A/N: So, another excursion, but this time into my beloved fantasy realm. Science fiction is fun, but it's exhausting making sure Ever After tied in with Heart Under Siege. I'd like to say that this could, possibly, be my magnum opus in fanfiction writing, though judging how popular Heart Under Siege was, part of me doubts it. No matter; I shall write this as if it were my magnum opus!

I've always loved Japanese myth, history and culture. I grew up in Japan when I was little, my mother became a total Japan-o-phile while living there (thus there's a lot of Japanese antiques in the family home) and so much of my daily life (in fact, MANY people's daily lives) has had some influence from Japan, from the technology we use, to the games and tv shows we play and watch. In short, I feel that by writing this, it's a small homage to what I've grown up with.

Another contribution to the creation of this story was the manhwa (Korean manga for those who don't know) Bride of the Water God. It's a really beautiful story with such fantastic artwork. I suggest to everyone that to have at least one volume of this series; it's an epic. There will be some parallels, mostly to do with how the story begins, but other than that, I've endeavoured not to borrow too heavily from it. Especially since the situation has two male leads as the main couple rather than a heterosexual couple being the major characters; thus, we need to take a different angle.

Small disclaimer: I have a gripe about people just throwing in Japanese around in stories when it makes little to no sense as to why it's even there to start with. Especially if it's predominantly English (i.e. the language is translated into English if the setting is Japan or another non-English speaking country) and the story's universe doesn't hint at the possibility of other languages and countries/worlds. Square doesn't do that in their games! The only time I've seen them use another language was in FFX when there was clear indication of an entirely different race of people with their own language were living in Spira (and Bhujerba in the Ivalice universe; clear indications that it was an entirely different culture). This story, although there are Japanese terms and phrases, and there will be Japanese characters (letters) used, I'm going to limit them as much as possible for the sake of the story, i.e. I will not be using honorific terms such as "-san", "-kun" or "-chan" because…they are speaking in English, and we do not use these terms in English; we use nicknames or titles such as "Mister". Other part of the disclaimer is the translations used here; I'm learning Japanese, thus it is not perfect. I've had to check and recheck words that I wanted to use, experiment a bit with katakana, look up the particles to see if I'm using them correctly, etc. to make sure it all made sense, but I can and probably will make mistakes. I've also researched into the costumes named here in this chapter, and in subsequent chapters too. Many of them are simple to describe, but some outfits are so complicated and intricate that it could take forever for me to list the details; I suggest to you to go research into them yourselves if you don't know what they are. Wikipedia have some diagrams of outfits, but for the ones they don't have listed, there is a link in one of their articles that will take you to a site that will have diagrams of many if not all the outfits found in the Heian period /end disclaimer/

Well, that's all I've got to say. I sure do hope y'all enjoy this story. I've enjoyed writing it so far! It's filled with so many plot twists and turns that it makes a haunted house with loads of secret passages look straight. /end bad joke/ Please read, review and enjoy! And lose yourself into the fantasy that is…Arashi no Rakuen! /end bad attempt to sound overconfident/


Rain was still rapping against the stone tiles of the rickety hut he lived in, almost as if it were determined to bash the house down to the ground. He could only stare out to his sodden yard, listlessly looking at all the drowned plants that he had once so dutifully tended to after his mother's death. This would be the last time he would see it. This was the last time he would ever be in this hut, sleeping on tatami, cooking his evening meal, tending to the small plot of land where he grew some vegetables and generally doing all the chores he had to take up when he was left alone only two years ago.

Today was the day he would be sacrificed to appease the god the village didn't even know they had angered. Some said they had been too arrogant in the skill of their fishing that they claimed they didn't need the help of the gods; some said it was because they had refuted the power of the gods by claiming that all their hard work on the land was of their cause alone. Some even claimed it had been the fault of the village elder's wife, who claimed that her son could best the god at any sport he wished. Whatever the reason, the outcome had been the same. A torrential typhoon. The kind that hadn't been seen in many years. The kind that was deemed to be unnatural because of the sheer extent and mass of the downpour, and also because of the irreversible damage caused by it. Crops had drowned, the sea was too dangerous to fish from and the roads were so flooded that it was deemed impossible to travel outside the seaside village. Something had to be done. And the priest had found the handy solution.

