Aqua's Past
Standing there, in the middle of the Forgotten City, remarkably, I felt at home.
"It's like an old dream," I whispered to myself, stepping forward and taking notice to each shelter. Large seashells curled and poked outside curved footpaths, a perfect, natural home as many of them scattered across the white land, almost like a bottom of a dried up sea. Coral, dim of color, stood like stale plant life, blooming strangely under a hazy sun. Fish fluttered like birds, hopping from one coral to the other, swimming through the air aimlessly without purpose. The city laid flat, spread out with a white forest sandwiching it, hidden.
Those trees stood tall and glowing white, like lanterns, with outstretched branches towards the sky, reaching and yet grasping nothing.
But something was amiss.
It was deathly quiet.
"Why are we being shown this?" Cloud asked, looking right at me as though I would know the answer.
I scanned all the surrounding shells, searching for life besides fish, but there was no one. The city laid in neglected decay.
"I-I don't know," I trembled.
Aerith stood, wiping at her blue dress, and watched me quietly, biting her lip. I studied at her, finding a depressing look to her long gaze, and pondered if she knew anything.
"Aerith, do you know what this is?"
She couldn't look at me, and quickly, turned her head to break eye contact. Before I could press further, movement caught my eye. I flinched to it, finding someone struggling to step into the empty city from a glowing white forest. A small trail of smoke, bloomed far away behind the long stretch of the dense white trees; It could be a distant fire, something emergent, maybe where the figure flee from.
A woman emerged, gasping for breath. Her tanned skin contrasted to the trees when she brushed beside the last one, cradling a small bundle in her arms.
"I made it," she gasped, her long, white hair slipping over her small shoulders rather untamed with ends burnt. I recognized her from somewhere, something from a long time ago. A memory or a dream?
She knelt to the path, taking her small hand to it and touched. She let her fingers slip through tiny pebbles, watching the sand swift through them, and a fragile smile lifted from her dry lips.
I noticed she had seashell bracelets, and they rattled each time she moved her hand, that time, securing her small bundle hard against her chest. There was something to those clattering sounds of shells clanking together, how they sparked warmth where my heart thumped. A distant song I've heard before.
The woman's eyes watered, and tears smeared the blood and ash on her cheeks.
"Finally," she wept, and she grunted as she stood on her bare feet.
"Who is this?" Cait Sith asked, watching the woman pass him without regarding any of us. We were nothing but an audience, sucked into a movie with little to do but to watch the weak woman slowly limp her way through. Her grey robe, stained with blood and ash, swallowed her up, the ends of her skirt torn.
"She might be an Ancient?" I pondered aloud. "But what happened to her? And where is everyone?" I asked, following close behind the mysterious character.
She held her small cloth bag close to her chest, her eyes dropping to it often.
"We should've never left," she whispered to her bundle, tears across her cheeks. She stopped, and gazed up at the becoming forest ahead, white trees hundreds of feet tall, all tightly woven together like a wall. All but one small path, cut into the forest, and the Ancient took it with haste. We followed her closely, Cait Sith falling behind as he cried, "Hey, wait!"
The trees stood tall around us when we entered, thin trunks closing in like a narrow tunnel of glowing light. Aerith's eyes grew up at the sight.
"It's beautiful," she whispered, her eyes bright from reflecting the trees.
"I've never seen anything like this," Vincent reported, his face up to the sky where the branches collided, creating a far-reaching ceiling that emitted a soft white light.
Cloud kept close to me, quiet, but he often darted glances my way.
The tunnel opened, and we stopped as soon as our footing touched nothing but sand.
A dark lake appeared, placid and shimmering to a pillar of sunlight seeping from the trees, and the woman limped around its quiet shore.
Beyond the lake, sat a giant conch shell, as tall as a tower.
We entered it, taking to the woman's tail. The farther she went, the slower her step. She tripped a few times, struggling to get back up.
"I'm almost there," she gasped, her eyes filled with persistence.
