Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ What If... ❯ What If... ( Chapter 1 )

“CLOUD!!! STOP!!!” came the cries from behind where Cloud stood, his eyes glazed over, his sword hovering inches above Aeris, who continued to kneel, deep in prayer. Shaking his head he broke free from his state of possession and, upon noticing his weapon was dangerously close to Aeris' head, threw his sword to one side. Aeris remained still, not wavering from her cause, her duty.

 

Cloud stepped backwards as he watched her, a small smile creeping across his face, safe in the knowledge that no harm had befallen her, in her time away from the group. Needless to say her abilities had developed a great amount since she had first teamed up with Cloud in the church, but still, he found it remarkable that, despite all the monsters that freely roamed around the world, she had not a scratch about her person.

 

A moment or two passed before Aeris bought her head up to meet with Clouds gaze; a small smile adorning her face as well. A warm glow radiated throughout Clouds body as her eyes met his, and as such he failed to noticed the ominous wind that cut through the room. Nor did he notice the dark figure descending from the sky, silver hair sprawling wildly behind him.

 

Aeris' mouth fell agape as a searing pain exploded through her body, while Cloud stood, paralysed at the sight he beheld before him. Sephiroth smirked at his triumph, his Masamune slowly cleansing the last of the Cetra from existence. Placing his large boot onto Aeris' back, he slowly pushed her down the blade, before brutally forcing her off the end, flinging her limp body into the cold stone floor.

 

Cloud rushed to her side and propped her up, frantically try to make her respond. Her eyes flickered and he saw the tears run down her face. Her eyes met his once more and she smiled at him while weakly raising a hand to his face. She gently caressed his cheek with her fingertips before her smile faded and her arm fell to the ground, her eyes closing.

 

Cloud began to shake uncontrollably, as he held Aeris' lifeless form as tight as he could. Sephiroth, still standing nearby, watching the events unfold, grinned evilly and… STOP. Lets pause right there.

 

 

What If, none of this happened? What If, certain events prior to Aeris' death changed the course of fate? Rewind back to before Aeris had reached the City of the Ancients, when she was passing through the Sleeping Forest, and let's see how a simple occurrence can change everything.

 

 

Aeris walked confidently through the Sleeping Forest, relieved at the apparent lack of fiends. She may have been a lot more skilled in combat and the use of magic than she had been before she embarked on this adventure but she still doubted she would be able to fair against a group of monsters by herself, after all, up until now, she'd always had her companions for assistance and protection.

 

Lost deep within her thoughts, she failed to notice the low hanging tree branch. She passed under it; however her hair became caught on it. The tug on her head brought her back to reality with a small yelp, and she proceeded to wriggle in a bid to escape the grip of the branch. She finally became loose after about a minute of struggling, and shaking her head she noticed that it was no longer tied in a braid but cascaded down her back. A sudden realisation dawned on her and she reached up to her head finding nothing but hair.

 

“The holy materia!!”

 

Looking around worriedly, her mind was put to rest when she saw it lying unharmed in a small pile of leaves. Picking it up she realised she no longer had a place to store it conveniently; her ribbon had blown away in the breeze while she looked for the materia, she resigned to carrying it the rest of the way. It wasn't that much farther to travel anyway.

 

Her intuitions were correct and she arrived at the City of the Ancients in no less than fifteen minutes time. She had no idea where to go from there, as she had little knowledge of the city, but something itched at the back of her mind, as though something were trying to tell her where to go. After a minute of pondering she resolved to take the centre path.

 

The path terminated in a single building with a small lake in front of it, the water glistening mystically, reflecting patterns that danced across the trees surrounding it. Upon approaching the building, the materia that she clung to so tightly began to emit a faint green aura.

 

“Maybe that means I'm close” Aeris said, not knowing what else it could possibly mean.

