Start Date: June 23, 2022
Windwillow
Just as in the previous chapter, everything bolded and underlined is a flashback. Normal text is in the present, both dialogue and action. Please bear with me.
Final Fantasy VII
Having arrived at the village of Kalm, Cloud's party has settled in to hear the story of Sephiroth and Cloud. At the village of Nibelheim, Cloud, Tifa, and Sephiroth encountered Mako-mutated monsters infesting the Nibelheim reactor. In its depths, they discovered both a once-human abomination and a name plate labeled Jenova.
Yet, something seems wrong. Both Cloud and Tifa have doubts about their own story! And, even more horrific, Sephiroth now believes he may be a monster just the same as the mutants they found in the reactor. What his doubt leads to is madness, massacre...
And, the origin of the threat Sephiroth poses to the Planet.
Chapter Fifteen: Back from the Past
Scene One
The idea that Sephiroth was as monstrous as a mutant seemed... disturbing. If he was truly artificially made into some sort of demon, it wouldn't be too much to think he followed his nature and truly became one.
"M-monsters... from humans?!" gasped Barret, gnashing his teeth. "God, I hate that son of a bitch! Every time I think he's the lowest of the low, he manages to go even lower!" He stomped his foot. "God damn Shinra! How can they get worse and worse the more I hear about them?!"
Tifa covered her hand with her mouth. "Oh, God..." Red XIII turned a fierce glare to Cloud. Something finally made sense to him...
"That explains the rash of monsters all over the world..." Red XIII said with disdain. "Monsters are born of Mako poisoning, meaning all the abominations out there exist because of Shinra! Hojo, you bastard..." Swallowing her anger, Aerith turned to Tifa.
"You were there for this?!" she asked Tifa. "Did you hear any of what he-" Tifa shook her head vehemently. She maybe have been there, but... She never heard any of this! However...
How would he know this?! Who told him?!
"He..." Cloud muttered to himself, idly. "Sephiroth... stormed out of the reactor and made his way to the village before any of us could get there. It was like he was possessed..."
The mansion in the north end of Nibelheim was quite old, several decades having passed since anyone lived in it. All the townspeople knew was that someone from Shinra lived there... A lot of people in suits went in and out, until three decades ago when it was suddenly abandoned. No one ever came in or out after that...
Sephiroth never returned to the Inn, and no one could find him. He was nowhere in the village, not a house and not a store, so that left only one place: the Shinra Mansion. Cloud stepped up towards the gateway with the remaining trooper and pushed it open. As it creaked and wailed the pair entered with uncertainty in their hearts.
Neither of them knew what to expect, so Cloud kept a grip on his blade and the trooper carried his rifle. The inside of the mansion was in ruins, all manner of trash and leftover belongings from whenever it was occupied. There was a large foyer, where the two entered hesitantly.
Inching closer through the door, the trooper's rifle began to quake as its owner trembled more and more. Cloud was also unnerved, but managed to conceal his fear. Shortly after they entered the doors slammed shut behind them.
Cloud detached the Buster Sword, sensing a presence. As he and the soldier moved forward the trooper saw what looked like three jack-o-lanterns on a shelf to the left of the stairs. There were white cloths draped down from where they hung, looking like a white skirt.
"Th-these things give me the creeps..." the soldier muttered. When he heard a soft, eerie laughter he turned his rifle at the source: the jack-o-lanterns. He inched forward, sweat dripping from his face, as the pumpkins' eyes lit up like a blood-red candle. "What the flying-"
Slowly they lifted into the air, their skirts hanging limply as the pumpkins' faces distorted into a sinister sneer. As the jack-o-lanterns shrieked and flew forward the soldier frantically fired his rifle at them, only for the bullets to pass through their heads.
"Oh... God..." The soldier continued to fire, gradually shredding the orange flesh from the creatures and leaving only empty cloths behind. As they dropped, the soldier heard another noise and turned to find a large blue mirror hanging in the air. Nothing held it up, it was just... floating. "Gah!"
He fired one shot at the mirror, only for it to rebound back at him. Cloud swiftly shoved him out of the way and leapt into the air. He took the Buster Sword in both hands and cleanly cut the Mirage in half, leaving its remains to fall to the floor and dissolve.
