Final Fantasy Seven Test Story
Chapter One: Dark memories.
The darkness surrounding them seemed endless and emotionally consuming; direction had no meaning in this eerie black filled nothingness. The two men stood gazing into each others eyes with an anger so magnificent it could tear through even the strongest of spirits. They both continued to glare like men possessed; each with a wild and destructive fiery glare that seemed to flail and flutter. They remained silent yet ready as if they seemed to be waiting for an eternity to pass before either of them made even the slightest twitch. The silence was like a blanket covering everything; yet it couldn't fall because the word floor didn't exist; at least not there and no floor meant no up nor down. In each of their hands they both gripped tightly two extremely different kinds of swords; they way they held onto their swords stated they weren't going to let go that easily; because of the way they held their weapons, the veins on their hands rose to the surface like thick green ropes, twisting and throbbing, like plants watched with time-lapse photography;
The taller of the two men held a finely crafted Masamune blade; its steel was so beautifully polished and shiny like a valuable mirror suggested, it was well taken care of. The length of the blade was astounding, jaw dropping and eye glaringly addictive. The end of the blade was expertly cut, crafted and shaped to a point of utter perfection; it could slice through just about anything, just like a knife cuts through butter. Every single detail on this sword had been taken into account. Just below the blade the hand guard performed a perfectly designed, three hundred and sixty degree circle; which again had been perfectly shaped and smoothened off to a point of being impeccably well crafted and smoothened off to a point of attaining pure perfection; even the design of the hand guard had the design of a silver dragon which blended in well. The handle was wrapped in a dreary black silk like material and on top of that, tiny little stitchings that seemed to endlessly create a symmetrical pattern all the way down to the bottom like snakes. Its third layer on the handle consisted of an extremely well rubber grip with perfect finger tight groves that allowed the fingers enough spacing to maintain a good grip without slipping. All in all, this was one of the greatest swords in the world.
The name of the man wielding the demon of a sword went by the name of Sephiroth. His ominous presence never went without question. His enormous size and build were something unnatural; when he spoke people listened, when he walked people moved when he stared people lowered their heads and when he asked for something he got it immediately without question and without doubt. This mans reputation and authority weren't greatly exaggerated. His skill and power accompanied his reputation which went worldwide. His silvery long hair swayed in the calm and gentle breeze like a paper bag caught in the wind with no sense of direction. The wind which levitated his hair seemed to pass from nowhere. Half of his pale face was cast in shadow and all that could be seen was his intensifying turquoise eyes set like stone on the other mans eyes; they were almost transfixed like some sort of spell had overcome him. He was covered from head to foot in black clothing except his frontal area was bear. All that showed was his muscular body. His toned abdominal area was perfection due to his previous intense military career. His muscular biceps were tensed as his gripped the sword tightly. His grin seamed to release toxins of evil which could entice any opponent.
His opponent who was stood directly opposite Sephiroth was a man named Cloud Strife. He wasn't as tall as Sephiroth but he certainly wasn't the person to be judged solely on his, size nor appearance. The thing that stood out the most about Cloud Strife was his hair; His pure blonde hair was styled in spikes which defied gravity so to speak. His usual ocean blue eyes were replaced by fiery embers of hatred and revenge. Cloud wore a sleeveless blue navy jumper made of fine wool, which had a silver zip going straight down the centre. On his right shoulder he wore a jet black shoulder pad; and nailed to the front of that was a peculiar wolf emblem which looked finely made complete with a silver polish finish. One of his blonde spikes came directly in front of his face but he could ignore it. His silver ear ring which looked smelted onto his right ear seemed to absorb tiny specs of light. In a sense, Cloud was the exact opposite to Sephiroth certainly appearance wise; but deep inside he had flames of anger and a mysterious past which he hoped to wrap up quickly and It was all going to end right now.
