Dinner at Cloud's villa was suddenly a very lively affair.
Since there was no time for preparations, Cloud had simply whipped out the more palatable looking instant foods, which his employees and guests wolfed down all the same, with differing degrees of culture. After that, the conversation devolved into a discussion about Cloud's business.
"A delivery service?" Bartz blinked at first, then a smile slowly spread on his face. "So you get to travel all over the world?"
"Only where the deliveries take me," Cloud mumbled, still nursing the throbbing headache that had waned only very slightly.
"That's actually very nice of you," Terra politely remarked. "Everyone loves to hear from a loved one staying far away once in a while."
"Letters aren't my main business."
"Still a nice occupation," Terra smiled encouragingly.
"Do you deliver chocoboes?"
"What? Where did that come from?"
"Because you know, I'm hearing some of them outside the window," Bartz jerked a thumb in the direction of the kitchen window.
"We have three chocoboes in the garden," Sora blurted. Cloud was surprised the boy had been following the conversation.
"That bird's in every world," Bartz nodded sagely.
"Except ours, apparently," Riku had joined in as well.
"We have moogles, though, in some worlds," said Sora.
And the conversation was successfully steered into the direction of adorable domestic animals.
"Gah," Cloud gave up and put his forehead on the table. Terra was already quietly collecting the used cutlery for washing.
"I'm envious of you guys," Bartz suddenly switched subjects again, addressing Sora and Riku. "You get to travel multiple worlds! How cool is that!"
"It wasn't always fun and rainbows," Riku very wisely pointed out.
"That's all in the mind," Bartz had a smug look on his face. "It's only fun when you think it's fun."
"What about the rainbows?" Sora asked, innocently.
"Would anybody like some coffee or tea?" Terra interrupted.
There was unanimous agreement (except from Cloud, as he was busy trying to shut everyone out of his already crowded mind). Regardless, Terra tapped on Cloud's shoulder and asked him to show her where the cups were. Cloud was glad to oblige.
"I'm sorry Bartz had to be the one the portal chose to bring here," she quietly said to Cloud once they were at the kitchen counter, looking for cups. "I know he can be boisterous at times, but he doesn't mean to intrude or anything, really."
"I know," Cloud managed a small smile. "You don't have to apologise for anything. I'm just busy being awed by the scale of the situation at the moment."
"Well don't be," Terra smiled back as well. "We're all in this together, like we were the last time, or have you forgotten the lessons we learnt? Now that we've more or less figured out a way to control how we travel into worlds, I think things can only get better from here."
"From the way you're talking, I'm assuming you guys have a general plan, or something?"
"The Warrior of Light is leading the hunting team," she explained, while Cloud gathered the cups and turned on the coffee machine. "I'm not sure which world he's in now, but relatively more monsters from his home world are dropping into other worlds, so that keeps him too busy to really do anything else. Squall is our de facto strategy master. We'll probably have to inform him about this new development so that he can integrate it with his other plans."
"Sounds like I'll be talking with the both of them sooner than later," Cloud was almost dreading talking to the lofty Warrior. He wasn't afraid to admit that he (and he knew many of his other comrades were as well) was slightly intimidated by the man's straight-laced nature. Nevertheless, the Warrior was a great ally to have, especially in a large-scale crisis like this. If anything, his firm stance on walking on the path of the light was always something they knew they could count on.
"I'm sure they'll be looking forward to speaking with you as well," Terra seemed genuinely happy at the prospect of everyone getting to meet everyone else again. The beverages were ready by this time. "Once we get back, we'll let the others know about the situation."
The drinks were brought to the table, and the chattering boys happily gulped them down while still chattering. Cloud allowed them to serve as background noise for his contemplations. "Besides hunting monsters, what plans do you guys currently have now?" he asked Terra over the noise, after a while.
Terra sipped on her cup of tea. After setting it down properly, she turned and answered, "Eliminate all monsters as soon as possible to keep casualty rate down. Collect as much intel from people in all the worlds as possible. Submit existing maps of our worlds with sky hole locations clearly marked to Squall. That is all for now from our strategy master."
