Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or it's characters.
Author's note: I would appreciate some reviews so that I know if I should keep writing this story or not.
Hate's Fire
Cloud ducked under as the creature came swooping down at him. He didn't duck fast enough though and he felt pain lance through his back. The creature flew on by and Cloud felt his back. His hand came away red with his own blood. He looked up at the creature and saw that it was turning around slowly. The creature had no maneuverability in the air due to how it's body was. The thing couldn't make tight turns which was to the advantage of Cloud and his friends.
Cloud hefted his sword but he moved slowly and his sword seemed heavier than it should have. He used to be able to wield it with such ease. That was when he knew what the problem was. He had been poisoned and he didn't have his materia with him to cure that. The creature was turned now and it started to dive again and as Cloud watched he saw two throwing stars sprout from it's chest. The creature reversed it's wing beating in order to slow itself. It screeched down at Cloud and just hovered in the air out of reach of everyone except Yuffie who smiled.
"Foolish creature," she said still smiling as she twisted the armband on her hand and found the materia that she was looking for. She chuckled as she cast Fire at the creature and it tumbled from the sky on fire. The creature was screaming in pain and then it crashed to the ground. As Yuffie and Tifa started to close in on the severely wounded creature Cloud spoke up.
"Don't. Let Cassandra and Marlene finish it. It is not human and so they should not have to hesitate too much in order to finish it. If they are going to travel with us then they should learn to do their part," Cloud said his voice heavy as if he was tired. Tifa looked over to him in concern and saw that he was leaning on his sword which was stuck in the ground in front of him.
The creature was laying on it's side and no one was moving towards it at all. They were too scared for Cloud who they had never seen like that. The creature tired to stand and fell back to the ground for it's legs were nothing but charred bits of bone. It's wings were no longer there and so there was no way that it could fly off.
"Cloud what is wrong," Marlene asked nervously. His face was really pale and he was sweating she noticed. While he was sweating though he was shivering. He took a step toward them and then collapsed to the ground.
His friends rushed to his side the man and the creature forgotten at least for the moment. Tifa took Cloud's head in her arms and held him close while Marlene held his hand and Cassandra retrieved his sword and sat it down next to him. Yuffie was rifling through her materia stash looking for her materia that would cure Cloud.
Cloud looked up at Marlen and said in response to her question, "I am poisoned and I have never encountered this poison before. It is going to kill me I think and there is nothing that I can do about it." Cloud coughed then and Tifa held him all the closer.
"Hurry up please Yuffie," Tifa begged as Yuffie was still digging in her bag. She was tossing different materia aside and there was a small pile of them laying around her. "Hang on Cloud," Tifa said softlyas she pushed a strand of hair out of his face that was plastered there by the sweat.
Marlene let go of Cloud's hand and cast cure on him and the cuts that the creature had given him healed but Cloud was still shaking and harder this time. "Found it!" Yuffie exclaimed as she held up a materia. She quickly cast antidote on Cloud but it didn't seem to help. She cast it a second time and then a third. After the third they just stood there waiting for Cloud to come back to them.
That was when they heard a voice behind them that was near laughing it was so full of humor, "Don't worry there is no materia or no plant that I can think of that will save him."
They turned to the voice and saw that the creature was still burning but at least it was dead now. The man was standing there that had come running up to them. He was smiling and laughing at them. He pointed at them and said still laughing, "You are the ones that killed my father that is rich!"
"Who are you," Tifa demanded her voice tight with suppressed fury but her eyes betrayed everything. They were on fire with her anger and her fists were shaking slightly.
The man continued to laugh as he changed before their eyes. His beard disappeared and in it's place was a clean shaven face. His hair grew long and straight and changed from black to silver. The man's cloth's changed from something that looked like beggar's cloths into the leather's of a man who was a soldier. They were good fitting on him and were black and red with a silver sword on his breast. The man had shoes on now and they were boots that could be used as weapons if the need arose due to the razors along the inside of the sole. His eyes were the most striking shade of blue and they nearly glowed. Slung across his back was a sword that was much like the sword that was used by sephiroth and yet it was different. It didn't matter though because the man smiled at them then.
