Cloud's POV
My eyes shoot open, but I'm still drowning in the depths of an ocean. No.. Not an ocean.. This was the lifestream.. I see a faint green light shining from above and kick as hard as my energy sapped body would allow, but before I get anywhere near the surface, the mako makes me start to hallucinate. I see Claire laying on the cold stone floor of Nibelheim mansion with Hojo stood over her. He raises a rod in the air, ready to strike her. I put my hand out and scream to stop, but my palm meets cold glass instantly. I was in the mako tank? I turn to my right to find a man in the tank next to me. It was the same man Sephiroth showed me.. I know you..
The vision ends as my fingertips pierce the water's surface, moments before my head, and I'm allowed to take my first, life giving breath. I cough up water as my eyes make sense of where I am. I've seen a vast array of cultures and civilizations on my journey across Gaia, but this place.. It was not of my world. I swim to the blackened shore, growing in strength with every breath, until my feet find the dark sand. Deep rumbles and explosions drag my gaze up to the largest building in the center of the dull, stone city, which has a glowing green structure that snakes around it's two stone towers.
I race towards the building, unsure what I would find, but at the very least it would make for a great vantage point. It dawns on me as I sprint through the streets that the whole city seems to be abandoned. There was no glass in the windows or any sort of furnishings inside the ornate stone boxes. The rumbles seem to stop for a moment as I notice something shining atop the roof on the base of the temple's two peaks. The figure moves, vanquishing the glimmer of light to reveal flowing pink locks.
"...Claire..." I mutter, as I cast big guard on myself to make use of the haste ability.
I make my way up through the temple's many floors as fast as my legs would allow, when I see a purple light, which shines through the windowless openings along the temple's walls. In ornate crystal throne catches my eye, but I give it no more than a passing glance. Rushing behind it, I step onto a large, open balcony that has opaque drapes which hang loosely from the stone roof. From here, I see the source of the purple light. A strange pattern lights up the sky, and I feel the energy in the air building. Without thinking, my hand finds my comet materia and I call upon it's power, hoping that it would work in this strange world.
To my surprise, it does, and the purple symbol shatters into tiny shards of crystal as I scale the wall. I lift myself onto the roof, just in time to see a man with long, purple hair, recoil a sinister looking sword over his shoulder and launch himself at a weaponless Claire. What this fight was about was of no concern to me, nobody will take her away from me.. Not again.. I throw myself between them as I draw my sword, parrying his slash away from Claire.
"What happened to, 'For better or worse, you're stuck with me'?" I ask, remembering her words at Cosmo Canyon as if they where yesterday.
"Cloud!?" She gasps in disbelief.
"You dropped this..." I say, using my left hand to pull out her survival knife and hold it out to her, while still keeping my eyes on the sinister looking man.
"You would have a delivery boy fight your battles for you, warrior Goddess?" The man mocks. "And who is it that meddles where he does not belong?"
"I belong right here.. Right between Claire and anything that means to do her harm.." I say defiantly.
"How very noble of you.. But you're chivalry will be your undoing!" He roars, slashing at me in anger.
I block his attack with the buster sword and kick the man in the chest, sending him sliding across the roof. He fires spheres of dark energy at me, but in an attempt at psychological warfare, I stand my ground and let the balls of energy strike me, exploding around the big guard's shield and causing me no harm. I smile when the smoke disperses and I see the smug look on the man's face fade slightly.
"There is great power resonating from your heart.. But like yourself, it is alien to this land.. In order to preserve the time line, I must eradicate you from it.."
"Come and try.." I say confidently, spurred on by being reunited with Claire.
This time, I don't wait for him to attack, and launch bolt after bolt of lightning at the man as I take slow, confident steps towards him. He jumps back, just in time to watch the last bolt of electricity scar the ground in front of him, but I'm far from finished. I cast Beta on the man, but he vanishes before my eyes, and the blistering heat is left to envelope nothing more than air. I look around in disbelief, trying to locate him, to no avail.
"Look out!" Claire shouts.
I spin on my heels and slash, blocking the man's demonic looking sword just in time as my blade locks into him.
"I have lived for over a thousand years.. And yet, in time's last breaths, I find two fine warriors blocking my path.. But you.. You're different.." He says, locking his strange, lilac iris' onto mine. "Even Yeul has not foreseen your coming.."
"I don't know what you're saying, but for as long as I have breath in my lungs, so will she.." I growl as Claire rushes to my side with sword drawn.
