ShooTheOtherGuy is back, everyone!
Sorry about the incredible delay, I was fresh out of ideas. And the lack of reviews made me progress slower :(
However, I have decided to add a little twist to this story that probably won't make sense until later :)
I hope you all enjoy this, and sorry again for the delay.
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, Soul Eater, or anything associated with either one. I do, however, own the plot of this story.
Kid's POV
I was pissed.
This surprised me, because I'm usually very calm and collected in situations like these.
What's so special about Cloud that ticks me off?
Cloud is very powerful, that's a no-brainer. If someone of that power gets out of hand, the results will not be pretty. I guess what bothered me most was that he tried to kill Liz. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if Stein and I weren't there to stop him.
What makes things worse is that we'll soon have to enter the Book of Eibon, and Cloud's skills will be a vital part for success.
That is, if he can control himself.
Mumbling to myself and completely lost in my thoughts, I stepped out the door to the infirmary and turned right. I continued straight and out the academy's doors, into the chill air of Death City. The moon laughed down at me from above, mocking me.
An alien parasite...corrupting his soul...what did Stein mean by that?
I would ask Cloud, but that didn't seem like a good idea to me at all, not in his condition. We needed to start preparing for entry into the Book...I needed to set Cloud straight somehow. What was setting him off? He said something about...his friends dying. But how can he -
"Kid?"
I stopped in my tracks and looked up, surprised to see that Tsubaki and Black*Star had arrived. That must mean that Father has witch Eruka, which means that entry into the Book of Eibon is closer than I had originally thought...
"Welcome back. I assume you two have successfully completed the mission?" I asked. With Black*Star, you never knew.
"Of course we did! Nobody stands a chance against a God like me!" he bellowed. I watched as Tsubaki sighed, clearly a bit annoyed at Black*Star's antics.
"Don't worry about that, Kid. How is everyone? Cloud seemed to be pretty hurt when I last saw him. He had bandages all over his chest. Was the mission really that hard?" Tsubaki asked a little worriedly.
"About that. Listen, don't go near Cloud. If necessary, make sure there are people around who can help you just in case anything happens." I said sharply. I didn't want them in Cloud's range just in case he decided to go crazy again. I needed to alert Maka and Soul as well.
Black*Star stopped laughing and instead gave me a serious look.
"Come on, Kid, you know nobody stands a chance against me. And what do you mean, 'if something happens'?"
"Kid, if anything is going on you can tell us," rang Tsubaki's calm voice. I sighed. How can I tell them that Cloud is going crazy and he can kill them in two seconds if he wanted to?
"Just listen to me," I said with authority. Tsubaki nodded, and Black*Star just looked at me.
We said our farewells, and as they turned around to leave I called after them.
"Guys, prepare for entry to the Book of Eibon. It's soon."
No words were necessary after that, and I watched as they walked away into the merciless night.
Cloud's POV
The stairs creaked under my feet as I slowly trudged up to my room. Liz and Patty were already home when I got there. They had wordlessly opened the door for me and jumped back. I knew they were scared of me, but who could blame them?
The manor seemed darker than usual. It was 3am already. Time sure flies by fast.
My sword. Where was my sword? I checked around the room. Of course. Kid. He won't even let me go near the sword, not in this condition.
I leaned against the bed, sighing. What condition? What was wrong with me? Why was I seeing Sephiroth? There were so many questions I needed answers to.
Before I knew it, I had dozed off like that; leaning against the side of the bed, slumped on the floor, my clothes from the previous battle left on. I stayed like that for a long, long time, hoping I would wake up and this nightmare would end. But wasn't I always living in a nightmare? Every day was like that, from when I was little all the way up to now. Whatever.
Maka's POV
Yaaaaawn
I stretched. It was another bright day, the laughing sun greeting me with its warm rays. The previous mission was so cool, and being a success had set me at ease. I slept like a log.
I got up and preformed the usual morning routine. After that, I walked over to Soul's room and was slightly annoyed to find that he was still asleep.
