Light from Darkness
The Final Fantasy VII Chronicles
Chapter 7- "Never Break a Promise"
Tifa Lockheart unendingly continued to observe Cloud, until the moment of which he finally stirred from a long period of thought.
"You remember now, don't you.. our promise?," she inquired during his respite, thoughtfully.
Cloud hesitated, and gave slight nod, soon followed by a downcast, almost remorseful stare, fixated downward to nothing in particular, while he vocalized his own lowed response.
"I'm not a hero, and I'm not famous.. I can't keep.. the promise."
Tifa frowned, and persisted.
"..but you got your childhood dream, didn't you? You joined SOLDIER."
Cloud scratched at the back of his head in a silent, unresponsive gesture, which incited a faint smirk from the seemingly victorious Tifa, who continued, assumingly hopeful.
"So come on! You've got to keep your promise.."
She ceased in the middle of her menacingly themed comment, noting Barret's entrance via the nearby passage way, who leapt out, and hurriedly made his way to stand behind Tifa, and addtionally cast a glare to the distanced mercenary.
"Wait a sec, big-time SOLDIER," Barret addressed in a loud exclamation, which elicited a conversely light sigh from Tifa, who moved out of the pair's way as her arms folded, feeling her place in the conversation effectively reduced to nonexistence.
"A promise is a promise! Here!!" With a drowned out mutter, Barret's biological arm was swung out, and utilized to fling a securely tied bundle of coins in the 'SOLDIER's' direction, who wordlessly caught it with a gloved palm.
Upon brief inspection of the contents.. which had been 1,500 Gil, as 'promised,' Cloud frowned as he directed a narrow stare at the towering leader just ahead, while he meanwhile put his earnings away into an emptied pocket.
"This is my pay? Don't make me laugh."
Tifa blinked at this response, which reinspired a considerable amount of faith in her mindset, as she interjected excitedly. "What..? Then you'll..!" Cloud continued unhindered, just as soon drowning out Tifa's attempted interjection.
"You got the next mission lined up? I'll do it for 3,000."
Barret's eyes went wide in a furious expression, as he violently swung his arms out at either side, just as soon responding Cloud's glare with one of his own. "What..?"
Tifa had backed away momentarily in the wake of Barret's released aggression, before she returned closer, and spoke in a reassuring tone.
"It's ok, it's ok." She leaned nearer to Barret's ear, whispering in a voice that was unknowingly not out of the spikey-haired mercenary's audible range.
"We're really hurting for help, right?" Barret turned to her, responding in kind, though his voice seemed no less relieved by her attempted calmings.
"..but.. That money's for Marlene's schoolin'," the leader reminded her with a mutter, before he shook his head, and redirected his again-exclaiming voice at the awaiting Cloud.
"2,000!"
A lingered stare was held between the two for an extensive moment, until the mercenary nodded his assent, and the moment ended, as Barret stormed back down into the basement passage, lowed grumblings clearly muttered as he did so.
Tifa smiled, despite this display.. the conflict was ended, and the problem was solved, as far as she was concerned.
"Thanks, Cloud," she had appreciatively commented in his direction.. to be met with only silence, as the person in question had long since retired to the far more effective recluse the basement offered, and subsequently made his way to a lain posture upon an, expectedly, unutilized steel pipe.
He had used far worse accommodations in the past, after all.
Tifa sighed, with a shake of her head, and turned into the tavern's back room, her own living arrangements, as the door was quietly shut behind her.
The more things changed, the more they stayed the same.
*********
Cloud awoke a numbering of hours later from that same posture, standing as his long-sleeved arms were stretched upward with a faint yawn, while he glanced around at the empty AVALANCHE 'Headquarters'. Once this realization was arrived upon, the awakened mercenary headed to the cornered pinball machine, which was utilized to carry the person back up into the bar area of their supposed hideout.
Tifa and Barret were eventually noticed by the ascending Cloud, both of whom were beside the counter.. the latter waiting impatiently.. while Marlene appeared to be preparing drinks behind the counter, peculiarly skilled at doing so for one not considered old enough to have a concept of drinking, in seeming anticipation of eventual customer arrivals.
