"A Warrior Royal" by Shadow Master
(BtVS/Final Fantasy 7 Games/Others)
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted materials contained herein. They are the rightful property of their creators and/or associated companies. I make no profit from this whatsoever and I have no intention of changing this at any point in the future. I write because it's fun and because there are people who enjoy reading my stories. Therefore please no legal action okay because I don't have anywhere near enough money to make it worth it.
Note 1: I know, I know, I have a ton of incomplete stories in need of new chapters but there's a type of story I really want to write. I want to write a Sephiroth redemption or a Sephiroth who doesn't go nuts and become a villain story. If you go to fan fiction dot net, go to the non-crossover FF7 section and arrange the stories in order of most reviews you'll see quite a few that're awesome. Most involve Cloud time travelling or reincarnating or being relocated to an alternate reality but overall the stories really stuck with me so I want to put out one of my own. If you guys have any suggestions for how Sephiroth could be redeemed or kept from going down the path to villainy feel free to put them in your reviews. Can't guarantee I'll use them but I will give them full consideration.
Note 2: As usual positive reviews will be appreciated, constructive criticism will be considered but not necessarily acted on and of course negative/bashing/venomous reviews will either be ignored or burned as fuel to keep things going.
Note 3: WARNING! There will be some changing of genders as well as some stuff found only in R rated movies. If you don't like stories where canon characters are different genders or where things don't stick to the ratings level of the game/show/movie then turn back now. While I am willing to consider suggestions I refuse to become a writer that lets the readers dictate how most of the story goes.
A Warrior Royal
A Space That is Both Everywhere Yet Nowhere
Creation.
Destruction.
Birth.
Death.
Throughout the multiverse these are concepts that are universal and present in every iteration in one form or another. Even if one were immortal, eternally young and immune to the mental trials that came with living forever it would be impossible to witness all variations of these concepts. Why? Because new universes, new realities, were being born at a rate too quick for any save a supreme creator responsible for creating everything everywhere to possibly keep up with. However what some very few have learned, those few with the power to perceive even an atom sized fragment of the multiverse, was that everything was connected. Each reality, each universe, was not an island unto itself but rather an interconnected web of energy coming together at convergence points and orbited by various lesser points. The larger convergence points acted as the prime base whereas the lesser points existed as variations of the prime universe.
However even these exceptional beings capable of perceiving the multiverse are limited in their understanding due to the limited nature of their existences. If they were not so limited, if they were truly capable of perceiving the multiverse in its entirety, they would see something both beautiful as well as something humbling.
The network when viewed as a whole took on the shape of an enormous pure white semi-transparent Crystal. Indeed the light given off by the various convergence points and their orbiting lessers almost completely blocked out the darkness that existed in between them. If those extraordinary few could see this they would understand how labels such as 'The Source', 'the Akashic Record' were almost insane in their inadequacy.
With such an awe inspiring sight one might think that there would be those who would do all they could to explore it all but sadly none managed more than to explore their own convergent point. This was so not just because none possessed the necessary knowledge or power to do so but also thanks to a being that existed Before All. For with incomparable wisdom it was decided that to allow aspects of one convergence point to travel to another was to risk disharmony within the network. Such disharmony while small often ended with the problem burning out on its own but if it spread too far fissures could form that threatened the entire network. Not wishing to see such a masterpiece of cosmic creation perish galaxy popping calculations were done to ensure that disruptive elements would be contained around their own convergence point.
So it had been since the beginning and so it had to be until the ordained end as chosen by the One Before All.
~^Wait. What was that?^~
At once the view shifted from the entirety of the multiverse network and chose instead to focus on one of the convergence points in southwestern region of the Crystal. With unparalleled visual acuity the view focused on the central orb where tiny holes were forming tinged with electric blue lightning. It was odd until further examination revealed the cause to be power from a leftover artifact during the early stages of the network's creation. Many had existed and most were left to lay where they fell once their purpose was fulfilled for it was all but certain that what little power they still had would fade from existence soon enough.
Evidently this one had chosen to linger far longer than expected and still possessed power enough to break down the walls of the reality in which it existed. Bolts of energy shot out from the holes forming temporary connections to orbiting lesser points sometimes merely providing passage while in other cases the streaks of light transplanted pieces from one to another. It would not do for this to be allowed to continue for too long lest it cause the lesser points to collapse into the central convergence point giving way to a multiversal supernova.
~^Let's see what there is to work with.^~
Peering into the core convergence point it was revealed that one of the Chosen was working to put an end to the crisis but was being waylaid by an exile placed there by her two siblings. With a unique grasp of time it did look quite likely that the Chosen would succeed albeit at the highest of costs so it would be safe to observe for the time being. Every so often a glimpse was had into the future in order to anticipate new threats but in scattering focus one could quite easily miss what was right in front of them. As a result it was with some surprise when a bolt of the artifact's energy shot out and struck a point of chaos in that prime reality.
This should've been of little concern since it would result in the chaos being's displacement or death neither of which would affect the bigger picture. So it came as no small surprise when instead of near instant death or physical relocation a cosmic case of tug of war between the cosmic energy seeking to expel the young man and one trying to keep him there. Through perception it was revealed that one of the minor beings of power there, Janus of Rome, was evidently unwilling to lose a game piece he'd come to value. Even as the power of The Key tried to eject the boy from the reality the power of Janus did all he could to ensure that didn't happen. While normally the restrictions placed on the beings of power to minimize risk would make this act pointless but the Janus the Roman was determined to say the least.
But determination can only do so much and so it came to pass that the young man slipped through Janus' grip giving way to a one of a kind reaction.
Like a rubber band stretched to its limit only to be let go at one end the young man known as Xander Harris was launched from his reality. With the lingering speed and power of the two forces coupled with the weakening of dimension walls allowed for a greater level of distance travelled. Even as the young man shot through the space between universes it's unthinkable that he could survive such an inhospitable environment for even a moment given its similarities to outer space.
