Chrono War: Episode 1,

The Tournament Beyond the Stars

Table of contents

A Window to the Stars

The Roar of Vengeance

Conspiracy

Friendships End

Truth

The Chrono Items

Sacrifices

Link Vs. Ganondorf

The Black Flame

Sinner

Rivals

Sephiroth's Power and Cloud's Sorrow

Finale

Chapter 1: A Window to the Stars

The eerie blue glow was disconcerting. He was having trouble paying attention to his thoughts. The trip was nearing its end, and he would have to be prepared for the shock of returning to the laws of physics. The portal he was taking was one of the original portals from Otherworld. They took a long time compared to the windows that showed up sometime after the portals opened. It all happened for everyone around ten years ago, when the universe broke wide open.

When it first happened, there were no windows, but anywhere ten to fifty blue portals scattered seemingly randomly on each world. It was just after a thunder storm of biblical proportions that swept across all the worlds simultaneously. When the clouds cleared, they found, scattered all across the surface of the respective worlds, blue cloud-like objects, all at ground level. The clouds seemed to come from nowhere as they swirled out of the cores of the hurricane-shape clouds and into oblivion. They were around five feet tall and three feet wide, and could be entered from either end. It took some experimentation, but a few worlds found that using them would take you to an area with a few hundred of those blue portals, and each one went to a particular world, and a particular place in that world. They were worlds beyond the stars.

No one knew why or how it happened, or what catalyst from what world caused it, but soon everybody stopped caring. Explorers soon started coming in from other worlds, and it took only a few months for some strong alliances to be formed between the worlds. The trading of resources – especially the ones that were exclusive to only a few worlds – and different technology brought a new age of understanding of science. And now, ten years later, the worlds are all very different places.

But that was of little consequence right now to Cloud Strife, the man who was in one of the portals right now. He hated these portals because he hated being alone, though he had been most of his life. When you're in them, there's a sense of vertigo as you move through the endless abyss of bright blue energy.

"How much longer is it going to be?", he thought to himself. He decided to talk aloud to keep his senses in tune, due to that fact that there was very little sound in the portals. "I should have tried harder to find a window route." Right afterwards he assured himself that he wasn't anywhere close to a viable route and had no choice but to take the portal.

Suddenly the blue hue began to shift into a mixture of an orange sunrise and the various colors of the world he was going to. At first everything was blended together in a blur but the closer he got to the world, the more defined the worldhe was going to became. Unfortunately, before he could enjoy it too much, the close surroundings came up and the dark small room, that the portal exit was in, was all he could see.

1A minute or two later, Cloud was on good ol' terra firma (as he thought to himself) and walked out onto the edge of the cliff overlooking his destination, the "Best Beyond the Sun" annual tournament. The place was in an uproar over the new arrivals in time for the opening speech, like Cloud was. There were also big crowds swarming around certain people, and those groups, Cloud noticed, were the ones making most of the noise down below.

He spoke to himself, "There will always be show-boaters that are just here for the audience." He held his fist by his face, clenched it tight, and smirked. "And those are the ones that I will be taking out first!" And then he walked down to the meeting place in a restaurant just outside the central stadium.

He ran down the hill at full speed, feeling the unsoiled air hit his face and refresh his lungs and blood. After the hours in transit and months spent wandering soggy polluted worlds like Gothelm, and the ruins of the destroyed city of Midgar, working on restoration, this was a much welcome change of pace. The cool air mixed with the wind running past his face was infused with the smell of wildflowers and the good foods coming from the venders that were in the tournament village, called Tantalus Square. It enriched his senses and made him much more aware than the fog of sluggishness that had washed over him in the portals.

When he felt satisfied, he went over the plans with himself one more time.

"Okay, so first I go over to the tavern in the main section of the Square to meet Link and the others…. Now who's going to be there again? Oh, right. Chrono, Link, Mario, and Sonic are all going to be there. Then after we catch up we all go to the Speech together, and after that I'll go meet Sieg and see her again…." end 1

He continued talking to himself for a while until he reached the meeting spot and saw that the other four were already there.

