Chapter 7: New Friends In The Province

Ramiel was currently training with Alexandra in the woods. And it was pretty intense, Ramiel knew that progress in project Minerva was going to be tidbits only. So he focused on himself, mainly in the Materia part of his body.

Ramiel was able to create Materia, namely the confu one. And he channeled his Mako with his Cetra genes to use cura on Alexandra in the past. But what his true goal was. Is to create micro materia in his blood.

His experiments began with trying to consolidate the Mako in his body. So he could turn them into the Materia that he wanted. But it was easier said than done.

He was able to make regular sized Materia. The size of tennis balls or so, but it only got harder when he tried making it smaller. The smallest he was able to get was the size of a marble. And there are tons of different Materia to use.

Just like the one he is using right now with his sister. Gravity type Materia, he needed to experiment with it a lot. And it took a few months for him to not increase g's on them hundreds of times. Or they'll definitely go splat on the ground.

"Hah, hah, let's take a break. This is pretty intense." Ramiel could feel his body reach its limits. And Alexandra was also trying her damndest to keep up with him.

"Yes, let's. I can feel my blood pool on my legs, Nii-sama. My organs are straining as well from the increased gravity." Alexandra breathed in deep as she contracted the muscles on her legs so all the blood in her legs would return to her heart.

"But you can definitely feel the burn, it's also very intensive for our Mako reserves." Ramiel smiled at her as they were hitting two birds with one stone. They were also able to train the gravity Materia. So it could scale with their strength later.

While he was having some rest with his sister, he tried creating Materia again that was smaller than a marble. One of his ultimate goals were to replace his blood with neutral Materia and change it to what he wanted in a heartbeat.

Turning his lifeblood into Mako or pure lifestream will just take time. But trying to make neutral Materia that could change with his whim is insanely difficult. Not only did he not know how, but the smallest he could make them was also the size of marbles.

"Damn it, this is hard. Wait a minute, Ifalna said that I feel like a Cetra. Maybe she could help with this?" Ramiel tried going to the woman and asked for some help.

"Ifalna-san is a very helpful individual, nii-sama. You can definitely ask her for some guidance." Alexandra remembered that Ifalna uses her powers for the village.

So he looked for the brunette and saw that she was helping the village folk in their crops. "Ifalna-san, can I please ask a question?" Ramiel went up to her and the lady smiled at him.

"What is it, Ramiel?" Ifalna knew that sooner or later, he would be asking something about the Cetra. And she was expecting him for some time now.

"If you could rate me, how am I in controlling Mako and the lifestream?" Ramiel began manipulating the Mako inside him and tried to copy what she was doing earlier. Make some plants grow healthy.

He was successful, but he knew that there were glaring flaws in his technique and control. As he felt that he wasted too much energy. Unlike Ifalna that can do it effortlessly.

"Hmmm, based on your age. I'll say that you're the best manipulator of the lifestream that I have seen. But when compared to adults though, you're still pretty far away." As the last Cetra, she was privy to the information on how Jenova was sealed. And her people that banded together to do the feat were amazing in controlling the lifestream.

"I see, I knew it. But I don't quite have an idea on how to be more efficient and effective in trying to manipulate the lifestream." Ramiel got into deep thought and Ifalna chuckled at him.

"Look at you, trying to do everything on your own. I could teach you if you would like. But it will have to be a couple of years later down the line." Ifalna informed him and Ramiel raised a brow.

"Why a few years though? I don't quite have the time to wait for that long in order to start. Things are getting dicey. And when we reach puberty, we'll likely be in a war against Wutai." Ramiel tried getting her to expound further.

"It's pretty simple, your body is still immature. I don't know how you're able to contain so much Mako. But it's doing a number on your soul. You have great tenacity. Even Cetras would have gone insane with the amount you have on you." Ifalna frowned and thought that the Jenova project was really despicable.

"It doesn't explain why you won't teach me though?" Ramiel was impatient and Ifalna shushed him.

"I was getting to that, your body is a container for Mako. Everyone has a part of the lifestream in them. But imagine a metal cylinder that gets pressurized a lot with gas. When it opens up, it releases tons of pressure." Ifalna gave a pretty simple analogy.

"So I just simply lack control right now?" Ramiel thought that he was leaking a lot of energy whenever he tried manipulating the lifestream.

"Un, give it time I would say. It's probably because your body is still immature. And it isn't the end of the world if you aren't perfect in using our powers." Ifalna cheered him up and smiled at him.

"Thanks... Maybe I should just calm down a bit and enjoy things for a while." He then had an idea about how he could try to control Jenova.

A group of exceptional Cetra sealed Jenova in the past. Ifalna wasn't sure how exactly, but he theorized that it must be with the use of the lifestream.

