OK, so here goes Chapter 3! Hope you enjoy reading it! I decided not to put
the dictionary thing coz it took a lot of space and if you forget a name or
something, you can either write to me or look it up in other chapters.
It's up to you, though.
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters.
'.' are thoughts and "." is speaking and is passing of time.
Chapter 3: Escaping
--Cloud's Villa--
Cloud and Tifa decided not to tell everyone about his little nightmares, since they were only dreams. Tifa then continued to serve more drinks to everyone and Cloud decided to take a seat and to talk to Red XIII about the planet and stuff. After some hours passed, Cloud noticed that in a dark corner, was Vincent asleep laid on the floor. He found it strange for Vincent to act like that and he went to ask Tifa about this.
"Oh, yeah." She smiled sheepishly and continued with her explanation. "When I went to check on how you were doing, Vincent tried to stop me. He told me to leave you alone, that you needed the rest. As if he was going to convince me. He then stopped and he fell silent so I used the moment to put him to sleep. The effect should've been over some time ago though, but it's getting late, so I think he must've really fallen asleep."
Cloud then looked at his watch and saw that it was around 4 a.m. and he silently agreed with Tifa. Even though it was really late, he felt as if it was midday. He felt really energetic and saw that everyone else were slowly falling asleep, so he told Tifa that he was going to take a walk around the beach.
"Can I go with you?" asked Tifa.
"No, thanks, I'm fine. I just want to think over some stuff. I'll be back before sunrise, so don't worry about me." Then he went to the door and swung it open and left rapidly.
'Oh, well.' thought Tifa. 'I might as well take a rest for now and wait for him in the morning.' She then said to everyone good night and went to the room. She only got a groan from Barret in response. He lay still on the floor, exhausted from the talking and laughing and arguing with Cid (also from the drinks).
Then Tifa slid on her nightgown and threw herself on a large bed and rapidly fell into a long awaited sleep.
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--At the Silamne--
Midas stood there, waiting for her to go to sleep. She had ruined his plans too many times now and he was going to get some revenge for that. At last, a gate appeared in front of him. It was made of gold with a drawing of a big heart and face of a woman in the middle of it smiling softly at him.
"Finally." He said and before entering the gate, he made sure that he had everything he needed for the encounter. He had his long sword, a little knife made of crystal, and at last, a little orb. He smiled to himself and entered the gate towards the Qüa-pori.
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--Tifa's Qüa-pori--
Midas entered the Qüa-pori and saw Tifa in the middle of the room. A black cloud covered her meaning she was dreaming but he still could see her face, and she was really happy, meaning she was having pleasant dreams.
"Let's have a little fun." said Midas as he entered the cloud into the dream of Tifa.
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--Tifa's Dream--
She and Cloud where back at Cloud's Villa. They were talking about many things: of when they first met at Midgar, of their childhood years and finally, of their first date. Cloud told her every detail and she was amazed that he remembered everything. Then she gathered all the courage she had and said to him:
"I love you." She had a great smile on her face because she had finally said what she felt for Cloud for a long time but still, she was very terrified if he didn't felt the same way.
"I'm sorry Tifa, but I don't. I've always loved Aeris and will always love her." Cloud said this very coldly with no emotion showing on his face. Then Aeris suddenly appeared and she kissed Cloud on his lips very passionately.
Tears started to form at Tifa's eyes but she held them back. Then Aeris started to talk.
"I'm tired of being around you, Tifa. You've always acting so happy and cheering everybody around. Can't you cry?! Don't you know how to cry?!" Cloud watched as tears started to form under her eyes.
"Let's see you cry then!!!" Aeris yelled at Tifa and she couldn't hold any longer the tears and she started to sob uncontrollably on the floor.
"Not so tough anymore, eh Tifa?" said Cloud with a smirk on his face and he watched her sob on the floor. "What happened to all your happiness? Am I supposed to say something encouraging to you, like you always did? Looks like I missed your 'cheering up' classes!!!"
Tifa couldn't hold it. She continued to sob on the floor and she wanted to stop and to yell something at Cloud and Aeris and maybe punch Cloud on the face, but she couldn't. All she could do was to sob on the floor and to listen to Cloud yelling more things at her and at Aeris laughs.
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--At the Beach--
Cloud had been wandering some minutes but they seemed like an eternity. He was thinking about the dream. He wanted to know what it had been of because he felt that the dream was important.
He was at the edge of the beach when he felt it. He felt that something bad was going to happen at his Villa and he needed to go back as soon as possible. Then he started to run back at Costa del Sol at full speed.
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--Tifa's Qüa-pori--
The image of Cloud's Villa started to fade and was replaced by a great darkness, the darkness of her Qüa-pori. Aeris disappeared into the Nothingness and then Cloud slowly transformed into Midas and he held the crystal knife in his hand and the little orb in the other. Midas then looked at Tifa and she still was sobbing on the floor.
Then Midas started to stab her with his knife until she was a corpse on the floor with blood swirling all around her.
(KIDDING!!! It's just that I'm too damn stressed right now, with school starting and all that. Let's continue with the story then.)
Midas took his knife and he cut his hand and, with the part of the knife with blood, he touched the little orb. It started to shine, and shine more until the light covered all the parts of the Qüa-pori except for Midas and Tifa. They both stood now in the light instead of the darkness of the Qüa- pori. Then Midas told softly to the little orb.
"Sela sgût tiok Ylnho, omsuk nuz kiif siob-gat zio imba niqüa." He then turned to look at Tifa and a smirk came to his face as he finally added, "Nela gaq geuä muhgs-neqat di-qaüaq."
