Chapter I

Standing alone by himself in the localized park, that had many pathways winding in various directions and fiddling with his cell phone before finally pocketing the electronic device, Vincent Valentine took one last inhale of the slightly bent cigarette he carried on his lips, before he crushed it with his thumb and fore finger and flicking the extinguished butt away. Rolling his head from side to side until he felt the familiar pop and finally letting out a long held sigh and the puff of smoke along with it, he slipped his hands in his pockets and began to walk along one of the paved paths. He had remained there until nightfall, figuring out on how to proceed after the incident that happened there earlier that day…

13 hours prior

- Sector 5 High School -

A wide modular, rustic building that had several smaller campuses that covered most of the block, stood tall. The grounds were covered, for the most part, with little to no vegetation and students were already trickling into the main doors of the structure to start the morning. This was the only public high school in the area, and this particular building carried roughly 2,000 students and staff.

A chorus of good mornings and idle chatter were heard amongst the crowds.

"Cloud!" a youthful exuberant girl, with long dark brown hair, swung and linked her arms around the neck of a certain spiky-haired blond. This nearly knocked the wind out of the male teen, but he recovered promptly and laughed it off and allowed the girl to hang off him.

"Good morning." He offered a small smile, and adjusted his stance so he can accompany the added weight she placed on him, as to not lose his balance.

Yes, Cloud and Tifa were close friends, despite the fact that they were complete opposites in eyes of their peers; Cloud being the quiet, unsocial individualist and Tifa being one of the more popular girls in the school. She took part in several of the athletic clubs and was also a participant in the student council. She must have been school vice president, if Cloud remembered correctly. Her classmates also didn't quite understand her relationship with the quiet teen, or why she bothered with him in the first place. He wasn't the most handsome or cleverest, and compared to other boys his age, he wasn't the fastest or strongest in his class either.. But they both paid little to no attention to the opinions of others, and instead valued each other and the history they shared from their early childhood.

They were in the halls which were bustling with other students and teachers making their way to their morning classes; Cloud was currently at his locker, quickly picking out his first class course work and text, but as soon as he secured the lock and about to walk away and head to class, Tifa who was waiting patiently beside him, comfortably shoulder bumped him and the pair were instantly glue to the hip. They had English period together upstairs.

Everything was normal, and life was pretty much routine for the students walking in the halls; even the teachers were in unusually bright moods that morning.

Before long the two students entered the class together, Tifa falling from Cloud's side to greet her other, more popular friends.

Cloud placed his books onto the desk slumped into his chair and yawned. This was his final English class of his high school career, and strangely enough he wasn't worried about what comes after graduation, unlike the rest of the student body. He contemplated for a bit on his average grades, and it wouldn't be a too much of a hassle to get into a local college if he seriously pursued it, but he just didn't have the funds to push forward for secondary education. Unlike Tifa, the brilliant and kind friend that she is. She is a year younger than her classmates, but she showed much promise in her early years and was allowed to advance a grade and stay by Cloud's side every step of the way. But he knew that she was going off to do better and greater things, and he was so proud of her and what she accomplished. She didn't talk much about what was going to happen when the school year is finally finished, and Cloud figures that she wants to ignore the inevitable and preserve the way things are now.

Maybe he can do some traveling before talking to his dad about getting a job.

Cloud's parents are not his biological parents, but he knew them since he was a young boy and considers them as such. Also, he can't recall his early childhood in much detail, just that he was told that he had lived with his single mother in a small town of a name he can't quite remember at the moment. 'Huh, odd.' he pondered. He's sure if he asked his adoptive parents for more information he'll likely get answers, but why bother with something that's in the past? He was happy the way things are now, as far as he knew.

Just as soon as Cloud was about to lean his forehead against the cool desk, there was a significantly loud disruption that could be heard from down the empty hall. Then a great deal of yelling echoed from the lower levels, completely shattering the almost serene day. Cloud noticed that a couple of his classmates scrambling towards the windows to look down to see if they could spot what the problem was. There was then a loud crash and a scream that pierced throughout the school. Everyone remained still.

Cloud and Tifa both glanced at one other and shared a concerned look.

This was certainly out of the ordinary.

Then just as quickly and abruptly, Mr. Reeve Tuesti, one of the school's counselors, ran into the classroom, sliding and closing the door with a slam. He was noticeably sweating and breathing quite heavily. "S-sit down." He said nervously towards the students by the windows.

Some of the pupils surrounded the counselor and questioned on what was happening on the floor below.

"Everything's fine." He caught his breath and swallowed nervously, "The enforcements will be here shortly." He chortled, then lifted his hand to his mouth, coughed and cleared his throat "Your teacher should be here soon to start your studies." He plastered a precarious smile across his face, clearly trying to distract the students.

"Did somebody get hurt?" A few of the determined students continued with the questions, not easily to be swayed from what was going on in everybody's minds.

"Just remain in the classroom, everything will be alright." Mr. Tuesti continued to placate the inquiring students. His nervousness seemed to have calmed somewhat, as he relaxed and took a deep breath to soothe his earlier shattered nerves.

Then there was more yelling, screaming and commotion, and all of a sudden it was the principal who broke the tense atmosphere in the room by speaking though the intercom. "Attention staff and students, this is your principle speaking. This is an emergency and I strongly advise staff and students to remain in your classrooms and lock the doors and remain calm. Once again, I strongly advise you to remain in the classrooms.." It was evident that there was fear in his voice as he addressed the entire school in such a hurried fashion.

Cloud and Tifa once again exchanged equally troubled looks, then she walked over to Cloud and frowned. "What do you think is going on down there?"

