(Disclaimer: Plata-Azul Firebird does not own Final Fantasy 7 or the songs that are in this story, only her OCs and her plot… Otherwise, we might end up having a not-so-epic battle with the lawsuits.)
Altering Rhythm
Too Young to be…
Silver: I need a job… badly… because I need money for the Anime con coming this September! By the way, how many "Too young to be…" can you find in this chapter. Find all, you get a cyber cookie!
Too Young to be…
"It's silly to be scared."
:::^*^:::
Yawning, she stretches her arms up and cracks some stiff joints. Mira then notices something out of place…
'Wait… Riley is up this early?' the songstress thought, noticing the lack of the other occupant of her bed. She knows her best friend's antics and usually she is up before the mime is. Once she cleans up and puts on her traveling outfit back, she then makes a quick check on the packs. Since Yuffie is officially with them, both girls have to be on high alert and watch their materias.
She does a quick count on her materias, minus the ones she released from confined forms… she soon notices that she is missing a Tri-Thundaga materia. 'Wait… There's supposed to be three of them, did Yuffie took it.' She thought.
Looking back at the sleeping ninja girl, she quickly checks on others' bags and the ninja's pack itself. But nothing seems out of place and the Tri-Thundaga is not in the ninja's pack. Then she silently looks for it in Yuffie's bed, but nothing… the said materia is truly missing.
Speaking of missing, she sighs and decided to put the search on hold and quietly heads out to find the brunette.
It wasn't hard to find her, she immediately spots her on one of the tables and chairs, in the empty lobby of the fort. Her head is down on the wooden table and she is still wearing the black shirt, gray hoodie, dark blue Capris and the boots. Thinking that her best friend took a walk last night and then slept there, she walks towards her and shakes her to wake up.
"Hey, did you-" but she cut off and retracts her hand back, when suddenly the mime yells a very loud 'WHY!' before her head falls back on the table. Surprise and clueless on her reaction, the songstress sense something is disturbing her and goes off to make coffee for the two of them.
Another thing that Square did not bother to place in the game is the kitchen. Most mercenary and hired guns are allowed here, but they must cook their own food for the stock room is nowhere to be seen. If they want to eat but not cook or they don't have any stocks, they have to pay for it. However, water, coffee and biscuits are free of charge and anyone can have it.
Once the water is hot enough, she pours it into two paper cups with two tablespoons of coffee in them. She then puts some sugar and mixes it, but miffs on the lack of milk. 'Well… in this situation, beggars can't be choosers.' she thought, as she throws the plastic stick in the trash, picks the cups and heads back. She then place one of the coffee in front of the mime and takes a seat beside her. Once more, she shakes her best friend awake, this time she sees the coffee and drags the cup near her. As they drink their caffeine, none of the two talks as Mira takes another look on her.
'She looks like a drench cat who is not too happy about getting wet.' she thought, as the mime stares on the half-full cup and she looks like in a trance. '… Okay… better do it now.'
"Riley… what's wrong?" but her best friend didn't respond and then pinches her cheek.
"Ow!"
"Riley!"
"Ouch… Mira, you're here?" and the songstress resist face-palming on her friend's lack of attention.
"Riley, what's wrong with you?" asking again, this time the mime looks at her before looking back in her coffee.
"I took a walk last night." she confessed, as she fiddles with her cup.
"And?"
"Promise not to freak out?"
"Promise." as she hold up her hand as a sign.
"… Last night, I was looking at the stars, trying to find familiar ones that we see back on Earth. And…" she pauses for a while and fiddles her cup again. The songstress waits for her to make an answer and encourages her to say it. "I… met Sephiroth last night."
'Oh… wait, WHAT?' she thought and immediately grabs her best friend, looking over her if she got injuries or anything. "Are you okay? How did you get out of that?"
"It… complicated."
"Don't tell me he sexually harassed you."
"I wish." the mime stated flatly and gives the songstress a look. "It's more than that." The songstress coaxes her to tell what happen and once Riley feels a little brave, she narrates what happened…
:::^Last night…^:::
She is shocked…
She does not expect to meet the former general this soon.
She knows that they'll meet again in the ship which they'll sneak into in Junon.
But then her mind immediately alerted her of her situation and jumps away from the former general as if she was shocked by a Thunder spell. She puts her arm back and ready to cast a spell in case he does something funny.
"Don't be alarmed." he stated, his cool stare looks right back at the mime's glare.
Then… she hears the painful noise again, the same one in her dreams. But the noise is lower in volume than the one in her dream, so it is bearable as she keeps an eye on him. And for some reason… she can hear a tiny cry amongst them before it blends and fade within the noise.
"Can you hear her?"
She looks at him quizzically.
"She's calling you."
She knew who he is pointing at and snorts at that. Still she wonders why that freaky being is calling her, not to mention the noise… 'Where is it coming from?' as she looks at her situation. Right now, she doubts that she can run back into the fort, if she does he will turn the place into a massacre site. Running away is another option, but she got nowhere to hide and Sephiroth is a SOLDIER. No doubt she cannot outrun the man, due to his enhancement.
