Rin: I am back in action!! After so many months of antagonizing waiting and crying. Well, I have a surprise for you! ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER!!!! Muhahahaha!! … I should run now right? Yeah… -runs-
Disclaimer: So I was at the beach and Sora and Riku ran up to me, holding hands. They were all like, "Guess what? YOU OWN US!!" And I was all like, "YAY!!" And we danced in a circle. Then Kairi came and was all like, "You own me too!" And I cried. Then a wave hit me and I woke up. …Damnit…
Date started: May 20th
Date finished: June 14th
Pages: 13
Words: 6548
Time spend: 439 minutes (or 7.31 hours)
0o0
It was three days after Sephiroth left and everyone took Cloud's kidnapping in his or her own different way. Some took it bad, like Riku who mumbled on and on about how he knew that Sephiroth was a terrible man. Selphie would complain that she had no one to poke anymore (although she never spoke it aloud for fear of her life). Also, Yuffie moped quietly to herself. She didn't bring her ninja stars to school anymore and try to throw them at random people at random times.
Then there were people who had it pretty hard. Ever since Tetshui (the husband) left, Ayu hadn't been doing spectacular either. Not only did her 'nephew' get kidnapped, but also she didn't have Tetshui to comfort her.
And then there were the people who just fucking terrible. Leon was one of them. Although, no one knows exactly how bad he is since he stays locked up in his house and refuses to answer telephone calls. The only person he'll see is Sora, but no one else. Sora has to go to Leon's house alone just to see him. It's also a rumor that he calls Soya every once in a while. Leon had a descent job at the police station and didn't really need to finish high school, but Cloud was there and that was a good enough reason for Leon. He wasn't a material person; all Leon needed was Cloud, a house, a bed and teriyaki sauce. Leon ate almost everything with teriyaki sauce.
Another example was none other than Soya. All she does now is bake Cloud's favorite cookies and 'I'm sorry' microwave-able pizza. Every time Ayu comes back from her house, she's carrying three dozens of chocolate chip and walnut cookies and five personal pizzas. Riku thinks she's border-lining insane, but really, who could blame her? First, her youngest son is murdered by her husband, then her husband breaks out of jail and is God knows where doing God knows what and the icing of this cake is that her last and first child is kidnapped. Soya has even gotten letters of sympathy where each of them claims; 'It must be terrible to know that your husband broke out of jail to kill your other son'.
Even though Sora and Leon were eyewitnesses to Sephiroth kidnapping Cloud, the word didn't get out fast enough, and now everyone is certain Toya is after Cloud. He broke out just two days before the kidnapping, and since he killed the youngest, it would only make sense, right?
Soya is now heavily guarded at all times. No one enters and no one leaves. Except Ayu, who Soya gave permission too. Soya needs someone during this time and Ayu, being her best friend, is the only one who can help.
Riku once asked why she didn't cry like everyone else. Ayu smiled faintly and said, "I must be strong for Soya. If I cry, she cries. If I laugh, she'll learn to laugh along too."
One of the other bad cases is Sora. Sora doesn't speak, cry or show any kind of emotion. His past three days consisted of being up before Riku (which the platinum blonde didn't think was possible), barely eating his breakfast, quietly going throughout the day, and ignoring all Riku's questions - except for a nod or a shake of his head. Sora also skipped lunch with Rin. And at home, life wasn't any better. Ayu spends all day at Soya's and doesn't come home until around seven, so Sora does homework, not speaking a word for help on his math, during the time from when they get home to the time Ayu comes home with the pizzas. Sora would only flash a small smile to Ayu and eat his pizza quickly. The only time he would speak was after dinner to excuse himself to go to Leon's. Mom would offer a ride since Leon's house is a twenty-minute walk but Sora would decline.
At three in the morning, Riku would feel a light kiss to his forehead. Sora would mumble something under his breath, which would make Sora smile- the only time he'll smile at all. "Sorry I can't be here for you." He would say, and his wings, twitching behind him, would disappear. Sora would climb into bed, hug onto Riku and fall asleep. Two hours later, he's up before Ayu and Riku, thinking.
Riku was very worried.
It was Saturday, and Riku was determined to get Sora to talk. Or at least to smile.
