Umbrella Against Fate
Author's Notes: Yay! Another update! I'm trying to make my chapters longer, but I don't' really feel like its working. I'm attempting so let me know what you think!
Italics are the Taint or the soul's voice.
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Square Cinx. The story itself is mine.
Full Summary: They were both misfits belonging on polar opposite worlds. When they meet in the middle, they decide to do the ultimate act of defiance…they decided to switch themselves. By doing so they entered a bond stronger than any magic that would lead the world as they know it to end. But this is a story about their love and the powerful bond that lead one demon to be turned into an angel and an angel to demon.
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.:Chapter 2:.
He was merely walking into the city made of crystals floating on the sky. Cloud had donned on a simple pair of tunic and pants, hoping to not attract any attention as he strolled around. He wanted to be left alone. His blond hair shimmered in the light of the sun and their reflections upon the crystal buildings. His blue eyes looked like gems. He was heartbreakingly handsome but females avoided looking at him. It wasn't because they were so repulsed by him; rather they were afraid of him. Afraid of what would happen to them if they might happen to be there when The Taint is unleashed.
Cloud sat down on a bench overlooking a fountain in a square. He watched as birds flew and bathed in the waters. He exhaled deeply, feeling very much at peace. He was starting to think about how great it was that he wasn't running into any trouble and today wasn't so bad at all, until someone ruined it.
"Well look what we have boys! We got the only prince, the commander of our forces!" The man chuckled. "A pathetic commander of our forces, if you ask me. All you do is bitch at us to do things while you sit there looking like the pretty boy when no woman would even wanna look at you. You probably can't fight!" The other man said. Behind him, his friends laughed. Cloud could see from the corner of the other angel's wings that women were staring too.
'Are you going to take that? If you do, you're exactly as he says. You're weak and just a pretty boy.'
"You haven't even killed anybody. All you do is just talk and talk and make us do all the dirty work." The man taunted. Cloud could vaguely see that he was a soldier angel because he had a long scar across the collarbone which peeked out from his long tunic shirt.
'He thinks you're weak! Then again, you are. Let me out, show him he's wrong. Show him he's wrong. You're strong, right, Cloud?'
Cloud gritted his teeth. Ignore it, he chanted to himself. Ignore the voice. However the brunette man towering over him kept going at it.
"You're so small anyway. Why would they even put you in charge? Your mother should've had a demon kill you from the start and save the rest of The Above the trouble of having to be ruled by a pathetic weak prince like you."
Cloud shot up. The action made the other angel stumble backwards. The brunette attempted to open his mouth to say another crude thing, but Cloud's hands have wrapped around the collar of his shirt and cut off his airway in a flash. Cloud was slightly shorter than him but the way that he was emitting anger and his eyes glaring at the other man from behind the long bangs of blonde hair made all things quiet.
"Arena in an hour, we'll fight and I'll show you how weak I am." Cloud spat. With that, he dropped the man and started to head back to the palace.
Still the other man decided to have the last word. "An hour? I can beat you right here and now!"
However the deadly glare that Cloud sent over his shoulder sent a shiver of fear down the dark haired angel's spine. Had he unleashed The Taint?
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The sword in his hands was a familiar companion. The leather that wrapped around the hilt was worn enough that Cloud merely had to feel for the imprint of his hands to know where to hold it. It was heavy in his right hand but he was accustomed to the heavy weight of the First Tsurugi.
He was wearing thick white cotton shirt and pants underneath his metallic blue armor. He was watching practically alone in the stadium arena, watching as people gathered in the benches to watch this fight. With his sensitive hearing he could hear whispers of the people wondering if he was going to kill the other man like he killed his enemies.
Cloud brushed it aside. No one knew him in this land, save for a tiny handful of people. No one understood him here, no one knows his history. The only think of him as monster because they only know one fact: that he inherited the worst of The Taint.
A hand clapped onto his shoulder, shifting the weight of his armor to the hand. Cloud turned around and saw the dark blue eyes framed by long black hair of spikes looking down at him. Zack had always been more than he was….taller and more built. Cloud's best friend gave him a smile and a squeeze on the shoulder, silently saying that things were going to be all right.
That's what he loved about Zack. Zack never would tell him to practice restrain, be careful, or any of the other crap people told him. Zack would only ask to make sure that Cloud was safe, that he make sure no harm comes to him. Zack was always concerned for Cloud, nothing else. The blonde man gave him a nod in acknowledgement to the silent questions in which spoke through Zack's eyes. With that, Zack left, heading to find a seat.