'Another reason to punch that fruit-loop on the face!' she thought viciously and fighting him is definitely out of the list. 'Dang it… running it is. At least I can get him away from the others, I hope…'
When Sephiroth moves towards her, the mime quickly casts Matra Magic on him. She knows that he can easily avoid them and quickly makes her escape, before he can bounce back after her. But it is no effect… As soon as she cast the spell and turn tail, he's in front of her before the spell could even make a hit on him. And due to the short distance, she unexpectedly runs into him with his arms wide open. Surprise and a blush forms on her face as the former general holds her close, yet her mind is screaming that he is going to bloody murder her.
"Let go!" she yelps and tries to get out of his grip. But she couldn't get out, much less slip away from him.
Now the noise is louder…
"Why do you believe such lies from them?" he asked.
"Excuse me?!" she snaps and looks at him straight with a glare. Their eyes locks and she sees… despite the glow, his eyes are empty, glass-like…
Similar to a manikin.
Once more, she struggles her way out and manages to hit him on the chin with her right knuckle. She demands again for letting her go as she kicks wildly and occasionally hits his shins. Eventually, he does and she scrambles away from him, putting much distance and arming herself with another spell to cast.
Still she ignores the noise as it slowly raises it's volume.
But he does not bother with her behavior and remembering what Mother told him… "You are very important to Mother…" he once more reaches for her.
She is ready to cast Matra Magic again… when the noise grows louder than before and is giving her a migraine, thus her focus is loosing.
"Try to remember." the silver general stated as he moves towards her…
'Is he just standing while moving?' the mime thought, as she sees the silver man nears without moving his legs or even float. She winces once more as the noise turns high pitch and the pain on her head increases.
"What they did."
Riley couldn't take it anymore, the noise has completely become piercing and unbearable and the pain in her head is making her dizzy.
"To you."
The noise became high pitch screams and wails of rage and hate, her view of the world shakes as if there is an earthquake happening. She quickly covers her ears to block it, but it couldn't block the noise...
They're inside her head.
"It hurts! It hurts!"
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"
"Don't take me! AH!"
"So Cold…"
"Get me out! Please! Get me out of here!"
"YOu dId ThiS!"
"YoU uNGratEfUL fOOls!"
Then the words become jumbled and mix as more voices shout and wails together. Unable to take anymore, she collapses and before hitting the ground, Sephiroth caught her. Before her world blackens… she takes one more look at the general's eyes.
Fury… Hatred… And coldness are now in it…
But for some reason… those feelings are not his.
"Mama… please go back and reunite with Mother soon."
That is the last thing she heard from him before she completely shuts down.
:::^Present time^:::
Then she told her that she woke up by the rope-entrance of the fort… and Sephiroth is gone. And then there is silence and if you release a pin, that will be the only noise you'll ever hear.
"Are. You. Serious?" the songstress asked out of shock, as she stares at her best friend incredulously and mouth open. "He called you… mama?"
"Yes! He told me that I should meet and reunite with the freaky alien scum! Yeah right!" the mime spazzes and drops her head on the table again. "Of all things to happen to me, being related to an alien that destroys planets is not in my list! And I'm too young to be a mother of a deceased 25-year-old man!"
Mira is still in shock and could not believe that her best friend and a fellow Earthling like her, is related to Jenova. What's different from Sephiroth's and Cloud's situation, is that for some reason, the brunette is on equal terms with the extraterrestrial being since the former general called her 'mama'. Totally stunned at this, her mind then begins thinking of what will happen to the two of them… her first thought is that they'll be enemies one day, considering who they represent: Mira with Minerva and the Planet, while Riley with Sephiroth and Jenova.
She quickly shakes that first thought away and mentally slap herself in such thought. 'She's my best friend! There is no way she's going to flip to the dark side!' she thought.
Her second thought is that Riley is going to commit suicide because she's related to a planet destroyer. Once more a mental slap and her mind scold her for that thought. Another is being Sephiroth's bride… 'Oi! She's already been labelled as a mom! Geez!' her mind berates her.
Riley then lifts her head up and notices a certain look on her best friend. "Meer… mind out of the gutter please." she stated and the songstress snaps out of her thought. "What are you thinking?"
"Sorry… hearing that… you know." she points out as she shrugs and looks at her friend with concern.
The brunette sighs and rubs her head. "This is a nightmare." she groans before literally slapping herself, much to the songstress' surprise. "NO! No! Think positive girl! Think positive!"
"Riley? Are you feeling okay?" the songstress asked, she looks around a bit and thankfully the lobby is still empty. "Are you under the influence of Jenova?"
"If I were in the influence of that freak, I would've eaten Earth back then and go all whack."
"Um, trapped in a human body?"
"Then a psychotic killer."
Mira shakes her head and swat the back of the mime's head, which she yelps in response. "Git yer head back screwed and think clear!" she hissed and then crosses her arms. Riley winces that the sore head and then sulk a bit, before her shoulders raise back up and eyes widen a bit. "What's wrong?"
"Well dang flabbit, I didn't realize it sooner." Riley scolded herself and looks at the songstress. "This could be my chance to save Sephiroth!"
"What do you mean?"
"Duh, since I'm connected to the alien, so is Sephiroth!" she then grabs her shoulder. "I could give him back his humanity."
The songstress thinks about it, and she thinks that the mime is right on to her goal. With the link between her and Jenova, it might be possible to save the general from it…
But…
"Yeah, but there's a problem…" and the mime looks at her. "Jenova, I doubt she'll let you do that. You'll both be doing a psychological ping-pong war rather having a mental tea-drinking session."