Maps? Cloud's mind was boggled, although he could totally see Squall issuing instructions like that. "Guess I should start preparing my map too, huh?" he joked.
"I'm sure he would appreciate that," Terra replied, noncommitally.
"Except for the fact that there are no sky holes in this world," Cloud continued. When Terra looked questioningly at him, he elaborated, "They're not permanent. Yet, I think. They'll blink out after a while."
"Maybe you can just mark the locations of where they had appeared before, then," Terra suggested. "At any rate, Squall was quite happy that you're finally connected as well, because that would vindicate his theory that the warriors of harmony of the final cycle are important pieces to this event. Hard to do that when no one could get a hold of you at that time."
"Would probably make it easier for him to come up with a solution too," Cloud added. "I'll see to that map when I have the time. When do you guys need to return?"
"Until we can be absolutely sure that there are no invisible monsters rampaging around in this world!" Bartz suddenly entered the conversation, startling both Terra and Cloud. Belatedly, Cloud realised his mind had registered that conversation between the boys had died out quite a good few seconds ago, and they were all tuning in to his conversation with Terra instead. He wasn't just getting older, he was getting more careless as well. He probably needed to see to that too. "No, seriously, keyblades and everything aside, I'm not convinced yet we're not needed in this world. We just have to be sure."
It was one of Bartz' rare moments of seriousness, and Cloud was thinking about it carefully. "You cannot be seen by the people of this world, right? Besides the boys and me?"
Bartz and Terra both nodded. "Wanna see a demonstration?" Bartz was already standing up and stretching.
"Can I say no?"
"Of course not."
"As long as it's not illegal..."
"As long as what's not illegal?"
A dramatic pause.
"Cait Sith!" Cloud almost shouted at the robot cat that had suddenly appeared, but curbed his volume just in time. "Why didn't you knock?"
The cat on the moogle looked rather miffed at that. "I did, you know, plenty of times! But you guys were just enjoying yourselves too much to hear me, I suppose! You know I cannot eat physical food and did that to mock me! I've been stabbed to the gears of my heart!" It stuck a dramatic pose for a few tensed seconds. Then it relaxed and slammed its gloved paws onto the moogle's head. "So what's going on? What's this I hear about... illegality? Don't worry, I won't spill to Reeve! You can trust me..."
Cait Sith had been looking at the table where the five of them had been sitting all the time, and had not made a single comment about the two newcomers, so Cloud was rather inclined to believe Bartz' claim at the moment. "It's nothing, don't worry about it," he reassured the cat. "How was your romp?" he asked, hoping it would get the hint to change the subject.
Thankfully, the cat was always up for describing its day. With great gusto, it launched into a narrative that began from it prowling near the campers near the beach and ended with it joining them for campfire games. All said while blatantly ignoring the two silent other-worldly visitors.
Cloud still wasn't entirely sure, even after Cait Sith had finished its story and was now waiting for a reaction from them. The cat could be really sneaky if it wanted to, and its deviousness multiplied when Reeve was in charge - something nobody could tell unless Reeve wanted you to know. So when hushed silence continued after Cait Sith's rambling story, the robot cat's ears began twitching.
"What, no congratulations, well done, anything?" it couldn't help but ask.
It was a good thing that Riku was a master of ceremonies. "We're just busy trying to figure out how much of that was truth," he reassured the cat smoothly. "I really doubt that part about the tomato sauce."
"Preposterous!" Cait Sith leapt onto the table and stalked towards Riku. "I'll even show you the stains, look!"
To Cloud and Sora's horror (Riku was far too good at schooling his features to make amateur mistakes like that), Bartz stood up very quietly from his chair and grabbed the robot cat, lifting it up by its cape. Even Terra was shooting him alarmed looks, but the curious adventurer was far too engrossed in his personal analysis to notice.
"Wha..." Cait Sith spun around. Sora quickly stood up as well, nudging Bartz aside and taking over the grabbing of the cape. There was a loud crash, which Cait Sith thankfully ignored. "Sora! What is the meaning of this?"
