Oblivion's Beginning

Again, standard disclaimers, see first chapter for details. Happy Reading!!!

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Oblivion's Beginning
Chapter 3

Morning found the trio packed up and prepared for a long trip. Barret bid farewell to his daughter and soon they were back to walking much to Aeris’ chagrin. The rest and food had done her well so she was no longer as pale and some sheen had been restored to her hair. “I feel kinda silly asking this now, but do we even know where to start looking for Cloud or are we going to have to search everywhere, literally?”

Tifa sighed and Barret muttered something about the dam spiky headed one always being lost. “Well, we know he has a house in that resort town, but there’s no guarantee that he’s there. We just figured that it would be a good place to start.” She concluded with a sigh as she kicked at rocks idly. “Cloud probably doesn’t want to be found, but that doesn’t mean we can’t spoil his plans and find him anyway.”

It seemed like they had been walking for weeks, but it had only been a few days before they reached Rocket Town. They had been hoping to enlist the aid of Cid, if for nothing else than a means of transportation. While their old friend was happy to see them, the news they brought was both wonderful and terrible. Tifa, Barret and Cid must have spent hours arguing about getting Cid to loan them the Highwind or to come along himself. Aeris, meanwhile, was sitting at the kitchen table complimenting Shera on her lovely tea. It was going to be another very long night. Eventually they all retired, some more agitated than others.

“Cid? May I ask you something?”

“Damn it, Shera. Not now. Not with all this nonsense going on. I told you for the hundredth time; I ain’t ready for no kids.” Boy was he ever huffy but she just laughed and shook her head.

“No, no. It’s not about that. I wondered why didn’t you want to go with them? I know ho much you love it. All the flying, the action and the excitement. Besides they’re your friends and they need you.” Now he was in a worse mood. That damn woman was right and there was nothing he could do about it.

“Damn it, woman. It’s not that, it’s just complicated. And I don’t want them busting up my ship; you know how destructive they are.”

“Cid, if you’re worried about me, you don’t have to. I’ll be just fine. Just like always.”

“I told you it was complicated and don’t you go getting no damn fool idea that I’m staying for the likes of you. Hell, I’d love to get away from you and this house for a while. All that horrible nagging about a baby…humph.” She just giggled at his outburst, this was one of the many reasons she loved him dearly.

“Well fine then. If you’re going to stay anyway you might as well help me pick out colors for the baby’s room.”

“There’s not going to be any baby! You’re not even pregnant!” He paused a moment in his outburst to think on that as his stomach turned. “You’re not, are you?” Never did a man with such bravado and confidence look so damn terrified.

“No, not yet but we can fix that since you don’t have anywhere else to go.” Now that was a truly horrible, evil smile that only a woman plotting against her husband could make.

“Gahh…No! Damn it all! Fine. I’ll go, but don’t you dare think this is because of you.” He rolled over to sleep then as she placed a kiss to the back of his neck.

“I love you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever, just go to sleep.” He loved her dearly and she knew it. Beneath that gruff exterior he was just afraid to lose her and everything else he cared about. But everything would be all right now that he was going with them. She felt it.

Morning found Cid loading up the Highwind and getting his crew together. After all, he couldn't run it all by himself and his friends, while he adored them, were pretty useless when it came to the inner workings of a complex airship. Tifa and Barret were ecstatic that he decided to join them, so much that Tifa kissed his cheek and Barret locked him in a bear hug. Aeris and Shera giggled at the new outburst by Cid who threatened to call the whole thing off until Shera waggled a little pink baby outfit his way. He froze and his mood turned a hundred and eighty degrees. He was now yelling at them to get out of his way since he was busy getting them ready to shove off.

Shera waved to her husband as they lifted off, blowing him a kiss as she whispered to herself. "I hope he'll forgive me for not telling him." She placed a hand over her belly and rubbed it tenderly. "Daddy will be safe and he'll be a hero again sweetheart. Someone you can always be proud of." With that she turned and went back into her house as if it were a normal day.

Aboard he ship, Cid was barking more orders. "Where the hell are we going? You guys didn't even bother telling me, you bums." So far, so good; everyone seemed to be falling back into their roles nicely.

"We're going to start at Costa Del Sol. Cloud has a place there and while I’m sure it's not going to be that easy to find him, there might be some clues as to where he went from there. Anywhere it's the only lead we have." Cid grumbled, but nodded and set their course-to the beach resort it was.

What would have normally taken weeks by food, only took three days by air and it probably would've taken even less than that if they hadn't run into some very strange creatures. The whole crew was equally surprised and shocked when large, green reptiles whose flesh was barely clinging to their bones set upon the ship. Sharp claws ripped at the ship and they spit some sort of acidic substance that was melting the hull. They had to scramble to wash it off before it brought hem down and rendered the ship permanently grounded. The creatures itself was quite weak and it only took a couple of blasts to kill it, but the damage it dealt was massive. The ran into four of them total along the way.

"It's started," whispered Aeris to the others in horror. "Jenova is gaining strength and these poor mutated creatures are proof of it. We're going to see even stranger things soon."

"Ah hell! As if Sephiroth showing up ain't bad enough, now we got these disgusting things to deal with." Barret let out his usual tirade which included bitching, groaning and griping about the new zombie monsters that were popping up.

Landing at Costa del Sol was easier than they expected in its peak season. There was no one around, the place seemed to be a ghost town.

"Let's split up in pair. We can cover more area that way." Aeris suggested, giving a weak smile to Cid.

