A week had passed and Cloud felt that he was adapting to his new life fairly well. His foster mother Reira was a woman in her mid-forties who had retired two years ago on the grounds of ill health. She used to be the town's artisan specialized in making musical instruments. Her husband Lennard was a vet a few years older than her, and occasionally attended calls for livestock in the nearby villages but mostly treated pets for people in town.

Cloud laid on his side holding onto his stuffed bear. After reading him a bedtime story about a Chocobo chick that almost died from eating poison mushrooms, Reira had kissed him good night while tucking him into bed, and he'd managed not to flinch back from the contact. Although he had learned from their minds that they cared for him genuinely, it still didn't make any sense to him that they were doing it without asking for anything in return. Cloud wondered uneasily what they would think of him if they knew what he was.

Months ago he had grown into the power of altering his body to his liking. He experimented on himself, changing the hair color, modifying the facial structure, lengthening limbs, etc. Maintaining those changes put a strain on him so he lost interest after a while and stopped trying, letting his body return to its natural state. Hojo had observed with interest and urged him to try growing out extra limbs, so he pretended to try but failed the attempts to not be downright disobedient. But he kept changing one small thing ever since he started planing his escape, which was toning down the mako glow in his eyes to appear normal. The practice paid off when he finally executed the plan.

Just as he drifted into sleep, the doorbell rang. He jumped out of bed instinctively and looked towards the entrance, seeing through a few walls with a little trouble. There stood two lion-like creatures that looked like Nanaki but were larger, and Nanaki himself. Poking into the biggest one's mind, he found out that they were here to check on him as if he was a threat to the people in town. He could understand their motives but it still seemed ridiculous to him. He'd never hurt a person physically, had he? The thought somehow made his vision blur as a wave of dizziness washed over him. He shook his head to clear it and walked out of the room. Reira was already at the entrance, politely turning down their request to see him, saying that he was already asleep and they should come back later.

"Mrs. Donovan, you have no idea what you are dealing with. Nanaki said they were experimenting with all kinds of monsters there. I know from experience some monsters assume human-like appearances to get close to their prey," the largest of the three beasts said in a deep voice.

"It's your safety that's at stake. We won't leave until the problem's solved," the second creature who was slightly smaller than the first one added.

"I don't understand. Is Shinra after him or something?"

"I'm talking about the boy. Our senses tell us he may not be human. I want to meet him to make sure the safety of this town is not compromised," the second beast replied.

"This is absurd, how could-"

"It's okay, Reira. They are just checking up on me to make sure you're safe." Cloud walked to the hallway. The two beasts immediately tensed up, backs arched as if preparing for an attack. "But you are wrong about me. I'm not trying to harm anyone here," Cloud told the unknown beasts who were taller than him. The creatures both wore feathered headdresses similar to Nanaki's and had tattoos on their thighs. They must be Nanaki's parents, he suddenly realized.

Nanaki's father growled and but his mother relaxed a little. Reira and Nanaki both moved forward to stand between the creatures and Cloud.

"Please stop this. Cloud is my friend. I already told you, he helped me break out of the labs. And grandpa said the Planet was intrigued by him."

"You have much to learn, Nanaki. The truth is seen with your heart, not with your eyes. This is a monster in human skin. Even if the Planet doesn't fear him for now, he's still a danger to the people. It's within his nature," Nanaki's father replied.

Then the other beast spoke up, "Leave this town and we will let you go in peace."

Cloud answered before Reira could get a word in, "Fine, I'll leave." He couldn't blame them for being cautious, thought Cloud. Back in the labs, all the staff had treated him as a dangerous monster. He shouldn't have expected that to change just because he had moved to a new place.

"Oh, no, you won't," asserted Lennard Donovan as he walked out of the front door to stand in front of Cloud, facing Nanaki's parents. "Seto, Hanam, I know you've been searching for your son for quite some time. You are exhausted and that's why you mistook the one who saved your son for a perpetrator. Cloud is our son and a resident of this town. You would have to go through the circle of elders if you were to banish him."

Nanaki's father replied in frustration, "My mate and I have guarded this town for hundreds of years. We've always been able to distinguish between a human being and a beast."

"Isn't that hypocritical of you? You are a beast but we all trust you. Yet you would banish a child from his home just because you think he's not human?" Lennard retorted.

"Father, please leave Cloud alone. He had suffered too much from the scientists and he's always been kind to me. If not for him I could have died there. What Shinra had done to him doesn't define who he is. It wasn't his fault to be an experiment. Didn't you tell me everyone deserves a chance?" Cloud's heart swelled hearing Nanaki speaking for him. But his friend was wrong in assuming that it was the scientists who made him a monster. With Jenova as his mother, he was a monster by birth.

"I promise I won't try to harm anyone. Sorry if I...surprised you, it wasn't intentional." Cloud stepped out from behind his foster parents to look at the beasts. If his foster parents and friend had spoken for him, then he could at least try to get out of this.

