((Aeris))
The morning sun, frozen to the core, rises upon the winter day. Frost blankets the ground and buildings. Frozen rain falls upon the cold hearts of many. No one feels like waking, working or speaking. Another miserable day in a miserable town.
I follow upon the road as if nothing was there. Calmly watching my steps to cure my boredom. I stretch a bit and continue to walk. Quickly I stare at my watch, 7:00 a.m. 'I'm gonna be late.' I rush a bit in order to get to Cloud's home. 'Finally, at his home.' I knock once, no answer. I panic. I knock again, nothing. "Cloud?" I shout through the door. "Yeah, well you can go to hell-o Aeris." Cloud opens the door. "You're early." He allows me in. "Not too." I smile. "Is he already here?" "Uh huh." "So… I guess he IS coming." I sigh. "Yup." Cloud grins. "Well were is he?" Cloud takes me to the living room. His home is cold too, or maybe it's just because HE is here. "Here's the devil himself." Cloud crosses his arms. There, sitting on a dark red chair, was HIM. Arms crossed and in his gothic type clothes. Eyes closed, he remains silent. The great Sephiroth. I sigh. "Go, sit." Cloud pushes me. "Don't!" I gasp then fall onto a chair. Cloud walks off into his kitchen.
"So…" I cough. "How've you been?" "Miserable, and you?" Sephiroth mumbles. "Fine…" I clear my throat. "C-Cloud, what are you doing?" I call to Cloud. "Callin' Vinc." He replied. "Oh good." My courage returned. A few minutes passed. Sephiroth remained silent and still. I still feel uncomfortable around him even after three years.
"Yes…. No… Well it'll be fun. What tya mean no? Just come over…. You can just sit there then… No…. Of course… Aeris, Seph and possibly…. No. Well he wanted to… Just come!… Why not?… Some reason… You're coming even if I have to come over there and drag you… Fine… Ok… Good… See ya." I hear Cloud on the phone.
He returns. "Well?" "He's coming." Cloud smiles. "Just give 'em 15 minutes." He sat. We all remain silent. I sigh. "But he is coming, right?" I ask. "Mm hm." "Don't look so depressed." Cloud chuckles. "Shut it." Sephiroth grumbles.
Not a solemn whisper came upon our mouths. I kicked my feet shyly, Cloud eased back and remained still, Sephiroth, frozen and full with sullness. Suddenly a knock came to the door. "Probably him." Cloud pounced up. He walks to the door and swings it open. Wouldn't you know Vincent, standing like a lifeless soul with his cloak over his mouth. "How you been?" Cloud let him in. "Like every day." Vincent muffled from under his cloak. "Good, you're here. Now lets go." Cloud stretched. Vincent paused. "How'd you get him to come." He chuckled. "Dragged 'em." Cloud smiled. "Lets go."
We all hurried out the door, except for Sephiroth, for he walked. Everyone walked down the narrow walkway. No one made the slightest bit of noise. A crowd of people surrounded us. Seemed like a huddled pack of ants. It was so crowded we could hardly go through, but it's only normal. It is the day of the tournament.
We entered the coliseum in a rush. Everyone poured in like liquid. We halted at the desk and paid to enter. "Maybe a few of you should enter." The deskman said. Cloud shook his head. "It's not too late." The man smiled. Cloud looked to Vincent. "Do it!" I shouted. "It'll be fun." "And embarrassing." Cloud sighed. "What's so embarrassing? You're Cloud Strife! You have little embarrassment to rid of." I shove him. "Fine, but only if Sephiroth signs in." He grins. Sephiroth, still pouting, laughs. "Torment yourself again? Or maybe you'll luckily die on the first round." He evilly grinned. "No, I'm just gonna prove that you're not all that." Cloud signed his name then threw the pen at Sephiroth. He reacted quick and grabbed it. "Very well, I'll show you embarrassment." Sephiroth signed. He slammed the pen down angrily. Cloud shoved his shoulder then walked off. "So… Where do we go?" He asked. "Right that way." The man pointed to a blank door. "Go on in, and take these." He gave Cloud and Sephiroth passes and they walked through the door easily. "Good luck! I'll be rooting for ya" I call to Cloud, not Sephiroth. "What she said." Vincent waved.
We found perfect seats that were near the show. The coliseum made a perfect circle of seats with a clearing of sand in the middle. "This'll be fun." I smile to Vincent who is right beside me. "Yeah." He sighs. "Be happy." I poke him. "I am happy." He fakes a grin upon his face.
"Ladies and gentle men!" An announcer popped from nowhere. "It is my pleasure to introduce the contestants for day one of the three days for the coliseum challenge!" He shouted. Everyone cheered and clapped. "Every day will have five powerful and entertaining challengers that will face off each other in a marvelous battle! Now, the contestants!"
"Seed #1: Aaron. Seed #2: Blaine. Seed #3: Melissa. Seed #4: Cloud. And Seed #5: S—Sephir- roth. Sephiroth!" He yelled. Everyone continued to cheer and celebrate. "Now let's get ready!!! Every Seed will compete against every other Seed. Example: Seed #1 would come against Seed #3. Then so on until a winner is declared… So! Would Aaron and Melissa please step out!" The announcer's voice vanished. A plain man with a short sword stepped out, people still cheered. A young, blonde women with two blades on each arm walked out.
