Chapter 1 - Awakening
Two months after Midgar was more or less destroyed by Meteor, Reeve and a company of guards were looking through the ruins of the Shin-ra tower, looking through the records and the libraries that had survived the destruction.
"Here's one on the rocked program Reeve" one of the searchers called over.
"Cid'll love looking though that one" someone else commented from the other side of the room.
Reeve smiled "Knowing Cid, he probably wrote it"
"I've found a few files that survived from the floor above Reeve" a woman said as she entered the room "although we're lucky to have that… anything above that floor is impossible to get to."
"What sort of files Pauline?" Reeve asked
"Hmm, lemme see" Pauline said as she looked through the files that she had in her arms " One on the Jenova project, One on the Nibelhiem incident, quite a few on the Cetra, and a few personnel files"
"Who's files?" Reeve asked as he went back to work digging though the debris
"Scarlet, Rufus, Hojo, Sephiroth, a woman called Angel and one on yourself Reeve" Pauline smiled as she handed the files to him.
Reeve took the files from the woman and began to look through his own file "Well nothing interesting in this one" he said as he looked through the rest of the files. "Whoa. Sephiroth was more screwed up that I thought" he exclaimed as he looked through the Jenova project file. "There's some pages missing from this though"
"I noticed, I think they were moved before the library was destroyed though." Pauline commented.
"Hojo probably, keeping information to himself" Reeve agreed
. Pauline opened the one on Angel and showed him the picture "have you read this though" she said and began reading it to them.
…"Angel, Twin sister to Sephiroth, graduated as first class SOLDIER at age 16 along with brother. Equal in skill and ability to Sephiroth. Disappeared at age 18 after trying to kill Shin-ra scientist Hojo. Presumed dead"…
Reeve's eyebrows went up "Presumed?"
"Well I haven't seen or heard of anyone who looks remotely like Sephiroth" a man said
"That's what worries me" Reeve replied
"Hmmm, what's this?" Pauline mused as she picked up a small scrap of paper that had fallen out of the pile of files. She picked it up "This is interesting, Listen… Specimen A, female, cause of insanity unknown, frozen in cryo suspension in basement for further study into cause of insanity"
"I really don't like the sound of that" Reeve replied.
"You think it refers to Angel?"
"Yes, it's in Hojo's handwriting, and I don't believe in coincidence" Reeve stated. "Let's see if we can find a way into the basement levels"
In the basement of Shin-ra headquarters, a small thread of green energy snaked around a small cylindrical chamber. There was a hiss of escaping air as the chamber opened and Angel, who had been placed there many years ago, started to awaken. She slowly opened her eyes and sighed as she looked out into darkness. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the lack of light and slowly strength began to flood into her limbs. When she felt she could stand, she carefully climbed out of the chamber and went in search of a light switch of some kind. Instead of the light switch she tripped over her sword, back in its sheath and with all of the materia orbs still in their original places. As she cleaned the cobwebs off the weapon she began to wonder at how long she had been asleep. As her eyes continued to adjust to the absence of light she noticed the run down appearance of the room and the chunks of material that had fallen from the ceiling. "This isn't good" She muttered to herself wondering what had been going on. After her weapon had been cleaned, she continued her original quest, to find a light switch. When she eventually found one however she found that there was no power.
*Go North*
"Oh great, you again!" Angel wasn't happy, she knew that the voice was the same one that had got her into this mess in the first place, but she also knew that not doing what it asked of her was an open invitation for it to annoy her until she agreed. Once she found the door she discovered that there was no power to open it, so she forced it open and stepped out into the corridor, avoiding the fallen debris. Whilst she was trying to figure out where she was, she saw flashlights coming down the stairs at the other end of the corridor. Knowing that running would get her caught by them she hid behind a fallen ceiling panel. Unless one of them moved it they wouldn't see her, she didn't want Hojo or his flunkies to find her once they discovered that she was awake.
"Are you sure it's this way Reeve?"
"Yes, we've checked the rest of this floor; this is the only place we haven't checked yet"
Angel listened as the man dressed as a Shin-ra executive walked past, she assumed this one was Reeve. She also noticed the contingent of guards, she only counted ten of them, but she was certain there would be others at the top of the stairs. Knowing that there was another way out of this level, into the sewer and subway network, Angel carefully began to edge away from the group of people. She was thankful that her black SOLDIER uniform hid her in the gloom as she managed to make it to the far end of the corridor. To her left was the way to her escape route and she was about to turn down the second corridor when she was caught in a flashlight beam.
"Reeve, it's her!" Angel heard a woman yell as she turned to see all the people pile out of the room and aim guns at her. She sighed, cursed that her luck was always so bad and bolted for the way out.
As Reeve and his guards reached the place where Angel had been spotted they found that she had vanished.
