Final Chance

Lies and Romance
By: Catriana and Sentora

"Ummm...Something wrong Nemo?"

He had the gall to look innocent...

"You tell me."

Deep down I knew I shouldn't be angry...all they'd done was talk...

"You are trying to do that thing called flirting. Nemo does not like it when you do that."

"Nemo doesn't like it because he thinks I can do better. That and he's jealous."

About him…

And he kissed her…

Sephiros leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, dropping the ‘who me?’ act.

“Eavesdropping is rude, little brother.”

“I learned from the best, Sephykins.”

The room temperature seemed to drop considerably after that.

Then he calmly stepped up and smirked in my face.

“Too bad you didn’t learn anything else from me…or you wouldn’t be standing there jealous.”

He was baiting me and I knew it.

“I just don’t want to see you treat Terri like your little groupies is all.”

“And why would that be?”

“Why don’t you tell me, since you know me so well big brother?”

“I already did.” The smirk widened. “Say I’m wrong.”

Was he wrong?

“Nemo's behaviors are more unpredictable because he does not yet understand what he feels.”

Talk about hitting the nail on the head…not that I’d admit it.

“I don’t have to say anything to you but this.” My eyes bored into his. “Good night.”

I turned my back on him to leave…when he softly laughed.

“That says more than enough, Neron.”

I paused…then smirked back.

“Except why you resent me, Sephykins…”

And with that parting shot I left…only then aware of Terri’s door slowly closing.

Damn.

***

Grief was not something that Terri felt. Resentment, anger, jealously, and envy she could not understand. She did understand, however, that when she acquired her emotions she wanted to feel none of it. How could something as simple as jealously make two brothers very angry with each other? Could it be because of her? Where they fighting because she had done something wrong? They had seemed to be arguing over her, but why she could not understand. What was so wrong with flirting? Why did it matter if Sephiros treated her like any other female? She would ask but she was sure she would get the answers from the two boys. Each had different views on how things were supposed to be and how people should be treated. If they grew up in the same environment, why are they so different?

Her head was swimming through questions that she had no answers for, so much that she could not sleep. So when she was sure that the boys were in their rooms she got up and slowly opened the door, looking to see if anyone was out. When she saw no one, she walked out into the hallway and headed towards the back yard.

No backyard is a normal backyard in Cosmo Canyon. If anything, one's house settled on a cliff so they could see the full moon when it shone and the sun when it was at its best. There was no grass, sometimes one had a little dog on a leash, but that was it. Terri walked towards the edge of the cliff, avoiding the hanging clothes that Diana had set out that afternoon. When she reached the cliff she sat down, looking out into the night and letting her thoughts gather up and form some sort of hypothesis.
In the end, both brother resented each other. Nemo hated the fact that Sephiros got more attention from girls and Sephiros hated the fact that Nemo was closer to her than he was. In the end, Sephiros tries to get more attention but only wants Terri's and Nemo has Terri's attention and yet wants more. But yet they don't want that either.
Terri became so confused that her eyes actually turned into swirlies and she began to get a headache from thinking too much about it. Before her head could fall back she felt a strong hand hold her up. She looked behind her and saw a strange man. For some reason he looked familiar.
The white haired man smiled at Terri "Hello. You seem out if it tonight."
Late twenties. That was the age Terri estimated the man was. He was tall but not very built although his entire posture and presence seemed to reek of power. He sat down beside her, the smile never leaving his face. Confused, Terri looked at this strange man.
"You are very good at sneaking up on people." Terri admitted "I did not realize you were approaching. You are, however, trespassing on private property. I do not think the owner would like a stranger on her grounds."
He winked at her, showing off impressive silver eyes "Then she won't have to know now will she? You seem confused about something my dear, care to share? I've been told that I'm a really good listener."
"What is your purpose here?"
"Just wanted to talk."
"In the middle of the night?"

"Well...why not?"

