Final Fantasy;Synergy.Chapters 7,8 & 9. Written by Darren "The Edge" Shier. The Plot Thickens... Chapter Seven; "Voices" "They are all against you,Vega.They ALL must die" Vega awoke,sitting bolt upright,and snapped on the light switch. The last remenants of a dream? It would'nt have been the first of this type,the dreams where he heard the voices.Too many to single out. In the dreams he was someone else.The same Vega,but a completely different person. He'd heard that Squall and the others in his team had an experience once where they became other people in their dreams. But did they ever dream they were mass-murderers? Vega got out of bed and wandered over to the sink to wet his face. Constant dreams of genocide. Maybe he should see one of the Garden counselors? "None of those FOOLS could begin to comprehend what you are!" Vega froze.The voice was as clear as if someone was standing in the room with him.Great,he was about to start hearing voices again. He'd heard them ever since he was a child.They only came when he was all alone.They called themselves the voices of the Cetra. He could'nt be sure why,but he knew that for some reason he despised every single thing about them. He knew they were weak. He knew they all had to be annihilated. He just did'nt know why. It's almost like he was born knowing to hate them all. Because they were below him. Vega checked.He was definately awake now.It was friday night and all those weak sub-creatures were at their stupid nightclub. Sub-creatures? Why had he called them that? "Because thats what they all are.Anyone who does not exist to bow to the power of Jenova must die" The voice again! "Who are you?" Vega experimented. "I am Kane,your father." This stunned Vega."M-my parents died,in the Trabian civil war..." "A veil of lies,that the pathetic weaklings of this planet had you believe so you could pretend you were one of them." This was completely ridiculous.Why should he believe any of this crap?He was standing in his room,listening to voices in his head! But what this voice was saying was making sense.And so he listened for hours,about the vile Cetra,about Jenova,of Sephiroth.Of LifeStream. And as he listened,he found that the holes in his mind were filling with all the knowledge he was missing. Everything was becoming clear. Then Kane spoke of Cloud,and of the Synergy. "When he comes here,it will be with the intent of stopping you.Stopping us.I have already begun to collapse the universe,preparing for your arrival,when we will forge a NEW universe,one born of Jenova,not human or Cetra.Do not let Cloud get to you.He will not hesitate to kill you.If both of you die,there will be no more Jenova.You must see to it that he joins you here,at the Centre." I will do as you say,father,but first,unlock my Jenova powers so that i may better carry out your plans. The response was instantaeneous.Vega dropped to his knee's in agony as the recessive Jenova genes became dominant and began to alter his body.He screamed and screamed as he stopped being human and became a demon of human form.The visions began as his mind stopped working in a human way. He opened his eyes and looked ahead... Blood on the windows. A Garden of corpses. The sea red with their impure blood. The streets of the cities,lined with bodies. The mountains,dark and twisted. All the landscapes warped into evil. Not a single organism left alive. All his work. And he agreed with what his mind was showing him. This was right,this is what should be.This was the destiny of Jenova. YES!!! Chapter Eight; "The Discovery" It was two days later. Irvine sat on the bridge of the Ragnarok,blindfolded and shivering.Part of SeeD training my ass! he thought. It was part of standard SeeD training to be taken without warning and dropped of in the middle of nowhere so that the student could put his survival skills to the test in the best possible way. But Irvine was pretty sure this was simply how Quistis got her kicks,waiting for students to blub for mommy. Well he did'nt HAVE a mother,so HA! "No hints?"he ventured. "No hints."she confirmed."I'm not even to talk to you,so be quiet." He shut up and began to put his survival skills into test; We've been in the air for twenty minutes,so,whats Ragnaroks average air-speed? He began to calculate his best probable locations when he heard the computers in the cockpit begin to beep,followed by the sounds of Quistis seeming astonished.He heard her voice. "...my gods..." "What?What is it?What?" Quistis glanced at him and decided it was better to let him see. "You realise that by removing the blindfold i make this exam null and void?" "Yeah,yeah,remove the damn thing already!" She leaned over and pulled off the blindfold. Irvine did'nt know what to expect,and once he saw it,he did'nt know how to react. There was a clear streak that neatly cut the jungle below in half,like a giant had ran the ground with an ice-cream scoop. "A ship crash?" he suggested. "There's no mechanical debris,but i am picking up life- signs.There's someone down there,at the end of this gouge." Irvine stood and saluted. "Request permission to inspect,instructor" "Irvine,don't salute me,and we'll both go." Moments later,there was the roar of retro-rockets,as Ragnarok hovered over the trees,rather than landing. The boarding hatch opened,and a figure in a trench-coat and cowboy hat bounded out and landed on its feet like a cat. Irvine rolled and aimed his gun in all directions before ducking behind a boulder and made for the tree-line. He and Quistis had SeeD training,and knew better than to walk blindly into an unknown situation. He could'nt see