Soldier Boy
By Shera
Passage 1: AVALANCHE
As a Shinra SOLDIER my life was filled with mostly duties: guard this, guard that, march in this parade, salute like this, and salute like that. It was never much of what I wanted. I never even got time to myself. All I knew was how to fight. All my comrades knew was how to fight, never getting along, we dared ourselves into messes that would usually end up in death or fatal injury. (Though, on some occasions, it was a slap on the cheek from a pretty woman.) Never did I dream of what happened to my "pals" and me though. It was so unexpected.
I was as confused as anybody was else when I heard the number one reactor had been blown up! I heard it was a group that called themselves AVALANCHE. But what do I know...
My heart pounded and my feet hit the pavement. I clutched my gun under my arm and kept my hat on my head.
"There's one!" my partner spied the punk who was suspected to be in the group. We stopped in front of him ready to fire. We have him now! As we surrounded the kid I noted a glitter in his eye.a sign of mischief. His blond hair bounced as he lifted of his feet to the clattering train passing underneath us. Damn! Our commander's gonna be mad!
.
Passage 2: Reno
Reno, part of the Turks, stood outside a small church in the sector 5 slums. "You wait here until my cue," he said and walked slowly inside. We were looking for Aeris, an ancient.
The other two with me got bored after a few seconds and started joking around. They were such kids! I hope they knew they could get downgraded for this if they were caught. I peeked inside the door and saw Reno striding forward. I was bored, I didn't know what his cue was so I called the attention of the others and followed them into the church. Reno said something, but I didn't hear, actually I wasn't listening until Aeris left with some other guy.
"They were Mako eyes," Reno stared off at the departing two. "Yeah, all right. Back to work, back to work." Reno calmly progressed forward, trampling over the flowerbed placed there by the Ancient, "Oh!" he squeaked. A quick and clumsy turn and run back disturbed this sequence, "And don't step on the flowers.."
We finally realized what he had done and all exclaimed different returns at once. Mine included, "You're gonna catch holy hell!" Followed by a chase into the back.
"There they are, over there!" Reno pointed a finger at the running couple.
That kid.I know him from somewhere. The girl muttered something as they climb up the staircase. Blondie reacted to her talkative attitude and jumped across a giant hole in the catwalk. She got ready to jump.
"The Ancient is getting away! Attack! Attack!" Reno shouted before I could realize that the kid was the one who escaped onto the train the other day.
We started attacking, shooting with our firearms she fell down a tube that had fallen to break to hole in the catwalk.
Reno stood back, "Think we killed 'em? They shouldn't have put up a fight, I say!"
A help signal escaped the girl's mouth as we spread out to trap her. The kid tells her to escape one of my companions. He ran his way up the next flight of stairs. She came toward me as Blondie told her to attack me.she kicked my ass.a sad day for me. I didn't hear anything after that I just knew we didn't catch her. Why do we always have to lose! I'm not the bad guy!
.
Passage 3: Wall Market
Man, the way this is going I'm going to be broke in a week! The Wall Market stood in front of me. As I paced forward I took a sharp U-turn and into the entrance of the Honey Bee Inn. I stood in front of it. Too bad I couldn't spend my time in there. My nerves distorted me, what was I doing? Just then someone walked up to me. I don't know why, but I blurted out, "Urrrrgh.no way..I can't go on. Thing's aren't working out. Between our differences and my pay it just isn't cutting it." I was having a nervous break down and I knew it. They're presence disappeared from my senses, though, I still went on suffering.
A little while later I had calmed down when a girl entered the picture. My eyes fell upon her pink dress, Oh, NO! It was Aeris. I tucked my hat low on my head; maybe she won't notice me and beat the pulp out of me again. But, God, she was pretty.where's the stupid kid with her? .Pervert anyway, probably went inside. She started selling flowers. Wow, she was amazing. I smiled despite my leaning composure. Then suddenly got jealous of the men that actually had nerves to go up to a pretty girl. My feelings turned to Jell-O and I started to complain again that in the presence of someone I knew all too well, that stupid blond kid. "Uuuuuuh! I want flowers too! But, I get so nervous in front of cute girls.It just seems natural to get cautious." I trailed off noticing again who I was talking to, but my nerves were too shot to stop him from getting away with Aeris. Sure, she could beat me, but that was a guy, a stronger guy.
.
Passage 4: Rufus
Being mostly upper class, I got to hear all the junk that came down from the Shinra dorks above me. My junction then was the Shinra Building. My eyes twitched from side to side surveying the area - to you this place might sound important, but it's not. It's only the gift shop. A disturbance caught the attention of my hidden ears under my bright blue cap. Gunshots! Who the hell would be shooting in here!? I jerked forward and flew out the double doors to see a group of three people. A blond kid, woman, and hefty man with a gun on his right arm!
"Hey you!!" I called my voice hoarse from being quiet and standing at attention.
Their heads jerked to the side. Hey! It's that kid who got away from the others and me! Well he's not getting away this time! The kid brought out his sword. The broad tip beard down on me. I hesitated; maybe I could just run and forget it. One little person like me couldn't hurt them! No! I couldn't abandon my post; I had to die fighting! And for some reason that didn't sound good. I slowly backed away.
"Hey, unicorn boy!!" A voice called from behind me, "Get out before you get yourself hurt."
I turned to find my comrades from the upper level. They must have been sent here to help. They were more experienced, with better weapons and all. But, they weren't all so good in attitude.
"Unicorn Boy's" eyes shifted to the three behind me. They glittered of a sparkling pond. The deep blue almost matched my outfit.
Before I knew it the six were strung into battle and in no time the soldiers lay twitching on the floor as the other three got away.
Soon our commander waddled his way down the circular staircase, "Who did this!?" He demanded. "Why didn't you help!?"
"I-I," I stuttered, "I just got here!" I spat out finally. What a lie, they couldn't blame me for anything.
"Whatever, get back to your post, let no one pass without authorization." With that he waddled his way back up the stairs.
How can I authorize people when I stand in the back of a gift shop? Oh, yeah, I say "Hey you! Get back here in the corner for authorization." And then all those Shinra buttheads are going to say is: "Screw you!"
I stood there for a while; no more difficulties went on until I had heard that the president had just been killed.
"What?" I demanded an answer from the store clerk who was just hanging up her desk side phone; "Did I hear that right?"
"I'm sure you did," she answered. "The president has been killed. We are not to let this news out of the building. Myself, I think it was those ruffians."
"Mm," walking back to my post I thought about why they would want to kill the president. Well, I could think of tons of reasons. But most of all it was human nature to destroy a monarchy.
Waiting, thinking, and standing there being bored is what I did listening to the gossipy chitchat of the teenage store clerks.
The phone rang beside the desktop. One clerk picked up the ringing nuisance. " 'ellow .wha? Yes. Yes, right away." Hastily she put the phone on the ringer and whirled around to meet my spying gaze. "You must hurry to the top floor! They caught the troublemakers. They need backup."
