Taking Hearts, Breaking Limits (Persona 5 Royal x Final Fantasy VII)

I

4/21 - Thursday - Morning

"Cloud? Where are you right now?"

Those were the first words he heard when he answered his phone. Tifa was always wondering where he went whenever he'd go out for a drive. She'd worry that he'd drive off somewhere far and get into danger again. But deep down inside, she knew where he was. She just needed reassurance.

"Don't worry, I'm at the usual spot," Cloud said. "What's up?"

"Someone called in for a delivery. Thought you might wanna know." Tifa replied.

"I'll be back in a while." he assured her.

They said their goodbyes and he hung up the phone call. He put his cellphone back into one of his pockets and let out a sigh.

I guess I'll just make this quick, he thought.

He would go out at least once or twice a week. He'd get on his motorcycle, Fenrir, and drive away from his home without letting anyone know. The people close to him knew, but they didn't bother to ask why he'd go out. They knew where he was going, and they didn't wanna bother him.

A few minutes passed and he arrived at his destination. It was a church, hidden in the depths of the Sector 5 slums, one of the many sectors of Midgar, a massive metal structure separated into eight different sectors that used to be powered by the life force of the planet. Midgar used to be his home. His new home was down below Midgar; the city of Edge.

About two years ago, someone named Sephiroth summoned a meteor that almost destroyed the planet. His goal was to make the meteor crash onto the planet. If that happened, it would sever the planet so badly, that the Lifestream, the lifeforce of the planet, would converge onto the place the meteor crashed and attempt to fix it. Then Sephiroth would stand into the Lifestream, absorbing everything, and ascend into the cosmos to destroy everything, like his "mother".

His plan would have come to fruition if Cloud and his friends didn't stop him. Two years have passed since then, but just about two months ago, he had to go through another ordeal. As time went by after the meteor, a mysterious disease has started spreading. The disease was known as Geostigma, and it was caused by Sephiroth's genes that have not been able to become one with the Lifestream as his body contained alien materials from JENOVA, an extraterrestrial life-form.

At one point, three people called the Remnants appeared. Their names were Yazoo, Loz, and Kadaj. Apparently they were remnants of Sephiroth's will that have manifested into physical form, hence the name. Their goal was unclear, but it seemed like they were trying to initiate the Reunion, a scientific theory positing that JENOVA's cells, once separated, will seek to reunite and return to the main body, influencing the minds of creatures they have been implanted in to do so, hence becoming whole again. Fortunately, Cloud was able to stop it.

It's only been months, but to Cloud, it feels like years have passed by. He and Tifa usually remained the same; take care of Denzel and Marlene, the 7th Heaven bar, and Cloud's delivery service. His friends have been up to their own thing. Barret was going out a lot, occasionally coming back to Edge to visit his daughter. Yuffie was back in Wutai doing who-knows-what. Vincent decided to reside in Kalm. Red XIII and Cait Sith were with Cid, flying high in the Shera, an airship. Probably traveling or something. 

I wonder what they're up to, Cloud would wonder sometimes.

He couldn't really do anything about it, but he'd sometimes wonder if he should get a life of his own someday, one that doesn't include being a delivery man for the rest of his life. But he didn't really care. His delivery business got him good income anyway, and there's nothing else he can really do. He was content with it.