Part IV
Cloud was stuck somewhere between some obscure dream and reality. The bed was
squeeking as he was twisting in his sleep. Images appering in his mind became
blurry as he slowly began to awake, his head pounding. He was looking at the sun
streaming in through the curtains but didn't realize his eyes were open until
Sephiroth came in to his view.
"How are you feeling?" He picked up his black cloak from the end of the other
bed.
"Pretty good sir," Cloud said even if his head felt like it was about to
explode.
Sephiroth just arched an eyebrow, showing his disbelief.
"Breakfast," he pointed at a tray on Cloud's bedside table.
"Thank you sir." Cloud heaved himself up a little and started eating. "Are we
leaving today sir," he asked, his mouth full.
"We are, yes." Sephiroth grabbed the hilt of Masamune and sheated the sword. We
are going to a place called Cosmo Canyon, a very peacefull village but I think
you can learn a lot from it inhabitants and besides, it's a good place to get
rare materia and good weapons. It would be a good idea to...upgrade your
equipment, he said glancing at Cloud's unwiedly Buster Sword.
Cloud looked at his sword as well.
"Well, if you think so," he said quietly, he wasn't so sure he wanted to
exchange
it, he had grown quit fond of it.
"I'm going to the shop to get some provisions, we'll leave as soon as I return."
The ocean stretched as far east as the eye could see. In the west the sun was
slowly creeping down behind the mountans, leaving them little light to travel
in. They had just passed a desert, Cloud suspected that was the same desert as
the one where the rather infamous Gold Saucer was located. From what he'd heard
it was some kind of casino and gambling organistation driven by a band of
thieves. It was a wellknown hangout for criminals and fishy buisnessmen. No
wonder Sephiroth was avoiding the place.
Suddenly the silver haired man stopped, they had reached the outskirts of a
forrest, the trees would give them shelter from the winds coming in from the
sea.
"We'll camp here for the night," he said.
"Alright, should I get some..."
Loud shrieks arose from all around them, there were people coming out of the
bushes, some from the trees; they were surrounded. Sephiroth pulled out Masamune
but just as he did a sleepspell hit both him and his apprentice and they fell to
the ground.
The spell released it's grip of Sephiroth first, even if he usually could resist
all kinds of spells and abnormal statuses this one had hit him hard. He had
expected some dizzines at the most but the spell had knocked him out completely.
Still he had managed to resist some of it, Cloud on the other hand was still far
into his artificial sleep. However, the SOLDIER's awakening was to late, they
were trapped in some mysterious glass cage, it reminded him much of Hojo's
isolation cells where he had spent much time after his Mako treatments. The
glass was too thick to bust through he noted, but it wouldn't have mattered
anyway, because the cage was surrounded by a blueish energy field which he
wasn't too eager to find out exactly what it was. Judging by the glow of it, it
would probably fry whoever tried to run through it. He brought his hand to his
side, searching for Masamune, it was an unconscious action The sword had been
taken away from him while he was under the spell, that had been the first thing
he noticed when he woke up. There was nothing he could do now, nothing but
wait...
Wait for Cloud to wake up and wait for their captors to show themselves.
"Cloud, Cloud, wake up," the words drifted in to Cloud's blurry consciousness.
"Cloud!" someone shook him by the shoulder firmly. He blinked a couple of times,
unable to focus his eyes on anything.
"Cloud," the voice came again. This time he recognised it, Sephiroth.
"S...sir?" he mumbled trying to pull himself up.
"Lie still Cloud, you are still under the spell," the young general was kneeling
by his side and it was now Cloud noticed he was lying on a cold floor.
"Where are we?" he asked looking around.
"I don't know, we were captured by the men in the forrest, do you remember?"
"Vaguely."
"Well, it seems as we are held prisoners here in this..."
"Prisoners?" a voice came behind them, Sephiroth got to his feet and faced a
short man in suit on the other side of the energy field. "You are not
prisoners,"
the man continued, "you are our guests of honor, the highlight of our show."
"What are you talking about?" Sephiroth demanded.
The man seemed startled by the venom in his voice but the blue field seperating
them gave him a feeling of security.
"Ah, forgive me," he said, "I forgot you don't know where you are. Well, I would
like to welcome you to the Gold Saucer and you, my friends, are our new
champions
for the Death Battle."
"And if we refuse?" Sephiroth crossed his arms over his chest.
"Refuse?" the short man laughed mockingly. "There is no other option boy. We
could
just throw you to the monsters, but that would kind of ruin the whole show so
that is why we give you the chance to fight for your lives."