"...Cloud.. How did you? Are you.. Dead?.." She starts to ask, but our enemy has other plans.
The man raises his hand into the air, summoning up debris from the ground below with Godly power, and hurls them towards us. I cut through the large stone wall that flies at us as Claire fires upon the man, who uses the gravity defying bits of buildings to absorb the damage. I point to the left, silently ordering the pinkette to flank right; which she does hesitantly, as I'm bombarded with rubble. The remaining life of my shield holds up the momentous weight off me while I use the time to take a breath. Through the cracks, I watch the man shift his gaze from the pile of rubble I was buried under to Claire. With him distracted, I burst from the wreckage and send a beam of bright blue light from my sword, which hits the man, and sends him off the roof.
I run to the edge and look down as he falls through the roof of an adjacent building, but I'm not satisfied with my victory. I pull out a materia I had not used since it's discovery, and for a second, I'm brought back to Gogonga, where I hid in the darkness of a ruined reactor, with my hand on the pinkette's waist.. Scalding myself for lowering my guard, I summon Titan; who's roar can be heard from inside the damaged building that the man had fell through. Monstrous hands burst through the walls of the building, pulling it down around my summon and his victim, until all that remains is dust.
"Claire!" I shout as I rush over to her.
I can barely contain the tears of joy as my arms wrap around the cold, ornate armour she wore and I press my lips onto hers. If this moment could last forever, it still would not be long enough.
"I don't understand... How did you find me?" Claire sniffs, pulling herself away.
"Aeris found you.. I'm here to take you back.." I explain.
"I- I can't go.. Not yet.." She relies, looking down in shame.
"Why!?"
"Hojo.. He's sent me back for a reason.. To do even more damage to this time line that I had originally. I'm trying to fix it, but I can do little from here.." She explains. "I sent my sister on a mission to fix the time line, but I fear I've sent her to her death.. Please Cloud, bring her back to me.."
"I won't leave you!" I shout.
"I can handle things here.. If Serah dies, we could all die.." Claire mutters. "Please..."
"...Okay.." I finally surrender to her request. "What do I have to do?"
"At the base of this temple is a time gate. You can use it to find Serah. I've already sent someone to help her, but there's nobody I trust more than you.." She smiles as she hands me her knife back. "This will help you use the gate below.. Take it with the promise that you'll come back to me.."
"I promise.." I nod, feeling heartbroken that our reunion was so short. "Who was that, anyway?"
"Caius Ballad." She answers.
The sound of rubble exploding below signaled Caius' victory over my summon, and within second's he's back on top of the temple roof.
"I love you.." She says softly, before kissing me. "Now go!"
"A final kiss goodbye.. How romantic.." Caius mocks. "We shall meet again... Cloud.."
I break away from her hesitantly and cast a barrier on the pinkette, determined to help her in some small way. Taking a final look at the woman I loved, I make my way down through the temple, despite my heart roaring at me to turn around. Despite every violent eruption above me begging my already hesitant body to turn around, I finally make it to the base of the temple, where a strange golden device awaits me. It resembles a massive, metallic tear drop, but there is definitely something magical about it. In truth, I have no idea how it works, but I stretch out the hand holding Claire's survival knife, and touch it to the gate.
Serah's POV
"Lightning... She was fighting..." I mutter as I slowly open my eyes. "I guess it was just a dream... Such a strange dream..."
I remain in bed, sitting on the borders of sleep and consciousness for a moment as I try to replay the blurred images I saw in my dreams. It was Lightning.. She was fighting in a place I've never seen before. I see her speaking to a boy with brown hair and clothes like Fang.. The image fades, but not before a set of glowing, cerulean eyes flash in the darkness, snapping me awake with a bang.
"What? What was that?" I panic as the ground shakes and light bursts through the gaps in the blinds.
I jump out of bed, but what catches my eye first was not the commotion outside, but the strange clothes that I'm wearing. I study them briefly, but they're definitely not mine, and I don't remember falling asleep in them. The noise outside begins to grow louder, so I head out of my bedroom to see what was going on. I walk through the Nora bar, realizing something was wrong when the usually busy bar was silent. Quickly heading outside to find Gadot, something strange happens, and everything I know seems to fade away in the shadows and wisps of black smoke that fill a now dead shore.
"This place... It's like the world has ended.." I say sheepishly as I slowly walk around. "Is this what's going to happen to us? But why?!"
