I'm reposting this, because it appears I was careless, and 
inconsiderate. My apologies. This time, the story isn't in the Word97 
format. It's in the body of the message this time. Of course you already 
knew that.

A note of warning: I am SO amaturish at this writing business, it's not 
funny. It's scary. I blame this on my dear, dear, Mother, and my not-so 
dear, but older-than-dirt English 9 teacher. (I don't know WHY she was 
so fond of that form of address, but I can hardly complain, now can I?)

If you actually plan on reading and criticising this, my thanks. 

Thomas Wu
"Is it just me, or am I the only Freshman-in-highschool here?"
-used on several occasions. Sometimes, I'm the oldest one. Sometimes I'm 
not.
_______________________________________________________________________This is not my first fanfic to have posted to the FFML, but it should
be. My first one was a load of dung. If you still have it (Yeah, right)
please forget about it as quick as you can. Thank you.

This story is sort of my attempt to write an Alternaverse-type deal with
Final Fantasy 7. The Tactics part won't come in until much later, but I
thought I'd give you a "head up".

Please C&C, MST, whatever. I need the help, and I'm not going to get any
better without the criticism. Just try to hold back on the REALLY acidic
comments. My ego's fragile enough as it is.

Now, with a little luck, here's the story.



Save the Ancient
A Final Fantasy VII/Tactics Crossover with a few FVI references.

By Thomas Wu



Prologue

There was a world, that was out of reach of normal people. It was a 
haven for the magical beings that dwelled there. These beings have been 
known by many names. 

Espers. 

Monsters.

Angels.

Legends.

Gods. 

Once, the creatures lived among men, but later retreated in fear for 
their lives. Now they lived in their little world, separated from 
others, living without worry. Once, their world had been invaded, but 
that was in the past, and was no longer a concern. 

Currently, there were other matters at hand.

A bird creature with a serpent's neck and tail addressed several others, 
all different in form. "So, we are agreed then. The survival of people 
depend on this one girl's life. The question is, what should we do about 
it?"

A large sword, though without mouth, responded. "What indeed? I don't 
see why we should do anything. In the end, all will be gone. The humans 
will just be leaving a little sooner than the rest. No reason to for us 
to spend time and energy on delaying the inevitable."

A man in armor turned toward the sword. "Harsh words, Ragnarok. The 
humans are an admirable species. They have the will to fight for theirs' 
and others' lives if necessary." He paused. "Remember the Second War of 
the Magi. A band of humans had freed us from the Magicite and had slain 
the one known as Kefka in the process. We owe them a chance at survival, 
at least." The man looked at a burly, spiked figure. "What do you say, 
Maudin?"

Maudin nodded. "Agreed, Odin. I believe we should help them in anyway we 
can."

An old man also nodded. "We should help to preserve their lives. We may 
be in need of their assistance in the future."

The sword managed to convey the sense of a sneer. "Us? Need help from 
humans? Have you forgotten how fragile they are, Ramuh?"

Ramuh shook his head. "It is true that they have no natural control over 
magic, but they remember what we taught them. If they ever enter a land 
where magic exists, they are be as powerful as us, if not more so. 
Remember when they had slain the eight dragons sealing Crusader?"

Ragnarok seemed pleading for a moment. "This is foolishness!" he turned 
toward the last member at the meeting. "Bahamut, surely, you must 
understand what I say,"

Bahamut shook his wings, the draconian equivalent of a shrug. "I care 
not either way. Humans are surprisingly frail, but managed to overcome 
Doom Gaze, which held my magicite for years." Bahamut paused, then 
continued. "I will not vote. If it is decided that we are to aid the 
humans, I will help to the full extent of my ability. Should it be 
decided otherwise, so be it."

Ragnarok somehow frowned. "So the vote stands at three to one for the 
humans." It let out an exasperated sigh. "Very well. We shall help them, 
but how?"

The bird spoke up. "It seems fairly obvious to me. Since the humans' 
lives depend on this girl, it would make sense to protect her from harm 
at all times, until after the final battle."

Maudin sighed. "Easier said than done, Tritoch. But how are we to 
protect her?"

Bahamut rumbled. "I shall go. My siblings and cousins shall also 
accompany me."

