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Description
The Phoenix Eye
Chapter 2
Turning Points

-- The West Sea, North of Rocket Town, 19 Years Ago:

The night was cloudless.  A sliver of the fading moon illuminated the expanse of ocean.  On the deck of his ship, leaning over the metal rail, stood the admiral, trusting his sensitive eyes and ears to tell him more of the battle than the electrical instruments back on the bridge.  The admiral looked over the not too distant battle raging across the sea in front of him.  He would wait, perhaps another thirty minutes, before ordering his small detachment of ships to flank the enemy, cutting off their retreat from the harbor.  Gunshots and detonations echoed across the undulating salt water.  Arcs of color tore through the night sky as the Wutaian rockets crashed into the steel hides of the admiral’s warships.  Countless gunshots bore witness to the Shinra fleet’s brutal retaliation, the smoke of which was illuminated from time to time by the magical lightning breath of the paper dragons circling over head.

The admiral knew he was going to win this fight, though it would be close.  Almost a decade of war with the stubborn Wutaian samurai and the sly Wutaian ninja had taught the admiral not to underestimate the strange nation whose technology had never advanced beyond fireworks and whose strange magics had almost cost Shinra the war in the beginning, back when no one would have believed that those who made swords could overpower those who made guns.  But the admiral believed now, for he has seen with his own eyes the power of the Phoenix Eye, that strange ruby pendant that the Wutaian warrior king prayed over.  The admiral never would have believed, if he had not seen, that such power could even exist in the world.  That statues could move and fight for the Lord of Wutai.  That the dead of the battle field could return to life, to fight and die for their country, not once, but two, three, or even dozens of times.  Or that even the Shinra’s own battle robots, after being fried by lightning or fire, could rise again under the strange red light of the alien ruby, to turn and fight against their former masters.

Soft booted foot steps approached the admiral from behind.  He knew instantly who it was; there was only one man who could approach this close to the admiral without drawing attention.

“What is it Lieutenant Sephiroth?” the admiral queried without turning.

“I noticed that some of the dragons have spotted us, and are headed this way.” the young man’s silky voice supplied.  The admiral surpassed a shiver, despite his years of experience with death and terror, the young lieutenant always set his teeth on edge when he spoke.  Sephiroth, the admiral mused to himself, was like a monstrous wild predator that could never truly be tamed.

“Yes, I had noticed the dragons too; I was just about to order our guns to shoot them down.”

“If you don’t mind, admiral,” Sephiroth began.  “I have something that the Shinra wanted me to test for them, and considering that we have not yet entered the heat of battle, now might be a good opportunity.”

“Very well.” the admiral responded before reaching for his belt.  He pulled a two-way radio from its holster, held the button down, and began talking.  “Admiral Claremont to the bridge, I’ve spotted six dragons closing in on two sixty, over.”  A moment of static greeted the night at the admiral released the button.

“Bridge to Admiral Claremont, ok we see them now.  Shall we take them out?  Over.”

The admiral sighed exasperatedly at his crew’s incompetence.  They should have already seen them.  “Admiral Claremont to bridge, don’t engage yet, we have something new from back home we want to play with.  Keep the guns on ready though, and wait for my signal, over.”  The admiral turned towards Sephiroth for the first time.  “So what are we testing, something new from Professor Hojo?”

“Scarlet, actually.” Sephiroth supplied.  He then withdrew a glowing green orb from somewhere in his strange ensemble and placed it neatly into a socket in his metal arm guard.  The admiral looked at the arm piece.  It was shoddy, to say the least, as if it had been hastily constructed for the sole purpose of displaying this strange oversized marble.

“What is that piece of crap?” the admiral asked irreverently.

“We are calling it ‘materia’” Sephiroth stated.  “It is a byproduct of the mako conversion process, and now after several years of research and development, Scarlet’s team has turned it into a weapon.”  Sephiroth walked towards the rail, his eyes staring in the direction of the approaching paper dragons.  A few moments passed, until the flapping of the dragon’s wings could be heard over the din of the distant battle.  Sephiroth then raised his hand skyward, and a stream of angry blue energy shot from his arm.