The less remarkable appearing of the gathered AVALANCHE were passing the time as their like were content to do, card playing at the nearest unoccupied table.
Meanwhile, the other, unoccupied tendress, had looked to the arrived Cloud, a smile lighting Tifa's features as she did so. "Good morning, Cloud! Did you sleep well..?"
Cloud shrugged, before he responded matter-of-factly.
"Barret's snoring kept me up most of the night.."
She frowned, out of more concern than disappointment, as she moved closer, whispering in a conspiratorial theme. "Keep it down.. He'll hear you.. Barret's always edgy before an operation."
Tifa straightened just as soon thereafter, smiling happily as she continued in a normal, jubilant tone, all too eager to shift the topic in an opposing direction.
"I'm going along this time."
Cloud blinked.. and opted, wisely, to bite back his argumentative response, instead casting an inquisitive glance towards their preparation-involved leader, who seemed occupied with the task of reloading his machine gun-arm. "Our target's the Sector 5 Reactor," Barret began, still in mid-process.
"Head for the Station first. I'll fill you in about the operation on the train."
Barret looked around, frowning with a glance to the less than inspired group at the table, before with a shake of his head, he returned his attentions back to Cloud. He'd deal with those slackers later.
"Yo, Cloud! ..Before the next mission, I got somethin' I wanna ask you! I, uh,"
Barret paused, while he found himself uncharismatically fumbling for the proper words, "..don't really know how to use Materia.. I'll give you that Materia you found, just teach me how to use it!"
Cloud sighed, and took a faint breath.. this would take a while. Informing the uninitiated always did.
"Alright.. I'll explain it. Look at my weapon and my armor." These items in question were pointed out as needed, and gestured to, particularly out the orb-shaped carvings possessed within them.
"Each weapon and armor has "Materia Slots" in it. Choose which slot you want to put your Materia in, so you can use it. Then, choose the Materia you want to use." A gloved hand held out the acquisitioned circular Materia, the faint green orb of which shimmered with a slight resonance.
"This is curative Materia," Cloud noted, as he carefully set it into one of the Buster Sword's Materia slots.
"To find out what the effect of the Materia is, just concentrate on your thoughts.. You'll suddenly know how to cast the magical spell of "Cure". Whenever you gain a new Materia orb, and equip it, you'll learn how to use the spell it provides. Now that I have the Restore Materia, I can use the spell of Cure.
"And that's all there is to equipping Materia. See? It wasn't that tough, was it? And don't forget, if you want to remove the Materia, just take it out of the slot. There's just one thing you have to be careful of.
"Whenever you equip Materia, your situation changes. Parts of you may become stronger.. While others get weaker. Normally, when you equip Magic Materia, your magic power will get stronger. But your physical strength weakens. So, Materia's kind of a double-edged sword. It's wise not to over use it, but try out various things. Ok, that's about it. I'll give you some advanced tips later."
Barret blinked repeatedly following this.. extended monologue, his stare fixated at Cloud containing nothing short of pure confusion. "Shi-..!," he'd begun, trailing off in the midst of his curse.
"What's this 'It's not that tough' crap! I'm clueless," Barret noted, passing off the issue with a wave of a hand.
".. you handle the Materia then!"
Tifa blinked, as if an important recollection struck her out of the blue, which it seemingly did, for an instant later, she had spun away from the counter to face Cloud excitedly.
"Cloud! .. I just remembered, there'd been a message from the Weapon Shop man upstairs! He has something he wants to give you.. Don't forget!" She then deterred her attentions to the youthful tendress-in-training, who was still contenting herself with ingredient preparation behind the counter.
"Marlene, you watch the store while we're gone!"
The youthful child looked up, with an eager smile, as she nodded to Tifa happily. "All right!," she exclaimed, before she continued a touch more seriously. "Good luck." The gathered 'resistance' nodded their assent, and exited the Seventh Heaven.. including a certain lackluster trio, who were snapped back to action with well-timed table pounding via their leader's chaingun fist.