The other angel that Cloud was going to face off came. He held a katana in his hands and he wore a light green armor. He looked taller than Cloud was, definitely held more muscle. The man's face was twisted in anger. They bowed to the people watching and then each other and the fight commenced.
The man charged quickly at Cloud the second the fight commenced. He held his katana up and poised for an offensive attack. Cloud stood still, eyes sharply focused on his opponent. He had his feet spread out and he held his body in a defensive position, with his large sword at the side, prepared to swing off any attack.
The man jumped to Cloud's side and aimed the edge at his ribcage. With such a large sword, everyone would think that Cloud wouldn't have the speed to block the attack. Cloud spun around and the sword knocked the katana aside, as well as effectively adding more space in between his opponent and himself. The movement surprised his opponent and Cloud took the advantage by taking up the offensive without giving his enemy the chance to think.
However the other man was quick to respond by jumping up and soon the fight commenced in mid air. Cloud followed without a moment hesitation and his own large wings took up easily into the sky. He brought his large sword up over his head and swung down.
The katana dropped from the man's hands and swung onto the ground. Without a weapon, the other man resorted to striking Cloud with his words, fists, and magic.
"You're pathetic. You must be trying to compensate for something with that big sword of yours. Probably trying to compensate for the fact that you suck as a leader as well as a man!"
A bolt of lightening shot out from the man's hands. Cloud attempted to block it with his sword but the electricity traveled down from the blade and into his hands, shocking him enough to drop his own sword. Now Cloud was left only with magic and fists to fight.
Cloud gritted his teeth. He wasn't much of a hand to hand combat person. He's been practiced with it and he was probably much better at it but he excelled in swords.
'You can let me out. I can take care of this stupid guy for you, easily. Just let me out for a few moments, that's all. I'll come back to that little cage you want me in after it's all over willingly. Come on…come on!'
Cloud charged at the other man, fists raised. He dodged the magic and punched the man in the gut. He sent a roundhouse kick to his stomach and the man flew to the ground with a crash. However his opponent sent another shot of lightening before he landed.
Cloud barely managed to dodge it.
'You're so slow! You are supposed to be the prince of The Above, the next God! And you're weak enough to almost let some lower angel shoot you with a bolt of lightening?!'
"Wow that was some weak punch. I guess I let my guard down too much. Now I'm done playing!" The man said as he shot from the ground and into the sky again. He sent Cloud a punch in the face that sent the blonde falling backwards.
'You let him hit you! You're worth nothing if you can get hit by that son of a bitch!'
Cloud could feel anger building in his chest. And taunted by both his enemy and the dark voice in his mind, Cloud strove to prove them both wrong. He got up and charged at the man, sending bolts of fire and ice to distract the other man as he charged towards him. Each piece of magic Cloud threw at the other man sent the other man closer to Cloud as he flew straight ahead.
Cloud's kick sent his body up. Cloud's powerful white wings glided him up easily and he stopped when he was above the shocked body. The other man's eyes looked at him and he thrived in the fear he saw in them. Cloud sent a punch in his stomach and a straight kick that had the other man falling downwards. Not having enough, Cloud flew down until he caught the man just before he hit the ground and threw him back up into the sky.
Tired of the chase, Cloud sent bolts of fire at him. Wanting to throw him off, Cloud threw shards of ice at him.
Cloud was entrapped with the siren call of a fight.
The magic was flowing in his veins, an intoxication that made him feel light and free. The stress and anger that he released in each hit he produced was electrifying. It felt so good! He wanted to laugh with childish glee as he sent the man flying upwards again. Cloud felt so powerful!
'Keep going! This feels great!'
More and more blows hit the other man. With each assertion of strength and magic, Cloud felt powerful. He felt so free, he felt like he was being released from a cage and finally being allowed to do what he wanted. This was his place, this was his moment. Nothing could touch him when he was here. He was unbeatable.
So entrapped, Cloud failed to hear the shocked gasps of the people watching the horrid fight. The other man was barely moving but Cloud didn't seem to relent any of his strength. He has loss sense of reality.
'Finish the fight! Kill him! Show them just how powerful you are!'
