CHAPTER LXII

A KEEN EYE FOR DETAIL

Cloud paced up and down the cargo hold of the Fenretto. There wasn't much room, but he was making use of what little there was. King Mickey and Aerith were at the controls, steering the ship through a large, empty portion of space.

Cloud's dreams had stopped entirely as soon as they left Disney Courtyard. He slept for the first time in weeks without so much as a stir – Mickey had stayed up the whole night to monitor him.

"You okay up here by yourself, for a while?" Aerith asked King Mickey.

"You bet," he said, encouraging her with a nod to leave the bridge and find Cloud.

"Cloud?" inquired Aerith, as she entered the cargo hold. Cloud just stopped, turned to her and raised an eyebrow. "Uh…I just want to make sure you're fine…" she said, avoiding his steely gaze.

"Well, now you're sure," Cloud said, returning to his slow but steady pacing.

"You know, you don't always have to be so distant…" she said, walking into the already cramped bay. He had barely enough room to take two steps forward and back before she entered – now, they had to stand facing each other amidst the boxes of spare parts.

"It's for your own good," he said, turning his back to stare at the doorway. Aerith put her hand on his shoulder.

"Look, I know Sephiroth is a part of you…" she said softly. "But that doesn't mean he has to control how you live your life."

"Don't lecture me."

"I'm not, Cloud…c'mon, don't be like this."

"I won't be like this once I find him and kill him. He's done nothing but evil deeds, you know that…"

"I know."

King Mickey's voice rang out over the ship's intercom. "Guys, you should come and take a look at this…"

Cloud walked straight for the bridge, Aerith's hand falling limply to her side as he pulled away from her. She hesitated for a moment, then followed him.

Through the view screen of the Fenretto, they saw nothing but the stars in the sky.

"What are we looking at?" Cloud said bluntly.

"Look closer…" Mickey said, not taking his eyes off of the small patch of sky he was looking at – very faintly, they began to see it.

A giant, black sphere hovering in space, covered in tiny white dots. It became more apparent the more they looked at it – the 'stars' on the world's surface didn't shimmer like those in the night sky. They shimmered mechanically, as if on a timer. The sphere was as large as any world they'd ever seen – though it didn't seem to have any buildings or structures on its surface.

"We should check it out…" Cloud said after staring at the world for a few moments.

"Looks like someone went through a lot of trouble to hide that place…" Aerith asked, not sure it was a good idea. As Mickey piloted the ship down towards the surface, they got a better look. The ground was shiny – like glass – and it stretched all across the surface of the world, making it look like a giant, star-specked marble. There was nothing as far as the eye could see in all directions. Mickey skirted the top of the world's surface, looking for any reason at all to honor Cloud's wishes. After traveling a few miles across the terrain of the world, he turned and looked at Cloud.

"Cloud, I dunno…this place doesn't look-"

"There," Cloud said, matter-of-factly. He pointed a small section of the black ground that didn't shimmer with the same gleam that the rest of the planet had. As they got out of the Fenretto, Cloud eagerly took the lead with Mickey and Aerith close behind. The effect was dizzying – when they looked ahead, it seemed as if there was nothing around them in all directions. When the ground caught a speck of light and shined, it was reassuring to the three of them – there was indeed still solid ground underfoot.

The small square Cloud had pointed at truly was different than the rest of the material – it was wooden, like a door.

"Only you, Cloud…only you could see something like this from space," Aerith mused, smirking behind Cloud.

"Your eyes just need training, that's all…" he said playfully.

On the right side of the door, there was a simple, black doorknob that anyone could have mistaken for a rock. Anyone that was crazy enough to land on this world, anyway. Underneath it was a nearly invisible black keyhole. Cloud grabbed the knob and pulled – locked.

"Of course…" he said, backing up from the door on the ground, pulling out his weapon.

"Ah, maybe we don't need force just yet…" Mickey said, summoning his Kingdom Key. As he pointed it at the lock, the door made a familiar clicking sound as it raised ever so slightly from the ground – indicating that it was now unlocked.

As they stealthily crawled down the dark, spiraling staircase beneath the door, Aerith began to wish she hadn't worn pink. Mickey and Cloud each had darker colors on, and if she was the one who got them caught…

…But what was she afraid of being caught by? She calmly reminded herself that she had no reason to believe that this world had enemies on it…but then again, who else would outfit an entire world to be barely visible from space?

Contrary to most staircases that descended into the center of a world, the light grew and grew as they went lower and lower. Eventually, they were led to a long, bright street that ran into the center of a shining, beaming metropolis. Fantastic neon signs that read 'tournament combatants – come here first!' flashed on and off in purple and orange overhead a large, golden dome. A massive hotel stood at the end of the block, surrounded by food shops and tourist attractions.

Aerith looked up at the flashing sign and asked Cloud, "do you think we can get some answers in there?"

"I'd say that's a pretty safe bet," he said, sliding through the revolving door moments after.