Final Fantasy VII Crisis From The Sky Part Four: Story Time With Tim

Hello, faithful reader! You have found yourself once more reading another part of FFVII Crisis From The Sky. One of my longer novellas that’s based on Final Fantasy VII and its history of the Cetra some few millennia in the past. It’s fan fiction, without a doubt. Yet, despite it being a bit slower than a lot of my work, I still think it holds up as a story.

Anyhow, if you are behind with the tale, why not click on these links below and get caught up? I’ll wait.

Final Fantasy VII Crisis From The Sky Part One

Final Fantasy VII Crisis From The Sky Part Two

Final Fantasy VII Crisis From The Sky Part Three

Alright! Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get into the next part of this novella! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!

* * * * *

Morning came swiftly and found Sion up before the new day’s light. He saw off the twenty warriors that would be escorting the wounded back to Collust. Though, he knew he wouldn’t be returning home anytime soon. Once they verified the accounts coming from Middas, they would have to make their destination Tohen. Every fiber of his bones told him that Middas was a lost cause and they should be heading towards Tohen. However, the Council had been specific. Tohen would have to wait.

  “Sir, I was sent to inform you that Aria is in the midst of her reading. She hopes to have it complete by midday,” a woman in silken robes spoke to Sion.

  He nodded in understanding and the aid returned to the Priestess’s tent. Waiting until midday wasn’t something he wanted to do, but he figured that was better that waiting for several days. Which was something that olden readings had apparently taken. He approached the canyon edge he saw vaguely into the night before and looked down. He was drawn to the chasm for some reason. And, it seemed to him like a shadow was moving deep below the thick fog-line clouding the chasm bottom. Miles of the ravine stretched out below and outward from him. The mountain range across from him took on a menacing appearance. The features remained the same but its aura was different than it had been.

  Sion backed around from the edge and started back towards camp. The procession was slowly making its way out of camp. Then the air went still and silence prevailed in the woodlands. He stopped and hesitated, listening for any disturbance. What was it? His answer came as a massive figure sprung from the chasm and lurched over Sion. He instinctively ducked and rolled into the snow. Coming to his knees he saw a beast striking at the now fleeing procession. His warriors were quickly wiped out along with the injured.

  The camp came alive in terror and determination. Spears and arrows were lodged at the massive beast. Sion was trying to see the shape through the thick accumulation kicked up by the thing attacking. Then he saw what it was. It had eight legs. Those appendages were affixed to a torso very similar to a scorpion, with twin claws clamping down on warriors. Only, the creature was completely metallic. Instead of normal arachnid eyes, the thing had three stalks jetting from its head. An opening for a mouth issued forth streams of green flame that burned the perimeter of the massive camp. The tail struck forth with violent abandon. However, instead of a stinger, there were six living needles. Two of those needles held the bodies of several of his warriors.

  “Fall back!” Sion called out springing to his feet, swinging his arms in the air trying to get the creature’s attention.

It focused on him for but a second and sent forth a green flame that he evaded. None of their weapons were penetrating the thick hide of the metal scorpion. It let forth a soul shattering screech and the warriors fell back the best they could. Over three-quarters of his party were dead in the sudden attack. If they didn’t get out of there then, they probably never would.

He grabbed a sling from the armaments left from the wounded warriors from Middas and shot a heavy marble at the beast. This seemed to have grabbed its attention and it veered for him, following him to the edge of the chasm. Several warriors tried to stop the rampaging beast.

  Sion continued slinging marbles at the thing and it struck forth a massive claw near his position and lodged deep into the frozen ground. It pulled its claw free and struck at him again. He evaded, but the attack upon the frozen ground loosened the soil. He found himself falling within an avalanche with the beast in tow. He was thankful that the beast would fall with him, but he couldn’t help but wonder how much time this would buy the rest of the survivors in the camp. They continued through the avalanche of snow and rock deep into the chasm as several warriors dared near the edge and yelled out his name.

* * * * *

Cierra woke with a start. Her infant son was crying in his crib near her bed. She gathered him in her arms and soothed him. She was about to feed him when something tore into her awareness. Sion!?