I paced out the door.
"Oh! And don't forget-" she was cut off by the slamming of the door. I didn't care as long as I lived.
I pushed my key card in the elevator slot. Impatiently I stood there and I finally figured to take the stairs.the elevator never took this long.why? I wheezed as I reached the specific floor. My hands cupped my knees and I bent over to catch my breath. Then was when I saw it; a trial of blood, as wide as the hallway. Painted on the floor in an intricate design indicating something must have been dragged along.
The clicking of shoes caught my attention and I look down the hall in front of me. Damn! The blond kid hastily pushed his way forward from the jail cells and into Hojo's laboratory. Following him was that one girl from earlier (oddly it wasn't Aeris) and what seemed to be a red mountain cat. His eyes never fell upon me and I followed him silently up an elevator that led to another part of the lab. The three ran on demolishing any monster in their way.
Reassuring one of my fellow SOLDIERS I quickly hurried to catch up. The group led me straight to the president's chambers. I shot back in surprise when I saw old man Shinra with a sword in his back. Almost falling back down the stairs I crouched in the shadows, hiding from the two other figures that came tromping up. I listened and waited. I learned of what the Shinra were doing to the planet and about a guy named Sephiroth who they were a little confused on the subject. I thought for a while when they were talking and my eyes looked up to fall upon a head coming from one of the pillars in the room.
"Palmer!" One of them exclaimed.
The fat man pleaded for them not to kill him and spilled his guts on the Sephiroth guy. He danced out of their grasp, as helicopter blades loomed closer to the outside window. The party of five quickly joined him outside.
I ducked low and ran across the room. Pressing my nose against the glass I saw another blond kid hop out of the helicopter as it hovered above him. His hair was flat to his head and his suit was white except for black gloves and turtleneck peeking from the costume. For me he put on a quiet show. I couldn't hear his jabbering through the glass, but four of the member's decided to leave the two blonds. I got curious and brushed out the door and there I hid in the shadows as the two were thrust into battle. Jeez, he's gonna kill him too! Miraculously he didn't kill him. But the man in white grabbed a hold of the helicopter's landing gear and took off. The other seemed to remember something and sped off running.
From that day I found I had witnessed the new president coming to take Old Man Shinra's place. That was Rufus, his son. Why hadn't it known before!
.
Passage 5: Todd
I jammed my hat onto my head as I ran out the door of my crummy dorm. Everybody was piling in trucks to go to Junon. We had to welcome the new president Rufus.
"Hey you!"
I turned my head to the side to find a beckoning soldier.
"We need one more person and our vehicle will be filled. Not to mention we want to get out of here!" He said.
I shrugged and walk over. Quickly boosting myself into the truck I sat down beside some snoring idiot.
The guy who called me walked up to the front of the bed of the truck and hopped inside the window to sit in the passenger seat. "Let's go."
Something touched my shoulder and I looked over disgustingly to find the guy was leaning on me! "Hey Man!" I screeched as I flew my arm up in the air to throw him off my appendage. He landed with a thud as the vehicle started. He was just an annoyance because by coincidence he had landed his head in the commander's foot.
The commander looked down obviously in sheltered anger as the soldier opened his eyes to meet the gaze of his chief officer. He smiled sweetly and quickly got off his behind to sit in the corner.
I twisted around to face the guy. "Didn't get enough sleep?"
"Yeah." He answered.
I was about to open my mouth to say something when our commander said we had to get out and catch chocobos to cross a marsh. So every body piled out. Receiving help from a local chocobo farm we were soon mounted abroad our birdly steeds. Out running a giant snake we all squeezed into a little cave and came out the other side like toothpaste. By the time we all got to Junon we were really pooped, but I made a friend and that's what matters right?
.
Passage 6: Search for Sephiroth
Todd leaned over the side of his bed to touch my shoulder. "Hey!"
It was our first night in Junon and we haven't done very much. "What?" I asked annoyed.
"Did you hear about how Old Man Shinra died!?" He asked.
"Yeah, I did. I heard a rumor Sephiroth did it."
"He did! I saw him roaming around the Shinra building! I knew he looked suspicious."
Now, Todd could tell some crazy stories and I doubt he actually saw Sephiroth himself. That was too great an honor for a woos like him. "No, you didn't. It was probably a coat rack."
"Look, Dude, I know a coat rack when I see one."
"Yeah, Todd, right. Sure you do. Sephiroth would probably have sliced you in half if he saw you lookin' at 'im."
"I'll just let you think that." Todd leaned back on his pillow and said nothing else the rest of the night.
A parade of knocking sounds echoed into the room. I was stiff as I sat up to open my eyes to a dim light filtering in through the window. I turned to see Todd bright and cheery fly open the blinds to only end up diminishing my vision.
"Time to get up buddy. Our friend Sephiroth is on the loose." Todd walked over to the door to let in our commander.
"Get up boys, he's already killed three of our officers," this was serious, I noted. Not only was his face pale, but that beads of sweat ran down his forehead.
"Yes sir!" Todd galloped out the room.
"Hurry up Soldier, we'll need you. We must have Junon cleared of this mad man before Rufus comes." He turned and quickly followed Todd.
I quickly slipped on my blue britches, cerulean shirt, and navy cap. I bounced around on one foot as I hurriedly slipped on my ebony shoes and flew out of the room. I skidded to a halt as I remembered my gun I had foolishly forgotten. As I raced out the building, I slung my firearm on my back and joined a group of troops passing by.
"What's the plan?" I asked.
"We're to search every where until we find and confine, kill, or drive Sephiroth out of the city." The soldier looked at me with a worried look. "I can't go through with this," he started, "if we do find him I know that he's just going to kill every single one of us and praise the Gods if he doesn't."
A day passed and no Sephiroth. Our commanders took a chance and went on with the parade as planned to welcome the new president. Already, as the band practiced the song we were to learn, I was getting sick of the brat.
.
Passage 7: Cloud
Todd and I exchanged stories as we passed by the locker room. What caught our attention was the Commander and another SOLDIER in there. We noticed that he was going to be tutored on what to do for the parade.
"I say, he looks awfully sharp in that outfit," Todd stroked his chin.
"I've never seen him before. Have you?" I asked.
"No, seems that the capt'n will need some help with him though. Let's just go help him out and maybe we can get extra pay for just being nice." An evil smile curled on Todd's face.
"Fine, whatever." I agreed.
"Commander!! We'll help too!" Todd screamed as we hastily ran into the locker room with happy smiles on our faces and corrupt ideas in our heads. "This is how to do it!" Todd smiled again as we seemed to be a 'commander's pet'.
The other day we just learned the anthem we were to sing in honor of Rufus. "We'll sing too!" I couldn't help but smile on how corny we were ending up in front of this cadet.