Sora was up before Riku again so was Ayu. Riku scratched his head when he went downstairs to find no one. "It's seven in the morning." He said aloud, glaring at the digital clock above the oven. "Mom and Sora never wake up before nine on weekends!" He spotted a note on the kitchen table.
'Hey sweetie, it's Mom. Sora is with Leon. Don't go over there though, Sora mentioned he's in a bad mood. I'm with Soya, you know not to go over there. The guards will attack. They gave Mrs. Humi a pretty nasty bruise, throwing her over the porch like that. Poor woman, she was only trying to bring Soya a plate of chocolate biscuits… Anywho, call up one of your other friends, you've probably been neglecting them since Sora arrived. --enter smiley face-- Love, Mom'
Riku growled. There goes his perfect plan to spend time with Sora. He was just about to crumple the note up when Riku noticed a PS at the bottom, 'Sora won't be long at Leon's. He should be home around lunch.'
Riku smiled and threw the note away. He could wait three hours.
He went into the living room and looked around for the phone. "I'll go call Rin, to see if she's practicing for the Blitz Ball tryouts next week."
He dialed her number and waited for someone to pick up. When someone answered, it was her mom. "Hello?"
"Hello Mrs. Seikya. Is Rin home?"
"No, sorry. I think she's with Leon."
Leon? Riku thought, surprised. 'I though only Sora could see him…'
"I think she has her cell with her, try calling that." Mrs. Seikya continued.
"I will, thanks."
"Anytime, Riku." She hung up.
Riku immediately called Rin's cell phone. After a few rings, she picked up. "Heya, it's Rinny!"
"Rin? It's Riku."
There was a pause. "Riku? Oh, hey. What's up?"
"Where are you?"
"…With Leon and Sora." She answered after a few seconds.
"I though Leon didn't want to see anyone besides Sora." Riku challenged.
"Well, Sora thought he might need to use some backup since today Leon and Cloud were supposed to go on a date, to the fair that's going on tonght in order of the eclipse. Leon's having a hard time and Sora called me to lighten up the place."
"Is Sora there? Is he busy? Can I speak to him?"
"Yes to all. Hold on." Riku heard some Rin yell away from the phone, "Sora! Riku wants you!" She paused and then giggled. "But of course, you all already knew that."
Sora grabbed the phone and Riku knew he was pouting. "Oh shut it, Rin. Hello?" He asked into the phone.
"Sora?" Riku asked.
"Hey Riku. What's up?" Those five words (including the hello) were the most Sora had spoken to him in four days.
"What are you doing at Leon's?"
"Oh nothing really. Just making sure Leon stays alive. He's not doing so hot right now. He's already made a shrine for Cloud and a voodoo doll for Sephiroth. Actually, two dolls, the first one went up in flame and it didn't work anymore so he had to get a new one. He's quite talented with the art of voodooism."
Riku was positive he heard a giggle after that. "Well, do what you can. You'll be home soon, right?"
"Yeah, around lunch. Oh, say, Riku?"
"Sora?"
"Can we go to that festival thing tonight? Leon says it's supposed to be lots of fun. I think Rin's dragging him there because she thinks he'll go insane if we leave him alone tonight. Cloud's been talking for weeks about this festival, and Leon's been looking forward to it too. Also, Rin wants to go and doesn't want to stay cooped up in the house with an emo Leon."
Riku laughed. "Alright, we'll go. I wanted to check up on Leon anyway."
Sora sighed on the other side of the phone. "I hope he gets better."
"SORA GET OFF THE PHONE!!" Rin yelled.
"Sorry Ri, gotta go. I'll be home in a few hours. See ya!" Riku listened to the beeps after Sora hung up.
That was the first time Sora called him 'Ri' in four days.
Oh, he was a happy man.
0o0
Around one, Sora came back happier than he's been in a while. "You must be feeling better." Riku asked, prying Sora off of him. "If you weren't, you wouldn't have jumped on top of me."
Sora smiled up at his friend. "Yup. We made a lot of progress today."
"Like what?"
Sora smirked and slid off Riku. "That's conventional." He winked at the stunned Riku and left him laughing for the TV.
Riku frowned. When he said he wanted Sora to laugh, he didn't mean at him!