"Which do you think will win?" I ask Vincent. "Someone…" He replied. "Oh, you're no fun." I joke. We watch, in few minutes the battle is already won. Melissa won. 'I knew it.' "That was quick." Vincent said in boredom. "Sh." I smile. "How can you hear at all? What is there to hear?" He yells over the crowd. "Next! Seed #2 vs. Seed #4!" Blaine, a tall, but ugly looking man walks out. Cloud, his muscular self walks out. His blonde spiked hair glistens in the sunlight. "Cloud has his sword!" I point out. "How?" Vincent questions. "It's too big." He says. "Not TOO big, just bulky." I reply to his comment. "I prefer to fight with my bare hands!" Blaine yells out. Cloud snickers. 'This battle is far from over.' "Go Cloud!" I shout even though he can't hear me. Then the fight begins.
Blaine runs to the side. Cloud turns his sword to the side and sweeps it through, knocking Blaine off his feet. "Hm, easy." Cloud laughs and helps Blaine up. Cloud runs his hand through his hair then walks out. "That was simple." Vincent laughed. "I wanna see you fight Cloud." I said. Vincent remained silent. "Well! It's down to two Seeds! #4 and 5! Lets get them out here!" The announcer declares. 'Finally, Cloud vs. Sephiroth. This will be fun to watch.' "Finally." Vincent sighs. "Yeah." I whisper.
They face each other. Cloud with his sword in front of him and Sephiroth with his hands tightly around the end of his sword. Cloud's hair flows in the wind as his blue eyes glisten slightly. Sephiroth's hair flows also as his green eyes brighten. His silver hair shines. Then a small smile grows on his face. Cloud still wears nothing. Then he mouthed the words, "No dark magic." Sephiroth blinked once and it began.
Sephiroth charged forward at a tremendous speed. Cloud lunged out from the way and attempted to ram Sephiroth in the side, but, as we all know, Sephiroth cannot be fooled. He swung around and slammed his sword against Cloud's side. Cloud fell to the ground, but quickly recovered. He jumped back then rampaged forward. Sephiroth smiled then jumped high over Cloud. Cloud stared up, but in an attempt to halt he skid across the arena and collided with the wall. He instantly shot up and looked for Sephiroth, but he was nowhere. Cloud lunged to the center of the area and twisted around to look. Nowhere. He had vanished. Then suddenly his voice blurted out like a bullet, "Over here!" He crashed into Cloud's back and jumped up then aimed to Cloud who was lying on the ground. With sword pointed to Cloud's back, he shot like a bomb from sky to ground. Cloud flipped around, gasped and quickly crawled from damage. When Sephiroth clashed with the ground a firework display of sand and gravel sprang into the air. A sweat drop ran down Cloud's face. He feared that Sephiroth might not be playing for fun. Panting, Cloud stood and struggled to keep his sword up. Sephiroth jumped with speed like a horse, out from the crater he had formed. He menacingly squinted at Cloud, his hair flowed behind. He seemed not the least bit of damaged. He didn't pant let alone struggle to breath or hold up a sword. Sephiroth grinned, stepped his left foot back then sprang forward. He hovered across the surface of the ground and aimed for Cloud. Cloud gasped and ducked, but it was no use. Sephiroth collided into Cloud and pinned him against the wall. His sword pressed up so hard against Cloud's neck that it trickled blood. "S-sss- Sephiroth!" Cloud managed to squeal. Sephiroth showed no emotion. He then hopped to the left and kicked Cloud in his side. Cloud dropped his sword and slid hard across the gravel and sand. He struggled to lift himself, when along comes Sephiroth. He slams his foot onto Cloud's back and Cloud falls again. "I…" Cloud's words muffled through the sand. "Mercy!" He blurted out. "I give!" He yelled. "A-And the champion is… Sephiroth." The announcer, too, was astonished. Sephiroth refused to move for a minute when he finally stepped off Cloud, but not before pressing against his hard first. He slid his masamune back into its carrier and walked to the exit. Cloud lifted himself and spit out a mouth-full of sand. He wiped away remaining sand from his face and stood. Grabbing his sword he stumbled and walked to the exit, but made sure Sephiroth was out first.
I look to Vincent and he looks at me. He stands and begins to walk to the exit. I follow after him. We walk calmly to the arena exit and impatiently wait. Sephiroth walked out from the darkness, with eyes closed. He kept walking forward then sat in a bench. We didn't bother to go congratulate or meet up with him. Then out came Cloud, rubbing his cut neck. "Is it still bleeding?" He came up to us. "Lets get home and fix that." Vincent helped Cloud along. I glanced at Sephiroth. "I hope he doesn't come with." I whisper. "What's his problem?" Vincent asked. Cloud said nothing but made an unsure gesture. "Well, hm… Never mind." I step next to Cloud and the three of us walk to Cloud's home.