FF7 Experience: (Chapter 1: Entrance)
Author Stuff: This is BlackWindKaze, and yes, I am writing a Final Fantasy 7 self-insert type fic. I wanted to do it for a while, after reading a fic by ‘Triggerhappy777’. Don’t laugh at the title. I couldn’t think of anything less name than ‘FF7 Experience’. If you like it, good. If not…GOOD!
And thank Frankto for his work in cleaning up the fic by correcting spelling, grammar, and continuity problems as well as providing his own ideas and contributions to the fic
I never would have expected something like this. When I was first given the offer, I immediately accepted. Everything was explained to me, and I still agreed. Lying bloody in the grass, I realize that I probably should have given this more thought. To help you understand, let us go back a ways. And by ‘a ways’, I mean like an hour ago.
My name is Grant. I am 14 in this adventure. I have short brown spiked hair and am 5’6”. My eyes are a rather basic hazel color. Notable features? None really.
I was sitting by the computer after a hard day of school, looking up some adult content, when my PS2 started making some rather unusual noises. I had been playing Final Fantasy 7 in the morning for a little bit, before going to school. I left it on because there was no save point nearby and I didn’t want to go through a bunch of storyline again.
So anyways, I dismissed the noise as the PS2 doing…PS2 stuff…and resumed my browsing. About a minute later, all the power in my house went out. At least, that is what I assumed since it was now pitch black everywhere I looked.
I mumbled out a few curses in annoyance and got up to investigate, when I had this strange feeling in me. It was as though I had been floating. I heard someone clear their throat from behind me, so I turned around. And found my PS2 floating in the air.
My first question was how an inanimate object cleared their throat. But obviously, the more important question was; what the hell is going on?
“What the fuck..?” I muttered. I couldn’t think of anything better to say.
“Language.” A voice projected from the hovering black box.
I needed a few moments to gather my thoughts before speaking again.
“So…what is going on?” I manage to stutter out.
The box continued to float. I couldn’t tell its mood, since it had no face. It would be nice if it could change colors based on its frame of mind or something.
“I am your Playstation.”
I nod, “I can see that.”
“And you are almost certainly wondering why I am talking to you? Well, it’s like this…” the Playstation began, “How would you like to be an echo?”
“An echo?” I replied, not understanding what the term implied.
“Yeah. An echo. That means that you live through one of the Final Fantasy games. You become an additional character and take part in everything that happens. Some of the things you will see never happened in the game. Some of the things you do may change what happens. I’m sure it would be quite the experience, no?”
The offer was extremely appealing, that was true. In fact, I had already made up my mind before he finished. I didn’t hate my life or anything, but it lacked any importance, in my mind. I didn’t have it bad. I had a good family and worked hard in school. But in each of the final fantasy games, the main characters did something BIG. To be a part of that was something I definitely wanted to do. There was one thing I did not quite understand, however. Well, more than one actually. But this one stuck out at the moment.
“I don’t understand why you call it ‘echo’.” I said, more of a question than a statement.
“Your experiences in whatever game you choose will be an imitation of events that have already come to pass. However, you will be changing these events in your own world.”
I tilted my head, as if asking him to continue.
“I am your PS2. The world you choose will be inside of me, though only games seven to ten are possible. There are others out there with similar models of the Playstation 2. Ones that allow them to imitate this series within their own world.”
I lifted my hand, now comfortable with what I was experiencing. In spite of not knowing my systems expression, it seemed nice enough. His voice was firm and decisive, yet at the same time it had gentleness to it.
“Question. Why can only certain versions of Final Fantasy be played in these versions of the PS2 you speak of? Why not other games of versions?” it was a fair question, I think.
“The latest versions of the Final Fantasy series are the only games that are based on events that occurred in another place.” The PS2 said. “Call it another dimension, another reality, whatever you want.”
I stroked my chin lightly in thought, “Okay. I guess it makes sense. How many other Play Station 2 like you are out there?”
“A number. I can’t say how many, exactly. Some choose different approaches to bringing their owners inside. One thing they all have in common is that they are all free to choose. Some have already chosen in their heart which game they want. As such, their system does not bother asking. It already knows. There are a number of ways. But that isn’t important right now. What is your answer?”
“I say yes.” I directly responded.
I couldn’t see any change, but I had the feeling my system was grinning. A hunch, let’s say.
“I thought you would. I already knew the answer, but I thought I’d let you say it. I also already know which game you’re aiming for, but I’ll let you say it. And yes, all series from 7 and up are possible.” My Playstation stated.
I had been hoping he would say that. If 7 would not have worked, 10 probably would have been my second choice. My reasoning was this:
In number 8, I didn’t like the storyline all that much. I’m sure it would have been a good adventure and all, but in comparison to the other games, it just didn’t appeal to me. Oh, and I really hate Quistis.
In number 9, while the adventure and story were superior to 8 IN MY OPINION…the characters really weren’t all that cool. I liked Zidane and Dagger just fine, but the others were not all that interesting.
