The Power of Forgiveness

I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or Seiken Densetsu 3.

Chapter 2

For the next few days, he was nurtured by the priests and priestesses of the temple. He had to eat soup for the time being until he got better. He would get jabs of pain whenever he had one of his 'wounds' reopened. This was usually triggered by an action or someone's eyes or by something that was said. It didn't hurt as much as it did when he had first woken up. Thank goodness for that.

They would always try to converse with him, but it would usually end awkwardly without any word from the recovering man. That was no surprise. The surprise came when Heath had visited him one of the days and found that he was recovering faster than expected and would be up and walking in a few days. This didn't surprise him though, he was use to it.

Today was like every other day. He would have priests and priestesses come in every three hours. They tried to get him to talk, but failed in the process. He'd get the regular soup for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Plus he'd take a nap in between. Yes, a normal day for him…until the door opened unexpectedly.

He looked over at the door from his lying position and saw no one. He thought that the door had been open by a wind and was about to close his eyes when he felt a tug on his blanket.

"Hi! Are you feeling better?"

The sliver haired man sat straight up and stared down at a little girl with blond curly hair. She had on a red hat that looked like a jesters and her shoes were red too. Her robes were blue with a cover with the design of a sun on it. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes were a sparkling blue…he blinked when no pain came. Her eyes…they don't bring any pain…

"That is because she is the one who saved you. It is her that will help become who you truly are," a soft voice echoed in his head.

His heart seemed to cry out, but why? Who was speaking to him? Why did he feel a strange sensation within him that told him that he knew who it was?

"You are better! That's good! I was angry when Heath and Grampa didn't tell me that you were awake! I wanted to meet you! It's a good thing I asked Mick about you!" the little girl chirped. A smile spread across from ear to ear on her face. She leaned towards him, "So what's your name?"

The man stared at her for a second before replying, "It's rude to ask someone for their name when you haven't introduced yourself." The girl jumped back at the sound of his deep voice before shaking her head, her curls following her head's every turn.

"My name is Charlotte, but call me Carlie because Grampa only calls me my real name if I'm in trouble…there! So, what's your name?!" the newly named Carlie piped up.

"…Sephiroth," he said. Carlie blinked a few times before saying the name.

"Seph…Seph…Sephiroth! That name is hard to say. Can I call you Sephy?"

"No. You may not."

"…Okay! So Sephiroth, wanna know how you got here?"

"They already told me I was found in the Rabite Forest."

"Yeah! Yeah! But did they say I found you?"

"…You're the one who found…me?"

"Of course! When I found you, you were all hurt really bad. There was lots of blood. I screamed so loud that Heath hurried and found me! Then he teleported us right to the temple and then…I healed you!"

"What?"

"I'm not going to repeat—"

"No, not that. I mean what by that you healed me…"

"Oh that, well I didn't want you to die. So instead of waiting for Heath and Grampa I just went ahead and used all my magic and strength to heal you and it worked!"

"…."

"I'm so glad that it worked! So I could meet you!"

"…Thank you…Carlie…"

"Hey, I was just doing the right thing! So—"

"Carlie! What are you doing in here!?" Heath burst into the room at the sound of her voice.

"Carlie wanted to meet Sephiroth!"

"Carlie, he's not—wait? What?"

"My name is Sephiroth. I'm fine so get out so Carlie and I can continue talking," Sephiroth said with a bit force. Heath, who was not used to hearing him talk, jumped back in shock. After a few seconds of blinking he rushed out of the room. Sephiroth smirked at this and Carlie giggled.

"You're funny Sephiroth. You gave Heath a good scare!"

Sephiroth paused and stared at her. She thought he was funny?

"You…mean that?"

"Of course silly!"

A long pause before…

"So…Sephiroth, what were you doing out in the Rabite Forest with wounds like that?"

"…"

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No…I'm just a little confused…that's all…"

"About what?"

"…Carlie, can you answer a question for me?"

"O'tay I'll try."

"Who is the…Goddess of Mana?"

Carlie's face paled. A deep sorrowfulness shone from her eyes.

"The Goddess of Mana created and saved the world with the Sword of Mana and sealed away all the God Beasts. We all pray to her for guidance and safety…"

Sephiroth's heart jumped. Carlie's voice had a sad tone to it. Though she was smiling, it was only hiding something deeper inside…

"Who are the God Beasts?"

"The God Beasts were beings that tried to destroy everything. They each were over an element of our world."

"What are the elements?"

Carile blinked in confusion before asking, "You don't know?"

"I don't know anything…"

"You have amnesia?!"

"Not really…"

"…? …The elements are Earth, Wind, Fire, Ice, Wood, Moon, Light, and Dark… All their power was sealed away into Eight Mana Stones, however the Dark Mana Stone disappeared a long time ago…"

Sephiroth thought for a moment. So they have elements here…does that mean they have magic here? "Carlie, do can people do magic here?" The silver haired man asked, turning to her.

"Um…well yes, but that's not really what... The Goddess of Mana died and another Goddess took her place. We weren't supposed to have magic for 1,000 years, but only 3 months had passed and magic has returned. It's been 6 months since of the Goddess of Mana has died," the little girl replied.

What? She died! That doesn't make sense! What's going on?! …Maybe my being here has something to do with the mysterious reason magic has returned…What am I here for?