Aerith hummed as she stitched and sewed the multiple dresses around her. There would be a rainbow of dresses if colours like yellow or brown suited the young Wiccan. Aerith loved stitching and sewing for other girls however since the curse it was just her and Yuffie who certainly did not like dresses. Ever since Anne had arrived so many designs had just flooded into Aerith's mind and the moment she is rid of the excess magic that Sephiroth so stupidly put inside her, Aerith was going to have the young Wiccan try all of them.
"UNHAND HER!"
Aerith jolted with a soft huff as another roar shook the castle accompanied by the chorus of crashing.
"Really, you can never get any peace and quiet around here," she murmured and the castle shook again which caused her to prick her finger "Oh dear."
A pained roar cracked the window and Aerith repaired it with the wave of her hand and a murmured word in Shinto.
"Honestly," she grumbled whilst kissing her finger to get rid of the pinprick.
"Aerith!"
Aerith frowned disapprovingly as her fiancé stumbled over the mannequin with the lilac floral dress on when he burst in.
"Zack…" she whined as silver paint got smudged against the dark purple roses.
"You can fix it later!" Zack panted with wide eyes "We're in trouble, some very deep trouble, like Genesis's hair got turned blue only much, much worse!"
"You didn't make his hair green or silver, did you?" Aerith asked as she eyed the silver paint covering him.
"No! This has nothing or little to do with Genesis!" Zack shook his head "The blonde swordsman broke in and has Anne!"
"Is she alright?" Aerith gasped as she stood.
"I don't know, she's unconscious and Genesis, Angeal, Cid, Luxiere, Kunsel and I have been trying to help His Majesty grab her back but…but…he's using magic! Stregherian magic!"
"What?!" Aerith exclaimed as she stood from her place "So he's one of her followers?!"
"I don't think so, he doesn't seem to know how to control it, she might be manipulating it from outside the grounds."
"Why are you telling me this, you should be helping them!"
"No, we need you!" Zack looked very agitated now "Because this guy doesn't know how to wield the magic, it's seriously raw, pure magic and His Majesty is in critical condition because of it! He needs medical attention fast, like Aerith and her super-duper healing abilities fast!"
"Well take me to him!" Aerith exclaimed and they ran down the corridors.
Cloud landed awkwardly at the end of the corridor, red magic swirling around his sword as he faced the crowd of angry dog hybrids. He felt drained already and glanced at the sleeping girl on his back who showed no signs of waking up soon.
"Look, buddy," the red fox hybrid panted as he flicked some blood off his fox ear and adjusted his grip on his sword "Just give her back and you can go unharmed. You don't really know how to handle such powerful magic."
Cloud braced his sword, warily eyeing the magic swirling around the blade but it stopped the hybrids from moving.
"Let me leave with her and everyone has their heads still on their shoulders," he warned.
"You don't understand," the Doberman hybrid breathed "We need her."
"Yeah, it'll only be for…what, a few more months?" the dingo hybrid glanced at the others who nodded "Yeah, we don't intend to harm her or anything."
Cloud gritted his teeth and he tightened his grip on his sword. He checked to see if Anne was still secure to him with his belts and sighed.
"I can't trust you," he said.
"Sure, we get it," the red fox hybrid shrugged "Maybe you'd be able to trust us if you hear it from her lips…"
"You possessed her, I'm not easily tricked."
"What?" the red fox looked tired as he dropped his arms.
"It's no use, she's poisoned his mind too much to reason with him," the Doberman whispered but Cloud could still hear.
"Then how do we get past that damned magic amplified sword without losing a couple of limbs like his Majesty?" the red fox hissed.
Cloud lifted his sword and the Great Dane and Rottweiler flinched.
"Watch out!"
Cloud sent a wave of red energy towards them before taking off down the corridor.
"ANGEAL!" came a wail of despair.
Cloud tore through the corridor but was halted as a red blur cut across his path and a fist smacked him straight in the jaw. The blonde stumbled back, using a hand to support Anne as he began seeing stars and looked at the red fox hybrid in a daze.
"I ought to tear you to shreds and mount your head above my fireplace!" he cried out, tears pricking his eyes and he continued to dole out the punches.
Cloud dodged the punches as he felt the angry surge of magic rush through his wrist and he winced, slightly afraid to wield his weapon. But, these were merely monsters that mimicked human behaviour and were converted by the monster of the castle, so Rosso said anyway. So…desperate times. Cloud grunted swung his blade and the red fox hybrid stared at him with wide eyes, choking as he was flung up into the ceiling, blood drizzling down over Cloud and Anne. The swordsman winced sympathetically before running off through the castle.
Where had the magic come from? The power terrified Cloud to the near brink of insanity, using magic was practically asking for a painful suicide! Was it something within the castle that was triggering something in him? There were rumours about the Strife line being associated with magic beings but Cloud always avoided anything to do with magic. It was dangerous and only used by the power hungry and the greedy cold hearts. Hopefully it would wear off eventually.
"Nngh…"
Cloud skidded to a halt in the foyer as Anne groaned and he quickly unbuckled the belts so she slid around him and into his arms.
"Oi, Anne," he whispered as he gently shook her, cupping her cheek "Anne, wake up. It's me, Cloud."
Anne stirred and her eyes slowly opened to look up at him, furrowing her brow in confusion.
"Wha…?"
A roar shook the room and doors slammed open. Cloud cursed as he looked up at the fearsome beast that stood at the top of the staircase, towering over them with a frenzied look, a tint of green magic hovering over where his wounds once were. His sinister green eyes drunk in the scene before dilating and another roar echoed throughout the castle.