As the group moved out of the Seventh Heaven, the gathering headed in off in the general direction of the train station momentarily thereafter, each of whom was certain to take alternate paths than the others, of course.. with the exception of Tifa, who lingered for a moment, as she noticed Cloud heading off in the entirely opposite direction. "Cloud..?"
"Go to the Station, I'll go get us some supplies for the trip," he responded, without looking back. "I'll meet you there."
Tifa gave a slight nod, and hesitantly followed the others' lead, to eventually.. she hoped.. catch up with the continually moving Barret.
*********
Near the far southern edge of the Sector 7 Slums, Cloud had eventually stepped into a run-down item shop, the outside walls of which were constructed of aged, partly rusted steel. A foreign symbol was additionally seen over the doorway, painted in dark red on the gray metal. Upon observance, it struck Cloud as the sort of thing a Wutai architect would throw in as a signature of sorts.. this seemed especially peculiar, when one was made aware of the fact that Wutai was a country that was located at the other side of the planet.
These observances forgotten, Cloud had lightly shut the door behind him following his entry, while he continued his examination of the interior, which looked no better for wear than the exterior. A broken-down motor had lain in a corner, the metal counter just ahead had also become heavily rusted, and behind that same counter, a bunch of taped up crates were scattered about haphazardly on empty shelvings, as if the contents mattered little.
An old man had also been seen behind the counter, who seemed to be muttering to himself.
Were it not for this, he may well have blended in with the surroundings, unnoticed."
"Ahh.. Another slow day.. If this keeps up, this store's goin' under.. Can't sell any really good medicine in a slum like this," he had mumbled, until he spun upon the heard recognition of footsteps, the man's aged expression turned exceptionally hopeful.
"Oh!! Look at this! This doesn't happen everyday," he smiled, hands clasped in restrained enthusiasm.
"You a.. customer?," he had inquired, almost hesitatingly, to which Cloud responded with a slight nod.. that further incited the old man to excitedly run up to the counter, exclaiming vibrantly as he did so.
"Yes!! Welcome!! We sell! We buy! We even have some Materia!"
Cloud quirked a brow at the owner's anxiousness, yet thought little of it, as he wonderingly arrayed the item selection the man seemed possessing of, and continued momentarily thereafter. "Just give me four Healing Potions, three Phoenix Feathers, and two Materia orbs-Fire and Bolt." Cloud chuckled darkly to himself, in the midst of this arrangement, as he found himself envisioning how the Materia-friendly Barret would react to the "gift" of the two orbs.
The owner nodded his assent.. and following a moment's retrieval, the items were delivered to his sole customer in the past two days.
"2,000 gil, if that's all, sir," he began, hands clasped to restrain their enthusiastic rubbing. It wouldn't do to appear too eager, either.
Cloud had reached into a leftmost pocket, retrieved the needed amount and set it before the store owner, before the items were put away in the coins' place.
As the mercenary exited, he couldn't help but thought he heard that same overexcited old man jubilantly rambling something along the lines of finally attained affordings for a new refrigerator.
As the Ex-Shinra exited from the shop, having already put away his purchases, he found his glance drawn to a curious wooden sign near the shop's entrance. Cloud took steps over to it, to allow himself a closer look, which incited a bit of disgust at the childish scribblings he saw upon it.
"What crappy handwriting..! And look at all this graffiti!"
Upon closer examination.. and a bit of needed deciphering at parts,
the sign had read as follows:
DoN'T tRUSt ThE SHInRa
MakO enErgy is noT UnlimiteD.
Mako is the life of the Planet
and that life is finite.
SaViOrS of the PlAnEt- AVALANCHE.
Cloud shook his head slightly at the conveyed message, thinking little of the contents, content to instead continue in his intended direction, which eventually carried him to a towering, rusted, metal building, which had faint green lights shining out from various points, and had ascended to an approximate height of four stories. The second and third floors were clearly intended as little more than platforms that served as means to reach an open doorway on the top floor. A stairway had additionally extended from the side of the bottom floor to reach the second, which had a metal ladder that reached up to the third, which in turn had a mechanical elevator that lead up to the top floor.