Then all the light that surrounded them went back inside the Ylnho, (A/N: Yes, the little orb is the Ylnho) and one little crack appeared, and it shot the light back at Tifa and slowly, her soul went inside the Ylnho. Then the crack disappeared and it captured Tifa's soul inside it.
Midas was happy. For, once in years, something happened accordingly to his plans. He then started to run out of the gates towards the Silamne.
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--At the Silamne--
Midas went out the Golden Gate to find Praya waiting for him.
"Take this" he said handing the Ylnho to Praya "and take it with the rest." Praya grabbed the Ylnho and nodded.
"In your way, call Soüla and tell her to meet me here at once." (A/N: Its said Suula, Ok?)
"Soüla? Are you sure we can trust her after what she has done?" said Praya with a disbelieving face.
"Don't question me, just do it!!" yelled Midas at Praya.
"Tell her to hurry or they'll discover us!" Praya nodded and started to run hurriedly at the Nothingness and disappeared. Meanwhile Midas started to get prepared for the upcoming battle.
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--At the Beach--
Cloud was running back quickly at Costa del Sol. The nagging sensation that something bad was going to happen increased so he quickened his pace. He was almost flying, but only the fact that he was human made him not capable to fly. He then saw at the edge of the horizon Costa del Sol, approaching him very slowly.
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--At the Silamne--
Midas was waiting impatiently for Soüla to appear, but she didn't. If she didn't hurried up, Cloud and his friends would start to suspect something and eventually, they would discover them.
Finally, from the Nothingness, Soüla appeared. She had short blonde hair, with gray eyes and somewhat pale skin. She was about 5'6 and she wielded some daggers on her waist.
"What is it that you want?" asked Soüla with a kind of bored face.
"Your respect, for a start." said Midas with an irritated voice. "What I want is that you enter that gate" he then signaled the Golden Gate, "and to wake up."
"Do you know what they'll do to me if they discover me?"
"Nothing, for you won't be discovered. You'll act as normally as you can, and if you are indeed discovered, then I'll make sure you are locked for all the Eternity in an Ylnho in the Nothingness so that no one is ever going to be able to help you."
At the mentioning of the Ylnho, Soüla stiffened. She had always feared Midas for he was the only owner of all the Ylnhoss that were ever made since the Beginning. Then a question entered her mind.
"How do I know how this woman acts in front of everyone?" she sawed the picture of Tifa on the Golden Gate, "I've never seen nor talked to this woman. What if they suspect of me if I do something wrong?"
"Do not worry, for I know her. I know how she acts, how she thinks, how she walks, everything of her, for I've been studying her for a long time."
"But you know, not me! I don't suppose you're gonna tell me every little detail, for no being can remember all that with spoken words!" she started to sound panicked, thus Midas shouted at her.
"Calm down!! I know how to pass you all my knowledge of her to you, but it is very risky. You have to be calmed, with no emotion on your mind or your heart. If you think of something while I'm using the Païma, well be both dead in a blink of an eye."
"The Païma? We could get killed! Isn't there another way?"
"Not that I have knowledge of. We have to get this done now, for my heart tells me that Cloud is nearing his Villa, where this woman dwells. If you don't calm now, I'll enter and take your place until I find someone else."
She knew what he was meaning. He was going to kill her. No, even worse, he was going to trap her in an Ylnho.
So she took some deep breaths and she cleared her mind and heart. She was in a total blankness and Midas took these moments to cast Païma. It was an Ancient magic that was used in the Beginning to transfer memories or any information from one being into another.
A green aura surrounded him and in a second, all the memories he had from Tifa flashed in front of his eyes and left him forever, for he didn't needed anymore those memories. Then the aura went to Soüla and shot into her head. Midas was much weakened, because using the Païma needed great strength, both mentally and physically. He then knelt down into the floor of the Silamne and he closed his eyes and began to rest.
Soüla hadn't ever felt anything like this. She felt as if her head would explode at any second for all the information that went into her head at the same moment. She felt dizzy, with nausea, and with a great headache. Then she slowly opened her eyes and saw Midas on the floor.
She didn't distinguish him at the beginning, but after some moments of looking at him, she remembered. For some moments she even thought she was Tifa, but soon those thoughts went away and she remembered who she was and what she was going to do in some moments.
"Go now." said Midas who was still on the floor. Soüla nodded and started to walk to the Golden Gate.
"And make sure Cloud goes to sleep peacefully with no one bothering him; not now, for I am too weak to fight him." She nodded again and entered the Gate towards Tifa's Qüa-pori.
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--Costa del Sol--
Cloud entered passed the entire town in a blink of an eye. He passed all the umbrellas, the stairs, the hotel, the material shop, the bar, and he reached the stairs to his Villa. It was early in the morning, so no one was in the streets to slow him down, which he was very grateful for.
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--Cloud's Villa--
Tifa woke up slowly. As she opened her eyes, she felt nervous, for she hadn't ever been on the First World*. As she got up, she decided to clean herself a little bit and then start cooking some breakfast.
'God, this is gonna be boring' she thought as the idea of cooking came to her head.
She then went on the way to the bathroom and she knew where it was located, for all the knowledge that was given to her from Midas was going to be very useful right now. She then surveyed the next room and saw that everyone was still asleep. She saw Vincent on a corner and remembered what had happened the night before but remembered that he was on a task given by Midas so she couldn't wake him up yet, nor that she could, for he wasn't in the Qüa-pori, for sure. Then she entered the bathroom, closed the door, and started to clean her face and teeth.
