The food seem to settle evenly enough in everyone’s minds and stomachs, but all eyes and ears, with the exception of Fade and Strife, were on Rose. In the firelight, her visage seemed to take a hue akin to those villagers that lived at the canyon.
“I…really appreciate this, all of you helping me recover my past, I mean.” Rose said quietly.
Andomiel nodded, but his skepticism seemed to grow over time, and this seemed more and more unlike Rose to be open like this.
The native man finally announced his arrival, “Sir, Red XIII has arrived.”
But to everyone’s astonishment, not a ancient sage, or elder stepped down, but a massive red lion with a flame red tail, with distinguished silver hairs about him, defining his age, appeared.
Strife stood up, seemingly acknowledging an old friend.
“Thank you…,”
If the fact that a lion had stepped down instead of a human hadn’t astonished them, a talking lion did.
“He….talks????” Pharda said, aghast.
“Yes, as a matter of fact I do…you don’t need to be afraid,”
“So, old friend, how long has it been?”
“Too long, Cloud, too long…”
Confused glances and looks littered the area, “Cloud?” Fenris said, “Who’s he talking about?”
Unbeknownst to everyone else, Pharda looked down, that’s when Rose knew.
“Why’s everyone sound so surprised, Strife’s first name is Cloud…,” Pharda said rather tersely. Abruptly he stood up, “I apologize, Mr. XIII, is it? I have to go…,” and left.
“Wait, Pharda!” Urd said, “Now what was that all about?”
“What did you say this time, Strife?” Tempest said, a slight chill in her words, “I’m going after him…,”
“I’ll go with you,” Rose said, and shrugged, “Sorry sir, but he’s not himself today.”
“Quite alright, I think I understand the situation,” the ancient creature nodded, “I’ll merely be talking with Cloud here…,”
“Hmm,” Rose bit her lip, then ran off.
Andomiel, Fade, and Fenris were the only ones left at the fire, and they didn’t feel like talking at the moment.
“I apologize, this isn’t the way they acted when they first arrived.”
“Hmm, Cloud, don’t you think it’s time you told them the truth?”
Fenris’ eyes went wide when this was said, but kept silent with the other stoics among the fire.
“This, my friend, isn’t how it was when Ramza and Delita came back then, now was it…in fact, as I recall, you were the one who was uncertain of yourself, couldn’t face the facts…”
“Why are you preaching to me, Nanaki? I’d thought I’d heard enough of that back then.”
Nanaki chuckled, a slight purr in his tone, “Don’t take this the wrong way, in fact, it was you who taught me how to be myself…I’m merely reteaching you what you taught me…”
Fenris couldn’t hold it in any longer, he had to ask a question, “What do you mean…back then?”
Nanaki roared in laughter, “You mean he didn’t tell you?”
“Tell us what, you crazy redcat!” Andomiel mused.
“Ah, a silver tongue, just like Zidane!!” Nanaki said with a smile. “Actually, this,” and as he said this, he looked around the area, spanning the whole Cosmo Canyon, “is where the original Zodiac Braves met…hmm…I’d say one hundred years ago today…,” he smirked, “and that he…,” and pointed his paw toward Strife, Strife was about to protest, but it came out anyway, “is one of the Original Zodiac Braves…,”
“Strife?” Andomiel spat.
“Is one of the….,” Fenris continued.
“…Zodiac Braves…yes,” Nanaki finished, “I’m surprised he never told you…”
“…..” Fade regarded this with little enthusiasm, but her interest seemed piqued.
“...And now that you have thoroughly embarrassed me...,” Strife said, rather reluctantly, “Let me tell my side of the story, that is, if you don’t mind, Nanaki?”
Nanaki smirked a snaggle-toothed grin, this was going to be an interesting night.
“But before I explain, I have some business to take care of with Pharda, excuse me...”
“Now even Strife’s skipping out on us…” Andomiel said, disappointed.
“Well you can’t blame him,” Fenris shrugged, “I mean, we’re talking about his past now, not just Rose’s.”
“Well, since you three aren’t going anywhere, why don’t you tell me why you’re here?”
“Well, uh…about Rose…um,” Fenris elbowed Andomiel, “help me out here, man…,”
“…She doesn’t know where she came from…or who she is, and well, we thought you might be able to help…”
Nanaki blinked with his one ancient eye, “Well, I suppose I will do what I can to help…it wouldn’t be the first time…” Nanaki pressed on, “So what is the Braves’ mission in this day and age…?”
“We’re to assemble the Elemental shards of what’s left of the crystal…at least that’s what Gaia and the moogles told us…”
“Moogles? And I thought they had long been extinct…” Nanaki stated.
