The Watcher
Prologue: Two years after the meteor incident, everyone is living some what peacefully in separate parts of the world. The threats of Sephiroth have vanished…at least to the publics knowledge.
I
The Girl in BlackThere is a small, seemingly abandoned hut, off the city of Wutai. A curious little thing that no one goes near, what with it's shattered glass windows and broken door. Inside, it is a mess, a little one room hut formerly owned by a weapon's maker, now dusty and decrepit shack with a tattered rug on the floor.
But, what people don't know is beneath that seemingly ancient rug is a door, leading to a spiral staircase. Down those thousands of dark and slightly uneven steps, there is another wooden door. Outside of the door, a hacking cough can be heard, getting louder and more pronounced as the door is opened. There is a small room, dressed like a living room, with a small faded blue couch in the middle. Along the wall are dozens of books, both old and new, most of which are stacked up beside the couch. There are two doors that go out of the room, one on each side. The left is a kitchen, where a young women is standing at the stove, mixing a variety of herbs into a steaming cup of water. She is wearing loose black pants, and a tight cutoff top. Her long brown hair cascades down to her lower back, and it shimmers in the light of a bare bulb, located in the reinforced dirt ceiling. She picks up the white teacup and carries it over to another door in the shadowy back of the kitchen. They very front parts of her hair are a brilliant silver. Opening the door, she walks into a candle lit room, where a figure is lying in bed. Walking carefully, she goes to the bedside and pulls up a chair.
The man in bed raises a pale hand, weakly, and the women grasps it with her free hand.
"Here…drink this. It'll stop the coughing for a bit." she says in a soft voice and the man nods faintly. She hands him the glass, and watches him drink it all. Putting her hand to his forehead, she shakes her head at the warmth of it.
"Are you leaving today…?" The man whispers, his voice harsh from the coughing.
"You shouldn't be talking, it'll weaken you…"
"Please, answer me…"
"Yes, I am. Don't worry I will be back soon, I promise."
"This medicine…it always leaves me so sleepy." His green eyes were half closed already, and his hand was going slack in hers.
"I know, but you need it." Standing up, she grabbed a large black overcoat, and prepared to leave.
"Wait. Take my sword…" He motioned over to the corner of the room, where a large sheathed sword was. She nodded and put it's strap around her.
"My friend will be here to look over you soon. Goodbye." The man with silver hair watched her shut the door, then fell asleep, his head falling to the side.
Meanwhile, at a local bar in the city of Midgar, a young women with long brown hair was busy serving up customers, filling their glasses with ice cold brew. She hummed as she worked, barely hearing herself in the noisy bar. She didn't notice a blond haired man walk through the double doors, large sword on shoulder, until he sat down at the bar.
"Cloud?"
"Hey Tifa, long time no see." Tifa beamed at the sight of her good friend. It had been two years since she had seen him, and he didn't look any different.
"Whatcha want?"
"
How about one of the usual?" he winked.
"Cloud…you don't have a usual…"
"I know, I just always wanted to say it. Just fill me up with a beer." Tifa chuckled and shook her head as she cleaned out a large glass.
"So what have you been up to these days?"
"Oh not much really, just been doing random jobs and such. You?" He took a large gulp of the drink she handed him, and a small stream of froth dripped down the side of his mouth. Wiping it off with the back of his hand, he waited till she was finished yelling at a few drunks to put their clothes back on.
"Sorry about that. Me? I've just been running the Final Heaven, business has been booming."
"That's always good."
"So have you heard from anybody lately?" She was referring to the old team they had had in the days of Meteor and Sephiroth.
"Not really…I just got done with a job with Barret, we were helping build a house up in Coral. He came down here with me, but he's back at the hotel. Um…I know that Cid went back to Rocket Town after flying around for awhile, and Yuffie went back to Wutai, but that's all."
"Ah, I see. So you haven't settled down yet then?"
"Nope." he grinned and finished off his beer. Outside it had gotten dark, and Tifa yelled out, "Last call!" The entire bar moaned and bodies began to shuffle out, carrying some of their friends with them. She began to clean up, Cloud helped by putting up chairs.
They both went outside, as Tifa locked up Cloud gazed at the sky, his Mako lit eyes gleaming for a moment.
"Thanks for helping me clean up and stuff."
"No problem." They began to walk down the now emptied streets, a light wind rushing past.
"So where are you staying?"
"Up the road just a bit."
"Okay." She was going to ask if he minded if she walked with him their, but since they were already, she didn't bother. They were silent for awhile, until she stopped and turned, hearing a strange noise.
"What is it?" Cloud asked, looking confused.
"I hear something…like running almost…" Cloud listened, and he too heard the definite sounds of feet striking dirt. Drawing his sword, he stepped in front of Tifa a little, who was adjusting her gloves. In the murky distance were they had just came, a large black figure was running towards them. It looked like a large dog, with someone or something on it's back. They tensed up, as it stopped in front of them.
