Welcome to Gaia! ::

Okay. So yeah. Not the greatest and what not. But yeah. So this be where Terasu originated from >.>

Freakin' bad language! Little childrenz don' need to read >.< Nope! Lots of violence too! (I mean it is FFVII after all). Other than that though, nothing too bad. Unless you're against human experimentation?

So yeah. Feedback? Areas for improvement and such would be much appreciated ^3^

------
: Awakened

‘It’s time to get up. I’ve been laying here too long. Laying where? I don’t know. I need to move though. I want to hear Zack talk again. Maybe he can tell me everything.’

“That’s right. She’ll be going into her seventh year. So, I’ve been in charge of the patient for five years now,” the doctor sat down in the chair of the small room with his cell phone up to his ear. “I know I should be happy to just have a job; but, I got assigned here thinking that they would either pull the plugs on her or that she would wake up soon. The guy who was her previous ‘care taker’ basically tried to take her out of the hospital.” He paused again and shrugged his shoulders as if the person on the other end of the phone could see him doing so. “I don’t know. Apparently the guy was talking about saving her from something or another. ‘Saving her from ShinRa.’ I don’t know. The guy was probably a wacko.”

‘Is he talking about me? Seven years? It couldn’t have possibly have been seven years.’

“Her family holding out hope? I don’t think so,” the doctor said with a sigh. “Apparently, when she first got brought here, some SOLDIER member – I think his name was Zack? – sent a letter he wrote and one she wrote to them-“ He paused once more. “Well – Obviously she wrote it before she was put in a coma. But, anyways, they’ve never been to visit her. Nobody has been to visit her since Sephiroth disappeared.” Again the doctor found himself listening to the person on the other side of the phone. “Yeah. Apparently he came by and visited her fairly often like that Zack guy.”

‘My family hates me. How depressing to hear. Not like I know them anyways. Zack was like a brother, so he was good enough when he came and visited. Sephiroth was nice too though he only came and actually spoke once. I guess one visit is better than none.’

“I know. Happy anniversary. I should be getting out of here within the next two hours. We’ll go out to eat when I get back, okay? Don’t worry about anything, it’ll be fine. I’ll see you later. Bye.” The young doctor snapped his cell phone shut and sighed as he looked at the black phone. It was troublesome that he was stuck here on his anniversary; but, work was work and it paid. “When are you going to wake up?”

‘Now.’

Slowly her eyes opened for the first time in nearly seven years, they could barely open and look towards the dark ceiling above her, her eyelids were so heavy. Quietly, a sigh escaped her mouth, fogging up the oxygen mask on her face. Though it had been a very quiet sigh, the doctor had heard it and was out of his chair. He had wandered to the bed side only to run out of the door quickly.

“She’s awake! Terasu’s awake!”

‘That’s right. Zack called me Terasu. Terasu Navos. An odd name; but, it’s one I can deal with I suppose,’ Terasu thought to herself as she fought with herself to move her arms up to her face in order to remove the oxygen mask. Finally she managed to raise her arms up and pull the mask from her face and took in a deep breath of fresh, non-canned, air. She remained still afterwards and the only noise in the room was the sound of her deep breathing. Terasu closed her eyes again for what seemed to be a moment only for talking to cause her to open them once more.

“I thought you said she was –“ The man who had been speaking stopped quickly as he realized Terasu’s eyes were open. He pushed up his glasses as if to see better with them as he stepped closer towards Terasu. “So you are awake. Do you remember me?” He asked as he hunched his back over somewhat while leaning closer towards her, his black bangs nearly touching one of her eyes. Slowly Terasu shook her head. His voice sounded familiar; but, why? “How troublesome. I’m Professor Hojo, responsible for you being alive today. Do you remember what happened or how you ended up in here?” He asked attempting to keep things as short as possible.

What was she in here for? Perhaps that was why Zack kept apologizing to her? She did not know. She finally shook her head. Every time she wanted to go back and remember things, a seering pain shot through from the side of her head. Slowly she lifted her hands up to her head and held the sides of her head while coming to the conclusion that she should just stop trying to remember things. “How troublesome indeed,” Hojo muttered shaking his head.

“Amnesia?” The doctor who had fetched Hojo asked while clicking his pen in order to write.

“Seems that way,” Hojo said quietly. “Anyways. You don’t even remember who you are, do you?”

“Te…” Her voice faded for a moment. “Terasu,” she paused for a moment while attempting to regain control of her voice. “Terasu Navos,” she finally managed to say properly enough.

“Well, that’s a start. But what about your occupation?” The ShinRa logo on everything in the room had made it clear for whom she worked. But what did she do? She did not k now.

“I work for ShinRa.”

“What did you do for them?” Hojo was responded with a simple head shake from Terasu.

“Gah. Fine. I’ll explain everything then. You were in SOLDIER; but, your squad was disbanded due to you being the only living person on your squad and there not longer being a need for it. Your last mission sent you to Wutai as a healer and summoner. During an attack on the camp, you were shot-“ That word rang through her mind, echoing as things just suddenly flooded back as quickly it had left her so long ago.

She was running with someone, they were leading her by the hand, passing by blurred images which she could not recall. The young black haired male was saying something; but, she couldn’t remember those, apparently they weren’t important enough to be revived. The only thing she could hear was a heartbeat, was it her own? They stopped and in each hand she held a sphere, a green and a red one: materia. Before they could be used though, the one who had led her to where she stood yelled out, echoing in the memory and over powering the sound of the heartbeat. She was by his side in a mere second with the green sphere glowing in her hands as she healed his arm.
“You try to take better care of yourself. You got it?”
“Yes ma’am,” he had replied. Their words seemed to just echo as if they had been in a hollowed room. But then that pain burrowed its way through her head again and she found herself staring at his shoes. She did not say anything but only mouthed ‘help, Zack.’ “Terasu!” And again, Zack’s voice echoed loudly through her mind.
“Hey!” Hojo shook her shoulder somewhat, pulling her from her memories. “Are you listening to me at all?”

“Where’s Zack?” Terasu asked quietly.

“Zack?” Hojo asked, slightly taken back by the simple fact that she knew the name while she had had trouble remembering her own.

“He was there with me when I was shot. He kept coming to visit me too.”