We entered the tower, and stopped short, finding the carved stairs falling to nothing. The Ancient collapsed before the fall, one hand gripping to the shell walls, scraping it with her broken nails.
She closed her eyes, pressing her forehead to the wall heavily while grunting, like she was extremely painful. Shakily, her hand peeled away, bits of shell falling after, and she opened her palm to the floor. Eyes opened, glowing with green, and she frowned as green energy stretched from her hand, a light growing in it.
"I have barely enough for the rest," she whimpered.
A staircase made of light began to unfold before our eyes, spiraling down into the unknown. Without any hesitation, the woman pushed herself up, and she let her feet fall to the light easily, the steps familiar to her.
I followed, curious. Each step took us deeper and deeper around a small white castle, carried into another place that couldn't possibly be under the lake. But when I lifted my eyes, I saw the surface to a calm water, blue and dark, and yet, inviting, warm.
Tall crystals stood around the stairs of light and all around the castle, emitting a faint glow like floating lanterns.
The woman had to trek carefully to the stepping stones, each a raised column over water. She almost fell, her bundle loose in her hold, and she screamed, tightening her arm around it before it had a chance to fall into dark water.
The bundle cried, and I suddenly realized it was a baby she held. Its cry sounded young, an infant, maybe a month or less.
The infant's mother took it snuggly into her arms, whispering to it, and a little head appeared from behind the cloth.
"It's okay, my darling. Soon, you will be safe."
Seeing the way that woman soothed her child, the love in her blue eyes as she kissed its little head. That warm ball that was sitting there on top of my heart, bursted, sending tiny streams of tingles all through my blood vessels. A deep knowing slowly burned in me, and my eyes steamed, stepping closer until we reached the end of the line: a large altar.
It was made of crystal, a massive round landing with crystal columns around it.
Aerith landed on her knees, her hands touching the crystal and looking through it to find water under her.
"It's like I'm really here," she whispered, eyes wide. "So close."
The rest of us watched the woman kneel in the middle of the altar, her infant crying in her arms. She kissed it again and again, smudging her wet cheeks into its chubby face.
"I'm so sorry you will never get to know me and your father," she told in a broken whisper. Her shoulders shook as she settled her wailing infant down, slipping the cloth free, naked.
A girl and she screamed, face red and shaking her arms and legs, tiny fingers up to her mother.
The woman sobbed, her trembling hands clasped in prayer as she bowed her head into her folded thighs. Torment flashed across her face when she fought to ignore her tiny daughter's sobs.
"Take her to a safe place," she wept, face soaked. "With all of my love, all that I am, and all that I have left, please, take her far away from here. Where your children haven't yet visited or forgotten."
It felt intrusive to just stand and watch the woman weep in prayer, making her last wish. Green energy emitted off her body, and she sobbed uncontrollably as more and more of it spiraled off her shoulders. The water below, rippled, until tiny drops floated like pieces of crystal all around us. The earth shook. Crystals cracked in a gospel song, bits of pieces floating. Before our eyes, a column of green light emerged, surrounding the Ancient and child, and reached far to the lake's shore and beyond.
I've seen that column of green light before.
"Aqua, didn't you…?" Cloud's thoughts were already there, remembering the column of green light that stretched to the heavens.
I did the exact thing in Cosmo Canyon, when I felt an enormous amount of stress. I fell back a step, watching how the column of green brightened the altar and all of our faces. Suddenly, I didn't want to be here anymore, knowing exactly what was going to happen next. I shook my head at all of it, this vision, the Temple of the Ancients, this Planet. Everything.
I slammed my hands over my face, hiding my shut eyes and pretending I wasn't here. The vision faded, and my world turned black.
The sounds of gulls squawking, and gentle waves urged my hands to drop. I knew exactly where we were, and I turned my head away from it, eyes stinging.
"Where are we now?" Aerith asked, her boots stepping over a beach made up of many black stones.
