Final Fantasy 7: The Hojo Clone
By Co V Schuler
Part 2: The Second Cetra
Chapter 12 (Continued right after the end of Chapter 11)
Tifa ran through the fields. She was fighting lots of monsters and there was this smell...
She kept running. She had killed at least a hundred wolves, all drawn by the stench. Cloud and Barret...are they dead? She asked herself several times what she would do without Cloud... without Cloud their to comfort her and stand the cocky way that he did...
Tifa had cried a thousand tears before she reached the massacre. Hundreds of dead bodies lay across two hills; large sheets of scorched tanks in some places. The stench...only now did Tifa realize what the stench was...it was death.
Her eyes searched for Cloud. Where is Cloud...why did he do this...will I find him?
She looked and looked but she was starting to lose faith when she saw Barret! His chest rose up and down and Tifa mentally rejoiced. Barret was alive! Her rejoicing lasted only a few seconds when she realized she still hadn't seen Cloud.
She ran over to Barret and tried to wake him up. "Barret," she said so softly that she didn't think she spoke. "Barret, wake up. Barret...where is Cloud?"
Barret eyes slowly blinked open and he started to move but when he did, he let out a yell of pain. Cure magic does heal you, but when it regenerates muscles, the muscles must start like they were new; causing much pain because they are always sore.
Tifa smiled, even though they were both in pain, she knew he was happy to be alive...
"I'm...alive," he asked, obviously question in his voice. Tifa laughed and said, "Your alive Barret. But...is Cloud alive?" Barret winced as he slowly rolled over onto his back.
"I don't know. What the hell happened? One minute, I am using Catastrophe, the next I have bullet holes on me as if I were a damn magnet."
Tifa shook her head. "Red XIII saved your life. How did you all survive this? How could you?"
Barret looked into her eyes. Cloud killed at least half of them with his sword. I'll be damned on if he didn't become a freakin' monster. But should I tell her that...Cloud did this?
Barret figured he better not tell her, not yet. "I did. Catastrophe wiped most of them out and Cloud finished off the last few guys. Most powerful limit I have ever done. I couldn't believe it. But we all took some hits."
Tifa looked at Barret. She knew he was holding something back. He was lying about something. But she wouldn't push it right now. No, not right now. "Well then, lets get you back home. But first, help me look for Cloud."
Barret nodded and slowly got to his feet; he was recovering. He would probably be okay. That relieved Tifa. But Cloud...
It only took one thought and she immediately forgot about Barret. "Cloud," she called. Barret started shoving dead bodies over, looking underneath them. "Cloud," he heard. He hoped the booger was alive, for Tifa's sake. If he wasn't...Barret shook his head. He is alive. He saw it before he conked out. Barret took a deep breath and started coughing.
"Man, what the hell is that...oh. Man, dead bodies stink."
He continued pushing bodies over, only now he was using one hand to cover his nose. Then he eyed a body with a foot of a sword emerging through its back. The tip of the Ragnnarok sword that Cloud had. He jogged over to the body and saw that the Shinra jerk was mounted. "What the..."
The dead Shinra soldier was mounted on the sword. The sword on a little platform of burnt metal. The sword was tied to the ground with a belt from some other soldier. Why did Cloud do this? Has he really become a monster?"
Barret started to call Tifa when he realized that if she saw this...
"Tifa," he yelled, "I found his sword." He quickly shoved the dead body aside and pulled the sword out of it. She ran over to him and hugged him. Then she glanced at the belt still attached to the sword's handle. She frowned for a second and Barret thought, uh oh.
"Clouds not here," she said suddenly. Her eyes were locked on the sword. "Come on, let's get outta here before someone finds us here."
Barret agreed and they left the dead field. Later I will have to burn them so no one finds out. Barret grimaced at the thought but knew he didn't have a choice.
*
Marlene woke up and blinked her little eyes. She immediately noticed Red XIII laying on the floor a few feet from her bed, in the sunlight. She noticed that parts of his fur were... bloodstained. She raised an eyebrow and left the room.
She walked downstairs and saw the note lying on the table. She read it out loud...well, the words that she could read anyway. "Dear Marlene...I am sorry that I am not the...air to make you...buh...buhreck...oh! Breakfast! The...air...there! Is some egg...nog on the table for you..." Marlene glanced up and saw the two plates of...burnt stuff. "Yuck...I need to teach Tifa how to cook," she said. Then she continued with the letter.
"I hop...hope to be back soon. Don't go outside. See you in a...lit...little! Bit! See you in a little bit!" Marlene put the letter back down on the table and looked again at the so-called breakfast. "Maybe I'll just have cereal."
She skipped over to one row of cabinets and opened one of them up. Hmm...she wondered what to pick. They had-
The front door suddenly burst open. Marlene turned and saw Tifa! And Daddy! "Daddy," she cried and ran over to hug him. Her little hands wrapped around his left knee and he winced, but didn't say anything. "Hey Marlene!" His voice was full of energy but his head was tired, and he felt like he wanted to go sleep for a few years.
But Marlene was more important. "Have you been waiting for me," he asked. She nodded and looked up at his head. "You still have big feet Daddy!"
Barret laughed. "That I do, girl. That I do."
