Final Fantasy VII the Awakening Prelude
As Arla paced back and forth across the floor of her thirtieth floor office, she began to become impatient. She had expected it to be found by now, but instead none of the three teams had reported back their findings yet. She had invested far too much time and money into this project for it to drag on any longer, and with the resurgence of the Shinra electric power company cutting into her profits, she would soon be unable to afford to continue her search. Suddenly a beep shattered her thoughts, and a voice came from the speakers embedded in her desk.
"Mistress Arla?" It was her secretary, hopefully with news of the retrieval teams progress. She pressed the button to respond.
"Do you have news for me?"
"Yes ma'am, both the team from the Northern Crater and the team sent to the Shinra ruins are on the live stream, waiting to speak to you."
"Send the feed." Almost immediately large screens built into her office windows buzzed to life with three different feeds, two of which were filled with the images of her retrieval team captains.
"Team two, report!" said Arla, eager to hear the results.
The man in the middle screen began to speak. "Mistress Arla, I am sorry to report that the object you seek was not at the northern crater, at least, not within the accessible levels. We did however find the materia you said to look for." He held up a small black ball to the camera, evidently proud of his discovery. "We can continue to search for the other object if you wish, provided you send funds for mining equipment...?"
Arla shook her head "No, if it wasn't in the first few levels, it must no longer exist. Head back immediately, and be careful that no one uses that materia."
"Of course ma'am." The middle screen flickered out.
Arla turned to face the screen on her right window. "Team three."
"Y-yes ma'am. We w-were also unable to find any trace of the object in the Shinra building."
Arla sighed, "I was doubtful you would, considering its location when the tower fell. Did you find the materia we spoke of?"
"Y-yes, it was right where you said it would be ma'am."
The soldier held up a red bead, barely the size of a drop of blood, and nearly the same color.
"I will deliver it to you as s-soon as we are done speaking."
"Excellent, depart as soon as you can."
"Ma'am." The screen went blank.
Arla closed her eyes and massaged her temples. Two down and one to go. If it isn't there, then this has all been for nothing. This was her last chance, if she failed now, she would have nothing to live for.
The last window grew dark and a fuzzy picture began to play.
"---stress Arla? Mi-----ss Arla, can you hear me? "
Arla's eyes flew open, the final report was coming in. She had sent the team to a decommissioned cargo ship outside of Costa del Sol, her last hope, and the least likely to succeed.
"I can hear you, what is your report, did you find it?" The anxiety in Arla's voice, while not carried over the microphone, would have been all too apparent to anyone in the room.
" -- was ----- -- sunken ---- we could ------ there ----"
The static was driving Arla's heart rate to the edge.
"Soldier, confirm or deny, was the object there."
"--- ad to use ---- barrier mater--- to get do---"
Arla's impatience grew more with every syllable, as did her fear that she had been wrong.
"Soldier, confirm or deny. Was the object there?!"
A moments delay in the stream, some more static, and then;
"-- Confirmed. The object was found and safely contained. I reapeat confirme--"
The screen went blank.
Relief filled Arla's face, and a dark joy filled her heart. Soon, very soon, she would have a power that rivaled the gods.
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End of Awakening Prelude.
(SPOILER)
The poll in this thread will help decide the name of the hero of the main story. A third thread, a glossary to this story, will be posted along side the story thread.
This story will be ( I hope) the single greatest final fantasy story ever written. I came up with the whole plot in about two hours at work, so it probably wont be.
I wrote this prelude quickly to make sure I wouldn't forget about my thoughts. The writing style in no way reflects what I have planned, although it is a part of the official story.
This story is entirely written by Hypoallergenic Cactuar, and has no connections other than history and characters to the Final Fantasy 7 official universe.
Please leave your thoughts, comments and suggestions below.
Work is subject to my editing at any time, in any manner.
