The FF7 Experience: (Chapter 9: I WILL learn Beta, damn it!)
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.
----------------BEGIN CHAPTER-----------------
The door to the weapons shop flew open and my eyes darted around the room.
I spotted Glen near the gun rack on the side of the store, and it appeared he hadn’t heard my loud entrance. I grinned and crept towards him slowly to pull off a sneak attack.
Sadly, the shop owner Henry HAD noticed me.
“Hey Grant, welcome back!” he shouted as he waved vividly.
I slapped my hand to my forehead and sighed.
Glen turned around and visibly brightened when he saw me. Whatever he had been doing, he put it on hold as he strode towards me and caught me in a tight bear hug.
“Grant, how the heck are ya!”
I winced, “Tired and brittle at the moment…please un-hug me.”
He chuckled and unwrapped his arms, leaning back a bit. He patted me on the shoulder and wore his usual friendly smile.
“Back a little early. Not that I’m disappointed or anything! How was Midgar? Hell, huh?” he said gruffly.
I looked to the side for a moment, “Uh…yeah. Shinra tried to knock out the support pillar where I was living.”
A mixed look of dread and anger crossed Glen’s face. His fists clenched and he gritted his teeth. “Shinra. Those…” he trailed off, like he usually did when he really wanted to swear but still had it in him to not.
I lifted me hands in the air and shook my head, urging him to calm down. “Take it easy. I’m fine. A lot has happened while I was gone.”
Glen took a breath; let his anger wash away (or hide of inside him so it could explode at a later point in time). He smiled and gestured to follow him back towards the gun rack.
“You’ll have to tell me the story. What do you say we get something to eat? You look like you could use it.”
I raised an eye brow. “Why’s that?”
“You look like crap, son.”
I stifled a laugh and shook my head.
Glen examined the guns on the rack and pulled a long double barrel shotgun from the rack. He hefted it on his shoulder for a moment, and then pointed it at the wall like he was aiming.
“Why are you getting a shotgun?”
“My other gun’s busted real good, and sadly they don’t sell anything like it in Kalm. This’ll have to do from now on.” Glen answered.
“Ah. So, you’re the monster hunter now that I’m gone eh?”
“Heh.” Glen chuckled. He walked to the counter and placed the gun in plain view. Henry glanced down at the weapon and rang it in. As Glen fished around for the money, he turned to me. “So, I’m getting the feeling you’re only here for a bit?”
“Yeah.” I nod. “Remember how you told me not to join a rebel group and fight Shinra?”
Glen had been sliding the money across the counter, but as my words and tone sunk in, he froze. His face went a bit blank and after a long pause, he replied; “…Yes?”
I sighed and scratched the back of my head as I cast my gaze down on the hard wood floor.
“Um. Well, that’s kinda exactly what I did. Exactly.” I said. I don’t know why I decided to stress that word, but I did so there.
Glen was silent for another moment before he resumed paying for his weapon. I took a look at Henry and saw that he really didn’t seem as shocked as Glen had been.
With his weapon purchased, Glen turned to the door with his gun in his right arm.
“Come on. We’ll talk about this over some dinner.” Glen said.
I followed in step as we left the shop. The bar wasn’t far off, but then I remembered something.
“My friends are at the bar too. Our group is having a meeting.” I explained.
Glen just shook his head with disappointment.
“Hey!” I objected, making Glen stop to listen. We stood in the middle of the street while I explained myself. “We’ve done a lot of good. I helped save Sector 7, I helped rescue a girl from the Shinra, I stopped an arse load of fangs from entering Midgar with their three headed dog of hell, and I helped blow up two reactors.”
I winced after finishing. I probably should have left that last part out.
“You blew up reactors? Was anyone inside when it happened?” Glen asked worriedly.
I guess he didn’t want his unofficial son to be a killer. But, even if there weren’t, I already was one now. I’d best explain that to him too. I want to get everything out in the open now.
“There probably were.” I said in a low voice. “And when we were protecting sector 7, I killed a lot of Shinra soldiers. Not with a bomb or anything either…with this.” I said, tapping the scythe on my back.
Glen glanced at it then looked down. He was in deep thought.
After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, his head perked up and he said rather calmly; “Why don’t we have a coffee at my house before dinner?”
I nodded in agreement and began walking along with him towards his home.
His home looked about the same, only dirtier. Actually, the first time I saw his house it was a bit of a mess too. It was only after I starting making regular visits that he had bothered to keep it clean and all.
I took a seat at the circular wooden table near the window. The sun was out and shining bright. A little to bright for my tastes. I stood up from my chair for a moment to close the curtains a bit. When I sat back down, I took a sigh. I really can’t wait til I get a full night’s sleep.
Glen began peculating some coffee. As we waited, he entered the living room and took a seat across from me. He placed his hands together on the table and looked across at me with an unreadable look.