Finally, the silent statue that was Sephiroth raised an outstretched hand and made a mocking sign by bringing his four fingers together and motioning them back and fourth as a sort of insult towards Cloud. This triggered an internal click which sparked Clouds fuse as he ran at sephiroth in fast and furious assault every step he took echoed throughout the dark demonic nothingness. Time seemed to slow down as Cloud was charging at Sephiroth with his sword held high. His opponent glared and brought up an evil grin as his demise was closing on him fast. Clouds weapon looked as though it weighed the equivalent of four fully grown elephants. The blade was easily the size of two thick chunks of square metal. They usually called swords like this either a two handed or broad sword, but no, this was something else, this one was called "The buster sword". Its name was certainly fitting because of abominable size. It was made a lot less finely than the Masamune; I mean you really couldn't get much finer a sword than the Masamune. Instead of a finely polished steel blade; Clouds was covered with just about everything; ranging from blood, dirt, dents and scratches.
As Cloud was running, he prepared to swing his sword across cutting Sephiroth in two; at least, that was his next move which, he didn't have to think about, it was as though it just came to him. As he was mere seconds away from delivering that deadly blow, Sephiroth had up and vanished like a ghost can pass through walls. The force of Cloud sword almost knocked him over, but something stopped him from doing so. It was the sound he recognized, the sound of steel slicing through air at an alarming rate; in recognizing this sound Cloud ducked as fast as he could, sweeping the floor with his buster sword forcing the unsuspecting Sephiroth to jump over it. As he did Cloud took this opportunity to heave the buster sword over his shoulder and let the wait drop down on to Sephiroth. But Sephiroth heard this coming. He inched to the side midway in his aerial jump and parried the blow with the Masamune causing a loud denting sound. Sephiroth swung his powerful leg and slammed it into Cloud unsuspected face, like a hammer hitting a nail.
The impact of the blow simply knocked Clouds head to the side; it was as though he was reacting to the force rather than the actual pain. The embers in his eyes were almost on the verge of leaping out from his demented face and setting his setting his opponent into raging flames. Cloud quickly regained his balance and displayed a show of grace, as he flung his sword effortlessly as it cut through the still air, even though Cloud used but a single hand he still managed to reach Sephiroths Masamune. Cloud delivered and with much effort, blow after endless blow but it seemed to be doing little more than knocking Sephiroths Masamune. Sephiroths icy pale lips lifted to reveal yet another murky, evil, sadistic and torturing grin; his milky white teeth were kept impeccably clean as they seemed to reflect the flames in cloud eyes. "Just die you heartless bastard "
Sephiroth summoned a laugh so sinister; it was as though he'd dragged it up from the dark pits of an unearthly hell the likes of which you would never speak. After deflecting yet another blow from Cloud, Sephiroth levitated several meters off the floor like a bird would take flight and gradually glided away from cloud as though he was an angel.
Cloud had had enough of this and ran after Sephiroth like a demon had possessed him. The air whipped behind him forcing his golden spikes to blow back. Just as Cloud was about to lunge at Sephiroth with an almighty blow, He started to slowly disappear in a pure ray of a white and blinding light, which illuminated the darkness surrounding them and obscuring Clouds vision.
In replace of the ominous and lethal Sephiroth, knelt innocent women with a pure and caring face and a warm smile that shattered the billowing darkness. Her long brown hair coiled like twisted springs, which was tied together neatly by a beautifully made, pink silk bow. Her emerald green eyes sparkled and shone like the sun reflecting of a gentle green sea, which more than made up for the calm and soothing noise that often accompanied an ocean. Her icy white smile melted Clouds heart on the spot, distracting him from the harsh reality of his sword inches away from annihilating the goddess of beauty. Those of course were his thoughts of her. Her luscious pink dress wavered ever so slightly at the blow of the breeze. Her cherry colored jacket was open to allow easier movement in the arms.
"Let me handle Sephiroth". The womans voice was soothing and calm.
"And Cloud, you take care of yourself."
Just as Clouds sword was about to penetrate the soft silky skin of Aeris's face, everything went completely black.
