Lloyd: 13 days till what?
Me: till graduation. I can't believe school is almost over…
Lloyd: aren't you happy then?
Me: I guess…But I'm not sure if I'm truly ready for high school to end. I mean, I'm ready but I'm not if that makes any sense.
Lloyd: I think I get what you're saying.
Me: at least I'm going to take Liberal Arts at DMACC. Hmm….I should see if I can take Japanese too…
Lloyd: You sure are calm today. You didn't eat any sugar did you?
Me: Actually I had an entire bottle of Nos, a box of Zebra Cakes and half a carton of Whoppers but I'm listening to music so it's all canceled out.
Lloyd: Ok then.
Me: We can start the story but first I just want to say that a Vince/ Kay chapter is planned but not gonna be up for a while since Kayla is now helping me with that so let's get going with the normal chapter.
Lloyd: Jen Rem doesn't own ToS, FF, or Ash because she is technically Kayla's.
Madison POV
"Let me get this straight. I'm suppose to believe that you've been in some video game world for the last few months and are now traveling not only with characters from the game but also with characters that you created yourself." AJ asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"Yep!" I replied, taking a drink from the bottle of Code Red I had in my hands. "I know it's hard to believe but until recently, I was actually part of Tiamatt."
"Fishie, you've completely lost it." AJ sighed.
"When have I ever had it?" I asked, grinning.
"Good point."
"Arthur, may I ask why you call Madison, Fishie?" Kratos asked, sitting beside Tiamatt and me on the couch. Tiamatt was asleep, head resting on Kratos' shoulder and everyone else was scattered throughout the room, following her example.
"You've obviously never seen her in the water." AJ laughed. "Everyone swears she's a fish cause she's always in the water and she always claims she more comfortable on the bottom of the pool then on the surface." Kratos looked at me with a skeptical look.
"What? It's true!" I shrugged. "I'm surprised I even got certified as a diver after I kept falling asleep at the bottom of the pool."
"Hey Fishie, are you going to go to school tomorrow?" I looked at AJ in surprise.
"Why? Everyone thinks I'm dead."
"Exactly. Think how much Glenna and everyone else will freak when they see you." AJ smirked. I thought the idea over, a grin forming on my face as I thought of the fun.
"Deal!" I nodded. "But only if we can get a round of energy shots going!"
"What are energy shots?" Kratos asked, confused of what we were talking about.
"You'll find out tomorrow!" AJ grinned, his usually michevious glint in his eyes. Kratos sighed, shaking his head. "Well, it's late. We should get some sleep. Kay Fishie?
"Sounds good." I yawned. "Oh and thanks for letting us stay."
"No problem. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to continue watching Naruto upstairs." AJ nodded, standing up to leave the room. That caught my attention.
"Naruto? What episode? Can I watch the Lee/ Kimimaru fight? Oh! Or what about the Sannin fight?" I exclaimed excitedly. I really wanted to watch some of my favorite episodes again, especially the Lee/ Kimimaru one.
"Madison, he is right about you getting some sleep. You've had a rough day what with the monster attack and all." Kratos reminded.
AJ went bug eyed. "You were attacked by a monster?!"
"Uh…yeah." I said, unsure of really what to say because cause of the event that followed the attack.
"that's so cool!" My friend said loudly. He put his hand over his mouth and glanced around the room but everyone still slept peacefully. "sorry. Um, night." AJ walked away leaving me feeling kind of embarrassed as Kratos sighed.
"Are all of your friends like him?" Kratos asked me as the lights turned off.
I paused for a moment, considering my answer. "Actually…yes. And a few are worse." Kratos sighed again and closed his eyes.
"At least he's not like Zelos…" I gave a short laugh at the Seraph's comment and pulled Tiamatt's GS out before leaning against the arm of the couch. "Madison?"
I set the headphones down and looked at him. "What?"
"Have you ever had the feeling that we've met before?" Kratos asked.
