Here's the second chapter of Chain of Memories. While I'm on a roll, I decided to focus writing my 100 challenge. So...read on.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Chapter 6-2: Chain of Memories

Sophitia fell on her back hard, causing her to roll quite a bit. She bounced onto her knees, already tired. Her opponent quickly rushed in, bending down and using his free hand to grab whatever fabric he could and forced her up in the air, tossing her. Vunerable in the air, Sophitia only held her shield in front of her and immediately felt three quick strikes in one second, with the last sending her crashing into a tree.

She landed quite hard, causing her to cough out little blood. She only stared at her opponent, who wasn't even panting or showing signs of exhaustion. Although, she admired that about him, able to keep calm, even in the midst of battle, barely cry out a war cry, able to wield that impossibly long sword and at quick succession too. Too bad she won't be able to escape this. With exhaust taking her, she slowly slid down the tree and sat on the ground.

Her opponent slowly walked to her, "Tell me" He started out, catching her lazy eyes to move towards him, "What do you cherish most?" He asked. Sophitia only thought he would spare her, but his next line shattered that thought, "Give me the pleasure to take it all away"

Sophitia felt tears coming out as she lowered her head and closed her eyes. Her opponent then raised his katana to finish this off. "So, this is it. Rothion. Pyrrha. Patroklos. Cassandra...I'm sorry. I failed" She thoughted to herself, having a tear descend from her eye.

"SEPHIROTH!" A voice shouted out. Which the silver-haired man looked at the source of his name.

Cloud held out the base of his sword, where it split wider, and one side rising. He remained in his spot, and held his sword back, where he tossed it like a boomerang, heading towards his opponent.

Sophitia's opponent, now known as Sephiroth, held his blade in front of him, sparing Sophitia who tried to look at her savior, but lost conscience.

Cloud's tossed blade clashed with Sephiroth's masamune, forcing him to jump back. Cloud's sword flew back to him, like a boomerang, and he caught it in his hand. He used his free hand to grab another blade, the one with sawed teeth. Cloud jumped and held his sawed-teeth sword in the air, while holding his based behind him. With a low growl, he smashed the ground.

Dodging, Sephiroth side stepped, holding his katana up. Cloud than used the base and swung at Sephiroth, who swung his katana, deflecting the giant sword. Sephiroth spun counter-clockwise, and slashed his katana up. Cloud held both his swords in front of him. Normally a strike like that would easily be blocked, but with Sephiroth, it caused him to stagger back. Sephiroth than gathered energy, having his sword glow purple and swung another vicious slash, causing Cloud to fly back onto his back.

Upon landing, he gathered his breath and looked at the skies, which Sephiroth seemingly appeared to, descending upon him, pointing his katana downwards. Widening his eyes, Cloud quickly hopped onto his feet and jumped far back just as Sephiroth landed and upon his descend, jagged rocks shot up, before slowly going back into the earth. Sephiroth's icy glare met Cloud's as his katana was still in the earth. Pulling it out, Sephiroth turned around, leaving his 'puppet' to be.

Cloud, seemingly suprised that he decided to spare him, kept on guard in case he attacked on short notice. When he seemingly vaporated, Cloud dropped his guard, seeing his lifelong enemy is now gone. He placed his sword back to where it was, and held onto the base one. He looked around and saw Sophitia, still laying quietly against the tree, and sprinted towards her. The first thing he did was listen for a heart beat, which was faint. He then stood up on his feet and spreaded his arms, where he started to glow green. A green ring appeared under Sophitia and shot up some radiant light, which evaporated with bubble-like things.

Letting time do its part, Cloud put his sword back in his sheath and picked her up bridal style. Sophitia only grimaced in her sleep, like she was having a nightmare.

*Sophitia's Nightmare*

The first thing she saw was many flashing, like a video in fast forward. Her ears were filled with screams, yells, death cries, etc. Her sight was filled with buildings on fire, people laying lifeless in the streets, a child crying, until he fell on the ground, continuing to cry before silence from him came. This was more than enough to fill tears in Sophitia's eyes. She saw herself on her knees, holding onto Rothion, who was lifeless as well. This sight produced a sob from her and looked at a large fire that blocked the exit.

Normally, this would bring many to think that it is Inferno to cause this, but this thought was shattered by Sophitia as she saw a recognizable man standing in front of it, only with a single black wing on him. His soul piercing gaze turning towards Sophitia, like he knew she was witnessing it. His gaze turned towards the front of his wing, where two children, known as Pyrrha and Patroklos, with their heads down. They both looked ahead with their eyes, which were crimson with blood lust, and glared at their mother. Sophitia looked horrified at this, and Sephiroth and her kids grinned evilly before turning around and disappearing into the flames.

*Now Awake*

Sophitia sat up with a gasp and seemingly all hot and sweaty. The first thing she noticed was the night skies, the pleasant night forest smell, and the coolness of night. Also there was a fire few feets away from her and that she was in a blanket. She turned her gaze, hoping that the fire wasn't what she witnessed in her dream, but on the other side was the swordsman who seemingly saved her, who was staring at her.

"Something wrong?" He asked quietly. His swords laid on the sides of the tree, with the base in his grasp.

Seeing nothing wrong, Sophitia gave a sigh of relief lowering her head with eyes closed. After a while of silence, she finally spoke, "Nothing. Just a nightmare" She replied quietly.

