Chapter 2 -7th HEAVEN-

I hope you liked the page 08 of the comic, here I present to you the first part of the 2nd chapter of this story, you will get the second part next week, enjoy!

Note: Remember this post is not available to Lv2 and Lv 1 patrons until 72hrs after it's release!.

Chapter 2: 7th HEAVEN

-Noira-

I woke up to a sweet and joyful humming, it sounded like a woman... yes, a woman was humming, I didn't open my eyes yet, I liked what I was hearing, but then...where am I?... it hit me...

"Don't let go!" he told me while his grip was firm but mine was slipping.

"Master!" I shouted loudly while my grip finally gave in.

"Don't worry Noira!, just get your mark and we'll meet at Midgar city on the Sector 5!" He said as the distance between us grew quickly on the blindingly bright corridor of verdant light.

I crossed, but...I think I fell... I don't remember clearly what happened but at least I had an idea, I know my Master and I became separated on the pathway after going into "The Gate", but I can't manage to remember the details of how or why I fell and probably... crashed.

Looking around for clues of my location, I see a bedside table with clothes on top of it.

"Are those my clothes?" I said while reading what appeared to be a handwritten note, "Clean Clothes", and they are folded too, I thought.

In that moment I finally noticed I was naked, I looked around and there was no one else with me, just the closed curtains that let some morning light go through, the closed metal door and the bed sheets with pink colored squares I was sitting on.

The melodic sounds of the lady downstairs, whoever she was, continued and soon I detected a pleasant and familiar smell, food, I started connecting the dots, female voice humming, clean and folded clothes and the smell of food, I must have been found by a housewife or a mother, or both, right now the priority is to get dressed, I wouldn't want a man entering the room and seeing me naked, besides my Master of course.

Dressing up as fast as I could, I noticed my weapon was missing, but just as I started looking for it, I heard steps approaching and the humming stopped, that must be her, but I'll keep my guard up just in case, the door unlocked and made a creaking noise as she opened it. 

Curvy body, well defined waist with strong arms and thick fit legs, brown almost black long hair, fair skin and eyes of an earthy red color, I was surprised that the woman who found me was also the reason I traveled to this world, in that moment I didn't know if I was extremely lucky or if the "hand of fate" that we read on the old books actually did exist and was proving it, whatever the reason was, it doesn't matter, she is right here in front of me and I have to convince her to help us.

She looks at me and her eyes widen in joy.

"You're awake!, how are you feeling?" She says while walking towards me.

"I'm fine, thanks for your concern, are you the one who found me?" 

She nods her head and smiles at me "I did, you were at a crash site, but I didn't find any pod, ship or pieces of your vehicle, just you in a crater."

Vehicle? "I didn't use any vehicle to get here, I went through a portal." The Master said I have to be honest with my target.    

She opened her eyes wide, but, the look on her face was a surpised one this time. 

"You fell from the skies without any vehicle and YOU made that crater?, you must be using a very powerful materia to have such resistance!"

Materia...the files said that materia is a crystallization of the planet's "blood", the people of Gaia could use it to obtain power and knowledge, some kind of... "magic", but I wasn't using any, my body was just built this way, to be sturdy and to be able to resist a lot of damage so I can fulfill my mission along with my Master,  looking at her I said, "I don't possess any materia."

"What? then...how?" she said with even more surprise on her expression and a sparkling curiosity on her eyes.

"It's a long story, do you have the time to listen to it?"

"I do, in fact, I made breakfast, you should eat while we talk!, after all, you have been in this bed for 2 days now, you must be hungry."

2 days..."I am, thank you, I apreciate your hospitality."

"Come, let's eat!"

As soon as she opened the door, the delicious scent of the freshly prepared breakfast filled me with a pleasant sensation, we went downstairs and arrived at the bar's area, I noticed the place was either under construction or being repaired, the decorations and tables seemed to be new but the walls and the floor were certaintly not, on the biggest wall of the place was a neon sign,  "7th Heaven" it read on a greenish-blue glow.

