Hi guys, just wanted to say thank you for the reviews. I wrote this chapter really fast, because I had all these ideas in my head. Sorry if there were lots of spelling/grammatical errors. I don't have a beta-reader - Lightfellow


CHAPTER FOUR: THE SECRET

He pressed the side switch. Click. A small flame bursts into life. It flickered for a few seconds, and then died. He pressed the switch again. Click. Click. Click.

"Stop playing with that toy." Vincent murmured, his head buried in a sea of papers. Cloud looked up at his lawyer, shrugged and twirled the silver lighter between his fingers.

"It's not a toy." He replied wistfully, studying the object carefully. The lighter was engraved with the insignia of a wolf. There was the initial T.L carved across the side. "It's my good luck charm."

The lawyer raised his head from the piles of documents he was reading and cast Cloud a wry look. They were in his office this afternoon, going over the case again. Now that Sephiroth had confirmed he was going to testify in the case, it was imperative that they came up with some plan to anticipate the questions that the prosecutor would throw their way. "We need more than luck to win this case."

Cloud sighed again, resting his head on his palm as he stuffed the lighter into his pocket. Eyeing Vincent from across the study table, he muttered, "So, do you think we can win this case?"

The lawyer lowered his gaze, running his fingers through his dark black hair. For a minute, Cloud thought he looked depressed. "Honestly, Cloud, the odds are not in our favor."

The actor nodded and straightened up. "Okay, what did you want to know?"

Vincent took out a pen and paper. His eyes darkened as a thin frown creased his forehead. "Everything that happened that night, Cloud. Leave no details."


"Excuse me? I need someone to contact Miss Gainsborough's agent. She's…"

The receptionist behind the counter did not look the slightest bit alarm. "Sir, Miss Gainsborough had strictly ordered that her staff leave the premises after the Awards Show. I can't get you their contacts."

Cloud widened his eyes in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?" He was still carrying Aeris in his arms, and she was out cold. "Look at her. I need either her agent on the line right now, or an ambulance."

The receptionist frowned, walked over from behind the counter and pressed two fingers against the starlet's neck. "She has a pulse, sir."

"I know she has a fucking pulse!"

The receptionist lifted an eyebrow at Cloud, looking at him as if he was the one acting retarded. Cloud was getting frustrated. He was getting nowhere with this receptionist.

"Sir, if I might suggest something," The receptionist started. "You can send Miss Gainsborough up to her room and I will contact her family."

"Good!" Cloud retorted, rolling his eyes. "At least we're getting somewhere."

The receptionist proceeded to explain to Cloud that Aeris's room was at the top floor of the hotel in the penthouse suite. Naturally, he was not supposed to access her room, but in view of the current situation, the receptionist needed Cloud to sign on a piece of paper that stated the time of entry to Miss Gainsborough's suite, leaving his contact details and driving license number.

"It's all protocol, you understand, sir." The receptionist nodded with a thin smile, casting a look at the actress. "She's probably had too much to drink. I'll have housekeeping send up some ice and water later."

When Cloud entered the penthouse suite, he thought he had entered into some royalty's chamber. The full-glass windows revealed a spectacular view of GlitterHills. There was a gorgeous living room set, a bar at the corner, separate rooms for a personal gym, salon and massage. Cloud carried Aeris into her bedroom. She was already starting to stir a bit. He sighed, looking around the bed chamber. It was grand enough for a princess. He thought about the ironic of it all. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his cellphone and dialed Barret's number.

"You wouldn't be able to guess where I am right now." Cloud said, smiling to himself.

"Where the fuck are you?" The hoarse voice on the other line inquired. Cloud could hear the faint sounds of music. Barret must still be at the party in the club house.

"I'm in Aeris Gainsborough's bedroom."

"For fuck's sake, and you're on the phone with me? Give me some time, I'll run the word to the press that…"

"No, wait!" Cloud interrupted quickly. His agent was always jumping the gun, trying to get media into all corners of his life. He called it publicity, but Cloud sometimes felt his methods were dirty. "It's not what you think, Barret." His eyes trailed to the motionless form of the actress. She looked pale and doll-like. Cloud was worried. "She's just out cold from drinking too much."

