Chapter 10
Cloud had just finished his meal, bathed in the flickering light of the Cosmo Candle, He turned to look at the warrior that appeared at Nibelheim. Throughout the day, he had seen that this person was no pushover when it came to fighting, he carried himself with an uncanny confidence, facing whatever danger was presented them. Despite the fact that the two had been getting in each others way, during their battles, he didn't make an issue of it because of a feeling that he had. He felt that this warrior could be of some help in the coming days.
Squall had also finished his meal and despite his earlier caution, seemed to enjoy the food.
Behind them came a sound. The two fighters quickly reached for their swords and turned, but just as quickly relaxed when they saw Seto.
"Damn," Seto cursed "Must still be a little stiff. Wouldn't have happened if… oh, well, can't change the past." He stopped and dropped to his hunches and smiled in a wolfish grin. "I've brought a friend to see you."
Behind him a figure came into the light. It was very familiar
"Red!" Cloud greeted loudly and with genuine pleasure "What's up?" "It's Nanaki now, Cloud. Red XIII was the planets protector, Nanaki's the guardian of Cosmo Canyon." He too smiled wolfishly, waving his head slightly. Behind him a new figure showed itself. it was slightly smaller than Red, but it had the same fire coloured fur, but it also seemed to be a bit waned "But anyway, this is Sanai, my lifemate. We found her injured while hunting one day and I've been nursing her back to health.
Cloud laughed and was about to say something when Squall interrupted
"Excuse me, can we skip the pleasantries, we need to check this machine of yours, I do want to go home sometime this lifetime."
Nanaki looked at him and growled audibly "Hey, Cloud, who's your impatient friend?"
"His name's Sq…" Cloud started but quickly got interrupted again.
"My name's Squall Leonhart, are we going to this machine or not!"
Nanaki was now bearing his teeth in full rage "Now look here you, I'm not sure if I should let you see my grandfathers machine."
"Listen, dog…"
That was it. Nanaki went berserk and jumped at Squall. Cloud had seen this coming and quickly stepped in the way of the two and pushed Nanaki to one side. Nanaki landed on his feet and backed off slightly but only to leap again trying to get over Cloud. This time, though, Seto jumped and pushed Nanaki away.
"What are you doing!" Nanaki roared "That kind of insult must not go unpunished."
"Nanaki, calm down!" Seto roared back "This is no place to fight."
Cloud stepped over to Nanaki and looked at him in the eyes "Ignore it, he is deliberately doing it. Squall is from another world, from what I can gather. Anyways, he was ready for you." Cloud pointed to Squall's hand which was firmly gripped to his gunblade "His hand hasn't left the hilt since he got here. This guy is a professional killer and is almost a match for my power." He heard Squall growl, but ignored him.
Seto continued "Plus, if he is from another world, he is probably assuming everyone he doesn't recognise as an enemy. To be honest, I don't blame him."
Nanaki had been listening carefully and calmed down "Okay, but I don't trust him, I would be careful if I were you. I'll see you by my grandfathers machine."
Cloud and Seto nodded while Nanaki ran up the stairs with Sanai close behind. Squall had got up and came over to Cloud. He was also angry.
"What was that about me being almost a match for you. Care to find out who is better." Squall drew his gunblade and levelled it at Cloud's chest.
"Calm down, Squall. I said that to stop Red from doing anything rash. I didn't mean anything by it." Cloud was hoping that Squall would buy that statement.
"Okay then, so what now?" Squall asked, he put away the gunblade but Cloud could tell that Squall was not convinced.
"Now?" Cloud answered "Now, we try to get some answers. Follow me and we'll see this machine." Cloud turned to Seto "You coming?"
Seto shook his head "No, I've got a few things to do. I'll see you later."
Cloud and Squall walked up the stairs that Nanaki had taken and Cloud led Squall to the highest point in the canyon. As they entered the room, Cloud noticed a lot of changes, the room seems to have been moved around, it seemed like it was more spacious. 'Well, I guess that Red has moved in here with his lifemate.' Cloud thought as he went though the door to Bugenhagen's machine. As they entered Cloud caught a familiar smell. Oil. Even though the room outside had changed, Nanaki had tried to keep this place the same to remember his old grandfather.
"What took ya, Cloud?" Nanaki grinned
Cloud smiled and returned the old joke "Well, you know, another crisis for the planet."
Nanaki laughed and motioned the two warriors to get in position. He then turned the machine on and lifted the platform.
Cloud was looking directly at Squall at the time and saw a strange expression come on his face. Shock. The transition from a real environment to virtual surroundings took him by surprise.