The commander looked at us, "All right! Show 'em!! Now march! This's the Welcoming March!"
I smiled trying as hard as I could to hold in the laughter until I was alone to tease Todd and myself. "Then I'll sing along with you! Quietly--!!" I sat my gun on top my head with one of my hands holding the barrel and the other cradling the handle. "Aaaaah!" I warmed my voice and threw a smiled at the surprised Todd. He didn't know I could sing.neither did I.
"Aaaaah," I did again. "Hey come on now." I looked at Todd. We started marching and sung to the music you could hear from the locker room as the band practiced.
"Rufus-Rufus Shinra." I smiled and looked at my friend to find him marching and singing too. "We are Shinra Company-The new president. Oh-oh Shinra. Oh-oh-oh Shinra inc. Realization of the new Era, new president Rufus. Oh-oh Shinra. Oh-oh-oh Shinra inc. Building the new Era, Shinra forever." We ended the song with a smile cracking on the commander's face.
"Keep in step with the soldier next to you and march smoothly." I added as another soldier ran in the room.
"Rufus has arrived!" He sang. "Preparations complete.
We ran to find that we were deathly late for the parade had already started. Our commander hurried us on and cued us to merge into the groups of passing soldiers and not look conspicuous.
A group of soldiers joined us as we met Rufus talking to Heidegger and lined up before him. The cadet seemed to be wiggling a lot.
"Hey! Line up and shut up!" The commander yelled as he pushed the cadet back into position. I could swear I saw him before.
"How's the job? What happened to the airship?" Rufus asked Heidegger seemingly annoyed.
"The long-range airship is still being prepared. It should be ready in about three more days. Gya haa ha!" Now that laugh of his was annoying! I could already see Rufus's young face crinkling with grief.
"Even the airforce's Gelnika?" The president complained.
".Gya haa ha!" Heidegger laughed again.
Rufus threw him the evil eye, "Stop that stupid horse laugh!" He was also annoyed that Highwind wasn't ready yet. I'd heard about the plane from Todd when we were traveling from Midgar to Junon. It used to be piloted by the greatest pilot in the world. Todd didn't remember his name though.
"Things are different from when father was in charge." Rufus concluded.
Heidegger looked at him and knew that was an order to get the job done quicker. "Gya."
"Rufus broke his laugh and asked again, "Is the ship ready?"
"Yes sir! We'll get it ready quickly." Heidegger cowered before him.
A roar of laughter spread throughout the crowd as Rufus disappeared into a lift that would take him to the upper level.
This made Heidegger mad and the crowd split to show off the cadet as Heidegger mowed through it to hit the guy just in time to catch the lift leaving. He hates it when Rufus makes him look like an idiot.
I turned to look at the cadet just in time to recognize who it was. Cloud! My stomach turned. What was he doing here! Making trouble? Well, didn't seem like any body else noticed him. I might as well not blurt it out. But, jeez, he's tying to kill Rufus isn't he? "What a disaster," I thought aloud. Woops.
"Heidegger was really irritated," Todd mentioned.
Good, nobody caught on. They thought I was talking about something else.
"The man in the black cape's been roaming around the city, but we can't find him." A soldier told us. Probably thought that was what I was talking about. Man, every body is thinking about something different.
"Man in black cape?" Cloud asked.
Another man pushed into the conversation, "He showed up two or three days ago and killed a few of our soldiers. He disappeared after that. There's a rumor going around that it was Sephiroth."
"Attention! Dismissed!"
.
Passage 8: Todd, Cloud, Rufus, and me
The parade was done and we caught Cloud and the commander in the locker room again.
"We'll help, sir!" Todd exclaimed.
"Me too, sir!" We came running in the room.
"Alright, line up in order! And show me your final pose! Today's command is formation. Remember it! Ready? Junon Military sendoff, BEGIN!!"
We drilled Cloud for a while until he said that he had it down. But I think he was just getting annoyed.
"All right! Don't mess up during the real thing!" I could tell the commander wanted to leave with his own business.
"Commander what's today's special pose?" Todd asked.
"Huh? .I haven't decided yet. All right rookie, I'll let you decide." He tugged a Cloud's shoulder. "Show me your best move"
"Let's see.my best move is." His words trailed off into a move of twirling his gun over his head and gracefully tucking it behind his back.
Todd's eyes lit up, "Wo-ow."
"That's awesome!" I was amazed too. Cloud really knew his stuff and you could tell by his face that he was pleased.
"All right! We'll go with that as today's special. Practice it!" The commander issued his decree.
"Yes sir!"
"Well then meet at the dock!! Don't be late!! Attention! Dismissed!"
"Do you know that Hojo resigned?" Todd asked me as we walked out of the locker room.
Hojo was the scientist that worked for Shinra, "No, I didn't. Interesting."
"Yeah, he left a letter of resignation and Rufus made Heidegger look for him."
"Really?"
Todd and I got moving quickly so we wouldn't be late and I noticed that a really big man was running in front of me. He looked like a big bear wearing a marshmallow for he was actually wearing a sailor suit. That was kind of odd; I never seen him before in SOLDIER.
Cloud, Todd and I lined up in a row in front of the cargo ship that Rufus was going to take to Costa del Sol.
"All right, it's time!" The commander whistled
"President Rufus has now arrived!" A soldier squeaked as Rufus made his way through double doors with Heidegger waddling his way behind.
"Ten- Hut!" The commander ordered.
We did things to follow the captain's motions like a band would play according to the maestro. Cloud produced a smile on Rufus' dim face at his antics. He really didn't know what he was doing. I questioned myself on why or how this guy would want to hurt the president if he couldn't even do this simple of job. We ended with Cloud's move.
Rufus was still smiling; he even seemed to like it. "Very entertaining, keep up the good work."
Heidegger smiled and handed something to Cloud. Did he know?
Rufus walked halfway up the gangplank, "Once word gets out that Sephiroth's here, Cloud and his friends will show up, too."
I looked over to see Cloud twitching nervously. I think he has his friends with him.
"We'll crush them as soon as we find them!" Heidegger said.
"We can't have them get in the way," Rufus turned into the ship but stood there."
"Leave it up to me, sir. Gya haa ha!" Heidegger threw his head back.
Rufus waved a finger at him. "I thought I told you to stop that stupid laugh." He looked at Heidegger and walked quietly into the ship.
"Gya." Heidegger turned, angry. He flew up his arms at them and chased after Rufus.
"All right, dismissed." The commander ordered.
"That was close," I mentioned.
"Heidegger's been real edgy lately." Todd looked at Cloud and I.
"Because Hojo disappeared leaving a letter of resignation." I said.
"Heidegger's been forced to take up some of the investigation." Todd added.
The commander's whistle squeaked between his lips. "Hey! I thought I told you were dismissed."
.