Sora flipped through the channels, looking for something non-educational, like Spongebob Squarepants. Riku, deciding he wanted to be the bad guy, grabbed the remote from Sora to put on something interesting, like Shark Week on the Discovery Channel.
Sora pouted and grabbed it back, switching it to the little yellow sponge. Riku narrowed his eyes and snatched the remote. "We're not watching a retarded kitchen cleaning tool getting it on with a pink wad of bubble gum."
"He's a starfish!" Sora argued, reaching over to get the remote. Riku held it at arm's length away and Sora climbed on his lap to reach it better. "And they're not getting it on. It's a kid's show, Riku!"
"Whatever. It's still bad. Sharks are awesome, not to mention you learn something." With the press of the button, Patrick was gone from the TV and in replace was a shark swimming toward the camera.
"But I don't like sharks!" Sora complained and tried to reach for the remote again. He was currently straddling Riku's waist and was reaching straight up, one hand in the air, the other one on Riku's shoulder, trying to heave himself higher.
"Yes!" Sora finally got a hand on the remote. He tore it out of Riku's grasp but he wasn't fast enough. Riku took the other side, tugging one side while Sora pulls the other. Their fingers pressing random buttons switched up the TV from white guys trying to rap to the Wiggles to a saleswoman selling jewelry to a mushy soap opera.
The remote flew out of their hands and landed across the room. "And in today's top story…"
Riku and Sora stopped and looked at the anchorwoman doing to news. "The Lunar eclipse is coming up next Thursday. Tonight and tomorrow night, in Destiny Square, there will be the biggest festival since the Party of the Snow, ten years ago."
"Ten years ago?" Sora repeated. "I was alive back then…" He mumbled softly.
"What was that Sora?" Riku asked.
"N-nothing!"
"I remember that Party of the Snow." Riku smiled. "Sora and I got dressed up in little blue snowflake outfits and ran around trying to win little fishes in the game where you try to catch them using a paper net. We were terrible."
"Did you catch one?" Sora asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yeah, Sora got one but he gave it to me since I was upset. We shared it and named it Poopy-kins."
"Oh, very creative." Sora grinned. "You probably came up with it, didn't you."
"Actually… I did. Oh wow, I'm terrible."
They couldn't help but laugh.
0o0
"Well, congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Honda. Just sign here, here, here and here." A real estate agent smiled brightly, proud of the fact that she just sold another house.
The brown haired twenty-year-old signed all the papers and grinned back. Her 'husband' looked gleefully at a fluttering butterfly. His 'wife' quickly jabbed his side to make him pay attention. The man snapped to attention but his eyes occasionally wandered to follow the insect.
"Thank you so much." The woman said sweetly.
The real estate agent flipped through the papers on her clipboard quickly before asked, "When do you plan to move in? Two weeks? Next month? Two months?"
The brunette smiled. "Now."
The agent nearly dropped her clipboard. "N-n-now? There's no way you can move in so quickly. Sure, it's a new house and no one needs to move out but… still! What about all your stuff?"
The brunette kept her calm. "We're newlyweds. We don't have much stuff. All we need is each other. Right, sweetie?"
The 'husband' recited the lines he was given. "Yes, dear."
"You see, our families don't believe in our marriage and all of our belongings were destroyed. So, we ran away and got married." The woman wiped away the crocodile tear in her eye. "It was so terrible. Wasn't it?"
"Yes, dear."
The retail agent bit her trembling lower lip. "Alright, the house is yours. If there is anything I can do for you…"
The brunette smiled softly. "No, no. We're fine. Like I said, all we need is each other."
The two women talked for a few more minutes while the man tried to chase a squirrel before getting pulled back. The agent finally left and the 'couple' went inside the house.
The angel flicked her finger and the room was filled with couches, a TV, two tables and some art hung on the wall.
The Twilight stared in shock. "Oh, pretty. You did a good job Aeris."
"Thanks. You think so? Does it look like a human home?"
"Yeah, it does."
"You were human during this period, right Demyx?" He nodded. "I died so many years ago. Back in the time of machinery taking over. I didn't have a stable home to live in. I survived off the money I got from selling flowers. I wasn't sure if this is what it looks like."
"It is, don't worry." Demyx gave her a small pat on the back and walked toward the kitchen.