I blinked in surprise and laughed. "Actually yes. I used to know someone who looked a lot like you. He was a police officer who helped me after my parents died. We were good friends till one day he moved away to some big city out west. To tell you the truth, I think he was the other you."
"Then that could explain why I felt like I knew you when we first met in Triet." Kratos smiled. "I thought I was just going crazy."
"Nope!" I smiled back and then yawned. "I think I'm gonna sleep now."
"Alright." Kratos nodded.
I looked at him and the rest of the group one more time before putting the headphones in and falling asleep…
Morning soon came and with it, school. AJ and I talked about my journey so far all the way down the street to the school which was now crowded with parked cars and wandering teens. No one but the O.C.s could get over how large the school was to the Symphonian schools and didn't believe me when I told them that North was the smallest school in the district.
"there's no way a school with 1200 kids can be the smallest school in the district." Genis huffed.
"It's true. Hoover has over 1500 and Roosevelt has I believe nearly 2000." I said, trying to back the truth.
"Fishie, let's go find Glenna and the others!" AJ said as he carried a bag full of energy drinks and plastic 3 oz. Cups. I grinned and nodded as I followed him up the familiar front steps of the school.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Kratos muttered, opening the door to the school and watching everyone file into the main lobby before entering himself.
"At least I'm not the only one worried about today." Terran sighed in agreement.
I laughed and looked back at them. "Don't worry so much! I mean, you guys are teenagers again or atleast look like one so relax and have fun!"
"Fishie has a good point! You don't have to be so stiff right now!" Zelos agreed, calling me by my nickname. "I can call you Fishie right?"
"I guess…" I sighed, walking up the stairs to the student center, just behind AJ.
Sure enough, near the back of the student center, several tables had been pushed together and a dark haired girl sat with her back to us. AJ finger to his mouth, signaling everyone to be quiet as he sneaked up behind her and gabbed her in the ribs quickly, causing her to give a small scream.
"AJ, stop it!" Glenna yelled, unaware that I sat down directly in front of her. "I thought Evil Christmas was over anyways!"
"It is but you left yourself open." AJ whined.
"He's right Lil' Fishie!" I agreed. Glenna froze and turned so that she faced me, eyes wide in shock.
"Fi..Fishie?" She stuttered.
I just grinned. "Who else? Now let's get some energy shots going!" I cheered and then motioned for everyone to find a seat.
"who are all these people?" Glenna asked as AJ set the energy drinks out on the table. It wasn't till then that I realized that they would need to go by names not recognizable by many of the anime club people that often joined this table before school. After all, I don't know many people named Zelos or Presea in this world.
"I um….this is um…" I couldn't think of anything good as I was put on the spot.
"My name's Erica." Eria said with a friendly smile. "this is Chris and Tia." The young girl said, pointing to Kratos and Tiamatt. I was relieved that Tia was at a name used in this world. "The redhead is Zack and the girl in purple is Sarah."
"Hello my dark haired beau-OW!" Zelos started but then screamed as I kicked him from under the table. "What was that for?!"
"No messes with my Little Fishies!" I warned, kicking his shin once more, causing him to yelp and jump from the chair. "Ignore him Glenna. He's just another Andrew."
"OH great!" She sighed. "anyway, who are the rest?"
"Name's Lloyd and this is Colette." Lloyd introduce, obviously not getting the whole alias bit. I made a mental reminder to chew him out later.
"I am Rachel and this is my brother Jeremy." Raine introduced herself and her brother, Genis.
"My name is Robert." Regal said, nodding politely to Glenna.
"And I am Porsha." Presea said next. I gave a short laugh cause I knew someone else by the name of Porsha.
"Name's Wil and that's Tory." Oblivion continued, using his real name and introducing Terran.
Glenna nodded with each name as AJ poured Nos, Monster, and Red Jak into the cups.
"You guys wanna try it?" AJ asked as Glenna and me grabbed a cup.
"Why not?!" Zelos said cheerfully as AJ poured another glass.
