Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Final Fantasy characters or the
storyline.
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In Junon area, nearby the town, across the river was a small cave and in that cave lived an old man who rarely wakes up and when he does, he gives special items such as mythril and lightning rings. I flew across the river carrying Red XIII first and went back to get Cloud and Aerith. I haven't been able to keep count on the number of battles we've been in, but somehow in his dreams, this guy does. I went up to him and asked how many battles we've been through. Strangely enough he woke up and said to us, "You've been through 277 battles and have escaped 5 times," stirring...
"And who might you be? Oh never mind here take this. I wouldn't need it. Good night." He said as he gave us the mythril before passing out again.
Outside the cave I jumped for joy all of a sudden. Red XIII asked me why I was so happy.
"Um... it's because with this item we could get Aerith's most powerful Limit Break, The Great Gospel." I answered excitedly.
All he could do was shake his fuzzy head while Cloud and Aerith smiled and held each other's hands.
Red XIII saw them like that he asked, "What are you two doing?" snickered a bit. Just like that, Cloud and Aerith let go of their grasp and said, "nothing, nothing," blushing endlessly. I laughed at the sight. Didn't think Red XIII liked to scold or tease people. Without a reason I stroked his fuzzy red head and smiled.
Back on the other side of the river, we battled through the forest as a 'short cut' to get to Junon. It turned out that it didn't make any difference as it just made us more confused getting through. Right at the exit of the forest, we stumbled upon the ninja Yuffie.
"I'll handle her, she's not that tough." I said to them, out of the blue. I just wanted to do something without anyone's help for once.
"Don't get too confident as I won't go easy on ya." She blurted out.
"Neither will I," in a half grin.
She was fast, but not fast enough to dodge my water and ice arrows. I had to admit she was good, better than I was when I took karate and proved me wrong. I got bored just sending arrows, so I summon Valfor to weaken her. At last I finished her off with a few fire arrows which made her dance the hot foot bonanza, ha, ha, ha. I guess I was a little too harsh as she fainted. Cloud went up to her to see if she was ok.
She recovered as quickly as she had fallen, challenging me for a rematch. "Sorry girl, but I'm not interested." I said following the procedure set.
"Then I'll be off," she turned to leave.
"Wait a minute." Red XIII shouted after her.
She looked back saying, "so you need me badly don't you?"...
"That's right." Aerith answered.
"Alright I accept. I'll join you guys." She smiled sheepishly.
"Let's hurry on, now." Cloud commanded and we left that area.
"Wait I haven't told you my name. It's Yuffie and I'm glad to meet ya." She shouted.
Just outside the forest I waited for her while Cloud, Aerith and Red XIII went on ahead.
"I know your name Yuffie Kisaragi. I want to warn you not to try anything funny while traveling with us as I'll be keeping a close eye on you." I gave her a warning.
She just kept quiet and followed my lead as we caught up with the others. At Junon, Cloud and Aerith were surprised that it looked so run-down. I wasn't that surprised as it didn't look half as bad as the kampungs back home in Malaysia. At the weapon shop, I was impressed with it's variation of items and armor. I purchased a few bangles and potions. Hearing the sea water below was music to my ears as I enjoy swimming whether it was a swimming pool or the sea. By the rocks was Priscilla, playing with her friend the dolphin. I rushed down the stairs with the Cloud, Red XIII and Aerith following closely behind. She was startled to see us and mistook us for Shinra personnel.
Suddenly, a fearsome water monster came out of nowhere and attacked.
"Get away, Mr. Dolphin!" she ran deeper into the water, but slipped and fainted underwater.
"We're coming!" Cloud shouted. I carried her out of the water before joining the others in battle.
The monster resembled a caterpillar crossed over with a dragon fly but extra ugly. It took a while to beat but nothing new. The girl's grandfather rushed down to the scene and told Cloud to give her mouth to mouth.
Cloud was uncomfortable with the idea as Aerith and I were watching, but then I volunteered to take his place, "What am I getting myself into? Might as well do it right, remember what you read in your scout guide book." I told myself.
After a few moments, Priscilla coughed. I backed away as her grandfather brought her to her room.
"Bleach...I never want to do that again, no way." I thought to myself sticking out my tongue out in disgust.
At least I saved Cloud from an embarrassment that he might have to face later on. Up at the town, Priscilla's grandmother invited us to stay at her house and treat it like our own as a thank you for rescuing Priscilla.