“Well we saw a bunch of them in the Snowfly Forest,” Andomiel continued, “And they were more than willing to explain to us the importance of the Zodiac Stones.”
“So the Zodiac Stones from the braves of old have a connection to the crystal? This is news to me…” the old cat-warrior sat on his haunches, fiery tail flicking off in thought.
Meanwhile, on a grassy knoll nearby, Pharda was brooding.
Rose, Tempest, and Urd caught up to him, “Pharda! Pharda! What’s wrong?”
“Leave me alone…I just need time by myself…”
Urd looked at him with slight awkwardness, “That’s not the Pharda I know, he’s eager to please, happy to be with people, and always willing to cheer people up when their down.”
“Why did you act so angry towards Strife?” Tempest asked accusatorily, “And then you blurted out about Strife’s first name like it was some sort of secret--,”
“Tempest, wait,” Rose interrupted, “None of you understand, he’s had to carry that secret all this time, a promise he made to Strife.”
“Promise? What promise?” Urd was confused.
Rose swallowed, she would have to hold back the truth a little longer, “He...we can’t say anymore than what was already said…”
“How can you side with him like this, Rose,” Tempest said, “he’s been rude to hide this from us,” then looking darkly at Pharda, “Why don’t you trust us?”
“Because…” Rose faltered, she knew the reason had been because she figured it out, but what Pharda had told her had made the knowledge she knew even heavier to bear. “Because what I’m doing is the right thing…”
Pharda looked up at Rose in surprise, he hadn’t expect such a defiance, especially considering she didn’t like to keep secrets…in fact, as far as he knew she loved to gossip.
“I…,” Pharda was about to respond, but Urd was quick to silence him.
“Pharda,” and she looked in his eyes as she addressed him, “Rose may be right, but I don’t want anything else kept from us, no matter how important….please. And just remember…no matter what…I trust you, Pharda.”
“…thanks…” Pharda smiled meekly, albeit rather cautiously around Tempest.
The two left, but Rose stayed behind.
“Thanks, Rose, you really helped back there.”
“I just hope Strife’s secret is worth hiding from them…”
“…I don’t know, I just don’t know…”
“So she knows too, eh, Pharda?”
Pharda winced, he knew who it was, as did Rose, and replied, “She guessed, she asked, and I answered, but she promised not to tell, Strife.”
“I’m sorry about earlier, I should’ve warned you.”
Rose blinked, “You mean you’re not mad at Pharda?”
“How could I be, you two kept the most important secret from them. I know how hard it is, but there are few I can trust.”
“…but, why us? Why keep this ‘curse’ a secret?” Pharda asked, a slight pain in his voice.
“Would they trust me, if I told them what really happened, what I did, what I may STILL do?”
“What did you do?” Rose asked, dread in her voice.
“You know of Jenova...do you know what it did to me? What ‘she’ almost did to me?”
Pharda feared what he meant by ‘she.’
“I could’ve become worse than Sephiroth ever would have been, Jenova was a generated neophyte of Altima, that is how Jenova came to this planet, that is how the ‘Old War’ started, that is how Sephiroth and I were created, that is what nearly destroyed this planet. Altima tried to use a knight named Garland, an emperor, the Lunarians, the ancient Espers, a sorceress named Ultimicia, the essence of death, Necron, and the chaos known as Yu Yevon...but time and time again she has failed...so it comes to this day and age. And she seeks the greatest power of all: the Zodiac Braves themselves. This is what the Zodiac War is, neverending, always war, always chaos.”
“How…how do you know all this? That…that’s a timeline spanning millions of years…I’ve read my history…” Rose asked fear rising.
“I was once bonded with Jenova, until my friends freed me, but during that time, Jenova imparted her vast knowledge, for what end I do not know...to me.”
“But, Strife, what about Tempest? I know how much she cares about you, why can’t you trust her?” Rose asked.
“You saw it in her eyes, did you? You’re good at reading hearts Rose, that is why I must help you find your past...I cannot trust her for fear she would fear me as a monster...”
“But…why?” Pharda asked, mind awash in confusion.
“It hurts one greatly when one loses what is most important...family.”
Rose ghasped, “You mean…”
“Across the bounds of time, Jenova’s curse has allowed me to see the fruits of my loins, each one living and dying, while I never change, it would hurt them too much if they knew they were descendants of such a monster...”
“She’s your…granddaughter?” Pharda asked, expecting no answer. Instead, Strife lifted the red cloak from his body…the dark demon wing rising from his back.
“…my God…,” Rose covered her mouth.