"Hey guys," said Cloud with a smile. He looked around the room. The first man he saw was Link. He was around twenty-two years old with a long green shirt and hair more purely blond then Cloud's was. He had a small build but well structured biceps, and that made sense because his fighting style an advanced style of sword-play.

Next was Mario, a short, portly man with a mustache and red suit. If Cloud didn't already know Mario's skills with controlling flames, he would have though he was just some short guy with a nothing little job, like plumbing.

After him there was Chrono, a young man with…..odd skills, as Cloud often put it. He could warp space-time and cause all sorts of amazing things to happen. In the Tournament last year he had done a move that seemed to go so fast he was in six places at once; at least that's what Cloud saw. Unfortunately for him, he lost last time to Mario and has been holding a small grudge ever since. Unlike the other three in the group that Cloud kept tabs on, Chrono seemed to disappear off the face of the earth forten months, just a few weeks before the prelims. It was a big surprise to everyone when he suggested they meet when the tournament started, after the prelims.

And finally there was the oddest of the bunch, Sonic. He blue and furry with short stubs for legs as arms, he couldn't be more then three feet tall. Cloud once said he mildly resembled a hedgehog. The world he was from was filled with humanoids matching that description but Sonic had one thing none of them had: his incredible speed. If he was five times weaker then his opponent it wouldn't matter because he'd likely get ten punches in by the time it took his opponent to deliver one to him. His speed with his fists was matched only by his feet, and together they made him one of the most powerful contenders in the tournament.

And so this loose group of friends was. They worked together and kept each other company during the tournament, and kept in touch with each other, for the most part.

"Hey Cloud," said Link, followed quickly by the other three.

"So how is everyone?" Cloud asked.

Chrono responded, "Good. We just found out that there will be some interesting announcements during Sieg's Speech. Do you have any clue what he'd have to say that could be so important? You have been keeping in contact with him, right Cloud?"

"Yes I have, but not for that reason. He's helping me with something, and when I talk to him I'm not really in a chatty mood."

"What is it?" Mario asked.

"It's complicated. I'll explain later."

Mario could only shrug to that response.

There was a brief silence until Cloud spoke up. "So Link, how's world peace turned out?"

He was referring to Link's prize for winning the tournament last year. The winner gets one wish from a magic crystal. Link won last time and got his wish, and as clichéd as it was, he wished for world peace. Unfortunately, the way he worded it only brought world peace to his world.

Now, you might be wondering how someone could find a magic wish giving crystal. To this I must respond, "Nobody knows." And the reason nobody knows has an even simpler answer. If you were told that someone had a way to grant you anything your heart desires but he got annoyed when you asked questions, would you ask questions or make a wish?

"As well as could be expected. Hyrule really isn't all that different, actually. We still have weapons and armies. The biggest difference is that the race we call the Gerudo, dessert folk, have made peace with the other races in Hyrule." The others nodded while Link continued, "This caused a lot of the other tensions between the other races to dissipate. Without the threat of the renegade Gerudo, the only real threat to national security was gone, and the rulers of the world became less suspicious of each other. Negotiations opened up, and the Hyrule Accord was signed."

He paused for a second and then added, "You know the funny thing is that the wish itself did only one simple thing, and that started a chain reaction that got us world peace."

Their conversation moved onto other subjects, and lasted about another half-hour before they heard an announcement over the intercom that the speech was about to take place, and they walked over to the central stadium

It was a huge stadium, bigger then three football fields, and round. The stands were just like normal ones, with VIP suites and bolted down chairs with only a little bit of cushioning; but the grounds where the fights would take place were extraordinary. There was no round, cement ring like last time. Instead, various types of machines were located at different points around the stadium. Cloud counted about twenty jagged machines pointing at a spot around the cubic center of the stadium. He couldn't even guess what they were supposed to do. There were also a few other types of machines including the force field creators that protected the fans.

Suddenly a voice from behind him snapped Cloud out of the state of awe he was in. He looked behind himself to see Link reading a plaque next to the arena entrance.

"In loving memory,

Donna

&

Alphonse"

"Who's that?", Link asked.

Although there was no way Link could know it, Cloud knew the answer. "Sieg told me a while ago that he had a wife and son. They both died in separate incidents."

