A Love on the Sidelines
By: 4quintessence
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Square Enix, the fanfiction to me.
Pairing: CliffxFayt + Plus another secret one!
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Okay I lied about the story getting darker. Not till next chapter. I keep getting funny ideas. Chapter 15 begins with Cliff and Fayt infiltrating the temple with a little help from Coco and Loco to reveal the full details of this strange prophecy involving them. Fayt visits Mirage for the dirt on Cliff and she has something up her sleeve for everyone's favourite bodyguard...
Shout Outs - Zel: I'm SO glad that you liked Sophia's torture and her fight with Maria! Are you sure you're not that evil...hahah lol jk. I really feel sorry for Albel and his feet...I've had that happen and its SO gross. I always felt that Cliff had more to him than what was revealed in the game. I mean there has to be a reason he is so protective huh? At least my idea for his past helps to explain his present actions a bit. ok i agree more with u now about the manga. after reading vol 3 & 4 there are some great cliffxfayt moments :D esp when Fayt collapses and when they are riding on that beast together! Cliff is like 'hold on tight' and im like YES YES!! hold onto him Fayt! and then that hilarious scene in the extras where Cliff wants him to sneak out and Fayt wants to sleep. he thinks Fayt is into men and then he's like 'i need some air!' cuz he's so happy about it! LOL just like in my story where Cliff needed to take a walk after Fayt told him... Spectral: No more school! Read my story :D DeathsRain & Blackdragon3: Thanks for adding me to your alert list! PLEASE REVIEW! I need moral support! Everyone review! Merci to all my readers.
Chapter 15:
There's so much more to Cliff than meets the eye. But I already knew that.
Our inseparable couple sauntered into the temple and headed towards the cavernous worship room containing the prophetic diary. As they turned a corner two guards came into view, positioned on either side of the closed doors. Cliff abruptly stopped in his tracks. Fayt was following behind so closely that he smashed right into the blond's back, his nose and cheek flattening like a pancake into the other's shoulder blade muscles. Letting out a muffled cry, the lucky boy was then shoved backwards out of the sight of the guards.
"Why would it be closed all of a sudden?" Fayt whispered as he rubbed his bruised nose.
"I dunno. Seems kinda fishy to me. It's such a public place. People wandering around everywhere. Hmmm...what should we do, partner?"
The bluenette chuckled to himself. 'Partner'? What a dufus. "I've got an idea. Let's go back to our room." Cliff just stood there staring off into space. "CLIFF! Hello? Hot and sexy bodyguard?! Let's go!" Fayt grabbed the blond's hand and yanked him down the hallway, the latter almost falling over because his feet couldn't keep up with the bluenette's breakneck pace.
When they swung open the door to their room in the palace, the first thing they saw was Coco and Loco curled up together and sleeping on the bed.
"Okay here's the plan…" Fayt began as Cliff listened closely, comfortably leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and one leg bent.
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With each of them carefully carrying a fluffy ferret in their arms like it was their newborn, Cliff and Fayt went back to the temple hallway and crouched down at the corner so the guards couldn't see them.
"We need you to distract those guys," the bluenette told the ferrets, who had their heads perked up at attention. "Take them on a wild goose chase." Coco squeaked cheerfully and tried to wriggle out of Fayt's grasp.
"Ummm...Fayt? How often do ya talk to the ferrets?" the blond asked with a genuinely worried glare.
"All the time!" Fayt responded with a wry smile. "What? You think it's weird? I used to talk to my dog incessantly at home. I'm sure they get most of it…"
"Uh huh. 'Cause we know that animals speak the same language as us," Cliff quipped, his voice full of sarcasm.
"Duh dummy. You should try it sometime. You aren't a real pet owner until someone finds you talking to your pets all alone like a crazy person. Isn't that right Loco?" the bluenette joked as he ran a hand over the feisty ferret's head.
The Klausian still wasn't convinced. "Fayt, I'm pretty sure all they hear is 'blah blah blah...time to eat...blah blah blah'."
The young man sighed and shook his head. "Cliff, believe me, they know what we want them to do….Don't worry, I have a hunch," he winked.
The blond's nose wrinkled up in annoyance. "HEY! Not that again! Are ya makin' fun of me?"
"Ummm...no?" Fayt offered, avoiding eye contact and snickering as he released a squirming Coco from his grip.