The water along the shore, shook, waves trembling. A glow began to appear under the water, until the whole lake bubbled in a florescent green light. The gulls scurried away. Fish swooshed to safety. Under the early morning sky, a sunrise yet to rise over the barren peaks of dark mountains, green wisps emerged from the water, carrying the infant to shore.
"We're in Iceland," I muttered flatly, answering Aerith's question.
All eyes watched me sink into myself, my arms tight to my body, as I avoided watching the rest of the vision, my past. I stared out at the dark sky, stars slowly reeling back after, I presume, a beautiful night.
"Lake Langisjor to be exact," I added. Puffins cackled nearby, as though laughing at me, while everyone gawked.
"Then this is you," Cloud guessed aloud, his step falling close to me. I snuck a glance over my shoulder, knowing too well what would happen next. A couple, enthusiastic hikers, jogged over the pile of rocks, following the baby's cry hurriedly.
In Icelandic, a woman's voice screeched, "Darling, look at this!"
It was my adopted mother.
She and her husband were mystified, taking the screaming baby into their arms, coats open to bring heat.
"Where did she come from?" The man asked, my adopted Father, his eyes searching around the dark tundra.
I turned away from the scene and covered my ears, the sounds of their voices hitting so deep, it hurt.
"It's a miracle. We've always wanted a child. Oh, the Gods answered our prayers!" Mother gasped, her cry hitting through my hands. I pressed harder, until I thought I could turn into a compressed stone block.
"Please stop this," I begged, water flooding my eyes. "We've seen enough."
Like the Well of Knowledge heard me, a bright light engulfed us.
I knew it as soon as I smelled the burning torches, the air thick and damp again, that we returned to the temple.
But my hands remained over my ears, eyes shut tight, drowning all sounds and sight as short clips of what was just shown to us, replayed over and over in my head.
Voices muffled, and the whispers of the Ancients broke through my hands, telling me that I had the right to know.
"What's it matter?" I asked the voices, afraid to open my eyes, or else they would spill.
Hands came for me, but I flinched away, jumping to my feet, and squinted an eye open to the nearest exit. I ran, but not far enough, a hand taking my arm, and stopped me.
"Aqua, stop!" Cloud demanded. When I didn't say anything, leaning away from his grip, he added in a lower voice, "Please don't run away. Remember?"
Right, my Promise. Silly me.
I didn't move, watery eyes gleaming over the exit behind the well, wishing to leave, to breathe in clean air and touch rain on my face. To smell the arctic winds and taste the fishy air floating along the harbor.
Mother's smile flashed in my head. Her bare lips widening to a fragile smile, and then a tear down her cheek. That was my last memory of her.
I closed my eyes tight again, plopping tears to the stone floor.
"It's not knowing that hurts. I knew. Somehow, I knew. But, I didn't know it was to keep me safe. I thought…" I opened my eyes wide, the exit still taunting me. A gentle embarrassment flushed up to my cheeks to have everyone see me like this. Cait Sith sat quietly, frozen. Vincent watched me carefully, keeping his thoughts to himself. Aerith held her hands to her chest, biting into her lip. Cloud still gripped my wrist, but I no longer fought against him. I stopped leaning away and just slumped there in the middle of the stone chamber.
"I always thought that I was neglected because I was a special child. The voices I heard when I was small, I thought I had a sickness. Maybe one of my parents was schizophrenic and just thought it was best to let me die in the cold. My Mom…" I paused, fighting the images of her slamming behind my eyes.
"She always told me the voices were just the Gods, telling me about things I didn't quite understand, thinking it was a blessing."
My voice grew so quiet when I added with guilt, "In a way, she was more right than I was. I didn't know."
Flashes of more disturbing memories came like a sepia film. My twenty-year-old me, face twisted in a fury as I yelled in the kitchen, a backpack over my shoulders. And then slamming the back door hard behind me. Never to look back.