“So now you know…,” Pharda said, a blank stare in his eye.
“You...aren’t the only ones...Fade does as well.”
“You mean, the ninja?” Rose said, still recovering from Strife’s true form.
“She and I are...kindred spirits...She, like I is Sephiroth’s prodigy.”
“Sephiroth…” the name rang in Pharda’s ears, “he may still be alive, Strife.”
“It doesn’t matter...if anything, he is a nightwalker like me.”
“But that’s just it…maybe he’ll accept you for who you are…like us…,” Pharda encouraged.
“Yes, Pharda’s right, when I found out I was shocked, but I realize now you’re just concerned for us.”
“How can you trust me...?”
“You’ve taken us this far, haven’t you?” Pharda said.
“We should be getting back, Strife.”
“Yeah, Red XIII will be waiting for us.”
As the three walked back, Strife donned his crimson façade once again. He looked at them, his eyes crinkled in the corners, “For their sake, not mine.”
“Hey! Pharda, you okay man?” Fenris rushed him, scaring the bejeebus out of him.
“Ack! Don’t DO that!”
“Hee hee, so you okay?”
“Yeah, man, I’m feeling better…” Pharda managed a smile at his scaly comrade.
“Rose, you think this guy’s depressed?” Fenris asked Rose for a second opinion.
“He’s as sane as both you and me,”
“That’s what I’m worried about, Pharda’s usually crazy…” Fenris grinned.
“I think we’d all better head back.”
As they found themselves back at the Cosmo Candle, it’s embers flickering white hot, inviting cold visitors from the icy wind, and old stories to be told. Nanaki sat stoically with Andomiel and Fade quietly sitting nearby. Tempest stoking the flames.
“I’m sorry for my abrupt leaving before,” Pharda said.
“Quite alright, I appreciated your friends’ company in the meantime. They’ve told me all about the situation with Rose, and how they would like to learn a little bit more about Strife.”
It was visible on Strife’s face, the stress he was feeling right then.
“Since you seem to be having trouble telling the story, Cloud, would you mind if I told it?” Nanaki smiled. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell them all the details, they’ll find out eventually.”
Eyes widened in a combination of fear and surprise.
“You’re all wondering how Strife, a man in this time in place, is one of the original Zodiac Braves? Well, for starters, I’ll say this…it all begins with time…Time Travel that is…as you know, the Braves were able to manipulate time and space with the Zodiac Stones, that is, the crystal shards you are now carrying with you…”
Pharda lifted his stone in curiosity as it glowed its soft hue.
“Of course, this only worked when at least seven of them gathered. You only seem to have a few components to it…”
“I don’t understand, Strife never had any stones…” Andomiel said skeptically.
“Before the braves all went their own ways…they decided where in time they wanted to be, and so it was decided where they would go…Strife, and Aeris, wished to be here, in the future.”
Strife looked at Nanaki in shock, this was an explanation that he didn’t expect.
“The future?” Fenris said, confused.
“…..” Fade glanced at Strife, he interpreted it to mean she was confused as well.
“In the battle with Ajora, both Aeris and Cloud were killed, but as the braves were victorious when Delita sealed Ajora in the life crystal, and time restored, they needed to be sure Ajora would change for the good. It was Aeris and Cloud who volunteered to keep watch…and so, through the crystals, time has passed like nothing to them, and they have kept watch over the crystal.”
“But what about Aeris?” Andomiel asked, “When we saw her, she was like an old woman.”
Nanaki shook his head, “You can bend time, you can slow it down, but you cannot stop it…even for an ancient such as Aeris. The only reason Strife takes a more active role in helping you ‘new’ braves is because he has maintained his training, otherwise he would be as frail as Aeris.”
The party began to utter all manner of questions regarding ancestry, relation, and how they ended up being chosen.
“Enough questions for one night, braves, you all need sleep.” Nanaki smiled gently, as Strife breathed a sigh of relief. Strife then spoke with his old friend aside from the group as they headed off to bed.
“How can you lie to them like this?” Strife asked, a tinge of accusation in his tone.
“Am I lying? I thought I was telling the truth? You forget, the other braves did cast a spell on you and Aeris, so you would age slower than normal, remember now?”
“You crazy redcat,” Strife, for the first time in ages, smiled at the humor of the situation, which grew into a hoarse laugh.
“Anyway, don’t ever forget that I knew more about you back then than either Ramza or Delita ever did, or ever would.”
“I suppose I should thank you, Red XIII...,”
“Did you see the look on their faces when they found out you were once a brave? Priceless.”
And the two ancient warriors laughed off in the night.
