Daniel shot straight up, tossing the dirt and rocks from his body and taking a deep breath that was mixed with rock dust, but sweet all the same. He gripped his chest which beat a hard tune, pumping him full of life again. Daniel pulled himself up just as the dust cleared, when the ground beneath him disappeared. Daniel struggled again, clawing for the rocks around him, but each one slipped between his fingers.
"Shhhhhhiiiiiiitt!!"
As the rock face caved away, Daniel couldn't help but wonder why where ever he was put in eminent danger, it always involved falling. He wondered this especially after he felt the soreness of his back, which was how he usually landed, and never on anything soft. Only this time was different.
So this is what the ground looks like when it's rushing you at a hundred miles an hour.
He found himself in an awkward position. He had never landed on his face before and as such had no idea what to expect. The only thing he did know for sure was that the house below him was defiantly going to hurt.
As expected, he raced towards the roof of the building nestled just above the village. He braced his arms over his face as the wood splinters stabbed him and shredded his uniform. He came to rest in a large room after he had caused the large Victorian couch to collapse. He bounced once then landed on the floor, much much softer than he had anticipated. Although his coughing fits were none to cease, he was glad that he was still alive at least.
He stood up and shook himself more like a dog, gagging at the dust that exhumed from his body. Daniel rubbed his eyes as he took a quick look around, trying to adjust to his new setting. There wasn't much there, it looked more abandoned than anything else. There was an old sofa in which now was legless from where he landed, an old grand piano, old rug, windows and drapes. There was nothing here that was not old. Coughing the last of the dust, and hunching over while holding his back, Daniel started slowly walking towards the defunct piano. It was obvious that no one lives here, or if there was someone here, then they had poor cleaning habits.
The piano, though old as it may be still seemed to function. Curiosity got the better of him and he hit a few notes on the ivory keys. The sounds emanated throughout the room for a bit then faded all together. It was a nice clean and crisp sound that seemed odd for a piano of that age. Shrugging, Daniel started walking away when he heard several wires start snapping. He cringed as each resounded quite disturbingly in the room.
You just had to touch it didn't you Daniel?
He didn't even bother looking back, only continued out the room. When he followed the hallway down into the main foyer, he froze. The smell was awfully familiar here, and when he saw the motif on the ceiling, he was instilled with a dread he hadn't felt in years. This couldn't be that place, this couldn't be Shin'Ra mansion, could it?
Daniel started walking faster towards the front door. He had to escape, he had to run, that was all he could think of. The smell of formaldehyde and burning mako was enough to remind him of exactly why he shouldn't be here.
Bursting out of the front door, Daniel ran towards the old iron gate. He stopped to calm his beating heart. This was the place that they did those horrible experiments on him and Sephiroth. This was the place that he had done so much to bury into his past, yet no mater how deep he placed it in his hear, it resurfaced so effortlessly.
"Hey! Are you ok?"
A young woman, no more than fourteen or fifteen ran up to him. Her hair was long for her age, and her large brimmed hat bounced with each step she took. She was followed by a brisk man in a cape. From the looks of it, he was a martial arts teacher of some kind. Only those kinds of people wore clothing of that nature.
Daniel stood to his feet and tried to brush off his clothes. He was still a bit weak in the knees but felt as if he could stand. He was a SOLDIER, so he had a reputation to keep.
"I-I'm fine. Really! Something small like that couldn't hurt me that much."
Daniel tossed a hand behind his head and laugh.
Yeah, it wont hurt me, but could possibly kill me.
Daniel grinned nervously at the two, who only stared at him with worried faces. The older man spoke up after sending the young woman into the small town below the hill.
"How did you get here? Did you come through the mountain pass?"
Logic finally struck Daniel in the face, like a large wooden hammer. Mountains? Gold Saucer was surrounded by desert, not mountains. Adding all the figures up in his head, he came to the conclusion that he was back in Nibelheim.
"Oh man, talk about veering off course…"
"What was that?"
Daniel suddenly remembered that he had a partner in this conversation other than himself.
"Oh! Uh, no! I was on an airship heading towards Gold Saucer when terrorists attacked the ship. I was thrown from the balcony when it sank."
