Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter Eight
With a small jolt, Bella awoke. She blinked a few times before she yawned and wiped at her blurry eyes. Turning over on the bed she closed her eyes again and sighed. And then she opened them back up again, startling in panic as the ship began to shake and rock. Bella yelped as it tipped to the side violently and she fell onto her backside off of the bed.
"Holy crow!" she cried out as Rosalie stuck her head into the room, holding onto the door-jam as tightly as she could without braking it. "What the heck is happening?"
"Heartless!" Rosalie snarled, her normally perfect coif was disheveled and she blew a blond strand out of her mouth. "The Pedo is trying to navigate us through them all!"
Bella looked confused as she tried to stand on her two feet. "Sid?"
"Who else do you think I'm talking about? Of course I'm talking about that pervert!"
Falling back onto her back, Bella rolled over onto her hands and knees. She began to crawl toward the door, following the blond haired vampire toward the room that Sid was steering the vessel. He was strapped into a chair, looking like he was ready to launch to the moon.
"You girls alright?" he hoarsely cried out, his knuckles white from the grip he hand on the steering wheel.
He suddenly took a hard turn to the right with a loud shout.
"Son of a BITCH!"
Bella's eyes widened in fright and Rosalie fell onto her left side with a gaping mouth. They all began to scream bloody murder. Not because the girls collided mid air, just before they hit the left wall of the room. Not because the many trinkets and collectables that Sid had arranged over the steering console had suddenly began to pelt them all.
No, it was because of the giant gaping mouth that was coming toward them at an impossible speed.
Sid had tried to avoid the giant gaping mouth that seemed to want to swallow them whole by swerving to the right. Unfortunately, it did not seem that luck was on their side.
Just before everything went pitch black, Rosalie shrieked out as loud as she could.
"IS THAT A FUCKING WHALE?"
Emmett pulled at his earlobe in irritation as they all began to climb out of Cloud's surprisingly small ship. He made a whining sound in the back of his throat.
"What's the matter?" Alice asked, her head tilted to the side.
Emmett wrapped his arm over his sister's shoulders. "I feels like someone yelled in my friggin' ear."
Edward glanced sideways to his father. "You would think he would be used to it from the way Rosalie is always screaming."
The physically larger vampire turned to glare in his brother's direction. Emmett bared his venom coated teeth and snarled playfully.
ARGH!
Immediately placing a hand onto his forehead, Edward winced in pain. He glared at the back of brother's head. He almost wished Emmett's hair would catch fire. More than wished, really.
"Was screaming in your mind necessary, you lout?" Edward hissed.
With a crazed, almost maniacally amused grin on his face, Emmett let out a stream of roars and curse words. Edward gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.
"Quit it already!" Edward shouted in annoyance.
Carlisle Cullen placed what he hoped were calming hands on both of his son's shoulders as he gave them both disapproving looks. They both simmered down immediately and turned away from each other.
Cloud hopped down from his Gummy Ship and frowned at them all.
"I seriously hope that this is going to be the only time that you all require a ride from me," Cloud Strife muttered under his breath, knowing full well that they could all hear him perfectly. "I don't think I could take much more of your squabbling kid-pires."
The Cullen family patriarch looked toward his daughter. Alice shook her head with enthusiasm, looking very much like a dashboard bobble head. She and Emmett snickered at Cloud's choice of words.
"Yes," Carlisle answered a warm smile. "We do believe that this will be the only and last time. On behalf of my family I would like to thank you very much for your hospitality, Cloud."
Someone snorted. "Hospitable? Strife? I think I've heard it all now."
They all turned to find a dark haired man approaching them. His face was scarred and blank as he took in the figure that was Cloud Strife. The man reached out a gloved hand and Cloud took it, shaking it firmly before nodding.
"Well," Cloud said with the same blank face. "If it isn't Squall Leonhart. Long time, no see."
