The Journal
The morning sunlight falling on his face woke Desmond up slowly from his sleep. He stretched himself on the bed before huffing out a breath and got up yawning. He put on his shoes and grabbed his jacket walking out of the room. He saw Tifa's door open and she came out yawning, hair messed up, then Cloud and Ace's walked out talking about what to have for breakfast.
Cloud mumbled, "I still have a cinnamon stick on me. If I get some of the Pine tree tops from those smaller pine trees out there I can make tea for us."
Ace smiled, "Sounds good, I'll see if I can round up some rabbits or something to have for breakfast. We can make stew out of it or roast it and have it with toasted bread."
Tifa tried to control her hair, "I can't believe you actually packed so many bread. That's like the seventh loaf of bread you took out."
Ace shrugged, "No such thing as too little bread."
Tifa grinned before lighting up, "How about we make pot roasted rabbit? We got a nice bottle of mead yesterday."
Desmond hummed, "Not a bad idea. But first let's catch some rabbits and wash up. I noticed some coming into the backyard garden from the window earlier."
Cloud, "Yeah? How many?"
Desmond, "At least three, there might be more if we are careful when catching them."
Tifa lit up, "Then, let's go get some rabbits!"
Tifa, Cloud and Desmond went to catch the rabbits while Ace stayed back to search for some utensils in the kitchen. Much to Ace's surprise there were quite a number of cutlery and cooking ware left in the kitchen shelves that were collecting a lot of dust but useable. He went to the stream that was located not so far from the mansion to get water, they could use to wash and cook the rabbit and if he got lucky then maybe he could catch a fish or two. Unfortunately there were no fish seen in the stream so he just got a few buckets of water and washed the utensils needed by them in the sink while he waited for the others to return.
Desmond meanwhile used his lightning materia to release a small static burst to paralyse around four rabbits, Tifa had found the fourth one in the backyard. Cloud went to collect the rabbits and with Tifa's help started prep them to cook. Desmond went to check the perimeter for monsters before cleaning up in the stream and returning with a bowl that Ace had given him while he was collecting water. He then directed Tifa and Cloud to the stream to wash up as he took the meat to the kitchen.
Desmond, "I found some wild tomatoes, onion and chillies growing outside in the back."
Ace, "He he he he! I found a bottle of sea salt in one of the shelves, the spices are completely done for however."
Desmond grinned, "Good enough for us, pity there aren't any more vegetables."
Tifa walked in with a towel she was using for her wet face, "Vegetables? Are those tomatoes and onions? Where did you get that? They are so pricey in the market!"
Cloud nodded curiously, his mother only brought tomatoes and onions during special occasions. Like birthdays to make savoury dishes. He also noticed they looked smaller than the ones he saw in the market.
Desmond pointed at the veggies, "These were growing wild in the greenhouse. I'm guessing it was warm enough for it to grow in there."
Cloud, "Ah!"
Tifa just nodded before moving to help Ace make the pot roast rabbit while Desmond got the table cleaned up and Cloud prepared tea. The four of them worked together and soon sat down to have breakfast. They chatted about what they saw in the backyard, the stream, last night's fights and made plans to visit the reactor again later. They wanted to see what is behind that one door that was left unchecked last night. Desmond relaxed as he let the chatter wash over him and the four of them finished breakfast. Desmond cleaned up the dishes with Cloud while Tifa dried them and Ace cleaned the table.
Desmond nodded once they were cleaned, "Now that we have eaten and drank, let's check this place out. We know the second floor has only bedrooms and a library while this floor has a dining area, drawing room and kitchen with a large ballroom out in front. So that leaves the attic and the basement."
Ace held his hand, "I vote that we go to the attic. There is nothing much down here to look at so most of the stuff is probably up there and most probably in the basement."
Tifa agreed, "That makes sense. Let's go to the top and check everything while coming down."
Cloud, "I agree! We might find something interesting there. I also want to see if there are any good books there we can take. The library is literally empty except for a few notes here and there about Nibel flora and fauna."
Desmond nodded, "We got a plan then let's go to the attic."
The four of them searched a way to get to the attic and found an old fashioned roof ladder at the end of the hallway upstairs. They climbed up to the attic one by one to see it was mostly bare except for some trunks that were there.
Tifa, "Wonder what's in them!"
Cloud opened one trunk, "Toys! Huh! I didn't know the people living here had a kid."
Tifa perked over his shoulder, "These are baby toys. Look at that rattle and the teddy bear."
Ace opened another, "What's this? Children story books, 'The Tales of the Southern Pirates', 'Tales of Cetra', etc etc. I wonder how many children they had."
Desmond opened the last trunk, this one had smaller boxes inside.
Desmond took out one box and opened it, "These are dress clothes. Probably belonged to the adults that lived here."
