Authors Note One: BEHOLD! A CHAPTER IS RELEASED! I know, I know please be calm and hold yer applause and tears of joy until the end of the chapter.

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Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy… This chapter is just mental…

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Reviewers: Please note that I am open to ANY FORM of review! Criticism is highly appreciated. Cookies and cake are… accepted.

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Chapter Six

You Are Not Ready

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It was a dream, it had to be, there was no possible explanation for all that laid out before him. Screaming forms of the dying, the blank stares and unmoving forms of the already dead, the shrieks of terror or triumphant cries of those still fighting; that innumerable mass of beings was laid out before his sight. Demons in the thousands were fighting a horde of humans in the tens if not hundreds of thousands. This was what a battle looked like, this was war.

Cloud himself was too calm, and the beating in his chest he knew was more from the exertion of fighting than any fear he may have felt. He was confident, more than confident, he was absolutely SURE, nothing on this field could touch him if he put his mind to it. However, the one waiting for him to return held no such knowledge, and yet he'd made this call; one that had ended the lives of hundreds of his own kind already.

The humans would not fear an army of Demons that hunkered down behind their walls in apparent fright; he had decided to take the fight to them, on their own grounds. The massive army had been waiting, and he was now cornered. While his plan to remove the threat of their archers so the any winged Demons could take to the sky had worked immaculately, he was now trapped too far from the walls.

"LORD &*^#$," a blood covered Wingly, of who knew what sort, shouted over the din of battle as he came fluttering down from the sky next to Cloud. Odd that the name of all things would be deafened… or rather… simply not there, as if his mind was blocking the very word itself.

Cloud's mind brushed it aside as the dream sequence continued to pass before his very eyes. The man slammed a fist into his palm and bowed lightly before continuing. "Ur-urgent report f-from the Wall!"

"Spit it out," Cloud's own mouth spoke, his own voice sounding foreign

"The gates… Sir," The man said with fear in his eyes and dread dripping from his voice. "The Central Gates have been breached."

An uncontrollable fear blossomed from deep within his chest as he whirled his mount around slightly to peer through the tangling mass of destruction. There, out of place and completely unbelievable was a hole… in HIS wall. A hole that lead no doubt to –

THUNK!

Groggy blue eyes blinked open to the world around him. Screams of battle were replaced with the happy chirping of birds. The moonless darkened night was replaced with the bright shine of morning sun peering in through open curtains. Finally, the specters of battalions of men were replaced by simple furniture in the overtly enormous room he was to sleep in. Rather than some form of battle armor, Cloud was garbed in nary a thing aside from the very bed sheet that had fallen with him to the cold stone floor.

Slowly a trembling hand reached up to rub at his temple, just another one of those dreams again. They were becoming more and more frequent since he'd left Allovoros. There were more, of course, but they were all so… vivid, almost even ALIVE. Hard to believe they were even dreams, except, much like dreams, they faded to almost nothingness in a matter of hours.

He would have wanted to tell Aon all about them, but his brother was nowhere to be found. Not that he'd had much time to search for the fire haired Kitsune with his horrendously busy schedule. The hand, after being joined by its companion, rubbed at the sleep in his sky blue eyes. When he was finally satisfied with the lack of the strange substance that seemed to move in every night, Cloud made his way from the floor.

Glancing around to be sure he was alone the blonde let the bed sheet fall from his form and then made his own way to his wardrobe. Sephiroth had desired him to be dressed by pages or maids, but he'd fought tooth and nail the first two days to be allowed to garb himself. So long as the 'silver haired menace', another name his brother had come up with, agreed with what he was wearing he was 'allowed' to do so. Honestly, his very LIFE was being regulated for him. Throwing upon the large double doors he walked inside and poked around. The wardrobe itself was bigger than the home he and Aon had shared together in Allovoros.