Cloud awoke in a small dark room, the rain was lashing down on the windows like a thousand tiny pebbles being thrown; it was as if the rain itself seemed desperate to get in. The only traces of light were cast by the rhythmical lightning; it was like the thunder and lightning were a beat and the thunder was just out of sync. The lighting cast fierce shadows that were emphasized by the numerous objects lying around the room. A simply made wooden chair sat opposite a basic wooden table. The chair was just about ready for the scrap heap. Scattered clothes lay strewn on the laminate flooring and some thrown across the back of the chair. What little light there was, was quickly absorbed by the harsh and stone colored wallpaper; not your typical choice for a room. The silver colored blinds were being blown and slammed into the sides of the wall it covered, due to a small window being left open in the night, probably to let air circulate the room. A cracked mirror sat at an odd angle on the wall and beneath it, a protruding piece of wood which ran underneath the mirror nailed firmly in place. Random pieces of hair equipment and brushes occupied the wooden surface.
"Aeris!" Cloud shot up bolt right, streams of sweat trickled down his forehead like a waterfall, his hands seemed to shake ferociously as he tried to grip them and his breath was ragged and sharp as he tried to gather his senses. He threw the black covered blanket to the floor in a rage of anger, which was fueled by his memories that had obviously transformed into a nightmare. Flung his legs out onto the side of the bed swiftly and stood on the cold flooring. His buster sword lay slanted in the furthest corner of the room with the dreary metal gray reflecting particles of light. The dust parting the way for Cloud feet as he marched over towards his sword; each step resembled his anger growing. He stopped several inches from the sword and stared into an invisible oblivion; his black pupils were like dark pits of isolation. His face seemed completely unfazed for several seconds, that it until something inside him triggered a catastrophic explosion, yearning him to heave the buster sword over his shoulder and slam it down into the old wooden table; splinters went in every which direction and the table split into, not an entirely clean cut either. "Why did you have to come into my life you son of a bitch?"
Cloud wasn't thinking straight, his mind was filled with dark memories of Sephiroth torturing him inside. He went over to the mirror in a haste and swung the sword smashing it into tiny little pieces; the fragments of glass were like miniature crystals. Cloud was lucky they now littered the floor rather than his eyes. Parts of the wall started to crumble away knocking over the shelf and all its contents. Cloud eventually came to his senses and started to ease up on the destruction of his room. Cloud rammed his sword into the fragile boards of the laminate at looked around at what remained of his room. The floor boards cracked like the painful snapping of bones.
" Aeris" Cloud muttered. "Why did you have to depart us like that, was it all really worth it? Was it all really necessary? I should have been there to protect you, I should have been quicker … why wasn't I quicker!" Clouds voice began to rise ever so slightly. "Why didn't you ... Just stay in Midgar, at least you'd still be alive today" Cloud tilted his head back deep in thought trying to recall a memory.
"I'll go too. ...I have things that I want to find out." Aeris said in a soft tone.
"About the Ancients?" Cloud asked with an inquisitive voice.
"Many things …. "
Cloud snapped back to consciousness with a big kick. A tear managed to escape down his cheek sliding down like an icy cold raindrop. After the defeat of Sephiroth the previous year, the company Cloud kept seemed to drift apart and eventually lose contact. With the way things were, Cloud thought it best to start some sort of new life away from the hustle and bustle of city life and the people that inhabited those cities. After weeks of wandering and searching, he found the perfect little place, surrounded by a small forest. Of course, Cloud didn't have to pay for thing, after all he found it, and it had no owner and certainly no sign of anyone returning to it, besides it was a complete wreck so anyone with high standards probably wouldn't touch it. After weeks of redecorating, rebuilding and installing a suitable drainage and water system which really wasn't Clouds forte, he thought it a nice little place to settle down. It was a standard building complete with two bedrooms, one of which Cloud kept as a storage room. A bathroom, a kitchen and finally a living room.
