Winter came with the annual festival that celebrates the harvest and pays tribute to the planet. The days before the festival began, travelers across the world making pilgrimages to the Canyon strained hotels to the limit. Main streets were decked with multi-colored banners. People wore colorful costumes all across the town, looking as if they'd just crawled out of dye vats.
Cloud had planned to stay at home at first in fear of running into Shinra operatives but decided against it later as only a small group of scientists and staff knew of his existence, and Cosmo Canyon was largely overlooked by the company. As the celebration kicked off, he stood in the crowd wearing his festival costume and holiday hat and watched the ritual hosted by the elders during the daytime on one of the plateaus. The nights usually started with fireworks and ended up with people dancing to music around bonfires. He would sit around a campfire with travelers and locals when they discussed various ways of living across the planet, how the Lifestream and mako were related, and ideals of leading a nature-friendly life. They made an odd mixture of nature-lovers and techies.
The last night of the festival was relatively quiet. Nanaki's father Seto came to sit by his side around the bonfire, presenting him with a necklace made of wooden beads.
"What kind of wood is this?" asked Cloud as he looked at the amulet, the wood had a strange texture and looked slightly burned.
"It's made from the part of a peach tree that was struck by thunder. Our tribe believes that natural lightning can ward off evil spirits. Its effect is magnified in heliophilous plants such as jujube and peach wood. Try sending a little energy into it."
Cloud did as he was told. "Um, it's heating up and it...stings a little, like lightning. How does it work? It feels kinda different from a materia."
"Well, to cast a spell, a materia needs to receive your mind wave to trigger it, the energy for the spell is drawn from the Lifestream. This amulet, however, assimilates the energy that naturally emanates from its owner and saves it within itself. The power stored can protect your spirit from harm in a crisis."
"Thank you, Seto. I don't know how to repay you." Cloud was confused being on the receiving end of a valuable present all of a sudden when less than a month ago he was being yelled at by the same beast.
"You already did. You saved my son when we couldn't find him. We wanted to thank you properly so we had this made for you."
"It wasn't a big deal. I just happened to come across Nanaki while escaping..." said Cloud as he shifted uncomfortably.
"No need to be so modest. Even if you did it in passing, you still saved him and we can't thank you enough. I also have to apologize for the way I treated you earlier, so please accept our gift. Unfortunately, if the necklace's energy is used up abruptly, the amulet will die and lose its usefulness. I hope such a thing doesn't come to pass, kiddo," said Seto as he winked at Cloud.
"I understand. I'll keep it on me at all times," replied Cloud as he wore the amulet around his neck.
Spring found Cloud and Nanaki rolling in the warm grass of a meadow, with Nanaki's mother Haram overlooking them from a hill. Ever since returning to his hometown, Nanaki had been banned from leaving the town without a guardian. This was the farthest the both of them had traveled since coming to town. With his keen eyesight, Cloud could see the stone-built town in the northeast just beyond the terraced fields.
The meadow was a sea of flowers colored violet, pink and yellow, with the ocean spread to its south below the cliff. The sun shone brightly in the cloudless sky, and occasionally lambs could be seen capering on the meadow.
Cloud and Nanaki chased after butterflies and dragonflies under the windmill turning around slowly. They had escaped from the labs last autumn so the dense vegetation came as a nice surprise to Cloud. He made flower crowns for Nanaki and himself, laughing at his friend's attempt at a toothy grin.
"Is there a forest out there?" asked Cloud, squinting in the sunlight to look towards the east.
"Yes. But people don't go in there. The Ancient Forest is filled with giant flowers that eat whoever falls into them."
They sat above the water at the cliffs when the sun began to set, breathing in air filled with the salty taste. As this was his first time seeing the sea, Cloud was mesmerized by the high waves that followed each other, running ten feet and building, scattering the foam as they broke. The place where sea and sky met glowed the sun, melting the colors around it.
"The tide is turning. We'd have to get back if we weren't sitting so high," said Nanaki, his dark red manes waving in the wind.
"It's wonderful. I used to wish I could cross the sea to another continent, like swimming all the way to Wutai." It wasn't a sad memory now that he wasn't locked up in the labs anymore. "What did you wish when you were younger?"
"I like symbology and designing patterns, thought I could become a tattooist one day. But I'm more interested in sightseeing and training now," said Nanaki.
"Then we should go traveling together in the future, we can train against local monsters on our way."
"I'll take you up on that, maybe after I learned more survival skills."
Later in the evening, they climbed up to the highest plateau to get a closer look at the starry sky and pestered Bugenhagen for stories about constellations. Sitting at the edge of the plateau, they could see the lights from the town below their feet, and lights twinkling in distant villages across the valleys.
"Ho ho hoo, you've heard about the Lyra's triangle, right?" asked the old man, flying on his green orb and smoothing his beard.
Cloud nodded. He had already seen it once using the astronomical telescope at the observatory, the Nebula was quite astounding to look at. Now under the sky in spring, the three bright stars of the triangle could be seen with naked eyes.
"In legend stories, all humans used to be a part of the Ancients, also known as the Cetra people, who thrived thousands of years ago. The Cetra was a race that migrates from planet to planet, gathering knowledge and creating new lifeforms whenever they settle a planet, before moving on to another. Two thousand years ago, the Calamity created a rift between them, splitting the race in two. One had carried on the fight against the Calamity, the other left and hid away from the war. Those that had run away evolved into the humans we now know. Unlike Cetras, humans have lost their ability to commune with the planet, though exactly how that had happened remains a mystery."