When Cloud entered the Villa, he noticed that everyone was still sleeping. He looked at Red and he was curled up on a corner. Barret and Cid were both on the floor of the little bar and were in a deep sleep. Vincent was still asleep on his little dark corner. Yuffie was on the room on a little bed. Tifa was nowhere to be seen and this made Cloud to worry a lot.
"TIFA!" yelled Cloud around his house. "TIFA!!!" he yelled again. After waiting some moments, he heard the splashing of water coming from the bathroom.
"Tifa!! Are you in there?" he then knocked the door many times so that she could be able to listen to him.
"Just a sec!" she yelled from inside. Cloud felt relieved, because he thought something bad had happened to her.
"What happened?" she asked as she got out of the bathroom.
"Oh, nothing, I just had this feeling that something wrong had happened so I came as quickly as I could."
"You didn't have to worry, Cloud. As you can see, everyone's alright. Why don't you go to wake everyone while I go to dress? And maybe you can ask Yuffie if she can help me, which I doubt she will."
Cloud let out a small Ok, and he went to the living room. He first waked Red, who was very comfortable on the carpet.
"What?" he said in a growl.
"Come on, Red. Wake up! We're gonna have some breakfast." Mentioning this made Red to wake up instantly and he helped Cloud by going to wake everyone else up.
"Please ask Yuffie if she can help Tifa at the kitchen." Red nodded and went inside the room and when he woke Yuffie, she almost strangled him, because she was having dreams of fighting beasts and he resembled them a lot.
"Can you help Tifa at the kitchen, Yuffie?"
"Yeah." She said with a bored face. She hated cooking and wasn't too good at it.
Meanwhile, Cloud went with Cid and Barret, who were still on the floor of the bar. They were in a deep sleep, and it was difficult to wake them up.
"What the @#$% do you want, Spike?" asked an irritated Cid.
"We're gonna have some breakfast, Cid. If you don't hurry, we're not gonna leave any food for you and you're not eating till lunch."
"Ok, ok. I'm up! Are you happy now?!"
"What's happening?" asked Barret. He was still somewhat asleep and he didn't really cared what was happening. He just wanted to get more sleep.
"Come on Barret! Wake up!!" Cloud was getting tired of this and he was really hungry. "You still have to get Marlene at the Inn, remember?"
"Oh, shit, yeah! Thanks for reminding me, Spike!" he said as he ran hurriedly to the Inn to bring Marlene back to eat something.
"Cloud, I don't think Vincent will wake up." Red said at Cloud.
"Then leave him. If he doesn't wants to wake up, then we can't do a thing about that, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Where's Tifa?"
"She's getting dressed. She's gonna come out soon, I hope, or I'm going to eat something before she cooks."
After some minutes passed, Tifa called Yuffie from inside the room.
"Coming!!" said Yuffie.
When she entered the room, she saw that all the clothes were on the floor. When she saw Tifa, she couldn't help but laugh.
"What happened to you? Did you forget how to get dressed or something?" asked mockingly Yuffie.
'As a matter of fact, I did.' thought Tifa.
"Come on, help me. I got stuck in all this clothes." She said and indeed she was. Her skirt was made a knot on her knees and her shirt was turned around.
After some minutes of struggling and cursing, Yuffie and Tifa went out the room to find Barret who had already brought Marlene from the Inn, Red who was waiting patiently on the carpet, Cid, who went out to smoke, Cloud, who went to grab something to eat, because he's the impatient kind of guy, and Vincent who was still asleep.
Tifa eyed Vincent who was still on his little corner and asked everyone:
"What's wrong with Vincent? Why hasn't he waked up yet? The Sleep spell should be gone by now, and I see that everyone is also awake. Have you tried getting him up?"
Red nodded and said, "I tried to wake him, but he seems to be in a deep sleep. I think we'll leave him sleep, if he doesn't want to wake anytime now."
'Excellent. But I hope he gets up soon, so I can talk to him about what we're gonna do after this.' thought Tifa.
Then Tifa and Yuffie went to cook and meanwhile the others started cleaning all the mess from last night. After about half an hour of cooking and cleaning, they started to eat. Tifa was marveled, for she hadn't ever tasted real food, not that she was going to tell them that, of course. Then they cleaned everything and, amazingly, Vincent got up.
"You fool. You missed breakfast!" yelled Barret at Vincent.
"Oh." said Vincent. "I'm not that hungry."
"I need to talk to you, Vincent." said Tifa. Vincent nodded and they went out to the bridge outside the Villa.
Yuffie was jealous. She liked Vincent and the thought of him and Tifa together made her a little angry and jealous. Cloud, surprisingly, noticed this and went to talk to Yuffie.
"What's wrong, Yuffie? You're jealous that Vincent and Tifa are together?" he asked with a grin on his face.
"No, I'm NOT!" she yelled at Cloud. "Besides, you should also be jealous."
"Who, me?"
"Yeah, you. I see Tifa likes you but you're so out of this world."
"No, I don't think Tifa likes me. And what do you mean I'm out of this world?" saying that, he remembered his dream, what Midas had told him of not noticing Vincent watching him, but as soon as he remembered, he forgot it.
"What happened to you?" asked Yuffie in a worried tone. Cloud had opened his eyes widely when he remembered the dream, and had fallen.
"Uhh, nothing, I'm fine." As he got up, Tifa and Vincent entered the Villa again.
"What were you guys doing outside?" asked accusingly Yuffie.
Vincent thought that Cloud had remembered and that he had told Yuffie about them and for the first time in a lot of years, Vincent fell afraid, for Cloud was far stronger than him. But as he saw Yuffie, and he saw jealousy in her eyes, he felt relieved.
