Temporal Storm
Chapter 1
Strange Meetings
The strange feeling come over Rinoa when she first walked into the infirmary. A feeling like she had drunk too much coffee or maybe one too many sodas. She stopped walking and looked around for a moment to see if there was anything odd about her surroundings, but found nothing. She then looked at her two companions.
"Do you guys feel…..jittery?" she asked.
"No. Why?" Selphie asked as she looked at her dark haired friend.
"I don't know. It seems like as soon as I walked in here, I felt jittery. Maybe it's just my imagination." She said as she shook her head.
"Don't worry! Quisty and I are here with you! And I'm sure that if it's a needle you're worried about, it won't be as bad as you think and you can hold my hand!" Selphie said grinning now.
"I'm not afraid of….." she started, but was cut off as Dr. Kadowaki and a young man walked into the infirmary.
The young man wore a black bomber jacket with white trim fur around the neck. The jacket didn't go all the way down so his white undershirt showed some. He wore a black pair of pants to match the jacket along with black boots. He had brown hair that almost hid the scar that ran from the right side of his forehead, down across his nose and slightly to the left of it. His steel blue eyes held no humor giving him a look that he didn't take any kind of crap from anyone.
"Squall!" Selphie said with a smile and a wave.
"Commander." Quistis said with a slight nod.
"Whatever…" the young man said as he shook his head.
He hated when Quistis called him that. After all, she had been his instructor not too long ago. He took his attention off of his former instructor and looked at Rinoa.
"Hey. What are you doing here?" he asked.
Rinoa didn't even get time to answer before Squall saw her arm that had been injured by the Grand Mantis.
"What happened?" he asked as he moved closer to her and took a look at her arm.
"It's nothing, Squall. Really. Just an accident while training with Quistis and Selphie." She said with a small wince as he took a hold of her arm.
"You didn't have a cure or any potions with you?" he asked.
When he got no answer from Rinoa but a blush, he looked at Quistis and Selphie who gave him about the same answer.
"Be more careful." He said with a sigh. "Please."
Rinoa smiled and nodded. She was happy she had gotten off with such a light reprimand. The please had even made her happier coming from the ever so serious and antisocial commander. She had the urge to throw her arms around his neck right then and there, but decided to wait a while. It wouldn't be proper, even if she did know that he wouldn't object too strongly. Everyone knew they were a couple, but she knew that they still needed to keep things professional when meeting in areas such as this. It wouldn't be right to just up and tackle hug him every time they crossed paths. Besides, it looked like he had come here for a reason other than his own health. He was here on business and she'd have to wait till later to have some time with him.
"So…what are you doing here?" she asked.
"I'm here to see about the man that was brought in about a week ago." He answered.
Dr. Kadowaki motioned for Rinoa to step over to her. Once Rinoa was close, the doctor took a look at her wound.
"Yes. This is minor. A cure will have it fixed quickly." She said before casting a cure on the wound herself. "You're lucky it wasn't something like with Squall's face, or worse. Otherwise I may have had to use stitches."
"Did we really need to go there?" Squall thought to himself.
"Where is this guy anyway?" he asked.
"Over in that first room." Dr. Kadowaki said.
"Ooooooo! I want to see him!" Selphie exclaimed. "I've heard all kinds of rumors! Like, like, his eyes glow in the dark!"
"I see the nurses aren't listening when I tell them not to go saying things." Dr. Kadowaki said as she shot a glare at the nurse's station.
The nurse there quickly got busy acting as if she were typing information into the computers. Dr. Kadowaki just shook her head, and then looked at Squall.
"It's up to you if you want Selphie and Quistis to see him." She said.
"Me too!" Rinoa quipped.
"Of course, Rinoa too." Dr. Kadowaki added with a chuckle.
"This isn't a circus." Squall thought to himself.
"Fine. Stay alert though. Dr. Kadowaki thinks he may be mentally unstable." He said instead.
