Start Date: September 22, 2023

Windwillow

Final Fantasy VII

Meteorfall, five years later. We fought with everything we had in us, and in the end we won. But it wasn't our victory... it was hers. For a number of weeks we traveled together. And in all of that time she tormented me to no end. The clincher was when she hogtied me to my friend's back and forced me to ride on him over a deadly swamp with a venomous serpent monster chasing after me. But for all the havoc she wreaked, when I watched her die I realized something: regret is all that's left after death, except perhaps for the memories of more joyous times. It's been said before and I'll say it again: we fought the battle, and she won the war.

It's been five years since then, two years since the war with Deepground. We've all recovered quite well since then. Reeve's organization is thriving, and with the development of oil we've finally replaced Mako more or less completely. Everyone has returned to their own individual lives, hopefully never to be bothered again by the hell we went through. Vincent has decided to return to the Shinra Mansion in Nibelheim, and Cid is still working with Henschel in the Gongaga region. Barret's got Marlene, and Yuffie has her new casino in Wutai, but I haven't seen them in over a year. I often wonder whether they've finally dropped the facade and just tied the knot, but I doubt they'll ever admit it to themselves, let alone each other.

My life has been developing well. In the five years since Meteorfall we've rebuilt Cosmo Canyon into the leading scientific and academic hotspot on the Planet. Doctors, researchers, mathematicians - all manner of professionals gather here now to research the Study of Planet Life, which has flourished in ways that Grandpa would have loved to see. I've taken over as elder of the community, and am in effect its governor. There's a whole new generation that will inherit the world... and I have my eye on one in particular.

She was a young girl, merely seventeen. Meteorfall had been the turning point of her childhood, though for her first twelve years she lived as a citizen of Shinra Inc. In the half decade since she'd been taught the meaning of the world's essence, and now her teacher was a four-legged beast that had assumed the position of the elder of Cosmo Canyon. Her black hair was worn short, and her keen green eyes saw through the veil of her childhood and into the future of the Planet, with her master Nanaki as her tutor. She typically wore a plain set of slacks and a t-shirt, a leather vest, and a pair of running shoes. Her cellphone, the newest model that she always kept strapped to her belt, had access to all the information she'd ever need from the WRO online database and the connection to the Worldwide Network, and she intended to make full use of that knowledge to forge ahead with her own shining future.

Outgoing and charming, you'd think that Hana had a large group of friends. Instead she had only one: Blair Galloway. He was the only one who could put up with her... eccentricity... of being volatile in ways that only she could be. Although she was hard working, honest, and generally kind, when angered she quickly changed into a different person. Possessing a Seal materia, she frequently locked up the arms and legs of the people who had crossed her, and so had only the one friend who would put up with her tantrums. To her friend she was a true companion, but to her enemies she was a sometimes petulant, impulsive adolescent with a hair trigger and a "sorry, not sorry" attitude about it.

She'd been twelve when Meteorfall hit the world. Many of the creature comforts she'd come to enjoy, such as video games, vanished in the aftermath of Sephiroth's cunning plan. She didn't take it well, either; she crushed her now-useless gaming system with a single, crushing kick. Now, however, with the WRO revitalizing Gaian civilization, Hana has re-embraced the new technologies that have been developed. She is never far away from her cellphone, and has taken to playing the newest generation of video games with fervor, to her detriment in some cases.

Hana had now become interested in role-playing games like Last Dreamer and Time Switcher, and often based her interactions with others on those games. At times she referred to changing grades as leveling-up and her creature comforts as Easter Eggs, while at others she's called her professors "big, nasty bosses that you need a big ass hammer to take care of." This has led to her distinct lack of close friends. She's still quite popular and charming, and has plenty of admirers, but her only close friend is the one who doesn't mind being assaulted by her when she gets angry.

One of her prized possessions was her materia bracelet, which she'd bought the day she turned fifteen and contained two materia: Bolt and Seal. With her Bolt materia she sometimes checked into the Cosmo Canyon shooting range to target shoot, but it was her Seal materia that she got the most use out of. The Seal materia allows the user to lock, seal, and tie up anything they like. While this was often used as safety measures for several households and for serious surgeries, Hana used it to bind anyone who crossed her seriously. Even though she'd had it confiscated several times in high school, when she graduated at the top of her class she'd taken it and worn it proudly ever since.