Ramah looked worried. "Are you sure you can convince them to go?"

Bahamut chuckled. A deep, throaty one that seemed to shake the room. "My 
little brother has been complaining about wandering among the stars. He 
will enjoy the chance to do something new. As for the others, should 
they complain, my brother and I can be�persuasive."

Maudin forced a laugh at the last part. "Very well, Bahamut. I wish the 
best of luck to you on this," Bahamut nodded in thanks, then left. 
Jesus, he hated acting like some Kuno-esque person.

"Do you really think we can do this?" Queried Ragnarok.

Maudin frowned. "I suppose we must."

 Part 1

	A small group stood over a theater, overlooking the city of 
Midgar. Most of the members of the group were in their late twenties.

	"So, AVALANCHE is going to be blowing up Mako Reactor 1 now, 
huh?" A man in black clothing looked at a boy in his early twenties, who 
was wearing gray. 

	The boy nodded. "Yup. Can I follow them?" 

	A woman in red smiled at him. "Why not? Just remember to keep an 
eye out for the 'heroes,' there's usually one in a rebel group. Last 
time it was Locke."

	The boy grinned in excitement. "Gotcha. Thanks, sis!" With that, 
he ran off the theater, and started jumping from building to building. 
Soon he was out of sight.

	The woman smiled fondly after the boy. "Ah, youth. Look at Z'. 
So energetic." She turned towards the man. "He reminds me of you, when 
you were younger, Baham."

	 "He'll grow out of it." Baham smiled, then frowned. "He should 
have grown out of it decades ago. I should have another talk with him."

	A man who was clothed in bronze-colored clothing, commented. 
"Look, this is all very nice, but shouldn't we be keeping an eye on the 
girl?"

	Nene sighed. "I suppose you're right, Terrence."

	The last person there, a man in blue, the last one in the group 
spoke up. "People? She's leaving the alley now."

	Baham moved to where the man stood. "You sure, Leven? I don't 
see her."

	"Yeah, there she is," Leven pointed to a girl in her twenties, 
dressed in a pink outfit, carrying a flower basket.

	"Oh yeah, I see her. Yup, that's Aerith all right."

*	*	*

 	Zeal stood on the train station, arms crossed, and looking at 
the incoming train. "Here comes the train, with-" he glanced at the top 
of the train. "-its load of AVANLANCHE members." He watched, delighted, 
as he saw Avalanche dispose of the guards. One of the memebers, with 
spiky, blond hair, and carrying a giant sword, looked in Zeal's 
direction. Zeal panicked. Could this human sense him? He concentrated, 
invoked a simple cloaking spell, and faded from view.

*	*	*

	Cloud was puzzled. He could have sworn someone was watching him. 
Looking around, he saw nothing, and shrugged. He ran to catch up with 
the others.

*	*	*

	Zeal sighed. Too close. How could he have been detected? Who was 
that guy, anyway? Maintaining the cloak, Zeal hopped off the roof and 
followed Avalanche. This man bore looking into.

	After slipping past the Shinra fodder, Zeal noticed three of the 
AVALANCHE members staying behind, at separate posts. "Odd. Why would 
they do that? It's a smart move to make if they could actually fight, 
but look at them! One pudgy, and one not much more than a part-time 
body-builder. A Leafer could probably beat them both."

	He walked into the elevator, and rode it down toward the reactor 
core. When he left the elevator, he found himself in a large room with a 
large machine right in front of him. "Is this the reactor?" Zeal paused. 
"No, no power is being emitted from it. It's probably just here as a 
decora-" He paused as he heard sounds of a fight, far below him. He 
looked over the railing, and there was the guy in blue, along with a 
bear of a man, with a gun for one hand. They were fighting several 
security 'bots.

*	*	*

	Dodging a spray of bullets, Cloud got that feeling again. That 
he was being observed. He was about to look around when a drone nearly 
took his head off. "Better concentrate on the job and the fight. Don't 
want to get killed before I get paid." He rushed up to a robot and 
cleaved it into two with his sword.