He followed Dr. Kadowaki into the room that Cloud had been in for the past week. Squall was followed closely by Rinoa who slipped her hand into his while Selphie and Quistis followed close behind her. Once in the room, Rinoa tightened her grip on Squall's hand. The jittery feeling she had gotten when she first got into the infirmary was now almost tenfold. She felt like she could bounce off the walls. Like energy had just been infused into her from some unseen battery and she could run around the garden a couple of times without getting tired. She put her free hand on Squall's shoulder and peeked over it to get a look at the man in the bed. She gasped at the same time Quistis and Selphie did when they saw his eyes. They were a stunning glowing blue. She was glad they weren't making eye contact or she may have gotten lost in them, they were so empty, and seemed so sad.
The man finally did look at her, just catching sight of her over Squall's shoulder. He tilted his head a little to the side, and then looked back at Squall. Rinoa was almost shaking from her jitters now. She really wanted to get back out of the room, but Quistis and Selphie were blocking her way, and she didn't want to seem rude. So instead, she stood there concentrating on breathing and staying calm.
"I'm Commander Squall Leonheart of Balamb Garden. Dr. Kadowaki has told me a lot about you." Squall said in an authoritative, yet still almost bored tone.
"It's nice to meet you. I guess you can call me Cloud." The man in the hospital bed mumbled.
"Where do you come from, Cloud?" Squall asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"I'm from…." Cloud stopped a moment and put a hand to his head as a look of pain crossed his face. "…from Nibelheim. I was created in a lab in Nibelheim."
"Where is Nibelheim?" Squall asked.
"The western continent." Cloud answered as he dropped his hand back to his side.
"Like, Galbadia?" Selphie asked.
"Galbadia? I've never heard of that. Nibelheim is on the Western Continent, at the base of Mt. Nibel. You go over the mountains and end up at Icicle Inn." He explained.
"I've never heard of any of those places, but we'll check it out." Squall said flatly. "Dr. Kadowaki says that you seem to think you were created five years ago by a scientist."
"I don't think it. I know it's true. Professer Hojo said so." Cloud said as he looked at Squall.
"Who is Profressor Hojo?" Dr Kadowaki asked.
"He's the top scientist for Shinra." Cloud responded.
"Who's Shinra?" Squall asked in turn.
At this Cloud looked shocked. He looked to the doctor, then to the others in the room. None seemed to be shocked like he was so that meant all of these people didn't know who Shinra was.
"You all are kidding, right? Shinra Electronics Company. The company who runs all of Midgar? The corporation that controls everything? You know, right? The company that created the Mako reactors?" he asked as he continued to look at the other people in the room. "You can't tell me you've never heard of them. They're global."
"This guy's delusional. I'll have to make some calls." Squall thought to himself.
"Ok. I guess that's all we can really ask about right now. You should probably get some rest." Squall spoke up instead.
"You don't believe me. I'm not lying. I'm not making it up!" Cloud exclaimed.
This startled the women in the room as it seemed so sudden for the man to go from an almost monotone to a more lively voice in the matter of seconds. They had backed up towards the door while Squall stayed rooted to the spot he was standing.
"No one's said anything about you lying or making it up. I'll make some calls and verify your story. We'll have it figured out soon enough. Just rest." He responded in his own almost monotone.
"Fine." Cloud murmured once again in his regular monotone as he settled back against his pillows.
Squall nodded and turned to leave as the woman quickly made their way out. As Rinoa left the room, her jitters seemed to lessen some. She didn't like this. Whoever, or whatever that man was in the infirmary, he was causing her to feel funny in a bad sort of way. She would wait until she had Squall alone and tell him how she felt.
Later that evening, Cloud sat looking through some magazines that the girl Selphie had brought him. She had said she would have brought some text books and all, but she wasn't sure if he could read having been created five years ago and all. She had then began babbling on and on and for some reason reminded Cloud of a ninja girl he knew, before Dr. Kadowaki come up and told the girl visiting hours were over. Selphie had bid Cloud good night and left while humming cheerfully. Now he looked at some articles in the magazine with confusion. He could read just fine, he figured Professor Hojo didn't need any illiterate experiments, but the articles spoke nothing of Shinra or Midgar even. Everything was about some Sorceress War that had just recently been settled and something about treaties and places called Esther and Galbadia. He had been all over the world just recently. He was sure that that memory was not a lie. He would know these names if they existed in the world. Something here was off.
