AN:
1550 words! Okay, so I am still alive and am truly sorry that I took SOOOO long to update. I was having issues with where the story was going again. I thought I knew from the last time the character's ambushed me! Grrr! Thanks a lot Zack! He just didn't want to work with me at all! Blame him.
Oh, Thanks for all who are still reading this! :) It does mean a lot to me.
The people on Gia had no idea what had hit them. A Second Class Soldier coming from out of nowhere and single-handed tore down the world dominate company. While the building still stood, there were quite a few of its people who didn't. The president was the first to go next came the heads in the Science Department, followed by the head of Weapons Development, Space, and Public Safety Maintenance. Rurmor had it the only the head of Urban Development was still alive, but no one has seen him. People thought that if any Soldier could save the downfall of the great and powerful Shinra Electric Power Company, then it would have been the great hero Sephiroth. Yet he and his two seconds have also been missing, not one of them has been seen since before the whole mess started. Though, the Commander Genesis Rhapsodos was still counted as traitor and even heard to be KIA. One would think that anything would have been better than the old president of Shinra, but no, this new tyrant was terrible. No one knew what he was planning or what he was aiming for. There were times that he seemed to want to bring about the world's end, yet he appeared to want to make the world a better place. His biggest change was the destruction of the Mako Reactors. That shocked the world. It was in that shock that he had taken over Midgar and then to Kalm, and so forth. No one has been able to stand in his way. No Soldier dears and even the Turks seem to be under his command. All of Gia's people seem to be bowing down to him… even Gia herself.
-Prospective Change-
He wasn't really feeling nothing, but he wasn't reeling anything either. He was alive, he could tell that much. He could feel his breathe coming and going. He could feel the weight of something covering him. There was warmth on one side and the cold on another. He could hear sounds echoing in his ears. A silent ringing that never ceased. Heat consumed him while a chill had settled into his core. It was so confusing. He was consumed by darkness with no light to see, yet he overwhelmed by light. His very existence was a conundrum. What was going on…
-Prospective Change-
"He's fever's back," Cissnei could barely push the words out.
Cissnei knew that Rosie, Cloud's mother, was leaning against the doorframe. She turned and made eye contact with what Cissnei consider a very beautiful woman. Rosie walked over to the bed and checked his temperature. Smiling grimly, Rosie picked up the rag from the bowl, squeezed it out and placed it back on his forehead.
"He'll pull through, like he has been," Rosie gently laid a hand on Cissnei's shoulder.
"He'd better," Cissnei whispered.
Rosy squeezed her shoulder once more and motion to trades spot with Cissnei. Cissnei had learned early on that she was not to argue with Rosie. Rosie tended to be quite stubborn. Cissnei could not deny her salient request.
"Go get some rest while you can," Rosie directed. "I can look after him for a while."
Cissnei bit her lip, but slowly nodded. She turned to look back at the scene in front of her one last time, before she headed down stairs to sleep on the couch. Downstairs was just seemed lonely without everyone there. Apparently, Cloud had many friends with him that came back. They all rallied at the Strife's home when they found out what had happened and when Zack…oh Zack. She peered out the window and the ground laden with snow. The moon reflected off it, making it look like it was morning.
A chill ran up her spine as she watched thee pine trees sway in the wind. The fresh snow made the town look like a ghost town. How she wished she had the rest of the Turks with her: her family. Her instructions were clear though. The order was to disappear and not come back without Cloud. The only one who still seemed fit to fight him was Cloud. Sephiroth and Angeal had tried once, the two of them didn't last long against Zack. His newfound strength was scary. Cissnei shivered again, this time not from the cold.
Someone had to stop Zack. They had to overcome his friendship with everyone and just do the deed. The new Avalanche, for that is what they called themselves, said that there was not hope for Zack now. There could have been a way to save him, if they could have found Aerith, but she was nowhere to be seen. The hero's said to assume that she was already gone. That if she hadn't answered them, she wasn't going to now. Hope seemed all but lost. They were all waiting on the man upstairs to wake up as the others worked on what they called "damage control".
What does that even mean? Had they given up on making a difference themselves? Were they waiting? Something had to be done to save Zack. He was extremely important to Cloud. Could no one see that? Maybe no one could really understand him after all, maybe that was why he was so broken when she first met Cloud.
Cissnei sighed, fogging up the window in front of her. She's been through this so many times all she was going to do now was run into circles. Perhaps she was exhausted.
Cissnei walked back over to the fire and placed another log on to heat up the slowly chilling room. After that, she went back to the couch, pulled the quilt around her shoulders and laid down. Tomorrow as going to come and it will be a new day. A new day that will bring with it the possivility of hope. Cloud had taught her that much, if only he were here with her now. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
-Prospective Change-
Genesis looked out the window as the airship swam through the clouds. He glanced down at the two materia he held loosely in his hands. He turned them around in circles. One materia had the power to call a giant meteor to crush the Gia and all of her inhabitants. The other was a simple heal. Mrs. Strife had given him that one. When the goddess had healed his friends and him, they had made their way to the Strife home from the Minerva's instruction. It was then that they found out the plan to stop the Calamity had failed. Mrs. Strife had gone up to the reactor after the team didn't come back. She had said that the place was a wreck. 'A fierce battle must have taken place,' were her exact words. However, there was no sign of anyone left. Sephiroth, Angeal, and Genesis had gone up to take a look. It was then that they found Cloud and a vampire looking dude name Vincent trapped in Mako taken, trapped like animals. Vincent had woken up a couple of house after they had rescued the two prisoners, but Mrs. Strife's son was still in a comma.
After that, things picked up fast. Zack had started his first mover. Genesis clenched his hands closed. That man… that thing wasn't Zack. He didn't need Angeal nor Sephiroth to tell him that. There was something about this new Zack that set Genesis off kilter. It was like a huge warning in the back of his head that said to stay away.
"There you are," Tifa called as she came into the room. "So this is where you've decided to hide?"
"I'm not hiding," Genesis stated firmly.
"Are too," Tifa teased. "You don't want Angeal to fuss over your scratches, so you're in here away from him."
"Hnn..." was Genesis's response.
Tifa giggled and gently took the cure materia from his hands.
"You know this works better when you…" Tifa started as she poured her magic into the small orb activating it. "Use it like this."
The warmth and tingling sensation of the cure washed over him, healing his minor injuries that would have healed on their own in another hour or so. Before Genesis could ask for the matria back, Tifa placed into his hands.
"Cloud's going to be alright," Tifa encouraged as she sat next to Genesis.
Genesis looked into her eyes.
"And it's not your fault." Tifa finished.
"Hmm…"
"He's been through this before," Tifa continued. "He'll pull through it again."
"So, why let me keep this?" Genesis inquired as he held up the black materia.
"Well, it's not like you're actually get to keep it, you're more or less just holding on to it." Tifa remarked, as she looked out the window that Genesis had been staring out of. "We figured it would be the last place she would expect to see it."
"Right, in the hands of a traitor," mumbled Genesis.
"I swear all of you men are the same!" Tifa exclaimed. "You were forgiven, let it go."
Genesis eye's narrowed. He stood up and with a flare of his jacket turned to leave. As he was almost out of the door, Tifa's voice stopped him.
"One of these days, I will train you men to realize that forgiveness is not unattainable."
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