The FF7 Experience: (Chapter 11: Erika v2)
Author stuff: I’ve been forgetting to do this at the start of each chapter…I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or any or if characters. Anyways, this time I’ll be commenting at the beginning, addressing one review I received.
Thank Frankto for editing this chapter and providing advice on scythe usage.
Also, godinabox provided the information on making a cut.
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With Yuffie now a member of AVALANCHE, the two of us strolled through the field on our way back to camp.
I was curious how the others would take her presence, and one thing I never took into account was the possibility that they’d not want her to join or they’d just outright say “hell no”. If that were the case, I’d be in an awkward position.
I glance at my side and find the girl merrily marching along, swinging her arms in an exaggerated fashion. She certainly has a lot of energy.
“Soooo…Grant,” Yuffie began, swiveling in front of me and walking backwards as she spoke, “Why don’t you teach me some of those techniques of yours?”
I sighed. “This again?”
“Hey, come on! Share the wealth! We are teammates now, after all!” the ninja protested.
Assuming everyone let her in, that was true. But still, I can’t actually teach her. Her techniques, from what I had observed, use a bit of magical power to create their effects and were still within the laws of this world. On the other hand, whenever I’d be able to learn a new technique, I’d just pick one and Walter would work it out. But I don’t think, for example, Yuffie could create a shadow replication by converting stamina into a solid form like I do. Usually when I perform it, I just give up stamina and in exchange Walter, wherever he is when he does this, bends the reality here a bit to have it form and operate.
“Sorry, I can’t. They are super secret techniques…so secret, my body is set to explode if I ever revealed them.” I said, trying hard to sound serious.
Yuffie spun back around and crossed her arms. “Hmph. Fine, be that way! Like I care.”
“By the way, when we get to camp, let me do the talking, alright?”
“Sure thing. How many are there, anyways?”
“Including you, there are 7 of us plus 2 somewhere else in the world.”
“Geez, a bit small.” Yuffie commented.
“Yeah, but we’re all quite elite.”
Yuffie backed up a bit and poked my shoulder, “You’re elite? Pfft.”
“Hey, if I wanted to kill you I could have just made you stab yourself with your shuriken when I had your shadow locked.” I replied, smirking lightly.
Yuffie stopped abruptly and tried to think of a counter, but coming up short handed, she settled for something else.
“You wanna fight again? Huh!”
“God no…” I murmured.
She grinned and starting boxing the air, “That’s what I thought.”
Noting that I didn’t stop and wait, the girl quickly jogged to catch up, hanging by my side.
“What are the other people like, hm?”
“It varies, but they’re all pretty cool.”
The last few minutes of our walk back consisted of Yuffie skipping and humming to herself while I watched her childish but slightly amusing behavior.
As we drew closer to the campsite, Cloud and Aeris’s heads perked up from the fire and they glanced at me before slowly averting their eyes to the newcomer.
They said nothing, waiting for me to offer some kind of explanation. I sat down across from them and patted the ground next to me for Yuffie to sit down. She dropped herself down onto the cold ground and crossed her legs.
“This,” I gestured to the ninja girl, “is Yuffie. I was walking off that…thing I mentioned earlier…and ended up in the forest. One thing led to another and we got into a fight. After it ended in what I would call a stale mate-”
“I would have had the advantage in like 10 seconds, you said so yourself!” Yuffie cut in, scowling.
“Whatever, anyways…she is a ninja from Wutai that wants to join AVALANCHE. While her techniques aren’t nearly as good as mine, she’s quite capable. I was wondering if you would let her join?” I said. I took a deep breath and waited as our leader assessed this information.
Aeris smiled, “It’s nice to meet you, Yuffie. My name is Aeris.”
“Pleasure!” Yuffie beamed, waving her hand.
Cloud however, was not so friendly. He stared at the small slip of a girl critically as he folded his arms.
“Why were you fighting?” he asked.
“It was my fault.” I lied, “I didn’t realize this until later, but in the process of attacking a monster, her star almost hit me and I took it the wrong way. I thought maybe she was a bandit or something and attacked her.”
Yuffie remained silent, averting her eyes towards the ground. I got the feeling she was a bit surprised.
“Look Cloud, we can trust her. She won’t be a burden either. No more than I am, at least.”
Cloud remained uncertain, but his features softened as Aeris placed her hand gently on the SOLDIER’s shoulder.
“Cloud, why don’t we give her a chance?” Aeris pleaded.
The mercenary continued to stare at the young woman’s pleading eyes and eventually let out a reluctant sigh. Wow is he ever whipped.
“Alright. We’ll give you a chance. Welcome to AVALANCHE Yuffie. I’ll introduce you to the others when they wake up. My name is Cloud.” He said, standing up and extending his hand to her.
Yuffie grinned and hopped up from the ground to vigorously shake Cloud’s hand.
“Nice to meet ya! I’m sure it’ll be an honor traveling with such a sexy little ninja like me, hehe!”
“…Right.” Cloud deadpanned.
With his hand returned to him, Cloud sat back down next to Aeris. He turned to her, and then pointed to the tent.
“Why don’t you get a bit more rest?” Cloud suggested.
“Yeah.” I nodded, “I’ll take the last watch with Cloud.”
“Hmm…well, don’t mind if I do.” Aeris stood up and brushed her dress to get off any grass or dirt that may have cling, then gave a small bow and retreated into the tent.
I stayed put, as did Yuffie and Cloud.
There was something I wanted to ask Cloud while there aren’t too many others around, and now seemed like the best time. I cleared my throat quietly, then spoke a bit nervously.
“Cloud, I wanna ask you something…”
“Sure.” He replied blandly.
“…Can you help me more with my fighting? I was getting whipped by a little girl.” I sighed.
“I don’t need to point out that I’m sitting right next to you, do I?” the girl quipped.
Ignoring her, I waited for Cloud’s response. He chuckled a bit, which wasn’t what I was expecting nor hoping for.
“Grant,” he started, “I can show you more about how to use your weapon, but I think there’s two other things you should work on first.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. I know you feel like you’re weak sometimes, but you’re stronger than you think. You have a fair bit of power. You also have some good speed, just not as much as Tifa or I…and she’s probably faster because that’s what ninja are trained to be.” Cloud said, referring to Yuffie. He went on. “And stamina is something you have an abundance of…almost as much as I have, actually.”
“What? So if power, speed, and stamina are not my problems, then what is exactly?”
Instead of immediately answering, Cloud glanced at Yuffie, who was sitting boredly and cleaning her shuriken.
“When you fought him and he used his scythe…can you describe him?” Cloud asked.
Yuffie’s head perked up. She bit her lip, appearing thoughtful at the moment.
“Eh…in one word, predictable.” She answered bluntly.
Cloud nodded with a smirk. “Easy to predict how he’d attack with it, right?”
“Tell me about it.” Yuffie laughed.
I grumbled and tried not to feel offended just yet. Not until he finished, at least.
“Your first problem is that your power and speed is useless if your opponent can predict what you’re going to do. It’s one thing against monsters, but anyone or anything intelligent enough to read you has an advantage, even if they’re a bit slower.”
But Yuffie was faster, so that combined with the fact that I was apparently ‘predictable’ equals me getting my ass whooped.
“Your technique with the scythe has gotten better, but you still have some work to do. I’ve observed you before. When you attack, you make your movements obvious. The only time you move is when you’re dodging or swinging. So all I have to do is see you move or shift your weight, and I know you’re about to attack. Also, the way you hold yourself and the fact that you have no real combat stance makes your actions easier to read.”
Cloud stopped for a moment and gathered his thoughts, then went on.
“Your second problem is your biggest one. It involves your stamina…”
The SOLDIER closed his eyes for a moment and conjured up a way of explaining it in simple terms.
“Let’s say your stamina is represented by 100 units. You have a lot of it because every time your stamina is drained, the units increase in size when they refill. They actually increase at such a high rate that you’re fairly close to me in terms of stamina. But you misuse it constantly. I’m aware that techniques drain your stamina, the largest being ‘Shadow Replication’.”
“You told me before that it consumed 50 of your remaining energy, so look at it like this: You start a battle with full 100 units but you make three clones, as I’ve seen you do on occasion. Suddenly you’ve gone from a full 100 units down to 12 and a half. That’s a huge jump. Add in the fact that your body tires even quicker after having lost so much energy in such a short period of time, and it’s a problem. Often times too, you use it at the start of a battle when it’s most wasteful, and they tend to disappear quickly when you have no plan for using them. If you fight and use techniques more conservatively and use the energy you have better, you will last much longer. It’ll make a huge difference, trust me.”
