Marlene gazed out the Kalm Town window over to the ruins of Midgar. Plant life was beginning to etch across the edges, but rumor had it that people still lived there. Far from Midgar, on the distant shores of the island, excavators had worked for years to bring the remains of the Diamond Weapon to the land.
Marlene sighed. This was not the time to lose focus. She turned to the two children she was caring for. They ran around playing, ignorant of their loss. Their father had gone on a trip to Mideel to report the strange activity alongside many other journalists, and fell to his death in the Lifestream after a rockslide. The children's mother had shot herself when she heard the news. The children became orphans. Dele, the young girl, had been too young to even know she had parents before Marlene, and Johan, the boy, seemed to have forced his parents out of his memory. He had never got along well with his father and mother.
Marlene watched Dele and Johan for a while. Johan was entertaining his little sister by making various pieces of fruit star in plays of his own creation. Marlene smiled.
But then the happiness was shattered by a massive shudder that ran through the earth. Then everything stopped as soon as it had started. Vases had smashed to the floor. Dele was crying and Johan had a cut on his arm. Marlene knew something strange was happening. She rushed the children outside into the center of Kalm. "What's going on?" she asked as she wrapped a scrap of cloth around Johan's cut. Several other people asked the same question. More people rushed out of their houses to add to the crowd. Marlene fiddled with the silver pendant around her neck, wishing her father was still with her.
The mayor of Kalm approached the crowd of people. One of his assistants rushed to place a podium before him. "My people," he began, and cleared his throat. "My people, I reassure you that there is nothing to fear. That shake we just experienced was just a minor explosion caused by the excavators in the sea. They confirm that it will not happen-" The Mayor cut short his speech as a strange noise filled the air. One that had not been heard on twelve years. The cry of the Planet.
The people looked around. Except one. Marlene stood stock still, unable to remove the shock from her expression. She knew this cry. When she was a child, she had heard it, and the events that followed had not been good. The summoning of Meteor...the rise of Sephiroth...the attack of the Weapons... The Mayor wrapped up his speech, leaving with the people half convinced of their safety. Marlene chased down her friend and neighbour Essa.
"Essa, I need you to take care of Dele and Johan for me," Marlene said. Essa started to question her, but was cut off. "Look, please just take care of them? I have to leave." Marlene said her goodbyes to the children, and rushed out of Kalm. Monsters were rare these days, and she only needed to go to the shore where her seaplane, Tiny Bronco II, was waiting. She climbed in and was soon in the air and headed for Cosmo Canyon. Marlene hoped Nanaki would be able to help her.