Authors Note: This is my first Final Fantasy 7 fic. Its set after AC. Cloud may act a bit OOC, but I'm trying. Tell me what you think Review!!
DECLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING!! Except this fic. Yay!
Chapter One:
Nocens
All
he knew is that he couldn't see. It was like he was sinking in an
ocean of darkness. His eyes wandered...then he saw a gloomy child who
stood in the center of the blackness.
Shadows covered the child's
pale face. The child's hair was platinum blond, long enough to cover
its shoulders, and the bangs hid the child's eyes. The child's
clothing was black, it mixed in with the dark aura around the child.
The child's' gender was unreadable.
Loud screams emitted from everywhere in the shadowy depths. He took a step closer towards the small child...if you could call it stepping. It was more like stepping on to nothing but air. 'Where am I?' were mere thoughts echoing. He tried to speak, but his words were inaudible. 'What is going on?'
Squinting, trying to see through the haze of black, he could see that the child's mouth was moving. 'What?' He leaned forward, trying to listen, but all that he could hear was muffled speech. It was like the child was talking through a glass wall...
Then suddenly, the child's hands threw up into the air, clinching into small fists. Cloud felt himself jump, and flinch at the sudden movements. The child's muffled cries were becoming louder. He tried to speak again, but still his voice refused to produce any sound. 'What's wrong?' he cried mentally. The child shrieked suddenly. The scream echoing off the walls. The high pitched noise pierced though his eardrums...
Cloud's body shot up, gasping for air. He was
drenched. His face was covered in sweat, and his shirt was soaked. He
shivered slightly as a single sweat drop made its way from
his
forehead to his chin. His hand trembled as he wiped the swat from
this brow. Trying to calm himself, he glanced around. His eyes
darting from each corner of the empty,
soundless Church. Rays of
the new days sun shot through the large, gaping holes in the ceiling.
Finally, having gained his bearings, Cloud rubbed his glazed eye with the back of his hand before deciding to check the time on his cell phone. It read 7:48am. He dropped the phone carelessly to the wooden ground, it making a clanking sound. 'Damn it!" he spat mentally, 'That dream again. Why was it always the same?' he thought as his pulled the light blanket off of him. Its been puzzling his for the past week. The same dream, every night. It was sleep depriving. It would keep him awake after it would happen, or he just fought off sleep, fearing it. For some reason, it scared him.
Brushing it off, he stretched his tired, achy muscles as he yawned. His phone began to ring. He picked up the noisy machine. The caller ID blinked TIFA. Cloud took a long look at for a moment before he opened it, unsure if he should answer it. Sighing, he effortlessly flipped open the phone and put it to his ear.
"Hello?" Cloud said tiredly. Tifa's voice chirped on the other end. "Hi Cloud. Wow, you answered your phone?"
Cloud got up off his make shift bed that was made up of a simple brown sleeping bag. Beside it was a beaten old brown box, used as a table. "What is it, Tifa?" Cloud said impatiently.
"Sorry for waking you up." She replied. Glasses could be heard clanking together. "You have a client. She needs you to make an express delivery to her daughter in law who lives in Kalm."
Cloud began to slip his booted over black socks as he listened, the phone placed between his ear and shoulder. "When?" he asked.
The faucet could be heard being turned on. "Well, she said today. She left the package here an hour ago." she said louder, trying to speak over the rushing water. "I wanted to give you a little more time to sleep before calling." Cloud wished she had called earlier, waking him from the haunting dream.
He didn't say anything about that.
"I'll be there."
He flipped the phone closed. He put the phone in his pocket. Slipping his eyes shut, he tried to summon the energy for the drive. It was a short drive to the bar, but the delivery is what was going to be the long haul. Opening his eyes, Cloud stood up. He picked up his weapon holster and buckled it around him before placing the large sword within it.
He walked to a chest which held may mastered matieras. He picked a few, fire being his first choice, since it was his favorite. Snatching the Fenrir's keys off the old box, he set off towards the church doors.
The
wind whipped his hair around, and streamed by his ears. The route to
Tifa's Seventh Heaven Bar programmed into his mind. He took turns
without even really paying attention
to where he was going. His
mind racing, stilling toying with the nightmare. Cloud wanted to know
why he was being pledged by this dream. A child, darkness surround
said child. Was it Aeris? Was she trying to tell him something? No
that couldn't be it. She would have told him herself if she wished.
He'd never seen the child before. Never spoke to
any child that looked like that. He shook his head violently. He decided not to let the dream eat him alive. He needed to think about the task that was soon to be at hand.
Cloud arrived at Tifa's Bar. The parking lot already full. He struggled to find an empty spot, but finally found one. The place had gotten very popular. She had to hire more help. Tifa served breakfast, lunch, and dinner, along with drinks. But it just wasn't the food alone that attracted costumers. It was Tifa's personality. She'd always been a people person. She could sit for hours and listen to some poor drunkards sob stories and could actually give advice. It was also her smile and the kindness that was always laced around her words, not to mention she was quiet an attractive woman. Not that Cloud saw her that way though. She'd always be just a 'childhood friend'.
