Their Journey So Far
Cloud always wondered why Master Zangan sent him, though he has an idea Master Zangan had an idea his pet wolf wasn't a pet wolf at all but couldn't ask to confirm it, to Cosmo Canyon when he asked for his opinion. Recently, Cloud could say he know knew why.
Cosmo Canyon is great place to learn new things. Unlike at Nibelheim and its surrounding towns and villages where education is free but the cost of educational materials would lead you even further in debt, Cosmo Canyon is a town that is centered around education and its application for free. The town's residents drive to learn about the Planet and the world around them endeared them to the rest of the world, and not to mention the amazing surroundings, environment and scenery Cosmo Canyon is located at. It just added to the appeal of Cosmo Canyon: Learning while having fun.
And the people there. Since it is a small town – much smaller than Nibelheim, and it was the capital of the Nibel Region -, its residents tend to barter stuff for other stuff. Like for example, bread for some meat and vice-versa. Gil is usually spent on trades and purchases from travelling merchants and the monthly restocks to Gongaga, a town focused on lumber beyond the Ancient Forest.
He could remember how he and Ver managed to get the chance to learn properly. Nibelheim may have a school but now that he knew what are the different levels of education, the one at Nibelheim and the surrounding towns only had a kindergarten and an elementary school. It was basically a glorified daycare, place where kids are left to have fun just to pass time. There was a high school once, but by the time the elementary graduates are about to start high school, they are already tasked to help around the various establishments of their parents or finding work to help their families. Since the lack of students and the obvious indifference of any potential teachers in teaching for free, the high school was torn down and the site used then to build a house.
Most of the kids had elementary done by the time they were 12, but not him. The Strife Family couldn't afford to sustain his education for the past 3 years, not to mention he wasn't given much attention to. Cloud and his mom are somewhat the sole exceptions because for some reason, the entire town hated their guts. Not to the point that they would deliberately kick them, but they tend to ignore him and his mom.
When Ver came to their life after the Mid-Winter Festival, the same time he was being considered to be flunked out of school by the superintendents, he taught Cloud things he learned through his shaky Midgardian. In return, Cloud taught Ver how to speak proper Midgardian and his mom joined in as well to teach the two of them stuff she learned before she came to Nibelheim, whenever she has time from work.
So when Elder Bugenhagen asked them if they wanted to study at Cosmo Canyon, the both Ver – who had some education from what place he came from – and Cloud – who learned some of the stuff from his adopted brother - immediately agreed.
Though he and his brother had to smooth out some problems before they completely accepted…
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Waking up from a proper bed inside a proper room in a proper building, Cloud couldn't ask for more. After a week of hiking through the canyons of Cosmo Canyon and sleeping inside the caves found scattered throughout the vastness of the canyons, the idea that he and Ver slept on a very comfortable bed with a roof above their head.
He searched for his brother around the room and found no-one. His own bed was slightly disheveled but their bags were still on the floor, leaning on the posts of Ver's bed. Thinking he must have went down from the Inn and was already in the middle of his own breakfast, Cloud moved to stand up but was stopped when something heavy forced itself on his stomach.
Looking down, he saw a bluish white rabbit curled on around on its tail. "Geez, really?" Cloud said incredulously, picking the rabbit up slowly. He rose from the bed and laid back the rabbit on it. Cloud then slightly tickled the rabbit's nose, prompting it to scrunch its nose. He repeated the same action until the rabbit was forced to open its eyes.
"Hey. Wake up. It's morning already. Time for breakfast. See?" He then gestured towards the window, showing the sun shining over the horizon. The sky was getting a red and orange tinge from the sun, slowly replacing the blue hue majority of the sky.
The Happy Rabbit blinked at Cloud twice before it looked towards the window. It then looked at Cloud then at itself. The rabbit did it twice followed by a startling squeak from it. It then jumped from the bed, morphing into a shape Cloud was familiar with.
Ver, after turning back into a human, landed on his two feet and groaned, "H-how many times have I done this, Cloud?"
"That was the fifteenth time you did it, Ver," Cloud replied with a smile on his face. "Come on, it's not that bad. In fact, it's pretty cute." He laughed lightly at the sight of Ver's Happy Rabbit form sleeping over him, curled up around his own tail and on his stomach.
"B-but! What if someone comes to our room and saw me shift accidentally into an animal? The last someone did, you have to convince the old lady she was only seeing things!" Ver then dropped on his bed, face first, and proceeded to stuff his face with the pillowcase.
"Hey, Ver. That's why I'm here, remember?"
"…I know," his brother grumbled, voice muffled from the pillow his face was on. "But that means I was shifting in my sleep. What if I shifted into the Nibel Dragon, Cloud? What if?" He rose up from the bed and went to the bags beside it. "It… It scares me Cloud," the black haired boy admitted as he pulled out a two pair of clothes.
"…Really? Tell me. I really have no idea what it feels turning into an animal or a monster so…" Ver gave him a glare to which he raised both his arms in surrender. "I really have no idea, honestly!" The green-eyed boy's glare lessened as he finished pulling out their change of clothes, towels and soaps.
"…Sorry, Cloud. I… I'm just feeling bad about. I know I shouldn't get worked up on my shifting and that you only know I could but…" Ver then sat back down on his bed with his hands all in the form of a fist on top of his lap. "It's like I'm there but at the same time I'm not. There's someone else there with me and I have to, uh, be me. Um, it's like, uh, tug of war kinda thing?"
