The one where we go to space.

So, yeah, I had to fight Ultima again because there’s no save point in Cloud’s Subconscious, but oh well. I planned for that!

In the depth of the Lifestream, Tifa and Cloud are forced to figure out the truth about Cloud’s past. Despite trying to go to one of three paths, Tifa decides the best place to start is Nibelheim, five years ago. This is the shortest of the branches as it only replays the entrance part from Cloud’s Kalm flashback. It confirms that Sephiroth showed us the truth as Cloud is nowhere to be found, replaced by the man with Black Hair. Tifa even confirms this as well by saying, Cloud was never there. She even waited for him.

The second part is Tifa and Cloud giving developers commentary over their Well flashback from Seventh Heaven. Cloud’s request came out of nowhere for Tifa. He thought she’d blow him off since she hated him. All Cloud wanted was to be Tifa’s friend and get her attention, and that's why he went to Midgar to join SOLDIER.

The third branch is a memory only Cloud has from when they were young kids. On the day Tifa’s mother died, she went to cross Mt. Nibel because she thought that’s where dead people went when they died. Cloud was the only person who stayed with her, even as she fell from a cliff, he was blamed for bringing her out there, and Tifa spent a week in a coma while Cloud was unharmed. There’s a quote from when Cloud fell through the church roof here about skinned knees.

The first scene prooves that Cloud is broken, the second prooves that Cloud and Tifa share some memories, the third proves that Cloud wasn’t made five years ago. He existed before the Incident. Somewhere in his psyche is a real Cloud.

This next fourth scene answers all of our questions. The short story is, Cloud WAS there during the Nibelheim Incident, just not as the lead character. He was the lone infantryman who accompanied the party we saw during the flashbacks. He hid his face because of the shame of promising Tifa he’d join SOLDIER and failing. The real lead was Zack. Everything Cloud recalled was from the point of his friend Zack. We also learn that it was Zack who attacked Sephiroth in front of Jenova but failed to give any damage. Cloud sees Zack fly out of the room, moves Tifa to the aide, and, as he picks up the Buster Sword, Zach fells him to kill Sephiroth. Cloud is then able to get a sneak attack in on Sephiroth, leaving him wounded. Cloud walks out of the room with the goal of saving his childhood crush only for Sephiroth to walk out past him, holding Jenova’s head for some reason. Cloud gives chase only to be stabbed through with the Masamune. A, what I imagine, surge of emotion allows Cloud to get the upper hand. Cloud saw his home burnt down, mother killed, friend wounded, and love on the verge of death. Combining those experiences with a wounded Sephiroth, he’s able to turn the fight around and throw Sephiroth into the bottom of the reactor and into the Lifestream.

All of these new revelations allow Cloud to learn that he’s not a fake, he’s real, and is his own person. The personas floating around the Lifestream return to the body, and our heroes float back to the surface. They’re found by the rest of the party soon after and wake up in the ruined Mideel. Reunited at last, minus the white mage, Cloud tells the others the truth, apologizes, promises to save the world, and is re given the role of leader.

Before carrying on, I return to Nibelheim, as there's a secret scene there.  It shows how Cloud and Zack survived the Incident. Hojo brought them back to the basement, and, a year later, during feeding time, Zack beat up the caretaker, and the two left the town. Despite Cloud practically being brain dead, Zack carries him all the way to Midgar, byway of hitchhiking. There’s a scene that shows how cool and charismatic Zack is while alluding to his girlfriend. Thanks to the FFVII prequel, Crisis Core, we know this girlfriend to be Aerith. So this confirms the scene in Gongaga, as well. At some point after that, Zack is killed by the Shinra army, and Cloud is left to die. As the camera pans up, we see Midgar just a short distance away. So Zack and Cloud were experimented on by Hojo with Jenova Cells, causing Cloud, a lowly infantryman, to be able to perform actions like that of a  SOLDIER elite. I've always assumed there was some cell transfer between the two while in the science jars, some Zack got into Cloud and vice versa, but this is unconfirmed. 