There was silence for a moment before Terri spoke again "You are a horrible liar."
"Yeah, I know."
Silence.
"I am confused about the family that I am living with." Terri offered
"Why?" he asked, a small smirk crossing his features.

"My two adopted brothers, Nemo and Sephiros, are quite angry with each other because they have different views on life."
"Brothers tend to do that. It's what makes them different, and yet the same. I think maybe one day you'll understand. Or maybe not. Sometimes you have to have siblings to relate to in order to understand certain things."
"Their arguing will lead to their downfall when the Trials begin." Terri admitted
"Maybe their arguing will be the reason they win." the man said and smiled "Or maybe, it will be the key to finding your emotions."
Terri blinked "How did you...?" she began and then realized that she had been talking to the shadows. She looked around a bit, wondering where the man went but found no trace of him. She turned back to the stars and forgot all about him.

***

“AARRRGGGHHHH!”
ask anyone who knew or had met Reno Hazumi for a list of his talents, and ‘Best-selling novelist’ would have been nowhere on the list. Which amused Reno to no end that under the penname of Taisha Tseng, his semi-autobiography-turned-dramatic-series titled Paint it Black was practically flying off the shelves. If people knew the series was adapted from classified Turk case files…
That bit of irony wasn’t funny at the moment though, as he was suffering the most dreaded of illnesses to a professional writer: Writer’s Block.
His fingers twitched homicidally toward the laptop…
“Don’t you dare! I’m not fixing it again!”
Caught, Reno turned and smiled sheepishly at his wife. Elena scowled back playfully as she tightened her robe.
“Late night inspiration?”
“I wish. Lena’s being as difficult as her model.”
“Hey!”
Perhaps the greatest irony of his life was that he’d actually ’strapped on ‘the ball ‘n chain’ and loved it.
He hadn’t intended to at first honestly: In the beginning it was just a way for her to forget Tseng and ease his pain for a little while, neither of them expecting it to go further than just physical need. Then she’d gotten pregnant, which made things even more strained since neither of them felt ready for it…
Then IT happened…changed everything…
It still scared him how close he’d come to losing them both that night, burned into his mind like a scar: A pit stop at New Mideel. A silly argument that had Elena leave in tears. Catching up with her at the huge Mako pit. A weak ledge crumbling underneath her…In that instant…diving into the Mako without a thought to himself and pulling her out…he knew Elena was everything he hadn’t known he was looking for. That he’d actually loved her and the baby. He wouldn’t have traded the last seventeen years for anything.
But they’d paid a heavy price that night. Elena’s immune system never fully recovered, almost thirty percent of her lungs scarred and dead from Blood clots. Constant fatigue plagued her, often leaving her gasping for air or unable to walk. And their Daughter Djinn…
Her arms pulled him from those dark thoughts as she hugged him.
“You’re worried about Di, aren’t you? That’s why you can’t sleep or write.”
“Stay out of my head, woman.” He barked playfully, leaning into her embrace.
His sister had been in the back of mind, or rather, what he had ‘accidentally’ left out about the trip. Sis would be pissed when she found out, but there was no way she’d let the kids join him if she knew the truth…
“Then come back to bed…Lewd, Leno and Lena can wait their turn.”
“Can’t keep your hands off me, eh? Told you I still have it.”
“Actually, you’re cheaper than buying a new blanket.”
“Hey now…”
He carried her giggling into the bedroom, letting all thoughts of a certain silver eyed old goat and mad scientists fade as he kissed her…
***
Midday was the time the Trials were supposed to start. The middle of the somewhat ancient city was covered with loved ones, fans (in Sephiros case), and friends. In the middle was Diana, the elders, and Nemo, Sephiros and Terri. The three teens were standing in front of the booth which held the three elders who would judge them. Diana was standing by the judge's booth where three elderly gentlemen were sitting, looking at the young teenagers with contempt. Emotions are not a factor in judging, and it showed in their eyes. Sephiros looked at the 'old geezers' and gulped, as well as Nemo. Terri seemed to be indifferent to the entire situation.
"Come," said one of the judges "Come forward and speak. Let us hear the names of those who wish to leave their land on their own journey."
Sephiros was the first to step up towards the booth "I am Sephiros, Diana's first son. As eldest I wish to..."
"That will be enough." the elder interjected "I asked of only your name." as Sephiros flushed the elder turned to Nemo "And you?"
"I am Nemo, second son of Diana." Nemo stated and bowed, remembering his mother's training in addressing the elders of the Canyon.
"I am interested in the little one, the girl." Another elder spoke up and the three turned to Terri, awaiting her introduction.
Terri, realizing that she was being addressed, stepped forward, ignoring the large circle of people around her, bowed and looked at the elders "I am Terriana Lapis Heiger, daughter of Dr. Heiger."
"A flower. And quite the lovely one."
Blinking, Terri looked at the elder in the middle, the one who had spoken the most "Not many have spoken of my middle name..." Terri began
