Eighteen months on from the chaos of Advent Children, Cloud receives a mysterious invitation from an even more mysterious messenger. Little does he realise that upon accepting the invite, his world is about to spin on its' axis once again. Rated M for violence and sexual scenes.
The Skies Over Wutai
Chapter One
xXx
It was the weekend – Sunday, to be precise; perhaps the only day off that Cloud Strife actually got to himself to relax. Life in the city of Edge – more than a year on from the saga of Kadaj and company – was hectic now; as busy, if not more, than Midgar had been. Life as Cloud had known it a year and a half ago was starting to return to normal, after a fragile existence of trying to rebuild what they had so violently lost. The city of Midgar was barely habitable after the destruction, but since the restoration had began, it had slowly risen up from the ashes of death and chaos. Midgar's heart was beating strong once again, but Cloud's home was in Edge, now.
In fact, he was living as close to a normal life, now, as he ever thought he would. His fighting days were over – he had promised Tifa and the kids that much. His delivery business was running like a well-oiled machine and he usually never had any spare time on his hands. If he wasn't making deliveries, Cloud would be helping Tifa at the since re-established 7th Heaven bar, or doing something with the kids. He was always so busy.
Busy. Busy. Busy.
Often enough, his mind barely got a chance to stand still. To take a deep breath and exhale slowly, calmly. But that's the way he liked it to be – occupied. Cloud's depression was something that he had come to terms with; it was unlikely he was ever going to be able to pull himself completely out of it, despite the fact that he had learnt forgiveness – or tried, at least.
It was still a concept he was having a hard time getting to grips with. Keeping busy seemed to make for a good distraction from this fact. Somehow, learning forgiveness would just never be enough. It would never be enough to bring them back… It was typically something that weighed heavily on his mind.
But today was Sunday, and the bar was always closed on Sundays. If Tifa didn't take at least one day off a week, she would collapse from exhaustion. Cloud relished Sundays in particular; he didn't take orders or make deliveries on this day of the week either. It was one of the only times he got quality time to spend with the children, and do the things he wanted to do. Nonetheless, today was a good day to stay indoors, as it was snowing, in the midst of one of the coldest winters the Planet had endured to date.
Tifa had ventured out earlier in the day with Marlene and Denzel, into the town centre of Edge to buy some more supplies for their schoolwork, rugging them up warmly first. They had been going a little stir-crazy and wanted to run around in the snow. Finally she relented and took them out. Cloud could now hear them playing and laughing downstairs as he went over his accounts in his office.
Sometimes he preferred to be alone on his one day off; solitude made for a good escape from his hectic schedule of constantly being in the presence of other people. It seemed his attendance was always demanded by someone, somewhere.
Tifa really needed to hire some more staff, Cloud thought. She often gets so overworked that she's too exhausted to do anything nice for herself. The kids can be demanding, too, leaving he and Tifa with barely enough time to think straight, let alone have a break. He thought dryly in that moment that it sounded like they were an old married couple with children; enough people already thought that, he thought with a snort.
Reno never stopped giving him stick about it, but Cloud didn't see Tifa in that angle. She had been a friend for as long as he could remember. Besides, a presence in his heart was stubbornly refusing to take its leave. Cloud planned on going to visit the church later on in the afternoon, whether it was still snowing or not.
Some hours later, a heavy knock sounded at the door. It was almost dark outside from the snow-laden clouds obscuring the sunlight, but it wouldn't be long before dusk set in.
"We're closed," Tifa's voice rang through the corridor.
The knock then persisted, heavier still. Cloud frowned and stopped writing for a moment, angling his head in the direction of the front door. He was vaguely curious as to who it could be.
"Yes?"
"Is this the residence of Mr. Cloud Strife?"
A woman's voice.
"A delivery for Cloud? That's ironic…I'm afraid he's busy at the moment. Can I pass on the message?"
"I have confidential information to pass on to him."
"Oh…"
"I need his signature. If he is around, it would be appreciated that I see him."
The voice had a foreign element to it. Unmistakably, this person was not from the Midgar area. Unable to restrain his curiosity now, Cloud descended the stairs and met Tifa halfway down as she was coming up to get him. She had a concerned look in her brown eyes, as he looked at her momentarily before continuing down and making his way to the front door. Tifa then joined his side, standing slightly behind him. Marlene and Denzel stopped playing and hid behind Tifa, peeking around from behind her at the stranger.
Standing on the front door step was a woman, with a plain white envelope between her fingers. The most obvious feature about her was the blood-red woollen cloak she wore about her shoulders, the hood pulled up over her head to shield the snow. Underneath that was a drab grey military-style uniform, complete with black combat boots. Apart from her face, the only part of her flesh showing was that of her knees and thighs where her skirt stopped and her boots began. Her hair colour was hard to depict, given that it was hidden under her cloak for the moment, though it appeared dark rather than light.