"Really? Do you know what happened?" Cloud shook his head. "No? Oh… but how did-" He was cut off in mid sentence by Chrono.

"You know, Link, we should probably just drop the subject." Sonic and Mario nodded in agreement. "Besides, look over there. Sieg is almost ready."

The other contestants in the tournament, which had up till then been very loud, had quieted down. Cloud and the others looked up and saw a man get on top of a podium that was temporarily set up for the speech. The man was the proprietor of the tournament, Sieg Kasumi. A man in his mid-thirties, he was slender and gangly, but extremely fit. His hair was as black as a raven, and his clothing was fiery red and loose fitting.

Cloud knew him fairly well and found him fascinating. He was a very rich man, due to having the multi-world record for the most patents ever, with 1300 different patents and another 70 pending. He was sort of childish, and got along well with Cloud, who was more then ten years younger then him. However, despite this, he was a proud and determined individual, and Cloud had a lot of respect for him.

Just as Cloud and his posse got to the front of the crowd, Sieg began his speech in a loud but calm voice.

2 His voice boomed on the loudspeaker. "Contestants, spectators, VIPs, and anyone else I may have missed, welcome to the second annual 'Best Beyond the Stars' tournament. This year there will be a few announcements that apply to all the contenders."

"First off, the fights will be divided into five divisions. These divisions are 'North', 'West', 'East', 'South', and the 'Final Eight'. The first four divisions I mentioned will contain 16 contenders each, and be held in smaller stadiums located ten miles to the north, south, east, and west of this stadium. I don't think need to state which is where. The four stadiums all have some slight differences from each other, which is part of the reason for this change.

The second reason is, quite frankly, last year there were a lot less people watching from the stands. We need the extra room, and because of that, we have a new program for getting into the stands that utilizes these extra stadiums. You spectators watching this from Tantalus Square will find pamphlets on top of the TVs you're watching that explain this in more detail.

Now then, onto the subject of what this means for the contenders; the contenders will be living in four small suburbs of the central town. Despite this, they will be allowed to visit the other parts of Tantalus Square at their leisure. This will all change when we get down to the last eight players.

When we reach the fourth round, the remaining eight contenders will move into new cabins in the central town. They will then be divided into two larger stadiums that will be radically different from each other and the previous stadiums. Then for the last round, we will finally come here, and I promise that this stadium will hold some surprises."

He paused for a few moments to let in some applause and to catch his breath. Cloud noticed a few awkward pauses during his speech that gave him the impression that this speech was improvised. That feeling was supported when his tone became much more serious for the second part of Sieg's speech.

He continued, "More of this will be explained by some of my associates later on to smaller crowds, specifically what you need to do for this. You may meet my associates if you want to know more, sooner, if you have the time for it. There is something else I wanted to tell you all. This contest may now be one year old, but this all began ten years ago. When those portals came out of nowhere, it was both a time of great progress and catastrophe. When those portals opened, it let out all the good and all the bad this universe had to offer... And even though this is a fact, I still feel that it was a time of great revelation for all society. A time when every last world realized in the same instance, 'we are not alone'. This does not even include the fact that we have learned more about this universe in the past decade then we have in the millennia before it.

Not the least of these is the Celestial Mirror Phenomenon." He was speaking with a sad smile that no one but Cloud seemed to notice. "The very fact that every time we looked out into deep space we were actually looking into a cloud of compressed gas that acted as a funhouse mirror and blocked out the true depths of this universe will be talked about for centuries, I'm sure.

I just want to say to everyone here that you are all the best this universe has to offer. And if something bad comes from this new world order, it will be up to brave men and women like you to change the course of history for the better. To be as strong as you have to be to be here, you are all incredible warriors and will be surely needed in the worst case scenario. I do not know if there can ever be one good and one bad, so I can only give you this small piece of advice: always stay on the path you want to take in life, and if you can do that, then I know everything will work out for the best.

Oh, and one more thing, and I'm sorry if I scare anyone with this. If in the future something should happen to these worlds that rattles them to their cores, many lives are sure to be lost. Those people, we must never forget them." end 2

There was a scattered applause following his unusual speech. Most people didn't quite know how to react. Those that did applaud did so because they could see that even though his words were strange, they were sincere. They were comforted by that fact.