"Soul, get up!" I called, opening the door to his room. He awoke with a start, before mumbling a "5 more minuuuutes~" and rolling back over.
I sighed. He wasn't going to let me have it easy, was he?
I walked over to his bed and, with a grasp of the sheets, pulled them off in one go. He laid there, shivering despite the warmth of the house, and looked up at me with one eye.
"I'm awake...calm down."
I stuck my tongue out at him and then proceeded to walk downstairs to prepare breakfast. It was Soul's turn, but he was going to take forever and burn it anyways, so I decided to cook myself something nice.
While I was in the middle of cooking my favourite – omelette, yum, - the phone started to ring.
"Soul, can you get that?" I called.
No answer. Of course.
"Worthless bastard..." I mumbled under my breath. I turned off the stove and grabbed the phone on its last ring.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Maka?"
"Oh hey, Kid. What's up?"
"A lot, actually. Do you have time?"
I glanced at the stove, frowning.
"Well, I guess so."
"I'll be quick. I just need to infor – "
"MAKA!" Soul yelled.
"Uh, hold on Kid. WHAT, SOUL?"
"WE'RE OUT OF TOILET PAPER. CAN YOU GET ME SOME FROM THE OTHER WASHROOM?"
I heard Kid chuckling on the other end.
"Ugh. FINE. COMING."
After that cleared up, I went back to the phone, my breakfast long forgotten.
"Sorry about that. You were saying?"
"It's okay. Anyways, I want you guys to stay away from Cloud. I highly recommend you listen to me."
"Cloud? Why, wha – "
"Just listen. I told Tsubaki and Black*Star as well. If you must, make sure there are some people around"
"But what happened?" I said worriedly. What had gotten into him?
"Well..."
There was a pause.
"Cloud's...mental state...is not in the...best of conditions, right now." He was choosing his words carefully.
"Is it the madness?"
"...Yes. I'm sorry, I have to go. Just, remember what I said. Goodbye."
"Bye, Kid," I said, just as he hung up the phone. I put it back down. Madness, huh. It affected him so fast. And he's so powerful, too. But...he was perfectly fine yesterday...I wonder what happened? But I know what Kid is doing is for the best...
Suddenly, Soul's footsteps resounded down the stairs.
"I'm so hungry. What are you doing over there? Get back in the kitchen!"
"MAKA CHOP!"
Kid's POV
The mirror in my pocket began to ring as soon as I broke the connection between Maka and I. I pulled it out of my pocket and held it in front of my face, awaiting the caller.
"Hey, Kiddo!" The cheerful face – err, mask – of my Father appeared.
"Good morning, Father. What is it you needed me for?"
He frowned.
"Can't I just call in to say hello to my favourite Kiddo?"
"You and I both know something is up. Please skip the formalities." I'll admit, I was being rather cold, but so much was going on and I didn't have the time for stuff like this.
"...Alright. I need you to go into the basement and look for a scroll. (1). It should be somewhere in the back."
"Why don't you make the Death Scythe Spirit go?" I said, rather annoyed.
"Because I don't trust him with anything down there. Thanks a lot, Kiddo!"
"...No problem. I'll leave right away."
"See ya~!"
The mirror faded back to my reflection. I tucked it into my black dress pants and began my trek to the basement.
As I approached the entrance, I couldn't help but wonder why Father couldn't come here himself. I mean, this was within the academy, right? He simply couldn't leave the city. So, it was left to me to amend to his errands. Ugh.
The door to the basement creaked, unopened for quite a while. I gently stepped through, my footsteps barely audible on the cold cement floor. I quickly but swiftly glided down the stairs, in a hurry to get this over with. Soon, I reached the bottom and began my way towards the two tall red gates to the room where Father kept anything related to Eibon, as well as any treasures and artefacts. The door soon came into view, and after unlocking them, I slid through.
"The back, it's in the back..." I mumbled. I cut across the centre of the room, looking around for any scrolls. It was very dusty down here, and oh so asymmetrical. Unconsciously, I began to move things around, trying to put some kind of order into the room.