Cloud eyed the revolver tucked into a pouch at her belt carefully. It was emblazoned with the winged logo of the company which had brought her here. A Redcape, he thought. They don't normally come over this way; it must be important.
"Are you Cloud Strife?" Her voice was husky and faintly accented, and he wondered where he had heard the accent before.
"Yes."
She handed him the envelope in a black-gloved hand, extending with her other hand a pen for him to sign with. "May I have your signature." It was not a question.
"What is this?"
Her envious rosebud lips remained unsmiling, though they were not unfriendly. Her bewitching oval-shaped face, cast in shadow from both the waning light and her cloak, was one of near insulting beauty; one that made Cloud both flinch and feel dumbstruck at the same time. He tried not to look directly at her. He could only recall one other woman with such beatific features, though he wouldn't exactly use that word to describe this one. There was something… haunting, about this messenger.
"An invitation, so I believe."
An invitation? Who would want to invite me anywhere?
"To what?"
The woman glanced at Tifa. Her blood-red irises set into almond-shaped eyes unnerved Cloud a little, reminding him of Vincent. She must have been exposed to mako at some point in her life; they had that somewhat radioactive glow about them that his own blue eyes possessed. His mind's knee-jerk reaction was to shy away from that notion, but then it made him more curious.
"I cannot disclose that information."
Tifa stepped forward, then. "Why don't you open it and find out, Cloud?" she suggested.
Cloud frowned, took the pen and signed the document anyway. He ripped open the envelope. It was indeed an invitation, from the World Regenesis Organisation, no less. After all these years, Cloud didn't ever expect to hear from them again. It had been too long since he had seen any of them. He was almost certain that Rufus Shinra had been behind the administration, though nobody really knew for sure. All Cloud wanted was to put those days behind him.
Since the saga of Kadaj and his gang was over, there had been relative peace on the continent of Midgar; at least, as close to peace as the people knew. The city of Edge was taking shape nicely, and business was as good as ever, especially since Geostigma had finally been eradicated. Keeping monsters out of the city had been a problem recently, but they had started building electro-static walls to keep them out, which was proving to be efficient.
The invitation read: "To: Mr. C & Mrs T Strife". Cloud snorted; there they go again with the old-married-couple thing. Other than that, it didn't offer much, except for a date, time and a venue – in Wutai. It simply said "Be there!".
Whoever had organised this obviously believed in the element of surprise. He wondered who it could be. Clearly they didn't know Cloud that well; he disliked surprises very much. Yuffie sprung to mind, but he wondered what she, of all people, could possibly want now. Her bubbly nature seemed to fit the invitation, though, he admitted.
He thought about screwing up the note and closing the door, but something stopped him. He flicked his blue eyes up to meet steadfast crimson ones. It seemed this courier had time on her side, which Cloud found peculiar.
"Who sent you?"
She pointed to her badge, a small, intricately designed silver brooch pinned to the red cloak. "The Redcape Academy, of course."
Ask a silly question, get a silly answer. He had hoped to glean some more information from her, but he knew she was just the messenger. He knew how that felt, being a dispatch rider himself.
"I didn't think they delivered on Sundays."
"They don't. I came from Wutai, and I must be back at my base in Mideel before long."
"Wutai?" It was Tifa who spoke. She came to stand in the front. "Why were you sent so far? Could this not have been delivered by post?"
A ghost of a smile passed the woman's lips. "Don't shoot the messenger." With that said, she regarded Cloud once more before turning on her heel and walking away in the snow. She had gotten what she came for.
"Wait," Cloud called, taking a step out into the cold.
She turned around, waited.
"Where are you staying? If…you have more information on this…perhaps…"
He wasn't quite sure what he wanted to ask, or why. It was rather out of character for him to subdue a perfect stranger for his own wants or needs, these days, but something about this woman made him do it.
She stood, appraised him for a moment. He knew she had no obligation to give him any such information – to do so might even be a breach of her employment contract with the company – but Cloud was wagering that she would.
"Midgar. I'll be at the Old Mill Inn until tomorrow morning."
Cloud noticed for the first time a sleek black bike – not unlike his own – parked some distance away. He watched her hop on it with a swift leap. The double-barrelled revolver tucked into her belt, and the brown leather satchel slung over her back, didn't seem to weigh her down one iota. The engine ignited and she sped off down the road without a backward glance.
The Old Mill Inn it is, then, Cloud thought. His fingers grasped the invitation more securely as he went back inside, shutting the door gently behind him.
xXx
Phantom: Oooh what could it be? Stay tuned to find out! ^-^