"All right, but everyone please be careful. We'll meet back here in two hours.
I really don't like the looks of this place. Not at all." Tifa motioned for Barret to come along with her as she headed straight for Cloud's. To this day, she still couldn't figure out why he'd bought the place unless he'd planned to settle down there with Aeris but that had been ruined when she'd been killed. Then again, Cloud settle down? Impossible! It would just have to remain one of life's mysteries. The place looked like it had been abandoned just recently. There was little dust on the floors and counters. There were even drinks still sitting on the bar. What she found most curious was the lack of signs of a struggle or a fight. "It's like everyone just disappeared into thin air."

"Yeah. Gives me the creeps. Let's check out that house of his and get the hell out of here. The sooner we're in the air the better I'm going to feel." Tifa could only nod in agreement to that as they headed up the stone steps to the house. The door wasn't locked; then again nothing in this town was ever locked. She pushed it open and moved in slowly, peeking in curiously and cautiously before stepping inside. Everything was silent, eerily silent.
The only sounds that filled the air were their own footsteps. Both were holding their breath, and when the door suddenly slammed shut behind them, it was impossible to tell who jumped higher; though Barret most certainly screamed louder. Tifa balled up her fists and turned in circles looking for danger, which smacked her right in the face, literally. Suddenly the room was filled with ghosts; translucent forms that vaguely resembled humans.

"Son of a bitch, when did it get so cold in here?" He exclaimed as she cursed, now shivering from the hit. Barret caught his first glimpse of a ghost and started firing around the room recklessly. Bullets went everywhere, through the ghosts to gig into the wood furniture and shattering vases and lamps around the room. Tifa flung herself to the ground, not to escape the ghosts but to avoid getting hit by friendly fire. "Die you evil sons of bitches! Eat bullets, lead, anything! Just die!"

"Barret!" She screamed from her position on the floor. "Stop shooting! You're not even hitting anything but the house." Her pleading wasn't dong much good. Meanwhile the ghosts had surrounded them and were clawing at them with ethereal hands that passed through their armor to send cold pain through their body. It felt as if their blood was being frozen in their veins. She managed to get to her knees, her hands moving in arcane gestures as she called out for fire to bombard the spirits. Flames exploded into the room snuffing out the ghosts who perished in a hail of keening wails that threatened to deafen them for good. On the bright side, the fire was warming them up, but they were also burning the house. The wood was so dry that it caught fire instantly and soon flames were jumping from building to building.

"Good work, Tifa. Now we're trapped and I don't know about you but I ain't go no water to put this tout." He was now firing at the door and shuttered windows trying to make them an exit.

"I wish I did, Barret. I wish I did." She was out of ideas, and it was getting way too hot for comfort in there.

Across town, Aeris and Cid were finding equally deserted areas. The shops were abandoned with the merchandise still there. Restaurants had food starting to spoil left out and people's homes still had laundry out to dry.

"I wonder what could make people leave everything so quickly?" She asked while picking at some of the dying flowers at a stand.

"I don’t' think they left. We've got company." He tapped her on the shoulder as he pulled his pear set for battle. When Aeris turned she gasped in horror. They were being set upon by the walking dead. People that were little more than skeletons and walking corpses whose flesh was rotting off their bones advanced on the due. The stench was as bad as the sight and it took all they had to keep their lunches down.

"A plague. He must have spread a terrible plague. We have to stop them Cid or we'll end up like them." She didn't have a weapon on her, but it didn't take long to find something to serve as a makeshift staff.

"I don't care what they are; they're too damn ugly to let go on living. Come on, let's crack some skulls." With a twirl of his spear and a cry of battle he rushed forward impaling the first two on his spear and swinging them deftly into one of their comrades. Aeris wasn't idle, she put her back to Cid's, holding her own as she batted away skeletal claws, crushing bones under the blunt force of her staff. It seemed like forever before the endless stream of undead began to slow and soon they were leaning heavily on their weapons for support and panting for breath.

"Damn, I really don't want to do that again." He started to pick off a severed skeletal arm from his spear when it jumped to life causing him to yelp. It managed to scratch his forearm before he flung it to the ground and started grinding it to dust beneath the heel of his boot. "Son of a bitch. Stupid thing actually stings."

"You okay, Cid?" She asked as she kicked the remains away from her.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. It's just a scratch." He took her hand and led her out of the bone yard back towards the town square. "Hey, you smell smoke?"

"Smoke? No, but I see fire. Oh my God, the town...it's burning! Tifa and Barret are in there!" She ran towards the building, planning to rush in and rescue them only to be yanked back by the gruff blonde.

"Just leave this to me." He raised his hands in a summoning and out of thin air materialized a beautiful woman with long, flowing hair and blue tinted skin. Once ordered to attack she showered the building with thousands of ice shards that put out the fires, leaving only charred stone and smoke. It was with great relief that he dismissed Shiva once he noticed his friends come stumbling out choking on the thick smoke. "Now, anyone want to get the hell out of here?"

There were no arguments as hey quickly boarded the Highwind, tattered and beaten. "So did anyone find out anything that could help us find Cloud? The house looked like it hadn't been touched since he bought it. Well, until Barret shot it up."

"Oh shut up, he's just lucky I didn't use the grenades. Besides, at least 'I' didn't try to burn it down." Tifa huffed and looked hopefully to Aeris.

"Sorry. All we found were rotting, walking bodies. It looks like we have to start from scratch."

"Well if we're going to start from scratch then we should start where it all began the first time."

"Midgar," mouthed Barret, Tifa and Aeris in unison as Cid gave the order to his pilot. They all looked across the sea towards Junon harbor. They were looking towards their future and watching the memories of their past. Right now things were looking awfully bleak.