"Err..." Sora's eyes darted around for help. Terra, who was on the other side of the table, quickly and gently tipped her cup of coffee so that it spilled all over the area below the suspended Cait Sith. She nodded seriously at Sora, who said, "...you almost stepped into the coffee spill...?"
"I..." Cait Sith was about to protest until he looked down. "...did. Well well, my my... I could have sworn the path was clear just now..." Shaking itself free, it landed on a clean area on the tablecloth. "Anyway! The tomato sauce!"
Cloud rose to his feet in dramatic fashion. "You can show him in the caravan," he gave Cait Sith a warning glare. "I have work to do and I don't want to hear a peep from any one of you lot until my work is done. Dismissed! And clean up the table while you're at it!"
Having said his piece, Cloud sauntered away from the table, shooting Bartz and Terra subtle 'follow-me-or-else' glances as he did. Sora was already wiping the coffee spill, and Riku had cajoled Cait Sith into launching into yet another grandiose speech, albeit at a much lower volume, so the cat wouldn't be bothering Cloud for a while.
The first thing Cloud did upon entering his basement office was to look at his table of undone paperwork and sigh.
"So I'm assuming we've been called here for a reason," began Bartz.
"Could I trouble you not to try something like that again on the people who come to this villa from now on?" Cloud bluntly proposed.
"Try what?" Bartz blinked innocently, having found a stool and sat down on it. "Oh, you mean the cat? Sorry about that, adventurer's instinct and all... Won't happen again. Promise!" He grinned reassuringly.
Cloud knew better than to believe Bartz' grins and reassurances, though. Even if he truly meant it, he would find a way to somehow accidentally do something completely counterproductive anyway. "This is extremely important. We can't risk exposing Sora and Riku to the people here until the time calls for it. You're invisible and nobody can touch you, as you have proven quite clearly with those actions just now, but they're not quite as fortunate. I hope you at least understand that."
Silence stretched as Bartz appeared to contemplate Cloud's words. "That much I can do, I'm sure," the glint in his eyes hardened slightly as he said that.
"As do I," Terra added. "Was that a comrade of yours here, Cloud?"
"Its name is Cait Sith," Cloud said. "There are many details that I can't get into right now due to time constraints, but you could say he's like the automated robot of the most powerful person in authority in this world at the moment."
"Wouldn't someone like that know about the sky holes, though?" asked Terra.
"Sure he does, but he's not entirely sure what they are yet, since the first one only appeared some days ago. And since I had reason to believe the holes could be Sora and Riku's ticket back to their world, I haven't told him anything yet. But now that you guys have shown up, I'm not so sure about keeping him in the dark anymore. He has the right to know about the invisible monsters, at the very least."
Bartz folded his arms across his chest and leaned back with a comical frown on his face. He was trying to compose his thoughts, Cloud could tell, but Terra spoke up for him instead, saying, "You have the prerogative to tell anyone you deem fit about this, as long as it doesn't cause mass hysteria. That said, I'm not sure if our tale is easy to believe to someone who hasn't been through it."
Cloud almost laughed out loud at that. "That's another reason why I haven't told anyone anything yet."
"So how are we going to start looking for the monsters?" Bartz suddenly asked. "You know, the ones that might have fallen into this world, the reason why we might have been sent here, besides the portal being a portal doing what a portal would do thing?"
"I've already explained it before and to be honest, I really don't think there are any invisible monsters around," Cloud shook his head. "Why don't you return and tell the others about what you know instead?" he continued. "Don't worry about the monsters, if there's even any. I'll take care of them." He paused. "Sora and Riku will probably be helping too," he added as an afterthought.
Bartz and Terra turned to look at each other. "Even if we wanted to return, we're not sure how we could," Terra pointed out.
For some reason, Cloud lifted his head up to look at the inky darkness that was his basement ceiling. "I think you've proven your point," he said, unsure of why he was saying it, except that it seemed like just the thing to do. "You can send them back now."
The darkness shimmered a little.
