Chapter 1 - Awakening
Two months after Midgar was almost destroyed by Meteor, Reeve sat at his desk, in the sector 5 slums, reading files and research notes salvaged from the wreckage of the Shin-ra headquarters. The task of rebuilding Midgar was still ahead but he had succeeded in dismantling the mako reactors.
"This is so boring, why do those idiots always bring the documents to me?" Reeve muttered under his breath, he knew that as the new mayor of the city it was his job, but it did not make the task any less boring. Reading the next document on the effect of mako on humans made him feel annoyed, reaching over to the intercom he pressed the transmit key "Cancel all messages and documents for today, Pauline. I am taking a rest." he told his secretary. Leaning back in his chair he looked out of his window, the dismantling of the plate above was taking its time, but out of the gaps visible he could see blue sky and a few white clouds. Suddenly the door behind him swung open and a young man holding a personnel folder ran in. "Can’t this wait?" Reeve looked at the man. "I am having a well deserved break" The young man shook his head and held out the folder for him to take. Reeve looked at the title on the folder and turned pale "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, you had better take a break and there will be a small bonus in this week’s pay for you." he said in a shaky voice. Once the worker had left he sat down and started to read the file.
Angel: Twin sister to Sephiroth, reached first rank in SOLDER at the age of seventeen along with her brother. Considered equal in skill and ability to Sephiroth. Disappeared at the age of eighteen after attempting to kill top scientist Hojo. Presumed deceased.
Reeve looked at the photograph of Angel and whistled, the photograph showed her with her brother, swords at their sides and almost identical. "Not bad looking, wonder why she tried to kill that b*****d. Shame she didn't succeed." He mused to himself. Replacing the file on his desk he noticed that a small piece of paper had fallen on the floor " What’s this?" he exclaimed picking up the scrap of paper and reading the writing on it.
I have cryogenically suspended Sephiroth’s sister after she tried to kill me. There should be no possibility of anyone finding where she rests in the basement of Shin-ra HQ.
" Holy shit!! I have gotta tell Avalanche this" Reeve exclaimed turning pale punching the code on his PHS that would link him directly to Cloud.
Cloud was talking to Red and Tifa around the fire at Cosmo Canyon about a disturbance that had been detected in the Lifestream.
"I dunno the Lifestream may not have settled yet, Red." Cloud commented " Sephiroth and Meteor have been destroyed but the effect of the Lifestream aiding Holy may not have settled."
" That is probably the reason for it" Red, also known as Nanaki conceded. "So how are you two making it out?" he suddenly asked. It was no secret that Cloud and Tifa were hoping to get married sometime, preferably to each other. Tifa blushed " We have been talking about holding the ceremony in about two weeks, we were going to surprise you all but ..." She was interrupted by the sound of Cloud’s PHS ringing
"I think you better answer it Cloud, It could be important." Red said, becoming alert. Cloud picked up the PHS and accepted the call.
"Cloud, its Reeve. I need you to assemble Avalanche, we may have a small problem" Reeve’s voice said.
"What sort of a problem?" Tifa asked curiously
"Cloud, did Sephiroth ever mention a sister to you?" Came Reeve’s reply
"Once, he was slightly ashamed at the fact he had a sister. It was rumoured that she was killed after she tried to kill Hojo, anyway what has this to do with assembling Avalanche?" Cloud said getting slightly annoyed with Reeve’s evasive answers.
" She may still be alive, Hojo cryogenically suspended her in the basement of Shin-ra HQ. If she is we have problems, she was considered equal to Sephiroth." Reeve answered.
Cloud and Tifa turned pale at the news and Red said to them " I think we have found the cause of the disturbance in the Lifestream. We had better call Cid and the others."
*******************
In the basement of Shin-ra headquarters, a small thread of green energy snaked around a small cylindrical chamber. There was a hiss of air escaping as the chamber suddenly opened and Angel, who had been placed there many years ago started to awaken from cryogenic suspension. Once she was fully awake she climbed out of the chamber and heard a voice telling her to go northwards towards the coldest area of the planet. Disregarding the voice and looking around she found, much to her relief, her sword with all her materia, a tranquilizer, a tent and 2000 gil. " What the hell happened, and why am I hearing voices telling me to go north" she wondered as she opened the door to the room. Seeing no one in the area she headed out of the building and turned north.
