"What ever.' the soldier held up his hands. "These are for you. You are ordered to Wutai for the completion of your training, after which you will be shipped to the front lines for your required tour of seven months."
The man walked out leaving two envelopes on a shelf next to the door. Zack and Cloud rushed over to the envelopes and ripped them mercilessly open. "Oh man." Zack said. "What am I going to tell Aeris."
"Is that her name?" cloud said. "I knew you had a girl somewhere around here."
"Shoot what the hell am I going to say to her."
"Take her out to a nice dinner and tell her the truth."
"But I don't have any money, you know that."
Cloud opened his dresser and reached way into the back. He pulled out a large wad of cash. "Here take this."
"Where did you get all of that?"
"I've been betting on those chokobo races that they've been showing on tv. Things are so freaking predictable."
"Thanks man . I own you a big one."
"Don't forget it."
That night he took Aeris out to the most expensive resteraunt that he could find, and broke her the bad news. She took it surprisingly well. "It's your job" She said. "I knew that you'd be leaving sometime soon."
"Really?"
"I'm not stupid. I know what Soldiers do. Just promise me one thing."
‘What's that?"
"Come back to me. I don't want you to do something heroic and get yourself killed. Only if you're saving the life of a friend. Come back here and take me away from this aweful city."
"Anything for you. Hey I've got an idea."
"What's that?"
"Well i've been waiting for the right time toi ask you this, now it looks like I won't be able to do it after tonight. I've saved up my money for six months to but this.' He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold ring with a large diamond in it. "Aeris Will you marry me."
"What?!"
"Just so that I have something to come back for. Well more than that. I love you, I want to be with you for the rest of my life. We'll get engaged tonight, and married when I get back."
"I . . . I'd love to marry you Zack." She took the ring and slipped it onto her finger. "Remember your promise."
"I'm not so stupid as to get myself killed doing something stupid. I'll come back and we'll get married and live the rest of ou lives together."
The next day Cloud and Zack got onto the helicopter that took them to Junon, where they boarded a military ship. Seven days later they arrived at Wutai. They were met by a man wearing a soldier uniform. "I'm Soldier first class Hollister. You will address me as sir. You will do everything and anything I tell you to. You will not do anything at all unless told to do so. Do you understand me?"
"Yes sir." They both said in unison.
"Good follow me." Holister trned and walked away at quite a fast speed
They folowed him to the barracks where they were assigned bunks. Hollister left them alone. Telling them not to leave the room unless told to do so, or if there was an attack.
Zack lay staring at the ceiling. "Why do you get the top." Cloud asked from below.
"Because I'm older."
"By four freaking days."
"Four day older than you."
Suddenly an alarm sounded. "What the hell is that." Cloud said
"I think it's an attack." Zack jumped down from his bunlk and grabbed his sword. "Come on let's go."
"Hollister told us to stay right here." Cloud said "I'm not one to disobey orders."
"Who are you and what pod did you hatch from? Come on this is why we came here.'
Cloud got up and grabbed his sword and pistol. "Ok let's go."
They ran out the door together, weapons ready, right into total chaos. Soldiers were running every which way shooting each other. Zack Found Hollister lying in several pieces near the door. "Oh shit. We've gotta get everyone organized out here, we're going to lose if we don't. Come on." he grabbed clouds arm and started running. They collected everyone along thier way. Thier group grew larger with every step until they reached the place in the base where most of the actual fighting was taking place.
"Alright." Zack said to the group of around a hunderd an fifty people. "Here's the plan. Cloud you tak fifty soldiers and come up behind them. Everyone else come with me"
"What are we going to do?" One of the soldiers asked
"Rush them. Go cloud. We'll wait five minutes here. Attack when you hear us charge."
Cloud and his band of soldiers left, sneaking away into the surrounding trees. Zack waited five minutes then raised his sword. "CHARGE!!!" he yelled and ran headlong into the fighting. He hacked and chopped at everything not wearing a shinra uniform.
Cloud heard Zack yell charge off in the distance. He had never felt so afraid in his life, another soldier grabbed his arm. "Hey come on. They're counting on us."
"OK Everyone. Lets go. He ran out of the trees followed by his group of soldiers and stopped dead when he saw the fighting. The other soldiers ran past him into the fight. Cloud just stood and watched. To afraid to move.
Zack looked up to see the other group of soldiers coming in from behind the enemy. Then he saw Cloud just standing there out of the fight. He saw a soldier raise his gun and take aim at cloud.
"No!!!" he yelled and pushed his way through the fight to him. He hacked off the man's arm then cleaced him in two. The gun went off when he cut the arm off, he saw cloud spin around and fall to the ground, flat on his face.