“Okay. Why don’t you tell me your story?” he said. He didn’t sound mad anymore. He sounded quite calm. I guess he was gonna listen to the whole thing before deciding how pissed he should or shouldn’t be.
I took another deep breath and began. I didn’t want to make the story too long, of course. I have things to do and really want to eat.
“After I made it to Midgar, I got in a fight with a few bums and then found myself in Sector 7 after fighting a big red house monster. I was in the 7th heaven bar, where I met some members of AVALANCHE. I asked to join and after passing a little test, they let me in.”
“Did you go to Midgar with the intent of joining this group?” Glen asked.
“Yeah.”
“Hm. Go on…”
“I spent some time training, and then a mission came up. We bombed the no.1 reactor. After that, we were going to bomb the no.5 reactor the next day. Barret didn’t want to go in any particular order because if we did, they’d expect when and where we would strike. But, they were ready for us at the reactor and after fighting a giant robot, one of our members was separated from us.” I lifted my leg to squeeze out a fart, when continued. “I went to look for him but didn’t have much luck finding him. That’s when I actually fought together with some Shinra soldier to keep a bunch of monsters out of Midgar. After that, I returned to AVALANCHE’s base and slept…which, I should mention, is the last time I got any decent sleep.”
Glen nodded and stood up, making his way back into the kitchen. I waited as he poured some coffee into two cups and brought it to the table. Glen drank his with some cream and sugar, but I took it black. I was really tired, ya know.
“Then that morning, Shinra came early and tried to blow the support up. We lost one of our guys in the attack, but we stopped them. They sent soldiers and helicopters and even a Turk, but we did it. And…I killed a lot that day. That was yesterday…”
I trailed off there as I remembered the people I had killed. Some I hacked apart violently while others I fried with my magic. When I took their lives, it all happened in what felt like a second. It was the same for each one: fast and merciless before moving on. But, when I remembered killing, it happened a lot slower. It played over and over again in my mind until I had completely zoned out and it felt like I was ending them once again.
“Grant?” Glen said as he saw the look in my eyes. He shook my shoulder lightly and I stared back at him with empty eyes. “It’s never easy, but you did save lives.”
“I know. I take some comfort in that fact…and given the alternative, I don’t regret what I did.”
I shook it off and put on a weak smile.
“So, another Turk showed up shortly after with a girl. She was a friend of one of our members, and actually, current leader. I passed out after that, and when I woke up everyone has gone. They went to rescue her on their own and left me behind because of the state I was in.”
“State?”
“Yeah. I was physically weak because of the long winded battle that took place. I was also mentally weak too after everything that had been happening.”
I took a sip of my coffee and glanced at my arms again. I wonder what Glen would say about the snakes? That’s not something I want to tell him. While they are cool and useful, I’m not comfortable about the idea of people knowing about them. He’d ask how I got them, of course, and what would I say? Weather I tell the truth or lie, it’s a bad thing.
I cleared my throat and continued, deciding to try and wrap it up.
“I decided to follow them. I bought some…drugs…to help me with my energy problem. I made it to the Shinra building and up to the top almost, where I met up with the others. We saved Aeris and tried to leave, but we were caught. After we had been imprisoned, late at night something happened. Someone killed president Shinra. Now, we’re after this person.”
And with the story done, I took another sip of my hot beverage and waited Glen’s reaction.
He let out a monstrous breath and ran his hand threw his hair.
“Drugs…what drugs? Someone killed the president? Who? Why are you after them? Now what happens?” he said, riffling off questions left and right. I had been expecting as much.
“Ecstasy, but I didn’t know exactly what it was when I bought it and vow never to take that god awful crap again. Yes, someone killed the president. Former SOLDIER Sephiroth. We’re after him because he’s a crazy shitball and very dangerous for the planet. Now, we get some food and you meet my friends.” I answered his questions.
Glen raised an eye brow and leaned for ward, pointing his finger at me. I raised my hand and interrupted before he could start.
“Please don’t lecture me. I’ve already been lectured on my drug abuse. It was a mistake.” I said defensively.
“It better have been.” Glen said sternly.
“Yeah.”
“And by Sephiroth, you mean the strongest SOLDIER ever in the history of that organization?”
I nodded absent mindedly as my stomach growled. “Yeah.”
Glen frowned. “I don’t want you chasing after that man.” He said almost like it was an order.
I could feel my temper raising. “Tough.” I responded simply.
“Damn it, Grant!” Glen shouted as he stood and slammed his hand on the table. “This isn’t just a normal Shinra soldier! This is Sephiroth! I’ve heard stories about him. He can take on dragons with the swing of his blade! He can take down tanks and jets with the wave of his arm! Don’t you know that!”
I stood up myself, but not out of anger per se. I was preparing to leave if this conversation deteriorated much more. Glen’s position was understandable and any rational person would say I was being insane and foolish, but I knew more then Glen did.