Then it reached out and swallowed Terra and Bartz from view. When it receded, the two visitors were no longer present.
Although decidedly thrown off by the sudden twist of affairs, Cloud nevertheless had enough presence of mind to mutter an incredulous, "Thanks...?" He stared at the spot where the duo had been standing, wondering what had just happened and had the portal just responded to his request? After a while, he shrugged and returned his attention to the mess that was his work desk.
The worlds could wait. Strife Delivery Service had parcels to process.
Some time later (Cloud had no idea how long had passed, except that he had finally sorted out most of the paperwork on his desk), Riku appeared in the basement and reported, "Cait Sith's gone back to disturbing the campers at the beach. The coast in the villa is clear."
The boy's statement didn't exactly register in Cloud's mind as anything noteworthy until a few seconds later, when he saw that Riku was looking all around the basement as if in search for something.
Or someone.
"They've gone back," Cloud dutifully informed. He turned around slowly from his desk. Riku blinked and stopped glancing around, looking instead at his employer.
"How...?" The boy was understandably mystified.
In response, Cloud pointed upwards. Riku looked up. The darkness shimmered a little. "Swallowed them up as soon as I made the suggestion," Cloud clarified, when the frown on Riku's face started growing deeper. The boy thought too much for his own good sometimes.
"Which means there aren't really any invisible monsters in this world then?" asked Riku. Cloud simply nodded, and the boy went into thinking about something again.
It was at this point of time that Sora appeared as well, bounding down the basement stairs by threes. He glanced around briefly and asked, "Where's Bartz and Terra?"
Cloud explained what had happened again.
"Wow!" Sora was genuinely impressed. "The portal can take orders? That's so cool! Hey, can you bring Bartz and Terra back again?" he asked the darkness, before Cloud could stop him.
Nothing happened.
"Hm?" Sora inclined his head slightly to the left. "It's not working!" he complained to Cloud.
"Well, it has already proven its point," Cloud mused. "Wouldn't be achieving much by doing it again."
"What point?" Sora inclined his head in the other direction.
"The point," Riku spoke up, "is that this 'door' we've opened up," he pointed at the darkness above them, "is connected to a sky hole in another world. Which means we can use it to cross over to where Bartz and Terra are whenever necessary. Or so I think."
As soon as Riku had finished saying his piece, the darkness flashed a little. The trio looked up at it, visibly surprised, but the darkness remained stoically dark.
"Why do I have a very bad feeling about that flash?" mumbled Cloud under his breath, which the two boys picked up anyway.
"As long as it doesn't drop a monster on us, I'm happy," Sora shrugged.
"Why do you even think it's going to drop something on us, anyway?"
"Hmm... experience?" Sora grinned.
"Well then, please don't drop anything until tomorrow morning, at least," Cloud said to the darkness. "I think I just might accidentally cleave the next thing that comes in through the portal into half, whatever it may be."
"So we're leaving the portal up then?" Sora asked.
"I don't think we have a choice," Riku answered. "If it connects us to another world that has more experience with these strange sightings in the sky, we'll need them to share more information with us sooner or later anyway."
"Would be tiring for you guys to keep opening portals in my basement ceiling when we need to talk to someone, anyway," Cloud pointed out. "So we're now connected to Terra's world, it seems. Great. I'll get back to you about what we should do next after I sleep on it for a bit," he reassured the boys. "Plus, we have some urgent deliveries to run tomorrow."
"Oh, right," Sora nodded sagely. "You can trust us with your mail. We'll get it done even if invisible otherworldly monsters may have punctured holes in the sky. What good is a planet if you can't get your mail on time? Deliveryman first, saviour of the planet second," he lowered his voice and imitate Cloud's sword pose. Beside him, Riku was trying to stifle his laughter.
"Very funny," Cloud hit Sora lightly on the head with a convenient stack of paper. He paused and thought about it. "But we can consider using that last line as our new tagline, maybe."
Sora burst out laughing, and had to be dragged out of the basement by a smiling Riku.
11 August 2013