"True… dang it, and she even used him to get me." The mime groans and head desks. "That's probably where I got my miming skills from."
The songstress pats her head and quickly finishes her not-so-warm coffee, then throws it away. "Weird." the songstress mutters, and the mime raises her head.
"What is it?"
"Jenova is linked to you, right? So why would she send Sephiroth instead of talking to you herself?" pointing it out and her best friend sits up straight, thinking about that… Then Riley remembers her first encounter with it and it's comment.
"Yet... that is in the way."
"I think I know why…" and looks at her. "I don't know, but there is something that blocks her from acquiring me."
"Then because of that…"
"She sends him after me… Great…" and once more slumps on the table. The girls then decided to continue with the topic next time, when a person or two climbs into the lobby to get coffee. Riley heads back to the room to change into her traveling clothes, while Mira also heads there to get their stocks and cook breakfast.
:::^*^:::
Once everyone is up and full, they get ready to head for Junon.
Before that, the girls make one last check on their inventory and then head to the shops. As they buy a few Ethers for magic, Riley spots something… that will make any artist their day.
Notebooks and pencils.
Seeing this, she almost let out a squeal and takes a pair of notebooks and some pencils, dumping them in with the rest of the items they're buying. Packing all of the bought items, they head back to the party as Kunsel does a head count.
'What are we kindergarten?' both girls thought as they shift their pouches and then the mime notices something on it. Looking on hers, she notices a gem sewn at the bottom of the pouch. 'It's a miracle that it didn't chip off during in battles.' she thought.
"All right, there will be another change in the grouping." Kunsel announces, which earns a groan from Barret.
"Another one?" he asked.
"We're heading for Junon, me and Cloud agreed to switch party members for safety precaution." Kunsel explains as the others fixes the strap of their satchel and pouch.
"Well… it makes sense. Junon is another base of Shinra." The songstress points out. "Which means that place is crawling with troopers and probably some SOLDIERs."
"But wouldn't it make sense to go there together?" Tifa asked.
"Actually, Tifa, the larger the group, the higher chance someone would alert Shinra and sic on us. However, if we arrived there in smaller and split groups, with some time-spacing between us, the lesser the suspicion, and likely we can blend in before the next group arrives." Riley explains, as she checks her dagger before sheathing it. "Dang it, I miss the tonfas…" she whined.
"Then why did you throw it away?" her best friend asked.
"It got bent after hitting the Zolom with it."
"Oh…"
"Then why don't you buy the ones in the shops?" Aerith asked.
"Their quality sucks."
"Back to the point." Cloud pipes in and they snap their attention to the blonde. "Kunsel will take Aerith and Yuffie. Barret will take Red and Tifa, and I will take Mira and Riley. My group will be the first to head out, followed by Barret and then Kunsel."
The girls froze for a bit and looks at the blonde… did they hear it right, did Cloud got them for his party, allowing them to talk with him privately…?
Then they felt a hand upon their shoulders, and they snap their attention to the Ex-Second behind them. "I manage to get him to change party, so good luck on helping him, okay?" he whispers to them, before he heads to his own group. Both girls grin at this and quickly walks to the blonde's side. After checking their stocks and equipment, Cloud, Mira and Riley are the first to head off for Junon.
:::^*^:::
Hissing…
The strings tugs again…
Once more, yanks it away out of reach.
:::^*^:::
"Kunsel…" Aerith called and the Ex-Second looks back at the flower girl, as Yuffie marches cheerily to Junon. Unknown to them, she is plotting a way to get all off their materias. However, right now, she acts as if she's a hyper teenager with a habit of collecting treasures.
Kunsel's party left the fort after an hour wait and trekking toward the said city. And as they head there, Yuffie attempted to strike a conversation between the two, but it didn't last and is now marching ahead of them.
"Do you think Cloud is strange…?" she asked.
"Well… Cloud is a first class, so he's my superior despite the age, he's not that expressive and tends to head right into the problem without a plan." He explains. 'Like a certain puppy I know.' he thought. Mira and Riley told him that he has to cover Cloud a bit as they try to recover his memories and find out what really happen in his perspective. Furthermore, they want to avoid letting Aerith or even Tifa know about Cloud's friendship with Zack, lest provoke another breakdown. Kunsel is skeptical on that and would rather let the two in the loop with Cloud's recovery. However, the two insists on keeping it to the three of them. The less one knows a secret, the better. "But, to me, he seems to care despite all of his bravado."
The flower girl giggles at this and continues to walk… "Then… what do you think of Mira and Riley?"
"Those two?" he asked and she nodded. "Well… Mira seems to be kind and more mature than her friend Riley, whose childish and impulsive at times. However, in battles... well, Riley is the strongest of the two."
"Really?"
"Yeah… why ask?"
"Well… there's something off on those two…"
And the Ex-Second looks at her. 'Did she caught in the fact that they are witnesses on Zack's death?' he thought and asked. "Off…?"
"Ah no… it's nothing." she reassures him and shakes her read.
It seems she decided not to tell him that there is something strange on the two. Since the Planet warns her to be on guard on one, and it falls silent to the one they accepted.
:::^*^:::
"Dooby dooby doo-bah!"
"Dooby dooby doo-bah!"
"Dooby dooby doo-bah!"
"Dooby dooby doo-bah!"
"Riley! Knock it off!" and the mime falls face-first on the grass ground, on losing her focus during her hand-walk.