A dragon fell to the sea, its wings laden with frost, its thin wooden frame cracking and splintering from the expanding ice crystals.  The remaining five dragons scattered, swooping and diving in defensive patterns.  Sephiroth barraged them with his ice magic time and time again.  The paper dragons attempted to evade the deadly spells, but very quickly Lieutenant Sephiroth proved that he was better at aiming than the dragons were at dodging.

It was over, as the last paper dragon sank into the black sea.  “Well, that was very… educational.” Sephiroth concluded softly.  Another chill ran up the admiral’s spine.  “Thank you Admiral Claremont, that is all I require.”

“Wait.” the admiral called after the retreating warrior.  “We are about to begin an offensive, you should stay on deck and assist.”

“I don’t think I am going to do that admiral.” Sephiroth replied icily.

“That wasn’t a request.”

“No.”
“Why you insubordinate…” the admiral began, trying to contain his rage.  “You may be a member of SOLDIER but don’t forget that I still outrank you Lieutenant Sephiroth.”

“Now let’s not loose our temper…” Sephiroth began with a smirk.  “There are two things you should think about.  Firstly I was only given authorization to test the materia, so I cannot use it further without direct permission from Scarlet or President Shinra.  And we both know the materia is the assistance you were talking about, my melee skills are just not very useful in naval combat.”

“And your second point?” the admiral asked angrily.

“You really should think more about the future admiral.  We both know you won’t be outranking me for long.”  With that final statement Sephiroth turned his back on the admiral and strode to the stairs that would take him below deck.  The admiral watched Sephiroth leave, and then spat at where he disappeared from view.

“One of these days…” the admiral hissed at the void where Sephiroth had been. “One of these days your cocky overconfidence is going to get you into trouble you can’t talk or fight your way out of.  And when that happens, I just hope I’m still around to see it.”

--------------------

-- Edge, Present Day:

Cloud turned the key, and felt the bolt slide back.  He opened the door casually and called out “Zack, Aeris.”  The sound of thumping footsteps replied, and two small figures raced into the room.

“Daddy!” two young voices rang out in unison.  Cloud’s four-year old son wrapped his arms enthusiastically around his father’s legs while Cloud gently, yet effortlessly lifted his almost-two daughter into his arms.

“You’re late.” a feminine voice stated, lovingly, yet firmly, from across the room.

“Sorry Tifa,” Cloud began, smiling at his life’s companion.  “I had a really weird day at work.  We found some mutated monsters, probably Hojo’s leftovers, and I ended up saving the foreman’s life.  He insisted on taking me to lunch as payback.”

“Well you’ll have to tell me all about it later,” Tifa explained, seemingly unsurprised at her husbands summary.  “The broadcast is starting in just a moment.”  Tifa indicated her head in the direction of the next room where their television was located.  Without another word Cloud caught Zack’s arm with his free hand and followed after Tifa, still clutching Aeris against his chest.  The family began settling down on the couch as Tifa found the correct channel.  Aeris stubbornly lorded over her favorite spot on her father’s lap; her older brother contenting himself to sit on Cloud’s left.  As young as they were, both children had learned quickly to always save one side of Cloud for their mother.

The Television flicked to the image of a news reporter as Tifa scrambled back to sit by her husband.  “Just in time.” she said to herself.

“…and now, I give you, Captain Highwind.” the reporter announced.  The image on the screen shifted to one of the Smiling Captain’s face, a lit Cigarette dangling from his mouth.

“This is Captain Cid Highwind reporting from outer space, this beauty behind me is the cockpit of the Ragnarok III space pod, and I am now on the last leg of what is to be the longest space flight ever.  So far, everything is going according to plan and…”

“Trust Cid to smuggle cigarettes onto a space flight.” Cloud interrupted.

