BOOK
1
Cloud's Story - Part II
_____Near
the back of town was a dirt track leading around the back of the Shinra Mansion
and into the wild mountain range. Sephiroth, Cloud, the two Shinra guards
and some townspeople had gathered outside the gates of the mansion before
they set off.
_____"Once the guide gets here we're heading
out." Sephiroth said. Cloud looked at the people there. One of them was
Tifa's father. There was a long strap around his neck with a camera dangling
from it in front of his stomach. He looked around, wondering where the guide
could be.
_____Tifa appeared from around the corner. She
was wearing a large straw sun hat which shaded her entire face from the sun.
She also wore a short-sleeved T-shirt and a pair of brown shorts. Her feet
were in a pair of brown, knee-high boots.
_____"Listen to me, Sephiroth." Tifa's
father said as he held the man by his arm. "In case something happens..."
_____"Trust me." Sephiroth said, not
letting the man finish his sentence.
_____"I'll be all right, dad!" Tifa
cried.
_____"Tifa! You're the guide?!" Cloud
asked.
_____"That's right!" she replied. "I
just happen to be the number one guide in this town!"
_____Sephiroth watched Cloud stare in amazement,
then turned to face the mountains.
_____"Let's go." he said. Tifa's father
stepped forward and blocked their path.
_____"Umm..." he said. "Mr. Sephiroth!
Please let me take one picture for a momento!"
_____Cloud and Tifa ran over to the low wall
surrounding the mansion. They stood close together as they posed for the photograph.
Sephiroth hung his head low, then shuffled over to stand next to Tifa.
_____"Cheeeese!" Tifa grinned, and
the camera flashed.
_____"Great! Thank you!" her father
smiled. "I'll give each of you a copy once I get it developed!"
_____There
was a Mako Reactor built in Mt. Nibel.
_____The cold air of the mountains of Nibel.
It was no different...
_____The
group of five marched in single file along a rocky mountain pass. The mountains
were jagged and ugly, looking like hideous mutations of the scenery they were
supposed to be. They reached an old rope bridge which spanned a wide chasm.
The other side of the bridge was high up, almost at the top of the mountain
opposite.
_____"It gets harder from here." Tifa
said, standing just in front of the start of the bridge. "Follow me!"
_____They moved cautiously across the wooden
planks, their hands sliding along the fraying rope hand-rails. They had nearly
reached the other side when there was a low creaking sound. Cloud stopped
walking and looked back at what they had crossed. There was another creak
and then a snap as the ropes broke in the middle. The section of the bridge
that they were clinging on to swung down and collided with the side of the
canyon. The two Shinra guards fell down into the darkness, and Tifa also slipped.
Cloud reached down and grabbed her hand. Above them, Sephiroth was hanging
from both ropes. Cloud's hand was gripping one of the wooden slats. He looked
down into Tifa's eyes and she gazed back up at him. There was the sound of
splintering wood, and he suddenly began to fall.
_____They
regained consciousness at the bottom of the chasm. Pieces of the broken bridge
lay scattered around them, the rest hanging from the side of the mountain
high above them. They didn't know how they had survived, or how long they
had been unconscious. Sephiroth stood up and brushed his black cape down,
looking around at the group.
_____"Everyone seems to be all right."
he said. "Can we get back to where we were?"
_____Tifa nodded and said "These caves are
intertwined, just like an ant farm." She also turned around, looking
at the people around her.
_____"Oh, and Sephiroth..." she said.
"There seems to be one person missing..."
_____Sephiroth turned his head. He too saw that
there was only one Shinra guard with them, when before there had been two.
_____"It may sound cold, but we've got no
time to search for him." he replied. "We can't go back now, so we
must go on. We'll travel together from here."
_____Cloud rubbed his sore head and looked ahead
at the dark cave in the side of the mountain. He was beginning to think that
this mission was a bad idea, but the least he could do was see it through
until the end. He would probably look back on these times and laugh.
_____They
emerged from the cold, wet caves to find a smaller cave. There were no holes
in the rock, so no sunlight could enter, but the cave was lit up as if there
was nothing blocking the light from the sky. In the middle of the cave was
a fountain of green liquid which was producing the fantastic light. It shimmered
and flickered, and green spray was flying into the air.
_____"What's this?" Cloud asked, stepping
towards the fountain.
_____"A Mako fountain." Sephiroth replied.
"It's a miracle of nature."
_____"It's so beautiful..." Tifa whispered
to herself and stood next to it, gazing at it in awe. "If the the Mako
Reactors continues to suck up the energy, this fountain will dry up too..."
_____Sephiroth moved forward and stood next to
her.
_____"Materia." he said. "When
you condense Mako energy, materia is produced. It's very rare to be able to
see materia in its natural state."
_____Cloud also walked over and stood with Sephiroth
and Tifa.
_____"By the way," he said. "Why
is it that when you use materia you can also use magic too?"
_____"You were in SOLDIER and you didn't
even know that?" Sephiroth asked. "The knowledge and wisdom of the
Ancients is held in the materia. Anyone with this knowledge can freely use
the powers of the Land and the Planet. That knowledge interacts between ourselves
and the planet calling up magic... or so they say."
_____"Magic... A mysterious power..."
Cloud said, then noticed that Sephiroth was laughing to himself. "Did
I say somethin' funny?"
_____"A man once told me never to use an unscientific
term such as mysterious power!" he chuckled. "It shouldn't even
be called magic! I still remember how angry he was."
