Tales of Midgar:
History of the Cetra

[OOG NOTE: This storyline was inspired by discussion with Matt about
Zerahs, the Overmind, and the Nexus.  However, since his departure I
have chosen to alter his storyline a little bit for reasons of
compatibility, dramatic impact, and simplicity (and just because I
don't remember all of the details).]

INTRODUCTION

     My name is Nakata, and I am a historian who has studied the
life of this Planet extensively.  It has been hundreds of years ever
since the Planet was threatened so that the Lifestream rose from the
Planet's inner depths to fight the Meteor.  Through extensive
research and gathering of resources, I have compiled the following
report on Cetra and the life of the Planet.


THE CETRA

     The Cetra, called the "Ancients" by the inhabitants of Final
Fantasy VII's planet, are an ancient civilization.  They have
advanced technology and powerful internal abilities that enable them
to use various powers.  These powers are so unique and mystical that
it is often called "magic" by other races.
     Cetra inhabit and colonize planets that they deem worthy of
resurrecting.  They harvest the land and help the world grow.  Often,
this task stretches into millenia for each planet.  Despite advanced
technology, the Cetra farm Planets by hand, using their voices to
direct energy and help planets to grow.  On each planet, they never
develop industry or manufacturing; they are strictly an agrarian
society.
     Although there may be many "tribes" or "groups" of Cetra that
exist, the only Cetra that we are familiar with are the Cetra that
colonized the Planet of Final Fantasy VII.  Any other Cetra tribes
are none of our concern, as they are certainly beyond our reach, and
perhaps, even our comprehension.
     The Cetra migrate from Planet to Planet, seeking a "Promised
Land", which is probably comparable to the proverbial "heaven" from
Christian religion.  Cetra harvest and let planets grow to find out
where the Spirit Energy (Chi in Chinese; Ki in Japanese) resides. 
Only through this tedious task of leaping from planet to planet will
the Cetra find their destiny.  However, some historians believe that
this "Promised Land" differs from Tribe of Cetra to Tribe of Cetra. 
In fact, some even believe that each and every inhabitable planet has
its "Promised Land", and that the Cetra of that one planet devote
their lives to seeking out the "Promised Land" of their designated
land.  However, this cannot be proven.  Likewise, it is certainly a
possibility.


CONVENTIONS IN THIS DOCUMENT

     Because we are unsure of the exact nature of the space-
migrating Cetra, we cannot be certain if there are multiple tribes of
Cetra, if the Promised Land spans many planets, or if the Cetra of
one planet are different from the Cetra of another planet.
     For simplicity's sake, when I refer to "the Planet", I am
referring to this large mass of rock in which Final Fantasy VII takes
place.  When I refer to the "Cetra", I mean the Ancients of this
Planet, the current Planet that we live on, and no other.


THE PLANET'S HISTORY

     Millenia ago, the Cetra arrived on this planet and decided that
it is a suitable planet to colonize.  They quickly set up their
society and put their skills to use.
     It was found that the Planet had much potential, in both Black
Magic and Holy Magic.  This was a mystery that even many Cetra
scholars were stumped by; new planets were never "good" or "bad". 
This fact gave hope to many of the Cetra, believing that they had
found their Promised Land, but it also instilled fear that if this
Planet had an alignment, that others would have alignments as well.
     Nonetheless, the Cetra continued to harvest the Planet, brining
birth to animals and plants due to their ability to communicate and
manipulate Spirit Energy.


MATERIA THEORY
     
     There are a number of theories about materia.  I will present
one view, based on my study of Cetra and their culture.
     Materia is created from compressed Spirit Energy.  It often
occurs naturally in Mako Fountains in pure forms.
     When Materia is kept close to the body, notably, the hands, the
head, the heart, and the abdomen, the user tends to feel refreshed
and knowledgeable.  This is because Spirit Energy can link with
conscious beings, spreading stored intelligence.  The more natural
the materia, the more pure the thoughts, and the more unique the
abilities.  In the case of artificial materia, most of the
specialized knowledge has been eliminated, leaving only the most
fundamental and basic of knowledge skills.  For instance, 'Fire'
materia, often seen around the Planet, enables the user to cast
'Fire'.  This was a very low-level, simplistic spell for the Cetra;
even a baby could use a fire spell as if it were second nature.  As
Cetra grew older, their abilities became more customized and unique,
and this can be seen with powerful materia such as 'Contain'.
     The more natural the materia, the more pure the thoughts, and
therefore, the more powerful the knowledge that is passed to the
user.  Materia is a very potent tool and it is dreadfully dangerous
in the wrong hands.