I drop to my knees in terror, almost in tears, as I call out to the shadows to take me back home. To my relief, I see Gadot appear, then the rest of the villagers, but something is still wrong. It's like they're frozen.. Frozen in battle with a hoard of monsters that are attacking the village. Then, in a blink of an eye, time continues and the sound of gunfire fills the beach.
"Gadot!" I shout.
"Serah, come on!" He shouts, waving me over.
I watch everyone rush back over to the Nora house, but something terrifying appears over it. A portal opens and a huge, being that looks like a Fal'cie starts to emerge from the darkness. Everyone fires at it, but all I can do is watch; frozen in fear. A monster appears from nothing, blocking my path to the others, and I back away slowly, as the fear consumes me.
"No. Please, no..." I beg, stumbling back over another monster corpse and falling to the ground. "Lightning, help me!" I scream, in a final act of desperation.
For a moment, I thought my sister hand answered my prayers, when bullets burst through the monster, pushing it back from me and eventually killing it. But when I turn around it was not her. It was Lebreau; who charges towards me with her gun blazing.
"Get a hold of yourself!" She roars at me, pulling me up. "Lightning can't protect you anymore! You have to look after yourself now! Do you hear me? Your sister's dead! She can't help you!" She continues, before something throws her across the beach.
"Lebreau!" I shout as more monsters prowl around me, but are shot down from the sky.
"You want her!" I hear a voice I did not recognize. "Then you're gonna have to go through me!"
My eyes shoot up to see my rescuer, and to my shock it was the man who I saw in my dream. It was definitely him.. He reminded me of Fang, and I was positive he was a hunter from Pulse. He jumps down, landing at my feet as he looks at me with warm blue eyes.
"Get up, Serah." He says bluntly.
"You where in my dream. I saw you." I tell him, ignoring his request.
"Save it for later." He says, holding out a strange bow. "Can you fight?"
"If I have to.." I reply, nervously taking the weapon.
"You're gonna have to." He tells me, turning away to face the monsters. "One more thing... Don't ever lay down and wait to die!"
He takes the sword from his back and charges into battle; and for a moment all I do is watch at how efficiently he cuts down the monsters. My eyes turn to the weight in my hand and I look down on it with a mixture of worry and determination. If I want to be strong like Lightning, I'm going to have to fight.. I grip the black handle with my left hand and slide two fingers of my right into the holes at the base of the grip. The tension in the cables is quite hard to pull back, but with a little strain, the bow is ready to fire. My eyes fall on a monster that's approaching the brunette man from behind, so I take aim and fire, killing the monster. I almost feel sadness for the creature, who lays limp on the ground. I had never killed anything before..
In less than a few minutes, the last monster fell, and the soft sound of the sea washing up on the golden sand returned. The whole beach was littered with the corpses of monsters, but I'm left looking at the disappearing sun that is slowly sinking into the horizon. Lebreau is carried to the Nora house by the mysterious hunter, but it's Maqui who snaps me from my trance.
"Hey, Serah! Are you okay?" He asks.
"Hmm." I nod, before he's called away to the eastern side of shore, where most of the armed townspeople are stood in a group, listening to Gadot talk about a meteorite. Not wanting to be alone, I return to the hunter, who places Lebreau on the grass outside the Nora house.
"She took a hit, but she's gonna be fine. She just needs some rest." He says softly.
"Thank goodness.." I sigh. "And thank you.. Whoever you are.."
"Noel. Noel Kreiss." He smiles, pointing his thumb at himself.
"Okay.." I reply, still having no idea who he actually was.
"Oh.. And before I forget.. It wasn't just me. You should probably thank this little guy too." He adds, pointing to my bow.
I frown at Noel, confused as to why he was talking about an inanimate object like it was alive. At first I thought it was just something a warrior does.. I remember how happy Lightning was when she was entrusted with her Blazefire saber from the Guardian Corps, and how she looked after it like a faithful companion. Right now though, I couldn't have been more wrong.. The bow shoots out of my hand and vanishes in a puff of smoke, which fades to reveal a toy moogle.
"Wow! Is that a toy moogle?" I ask, earning a shake of the head from the cute little creature that wielded a tiny staff with a clock on the top.
"He's supposed to be your good luck charm. Your sister gave him to me." Noel answers, not realizing just how much hope his words gave me.
"Wait! You know Lightning?!" I question, catching the little moogle in my arms and stepping closer to the man.
"She's the one who told me to come here."
"Where? Where did you see her?" I continue to interrogate. "Was it... Valhalla?"