While in the town, I visit Tifa's house to get her level four limit, and, after playing her theme on her piano, find a letter addressed to her. It's from her instructor Zangan and it relates to how she survived the Nibelheim Incidnet. Zangan, after fruitlessly trying to save people from the fires, also went up to the Mako Reactor. There he saw the aftermath, and decided to try to save Tifa over anyone else. It makes sense, Tifa being his student after all, while Cloud and Zack being nobodies to him. He picked up Tifa, hid from Hojo (who picked up the SOLDIERS), and took her to Midgar. Besides telling Tifa his body has gotten old and is confused how the town is standing, gives no further details of himself, or Tifa's recovery.

Before that flashback, Cait Sith informed us that the next location we should go to is the underwater reactor in Junon. It’s a short dungeon where we have staged fights with Shinra infantry until we meet with Reno. We don’t fight Reno, but he sicks a giant robot on us who might be the easiest boss in the game. A few Blue Mage Trines and some Electric Swords dwindle it’s HP quickly. We then gain a few MISC items and hijack a submarine filled with some old friends from the Junon disguise section. I let them live. However, I don’t let the sub that has the Huge Materia on it live and sink it in 10 seconds in the submarine mini-game. It’s a fun game, and I look forward to replaying it in the Gold Saucer.

With submarine in hand, I explore the underwater bits of Gaea. There's a sunken airplane named The Galenka with loads of treasure and enemies I can't yet beat. I did manage to beat up the Turks, steal their gear, and loot all the treasures. I find Yuffie's best weapon, Cid's Level Four Limit, the Hades Summon, and an assortment of other stuff.

The next plot location is back in Rocket Town. Another short section, but we go FREAKIN’ SPACE!!! This rocket was supposed to be filled with Huge Materia and rammed into Meteor, hopefully destroying it. Instead, we stole it all, and the ship harmlessly crashes. Were we the bad guys in this? Besides ruining Shinra’s plan to save the world, there’s a scene where Cid learns that Shera was correct, and the oxygen tank was bugged. So bugged, it explodes onto him. Cloud and Tifa are unable to free him, but Shera is, for reasons, nearby and is able to provide the muscle needed to lift the steel off Cid. Shera, a scientist, is able to add strength necessary to move something that a genetically enhanced SOLDIER and trained martial artist couldn't alone... After this, Cid apologizes and begins to treat Shera better. They don’t have any more scenes in the game, so I can only surmise to the extent. The four of them get into the escape pos, Cid nerds out being in space, and the party lands safely somewhere and is picked up by the Highwind. Everyone opts to go to Cosmo Canyon, which is NOT where I went first.

I added Vincent to my team for the first actual time and explored his backstory. Using the submarine, I find a small waterfall which, if you take the emo vampire to, reveals the truth about Sephiroth. Once upon a time, Vincent was in the Turks. He fell in love with a woman named Lucrecia, who wound up impregnated by Professor Gast. Hojo experimented on the woman and her baby with Jenova Cella. Lucrecia reveals her guilt, and we tell her that her son is dead. It just occurred to me that Sephiroth and Aerith are half-siblings. AHHhHhH!!  Also, Vincent was sleeping right next to where all the stuff in Nibelheim happened. Did no one bother to check the room next door at any point?

The last thing I did was finish Yuffie’s plot. I climbed the pagoda, which houses great warriors from the city. It's there we beat up Yufie's dad, gain the Leviathan Summon (the only water attack in the game), and learned Yuffie is, indeed, her father’s daughter. He, too, has a thing for materia. There was also a tradition vs strength thing, bit Yuffie sicks, and I didn't pay attention. Wutai is a strange place. It used to be a world power until it got beat by Shinra, and now it's a tourist town. While many people are okay with the present state of things, many want it changed/returned back. Some want to return to traditional reverence of the water god and Da-Chao, while others, like Yuffie, believe power by any means necessary are keys to Wutai's future. I also finished exploring the mountain range near Wutai to pick up the Steal-As-Well Materia and a weapon for Yuffie that already obsolete. I could have done the Pagoda part the first time, but, because of the Job Blass system, would have very hard. Now, however, it was EZ-PZ.

Tomorrow, I continue with the plot and return to Cosmo Canyon and see what happens after and maybe, start creating the ultimate Chocobo.