Aeris bit her lip and thought for a moment before calling out. "Hey, Demyx?"
"Yeah?" She heard some movement from behind the wall.
"Why did you become a Twilight?"
There was no sound coming from the kitchen for a while. Then the shuffling continued at a slower pace than before. "Remember the story you told the ugly lady?"
"You mean the real estate agent?"
"That's the ugly one. Anyway, that story isn't too far from the truth." There was a small sigh. "I fell in love with my best friend. We wanted to get married but my family was against it. But instead of them destroying our stuff, we burned down our old house with them inside. Only my father survived. We got married but dear old dad came back and killed me. But I was a good student and very helpful and if I didn't kill my family, I would have went to Heaven so I was lost. I got stuck being a Twilight. I was told that if I helped out Master and killed Sora, I could visit Earth and see him…"
"Who was he anyway?"
Demyx came back into the room carrying a large sandwich. "His name is Zexion."
0o0
Sephiroth was bored.
Alright, he was always bored but this time he was exceptionally bored and not to mention pissed off. So he got Cloud like his master wanted, and for what? A, "Good job Sephiroth. I knew I could count on you." And his capture being taken away from his pleasure.
Yeah, he liked Cloud, so what? He had every reason to, but his master had no reason to take him away like that.
So now, he was bored, pissed and slightly hungry. Not a very good combination.
His master was in the new highly advanced holding room, ever since the angel and the twilight escaped, master's been somewhat obsessive with it not happening again.
He even had guards standing around the cell. Sephiroth wanted to be one but Master says he's too 'useful to be guarding a human'.
Sephiroth stretched and yawned. He looked around the dark room. He was just outside the main room where his master was planning his next attack, a small room that was mostly used as a common room for relaxing and hanging out with friends. Hey, just because they're evil doesn't mean they don't have a social life.
Sephiroth noticed how empty the usually crowded room was and got up, stretching some more. He glanced around the room with a sly look on his pale face. He walked silently across the room to the open door and looked down the hallway. It was dim with a few lights.
Sephiroth's sly smile turned into a full smirk. He swiftly guided himself down the hall and took a sharp left turn. No one was there either. The silver haired man raised a thin eyebrow.
Where was everyone? Usually at this time Taku and Taki would be walking around the halls, pretending they owned the joint. Although this concerned one side of Sephiroth, the other side really wanted to see Cloud.
The guards that surrounded the cell had fallen asleep from lack of entertainment. Sephiroth stepped around the sleeping Twilights and looked inside the door window.
Cloud was sitting there drawing an imaginary picture with his finger, looking quite bored. Sephiroth knocked quickly on the door. Cloud jumped from his seat on the floor. His eyes met with Sepihorth's and glared. "What are you doing here?" He spat out.
Sephiroth took the keys from the sleeping guards and opened the door. Cloud jumped back when Sephiroth walked into the room. "Get away from me!"
"I want to talk to you." Sephiroth said calmly.
"I sure as hell don't want to talk to you!" Cloud yelled back. "Just get awa--"
Sephiroth quickly covered the blonde's mouth. "Shh. The guards will wake up."
"Mfhimlb!" Came Cloud's muffled response from the hand.
"Listen well, I'm only gonna say this once." Sephiroth's eyes were hard and guarded. "I may be with the bad guys, but I don't want to do any damage to you."
Cloud made a disbelieving roll of his eyes. "No, I'm serious, Cloud. Just listen. You might not believe me, but I know more about you than you are aware. I am under no obligation to answer how exactly."
Sephiroth yelped and brought back his hand from Cloud's mouth when said blond bit him hard. "I don't care about that. What are you planning to do with Sora?"
The Twilight nursed his injured hand. "I do whatever my master tells me. If he tells me to spare him, I will. If he tells me to kill him immediately, I will do so."
"You can't!" Cloud yelled, then slapped a hand over his mouth. The guards were still sleeping soundly.
"If I had a choice, I would let the angel live because you tell me to do so. But since I don't, it's up to my master whether he lives or not. But I can promise you this, if I do kill Sora under an order, I will do it with regret. He isn't such a bad kid."
"Sora's already dead though." Cloud said quietly. "How can he die again?"