CETRA JUSTICE SYSTEM

     Although the Cetra are highly disciplined on their own, and are
rarely ever corrupt, they are monitored by a group of "supervisors",
called "Templars", who help maintain order.  The Templars are rarely
used, but they have immense power and ability and either rehabilitate
or destroy any Cetra who deviate from the plan of seeking the
Promised Land.  The Templars are best compared to the Praetorian
Guard of ancient Roman Times; these guards would destroy the Emperor
if he was too corrupt.


THE BLACK AND HOLY MATERIA

     These two materia are purely natural materia, but in fact,
neither of these are actually materia at all.  Materia is created
from knowledge of the Cetra, but these two utterly unique "Spirit
Energy Gems" are believed to have been created by the Planet itself. 
The Holy Materia was discovered first and was sealed up by the
Templars, only to be used in times of great need.  The Black Materia
was found by a young Cetra named Zerahs, who, unfortunately, did not
conform with normal Cetra expectations and kept the Materia a secret
from the Templars.
     The origins of the Black Materia and Holy Materia are unknown,
and even more mysterious are the exact methods to use them to their
full potential.  Both of them maintain a balance with each other, and
attempts to use one without using the other may be disastrous to the
Planet.


THE REARRANGEMENT: DARK AGES   ZERAHS

     This piece of history occurred two-thousand years ago on our
Planet.  It was unheard of for many millenia and only uncovered
recently.  It gives great insight to the situation of the Planet and
uncovers many secrets that deal with the Black Materia and the Holy
Materia.