"Don't you DARE touch her, you common swill!"
Cloud grunted as he couldn't react fast enough as the creature practically teleported in front of him and shoved him so hard he nearly flew through the doors. He landed with a hard crunch outside in the courtyard and sat up, wincing as he felt at least a few fractures. His eyes widened as he saw the silver fox pick Anne up gently as she cradled her head, holding her close to him whilst sniffing her. He readied his sword and the creature snapped his head to him.
"Kyanseru!"
There were two smashes and Cloud looked down to see shards of red crystal fall out of his blade and the magic disappeared. He didn't know whether to feel relief or dread as the creature began charging towards him, his maws opening for another spell… Cloud closed his eyes to brace for the impact…
"Stop."
Cloud dared to look up and saw Anne's tiny hand on the monster's nose, taking his full attention.
"He's…Tifa's fiancé…" she breathed and the creature growled.
Her head flopped forward a bit and she looked down at Cloud, her lips parting before she lost consciousness again. The creature looked torn as it looked down at Cloud and carefully draped Anne across his shoulder then grabbing Cloud by the leg and lifting him up so he was upside down and at the beast's mercy.
"If you as so much set one toe in here again," he growled in warning whilst jabbing a nail into his chest "Then I won't be as kind as now."
And with that, Cloud was thrown out over the gates along with his sword.
Sephiroth nodded sternly as the blonde swordsman landed far into the forest before taking Anne back into his arms and carrying her back inside. He glanced down at her worriedly, even though his diagnosis spell said that there was nothing wrong and her magic was finally fully stabilised. She was his last chance to becoming human again. If she wouldn't be able to break the curse, then who would? Pain suddenly shot through his body and he stumbled, clutching the Wiccan to him so she wouldn't tumble out of his grip.
"Your Majesty, please rest," Aerith wheezed as she fell to her knees after chasing after the cursed king "You didn't let me finish…healing you…"
"Tend to the others," Sephiroth growled as he stomped past her.
"But…"
"Tend to the others!"
Aerith stared up at him before getting to her feet and following Zack who looked really worried as he practically pulled her down the corridor. Sephiroth took a moment to recover from the sudden assault then stood, continuing down the corridor and to Anne's room.
"Kurin," he murmured and the blood was washed off her "Henko, doresu, howaito."
Anne stirred as her dress let out a soft glow and she looked up at him once a white, loose gown clothed her. She didn't move as he tucked her into the bed and practically collapsed onto the bed, cringing as the magical damage still affected him. Anne shifted into a sitting position, holding her head whilst looking down at him.
"What happened?" she asked softly with a cracked voice.
"Your stupid magic core happened," Sephiroth growled.
He relaxed as she petted his ears, feeling the smooth leathery texture.
"Your idea."
"Well it won't happen again," Sephiroth promised "You're too troublesome when you're leaking magic."
Anne looked confused, apparently she had no memory of the past few days. Sephiroth lifted himself up, making her withdraw her hand, and shifted so he was curled around her, letting her lean her head on his side.
"Your fur is so soft," she whispered and he grumbled something incoherent "You're hurt."
"It'll heal."
"May I?"
"I want to stay alive thank you very much."
Anne glared at him weakly and he met it.
"You've just recovered from the magic leaking from your core and your magic hasn't been stable long enough to cast a proper spell," he explained "Knowing Aerith, she'll be coming soon to check up so it'll be fine. Just sleep so you can recover fully, your training will begin at dawn. No excuses."
"Training?"
Sephiroth shuffled so that he was more comfortable around her and blinked in confirmation.
"You want to be a better Wiccan? You'll need guidance. I know very little about Wiccan traditions however I can help you control your adjusted core and will continue to add magic to it so it will grow to the size that a normal Wiccan of your age should have."
Anne looked thoughtful for a few moments before smiling and running a hand through his fur.
"Thank you."
Sephiroth grunted as he closed his eyes and wrapped four of his nine tails around her. He felt her arms hugging them gently, the magic aura that she now emitted soothing him to sleep.
"Well you managed to get out in one piece."
Cloud glared at Rosso from where he hung helplessly upside down and his sword so frustratingly out of reach.
"Something happened to my sword…" he started.
"Ah yes, I put these in so you would have a better chance," Rosso explained as she held up two crystal red balls "Power Crystals, they give weapons magical properties. As the beast is a being of magic, I had hoped this would put you on an equal level."
"You could have told me," Cloud huffed as she helped him down and took up his sword.
"Tell me, how is she?" Rosso asked "Did you manage to draw her out of her possessed state?"
"I'm not sure but she recognized me," Cloud frowned and Rosso sighed in relief.
"Then we have more time than I had thought," she nodded "Clearly we need a different approach."
"We need more men," Cloud frowned.
"No, not too soon," Rosso shook her head and paced up and down "They'll be expecting another attack, we need to catch them off guard. If she recognized you then maybe homesickness will take hold."
"And that means…?"
"It may take months but you will need to stay around to make sure she doesn't fully fall under his spell," Rosso explained "It may take weeks, it may take months, but we need to draw her out, if she is still attached to her home then it will break the spell temporarily and she'll be able to leave the grounds. Then we take her far away from here but she will want to go back so before she does come out, you will need to recruit hunters to slay the beast so the spell will be completely broken."
"Will it work?" Cloud hissed as he clicked a joint into place "It will take up a lot of time if you think it'll take months. What if it's too late?"
"It's worth a shot, risky but if it works, she will be safe and restrained far away as we take care of the creature."
Rosso smirked confidently at Cloud.
"You do trust me, correct?"
Cloud narrowed his eyes at her.
"For now."