A Forgotten Tale
Zack's story
Zack sat on his mothers lap as he did every evening around this time. She was telling him about her day, what she did, what she was going to do tomarrow. That sort of thing. Not that he ever really paid attention, he was after all only three years old. They lived in the lovely town of Sheritin, it was in the neutral territory between the Shinra controlled lands, and the lands barely held onto by everyone else. Everyone knew that the town was leaning toward joining the Shinra side of the war, because of all of the horror stories of people who opposed the Sinra and were caught.
The town council was meeting tomarrow to decide if they were going to join Shinra or stay independant. That was a big thing for the people of Sheritin to decide, they were very paranoid of losing thier land to anyone. If they sided with Shinra in this war, their land would most probably become the front lines in the war.
Zack didn't know or care about any of this, just as many little children he found what grown ups said boring and pointless. So he just sat there pretending to listen, while imagining hinmself at the head of an army winning the war for any side that would have him. His mother ruffled his short black hair and put him down, There was a flash of lightning outside, followed by a crack of thunder. Zack being tohe big hero that hwas ran into his room and hid under his bed.
"Hey Zacky." His father called from the other room. "It's just thunder. You've heard it a hundred times. Come back out here."
Zack obeyed his father and slowly, very careful not to be noticed from the small window, he walked back into the oher room. "Sounds like a big one's coming." Zack's mom said.
"Yep." His father put in. "Glad i'm not stuck in it like all them soldiers."
"If you were you wouldn't get wet. You'd be under that monstrosity hanging over the fire place." She pointed at the huge sword that had been handed down father to son in his family for what seemed like since the beginning of time.
"Hey now. That sword saved our lives once."
"I know, but one smaller would have doe the job also."
There was another flash of lightniong outside, and the door slammed inwards. Three soldiers ran in pointing large, powerful looking rifle's at them. "Hands up." The leader said. "Don't move or I Will shoot you."
"What's the meaning of this?" Zacks father asked, out raged.
"Shut up you dammed Shinra sympathizer." One of the other soldiers said.
The leader held up his hand. "You were about to join the Shinra. We couldn'tlet them have all this land, if we don't take it first. We'll lose. Now all of you on your feet or I'll shoot them off of you."
"I just wish we'd joined the Shinra months ago." Zacks father spat.
The leader of the soldiers hit him in the temples with the butt of his gun. He fell to the ground with a splatter of blood. "Pick him up and brin him along." Th e soldier said.
The other two family members were escorted out of their house at gun point. Just as everyone else in the small town was being forced to. They were led to a feild where hunderds of wooden crosses lay flat on the ground. More soldiers awaited them there, There seemed to be an endless number of them.
When everyone in the town was either brought at gun point or dragged bleeding to the feild a man walked out into the middle of all the crosses with a megephone. "You were all siding with the Shinra. We can't allow that to happen. As a warning to any others that would do the same you all, except the children, are to be executed." He waved around at the crosses. "You all will be crucified here in this feild along the road where all who travel past will see what happens to those that side against us. Your bodies will rot here still on the crosses long after you're dead as a reminder to all other. The only way that you'll get off the crooses if when your flesh rots completely away and your bones fall to the ground. Where they'll stay for ever."
As the man went on describing their fate in greater, and greater detail, the crown grew more nd more distressed. Every now and then someone would try to break away and run for it. Only to be shot down before they got five steps away. When he was fininshed with his morbid speach to the people the soldiers began dragging people to tthe crosses and tying them to them. All of the children fifteen years old and younger watched in horror as thier parents were tied to crosses.
Rain began to pour down on the people in the croud. Drenching everyone and everything that it touched. The soldiers finished the job of tying the adults to the crosses and began raising them into place. They had been here before hand and had all of the holes for the posts already dug. More and more crosses went up into the unkind night. Soldiers began filling the holes around the crosses with cement to keep them from falling over. When all of the crosses had been raised the man with the megaphone came back out into the middle of them.