“So you remember?”

“Being shot,” Terasu said though wanting a reply about Zack.

“Well then, my job’s done here,” Hojo said quickly. “I’ve got other things to go take care of anyways.”

“But what about Zack?”

“Zack was terminated about five years ago,” Hojo said quietly.

“Terminated?”

“Fired.”

“Oh,” Terasu found herself feeling rather disappointed. How would she find him now? How troublesome indeed. “I’m tired. Do you mind if I go back to sleep?”

“Already?” The doctor behind Hojo questioned tilting his head. “But you’ve been awake for only the past two hours. Don’t you want ot get up and start moving?” Terasu thought about his words for a moment and finally nodded.

“I guess you’re right,” she muttered quietly only to have him help pull her to a sitting up position while Hojo left the room. As she sat up, her spine cracked and straightened. Slowly she rolled her head around, cracking her neck as well. Everything in her entire body felt so stiff, probably from just laying down of the past few years and doing nothing else.

“I’m surprised you’re able to move your arms as well as you do as well as your hands. Most people can’t move too much afterwards without any form of physical therapy,” the doctor said giving a smile.

“My fingers don’t really seem to want to co-operate with me. To move one of them, all of them move.”

“Over time you’ll gain control of it all once more. Don’t worry too much about it. Now, I can only pray for your legs to still be strong,” he said slowly. “Let’s give it a try at least. I’ll hold most of our weight and allow you to stand,” the doctor explained as he helped Terasu move her legs over and off the side of the bed. He wrapped his right arm under Terasu’s left and placed his other hand on her mid-section in order to provide some form of stability as he helped her to her feet. Almost as soon as she was on them, Terasu almost fell to the ground. If not for the doctor with her, then she surely would have found herself on the floor. “Try to make your legs straight for right now, that’s about as much as I can tell you.”

“They feel somewhat weak,” Terasu complained. “Maybe I just need to lose weight?” The doctor laughed as she straightened her legs out.

“Alright, I’m going to let some more weight onto your feet. Will you be fine with that?”

“I guess so,” she muttered as he started to let her weight to be placed on her legs, causing them to shake. They spent a little over the hour on attempting to learn how to walk only to call it a night as Terasu kept on complaining about her legs bothering her. “What do you know about Zack?” Terasu questioned as her doctor, or care taker as he called himself, helped her into her bed.

“I’ve only heard of him. Nothing more,” he said. “But, I’m going home for the night. I’ll catch you later. Oh. If you feel everything, shaking, don’t worry too much. It won’t bother us.”

“Shaking?”

“I’ve heard rumors that sector seven is going to fall tonight.”

“Sector seven? Falling?”

“Apparently the slums are to be squashed tonight.”

“That doesn’t sound right at all,” Terasu muttered, disliking the idea of squashing people. “Why?”

“Just to save ShinRa. I don’t know any other reason than that alone,” he said. “Try to get some sleep. We’ll work on walking around tomorrow more, okay? And once we get that done, you can leave the hospital and start life a new. I’ll try to tell you everything that you missed as well.”

“Is it true my family never came to see me?” Terasu asked, the idea had been bothering her for sometime and she simply wanted to know.

“Sadly it is. Apparently you only had two visitors, ever. That Zack guy and Sephiroth apparently liked to visit you from what I understand. Those were the only ones though.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure the letters probably never made it to them or something.”

“Can I get some ice before you go?”

“Sure. Why?”

“I’m burning up. It would happen a lot when I was sleeping before hand – or rather – in the coma. Everything felt like it was on fire, maybe some ice would help that or something.”

“I’ll have a nurse bring it to you. Until then, farewell.”

III: On That Day, Five Years Ago…

The walk to Kalm was actually a fairly short when one looked at a map; but, Terasu made it take longer than what it needed to be because of her needing to rest every so often. However, her breaks led to her talking with Aeris and, the canine-like, Nanaki who also did not mind being called Red XIII, more so than what she would have otherwise.

“What happened? Back in Midgar?” Terasu asked during one of their breaks, massaging the bottom half of her leg carefully with her hands.

“More like who than what,” Nanaki replied quietly.

“Well, actually a lot of stuff happened,” Aeris said interrupting Nanaki. “He wouldn’t really know either; but, a reactor was blown up by Cloud, Barret, and I think Tifa even had a hand in it to a degree. But then in response, ShinRa just took down the plate of sector seven and let it fall right onto the bottom,” Aeris paused and sighed. “So many people got killed,” she muttered shaking her head. “And then I got kidnapped by Tseng of the Turks.-“

“He’s still working for them? Sorry, continue.”

“And well, that’s when I met Red XIII.”

“And shortly after our temporary escape with the assistance of Cloud’s group, apparently Sephiroth appeared and killed most of the people inside of the building, including President ShinRa himself,” Nanaki said as he finally allowed himself to lay down on the ground completely. “That’s all we know. Then we found you, on the ground – from there you know what happened.”

“But why?” Terasu asked finding herself even more confused. “Why on earth would Sephiroth turn against the company who made him into a hero? Who made him who he was?”

“Better yet – what is he doing alive?” Aeris asked only to give a shrug. “There are so many things that need to be cleared up.”

“What do you mean by ‘what is he doing alive’?” Nanaki and Aeris glanced towards each other and back towards Terasu.

“What do you mean?” Aeris questioned finally. “How long have you been asleep?” Aeris asked though she actually knew about how long due to Terasu having been mentioned by Zack on more than one occasion. “Sephiroth was said to have died five years ago – when Zack died.”

“Zack?” Nanaki questioned with his ears standing up straight as he flicked his tail to the side, the name making him slightly curious as he had not heard of a ‘Zack’ before. He merely got a shaking of heads as a response from the two girls.

“Don’t worry about it,” the two women said quickly together.

“Hmph.” Nanaki laid his head on his paws for a moment as silence took over the air around the group. “Well then. What is your story, Terasu was it?” He finally questioned breaking the silence. “Why would a ShinRa employee like yourself agree to come with an anti-ShinRa group like us?”

