Shift in Space
Chapter 6
Bard Linn
Betaed by Renangel
Cloud Strife, savior of the Planet, stared down at the child in front of him. Living lives not your own disturbed most people. He had prepared for several outcomes from this endeavor but none of them seemed appropriate. Aeris snickered next to him. He glared at the Cetra. At least only his guest could see him and not their audience. Strife nudged theboy in front of him. He had planed for a hysterical child, one that would have a break down, one that would fly into a rage, not…
"Raise the sails! We're after the Pearl men!"
Strife made a mental note to add withdrawal from reality on his list. The child-version of him was deeply asleep though half the things he had said didn't make any sense to him.
"Savvy?"
Strife's patience reached its limit. He kicked Cloud. Hard. "Cloud!" Aeris scolded. You did not hurt children like that.
However it seemed to work. Cloud's bright mako blue eyes blinked open. "Wha-" Abruptly his memories returned. "Why those, why those blasted-" It was times like these that Cloud regretted he didn't have a good vocabulary to curse his opponents "SLIME!"
"Slime!" Aeris fell over laughing.
Strife sighed. "Yes. About the Cetra…"
"…I oughta make them walk the plank!" Cloud finished. "Um, why are we here again?"
"The planet can last without a guiding spirit for only so long. As you've probably noticed, humanity is getting out of hand. If things continue in this fashion the planet will destroy itself."
"Isn't that what called the Cetra in the first place?"
"Not exactly. While humanity wasn't the most environmental minded people the Champions kept them in check."
"Actually, I have another question. How did humanity survive? And why were there any Cetra left for Aeris to be born?"
"Humanity remained in hiding. By the time Jenova arrived they had lost all knowledge of magic and relied purely on machines. As such they couldn't do anything. The only surviving Cetra were those hidden within human communities. The presence of humans disguised the Cetra's signatures and allowed for them to remain undetected. Actually, some of the historians amongst the Cetra had preserved human records. That's what allowed them to later seal Jenova. However they couldn't kill her because she was summoned by a human. It took a human to complete the job."
"I see," Cloud bit his lip. "So the Planet needs another guardian?"
"Yes."
"So why hasn't anyone tried this before?"
"That's a bit complicated. First of all the Cetra put in safety guards against another spirit taking up Gaia's position. There have been few people who could take that position but surrounding circumstances rarely allowed them to do so. Jenova was still on the planet even if she was asleep. Making a move towards allowing a new spirit to replace Gaia would allow her to take that place. Also, until Hojo messed with your physiology, there was no one who could break the barriers that separate the physical and spiritual plane. That's your job. Once you finish that we'll be able to move in and finish it."
"Alright. That still doesn't tell me what I need to do."
"There are thirteen creatures in this world that exist, bound in a physical form, and can be called by a spell but their true essence is that of the spiritual plane. The Cetra bound these creatures in various places all over the planet. In doing so they created thirteen walls between the planet and the Lifestream which we currently inhabit. The Lifestream is a physical prison for spiritual energy. Remove these walls and we will be able to more forward."
"Okay thirteen spirits..." Cloud hit himself in the head. "The summons!"
"Exactly," Strife smiled faintly. "Be careful. Not all of the summons are friendly. Some sided with the Cetra during the war and became bound under their own choice. They will try to destroy you. That is why we called Sephiroth and Zack as well since they will help defend you until your task is finished."
Cloud hesitated for a moment. "Are they here too?"
"Sephiroth and Zack?" Cloud nodded. "Zack isn't far. He'll be helping us on our end. Sephiroth is still healing from his contact with Jenova." The green shimmering around him warned Strife that Cloud had stayed as long as he safely could. "You have to go. Should you succeed, we'll see each other again."
SHIFT IN SPACE
Cloud slowly raised his head and found himself washed up on the ground near the crevice he'd fallen into. At least this explained the patterns in the monsters' behavior. Some had been working for the Cetra, the others had tried to get him to Strife.
"Cloud!" Zack shouted spotting the blond. He ran over leaping over the carcasses littering the ground. Cloud absentmindedly noticed all of the monsters were dead. 'No wonder they looked sad,' he thought reviewing his memories. 'They knew they were going to die.' At one point these creatures had once been intelligent beings that cooperated with humanity, some of whom even served Gaia. "God Cloud, you're soaked!" Zack pulled the child into his arms. "Mako. Damn."
"Seph says…"
"Oh shut it," Zack grumbled. He carried the boy back to their camp. "We've got to get that mako off of you."
"Doesn't hurt," Cloud mumbled. The wound from earlier was gone too.
Zack ignored his young friend and quickly removed the soaked clothes then rinsed the mako off. "There." He held Cloud tightly. "Don't ever scare me like that again."
"Wasn't intentional," Cloud replied with a sigh. He looked up at his friend. "Can you get the others? I found out some stuff." After the entire group had reconvened and set camp Cloud explained what he had experienced in the Lifestream.
"Sounds like the old' the road to hell is paved with good intentions' line to me," Zack observed.
"How do we know this is real?" Barret looked suspicious. "You could have made it all up!"
Cloud glared at the black man. "Then you're just going to have to trust me because with or without you we will be doing this. Once we finish maybe Strife can send us home."
"It's our only lead Barret," Tifa pleaded softly. "We can't just throw it away!" The other members of Avalanche nodded in agreement. They missed their Cloud.
"So where do we start?" Nanaki asked.
"Who you mean," Cloud rubbed his forehead. "Do you have each of the summons? They're a little different from home."
Yuffie, materia hunter extraordinaire grinned. "All thirteen!"
"Well then, let's start with the least dangerous. I'm figuring this out as I go along and Strife warned me that some of them would be against us."