I smiled back at her and said, "Been glad to help."
Early next morning, it was a great surprise to find everyone gathered outside Priscilla's room. Barret and Tifa were there too.
Cloud went up to check on her and when she appeared I shouted to her, "Are you alright now?" She smiled and thanked me for rescuing her.
Without a word she slipped a Shiva summoning materia into my hand and said later that it will protect us from harm. I gave her a hug and she gave us a whistle to help us call her friend the dolphin.
There was an easier way to get into the Shinra headquarters above the town which was by jumping on the platform beneath the airport. Everyone agreed it was a job for Cloud and much to his dismay, he reluctantly went. At the station, all the soldiers were hustling and bustling to get ready for a parade for President Rufus. A squad leader found Cloud and pushed him into the locker room thinking he was one of their soldiers. Before leaving the room he told Cloud the basics of how to march correctly, and a few other soldiers assisted him.
Later they realized that they were late for the parade. Luckily there was a short cut which took them right smack in the middle of it. At this point, I underestimated Cloud as because of him the popularity meter reached sky high, better than I had done. What would I expect from an ex-soldier? Even at the part he and his squad had to perform in front of the big cheese himself, his 'squad' scored good ratings and won himself a new sword, The Force Stealer.
They were dismissed and while no one was looking, he crept into the cargo hold of the ship which was going to Costa del Sol. In the ship, he managed to recognize all of us through our disguises. Aerith, Tifa and Red XIII were wearing uniforms like Cloud, while Yuffie, Barret and I were in sailor's uniform. Yuffie was sea sick and asked for a tranquilizer from Cloud. He didn't have any, but I did and tossed one to her from the opposite side from her position. Then I went up to her to take care of her. She was grateful for that.
Cloud as usual stayed with Aerith till she asked him to check on Barret. Like I said before it was weird as these actions and reactions weren't there when I played the game. I guess Kairi was right about me causing changes in other character's emotions. Cloud seems as if he would never let Aerith out of his sight like he was possessive over her. Or could it be that he had fallen for her already? Nah... It couldn't be ... could it? Ai ...I'm thinking too much. Suddenly, the alarm sounded.
"What was going on?" Yuffie asked me as she recovered from her motion sickness.
"I'm not sure, get on my back if you're still unfit to walk; we need to get up deck." I told her.
Thankfully she climbed on my back and it seemed that my bow and arrows didn't disturb her one bit. Up deck, everyone gathered in the middle of the ship. According to Cloud and Barret there was an intruder on board but none of us blew our covers.
"Then it must have been Sephiroth." Cloud said angrily. To form his team, he picked me Barret and Aerith as it was Jenova birth we were up against.
"You sure kiddo, isn't Jenova dead?" Red XIII asked me.
"Affirmative, without a doubt Sephiroth has brought his mother with him." I answered.
"Then we'd better get a move on, or we'll never know." Barret said, restlessly.
"Then let's go," Cloud signaled from the stairs.
Below deck, the floor stunk with the sticky smell of blood. Even though I see blood all the time, I was terrified at the sight of it, especially if it was all over the room, but kept my mouth zipped.
At the engine room, Sephiroth floated upwards when stepped in after Cloud examined one of the corpses. He blurted out his plans to us about finding the Promised Land and bringing his mother Jenova along. Cloud stepped forward to try and communicate with him but Jenova-birth burst into the scene. I guess I proved Barret wrong and began the fearsome battle. I don't mean to be rude but Jenova gave me the heebie-jeebies. She was huge, powerful and down right annoying as she cast stop spells one time too often. It was difficult at first, but we beat her. It was only her arm we fought, not all of her. She left us an Ifrit summon materia before disappearing.
"I guess we'd better get out of here or the captain would get suspicious." I suggested. Cloud and the rest nodded as we let ourselves out the door.
Finally, after a tiresome and depressing ride, we were glad to get off the ship. Though not many agreed with the weather, it reminded me of home. The refreshing sea breezes, relaxing sun rays, nothing better to do than enjoy the scenery or hang out. First things first we needed an inn.
"Go enjoy yourselves for a while, I've got business to attend to," I told all of them.
They themselves thought the same way and left in the blink of an eye. Only Cloud and Aerith remained and they followed me to the main Costa del Sol Shinra villa. At the villa, I talked to the guy sleeping on the bed and said he'd sell me the Villa for 300,000 Gil.
"Consider it sold, old man," teasing him.
