Chapter Twenty-One:

-Get Your Crayon

Later that evening at the Shinra mansion, Zack, Levei, Cloud and, of course, Ryiah, stood together in the grand entry way.

"So where exactly did you hear this place was haunted?" Zack looked around at the high ceilings, his eyes grazing the two large staircases before him.

"Everyone I talked to seemed really wary about the place, saying there was a monster living in the basement, vampires hiding out here to lure their victims, and ghosts that possess people who stay the night." Ryiah shrugged. "Things like that. But what do they know, they're just small town hicks."

"You know… I'm from here," Cloud said.

"I know, and I bet you'd look so cute in your little overalls." Ryiah pinched his cheek. "With a piece of wheat sticking out of your mouth."

"I…"

"Watch what you say about small town boys! We're more complex than you think, plus we're well toned and know how to work hard." Zack posed.

"Well it's true, they do have to work twice as hard as the rest of us, just to function in their day to day life…" Ryiah pointed out.

"Yeah!" Zack looked proud, not catching on that Ryiah had just called him stupid.

"If only you two showed those traits." Levei shook her head at Zack.

"Hey! Cloud and I are the best of the best when it comes to small town boys! Right, Cloud?"

"I don't like where you're going with this, Zack." Cloud frowned.

"Quiet, Cloud, these women need to learn a thing or two about surviving!"

"But, Zack…" Cloud gestured toward Ryiah. "She's a Turk… they're more into that stuff than SOLDIER is."

"Come on Twiggy, let's go exploring." Ryiah took Levei's hand, entwining their fingers.

"Do you think it's safe to split up?" Zack questioned.

"Why not? Are you scared? You hear that Blondie, your idol is afraid of the dark. You need to look up to someone more worthy of your praise, like Sephiroth."

"Zack's not my idol…" Cloud defended.

"Sephiroth is everyone's idol," Zack said matter-of-fact.

"He is the reason I wanted to join Soldier," Cloud spoke shyly.

"Yeah, me too," Ryiah agreed, offhandedly.

"You wanted to join Soldier?" Zack asked.

"Why does everyone think he's so great?" Levei wondered, referring to Sephiroth.

"Because… he is? Why? You have something against him?" Zack turned on her.

Levei spoke in a mocking tone. "The Great Sephiroth? The greatest hero Shinra, and the world at large, has ever known? Please."

"Huh… I figured you'd like him, since your brother and him and frie—"

"Genesis doesn't need his friendship. He is greater than Sephiroth will ever be."

Ryiah began to swing her and Levei's clasped hands, playfully."Genesis is a pretty juicy piece of man, don't get me wrong. But Sephiroth is like," She paused in thought. "He's like eating an everything bagel with extra cream cheese… while Genesis is more like an onion bagel, flavorful but not perfect…"

"Tch, bagels?" Zack asked, not fond of the analogy.

"Blondie, I think you would be a plain bagel, because you're so plain and simple-minded. But you still taste good if you're hungry enough," Ryiah continued.

"Thank… you?" Cloud said, unsure if that was a compliment or not.

"Fine." Zack crossed his arms. "What kind of bagel am I?"

"A whole wheat bagel; no one wants you unless they're really desperate." Ryiah nodded at him. "But you're healthy, I guess, and you have a nice tan."

Zack frowned, not sure how to take this bit of information. "Well, you know what kind of bagel you are? The kind in the garbage that no one can tell what it is anymore!" He crossed his arms and looked away, not being able to come up with a better comeback.

"You're the chick that dies in the games and books that no one cares about," Levei added, shrugging.

"I'd…eat that bagel." Cloud looked to Ryiah, encouragingly.

"Here's the twist: he's the one who threw you away."

"You guys are going to make me cry." Ryiah began to swing Levei's hand harder. "But before I do, let me make one thing clear: I am not a bagel; I am a lady. And ladies do not get thrown away! And Twiggy." She turned on Levei.

"This outta be good." Zack elbowed Cloud.

"I love you, so much!" She let go of Levei's hand and pulled her into a hug. "And I can tell your resistance means you love me even more."

Levei looked at Zack and Cloud over Ryiah's shoulder. "Please. Call the vampires to take me now."

"Should we look around a little? Or just stay by the front door… just in case? For Cloud's sake, of course," Zack said.

"Oh yeah, I forgot, we were going to explore." Ryiah finally released the hug with a satisfied sigh. "We need to find the perfect spot for our pillow fight, Twiggy."

"I don't think I would pillow fight with Levei if I were you." Zack laughed. "I don't think she takes any kind of 'fight' lightly."

"Well, I figured some of her guard would be down if were in only our panties."

Cloud got a nosebleed.

"Oh wait, I forgot to pack them!" Ryiah exclaimed.

"Are you trying to kill Cloud? He's going to die from blood loss if you're not more careful!" Zack patted Cloud on the back.

"I was only joking, don't look so disappointed, Blondie… Blondie?"

Cloud had fallen to his knees. "Where's… the bathroom?" He clasped both hands to his gushing nose.

"Does this place even have plumbing?" Levei asked.

"It's Shinra quality! So… hopefully!" Zack said, looking determined.

"Let's find one… I don't want to bleed to death, and... oh no." Cloud's eyes widened. "The vampires! They can smell my blood!"

"There are no vamp—" Levei began, but was interrupted by a loud thump.

"What was that?" Zack asked.

"They found me!" Cloud sobbed.

"Sorry, I dropped my gun." Ryiah picked up her pistol that had fallen to the floor by her feet. "My bad."

"Shouldn't you be more careful?! That's dangerous!" Zack warned.

"Says you, who doesn't even carry a sheath for his sword!" Ryiah shouted back.

"It's easier access if I leave it out on my back…"

"What if you bump into someone?!"