With that, Cloud stopped and I soaked this all in.
I suppose I have fought foolishly on occasion. But, if I learn to use the scythe better and be less predictable as well as use shadow replication a hell of a lot less, I’ll have a huge improvement…that’s what I’m getting from that he’s been saying.
“You’re right.” I admitted, “But if I just fix those things, I’ll be good, right?”
“Far better, that’s for sure.” Cloud agreed.
He stood up and stretched then looked down at me with a smile. He walked a ways away from the fire before pulling out his Mythril Sword and gesturing for me to come.
“I’ll teach you a few things.” He said.
I stood and joined him, standing opposite to him. I drew my scythe and got into my usual stance.
“Spread your legs apart more so you have more balance.”
I nodded.
“And change your stance. Hold the scythe at your torso level, horizontally if you like, one hand near the head and the other a little further than the midsection. When you slash, use your left hand for power and let the right slide along the shaft for precision, then draw the weapon towards you at the moment of the impact to increase the potency of your attack.
With your weapon, you can make a deep cut by drawing the weapon towards yourself at the moment of impact. This increases the depth of the cut.”
Another nod.
“That’s good. Now charge at me. No techniques when we fight though. Scythe only, got it?”
“No problem.”
I ran forward as quickly as I could and brought my scythe back, swinging it diagonally towards his shoulder.
Cloud turned his wrist so the blade of his sword would clash with my scythe.
He held his sword with one hand which was efficient to prevent me from pushing the weapon down any further.
“You brought your weapon back too much. I knew where you were going to swing before you even swung.” He critiqued.
“Sorry.”
“Take a few shots at me.” He ordered.
I backed up and began swinging my blade at him quickly, using all varieties of angles, and yet each time my weapon neared him, his blade would deflect them. As this went on, I started getting annoyed and began swinging harder and more erratically, but nothing changed.
“Your swings are pretty fast, but they’d be a lot faster if you didn’t swing so hard. Take another.”
I did so, swinging diagonally, but he spun around it and ended up on the outside of my body.
“Because you swing so hard, you can’t recover quickly if they dodge instead of block.”
“Sorry.”
“Stop saying that, you’re learning, right?”
I smiled and nodded.
Cloud twirled his sword in his hand and backed up as he began circling me. I followed his movements, turning my body so I was always facing him.
“Here’s another piece of advice: Move more.”
I blinked. “What do you mean?”
“Like I’ve said, you tend to shift your weight in an obvious fashion when your about to attack. If you’re standing still and all of a sudden move, they know it’s to attack, but if you keep moving with decent footwork then its harder for your opponent to read when an attack is coming. Understand?”
“Oh! Right!” I said, giving the thumbs up.
“An unpredictable enemy is the worst kind, right?”
“Right!”
“Now come at me.”
Keeping these things in mind, I ran forward and slashed swiftly diagonally. Cloud stepped back, but because I had not swung so hard I stopped the swing and instead thrust my weapon at his chest.
Cloud twirled his sword and the metal of out weapons clanged before he took a sideways swing at me.
I suspect he made it slower for training purposes, but never the less I spread my legs apart and braced myself for the strike as I blocked with the shaft of my scythe.
Cloud continued to apply pressure but I used all the power I could to briefly push his weapon away. I hastily ducked low and lashed at his legs with my weapon.
Cloud leapt over my sweeping arc and brought the mythril sword above his head before swinging it down at me.
I rolled back as his sword dug into the ground. I sprung back to my feet.
I ran at Cloud and brought my scythe up, faking a downward swing. As Cloud brought his weapon up to deflect, I instead plunged the bottom of my scythe down at his knee.
His eyes widened and he quickly shot back, gripping his sword and shifting to a defensive position.
“You almost had me with that one. It would have broken my knee and seriously slowed me down if it had hit.” Cloud said in a complimentary tone.
“Thanks, but I know you aren’t fighting me seriously.” I replied.
He shrugged nonchalantly. “My technique is more honed than yours. It wouldn’t be fair at this point.”
“I know. How am I doing so far?”
“There are a lot less openings, but there’s still work to be done.”
Cloud loosened up and lowered his sword. I took this as the sign to stop for now and in turn, did the same.
“We’ll go over a few more things and then go at it again, alright?”
I nodded. “Thanks. I owe you one.”
We had spent the next hour or so going over little things I could correct such as when it would be a good time to shift my hands along the scythe, ways of predicting enemy movement (assuming they were humanoid), how to make my motions more fluid, etc.
Yuffie watched us train and I suspect she was gawking at Cloud. She was notably becoming bored however, as evident by the constant tapping of her foot. To relieve this feeling, she practiced with her shuriken, twirling it and throwing it in the air, flipping to gracefully catch it and the like.
After we’d gone over a number of principals, all of which I tattooed into my brain, Cloud and I went at it again. Once again he hadn’t been going all out, but he was moving quicker than the last time and I kept up alright, which tells me that I have improved a little bit just from listening to his advice. With more practice, I should be quite bad ass, I hope.
“That’s all we have time for.” Cloud said. “I’m going to put out the fire and get everything together. Can you wake everyone up?”
“You got it!” I turned to Yuffie and waved my hands. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to everyone.”
“Finally…” she grumbled.
First I led her behind the tent where Red was sleeping.
At the sight of what she believed to be a monster, her eyes bulged. As I watched her point and open her mouth, it became obvious that she was going to scream ‘monster’ or something of the sort, and that might be problematic.
I quickly slapped my hand over her mouth and hissed; “Shhh…!”
She stared with furious eyes. I gulped and removed my hand.
“It’s not a monster. He’s one of us.” I whispered.
She blinked and looked down at the small furry feline. She grinned. “I wanna pet him.”
“Best to ask him about that.”
Red stirred, “The answer is no.”
I watched as his eye opened up. He stood on all fours and stretched his back, before shaking his head and swaying his tail. Then, he sat back on his hind legs and watched Yuffie with a quizzical expression.
“I am sorry, I don’t believe we have met.” He said in his ‘Mr. educated’ voice.
“He talks!” Yuffie pointed.
Poor Red, he must get that a lot.
The red animal remained impassive and held his gaze.
“This is Yuffie. She’s new.” I clarified.
“I see. It is nice to meet you, Miss Yuffie.” Red said politely, though he didn’t sound all that interested.
“Er…same!” Yuffie replied.
She knelt down and grabbed Red’s right paw, placing it in her own and shaking it. Red looked rather unamused, but Yuffie giggled and patted his head then walked back around to the front of the tent.
“We’ll be leaving in like 15 minutes once everyone’s fixed themselves up.” I informed Red.
He nodded, “Thank you for informing me.”
I caught the sound of a zipper being pulled down and groaned.
I ran around to the front of the tent and found her already inside. The girl glanced between the three sleeping forms and stopped when she saw Tifa, or more specifically, Tifa’s chest.
“Wow, so I’m guessing this is the “sexy” one, huh?” she said, using air quotes.
“I’m the sexy one.” I joked.
And the sad thing was Yuffie laughed like it was the best joke she had ever heard.
Fortunately, that awkward feeling was lifted as Aeris, Tifa, and Barret all murmured and moved about, suggesting the high pitched child like laugh had awoken them.
Aeris sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Good morning…”
“Good morning, Aeris!” Yuffie exclaimed.
At the sound of a new and foreign voice, Tifa and Barret sat up.
“Guys, this is Yuffie. She’s a new member of AVALANCHE.”
Barret grunted. “She’s a damn kid!”
“Hey, she’s older than me!” I protested. Then realizing that I didn’t officially know her age, I corrected myself. “Or as old as me. Something like that.”
“Yeah!” Yuffie chimed in. “And your leader already gave me the okay so nyah!” she stuck her tongue out.
“They’re Tifa and Barret.” I said.
Tifa stood up and yawned. Then, she stepped towards Yuffie and examined her from head to toe.
“Glad to have you with us, Yuffie. You’ll have to tell me more about yourself soon, okay?” Tifa said warmly.
“Bah.” Barret grunted.
He stood up and moved past us, presumably to tell Cloud that he doesn’t like his decision. But then, I’m a kid too really, and younger than Yuffie…maybe it’s because she’s a girl?
Whatever.
“Cloud wanted me to tell you we’ll be leaving soon.” I said to them before turning and leaving the tent.
Yuffie stayed behind, I guess to chat with the other girls of the group.
I scanned for Cloud and sure enough, he and Barret were a respectable distance away having a heated discussion.
“I don’t see what the problem is. She’s equal if not better than Grant, and he’s with us.” Cloud shrugged.