Vincent just glared at Yuffie coldly and went to the other side of the room, where the rest of the gang was.
"Come on. We have something important to tell you all." said Tifa at Yuffie and Cloud.
They were all gathered at the center of the living room. Tifa was in one side and Vincent was in another. Then they both yelled "Sleep!" and all the gang went to sleep.
"Just as planned; they didn't suspect a thing." said Vincent.
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--Cloud's Qüa-pori--
As Cloud closed his eyes to sleep, he remembered everything of last night, for the spell of Midas had worn out. He tried to scream, to run, to do anything, but to sleep. But he couldn't, for the Sleep spell was too powerful for him to endure. He knew that Midas was waiting for him on his Qüa-pori, but Cloud was prepared now. As he opened his eyes, he saw again the monsters that were coming to him. He fought them and he won and received two potions and again some Gil. Then he saw Midas, but this time, he knew what to do.
"What have you done to Tifa?!" demanded an angry Cloud.
"Don't worry about her. She's on a 'cozy' place now." Midas began to laugh hysterically, thus enlarging the rage of Cloud.
"Shut up!!!" and he lounged at Midas, Ultima Weapon on both of his hands. Midas just stood there, watching Cloud coming at him. When the Ultima Weapon was about to cut his throat, he grabbed it with one of his hands, the sword almost cutting it off. But Midas couldn't feel pain, nor did he notice that his hand was almost cut off his arm, for he was one of the First Essanth, the ones created by the Cetra when they went to sleep in the Beginning, thus he was immortal and couldn't feel pain.
He had a smirk on his face and this confused Cloud a lot, for if a sword almost cuts your hand off you would be in a lot of pain.
"What, do you think you could win so easily Cloud? I can't feel pain, for I am immortal but you, you can feel pain." He got out his sword, Octnode, and he stabbed it deep in Cloud's stomach. Blood started to come out of Cloud's mouth and he fell to the ground, deep in pain. Midas then took his sword out of Cloud, which started to heal immediately, and then kicked Cloud, pushing him far away along with Ultima Weapon. Cloud didn't had the wound anymore, but he felt weak, for the wound had been deep and his soul had been tortured. (A/N: he's the soul, so don't get confused).
He stood up and saw that Midas was coming at him, with a little orb in his hand with the wound. Then a voice said to Cloud:
"Run, or he will capture you in that orb, and I need you to escape, for I need you to fight him. He is a great threat, for he can destroy the Three Worlds. I need you to run to your right, for there is where the Gate is located." and the voice disappeared and Cloud didn't heard anything more, except the speaking of Midas. He then put the Ultima Weapon on his back and started to run to his right and Midas saw this and started to follow him. After some steps, he stopped and saw Cloud to disappear in the darkness of his Qüa-pori.
Midas had a smirk on his face, for a plan he had made on his mind. He then took the Ylnho and he cleaned it, for his blood still covered it. He grabbed Octnode and went to the middle of the Qüa-pori. He held high Octnode and he 'stabbed' the Qüa-pori deep. He heard a scream and the room started to crack with light.
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--At the Silamne--
Cloud went out of his Gate but he didn't stop to look, for he feared that Midas was coming after him. After passing more and more Gates he felt as if he was dying. He fell to the floor, twisting in pain, but he couldn't stop, or Midas would capture him. He got up and continued his run.
Midas watched as Cloud went away into the Nothingness and got lost from sight. Then Soüla and Praya appeared him, for they went to sleep if Midas needed any help at all. Soüla started to run after Cloud, when she watched that he was escaping, but Midas stopped her.
"If we let him escape, then our plans will be ruined. You know that we have to capture his soul in an Ylnho before you can wake up in the First World. Why don't you let me go after him?" asked an irritated Soüla.
"He doesn't know where he is going, for he hasn't ever been on the Second World. Besides, he is no longer immortal." He said this with a smirk on his face.
"What do you mean by that?" asked in unison Soüla and Praya.
Midas just signaled them the Gate of Cloud's Qüa-pori and they both saw that the Gate was bleeding, for it was 'dead'.
"If I kill his Qüa-pori, then he will be mortal so I can kill him. He will be known as the First Soul to die, for all souls go either to the First or Third Worlds. He will disappear into the Nothingness for all the Eternity!"
"But if you killed his Qüa-pori, then you won't be able to wake up!"
"Don't worry, for I know how to revive it. But first I must kill Cloud. Praya! Return to the First World and keep everyone asleep until I finish Cloud. Soüla! Go gather the rest of my servants and tell them to come here at once!" she nodded and disappeared. Praya just went away and entered a Dark Gate, obviously from Vincent, and he leaved Midas in the Nothingness.
"So, Cloud. You're not safe anymore, now you're mortal. Don't worry, for I will find you soon and then, it will be the final battle for the Three Worlds." And he went back inside Cloud's Qüa-pori, leaving Cloud lost in the Nothingness.
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*First World: the first world created, the Earth.
Second World: the world of the Essanth, for it was created after the First World when the Cetra went to sleep.
Third World: hehehehehe, think about it!!! (It will appear eventually, so don't worry if you don't know!!!)
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Ok, 5,000 words! I'm very tired (I've just come out of school) and I want to thank some people:
Chibi Sephy: Heh, thanks. He's my fav. Character, but he doesn't have a great ending.you'll see!!! ^_^''
Prexistence: More will happen to Cloud, as you can see in this chap. I don't like to make him suffer, but if he doesn't suffers, then who will? Hope you liked this chapter. See you soon!!! And update your fic!!! Millenia: Why do you hate Midas?! He's my fav. Character (mainly because he looks a lot like me).