"He's an angel. Humans can sometimes see angels if they still have a part of human left in them. Although, if an Angel, Demon or Twilight dies again, they get sent to Oblivion where they live in eternal darkness, alone and the worst memories follow them constantly. It's like being stuck in a nightmare without the ability to wake up."
"That will happen to Sora if he dies in this war?"
"Yes. I can't promise much else to you, Cloud, but one more thing. Nothing bad will happen to you. I'll defy my master to protect you."
Cloud was speechless for a while. "You'll let me go then?"
"No. It's safer here. He'll kill you if you escape, not to mention me as well."
0o0
Later that night, Sora and Riku met up with Kairi before going to the festival. She was dressed in a short purple and white dress. Sora wore tan khakis and a white dress shirt. Riku wore his favorite baggy jeans and tight yellow shirt. He wore a white jacket over it.
Kairi tugged at the bottom of her dress, afraid it was too short. "So we're meeting up with Tidus, Selphie, Rin and Leon there right?"
Sora nodded. "Yeah, at the dunking tank, I think." He swiftly patted his side pocket, locating his duct tape, a knife and mask in case (and he was sure) a Demon or Twilight would appear.
Ayu dragged Soya out of her house with the permission of the bodyguards, as long as they followed. There was no need for driving, since Destiny Islands was a fairly small island.
Although it was a small island, doesn't mean that it can't hold a lot of residents. Destiny Square (kinda like town square) was packed.
Soya and Ayu handed the three teens some munny for games and food. They split up and Riku, Sora, and Kairi huddled together in the huge crowd, trying to find their friends.
When they finally found them, Tidus had a ball in his hand, aiming at the target to knock down his social studies teacher, Mr. Hikari. Sora had to admit he looked younger without his glasses on. His blue hair was in his face and still dry.
Mr. Niwa, the math teacher, smiled from the ground next to him. "Aw, come on, you guys gotta knock him down!" He winked at Mr. Hikari. "Having fun Satoshi?"
Mr. Hikari was not pleased. "Not at all, Daisuke. I don't know why you even signed me up."
"It's fun!" Mr. Niwa brushed back some of his spiky red hair before leaning up to whisper something in the other teacher's ear. When he leaned back, Mr. Hikari nodded.
"Yeah, you're right."
Tidus threw the ball and it missed the target. Mr. Hikari sighed. "You're not having much luck, Tidus. That's… what? The eleventh?"
"Argh! I know!" Tidus yelled, picking up another ball.
"Where's all your blitz ball skills?" Mr. Niwa laughed.
Tidus growled and chucked the ball. He missed.
Selphie yawned and pushed her boyfriend out of the way. "My turn." She grabbed a ball and threw it. She easily hit the target.
Mr. Hikari was NOT happy when he came back up. "What the heck, Tidus? You got beaten by a girl- your girlfriend!"
Meanwhile, on the other side of the festival… Demyx stared googly-eyed at a bag of cotton candy. "It's so… FLUFFY!" He ran over toward Aeris. "Can I have it?" He asked excitedly, pointing to the bag of pure sugar.
"I don't think so." Aeris said in her motherly like voice. "It's made of sugar and nothing but it and that stuff will rot your teeth out."
"Aw come on! PLEASE?" Demyx begged, tugging on the hem of her flowing pink tank top. "Dental stuff doesn't count for me since I'm dead!" He whispered the last part under his breath.
Aeris thought about it for a second before sighing. "Fine, if you must…" She handed him some munny.
Demyx did a little jump before running to the cotton candy booth. He came back a few moments later with a huge bag of blue and pink candy. His smile was the biggest Aeris as seen so far.
They continued walked, just looking at anything and everything, Demyx silently eating his food, content.
Demyx stopped moving for a second and Aeris looked back, confused. "What is it?" Then she felt it too. A strong wave coming over her body. She looked around. No one else was panicking so they couldn't have felt it.
"He's here…" Demyx whispered.
"You mean…"
He nodded. "Sephiroth."
0o0
On the other side of the party, Sora felt it too. He shivered at the feeling of darkness rushing through his body. He quickly pulled on Leon's sleeve. "Leon, they're here."
"Who?"
Sora gulped and whispered, "The guy who took Cloud. Sephiroth."