"Now shoot thier legs. Use your pistols. We don't want you taking their legs completely off."
Gun shots started going off everywhere, following each of them was a scream of pain and agony "now children>" The megaphone guy said. "Look at your parents. Look at your older brothers and sisters. This is the fate of all who defy us. Defy us later and you will have your own cross next to these people."
Zack wiped a hand through his hair. It was plastered to his head, he looked up and found his father among the moaning mass of crucified people. The side of his head was covered with blood as were his legs. His fathers eyes met his, Zack saw him mouth the words "help me" He wanted to, God how he wanted to, but what could a three year old child do with all of these soldiers around.
Lightning struck down in the nearby forest starting a fire despite the water falling from the sky. The fire quickly spread towards the town , and soon houses were burning as the soldiers pointed and laughed. Zack just stared at his father hanging there so helpless and weak, frightened and in pain. He was so desparate that he was begging his three year old son for help.
Suddenly there was a gun shot in the distance and the soldier holding the megaphone flew backwards, knocking down one of the crosses. He had a large hole in the middle of his chest. Zack turned to see the Shinra army charging toward them up the road. More shots were fired before anyone really figured out what was going on. When the soldier came out of thier "Huh?" haze the began shooting the people on the crosses. This time in the head. By now there was no hope of putting out the fire in the town. It was a goner for sure.
Zack looked back to the crosses trying to find his mother. He saw her out near the edge of the crowd where the bad soldiers were starting to mass. He ran towards her. She looked weakly toward him and smiled. And suddenly her head was surounded by a halo of blood and bone as she was shot in the back of the head. Her head slumped forewards and her body went limp on the cross. And . . .
. . . Zack sat up in bed. He was having a nightmare. That had been the worst day of his life, so many of the people that he knew and loved had died. His mother, a few freinds, a whole lot of other people that he wached die. And t make it worse, the town of Sheritin burnt to the ground along with most of the surrounding farms and crops. There was nothing left for the poeple that lived through that day. The Shinra army had gotten there just a minute or two too late, if only they had gotten there a little sooner . . . his mother might still be alive.
He wiped the cold sweat off of his face with the back of his forearm, he remembered the events of that night with perfect clarity. Every gun shot, every scream of pain, every splash of blood. He owed the Shinra big time. If they had not shown up, his father would be dead, possibly him also if all the adults had died leaving the children to fend for themselves. He still couldn't get the picture of his mothers head jerking foreward as the bullet ripped through it.
His long black hair had fallen out of the pony tail that he had tied it it before falling asleep. He must have rolled and moved a lot during the dream. Zack reached to the small table beside his bed and grabbed another rubberband, he tied his hair back again, and let himself fall back down on the bed. He had had that nightmare all of his life, maybe once a week for twelve years straight. Every time it was as if it were happening for the first time, and always so real that he couldn't tell that it was a dream.
He didn't feel much like sleeping again yet so he just lay thre staring at the ceiling in the dark. The war was still going on, the Shinra were winning, but it could still go either way. Zack had always imagined himself as a soldier, fighting in a war, saving people's lives. There was still a chance to get in and do a little payback for the hurt that the other army had caused him. It wouldn't be enough to make up for everything that he'd lost, nothing ever could, but it was a start. The usual entry age for Soldier was fourteen years old. He was fifteen, right in the right age group. The war needed winning, and he couldn't leave it up to others to pay them back for what was done to him. They had no Idea what it was like. They were fighting for different reasons altogether.
There was a man tat was appearing in the news a lot lately, Sephiroth was his name. He was one of the Shinra's elite soldiers, quite a good fighter by what they said on the news. If he let this Sephiroth get his revenge for him. He'd never forgive himself. Never.
Zack decided then and there that he was going to midgar to join Soldier. As soon as possible, the war could end at any moment and he wanted his share of killing the people that had killed his mother and torched his hometown. Gradually over about an hour or so Zack fell back asleep, a sleep filled, thankfullt, with no dreams.