He remembered the day when the whole village had come together to discuss the matter. The priest, an old balding coot that drank too much and prayed too little in his opinion, had declared that the god they had angered, Arashi no Kami, would only be placated if there was a sacrifice. The sacrifice being casting the poor victim out to sea in only the clothes he wore and a boat without a single oar. So either the martyr drowned in a storm that wasn't needed, or starved to death in awful heat when a storm was needed to end a drought. The question was who would be the sacrifice? They already knew that the sacrifice would have to be a young unmarried man or woman. There were some who said it was the village elder's wife's fault, thus her son should be sacrificed. There were some who claimed it was the fishermen's fault, so one of their young daughters should be cast off. There were some who claimed it was the farmers' fault, so one of their offspring should die. But it had been the priest that had very quickly found the solution once more. Sacrifice the orphaned young man. It was his fault for the typhoon. It must've been his apparent arrogance in his own beauty that had set off a jealous spark within the malicious storm god. Before he even had a chance to protest his innocence, the villagers had agreed with the priest. As long as it was not one of their own, they wouldn't care.

Thus why he was here now, wearing fine clothes that were not his since he didn't own any. Looking at the home he had to leave forever. Saying goodbye to the life he once knew, and the life he had ahead of him if he had been granted the chance to continue living. He could've married, had a family, farmed the land and lived in relative peace. But he hid all the feelings of regret and loathing behind a straight face.

For generations to come, he would be known as the boy of legend who selflessly sacrificed himself to appease the lion-headed dragon god that created the storms in order to save the village from being drowned or washed away by the raging storm that terrorised them. They would twist the events so much so that he would be some sort of pious youth from a good family who accepted his fate. No one would remember his unwillingness or how he had been forced into the ritual.

He watched as a figure appeared through the veil of mist and rain, clutching tightly to a paper parasol that was meant to keep them dry. As it neared his hut, he noted how wet and muddy the man's feet had become. He could only guess that these long ceremonial robes he had been given would get the worst of the weather too.

"It's time," he was told. The man's face was hidden under a large sugegasa; ritual decreed that the sacrifice was not to look upon the face of any man, woman or child on the day they would be given to the gods. The young man could only nod, slowly standing up and bringing the strip of cloth he had been holding in his hands to his eyes, tying it behind his head and stripping his vision away. He felt his body shake underneath the robes as he was taken by the wrist and led away to the beach. He knew that if he fought here, he would only be taken by force there.

He heard the rain slap against the muddied roads and streets of the village, his geta-clad feet sinking into the mud while the fine robes slid across the slimy surface like a snake. He didn't really worry so much about his borrowed clothing though; he would be dead soon so his appearance was the last thing he ought to worry about. Soon mud gave way to sand, and howling winds were joined by crashing sea. The young man took a deep breath, letting himself be helped into the boat that would carry him out on his last voyage. By now, he was soaked to the bone; the typhoon had managed to penetrate all twelve of the robes that made up the jūnihitoe he wore. He felt the soft cloth whipped away from his face, heard the priest saying his so-called appeasements. He didn't look back to the beach, staring out to the grey open rough water. The place that would soon be his grave.

He closed his eyes, glad that the rain was hiding any tears he made. He was afraid. He didn't want to die. He had wanted to live a normal peaceful life like everyone else did. He never asked to be orphaned, never asked to be looked down upon as just a mere fatality that could be afforded to make. He was finally cast out; he didn't look back. The village had betrayed him.

While out at sea, the young man wondered if all this was really worth it while struggling to stay in the rickety old rowing boat. Would the god really stop the storm? Or would he only punish the village further for even believing such a stupid ritual would appease to his anger? Personally, he had hoped for the latter but at the end of the day…he figured that the villagers had suffered enough. He clung to the wood as he felt the boat tilt dangerously, it only just about managing to stay upright while it was bashed from all sides.