“For starters – I didn’t really know that you guys were anti-ShinRa before I agreed to come with you. When they started shooting at you guys on the first floor, I knew,” Terasu clarified quickly. “And for now, I’d prefer to wait to answer questions like those until we’ve the whole group because I know the others are expecting answers as well. I’d rather not repeat myself multiple times.”

“Understandable.”

“So, you’ll tell us in Kalm? I guess we should get moving then. And when we get there – we can get you some better clothing, get you some materia as well.”

“Better yet, a weapon as well. If she’s going to be traveling with us, she’ll need to have something to defend herself with,” Nanaki said closing his eyes.

“Lets get going. I don’t want to be too late,” Terasu finally sighed as she forced herself onto her feet, stumbling somewhat when she managed to stand. “Come on,” she called with a wave as she started walking once more.

“And I had just gotten comfortable too,” Nanaki muttered trailing after Terasu. From that point forward, their breaks were less frequent as Terasu’s legs seemed to remember their strength. Upon their arrival they were given a not-so-warm welcome by Barret who had been pacing outside of the hotel.

“Da hell have ya been?! We’ve been waitin’ for ya!”

“Sorry,” Terasu muttered in reply, pushing by Barret rather quickly due to the simple fact she was already tired enough with her legs being extremely sore.

“I’ll be back in a little bit Barret,” Aeris finally said giving a wave as she trotted away from the hotel.

“What?! Where ya goin’ now?!”

“I’ll go with her,” Nanaki sighed. “I’ll see that she hurries up.”

“Ya better!” Barret yelled only to shake his fist at the two before entering the hotel. He thumped his way up the stairs in what sounded like a rather clumsy manner, a scowl still worn on his face. By the time he reached the top of the stairs, Terasu had found a bed and was sitting on it massaging her legs. Cloud still stood by the window and Tifa was still sitting on the bed she had been when he had gone down to wait for the second group to arrive. “Aeris and that dog ran off. They said they’ll be back in a little bit,” Barret grunted as he folded his arms, staying near the stairs in order to hear the others when they returned.

An awkward silence filled the air as the four waited for both Aeris and Nanaki to return as each of the four seemed to feel uneasy speaking around one another and so they each remained in their own little spot: Tifa on a bed across from Terasu, Barret by the stairs, and Cloud pacing by the window. The soft thud of Cloud’s boots provided some noise, though it was similar to that of the ticking seconds hand of a clock due to how he kept the same pace so quickly. Terasu found the steps to be slightly annoying yet, similar to that of a clock, she found the repeated sound starting to lull her to sleep.

“I’m going to go find them,” Cloud finally declared as he took the handle of his oversized sword and lifted it from the bed closest to him.

“Jus’ hurry!” Barret barked towards the blond male as he climbed down the stairs. Barret looked towards Tifa who was simply staring down towards her feet at the moment. He turned his gaze towards Terasu who looked like she was sleeping. “Hey! Don’ you go ta sle-“

“I’m not asleep,” Terasu muttered with a sigh. “Just thinking. Nothing more.” In truth, she had put off telling what she knew with Nanaki and Aeris due to the simple fact that she did not know too much about herself other than the war. Perhaps she could force herself to remember some things with this spare time?

“Ya’ know what? You act jus’ like Cloud does!” Barret declared with a slight growl. “And I don’ really care for that! I’ve got enough issues dealing wit’ ‘im, I don’ need another wise a** in here,” he grumbled. “Guess that’s how all ‘dem former SOLDIERs are, eh, Tifa?”

“Oh, leave her alone Barret. Don’t get your boxers all in a bunch. She’s not nearly as rude as Cloud would be.”

“We’re back!~” Aeris’ voice carried up the staircase with ease as she hurried up the stairs with a plastic bag in hand. “Here you go,” she said placing the bag at the foot of Terasu’s bed. “We got you some new clothes!”

“Didn’ the sign say no animals?” Barret joked as Nanaki trailed behind Aeris, with what seemed to be a large stick in his mouth. Choosing it to be the better idea to ignore Barret, Nanaki placed his item on the bed as well.

“And a kodachi as well. We did not know what to get you but, we figured that this was a happy medium unless you would prefer to be a ranged-figter?”

“I don’t…” Terasu trailed off and shook her head. A fragment of a memory had fluttered into her mind with Zack attempting to teach her how to hold the handle of a sword. “If I do know how to use a sword, then I’ve clearly forgotten. I suppose with it being shorter then it might be easier to use,” she said quietly. “Thank you very much.”

“So where’s blondey?” Barret asked finally as Terasu gathered the dark blue clothing from the bag on the bed.

“Cloud? I thought he was here?”

“Now he’s late!” Barret yelled only to pace furiously back and forth, loudly stomping his feet on the wooden floor. As Barret continued to grumble, Terasu found it to be the best time to go and change into the clothing that Aeris had bought her. Quietly she slipped into the bathroom of the large hotel room and set to changing rather quickly, tossing the patient uniform onto the sink of the restroom. With ease, she slipped the dark blue top over her head and pulled it down so it would rest properly on her, attempting to judge if the square neck was crooked or not because it would just bother her if it was not. The only thing which bothered her about the top were the long sleeves that billowed out at the end, leaving her to feel as if she had wings of sorts. The pants, the same color as the top, also fanned out in the same form of the top. Practically by instinct, Terasu set to tucking in her shirt. Finally, around her waist she tied a pale blue sash, hiding the where both her shirt and pants met.

She stepped back from the mirror somewhat so she could judge the outfit for herself only to realize that this was the first time that she had looked into the mirror since she had gotten up. Her hair was a light brown, almost a dirty blond color; however, the tips of her hair were a darker brown. Finally ignoring the color of her hair, which in all honesty had surprised her, she simply stared at the mirror to judge the outfit. Figuring it looked fairly decent, she gave a slight shrug and set to gathering up the white clothing of the patient uniform. It was at that time that a slight glow caught her eye in the mirror. Quickly she jerked her head up to look into the mirror only to realize that it came from her eyes. What was wrong with her?! Her pupils had dilated until they had taken the shape of cat-like pupils and then the pale blue glow of her eyes. Finally, something fired in her mind.

“The mark of a SOLDIER?” She asked quietly. For some reason, that lone sentence had come to mind. Who had told her it though? She could not remember at all. Terasu sighed quietly and shook her head. At least the others had been kind enough not to torment her about her odd eyes.