Cloud shook his head and responded. "No way of knowing."

Then the classroom broke out into worried and excited conversations, some of the students then pulled out their cellular devices and began rapidly texting.

"A burglar?"

"As if! Think the school's being hijacked?"

Then another loud disruption could be heard, this time it sounded as if it was upstairs, just down the hall.

A curious naive student was going to attempt to open the door and take a peek out, but the counselor quickly dove to the door before said student and locked it. "Remember what the principal said." he had his back to the students, looking to see if there were more hidden locks that he could engage.

"Have you seen what was happening downstairs?" Tifa decided to try her luck at prying answers from up until this point, the tightly lipped counselor. And waiting in the suspenseful situation she had placed her hand on Cloud's shoulder and held fast.

Mr. Tuesti anxiously looked back at the students and it was now blatantly clear to anyone that he was trying to hide some crucial information. And something like this should not be kept quiet, not when the student's lives could potentially be in danger. Swallowing thickly and bringing a hand up to run over his face he began to explain, "I was on my way to the office when-"

Then an abrupt sharp knock on the door silenced the counselor mid sentence.

"I know he's in there. Would you kindly unlock this door?" A deep voice could be heard from the other side of the secured door.

"Oh god he's here." Reeve whispered and staggered away from the entryway. He then motioned the students to gather on one side of the room, next to the windows and teacher's desk. He looked towards the slightly alarmed students and attempted to smile reassuringly, which turned out to be short of a grimace. "I want you all to stay together and go through the next classroom door and wait with the other class." he instructed. At the sudden prospect of seeing the next door classroom, the students wasted no time and did what he had requested, one of the students hurriedly opened the small emergency door and they began to file into the next room, excitedly chattering with the other students within, still unaware of the immediate danger outside their very own door.

In fact, there were two exits in this classroom, in case of such an urgent situation. One door to the far left of the chalkboard and teacher's desk, which Reeve just instructed the students to go through, to join the adjacent classroom. And a similar door on the opposite side which joined with another classroom. Nearly all classrooms in this school had an emergency escape route.

Then he scanned the crowd for Cloud, who was standing behind Tifa, near the end of the line, waiting for the other students to slowly file into the other classroom. He was quickly at his side, trying not to cause panic to the teen he lowered his voice and disclosed quickly "Cloud. I'm afraid that you'll have to come with me." He looked gravely distressed and without waiting for a reaction, he pulled Cloud from the small group and began to tug him towards the opposite door that leads to the other classroom.

"Sir? Why can't I stay with Tifa and the others?" He protested, giving Reeve a hard time trying to pull him any further. The teenaged boy was utterly confused as to why he was being singled out and was to be separated from his classmates.

"Cloud, listen," He stood in front of the teen and held him by the shoulders and bent down a little to look him in the eyes. "I have a feeling that the man out there is looking for you," Mr. Reeve then tore his eyes from Cloud and looked up to check if the students continued evacuating the room, nodding at their obedience, he looked back at Cloud, noticing his furrowed brow, he then continued his rushed explanation, "Before I came running into your class, I saw that man bursting though the front doors and calling for someone. He was yelling your name, Cloud. And if you know another student who goes by your name in this school I beg you please tell me now. If not then we must be going on our way."

"Who is he? Why aren't the police here?" Cloud stressed, still remained rooted on the spot, not quite satisfied with Reeve's statement.

"Please Cloud-" Reeve tried once more to persuade the student by placing his hand on his back and leading him towards the escape route..

"Cloud!" Tifa gasped. Both Reeve and Cloud looked back in her direction. She was pointing towards the locked entryway that Reeve left moments prior. There, glistening through the wooden door was something similar to a blade of a sword, which pierced easily through the wood. Then the next moment, the door was kicked in and turned into flying debris and splinters. Students began shrieking and now started to push into each other trying to go through the other classroom, now effectively causing panic.

There stood standing, was a 6" tall man, with icy blue eyes with a hint of a greenish hue that nearly seemed to glow in the artificial light of the classroom. And what was even more distinguishing was that he had long silver hair which draped over his broad shoulders. He was clothed in black and silver. The sword belonged to him, which looked to be even longer than the wielder carrying it. He stepped into the class and his eyes went over the small crowd of shrieking, and panicking students who continued to push their way and unfortunately impede their escape.

Reeve's legs were shaking, he used his body as a cover and tried to shield Cloud from the sword-wielding man's eyes. He ushered the younger male to move but before they could even reach the door the silver haired man spoke. "Ah, there you are at last." His eyes finally caught sight of the younger male and he was struck in awe, for a moment it was as if he was figuring something out in that split second of hesitance. He then found his voice.

"I've finally found you, Cloud." His voice deep and was nearly monotone, he all but purred the blond's name.

Cloud instantly felt a shiver go up his spine, and slowly peered around Reeve to have a look at the man who addressed him by name. Their eyes locked for an intense moment and something inside Cloud twisted. Have they met before? Clearly not recognizing him.

Reeve then turned around to face the other man and made sure that Cloud was still standing behind him, "Sephiroth, what are you doing here?" His plan was to stall for time, and to turn his focus away from Cloud.

"Reeve, wasn't it?" Sephiroth flat out ignored his question, not at all interested in engaging in small chatter with the commoner. As difficult as it was to look away from the captivating eyes of the young male, he then moved his attention onto the counselor. "We haven't met but I heard a great deal about you and I can't say that I'm impressed. Now, listen carefully as I only want to have to say this once." his voice getting dangerously low, but still held the commanding tone "would you step aside so I can claim what is mine?"