"If you can hear me," he cried out, looking up at the sky. It was no longer about the village now; ultimately he wanted to survive this! "Please! Stop this storm! Arashi no-"

His words were cut off as a large wave surged right on top of his small boat, breaking the wooden vessel in two and forcing the young man under the water. He couldn't swim to the surface; the weight of the jūnihitoe was preventing him from moving effectively. He tried to shed as many of his robes from his frame, desperation to survive kicking in as he struggled to the surface.

When his hand grabbed onto the remains of the boat at long last, all had gone black. He supposed that he was finally leaving this world.

Arashi no Kami had abandoned him.


The sky was a deep hue of light blue around the island, the pristine white sand of the beach unspoiled, rocks ranging from shadow black to gentle grey peeking out from under the whiteness as if shy of the world. The white and grey cliffs towered over this beach, and above them was an expanse of green fields and forests. This island was truly a paradise befitting of a god.

The soft symphony of natural voices was soon disrupted by childish yelping and tired, annoyed yelling.

"Sora! Get back here!"

A boy stopped and swiftly turned on his heel, looking back to his companion with a smile that was as warm as the sun. Spiky, choppy brown locks that appeared to defy gravity and framed his cherubic face swayed gently in the sea breeze, bright blue eyes grinning with a mischievous light. His clothes were simple; indigo happi with black hakama, the crest of Arashi no Kami -a large, coiling lion-headed dragon wrapped around what looked to be a dagger, the head resting atop the pommel of the blade's handle- printed on the happi's back.

"You're too slow Riku!" the boy called Sora teased, playfully putting his hands on his hips and grinning down at his tall companion from his perch on top of a towering grey rock. The poor friend in question was in similar clothing though he had left his happi undone and, unlike the brunet, he was actually wearing his zori. He was unearthly pale, with luminous green eyes and flowing silver hair that he had pulled up into a bun, fastened together with wooden hair sticks. He wasn't amused at all by the other boy's antics.

"For a yoake no seishin, you don't take your duties very seriously," the older boy called Riku scolded, furrowing silver eyebrows at the brunet.

"Lighten up. There's always going to be a dawn! I don't have to be at every dawn chorus, y'know."

"Yes you do Sora! You're nearly a thousand years old! You have to set an example to the younger seishin!"

"What about you? Surely a chikyuu no seishin like yourself has better things to do than making a yoake no seishin do his job!"

The silver-haired one frowned heavily at that. "Don't make me drag you down here. Angering someone who has power over earth is a very stupid thing to do bird boy."

"Landcrawler!" Sora fought back, sticking his tongue out at him. "I can fly dummy!"

"Sora will you just-!"

"Whoa! Riku! You have to take a look at this!" The yoake no seishin was suddenly distracted by something, jumping down from his perch and running to whatever it was the piqued his interest.

"Hey this is no time to play games!" Riku reproached, chasing after the younger seishin. Both stopped as soon as they approached the thing that lay before him.

A man with golden hair and dressed in what looked like the remains of possibly a very expensive set of ceremonial robes was sprawled across the wet sand, knocked out but still breathing. Sora bent down, tilting his head lightly. "What is he?"

"Don't know. I don't think he's a seishin. I don't feel any magic coming from him," Riku reported. The chikyuu no seishin was sensitive to such auras that the yoake no seishin was not.

"A tenshi then?"

"Don't think it's that either. He's not wearing a hagoromo." The older seishin made an odd face. "But then again, he might have lost it if he did have one." Sora looked at his companion with amazement, only to be disappointed by Riku's next observation: "But you usually find hagoromos on the women, so it's unlikely he is a tenshi."

"Then what is he?"

"…I don't know. I've never come across anyone like this." He looked over to Sora. "Maybe we should bring him to the palace."

"Do you think Arashi no Kami will be mad at us for bringing him though?"

"He might be even madder if we leave him here."

"Hrmm…then I guess I'd rather bring him then. But…how are we going to do that. He doesn't exactly look light to me."

"I don't think you'd be strong enough to carry him Sora." Riku pondered over it a bit before saying, "Maybe we should just carry him by foot."

"But the palace is so far away!"

"Then we better start walking then. I'll take the shoulders, you take the feet."

"Okay."