*	*	*

	"Well, they're taking their sweet time. I'd just melt them right 
from the start," The two men below finished off the last of the robots 
then went into the last room with the reactor. Zeal looked over the 
side, made sure no one was there, then jumped over the railing.  Just 
before he hit the ground, Zeal fluoresced, then stopped. He was floating 
for a moment, then dropped the last few inches to the ground. He 
followed after the two AVALANCHE members.

He was in a room with many pipes, a ladder, and a girl. "What is this? A 
techie? Doing guard duty? Funny. She's kind of cute, though." He snuck 
past the girl, landed on a pipe, then followed it out of the room. He 
came out somewhere over a walkway. Following the walkway, he found 
himself in the reactor room. 

*	*	*

"Awright Cloud, you put the bomb on." Barret commanded.

Cloud smirked. "Shouldn't you be doing this?"

"Don't give me no shit, boy. Just put the damn bomb on!"

"All right, all right." Cloud was about to bend down to fix the bomb on 
the reactor, when he felt it. That feeling was back, closer than ever. 
He was going to inspect the room when he felt something enter his mind.

*This isn't an ordinary reactor*

*	*	*

	*This isn't an ordinary reactor*

	Zeal panicked. What was that? Zeal almost ran right then and 
there. Whatever it was, it was powerful. It was easily more powerful 
than him. The presence vanished just as quickly as it arrived, and Zeal 
heaved a sigh of relief. He was going to have to talk to the others 
about this. Zeal shook his head to clear it, and focused on what was 
before him. 

	The bear of the man looked at the guy in blue. "What's wrong 
with you Cloud? Put the bomb on!"

This Cloud was about to attach the bomb, when a large, gun-toting 
machine came clanging down the walkway. 

	Zeal smiled. Another fight? This trip was becoming entertaining. 
He watched as the two from Avalanche take on the robot. "A Guard 
Scorpion, from what the nameplate says. Ah Shinra. Always good for a 
laugh. Guard Scorpion indeed. " he chuckled.

	Cloud slashed at the Scorpion's legs, than leapt away. The 
bear-like fellow was using the gun that was his hand to shoot the torso.

	"Why don't they use magic?" Zeal frowned. The readings he had 
been sensing from the two marked these two as the same kind as Aerith. 
They should be playing a role in determining the future of the Planet, 
not unlike the one's back in his brother's and cousins' time.

	Cloud pointed with his finger, and a lightening bolt came from 
the sky, frying the Scorpion's circuits. "That's better," Zeal noted, 
but then he frowned. "He's not generating the energy! Something on him 
is producing the magic." Zeal closed his eyes, trying to visualize what 
it was, and the image of a small, green crystal entered his mind. "What 
is that? M-A-T-E-R-I-A. Materia can do that?" He was about to ponder 
further, when he noticed he was the only one in the room. Looking at the 
bomb, he saw he had three minutes before it blew.

	"Shit."

*	*	*

	Terrence grumbled as he and three others were following Aerith 
from the rooftops. "Remind me again, why we do we have to go to all this 
trouble to make sure she stays alive at all costs?"

	Leven smacked his forehead. "Good God, man! Have you forgotten 
again?! The whole point of this is to insure that the humans will 
survive."

	Nene snorted. "Honestly Terr, the way you keep forgetting that! 
One would think that you wanted the humans to die!"

	Terrence blinked. "Nonsense. I meant, if we wanted to save the 
human race, why don't we just go and kill whatever is going to be 
causing the problem?"

	Baham sighed. "Because we don't know what's going to threaten 
the world. And we can't just go around killing indiscriminately."

	Terrence snapped his fingers. "I knew I forgot something."

	They were watching Aerith start walking home, when an explosion 
from far off, rocked the town. Aerith was thrown to the ground, and 
people everywhere were stampeding left and right, trying to find a place 
of shelter, not paying attention to those who were on the ground. One 
such person was running in the direction of the prone Aerith. Leven saw 
the danger and jumped down, interposing himself between the runner and 
Aerith. He grabbed the guy roughly, "Watch where you're going. You might 
have run over her" He gestured with his thumb. Then he started glowing a 
faint blue. He let go of the man, who took off in a hurry. Leven stopped 
glowing.

	Leven turned to look at Aerith. "Are you all right Ms. 
Gainsborough?"