DnS: Greetings, readers. This is the second chapter to my new story. I hope you enjoy it.

Axel: Hey, boss, we have a small problem…

DnS: …And what, pray tell, what that be?

Axel: Sora says he's on strike. He's tired of being in all these fanfics.

DnS: Inform him that no cookies shall be granted to him until he returns to work.

Sora: DAMN YOU!!!! Cries

DnS: hands him a cookie Good boy. I thought you'd see things my way.

Sora: munches cookie, death glaring at DnS

Thanks to all my reviewers from the last chapter. I hope this shall not disappoint.

Shalua Rui: I'm glad you enjoyed it. I hope this chapter shall be up to par.

Musing: Domo Arigatou Gozaimasu, Oneesan, for that insightful and… lengthy… review. I realize my grammer is atrocious in story format, and I apologize for that.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, or any of the songs used within this work (unless otherwise noted)

Chapter 2: The Invitation

Cloud's POV

My name is Cloud Strife. I am nineteen years old, and just took a job as a dishwasher for some spending money. This guy in front of me, Cid, REALLY does not look like a restaurant owner… more like a mechanic in those weird goggles and a cig hanging out of his mouth. "It's a pleasure, sir. I promise you won't regret hiring me."

"I better not kid, or I'll break your goddamn legs." He growled at me, putting out his cig and removing his goggles before hanging them on a hook in his office. He turns to me, looking at me like an engine he's considering putting into a car or something. "Go grab an apron from the back, and find Zexion. He'll show you the basics and where everything is until I introduce you to the rest of the staff before the customers get here. You'll be able to tell him from the others, he's only got half a face."

I twitched slightly at the image, but complied. The aprons were on a hook by the back door, and I quickly grabbed one before throwing the ties around me and tying them at my waist. I shook my head slightly: I was way too skinny if these straps went all the way around without trouble. I looked over at two of the other workers having a conversation while sweeping. One had a sort of Mohawk/Mullet thing going on that honestly made me wonder if he had ANY sense, the other with an emo-style haircut that covered half his face. I guessed this was him, and decided to head over. "Hey. I'm the new guy, Cloud. Is one of you Zexion, by any chance?"

As expected, the emo kid answered, the other heading off. "Yes, that is me. You must be the new guy. Oh well, follow me." He gave a small sigh before leading me through the back room, pointing out various objects and where they were to be kept. It didn't take long, and I was helping him put juice containers in a fridge when Cid called me over, and introduced me to the others.

"LISTEN UP EVERYBODY!!!" I wondered silently if he really needed to yell so loudly. "We've got a new person here today, and I want you all to give him a warm welcome." He gestured me forward, and I walked over next to him. "Everybody, this is Cloud."

The others all stared at me. I couldn't tell what they thought of me very well, but from the looks of things I was well received. One particular person kept staring at me, one of the cooks from what I could tell. He had long silver hair pulled back in a ponytail and hidden under his shirt, so I couldn't tell just how long it was. He had these REALLY deep green eyes that seemed to be staring right through me. Honestly, it creeped me out a little. Cid left, and everyone quickly got to work. Throughout the whole day, I could have sworn I felt like I was getting watched. The few times I took a second to glance back, I caught that cook guy staring at me like I was a piece of meet he wanted to serve up on a platter.

The day passed by pretty quickly, and next thing I knew I was signing out for the day. As I went to leave Demyx, another of the dishwashers, wound up coming over and saying out of the blue "Hey Cloud, what are you up to tonight?"

"Not a great deal, why?" I asked, one eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"Here. This is a ticket for a show that's going on tonight. I think you might enjoy it, think of it as a 'welcome to the job' gift." He gave me a huge grin, forcing the ticket into my hand before bounding off to bug Zexion some more, just as he had during the shift. I blinked a few times, staring at the tickets.

They were for someplace called "Cave of Evil" (all apologies to Megatokyo but I HAD to use it) for a band called "Hikari no Shin" (Light of the Soul). It was for 8 tonight. I shrugged, and headed out to my bike. It was a POS that I had to work on constantly, but at least it did its job. I hopped on and started it up, heading back to my apartment. I hopped off, and headed up to the sixth floor. I found my brother, Roxas, waiting for me after school. "Hey Rox. How was your day?"

"Just fine. Stupid English, still don't see why I have to take it." My younger brother, Roxas, was sitting at the table doing homework. I just chuckled, removing my jacket and heading over to join him.

"Hey Rox. You ever hear of someplace called Cave of Evil?" He raised an eyebrow at me when I asked, causing me to be a bit suspicious.

"Yeah, it's a rock joint not far from here. It's in the basement of that clothes store on Main Street. Tons of punks and Goths go there. Why?"

"I got a ticket to go to a concert there tonight…"

Roxas choked, causing me to raise both eyebrows. "TONIGHT?! Listen bro, you REALLY shouldn't go to that show! I hear it's all really heavy Goth metal, and you know how much you like that stuff!" His tone was practically begging. This made me suspicious, but he had a point. I did hate it when he played his heavier music. You see, my brother plays guitar, and as such he constantly practices at home. It's enough to give ANYONE a headache. "Alright, alright. I'll stay home." I gave a dismissive wave of my hand, causing him to sigh.

"Listen, Cloud, Sora asked me to sleep over at his house tonight. Is that ok?" He gave me that puppy dog look he knows I can't resist, and I nodded. "YAY!" He jumped for joy, before running into his room to grab some clothes. I chuckled again, before making myself some dinner.

After Roxas left, I decided to go out for a drive. I threw on my jacket, hopped on my bike and headed out. Driving aimlessly has always helped relax me and clear my head. While going along, I suddenly found myself on Main Street, and saw a huge crowd outside of a staircase heading down, so I decided to park and see what was going on. I then realized EXACTLY where I was.

I had wound up outside of the Cave of Evil.

… Dammit. Well, while I'm here I may as well head in. After all, from the looks of things this ticket was expensive. And besides, if it's bad all I need to do is leave…

DnS: Well, here you have it. Another chapter is now completed. I apologize for how little occurred in this chapter; however I have not been feeling very well lately.

Sephiroth: Is that supposed to be some form of excuse?

DnS: Shush. Or I may choose to use that plot twist after all…

Sephiroth: O.O You wouldn't dare.

DnS: Who knows? After all, I believe it will prove to be interesting.

Riku: YES! For once I'm not the one getting picked on!

DnS: No song this time. I haven't listened to much music in the last week either, so I had little choice and none of it seemed like what Cloud would listen to. Anyway, reviewers this time get a cookie made by Sephiroth-sama, and a plushie of Sephiroth in his apron!

Sephiroth: …I despise you. I truly do.