And there, that was when Cloud froze. He stopped midway from sending another shard of ice. His wings kept him hovering. His glowing blue eyes widened. Voices were raging inside of his ears and head. He had to stop, he had to stop!
Yet the siren was still singing, still weaving its magic around him like a blanket. He tried to untangle himself from it, shake the threads loose. Still Cloud found himself, without wanting to, come towards the body of the other angel.
"No, no, no!" Cloud thought to himself. "Stop it! I don't want to fight anymore!"
His body twitched in response but continued to move closer to the body of his enemy. The next blow would surely kill this other angel.
'He taunted you. He thinks you're weak. Show everyone just how strong you really are.'
"No!"
With a deep breath, Cloud jumped far away. He felt like he was suffocating, fighting against a tidal wave. He was ripping at the blanket of the siren call now, ripping it before it could wrap itself around him again. In a hole of reality, Cloud jumped through it and landed on the ground of reality. Without looking at his defeated opponent or anyone in the stadium, Cloud dashed away from the arena. He had won but in some ways, Cloud lost too.
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Tifa has been sent on a mission. She was going to go hunting today, alone in the Middle Ground. She was flying up, looking down, trying to find her prey. She was careful to stick closely to the rooftops of the buildings so people wouldn't see her. This was supposed to be an easy job, Sephiroth had said, so Tifa found it unnecessary to really throw up magic and walk along the streets. She thought she could sense everything perfectly fine.
Tifa's mind worked its gears, trying to detect her prey with from the memory of the sample of aura of her prey. It had smelled mostly innocent although she could detect that it wasn't all what it seemed. It told her a story of a harsh reality quickly seen, damaging a poor soul that has yet to be grown and prepared for the stinging of the world.
There! There her prey was. So up high, she could not really clearly see her prey, but she has locked on her target. Now, it was time to use magic. She whispered a soft spell, a simple spell, to lure her prey into a place where there were a few people. When she had managed to get her target into an alley, Tifa swooped down swiftly. As she drove down to the ground, she had been prepared to kill quickly and effortlessly.
However when Tifa landed on the ground, she stopped immediately. Her prey was not one, but two. Two pieces of the same puzzle, holding the same aura. Tifa gaped. They were twins, a boy and a girl. When she landed, the young boy of what only seemed to be ten years old, stood immediately in front of his sister. Their eye colors were different but their hair looked generally the same, both brown. The girl's hair was a bit darker but the boy had a lighter shade. They were both pale and sprinkled with freckles across their cheeks.
"Wh-who are you?" The boy shouted, stuttering. Tifa had been prepared to kill an adult, a teenager even, but not children! Tifa couldn't manage to make her mouth work. She couldn't even think of anything to say. How could someone send a demon to kill children?!
Swallowing, attempting to wet her dry throat, she thought of something to say. Maybe if she could figure out why she was sent to kill these children, it could make it easier. Her heart was throbbing with the thought of the killing such innocent looking children.
But looks are deceiving, her demonic state said. Yet her soul whispered that to the core, children are children: innocent.
"Why you are two alone?" Tifa asked quietly. She didn't want them to be afraid of her. When she had landed on the ground, she hadn't bothered to hide her large dark wings. She had been thinking of something quick and easy so that she could melt into the darkness and be back in the Underworld before anyone could spot her. Now that she was standing frozen in an alley with two children, she decided she should hide herself from the view of the rest of the world. "Where are your parents?" Tifa asked.
"We…we don't got none!" The girl shouted. The girl had moved up to stand next to her brother, deciding that if Tifa was going to harm them, maybe the both of them could take her.
"So what have you been doing? How have you been surviving?" Tifa asked. Although she almost shouted that one. Maybe they had killed someone to get the things they needed, murder could mean that they should be killed too. A life for a life.
The girl looked down in shame but the boy glared at her. "Nothing that no one else would've done! We did what we had to!"
"And what was that? Stealing? Killing?"
"We didn't kill anyone!" The girl shouted. Tears were forming in her eyes now. "We just… stole some food off from the carts, but that's it!"
"And where have you been sleeping?"
"In some boxes a few blocks from here." The boy answered this time. Now that Tifa looked closely, she could see the dirt that was in their hair and smeared on their cheeks. She was sure their clothes and limbs were packed full of grit as well.
"But…who are you? Why do you got wings?" The girl asked.
