Disclaimer: I own the OC's and that's it. The same old same old, folks.
A/N: Yes, I am very sorry for the wait. The usual- school and the like- kept me away from here. :( Ah, well… Enjoy this [largely] FFVII chapter. :D
A storm was slowly rolling over Edge as Cloud pulled up at Seventh Heaven. He'd had another "fun" round of deliveries that had, inevitably, ended up with him fighting his way out of a trap.
He had absolutely no idea what they were after, and, quite frankly, he didn't care at all. Lately nothing was right and he was sick of it.
With that in mind, he entered the bar with a groan, running a hand over his hair.
Instantly, he realized something was wrong.
Tifa's not behind the bar. The kids aren't running around. And those patrons over there look pretty sober. Cloud thought, standing in the doorway.
In other words: Something was very, very wrong.
"Hey, Cloud? You know where Tifa is?" one of the men, a regular, asked him as he stepped further into the bar. "She went upstairs a while ago and hasn't appeared since."
"Did something happen?" Cloud asked as he heard the sound of Marlene running down the stairs.
"Cloud!" On cue, Marlene appeared. "Vincent found a man and brought him here and he mentioned Seph-"
"Sssh!" Denzel hissed, appearing a little too late. "Don't say it that loud."
Marlene, wide-eyed, looked around the bar as it drew quiet. Everyone wanted to know if she had meant the Sephiroth.
"…tic problems." The smart little girl played it cool. "Someone poisoned the water." She added after a moment. "Don't drink it."
One man spit out the water he was drinking as Tifa appeared finally. Several more dropped their drinks.
The bar was empty in seconds.
"That worked well. Too well." Tifa said as she patted Marlene on the shoulder. "I just pray everyone goes home and focuses more on their health than the health standards here."
Cloud nodded, and then spoke. "Was Marlene telling the truth about the man Vincent found?"
Tifa sighed, looking at the kids. They smiled innocently up at her, and Cloud knew that there wasn't much of a point in keeping the story from them. They already seemed to know more than Tifa expected.
"…I think you better see for yourself." Tifa muttered after a moment.
Cloud raised one blond eyebrow. That didn't sound too good, in his opinion.
"So he hasn't said anything since?" Cloud asked, looking at the stranger through the barely-ajar doorway.
"Not a word." Tifa confirmed as Cloud pulled the door shut.
He turned around and looked at Tifa, first, and then Vincent. The stoic man seemed more somber than usual.
"What are the odds that it was a coincidence? Sephiroth can't be the only one with that name." Cloud suggested, hoping against hope that that was the case.
By the look in Vincent's eyes, he knew that the odds were very, very, very slim.
The three adults said nothing as Marlene and Denzel watched them from nearby.
"We should ask around; see if anyone knows him." Tifa said. "It's not like he just fell from the sky…"
Vincent grimaced, a look that Cloud caught.
"Where did he come from, Vincent?" Cloud asked, going straight to the point.
The mysterious man gave Cloud a look that screamed he could guess from where, but Cloud wasn't about to guess. Not if Sephiroth really was involved.
Tifa turned and looked at Vincent, whose gaze flickered towards her before looking away.
"Vincent?" she asked him gently.
"Maybe you should ask him."
Tifa and Cloud looked at Marlene in surprise as Denzel, from his spot next to her, smiled sheepishly at the adults.
"He's awake." Marlene added after a moment.
Tifa looked at the door on the other side of them, wondering just how Marlene knew that since she hadn't been anywhere near the man since they'd placed him in the room.
Vincent was about to take control of the situation when Cloud stepped forward and opened the door, surprising the man. He had been in the process of walking, slowly, to the door.
He looked from each of the adult's faces, looking rather nervous. "Ah… Right… Hello…" he said, raising his hand in a friendly gesture. "I take it you're the ones who found me."
Cloud looked at Vincent, who somberly nodded.
There was a moment of awkward silence as the adults just stood there, not sure what to say or do. The kids were even quiet, staring in wondrous anticipation.
Finally, the stranger cleared his throat. "Ah, I need to reach a phone. It's urgent. I must warn someone of an impending danger."
Cloud, Tifa, and Vincent exchanged looks before Tifa spoke up. "Maybe you should tell us. If it involves Sephiroth, we kinda are experts at knowing who to contact."
The man's brown eyes grew wide, stunned silent.
The silence in the bar started again as everyone was unsure what to say.
Finally, it was the wisdom of children that presented a solution.
"Maybe he wants something to eat and drink." Marlene suggested.
Tifa smiled at the young girl as Cloud and Vincent exchanged confused looks.
"Yes, that would be lovely." The man sighed.
"All right. Are you strong enough to walk downstairs, Mr.…?" Tifa looked at him again, hoping they could learn his name.
"Alister Fletcher."
Anaya Imanu wasn't one for surprise visits, but she couldn't pass up the opportunity, when she was already only forty minutes away, to visit her friends at Croft Manor and drop off Winston's birthday present.
She knew that the novelty lamp, shaped like a dragon, was something that he had wanted for quite some time.
As she pulled up to the gates of Croft Manor, though, she noticed that Lara's bike was absent from the front drive. Her friend wasn't a big fan of parking in the garage unless it was absolutely necessary.
