This is my first fanfic, so don't expect too much from it. I wrote this mainly because I'm fueled by the FF7 Remake hype train and there was just a general lack of FF7 crossover fanfics. Also, I remember thinking that the legendary weapons the heroes wield in the manga looked like Materia. Because this is my first time publishing anything, any comments or criticisms are welcomed.
Chaos. That was all that happened in the kingdom of Melromarc. There had never been this much chaos in the kingdom's long history. Servants and knights raced around in confusion within the castle to find something, or rather, someone. Within the throne room, the king was not sitting still either. He was standing up and waving his arms around maniacally.
"Why are there only three heroes!?" the old king demanded to his sorcerers on the side. The robed men flinched at their king's anger. Something had gone terribly wrong. When the summoning ritual to summon the four great heroes happened, all but one had appeared in their magic circle. This was a major disaster. No, it could even be called a calamity. They just didn't know how it happened.
"W-we don't know, your majesty," one of them nervously replied. His shaky demeanor didn't help ease the king's worries at all. "We performed everything perfectly. There was no way this could have happened…"
The three summoned heroes looked on nervously at the fiasco around them. What had started out as an incredible experience turned into one of confusion. One of them held a spear, another a bow, and the last one held a small metal shield on his right arm. They didn't know they were supposed to be one other person. When they had introduced themselves, it was only after the man with the shield revealed his name that it was apparent that something was wrong. The Sword Hero was nowhere to be seen.
"Uh, excuse me?" Motoyasu asked amidst the commotion. "We're supposed to have one more person, right? If he's not here, what are we supposed to do now?"
The king and his servants regarded the three heroes below them. One of the servants next to the king leaned in and whispered something into his ear. The king seemed to grunt and nod after a bit before giving his full attention to the newly summoned heroes. Worrying about the missing Sword Hero would only be wasting time, and they couldn't afford to to waste any more. He cleared his throat and put on a more kingly demeanor.
"Now then, young heroes!" the king declared with bravado. "I will now hear each one of your names!"
Several days later
"...Ugh…"
Cloud clutched his pounding head with his hand in an attempt to ease the pain that was hammering inside of his skull. He cracked his eyes open and immediately shut them closed once the bright sun penetrated his eyes. That was something he was not expecting. The sun never shone on the lower plates of Midgar. Not to mention the fresh air he was breathing and the cool wind he felt on his skin. The blond mercenary rubbed his eyes again, this time ready for the bright sunlight. Cloud sat up and slowly opened his eyes again. The sky was cloudless and blue above him. He was currently sitting in a field of green grass and the wind was causing them to sway side to side. That was when the realization began to creep up on him. Cloud immediately shot up to his feet and looked around him. He was no longer in the slums of Midgar. He was out in an open field that didn't have the usual taste of Mako in the air. Even the cities outside of Midgar weren't this free of pollution.
"Where...am I!?" It took Cloud a few seconds until he eventually calmed down. A First Class SOLDIER always remains calm in ridiculous situations. Cloud noticed something gray in the corner of his eye. His body relaxed at the sight of the Buster Sword, which was somehow stabbed into the ground. Cloud walked over and yanked it from the ground, feeling the familiar weight of the massive broadsword in his hands before he stuck it onto the magnet on his back. At least he wouldn't be completely defenseless.
First thing to do: Assess the surrounding area. So far, it didn't seem like he was in any immediate danger. The field around him was wide and expansive. Nothing but green grass and the occasional tree. He saw what appeared to be a small village in the distance. At least that would give him a starting point to figure out where he was exactly. Cloud scratched the back of his head and began to walk through the grass towards the village.
"Well, nothing much I can do here anyways."
"Oh? I haven't seen you around here before," an old man commented as soon as Cloud entered into view. He was in the middle of hoeing a small patch of dirt until he saw the blond swordsman. "You from the city?"
"City?" As far as Cloud could tell, he wasn't even sure he was in Gaia, much less Midgar. "Not really. Just felt like traveling."