~^How the hell is this happening?!^~
Instead of dying within seconds of leaving his native reality young Harris the teenager remained alive albeit under significant duress. With eyes that could see what no others could it was revealed that somehow the power of the Wish was shielding the human from the harmful environment of the space between realities. A moment of insight made it clear that in an act that in the past only vengeance demons performed as a sign of ultimate loyalty D'Hoffryn's former girl Anyanka exercised her right to a single wish.
At the cost of whatever she held most precious.
It must've been exquisitely painful for one so new to humanity to exercise her one wish knowing that she would never again see the one man she'd come to love deeply. But that was just how D'Hoffryn liked it: never go for the kill when you can go for the pain.
~^How long will it last though? It's not like the space between realities is completely empty. A lot of junk piles up between the resets.^~
Indeed one feature engineered into the network of convergence points was the fact that it had redundancies and automatic restarts should a lesser or greater point be in danger of early termination. However there was always some detritus left over from the previous cycles, items that escaped the renewal phenomena, that would float for all eternity in between realities. Each possessed a power all their own and without a force deliberately chipping away at the strength they had the objects could last for quite a while.
Had things happened differently even the power of the Wish would not have been enough to stop collisions with these objects from breaking Xander Harris.
Only with the same sort of luck the teenager possessed in his native reality and his inherent chaotic good alignment did he impact with something first that would ensure he would survive the rest. At first glance it seemed like a simple piece of jewelry made of black metal with a gold trim and a single brilliant jewel as its centrepiece. There were signs of damage as though the materials that made it up had been strained to the point where it began to crack but the echoes of what it had once been ensured that destruction would not come swiftly to it.
Upon coming into contact with the ring young Harris the jewel mounted on it seemed to sense something that mattered to it and thus took action. Unhindered by the natural forces of a planet and propelled by the sacrifice of heirlooms stored within it shot after Xander and just as it was three steps shy of running out of gas it slid onto the young man's right middle finger. Drained of much of its power by the sacrifice of heirlooms it no longer had the effect of harming its wearer but it was able to gain the young man's measure. Lacking the oversight of its creator and the presence of a member of the line of Lucis for the first time ever the pseudo intelligence of the ring was able to make its own decision.
It chose to accept Xander Harris as its new wielder.
With this change in circumstances the threat of the other leftovers from past cycles was reduced with the items either being absorbed via the ring's magic or deflected by the remaining heirlooms that winked into existence long enough to protect the wielder. On and on it went until it was not debris from previous cycles that Xander hit but rather a lesser world orbiting a prime convergence world. Indeed it was a world with such an interesting orbital pattern that made it one of the orbiting worlds that rarely got visited by either the prime world or another orbiting one. However when one knew the history of Xander Harris and his various counterparts from both his prime world as well as the orbiting ones it became less of an oddity and more of an inevitability.
Thus it came to pass that with the gathered power of the ring and the protections placed on him those of his native world the young man broke through the world's barrier. That which kept the world safe from the ether between worlds and made connections between it and another difficult had never encountered such a thing before. As many familiar with such things knew a defence was only as good as the threats taken into account when it was designed. A shield was fine when it was designed to stop a sword, spear or axe but put it up against a fired cannonball or worse a missile barrage and it was useless. So it was no surprise that with the combination of debris claimed and imbued special magics that the barrier was shown to be quite unprepared.
Nevertheless the entire ordeal did not come without consequences and even when a boon was granted by a mysterious benefactor the scars inflicted would need certain conditions to heal.
~^May the light of the Crystal guide you Alexander LaVelle Harris.^~
The Knowlespole, Gaia
EYA 1982
The Snowfields
COLD! So VERY, VERY COLD!
That was the one thought that could not be ignored and only had one competing feeling in his mind and that was confusion over what was going on. For most people this wasn't too much of a problem since they could simply take a dip inside their memories to find the most recent ones and from there figure out how you got from point A to point B. However when he tried to do this PAIN exploded into his brain out of nowhere causing him to drop to his knee as fragments of thought shredded like glass shrapnel. Immediately, instinctively, he stopped trying to think so much and in response the pain receded leaving only a light throbbing behind. Not knowing any more than he did before he stood back up instead choosing to continue with what got him walking through the snow in the first place.
Finding someplace warm to stay out of the cold before thinking about what came next.
His brain had been in a light fog so thinking about a smart way of choosing a direction had been impossible but it'd been then that his eyes had seen…something. It had been difficult to perceive but he cold've sworn he'd seen a woman beckoning him to follow her but it was difficult to tell with all the blowing snow. In any case it'd been as good a direction as any to go in and therefore he'd begun trodding through the snow wearing only the damaged clothes he'd awoken in. One step after another he stepped only needing to look up to see the blurry form of the woman ahead of him and thus never lost his way.
Nevertheless the cold was taking its toll on him and while he couldn't reason how long he'd been walking he did know that it was becoming harder to keep trudging forward. How long would he last? How long before hunger, fatigue or the bite of the weather caused him to drop to the ground? He didn't know. But as he didn't like the idea of simply standing in this sort of weather to be frozen to death he forced himself to continue onward. Maybe he would get lucky and reach someone's home or just people before the last of his strength gave out.
It was something to hope for at any rate.
After what had to be an hour though something new made itself known in the form of ominous howling cutting through the high winds. The source did not seem to be all that far away and some part of him warned that it would not be in his best interest to face the creature making that noise in person. Putting more effort into his walking he did what he could to still follow the woman that was barely perceivable to his eyes while at the same time putting some distance between himself and the howler. It seemed to work for a time but when he began to hear the sounds of multiple feet stampeding towards him he began to think that perhaps in his effort to get away from the howler he'd only encouraged pursuit.
Breaking into a full run he tried to catch up to his lady guide hoping that perhaps she might be able to provide him with a measure of protection from the beast. It was hard though to run in the snow where the drifts went from barely up to your ankle to almost reaching your knees but he could safely say that he was quite the stubborn person. No matter what came to be in his path he would keep on going until his body gave out or he got what he wanted.
Too bad the world didn't much care how stubborn a person was.