Number 10 was my second choice and I actually had to think about this too. I liked a lot of the characters in this game, the story was good, and the adventure looked like it would be a lot of fun. And maybe if I ever do this again, I’ll pick 10.
I choose 7 for a few reasons. First of all; in my memory of playing video games, not one has surpassed this one in terms of the experience. Second; I like its characters the most. Third; call me a pervert, but I like the girls better. Rikku is right up there and all, but FF7 has three. Lastly; I like this game’s story the most, in spite of how confusing it became sometimes.
I step forward to give my answer. I note that there is no floor beneath me and yet it feels as though I am standing on solid ground. “I choose Final Fantasy 7.” I say to my playstation.
“As I thought you would. There are a few things you need to know before you go, as well as some rules. After all that, I will give you one last chance to change your mind. If you still wish to continue, we’ll start making your character.” Playstation 2 said.
“Okay.” I nod. “Wait…what kind of rules?”
The playstation continued to float impassively. “Each Playstation goes about this in a different way. Some set rules, others directly assist their owner, and others do nothing at all once their owner is inside the FF world. Most of what I give you is suggestion and advice than rules. But there are a few things you can not do no matter what. It isn’t up for discussion either. I’ve made it literally impossible for a few things to happen. Now then, I’ll explain. I’m sure you’ll find what I say reasonable.”
I nodded, deciding to give my system the benefit of the doubt. He was already letting me live in the Final Fantasy world, so I wasn’t about to complain about a few rules.
“You will start off in this world exactly one year before Cloud joins AVALANCHE and takes part in reactor bombing. I am doing this for a reason. While you will be going there with decent stats and starting equipment, you have zero fighting experience. Fighting will not be turn based when you go there. The enemy will not sit and wait for you to attack. You will also be level 1 when you arrive. This year can be used to strengthen yourself and build up combat experience.”
“I guess that makes sense. How do the levels and battles work if it’s no longer a turn based RPG?” I question.
“Training or fighting monsters will increase your level which in turn, will enable you to become stronger. That hasn’t changed. But, there is no HP. Unlike in the game, getting hit by a barrage of lasers or being stepped on by a dinosaur will almost certainly kill you. With more training, your damage threshold will increase and you will be able to take more pain before passing out or dying, however.”
Dying. When he said that, I worried. In Final Fantasy, when you died you could be brought back. Yet when Aeris died, she could not come back. I needed to figure out how this worked before going. It seemed like the PS2 already knew what I was thinking however, and answered my question before I even asked.
“Death will work like this: Let’s say you were stabbed in the chest and die. You can be brought back because you are not that dead. But having your head cut off means you can not come back.”
“Wait…” I cut in, “I didn’t know it was possible to be ‘not that dead’” I quip.
“Well, it is. I will be the one judging that. As you get stronger and levelup, your damage threshold will increase and it will take more for you to be completely dead. Understand?”
I nod and it continues.
“For the year that you are training or traveling, the following things you can NOT do: You may not enter Nibelheim, Wutai, or any of the forests where you might find Yuffie. You may not enter Midgar until 2 weeks before the bombing mission. Any other area is fine, though I would recommend against entering places with strong enemies. Once you’ve become a part of the storyline, all these conditions will be lifted.”
I take a moment to think about this. It does make sense, I suppose. If I entered any of those places, I would be able to interfere with the lives of the characters that are going to join. He left out Rocket Town and Cosmo Canyon, however. If I were to guess, I would say that my playstation believes Cid will remain in Rocket Town regardless of what I do, and thus, would still be present when Cloud came. As for Cosmo Canyon, I’m not sure when Red XIII was taken. Maybe he believes I can’t affect that either. Either way, I have no problems with his conditions.
“That’s fine.” I assure him, “I understand your conditions and agree to them.”
“Good. It’s impossible to enter those places, anyways. Remember in Final Fantasy 8 during the 4th disk? After leaving the final dungeon, most places were sealed off. It will be like that if you try and enter.”
I’m annoyed that my system has so little faith, but as I’ve said, I have no intention of entering those places, so I don’t care all that much.
“You have the power to change the storyline, but there are a few things that must happen no matter what. I know you don’t like it, but Aeris has to die.”
I look down at the ground (or lack thereof). Knowing it was going to happen and doing nothing would be hard. But I understand why she has to die.
“You can not tell Cloud about his…past.”
Another nod from me.
“Other than that, use your own discretion. If you feel like telling everyone Sephiroth is coming, go ahead. They’ll think you are crazy or be extremely suspicious of you. Whatever you want. Should anything else come up, I will come to you again. For now, these are the only rules I have. More may come, as I can not predict how things will go with you added into the mix. I have one last thing to say before you decide for good.”
It pauses for a moment before continuing.