"Thanks Ifalna-san, I had a good idea due to our talk. I finally have a hypothesis to stop Jenova, but it would take some time before I can mature and control my powers more." Ramiel smiled at her and Ifalna was surprised.

"Well, I'm not sure how I helped with that. But godspeed, Ramiel. Jenova is a dangerous being, I hope you succeed with my husband quickly." Ifalna gave a serious nod.

Ramiel went to Gast and explained that he needed more time and practice. The probable secret to their success would be his Cetra powers.

"Can't Ifalna help us with this endeavor then?" Gast thought about it, but he shook his head. "It's not feasible, not to be rude or anything old man. But your wife is practically a normal human with abilities to control the lifestream. She might be better than me now, but that won't be the case for long."

Gast then nodded. "Yeah, that was a pretty dangerous question. I don't know about you, but you're pumped up full of Jenova's cells. You've consumed about 20kg of biomass from it. You're insane, you know that? The most we've experimented with, is just a few grams of cells." Gast was fascinated with how he could take it all on.

"Fifty percent pain and fifty percent power of will. I am not human now, I am a chimera of Jenova, Cetra, and humans. If I were to estimate, about 30 percent Cetra, 60 percent alien, and 10 percent human." Ramiel shrugged.

"But you don't mutate, I'm surprised you don't have gray skin like Jenova, kid." Gast chuckled and was really amazed by his cells. It is the perfect test material. But their results are skewed because he is practically the only one who can do that.

"So, how's the kid? Is she growing up fine?" Ramiel decided to have some small talk, Gast was his colleague now. And they grew closer due to some mutual respect. Gast can't also treat him like a kid, it would be weird to call him one even if he was one physically.

"Ifalna's been making friends as you'd expect. The people of Nibelheim already treat her as one of them, well it is a pretty small settlement. Aerith is healthy too." Gast sat down and lit up a cigarette.

Ramiel gestured for one as well and Gast looked at him incredulously. "What? Can't I relax for a bit over here? It won't give me cancer anyway." Ramiel stared at him and Gast shrugged, giving him a cigarette.

Ramiel lit it up with his finger that released a small flame like a lighter. Already able to control phenomena to a certain extent.

"We're not too different, you and I. You just want to protect your family now. Me too, Alexandra is my only connection here in this world right now. Our mother is missing, Lucrecia Crescent. And you know our father, he's a piece of shit." Ramiel blew some smoke and Gast sighed.

"You're like an old man kid, I'd say enjoy your life. But that's just a stupid statement, isn't it?" Gast snorted.

"Well, yeah. I basically have the world on my shoulders, and I'm just 6. I'm under pressure on two fronts. We, are against humanity and the threat of Jenova. Shinra needs to go down and the only one who could feasibly help me there is my sister." Ramiel shrugged and sighed, thinking of his responsibilities.

"Tough luck, kid. I guess that's what it takes to protect your family." Gast puffed smoke and thought about Ifalna and Aerith.

"Heh, I wanna see the look on your face when Aerith brings home a boyfriend." Ramiel remembered a certain someone, though he wasn't sure if they would still meet again.

Gast squinted his eyes at him and Ramiel rolled his eyes. "Don't be such a baby, your daughter will grow up soon. Time flies by in a heartbeat old man."

"Easy for you to say, your sister is a maniac that is too driven to notice mundane things like that. And she always goes kyah! Kyah! My brother is so cool and awesome." Gast teased him and Ramiel snorted.

"She's just thankful, Alex is a smart kid. She knew that I protected her since we were 1. She'll change when she doesn't need me anymore. And that will start when Shinra becomes mine." Ramiel already had ideas to build nuclear reactors and slowly phase out Mako reactors.

"You're one scary kid, you talk of changing the dynamics and common sense of this world with a drop of a hat." Gast gave a wry smile.

"Well, it is. I just need money and manpower. And when Shinra falls to my hands, that's a done deal. The big baddies of Shinra are very easy to kill anyways. I just need to kill all of them until it's mine." Ramiel smirked at him and Gast thought that shouldn't come out of a 6 year old's mouth.

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A few years go by and due to their Jenova cells. Ramiel and Alexandra were already starting to undergo puberty at the age of 10.

Ramiel had a massive growth spurt and he just suppressed his height so the people won't get suspicious. Because if he let himself grow naturally, then he would already be 6 feet tall. (pic)

Alexandra started to be more feminine and she began distancing herself from Ramiel due to embarrassment. And she was also gaining some influence from their father. (pic)

She was wearing lots of belts, for no particular reason at all. She also began a habit of wearing shades. Not wanting people to see her Mako eyes. Especially because hers had an eerie glow to them due to all the Mako the twins have been taking in.