He lowered his gaze from the tall building, looking to the first of the many narrowed rooms it had been possessing of, which had lain before him on the ground level. It was partly shrouded through the use a red curtain hanging along the top of it, the flimsiness of which barely concealed the faint green light that shone out through it. This same curtain was cast aside like the little obstruction it served to Cloud's entry, while the mercenary continued on to the interior, his resonated-blue stare glancing about at the strange surroundings.. To the left had clearly been a Weapon Shop of sorts, when one took into account the multitude of weaponry.. bladed and fire-armed.. lain along a side wall, the apparent owner of whom was resided protectively behind a wide chain-link fence, which additionally contained a small gash at the lower part of the fence, through which financial transactions were likely handled.
To the right, a narrowed wooden wall served to separate the center walkway from a target practice area, where a man with a machine gun-arm had been firing rapidly at a target on the far end of the room, with notably medium accuracy.
Then Cloud had finally looked down the center of the walkway before him, where a young teenage boy of around twelve or thirteen had been aimlessly pacing back and forth, attired in simplistic wear of a gray shirt with a white insignia on it, black shorts, and a red cap.
Before Cloud could head down the path, a loud yell had abruptly pierced his thoughts.
"He, HEY! Waitaminit you!!" Cloud glanced to the left, retaining an ever-present calm mood, despite that of a clearly easily angered Weapon Shop owner. The owner, who at a glance appeared middle-aged, and attired in unkempt attire of black slacks and a green shirt with white sleeves, returned Cloud's gaze, continuing his loud-toned addressal.
"You can't just walk outta here without buyin' somethin'," the man began, a narrow smirk forming in mid-sentence. "Might be unhealthy for ya, if you know what I mean." It was worth noting that the before hand distracted gunner to the right had his interest perked by these statements, glancing up with an eager smirk. Troublemakers were always fun to.. deal with.
Cloud merely looked back over his shoulder, with a disconcerned stare to the wall from which the shots' firing had ceased, before he shrugged his shoulders at the owner's direction.
"Yeah.. you're probably right," he faintly commented, declining to add the small note about he considered 'unhealthy' a reference to his having to waste the energy to dispatch a couple of over-enthusiastic brutes.
Cloud nodded to three silver bangled bracelets, each possessing of one Materia slot, seemingly purposed for little more than the transport of such an item. "I'll take those."
The man nodded, the continued smirk having never left his face.
"That's 480 Gil."
Cloud glanced down.. to his retrieved palm from his sole remaining pocket, and frowned at the contents. A quick mental calculation revealed it to be little more than 230 Gil.
"Make that one," Cloud noted, and set the needed amount onto the counter.
The man nodded again. "160 Gil, then," he had commented, as he took the Gil amount which had been just that. Upon reception of the sturdier-crafted iron bracelet, Cloud replaced his possessed bronze wristband with the newer one, the formal which had been slid beneath the fence before him.
"How much'll you take for this?"
The man scratched his haphazardly shaven chin thoughtfully, then shrugged a bit. "50 Gil".
Cloud hesitated with a frown, but he nodded his assent and took the money for it anyway, since he had no better use for the old bracelet.
"Only 121 Gil left.. I guess I'll have to return later," he had thought to himself as he briefly glanced to the other side, watching the man with the machine gun for a right arm fire at the target.
He stopped firing suddenly, looking to his 'audience.' The man had been garbed in a green jacket over a black shirt, and orange pants. His appearance seemed similarly unkempt, hair having been clearly a mess.. black and spiky, and appeared as if it had been uncombed for days.
"Heh heh.. He'll forget about it," he began, then blinked repeatedly as he recognized the person standing at the opposing end of the transparent doorway to the firearm chamber.
"Oh, it's you!! You wanted to learn how to use this, didn't you?" He waved his gun-arm at the target, which was structured as a metal dome with a red cross painted onto it. "Get my friend on the second floor to teach ya," the man had begun, before he turned back to the target, firing wildly once more.
Cloud's expression became one of a person who had just been assumed familiarity with, by a person he didn't ever recall meeting. He was content to turn and continue his previously intended path of travel.