“You CAN die here. Once you join up with the others and become their friends, they will do what they can to prevent it. If I can stop it, I will too, but my ability to interfere after sending you is limited in some ways. I can place limits on you or remove them. I can talk to you. I can also affect NPC type characters to a certain extent. Time will pass here, but not in your world. Should you get through this all, you will return at the same instant you left. That is all. It is entirely possible that you will die and never return to your own world. Ask yourself if it’s worth it, and then decide. Take all the time you need and then speak.”
Having it explained to me like THAT really made me think. I could die and never come back. I could die in my own world too, by something pointless like getting hit by a car. Hell, I could die in the game world the same way. But I won’t. I’ll become strong and live. I’ll see this to the end. It was overconfident of me to think this way, but it was how I felt. I’d probably regret it later, too. But everything inside me said to say yes. So I did.
“Yes. I still accept.”
“Heh.” My system laughed, “Alright, let’s make your character now. Close your eyes for a second.”
“Why?” I ask. A second later, I understand.
The screen transition from a completely dark space to a bright white room was a killer on my eyes. I covered them quickly with my hands, muttering a curse in the process.
“Told you.” It replied with a hint of amusement.
I slowly opened my eyes again. It was the same as the black space only…white. Wait, scratch that. There was one thing different. A gigantic version of me was floating in the center of the room.
“…the fuck?” I ask.
“Language.” My playstation scolds me again. “It’s just an image of you. We’re going to do a bit of editing to it. You won’t actually be this big when you go there, however.”
The larger version of me had a rather blank expression on its face. It was rotating slightly, giving me a 360 degree view of my body.
“Do you want to change any of your facial features?” my ps2 asked.
I shook my head, “No. I want to look the same as I do now but with different clothes and stuff.”
My system floated a little closer to me.
“Do you have to look like that? It’s strange talking to a black box.” I say to it.
“…Alright, hang on.”
My playstation slowly turned into a dark shadow floating in the air. The shadow then changed its shape until it was humanoid, and clothing began appearing on its body. Finally, its skin toned in. The end result was a bald black man with brown eyes. He wore a basic black suit with a red tie. He was tall and well built, though not nearly as large as Barret. The playstation lifted his hand to his tie and fiddled around with it a bit before chuckling to himself.
“Call me…’Walter Cumberdale’ or ‘Walter’ for short.” He said.
I smiled and turned my eyes back to the floating me.
“Sure thing.” I said to him. “So, about my clothes…”
“Mhmm?”
I scanned my memory for anything an anime or videogame character has worn before. I lacked the imagination to come up with my own outfit. I was thinking of a cape at first, but Vincent had that covered. I know he is an optional character, but I’m going to make DAMN sure we get him. Black robes might have been cool. But in this game, wearing robes meant you were from Wutai, I believe. Wutains resemble Asian people from what I gather. I am definitely not Asian, and I don’t want to offend any Wutains. A jacket…that is what I need.
“Okay.” I said. “I want to wear a black long sleeve shirt and pants of a matching color. Black socks…steel toe black shoes…and…I want fingerless leather gloves. Oh, and a jacket.” I list off.
“describe the jacket.” Walter says.
I cross my arms and think. “Um…green flak jacket. Like the ones Chuunin or Jounin level ninjas wear in the anime Naruto.”
The larger projection of myself in the center of the room flickered for a moment before showing my new image. I thought I looked damn good there.
“That’s good.” I say.
“Alright. Now we need to set your abilities. And before you ask, you can not use magic without materia. To do so would seriously screw up the laws of the game. It’s not a rule, it’s an impossibility.” Walter said. Now that he wore a suit, he sounded more refined.
“…I wasn’t going to ask that.” I protest, even though I was.
“We’ll start you off with a Bronze bangle. Whatever weapon you choose will also be basic. What kind of weapon do you want?”
I notice a piece of bronze jewelry appear on my right arm. I wish you could actually wear armor in this game. Well, there were those protect vests. But there are so much more cooler accessories than that.
“I don’t a weapon that another character uses. I think I’ll go with a scythe. Magus used those in Chrono Trigger and he was quite the bad ass.”
Walter nodded, “That he was. We’ll start you off with a bronze scythe.”
“What?” I say in utter disbelief. A bronze scythe really sounded crappy. Maybe it was just me?
“It’ll be a bronze weapon either way.”
“What if I ask for a gun?”
“…I’ll think of some way to make it suck.” Walter didn’t sound so refined there. “So now that you’ve chosen your weapon, you can choose two pieces of basic magic-type materia to start with, your weapon has two slots. Decide what you want your limits to be generally based around. Think of a character from an anime or game and I’ll adjust it accordingly. And then lastly, you can choose some kind of special ability your character can have. You’ll need it to survive on your own for the year, and to help close the gap between you and the other characters. Once you do that, character editing will be complete. You’ll have all of your selected abilities and attributes, be at level one, and have balanced stats. As the story goes, you can decide if you want to focus on power, speed, and magic, remain balanced, etc.”
“Okay!” I say enthusiastically. I was getting anxious. Even if I wouldn’t meet anyone for a year, I wanted to get started.