The man looked shocked.
"Airship? You mean you were on the Cerberus when Avalanche attacked?!"
Daniel only nodded, felling somewhat uncomfortable that a complete stranger was taking such interest in his story.
"Then that must mean that your SOLDIER, am I right?"
"Yeah," Daniel asked quizzically, "How'd you know?"
The old man started walking down the stone path, motioning for Daniel to follow.
"You have mako eyes. Brightest I've ever seen in a soldier. So what rank are you?"
Daniel could never resist sounding proud to announce his rank. It was one of the things Sandy really hated about him.
"I'm SOLDIER First Class. Marksman expert! I'm the platoon's-"
"First Class?! Great! How lucky we are! Listen we need your help! There have been sightings of an old and dangerous monster in the Nibelheim Mountains…"
The old man started walking off past the windmill and towards the local inn there. He stopped speaking, seeing that his opportunity to gloat about his prestige was wasted on guy.
Daniel couldn't make out most of what he was saying from him talking to fast. He did catch Old and Powerful, dangerous, and maybe magical (but the monsters now-a-days were nearly all magical in some way).
"So will you do it? Will you help save our town?"
"Um…I would love to, but I really need to contact the company. I'll ask them if I can help you."
The old man sneered, and then turned to everyone in the street who all stopped to give him their attention.
"Listen everyone! This here SOLDIER said he won't help us! If we can't rely on Shin'Ra, then who do we turn to?"
Daniel was frozen in embarrassment. The crowd all turned and talked with each other. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but he knew two things: it was about him, and it was bad.
"Jesus! You didn't have to go that far! Alright I'll help you just, stop it already!"
The old man smirked.
"Ok people, he agreed."
Like a switch the people stopped and continued with what they were doing, like nothing had ever happened at all. Daniel stood frozen; his mouth hung open and finger pointing into space out of confusion.
That rat-bastard swindled me! Hell the entire town just swindled me!
"Now, your pretty beat up. Rest here for a few days and regain your strength. You can set out when you're prepared. It's probably best to ask the townsfolk about the lore and legends surrounding Lost Number.
Daniel slumped.
"Can I at least make a phone call to let the company know I'm alright first?"
Or rather that my equipment is ok. President Shinra is a bit inhuman when it comes to people.
"You can try," the old man stated as he walked away. "This town hasn't had a working phone for a few years now."
Daniel only stood there as he watched the old man walk away. Even though he couldn't see it, he was sure the old man was smiling. He just threw his fist at the imaginary image in front of him, pretending to land a blow squarely on the old mans nose, then he just slumped down on the side of the inn, cursing his luck. He should be out there, trying to find a way to contact the company, more importantly, he needed to contact Sephiroth and Cassandra. She must be worrying herself sick.
As he was wondering the best way to handle this situation, he felt a cold chill run down his spine as an evil wind swept by him. The world seemed to drain of color and the clouds became dark and disturbed. He heard the whispering coming from the mountain, evil and frightening sounds. When he looked down the trail that leads into the mountains, it seemed to grow and stretch, like it was drawing him in against his will. Daniel's eyes were wide with terror. He saw a face, transparent in the cold blue stone of the mountain. The face was feminine but when he saw this, he was frightened beyond all imagining. He knew this face from somewhere. The whispering was muddled now, telling him both to run for his life, and others resounding with requests of vengeance. All he knew was that he was frozen in place by that stare, his body felt sick and his stomach turned in knots. When the face centered on him, it smiled something horrid, then lept at him with fangs bearing. Daniel couldn't even scream, his breaths were short and shallow.
"Hey!"
Daniel jumped as the girl shook his shoulder. He took in deep breaths, looking back at the mountain path. It was calm, eerily quiet but gentle all the same. The orange leaves fell from the autumn sunset trees as the wind lazily blew them around. It was just a dream, a day dream. Whatever it was, it was enough to shake Daniel's composure.
"Are you ok?"
Daniel wiped the sweat from his face and stood up, brushing off his pants and trying to redeem some of his composure.
"Yeah, just stressed."
The girl nodded and handed him a stuffed cloth sack and a glass of semi-cold milk.