     There are a total of fifteen Templars.  Zerahs, who was
mentioned above, was one of the Templars; his mentor was Rohan, who
was called the "High Templar", referring to his seniority (the
Templars do not actually outrank one another, but Cetra paid their
respects based on age and experience).  Zerahs was a very powerful
Templar, who was very passionate, diligent, and focused on his work. 
He worked as a scholar to discover the Planet's true nature.
     One day, during his meditations, he feels a new awakening, one
that he later called a presence.  He is unsure of what it is, but he
is in utter awe of it, and decides to research further into the
topic.  Over the next two years, he continued to feel this aura, in
fact, he feels that it made him feel powerful and strong.  However,
he slowly underwent a change as he searched for these feelings,
becoming more aggressive, having a shorter temper, and being less
patient with others.  He came to a theory and decided that he had
discovered the Planet's "Dark Side", with emotions such as lust,
violent anger, vengeance, desires for destruction, and a wish to
create chaos.
     He approached Rohan with his theory, and asked him about this
"Dark Side".  Rohan tells Zerahs that this power was, in fact,
discovered once before by his former pupil, but that his pupil had
commited suicide, unable to control himself against the overwhelming
emotions of the Planet.
     Zerahs is doubtful about whether to continue or not, but his
curiosity cannot be contained, and he decides to keep doing his
research.  Eventually, he comes across the "gate" to the unbidden
powers of the Planet's dark side: the Black Materia.  He is swept
over with intense emotions of rage, urges for chaos, and unbidden
fury, and, like Rohan's former pupil, becomes unable to control
himself.  Although he attempted to fight it, he fell into a deep
coma.
     He woke one year later, undiscovered by anyone.  To his
surprise, he had survived, but he realised that it was because of his
intense discipline that he was still alive.  However, he felt much
different than before; more dominant than ever was a desire to rebel
against those in authority.  He found that he now had a slight amount
of authority over this Dark Power, instead of the Dark Side having
control over him (which led to the death of Rohan's former pupil). 
He returned to the Temple in the Great Northern City, but Rohan
confronted him and knew immediately what the Templar had been doing. 
Although he had intense respect for Zerahs because he survived the
bombardment of darkness, his ability to wield this power also
instilled fear in his mind.  Zerahs had discovered a power unlike any
other within the Planet.
     Through the Planet, Zerahs found that he had many answers. 
Although the Cetra manipuate and move Spirit Energy, the Planet still
has its own coherence.  Zerahs no longer wondered about anything, for
he had a direct link to the Planet's energy.  The Cetra say that he
knew the answers to everything, from life to death, the reasons why
emotions occur, what consists of Spirit Energy, sorrow, and the
nature of hatred, destruction, and greed.  Zerahs realised that now
he had control of the Dark Side, he could make the Planet do what it
did not want to do: he could tilt the Balance between Holy and Black. 
In fact, it is reported that Zerahs, in his promotion of rebellion
and free will, communicated with many of the Cetra and attempted to
give them the answers that were revealed to him.  His knowledge and
power, in addition to the position of respect (being a Templar),
caused many of the Cetra to follow him as a leader.  One of the most
vocal and most loyal followers was called Neophyte, or Neo, for
short.
     Rohan, fearing this, went to the Great Northern City's Council
of Templars to warn them, and he was granted an Army with which to
bring Zerahs back.  Zerahs, however, demanded that they seek justice,
and the Council of Templars decided to try Zerahs, a procedure that
had never been called upon on the history of the Planet.  Rohan acted
as the prosecutor.  This procedure of a "Court of Law", with the
deception brought in by Zerahs and the conflict of words, changed how
many Cetra felt and thought.  Zerahs, with moving, passionate
speeches, spread the ideas of free will and justice, ideals that he
stated that he had only discovered again.  He claimed that he did not
do any wrong in rediscovering great knowledge.  "The Planet was a
colossus, bullying its life, and that it that feared someone might
discover its weakness, The Dark, then it wouldn't be as it is."
     The intense trial split the Cetra up into two camps.  One group
agreed with Zerahs and his ideals, while the other feared that the
balance of power was being ruined and that Zerahs would spell doom
for the people.  The ones who feared Zerahs called him "The
incarnation of Evil and Destruction born into life."
     The trial did not finish; Zerahs was rescued by a band led by
Neo.  This was the starting point of the "Dark Ages" of the Cetra,
for it was the first time that one Cetra had killed his own kind;
Zerahs had struck down civilians during his escape.  Only a mere year
later, he returned to the Great Northern City with an army designed
to take the city by storm and to displace the seats of power, the
Council of Templars.  Zerahs called himself the "Dark Templar" during
this time.
     War was waged all over the world, and the scale of the battles
were so large that great clouds of dust were tossed into the air,
blocking the sun for months at a time.  Zerahs and his troops, with
the knowledge of Darkness, called forth hurricanes, destroyed
mountains, shifted continents, and summoned earthquakes against the
other Cetra.  Because the sun was covered so often, the war was
dubbed "The Dark Ages".
     During this time, Zerahs realises that he had not only the
ability to tell the Planet to do what it does not want to do, but
that he would become even more powerful and gain the ability to
destroy other worlds if he can injure the Planet so severely that it
would send its Spirit Enery to repair the wound.  He begins to devise
a plan to deal great damage to the Planet.  In the meantime, Rohan
and his armies are trying to defeat the forces of the Dark Templar,
but are virtually annihilated.
     As Zerahs attempts to seek external powers, he realises that he
can injure the Planet the best by summoning an Icy Ball to strike the
Planet.  However, he did not come to this realisation himself. 
During meditation, another entity came to his mind: this entity,
physically represented as a mutant with three eyes and sixteen
tentacles as lower appendages, gives him this idea.  This entity
refers to himself as the "Overmind".  Zerahs receives the ritual to
summon a comet from this Overmind, but at the cost of becoming a
servant to this Overmind.
     Zerahs eventually succeeds in summoning his Icy Ball.  As the
Cetra realise that the Icy Ball is being summoned, they work hard at
trying to prevent the disaster.  Zerahs, weakened by the ritual of
summoning the Icy Ball, is captured by the other Templars.  Templars,
led by Rohan, use the previously sealed up Holy Materia to create the
"Nexus", which is a "seal" against Zerahs.  They take Zerahs and lock
him into the Nexus, unable to break free.  Using this same power, the
make the Black Materia as inaccessable as possible.
     Later, Zerahs discovers that the reason he was able to be
locked into this Nexus was not because that he was weakened by the
ritual, but that the Overmind, on purpose, weakened him so he would
be captured.  Zerahs, letting his hatred grow, decides to call for
revenge on the Planet.
     To this day, Zerahs is still sealed up inside the Nexus.