His clothing stock, while still having nothing 'tailor made', was too considerable for his own liking. With just one of the overcoats sold he and Aon could have eaten for a week at least. Damned rich people! It took him some short amount of time to pick out an outfit, simple black pants tucked into turned down black leather boots, a loose fitting long sleeved white silk shirt, a light blue silk vest with golden buttons, and his favorite over coat - midnight blue with golden eagles soaring up the sleeves. The fabric fell halfway down his thighs, so it was still easy to move in, and surprisingly light.

He supposed the coat was simply for that 'lordly' look Sephiroth always went on and on about. After all, when he was done with breakfast he was simply going to remove it during training. Well, his instructors called it 'training', he called it hell. Every day he was worked until he was barely capable of moving either mentally or physically. Even now his muscles were sore from the previous few days of exertion. If the Magical had been difficult by draining his inner reserves of energy, then the physical was like trying to climb a wall by simply walking up its surface.

After straightening the collar and cuffs of his coat, the blonde stepped out of the wardrobe, there was never any use in trying to fix his hair with the numerous utensils present. The spiky mess wouldn't stay 'coifed' for longer than an hour or so. His brother also said he looked ridiculous with neatly brushed hair. When the fox had come over that last night seven days ago he had gone through Cloud's clothes appraisingly. After the Blonde had awoken the next morning with Aon nowhere to be found he'd thought nothing of it, until he noticed one of the coats he liked had gone missing. His brother was the only culprit he could think of that would possibly do that, though he knew not the reason. The fire haired Kitsune surely had more than enough of his own clothing.

The deep growl of his stomach hastened the sky blue eyed Lord towards his next destination. He LOVED the food he was allowed to eat, ALL OF IT! Not a day had gone by that he hadn't stuffed himself with the overtly appetizing dishes. Flavors of cakes he could only have ever dreamed of eating, meats cooked in ways he never imagined possible, with flavors equally amazing. Unfortunately, his brother had managed to convince Sephiroth to make him wait before being allowed to drink anything alcoholic once again. A pity, since his brother had seemed to be enjoying the hundreds of different kinds stockpiled in the fortress of a castle's cellars. He could wait another two and a half months till he came of appropriate age.

Naturally, it wasn't long before he was briskly stepping into the 'hall' that he, Sephiroth, Zack, Genesis, and Angeal all ate at. His brother had a seat at their table as well, but was never there. The other four, however, were. The silver haired Wingly lord in his usual black silk, though it wasn't the Kimono Cloud had grown so used to seeing the noble wear. Zack was wearing attire much like his own, but had forgone the overcoat, and his shirt appeared to be of a coarser material. Genesis… did he ever wear anything besides the garment he currently was? And finally Angeal, the elder Wolf Demon, was wearing the same thing Zack was… or was it actually that Zack was emulating his teacher?

"Heya, Spike!" the younger wolf said through a mouth full of… something on the menu.

His teacher cuffed him lightly on the back of the head and let out a low growl before speaking. "Do not speak with food in your mouth at a table Zack." The raven haired elder wolf stated then turned to incline his head at Cloud, "Good morning Lord Strife."

"Good morning," was the blonde's reply while inclining his head lightly.

Sephiroth's nod of approval was all he received from the demon of few words. Genesis on the other hand – "Ahh, the Lord deems it fitting to show up for breakfast late. Do try not to eat too much this morning. You may regret it again at a later time." The auburn haired Wingly stated with a snide smirk.

Cloud had made a fool of himself more than once just recently. He couldn't help it, the food had been too good on the morning of his first physical training, and he DEFINITELY hadn't expected to be put through anything like that! Honestly, he'd wanted to quit that portion then and there, but neither Sephiroth nor the elder wolf would allow it. The onyx haired demon had pushed him back to his feet and had Zack help him keep moving. That part of his physical training was something called Cardio, Angeal, who Cloud had learned was one of the top members of a mercenary guild called SOLDIER, had said it was it was extremely important. He had to learn to pace himself, breathe correctly, and keep himself in balance as he gradually wore down; lest he would tire too soon while he was in a battle.