"Yeah. How'd you guess?" He replies, looking surprised that I knew.
"I saw it in a dream.. I saw my sister talking to you.. Then the meteorite came.."
"And dragged me along with it. I guess." Noel sighs.
"Do you mean, you actually rode here on that meteorite?"
"Maybe, I don't know.. Damned if I can remember. Why don't we go and check it out?"
"Okay." I say with enthusiasm, following Noel down the beach.
Now I know for sure. Lightning is alive. She's in a place called Valhalla.
Tifa's POV
"Huh..." I mutter as a bight light shines in my slowly opening eyes. "The glare.."
"You'll be better soon.. You've been asleep for a long time.." Barret's voice says softly, filling me with comfort.
"I'm... hungry..." I mumble to Barret, when I feel my stomach tightening painfully.
"Why don't you ask.. About him?"
"...Because I'm scared.." I answer, finally finding the strength to sit up.
"Don't worry... I don't know what happened to Cloud either." He tells me. "I guess I shouldn't tell you not to worry.."
"But he's... Alive.. Right?" I ask, praying for a nod at least. "How long was I asleep?" I say, realizing he couldn't answer my question.
"Lessee now... Must've been about seven days.."
"What about Sephiroth?" I continue, hoping for some good news.
"You ain't over it yet? Remember that huge light in the cave? Since then, the crater's been surrounded by a huge barrier of light. Everyone knows Sephiroth sleeps in that big hole, protected by the barrier. We can't do a damn thing about it.." Barret sighs. "And on top of that, some huge monster's called weapon are on the rampage."
"Weapon?" I frown.
"They say they're some legendary monsters from the past. Rufus is fightin' them now. I hate to say it, but he's got guts."
"...Hey, what about meteor?"
Barret says nothing, but walks over to the windows and presses a button, which opens the metallic shutters to reveal my worst nightmare. Meteor, glowing red like death hung in the sky, dwarfing the moon. There was no hope for us now.. I just stare at it for a moment, but the sound of the door sliding open turns my attention to Rufus.
"I thought Cloud would show up and save you all..." He says, almost disappointed. "Professor Hojo wanted to check up on Cloud too.."
"What are you going to do with Cloud?" I demand.
"...Sephiroth's alter ego... Meteor has been summoned.. Essentially, it's all but over now.." Rufus explains. "There's an important task I have for you.."
"President! Preparations for the public execution are complete!" Heidegger laughs when he walks into the room.
"Execution!?" Barret roars. "What'ya gonna get by executin' us?!"
"You're going to be executed for causing this situation. People are ignorant.. They'll feel better as long as someone is punished.." Rufus says coldly. "Enjoy your last moments together.."
Cid's POV (Lower Junon)
"Alright, listen up numbskulls! Every news station on the plant is gonna be filmin' Barret an Tifa's execution! Let's go fuck up their TV ratings!" I bark. "As your fearless leader, I've come up with a plan!"
"Who the hell made you leader!? Tifa left Vincent and Nanaki in charge!" Yuffie shouts at me.
"As I have explained before.. The most handsome and intelligent one is always the leader. And as the pretty boy ain't here, the fact that I'm a rocket scientist and am undeniably handsome means it can only be me.. Now listen up.. With those weapons on the rampage, Shinra will have dropped us down on their list of priorities.. We're gonna infiltrate upper Junon and get them back!"
"Since when have you ever wanted to help anyone, Cid?" Yuffie continues to question me.
"Barret is my friend and Tifa makes the best cup of tea out of you useless bunch!" I shout at her. "Cat! You wanna prove to us that you're not with those murderous Shinra bastards?"
"What do you want me to do?" The cat asks.
"Need you and the twerp to get some credentials off news reporters and film crew. They should be passing through the lower town to get to the lift. Make em disappear and take their place."
"Why us?" Yuffie continues to question my master plan.
"Because it's the most dangerous, and I'd loose less sleep if you two got shot."
"HEY!" The cat and the twerp shout.
"And what about us?" Nanaki asks with an uncertain tone.
"You and Vince are coming with me up there." I tell them as I point to the runway that hung over our heads. "We're gonna secure MY damn airship. That'll get us out of there and a means to travel quickly."
"What of Shinra's Glenikas?" Vincent finally speaks.
"They'll never catch the Highwind, but if we get the chance then we'll sabotage them." I answer.
"Very well.." He nods, satisfied with my answer.