Cloud
entered the door quietly as he could. He never liked to draw
attention to himself. He hated when people stared at him. He easily
walked around the obstacle of tables and
chairs, passing by the
bustling people. and finally found himself at the bar counter. He sat
in the bar stool, head down.
Tifa
came up to him on the other side of the counter
with a full plate
of food, which was a large amount of eggs, three pieces of bacon, and
two pieces of toast. The other hand held a rather large cup, which
contained orange juice.
She placed the plate in front of the
blond, who looked like he was lost in thought. She tapped her finger
on the counter in front of Cloud. He still didn't respond. She
frowned
at this. She decided to speak.
"Hi Cloud." she smiled, even though he wasn't looking at her. Cloud's body startled at her words. He looked up at her, his eyes woven with sleepiness.
She looked at him worriedly, "Cloud, are you sleeping well at night? You look horrible." she said as she leaned in at him, concerned eyes drilling through his own. His head snapped, looking at another direction. He hated being stared into.
"I'm just a little tired," he said simply, "Don't worry."
Tifa leaned back and crossed her arms. "I don't know, Cloud. You look like you haven't slept in days."
That was true. But he kept it to himself.
Tifa put her arms at her sides. She looked thoughtful for a moment, "Maybe you should, you know, skip this delivery."
Cloud picked up the sliver fork and he proceeded to poke at the eggs. He didn't have much of an appetite. "I'm fine. Where's the package?"
Tifa sighed in defeat, and walked to the back in search of the box. She knew when Cloud made up his mind you could never talk him out of it. Finding the box that was tucked under the desk, she back tracked to the counter. She saw that Cloud hadn't touched his food. He had neatly put the fork back where he'd picked it up from. She handed the box to him, reaching over the still full plate.
Cloud took it and set it on his lap. Tifa huffed, and put both hands on her hips, annoyed. "I made you breakfast. You could at least try to eat some of it. Maybe a bite or two." Cloud looked up from the messy text that was scribbled on the box he was attempting to read.
"I'm not really hungry this morning, Tifa." he said as his eyes made there way back to the poorly written text.
Tifa took the plate. "Fine, but at least drink the juice so that you'll have something in your stomach." she said as she started to the kitchen.
"I'll put it away for later!" she yelled. Cloud really wasn't paying much attention. He was still trying to figure out the address on the box.
Cloud assumed that the woman must have been in a hurry to have written the address so poorly. With one hand holding the box, he used his other hand to take a sip of the now watery juice. He peered into the cup and noticed tiny bits of ice floating around in the juice. 'Refrigerator must be broken again.' he thought as he placed the cup back onto the counter.
"Tifa!" he called. Tifa rushed over. She was in the middle of taking an order. "What is it, Cloud?" she smiled as she filled a glass full of alcohol.
"Refrigerator down again?" he asked.
Tifa sighed, "Yeah. I need to call Cid so that he can fix it." she said, "--again." she said as an after thought.
She turned around and went back the way she came to face a costumer, who when saw Tifa smiled. Cloud stood up. He decided to get this endeavor done and over with.
"Right..." he said to himself, leaving the unfinished watery drink on the counter.
"I'll see you later, Cloud!" Tifa shouted over the talking crowd.
Cloud just waved his hand in response, as he extended his other arm to shove open the door.
Thoughts of the dream began to invade his mind again. He pushed the annoying thoughts to the back of his mind and shifted the bikes steering slightly so that he could ride the winding path. The trip wouldn't be as long as Cloud had figured originally. He kept his eyes on the road. Patches of grass and few trees and bushes passed by him.
Suddenly, Cloud began to feel very sleepy. He jolted his eyes open, and shook himself trying to stay awake. But his eye lids had a mind of their own. They began to droop close again. The bike started weaving from side to side. He jerked awake again.
"What the hell is wrong with me?" he shouted. This was so unlike him to fall asleep while driving. He's been extremely tired before, and he still hadn't fallen asleep, not like this. But he couldn't help it, he couldn't stop it. It was like someone cast Sleepel on him. He felt the wobbling of the bike rolling off the road.
He didn't see if the bike hit anything or not, because he had already fallen into a blissful sleep. The bike rammed into a fairly large tree, and the blond was sent flying into a dried up, dead looking near by bush. His body was put in an awkward position. His body didn't move, nothing twitched. Blood seeped from his forehead and trickled down his face.
The bar had closed hours ago, around ten-ish. The time was now 1:13am. Tifa's feet paced around the center of the floor for about the millionth time tonight. Its been seventeen hours since Cloud had left the bar to deliver the younger woman her box from her mother-in law. But from the phone call Tifa received in the middle of the afternoon, Tifa had realized something very bad must have happened to Cloud.