Luckily, the male demon was FINALLY allowing him to take up a weapon. Cloud wasn't really sure how he was supposed to choose from the large assortment he knew of, but Angeal had said he would explain everything that day. This was the part he was truly excited for. He'd seen the elder wolf putting the younger through certain drills with the large swords they used while he'd stared on enviously. Well, while he stared on enviously and did a set of strength building drills the onyx haired demon had laid out for him before hand. The blonde Wingly hardly ever got a REAL break before falling into bed at night.

That was his schedule, Breakfast before Angeal's physical training in the mornings. From there, he would proceed to Sephiroth's teachings on everything from history, to politics, to how to sit and eat at a table properly. Sometime in the middle of that he would eat lunch, and at the end of the session with the silver haired Wingly was dinner. Finally, there was Genesis for a few remaining hours of Materia handling. Then wash, sleep, repeat.

Cloud kept his silence as he sat down to eat the food that had been meticulously prepared for the small gathering. It smelled heavenly, and though he had no idea what it was, he couldn't wait to start eating. Some sort of round bread thing that appeared to be baked. The top was cut open to reveal a cream and fruit mixed filling. Off to the side was a small cup of honey, he assumed to pour onto the rich smelling pastry. Then there was roasted sausage, eggs of a variety he'd never seen, milk, coffee, and water. If only he could eat it all… except the coffee, he hated that stuff.

"So, I hear that Angeal will be helping you with weapon selection today?" Genesis questioned Cloud as he took his fork to the crème filled pastry.

"Yeah! Soon we'll finally be able to train together." Zack butted in.

The auburn haired Wingly looked at Zack as he stuffed a large helping of sausage into his mouth then licked around it to remove the grease. Cloud could only watch as the young wolf went for another… then another. He was an eating machine, and even if Angeal worked Zack over worse than Cloud, he never seemed as bad off.

"He still hasn't told me how we'll do that though." Cloud replied before biting into the first DELICIOUS mouthful; one word, heavenly.

"It is 'has not' and 'How we will'," Sephiroth stepped in then fell silent again. He hardly ever spoke at these little meetings of theirs, aside from correcting the blonde on something he was doing wrong. The silver haired Wingly's presence was probably more for that than enjoying the food with his friends and… captives?

"It's a very easy process and should not take more than an hour." Genesis began. "You will probably be taking your first combat lessons before lunch arrives."

"If your aptitude is even half of what it is with Materia, then that assessment shouldn't be far off," Angeal this time.

"Ughh, Materia." Zack said while setting his fork down and reaching to take a drink from one of the mugs before him.

"And the brother; how is his progress?" Genesis questioned.

Angeal stared at his plate, which had contained something other than clouds, in thought for a moment before speaking. "I have yet to see the boy. The message I was delivered instructed me that he would not be participating."

Genesis merely snorted and everyone at the table looked in Sephiroth's direction. A slight twitch appeared over the calm facade, then vanished like it had never been. "I will see what he has been doing lately. If you will all excuse me," the silver haired lord stated before wiping his mouth one last time and taking to his feet.

"This may not end well for your brother, little lordling." The auburn haired Wingly stated before placing a bite of food in his mouth, as if the situation didn't concern him in the least.

Cloud, though very worried for his brother with Sephiroth headed to find him, continued to eat and watch the door that the nobleman had left through. From what Aon had told him of the man, he'd already been assaulted once for a slight infraction. Though… he didn't really go into much detail, and Aon's idea of a 'slight infraction' could have been a very nasty one. The fox wasn't always as… delicate in certain situations as he should be, and sometimes he egged people on just for the fun of it. The two of them had gotten into a lot of trouble more than once because of that; thinking back on one such situation made him grimace slightly.