Cloud was the first one in the group to say anything. "He knows something."

Sonic chortled, "Heh. Well it looks that way. Any idea as to what has him so spooked?"

"As I told you before, I have to go meet him right now in his office. I'll ask him then."

Link said, "Cloud, can I come with you?"

"No, there is something I need to do on my own."

"Well then, can I go with you to his office? I want to get an appointment to find out about the lodging."

"I guess that would be okay."

Cloud and Link separated from the other three and went off into the central hall. It was filled with people, most of whom were contestants. They were all chatting loudly so Cloud tried to ignore everything but where they were going, and his conversation with Link. He was in the middle of discussing the new rules, when he heard an eerily calm voice from right next to him.

3 "Hello Cloud."

Cloud recognized the voice and froze in his steps. The next few seconds felt liked years as he turned to the voice. His thoughts ran amok with half constructed sentences. He had to breathe deeply to calm himself down until he finally looked to his left. The whole process took about fifteen seconds. He turned to find he was right, and he never wished to be more wrong in his whole life.

He saw two men, the bigger of whom seemed to be more interested in Link. Respectively Link was looking with suppressed rage at the bigger man. Cloud however was too scared to notice at the time, and only remembered it some time later. The man who called to Cloud was named Sephiroth. He was five feet tall and had foot long glistening silver hair draped down his back. His face, though… His face was inhumanly neutral with calm blue eyes and a sickeningly sweet smile just barely getting past his lips.

Cloud stumbled on his words for a few seconds before he finally produced a complete and intelligible sentence. "What are you doing here?" he asked shakily.

A soft chuckle came from Sephiroth, followed by an answer. "I'll be competing this year."

The man behind Sephiroth gave an annoyed cough, reminding Sephiroth to introduce him.

"Oh yes, thank you for reminding me. This is a friend of mine, Ganondorf Dragmire." He turned to Link. "Your name is Link, right? I believe you two have already met each other."

"You could say that." said Link.

Suddenly Ganondorf spoke up. "I'm not going to be passive-aggressive like Seph over there; I'm here to win this tournament and get back into Hyrule and then some."

Link regained his composure before speaking, "By 'then some' you mean you want to take over Hyrule, right? Didn't you ever think of considering a new career path?"

"I thought we agreed to not be passive-aggressive."

"Right…Well I have nothing more to say to you. Just remember Ganondorf, the road to that crystal goes right through me."

"I'll say... Did you see the brackets yet? I'm fighting you in the third round."

"Thanks, I'll check that out."

Cloud spoke again. "That explains your friend, but I don't believe for a second that you could be here just for the prize."

"Don't be so suspicious Cloud. You're half right though. I do have other reasons for being here besides the prize, although one wish can go a long way."

"I'm in a rush, so if there's nothing else, I'll be going. See you in the fights, I guess," said Cloud.

Sephiroth nodded. He walked past Cloud and then stopped when he was an inch away from him he said one last thing.

"I'm sure you are in a rush. After all, I'm sure Aeris wants to see you."

And then as quickly as he appeared, Sephiroth ran off faster then Cloud's eyes could catch him. Ganondorf grunted and walked away, and that was the end of it. All that was left after it was over was the shock of it all, and that wouldn't subside for Cloud for days. end 3

After a while they started walking back to Sieg's office. The mood was solemn and both were lost in thought until, like a light switch turning on, a thought hit Cloud.

He turned to Link and asked, "So how do you know Ganondorf?"

Link hesitated a bit at first to collect his thoughts.

"He….He was Ganondorf, the King of the Gerudos. He's also the legendary prince of power in Hyrule lore."

"What's a 'prince of power'?"

"In Hyrule There is a legend that at some point the King would die without leaving a son to be his heir. When that happened there would be three young persons, each with a marking on the back of their right hand. They were each given titles; The Prince of Power, The Princess of Wisdom, and The Prince of Courage.