"Hmm…" Cloud sat down on his bed, pondering. He never thought much how Ver shifts into an animal before. He was already in his wolf form when they met the first time so he thought that it was all natural in Ver's part. Much like breathing for him and anyone else but it wasn't the case apparently.
"So what happens if you let the 'someone' take over?" He asked.
"Uh, um, I still take control of myself but there's things that I don't really know why I do in the animal form. Like licking your face when I'm a wolf. I don't really lick people's face, Cloud. It's disgusting but when I'm in a wolf, it's, uh, natural," Ver answered. "Lately I can ignore the want to lick your face or chase my tail when I'm a wolf."
"Aha!" Cloud remarked. He got the idea now. "So when you're an animal, you somehow become the animal. Like getting all the mannerisms, right?" Ver stared at him, confusion apparent in his face. "When you turned into a wolf, you 'become' the wolf. Acting like a wolf but you can control 'being' the wolf, right?" His adopted brother nodded, comprehending his words. "And you say you can control being a wolf now, so that just means you have to train being the animal, Ver!"
His eyes widened. "You became, uh, familiar with being a wolf that you can ignore the habits of a wolf now, right? You just have to do the same thing with the other forms!"
"Huh, so that's why I'm now a Happy Rabbit instead of a Nibel Wolf when I fall asleep!" Ver's delighted shout was so loud that there was a knock and a kick from the next room, followed by a muffled shout of 'There's someone sleeping here, okay?!'.
In a low voice, Ver whispered, "Thanks Cloud. You're the best!"
"That's why I'm here, stupid," Cloud whispered back, leaning to Ver and ruffling further the messed bed hair his brother had. "Someone has to look after you; I didn't know you were having a problem in shifting. Now I know why you weren't shifting lately."
"Hey! Then what are you, if not stupid? A, a, clod?!" the green eyed boy quipped back, pinching Cloud's arm. "Yeah, sorry. I don't want to trouble you, honestly. We are always tired from travelling that I don't want to…"
"Oi, come one, don't be gloomy all of a sudden. We are a family, right? We shouldn't hide stuff from each other, especially when you are troubled with something. Remember Mom said last Christmas?"
"Yeah, 'You two aren't alone, you have each other so do your best to help one another.' Too bad Mom's gone though. I bet she would be beet red from all of the stuff we've been through," Ver said in a wistful manner.
"But she would then smile and join in with the running. Try and convince me she wouldn't do that, Ver."
Ver shook his head. "She would do it in a heartbeat while lecturing us on the run."
The two of the lightly laughed. "Come one, let's get some breakfast from the dining area. But we should get a bath first," Cloud said, looking at the clothes he and Ver were wearing. It was dirty from the past day's travelling. "And we need to get our clothes washed."
"I have our brand new clothes ready, Cloud. Where's the key though."
"Here at the table."
Cloud picked up the key from the small side table between the beds while Ver collected their new clothes, towels and soaps from his bed. The two of them descended the stairs of the Shildra Inn, honing towards the bath area of the establishment when Cloud was reminded of something.
"Hey, Ver. Did you notice that my real name sounds so similar to clod?"
Ver paused on his steps and slowly turned back to him. Cloud's smirk grew larger as Ver's shocked expression became more apparent.
"No way," Ver whispered.
"Yes way."
Taking the chance to get inside the bath, Cloud scampered off ahead of Ver. His brother was too shocked of the realization that he didn't notice Cloud left him alone at the hallway.
"W-What the…? Claude Kraus Strife! You jerk!"
Ver's howl was music to Cloud's ears.
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After buying the Cosmo Canyon's equivalent of milk and bread for breakfast, Cloud and Ver decided to get some rest, some down time, from travelling. Ver was fast asleep on the Shildra Inn's couch while Cloud was reading the book they had bought from the travelling merchant at the entrance of the canyons. They had lot of Gil from selling the various monster parts they had got from the monsters they faced along the way to Cosmo Canyon.
Though Ver had to limit himself a lot whenever they faced monsters since they had discovered that whenever magic was the last attack done on the monster before it died, the green mist that usually takes the monsters' bodies would be faster than usual in its retrieval. Now that Cloud understood why Ver decided to throw a lot of magic attacks from the moment they left the last town at the Nibel Region, he couldn't blame his brother for their significant decrease in their income from selling monster parts.
Whenever Ver was in his animal and monster forms, he's limited to the abilities of the animal or monster he shifted to. Like when he's a Nibel Wolf, albeit a white colored one, he can't cast magic so he resorted to various bites and lunges. However, that wasn't the case if Ver shifted into something that can do magic. The Happy Rabbit and the Hellraiser are the best examples.
It was a chance meeting for Cloud and Ver that they had met the Happy Rabbit while it was pure accident in meeting the Hellraiser. Both were rabbits but their comparisons to their normal counterparts ended when the Hellraiser spit out fireballs – Ver said they were Firagas – and the Happy Rabbit healed them and removed any ailments they were suffering from the other enemies in the area – a Curaga and a Esuna, Ver said.
Ver has an ability to copy the abilities and form of an animal/monster whenever he studied and analyzed them, he once said it was like using a Sense Materia – a yellow Materia the two of them found in a room at the last town of the Nibel Region -. He could then 'shift' into that creature, completely changing his body. Lately, some of his animal forms have a unique color scheme that depends on what Ver was wearing before shifting, like a blue streak at the back of the bird when he had a blue jacket on.
"Excuse me, could I bother you two for a moment?" A voice was talking to him, breaking Cloud's concentration on the book he was reading. A book about the recent advances in technology, a trait he had inherited from his mother who worked at ShinRa and at the town as a mechanic/technician/engineer.