"Do Cetras still exist today?" asked Nanaki sitting by the side of Bugenhagen.
"I haven't heard of any since I was in my eighties, but I haven't traveled around for decades. The Cetras are said to have life spans longer than humans, perhaps they have just gone into hiding."
"Did the legends say that Cetras came from Lyra?" asked Cloud.
"It did. Before the Calamity came, half of the race lived in the Capital, but some had located their sites correlating to positions of the three brightest stars. Cosmo Canyon was one of the three sites. Although only humans live here now, there used to be a few Cetras here centuries ago. Some of their traditions remain."
"Where are the other two sites? I want to visit them someday," asked Cloud with curiosity.
"The legends speak of one that used to be on the land between the West and Central continents. The continent that was once there had been replaced by the sea after the land sank to the bottom of the ocean."
"There was a continent between here and Wutai?"
"In the ancient tales passed down through generations, yes. The third site is supposed to be somewhere on the Eastern continent, but no one had found it in the past few centuries."
The moon drifted from behind the clouds as Cloud lied down and admired the beautiful night sky. He stared at the stars light-years away and wondered if Gaia was also being watched by extraterrestrial beings at the moment.
Stars dimmed and brightened as the seasons changed, and Cloud changed with them. After four years of living in the Canyon, the days in Shinra Manor became a dull pain that he hardly felt any longer.
"Cloud, we need to go to the Haynes. Have you fed the animals and cleaned the surgery room?" asked Lennard after the last customer had left the clinic.
"Yes, I have," answered Cloud before he walked into the exam room.
"Good, let's get out of here," said Lennard as he took off his white coat and threw on his overcoat that hung on the rack, preparing to go to the village to the east. He changed into a pair of waterproof boots and saw his son do the same. Lennard took his kit and locked the door. They walked down sets of stone steps and climbed down the plateau. Once out of town, they passed through the village and arrived at a smallholding.
In times like this, he found an assistant in his son Cloud. As his wife was gravely ill at the hospital and needed his care frequently, he had less time to work and had to rely more on Cloud's help.
The boy had started assisting Lennard a year ago when Reira's condition had gotten worse. He had already finished digging into Lennard's books in veterinary science by that time and had been educated in the basics of biology and chemistry before he came to this town. The kid began his practice by cleaning the animal shed and soon moved on to tasks like injections, dispensing medicines, and debridement. The boy proved to be very competent and meticulous considering his age. Lennard had also discovered that the small child was surprisingly strong when he methodically pulled the calf out for a cow that had difficulty calving, right after the farmers and Lennard had exhausted themselves trying to deliver the calf. He had been letting the child handle some of the larger and more ferocious animals during inspections ever since.
He stood nearby and observed as Cloud examined the cow. The farmers had told them on the phone that one of their cows had been suffering from diarrhea and indigestion, and it was reluctant to lie down.
"What can you tell about this cow?" asked Lennard as Cloud finished his inspection.
"I think it's got nails in the rumen."
"By your sight or deduction?"
"Both. I speculated it was because of iron nails after hearing of its symptoms, so I used a compass and it reacted near its rumen. I also confirmed it with my sight after that."
"Good thinking using a compass to check for nails. Clairvoyance is a rare gift, but sometimes without knowledge, you could misinterpret what you see." The boy's talent came in handy during diagnosis, especially at times when he couldn't get his hands on an X-ray machine, or when he needed to perform surgery on the farms.
Lennard stepped forward and prepared the magnet attached to a rope, while Cloud stood on a crate to hold the cow's head down. Lennard put the end of the tube into one nostril and pushed the tube to the back of the throat, letting the cow swallow it slowly. He poured warm water into the cow's rumen through the tube to dilute the contents within. Lennard then put the mouth gag in place and sent the magnet attached to the rope slowly into its mouth and down into its rumen. He tied the other end of the rope to its mouth gag. Cloud pulled the cow away for a walk around the village, making the magnet move in its rumen. When he came back, Cloud began to pull out the rope. When he met resistance, he paused and pushed it back in a little before pulling again. Finally being pulled out through the mouth, the magnet had several nails attached to it.
The farmers expressed their gratitude as Cloud put the compass near its stomach for the second time and looked at it closely, before staring into its belly. Then he smiled. "It's cleared of iron," he said delightedly and rubbed the cow's flank.
On their way back to the town, Lennard said, "you've been making progress recently. I shall let you perform some of the simpler surgeries from now on."
"That's great! Will I get a raise then?"
"We'll see. That depends on the quality of your work," said Lennard fondly.
"Of course. I won't let you down, father."
The child was good with animals and was always eager to take away their pain. His enthusiasm to help them was one of the reasons Lennard had agreed to train him at such a young age. The boy could make a good vet in a few years if he continued to practice, but Lennard got a nagging feeling that his son's love for adventure and knowledge would keep him from staying in this small town. He knew the child had been saving for traveling. It wasn't that he wouldn't support his adopted son's decision. Lennard had always believed that young people should explore on their own and try out all kinds of things before settling down, after all.
That day, in another continent far, far away from Cosmo Canyon, a little girl with emerald green eyes found an abandoned church with bands of light coming through its windows.
AN: Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment or leave criticism!