This was proven all too well when instead of setting foot on snow covered frozen dirt his foot crashed through a sheet of ice incapable of holding up his weight. Suddenly bereft of any footing whatsoever he found himself sliding down a tunnel with no control over where he was going. Again and again he wound up getting hit by bits of rock poking out of the ice getting bruises as well as scratches that he knew without looking had caused blood to flow. It was only through finally being granted some mercy that he exited the tunnel into a mass of snow and ice that was somewhat soft and somewhat painful.
Groaning with the pain he forced himself into a sitting position knowing without checking that he wasn't in the best of shape. Before he'd just been cold, tired and getting hungry now he could add beaten half to hell to the list. Looking back up the tunnel he didn't know if the creature he'd been running from would follow him down here but he wasn't about to wait to find out. Painfully he got back to his feet and began to head down the only path he could see but his gait was far from the steady or quick. The hits he'd taken in the tunnel had not been gentle ones and while he was fairly sure that there were no broken bones the cuts and bruises were painful enough to hinder movement.
~Can't give up. Can't give up!~ He thought as he continued in what he hoped was the same direction as his lady guide had been trying to lead him, ~She…he…THEY would never forgive me for it!~
Weakness crept into him like a a slowly growing iceberg, carefully and insidiously, fooling him into making him believe that he could go one step more while robbing him of two steps. In the end he met the bottom of his reserve of strength just shy of the first scrap of civilization he'd seen since waking up in the cold snow covered wasteland. Collapsing to his hands and knees he tried to find the strength to call out to whoever might live there and pray that the person was kind only to find himself too weak to do so. Even the mere croak he managed to put out caused his consciousness to sway resulting in a face plant into the snow.
Then of course things had to get that much worse when a low growl told him that the creature he'd been trying to keep his distance from had followed him down the tunnel or found another way down.
~Great. Rescue just within sight but too far away and something probably with a lot of teeth about to have me AS dinner.~ He thought the stubbornness that'd gotten him this far finally giving up to wave the white flag of surrender, ~Somehow I think this is crappy luck even for me.~
Closer and closer the animal came to the point where he could feel the steps through the vibrations in the ground.
He closed his eyes and hoped that the beast would bite into something important that'd have him bleed out sooner rather than later. He had NO interest in still being conscious when his insides started to fall onto the snow.
KA-KOW! KA-KOW!
Two shots rang out through the storm and accompanying them almost immediately were the pain filled cries of an animal. It oddly reminded him of a dog that'd gotten seriously hurt and it was only reinforced when instead of dangerous growls only howling pity inducing whines came from the direction of the thing that'd wanted to eat him. While he wasn't sorry about getting saved from what'd probably have been a painful death he hoped that whoever had fired the gun would at least put the animal out of its misery.
No one deserved to die a slow and painful death and that was especially true of animals who were just acting on their instincts like nature intended.
A few moments later he saw two pairs of feet, a man and a woman if he was right, go past his field of vision with the latter stopping next to him while the former focused on the creature. One more shot broke through the winds of the region heralding silence from the animal before the man joined the woman.
"Damn. It doesn't look good one way or another." The man said kneeling on the show with signs that a rifle was slung on his back, "Not wearing anything close to the right clothing for the Snowfields and it looks like he took a serious tumble."
"Even so we must try to help him." The woman said with a kind voice, "Fortunately we're close enough to the Northern Crater that I'll have more than enough to work with. Stay with us little one. You won't be joining the lifestream just yet."
He didn't know what she was talking about when she mentioned words like 'Northern Crater' or 'lifestream' but he wasn't exactly in a position to resist either. It was a few seconds later though when he began to feel a warmth begin to seep into his body that felt like it hadn't been there for quite awhile. The pain he felt from his numerous bruises began to wane as well but just as he began to get his hopes up that his cuts might be healed it all seemed to come to an end.
"That's…that's as much as I dare to do." The woman said sounding somewhat tired, "I've had to keep my abilities hidden for so long I'm more than a little out of practice."
"Don't worry. He looks much better now." The man said before moving, "Let's get him back to the house. Medicine might not be my specialty but I should be able to bandage up the wounds with the medical kit there."
With that the man lifted him up off the ground and began to walk presumably towards the house he'd seen before collapsing. He didn't know who the duo were but the woman had made the pain go away and the man seemed inclined to do the same. It was enough for his tired mind to decide that he was safe and so he let unconsciousness take him hoping that when he woke he'd be in better shape to figure things out.
With survival handled understanding was the next top priority.
A Day or So Later
Inside a Home With a Skylight
"No luck?" The woman asked even as she the wet cloth from the boy's forehead.
"None I'm afraid." The man replied with a sigh as he hung up his coat, "There haven't been any Chocobo hunters roaming about or anyone from North Corel either. Considering how inhospitable this part of Gaia is there aren't that many people living here or even wanting to come here. It's one of the reasons why I chose this as our little hideaway."
"Then where did he come from?" The woman asked looking sadly down at the boy covered up to the neck in warm blankets, "Six year old boys don't just appear out of nowhere and the clothes he had…they looked like he'd been attacked by something."
"It is a mystery Ifalna but one we may never find the answers for." The man said looking at Ifalna with warmth, "The best we can do is nurse him back completely to good health and try to find him a good home."
"Yes I suppose that's true Gast." She said even as she wondered about where the boy had come from and what it was he had within him.
It had indeed been a long time since she'd been forced to go into hiding and suppress all signs of her being anything other than a normal human being. It had been necessary because for as long as she could remember there had been people looking for those like her for one reason or another. Most were simply thieves looking to pilfer what they no doubt equated to a forgotten tomb laden with precious gems and shiny metals that could make them quite rich. However in more recent years the one that had surpassed them all had been the very company that Gast maintained loose ties with. The scientist she'd met almost two years ago while not completely ignorant of the corruption of some of those who worked at the company still believed that most were good people. They were only in hiding until he'd finished his work into the study of her people because he believed that once he had that his superiors would have no further need to actually possess her.
Once they had the information they were after they'd leave her alone.
She wanted that to be the truth…
…but she suspected that Gast was being naive with this point of view.