She offered me a seat at the counter, right at her side, which makes sense because she told me the bar would not open until a few more hours and we were the only ones in the building.

We started eating and of course, talking, she asked many questions, which I responded the best I could, I asked some questions too, but mostly about the food, which was absolutely delicious, Tifa "The Barkeep" was an excellent cook. 

A big steak, a hot and thick potato stew, some well baked hams, a bowl of very fresh vegetables, a piece of freshly baked home bread and a tower of what looked like pancakes, later she was kind enough to tell me they called them drop scones, they were delightful.

As the conversation advanced she became more and more interested, to the point she wanted me to tell her more about our creators, Vincent and Velia and how our world Terra was now broken and in need of help, or she would perish and us along with her, by this point she didn't ask questions anymore, just remained silent and listening, until I finally reached the last day, the day when my master and I crossed the pathway to reach this world, Gaia, then she spoke again.

"That's quite a story! I...I don't know what to say, you have been through a lot..." she said while looking down at the almost empty beer tankard she had in her hands. 

I quickly responded, "Not at all, I have been alive for only one year, our creators were the ones who actually had to endure the end of our civilization."

She looked surprised yet again with my answer and apparently, was at a loss for words.

"Did I say something wrong?" I asked

"No, no no! don't worry it's just your story it's a lot to take in, it's just...our world came very close to the same fate as yours almost a year ago, you see..." she stands up, walks to a window and opens it signaling me to look outside, I do as she says, and what I see is a city mostly in ruins but recovering, the people of this city seem to be rebuilding it, concentrating on the outer edge.

"I see, it must have been a lively city before this disaster."

She smiles, closes her eyes and responds "Don't worry, this city was already a disaster before the meteor impact, but yes it was lively, maybe not in the best way, but lively."

Meteor impact? that must be the calamity that the files mentioned had this world on the brink of destruction, while still looking outside the window, I asked "Our files said that you and your team, specifically a man named Cloud Strife, prevented this disaster from happening to your world, is it correct?"

I looked at her eyes as the last word was leaving my mouth, she seemed shocked at first but her semblance changed quickly to a serious one and answered my question with one of her own.

"Did your files say something about Shin-Ra?"

I never read any term like that in the files, "I'm sorry, but no, I don't remember that term being mentioned on the files."

"I figured as much."

She smiles once again, closes the window and walks back to the bar area to a big old refrigerator, she opens it and takes out two beers, then she proceeds to pour them in the two tankards we left at the counter, she takes a seat once again and offers me to do the same tapping the top of the stool I was sitting on previously, I do as she says.

Guzzling down a little more than half of her drink, she looks at me directly in the eye and says.

"Shin-Ra is not a term, it was the name of this planet's nightmare, if you don't know that, you're definetly not from here." she looks away, directing her sight to the many bottles behind the counter, "But your information is not completely correct, Cloud...the team and I...we didn't prevent the disaster, we helped yes... but in the end, the one who really did the heaviest work was a woman named Aeris," Tifa's expression turned sad when she mentioned this woman's name "She saved us all..." she said in a low and sad tone.

She seems really sad talking about her, did she pass away?, maybe that's why the files didn't mention her, maybe she'll feel better if I listen to her?, "If it's possible, I would like to know what happened, after all, I told you my story, I think it's just fair you tell me yours, right Ms. Lockhart?"

She chuckles for a couple of seconds and then smiles at me, "Call me Tifa, and you're right, fair it's fair, I guess it's story time"

-The Cook-

                                                                              ***    

I woke up with my face down on the cold dirt of a crater and a powerful hissing sound that reverberated inside my head, I felt danger near, then I heard a young voice screaming. 

"It's a Midgar Zolom, RUN!"

Midgar Zolom? what is a Midgar Zolom?, I turned my body face up and stood up as fast as I could, my eyes were barely adapting to the light of the cloudy and misty environment, when I felt the urgency to be on guard, then, I finally managed to focus, I saw something between the mists, a serpentine shape of about 30 feet tall, I observed the giant reptile for a couple of seconds and I uttered to myself.

"So that's a Midgar Zolom."

To be Continued...