“I don’t think you realize what’s at stake here, Glen.” I said as calmly as I could, “Sephiroth isn’t just randomly wandering around. He has a goal, and madmen with goals are incredibly dangerous if left alone.”
“I know that, boy. So let your other AVALANCHE partners worry about it.”
“I can’t do that. They’re more then partners. Like I’ve said, they’re my friends. I believe I have valuable skills and knowledge. I can be an asset to them.” I crossed my arms. “I’ve come a long way. I’m stronger then you remember. I’ve fought giant robots, Turks, mutants, and more. You don’t have to like what I’m doing, but please at least accept it!”
“You want me to accept your almost certain death?” Glen shot back.
“Well, thanks for having so much faith in me!”
“I do have faith in you, you know that! But I’m being realistic here! If Sephiroth really is on the loose, you have him and the Shinra to worry about. A small group of rebels can’t possibly take down both!”
You’d be surprised actually. But, this conversation is nearing its limit.
“Glen, you can either try and support me as I do this, or you can be angry with me. Either way, I’m still going. Decide now, because I’ve about had it with this little talk.” I said in a low and dead serious tone.
Glen flinched for a moment. He threw himself back down into his chair and rubbed at his face furiously with his hands, letting out deep and stressed breaths.
“I can’t stop you…either way, huh?”
I merely shook my head.
“…Well then. I don’t like it. I’m still upset with you. And don’t die out there. You’ll always have a home here.” He stood back up and put his hands on my shoulders. “You got that, boy?”
The anger hadn’t completely left his voice, but he was doing a lot better then he had been a minute ago. I nodded and gave him a quick hug before breaking off.
“I know. So…we still getting dinner.”
Glen frowned and shook his head. “I don’t think that would be a good idea. I’m not really in a good mood.”
“Alright. Sorry to get you all riled up. See ya.” I said quietly as I turned towards the door.
Then, just like that I left. I closed the door behind me and then leaned back on it, feeling the cool wind on my face. I let out a sigh and headed off towards the bar. I’ll just have to eat with my friends, then.
I head towards the cities bar feeling rather miserable. So much so that I mussed the residents that knew me waving or shouting hello. Not only was Glen grumpy, but I was tired, AND I didn’t finish my coffee before I left.
When I reach the bar and enter, I spot the bartender cleaning some glasses out looking a bit bored. A quick glance around the bar tells me that other then AVALANCHE, it’s rather quiet at the moment.
I approach the counter and slap my hand on it, thinking of what I want to eat. When the bartender makes eye contact, he smirks.
“Ah, Grant. Back already?”
“Yeah, I’m just here for a bit. I’m leaving with friends in a bit.” I answer.
“Heh. Look at you with your fancy ‘friends’.”
“Yep.” I smile. “I want…a club house sandwich…with onion rings…and Dr.Zipper soda to drink.”
The bartender flashed me a thumbs up. “You got it.”
At the tables I the corner where AVALANCHE was sitting, I spotted Cloud in the center with Tifa on his left and Aeris on his right. There was an empty seat next to Barret, and Jesse and Biggs sat across from him.
I strolled on over, catching tidbits of their conversation before my presence was noticed.
“Finished so soon?” Cloud asked.
I shrugged. “Glen’s grumpy.” I answered as I sat down.
“Heeeyy!” Biggs waved, “Man, I can’t believe you. You met up with everyone around the top of the Shinra building on your own? That’s some crazy shit, my friend.” Biggs said with a grin.
“I’m crazy like that.” I answered. “So what’s the plan?”
“Some of the town’s residents say they saw a man in a black cape head towards the grasslands.” Tifa explained.
I nodded to myself as I leaned back. “Hm. Chocobo ranches. The swamps are south west of there.”
“There’s s’posed to be a big ass snake there.” Barret grumbled.
“The ‘Midgar Zolom’, they call it.” Jesse commented.
“Sounds scary.” Aeris said.
I took a quick look at the two girls situated near Cloud. Poor guy, being stuck in a love triangle. But sadly, it won’t last for long. I can’t help but wonder who he would have picked if they both stayed around. Sadly, the story makes it kind of look like it would have been Aeris. She’s a nice girl and all, but I’ve always been a fan of the Cloud and Tifa pairing myself.
Anywho, now is probably a good time to bring up my idea.
I folded my arms and smirked slyly.
“Yeah, the Midgar Zolom. It’s recommended that you just ride across the swamp with a chocobo. I have the materia we need for that in my pouch too….buuut…”
“Oh no…” Tifa smirked.
“I’ve developed a way to kill it on my own and learn a kick ass enemy spell in the process!” I exclaimed.
“Heh. ‘n how ya gonna do that?” Barret chuckled.
“Poison and shadow clones. It’s the combination that’s saved my arse a number of times.” I said proudly. Although, after I thought about it, I have to wonder if needing a cheap strategy to get by is really something to be proud of? Whatever…
There was a pause as our food was brought to us (surprisingly fast, I might add). The plates were placed delicately in front of us and I could practically feel my mouth watering. The moment the waiter’s hand left my plate, I dug in like an animal.