Cloud's hand smoothed down my arm until he laced his fingers with mine, and held on tight, pulling me closer to him.
I sniffed as I gazed up at him, shaking.
"My real mother. She saved me, didn't she? She used every ounce of her magic to send me away, and died because of it?" I stammered.
Cloud was at a loss for words as he pored over my eyes, taking in every speck of them. But I sank my head low, hair falling around my face to the floor, casting a shadow around my world and blocking him.
Quiet footsteps came in closer, until a soft hand landed on my shoulder.
"She did," Aerith answered calmly.
"She did exactly what you almost did in Cosmo Canyon, but it wouldn't have worked. You have to use a tremendous amount of magic at the right place, a gateway. That Altar we saw, is that place. Your mother knew that, and called to the Planet to help her send you away, using up all of her powers."
I lifted my face a little, and a fat tear streaked down my cheek. Behind the weak lighting of torches, Aerith's face flicked mostly in shadow, and she smiled sadly at me.
"You went someplace safe, lived a normal life. And when this Planet needed you, it brought you back," she explained.
There was no need to say anymore. I straighten, lips trembling, and then I fell into Aerith's arms. Cloud let go, stepping back in silence, unsure where his place was, until he may have felt forgotten.
I held Aerith tight, loving that she knew me better than anyone else.
"I didn't know," I repeated, smudging my face into her chest while she wrapped her arms around my shoulders. I hugged her waist so tight, she probably couldn't even breathe, but she didn't even complain.
"She used the rest of her energy to save you, a sacrifice" Aerith soothed. But I shook my head, far from relaxed.
"Sacrifice, what an awful word," I muttered into her skin, my lips lightly brushing her collarbones. Aerith said nothing, knowing where my thoughts headed, and she braced for it, afraid that I would expose one of our secrets to the others. But I didn't, not here, not now.
I closed my eyes tight, and pulled away from Aerith's arms, wiping at my wet eyes.
"I am really from here," I whispered, the truth finally hitting me like a brick wall. I took to the site of the temple's low ceiling, and forced a laugh, hands flipped down at my sides. My bracelet glowed strongly, pushing back the magic that wanted to burst out of my chest and destroy all the walls and all the murals suffocating me.
"I thought for a minute there, this was all nonsense. The voices, the visions, the magic. All of it. I wanted to go back to my world so badly for a while, but it's so strange knowing that I'm truly from here, all along. It's just..." I dropped my head and shook it, a hand to my forehead to feel how chilled it was.
"I thought this place was not my world," I ended in a whisper, smiling but with eyes still leaking.
"I'm sorry you all had to see that," I added, my head down.
Vincent cleared his throat, took a few steps closer, and inelegantly, wrapped an arm around my shoulder. He looked away, of course, eyes off to the walls, hiding most of his face behind his red collar.
I was speechless, his arm like a lump of stone, but still, thrown off by his effort.
Aerith's mouth fell to the floor. "Vincent! Are you trying to hug?!" She gasped.
Vincent closed his eyes, and his eyebrows narrowed.
"Just get to the damn group hug I hear so much about," he hissed.
Cloud blinked, petrified to go anywhere near Vincent. But Aerith sighed and easily joined in from behind, resting her chin over Vincent's arm.
"It's been a while. If only everyone was here," she sniffled.
Every inch of Cloud was uncomfortable when he tried to step in, unsure whether to loop an arm over Vincent or to let a hand rest on his shoulder.
"Wrap that around me, and I'll make sure you wish to never wake up from sleep again," Vincent snapped at Cloud with sharp teeth. Cloud exhaled a grunt, and glared at Vincent before resting a hand on Vincent's arm uneasily, trying to find someplace to touch.
Cait Sith nervously walked in, paws to his stomach.
"May I join?"
I rolled my eyes, but actually smiled.
"Sure," I dragged, and Cait Sith jumped up high, furry arms coiling around my neck to hang on.
"I can't feel it, but I want to be a part of the group hug," he justified.
