Chapter 4: Coffins and Wyverns
Clover awoke feeling refreshed. 'Now to get up from this chair,' she thought, then, 'Wait. The last thing I remember was collapsing on the ground. How did I?...' As she started to struggle with her bonds, she noticed that she was tied quite strangely. But soon, she heard a familiar voice: "Clover, if that's you, don't bother moving. Something is making these bonds get tighter every time we move." Clover quickly felt what Sam was saying; the ropes tying her were getting tighter every second that she fought. She sat perfectly still, only to find that the ropes weren't loosening. 'Well ,' she thought, 'That could have worked a little better.' "We're all in this together Clover," Sam said, "We're all in the same bind." "Yeah, tied awkwardly to chairs. I know. I get it," Clover snapped. "Thank you very much, Clover," Sam retorted, "You saved my the trouble of having to state the obvious." A small groan brought both from their confrontation, followed by a small voice: "Ohh, man. What a nice nap." "ALEX?! Is that you," both girls asked at once. Alex, now fully awake, asked, "Um, girls? Where are we exactly?" Sam, now slightly afraid, surveyed her surroundings and answered, "Well, it looks like we are inside the wine cellar of a really big house! And the place seems to be full of not wine casks but-" Sam was cut short by Clover's shriek of "COFFINS?!" All three girls began screaming; this only intensified when they noticed a single coffin in between them started to rattle from within. Soon, the rattling intensified, and a tall man in a long red cloak and gold gloves blew out of the coffin, and with an angry air, began rambling. "Cloud, I thought we were crystal clear on this. When I need to come back here to recharge, I DO NOT... what on earth?"
As the man opened his eyes, he only expected to see bare walls; he did not expect to see a small, black-haired girl sitting hog-tied to a chair in front of him. Caught completely off guard, he quickly whipped around and caught sight of Sam and Clover. He then lowered himself to the ground and said calmly, "Well, this is interesting. I don't usually have guests, and almost never have guests that are-" "Stunningly gorgeous females?", Clover broke in, "Sorry, but the role of Captain Obvious has already been taken, Mr...?" The stranger finished his previous sentence: "Actually, I was just going to say girls. But, your version would do better justice to your extravagant figures." The sophistication in the man's words caused the girls to collapse in their chairs. "Also, to answer your question, the name is Valentine. Vincent Valentine." Walking over and arranging the chairs quickly, he continued: "So, let's see. We have here a... Blond shopaholic bimbo, ... a red-headed brainiac, and ... a black-haired near-olympic athlete. Correct?" Amazed at the accurateness of his guess, Sam and Alex simply stood there in awe; "Excuse ME?! I am not a bimbo!", Clover exploded. "I'm sorry, but you struck me as the type," Vince calmly responded. "OH YEAH?! I'LL STRIKE YOU ALL RIGHT!!", Clover erupted furiously; she then began to attack Vince fiercely while Sam and Alex tried to restrain her. As Vince stood there smirking, he could have sworn he heard something, not twenty feet away. His ears cocked and waiting, he caught the sound gain... and again... and again! What ever it was, it was getting closer. As Clover settled down, he quickly whipped around and said, "Hurry! Look in this room, and find a weapon for each of you. Don't ask why, just hurry!"
Racing around the room, the girls scrambled to do as they were told. Sam, Thinking like a spy, checked the wall nearest her for a secret button, but instead opted for a large ornate knight shield. Once it was firmly attached to her arm, several blades extended precariously from it: one from each corner, and two from the sides extending down in a diagonal fashion. Alex followed Sam's example, and found a small hole in the wall containing a very old-fashioned samurai katana. Attaching the sheath to her uniform by the belt strap, she withdrew the blade from it's sheath and held it in front of herself, in one hand. Clover, on the other hand, simply decided that she would fight bare-handed; Vince, in turn, gave her a pair of vicious-looking gauntlets to wear, saying, "Come on now, we can't have you breaking a nail, can we?" Still slightly miffed, She put the metal gloves on, and put up her fists in a boxing stance. As vince turned to face the doorway, he told them, "Prepare yourselves, girls, for your first encounter..." Clover attempted to finish his sentence with, "Of the alien kind? We kinda got the idea, Vince" Vince finished his own sentence: "No, of the extremely furry, snarling, ravenous, sharp-fanged monster kind." This caused all three of the girls to momentarily crash to the ground; that's when they heard it: the sound of gale-force winds descending down the staircase in front of them. As the sound continued from the staircase, A pack of winged monsters Blew down the stairs, and at that point, the world spun out of control. As the world resumed normality, a battle awaited the girls... Their first battle in Midgar.
Hope ya enjoyed this, there will be another chapter in a couple of days, if not less.