It was a large black wolf, with deep blue eyes. It snarled, showing pearly fangs, and someone jumped off it's back.
"Who are you?" Cloud demanded, but the person said nothing, it's face and figure still in shadow. It stepped forward, and they saw it was girl with a long black coat on. Dark shades covered her eyes as her hair sailed in the now rising wind. Tifa gasped as she saw the front of it was silver, the rest a dark brown.
"Who ARE you!" Cloud demanded more fiercely.
"Are you him? Are you Cloud Strife?"
"Answer me first!" He pointed his sword at her, and in an instant she drew a long familiar sword.
"The Masamune…" Tifa whispered, and Cloud growled.
"Where did you get that?"
"Answer me, are you Cloud Strife?" The girl's voice was calm but with a hint of annoyance to it. Tifa stepped in front of him, "He is. But who are you?"
"My name is Lokilos." she sheathed the Masamune and patted the wolf on the head, "This is Blade, he won't do you any harm. Nor will I."
Tifa nodded, and forced Cloud's sword down.
"How did you get the Masamune?"
"I'll explain everything, just not out here. Do you have a place where we can talk?"
"Yes, my bar." Cloud shot a look at her, and she returned it with the same intensity.
"Fine, but I don't trust you." He jabbed his finger at Lokilos.
Back in the bar, Lokilos sat down in a chair, while Tifa and Cloud sat on bar stools. Slowly, she took off the glasses, revealing a vivid green right eye. The left was yellow, and had metal surrounding it, the went off to the side of her face. Tifa tried not to look, but Cloud stared and Tifa elbowed him.
"You two know Sephiroth?"
"Very well…yes." Cloud said reproachfully. Tifa merely nodded, still wondering about this strange girl.
"We defeated him too, I killed him personally. And if you're here for-"
"Stop it!" Lokilos yelled, cutting off Cloud's rant, "I know what you've done, you…you murderers!" Tifa looked taken aback, "Wait a minute, if you know what we did then you should know what he did too."
"Yeah he burned down my home!" Cloud shouted, standing.
"That wasn't his fault!" Lokilos retorted, and Cloud smirked.
"Then whose was it?"
"The Jenova cells, they are a virus. They controlled him, brainwashed him, made him do those things."
"And how would you know?" Cloud said softly, dangerously.
"I'm his sister! I grew up with him! Everything Hojo did to him he did to me as well! Why do you think my eyes look like they do?"
"Then how come he never talked about you?"
"Because I was a failed experiment…" she sat down now, "I got out of control…and I did something…horrible." Tears shown in her eyes, "I killed off half of the staff…right after they burned my records. They were trying to gas me…and I killed them all to escape…" Cloud sat down now, deflated. Tears ran freely down Lokilos's cheeks and her voice trembled.
"I had the v-virus too…but I g-got control of it somehow…I tried to find my brother, to help him but I couldn't. He had been shipped off in a SOLIDER mission, and ShinRa was still a-after me. I saw everything…the burning of Nibelheim, the slaying of Aries…all of it…I was powerless to stop."
"I'm sorry…" Tifa sat next to her, "So you followed us the whole time?"
"Pretty much."
"I'm sorry…we…we are murderers…I'm sorry we killed him."
Cloud scoffed, "I don't believe her."
"Cloud!"
"He's not dead…"
"What?" They both exclaimed, and she nodded, "After the battle, I saved him…nursed him back to health. Except…after the virus left his body…he got real sick…and I can't heal him. If I don't soon…he's gonna die…Sephiroth's the only family I have left, I don't want to lose him."
"I understand." Tifa said, "But why do you need us to help?"
"There's this one herb, called the Tears of the Lily. It's a rare herb that only grows in a place called Nagri, a small island far from here. It's the only thing that'll cure him now. I'd get it myself, but I have no means of getting their and I'm not strong enough to go on my own, because of the monsters on the island. Sephiroth, told me to find Cloud Strife, because he was strong and would help me."
"I'm not helping anybody because I don't believe you!"
"I thought you would say that…so, I'll take you to see him."
"Sure, I'll go see your 'brother' but if this is all just a big hoax," he fingered his sword, "You'll be sorry."
"I'll go too, I want to know the truth." Tifa stood up, "Cloud, do you think we should find everybody again? We'll need the Highwind."
"Yeah, I suppose so. Guess we'll start out tomorrow." Lokilos smiled, "So you'll help me?"
"No. I'm going to see if you're really telling the truth, then I'll decide." Cloud stated firmly. Tifa glared at him, "Don't mind him. You can stay with me tonight."
"Thank you very much. And you can call me Loki."