"AAAAA BASTASRD!!!" Zack yelled. He saw Cloud get to his feet and run back to the saftey of the woods. "Thank god." he said relieved
another large band of soldiers came over a rise off to Zacks left. He recognise the man at it's front, carrying a huge murasame. Sephiroth. Reinfrcements were here. The battle would surely be won now, he could go find cloud and see if he was alright without fear of tlosing the battle. He made his way to the edge of the battle and saw a familliar face on one of the enemy leaders. It was the man that had killed his mother.
He forgot all about Cloud, everything left his mind but revenge. He started running full speed killing everything in his way. The man saw him coming and sarted running away from him, but zack's recent year of training and the Mako energy that he'd been infused with gave his more speed than the soldier did. He soon caught up and tackled the man.
"You killed my mother." he said. "Now I'm going to kill you in the most painful way that I can think of right now."
"What do you want i'll give you anything. Anything please don't kill me."
"I've been waiting thirteen years for this. Nothing could make me stop. Zack proceded to disembowel the man. His screams were music in Zack's ears. They also seemed to sound a retreat call to all of the enemy soldiers. They all started trying to run but Sephiroth's army had them completely blocked off.
"Please!!!" The soldier screamed. "Just kill me."
Zack looked down at him, saw the pain on his face, and the want to hurt him left him. He took his sword and beheaded the man. "Cloud!" Zack said remembering cloud was wounded. He ran off in the direction that cloud had. He found him, leaning up against a tree holding a hand over his shoulder, which was bleeding quite badly.
"I can't do it" cloud said. "The more I try to be brave the more afraid I get. I can't be a soldier, I can't do it."
"What are you talking about." Zack said. "This is your dream. You've wanted this all of your life. You just got a little scared the first time. You'll get better."
"No." Cloud said sounding anguished. "I can't do it. I can't be a soldier. I can't." a tear rolled down his cheek. "I'm going to transfer to the regular military, I can't be a soldier. I don't know what I was thinking."
"Get over to the medical building fast." Zack said. "I'm going to go finish the battle."
Zack turned and ran back to the fighting, to find it over. Sephiroth walked straight up to him. "Were you the one leading these people?" he asked.
"Sir I walked outside top find the commander dead and everything in chaos. There wasn't anything else left to do but take charge."
"That was quite brave." Sephiroth said. "I like that. A young man like you, with your talents could go a long way in Soldier. What's you rank?"
"Well actually i'm still training."
"Really?" Sephiroth looked surprised. He looked more surprised that he was surprised than anything else. "I'll fix that for you. How does Soldier first class Sound to you?"
"Great sir." Zack could hardly believe it.
"No need to call me sir. We're the same rank. I have one question. I saw you torturing their leader before yopu killed him. Why?"
"He killed my mother."
"The first thing that you need to leard if you're going to be first class is that revenge and command don't mix."
"I killed him, I dn't need revenge anymore.'
"Good. Come with me I want to talk with you about your strategy."
"Sir . . .Uh . . .Sephiroth. I have a friend tht was wounded. I want to check on him first, if it's ok with you."
"Brave and loyal too, i'm starting to like you a lot."
Over the next year Sephiroth and Zack became friends, he and Cloud drifted a little apart after he quit Soldier and joined the normal military. They kept in touch with letters but never got the chance to see each other. He wrote Aeris almos every day, telling her how much he was looking foreward o coming back to her. Sephiroth found out about her and asked what was up. He told him all about Aeris, and how they were engaged. "You'd better go and marry her then. I've got one mission lined up for us but after that you can go marry her. A year is too long for two people in love to be apart from each other."
"Have you ever loved anyone?" zack asked
"Nope, and I doubt that I ever will."
Zack found the next day when they were loading everything for the mission onto the truck that Cloud had volunteered to go along. "Cloud." Zack said. "I didn't think i'd ever see you again."
"Neither did I. That's why I volunteered for this mission."
Zack was restless, he wanted to get this mission over with so that he could get back to Aeris, he couldn't stay still in the back of the truck. Cloud was looking pretty sick.
"Hey cloud." Zack said. "You alright?"
"Yeah." Cloud answered in a wavering voice. "I'm just car sick. It really sucks."
"I wouldn't know, I never get motion sickness. Why don't you take off you're helmet and get some air"
"You're lucky."
"Hey Sephiroth. Are you going to brief us on this mission or not."
"Settle down, you're running around like a child that's had too much sugar." sephiroth said. "This isn't any ordainary mission that we're going on."
"Good. I really want to make a name for myself. That's why I always ask for the really hard and out of the ordainary missions."