The remains of her once great people could only be gained to a degree through knowledge alone. To acquire it all you needed someone with Cetra blood flowing through their veins that the ruins would respond to and recognize as being permitted to clam them. In other words if Shinra wanted everything they would not be able to do it without her or should it come to pass one day one of her children. That was why when the time came for Gast to turn in the results of his research she would have to disappear from his life and find a place to hide for a few years. As the Cetra were a nomadic people she knew of a few that had yet to be discovered by the more stationary members of humanity and while hard to live there she could manage.
She'd miss him, truly, but he would not be able to protect her from his superiors when they came for her and she would rather not put him in harm's way.
Before that happened though she would like to solve the mystery of the boy they'd rescued from a Bandersnatch wolf.
When she'd drawn upon the lifestream in order to heal his wounds she had not expected to encounter anything unusual but she had in a way she had not expected. Within him she'd encountered a strength, a power, unlike anything she'd encountered since the day her parents first began to teach her the ways of their people. It was…tired…or at least that was how it'd felt to her but the nature of it reminded her a great deal of the lifestream itself but was lacking an aspect she couldn't identify. The more she had used the power of the planet and of her people to heal him the more she learned but the new facts only served to further confuse her.
She had not spoken of this to Gast just yet but she suspected that he knew something had gained a fair bit of her attention.
She would tell him once she had a better grasp of it herself.
"Are you up to resuming our discussion from yesterday?" Gast asked tentatively as though picking up on her desire to care for the boy in the bed.
"We have done all we can do for him." She admitted peering with her eyes at the one they had saved, "The rest is up to him. Let's go upstairs to let him rest and I'll answer your questions."
"Of course." He said with a nod and a smile.
With that she raised her gaze from the boy that'd given her so many unanswered questions and followed Gast to his improvised lab.
Hopefully the camera would work properly this time or else the man seeking to learn from her would spend half the day trying to fix it.
He was a bit obsessive when it came to having everything just right when he was working.
It made her grin.
One Week Later
Professor Gast Faremis' Improvised Lab
Xander's POV
Xander.
His name was Xander and was probably short for Alexander.
That was the only thing he could remember with any true surety but even then he'd heard whispers of other names at the edge of his consciousness when Mister Gast had asked him for his name.
Noctis, Oba, Luna, Regis and a few others that he hadn't been able to quite make out.
When they'd asked him where he'd come from, where his parents were and the usual questions you asked someone you didn't now the pain had hit him again albeit less severely then the first time he'd tried to remember his past. This had naturally upset Mister Gast and Miss Ifalna but when the pain had faded enough he'd reassured them that he'd be okay in a few seconds. He'd explained to them what'd happened, how he couldn't remember his past without feeling pain, they'd given him sad looks of sympathy that he appreciated. He'd told them what he could remember without causing himself pain but sadly that only entailed his cold trudging through the snow following the phantom woman as he'd come to call his unknown guide. The news of the woman seemed to puzzle Mister Gast but the look he saw on Miss Ifalna's face hinted at something more.
The moment she noticed that he noticed though the hint aspect vanished to be replaced with her usual friendly smile.
Since then he'd mostly been doing what he could to help around the house while occasionally going with Mister Gast to the local general store for supplies. He'd gotten some new clothes out of the deal and while there wasn't a lot of variety with the food it'd been good enough to fill his belly.
Nevertheless the clothes and the food had brought about feelings that something was wrong with him. Not 'get on your knees and start praying' wrong but enough that he'd looked at himself in the bathroom mirror afterwards. When he'd done it the first time there'd been a surprisingly strong feeling that he should be older, a lot older, but at the same time there'd been traces of properness to his reflection. The clothes fit but as far as the food was concerned he honestly thought that he should be able to eat more. Fortunately for him he'd obeyed his body when it'd told him that it couldn't take any more in rather than force more down his throat.
Add the two together and logically it'd mean that prior to finding himself literally out in the cold he'd somehow been reversed in age to about six years old. Too bad when he'd joked about fountains of youth and magic that could make you young again Mister Gast had reacted like such things were only found in works of fiction. So either he'd stumbled across the one in a billion thing that could do it and it'd shredded his mind as a side effect or he just had a messed up mind that only thought he should be older.
Either way the only past he could be certain of was marching through cold stormy weather, almost getting eaten and then being nursed back to health by Mister Gast and Miss Ifalna.
While they'd told him that he could stay with them for as long as he wanted they did think it'd be better if he found a home with adults with more time to focus on him. Mister Gast had explained that he was doing important research with Miss Ifalna that needed to be finished as quickly and completely as possible. They hadn't done anything to make him think that they were banging on every door in the area looking for someone willing to take him in but that it was likely in his future.
He honestly didn't know how he felt about that.
He'd only really gotten to know them for a few days so it wasn't like any serious bonds had formed or even real friendships. Still…they'd been nice to him and he got a warm feeling whenever Miss Ifalna spent time with him while with Mister Gast it was more humorous nostalgia. If they found him some nice people to live with he wouldn't mind but if wound up staying with them then it'd be good too.
"Gil for your thoughts Xander?" Asked a voice from the stairs to the lab.
Turning around in the chair he saw Mister Gast standing there with his hair its usual mess as well as in need of a cut.
"Just thinking about how to plan for my future when I can't remember my past." He replied with minimal optimism, "How can I know what I want to do when I don't remember what I like or don't like?"
"The same way most scientists do when someone destroys all their research: start all over again." Mister Gast replied with a hint that he knew what it was like to lose all his research, "Think of it less as losing everything and more like getting a fresh start. Whoever you were before, whatever your life was like, you can choose to be someone new from this day onward. For some people fresh starts are hard to come by."
The man had a point but the wish to know who he was and where he came from refused to leave his mind even with the appeal of a fresh start.
"Maybe something to do will keep your mind busy for awhile." Mister Gast said with a smile, "I'm afraid in my zeal to learn as much about the Cetra as I can from Ifalna as I can I haven't been as organized as I should be. Care to help me organize my notes? It'd be a big help."
