This is my First ever fan-fic. This story is a cross between ff7and ff10. The story may
drag on at parts cos when i start writing i get carried away and i miss the point and go on about meaningless
dribble!! So sorry if it seems boring. In the next part i will include a bit more action since this is just the
opening chapter..
Disclaimer: This Fan-fic was wrote by MasterMantis and i do not own Squaresoft or any other form of Final Fantasy
except characters and profiles made by me.
Mark of the Dead: Part 1
Prologue
Spira
The stars were shining brightly and the wind was blowing gently. Yuna sat on the step outside the temple
gazing into the sky relaxing after a hard days work. Since the eternal calm had started she had dedicated
her time to enjoying her life and Wakka had somehow convinced her to play Blitzball, at first she didn't like
the idea and she went off to look for something else to do but in the end she camne back to Besaid after alot
thinking and agreed to try it. After her first try at the game she grew to love it and never stopped training since,
she also became a member of the council of bevelle and helped the people forget about Yevon and the troubles
that Sin caused. It truely was a fresh start for everyone. Life was going well but that night while she was sitting
under the stars a reaction was taking place, far away in the region of Guadosalam an evil precense was gathering.
The Guado's were standing in a circle around a large blue fire inside the farplane chanting an ancient song. As
the chanting grew louder the flame became more out of control and changed colour until it exploded in a
spectacular flash of green,blue,purple and smoke. When the smoke cleared a man was visible standing where the
fire had been blazing. He had strange blue hair and a long purple robe that stretched down along the floor,
he looked around at all the Guado's standing before him and burst into a manic laughter.
"THE DEAD HAS RISEN!!!!" he cried as all the others standing around the fire winced in fear.
Back in Besaid Yuna felt the wind grow stronger and a sudden chill went down her spine. She had a strange
feeling that something evil had rose and that it would mean terror for all.
Chapter 1: Armagedon?
Clouds world
"No please dont. No NO NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Cloud leapt out of bed and fell onto the floor
sweating from head to toe.
"Cloud??" asked Tifa who had woke because of his screaming.
"Are you okay??"
"Yeah" He replied.
"Had another nightmare??"
"Yeah"
"Was it about him??"
"Yeah." Since Sephiroth had been defeated 2 years ago Cloud had been having nightmares about him returning.
"Go back to sleep" Tifa told him. He did as she said and got back into bed but could not fall asleep, everytime
he closed his eyes he either saw Sephiroth towering over him with his long sword pointed at his throat or he saw
her, Aeris, kneeling at the alter inside the city of the Ancients moments before her death. He looked at Tifa and
was about to ask her something but saw that she had fallen back sleep so he decided to go for a walk. He got
dressed and walked out of the house towards the Shinra Mansion, the stars were shining brightly and the wind
was blowing softly. He walked past the entrance to the mansion towards the path that led out of the back of the village
to the small mountain range, remembering the day that was now 7 years in the past when he came to Nibelhiem with
Sephiroth. The thought sent chills down his spine so he decided to turn back looking up at the sky and saw an
unusually bright star that was firey red in colour. Walking down the winding path he looked up again and saw that
the star had grown since he last looked. A couple of minutes later he reached Nibelhiem and just as he entered the
house he looked up again and saw that the star if that what it was had grown again. He went upstairs got undressed
and got back into bed wondering if it was a star or not, Tifa rolled over and put an arm round him and gave a small
snort under her breath. He gently kissed her forehead and drifted off to a peaceful sleep.
Cloud was woke up by a knock on the door the next morning.
"Hold On!!" he shouted downstairs as he quickly dressed himself.
"What is it??" asked Tifa.
"Nothing just someone at the door. Go back to sleep" he told her. She gave him a small nod then buried her head
into the pillows. The knocking grew louder.
"HOLD ON!!!!!!!" Cloud shouted getting annoyed. He opened the door to find it was Barret and Cid.
"Hey Cloud" said Barret.
"S'bin a long time!!"
"Oh hi Barret" Replied Cloud.
"What do you want??" he asked.
"Have you looked up at the sky recently Dumbass!!" said Cid. Cloud looked up and saw in horror that the red
star he had seen the previous night was now hanging up in the air real close to the planet. It reminded him of Meteor
but the thought of what had happened 2 years ago made him feel incedibly uncomfortable so he stopped thinking
about it and looked down.
"Notice anything different???" asked Cid in a sarcastic tone.
"I saw that thing last night." said Cloud
"Yeah you and another 10000 people!!!"Barret exclaimed.
"Its caused a panic in Midgar" Cid explained. Cloud looked up at the energy ball once again.
"Shouldn't someone go look at it in a jet or something??"He asked.
"Yeah Reeve has asked a special team to do it, he thinks that they are used to use type of stuff."
"Who??" Cloud asked.
"Us!!!!" Cid interrupted as Barret was opening his mouth to speak.
"We're just gonna call on Tifa and tell her" said Barret looking at Tifas house.
"Theres no need she's here" Cloud told them. As soon as he had said this he knew he would regret telling them.