"Fwab wit!" the mime mutters as she gets her head off the ground, the blonde stops and stares at them.
"Is she… always like this?" Cloud asked, as the said city is in view.
"I consider lasting nine years with her as an amazing feat, Cloud." the songstress deadpans. She reminds herself of buying new equipments for the party once they get up on the city above.
"Hey!" the mime protest and jumps back up, similar to what Zack does. "That is really mean." She pouts.
"Sorry, you just haven't matured yet."
The mime yelps at her again and her best friend laughs a bit, the blonde looks on this with slight amusement… and a strange nostalgic warmth in him. He then wonders when he felt this before… 'That is… odd… why do I feel something like this?' he thought, as he places his hand on his heart.
"Me and Cloud are both backwater experts! Oh yeah!"
'What?' he then looks around and only sees the two playfully bickering. 'It can't be them… the voice sounds like a male…'
"By the way… do you remember anything that night after the Zolom thing?" Riley asked the blonde, and he snaps his attention to them.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Well… something happened that night." Mira points out sheepishly with a shrug, now both girls have to carefully lead this conversation in the right direction. She looks at the mime, who then nods to her before looking back to the blonde. "You had a nightmare and screamed that night." She confessed.
"What…?" he asked as he looks at them strangely, the two then narrates on what happen that night. Once they finished telling him about it… "I shouted that…?"
"Yeah, you screamed to give you back your mom, Tifa and your hometown and then thrashed on your mat. It took Kunsel and Tifa to calm you down… Still I'm amused at how you manage to kick Barret though." Riley confirms it and the blonde tries to remember what he dreamed about. Unfortunately, he couldn't recall any of it and looks at the two.
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yeah, although most of the party will deny you having such nightmare, Kunsel can confirm that."
"Wait… why would they deny me on having a nightmare?"
Then both girls look at one another and their foot shuffles, before looking back at him. The girls told him that after his episode, some of the party became wary of him. They look unsure if he's gone off the deep end or leading them on a wild goose chase for a dead man. Blue eyes look at the two girls for any sign to lies on them, but judging by their faces and their body language… he groans and face palms, they are telling the truth. He had a nightmare that night and he doesn't remember. It frustrates him because it made the others wary of him.
Not to mention, it made him look weak… how can he face Sephiroth when he is starting to have mental problems now.
"Cloud." he then looks at the two, who are looking back at him with concern. "Can you try to remember what you dream about, and tell us what it is… we might help."
"No, no, I… I can handle…" as he looks away.
"Cloud." the songstress snaps at him and he turns to the songstress, who have her hands at her waist and looking at him like any stern mother will do. She reminds him about what they talk back in the Sector 5 bombing and the mime turns away and hides her giggles. Both look at her, who shrugs in return and whistles.
"Aren't you a little-"
"Don't give us that excuse, Cloud."
Cloud looks at the two, seeing they are serious about having this talk cause it might help him. He then looks at Riley and points at her, he doubts the brunette can shut her mouth.
"Hey!" the mime protested.
"She can keep a secret, Cloud. Trust her." Mira vouches for her best friend.
Sighing at this, he tries once more to remember that night.
Blurry images form in his mind, it slowly clears… but then something hits his forehead like being hit by a hammer hard. He winces on the migraine he got and stumbles a bit, the girls notice this and asked if he is okay. He waves it off as he rubs his forehead, but again he stumbles and the girls are quickly at his side.
"I only remember a pair of images… of my dream." He winces as he rubs his head.
"Really? Can you describe it?" The mime asked as she helps him balance.
"A man in a red coat. And two people, one is a dying man while the other is a silhouette weeping with… my sword in its hand."
Both girls are taken aback on this one. He's beginning to remember Genesis and Angeal. Two former First who left Shinra because of their degrading status, thanks to another nut job who more into beating the fruit-loop. Thanks to the nut job, as the two girls think, he needs more suffering because of what he did to the two, Sephiroth loses his only two known friends who he can also consider as brothers.
And without those two, the general has sunk under the sea of madness.
Back to the point, Cloud seems to remember them but does not know them fully. He then remembers something about the images… one of the two men, is wearing a SOLDIER uniform and that man is a First Class due to its color.
"That… man…" He slowly said as his headache steadily fades. "He's wearing a First Class SOLDIER uniform." and then looks at the two girls. "… Do you know any other Firsts besides me?"
They then look at one another and think… "Actually… there are other Firsts before you." The mime points it out as the Ex-SOLDIER can stand on his own. "We do happen to know a bit on the them since they came from our hometown."
"They are Genesis Rhapsodos, the one you describe as the man in a red coat, and Angeal Hewley, the man who wears the uniform." Mira said as the blonde rubs his head.
Somehow his nightmare showed him this… could by chance have met them before? Still, it bothers him that the silhouette had his sword… could it be him weeping on the dying First? "Can you tell me more about them?" he asked… but by the tone, the two swore he somewhat demands.
"Well, the fact that they came from Banora like us, from some rumors the two became friends with Sephiroth." They then notice how the blonde tense on mentioning the former general. They told him a brief story about the two abandoning Shinra, Genesis was the first to go with quite a handful of 3rds and 2nds, after that Angeal soon followed and left the company. A few months later, Shinra announced that both Firsts were KIA along with the other rogue SOLDIERs. "Unfortunately, the company didn't mention how they got rid of the two. Even so, since the company owns the paper…" the mime stated with a shrug.
