Author Note: I know I haven't been one for updating for a while but it took me a while to getting to plan this chapter. So many ideas running through my head so I am going to type this up while wearing a Stitch onesie. So enjoy.
You may be deceived if you trust too much,
But you will live in torment if you don't trust enough.
Cloud and Serah drove through the streets to get to their school, passing multiple black SUVs. Standing outside the SUVs were men in black suits, black ties and white shirts, staring into their car. Cloud stared back; feeling like he remembered them, from sometime in the past, yet everything was faint. Serah glanced at the men every now and then and occasionally looked at Cloud, who looked a bit pale. She put it down to the volume of intoxicating smoke he inhaled from the previous night. She looked back the familiar road, which she drove down nearly every morning. School was nearby; she knew this because she could hear the bell ringing very close by. She sighed heavily; she'd almost had a perfect attendance record. She pressed down on the pedal and began going a bit faster, if she could blend in with the students which took their time she'd easily use that excuse.
Cloud sighed as Serah began driving faster, he thought she was a freak because of her attendance. He, on the other hand, preferred to waltz into school when he felt comfortable. They pulled up to the school and Serah leapt out of the car and sprinted to her homeroom. Cloud, open mouthed at the act he just witnessed, stared out the window, freaking out some of the passing students. He quickly gathered himself and pulled the key out of the ignition and closed Serahs' still open door. He grabbed his bag and climbed out of the car. As he straightened up he looked around to see a load of suited men, standing around the school yard. He gripped his head in pain, which on looking at them had caused. Flashed of memories hit him. He began swaying, from dizziness and the confusion of the images he is seeing. He remembered the black suit and the heavy boots from the night before. He cursed and ran into the school. Unseen, one of the suited men pulled up his wrist and began speaking into a microphone on his watch. The rest of them men turned and looked at the one talking and nodded at him.
Cloud ran through the hallways, nearly slipping on a few wet patches. He hunted the first floor for Serahs' homeroom class. Catching a familiar face in one of the classes, he burst the door open and seen Serah.
"Serah, we have to go, the guys in the suits, I remember them!" yelled Cloud, obnoxious to the rest of the class staring at him like he's crazy.
"What are you talking about?" asked Serah, confused at this outburst. As she finished her sentence a man in a black suit came through.
"Fuck," cursed Cloud under his voice. He gripped Serahs' hand and pulled her away, giving her just enough time to grab her bag. The pair began running through the spare homeroom door and slammed the door on the pursuing suited man. Serah and Cloud ran down the stairs to the ground floor and ran straight into another suited man. Serah began moving back and banged into another suited man. The pair looked at one-another and kicked the suited man facing them, right into the groin. Both men grumbled and fell to the ground, clutching their privates in pain. Serah and Cloud leapt over the men and ran out of the school. The pair leapt into Serahs' car after Cloud threw the keys over to Serah, who unlocked the car. She slammed the key into the ignition and put the gear into reverse. Serah swivelled her body around, getting a good view out the car's rear window. She pressed down on the gas pedal and shot backwards. She pressed on the brake and turned the car around, slammed the gear into drive and shot forward, dodging a man in a black suit.
Serah slowed down as she entered the country road.
"Okay, what the hell is going on?" demanded Serah gripping the wheel so tightly her knuckles were white.
"I remembered last night; Ben showed me some really important information and then a tear gas was thrown into the room. I fell unconscious but I saw a man in a black suit and boot, the exact same as we seen around the school today.
"So, you think they drugged you to forget the information you seen?" asked Serah confused from all the recent events.
"Well, yeah. They guys looked quite heavy and secret. I think they know I know what they are doing to us," replied Cloud, in a short breath.
"What are they doing to us?"
"To begin, it's a one government world. Not all the governments in the world joined. It's one higher than them, giving out the orders. They've planned everything; terrorist attacks are the higher government, creating fear for some reason."
"You have been spending too much time with Ben."
"It's the truth, or they wouldn't be there and we wouldn't need to run after I remembered them."
"Damn, we'll go to Lightning's. She'll bound to know what to do," said Serah, speeding up again.
The journey took hours for the pair. Cloud slept through most of it but still complained she lived in the middle of nowhere. Serah reminded him it was the best for her since she's not close to anyone and can be left to her own devices. After about 5 hours of driving, Lightning's house finally came into view. For a house being in the middle of nowhere, it was still such a grand house. It stuck out in the middle of the nature around it.
They pulled up to the front door and Serah slowly climbed out of the car. It had been a long time since she last seen Lightning. Lightning did say to come straight to her if she was in trouble, and she decided this was trouble. She knocked on the door lightly, and waited a few seconds before the large door opened with a large groan. Standing there was an older version of Serah. Her green eyes pierced anything they lay their sight upon. She looked down to see Serah and a small smile appeared on her face.
"Serah, it's been a while," said Lightning, her voice sweet, intoxicating and commanding.
"Hey, Light," smiled Serah, slightly embarrassed and feeling guilty from not talking to Lightning in a long time.
"What brings you here?" asked Lightning, leaning against the door frame, her brown skirt hanging high on her thighs with her brown turtleneck vest missing her cream coat.
"We're in a slight bit of bother and would be much obliged to your help, sis," said Serah sheepishly.
"Come in," ordered Lightning. Serah nodded and bowed then quickly walked into the house. Cloud nodded and simply walked into the house, smiling at Lightning. Their footsteps echoed through the grand hall they were in.
"I'm sorry Lightning," said Serah as he sister walked quickly beside her.
"Don't worry about it."
"Lightning, is this place secure?" asked Cloud, quickly looking around the room.
"Highest level security known to man, titanium, bulletproof and bomb proof shutters. Emergency exits all around the ground floor, easily concealed for quick exits," replied Lightning in an official tone.