"Of course not. You probably never told anyone your full name." the elder said and smiled "You three will be perfect. Come forth brave ones, and know of how the trials will begin." as the three reached the booth, three sets of armor, weapons and backpacks were presented to them. As they looked at their choices, the elder from the left began the conditions.
"As you well know, the caves in the underground mines have been used for generations as the test for those who seek to journey outside the Canyon. You may choose any type of armor you like, it will be equipped with the temporary Materia.
"Temperorary?" Terri asked
"Yes." the elder stated "You will each get two slots for each element, Ice, Fire, Lighting and Earth. You will only have one summon for the caves. In other words, with your armor and weapons, you will each have 16 times to use all of your Materia. After that you will no longer be able to use the Materia. So if you're fighting a fire beast and you've used four of your ice Materia already, find a way to beat them without using Materia.
In your packs there are tools in which you will be able to survive three days on. You will have three days worth of food, tools to start fires for your camp and items in which you will be able to set camp in. There will only be two tents, so you will have to share with someone."
There was silence for a moment, as if the elders were waiting for something. When the teenagers did not reply, the elder on the left continued "Please understand that you only have three days to complete the Trials. Remember that during the night, if you do not have a fire, you will be attacked by monsters. If there are any questions, please inform us and we will answer them to the best of our ability."
Terri looked up "How will we know when our three days are up?" she asked "And will we have something that will guide us through the caves?"
The elder on the right smiled "Actually, yes you will have a map that you three will have to follow. It is in your pack Terriana. One of you will have to lead the other three, or you could simply take turns, decide on whatever you would like to do. As for your first question, you will know. Are those all of the questions?" when no one spoke up the elder nodded "Very well. You will travel one mile past this village, turn to the right and the caves will be there. Once you enter the Trials will begin. We will know when you have entered. Equip yourselves and go, we will all be waiting for you at the end of the caves on the third day."
Diana watched as the three chose their weapons. Terri, as usual, chose to use gloves while both Nemo and Sephiros decided to go with swords. Since Nemo already had a sword, he didn't have to chose one given to him, however, he had to get rid of his special Materia that his mother had given him. He had been reluctant to do so, but eventually gave in. The three both donned the armor given them, which was quite light and did not make them look like overly dressed knights in metal. They grabbed their packs that were given to them and while the others cheered, wished them good luck, and cried, Diana simply smiled, knowing that this was something that they would have to do, and she would be proud of them regardless of what happened.
"Please be careful." was the only thing Diana said as the boys and Terri waved and turned to leave Cosmo Canyon and towards the caves. To his credit, Sephiros managed to keep quiet until they reached the cave. Nemo had to admit he was a bit disappointed at it’s plain looking appearance, nothing as cool as the Gi’s cave…
“First order of business I think, is to choose a leader. Of course, the obvious choice would be…” He deliberately paused, enjoying Nemo’s irritated look. “…Terri.”
Terri blinked owlishly. “Because…?”
Right on cue, Nemo thought, Sephiros flashed ‘lady-killer smile 109’. “Good leaders are able to make decisions unclouded by emotion.” He’d remembered that from a comic book, but it sounded good. “You also think on your feet better than us, right Nemo?”
“Right…” he faked a grin, seething inside. Sephiros was right of course, just wish he‘d thought of it first. “You know how we argue…”
Terri looked warily at the both of them. Sighed. “Alright then…”
The moment her back was turned, Sephiros licked a finger and carved an invisible one in the air, smirking.
*Smug bastard.*
“So…your orders?” he asked playfully, ignoring him.
They took a few minutes to look over the map, make final preparations like double checking equipment, what formation to take…
…sleeping arrangements.
Had this been an anime, you could’ve seen the little thought balloon over Terri’s head right about now, completely with little chibi versions of themselves.
*Two have to share a tent. Logically, it should be Nemo and Sephiros…*
The balloon showed Nemo + Sephiros. Then a dust cloud of limbs and stars. *…but they will fight all night long…Sephiros and myself?*
Switched to Sephiros + Terri. Sephiros had a heart above his head while Nemo grew horns and fangs and growled, flames rising in the background.
*…That would make Nemo angry like last night, and since he’s better than Sephiros with materia he needs to be able to concentrate. Nemo and myself?*
Nemo + Terri. This time Nemo had a heart and Sephiros had a cute scowl complete with a thundercloud.
*…Nemo would be happy and rest. Sephiros may be angry but will get over it. I will be able to sleep.*"
Terri’s image smiled hugely and raised a thumbs up as she mentally circled it.
*I believe the word for the situation is ‘Bingo’.*
She guessed accurately. Nemo seemed to cheer up immensely and Sephiros simply scowled and snorted “Whatever, let just get going already.”
*…At this rate, I calculate that it may take a hundred years to fully understand boys.*
“Hope you can sleep with Nemo’s snoring, Terri.”
“I DON’T SNORE!”
*Maybe two hundred…*
***

