Well, after writing the first chapter, I'm no longer as depressed as I once was. However, I have been very stressed lately. In order to rid myself of this stress, I shall convert it into creativity. So, here is the second chapter. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or its characters.
Nightmares and Phenomenon
Part 2: Strange Occurrences
By the time Tifa had come home, I had already placed all of the books on the bookshelf. In fact, it was impossible to tell that anything out of the ordinary had happened. That was a good thing of course, since I didn't want Tifa to find out. She was already worried about me already, and if she knew about this, she would worry even more.
I still haven't figured out how those books fell off the shelf. I don't think I bumped them. Even if I did, there was no way that they could have all fallen without the bookshelf falling as well. So, what could have happened? I was suddenly snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Tifa approach me.
"Do you feel any better, Cloud?" asked Tifa. I nodded my head and replied, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just needed some rest." Tifa seemed satisfied with that answer and mentioned nothing more about it. During the rest of the night we fixed and ate dinner together, watched T.V., and eventually went to our beds. I was hesitant to fall asleep at first because I didn't want any more nightmares like the one I had this afternoon or last night; yet, I knew I couldn't delay the inevitable. After a while, my eyelids closed shut and I fell into a deep sleep.
"Cloud!" called out a voice. Although I couldn't see who yelled out my name, I recognized the voice. "Aeris is that you?" I shouted into the dark void. "Cloud, you must run away!" shouted Aeris' voice. What did she mean by 'run away'? Who or what should I run away from? "No Aeris," I answered, "I'm not leaving you. I won't fail you again!" "Please Cloud, you must get away", begged Aeris' voice. How could she say that? I couldn't leave her. "No Aeris, I won't run", I said as I ran towards where her voice had come from.
Then I waited several moments to hear her reply. However, I heard a different voice this time. It was a very familiar voice that sent chills up my spine when it said, "That's right puppet, running away won't do you any good." That voice could only belong to one person: Sephiroth!
Now I ran faster than ever. Even though it was totally dark and I couldn't see a thing, I kept running towards the area that I heard Aeris' voice coming from. She had to be okay! I didn't want to fail her again! I ran faster and faster until I saw a light within the darkness. As fast as I possibly could, I ran towards the light until I reached it.
Within the beam of light was Aeris' body which was completely lifeless. She was lying face down in a pool of blood. I slowly walked toward her body, wishing that I had reached her sooner. I couldn't save her. I failed her again! Falling to my knees, I almost cried. I couldn't cry because I had to be strong, but I wanted to. I was so overcome with grief that I almost didn't notice a pair of glowing green eyes staring at me from the darkness.
However, I did notice those eyes, and I noticed them even more when their owner slowly walked towards me. When he came into the light, I saw those eerie eyes, the face that came with them, the evil smirk on his face, and the long mane of silver hair that was attached to his head. "Sephiroth", I whispered as continued to walk towards me. Within a split second, he unsheathed his sword and said, "There is nowhere you can run now, puppet." Before I could react, he swung the massamune at me and made a cut on my arm. Pain surged throughout my body, and I grabbed my arm in agony. As Sephiroth took another step closer, I had a feeling that the end was near. However, before he could make a fatal attack, everything faded to black.
Suddenly, I woke up gasping for breath. It was only a dream. Still, my heart was beating very fast and I was still in shock. Why do I keep on having these dreams? Is it because I feel guilty of Aeris' death? Or is there another reason? Whatever the reason for this dream may be, I only hope I didn't wake up Tifa. She worries about me more than she needs to.
Then I felt a pain on my arm. I looked at my arm and gasped with shock. There was a scar on my arm in the exact same place where Sephiroth cut me in my dream. I don't remember a scar being there before. How could I have gotten this scar? Could I have cut myself in my sleep? No, my nails aren't long enough and I don't sleep with the Ultima Weapon. Could my dream have something to do with the scar? No, that's impossible! It was only a dream! Then again it is a strange coincidence that it appeared where it did. Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe I had this scar all along and didn't notice it, but I could've sworn that I didn't have it yesterday. This is too weird.
When Tifa woke up, I pretended to be asleep and pretended to wake up a few minutes later. As Tifa began to fix breakfast, she asked if I had any nightmares last night. "No, I didn't", I lied. "That's good to know", she replied, but I wonder if she really believed me. Whether she believed me or not, it seemed as if my nightmare didn't wake her.
"Hey Cloud, why don't you stay home today?" suggested Tifa as she was about to leave for work. "What? Are you sure you'll be okay?" I asked, still stunned by Tifa's suggestion. Tifa just smiled and replied, "Don't worry Cloud, I'll be fine. You haven't been yourself for the last few days, and you could use a vacation." Maybe she is right. Maybe I do need a vacation. I ultimately decided to take Tifa's advice since she had a point, not to mention that it's hard to argue with her.
After Tifa left, I turned on the T.V. so I wouldn't be bored and to keep my mind occupied. The last thing I wanted was to fall asleep and have another nightmare. The remote was where it always was. Seeing it made me remember yesterday's events. It was because the remote was missing that I discovered those books lying on the ground. What was even weirder was the fact that the remote was under the couch later last night. Normally, Tifa and I are careful about putting the remote on the table. I guess I must have accidentally dropped it under the table, but I remember seeing it on the table before I took that nap yesterday. Oh well, thinking about all of this is getting me a headache.
I began to flip through the channels trying to find something to watch. There was a sop opera, a gameshow, an anime, and a cooking show. As I kept flipping through the channels, I suddenly heard a loud crashing sound from behind me. I turned around to see what it was and saw something totally and utterly bizarre. The living room lamp that was behind the couch once stood 6 feet tall, but now it was only 3 feet. It had been cut perfectly into two halves. The top half was now on the ground, and fragments of the light bulbs were scattered across the floor. What could have been able to cut a metal lamp perfectly in half? The only thing I could think of was the masamune. But there was no way it could have been the masamune! Sephiroth was the only one who could wield the masamune, and he has been dead for several years now. The only way the masamune could have sliced that lamp in half was if Sephiroth was still alive, which was impossible since I saw him die before my very eyes. But if Sephiroth didn't do it, who or what did?