Everyone else ate at a far more modest pace.
Barret would always order or make something for himself that didn’t requite cutting anything. Since he only has one hand to use, he can’t cut a piece of steak like a normal person could.
As Aeris continued to take small nibbles of her salad, she spoke to the group.
“So, I guess we’re all in for a long journey, right?”
“Not if we find Sephiroth quickly.” Cloud replied.
“What are you two doing, by the way?” I asked Biggs and Jesse.
“We’re staying behind in Kalm for a bit. Our job is to keep an eye on Shinra and let the boss know if anything’s up.” Biggs replied with a full mouth.
Aeris tilted her head towards Cloud and smiled, “So Mr. Bodyguard, I guess your payment will have to wait for a little while.”
Oh geez. I don’t think Tifa knows about the whole arrangement Cloud and Aeris have yet. That would certainly be awkward if she found out here.
I swallowed a large lump of food I forgot to chew and watched, hoping I wouldn’t have to see Tifa get depressed or something.
“Yeah…” Cloud said with a small smirk playing at his lips.
Aeris giggled into her hands. “The deal was one date, right?”
Oh damn, she had to go and say it.
I watched the expression of Tifa’s face closely. First, she blinked in surprise at the statement. Then, her eyes coldly lowered down to the table and she bit her lip. This only lasted for a few seconds before she looked back up and put on a fake smile. But her eyes said she was sad.
Everyone else seemed oblivious to Tifa’s plight, however. I watched Aeris continue to talk and flirt with Cloud, the dark haired woman to his left continued to squirm uncomfortably.
I don’t think Aeris is intending to do this. I don’t see her as the type to intentionally hurt someone’s feelings. What’s more, if they both like him I guess one can’t be expected to just duck out. But, watching this whole thing play on, I felt something inside of me swell up, and I too became uncomfortable.
So, I closed my eyes, extended my arm on the table, pulled up my sleeve, and prepared to shoulder some of the awkwardness.
“I have snakes in my arms.” I said loudly.
I choose to say that for a few reasons. The first is obvious, but the second was the fact that I needed to tell them sometime.
At first, no one really made anything of it. It went silent for a moment as the group stared at me somewhat comically. It seemed that they figured I was just joking around or saying something random.
“Snakes eh?” Biggs replied with a bit of sarcasm in his voice.
But they were a little more believing when I had a single snake poke through the skin on my forearm. I didn’t have it whip out quickly and hiss or anything…just a slow movement out. From there, I had it extend slightly so everyone could see the dark serpent better.
And everyone stared. They stared at the snake moving slowly and almost hypnotically in front of them. They stared at the small amount of blood coming out of the opening in my arm. They stared at the point where the snake and my arm met.
Cloud swallowed his food slowly and then paused for a moment.
“How did that happen?” he asked curiously.
His voice was confused and a little surprised, but nothing more. It came as a relief.
“I don’t know. But I have them.” I answered. “Just thought you should all know that.” I quickly finished.
I brought the snake back into my arm. Once inside, the skin of the opening closed itself up and left a red mark visible.
“How long ya known about that?” Barret said.
“Since I gave you my poison materia.” I answered.
“Does…does it hurt?” Aeris asked gently.
I narrowed my eyes with annoyance. I didn’t like being the center of attention like this. Since my food was done, I pushed my plate forward and stood up from the table.
“Yes, it does.” I answered. “I’m going to nap. Come get me when you’re ready to go.”
With that said, I made my way towards the door.
Maybe I had over reacted. I was rather grumpy though, for many reasons. None of them were really anyone’s fault.
I trotted over towards the inn. I entered and waved tiredly at Rose and hastily made for my room.
When I went inside, I found Red lying on the carpet in the center of the room. His one eye flickered open as I entered and shut the door behind me. He made like he was about to get up when I raised my hand.
“We’re not leaving yet. I’m just here for a nap.”
He nodded his head. “I see. Oh yes, I had not asked you before…is it permitable that I rest in this room?”
I chuckled at the feline’s dialect and nodded. “Knock yourself out, as long as you don’t take my bed.”
I flopped down onto the bed and closed my eyes, hoping to get to sleep immediately. Every minute of sleep I could get meant a lot to me. It would still be many more hours before I’d be able to go to sleep for the night.
I’m tempted to just say; “Screw killing the Zolom! That’s too much work”. But, I could use a spell like Beta most definitely.
My plan is simple: When I played the game, I’d kill the snake with poison. Once it was poisoned, I’d have my characters sit back and stick to healing while it slowly dies. Using this method, it won’t use Beta unless it is attacked. My plan is similar. I poison it, let it solely die, and then make a shadow clone and run really far away. Once I’m far enough, I have the clone attack. When it gets torched by Beta, I just run around, possible make another shadow clone, and do nothing until the poison kills the Zolom. Since I only need to see him use it and then kill him, I can learn Beta this way without being slaughtered. This is, of course, assuming I last long enough to do all this. The shadow clone thing makes problems too. A shadow clone divides my stamina in half and gives it to the copy. So, I’ll be a wreck if I pull this off. The Mythril Mines shouldn’t be all that dangerous, though.
