Ever since what happened with Quizilla, I've been wanting to repost this story on here for safe keeping. They deleted everything, but gave it back a while after. I'm also xAkinaxChanx from there. This also was the first story I ever written.

Edit 6/16/15: Upon reading bits and pieces of past chapters, I feel another edit is needed. I mostly want to change the formatting to match the more recent chapters, but if possible, I would like to add a little more in conversation wise, just like last time. Some things may even be changed, though it won't be too drastic. If you continue during this period, you will see how things are clogged together.

And as a heads up, this story is written in 2nd person, although the beginning is in 3rd, it will be one of the only times that will happen.

Disclaimer: This rightfully belongs to Square Enix, while I only own my OC.

Screams were heard in the entrance of town as a pair of guards were killed by a group monsters. The few villagers who witnessed this gruesome scene had run away as fast as they could to warn the chief of the oncoming danger. Unfortunately, they were killed before they could even move several feet away, with the monsters brutally tearing their limbs off, ridding them to a bloody mess. As a couple of the monsters stayed to feed on the bodies, the rest advanced into the town, wildly killing anyone in sight.

A couple of the guards who were currently passing by on patrol on the inner part of town saw this, and wasted no time in sending someone to tell the chief of the assault while the other guards fought. A young guard in training, no older than thirteen, ran like a blur to the village head. In no more than a minute or two of running, he made it to his office, breathing haggardly.

"Sir, the northern entrance is under attack!"

The chief looked up from his paperwork to the young boy in his doorway. "By what?"

"A group of monsters! More than a dozen of 'em sir!" The guard answered quickly, urgently, and the chief's eyes widened. Rising from the desk, he put on his cloak, and reached for the sword leaning behind him against the wall.

"Go try to catch up with the troops, and bring them back. There's still a chance they haven't gotten further than the outskirts of town," he ordered him as he grabbed his sword, and made for the door.

"Yes sir!" The young guard saluted the man as he left the room before scrambling out the door as well.

The moment the chief came outside, the many screams of terror, pain, and agony coming from the northern side of town faintly reached his ears, and only grew in volume as the seconds passed. Wasting no more time, he rushed towards that direction while unsheathing his sword. As he left, several guards from other parts of the village joined him, both flanking his sides and following behind. Once the chief got there, he grimaced, horrified at what he was seeing. Blood and mutilated corpses covered the ground. And as he took in more of the sight, he realized that nearly all the people in the northern part of the town were either torn to ruin, or partially eaten.

Fury took to the chief and his men... this rage clouded the better judgement of one of his guards. A young man in has late teens, let out a cry of grief, causing the monsters to lift their heads from feeding to look at the new arrivals. With the man's sword at his side, he charged the horde.

"Cale, no!" Another man shouted before running after his comrade.

The chief gritted his teeth at the reckless display, and all but winced as one of the monsters dived for Cale, biting into his side. The guard jabbed his blade at the beast, lodging it in its side, but he was already too slow in acting, and it costed him. The guard that ran after Cale caught up, and delivered a blow to the creature's head, though the injury was shallow. The chief and the rest of his men immediately came to their aid. With the monster's gnaws firmly clamped on the man, it pulled back, releasing heavy flows of blood from him. The man known as Cale dropped to his knees, and fell forward into the dirt as the assault between guard and monster continued.

The chief's eyes narrowed in anger as he stabbed the one that caused the death in the side, making it roar in pain. The creature clawed at him, and he moved back, missing the fatal attack. As the battle went on, in the background, a handful of monsters from one side of town made way to the other, and almost instantly, more disturbing sounds ran through the air. The village head called out some of the guards names. "Go and save who you can! The rest of you, stay here!" He barked before hitting his sword against the flank of a monster, knocking it to the ground.

"Sir!" Swiftly, they took their leave, and disappeared around the corner of the building where the monsters darted past mere moments earlier.

Continuing the attack with the remainder of his men, the guards gradually succumbed one by one as the battle persisted. They held their own as best as they could, but as time went by, their energy began depleting. How much longer would it take for reinforcements to arrive? Perhaps he misjudged how fast the ShinRa troops could arrive at designated areas, so maybe they already were too far out of reach. If that was the case, then the hope of the town was lost.

Regardless of this, the chief would continue to fight until the end.