The princess will become the queen of Hyrule and the two princes must fight each other in a contest of strength. Only when one admitted superiority to the other would there truly be a new king in Hyrule. A few years ago, the king of Hyrule died, leaving only a daughter. She's fighting in the tournament too, in fact. Princess Zelda, The Princess of Wisdom."

"And Ganondorf is the Prince of power?"

"Right."

"Let me take a wild guess. You're the Prince of Courage."

"How did you guess that?"

"It's because it's the most likely way you would have encountered him, especially considering how involved in Hyrule politics you are."

"Good job then. Well, After the king died, Ganondorf and I were discovered to be the two princes. Oh I forgot to mention that this happened when I was about ten years old."

"You're just remembering that now?"

"Well there's a reason for that…I'll explain in a second. Anyways, when I tried to fight him, at first he nearly killed me. If he was at all worried about me winning he would have killed me in a single blow. But before I admitted defeat, I ran away, and there was no official winner.

After A few months had passed, there was a large amount of chaos in the world of Hyrule. There was no king, and I was missing, so Ganondorf got tired of waiting. He took the crown by force and lead Hyrule to the darkest age in its history. The dead rose from the Earth in the area of Hyrule Castle Town, and the city was abandoned.

Meanwhile, I was studying up on a sword that could give me the power to beat him, and when I finally found it in a temple, I broke a seal that had been placed on it. It froze my body in a form of stasis for seven years until I was old enough to use it."

"So that's what you meant…"

"Right. It's kind of a long story after that, but ultimately I fought Ganondorf in his castle and managed to imprison him in a void between the worlds. However, he didn't admit me to be the winner or die in our fight, so once more Hyrule was without a proper king. So I could only do the one thing I felt allowed to do; I led the rebuilding process. That way of life for Hyrule continued until ten years ago."

"When the portals opened?"

"You're keeping up nicely. The portals released him from his prison, and when that happened, we entered a state of war that lasted for years. …Even after he had exhausted his forces, Hyrule was in a state of global tension until I got my wish. No nation knew if the others had fallen to Ganondorf and his Gerudos.

Remember when I said that the wish did only one thing that set off a chain reaction that saved Hyrule?"

"Yeah."

"That one thing was that Ganondorf was put under a powerful exile spell from Hyrule. The crystal forbadehim from ever going back there."

"And he wants the undo that wish, right?"

"That's where we stand today."

"Okay, thanks Link. I'm going to go ahead and see Sieg now. I'm late."

"Wait! Aren't you going to tell me about that other guy?"

"There's nothing to tell."

Then Cloud ran off, leaving behind a very bewildered Link.

Cloud softly knocked on the door of Sieg's office, and was followed by a polite, "Come in." When Cloud entered, he took a look around. It was very modestly designed with only a few small pictures on a desk and few other personal touches. It was surprising to Cloud, who had never been in there before. Most of Sieg's world, Tantalus, was filled with amazing contraptions and symbols. By comparison, Sieg's room was…empty.

"Sorry I'm late," said Cloud.

"That's okay." said Sieg. "I just finished the gathering device. Are you ready, Cloud? This might not work. And remember, I can only do this if she competes."

"I remember, and I still want to do it."

Sieg nodded and directed Cloud's attention to a blue platform in the back of his office. It was big enough for Cloud to stand on, and it had a large glass enclosure around it. Arranged around it were a few machines that looked similar to the force field generators in the stadium, only much smaller.

"So how does it work?" asked Cloud.

"It's very complicated. In short, it uses the same properties as Spira's Farplane does. It uses your memories of the person and locates the scattered atoms that used to be her soul. Then it will reconstruct her body in a vat filled with a plaster-like material….."He noticed Cloud was about to say something, when he hastily added, "Oh don't worry, it will also reconstruct her with clothes on as long as you remember her in them. It will reconstruct whatever you're thinking of her wearing just like it constructs her body."

"That's good."

"So you just need to think about her and place your hands on this panel right next to the device. After that, the machine will do the rest."

"One thing, Sieg."

"Yeah?"

"Do you have a few minutes after this is all done? I want to talk to you two about something."

"Sure. I'm done with work until tomorrow."

"Great. Then let's begin."