Serah's POV
"You said you met my sister. What did she look like? What was she wearing?" I continue to question as we make our way to the meteor.
"She was covered by silver armour decorated by feathers. She looked just like a Goddess from a fairytale.."
"Just like in my dream! Maybe you really did meet her." I smile.
We continue on, making our way over the grass covered rocks that sheltered our small town from the wind. I eventually catch up to Noel, who's having no problem with the gentle climb, but as we reach the peak of the hill, he stops dead and stares into the distance. I look around cautiously, wondering if he has spotted an enemy in the distance, but it soon becomes apparent that it's Cocoon that he's staring at.
"Not used to seeing Cocoon, huh?" I ask.
"No. Well actually, this is the first time I've ever seen it." He answers.
"The first time? You can't be serious. Like, the first time you've seen it from the outside?"
He doesn't answer me, and instead keeps on walking with his eyes fixated on the crystallized gem that I once called home. We continue on in silence; and I use the time to daydream about my reunion with Lightning. No matter what comes our way, she always finds her way back to me. If that dream was a message from Lightning, then it's my turn to find her...
"Serah! Still in one piece? We're seein' lots of unfriendly critters around that meteorite." Gadot tell me after jumping from his vantage point. Oho.. Who's this?"
"This is Noel. He helped Lebreau and me out of a tight spot." I explain.
"Is that right.." Snow's best friend says, squaring up to Noel, who was half his size. "I'm Gadot."
"Okay, take it easy, big guy." Noel says in an attempt to calm the situation. "I am not here to make trouble for anyone."
"You better not. Anything happens to Serah and the boss'll string your carcass out to dry."
"The boss? Who's that?" The hunter asks, this time it was him who stepped up to Gadot.
"He ain't here right now!" He answers sheepishly, before jogging off. I wish he was...
Noel doesn't press me about 'The Boss' and continues to the meteorite, which can just be seen over the horizon. It was not like I had expected at all. I thought it would have been a dull rock, but it was made of crystal and rippled with a golden energy. Both of us where fixated on it as we started to run, but as we get closer, the sight of Cocoon vanishing from the night sky stops us.
"Cocoon is gone!" Noel shouts in shock. "Let's get to the meteor."
We reach the crater of the meteorite, and time starts to distort and shift. It makes me a little queasy watching the scenery around me ripple and contort, but it soon settles, leaving behind a desolate wasteland.
"What is this place? Noel, do you know?" I ask.
"Yeah." He sighs, with a pain filled tone. "You're looking at a different time.. That's the world I come from. In my world, Cocoon doesn't exist. When I was born, the sky was already empty.. Tell me, how many years has it been since Cocoon fell?"
"Well, it's 3AF. So, that was three years ago.." I answer.
"For me... That happened seven hundred years in the past..." Noel says, looking at the empty sky.
"Yes.. I knew it.. I knew you weren't from this world." I tell him, airing my suspicions.
"I'm the last of humanity..."
"HEY!" I hear Gadot shout as he marches over to us with a brutish stomp.
"Serah. I can take you there. We can find Lightning together. I know she wants to see you." Noel says quickly, wanting to get his point across before Gadot and the others had their say.
"You're full of it!" Snow's oldest friend roars as he grabs Noel by his neck, pushing him away from me.
"Yeah, Lightning's gone, man!" Maqui adds, fueling Gadot's anger.
"Gadot.." I say calmly as I separate the two of them. "Noel.. Do you know where my sister is?"
"Come with me." He says bluntly, but before I can agree, he takes me by the wrist and pulls me over to the meteorite. He places my hand on it's warm surface and light radiated from it until it's too much to look at. We both step back and wait for the light to fade, and when it does, all of us gasp in amazement. "You see? It's a time gate. It's like a portal. Lightning is in a place called Valhalla. She's waiting on the other side."
I couldn't turn my eyes away. I knew the answer lay beyond that gate. The answer to my doubts and dreams. On the broad plain beneath Cocoon, my sister once celebrated my marriage to Snow. I remember her smile like it was yesterday.. But sometime, when I wasn't looking, she disappeared. She was gone as if she had never been there in the first place. Lightning, are you out there? Did I dream that day on Pulse, or did it really happen? Noel says he can find you. But is he telling the truth?
After a heated debate, I agree to sleep on my decision, and we all head back to the Nora house, where Noel tells us more about his past. His world was a terrible place where Cocoon did not exist. He had traveled back in time to change that bleak future. Or so he told us..