“Where da hell have you been?!” Terasu folded the white clothing as apparently Cloud arrived only to be greeted by Barret in the same manner she had been a while ago.

“Where’s the other one?” Cloud questioned ignoring Barret.

“In the restroom,” Tifa replied with a sigh.

“Damn it! You’re ignorin’ me, ain’ ya?!”

“I see. Well, when she’s out then I’ll ******** you blondey! ********! You!” Terasu emerged from the restroom as Aeris laughed at the fuming Barret who was ready to start shooting Cloud with the gun on his arm. The only thing that stopped him from doing so was the fact that Tifa still had a thing for Cloud and he was well aware of that.

“Alright, so I can start finally-“

“Oh! It looks good on you!” Aeris said clapping her hands, interrupting Cloud without so much of a care that she had just done so.

“Thank you again.”

“Not a problem at all-“

“It all started five years ago, when I had to go to Nibelheim,” Cloud said loudly to make it obvious that he did not want any further interruptions as he sat down on the window sill with his arms folded. “I was in SOLDIER at the time, I had been assigned to work with Sephiroth on, what he said, was ‘a mission unlike the others’. The mako reactor in Nibelheim had been acting up and some sort of vicious creatures were growing as a result of being tainted by the raw mako energy,” he paused for a moment and took in a deep breath, shaking his head slowly. “We found the creature that was causing all the trouble: an oversized black dragon that was in foul mood. Even as a SOLDIER – I was scared stiff at that time-“

“Hah! I wanna see blondey ********’ piss himself one day,” Barret snickered.

“I didn’t have a chance to do anything. Sephiroth handled the whole situation…”

Cloud simply stared towards the dragon which towered over both him and Sephiroth alone as the others had been too frightened to climb out of the truck on the dark, rainy, night. Even the rain though would not put out the first that the dragon spat. He drew his blade, attempting to think of a plan of how to handle the situation. Even his materia would not be enough to handle this situation.

“Stand back. I’ll take care of it,” Sephiroth said, moving his head to one side quickly to get his wet silvery hair from in front of his face as he lifted his long sword up.

“There’s no way you’ll be-“ Before Cloud could even finish his sentence, Sephiroth had already darted forward and driven his blade through the throat of the dragon which gave as mighty of a roar as it could with a sword stuck through its throat. It flung its clawed feet about wildly, attempting to just hit anything to get the pain to stop. Just stuck in a state of awe, Cloud had remained still and had failed to notice the clawed foot which flew his way. Like a rag doll, Cloud was tossed back from the dragon and left with several large, though, thankfully, shallow cuts from his chest down.

“Be on your guard at all times, Cloud,” Sephiroth warned as he twisted his weapon in the throat of the dragon only to pull it towards the side and rip it through the side of the neck. “That’s the lesson for today,” he said quietly as the dragon fell over onto its side though the limbs of the creature continued to move sporadically as the creature bleed to death before Cloud. “Come on. We’ve got to get to that mako reactor,” Sephiroth called with a smirk as Cloud got to his feet once again. “If you’re going to be in SOLDIER, then you’ll need to pull your act together. Got it?”

i wanna read more. please continue the story. i think you should have tifa talk a bit more though. its seems like she is silent alot. also i wanna know what happened to zack and why wasn't terasu upset when she heard that zack had died 5 years ago. and she should probably be surprised that sephiroth is "evil" because she knew the peacefull sephiroth. just suggestions maybe ijust read to fast and missed it. i like it. please post more.

VI: What am I?

The mines were cold, dark, and damp making some of the group members wish they had held off going into the mines until they were better prepared. Cloud, Nanaki, and Terasu were at the front of the group as they three of them were able to see a little better than the others.
“This way,” Cloud said pointing to the right.
“I think we should go straight,” Terasu argued.
“Do you know the way around here?”
“Do you?” Cloud growled quietly and shook his head. They both did not know exactly where they were going yet, they were getting frustrated with each other.
“Listen, we’re going this way. Just trust me,” Cloud grumbled turning towards the right. Terasu remained silent as the rest of the group followed after Cloud.
“What’s wrong?” Nanaki asked as he watched Terasu looking down the way she had wanted to go.
“I’m just…” Terasu shook her head. “Let’s go. They need your fire, right?”
“I suppose,” Nanaki said giving a shrug as best as he could. The two wandered back up towards the front of the group with Cloud and soon they came upon an area well lit by lights that been left behind by miners. Apparently the lights were powered by wires that ran all the way back through the mines to Kalm. For a while they sat in there, attempting to plan where they would be going next when they got out of the mines.
“We’ll pass by Fort Condor, and make our way over to Junon. We’ll rest there for the night. Hopefully, after that, we can manage to find a ship and get on it. What we saw outside was proof that Sephiroth was here-“
“And still is!” The arrogant voice rang out through the mines causing the entire group to be on alert and to quickly arm themselves. “At least according to our people.”
“Up there!” Aeris said pointing quickly to a ledge that hung above them. “Tseng!”
“All of Midgar’s most wanted plus one. An interesting find.” The young, black haired man placed his hands in his pockets as he stared down at the large group. “Thanks to you, we’re down a member.”
“Reno was severely injured at the support when fighting you guys.”
“Rude too,” Cloud muttered quietly.
“Should we take them in?” A feminine voice called from down below, near the group. A few of the members turned to see a blonde, dressed like the rest of the Turks with her pistol drawn already and aimed at Nanaki, apparently having a distaste for animals.
“No,” Tseng called with a shake of his head. “Our orders are clear. We’re to find Sephiroth first and deal with these scum later.”
“Whatever you say, Tseng,” Elena replied with a slight shrug. “Anyways, I’ve checked up ahead. No sign of Sephiroth still being in the mines. There are indications of having passed through though.”
“This is no good,” Tseng muttered. “We’re leaving. Move out – regroup in Junon.”
“Yes sir,” the other two Turks replied.
“Consider yourselves lucky for now. Next time you probably won’t be so fortunate,” Tseng warned before turning away from the edge and disappearing into the darkness of the mines.
“That was odd,” Tifa muttered.
“But it only helps prove that Sephiroth is alive,” Cloud said quietly.
“Well. I ain’ waitin’ around for either ShinRa or Sephiroth to get that Promise Land! Let’s get goin’!” Barret yelled as he started running towards the obvious exit of the mines from which sunlight shined.
“Agreed,” Nanaki said hurrying after Barret.

