"-" conversations
{-} personal thoughts
italic flashbacks

[CHAPTER 1: THE LAST PAGE AND THE FIRST]
[PART 5: THINGS OF THE PAST]
16/4/99

In the sky, the sun slowly sank into its watery bed. Clouds were colored the rapidly fading shades of gold and red. Their reflections were mirrored in the dark blue ocean below. Highwind hovered like a dark blot among the horizon.

Cloud quietly knocked at one of the doors. "Is he still unconscious?" he asked when Tifa appeared in front of him.

"No but now he is running a fever. We are not sure what is wrong with him" Her eyes were dark with worry as she stared at the prone figure on the bed. "The cure spells and antidotes aren’t doing any good"

"Neither are the herbs" added Red 13. The beast lay by the bed shook his head. "We need a doctor. He won’t last any longer like this"

Cloud placed a cool hand on Cid’s forehead. It was burning hot.

The older man mumbled something unintelligible in his sleep. His expression tightened in pain as he tossed and turned restlessly.

"We tried everything but nothing seems to work" Tifa grounded out in exasperation. She looked ready to cry any second. Red 13 glanced at her "You are tired, better get some rest"

"But..."

"Go on, you need it"

Giving in, Tifa quietly moved out of the room leaving Cloud and Red 13 alone with Cid. After the door clicked shut, Cloud focused his attention on the sleeping man. "Do you think it could be a poison?"

"No, the effect spread too fast. Even if it were, where did he get it?"

"From a mild wound? Maybe from those monsters in Nibelheim, they are quite capable of contamination" Cloud paused for a moment. "But now, the best thing would be getting Cid to a doctor"

Red 13’s face grew darker. "Cloud..."

"Hmmm? What is it, Red?"

"Don’t you think...those monsters looked..."

Cloud blinked at his friend’s faltering speech. It was not often Red had trouble speaking his mind. In fact it never happen before. "What’s wrong?" the ex-trooper said encouragingly.

"....it doesn’t matter." The beast shook his head. "Let’s focus on Cid first"

Cloud nodded. "I agree...." A cough came from outside the room. Immediately Cloud’s attention turned towards the door.

"......" The blonde youth quietly got up from his seat. Red followed his companion to the exit.

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

"WAAAH!"

Cloud blinked at the ninja girl at his feet. "I thought I heard something".

Yuffie looked a cross between guilt and indignant. Red ducked his head to hide what seemed to be suspiciously like a smile.

"You were eavesdropping?" the beast questioned, a teasing lilt in his tone.

"I...well you guys didn’t wanna break the news about Cid to us...so,...so there!" the girl scrambled to her feet, defending herself at the same time. Yuffie folded her arms trying to look a little superior. "Well, how is he?"

"He is bad. Let’s make it short, if we don’t get him to a doctor he won’t last long" Cloud answered. Yuffie’s face clouded over. Cloud called over somebody to look over Cid.

"How in the world did he get so sick?" she murmured to herself.

"Could be anything" stated Red; he gave her a sideways glance "You were with him before both of you got to Nibelheim right?"

Yuffie nodded.

"Did Cid came in contact with anything unusual?"

The ninja girl frowned. "Well, we both went to North Crater. There was nothing unusual there. Everything was dead,.....and..."Suddenly the brown eyes lit up.

"I know! On the way to Nibelheim!" Yuffie snapped her fingers "Highwind was swarmed by a flock of flying monsters."

Cloud frowned looking rather disturbed "You were attacked?"

She shook her head. "Nope, more like Highwind was in their way or something. Only Cid got a scratch, that was all. Nobody else got hurt."

"Did you see where they were coming from?" asked Red 13 thoughtfully after a short silence.

Once again Yuffie shook her head. "I can’t remember. Everything at the time was chaotic. Why do you ask anyway?"

"If you look closely at the damage in Nibelheim, its quite impossible just 3 monsters could accomplish that much in such a short time"

"So you suggest that somehow the flock of monsters are linked to the deaths in Nibelheim" Cloud said. His blue eyes dimmed slightly when his mind weighed the possibilities.

Red nodded. "That’s right"

"A hit and run?" Yuffie asked. Cloud blinked. "No, I don’t think so."