If it was magic materia, healing would be essential. I’d probably be on my own for the year, and I’d be fighting monsters too. Next would be some kind of offensive magic. Since it had to be low level, the 3 basic elements of lightning, fire, or ice came to mind. He would probably allow earth or poison as well. From a strategic standpoint, poison made the most sense to me. I don’t know how strong the monsters I fight will be. With this materia and given the fact that it is not turn based, I could poison them and run around while they get weaker if I have to.
“Restore and Poison for my materia.” I say.
I’m guessing the reason he is deciding the limit based on a general specification is to prevent me from choosing ultra powerful limits. In fanfiction, a character being overly powerful is called a ‘Mary-sue’. Starting at level one with basic material and basic shit would prevent me from being one of these. I know how much a Mary-sue could screw up a fanfic, and I’m guessing it would have a similar effect if I were overly powerful in FF7.
I would have wanted to transform into stuff, but once again, Vincent had that covered. Something from Naruto maybe?
“Hey! Can I have the Kyuubi demon from Naruto in me!” I offer as an idea.
Walter stares blankly at me, as if I’m an idiot. “No. If I did that, every time you were about to die, you would power up and kick ass. We’re trying to avoid overly powerful Dragon Ball Z type stuff here, remember?”
I couldn’t remember of course, because he never said that. I thought that, which I remember. Was he reading these thoughts? Whatever. Now then…
“Alright. Why don’t you make my limits the same as some of the overdrives in FF10? You can choose which ones and at which level they are.”
“That is acceptable.” Walter agrees. “If you’re wondering about the ‘special ability’ thing I mentioned, its so you can do something other than use magic or summon materia.”
“Okay. I want to be able to use techniques from Naruto.”
“That’s fine. But, there will be restrictions placed on them to prevent being too powerful. Some techniques won’t cost MP, but will be physically draining. This means, if you use them too often, you will pass out. Stronger techniques will use more energy. In addition, you will only start off with one and only be able to learn a new one when you reach a level that is a multiple of 5.”
Once again, I understood. It was fair, too. But which one to choose? I knew right away. In the series ‘Naruto’, the main character that bears the same name as the series has a skill called ‘Shadow Replication’. Here’s how it works: He spreads half of his chakra (in this case, it would be half of my physical energy) into a copy of himself. It is a shadow clone. It looks just like him and can even talk or act on its own. It has the same strength as the original and can use a lot of the same techniques. However, a single hit will dispel the copy. In addition, controlling it when it gets too far away from the original can be difficult. It would be very handy for me during the first year, however. I wouldn’t be fighting alone, per se.
“Alright. Shadow Replication as my first.” I say.
“Okay.” Walter replies. He starts taking steps towards my projected image. I note the large, curved bronze scythe and glowing materia orbs it now holds. I follow with him at his side.
“You’ll start with 200 gil and a few potions. You’ll have to work for the rest. What do you want your starting point to be?”
We stop before my large image. It shrinks in size until it is my height, then in an instant, flies directly into my body. I fall back in surprise. When I open my eyes, I am dressed in my new clothing. A nice change, I found. It was pretty comfortable too. My scythe was on my back, held by a leather strap. Normally in games, a hero can just draw their weapon from thin air. I’m guessing that won’t be true here.
I wasn’t sure where to start, at first. Taking into account all the places I couldn’t go, it would make the most sense to go to the place with the weakest enemies. Midgar excluded, that left Kalm. I had some concerns with this, however. I was about level 15 or so when I was around Kalm in the game, and had a party of Cloud, Tifa, and Red XIII. However, while I am there in person, it will be a level 1 me. I also have zero battle experience except for this one time that I got beat up by this dude. It was unnerving, but either way I looked at it, Kalm was the best place to start.
“Kalm.” I said kalm-ly.
“Understood.”
“Should I close my eyes?” I ask.
“Nope.” Walter shakes his head, “You’ll wake up there. No screen transition.”
“Ah.”
Moments later, I felt myself becoming sleepy. I didn’t resist. I simply closed my eyes and allowed myself to pass out. It wasn’t like I could do anything else, right?
I’m not sure how much time passed or if any passed at all. I felt myself awakening. I kept my eyes closed for a moment, and then slowly opened them. I saw the blue sky above me with a few clouds drifting ever so slowly through the sky. I turned my head to the side and found I was in a lush patch of green grass. I heaved myself upwards into sitting position and scanned the area.
I wasn’t actually in Kalm. Only near it. I guess it wouldn’t make sense if people just saw me appear in a bed or in or something. My Playstation might have been able to change the story so that I was there for a reason (like I lived there or something), but I got the impression that it was just going to put me there and let me do my own thing.
To my right, I could see the town. It wasn’t too far off. It looked like a quiet place from where I stood. Probably because towns in this game really aren’t that big. From what I remember, Kalm had an Inn, a few shops, like 2 or 3 houses you could enter, and then a few in the back ground that you couldn’t reach. I’d guess the house count for this place would be under 15. Small world, I guess.