See you all soon!!!!
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters.
'.' are thoughts and "." is speaking and is passing of time.
Chapter 3: Escaping
--Cloud's Villa--
Cloud and Tifa decided not to tell everyone about his little nightmares, since they were only dreams. Tifa then continued to serve more drinks to everyone and Cloud decided to take a seat and to talk to Red XIII about the planet and stuff. After some hours passed, Cloud noticed that in a dark corner, was Vincent asleep laid on the floor. He found it strange for Vincent to act like that and he went to ask Tifa about this.
"Oh, yeah." She smiled sheepishly and continued with her explanation. "When I went to check on how you were doing, Vincent tried to stop me. He told me to leave you alone, that you needed the rest. As if he was going to convince me. He then stopped and he fell silent so I used the moment to put him to sleep. The effect should've been over some time ago though, but it's getting late, so I think he must've really fallen asleep."
Cloud then looked at his watch and saw that it was around 4 a.m. and he silently agreed with Tifa. Even though it was really late, he felt as if it was midday. He felt really energetic and saw that everyone else were slowly falling asleep, so he told Tifa that he was going to take a walk around the beach.
"Can I go with you?" asked Tifa.
"No, thanks, I'm fine. I just want to think over some stuff. I'll be back before sunrise, so don't worry about me." Then he went to the door and swung it open and left rapidly.
'Oh, well.' thought Tifa. 'I might as well take a rest for now and wait for him in the morning.' She then said to everyone good night and went to the room. She only got a groan from Barret in response. He lay still on the floor, exhausted from the talking and laughing and arguing with Cid (also from the drinks).
Then Tifa slid on her nightgown and threw herself on a large bed and rapidly fell into a long awaited sleep.
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--At the Silamne--
Midas stood there, waiting for her to go to sleep. She had ruined his plans too many times now and he was going to get some revenge for that. At last, a gate appeared in front of him. It was made of gold with a drawing of a big heart and face of a woman in the middle of it smiling softly at him.
"Finally." He said and before entering the gate, he made sure that he had everything he needed for the encounter. He had his long sword, a little knife made of crystal, and at last, a little orb. He smiled to himself and entered the gate towards the Qüa-pori.
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--Tifa's Qüa-pori--
Midas entered the Qüa-pori and saw Tifa in the middle of the room. A black cloud covered her meaning she was dreaming but he still could see her face, and she was really happy, meaning she was having pleasant dreams.
"Let's have a little fun." said Midas as he entered the cloud into the dream of Tifa.
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--Tifa's Dream--
She and Cloud where back at Cloud's Villa. They were talking about many things: of when they first met at Midgar, of their childhood years and finally, of their first date. Cloud told her every detail and she was amazed that he remembered everything. Then she gathered all the courage she had and said to him:
"I love you." She had a great smile on her face because she had finally said what she felt for Cloud for a long time but still, she was very terrified if he didn't felt the same way.
"I'm sorry Tifa, but I don't. I've always loved Aeris and will always love her." Cloud said this very coldly with no emotion showing on his face. Then Aeris suddenly appeared and she kissed Cloud on his lips very passionately.
Tears started to form at Tifa's eyes but she held them back. Then Aeris started to talk.
"I'm tired of being around you, Tifa. You've always acting so happy and cheering everybody around. Can't you cry?! Don't you know how to cry?!" Cloud watched as tears started to form under her eyes.
"Let's see you cry then!!!" Aeris yelled at Tifa and she couldn't hold any longer the tears and she started to sob uncontrollably on the floor.
"Not so tough anymore, eh Tifa?" said Cloud with a smirk on his face and he watched her sob on the floor. "What happened to all your happiness? Am I supposed to say something encouraging to you, like you always did? Looks like I missed your 'cheering up' classes!!!"
Tifa couldn't hold it. She continued to sob on the floor and she wanted to stop and to yell something at Cloud and Aeris and maybe punch Cloud on the face, but she couldn't. All she could do was to sob on the floor and to listen to Cloud yelling more things at her and at Aeris laughs.
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--At the Beach--
Cloud had been wandering some minutes but they seemed like an eternity. He was thinking about the dream. He wanted to know what it had been of because he felt that the dream was important.
He was at the edge of the beach when he felt it. He felt that something bad was going to happen at his Villa and he needed to go back as soon as possible. Then he started to run back at Costa del Sol at full speed.
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--Tifa's Qüa-pori--
The image of Cloud's Villa started to fade and was replaced by a great darkness, the darkness of her Qüa-pori. Aeris disappeared into the Nothingness and then Cloud slowly transformed into Midas and he held the crystal knife in his hand and the little orb in the other. Midas then looked at Tifa and she still was sobbing on the floor.
Then Midas started to stab her with his knife until she was a corpse on the floor with blood swirling all around her.
(KIDDING!!! It's just that I'm too damn stressed right now, with school starting and all that. Let's continue with the story then.)
Midas took his knife and he cut his hand and, with the part of the knife with blood, he touched the little orb. It started to shine, and shine more until the light covered all the parts of the Qüa-pori except for Midas and Tifa. They both stood now in the light instead of the darkness of the Qüa- pori. Then Midas told softly to the little orb.
"Sela sgût tiok Ylnho, omsuk nuz kiif siob-gat zio imba niqüa." He then turned to look at Tifa and a smirk came to his face as he finally added, "Nela gaq geuä muhgs-neqat di-qaüaq."