And, incidentally, she wasn't exactly... normal.

Another Calamity: The Andromeda War

Part One: The First Days

Chapter One: Hanako Chiba

"Welcome to the Study of Planet Life. I am your instructor... Call me Nanaki," said Red XIII.

Red XIII had fought through multiple continents and across countless battlefields. Now, as elder of Cosmo Canyon he had forsaken his more rugged, basic attire for a more elegant attire. Instead of simply being a bare skinned red beast, he now wore clean, well-maintained robes that he'd inscribed with several of Bugenhagen's teachings. Many of his grandfather's most archaic and arcane symbology had been emblazoned on the back, sleeves, and coat tails of the robes. On the underside of the outfit, close to his heart, Red XIII had etched Bugenhagen's name in ancient language so that he'd always have his grandpa's spirit right by his side at all times.

"There is an idea known as the Gaia Hypothesis, which posits that the Planet we live on is its own sentient entity. Its mountains are bones and its oceans are blood, while its circulatory system is known as the Lifestream. When a living being dies and begins to decay, while its physical remains return to the soil, its spiritual remnants - its soul - rejoins the belt of souls encircling the world we live on. Its memories and emotions enrich the entity as a whole, and through great contemplation new life - fresh, full of potential - is created."

Now housed in a single room as a museum exhibit, Bugenhagen's apparatus had been dismantled and reassembled as its own separate body where any number of people could watch its teachings. Its Spiral Spheres had been harvested and researched, and after much study they were able to show its lessons on a more flat plane, where dozens of people could watch Bugenhagen's theories. There were a number of visitors that day, though two stuck out from the crowd. One of them was Hana Chiba, the other a handsome young man at her side.

Standing at around medium height, he had glasses and black hair with purple highlights. He wore a simple red shirt with black pants and matching boots, and always wore the denim jacket that she'd bought for him last year. Unlike Hana he was a bit more of a loner, and hadn't made many friends except for her. In fact they were quite the odd couple. Most of the time Hana would do the talking, though when he said something offensive she'd lock Blair's arms or legs up and give him a good tongue lashing. He seemed to take it in stride, though, and he was very quiet and calm even when he was being locked up by his best and only friend.

He was quiet and quite affable, and was well liked by many of his classmates. Unlike his best friend he still attended high school, and had both ground rules and a strict curfew that his parents enforced religiously. Even if he wasn't as shrewd as his best friend, he was quite intelligent and consistently scored high marks on everything but athletics. It wasn't necessarily that he was a bookworm, but he just simply wasn't very physically strong or sturdy. Still, he was solid enough that he could easily shrug off Hana's tantrums when they came. To some people it was strange that he endured as much as he did from her, but Blair had nothing but admiration for Hana and aspired to one day be just as intelligent and worldly as she claimed herself to be.

Far more adept with intellectual pursuits than he was with physical ones, Blair one day aspired to become a doctor and help make people's lives better. He possessed both a Cure and Heal materia and contained them in a pouch on his belt. As an aspiring physician he'd been taking several classes on anatomy and medicine, and had taken a great interest in incorporating his materia into his dreams. One such use, of course, was to mend the injuries that his friend somewhat childishly inflicted on him. By the age of seventeen, and after having known her for years, Blair had become adept at breaking sealing spells and mending the wounds he received when he inevitably stumbled and fell.

"This cycle of souls, however, has been disrupted over the span of several decades. Shinra Inc., formerly the primary benefactor and controller of all the world's affairs, had devised a way to condense and extract the Lifestream in the form of an electric fuel source they called Mako. Over the span of over three decades they sapped the life's blood from the Planet and made a hefty profit in doing so. Finally, nine individuals stepped up and put an end to their tyranny, only eight of which remain today. In the five years since we've moved on from Mako and developed new fuels sources that allow us to live side by side with the Planet..." Red XIII continued.

"Yeah... With whatever scraps those goons left over," Hana growled. Red XIII turned to his right and watched as his chief pupil and assistant took over the controls. She input a series of commands, causing a 3-D image of the Planet to form. The hologram broke the globe open and revealed only a slim belt of light beneath the world's crust. "Estimates are that we have thirty percent of the Lifestream left... to cover all life on the entire Planet from here till the end of time," she said pointedly. After a few moments of contemplation she flicked another switch and the globe came back together, sealing it shut tightly.