"So, we're safe?" asked Cloud.
"You wouldn't be able to kill yourself in this house," replied Lightning.
"That's an interesting response," smirked Cloud.
The threesome walked into a small room, red velvet chairs and wallpaper made the room. Lightning sat down on one of the chairs and motioned for the pair to sit on the ones opposite her. She snapped her fingers and a man brought tea and poured it into their cups sitting in front of them. Lightning leaned back and crossed her hands on her knees.
"So, what's happened?"
"I don't think you'll fully believe us, Lightning," replied Cloud.
"Continue," ordered Lightning.
"Well, last night, I was at a friends and he showed me information about the government and out of nowhere a man threw a tear gas in the house and suddenly I began feeling drowsy, I remembered the sight of a man with a black suit and boots. I woke up in my bed, not remembering a thing then when we were at school I seen more of the men in suits and my memories came flooding back and now we're on the run from them. They clearly didn't want me knowing what I knew," said Cloud in just one breath. Lightning leaned forward and listened closely. She never said a word for what felt like an eternity for the pair in front of her. Suddenly she leaned back, put her hands at her sides and spoke.
"I'm having a ball tonight, stay, have fun. We shall deal with this when the time comes," smiled Lightning, motioning for the butler to show the pair to their rooms.
Clouds' room was a deep blue colour. A gold four-poster bed sat in the middle of the room, with blue sheets and a large TV at the opposite side of the bed. Cloud smiled and the butler showed him clothes he could change into. The butler nodded and walked out of the room with Serah. Serahs' room was pink, simply pink everything. She smiled and ran straight to the wardrobe. The butler nodded and walked out the room, leaving Serah with a bundle of clothes to try on.
A few hours later, guests began appearing at Lightnings' home. Cloud walked out his room, his hair spiked up like normal, yet wearing a black suit, a red shirt and a black tie. His shoes were so shiny he could see his reflection in them. He looked to see Serah exiting her room, in a white, strapless dress and a white scarf around her neck. She walked in high heels over to Cloud and he held out his arm, gesturing for her to link hers in it as they descended the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs stood Lightning, wearing a red, satin dress with a white scarf hanging over her shoulders. Her hair was pinned up and she was clutching a small black purse. She smiled as the pair stepped down the last stair.
"Let us mingle with the people," said Lightning, sounding unusually posh.
"What's with the weird accent?" asked Serah, trying not to laugh at how dumb her sister sounded.
"It gives them a false image of me so they trust that person and not the one I truly am," replied Lightning smiling at the guests she passed.
A few hours had passed and the hall was full of drunken men and women, making a fool of them as the three stood at the back of the hall, not drunk at all. Out of nowhere and explosion rocked house, shattering the windows, sending the guests reeling in fear. Lightning put her hand in her purse and brought out a small, fully automatic handgun from inside. She aimed at the front door and backed away. They hit a door and Cloud burst through it. Standing on the other side was a black suited and wielding a gun aimed at Cloud.
"Fuck," cursed Cloud under his breath. Lightning twisted her body and shot the man's heart. Cloud ran up and grabbed the gun and an extra clip from the man. He grabbed Serahs' hand, dragging her out of her dazed state. Lightning and Cloud aimed their guns at the door and walked towards one of the secret exits. She forced the pair down the exit and closed it behind her. She motioned of them to go on and threw a set of keys at them. The pair ran as fast as they could down the exit. They came into an underground parking lot. Serah pressed the button on the keys unlocking the door of a nice Jaguar. They climbed into the car and sped off, Serah wiping tears away. She couldn't believe they'd left Lightning behind to defend herself against an unknown number of assailants. Cloud looked up to the roof of the tunnel they were going through; Serah flicked the headlights on and saw the tunnel went on for a while.
After a while of driving a bright light came into their vision, the exit of the tunnel. The car rushed out of the tunnel and Serah slowed the car down, unsure of where the tunnel had led them. She pulled the brake and the car slowed to a halt. She looked at Cloud, who had fallen asleep. He looked so peaceful in his sleep.
Cloud had fallen asleep about twenty minutes before they exited the tunnel.
"Cloud, you and Serah have a great battle approaching," said a voice from the darkness in Clouds' dream. He looked around, seeing nothing but darkness.
"What do you mean?" asked Cloud, feeling stupid since he was talking to darkness.
"You will find out soon enough, but I bestow on the pair of you special powers to help you in your fight," said the voice, "you will become L'Cie, granted by me, Etro."
"Etro?" asked Cloud, becoming increasingly confused. A bright light illuminated the darkness and standing in front of him was a beautiful angelic being, wrapped in gold armour and long flowing blonde hair.
"I am the Goddess Etro; I grant these powers of L'Cie to you and Serah to fight the speedily approaching Darkness." The light enveloped Cloud and he felt a burning sensation on the top of his left bicep. He lifted his t-shirts sleeve to see a black symbol on his arm.
"What is this?" asked Cloud, dazed from the burning feeling.
"I have banded you. When you awake Serah shall have the same brand. You will have powers beyond your imagination. This brand won't open, as you have no Focus."
"What's a Focus?"
"A mission, you know what you have to do. Follow the signs."
With that last sentence Cloud awoke from his slumber to see they were in a field in the middle of no-where. He quickly checked his arm to see his 'brand' was still there. He checked Serahs' arm and seen she had an identical one. He looked forward and Serah looked at him.
"What do we do now?" she asked.
"I think we find out who these guys in black are working for and what they want us for," replied Cloud.
"So, how are we going to do that?"
"Let's go to the mall, I have an idea," smirked Cloud. Serah stared at him and smiled back. Pressing her foot down on the pedal the Jaguar shot off towards the nearest mall.
Friendship... is not something you learn in school.
But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship,
You really haven't learned anything.