Life Goes On

Disclaimer- I do not own any of the characters or the original plot…Except Menkaure…she belongs to me.



Namida de nijinda kono sora maigeru

Tabi

Hakanai aosa ga mune wo shimedzuketeku



*Every time I look up into the tear-filled sky,

A fickle wave of blue binds my chest.



Chapter Three- My Reflections



“Why did they say Elders? What are they going to do with me?”



“She’s waking up, what do we do?”



“Let her wake…the poor thing. Those three came again, didn’t they?”



“They were the reason she ran into our territory.”



The talking stopped as the pace quickened, wherever she was, she was safe. At least she knew that they were afraid of those three. But what if they came again? Were these people any match against them? She could only hope as she was being carried away.



Several minutes had passed and their pace had slowed down. Her eyes would not open, but she guessed that they were climbing stairs. The air was getting colder all of a sudden. Were they in the mountains? How could they be, they had only begun walking for half an hour. And last time she remembered, the mountains were on the other side of this village, coming from where she had ran away from Kadaj and the rest.



“You’re going to be safe with the Elders. They know you are here already, so don’t be frightened when they say your name.”



She wanted to say she understood, but her mouth was too dry and the words wouldn’t let out. All she could do was nod her head stupidly, hoping the one who talked to her understood.



She heard doors open.



They stepped inside, and the first impression she had by hearing was that this must’ve been a holy place; she could hear chanting from different angles along the walls, the smell of incense burning everywhere, and the sound of a fountain near by.



“Bring forth the girl….”



“The Elders have spoken, we must bring her to them. They are waiting.”



She felt someone lift her up and carry her, where she heard another pair of doors open. The chanting grew fainter as she and her carrier were walking down the hallways. But the fountain was getting closer; perhaps there was a garden where they were going…



“Bring her to us….we must see the girl….”



Her body was calling for sleep, but if she were to see the Elders, she wanted to make a good impression. It seemed they were eager to meet her.



“You will see soon, we had to blindfold you so that when you come back from the Elders, they will know or not if you are pure. “



…Pure?



“Bring the girl…”



“I cannot come with you now, you must enter yourself.”



Was he an idiot?, she couldn’t walk.



“I will leave you at the entrance to their chambers, there you will enter and the Elders will tell you everything. You can walk now.”



He placed her on the ground, and sure enough, her legs didn’t give away. But the blindfold was still on.



“You have to keep that on until they release you.”



She heard his footsteps leave; she didn’t want to be alone, especially when she was faced with the fact that she had to speak to some high order and be blindfolded. She tried to call out to him, but her mouth and throat were still dry.



The doors opened in front of her. She stepped inside. An intense white light shone right at her; she shielded her eyes even though they were covered. There was intense energy coming from something that was ahead of her. She was afraid to walk and trip, when this bodiless substance grabbed her and pulled her to the main energy source. The light was shining brighter than ever as the unknown substance kept pulling her. The fountain that she heard earlier in the main hallway was close by.



“Take off the blindfold…you need it no more.”



She brought her hands to where the knot was and undid it, the white light blinding her momentarily.



“Are you that fragile to our light? Are you not one of us?”



She could not answer, either she couldn’t or didn’t want to.



“What are her powers?”



“We are trying to find out, but her mind won’t let us through…”



“Perhaps she is one of them?”



“…Who?”



“The Jenova…”



“She couldn’t be, her heart is too pure, and besides she has too much power to be corrupted by that forsaken machine.”



“So was Sephiroth, and look what happened to him.”



“Sephiroth isn’t a matter to us, we must focus on the girl.”



Her mind was reeling; she had never heard so many voices speaking inside of her at once.



“What is your name?”



“………M-Mmm-Menka…ure…”



Her legs gave away, but she did not hit the ground as she expected to. Instead, the same bodiless substance caught her and brought her closer to the fountain.



“Drink Menkaure, drink from our Life Stream.”



“After that, you will follow us and we will tell you everything.”



Menkaure obliged and drank from the fountain. Cupping some water within her hands, she drank. The Life Stream cascading down her throat and the most wondrous sensation erupted from her mid-section. She felt like she was floating, the scenery below her was a blur, but the feeling was incredible. As she was levitating, voices broke the silence she had and memories started to come in. Haunting memories.