"Why not?!" the ninja girl asked immediately.

"I dunno" Cloud muttered. Red narrowed his gold eyes "If they were killing for food, there should be more bodies lying around somewhere. I am sure we could find something if we investigate"

"Leftovers. Scavenged pieces of human bodies." Cloud added, "We will have to check it out tomorrow"

Yuffie bit her lower lip "But why did they leave so fast? It doesn’t make sense. Usually animals stay around to fight for the leftovers but these guys well, they just attacked and split"

"Exactly" Red replied "It’s like they were following orders"

"Orders?" Cloud’s head snapped up. "By whom?"

"Could be anyone"

"Some nutcase maybe?"

The three spun around to see Cait Sith nearby. The mog quietly nodded his greeting at them.

"Cait Sith! Don’t scare me like that." Cloud offered him a small smile. Yuffie smirked. "Now Red, what were you saying about eavesdropping?" The beast rolled his eyes.

"How is the group faring?"

"Tifa and Barret is worn out but fine" the little cat tipped its golden crown to one side. "Vincent, I am not sure. He seemed to disappear somewhere. Anyway how is Cid?"

Cloud quickly told him about the situation." He needs a doctor....do you think you could..." Cait Sith winked at the blonde. "Right ahead of you. All you got to do is return to Neo Midgar. I will have everything arranged by then"

"Okay, but a few of us still need to stay and check out Nibelheim" Cloud ran his fingers through the sun kissed strands. "I guess I will stay. I want to find out what’s going on."

"Red and I will go to Neo Midgar" Cait Sith replied. "Vincent, Tifa and Barret can follow you back to Nibelheim tomorrow."

Yuffie frowned. "Hey, what about me?"

"You will have to follow us back to Neo Midgar" the little cat answered, patting the ninja girl on the head. "Your father won’t like his little girl running after dangerous monsters, would he?"

"WHAT!?"

Cloud grinned at the outraged reply.

"What do you MEAN by ‘little girl’!" Yuffie stormed.

"Now, Yuffie" Red said in a placating manner "We need you to recognize the monster that wounded Cid" The ninja girl calmed down somewhat after hearing Red 13.

"Fine, have it your way" she said, then began punching the air around her "But after that, I am gonna do some serious damage, like it or not!" With that, the teen disappeared down the hallway.

"Yuffie will always be Yuffie" Cait Sith commented rather ruefully.

"At least we now know what to do" Cloud said with a shrug.

"But we still are clueless about what is happening."

Red slowly began to walk to the main room. "Don’t worry we will get to the bottom of this" His tail swished a little impatiently "Come on, we need to get to Neo Midgar"

Cloud nodded "You can drop us off at Cosmo Canyon on the way"

"Okay, that’s settled. I will be waiting for you guys at Neo Midgar. Right now I got things to do" With that Cait Sith huddled in a corner and fell silent. The other two silently began walking to the main room deep in thought.

Yuffie popped out from a corner grinning cheekily. A wicked twinkle sparkled in her eyes as she hollered loud enough to wake the dead.

"Come on, slowpokes! Let’s get MOVING!!"

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

Reeve glanced at his watch. It said 2.45 AM. The head of Shinra could not believe it was only three hours that crawled by. To him it felt like an eternity. There was still no news about Cid condition. Reeve tapped the watch lightly just to make sure the gadget was working.

"Just how damn long are they gonna take?!" Yuffie demanded. The ninja girl looked slightly harassed. Red sat silently near a wall while the teen paced impatiently up and down the short corridor. Reeve could see the faint shadows appearing under her eyes.

"Why don’t you get some sleep" Reeve suggested "I will call you if there is any news about Cid"

"Yesh, surely I have some use here" Yuffie grumbled, falling into a chair. Red blinked, his ears twitched.

"I think I hear someone coming."

The three got up hastily to see a man in a white lab coat walking towards them. Red stifled a low growl. Ever since Hojo imprisoned him, he never got over his dislikes for scientists or doctors. The man looked enquiringly at the three.

"Reeve, sir?"

"Yes? Is there any news yet?"

"Ah, yes there is" the man introduced himself as Dr. Thorn. "Well sir, we need your permission for a blood transplant"

"A BLOOD transplant?" Reeve clarified not sure if he heard the doctor correctly.