The man flinched at the mention of his name and his eyes narrowed as they finally took in the sight of Carlisle, Alice, Edward and Emmett. Wariness and a faint hint of anger were beginning to cloud the man's eyes.
"Actually, it's Leon now," the man replied, taking his eyes away from the Cullens. "Just Leon."
Cloud was the next one to snort. "Whatever, man. Leon."
Leon, who once again faced the four Cullens with distrustful eyes, turned to Cloud. "Let me ask you a question, Cloud. Since when did you keep such… Lively company?"
They all tensed at the sound of dislike in his voice. Cloud frowned deeply and glanced sideways at the four Cullens. Emmett grumbled. With a gentle tug at Alice's elbow, he brought his sister close to his side. Edward glared, his honey colored eyes darkening. Carlisle remained quiet, though his eyes were hard as he took in the human man before them.
"I don't think that's any of your damn business, don't you think, Leon?" Cloud spat the man's name out, feeling surprisingly defensive on the Cullen's behalf.
"I already have vampires holed up in my safe house, Strife," Leon grumbled, shoving his hands violently into his pockets. "And as far as I'm concerned, you bringing vampires into my territory automatically makes it my business. I don't need anymore trouble to look out for, Strife. I already have enough on my plate with trying to stave off the heartless that are trying to invade on this world now."
Cloud paused in their conversation and glanced to the Cullen's. Their golden honey eyes had brightened up enormously at the mention of other vampires on Traverse Town. He was deep in thought for a few seconds as he tried to think up some kind of excuse or explanation that would appeal to the currently prejudiced Leon.
I think I got me an idea here…
Edward quirked an eyebrow in amusement and chuckled under his breath. It was too low for a human to catch, but his siblings and father had heard it quite clearly. They were now wondering and wishing that they also had the ability to know what the interestingly mysterious Cloud Strife had on his mind.
A small smirk ghosted on Cloud's lips but it disappeared before Leon could catch it. "As you know, or I hope you know… vampires are formidable fighters. They are very… convenient allies to have on our sides. You say you're having trouble with the heartless on this world. Well then, what's a few more vampires, Leon?"
Scratching at his chin, Leon frowned deeply. Edward could hear his grumbling thoughts. He was mulling around the idea of more vampires. And he was slowly relenting.
"Fine," Leon grumbled loudly, angrily. "But if any of your vamps tries to feast on a human in my territory… I'm going to rip them to shreds and make a nice, warm bonfire."
Emmett snorted and whispered. "It's like the La Push dogs all over again, man."
Cloud merely nodded. He then gestured to the four Cullens. They followed after Cloud, who in turn followed Leon. They were being led off of the Gummi Ship docks and into a large and open square. There was a giant '1' emblazoned on the wall.
"So, is it just me or am I the only one who caught that the Leon guy said he had other vamps in his safe house?" Emmett whispered excitedly.
"Of course we did, Emmett," Carlisle said softly, breaking Edward out of his thoughts.
Edward and Carlisle shook their heads. Alice was practically vibrating with happiness.
My Jazzy is here! My Jazzy is here! I can feel him! Oh, Edward, I can feel my Jasper!
Edward smiled indulgently at his sister. His smile widened to a full grown grin at the thought of seeing his brother, sister and mother again.
Bella should be here too, Edward.
He looked down at his sister in hopeful question. Alice tapped at the side of head and grinned. With a little push of his power, Edward gentle invaded his sister's mind. He was immediately given a beautiful, yet astounding view.
Bella and his pigheaded sister, Rosalie! His brown haired love was wrapped in the seemingly motherly arms of Rosalie. Edward's heart soared at the beautiful sight that was Isabella Marie Swan. Her beautiful smile, her beautiful brown hair and eyes. He could honestly and truly say that brown was his favorite color.
Just as quickly as his spirits soared, they came back down in a crash landing. Sparkling tears were beginning to stream down her face as Rosalie hugged her close. He watched as his dislikable sister comforted his mate as best as she could.