The blonde nodded at this and digest the new information he learns today… Apparently, there were other Firsts before him, and they also came from the same hometown where Mira and Riley came from. Gone rogue with one taking a platoon of 3rds and 2nds, and then suddenly they were labeled KIA a few months after by Shinra. He rubs his head on his, still he doesn't know why he couldn't remember the other two. His first guess was he wasn't in SOLDIER when the two left, it's explainable. The next is Shinra is quite good at hiding it from public… like they always do.
Still, he can't help wondering why he dreamed about them.
"You really, don't know anything about them?" Mira asked with concern.
"No… not at all." He replied.
"Not even-" but the songstress is cut off when they feel the ground shaking. "Why is-" once more she is cut off when Riley suddenly pushes her and Cloud out of the way, and then a loud roar follows.
"What the crap is THIS?" Riley yells as she avoids the tail and attracts its attention to herself. Of all monsters they could face, a Behemoth King is the worst right now. The beast is level 40+ in the game, and they… they could guess that they are about 10+ in level, but that is not enough to beat a monstrosity like this. 'We're too young to be fighting this crap! Oh wait, that's low level…' she thought as she flips away from the claw.
"Damn it! Strike it down!" the blonde shouts, as he gets up and is about to charge at the beast.
"NO! Don't strike it down!" Both Mira and Riley shout at him, as the mime casts Matra Magic to distract the monster and the songstress scrambles up.
"What?!"
"It's a Behemoth King! That monster is way out our league! Especially you!" The mime points out as she keeps avoiding the attacks and dashes away a little. "Sweet nibblets! Mira, sing this thing to sleep!"
The songstress quickly fumbles with her keytar and immediately plays Lullaby. It took quite long, due to the monster's stubbornness and its magic, but they manage to put him to sleep. As the beast snores, Riley quickly runs back to the two and to see if they are okay.
Sighing in relief, she then looks at the huge yellow beast. "How the heck this beast is here? If I remember correctly from Uncle Ray, they only hunt around in the Northern Continent." She points out, and the songstress pulls out a potion from her pouch.
"Fruit-loop?" Cloud asked.
"Hojo." both girls replied. Looking at the beast, it could be plausible, considering that the crazy scientist would use any dangerous specimens for his experiment. The girls then discuss about their way of torturing the fruit-loop before sending him to his death, when a very stiff sound is heard… like a knife piercing to a lechon-
Both girls turn back on the monster quickly and saw Cloud have killed the Behemoth King, by stabbing it right in the heart as it sleeps. The beasts snort on feeling the sharp strike, but didn't wake up and snorts again when the blade is yank out.
"Cloud! What the heck are you doing?" the mime shrieks in shock as the songstress is also shock at this too. Seeing the blonde kill the beast while it is out for the count… while for some is a more effective to get rid of danger, for the girls it seems to be… not right. Even if they have a fair share of monsters they have beaten, the girls can't help to feel a bit let down on this and slightly uneasy. For them, they want to battle the beast again once they are on a leveled playing field or with enough experience.
… Probably, a little about animal rights in this issue too.
"I'm getting rid of the Behemoth." The blonde stated, as he then slices to open its stomach and spews out its contents and items it had eaten. Apparently, the only item he can find among the spew is the X-Potion. "Also, would you let this thing roam around and go after the others?"
Both girls would say he is right, but they would also protest on finding other solutions. But seeing the beast slowly dying, it is kind of too late on voicing their opinion as the blonde sheathes his blade.
They then head to Junon. But before the girls do follow him, they give the beast a quick prayer and the mime spots a Phoenix Down in its mane. Once she pockets the item, they quickly tail after the blonde before he even notices that they are quite behind.
:::^*^:::
Arriving at Junon, both girls reminded the area of the squatters' area back in their world. It is a little bigger and got a few streets, but seems to be short like you can see the dead end just two to three houses away. There are some houses that are made from bricks, but some of them have plywood on the exterior walls. As if they can't repair the thin-wood covered areas, and does a flimsy job of hiding it. In addition, there are clothes hanging on the clothing line right at the front and an occasional mattress too. If there is one thing that differentiates from this town and their home… is the smiles. In their home, people smile because it is their only strength to get thru hardships. Here people are not ashamed to show how poor and depress they are. They guess the people above thinks of the bottom nothing more than pathetic.
"What happen to this town? It's so… run down." Cloud states after looking at the town for the first time.
"A bad government management." Riley snorted as the blonde heads into town to find what he's looking for.
"Wow, this reminds me of the informal settlers area… but this is more depressing than back at home." Mira states, feeling the sadness around the area.
"I have to agree." the mime quip. "… But on the bright side, what least they don't live in a overcrowded country."
Her best friend nods at this and they split up to talk to some people. As Riley heads into a shop to sell some items once more. 'Come to think of it… we haven't counted the gils since we started this journey. Once the others are here, I'm going to convince Tifa with an inventory check.' she thought, as she enters the store.
Meanwhile, Mira walks around a bit and asking a few people, which one of them sounds not too happy. She can sense the bitter and sad tone in them, not to mention that the conversation is mostly short. Feeling awkward about this situation, she decided to head for the beach and wait for the other two there.