"Sure." He said with a shrug getting of the chair.
It wasn't like he had anything better to do.
However when he got to the top of the stairs to where the lab was he found that Mister Gast had been a bit understating when he'd said that things were not organized. Honestly the place only had scattered spots of the floor that were free of paperwork of some sort whether it was handwritten notes or reference books or folders with printouts in them. Looking up at Mister Gast he raised an eyebrow as if to say 'it took you THIS LONG to notice the mess' to which the man merely sheepishly shrugged.
~Definitely not like G-argh!~ He thought before pain shattered whatever name had been about to surface in his thoughts.
It hadn't been as bad as the last times, probably because he hadn't done it intentionally, so he was able to keep the pain from showing on his face. Just in case though he began to go about sorting the mess into piles with books in one place, handwritten notes in another and the final pile being the folders filled with printouts. Mister Gast was quick to help him out and from there they made steady progress in figuring out what went where. He made an offhand suggestion that the guy should put dates on everything so at least they'd be able to organize things by day. Once Mister Gast was finished with his research he could begin sorting things into a comprehensive report but that was a ways down the road.
Time passed and it was only when Miss Ifalna came to let them know that dinner was ready that they finally stopped.
As he walked down the stairs he found himself a little curious about Mister Gast's work and about Ifalna's people. He found the idea of them living in harmony with the planet to be admirable and how their population had been decimated by the Calamity to be beyond tragic. He…he didn't understand everything written in Mister Gast's notes and not just because of the man's questionable handwriting but he did grasp that a lot of good people had died. If Miss Ifalna was an example of what the Cetra were like then they had to be good and if something had made almost all of them die then there was no way to feel except sad.
He hadn't ever been in the room while the two had been working but a few times she'd seen Miss Ifalna coming down the stairs with a look on her face that he didn't like. He wasn't quite sure how to describe it other than resignation towards an inevitable fate and it never failed to produce angry defiance in him. He knew what words like destiny, fate and preordained meant though don't ask him how and his heart rejected all of them. If Miss Ifalna thought that something bad was fated to happen to her then he'd do whatever he had to in order to prove that the future was what you made it to be rather than what you had to accept.
"So how goes the clean up?" Miss Ifalna asked after putting the last plate of food on the table.
"We've made quite a bit of progress thanks to Xander." Mister Gast replied with a smile, "Boy has an odd way of thinking but it's strangely effective."
"Well things would be boring if an odd thing didn't happen every so often right?" Miss Ifalna asked with an amused smile.
He felt a little irritated that they were making fun of how he did things but after a moment of thought to remember how Mister Gast did things he conceded that his way was unique.
"True. Still it has brought up a potential problem that I believe should be considered." Mister Gast said shifting into a somewhat serious tone, "Xander, it was originally our intention to find a local family willing to adopt you as their own. While we've enjoyed your company we believe you deserve people capable of focusing their efforts on your wellbeing rather than splitting them with work. However today as we organized the lab I realized an important truth."
"What do you mean by that Gast?" Miss Ifalna asked with light mystification.
"Officially there are no schools in this town. Most of the children born here are taught by their parents and inherit the family business." Mister Gast replied making sure to look at both listeners in turn as he spoke, "Their knowledge of the rest of Gaea is limited to what travellers pass through as well as what the visitors choose to leave behind. While I have no doubt that whoever took him in would treat him well his options for the future would be limited here."
"And you have a way of improving the situation?" Miss Ifalna asked out of curiosity.
"While perhaps a bit ambitious I thought that perhaps we could teach him what we can before seeing him on his way." Mister Gast replied with a willingness to follow through on his words, "Between the two of us we could provide him with an education greater than what would be available to him here through the townspeople. If we're lucky it might be enough to let him walk a path elsewhere towards a dream of his own making rather than what'd be available without our help."
"I thought you wanted to send me to another family 'cause you couldn't help me like they could." He said trying to imagine in his mind what the man was talking about.
"He's not wrong Gast." Miss Ifalna said choosing a side, "Teaching of any kind takes time especially if it's meant to affect more than a few weeks. It's not something we can do quickly."
"I realize this but it just doesn't feel right to let such potential go to waste." Mister Gast said nodding in concession, "It would be one thing if Xander organized the notes in a more simplistic and expected manner. The way he did it shows an intelligent mind and that is something I'd prefer to nurture if possible."
"A little side project when you need to take a break from your main one?" Miss Ifalna asked with a knowing grin.
"A change of pace has been known to do wonders when confronted with a puzzling problem." Mister Gast replied before taking a gentler tone, "Besides I know how hard it is for you to talk about certain things."
"Then it's decided." Miss Ifalna said before looking him right in the eye, "Would you like that Xander?"
Looking at the lady before looking at the man pondered the question carefully because he could sense how important it was. They wanted what was best for him, they thought he could be something more than what'd be possible in the town and were willing to spend time to help him. This…for some reason this caused a warm and comforting feeling to rise up within his heart as though he was being presented with a precious gift that he never thought he'd ever see.
Like being delivered from chilly solitude and being offered a place beside a warm comforting fire.
There was only one choice he could make.
One Year Later
A Relatively Warm Sunny Day
Ifalna's POV
"What're we doing today? More plants and stuff?" Xander asked dubiously as they came to a stop a fair distance from the town.
"No not more 'plants and stuff'." She mocked knowing that the boy was not too interested in such things, "I thought we'd try something different this time."
Reaching into the leather pouch she'd brought from their home she pulled out three crystal spheres about the size of her eye before showing them to Xander.
"Do you know what these are Xander?" She asked just to see if she'd get an unexpected answer.
"Um…really shiny marbles?" Xander asked more than answered the uncertainty clear on his face.
"These are Materia spheres. They're the crystallized form of mako or the liquid form of the Lifestream you might've read about in Gast's notes." She explained not too surprised that the boy hadn't been able to answer, "Through Materia spheres like this one non-Cetra can tap into the wisdom of the Lifestream and cast magic spells or strengthen themselves in different ways. Today I'm going to teach you how to use them."