"Yes?" Cloud looked up from the book and saw the red, orange(?), lion-like creature. Lions were a local animal in the Southern Easter Continent so the creature in front of him wasn't one. And the creature was talking to him.
"The town's Elder and Leader would like to talk with you and your brother at the town hall," the creature courteously. The creature was intelligent.
"Umm… Who are you?" Cloud asked. Since the creature was intelligent and could talk, it would mean it, no, he, was a person. "I'm sorry Mister but I don't know you."
"Kiddo, that's Nanaki. Don't tell me you didn't notice his fiery tail when you came to town yesterday?" the middle-aged man, his name was Barlow if Cloud remembered it correctly, commented from the Inn's front desk, noticing the creature – no it's Nanaki – talking to him. Noticing his lack of recognition, Barlow snickered.
"I, uh, sorry…" He ducked his head. "Sorry Mister, I won't do it again." Basic respect and courtesy would always be helpful in the long run.
"It's okay, I was there when you two fought the Griffins and Gagihandis so it is understandable that you two haven't noticed me," Nanaki said, his flaming tail whishing slowly behind him. "Grandfather wants to talk to you and your… brother. Is he sleeping?"
Cloud turned towards the couch and saw Ver's head on the floor while his legs were dangling over the back of the couch, completely unaware of the uncomfortable position he was in.
"Yes he is. Uh, could you wait for a while?"
"We aren't in a hurry. I'll be by Barlow. Go wake your brother." With that, Nanaki left him with his fast asleep brother in the lounge. Cloud stood up and moved towards Ver, slowly shaking him by his shoulders. It took a few shakes before Ver was roused.
"W-What…? Is it lunch…?! H-huh? Cloud? What is it?" Ver asked as his legs slid down from the couch to the floor. "Ow." He slowly stood up and stretched his back and limbs.
"The town's elder asked us to come with Nanaki. Nanaki is the lion-like creature there," Cloud said then pointed to Nanaki, who was having a small talk with the caretaker of the Inn. "His grandfather wants to talk with us, but I have no idea why."
"You think it has to do with the Clear Fluids we sold yesterday? We had the shopkeeper pour it to a different bottle so maybe…"
"Well, whatever it was, we won't know until we go right?"
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The talk, or the lecture according to his brother, started out fine. Nanaki introduced them to the town's leader at the town's hall, which also housed the rumored Observatory of Cosmo Canyon. The old man was sitting on a huge orb of Materia and used it to float around instead of walking. Cloud and Ver was given a 'formal' welcome and were questioned of their adventures before coming to Cosmo Canyon. They weren't even asked about the Clear Fluids Ver collected from the frog-like creatures at the secluded springs they found about 2 days before. The talks were going fine until Elder Bugenhagen asked Nanaki to fetch some things from his quarters. When Nanaki have left the room and ascended to the ground floor – which was a spectacle for Cloud and Ver to watch a four-legged creature climb a ladder –, Ver asked if Nanaki was actually his grandson.
Elder Bugenhagen laughed at Ver's question. "Oh ho ho hoo! Why do you ask young one?" The old man hovered over to the table where a stack of papers was placed on it and pulled out a sheet of paper from it, strangely avoiding the entire column to fall over.
"Um… Because…" A nudge from Ver and he whispered to Cloud. "If his grandson is a beast and he's a human then maybe they're like me!" Ver whispered to him in English. Cloud was about to protest, thinking it was too fast for his brother to assume that Elder Bugenhagen and Nanaki were the same as him but he was too late.
In front of Elder Bugenhagen and Cloud, Ver shifted into his Nibel Wolf form. Unlike his other animal forms, his Nibel Wolf form was consistent. No change in color at all, just plain snow white fur.
"Oh my Planet." It seemed that Nanaki was there already, since his exclamation of surprise was heard behind Cloud. Ver noticed Elder Bugenhagen and Nanaki's shocked expressions, he immediately shifted back and hid behind Cloud. In response, Cloud shielded Ver with his body.
No matter how smart Ver is or how he sometimes acts like he's older than his age, Ver is still his younger brother. Even if he could cast magic that is far stronger than him, Ver is Cloud's brother. Even if both of them just met 3 years ago, they have a bond that rivals those who have spent more than 3 years together. Which is why it is his duty to protect his brother, even if sometimes he was the one being patched up in the end. Some things couldn't be matched with magic after all.
So when Elder Bugenhagen and Nanaki made a step closer to them, or hovered in the old man's case, Cloud and Ver backed off.
"Well, that certainly confirms it. That boy is a Cetra, or a descendant of the Cetra," the old man remarked, hovering back to the desk. "Cloud, Ver please calm down. We aren't going to hurt you. So please."
"I'm so sorry, Cloud. I made a terrible mistake. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," Ver muttered at his back, making small circles at his backside with his fingers.
"It's okay, Ver. I'm here. I'm here," Cloud whispered back. "The old man said you are a Cetra. You have an idea what he's saying?"
"Maybe they're the Ancients? You and Mom guessed I was an Ancient, according to the stories, so maybe he has an idea."
"So… Should we trust him?" Ver didn't answer back. Cloud waited for a minute, still focused on making glares at the hovering old man and the lion-like creature. "You are the one they wanted to talk to, Ver. So you must decide on what we should do."
"…What about you, Cloud? What do you think? I'm really curious but I made already a mistake and you tried to stop me before so…" Ver stopped on making circles on his backside. "What do you think?"
"I think they aren't thinking on hurting you, unlike that old lady at the inn, so yeah. Yeah, lets."