Then all the light that surrounded them went back inside the Ylnho, (A/N: Yes, the little orb is the Ylnho) and one little crack appeared, and it shot the light back at Tifa and slowly, her soul went inside the Ylnho. Then the crack disappeared and it captured Tifa's soul inside it.
Midas was happy. For, once in years, something happened accordingly to his plans. He then started to run out of the gates towards the Silamne.
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--At the Silamne--
Midas went out the Golden Gate to find Praya waiting for him.
"Take this" he said handing the Ylnho to Praya "and take it with the rest." Praya grabbed the Ylnho and nodded.
"In your way, call Soüla and tell her to meet me here at once." (A/N: Its said Suula, Ok?)
"Soüla? Are you sure we can trust her after what she has done?" said Praya with a disbelieving face.
"Don't question me, just do it!!" yelled Midas at Praya.
"Tell her to hurry or they'll discover us!" Praya nodded and started to run hurriedly at the Nothingness and disappeared. Meanwhile Midas started to get prepared for the upcoming battle.
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--At the Beach--
Cloud was running back quickly at Costa del Sol. The nagging sensation that something bad was going to happen increased so he quickened his pace. He was almost flying, but only the fact that he was human made him not capable to fly. He then saw at the edge of the horizon Costa del Sol, approaching him very slowly.
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--At the Silamne--
Midas was waiting impatiently for Soüla to appear, but she didn't. If she didn't hurried up, Cloud and his friends would start to suspect something and eventually, they would discover them.
Finally, from the Nothingness, Soüla appeared. She had short blonde hair, with gray eyes and somewhat pale skin. She was about 5'6 and she wielded some daggers on her waist.
"What is it that you want?" asked Soüla with a kind of bored face.
"Your respect, for a start." said Midas with an irritated voice. "What I want is that you enter that gate" he then signaled the Golden Gate, "and to wake up."
"Do you know what they'll do to me if they discover me?"
"Nothing, for you won't be discovered. You'll act as normally as you can, and if you are indeed discovered, then I'll make sure you are locked for all the Eternity in an Ylnho in the Nothingness so that no one is ever going to be able to help you."
At the mentioning of the Ylnho, Soüla stiffened. She had always feared Midas for he was the only owner of all the Ylnhoss that were ever made since the Beginning. Then a question entered her mind.
"How do I know how this woman acts in front of everyone?" she sawed the picture of Tifa on the Golden Gate, "I've never seen nor talked to this woman. What if they suspect of me if I do something wrong?"
"Do not worry, for I know her. I know how she acts, how she thinks, how she walks, everything of her, for I've been studying her for a long time."
"But you know, not me! I don't suppose you're gonna tell me every little detail, for no being can remember all that with spoken words!" she started to sound panicked, thus Midas shouted at her.
"Calm down!! I know how to pass you all my knowledge of her to you, but it is very risky. You have to be calmed, with no emotion on your mind or your heart. If you think of something while I'm using the Païma, well be both dead in a blink of an eye."
"The Païma? We could get killed! Isn't there another way?"
"Not that I have knowledge of. We have to get this done now, for my heart tells me that Cloud is nearing his Villa, where this woman dwells. If you don't calm now, I'll enter and take your place until I find someone else."
She knew what he was meaning. He was going to kill her. No, even worse, he was going to trap her in an Ylnho.
So she took some deep breaths and she cleared her mind and heart. She was in a total blankness and Midas took these moments to cast Païma. It was an Ancient magic that was used in the Beginning to transfer memories or any information from one being into another.
A green aura surrounded him and in a second, all the memories he had from Tifa flashed in front of his eyes and left him forever, for he didn't needed anymore those memories. Then the aura went to Soüla and shot into her head. Midas was much weakened, because using the Païma needed great strength, both mentally and physically. He then knelt down into the floor of the Silamne and he closed his eyes and began to rest.
Soüla hadn't ever felt anything like this. She felt as if her head would explode at any second for all the information that went into her head at the same moment. She felt dizzy, with nausea, and with a great headache. Then she slowly opened her eyes and saw Midas on the floor.
She didn't distinguish him at the beginning, but after some moments of looking at him, she remembered. For some moments she even thought she was Tifa, but soon those thoughts went away and she remembered who she was and what she was going to do in some moments.
"Go now." said Midas who was still on the floor. Soüla nodded and started to walk to the Golden Gate.
"And make sure Cloud goes to sleep peacefully with no one bothering him; not now, for I am too weak to fight him." She nodded again and entered the Gate towards Tifa's Qüa-pori.
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--Costa del Sol--
Cloud entered passed the entire town in a blink of an eye. He passed all the umbrellas, the stairs, the hotel, the material shop, the bar, and he reached the stairs to his Villa. It was early in the morning, so no one was in the streets to slow him down, which he was very grateful for.
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--Cloud's Villa--
Tifa woke up slowly. As she opened her eyes, she felt nervous, for she hadn't ever been on the First World*. As she got up, she decided to clean herself a little bit and then start cooking some breakfast.
'God, this is gonna be boring' she thought as the idea of cooking came to her head.
She then went on the way to the bathroom and she knew where it was located, for all the knowledge that was given to her from Midas was going to be very useful right now. She then surveyed the next room and saw that everyone was still asleep. She saw Vincent on a corner and remembered what had happened the night before but remembered that he was on a task given by Midas so she couldn't wake him up yet, nor that she could, for he wasn't in the Qüa-pori, for sure. Then she entered the bathroom, closed the door, and started to clean her face and teeth.