Passage 9: Sephiroth
Todd and I ran off. I quickly came to a halt inside the building though. "Hey, did you see Cl-er, that cadet run into the ship?" I asked quickly covering up the fact that it was Cloud. I don't know why I wanted to hide the truth from Shinra; he was supposed to be the bad guy. Maybe because I just wanted mischief. I settled on that idea as Todd came up with a theory.
"Look," he started, "I don't have a theory about this, (I was surprised) but I say we follow him."
"You mean go onto the ship?"
"Yeah. I always wanted to see Costa del Sol. I heard it was huge resort, with an ocean to swim in. Then, after you're done there, you can go to the Gold Saucer which is a huge amusement park!" He flung his arms up to emphasize his speech.
I shrugged and walked casually out the double doors and up the gangplank.
"Oh, yes man! We're going!" Todd screeched and ran to catch up.
I looked to the side and found some shipping crates. "Let's hide in here. We're not supposed to be here, remember?"
"Right buddy."
We shooed ourselves behind the crates; soldiers closed the ship and the boat moved forward.
"Jeez, I've heard soooo much about the Gold Saucer." Todd smiled as the ship rumbled.
"Cloud should be around her somewhere," I thought aloud.
"Cloud?" Todd looked at me. "You mean the Cloud that Rufus is after?" He asked.
I couldn't hold my secret in any longer. Maybe Todd would be able to give some information about the blond freak. "Yeah, I mean that Cloud."
He sat back and sighed, "Cloud Strife," he started. "Ex-soldier and now working for group called AVALANCHE. He joined soldier in hopes to be like his hero Sephiroth. The others in his posse consist of Barret, Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge. Though the last three died in the falling of the pillar about a week ago. Now, the people in his group are Tifa, Barret, and Aeris. I heard that they also have one of Hojo's little lab rats, the cat thing.
This was interesting, "How did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Know all those things."
"Oh, well, I hear rumors and then I piece them together to get was I think is most logical."
"In other words, you're just a little snoop."
"I wouldn't say that." He rejected.
"What then?" I folded my arms.
"I'd say I was a.umm. Well, I don't think that I'd be a snoop." He placed a finger on his chin.
"How about a. meddler, busybody-"
"Nuh-uh!" Todd whined.
"Rumormonger, gossip-"
"Yeah, right!" Todd screamed and backed out of sanctuary of the crates, simuntainiously tripping and falling."
"Okay snitch, you're home free." I laughed as Todd got up with a grumbling on his lips like an old man. "We've got to keep Cloud under control before he can kill Rufus."
"Let him." Todd waved his hand reassuringly.
"Why?"
"Because it'd be funny. That's why." He walked out into the open and persuaded me out too. "Then Heiddegger would become president and he would get so confused his head would seem to explode! Then if he died Kya haa ha would become president."
" 'Kya haa ha'?" I asked.
"Scarlet." Todd answered. "She's part of the weapons department."
"A girl for president?" My eyebrow lifted.
"Well, then it would either be Reeve or Palmer." Todd smirked. "Jeez, I can see it now: 'Fat Man for president' they would say." He smiled even brighter.
A clinking of a door sounded. Todd and I turned to see Heidegger and Rufus emerge from their hiding place on the lower deck.
"Where's Mr. Shinra going?" I asked.
Todd threw a nasty look at me, "I'm not that updated. Its not like I'm a Game Shark and I have the perfect cheats for a game that just came out yesterday. You have to go on-line and input the data! .In other words, I don't know." He calmed down quickly.
"Well, let me fiddle with the combinations. What do you think the reason is?" I asked
"Rufus wanted his Mommy." Todd looked deathly serious.
I gazed at him almost believing these crazy words, "Good one."
A smile exploded in all its radiance on Todd's childish face. "Yeah, that was perfect."
A stepping sound echoed its way down into the hold of the ship. The heavy shoes sounded of authority in great proportions.
"Heidegger?" Todd asked.
I shook my head, "And that cannot be Rufus." I slowly turned my head to see a soldier's gaze meet a deathly sharp point of a sword. I followed the sword to its owner. Cloud.no. A black cloak encased a slender figure as long silver hair protruded in gentle strands from an aristocratic face. The man turned to me and I saw his eyes. Green as the most glowing emerald, a dark jade that got lost in the suns rays, and lush as the lifestream that flows surely beneath our feet. He swung his sword out to the side knocking the soldier off his feet, killing the man instantly. He paused before entering the room Rufus had exited and looked again at me. His eyes shifted to fall upon Todd so did mine.
Todd gulped, his hands shaking his feet wouldn't hold him anymore and he fell to his knees and onto his stomach. I glanced back at the man. His head lowered, a boyish smile caressed his face as he shook his head and slowly walked his way into the room.
I bent down and shook Todd. Out cold. More steps came rushing down the stairs. Scared I fled, leaving the soldier lying there.
.
Passage 10: Hojo
The boat docked at Costa del Sol in time for Todd to awaken from his trance. The sun felt good as I guided my friend to the beach to lay down on the sand and recover from motion sickness.
"Who was he Todd?" I asked.
"That was S-Sephiroth." He stuttered.
"Sephiroth!"
"SHHH!" He quickly brought a finger to his lips.
I clapped my hands over my mouth as some black haired guy turned his head toward me and looked at us through his thick spectacles.
Todd waved innocently at him and caught my neck collar. "You've got to be careful." He whispered, "Don't stir up the public around here. It's supposed to be calm and quiet and peaceful." He let go and looked sickly to the side of him.
"Your stomach still ache?" I asked
"Yep."
"Gonna puke?"
"Yep."
.
Passage 11: Gold Saucer
The music played happily in my ears as Todd and I came abruptly to a halt at the famous Gold Saucer. It was an amusement park. With a theme of small furry animals called Mogs.
Todd glanced down at his gil, "Okay we have enough let's go bet on Chocobos."
I smiled as he paid our entry. I knew it was alright that even Shinra SOLDIERS can get vacations once in a while. We did go bet on Chocobos. Though, that ended quickly when we couldn't get anything right.
Todd turned and smiled at me, "Hey, why don't we test our skills at the arena?"
The arena was were people could fight, but handicaps were given out each time one defeated an enemy. "Why not?"
We soon arrived at the arena. Todd noticed a ruckus going on inside and quickly straightened up as more soldiers came to back up.
"What're you two doing?" Our caption blew his whistle, "Come on! Stop standing around." The irksome sound landed again.
Gunshots blasted as we made our way up the stairs. A man came into view. He had black hair and a gun crated to his arm! Killing several soldiers he hastily ran into the fighting arena. We weren't able to stop him.
The Shinra then evacuated and our vacation canceled.
.
Passage 12: Cid Highwind
Todd and I were assigned to accompany Rufus and Palmer to Rocket Town. Todd heard that Rufus found out that Shinra was going by it all wrong.