When he opened his eyes, Sora and Riku could only wonder what the mysterious man's reaction would be. They had managed to carry him as far as the gateway that led onto the beach, heaving tired themselves out carrying him up the grand stairs hewn into the cliff-face. He blinked at them, and they blinked back. It had been Sora, ever disliking of long silences regardless whether they were awkward or not, that had spoken first.

"Hi! I'm Sora! Who're you?"

The man's face became very peculiar, as if he was confused by what the seishin had said. Riku peered at the strange being, wondering if he could even understand what Sora was saying.

"Uhh," Sora started, looking just as confused. "Can…you…under…stand…me?" he asked again, dragging out the sentence.

"Anata dare? Soshite…koko wa doko?"

"What?" Sora looked at the stranger with aghast. "What's he saying Riku?"

"So he's a human…" Riku mumbled, seemingly having not heard the other seishin.

"Riku!"

"Hmm? Oh, beats me. I can only read and write the human language. I'm awful at speaking it."

"Some help you are!"

"Koko wa doko?" the man asked again, this time sounding like he was losing patience with them both.

"What are we going to do? We can't help him if we can't understand him!" Sora wailed.

"Seriously, the only worth you have seems to be your singing voice," Riku grumbled.

"What was that?"

"He's human. That means that he must have heard about this place in human legends." Riku gave him a flat stare. "We can start from there." He turned to the golden-haired man, giving him a kind smile. He placed a hand on his chest. "I am Riku, a seishin." He pointed to Sora. "He's Sora. Another seishin." He then pointed to the palace. The golden-haired man followed his finger, eyes blinking at the impressive size and decoration of the gate. "This is Arashi no Rakuen, home of the Arashi no Kami." The man's eyes widened considerably; clearly he had understood that.

"Do you think we'll be able to understand him?" Sora asked. "If humans are as similar as you're telling me?"

"They aren't that similar," Riku retorted. "They just know about the worlds the gods live in. That's all."

"Then how're we gonna communicate with him?"

"Probably through writing until we can think of a better solution. But let's worry about that later. The poor man looks like he nearly half drowned in the sea!"

"Surely not the Mizu no Kami's doing!"

"More likely it's our honoured lord's doing. He has been in a fairly foul mood lately."

"Oh yeah…do you think he's still angry at that village for not paying their respects to the gods?"

"Maybe. They probably deserved it though. Humans are the most stupidest creatures in all creation anyway."

"That's a bit harsh on them…"

"Etou…shitsurei?"

"Oh! Right," Riku shook his head quickly to get him back onto the task at hand. "Let's get him inside. Remember Sora, if anyone asks, just say he washed up on the shore. We don't know who or what he is."

"But we know he's human…right?"

"On the basis of what language he's speaking? For all we know he could be a creature that's mimicking a human."

"Now you're just being confusing Riku!" Sora yowled. He grabbed the man by the arm, pulling him up as he started walking. "Come on! If we're gonna get into trouble just for bringing him in, might as well get it over with!"

"Eh! Sora!" Riku followed after him. The man looked terribly confused, and maybe a little bit frightened by now, asking repeatedly: "Doko ni tsure te ku tsumori? Oi! Kaitou watashi!" Riku didn't know what was worse. The fact that the mortal was becoming distressed, or the fact that a lot of the creatures that served the storm god were beginning to stop and stare at them.

"Sora, let's just get him somewhere," Riku hissed through his teeth. "If Yuffie catches wind that we've got a human with us, we're going to get butchered to death."

"But I thought she wouldn't mind seeing as she's a human herself," Sora pondered.

"Sora, the difference is that Yuffie was saved by Arashi no Kami. We have no idea if this one was saved by him too!"

"What's the problem?"

"The problem is, my dear naïve friend, that humans aren't supposed to be here unless there was divine intervention by someone that had the powers of a god. And if memory serves me well, there is one who is the highest ranking, two who are lower down and have no say in who comes and goes, and another two who aren't even in permanent residence here."

"…Oh yeah."

"Is that all you have to say?"

"This way!" Sora suddenly jerked to the right, disappearing into a room. Riku could only follow, fearing just what the koukennin, or worse Arashi no Kami, was going to do to them if they found out. The golden-haired mortal was still looking very bemused by everything as Sora sat him down on the tatami, fluttering about the room in a panic. "What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do?"