"I didn't imagine her did I?" Reeve asked, getting no as a universal answer. "Great, just great… we have insane lunatic number 2 on the loose, anyone have any idea how long she's been awake?"
"From what I saw on the cryo tube, she woke about twenty minutes ago and if this place was still powered, she'd probably still be asleep" A technician said.
Reeve looked at the technician "You're kidding?" then he sighed "all things have two edges to them, Shutting down the Mako reactors was the only way we could continue the survival of the planet. I'm gonna contact Cloud, maybe Avalanche can help us track her down."
High in Cosmo Canyon's observatory Red XIII, otherwise known as Nanaki, watched the image of the planet in his grandfather's machine. He noticed a strange jump in Lifestream activity near Midgar and the North crater.
"Strange, wonder what this means" he wondered as he closed down the hologram. Still thinking he walked out of the observatory. From his high vantage point he could see most of the canyon below him and the trail leading from both Nibelhiem and Gongaga to Cosmo Canyon. Red's eyes were drawn however to the Cosmo Candle, the bonfire that burned perpetually within the Canyon, but he wasn't watching the fire, two familiar figures were sitting near the Candle. Red smiled and decided he would ask his friends for advice on this recent development.
Down in the canyon, Cloud and Tifa sat next to each other as they looked into the Candle. As Red approached they stopped talking to look at him. "What're you talking about Cloud?" Red asked curiously.
"We were talking about weddings" Tifa said, noticing Cloud blush.
"Weddings? Who's?" Red asked, slightly puzzled over Cloud's reaction.
"Curiosity killed the cat" Cloud muttered then added "mine and Tifa's" when Red gave him a strange look.
"About time you two, we've all been wondering when you'd get round to asking each other" Red said with a hint of amusement. "We were beginning to lose hope" He began to walk away, not wanting to disturb his friends with his news about the Lifestream.
"Red, I can't imagine you'd come all the way down here, just to hear the latest gossip. Out with it, something's bothering you" Cloud said.
Red winced "I should've known I would be that obvious, well to tell the truth, I don't really know. There were two fluctuations in the Lifestream earlier, near Midgar and the North Crater, Normally I wouldn't bother, but with what happened two months ago well…." He stopped and looked at his friends. "And I honestly didn't want to disturb your plans."
"That's alright Red, what're friends for?" Tifa said giving Red a gentle hug, reassuring him
Cloud thought for a while "There's probably a simple explanation for all this Red, the Lifestream might not have settled yet." He was about to comment further when his PHS started ringing. "I'm gonna start keeping this thing switched off" he muttered as he accepted the call. "Cloud here"
"Cloud, it's Reeve, we have a big problem"
Cloud pressed the button on the PHS which would allow his friends to hear what was said by Reeve "What sort of problem Reeve?" he asked. The other two listened as Reeve detailed what he had discovered in Shin-ra HQ, and the encounter in the basement.
"And as you can guess, this could restart the planet crisis" Reeve finished.
"I'd like to know why she went after Hojo" Tifa said thoughtfully.
"We'll ask her once we catch her, if she's anything like Sephiroth she'll boast about it" Reeve said.
"Here we go again. I'll go to Corel and get Barret, he doesn't have a PHS." Red said as he started to walk towards the entrance to Cosmo Canyon. "I think this may have been the cause of the disturbance I found" With that Red bolted out of the Canyon at top speed.
"Ok, Reeve, can you get into contact with Yuffie and Vincent. I'll contact Cid to pick up in the Highwind"
Angel stood on a cliff overlooking Midgar, she couldn't believe that the city had been destroyed. What appalled her even more was the fact that she had seen dead bodies all the way throughout the city as she had made her way out. This told her that it had happened recently and suddenly. She didn't have a clue what had caused it, but her estimated guess at loss of life appalled her. This made her want to know how long she had slept and what had gone on. These were two of her most pressing questions that she needed answers to. The third question however, she didn't have a clue on. How was she supposed to get to the Northern continent without a boat, and where could she get one. Junon was too far away, through very dangerous country, not to mention that Junon was Shin-ra controlled and she couldn't swim that distance either.
Angel turned away from the ruined city and began to walk down the steep slope, halfway down she noticed movement some distance away from her and the city. As she got closer she found that the people she had seen were ordinary civilians, and, not being well known outside the Shin-ra complex along with the fact that she had probably been accounted as dead for some years, meant that she wouldn't cause alarm if she approached them. To make sure that she didn't cause the people any alarm she changed her sword into a staff, something she had learnt to do by accident when she was first trained in weapon combat.
"Pardon me, but could you help me?" she asked the nearest person. The person she asked turned round and Angel could see that it was a man in his late twenties.
He eyed her suspiciously "What with?"
"I need to get to the Northern continent, but with no boats going there…" She trailed off, hoping that the man got the general idea.
