The Music Box
By Ceres Sky
Chapter Three: The Music Box
Author's Note: I am very sorry that this update has taken so long. I went on vacation for 2 weeks and was not able to finish this story before I left as I had wanted to. I hope that I haven't lost the thread of the story while I've been gone.
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"Shan, will you please go get the music box sitting on my desk?" Zangan asked as he sat down. For a moment, Cloud felt sorry for Shan. The man had spent most of the visit fetching things for his master. But Shan left with only a quick nod and disappeared silently into a side room. Cloud was surprised at how quietly the man moved. Tifa moved the same way, light on her feet and relaxed. Cloud briefly wondered how Tifa was doing and if she missed him. He realized that he was still standing and that Zangan was now studying him thoughtfully, a slight smile on his face.
"Please, Cloud, sit down. This story may take awhile to tell."
Cloud sat down.
"How is Tifa, Cloud?" Zangan asked.
What is it that you cherish?
Cloud frowned. "She's doing fine."
"Ignore the voice, Cloud," Zangan said. "So you live with Tifa?"
Tell me what it is so that I can have the pleasure of taking it away.
"Forget the small talk, Zangan, and tell me what is going on here in Nibelheim," Cloud said, his chest knotting with something he had not felt in a long time. It was not fear for himself... but oddly enough, a fear for Tifa. His voice lowered to an angry whisper, "And why I can hear Sephiroth's voice here, when I killed him for the third time a year ago."
At that moment, Shan walked back into the room, holding a small plain-looking box. He handed it to Cloud without even asking Zangan first, then sat down himself, face impassive. Cloud took it gingerly and stared at the slightly charred wood on top. The two dancing figures were still in good condition, but they were worn with weathering and age. "Where did you find this, Zangan?"
"After the fire, Hojo had SOLDIER clear out all the rubble from the town, in order to rebuild it into what you see here today. Unfortunately for him, SOLDIER did their job less than perfectly. Instead of burning everything they found, they tossed the items into a ditch dug outside town. They buried the dead in a makeshift graveyard nearby. I suppose the soldiers felt some sort of sorrow for the town and did not want to see anything more burnt to dust." Zangan shrugged. " I returned to Nibelheim after taking Tifa to Midgar to find it overrun with Shinra and SOLDIER and the gates locked. I was scouting around outside the town walls when I found the ditch containing that. For some reason, I remembered Tifa telling me about it, so I picked it up to take back to her. But I never went to visit her." He waved a hand at the music box in Cloud's hand.
"Why did you come back?"
Zangan sighed. "I was hoping to find survivors. I had even brought a truck with me for them." His face saddened. "But there were none. Tifa was the only one to survive of those who stayed during the massacre. And even she had been badly injured by Sephiroth's hand." He leaned forward. "But you, Cloud… You survived."
"Barely," Cloud whispered, remembering the dark days when he had not known if he was merely a clone of Sephiroth with no past or family.
"But moving on to what is going on here in Nibelheim." Zangan sat back, glancing over at Shan. "There is activity over in the Shinra mansion again. I had heard reports of SOLDIER being brought back to life with a new leader."
"Who is this new leader?" Cloud asked.
Zangan's gaze was far away as he answered. "I don't know. But I do know that all this activity has something to do with Sephiroth. But I'm not sure how. For all we know, it could be Sephiroth who is their new leader."
"Does Shinra have anything to do with this?" Cloud demanded, thinking to himself that as soon as he could, he was going to have a long talk with Rufus Shinra.
Zangan shook his head. "I don't think so, Cloud. That is why Shan and I are here. We have been here about a month, watching as much of the activities in the mansion as we can. We have learned very little though."
A question suddenly struck Cloud. "Who do you work for, Zangan?"
"The Turks," a quiet voice stated from his right. It was Shan. "I am sure you are well-acquainted with us."
"Too well," Cloud muttered. Louder, he replied, "Ironic that the Turks are keeping watch on a fellow organization under the umbrella of Shinra." And that would also be the reason Zangan had no idea if Shinra was behind the new SOLDIER. The Turks rarely asked questions about their assignments; they simply did their jobs.
"What about the WRO?" Cloud asked.