He jumped for joy and said, "You wouldn't regret this girl."... "Oh don't get me wrong, I'm not purchasing it for me but for my friend over there." I said, pointing at Cloud standing behind me.
"What, are you kidding me?" he was surprised.
"Nope, no joke, it's for you as you'll need a place to stay when this war is over." I explained.
He was stunned, so was Aerith. In their minds they wondered how a child like me kept so much money.
"It's my little secret, in case you're wondering." I smiled at them.
After that was settled, we went down to the beach to find Tifa frozen in position, pointing at Hojo? What was he doing here? We walked up to him and he was as surprised as were to meet like that.
He gave another lecture and excused himself. After that little episode with Hojo, Aerith wanted to be left alone. Cloud wanted to be with her, but I told him not to. Instead I asked him to get some new armor while I checked on everyone else. Red XIII was playing ball with a few kids, Barret was admiring himself in the sailor suit (Cloud was right, he did look like a bear wearing a marshmallow *giggle*), Tifa was chatting with her old friend Johnny and Yuffie took a part time job selling materia.
I went back to the Costa del Sol inn to find an embarrassing site. Cloud must've come back to Aerith instead of buying the armor. He was there on the bed with her and she was crying! Her head rested on Cloud's chest while he comforted her. I wanted to go in but, it might've made matters worse so I let them be. But what would Tifa think if she saw them together? But the answer stared me in the face; it was obvious she'd be jealous. It may still be too early to tell, but it really looks like they're... in love... I rested a bit after getting the armor and other necessary items only to be woken up by a nightmare. It took a while to realize I was homesick soaked in sweat from the nightmare. I just sat there for moment thinking, and then rose to go outside. It was dark and I looked at my watch it was 3 o'clock in the morning. I guess my watch told the time in this world, too.
"You're up pretty early, kid," Barret's voice made me freeze in position.
Didn't see him there sleeping on the floor. "I couldn't sleep...a little homesick." I said quietly.
"Well don't be, you have too much of a burden on your shoulders to be sad about little things." He got up and gave me a hug in a fatherly gesture. Something I haven't felt ever since I arrived on this twisted roller coaster ride. He may say otherwise, but indeed he was a great father figure and Marlene was lucky to have him as a dad.
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In Junon area, nearby the town, across the river was a small cave and in that cave lived an old man who rarely wakes up and when he does, he gives special items such as mythril and lightning rings. I flew across the river carrying Red XIII first and went back to get Cloud and Aerith. I haven't been able to keep count on the number of battles we've been in, but somehow in his dreams, this guy does. I went up to him and asked how many battles we've been through. Strangely enough he woke up and said to us, "You've been through 277 battles and have escaped 5 times," stirring...
"And who might you be? Oh never mind here take this. I wouldn't need it. Good night." He said as he gave us the mythril before passing out again.
Outside the cave I jumped for joy all of a sudden. Red XIII asked me why I was so happy.
"Um... it's because with this item we could get Aerith's most powerful Limit Break, The Great Gospel." I answered excitedly.
All he could do was shake his fuzzy head while Cloud and Aerith smiled and held each other's hands.
Red XIII saw them like that he asked, "What are you two doing?" snickered a bit. Just like that, Cloud and Aerith let go of their grasp and said, "nothing, nothing," blushing endlessly. I laughed at the sight. Didn't think Red XIII liked to scold or tease people. Without a reason I stroked his fuzzy red head and smiled.
Back on the other side of the river, we battled through the forest as a 'short cut' to get to Junon. It turned out that it didn't make any difference as it just made us more confused getting through. Right at the exit of the forest, we stumbled upon the ninja Yuffie.
"I'll handle her, she's not that tough." I said to them, out of the blue. I just wanted to do something without anyone's help for once.
"Don't get too confident as I won't go easy on ya." She blurted out.
"Neither will I," in a half grin.
She was fast, but not fast enough to dodge my water and ice arrows. I had to admit she was good, better than I was when I took karate and proved me wrong. I got bored just sending arrows, so I summon Valfor to weaken her. At last I finished her off with a few fire arrows which made her dance the hot foot bonanza, ha, ha, ha. I guess I was a little too harsh as she fainted. Cloud went up to her to see if she was ok.
She recovered as quickly as she had fallen, challenging me for a rematch. "Sorry girl, but I'm not interested." I said following the procedure set.
"Then I'll be off," she turned to leave.
