Chapter IV: Divided We Fall
"YOU SICK, TWISTED F***CK!!!!" I screamed as I woke from the dream, loud enough to strain my voice and wake Tifa who was sleeping next to me. Barrett, Reeve, Cid, and Vincent all looked up from the dimly lit table at which they were playing cards, staring with concern but certainly not surprise. Although we were all tired beyond belief and we had only been at the condo for about 2 hours, some of them still couldn't sleep given what had just happened not 3 hours ago.
"Uh... errmm... nice to meet you Cloud." said Reeve, a tall former Shin-Ra executive who was sitting at the table with a hand full of cards. He was the man responsible for controlling the crazy robotic puppet named Cait-Sith that had helped us on our journey. "I'm Reeve, the guy that controls the Cait-Sith puppet. I'm also the guy that... uhmm... stole Barrett's little girl... Heh-heh.." gulped Reeve, sinking back into his chair as Barrett stared him down menacingly.
"Yeah, he showed up a bit ago. Gunna go with me to Kalm later and get me Marlene, and uhh, ..., pay our respects to Aeris' mom too." Barrett said gruffly, remembering their fallen comrade. I understood what they were saying, but as Tifa noticed, I was sweating bullets and couldn't concentrate. Sephiroth... can't get his face out of my mind...
"Cloud? What's wrong? Why'd you scream? You look sick, worried..." she said, wiping my brow with a handkerchief. Getting up from the Caribbean-style bed, I walked towards the bathroom and, turning on the faucet, splashed cool water on my face.
"So I take it this is goodbye to that stupid @#$ of a clown Cait-Sith, eh Reeve? I never did like him..." Cid questioned.
"W-why would you say that?" stuttered Reeve uncomfortably, keeping in mind that he was once their sworn enemy.
"Well, he was made to be a spy for Shin-Ra, which is now a dead company. Besides, who would want to keep that nasty @#%! anyways?" Cid cursed.
"Well, I guess I can take him permanently offline. I don't have any future plans for him."
"Yea, just keep him in the basement here. We got a big basement, except the manager lives down there, heh-heh. Don't matter though, just throw the stupid *#%^ down there, I can't stand looking at him any more!" Cid concluded, turning his head away from the large lifeless ball of fluff leaning up against the corner of the room. Nanaki, who had been lying in the other corner eyes wide open after Cloud's little outbreak, then got up and with tail wagging nervously, interrupted the conversation.
"WAIT! ...where's Yuffie?"
As everyone looked suspiciously around the room, Vincent, eyes flashing back and forth, quickly slammed his Peacemaker handgun on the table, expecting the worse. Flipping open a side panel, he hoped the round spherical slots would be occupied with Materia.
"oh... *$%#!" yelled Barrett and Cid in unison, quickly getting up from the table and inspecting their own weapons and armor. Vincent, still silent, slowly replaced his empty gun back in its holster.
"Geez, looks like someone stole all of your Materia!" Reeve pointed out.
"Yeah, well no @#%^!!!" Cid howled loudly, teeth clenched tightly as he dug through his jacket pockets for a trace of anything.
"CLOUD!" Nanaki called as the others searched about the room. "Cloud, just like she said she would, Yuffie's ran off with all of our Materia!" Coming back in and examining my own sword which was placed near the door, I hung my head low and closed my eyes, still shaky from the nightmare. So much trouble already.
"And no one saw her leave? I thought all of you were awake!" I inquired, beckoning to the card-players.
"I don't know when she could have... @#!$, I don't think she ever even came in the room with us, that pint-sized thief!" Barrett elaborated angrily as he watched Cid stand.
"Ya' know, I don't have time for this! I couldn't give a $#&% about Materia anymore, I just want to get back to Rocket Town and sort things out. The world's a mess still but I've done enough work! Besides, that %@#$%! Shera is probably stirring up trouble." Cid shouted, beginning to pack his belongings, grab his lance, and head for the door.
"I... too... have some questions that need answering. Both my father and grandfather are now dead. Cosmo Canyon needs me..." Nanaki said softly, lowering his head.