"Well what do you think," the man said smiling at them.
"I don't know who you are but there is a antidote to that poison and you had better give it to us," Tifa said as her voice started to rise. She was almost yelling at the man now.
"Now now don't be like that Tifa," The man said as he turned and looked at Yuffie. "I must say that you are beautiful and I think that your daughter takes after you. You think that she would like me as a boyfriend." The man smiled at Yuffie then that showed his teeth and he winked at her.
"You stay away from my daughter you monster," Yuffie screamed at him as she started forward.
"Stay where you are woman if you want them to stay safe," The man's voice became serious. Yuffie stopped in her tracks because she wouldn't do anything that would endanger her children.
"They are fine woman but I should kill them because you broke the deal. I said that only Cloud was to come but you all had to come to. It doesn't bother me because I was going to get you all anyway. After all I already have Cid and Barret. Red is mine as well so there really is no one else that I need. The rest of you will come to me," he said as his smile came back.
"W . . . Why don't you te . . .tell us who you a . . . are huh, " Cloud said from where he was laying on the ground. He gripped the hilt of his sword and attempted to rise but he fell back to the ground before he got higher than his knees.
"Ha ha ha ha the great Cloud Strife is no more than a child now. I should kill you where you lay but I have better plans for you as well as the rest of you. Keep coming to save your children. I don't know how long I can restrain myself from killing them. Of course the first one to die will be the boy unless he decides to come over to my fold," the man said.
"He would never do that I if you harm my son I will kill you," Yuffie said quietly and that made her words have all the more effect of being menacing.
"This is boring me but if you want I shall tell you who I am. I am known as Soren. I am the son of a man that you murdered. I am the son of Sephiroth and I will kill you all in time just like my father started to do with that bitch Aeris," Soren said scornfully to them.
"Well it seems that you are just like your father from what I hear," Marlene said bravely though she felt like finding a corner and hiding. It this was Sephiroth's son then he would be very dangerous and her meager skills wouldn't make much difference.
"Shut up girl. I will say what I want and if you ever speak of my father that way again then I will kill you where you stand," Soren spat at her as his eyes glowed brighter thanks to his anger.
"You touch her and I . . . I will kill you," Cloud said as he stood up slowly. He had been trying ever since he had called Aeris a bitch. That had made him angry which was a bad thing since that made his blood move faster and it pumped the poison through his veins even faster.
"How do you stand. You should be dead by now Hojo said so," Soren said in astonishment.
"So Hojo gave you one of his pets. Well you must have convinced him that you would kill me huh Soren," Cloud growled as he took a hesistant step forward. His legs wobbled but he kept on his feet.
"I am tired of this but believe me we will all meet again I am sure," Soren said as he turned and ran off up the mountain. Over his shoulder he yelled, "Our destiny will come to a head Cloud. We will meet and battle and after I have killed you I shall have my way with the women and kill them as well." The man's voice echoed off the mountains and rebounded back to Cloud more times than he cared to count.
Cloud fell face first to the hard ground. He hit his head and opened a gash on his forehead which he didn't even feel because he was already unconscious. "What do we do," Cassandra asked fearfully.
"We take him with us and try to find him something that will cure that poison," Tifa said as she took over the leader role.
Tifa reached down and picked cloud up and put one of his arms over her shoulder while Yuffie moved to Cloud's other side and took his other arm so that Tifa and her could share Cloud's weight between them.
"Lead the way girls," Tifa said as she gestured with her right hand for them to take point. As Cassandra took up the lead Marlene ran over and picked up Cloud's sword and took his sheath off his back with the help of Tifa. She slung the sheath over her back and put the sword in it. She then ran and caught up with Cassandra.
"I don't want to be point Marlene. What if something should attack us. I don't know how to fight that well and I don't know about you. I don't want to die but I don't want Cloud to die either. I want to help him," Cassandra said quietly for only her and Marlene's ears.
"I don't think that we will have to worry about fighting Cassandra. I feel that everything that was hostile here is dead or ran off thanks to that Soren guy. As for not wanting to die that is something that everyone thinks. No one wants to die but we all have to. I don't want to die either but I would rather live than think about dying. Lastly Cloud will not die he is too tough. There is nothing that will kill him I think except old age," Marlene said trying to lighten Cassandra's worries.