Seto looked tired. He glared warningly at Cloud who was again blocked from his sight by the Donovans. "Fine. You haven't hurt anyone yet, so I'll give you a chance. You are quite... peculiar. I hope I've been wrong about you..."

"Thank you for helping out our son," said Nanaki's mother.

After that, the Donovans promptly bid the beasts farewell and closed the door. Reira turned to him and hugged him tightly. "Cloud, you are not a monster. What Seto and Hanam said to you was unfair and cruel. He had been paranoid recently trying to locate his son. Know that if you were ever made to leave, we would leave with you."

Cloud hid his face in her sweater and blinked to keep the tears from falling. He knew he could probably do it, leave the town at midnight after everyone falls asleep and live in the wild among animals and monsters. But he'd always preferred intelligent company and he'd never felt happier being surrounded by his new family and friend.

Cloud finally calmed down enough to face his foster parents. "I'm sorry, Reira, Len. I didn't want to tell you that I'm..." He almost said it but he still couldn't voice out the whole truth. "I've been an experiment in the labs for as long as I can remember. They implanted me with cells of an ancient being, making me... different." He pursed his lips, wondering anxiously how they would take the news after what the beasts had just declared. He was too tired to open his mind to sense others' thoughts at the moment.

"It's alright, Cloud. Bugenhagen hinted that you had seen the horrors of the labs when he came to us that day. We said that we didn't mind what had happened to you. You have a good heart, Cloud. That's all that matters." She patted his head gently. "Now, you should go to bed. We can talk tomorrow." Cloud let his foster father carry him into his room, feeling exhausted. He fell into sleep before his head hit the pillow.

"Father will come around," said Nanaki as they headed for the observatory on the highest plateau. "They are very protective of the town's people, and searching for me had worn them out." He stopped to thank a teenager who greeted them and gave Nanaki a basket of kippers by hanging it around his neck. "Those from Shinra always get on their nerves."

"Is that because you guys are guardians of the Planet?" asked Cloud.

"That's right. Our species don't take kindly to people who suck the lifeblood of the Planet. My father's tribe is also the closest to humans. We pass on our knowledge to generations of children and protect the valleys from harm."

Climbing onto the plateau, Cloud barely pushed open the door before he heard someone speaking.

"...Should have patrolled the area. Didn't know there were monsters out there," a deep voice was saying.

"They are getting more powerful these days with mako being drawn to the surface. Be careful. You shouldn't go alone," said a female voice.

Cloud went into the chamber to sit down in a chair and Nanaki sat beside his parents. Cloud could feel Seto and Haram quietly observing him as he sat.

"Ho ho hoo, Cloud, Nanaki's parents are eager to know you. Do you know what the scientists had done to you in Shinra? Maybe we could reassure them if you share more information."

"They had this ancient corpse they found in the Northern Crater. She was the Calamity that fell from the sky ages ago. They've been implanting me with her cells since I was born." It was all true but he omitted the part that she was his natural mother. Seto and Hanam would probably tear him apart if he shared that, though they looked much less murderous compared to last night.

Bugenhagen didn't look surprised. "Like I'd suspected, it's what's inside of you that Gaia fears. The Calamity was an alien who deeply wounded the Planet when she arrived. She used to infect the Ancients with her cells, corrupting their minds and turning them against each other. Some people even turned into monsters. I'm not an expert in biology and I can't tell exactly what the Planet wants with you. Your best chance would be to find an Ancient who might be able to help you. The Ancients had fought against the Calamity two thousand years ago and won. But I haven't heard of them for decades, so the chances of finding one are slim."

Cloud already knew most of that but nodded gratefully nonetheless. He would have to travel around the world to look for an Ancient in the future, to prevent the Calamity within him from harming the Planet.

Nanaki asked with some trepidation, "They injected me with something too. Will I be corrupted as well? Cloud, do you know what they gave me?"

"What did it look like? Did you feel anything abnormal after that?"

"I couldn't see what was in the syringe. I had a slight fever for a short time but nothing more."

"It's possible it was her cells." Cloud paused for a few seconds, searching for a potential connection between them through his cells. "But I can't sense her cells within you, so I guess you're good."

"Our species have strong immunity to diseases of unnatural causes. It would take more than one injection to infect us," Seto said proudly.

"You must have a great deal of the virus inside you if you can sense it in another, boy. You must be careful, or she could override your will," warned Hanam as she appraised Cloud.

"How did you know that?" Cloud had thought such knowledge was lost in the history, but both Bugenhagen and Hanam had just proved him wrong.

"I am over five hundred years old. My grandmother used to tell me stories about the Calamity that almost wiped out the Ancients," Hanam informed him.

"Why hadn't anyone told me of this? I'm not a child anymore!" Nanaki protested.

"Nanaki, dear, I was going to tell you when you were older. Besides, we didn't know the Calamity had reappeared. We'd have told you otherwise," his mother replied.

AN: Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment or leave criticism!