"Wait a minute." Red XIII shouted after her.
She looked back saying, "so you need me badly don't you?"...
"That's right." Aerith answered.
"Alright I accept. I'll join you guys." She smiled sheepishly.
"Let's hurry on, now." Cloud commanded and we left that area.
"Wait I haven't told you my name. It's Yuffie and I'm glad to meet ya." She shouted.
Just outside the forest I waited for her while Cloud, Aerith and Red XIII went on ahead.
"I know your name Yuffie Kisaragi. I want to warn you not to try anything funny while traveling with us as I'll be keeping a close eye on you." I gave her a warning.
She just kept quiet and followed my lead as we caught up with the others. At Junon, Cloud and Aerith were surprised that it looked so run-down. I wasn't that surprised as it didn't look half as bad as the kampungs back home in Malaysia. At the weapon shop, I was impressed with it's variation of items and armor. I purchased a few bangles and potions. Hearing the sea water below was music to my ears as I enjoy swimming whether it was a swimming pool or the sea. By the rocks was Priscilla, playing with her friend the dolphin. I rushed down the stairs with the Cloud, Red XIII and Aerith following closely behind. She was startled to see us and mistook us for Shinra personnel.
Suddenly, a fearsome water monster came out of nowhere and attacked.
"Get away, Mr. Dolphin!" she ran deeper into the water, but slipped and fainted underwater.
"We're coming!" Cloud shouted. I carried her out of the water before joining the others in battle.
The monster resembled a caterpillar crossed over with a dragon fly but extra ugly. It took a while to beat but nothing new. The girl's grandfather rushed down to the scene and told Cloud to give her mouth to mouth.
Cloud was uncomfortable with the idea as Aerith and I were watching, but then I volunteered to take his place, "What am I getting myself into? Might as well do it right, remember what you read in your scout guide book." I told myself.
After a few moments, Priscilla coughed. I backed away as her grandfather brought her to her room.
"Bleach...I never want to do that again, no way." I thought to myself sticking out my tongue out in disgust.
At least I saved Cloud from an embarrassment that he might have to face later on. Up at the town, Priscilla's grandmother invited us to stay at her house and treat it like our own as a thank you for rescuing Priscilla.
I smiled back at her and said, "Been glad to help."
Early next morning, it was a great surprise to find everyone gathered outside Priscilla's room. Barret and Tifa were there too.
Cloud went up to check on her and when she appeared I shouted to her, "Are you alright now?" She smiled and thanked me for rescuing her.
Without a word she slipped a Shiva summoning materia into my hand and said later that it will protect us from harm. I gave her a hug and she gave us a whistle to help us call her friend the dolphin.
There was an easier way to get into the Shinra headquarters above the town which was by jumping on the platform beneath the airport. Everyone agreed it was a job for Cloud and much to his dismay, he reluctantly went. At the station, all the soldiers were hustling and bustling to get ready for a parade for President Rufus. A squad leader found Cloud and pushed him into the locker room thinking he was one of their soldiers. Before leaving the room he told Cloud the basics of how to march correctly, and a few other soldiers assisted him.
Later they realized that they were late for the parade. Luckily there was a short cut which took them right smack in the middle of it. At this point, I underestimated Cloud as because of him the popularity meter reached sky high, better than I had done. What would I expect from an ex-soldier? Even at the part he and his squad had to perform in front of the big cheese himself, his 'squad' scored good ratings and won himself a new sword, The Force Stealer.
They were dismissed and while no one was looking, he crept into the cargo hold of the ship which was going to Costa del Sol. In the ship, he managed to recognize all of us through our disguises. Aerith, Tifa and Red XIII were wearing uniforms like Cloud, while Yuffie, Barret and I were in sailor's uniform. Yuffie was sea sick and asked for a tranquilizer from Cloud. He didn't have any, but I did and tossed one to her from the opposite side from her position. Then I went up to her to take care of her. She was grateful for that.
Cloud as usual stayed with Aerith till she asked him to check on Barret. Like I said before it was weird as these actions and reactions weren't there when I played the game. I guess Kairi was right about me causing changes in other character's emotions. Cloud seems as if he would never let Aerith out of his sight like he was possessive over her. Or could it be that he had fallen for her already? Nah... It couldn't be ... could it? Ai ...I'm thinking too much. Suddenly, the alarm sounded.
"What was going on?" Yuffie asked me as she recovered from her motion sickness.