Marlene and Cassandra led the way up the mountain until it was too dark to continue. By the time they called a halt Yuffie and Tifa were so tired that they fell right asleep next to Cloud where they laid him down on some flat rocks. It was one of the only flat areas on the mountain.
Marlene looked across at Cassandra while the fire crackled between them. Cassandra had started the fire after Marlene had found the wood. It made the mountain air passable warm so that they wouldn't freeze during the night. Marlene wondered about Cassandra. The girl knew things that she shouldn't have known like which way they were supposed to go but of course Marlene had felt that same pull.
"How long do you suppose it will take us to make it to where we are going," Marlene asked just for something to say.
"I don't know. I just know that it feels right to go this way. I can't say why either," Cassandra answered.
"Well I hope it don't take too long because Tifa and Yuffie won't be able to take too many more days like the one that we just had where they would have to carry Cloud," Marlene said quietly.
"I agree but I think that we should get some sleep as well," Cassandra said as she rolled over and fell asleep almost as fast which left Marlene alone in the night with nothing but the fire for company.
Marlene reached up and felt the hilt of Cloud's sword a weapon that was more of a part of Cloud than anything else. She felt bad for carrying it instead of him but it would have just added more weight to Cloud which wouldn't have helped her friends at all. As she rubbed the hilt of the sword she whispered, "Please live Cloud. I have never got to know you and yet you were a friend a fathers."
Marlene wished that Cloud had stayed around but she knew that he had left for his own reasons. She didn't judge him like the others had but they had judged him from anger and nothing more. It had hurt him she knew and he had held the hurt well though she didn't know if he would ever look on his friends the same way again.
She unsheathed the sword and laid it down on the ground next to her and fell asleep cradling the sword like a child would it's most treasured toy or blanket. She didn't notice that there was a man who was watching them that whole night. She didn't notice him or anything else she was so tired.
* * * * *
The first person to awake was Tifa who stood up and stretched to get the kinks out of her back from sleeping on the hard ground. She was stiff all over but she knew that it was going to be worse after today. As she looked around she saw that Marlene was sleeping with Cloud's sword held to her breast like she had used to sleep with one of her favorite toys.
Tifa wondered why that was but she didn't think it would be good if the others awoke to see that she didn't know why but she just had a feeling. She walked over to Marlene and shook her by the arm gently. Marlene awoke fast and looked around and when she saw that there was nothing amiss she looked at Tifa and smiled sleepily.
"What is it Tifa," she asked as she yawned.
"I just though that I should wake you. We need to get started early today," Tifa said as she stood up and went over to the fire and stoked it trying to get a flame to start as she sat some more wood on it.
"That was not why you woke me up," Marlene said matter of factly as she sat up.
"You are right. I was wondering why you were sleeping with Cloud's sword held so close to your breast," Tifa asked and raised an eyebrow.
"I don't know. Well I guess I do know but well it is just that with his sword I feel so much more secure and safe. I don't know why but I do. Yet when I hold his sword I also feel nothing but fear because I don't ever remember Cloud going anywhere without his sword when I was a child. I remember that this blade was always strapped to his back and he never let anyone else touch it and yet here I am holding it and it makes me wonder if he will be alright," Marlene said trying to make sense of her feelings to Tifa.
"I understand you perfectly Marlene. I feel frightened too because I don't know if Cloud will live or not. I have never encountered this poison before and I don't know how to cure it or anything else. I have never seen Cloud like this except one other time and I saved him that time but I don't think that I can here," Tifa said as she sat down and put her face in her hands.
"Don't worry Tifa we will save him," Yuffie spoke up from where she was still laying down next to Cloud.
"I hope so Yuffie I really do," Tifa said as a sob shook her shoulders.
"I'm not dead yet," they heard Cloud whisper to them.
"No you are not are you. So let's get going shall we," Tifa said a bit more heartily as she went over and woke up Cassandra. Once she was awake and everyone had had their breakfast of hard meats and cheese they started off with Cassandra and Marlene in the front again.