"How kind of you," Sephiroth hissed.
"You will go first silver-head, the other one still seems a bit out of it.
Prepare yourself, someone will come and get you just before the fight."
"What should we do sir?" Cloud asked, hoping Sephiroth would have a good answer
for his question. They were both sitting on the floor, Sephiroth looked over at
him, his hair falling in his face.
"I don't know Cloud," he said. "We just have to wait and see. We canĂ¯t get out
of this cage that's for sure. Maybe we'll get a chance when they open this thing
up."
"What about the fight he was talking about?"
"If we have to fight then just remember everything I've thaught you, just keep
calm and stay alert. You'll be ok, don't worry about it."
They both jumped to their feet when the door suddenly opened and six men and a
girl entered the room. Sephiroth immediately recognised the girl from Costa del
Sol and he could hear Cloud gasping behind him.
"Get the long haired one," she demanded the men. The energy field disappeared
and they opened the door to the cage. Two of them pinnedd Cloud to the glass
wall andthe four others tied Sephiroth's hands behind his back and led him out
into the room.
"So you are our first fighter tonight," if the girl recognised them she didn't
let it show. Sephiroth didn't answer her.
She motioned for the guards to follow her. The two men that had held down
Cloud joined them and they pushed Sephiroth before them. He looked around,
trying to get a good picture of his surroundings. Just one area of the place
seemed to be finished, Sephiroth guessed that was where they were going. The
other areas were only half built, it seemed as if someone started building them
but then just left them as they were now. Some kind of a strange rollercoaster
stretched above their heads, but this one wasn't finished neither.
Sephiroth looked at the girl, he wondered what her part in all of this was. Was
it just a coincident she had run in to both him and Cloud in Costa del Sol? She
seemed young, not more than twenty, probably even younger. Her hair was cut
short giving her a boyish apperance, and had an unatural red color.
"In here," she suddenly said and walked into a small room. She uncovered a big
glass monter full of different weapons.
"Choose your weapon," she said to him and nodded at the monter. Sephiroth looked
at the swords and daggers displayed, it didn't take him long to decide on a
sword with a thin blade, a bit like his own Masamune only much shorter.
"Take that sword and give it to him before the battle," the girl said and headed
out the door
Cloud was stuck somewhere between some obscure dream and reality. The bed was
squeeking as he was twisting in his sleep. Images appering in his mind became
blurry as he slowly began to awake, his head pounding. He was looking at the sun
streaming in through the curtains but didn't realize his eyes were open until
Sephiroth came in to his view.
"How are you feeling?" He picked up his black cloak from the end of the other
bed.
"Pretty good sir," Cloud said even if his head felt like it was about to
explode.
Sephiroth just arched an eyebrow, showing his disbelief.
"Breakfast," he pointed at a tray on Cloud's bedside table.
"Thank you sir." Cloud heaved himself up a little and started eating. "Are we
leaving today sir," he asked, his mouth full.
"We are, yes." Sephiroth grabbed the hilt of Masamune and sheated the sword. We
are going to a place called Cosmo Canyon, a very peacefull village but I think
you can learn a lot from it inhabitants and besides, it's a good place to get
rare materia and good weapons. It would be a good idea to...upgrade your
equipment, he said glancing at Cloud's unwiedly Buster Sword.
Cloud looked at his sword as well.
"Well, if you think so," he said quietly, he wasn't so sure he wanted to
exchange
it, he had grown quit fond of it.
"I'm going to the shop to get some provisions, we'll leave as soon as I return."
The ocean stretched as far east as the eye could see. In the west the sun was
slowly creeping down behind the mountans, leaving them little light to travel
in. They had just passed a desert, Cloud suspected that was the same desert as
the one where the rather infamous Gold Saucer was located. From what he'd heard
it was some kind of casino and gambling organistation driven by a band of
thieves. It was a wellknown hangout for criminals and fishy buisnessmen. No
wonder Sephiroth was avoiding the place.
Suddenly the silver haired man stopped, they had reached the outskirts of a
forrest, the trees would give them shelter from the winds coming in from the
sea.
"We'll camp here for the night," he said.
"Alright, should I get some..."
Loud shrieks arose from all around them, there were people coming out of the
bushes, some from the trees; they were surrounded. Sephiroth pulled out Masamune
but just as he did a sleepspell hit both him and his apprentice and they fell to
the ground.
The spell released it's grip of Sephiroth first, even if he usually could resist
all kinds of spells and abnormal statuses this one had hit him hard. He had
expected some dizzines at the most but the spell had knocked him out completely.