Zangan waved the question away carelessly. "Reeve's pet project? Shinra approves of it, but it yet has to become a proper army."
"Cloud Strife, we need your help to get inside that mansion," Shan said, coming to the crux of the matter. "That is why you are here."
"That is why I am here? I came here to get a gift for Tifa, not to get involved in Shinra's dirty work."
Shan did not look offended at Cloud's outburst. He merely nodded. "Yes, you came to get a gift for Tifa. If you do not help us, do you think we will let you go back to give it to her?"
"Are you threatening me?" Cloud said, standing up and feeling anger welling up in him. Why was it that anytime the world needed to be saved from some dire threat; he always ended up in the middle of it. He was tired of being the hero all the time, the worship in Denzel's eyes whenever he looked at Cloud. He had tried to stay out of it when Kadaj and his gang had showed up, but Tifa had forced him to see what he was doing.
Shan shook his head. "Do you think she will even BE there for you to go back to?"
"What are you talking about?" Cloud said, his hand was creeping toward his sword unconsciously. Restraining himself, he drew his hand back to his side.
"What Shan is trying to tell you, Cloud, is that if you do not help us, this group may..." Zangan started.
"...attack Edge." Cloud sighed. Somehow, he wished he had not known the answer.
Shan looked sternly at Cloud. "There are troops in that mansion now, and there may be even more in the mountains. To us, they seem to be waiting... for what we are not sure."
"And once whatever they are waiting for happens, the world may be in for another war," Zangan said.
"I will help you," Cloud said. "When do we go in?"
Cloud was surprised to see the looks of relief on Zangan and Shan's faces. "No one knows this town like you do, Cloud," Zangan said. "It was as if the planet sent us to you when we needed you most."
"I'm not doing this for you or Shan, Zangan," Cloud said sharply.
Zangan smiled. "Someday, she will thank you, Cloud Strife."
Cloud peeked into the room from a secret hallway that ran parallel to all the walls of the outermost rooms. It was a simple setup and Cloud was a little surprised that the hidden passages prevalent in the mansion had not been sealed or posted with guards. Cloud shrugged as he leaned back, letting Zangan and Shan take a look into the room that had been converted into some kind of hospital ward with many cots. They were all empty.
Maybe SOLDIER was unconcerned with intruders since Nibelheim had been long abandoned and was far from anywhere. Or perhaps it was known that they would come... Cloud brushed away the disturbing thought. If they had known they were there, they would already be caught.
The three did not speak to each other but communicated only with hand gestures and their eyes. The mansion was old and sound carried very well through it in spite of the invasive hum of hospital equipment. Zangan and Shan looked very grave as they mentally took notes of what they were seeing.
Shall I give you despair?
Cloud could not resist looking around the hallway at the voice echoing through his mind. It had been quiet for sometime. Why did it come to bother him now?
You are only a puppet, Cloud. Just as you have always been.
Cloud ignored the voice as best he could, but the words he heard were beginning to eat at him. Not a puppet, I am not a puppet.
Zangan signaled for them to move on and Cloud led them down to the basement where they had found Vincent.
Shan was the first to peer into the basement and he almost immediately backed away, a look of disgust on his face. He waved Zangan forward.
When Cloud's turn came next, he was not surprised. It looked like the area in the Mako reactor that had contained those monsters before Nibelheim burned to the ground. The only difference was that there were at least a hundred men and women sealed into the tubes, all seeming asleep and calm. And normal.
Zangan motioned that it was time to go when a man walked into the room, an entourage of lab-suited scientists behind him. Cloud stared at the man in disbelief. He looked like Denzel! The same peppery brown hair, the same face, the same walk, only the eyes were different. Zangan must have sensed Cloud's emotions because he tapped Cloud on the shoulder, wanting to see.
Cloud moved back, feeling slightly sick. Could that have been Denzel's father? The boy had told him his father and mother were dead. Killed in the fall of the Sector Seven plate. Maybe it was another relative. Or maybe he was just seeing things and there was no resemblance at all. One thing was for sure; it was not Sephiroth who was in charge of SOLDIER. That man had had the look of authority of a man in charge.
Once Shan had finished scanning the group himself, they were ready to go. Cloud led them out of the mansion, and they furtively headed back to Zangan's home to discuss what they had seen.