Zack got up and dressed, he could hear his father downstairs cooking something. It didn't exactly smell edible, his father was a horrible cook, but he tried, and that was enough for Zack. Zack ran down the stair and into the kitchen. "Dad." he said. "I want to go to Midgar."
"And why is that?" his father said limping over to him on a cane. His legs had never completely healed from the wounds inflicted when he'd been crucified. "What is in Midgar that we don't have here?"
"Mideel is a great place." Zack said. "But. . .I want to join Soldier."
"Oh I see. You want revenge do you?"
"I guess so, I want to join soldier and help rid the world of the kind of people that would crucify innocent people, and start shooting them the second another army shows up."
"Well I can see that there'll be no stopping you. You've got your mind set on this. Does this have something to do with dreams you've been having. I heard you having a nightmare last night."
"Every time I close my eyes I see mom's head jerk forward and her blood fly out around her head like a halo. I have to do something or i'll never forgive myself."
"Do you have any money? A trip to Midgar is going to cost a lot of money that I don't have to give you."
"I've been saving money up for school. If I join soldier I wont need to go to school I'll already have a career."
"But is it something that you'll want to do for the rest of your life?"
"Yes."
"I can't give you money, but I can give you something. The sword, up above the fireplace. Take it, it's yours."
"Your sword? Are you sure?"
"A soldier has to have a weapon doesn't he?"
"Yeah I guess so. Thanks."
"When will you be leaving?"
"I guess on the next boat out of here. Tomarrow I think it was coming."
"That's not much time for us to spend together. We may never see each other after you leave."
That day Zack and his father spent together was the best day of Zack's life, at least up till then. He was sad to see it go, but excited to be leaving. It was a strange mix of emotions. The next morning Zack set out early, the harbor was three miles from the house that he and his father shared. The huge sword of his family was strapped to his back, he could hardly keep himself from falling over backwards.
He had been looking forward to this day for a very long time, revenge was almost in his grasp, he would die before letting it get away. It took him an hour to walk the distance to the harbor, by the time that he got there they workers were already loading the ship up for departure. Zack walked up to the ticket office.
"I need to be on that boat." he said to the man behind the counter.
"Sorry" the small man said. "Sold out yesteday."
Zack reached back and adjusted the sword on his back
"But then again. I don't need to go to Junon today, y . . .you can have my ticket."
Zack paid the man and walked up to the ship that loomed over everything in the area. He was stopped right before he got to the gang plank. "No weapons aloud on board." the grizzled guard said.
"Can you stow it away for me somewhere?" Zack asked, a little annoyed
"Nope. Ship's rules. No weapons on board anywhere. What if President Shinra is waiting on the dock at Junon? You could walk right up and kill him, and put an end to Shinra's triumph over the other side."
"Trust me I wouldn't do a thing like that. I'm going to Midgar to join soldier, I'd kill myself if I ever knowingly helped the anti shinra army."
"Hey I really don't give a damn. A rule's a rule."
Zack lifted up the right sleeve of his shirt, exposing his forearm. There was a tatoo of a cross with the words revenge for all over it. Every survivor of the Sheritin massacre had one identical to it. "Trust me I wouldn't." he said.
"Ahhh. Little boy grew up and wants revenge. I guess I could hide that thing somewhere for you, but it'll cost you."
"How much?"
v"A thousand."
"You crazy or did you get kicked in the head by a chokobo when you were young?"
"Hey I don't have to let you on."
"Fine." Zack said as he pulled out his money pouchfrom under his shirt. "Seven fifty."
"Good enough. Pay up."
Zack counted out the money and handed it to the man, then he reached back, and detached the sword from his back. "Have you every felt pain so bad that you couldn't stop screaming, that your every waking second is hell. You beg god to make it stop but he turns his back on you and all you can do is scream?"