JENOVA: THE CALAMITY FROM THE SKIES

     The Icy Ball that Zerahs summoned was, in fact, Jenova. 
According to the Overmind, Jenova was a parasite designed to destroy
Planets.  Upon impact on the Planet, it destroyed the Great Northern
City instantly, removing millions of Cetra along with it.  Those who
were not killed immediately were infected with a virus that altered
the genetic code of the Cetra, making them mutate into various forms. 
However, the scope of the virus is limited.  Many Cetra, most of them
being Zerahs' former followers, flee from the North and try to settle
in different parts of the earth.
     It is said that many of the modern "monsters" today are
descendants of the infected Ancients.  In fact, some of the Summoned
Monsters are bodies of the Holy Cetra who have been preserved well in
the Lifestream, and condensed into a very pure form of materia.
     Over a course of many years, the former followers of Zerahs, in
their attempts to flee from the viruses and disasters, lose touch
with their inner abilities; they are too worried about secular
struggles to concentrate on their internal skills.  They soon become
unable to use magic and to transport to other cities.  As the
disasters die down in the North, they begin to scatter again,
colonizing the world and starting up a new civilization based on what
they could remember.
     These former followers of Zerahs who escaped the virus of
Jenova are the ancestors of today's modern man.


THE TRUE NATURE OF THE OVERMIND

     The Overmind remains much a mystery.  His motives are unclear
and his methods are unorthodox.
     However, close analysis reveals that he is really only another
form of Cetra, one that helps Planets realise their full potential.
     He was the one who created Jenova and directed her toward the
Planet.  In addition, he also weakened Zerahs so he would be trapped
in the Nexus.  However, through these actions, he initiated a process
of healing and revival inside the Planet: a process that many planets
never go through in their lifetime.   It is rare that Lifestream
floats up over the surface and covers it in a healing wave, but yet,
it happened.  Only through disasters do Planets create Weapons, one
of the most powerful abilities a Planet can acquire.  Apparently, the
Overmind's intention is to provide this sort of situation to Planets
in order to teach them all that they can learn: one learns the most
when he faces hardship and difficulty.


PAST CONFLICTS

     It is unfortunate that this next section appears random and
sketchy, but at the time, these events were deemed to be minor and
were therefore poorly documented.  These events happened sometime
after the year 2000.  The greatest event that is documented is the
stopping of the Meteor, but the events leading up to this great
conclusion are not very well detailed.
     Hopefully, a more comprehensive account can be released by
different sources for you to read.

-Zerahs is freed.  He is determined to seek revenge and attempts to
destroy the Planet.

-Sephiroth seeks the Black Materia.  However, Zerahs also seeks it as
well; both want to cause great injury to the Planet.

-Zerahs and the Overmind are at odds with each other due to
conflicting ideals.  In addition, Jenova, being an independent
lifeform (although she was created by the Overmind and Summoned by
Zerahs, she pays no loyalty to either), attempts to stop Zerahs.

-Who it is in the end that destroys Zerahs, or even if he is
destroyed, is unknown.  However, it has been wondered if the High
Templar, Rohan, still walks on the Planet as a Gatekeeper, one who
watches the Nexus to be sure that Zerahs is never released.  (It is
unknown exactly how Zerahs is freed from the Nexus, but it is
believed that Neo has something to do with it).

-In fact, it is unknown who summons Meteor to destroy the Planet, and
what intentions this person had.  It is also unknown who stops this
person in the end.  However, many people suspect that the rare
decendants of the "Holy Cetra" were involved.  It is known that Holy,
in addition to the Planet and Lifestream, help deter Meteor, but the
people involved in the defeating of Meteor's Summoner are unknown.

-It is also a mystery as to who destroys Jenova.  Although Jenova
could be considered a neutral entity, the instincts of self-survival
(which are natural, and not considered wrong) lead one to desire a
destruction of Jenova.

-Apparently, reports that the Planet's defenders, the Weapons, were
revived during this conflict are true, but again, what exactly
happened is not known to me.

     Perhaps you can help me solve these mysterious holes.  Each
person has a unique connection to the Planet, and therefore,
different revelations can come to you.  In fact, some have even
stated that the Planet is so loud about this event that they have
"merged" with minds of that era.  I have not experienced this myself,
so I will not mention any more about this matter.

     
     This is by far an incomplete document, but I hope that this
helps you understand more about the Planet and its grand history. 
Much work will be devoted to the details; in time, I hope that I can
compile a complete history.

                                        Sincerely,

                               Nakata, grandson of Red XIII