"First, we're going to stay calm," Riku soothed, knowing that once Sora became distressed all his brethren were going to come charging to comfort the small brunet. He still hadn't forgiven Sora for that one time they were play fighting on the beach and he had overreacted…that time, Sora's brothers and sisters had found the chikyuu no seishin on top of the younger yoake no seishin in a rather compromising position. For all his naivety though, Sora hadn't seen what the fuss had been about though.

Maybe that was why Riku was still close to the seishin even after all the lumps and bumps he had been put through. The brunet tried to take deep breaths now, stilling himself to one place, perched on the only window sill in the room.

"Now, we're going to try and communicate with the human," Riku stated, looking around for something to write down. He might not have been able to understand spoken human tongue, but he could read and write it. It was the next best thing they could do. "Sora, find something we can write with. And whatever you do, don't say a word about this."

"Roger Riku!" Sora saluted, suddenly jumping out of the window.

"Nani ga oko te iru…?" the man grumbled in his native tongue, curling his body up so that he was hugging his legs, raggedy robes flimsily hanging off his arms by mere threads. "Kore ha yume suru hitsuyou ga arimasu…"

"Um…" Riku frowned, unsure of what the other had just said. There were times he wished that he did take up an offer to be a guardian of one of Shizen no Megami's temples. He might have had more contact with the humans and learn their language a lot better. He only knew what their words meant because usually one of the more scholarly creatures had translations underneath the original text. They didn't even bother to spell the word out phonetically, which would've helped out in this situation. "Sorry…I'm not much help to you right now, am I?"

The strange man frowned for a moment, then looked at him questioningly, pointing at him, "Anata no seishin no ka?" Judging from the way his voice raised lightly at the end of his sentence, Riku could only guess he was questioning his authenticity as a seishin. He placed a hand over his chest.

"Yes. I'm a chikyuu no seishin." He then looked over to where Sora had been. "Sora's a yoake no seishin."

"Shikashi…" the man started, getting onto his knees and looking at the silver-haired one in curiosity. It took the seishin by surprise, having thought the human would probably back off at the sight of a far more powerful being. "Watashi ha seishin ga doubutsu no sugata to omo tei ta."

"Umm…I'm sorry?"

"I'm back!" Sora's voice cried. He appeared suddenly from the window, clutching what looked like a long scrapped scroll and what looked like a vial of ink with a brush in his hands. He jumped from the window sill and handed it over to the elder seishin, looking like he was worried. "Kage no Kami…I think he knows something's up."

"What? He's here?"

"I was just as surprised as you! He said that something important came up here!"

"OK…let's just try and get through to him as quickly as possible." Unrolling the aged paper, he pulled out the stopper keeping the ink in and started hurriedly writing out in the shaky characters of the human language, praying that he was remembering it correctly.

こんにちは。あなたの名前は何ですか?

The man looked at it, looking relieved at the familiarity of what he was saying. He glanced up and murmured, "Kuraudo."

"What a funny name," Sora commented. He yelped when he felt Riku's fist collide with his shoulder.

"OK Kuraudo," Riku smiled, writing again.

何が起こった? どのように海で終わるのですか?

Kuraudo frowned lightly, clearly contemplating on how to answer this. He gestured to the brush; Riku handed it over, watching the strange man begin to write. "What did you ask him?" Sora wondered.

"I just asked him how he ended up in the sea. I mean, surely it must've been an accident." He noticed that Kuraudo had finished.

私は嵐に台風を停止するも神を犠牲にされた。

Riku's eyes widened at that. Sora looked at him expectantly. "What did he say?"

"He was supposed to drown in the sea…"

"What? Why?"

"He's a sacrifice."

"A sacrifice? They still do that?"

"Not so loud Sora!" Riku hissed.

"Eeto…kare ha anata no tomodachi desu ka?" Kuraudo asked, looking up over their heads.

"Huh?" Sora tilted his head, looking confused. "Could you write that down?"

"Sora…"

"It's OK, Riku. You'll translate that, right?"

"Sora…"

"Eeto…"

"Hey, why are guys sounding so-" he stopped when he realised that Riku was looking over his shoulder. He slowly glanced over, gulping when he saw a familiar darkly coloured kamishimo, looking up to see the less than impressed face of the Kage no Kami, Zexion.