To my left, I could see Midgar. And might I say, it was god damn huge. It was a ways away, but I could tell it was huge. And sure enough, a pinkish barrier surrounded the entire place. I’m probably the only one that can see that or be affected by it.
I plopped back into the grass and laughed to myself heartily. I was in Final Fantasy. It felt good, and I haven’t even done anything yet. I rubbed my hand along my belt. I didn’t recall asking for one, but I guess I needed it to hold onto my item and money pouches. I jingled the pouch on the left and felt money jingle around. 200 gil. I’d need to kill a few monsters. I only hope they still drop money like in the game. The left pouch had two small bottles with a green liquid in them. I probably should have asked about these. In the game, they throw them at each other and stuff happens. I’m not sure if I should do the same and hope it works out, or if I’m supposed to pour it on the wound? Maybe drink it? I’m going for the last one. I guess I’ll find out soon enough when I fight some monsters.
I instantly spring to my feet.
“Shit.” I say to no one in particular.
I had completely forgotten that there are monsters on the world map. There wasn’t really a world map here. A person would actually travel through the fields and such. But still, there could be monsters around.
The thought truly started to sink in now. I was gung-ho before, but I’m a little more reluctant to look for some evil monsters now. From what I recall, there are motorcycle-ish machines, wolf dog things, and guys that use mantra magic, though I don’t know what they look like. What I’d like to do is find a single wolf dog thing. Just one. Then I could test out my abilities and get a feel for how strong they were. After that, I’d have a better idea as to where I stood.
I scanned the area with that thought in mind, and stopped when I saw not one but two heading my way. They were quite far off, but they were coming for me. Small and thin little brown wolves.
My eyes shot back over to Kalm. I was thinking of retreating. I don’t think I probably wouldn’t make it with the speed those damn wolves were moving at. I reached behind me and fumbled around with the scythe latched on my back before finally getting it. Shit, I had no idea how to use it. All I would be able to do is swing it and hope it hit.
Then I saw the materia glowing. I remembered my technique. I was calming down slightly, but the adrenaline was still going. They were close now. Only a few seconds left.
“Bio!” I shouted out. I pointed my scythe at them, not having any idea how to use materia.
I concentrated, thinking that was the key. Sure enough, blobs of green launched forward. I had chosen to attack both of them with it, even though it would weaken the spells overall power. The attack hit, as the balls expanded and made that messed up noise Bio tended to make. The one that sounded like a low pitched gurgle. That’s what it sounded like to me…
The wolves (Kalm Fangs I believe they were called), whimpered at the attack, temporarily stunned. I jumped back and swung my scythe at the ground so the blade would make it stick in. I put my hands together into a hand seal and shouted, “Shadow Replication!”. A blurry image of myself came from within my body and moved off to my right slightly before it formed into an exact replica of myself. It pulled its own scythe out as I drew mine from the ground.
Damn, making that single replication tired the hell out of me. Being level 1, I’m probably still damn weak. It would be best not to do that much.
By now, the wolves had already recovered and were charging again. I noted that one had a faint green glow, meaning it had been poisoned. If I had my clone run around and play cat and mouse with the poisoned one, I could try and get the other. With any luck, the poisoned wolf would die or become weak, my clone could finish it, and then it would back me up.
Though I had not said it, my shadow copy knew of my plan the moment I formulated it. It moved off to the side, leading the poisoned lupine away from me. The other continued towards me and jumped forward. Out of fear and instinct, I swung my blade horizontally. I misjudged the timing, and only managed a shallow cut on its face. It sprang forward in a fit of rage immediately after recoiling. I felt its teeth sink into the bronze bangle on my arm. I was glad I was safe and all, but with its teeth latched onto the arm that held the weapon, I couldn’t cut it.
I could feel the adrenaline going wild inside of me. I lifted my leg and kicked the monster in its nuts. Yes, I kicked the wolf in its private area. I don’t care.
The lupine whimpered again and lost its grip on my arm. I lifted my hand up and brought the scythe down to kill it. The bastard sprawled backwards and narrowly avoided the hit. This time, it targeted my legs. I felt its teeth sink in as I screamed in pain. After all, pain was not a thing I was used to.
To make things worse, I heard a sudden popping sound. The same pop I would hear in the Naruto anime when a shadow clone was just hit and destroyed. I was panicking. I had only been in this world for like 10 minutes, and things were looking bad.
With the wolf still ripping into my left leg, I brought my scythe up again, over my head, before bringing it downwards into the beasts back. I felt it relive some of the grip on my leg, but its fangs were still inside, in spite of the wolf being dead. It seems that unlike in the game, monsters will not glow red and then fade away when killed.
I heard movement, so I turned and saw the poisoned wolf coming my way. Judging from its limping movement, the clone and poison had worn it down a great deal. I used my hand and pushed the dead wolf’s head away, finally getting its teeth out of me in the process. It hurt like mad. No other way to describe it.