"God no!"
"If I don't get this sword back at junon You will."
The man took the sword, looking Zack over to see if he could indeed do what he had said he would. He seemed to have a devilish glint in his eyes, and a mess with me and you'll never stop paying for it air about him. He was well muscled and looked as if he could indeed inflict the pain that he'd promised, plus more.
"Oh don't worry none about that. You'll get it back."
Zack walked up onto the ship, and towards the passenger compartments. Pulling the ticket out of his pocket he looked at the room number he was assinged to. It was first class, he must have really scared the man at the ticket counter.
Three days passed before the ship arrived at Junon harbor, Zack spent most of it out on the deck watching the waves crash against the front of the boat, and laughing to himself about how many people seemed to be saesick. He had never gotten motion sickness himself, he didn't really understand why other people did.
Finally they arrived at Junon, Zack tracked down the man with his sword and made him get it for him, all the while glaring threateningly at him. The huge cannon that made Junon famous jutted out of the city, and pointed warningly towards the ocean. He had never seen a gun so huge in all of his life. He wanted to see it fire at something just to see how big the explosion would be.
"Hey boy." someone said, catching his arm. " a strong looking guy like you could probably go a long way in Soldier."
"Well actually. That's why I'm here." He gestured towards the sword on his back. "I want to join Soldier and pay the anti-shinra back for killing my mother, my friends, and burning my villiage down."
"Then you've come to the right place." The man said. "It just so happens that I'm a recruiter for Soldier. I work for Sephiroth himself, come on I'll need you to fill out some paper work, then we'll stick you in a helicopter off to Midgar. We really need some new soldiers to finish mopping up the remnants of the anti-shinra."
Zack followed the man to a small building that said recruiting on the outside. He filled out some forms, and as the recruiter had promised, he soon was aboard a helicopter skimming low over the grassy plains east of Junon. He watched as the land whipped by just twenty or thirty feet below them. After a while they came to the mountains, the small helicopter zipped through canyons, missing the walls by little more than a few feet.
Zack's stomach churned as the pilot pulled up had to avoid the end of the canyon that they were skimming through. As the helicopter cleared the wall Zack was given his first vie of Midgar. The huge circular city stood in the middle of a wasteland. "Nothing's growing around it." Zack said to the the pilot.
"Nothing ever has." The pilot just answered. "It's just from pollution, don't worry about it. None of it can hurt you in the Shinra tower."
The small helicopter skimmed over the wasteland around midgar. Zack had heard stories of how Mako power seemed to suck the life out of everything around it. He had never really believed that the new found power source was bad for the environment, but now he had to believe it. The proof was right under him.
Midgar was a reletively new city. It had been constructed as the base of the Shinra just after the war had started. It was built over eight small, older cities all of them strong Shinra supporters. When it was discovered that mako energy could be so easily extracted from the planet, eight reactors were constructed around the perimeter of midgar. They needed that many just to run everything inside the huge city.
Zack could now see the huge spire of the Shinra tower jutting out of the middle of the huge city. It was an awesome site, the tower was where president Shinra lived, and ran the company. The helicopter swooped around the back of the tower and landed lightly on the lnding pad.
The pilot pointed to a door. "Just head straight through that door and make a left." he said.
Zack thanked the pilot. Grabbing his small bag of things, and his sword, he got out of the helicopter and walked into the door. He was stopped imediatly by a young man about his age. He had a rediculous spikey haircut, Zack almost laughed out loud when he saw it. "Hey", the guy said. "You here to join soldier?"
"Yeah." Zack said. "Name's Zack."
"I'm cloud. I was kind of wondering if you know where to go. I'm a little lost in this huge city."
"Tell me about it, it looks so much smaller in the pictures. The pilot that flew me here said to make a left down there."
"So why do you want to Join soldier?" Cloud asked as they started walking down the corridor together.
"Revenge. I'm from Sheritin. How about you?"