"So this is where you were stowing him," the god raised an eyebrow. Faster than they ever had been before, they both got on their knees and apologetically bowed, keeping their eyes to the floor, Sora blabbering just how sorry he was while Riku just nodded his head in agreement. The god just sighed. "You're just lucky that we were expecting him anyway and that you found him for us. I'd be more upset if you were trying to keep him as some sort of surreptitious pet."

"Expecting him, my lord?" Riku asked, daring to look up slightly. "If I…may be so bold, what do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is that your lord and sovereign's subtle kindness got the better of him again." Zexion heaved another great sigh. "Honestly, why do I have to deal with such fickle ryoushu?" He walked straight past the two seishin, though the small gap between them, bending down to look at the human who had been looking at him this whole time with a lingering sentiment of uncertainty. Fear might have been exaggerating; this was a man that had allowed himself to be sacrificed after all. If one didn't fear death, then there might not be much he feared at all.

But he could tell that there was a mistrust. This man had been forced into facing death without fear, betrayed by the people who he grew up surrounded by. He put a hand on the man's head. "You've been put through too much for one so young. A language barrier is the last thing you need in this world." The man yelped suddenly; Zexion knew that what he was experiencing was a slight alteration in his mind so that the human could speak and understand the language of the spirit world. Doing this though, it effectively would cut him off from his human world.

He doubted that the human would want to go back to his world anyway. He took his hand away, watching the human crouch in pain, clutching his golden head tightly as he grunted a few more times. "The pain will subside soon."

"It freaking well won't you bastard!" came the rather crude response. Sora and Riku, having watched all this unfold before them, gasped in surprise.

"We can understand him!" Sora exclaimed; it was obvious that he was relieved that there wasn't going to be anymore awkward moments because of lack of understanding. However, he was very much ignored by the god; he seemed more interested in Kuraudo.

"You're very lucky to be alive Cloud."

"How do you know my name?" He then looked shocked. "How can I…understand you…?"

"I'm a god. I can be all-knowing as well as all-powerful." Behind them, he could hear the yoake no seishin quietly asking his chikyuu no seishin friend why the human was suddenly being called 'Cloud'; the silver-haired one rationalised that 'Kuraudo' was probably how the humans pronounced his name. "However, I'm not as all-powerful as, say, Arashi no Kami."

"Arashi no Kami…what has he got to do with this?"

"Everything," Zexion responded curtly. "He's the one you owe your life to." He then bowed lightly. "He's also the one that's ordered for your presence." He then looked over his shoulder at the two seishin. "You two as well. You have a lot of explaining to do." He smirked lightly when he saw them flinch, then turned his attention back to Cloud. "I understand it's a lot to take in, but please consider this place as your new home."

"…this has to be a dream…"

"That's what the last human who ended up here said." Zexion stood up, offering a hand to the other. "Come now. It's best not to keep him waiting."

For a moment, the room seemed to have been stilled in time. The human could only look at the hand offered to him, as if wondering what would happen if he did go along with all this…and what would happen if he rejected it. Zexion didn't goad him, and the seishin said nothing to him that might influence his decision.

He stood up and took the chance. The god only thinly smiled. "Excellent choice." He turned, giving a look to the two seishin that had now only dared to stand up. "You two, forward march." He looked over his shoulder to the golden haired human. "Please follow me Cloud."


Cloud had lost count of the number of walkways and hallways they had gone through, not to mention all the servants that had stopped in their work to just stare at them. He had been used to being stared at because of his golden hair and sapphire-hued eyes, but not to this extent.

"It's been nearly five hundred years since Arashi no Kami saved a human," Zexion stated knowledgeably. "Many of the younger generation have never seen what a true human is."

"I'm…the only one?"

"The only true one."

"What does that mean? Are there others?"

"Only one other."

"Why aren't they a 'true human'?"

"Because she's five hundred and eighteen," Zexion responded. "Thus she isn't a 'true human'."

"An immortal?"

"Yes."