"Here. I made you dinner."
Daniel took the cloth sack and untied the knot. They were crude egg sandwiches, with lettuce, and some kind of condiment smeared all over the eggs. The smell reminded him of just how hungry he was. He took a small bite of the first sandwich and sighed. The flavor was an explosion in his mouth. He couldn't put a finger on what the condiment was but it was spicy and delicious. He couldn't help but start stuffing his face.
"Hey take it easy! There's enough there to fill you up, don't worry."
Daniel finished the sandwiches in a matter of seconds, drowning every other bite with the glass of milk. These were really something. If Sandy could cook like this, he was sure that he would get fat in no time at all.
"Wow those were delicious! Thank you."
The girl only blushed and shied playfully to the side. It was obvious that she doesn't get many chances to be flattered.
Come to think of it, where are all the men in this town? I can see lots of women, but only a handful of men.
"I'm sorry that Master Zangan swindled you into helping the town, but we are truly thankful for your help."
Daniel gave one more look around to confirm what he was thinking before he asked his question.
"Why didn't you guys file with the company sooner? With a mako reactor here they would surly come help the town."
The girl shook her head as she leaned up against the wall, kicking one foot up behind her and placing both hands behind her bottom.
"We filed the complaint several years ago, but the Shinra that came out here were not SOLDIERS. When you came, it was like a miracle. We never thought you would come back here. I never thought I would see you again either."
The girl smiled as she looked down, playfully shuffling her feet in the dirt.
"…huh?!"
Daniel had a dumbfounded look on his face. What exactly was this girl talking about? He knew he was Hojo's experiment several years back at the mansion, but he was locked in a glass tube the entire time he was there, and never got out to see the village, or rather he could only see what was in the confines of the transport canisters.
The girl looked at him with confusion.
"You don't remember? You and your parents came here a long time ago to excavate the ruins that were in the mountains. The…Cetra ruins if I remember correctly."
None of this was ringing any bells. He just stood there with his hand on his chin, trying hard to remember.
"Well, you guys found something in the ruins there, some kind of weird mummy. You seriously don't remember? It was all over the papers back then. I was only four years old but I sure remember you."
Daniel just couldn't grasp what she was talking about. If there were ruins there, he would make sure to check them out. He didn't remember much of the archeological digs his father and mother drug him along to, but he didn't rule out the possibility that he was here as a kid. Not to mention that any artifacts or places that explained a bit of the mystery surrounding his ancestors always perked his interest.
"Heh, I'm sorry but I don't really remember that much."
The girl looked disappointed, much more than any normal person would look. In fact, she seemed out right saddened.
"Oh, well it was a long time ago."
The girl started walking off towards her house, or what he thought was her house. The town was small, and only a handful of houses dotted the area, all surrounding an old windmill and a beat up truck that looked like it hadn't run in years. For now, Daniel just stared down the path into the mountains. There was something that implored him to run from the very sight of it. He could hear the voices of the other ancients pleading for him to run, others for him to exact revenge.
He thought this was interesting. Daniel couldn't hear the voices of the planet in Midgar, and even then, the only place he could hear them was in The Forgotten Capitol. They were always just barely auditable voices, just beyond his range of hearing. He always thought that it was because his family's powers had weakened over the centuries, but this was obviously not the case anymore. He did his best to drown out the voices and went inside the inn.
Just as the old man had said, the phone was old, dusty, and didn't even work. Daniel sighed as he thought hard about buying a cell phone when he got back to Midgar. He started walking upstairs after talking with the innkeeper for some much deserved rest. There was something that bothered him though. That face he saw in his little vision was so familiar, he knew it from somewhere. He could actually remember seeing it in person, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly when or where. He plopped down on the large fluffy bed on the second floor bedroom. He buried his face into the pillows.
"Today was the suckiest day I've had in years." He mumbled, and then turned over and quickly fell asleep as exhaustion caught up with him. The cold wind of the mountain blew in from the open window and caused Daniel to shiver. Not because the wind was cold, but there was something about the air here that disturbed him, like feeling the breathing of a monster on your neck before you turn around to face it.