Edward looked indignant as Alice abruptly cut off her memory. His small pixie-like sister than turned away from and allowed her love of Jasper to cloud over her mind in order to keep him from her stored memory. Edward growled ever so softly. He wondered when exactly his sister had the vision of Bella and Rosalie. And he also wondered why she never thought to inform him of it.
Taking his growl down to a sneer and then to a frown, he brought his attention else where to get his emotions under control. It was times like these that Edward really did wish that he had his brother Jasper beside him. Alice was quickly indifferent and she returned to her former excitable demeanor.
The patriarch of the Cullen family could not hold back the excited smile on his face as he looked down at his daughter. Carlisle was very much looking forward to the reunion of his whole family, especially his beloved Esme. He patted Alice's spiky-haired head fondly as she bounced on the balls of her feet. Alice stopped and looked offended for one moment.
What the hell? I'm not a dog, for crying out loud!
Finally smiling slightly and putting away his questions for later, Edward chuckled. "You resembled a very hyper Chihuahua for a second there."
Alice blew him a raspberry.
"Speaking of Chihuahuas," Emmett suddenly spoke up. "When are we going to hunt again?"
Both Edward and Alice looked to their gorilla sized brother in disbelief and disgust at his words.
"We hunted almost a week ago, son," Carlisle sighed in disbelief.
"Which has been far too long in my book," Emmett muttered in disappointment, patting his stomach.
He could tell by Carlisle's tone of voice that it would be a while yet until they would hunt. Needless to say, Emmett was mildly disappointed. His short sister tapped him on the shoulder and gave him a small smile when he turned.
"Don't worry, Em," she chirped and tapped the side of her head. "I'll tell you when our next hunting trip will be when I get the heads up."
"Thanks, Alice."
They all followed after Cloud and Leon, who led them past and then around a jewelry shop. There was a ledge that led out back to the square and also into the alley. Edward strayed away from his family momentarily and stood at the very edge of the ledge. He looked down into the alley curiously and frowned.
It was dark and dirty. The cobbled stone floor of the alley was uneven and looked slightly damp. It must have rained or drizzled recently, because a puddle was forming from a dripping roof drainage pipe.
"What are you looking at?"
Edward flinched and looked down at his sister in amazement. She bounced on the balls of her feet and looked up at him eagerly.
"Jesus," he breathed out. "I didn't even hear your thoughts when you came up behind me. You scared me half to death, Alice… Forget I said that, please."
Giggling into her fist, Alice composed herself. "Well, it looked as if you were thinking pretty hard. What were you looking at?"
He jutted his chin out to the alley. "Out there. I don't know why, but I get this feeling that this alley should be something important to me."
Alice wrinkled her nose down at the cobbled alley. Her thoughts made him chuckled briefly.
It looks like the future hobo-central down there…
She closed her eyes for a few seconds and breathed in an unnecessary breath. Alice shook her head and turned to look at her brother. He sighed. Alice had tried to see with her ability, if there was something special about the alley, but she came up empty handed. Edward took a hold of her wrist and pulled her away from the ledge gently.
"Come on," he said, "We don't want to keep the others waiting. Do we, Carlisle?… Dad?"
They turned to face the two members of their family, Cloud and Leon. They found no one. The large brown door that had a large golden '2' beside it was slightly ajar. Edward and Alice turned to look at each other with wide eyes.
"Uh oh," said Alice.
"Indeed."
It was freezing and she was shivering. Someone was holding her gently. There was tinkling and banging in the background. It was loud to her sensitive ears and she grimaced. Bella blinked and then scrunched her eyes closed against the harsh light that was suddenly shined in her eyes.
"Point that flashlight away from us, buffoon!" Rosalie growled.
The light was taken away and Bella sighed. She relaxed in what she assumed was Rosalie's cold and marble like arms.
"Sorry," she vaguely heard Sid mutter.
Rosalie grumbled under her breath before focusing her attention on Bella.
"Are you okay?" the blonde vampire asked her. "You got knocked out by one of the pedo's little dashboard trinkets."
