7 Countdown....4

Clayton couldn't be his eyes. Finally, the one who he kept calling the narrator had appeared in front of him. He stood about 5'5 and he had short brown hair, blue eyes and his style of dress was homely. This poor man had been stuck in the game for a long time. But at least Clayton could talk to a face instead of a voice.

"Hi, Clayton. Thank you. You're the first player to give me a name." Clayton couldn't say anything. He just stood there, watching Henry. It started to make Henry a little uncomfortable.

"Clayton, can you stop staring at me? You're creeping me out!" Clayton snapped out of it. And got himself together to finally say something. Clayton wasn't sure where to start. He was curious as to why no one else gave him a name. Why he was the only one to do it?

"So Henry. Why didn't any of the other players, who came through here, not give you a name?"

"Well, they could less about the narrator. They just wanted to complete the mission and go home. But again Thank you. So now that I'm here, why don't finish up the game and go home?" Home. Clayton just realized he missed home. Even if his family got on his nerves, he loved them all.

"Henry, do you have a home?

"You know I've been in this game so long. I don't remember. So I have to say no. I have no home." Clayton thought having another brother would cool. And he got along great Henry.

"Hey, Henry! After I finish this quest, how about coming home with me?" Henry stood there staring at Clayton. Clayton waved at him, but nothing. So he snapped his fingers. And Henry looked at him and gave him the biggest hug. Clayton was like "Woah." He could clearly tell that he was happy.

"Henry it's ok. Now calm down. It's not like we're getting married. You're just coming to live with me from now on. I'll be your family."

"Clayton, thank you. This means a lot to me. So brother. You go finish this game so we can go home." Clayton was ready to get this done with and get to his family. So Henry did some tinkering with the system and fixed to where Clayton would end up in the following scene. He was off to the North Pas the Snow Field. Looks like it's about to get cold. He was getting ready to brace the cold climate.

"Clayton if you're ready. You may proceed." Clayton entered back through the portal and back to being Cloud. Man as soon as he stepped through, he was like DAMN! IT COLD AS HELL OUT HERE! Clayton couldn't believe how cold it was. His nuts were cold. Every part of him was cold. He now wished he hadn't chosen this area. But he was already here and wasn't going to be a punk about either. So Cloud and his team are traveling through the snow when they come upon an old cabin. They were all tired from pushing through the snow, but they decided to investigate. The door was unlocked, and they all pushed their way inside. While they were inside, they found a strange videotape in the basement. They all gathered around and looked at the tape. It was labeled Lucrecia Crescent. They decided to watch it.

The video started rolling to a blond woman sitting behind a desk. She was wearing a lab coat, and her hair was pulled back in a bun. She was looking down at her notes, but then looked up at the camera.

"My name is Lucrecia Crescent," she said, "and this tape is addressed to Vincent Valentine, who recently survived a near-death experience."

"Yeah, I survived, all right," Vincent muttered.

"I'm addressing this tape to you because I feel that it's important that the information that I'm about to share with you be passed on to someone else. I've created a new life, and I would like to see that life continue. I will die when I give birth to my daughter, but I've made sure that she will be safe. I'm sure that at some point, you'll meet her. She's very strong. I'm sure you'll be proud of what she becomes. I'm sure you're all wondering why I'm doing this. I'm saving her life. I'm going to give her the life that I never got. I'm going to give her the life that I never even got a chance to live."

"And I know that with you taking care of her, she'll be safe from anything that might happen to her. I know her fate is in your hands. Please watch out for her." The tape ended.

"What was that about?" Cloud asked.

"I think she wanted me to protect her baby," Vincent said.

"Who was that woman?" Cloud asked.

"She was Aerith's mom," Vincent said, watching Cloud's jaw drop. He'd never known that about her.

"Aerith is... that... Aerith's mom?" Cloud asked.

"Wow," Cloud said when he saw the video. "So that's how we know that Aerith's a descendent of the Cetra's."

"I know," Vincent said. "I had no idea she had a mom. I wonder why she never mentioned her."

"I bet she didn't want us to know about her," Cloud said. "I mean, she was a Cetra. Aerith had a mom. I bet she never wanted us to know about her."

"I don't know," Vincent said. "Maybe she wouldn't have wanted us knowing about her father either."

"Aerith's dad?" Cloud asked. Cloud did wonder who her father could be. The man on the video wasn't very recognizable. So they tried to search for other information, but they couldn't find anything of importance. So Cloud and the team left the cabin and continue with their journey, Clayton was warm, and not he has to back into the frosty climate again. They came upon other houses when they ran into the Shrina soldiers. They fought out with them and we tried to exit the way we came through. Somebody stopped us. They told us the only way is with a snowboard and map. Clayton was "Yeah! Finally some fun. I can't wait to go snowboarding!" So Cloud found the snowboard and map and went out the exit. Clayton was having the time of his life. He'd never been snowboarding before. He had always wanted to go, but his parents were worried he would hurt himself. But now that he was Cloud it wouldn't be so bad. He and Cloud were learning together. The next time he is invited to go snowboarding he be like "Don't worry. I got this." And he would go down the bank, switching from side to side. Catchin hills. He could just imagine it. They make it through ok. Just a few bumps and bruises. But Clayton could care less. He had a ball. They got to the end of the slope and came up to a sign telling them where to head next. The sign read " turn left to head to the Great Glacier." So Clayton was thinking of having to walk through more snow and wanting to be in a warm place, but he took it like a champ and keep going. Then the game pause. He was like "Uh Oh!" It looked like no one was moving. He knew he was doing everything he was supposed to. So why did the game pause?

"Hey, Clayton. Sorry to interrupt you. But I might have forgotten to tell you something earlier in the game. And you might need to know that now." Clayton looked worried. He hoped it was because he didn't go through with finishing the scene when Aerith died. That was understandable. Anyone would have skipped that. So he listened to what Henry had to say.

"Well here the deal. Here where we are time runs slow, but where you're from time stays the same. So you have to finish the game before midnight on New Year's Day. And if you don't make it by then. We have to wait until someone plays the game to let us out. Sorry."

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This suck! Well, stay tuned. Please leave comments and suggestions. Later!

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