 

Disappearing into the building, she went unaware of the ripples that had started to form in the lake. A shape could be seen moving beneath the surface however at its current depth it was nothing more than a strange silhouette. A while passed before something white broke the surface of the water. Slowly a figure walked out of the cooling waters. He was a tall and slender man but his body seemed well built. He sported a white hooded robe that covered his back, as well as draping partway down his chest, before fanning out at the waist showing the front of his legs in full. The figures torso was covered by a long sleeved white shirt decorated with tribal patterns done in black. His legs were covered by a pair of dark grey trousers, held up with a brown leather belt, while on his feet he wore a pair of black combat boots. Additionally, his left forearm was covered by a metal gauntlet, adorned with strange engravings, which reached from his elbow to his wrist and didn't cover his hand, on which he wore a thin brown leather glove. He wasn't unarmed either, a white scabbard hung from his belt at the left hand side of his waist. Its size and shape clearly showed that it contained a katana. He also had a set of knives in brown leather holders attached to a leather strap, worn diagonally across his chest and over his shoulder.

 

He stood by the lakeside and admired his surroundings as the water ran off his clothes, as though they repelled it, and formed a large puddle around his feet. He was completely dry in under a minute and turned to face the building which Aeris had earlier entered. He followed suit and entered the building, disappearing into its confines just as she had.

 

 

Later, once Cloud and Co. had arrived on the scene…

 

 

“CLOUD!!! STOP!!!” came the cries from behind where Cloud stood, his eyes glazed over, his sword hovering inches above Aeris, who continued to kneel, deep in prayer, the holy materia clutched between her hands. Shaking his head he broke free from his state of possession and, upon noticing his weapon was dangerously close to Aeris' head, threw his sword to one side. Aeris remained still, not wavering from her cause, her duty.

 

Cloud stepped backwards as he watched her, a small smile creeping across his face, safe in the knowledge that no harm had befallen her, in her time away from the group. Needless to say her abilities had developed a great amount since she had first teamed up with Cloud in the church, but still, he found it remarkable that, despite all the monsters that freely roamed around the world, she had not a scratch about her person.

 

A moment or two passed before Aeris bought her head up to meet with Clouds gaze; a small smile adorning her face as well. A warm glow radiated throughout Clouds body as her eyes met his, and as such he failed to noticed the ominous wind that cut through the room. Nor did he notice the dark figure descending from the sky, silver hair sprawling wildly behind him, however, one person did.

 

Launching himself from his perch on a pillar, the white robed figure drew his sword and connected with Sephiroths blade. The large sword span from his grip and became stuck in a pillar a good distance from the platform where Cloud and Aeris were. Sephiroth was, of course, not expecting this interruption and was caught off guard, landing awkwardly on the platform. The figure was no more than a second behind and landed next to him before delivering a powerful roundhouse kick to his abdomen, sending him crashing through the short wall surrounding the platform.

 

Sephiroth landed on another platform a fair way from the group and the newcomer and rose to his feet, an angered look on his face. He raised his hand and smirked as large chunks of ice began in form in front of him. He yelled and numerous ice bolts careened towards his enemies. The figure raised a hand in retaliation but just stood in place and didn't cast a spell. Cloud held Aeris tight and prepared for the worst, but was amazed to see the ice bolts shatter upon hitting the powerful barrier spell that their saviour had established.

 

Sephiroth looked disgruntled at his failed attempt to vanquish the final Cetra, but he attacked no more. He let out a “Hmph” and a small smile and then flew upwards wrenching his sword from the pillar it was embedded in as he passed it, disappearing into the bright light that shone above.

 

Upon Sephiroths departure, all eyes turned to focus on the person who had saved at least one life in the last few minutes. Cloud was the first to address him.

 

“What do you want?”

 

Aeris looked at him with a scornful look on her face.

 

“Cloud! This man just rescued us from Sephiroth. Be Nice!”

 

Cloud went silent from the scolding and shuffled awkwardly in place, while Tifa, who had come to join them on the platform, giggled softly. Now it was Aeris' turn to talk.

 

“Thank you for your help, sir. I'm Aeris and these are my friends. May I have the pleasure of requesting your name?”

 

The figure stared intently for a few brief moments before dignifying the question with an answer.

 

“I am Alexander.”

 

Aeris looked slightly shocked while everyone just looked at him, just as anyone would watch a conversation taking place.