So what if she was thirteen years old?
"What the hell did you think you were doing?!"
So what if she wasn't as good of a fighter as her father?
"Can't you do anything right?!"
So what if she didn't look as pretty as her mother?
"Sometimes, I just can't stand you!"
She didn't need this shit.
'So WHAT if I went into Sector 2 without permission!?" Storm screamed out at her mother "It's not like I can't take care of myself! I got dad's Buster Sword..."
"Which isn't worth crap if you don't even know how to use it!" Tifa shouted back at her daughter "It's dangerous! I don't care what you know, you don't need to be out there."
In the Strife family household, the living room was occupied by the two screaming females. Storm wasn't upset about the fact that she was being yelled at for going into Sector 2. What she cared about was the fact that it was her mother doing it.
She hated it when her mother screamed at her. She always said horrible things that really made Storm just want to cry.
Meanwhile in Midgar News, the television began The mysterious giant snail-like creatures have been roaming around in the area of Sector 2, making it clearly uninhabitable at the moment. When the President of Neo Shinra was asked about what she was going to do about the situation she replied that she would have her special forces, The Turks, out and investigating it as soon as possible. With the current happenings going on in Nibelhiem...
"Mom, I'm perfectly safe out there." Storm said more calmly, trying not to blow up once again "I wanted to get some training in, that's all. I don't see why this is such a big deal, Dad said that as long as I..."
"I really don't give a damn as to what you father told you what you could and could not do." Tifa snapped, causing Storm to glare at her "I told you not to go in there at all, how would you think your dear ol' daddy would feel if something ever happened to you? Not like I would care, but I have to live with him."
She wasn't always like this. Her mother hadn't always been this cruel. When Storm was little she remembered her mother being loving and caring, not mean and heartless. When her brother was born Tifa had completely ignored her unless it had something to do with something bad. Everything Rayne did was her fault. If Rayne got hurt, it was Storm's fault. If Rayne got in trouble, she got in trouble. If anything bad happened in the house, it was Storm's fault. But she hadn't always been that way...what had changed her so?
"You shouldn't say things like that." Storm said "You can say anything you want about me, but don't talk about Dad like that."
Tifa snorted, putting a hand through her hair and tossing it "Oh yeah that's right, you're Daddy's little girl. I almost forgot."
"At least I'm not a bitch." Storm snapped heatedly
Okay. Storm knew that was the wrong thing to say. But she was mad and she didn't care. Everyday it was the same way. She'd get home from school and get harassed by her mother about something new. Her grades or the fact that the teachers would call, regardless of whether or not it was good or bad she got yelled at. Everyday the same thing. She was tired of it. She didn't care anymore.
So when Tifa slapped her, Storm slapped her back. It had been a reflex, something she hadn't even thought of doing. She had treated her mother as she would a stranger on the street. She had been so shocked by her behavior that she took off and ran, grabbing her father's sword and not looking back.
As Tifa regarded her cheek in shock, a tall figure sighed inwardly and left the house, unseen.
Cloud needed help, and he had no idea who to turn to.