Ver stepped back beside Cloud and the two of them walked back to the chairs they were sitting on before Nanaki left the room.
"Hm… Excuse me but you were speaking in a language I think I'm familiar with a while ago. Where did you two learned it?" Elder Bugenhagen asked them after a minute of silence.
"…Ver taught it to me, and I think Mom had learned it before. Ver said it was English but Mom said it was some language her father learned from his Language lessons. Mom said her father was a researcher at some place at the Eastern Continent before she went to Nibelheim."
"Hm…" Elder Bugenhagen went silent for almost a minute before he spoke, "Well then, would you believe if I think your brother is a Cetra?"
Cloud and Ver shared a look and spoke at the same time, "Isn't he?" "Am I not?"
The old man on the floating Materia face-palmed and made a deep sigh.
"I should have gone and asked directly. They are kids. What was I thinking?"
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Elder Bugenhagen was actually a descendant of some Cetras who used to live in Cosmo Canyon. He may be old but he still has the knowledge of the Cetras in his brain, making him super important in Cosmo Canyon. There used to be more descendants of the Cetra like him living in the area but many went to the Northern Continent to pursue other duties than to watch and research the skies, leaving Elder Bugenhagen and about 20 descendants in Cosmo Canyon. Barlow was one of them.
However, he was the only one left that could hear The Planet. There used to be a way to 'start-up' the connection between the descendants to The Planet but time has taken the knowledge how to do it. Barlow and the others could only get vague impressions from The Planet but nothing concrete to point out the exact message.
Cloud and Ver followed Elder Bugenhagen and Nanaki to a cave deep below the town, passing through tunnels that were carved smoothly out of the rocks. The four initially brought torches fired up by Fire Materia but Ver volunteered to use his magic instead. Cloud was thankful for his brother's offer since he knew that Ver's Flash could be shaped into a floating solid ball of light, resembling a light bulb, that gives a bright and clear light.
The old man and the fire-cat, now that Ver and Cloud noticed the flaming tail of his, were both amazed by his brother's skills, to which Cloud mentally laughed. What Ver was showing was just simple skills the two of them discovered on the way to Cosmo Canyon. There's a reason why he could wield the Rune Sword when its original size was much longer than his leg.
With several balls of light illuminating the way, the four of them made us of the lighting to gander at the various designs that were 'sketched' on the tunnel walls. No man could create an outline of a tree on tunnel roof so he, Ver and Nanaki have doubts whether or not people actually sketched the walls themselves. Elder Bugenhagen was silent throughout the entire walk, silently taking in the sight of the strange drawings.
Cloud thought that maybe Elder Bugenhagen had been in these tunnels way before the three of them were born, since he was making the same face as Master Zangan; back when he and Ver were packing up and found pictures of his dad at the storage closet of their house at Nibelheim. Ver and Nanaki were talking to each other, Ver asking questions about the fire-cat and Nanaki answering back, when they reached a clearing.
The three of them didn't notice that there was sunlight coming through a huge hole in the tunnel roof. With the bright orbs of light floating near the tunnel roof, simulating daylight, Cloud, Ver and Nanaki were shocked to see a pedestal in front of a Mako Spring. Elder Bugenhagen was there near the Mako Spring and was solemnly looking at.
"ShinRa used to try in convincing the Cosmo Canyon residents in letting them build a Mako Reactor in the area. It didn't go well, obviously," the old man slowly spoke, hovering now over the pedestal overlooking the Mako Spring.
"People complained and even fought tooth and nail to stop them. But the deciding factor for ShinRa not to build one wasn't the people." He then placed his palm on one of the three pointy rock formations on the pedestal. "It was the environment."
"We never thought to use the environment as a reason but The Planet really works in mysterious ways." Elder Bugenhagen sighed. "Cosmo Canyon is rich in, what do they call it again… Mako? Yes, Mako, Cosmo Canyon was discovered to be rich in Mako through their researches. I guess they questioned and disposed a lot of our residents in their quest, since I noticed many went missing during those times."
He then hovered off the pedestal and went on to the other end of the circular atrium. The three of them followed the old man, looking at each other with curiosity on their faces.
"What's with him, Nanaki? Did something happen before?" Ver asked.
"Something did happen before. Many of our residents and my fellow tribe members disappeared during the time when ShinRa was searching for potential Mako Reactor locations," Nanaki answered, leading the Cloud and Ver towards Elder Bugenhagen.
"Then what did he meant by the environment?" Huh. He didn't ask what happened to the missing people? Well, Ver is smart and their mom did die so…
"Cosmo Canyon is full of canyons, cliffs, ridges, swamps, springs, rivers and bedrocks. There are even swamps at some places and honestly, we haven't scouted the Region completely. With monsters at almost every corner and the weather affecting the terrain through wind and water erosion, the paths constantly change itself." Nanaki then rolled a rock on his paw. "Then there's this. You see this rock right?"
Cloud and Ver nodded. Nanaki then stepped on it, causing the rock to break and shatter.
"That what happens in these areas, too much pressure on the ground and it will collapse. In fact, that what pretty much created Cosmo Canyon as it is now. The ground collapsed on itself," Nanaki said in a matter-of-fact tone. "That's why we build houses in naturally made caves and work around it or atop locations with solid foundation, like the Observatory."
"So that's why the town is so high. They're built on hard solid hills!" Ver inferred, green eyes shining with enthusiasm. It's been a while since Cloud saw that expression.
"Not exactly correct but close enough." Nanaki then walked faster towards the direction Elder Bugenhagen went to. "Come on you two. Grandfather must be waiting."
