A Final Fantasy VII/XIII fanfiction by Lushard
Chapter 03
In all his life Cloud had learned that the term 'impossible' was something that should be tossed out of the window. From S-cell experimentation to the schemes of Jenova and Shinra, from the apocalypse to the resurrection of someone with an alien blood, Cloud had been sure that all the mad things normal people would consider putting into fantasy books or fairy tales could be realized.
And now, he had to deal with this…
Taking in a deep breath, and praying for once that he, was sane enough to believe his eyes and senses, Cloud Strife tried to process everything that he was laid before him.
An expanse of green so vast he had never thought of existing. Air so pure without any stench of mako. Scenery so enchanting that he was fearing for his sanity when his gaze fell upon unbelievable structures that could be seen floating in a distance.
They were on the edge of a cliff where they could see the horizon expanded into a seemingly endless sea of green and blue. Once out of the Jagd Woods, Lightning had beckoned him to this very spot where they could get a good view of the place she called The Wildlands. A befitting name, for all the strange creatures he witnessed lurking about the area so far.
Of course, this was not his home planet. He'd known that, seen the evidence from the first time he'd encountered monsters he had never thought of existing. But…
"You believe me now?"
He turned to the woman beside him, who was eyeing him as though she was afraid he would go mad and start shouting nonsense. "Yes," he huffed. Denial was never his forte. Not after the advent; not anymore. Not after he was sure he was not on the verge of unconsciousness because of mako poisoning anyway.
"Where will you be going now?" she asked.
He'd thought about it but had yet to find an answer. "Searching for clues. Anything." Though randomly trotting through a place as large as this is suicide.
"There are a few villages here. One is at the center of the area, one is way south from there, and one is deep within the woods we've just exited. To the north there's a train station, if you're wondering of visiting other places."
"I have no lead." Which made those options were as good as none.
Lightning looked sideways as she thought. "Hm. There's several though."
Curiosity, hope and suspicion arose within Cloud at the same time. "What are those?"
"First, let me introduce you to a friend of mine," she said, tossing him a small device that looked like an ear piece.
Cloud examined the design carefully before fitting it to his left ear.
A voice, a boy's, spoke through the intercom: "Cloud, huh? Nice to meet you."
He looked at Lightning and knew that she heard it as well. She arched her eyebrows as if to say, 'It will not explode; speak.' Well, for one thing, it explained her constant mutterings.
"Yeah," was all he managed to say.
"My name is Hope Estheim," the boy's voice rang again. "I've been monitoring everything and found something that might just be a good lead for you."
There was something odd that nagged at Cloud's mind when Hope had said 'everything' but he chose not to concern himself with the matter for now. He waited for Hope to continue.
"When you arrived here, in this world, there was a brief storm happening all over the world. It passed by pretty quickly. And along with it, I detected anomalies blooming in several areas."
"By this anomalies...you mean-?"
"One of them turned out to be you, or your teleportation, so to speak," Hope picked up quickly. "So if the readings I got some minutes ago could be interpreted with the same logic that brought you here, it means that there should be others, possibly people from your place, who are tossed up here too."
People from his place… People whom he knew? Cloud had a hard time deciding whether he should be grateful at this speculation or be worried. "You can't explain though?" he asked.
"No, sadly, I can't." Hope's voice didn't sound like he was. "Other than the readings I've got nothing more. I have some theories about this phenomenon linked to the Chaos, but so far I can't back those up with data yet."
Lightning had supplied him with a brief tale of what the Chaos was and how it affected the world and the inhabitants, including the monsters, on this planet, and he wasn't about to go all Turk-mode when he was aware that he knew and understand so little about the matter. What mattered now was finding a way back, and if Hope's reading was right, picking up people who got transported here too. All the why's and how's could line up in waiting.
"I could direct you to them if you want," Hope said. "But Light, maybe it's time for you to burn another Chrnostasis. You're still on a mission, after all."
Lightning said "all right" and brought up her right hand. Cloud felt a sudden burst of energy coming out from the woman, and almost yanked out First Tsurugi in reflex. The woman was faster; she snapped her fingers, and suddenly….\
Nothing happened.
Cloud stood still for several beats, looking at Lightning, wary of the changes he was anticipating. What had she just done? He was damn sure that he'd felt a surge of magic flowing out from her hand.
"All set. You'd better go now, Light," Hope said. To Cloud: "There's no need to be all jumpy. It was not something that would harm anybody."
Her magic was nothing offensive? Cloud relaxed a bit and asked, "What did you do?"
"I stopped time," was the unexpected reply.
Cloud stared.
Lightning met his with a flat stare on her own.
He managed to find his voice. "You what?"