 

“You can't be Alexander. He's a myth amongst the Cetra, a story made up to entertain children.”

 

“I assure you, I am Alexander.”

 

“I'm afraid I have no grounds on which I can believe you… sir” Aeris looked slightly forlorn.

 

“If you truly were Alexander, then I would've had to call upon you.”

 

“But I was called upon, not by you, but by the materia you possess. When you stopped by the lake outside this building, you witnessed the materia glow, did you not?”

 

“Yes, I did.”

 

“That was the materia crying out to me.”

 

“I can't see how any of this is possible.”

 

Cloud was clearly irritated by this point and chose it as an opportune moment to interrupt.

 

“Look, thanks for all your help, but save us your lies and all that crap cause we have to get moving, so why don't you just…”

 

“Cloud, please, be quiet. I want to hear him out.”

 

Cloud was clearly not pleased at this and it could be seen in his expression but he remained quiet nonetheless.

 

“Please, carry on.”

 

Alexander picked up from the exact point where he had left off, obviously unaffected by Clouds outburst.

 

“You, as a Cetra, have a natural link to the lifestream and the Planet. When you came into direct contact with the materia, it allowed the lifestream to link with the materia. Now the materia alone would not have been enough to summon, and in any normal situation then yes, you would have had to call upon me. However, you stopped at the lake within which I resided. Being in such close proximity to me allowed the materia to make a short distance connection through the lifestream, or rather, through you.”

 

Aeris struggled to comprehend all that was being told to her, so much new information about a creature/person she'd presumed to be a myth. And there he was, standing before her.

 

Her eyes scanned over his body a few times and still one thing about him escaped her.

 

“Why aren't you more, you know, summon-like?”

 

“I'm afraid I don't understand.”

 

“Well, all the other summon materias summon huge creatures and monsters. You don't seem too monstrous.”

 

“You must understand that I am not a typical summon. It's more a case of me being freed by the materia, than summoned as such.”

 

Aeris thought to herself briefly “Could you excuse me for a moment please?”

 

“By all means.”

 

She turned to face Cloud and Tifa who were waiting impatiently and patiently, respectively, for her to finish her lengthy discussion with Alexander.

 

“Can we go now Aeris?”

 

“Not before I ask you both something.”

 

“Fine.”

 

“I want to know if he can come with us.”

 

“What?! You've only just met him and you want him to join us?!”

 

“I need to know more about him. He might know more about the ancestry of the Cetra. He's the closest thing I have right now to another living Cetra. Please Cloud; please let him come with us.” He could tell by her face that it meant a lot to her. He looked over to Tifa, who merely nodded with a smile. He sighed.

 

“Okay then. I suppose he did defend us from Sephiroth after all.”

 

“Thank you Cloud!!!” Aeris hugged Cloud tightly and he blushed slightly at her warm touch. Aeris then returned her attention back to Alexander.

 

“I would like to ask you on behalf of myself and my companions, to accompany us on our mission.”

 

“I intended to come with you anyway. You are the wielder of the holy materia. It is my duty to ensure your safety.”

 

“.........I suppose we should get going then……”

 

Cloud jumped across the raised stepping stones back to where the rest of the group was residing, watching the events unfold from afar.

 

“This guys a nutjob! Why did I agree to this? *random mumblings*”

 

 

Cid, who had run out of cigarettes five minutes back, let his craving get the best of him and he announced loudly to the group.

 

“Can we get back to the fuckin' Highwind? I'm freezing my dick off down here and I'm out of fuckin' smokes.”

 

The girls giggled quietly at his outburst, they almost always did. Cid had made for the stairs leading back to the surface already and was in mid ascent.

 

“Get a fuckin' move on or I'm hightailing it outta here without ya!!”

 

Not fancying the walk, everyone picked up the pace and briskly followed Cid, Alexander in tow, matching Aeris' pace step for step.

 

 

I like the way this chapter came out, except for describing Alexander's clothes; that felt forced. I don't usually write chapters that are this long, but I intend to try and keep this length as standard, if not writing more than this.

 

Please comment. I welcome any potential improvements that you might have so please voice them. I'll get chapter two done soon.