Ver looked at Cloud and sprinted towards the floating orbs at the distance. "Hey, there's one at the back. You sensed it right?" Ver called out. Cloud nodded. His brother then conjured a pair of Flash orbs for him and allowed them to hover near, fixed on Cloud and would follow him to supply light.
Cloud smirked and calmly stood still, grasping the Rune Sword sheathed and attached at his belt. He then turned around, pulled out the sword and slashed at the Gagihandi stalking behind him a few meters away. A purple streak of light flashed temporarily before disappearing.
The monster fell down with a cry, its stomach slashed. Cloud repeated his action, targeting the head instead. Another cry and the monster was dead. He then used the Sense Materia equipped on his sword, with the Fire Materia switched with it, sensing no more monsters lurking at the corner.
"Well, you certainly got the hang of the Long Range Materia. Don't you dare lose it, Cloud," Ver intoned, imitating their late mom's position when scolding them. Cloud just laughed.
"I won't, okay? It's really useful. How come I never saw anyone use this Materia when it is super useful?"
"Well, maybe it's rare? I think we got lucky when I got that from the Materia mine at Mt. Nibel. I mean, imagine this, Cloud." Ver then made flailing motions with his arms as if acting out sword slashes. "If your enemy is just slashing there so far away from you and for some reason it hits you all the time, wouldn't you want to take away what allows them to hit you?"
"…And I'll destroy whatever it is so no one could use it again. That's stupid."
"Yeah, it is."
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The next area they came to was some sort of bunker, with books and other documents. Cloud saw one on the TV at Nibelheim before their mom had to sell it. Elder Bugenhagen was waiting for him, Ver and Nanaki there, with him hovered at front of some weirdly shaped poster.
Nanaki stepped closer to his grandfather – something Cloud and Ver could understand since both of them are brothers in all but blood – and asked, "What's that Grandfather?"
"It's one of the old documents that my father and grandfather used to read before they decided to store away. Back then, the Gi tribe were attacking the settlement and were torching anything they could see."
"Gi Tribe?" Ver voiced out.
"Another story for another time, little Cetra. Anyway, could you two come closer and see if you could read this for me? I think the writings here are something you could understand."
Ver looked at him and Cloud nodded. The two of them walked towards the strange table, their respective Flash orbs floating overhead. What they saw on the weird looking paper was some familiar lines and shapes. They look like Midgardian but they aren't Midgardian. The only thing Cloud knew that looked like Midgardian but wasn't is…
"H-Hey, is that? It's English!" Ver shakily exclaimed.
"Yeah!" Cloud agreed. He now remembered where he saw it. Back when Ver first came to them in his rags and tried to tell them his name. Mom understood some of Ver's words and writing which led to Cloud and his mom to learn English from Ver. "How?! But I can't understand some words here. What's asynchronous?"
But Ver's knowledge on English was shaky at best since he was only 7 at that time; then again, from where Ver came from, English was being spoken everywhere. Well, Ver claimed it so Cloud wouldn't know if it was a fact or something Ver believed.
"…Just as I suspected. I was told by my parents about an entire city of our people that mysteriously disappeared when using the inter-city transport system," Elder Bugenhagen stated as he looked back toward the poster.
"An inter-shitty what?" Ver's face was in an unreadable shape. "Ummm.. are there any English language books here? I mean, if these are in English then that means there are more, right?"
Elder Bugenhagen nodded and hovered to another part of the room. He then grabbed a door – there was a door there, how and why was a door there? - and dust began to fly inward from the tunnels. After they had coughed out the dust that somehow blew out and into the small pocket in the tunnel, Cloud saw a tower of books and some… ancient(?) gadgets.
"From my time in ShinRa, I was in contact with their Foreign Relations Department and from there I learned that Midgardian, which is now the globally accepted language, originated from the Flemish of Kalm Region. Well I heard it also originated from Deccan of the Condor Region," Elder Bugenhagen said, levitating a stack of books to the strange looking table. "My point is that all of those languages came from a single language. The rest of the world have different dialects and accents but the form is still the same."
"My father once said that the Cetra spoke a language so similar to what we are now using but it was forgotten as time passed by. It didn't die, so to say, but it changed into what we are now speaking."
"…So it's like cooking?" Ver asked with his head tilted. Cloud was tempted to face-palm right there when he understood what Ver was asking.
"Yeah, it's like cooking. English is the raw meat and time is the flame. Oil is the people and when time and people are joined together, you get cooked meat which is Midgardian. It's not raw meat but at the same time it is still meat." Cloud sighed. "Where do you even get these… what you call it again? Similes? Metaphors? They're weird Ver. Weird."
"Aw… Don't be like that Cloud. It describes what happened to English and how it looked like Midgardian, right?"
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After that, it was a blur. Elder Bugenhagen let the two of them read, translate and study the books that were hidden in the bunker. The old man also explained the thing about a city of Cetras that disappeared. He guessed that they were transported to the same place where Ver came from.
The Cetra before had some weird gadgets that allowed them to move instantly to one place from another, like the stories of teleportation. But since Ver came out of thin air when they first met, Cloud was willing to believe the people living before the First Millennium had some amazing gadgets and things.
Ver and Cloud came back to the town, backpacks full of books to read, with Nanaki and Elder Bugenhagen walking by them. They also brought some books and other strange documents – looked like what the cranky old lady at Mulheim's Inn was writing at – with them. When the four reached the old man's residence, the two of them went on reading the books like they had no water for hours. Except the water was books.