‘So many people in the way.’

Terasu stood still and shook her head. So many words were buzzing through her head yet those were the clearest ones to her.
“You coming?” Tifa asked tilting her head.
“Yes. Sorry,” Terasu muttered following after the rest of the group and emerging into orange light of the sun which was nearing setting. “To Junon, correct?”
“Yeah. It shouldn’t take too long to get there, so we’re just going to go there and hopefully get there by sundown,” Tifa explained as she and Terasu followed the others. The order of walking changed continuously and soon ended up with two groups of three walking, back in the groups which they had left Midgar with.
“I was speaking with Aeris about your number,” Nanaki said as he poked Terasu’s hand with his cold damn nose. “She said there were people in the slums of Midgar who had numbers on their hands.”
“I only spoke with one of them – at least attempted to. But the numbers on their hands were similar to the one you have. I don’t remember the guy’s number though. He couldn’t really talk though,” Aeris said looking down towards her feet.
“Couldn’t really talk?”
“He could only mutter things. One time he muttered something about a reunion – I thought he was talking about a family reunion, so I tried to figure out if his family was coming. He didn’t have any family though. Other than that, most of his ramblings were incoherent,” she explained quietly.
“Did he ever say anything about voices?”
“Voices? No.”
“Then I don’t think we’re in the same boat.”
“Hm?” Aeris tilted her head to the side somewhat.
“Listen, you can’t tell the others, alright? But the only reason why I thought of crossing the marshes was because something told me to. I’ve had this voice just saying random things ever since I woke up. Most of the time I can’t understand it, it’s just so much at once. Only on occasions can I understand it. Such as to go to the marshes.”
“Hmm.” Aeris put a hand to her chin. “I hear random talking all the time. Most of the time I can’t make it out either.” She fell silent for a moment before nodding. “Maybe you’re an Ancient too!” She finally declared.
“I don’t think so Aeris,” Terasu muttered.
“That would make you, me and Sephiroth the last Ancients!”
“I really don’t think that’s the case.”
“Think about it! I hear voices of the earth. Maybe that’s what you’re hearing. Not like you would remember either considering your amnesia.”
“It does sound plausible at the least,” Nanaki said with a nod.
“Is there any way for us to really find out though? I don’t think so,” Terasu said shaking her head. She sighed only to take in a deep breath and gag. “What the hell is that smell?!”
“Strong enough to almost knock me out,” Nanaki grumbled shaking his head.
“That’s the smell of Junon,” Cloud called over his shoulder. “A city of pollution as a result of Midgar. All of smoke from the mako comes down here.”
“This place is a ghost town,” Tifa muttered. “It reminds me of the slums too.”
“Let’s try to find a place to rest for the night. In the morning we go and find a ship,” Cloud said quietly. Slowly the group fanned out through the city of Junon which was hidden under the shadow of the city of a base that was built above the city, supporting the cannon that was made in order to defend from possible fleets coming from the west. There was no sign of a hotel or anything of the sorts in the city and soon the group found themselves standing on the shore of the beach, attempting to think of where to go.
“Hey! Mister – Dolphin!” Terasu glanced over her shoulder and spotted a young girl who stood with her feet in the dirty water, waving towards a dolphin that was splashing around.
“Cute,” she said quietly though it drew the attention of the rest of the group. Maybe she knows where we can go? Hey!” The young girl froze and feel silent hearing Terasu.
“Are you guys from ShinRa?! Get away! Go away Mister Dolphin!” The little girl cried attempting to shoo away the dolphin. “Go away ShinRa people!”
“We aren’t with ShinRa-“ The squeaking of the dolphin cut off Cloud before he could finish. “What the hell is that thing?” A serpent-like creature with arms, and what seemed to be melting flesh, approached.
“Run away Mister Dolphin!” The little girl yelled, running out in the water only to be tossed aside by an arm of the water creature which was obviously in its current state due to the pollution of the waters. Being as she was the closest one, Terasu sprinted towards the side where the girl was flung and managed to catch the water though they both ended up falling in the shallow water.
“She’s out cold-“
“We’ve got other issues to worry about!” Nanaki barked quickly. “It’s advancing!”
“Terasu, you take care of the girl. We’ll take care of this thing.” Terasu nodded towards Cloud as she slowly stood up and got out of the water, carrying the young girl up the beach. As the others attempted to force the creature to retreat, Terasu felt for the girl’s pulse. She could still feel it thankfully.
“Aeris, give me one of your healing materia!” Terasu called though it became apparent soon enough that Aeris had not heard her. “Well, she should be fine anyways,” she muttered watching over the young girl. Soon enough, the serpent-like fish withdrew from the shoreline.
“Priscilla! Oh god!” Everyone turned to watch an elderly man hobble down the beach. “What happened?!”
“Nothing too bad. It could have been worse. She’ll probably just need to rest for a little while. That fish just tossed her aside like a rag doll,” Terasu explained as the elderly man stood beside her.
“Thank goodness you were here! That girl doesn’t listen to me sometimes!”
“Ugh…” The young girl named Priscilla groaned quietly.
“She’ll be fine,” Aeris said giving a smile finally.
“Thank you,” the elderly man said giving a sigh finally picking up the girl himself. “I’ll take her home now.”
“What a way ta thank us,” Barret grumbled. “Didn’ even offer us a place ta stay.”
“Looks like we’ll just find a place to camp out,” Tifa muttered shaking her head.
“Let’s just get again from what water at least. Don’t need anymore mutated fish coming up and trying to eat us,” Cloud said rubbing his head. “Come on.” Quietly the six trudged through the town until they were stopped by a woman at a house who waved them down with her broom in her free hand.
“Come on over here,” she called towards them. Reluctantly, they moved on over towards her in order to hear what she had to say even though they believed that she was just thinking them to be ShinRa troops as Priscilla had done. “I heard what happened at the beach with Priscilla. I know it isn’t much to offer you guys for saving her life and all but, feel free to use my house if you need a place to stay.”
“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Barret said loudly with a smirk. “Won’t mind if we do, ma’am,” he said walking into the house after she opened the door for them.
“Thank you very much,” Aeris said giving a slight bow of the head towards the woman.
“No no. Thank you for helping Priscilla,”
“Let’s get some sleep guys,” Cloud called towards the others as they filed into the guest room, each of them figuring out where they would sleep. “We’re going to have to find us a ship tomorrow or else we’re going to fall far behind Sephiroth and ShinRa on top of that.”
As everyone said their goodnights, Terasu made herself comfortable on the woman’s couch attempting to think about what Aeris had suggested. Was it possible for her to be an Ancient like she had said? Terasu closed her eyes. Perhaps. If Aeris heard the same voices then it would make sense, would it not? Carefully, Terasu pulled the think sheet up over her and attempted to find the most comfortable position on the couch. What would that mean though if she was one? What if she was simply crazy though? There were simply too many questions.