Tifa looked at the empty attic, "I wonder what happened here. These are really good quality stuff which means they were rich. Did they move out? No they would have sold the mansion if they did. Hmm!"
Cloud quietly said, "Maybe what happened to Dad happened to them."
Ace looked disturbed, "That's a good possibility."
Desmond looked around just in case they missed something like a hidden compartment and found one, "Oh! What's this?"
The three huddled behind Desmond as he removed the wooden piece and looked inside. It had a book in it making them wonder what made it different.
Desmond read the first page, "This diary is the property of Ifalna Faremis. Wife of Gast Faremis the head of research in Nibelheim. Cloud I think, we got something that can help us figure out what happened to your Dad."
Cloud looked at the diary, "You think so?"
Desmond nodded, "This looks like a personal diary. People never lie in personal diaries. But we won't read it here. Let's go downstairs first."
The four of them went downstairs curious about what they will learn from the diary. They decided to go to the library and get comfortable and decided Desmond would tell them what is written there.
Desmond flipped to the first entry, "Dear journal,
My husband and I moved to a quaint place called Nibelheim. It's a very lovely town and although the citizens were wary first, they warmed up to me after a few months. I will admit, I was reluctant to leave North Corel, however, it turns out, I'm pregnant with our first child. And as much as I love my home I need better facilities for my firstborn. So here I am now, in this little town on the lovely snow capped mountains. I love this place and the people. What I don't like however is the assistant Hojo and his wife. Their child is barely four years old and he is experimenting on him while she just abandoned him as a baby. The poor boy."
Cloud and Tifa who were smiling turned pale at the end. They couldn't imagine their parents treating them that way.
Desmond however turned to another page, "Dear journal,
Today, I met one of the Turks present here who is helping me take care of the poor boy. His name is Storm Miles, I had asked him why his attitude was different than the others towards the four year old boy. He told me he had a baby son himself with his lovely wife and could not imagine doing what these people were doing to Sephiroth. He also suspected that the poor child was his late friend's son despite the fact the blood test showed Hojo and his wife Lucretia as the parents. I suspect the experiments."
Ace frowned, "I get the feeling your Dad's death may not have been isolated Cloud."
Cloud looked at Ace, "You think so?"
Ace, "I'm having a few suspicions."
Desmond continued reading the next entry, "Dear Journal
I fear for my and my husband's life, but I mostly fear for my daughter. She is barely two years old. Storm told me, he suspected his friend was murdered before he was transferred here. He told me to be careful before giving me a Cure Materia and he left for the night. He warned me not to trust Hojo no matter what, because he suspects Hojo might be planning to kill my husband, Gast. I worry for the future."
Ace, "So Uncle was suspicious of something that happened here and he suspected Hojo."
Tifa frowned, "Do you think that's why, he was killed?"
Cloud looked down, "Maybe! Read the next one please."
Destiny turned a few pages before coming across another entry, "Dear Journal,
I just found out something horrible, my husband was killed when he went to the Northern Crater with Hojo and my friend, Miles was fighting against monsters that suspiciously escaped from the lab. They shouldn't have escaped at all, I checked the security myself. I fear someone released them and left the door leading towards the town open. Miles was visibly upset when they brought more monsters again and Hojo forced Sephiroth to kill them. I have also noticed the Professor is getting displeased with Miles every time he objects. I fear for our lives with that man around."
There was silence when Desmond finished reading that entry. They did not know what to say to that entry.
Desmond decided to carry on instead, "Dear Journal,
My only friend was killed today. They say, it was an accident but I know better. Miles was getting close to finding proof that Hojo was a murderer who killed his friend and now, he is dead. I can't stay here, it is too dangerous. I have no doubt Hojo found out my two year old daughter and I are Cetra or Ancients, as he calls our kind. We, that is my daughter and I need to leave tonight when everyone is distracted. This is my last entry and to anyone who finds this journal. I only give this warning: Beware of Hojo."
Cloud got up and walked out of the library. Ace followed after him, Tifa looked after them worried but sat where she was knowing she would not be of much help. Desmond gave a sigh before getting up and holding the journal close to him. Tifa opened her mouth but did not know what to say to make things better. That was a very depressing and heart breaking to learn about.
Desmond, "I suspected that my Uncle may have been killed, to have it confirmed no matter how indirectly is... "
Tifa spoke quietly, "Do you need a moment? I can go make some tea for us."
Desmond smiled a little, "I think, we are gonna need some tea."
Tifa nodded and hurried to the kitchen to prepare some for all of them. Her nerves were frayed just by listening to the entries and she needed to calm down as well. She wondered how she was going to tell her Dad about this. More importantly, she was worried about her friends, yes, after fighting together, Ace and Desmond were now her friends. She hoped she can support them should they need it.
Tifa took a deep breath, breathing in the refreshing pine aroma, 'This is not about me. I will have to be strong for them.'