Daylight Phantom
Marlene waited for at least an hour before she finally stood up. She wanted to make sure that she was the only one awake…
Why hadn't Cloud told her? After all, she had been the one that had been captured by Kadaj and those other silver-haired freaks almost three years ago. She didn't want that to happen again…
If Sephiroth was back, then perhaps Kadaj was, too. Marlene didn't want that… She didn't want to get captured again… Especially not by some silver-haired teenager. Now that she was nearly eleven, she was much more aware of the situation she had been in, though…
Marlene walked up the stairs as quietly as she could. She went to the staircase that led up to the roof, quickly climbing up it. She always went up to the roof when she wanted to think about something…
As Marlene almost made it up to the roof, she realized that something wasn't right; someone was watching her. She heard something or someone, but there was nobody there once she got up to the roof itself. She wasn't sure who it had been, and she wasn't sure where they were now. But she knew that they had been there. Actually… she was fairly certain that they were still there, somewhere.
"Hello…?" she called out. "Is… is someone there?"
No answer. Not that she was actually expecting an answer, of course.
Marlene sighed and sat down, looking out over Edge. What was she going to do…? She wanted to help Cloud, but she wasn't sure how she could help. And she also wanted to tell Denzel about what she had overheard, but she didn't want him to get hurt…
Oh… why did she always get involved in this? She didn't want to get involved… but she also didn't want to be left out. She wanted to know what was happening, so that she could at least try to protect the people she cared about.
Why did evil continue to exist in this world? Why did Sephiroth keep on coming back? Even without his memories, Marlene knew that Sephiroth's true heart and soul would never change. Even if he never found out about this 'Jenova', he would obviously just go back to being the devil incarnate, just as Marlene had come to understand he was. Someone like that could never change. It didn't matter what Marlene believed in, or how much she felt that anyone could change their ways; Sephiroth was evil, and that was that.
Marlene still couldn't help but feel that she was being watched. She had always been more sensitive than other people she knew when it came to the energy of others. She had once talked to Aerith, so long ago when the Cetra was still alive, and she still remembered the basics of what Aerith had said to her. What had she called Marlene, again? Oh yeah: an empath. A person who could sense the energy of others. Someone who could feel what others were feeling. Aerith had said that it was a rare, but that it was possible for a human to have the ability.
Marlene had never tried to sense the emotions of others, and she wasn't sure that she really wanted to. She didn't even want to really feel the energy of others, although that ability had come in handy quite often. Especially right now…
"Who is there…? If it's Sephiroth… I know that you haven't changed. Cloud told me… he told me what you would say to him whenever the two of you would speak… Someone like that can't change. Whether you remember your past or not… you're still who you've always been. You can't change that… and I doubt that you want to. Why… why don't you just tell Cloud the truth?"
Again, no answer. But Marlene did feel the energy shift slightly. Her words had evoked some feelings in whoever she was talking to… Perhaps this was Sephiroth? Or maybe even Jenova, whoever that really was? Or was it even Kadaj? It had to be one of them…
Marlene shook her head. "Oh, Aerith… Why can't you still be alive? Why can't you be here to help me? And Cloud… he needs your help most of all…"
Marlene sighed unhappily, standing up and starting to walk back inside. However, before she could, she noticed something on the floor. Upon closer inspection, she realized what it was: a feather. A single black feather.
Marlene shook her head and calmly walked inside, fairly certain that she had just barely escaped a situation that could have easily ended with her death.
-I-I-I-I-I-I-
The next morning, Tifa sighed as she woke up before the others. Cloud was still sound asleep, which was understandable. Hopefully, he wasn't having another dream with Jenova in it…
"Oh, Cloud…" Tifa muttered, walking over to him. "Why do you think you're alone…? You should know that we're here for you…"
Tifa smiled slightly, brushing some of his hair out of his face. "And… I know that Reno wasn't lying. About how you feel about me… I wish I could get up the courage to tell you how I really feel…"
Tifa sighed, shaking her head. She got dressed in her day clothes and walked out of the room. Marlene was standing there, waiting for her. She was already dressed in a white shirt and jeans, so she must have been up for a while. She had a sly smile on her face.
"I knew you liked him…"
Tifa smiled slightly. "Shh. Don't tell him that, alright?"
"But… why not?"
"I don't know… I guess I'm just not ready for him to know that."
Marlene nodded. "Alright. I won't tell him."
"Promise?"
Marlene smiled. "Promise. You know, though… You may want to be more careful with… secrets."
Tifa paused. "What's that supposed to mean…?" Marlene didn't know about Sephiroth… right?
"Oh… never mind. Um… Can I help you today? With the bar?"
"Oh, uh, sure… Does Denzel want to help?"
Marlene shrugged. "I don't know. Probably. He's still asleep, I think."
"Nah, I'm not asleep."
Tifa and Marlene looked over at Denzel. The recently-turned-thirteen-year-old had obviously just gotten out of bed, as his brown hair was more tussled than normal. He was dressed in a grey shirt and jeans, though, so he had been up for at least a few minutes.