A loud shout woke me up a little over an hour later.
“Yo! Grant! Red! Git da hell up!” Barret shouted.
I grumbled and rolled over, which happened to land me on the floor. I lifted my head up off the floor and rubbed it with my hand before lifting myself up to my feet.
“Go time already?” I said.
“Yeah. We got all our supplies an’ all.” Barret replied.
Red stretched on the floor. “I had a most satisfying rest.”
Go to hell, Red. “Good to hear.”
Red and I followed Barret downstairs. After a departing comment to Rose, we met outside near the town entrance with the others.
Tifa seemed to be in better spirits now. Her light smile was actually genuine. She turned to me and waved.
“Did you have a good rest?”
I didn’t, but I did not want to say something like; “fuck no.”, so I simply nodded with a smile.
“We should get going. We’ve spent a lot of time here.” Cloud stated.
We had begun walking out of Kalm, when I heard movement behind me. I turned around just as Glen put his hand on my shoulder.
“Good luck, son.” He said rather dramatically. He really didn’t approve of what I was doing…geez.
“Thanks. I’ll be careful out there, don’t worry.” I assured him.
“I know. And, I’m sorry I didn’t meet your friends. You’ll have to bring them back here sometime.”
I smiled. “Yeah. I’ll bring them around next time.”
Glen shook my shoulder a bit then patted me on the back. I turned back around with a smile and jogged to catch up with the others.
I walked next to Aeris, who had been hanging near the back of the group surprisingly.
As I walked, I saw Aeris turn to me.
“Was that your dad?”
“Geez, you’re nosy.” I said jokingly.
She smiled and looked ahead. “Yeah, I know.”
There was a moment of silence before I answered her question.
“No, that wasn’t my dad. But he’s like a dad to me.”
“Oh…that was Glen, then?” she said curiously.
I nodded and placed my hands behind my head as I walked along, still hanging around the back of the group.
“Yeah. He doesn’t like that I’m traveling with you all, but he’s accepted it, it would seem.”
Aeris just smiled and continued to walk along.
I coughed nervously. “Oh and…um…”
She turned to me and waited patiently.
“…thanks for before…when we were in those cells and all.” I said quietly.
“No problem. It was nothing.”
During the trip to the grasslands, a pack of fangs had drawn rather close to us. I hung back while the others dealt with them. I needed to save my energy for the Zolom.
I know it might seem like I’m obsessing over this, but I do feel I have a reason. The gap between myself and other members is still pretty big. The one I’m closest to is Aeris. She has some skills with a staff and knows how to use it, though she possesses little physical power and she is slower than I. However, her magic abilities are quite amazing.
To have Beta this early on would shrink the gap quite a bit and is a useful asset. I’d be less of a burden to others this way. Plus the bragging rights. I can say; “Yeah bitches, I killed the Zolom! Me!”
Finally, after a little over an hour of walking, we stood in the grassland areas near the Chocobo Farm. The swamps could be seen in the distance, and sometimes if you looked closely enough, you’d see a small faint shadow moving around the ground. The Zolom was under ground.
I was fairy certain that there would only be a single Zolom not including the one Sephiroth already killed. In the game, you only ever see one moving around. When you kill it of course, it respawns. But I have a feeling that won’t happen here since reality is a lot stronger here.
I closed my eyes for a moment and went over my plan again. I made a few small revisions to it during the walk, but it was still basically the same. The others stood behind me, knowing what I was planning to do.
I turned around and looked to Aeris.
“May I please borrow the poison materia for a bit?” I asked.
I didn’t want to use my snakes because then I’d have to get pretty damn close to the Zolom.
Aeris slowly nodded. “Yeah. Sure.”
She reached into her staff and pulled the green orb, handing it to me gently. I rolled it around in my palm and then put it inside my armlet.
“You sure bout this?” Barret said uncertainly. “I’ve heard nasty things bout dat snake.”
I grinned and gave him the thumbs up.
“I have this covered. Trust me.”
I pulled out my Choco Lure materia from my item pouch and tossed it to Cloud.
“While I’m doing this, why don’t you guys catch a chocobo? The swamps will be safe after I kill the snake, but it’d still be a lot faster if we had a chocobo to ride when I’m done.”
Cloud stared at the orb for a moment before he handed it off to Barret.
“Barret, please catch one.” He then glanced at me. “I’m sure you have a plan, but I don’t want you doing this alone. I’ll back you up. We should have one other person with us as well.”
I thought to argue, but what Cloud says usually goes, so I gave up on that. And…to be honest, help really did appeal to me now that I was within eye shot of the swamps.
