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Chapter 2 - A Warriors Diary
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Banging on Zak's door awoke him. He threw on his clothes and went to answer the door, his hand tightly on his sword. When he threw the door open he found the square empty. Above him it was a full moon and quite windy. A large gust of wind pushed past him into his home blowing items off shelves, Zak coughed and opened his eyes again. His eyes were drawn to the Shin-Ra mansion, a light blazed in one of its windows, no one had entered the mansion in years, it was said to be immensely dangerous for even the most skilled of warriors.
Zak crossed the street and pushed open the gate, it opened without protest or sound. Zak walked over to the large oak doors which had been closed and locked since the Shin-Ra gave it up. He put a single hand on the door and pushed lightly. The door opened revealing a cavernous entrance hall. Zak stepped inside closing the doors behind him. The room was icily cold making his breath crystallise in front of him. The light was coming from one of the upstairs rooms. Zak walked up the decrepit stairs and crossed the landing into the room on his right which was where the candles burnt. The fireplace seemed to have been knocked through. Zak stepped through the hole onto a set of wooden beams set into a slightly slanting staircase. Zak walked down it slowly; water seeped from the roof and slid eerily down the wall. Near the end of the staircase Zak slipped and was sent spiralling down into the basement.
With a crash he landed on his side in the cold basement where purple torches burnt in long forgotten brackets. Zak coughed getting the inhaled dust from his lungs and back into the air. Zak dragged himself to his feet and looked around; walls, dust and a bad smell of disinfectant he mused. Zak walked down to the two doors at the end of the hallway. Zak tried the first door which did not budge even after him kicking it with as much force as he could muster. He swore rubbing his foot and leant on the other door which opened. "Oh…" said Zak but landed on his side winding himself and being unable to finish his obscenity. He lay there flat on his back looking up at the roof. The room was dark except for a single candle which was lad upon a desk at the very end of the room. Zak walked past the immense library of red felt bound books to the desk at the end. Zak pulled back the red winged chair and sat down, it was incredibly comfortable. Zak looked at the books upon the desk, each one seemed to be a document about some sort of experiment, it meant nothing to Zak. Zak threw the book back upon the desk and went rooting through the drawers. He found nothing but notes on subjects and ink bottles. "Helpful" mused Zak sitting back in the chair and looking around. It was a beautiful room but it could do with a clean. Zak pushed the chair back and went to put his feet upon the desk but his feet collided with it. "Damn" said Zak examining the desk to make sure that he had caused no damage and noticed that there was a drawer. He pulled on the secret drawer. It was empty with the exception of a black book and a silver pen. Zak removed the items from the drawer and sat back in the chair. The pen had an unusually sharp nib and Zak pocketed it. He opened the book to the first page and cursed. He flicked through the book and found that it was a diary and the writer had impossibly scruffy handwriting. Zak could only make out the words Jenova and Masamune, none of which Zak understood. On the final page a silver ring fell from between the pages, Zak picked it up and examined it; it had no hallmark or any sign that it had ever been worn. Zak flicked to the page that it had fallen from; there was a message in clear handwriting:
To whom it may concern,
The item you are holding is a very volatile magic item and I leave it to you, be careful.
Zak examined the rest of it, nothing. On the spine of the book there was an S knitted into it with silver thread. Zak placed the diary upon the desk and put on the ring, it was a perfect fit for him. He lay back examining it in the almost none-existent light, it glittered beautifully. "Enough for tonight" he told himself getting to his feet. Zak turned to push the chair back to the desk when he saw a silver strand of hair. Zak lifted it up and held it to the light; it was too long to be one of his. Zak curled it around his fingers and snapped it. The hair cut into his skin causing Zak to cry out in shock and let it go. The hair floated back down onto the seat. Zak examined the razor thin cut on his fingers then looked back at the strand of hair. "That's weird" he said to himself before turning away and leaving the basement and mansion.