FINAL FANTASY

PATH OF DARKNESS

Chapter One

The Other Side

The feeling of travelling from one world to another through a magical portal is not at all plesent. The mind finds itself plauged by fear, the fear that something might go wrong. As such nobody who can travel between

worlds does so without good reason. Cloud Strife at the age of twenty-one had expereinced enough unpleasant things to be able to go through this rather nasty experience without peeing himself.

Cloud had spiky blond hair and wore a dark blue outfit with a half-cape on one side, and a sleeve over his left arm while his right arm was bare. Across his back was a large sword that was actually several swords

that had been made to mix together, they were wrapped in cloth strips tightly to keep them from coming apart during occasions like this, when you were travelling between worlds were a lost sword was lost for good.

Of course like any sane interdimensional traveller Cloud had a companion, Squall Leonheart, who was only really coming along to recue his grilfreind Rinoa Heartily from a maniac.

Squall had on black jeans and a black jacket. Two red belts were worn around his waist in an x, effectively creating a sheath for his weapon, a Revolver model gunblade.

Squall had brown hair and eyes. They were after a maniac by the name of Sephiroth, who as they both knew from personall experience was a force to be reckoned with. They were the greatest fighters from their

respective worlds, yet even together they had been unable to prevent Sephiroth's escape, a fact which had left Cloud in a really angry state.

"I think were almost there!!" Squall shouted while pointing ahead. Cloud looked forward and saw they were approaching what seemed to be a large swirly green thing. Then they flew out of it crashing onto cold hard stone

covered in spider-web cracks and coated with dust. Cloud quickly stood up, his hand on the hilt of his sword ready to draw it out in an instants notice. However there was no need as the area seemed to be empty other then

them and a great deal of rubble. "What happened here?" Cloud wondered to himself. Squall quietly glanced around. They seemed to be inside the ruins of a large stone almost medeavil structure.

Through large gaps in the roof, if one could even call it that, they saw dark stormy grey clouds that blotted out the sun, giving the whole place a gloomy feel.

Cloud quickly noted the layout of the room, which had the appearance of being a chapel of some sort. Colored glass with all kinds of demonic beings going around the room seemed to confirm this, though it was clear that this was not

a freindly place.

Thunder rumbled in the distance as the two peeked around the room. It did not take long to discover the broken shattered and old looking skeletons that littered the corners. They looked eerily human, but with slight differences.

While they certainly held the shape of a human, the faces were off, almost lion like, and one could not forget the tails. Spears and other whatnot lay strewn about as the first bits of rain began to fall.

"Lets have a look outside." Cloud suggested. Squall merely nodded keeping a hand near the hilt of Revolver. They pulled open the massive iron doors and stepped into the outside world. Here they found a desolate landscape

of jagged mountains, dry parched cold rock, with no plantlife in any direction unless one counted the dead whithering trees. Even they were few and far in between. Many other buildings lay strewn about in ruins, complete with

scattered weapons, scorched craters, and shattered skeletons. This was most definetely an unfreindly place. The rain began to beat harder and faster quickly soaking the duo, who continued to explore this new place in which they found

themselves. A large structure, larger than the other by a good bit, stood closer towards the central city which was blocked off by a collapsed building. However a little climbimg quickly solved

that problem.

Suddenly a voice spoke. "Who'se there?" The voice rasped all around them as if the speaker was everywhere at once. The voice was genderless, being more like transmitted thoughts than actual speach.

"My name is Cloud, this is Squall." Cloud replied with narrowed eyes. The air grew heavy and the limited light grew darker. "What lie is this? Yet you look the part, why are you here?" The voice despite its

lack of presence in the physical world still managed to seem interested, and confused.

"I have come to settle an old score." Cloud replied looking around for the speaker. "I look to rescue someone." Squall said, his hand trightly gripping the hilt of his weapon. A deep chill set in and the water on the ground

began to collect a small bit of ice and slushiness.

"Impossible, time is not of such a manner is it? How can one look into what one knows?" The voice asked crypticaly. "What are you talking about?!" Squall demanded. "The very essence of the stone denies such a possibility,

you must be destroyed." With that a figure appeared before them wearing a tattered brown cloak that was clasped around the figures neck, a hood concealing his face. Beneath that he wore dark blue clothes with rusty armour over one leg.

Revolver and Tsurugi were drawn in a flash and brought to a battle ready. "That would'nt be a very good idea." Cloud stated calmly. The figure chuckled raspily, though now it was a real voice, male.

A sudden flash of green light and a massive broad sword appeared in the figures hand. The odd thing about the sword was the material, a green and blue crystal mix with bits of clear crystal. It looked exactly like the ultima weapon's sword,

a blade which had been imbedded in the things chest. Cloud recognized it as the sword he never had, he left it in favor of the more familiar Buster sword. Squall also recognized the weapon from an old

research facility he had found during the second sorceress war.

"I'm not impressed." Cloud stated simply. The figure stepped forward with slow measured steps, a form of intimidation. It was a simple technique which could easily make a less experienced fighter lose his nerve.

Then lightning flashed brightly in the sky breifly blinding Cloud, and based by the cussing Squall as well. Vision returned in only a few seconds but when it did the figure was gone as if he had never existed.

All he left behind was a scratch in the ground where the ultima weapon had dragged.