"Ah, you must be an adventurer then!" the old man beamed. "Not anyone would carry around a sword as big as yours around!"
Cloud raised an eyebrow at the man's statement. What Cloud found strange was the fact that he didn't comment on Cloud's eyes which were a staple of any member of SOLDIER. He also didn't react to the Buster Sword. Did people carry around weapons with them all the time in this world?
"Whatever," Cloud replied with a dismissive wave. "Just tell me where I am right now."
"Uh...we're in Ryute Village…" the man trailed off as he backed off due to Cloud's sudden cold response.
Cloud shook his head at the man's answer. He had never heard of a place called Ryute Village. He had thought he would get off to a good starting point to get back to Gaia, but now he was right back to where he started. "Where's the nearest city I can go to?"
"Eh? The nearest city?" the old man stammered. "I-it's miles from-"
"Don't care. Just tell me the general direction." Cloud interrupted.
The old man pointed at the small trail that Cloud was standing on. "J-just follow the trail and you'll exit the village and then make it to the capital."
Cloud didn't answer as he immediately began to walk down the path the man described. All around him the villagers stopped what they were doing and looked at him with a mixture of fascination and fear. Whenever Cloud turned to look at someone, they immediately backed away and avoided his gaze.
After walking down the path for a bit, Cloud finally arrived at the edge of the town. The path continued on into the forest in front of him. Thanks to his enhanced ears, he was able to hear the sounds of animals, as well as the snarling of monsters.
"Guess this world isn't free from monsters after all." Cloud mumbled to himself. He rolled his shoulders back and entered the thick forest.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as the blond mercenary walked through the forest. Nothing attacked him right away in the first few minutes. All there was were the occasional deer or rabbit.
Then, Cloud encountered his first monster. If it wasn't for the reflexes of a First Class SOLDIER, the round rabbit would've landed right into Cloud's face. The blond simply moved his head to the side and the thing crashed into a tree. If it wasn't for its beady red eyes, Cloud would've thought that it was another animal in the forest.
"I don't have time for this." The demonic rabbit jumped into the air, and it was quickly cleaved in half by the Buster Sword. The bloodied corpse of the sailed over Cloud's head and made an audible smack noise as it landed somewhere. Cloud put the Buster Sword onto his back and continued to trudge through the forest.
"Didn't recognize that thing…" Cloud muttered. Gaia was home to all sorts of wacky creatures, but Cloud couldn't quite remember seeing a fat demonic rabbit before.
It took a bit longer and more slashing through fat rabbits that Cloud finally exited the forest. The bright sun shone once again over Cloud's head as the trees that acted as a canopy finally disappeared. Cloud squinted his eyes and saw what appeared to be a walled city in the distance. Finally. He was making some sort of progress.
The sound of wood creaking and hooves clopping alerted Cloud. He glanced to the side and saw a wooden wagon being pulled by a horse. He raised his arm up with a thumbs up, and the carriage quickly shifted directions so that it was moving towards Cloud.
"Do ya need something?" the driver asked in a gruff voice. "And what was with that sign you were doing?"
"I, uh…" Cloud trailed off before clearing his throat. Figures that the people in this world wouldn't know what a hitch-hiking signal would mean. "I'm not here to start trouble. I was just wondering if you could take me to that city over there."
The driver carefully regarded Cloud, and then his eyes landed on the Buster Sword. He simply shrugged. "Jeez, adventurers can't do anything themselves these days. Hop on board. I was about to head there anyways."
Cloud quickly hopped onto the back of the wagon, wedging himself in between several wooden crates. Finding nothing better to do, Cloud stared out into the world in front of him. Nothing but grass.
"So, what were you doing out there?" the driver suddenly asked. Cloud blinked as he craned his neck towards the driver.
"I was just traveling." Cloud replied.
"Really?" the man asked in a skeptical tone. "Not anyone would be out there with a giant sword except adventurers or soldiers."