That brought his thoughts back to something he had been thinking about before Selphie had come in. That girl standing behind the commander, the one dressed in blue and black with black hair. Something felt off about her. Although she looked at him with a little bit of awe and fear, something about her felt like a predator ,watching its prey and getting ready to pounce. It made him very uneasy.
This made him think of his future. He wondered briefly what was to happen to him. Would he be sent back to Midgar or Nibelheim? He wondered if Professor Hojo or Shinra would even want a failed experiment back. If they didn't, what was left for him? He had betrayed his friends by giving the materia to Sephiroth. He was sure none of them would be willing to accept him with open arms, especially not that girl. She would be furious with him for pretending to be "Cloud", even if he didn't know he had been pretending at the time. Thinking about all of this was giving him a headache. It wasn't as bad as they could be, but it still felt like something was hammering at his brain to get free. He sat the magazine aside and lay back against his pillows before closing his eyes. Maybe all he needed was some more rest.
"Anything?" Rinoa asked as she walked into Squall's office.
The young commander sighed and rubbed his thumb and forefinger between his eyes. All of this was giving him a headache.
"Nothing. I've called all over and sent out some messages. All that I've gotten back only leads me to believe either the guy is completely off his rocker, or he's lying. There's nowhere in this world with the names of the towns and cities he's mentioned. I really can't figure out why he would make up such an elaborate lie though, so I'm going with he's insane." He explained to her. "I've gotten a call from Dr. Odine. He said Dr. Kadowaki sent him a sample of some kind of substance on the guy's clothes and in his blood stream. He said he's not sure, and he'd have to test it, but he thinks that the stuff could have made that guy go insane. It could be a strong poison or some other kind of toxin."
"Wow." Was all Rinoa could say once Squall was finished explaining things to her. "When will he have the tests back?"
"There's no telling. Until then, we could take Cloud to Esthar and let Dr. Odine deal with him." Squall murmured.
"That's a good idea. He bothers me. He makes me feel uneasy. When I walked in to the infirmary I felt a little jittery. Then once I went into his room, I was completely jittery. I felt like I could bounce right out of my skin. It wasn't pleasant. I don't mean to be cruel, but I'll be glad when he's gone." She said as she rubbed her hands up and down her arms.
Squall stood and walked around his desk to move to her side. He gently put his hands on her arms and rubbed them a little.
"Don't worry. I'm here and I won't let anything happen to you. I won't let anyone hurt you." He said with a very small reassuring smile.
Rinoa beamed up at him and quickly wrapped her arms around his neck. Squall pulled her close against him by putting his arms around her waist. As he moved a hand up to stroke her hair, she nuzzled his chest a little. This was all she needed to feel much better. In his arms she felt safe and sound. She knew nothing could get to her without first having to go through her knight.
"Come on. Let's call it a night." She murmured.
She didn't see as his smile grew a little bigger and he nodded.
Finally the bubbly host was asleep. The sorceress checked to make sure that her host was out enough that she wouldn't be able to block her with her own sorceress abilities. Seeing that the light mental nudges were going unnoticed, she quickly took her chance and took over the body she had been lying dormant in. She only had enough energy to get to the infirmary and back to the energy source. This meant she'd have to take over the host and hopefully get the girl on her feet and moving to the door and down the hall. She was careful not to wake the man lying next to her as she got out of the bed. Once that was accomplished, she lumbered over towards the door and opened it as quietly as she could. She grinned using her host's face as the door opened just right. She then left the room and closed the door. This left her with having to get down the hall and to the infirmary. She wasn't happy that she had gotten unaccustomed to walking and was more shuffling down the hall and holding the wall for support. She just hoped that no one would meet her in the hall way.