"Yes, sir" Dr. Thorn nodded briskly. "A blood transplant"

"May I ask why?"

Dr. Thorn shifted the metal file he was carrying. Under the harsh florescent lights the doctor’s stainless white lab coat seemed unnaturally white.

"His organs are in normal condition but they seemed to malfunction. Heart failing to retain a steady pulse, nerves not sending the proper signals, that sort of thing. It’s all because of his blood, sir"

Reeve looked impatient. "Is that your theory? Are you positively sure?"

"No, sir. It’s not a theory" the man looked slightly miffed at Reeve’s slight doubt on his knowledge. "It has been a normal case for a extensive period of time before the SOLDIER was closed, of course."

"What does Cid have to do with the SOLDIER?" Red glanced at Dr. Thorn.

The doctor looked a little startled at Red 13. "You can talk! Oh my, what..."

"Answer the question, please Dr. Thorn" Reeve interrupted.

"Contaminated blood, of course. That the only answer for such a drastic body reaction."

"Contaminated blood?" Reeve echoed.

"Yes, sir. Mako in a normal bloodstream of a human’s body is quite fatal. It is quite lucky that you got him here early. He could have died on the way. Actually it is a miracle he is still among the living. I know many new members of the SOLDIER die because of contaminated blood. Mako when in a normal body is excessively damaging." Dr. Thorn paused. "Of course" he added, "Flesh is very weak"

Yuffie glanced at Reeve. His face was puzzled. "How the hell did Cid get MAKO in his blood?"

The head of Shinra glanced at Dr. Thorn who blinked blankly in response. The doctor stared back at him.

"I was hoping you could tell me, sir"

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

Cloud woke up with one stunning headache. His brain throbbed, sending jagged streaks of red flashing in his vision. The young man shook his head to clear his head. Miraculously, the pain faded within seconds. Cloud looked around his hotel room wondering where he was for a moment. Then it came to him. As soon as Tifa, Barret, Vincent and him reached Cosmo Canyon they checked into the hotel. All three guys shared the same room for the night while Tifa was given a separate place to sleep.

He watched his other comrades slumbering peacefully in the two other beds. Barret was creating a small thunderstorm with his snoring. Cloud asked himself how in the world Vincent managed to stay asleep with the noise. He spied the slender man buried under numerous pillows. So much for mysteries tonight. A small smile tugged the corners of the blonde’s lips.

Noise or no noise, his mind was wide-awake and there was no way he could go back to sleep. Quietly as not to disturb his friends, Cloud slipped out of the room in search of some fresh air.

Outside the atmosphere was deathly quiet. Only the sacred flame burnt in the darkness illuminating the building. Everyone was in his or her beds except him. Cloud took a breath of the crisp air. A slight breeze blew over the sandy grounds, ruffling through his hair. It felt cool to his skin.

Silently he leaned against the wall and looked up into the star filled sky. The sparkling diamonds met the glowing blue eyes from their black velvet setting. The quiet was a perfect place to think. Cloud ran through what had happened that day. He went to Nibelheim and walked to the Shinra mansion then headed to the right wing...

{Then I......}

Abruptly his thoughts became hazy. Always when he tried to remember what he had done in the mansion, a huge blot would appear in his mind. Cloud presumed he had gone to the mansion, encountered a monster, got hurt and stumbled out to the gates where Barret found him.

So that was what he told Tifa and the others.

Somehow Cloud felt there was something important he missed out. Closing his eyes, the blonde went back to when he was back in Nibelheim. He recalled entering the mansion, going into a room,

{Something....}

Again images blurred into nothing. Darkness settled back into the depths of his mind. Irritated, Cloud shoved himself off the wall. Why couldn’t he remember? Was he too afraid? There was something he encountered in the Shinra mansion his mind was too afraid to remember.

{Just like when I pretended to be in the SOLDIER because I couldn’t face the truth}

Cloud scowled. Surely he had nothing to be afraid of since Sephiroth is dead. His mind flashed the image of the vicious looking monster. Red eyes lusting for death. The ex-trooper felt startled. Was it his imagination or did he remembered something glowing behind that red hateful gaze.