"I'm not sure, get on my back if you're still unfit to walk; we need to get up deck." I told her.
Thankfully she climbed on my back and it seemed that my bow and arrows didn't disturb her one bit. Up deck, everyone gathered in the middle of the ship. According to Cloud and Barret there was an intruder on board but none of us blew our covers.
"Then it must have been Sephiroth." Cloud said angrily. To form his team, he picked me Barret and Aerith as it was Jenova birth we were up against.
"You sure kiddo, isn't Jenova dead?" Red XIII asked me.
"Affirmative, without a doubt Sephiroth has brought his mother with him." I answered.
"Then we'd better get a move on, or we'll never know." Barret said, restlessly.
"Then let's go," Cloud signaled from the stairs.
Below deck, the floor stunk with the sticky smell of blood. Even though I see blood all the time, I was terrified at the sight of it, especially if it was all over the room, but kept my mouth zipped.
At the engine room, Sephiroth floated upwards when stepped in after Cloud examined one of the corpses. He blurted out his plans to us about finding the Promised Land and bringing his mother Jenova along. Cloud stepped forward to try and communicate with him but Jenova-birth burst into the scene. I guess I proved Barret wrong and began the fearsome battle. I don't mean to be rude but Jenova gave me the heebie-jeebies. She was huge, powerful and down right annoying as she cast stop spells one time too often. It was difficult at first, but we beat her. It was only her arm we fought, not all of her. She left us an Ifrit summon materia before disappearing.
"I guess we'd better get out of here or the captain would get suspicious." I suggested. Cloud and the rest nodded as we let ourselves out the door.
Finally, after a tiresome and depressing ride, we were glad to get off the ship. Though not many agreed with the weather, it reminded me of home. The refreshing sea breezes, relaxing sun rays, nothing better to do than enjoy the scenery or hang out. First things first we needed an inn.
"Go enjoy yourselves for a while, I've got business to attend to," I told all of them.
They themselves thought the same way and left in the blink of an eye. Only Cloud and Aerith remained and they followed me to the main Costa del Sol Shinra villa. At the villa, I talked to the guy sleeping on the bed and said he'd sell me the Villa for 300,000 Gil.
"Consider it sold, old man," teasing him.
He jumped for joy and said, "You wouldn't regret this girl."... "Oh don't get me wrong, I'm not purchasing it for me but for my friend over there." I said, pointing at Cloud standing behind me.
"What, are you kidding me?" he was surprised.
"Nope, no joke, it's for you as you'll need a place to stay when this war is over." I explained.
He was stunned, so was Aerith. In their minds they wondered how a child like me kept so much money.
"It's my little secret, in case you're wondering." I smiled at them.
After that was settled, we went down to the beach to find Tifa frozen in position, pointing at Hojo? What was he doing here? We walked up to him and he was as surprised as were to meet like that.
He gave another lecture and excused himself. After that little episode with Hojo, Aerith wanted to be left alone. Cloud wanted to be with her, but I told him not to. Instead I asked him to get some new armor while I checked on everyone else. Red XIII was playing ball with a few kids, Barret was admiring himself in the sailor suit (Cloud was right, he did look like a bear wearing a marshmallow *giggle*), Tifa was chatting with her old friend Johnny and Yuffie took a part time job selling materia.
I went back to the Costa del Sol inn to find an embarrassing site. Cloud must've come back to Aerith instead of buying the armor. He was there on the bed with her and she was crying! Her head rested on Cloud's chest while he comforted her. I wanted to go in but, it might've made matters worse so I let them be. But what would Tifa think if she saw them together? But the answer stared me in the face; it was obvious she'd be jealous. It may still be too early to tell, but it really looks like they're... in love... I rested a bit after getting the armor and other necessary items only to be woken up by a nightmare. It took a while to realize I was homesick soaked in sweat from the nightmare. I just sat there for moment thinking, and then rose to go outside. It was dark and I looked at my watch it was 3 o'clock in the morning. I guess my watch told the time in this world, too.
"You're up pretty early, kid," Barret's voice made me freeze in position.
Didn't see him there sleeping on the floor. "I couldn't sleep...a little homesick." I said quietly.
"Well don't be, you have too much of a burden on your shoulders to be sad about little things." He got up and gave me a hug in a fatherly gesture. Something I haven't felt ever since I arrived on this twisted roller coaster ride. He may say otherwise, but indeed he was a great father figure and Marlene was lucky to have him as a dad.
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