It was Hope who answered him. "Stopped time," the boy calmly said. Cloud finally realized what was odd with the boy's voice and speech. He spoke as though he'd seen everything, as though he'd experienced unspeakable things, been through a lot. His voice carried a great sense of knowing and understanding, patience and honed skills one would suppose for an expert scientist to hold when explaining how his theories work. He sounded...ancient. Cloud couldn't think of a better word.
"Lightning has been gifted with some abilities beyond those of normal humans' when she was made the Savior. Stopping time is one of them."
"Similar to how the Time Magic works?" Cloud prompted, trying to understand the concept but felt as if he was trying to capture air with bare hands.
"You could say so," Hope affirmed. "But a little differently since it does not affect specific targets but the world in general. It affects all the people, living creatures, and the essence of time itself."
"The world…" The knowledge felt too overwhelming. Cloud had not excelled at his studies in the subject of materia in his cadet days, but even the dumbest of cadets knew there was no way Time Magic could actually hinder the world's flow of time. You only disrupt the flow of time of a target and not the whole world. Not even your surroundings were supposed to be affected by Time Magic when it was used. The notion that there was a human being who could manipulate time was too hard to be believed when explained in such a simple way. These guys might as well as say that they could sprout wings and fly and breathe fire.
...
Perhaps they could. He'd never know.
"I know this may be hard to comprehend, but it is quite logical when you understand the basis of things," Hope helpfully supplied, and suddenly, Cloud didn't want to know more.
"I'm not interested," he cut in. "Can you just tell me where are the people who might just come in a fashion like I did?"
"I can."
"Will you?"
Now it was Lightning who spoke up. "We will help. But my duty as the Savior comes up first, if you don't mind."
Cloud looked at Lightning, then at the broad, open field ahead of him, at the thick woods behind, then back at the warrior again. "I don't. I'll help you with it all I can. Just spare me the details."
"Fair trade," Lightning said. She started off towards the open field, jumping off from the cliff and landing with a soft thud on the grassy ground below. Cloud jumped down too. "I'm going to a village at the center of the area. Bringing back some required items," she said to him.
"Required?"
"A mission. An errand. A quest. Whatever you call it," said Lightning with a careless shrug as she set to a light jog.
"It is Light's mission as the Savior," explained Hope when Cloud's mind was still stuttering. "She needs to...how do I put it, save souls, free them from the darkness, the Chaos that has corrupted the world."
By helping people?
As if reading his mind, Hope said, "By freeing their minds and hearts from their burdens, yes. I'm sorry I can't go any further without bringing up the history of this land and the Tale of Creation."
At that moment the l'Cie brand, or so the mark was called, stung his arm. The sensation felt like burning but it lasted only for a while. Maybe it reacted to his psyche? Or maybe it was to remind him that he had another mystery to solve.
He eyed Lightning's back, mind suddenly going blank. Perhaps he would give up on all the questions rolling in his head. Perhaps he simply had to accept that absurd things did always happen to him.
"Stories can wait," he said to the boy.
"Sure. There are also questions I would like to ask you, but I guess they too can wait."
All he grasped that he had just met the fated Savior of this planet who ran left and right accepting errands to free souls. Huh. Mad. This was a mad dream, all right; a nightmare. Yes, this must be it. His Geostigma had simply not been cured, or his S-cell had finally taken its demand on his sanity, or Sephiroth had been resurrected again and was controlling his mind from somewhere, or he had unconsciously knocked his head too hard upon waking this morning, or…
...whatever.
Ahead of him Lightning brandished her sword to prepare against incoming jelly monsters that materialized out of thin air. Jelly monsters…? Yeah, right. Cloud readied his and separated the sword into two.
He was in a dream and he would play along, at least until Tifa or some stray monster around the church barged in to wake him up. It was official anyway:
He was going mad.
VII - x - XIII
Vincent looked at his reflection on the mirror as he fastened the leather belt around his waist. The small room filled with cabinets, stacks of clothes and two large mirrors was where he was currently being trapped in.
Fang, the woman who led the Monoculus, had taken him to an Outfitter who resided at the base after the interrogation. The Outfitter, a man by the name of Luccan who had peculiar eyes and dressed in the strangest fashion that consisted of colorful leather garb and various stitches across his outfit, had looked at Vincent as if he had just grown a third arm. But soon his gaze had transformed into that of fascination. Vincent then had been barraged with questions ranging from the material of his clothes to the current fashion trend and had also learned that the man's curiosity knew no bounds.
"Ah, so they prefer to wear simple outfits that are a combi of shirts and trousers?" Luccan said as he straightened Vincent's new leather jacket. The material was surprisingly smooth and light, so even if the gray jacket had sleeves that reached to his wrists, they felt cool and wouldn't be easily soaked in sweat.