"Listen, when different era's overlap, all kinds of crazy stuff happens. Objects from different times get mixed up. If you want to open a gate and travel through time, you have to find one of those objects. They're called artifacts." Noel explains to us all.
"Artifacts?" I ask, still unsure what he meant.
"They are like keys to the future." He answers me with a smile. "They're anachronisms, relics of a different world. Basically, things that don't belong in your time. If we find one, we might be able to use it to open the gate. Then we could cross time and travel to Lightning's world."
Could Noel be telling the truth? Beyond that gate, in a place called Valhalla.. Is Lightning alive and waiting for me? Can I dare to hope again, after all this time? Oh, how I want to believe. I want my sister back!
With Gadot being as stubborn as ever, I decide to call it a night; promising him that I'll think long and hard before I come to a decision. Despite his anger towards Noel, he allows him to stay, and sleep in the bar, sheltered from the elements. It took me hours to get to sleep, and even when my eyes had lost their battle, my mind raced with possibilities. Snow had been gone for years, looking for my sister.. Could Noel really take me straight to her?
I wake up as soon as the sun breaks over the horizon, and I climb out of bed, stretching as I yawn. Like every morning, the smell of Lebreau's breakfast drags me out of my room. Noel was the first person I saw when I left my bedroom. I was up really early, but I guess for a hunter, the day starts before the sun.. Walking past him, I pace down the steps of the bar and onto the beach, letting the first of the morning's rays warm my skin.
"Serah, wait up for me." I hear the hunter say as he rushes down the beach towards me, with Mog on his tail.
"All this talk about artifacts and gates and time travel... To be honest, I don't know if I'm ready to believe it..." I tell him truthfully, after a night of mulling over Gadot's words.
"Serah. There's still so much I don't understand myself. But if we can actually find an artifact, then I'll know what I've been saying is true.. And once we open the gate, you'll be able to put some of your doubts to rest as well.. So.. What do you think?" He asks hopefully. "Will you search for the answers with me?"
"HELP!" I hear Lebreau scream from the bar before I could answer.
Noel rushes inside the bar with his sword drawn, eager to help despite them doubting him, and I race after him with Mog. I see Gadot and the others run down the beach, towards the house, hearing her screams too. Lebreau sprints out of the bar as Noel rushes up the stairs, knocking him over and sending them both into the sand. I almost break into a smile at her clumsiness, but a figure moving through the bar catches my eye. Lebreau quickly climbs to her feet and stands behind me and Noel, who is holding his swords out, ready to attack.
The figure steps forward, onto the first step of the bar and out of the shadows. He wore a strange black uniform, and on his back was a huge sword. His hair was blonde and spiked, but it was his eyes that I was drawn to.. He looked at me with the brightest blue eyes I had ever seen. Are they actually glowing? His stoic expression fades when his eyes fall on me, as he takes another step.
"Serah?" He asks. "You need to come with me."
"You're not taking her anywhere!" Gadot roars, rushing past Noel and throwing a punch at the man.
To all of our shock, the man who was half the size of Gadot, catches his punch effortlessly and squeezes, dropping my friend to his knees. Noel goes to his rescue, slashing at the blonde man, who moves like lightning; managing to draw his huge sword and block the hunter's attack effortlessly. With a single move, the man had smashed Noel's sword out of his hand, and rested the tip of his own inches from his neck.
"Stop!" I beg, and much to my surprise, he lowers his weapon.
"You look just like your sister.." The blonde man smiles.
A/N: Man there was a lot of talking in that chapter.. I've only just realized after playing it yet again that ff13-2 is just hours of talking and ten minutes of combat lol. Anyway...
I don't mind Noel, I was just shocked that everyone seemed to like him so much. Who I do love is Caius. His voice is awesome, his poetic way of speaking is awesome, and his 'theme music' is also epic. He really is up there with Sephiroth for me (Although according to Nomura, Caius is in fact the strongest of all ff bad guys)...
You fight Caius a couple of times, so I'm looking forward to writing a long battle scene for him and Cloud, as this one was more of an introduction. I'm glad you liked Cloud and Aeris' conversation, and something Caius says in one of his battles gives me a really good idea about Cloud and Aeris, but you'll have to wait and see ;P (Guest)... Lumina, I got the general story about Mog from the book online 'Episode I'. I finally found an english copy and ordered it. It's coming from Canada so it will apparently be a week or two before I get it, but I'm glad I've finally found a copy.