Disclaimer - I don't own Final Fantasy or its characters. I hope you will all enjoy the new chapter!

The End of Reality

The blond singer woke in a startled and his breath came out as ragged pants, taking slowly some deep breathes to calm himself as he sat up on his bed. What? What was that? A dream? Cloud looked around him to see if something was out of place, seeing nothing was wrong with his room he let out a heavy sigh as he brushed away his cold sweat. It was a dream... and a really weird one too... but it seems so... real...

Then he heard a small knock on his door and Zack's muffled voice said, 'Hey Cloud! You awake? I'm going out to the village to buy some stuff, you want to come?'

The blond quickly got off of his bed and scribbled down his answer on his small notebook. Yes. I'll be out in a minute. Before he tore his note from the book and slipped it under the door.

'Alright. I'll wait for you in the car. Take all the time you need,' Cloud heard his old friend said behind the door as he made his way to the bathroom. While brushing his teeth and changing his clothes, his thoughts wandered to the strange dream he had that is still nagging him.

Stop thinking about it Cloud Strife! Just because it was your first dream, it doesn't mean a thing to you. He scowled at himself as he put on his black jacket and placed his notebook into his pocket.

When the blond was about to leave, he noticed something was wrong with his room. Since when did I open the window? The retired singer thought as he stared at the floating curtain. He pulled opened the curtains and something fell to the ground. He slowly picked up to examine the item.

It was a dried star-shaped leaf, the same one he had seen in his dream. Cloud looked up from the leaf to the window, what he saw caused his eyes to widen to the size of dinner plates. Outside the window was the hedge maze he had been wandering in his dream and he could see the top of a white marble pavilion from his spot. It can't be the same garden... it must be a coincidence. The blond closed the window and tucked the leaf back on the windowsill before he went outside to join Zack.

When he got inside the car, Zack asked, 'What's going Cloud? You look like you have seen a ghost or something.'

The voiceless singer was about to pull out his notepad from his pocket, but he refrained himself. What are you going to say Cloud? That you had a dream about the maze garden outside your window? Get a hold of yourself!

Then Cloud simply shook his head, causing Zack to raise an eyebrow in question as he asked, 'Are you really sure you don't have something you want to talk with me?' A small shook. 'Alright, but just remember, if you need anything, anything at all, I'll be there for you, ok?'

The blond offered a small reassuring smile to his friend before they set out to the Eir Village.

***

Village of Eir is really a simple plain and boring, with a capital B, town. The houses and shops are all distant from each and other and they are all at least a century old. It was only at the square that things seemed to be more modern with bright colors.

Cloud now sat on a stone bench next to a fountain that had a statue of a water goddess of some kind, holding an urn up high and pouring the water out. He let out a heavy sigh as he studied his surroundings. Zack had left him in order to buy a few things in a nearby grocery store. The blond hair singer was never a social-type person to begin with and now with his voice gone, his interaction ability was totally annihilated.

Zack Fair, you'll be the death of me someday. The blond thought tiredly as he got up from his sitting spot and decided to walk around the stores to stretch his legs a bit. Sometimes, he really hated his friend for his over-enthusiasm personality, but it was also because of this personality that they became friends.

Suddenly, his nose caught a faint sweet scent in the air, a scent he was very familiar with, but couldn't say why. The sweet aroma came from a store that seemed to be a tea shop of some kind named Cosmos. Curious, he pushed opened the door and a bell chimed inside the small shop as he stepped inside.

The air inside was thick and the heat was almost unbearable, it was almost like he was standing in a jungle, but Cloud didn't mind, because it had been at least five years since he had set foot in a place similar to this one. It reminds me of the greenhouse, where mother will plant and grow all sort of flower and would sell them later.

Sapphire blue eyes looked around the shop, where a set of tables were placed on the left side, some bookshelves were aligned at the back and a small counter on the right, an incense burner on it, behind the counter was shelves holding different jars filled with different dried plants, roots and herbs, beneath them were a set of cabinets with dozen of small drawers on them, each listed with the name of a specific flower.

Is this an herbal shop? Cloud thought as he stepped closer to the incense burner on the counter and inhaled the small fume coming out of the holes. Iris. The blond identified mentally.

'Can I help you?' Normally, people would have jumped in surprise when they heard someone said something behind them, but since the blond singer had been used to the sudden pop ups of journalists, it didn't seemed to surprise him anymore.

