Disclaimer: I don't own Square-enix, or anything associated with it or the Final Fantasy Franchise(sounds cool, huh?)
AN: Hey all...sheepish smile Sorry I've been sleeping so long, but hopefully Im back now, and better than ever!! (bull)
On a side note, I noticed the petition that has been passing around, and I thought I'd comment....I have no idea whether to join it or not, on one hand, FF.net has every right to delete our works, we agreed to that when we signed up, on the other, they should, out of courtiousness(is that a word?), look in to it, contact us, or warn us first....after all, flamers lie, thats what they do inherently. Alot of the authors I respect have signed it, so I just want to say this: No disrespect, but fo now, I'm gonna stay out of this whole mess....Now, ON TO THE BOOK!!!
Destiny
Chapter 3:Ghosts
Cloud considered the middle-aged man in front of him cooly, as he sat back in his chair.....though he detested the idea of being a mercinary-for-hire, even an organized one, ever again, he understood that the only plausable chance he had of finding Sephiroth and getting back home, were that even possible, was to join up with them....if only for a little while...and then he could return home...to his silence, and his ghosts.
He gave a small sigh, " Alright, I'll help your...'seeds'"
" Good good...excellent!!" The man, Cid, nodded excitedly.
" But lets get this one thing perfectly clear," he said, leaning forward, " I'm not your man, I'm not another of the 'kids' that you rose up from the streets, I'm here of my own voalition, and I leave when I please."
Cid stared silently a moment, intimidated by his sudden change in tone and appearance, twitching nervously under Cloud's steady gaze.
"O-of course." He said smoothly, though the sweat running down his neck belied his nervousness, and sttod up fluidly, struggling to regain his composure, " B-but please, follow the rules of this place, i-if only for the sake of peace...."
Cloud only grunted in response, and walked away silently, ignoring the small man's sigh of relief as the doors swung silently shut behind him.
As the elevator doors opened, Cloud nearly fell over with shock, Aeris was standing infront of him, smiling softly.
How? How was it possible?!! He was about to speak, when she walked up, and touched his cheek softly, her hand a wisp against his skin, slowly, she leaned up into his face, mere inches away....the intoxicating scent of her hair filled his mind, and he was sent spiraling down into her depthless emerald eyes.
" Cloud..." she whispered, her breath hot against his face,
" Cloud?" She asked, confused, " Cloud, are you okay?"
Suddenly, he realised the girl, Elle, was standing uncomfortably close to him.
He gave a small cry of shock, and jerked away from her, backing up against the elevator wall.
" Woah! Who did you think I was?" She asked, her eyebrows raised, " Are you ill? You look flushed..."
" What I thought is beside the point now, the question is, what were you doing getting so close to me and....touching me???" he countered quickly, hoping to get off the subject.
Whatever she was about to say was lost in her sudden stammering, as he cheeks flamed red-hot in embarrassment.
" What did you want?" He said casually, his composure regained.
She frowned slightly, his words jolting her out of her previous funk, and said, " Doctor Kadowaki might have approved you for release from the infirmary, but it will take much more than a 'magic chemical' to convince me, I still have many questions for you."
" I don't have time." He said, his voice a shade harder than he would have liked.
" And where exactly are you going?? Hmmm??? Perhaps you think to go home?! It doesn't exist anymore!!!" She insisted, as the elevator doors began to close, " Don't you want to know what happened to your home????"
-----------
" Have you seen Cloud??" Tifa asked worriedly.
" I am sorry, the last I saw of him, he appeared to be heading in the direction of the Forgotten Capital." Vincent replied evenly, though there was a slight dissapointment hidden in his icy tone.
" T-to Aeris again?!...Can't he let the dead lie?!!" She cried, frustrated, " C'mon Vincent, let's go get him, he won't be late for this wedding!!!"
"B-but ..."
" It's not for another hour! C'mon!"
The man sighed, straightened his tuxedo, and followed after the raging woman, mumbling incoherently about " hell's fury"
-----------
" Instructor?" He asked smoothly, from behind her.
She smiled slightly, turning towards him, " Yes? What is it, Squall?"
" What do you think---"
" Of that strange boy, Cloud?" She finished, smiling knowingly.
He was silent a moment, then he nodded softly, " Yes."
" Well....I don't think he's lying...or at least he doesn't know he is, if what he said is untrue....but he is dangerous, I know that for certain. " She replied, " And that means, friend or foe, we must be wary."
" But.....why did the Headmaster wish him to go with us on the field training??"