What felt like an agonizing eternity later; she made it to the infirmary. She had only almost been spotted once, but luckily she had been at a place where she could hide down another hallway for the person to pass by. She had waited till the cost was clear before continuing. Now she was at the door to the infirmary. She carefully pushed the door open and looked around for any nurses. Seeing that the cost was clear, she started towards the room where her power source was resting. She reached her hand out for the knob just as a nurse come around the corner.
"Ms. Heartilly, what are you doing here?" the woman asked.
The sorceress cursed under her breath before turning and pointing a hand at the nurse. A moment later, the nurse hit the floor sound asleep. The spell took its toll on her, but she turned the knob and handed on into the room. She closed the door behind her and leaned on it tiredly. When she had entered the infirmary, she had felt that energizing power giving her a boost. Using it to send the nurse to sleep had almost zapped her, but now as she leaned against the door in the room with her energy source, she could feel herself becoming more energized. She took a deep breath and relaxed for a moment. Then licking her lips, or rather her hosts, she moved over to the bed that Cloud lay in. She wondered if being in the room with him caused her to gain energy, what would touching him do? She reached a hand out and ran it up his arm. She felt the difference immediately as power rushed into her.
She almost stumbled back from the rush it caused. Instead, she grabbed his arm tightly. She hadn't expected him to wake up at that moment. His glowing blue eyes coming open and looking right at her. For a moment he just seemed groggy, but as that moment passed, he seemed to see that this person was no nurse.
The sheer night gown she wore almost made him think she was some sort of ghost. He then saw her hair and face and recognized her as the woman who had been standing behind Squall. There was something wrong though. It almost appeared like there was someone else there, another person's image lightly overlapping that one of the woman in front of him.
"What are you doing? What do you want?" he asked as he started to pull away.
This wasn't a good idea as the woman's grip tightened and she held him in place. She leaned down close to him, her mouth hovering over his, and took a deep breath. His eyes grew wide as he gasped in surprise. This only helped the sorceress as a green misty light flew from his mouth to hers. He could feel the stuff coming up his throat and almost gagged on it. A few minutes passed before the woman shut her mouth, stopping the flow of the green mist, and let him go to fall almost limply back against his pillows.
"I don't know what this substance is inside of you, but I like it. I'll need more before I can completely regain my power. I'll let you rest tonight and regain your strength. I can't over use this power; I don't want it to run out." She said as she licked her lips.
She reached down to caress his face. As her hand touched his skin it causes him to shutter then convulse. It was as if the blood inside him started to boil literally. His skin even started to take on a red irritated look. His eyes glazed over and everything took on a green tinge to his eyes. She was somehow causing him to have a reaction to the mako already inside of him, like she had somehow increased it. The machines he was hooked to started to go haywire as his vitals started to act abnormally.
The sorceress growled at the noise from the machine before looking back down at the catatonic Cloud.
"I'll be back tomorrow. Don't worry, when I have regained my powers, I won't forget you. I may keep you around in case I need more of this energy. Who knows what the future holds? Hopefully I will once I compress time." She mused.
With everything said and done, she used her new found energy to sneak from the infirmary unseen and back to her host's room.
Dr. Kadowaki didn't know what had put the patient back into the catatonic state he had not long ago gotten out of, but if she had to guess, it appeared the substance in his blood had somehow caused him to have a seizure. The machines had gone off sometime late the night before. She hadn't been alerted because the nurse on duty had fallen asleep. This was the third strike for this particular nurse and she was let go. Dr. Kadowaki did some tests to make sure there was no lasting damage and was satisfied to see none. Now she'd have to wait for him to once more come out of this state.
She mumbled about the incompetence of her nurse staff as she headed up to Squall's office. She went inside to find him working on a computer while Rinoa sat in a chair close to the window. She was mostly sprawled across it lazily as she looked out the window humming.
"You seem pretty chipper today, Rinoa." Dr. Kadowaki noted.