Trembling, the soldier stumbled to his feet. Feeling a hand on his shoulder he whirled around to see Cloud looking at him grimly. Swallowing his fear, the trooper followed Cloud up the steps slowly.
After exploring room after room in the west wing, they came to the only remaining chamber: a few bits of furniture and a large stone wall were all they saw. Slowly the soldier approached the wall, lifting his rifle up and down as he scanned the room. Seeing nothing, he felt a bit better.
The soldier leaned back onto the wall, only to feel a deep draft on his back. Cloud seized him by the collar and dragged him up to his side. They turned to find a deep, winding staircase that led down into the basement.
"You know..." Cloud said hesitantly, eyes turning to the petrified cadet. "You know we have to..." The soldier frantically shook his head and dropped to the ground with his rifle in his hands. There was no way he was going down there. With a sigh, Cloud reattached the Buster Sword to his back and descended the stairs.
Back in the present, Cloud felt another twitch of his memory, like it wasn't there again, but shook it off and proceeded down the staircase.
Scene Two
The stairs went down several meters, winding down into what looked to be an excavated cavern. As he stepped onto the solid ground, Cloud detached the Buster Sword again. He had a bad feeling...
His senses piqued, Cloud whirled about to see a group of black cloths hanging down behind him, near where he'd come down from. He narrowed his eyes as he approached cautiously, assessing what it was he was seeing.
A series of blood red eyes pierced the darkness as the cloths unfurled to reveal several huge vampire bats. With a shriek they drifted from the ceiling and flew towards Cloud. Thinking quickly, he gripped his weapon in both hands and swung.
The bats easily evaded the slash. Successive swings continued to miss, and as their fangs opened, Cloud coated his body in a cloak of lightning. The electricity fried the bats instantly, allowing Cloud to move forward.
As he continued, Cloud found two doors. One was closed tight, while he could see a crack of light from the other. So, he inched towards the doorway, stepped inside, and drew the Buster Sword.
Sephiroth stood with his back to him, his head down, eyes locked on the book he was reading. As he turned the page, the SOLDIER quietly released his blood lust, bringing Cloud to one knee.
"Put that away," snapped Sephiroth. Obeying him, Cloud reattached the Buster Sword as Sephiroth began to read more. With each turned page his gaze deepened, fingers trembling.
"In a two thousand year old geological stratum, an organism was found... apparently dead... Professor Gast gave it the name Jenova..." Cloud's eyes snapped open. "X/X/X, Jenova confirmed as an Ancient... X/X/X, Jenova Project approved... Use of Reactor One approved..." He snapped the book shut and tossed it on the floor.
Sephiroth snatched up another book and opened it. "Jenova Project... my mother's name, Jenova... What the devil is this? It can't be a coincidence... Professor Gast, why did you never tell me? Why did you die and leave me these questions?" Cloud began to open his mouth again...
"Get the hell out," Sephiroth snarled, the look and the blood lust in his eyes dropping Cloud to his knees. "Leave me be. Now." Cloud quickly nodded his head and left. Sephiroth continued to read. "The Jenova Project... the Ancients- no, the Cetra... and a two thousand year old... thing... in a chasm in the northern wastelands... I need more! I need more information!"
As Cloud ascended the stairs, he did so with much more urgency than when he descended. At the top of the stairs he slammed open the stone wall, and found the lone soldier trembling in a corner. Honestly, Cloud was shaking too.
Cloud quickly sat on an old couch in the room and turned his gaze to the trooper. While there wasn't much he could tell him...
"You..." Cloud began hesitantly, unsure of whether he wanted to do it or not. "Listen to me. I have a hell of a story to tell you..."
"Jenova... Project? Ancient?!" Aerith gasped, hands to her mouth. She may not have known what was going on, but she certainly didn't like it.
"They found Jenova in a crater?!" exclaimed Tifa. "What the high holy hell is this thing?!" Red XIII nodded hesitantly.
"Two thousand years old, to boot. And he was really... so terrifying...?" Cloud thought for a moment and a pang went through his head, one that quickly passed. For some reason, the words he'd heard were jumbled... But he knew what was said.
"I remember how terrifying it was..." he said quietly. "But it didn't end there..."
The lights in the Shinra mansion never went out, not for a moment. Sephiroth locked himself in the basement, pored through all the books, and did... whatever the hell he was doing. Cloud and the trooper returned to the Inn, shaken, as Tifa did to her father.