Right now, they were babysitting three kids, namely a 6 year old cloud. A 5 year old Aerith, and another kid they managed to befriend, named Tifa Lockhart.

"Hey, hey, Alex-nee, Ramiel-nii, can we see that thing again where you guys do magic?" Cloud had stars in his eyes while Tifa and Aerith was curious on what it was.

"Sure, but just this once okay? And keep it a secret from everyone." Ramiel shushed them and he blew a small flame from his mouth.

Alexandra controlled water and made balls of it fly around the air. Amused by the kids who were practically the only ones close to their age there.

"Wow~" Tifa and Aerith stared in awe at their tricks and Cloud had a smug look on his face, saying I told you so.

"Heh, cool right? I saw them do more than that! Ramiel-nii and Alex-nee were sparring at the forest, they were controlling lightning and throwing fireballs!" Cloud has stars in his eyes as he told his story.

"Now now, don't get too excited. You can do that too, with Materia. But I can't give you guys one until you grow up. Though this should be fine." Ramiel smiled at them and gave them cura Materia.

He patted their heads, loading up the Materia with Mako. So they can use it when they're in a pinch, it was also pretty potent. As the Materia is already stronger, being a curaga one that can heal grievous wounds.

"Wow! What does it do!?" Aerith could feel the large amount of energy inside of it and was curious about its uses.

"It contains a white magic spell, it can heal almost any wound. So use it wisely, isn't that right? Nii-san?" Alexandra looked towards him and he nodded.

He patted her head as well and she got embarrassed. She was a prepubescent girl after all. "Good observation, you're really getting better in distinguishing Materia by just looking at them and getting a feel."

"Nii-san! Stop treating me like a kid..." Alexandra pouted at him and he laughed. "Can we get more, please?" Tifa used the puppy dog eyes on them and Ramiel snorted.

"Tough luck, Tifa. That thing costs 10k gil at least, if you want more. Then you have to buy one." Ramiel gestured for them to cough up some cash. And the three kids paled.

That was basically a 100 bucks. That's the life savings of a lot of people on Nibelheim. Gil was pretty weird, and the people of in Gaia were pretty fucking poor. As Cloud accepted bombing a Mako reactor for 20 dollars in the main story. But Gil was pretty weird all in all, cup noodles can cost a 100 and a full tank of gas is 10 gil.

"N-no thanks." The kids immediately pocketed the Materia, as they understood that it was basically a treasure in their hands.

"Now, what do you say to nii-san?" Alexandra raised a brow at them and the kids shuffled. Lining up to bow. "Thank you very much!" The kids smiled and Ramiel patted their heads, giving them some lollys.

"Now, let's play tag. If somebody manages to catch me, I'll give them a water Materia." Ramiel smiled at them and thought that a pretty weak water Materia that could give them a constant supply of water would be harmless.

"Catch me if you can, hehe~" He began zipping around and jumped on the houses like a ninja. "No fair! How can we catch you!?" Cloud was exasperated and the other two nodded.

"Easy, we all try together." Alexandra chuckled and she loaded up her legs with energy. Fortifying her muscles. She then drew a dust cloud as the ground cracked from her acceleration.

The twins chased each other at the village's plaza and the three children stared in awe. "Wow... They're so strong and fast, so cool. I want to be like them." Cloud got inspired and Tifa thought the same.

"They're special though, they feel like the planet..." Aerith squinted her eyes, noticing the Mako that was leaking out of them from their reinforcement.

The kids then began to scatter, wanting to try and trap Ramiel while Alexandra chased him around. But he couldn't be catched, so after a few minutes. He did a lame act and pretended to trip.

"Uwah!" He controlled his body and jumped up, falling down on the ground on his back lamely. Tifa then tagged him and the other kids dog piled on him.

"Ahhh, you've caught me. I guess I shall give these noble heroes your reward." He gave them a water Materia and the kids immediately began playing with it.

"You're spoiling them too much." Alexandra gave a wry smile and Ramiel shrugged. "Let them enjoy their lives. It's not everyday where kids can have fun in the middle of nowhere."

"Hmmm, you're getting softer. Nii-san, should I be worried?" Alexandra teased him and Ramiel rolled his eyes.

"Okay, kids. Be back before nightfall. Don't let your parents get worried." Ramiel patted their heads and the kids nodded with excitement. Not intending to stop playing with their new water Materia for sure. Starting to use them as water guns.

"Let's go, our weapons arrived from Shinra. Hojo requested them years ago. But it only just arrived, I guess that the Shinra-Wutai war is going to begin." Ramiel gestured for her to follow and their eyes glowed a bright azure.

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Thanks for reading everyone, anyways. Ciao.