“Bio!” I cry again, but pale when nothing happens. Did I run out of MP so soon? That wasn’t it. But I didn’t know what was.
My arms were sore from the weight of my weapon, but my will to live was far greater than the pain. I lifted my weapon again, preparing an attack. The wolf seemed to sense this, and its pace suddenly increased. In addition to sharp fangs, these monstrous wolves also had claws. I felt them slash into my chest. I had stepped back, hoping to dodge, but only managed to lessen the extent of the damage. A potion would have been nice, but there was no time right now. Cure magic probably wouldn’t work if my Bio spell failed too.
After slashing me, the monster tackled me to the ground and prepared to maul me. Panicking, I jabbed my fingers into the wolves’ eyes. It was gross, but right now I was afraid and just wanted the damn thing to die. The pain pissed it off, and it struggled, but it finally stopped moving. The poison finished it off. It fell limp on my body, dead.
I was so pumped that it felt like I was high. This experience scared the living shit out of me. It was completely different from the game in every sense of the word. I should probably check my pants when I muster the strength to get up.
I weakly tossed the wolf to the side, but did not get up. I knew more monsters might come, but I felt so weak. I was bleeding and in pain.
I never would have expected something like this. When I was first given the offer, I immediately accepted. Everything was explained to me, and I still accepted. Lying in this reddened grass, I realize that I probably should have given this more thought. This is where I am now, and I’m not entirely sure I did the right thing.
I reached into my item pouch and pulled the glowing green potion. I drank half, and then poured the rest on my wounds. In a few seconds, the injuries began healing. It would take some time before they completely closed, and I’d lost a lot of blood, but the damage and pain was lessened considerably.
I shakily rose to my feet and looked around, making sure no more monsters were left. Seeing I was safe for the time being, I limped towards the town. Potion or not, my leg was downright fucked up. I’d need to rest before trying to fight again.
I took a few more steps and then noticed something that was as unusual as it was funny. Lying next to the first dead wolf was 70 gil. I picked it up and put it in with my 200, then continued on to Kalm.
As I staggered in, I couldn’t help but appreciate the calm air of the place. It was small, but appeared friendly. I’d likely be spending a lot of time in this place.
I would have taken more time to appreciate it, but feeling as shitty as I did, getting to an Inn was the first thing on my mind. Luckily, it was right near the town’s entrance. Very convenient for me.
“Shit boy, you okay?” a near by man gapes.
I look up at him; messy brown hair with a white dress shirt. A bit of a beer gut going on and some dull looking brown pants. I’d say he was about 30.
“I’m fine. I just need to rest.” I reply to him, not taking my eyes off the Inn as I walk closer and closer.
My line of sight slowly drifts down to the ground as I feel weaker and weaker. The ground appears to be some kind of dark blue pavement.
A hand grips my shoulder firmly, but not enough to hurt.
“Boy, you’re gonna pass out. Come on, I’ll help you walk.” The man says to me.
Non playable characters are a lot more likable so far. I nod, too weak to protest and lacking a reason to. The man places my arm over his shoulders and helps me walk to the Inn.
When we get inside, I stagger towards the counter with the older man’s help. The lady at the desk appears surprised and worried all at the same time. That’s another thing: non playable characters have facial expressions here!
“How much for a room?” I blurt out.
Then I remember that in Final Fantasy, the inns generally only have a single room with a number of beds equal to how many party members you have.
“We have one room left, yes. It’s 80 gil a night.” The woman answers, much to my surprise.
If I guessed, which is what I am doing, I would say that Walter changed a few things around. Monsters still conveniently drop money for me, but inns have been made a lot less annoying. There are actually ROOMS. In the games, there is a single room with four beds, that’s it.
“I’ll take it.” I reply, slapping an unknown amount of money on the counter. I really didn’t feel like counting right now. The injuries weren’t so bad now, but I was extremely tired. I’d need to seriously work on my endurance.
The woman was kind enough to count the gil and then slide some back to me so I wouldn’t overpay. I mouthed a thank you and with the older man’s help, made my way up the stairs.
“Thanks.” I bow slightly to the older man. “I owe you one.”
The man rubs the back of his head like it’s nothing. A small smile is on his face.
“It’s fine, boy. What happened any who?”
I lean back against the wall for support. It would be rude to just tell him to leave, so I thought I’d give a small explanation.
“I ran into two Kalm Fangs. I don’t have a lot of fighting experience so it didn’t go over that well.”
The man appeared slightly surprised. “You shouldn’t wander around alone, boy. Don’t you have a vehicle or anything? Someone to travel with?”
I shake my head, “No. I travel alone. I’m trying to get stronger.”
Now the older man looked unimpressed. I’d figure he would have found it noble or brave or something. Judging from his look, he found it reckless.
“You tryin’ to prove something? How old are you?” I could hear his voice firm up ever so slightly. I really didn’t feel up to a scolding by an NPC (Non Playable Character).