Seven days later, Nibelheim burned to the ground...
Cloud came to in a haze of flame, finding the infantryman lying motionless on the ground. He dashed up to him and cradled him in his arms, wiping the blood from his mouth. The man had severe burns on his chest and face, having melted his mask. The soldier coughed up blood, turning his tear-filled eyes at Cloud. It hurt so much...
"Sephiroth..." he gasped with all the strength he had left, before falling back on the ground, exhausted. Cloud turned his eyes to the Inn, or at least what was left of it, as a muscular man in a red cloak tried to rip open the burning door, to no effect. Zangan, the martial artist, looked at Cloud sadly and shook his head.
"No survivors here..." Zangan murmured. "Keep looking! I've got to find my student and bring her to safety... Go after Sephiroth and stop that monster!" Cloud nodded and ran up the hill towards the Shinra mansion. What he saw chilled his blood.
With three well-placed slashes, three civilians were cut down and fell to the ground dead. One of them was the cameraman, his camera having fallen to the ground with its film freshly developed, but the picture couldn't be seen through the flames.
But Sephiroth WAS visible. Cloaked in flames, his black cloak fluttered in the fiery haze. As he turned, Cloud saw his face and was stopped dead. Sephiroth's eyes were never very expressive, but now...
Emerald green eyes, with slits like you'd find in a demonic cat, stared out from Sephiroth's face. Any trace of humanity was long gone. Cloud nearly lost his nerve, stepping backwards, as Sephiroth vanished into the flames.
"Where is he..." The realization struck him hard. There was only one place he would go now, the place it all began... "God damn you, Sephiroth!" As Cloud ran from the burning town, the lone Shinra infantryman began to stir...
Scene Three
Following the trail of blood, Cloud headed north. North, through the Nibelheim mountains. This time he found a bridge that led directly there... to the Nibelheim reactor. As he came upon the reactor, Cloud found a number of dead villagers strewn across the plateau. Gritting his teeth, he dashed into the reactor.
He wasted no time in navigating the abandoned reactor, searching for the man he'd called a friend. Dashing through the complex, he reached the final chamber. There he found a horrific sight.
The Masamune lay dug into the ground vertically, next to two people. One was Tifa's father, dead and badly mutilated, and the other was Tifa herself. She was in tears, cradling her father's broken body with such fervor that his blood stained her shirt.
"Who did this?!" Tifa gasped, placing her head to his chest. "Father, who... Sephiroth! It was Sephiroth, right?!" Using her father's body, Tifa staggered to her feet with agony and hatred in her eyes. She turned her gaze to the bloody Masamune embedded in the ground next to her father's corpse.
Tifa angrily took the Masamune's hilt in both hands and tried to wrench it out with all her strength. For all that was, it wasn't enough. She fell to the ground gripping the sword's handle, falling to her knees sobbing. As she rose, she continued to attempt to pry it out of the ground.
"Sephiroth!" Tifa snarled, struggling with all her might. "Sephiroth, SOLDIER, Mako reactors, Shinra... I HATE THEM ALL!" Finally she tugged the sword from the ground and dashed into the next chamber. Stunned and horrified, Cloud immediately followed after her, his own steps being trailed close behind...
Inside the chamber where he'd found the mutants, Sephiroth stood staring at Jenova's door. His breathing was shallow, eyes wild. He turned to see Tifa clumsily carrying the ridiculously oversized Masamune, charging him, and a wicked sneer split his face.
As Tifa swung down with all her might, Sephiroth caught the sword with one hand, wrenched it away from her, and slashed her from her chest to her stomach. She fell back, shrieking, in a bloody heap onto the chamber's floor, where she rolled to a stop. Sephiroth turned to the door, lifted the Masamune, and split the door in half before continuing through it.
"Tifa, NO!" Cloud rushed towards Tifa, carrying her maimed body to the side and laying it gently down onto the ground. She was crying, sobbing hard with blood running down her face.
"You promised..." she gasped. "You..." She sobbed. "You promised you'd come if I was in trouble..." Cloud detached the Buster Sword, ascended the stairs, and burst through what was left of it.
There, he found Sephiroth with the Masamune in his hands, and as he turned to face Cloud with a sinister glare.
"Hello, you worthless human..." Sephiroth growled, smiling. "You inferior dullards just won't stop coming..." Cloud's vision began to dim, flicker.