"Yes... But thirty percent is better than zero," Red XIII retorted. Although Hana still seemed to take offense, Red XIII sighed and sat on his seat, curling his tail over his paws. He shut his eyes tight in contemplation, all of his memories returning to five years prior, and a smile quietly crossed his face. The only reason they had that thirty percent was because she'd saved them all. "Remember her name: Aerith Gainsborough. Whatever else you take away from this, take that name and remember that she was the instrument of our salvation," he said softly, soft because of the weight of his own emotions. It was still painful to speak of. "Those who wish to know more may return here next Saturday for another lesson. Until then, I ask that you live your lives to the fullest and remember the sacrifices that have been made for this very moment to exist. Every single grain of sand in the hourglass is priceless. Do not waste even a single second if you wish to cherish the blessings you have been given."

Scene Two

Junon, capital of the World Regenesis Organization, was one of the most populous and active cities on the face of the Planet. Countless shops, schools, and scientific establishments were centered around the WRO's home base. Most of the organization's hierarchy could be found at the former Shinra facilities in Junon, with several of them being based in President Rufus' old mansion. A number of former AVALANCHE members had offices here besides Reeve: Yuffie's espionage department and Cid's air force division's central authority. But because those two had their own lives away from Junon, most of the time their offices remained vacant.

The same couldn't be said for Reeve Tuesti, the doggedly working head of the World Regenesis Organization. He more than had his hands full running essentially the entire world's infrastructure. Although several parliaments and congresses legislated for the Planet, it was his job in the end to pull everything together into a single unified plan. As chief executive more than anyone else his opinion mattered. It wasn't the kind of responsibility he relished to say the least. For the last two years he'd been hard at work rebuilding off of the damage done by the war with Deepground, and in the last six months he'd had to deal with the biggest headache he'd faced other than Deepground.

They called themselves POISON. Seemingly a breakaway terrorist organization, only a few people in power knew that they were in truth a handful of disgruntled scientists. They'd formerly been employed by the World Regenesis Organization, but before that had been students of Professor Hojo. After emigrating to Junon following Meteorfall they were put to work rebuilding Shinra's scientific infrastructure and for the first four years of it they'd done so well enough. It had been these four scientists that had helped rework the Worldwild Network into a functioning internet that linked together all four corners of the globe.

It had begun, however, about a year after Deepground's assault. Their chief scientist, a former protege of Hojo, had applied for a number of less than ethical projects that Reeve sternly disapproved of. He had begun to push for a new genetic initiative, designed to evolve the human race into its next stage of Homo Sapiens. As more and more doors closed, however, he'd become more and more disgruntled until he finally broke away with his three most talented assistants and formed POISON in an attempt to forcibly evolve the world.

How he intended to do that was uncertain at first. When he began to abduct and experiment on civilians, however, it became clear that he was devoted to genetically manipulating humanity into some sort of being that he believed would be the future of Gaia. Reeve had hushed up the true intentions of this group to avoid widespread panic, as well as the level of distrust it would stir up in the people had they known that these terrorists were once legitimately employed by the WRO. Six months in they were deemed a terrorist organization, bounties placed on their heads, and all the details disappeared into a sea of printer's ink.

Reeve's intelligence division hadn't discerned any members other than the four founding scientists, though when the abductions began reports streamed in that there was a small army of grunts doing the organization's dirty work. Some members of the WRO believed that they'd begun a grassroots movement to achieve their goal, but Reeve knew that was an optimistic assumption. These were scientists, not politicians. When stripped of their authority and resources, all they would have left to draw on for manpower would be whatever freaks they could manufacture for themselves.

In his office at the World Regenesis Organization's headquarters, Reeve carefully pored over the information that Yuffie's department had been assembling for his review. Nothing she'd found had given any indication of where the ringleaders were or what they were doing, unfortunately. All that she'd given Reeve to work with was a list of citizens abducted, from where they were abducted, and in what numbers. He knew that this could only go on for so long before POISON made a move, though he had no idea what their endgame would look like. There were reports of incidents, however, that shifted their apparent goals from scientific to outright terrorism.

