Chapter One...

Five years later...

Even if the morrow is barren of promises,

Nothing shall forestall My return...

Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII

Loveless, Act III

Journal,

It has been five years since Gilgamesh and Enkidu led me through the Space Between Worlds. I have made a comfortable life for myself in New Nibelheim. I have heard that, at one point, a great SOLDIER came to the original town on a mission. That mission ended in disaster due to the SOLDIER going insane, setting fire to everything, and slaughtering innocents. Apparently, Cloud Strife had some part in these events, as a normal Shin-Ra Army man. My main interest is Zack Fair. If my sister really cared that much about him... He must have been a good guy. No doubt. My sister isn't easily won over. This Zack must have been an outstandingly good guy.

My sister...

I have been having trouble speaking to the Planet lately. I can't seem to get into the right mindset. I hope that she's still okay. If she were to get hurt...

Well, that's about it for now. I hope to be getting some actual sleep tonight, so staying up too late isn't a good idea. Yes, even if it means writing in here.

Good night, then!

David put his pen down and bookmarked his place in his Journal. His long, dirty-blond hair fell into his face as he got up. He pushed it back and looked around his room.

It was nice, in his opinion, staying in what used to be the Strife residence. It made speaking to Planet a little bit easier, especially when trying to find out more about Cloud Strife and his story. David had learned that Cloud had just been an ordinary guy. He had moved away from Nibelheim when he was fifteen, off to Midgar to join SOLDIER. He never made it to SOLDIER level, but he joined the Shin-Ra army. He came back to Nibelheim seven years ago on a mission. Along with him came that soon-to-be insane SOLDIER 1st Class and another SOLDIER of the same rank. The other SOLDIER was Zack Fair.

David lay down on his bed as he recapped the story to himself...

The group went to the mako reactor on Mt. Nibel to investigate the sudden rise in monsters that had occurred. Tifa Lockheart, Cloud's childhood friend, was their guide. But Cloud didn't show his face at first, too ashamed that he had come back to his home without accomplishing what he had set out to do. When they finally got into the reactor, they saw the truth. Monsters were being created and bred by the Shin-Ra scientist, Hojo. He apparently had no morals. He was taking normal human beings and experimenting on them, making them monstrosities of creation. The insanity-bound SOLDIER went into a frenzy trying to find out more about this "Jenova," which was the word that was carved into a doorway in the reactor. Apparently, his mother had been named Jenova. A couple of days later... He snapped. He completely lost it. The next thing anyone knew, they were either dead, almost dead, or wishing they were dead. Tifa had followed the now-crazed SOLDIER up the mountain in search of her father, who had apparently been up there. Zack and Cloud went up shortly after, Zack first, leaving Cloud to help out the villagers.

David smiled, wishing that he could have seen what had happened on the mountain while Cloud evacuated the survivors.

Cloud had helped out the villagers as much as he could when he realized that Zack should have been back by then. He rushed up to the reactor and found Tifa and Zack both in pretty bad shape. Zack had been thrown into one of the canisters that held the monsters and Tifa had a pretty bad slash wound across her stomach. Cloud helped her out and took off his helmet to show that he had come to keep his promise to her. She passed out and Cloud went further into the reactor. He found Zack's famed Buster Sword stuck into the platform. He took it up and stabbed the crazy man through and through with it, nearly chopping him in half. He left the nearly dead SOLDIER there to die and went to help Tifa and Zack. Later, the SOLDIER came out, carrying, of all things, a humanoid-looking head. Zack told Cloud to finish him off. Cloud ran up to the man, ready to kill him, but got ran through by the incredibly long sword that the man wielded. The man threw him through the door and followed him, stabbing him again. This time, he picked Cloud up on the sword, holding him over the reactor. Cloud summoned up all the rest of his strength and actually pulled himself along the sword, back onto the platform! He grabbed the blade and threw the SOLDIER into the wall, using his own body as a counterweight. The SOLDIER saw that it was pointless to fight Cloud and jumped into the reactor.

That's about the time that Cloud's story draws a complete blank for David. He just simply can't see anything else. Was that it? Did Cloud die? No, he couldn't have died. David could still feel him within the Lifestream. Plus, the Planet says that he is alive and doing quite well. David scratched his head. He wondered what it could mean. He had the same problem with his sister. He knew that she was alive somewhere, but couldn't see anything about her. The Mist from the Ivalice world had been nice, as it had provided a nice reflection of other worlds. It was a lot like the Lifestream and talking to the Planet. It was just visible, rather than a passive feeling or an audible voice. Well, it wasn't audible, per se, but whatever. He know what he meant.

He was about to drift off in the middle of his thoughts when he heard a knock at the door downstairs. He jumped a little. Who could this be? It was past midnight!

David got up and went downstairs. He crossed his living room to the door. He looked through the peep hole. A man in a black cloak. With a hood on that covered his face.

Aw, crap, he thought to himself, A bad egg...

He grabbed his lance and held it off to the side of the door, just out of sight. He didn't want to scare this guy off if he didn't mean any harm. He opened the door a little bit and leaned on the doorway, hiding his lance.

"May I help you?" The man just stood there for a moment, then handed David a large, black envelope. It had a strange symbol on it. He couldn't quite decide what it was. It was like a silver, upside-down heart of some kind. He took it with his right hand and looked at it. He was hit with a wave of sudden dizziness and he wavered in place, about to fall. He felt the Lifestream shift around him, compensating for the sudden surge of energy. He looked back up to the man after he had recovered to ask what this was about, but he was gone.

"Ooookay..." He closed the door and locked it. When he turned around, the man was standing there, right in the middle of David's living room! David jumped back a little, readying his lance. The man laughed and then spoke in a low, deep-toned voice.

"You are on edge. That is excellent for my cause..."

"Okay! Who the hell are you and how the hell did you get into my house!"

The man laughed, a chilling sound.

"Do you honestly think that I would just tell you my name? Pity for you..."

"Cut the crap! What do you want?!"

"That envelope contains an... Invitation, of sorts. My colleagues and I may have use of your... Skill."

"Sorry, not interested." David said, still at the ready for an attack.

"Hm. That's too bad. I was hoping to make this easy on you. I leave you now with a decision. You can either read the invitation and do what it requires of you. Or you can ignore my request and be taken by force after three days. The latter of the two choices would not include very comfortable... Accommodations. I can assure you of that."

"I doubt that I'll take either, but you can try to take me, if you want. You won't get very good results with that!"

"Very well. Three days." And the man vanished before David's eyes.

"Aw, crap. What to do..." Then, it hit him. "I guess Lucrecia deserves a visit..."

And, with that, David trudged upstairs to ponder the pros and cons of the situation. And to possibly read the invitation. He hadn't decided yet...