Tifa chuckled softly, but just then a distinct melody floated from her pocket.  She withdrew her cell phone quickly, her brow narrowing slightly as she read the number.  “Excuse me a minute Cloud.” Tifa said as she stood up from the couch and strode into the next room.  Cloud tilted his head in her direction, infinitely more interested in his wife that in the space broadcasts he had seen two of before.

“Tifa Strife.” She called into the phone.  “Oh hi Yuffie, I wasn’t expecting your call.  Shouldn’t you be watching Cid’s broadcast… Oh… Oh my!” Cloud frowned; Tifa’s tone had changed drastically from one of casualness to tension and concern.  “Of course Yuffie, we could be there tomorrow if you want, but I don’t understand why you need Cloud… Oh… Oh I see, yes of course.  We’ll be there as soon as we can…. Don’t worry about it Yuffie, Everything will be fine… Same to you. Bye.”  Cloud heard Tifa’s phone snap closed, and her footsteps return in his direction.  He quickly turned his head back to the television before his wife could catch him eavesdropping and listened to the last of Cid’s broadcast.

“Well it looks like my times about up, so I’m going to end this broadcast like I have all the others; by telling the whole world how much I love my wife Shera and our beautiful daughter Rachael.  You two are everything to me.  This is Captain Cid, signing off.”  Tifa’s nervous hand rested on Cloud’s shoulder as the screen switched back to the reporter, intent on discussing the space ship’s progress with some kind of expert seated across from him.  Cloud instructed Zack to turn of the television; he could feel the tension radiating from the woman behind him.

“Zack, Aeris, why don’t you two go play for a while, your mom and I need to discuss something.

“Ok.” Zack responded compliantly, pulling his sister from Cloud’s lap. “Come-on Aeris.”  The little girl jumped down and ran off with her brother.  Cloud took a hold of Tifa’s hand and guided her around to the spot his daughter had just vacated.

“How do you know we have something to discuss?” Tifa asked suspiciously while sliding into Cloud’s lap and draping her arms around his neck.

“Tifa,” Cloud began. “You’re jitterier than a chocobo in a thunderstorm, what was that phone call about.”  Tifa sighed sinking back into Cloud’s muscled chest and resting her head against his cheek.

“An old scientist was murdered in Yuffie’s home,” Tifa explained. “She was out of town at the time, most of her guard with her, so security was low.”  Cloud wrapped his arms a reassuringly around his sweetheart and waited for her to continue.  “Reeve’s helping with the investigation and that’s where the interesting part comes in.  They found some skin under the victim’s fingernails, probably belonging to the killer, but a test on the skin sample makes it look like whoever did the killing was…” Tifa paused, and when she spoke again, her voice was softer, more concerned; “…was a remnant.”

Cloud breathed in sharply at the word.  It had been seven years since his battle with the last remnants, Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo.  They were supposedly extinct.  “I can see why they would want us down there right away, if this really is a remnant than we…” Cloud trailed off as Tifa leaned away from him and turned her eyes accusingly towards him.

“I hadn’t told you yet that they wanted us to go… You were listening in on my phone conversation again weren’t you?” Tifa asked smiling.

Cloud was instantly on the defensive.  “I can’t help it!  I have really good hearing.”

“You should have been paying attention to Cid’s broadcast.  You’ll hurt his feelings.”

“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” Cloud replied dismissively.  “Besides, there’s a re-run scheduled for later tonight.”

Tifa sighed, giving up, and sank back into Cloud’s welcoming embrace.  “We should probably drop the children off at Mrs. Gainsborough’s house later tonight so Marlene can watch them while we’re gone.”  Cloud grunted a soft agreement.  “Now, tell me about your ‘weird’ day at work.”

Cloud launched into a detailed explanation of the day’s events.  Soon the tension brought on by the phone call began to relax; the couple’s closeness acting like a drug, dulling the worry and concern the ominous tidings had brought into the peaceful home.