Cloud looked over his shoulder to see an old bald man in long blue and green robes, which looked like a mix of medieval and Japanese style, and wore thick black sunglasses and had long white beard. Since he couldn't speak, he simply shook his head in response.

'Ho ho hoo! You can look around if you like to. I had many varieties of herbs and plants here as you see,' the old owner of the shop said enthusiastically as he went to the back of the counter. 'Do you look for something specific young lad?'

The mute singer shook his head once more before he took out his notebook, scribbling down his reply and showed it to the shop keeper. No. I just smelled the iris' scent outside so I came in here. I'm new in town, my name is Cloud Strife.

'Ah I see. There aren't many people who would move to Eir, it's a too quiet place for young people these days, but I guess you don't really mind that do you?' The old man asked as he readjusted his glasses.

Not really, I like it when things are calm. Cloud wrote down, finding the old man friendly and a pleasant company, if he ever wants to be away from Zack's verbal assaults of questions.

'Ho ho hoo! There aren't many young people out there who prefer silence of a small village over the noise of music and life of a city.' The owner said with a small smile. 'Do you mind tell me where you live? Because I don't recall anyone in the village is renting their house.'

I live with my friend in a mansion he brought at the village's outskirt. The blond showed his answer to the man whose expression suddenly seemed to harden.

'The Sang Chateau... I see.' The old man whispered.

Excuse me? Cloud scribbled down in his notebook.

'The Sang Chateau, which means Blood Castle in French, was the name of the mansion where you live right now. It is what the villagers had called it for almost six centuries, because of the numerous rumors and stories that surround that place.' The owner explained in small voice, as if he was afraid that someone might overhear them.

What rumors?

The shop keeper took out two small empty brown leather pouches and went to the small drawers, picking a small amount of dried leaves and some sort of rice, putting them into the bags. 'Well, there are many, many memories that had been scarred on the walls of the mansion, painful and tormented ones. It was so scarred that many owners of the mansion had left or died in it within a year, some believed that the place was cursed by the angry ghosts, others believed that it was only the imaginations of the rich people who couldn't define what is real and what is fantasy and died because of some hallucinations made by themselves.'

Then what do you believe? Cloud wrote down. He is starting to be curious and a little scared about this whole haunting affair, but not that he really believed in ghosts and stuff, it was just... worrying. Could the dream I had last night was somehow connected to these rumors?

The shop keeper placed the two pouches on the counter before he replied, 'My only belief is that the mansion held too many memories for one man to carry by himself.' He pushed the bags to the mute blond. 'Take these, as a small token of my shop. If you ever had some difficulties to sleep, take it out and smelled the fresh scent of nature, it will provide you a moment in a blissful haven.'

Cloud doesn't really understand what the owner meant by "blissful haven" as he took the pouches with a flower symbol on them, but the gifts reminded him of the ones he had from his mother made for him when he was just a kid. She told him that it is a charm to calm one's spirit and protect him from evil things.

Thank you, Mr... The blond almost snapped his forehead with his notebook. He had completely forgotten to ask the man's name during the whole one side conversation.

'My name is Bugenhagen. Everyone around the village called me Elder sometimes, because my name is a little too long and complicate for some.' Bugenhagen explained with a small laugh.

The mute singer mouthed his thanks and left the shop with the pouches in his pockets. He was quickly joined by Zack who immediately questioned him where did he go, what was he doing, etc. What a mother hen. The blond thought as they made their way back to the car with their supplies.

***

The blond had never slept this well before, because when he was still a singer, he always got some late messages at night or some change of plans on his schedules that kept him awake. Now he was having a nice peaceful sleep and the flowery scent coming from the pouch he had been given helped him calming his nerves over the recent events and changes.

Everything is so peaceful and quiet. All it needs now is a little... music?

The same soft melodious tune he had heard in his dream now resonated in his room through the opened window. Cloud bolted up from his bed, rubbing his eyes. He went to the window and stared into the blackness of outside. Am I dreaming again?

His blue sapphire eyes had adjusted quickly to the darkness of night and spotted the marble pavilion, where a shadow moved gracefully on the spot. Then it was like déjà vu all over again, the mysterious stranger suddenly stopped playing his violin like the last time when he finally noticed his presence and turned to see him, and when he did everything went black before either of them could see the other's face, but this time, Cloud was able to see the man's eyes.

It was the darkest and deepest blue shade he had ever seen in his whole life. It was like the shadow's eyes were creating the abyss that is slowly taking over his vision. Who's there? Cloud heard the same voice asked as he fell unconscious.