"What!!! You say Tifas here is she!" Barret laughed but Cid gave him a hard nudge in the arm and they walked off
towards the highwind just outside the village but as they walked away Cid turned and gave a quick wink.
When Barret and Cid had left Cloud went upstairs to wake up Tife but she was already awake and dressed having
heard the conversation between the 3 of them outside.
"Just thought i'd see if this still fits" she said to him as she smiled. The top she was wearing he recognised as the
same one she had wore on their last adventures and it was obvious that it didn't fit because her oversized breast
were visible through the fabric as it stretched. She took one step foward and the top split right down the middle
and fell to the ground. She laughed and picked it up off the floor.
"I guess not!" she said as she came over to Cloud and started to kiss him. After several minutes of kissing there
was another knock at the door and the sound of Cids voice shouting that they were late. They both quickly
scrambled up, got dressed funny wasn't they already dressed a minute ago?? and ran downstairs outside
to Cid.
"C'mon the highwind is out on the plain" he told them. They rushed out of the village and boarded the highwind
which in moments had taken off and headed towards Midgar.
"We need to pick up somebody from Midgar before we start towards the star thingy." Explained Cid as he Cloud
and Tifa made there way towards the bridge. When they got there they saw that Barret, Yuffie, Nanaki Red XIII
and Vincent were already there.
"Hey guys" said Cloud as he walked in.
"What took you so long??" Asked Vincent
"Yeah we've been waiting here for ages!!" Yuffie said.
"We got delayed!" Tifa told them as Cloud smiled. Cid noticed this and gave Cloud another wink. Cloud walked
over to the front of the bridge and looked down, they were flying over the sea already. Cid had begged and begged
Reeve to let him use these new Fusion engines on the highwind but Reeve wouldn't let him. He always said it would
be too dangerous but eventually Reeve got tired of Cids begging and said yes. These new engines were extremely
powerful and better yet they didn't harm the planet so ShinRa had removed the mako reactors and replaced them with
Fusion. Becuase of this Reeve was voted the new president and now everything was going well in the world.
"Cid???" Cloud asked.
"What!!!" he replied.
"Who are we gonna pick up in Midgar??"
"A new guy!! He's supposed to be really strong and powerful best soldier in the army apparently?"
"Whats his name??"
"Not sure. Think its Mantis or sommet like that?"
"Ok." Cloud replied as he went back to looking out of the front window as they just passed over Junon Harbor. A few
minutes later and they had reached Midgar, the landing of Meteor had caused huge amounts of damage to the city and
quite alot of people had perished in the falling debris and Tornadoes but the survivors had started on rebuilding there
homes as soon as they could. The improvement was huge all the streets were tidy, even in the slums, the new Fusion
reactors hummed lowly making the city warm and sector 7 had been rebuilt and turned into a giant garden sector full of
plants and flowers. The airport was also a new edition to the city, a huge runway had been constructed on the outskirts
of the city with a train that led from the terminal to the ShinRa building. The highwind landed on the runway and the
gang boarded the train to the ShinRa building, in minutes they were there and on there way up the lifts to the 69th floor.
"So what do'ya think this guy'll be like??" asked Barret. Cid grunted as the lift came to a halt and the doors opened.
"Hello!! Its so good to see you guys again!!!" Came the voice of Reeve as he walked over to them. Cloud had never
actually met Reeve face to face but as the controller of Cait Sith he had come up with an idea of what Reeve looked like
but he was nothing to what Cloud imagined him to be. Reeve was a small man with black hair that wasn't very long and
he was a little scrawny.
"So how's it bin goin?" asked Barret.
"We've been having a bit of trouble with the new reactors and the few resistence groups but other than that things have
been going pretty well." Reeve told them.
"But anyway your not here to hear about my problems your here to meet the newest Turk, the man i have ordered to go
with you on this little excursion. I'd go myself but what with running ShinRa and everything i'm afraid i cant so let me
introduce you to Shogun Mantis!" As he said this a door at the back of the office opened automatically and a man
with grey hair that went down to his shoulders and green eyes walked in. Cloud looked at the man and thought how
much he looked like Sephiroth except with shorter hair. The man wore a long black cape and blue boots that went up
to his knees. He had under his cape a blue shirt and blue trousers, he carried a long sword almost as tall as he was and
2 guns that had enough power to blow off a mans head.
"So your Mantis?" asked Tifa with a little bit of a dreamy look in her eye.
"Apparently" he said in a sarcastic tone. Tifas dreamy look faded and she scowled at him. He laughed and walked towards
the exit turning back to say.
"Are we going ot what??" At this the gang looked at each other shrugged and followed him as he left the room.
"Cloud!!" Reeve called back.
"What??"
"Be careful out there!" he said in a serious tone.
"I will be" Cloud replied as he turned and went after the others. They sat the train journey back to the Highwind in silence
every now and then looking at each other and then at Mantis. Once at the terminal they got out of the train and boarded the
Highwind.
"Lets do this." said Cloud as he drew his sword the Ultima Weapon. With that the Highwind blasted off into the air at
trememdous speed and headed towards the giant energy sphere.
End of Chapter........ Watch out for chapter 2 as soon as i can get it done!!!!!!!!!!
Please R & R