This venture was very soon thereafter halted by the young boy, who smirked up at the taller man, conversing in an arrogant tone.
"You dried up old geez'... Ya tired? Why don't you rest up at the third floor of my house?," he began, before the smile widened.
"There's just one condition. You gotta give me some cash."
In response, Cloud tilted his narrowed stare down to the boy with a growingly cold expression. "I'm not giving you nothin'. Beat it."
The kid shrugged and paced off, muttering what sounded like an angry series of curses with the word "cheap" worked in.
The multitude of interruptions having ceased, Cloud finally made his way onto the second floor, upon which he had entered into another room, where a group of people were to be found training and conversing about their respective battling abilities. After a moment's casual eavesdropping, Cloud had heard all he needed to be certain that this group's knowledge was far below his own, considering he'd been aware of everything they seemed unknowing of, and far more. So rather than waste precious moments adding his own thoughts into the ongoing discussions, which he doubtfully would have done anyway, Cloud merely retrieved a glowing blue Materia from an unnoticed segment of floor, a magical potion of Ether from a series of aged boxes, and exited just as preferably unnoticed.
After the wandering mercenary stepped out of the room, he proceded to grab the ladder to which served as an effective means of pulling himself onto the third floor, from which he continued along the accompanying metal platform to dash up a stairway.
At the top of this stairway was soon found a small room, which had been made enterable through a light green door, that served as Cloud's means of entry. It was immediately notable as being rather messy, with the exception three well-made beds in one neat row taking up most of the space. He glanced around a few times, looking for any other items of additional note, yet having found none, he had proceeded to leave, instead finding himself looking down with a wondering stare to the child he found blocking his path.
"Comfy, ain't they? Only 10 Gil for a snooze," the familiar boy offered, with an ever-present smirk.
"Didn't I tell you to beat it?"
"Well, fine then.. But you better remember to rest whenever you can. That's how ya stay alive. Don't forget that, old man." With a last derisive turn of his attention, the child was gone as soon as he had appeared, as Cloud proceeded to just as soon follow the given example soon after, leaping down onto the second platform, and leaving the building the way he came.
*********
Seeing nothing more of interest in the south part of town, Cloud eventually continued north past the Seventh Heaven Bar to come to a small home, which a peculiar figure had been witnessed dashing into, through the means of a sidelong offered glance. Cloud paused, curiously, then soon found himself heading in after.
He gazed around at the crowded surroundings of the home's interior which awaited. The living room and dining room appeared to share one and the same space.. Possibly the kitchen as well. A small doorway seen at the back seemed to lead a cramped bedroom that appeared unattended to in terms of organization, while another one just to the southeast gave way to a slightly larger living chamber, although far better upkept in terms of appearance.
At the centered table, a woman in a pink dress with a gray apron over it was seen crying to herself, while a heavyset man with graying hair, contrastingly attired in a red business suit, was to be found beside her, clearly busied in a series of attempts to comfort her about something.
The residence's lone, petite television set had also been left activated, even though it was being rather unattended to, and with good primary reason.
The screen contained nothing to the viewer's eye but an endless array of static.
Having eventually taken notice of their abrupt 'visitor,' the upright-inclined of the couple glanced to Cloud, while attemptively masking their sorrowful situation with a fauxly cheerful tone. It did little good.
"Ha! Ha! ..I wonder if my son's already left!," wondered the self-professed father aloud, to seemingly no one in particular.
"When it's just my wife and I here, you have no idea how lonesome it gets.. You want them to be happy, and do what they want while they're young.. But being a parent, you just can't help but worry.. I guess I'm not cut out to be a parent yet."
The mother looked up soon following her significant other's words, dabbing a tissue away at her persisted array of tears, though her tone wasn't even attemptive of shrouding her possessed despair.
"He used to give us nothing but headaches when he was here, but now that he's gone.. I kind of miss him. Strange, isn't it?"
Cloud could do little else but humor the stranger woman with a slight, understanding nod, which was met with an inquiring stare from her husband.
"By the way, stranger.. Where are you from?"