Leon's eyes darkened. "Are you sure? How can you tell?"
"I just know, you wouldn't be able to feel it until they actually show their face."
Leon looked around. Riku and the others were occupied trying to throw a ring on a bottle. Sora and Leon were the only two not playing. "What's the plan?"
"By the feel of it, they're probably circling overhead."
"Overhead?"
"Wings, duh. Anyway, they're probably swoop down and try to get me or one of our friends. Riku is also at a very high danger, more than the others are. I'm gonna have to get away from them, maybe confuse Sephiroth. I'm not sure if that'll do much good since he all ready knows them."
Leon growled at the name. "What else? The actual action part?"
"I'll distract them and lead them away from the party, hopefully then they won't attack any bystanders."
Sora lead Leon away from the festival to a secluded area behind a group of trees. He took the knife out of his pocket and handed it to Leon. "Cut two holes in my back where my shoulder blades are."
"Why?"
"There's no time for questions!" Sora snapped, trying to think.
Leon sighed and listened. "Two inches good for you?"
"Perfect." Sora stood still, tensed up slightly.
"You'll do fine." Leon assured him. "This is what you've been training at my house for. Just do everything we did and you'll do perfectly."
Sora didn't say anything for a few moments. "Tomorrow is the lunar eclipse, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"It'll end tomorrow. It's either I die, or they die. No matter how it ends…" Sora looked at Leon and smiled sadly, tears building up in his eyes. "I'll be leaving."
0o0
It was only a few minutes later when Riku noticed two of his friends were missing. He cursed under his breath and called Tidus over. "They're gone. Leon and Sora aren't here. Did you see them leave?"
"I didn't. Are you sure? Maybe they went to go get some food. Sora likes food and Leon's responsible to get him there and back in one piece. Did you ask anyone else?"
Riku asked his other friends if Leon or Sora told them they were leaving, they all said no.
"Now what?" Riku sighed. "Mom and Soya will kill me if they knew Leon and Sora got lost. What if they're not together? Leon didn't bring his cell phone, Sora doesn't have one…Oh god…"
Kairi patted his back. "We'll find them. They wouldn't leave. Let's spilt up and look for them, all right? I'll go with Tidus while you go with Selphie and Rin. Tidus has his cell and Rin has hers."
"Okay." Riku said. "We'll go right and you two go left." Kairi nodded and grabbed Tidus' arm, leading him away from the other three.
Rin bit her lip. "I think they'll be around any food courts."
"We'll go there first."
0o0
Aeris and Demyx were taking a break, sitting underneath a palm tree when the angel's senses flared. She gasped when she figured out who's it was.
"Sora's here! I don't know where but, we need to get to him quickly."
"What's the rush?" Demyx asked lazily. "We just walked a lot and I'm tired."
"I'm not sure if Sora knows about the others, though. I'm sure you felt their presence getting stronger."
Demyx sat up a little straighter. "I did, actually." He sighed. "Alright, let's go find him."
They stood up and headed left. "I think they're this way."
0o0
Sora breathed in and out before letting his wings loose. The silver-white feathers sprouted from his back and stretched, happy to be free again.
It was Leon's first time really seeing Sora's wings and he was amazed. Sora grinned. "Pretty, no?"
"They are. They're such a bright color."
"The brightest." Sora corrected. "One of the brightest in history." He laughed. "I guess I'm just special."
Putting all silliness aside, Sora took in another deep breath and felt his magic running through his veins. Not to mention he could also feel the presence of a powerful Twilight; probably Sephiroth sent by his master.
But there were two others, he couldn't quite place. Familiar, yet, different.
"They're getting closer."
"You keep saying they. Sephiroth and who?" Leon asked.
"I don't know."
There was a large flash in the sky, right behind a cloud before a single black feather fell on top of Sora's head. He plucked it off his hair and ran his hand down it. "It's Sephiroth, all right."
There was another flash, a much larger one- it hit the ground no less than ten yards in front of Sora and Leon. When the light faded, Sephiroth stood there, his face emotionless and his eyes dark. He had on his Twilight outfit, the one Sora has seen in so many pictures of him before. A long, black trench coat with silver armor plates that reached the middle of his black leather boots. His long silver hair flowed wildly in the wind. He brushed part of it back with his black gloved hand.