When Cloud entered the Villa, he noticed that everyone was still sleeping. He looked at Red and he was curled up on a corner. Barret and Cid were both on the floor of the little bar and were in a deep sleep. Vincent was still asleep on his little dark corner. Yuffie was on the room on a little bed. Tifa was nowhere to be seen and this made Cloud to worry a lot.
"TIFA!" yelled Cloud around his house. "TIFA!!!" he yelled again. After waiting some moments, he heard the splashing of water coming from the bathroom.
"Tifa!! Are you in there?" he then knocked the door many times so that she could be able to listen to him.
"Just a sec!" she yelled from inside. Cloud felt relieved, because he thought something bad had happened to her.
"What happened?" she asked as she got out of the bathroom.
"Oh, nothing, I just had this feeling that something wrong had happened so I came as quickly as I could."
"You didn't have to worry, Cloud. As you can see, everyone's alright. Why don't you go to wake everyone while I go to dress? And maybe you can ask Yuffie if she can help me, which I doubt she will."
Cloud let out a small Ok, and he went to the living room. He first waked Red, who was very comfortable on the carpet.
"What?" he said in a growl.
"Come on, Red. Wake up! We're gonna have some breakfast." Mentioning this made Red to wake up instantly and he helped Cloud by going to wake everyone else up.
"Please ask Yuffie if she can help Tifa at the kitchen." Red nodded and went inside the room and when he woke Yuffie, she almost strangled him, because she was having dreams of fighting beasts and he resembled them a lot.
"Can you help Tifa at the kitchen, Yuffie?"
"Yeah." She said with a bored face. She hated cooking and wasn't too good at it.
Meanwhile, Cloud went with Cid and Barret, who were still on the floor of the bar. They were in a deep sleep, and it was difficult to wake them up.
"What the @#$% do you want, Spike?" asked an irritated Cid.
"We're gonna have some breakfast, Cid. If you don't hurry, we're not gonna leave any food for you and you're not eating till lunch."
"Ok, ok. I'm up! Are you happy now?!"
"What's happening?" asked Barret. He was still somewhat asleep and he didn't really cared what was happening. He just wanted to get more sleep.
"Come on Barret! Wake up!!" Cloud was getting tired of this and he was really hungry. "You still have to get Marlene at the Inn, remember?"
"Oh, shit, yeah! Thanks for reminding me, Spike!" he said as he ran hurriedly to the Inn to bring Marlene back to eat something.
"Cloud, I don't think Vincent will wake up." Red said at Cloud.
"Then leave him. If he doesn't wants to wake up, then we can't do a thing about that, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Where's Tifa?"
"She's getting dressed. She's gonna come out soon, I hope, or I'm going to eat something before she cooks."
After some minutes passed, Tifa called Yuffie from inside the room.
"Coming!!" said Yuffie.
When she entered the room, she saw that all the clothes were on the floor. When she saw Tifa, she couldn't help but laugh.
"What happened to you? Did you forget how to get dressed or something?" asked mockingly Yuffie.
'As a matter of fact, I did.' thought Tifa.
"Come on, help me. I got stuck in all this clothes." She said and indeed she was. Her skirt was made a knot on her knees and her shirt was turned around.
After some minutes of struggling and cursing, Yuffie and Tifa went out the room to find Barret who had already brought Marlene from the Inn, Red who was waiting patiently on the carpet, Cid, who went out to smoke, Cloud, who went to grab something to eat, because he's the impatient kind of guy, and Vincent who was still asleep.
Tifa eyed Vincent who was still on his little corner and asked everyone:
"What's wrong with Vincent? Why hasn't he waked up yet? The Sleep spell should be gone by now, and I see that everyone is also awake. Have you tried getting him up?"
Red nodded and said, "I tried to wake him, but he seems to be in a deep sleep. I think we'll leave him sleep, if he doesn't want to wake anytime now."
'Excellent. But I hope he gets up soon, so I can talk to him about what we're gonna do after this.' thought Tifa.
Then Tifa and Yuffie went to cook and meanwhile the others started cleaning all the mess from last night. After about half an hour of cooking and cleaning, they started to eat. Tifa was marveled, for she hadn't ever tasted real food, not that she was going to tell them that, of course. Then they cleaned everything and, amazingly, Vincent got up.
"You fool. You missed breakfast!" yelled Barret at Vincent.
"Oh." said Vincent. "I'm not that hungry."
"I need to talk to you, Vincent." said Tifa. Vincent nodded and they went out to the bridge outside the Villa.
Yuffie was jealous. She liked Vincent and the thought of him and Tifa together made her a little angry and jealous. Cloud, surprisingly, noticed this and went to talk to Yuffie.
"What's wrong, Yuffie? You're jealous that Vincent and Tifa are together?" he asked with a grin on his face.
"No, I'm NOT!" she yelled at Cloud. "Besides, you should also be jealous."
"Who, me?"
"Yeah, you. I see Tifa likes you but you're so out of this world."
"No, I don't think Tifa likes me. And what do you mean I'm out of this world?" saying that, he remembered his dream, what Midas had told him of not noticing Vincent watching him, but as soon as he remembered, he forgot it.
"What happened to you?" asked Yuffie in a worried tone. Cloud had opened his eyes widely when he remembered the dream, and had fallen.
"Uhh, nothing, I'm fine." As he got up, Tifa and Vincent entered the Villa again.
"What were you guys doing outside?" asked accusingly Yuffie.
Vincent thought that Cloud had remembered and that he had told Yuffie about them and for the first time in a lot of years, Vincent fell afraid, for Cloud was far stronger than him. But as he saw Yuffie, and he saw jealousy in her eyes, he felt relieved.
Vincent just glared at Yuffie coldly and went to the other side of the room, where the rest of the gang was.