Cloud walked over to the corner and placed his sword were it previously sat, in the corner. He opened the bedroom door with slow moaning creek and made for the staircase. He hadn't gotten round to laying down a carpet on the stairs just yet. "Gotta get a carpet down soon" Cloud added that to his to do list. As he reached the bottom he veered left into his kitchen, which he was very proud to have made all by himself, considering he's had no experience in building anything. The only thing that had kept him going all those seven long years ago, was a dream of joining the famous Soldier which was the armyof the mega corporate company named Shinra which tried to suck the life energy from the planet; luckily Cloud and his team had prevailed in stopping the evil company.
As he entered the kitchen he flicked on the switch and the room became engulfed in a bright light, which shone out into the darkness of the forest. The thought of a glass of icy cold water trickling down his throat which felt like an inferno seemed like a tempting idea, so he strode over to the fridge and pulled out his jug of water, which he had a habit of refilling everyday. "Glasses" Cloud scratched his head. "No glasses … great"
Cloud soon dismissed the thought of a glass and guzzled down the waterfall of drink, half of which spilt onto his bare chest. It really didn't bother him though, after all every morning at 5:00 am, he would have a bucket of the stuff thrown over him back in solider. This is how they dealt with the "lazy ones "surely enough Cloud was one of them. If there was anything Cloud hated, it was getting up early. He put his jug back in its place and headed over to a small table in the corner just to the side of the fridge. Cloud slowly pulled back the chair as it scraped the damp kitchen floor and slumped into heap. Sighing heavily, Cloud was lost in thought wondering what his friends were doing and if they're ok. Even though Cloud hated to admit it, he missed all the action, the thrills and the dangers, not knowing what was round the next corner, would he escape from whatever situation alive and all the cool people he'd met. But the thing he'd missed most all was his childhood friend Tifa; if he wanted to see anyone, it was Tifa. "Hmm tifa, why not, I could pay her a little visit, but what if she's married, she might have kids …. She might not even want to see me. The thought of mustering up enough courage to see tifa was hard indeed. His mind raced with all different kinds of thoughts, mostly consisting of "what ifs" He hadn't needed this much courage since the time when he told Tifa he was leaving to join solider 7 years ago. Cloud shuddered involuntarily "I'll never forget that night …"
Cloud had no idea were Tifa lived, but he had a rough of idea where she might be.
"Better start packing then" Cloud uttered to himself. He pushed back on the chair and stood up performing a stretch so high it was as though he was reaching for something. He left the kitchen area and headed for the comfort of his living room, nothing special, just your basic television which sat behind a large window, opposite that a grey colored couch lay cozily on the diamond blue carpet, which had dirty prints in several places. Cloud stepped over to were an old looking duffel bag was draped over the back of the couch.
Cloud grasped the old bag with one hand "Guess this will do "
As Cloud was about to leave the living room, the lights in the house suddenly gave way; it was as though a black curtain of dark had just completed covered everywhere.
"Ugh …. What now" Cloud was displeased with this minor inconvenience"
Cloud ignored this for now as he had other business to attend to. "Another thing to add to the list" Cloud hoped it was but a small power cut; but other forces were at work, forces which Cloud was completely oblivious to. He marched up the stairs half in a mood with himself and half just wanting to get out of the dump he called a house. In the cavernous shadows of his room he tried desperately to find his top. "Bingo" Cloud slid on jumper like a snake slowly but smoothly slithering into a hole. From outside, a human shadow was cast as it bounced silently through the dreary darkness of Cloud room. His ocean eyes caught sight of this and thought it odd. He thought he was being paranoid, but just to satisfy himself he walked over to the window and slyly pressed down on the blinds revealing a small gap of which he looked out of. His eyes widened in amazement and disbelief both of the feelings trying to be the victor in which cloud should think.
What were probably two males stood pressed against the sides of the house, one at either side of the back door. Before Cloud could accept this, another two appeared as if out of nowhere and trained their clunky metallic grey weapons at the door. The rain outside seemed to blank out there faces. The half eaten moon was there only source of light, as its radiant pale light shone mysteriously around them. From upstairs Cloud remembered from his basic training at soldier, that if the weapons those people down below were using got soaked through, the chance of said weapon firing changed to 78.2; not of much use but it was better than nothing he figured.