“I need to get stronger because this is a world where strength is important. I want to be able to fight for myself so I’m not a burden to other people.” This was true. When I join Cloud and the others, I don’t want to be a liability. I think of it like this: If I were a playable character in FF7 the video game, I would want to be a party member people actually use sometimes. I’m not expecting to be stronger than Cloud, but I want to at least be a useful asset. “And I’m 14.” I finish.
The older man sighed, “I’m Glen. What’s your name, boy?”
“…Grant.” I say, extending my hand to shake his. He accepts, though his grip is a bit much.
“Nice meeting you. Rest up, boy. And don’t be so reckless next time, eh?” Glen says as he shakes his head.
I nod and turn to my room, hearing Glen walk off down the hallway. I push through and immediately drop onto the bed. I lightly toss my money and item pouches on the table next to me. I threw my scythe on the ground in any direction and hoped it wouldn’t damage anything.
I glanced down at my torn shirt and pulled my vest off. I then lifted up my shirt to examine the injuries. They are mostly closed, but not completely. Small trinkets of blood are still running down my bare skin. I lift up my pant leg and find the same is true with my leg. It would have been rude to bleed all over their bed so I used my last potion. I’d need to buy more before going out again. Or figure out why my magic didn’t work.
Relaxing my muscles, I stared at the ceiling above me. It would be wise to analyze a few things before continuing on.
First off, while my stats aren’t that bad, I have no fighting technique. Earlier today, I clumsily swung around my scythe in rather simple ways. I couldn’t pull of complex moves and my reactions weren’t all that great. In the game, experience only matters when a battle happens outside of the battle screen. That make sense? It’s like this: If Vincent and Barret were at an equal level and battled in the traditional Final Fantasy 7 style, it could go either way. If they were to fight in this type of playing field, I believe 100 that Vincent would win. Why? He has a lot more experience. He likely knows a bunch of crazy tricks and has more skill with a gun or in hand to hand combat if it came to that. Moving on with this theme of ‘experience’…I now believe that no matter how much I improve in this time, I will not be level with any of the party members that join in Midgar (with the exception of Aeris). Let’s say I managed to be level 10 by the time this year was done. Cloud was level 6 (7 after the first battle in the game). Cloud will still be able to kick my ass in spite of the level difference.
Obviously, this world is a lot different than I would have guessed. It is a lot more flexible as well. Walter said I could choose to focus on power, magic, speed, or be balanced. These things are probably based on how I train myself.
In order to make myself as useful as possible, I need to fight. It was a bit too close today which means 2 Kalm Fangs are my limit until I get a bit stronger. There are other monsters out there as well. Near Midgar, is a monster called ‘Custom Sweeper’. It uses Mantra magic, which means it would likely be too strong for me at this point. There are also monsters near the Chocobo Ranch for me to fight.
Based on my position, there aren’t a lot of places for me to go. I can’t enter Midgar yet, and the Midgar Zolom guards the marshes near the Mythril Mine. The thought of trying to fight that thing scares the crap out of me. I don’t even want to risk riding a chocobo. If it caught me, it would gobble me up and then shit my remains out a day or so later.
With all these thoughts floating around, I needed to focus. The most important thing right now was making myself capable of fighting more monsters. To do this, I need to rest and then buy some shit.
I closed my eyes and drifted off into sleep. I half expected to wake up at home again, but did not. I have to tell you, I felt a lot better in the morning. It’s amazing what one night’s rest can do for you here.
I sit myself up and place my pouches back on my belt. I lift my scythe and strap it to my back. Now that I’m ready, I exit and make my way into the town.
As I’ve said, Kalm was a nice little town. Unlike in the game, people were actually walking around for a purpose. Some would be talking with each other, others walking places like to a shop or to buy groceries. Yes, they had grocery stores here. It was one of the buildings that the player couldn’t reach in the game.
My destination was the item shop. Potions were about the only thing I could buy right now, and I’d need them. I entered the shop and bought 3 before leaving. The owner looked at me strangely. Maybe because I was so young? I thought I’d stop by the weapons shop too. I remember mostly what they sold here, but I had a theory. One which proved to be correct. They now sold scythe’s here. They had a Mythril Scythe going for 800 gil. I’d have to fight a lot to be able to buy it.
As I walked out of the shop, I remembered something. A small grin formed on my face. This town had a few items in it. Assuming the ability to walk into a stranger’s house and have no one care still existed, I could sell the ‘Peace Maker’ gun for some gil. Vincent would miss out on it, but he’d manage.
I scanned the area until I found the house I was sure it was in. I needed to take a deep breath at the door.
“Here it goes…”
I pushed it open slowly and looked around. There was a lady sitting at the table. We made eye contact for a moment before she resumed drinking her tea. Shit, she didn’t find it the least bit unusual.
I entered the house and closed the door behind my slowly. What if I was a burglar or something? I pushed that thought back and went up the case of spiraled metal stairs on the back of her house until I made it to the next floor. There was a chest near the window of this room. I knelt down and opened it up, finding a small silver gun inside. I picked it up and pocketed it before going back down stairs.
