To PokemonJoe: Glad you liked her! To everyone else who requested a pic of their character, give me some time. Finals are coming up and I'm going nuts. I'll try to get everyone who requested it.
Awhile back I forgot to say thanks to Red Mage Neko WAY back. Thanks for being review 100!! So as thanks I'm going to try to draw Shock soon. Just a warning, I never can draw guys decently. Sypher was one of the first that came out looking like a decent looking guy. But I'll try. ^_^
Oh, and I have to repost the picture of Reise that was sent to me because it never got put up and I never realized it! . Sorry CursedAngelofSephiroth.
Wow! I think that's it for notes. . . WAIT! I lied. My muse just bit me and reminded me that I was supposed to ask you all something. Okay, I had another idea. Rather, SHE did. I know everyone has their limit breaks. But I was thinking it would be interesting if the people (they are no longer characters ^_~) had favorite moves. For example: Sypher's favorite non-limit break move would be. . . when he gets knocked on the ground and it near a wall he raises on leg and puts it against the persons throat (or chest depending on their size) and pushes them against the wall (all while he is on his hands and knees) and then he slowly stands, leg still against them until they are dangling. He has long legs, so it works for him, hehehe, and he's thin, but built VERY well. I could add this to battles to make it more than the generic fight scene with limit breaks. ^_^ If you can think of one, send it along. You don't have to though.
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February 22, 2100 (I'm dating all the chapters now.)
The next morning everyone awoke with a heavy fog hanging over them. Tomorrow they would all be leaving and who knew what would happen. But most importantly, today they were saying goodbye to Damon and Janiyra, forever.
Everyone dressed in their uniforms that consisted of straight-legged dark grey pants, a tight black shirt, black boots, black belt with a silver buckle, and a dark grey jacket which some left un-buttoned while others buttoned the bottom three. Some of the uniforms had special insignia on it. The three captains sported a gold, cursive C and the left side, while the Flight Technician's had an eye with wings attached to it. But all the uniforms had their names on it; their last names or codenames.
They were all gathered in the large training grounds with the pond and the glass and grass. The three captains stood with the full NA members directly behind them, the newest people in their own clothes, separated into the groups they would be departing with in just a few short hours. Behind them were the cadets. Everyone stood with their feet slightly spread and hands behind their backs. In the middle of the room lay Damon and Janiyra's bodies on the ground in their uniforms. They looked like they were gazing up at the stars. On the other side of them, opposite the NA stood their family members, in line with the ones they lost.
BlackJack, Masters, and Hynes stepped forward together and stood just a few feet away from the bodies of their comrades. Coming to meet them in the center were Damon's aunt and uncle, and Janiyra's mother and father. Her two older brothers stayed behind and watched.
Janiyra's mother, Natuma stood gracefully in front of her daughter looking down at her. She wore a dusty red dress that was wrapped around her body several times with a color made of strands of roped beads. On her feet she wore simple sandals. Her hair had been cropped close to her head with a band around her forehead made of the same yellow and red beads of the color. Chief Mazuni stood next to her wearing a solid red wrap around his waist, and a robe draped over his shoulders. He wore a few necklaces on his neck, and a simple headdress. Simple sandals adorned his feet and he leaned heavily on a staff with a lion's head carved on the end.
"Kwa heri, binti yangu." He said while waving his right arm over his daughter's body. Then for the benefit of those who didn't understand Swahili, he repeated it in English. "Goodbye, my daughter." Natuma let out a wail and buried her face in her hands as her two strong sons came to collect her. The both wore the red wrap around their waists and the simple sandals. One, however, had a red tattoo on his forehead of a strange design.
Damon's aunt and uncle stepped forward then. His aunt wore a simple black dress and his uncle a grey suit and silver shirt. They stopped in front of him and his Aunt Kathleen lowered herself to her knees and leaned over, gently kissing his cold forehead. She held back a sob as the captains watched, their faces like frozen stone. His Uncle Stefan looked down wearily and closed his eyes.
"Au revoir, mon neveu." He said, and crossed his arms over the boy's head in a sign of the cross. All three of the captains couldn't help be feel the tears threaten to leak from their eyes. No one liked to lose someone like this.
Four of the stronger cadets were called forward and picked up the bodies gently and carried them to the side of the room where the stood for a moment, before leaving through a small, almost hidden side door. It was done. They would be going home in just moments.
"Hali Ngani?" Chief Mazuni asked the three of them. "How are you?" They bowed there heads until Jen spoke up.
"Rafiku zangu weme nimepotea." She responded, her voice almost robotic in the way it responded. "I have lost my friends." She expected him to know what she meant despite the coldness in her voice.