Still he had managed to resist some of it, Cloud on the other hand was still far
into his artificial sleep. However, the SOLDIER's awakening was to late, they
were trapped in some mysterious glass cage, it reminded him much of Hojo's
isolation cells where he had spent much time after his Mako treatments. The
glass was too thick to bust through he noted, but it wouldn't have mattered
anyway, because the cage was surrounded by a blueish energy field which he
wasn't too eager to find out exactly what it was. Judging by the glow of it, it
would probably fry whoever tried to run through it. He brought his hand to his
side, searching for Masamune, it was an unconscious action The sword had been
taken away from him while he was under the spell, that had been the first thing
he noticed when he woke up. There was nothing he could do now, nothing but
wait...
Wait for Cloud to wake up and wait for their captors to show themselves.
"Cloud, Cloud, wake up," the words drifted in to Cloud's blurry consciousness.
"Cloud!" someone shook him by the shoulder firmly. He blinked a couple of times,
unable to focus his eyes on anything.
"Cloud," the voice came again. This time he recognised it, Sephiroth.
"S...sir?" he mumbled trying to pull himself up.
"Lie still Cloud, you are still under the spell," the young general was kneeling
by his side and it was now Cloud noticed he was lying on a cold floor.
"Where are we?" he asked looking around.
"I don't know, we were captured by the men in the forrest, do you remember?"
"Vaguely."
"Well, it seems as we are held prisoners here in this..."
"Prisoners?" a voice came behind them, Sephiroth got to his feet and faced a
short man in suit on the other side of the energy field. "You are not
prisoners,"
the man continued, "you are our guests of honor, the highlight of our show."
"What are you talking about?" Sephiroth demanded.
The man seemed startled by the venom in his voice but the blue field seperating
them gave him a feeling of security.
"Ah, forgive me," he said, "I forgot you don't know where you are. Well, I would
like to welcome you to the Gold Saucer and you, my friends, are our new
champions
for the Death Battle."
"And if we refuse?" Sephiroth crossed his arms over his chest.
"Refuse?" the short man laughed mockingly. "There is no other option boy. We
could
just throw you to the monsters, but that would kind of ruin the whole show so
that is why we give you the chance to fight for your lives."
"How kind of you," Sephiroth hissed.
"You will go first silver-head, the other one still seems a bit out of it.
Prepare yourself, someone will come and get you just before the fight."
"What should we do sir?" Cloud asked, hoping Sephiroth would have a good answer
for his question. They were both sitting on the floor, Sephiroth looked over at
him, his hair falling in his face.
"I don't know Cloud," he said. "We just have to wait and see. We canĂ¯t get out
of this cage that's for sure. Maybe we'll get a chance when they open this thing
up."
"What about the fight he was talking about?"
"If we have to fight then just remember everything I've thaught you, just keep
calm and stay alert. You'll be ok, don't worry about it."
They both jumped to their feet when the door suddenly opened and six men and a
girl entered the room. Sephiroth immediately recognised the girl from Costa del
Sol and he could hear Cloud gasping behind him.
"Get the long haired one," she demanded the men. The energy field disappeared
and they opened the door to the cage. Two of them pinnedd Cloud to the glass
wall andthe four others tied Sephiroth's hands behind his back and led him out
into the room.
"So you are our first fighter tonight," if the girl recognised them she didn't
let it show. Sephiroth didn't answer her.
She motioned for the guards to follow her. The two men that had held down
Cloud joined them and they pushed Sephiroth before them. He looked around,
trying to get a good picture of his surroundings. Just one area of the place
seemed to be finished, Sephiroth guessed that was where they were going. The
other areas were only half built, it seemed as if someone started building them
but then just left them as they were now. Some kind of a strange rollercoaster
stretched above their heads, but this one wasn't finished neither.
Sephiroth looked at the girl, he wondered what her part in all of this was. Was
it just a coincident she had run in to both him and Cloud in Costa del Sol? She
seemed young, not more than twenty, probably even younger. Her hair was cut
short giving her a boyish apperance, and had an unatural red color.
"In here," she suddenly said and walked into a small room. She uncovered a big
glass monter full of different weapons.
"Choose your weapon," she said to him and nodded at the monter. Sephiroth looked
at the swords and daggers displayed, it didn't take him long to decide on a
sword with a thin blade, a bit like his own Masamune only much shorter.
"Take that sword and give it to him before the battle," the girl said and headed
out the door