"A village called Nibelheim."
"Hm.. you said Nibelheim? Wasn't it in the news a while back? Something to do with a Reactor accident.. That was the first major Mako accident, so I remember it being a really hot topic.."
The reminiscent thought lingered in the air for some time, until the father clearly saw it was not going to continue elaborated upon, and so, it was left forgotten, as the man returned his attentions to his grieving companion, speaking barely audible enough for his words to be heard by their brief guest's presence.
"..would you mind leaving the two of us alone? I want to enjoy some quiet time together with my wife."
The visitor in question would just as soon nod his assent, and vacate the residence, forgotten by the bereaved couple within a moment's passing.
Just as soon as Cloud would have been about to proceed on his way, he ceased with a series of blinks casted in the the familiar direction of the woman from the night before, who had been the first to inform him about the deaths in the Mako Reactor explosion. She had begun to dash by him, with continual excitement, before she returned Cloud's attentions, as if her sort were instantly aware the moment they had caught someone's notice.
Cloud regretted giving this woman his the very second it was returned.
"Listen, you!," she had begun in a continually boisterous tone, rather displeased at the man's image of annoyance she felt directed her way.
"If there isn't anyone to listen, what's the use of getting gossip on everyone!?," she continued exclaiming breathlessly, the latter note which was elaborated upon with a faint gesture about the 'community' around them.
"Yeah, you and Mr. I-don't-care! I'll get a little more information that would pique even your interest, You wait and see!" She flashed a quick grin, before she just as soon then ran off to convey her gossip to the slums' other regions.
A young boy dressed in all orange, eventually following the previous individual's departure, had also noticed Cloud as he passed by, stopping him at the same moment he interjected the wandering SOLDIER's thoughts with an inquisitive tone of voice. "Ah.. You learned that Johnny's gone, eh? You look a little disappointed."
Cloud turned at him, anger considerably restrained back.. the little bit his swift response conveyed was more than enough to incite a double-take from the nearby child. "Why should I care about someone I don't even know?"
The boy gave a small shrug, upon Cloud's reacquisition of a disinterested state.. "I don't like to say it myself, but I'm just a lonely guy when I'm not drinking."
Typically, one might wonder what such a person was doing drinking in the first place.. but this was accepted happenings in the slums of Midgar. Even if they hadn't been, Cloud had long since grown considerably tired with the numbering of distractions, and he had already opted to make haste in his vacating of the slum district, pointedly continuing his path to the Sector 7 Train Station.
*********
As Cloud finally reached the steps leading to the train, he had briefly seen Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge talking, each of whom nodded to Cloud as he arrived, taking his presence as their cue to get moving, all of whom did just that, conversation forgotten as the trio hurriedly entered the awaiting railcar through the still-opened doorway.
Cloud's approach was of a more calm nature, content to assume Tifa and Barret were already aboard. He paused, with a sidelong glance to a rather patiently awaiting crimson guard, who had been talking to himself in a muttering tone.
"Morning.. Dawn comes and things never change," he had began, before his words fell away just as suddenly, upon the upward glance's casting that allowed the person notice of the imposing mercenary just across from him.
He had seen their kind before.. the ones that were always eager to run off and start trouble. "You be careful not to get hurt," the guard had began, warningly.
"Come on back again, hear?"
Cloud nodded a distant assent as he passed directly by the guard, continuing into the train unhindered. "I can handle myself." With that, Cloud was within the vehicle as well.
The red uniformed guard had waited a few minutes longer, as procedure dictated.. before he glanced around a final series of times, ensuring that no other passengers would make a late appearance. When none were seen, the person turned, and sealed off the compartment tightly, following with a light wave of his gloved hand to the train's operator. Another trivial procedure, one became used to them after years of tedium, after all.
The train's engine erupted with an extended whistle, and a pillowed release of steam, before it took off on its rails for its next destination like a proverbial bullet.
Unknown to any personnel involved, the recoil of this bullet's launch would be one long remembered, for this one was transporting the gunpowder which would soon become the source of obliteration for another of the Shinra Corporation's Reactors.