We strolled into the town. A rocket leaned dangerously overhead. Palmer quickly disappeared into what we thought was Cid's house
Soon the pilot came trotting out and stood a safe distance from the president, "The fat ball of lard in there told me to ask you about the Space Program." His eyes glittered playfully with hope.
"Sorry, we are not reopening," Rufus waved at hand at the man.
The pilot's eyes clouded over in furious rage, "What the..! You got me all exited for nothing!? Then what'd you come her for?"
The door to his house opened and I recognized Cloud as he stood in front of it. What the hell was he doing here! This is not going to help. I prayed Rufus wouldn't notice him, but I think he was more entangle with the disgruntled pilot than Unicorn Boy.
"I want to borrow the Tiny Bronco." Rufus started, "We're going after Sephiroth. But it seems like we've been going the direction. But now, we think we know where he is headed. But, we have to cross the ocean. That's why we want your plane." Rufus trailed off to see Cid's eyes burning. The president was surly intimidated by this man.
"$^#^%!" He cursed. "First the Airship, then the rocket, and now, the Tiny Bronco. Shinra took outer space away from me and now you want to take the sky away from me too!?"
"Oh my." Rufus shifted. "You seem to forget it was because of Shinra Inc. that you were able to fly in the first place"
"What!?" Cid screeched.
I looked over to find Todd giving me an odd look, "What?"
"This is the guy I was talking about!" He whispered. "You know the guy with the Airship and I couldn't remember his name?"
"Yeah."
"Well, that's Cid Highwind. I heard he was the best pilot in the world."
I glanced at the man. Could've guessed. I noted Cloud had left already and that a sound perked Todd and mine ears. Our eyes followed as we saw the Tiny Bronco lift from behind Cid's house. I squinted and could see Cloud in the cockpit, his friends hanging desperately from the side.
Cid started running. He soon caught up with the plane as it shaved the ground and almost knocked Rufus off his feet. Todd and I started shooting and succeeded to foil their plot of taking the Tiny Bronco. Though, it didn't help us any.
.
Passage 13: Icicle Inn
After shooting down Tiny Bronco Shinra got wind that Cloud and the others made it to the Temple of the Ancients, where we were headed, anyway. Also, we got news that Tseng, one of the Turks, was killed. That's why Todd and I accompanied Elena to Icicle Inn.
I had to admit it was cold. Elena's teeth were chattering and just about shattered right out of her mouth. Todd quickly gripped my shoulder and smiled.
"Look," he pointed out, "I can be like Cid." He cocked his head so I could see a boyish profile and blew out his foggy breath. A smile developed on Todd's purple lips. Cid Highwind smoked like a chimney in winter time.
"Come on!" Elena shivered, "It's bleeping cold out here!"
"Jeez, who died and made you president?" Todd asked his green eyes glowing with mirth.
Elena stomped a foot and soft snow flew about her ankle. "I wish!"
"I know what will warm you up." Todd ran over to her.
"Don't touch me!" She screeched and stepped hastily backward.
"Why would I want to?" Todd asked and started running. I decided this was a good idea. If we didn't get our blood flowing, we'd freeze.
"Come on ma'am, it'll be good for you." I smiled to her. I always thought she was pretty. I liked her blond hair, radiant blue eyes, bright cheery personality. wait! I hit myself mentally coming back to he real world. I looked ahead to see Elena pumping her legs to catch up with Todd. I looked at her as I started running. Mighty slender in that outfit.I hit myself again. She's a Turk! I knew what I was in for.I was in love with Elena.
Soon we came upon Icicle Inn. She stopped in front of the entrance and we found Cloud across the snow on the end of the village.
"There they are!" she pointed out.
"Yes ma'am," we agreed and ran over to Cloud. We smiled under our caps to see the blond face again. Elena cut between us.
"Cloud.huff.wheeze.I won't let you go any further!" She yelled through her breathlessness. I smiled..ouch! I hate being in love
"What's down there?" he asked.
"It's a SE-CR-ET." We came to stop Cloud from getting any further and this was the way he was going to get to Sephiroth. "It really doesn't matter!" But, it did. Though, not to her. "but, you really got guts doin' in my boss like that!"
"You mean boss..Tseng?" Cloud looked puzzled. This guy was an idiot. "That wasn't us, Sephiroth did it!"
"No! Don't think you can fool me, liar!"
"I'm not lying, it was Sephiroth. "
"Don't try to act innocent. I'll never forget it!!
"Oh man." Cloud groaned
"Looks like talking alone won't cut it You're going to have to feel some pain! Just you.and me!!" She swung a hand back to stop us from interfering, "No, I can handle him! There's no way he can ovoid my punch.
"What?" Todd squeaked, amused. "Yeah."
Elena swung .and missed. Cloud had dodged and a smiled perked on his face as Elena rolled down the snowy hill to the right. "E-Elena!?" Todd finished his sentence and we both ran after her.
.
Passage 14: Weapon
My love for Elena never put it's mighty sword down, but waved it higher in the air. I smiled to myself to see her beautiful face in my dreams and pretend to hug my arms around her soft waist. I hit myself again. I would' ve gone further but, I had to help Heidegger herd some fugitives to a live execution. The funny thing is this, they were from AVALNCHE!
"Is everyone here?" Scarlet asked as I seated the rest of the prisoners in a dark room. "These are the ones who brought this madness into the world?"
"The hell are these people!?" Barret exclaimed. I laughed because I knew these other people had nothing to do with the summoning of Meteor. Shinra had to blame somebody to calm the public. Meteor, a giant rock from space hurling itself at us with all the power of the Ancients. Over the past week Sephiroth had somehow gotten up a enough energy to summon this demon and now he's hibernating in a crater north of here. I desperately wished Shinra would actually do something sane about this mishap, but that wasn't going to come true unless a miracle happened. That was one reason I hoped Cloud would survive long enough to beat Sephiroth. I knew that was who he was after.
"We will be broadcasting your miserable deaths live on national television." Scarlet started up again. An evil smile grew wryly on her face at the ignorance of the public.
"Scarlet, why a public execution this day and age?" A man in the front row asked. His was hefty, I mean really hefty. He wore a purple suit and had a small black head.weird people these days.
"With the chaos resulting from the Meteor reports, we desperately need to rally public support.It's better that we punish somebody, anybody. She answered.
Tifa looked at the woman, "You make me sick."
Scarlet cackled at Tifa's remark. "They'll admit it, but everyone loves this stuff! We'll start with this girl," Scarlet pointed devilishly at Tifa.
Barret stood up, "If you're gonna do it.do me first!" he wailed.
"Camera this way!" Scarlet demanded. "Make sure you get this, the audience just eats up tearful good-byes." She left into a gas room with Tifa, I quickly followed to lock her into the chair.