_____"Who was that?" Cloud asked.
_____"Hojo of Shinra Inc." Sephiroth
replied. "An inexperienced man assigned to take over the work of a great
scientist. He was a walking mass of complexes."
_____Sephiroth stopped laughing and looked to
the other side of the cave. There was another tunnel leading onwards. He walked
over to it, then signalled to the group to follow.
_____They
finally arrived at the reactor about an hour after they had recovered from
their fall. It stood tall, the most significant feature of the mountain range.
There was a metal staircase leading up to the entrance, and four steel cables
holding the tower in place.
_____"Tifa, you wait here." Cloud ordered.
She grabbed his wrist and he turned to look at her.
_____"I'm going inside too!" she insisted.
"I wanna see!"
_____Sephiroth moved silently up the stairs,
then stopped half way up and looked over his shoulder.
_____"Only authorized people are allowed
in. This place is full of Shinra's industrial secrets." he said, then
turned to face the masked Shinra guard. "Take care of the lady."
_____Cloud followed Sephiroth up the stairs and
into the reactor, and the guard stood at the base of the steps, blocking Tifa's
path. She spun around and put her hands on her hips.
_____"Better take real good care of me then!"
she huffed.
_____Inside the reactor, Cloud and Sephiroth make their way across the walkway high above the Mako pit. Cogs and other machinery churned and whirred, keeping the reactor alive constantly. They opened the door at the other end and stepped into a room lined with pods, each one about eight feet in height and curved at the edges. They were connected to the reactor's wall by thick pipes and wires, and each one had a small circular window in the front. Each row was on a higher platform, and the back row was almost out of side for the the network of pipes that ran across the ceiling. A staircase ran up the middle, ending in a high-tech door. Above the door was a sign with one word written on it:
_____Jenova
_____Sephiroth
was half way up the staircase by the time Cloud's eyes had adjusted to the
red lighting. He followed him up, then they stopped when they reached the
door.
_____"This is... Jenova, right?" Cloud
asked, reaching for the opening device, only to find that it was locked. Silently,
Sephiroth went back down the stairs and stopped at one of the pods. He examined
parts of it slowly, then began to walk down to another pod.
_____"This is the reason for the malfunction."
he said as he walked. "This part is broken. Cloud, close the valve."
_____He reached the next pod as Cloud twisted
a valve handle.
_____"Why did it break...?" Sephiroth
asked himself. He stood on tip-toes and peered through the window into the
pod for a few seconds, then lowered himself back down.
_____"...Now I see, Hojo." he muttered
to himself. "But, even doing this, will never put you on the same level
as Professor Gast."
_____He bowed his head in thought for a moment,
his glowing eyes open very slightly, then he turned to Cloud.
_____"This is a system that condenses and
freezes Mako energy." he explained. "Now, what does Mako energy
become when it's further condensed? It becomes a Materia. But Hojo put something
else in there... Take a look."
_____Cloud wandered over to the pod and placed
his hands on the rim of the window. He pulled himself up and pressed his nose
against the glass. He came face-to-face with a hideous monster. Its skin was
grey and encrusted with scales, and it had a sickening grin across its face.
Cloud lost his grip and fell back in shock, landing at Sephiroth's feet. He
looked up in horror.
_____"What is this!?" he cried. Sephiroth
shook his head in disgust.
_____"Normal members of SOLDIER are humans
that have been showered with Mako." he replied. "You're different
from the others, but still human. But what are they? They've been exposed
to a high degree of Mako, far more than you."
_____"Is this some kind of monster?"
Cloud asked as he pulled himself to his feet.
_____"Exactly." Sephiroth nodded. "And
it's Hojo of Shinra that produced these monsters. Mutated living organisms
produced by Mako energy. That's what these monsters really are."
_____"Normal members of SOLDIER? You mean
you're different?" Cloud asked. Sephiroth turned his head slightly, then
seized it suddenly with both his hands. He began to tremble and shake violently.
_____"Hey, Sephiroth!" Cloud cried
as he began to panic.
_____"N... No..." Sephiroth spluttered.
"...Was I?"
_____He drew Masamune from its sheath and hacked
at the pod several times, never damaging the device but releasing a lot of
anger and fury.
_____"Was I created this way too...?"
he asked, slashing the pod again. "Am I the same as all these monsters?
You saw it! All of them... were humans..."
_____"Human?!" Cloud cried, shaking
his head. "No way!!"
_____But Sephiroth ignored what he said. He turned
to face his slowly, his sword hanging loosely from his hand.
_____"...I've always felt since I was small..."
he said softly. "That I was different from the others. Special, in some
way. But... not like this..."
_____He lowered his head, shaking it slowly.
Suddenly, there was a small explosion and a hiss. They looked to the back
of the chamber where one of the pods had fallen open. The front half lay flat,
a grotesque monster cradled in it. It twitched its leg and let out a sorrowful
wail, then fell silent.
_____"'Am
I human?' I didn't quite understand what Sephiroth was saying at that time."
Cloud said. "I was even more surprised by the fact that Shinra was producing
monsters."
_____"Damn, Shinra!" Barret growled,
slamming his fist down on the arm of his rocking chair. "The more I hear,
the more I hate 'em!"
_____"Who would have ever thought that the
Mako reactor held a secret like that..." Tifa said.
_____"That would seem to explain the increase
in the number of monsters recently." Red agreed. "I think we should
listen carefully to Cloud. Don't you think so, Barret?"
_____"Yeah, mebbe so." Barret said.
"But don't you wanna take a breather here?"