“Okay. Who else is coming?”
“You decide.”
I almost did a double take. Cloud was leaving this up to me? I guess he sensed my confusion, and decided to elaborate.
“You seem to know a lot about the Zolom and its tendencies. Who do you think would be best suited to help? The others can work on catching a chocobo while we secure the swamps.”
I smirked and nodded in his direction. Logically, Tifa made the most sense. Someone with healing would be needed in case we get ouchies and stuff. And, the person would need to be fast to avoid getting eaten or slapped around.
“Tifa? If that’s okay.”
“Of course!” Tifa beamed.
Cloud took a step forward. “Good, then it’s decided. You can fill us in on your plan while we make our way there.” He turned to the others. “Everyone else, you know what to do. Please listen to Barret while we’re gone.”
Barret gave him a salute with his gun arm and we went our separate ways, with Aeris turning to look back at us for a moment.
As we headed closer to the swamps, I began describing my plan.
“I’ll send a shadow clone into the swamps ahead of us first. The Zolom should spring out into the open after him. If my clone survives, I’ll keep using him. From there, we inflict small injuries on the snake, but nothing too big while I work on poisoning him. Once the Zolom is poisoned, we hang back and I’ll have a shadow clone run around as bait. We must NOT attack the snake when this is happening. I’ll have the clone or clones attack the snake when we’re a safe distance away. After they get bombed by Beta, we run in, but we still don’t attack. Our job is just to run around and not die while the poison kills it. The Zolom will only use Beta if it’s injured and we directly attack it. Tifa you’re in charge of healing.” I explained.
Both Cloud and Tifa nodded.
We were now a foot step away from the swamp. I took a deep breath and placed my hands together.
“Any questions before we start?”
“No.” they both replied.
“Okay…Shadow Replication!” I shouted.
The air to my right blurred slightly for a moment as a clone formed. It opened it’s eyes and blinked a few times before it took off into the swamps, running as fast as it’s legs would carry it.
We watched intently outside the swamps. When it was almost around the center of the area, the ground around it rumbled slightly and in less then a second, the massive Zolom had erupted outward from the ground with it’s mouth opened. Its teeth clamped down on my clone and it popped away into nothing.
The snake swayed back and forth, letting out a loud, unsatisfied hiss.
The Zolom was insanely big, towering above us, making us feel insignificant. With the swipe of it’s tail, it would be able to level several buildings in Kalm.
I swallowed a lump in my throat and then pointed. “Alright, let’s go!”
We ran in side by side. I held my weapon out, clenching the shaft tightly with uncertain fingers. I was begging to have second doubts, but it was too late now.
The Zolom was quick to notice our presence. It let out a loud hiss which almost resembled a roar, and came barreling towards us.
The ground and swamp land was ripped apart in it’s wake as it sped our way.
Cloud’s eyes widened as he noted the impressive speed with which the beast moved.
“Break!” he shouted, ordering us to split apart.
Tifa, Cloud, and I, moved off to different sides as the snake zoomed past us. I swung my scythe at it’s left side, but the snake was moving so fast that once the blade of my scythe hooked into it’s skin, it became stuck. I lost my grip and the snake continued moving past us while my weapon remained attached to it. Given how massive it was, the entire length of my blade was barely even scratching the surface of that thing.
Before the snake rounded around for another attack, Cloud gave a quick slash with his new Mythril Sword.
After the Zolom passed up, it lifted it self up into the air so it’s head was held high. It looked down on us and opened its mouth to spit poisonous green blobs of acid at us.
“Ice!” Cloud shouted.
He channeled the ice magic from his materia and sent a wave of cold wind towards the incoming acid. It served to neutralize a large portion of it wile the rest landed in the surrounding area.
The snake lowered itself and came rocketing towards us once again. We scattered as with before, and I stuck to the side, hoping to grab my weapon when it slid by us.
Once again, the ground was being ripped apart under the snake’s weight.
I timed myself, waiting for my trapped weapon to draw closer.
But, at the last second, the snake slinked it’s body towards me, the impact of it’s side sending my flying back.
“Cure!” Tifa shouted from not far off.
The healing energy surrounded me, repairing my damaged body to some extent. I lifted myself back up and watched as the snake flicked it’s tail at Cloud lightly, and that one light motion sent the mercenary coiling backwards where he landed on the ground with a thud.
“Bio!” I shouted at the snake. Luckily, I had placed the poison materia in my armlet and not in my weapon.
As the orbs of green shot at the snake, they exploded. I watched as the snake began glowing a faint green. It had worked. But it had also pissed it off a great deal as evident by the high pitched hissing noise it made.
“Cure!” Tifa shouted again, this time directing her healing efforts at Cloud.
I watched the snake lift itself up, preparing to spit poison at me…and I froze. How would I dodge such a large spray? What could I possible do now?
A sudden shout from the sidelines relieved me.