"Adventurers? Soldiers?" Cloud asked.
"What level are you anyways?" the driver continued, ignoring Cloud's question. "Only new adventurers would be out there to grind out some levels."
"What are you saying right now?" Cloud asked. This time, the driver turned to look back at Cloud with a confused expression.
"Wait, you don't know what I'm talking about?"
Cloud didn't get to answer the man's question when a voice interrupted his thoughts. "Halt! What's your business for entering the capitol?"
When the driver lifted his straw hat a bit, the man in armor simply nodded. "Come on now. I'm here for the usual business."
The knight nodded and moved to the side, allowing the cart to move. Cloud made sure to keep his head low and a hand on the handle of the Buster Sword in case the guards noticed him and he had to fight his way out. Thankfully the cart was able to pass through without much trouble. Once the cart was out of sight of the guards' view, the driver knocked on a crate to signal their stop.
"Okay, you're clear to get out." the man said.
Cloud didn't say a word as he jumped out of the wagon. "...Thanks for the ride." Cloud softly mumbled.
The driver simply grunted in response and rode off somewhere else. Cloud began to take a look around him and began to observe his surroundings. He seemed to be in some sort of street, and it was packed. Several people were walking around, either visiting one of the many stalls that were out or entering one of the buildings on the side. It reminded Cloud of Midgar's slums, except it was much smaller and there was no upper plate that blocked out the sun. As far as Cloud could tell, the city he was in was technologically inferior to Midgar by a longshot. He didn't see any form of Mako-powered utilities or lights. It seemed like Cloud was in a world that was years behind in technological advancements.
As Cloud walked down the busy street, he noticed how he wasn't drawing the usual stares or glaces he would usually get. In fact, there were plenty of people who wore armor or openly carried weapons. They didn't have the Mako blue eyes members of SOLDIER typically had, nor did they wear some kind of uniform that belonged to any kind of army.
Cloud's attention was suddenly caught by a nearby poster. On it was a sketch of a gruff young man with black hair. While Cloud couldn't understand or read any of the characters on the piece of paper, the red ink told Cloud that this was a wanted poster of some kind. Not to mention that the person in question had an evil glare.
As Cloud continued down the street, he found himself standing in front of a certain store. It was safe to assume that the building was some sort of weapons shop judging from the sign that had two swords engraved onto it. The blond mercenary pushed the door open and entered the small weapons shop.
"Welcome!" the shopkeeper welcomed. He was a tall bald man. He was standing behind a counter that had several swords displayed behind him. "Haven't seen you before. New around to these parts?"
"I guess," Cloud replied in a monotone voice. He walked over to one of the display cases that showcased several normal sized swords. "What's this place called?"
The shopkeeper was surprised that the blond's question pertained to their current location rather than any of the weapons. "Uh, we're in the kingdom of Melromarc…"
"I see." Cloud then turned around to walk towards the exit.
"H-hey!" the man shouted before Cloud could open the door. "Y-you're just gonna leave without buying anything?"
"Not interested." Cloud bluntly replied.
"A-at least change your sword! There's no way anyone can use that thing! And it's so beat up it'll probably break any day now!" the man added in one last attempt to keep a customer in his store.
At this point Cloud had completely exited the shop and shut the door behind him. Melromarc. That name was completely new to Cloud. By now, the crowd had thinned noticeably and the sky was beginning to become darker as the sun set.
"Gotta find a place to sleep…" Cloud mumbled. He couldn't tell which buildings were inns or not. The restaurants and bars were easy to find thanks to the cheers and the smell of food that often emanated from certain buildings. The sky had turned completely black by the time Cloud had given up his search.
"Guess I'm gonna have to sleep in the streets tonight." Even though he couldn't find a good place to sleep, that didn't bother Cloud. He was used to sleeping outside thanks to his SOLDIER training. As Cloud looked in between buildings to find a space big enough to sleep in, he suddenly bumped into someone.