"Yes," Vincent said under his breath.
Luccan's adept hands quickly removed the jacket in favor of a similar piece with a different color. It was dark chocolate this time.
"Now, try this one… Oh, it looks good. Better than the green and gray ones, at least. What of the formal wear? What do they like?"
Vincent tried to rack his brain for words to describe what he took for granted. He saw people in their casual wear every day in his life he almost never bothered submitting what he observed into description. Plus...never in his years had he been tasked to indulge himself in a talk about fashion.
"Collared shirt. Trousers and jacket. Dresses or gowns for women."
Luccan spun him, and Vincent, having given up on trying to fight off the Outfitter, simply let himself be a willing subject/mannequin. "That's not very descriptive. Might I ask you to draw some sketches?" Without pausing the man grabbed his note and jotted down Vincent's measurements, and shoved a pair of dark boots into the marksman's arms.
Vincent tried the boots, and luckily they fit right away. "I'm bad at it."
"Silly, that doesn't matter. I only need to see the basic concept." He tapped Vincent's shoulder lightly and waved at the mirror, apparently quite satisfied with his experiment.
Overall, the garb was light and comfortable. The buttoned jacket was designed to protect him against the sun's glare and harsh wind, and the belts secured Cerberus and packs of ammo and pouches. A simple adjustment was made to his sleeves so Vincent could equip his golden claw.
"All that's left is tying up your hair. I just thought of different styles that might suit you. Shall we go for a wild look? Or do you prefer a neater-down-to-earth image?"
Vincent had a feeling that he was simply being toyed at or had just served as a new plaything for Luccan. Nobody had ever been this obsessed in dressing him up, and no, not even his mother. "Do as you will." He just hoped that the eccentric man wouldn't braid it.
"Let's just settle for a low ponytail for now, hm."
Fang strode into the small room when Luccan had announced his work to be done. "All set?" she asked.
Both Vincent and Luccan turned to her and Vincent could have sworn he saw Fang stifling her laughter before her expression settled into a neutral look. Luccan clapped his hands. "He's good to go. The sun won't fry him dry now."
The tall woman's eyes were glittering with amusement, and the slight curl of her mouth was telling Vincent that he found his ordeal of going through Luccan's torment, more so than his change in appearance, funny. "Doesn't look all that bad, I must say," said Fang. "We'll be heading into the ruins now. There are mysteries to solve and treasures to discover."
"Then we go now." He was more than happy to leave the cramped place. Nodding his thanks to Luccan, he grabbed his red cloak as he followed Fang out.
"Cannot part from your old wear, can you?"
"I figure it will be handy in fighting off the wind and sand."
"Suit yourself."
The people at the base still threw him somewhat curious glances as they went, their eyes particularly trained on Vincent's claws. He'd noticed that most of the bandits here were equipped with either daggers or swords. Only a very few could be seen armed with rifles or guns. No shields, no bracers. Strange fighting styles. He had yet to see these men in combat, but he knew they were all experienced and proficient.
Fang walked him outside, where, for the first time since Vincent had come here, he realized just how brutal life must be on a desert. The sun was directly stinging him, the wind dusty and the temperature was threatening to melt him into a pulp. It was thanks to the strange ways his body worked that he did not suffer as much as he would were he still a normal hume. He wrapped his cloak about his person.
"There are a few entrances that lead to the ruins," Fang informed. They hiked north until the base disappeared from view and all there was to see was sea of sand and rough edges of rocks and crude cliffs. "They are all scattered in the area, but each will lead into the same maze. From there, only the gods know how deep it goes."
"And your clavis is buried down there?"
"I speculate so. So far we've got nothing but junk and stone walls. There are mechanisms. Old and rusty. Not working. We're still figuring out a way to make them work once again."
"I am no mechanic."
"I'm aware of that. Still, you might figure something out. You have an astute observation. That might come to be useful."
He didn't object to the praise but was silently trying to decipher the true meaning behind her words, especially the 'useful' part. Since Hojo, he was never on a friendly terms with the word.
Fang suddenly stopped. "I hope your skills in battle will aid us too."
Monsters. Whose looks he had never seen before. Wolves with curved claws and long tails, vicious fangs and multicolored fur. Cerberus was shooting bullets before they managed to get close.
Fang whistled when they made holes in two of the five wolves' heads.
"My turn." She dashed forward, and played her lance in a deadly dance. Her movement was fluid and measured. Speed wasn't her weapon; it was her ever-changing stance and solid defense, coupled with balanced counterattacks that rarely missed vital points. Magic came into play too. No-materia-magic, to be precise. Vincent didn't try to pry. He'd told himself to observe first and ask questions later.