"I trusted you, you bastard!" screamed Cloud with anger drenching his voice. The next words came only vaguely: "Tifa... my home town... give it BACK!"
"And that's it," said Cloud plainly, reclining back in his chair. Everyone present stood mesmerized, with Barret finally breaking the silence with a violent roar.
"What the hell do you mean, that's it?!" Barret snarled. "Talk! How'd it end?!
Cloud shrugged. "That's all I remember. After that, everything goes dark... In terms of fighting ability, there's no logical explanation for the fact I'm still breathing. There's no way I could defeat him..." Tifa bowed her head, swallowing hard.
"You know..." she muttered, "the newspapers said he died." Aerith shook her head, out of both anger and frustration.
"Shinra prints the newspapers!" Aerith exclaimed with bile in her voice. "There's no way you can take it at face value!" Cloud buried his head in his hands, clutching his hair as he trembled.
"I don't know anything..." Cloud wailed, gnashing his teeth. "I fought Sephiroth, and I'm still here... and he isn't! What happened in that reactor?!" Tifa silently lifted her hand. As he turned, Cloud saw the ashen look on her face.
"I'm still alive, too..." she murmured. Burying her head in her hands, she began to sob. She remembered the pain, the blood, the tears... But she couldn't remember one very important thing...
I... I just can't say it...
Aerith sighed. "A lot of things aren't making sense here. If Jenova was in the reactor at Nibelheim, how did it end up in the Shinra bulding?" Barret nodded.
"And why was it missing its head?!" Cloud shrugged.
"The only explanation is that they moved it to Midgar. But that doesn't explain why it was missing its head..." Tifa narrowed her eyes. There was one obvious factor...
"Sephiroth... has to be involved," Tifa said quietly. Barret jumped to his feet and stomped towards the door. "Where are you going, Barret?!" Barret angrily threw up his hands.
"I don't frickin' know! But I know I'm out of here! This is too much for my damn head to process!" With a sigh, Red XIII left the room. That left Cloud, Tifa, Aerith...
And a mountain of questions.
Scene Four
The story was told, the details... uncertain. All that was clear was that there were no answers, only more questions, enigmas, and puzzles that defied any and all logic. How Cloud and Tifa were still alive and so was Sephiroth made everyone's head ache like hell.
Aerith folded her arms. "None of this makes sense. Sephiroth, the Cetra, Jenova... Everything is just too jumbled for us to figure anything out! I..." she sighed and stood up. "I'm going to go to bed... Night, guys..." As Aerith left the room and Cloud began to follow her, he caught sight of Tifa's tears. He turned to face her, so many thoughts in his head.
"Cloud, I..." Tifa averted her eyes. "How badly... was I wounded?" Cloud dropped to the bed and fell flat on his back. He sighed, picturing the injury...
"I thought..." Cloud swallowed hard. "I thought you wouldn't make it. I'm just glad... y'know..." He turned his eyes to her. "that you did." Although she didn't seem satisfied with Cloud's answer, Tifa rose to her feet and stepped towards the door.
"Good night... Cloud..." She murmured as she left the room. With a sigh, Cloud shut his eyes and drifted off to sleep. Not a very deep sleep, but at least he started to dream. Then he woke, slowly beginning to think again about all that had happened. But he kept his eyes closed.
What am I missing? I saw Tifa, Sephiroth, and...
And you heard the words. The words you remember only faintly.
You know... I'm done arguing with you. Shut up and let me sleep...
I guess you aren't ready yet...
In her own room, Tifa couldn't sleep either. After hearing the story from Cloud's point of view, she started trying to piece in her own memories into the empty puzzle. And she wasn't succeeding.
He said he was there... but... when I said I wanted to have you rescue me...
She began to sob softly.
I didn't get to say it to you...
Slowly, she cried herself to sleep, although it wasn't a restful one. In the morning, everyone gathered together to talk. As it turns out, none of them got much sleep. The discussion continued, and as the talk intensified, Aerith had an idea.
"Why don't we all get cellphones?" Aerith asked. Barret paused and tilted his head.
"How the hell did you go from all this junk to cellphones?!" With a sigh, Aerith tried to figure out how to explain her plan.
"Okay, let's say we get separated. I mean, we can't all be together all the time. So, if we get cellphones, we can keep in touch no matter where we are! And if we want to say something to someone we want to be the only one to say, we can text each other!"