If he had been in the mortal realm, Cloud might have just laughed and brushed the tale off. But the fact that he was here, the fact that he was alive, the fact that he could suddenly understand what these people were saying, it was enough to make Cloud believe anything.

"This place…"

"Hmm?"

"Is this…heaven?"

"You could say that," Zexion responded in that cold, methodical voice. "It's one of many heavens that the gods govern. This is Arashi no Rakuen, the court of the storm god."

"…I ended up here…but…how…"

"You'll have to ask Arashi no Kami when we get to the public chambers. He is the one that ultimately decides who is allowed into his haven and who is not."

"But why me? I should have died that day!"

"Are you not happy to be alive?" Zexion asked, stopping in front of a tall, imposing door that was gilded with gold. "Had it not been for Arashi no Kami, you would have sunk to the bottom of the sea. Were you really so willing to die?"

"No, it's not like that…but…"

"Say no more. That's a question no mortal, human or not, should answer." He pressed a hand to the door, pushing lightly. It opened fully, as if it had been pushed by a powerful force and not a light touch from the god. "Follow me. And remember, humility is the better part of gratefulness."

The public chambers were large and spacious, with wooden flooring that gleamed in the sunlight pouring from the opened shoji doors and impressive, golden fusama that had sceneries of the landscape in the mortal realm, birds, animals and fantastical monsters painted upon them. Lavish soft furnishings and lacquer furniture were artistically placed around the sides of the room, symmetrical to each other, a sign that this was a place of meetings and business, not a room for living in.

It was the occupants that had Cloud most surprised.

It was doubtless that they were gods. They all looked so different to the people that had lived in his world, from hair colour to impressive height and build. There was a man clothed in black hakama and haori with an impressive array of fiery red spikes for hair and two strange teardrop marks under his cat-like green eyes. There was a young boy who had golden hair that shone like the rays of the sun and eyes that were as blue as the sky, dressed simply in a plain white yukata with a thin black obi belt to secure it around his small form. There was a young blond woman too, two locks of hair springing up like the antenna of a praying mantis, eyes the most acidic green, wearing a short informal kimono coloured green with an electric yellow wide obi wrapped around her waist, secured by the ayame musubi knot. Lastly, there was another young man who had a strange hair style; part of it raised up towards the sky, and yet the rest fell past his shoulders like a waterfall. His eyes were teal, the same colour as the glittering calm sea, and he was dressed in a kosode that was dark blue. To complete the image, the man was playing a strange stringed instrument with an elongated neck, and a large, rotund body.

In Cloud's mind, any one of these gods could have been the one that had spared his life.

"This the human he was talking about?" the woman asked. Her voice was clipped and sharp, like a bolt of lightning.

"Yes Larxene," Zexion replied. "This is he."

"Hmm…" She stood from her spot, coming over to the human and peering at him, her head bobbing up and down as if to ascertain if he was worth the effort of saving or not. "He doesn't look like much but…"

"Hey, don't go scaring the new pet already," the flame haired man smirked, casually leaning back onto his arms.

"Lay off Axel!" the woman shrieked, glaring daggers at him.

"Make me."

"Both of you stop," Zexion ordered, giving them both warning looks. They were silenced immediately. "Brothers and sister, let's not make our honoured guest feel uncomfortable or afraid in his new home."

'Brothers and sister'? Did that mean that none of the four here were the Arashi no Kami he had heard so much about since arriving here? Then who were they? The youngest looking god stood now, looking at the human with curiosity. "Is he really going to keep this one?"

"If he was not, he would have let the human drown in the sea like he had done the rest." He then turned to the seishin. "Besides, he may have predetermined that these two would find the human on the shore."

"These two found them?" the man with the strange instrument asked, stopping his music all of a sudden.

"And tried to hide it. They must have thought the human had turned up here by accident." The seishin in question had kept a meek stance, both clearly nervous as to what their fate would be. "Where is our most honoured ryoushu?"

"Where d'ya think?" the one called Axel questioned. "He's still recovering from that storm. I bet saving this guy just drained him even more."

"I see." Zexion turned to face the human and the two seishin. "Since Arashi no Kami is still resting, you two return to your duties. We'll decide on what to do with you later. Go." They made a hasty exit, leaving the human with the five gods. Zexion now addressed Cloud, "It would probably be best for you to rest and change out of those rags."