Well, it was mainly Ver's fault for making a hole in their tumblers after he played with the idea of iced water. The tumblers broke from the ice and they had no tumblers until they reached the next town.
Ver went into reading the various documents while Cloud dived into reading the English manuals first. His brother had some knowledge on English already unlike Cloud who was still stumbling on some words. In the end, both of them managed to understand the majority of the words, with Elder Bugenhagen and Nanaki helping them by giving them the Midgardian equivalent of some words.
Searching and understanding 'context clues' was something both of them became so good at ever since Cloud was dropped out of school due to the lack of Gil. Ver also had no chance to continue since he was not a resident of Nibelheim. He also had no records on his name.
Cloud will take care of that when they managed to get into the Eastern Continent though. The Eastern Continent was said to be the capital of the entire world, urbanized unlike the Western Continent's country and rural environment.
It was some luck when the two of them deciphered a strange document. Something about 'power generators' and 'emergency shutdown procedures'. From what Ver had understood was that there was a power generator in Cosmo Canyon and it used a huge Materia. A Huge Materia, a type of Materia referenced in the books that was… well, huge.
Which kinda make sense to Cloud. Cosmo Canyon must have some sort of energy source before Elder Bugenhagen brought back the windmills and solar panels. Some of the stuff lying around some building in Cosmo Canyon wasn't even connected to the electric power lines from the windmill and solar panel station. The Observatory at Elder Bugenhagen's house was the major example of something that seemed to be there.
From what Cloud had understood at his part of the document, it also had to do with the strange Mako Spring they passed by on the way to the bunker. After he deciphered it, they realized what the strange document was saying.
Convincing Elder Bugenhagen to remove himself on the Huge Materia – it was there the whole time and no one questioned why he was on a big orb of Materia – was an ordeal but after some arguments, mostly led by Nanaki who was surprisingly interested in Cloud and Ver's theory, they managed to take away the Huge Materia and bring it back to the pedestal.
Ver had the honor of placing back the Huge Materia on the pedestal overlooking the Mako Spring while the three of them watched. Elder Bugenhagen, who was walking for the first time in decades, watched with a curious expression on his face. Cloud was beside himself in anticipation since from the document he and his brother deciphered, it was like a switch to power up the old power lines of Cosmo Canyon. Ancient power lines, ones that ran through the ground, sustained by the power of The Planet. So to see first-hand what the Cetra had before they disappeared was one thing Cloud wouldn't want to miss.
And he wouldn't even forget it, ever. The moment the Huge Materia was placed on the pedestal and he activated it, channeling his magic to the orb, the Mako Spring below it began to rumble. The pedestal began to glow under the Materia, lines 'sketched' on it started to have a green glow flowing down towards the ground. Down the elevated pedestal, running towards the Mako Spring, making hidden 'sketches' appear in its green glow. It lines reached the Mako Spring and the 'green' flowed towards the spout of the spring.
The Mako Spring erupted, the green liquid flew upwards and outwards, but it didn't go out a certain range.
Instead, it crystalized. Forming into a tower of crystal Mako, it swirled upwards towards the Materia a few meters above it. The crystalizing Mako then encased the pedestal, forming a glass-like container for it. It didn't stop there.
The tower went on, swirling to the atrium's roof. For some reason, it didn't form into a pillar but it arced itself, forming a circular bowl of crystal with a hole on its center where the Materia and the Spring was. The crystal reached the atrium's roof and embedded itself to it.
Nanaki gasped as they saw the 'sketches' in the cave and the tunnel to glow with various lights. The drawing of the tree on the tunnel roof a few meters beyond their position seemed to light up the entire tunnel. The exact thing was happening to the other tunnels in the area, some even they didn't notice when they came by the first time. It was like someone switched on the lights on the tunnels for it was so bright.
Ver, who was still up on the pedestal, had his jaw wide open at the brand new appearance of the atrium. Even Cloud was amazed. What was once an empty open space in a tunnel with an open hole in its roof and a large Mako Spring at the center, it now had a crystal pillar stemming from the Mako Spring. The pillar branched out from the spring into arcs that now gave the illusion of them supporting the roof. The crystal, that were once green from the Mako, was now in a translucent white color, much like the ice crystals they found in the cave of Mt. Nibel, and periodically seemed to 'beat' with a green glow.
The green eyed boy tapped on the crystal box-like container of the Materia, one that was part of the strange crystal tower, and it glowed. His brother immediately cupped his hands because an orb of light began to form outside the transparent screen and slowly moved to him. It started as small but it grew bigger and bigger until it was the same size as the Materia inside the crystal pillar.
"Well," Ver started. "Look like the old man could enjoy floating again."
The four of them laughed, even Elder Bugenhagen.
"Wonderful. Just Wonderful," the old man shakily rasped out, his face flushed with apparent joy and wonder. "This… I can't believe it."
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"The people living here before didn't have any source of power before I came back with the windmills and solar panels. Everyone here were using wood from the Ancient Forest for the fire and other things," the old man told them as Nanaki, Ver, and Cloud was with him at the completely functioning Observatory of Cosmo Canyon.
The machines were blinking and making noises Cloud identified as some sort of technological heartbeat around the entire room. What all of the residents in Cosmo Canyon thought as a slab of hard smooth rocks were actually screens of some of the machines that were part of the wall. According to some of the workers and researchers that lived in Cosmo Canyon, they were machines that track various variables in the ecosystem around Cosmo Canyon. Or something along those lines.
Both him and Ver were already making progress in learning English and Midgardian, but it still not yet to the level where they could 'comprehend' the words used by the researchers and scientists.