"We've lost contact with three villages, one on the eastern continent and two on the west..." Reeve muttered to himself. The more he looked over the reports, however, the grimmer the situation seemed to become. It wasn't just that they'd lost contact with the villages. Any and all traces of civilization, from radio chatter to carbon emissions, had completely and utterly ceased. With the WRO's satellite network in its infancy they couldn't scan the affected locales directly, so they had to send out search parties to gather their information. None of them had ever checked in, or returned, since they were first dispatched.

Three villages, hundreds of people, had fallen off the face of the globe without even the faintest trace of where they might have gone. No information to go on, no scouts available to even give an honest search attempt, everything had begun to narrow down from a bad scenario to the worst-case scenario from hell. Reeve was well aware of the organization's capabilities, but as time passed he began to wonder whether they were a problem of an entirely different magnitude than he'd ever anticipated.

"Ever since that meteor fell six months ago..." Reeve said shakily, "every single convoy we've sent to investigate has been obliterated. What makes me so uncertain, however..." He sighed, unwilling to entertain the idea that he'd been considering. One of the projects that the ringleaders had been involved in was the Jenova Project, where an unnatural force struck the Planet on a comet and began to infect the entire world. The head scientist who had formed POISON had even had disagreements with Hojo as to how zealously to pursue Jenova's potential. "Can I really bring myself to entertain the idea," he said as he buried his head in his hands, "that another Jenova's already come here?"

Scene Three

"None of them appreciate it," muttered Hana bitterly. "We fought the big boss battle, had the epic ending, and when the scene cut everyone stopped caring and went back to their own petty little lives..." she snarled. Red XIII quietly approached his student and brushed up against her leg, his warm fur heating the young lass's slacks. She'd heard it before, and... She understood. For the longest time she hadn't appreciated it either. It hadn't been until the last six months, when she started interning for Red XIII, that it finally hit home what the world had gone through, what she'd taken for granted for all her life.

"And does it bother you that they did, or is it that you felt the same way for most of the last five years?" asked Red XIII sagely. Hana knew the speech well: "Before you judge others, judge yourself first. By looking into the mirror of your own soul first, then you can talk with your brothers on an equal footing." And she was still sore that she heard it as often as she did. "We've gone through this before... and we've always ended it here. Brooding and hatred won't bring you the answers you're looking for."

"Yeah... This happens every weekend, Hana. All you're doing is spinning your wheels," Blair said sternly. This ended up being another mistake. Hana snapped her fingers and her friend's hands became locked behind his back, his legs were locked together, and his mouth snapped shut. He was totally accustomed to it by now, so when she released the spell all Blair did was sigh and reach for a water bottle.

"Oh, hush!" Hana scolded as she stuck out her tongue.

"I'd appreciate it if you stopped doing that..." moaned Red XIII. "If it wasn't Blair you might end up getting a nice whack square on the noggin. Other people very rarely appreciate being assaulted... I know that for a fact. I've had friends before that treated me as such... and it's only because they're my friends that I've let it slide," he said softly. He brushed past Hana and walked onto his office bed, the one he used to officiate Cosmo Canyon's affairs. "I want you to tell me why you're being so bitter. It isn't like you."

"'Cause!" she snapped. After a bit of thought, she retreated and took a drink from her own water bottle. "You keep talking about not judging others... but I haven't seen you do anything but judge. I don't want to know what you think all the time, I want to hear more about you," Hana sighed. As Red XIII's ears pricked up, Hana set her drink down and turned towards Blair. "Blair and me have been together for three years, ever since we both came here for school. I already know about him, and I know about me... But I don't know jack squat about your life."

"So... You want to know about me? What about me?" Red XIII asked wryly.

"You... Hmph," Hana growled. She didn't quite know how to phrase it. For the last six months of her life she'd listened to Red XIII, but he'd never talked about the people he fought with. She'd heard the names before dozens of times from history class, but the idea that no one talked about them as people irritated her. "Who are they... your friends?" she asked quietly, almost silently. Gathering her courage, she stared deep into Red XIII's eyes and grimaced at him. "I want to hear all this stuff from them."