She frowned slightly, " That....I cannot tell you."
-----------------
" I do hope you don't mind hiking." The blonde woman, Quistis, said.
" It is only a days walk through the forest. I would not call that a 'hike'." Cloud replied bluntly.
" Right. It should be no trouble at all for an experienced mercinary like you." She nodded, thenlooked towards Squall, " I assume I won't have to carry you, either?"
" Of course."
With little else spoken, they walked outside of the 'Garden' gates, and onto the grassy plains beyond.
As they meandered through the plain, almost mindlessly, a bug suddenly swooped down on them.
" Agh! Monster!" Squall spat.
Cloud almost laughed, that was what the people here considered a 'monster'? They had no idea....
" Why don't you show us your skills, Cloud?" Quistis said suddenly.
" It's his training." Cloud replied matter-of-factly, " Or will you need an extra can of Raid, for the gnat?"
Squall scowled fiercely at him a moment, then leapt at the bug, slicing it in half.
The rest of their trip to the forest was uneventful, and Cloud found his mind drifting to what the woman had said...a highly advanced civilization in the east, build on the ruins of an even more advanced city.... both now vanished from the globe....
Was it possible...?
" We break here." Quistis said suddenly, stopping in a small clearing in the forest, obviously often-used by the recruits, " The's a clean stream a little further up, with good drinking water, and a bucket for carrying."
" I'll get it." Cloud said immediately, some time alone would do him good.
" Thank you."
Absently, Cloud waved her off, walking towards the sound of water.
How had he ended up here? Where was Sephiroth, what was his purpose for being in this place? Why had he...seen....
He sighed, and shook his head, that wasn't important now...it was most likely the stress, and the recently healed wounds....he had told the doctor that he was fine...but truly.....such grevious wounds taxed his system to it's limits to heal, and it was a wonder he could stand even now...
But he must find Sephiroth, and above all, he had to get home...
"Hahaha....Why do you try so hard, Strife?" Came a taunting voice, echoing through the forest, " No matter what time you are at, she will still be dead...accept my release, and embrace her again, Strife!!"
Cloud spun around angrily, stung by his nemisis' words, and his eyes fell upon the apparation of terror itself, cloak flying out behind him, blacker than the darkest night, his platnium hair falling down in waves around him, in stark contrariety to the dark madness that swelled within his luminous eyes.
Sephiroth's sword was drawn, and he advanced upon him.
The Ultima sword was in Cloud's hands before thought could be processed, brought to bear against his opponent faster even than Cloud would have thought possible, and this time he caught Masamune with his blade.
To his shock, the blade, and Sephiroth, shimmered, as if a rock had hit a placid lake, and the image passed through his blade, and into him, leaving him as cold and numb as ice.
Cloud stared blindly a moment, there was no one around....the only sound came from the stream directly behind him.
He opened his mouth to speak, and dizzyness washed over him, pulling him into darkness.
----------------------
Kadowaki closed the book, and looked up solomnly at the library walls....the legend....yes, what every little child was told around the campfire, to keep them behaved....the dark reaper of the night, the cold blooded warrior of the shadow....who stalked the little children who stayed awake too long....or misbehaved at all, really....she had forgotten entirely that myth, so long ago it had been when she had last heard it.
But to believe it was true....that a man....a monster....had murdered those millions of people, wiped out an entire civilization, save for the select few who were able to hide away in the caves long enough.....
But how much was true, and what was lost in the ages of telling, and retelling?
The Nameless heros, who had saved the world once, but not twice.....The Swordsman, The Thief, The Soldier, The Fighter, The Spy, The Dreamer, The Intellectual, The Liberator, and The Virgin....how steriotypical....
From what she had heard from Squall, though, this Cloud could very well be the swordsman, but that would be to assume the legends had any substance in the first place....and besides, no one could be as good as those legends had described.....could they?
" I wish Balamb had all of this Myth..." She sighed, the first volume only depicted the destruction up Nibilem, and had an etremely brief overview of the rest of the story.....she needed the other volumes to ever hope to be sure.
And if it is true? If that monster were reawakened and roaming that planet again?? Her mind taunted her, demanding an answer from her.
" Then we're all dead..." She whispered, answering herself.
AN: Short, I know....
And YES I misspelled Nibelhiem on purpose....sheesh.
Now excuse me while I fiddle with my other 18 FF7 fics.....(havent got em posted yet, of course...)
mumble mumble stupid ff.net....not accepting my stars....
Yusagi Sombermoon