Leon looked like he was about to kill someone when Sephiroth caught his eye and smirked.
Before either of them could open their mouths, Sephiroth answered the question they had on their minds. "He is alive and well."
Leon still didn't look satisfied. His body stance was that of offense, wanting to run over and choke the Twilight until he made a funny croaking sound.
He noticed and glared back. "I didn't touch him if that's what got you all worked up. Tomorrow, he'll be back. I somewhat promised him that. It doesn't matter if we lose," He stared right at Sora. "Or win."
Without any warning, a flaming fireball was hurled directly at Sora. With his fast reflexes, Sora quickly pushed Leon away and mumbled the curse for a water wall. It just barely destroyed the ball of fire, but it did knock the angel back a few feet. Luckily, his wings lessened the impact.
Sora looked up and noticed Sephiroth was gone. "Where…?" He felt something collide with his side hard, sending him back to the ground. Sora heard a loud scream- Sephiroth had attacked Leon.
Leon wasn't slow; he had pretty fast eyes. He saw the Twilight coming and had the knife Sora gave him in hand. Although, he didn't hit Sephiroth, he did block him somewhat. The only mark on Leon was a long gash across his arm.
"Damn, he's fast." Sora muttered, staring into his cold green eyes. If he didn't know any better, he would have sworn he saw a flash of regret in them.
0o0
Riku, Selphie and Rin were asking around if anyone had seen a little kid with wild chocolate hair and a tall brunette that looked like he'd come out of a motorcycle movie. Everyone had declined.
Selphie sighed. "One of these days, I'm gonna get that Squally a leash."
"What makes you think it was Leon's fault?" Rin asked.
"'Cause Sora wouldn't leave Riku's side." Selphie sighed. "He's too hopeless without him."
"So that means, Leon got jealous of Riku because he had someone to love while his own love was taken away from him so he stole Sora!" Rin concluded, smiling brightly.
The two cousins jumped around, delighted of their new findings while Riku gritted his teeth.
"Would you two please shut it?" He rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling a possible headache coming on. "Of all the people to be stuck with… Rin, you can sense auras, right? Can you possibly see Sora's? You said before he had a weird one."
Rin stopped, mid-jump. "Oh that's right. I forgot." She laughed sheepishly and closed her eyes, concentrating. Most of the time, it took at least a minute to get a small ray, being the amateur aura reader Rin was, but this time she had her eyes closed for no more than five seconds before they opened. Her blue eyes looked scared. "There's a few waves, different ones, yet all evenly powerful. Two are in that direction." She pointed to the left. "And two more are moving toward the other two."
"Who are they?"
Rin bit her lip, trying to think. "The two moving are people I've never met but the two over there are Sora and… Sephiroth."
"Sephiroth?" Riku repeated, angrily and shocked. "What the hell does he--"
There was a sound of an explosion. The smell of fire carried through the wind and drifted to the three friends.
"That's the area where Sora's in!" Rin cried.
There was another noise, quickly following the smell- a scream of pain. "That sounded like Leon." Selphie whispered, frightened.
They started to run toward area Rin pointed to. There was the sound of something moving overhead. Then a large lighting bolt crashed into the earth, only about a hundred yards in front of Riku, Selphie and Rin.
The next things that came their way were two large fireballs. One hit a large teriyaki steak tent and it burned down in seconds. Another hit a festival game.
The crowd at the festival would have to be blind to miss that. People ran in the opposite direction of the large park Sora was supposedly in.
"Look!" Selphie yelled. "Up in the sky!"
Riku looked up and saw a black feather falling down. He jumped up and caught it. "What's this?" He saw something move above and glanced at it again. A large black wing flew gracefully and quickly in the sky. The black object stopped for a second and shot what looked like a giant dark purple ball of energy. There was another scream.
"That sounded like Sora." Riku growled, picking up the pace.
"What's that?" Selphie asked, pointing to the sky again.
It was another giant pair of wings, white this time. The way they were flapping unevenly made it look like the blast of energy hit it.
"Riku?" Leon staggered out of the bushes, shocked. His sleeve was ruined, blood seeping through the white cotton.