Cliff scratched the side of his head before finally letting Loco run after his sister. The two ferrets pounced along the stone floor, Loco trying to bite at Coco's bushy tail. The two guards caught sight of the rodents running towards them and one shouted: "Hey! What are those things doing in here? After them!"
Coco and Loco veered off to the left down another corridor with the guards in hot pursuit as their squeaks faded into the distance. Out of nowhere, Cliff grabbed an unsuspecting Fayt and held him in a cozy headlock while he tousled up his hair with one hand.
"Ah ha! Ya were makin' fun of me! Ya little devil!" The blond's trademark smile had returned, something Fayt hadn't seen since they had arrived in Granada.
"Wow Cliff. You're slower today than you were when we raced up to that ledge behind the waterfall…" (and you fucked my brains out!) the bluenette cracked as a huge, warm bicep pressed against his neck. "Umm, bodyguards — let alone boyfriends — aren't supposed to suffocate the person they're protecting…"
"Oh, ya, sorry. Let's go check out that room."
Double checking that no one else was around, they snuck into the room with the pews and the diary, quietly shutting the doors behind them. Fayt walked up first and began to flip through its pages. Cliff was spacing out again, thinking about what he had told the bluenette earlier at the lookout.
"Look at this Cliff!" Fayt yelled suddenly, pointing at the book. "I knew it. Here are the full details about the prophecy. Apparently this man, your ancestor, was trying to destroy something called 'The Sphere Company' in this other universe. As the most powerful organization around, the company covertly went after groups of people who were resisting its rule and...oh my god...this guy had a wife with blue hair who was captured by the bad guys…"
Cliff's eyes lit up, softening his vacant expression. "I get it! I had a vision about some guy who looked like me but who had dark hair and he was watching helplessly as this woman was being dragged away from him. That must be what this is about."
"Yes of course. They captured his wife and then eventually got him. It says here the two were not murdered like the others but banished to our world, 3-D space — whatever that means — and that they died during the transmission."
"...And that was my vision about the man standing in a transporter, surrounded by soldiers."
"...So apparently their genes were scattered through space and reborn on two planets, Klaus and Earth, where the couple's lineage continued on for a thousand years…Is this going where I think it is?...and the prophecy says those two timeless lineages will meet once again and when they do, the descendants will know since their tender love will cause images to flash through their heads about this very prophecy…"
Fayt fell silent. He could hear the faint howling of the wind outside. It all fits together...the vision in the waterfall I had of the woman kissing Cliff's relative...she looked like me…the blood on the wall of the Sphere Company...that voice: 'Destiny awaits, my child', was that her?...this temple and the diary...THE DIARY!
He flipped the page. "Yes, so the man tried to bring his diary with him to our world and after the botched transport it somehow ended up here in Greeton — an Out of Place Artifact? — where the residents turned it into scripture and a religion. It ends by saying that your ancestor gave up after his wife was taken away...never give up it says and the invaders will be vanquished along with the evil company and its leader, restoring balance to the galaxy...hmmm…" (The next page was blank, but Fayt failed to notice there was more writing after that).
"Do ya think…" Cliff began as he felt a strange tingly sensation travel through his body.
The bluenette interrupted, feeling rather woozy. "No...that woman isn't my ancestor...is she?"
"Well according to this, yes she is. We both had the visions didn't we? Hmmm...yup, I think my head's gonna explode," the Klausian declared, sitting down on a pew and rubbing his face in his hands.
Fayt came over to join him, resting a hand on the Klausian's back. "So does this mean I'm a saint too? Why are Arzem and Darien hiding my part in all this…"
"Y'know what they say about spirituality…Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful," Cliff lectured eloquently, waving a finger in the air. "Well I'd venture that Arzem doesn't actually believe it and is altering what the diary says to suit his needs and to remain in power. They may have added to the diary throughout the years or maybe they change the copies they give out."
"So we're supposed to save the world together?" the bluenette wondered out loud.
"Ugh. Don't even say that. I'm more confused than Nel after hearing a dirty joke."
"...Or Albel in a spaceship," Fayt wisecracked as he gave his stressed sweetie a hug.
"Or Sophia," Cliff continued.
"Or Sophia what?" Fayt inquired. The blond just let out a deep laugh.