"Well, Reeve an' I were gonna go get Marlene... I want my Materia back thou'!" informed Barrett, sitting back down at the abandoned card-game.
"I'll go... I have no family or friends or unanswered questions... I'll find Yuffie for lack of a better thing to do with my time." said Vincent gently. "You'd think she would learn..."
"Thanks Vincent..." said Tifa, still at my side. "We're going, right Cloud?"
"..... No..... yes, you are, but I'm not." I said, still dwelling on what I had seen in my dream and staring blankly. "I have something to take care of. I told you I was going to look for the Promised Land... I have to go. Goodbye everyone." Walking out of the beach house and grabbing my sword, I headed for the dock silently.
"Cloud! Get back here!" Tifa cryed, running out the door and up the street to where I was and forcing me to look her in the face. Even though the night was pitch black, I could tell tears were forming in her eyes. "Why are you acting so strange? The group's braking apart Cloud! I thought we were going to try and piece back together this broken world as a team! What are you doing?"
"Tifa....." I sighed. "I'm not so sure Sephiroth is dead..."
"w-w-what!?" she stammered softly, beginning to loosen her grip on my arms. "Cloud, are you talking about your nightmare! That's all it was... a dream!"
"Maybe you're right..."
"Exactly..."
"...but I have to know for sure. You and Vincent go get the Materia back. It seems everyone else has their own plans. If you need me or if you get our Materia back... just ring me on the PHS. Goodbye Tifa." I told her.
"No Cloud! NO!" she roared, smacking me on the back and in the head as I turned to walk away. She was upset, I couldn't blame her. No one, including I, wanted any more trouble or problems to arise after all we've been through. But it didn't seem things would work out that way.
Returning to the seemingly bungalow-themed condo where the team was assembling on the unlit porch, Tifa confronted them.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye for now, everyone. Perhaps we'll all meet up once we get the Materia back or... well, I don't mean to keep you." she announced, looking depressed and saddening everybody with the look on her face. "Cid, if you don't mind, I think Vincent and I could use a lift..."
"YOU SICK, TWISTED F***CK!!!!" I screamed as I woke from the dream, loud enough to strain my voice and wake Tifa who was sleeping next to me. Barrett, Reeve, Cid, and Vincent all looked up from the dimly lit table at which they were playing cards, staring with concern but certainly not surprise. Although we were all tired beyond belief and we had only been at the condo for about 2 hours, some of them still couldn't sleep given what had just happened not 3 hours ago.
"Uh... errmm... nice to meet you Cloud." said Reeve, a tall former Shin-Ra executive who was sitting at the table with a hand full of cards. He was the man responsible for controlling the crazy robotic puppet named Cait-Sith that had helped us on our journey. "I'm Reeve, the guy that controls the Cait-Sith puppet. I'm also the guy that... uhmm... stole Barrett's little girl... Heh-heh.." gulped Reeve, sinking back into his chair as Barrett stared him down menacingly.
"Yeah, he showed up a bit ago. Gunna go with me to Kalm later and get me Marlene, and uhh, ..., pay our respects to Aeris' mom too." Barrett said gruffly, remembering their fallen comrade. I understood what they were saying, but as Tifa noticed, I was sweating bullets and couldn't concentrate. Sephiroth... can't get his face out of my mind...
"Cloud? What's wrong? Why'd you scream? You look sick, worried..." she said, wiping my brow with a handkerchief. Getting up from the Caribbean-style bed, I walked towards the bathroom and, turning on the faucet, splashed cool water on my face.
"So I take it this is goodbye to that stupid @#$ of a clown Cait-Sith, eh Reeve? I never did like him..." Cid questioned.
"W-why would you say that?" stuttered Reeve uncomfortably, keeping in mind that he was once their sworn enemy.
"Well, he was made to be a spy for Shin-Ra, which is now a dead company. Besides, who would want to keep that nasty @#%! anyways?" Cid cursed.
"Well, I guess I can take him permanently offline. I don't have any future plans for him."
