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Disclaimer – I don’t own FFVII or any of its characters, they belong to Square Enix. So sod off!
“Speaking”
‘Thinking’
The figure walked in the rain, slouched and seemingly broken, eyes unfocused. If one were to look at him, they would say a monster had come and taken his soul. Others would probably say he had finally gotten what he had coming to him. The man couldn’t understand why he was being punished though, if this were the case. His own thoughts were hazed, unwilling to come to him. The man reached up to cradle his head in his hand as he walked, not even registering the item in his left hand that was dragging along the rain sodden earth.
He had no recollection of how long he had been walking, nor did he know where his steps were leading him. One foot in front of the other was all he could focus on, trying to keep from collapsing at any moment.
‘Why am I here… What happened to me… How long has it been…’
The man could still make no connections, the clouds in his mind preventing him from piecing together the memories he wanted. He just couldn’t gather his thoughts like he knew was possible. He could see flashes of it though, even as his boots sloshed through slowly growing muddy puddles on the sides of the path. Fire. Materia. Reunion. Why did these words plague him like a nightmare?
He had awakened near a small mako fountain, not understanding why he was there. For some reason, he felt as if he should have been dead. But though he was hurt, he was nevertheless alive. There were no physical wounds on his body, but his body still ached horribly, like something had been forced into him, or returned. Either way, his whole body felt like lead, refusing to move or respond to his commands unless he focused purely on that.
He finally looked up to see a town start to appear from the trees. It was a comforting sight from the rough terrain of the mountains and forest he had been in for the past few hours. He had seen the town from the trail on the mountain and had been hoping to reach it before he passed out.
“Nibelhiem…”
He felt like the town had some sort of importance to him, but this memory, like all the others he searched for, eluded him. But it was just an aching feeling in his mind, a buzzing reminder of that insufferable haze. He let his gaze travel across the vacant streets with his vision as he continued his slow trek forwards. He could easily recall the town and its layout, but not its importance to him. The old well was visible to him already, sitting in its place in the middle of the town, standing like a monolith. Looking to the side of the path, he could also easily make out the decaying ruins of the ShinRa Manor. He could also feel like that was the building that held the most importance, but he no longer tried to place the reason as for why.
He continued plodding his way through the slowly thickening mud, his boots already horribly caked in it. The rain, it seemed, continued to come even harder than before; as if it was trying to wash the man away, perhaps off of the planet itself. It almost succeeded when he nearly slipped, causing him to stop his trek momentarily and regain his footing. The second he stopped, it felt like his body grew even heavier. But with much force of will, he stepped forward again. He was determined to make it into the town. At least that way he had a chance of being found by someone.
His mind drifted slightly as he continued forwards, running through a few flashes of memory that ran through his mind. He could see a man he recognized as Hojo, the catalyst. He also remembered fighting someone deep underground, and the hatred he felt at the time. But hatred for what? He couldn’t figure out if it was directed at the other person, or towards the circumstances, or if there was another option. He could also remember something else, something malevolent, something controlling.
The man’s foot slipped again in the mud, but this time he was unable to catch himself before he fell. He quickly accepted that he wouldn’t be able to get up again, and hit the unforgiving ground with a dull thud. He barely registered the object that he was holding hit the ground with a sharp clang as it hit a rock in the mud. However, he dimly heard the sound of a nearby door opening with a bang, though he paid it no heed. His mind was beginning to cloud over once more, but he no longer felt the need to fight, letting himself succumb to the darkness.
People were starting to crowd around him, asking things such as if he was okay, and what was he doing out here. He didn’t have the strength to answer though, finding it hard enough to keep his eyes open. He didn’t even show any emotion when they picked him up and started carrying him towards where the inn was. Though his mind instinctively told him to struggle and escape, he didn’t bother to act. He even tried to desperately move any of his limbs just to know if he could, but everything was unresponsive. The man knew that he had not felt this weak before in such a long time, and he didn’t like it. His mind just slowly grew blank as he finally slipped into unconsciousness. He would try to piece his shattered memories back together when it suited him best. But for now, he planned to try to get his strength back.
I also want to thank my beta, Nopa LaMais for all the help. She was a real help in picking out all the flaws.