"Oh-ho? So you're curious to hear my old war stories?" chuckled Red XIII. When he saw Hana's frustration he silently shook his head and laid down. He knew what she meant: who were the people he'd fought with, really? It had been years since he'd seen them. If he wanted to preach to her, she had the right to know the other half of the story from the people who had been there and done it all. He thought for a few moments, then lifted himself to his feet and motioned towards the phone.

"Eh? What about the phone? Who am I supposed to call?" asked Hana dumbly.

"There are seven of us you've never met," shrugged Red XIII. When Hana realized what he was saying her eyes went wide and she wiped the sweat from her excited brow. Red XIII quietly bowed his head for a moment, shut his eyes, and slowly opened them again. "I've been meaning to talk to her for quite some time... The number is 724-632. Ask her if she can borrow some time to come visit from Wutai."

Scene Four

"I've waited for over two damn years for this!" Yuffie roared. She stomped into Red XIII's office blazing mad, dressed as she had been during the Deepground War. She hadn't changed her outfit in over three years and found no good reason to spend thousands of Gil shopping at some two-bit clothing store in Edge that was certainly going to overcharge her. "You certainly don't have a whole lot of manners, having some random chick call me out of the blue and tell me to come see your sorry ass! What's so wrong about writing? Or an e-mail?! I mean, sure, you don't have fingers, but someone has to be able to type for you!" she hissed. Yuffie turned her attention to Hana and a gruff frown crossed her face. "Who's this little punk?" snarled Yuffie, to Hana's amazement. She certainly hadn't expected to see a war hero act this... this much like she could sometimes.

"This is my student, Hana Chiba," explained Red XIII smilingly. Although Hana was surprised to find Yuffie now openly hostile, Red XIII seemed unaffected by the fact that she was about to pitch another fit. He'd seen her in action for years, heard her curse people out and inevitably yowl that she was underappreciated, so this was precisely what he expected to see when they met again. Even if he didn't know the particular words she'd be using to cuss at him, he had an expectation that it would be childish, petulant, and unsophisticated. Same as everything she'd said to him for the last half decade.

"You have a student?! What about me?! I want a student too! Why don't I have someone to pass down my priceless, precious, very important information down to?!" yelped Yuffie. After a few brief moments Yuffie swiftly realized that she was making an awful scene, and hastened to cover her tracks to act as if she was more mature than she actually was. "I was just acting, dammit! For my next show at the Lucky Leviathan!" she snapped. Seeing that neither of them believed her, the kunoichi gruffly snatched up a chair and plopped down in it with a huff. "I am so underappreciated! Gawd!" Yuffie yowled. Hana stared at the scene in mute horror, though Red XIII seemed completely unfazed and continued on as he normally would.

"Why didn't you come sooner? I've been writing you for the last four months..." Red XIII muttered.

"I was too busy, jackass!" Yuffie retorted.

"Oh, I know exactly how busy you've been gambling... and losing. You never even read the note, admit it," said Red XIII flatly.

"Y-You son of a..." rasped Yuffie indignantly, her entire body quaking from sheer rage. No matter how much she fumed, however, he was right: between the slots and the blackjack table she'd racked up a considerable debt to her own casino. "I owe the old fart over a hundred thousand and it pisses me off! Royally! Gawd!" Yuffie shouted angrily. She gloomily hung her head and muttered a few nasty words, though when she saw Hana staring back at her she angrily flipped her off and glared at her. "And what are you looking at, huh?!" she snarled.

"Oh, sweet Christmas... You're even worse than I expected..." groaned Red XIII, frustrated. He hadn't seen Yuffie in two years... but this was a bit much, even for her. "But that isn't why I called you here," he said smilingly. He whistled sharply, the piercing cry puncturing his visitors' eardrums with a shrill screech. Hoshi quickly entered the room carrying a small wooden box. The box was ornately carved, with inlays of gold and silver all across the wood. He turned to Hoshi and nodded, and the vice-elder slowly opened up the box to reveal a single, crimson materia embedded inside.

"You... You..." Yuffie croaked.

"I've done some research, and..." began Red XIII with a sinister smile on his face, "I have good reason to believe that this materia belongs to Leviathan," he said piercingly. Yuffie's face immediately dropped to her knees as she broke out into a cold sweat. There was no way. "Grandpa traveled all around the world when he was younger... One of the places he visited was Wutai, and from his notes he apparently found this materia during a vacation there. I have no certainty of it, but I suspect that he found your nation's treasured protector god: Leviathan. He wrote that it was quite remarkable, so that's my assumption. And you're welcome," Red XIII said smilingly.