Tifa paused. "Did you hear any of that?"
Marlene shook her head. "No, he didn't."
Denzel paused. "How… how do you know that, exactly?"
Marlene froze. "I… I don't know… I just did."
Tifa sighed. "Hmm… Oh, never mind. We should open up for the day… Cloud should be up soon…"
Marlene giggled. "Oh, yes, Cloud… Denzel, I'll tell you everything, okay?"
Denzel had quite a dubious expression on his face, which just made Marlene giggle again. She then led her friend downstairs, leaving Tifa to follow.
"Hey…" Cloud said, walking out of the bedroom. Tifa froze. "What was that all about…?"
Tifa shook her head. "Oh, um, nothing. Marlene just wanted to tell Denzel something, but… I don't really know what."
Cloud shrugged. "Alright. Are they going to help you today?"
Tifa nodded. "Mm-hmm. Marlene has had quite the energy lately… I guess it's understandable. She turns eleven… Oh. Today…"
Cloud sighed. "I can't believe I forgot…"
"I think she did, too."
"Yeah… Ugh, I want to stay home, but… I'll try my absolute hardest to get home early, alright?"
Tifa nodded. "Alright… don't do anything too dangerous, okay? If he remembers, I don't want you to get hurt…"
"Right… But I think that we're alright. Remember, Jenova basically just told us that she was the one who took his memories, so that has to mean something, right?" Cloud smiled slightly. "I wonder if she's gone… Hopefully, she'll leave us alone for a while…"
"She hasn't said anything to you today?"
"Nothing since last night… I don't know. That could be good, and it could be bad. So…"
"Exactly. I wonder how long things are going to continue like this…? With Sephiroth and everything, I mean."
Cloud shrugged. "I don't know. I'm assuming that it will be a while before anything important happens, though. I wouldn't be surprised if it took a few years for anything to happen…" Cloud paused. "I just realized that I'm technically older than Sephiroth now. Weird. I used to be, like, nine years younger than him, and now I'm probably technically a year or two older…"
Cloud sighed, exasperated. "Alright, she's not leaving me alone…"
"Who? Jenova?"
Cloud nodded.
Tifa shook her head unhappily. "What did she say?"
"She said something about someone called Anakin? And Padma, or Padmé, or something like that. I don't know what that even means. Oh, apparently it's from another world… Alright, she said that she'd leave me alone, but I don't trust her…"
Tifa nodded. "Probably a good thing… How does she even know about 'other worlds', anyways?"
"The Lifestream. I remember her saying that yesterday, that the Lifestream contained knowledge from other worlds as well as this one."
"Huh… Oh well, we might as well just continue on with the day, right? And even if Jenova is watching you, she can't see me, right? Because I don't have Jenova cells, so her mind can't follow me."
Cloud nodded. "Right. So… good luck today."
"Yeah… you too…"
Cloud and Tifa walked downstairs. Marlene was talking to Denzel, but she stopped as soon as she saw Cloud and Tifa. Tifa smiled slightly, and opened the front door for Cloud, who walked over to his bike. He then leapt on it and took off, probably towards wherever Sephiroth was. But… it looked like he was heading towards Midgar. How ironic was that…?
Tifa turned the sign on the front of the bar to say 'open', and she walked over to Marlene and Denzel.
Denzel couldn't help but smile. "I knew it. I knew you guys liked each other."
Tifa sighed. "It's a bit more complicated than that, but…"
Marlene shook her head. "You're thinking about it too much, Tifa. It's not really as complicated as it seems. You like him, he likes you. Simple as that."
Tifa shook her head. "How do you know that he likes me?"
"I… don't know." Marlene paused. "How did I know that…?" She looked like she wanted to say something, but yet didn't want to all at the same time. Tifa had never known Marlene to keep secrets…
Tifa sighed. "Oh, by the way… Happy Birthday, Marlene."
Marlene smiled. "Oh yeah! Thanks! But I don't really care about being eleven. I can't wait to be Denzel's age… That's when people will start taking me more seriously."
Tifa shook her head. "What do you mean? We take you seriously."
"Yeah, but… you still keep secrets from me."
Tifa froze. She did know, didn't she…? "Marlene, I…"
Marlene smiled slightly. "Don't worry. I understand why."
Denzel sighed. "I don't know anything either… I just know that there is something going on…"
Tifa nodded. "There is. But don't worry; it's nothing that Cloud and I can't handle."
Marlene sighed. It was obvious that she didn't believe her. But how could she possibly know…?
Tifa noticed for the first time that people were starting to come into the bar. Marlene noticed it too, but… she was acting strangely.
"Marlene… are you alright?"
Marlene looked around at all of the people. Most of them were regulars, but there were also a few people that Tifa rarely saw. There were also one or two people that Tifa had never seen before, but she always liked getting new customers.