"Yea, just keep him in the basement here. We got a big basement, except the manager lives down there, heh-heh. Don't matter though, just throw the stupid *#%^ down there, I can't stand looking at him any more!" Cid concluded, turning his head away from the large lifeless ball of fluff leaning up against the corner of the room. Nanaki, who had been lying in the other corner eyes wide open after Cloud's little outbreak, then got up and with tail wagging nervously, interrupted the conversation.
"WAIT! ...where's Yuffie?"
As everyone looked suspiciously around the room, Vincent, eyes flashing back and forth, quickly slammed his Peacemaker handgun on the table, expecting the worse. Flipping open a side panel, he hoped the round spherical slots would be occupied with Materia.
"oh... *$%#!" yelled Barrett and Cid in unison, quickly getting up from the table and inspecting their own weapons and armor. Vincent, still silent, slowly replaced his empty gun back in its holster.
"Geez, looks like someone stole all of your Materia!" Reeve pointed out.
"Yeah, well no @#%^!!!" Cid howled loudly, teeth clenched tightly as he dug through his jacket pockets for a trace of anything.
"CLOUD!" Nanaki called as the others searched about the room. "Cloud, just like she said she would, Yuffie's ran off with all of our Materia!" Coming back in and examining my own sword which was placed near the door, I hung my head low and closed my eyes, still shaky from the nightmare. So much trouble already.
"And no one saw her leave? I thought all of you were awake!" I inquired, beckoning to the card-players.
"I don't know when she could have... @#!$, I don't think she ever even came in the room with us, that pint-sized thief!" Barrett elaborated angrily as he watched Cid stand.
"Ya' know, I don't have time for this! I couldn't give a $#&% about Materia anymore, I just want to get back to Rocket Town and sort things out. The world's a mess still but I've done enough work! Besides, that %@#$%! Shera is probably stirring up trouble." Cid shouted, beginning to pack his belongings, grab his lance, and head for the door.
"I... too... have some questions that need answering. Both my father and grandfather are now dead. Cosmo Canyon needs me..." Nanaki said softly, lowering his head.
"Well, Reeve an' I were gonna go get Marlene... I want my Materia back thou'!" informed Barrett, sitting back down at the abandoned card-game.
"I'll go... I have no family or friends or unanswered questions... I'll find Yuffie for lack of a better thing to do with my time." said Vincent gently. "You'd think she would learn..."
"Thanks Vincent..." said Tifa, still at my side. "We're going, right Cloud?"
"..... No..... yes, you are, but I'm not." I said, still dwelling on what I had seen in my dream and staring blankly. "I have something to take care of. I told you I was going to look for the Promised Land... I have to go. Goodbye everyone." Walking out of the beach house and grabbing my sword, I headed for the dock silently.
"Cloud! Get back here!" Tifa cryed, running out the door and up the street to where I was and forcing me to look her in the face. Even though the night was pitch black, I could tell tears were forming in her eyes. "Why are you acting so strange? The group's braking apart Cloud! I thought we were going to try and piece back together this broken world as a team! What are you doing?"
"Tifa....." I sighed. "I'm not so sure Sephiroth is dead..."
"w-w-what!?" she stammered softly, beginning to loosen her grip on my arms. "Cloud, are you talking about your nightmare! That's all it was... a dream!"
"Maybe you're right..."
"Exactly..."
"...but I have to know for sure. You and Vincent go get the Materia back. It seems everyone else has their own plans. If you need me or if you get our Materia back... just ring me on the PHS. Goodbye Tifa." I told her.
"No Cloud! NO!" she roared, smacking me on the back and in the head as I turned to walk away. She was upset, I couldn't blame her. No one, including I, wanted any more trouble or problems to arise after all we've been through. But it didn't seem things would work out that way.
Returning to the seemingly bungalow-themed condo where the team was assembling on the unlit porch, Tifa confronted them.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye for now, everyone. Perhaps we'll all meet up once we get the Materia back or... well, I don't mean to keep you." she announced, looking depressed and saddening everybody with the look on her face. "Cid, if you don't mind, I think Vincent and I could use a lift..."