‘Soon.’

‘Who are you?’ Terasu thought to herself, squinting her eyes closed for the time being, attempting to silence the voices and maybe clear things up within herself.


‘You’ll find out soon…’

‘I want an answer now!’ Nothing. Just that constant murmering in the back of her head continued without any clear answer for her question.

this is really good.Your able to fit Terasu perfectly into the story.good job n_n

WOOT! can't wait till we can read the next one. keep them coming, i can't wait til we see another fight.

Sadly this is the last chapter I have finished...
------
IX: A Little R and R

Terasu opened her eyes quickly and did not even take the time to look around her to observe her surroundings. She reached for her left waist side quickly though found that her kodachi was not there. Finally she looked around and noticed that she was sitting in a bed with wooden walls around her. But where? What had happened on the ship? With Sephiroth?! What had happened to the others?! Terasu only looked to her left when she heard what sounded like a door to be opening up. Aeris entered the room only to be taken back somewhat by Terasu being awake, let alone her standing up.
“Good to see that you’re up finally! We were worried about you!”
“What happened? Where are we?” Terasu asked quickly as Aeris took in a deep breath.
“Well, you passed out.” Terasu closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. She remembered that much. The voices were so over powering that they caused her to have a massive headache and create utter chaos in her mind. “Then we had to fight off this crazy Jenova thing that Sephiroth summoned.”
“So I wasn’t just losing my mind. That really was him?” Aeris nodded slowly towards Terasu. “It sounded like him though something seemed lost. Like…It was cold.”
“He didn’t remember Cloud,” Aeris said tilting her head to the side somewhat as she studied Terasu’s rather somber expression. “You seem disappointed,” she said slowly. “Is it because of him?” Terasu sighed in reply at first and sat down on the bed as Aeris made her way towards the other side of the bed.
“I…I didn’t want to believe Cloud. That wasn’t the Sephiroth I knew,” she said quietly as she bowed her head downwards. “You know. I can remember sitting there with him on that hillside and everything just seeming…Perfect. How silly.” Terasu shook her head again slowly. “There was something about him that made me feel safe in a way.” Aeris nodded in an understanding fashion as her friend took a deep breath. “I just feel…Lost.”
“I know that safe feeling with people,” Aeris said in attempt to calm Terasu though she found that she was going in a completely different direction with her next words. “Perhaps there was something more between you two that you can’t remember?”
“No,” Terasu answered quickly shaking her head. “I remember that much. It was professional between us and nothing more.”
“Of course,” Aeris said with a smile. “Well. Since you’re awake you can join everyone then! Well, at least Tifa and myself for right now.”
“What are you guys doing?”
“We’re going shopping!”
“Shopping?”
“Yep. We decided we would have a beach party today. With all the stuff we’ve had to put up with – we decided today we can just kind of relax a little bit.”
“Beach?”
“Yep! We’re at Costa del Sol! We’ve got to go to the beach! It’s so pretty!” Aeris said turning for the door.
“Aeris, wait.” Aeris stopped and looked over her shoulder towards Terasu. “I’m sorry about what happened on the ship. I feel like I’m nothing more than a burden to you guys sometimes-“
“If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have been on that ship to help. So don’t worry about it!”
“But there’s something else. You…You remember about the voices we talked about?” Terasu asked quietly only for Aeris to close the door somewhat behind her.
“Mhmm.”
“How do you deal with them? When they’re loud?”
“Is that what happened?”
“It was just too much. I couldn’t think straight at all. They were so overwhelming.”
“Well, I’ve never had that happen to me,” Aeris said slowly as she tilted her head to the side. “I can barely hear the voices.”
“How? They sound like they’re standing right next to me or something when they get louder.”
“All I can suggest is just ignoring them or something. I’m sorry.”
“But I’ve got another question, Aeris,” Terasu said as she moved over towards Aeris. “Let’s think about this. What if Sephiroth is an Ancient?”
“Then, that’s that.”
“What does that mean for you though?”
“Pardon?”
“Listen, you’re an Ancient and he’s one. Shouldn’t you be helping him in a way? I mean, he’s all about restoring the Ancients all together, right?” Aeris sighed and sat down on the bed holding her head downward.
“I…I disagree with him. He’s only going to hurt the planet more so. What he’s doing isn’t going to bring back the Ancients. So, no. I don’t think I should be helping him. If he had his way, everyone who cared for me, was my friend, knew me, would be killed. That’s not something I want.” Terasu nodded slowly. “What about you? What if you are an Ancient? What will you do?”
“I’m not an Ancient so nothing will change. I want to simply do what’s right.”
“If you’re not an Ancient, then what are you?”
“I’m a member of SOLDIER,” Terasu replied walking towards the door as Aeris smiled towards her.
“So is Cloud but he doesn’t hear voice.”
“Psh. Cloud isn’t special then. At least we got something on him, yeah? He may be able to run around swinging a sword but, he doesn’t hear voices like we do.” Aeris simply laughed at Terasu’s comment as the two finally left the room.
“So, ready to go get a bathing suit?”
“Erm. Not really.”
“Oh come on! Tifa and I are going! You come too!” Aeris declared as she grabbed Terasu’s arm and pulled her along.

