===============================================================
What?
An answer from the Planet... the Promised Land... I think I can meet her... there.
Yeah, let's go meet her.
Hey, where is everyone?
Heeeey!
I'm glad you're all safe!
They all seem to be safe, too. But... now what're we going to do?
Holy should be moving soon, and that means this place will...
Oh, Lady Luck don't fail me now...
Shit!!
The flower girl?
Wait a damn minute!
What's going to happen to Midgar?
We can't let that happen!
I had everyone take refuge in the slums, but the way things are now...
It's too late for Holy. Meteor is approaching the Planet.
Holy is having the opposite effect.
Forget Midgar, we've gotta worry about the Planet.
What's that!?
What the hell IS that.......?
......Lifestream.
It's coming.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Silence filled the room as the credits rolled up within the screen. Once the occupants of the room read the word Fin on the screen, a hand reached up to the power button and turned the game console off.
"Wow, I can't believe we've finished it!!" A young chubby boy clapped his hands with glee.
"Yeah....not bad for two months of hard work..." Said another boy who was about a year older than the first one.
"Not bad?! NOT BAD?!"
The two boys flinched at the voice. "You didn't let me breed the GOLD CHOCOBO!!!" Looming over them was a girl, the chubby boy's older sister who was two years older.
The older boy waved his hand carelessly. "So what? We finished it."
"But not COMPLETELY!"
"Mou 'Neechan, we'll make a master game some other time. Right now, it's time for---" The chubby one looked at his cousin, who in turn grinned and gave him a high-five.
"EVA!!!!" The two suddenly burst into singing. "ZANKOKUNA TENSHI NO YOUNI, SHOUNEN YO SHINWA NI NARE!!!"
The glare the young girl had soon disappeared and was replaced by an amused grin, as she held up the remote control and switched the channel. Soon, the opening song as well as the voices of the two boys filled the room. The young girl chuckled at their antics, and placed the remote control upon the table. However as she did so, her eyes caught on something and she bent to pick it up.
It was the cover of the game they had just played. It wasn't the first time she had noticed it as she had known long before that there was something different about this particular cover. She had seen from various stores as well as those owned by her friends that there are around two or three different variations of this game's cover, but none that was the same as this. She thought perhaps that it was a pirated game, since she bought this from a young man in some worn-out stall in the mall.
There were similarities though. One popular cover beheld the game's main characters. Another one shows the backs of two of the main characters, as well as the game's flying vehicle on the background. This particular cover however, was a resemblance of the latter. But the one thing that struck the girl most was that there was an extra character there, who will not be easily seen if the cover was not inspected closely. She could not distinguish his face clearly, but she knew that it belonged to a boy and that his hair was silver.
"Ne," She called out to her brother and cousin as the show took a commercial break. "...didn't you notice something different about the cover?" She waved the item slightly to attract their attention.
Her cousin shrugged. "Looks the same the others to me."
Her brother leaned over and blinked. "Don't see any difference either."
"But look," She pointed at the extra character. "We didn't see him in the game, did we?"
Intrigued, the two boys looked closely at the cover. It took some time before the younger boy shrugged. "You gotta be kidding me, 'Neechan. I don't see anything."
"Neither do I."
The young girl's eyes widened. "Nani?! Why didn't you see him?! He's right there!" She pointed again.
"'Neechan, you're scaring me..." The chubby boy shivered, before bursting into laughter with his cousin. "Maybe I should call the mental hospital---ow!!!" He rubbed his head, which was now growing a bump, care of his sister's fist.
"I am NOT hallucinating!"
"Whatever, cuz. Whatever."
The young girl grumbled, but couldn't say anything else, as the show started to run again.
The next day, the girl turned on the console.
"Making a master game so soon, 'Neechan?"
"Yeah...."
The boy shrugged. "Do what you like. We're going out to the mall, alright? Tell mom and dad if ever they ask."
"Sure."
Her younger brother and their cousin looked at each other, before heading out. "See ya."
The girl nodded and pressed a button on the controller to start the game....
....only to be taken aback by what she had seen.
The star field was still there, and so were the green embers, but instead of a young woman with emerald eyes appearing within it, a couple of what looked like feathers floated inside the field.
"Funny...I don't remember this happening...." The girl whispered to herself.
After a few minutes, the screen showed what looked like an alley, the same one that she had seen when they had first played the game. But instead of focusing on the cinema just beside it, it focused ahead, upon a plaza....
...where a young boy with silver hair sat on a bench.
The young girl stared in shock, it was the same boy that she had seen on the cover!
The view suddenly swings from the boy to under a stone arch, then upwards. The view moves higher until an entire circular city was shown.
Suddenly a bright light shone on the screen and throughout the room. The girl closed her eyes, momentarily blinded by the event. A few seconds later, the bright light dissipated, leaving only the screen showing the game's logo....
...and the controller on the floor.
The Forgotten Story.
===============================================================
Author's Notes:
Well, there you have it, minna-san! The first chapter! I hope you enjoyed reading it....and reviewing it too! Please review!! It would be cool though, if you read this chapter with "Bombing Mission" from the soundtrack playing. Well, the first part of it at least. I think you know where the italics in the first part of this chapter come from too.
BTW, this story is originally based on a roleplaying game I did some four or five years ago. I had written it down on a notebook, and somehow kept it for some years. Now I've found it again while I was cleaning, and reread it. I saw that the story was indeed interesting, and so I decided to write it in prose form. But some parts of the story are missing in my notebook, so I just revised and put in some other stuff I've come up with to fill the gaps.