We were like that for an awkward ten seconds, Vincent being the first to pull away with a jerk.
"Okay, enough for me," he grunted, his back to us.
Cloud stole his hand and stepped away, his sword facing me to hide his face.
"Yeah, no way I'm doing that if I have to touch Vincent again," he muttered.
Cait Sith dropped near my boots, and Aerith pulled away gently, smiling as she always did. I twirled, looking at all four of them: Aerith, Cloud, Vincent, and Cait Sith. A real smile spread across my face, pretending that the others were here with us. This is my world. And I have a family.
"Thanks guys," I whispered.
"When we return to the others, let's all have a big group hug!" Aerith hailed, a hand up in the air. I lifted mine to hers.
"I can't wait," I gushed, and we did a high-five.
After our little heart-warming moment, the five of us left the Well of Knowledge, its pool dim of life, behind us. Aerith led the way, talking as I followed close to her.
"Aqua, which world do you like more? This one, or your New York one?" she suddenly asked. I was taken surprised over the question, never really considering it before. We walked through a long, stone hall, and entered a large room with no floor. Nothing but two spinning hands of a giant clock as our bridge.
I stared at the challenge, and dropped my gaze to the depths below the clock's hands, finding a faint glow of torches that could be at least thirty feet down.
"Well, as of right now, I'm liking New York," I joked, hating the idea of walking across moving hands. The seconds hand was ticking forward in time, grazing pass the platform to the other side until it steered towards us. We would have to wait another whole minute before another opportunity presented itself to help us run to the other side of the room.
Cloud cleared his throat quite loudly. When I glanced at him, he quickly looked away, his face red. I smirked evilly, enjoying how he could feel insecure at times.
"She better like this world more because of me," may have crossed his thoughts, grumbling to himself.
"Or maybe I like this world, since Cloud is here," I teased.
Cloud hid his face into his hands, unexpectedly abashed, and he cleared his throat again.
"What? Me? You don't say," he played along, pretending to sound surprised, and he pulled back a hand to rub along the back of his hair. His embarrassed smile made me want to step in and kiss him, but Vincent tapped my shoulder with a pointed finger, snapping me out of it.
"Focus," he insisted, disgusted with the flirting. Aerith giggled, while Cait Sith stuck a paw into his throat, furry tongue out, and he pretended to gag.
"We need to cross this at the right time. Should we all go at once?" Aerith asked, gazing at the moving clock hands, the size of planks. One wrong footing, and we would be falling into another trap.
"This is stupid. I can jump that far," Cloud muttered, arms crossed. Vincent stood next to him, mimicking his posture, and grumbled, "Same."
Aerith and I puffed our cheeks.
"Well, we can't," I rattled, gesturing to me and Aerith. Caith Sith's voice sounded far away as he jumped to try to include himself. "Me, too!"
Cloud chuckled, and suddenly pulled me into him, making me gasp.
"No! I don't want to-!"
But he moved too fast, hoisting me in his arms like some savior, and he jumped. I screamed, "I hate this," with my arms tight around his neck, eyes pinched shut, and rammed them into his shoulder to avoid gawking over the large darkness below. I felt Cloud's cheek shift against my forehead when he probably smirked wider, holding me tight against him as the air blew up our hair. My stomach tried to creep up my throat, stopping my scream. When we began to fall, I braced for the extra length of it, waiting to miss the edge of the room and plunge into deep darkness. But Cloud landed light on his feet, barely jerking me when the flight was over.
I was stiff in his hold, like a frightened cat. Cloud would have to peel me from him, but he chuckled instead.
"Was that so bad?" he asked, waiting patiently for my body to melt into a pool next to him, just relieved to be alive.
I wobbled until I leaned into the doorway into the next room, head sinking to my thighs.
"Next time, before you show off, a warning would be lovely." I groaned.