Description
The Phoenix Eye
Chapter 2
Turning Points

-- The West Sea, North of Rocket Town, 19 Years Ago:

The night was cloudless.  A sliver of the fading moon illuminated the expanse of ocean.  On the deck of his ship, leaning over the metal rail, stood the admiral, trusting his sensitive eyes and ears to tell him more of the battle than the electrical instruments back on the bridge.  The admiral looked over the not too distant battle raging across the sea in front of him.  He would wait, perhaps another thirty minutes, before ordering his small detachment of ships to flank the enemy, cutting off their retreat from the harbor.  Gunshots and detonations echoed across the undulating salt water.  Arcs of color tore through the night sky as the Wutaian rockets crashed into the steel hides of the admiral’s warships.  Countless gunshots bore witness to the Shinra fleet’s brutal retaliation, the smoke of which was illuminated from time to time by the magical lightning breath of the paper dragons circling over head.

The admiral knew he was going to win this fight, though it would be close.  Almost a decade of war with the stubborn Wutaian samurai and the sly Wutaian ninja had taught the admiral not to underestimate the strange nation whose technology had never advanced beyond fireworks and whose strange magics had almost cost Shinra the war in the beginning, back when no one would have believed that those who made swords could overpower those who made guns.  But the admiral believed now, for he has seen with his own eyes the power of the Phoenix Eye, that strange ruby pendant that the Wutaian warrior king prayed over.  The admiral never would have believed, if he had not seen, that such power could even exist in the world.  That statues could move and fight for the Lord of Wutai.  That the dead of the battle field could return to life, to fight and die for their country, not once, but two, three, or even dozens of times.  Or that even the Shinra’s own battle robots, after being fried by lightning or fire, could rise again under the strange red light of the alien ruby, to turn and fight against their former masters.

Soft booted foot steps approached the admiral from behind.  He knew instantly who it was; there was only one man who could approach this close to the admiral without drawing attention.

“What is it Lieutenant Sephiroth?” the admiral queried without turning.

“I noticed that some of the dragons have spotted us, and are headed this way.” the young man’s silky voice supplied.  The admiral surpassed a shiver, despite his years of experience with death and terror, the young lieutenant always set his teeth on edge when he spoke.  Sephiroth, the admiral mused to himself, was like a monstrous wild predator that could never truly be tamed.

“Yes, I had noticed the dragons too; I was just about to order our guns to shoot them down.”

“If you don’t mind, admiral,” Sephiroth began.  “I have something that the Shinra wanted me to test for them, and considering that we have not yet entered the heat of battle, now might be a good opportunity.”

“Very well.” the admiral responded before reaching for his belt.  He pulled a two-way radio from its holster, held the button down, and began talking.  “Admiral Claremont to the bridge, I’ve spotted six dragons closing in on two sixty, over.”  A moment of static greeted the night at the admiral released the button.

“Bridge to Admiral Claremont, ok we see them now.  Shall we take them out?  Over.”

The admiral sighed exasperatedly at his crew’s incompetence.  They should have already seen them.  “Admiral Claremont to bridge, don’t engage yet, we have something new from back home we want to play with.  Keep the guns on ready though, and wait for my signal, over.”  The admiral turned towards Sephiroth for the first time.  “So what are we testing, something new from Professor Hojo?”

“Scarlet, actually.” Sephiroth supplied.  He then withdrew a glowing green orb from somewhere in his strange ensemble and placed it neatly into a socket in his metal arm guard.  The admiral looked at the arm piece.  It was shoddy, to say the least, as if it had been hastily constructed for the sole purpose of displaying this strange oversized marble.

“What is that piece of crap?” the admiral asked irreverently.

“We are calling it ‘materia’” Sephiroth stated.  “It is a byproduct of the mako conversion process, and now after several years of research and development, Scarlet’s team has turned it into a weapon.”  Sephiroth walked towards the rail, his eyes staring in the direction of the approaching paper dragons.  A few moments passed, until the flapping of the dragon’s wings could be heard over the din of the distant battle.  Sephiroth then raised his hand skyward, and a stream of angry blue energy shot from his arm.

