If you haven't noticed, the past thirteen chapters say the same thing. I don't Final Fantasy. I'm writing this for my own entertainment and for those of my readers. I'm not here to make a profit. If you want to sue me for any reason, you must be a retarded idiot for ignoring all those disclaimers… and I wish for you ignorant people to leave.
Author's Blurb
This chapter started out as a song-chapter, based on "Sunday Morning Song" by Howie Day. Good but there's better ones on his CD. Anyways, I was hoping that it would fit well with the theme but... well, it was way too cheery for this. Anyways, this will be a normal chapter. The only reason why I told you about that is just to humiliate myself I guess. I'll try to work a song with the next chapter… No promises… Wait, I should ask for your opinions first. Want a song fic or not? Or do you even care? The songs I pick reflect upon me so if you want to know who the real me is, it'll be an opportunity. Please put your vote in your review.
"YES!" An elated shout of joy startled the people nearby, their eyes looking fearfully at the establishment known as Seventh Heaven.
Inside, a certain blond-haired man plopped down and gave a deep-hearted sigh of relief. Earlier that day, the room was covered with chocobo feathers. Now, after spending seven long grueling hours cooped up in that confined space, everything was finally cleaned up. He had spent the entire morning and part of the afternoon picking up every last bit of the cursed yellow stuff. 'Yes… I'm free… No more feathers… No more work…'
All of a sudden, a painful growl came from his stomach, interrupting his brief reprieve. "Ugh… Heaven denied…" He moaned and rolled over. That elicited another protest from his body, which was demanding food this instant. "Stupid Barret… I hate him… I really do…"
Cloud got up and wandered over to the door with a new purpose in mind. He didn't have any breakfast or lunch thanks to the big black hulking warden standing outside. No… It wasn't just the refusal to give food to him. There was torture involved. His compatriot taunted him by bring a delicious meal into the room. Then, he ate the huge sandwich right in front of his eyes followed by some chocolate chip cookies, the same tasty ones made by Tifa the night before. It was a horrible experience to say the least, ending up with him groveling on the floor and earning little more than crumbs.
"Hey Barret! You there?" The mercenary knocked on the door, trying to get his attention.
Something shuffled outside, giving a yawn. "What do ya want Spike? I ain't giving ya nothing til you're done!"
"Yeah. I'm done now so you can let me out." He answered. 'Damn… He was asleep… Could have escaped…'
"Ok… Stay in there. I gotta check if you did your fucking job right. Last time you just shoved them all under the bed… Damn fool…" Cloud sweat-dropped, remembering how his brilliant plan led the other man to yell at him and scatter the feathers everywhere, making him do it all over again. Perhaps that was also the reason why Barret brought and ate his lunch in there.
The warden opened the door and stayed near it, ready to prevent his prisoner from escaping prematurely. Taking in every detail, he saw nothing suspicious and that the room was spotless, none of the feathers in sight. In fact, Barret wouldn't doubt it if the place was the dust-free. He gave a grunt of approval and exited, making no attempts to block Cloud from doing the same.
The now freed prisoner dashed out and zoomed toward the kitchen, ripping open cabinets and the refrigerator door in his desperate search for food. He found another sandwich identical to the one Barret ate and more cookies. Cloud consumed all of them in minutes. Then, finding a pitcher of iced tea standing innocently on the countertop, he grabbed it and chugged the cool drink, finishing off his breakfast/lunch with several loud audible gulps. "Ahhh…" He gave a sigh of satisfaction, his hunger and thirst being sated.
Tap. Tap. Tap… Tap. Tap. Tap… Tap. Tap. Tap.
Cloud looked up to see Barret standing nearby, his face showing annoyance. 'Great… What did I do to piss him off this time?' He wondered. 'Wait… Who made that sandwich? It wasn't there before… And the tea… That wasn't there before either… Crap!'
"Ummm… Thanks for… the sandwich… and the drink" He managed to say, scooting farther away at the same time.
"Hmph! No problem… Hey, you didn't hear when Tifa and Marlene's coming back did ya?" The dark-skinned man asked, looking at the front door as if he expected them to come in at that moment.
"No…" Cloud answered. 'But it is getting a bit late…' A dark thought passed through his mind. 'Maybe they're still out… I hope so at least…' Both men stood in silence, trying to reassure themselves that all was well.
"Hey Spike! Dunno how else to say this but… You stink!" Barret pointed out, waving his fake hand in front of his nose in an exaggerated fashion.
"Hey!" The said-man protested. Then he sniffed himself and agreed wholeheartedly. "Maybe I should take a shower…"
"You should." Barret bluntly said. Cloud nodded and walked off.
Fifteen minutes later, a clean and lavender-scented man walked out. 'Damn it… Tifa didn't have anything else… Darn scented shampoo…' He didn't even touch the soap, being wary of its pink color and whatever girlish scent it may ooze.
Even though his body was fairly clean, his clothes were definitely not. He still had on the same torn-up and smelly ones he wore after the motorcycle ride. There weren't any spare clothes in the bar and everything the owner had didn't fit.
"Hey! You smell nice!" Barret then guffawed, laughing at the Avalanche leader who had taken a more feminine touch with the flowery scent. "What's next? Some lipstick and a dress? Gonna turn into a girl ya damn fool! Aha Ha Ha!"
When the details were mentioned, Cloud shuddered, remembering what he'd done to get into Don Corneo's mansion. He wore a satin dress, a blonde wig, a diamond tiara, and sexy cologne all in hopes of saving Tifa. Instead, he found her doing the job willingly to get some essential information. All that work ended up doing nothing but humiliate him… Another dark chapter in his past. Something he rather not relive or tell others.