Gutting one on his sword, he lifted it in the air before swinging the beast down upon another, bringing them both to crumple to the dirt. A monster took this chance to jump at the chief from behind, biting deeply into the man's shoulder. With a grunt, he turned his blade backwards, forcing the weapon all the way through the chest of the beast. Just as he did that, two more lunged at him at once, and ripped into his skin, killing him. At this point, the monsters had overrun about two thirds of the village.

A far off scream of a woman was heard in a house some distance away. It was in the direction the men the chief had sent ran too.

Although this scream was not due to the attack, but for an entirely different reason...

"Come on, just a little more!" A young man urged, holding his pregnant wife's hand.

"I don't think I can do this in ti-" she was cut off by her own scream, and tightly squeezed his hand. Panting, several beads of sweat rolled down her forehead.

"Just a little more, I can see the head!" He told her, tightening his grip around her hand as well. In reply, she only let out another sound of pain as she gave another push. When it subsided, the sound of a baby crying filled the room. "Almost there!" He continued to urge her, and with one final push, the baby was out. They could hear the terrified shrieks and cries of the villagers getting closer which meant they didn't have much time left. But even so, the parents still tried to make the best out of the moment while it lasted, be it as brief as it was. They were finally parents!

"It's a girl." The father smiled lovingly at his daughter before handing her to his wife.

"She's beautiful," the woman panted, looking at her baby with gentle, kind eyes. Not too long after that was said, the front door began to get clawed at.

The man cursed under his breath before moving to lift his wife up, carrying her as she cradled the baby in her arms, close to her chest. He ran for the back of the house to the storage room, and closed the door. Moving to gently set her on a table, he murmured. "I'm going to fight. Stay here and hide. If it becomes safe enough, leave while you can... I'll try to buy you some time,"

The woman fiercly shook her head. "No, don't go! It's far too dangerous to-"

"If it means you both get to be of this world longer, then I will do what needs to be done."

Gazing up at the man in quiet thought, the tears that were already gathered at her eyes trailed down her cheeks. "There's really no way I can change your mind, is there?"

The man stared at her for a moment before muttering an apology. He then leaned in and brought his lips to hers softly before dipping his head down to kiss his daughter's forehead. The baby seemed to smile at his touch, which caused him to somberly mirror the expression.

Observing the interaction, she felt a small tug of a smile pull at her lips. "Before you go, you should at least help choose her name. What should we name her?"

The man gave a low hum of thought at that. "How about that one we considered a few weeks back?" He pondered for a few moments, searching for the one name of many they thought about. "...Mekina."

"Mekina..." the mother repeated, testing out the name. "It really is a pretty name, isn't it?" She asked, wrapping her arms more securely around the baby.

"That it is," the man agreed with a nod of his head. "So that's a yes?" He then rested a hand on the infant's head, softly running a thumb along her temple. Thinking on it a couple seconds longer, she soon smiled up at him, and nodded as well.

"Then Mekina it is." He smiled at the babe once again for a long moment, then looked back up at the woman. "If I don't come back, remember that I love you both... with all my heart," he mumbled softly before kissing his beloved one last time. A few more seconds passed until he hesitantly removed his hand from Mekina's head. He then turned away so he wouldn't see the tears threatening to break from the woman's eyes again, and walked to the door with his sword in hand.

"I love you, too," she said sullenly as she watched the man leave the room.

Once he closed and locked the door, she looked around for anything to hide the newborn in, and eventually, her eyes landed on a crate in the corner of the room.

Soon removing her necklace, she stared at it for a moment as tears fell freely down her cheeks. She put it around Mekina's neck before placing her in the crate, and leaned in, giving her a soft kiss on the forehead. And for a long moment, she lingered, knowing that this very well may be the first and last time she had the chance of being with her child. Pulling back, the woman then looked around the room for some parchment and something to write with. Once found, she began to write.

Mekina,

As long as you have this necklace, you may be able to retrace who, and what, you are. Please keep it close to you, for when you do find out the truth, it may be your safety object to remember that you are not alone. I'm so sorry that our time together was short, but know this - know that your parents love you, Mekina. Know that we always have, and always will.

When she finished, she placed the paper gently on her baby, and slowly reached for the top of the crate, but stopped herself.