"I feel really good today. I don't know why. It must have just had a great night's sleep." Rinoa responded smiling.
"Well, that's good." Dr. Kadowaki said with a smile before looking at Squall. "It seems Cloud had a seizure last night. He's back in a catatonic state."
"What?" he asked as he looked up."How did that happen?"
"It seems that the substance in his blood acted up in some way." She answered.
"I was hoping to have him transferred sometime this week." He mumbled. "We're not a medical facility after all."
"I know. Maybe next week if he starts responding again? I just don't want to risk something like another seizure happening while on the road." Dr. Kadowaki said.
"You mean…..he has to stay longer?" Rinoa asked as her good mood started to melt away.
"It looks that way. Well, I better get back. We're a little short handed. I had to let a nurse go." Dr. Kadowaki said with a sigh.
She would bow to the two before then heading back out of the office.
"Longer? Really? Does he have to?" Rinoa asked as she looked at Squall.
"Looks like it. Just stay away from the infirmary, ok?" he said.
She nodded and looked back out the window. He certainly wouldn't have to tell her twice. She planned to stay clear of the infirmary until the strange man with the glowing eyes was long gone.
The sorceress would visit Cloud that night and the next two after that. His health didn't decrease, but he still remained in the catatonic state. It was the third night; while the sorceress had her mouth close to Cloud's that he finally comes out of the catatonic state. He struggled and was able to snatch away from her. As he rolled to the opposite side of the bed that she stood on, he panted, gasped, and gagged before finally laying there for a moment in exhaustion. He could hear a light chuckle from the Sorceress because of course she had let him pull away. He was far too weak to try and fend off or pull away from her on his own.
"It's fine. I think I have enough for now. You still have so very much to give, but I'll let it gather again. I need you alive. Rest up. I'll be back two nights from now." She purred as she reached out to stroke his face.
He snatched back and glared at her which only caused her to chuckle again before leaving the room. He wiped at his mouth as he straightened back up. There was a terrible taste in his mouth from the lifestream like essence that the Sorceress was stealing from him. He didn't know if it was his life energy, or energy from the lifestream that still clung to the mako in his system. Whatever it was, he couldn't let that woman keep doing this. He had to come up with a plan and stop her before she returned.
The next day passed uneventfully for anyone as Cloud pretended to still be in a catatonic state. It wasn't too hard for him to ignore everyone around him as the nurses came and went and the doctor entered a few times talking about news and other things that he wasn't interested in. It seemed like it took forever, but finally night come. He then just had to wait until the infirmary was silent before he tried to move. He first pulled the IV needle from his arm and then the other machines that were hooked to him were pulled off. He then threw the covers back and slowly got out of bed. His head spun when he stood, then the room tilted violently causing his stomach to try and push everything back up his throat. His legs then decided they wanted to be traitors too and dumped him into the floor.
It took a couple of minutes before he was once again standing. He moved towards the door to the room and peeked out of it. A nurse was making her rounds and entering another room. He took his time to quickly, as he could, leave his room and start to look for his clothes and armor. He had to duck behind the nurse's station desk a few times as the nurse continued her rounds. After a while he thought he would never find his belongings until he finally spotted them in a cabinet. He snatched them out and quickly headed back to his room. He knew the nurse would be in soon so he stashed his clothes and gear in a nearby waist basket and got back into the bed.
Lucky for him, the nurses here were students and some were less interested in their job as they were in their teen drama. This particular nurse took a look in his room and saw that nothing seemed off and was about to turn and leave, when she noticed something was off. The monitors were turned off. She walked over to check them and noticed that they were not attached to the patient. She was about to turn and go to call for the doctor when a hand grabbed her by the throat. She looked over to see two glowing orbs staring back at her. The grip on her neck was strong when it shouldn't have been. She wasn't going to try and move. This patient couldn't be human. He was a monster and she just knew she was about to die in some horrible fashion. She let out a small noise of fear before fainting away.