“The problem is we don’t know her, Cloud! What if she’s a spy or somethin’? How do we know we can trust her?” Barret shot.
“It’s not like I won’t be keeping an eye on her. I suspect most of the group if not all will be critical of her for a while.”
I was a bit surprised with how much Cloud was willing to defend her. I know part of the reason he agreed was because Aeris and I pushed for it, but I think that perhaps he also sees something in her. It’ll suck when she tries to rob us, and I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot of ‘I told you so’, but beyond that I’m sure everyone will find it to be a good decision.
“Awright, fine. But I’ll be watchin’ her ass…” the black man warned.
“Watching her ass? Isn’t she like half your age?” I joked.
Barret turned around and tried to simmer away some of the anger from his face. He gave me an unconvincing wave of the hand. “Mornin’.”
At that moment, the three ladies exited from the tent. Tifa disassembled it and brought it over to Cloud, then gathered her belongings along with the rest of us.
I watched Cloud pick up his sword and place it on his back. It was a large weapon, and some of the swords he would get later on were even bigger. Sephiroth’s sword was a long and skinny thing, but gave him just as much reach.
I’ve often wondered what it would look like to see Sephiroth fight with that thing. Sure I’ve seen him in the game do it, but I want to see how it would look here. I probably will not get that chance though since the only times we fight him is when he’s a monstrously large abomination and when he’s a one winged angel.
Then I realized something.
“Cloud!” I shouted.
“What?” he replied, noting the urgency in my voice.
“If Sephiroth left his sword in president Shinra, then does he have like…infinite swords or does he just teleport that one somehow?” I asked.
Cloud sighed, thinking for a moment I had a serious concern. But the weight of what I said sank in, as evident by his perplexed facial expression. He opened his mouth once as if to say something, and then closed it again.
“Hm…guess you’ll have to ask him that won’t you?” he finally replied.
I’d probably be a bit preoccupied with trying not to wet myself, actually.
“Err…why don’t you ask him for me?” I laughed.
“Everyone ready?” Cloud asked.
Collective nods and voicing of approval.
“Let’s go then.”
We departed from what had been our camp grounds for the night. From here, the distance to Junon was not all that great. We would likely reach it in under an hour of walking.
Yuffie seemed happy enough, though I did sense a bit of nervousness being the new one and all. She moved from person to person starting up conversation in an attempt to understand them a bit better. She started with Red, but it didn’t take that well. From there, she moved on to Barret, who was rather dismissive of her. And now, her current conversation buddy is Tifa. I can catch snippets of their conversation here and there. For the most part, they’re talking about their own likes and dislikes.
I should have peed before we left.
A sudden echoing ‘hoot’ sound caught our attention.
To our side, what I would describe as a large 8 foot owl with green outer feathers and white feather on its chest was approaching.
Another hoot.
There were two more coming from our other side.
“I got this once!” Yuffie called.
She moved towards the first bird and brought out her shuriken, twirling it a few times until it was with in range.
She hurled the shuriken up towards the bird, but it swayed to the side.
The yellow orb in Yuffie’s weapon flickered for an instant and the weapon turned itself around. During its return, it slashed the bird’s side and injured its wing, causing it to erratically fly.
Barret raised his gun and fire off several shots into its body. Feathers were sent flying and it dropped to the ground, dead.
I choose a bird and brought my hands together, gathering my magic.
“Flame thrower!” I shouted.
I inhaled deeply and felt heat build around my mouth. With one large breath, I shot a stream of flames up at the creature.
It screeched in pain as it was engulfed, and from that stream, its flaming form dove at the ground and moved about in agony.
“Ice!” Cloud exclaimed.
A blast of frozen spears pelted through the birds body, then melted away from the heat of the fire…but it was dead, so who cares. Besides, this is an excellent opportunity for a well timed pun.
“I guess he isn’t feeling like ‘hot stuff’ anymore, huh?”
Cloud just shook his head.
The third bird lasted a whole of ten seconds as Aeris channeled her vastly superior magic, and chanted; “Bolt!”
From above, a sizable lightning bolt struck the bird dead on. It dropped to the ground and spasmed, before ceasing its movement.
“Ha!” Yuffie laughed at Barret, “See, I am good! Right? Right?” she went on, jumping up and down.
“Not bad, maybe.” Barret replied gruffly.
As Barret walked away from her, Yuffie growled quietly and shook her fist as the large man’s back.
I smirked and went to follow behind everyone when…
I felt something cold…and when I say cold, I don’t mean a bit chilly. I felt it all over my body, but it was a different kind of cold. The same kind you feel when you’re so terribly afraid that you can’t move or think or process. That’s what I felt.
Everyone continued to walk, but I remained frozen where I stood. My body began shaking and trembling horribly but I couldn’t emit anything more than a choking sound.
I dropped to me knees.
I clenched my eyes shut. It seemed like the only bodily function I could control at the moment.
A flash.
Men and women in lab coats,
Sprawled along the floors.
Running down a white hallway,
A cloaked girl at my side.
A dozen soldiers stand in our path,
Weapons raised,
She lifts her hands,
The bullets ricochet off the air in front of us.
I lift my hands,
A stream of snakes,
A symphony of screams,
Bodies hit the floor.
A flash
Running through a village
Wutain housings
Confused citizens
That same girl at my side
Ninja surround us
They out number us 8-2
We bring our hands together
A field of grey smoke
We outnumber them 14-8
Both sides charge
Less than a minute
We walk past chunks of human meat
A flash
Darkness
Two voices
“I’m leaving for Kalm.”
“Alone? Why?”
“I should be enough. It’s there.”
“The master materia?”
“Yes. It’ll be an asset.”
“Be careful. They’ll be after us.”
“I can handle it. More importantly, what will you do?”
“I’ll gather information. Meet me at Icicle Inn?”
“If I’m not there in 2 weeks, you can assume I am dead.”
“Don’t talk like that…”
A flash.
And reality returned.
I found myself on my hands and knees panting heavily.
What the fuck had just happened?
I glanced up and found that the others were quite far ahead, and still no one had noticed that I lagged behind. All save one.
With his superior sense of hearing, Red XIII was also standing a ways behind the others, glancing at me with a mystified expression.
I stood up and continued my hard breathing as I staggered towards the feline.
Up ahead, Yuffie turned around and shouted to us; “Hey, get your asses into gear, slowpokes!” then she turned back around and continued conversing, this time with Aeris.
Red waited for me to catch up, and then began walking with me, slowly so we’d have the same pace.
“What seems to be the problem?” he inquired.
I groaned and rubbed my sweaty face with my sleeve.
“I don’t know.” I said quietly. “But I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone. Not yet, at least.”
There was no way at the moment for me to understand what just happened or why. I didn’t want to worry the others, and if they thought it too serious a concern, they may end up leaving me behind or having me go with Biggs and Jesse instead.
There were snakes in that flash or vision…whatever you want to call it. Just like mine. So was I seeing something I did and somehow forgot? Was I seeing something some a lot like me did? Those people used shadow replication too. I was under the impression that only I could do that. Of course, if I was one of those people, then that explains it. But what about the other?
“Bah.” I grunted aloud. “I’ll figure this shit out when we have a little down time.”
“If that’s what you think is best for yourself…” Red trailed off.
Red and I were silent from that point onward. He hung back with me instead of catching up with the others, likely because he isn’t very social.
I enjoyed the silence, though. It would give me time to think about some of the more recent events.
Sadly, it was not to be.
With the sound of footsteps drawing closer, I glanced ahead and saw Yuffie running back to join Red and I, stopping to do a cartwheel for no knowable reason along the way.
“Aw hell…” I whispered to myself.
“Grant! It’s your turn now!” Yuffie exclaimed.
“My turn for what?”
“To answer some questions! I’ve asked everyone so far.”
“What about Cloud?”
She giggled, “Saving the best for last!”
“Oh god.” I rolled my eyes.
Without a word, Red suddenly trotted on ahead to join the others up at the front. He ditched me, that ass.
“First question: where were you born?” She asked, raising her pointer finger.
It was her first question and already I wasn’t that sure how to answer. I suppose the best thing to say would be Kalm, but I remember telling some of the people in the group that I’ve only lived there for like a year or so.
I scratched my head as the ninja girl awaited an answer.
“If you mean where in this world was I conceived, I have no idea.” I finally answered.
“Hm. Well, where did you grow up then?”
“Don’t know.” I said emotionlessly.
Yuffie threw her hands up, “Geez, you’re impossible! Do you have, like, a really crappy memory or something?”
I said nothing.