Arriving there, she sees the said high voltage tower and the electricity sparking off it. 'They are not much into safety… and environmental sanitation.' she thought, seeing the grey beach and pieces of metal around. She really doubts that the gray beach is grey sand or soot mix with the sand. Shaking her head, she walks down the steps and sits on the base of the steps.
She decided to give the keytar another look as she waits for the incoming battle, when she almost yelp out loud… the ghost of the dead Behemoth King is right in front of her. As she calms her racing heart and set her instrument for a moment. "Will you mind?" she hissed and the beast's head tilts slightly. "Just get out of my sight and stop following us."
The beast tilts its head on the other side and she face palms at this.
Then…
She quickly stands up and looks around, before scratching her head. "That's weird… I thought I heard someone laugh." before sitting back down and attempts to shoo the decease monster away.
But a moment later "Excuse me." the songstress then turns to meet a little girl. Judging by her height, she looks like around 10 to 12, slightly tan skin and wears a yellow tank top, red shorts and red slippers. "Who are you?"
"Oh, sorry, I'm a traveling songstress, me and my friends just came from this town to re-supply" Mira replied with a smile.
"A songstress? Someone who sings and perform in bars?" she asked.
"Yes, and we don't sing in bars, we sing on stage." the songstress quickly corrected her.
"Oh sorry… um, do you want to meet Mr. Dolphin?" hoping that she would take it as an apology.
"Mr. Dolphin?"
"Yeah, he's my friend who lived in the sea!" as she points at the waters.
Mira stares at it first and pretends to think, then she agrees to meet the dolphin. This made the girl happy and grabs the songstress' hand, then she drags her to the waters and stops at the edge where the water can't reach. The little girl, or Priscilla which the songstress remembers from the game, calls for the dolphin. And on cue, a familiar aquatic, gray mammal swims towards them as it jumps and dives into the water. For the songstress, it is rather welcoming to see an animal that is close to Earth and smiles. It is a bottlenose dolphin and chirps cheerily as it bobs it head at them.
"He-y! Mr. Dolphin! My name is…Pri-scil-la!" the girl stated cheerily. "Now you say it."
Mira resists laughing at this. It is true that dolphins are smart, but she doubts it can learn human language. 'A parrot, yes. Dolphin, I highly doubt it.' she thought, then she turns to see Cloud and Riley walking towards them. "Hey." She greeted them.
Hearing her, the girl turns to see two other people… but her eyes are right on Cloud's outfit. "Who are you guys? Are you members of the Shinra, Inc.?" she asked with a bitter tone, which surprises the songstress a bit.
"No! We're fighting against the Shinra!" Riley said defensively and cheerily.
"… That's how it is." The blonde shrugs, which earns him glares from the two girls on his uncaring behavior again.
"I don't believe you! Get out of here!" the girl yells at them and back away.
"Whoa, hold on…" the songstress said, attempting to calm her and explain… when a familiar foe came to view and is heading towards them.
"Um guys, a freaky monster heading for us in a few seconds!" The mime shouts on spotting it and takes out her dagger.
The said monster looks like a mutated fusion of a catfish and a Koi fish. It has a blue and green body, a purplish-pink head with horns and a pair of big yellow eyes, white fins tipped with red, it also has a bone-like armor on the front and along black tail with spikes, three blue circles and a tail fin at the end of it. The thing seems to swim in the air and attempt to hunt the dolphin as its meal. But the aquatic mammal gives it a slip and quickly swims away into the sea.
"Be careful Mr. Dolphin!" Priscilla shouts and attempts to help her friend.
"Ah wait! Don't!" the songstress shouts but it is too late to grab her as the little girl enters the water. Seeing the new prey, the monster zeroes in on her and attacks her. She is hit by the tail and falls into the water… but never gets up.
"Hey! Hold on, we're coming!" Cloud shouts as he grabs his blade, his two companions quickly arm themselves with their weapons. He quickly charges at the beast and slashes the air… then a sudden sharp wind slash on the monster's eye. It made a mark causing it to roar in pain… and then roar angrily back at them.
"You think it's mad at us?" Riley asked and she earns a look from the two. But they quickly turn back their attention on the monster when it attempts to Moonstrike them. Cloud it hit on the head quite hard, Mira merely backs away from range and Riley dodge roll out of the way before she strike back with Dark Fire. The creature is not happy and cast a spell… locking Riley in a water bubble, force her to take a deep breath.
The mime tries to get out of it, by swimming to the edge of the bubble but the wall of the bubble feels like a thick, gelatin-rubber-like wall. She seems miffed at this, crossing her arms as Mira comes to her side and cast thunder at the bubble. The electricity hits the bubble and pops like any other bubbles when hit by a pin. Riley breathes and spits outs excess water that entered her mouth.
"Okay… I get why the characters can't swim out of the bubble, but why can't they cast a spell on themselves to get free?" the mime asked, as she quickly cast Matra Magic on the monster and Mira cast Cure on Cloud.
"Riley! Focus!" the songstress hissed and cast thunder at the monster again, only to miss when it rolls into the air.
"Oh right, we better save that girl! She's too young to be drowned to death!" the mime yelps and cast more spells at it. However, unlike in the game where the monster stays put, this one is flying around and avoiding it. Even Cloud's Long Ranged sword attack keeps missing and every time Mira sings, it attacks her immediately to stop. At some point, both girls tried rescuing the girl underwater, only to be flung back to the beach by the monster's tail.