-Flashback-



“Is this a test, father?”



He would not look at her. Even her mother, who was cowering in the corner, would not defend her daughter.



“Why are you doing this?”



“Because you have disobeyed me, and the punished get what they deserve. Now leave…”



“Mother, please help me. Father doesn’t understand what he is saying…”



“Your mother will not help you, she even agrees with me. Not only have you lied to us, but also you have tainted this family and the ancestors. You are getting no more than you deserve. You should be considered grateful that I did not kill you when this happened. You should be honored to have a father like me. I pity you and your existence. You wanted to prove something, now you have. You have a story to tell, and so shall we. No leave…”



She would not move. Her mother began to cry in the corner; her head in her hands, her sobs were compared to nothing to her father’s rage.



“I have no where to go….”



“That is not my problem. In fact you should’ve thought before you committed your actions, and now you are paying the price. “



“But I have no where to go…”



“That is your own fault…Ever since that man came into our village, he’s been nothing but trouble.”



“He has nothing to do with this…”



“HE HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THIS!”



She had never seen her father so angry. She felt the house shake as her father had yelled. Her mother continued to cry; she would still not come and console her daughter.



“…You are just like your mother; a whore.”



Anger had begun to build up inside of her. She gave her mother the most sinister look she had, and stared in her direction. She saw her mother stifle a gasp as her daughter looked at her; she knew her father was right about one thing: her mother was indeed a whore.



“Then why doesn’t she get the blame, she was the one who betrayed you in the first place…”



SMACK



A look of pure shock and anger was upon her face as her father had hit her. Tears had started to form in her eyes…



“…May you rot in hell…”



And with hat she left the house. As she stormed out of the house, she could hear her father advancing on her mother. Her mother’s screams were the last thing she heard before Menkaure woke up.



-End Flashback-



Her eyes fluttered open. She was back in the chamber where the Elders were.



“It seems you have awakened…what did you see?”



Were they going to expect her to tell them what she saw?



You traveled back into your past, did you not?”



“…Yes…”



“…Was there any reason why your father acted the way he did?”



So they knew?



“No…”



“She’s not telling the truth…you know what could happen when she isn’t being truthful?”



“Nothing will happen, if she knows, then she knows, in case she does but does not want to share it.”



“Then how can we purify her if she is speaking lies?”



“She will eventually tell us, if not, it doesn’t matter.”



Menkaure wondered whether she should’ve told them, but one of their voices broke her out of her thoughts.



“So Menkaure, your father told you to leave, and after you had left, you heard your mother’s screams. Why is that?”



A sudden hatred coursed through her at the mere mention of her mother’s name. Why though, she could not understand.



“…Because she lied to me and my father. He blamed me on everything that was my mother’s fault. It’s because of her that he told me to leave.”



“Your father still loves you, Menkaure. He still wished to see you.”



“As for your mother…she was under criminal charges that led to her execution two years earlier. You may recall of this?”



“I had received a message, what about it?”



“Your mother had left a will in your name, citing that everything belonged to you; the house, the farm, and all the possessions that were written in the will belong to you. You were supposed to receive a message three months after her execution, but since you were untraceable, I’m afraid that you cannot claim whatever your mother wanted you to have…”



“Then where is all of the stuff?”



“Your father has them in his possession. Since you were supposed to collect the belongings of your mother’s three months from the execution, the will cannot reclaim what you have lost. So all that was cited now belongs to your father….he has told us that you were more than welcome to come back home. That’s if you wanted?”



“Why?”



“…Ah, these are of your father’s matters, not yours. The information is confidential; we promised that if you were ever to ask why, we would not tell you. He can if he wants to on his own time. But asking us will not do you any good. We took an oath in order to keep that promise, and keep it we shall.”



“….Do you know what he said about my mother?”



“Actually, he said quite a few things related to you and your mother. He said he was sorry for calling you that foul name, and that it shouldn’t have escaped his lips.”



“That’s it?”



“I’m afraid so…Now Menkaure, we must ask of you one more thing. Will you please follow us?’