Cloud let go of her and watched her drop to the floor like a stone. He took the wires from the monitors and used them to tie her up, then used some medical tape to tape her mouth shut in case she woke up before he could do what needed to be done. He then went to where he had stashed his belongings and quickly got dressed. Wearing his own clothes had him feeling a little better. That feeling quickly died though as he remembered that he wasn't a 1st Class SOILDER. These clothes were just given to him probably by Professor Hojo to cover up. They were nothing but clothing. He groaned and put a hand to his head before shaking it hard. He didn't need to distract himself with that now.
He looked out of the room and made sure there were no more nurses before heading out of the infirmary and on down the hall way. His plan wasn't the best. He had no weapon and no idea where the Sorceress was staying at night. He closed his eyes and tried to feel out for the strange vibe he felt when she was near, the strange little tug that becomes a dramatic snatching sensation when she was close to him. He soon felt it. It was down another hall way. He'd have to be quiet and quick if he wanted to avoid anyone else.
It was slow going and after what felt like hours he was at the door of the room where he could feel the Sorceress' presence the strongest. He opened the door slowly and carefully to keep it from creaking. He then peeked in and saw the woman lying in the bed sleeping. He also saw the commander. This caused him to curse under his breath. The commander being there made things more difficult. He went into the room and closed the door quietly. The two occupants of the bed didn't move. Cloud looked around the room once his eyes adjusted and saw a sword sitting against a table across the room. It wasn't any sword he'd seen before. It looked like a cross between a gun and a sword. He wouldn't need the gun part, but the blade would be useful. He could slay the woman in one quick move. She wouldn't get the chance to cast any of her spells or compress time, or whatever she wanted to do to this world. He had failed at preventing Sephiroth from getting his way, had in fact given him what he needed to do it, but he wasn't going to let this sorceress have her way.
He picked up the weapon, surprised at how light it felt in his grasp, and walked over to the bed. He brought the sword back and over his head as he prepared to strike. It was his turn to be surprised as the sorceress opened her eyes. She looked up at Cloud in fear, her voice catching in her throat. He was about to bring the sword like weapon down upon her when a flash of blinding white light in his own head had him staggering back. His vision returned, but it was blurry. He could see a woman in pink and red smiling at him serenely as something black fell towards her from the sky. The woman's kind emerald eyes went wide as a sword sliced through her chest.
Then Cloud heard a scream and he was brought back to the here and now. If it was him that screamed or someone else, he didn't know. He just knew he couldn't do this. He couldn't hurt this girl that was looking at him in abject terror. The air was suddenly and violently knocked from him as he was tackled by the man who had been sleeping until whoever had screamed had woke him up. Cloud hit the floor hard, his head smashing against it and causing his vision to dance. The sword like weapon slid across the floor before stopping near the table it had been against. A fist met his face once before another knocked his face back the other way. A couple more blows finally had darkness over coming him as he went unconscious.
Squall didn't notice that Cloud was unconscious as he punched the man a couple of more times. He stood up, but grabbed the front of Cloud's turtle neck hauling the shorter man up and holding him off the floor with one hand. He drew back his fist to hit the man one more good time, but his arm was grabbed. Squall was about to snatch away when he saw it was Rinoa. She shook her head and Squall dropped Cloud to the floor unceremoniously. He then turned and pulled Rinoa into a tight embrace as she started to sob.
"I…It was like a monster. His eyes…..oh god…they looked….." she babbled between sobs. "We should have…why didn't we go ahead and send him away?! I knew there was something wrong! I knew it!"
Squall stroked her hair and tried to calm her.
"It's alright. He won't hurt you. I'll send him away just as soon as we can get someone to take him. He wont ever come near you again, I swear." He said as he held her.
Once she finally calmed down, he sent her out of the room and to Quistis'. He then called up two of his own friends to help him take Cloud away. There was one place he was going to take this psycho where he couldn't hurt anyone. If Dr. Odine wanted to know more about Cloud or get any more samples, he'd have to visit Cloud in the Desert Prison.
Next: Chapter 2 Criminally Insane