Author's Note:
This chapter will be a summary of one month's time. After which, events will pick up again. This is a way for me to relax my brain and get the old noggin a cool down before I have to put it into overdrive.
Also: I've e-mailed a few of the people who have sent me reviews. I haven't received any response. Ah well, I guess I don't get to be lazy. Bah! : P
I don't own Final Fantasy, its characters, or any of that other cool jazz.
Chapter Twenty Two
The Breeze before the Whirlwind
Bugenhagen sighed.
When he had left Cosmo Canyon, it was his intent that he would spend his few remaining days in peace. He would explore the world, learn what little there was left to learn, and then die. But most importantly, he would die alone, so that none would tell Nanaki that he was truly dead. In Nanaki's heart, the feline warrior believed that Bugenhagen was eternal; a spirit that would persist forever.
In a sense, the one called Red XIII was correct. Bugenhagen had been alive for a long time. Much too long in fact. It did indeed seem like eternity. But now his body was fading, his spirit becoming part of the Lifestream. It was a long process, a feeling of melding filling him. It had begun almost as soon as he had left Cosmo Canyon, his mind becoming one with the Planet, an almost omniscient quality coming to him with his death.
Time lost meaning, but Bugenhagen knew that it had been about a month since this process had begun, and it was finally nearing its conclusion.
Things were wrong with the Planet. Wrong, and now he had no way to fix it. That was most depressing of all.
With Meteor destroyed and Sephiroth defeated, Bugenhagen had thought the crisis was over. The Planet was saved. But no. Things had gone badly, indeed.
Rufus Shinra survived Diamond Weapon's attack was unfortunate, and did not bode well for the Planet. He would bring back the Mako reactors, pollute the world with the sickness born only of Shinra.
Lucrecia's mad quest to bring her son back to the world would see a repeat of events already visited once before. To bring back Sephiroth, she would risk Jenova in an unrestrained form. She would rip the heart of the planet itself out.
Avalanche itself, the only force that could stop these two forces, was gutted. Reeve had returned to his post as Shinra. With his memory loss, he was now an enemy, one who would help end the world unwittingly. Bugenhagen had had such high hopes for that one once, when he was young and on his first visit to Cosmo Canyon.
Crippled as the one named Cid was, he would be of little use to the group. He would try his best, but with his spirit as shattered as his legs were, his help would be minimal.
Vincent near-death, now in a state of coma, induced by intense Mako- poisoning. The wounds inflicted on him by Lucrecia were healing, an odd result of the Lifestream, and his own Jenova abilities.
Yuffie, as always, had her own agenda. If Avalanche was not careful, they would lose her to her own self-interest. She would abandon them for Materia, for money, for fame, for anything that caught her interest. Now that Avalanche's mission wasn't quite so grand, her enthusiasm to help would fade. It would not be long before she would leave.
And Aeris... that poor girl. Thought dead by Avalanche, now the truth was revealed. She was now stuck in the shell of Obsidian Weapon, how, not even Bugenhagen knew. She was in little control of her own actions, more focused on the primal aspect of Weapon: to destroy whatever threat there was to the Planet. So far she had managed to keep herself from obliterating whatever had happened to be in her path, but not always...
The ruins of Mideel had proven that she could not always keep that primal state in check.
And now time was passing, as time had a habit of doing.
Avalanche was falling apart, and even with the new addition of Rude, they stood no hope of victory.
After the events in Northern Crater, Obsidian, with a comatose Vincent in tow, had gone into hiding. The location was blurry in Bugenhagen's mind, meaning it was somehow connected with the Ancients. Maybe she was hiding in the Promised Land.
Rufus and Reeve were creating Shinra anew from Junon, working on their technological wonders and terrors. Proud Clod was nearing completing, as well as Rufus' other toys.
And Lucrecia... that madwoman was still healing from her encounter with Obsidian, but soon... soon she would be fully rested and ready to go on. The world would once again know the terror from the skies named Jenova because of her.
Events were beginning to come to an explosive confrontation. Soon all four parties would meet.
Change was coming. Bugenhagen was almost glad that he wouldn't see it.
The old protector of Cosmo Canyon, the scholar of the ages, finally completely faded into the Lifestream, but without the peace he had so longed for.
Author's Note:
Basically, this chapter spanned about a month in time. It was a set up for events that required time to pass, such as the production of Proud Clod, the manipulation of Reeve, and the reuniting of Avalanche. Certain things will be different than before when next time you see each character. I could have gone into every little nuance, but that would have made for one very long and very boring story. So I'm skipping ahead.
