Worries

By Opiate109

The local bar, aptly titled 'The Soldier's Spirit', was unusually quiet, despite being at an all time high for customers. Nearly the entire populace of the bar was contestants in the tournament, as most had come here after the first round match, a match that was receiving mixed reactions. Many contest veterans hoped their matches wouldn't be as full of surprises, while some veterans hoped for the exact opposite, anticipating a much more exciting tournament. The group that was having the largest reaction, however, was the group of newcomers. Counting out a few exceptions, most of the contest rookies were currently in the bar, talking amongst themselves.

Lloyd Irving was one such individual. He had come here hoping for a fun experience and a bit of training. After seeing both contestants nearly kill each other, however, he was beginning to doubt the enjoyment he would get from the experience. 'Kratos doesn't seem phased by it... Ha, of course he isn't...' Lloyd thought to himself. If Kratos was worried, then Lloyd would be truly worried. Never once had his ally lost his composure, and seeing that happen would worry Lloyd more than any of these matches could.

Lloyd sat at a table with four chairs around it, all of them inhabited by newcomers. To his right sat Zidane Tribal, a friend of a returning contestant, Vivi Ornitier. Directly across from him sat Tifa Lockheart, an acquaintance of two of the judges. To his left was Rikku, who seemed to have just shown up uninvited. Lloyd didn't mind, however, as seeing more people in the same situation as him gave him some comfort.

"So... Zidane, where's that mage friend of yours?" Lloyd asked the question in hopes of breaking the slightly uncomfortable silence.

"Vivi? Oh, who knows? He could be anywhere, although he said he'd be here soon," Zidane replied, looking out the window. His view was obstructed by a window sized neon sign displaying the title of the bar, and a man dressed in modern soldier attire holding a mug of beer in his hand. While Zidane appreciated the cleverness of the sign, he was rather upset that he could not check to see if Vivi was coming.

Lloyd struggled to find words, hoping to keep the conversation rolling. However, he found no suitable comments and began to let his thoughts wander in the uncomfortable stillness once again.

The silence was broken only by a dull thud and some shameful chuckling from some of the contestants. Lloyd looked up to see Vivi fixing his cloak and hat in the doorway of the bar. Once the mage found everything in order, he slowly waddled over to Zidane.

"Hello," he said, in a partially muffled voice. Lloyd nodded politely, as did Rikku. Tifa continued to stare into her mug of beer as she had for the past half hour.

"Well, don't just stand there, have a seat," Zidane said, gesturing to an empty chair at another table, one of the few in the bar. Vivi walked over to grab it, only to see it pulled closer to another contestant at the table. Vivi looked up to see Ganondorf Dragmire grinning ruthlessly.

"Sorry, this seat's taken," said the warlock.

Vivi nodded and turned around. He was beginning to walk back to Zidane's table when he heard laughter coming from Ganondorf and the other contestant sitting with him. The small mage looked back to see Ganondorf and Bowser laughing at Vivi.

"Pathetic, to think we'll have trouble beating little kids. Those three are a little crazy sometimes," said Ganondorf, through his laughter. Bowser nodded at the comment. Vivi felt what seemed like a lump in his throat, as he struggled not to cry. This obvious attempt brought additional laughter from a few other bar patrons. Vivi looked around quickly and attempted to run out of the bar. In true Vivi fashion, he tripped, causing most of the bar to erupt in laughter.

"Shut up!" Zidane shouted in anger, standing up.

"Make me, boy," replied Ganondorf, also standing up. Zidane took little notice of the size of Ganondorf and proceeded to draw his weapons. Ganondorf reacted as he was expected and took a battle stance. Bowser stood up to join his drinking buddy. Seeing this, Lloyd also stood up and drew his own two blades.

The tension ran high as the four fighters stared at their opposing side. The bar was stuck in a deathly silence, not even the breath of the others could be heard. Ganondorf braced himself and Bowser inhaled, ready to exhale flames at any moment. Lloyd readjusted his grip on one of his swords and noticed Zidane did the same. Vivi stared on in silence, not even noticing he was in the middle of it all. Seconds seemed like hours, hours seemed like years, as the mute bar looked on with mixed emotions.

"There'll be no fighting here," said a voice that Lloyd was all too familiar with. Kratos Aurion walked in between the two groups. "There is no reason to unnecessarily shed any blood off the battlefield. Sit down, enjoy yourselves." He let this last statement hang in order to gauge reactions.