Marlene nodded. "Yeah… I think. There's something… strange. I don't know what, but…" Marlene shook her head, smiling. "Never mind. Let's start working, alright?"
Tifa smiled slightly. "Yes ma'am. Alright, Denzel, can you go around and see if anyone wants anything to drink? Marlene, you should probably go around and just talk to people… you know, see how they are, and stuff."
Marlene and Denzel nodded, and quickly did as they were told. Denzel came back quickly enough, telling Tifa everything that everyone wanted. Marlene was sitting down at a table and in a discussion with one of the people who Tifa had never seen before. It was some woman, and she and Marlene seemed to have quite the conversation going. Tifa couldn't hear what they were saying, but she knew that Marlene was definitely mature enough to handle herself.
The woman that Marlene was talking to didn't look out of the ordinary. She was tall and slender, with pale skin, brown hair, and brown eyes. But Tifa didn't know how Marlene could be getting into such a conversation with someone she didn't know…
Tifa started getting all of the drinks ready. She went around, serving everyone that had wanted anything and collecting the gil. She tried to hear what Marlene was talking about, but she was talking too quietly for Tifa to hear over the rest of the conversations going on in the room. What could they possibly be talking about, when Marlene didn't even know this woman…?
"-n't have to tell you that. You know, don't you?" Tifa was able to hear the woman saying. Why did she know that voice…? Perhaps she did know this person. That would make sense, as Marlene would probably know her as well. That could be how they were keeping the conversation going. Perhaps it was even someone from Marlene's past, like someone who had used to live in Corel before it had been destroyed.
Marlene nodded, but again, Tifa couldn't hear what she said after that. Why couldn't the other people be quiet for a moment?
Not wanting to draw attention to herself, Tifa went back to work. Marlene never once went to a different person, so this had to be someone from her past. But who? A friend of Barret's, perhaps?
Marlene got mad at one point, which was the only other time Tifa was able to hear any part of the conversation.
As Tifa was refilling the drink of the person right next to where Marlene and the woman were, the woman said something that Marlene obviously didn't agree with.
"No, he's not! How can you treat him like that?" Marlene snapped at the woman, who only smiled.
"I thought you didn't care about him?"
"It doesn't matter how I feel about him! Or anyone else, for that matter! You should know that! I know that you do…"
The woman paused for a moment. She smiled, then, although her expression held a trace of sadness that obviously surprised Marlene. "Maybe I do… But it doesn't matter how I feel. It never has, although I was blind and did not to see it at first." The woman leaned in and said something that Tifa couldn't hear. Whatever it was, though, surprised Marlene far more than Tifa would have thought.
Marlene took a shaky breath. "That… that doesn't change anything. It may not have been your choice entirely, but that doesn't change the fact that you-"
"Excuse me?" another person said, drawing Tifa's attention.
Damn it… Tifa muttered in her mind. She had wanted to hear what Marlene was going to say, but that was no longer possible.
Tifa smiled at the person who had called to her. It was one of the regulars, asking for a refill. Tifa reluctantly continued with her daily business, trying her hardest to figure out what was going on in Marlene's conversation. Marlene seemed quite serious and even angry at some times, but she also seemed incredibly cautious. What were they talking about?
From the snippet of conversation Tifa had heard, she assumed that it had something to do with the woman's family, or perhaps even her subordinate or superior somehow. Tifa could actually think of a million different things that they could be speaking about, but she couldn't be sure about any of them.
Tifa sighed, pacing around behind the counter. Denzel, who was sitting down as neither of them had anything to do at the moment, shook his head. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I guess… It's just that… What is Marlene talking to that woman about?"
"I don't know… Why don't you go ask her?"
"Not until the woman is gone, thank you very much. I don't want them to think that I'm stalking them… Have you ever seen her before, though?"
"Yes, I've seen Marlene before."
Tifa smirked. "You know which one I meant."
Denzel sighed, shaking his head. "No, I haven't seen that woman before. Sorry."
"It's fine… I just know that I've heard her voice before. But I don't remember seeing her. I don't know… maybe she's been here before?"
Tifa thought for a moment. She had heard that voice before... But where? Wait a minute... Now she was starting to remember. She was almost certain that she had heard that voice in... the Lifestream? Yes, the Lifestream. Back when Sephiroth had attempted to summon Meteor, Tifa remembered hearing that voice faintly when she had gone into the Lifestream to save Cloud that one time. But... was that possible?
"Yeah, maybe… Hey, Tifa?"
"Huh?"
"The woman is leaving."
Tifa looked over at Marlene and saw that, sure enough, the woman had just walked out the door. Tifa calmly walked over to Marlene, although her heart was telling her to run to her. "Who was that?"
Marlene slipped her right hand into her pocket, which Tifa found a bit odd. Did she have something in her pocket, or was she doing that just because?
Marlene looked up at Tifa with a look of hidden knowledge in her eyes. "That was…" Marlene smiled, "…a friend."
She then walked away and went back to her regular duties, leaving Tifa with many more questions than answers.