I panicked as I entered the room. I didn't want Tifa to die. Cloud needs her to defeat Sephiroth! At least, I think so. But she didn't do any harm, Todd had said she and her friends were trying to save the planet. I thought quickly as I locked her into the chair. I decided to wait right until Scarlet left and make my move.
Tifa and Scarlet quarreled. Finally, disgusted, Scarlet left. I played dumb and quietly dropped the key on the floor just in range of Tifa's feet I left unlocked to Scarlet's ignorance.
"Let the show begin!" Scarlet wailed as we came out of the room.
"EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY!" The intercom blew. "Weapon's approaching! Attention, military personal, take your positions." That was the cue for the fugitives to run. Neither I nor the guy across the room stopped them. We both knew they were all innocent.
"Hey, hey, all of you! Damn, why now?" Scarlet cursed.
The guy in the purple suit waddled over to her, "How does it feel now, Scarlet?" He asked.
"Hmmm, so you didn't run?" Scarlet asked. "I'm impressed. How do I feel? Right now." Scarlet slipped suddenly to the ground definitely asleep.
"Huh? Sleeping gas?" Barret asked.
Just as he said that the man discarded the odd costume to reveal he was actually a cat perched upon a stuffed mog.
"Weirdo!!" I exclaimed pointing at him, quickly catching his attention. He quickly attacked me and the other guy. We were beaten, but good they got away. They ran out of the room looking for a way to save Tifa.
Scarlet awoke and scurried to lock the door, "Now it's time to pay up. I'll really drop you if you don't settle down!" She laughed through the door.
We stayed in the room with Scarlet and waited. Cannons blasted outside. I hoped Todd was alright. A giant commotion shook the room and the ripping of metal squealed. We all ran inside Tifa's gas chamber and found her gone. I rejoiced, she played along with my ploy without even knowing it! Scarlet ordered us to follow her. We did, climbing the far side wall we emerged on the outside if Junon. Ocean winds blasted our faces and I could see Tifa climbing down the side of the wall through my welling tears. Scarlet ordered me to follow, but got no response so quickly. She almost pushed me off over the side of Junon and with my luck I'd probably live to feel the sting as I hit the ocean below.
We followed Tifa onto the main cannon. Powered by Mako energy this thing packed wallop. All the way to the tip of the cannon we followed her. The wind blew at us as the girls had a pitiful slapping contest.
A voice caught our attention. It sounded familiar, "Run.Run to the end of the cannon!!" A giant airship soared up to us, my jaw dropped to see it. That was Highwind! Cid had confiscated his plane during the crisis! Smart guy, he'll need it.
Tifa latched herself to a rope dangling from a platform. Barret hauled her up as Scarlet screeched at them.
.
Passage 15: Huge Materia - Part 1
Finally Shinra got their act together and they devised a plan to destroy Meteor. Myself I think it was a pretty bad plan.
"So they are going to take hug pieces of Materia and collide Meteor with them?" I asked.
"You cracked it right on the nose buddy!" Todd made an imaginary gun with his fingers. "First they are going to get the stuff from the Corel reactor. Then, from Fort Condor, then, they'll grab the stuff from the Underwater Reactor and blast it all up into space and collide it with Meteor. They've got a fourth Huge Materia, but my notes show nowhere that they could've gotten it."
"Anything else?" I asked.
"Cloud's missing." Todd answered with a smile. "There was a rumor he was engulfed by the Lifestream."
"So, that means we don't have to deal with him."
"Yes, but we still have to deal with his friends. Seven of them." He pointed out.
"Who are these people?"
"Well, I know Cid's with 'em. Remember Aeris?"
"Yeah."
"She's dead."
That came to a shock when the whole meaning of dead hit me. "Dead?" I gulped. "Are you sure she's not really K.O.'d?"
"Dead as a doornail. To me it was a waste of Sephiroth's time." He waved a reassuring hand at me.
"Sephiroth?" I asked.
"What, I didn't tell you that part?" He looked astonished.
"No."
"Mmm, absent minded I guess." He moved that hand to touch his cheek.
"So Sephiroth killed her. How?"
"Stabbed her with his sword, Masumune."
"Gee."
.
Later that day we were posted at the Corel reactor quickly loading on the Huge Materia. We saluted the train off and just to our surprise Cid Highwind came running in. He pushed quickly passed all the amazed soldiers and hopped another train. Our commander demanded attack as Cid flicked switches and got the train moving. We shot our guns frantically, none hit their mark as Cid sped out of the reactor. We all knew if he could pilot anything, we had lost our Materia.
"Tomorrow we get a break as the rest of Shinra move their efforts to Fort Condor." Todd informed me on the way back to Junon.
"Why do we get a break?" I asked.
"Because our commander was fired because he wasn't able to stop Cid. I heard Rufus got so mad he sentenced to guy to death." Todd smiled.
"Ouch." I remarked as I rubbed the back of my own neck. Todd went on later to explain how they were planning to get the Huge Materia from Fort Condor. They were going to attack it like a war and kill the Condor on top which "guarded" the Materia without knowing it. As the days passed we got news that Cid and party had decimated the whole army and leader. Time for Plan C.
.
The next day we were assigned to a Shinra submarine. The commander joined us inside to help with the controls. The man was rehired with severely docked pay. We were ordered to accompany the sub that was going to retrieve the Huge Materia.
A clattering and scattering of feet interrupted our thought. Todd and I stared in disbelief as we heard voices.
"You want the sub? Just try and take it!"
"Um.Sir! Maybe we shouldn't piss them off." More thuds and clatters and we dropped our jaw to see Cloud burst full and mighty into the bridge.
"NO, NO!! This is terrible!" The commander stomped his foot.
My stomach churned and I asked myself if Cloud would kill us, "We don't have much time left! I don't want to die!"
Fear burned in Todd's eyes as I glanced over at him, "There's still so much more I've got to do!" He pleaded. "I never got to do my special victory dance in battle!"
"Alright! Then make this your first victory. Go on, show 'em!!" The commander pointed to Cloud and party. That's when I noticed Cid and another dark looking man were with him.
"Yes sir!" Todd and I exclaimed.
"I'm back and I got no regrets! ATT-ACK!!"
Cloud stroked his chin and in a blink of an eye we weren't dead but thankful to be his prisoners. Cloud soon took his place in the middle of the room as we huddled in a corner. He nervously rung out his fingers, "Someone.please. I'm sorry I can't take it anymore. The lack of space, the shaking, the roar of the engine." Maybe Cloud wasn't so brave after all.
"DAMN SAM!" Cid exclaimed "I've GOT to get back in the air!"
The vehicle shuddered and slowed it's shaking. The dark man I noticed from before walked over to the control panel. "I'm not very mechanical, but it seems we're moving. Hang in there." He reassured them with a wise voice.
Cloud perked up, "Hey, you're right. I DO feel better driving. No sweat, just leave everything to me." He sat in the drivers seat and managed to shoot down the lead sub with accuracy.