"Where've you been the last few months? They've started to breed gold chocobos out at the ranch… they can walk across oceans. You should ask the owners if you could rent one"
"Where is the Ranch? I've only just got out of Midgar, and I've never left there before in my life."
"You haven't eh? You were lucky then.. getting out after that disaster…" the man said in sympathy, then he gave Angel the route to the ranch and also the prices of hiring out the chocobos. She was mildly dismayed at the price of hiring the birds and thanked the man. She left the group while later, when they were in sight of Kalm, and turned to the south, intent on borrowing a gold chocobo.
Cid wondered why Cloud had called him and asked him to pick up Yuffie and Vincent. He looked out through the main window as the Highwind headed towards Cosmo Canyon. With the airships speed it would only take a few minutes. He looked at Vincent "You have any idea why Cloud called us?"
Vincent considered for a second and shook his head "No, Reeve sounded.. worried, I guess Cloud will tell us when we're all together. It saves time."
"Damn, I hate not knowing" Cid muttered "has Yuffie got any ideas?"
"Nope" came Yuffie's familiar voice from the entrance to the Highwind's bridge, she didn't look very well.
"Airsickness again? You'd better not mess up my beautiful ship" Cid started on Yuffie.
"Not my fault, if you don't fly this ship steadily…"
Vincent ignored the arguing and walked over to the large window and looked out, he could see the Canyon spread out below him. In the distance he could make out a small dust cloud, and as he looked he started to make out the figures of Red and Barret, who was riding one of the gold chocobos that they had managed to raise. "Apart from Reeve, it looks like everyone will be at Cosmo Canyon" he said, cutting through the argument.
"Huh? What'cha talkin' about?" Cid asked as he walked over to the window.
"We know that Cloud, Tifa and Red are at Cosmo, and Barret's heading this way now." Vincent replied calmly and pointed to the chocobo below.
"Smartarse!" Cid replied as he directed the Highwind to land. "I'll be in the briefing room" he told the pilot. "When everyone's aboard, head for Midgar."
"Aye sir"
Cid picked up the Venus Gospel and followed Vincent to the lower part of the airship. Yuffie was waiting for them, sitting in one of the high backed seats. As Cid sat down, Barret walked in, followed by Red. Cloud and Tifa came in last, both looking very worried.
"So, why'd ya drag us all the way out here?" Yuffie asked, glaring at Cloud "I was.."
"Yuffie, we don't have time for bickering and complaints" Cloud interrupted "We have serious problems. Reeve found a woman in the Shin-ra building, she is the twin sister of Sephiroth, and she's running loose." He waited for everyone to digest that fact, and noticed looks of astonishment and worry on the faces of his team mates. "We have to stop her completing Sephiroth's mission."
Vincent looked thoughtful "That's if her mission is the same as Sephiroth's was. I heard that Sephiroth's sister died at birth, that was one of the reason's I went berserk at Hojo."
Everyone turned to stare at Vincent "What?" Cloud started in shock, "Hojo lied about her surviving?"
"Hojo probably had his reasons" Cid commented "That sicko would justify anything"
Barret, for once, kept his temper under control "No matter what, we still have to find her an' stop her from causin' havoc"
"I agree Barret, no matter the circumstances" Cloud concluded "Reeve will meet us at Midgar to give us the full information about her, and her capabilities. He won't be coming with us"
"Good, I don't trust that spy"
Tifa glared at Barret "Barret, Reeve is on our side, he can't come because Cait Sith was almost destroyed two months ago, he hasn't had time to fix it. Reeve didn't think it was important either."
"Well if you go crazy again, count me out" Yuffie said, looking at Cloud.
"Yuffie, that was Sephiroth controlling me, I was supposed to be a clone of Sephiroth, not his sister" Cloud replied.
"And if he does, I'll set his spiky ass straight!" Barret added.
"I'm not sure if I should find that comforting or not" Cloud replied before turning to Cid "Ok Cid, lets get to Midgar!"
Outside the chocobo ranch, Angel sat on a small hill, watching the chocobos that were in the pens. She counted the colour distributions and discovered that there were far more of the normal chocobos than there were of all the other kinds combined. She watched carefully as the workers fed the chocobos and then went back inside to get something to eat. If she calculated this right, then she would only have a couple of minutes to get one of the gold chocobos, and they would be instantly missed, there were only three of them.
She had already written the note, that she would leave the owners, which stated that she would return the chocobo when her urgent business to the north was finished, and she would also pay them for the inconvenience, when she had the funds. Angel hoped that this would be enough to reassure the owner.
Silently, she made her way to the chocobo pens and let herself into the enclosure where the gold chocobos were. Taking out a green that she had dug out of the ground a while earlier, she held it out to the nearest gold. The chocobo sensing that she wasn't going to hurt it allowed her to get on it's back and ride it out of the pen.
Angel closed the gate as silently as she had entered and left the note on it. Then without a backwards glance, she pushed the chocobo to run and steered it northwards.