“Good day.” I waved politely as I left. I had to snicker when I was out of the house.
Peace Maker sold for 1750 gil. I was pretty happy about that. It saved me a lot of trouble, for sure. To celebrate, I bought myself the Mythril Scythe and sold my old one for 200 gil. I also purchased a Mythril Armlet and sold the bronze piece of shit. As I stood outside the shop, I took a few light swings with the weapon and came to the conclusion that this was a definite improvement. The weapon was actually lighter than my previous one. It was obviously better too. It had a silvery kind of color to it. The shaft was a little shorter but the blade was a little longer. I placed it on the strap on my back and walked off to the bar. I figured I’d have a drink before I set off. I know I’m not old enough to have any alcohol, but I could always ask for something lame like soda. Note that I call it ‘soda’ and not ‘pop’. ‘Pop’ is something old and un-hip people say.
When I entered the bar, I was just a LITTLE bit surprised by who was at the counter. I needed to stare for a minute to confirm it. Blue outfit, bald, tall. There was another next to him. Same outfit, wild red hair. I could only see their backs, but somehow I knew. I’d guess they just finished up a job. Or were about to start one. I have no way of being sure. I wrestled with the idea of talking to them. I doubt they’d kill me here, and I still needed to know a few things about this world. While Turks are probably crazy and do some bad things, there wouldn’t be anyone better to ask. I nodded to myself and walked slowly in their direction. Since they were both standing at the front counter drinking, I could just stand next to them a bit and drink my own drink before casually saying something.
As I got closer, I could feel my heart speed up. I seriously doubted they’d kill me or something, but these guys were tough from what I remember. Finally, I was close enough that it was too late to turn and walk away without looking weird. And I couldn’t have that.
“Sorry kid, you’re too young.” I heard the bartender say to me. Looks like he noticed my presence.
I waved my hand dismissively, “I’m not here for adult drinks. Do you have any soda or anything?”
The fat middle aged man grunted and went to the back. I’m not sure if he was ignoring me or if Soda was a thing rarely ordered so he needed to get it from the back. Nothing else I could so but wait.
I glanced to my right at Rude. He was a rock. His face betrayed no emotions and his shades covered view of his eyes. Reno was looking a bit drunk. His face was red and he was going on about some woman he knew. I’m not sure if Rude was listening, but that apparently did not bother Reno.
I waited for there to be a pause in their conversation so I could slip something in. The bartender came back with a tall glass of soda. Do they have Pepsi here? I took a sip of it. Yep, they do. After another minute, Reno finished up his story and the two were silent. I wasn’t sure how long this would last, so I chose now to speak.
“Um. Excuse me, sir?” I say, trying to be as polite as possible. Rude didn’t make any move of acknowledgment, he only continued to drink. I noticed Reno glance at me for a second before taking another sip of his drink. It looked like they were going to ignore me. I look down at my Pepsi and let out a small and silent sigh.
“What do you want, kid?” I hear Reno say. He was addressing me. He didn’t sound annoyed, but I got the impression he wanted to know why I was talking to them.
“I was wondering if I could ask you something about materia? I had a problem with it yesterday and I get the impression that you guys have a lot of experience.” I say, choosing my words carefully.
I see Reno’s eyebrow lift slightly, “Oh? And what gives you that impression?”
“Just a kind of feeling I get. Uh…am I wrong?”
Reno looks ahead and takes another sip of his drink before slamming it on the table. Not in an angry way. It was more of a ‘I’m drunk and just finished my drink’ kind of way.
“You’re right. So what is it?” Reno said. I got the impression he wanted to hurry this along.
“I was fighting some Kalm Fangs yesterday and my poison materia wouldn’t respond. It worked at the start of the fight, but when I tried to use it in the middle, nothing happened. I know I had MP left, though.”
I heard a snort from Reno, “You lost your cool, kid.”
I tilted my head slightly, “Lost my cool? Oh, I see.” I felt like an idiot. It made perfect sense. Magic needed concentration. There is no way I could just shout out the name of the spell and have it work. That would be too easy. When I first used the bio spell, I was afraid but not too far gone. The second time, I was in a full panic.
Reno nodded with a smirk, “To call upon the Magic within materia, you need a certain level of concentration. To do this, you can’t be freaking out. When you panic, it messes up your focus and you aren’t able to extract the full abilities of your materia. It’s different with passive materias like Defense plus. They are done automatically, even if you are so scared you’re pissing your pants. You got what I’m saying?” he made a lot of sense for a drunk man.
“I understand. Looks like I have a ways to go, then. It’s human nature to be afraid when your situation isn’t good. Yesterday, I panicked and couldn’t focus at all. It’s no wonder my materia wouldn’t respond.” I said.
And that was the end of our conversation. Reno threw some money on the table and moved to the bar’s exit with Rude following at his side.
“Geez, didn’t even say bye…” I mumbled to myself. I was thankful for Reno’s words though.
And with that, I left the town in search of something to kill.