“Blade Beam!” Cloud shouted as the red rage surrounded him. With a loud battle cry, he swung his sword as energy materialized into the air and went shrieking towards the snake’s neck.
My eyes widened as the gears in my head turned.
I watched as the beam struck the snake’s neck dead on. The Zolom’s head shot back towards the sky ad the venom it had intended to spit came out of it’s mouth like a fountain, pouring all over it’s body. As the acid slid down, the skin where my weapon had been trapped melted slightly, dislodging my weapon. It fell down towards the ground, and as I watched, I clasped my hands together.
“Shadow Replication!” I shouted, forming two clones. The moment they appeared, I had them run towards the snake.
“Cloud! Tifa! Get away from the Zolom, NOW!” I shouted as loudly as I could.
They glanced back at me and nodded, running in the opposite direction as my clones made their way closer. It’s going to use Beta soon, I just know it. But I still need my weapon or I won’t be able to learn it.
Now that my clones had been formed, I extended one arm and cried out; “Shadow Snake Hand!”
The snakes blew threw the skin of my arm and extended, longer and longer, until they wrapped around the shaft of my weapon. Once secure, I had them retract, bringing my weapon closer.
My clones continued punching and kicking the snake ineffectively. The snake slid back and lifted itself up into the air, looking down at my clones. Holding my weapon firmly, I watched along with Cloud and Tifa.
The snake continued to sway for several moments while my clones futilely attacked. It seemed it required a great deal of preparation to use the spell.
After another few moments, the snake let out a loud hiss and lowered its head
The air around my clones and within many yards began steaming as it’s temperature increased, and then in a flash, exploded. A massive circle or land burned with towering and searing flames as a thick black smoke trailed above. The entire area seemed to darken as the flames burned on. When it was finally over, there was nothing left in the space where the attack had occurred. The soil, swamp land, everything; it had all been melted away and erased.
We stared in shock.
The Zolom swayed slowly, apparently weakened after having used such a spell. It continued to glow that faint green, signifying it was weakened.
I glanced back and forth between Cloud and Tifa. “It should die soon…” I said quietly.
My body was being strained significantly. I had used a heavy number of techniques during this fight, and would be at my limit if I kept this up.
Cloud lowered himself into a stance and Tifa followed along, bringing her clawed weapons up as well.
“I hope so…” Cloud deadpanned. “Because here it comes.”
My eyes bulged as I turned and saw that indeed, it was coming.
The Zolom was moving slowly, both from the strain of it’s last spell and the poison eating away at it.
We leapt out of the way as the snake launched it’s head downwards at us.
It’s tongue shot towards Tifa and wrapped itself around her torso, preparing to pull her in to it’s open mouth.
“Cloud! Help!” Tifa shrieked.
As the snake brought it’s insanely long tongue back towards it’s open mouth, dragging Tifa along with it, Cloud leapt in with his blade and swung down at the creature’s tongue, cutting it off cleanly.
Tifa fell down to the ground as the blood from the serpent’s tongue sprayed about. The snake lifted it’s head up and let out a cry of rage.
Cloud pulled Tifa up from the ground and the two readied their weapons.
With all this going on, I could only hope the snake was too tired to use Beta for a second time. If it did, we were screwed.
The Zolom lifted itself up into the air, getting into the same position it had adopted prior to it’s use of Beta. The bugger was going to do it after all.
“Attack it! We have to stop it before it uses Beta!” I urged.
There was no chance of us being able to escape it. Our only option was to attack it until it died, or just hope between the three of us, one of us had a god that liked doing favors.
“Ice!” Cloud cried as he sent waves of frozen lances up at the Zolom’s head and neck.
“Quake!” Tifa cried as she had the ground beneath the snake explode and rip up it’s lower body.
Having no spells at the moment, I lifted both arms out and put al the magic power I could muster into my attack.
“Shadow Snake Hands!” I called out. I had the snake’s bite around one of the snake’s open wounds on its side and pump gobs of poison into it. It was my hope that this poison combined with the poison already inside of it would make it die faster.
We continued this cycle desperately. The air around us was slowly getting hot, meaning we were almost out of time.
Steam. I could make out small sprouts of steam coming from the air. My skin felt hot, and my insides almost like they were boiling.
Then, it stopped. The air cooled down and the snake’s fidgeting had stopped.
We looked up at the towering Zolom and found that it was in the process of collapsing onto the ground. I released my snakes and ran with the fleeting strength in my body to get away. When the snake struck the ground, there was a loud crashing noise as vibrations traveled through the ground.
I turned back at the dead beast and laughed with relief, collapsing onto the ground.
My breaths were heavy and labored, but we had done it. My Enemy Skill material glowed just a little brighter. I felt it. I had acquired Beta, and the snake was dead.
I stared up at the sky, going over the series of events that led up to this point. There were some close calls, for sure. Like the one 10 seconds ago for example.
“Is everyone okay?” I shouted out into the air.