"You're going to show me how to do magic? Wow!" Xander exclaimed looking excited as children often did when being told such things.
Try to get them to learn math or how to read and they retreated but tell them they could learn how to throw fireballs or lightning and you had a captive audience.
"Now I don't expect you to start casting spells right away and it'll likely be months before you can manage more than one or two spells a day." She said trying to impress caution on the boy, "Just like getting bigger muscles it takes time to get strong enough to use magic without tiring yourself out fast. Understand?"
"Uh-huh." Xander replied with a nod.
"Now these three Materia are ones that Gast brought with him on his travels before he met me." She explained picking up the first one with her other hand, "This is fire Materia and while it hasn't been mastered it can let people cast the first two tiers of fire magic. Watch this!"
Careful not to tap into her own powers as the only surviving Cetra she established a connection with the sphere before drawing forth the wisdom of the Lifestream through it. Feeling the power rise from the ground to wrap around her she willed it to gather in her free hand and once a decent sized fireball had formed she threw it a short distance away. It hit the snow and instantly either turned the cold substance into steam or boiled water before the naturally cold temperature of the region sapped away the heat in mere seconds.
"Awesome!" Xander crowed with glee at the display of magic.
She was tempted to cast the Fira spell to show him what came next with the Materia in her hand but decided against it. Better not to dangle something even flashier in front of a child lest they be tempted to experiment when she wasn't around. She remembered being young like Xander and daring to do things she knew her parents wouldn't approve of just to prove that they were worried over nothing.
It was a good thing that her father had been particularly skilled with ice Materia or else she might've just burnt down some of their jungle home when she was five years old.
"This Materia is different in that it cannot be used to attack." She explained putting the first sphere into the pouch before bringing forth a green one, "This is Barrier Materia. It's able to put a magical barrier in front of you or a person of your choosing."
To demonstrate this she pointed the hand holding the sphere at Xander before casting the simplest spell it was capable of on the boy. With a flick of her wrist a swirl of sea blue energy began to wrap itself around the boy before solidifying into a sphere of crystals. It didn't stay visible for more than a few seconds but when she scooped up some snow, shaped it into a ball and threw it the effects were clear to see. Instead of the snowball hitting the boy in the face the sphere of magic manifested stopping the mass of snow in its tracks before gravity pulled the remains to the ground.
"Just keep in mind that barrier magic doesn't last forever. It'll only last as long as the magic you put into it does." She explained before swapping out the green one for another, "Before you even think of it though you can't just pour all the magic you can into a spell. Each one of them requires a specific amount of mana to cast and putting too much into it can make it fail just as easily as putting too little into one."
"Is that another magic wall Materia?" Xander asked looking at the newest Materia sphere.
"Nope. This one focuses on time magic." She said with a smile imagining the ideas popping up in the boy's head, "With this Materia a person can move their own personal time faster or slow someone else down. Not a lot of course but enough to be helpful. Gast says he often used it to escape dangerous animals that he stumbled upon during his travels around the world."
She couldn't help but chuckle a bit at her recollections of Gast's stories about where he'd been and what he'd done before meeting her. She had no doubt that the man was a competent scientist, a brilliant one even, but she'd seen examples of how unaware of his surroundings he could get when focusing too hard on his work. It was why she took special pleasure in surprising him every time he got too busy to remember things like sleeping or eating.
Establishing a connection between Gaia and the Materia she cast 'haste' on herself before walking about just shy of breaking into a jog. Seeing the world while under the influence of the spell was special and almost made her believe that if she tried hard enough she could get time to stop entirely. Of course she knew that that wasn't possible but everyone had moments that they wished they could be in forever.
As the spell wore off time for her resumed its normal pace for her and she could tell that Xander was beyond eager to try the time Materia out himself. Still she was going to start him out slow because not only did he have a limited pool of spiritual energy to call on at his age but his mind wasn't mature enough to handle the higher level spells competently.
"So let's start with the fire Materia." She said taking out the necessary sphere, "Now listen carefully as I tell you what to do. Okay?"
"Uh-huh." Xander replied nodding fast enough he'd wind up hurting himself if he wasn't careful.
"Then the first thing you need to do is calm down." She said as the boy took hold of the Materia, "Using Materia for the first time isn't easy and you need to focus to make it work. Understand?
Xander took a few deep breaths in order to calm down and it mostly worked but she could still see signs of excitement in him.
"Now the first thing you need to do is reach out with your mind and form a connection with the Materia." She said remembering what her mother had told her how to use Materia, "It'll feel like a steady tingle in your head when you've got it right."
Like most people when they were told to reach out their their mind Xander closed his eyes in order to eliminate distractions from the world around them. The problem with that was that most people were used to absorbing information from all their senses without even thinking of it so even if a person knew what they had to do making it happen was no simple thing. When she was Xander's age she knew it took her weeks before she could cast a Materia spell properly so she didn't expect anything other than connection for for at least two weeks. Kids got distracted so easily after all so focusing enough to establish a stable connection was-
"I got it!" Xander exclaimed sounding excited that he'd accomplished something, "It's like there's a fly just floating in the middle of my brain. It's not going anywhere."
"That's not possible." She said feeling quite shocked but also faintly intrigued, "No one learns to form a connection that fast. It took me weeks to do it when I was your age."
And yet she had known for awhile that there was something unique about Xander, something different from everyone else, when she'd healed him. Could that 'something' somehow be giving him an advantage when it comes to using Materia?
She had to learn more.
Reaching out she placed a finger on the materia Xander held and using her own training attempted to verify that the boy had indeed formed a connection. In less than a second she found the connection and while it was twitchy there was no doubting that Xander had indeed formed one.
Curious she chose to continue with the step.
"Well it seems you've made a good first attempt. Still there's some room for improvement." She said after removing her finger from the sphere, "Now if you feel your way through the materia you should be able to sense things inherent in fire. It's warmth, the way it flickers in the breeze and how it occasionally lets loose sparks as it burns. Only when you can feel all of these things at once will we move onto the next step."
