A/N- Edited, enjoy… this was an easy chapter to write lol I remember.
Chapter 22: In the apple tree.
Alathia sighed and sank back under her sheets.
That man was determined to drive her insane. Her brain was still fumbling around with all the information as she tried her best to sleep. It wasn't working. Perhaps she'd calm down with a nice hot shower and a change of clothes.
Alathia sighed and sat up. She spotted Kadaj's pocketknife and chuckled. Looks like he'll be ripping the fruits off instead of cutting them. She placed it gently on her nightstand and made her way to the shower.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
Yazoo huddled with Alexia under her comforter. She'd stopped crying and was staring expressionlessly at the floor. They were sitting up on the ground beside her bed.
Yazoo squeezed her until she grunted. That should get her attention.
"Alexia look…I'm alright!" he smiled sheepishly, rocking her back and forth.
"Hm…" she responded, still staring at the ground.
Boy wasn't he awkward.
Yazoo sighed and squeezed her gently this time.
"I'm sorry for scaring you…and rushing you into everything. Your little brain must be ready to explode."
"Did he just insult me, or is he seriously that awkward." She scowled at the ground and thought to herself.
"Please talk." Yazoo pleaded, nuzzling close to her.
"Who are we fighting?" Alexia asked, afraid she already knew the answer.
"Avalanche." Yazoo stated, looking slightly confused.
That was it. Alexia knew that she was now a 'bad guy'. His answer confirmed her fear of being against the heroes.
"After we fight Cloud and make him realize we're on his side…we fight Jenova (or Jehovah as the spell check wants it to be)." Yazoo smiled…uncertainty seeping into the green of his eyes.
That statement blew her mind. They were going to bring the hero near death to show him they weren't bad! And then by some stroke of luck Cloud was going to let them join forces to destroy Jenova!
"What the hell!" she moaned and began wailing.
Yazoo's eyes widened with confusion and he squeezed his sobbing girl.
"OH-GET-AWAY-FROM-ME-YOU-IDIOT!" she spat, shoving and kicking him away from her… It didn't work. His body didn't budge. Instead, she ended up kicking and shoving herself further away from him. But it did get her point across.
He looked at her as if he were stabbed by his best friend, and curled up in a ball.
"How the hell do you think that'll work? 'Oh let's knock the shit outta him and be friends! Then, we can join forces and destroy EVIL!' Ya right! Like Cloud would ever change his mind about us when we bring him to the brink of Death! That'll just confirm that you're all psychos!" she screamed, walking to her dresser.
She was going to change into PJ's.
"Do you have any suggestions?" Yazoo snapped back angrily.
"Um, yeah! DON'T attack Cloud!" she said, slamming the drawer shut and unbuttoning her jacket.
Yazoo opened his mouth to retort, but closed it when nothing came out. He sank back down on the corner of her bed and stared at the ground while she changed.
She sighed and wiped the tears from her eyes before sulking back to the bed.
"Get off my bed nerd." She stated, holding her head up obnoxiously.
"No, you can't command me to do anything. Only Sephiroth and Kadaj can do that." Yazoo smirked hatefully.
…
"Fine." She snapped and began shoving and kicking him off the bed. "I want you out! I've seen enough of you today."
"PUHLEEZ! Like YOU could ever really injure me. Those bullet wounds didn't even hurt!" Yazoo scoffed, pinning her legs down…he was tired of being kicked in the head already.
"You were bleeding like a maniac!"
"So? The only bullets that can hurt any of us are from our own weapons or Vincent's. And the only blades that hurt are, again, our own or Clouds. The only physical attacks that hurt us are from anyone in Avalanche or ourselves…"
"And when Alathia kicks one of you in the groin…"
"Shut up! You're stepping away from the point."
"Why does only Avalanche's attacks hurt you?"
"I don't know! It's just the way things are! That's why none of us are eager to go back into Gaia and scrap with Cloud without weapons. We'd be happy to take Cloud and Co. down, but Sephiroth won't let us."
"LEAVE!" Alexia screamed, pulling Yazoo's hair towards the door.
When'd he let go of her legs?
She slammed the door and locked it behind her. Alexia knew she was NOTHING compared to the men. She could barely aim her guns; much less go into hand-to-hand combat without her neck being snapped.
She sulked off to the bathroom for a shower, trying her best not to give it another thought. When she returned to her room, Alexia noticed a little note just below the door.
It read: "Get your ass downstairs or I'll destroy you…
- 3 Yazoo"
Alexia chuckled happily.
"Aw…I'm saving this." She thought lovingly, and began brushing out her sopping hair.