Bella opened her eyes again and blinked up at Rosalie in the dark. The lights seemed to out and her vision was slightly blurred. She groaned. Bella reached a hand up and felt at her head. There was a tender spot and a steadily growing lump just under her finger tips.
"I'm good," She moaned.
Rosalie helped her into a standing position. Her equilibrium was out of whack and her stomach rolled uncomfortably. Bella wrapped her arms around her middle.
"No, wait," Bella groaned. "Nope…. I was wrong…. I wanna hurl, Rosalie."
The vampire swiftly took her back into her arms, bridal style.
"I'm going to take you to lie down," said Rosalie with sure authority. "Hopefully our cabin isn't trashed."
The blond vampire was able to navigate in the near pitch black darkness. Bella was carried like she was weightless and she expected Rosalie to run them over to the cabin in a flash. Surprisingly, Rosalie did not. She took her time not to jostle Bella around too much, which Bella was actually very thankful for. She was sure if Rosalie had in fact gone at her normal vampire speed, she would have tossed her cookies all over Rosalie's designer ensemble.
Rosalie kicked the door open to their room and sighed. The blankets and pillows were thrown onto the floor, and the chairs were toppled over, but nothing else seemed to be out of order. There really wasn't anything else in the cabin other then the two beds, the chairs and a small table. Luckily, it seemed that the beds and the table was attached to the floor, so they stayed in their places.
"What's the damage look like?" Bella asked weakly. It seemed that she was still trying to get her rolling stomach under control.
"Not that bad at all," Rosalie said quickly. "Compared to the steering cabin, anyway."
Rosalie kicked the toppled chairs out of her way and stepped over the thrown blankets. Setting Bella gently on one of the bed, she grabbed a blanket from the floor. She shook it to dislodge any dirt and then folded it.
"Was that really a whale?" Bella asked, the thought coming to her suddenly.
The brunette turned her head and watched the vampire clean the room at high speed. In under ten seconds the room was back in order. She then crossed her arms over her ample bosom and huffed.
"Yes," Rosalie hissed out in annoyance. "It was a fucking whale. Can you believe it? A fucking whale is wandering around in all this empty space between worlds!… I guess you can't call it outer space then… There's no air in outer space and that whale was most certainly alive…."
Bella was wide eyed. "Are you sure?"
"Hell yeah, I'm sure," Rosalie snapped at her, placed a hand on her hip. "That beast was terrifying. It was opening it's mouth, ready to swallow the ship whole or… something."
"Did we get swallowed?" Bella paled and her breathing became erratic.
The very thought of being fish food -literally- to a giant whale was absolutely, horrifyingly incredible. So incredible that she thought she might actually toss her cookies. And then pass out immediately after.
"No," Rosalie said quickly, and she sneered. "I hate to say it, but that pedophile has some good reflexes. He was able to swerve us far enough away to avoid it…"
A whirring sound made them freeze in surprise and the lights suddenly came back on. They relaxed when they heard the booming laughter of Sid coming from the steering cabin. Well, Bella relaxed. Rosalie growled.
"Wooooo!" Sid screamed. "The power is back on, baby!"
The blond haired man appeared in the doorway with a victorious grin on his face. His cheeks were flushed with manly pride and smudged heavily with grease. His clothing looked to also be smudged with grease, and torn. He looked extremely disheveled.
Now that the lights were on Bella noticed that he wasn't the only one looking a bit worse for wear. Rosalie, who normally was a perfectly groomed and coiffed vampire, looked to be shaken and messy. Her blond tresses were every which way and tangled. Her clothes were wrinkled and there was a tear in her cashmere sweater. Even her makeup appeared to be smudged.
"Answer me this," Rosalie demanded as she turned her attention to their captain. "Where in the crazy hell did that monstrous whale come from? Last time I checked, this sure as fuck wasn't three thousand leagues under the sea!"