Her line of questioning troubled me, because while I was under the impression that I just appeared fresh around Kalm about a year ago, I’m now thinking there’s something else going on. I have nothing solid yet, but it’s one of those nagging feelings.
I’m not entirely sure how Yuffie interpreted my expression and silence, but her own facial features suddenly softened.
“…Sorry.” She said in a low voice.
“Don’t worry about it.” I said as assuringly as I could.
A moment of silence.
“So!” she suddenly brightened, “There was another thing I really wanted to ask you…”
“Oh?”
“Yup!” she sidestepped closer and nudged me with her elbow lightly, talking almost in a whisper, “Why’d you lie to Cloud about what happened in the forest, huh?”
I smiled, “I just wanted you in AVALANCHE, that’s all. Besides, I’m gonna want another match with you sometime in the future.” I said, as though it were nothing special.
“Or, you think I’m drop dead sexy and couldn’t resist bringing me along.” Yuffie offered.
“Yeah, that was it.” I sarcastically replied.
At this point, there was a vast ocean of water further ahead and a hill to our side. Once we rounded it, Junon would be within sight.
I got tired of hanging near the back so I jogged to catch up and hung around the center, exchanging greetings and small talk with some while Yuffie approached Cloud with a few questions. In response, he would give basic one word answers and was mostly uninterested in satisfying her curiosity.
When we passed by the massive hillside, my mouth dropped at the sight that was, Junon harbor.
The lower portion, which would be the equivalent of the Midgar slums as far as I was concerned, appeared drafty and dark with a few basic wooden homes. It was a pretty musty picture, and the only bright part was the beach where a bit of sun could get in. The lower section looked rather polluted.
The upper portion was suspended above this ‘slum area’. I couldn’t make out a lot of the top portion from where I stood, other than a few tall buildings towards the edge of the upper section and a big ass cannon that pointed towards the ocean. One question came to mind…
“Hey Cloud?” I spoke.
“Yeah?”
“Why is that cannon there? I mean, it’s pointing towards the Cos Del Sol area, but that’s hardly an anti-Shinra town. They’re like…neutral right? So what the hell good is that thing where it is?”
Of course, I was already aware that it served two purposes. The first was to conveniently be there when Weapon attacked later so it could shoot at it. The second was so it could be moved to Midgar later on.
“There was a war going on when that cannon was placed there. Because of Junon’s position by the hillside, the only places it can be attacked from would be the direction we came from and the ocean. Having such a large and powerful canon here though, no one dared attacking from sea.” Cloud answered.
“Ah.”
Interesting, actually. I never would have thought of that.
“What now, Cloud?” Aeris asked.
“We need to find a way to the top section. If we can get up there during the parade, we can disguise ourselves as soldiers and sailors, and then slip onto Rufus’s transport vessel.” Cloud decided.
I recalled how around the time the party made it to Junon; a little girl would be attacked by a big scary fish monster. I raised my hand with a suggestion.
“Hey, see those poles on the beach that help suspend the upper portion? Maybe there’s a way to climb them?”
Cloud shrugged, “Wouldn’t hurt to check.”
We went a little further into town, taking into account the diminished spirits of the town’s people and the dusty damp feel to the place.
I glanced down at the cracked stone walkway that led us to the center of this tiny little town. Not even 10 houses…
We formed a circle as Cloud looked to the item shop, the beach, then around the genera area.
“We might need more supplies. Does someone want to take care of that?”
Aeris raised her hand and smiled, “I will.”
Cloud smiled back and nodded to her, “Thank you, Aeris.”
And I stared with distaste. Blah.
Wait a minute, is he gonna split us up so a group of three goes to the beach?
“We should gather a bit of information too…see what everyone knows about this parade, about anything involving Shinra, and possibly even Sephiroth.”
“Got it.” Tifa nodded. She turned to the rest of us. “Let’s do our best, okay?”
And just like that, everyone separated, going off in their own directions.
I glanced around, feeling a bit confused. I mean what the hell? 3 of us are supposed to go to the beach!
“Well, let’s have a look at that tower.” Cloud said as he began walking towards the beach.
I hectically looked around for the closest person with long range abilities. Seeing as it was none other than our newest member, I sprung forward before she could get away and grabbed her arm.
She gave me a sideways glance, “What?”
I released her arm and tried to think of a way to ask her to the beach without sounding like a dork or anything. to the beach with me?” I stammered.
She scratched her head then shrugged. “Whatever. These people all look old and boring anyways.”
We caught up to Cloud and found him standing cross armed and surveying the area. He frowned when he noted the occasional sparks of electricity moving along the only climbable support pole.
Farther down the beach, close to the shoreline, a small girl with brown hair and a red dress was standing with the water up to her ankles.
The atmosphere of the beach was completely different than the town itself. It was brighter, more soothing, and it was easier to feel the wind. Once you got past the support structure blocking the complete view, it was actually quite nice.
“Hello Mr. Dolphin!” The girl called out to the water.
A splash and a light blue dolphin leapt up from the waters, flipped in the air, and landed again in the water.
“It doesn’t look this way will work…” Cloud stated.
“Guess not. I’m sure we’ll find something. The parade isn’t for a while. We’ll know when it’s started by the loud music.” I replied.
Upon hearing our voices, the little girl quickly turned around. Her mouth opened and she pointed at us menacingly, something resembling fear and anger presenting her eyes.
“Who are you!” she yelled, “Are you with the Shinra?”
I have to wonder what would lead her to think that. Are we dressed like it? Cloud might look kind of scary, but do Yuffie or I remotely resemble a trained Shinra soldier? No? That’s what I thought.
“No way! We hate Shinra!” Yuffie protested loudly, stomping on the sand.
Cloud nodded, trying to speak as calmly and as gently as possible to relieve the girl’s concerns.
“That’s how it is.”
She looked uncertain for a moment, possibly even convinced. But being a child so young, she was not entirely familiar with reason.
“I don’t believe you!”
Yuffie balled her fist, but closed her eyes, trying to remain calm. For a girl like her, it seemed like it was a very difficult thing to do. Slowly, her mouth began to open…
But before we could hear whatever colorful thing she had to say, there was a sudden rumbling.
What started as steady ripples in the water quickly turned into stronger and stronger waves.
“Oh gawd!” Yuffie shouted.
From far off, a large and serpent like form rose from the water and hovered, drawing closer.
A large aqua colored serpent floated above the waters. Its head was covered in dark red scaled and its teeth were numerous. On it’s sides were what I would describe as wing like fins, white in color and as long as Cloud was tall. The serpent’s tail had a crescent shaped blade attached. From what I remember, its name was ‘Bottomswell’.
“Be careful Mr. Dolphin!”
Knowing the girl was going to try and run even closer to the monster (as stupid as that is), I shot forward and grabbed her arm as soon as she took one step, and yanked her back.
“Let go!” she screamed.
I couldn’t let her try and help the dolphin though. Unlike the game, if she’s under too long she could really die. There’s no telling how long this could take.
I pulled her back as Cloud and Yuffie drew their weapons.
I knelt down but held her firmly, trying to talk sense into her.
“We’ll help Mr. Dolphin. Leave it to us, alright?” I urged.
She stopped struggling and nodded, “…Okay.”
“So be good and stay back, okay?”
“Okay.”
I joined Cloud and Yuffie with my own weapon ready as Bottomswell hissed and slapped the water with its tail, producing a loud snapping sound.
Cloud was the first to act.
“Ice!”
Cool air appeared, solidified into spears, and launched forward at the serpent.
It brought its tail forward and slapped the ice away, knocking it harmlessly into the water around it.
With the ice out of the way, it swooped its tail back in a wide arc towards us.
I leapt back while Cloud and Yuffie leapt up.
I gripped my scythe and swung it at the end of the creature’s tail. There was a clash as the blade of my weapon bounced off. The end of its tail is as hard as steel, it would seem.
While in the air, Yuffie let out a cry as she tossed her shuriken at the Bottomswell’s body.
Cloud came flying down and swung his sword higher up along the creature’s tail.
Bottomswell brought its tail back, and Cloud’s blade hit the sand ineffectively. It swerved in the air around Yuffie’s weapon, even managing to avoid it upon its return.
Yuffie caught her weapon and landed back on the sand, sighing in annoyance.
“Flame thrower!” I shouted.
A blaze shot from my mouth and swirled in the air as it coursed itself towards the serpent.
Bottomswell opened its mouth and produced a large counter spray of water. The attacks met and canceled one another out.
This thing wasn’t nearly as hard to hit in the game. Lightning is out too since if we hit the water, Mr. Dolphin would be fried and the girl would be mighty pissed.