Cloud went back to crossing his arm, "Figures" He muttered quietly.

Curious, Sophitia decided to step into more, "What do you mean?" She asked removing her blanket and got up, dusting herself off.

Cloud kept silent at first, closing his eyes, "The man you battled earlier was Sephiroth. He possesses the ability to torture people through mental means. You probably seen him in your nightmare" He explained opening his eyes and turning to look at Sophitia.

Sophitia sat on a nearby log and looked towards the mercenary-turned delivery boy. "He had a one wing in the nightmare" She replied, fearfully.

Cloud did not want to speak about that part, his experiments, everything that had made Sephiroth his hero when he was a boy. That one night, he quickly became the world's enemy. So, he kept silent, only muttering, "Anything else?"

Sophitia shot him a questioning look at his sudden silence, before he asked his question. "He also took my children" She muttered sadly, before bursting into tears.

Cloud, not used to the fact of a mother's love for her children, only asked, "You have children?" He asked curiously.

Sniffing, Sophitia only wiped away her tears, "Two. Patroklos and Pyrrha. Do you have children, Cloud?" She asked, after regaining her control.

"Two. But they're adopted. Me and my friend watches over them. Well, one is adopted. We're sort of babysitting the other" He explained, tossing another log into the fire.

Sophitia processed this information into her mind, "So...your gay?" She asked out of nowhere.

Cloud felt a kick in the nether region within his mind, but he shook his head, "No. My friend is a girl. We live in the same building, but that's all. She watches over the kids and the bar, and I travel around delivering goods" He explained, setting the fact straight.

Sophitia looked at the fire, a small smile across her face, "Your not married?" She asked, which was answered with a nod. "I'm married myself. My husband works at a forge and watches over the kids while I'm on a journey to destroy Soul Edge" She added, feeling more better in his presence.

Cloud had to admit, they were both almost the same, but one word caught his attention, "Soul Edge?" He asked curiously.

"You never heard of it?" She asked suprisingly.

Cloud scratched the back of his head, "Truth be told. I don't think I'm actually from this world, or from the future of it. I don't know" He mumbled quietly.

Sophitia looked at him curiously, "Not from...this world?" She asked. Sure she met beings from different worlds, such as the child-like, yet serious Hylian Hero, Link. An elderly fighter, using his fists, Haihachi. A black clothed anti-hero, Spawn. Three beings with strange weapons cutting through metal with ease, Yoda, Darth Vader, and Starkiller. Lastly, a strong fighter with might she was sure were like the gods, Kratos. So why should a blonde man with fusion swords or a silver-haired man with an impossibly long katana be any different?

Letting that go through her mind, she decided to move ahead, "Soul Edge is a sword able to consume souls and corrupt its wielders. It was destroyed before, but shards of it still lay around, attempting any who touch it to bring it back together." She explained, having her hands on her lap.

Cloud thoughted carefully, "That must be what he's after. That's probably how he escaped the Lifestream" He muttered quietly, having Sophitia casting another curious glance.

Before they could talk any further, a brush nearby shook violently. On instinct, Cloud stood up holding his base sword with both hands and crouching his legs. Sophitia stayed behind Cloud as she did not have her weapons by her side.

A young girl ran out tiredly and crashed into Cloud, who dropped his guard, therefore not striking her down, and the young girl promptly collapsed on her behind.

"Ow..." She whined, rubbing herself to sooth the pain. She had shoulder-length blond hair, messed up from running in the forest. Her clothes were a bit torn by branches, as well as her skin. She looked at Cloud with blue eyes.

"Cassandra?" Sophitia called out, looking over Cloud.

Said girl, looked at Sophitia in relief. "Sophitia, there you are. Athens is under attack!" She called out, going onto her feet.

Cloud wondered who it might be, and only one guess was his, 'Sephiroth' He thoughted, closing his eyes. He than moved to his other swords, putting it in each sheath.

Sophitia widened her eyes at her announcement, "Under attack? By who? Where are the guards?" She asked all these questions in quick unison.

Cassandra catching her breath, rested her hands on her knees, "I don't know. A tall silver-haired man with a long katana took down all the guards with ease. It was like he was looking for something" She explained. "I tried to cross swords with him, but he took me down with ease. I barely escaped." She added, remembering how flawless he fought. She played possum when he slashed at her greatly, barely ending her life.

At the description of the man, Sophitia's faced turned to horror. "Just like..." She muttered, remembering the events of her nightmare. Just then, Cloud walked by, having his weapon shouldered. "Where are you going?" She asked. Looking at him in concern. Cassandra only looked at him confusingly, or day-dreamingly, or just awkwardly. Really, a man with six big swords has to be strong.

Cloud kept walking, "To finish unsettled business" He answered, not giving a glance or anything. Just walking.

The two sisters only glanced at each other, before following behind. He didn't seem to mind, since halfways, he forgot he didn't know where Athens is. The sisters obliged in leading him towards the city, in which he followed behind.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

And here's Chapter 2 of Chain of Memories.

I must say, I think I'm liking this. Sephiroth did his iconic pose in Sophitia's nightmare, along with her children and his one wing.

While I did say I planned to have an amnesiac Cloud, I ended up having him forget he doesn't know this world.

Also, all guest characters made a reference on here, so there.

Now review.