"Good way to get yourself killed." Sephiroth said. "Well we're supposed to check out a Mako reactor that's malfunctioning and producing brutal creatures."
"Where?"
"Nibelheim."
"Hey Cloud." Zack said. "That's your hometown isn't it?"
"Yeah." Cloud said. "I havn't been there for two years."
"Hmmm." Sephiroth said. "First time back in you're home town."
They arrived in Nibelheim the next day. Sephiroth Walked ahead of them all looking around. "I feel that I know this place somehow." he said turning back to Zack and the others. "So how does it feel to be back in your hometown after all of this time. I wouldn't know, I don't have one. I don't know where I'm from. My mother Jenova died right after I was born."
Cloud looked up and saw a girl that he knew. He couldn't come back here after all of this rime without having Joined Soldier like he'd said he would. He ran quickly back to the truck and grabbed his helme. Pulling the face mask over his face so that no one could see it.
Cloud and the other guard stood at the entrance to the town standing guard, while Zack and Sephiroth walked toward the inn. Sephiroth turned back to them. "Cloud was it?" Cluod flinched as Sephroth called his name. He looked around to see if anyone had heard. "We only need one guard. Why don't you go see your family for a while before we go up to the reactor. You never know when you'll see them next."
Cloud hurriedly ran up to his mother's house making sure that nobod saw him. "What's with him?" Sephiroth asked. "It's like he's afraid of being here."
"He left home to join Soldier but didn't make it. He told everyonre here that he was going to be a soldier just like you someday and I guess he's afraid of what they'll think of him now."
"How odd." Sephiroth still couldn't get rid of the feeling that he knew this place.
‘Are you alright Sephiroth? You look kind of. . .detached or something."
"I don't know what it is. This place just feel odd. Phew. The mako smell is pretty bad here maybe it's just the Mako."
The next morning they all gathered at the trail that led up mt. Nibel.
"What are we waiting for." Zack asked
"I've hired a guide to take us up to the reactor. As soon as she get's here we'll go. She's a little young, I hope hat we can count on her."
"If my daughter get harmed in any way." A man stepped foreward. "I swear that I'll kill you Sephiroth."
"It'll be alright Daddy." A girl said. "I have two men from soldier here to protect me. Besides, I can take care of myself."
Zack could hear Cloud groan. He must have known this girl.
"Hey mr. Sephiroth can I get a picture of you."
"OI!! Every where I go.' Sephiroth exclaimed
"Come on Sephiroth." Zack said. "Just one picture won't hurt.'
"Fine." Sephiroth said. He walked over to where Zack and the guide . .. Tifa. . . were standing.. The man took his picture and started walking away happily.
"I'll give you all a copy of it when you get back." he said
"We're wasting time." sephiroth said. "Tifa you lead the way."
They started up mt. Nibel in silence. All five of them. When they reached the bridge that leed to the reactor it broke in the middle with all of them on it. Zack watched as one of the guards fell screaming to his death. He was relieved that it wasn't cloud.
Tifa led them the long way to the reactor through maze of caves. Finally they reached their destination around noon. "You Stand guard." sephiroth said pointing to Cloud. Then he and Zack walked up the ramp int the reactor.
"Hey." Tifa yelled after them. "I wanna go in too."
"Sorry." Sephiroth said. "Shinra employees only."
Tifa kicked the ground and stomped over to a rock where she sat down. "You'd better guard me good."
Inside the reactor Zack and Sephiroth found the problem, and fixed it. "Hmmm" Sephiroth said. " I wonder what could have caused the malfunction here."
He looked up at the tanks that purified the mako energy after it was sucked out of the ground. "These tanks look like. . ." he pulled himself up to the small glass window near the top of one of the tanks. And quickly jumped back down. "I see now. Pretty clever."
"Zack take a look inside there."
Zack did as he was told and quickly jumped back down. "Wha . . . What is it?"
"These look like the tanks used to shower normal members of soldier with Mako energy. But whatever is in there now is getting a whole lot more than a little shower. It's mutating whatever it is into a monster."
"What do you mean by ‘normal' members of soldier. Aren't you normal?"
Sephiroth burried his face in his hands. " Se. . .sephiroth? Are you alright?"
Sephioth drew his swor and began hacking at the tank. "Is this how I was created? I always thought that I was different, but not like this. Professor gast why did you have to die?"
Sephiroth ran out of the reactor and didn't stop until he reached Nibel heim where he went stright for the old Shinra mansion. After a little close examination he found a hidden basement laboratory. He started reading some of the notes.