"What if your gun went off when you dropped it!"

Ryiah shrugged. "Hopefully it would hit you, so no one of importance would be harmed."

"This… is the first time I'm agreeing with her," Levei said slowly, slightly in awe.

"I thought we were friends, Levei!" Zack wailed.

"Uh… can we please find a bathroom or something?" Cloud continued to hold his nose. "You guys aren't going to make me go look by myself, are you?"

"Are you really that scared?" Levei frowned.

"No, I just don't want to get lost."

Levei sighed and grabbed Ryiah's arm, looking at Zack and Cloud with narrowed eyes. "Don't move."

Ryiah froze. "Why? Is there a spider on me or something? Oh my gosh, get it off~"

"I think she meant us…" Zack put a hand on Cloud's shoulder.

"It's okay, really, I don't need all this blood, I was carrying extra anyway." Cloud nodded, looking paler than usual.

"Tilt your head back, you idiot. Let's go." Levei roughly pulled Ryiah along up one of the staircases. "He can't really afford another nosebleed and with your track record…"

Cloud tilted his head back as instructed and called out to them. "Be careful!"

"Too bad neither of them are a garlic bagel…" Zack sighed.

Cloud nodded, his head still back. "So what do we do?"

Zack shrugged and sat down on the floor next to Cloud. "I guess we wait."

"Zack…"

"What?"

"Will you sing to me? To fill the silence, I heard singing scares the ghosts away."

"I don't sing, Cloud."

Cloud began to hum awkwardly.

"Please… hurry back." Zack begged softly, closing his eyes.

"Where are we going? I know you were beginning to get jealous of Zack and Cloud, I know you want me all to yourself but… is now really the time?" Ryiah asked as she stumbled along down a long hallway.

"If we hurry and find a bathroom or a kitchen or something, we can go back. Do you have any blueprints of this place?" Levei said, noticing a set of stairs going down. "Let's try down here."

Ryiah yawned. "You're all business all the time, don't you ever shut off? I'm still tired from saving that blond kid down there… can we find the bed rooms?"

Levei rolled her eyes and started down the stairs. "Is this the basement?" She tried to open a door. "It's locked, guess we'll try somewhere else."

"I can't see anything, I don't think the electricity is working." Ryiah played with a nearby light switch. "Maybe we should just get back to the boys before it's too late."

"Too late for what? We've been at this for all of five minutes. We might as well look around without having Cloud start crying over a tree scratching on the window."

"You sure are in a bad mood today, Twiggy," Ryiah noted, following Levei down another hall way. "I guess you didn't miss me as much as I was hoping you would, did something happen while I was gone?"

"We got our missions done without interruptions."

"That's so boring; you bore me to tears, Twiggy. Let me in on some gossip, come on, give me something good."

Levei turned to her, then looked back forward. "I met Cloud's beez. She wanted to come help us look for him."

"Was the prettier than me?" Ryiah demanded, seriously. "Wait, wait, of course she isn't." She shook her head. "No one is."

"I don't know, she was wearing a very risqué cowgirl outfit… maybe Cloud's into that… I know Zack is because he was wondering what I would— " Levei's voice faded out hoping Ryiah hadn't heard that last bit. She tried to open a few more doors. "Most of these are locked."

"That's so trashy, I bet Sephiroth would never demean a woman like that." Ryiah sighed. "He's such a gentleman…" She pulled out her key and unlocked one of the doors. "Found the master bedroom. This bed looks large enough for four, don't you think?" She walked inside and flopped down on the bed, coughing. "It's a little dusty, but I'm sure a few good bounces will clean it right up! I wonder how strong the headboard is." Ryiah winked.

Levei ignored her and walked out of the room, hearing a door close from further down the hall. "Zack? I thought I told you guys to stay downstairs…" She looked down the hallway, and saw no one.

"It's starting to get dark, it'll be night time soon… do you think the rumors are true?" Cloud wondered aloud as he and Zack still sat, waiting in the grand entry way.

"Nah, there's no such thing as ghosts…" Zack looked around, unsure. "But just in case, we should probably set up base somewhere, and defiantly stick together… wait, crap."

"Do swords work against ghosts?"

"I don't know, I've never tried to fight one."

"How about vampires?"

"Well, Ryiah's still alive, so probably not." Zack smiled.

"She's not a vampire, she's a succubus." Cloud flinched.

"Resist her demon ways, Cloud." Zack put a hand on his shoulder.

Cloud paused and scanned the room. "It looks a whole lot creepier inside than it does outside."

Zack shrugged. "I wonder what kinds of things are in this old place… what kind of things people have left behind."

"Think of the dead bodies of the victims we could be standing on right now…"

"You might be making it a little more dramatic."

"I think my nosebleed is finally gone, Ryiah leaving really helped," Cloud noted.

"Yeah 'cause every time she's in the room you picture her naked!"

"Nope, it started again." Cloud grabbed his nose, tilting his head back. "And that's not true, I'm not a pervert."

Zack crossed his arms and looked at Cloud. "Don't lie."

"I'm not! I don't know what kind of things you imagine! And I don't want to! Especially with all the rumors!"

"What rumors?! I'm not into guys!"

"That's not what they say…"

"I'm pretty sure Ryiah started those rumors!"

Cloud sighed. "How long do you think they'll be gone?"

"Who knows." Zack leaned back on his hands. "I know Ryiah just joined up with us again but, man I needed this break from her."

"Watch what you say! What if she doesn't come back again, what if she get's eaten? You'll feel so terrible for saying that."

Zack paused to consider this.

"…Zack!"

"What?! I'm trying to see how I'd feel…" He tried to hold back a smile.

"Zack!" Cloud wailed.

"What!?"