Author's Note: We have come to the beginning of Arc Four - Intermedium. I can't really explain why I've decided to go in the direction that I'm choosing, I can only tell you that it feels right to me. For those of you who are sure to ask me: Yes, it's that Medium, and no, you won't be seeing the kids or the trolls. I look forward to continuing this story, dearest reader. My apologies for the short beginning -Dylan Kennedy
Cloud – The Medium
Cloud opened his eyes and saw whiteness all around him. He wasn't surrounded by white walls, mind you, just whiteness. Emptiness, but not necessarily nothingness.
"Where am I?" his voiced echoed. He sat up, and as he did so, the world around him became something.
The sky filled with a thick cover of dark clouds, the land became a phosphorescent light show of glowing hills, and rivers of black oil ran freely. Cloud felt a nice breeze grace the skin on his body and it gave him some comfort. He felt okay, a little shaken up, but he couldn't remember why. He also felt something dangerous lurking far in the distance, but far enough for it to not be a concern at the present moment.
"Hey, wake up."
Cloud got to his feet and looked all around him. He couldn't find the source of the voice that had just spoken to him.
"You really ought to get moving, the Medium can be a dangerous place for newcomers."
Cloud drew his sword and looked down a trail of illuminated dirt. He figured that the voice was in his head, and as long as it wasn't Sephiroth, he didn't care. He began to walk down the road, and as he walked, he tried to remember how he came to be in this place.
He remembered breaking into ShinRa headquarters and stealing files about the monsters, but after that, everything became a massive blur.
Tidus gave a thumbs up to the man standing behind him. "I've got him, his consciousness has been uploaded into the server. What should I do now?"
The older blonde man behind him waved a hand in the air. "We wait and hope that he doesn't die within the Medium. It will keep him alive while we wait for the key to be used, but it's filled with perils. His subconscious feeds the Medium and it gives him creatures to fight in exchange."
He stroked his goatee and pulled a couple of books down from the shelf behind him.
"And if Sephiroth really does lurk within his heart, we can assume that the Medium will feed Cloud a projection of him too. I hope Cloud is ready to face his fears."
Ansem the Wise opened his book and began to write a new report.