Thank god she had a lot of brushes or she'd be using the one that was still in the toilet.
Alathia sulked in a moment later, wrapped in her comforter.
"Hello my fluffy friend. What can I do for you? Make it quick, as I am about to be destroyed." Alexia mused, showing Alathia the note.
Alathia laughed and shook her head.
"Maybe you should have hooked up with Sephiroth." She teased and sat down on Alexia's bed.
"Eh, I'd have already been dead by now. He would have come up and slashed my gust out by now." Alexia reasoned thoughtfully.
"Yeah…um anyway:shudders: can I borrow the ol' demon notebook?"
"You mean Red Dream…Apparently it's named itself." Alexia stated, pulling out the notebook.
"Thanks"
"No problem…I have to go now though. Ya got any ideas on a prank to play?" Alexia asked eagerly…She really didn't want to go downstairs.
"Zip his hair up in his zipper…that'll be fun. And it'll give you time to run too." Alathia responded thoughtfully.
"OK!"
Alexia scurried out of the room and romped downstairs…leaving Alathia alone with the demon book.
"Alright…what's lil Kadaj up to?" She thought as she opened to where the writing was still going.
Within a heartbeat Alathia knew something was wrong. The writing was too slow, creeping…just like when Kadaj and Co. were sneaking towards the house. Was someone about to sneak up on Kadaj?
Alathia gasped and snapped the notebook shut. The last line of the writing burned into her brain.
'Kadaj picked at the fruit and placed it in the old sack. Unknown to him, an enemy lurks in the shadow of the orchard. His poisoned blade was drawn and waiting for the unsuspecting youth to draw near. Cloud was waiting patiently for Kadaj to hear his tree.'
The pale girl tossed the notebook and ran frantically back to her room. Alathia quickly shimmied into her battle clothes and attached her blades to her hips. In her rush, she'd accidentally broken the rubber band. That didn't matter. She had to rescue him, even if it meant losing her own life. Alathia strode over to her window when she realized…she had no idea where she was going. How was Alathia going to find him if she didn't even know where he'd run off to?
"Follow me." Alathia heard a voice whisper in her ear.
She shuddered and looked towards the window, where the voice was beckoning her. There was a small piece of material sitting on the windowsill. Alathia immediately picked it up and popped it into her wristband.
"Earth," it whispered in her ear.
It was immediately interrupted by an angry voice hissing "Save my baby."
Alathia felt a strong force pushing her out the window and towards the lake. She didn't have time to tell the others, much less question where the voice was leading her. Alathia knew it was Jenova. The way it kept crying out for her 'baby' and calling Kadaj her son.
Everything went so fast; Alathia didn't remember much of the journey. She remembered going out the window and all the way back through bone village. But she didn't remember much after that.
Her mind was racing too fast for her body to keep up with. She knew there was no way she would ever defeat Cloud. Jenova was attempting to sacrifice Alathia in order to save Kadaj…at least temporarily.
She gasped as Jenova kept her going towards the fighting men, while showing her what'd happened so far.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX We're back tracking a bit XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
Kadaj rummaged around in his pocket after spotting a huge, ripe piece of fruit.
Where was it?
"Damnit…must have left it at home." Kadaj mumbled to himself.
After a moment, the frustrated man began yanking fruit from their trees and stuffing them in the sack.
Something was making the boy nervous.
Kadaj turned around and looked around the quiet orchard worriedly. Someone was watching him…ready to strike.
Kadaj sighed when nothing had jumped out at him, and sulked up to an apple tree.
"Fuck…" he snapped when Cloud jumped down from one of its branches.
Cloud smirked at the boy's surprise and held his blade out warningly.
"Long time no see bud." He sneered, slashing at the unarmed thief.
Kadaj merely sighed and flipped over the blade, landing perfectly on his feet.
"Why have you been hiding…only cowards hide." Cloud spat trying everything to anger the boy.
He'd found in previous battles that when Kadaj was angry he was imperfect in his fighting. He left small openings that could prove to be fatal…especially when he was unarmed. It seemed to work as Kadaj attempted to land a spin kick to the blonde's jaw.
"Sephiroth won't let us kill you."
"Oh…so he's hiding too."
"Seph could destroy you with the snap of a finger, why would he hide from you!?" Kadaj growled back, throwing a swing at Cloud.
There was his opening. Cloud snatched up the fist and yanked Kadaj into him. He slammed the blunt end of the sword into the back of Kadaj's head and pinned him to the ground in one fluid movement.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
"No!' Alathia screamed and rushed right into the orchard.
She was too late.