  She stood for moments looking out the window, her eyes wide with fear. There was something else there as well. She’d never felt a presence like that before. Its lifeforce was immense and full of rage. Yet, it was a malevolent rage. It was retaliatory. She wondered for what and looked at her son. He must have felt it too. She rocked him in her arms and a short time later was dressed.

  Having taken care of the baby’s needs and her own, she readied some things for him. She was going to her mother’s. Something needed to be done. The Cetra could no longer afford to stand idly by while chaos reigned across the lands.

  But, what do I do? she considered and sat down with a helpless feeling. She absently smoothed the wrinkles on her mahogany pants. She had dressed in materials made for the demands of nature. She wouldn’t be needing a dress for what she was planning. First, though, she felt the need to take the issue up with the Council. That was the wisest thing to do. She gathered up what she had packed and picked up her son. Together, they left the home for an uncertain destiny.

* * * * *

Panic gripped Enson as he charged towards the open window of the wooden Council House. He viewed the cloudy horizon in fearful trepidation. A small breeze blew back his platinum hair and his silver robes exposing his flesh to the chill in the air.

  Impossible… the Cetra don’t harbor power such as this! Could it be…? I cannot afford to wait. I have to lay siege to Collust soon. Whatever it is, the power it contains is beyond what is mine already. Only the Council can help me rival this. And then ‘ITS’ power will be mine! he thought and smiled knowingly.

  He still couldn’t still the beating of his heart. The flesh he inhabited was too weak. He would need another, more powerful being. Something that could contain his chaos. He looked below at the many gold blazoned streets and saw the corpses of hundreds of those he had infected. Pity. I will have to pick up some more soldiers along the way.

  Enson turned from the window and dressed himself in more regal attire. He then turned his attention to bringing to full bear those that were left against the Cetra Council. He headed towards the city square and mounted the risen podium. He called out with his mind and thousands of those that remained gathered within the square.

  “The time has come. We can ill afford to wait for those cowards. We ride today. Go,” he spoke and with those words, the thousands gathered uneasy Choboa and attached war wagons to as many as the people could.

* * * * *

Shifting snow fell around Sion as he dug his way from beneath the avalanche. Several rocks had sliced the side of his leg causing a shooting pain in his flesh. He breathed in heavily and looked up the sheer side of the cliff rising above the fog shrouding his location. He started to stand and slipped on a slick stone. This almost sent him over the edge of the ledge he had landed upon.

  Looking down into the chasm, Sion saw that he was roughly half way down the side of the cliff wall. The fog was thick, yet transparent enough to give a view of the river slicing through the bottom a mile and a half below.

  “Wonderful,” Sion spoke to himself.

  He didn’t see the beast and assumed it had fallen into the deep chasm. Though he couldn’t ascertain an impact basin. Putting the thing out of mind, he struggled to the edge of the wall and searched for hand and foot holds to begin his ascent to the top. Hold by hold he climbed, daring not to look down. He proceeded slowly making sure he had adequate footing. Roughly an hour and a half later, he was nearly to the top.

  With only meters left to the edge, he could hear the shouts of his soldiers as they issued commands. Good, they haven’t left camp yet. And they’re still alive… he thought and pressed onward. Then, a fierce wind ripped by him and he saw the scorpion beast flying straight up from the gully below. The creature had unfolded wings it had harbored within its body, something he hadn’t noticed before. However, this time the creature didn’t stop at the top of the chasm. It ignored the people and headed towards the west. Tohen…

* * * * *

“We’re going to have to pack up soon, sir. I don’t know when that thing will be returning,” a foot soldier spoke to Nilo, hoping his commander would issue the command.

  “We’re not going anywhere just yet, soldier. See to what wounded you can,” Nilo huffed in agitation at the soldier.

Sion pulled himself up over the edge of the chasm and saw the confrontation. The foot soldier was turning to attend to the duties assigned him when he saw Sion crawling unto the ledge.

  “Sir! It’s Captain Sion!” the foot soldier shouted and charged towards him to help him up.