"I'm in!" Oblivion grinned, examining the contents of the cup.
"What about you Tia?" I asked my OC. She eyed the cups but shook her head. "Ohhh…Why not?"
"I just don't want any right now." Tiamatt answered, still eyeing the cups. "Maybe later."
"If you don't go for it now then you won't get any at all." AJ warned.
"Then I think I'll pass." She sighed.
Me, AJ and Glenna grinned as we signaled to count to three before downing the 3 oz. Of mixed energy drinks. Zelos, Oblivion, and me were the first to slam our cups down followed by just a tenth of a second by AJ and Glenna. I then took a moment to refill the cups as the other just watched in amusement and some of the normal anime club people began to arrive to see the competition. Unfortunately, three energy drinks don't last long between five people.
"Well, it was fun while it lasted." Oblivion sighed, trying to drain the last few drops of Monster.
"Fishie!" I looked up as several pairs of arms wrapped themselves around me, threatening to crush my ribs.
"Can't ….breathe…" I gasped before the people who had embraced me released me from their grasp. "thank you." I looked to see my friends Steven, Lana, and Blaine all grinning as they dragged chairs over to the already over crowded table.
"We thought you were dead. How are you sitting in front of us?" Lana asked.
"Um…well…would you wouldn't believe me if I told you…" I said slowly.
Steven gave a questioning look as he scanned the Symphonians. "I don't know why but I feel like I've seen most of you before."
"That would have to be impossible Steven!" I said quickly, trying to cover their identies.
"Fishie, they wouldn't have something to do with the new world we suddenly appeared in would it?" Steven turned his skepitcal gaze at me.
"um…" I didn't want to answer that.
"I knew it! That's where you were!" Steven exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger in my face. "And I just now figured out why these guys are familiar!"
"Listen, I can explain…" I started to say, but Tiamatt already had her hand clamped over his mouth.
"Don't say anything!" She hissed at him, eyes dilated to slits. "doing so could put all of us in danger!" Steven nodded in wide-eyed shock as Tiamatt sat back down and acted like nothing had happened.
"I think I'm going to get a Dew." I said suddenly standing up and finding that Blaine had hold of my arm.
"You are the last person here that needs sugar." He said sternly. "Especially since AJ let you have energy shots."
I grinned and shook free before dashing to the concession stand and returning moments later with two cups of Mountain Dew.
"Here Tia, try it!" I said cheerfully, drinking half my glasses in a couple gulps as she took the cup from me and examined the yellow liquid.
"I really shouldn't…"
"Come on! Have fun! In fact, " I dug into my pocket for any change and handed the money to AJ. "Go buy everyone a pop!"
AJ nodded and had Glenna and Lana go with him to carry the pop back while Tiamatt took a slow sip of the caffinated drink. Immediately her eyes lit up and she finished off the cup.
"More please!" She asked, handing the cup back to me. Kratos, Eria, and Terran gave us both a worried look as I went to get more Mountain Dew.
10 minutes and a dozen Mountain Dews later…
Third person POV
Kratos, Terran, and Eria were trying to hide their faces as Tiamatt and Madison raced through the halls backwards while laughing like the sugar high maniacs they currently were.
"Please remind me to ban them from sugar." Kratos muttered to Lloyd who watched the other worldly twins finish their third lap with amusement.
"You are joking?" Zelos laughed. "We should have let them or her or whatever had sugar a long time ago!"
"…" Kratos just gave Zelos a look that clearly said 'you have to be kidding' before rubbing his face in his hands.
"Just to let you know, this is normal for Fishie though I have to say that the backwards race is new." Blaine sighed as Tiamatt and Madison passed for a fourth time. "At least there wasn't a belching contest…"
"…"
"You better remember to not let her near sugar Kratos!" Oblivion laughed, watching as Madison suddenly started to sing the 'llama song' while running backwards.
"I'm sorry about this." AJ said. "I didn't think this would happen."