At Sieg's instruction, Cloud put his hands on a black panel and turned his thoughts to Aeris.

"This may hurt a bit Cloud."

'That's okay."

And with that, Sieg flipped the switch and it began.

"A bit" was not how much it hurt. It was continuous and very painful, and seemed to cloud his vision. Cloud was unable to keep his eyes open as Aeris took form. The machines around the platform started shooting out sparks and forming a shell of energy in her shape. In a final flash of light Cloud was pushed by an invisible force to the back of the room.

4 There she was. She was panting softly and her eyes were clouded like she had just woken up, but she was there. She had long, slightly curvy auburn hair and was wearing her favorite pink dress (or at least an imitation of it). Cloud stood there, staring, as she came to consciousness. Even though he knew it was coming, he was still in shock over it all. She was still as beautiful as ever, even though she had been dead for years. There was utter silence until Aeris finally spoke.

"C-Cloud?" she said, looking at him.

"It works… It actually works. I've revived the dead!" Sieg exclaimed as the realization dawned on him.

Finally Cloud worked up the nerve to speak. "Aeris? Can you hear me?"

"Y-yes…I can hear you, Cloud"

Suddenly Aeris snapped into full consciousness and both were hit by the full impact of this event. Cloud took a few steps forward towards Aeris. He then slowly touched her right cheek with the back of his hand, just to make sure she was real. Then they embraced each other they hugged and kissed and they hoped that it would never end. For that one instant they hoped time would just stop. A world without life and death, responsibility and fun. A world with just each other. However, it would end, like all things do.

Aeris put her head on Cloud's chest and he felt a cross between a tingle and a sting right above the area where her head was. He pulled back to find the source of the sensation and felt it go away as soon as Aeris was no longer touching him. He felt the air around Aeris with his fingertips. Finally he felt the air within a few inches of Aeris' head and felt that same tingle. He moved his hand to try to make out the shape of it. He let out a gasp when he saw what it was, an invisible halo. end 4

"Why…?" Asked Cloud, directing the question to Sieg.

"You can feel her soul can't you? This is unfortunate but not unexpected."

"What…?'

"This machine, the 'Galatea' is based on a lot of assumptions I had to make about human life. I was worried that we would end up with a homunculus."

"What's a homunculus?" asked Aeris.

"It's a soulless clump of flesh. It is the size of a human with all the body parts humans have…. But it's…. like they gave you the organs but not in the right placements. They're horrible to look at. Previously that was all revival techniques could create."

"You were worried that was how Aeris would turn out?"

"….I'm sorry Cloud but I tricked you. I needed to test it and I was worried that you would back out if a homunculus was a possibility."

Cloud gritted his teeth a bit and sighed. "It's okay; I probably would have risked it. And it all worked out I think. So what is this halo for?"

"It's a symbol. It means that she is still tied to the afterlife." It's a clock and in a few months……times up."

"Is there anything we can do?"

"Yes there is actually. I know for a fact that the crystal cannot do an outright revival. Believe me, I've tried."

Cloud noticed Sieg take a few minutes to collect himself.

"However, it might be able to sever the link to the afterlife if that's what's wished for. If you win and get the wish, she can be brought back to life proper."

"Ok then. And Aeris is in the tournament too?"

"I am?"

"Yes, it was the best way to validate to usage of the 'Galatea'." Said Cloud. "He was going to use it to revive contestants who die accidental deaths here. I told him how good a fighter you were and that you would be fun to watch in the tournament. That's how I got him to agree to it… or so he told me."

Sieg looked at the ground feeling guilty.

"Well that's okay."

"So then you wanted to talk to me, Cloud?" asked Sieg

"Oh, right. I wanted to ask you if I could see a listing for all the players' names," said Cloud.

"I don't have one. Why?"

"I'm looking for the name of a person who said he was in it."

"I have it all memorized, you can just ask me."

"You do?"

"Yep. I have to look at that thing twenty times an hour." Sieg said with a laugh.

"Okay then. Do you know if there is a competitor named Sephiroth this year?"

Aeris cast a confused look at Cloud with a soft "Wha…?", but Cloud expected that.

What did surprise him however was Sieg's expression.

"You know him!" Cloud asked.