  Nilo and several others darted after him and were ecstatic to see Sion alive and well. They assisted him to his feet and brushed off his damaged armor. One person brought a cover for Sion to stave off the cold. He waved it away, hoping to maintain a confident demeanor, though in all actuality he was freezing.

  “Sion, I’m so glad to see you survived! That thing flew away earlier…” Nilo started, prompting hand motions from Sion.

  “I know. It nearly knocked me off the cliff. It headed west, didn’t it?” he inquired of Nilo.

  Nilo nodded somberly. Sion stood on his own and headed back towards his tent with Nilo at his side. Before he could get there, an assistant to Aria arrived.

  “Priestess Aria has finished her reading, Sir,” she spoke and politely bowed her head.

  “Excellent. Nilo, ready the soldiers to depart,” he commanded and headed towards Aria’s tent instead.

  “We’re leaving?” Nilo asked.

  “Sooner than later I hope,” Sion responded cryptically.

  A few moments passed as Sion entered Aria’s tent. She sat there somewhat dazed. Aria motioned for Sion to take a seat on the cushion beside her reading couch. He did as requested and waited for Aria’s results.

  “I wasn’t able to determine much, I’m afraid,” she began.

  “Anything you can tell me,” Sion responded, catching his breath from the cold and wrapping a cover around himself that lay upon the cushion.

  “It was very difficult to hear the Mother Tiamus through her screams of protest. What I gathered was that something came from the heavens above,” Aria spoke.

  “The Meteor,” he nodded.

  “No, not Meteor. There was something in the meteor. The language the planet speaks is so ancient as to be almost indecipherable. Only the emotions I could read. And of those emotions I determined that this thing from the heavens, she considers a ‘calamity from the skies.’ And she seems to be intent on wiping it out,” she related between exasperated breathes.

  “Good. Then that thing she’ll destroy,” he said in weary happiness.

  “Not quite. Don’t let your eyes deceive you,” she spoke to his curious eyes, “What you faced out there was delivered by our Mother,” she said.

  “What? That’s not possible! It tried to kill us!” he pled.

  “Only because the survivors had been exposed to the calamity,” she input sagely.

  “Then, the virus,” he spoke looking to the center cushion that was solid and held a cup of tea upon it.

  “The virus is delivered from the calamity. The calamity is a shadowy force from beyond the skies. From whence it hailed, who can say, but to us, it has been delivered. And, now the Mother seeks its extermination… and,” she hesitated, “she will eliminate any who have been near the calamity. I… get the sense that she may even wipe us out to ensure to its total destruction.”

  “No,” he softly said, feeling an uneasy feeling coming across his soul, “how would she do this?”

  “The creature you fought was a predecessor to a greater instrument of destruction. I cannot tell you what she considers it, but the only thing I can call it, the closest word I can use, would be Weapon,” she finished.

  Sion sat in stunned silence as he went over what she said in his head. He couldn’t believe that Tiamus would willingly sacrifice her children to prevent the scourge, this calamity, from spreading. However, he felt that she would probably be justified in the endeavor.

  “What if we stop it?” Sion finally spoke.

  “If it is possible. I do know that she is still building the Weapons to strike at the calamity. This predecessor is just to determine its total strength and the damage it has inflicted. The predecessor will cleanse any area infected,” Aria looked pale in the barely lit room and stared off into the nothingness.

  “Tohen… I will stop it. I must,” Sion resolved and stood up.

  Aria watched him depart her tent and she was impressed by his desire. Although, she knew the chances of defeating the shadowy calamity were slim at best. She prayed to Tiamus for final resolution and for the continued existence of the Cetra clans.

* * * * *

“Nilo, we leave by dusk. We must make our way back to Collust,” Sion commanded heading back towards his tent to prepare for departure.

  “What of…” Nilo began only to be cut off mid-sentence.

  “Now!” Sion shouted leaving no further room for debate.

  “Make ready for departure double-time!” Nilo turned with resolve.

  All the soldiers hurried to take down the tents and pack the supplies. Nilo looked at the piled corpses of his fallen comrades and felt sick to his stomach. He knew that they would not be returning with them for a proper burial.