"Phew--! We did it!" He exclaimed after the mission was over. "The Huge Materia should be at the bottom of the sea by now. Let's continue the search."
The radio clattered on and buzzing filled our ears. "All Shinra submarine units, do you read? All Shinra submarine units, do you read?"
"Hmm.?" Cloud glanced at the blaring radio. "Must be from Shinra."
"Repot No. 2." It requested.
"Make 'em shut up! Just answer somethin'!" Cid snapped.
"All right. I'll do it! Cloud snapped back. Then to Shinra: "This is Shinra No. 2 everything's normal."
"Roger. Your next mission is.return to Junon dock.we will transport the Huge Materia from the airport.Those without assignments will report for guard duty. That is all. Over and out."
"Junon airport." Cloud started. "We should make it if we hurry. Forget about the Huge Materia for now. We're climbing!
The dark man looked up at him, "First the ocean, now the air.what a busy day."
.
Passage 16: Huge Materia-part 2
And to Junon Airport was right! Cloud left the sub, we followed, right to Junon. Once we were inside our commander stopped as we almost ran into him. He spun on us. A menacing grin on his face.
"I GIVE UP!!!!!!!!!!!" He screamed as residents peaked their noses out the windows of their dusky apartments. "Cloud has gotten the best of me twice! And you know what? He's not going to do it again! Do you know why?"
Todd and I shook our heads totally bewildered that for once he wasn't screaming at us for losing.
"Because I'm QUITTING!!!!!!!! You hear that RUFUS!!!!!!! Huh?" He pointed a gloved finger at a banner supporting Rufus Shinra's New Age. "I QUIT!!!!!" A vain seemed to pulse on his forehead as he ripped off his hat and violently shot it to the ground. His foot smothering the intoxicating red. "I don't know about you two, but it looks like one of you were upgraded!" He pointed that menacing finger at us his grin seemed to explode out his ears. He looked down the street and without a another holler he ran leaving his red hat in the street below us.
Todd walked over to it and picked up the pathetic thing. "Man, he really drained the self-esteem out of this thing." He turned it over in his hands. He finally straddled it and walked over to me tossing it in my hands, "There you go, captain."
"What!" I screeched. I threw the hat down just like it had been something that was once recognizable.
Todd stopped, "You know I wonder if we hafta keep up with this charade." He said without turning back around but bringing up a finger to his chin.
"You mean quit?"
"Yeah, what else?" he finally turned around, "Cloud's take care of everything won't he? He'll get that Materia and then he'll save the planet. I'm right or wrong?"
"I think your right."
"Exactly. We'll just join that little group of 'Cloud supporters'," Todd raised his two fingers to make a small distance between their tips. He took off his hat and shoved it into his pocket. His black hair was frizzled and looked somewhat like Cloud's had shrunk and was stuck on Todd's head.
I took off mine and smoothed back my own golden hair. "Now what?" I asked.
"Let's get some info. on Cloud's next mission and--" a giant buzzing sound cut Todd off as a Gelnika flew over us.
"Well, well, look who's going to Rocket Town." I looked up at the Gelnika and my eyes strayed to see Highwind on hot pursuit behind.
Todd glanced at me, "Let's hop a boat."
.
We arrived at Costa del Sol as soon as we could. We boarded chocobos and made our way to Rocket Town. The trip was tiring.
As soon as we rounded up to see the launch pad at Rocket Town a giant explosion erupted and the Rocket was shot off into the sky. We stopped out spooked steeds and watched with amazed wonder as the Shinra #26 was headed in a crash course with Meteor.
Receiving our minds once more we jumped off and let the chocobos go and ran the rest of the way.
"More Shinra!" A girl squealed as we came rushing up.
A commander hopped his way toward us, "Where were you when we needed you!" He screeched. "Find your commander now!"
"Uh, sir." Todd started, "Our commander just quit about and hour and a half ago."
"Yeah." I added.
"Whatever, Cloud just got away with the Materia!" The commander seemed almost too happy. "Too bad he's not going to live long enough to enjoy it! Ha!"
Todd and I exchange frightened looks and stared at the sky with hope that they would live.just somehow. We hung out at Rocket Town as the rest of Shinra left. (We actually hid.)
.
As the hours dragged on and night fell we started feeling hopeless. We walked out of the pub and breathed deeply the air that was not full of Mako, unlike Midgar.
And as we let out that breath a bright light lit and an explosion covered the sky. As the light faded our hope dropped and other few meters to see that Meteor was still there.
"If only Cloud would live somehow.just."Todd slumped back against the outside wall of the pub. "We.we.we're not going to make it." his head dropped and I could feel it too. The hopelessness of it all. Never was there a sliver of a chance Cloud could have survived that. And there won't be a sliver of a chance that the planet would survive the beating Meteor would give it. Shinra had just made it madder.
.
Passage 17: The Sister Ray
As depression settled upon the planet we moved ourselves back to Midgar and back to Shinra. We found that Rufus had moved the huge Mako cannon from Junon to Midgar. They now called it The Sister Ray.
"Anything Todd?" I asked as he entered our dormitory.
A grin caressed his face, "Cloud's alive." Was all he said. "He lived because Cid had installed an escape pod onto the rocket. Jeez, I could kiss that man."
"Right." I was now as happy as a little boy. The air in the dorm seemed to rise in mirth and hope was restored to us both.
No sooner was it restored that it was taken away, though. Diamond Weapon decided to show its ugly face. And that was when we first got another glimpse of our new hero Cloud.
"He's too brave." Todd remarked as we watched him fight off Weapon with magic and willpower.
"I agree."
We sat and watched until Weapon tired of Cloud and started again on its course with Midgar.
A signal was sent out. The Sister Ray was charged and a bolt of bright blue Mako shot out of the cannon. Taking Diamond weapon by surprise, it knocked it down, but not without penalty. The Weapon had released bright orange bullets of its own. The bullets sped high over our heads and hit the very top of the Shinra building.
Our mouths flew opened and we gaped at the burning wreckage on top.
"Rufus!" We whispered together.
"Jeez, this thing knows what its doing." Todd pointed out. "Killed the president in exchange for its life."
I looked at him, "Yes, but are you sure Rufus is dead?"
He looked back at me, "You're right."
.
Passage 18: The Truth About Sephiroth
Todd discovered that Shinra wasn't aiming for Weapon, but a seal that was placed over a huge crater in the North border of the planet. Evidently Sephiroth had put it there to protect himself from Meteor.
"So they broke it with the Sister Ray?" I asked.
"Yes, and now Hojo want's to give Sephiroth more energy with it.." Todd added.
"How?"
"With the Sister Ray. Sephiroth is actually a genetic freak."
"How original."
"Cloud had actually killed him when he was in SOLDIER with him." Todd started. "They say Cloud pushed him in a giant pool of Mako when Sephiroth had gone crazy."