"Zack went into the basement of the mansion to find Sephiroth sitting at a desk reading some papers. "Listen to this." Sephiroth said without looking up. "An organism was found deep in the stratum of the earth. It was confirmed to be an ancient. Professor Gast named it Jenova."
"Sephiroth." Zack said
"Jenova. . .my mother's name was jenova. Is this just a coincidence?"
"Sephiroth?"
‘Leave me alone Zack."
Zack left Sephiroth alone and went upstairs to bed in one of the rooms in the old mansion. Sephiroth stayed downstaris reading all night long. Never once did the light in the basement go out. The next morning Zack got up and went to check on Sephiroth.
"Ah." Sephiroth said. "The traitor."
"Traitor?'
"A long time ago the ancients lived here on this world. They never stayed in the same place always searching for the promised land." Sephiroth said. "Some of them decided that it wasn't worth it and settled in one place. Those were your ancestors. The rest who kept searching for the promised land sacrificed themselves to save the planet from a meteor that hit it. Those were my ancestors. I was created from jenova to try and bring the power of the ancients back to the world."
Sephiroth got up and started walking out of the room. "Wait Sephiroth." Zack called following him. "Where are you going?"
"To see my mother.'
Sephiroth broke into a run. Zack followed behind him, out of the mansion to find the towm of Nibelheim in flames. Zack ran down into the town square to see if he could help anyone. "Hey you." Someone called "You're still sane aren't you? Good you check that house and i'll check this one."
Zack went int the burning house to find no one. He walked outside and looked around. Sephiroth couldn't have done all of this by himself in the seconds that he had to do it in. He must really have the power of the ancients. Zack looked around, overwhelmed by the destruction. He looked down to see Cloud lying dead by the house he had just gone into.
"Sephiroth Where are you?" he yelled "this is wrong. Show yourself."
He looked back up towards the mansion just in time to see Sephiroth kill some of the towns poeple and disappear into the flames. "SEPHIROTH!!!" Zack screamed as he ran up after him. He was heading for the reactor.
Zack, huffing and puffing, from the long run up to the reactor walked inside. Tifa was inside kneeling over the body of her father. "Sephiroth did this to you didn't he?" She said. " Ihate him. Sephiroth. . .Soldier. . .mako reactors. . .I hate them all."
She picked up Sephiroth's sword off of the ground near the body of her father and ran further into the reactor.
"No Wait." Zack yelled after her. But she couldn't hear him.
Zack ran after her just in time to see Sephiroth Slice across her chest. She fell back down the stairs that led up to the door that said JENOVA over it. ‘It's me mother." sephiroth said. "Let me in."
The door opened and Sephiroth went inside. Zack ran up the stairs after him. Leaving Tifa for dead. He entered the room where sephiroth had just gone and saw him standig in front of a monstrous looking thing.
Sephiroth abruptly turned and ran at him. He didn't have enough time to reach for his sword. Sephiroth picked him up over his head." Wait Sephiroth." he said but sephiroth ignored him. Suddenly he was flying through the air. Darkness filled his mind as he smashed into a low hanging pipe and fell down onto one of the tanks.
Cloud limped into the room. "Tifa." he said. "Zack" he rushed to Tifa's side.
"Cloud.. .Y. . .You promised."she said then fell silent. Cloud picked her up and laid her off to the side.
"Zack." He shook zack but he wouldn't wake up. "Sorry buddy. I didn't get here fast enough. I need your sword." he grasped the hilt of Zack's sword and pulled it off of his back.
He ran up the stairs and into the room at the top of them. Inside he saw Sephiroth holding what looked like a disembodied head. He ran up and stabbed Sephiroth. "How could you? I wanted to be just like you. You killed my mother and my two best firends in the whole world.. How coudl you do this. You burned my hometown." Cloud looked down at the blade sticking into Sephiroth's lower back. He pulled it out and backe away slowly, as if afraid of what he had just done.
"Come mother." Sephiroth said to the head in his hand. "Let's go home to the promised land."
He limped out of the room. Cloud didn't want to let him get away so he followed. As he passed Zack he heard hard breathing. He ran up to Zack, "Cloud. . ."Zack said. "Kill Sephiroth. We can't. . .let him get away."
Cloud turned and ran after Sephiroth. He caught up to him near the body of Tifa's father. "Sephiroth" He yelled.
"Don't push your luck boy." Sephiroth said. " He turned and stabbed Cloud through the chest. Cloud didn't even feel it. He jad other things on his mind. Revenge does that to a person. Sephiroth lifte him off of the ground using the sword blade sticking into his chest. Cloud just laughed.