  “Nia,” Nilo called to an assistant to the Priestess sect, “I would like to see a funeral pyre for our fallen warriors,”

She nodded in acquiescence and headed off to prepare the pyre. Nilo looked around the camp and wondered, not for the first time, what tomorrow would bring.

* * * * *

Cierra led the procession through the mountain pass. A group of fifty people, citizens and those warriors that remained behind, had joined her when she had made the case before the Council. She was one of the most perceptive of the Cetra and highly respected by her peers. It also helped that people adored her husband Sion as one of the greatest of the Cetra warriors. Atop her Choboa, she couldn’t help but reflect upon the meeting and the hesitation of the Council.

  “We understand your feelings on this matter,” the Supreme Chancellor had said. Cierra stood along the first-tier balcony pleading her case to the gathered Council. She had related the sensation she had that morning. She’d been so afraid, yet determined, she had taken her son to her parents before calling on the Council. They had reluctantly granted her the session.

  “My husband is out there. Our connection through Mother Tiamus is solid. I know he is in trouble. This isn’t just my personal feelings, though. There is a great danger to our people, our very way of life. Whatever it is, is coming here,” she had spoken.

  A murmur played through the gathered Council. Many felt the same thing. The Supreme Chancellor and his Viceroy spoke quietly with three of their closest advisors. They all were nodding in agreement to each other.

  “You’re asking us to send our remaining defenders to undertake an expedition based on a feeling,” the Supreme Chancellor began.

  “No, not all that remains. If we could gather fifty willing bodies, we could counter the threat before it reached Collust. Perhaps buy enough time for our warriors to return home,” she replied.

  “Of course. It just so happens, though, that several members of the High Council have also felt the cries of Tiamus. We grant you this request, but you will lead them. Your insight will be most needed,” the Supreme Chancellor concluded to Cierra’s surprise.

  That had been over a week ago. Soon, they would be entering the Colleia Basin, an extremely wide field separating the segments of mountain ranges in the Knowlespole. They could see the field expanding into the distance just beyond the forest edge mere kilometers away. A blizzard was blowing across that field as they traveled.

  Cierra drew her furred robed closer to her body. A brown shawl covered the bottom portion of her face. Only her eyes were exposed as she watched nature’s chaos unfold. It still astounded her how cold it was beyond the canyon of Collust. The group had made sure to be well prepared for it, but nothing really prepared a person for the sub-zero temperatures.

  “Cierra, I think we should make camp along the edge of the forest. We can remain just within the protection of the woods. I certainly don’t recommend going out into that blizzard,” a man by the name of Ezra said to Cierra.

  “That sounds like it would be a good idea. Let the others know,” Cierra replied as Ezra delivered the word.

  Cierra slowed her Choboa and looked into the darkening skies. A storm was on the horizon and an uncertainty was in the air. She removed the bottom of her shawl from her mouth and she exhaled a steamy breath. Up until three days ago, they were headed to the northwest towards Middas. Then a cry from the world sent a chill into her dreams. It was then she knew she should go west towards Tohen. Whatever was coming, would be coming from there. She only hoped they wouldn’t pass whatever it was.

Once more, we reach the end of our offering this week. I do hope you enjoyed reading and that you’ll be back next week for some more FFVII Crisis From The Sky. I know that I don’t have a lot to say about it, but, honestly, it’s a fan fiction and there really isn’t a whole lot to say. I wrote it because I was interested in the first contact with the alien entity from space and how the weapons were created and how the Cetra fell during that past some two millennia earlier. So, that’s what this is. A peek into an era of FFVII that has never been looked at before.

Anyhow, see you next week and thanks for reading once more! Read to you again soon!

~Timothy S Purvis

While you’re here, why not head on over to my author’s page and see what else I have to offer? I do have a variety of works available there for purchase that you might be interested in. Including short stories for 99 cents! Just click on my name and you’ll be whisked away immediately–> Timothy S Purvis

And feel free to check out the posting that has this novella within its pages. It has other stories as well that I think you might find compelling.