“Shit, what a bastard.” I cursed.
The serpent hissed and lifted its tail above its body, then threw it down at Cloud.
Cloud dashed to the side, then sprung up and slashed at the creature’s tail where the concentration of hardened scales was less dense.
Bottomswell hissed as its blood flew from the long cut.
It brought its tail back and held it down neat the water as it opened its mouth.
A line of liquid, almost gooey blue flew towards Yuffie. She dodged, leaping back, and then avoided the second attack by moving to the side.
She cursed as a third came, this time too quickly for her to avoid. Once it was within range, the gooey material encapsulated her, forming a semi transparent blue sphere around her body. Within that sphere, water appeared and filled up the entire volume of the inside.
Yuffie held her breath and fought, trying to break the clear blue casing that surrounded her.
The creature threw its tail down at me after its attack, but Cloud leapt in, his own blade colliding with the blade of its tail.
“Help Yuffie.” He said to me, before leaping up at the serpent.
After his high jump, Cloud tried to slash at the serpent’s body, but it hovered back and spat out a blast of high pressure water.
Cloud grunted as it hit and sent him flying back where he slid across the sand and coughed for air.
I turned to Yuffie and watched her struggles. Acting quickly, I chanted; “Flame Thrower!”
The flames surrounded her prison and melted it away, making the water that filled it evaporate into the air.
Yuffie hunched down and panted heavily, catching her breath.
Cloud dodged another wave of water.
“Ice!”
With his second casting, he spread the spears out further instead of packing them together. With the increased field, Bottomswell was unable to completely avoid them all as once buried itself into its side.
Another hiss of rage.
“It’s pretty nimble, so increase the scope of your attacks!” Cloud commanded.
“Gotcha!” a now recovered Yuffie said.
“Roger that.” I followed.
Bottomswell brought its tail back and opened its mouth wide. Knowing what this entailed, I focused my magic.
As it sent another line of gooey water, I in turn breathed flames to dissolve it before it even got close to us.
While this was happening, Yuffie hurled her shuriken and as it sailed in the air, began forming seals.
“Shadow Shuriken!”
The magic she placed into her weapon served to temporarily duplicate the elements that composed her weapon.
Two copy shurikens appeared and as the serpent avoided the first, he was by the second. The third flew in and completely severed his left fin from his body.
As an automatic reaction, its head lowered as it let out a tormented cry.
Cloud took off towards it, jumping high into the air, and flew down with his sword.
A loud crack followed as his hard mythril sword broke through the scales on its head and went directly into its skull, probably cleaving its brain in two.
As the creature flashed red all over, it dissolved into the air, leaving no trace of it’s presence in usual “just killed a boss” style.
Cloud landed in the water and sighed, looking at his now dirty blade.
“Ha! Success!” Yuffie beamed, giving the thumbs up along with a wide smile.
“I guess that thing won’t be getting very far ‘a head’ now, huh!” I joked.
Yuffie was quiet as she stared. “…Oh sorry, that was supposed to be funny right?”
“At least pretend to laugh.” I reprimanded.
“Okay…” she took a deep breath, “HAW HAW HAW!” she yelled, doing the worst fake laugh ever.
Cloud joined us on the sand. He pulled a long piece of cloth from his pocket and wiped his blade down, then tossed it in a near by trash bin.
The moment the monster was gone, the little girl made her way into the water to check on ‘Mr. Dolphin’.
I watched her as she called out to it. I’m not sure where it was hiding, but it was quick to come to her. She climbed on top of its back and laughed as it moved around slowly and playfully.
I smiled. For the most part, I find kids annoying, but I guess there are some that have good moments.
“How’s Mr. Dolphin?” I called to her.
She patted the dolphin’s head and it brought her closer to shore where she disembarked.
When she came towards us that fear we had seen before was no longer there. I think it’s safe to assume she trusts us now.
“Thank you very much for saving Mr. Dolphin!” she said happily.
“It’s fine. What’s your name?” Cloud asked.
“Pricilla!”
“Hey Pricilla…” I said, “Do you know anyway to get to the upper level? Like maybe, how to turn the electricity off?”
“Hmm…yeah! Watch this!” she replied.
Pricilla spun around and pulled a small silver whistle from the front pocket of her dress.
A single blow was enough to make Mr. Dolphin leap out of the water. The jump was so great; he almost reached a long red beam higher up along the support that was past the electricity.
“That would get one of us up there.” Cloud mused.
“Uh huh!” Pricilla nodded. She grabbed Cloud’s hand and placed the whistle in it. “For you!”
Cloud stared down at it. “Thank you.”
He then closed his hand and looked between Yuffie and I. “Why don’t we see what the others have turned up?”
“You two go ahead. I wanna stay her and train a bit.”
My belief is that if I train while everyone else slacks about, I’ll catch up. I can use this time to go over some moves and maybe spar with a shadow clone.
“Whatever floats your boat.” Yuffie waved boredly.
“If we have anything, I’ll come get you.” Cloud said.
I nodded and turned around, listening to their steps grow more distant.
I think Cloud’s right. My stamina seems to fill up faster lately. I also see no problem now with using a bit or even a lot up since there won’t be another battle until we get on the cargo ship…and from what I remember, there was a dude there that sold a super energy drink which was basically a full stamina restore.
Oh wait…
I looked to the side and saw Pricilla watching me.
“I wanna watch!” she said excitedly.
I was skeptical.
“You know violence is bad, right?”
She nodded.
“Okay, well as long as you know that then I guess its okay. Why don’t you sit on the steps over there?” I said, pointing.
She skipped along the sand and plopped down on a step then placed her elbows on her knees and her hands on her chin.
I brought my hands together; “Shadow Replication!”
A copy whirred into solid form before me.
Pricilla clapped her hands together and shouted a “wow” for me.
We both readied our scythes and got into position, circling one another.
“Ready?”
“Yep.”
I ran forward and twirled the scythe in my hands and turned it, bringing the blade end up near my clone’s leg.
Clone parried my blade with his own, then thrust the butt towards my chest.
I sidestepped and swung horizontally as a counter attack.
My clone quickly blocked with the shaft of his scythe.
I backed away and circled partially before performing a sweeping arc at his legs.
He jumped as I anticipated, so I stopped my swing before it finished and threw my scythe upwards.
A loud pop.
If my clone had been a real person, I would have split his body in half starting with his genitals, the poor bastard.
Fanning away the grey smoke with my hands, I coughed.
I took a moment to note the clapping to my side and smirked. Kids were so easy to entertain.
What should I do now, I had to wonder. I could make another clone and fight it. Maybe even make two! I thought of trying to learn to use Beta but…
I took a look at the beach and the towering red support structure. Chances are if I did pull Beta off, I’d blow that thing to shit and possibly kill Mr. Dolphin.
I sighed and just decided on more one on one with shadow clones.
I formed a second and engaged it. For the first little while, we were equal and matched each other’s moves, likely because we were both ‘Grant’ and all. Eventually, I’d win though. In terms of physical strength and speed, my clones and I are equal, but I seem to possess more wit and cunningness.
I was about to make another when I heard something familiar.
From above, on the upper level, came thunderously loud music. It sounded like “dooooo doooo doo do do do…..” and so on, only replace ‘do’ with what it actually sounded like.
I raised an eyebrow. Now that didn’t make any sense at all.
“Bah.” I grumbled. “Gotta go Pricilla. Nice meeting you.”
I walked past her, but found she was following behind me.
I glanced at her over my shoulder as I walked back into town.
“I have something to give you, kay?” she chirped.
I looked back ahead and found that the other were already beginning to gather near the item shop around the center of the town.
“Sure.” I said back.
I joined the others, and once again, we were in circular formation with Cloud standing slightly inward to establish his leaderness.
Pricilla passed through us and ran up the stairs to her home. While she was doing whatever she was doing, I looked between the others.
“That music sure is noisy.” Aeris complained.
“Gawd, I can’t stand it. It sounds so AWFUL!” Yuffie added.
Barret scratched his beard. “Guess da parade is startin’?”
“It would appear so.” Red replied.
“What did everyone find out?” I asked.
“We can head to the upper level with that elevator once the parade’s a bit further in.” Tifa said. “It’s 20 gil per ride up.”
Cloud nodded, “I’ll be going up via the dolphin, and you’ll all take the elevator in groups of two. For once, traveling in a big group really is a bad idea.”
I think that was a jibe directed at you, Mr. Barret. Not that he noticed.
“Once we’re up we can do whatever as long as we get on to the…” Yuffie winced, “…boat. Right?”