"Thank you," I quickly added, my stomach falling into tight knots. Cloud exhaled a small smile, and with amusement, watched Vincent float down next to him. Aerith settled securely in his arms while Cait Sith screamed, gripping to Vincent's long red cloak, until he landed with a loud thump on the stone edge.
"Next time, carry me," Cait Sith muttered, checking his head for dents.
"I'm at only fifty percent capacity here," he huffed.
I blinked down at Cait Sith.
"So, are you actually a Turk, operating at Shinra Headquarters?" I asked. Cait Sith shook his head as he brushed dirt off his arms.
"Nah. I'm not a Turk, and I'm actually in Junon. That's where Rufus likes to station himself. Where he goes, I go."
I gasped, and quickly covered my lips with my hands.
Where Rufus is at, so is Isaac. I almost asked, but stayed quiet, feeling Cloud's heavy stare on my back. I swallowed, taking my hands away from my lips when I nervously asked Cait Sith with a covered up question, "And all the times you complained about your job, were true, then?"
Cait Sith sighed, his paws slumped on his little knees.
"Well, apart from betraying all of you good people, I am really stuck in an office. And no one appreciates my ideas of our Neo Midgar project," he fretted.
"What's your real name?" I pried, wondering if he would spill.
Cloud rammed his hands into his pockets like an angsty teenager.
"Aqua, why do you even bother? He's probably going to tell Rufus everything after this," he muttered, obviously still peeved from all the times Cait Sith smacked his hands off me.
"Once a liar, always a liar," Vincent clarified.
"We're stuck with him, and I thought I'd ask," I shrugged.
"Guys," Aerith begged, trying to reduce the tension.
But Cait Sith blurted, "Reeve." And we all eventually hushed.
Cait Sith sighed towards the floor, and repeated himself once he lifted his head, tiny camera eyes at all of us.
"My real name is Reeve. I could get arrested for telling all of you this, so take that to heart, and try not to assume I'm just a backstabbing asshole."
We were all silently stunned, wide eyes down to Cait Sith. I saw him differently all of a sudden, just really a doll operated by some poor work zombie instead of a talking cat.
"That time you got us out of the desert prison?" I began, ready to ask, but Reeve, I mean, Cait Sith, put his paws up to stop me.
"I spoke directly to Rufus himself. He was appalled. He cares about you, ya know," he clarified, sadly, still trying to change my views on the world's President. I rolled my eyes and groaned.
"Not happening in a million years," I sang sarcastically, ready to argue. But my stomach squeezed, and my body trembled, muscles growing weaker. I felt woozy again, like being back in the labyrinth, and stumbled backwards, ready to fall. Cloud stepped forward, arms ready, and caught me as I breathed fast, everything growing hot.
"He's close," I exhaled, staring up at Cloud's determined eyes.
He clenched his teeth, and lifted his glare to the archway ahead, torches to guide us to a set of double doors made of smooth stone.
"This ends here," he whispered to himself. I could already see the battle happening in his eyes, how he wanted it to go, mentally preparing. What swordsmanship was essential against a powerful figure? What spell would be effective? How to dodge those long sweeps of the Masamune sword?
Aerith braced herself, feeling something dark lurking through those doors, and she shivered.
"Are we all tired?"
All of us shook our head, except Cait Sith chimed, "Yes," like a deranged, over-worked employee.
We all rolled our eyes, but Aerith laid a tiny smile on her beautiful face.
"We got this. We're almost there," she cheered, and gave all of us two thumbs up.
I wanted to tell Aerith, she didn't have to try so hard, but I stayed quiet, a part of me oddly comforted by her forced enthusiasm.
Cloud hoisted me up, and I leaned into him as we began to move again. The stone doors grew closer, carved workings of the temple over the both of them. A crowd of people in Egypt style hieroglyphics, grouped around the bottom edges, arms up to the temple as though worshipping it. Cait Sith's little steps tapped quickly to match with the rest of ours.
"Ya know, despite being inside a creepy and dark temple, I kind of had a bit fo fun with you guys," the cat doll chuckled.