For most of the day they traveled though they took breaks on a regular basis so that Tifa and Yuffie could rest. It was at one of those breaks that Cloud said, "Just leave me. I will die whether I am with you or not. Just leave me here and go on. If you get to the city then you can come back for me if you find the antidote," Cloud choked out through teeth that were chattering so hard he thought that they might break. He was hating this damn poison because it attacked everything within the body.
"We won't leave you Cloud," Tifa said vehemently.
"Just do it you know that it is the logical choice," Cloud whispered for that was all the louder he could speak.
"We won't do it," Tifa nearly yelled into his face and then she seemed to regret that but Cloud knew that no matter what she wasn't going to leave him.
Cloud decided that he should do something else then and so he said "Marlene if anything should happen to me I want you to have my sword. Keep it or sell it whatever you want but if I die then there is no need of it by me anymore."
"Don't talk like that Cloud you are going to be just fine," Marlene said and Cloud could have laughed at them all. They didn't realize that he was dying or if they did they were deluding themselves into believing that he would be fine but Cloud was a realist at least at this time. He knew that his death wasn't that far off.
"Fine let's get going," He said trying to sound strong for them but when your voice was only a whisper it was pretty hard. The group headed off up the mountain again with Cloud being carried. He knew that they were all scared but there was nothing that he could do to ease their fears especially since he knew that he was the source of them.
Yuffie was all but in tears for most of the day and tears would slide down her cheeks whenever she would look at Cloud. Tifa was much the same but Marlene seemed to be taking it pretty hard and yet she hadn't known him that well. He saw that from time to time her shoulders would shake with sobbing but she never turned to look at him. Then there was Cassandra and he didn't know what she was about or how she was feeling but whenever she would look back it would be written on her face. Her face was lined with worry and she tried to hide her sorrow but she couldn't at least not from Cloud.
It took them more than six days to climb the mountain and then down it again. In all that time nothing happened to them. They were never attacked which surprised them and other things happened as well. It was as if there was a trail going down the mountain which made it easier but no one lived in the mountains and the trail should not have been there.
They made it to the bottom of the mountain at the end of the sixth day. Once there they made camp and gathered up enough wood for a couple of days. They figured that they would need to stay there for a little while to regain their strength and other such things like trying to find game so that they had food.
As they were laying down for their rest Cloud heard something and rolled over which took more effort than he could have believed and said to Tifa, "Someone comes."
She was on alert instantly scanning the surrounding territory. She saw nothing but she went and told the rest to keep an eye out because she was sure that something was out there Cloud had said so.
"How do you know that it wasn't the fever talking Tifa," Marlene asked. She knew about fevers because she had treated them back in Costa Del Sol. She hated to admit it but she was starting to miss the place with the children playing and the warmth of the air not to mention the ocean there as well. She missed the water and the way the sun shimmered off the water as it came up.
"I know that it is not the fever talking because Cloud would never lie about something that could cost us our lives," Tifa said though she wasn't entirely sure that Marlene wasn't right. It could very well be the fever though she hoped that it wasn't.
At that time a man stepped our from behind some rather large boulders and walked right into their camp without a care in the world. He walked right up to the fire and sat down next to it and held his hands out to it in order to warm them. The women looked at each other and wondered who this man was who was so bold.
The man was very old with a long white beard that came nearly to his knees. He wore a old hat on his head that was the color of the rocks around them and his cloths were old and yet still in good shape. He had a knife at his side and a was holding a walking cane. When he walked he stooped over a bit and yet he moved with good speed for one so old. His eyes were a green that was bright with intelligence. He had a smile that showed that he still had all his teeth and his knees cracked as he sat down on a rock near their fire.
The women came near the fire and all sat down around it and Tifa said a bit weary for she didn't know if this was that Soren character again or not, "Who are you if you don't mind us asking."
"Ah lassie you can ask and I shall tell you. I am known as old Ged around here but no one down out of these here mountains knows me at all," the man named Ged said as he looked around at them.
"Is there something that you are looking for sir," Marlene asked.