Oh yeah, she gets seasick AND airsick…and probably carsick too. Sucks to be her, nyuk nyuk nyuk.
“Yeah. Just don’t do anything stupid.”
“As if I would!” Yuffie protested.
Our leader shrugged, “Just saying.”
Just then, the door to Pricilla’s home opened and she stepped down the stairs, holding something tightly in her hands.
Right, I remember now! The Shiva summon materia.
When she reached the bottom, she stepped towards me and held it out for me to take shyly.
“Here Mister…this is for saving me and letting me watch you. It’s my special stone. Take care of it okay?”
Wow she was giving it to me and not Cloud. First time I beat him in something.
“Thank you.” I said as I gently took the orb from her and slid it into my item pouch.
I was feeling rather random right now, so I held the orb up high, looked into space, and shouted dramatically; “Acquired Shiva materia!”
The group glanced at me quizzically and chalked it up to me being a dork as I tended to do sometimes.
Pricilla looked to Cloud, “You’re going to ride Mr. Dolphin, right? Come on!” she said, grabbing his hand.
He allowed himself to be tugged away while we all stood near the elevator and waited for our time to go up.
I leaned against the cement wall neat the elevator’s door and tapped my foot impatiently while the others all talked amongst each other.
To my surprise, Yuffie was talking with Red, and the issue had nothing to do with her, but rather, she was asking about Cosmo canyon and what it was like. I suppose she’s never been there before.
Aeris and Barret were talking about Marlene and how Aeris’s adoptive mother was looking after her. Barret shared a story or two about his little girl…some funny, others rather cute. Marlene was a good kid, even if she was really shy around new people.
About ten minutes passed before the Shinra guard near the elevator glanced around then gestured for us to come closer. He hit a panel near the door, causing it to slide open loudly.
“20 gil for 2, remember.” He reminded us.
Yuffie was first to volunteer.
“Me and Red here will go first! Come on, kitty!”
“While I am feline, I am hardly a ‘kitty’” Red reprimanded disapprovingly.
“Whatever, come on.” she replied dismissively.
After she dragged Red into the elevator with her, conversation resumed. But I noticed Tifa wasn’t talking to anyone. She was just looking into space. You couldn’t really tell that often in the game, but it’s more obvious here: she spends a lot of time thinking about Cloud, her meeting with him, Nibelhiem, and all that stuff. She’s quite good at hiding it too. If I didn’t already know the story I probably would have missed it completely.
I sighed quietly.
And even with all that, she likes Cloud. I’d really prefer it if Cloud and Aeris stayed friends, but my concern now is that after Aeris dies, he’ll become so attached to her memory that any development between him and Tifa will be limited with the exception of that one time the day before the final battle of the game.
Poor Tifa.
I closed me eyes.
…
…
…
“He is very resistant!” came the first voice.
“Very resistant, he is!” the second followed.
“Kill we must!” they both cried in union.
…
…
…
My eyes shot open and I gasped quietly. It happened again. Not as bad this time, but still.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned quickly with a fierce look in my eyes.
Tifa was gazing back at me with soft amber eyes.
“Are you okay, Grant?”
I took a deep breath. “I’m fine. Just tired.” I assured her.
“It’s our turn.” And the way she said it made it sound like she was wondering if I knew that.
I looked around. Had Barret and Aeris gone already?
I spoke hesitantly. “…Sure. Let’s go then.”
All the little gears in my head were turning as Tifa paid the guard and ushered me into the elevator.
During the ride up, I could tell she was looking at me with those same eyes I had seen before, but right now all I could do was to try and make sense of this all.
Twice now in less than a day.
The first time was the worst, both mentally a physically. The first experience consisted of two parts, one being fast paced sights and sounds, and the second consisting of no sight, but two voices talking…and while my memory is a bit hazy, one of them really does sound like me. I also have no idea how much time passed between each happening. Maybe the talk came right after the Wutai thing, or maybe a week, month, or year later. There’s no real way to be sure.
This time around, I closed my eyes and heard things. It didn’t hurt, but I was caught off guard again. Something else that bothers me was how the two voices spoke. I didn’t recognize the voices themselves, but their manner of speaking sounded oddly familiar.
“So!” Tifa said as she clapped her hands together, “I hear Junon has lots of nice things. Why don’t we go shopping together, hm?”
I slowly began smiling.
“Come on…” she said with anticipation.
And it finished. A full smile. It wasn’t like I could resist, you know!
“There we go.” She said kindly.
She ruffled my hair a bit before the elevator door opened and brought us to the upper level of Junon.
We stepped out and found ourselves indoors in a small hallway. There was a window directly in front of us which gave a nice view of the air harbor. In the distance, I think I can make out the Highwind, but I’m not one hundred percent sure.
To our left was the doorway we needed to take. Beyond it was a long paved street with tall buildings on both sides, each with rows of dozens of windows. A lot more people lived here than in little places like Kalm.
I glanced between two of the tall golden colored buildings down an alleyway and saw what appeared to be soldiers marching and cars moving about. That’s where the parade was taking place.
The first shop was within our sights, a weapon shop. That’s the first place Tifa and I made our way to.
She turned her head and looked down at me, trying to speak in a non intrusive way.
“Grant, are you sure you’re okay? You’ve been zoning out a lot lately.” Tifa asked.
“So have you.” I countered.
She bit her lip and looked back ahead.
I cleared my throat. “Sorry.”
The fighter shook her head, “No it’s fine. You’re right.” A pause. “I just worry about things too much I guess.”
“It’s understandable. There’s a lot going on with everyone, and you’re generally the type to worry about your problems as well as the problems of others. Must be a lot of stress. But I don’t think it’s wrong necessarily to worry about others that much.”
“Thanks. It’s nice to hear that.” Tifa replied warmly.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed her slowly smirking.
“So what do you think of the newest addition to the team?” she said in a suggestive way.
“And what the hell does that mean?” I replied, not bitterly but slightly annoyed.
“Oh, nothing. I’m just curious.”
I crossed my arms and scoffed. “She’s noisy.”
“I think she adds a bit more life to our group.” Tifa commented.
“Too much of a good thing. If you call that a good thing, that is. But really, it’s a bad thing. So the problem is…too much of a BAD thing, which is even worse than too much of a good thing if you think about it.” I said pointedly.
Tifa stared into space for a moment. “Um…sure.”
We reached the weapons shop and entered, giving a half-hearted greeting to the man behind the counter.
The shop was well stocked, even if it was a tad small for my liking.
Along the walls and in display cases were everything from swords and spears to gloves and guns.
In one display case, something caught my eye. A long shining scythe seemingly made of gold or gold-like material. The shaft was slightly shorter than that of my current weapon. The blade looked viciously sharp and the curve of the blade would make it ideal for cutting off a head. I wanted it.
I tapped the glass and looked at the shop keeper.
“I want this, please.”
He nodded and came around the counter with a key. I watched him unlock it and hand it to me before leading me to the register at the front.
“That comes to 1300 gil please.”
I fished around in my money pouch and dumped some coin on the table, then counted it all out.
“Here ya go, dude.”
Contrary to what some might think, monsters still leave money when they die and by now, we’ve build up a nice little fund. Mostly we hang onto our own amounts and spend it as we like, but since Yuffie was new, Cloud gave her a nice sum during the walk to Junon.
Tifa joined me at the counter and placed a pair of hardened black gloves on the counter. When they touched the wooden surface, they actually made a surprising clunk.
“I’ll get the ‘Grand Gloves’.”
I stepped back and allowed her to complete her transaction while I hefted my new weapon in my hand. It was heavier than the mythril scythe but looked so much more bitchin’. I’d kick a lot of ass with this.
I set the Golden Scythe down on the floor and put my Mythril Scythe beside it, transferring the material over, before placing my new weapon on my back.
I lifted the Mythril Scythe and placed it on the counter once Tifa was done.
“Wanna buy that?” I offered. “400 gil. Sound good?”
The man bobbed his head from side to side, thinking it over.
“Yeah, what the hell.”
Tifa and I left feeling rather pleased, although when I sold my weapon I felt a bit weird. I had that thing for almost the entire time I was in this world. How fucked is it that I become attached to a weapon?
We walked by a few more houses, but I stopped.
“Tifa, I have some things to take care of.” I suddenly said.
She turned around and put her hands on her hips. “Oh? I’m not fun to hang out with?”
“No no…” I waved my hands, “I just need to do a few things.”
Such as ransack people’s homes and shops for items left lying around.
Tifa sighed and looked up. “Okay. But, how are you planning on getting on the transport ship?”