I heard a pair of footsteps coming my way. I turned my head and saw the forms of Cloud and Tifa drawing closer.
“Yeah, we’re fine.” Cloud said.
“You look beat.” Tifa commented. She knelt down and examined me for any injuries.
“I’m not that hurt or anything, just exhausted.”
“I can imagine.” Tifa smiled.
Cloud knelt down and grabbed me, hoisting me over his shoulders.
“Come on, let’s head back.” He said.
I smiled and closed my eyes for a moment. “I can walk, you know.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
He shrugged his shoulders and set me down on the ground. I felt a bit wobbly, but I could walk as I had said.
We walked back through the swamp lands towards the grass land area. I was walking slowly, but the others were matching my speed, being the nice people they were and all.
“That was some scary stuff.” I murmured into the air.
Tifa sighed and hugged herself. “Sure was. I thought I was snake food.” She glanced at cloud and flushed. “Thank you for saving me, Cloud.”
“It was nothing, Tifa. I’m sure you would have done the same for me, right?”
Cloud seemed a lot nicer then when I had first met him. It was like that in the game too. He sounded like a bit of an ass at first, but then he became pretty cool.
“Yeah, I would have.” Tifa replied as she subconsciously took a step closer to Cloud, walking directly at his side.
“So, Grant.” Cloud said to me, “That’s a powerful spell you’ve obtained. If you work hard, you can learn it in no time.”
I blinked in confusion. “What do you mean? I just learned it, didn’t I?”
Cloud chuckled lightly and shook his head. “No, not really.”
“Explain!” I said, trying not to sound to angry.
“Well…” Cloud said, “As you know, spells require materia, the user’s magic power, and concentration. You have the materia, you’ve acquired Beta, and you probably have enough magic power to pull one or two off before running out…but you don’t have the ability for it yet.”
“…?”
“Low level spells like Cure and Poison are easy enough because it requires little more then will and some level of concentration. As you know, concentration tends to get a bit hectic in the middle of battle, but with enough experience and magical ability, you can still use your low level spells in spite of that. But with something as powerful as Beta, it’s different. You need a lot more concentration, something I’m not sure you have, and you also need a lot more skills with magic.”
“And how do I get ‘more skill’?”
Cloud shrugged. “Practice? Having the materia is one thing, but that alone doesn’t make you able to use it or master it. If that were the case, every Shinra soldier we run into would be throwing spells at us left and right.”
I frowned and looked down in disappointment. That actually made a lot of sense. Jeff and his friend were Shinra soldiers and used my low level magic fine, but when I watched, I noticed their spell power was lacking a fair bit. What’s more, they were some of the stronger Shinra soldiers since they were the only ones that didn’t die. So, basically only a small number of Shinra soldiers can actually use materia at all.
In the game, Sephiroth had mastered elemental materia. But then, if you gave that same materia to someone else, they wouldn’t be able to use it because they don’t have the skill or power. No matter how great your materia, it can only be as great as the user. I did not know this before…
“That’s lame!” I pouted.
Tifa ruffled my hair, “Just practice.”
“Yeah.” Cloud agreed. “Beta is some heavy duty stuff. At this point, I’m not sure I’d be able to use it either.”
That made me feel a little better at least. But I wondered.
“Do you think Aeris would be able to? She’s really good at magic.”
“Who knows?” Cloud replied.
We returned to the grassland area where the other group had been waiting. Barret sat on a large chocobo. The large yellow bird appeared tame, not even trying to fling the black man off. Aeris was on one as well and with her spare hand; she held the reins to a third chocobo. Red was on the ground next to it, obviously incapable of riding one himself.
“We saw that big ass explosion.” Barret commented.
“Yeah, it was big.” I clarified.
“You’re all okay?” Aeris said with a worried look.
Cloud nodded confidently. “It was somewhat difficult, but we took care of it. The swamps are secure.”
“Well hot damn. Hop on a bird, everyone.” Barret said gruffly.
Cloud chose the spare bird since he had little desire to ride behind Barret or a girl. And, of course that happened to be the chocobo that Tifa chose to ride on. She hopped on the back and wrapped her arms around Cloud’s torso tightly. I zoned in as I saw Tifa’s large boobs pressing against Cloud’s back. A smile was forming on my mouth for some unknown reason.
“Da hell you smiling about?” Barret piped up. “Pick a bird, boy.”
“Come on, Grant!” Aeris waved.
I looked down and blushed slightly. The idea of wrapping my arms around that woman made me feel a little shy.
“S-sure…” I stuttered as I complied, climbing onto the chocobo.
I wrapped my arms around Aeris’s lower body, since going higher up would be treading on dangerous ground.
Red climbed behind Barret rather awkwardly until he finally jumped off and shook his head.
“I shall run along side everyone else.” He finally decided.
And we were off, going towards the Mythril mines.
-----------------------------------END OF CHAPTER------------------------------