Cloud sighed quietly as he sat under the large blue and white umbrella, one of the many on the long beautiful beach. He had somehow been roped into going to the beach with the group and now sat in simple black swimming trunks. While he had been ordered to get himself a pair of trunks and not to wear his normal outfit, he had managed to bargain bringing the buster sword to the beach for protection. But those damned girls who had convinced him and Barret to come out here were nowhere to be found. Red XIII had of sided with the girls as it seemed he always did. He had dug himself a nice little hole in the sand where he had buried himself with tail sticking out, looking like a fuse to a bomb of sorts. Barret was out swimming with a plastic bag basically vacuumed sealed on his hand to protect the metal of his gun. How long was that man going to be swimming? Now that Cloud thought about it, had Barret put any sun block lotion on? What did it matter to him though? It would simply be amusing to tease a black man about getting sunburned.
“Hello!” Aeris sang as she ran down the stairs towards the sand, waving her hand as she neared Cloud while the other held on a large, floppy straw sun hat and her pink wrap fluttering in the sea breeze, the color of pink perfectly matching the pink bikini top she wore. Cloud merely turned away from Aeris when she ran up towards him, keeping his head bowed downward. “Are you sunburned already?” Aeris asked tilting her head seeing his face being slightly red.
“Yeah. I’ve been waiting a while you know,” Cloud said slowly rubbing his face.
“Don’t rub it!”
“Where are the others? Did Terasu ever get up or is she still…?”
“She’s fine.” Aeris paused for a moment having seen a slight look of worry on Cloud’s face before she had said anything. “Aw. You were worried!”
“Well of course I was! Sephiroth could have killed her or something. Anyways, where are they?”
“They’re coming,” she said turning around to look towards the stairs that led from the city towards the beach. “They were getting changed.”
“Well, I hope they hurry up,” Cloud muttered wanting to get off the beach though he suddenly realized that in order to back up his story of actually having a sunburn meant that he would need to get one on his face.
“They’ll be here soon. There they are!” Aeris said finally pointing towards the top of the stairs where Tifa and Terasu had appeared. Like Aeris, they wore a wrap around their waists that matched their bathing suit colors: Tifa in a dark red wrap with her top identical in style to Aeris’ while Terasu wore a darker blue one. The three had come to a consensus on buying the cheapest ones there so they could by other things such as the wraps, the hat the Aeris wore, the beach ball Tifa had bought, and the orange tinted sunglasses which Terasu wore.
“Good. Now we can hurry up and get out of here. I don’t like just sitting out here while Sephiroth is out there killing everyone.”
“Calm down. It’ll be fine,” Aeris assured as Terasu and Tifa arrived at the umbrella.
“Sorry that took so long. We were putting sun tan lotion on,” Tifa explained. “Poor Terasu’s so pale though so we aren’t going to be able to spend too much time out here.”
“Sorry. Kind of happens when you’re inside for seven years without any real light,” Terasu muttered in reply as she looked around the beach. It was so much cleaner than the one at Junon. “It’s so pretty here,” she said quietly.
“That’s because there isn’t a mako reactor around these parts. Nothing to pollute it. The ShinRa president ensured this place would be spared from the pollution so it was serve as a special resort for high ranking employees and SOLDIER,” Cloud explained quietly as he watched Barret come out of the water. “How’s the water?”
“Fantastic! I ain’ been to a beach in so long where I could swim,” he said as he plopped down next to Cloud on the blanket that had been sprawled out under the umbrella.
“I’m surprised you didn’t sink,” Cloud said looking away from Barret, ensuring that he did not see the anger grow on the bigger man’s face.
“I want to go for a walk, the breeze is so nice here,” Terasu said though Cloud and the others failed to hear her due to Barret’s sudden yelling. It was only when she started walking along the shore did any of them notice her gone.
“She’s fine. She can take care of herself,” Aeris said with a smirk.
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Tifa muttered as Barret and Cloud continued to argue.
“So sure about what?” Cloud asked, ignoring any further comments from Barret. It was then that he realized that Terasu was walking along the shore, away from the group, ankle deep in the water. “I don’t think we should let her go walking on her own just yet,” he finally said climbing to his feet.
“Oh, let her go Cloud,” Aeris said with a wave of her hand as she took off her hat.
“No chance of that,” he answered simply enough as he reached for the handle of his over-sized weapon only for his hand to get swatted with the hat by Aeris.
“Don’t walk around the beach with that! People will obviously get suspicious!”
“Then what should I do?”
“I don’t know. Carry an umbrella with you? Isn’t it about the same size?”
“That’s just absurd!”
“But it could pass if you want to make sure she’s capable of taking care of herself,” Tifa said as she removed her wrap. “I’m going for a swim though.”
“Me too!” Aeris said giving a nod as she also removed the wrap from her waist. “Let’s go! I got the beach ball,” she yelled as she picked up the inflated ball and ran off towards the water ahead of Tifa.
“Oh yeah! Come on Barret!”
“I guess,” he grumbled getting up from the towel he sat on and hurried after the two girls while Cloud walked after Terasu with the umbrella slung over his shoulder. He finally caught up with her when she had paused to examine a shell she had found.
“Did you have to come with me? I promise, I’m a big girl and can take care of myself. I don’t need a body guard like Aeris did,” Terasu joked as she closed one eye in order to observe the shell.
“Sorry for being concerned. But after your last episode on the boat-“
“I should be the one apologizing,” she said quietly. “I understand your concern. But I should be fine now. I feel so much more at ease.”
“Hey. On the boat, what happened?”
“Hm? Oh. That,” she trailed off and shook her head.
“I thought you and Sephiroth were friends or something?”
“Weren’t you and he as well? Yet he didn’t remember you from what I heard.”
“Don’t turn this on me. What happened? Is it anything that is important?”
“Well. He’s fast.”
“That’s a start.”
“Really fast. Um,” Terasu tilted her head to the side while tossing the shell back into the water. She started walking again only for Cloud to follow after her, watching his feet as he followed.“Kept saying about it being time. He kept saying it was time for something to happen. I didn’t really understand it but I felt like I did? It’s hard to explain.”
“So wait, did you understand it-“ Cloud stopped short as he bumped into Terasu. “Sorry,” he muttered though he was confused as to why she had stopped so suddenly.
“Is that…?” She simply pointed towards one of the many beach chairs that was under one of the umbrellas that matched the one that Cloud carried.
“Hm?” Cloud followed her finger until he finally saw the white lab coat which had apparently caught her attention just a moment earlier. “What the hell?! Is that…Hojo?!”
“I don’t want to think so but, isn’t that him? Wouldn’t he be the only one to wear a coat on the beach?”
“Wait – how do you know him?”
“He was one of the doctors who greeted me when I woke up. Something just seems…Off about him. He seemed upset that I could not remember things though not for me. Something just says to stay away from him.”
“He’s just a professor.”
“How do you know him?”
“He…He’s a creepy professor,” Cloud corrected quickly. “Attempted to experiment with Aeris and Red XII. I guess that does kind of yell to stay away from him,” he said slowly. “But what is he doing here?”
“Maybe he knows about Sephiroth. After all, he is with ShinRa.”
“Yeah,” Cloud nodded and walked towards the Professor who sat with his eyes closed as one of the two women who accompanied him, for some unknown reason though both Cloud and Terasu figured they were both paid to accompany him, rubbed sun block on his cheeks and ensure his glasses were sitting properly on his ears and nose.
“Can I help you?” The second girl asked seeing Cloud approaching with Terasu behind him. “Sorry, we’re the only ones tending to the Professor today. We don’t have room for a third or fourth that matter.”
“I need to speak with that man.”
“Hmph. Professor, someone is here to see you,” she called over her shoulder towards Hojo.
“I’m busy right now,” he replied with a smile as he adjusted his glasses.
“I’m not asking,” Cloud finally said moving past the girl towards Hojo who sat up slowly as Cloud loomed over him.
“Oh. I remember you now. And…All your friends,” he said leaning over towards one side, now watching the others hurry towards the shore in order to see what was going on exactly. “Yes, yes. I remember you,” he said with a sigh. “Pardon me girls, I’ve some business to conduct momentarily.” The two girls got up and left just as the others came up behind Cloud and Terasu. “Well, it’s been a while, Cloud. And even for you Terasu. To be honest, I didn’t expect you to be here today. I thought Sephiroth probably killed you like he did everyone in that building, the forty-ninth floor and up. Lucky, weren’t you?”
“I was on the forty eighth floor,” she said quietly.
“How observant!” The Professor paused and leaned back in his chair as e realized that Cloud nor the others carried any weapons on them, except for Barret who had busied himself with swimming so he would not even risk taking a shot at Hojo. “Sometimes,” he said rather whimsically; “you’ve just got to do something like this,” he said with a smirk.
“What are you doing?” Cloud asked.
“It should be obvious. Getting a tan , getting some of that ever longed for R and R of course, what else does one do at Costa del Sol?” He paused for a mere second before beginning to laugh quietly to himself.
“Give me a real answer damn it,” Cloud demanded quickly.
“We’re after the same goal, aren’t we?” Hojo asked, allowing his glasses to slip down his nose slightly. “You know what I’m talking about.”
“Sephiroth,” Terasu finally answered before Cloud had a chance.
“Hmm. Did you see him?” Hojo asked only to judge by how Cloud and Terasu looked away from Hojo. “I see! How amusing!” Hojo laughed quietly. “Amusing indeed.”
“What is it?” Cloud demanded once more.
“Nothing at all. I’m just recalling a paper – a hypothesis to be more precise,” the professor said as he moved his glasses up once more with his sickly pale hand. “Have you…Ever felt as though something is calling you? That you have to go somewhere?” He paused for a moment once more. “That is for both of you by the way.” Cloud did not seem to be as disturbed by the question as Terasu was and merely shook his head.
“I’ll go where I need to in order to stop Sephiroth. I’ll beat him and end all of this.”
“I see. And what about you?” Terasu remained silent for a moment only for Hojo’s laugh to ring out once more. “Too good. This could get interesting! Would you two like to become specimen for my testing?” It was at that question that Cloud had taken enough of this insane man’s talk and aimed the umbrella threateningly towards the professor.
“Is Jenova an Ancient?” Aeris finally asked from behind the two. “What about Sephiroth?” Hojo fell completely silent for a moment only to shake his head and get up from his beach chair. He finally began to mumble to himself though nobody else could understand him. “Go west,” he finally said as he started away from the group.
“Hojo-“
“Let him go Cloud,” Terasu said quietly as she adjusted her sunglasses somewhat and turned away from the group, starting back to their belongings. “I think I’ve had enough of the sun for today myself. I’m going back to the hotel,” she said walking along. “I’ll see you there.”
“How much you want to bet she’s going after him herself?” Cloud asked tilting his head.
“I don’t think so,” Aeris said shaking her head.
“Come on, let’s go for a swim already!” Tifa said taking hold of Cloud’s arm. “Just leave the umbrella here. Come on.”