Sid, who for once did not appear to be intimidated or frightened of Rosalie, shrugged. He scratched at his blond, graying head and sighed. He thought for a moment before answering.
"Hells if I know, lady," he said, talking to the floor. "Alls I knows is that the fucker sure as hell was gunning for us. But I don't really think it was going for us… If that makes any sense at all."
Rosalie growled. "It doesn't, imbecile. Explain further."
Sid sighed again. "We were surrounded and taking hits from countless heartless right before the whale came out of no where… What I think is that the whale was probably going for the heartless."
There was silence as the girls took the time to process this.
"So it was what?" Bella asked quietly and naively. "Trying to help us?"
Sid shook her head. "Hell no, girl. That whale was going to swallow us whole along with the heartless."
"It was feeding, Bella," Rosalie said dryly.
Bella's cheeks pinked prettily and she ducked her head.
"That's what I think," Sid nodded, agreeing with Rosalie. "The whale was feeding and has been feeding on heartless like they were krill… Once you really think about it, what else would a whale that gigantic feed off of in the middle of all this black space? There sure as hells aren't any shrimp or krill, or whatever the hell a whale frigging eats."
There was silence. Bella was nodding her head in agreement with Sid's explanation. It really did make sense. The sole vampire on the ship looked bored. She was running her hands through her hair, calmly. She was hoping to get some kind of perfectly groomed cooperation from it.
"How many more days is it going to take to get to wherever you are going?" Rosalie broke the silence rudely.
"Err," Sid was finally looked scared. "I really don't know. I'm going to have to do a sweep through of the engine to make sure nothing was sprained or damaged. The same is going to have to be done with the inventory I'm supposed to drop off. If everything is hunky dory then it won't take more than a few hours."
Looking satisfied with his answer, Rosalie crossed her arms with a nose in the air. Bella watched her with amusement. Over the last few days that she had gotten to know Rosalie, she could not help but admit that she had grown fond of the high maintenance, blond vampire.
"The first stop we'll make will be to a good friend of mine," Sid said before he exited their cabin. "I'm going to drop off a couple of boxes of supplies and special orders to him. His name is Yen Sid."
Bella and Rosalie shared a glance before they turned to look back at Sid.
"La di friggin' da, Captain moronic," Rosalie said smoothly and with a satisfied smirk. "That's exactly where we're headed.
The 2nd District was dark and deserted. The cobbled streets were dirty and barely illuminated by the street lamps. Store fronts were barricaded with boards and burglar bars. Even the small Inn on the other side of the district was deserted. There was no one manning the station behind the counter, where normally a guest would look for the proprietor.
"It's kind of creepy here," Alice whispered out loud and in her thoughts. Like a ghost town…
Edward didn't miss the longing glance she gave to a women's clothing store. The style of dresses were peculiar looking on the mannequins, but her look was longing nonetheless. Her golden eyes turned disappointed as she noticed that the women's store was also thoroughly barricaded. He was amused by her thoughts.
Honestly, I have never worn the same outfit longer than twenty-four hours. I wonder if they would take my visa black card…?
He caught her eye and shook his head. "Probably not, Alice. These worlds have probably never even heard of a credit card. Everything outside of Earth is just so peculiar."
Of course everything outside of Earth would be peculiar, Edward.
Alice smiled slightly, but she was still disappointed. The first ever clothing shop she had seen away from earth and she wouldn't even be able to buy anything. She was beginning to dislike Traverse Town. Any town that wouldn't take her visa black card, really.
Edward suddenly turned to his sister. "Why didn't you tell me about the vision you had about Rosalie and Bella?"
Sighing, Alice shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I… thought that maybe it should stay private."
"What do you mean it should stay private?" Edward asked angrily. "Let me just update you, Alice. Anything that involves my girlfriend, is my business!"
She turned around and looked up at Edward with just as much anger. "But that's just it, Edward! She isn't your girlfriend anymore! She isn't your anything! You left her and dragged us all with you!"
