Disclaimer: If it's recognizable now, there is a 75 chance I don't own it
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A/N: This chapter isn't exactly towards the real story line (Mists of Gaia); it's a peek into the past for Peter and Melody.
Chapter 10: Ghost Ship
Melody looked at the old shipwreck on the River Styx that ran through the Crystal City. She smirked as she wondered what they were calling her here for. She made her way down and flicked back her dark brown hair before knocking on a door using a special knock. The door swung open and she walked in, knowing exactly what to expect. She took the customary five steps to correspond with the knock and the whole ship lit up in flickering green candlelight. She smirked again when she saw Jimmy, an old friend of hers.
"Hello Jimmy. What's up?" Jimmy returned her smirk.
"Just returning for a visit, friend." Jimmy was certainly different from what he looked like only two years ago, right before she left to live in the world of humans.
Two years ago, he was a very handsome guy. He was a foot taller than Melody, standing at 6'4". He had dark brown hair that was long enough to cover his beautiful amber colored eyes. He was very strong, and was in fact Leon's half-brother, so he was also a good fighter. He was a comedian at times, and was very serious at other times.
Now he was a mere shadow of his former self. He was weakened drastically, and his skin slacked and he looked decades older than he was. Of course, this was not enhanced by the sickly pale-green color of his skin. Rather than have legs, he slowly tapered into nothingness as one would look down. He was a Ghost Captain.
"You're not here for a visit. You would not have gone home and risked..." Melody paused, thinking of the word.
"Exposure," Jimmy provided, smiling.
"Yes, you would not have gone home and risked exposure if you did not have anything really, really important to say."
"You know, I think that we had some sort of psychic connection. You know me so well it's not even funny sometimes." Melody smiled. It was true with her as well. They could finish each other's sentences and he could come up with words she couldn't think of.
"Jimmy, I know what you're trying to do. I want you to stop it."
"Okay, okay. I'll stop procrastinating." Jimmy sighed, and she realized that he must feel as old as he looks. "You know Tifa Lockheart right? Never mind; don't answer. It was a dumb question. She is one half of the Holy Angel." Melody gasped.
"Holy Angel? The blue flame half?"
"Yes. We sensed it once she found out she had it."
The first people the Planet gave birth to were the Angels, one for each element. When all their powers were manifested, the Holy Angel was formed. She was the most powerful of all, and she could create and destroy life. Most species wanted to use her to their advantage, but she was too pure to fall for such things. One day, an alliance of creatures wanting to use her broke her into two pieces, one for each half of the world. When the two parts joined again, she would bestow eternity to the holders, a concept that no one understands for sure...
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"There he is, Peter," Aya whispered. Peter looked ahead at his only son. "He looks just like you." They walked up to him together, Peter slightly hesitant. They were facing his back. Aya gave Peter's hand a reassuring squeeze and he took a deep breath.
"C-Cloud?" Peter asked hesitantly. Cloud slowly turned around to face his father. Aya was right, he did look like his father. Peter held his arms open. Cloud reluctantly went into his father's embrace.
"F-father..." Cloud stuttered. Cloud heard a sniffle and looked at his mother to see tears of joy streaming down her face. They all heard a high pitched giggle behind them. Peter let go of his son and they all looked back. The giggle belonged to a little girl, one about age three or four. "Who...?"
"Daddy!" the girl exclaimed. Peter beamed and scooped his daughter into his arms.
"Maggie!" he commented with a smile. He turned towards Cloud. "Maggie, this is brother Cloud."
"Yay! Brother Cloud, brother Cloud!" Cloud smiled despite himself.
'Children can be so innocent...' Cloud thought wistfully. "Who...?"
"She was three when she died of sudden mako poisoning. A month later and she would have been four in time for her brother's birth, two months after her death."
"No wonder she looks so young..." Cloud looked on as Maggie pointed towards him.
"SOLDIER, SOLDIER. Daddy says they're bad."
Cloud smiled ruefully. Too bad his father wasn't there while he grew up. But then again, if he hadn't, none of Cloud's life would have happened.
"Don't point Maggie," Peter said firmly. Maggie immediately dropped her hand.
"Sorry, daddy. Sorry, brother Cloud," Maggie apologized. Peter looked at Cloud in his eyes and set Maggie on the ground.
"Go play with mommy for awhile; I need to speak to brother Cloud." Maggie ran off with her mother.
"If you're a SOLDIER, why do you tell her that they're bad?" Cloud asked. Although it was sort of hard to recognize with the shining of his eyes, Cloud could see something between sadness and anger in his father's eyes.
"Because, I knew what they were up to." Peter looked into the bright blue utopian sky above him before explaining.
Although it seems like a fantasy now, the sky used to be this beautiful in untouched areas. Contrary to most people that live in Nibelhiem, I was not born there. I was originally from Junon Harbor. Back in the day until I was ten years old, it was very beautiful. It was the real definition of paradise. When I was ten, the Shinra SOLDIERS took over Junon. They killed my parents for some reason I don't know of, and they took me as their next recruit. I was a quick learner, partially because I routinely went camping in the woods behind Junon with my father and two best friends. My father would help us kill enemies and train us to become very good with all sorts of weapons. My personal favorite: the long sword.
I was the original teacher of Sephiroth, and I was also a friend of Vincent Valentine, one I know you have at least met. Most of the time, I was the leader of the Turks, much like the late Tseng was. One day, a mission went awry, and Mr. Shinra went berserk and said that me and my fellow Turks died.
We were on a mission to find and capture an Ancient by the name of Ifalnia. She escaped our grasp several times, and when we finally found her, she was mortally wounded. I used the last of our potions, because we were in the extreme cold of the Northern Limits. For some reason, they thought I had a child with her or something like that. There were several rumors to what actually happened...
We nearly died during that mission, and when we finally delivered our "package," it was already thought that some monsters that you should be happy you never met killed us. If I knew what they were going to do with Ifalnia, we would have not delivered her at all. We were unaware that there was a time limit, and apparently we overdid the limit.
"You see, the Shinra just use you to capitalize. They will constantly use and reuse their men. I must admit that I found myself at the mercy of a Lepord, an evil being that is very formidable. He is the one commanding the Mists of Gaia, my unintentional replica of Shinra Inc. and SOLDIER. The Planet should be respected, not harmed as it has been for the past two generations."