The station in the Sector 7 slums of Midgar was always a place of chaos and vitality.
The roar of steam trains, the shouts of street vendors, and the clamor of pedestrians wove together into the everyday symphony of the lower levels of this steel city.
But the appearance of a single figure brought a faint, discordant silence to that noisy scene.
It was a man carrying an enormous blade on his back.
He wore old, ill-fitting clothes, and his short silver-white hair stood out sharply beneath the dim light of the slums.
His steps were unsteady, and his eyes were hollow and lost, as if his soul had been pulled out of his body, leaving behind only an empty shell.
The faint green glow in those eyes made him seem even more out of place among his surroundings.
He was Cain.
After Zack’s sacrifice, the aftereffects of mako poisoning and the enormous mental trauma had finally crushed him.
His memories had become fragmented, leaving behind only vague flashes and instinctive obsessions.
He remembered one name, Tifa.
He remembered one promise, protect her.
And so, dragging this broken body behind him, he followed the deepest obsession left in his memory and arrived here.
The people around him pointed and whispered.
“Look at that guy.
He’s carrying a huge sword…” “Is he a Shinra deserter?
Or is there something wrong with his head?” “Stay away from him.
He looks dangerous.” Cain heard none of it.
He only stood blankly in the middle of the station, like a lost child with no idea where to go.
Just then, a familiar yet distant voice pierced through his chaotic mind like a ray of light.
“Cain…?” Cain slowly turned his head and saw the owner of that voice.
She was a young woman wearing a white crop top and a black miniskirt.
She had long, glossy black hair, and her beautiful face was filled with disbelief, overwhelming joy at a long-awaited reunion, and a deep thread of worry.
It was Tifa.
Cain looked at her.
His lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.
His mind was spinning rapidly, trying to piece together information about the person before him from the chaos of his shattered memories.
He knew she was important, extremely important, but he could not remember why.
Tifa quickly walked up to him.
Looking at his empty gaze and his worn-out clothes, she felt a stab of pain in her heart.
She reached out to touch him, then hesitated.
“It really is you… Cain… You came back.” Her voice trembled slightly.
Cain did not answer.
He only looked at her, and in those faintly glowing green eyes, there was a trace of confusion and dependence.
In the end, Tifa made up her mind.
She took Cain’s cold hand and said softly, “Come on.
I’ll take you home.” The word “home” seemed to touch some switch deep inside Cain’s heart.
He stopped resisting.
Like an obedient child, he let Tifa lead him through the bustling streets until they arrived in front of a bar with a sign that read Seventh Heaven.
The moment the door opened, the lively atmosphere inside the bar rushed toward them.
A burly man wearing sunglasses, with a metal prosthetic attached to his right arm, was wiping down the counter.
When he saw Tifa bring back an unfamiliar man, he immediately frowned.
“Tifa, who’s this guy?” he asked.
He was the leader of Avalanche, Barret Wallace.
“His name is Cain.
He’s my… childhood friend,” Tifa explained, though her tone carried a hint of uncertainty.
Barret’s gaze swept back and forth over Cain.
When he saw the enormous Buster Sword and the ominous green glow in Cain’s eyes, his guard instantly rose to its highest point.
“Childhood friend?
Look at him!
He looks like he just crawled out of a Shinra lab!” Barret’s voice was rough and loud.
“We don’t welcome suspicious strangers here!” “Barret!” Tifa’s tone sharpened.
“He’s hurt, and… it seems like he doesn’t remember anything.
I can’t leave him outside alone.” Barret still wanted to say something, but when he saw the determination in Tifa’s eyes, he finally snorted and reluctantly accepted it.
Still, he stared at Cain with eyes full of suspicion, as if he were looking at a bomb that could explode at any moment.
And so, Cain began staying at Seventh Heaven.
Tifa arranged an empty room upstairs for him, found him clean clothes, and prepared hot meals for him every day.
Cain was silent most of the time.
He would sit quietly in a corner, watching people come and go in the bar, or wipe down the Buster Sword he never let out of his sight.
His memories remained a blank void, but he could feel that staying near Tifa gave his restless heart a peace he had never known before.
Barret never lowered his guard around him.
He was always staring at Cain with a scrutinizing gaze, trying to find some flaw in him.
“Hey, kid!” One night, after the bar had closed, Barret called out to Cain just as he was about to go upstairs.
“That sword of yours is a SOLDIER weapon.
What the hell are you?” Cain looked at him and shook his head.
“I… don’t remember.” “You don’t remember?
That’s a real convenient excuse!” Barret snorted coldly.
“I’m telling you now, don’t even think about pulling anything on my turf!
If you hurt Tifa or Marlene, this Gatling gun of mine ain’t just for show!” He shook his metal prosthetic arm as a threat.
Cain was not intimidated.
He only looked at him calmly, then turned and went upstairs.
That dismissive attitude made Barret even angrier.
And yet, one small incident caused a subtle change in Barret’s view of Cain.
That day, a new batch of ale arrived at the bar.
It was stored in heavy oak barrels stacked in the back yard.
The worker in charge of moving them had thrown out his back and was standing there with a miserable expression.
Barret was strong, but with only one hand, the job was still inconvenient.
Just then, Cain, who had been sitting silently in the corner, stood up.
He walked to the back yard and, under everyone’s astonished gazes, easily lifted an oak barrel onto his shoulder, then carried it steadily into the cellar.
Then came the second, the third… Alone, in less than half an hour, he finished the heavy work that had troubled everyone, and throughout the entire process, he did not even seem out of breath.
“Wow!
You’re amazing, mister!” Barret’s daughter, Marlene, an adorable little girl, clapped her hands and looked at Cain with worshipful eyes.
Cain looked at Marlene’s innocent smile, and a faint, gentle ripple seemed to appear in those empty eyes of his.
He gave Marlene a somewhat clumsy smile.
Barret and Tifa happened to see that moment.
Warmth welled up in Tifa’s heart.
For a moment, it was as if she had seen the kind, strong boy from Nibelheim who used to help everyone with their work years ago.
Barret, meanwhile, fell into thought.
He could tell that the strength Cain had just displayed was far beyond anything an ordinary person should possess.
But Cain had used that power not to show off or destroy anything.
He had simply solved everyone’s problem in silence.
And the smile he gave Marlene, though stiff, contained no malice at all.
“Maybe… this guy ain’t as bad as he looks?” Barret muttered inwardly.
From that day on, Cain began actively helping around the bar.
He did not speak much, but he always appeared when someone needed him.
Whether it was moving heavy objects, repairing broken tables and chairs, or silently cleaning after the bar closed, he did everything meticulously.
His natural, monstrous strength had found the most suitable place to be useful.
The regular customers gradually grew used to this quiet but extraordinarily reliable “big guy.” They stopped looking at him strangely, and sometimes they would even hand him a glass of water and smile as they said, “Thanks for the hard work.” In the simplest and most direct way he knew, Cain slowly began to become part of this new “home.” The kindness in his nature, like a warm ray of sunlight, began to dispel the mysterious and dangerous fog that surrounded him.
Tifa watched all of this with relief in her heart.
She knew that no matter what Cain had lost, no matter what pain he had suffered, the kind and gentle soul deep inside him had never changed.
She decided that she would help him.
Not only would she help him recover his memories, she would also help him find his place in this world.
And the first method she thought of was to have him join the organization she had already devoted herself to, yet still felt deeply uneasy about.
Avalanche.