"Come on. We have something important to tell you all." said Tifa at Yuffie and Cloud.
They were all gathered at the center of the living room. Tifa was in one side and Vincent was in another. Then they both yelled "Sleep!" and all the gang went to sleep.
"Just as planned; they didn't suspect a thing." said Vincent.
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--Cloud's Qüa-pori--
As Cloud closed his eyes to sleep, he remembered everything of last night, for the spell of Midas had worn out. He tried to scream, to run, to do anything, but to sleep. But he couldn't, for the Sleep spell was too powerful for him to endure. He knew that Midas was waiting for him on his Qüa-pori, but Cloud was prepared now. As he opened his eyes, he saw again the monsters that were coming to him. He fought them and he won and received two potions and again some Gil. Then he saw Midas, but this time, he knew what to do.
"What have you done to Tifa?!" demanded an angry Cloud.
"Don't worry about her. She's on a 'cozy' place now." Midas began to laugh hysterically, thus enlarging the rage of Cloud.
"Shut up!!!" and he lounged at Midas, Ultima Weapon on both of his hands. Midas just stood there, watching Cloud coming at him. When the Ultima Weapon was about to cut his throat, he grabbed it with one of his hands, the sword almost cutting it off. But Midas couldn't feel pain, nor did he notice that his hand was almost cut off his arm, for he was one of the First Essanth, the ones created by the Cetra when they went to sleep in the Beginning, thus he was immortal and couldn't feel pain.
He had a smirk on his face and this confused Cloud a lot, for if a sword almost cuts your hand off you would be in a lot of pain.
"What, do you think you could win so easily Cloud? I can't feel pain, for I am immortal but you, you can feel pain." He got out his sword, Octnode, and he stabbed it deep in Cloud's stomach. Blood started to come out of Cloud's mouth and he fell to the ground, deep in pain. Midas then took his sword out of Cloud, which started to heal immediately, and then kicked Cloud, pushing him far away along with Ultima Weapon. Cloud didn't had the wound anymore, but he felt weak, for the wound had been deep and his soul had been tortured. (A/N: he's the soul, so don't get confused).
He stood up and saw that Midas was coming at him, with a little orb in his hand with the wound. Then a voice said to Cloud:
"Run, or he will capture you in that orb, and I need you to escape, for I need you to fight him. He is a great threat, for he can destroy the Three Worlds. I need you to run to your right, for there is where the Gate is located." and the voice disappeared and Cloud didn't heard anything more, except the speaking of Midas. He then put the Ultima Weapon on his back and started to run to his right and Midas saw this and started to follow him. After some steps, he stopped and saw Cloud to disappear in the darkness of his Qüa-pori.
Midas had a smirk on his face, for a plan he had made on his mind. He then took the Ylnho and he cleaned it, for his blood still covered it. He grabbed Octnode and went to the middle of the Qüa-pori. He held high Octnode and he 'stabbed' the Qüa-pori deep. He heard a scream and the room started to crack with light.
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--At the Silamne--
Cloud went out of his Gate but he didn't stop to look, for he feared that Midas was coming after him. After passing more and more Gates he felt as if he was dying. He fell to the floor, twisting in pain, but he couldn't stop, or Midas would capture him. He got up and continued his run.
Midas watched as Cloud went away into the Nothingness and got lost from sight. Then Soüla and Praya appeared him, for they went to sleep if Midas needed any help at all. Soüla started to run after Cloud, when she watched that he was escaping, but Midas stopped her.
"If we let him escape, then our plans will be ruined. You know that we have to capture his soul in an Ylnho before you can wake up in the First World. Why don't you let me go after him?" asked an irritated Soüla.
"He doesn't know where he is going, for he hasn't ever been on the Second World. Besides, he is no longer immortal." He said this with a smirk on his face.
"What do you mean by that?" asked in unison Soüla and Praya.
Midas just signaled them the Gate of Cloud's Qüa-pori and they both saw that the Gate was bleeding, for it was 'dead'.
"If I kill his Qüa-pori, then he will be mortal so I can kill him. He will be known as the First Soul to die, for all souls go either to the First or Third Worlds. He will disappear into the Nothingness for all the Eternity!"
"But if you killed his Qüa-pori, then you won't be able to wake up!"
"Don't worry, for I know how to revive it. But first I must kill Cloud. Praya! Return to the First World and keep everyone asleep until I finish Cloud. Soüla! Go gather the rest of my servants and tell them to come here at once!" she nodded and disappeared. Praya just went away and entered a Dark Gate, obviously from Vincent, and he leaved Midas in the Nothingness.
"So, Cloud. You're not safe anymore, now you're mortal. Don't worry, for I will find you soon and then, it will be the final battle for the Three Worlds." And he went back inside Cloud's Qüa-pori, leaving Cloud lost in the Nothingness.
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*First World: the first world created, the Earth.
Second World: the world of the Essanth, for it was created after the First World when the Cetra went to sleep.
Third World: hehehehehe, think about it!!! (It will appear eventually, so don't worry if you don't know!!!)
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Ok, 5,000 words! I'm very tired (I've just come out of school) and I want to thank some people:
Chibi Sephy: Heh, thanks. He's my fav. Character, but he doesn't have a great ending.you'll see!!! ^_^''
Prexistence: More will happen to Cloud, as you can see in this chap. I don't like to make him suffer, but if he doesn't suffers, then who will? Hope you liked this chapter. See you soon!!! And update your fic!!! Millenia: Why do you hate Midas?! He's my fav. Character (mainly because he looks a lot like me).
See you all soon!!!!