After this was done and Squall calmed down, Cloud looked around and saw the huge materia that were placed here over a year ago. They glowed with their separate colours and pulsed with the very breath of the planet.
Nanaki called Cloud over to the replica of the planet. "I've made a few discovery's recently. I'll show them to you. This is how our planet looked a year ago. But now…"
The image changed to a blur and then back but this time revealed what seemed to be a number of planet's laid on top of each other, each slightly offset by a couple of centimetres which was enough to be visible.
Nanaki spoke again "Because of the Huge Materia inside the machine, it has been able to record this. I think it has something to do with the natural knowledge recording of the materia."
Cloud troubled by the overlapping planets, turned to call Squall, he suddenly stopped. Squall was reaching out to touch one of the materia. As his hand touched it, a strange force pushed him back and into Cloud. Squall was dazed but quickly got up and took a breath.
Cloud asked him to look at the image. Squall turned and looked straight at the image of the planets, he gasped "How many are there?" Nanaki shook his head "Don't know, but they are slowly moving apart." "Apart!" Squall shouted alarmed and angry "Do you mean that I'm stuck here!" Nanaki again shook his head "This machine only displays what has and is happening, not what could happen." Cloud pressed in "Any ideas how it happened in the first place?" Nanaki looked at him "No, but I can tell you that there is an problem with the balance of life energy. There seems to be a concentration of it around something." "Concentration? Around what?" "How am I meant to know! Look, I'll show you what the machine showed me." The image of the planet changed again and this time there seemed to be a glow to it. Nanaki turned to it "Normally; the energy, which is shown by the glow is constant, with it being distributed fairly across the world. But if you notice to the top, there is a brighter section." Brighter wasn't the word, it stood out like a light in a dark room. Cloud looked at it until he understood. "So that bright light is a concentration of life energy." "Exactly!" Nanaki cheered Squall, now completely confused, had to ask "What does that mean then? All this talk about energy is giving me a headache."
Nanaki shook his head. Cloud just stood there.
"Lifeforce, in this world, is essential." Nanaki explained patiently "It's what gives us our lives. We've also found, though, it is also directly proportional to battle power. What this shows is a concentration of life energy, so whatever or whoever is generating that energy is going to be very powerful." Cloud just stood there and thought. 'How powerful though? Nothing could be strong enough to create that glow, maybe Sephiroth or the Weapons but…' Cloud smiled and talked to Nanaki "What about the Weapons, their strength and power was exceptional. Could this be one we missed?" Squall turned to Cloud, with a strange look on his face "Weapons? I think I know what you're talking about. I've faced a few of them in the past myself. They were strong, but nothing that me and my friends couldn't handle." Cloud nodded "Exactly my point, if this is anything like them, we should be able to beat it." "Not this one!" Nanaki interrupted "I thought that as well, but after checking it in the machine, this is the result." The image changed again. This time showing a long line. "This is the strength of the unknown thing, if it is a living person." Another line appeared below the line. Only much, much shorter "This is the strength of the Weapons we faced." He paused and added "Put together."
Cloud stared at the lines and could feel that his jaw had dropped a bit.
Squall wasn't as disturbed "So your Weapons were weaklings, right" He looked from Cloud to Nanaki and back again, when a nasty look came back at him from both of them, he swallowed "Right?"
Cloud shook his head and told Nanaki to turn off the machine. Nanaki did so and the three of them left the room.
Cloud was the first to speak "We better get to sleep, I think that the best thing to do is get to Corel as soon as possible."
Squall was taken aback by that statement "What about that strong, erm… whatever it is?"
Cloud was calm "One thing at a time. I plan on using Corel as a staging ground, a place to gather my friends so we can go after that thing."
"What about me and my friends?"
Nanaki spoke up "Well, if any of them came to this world, they would have appeared near to a person that is the closest match for them."
"How do you know that?" Cloud and Squall said together
"We have a few people here, that appeared after the light, and each of them were matched in one way or another. Some, a physical defect, broken arm or leg. A few had the same personalities. Also some had a similar experience in their life."
Cloud thought about it for a second "That doesn't explain the cure that you got for Seto."
"Huh," Nanaki blinked "Your right. Well, maybe it was passed over because it was used before to cure that type of petrification."
"Maybe." Cloud said doubtfully.
Squall yawned audibly to get their attention "I need to sleep, if we are going to get to this Corel quickly, a good nights sleep would be in order."
Cloud nodded "You're right, see you in the morning, Red."
Nanaki quickly pointed out that his name was not Red, but Cloud laughed and led Squall to the inn.