"Guh!" the person Cloud had bumped into fell down to the ground with a thud. He was so focused on finding a place to sleep that he didn't even see the group of people that were walking towards him.
"Sorry." Cloud quickly said before walking past the group without looking back.
"Hey!" a low voice shouted, stopping Cloud in his tracks. The blond swordsman glanced behind him to see a tall, fat man in armor approach him. Something about his appearance pissed Cloud off for some reason.
"You have a lot of nerve just bumping into Lord Motoyasu like that!" the man angrily demanded, placing himself directly in front of Cloud, using his taller height to glare down at Cloud. The blond swordsman however didn't seem affected at all. "Apologize to him right now!"
"Sorry, but I have better things to do." With that, Cloud turned around and walked away before he stopped himself when he heard the sound of a sword being drawn. The blond turned around to see the same fat man with his sword drawn.
"Do you know who Lord Motoyasu is!?" the man shrieked. "He is the Spear Hero! Know your place! Apologize to him now or you will have to answer to me!"
"You talk too much. Maybe you should get it stitched shut so no one would have to hear your annoying voice." Cloud spat out.
The man roared and ran towards Cloud with his sword raised. Cloud quickly drew the Buster Sword and swung it at the man with the blunt side, breaking the tiny sword and smacking the man in the stomach so hard the armor crunched under the weight of the mighty broadsword. The man flew back several feet and crashed through a window.
"Anyone else?" Cloud challenged as he took his battle stance. The remaining three people and Motoyasu flinched as Cloud stared them down. Surprisingly, Motoyasu walked towards Cloud with a metal spear in his hand.
"D-damn you!" Motoyasu shouted in a shaky voice. "Don't think that you can get away with hurting a member of my party!"
Motoyasu drew his spear back and magic began to gather at the tip. Cloud nearly gasped when he saw what the Spear Hero was doing. So there was magic in this world, though Cloud couldn't tell if the orb in the spear was Materia or not.
"Focused Thrust!" Motoyasu dashed towards Cloud and the spear pierced through the air as it aimed for Cloud's chest. However, it was slow. Far too slow. Cloud simply stepped to the side and kicked Motoyasu in the gut so hard that the Spear Hero immediately threw up and collapsed onto the ground.
"Done yet?" Cloud challenged, the Buster Sword now hovering over Motoyasu's head. The Spear Hero simply croaked before passing out as an answer. The blond swordsman grunted and sheathed the Buster Sword.
"What a waste of time." Cloud grumbled. He wheeled around and walked away from the group. First he found himself in a completely new world. Then, he couldn't find a place to stay and he had no money. On top of all that, a group of people just had to get in his way. There was no way this was going to get any worse.
On the plus side, Cloud found a nearly empty ally a few blocks down. The blond entered the empty space and took the Buster Sword off of his back so that he could sit comfortably against the stone wall. The First Class SOLDIER closed his eyes and drifted off into sleep.
...Hey.
'Huh? Who is this?'
Come on now. Even though we knew each other for a long time. You're hurting my feelings, Cloud.
'I've never heard your voice before. Who are you?'
That can wait. You sure you can afford to sleep around like this?
'What are you talking about?'
Don't you need to find your way back home? To Tifa?
'That's right. She asked me to do a job, and I accepted…'
There's a reason as to why you were summoned here. Something big is going to happen.
'Are you going to keep being vague, or are you just going to tell me what I'm supposed to do?'
Well, you'll just have to figure that out yourself. You should wake up now. You're drawing a lot of attention right now.