"The Mako Spring back there was actually a part of the power generators of Cosmo Canyon and was used way back before the First Millennium," Elder Bugenhagen said. "Maybe my grandparents' parents removed the Materia when the Gi Tribe attacked the settlement, am I right you two?"
"Yep," Ver answered. "They removed the Materia to stop power in Cosmo Canyon in order to fool the Gi Tribe. But I guess they forgot to return it? Or they had fun floating on it?" He then pointed to the Materia Elder Bugenhagen was sitting on comfortably.
"Ver… Are you jealous?"
"No, not really… Maybe?"
Elder Bugenhagen laughed at the two of them. "My legs are weak but yours are still strong. Let me have the pleasure of floating around on this thing."
Ver pouted and shifted into his Happy Rabbit form. He then jumped on Cloud's head and sat on it. "Really Ver?" The rabbit gave him a look that silently said, 'Try me.'
"Anyway, I'm very thankful for the discovery you two found. I never realized that the Materia was, no, should be used back there," the old man remarked after Cloud brushed off Ver off his head and back to his seat. "Maybe that's why ShinRa had the idea to use the Lifestream in the first place. Either they had misunderstood the actual purpose of the Springs or decided to experiment with it, the fact remains that ShinRa had been correct in the idea of the Lifestream as a source of power.
"Perhaps they were like me, had no idea of what the actual use of the Springs and the Huge Materias. Huge Materias are huge and couldn't be used normally since they are too big so the idea they are used as 'power converters' of the Lifestream is amazing."
"Elder Bugenhagen!"
The four of them turned around to the voice that called out. There was a man, a researcher probably, standing at the doorway with a very tired looking expression on his face. He was sweating more than usual – and Cosmo Canyon is hot, like Nibelheim is cold -, probably from running or sprinting since he immediately leaned on the entrance arc of the Observatory.
"E-Elder! Chocobos!"
"…What?" All four them asked.
"Ch-Chocobos! They're here!"
Nanaki and Elder Bugenhagen then sprinted, or in the old man's case, hovered, out of the Observatory, leaving Cloud and Ver with the evidently exhausted researcher. Cloud helped the researcher on a seat while Ver went to the large and strange 'consoles' of the Observatory.
"Um… What's with the Chocobos sir? And why do you look like you ran all the way up from the base of the Canyon?" Cloud asked.
The man replied, "E-ever since the power came back to Cosmo Canyon yesterday, changes began to happen in the area. The tributaries, the small rivers, in the Canyon began to have more water flowing from the top of the mountain. Some parts of the Canyon began to have plants sprouting, those places didn't have plants there for decades or even centuries, kid." He huffed, catching his breath, and Cloud went to the small table where there was a water jug. Cloud served the researcher with a glass of water and the man continued, "Records stated that some animals lived here in the Canyon but for some reason, they left. But now! With plants growing and water began to flow much stronger, they're returning! And the first to come are the Chocobos!"
"Are these Chocobos?" Ver voiced out behind him. Cloud turned around and saw Ver pointing to a screen where three large birds are feeding on some plants. The large birds are somewhere on top of a cliff; Cloud could see the town behind the birds.
"…How did you change the screens? And how could they show it? Aren't there supposed to be cameras, like in TV?"
Ver answered, "It's not that hard Cloud. There are buttons here have labels and I pressed on the 'Camera 76'. It's at the upper right one." He turned to him and shook his head. "I don't really know Cloud, maybe they're hidden? I just pressed the buttons here until I saw those birds. I think I saw Nanaki on one screen, on 'Camera 64'."
The black haired boy pressed a button and a screen changed itself into a view of the edge of the town. Cloud could see Elder Bugenhagen and Nanaki looking to the birds at the distance.
"Cool."
"Hey, Cloud. There aren't any Chocobos at the Nibel Region, right?"
"I heard it's a bit too cold for them. Why?"
"I think the Chocobos copied your hair. I mean, look at them. They're like too similar."
"…Shut up."
"Just saying."
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Suffice to say, Cosmo Canyon had power from The Planet, the one being used by the Cetras before they disappeared, on top of the windmills and the solar panels. Plants began to grow at the most difficult places where they didn't grow before and water from the highest mountain of the Canyon began to increase in its flow.
Though many feared ShinRa will notice the change in Cosmo Canyon in the future, they were reassured by the idea they could hide the Materia behind the ancient power source of Cosmo Canyon. The Huge Materia could be removed from the pedestal, shutting down the entire Canyon just like how their ancestors did during the War between the Gi Tribe and the Gopsid Tribe.
He and his brother stayed at Cosmo Canyon, under the tutelage of several researchers, scholars and Elder Bugenhagen, learning new things from them. The two of them studied the forgotten language of English and tried to teach it to others, so that they could understand the books. Cloud and Ver didn't spend all of their time studying all of the time too.
Since life seemed to 'return' to the dry and windy area of Cosmo Canyon, the monsters also seemed to increase, taking advantage of the returning animals. Cloud and Ver joined with the other fighters and engineers of the town, along with Nanaki, in visiting the various windmills and solar planes scattered over the area. Cloud and Ver learned how to tinker with the machines and how they work during their time with the residents of Cosmo Canyon and practiced their skills in fighting the monsters.
Ver acquired some new animal forms from 'scanning' the animals returning to Cosmo Canyon and practiced to control his other monster forms, like the Hellraiser and the Nibel Dragon. The first time he tried shifting into the Nibel Dragon in Cosmo Canyon was met with fear and curiousness. Fear because of the dragon while curiousness because of the young dragon. His brother seemed to have adapted the Nibel Dragon's form by shifting into a form that was easier for him to control, a younger form of a dragon that was at the same level of maturity of Ver.