"Yes and I have found what I am looking for young girl. I was looking for all of you," he said with a smile.
"For us," Cassandra sounded surprised.
"Didn't I just say that. Are you deaf or just a person who likes to repeat things like small children would," He snapped at her just like any old man would have. "I needed to find the heroes in order to help them."
"We are no heroes," Yuffie said with a shrug.
"Not now no but you were once and so was your companion sitting next to you. You also travel with two heroes in the making but lord help us if that is what heroes are becoming foolish people who can't listen," the man said glaring at Cassandra.
"We were only heroes by the words of others," Tifa said a bit uncomfortable.
"Bah you are heroes whether you want to admit it or not. Now you may have the chance to be heroes again it would seem to me for I know things. But where is the man who travels with you," Ged said as he looked around.
"He is sleeping because he has been poisoned with something that we have no clue how to counteract. Our materia doesn't work and neither do any plants we don't know what to do," Tifa said as a tear slid down her cheek and the others nodded their heads in agreement.
"A poison huh well let me see him I may know something," the man said as he lumbered to his feet slowly with his knees cracking louder than the fire.
They shoed him to where they had Cloud laid down with a blanket over him to try and keep him warm though he was sweating. The man looked at Cloud and knelt down next to him. He felt his head and lifted his eyelids. He felt his chest and mumbled a few words over Cloud's body. After about five minutes the man stood back up and looked at them.
"We need to get back to my town understand. It is not far so let's go pick him up hurry hurry," the man said as he gestured for them to pick Cloud up.
Tifa and Yuffie did as they were told and picked Cloud back up and started to follow the old man. The man led with Cassandra and Marlene right next to him and the other two in tow with Cloud between them. "I'm sorry Aeris I failed. I couldn't save you," Cloud mumbled and Tifa looked down at him and felt sorry for him. She knew that he still punished himself for not being able to save Aeris.
It took them only three more hours to find the city because the man led them through a mountain instead of over it like they had been doing of course they hadn't known that there were tunnels under the mountains.
When they emerged from the tunnel it was to find a city sprawled out in front of them though some of the place was in ruins. The man led them right down to the city and through the city. They looked around and saw that many of the buildings no longer had people living in them and yet they were still in good shape. They saw that the entire city was lit by little glowing balls of light that followed them around to light their way. "Driftlights," Ged said by way of explanation as if that should explain something to them. They had never seen any lights do that before unless they were on a helicopter that was after them.
Some people greeted them as they walked by and others wouldn't even look at them because they feared them or for some other reason Tifa wasn't sure. She wasn't sure where the place was but she was glad that it was there and she hoped that they could help Cloud.
They were led to a building in the very center of the city that was huge. It was three stories high and made completely from white marble. How they had done it was beyond her because she didn't see any machines there but the place was beautiful. On the roof of the building there were statues of gargoyles and other such beasts that were straight from myth. The windows were made of painted glass and the walls on the outside had carvings carved into them of different things.
Ged led them into the building and through winding corridors. He led them deep into the place and Tifa could have swore that the place wasn't that big form the outside but on the continued and her arms were getting tired as was the rest of her. Finally they came to a room where Ged said to put Cloud down on the bed that was in the room.
The room was large and had paintings hanging on the walls along with banners that held crests of countries that Tifa had never even heard of before. On one wall there was a sword and shield but they were both so rusted that they couldn't have been used for weapons. There was a bed in the room that was huge at least three people could sleep on it comfortably. That was where they put Cloud and then the man walked over to a wall that was covered in books and he started to look for one in particular.
Tifa was impressed by the room and it's furnishings but she was also nervous because she didn't know these people or anything else. At that time a woman walked in and moved over to the man. "Take care of the man on the bed granddaughter," he told her and she bowed her head. She went over to Cloud and knelt down next to him and felt his head. She frowned and left the room but came back later with a wash basin filled with cool water and a cloth rag.
She sat down next to Cloud then and placed the wet rag on his forehead and Cloud moaned but didn't do anything else. Ged grabbed a book as he yelled, "Aha!" He took the book over and sat down at one of the many tables that decorated the room and started leafing through the pages.