A dragon fell to the sea, its wings laden with frost, its thin wooden frame cracking and splintering from the expanding ice crystals.  The remaining five dragons scattered, swooping and diving in defensive patterns.  Sephiroth barraged them with his ice magic time and time again.  The paper dragons attempted to evade the deadly spells, but very quickly Lieutenant Sephiroth proved that he was better at aiming than the dragons were at dodging.

It was over, as the last paper dragon sank into the black sea.  “Well, that was very… educational.” Sephiroth concluded softly.  Another chill ran up the admiral’s spine.  “Thank you Admiral Claremont, that is all I require.”

“Wait.” the admiral called after the retreating warrior.  “We are about to begin an offensive, you should stay on deck and assist.”

“I don’t think I am going to do that admiral.” Sephiroth replied icily.

“That wasn’t a request.”

“No.”
“Why you insubordinate…” the admiral began, trying to contain his rage.  “You may be a member of SOLDIER but don’t forget that I still outrank you Lieutenant Sephiroth.”

“Now let’s not loose our temper…” Sephiroth began with a smirk.  “There are two things you should think about.  Firstly I was only given authorization to test the materia, so I cannot use it further without direct permission from Scarlet or President Shinra.  And we both know the materia is the assistance you were talking about, my melee skills are just not very useful in naval combat.”

“And your second point?” the admiral asked angrily.

“You really should think more about the future admiral.  We both know you won’t be outranking me for long.”  With that final statement Sephiroth turned his back on the admiral and strode to the stairs that would take him below deck.  The admiral watched Sephiroth leave, and then spat at where he disappeared from view.

“One of these days…” the admiral hissed at the void where Sephiroth had been. “One of these days your cocky overconfidence is going to get you into trouble you can’t talk or fight your way out of.  And when that happens, I just hope I’m still around to see it.”

--------------------

-- Edge, Present Day:

Cloud turned the key, and felt the bolt slide back.  He opened the door casually and called out “Zack, Aeris.”  The sound of thumping footsteps replied, and two small figures raced into the room.

“Daddy!” two young voices rang out in unison.  Cloud’s four-year old son wrapped his arms enthusiastically around his father’s legs while Cloud gently, yet effortlessly lifted his almost-two daughter into his arms.

“You’re late.” a feminine voice stated, lovingly, yet firmly, from across the room.

“Sorry Tifa,” Cloud began, smiling at his life’s companion.  “I had a really weird day at work.  We found some mutated monsters, probably Hojo’s leftovers, and I ended up saving the foreman’s life.  He insisted on taking me to lunch as payback.”

“Well you’ll have to tell me all about it later,” Tifa explained, seemingly unsurprised at her husbands summary.  “The broadcast is starting in just a moment.”  Tifa indicated her head in the direction of the next room where their television was located.  Without another word Cloud caught Zack’s arm with his free hand and followed after Tifa, still clutching Aeris against his chest.  The family began settling down on the couch as Tifa found the correct channel.  Aeris stubbornly lorded over her favorite spot on her father’s lap; her older brother contenting himself to sit on Cloud’s left.  As young as they were, both children had learned quickly to always save one side of Cloud for their mother.

The Television flicked to the image of a news reporter as Tifa scrambled back to sit by her husband.  “Just in time.” she said to herself.

“…and now, I give you, Captain Highwind.” the reporter announced.  The image on the screen shifted to one of the Smiling Captain’s face, a lit Cigarette dangling from his mouth.

“This is Captain Cid Highwind reporting from outer space, this beauty behind me is the cockpit of the Ragnarok III space pod, and I am now on the last leg of what is to be the longest space flight ever.  So far, everything is going according to plan and…”

“Trust Cid to smuggle cigarettes onto a space flight.” Cloud interrupted.