To her relief the boy didn't manage to do this in a minute or two so he wasn't some prophecied chosen one or anything that just naturally succeeds at anything they do. With eyes closed Xander focused on the connection he had with the materia but as with most children patience wasn't something the boy had in abundance.
"I can't do it!" Xander growled looking like he was a step or two shy of throwing the sphere away in frustration.
"Yes you can!" She said reassuringly even as she gently moved to keep him from giving into his throwing temptation, "All the stories about people who just learn things on the first try or master something in no time at all are just that: stories. The truth is that to learn anything of value it takes time, patience and the will to never give up. Do you plan on giving up?"
After a few moments of consideration Xander shook his head 'no'.
"Then let's keep at it for a few hours before heading back." She said with a smile of approval, "I've got supper to prepare after all."
With a smile and a nod to show just how much he liked her cooking Xander closed his eyes once more to try and capture the aspects of fire.
Across Gaia
A Place of Darkness
Six Months Later
A Certain Scientist's POV
"What are the results?" He asked wanting a prompt response.
"The same as before sir." The drone replied handing him the paperwork, "The bio-matter from the moment it's placed in the suspension fluid to five minutes later drifts to the same spot. We've varied the properties of each fluid to increase its resistance but the results don't change."
Not expecting much from such substandard scientists he nevertheless read the paperwork on the off chance that something useful might be found within. For a few moments he thought that his hopes were for nothing but then here and there he spied a modicum of useful bits and it would seem that the drone wasn't completely moronic. Once he finished reading he roughly shoved the paperwork back into the man's hands before striding off without another word.
While he had accumulated some new data he was still no further along in determining the cause of the anomaly that began months ago. He had been immersed in observing the development of the Project S specimen when he'd been first notified of anomalous activity in specimen J's containment tube. At first he'd dismissed it since in all the time since it'd been excavated from the Northern Crater it hadn't so much as twitched. Oh the bio-matter was still viable but there'd been no sign of it being alive like an animal much less a human. However after being pestered beyond his ability to ignore it he had finally gone to see what all the fuss was about.
When he beheld the phenomena firsthand he chose not to punish the fools for pestering him but rather punished them for not doing better in persuading him to attend to the matter.
Even without consulting the requisite instruments he'd been able to tell that the something had changed and once he'd looked at the readings he'd only been intrigued further. Where before Jenova's bio-matter had simply been viable for his experiments it was no showing measurable signs of regeneration and increased cellular activity. He wouldn't make the mistake some of the other members of the science division would by presuming this all meant that the specimen was on its way to returning to life but it was nevertheless an intriguing development.
Something, he didn't know what, was affecting the specimen in more than a minor manner.
For weeks he had examined every conceivable environmental factor to find the cause ranging from the obvious such as temperature to the complex such as the ambient mako energy in the air. However none of those elements met with his satisfaction so efforts were made to theorize and then fabricate new methods of finding the cause for Jenova's activity. It had been equal parts invigorating and frustrating but in the end a possibility had entered his mind that caused him to be overflowing with joy.
It was weak, so VERY weak, but it was nonetheless there.
Something outside of the science division and likely outside of Midgar itself was emitting a form of energy he had not seen before. Not only that but he was certain that it was this energy that was causing such a reaction in the Jenova specimen. At once he'd ordered a series of tests and efforts made to find a way of tracking this new energy to its source both to resolve the issue of Jenova's activity as well as the potential interference in Project S. If it was causing this sort of a reaction in Jenova itself then it was possible that those with Jenova cells in them would also be affected.
Perhaps affected enough to interfere with his work and dump the bother of a dissatisfied President Shinra down on his head.
Now, with these last readings, they had the beginnings of a way to find the source. It was a tad basic and would likely take time to refine before meeting his standards but it was progress nonetheless. Once everything was in readiness he would leave with whatever number of Shinra troopers and subordinates his predictive models suggested would be most appropriate. The source of the anomalous energy after all was an unknown and logically the further away it was from the Midgar the more potent it had to be in order to reach so far.
~If only this had happened a few years from now it would be an agreeable test of Project S' specimen under combat conditions.~ He thought as he navigated the hallways halfheartedly, ~Perhaps if the source is organic and living in nature it could be captured. Yes…then when everything is ready they could be made to fight. The data from such a confrontation would be invaluable!~
As he thought more on the matter he couldn't help but smile and chuckle to himself as his mind imagined various possible scenarios as well as which would be the more interesting outcomes.
He cared not how the corporate sheep reacted to his behaviour so long as they stayed out of his way.
The Home of Gast and Ifalna
Early 1984 EYA
Xander's POV
~Should I tell them?~ He thought from his seat atop the hill overlooking the small town.
It was a question he'd been asking himself for months now but each time he feared what the consequences might be if he did. It'd been so great to learn how to use materia from Ifalna that it was the high point of his day when she had the time to give him a lesson. True they had only three spheres to work with since none of the local shops sold any but that allowed him to focus on fire, protect and haste to quite a high degree.
The other lessons though were not as interesting but didn't quite get so bad so as to earn the title of 'boring'. Thanks to what he'd learned about the local herbs and plants he'd been able to earn a few Gil every so often from the shopkeepers and in his lessons with Mister Gast his knowledge of the world increased by the day. True he didn't think he'd ever visit half the places the man had taught him about but there were a few that he definitely wanted to see once he was older.
The problem or rather the quandary was what he'd been doing on his own time whenever the two adults chose to focus on their own work.
It'd started out as a simple thing but wound up rolling into something decidedly more. He'd been wandering about outside trying to think of something to do to pass the time when his thoughts had drifted to his materia lessons. He'd gotten better at using them and was even capable of successfully casting their most basic spells most of the time but there was just something about them that wasn't fitting right inside of his mind. Ifalna had assured him that it would come in time so long as he worked hard so he sometimes spent his spare time reviewing the steps to using materia. He'd thought that even if it wouldn't do anything without the spheres he could still train his mind to smoothly go from the first step to the last step.
As he'd walked outside of town the steps had become something of a mantra going round and round inside of his mind.