"Barret, I'm going to go back to the chu-… I mean, my place to get a change of clothes. See ya later!"
"Yeah… Whatever. If you bump into Tifa and the little one, tell them to come back soon. Got that?" The former gunman said, waving him off and disappearing into the kitchen.
"Ok… Sure thing…" Cloud walked outside and climbed onto his Fenrir. It was still there, where he last put it. Nobody dared to touch it with Tifa's warning message taped on it.
TOUCH AND DIE!
Below those words was a crude stick figure drawing showing someone being stabbed and disemboweled. Actually it looked more like someone giving birth… stick-figure style.
'Maybe Marlene drew the picture…' Cloud thought, tearing the paper off. 'No… Barret wouldn't let her draw something like that…' Then he looked at the sky. 'Hmmm… Looks like it's gonna rain… Such dark clouds. Better hurry up…' He revved up his bike and drove off, his worries washing away as the adrenaline pumped through his body.
Minutes later, Cloud arrived at his destination. The rain arrived at the same time, first sprinkling a light mist and turning quickly into a full-out downpour. His thoughts were too preoccupied by the failing drops to notice anything else. Securing his motorcycle, he quickly ducked under the overhang, the closest dry place. Resting there for a few moments, his thoughts wandered. 'Need new clothes… Maybe one or two sets. It's raining though… I don't wanna get them wet… … …' Suddenly, the calm struck him as strange, too peaceful even for a place like this.
'Something's wrong…' He thought for the place seemed too quiet. When his eyes wandered over to the church doors, he found them open. 'I always close them right after I leave… Someone's been here… But who? Who would come here?'
His hand immediately went to the short sword strapped on his back, a smaller version of the Ultima Weapon. Cloud walked slowly toward the building, his ears tuned to any and every sound. Even his footsteps seemed awfully loud, echoing in the empty space.
The mercenary peeked around the door, his eyes looking around for any possible threats. Lightning then flashed, playing with his vision and throwing shadows in random places. After a while, he found nothing outwardly suspicious, his hand strayed away from his blade. As he slowly walked in, he thought of the many possibilities. 'Probably some child who decided to explore this place… Or the wind… Or some poor soul seeking shelter…'
Striding down the center aisle, Cloud kept his eyes trained ahead of him, like a soldier marching in a parade. Halfway down, he gave a glance to the side, looking away for just a second. When his head turned back, he saw them. Flower petals. Strewn all over the place. Scattered indiscriminately. Torn from the stems.
"What the…" Someone had touched the sacred ground in the center, the one that he had spent so much time trying to preserve. "Whoever did this…" He growled as anger flowed through him. "Will pay… Dearly…"
Cloud looked around for clues but was very shocked to find the perpetrator right in front of him. And once he saw who it was, all feelings of vengeance left him only to be replaced with fear. Tifa was lying on her side, her face in a mask of anguish. Her body was battered, beaten up by Loz though the blonde didn't know that. All he knew was that the woman he loves… 'Loves? Do I really love her? … No! I can't be like this! There isn't any doubt about it. I love her! Yes, I loves her with all my heart.' His love is lying in a crumpled heap. The only indication of life was the slight movement of her soft brown hair, her breath moving the fine strands.
"Tifa! Tifa! Can you hear me?" He desperately shook her unconscious form. "No… I… I haven't even told her…" He cried as he raised her prone body in his arms. "Gotta get help… Bring her back… Seventh Heaven" He mumbled more incomprehensible phrases as he picked her body up and got on his bike.
"Tifa… Hang on… I'll get you help…" His vision became a blur then, distorted due to his tears, the flashes of lightning, and the panicked state he was in. In what seemed like seconds to him, he found himself out driving in the downpour, the atmosphere reflecting his mood. Dark and stormy. The turmoil in his heart.
Seventh Heaven soon appeared in front of him and without taking the keys out, he ran to the front door with the woman in his arms. Banging on the door, it was quickly answered by a grumpy Barret. Yet, when the gunman saw the brunette, he instantly ushered them in. Cloud ran upstairs to her bedroom and placed her on the soft mattress. Barret entered moments later with a towel and a bowl of lukewarm water. The two men started to tend her wounds, silently working through the afternoon. Hours later, Cloud collapsed due to exhaustion, falling asleep next to her side. Barret on the other hand stayed awake, watching over the two and waiting… and thinking… and hoping… 'What happened? If Tifa's hurt and Marlene was with her… Where did she go?'
"Wherever you are Marlene… I hope you're alright…"
Credits
I THANK WRATHOATHKEEPER FOR STICKING BY ME ALL THIS TIME AND ANNOYING (erm… I mean, entertaining) ME ON MSN MESSENGER! Probably be working forever on chapters if it wasn't for your persistence. Keep reviewing!
mimi, No problem… I'll continue it as long as humanly possible. Glad to have a new person onboard! Please continue reviewing!
Author's Note
Spoilers from Dirge of Cerberus (Don't read if you don't wanna know about the future!)
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Well, with some help from Wrath-Oathkeeper, we found some interesting stuff from the preview of the PS2 game centered around our favorite ex-Turk and gunslinger, Vincent Valentine. We know that Yuffie, Cid, Barret, Reeve, and Cait Sith are still alive, even after Advent Children because Dirge of Cerberus supposedly happens three years after. We're also pretty sure that Tifa is still there (saw her next to Barret in the truck) and Cloud as well since he's the only one that we know that drives the motorcycle (comes out of the back of Barret's truck). However, for you Sephiroth fans, the great ex-general seems to be dead… for sure this time. Rufus Shinra seems to be alive as well… at least at the beginning of the game. This new bit of information is important for me because it limits how my fic should end. Now, my original ending is disrupted… No matter, I'll put mines up as the alternate ending.