Tifa chuckled softly, but just then a distinct melody floated from her pocket.  She withdrew her cell phone quickly, her brow narrowing slightly as she read the number.  “Excuse me a minute Cloud.” Tifa said as she stood up from the couch and strode into the next room.  Cloud tilted his head in her direction, infinitely more interested in his wife that in the space broadcasts he had seen two of before.

“Tifa Strife.” She called into the phone.  “Oh hi Yuffie, I wasn’t expecting your call.  Shouldn’t you be watching Cid’s broadcast… Oh… Oh my!” Cloud frowned; Tifa’s tone had changed drastically from one of casualness to tension and concern.  “Of course Yuffie, we could be there tomorrow if you want, but I don’t understand why you need Cloud… Oh… Oh I see, yes of course.  We’ll be there as soon as we can…. Don’t worry about it Yuffie, Everything will be fine… Same to you. Bye.”  Cloud heard Tifa’s phone snap closed, and her footsteps return in his direction.  He quickly turned his head back to the television before his wife could catch him eavesdropping and listened to the last of Cid’s broadcast.

“Well it looks like my times about up, so I’m going to end this broadcast like I have all the others; by telling the whole world how much I love my wife Shera and our beautiful daughter Rachael.  You two are everything to me.  This is Captain Cid, signing off.”  Tifa’s nervous hand rested on Cloud’s shoulder as the screen switched back to the reporter, intent on discussing the space ship’s progress with some kind of expert seated across from him.  Cloud instructed Zack to turn of the television; he could feel the tension radiating from the woman behind him.

“Zack, Aeris, why don’t you two go play for a while, your mom and I need to discuss something.

“Ok.” Zack responded compliantly, pulling his sister from Cloud’s lap. “Come-on Aeris.”  The little girl jumped down and ran off with her brother.  Cloud took a hold of Tifa’s hand and guided her around to the spot his daughter had just vacated.

“How do you know we have something to discuss?” Tifa asked suspiciously while sliding into Cloud’s lap and draping her arms around his neck.

“Tifa,” Cloud began. “You’re jitterier than a chocobo in a thunderstorm, what was that phone call about.”  Tifa sighed sinking back into Cloud’s muscled chest and resting her head against his cheek.

“An old scientist was murdered in Yuffie’s home,” Tifa explained. “She was out of town at the time, most of her guard with her, so security was low.”  Cloud wrapped his arms a reassuringly around his sweetheart and waited for her to continue.  “Reeve’s helping with the investigation and that’s where the interesting part comes in.  They found some skin under the victim’s fingernails, probably belonging to the killer, but a test on the skin sample makes it look like whoever did the killing was…” Tifa paused, and when she spoke again, her voice was softer, more concerned; “…was a remnant.”

Cloud breathed in sharply at the word.  It had been seven years since his battle with the last remnants, Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo.  They were supposedly extinct.  “I can see why they would want us down there right away, if this really is a remnant than we…” Cloud trailed off as Tifa leaned away from him and turned her eyes accusingly towards him.

“I hadn’t told you yet that they wanted us to go… You were listening in on my phone conversation again weren’t you?” Tifa asked smiling.

Cloud was instantly on the defensive.  “I can’t help it!  I have really good hearing.”

“You should have been paying attention to Cid’s broadcast.  You’ll hurt his feelings.”

“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” Cloud replied dismissively.  “Besides, there’s a re-run scheduled for later tonight.”

Tifa sighed, giving up, and sank back into Cloud’s welcoming embrace.  “We should probably drop the children off at Mrs. Gainsborough’s house later tonight so Marlene can watch them while we’re gone.”  Cloud grunted a soft agreement.  “Now, tell me about your ‘weird’ day at work.”

Cloud launched into a detailed explanation of the day’s events.  Soon the tension brought on by the phone call began to relax; the couple’s closeness acting like a drug, dulling the worry and concern the ominous tidings had brought into the peaceful home.