"Yes I do. He was-" Suddenly Sieg hesitated like he changed his mind. "He was the reason I started this tournament. He is a horrible man, and he is one of the most determined men I have seen in my life."

"Why was he the reason you started this?" asked Aeris.

"Well……It's a long, boring story."

"I'm sure." Cloud said sarcastically.

"So how do you know him? Sieg asked.

"He was the one who killed Aeris…." said a somber Cloud.

"What! You said she died in a war."

"It's true. Cloud and I were generals in the great war of Midgar, ten years ago."

"If that's the case I need to ask you a question." said Sieg.

"Shoot." said Cloud blankly.

"There is a theory going around about how the end of the war in Midgar coincided with the creation of the portals. Some wonder if something that happened in that war might have created them. Would you happen to know anything about that?"

"No, I wouldn't."

"Yeah, I expected you to say that."

Cloud glared over to him, but withheld from saying anything.

"So what happened with Aeris?"

"We were on one side of the war and he was on the other."

"Okay then."

"So if he is in the tournament, we are all in big trouble. He is vicious and inhumanly powerful. Not only that, but he also seems to be planning something."

"Perhaps…" said Sieg "But I still find it odd that he didn't compete last year. I wonder what he was waiting for."

"Wait! A thought just came to me." Cloud exclaimed "The speech you made today---"

He would have continued but Sieg knew what he was going to say and cut him off.

"That's right, I talked about that in my speech because I saw that Sephiroth would be competing. Men and women like Sephiroth accomplish great things; things that change the way the world works. Being good is not a prerequisite of being great. If Sephiroth is planning something big, then it will encompass the whole universe."

"We can only hope that it all works out for the best."

There was an awkward silence before Cloud finally said "Well, that's what I wanted to ask you, so I will go now."

"Okay... Oh, right, I almost forgot." said Sieg, followed by Cloud turning back to him. "There is someone I want you and Link to meet. He's an old associate of mine, Vaan Emmerich. He's a PhD from earth."

Sieg found it odd, but Cloud's expression changed almost instantly. The complex expression that combined terror and suppressed anger that he had in their last conversation had vanished. In its place was the warm and fun expression that he always seemed to have; one only broken by their discussions on Aeris' revival over the past year.

"What does he want to meet us for?"

"Vaan bet on your fights, especially Link's, extraordinarily well. So well in-fact, that he made a few hundred-thousand because of you and your friends. Since he's a friend of mine, I thought I'd abuse my power a bit and introduce you. I guess he wants to thank you formally."

"Sound's fine. When are you moving all of us to our new lodging?" Cloud asked.

"Around seven. Why?"

"Then can you send us to him around six-thirty. We agreed to meet a bit before we had to leave."

Sieg agreed to this and Cloud started to turn around to leave with Aeris, but before he could, Sieg had one last question for him.

"I'm just curious… How long were you married to Aeris before she was killed?"

"A bit more then five years, I think. Why do you ask?"

"As I said I was just curious…" and as Cloud turned away to leave again, Sieg said "It must have been nice, being married since you were twelve."

Suddenly Cloud's eyes flashed open. He shuddered a bit as the realization of his slip-up dawned on him. "Oh, damnit." He said under his breath.

"Thought so." Sieg said cockily. "You, Sephiroth, and Aeris. Something happened between you three, that much is obvious. So are you going to tell me or not?"

Cloud turned to look at him, and looked more deathly serious then Sieg had ever seen him before. Cloud stared him straight in the eyes and said, in as quiet a voice as he could get without whispering, "I don't know what happened between you and Sephiroth, but I can beat it. I don't know what you know about him, but I know more. He may involve the whole world in his affairs, but first and foremost he is my problem, and no one else's. So before you delve deeper into it, don't. And trust me, you don't want to be involved, even less so as involved as I am. So take my advice; drop it."

Cloud stared at him for a while until he saw Sieg's nod of agreement, and Cloud hastily left with Aeris, leaving Sieg to contact Vaan. They decided to go somewhere where they could be alone, and enjoy each others' company. If he failed to win, they might not get another chance. When he found a quiet enough place he gave her a kiss and held her close, ignoring the tingle. Then he made himself a silent promise. "I won't let him take her away again. I won't let him take anyone away again."