her on the other side of the trees,but then she was a lot better than him. They each made a 180-degree sweep of the clearing, and emerged. "Clear.No hostiles" he reported. "Agreed" So they made their way over to what they believed was the crash-site. But there was no ship there. Instead,there was a man. An unconscious man,with spikey blond hair and an impossibly huge sword. He was also a good bit taller than either of them. "Whoa"stated Irvine."Where he comes from,they must grow `em big....What should we do?" "I dunno"shrugged Quistis."Is he dead?" Irvine did a quick check for a pulse. "No,but its very strange.He's breathing,has a pulse and seems fine.So why's he like this?If he was hurt there'd be a tell-tale sign,dont you think?" "This looks a lot like what happened to Rinoa." "..uh,you think he might be becoming a Sorceress?" The flat look on her face meant the joke was too cheap to be funny. "C'mere" she said,simply. She whipped off his hat,slapped him round the head with it and handed it back. "Now get his legs,we're taking him back to Garden." Irvine grumbled and did'nt bother to protest. He did'nt protest when she made him carry the heavy guy back to the ship. He did'nt protest when she made him pilot the ship all the way back to Garden. Due to his inexperience,he forgot to deactivate the pilot-interface,leaving the ship user-ready. It was a mistake that would ultimately save the universe. Chapter Nine; "New Eyes" Selphie ran through the corridors and halls of the Garden. Rumours were flying around that Quistis and Irvy had found an alien man.Only the senior faculty and Squalls party were authorised to view him.That meant her. As she waited on the lift,she noticed a boot sticking out from around the corner. She peered around... Vega saw Selphie out of the corner of his eye,and quickly replaced the plate and stood up. "...Palzar?Vega,SeeD student.What are you doing?" "Oh,Selphie.You surprised me.Cid had me on technical detail.I was fixing the lifts drivesystem." Selphie knew that the lift was working fine. Vega was up to something. "What are you doing Vega?"she demanded. He grinned wickedly."Planning Armaggeddon.I'm creating a whole new world.There's room for you if you wanna be my Eve." Selphie noticed her heart thumping.Her body was telling her to fear this guy,but why? He was advancing on her. Something in her was screaming at her to run.It was something buried deep in her genes that was telling her to fear what Vega was made of. Vega could tell she was afraid.This was wonderful! ALL lesser species feared the presence of Jenova on instinct. He burrowed into her eyes.She was'nt bad to look at. Attractive,for a creature that had de-volved from Cetra scum. Of course,he had no plans to make her part of his new universe.Maybe he'd just try her out,then kill her. Then he could continue his mission. He glanced at her body,taking in her curves. Tasty. Maybe he'd try her out right now- The lift door "bing"ed open,and Selphie instantly backed in and sealed them.As she was lowered,she looked up at Vega. There was definately something very wrong with that guy,she'd bring it to Squalls attention,right now... In the infirmary,the group gathered around as Doctor Kadowaki examined Cloud. There was all sorts of opinions and questions flying around; "How do you suppose he got here?" "I'm telling you,he left a scar in the jungle a mile long" "Is he really from another world?" "Are we in any danger?" "He could be an advance scout of an invading army" "Love the haircut" They hushed when it became clear that the doc had finished her exam. "Well,from what i can determine,he IS human,but..." "Yes?"prompted Quistis. "I'm not convinced he's from our world.He does'nt have a lot of the protein markers common to people everywhere from Centra to Shumi. The larger eyes are probably a result of environmental factors of evolution where he comes from. He has a slight radiation trace in his body but it's nothing to worry about.There IS something i am worried about though..." She lead them over to her analysis table and indicated the microscope. "I took a tissue sample from our new guy here. The scope on the right is a sample from one of the students. The one on the left is a sample from him. Watch what happens when i sterilise one." The whole group watched the results on the viewer; The sample on the left was sterilised,but the one on the right began to glow,and the left one was regenerated. They tried this vice-versa,same results. "It seems one sample cant be destroyed without the other"Quistis summarised. "Who does that second sample come from?"asked Squall. "All students are required to donate samples of hair, tissue,blood,D.N.A,etc."The Doc explained. "This was one of the more unusual samples i've ever seen. Until now. This sample came from student Vega Palzar. He has a genetic marker match with our alien friend." "Squall" Selphie interrupted "I dont know if you noticed but that Vega guy has been acting very strange." "I noticed" said Squall,remembering the wound on his chest. "If he is related to this alien,we could have a very big problem" stated the doctor."When i blended Vega's sample with another humans,the human sample was completely devoured..." The whole group went sullen. "What do you suggest,Doctor?" asked Quistis. "I suggest we neutralise Vega and our new guy and hold them for isolation and study,or we could be caught blind if their kind attack.For say,a few weeks?" "No..." came a voice from the other side of the room. The SeeDs and Sorceress spun around,drawing their weapons. "No" said Cloud."You have to kill Vega now,or you'll all die...."