{It can’t be....no one has excess to Mako...}

In the middle of his thoughts the PHS rang. Cloud picked up the gadget from his belt, feeling grateful he hadn’t left it in the room. It would have woken up his companions. God knows they needed their sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day ahead of them. He, on the other hand, should have been in bed by now.

"Hello? Cloud here"

The blonde almost dropped the phone when he heard what Reeve had to say about Cid.

"Mako...in his blood" he breathed in disbelief.

Reeve continued telling him about the small scratch that Cid got when Highwind collided with the flock of monsters.

"But a scratch?" Cloud protested.

"I am kind of at lost too" Reeve replied sounding confused. "But that’s the only thing that seemed to make any sense. If he got it in North Crater, Yuffie would have fallen sick too"

Blue eyes widened in response. "That’s true. It must mean the monsters have mako in them.

{That also means my suspicions was correct}

Cloud told Reeve to get some sleep ensuring that the first thing tomorrow the group would head out for Nibelheim in search for some clues. The ex-trooper asked Reeve to stay by Cid’s side until he gets better.

"When we return to Neo Midgar, hopefully we will have some leads to what is happening" Cloud replied calmly despite the opposite emotions he was feeling.

Ignoring the wrenching feeling in his gut, Cloud switched the gadget off.

{Mako in Cid because of a cut.....by a monster}

Cloud shivered. The soothing night breeze suddenly turned into a freezing chill. It dawned on him earlier since the reactors were all closed down; there was no way monsters could have mutated into such vicious monsters. He closed his eyes. Now he realized why he felt a faint familiar feeling while fighting the beast. The familiar feeling Cloud felt with Sephiroth, with Red 13. The sentence repeated itself again and again.

{The monster we fought had mako in its body.}

With mako reactors closed, monsters can’t possibly learn how to function the machines to cause them to operate, It only meant one thing,

{There is someone behind this}

The blonde slowly made his way back to his room. He wanted to get away from the terrifying thoughts that started to merge. Cloud recalled two people who were mad enough to perform experiments concerning mako. But both of them were dead. He stared out into the plain once more. Somehow being so close to Nibelheim was unnerving.

{People are suppose to stay dead once they died, Cloud}

With that firmly planted into his brain, Cloud shut the door close. And locked it.

It was times like this when his imagination took over. As a result, old fears arise causing havoc in his life once again. A faint look of weariness dimmed the glow in the blue eyes. He sank into the bed and let his consciousness slipped into sweet oblivion.

{Dead people stay dead...}

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Reeve placed down the PHS. His face was gaunt and pale. The Shinra president had stayed up all night until one of the doctors came around and told him Cid was okay. Yuffie and Red had long since gone to bed but the older man somehow could not sleep. His overtaxed mind still was forming endless questions but not getting any answers.

In the privacy of his office, he stood watching over Neo Midgar. Cloud sounded as confused as Reeve felt during the entire conversation. The dark eyes narrowed. But there was something not completely right about the whole accident. He had a gut feeling it was all planned out.

{But by who?}

He placed his hands on his head, deep in thought. No one could ever do such a thing. Reeve sighed in resign and stared out into the silent town. He had contemplated telling Cloud about the discovery of Sephiroth’s masamune but shot down the idea. The boy had enough to deal with for the time being, the masamune could have been swept up there by the lifestream. If so, telling Cloud about its presence would just cause unnecessary problems and panic.

The head of Shinra was thankful he told Tifa and the rest of the group not to inform Cloud about the finding until he himself told the blonde boy.

Reeve stared at the magnificent sword stretching along the length of his table. No doubt it was Sephiroth’s weapon, there was an unmistakable aura surrounding it. Like its owner, its blade was sharp, capable of destruction. The cold steel reflected the light. Reeve hated the idea of picking the sword up. It had taken so many lives. Instead he left an instruction for the sword to be removed from his table.

{To a place where it would be safe and out of the public’s eye....for now}

The end of Part 5 of Chapter 1

NOTE TO ALL READERS

Please be noted that the story takes place 6 months after the game. There is also a YAOI content. So to all readers who do not approve to such pairing or dislike the idea, please do not continue reading. The authors will not entertain any flames or complains concerning the yaoi pairing/pairings involved in the fanfic.

Thankyou