******************* Cid was wondering what all the fuss was about when Barret came onto the bridge of the Highwind with Marlene. "Damn it Cid, what’s takin’ so long!" he complained, refraining from swearing by the presence of his four year old daughter "Why does Spike want us in such a hurry?" Cid looked at him. "Damned if I know, but we’ll be at Cosmo Canyon in a coupla minutes so why dontcha sit down and shaddup complaining!" Cid said to him also moderating his normal language. Barret stamped down towards the cargo bay where he could find the irritating sneak thief, Yuffie. "Urp, urk… What’s up Barret, lose summat?" Yuffie asked him as she tried not to be ill. Barret glared at the friendly insult and walked towards her. "You got any idea what’s goin' on?" he asked. "Nope . .urk…" came the reply. Barret backed off in case Yuffie was sick. "I don’t know either, so I would not bother asking me. Cloud will tell us when we get to Cosmo Canyon." Vincent said, approaching from behind. "Daddy.. Daddy!" Marlene said running towards Barret, who picked her up and told her to be quiet. "Vincent stop creepin’ up on me like that." He said. Vincent shrugged. " Hey guys! Glad you could all make it" Cloud said from the steps leading up to the deck of the Highwind. Barret, Yuffie and even Vincent jumped. "I was trying to tell you daddy, We are at Red’s Home" Marlene told Barret in a slightly put out tone. "Barret why did you bring Marlene?" Tifa asked coming down the steps. "This is not going to be safe, I’ll look after her whilst Cloud fills you in on the problem and then we will have to leave her with Elmyra." "I thought you were just callin a reunion of Avalanche." Barret muttered as Tifa led Marlene to the Highwind’s deck. "Cid get your @$$ down here now!" He yelled towards the bridge as Cid came down towards them. "All right, you are probably wondering why I called you here . ." Cloud started. "You betcha!" interrupted Yuffie, who earned black looks off Barret and Cid. "Reeve called me with some information he had found concerning the fact that Sephiroth's sister may still be alive." he continued. "SEPHIROTH HAD A SISTER?!!" Vincent exclaimed in disbelief, looking at Cloud in shock "I did not know this, otherwise things may have happened differently." "^@$*!!#" Cid and Barret swore. "Oh Gawd, I Shoulda stayed in bed." Yuffie groaned. "Reeve can tell us more when we arrive at Midgar." explained Cloud as Cid ran towards the bridge to get the Highwind underway. ******************* Reeve hated the corridors of the Shin-ra headquarters, it reminded him of the time when the company was nothing more than a group of power hungry individuals, that used to run the planet. It also brought back memories of how they attempted to destroy the last chance the planet had. "Sir, we have arrived at the room you specified." A lieutenant told him, interrupting his thoughts "I have deployed men along the corridor to prevent escape" Reeve looked up. "Good thinking. Now let’s see what sort of person Angel is." he said opening the door and walking inside. He looked at the cryogenic chamber and saw that it was open. "Shit, there is no one here. Was this a hoax?" he asked one of the soldiers in the room. "It’s not a hoax sir!" the soldier said. "This was opened about an hour ago. She was here but now who knows where she is!" "Damn! It’s follow the crazed lunatic time and save the world from a maniac again. Avalanche ain’t gonna be pleased." Reeve sarcastically commented.
******************* "How much will you be willing to accept for that gold chocobo?" Angel asked a young man and his group of friends. "If you want to by him, it will cost you 240 000 gil." said Cloud who was waiting on the outskirts of Midgar for Reeve to meet them. They had dropped Marlene off at Corel under the protection of Aeris’s foster mother Elmyra. "I am afraid I do not have that amount of money on me." Angel ran her hand through her hair in frustration. "Could I loan it for two weeks, I need to get to the northern continent urgently. I can give you 2000 gil" "What do you guys think, should we accept?" Cloud turned and asked the rest of the group, a chorus of "Yes, sure, and why not?" were the responses. Angel handed over the money and climbed onto the chocobo. "Don’t worry, I will take good care of it and will return it to the chocobo farm in two weeks . . . Thanks!!" she said as she started on her journey north. "That’s a nice woman, not many like her around now." said Cid lighting a cigarette and taking a few drags on it. " There is something about her I am uneasy of." Red commented "Did you notice how much she looked like Sephiroth? I could not see her eyes clearly but I could swear I saw the glow of mako." "Red, relax. There is no way that she could be related, Sephiroth’s sister is in the basement of Shin-ra HQ asleep. Anyway, I don’t think that his sister would carry a staff" Tifa moved to reassure Red. "More likely that she would carry the same type of sword as Sephiroth." Vincent said. "And her eyes would be reflecting the glow of the sun." The group sat down on the ground and waited for Reeve to show up. None of them liked entering sector 5 because of the memories that it held of Aeris. An hour after they arrived, they saw Reeve approach them. Before any of them had the chance to ask what was going on, he looked at them. "Guys, we have a BIG problem. Sephiroth’s sister is alive and has left the area." he announced to the thunderstruck group. "This is a photograph of her before she disappeared" He passed the photo to Cloud who stood there with a look of shock and disbelief. "Cloud, let us have a look at that." Vincent said holding his hand out for the picture. The picture was passed to Cid who took one look at it. "**@$£%#:~/%£^*!!" he exclaimed dropping his cigarette "We saw her about an hour ago, heading north" "Damn, we lent her our chocobo!" Barret said looking very annoyed. Yuffie, seeing this, moved out of his way. "How does that explain her carrying a staff?" she observed "I thought she would use a sword?" Reeve looked at them. "She does carry a sword that is similar to Sephiroth’s, but it is straight. Angel has a strange ability that allows her to change it into a staff" "Why would she want to do that?" Yuffie asked curiously. Reeve shook his head. "No idea." he said. "Are you coming with us?" Red walked over to Reeve. "Or are you going to send Cait Sith with us?" "Unfortunately I have responsibilities to Midgar and I can’t come with you. After the battle in the northern Crater, I scrapped the Cait Sith design. The existing one was too badly damaged and money that I could use to rebuild it is needed to rebuild the city. I will keep in contact using the PHS." he said walking back towards the city. "OK then, lets mosey!" Cloud yelled. "Damn and damn again . . . Stop sayin’ it like a wimp. Can’t you say ‘move out’ or somethin’?" Cid yelled at Cloud. He shrugged "OK, then let’s move out!!!!" he amended as the group started to enter the Highwind. "Satisfied now?" he asked Cid who was smirking. "You’ll make a good leader someday." was his reply. As the Highwind rose into the sky a voice rang out, "What do you mean by ‘someday’?" Turning north the turbo jets opened fire and the airship moved at great speed with Avalanche, the protectors of the planet onboard.