Suddenly, with the mention of wings, both of the children held a gleam of hope in their eyes. They thought Tifa was an angel. Tifa felt a pang in her chest. She couldn't kill them. Stealing was a petty thing, nothing worth dying for to pay the price. And she was no angel, but maybe just this once she could pretend to be. She could pretend to be an angel, sent from the Above, and lure the children into safety. Maybe they'll agree to go with her so she could find someplace safe to take them, so that she could find someone to take care of them.
"I'm an angel." Tifa lied.
"But you got black wings!" The boy shouted, suddenly mistrust in his eyes.
Tifa was quick to respond. "I'm in the dark, of course it looks black. It always looks black until the day comes, so I can blend in better to help people."
"So you're here to help us?" The girl said. Tifa nodded. Suddenly the girl came up and hugged Tifa's legs, tightly. "I'm Marlene."
The boy came to hug Tifa's legs, following his twin sister's example. "I'm Denzel."
She knelt down so they could all be eye level. "I'm Tifa. But you can't tell anyone that, alright? No one, all right? It's a secret."
The children nodded. Tifa sighed. She gathered them in her arms. "Hang on." She told them, and her large majestic wings lifted them all into the air. Their hands wrapped tightly around her arms in fear. In response, Tifa only held them closer to her chest.
Her mind was reeling. She would have to find them protection now, and she would have to play some magic to make sure that no one from her world would find them. She would have to think of how to deal with her brothers later. Forming a quick plan, Tifa dropped all three of them onto the streets. She used magic to hide her wings, but made herself visible. She put the two children on their feet and held their hands.
"Where are we going?" Marlene asked.
"We're going shopping for a few things we'll need." Tifa answered.
Tifa went into a jewelry shop even though the owner of it looked hesitant to let in two dirty children into their store. Tifa picked out a man's ring with a wolf on it, picked out a necklace to hold it for Denzel since she knew the size of the ring wouldn't have fit him. She needed to make this quick. She picked up a bracelet for Marlene. She paid for them with money she had stolen from people as she walked on the streets.
Tifa led the children into an alley. She needed to do this fast, this whole operation. Too long and her brother would send other demons to find her. She performed a quick spell on the pieces of jewelry and handed them to the children, making them put it on as soon as they received it.
"These will protect you. You are to never take it off, you hear me?" Tifa asked with a voice that left no room for argument. The children nodded. The spell would make their aura disappear and protect them so that when danger was to come near them, it would repel them. It would help Tifa anyways.
She flew them quickly to an orphanage, run by nuns in the next town over. Her heart was pounding; this was taking too much time. She was hoping that her brother would give her more time. She dropped them off, told them to knock and present themselves. Tifa left them standing alone on the doorway. She made a quick visit to the person who she thought ran the place and spoke a few seductively sweet words to ensure that the person would take care of Marlene and Denzel.
There her job was done. Tifa flew back to the town she had been sent to hunt. She was flying fast, her eyes skimming down to look for teenagers. She had to save Marlene and Denzel! Her well connected mind to the Underworld was telling her that demons were coming, surely and fast. Her brother doubted her. Her magic sensed one aura that was quick enough to match Denzel and Marlene. They would never know that the one aura she had been given was really two.
Tifa made her killing fast and easy. She had wasted precious time ensuring that Denzel and Marlene would have someone to take care of them, but it had been necessary. The person she had killed was a young twenty-something girl. From her clothing, Tifa could deduce that she had just started to become a stripper, desperate for money. The aura was close enough, too young and already forced to face the harsh real world.
When Tifa turned around, she gave a mental sigh of relief. There, came Sephiroth's favorite three demons: Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo. They all had the same color hair as Sephiroth because they had been created by his magic. They were each given some replica of his power. They were the most faithful to the Demon King. Tifa hated them. They looked at the body and the aura Tifa held in her hands. She extended her hand to grasp Yazoo when he presented her it and she passed the aura of the dead girl into Loz's hands. The three demons escorted the Demon Princess back to the Underworld.
Upon arriving to the Underworld, Tifa went straight to her room. Sephiroth's demons would present him the aura. Tifa's body felt warm, her soul was bursting in happiness while her demonic side was screaming. She had saved two children, two beautiful children. She had done the right thing. Still, Tifa also did the wrong thing.
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Author's Notes: I did change some facts about the ages of Denzel and Marlene. But I hope that's okay. I hope that was enough to catch your interest! Review as always please!