Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Faded Hearts ❯ A New Beginning ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and such...so on and so forth.

The gray horizon was jagged and warped as a low rumble slowly stretched forth across it, starting dimly before reaching a deafening roar as it's source hastily approached. The blinding light that forced the abyss to retreat to it's own corners deep within the tunnels of warped metal and wreckage wove through the endless maze smoothly, as if it had traveled this path many times before. Suddenly the Fenrir, a motorcycle, screeched to a halt as it slid sideways to a stop. The man that stepped off of it however, was just as strange as the bike. For the moment, he had opaque, black sunglasses that stretched gracefully across his visage, wrapping across the bridge of a smooth nose, and finally at each end, wrapping around his ears. His mouth was split in a slight frown as he stepped forth toward what seemed to be the only surviving structure in the once majestic city of Midgar.

It was a church. Almost a year after the incident...

Albeit it was not in the greatest of conditions, a terribly large hole was providing a natural skylight to the holy place. Dusting off his baggy black pants, and brushing a wild lock of blonde hair out of his eye, he stepped toward the large, iron supported, rotting wooden doors. He placed his hand upon it gently, pushing the door open slowly to reveal the inside of the church. He then took off the sunglasses, revealing his luminous sapphire eyes, pocketing the bifocals; he paced through the center aisle, heading toward the front of the church. Which in the fading eve, was getting quickly harder and harder to see. Still, the light was enough to cast the stained glass patterns across the aisle as the man passed from dark to light intermittently, appearing one second, and disappearing the next.

It was then, moments later, that he finally reached the front of the church. By then, the day had slid easily into darkened night. Now, the only primary source of light was his eyes, which only lit up the small space that he was focused upon. A small flower garden, which he carefully paced around to finally sit at, facing the door. Slowly he undid some buckles that stretched across his chest and there was a clang that shook the very heavens as his Buster Sword collided with the plywood floor behind him. Reaching down carefully, he managed to pick one of the flowers, its white petals turning an eerie sapphire as he held it close, studying it. It only grew here, still in the middle of Midgar; this was the only place that could grow these flowers.

He closed his black glove around it as he stood up slowly to face the door, re-mounting the Buster Sword onto his back as he heard it slowly open. Looking sharply for a possible adversary, he found none, luckily, it was just the wind. He bent forward, and pushed off the ground powerfully, sailing through the air, over the garden, and onto the floor halfway through the church. He then calmly walked outside, looking around him sharply for any possible hostility, luckily finding none. He began walking over to his bike, mounting it he sighed softly.

"I want to be forgiven..."

He revved the engine before turning sharply, sliding out, burning his tires as he took off into the night, looking back quickly to the quickly disappearing church, before just becoming a mere streak of light in the distance.

Elsewhere, halfway across the world, chaos was brewing; a girl with long dark brown hair was amidst a cloud of fog, dust, and dirt. She whipped around her, the long black dress that covered her back waist and down flowing gracefully around her as she brought her leather gloved fist around full force into a wolf like beast's face. With a sickening crunch she felt the bone and flesh collapse through the leather as it was sent skittering across the ground before it finally stopped, motionless. But there still was the rest of the pack, as she could literally feel the footsteps of two more, strafing around her in a circle.

She crouched, leaning her weight on one leg and arm before charging out of the dust and finding her target. Her dark brown eyes flickered for a moment before she pulled a full roundhouse kick, the metal plate on the side of her shoe colliding full force with the creature's side. Ribs collapsed and shattered under the force of the blow as it sailed through the air and landed limply upon the ground. Another wolf was charging at her as she heard it's footsteps quickly approach. It leaped into the air, aiming for her neck until she reached back gracefully, easily taking it's leg and throwing it powerfully into the body of the wolf with the shattered nose. It was over, and the bloodshed was gladly done.

Standing quietly for a moment, she whispered a prayer for the spirits that had just passed. Then dusting off her hands and then her black shorts, she checked herself for any possible wounds, and found none. It was then that she heard the growl that was inches from her back, she readied herself, expecting the bite and tear as she turned, her brown eyes staring as she saw the snarling snout of the wolf inches from her face. A gunshot rang out from the fog as suddenly the side of the creature's head exploded and collapsed as it simply fell sideways limply to the ground. She looked to the source of the gunfire and only saw a shadowy figure.

It's voice was stern, and harsh, yet kind. "Miss Lockheart, you should not so readily lower your guard, next time you may not be so lucky."

She knew the voice, she had heard it before, but unfortunately, she couldn't put a name or face upon it. Raising a hand to her face, she stared at the figure amongst the retreating mists. "Who are you?"