'What does that even mean-'
Cloud's eyes shot open. The morning sun was shining into Cloud's eyes again by slipping through the tiny cracks of the roof above him. The blond groaned and got up, his joints popping as he stretched his body. As his senses began to return, Cloud noticed that he was hearing whispers and hushed voices off to the side. He quickly looked to his left and saw that several people were stopping to look at him standing in the alley. The blond cursed to himself and quickly walked out of the alley, Buster Sword in tow. The lively energy of the city was back now, with ordinary people and adventurers milling about. Maybe it was his imagination, but Cloud noticed how the density of the adventurers seemed to increase the further he walked down the road he was walking on. Several smaller, separate groups were huddled amongst one another. An excited, but nervous air filled the atmosphere around Cloud. Were they preparing for something? That would explain why so many of them were fully decked out with weapons and armor. But how would anything be able to attack this city? It was far too big for any creature or army to take on easily. During his trip to this city, Cloud hadn't noticed the presence of any large army or enormous creature. What were they ready for then?
Cloud was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even realize that he walked to a large cathedral. There were also many adventurers gathered around the church grounds. The blond pushed past all of the adventurers and pushed the massive double doors and had his breath briefly taken away by what he saw.
In the middle of the room was a gigantic hourglass. Cloud had never seen something like it before. Whatever the hourglass symbolized had clear importance to the people inside, as many of them were looking at the thing with bated breaths, and Cloud could see why. The sand was only a few seconds from falling to the bottom.
"Hey, why's everyone so scared of that thing?" Cloud asked a nearby adventurer while gesturing towards the hourglass. The young adventurer looked at Cloud with a confused look.
"You don't know!?" the man exclaimed in surprise. "The Wave is about to start!"
"The what?" Cloud's question went unanswered due to the room suddenly being engulfed in a bright white light. "What the!?" Cloud looked around frantically, but had to quickly cover his eyes to prevent himself from being blinded. After a few seconds passed, Cloud felt the wind move over his body.
"I'm outside? Does that mean…" Cloud slowly opened his eyes, and saw that he was now standing in the middle of a forest. The church and the adventurers he was standing with were no longer near him. The sky was also considerably darker, though something was off. It looked murky and disgusting, like when oil mixed with water. "Where am I?"
A loud cracking sound echoed throughout the entire area. The noise was so loud that Cloud thought that the entire world had suddenly cracked. When he looked up, he saw that the sky indeed had a massive crack in it, like someone had broken it like glass. Cloud's enhanced eyes quickly picked up small specks that emerged from the crack. As they fell down, it was apparent that they were all monsters.
"Monsters falling out of the sky. Great." Cloud groaned. He drew the Buster Sword from his back and ran towards the monsters' general location. As he ran along, he heard something rustling in the bushes next to him. Cloud spun towards the sound, expecting monsters, but instead found a group of adventurers rush out of the vegetation and towards another direction. Among them was the spear guy Cloud had kicked into oblivion.
"Hey, wait!" Cloud shouted. "The monsters are over there!" Despite his yells, they all ignored him and continued to run off. Cloud cursed under his breath and turned his attention from them and continued to follow the monsters falling out of the sky. As he ran, Cloud noticed what appeared to be an abandoned mine at the edge of the forest. He recognized it. He saw it when he was walking in the forest when he first arrived in this world a day ago.
Cloud pushed his legs even further until he was practically a yellow blur in the forest. It was only a matter of seconds when Cloud had finally exited the forest and found himself in Ryute Village. Already, the monsters had begun wreaking havoc on the small village. Zombified knights were running around and cut down anyone they saw, and giant orcs were smashing houses.
"This wasn't part of the job description…" Cloud mumbled as he drew the Buster Sword. The blond jumped up into the air and slammed the enormous broadsword onto a skeleton, cutting it in half before it was able to kill a man who had his pitchfork out in a feeble attempt to defend himself.
"Go. Get out of here." Cloud ordered. The man frantically nodded and quickly ran off. "Come at me." Cloud declared as he readied the Buster Sword as more and more enemies surrounded him. Cloud made a massive leap over to a horde of monsters and easily tore through them with massive swings of the Buster Sword. It only took a couple of swings to eliminate the threat.