"You lousy, no-good, two-timing, furry red son of a bitch!" screeched Yuffie. Both Red XIII and Hana were taken aback and rendered speechless as Yuffie frantically flailed her arms at the elder in anger, with Red XIII narrowly avoiding being hit only by deftly dodging her attacks. Once she contained herself Yuffie gruffly folded her arms over her chest and stuck up her nose at Red XIII. "I mean... Leviathan is the guardian god of Wutai. My dad would be sick to see it in anyone else's hands!" she huffed. A twinkle formed in her eyes, however, as she snatched up the summon materia and deftly clicked it into her materia gauntlet. "But getting to lord it over that lousy old fart makes my day!" Yuffie cackled.

"Y-You... um..." Red XIII stammered, uncertain of how to react.

"Ha! Suck it, old man! I've got Leviathan and you don't!" Yuffie cheered, pumping her fist and tightening her fingers into an ecstatic celebration that Red XIII had never seen his friend enter. As she danced around and rather crudely hooted out her own praise, Yuffie slowly realized that she was making a scene and flipped off both Red XIII and Hana with both hands. "The hell're you lookin' at?!" hissed Yuffie. Red XIII's eye twitched briefly before he signaled to Hoshi, who whacked Yuffie over the head and dropped her to the ground. "You dirty son of a..." she rasped, grabbing Hoshi by the collar.

"Remember: I was the one who told him to hit you," deadpanned Red XIII. Yuffie shakily threw Hoshi to the ground and stomped towards her furry red friend, who gruffly spat out a ball of white fire that dropped her back to her seat in terror. As she simmered and slowly recovered, Red XIII testily bared his fangs at her. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't hit me again," he sighed. With a twinkle in his eyes, he flashed a toothy grin. "If you do, I'll take a bite out of your ass again."

"Y-Y-Y-Y-You lousy, dirty, son of a..." Yuffie rasped.

"I'd also appreciate it if you could dial Cid for me," he said plainly.

"And I would do that for what reason after you assaulted me?!" snarled Yuffie furiously.

"We'll need to use the Shera to carry Hana to see the others," Red XIII smiled as he turned his eye to an increasingly ecstatic Hana. Stunned silent but elated, Hana began to quake violently as the words hit: She would get to visit the other members of the legendary AVALANCHE! Her mentor really was going to give her what she'd been praying for! The simple thought of meeting the men and women who'd saved the entire world was almost too much for her to take in!

"And do I get her too?" hissed Yuffie.

"Of course," beamed Red XIII.

"Then why the hell didn't you say it earlier?!" Yuffie yelled excitedly as she snatched up her cellphone and snapped it open. She hadn't had any special visitors at the Lucky Leviathan in years. Besides, the idea of getting to brag to an impressionable young girl, one who might buy her boasts, was too much for her to forego. Her butter fingers fumbled wildly, her digits shaking madly as she paged through her contacts list to get to Cid. She hadn't talked to him since the Deepground incident! She at least hoped he wouldn't smack her again for whatever reason.

"Sir... You just-" Hana rasped.

"Spread your wings, Hana. I expect you to return with a much different view of the world!" Red XIII grinned.

While Hana continued to celebrate and Yuffie frantically attempted to find Cid's number, Red XIII turned his eye to Hoshi and they shared a warm smile. If she'd been asking for it, it was time to give her the time of her life and expand her horizons. He hoped that seeing the world through his friends' eyes would change her views over the world and what remained of it. If she resisted hoping then he intended to force that hope to flourish. As his student, he prayed that she really could spread her wings and fly just as her greatest wish was to do so.

Unless something goes wrong... Maybe sending her with Yuffie really is a bad idea...

Author's Notes

This is a fairly ambitious project for me to tackle, no doubt. It won't be as lengthy as FFVII was, but there should be a lot of content to process. We're talking my own personal new canon here... so expect a lot of nonsense and a slew of potentially disastrous decisions. I've included a series of new characters of my own design and there will be a number of boss battles, including some with more familiar characters from the Final Fantasy series. But that comes later, when the real war breaks out. Until then, enjoy the first days before the Andromeda War ignites.