"Dang it! Float still!" the songstress swore as her spells kept missing and she nearly hit Riley with the Blizzard spell.
"Watch it!" the mime screeches at her as she waves the empty bottle of Ether she just drank.
"Sorry!" as Cloud attempts to strike it down again. 'How the heck can we rescue the girl?'
"Forgetting something…?"
"Uh?" She looks around and finds no one. 'Strange… is it Minerva again?' she thought. Then all of a sudden… her mind is replaying a memory… a memory where she first called a griffon from a mix of thunder spells. But a closer look… she sees a circular flash beneath her… the Tri-Thundaga materia, have untangled itself and then goes to the gathered spell with the natural materia's aid… and takes the form of the said Griffon.
And then she is hit by a wave of water and immediately snaps back to reality. "Ow. Crud." She winces, on hitting the beach wall. The Ex-SOLDIER stabbed his blade on the sand to hold on and Riley manages to find a rock to grab on.
"Mira! Are you okay?" Cloud calls out as he distracts the monster and Riley once more attempts to get the little girl out. Unfortunately, she is notice and promptly whacks her away.
"I'm good!" she calls back and gets up, arms her keytar again. 'Why of all times I have to re-' she then stops her thoughts and realizes something. The memory that played in her mind, showed how she called a Gryphon out of Thunder spells. 'I… I did not summon a Gryphon… I created it out of a materia!'
Immediately, her hand dives into her pockets and pulls out a Shinra manufactured Flare materia. Looking at it, she doubts that she could do that again but with the time running out for the drowning girl, she has to try. 'That memory did not replay in my mind without a reason.' she thought.
She then quickly releases the Flare materia, transforming it back into it's spiritual form… but it remained that way. 'What?' she thought, as the Lifestream continues to twirl around her. 'Shit…! I don't know how to-' Her thought is then cut by another replay of the memory of the gryphon again… This time, she now remembers the circle. 'Wait, that circle… isn't that what I drew for a summon fan art?' she thought.
"Don't go forgetting, kay?"
She once more looks around for the voice… as she quickly remembers it is the same one she heard during the elevator fight in the Shinra Building. Now knowing that the circle is her own creation, she decides to try again… but this time she mentally mapped and created a new circle on the ground. The Lifestream senses this and dive into the circle, in there it takes the form of a creature the songstress wants. And with a wave of her hand up, a flaming orange dolphin, with a chrome armor with red gems on the head, fins and tail, jumps out of the circle.
Once more, she can't help to be surprised…
At first, she thought she summoned a Gryphon out of a collection of magic spells.
But now she knows that she did not summon it, she created it out of a materia by releasing it's confined form and giving it a new but living form.
"… I didn't know I can do that…" she mutters as the orange dolphin chirps and swims around her in the air. Then it quickly rushes to the beast and charging at it on full throttle by its side. Both Cloud and Riley stop for a moment, surprise at the new creature that is attacking the monster.
"Um… is that friendly?" Riley asked.
"Yes! Yes, it is!" the songstress shouts as she runs past the two and cast bolt at the monster. "Now can anyone save the little girl before she inhales more water?!"
"I'm on it!" the mime then darts pass the blonde and dives into the water. On spotting her, she immediately grabs her and swims back to the surface. Once breaking through the surface, she quickly swims to the beach and carries the little girl to where the beach wall is. Laying her down on the sand, the mime makes a quick check on the pulse. "It's faint." she mutters and performs a CPR.
As she revives the girl, Mira, Cloud and the orange dolphin continues with the fight. The monster attempts to bite the dolphin, but the aquatic mammal went under and ram on it from below. 'Whoa… does the dolphin know one of Tifa's limit breaks?' the songstress thought, as she remembers one of the bar maid's limit breaks which is named after the dolphin.
Suddenly, she and Cloud got trap in the water bubbles and the blonde is failing to get out by slashing on it. Mira attempts to cast a spell to pop the bubble, but to her surprise the spells kept missing on her or Cloud. As if the water is messing with her aim. But thankfully, the dolphin didn't take long to cast Flare on the two bubble and sets them free.
"Thanks Spitfire!" the songstress calls out to the dolphin and effectively naming it.
"Spitfire?" Cloud asked, as he spits out water.
"It's the dolphin's name." as they quickly focus back into battle, casting bolt on the monster again.
Meanwhile, Riley is performing CPR on the little girl and by the 4th round, she got the little girl breathing again. As she coughs out water, the mime heard the monsters final roar and turns to see it falling into the water. But due to the height, it causes another wave like what it did to them before.
'Crap…' Riley thought, as she once more carries the girl and makes a beeline for the stairs.
"This is bad." Mira mutters, although she did see Riley carried the girl away for safety, she does not think that she can Cloud can get away in time. The then dolphin darts to them and cover them with it's body as the wall of water hits. The blonde manages to stab his blade on the sand and holds on, while Mira holds on the dolphin.
Then she hears something cracks…
Once it is over, suddenly the dolphin drops on the sand and is flailing due to the lack of water. The songstress wonders why it couldn't fly anymore and notices something… the red gems have cracked and crumbling off the armor. Thinking that the gems are the reason why the dolphin is able to fly, she quickly helps it by dragging it back into the sea. Once it is in the water, the dolphins chirps and swims around her before it swims into the sea.
"I hope you find a pod you'll fit in!" the songstress shouts at the dolphin, as she get out of the water and the blonde sheathes his blade. "You okay?" she asked.