Storm ran as fast as she could towards the unknown. She was afraid of everything. Her father would be upset, her mother would be almost murderous and she was to blame. She wasn't a bad person, she knew that, but why did her mother have to be so mean? Why did she have to say such hurtful things? Didn't she love her father?
The heavy sword that she had grabbed out of habit was slung effortlessly over her shoulder as she ran out into Midgar, ignoring the fact that it was just starting to rain and thunderstorms had been predicted for today on the news. Speaking of news...
She was in Sector 2 once again. She hadn't planned on arriving here, it just happened. The Sector was pretty much in ruins, not too many people lived in this area, if at all, and there were monsters of all kinds running about. Storm wasn't scared of monsters, although she knew her limits and she knew that she'd have no chance if a higher level monster came after her. As the rain began to pour down Storm began to become a bit scared and grabbed the heavy sword as her bit of protection. Something was watching her in this ghost Sector, and it wasn't something she knew she would like. She tried to remember what the news was talking about as she had been yelling at her mother...it had said something about giant...
Snails.
It happened so fast she didn't know what had hit her. One moment she was standing, the next she was falling and a giant slug, not snail, was trying its best to climb on top of her and devour her. Storm wasn't afraid of anything. Except creepy crawly slimly things. So when she took a good look at it. She decided the best thing to do would be to scream at the top of her lungs and start slashing things up.
"Pathetic."
Storm managed to get herself up and away from the slugs, which were starting to grow in large groups much to her chagrin, and held up her Buster Sword in a defensive position, gasping for air as she tried to get away from the giant slugs.
She really hated slimy things.
"And just what do you think you're doing, Human?" a voice asked
Storm would have looked around, but if she did then she would have to take her eyes off of the creatures. That was a no-no. So she continued to look around as the slugs began to form a circle around her and she began to swing violently and screaming in protest.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" she screamed, shaking, shivering from fear as the large slugs came ever closer. All she had wanted to do was get away from her mother; she didn't need giant things after her. "Leave me alone." she said with a little less energy as she began to become exhausted from swinging the large weapon around. She let the point drop to the ground as she leaned on it, sighing. She was so tired.
"Human?" the voice asked, a bit concerned, "Human?" it asked again and then cursed.
There was a movement to her right and as tired as she was, she moved to see what was going on and saw a grey blur move past her, slashing through all of the slugs behind her and going around in a circle. Storm was a bit surprised and for some reason, she began to feel annoyance growing in her, and she couldn't explain why.
Then, to her surprise, the rather large blur grabbed her and Storm got her first glimpse of the creature. She blinked.
"You have wolfy ears." Storm pointed out.
Gimotachi growled at Storm and sat her down on the other side of the road, away from the slugs. There were more coming and he couldn't afford for the kid to get in the way of dinner.
"Just stay here like a good little girl okay?" he asked "I'm trying to hunt. You're in the way."
The annoying feeling grew and grew until Storm actually frowned and grabbed his...fur? "Hey, that's not real nice." she snapped "I'm not a little girl. And who are you to tell me what to do anyway?" she demanded, the tomboy/bully in her showing for the first time.
He didn't need this. At this rate there wouldn't be enough to take back to his Clan and these slugs were the elite kind. If he didn't kill them and take them home, they'd spoil and then they wouldn't be as good. Gimo liked quality food. Sometimes raw.