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Fayt and Cliff made it safely back to their room without anyone knowing they had snuck into the temple. Coco and Loco scampered through the doorway soon after — they had lost the guards — and Cliff rewarded them with some of his lunch. He even praised them and asked them if they liked the food, causing Fayt to crack a smile as he lay comfortably on the bed. Now all we need is for Albel to walk in and see Cliff talking to ferrets…
Soon after they split up and Cliff went to look for Nel, Maria, and Sophia while Fayt went down the hall to talk to Mirage about what they had learned. Albel was sleeping and seeing that Fayt didn't want to drown in his own blood yet he decided to talk to the Elicoorian later. The bluenette explained the prophecy to Mirage as she listened intently and shook her head from time to time in disbelief. She was at a loss about what to do so the conversation shifted to another topic.
Fayt sat on the bed shifting his legs around as he spoke. "Mirage, can you tell me anything else about Cliff that he might be hiding from me? He opened up to me earlier today and now I'm curious what else I'm not aware of."
An all-knowing smile spread across her face that set her dimples on display as she sat with her legs crossed. "Well now Fayt. You came to the right person. I guess the first thing you should know is that Cliff lies about his age…"
"WHAT!? You're joking," the young man screeched, uncrossing his arms and hitting them onto his thighs.
"I'm serious. He's actually 31 not 36. He likes to fib about his age so that the people Quark deals with give him more respect. I guess there's something about being older...I don't know if you've noticed that but people your age just don't get the same treatment or trust as older ones do."
"No, I totally agree. I knew it too. I thought he couldn't have been that old. He sure doesn't act like it…" Both of them had a good laugh at this remark. "It's probably better that he's 31 anyways so it doesn't look like he's such a pedophile with me…" Fayt joked, chuckling more to himself than with Mirage. "So what, 12 years difference? Not that bad I'd say."
"Not at all Fayt. It doesn't matter….What are you thinking about?" she asked suddenly as she saw his eyes glazing over.
"Oh, ha ha. I'm thinking we should get him back somehow for lying to me."
"Roger. Now there's an idea. And I know just the thing. Let's just say this wouldn't be the first time I've tricked him to teach him a lesson," she winked.
"Ahhh, I see how it is. What would Cliff be without you," Fayt grinned, getting rather excited as Mirage shared her plans with him.
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Lord Arzem paced in his room as Darien stood before him.
"Do you think they will try to leave?"
"I'm not sure, m'lord. Should we close the gate to make sure?"
"Hmmm...yes, it's getting late so the traffic in and out of the city should be just a trickle. Tell the guards to seal the gates and let's get going on the ceremony preparations."
"What about the boy? Do you think he will be a problem once we contain the visitor? He seems to have a connection with Lord Cliff and you know what the scripture says about that."
"You read too much into it Darien. Besides, there isn't much he can do magic-wise within these stone walls. Make sure they don't get into the main chamber of the temple though, I don't want them getting any ideas. And keep me updated on the resistance's campaign."
"Yes, sire."
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Before long, the whole group had gathered in the main plaza since Mirage had suggested they leave the city for a bit because she couldn't get in touch with the Diplo for some reason. She advised using the communicator outside Granada. It was still foggy as the crew marched towards the main gate, turning heads as they went. One of the guards approached Cliff and put up her hand in front of him.
"I'm sorry Sir Cliff but my orders are to prevent you from leaving at this time," the female guard stated firmly.
"Oh really…" the blond muttered, never happy about being ordered around. "Well what if I give you a little somethin' here…" The Klausian snuck some Fol bills out of his pocket and tried to slip them into the guard's hand.
"M'lord! I can't accept a bribe!" the guard uttered loudly as she smacked the base of her spear onto the ground. "...But I guess there is something you could do to entertain me and the other guards...we are quite bored today...if you do it we'll let you through."
Cliff stared warily at the stranger in front of him before turning around to look at the others. Fayt and Mirage nodded their heads vigorously at him. "Fine. What is it?"
The guard leaned in closer to his ear and whispered her request, pointing to Albel at the same time.
"WHAT!?!?" the blond bellowed, his jaw dropping faster than his clothes at Fayt's request. "THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL THAT I'M KISSING ALBEL!"
Mirage and Fayt tried to keep a straight face while Albel looked just as shell-shocked as Cliff did.
"I'm sorry Lord Cliff but that's the only way I'm letting you through. Come on. Lighten up our day." The others guards, a dozen or so of them, nodded their heads violently in agreement, some rubbing their hands together in anticipation as their armor clanked about.
"Why I oughta…" he mumbled gruffly, smashing a fist into his open palm.
"Cliff, we HAVE TO get out of here. What if the Diplo is in trouble?" Mirage piped in, her voice seething with urgency.