"I'm sure he'll be fine." Zack started. "I've seen him around the castle more than once with that cat and he always seemed busy. Seph never gets too mad at people who are doing their jobs properly."

"What cat?" The blonde questioned as he turned away from the half eaten plate of food.

The young wolf's face scrunched up in thought before he responded. "A red furred one… blue eyes, has these tattoos under his eyes." The boy said while motioning to where the tattoos would be with both hands.

Cloud didn't know of any such cat. Where had the fox met him? He was spending more time with this cat than he was with him for some reason. Was his brother avoiding him? A small pit opened up in his stomach seemingly draining it of its contents. Why would Aon skip the martial practices? Was the Kitsune avoiding him?

()()()()()Transition()()()()()

The open skies above Kaifeng were changing very rapidly that day. The white puffs that almost always decorated it would appear, change shape, and disappear quite rapidly. It was a very windy day, and Cloud was having a hard time concentrating on the task before him. His reasons weren't just the distracting gales either. The revelation about his older brother had his mind in a bog. No matter how much he struggled, he could not get away from that simple thought. 'Aon is avoiding you', it echoed in his mind, throughout his body, and the air around him.

Every sound he heard led invariably to that. Any words spoken by the two wolves nearby lead back to it, each syllable, and each bird call, everything. Why? Why was the Kitsune avoiding him? Had he done something wrong?

"You are not calm, Lord Strife. I can see it on your face. Concentrate, allow your mind to empty of all thought. Focus on yourself alone, your mind must delve deep into your very being. The world around you is nothing, there is nothing, you are alone right now." The soothing voice of Angeal chimed in over Cloud's thought and the wind both.

He wasn't getting anywhere like this, he had to concentrate. Blank his mind…

Blank…

Empty…

Nothingness…

The darkness expanded and morphed behind the blindfold and closed eyes as Angeal's words repeated over and over finally blanking out the worrying word 'Aon'. His breathing slowed to a sedate and rhythmic pace. He was falling, but his body wouldn't move, he couldn't move, he wasn't worried. He was safe and serene as Angeal's words echoed over and over through his mind until his body finally touched down onto a solid surface once again.

Sky blue eyes opened to a large room with two doors on each of the four walls. The blindfold he'd been wearing was gone, but for some reason it was easy to accept. He knew where he was, but at the same time had no idea. It was a comfortable room, though completely empty, solid, and with very little lighting.

Slowly his steps carried him to the first door, a red one. There was a symbol on its surface, scarred and burnt in a dark charcoal black. It wasn't anything he recognized, but as his hand touched down on it his heart cried out in pain. Shaking the odd feeling off, he moved his hand down onto the knob. A light hot sensation quickly intensified until it burned like fire forcing him to yank the appendage back with gritted teeth.

Confusion spread across his features, but he decided to leave it and proceed to the next door, a blue one attached to the same wall as the red. It too held strange symbol scarred, almost like a burn, into its face. Hesitantly he reached down and tapped the handle, this one he would be more cautious with. The handle wasn't hot this time, with a sigh he grasped onto it and screamed as pain shot through his entire body. Muscles all over his body clenched forcing him to go rigid as his hair defied gravity like it never had before. He couldn't let go of the handle, no matter how much his mind cried out the signals his brain was sending out just didn't reach.

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The next thing he knew, he was laying back on the floor staring up at the ceiling with every hair on his body standing on end. After blinking a few times the haze that had settled over his eyes cleared enough for him to see the ceiling. It was burned and scarred with vicious gashes. The floor below him had fragments of 'rock' littered about, including the ones jabbing painfully into his spine at that point in time. Forcing his body painfully, but somehow still calmly, into a sitting position he glanced around as his mind went into over drive.

Something had happened here, or rather, something may still be happening here. The floor beneath him upon closer inspection was much the same as its upper counterpart. The difference lay in the large symbol that could just barely be made out due to the poor lighting and soot where it was burned into place. Confusion laced through the blonde Wingly as he walked the entirety of the room and looked at each of the different colored doors. All of them but one held those strange symbols on their face, scarred and burned into place.