"I'm the Grim Reaper." he snapped "And I like to eat little, annoying girls. And yes, you're little, in more ways than one." he snapped back, slightly annoyed as he got up and went to get dinner.
The annoying feeling went to full grown anger as she got the implied message the wolf man was giving her. She wasn't sensitive with many things, but her Dad and her figure was one of them. Furious and full of energy she didn't previously have, she grabbed her weapon, lifted it up, and hurled it at Gimo with the force to destroy.
"What the hell?!" Gimo ground out as he heard the whistling of metal rushing through air. He turned and barely moved out of the way before the Buster Sword came full force into the spot he had been currently standing in. Even the slugs looked surprised and backed away from Gimo as he looked at the sword, looked at Storm, looked at the sword and back at Storm again. "And just what in hell do you think you're doing?!" he demanded, starting to walk towards her.
And then he began to panic.
Storm, who had somehow remembered that she had Lighting Materia in her wrist guards, decided it was time to use her mastered Materia for what she believed to be a good cause, frying the jerk who called her underdeveloped. She decided that she felt like using Bolt 3 today. With her hands lifting in the air, she called upon the force that was her namesake, asking it for guidance and support as she defeated her enemies and meanies like the Wolf Man. She called upon the Planet for success in hitting her target and while accessing her All Materia she focused her magic on everything that was living around her.
Backing up and putting his hands up in the air, Gimo began to shake his head "Hey...look now I was just kidding. You can turn the fireworks off okay kid?" he asked "Hey, do you even know what you're doing?" he demanded.
"Mr. Wolf Man..." Storm began "You picked a helluva day to pick on my figure." she said and at that, let the gathering energy release into the physical plane, using her body and the materia as a conduit she called forth the most powerful lightening spell on the face of the Planet known to man, namely Bolt 3. From a distance, one could see only lighting striking in a large area, explode in an unnatural manner and then everything went quiet, as if Storm had never released the deadly force to begin with.
"Goddam it! You completely fried my dinner!" was the shout after Storm collapsed to her knees from the energy she didn't really have to spend. She looked up to see a very irritated wolf-ish man glaring down at her with accusing eyes and for a moment, something else. "You owe me Human." he snapped "Now where the hell am I supposed to get dinner from now, look what you did!" he said and turned to point a finger towards the large mass of roasted slugs which could barely be identified as anything living anymore. "Now how are you going to pay me back for this? And then you tried to kill me!" at this, he pulls the Buster Sword out from where he had grabbed it and slammed it, point down into the ground, in front of Storm's face. She could clearly see the engravings on the sword that Cloud had when he acquired the sword. She looked at Gimo hazily and shrugged.
"You said I had no figure." was her reply "And my name is Storm...not Human." she said and collapsed to the ground, out for the count.
Cursing in two different languages, Gimo sighed and lifted the girl up into his arms and brought the Buster Sword to his back where there was a holding place for it. He frowned as he lifted the weapon with a bit of a problem. The sword was heavy as hell, how as the girl able to hoist it around like it was a practice sword?
"You're not normal are you?" he asked to her, not expecting an answer since she was unconscious and began to walk towards the deepest parts of Sector 2, the underground caverns. Then again... he thought ...why would I expect my Lifemate to be anything less? Damn. I need therapy. I need it real bad. Maybe I should go and talk to Ronwe, see if what this is I just felt is real. If it is, I got some problems on my hands.
He could hear it now. The voices. All the other guys teasing him. Cradle robber.
This was just not his day.