He also practiced his magic, either from the Materia they managed to collect from the newly discovered Materia Mine or the magic from the monsters and animals they met.
Cloud also practiced in wielding his sword to an acceptable degree. There were some sword users in the town and volunteered to help the blond kid in properly using the sword. Thanks to his brother who Mini-ed the sword and helped him how to change the sword gradually to its former size, Cloud developed a trick with the Magic Materia. After he applied Mini on his sword, thus making it smaller and lighter, he would then use the sword on the monsters.
The trick was to remove the Mini on the blade portion of the sword when he strikes and apply it again after the strike, which would surprise the monster at the sudden enlargement of the wound especially when the sword was smaller than the wound. It was a bit difficult, especially since he wasn't that good with magic like Ver, but he managed to do so in the end. Mainly because he discovered he was good in subtle magic, unlike Ver who was more on quantity than quality.
Ver tended to overpower his magic and most of the times, he does it intentionally. He also had the capacity to do so, unlike Cloud who couldn't cast several Thundagas in a row. Make Cloud cast a Blizzaga at a certain part of a monster and he will hit it accurately, encasing the monster's part completely while make Ver cast a Blizzaga, he would instead cast 3 to 5 Blizzagas in a row which would encase the monster in ice. He couldn't hit it accurately so he would resort to cover everything surrounding the target.
The Rune Sword his brother found and gave to him was also very helpful since magic seemed to flow at its blade, allowing Cloud to 'channel' magic through it. He discovered it during his fights against the weird birds that arrived a few weeks after power returned to Cosmo Canyon. He forgot to release the Blizzara he charging when he rushed the mechanical bird. His sword glowed slightly and his strikes formed sharp ice crystals at the slashed areas. Cloud noticed the effect disappeared after the glow went away, which led to him experimenting on 'channeling' Fires and Thunders.
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He and his brother decided to travel again, a few months after they arrived at Cosmo Canyon. Mainly because they still have to check Kalm if their mom's family was still there. Other reason was that they're sick of the sight of the canyons and wanted to do more exploring.
The two of them experienced travelling for a month after leaving Nibelheim and they loved the feeling of nature around them. The new sights they see and the wonder of being independent.
Elder Bugenhagen and Nanaki, who they grew close to in the past months, understood their reasons and whole-heartedly helped them pack their things. Even the residents of Cosmo Canyon were sad to see them go but they didn't make any complaint about. When Cloud asked Grandfather why, he answered, "It was because you two traveled that you helped us regain what we lost before. All of us here may want you two kids to stay but we knew that you only stopped to study."
Cloud and Ver dropped their heads at Grandfather's words, ashamed to admit that they did stopped because they wanted to learn, but Elder Bugenhagen's next words made them think otherwise. "And we are glad you two did."
"Knowledge is meant to be spread so we packed a couple of books for you to read in the future. Yes, we Mini-ed them so there's a lot of extra books for you two to read," the old man said, gesturing to the small bag they were handed with. "Also, here."
The old man handed them 3 orbs of Materia, 2 green and one red. "They're the Master Magic Materias. Thanks to the translations, we discovered all Mastered Magic Materia could be condensed into a single Materia." He turned to Ver after that. "Thanks to the Materia you Mastered," there Ver blushed lightly, "we have a lot of Master Magic Materia in our reserves."
"Use it. The red one is a Bahamut Summon." Noticing their confused expressions, Elder Bugenhagen explained, "Bahamut is an ancient summon. No one in our town could summon Bahamut and honestly, I would think Bahamut would be overjoyed to be summoned again after decades of inactivity."
His brother looked at the sole red Materia he had on his bracer. "I see you have a Summon already but I insist you take it."
Cloud took the three Materias and gave the slightly dark green Materia and the red Materia to Ver. He then inserted the Master Magic Materia to his brand new bracer as Elder Bugenhagen continued, "Now that we have given you what you two would certainly need in the future, I pray to The Planet of your safety. Nanaki, would you want to join them at the end of the Canyon?"
Nanaki nodded and moved closer to the two of them. "Come on, let's go."
The people Cloud and Ver met in their stay at Cosmo Canyon waved their hand in farewell as he, Nanaki and Ver walked down the trail from the settlement and through the towering walls of the Canyons.
"You two want to go to Gongaga next, correct? So you will pass through the Ancient Forest. Word of advice, don't get touched by the frogs because you will turn into a frog."
"Yes Nanaki, we heard stories of the Touch Mes from the fighters," Cloud remarked as he cast a Fira at a monster.
"Well, don't blame me if you get turned into a frog. I don't know about Ver here if he could turn into a frog since he could turn into one naturally."
Ver snorted as he flung a slab of ice to another monster. "Some Cetras are immune to 'status effects' so I guess I could be one, right? I mean, I haven't got Stopped when Cloud cast it on me but he got Stopped when I did."
"Yeah, but you still got Poisoned by the Dragon Flowers."
"Hey, I never thought they were monsters."
"Anyway," Nanaki interrupted. "You two will find the other Cetra at the Eastern Continent, correct?"
"Uhuh!" Ver confirmed. "Since I am a Cetra, my abilities and my language as proof, I want to meet the other member of my 'family'. Besides, wasn't that the reason why we left, Cloud?"
Cloud hummed in agreement. "It's one. I think we decided that our goal originally was to be rich. Or be fortunate. I forgot."
"…Hm.. Being rich doesn't sound too bad, right?"