“I’ll pretend to be a sailor or something. Don’t worry! I’m elite. It’s all good.” I assured her.
“Okay then. See you later.” She waved.
And with Tifa gone, the pillaging began.
I entered house after house, looking for anything left around. There were some miniature soldiers, but I found no use for them what so ever. A lot of them were empty, until I hit once house that had two very useful things.
The first was a speed source in a green container and the second was a mind source in a purple one. I chugged both down in like 10 seconds and burped, throwing the containers down on the floor. If I’m stealing, I might as well litter, right? See, I thought this out logically.
On my way to the next housing area, I passed by what would lead to a materia shop on the third floor…but not just any materia shop.
Deciding I could spare a few minutes, I went inside and ran up the stairs.
The moment I made it to the third floor and stood in the door way, three feminine voices came at once.
“Welcome!”
“Please buy lots of thing!”
“Nice to meet you!”
There was a woman in a light green dress, one in a tight blue top, and a girl with a red shirt and black jacket. What their faces looked like was beyond me, I was only here for a few seconds, glancing back at their chests, until I waved; “Nice meeting you all.”, and ran back down stairs. Yeah, I’m a pervert, but 15 is a curious age any how, so bite me.
My next stop was an inn. I ignored the clerk and went into the back room, finding a yellow bottle lying in the corner. I picked up the stamina source, which was a guard source in the game, and chugged it down.
I patted my tummy and hucked it off somewhere, then left the room and went upstairs where I found a red bottle of ‘power source’. Again, I drank it and hucked it.
My stomach started feeling a bit grumbly, or if you’re looking for an actual word; sick. I know it’s because I drank all those drinks way too quickly.
I left the inn and glanced from side to side down both ways on the street.
I suppose I’d done everything that needed to be done. I grabbed all the items, pumped up my stats with them, got a new weapon, and I didn’t need new materia. Aeris already stocked up on items too, and my own pouch was fine. All that’s left now is to find a sailor, kick his ass, strip him naked, and wear his clothes.
I took a step, and then stopped.
But if I took his clothes, what would I do with mine? And where would I put my weapon? I mean, a sailor going on a ship with a big shiny scythe might strike some as odd. And what would the others do? One of Cloud’s trademarks is his tendency to carry huge ass swords. And…and…their clothes! In the game they just kind of spin around and then suddenly they’ve changed, but it’s actually realistic here. And this poses a problem.
“Mother fucker…” I cursed to myself.
I stood in this same spot for a few minutes, doing over different scenarios. Then I had an idea.
All I have to do is put my shit in a box after I’ve got my sailor clothes, and I can put the box on the ship. If asked, I’ll just say “I’m loading this.” And such. Really, I only need to get on the boat with it and have it leave harbor since everything will go to poo shortly after that regardless.
Larf! I are smart!
Unexpectedly, I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned to look at them, but they had already walked ahead of me.
“Come on, I’ll buy you a drink.” The man said.
I stared at him as he kept walking; Black skin, white suit, and deep voice.
“Walter?” I gasped. A pause. “Hey, you’re material this time!”
I jogged to catch up.
Walter was the same as ever, both inside and out.
“Sure am. Come on, we’re going to the bar. They’ve passed by that area.”
“The parade you mean?”
“Yup.”
Hey wait a minute…
Walter raised his hand. “Save all questions and comments until we sit down.”
I zipped my lip and followed next to him as we traveled through the streets. We stopped and turned, going down a staircase that led us into a dimly lit bar. I guess that was part of the atmosphere they were trying to create at this place.
There were a few circular tables spread through out the bar and the floor was standard black and white tile pattern. The lights seemed to have a hint of blue to them too. There were a few pool tables, but mostly this place was empty…save for the three blue uniformed people standing at the front bar counter.
The Turks. Reno on the left, Tseng in the middle, and on the left was a girl with short blond hair. I guess Elena’s finally a part of the team.
Walter continued walking towards the counter, in spite of their presence. I had felt reluctant to follow, out of fear that there would be a scene of some kind.
Walter stopped. “It’s fine.”
I was a still a bit uncertain, but I had an abundance of questions for the creator, and I wasn’t going to just turn tail and run. Besides, when they’re not on duty, Turks are pretty damn lazy from what I’ve gathered playing FF7.
I joined Walter at the end of the front table, a fair distance away from the Turks. The barkeep waked over.
“What can I get you two?”
“Gin and OJ, my man.” Walter said loudly.
He nodded and looked my way.
“A beer.” I tried.
Walter laughed, “He’s underage. He’ll have a Professor Pepper.”
“Is that this worlds knock off of ‘Dr. Pepper’?”
“Yeah. Like the name?” Walter smirked.
“No. Rip offs are one of the many little things I hate.”
“Tell me something else you hate.” Walter asked as he waited for his Gin&juice.
I thought for a moment. “I hate when you have to pee and you’re all like “I have to pee” and then one of your buddies tries to be funny by saying something regarding running water, or they imitate the sound of water…”
I didn’t realize it, but my voice was getting louder and louder. “…or they say something like ‘Ooohh! Flushing meadows! Hahahaha!’” I even made a stupid laugh with all the venom and sarcasm I could manage. I mean really, what the fuck do they think they’re doing?
“I hate when they do that. They aren’t being funny…not AT ALL! Ugh…” I finally sighed.
Walter was speechless.
Across the table, I heard Reno say to one of the Turks; “And you say I have issues.”
I snickered silently. I guess the ‘not on duty so they don’t care’ theory proves true.
The bartender came over and slid Walter his drink, then mine, chuckling.
“So…” Walter said, taking a sip of his drink. “You probably have a lot you want to say. Don’t worry about time either. I figured we’d need this talk, so I messed up the transport’s engines a bit. It’ll take them a while to fix it.”
I drummed my fingers on the table and took a sip of my Professor Pepper, which tasted exactly like its rival, the good doctor.
I sighed. “I’ve had two incidents so far. The first contained two fucked up visions and two voices talking at some later point. The second incident was just hearing two voices. What are they and why are they happening?”
“Well…” when Walter spoke, it was soft and quiet, I’m guessing so the Turks wouldn’t hear. “When special Playstation’s put people here, often times they just pop somewhere and it’s like they were never even born there until that point. Others set up some kind of identity for them, but no real past…just something so they aren’t a complete stranger to the world. I gave you a past though. You started here that day almost a year ago, but before that, as far as some are concerned, you were very much alive.”
“...Okay. So essentially, there was another ‘me’ before I came. Only now, I am this me and the old one is gone.”
“Correct.” He took a sip of his drink. I took a sip of mine. “I did this for a few reasons. One of them is that I wanted you to have actual storyline.”
“Why?”
“Because if you had none, then there would be a lot less deviation from the original game.”
“But I thought I was an echo or whatever. I mirrored the game or something?”
“That’s somewhat true. The goals are still the same: Save the planet and stop Sephiroth…only now, saving the planet entails more than just beating Sephiroth. There are certain aspects of your story that need to be resolved, and trust me, there’s a lot of shit you need to wade through.”
I felt my temper flaring. What the fuck was he thinking? Isn’t this changing the deal? How much more? When he said ‘shit’, was he just throwing that word in there like when people say ‘that’s some good shit’, or did he mean it was gonna suck bad?
My fists clenched. I put my glass down out of fear of shattering it and causing a scene.
“Walter…” I growled.
“There’s a reason for this too. Just let me explain.” Walter said evenly.
“…go ahead.”
He nodded and took another sip of his drink.
“You agree that before you entered this world, you were too angsty, had little appreciation for what you had, and so on, right?”
I nodded.
“If you never came here, not only would that have not changed, but there would have been other problems. I watched you play me, the Playstation, often, and I got to know what kind of person you were…and were becoming.”
He sighed, knowing it was gonna be difficult to explain.
“If you can get through all of this, then you’ll be an amazingly strong person when you come out. The time would have been free too. That means that the rest of your life will become a lot easier. Stress? I doubt it’ll ever match having to save the planet. Fear? Nothing quite like fighting a big fire breathing dragon, right? You’ll learn how to be rational, handle stress, face fear, make difficult decisions, and realize the things you have. Given all that, there’s no telling how far you’d go. And when it’s all said and done, I don’t think you’ll regret having come at all.”
He sipped his drink again.
“But…if you never came here…you would have lived a shitty life. I was lucky to get you when I did because if left alone, you would have become a total piece of crap. So, all this, is to help you, as strange as it sounds.”
I stared into space. I wasn’t sure how to take this. My first instinct was to just explode anyways, but this feeling inside told me to think this over.