Menkaure followed the Elders into another chamber; this one had no blinding white light, but instead the room was dark. The only source of light came from a large basin that was situated in the middle of the chamber.



“You may have seen this before…”



“It is a most wondrous artifact that we had managed to save during the First Apocalypse. It was in fact our first Elders that created this. They used this to look into the hearts of men, trying to find the source of their needs or troubles. They used to say when someone would look into this mirror, their whole lives would be told to them, like a story. And whenever they were told of their future, that was it. It could not be changed. Once a man had seen his future, he could not change it, even if he bargained with the gods.”



Menkaure gazed at the basin. One of the Elders had said it was a mirror. The markings along the base were that of curious, and yet very familiar.



“But when a woman would look into the mirror, things began to happen. Perhaps that is why the First Apocalypse had occurred; due to a woman looking into the mirror. It is written in one of the ancient scrolls that every millennia, a woman were to look into the mirror. An apocalypse would arise, and that would be the dawn of new beginnings.”



“Now since a millennia has passed, it is your turn to look into the mirror. It is your turn to find out what the future has in store for us…”



“But why me?”



“Do you not know your purpose? You have been chosen to lead a new life for all of us. You are our Savior, you will bring on great changes and you will fulfill your destiny. You are the portal to bring on the Second Apocalypse, you will bring on new beginnings.”



Menkaure did not understand. Why were they asking this of her? Was she to be a sacrifice so that they could live for another thousand years? Was she to be the portal they were talking about to bring something on the other side? If this was her destiny, then why haven’t her parents told her anything? Was she not supposed to know until now?



“Your fate lies within that mirror, look into it and tell us what you see..”



She stepped forward to the basin. The light was getting brighter with every step she took. As she came to the basin, looking down she noticed that it wasn’t glass, but water. Menkaure had never seen this water before; it looked like glass but it wasn’t and it looked like water, but she wasn’t sure if it was.



“…Whatever you do, do not touch the surface.”



Menkaure nodded and continued to gaze down at her reflection. Nothing happened.



The water began to churn. Figures appeared on the surface, she wanted to touch them to see if they were real, but was cut off when one of the Elders told her not to. Continuing to stare, more images appeared and then vanished. She saw an image that made her heart jump; it was the same man that caused her father to yell at her and told her to leave. He was standing there, in the same clothes he was in when he met her; a black, leather coat with sliver shoulder blades, gloves, and black leather boots. His hair was silver and extremely long, reaching about to his ankles, and he was holding a long sword. Longer than any other sword Menkaure had seen. But it was his eyes that made her recognize him; they were the most transparent green, like mirrors. It scared her, and it intrigued her to reach out to him, to grasp him, to see if he really was real, and not some person from her past.



Then the images changed again; Menkaure wanted to cry out, she wanted to see him again. He was the reason she began her journey. Meeting Cloud was supposed to happen, he was linked to the silver-haired man.



The images swirled and came to a stop on what seemed to look like her, but she seemed different. She wasn’t wearing black like she always did, but white, a glowing white that seemed to cloud her vision; she shielded her eyes for a moment. Her image was still there, but others surrounded her. They were wearing cloaks that covered their entire body, including their faces. Tall people and underneath them was a weird shape that came out of nowhere. Then a flash of light. Now she was in the center of the circle, even from the basin could Menkaure feel the power surging from her image, a blinding flash of white light and something erupted from the ground. The Menkaure in the basin rose above all the rest to join the increasing creature that had risen and was now reaching for the sky, which suddenly turned into the ocean. Both her and the creature fell into the water, and then there was no more.



“…I will not believe it…”



“She can’t possibly be…?”



Menkaure did not them to tell her what she saw, she now knew her destiny. Cloud had guessed right.



“….A Sage?”



A/N- another chapter as been completed, a very long chapter. I was even wondering would I ever finish this one, but no matter, I did. Yes, well I already wrote that she was a Sage in the first chapter when Cloud was trying to guess what she was, and now the Elders are like *gasp, you did not say…THE CHOSEN ONE! And blah blah blah….oh yes this is the first chapter where Sephiroth would be introduced, indirectly. Next chapter will be more distinctive on his introduction…