Lloyd and Zidane were the first two to sit down, followed closely by Bowser. Ganondorf stood for a moment longer, but finally sat down as Vivi finally stood up. Zidane got up and walked over to the black mage. The two left the bar in silence, with Kratos following close behind.

The next few moments passed in silence, until finally a slow murmur rose in the old bar. Lloyd was looking at Ganondorf's table, which was to his left. When he eventually looked back at his own table, he was shocked to see a red caped man standing behind Tifa. His skin was pale and his left hand was covered, or perhaps it was, a large metal claw. He recognized this man as Vincent, one of Tifa's friends. Tifa turned around slowly, clearly still thinking to herself.

"Have a seat," she said, gesturing to the seat that Zidane had just left. Vincent shook his head.

"No, Cloud wishes to see you," Vincent said. His tone was surprising to Lloyd, full of regret, not anger or malice as he had expected. Tifa nodded, and stood up quickly. The mention of Cloud had clearly awoken her from her glazed state. She walked right past Vincent, who was looking at Lloyd.

Lloyd stared back, and found himself wondering what the man could want. "Uh... What are you doing?"

Vincent still fixed his gaze upon Lloyd and answered back quickly. "You seem nervous," he replied.

"Of course I'm nervous! Did you see what happened today? That match…both of them were nearly killed!" Lloyd said, with much more volume than he had anticipated. "How do you deal with it? You've never been here before, but you're calm..."

"I've died before, or so they say. I'm not afraid of dying again..." Vincent seemed to trail off as he lost himself in thought. Lloyd had no idea what the man was thinking and he shook his head.

"Good luck to you in your match. Nice to meet you, Lloyd," said the man, nodding and turning to catch up with Tifa. Lloyd noticed that Vincent never once looked at Rikku.

"Do you... know that guy, or something?" Lloyd asked. He was clearly puzzled.

"We've met before. He and Auron seemed to be getting along, but he's avoided me ever since," she replied. She was also confused with Vincent's actions. "Do you know anything about Vincent!"

Lloyd shook his head at the surprisingly loud question. She frowned, but her attention was drawn to a slight chuckle from the stools in front of the actual bar. She scowled at the man who was laughing and intensified her expression even more when he stood up to talk to her.

Sephiroth, one of the three contest organizers, walked close to her. She had also met Sephiroth before, just after she met Vincent.

"So, you want to know about Vincent? It just so happens I have some knowledge of his past," said the grey-haired villain, with a sinister grin on his lips. "However, I warn you, it's not pretty."

"Just tell me why he called me Luc," Rikku demanded. She was still puzzled by his odd words.

"Luc? You imbecile, he wasn't calling you Luc, he was about to call you Lucrecia!" Sephiroth shouted, becoming surprisingly angry.

"Who was Lucrecia?" Lloyd asked, drawn into the conversation by Sephiroth's emotion.

"A lover, perhaps? She was many things to many people, most importantly, my mother," he replied, grinning sinisterly. Lloyd and Rikku were speechless. They were both too confused to talk at the moment.

"So, does Vincent...love Rikku?" Lloyd asked slowly, struggling to find the right words.

"Ha, possibly. Although I'm sure he hates her just as much. You remind him of her and that is not a good thing. Lucrecia was his love, yet she also symbolizes his failures. He couldn't stop her from leaving him, he couldn't stop her from sleeping with Hojo, and most importantly, he couldn't stop her from creating me," laughed Sephiroth. He then left so gracefully that it almost seemed as if he floated away, leaving the two newcomers stunned.

"I'm... confused," said Lloyd, scratching his head. He looked over to Rikku to see her looking into her lap.

"He...hates me? But, does he also love me?" Rikku questioned to herself, not realizing she was speaking out loud.

Lloyd was unsure of the answer. "Maybe it's neither. Maybe you just remind him of his past failures and that's something that he doesn't want to be reminded of."

Rikku got up, "I have to ask Auron!" She quickly walked out of the bar. Once outside, she took off at a run towards the hotel. Lloyd watched her leave but said nothing. He was still confused.

He stared into his now empty glass of soda, the only thing they would let him drink. He gestured for a refill and realized he sat alone. Just him and his thoughts, all his doubts and worries, all his questions. Lloyd wasn't much of a thinker, but tonight there were more than enough questions to keep his mind occupied. He slowly began to muse over some of the more prominent ones and realized he would be in the bar for a long time. Just a man and his thoughts.