"Neither did we, which is why we didn't stop it." Terran sighed, watching his daughter suddenly fall to the floor in fits of laughter as Madison started to sing another nonsense song.
"Yeah toast!" She screamed, almost running into a door as she tried to run another lap.
"Toast?! I like toast!" Colette said suddenly. Everyone just looked at her in shock, even the two sugar driven twins.
"Yeah toast!" Madison screamed once more before disappearing around a corner and Tiamatt went into a fit of silent laughter. A moment later, Madison had reappeared and ran into Tiamatt as she tried to stand, sending them both to the floor laughing hysterically.
"Oh mana, why this?" Eria asked quietly watching as Madison seemed to have a seizure of laughing, the only sound heard coming from her was the occasional intake of breath.
Tiamatt was trying her hardest to stop laughing and regain her composure but Madison's laugh attack was not helping. Finally the two seemed to calm down and leaned against a wall, their faces red from laughing.
"Let's never do that again…" Tiamatt huffed, still out of breath. Madison just nodded with a smile.
"did you see Gunny's face when I ran into him? I thought he was gonna kill me till he realized who I was and muttered something about seeing a shrink." Madison laughed.
"That was great." Tiamatt agreed. The two of them smiled at the fun but stopped as Kratos and Terran stood over them with glares.
"You two are banned from sugar." Terran told them, pulling the two teens to their feet.
"Forever." Kratos agreed.
"You two are no fun!" Madison pouted, crossing her arms across her chest stubbornly. Kratos sighed.
"Oh come on Chris! Live a little!" Tiamatt smiled, putting an arm around his shoulders.
"Tia, I've lived more then a little."
"I'm over twice your age and I still know how to have fun so you can afford to lighten up a little too." The Cetra whispered into his ear. Kratos sighed once more and removed her arm from his shoulder.
"Please calm down." Terran asked, looking thourghly embarrassed as people gave the group weird looks.
"Um…maybe it would be better if you get them away from the source of the problem." Genis noted, pointing towards the concession stand. Most of the group agreed except for Zelos who wanted to see the insanity again.
"Thank you for allowing us to see your school." Lloyd said politely to AJ, Glenna, Blaine, Steven, and Lana.
"No prob. It was nice meeting all of you and seeing Fishie alive." Glenna smiled, leading the group to the front of the school.
"I feel so loved." Madison laughed. "Hopefully I can see you guys soon. But next time I probably won't be well, me exactly."
"What do you mean?" Blaine asked.
Madison sighed and looked at AJ. "You can tell them what I told you but make sure it doesn't leave the group. Now before I decide to go on a sugar binge, we better leave."
"good idea." Eria agreed.
"Indeed." Tiamatt added with a nod, her own sugar rush having faded away. "I would like to keep the remind of what dignity I have left." Zelos and Oblivion both gave a snort of laughter.
"Let us get moving." Kratos sighed, walking away from the building with the rest of the group as Madison said the last of her good byes and hurried to the front of the group, a notebook and several pencils now in her hands that she had borrowed from Steven, the main artist of the group.
The trip out of the city was relatively uneventful and the group returned to their normal appearance once they had crossed the border between the city and the plains outside Meltokyo. Tiamatt was silent as she tried to forget the whole sugar rush incident and Madison constantly looked back at the city where her friends were still waiting.
"I hope I can see them again before we fix everything." She sighed, putting the drawing supplies away. "After all, I want to tell them so much about what has happened."
"At least you were able to see them again." Regal stated. "And they did give you the supplies you needed correct?" Madison nodded, patting the bag she had just put them in.
"I hope it works." Tiamatt said quietly, putting a hand on the seal on her arm. "I don't want to have to be a puppet to Jenova again."
"You won't have to." Kratos said reassuringly. "Madison will find away and then you can be whole again."
Tiamatt smiled at his encouragement. "Thanks."
"But what if I fail?" the human teen mumbled. The group looked at her and noticed the uncertainty in her eyes. "What if…"
"Jeez! One moment you're the life of the party the next you're a real let downer." Zelos whined. "What's wrong with you? OW!" Sheena had slapped the womanizer in the back of the head.
