A/N: I am a mortal enemy of cliffhangers so I decided to post both chapters at the same time. It doesn't take me that long to write these chapters. It's probably because I don't make them the long ones where the bar on the side is about a millimeter long...
Chapter 6: A Mystical Malady and A Warrior's Lament
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, just the obviously invented characters.
"Cloud?" Tifa asked hesitantly. He turned his head towards her as if he was aware of her voice, but his eyes were blank.
"This may or may not be an improvement. He didn't wake up the two weeks he was here. When one has a mystical malady such as this, they have feverish dreams. He may be referring to the various specimens of Jenova he encountered earlier," the doctor commented.
"What do you mean by 'mystical malady'?" Melody asked.
"A mystical malady, in our people, means an illness of the mind. They are most of the time incurable and/or permanent. One of our people fell ill with a mystical malady, and he was pronounced cured. However, he still has dreams that are frightening, which is a sign of the mystical maladies."
"So basically, Cloud is doomed?" Yuffie asked.
"I would say there is a 95 percent chance of him being sick for the rest of his life."
"Only 5 percent chance of him being well?" Tifa asked in a hollow voice. She turned around and left the tent.
"Tifa!" Yuffie exclaimed. She started to go after Tifa, but Maverick stopped her.
"I'll handle this. You watch Cloud since there is nothing the doctor could do about him. Thank you for taking care of him until now," Maverick stated with a slight bow of his head. The doctor nodded and he left the tent after Tifa.
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Tifa didn't know where she was going. She just went wherever her feet took her. She entered some trees and was shocked. She expected to continue until she was surrounded by snow, but she emerged into a large canyon-like structure.
"So, you're attracted to it also?" a voice asked. She looked over to her left where the voice came from. She saw nothing. "I'm right here." She looked over to her right and gasped. Maverick was standing right next to her.
"Where exactly are we?" Tifa asked.
"Well, considering you can't see it from here, it's a good question. We are about twenty feet from a lifestream spring. It is a place where the lifestream emerged out of the ground. As a Cetra, I felt it even before we came. This is why it is such a warm place here."
"Like Mideel."
"Exactly."
"Are there any other hot spots?"
"A few. They aren't as warm as this all the time. The Crystal City is a great example of that."
"Crystal City?"
"Our old capitol, located in what humans call the City of the Ancients."
"The place where Aeris...?"
"Yes. It became abandoned like that about five years ago."
"What happened? Is it something about 'leaving'?"
"Yes. It started about seven years ago when my father became the leader of The Council... " Maverick crossed his arms and looked up at the sky.
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"Members of the Council, my life draws to a close. We need to appoint a new leader," an aged man informed as he stood up.
"Than choose me, father! I will follow you in your footsteps and lead us to glory," a young, robust man with flame colored hair proudly said as he stood up.
"No, not you. You would lead us to destruction. We do not need a war amongst our nation. We have an obligation as owners of this planet. We must stay alive. That is impossible with someone as hard-headed and obstinate like you." The man flushed and then sat down. "I believe we will be in a favorable condition if I appoint Maximus Xavier as supreme leader of the Council."
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A short while later...
"He thinks Maximus is a better leader? I cannot believe what I just heard!" the same young man stated.
"That is not what he said. He said the Crystal City will be destroyed if you decide to fight against our enemies...which would be inevitable," a dark haired man stated.
"At least Maximus will be a peacemaker," a woman chimed in. The group of four men turned around.
"Did I hear you correctly, Lena?" the young man asked.
"Yes, you did. I am one of the many people who prefer peace over war...that is, unless the enemy starts it."
"They did!" the man with the red hair exclaimed. She looked at him with a cold expression.
"Are any of our villages under siege?"
"Not yet."
"You say that as if you are the enemy."
"No. What I mean is that," he sighed. "Never mind."
"That's what I thought," Lena looked at her watch. "If you excuse me, I have to meet my fiancé in ten. Farewell."
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"That Lena thinks she's so smart," the red haired man huffed.
"She knows what's inside all of us. She has a lot of power, too. You must be weary of her," the dark haired man stated.
"She has a lot of power? I am the Council Leader's son!"
"Correction, you are the former Council Leader's son. Maximus is the new one, remember?"
"I'm going to leave this place, and fight our enemies my own way!"
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"So the man took some followers and left?"
"Yes. A lot more than you would think. Lena's fiancé went also, but she didn't want to live a life full of fear. What eventually happened was that Alex, her fiancé, was betrayed by the same people who made him lose his last spark of life."
"What was his last spark of life?"
"He was an orphan who originally was a pickpocket/thief. One day he attempted to steal from Lena's father but was caught by Lena, who was with her father. Lena and Alex ended up falling in love et cetera, et cetera. He ended up dying in her arms, and she's been the way she is now ever since. She used to be much nicer; she was very popular. I think she doesn't want to have a relationship with anyone again."
"How...sad..."
"Have you ever wondered what the Lifestream is like?" Maverick asked suddenly.
"I've been in it before."
"Well, I mean when you die and leave this world."
"Yes and no. I wonder what it's like for Aeris, but not myself. Did a loved one die?"
"'Some people who live deserve to die, and some people who die deserve to live.'" Maverick started to recite a poem.
This is the Warrior's Lament:
All around you,
People dying.
No one there, but yourself.
Havoc,
Commotion,
Calamity,
Horror,
This is the Warriors Lament.
The Behemoth watches as its fellows die,
Mother,
Father,
Sister,
Brother,
Friend...
This is the Warrior's Lament.
The Behemoth lunges and strikes,
Someone's father,
Someone's son,
Someone's brother...
It strikes again,
Someone's mother,
Someone's daughter,
Someone's sister...
This is the Warrior's Lament.
Sorrow,
Death,
Grievance...
The Behemoth looks at its hand,
Blood,
Shame,
The loss of innocence...
This is the Warrior's Lament.
A warrior is trained to kill or be killed.
Tragedy,
Macabre,
Sorrow...
This is the Warrior's Lament
Their life filled with memories,
Some gruesome, others cheerful.
Kill a brother,
Kill a father,
Kill a son,
Kill a sister,
Kill a mother,
Kill a daughter...
This is the Warrior's Lament.
"Who wrote that?" Tifa asked.
"My older sister. She was killed during the war. She wanted, like my father, peace among our nation. She wrote that as if she was talking about a monster, but she was actually referring to her fellow Cetra. She was full of angst, and she was a firm believer of 'The pen is mightier than the sword.' She wrote in a journal full of her poems, and I found it on her body. She was in the middle of another poem. She was against the war the whole time."
"I see. So you wonder about her?"
"Yes, we were very close. That poem puts a different perspective in fighting, doesn't it? It normally seems like the monsters aren't changed by a death, but this poem makes you think otherwise."
"It does," Tifa agreed.
"Do you know what it means when you are attracted to the lifestream like this?"
"No, what?"
"It means that you have a power of some sort. Usually the Cetra is attracted to the lifestream, or a person that was born with a gift, whether it is a good or bad one."
A/N: In addition to moving, I had to attend a wedding and I was gone for about a week! I'm also going to update this story slowly since I'll be going to High School on August 18. Please review.