Was I becoming ‘a piece of crap’? I can’t really tell. Walter says he got to know me…better than I knew myself.
I pushed that point aside. Walter and I could argue how I’d turn out forever and never really get that far.
His other point, however, was stronger. If I do get through this, it’ll be like no time passed at all. So, even if I age another year and turn 16, I’ll go back 14. Not only that, but when I think about it, no real life problems could ever amount to what’s happened and the things that will.
I groaned.
The things that would come were far worse than anything that I’ve experienced so far, just because the game has some points where the mood shifts quickly for the worse. Would I even last? Not that I could leave anyway…
“I…” I stopped, forming the words that would be best. I was in various conflicting emotional states at the moment and articulating my self was more difficult. “I acknowledge that if I live through this, my real life back home will be a lot easier to manage and I’d probably even be more successful…still, I’m uneasy about these changes you’ve made. It wasn’t in our original agreement.” I said in a quiet and controlled manner.
Walter nodded, showing his understanding. “I should say this; I haven’t really changed the terms. I never said the game would be the same. You knew of the possibility that certain things would be different. I even explained that some PS2’s give their echoes a past. You never bothered to ask if you’d be getting one.” He was bending the line, but it was true that I never asked. “Also, you are free to leave once Sephiroth is dead. That much hasn’t changed. Whether you resolve things before that happens or they’re left unfinished and you stay…or you can ditch them too. Once Sephiroth is dead, you can go back anytime just by shouting…I wanna go home!”
I don’t know how he does it, but every time I get pissed at Walter, he does well in calming me down. I’m not completely over this yet though. I’ll remember it for ever and ever.
I sipped my drink, then took another sip. So full of flavor, I drank it all. Then I looked with a bit of sadness at my empty glass.
Walter snapped his fingers to catch the bartender’s attention. He pointed to my glass and the man nodded, took it, and filled it up.
I took another sip.
“Ration it, fool.” Walter scolded.
“Never.” A pause. “So, you haven’t actually addressed either of my questions yet. You’ve explained a bit, and it was all stuff I should know, but again: What are these visions and why am I having them?”
“Heh. Well, you have no knowledge of what ‘you’ did before you came here. The visions as you refer to them are actually just distorted memories of your previous self. While you and I know this isn’t true, as far as history knows, something happened to make you lose your memories and alter your personality.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“Can’t say, that’d be a spoiler. But they’ll help you out a lot. You’ll piece things together more and more…at the same time, you’ll get pretty f’n confused.”
I grunted. “Okay. So the flashbacks tell me what I did. My story…how big of a change does it make in the game?”
Walter chuckled, “Huge. Your story is tied in to the main story like a mother trucker, buddy.”
I furrowed my brows. “How?”
“Various ways. You’ll see in time.”
Grrr, this guy is freaking impossible.
“By the way…” Walter said, “You know how games often have branching main stories along with the characters personal stories? Like, in FF7, Shinra is one while Sephiroth is the other?”
“There’s an extra branch now, isn’t there?”
“That there is. You’re perceptive, kiddo.”
I think I’m taking this well. But I know, once I leave this place, my perception will change completely. The reality of everything said will sink in and I’ll be sent spiraling into thoughts and worries and all kinds of stuff. For now, I can’t be emotional. I need to focus on the information and worry about it once Walter and I are done this meeting…that’s what I’ve decided.
“How much does this branch tie in with the others?”
“It ties in to varying degrees.” He answered with a smirk.
I so expected that…really, I did.
“I’ve wanted to say, by the way: You’ve been doing a good job so far. Problems are to be expected, but overall you’ve done well.”
“Thanks.” I said with a smile.
Walter reached into his suit and pulled a circular round orb and slid it across the table. I picked it up and stared.
“Speed plus.” Walter explained. “It’s pretty annoying trying to win it and it would probably take you a while. I figure good work should be rewarded. That ought to help too since you’re boycotting all stat draining materia except the ‘heal’ Glen gave you.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
And I really do. Speed plus equals awesome.
I popped the orb into my armlet and watched it flicker.
Walter let out a deep breath and finished his drink off. He pushed his seat back, threw some gil onto the table, and stood up from the table as my eyes watched his movements. He patted me on the shoulder, knelt down, and whispered;
“Things are going to get harder and harder. Stick in there, though. You have friends. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Trust them. You take care of yourself.”
And with that, he straightened himself out and walked towards the door.
“…see ya.” I said quietly.
“Until next time.” He waved.
Now that he was gone, I gulped down the rest of my drink and stared into space.
Remember when I said reality would hit me when I left this bar? Turns out it hit me as soon as he left.
Confusion was the first thing. I had no idea what ‘I’ had done before I came to this world, and that puts me at a disadvantage. But even worse is that my ability to predict future events is going to start deteriorating, especially as I start seeing this ‘third branch’. Foresight has been one of my largest advantages up until now. Losing it scares me.
I closed my eyes and scratched my head. This sucks.
‘Things are going to get harder and harder’
God damn it.
I stood from my seat and thanked the bartender. I glanced at the Turks. They were still drinking and chatting with one another. Then I turned to the door and slowly walked out.
The sudden appearance of light as I departed from the bar was a welcomed thing. Somehow, I think it made me feel a bit better, a bit lighter inside.
I walked through the streets ignoring my surroundings in there entirety, knowing only that I needed to get to the harbor and kick some sailor ass.
As I lumbered about, I rounded a corner a little too absentmindedly and bumped into a younger man.
“Sorry.” I deadpanned.
“No problem.” He replied, as he moved past me and went about his business.
I looked around and was about to continue walking when one person caught me eye.
She was a total stranger, but stuck out among the others. No normal citizen, that was for sure.
The girl had shoulder length brown hair and was slightly taller than I was. She looked a year or two older too. She wore a vinyl black shirt and matching pants with an open and long white trench coat that went down past her knees in length. I couldn’t see her eyes because of shades.
I stared for another moment as the girl walked just as absentmindedly as I had a moment ago. As I walked, I followed her with my eyes.
But there was one moment, just for a little bit, when she lowered her shades, and I saw them. No…it.
Those eyes which I had seen many times before. They weren’t a part of this world. But I knew what they were.
White eyes with no pupils and small veins beside each eye near the temples.
The girl continued walking and slide her shades back up. As she passed by, I murmured…
“Byakugan…”
And she stopped. It wasn’t what I said as much as the voice I said it with.
Slowly, she turned around until we were looking directly at one another.
I stared.
She stared back.
We were silent.
She started walking closer, but slowly, and cautiously. I wasn’t sure how to take it, but I just stood my ground and waited to see what this all meant.
She stopped directly in front of me, lifted her hand up to her shades and slid them down.
“…Grant?” she whispered hopefully. Her voice sounded like that of a normal shy high school girl.
My eyes widened. She was the second voice. I’m willing to bet she has a scythe in that jacket of hers.
What should I say? She already looks like she wants to cry. I have no idea who she is or what her name is though. What’s more, we both viciously killed a lot of people in my flashback. She could be dangerous.
But she waited for an answer, and I had to say something.
“I don’t remember you.” I replied slowly.
She looked down, hurt. “You don’t remember me?”
She was quiet.
“But my name is Grant.”
She looked up and noticed the scythe on my back.
“You lost Magus…”
As in the dude from Chrono Trigger?
“Magus?” I asked.
“Your scythe.”
Oh. A scythe named after Magus, that’s pretty nifty.
We were quiet again. This was awkward for me, and probably for her too. People on the streets continued to pass us by. I know I need to get on that transport but I can’t just leave this alone. If I have to, I’ll catch up to them later.
“I…” I stopped. She waited. “I remember your voice.”
“But not my name?”
I shook my head, “No, I’m sorry.”
Her white eyes were slowly becoming wet…
Finally, she just jumped forward and wrapped her arms around me.
I was at a loss.
“Grant, I thought you died…” she sobbed.
“Look, I’m sorry but I really can’t remember much more of you than your voice.”
She kept her arms around me but leaned back a bit to look me in the eyes.
“What else do you remember?”
“Dead people in trench coats, running down a hallway with a cloaked girl, trying to get out of Wutai, some ninja, and…talking with you about going to Kalm?” I answered.
She nodded slowly, gravely.
“What’s your name?”
“It’s Erika.”
----------------------------END OF CHAPTER----------------------------
More author stuff:
I wanna go home is a Final Fantasy VIII fanfiction by Triggerhappy777. Excellent story. It’s why I wrote mine, actually. Just thought I should say this since the title of her story is in this chapter and stuffs