The journey continued with occasional battles, little talk, and a lot of skidding and slipping. Vincent had rarely navigated around such a sandy terrain. Fang, on the other hand, walked as if the ground was concrete. He tried to imitate her movements for a smoother stroll.
Minutes, or maybe even an hour, had passed by when they got a glimpse of a tall structure standing in the horizon. "Is that an entrance?" Vincent asked.
"Yes. From there we'll dive deep. Don't worry, it won't be as hot there."
He sure hoped so.
The entrance looked more like an entry to a really old cathedral by design. There were many carvings and symbols on the granite wall, dizzying patterns Vincent had only seen in history books. Only these were weirder. There was no door. An opening led them straight to a set of stairs leading downwards, and thankfully Fang was right: the air got colder with each step they took in descent. The smell wasn't as humid as he had thought too, indicating that the corridor would indeed lead them deep into the belly of this desert.
Torches lit the passage, providing them with enough light to wander about without stumbling. Vincent's fingers were trailing along the wall as he proceeded. He was making out of the texture and carvings, thinking about how ShinRa historians would have screamed in delight upon finding such an ancient treasure. Rufus would pay millions of gil to get a site like this searched thoroughly.
The corridor ended in a large room where several men and women were gathered. They were either bent low on their knees, digging at dirt, or glued to the carved wall, seemingly preoccupied in whatever research that interested them. Most were armed, but all were equipped with flashlights and computer tablets.
Fang walked to a nearest man who was typing on his tablet furiously like a madman. "How's it going, Jarg?" Fang asked.
The man called Jag looked up and his young face looked pale and unhealthy under the glow of the torches. His short-cropped hair was dyed in two colors: gold and red, and the thick glasses that hung low on his nose bridge made him look more like an old man. "Not so much of a progress, Fang," he spoke in a hushed, tiny voice as if words he conveyed held secrets. "I am trying to decode all these carvings, putting up one pattern to another, but so far I've only been rewarded with more riddles. There was no story of the locked door save for a mention of it being only be accessible by someone with the holy power of Etro."
"No good news," Fang muttered.
"No," Jarg agreed. "I can tell you so far the myth had predicted almost all the things that have happened in the last five hundred years, but nothing more. It speaks of the calamity, the fall of Cocoon, and also of our immortality, but nothing more."
Immortality? Vincent looked sharply at Fang. The woman didn't notice and continued conversing. "Could it be that the prophecy fail to perceive of events to come beyond it?"
"I doubt that. They had been right all along and there is no cue that Etro was limiting her vision. The ancient people had the Yules. We have these carvings." He spread out his wiry arms to emphasize his point.
"The ancients liked to sizzle our brains," Fang chuckled.
"So much that they started creating the Yules and programmed them in such a way that they would die before fifteen. If we could somehow find a formula on how the Yules work, then maybe…maybe, we could find something worth our while. Not to mention the time paradox they created." As if he had just seen Vincent, Jarg's bright blue eyes rest on the tall figure, narrowing at the sight of his claw under the cloak. "A new recruit?"
"Yes. The name's Vincent," Fang said.
Not sure of what to do or what to say, Vincent simply nodded at Jarg.
"Not the speaking type, are you? Ah, and speaking of newcomers, there is this strange person I heard intruding into the deeper levels, Fang."
Vincent had been told that all of those who were interested in exploring the ruins must first report to the Monoculus. Intruding into the ruins could be seen as a crime that promised retribution.
"Oh? I didn't hear," the woman shrugged. "When was she found?"
"She has just been found an hour ago in one of the chambers below. The girl's mad, I heard. The research party found her trying to peel the wall."
Peel the wall?
"Searching for buried gold, she said."
Vincent's insides suddenly lurched.
Gods above, this couldn't be…
He cleared his throat. "By any chance…is this girl short in stature and has a short, black hair?"
Jarg looked at him curiously and so did Fang. "And is there a chance she's your acquaintance?" asked Fang.
Vincent frowned. "Could be." The strange phenomenon of his magical transport into this realm must have not only had one victim. He hadn't thought of the possibility of anyone from his home world, or his friends, in that matter, had also been snatched.
The thought unnerved him. "Can I meet this intruder?" he asked Fang.
"Interrogation is ought to be done—she will be brought to me eventually. But since we're here, might as well as pay a visit." Fang thanked Jarg and went into one of the openings that continued in a twisting corridor and stair cases. They did not need to wait long though.
As soon as they were two levels down they could hear a high-pitched shriek of a young woman's. "Untie me, you bastards! I swear I don't know any of your bullshit, just let me go! I found that first! That is my treasure!"
Vincent ignored the weird look Fang gave him and sprinted faster.