"Ji angalie." Natuma said, holding out her arm and taking Jen's then Lexiter's, who towered over the tiny woman. "Take care."
"Ahsante." BlackJack replied, bowing her head to the woman. "Thank you." Chief Mazuni turned to his two sons and motioned for them. They followed and the four of them left out the door their daughter was taken.
Kathleen rushed forward, throwing her arms around Jen, sobbing as Jen bit the inside of her cheek. Stefan came forward and tried to pry her away. Daniel moved to help him. "You're always welcome with us Jennifer." She sobbed, her face splotchy red from crying so hard. Jen swallowed and nodded, not looking at them, afraid her floodgate would open and she would lose everything she had tried so hard to control.
"Come, Kathleen. It's okay." Stefan said, his accent thick. She was pried from Jen and gently led away out to the door. Before she left she turned and looked pitifully at Jen, who stared above her head. As they left and the door shut for the final time that day, a huge weight seemed to be taken off everyone's shoulders. Jen looked suddenly tired again, as did BlackJack and Daniel. And tomorrow was another busy day. They turned to the others and looked at them. Most of them were frozen in place, no emotions filtering through even though inside they were torn. Everyone had been trained well. Only Severine wept silently on Sypher's arm, who held her calmly, his sparkling blue eyes blinking rapidly.
Everyone stood in their places, waiting for their commands. "Everyone make sure you're packed for tomorrow. We leave at nine in the morning. Make sure you have every weapon you're going to need, and equip your magic. You're free the rest of the day. Use it wisely." She turned to the other two captains and nodded her head curtly before leaving.
The cadets left, relieved at being free for the day while some of the older members lingered. Jen placed her hand on Daniel's arm and smiled. "You going to be alright?" He asked questioningly, looking at her with a frown. She nodded.
"It's over. The pressure is gone." She said and walked towards the door. Sypher pulled away from Severine for a minute and followed her as she left. She turned as soon as she got in the hall.
"What do you want Sypher? Can't you just fucking leave me in peace for a few bloody hours?" She demanded, her usual threat gone.
"Please, just come with me. There's something I want to give you before we leave tomorrow."
"What?"
"Consider it an early birthday present." His eyes twinkled in the hope that it would take away the pain that was so clearly there.
"You are a fucking bastard, you know that, right?"
"Yeah, but I'm a fucking bastard who loves you." He said, before almost punching himself. He turned and grabbed her arm before she could process what he said dragged her to the garage.
"Why are we going to the garage?"
"You'll see. Don't ask questions. And don't ask when I did it."
"Um, okay." She said, frowning. He opened the door and led her in, his heart skipping beats.
'She's going to love it. She will.' He tried to reassure himself. 'But what if she hates it? What if she kills me?' He started to panic instead. He stopped her in place before her car, which had been covered. She frowned.
"What the FUCK did you do to my car? Tell me you didn't ruin it."
"I said birthday present, didn't I?" He grinned and placed his hand on the cover. "Happy really early birthday, Jen." He said and pulled the brown cloth off quickly. Her car looked the same for a moment and she frowned, tilting her head to the side. Then she gasped, a slow grin breaking over her face.
"You son of a bitch!" She cried happily throwing herself at her car. Painted on the sides in various shades of red were flames that ran the entire length of the car. Yet when she moved to the side the almost disappeared. "This is great! I've really been meaning to do this for sometime." She ran her hand along the hood of the car to the passenger side door where Sypher stood, grinning. "Thank you." She said, smiling. She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek before laughing and heading back out.
Sypher froze at the touch, a familiar swirling sensation starting in the pit of his stomache. He groaned slightly and frowned as she walked away. "That's it? Just that little kiss?" He teased. She turned her head, still walking.
"Take the day off Syph. And don't come bothering me." She kept walking until she had left the room, shutting the door behind her. He sighed, head lowered, running his fingers through his hair.
"One of these days, I swear. . ." He trailed off before replacing the cover on her precious car and walking out the door.
Severine walked to the lab and stopped outside the door for a moment, her head tilted like she was listening to something. She smiled and turned, heading instead to the elevator that led to the aboveground floors of the building. She pressed her hand on the keypad and entered as it opened.
A few minutes passed by before she reached the top floor. She left the elevator and turned to her right, pushing open doors that revealed a short staircase. She walked up them slowly, boots clicking on the cement. As she reached the top step she pulled off her jacket and left it on the railing. Pushing open the last set of door she stepped out into the swirling flakes of snow. Smiling she walked into it, her boots kicking up little flurries of them with every step. She sighed happily, leaning over the railing and looking down at the city below. Cars sped by once in awhile and people walked on, oblivious to her gaze, as tiny as ants. One little tear rolled from her eye and she let it sit there a moment before gently brushing it away.