The person to the left raised his hand and flicked his two fingers forward towards the back door; the other solider to his right acknowledged this and removed something shiny from his pocket as it glimmered happily in the pale moon. "My back door …. Bastards"
One of the people dressed in black started to insert the object into Clouds door. The clicking noise it made would have woken up half a block, that is, if Cloud lived anywhere near a populated area; he'd started to wish he had. Clouds blood started to pump hastily like garden hose, shortly followed by his adrenaline rush. "Didn't think I'd need to use you again old friend; what am I doing talking to a sword, perhaps I am going crazy"
Cloud heaved his sword onto his back and began making his way to the bathroom.
Knocking all kinds of bottles and toothbrushes out of the way Cloud managed to open up the sliding bathroom window; wind and rain began pouring in slapping into his face causing him to blink repeatedly. He used the toilet as a footing for one leg and used the sink for his other, eventually grabbing hold of the rough wet brickwork outside. Just above the window a sloping roof protruded; drops of water fell from it as though committing suicide. Cloud took the buster sword from his back and managed to get the oversized thing out the window and onto the roof, without it slipping. He turned around so that his back was facing the cold harsh lashing rain and slowly eased him self out. With his head he assessed his situation and with two hands, grabbed onto the sloping roof and pushed out further. Now in a position to get out of the warmth of his house, reluctantly, he hung outside, his body temperature swiftly lowering and wrapped his legs up to the side swiftly, so that his hold body was now on an angle, and from there just edged his way up.
Down below the soldiers were signaling each other to let them know that it was time to move out. One by one they slowly yet cautiously stepped inside trying to cause as little noise as possible. There muddy boots squelched on the floor causing a sickly squelching sound that echoed throughout the cavernous house. Their shadows were like dance partners as they moved gracefully whenever a soldier swiftly turned. The kitchen was the first place they came across; remnants of someone drinking here were shown. "Clear "
A male voice whispered as best he could. The four men kept there wits about them as they trained there weapons on just about everything, even the slightest thing that moved. As like before two of them waited and two scouted ahead. The living room was desolate and the air was full of stray dust which was illuminated by the faint streams of moonlight. "Clear"
The two from the kitchen moved out cover the back. As they made there way up the stairs, two faced upwards the other two slowly walked behind them backwards, to prevent an unsuspecting assault from behind. As they reached the top of the stairs the noticed they bedroom door open ever so slightly. The leading man took out a moldy green colored grenade, with what looked like squares off a chocolate bar glued to the sides. He went on to raise his hand with only three fingers up, then two and when it got to one, he rolled the grenade in, and surely enough a deafening explosion soon followed. "Move, move, move." The four of them burst in like wild animals scanning what remained of the bedroom. The table what was in half now laid in pieces with splinters covering everywhere like a miniature wood. The impact of the blast sent shards of glass everywhere; the men's leather boots crunched as they checked the wreckage.
With the window what Cloud had opened and the window that now lay in scattered pieces, it started to cause a back draft slowly opening and closing the bathroom door. This obviously caught the attention of one of the men. "Hmmm?" In curiosity he examined the source of the noise. He slowly walked like a silent shadow towards the bathroom each step as cautious as the next. His mind quickly assessed what must have happened, that his target must have escaped out of the bathroom window in a hurry. The man leant against the sink and stuck his head out the window, his eyes wandering into the lonely forest, its trees wavering with the direction of the wind. Just as the man was in the process of shouting to his comrades, two savage greedy arms lunged out at his collar dragging him head first out the bathroom window. Cloud dangled the man with one arm over the roof of his house ripping of the soldiers mask with his other hand and stared into his intense sea green eyes, as though captivated. "Those eyes … "
Cloud spaced out, however, still subconsciously holding the intruder.
"That glow in your eyes... you're from SOLDIER, right?"
"Yeah. Rather I used to be."
"... I don't know how to say this, but, would you please leave here, tonight?" Without telling Aeris."