Then, just to switch things up a bit, he'd flung his hand forward as though he was actually casting the fire spell…
…so imagine his surprise when a mass of flame leapt from his hand as though a ball had been thrown and struck a nearby tree. It didn't do much damage but the fact that it'd manifested at all was a shock to him since according to Ifalna's lessons were true magic wasn't possible without materia. He'd tried to do it again but this time he was far less successful but it'd been enough to cause him to try again and again until he'd exhausted his mana. When Ifalna and Mister Gast had asked him why he was so tired he'd said on the fly that he'd been out pretending to be a legendary hero like in one of the books he'd borrowed from the weapon shop owner. They'd bought it hook line and sinker with him being careful to not come home dead tired whenever he practiced in secret to use magic.
However when he'd managed to consistently throw fireballs and was about to move onto the protect spell when he considered how others might react to what he could do. Use magic without materia? Everything he'd been taught made it clear that casting magic spells without materia either in your hand or somewhere on your clothes. While odd he thought it was great he was smart enough to realize that it'd get him a great deal of attention with not all of it being good. There'd be people who'd want to know how he could do it thinking that they might be able to do it as well. If that didn't turn out to be the case, if only he could do it, it'd make him special and special people weren't always liked by others.
He'd seen proof of this since coming to the town when some of the other kids said hurtful things to the daughter of the town elder because the girl got things they didn't. Some who were special got rewarded but some were looked at like what they had was unfair as well as perhaps a sign of something shady going on.
Afraid of what might happen he'd chosen to keep it to himself.
It wasn't that he didn't trust Ifalna and Mister Gast, they'd been kinder to him than they needed to be, but there was no telling how the revelation would change things. Would they choose to help him get better at it or would they tell him to hide it from everyone with the only condition allowing its use being as a last resort?
He didn't know.
With a sigh he walked over to a nearby tree stump and sat down feeling a little frustration at not being able to make a decision and stand by it. He wished that he had someone he could talk about this but he doubted anyone in the area had some super secret power that no one else had. Most of them were just trying to survive up here and live their lives.
"Is something wrong?" A voice asked drawing him out of his thoughts.
Looking up he saw a blonde woman not as old as Ifalna but older than some of the girls learning from their mothers how to run their businesses. Clad in a white fur lined cape with what looked to be a hood resting on her back she had a look about her that was so unlike anyone else in the town possessed. The only one that came close would be Ifalna though only when she talked about her people the Cetra with the rest of the time being no different from any other woman in town.
If he had to use a word to describe the quality both this woman and Ifalna had it would be 'elegance'.
Yes…elegance described them both best.
"Just thinking." He replied not seeing any reason to tell a stranger something so important.
"About?" The woman asked crouching down in front of him.
He wondered if he should just brush her off or stonewall her but in the end he chose to come close to the truth while keeping it as vague as he could.
"Being special is tough. Makes some people happy but makes other people not like you 'cause they aren't or at least not like you." He explained being mindful not to reveal too much, "Just found out I'm one of the rarer kinds of special. Don't know if I should tell anyone."
"Everyone's special in their own way." The blonde woman said showing no doubt in their words, "Because everyone's unique. No two people are alike. The reason why some people don't like the 'special people' is not so much because they are special but because they see in those people something they want for themselves."
"So people mad at someone being real strong is because they want to be strong like that?" He asked pondering the explanation.
"Yes but they have doubts about whether they can or not." The woman replied with a nod, "If one is special like you described they should not feel ashamed of this fact or feel the need to hide it. So long as one does not abuse ones gift in a malicious manner towards others that is."
Thinking on it he agreed that someone who could do special things doing it and making other people feel bad were rotten.
"Maybe you should start out by telling someone you know. Someone you trust." The woman suggested with a quiet grin, "Do you know anyone like that?"
"Yeah. They've been real nice to me even when they didn't have to be." He replied thinking of Ifalna and Mister Gast, "I'm just worried it'll make more trouble."
"Even if it does it will be up to those people to decide whether or not they wish to share it with you or leave it for you to do with alone." The woman said after a few moments of pondering, "It is the choice that you must give them and trust that their kindness will stay true."
Her advice made him pause but when he considered how he would feel if someone didn't give him a chance to make a choice about something important he knew what he had to do.
"The future need not be something to be wary of young one." The woman said rising up to stand once more, "So long as you have those who care for you and that you care for in turn there is no challenge that cannot be overcome nor any hardship that cannot be endured."
With that the woman with the blonde hair walked off not saying another word but just as he thought to ask her her name so that he could thank her for her advice she left his sight. Getting off of the tree stump he ran in the direction the woman had gone but even after he thought he'd caught up to her he could not see her no matter where he looked. It didn't make sense to him since there was no place she could hide in so short a period of time since any tree or bush big enough for her was still quite a bit away.
For a moment he wondered if the stories he'd heard some of the children tell about the ghosts of people who'd died in the snow fields still lingering to this day. None of the adults gave it any real consideration but he wasn't quite so ready to dismiss such things since if he was any indicator not everything thought to be impossible actually was. With that in mind he decided that it might be best to get back to the house since he had a good feeling that ghosts couldn't go into houses without permission.
It wasn't a good feeling but it was good enough.
Breaking into a sprint he followed the route he always used when returning to town and in no time at all was slamming the door closed before locking it.
"Xander? Is that you?" Gast asked from his lab.
"Yeah." He replied as the feelings of safety the house brought made it easier to lose the spooky feeling of possibly talking to a ghost.
"Well try not to slam the door again." Gast said with mild reprimand, "Ifalna's feeling a little under the weather. Might've come down with a flu."
"'Kay." He yelled not recalling anything unusual at breakfast this morning but guessing it could've been something sudden.
Still it was common sense that whenever someone got sick you didn't do anything to make things worse if you could help it. As such while he was still planning on letting Ifalna and Gast know he could cast magic without materia he'd wait until Ifalna was feeling better.
Until then he'd stick with his studies with Mister Gast because there was no way he was going to risk meeting that ghost without someone else being by his side.