"I want to be like Sephiroth. I want to be a war hero like Sephiroth."
"I guess we go down there." Zack said pointing to a hallway going off to the left.
"Yeah. Lets go" cloud looked at his watch. "We're kind of a little late."
They turned down the hallway, a few yards down Zack saw a sign on the wall that said Orientation for new recruits. "Right there." he said pointing to the door
Cloud opened the door and the two of them walked inside
Two months later
Zack and cloud got to be friends during thier basic training at Shinra headquarters. On the small salary that they made they could only afford a small one room appartment in the slums under the fifty meter high plates that the city of midgar rested on. Soldiers usually came from rich families so the military didn't provide housing for them. This was not a good thing for Cloud and Zack.
Zack rolled over and glanced at the clock between the two beds that were crammed into the small room. At first the time didn't register in his mind, a few seconds later he sat straight up in bed. "We're late." he yelled "Cloud get up."
Cloud rolled out of bed slowly. "What time is it?" he asked
"Nine thirty." Zack said while buttoning the shirt of his uniform up.
"Damn." Cloud quickly started getting dressed. "We were supposed to at the lab fifteen minutes ago."
"I know." Zack fastened his swor on his back. "I know."
Cloud buckled a much smaller sword onto his belt, along with a pistol. They both ran out the door. "I hope we can catch the train. It's supposed to leave at nine." Cloud said as they ran.
"Naw!" Zack said "They never leav on time any way, we could always wait for the nine forty five train. But of course, that one won't be here until about ten thirty."
"HELLLP!!!" A woman screamed from down a side alley as they ran past.
Zack stopped but cloud kept going. "Hey come on Cloud, we can't just leave her."
"Hey I don't wanna get into any more trouble than I'm already in. You do what you want but I'm going to work."
"Fine i'll help her alone."
Cloud ran off , and Zack removed his sword from his back. In the alley a young woman, a little older than he was, was being beaten by a large man, and held down by a smaller man.
"What's going on here." Zack said loudly.
"Just turn around and go back to what you were doin soldier boy and we'll forget this ever happened." The big man said
"Or else?" Zack asked
"Or else." the smaller man said.
With the two men distracted the young woman kicked the one holding her in the knee hard and ran over to Zack when he fell over cluthing it. The man got back up, "OOOO now I'm pissed"
"Just turn around and walk away, and we'll forget this ever happened." Zack said
The large man pulled out a gun. "Have it your way then" Zack said. He rushed the guy and hit him hard in the gut with the flat of his massive blade. The man flew back and hit the wall with a loud thud.
"Holy shit." the small man excalimed as he turned and ran.
"You alright." Zack said turning to face the young woman. He was suddenly struck with her beauty as if a large truck had smashed into him and backed back over him a few times.
"Yes, thank you . . ."
"Oh I'm Zack," he said after a little pause. He couldn't help staring at her face. "Why were those guys doing that to you?"
"I'm Aeris, nice to meet ya. Those guys think I'm a witch or something."
"Why?"
"Because I'm the only one that can make flowers grow down here in the slums."
"Flowers?! That's why they were beating you, because you grow flowers."
A train whistle blew off in the distance. "Oh shoot, I've gotta be on that train." Zack said hurriedly slinging his sword over his shoulder, and turning to run.
"Wait a second." Aeris called
Zack stopped and turned back. "I've got to give you something for your trouble, she reached over and picked up her basket of flowers. Reaching inside and pulling one out she haanded it to him. "Here give this to your girl friend."
"I don't have one." Zack said. He watched Aeris' face light up when he said it. "But I'll take it anyway, don't see many living plants around here. It'll brighten up my room. Thanks, I'd love to stay and talk a little while longer but I'm kind of really late."
"Then you'd better be going." Aeris said. "See ya around Zack."
Zack turned around and ran for the train station, he barely made it there before the train left, he ran inside just as the doors were closing. Cloud greeted him as he sat down. "Hey you made it."