"What?!" Sephiroth exclaimed letting Cloud drop. He began twisting the blade in loud's chest. Cloud just laughed louder. "This can't be"
Cloud grabbed the blade, using it he picked Sephiroth up and threw him over the railing into the lifestream of the planet below. And fell to the floor to die.
Zack awoke floating in a glass tank in the basement of the Shinra mansion. He could see people from time to time walking around outside. He looked over to his left and saw Cloud in a similar tank. He could tell that his wounds were being healed at an alarming rate. His entire life had been turned upside down. One of the men that he had trusted the most had tried to kill him.
He wondered how long he'd been out, he could see his word on the desk in the middle of the room. If only he could get to it. He and Cloud could get away. The Shinra, it seemed, was now his enemy.
He looked over at Cloud again. He could see that Cloud was scratching something on the inside of his tank "Lets get out of here." Zack read
"When we eat. That's the time.' he scratched back
Soon a man came in and playing around with the controls at the bottom of the tank that zack was in. When he saw that Zack was watching he said. "This is your food."
Zack Kicked the glass as hard as he could, it spiderwebbed. The man stepped back surprised, and Zack kicked again. This time the glass shattered and Zack whooshed out with the water that he was floating in. The man had been knoked unconcios by the water.
Zack walked stiffly over to the Tank that cloud was in and pushed the Open button.. The water slowly drained and it opened spilling Cloud out onto the floor. "You alright?" Zack asked
Cloud just moaned. It was then that Zack saw Cloud's wounds. "Holy shit. Sephiroth got you good didn't he?"
Zack grabbed his sword off of the table and hocked it onto his back. He bent over and picked Cloud UP. " come on Cloud. We've got to get out of here."
"L. . .leave. . .m . . .me." Cloud managed
"Hell no." Zack answered as he started dragging cloud towards the exit. "I owe you one remember."
Zack dragged cloud unseen out of the small town of Nibelheim, it had been completely rebuilt exactly as it had been. " We must have been stuck down there a long time Cloud." he said as they left the town. "We've got to hitch a ride back to Midgar and get you fixed up."
Ack dragged Cloud to the side of the road that they had come by and leaned him against a large rock. "Can't g around wearing that you know." zack said to Cloud. "The blood'll give us away in a second."
He took off the over shirt of his soldier uniform and put it on Cloud. "You look good in that Cloud. You should have stayed in Soldier."
Headlights splashed over them. Zack ran out into the road and jumped up and down waving his arms. The man driving the old truck stopped and rolled down the window. "You got a hell of a way of flagging down a truck." he said. "You two need a lift?"
"Yeah. Where're you going?"
"Midgar."
"Great."
"Go ahead and hop in the back>"
"Thanks." Zack went back and picked Cloud up. He carfefulled placed him in the back of the truck then hopped in himself.
‘What's wrong ith him? " The man asked
"Hunting accident." Zaclk answered. "He'll be alright in a few days."
The mn started driving again.
The next day Zack was getting restledd. Either the old man was driving incredibly slow or it was a lot further to midgar than he remembered. ‘Hey how long till we get to midgar." Zack asked
"Sit down and shut up. Take five minutes off of the last time
youy asked me."
"Hmmm!!" Zack said. "What are we going to do. We can't go back to our old jobs. That's for sure. Hey cloud let's start a our own business. What do you think We'll be good at. Hey old guy what do you think We'd be good at?"
‘You're still young. Try a little of everything.'
"That's it we'll be mercenaries. You and me Cloud. Friends till the end."
A few hours later they were run down by Shinra soldiers. The old man driving the truck was shot, and Zack barely managed to get away with Cloud.
The Soldiers followed them. Zack put Cloud down on the ground. "You wait right there" He said as he ran back to where the soldiers were
he cut one in half and slashe another across the chest. On his way back to Cloud he was shot in the back. He flew through the air and landed hard on his back, with his head hanging over the edge of a cliff. The soldiers walked over to him and pointed thier guns at him. "I'm sorry Aeris. I'm Sory>" he said then the two soldiers opened fire into his head. There wasn't much left of him when they were done.
They marched off leaving Cloud alone. Rain began fallinf on Cloud as he dragged himself over to Zack. He saw what was left of his friend and felt like crying. Then he remembered Zack's plan. "I'll do it zack. You and me buddy." he picked up Zack's sword and raised it above his head with a cry of sadness. Over the side of the cliff was the city of midgar. A bright jewel of opportunity shining in the rainy night
This story is by Yours truely Eric Allen. it is copyrighted so don't even dream of thinking of using it without my expressed permission or I can and will sue you a lot. (when i say a lot I mean a lot)