She closed her eyes, letting the cold flakes land on her skin as she remembers the times she and her "father" James Valentine would take walks in the snow. She remembers the laughing and the teasing and the occasional snow ball fight they would have.
A small chuckle freed itself from her lips as she heard a crunch behind her. She turned and was shocked to see Rinoa standing behind her. "How did you get up here?" She asked, her face red from the cold as well as being found by someone.
"I was watching you. It figures you would come to the top of the building." She said sweetly and started walking towards her. "I know a lot of people who would do the same."
"How did you get access?" She asked turning her back to look down at the streets again.
"Daniel had us put into the system." She shrugged and then paused as she saw the edges of a scar on her back. "Oh my. . ." she started. Severine turned around and pulled her shirt down father, hiding that edge of the scar. "That's even bigger than Squall's!" She exclaimed. Severine frowned and walked back to the door.
"It's nothing."
"I'm sorry." Rinoa frowned.
"It's alright." Severine said after a moment, smiling. "Nothing that can't be hidden."
"How did you get it?"
"I don't remember." She lied a little. She just didn't want to talk about it to her. Not now anyways. Not when she had been having such a wonderful time by herself.
"We should get back inside. It's cold out here." Rinoa said, walking to the door, puffs of smoke coming out of her mouth. Severine smiled and followed her in, taking the jacket as she walked back down the stairs.
February 23, 2100
They all stood around in the large hanger looking at each other solemnly. Today was yet another unhappy day as they prepared themselves to say goodbye. Shock, Rikku, Yuffie, Wakka, Alex, and Blade stood by a somewhat large cargo plane. On it, Shock and Alex had stored their cars to use in Saudi Arabia. Next to it sat the Highwind. The other day Shock and Cid had gone out to collect it and bring it back to the base for safekeeping. The six of them waved to the others and walked up the ramp onto the plane.
"Good luck!" Severine called, sniffling sadly. She didn't want to see anyone leaving. Blade turned and smiled, waving back once more before the ramp slid up and sealed the plane. Everyone stepped back a few feet and watched as the ground opened up above them and the plane engines were turned on. After warming up a few minutes the plane started the vertical rise, Badguy shaking his head.
"How he managed to get that thing to take off vertically like a helicopter is beyond me."
"Guy's a true genius. Simple as that." Angel said sighing as one of her friends disappeared.
As soon as the ground above them was closed again they all wandered back to the garage to get in their own cars. The countries they were heading to had sent jets to pick them up and bring them over.
"How nice." Lexiter had remarked, snorting when she heard the news. "Do they think we're incapable of bringing ourselves?"
"It's just a security measure." Daniel said. Now they were all standing around their cars making sure they had everything they needed. Jen lifted the trunk of her car and looked in. Underneath a few bags of clothes was her small armory, Cid's Venus Gospel, Vincent's Death Penalty, and Sypher's Shock Therapy. She pulled the Death Penalty out and handed it to Vincent who took it questioningly.
"I can't fit everyone in here for the ride over to the airport. You're going to have to go with Lisa." Lisa stifled a small smile, the keys to her silver car in hand. He nodded and moved over to her. She looked at the rest of her group and then reached in and handed Cid the Venus Gospel. "Sorry, but I know Sypher's not going to want to go with Lisa. Would you mind?"
"Not a problem." He said and moved over to her. She nodded and slammed the trunk shut.
"Alright ladies and gentleman. Saddle up. It's time to move out!" Sypher called. Jen rolled her eyes and they got in their cars. Jen stopped a moment before getting in as Zuzu almost knocked her over in a fierce hug.
"You be careful there girl. Don't do anything stupid or overly heroic."
"I should say the same to you." Jen smirked.
"Nah, I'll let the guys do that for me." She winked. Jen climbed into her car and started it, revving the engine before taking off up the ramp. Lisa and the others were right behind her.
Lexiter sighed and looked at her group. "Let's go you fucks. We haven't got all day." They rolled their eyes. Everyone made their way to the three cars they were taking. Lexiter, Angel, and Chaos Angel and climbed into the driver's seats and soon they were gone as well. Eric looked at his group frowning and shaking his head. He was taking his motorcycle, as were Spike and Aeris. Michael climbed into his truck with Nanaki, Lynn and Amarent. They were gone shortly as well.