"Thanks a lot for helping."
"Hey what's that" Cloud said pointing at the flower.
"Nothing, she gave it to me for helping her."
"I know that look on your face. Your in love."
"Maybe."
"Maybe?"
"You know what they want us at the lab for today, seems kind of odd since we've been doind war games ever since we got here."
"Nice subject change. Havn't got a clue why. Look at that." Cloud said pointing out the window. "Isn't that strnge looking up at the sky and seeing a metal plate. Pretty unsettling scenery."
"Yeah whatever." Zack was on another planet, one very far away where he and Aeris were alone together.
When they got to the lab they were ushered inside quickly. "You're late." The man wearing a lab coat that met them at the door said. "What the hell took you so long, this is not going to look very good on your records."
"We were rescuing a damsel in distress." Zack said. "We would have been on time but since we stopped to save her we missed the train and had to wait for the next one."
"If I find that you're lying to me i'll have you both on garbage detail for the rest of your natural lives. Right this way." The lab caot wearing man gestured and walked off.
They followed to a large lab, on one wall were four metal tanks that went from floor to ceiling. A worker in the lab brought two syringes to the doctor. He took them and jammed one into Zack's arm. "Hey." Zack protested. "What is that."
"You don't need to know. All soldier candidates are injected with it." he jammed the other needle into Cloud's arm. "Open tanks three and four." he ordered
Two of the large metal cyllendars opened. Another nurse brought two more syringes. "Oh god not more." Cloud said.
"This will put you to sleep for the five days that you'll be in the tanks. Without it you might go insane from the boredom." the doctor injected zack and Cloud and ushered them into the tanks.
When the tanks start filling up take the breathing maskes and strap them to your faces, make sure that they won't come off, because if they do you won' wake up ever. Try to relax and fall asleep as soon as possible, this may be rather painful if you're awake."
"What the hell is this anyway." Zack asked
"You're about to be infused with Mako energy. It gives you better night vision, makes you stronger, and makes it so that you will heal faster. Now get in, hurry before the drugs take effect."
Zack and Cloud got into the tanks, and didn't come out for five days, during which the Jenova cells that were injected into them reacted with the small ammount of mako energy that was being pumped into the tanks, changing thier bodies, ever so slightly, but changed nonetheless.
5 days later
Zack awoke in a dark room lying flat on his back. He felt more alive than he ever had in his life. He felt great, looking around the room he saw Cloud lying on another bed. He stood up and walked over to Cloud. "Hey Cloud wake up."
Cloud's eyes opened. They had changed, they were still the same color but they were somehow brighter as if they were glowing slightly. "Hey your eyes are blue now." Cloud said
"Your's are a little different also. I heard that's how they can tell who has been infused with Mako."
1 year later
Zack had gotten to know Aeris pretty well, they were seeing each other regularly now, even though she was two years older than he was. After finishing thier basic training, Cloud and Zack had started Soldier training. Which required them to move out of the slums and into the Soldier barracks in the Shinra tower. This cut down on Zacks time with Aeris but they still got to see each other, almost as much as before.
Zack and Cloud were also becoming better and better friends. They were almost unsepparable. When ever Zack was assigned something Cloud would volunteer also, and visa-versa.
‘Hey Cloud did you hear?" Zack yelled as he rushed into their room. Cloud fell startled out of his bed, with the look of death in his eye. "They're shipping us out to Wutai tomarrow."
The look of death vanished from clouds face. "Finally." He jumped up. They began dancing around together. "We're going to kick some Anti Shinra .." The door slammed open and a grizzled old Soldier waklked in. Cloud and Zack got as far away from each other as possible in an amazingly short amount of time. "Uh we were uh. . .just."
"Forget it I have a son just like you two." The man said.
"No we're not like that.' Zack said. We're just happy to get out of here and see some action."
"
the rest of the story is Here