The blond let out a deep sigh. He turned to look nervously at Fayt. "I don't care, just do it so we can leave," the bluenette responded tersely.
"Albel, come 'ere then…"
Albel glared at the guard then at the Klausian before brushing his hair off one shoulder and striding over to Fayt's boyfriend. "I want all you fools to know that I don't want to do this anymore than Fittir does. Seeing as we have no other choice and I want to get out of here, I'm taking one for the group," he hissed, never one to back down from a challenge.
Albel and Cliff stood in front of each other — a few magenta flower petals blowing past in the wind — as the rest of the crew clasped their hands to their mouths, completely flabbergasted that two arch enemies were about to…. Maria broke the silence with her sniggering so Fayt glowered at her until she stopped. There could be no distractions for this momentous kiss.
Cliff puckered his lips and closed his eyes as he very slowly started leaning in towards Albel's lips. The Elicoorian did the same...Cliff's face started crunching up in disgust as he got closer and closer to Albel's soft, warm mouth…
The Klausian suddenly pulled away. "Oh man! Okay, okay. I can do this…"
He closed his eyes again and began leaning in all over again, his lips really sticking out this time, as far as he could make them. Sophia looked like she was going to explode with laughter because Fayt could see tears streaming out of her eyes and her cheeks were filling out on either side of the hands clasped tightly over her mouth. Albel's eyebrows were inching backwards up his forehead away from Cliff as the blond's left leg started involuntarily lifting off the ground….SMOOCH! Cliff and Albel's lips finally met for a brief second in surreal glory before they both cried out in revulsion and spat onto the blue streets in synchronization, wiping their mouths off in the process. A boisterous round of applause came from the ecstatic guards and from some Greetoners who were gathering around to see what all the fuss was about. Sophia finally burst into hysterics and Fayt and Mirage high-fived each other as Maria showed them the secret blackmail picture she took with her quad scanner. Nel also seemed to enjoy it, which was a little surprising coming from Ms. No Nonsense.
"YUCK! EWW GROSS, barf me a river!" Cliff roared, bending over with his hands on his knees to recover himself. Albel was wiping his mouth off with his shirt and he pulled some gooseberry juice out of his bag to wash away the Fittir aftertaste.
"Bravo, gentlemen," the guard exclaimed gleefully, fanning herself quickly with one hand. "You may pass."
Mirage sauntered up to the guard and placed a large Fol bill in her hand before shaking it to thank her.
"MMIIRRAAGGEE!!!" Cliff howled, clenching his fingernails into his palm as his face turned tulip red. "You were in on this?"
"YOU CONNIVING KLAUSIAN COCKROACH!" Albel snarled as he chewed madly on a mint flavoured piece of gum.
"Cliff calm down. I told you, you're too carefree. You just went along with what that guard said without thinking about the consequences or other possibilities," she said, rolling her eyes. "Oh yes, and there's the fact that you LIED about your age to Fayt."
The blond jerked his head to look at the bluenette, who looked quite satisfied with himself. Cliff threw his arms downwards: "I'm sorry Fayt! Geez...I've been saying that a lot lately haven't I…"
Cliff may have simmered down but Albel most definitely had not. He started screaming at Mirage, swinging his arms around and generally all out losing control. He was about to brandish his sword when Fayt wandered up to him, raised one finger, and poked him hard in the side of his stomach: "Kyah!" Albel deflated like a beach ball on a barnacle and collapsed into a heap on the ground. Fayt brushed his hands together and looked around for anyone else who wanted the same treatment.
Just then the order came from Lord Arzem to shut the massive main gates and a guard switched on the mechanical device in the ramparts that quickly sealed the doors shut as the crew watched helplessly.
"What is the meaning of this?" Maria shouted at the guards.
"I think it's finally time for a fight, eh?" Cliff suggested hoarsely, trying to get over his lingering embarrassment. "And then you and I are gonna have a talk," he said, motioning to Fayt, who pointed to himself like Cliff couldn't possibly be referring to him.
"SEIZE THEM!"
MAHAHA! TO BE CONTINUED!
(A/N: Oh man oh man CliffxAlbel is so funny. I love that scene with them in the jungle. Yay Mirage shes awesome. I'm not sure what to do with my story yet...i'm gonna have more time since school is out soon, i dont know if i can keep it going though after these Granada events play themselves out. maybe i can turn it into an MPREG? lol)