'So how are you
getting on?'
/She asked./
'I'm fine, I've got a
pile of paper work they want me to finish back in Midgar but the company looks
after us.'
/She smiled at me./
'I worry about you
Cloud. There's a lot of temptation in the city.'
'I know. I'm glad I
travel so much.'
---
'Look at you. I bet
the girls never leave you alone.'
/I smiled at that as I
rested against the bed./
'Not really.'
'I reckon you need
an older girlfriend. Someone that will look after you.'
'You'll have to wait
until I'm older.'
---
/She looked over at me
before asking./
'What type of weapon
do you use?'
/ She asked./
''Braver' Class Broad
Sword. Well it was.'
/I looked out of
Window while she moved to the bed I had been on./
'So your Father was right!
By the way, what happened to your sword?'
'Broke it when I was
fighting one of those monsters.'
/She took something
out from underneath the bed and brought it into the light./
'Well your father
wanted you to have this when you were old enough. Ha was inspired to make it
when you were born'
/It was ornate, I
could see the blue crystal showing from the top gap in the sheath. I took it
from mom and pulled it out, testing the blades weight and feel. It was perfect,
I removed the sheath from my back and replaced it with my new weapon's./
'It's called the Executioner. I reckon it's
your father's greatest work.'
'Thanks mom.'
/I hugged her again as
Zack came through the door./
'Err. Sorry to
intrude but Sephiroth wants you back at the Inn.'
'Alright Zack.'
/He left and I started
to follow him./
'I'll see you later
mom.'
/She smiled as I
opened the door./
'Alright. But take
care Cloud.'
'I will.'
/With that I left my
home and went to rest at the inn./
~End Flashback~
End Of Chapter 12