Cloud quickly threw the thought to the back of his mind, because something else caught his eye. On the shoulder of the mans arm was a familiar logo; a kite outlined with white lines and a strawberry red background complete with the words …….. Shinra cooperation written across it. Cloud's face went blank but expressed signs of shock, disbelief, severe confusion complete with anger. The man he was holding slowly reached for his belt, where a knife laid dangerously. That side weapon used to be a standard issue back in soldier and if you lost it there was no replacement, you would usually have to buy your own or in the most extreme of cases, steal someone else's. Cloud felt the searing pain of jagged cold steel tear across his arm, revealing spurts of blood like a spilt bottle of the finest red wine. With his new found wound, cloud's arm contracted vigorously, dropping the soldier to the ground. The intruder whipped out a rectangular black radio which he slammed to his ear. "He's on the roof; he's on the roof, get up there now" The mans voiced echoed throughout the whispering forest.
Clouds facial features frowned. "Not good."
The men who still resided in the house, heard his plea for help and clambered out of the room like a heard of hungry cattle. The intruder that had fallen to the ground aimed his weapon roughly in Clouds direction and squeezed gently on the trigger, as gently as you would take care of a new born child. Sharp shimmering objects that glistened in the hanging portrait that was the moon, flung themselves near Cloud, their piecing edges chipping the tiles of roof sending shards everywhere. "Can this day get any worse?" Cloud asked himself.
Clouds question was soon answered by the spray of bullets that tore through the roof of his house. He tried as best he could to swerve and maneuver out of the way slowly, as to avoid slipping after all, the rain continued to crash down making feet vulnerable to slipping. "Forget this ... "
Cloud took a running jump and leapt gracefully, like a soaring eagle passes elegantly through the air, along with his sword which he had poised and ready to cut his opponent into two messy chunks. The fierce wind followed behind the stainless steel blade as it fell hard on the soldier's vulnerable chest, causing a deep laceration; warm heat and a sickly colored blood pulsated from the injury resulting in the intruder to collapse on the on spot; splashes of a murky brown mud splashed over him like a sea of filth. "Maybe I can lose these goons in the forest, ok Cloud stop talking to you and mosey!"
As Cloud entered the lonely, silent and isolated forest, the leafless branches seemed to lunge out at him trying to bar his path. His foot steps in the squelching dirt covered his boots, the rustling of the leaves sounded throughout like a violent echo. The grey lifeless drops of rain seemed to be attracted to Clouds face like a magnet as he ran deeper into the eerie wood. The bright rays of the silvery moon gradually lessened as he ran. His heart beat elevated and his lungs pulsated like a child blowing in and out of a thin paper bag.
Not far behind him, the intruders ran in hot pursuit sending waves of anger and frustration around them. They open fired into the forest not being able to see a thing, just holding onto a hope they could incapacitate the pray. Bullets impacted into the old trees; it was as though when hit the bark snapping off sent cries that resounded throughout. As they ran they had to shield there eyes as it started to become somewhat of a nuisance. As Cloud looked back in curiosity, he could see in the distance fiery flames that the bullets created and the echoing sounds that accompanied them. Instead of just going straight, Cloud veered of left hoping he wouldn't run into his pursuers. He just kept going left until he came to some sort of opening. In the distance he could here faint sounds of motorized vehicles, by the sounds of it cars. "I thought I moved out here for some peace and quiet … so much for that, and what's with that Shinra logo and why'd they come looking for me. Ugh... That can wait till later my first priority is finding Tifa"
Clouds heartbeat gradually returned to normal, as he could see the opening just a few meters in front of him. It wasn't exactly an opening fit for him to squeeze through, but his sword would make short work of it. He hacked and slashed away cutting all lose ends, branches, thorn bushes and logs; it did however leave a mess on the floor, but no one would notice. He ripped any remaining branches out the way and stepped out onto the verge of immaculately kept grass that blow freely yet still remained attached to the ground. The only thing Cloud could see was never ending blackness of the out stretched road ahead. Bushes sat waiting at either side of it and a thick mist began to slowly settle over the area like a leaf fluttering silently down to the ground. "This just really isn't my day……. "