"What?" Barret's voice droned on. "And you're playing nurse? Seriously, Cloud, we didn't get this far for you to be inside the Princess's room and not have the press write something about it."

"But there is nothing to write about!" Cloud paced the room exasperatedly. "We didn't even kiss." He paused, "Okay, well, we did but it was just…"

"Good god, kid." Barret sounded agitated. "You were supposed to kiss her in the party. In that room full of media press!" There was a ruffling sound on the other line, as if the agent was digging through some papers. "Look, kid. Just stay where you are. Stay with the Princess. Make sure she drinks plenty of water. I'll call you back later or something." And the line went dead.


The bedsheets rose as the actress struggled to sit up. Cloud hurried to her side, helping her up and setting a pillow for her back. "Hey, you just blacked out earlier." He said softly, watching her carefully for any signs of trauma. "I carried you back to the hotel. This is your bedroom."

Aeris nodded. Her face remained pale and her green eyes flickered to the drawers by the balcony. "Can you…can you get me something?"

"Absolutely." He replied gently, "What do you need, Aeris?"

She pointed to the drawers. "Just get me my things there."

Things? Cloud did not ask further as the actress was starting to look annoyed. He quickly walked over to the cabinet, pulled out the drawers and peered inside for Aeris's things. But all he saw was several syringes. All of which has a strange-colored liquid inside.

He took out one of the syringes, turning around back to the actress. "Is this it?"

Her eyes seemed to brighten and she smiled, as if her mood had suddenly shifted to that of a cheerful one. "Cloud, thank you! You've been a great help tonight." She lowered her gaze to the bed, looking almost apologetic. "I'm sorry for causing so much trouble."

"It's no problem at all." He said as he strolled over to her, handing her the syringe. She must have been able to tell the way he was looking at the strangely colored liquid inside that she placed a reassuring hand over his.

"It's my medication, Cloud." She whispered, "That purple liquid you see in there?" she pointed with a small smile, "That's compressed iron." When she saw the actor looking confused, she giggled and shrugged. "I'm anemic."

Cloud sat down beside her on the bed, putting the syringe on the dress table beside them. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

She shook her head. "Nobody knows. It's my little secret, you see." She winked. "Don't tell anybody, Cloud."

For a moment, Cloud felt sorry for the actress. Being Anemic must have meant she had to go for constant diet supplements, blood transfusion, or if the case was serious, maybe even surgery. He could not believe that the beautiful, flawless Princess of GlitterHills could be hiding such a grave secret from the world, behind her dazzling smiles and all the awards that she had won, Cloud could not help but felt that she must have been alone in all of these.

Just then, he heard a door opened and closed somewhere in the main room. He looked at her oddly. "Is there someone else…?"

She shook her head, her face pale.

Before he could get up and investigate, the sliding doors to the bed chambers opened. The two actors looked up to see the looming figure of GlitterHills' most recognized and established star, Sephiroth.

If there ever was a celebrity that was rumored to be more powerful than the city's mayor, Sephiroth had exceeded beyond that. His influence extended beyond GlitterHills and to the rest of ValleyHills City as well. Upper ValleyHills was the home to stars and starlets, but Sephiroth owned the land. His face was in almost every billboard that lined the glamorous streets of GlitterHills. Even in Lower ValleyHills, where the average citizen resided in, one cannot walk past a park or a statue without seeing Sephiroth's imprint on it. He basically donated more than half of the city's amenities. Hospitals, schools, churches, you name it. Behind every plaque, every statue, there was bound to be a moving story that related Sephiroth's kind generosity to the public.

Right now, the city's most powerful man was staring down at Cloud with widened eyes.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. His voice was low but dignified. Cloud briefly wondered if the illustrious man remembered his co-star.

"Seph." Aeris extended her hands, smiling sweetly. The star walked over and gave her a heartfelt hug. "When did you arrive?"

"Just a moment ago." He replied softly, brushing away strands of her light brown hair from her face, and returning the smile with equal warmth. "We landed on the helipad and I came here right away." He digged into his coat pockets and pulled out a small box wrapped in white and gold ribbons. "Congratulations on your triple wins tonight."

Cloud suddenly felt like he was intruding. He cleared his throat. "Uh, Mr Sephiroth. I'm…"

"You're Cloud." The silver-haired man released Aeris and turned around to face him. "I remember you. We've worked together."