It was not like Cloud to be late on a delivery. He was usually either early or on time. She bit her bottom lip. She was worried. She'd left several message, after calling him several times before hand. Yes, Cloud never answered his phone, but he normally returned her call. But still no call back. She stopped for a moment, then paced around again. Her chin rested on her thumb. She decided to give Cid a call, despite it being so late. He was going to hate her for this.
She pulled her cell phone from her pocket, then flipped it open. She found his number in her contacts list. She pressed TALK...It began to ring.
There was a click.
"Wha'the hell yer callin' for at this hour?" Cid's voice sounded tired and irritated.
Tifa sighed, "I'm sorry Cid for calling at this hour but..." she trailed off. Cid waited for her to continue, but she didn't. She was lost in thought.
"But what?" he grumbled.
"Sorry!" she gasped, "I think some thing's wrong with Cloud..."
Something could be heard like cloth shifting. "Ya wanted to tell about your fuckin' love life at this time of th'night?" he grunted.
Tifa shook her head vigorously. "No, no. Its nothing like that. It's just that Cloud's been missing for seventeen hours."
Something slammed. Hard.
"Holy fuck?! Well, have ya called him?!" he asked, shouting in distress.
"Yes! I did. But he never called back!" she replied frantically. She taped her foot in the wooden floor.
"Well, fuck." he yawned, "Damn it, I'll be over."
He hung up.
Tifa
put her phone away. She ran to the back and grabbed the keys off the
office desk and stuck them in her pocket. The keys were for locking
the bar when she left. Tifa raced out
of the bar. she spun around
on her heel and locked the door. She turned back around and started
jogging down the much known path out of Edge. She needed to be
waiting outside so that Cid wouldn't have to wait for her.
In
ten minutes, the familiar rumbling of the engine that emitted from
the Sierra could be heard. It landed of the grassy outskirts of Edge.
Tifa was already there when the entrance
doors opened, and a
extremely sleep deprived Cid stepped out, along with his fiancé,
Shera. When Cid had returned from the first fight with Sephiroth, Cid
had proposed to
her. But Cid's been very busy since then, but the
woman didn't mind. She would wait an eternity for a set wedding date.
Cid managed to walk himself over to the brunette with out tripping in the dark. Even with the lights on that came looming down from the Sierra, it was still a bit too dark to see.
"Any word from the kid yet?" Cid said has he lit up a cigarette.
Tifa shook her head in disappointment. "No, nothing," she replied.
Cid kicked some dirt with his shoe. "Well, fuck. Where th'hell did the kid go to be gone for so long fer?" he thought out loud.
Shera was standing in between the door, her fingered wrapped around the door hinge. "Maybe he got attack by some monsters." she spoke softly.
Cid shook his head, his brows frowning. "Nah. He wouldn't let that happen. The kids strong." Cid replied. Then he noticed some thing. The lights of the Sierra was lighting the way to where the blonds bike had made marks in the road.
"I think we found'em..." he said as his eyes trailed the marked road.
He was there again...Floating in the stilled black. Again. With nothing. With no one. Alone. He shook his head and looked around. 'No.' he said mentally, since his mouth still refused to listen to his commands, 'I'm not alone. Where is that child that's always here?' his body shifted, searching for the small body that loomed in the darkness.
"I'm here." an innocent child's voice said.
Cloud couldn't tell the gender of the voice.
'What? You can talk now?' Cloud said surprised.
The first time Cloud dreamed, the child was unable to say anything. It was like the child was sitting in a glass bubble. Cloud searched the darkness with his eyes until he came across a small boy, standing below him, who was starring up at him with a strange expression on his face.
"Yes." the child's voice hissed, "Yes, I can speak now." The boy whirled around once and then looked back up.
"I can move freely again." he smiled wickedly.
Cloud didn't understand what he meant exactly. Who was this kid? And why was he saying that he was able to 'move freely'? Why was he unable to move in the first place?
Cloud's eyes narrowed. Where on Gaia is he?
"Ah...I see. " the boy sneered, "You are a very confused little boy, aren't you?"
This boy isn't normal. Something eerie laced about him. The way he moved, the way he used his words. Cloud knew...knew? Knew what?
"Is something wrong?" the boys voice didn't change.
'Who are you?!' Cloud demanded.
The boy began to cackle. "Are you serious?" the boy sighed, as he began to float up to where Cloud seemed to be stuck. Cloud then realized he couldn't move...
"Don't remember me? She kept us apart!" he explained.
A puzzled look.
"Hmm...You really don't remember. Oh well. That doesn't matter. " The boy shrugged.
The child licked Cloud's now pale cheek. He hummed.
"Don't be afraid..." the child cooed. Cloud's eyes widened with fear.
"We are together again." his voice chilled. Cloud flinched as the child raised a hand to Cloud's pale cheek.
"She will never separate us ever again..." he spat.
"N-never...?" Cloud's voice stuttered.
The child smiled sweetly. "Never."
"I am you...We are the same....Forever."
Authors Note: Well that's the first chapter. I hope I did well. I have never written a fan fiction before. Oh BTW the word 'Nocens' meansbad, wicked, injurious, culpable, evil.