This chapter will be a summary of one month's time. After which, events will pick up again. This is a way for me to relax my brain and get the old noggin a cool down before I have to put it into overdrive.
Also: I've e-mailed a few of the people who have sent me reviews. I haven't received any response. Ah well, I guess I don't get to be lazy. Bah! : P
I don't own Final Fantasy, its characters, or any of that other cool jazz.
Chapter Twenty Two
The Breeze before the Whirlwind
Bugenhagen sighed.
When he had left Cosmo Canyon, it was his intent that he would spend his few remaining days in peace. He would explore the world, learn what little there was left to learn, and then die. But most importantly, he would die alone, so that none would tell Nanaki that he was truly dead. In Nanaki's heart, the feline warrior believed that Bugenhagen was eternal; a spirit that would persist forever.
In a sense, the one called Red XIII was correct. Bugenhagen had been alive for a long time. Much too long in fact. It did indeed seem like eternity. But now his body was fading, his spirit becoming part of the Lifestream. It was a long process, a feeling of melding filling him. It had begun almost as soon as he had left Cosmo Canyon, his mind becoming one with the Planet, an almost omniscient quality coming to him with his death.
Time lost meaning, but Bugenhagen knew that it had been about a month since this process had begun, and it was finally nearing its conclusion.
Things were wrong with the Planet. Wrong, and now he had no way to fix it. That was most depressing of all.
With Meteor destroyed and Sephiroth defeated, Bugenhagen had thought the crisis was over. The Planet was saved. But no. Things had gone badly, indeed.
Rufus Shinra survived Diamond Weapon's attack was unfortunate, and did not bode well for the Planet. He would bring back the Mako reactors, pollute the world with the sickness born only of Shinra.
Lucrecia's mad quest to bring her son back to the world would see a repeat of events already visited once before. To bring back Sephiroth, she would risk Jenova in an unrestrained form. She would rip the heart of the planet itself out.
Avalanche itself, the only force that could stop these two forces, was gutted. Reeve had returned to his post as Shinra. With his memory loss, he was now an enemy, one who would help end the world unwittingly. Bugenhagen had had such high hopes for that one once, when he was young and on his first visit to Cosmo Canyon.
Crippled as the one named Cid was, he would be of little use to the group. He would try his best, but with his spirit as shattered as his legs were, his help would be minimal.
Vincent near-death, now in a state of coma, induced by intense Mako- poisoning. The wounds inflicted on him by Lucrecia were healing, an odd result of the Lifestream, and his own Jenova abilities.
Yuffie, as always, had her own agenda. If Avalanche was not careful, they would lose her to her own self-interest. She would abandon them for Materia, for money, for fame, for anything that caught her interest. Now that Avalanche's mission wasn't quite so grand, her enthusiasm to help would fade. It would not be long before she would leave.
And Aeris... that poor girl. Thought dead by Avalanche, now the truth was revealed. She was now stuck in the shell of Obsidian Weapon, how, not even Bugenhagen knew. She was in little control of her own actions, more focused on the primal aspect of Weapon: to destroy whatever threat there was to the Planet. So far she had managed to keep herself from obliterating whatever had happened to be in her path, but not always...
The ruins of Mideel had proven that she could not always keep that primal state in check.
And now time was passing, as time had a habit of doing.
Avalanche was falling apart, and even with the new addition of Rude, they stood no hope of victory.
After the events in Northern Crater, Obsidian, with a comatose Vincent in tow, had gone into hiding. The location was blurry in Bugenhagen's mind, meaning it was somehow connected with the Ancients. Maybe she was hiding in the Promised Land.
Rufus and Reeve were creating Shinra anew from Junon, working on their technological wonders and terrors. Proud Clod was nearing completing, as well as Rufus' other toys.
And Lucrecia... that madwoman was still healing from her encounter with Obsidian, but soon... soon she would be fully rested and ready to go on. The world would once again know the terror from the skies named Jenova because of her.
Events were beginning to come to an explosive confrontation. Soon all four parties would meet.
Change was coming. Bugenhagen was almost glad that he wouldn't see it.
The old protector of Cosmo Canyon, the scholar of the ages, finally completely faded into the Lifestream, but without the peace he had so longed for.
Author's Note:
Basically, this chapter spanned about a month in time. It was a set up for events that required time to pass, such as the production of Proud Clod, the manipulation of Reeve, and the reuniting of Avalanche. Certain things will be different than before when next time you see each character. I could have gone into every little nuance, but that would have made for one very long and very boring story. So I'm skipping ahead.