"Nothing to it." Cloud breathed as he cut through the last skeleton. Suddenly, Cloud flipped backwards in order to avoid a giant axe that slammed into the ground. Cloud looked up and saw a massive skeleton looming over him with a giant axe raised.
"Eek!" a voice screamed. Cloud's head shot towards the voice, and saw a mother desperately clinging onto two of her children. The woman's screams drew the monster's attention from Cloud and onto the woman.
"Damn it!" Cloud rushed forward and slid under the monster right between its legs. "I'm your target!"
Thankfully, Cloud's distraction was enough for the monster's focus to shift back onto him. The skeleton groaned and began to run after Cloud. It slammed its axe into the ground again, forcing the blond to jump on top of a roof. What he saw from the top was pure mayhem. He could see several adventurers and soldiers struggling against the smallest mobs. The smoke caused by the various fires in the village were making it hard to see, and it didn't look like the monsters' numbers were dwindling. A low groaning noise alerted Cloud of the giant that was still chasing him. He turned around and readied his weapon to intercept the giant's axe, but something suddenly appeared in front of the axe, stopping it with a metallic clang. It was translucent, and it looked like a small shield.
"Air Strike Shield!" a voice below Cloud commanded. "Raphtalia! Now!"
Cloud could see a brown blur jump up and run along the giant's outstretched arm and instantly decapitate the thing. Even the First Class SOLDIER was impressed at the speed he saw.
"Are you okay?" the brown blur asked frantically as she landed next to Cloud. She appeared to be a young woman with long brown hair. She had eyes that matched her hair color and she wore some kind of leather armor. What really surprised Cloud about her appearance was the fact that she had two small ears poking out from the top of her head and she had a bushy brown tail.
"What the-" Cloud began. He quickly shook away his confusion and gripped his weapon even harder. "I'm fine. Just go worry about yourself."
The half animal girl looked like she was about to complain, but the same voice that commanded her shouted from below her. "Raphtalia! We need to go now!" She quickly jumped off of the roof to rejoin her partner.
Suddenly, Cloud heard something whistling in the distance. It was faint at first, but it began to grow louder and louder until Cloud saw what it was. It was as if a meteor shower had decided to fall onto the battlefield. The many fireballs rained onto the village, decimating everything in a fiery hell. Several voices shouted and screamed, and the monsters quickly burned away.
A sharp flash of pain suddenly caused Cloud's head to throb. The blond groaned and clutched his head with his free hand, but it didn't do anything to alleviate the pain. The smoke...the fire...the screams of people yelling in vain to be saved...the heat against his skin…
"No...no!" Images of Nibelheim flashed in Cloud's eyes, changing Ryute Village into his former hometown. Before the images could overwhelm him, the roof under Cloud's foot gave way, causing Cloud to fall down and perform an improvised landing to break his fall.
"As I would expect from the Shield Hero," a voice rang. Cloud could hear the canking of armor and several footsteps. A man in armor and several knights soon emerged from the smoke, smiling condescendingly at a guy who had a small metal shield on his right arm. "You are tough, I'll give you that."
"The guard!?" the guy with the shield groaned. "So you guys finally decided to show yourselves…!"
"You bastard!" Cloud roared. The blond mercenary jumped from the wreckage and ran towards the armored men and swung the Buster Sword at the man ahead of the group, but he quickly put up his own sword to block Cloud's attack. The two stood locked in place, their glares matching one another. The armored man began to falter at the strength of the blond swordsman. "What are you doing!? There's innocent people here!"
"W-who in the…!" the man gasped. There was the sound of metal creaking as the tiny blade attempted to hold back the Buster Sword. Cracks were beginning to appear within the sword. "Are you with the Shield Demon too!?"
Cloud answered the man's question by aggressively pushing the man away with one swing, ending the stalemate between the two. The people behind him quickly dispersed as the man fell down onto the ground on his back. Several of the soldiers soon drew their own weapons and faced Cloud. The blond however didn't seem to mind the fact that he was outnumbered.