"Aww, can't he stay a little longer?" the man with the instrument pouted. "He's the first human here since Yuffie."

"He washed up on the shore, numbskull," Larxene frowned, giving the man a slap around the backside of his head. "We can't play with him just yet."

"I dread to think what your idea of 'playing' is Larxene," Zexion drolly commented.

"I wasn't going to break him!" she exclaimed. "Well at least, not yet."

"Hey, no playing with the new human, Larx," Axel smirked. "Youngest always gets first dibs on the new toys."

"That isn't you."

"True. But Roxas is."

"What?"

"Please don't drag me into this Axel," the young boy murmured, looking a little uncomfortable. "At the end of the day, he does belong to Arashi no Kami…"

"Hey, I already told you: don't discount yourself. You've got the talent to become a ryoushu later on too."

"I really wouldn't call it that…" The youngest of the gods looked a little bit bashful at the praise from the red-haired god. "I'm happy just being a kishi for now."

"Axel's right though. You do have the potential," a new voice added, earning some surprised looks from the gods present. The voice sounded…childlike. Cloud tilted his head lightly, looking around to try and find the voice.

"My lord, how long have you been there?" Zexion asked, looking straight towards the fusama that had the most intricate portrait of a lion-headed dragon with cracks of black lightning and grey thunder clouds darkening a golden sky. It slid open slightly, not enough for anyone to see who it was behind the screen.

"Enough to hear what was going on," the voice replied.

"Won't you come out then?" Roxas asked, walking over to the door and getting onto his knees, looking to push the door further open, but suddenly stopped and retreated his hand.

"Is he the human I saved?"

"Yes," Zexion replied. "Does he not appease you?"

"No…it's not that."

"Then why aren't you coming out?" There was no response from behind the door. It had been Axel who then, rather jokingly, asked, "You're not being shy are you?"

"I am not!" came the indignant reply. Roxas gave Axel a glare over his shoulder. The red-haired one shrugged. "I can have you banned from here Axel!"

"Not when you're itty-bitty like that," Axel taunted. There was a bit of glee in his voice. "There are days when I absolutely love it when you're like-"

"Axel, that's enough," Zexion warned. "Don't antagonize our lord."

"Oh come on! This is one of the only chances I get to-"

"Finish that sentence and I'll get mad!" the voice yelled. "Or have Rai and Fuu beat you up!"

"He-Hey! Take it easy! You know I'm only joking around!"

"Pranks and jokes shouldn't be made on a god higher than you Axel," Zexion reprimanded, giving him a withering look before turning his attention back to the fusama. "Everything is alright, my lord. No one is going to judge you." He walked over to where Roxas was kneeling, looking through the slit. "It's best to introduce yourself to him now, so that he understands the situation." Another silence. Zexion sighed, mumbling something about how he was no good with children. "Come on now. Don't be so childish."

It seemed to have done the trick, for the fusama opened fully. Cloud's eyes blinked at the sight, having expected something more monstrous, more imposing than what was standing before him.

Although elaborately dressed in a hanjiri outfit that was pitch black with accents of white and red to accentuate his figure, the god that stood before him was just a little boy with choppy dark brown hair and intense storm blue-grey eyes, a mysterious scar crossing the bridge of his nose at a diagonal slant. It was what was said next that made the whole situation…just too unbelievable for Cloud.

"Cloud, this is Lord Squall, otherwise known to you as Arashi no Kami," Zexion introduced. "He's the one that saved your life."

In a situation like this, if it hadn't seemed so ludicrous, Cloud might have bowed. It wasn't impossible for feudal lords to be just children after all. But a god, reputed to have a terrifying temper and an even more daunting yet horrifying appearance, being just a mere child?

All he could do was stand, stare…and then laugh at the whole absurdness of it. "Heh…heh heh…" It only started quietly, trying to hold it all back. A child…it was a child that had every last human in his world running scared. Not some hideous draconic creature. He couldn't help but just laugh at the stupidity of his own race. And laugh he did. Loudly, enough to earn stares of incredulousness from the other gods there. "Hahahahaha!"