"Don't listen to him, Madison." Sheena said, slapping Zelos once more for good measure. Everyone snickered at the sight, not noticing a black feather flutter to the ground till they suddenly heard a muffled scream.
The entire group drew their weapons as a silver haired boy held a Masamune at Eria's throat. He scanned the group with green eyes as three Remnant's landed around the group, one of which grabbed Madison and held a sharp talon to the jugular. Her eyes shone with pure fear as she had no way to fight back and Tiamatt was acting odd. Even though she glared at the silver haired boy, she wouldn't attack.
"Tiamatt of the Cetra, if you value the lives of your two friends then you will come with us!" the boy threatened.
"Leave them out of this!" Tiamatt yelled, raising her sword only half way. Everyone looked at her curiously, wondering why she had not already attacked. At least, till Kratos realized who the boy was.
"Sephiroth!" the Seraph gasped. The boy cocked his head in curiousity, his blade still at Eria's neck.
"My name is Rith. Why do you insist on calling me Sephiroth?"
"that sick bastard!" Tiamatt screamed. "I never thought he'd go so low as to make a clone of his own son to attack me!"
"Yes, it is a clever idea isn't?" the Griever like Remnant laughed, claw still ready at a terrified Madison's throat. "We knew you could never attack your childhood friend and so had the perfect weapon. Now I recommend that if you want these two to live that you come with us."
"…"
"Tiamatt no!" Oblivion yelled.
"If I go, will you promise that you will not harm them?" Tiamatt asked.
"Yes." The Remnant grinned.
"…I'm sorry…" The Cetra muttered, dropping her sword and walking slowly towards Rith.
Kratos dropped his own sword and grabbed Tiamatt's hand. "don't go with them. "He begged. "We'll find a way."
"..Kratos, if you were in my position, you would do the same…" She mumbled. Tiamatt flicked her wrist, sending a wave of magical energy that knocked Kratos to the ground. "…I'm sorry…"
"No Mom, please don't-" Eria fell silent as Rith twisted the blade around so that he knocked her unconcious with the flat of the blade.
"Come with us Sister!" another of the Remnant's jeered.
"Don't go…" Lloyd begged. Tiamatt just looked over her shoulder sadly and with a flash of magical energy, the Remnants, Rith, Tiamatt, Eria, and Madison were gone. "Dammit!"
"…" Terran said nothing and just stared blankly at the spot where his daughter had last stood. He understood why she had done what she had done. He probably would have done the same, all for the sake of friends and family…
Tiamatt POV
I stood silently as Hojo examined the seal Eria had placed on my arm to surpress the Calamity. I could see Eria and Madison out of the corner of my eye as well.
"I thought you were going to release them." I said quietly.
The Remnant that I learned was named Comi laughed. "I promised that they would not be harmed, not that they would be released."
"…" the clone named Rith stood silently, observing everything in the room with sharp green eyes.
I couldn't help but feel extreme anger at what Hojo had done. To create a clone of the man I had loved so many years ago and then use him against me, the only thing lower then that was the fact that Sephiroth was also Hojo's son and considered one of his most successful experiments.
"…interesting. So this is why Jenova has not taken full control yet." Hojo said, sliding a cold finger against the seal mark. "I wonder what it will take to remove it." The scientist grinned madly and signaled for Eria and Madison to be taken away. "It was nice of you to agree to come back to me, my precious Cetra. And you also brought several new specimens too."
"Don't you touch them." I growled.
Hojo chuckled. "And why not? What are they to you that you want to protect them?" I froze, knowing my answer could put both of them in danger. So instead I said nothing. "fine. Stay silent and be a good specimen and I promise not to lay a finger nor needle on them. But that is only as long as you obey."
"Understood." I answered sadly. At least, for the moment anyways, my future daughter and my other self were safe…
Me: Uh Oh! Sphegettios! Read and review please!