"W-wait...that sword!" the man that Cloud had pushed down exclaimed. "D-don't tell me...the Sword Hero!?"
The man's revelation seemed to cause everyone present to gasp and whisper amongst themselves.
"The Sword Hero!?"
"How can that be? He just attacked the commander!"
"But don't you see his weapon? That green orb!"
Cloud took the momentary confusion to look at the sword in his hands. To him, it looked like nothing much. Just a weapon for him to use. It was a bit beat up after repeated use. The green orb that he heard many of the men mention was nothing but a Thunder Materia he had slotted into one of the two holes before he embarked on his mission.
"Look out!" Cloud shot his free palm outwards, and a small lightning bolt fell from the sky and struck the giant that would have smashed the soldiers flat with its axe behind them. The monster quickly dissolved into a pile of ash.
"Move. You're only getting in the way," Cloud ordered impatiently. He ran past all of them and cut through a group of smaller monsters. "Get ready to fight. If you want to run away, be my guest."
"S-support the Sword and Shield Hero!" one of the men ordered, drawing his sword. "Cut down any monster you see!"
With the combined forces of Cloud, the Shield Hero and his partner, it didn't take long for the group to take care of all the monsters in Ryute Village. It was only a matter of time until the murky sky began to clear and the crack in the sky sealed itself.
"Yes! We held off the wave!" the armored men cheered. "Glory to the Sword Hero!"
Cloud grimaced and turned away from the celebrating men to observe the damage done to the village. The damage was too extensive. It was going to take a long time to repair and fix everything, not to mention the amount of people that died. Cloud pushed past the celebrating men and walked over to a crying little girl. She was desperately clawing through a pile of debris but didn't seem to make any progress. Cloud knelt down onto the ground and dug through the wreckage along with the girl. Eventually, he found what the girl was looking for: a small straw doll. It was practically black from the soot, but Cloud picked the thing up and handed it to the girl. She took the doll from Cloud as she began to cry softly.
"Don't worry. The monsters are gone." Cloud assured. The girl nodded and ran off to join the other villagers in the area. The blond stood up and began to walk away from everyone else in the village.
"W-wait, Sword Hero!" one of the men shouted behind Cloud. The sound of them running after Cloud was accompanied by squeaking metal. "Where are you going!? You must return to the Capital so that the king can finally reward you for your bravery!"
"That was a one time gig," Cloud replied without a hint of emotion in his voice. He didn't even bother to look back to address them. "I don't care about your king or who this 'Sword Hero' is. We're done here."
"Wha-" This time, the armored men stood in place as Cloud walked away from them. He saw no reason to stick around, not when he would have to answer to some sort of higher power. That was why he left Shinra in the first place. Also, he wasn't paid in advance to defend Ryute Village. He suddenly found himself teleported there.
"Now, where am I supposed to go next?" Cloud asked out loud as he stood on top of a hill overlooking an empty plain.
If the chaos from when the heroes were first summoned were bad enough, then the way the kingdom of Melromarc reacted when they had finally found the Sword Hero was twice as bad. The fact that he had suddenly appeared after days of being missing and suddenly disappearing again sent the kingdom into chaos once more. The banquet, while certainly large and grand to celebrate holding off the Wave, was not as joyful and energetic as hoped. For one, a certain man with a shield was the subject of everyone's disdain. Additionally, the King and his subjects were busy trying to locate the Sword Hero. Word had spread outside of Melromarc that the Sword Hero had finally made an appearance. The order was given out to post posters everywhere in the kingdom and its territories that had the Sword Hero's sketch on it.
'Be on the lookout for the Sword Hero. He has spiky blond hair, blue eyes, and carries a sword as tall as a fully grown man. If you see him, alert the authorities immediately.'
Unfortunately, or fortunately, it was going to take time and energy to spread the word, not to mention that they had to deal with the Shield Hero and the fact that he had a slave with him.
Yup. This was going to be an interesting era for this world.