Author's Note:

Reno: What the crap?

Reeve: Another day with two chapters!

Reno: Tyramir is no longer my hero! He's not lazy anymore!

Reeve: Suddenly I have newfound respect for the writer, and am proud to say the disclaimer for him. Tyramir doesn't own the rights to Final Fantasy or any of its characters.

Chapter Four

Prophetic Words

As with everyone imbued with the Mako-process that entailed entering into Soldier, Cloud awoke with no side effects from drinking. There was no hang over, no queasiness, no headache. He sat up quickly, instinctively surveyed the room, and took note of his surroundings. He had been stuck with the standard three bed room that most inns had, accompanied with Barret, who slept snoring peacefully on the bed to his left, and Reno, who was half hanging off his bed on the right. Red XIII had been curled up on the rug in front of the fireplace, but was now gone. There was nothing unusual about that. Despite his lack of opposable thumbs, the cat seemed to be able to open and close doors with enough ease not to make any noise, and was frequently up and about before everyone else.

The room across the hall held Yuffie, Aeris and Elena, and the room down the hall held Tifa and Rude, who were seemingly revelling in 'living in sin.' Cloud didn't mind. He was happy that she was happy. He just wished she had found someone else to be happy with. Frowning, Cloud realized that he felt bad for thinking that. He had committed his own fair share of crimes while in the employ of Shinra and as a member of Avalanche, and Rude had proven himself as a member of the group by helping Avalanche fight the second Proud Clod and Jenova.

Remembering that starry night when Rude and Tifa lay on the grass looking up at the stars, Cloud couldn't help but feel a little jealous, and a little disgusted. And the confrontation between the two of them afterwards... they had both been lucky that hadn't gone beyond a few harsh words exchanged. And despite how much he didn't want it, Cloud knew that another such confrontation was in the offing.

Putting on his clothes, Cloud gave another quick glance around the room to make sure he hadn't woken anyone up. He looked at Reno who was still half-hanging off his bed, and frowned. Moving over to the Turk, he grabbed him by arms and heaven him into his bed all the way. As he did so, a half-full bottle of scotch fell from the Turk's hands. Immediately, Reno began to moan. Cloud couldn't help but let the grin on his face show. Forever wanting whatever alcohol he could get, that was Reno. Cloud picked up the bottle from the floor and put it into the sleeping Turk's hands, who immediately clutched and cradled it to his chest. The moaning stopped, replaced by a content purr.

The Soldier washout quickly left the room, closing the door behind him before he let the laughter overcome him. He stopped laughing as he heard giggling coming from down the hall. Tifa. And she was probably laughing at something about Rude.

"Don't let it get to ya, kid." Cloud didn't even have to turn around to know that the person who was behind him shouldn't be there. Because the man who had spoken was dead. But he turned anyway, and looked straight into the face of Cid.

"What are you?" he asked, a hint of anger touching his voice. This apparition had appeared to him before, guiding him, telling him what he must do. But with the annoyance of knowing that something was going in Tifa's room, coupled with something that kept appearing as a dead friend, Cloud was more than a little angry.

The thing appearing as Cid smirked. "I'm Cid. Can't you tell?"

"No more games. I'm not in the mood. I want to know what you are."

Cid shrugged. "Not much to say. Suffice it to say, I'm Cid, and I'm not. You can only see me because you have some tainted Cetra cells in you. Or rather, Jenova cells. Whichever you damn well prefer."

"You're the Planet, aren't you?"

"Now, how's that for profound? Not nearly as dumb as you look, kid. Sure. I suppose you can call me that. I sort of am, in a sense."

"You're not going to elaborate, are you?"

"Hell no. You think you're so smart, you figure it out."

Cloud frowned. This embodiment of the Planet, whatever it was, had proven benevolent. But it was also cryptic, choosing to help in its own way while hiding behind a mask of a dead friend. "Why are you here?"

"Would you believe I like the pleasure of your company?"

"Just tell me!" he yelled.

"Clam it, kid. If everyone else catches you yellin' at something that ain't there, and they're gonna start thinking you're crazy again. I'm tryin' to do you a favor here."

"And that is?"

"I'm here to give you a warnin'. Something's happening. Something that I can't entirely control. Something big. A revolution of some kind. I'm just a small part of what's goin' on. But I've felt this kind of thing before."

"What? When?"

"When Jenova first appeared and started subvertin' the damn Cetra, that's when. Wasn't none too good either. Needed heroes in that time, and they were just in as sad supply then as they are now. Leader of 'em back then was as much of a pinhead as you."

The Soldier cross his arms, and had to resist the urge to tap his foot. "You don't have to be insulting. Can you get on with this? What happened back then?"

"Jenova got into the Lifestream. Started a change. The Cetra had to purge it, but the result was that it killed most of 'em. Not sure what's up now. Could be Jenova, could be somethin' new. Not sure. But I'll tell you what I told the last 'hero.'"

"And what's that?"

"My death... or Cid's death, whatever you prefer... just the beginning kid. You're gonna lose more friends along the way. Nothing you can do about it. So when it happens, buck up and move on. You got a Planet to save."

The words struck Cloud. Every time Avalanche had gone into battle, there had always been the risk of losing someone, but never the certainty. Knowing it would happen suddenly made him less confident.

"Oh," the image of Cid said. "And make use of everything you got. You may not like him, but Rufus Shinra will be a big player in this. And I get the feelin' he'll be the decidin' factor in this. And get the Turks in on it, too. Like I said, use everything you got."

Cloud felt the urge to object, but kept his mouth shut. More than likely, if he said anything, the apparition would tell him to just "stop bein' such a damn numbskull."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah. Tell that Aeris girl how you feel, yeesh. If worse comes to worst, then you won't have much time with her. Spend it wisely while you can."

And with that, the apparition faded into nothingness, leaving Cloud in the hallway by himself.