Within half an hour everyone had left the base except for Mal, Zuzu, Badguy, Reise, Squall, Rinoa, her dog Angelo, and Irvine. Mal and Zuzu stood next to each other looking out the now shutting ramp. They sighed. "It's begun." Mal said sadly. Zuzu nodded, trying to smile.
"Sure as hell gonna be quiet around here."
"Too quiet." Badguy said, stepping up behind her. "I don't like it already."
"Well, we can always torment the cadets until we find out exactly where Matt is." Reise pointed out, trying to be humorous. Zuzu snorted.
"Yeah, we could do that mon. But we should try to find Matt first."
"Let's get Arlington to try to locate him." Mal said and turned. She glanced up at Irvine and smiled brightly as he nodded his head to her. He turned to Zuzu and did the same. She grinned and caught up with Mal.
"Ya know, we could really get in trouble with all these cute guys around. Just us really. And Rinoa." Mal turned to her, trying to suppress a grin.
"I suppose we could, if we didn't have work to do."
Zuzu sighed dramatically. "It's always work with you. No fun." Mal shook her head and walked off to find Alrington.
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Just a tiny note about the language. I do not speak Swahili. But I found a website that has phrases and such. Some of them I had to put together, so if the order is wrong, I'm sorry. Seems alright for story purposes though. ^_^
I saved this note for the end because I didn't want everyone to go crazy looking at them all up there!! ^_^ This is in regards to magic usage in the game. Okay. Every Final Fantasy has their own ways of using it or only certain people can. Materia still works on future Earth. And as for the FF8 people, they can draw the magic off of the original characters. The rules apply to the FF9 and FF10 people. Only the ones that could use magic before can use it on Earth. True they could borrow the equipment but they wouldn't be able to use it well and it could be dangerous.
As for the magic items on Earth, they are thin anklets that are worn on the left ankle (no complaints). This band is sorta like material. It must be equipped to use. Most people, however only choose to use one type. For example, Jen loves her fire, and Sypher loves his Bolt/lightning, whatever. Anyone can use them all but only to certain extents. You have to master the magic in order to be really good at it. Another example (sorry I keep using my characters, but I know about their magic) is Jen using Ice or water magic. She learned to use it because its what counteracts her fire, but she's not very good at it. Her attacks if she ever had to use it would be really pathetic. And in order to "draw" the magic of the band you must bring your hands and/or weapons over to the left side of your body for a second while the magic transfers (damn I'm picky.) So if you want to include a description that'd be great, but you don't have to and I'll come up with one for them. Jen's and Sypher's description is in a review if you want to see what I mean. (too long to put here.)
Also about the summons. Summons have to be "distributed" on earth just like in the other worlds. Only the ones in FF7 can use it if they have that material equipped. It works sort of like the Guardian Forces. But you can only have one. (the FF people can have as many as they want, but I'm limiting it for us. Sorry. It's for my sanity which I have precious little of anyway.) Severine's summon is Sleiphnir (unless you want to change that ^_~ and who is that? I'm not sure, so please let me know.), Jen's is Ifrit, and Sypher's is Shiva. Reason for Sypher's being Shiva: Ice and Lightening . . . evil combination. Oh, and that's another thing! When a character Summons their . . . let's call them . . . Guardians for now. (will change later most likely) it does not count against them as an attack. So, their guardian can attack, and then they can! Which is why Sypher likes Shiva. She attacks and then he casts Bolt or something on them and. . . you get the point.
So it's really first come first serve with the Guardians and Summons and such. You can pick anyone you want from any of the games. The first person I see to request a certain one owns them, so sorry. . BUT!! YOU CAN CREATE YOUR OWN!! YAY!! If you want a certain type of Summon but its taken, then come up with your own! Just send me a description and two attacks they can use. Also it would be really cool (more work for you. . . MWAHAHAH!!! – damn I'm evil when I don't feel well) if you came up with how they met their Guardian- how they came across them that is. I'll post Jen's and Sypher's in the review. Don't want to drive you all TOOOO crazy!! ^_^
Color of the bands and what they do (so you know and can pick from these: Red: Fire, Yellow: Bolt/Lightening, White: Angels/Heavenly/Good (whatever) Black: Demons/Hell/Evil, Green: Poison, Gold: Healing, Brown: Earth based, Silver: Wind, Blue: Ice/Water, . . . ummm. . . . shit. I had the list written down somewhere and now I can't find it! I think that's all of them. If I missed any major ones let me know! .
Ummm, ok. I THINK that's it! And just to make sure everyone does, please make sure you all keep reading the reviews! That way if I leave a message there, or someone else has a question for you we can run this baby smoothly. Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter and my ramblings! (phew) Hopefully it won't happen of this size again (yeah right). ^_~