For the next few hours Barret and Marlene, and sometimes Tifa, played games and did homework and did normal, everyday things. But most of the time, Tifa was upstairs, crying and wondering what was hidden from her...what had Cloud done? She knew from the start that Barret was lying. But what happened?
Four hundred dead people...maybe I shouldn't know. Maybe I want to know, but it would be better not to know. Tifa cried softly for a few more hours.
Red XIII woke up to a soft, rhythmic sound. Whimpering. Nanaki looked up and saw Tifa on a bed crying. "Are you okay Tifa," he asked gently. She jumped, not aware that he was awake. "Oh! Uh...no not everything is all right."
Red XIII smiled, knowing that no, it wasn't all right. Cloud was a freak. Cloud had killed most of the men last night, not feeling pain or regret. Cloud had become a monster. "I know. But are you going to be alright?"
She looked up at him and tried to smile but failed. "No, I'm not all right." She got up and left the room. As she left she said, "I'll be having a drink if anyone needs me."
Red XIII got back in the sunlight, which had moved away from him as time passed. He thought for awhile. That's the second time she has tried to smile but couldn't. Tifa, what is coming over you? Didn't they find Cloud? I found him and tried to heal him...then came here...
Nanaki didn't deny his thoughts much longer. His flaming tail occasionally twitched as he thought about Cloud and Tifa...and Aeris the Ancient. It suddenly occurred to him, the more he thought about it, that Aeris was never needed. She said to Cloud in a dream that she was needed to save the Planet but...she didn't 'help' at all.
All she did was come back and...well, stare at Cloud and get rescued. Something isn't right, thought Red XIII. Why did the Planet let her come back, if she wasn't needed? Nanaki fell asleep to those thoughts.
His body was still weary from all the curing he had done that morning.
*
Yuffie woke up and jumped up, immediately remembering what she had promised herself. After a good nights rest, we can pry into Vincent's stuff and see what he likes to do. Yuffie grinned and got up. It had been a quiet night; usually there was some noise and the occasional clatter of metal to metal but that was gone last night.
Since Cid got the Highwind remade, and some new stuff added onto it, she and Vincent had to share a room since Cid had run out of materials to make another room. She didn't care though; it was better than sleeping in the warm Chocobo stables. She and Vincent actually got along when they were alone.
Yuffie walked over to his bed and ducked to look under it. Nothing. Some cuts in the wall but nothing else. Another thing she remembered was that he always wore the same thing; yet he never changed his clothes. She got up and walked over to his nightstand. She opened the drawers and saw...nothing. Empty. Zip, nada', zilch.
Oh come on. There has to be something...bingo! She walked over to small cardboard box and opened it...still nothing. What the...what kind of person lives with no change of clothes or possessions. She frowned, knowing that there had to be some kind of...wait a minute. She ducked back down to looked under the bed and at the cuts in the wall...yep! They were in the shape of a square.
She grinned again and pulled the bed over and jumped on it. Her hands found the cuts in the wall and she pushed on it...it fell in. Bingo! She got off the bed and pulled it over to the next wall. Free space. There was enough space to crawl through and she did. She got through the small opening, knowing that Vincent could've gotten through too.
She crawled for a few minutes, wondering where this could go. Then it suddenly opened up at the end and she crawled out to face...wow, she thought. A vampire's home.
A coffin was in the center of a very dark room, only one light, a dark green one that barley shown until you got into the room. Then Yuffie turned around and saw a washing machine and a dryer. She squeaked with laughter. So this is where Vincent washes his clothes. And the washer and dryer are where the noise in the night comes from. She saw a dresser and walked over to it.
She pulled open the top drawer and found nothing. You have got to be kidding. She opened the bottom one and when she closed that one, a little compartment popped out of the side of the dresser. She leaned over to look inside and...blood! Small packages of blood!
She jumped up and said, "Yuck!" Time to go, she thought.
She found the small tunnel and started to crawl back in but...she looked up and saw...the engines of the Highwind. "Oh," she said, as if not surprised. This was the engine room! And Vincent had made it his own. She laughed and started to crawl back into the tunnel when something strange happened.
She saw two glowing eyes at the other end of the tunnel. "Vincent...is that you? I thought you gone! Go back in and let's talk for awhile!" The voice was hoarse, as if it was a frog talking. Yuffie, not knowing what to do, crawled back into the engine room and a bat came fluttering out the tunnel.
"Uh," the bat said wonderingly. "Who are YOU?"
"I am Yuffie...Mr....Thing."
The bat burst out with laughter. "Hahahahaha! Vincent always said you would find this place but I doubted him. He always admired your thievery tricks."
Yuffie's eyes widened. "He...admires me?" Suddenly, warmth came over her but she didn't realize it was there.
The bat nodded and flew over to the coffin and sat on it. "That is why he didn't stock any dirty magazines; he was afraid you would think lowly of him!" The bat burst out in laughter again and Yuffie just made a strange face. "And who the hell are you?"
"I am...Mr. Thing! Hahahahaha!"
"Time to go," Yuffie said, "I am not hanging with a crazy bat in a vampires hideout." She got up and started to leave when the bat said, "I am sorry madam, but I will report your forced entry to Master Vincent when he returns from his journeys."
"He was expecting me," she said simply.
The bat nodded and let her go.