Vincent groaned, like what Cait Sith was saying was total nonsense. Cloud shook his head and looked over his shoulder, down to Cait Sith.
"You're welcome to stay behind and enjoy the rest for us," he threatened.
Cait Sith stiffened.
"And miss all the fun? Nah."
I wondered what would be of Cait Sith after this? Or more like, IF we get out of this. I can't imagine anyone comfortable keeping a Shinra spy in the group, eyes for Rufus on all of us constantly. Reeve seemed to be a decent person, but if the group voted him out, it had to be done. Just the thought of him telling Rufus every little thing: The Cosmo Canyon incident, Nibelheim, Rocket Town, all of it, made me feel uncomfortable.
Vincent pushed the doors open, whispers escaping through the wide crack like gusts of winds from inside the room, blowing back our clothes and hair. I heard them all clearly, how this room was it, the core of the temple.
The air was warm, but heavy. We all stepped inside, and I gulped the thickened air desperately, hoping that eventually, one breath would be fresh.
Cloud's eyes wandered the long room, columns taking the ceiling high above us.
"This is the room," he stated, recognizing it from the vision.
I lifted my head, eying up at the first mural, the two walls surrounding us mirroring the same artwork.
"I need to see them all," I gasped. Cloud quietly stopped at the first one, reading the picture with me.
It was just like the doors, people standing outside a temple, their arms raised up to it.
We progressed further to the second: A crowd of people walking, their faces ahead. A migration? A ceremony?
The third mural showed them all gathering around an altar.
Limping to the fourth, I studied a table, two round objects on it, and the people gathered around them. One dark, and one light.
"What do you suppose they mean?" Cloud asked, breaking my train of thought. I squinted heavily on the mural with the two objects.
Whispers gave me the answers, and I blinked again at the hieroglyphics.
"There were two powerful Materia. One dark, one light," I explained. We carried on to the next, seeing a woman hold up the dark object in her hands. A large meteor falls from the sky.
The second to last, people look up to the flaming sky, confused.
And the last mural: all fire, with hands thrown up, cries of the people burning in the flames.
Sudden flashes of my nightmares flared to life, pulling me back into a world of chaos. People screamed, desperate to hide. A ball of rock and fire hurled closer until it took up the whole sky, ready to crush every living thing on the Planet. No one, not even a soul could hide from it.
I gasped, back to the room, and clutched Cloud closely, shaken by the old dream.
"The dark one, the Black Materia, it can summon Meteor," I whispered to him.
Cloud glared back to the mural of meteor, his body tensing.
"And Sephiroth wants it," he hissed.
I could hardly move, hearing Cloud growl through his teeth, head whipping back and forth.
"Sephiroth, where are you?!" he cried, as if the sinister man was simply behind a pillar, playing hide-and-seek.
Afraid it was too provoking, Aerith whimpered, "Cloud, don't."
But it was too late.
The whispers darted away, suddenly afraid. Flames to the torches fluttered lively, disturbed by a growing presence.
So cold, Cloud. I've always been at your side.
Cloud's hands tightened around me, his eyes searching desperately for the man in a black cloak.
Vincent readied his gun, holding it at his side. Aerith pulled out her rod. Cait Sith hid behind Vincent, only his little head poking out. We all anxiously waited.
I felt heavier, poor Cloud having to carry me.
"Please, just let me sit on the floor," I gasped.
But Cloud shook his head. "I'm not letting go of you."
"How admirable. But soon you will all learn that no one is safe," Sephiroth warned, suddenly in the middle of the room. We all turned, and he smiled widely up at the murals, arms crossed. There was that look, one of confidence, with no room for weakness. Sephiroth held himself worthy, invincible, and he closed his eyes for a moment, inhaling the thick air with admiration.
"It's lovely isn't it? This treasure house of knowledge."
Sephiroth's aqua eyes opened, revealing a sparkle.
32