Stalking away from her, Edward clenched his teeth and his eyes closed his eyes. His anger drained out of his body and it was rapidly being replaced by sorrow. She was right. He had left her high and dry. He had no right to claim that she was any of his business.
He suddenly felt a presence beside him. Alice reached out and gently squeezed his shoulder. It was half of comfort and the other half in apology.
"I'm sorry for being mean," she said quietly. "I shouldn't have yelled and been so straight forward like that… Even though, yeah, you did need to get pushed off of your high horse."
Edward chuckled and shrugged. "S'alright. Like you said, I needed it."
"Just understand me for a human minute here," Alice chirped demurely. "I only showed you a small part of the vision. No, don't say anything…! The way it played out was very private. It was a bonding moment between Rose and Bella that I don't even feel right seeing. I just wanted to show you that Bella was in fact here with the rest of the family."
Her bronze haired brother nodded.
"Thank you, Alice."
"Your very welcome, Edward."
They immediately went into a comfortable silence. Alice walked alongside Edward once more. They began to once again look around the 2nd district.
The only things that were slightly appealing were the two water fountains and the white bell tower, with it's bright, paned glass doors. As they walked down the stone and brick steps that led down to the two water fountains the siblings instinctively were drawn closer to each other.
Edward and Alice drew closer to the first fountain. He watched as his sister dipped her fingers into the water quickly. She froze and gasped as a vision hit her unexpectedly. Edward closed his eyes as he suddenly found himself submerged into the vision along with her.
*Vision*
The were just a few steps away from a large door that had a large gold '3' directly beside it. Alice, who was just a few steps ahead of Edward, was the first one to put her hands on the aged wood.
The moment her cold fingers caressed the wood of the door, two figures appeared behind them. They were both roughly the same in height and they were also both dressed in black hooded robes.
Edward turned and crouched low to the ground. A snarl was on his lips and he barred his venom tipped teeth at the two people who unexpectedly snuck up on them.
*Vision End*
Alice straightened immediately and rubbed at her temples with a groan. Edward shook his head as if to shake away the remnants of Alice's vision out of his brain.
"Wow," Alice said quietly, still rubbing at her temples. "I think this is what it must feel like to have a headache."
Taking her hand, Edward squeezed it protectively. What he was more concerned about was her vision. It looked as if they would find the way to the next district, but not without running into two individuals dressed completely in black.
Would the individuals do them harm? Edward really had no idea and he was sure that Alice did not know either. He ran his free hand through his hair in worry.
"We must go, Alice," Edward said quietly, his eyes darting everywhere around the district. "Now."
Alice nodded. She too had been thinking about the implications of her vision. But of course, one could never be too sure about her visions. True, they were more times than not, accurate. But the future was always changing, decisions were always changing. Only time could tell.
There were two ways by the second fountain. The last one was connected to the bell tower and it was a dead end. They took the one that turned to the right. Once they did in fact take that right, they came face to face with the door from Alice's vision.
Edward and Alice paused and stared at the door. Alice broke away from Edward's hold. She yanked her hand out of his and walked with determination to it.
"What are you doing?" Edward hissed in exasperation.
Alice frowned. "We have to face our destiny sooner or later, Edward. I know better than anyone that if you hold destiny off longer than necessary, then destiny comes to find you. And frankly, I would rather meet destiny on my own terms."
Her hand reached toward the door and her manicured nails scraped at the wood lightly. Edward was immediately behind her. His back was to her back as he stared back into the shadows that they had just walked through.
"Those were some wise words, kid."
They both tensed. Edward went into a low crouch as two figures emerged from the shadows...
It seemed that Alice's vision was going exactly to plan.
A/N: I am so sorry for taking so long to update. Long story short, I got my internet disconnected. It's back on now tho, thank goodness! Next chapter there is going to finally be some Esme, Jasper, Charlie, and Leon action! Please read and tell me what you think! Reviews really give me inspiration by the way. ~~ JMMendiola