"Why'd he go crazy?"
"He actually grew up with Hojo and thought that his mother's name was Jenova. And when he heard about the 'Jenova Project' he regarded his impossible strength as though he was a monster. So, while on a mission with Cloud on Mt. Nibel he tried to kill Cloud but didn't succeed and Cloud possibly threw Sephiroth into the Mako. I think that is how Sephiroth got all this power. And with all that Mako energy floating around the Planet he built up a huge power to use it. So, Hojo is sending another huge beam of Mako energy because he want's to support his son."
"His SON?" I squeaked.
"I didn't tell you?"
"No."
"Absent-minded I guess."
"Déjà vu."
"Well, Hojo tricked this poor girl into thinking that he loved her and they got a kid. This was Sephiroth. Okay and here's the cool twist! You know that dark man who was with Cloud on the sub? Well, he was once a Turk and was in love with that very same girl! So, now he hates Hojo for lying to her and sending her to an eternal sleep in a secluded cave somewhere. Anyway, while she was pregnant with Sephiroth, Hojo put in these Jenova cells that would make him stronger. Did you know that Sephiroth has never bled? And Jenova, she was an Ancient that died a long time ago, was stored in Mt Nibel Reactor. So when Sephiroth made his way to the reactor, thinking his birth mother was Jenova, he went crazy. I almost feel sorry for him." Todd concluded.
"Jeez," I added.
"Lets see did I get all of this out.?" Todd counted half-quietly on his fingers.
"So, what about that Sephiroth we saw on the ship if he was already dead?" I pointed out.
"Oh! I knew there was something I missed. Well, Hojo liked how Sephiroth turned out so much he wanted to make a whole army of people like him so the SOLDIER didn't have weak people like us. So, he made clones. What we saw was actually a clone of Sephiroth carrying out the actual Sephiroth's orders."
"Where is the actual Sephiroth?"
"He was found frozen in a huge block of Mako in Northern Crater."
"Why'd he attack with Meteor?"
"He wants to be a God of the new world he will create after destroying this one."
"Heavy." I added. "So, let me get this straight, Cloud had actually killed Sephiroth in a fit a terror a long time ago."
"Five years."
"Yeah, and so now the actual Sephiroth was found in Northern Crater waiting for the death of the Planet. But, the death will only be brought upon by him."
"Yeah, he's killing it for his own purpose." Todd answered.
"Doesn't the Planet have some type of magical defense against Armageddon threats like his?"
"Sure, its called Holy. That's the reason Cloud is going to kill Sephiroth. He's blocking the way so Holy can't get through and save us all." Todd almost sounded smart.
"What about all those Weapons that the Planet created?"
"I don't know about those, but they seem to be making a ruckus."
"What a disaster." I concluded severely confused.
Todd was soon downwind of another rumor, "Cloud went to stop Hojo from giving Sephiroth the extra power and succeeded!"
.
Passage 19: Meteor
As the sun rose the next day panic sheltered Midgar with a strong shell. Meteor loomed dangerously close sending down winds that swept away things with great force.
Todd and I stood at the edge of Midgar staring up at the heavens.
"Where's Cloud?" I asked through the wind.
"He's down in the crater with Sephiroth." Todd answered unsure of the outcome.
The winds kept up stronger and stronger. We clung to the ground with all of our might. Sacrificing our hats we made a run for it to shelter under a pile of old metal on the outskirts of Midgar. Meteor didn't seem to be hitting the Planet but hovering right over Midgar and destroying it with hurricanes that ripped and tore at every corner.
The wind soon became too much for us and we escaped with our lives out from under the shelter. Clinging to each other we ran in step out to the fields. The winds didn't stop there but gained speeds out on the open planes.
Signaling to each other we laid as flat as we could on the ground watching the destruction of Midgar from a worm point of view.
I closed my eyes as a tear streaked down my cheek. I held tight onto Todd's hands as we lay there in the grass. The sun had set and Meteor glowed with horrific qualities. I thought of Elena and another tear fell just for her. I knew she needed help now and if Reno was as decent as I think he is he would help her. And if he didn't then.may I bless her soul.
I opened my eyes again and looked at Todd who was getting annoyed with his hair. Pain shot through my ears as the cold wind rushed in and out of them. Todd looked up at me as we straddled another gust of wind. He smiled as a tear streaked down his own boyish cheek. It fell only to be sucked up by the wind. His smile faded as he looked above us. Quickly he looked back at me, His untidy hair moved out of the way to show a grin twice the size of Meteor.
"Look," he mouthed for I couldn't hear him.
I looked up and saw an airship straddling the wind with ease. So what? I asked myself. Then. It hit, Cid!
"Highwind!" I yelled back to him.
He nodded violently understanding my lip synching.
We held tighter to each other pressing our weight to the ground in new hope. Cloud survived! I thought. He survived! Meaning Sephiroth has been killed and that Holy is released! And as though in cue a huge blanket of white magic came streaking toward us lifting us off the ground.
We flew through the air and watched as Holy enclosed Midgar with protection and pushed back. The winds died slightly and we didn't get very far off the ground, but far enough for Todd to quickly wrap his short legs around me. He clung to me like a child clung to its mother. I pushed away from his as the wind started blowing us away from Midgar and toward the ground. Holy also didn't look like it was going to succeed.
As we neared the ground something greenish-blue sprang up from under us and snaked its way around every living thing. I looked at Todd who was gazing at it with wonder.
"Lifestream," He mouthed.
We landed with a thud.
.
I opened my eyes. A soft summer wind played with my hair and I glanced over to see Todd a few meters away. I had a headache and the sun shone so brightly that it seemed like Meteor had struck. I bolted upright. It had! Devastation had hit Midgar. The ruins lay in pathetic waste as I glanced around the see Highwind landed next to it.
"Is it over?" Todd sat up next to me. His voice was hoarse from the night before.
"Yeah," I answered as I saw Cloud expertly examining the debris.
"Well, there goes home." He squeaked.
There goes everything. I smiled to myself and breathed deep. The air was fresh and a new age had started. People would start again carefully preserving the balance and keeping the planet healthy. Head flues like Sephiroth would never rein terror again. Todd stood up, wobbly, but he managed. "Let's go meet our hero." He said.
I nodded and stood up myself. I remembered Elena. I knew I loved her, but for some reason it didn't seem to matter to me that she was dead. Maybe it was a slight crush. I wished her a happy new life and looked ahead of me.
Highwind sat there in elegance. Cid standing beside it, admiring it. I smiled at him, but he didn't turn around. I looked in front of me and caught eyes with Cloud. The same mischievous blue smiled at me just as it did when I first saw him in Midgar. But now Midgar was gone and the memories seemed far away. I stopped as Todd finished his walk to Cloud. Part of the Shinra building was still standing to forever be a scar on the Planet's frail surface.