Sticking her hands into the crate, she tucked the small blanket around her baby, making sure she was snug. Resting her hand along her daughter's head, she watched her daughter through glassy eyes as her thumb gently moved in small strokes against Mekina's cheek. Murmuring to the child her love for her, she finally moved her hands back, and closed the crate as a loud grunt came from the other room her beloved was in. The sound was soon followed by a thud, then silence.

She knew what just happened.

Wiping at her tears with the back of a hand, she looked around, searching for anything to use as a weapon. Her eyes soon rested on a short pole in the corner about three feet away from her. The woman grabbed it, and now waited for the monsters to break the door down.

Rubbing her eyes once again, she shakily rose into a defensive stance in front of the crate, holding the pole tightly in both hands as she waited uneasily for them to rip the door apart and attack. The young woman listened intently as many things in the house were being ripped apart, and after about one or two more minutes, the door began to break. Two monsters broke in within seconds and charged towards her. Wasting no time, she swung her pole down, striking one in the head as the other bit deeply into her leg, causing her to scream and drop to the wooden floor.

And a few seconds later, she laid covered in her own blood as they tore through her.

...

In a cold sweat, you woke up with a racing heart between your ribcage. That made the sixth time you had this dream.

Why do I even still get it if it happened so long ago, anyway? Frowning, you reached up a hand to your forehead, and wiped at it with the back of your wrist. Glancing down at your necklace, you then let your hand lower to lightly grasp it. After a moment of letting pieces of the dream run through your mind, you looked to the clock with distant eyes that soon became wide. 8:16!? I'm supposed to be there in twenty four minutes! Jumping out of bed and running to your closet, you pulled out some clothes and tossed them on the bed before going into the bathroom to start on the morning routine.

When done, you left the bathroom and hastily put on the clothes of choice resting on the bed, then combed your fingers through your hair, trying to get rid of the bed head appearance. When you felt decent enough, you darted out of the apartment and glanced at your watch, realizing you only had about twenty minutes left. If you missed this, then your chances of becoming SOLDIER would be gone until next year. You couldn't let that happen. Quickening your pace to a sprint when you got outside, you made a beeline straight for ShinRa HQ.

...

Panting heavily, you entered the massive building, and received strange stares from the few people near the entrance of the room. Trying to ignore the looks, you ran over to the front desk.

"Hello, how may I help you?" The woman asked kindly as you tried to collect yourself enough to speak in even breaths.

"Could you tell me where they're recruiting SOLDIER, please?"

She answered without hesitation, noticing the time. "It's on the 49th floor. Once there, go in the hallway leading to the right. Keep going straight, and you should be there," she smiled, which you returned.

"Thanks," you gave her a little salute before running off toward the elevator.

Somehow managing to squeeze into the cramped room, you waited impatiently for your floor. You glanced at your watch again. Two more minutes, but I can still make it though! ...Hopefully. The ding noise interrupted your thoughts, and you exited the elevator, going into a sprint. Right hallway, keep going straight. Well this is easy, you smiled. Soon seeing the doors straight ahead, you tried to slow down before colliding into them, but sadly failed. You hit the doors, and fell on the floor with a loud thud. And, once again, everyone near the entrance stared at you. Some snickered while others watched with a quiet look of amusement.

On a brighter note, and lucky for you, you seemed to be on time since lots of people were still standing around, conversing with one another. But on the downside, you noticed how much eyes were on you which made your face begin to faintly heat up. You also noticed how a couple of people on the far side of the room had their heads turned, facing your direction, which was a bit odd. With all the noise going on from excited recruits, they shouldn't have been able to really see or hear what you just did. When you examined them more closely, you realized they were wearing 1st class uniforms.

Of course the 1sts would hear the noise, what with their enhanced hearing and all... Needless to say, this made you feel even more embarrassed. Way to go, Mekina. Now just try to blend in somewhere in the back...

And you did just that, going deeper into the room, successfully hiding within the crowd of eager and nervous teenagers and young adults. After finding your way to a wall, you let out a relieved sigh while pressing against it. There was about a hundred or so people in the room, and you had managed to get near the back. A half smile made way to your face, happy that you got away from the people who saw your little scene. Leaning back against the hard surface, a couple more minutes of waiting passed until the President finally entered the room. All of you quieted down, listening attentively to what he had to say in order for you to join SOLDIER.