"What happened, Leon?" Selphie asked, running over to examine his injury. "Where's Sora? Rin said she felt Sephiroth here too."
Leon didn't say anything as Selphie ripped the hem of her dress to make a bandage. "If Sora's here, I want to know." Riku demanded, glaring.
Leon paid no attention as he effortlessly picked Selphie up to avoid a falling dagger. "I didn't know he had weapons with him." He muttered mostly to himself.
"What's the supposed to mean?" Riku growled. "You're ignoring me Leon. What happened to Sora?"
A gigantic blue flash covered the entire sky and somewhere in the midst of it all, there was a scream.
Just when the flash was gone, something crashed into the earth that was fully black. Leon, Selphie, Rin and Riku glared at Sephiroth when he pulled up from the ground.
The Twilight glared back at them, especially a certain silver haired man. "That Riku kid is here. No wonder why Sora's powers are so much stronger. The longer he stays, the more powerful he'll get." He stood up, as gracefully and with as much dignity as he could muster. "Nice job, Angel. He'll be proud." He raised his arm and disappered.
When Sephiroth arrived in the castle, no one was there… again. He was beginning to get worried.
He called out, "Hello?" No one answered. He tried again with not much luck. He shrugged and continued on to visit Cloud.
When he got to the cell, the guards weren't there but traces of blood were. Sephiroth sniffed the air. It smelled strongly of blood and a faint hint of the dead. The bodies must have desintegrated to Oblivion by now.
He carefully edged over toward the cell and looked inside. Cloud was huddled into the back corner, his arms around his knees, burying his head. He was shaking.
Sephiroth opened the door and gently called out his name. "Cloud?"
The blond spiky kid jumped. He looked at Sephiroth with his frightened eyes and actually calmed down a little. "Oh, Sephiroth, you scared me. I thought you died, too…"
"What do you mean?"
Cloud twiddled his thumbs, something Sephiroth noticed he did whenever he was nervous. "I heard some screams outside and when I looked out the window, there were these huge guys killing off my guards. It was really brutal. I heard the doorknob jingle and I ran into the corner. They stopped and I heard talking. The next thing I know, everything was quiet and I was alone."
"Without the guards, you were free, you know. The door was open."
"I was scared. I didn't want to leave in case they were looking for me." Cloud shook his head.
"Who did it? Where are the others?" Sephiroth asked.
"I don't know. It was a set of twins. Someone said one of their names, Taki, I think it was."
Sephiroth made a face. "Oh. That kid. He's a wimp, I can't believe he killed them. What else do you know, Cloud?"
"I don't know anything else. No one else has been around and quite frankly, I'm starving. They haven't fed me yet." He grinned sheepishly when his stomach growled.
Sephiroth cracked a tiny smile. "Let's get you out of here."
"But-"
"I'll protect you from the evils. I don't think they're here though. It's been quiet for quite some time. I don't know what it means." Sephiroth said, gently taking Cloud's arm and leading him toward the hall.
"Maybe they're going to attack Sora." Cloud struggled to keep up with Sephiroth's long stride.
The silver haired man quickly stopped and caused the blond to run into his back. "What date is it?"
"Let's see. It's been… three days since you kidnapped me. Or was it four?" Cloud asked sarcastically.
"Four."
"Then it would be Saturday the eighth."
Sephiroth cursed silently. "No wonder no one's here."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"They're all after Sora. The eclipse is tomorrow around five. Between now and then, they're gonna try and kill him."
Cloud looked panicky. "Do you think he's gonna be alright?"
"If he could beat me, he'll do fine. Don't forget Riku will be with him." Sephiroth gave him a small smirk.
Although, he didn't exactly understand what was going on, Cloud smiled back.
0o0
Sora landed smoothly on the ground, his wings aching from all the flying. He hasn't flown that much in a long time.
He sighed and wiped some sweat with his brow. Sora was too wiped out to put away his wings.
"I'm glad Sephiroth left. Although, I'm beat, my magic is completely fine. I wonder why, right Leon?" He turned around to face his friend only to jump back at the shocked faces of Selphie, Rin, and Riku.
"S-Sora?"
"R-Riku?"
0o0
Rin: -hides under the bed- Review please!!! I'll write faster, I swear! It's the summer!
… I love you guys… please don't kill me…