It was around six-fifteen when Cloud saw Link with the others. He seemed to be explaining how the new lodging and stadium rules would work. Cloud walked over to them with Aeris behind him. He greeted the others when Mario noticed Aeris.

"And who is this lovely girl you have with you?" He asked.

He hesitated to choose his words carefully. He didn't want a slip up like last time.

"S-she's my….wife." he said.

The whole table gasped in shock (with the exception of Mario who could only get out a "Your wha?") over this new development.

"What's the story with that?" asked Link. "You never told me you were married."

"Well, the reason for that is because she died a few years ago."

If they were in shock before, they were completely lost now. Sonic nearly fainted. It took a while, but Chrono, generally being the calmest, finally worked out the obvious question. "If she died, how is it that she's here now?"

"Sorry, but I've been sworn to secrecy. I'll just say that this is what I've been working on with Sieg for the past year."

They all clamored in annoyance. Arguing about how he's leaving them dangling before a voice in that background spoke loudly above their voices.

5 "You know… this whole argument is pointless. Sieg dropped the NDA(non-disclosure agreement)."

They turned to the voice. It came from a man a few feet away from the table. He was around six feet tall, and had a medium build. He was wearing Earthen clothing which was rather unusual due to the low amount of Earthlings that ventured outside their world. His dark hair had a very slight curl and offset his crimson eyes. That was what was most noticeable about him, his eyes.

Cloud was a firm believer that you could tell a lot from someone's eyes. When he looked in Sephiroth's eyes he could see burning anger with a passionate, and fearsome, determination. With Aeris's eyes he could see all the kindness the world had to offer, and in Link's there was a powerful sense of honor. In this stranger's eyes he could see many things. Kindness was fairly prominent, but among it was a passion for life and a desire for love. He could see pain, friendship, wisdom, and a lingering sense of doubt, as well as many more things that Cloud had never seen before in any one person. So many things lay behind those inhumanly calm eyes that Cloud couldn't even grasp all of it. In truth, no matter how impressed he was by it, he was mostly horrified.

He walked over to them with a soft smile and said "You're Link's group, right? My name is Vaan Emmerich. I'm Sieg's friend."

"You're Vaan! I thought you were a PhD? You can't be older then twenty," said Cloud.

"I'm nineteen, and yes I am I PhD in Mechanical science."

"Excuse me, but what business do you have with us?" Asked an unusually formal Chrono.

"I was just about to tell you that a friend of Sieg's wanted to meet us. I guess this is him."

"Didn't I already say that?" Vaan asked with a smirk. Then he turned to Link and said "It's nice to finally meet you, Link."

"What did you want to meet me for?" Link asked.

"Why don't you explain over diner," recommended Cloud. end 5

He agreed and they all had diner. They talked about many things, like how Vaan won his money. The talked about last years fights, and this years competitors. Eventually, Vaan told everyone else about 'Galatea' and Aeris' revival. Their discussions lasted right up to the moment the helicopters arrived to take them to their cabins. Once everyone except Link and Cloud were on their helicopters, Link turned to Cloud and said:

"So what do you make of him?"

"You mean Vaan? What do you mean what do I make of him? I trust him, in any case… But there's something there I can't quite place. I might just be imagining things." Cloud said slowly.

"Well, if you trust him, then I guess he's okay." Link said uncertainly.

They both got on their helicopters and set out to their homes for the duration of the tournament. When Link finally got to his cabin an hour later, he went right to his room and fell asleep, not even noticing that he had a roommate. He knew he was fighting first tomorrow morning (Vaan had shown them the brackets), and he wanted to rest. He also knew that the start of the fights would be the start of something big, and that tomorrow would be the first day of the rest of his life, and that things would never be the same.

Next Chapter

We are warriors, and because of that fact, we fight. The tournament begins now, and so dose our war. A man with a sword, a fighter with a past, and that roar. A bloody roar that can be heard for miles will be called, signifying the beginning of the end.

Next time: "The Roar of Vengeance".

To every end, there is a beginning.