Yuffie tossed him a red materia. "Choco/Mog should suit you."
"Hey that was mine!" Tifa yelped. Yuffie merely held up a bag holding the rest of the summons. "Why you little thief…"
Cloud caught the materia and gradually reached out with his mind to the glowing sphere. Instantly he felt himself flying through the air towards Midgar then north. 'A chocobo ranch?" The materia continued to pull at him, this time down under the ranch's foundations. A distant power called towards the boy dragging him inside its prison. Cloud jerked free from the vision. "A chocobo ranch north of Midgar."
"I'll call the Highwind," Cid grumbled.
SHIFT IN SPACE
"Well this was rather easy," Zack observed as the stood next to Cloud. The owner of the chocobo ranch had gladly let them down to the house's basement. Once there they had found a tunnel built into the ball. A little digging revealed a cavern.
"Now comes the hard part," Cloud replied. He walked into the cavern and stopped by the center. "Look at this." He pointed at the large crystal set dead center in the stone floor. Inside two glowing lights flickered. Before anyone could reply, Cloud placed his hands and forehead against the crystal. The blond reached out and mentally poked the power anchoring the crystal. This was Cetra-magic, binding the souls to their will the same way materia bound particular spells. Luckily it was structured like a formula. Replacing particular components easily altered the spell. Unlike human magic that was more art than science.
Cloud could work with Cetra magic. He had to on many occasions, but it always made him shiver. The Cetra were alien, and it showed in their power. Shaking off his unease the blond reached out and carefully manipulated the spell to cause it to release the spirits instead of bind them. Unfortunately he didn't know exactly what he was doing…
CRACK
The crystal shattered into a billion pieces. In its place stood two summons, a chocobo and a mini mog. Cloud flushed. He had managed to deage the souls though he had actually no idea how… "That wasn't supposed to happen." The summons quickly faded from view. Oh well, at least he would know for next time.
"Where next?" Reno asked leaning against the cave's walls.
Yuffie passed Cloud another materia. The blond mentally consulted it for a second then nodded. "Gaea's cliffs. Time to free Shiva."
SHIFT IN SPACE
Cloud smiled as he felt the last of the bindings fall away. He managed to find the command that had changed the summon last time. The freed ice goddess smiled at the small boy who had freed her. Instead of fading as the last had she came forward and embraced the blond. Cloud felt a brief flash of recognition as he fell into the goddess' memories.
-Standing in the temple learning the spells of ice and storm-
-Examining her new born son with dark blue eyes and silvery brown hair-
-Feeling the wards fall as the Cetra attacked here home-
-Seeing her son die, blade in one hand and power in the other-
-Casting far beyond safety's limits willing to do anything to save her people-
-Feeling her flesh burn as it transformed into energy-
-The Cetra's cursed hands hard on her soul forcing her into a prison made a crystal-
-Called again and again by those using the Cetra's stones to battle-
-A small child with bright blue eyes whispering the words to free her…-
Cloud yanked free of the memories and shivered. The summon smiled. Thank you for freeing me young child of the planet. I go to search for my son. Should you need me in your quest merely call. I will hear you. May Gaia light your path.
"Cloud what are you standing around for?" Yuffie yelled. "Lets go!" Cloud shook himself free of his trance and headed out after the bouncy ninja.
End Chapter 6
I am very sorry for the delay. Between finals, getting ready for the holidays with two sick parents and preparing for our Christmas choir performance it has been quite hectic. I'll try to be more consistent!
My entire twist with the not so nice Cetra came from the line in the game in Nibelheim where Sephiroth accuses Cloud/Zack (can't remember which it really was) that his people abandoned the Cetra. My though was 'what if they couldn't help?' And since history is written by the winners it would obviously portray the Cetra in a positive light.
Yersi Fanel: Thanks so much for your support! Cloud wanted to do this review sections too. Maybe I'll send him back out for next chapter. Still am very impressed by the fact you read/write in English so well since I can't in my two secondary languages (French for 2 years, 1 semester of Japanese).
Rei: More questions! Glad to answer. No Cloud (either of them) isn't dead. But what happened to Strife won't get answered for several more chapters. ;p. Aeris technically was half and half though she was using her Cetra abilities to talk to the other Cetra in the lifestream, which Cetra can do instinctively. Obviously the information she got was slightly twisted as she only heard the Cetra's point of view.
No, no materia. Materia is condensed mako which is condensed Lifestream which is made of the souls and knowledge of those who have died. Materia didn't start forming until centuries after the Lifestream was first formed. With the summons I always thought it was stupid to say they were in the stones. If you play the game you know you can get more than one Shiva summon for example. Think of the materia as remote controls that control the summons from their physical resting place.
Jenova is dead in this universe. Cloud Strife killed her as this is post-game universe. The Holy and Meteor (black) materia aren't strickly summons. Holy contains the human's way to communicate with spirits. With this Aeris could beg aid from every spirit in the Lifestream as opposed to only the strongest Cetra. The Meteor materia is actually made up of the information on how to call objects and creatures form outer space, ie the very spell that called Jenova in the first place. Using either of these thought the inderct form of materia as opposed to casting the spells yourself needs a great deal more power which is why Aeris had to die (death energy, the rest of her life energy were absorbed) and Sephiroth used Meteor in the crater, a gathering place of power.
…: If you don't get it after the beginning of this chapter I suggest you read them both again. Cloud wasn't Escalavar (the creep. He was fun to write) he was living the Cetra's memories.
Matt-kun: Hope the beginning of six got rid of the confusion. ff (dot) net got rid of your email after the at sign I'm afraid.