She was disappointed that Lara might not be there, but she wouldn't mind visiting the others.
Winston, Trish, Zip…
Her thoughts stopped there as a blush spread across her cheeks.
Get a hold of yourself, Anaya! She scolded as the gates rattled open. You're here to see friends and to give Winston his birthday gift, nothing more. It doesn't matter if Zip has been keeping in touch with you via the web for the last eight months.
Though, as she pulled into the circular drive in front of the manor, she did have to admit to herself that she was there to see Zip as well.
Her feelings for the tech had, during their correspondences, grown. Now, she wanted to know if he felt the same way.
I'm not leaving here without an answer. She determined as Winston appeared at the front door.
After being served a tall glass of water- the young woman named Tifa left him the pitcher so that he could refill his glass as he needed- and a sandwich, Alister finally took a moment to study his surroundings.
He was in a bar. He knew that much. And in a city too. The questions that still remained, though, included, "What bar, and in which city?"
Also, how did I get here? He wondered.
The three adults stayed in a corner of the bar, whispering to each other. Well, Tifa whispered mostly while Cloud mumbled. Vincent, on the other hand, kept scanning the bar with a wary eye and giving him a look that implied, "I'm watching you."
And why are they so suspicious of me? Does it have something to do with Sephiroth, or what I was warned about? Alister also wondered as he ate his sandwich.
Out of the corner of his eye he could see the kids spying on him from another part of the bar. Evidently, they didn't get many strangers of his kind there.
The adults stopped whispering after a little while and he began to feel better, so he felt that it was finally time to explain his situation… And make his phone call.
"I'm not sure really where to begin…" He said, catching the adult's attention. They quickly joined him at his table, Tifa taking a seat while the men chose to stand.
"How about at the part involving Sephiroth." Cloud said seriously.
Tifa nodded her approval at that.
Alister hesitated. "Erm, all right… I suppose that's as good a place as any." He paused to compile his thoughts before continuing. "Sixteen days ago he just showed up at my work place and insisted on getting my employer's help. Said that it was an utmost serious situation and that only they could help. Well, they said no- they're incredibly at this time of year."
"Want was the situation?" Vincent asked, startling Alister.
"Ahm…" Alister adjusted his glasses. "He didn't elaborate much. Just that he needed an artifact in order to stops rifts in the fabric of time."
"The… What?" Tifa asked.
"Basically, there's a hole in time that's breaking all the rules." Alister explained quickly. "I did my research on the situation and found that he was right, so I offered my help instead. We had to find a special artifact in order to seal up these holes, only it wasn't so easy to find. It took quite some time to find it, and after we did…" Alister stopped, angry by this point. "He betrayed me. Showed his true colors."
Cloud shifted where he stood, and Alister was curious how he wasn't tired after carrying his large sword around with him. "I'm not surprised. Sephiroth wasn't… Isn't known for his loyalty."
"So you've dealt with him before?" Alister asked them, hopeful that he had found the help he was looking for.
The three adults exchanged looks. Well, Vincent didn't exchange his expression. More of, his eyes flickered to Tifa's before going back to watching Alister. "Yes." He confirmed.
"Oh thank God." Alister exhaled. "After what that woman told me, I was so worried-"
"What woman?" Cloud interrupted with.
Alister paused, thinking about the woman he had encountered. "I'm not even really sure who she was. She was cheerful, though, and had her hair in braids. And she was wearing pink." He added after a moment.
The silence that followed that final remark was stifling.
"You mean, you've seen her before?" Alister asked, looking at the people before him, surprised. That was the only logical explanation for their response.
Tifa looked at Vincent, the concern on her face evident, before she turned and looked at Cloud.
Vincent nodded. "Yes, but…" he hesitated and Tifa and Cloud could instantly finish what he was thinking.
"…it's difficult to explain." Cloud said, turning away as Alister's heart rate picked up.
The mood in the bar grew tense and fearful at that point.
"Oh." Alister said, fidgeting nervously. "Um… If I may ask, what is her name?"
Cloud rubbed the back of his neck as Vincent spoke up.
"Aerith."
Alister quirked an eyebrow at the name. He'd heard it before…
"What did she tell you?" Cloud asked the question that was everyone's minds.
That was where Alister really hesitated. He wasn't sure if he could trust these people, even if they were seemingly nice and knew about Sephiroth and Aerith.
He'd trusted too much lately to have faith in random strangers.
"It's okay," Marlene piped up nearby. "You can trust us."
The adults looked at her smiling face and Alister sighed. He supposed that, since he still wasn't sure what was going on, he could trust them…
…And he would just leave out the parts that weren't all that helpful to the situation.
"All right. You won't believe me, but I'll tell you."
Still going strong. I just need to update more often than I have been. I've got plans for the future chapters. I just have to get from there to here. ;)
For those of you who caught the reference during the Alister explaining he'd seen Aerith scene- yes, this Alister has brown eyes. I do know that his eyes were a bright blue-green in Underworld. This is an important bit of data to keep in mind.
Flamers- my secretary will take your flames once they get back to the office. Currently I have no idea where they are, but I checked the air ducts twice and they aren't in there. O.O If you've seen them, let me know.