Cloud nodded. He did not understand why his heart was pulsating in such a quick manner. He realized shortly, that he was just very nervous in the presence of Sephiroth. "Well, I should go…" he muttered, turning to look at Aeris and back at the legendary star. "It's getting late and…"

"Why the rush?" Sephiroth cut in with his low, emotionless voice. His expression was blank but he gestured to Aeris. "I must thank you for taking care of my little sister."

"Sister?" The expression on Cloud's face must have been that of bewilderment because Aeris on her sickbed, bursts into soft giggles. Cloud met her eyes and raised an eyebrow, as if trying to question the reality of it all. She simply put a finger on her lips, and winked.

Sephiroth already had one hand across Cloud's shoulders and was leading him out of the bed chamber. "Come here, the little one needs rest." He led the younger actor to the bar where he started to prepare a glass of whiskey. "I gathered you and Aeris had a bit of fun tonight." He muttered, his eyes on the bottle as he scooped some ice from the bucket.

Cloud tried to laugh to ease off the tension. Sephiroth just stared at him expectedly, and did not break into a smile. "Well," he scratched his head in a sheepish grin. "We probably had too much to drink, yeah." He quickly looked away from Sephiroth's intense stare, and nervously pointed out that the living room was beautifully furnished.

The older man nodded, following Cloud's gaze across the huge room. "Aeris wanted pink and lilac, so we had the staff re-decorate the curtains, the couches, the floor mats..." He paused and lightly tapped the glass of whiskey. "Even the drinking glasses are tinted."

Cloud took the glass and seeped it slowly. "So, I didn't know you and Aeris are…"

"Related?" Sephiroth finished, watching Cloud carefully. "No, we're not really siblings." He had poured himself a glass as well, and was drinking its contents slowly. "But everyone knows I found her." He said, offering a rare smile. "Groom her and supported her in all her works."

Cloud nodded. "Your work to the entire city has been spectacular, Mr Sephiroth, I am a huge fan…"

"Please." Sephiroth whispered, raising a hand to stop Cloud mid-speech. "Call me Sephiroth. You don't have to be formal with me. Any friend of Aeris's is a friend of mine."


Vincent Valentine watched his client closely, scribbling notes and making connections. But this was where the story dissected. Cloud could not remember what happened afterwards. He concluded that he had a couple of drinks with Sephiroth, and probably passed out in the living room.

"But when the police came, you were in the toilet." Vincent noted, his eyes scanning the police reports that he had made copies of.

"I could have…" Cloud shrugged, "I really don't remember what happened. I drank a couple of whiskeys…"

"Then what happened with Sephiroth?" Vincent probed.

Cloud scratched his head. "I don't know…maybe he left?"

"He couldn't have left you alone in Aeris's hotel room!" Vincent frowned. "And the drugs in your body. You were tested positive."

"I know…" Cloud sighed. "You think they planted the drugs on me? But that's Sephiroth and Aeris we are talking about…There's just no reasons for them to even…"

"They are now testifying against you, Cloud." Vincent muttered, his expression grave and serious. "Now," he flipped a couple of newspapers and files. "It says here that the press arrived first. They found Aeris sleeping in the bedroom and you in the toilet. They called the police…" he flipped a couple of pages, his entire study table was now cluttered with papers. "Not one mention of Sephiroth…"

Cloud looked across the table boredly. "So…? Maybe he left the room."

"Why would he do that?" Vincent insisted, frowning. "I'm telling you, we're missing some sort of puzzle that is linking everything up."

"And why would he stay in the room with me puking in the toilet and Aeris sleeping in the bedroom?" Cloud rolled his eyes, "Your entire conspiracy theory just doesn't make sense!"

"Well, then where is his alibi?" Vincent stared at the young actor squarely. "Who can vouch that he was somewhere else when the press and police raided the room?"

Cloud looked at his lawyer as if that was the stupidest remark he had ever heard in his life. He briefly wondered why Barret decided to hire this man as his lawyer. Finally, he leaned forward in the table, staring straight into the eyes of his lawyer. "He's Sephiroth. He don't fucking need an alibi."


Already the fourth chapter and I hope you like it. Please review if you do! Thanks! :))