"Yeah… I'm good." Cloud replied as he breathes in air and wrings out the water from his shirt.
Riley sighs in relief as both of them are safe, then a man arrives, fretting over and carried Priscilla back to their house. The mime snorts a 'You're welcome' at the man, since she was nearly knocked over as he takes her away. As both Mira and Cloud walk to her, an elderly woman approaches them.
"Excuse me, but are you the people who saved that little girl?" She asked.
"Yeah… that would be us." the mime replied, then motions them to follow her. The three look at one another and decided to comply and follow the elder. They then stop in front of a house, which is the very house they first saw on their arrival.
"Come, I heard what happened. You've done so much for Priscilla. You all must be tired. If you want to get some rest, stay here." as she shows them a room full of beds, but they are bunk beds which surprises the girls. Then the elder turns and heads out of the house. "Make yourselves at home." she then shuts the door gently.
Looking around for a moment, then Riley collapse on one to the beds "I'm beat…" she groans, she is starting to feel dizzy from casting spells at the thing.
"… I guess we'll be staying here." the blonde said.
The songstress immediately goes out to find a bathroom, and once more, the house is not exactly right on the dot like in the game. While their room got 4 bunk beds, there is a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom and a laundry area which the ravenette cheers once more. After she gets herself clean and dumps her clothes to be washed again, she drags the blonde on getting a bath. She knows that salt has no negative effect on skin, but if it's not wash away it will make the skin feel slimy and unclean.
Meanwhile, the mime gets up on hearing the knock on the door. She opens the door only to be tackled down by a hyper ninja.
"Ow… Yuffie, get off." she whined.
"My goodness, Riley, are you okay?" Aerith asked, as Kunsel helps the mime get Yuffie off.
"I'm dizzy from casting too much spells…" the mime groans as she sits up and rubs her head. As Yuffie hops around the room, the flower girl helps her up and ask her about the rumor about her, Mira and Cloud saving a little girl.
As Kunsel closes the door, he spots something odd on the floor and he picks it up.
It did not take long for the last group to arrive and they too are tired out on fighting a seemingly endless grass monsters and a cactus-like bat.
Because of that, they decided to find the black cloak man tomorrow.
:::^*^:::
That night, both girls decided to talk and quietly sneaks out to the beach. On arriving there, Riley can't help to do a cart wheel and then strikes a pose. "Yes! That's a small step for two Earthling girls, and a giant leap for our goal!" the mime cheers, before she is shushed by her best friend. "But seriously, that was awesome. You summoned out another creature again!"
"I did not summon it." the songstress replied, she then explains that she can somehow recycle materias and is able to give it new forms.
"Seriously?" the mime looks at her, who nodded back in response. "Man, you got yourself a cool power!"
"And I'm still a bit clueless on why I have it."
"Meh… seriously, you got something cool, while I got something really gross?"
"Riley…" she rubs her forehead at her.
"Psssh, right, whatever. Anyway, tomorrow, I'm going with Cloud."
"Wait, you're going with Cloud tomorrow?"
"Yeah, since Kun-kun backs out because of the high voltage tower." the mime noted and remembers how she asked the Ex-Second on getting up the city and base thru there. "Besides, after the march, I'm going to buy more stronger equipments for the gang."
"Are you sure, I mean, you might end up disguising yourself as a trooper and marching with the band."
"Yup, it will be like the ol' C.A.T. back in high school." which it puts a scowl on the songstress face. "… You still hate that class, do you?"
"Ya think?" she snaps back at her. Apparently, in their country in their world, Citizen Army Training or C.A.T., is one class she despised the most back in their 4th year high school. She cannot be excused or exempt from it, since she does not have any health problems. She remembers the sun making them sweat like pigs as they march around, the punishments when one causes trouble in class they all get punish and the fact that the commanding officer tend to yell right on the face.
"That least be thankful that I pulled some strings to help you pass that class." and the songstress can't help to agree with her. Riley was a Captain in the C.A.T., she makes thing bearable for her platoon unlike the others back then. "Anyway, I counted the gils… it's almost 20000 by the way, and it is enough to buy better weapons and a few more items for the party aside from Cloud and Kunsel."
"That's good but almost 20? I kinda expect it to almost reach fifteen."
"Well, Barret's party did encounter an almost endless wave of grass monsters."
"Wow, that must've been annoying."
"True…"
Then there is silence…
"I wonder… after this, will we be able to go back to Earth?" Riley asked.
"I don't know, but one thing I know is… as long as we're together we can get thru this."
"Right." the two then sat on the base of the step and watches silently as the waves come in and go… but the silence is broken by the songstress, when she yelps and shoos a behemoth ghost. And the mime couldn't help to laugh at that.
Meanwhile… at the house.
A tiny light lit under the bed and a moment later it vanishes.
Silver: Side note - Yes, C.A.T. or Citizen Army Training is a compulsory class here... and I hate that class. This chapter is more confusing and more lose control than the last time. Not to mention on how many I have to retype to make some scenes shorter. And yes! As Mira is still unknown on where she got her powers, Riley got her miming abilities from… Jenova! And yes, Sephiroth called her mama… uh oh, sorry Riley. Still, this chapter is a mess in my opinion and again not my best. READ AND REVIEW ARE MY COFFEE AND PBJ SANDWHICH!