Tifa thought for a moment and nodded. "And we can split up to get some intel! If we all break up and go all around town, we can figure out some more about where Sephiroth might be!" With a shrug, Barret saw the point. Splitting up and covering the whole town would be faster - and more covert - than running around as four people and a red lion asking questions.
"Right, right!" Barret nodded. "Let's get the cellphones and get searching!" Everyone agreed, and after stopping at the cellphone store they each bought their own unique model and went about going through town to gather info. Notably, Red XIII didn't get a cellphone for obvious reasons.
The party split up and talked to the townspeople, across the whole of Kalm. It was indeed easier to do that than roam the streets as a gang of strangers. Moreover, they were able to talk to people better that way.
Cloud spoke to a number of people, asking about anyone who might have mentioned a Mako reactor. He received no good information, but got a free coffee from a friendly barista. Frustrated, he just went back to the Inn and sent a text to the party.
Red XIII tried to speak to people, but they kept running away. He eventually gave up and returned to the Inn.
Barret wandered the streets asking about Shinra. When he received glowing reviews, he forced himself to stay quiet and, after several frustrating minutes, returned to the Inn and met Red XIII.
Tifa tried to find information about a man in a black cloak, but received no information. But she did get a couple of phone numbers. In disgust, she threw them away and went back to the Inn as well.
Aerith was the only one who got anything useful. She talked to a friendly young boy who mentioned his father, a miner at the Mythril Mines, had been forced to stop working because of the influx of monsters. In particular was the Midgardsormr, a terrifying snake that had made it impossible to go to the mines.
The important info came from the boy, as well: he'd seen a "cool" silver haired man in a black cloak with a huge sword ask about the path to Junon. After being told it was through the mines, he departed against the boy's advice - there was no way to get past the Midgardsormr.
Back at the Inn, everyone gathered and related what they'd learned. Four reports came back as duds, but Aerith's intel piqued everyone's interest. If Junon was his target, and the only way through was the Mythril Mines...
"Anyone have an idea how to get past that Midgar... whatever?" asked Barret. "How do we get through to the Mines if no one else can?" Tifa put a finger to her mouth in thought.
"Why don't we go east and see if we can find something?" Tifa wondered. "There's nothing more we can get here, so maybe we'll find someone closer to the Mines that can tell us how to get through?" Cloud folded his arms. Seemed as good an idea as any.
"I guess it's decided!" Cloud said with a shrug. "Red XIII, can you still build those shelters of yours, or do we have to lug around camping equipment?" Red XIII paused.
"It won't be as nice as the Inn, but it'll be cheaper. Don't forget to bring food and water, though. I don't know if we can find anything else to eat other than monster meat." Cloud nodded.
"Alright, let's mosey! Tifa, Aerith, let's go get some supplies and head out! Barret, you're carrying everything!" Barret stomped his foot angrily.
"The hell I am! Let fuzzy take it, not me!" Red XIII shot a death glare at Barret, causing him to jump.
"Did you just call me fuzzy?" he snarled, baring his teeth. Barret promptly clapped to attention and bowed. He wasn't going to argue with something that could gnaw his arm off.
"Uh, let's share? Okay?" Blood lust abated, Red XIII agreed and the party set out with their supplies to search east... in search of a way through to the Mythril Mines!
They never figured they'd be riding on a big yellow bird to get there, though...
Author's Notes
And that concludes Cloud's flashback! I was going to wait to just write everything else for the next major segment, but I figured I'd put this out 'cause it's sort of important. No idea when the next part heading to Junon will be, though.
Incidentally, every one of the party got their own cellphone with their own number. Try and decipher them and find out a six-letter keyword I came up with. It's not much of a sideshow, but I wanted to throw something interesting out there. Each keyword has something important to do with each character.
Cloud: Black cellphone, blue trim 336-747 OR 287- 837 for an easier go of it. Might've made it too hard for non-fans.
Aerith: White cellphone, pink trim 356-937
Tifa: White cellphone, black trim 432-836
Barret: Green cellphone, red trim 285-538
When I post the next bunch of chapters, I'll explain them. Till then, I'll be writing the chapters on Mythril Mines through Junon. Hope you enjoy the cellphone puzzle... And watch out for a new party member!