Terasu climbed up the stairs, leaving the beach rather quickly and looking around for Hojo. He could not have gotten too far away. Finally she spotted him moving to the ShinRa resort of the town.
“Hojo!” He stopped dead in his tracks and looked over his shoulder.
“Not the one I expected to chase me,” he said quietly as Terasu approached him. “What do you want?”
“What you said earlier…How did you know?”
“Please be more specific. My mind may be a brilliant one, however I can’t understand things when they are completely out of context.”
“About…Being called? What do you know?”
“I know a great deal of things. However, you weren’t meant to go ahead and run off. So I wonder where you are heading to? Is it…” Hojo trailed off and began to mumble to himself again.
“And only you would know about this number,” Terasu said holding up her hand for Hojo to see the black ‘505’ that would remain there forever.
“You want to know about that, do you? Next time you see Sephiroth, ask him.”
“You would know better than he.”
“Is that true?” Hojo put a hand to his chin and tilted his head to the side somewhat as he thought. “I may know what I meant but he and he alone knows what it truly means. All of my understandings are simply hypothesizes and nothing more. But Sephiroth on the other hand may actually know what it all means inside that elusive mind of his. Just follow what you’re told and if all is correct then you should learn the truth.” He turned away from her and opened the door to where he was staying.
“If I don’t, I’m coming for you,” Terasu warned as he closed the door behind him.