"This room disgusts me. Why must Father keep it so...dirty and unorganized?" I whispered under my breath, continuing to rearrange the boxes.
Suddenly, something big and long caught my eye. I walked towards it, curiosity carved in my features. It was all black, with red lining and a design engraved onto the side.
It was a coffin.
What was a coffin doing here? I don't remember that ever being there, nor Father ever putting it there. Slowly, I decided to reach out and run my hand over the design. That was when I noticed that it was perfectly symmetrical, which made me want to open it even more.
"What could this be..."
I reached out and laid a hand on the top of the coffin. It was ice cold.
All of a sudden, the coffin lid popped open. I jumped back, instinctively in battle position. Someone began to get up. I tensed up, suddenly alert.
It was a man. He was very tall and lean, and no doubt looked very powerful. He wore a blood red cape that almost covered his mouth, and wore black leather underneath. His torso was wrapped in belts which seemed to trap his chest. His long black hair flowed down from the red bandana that crowned his forehead. What caught my attention was the three barrel gun that he clutched in his hand. All in all, he startlingly resembled a vampire.
"Who are you?" I ordered. I had never seen anyone like him before.
He glanced at me, as if only just noticing my presence.
"That is not of your concern. May I ask where I am?" He spoke very calmly, and for some reason it irritated me.
"I do believe that it is my concern."
"Very well, then. My name is Vincent, Vincent Valentine. Now, who are you?"
Vincent? That fit with his image.
"Death The Kid, Lord Death's son," I answered firmly. I still couldn't tell whether he was a friend, or foe.
A glimmer of confusion crossed his features before returning to its monotone expression.
"May I ask you something, then?" He was beginning to confuse me.
I nodded without taking my eyes off of him, just in case he tried to pull anything.
Noticing me eying his gun, he put it away before continuing.
"Does Cloud happen to be here?"
My eyes widened in shock.
"How do you know him?" I shot. My glare intensified. Was this the Sephiroth that Cloud was talking about...? No, he said his name was Vincent. But who said he wasn't lying?
"So he is. I'd like to reunite with him as soon as possible." Vincent began to walk towards me. I stepped back.
"You really expect me to trust you?"
He stopped.
"I'm not here to kill you. I just need Cloud."
"How did you get here?"
He sighed.
"The questions don't stop, do they?" Vincent looked slightly annoyed. I suddenly remembered the scrolls. The back, he said it was in the back. But at this point, it doesn't look like I'm going to get to them anytime soon.
"Answer me."
He stopped to think for a bit.
"In all honesty, even I don't know how I got here. Now, it is very important that you bring me to Cloud immediately."
I thought about his request. If I didn't bring him to Cloud, I didn't know what could happen. I could probably be stuck here all day arguing with him. What would Father do?
"..."
"If you don't bring me, I'm afraid I'll have to find him myself."
"...Fine. But I am not going to take my eyes off you. Stay in front of me," I ordered.
He shrugged and swiftly walked in front of me, with me giving him directions from the back.
"Excuse me for asking, but are you a vampire?" I asked as we walked up the stairs. Before leaving, I had found the scroll that Father asked me to bring, which was now clutched in my hand.
"No." His answers were short and abrupt. He didn't talk much, did he?
The rest of the walk was in silence, other than the occasional direction. He walked with authority. I began to wonder if he was as strong as Cloud. But, there was an odd feeling about his soul...
I took note of that for later and instead focused on the presence in front of me. His cape had tatters in all kinds of unsymmetrical patterns. Ugh.
Why did all this have to happen right before our biggest mission, entering The Book Of Eibon? It was making things complicated.
We continued to walk in silence, our footsteps echoing into the dead air of the basement...
1. Yeah, about the 'scrolls.' I kind of just threw those in there to give Kid an excuse to meet Vincent.
So, how did you guys like the twist? :) Kind of expected though, don't you think?
Yeah. I've recently been obsessed with Vincent...so that's why he's in there.
Tell me what you guys think, please! I'd appreciate it. Review! :D