Tifa walked over to the girl who was tending Cloud and she looked very nervous. "What is it if I may ask," she said to the girl politely because they were helping them out.
"Nothing it is nothing," the girl said but Tifa knew better.
"Tifa I am sorry," Cloud whispered hoarsely but Tifa had no idea what he would be sorry about. She took his hand and sat down next to the girl.
"How long does he have," Tifa asked because she knew that the girl at least had an idea.
"It will only be another two or three days. If this is the poison I think it is he should have been dead days ago. He is strong and he is fighting it with everything that he has but he will lose," The girl said quietly for Tifa alone.
"Cloud won't lose this fight he hasn't ever lost one that mattered and this one matters," Tifa said stubbornly.
"This is Cloud," the girl asked shocked.
"Yes why," Tifa said.
"Because he is the one that saved the world right with his friends. I never thought that I would actually get to meet him. I was just a little girl when it happened," she said as her eyes glittered.
"Well you have met him and I hope that you get to talk to him. My name is Tifa, that woman is Yuffie, Marlene, and Cassandra," Tifa said as she gestured to each of her companions. The girl inclined her head to each of them and couldn't believe that she was in the presence of three of the heroes. It was almost too much for her but she remembered her manners.
"My name is Crystal," she said and Tifa nodded her head smiling. Tifa didn't feel like smiling but she felt that she should to keep her spirits up as well as everyone else's.
"Found it," the man yelled.
"What did you find old man," Yuffie said impatient. She didn't want to sound like that but she was nervous about Cloud and everything else. She was scared for her children and it was starting to get to her. Yuffie could tell that it was getting to everyone as well.
"I have found the cure. You need to travel to a cave not far from here. Inside there you shall find what is known as the golden fountain. When you find it you will need to take a full bottle of the water and then mix your blood in the water as well as some of Cloud's. If you don't do it as soon as you withdraw the water though it will not work because it needs time to set and fuse do you understand," the man said as his eyes bored into each of them.
They all nodded their heads and Tifa said, "How do we carry Cloud's blood. I don't want to take too much."
"Tifa use your canteen. Cut me on my forearm deeply and my blood should run down my arm and into your canteen," Cloud said but his voice was so low now that they almost didn't hear him.
"I won't do it," Tifa said but she knew that she would and so she pulled out her canteen and dumped the water out. She walked over to Cloud and sat him up in the bed and asked, "Please hold him upright."
The girl nodded her head and held Cloud while Tifa cut his arm like he had indicated. The blood ran down his arm and into the canteen and when the canteen had about a half inch in the bottom she stoppered it and healed Cloud.
"How is this supposed to work," Marlene asked.
The old man looked at her and nodded his head that he would answer. "The water is golden and it will cure most poisons. It is an ancient fountain and was created with magic when a man sacrificed himself to create it so that his love would not die of a dreadful poison that was afflicting her. But enough of the history you wanted to know how it worked. As I said it will cure most any poison by itself but the person that it will be curing has to give blood to the water so that it has time to adapt to the poison. Once it knows what it is then it can cure it," the man said.
"But why do we need to use our blood," Marlene asked though she was give up pints of her blood if it would help Cloud.
"Your blood comes in because it will cure any poison if it is mixed with the man's blood and the blood of those that he loves and that love him. It doesn't need to be anymore of a love than as a brother to a sister but the love must be there because it was for love that the fountain was created. Your blood with strengthen the golden water so that it is that much more potent," Ged said and nodded his head as if that was all there was to it.
"Well I say that we should get going but first we should supply up," Tifa said taking over command.
"All right," Yuffie said.
"You can stock up here. Everything that you will need is free of charge I will see to that for you. You just sleep for the night and head out in the morning. Cloud is alive he will still be alive in the morning and for all of tomorrow. He should stay alive for at least three days I would think which is plenty of time for you," Ged said.
"All right we will sleep and head out at first light," Tifa said as the man showed them to where they could stay. Once they made it to their room they all fell asleep rather fast but that was because the man had cast Sleep on them because he knew that they were going to need all their strength on the morrow for what they would have to face.