That was the door he stood before at this point in time contemplatively. If one thought about it, it was only logical that the ones with markings were… trapped? Yes, that was probably the best term for it. Maybe Sephiroth or his brother would know what the symbols meant. He would have to recall them properly for later. Hesitantly, his hand descended upon the handle of the Yellow door. Embossed upon its surface was a man standing with his sword pointing to the sky. Across the face was a single large gash that had bitten deeply into the wood, but missed the man by millimeters.

There was no reaction at all this time, so he took one last chance. With jaw clenched and eyes closed tightly shut, he grasped the handle and yanked the door open. Peering inside rather hesitantly he waited for the imaginary dust to clear from the room. When it had finally done so he took note of all that lay in the room. It did not take long, the room held but one thing inside of it. There, in the far back, stood a statue that look identical to him, though perhaps a bit older and with longer hair, an enormous sword strapped to his back, and was wearing strange clothing.

Hesitantly, he took the first tentative step into the new room inside of his mind. His senses were immediately assaulted by visions of his past, people he'd run for his life from, and times he was nearly killed but fought tooth and nail to live. How long did that take? He could not say, but when everything calmed back down he was trying to shake the dizzying after effect from his head… or mental head.

The form across the room from him that he'd thought was a statue had stepped from its perch and was walking slowly his way, blonde hair and dark clothing blowing lightly in an unseen wind. Cloud back up, but the door was gone and in its place was a solid stone wall. The blonde's breath hitched in his throat as the duplicate came to a stop before him and its sky blue eyes stared deeply into his own.

They were like that for an indefinable amount of time, the figure mere inches from his face, their breaths mingling with one another, locked into a staring contest. Slowly, out of the conrer of his eyes, Cloud took not of the duplicates hand reaching up and pressing against his chest. The figure's eyes shut as a light breath escaped his lips. When they opened once more his copy took a single step back, turned around, and moved back towards his pedestal. "You are not yet ready," echoed the blondes own voice throughout the room.

"Wait!" Cloud exclaimed and reached out but found himself back in the central room. Glancing around hastily the blonde Wingly located the Yellow door once more. Striding purposefully over to it he grasped the handle determined to discover what his duplicate meant by that. Only, the door wouldn't open no matter how hard he struggled.

Planting his feet firmly he made to pull the door at his maximum strength, but stopped. "CLOUD!" Aon's voice echoed throughout the room, strained and painful. A stinging pain slammed the nerves of his right cheek. "CLOUD! LOOK AT ME!" Aon's screaming voice once more, this time followed by a stinging pain on his left cheek. "Damnit… wake up little brother. You can't just…-" The Kitsune's voice echoed low and sad through the room before trailing off.

The walls around him shook violently, crumbled, and he fell once more.

Sucking in a deep breath the blonde sat up, slammed his head into something, and fell back to the position he'd… woken up in. Opening his eyes slowly, Cloud glanced around him to find a number of people gathered beneath a star filled sky.

Sephiroth stood above him holding a hand to his forehead, Genesis was off to the man's left, and the two wolves were a bit farther back. There was not a single sign of his fire haired elder brother, nor one that he'd been there recently. The cold stone beneath him was his clue that he was still outside on the large balcony like rampart, but nothing to tell him what had happened between the time he'd put the blindfold on and now. It certainly hadn't been later than nine in the morning when he'd covered his eyes with the cloth. "What… what's going on?" The blonde Wingly croaked out as his hand reached up to rub at the sore spot on his forehead.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE TWO: Are you sufficiently confused? Have your thoughts on what is going on been dashed? Are sure you're theories are actually correct? *sinister laughter goes here* Hopefully I'll be updating once every Month from here on, if not more.

Fun Facts

Materia: Materia was actually first created by Humans in order to counter act Demon Magic to the best of their ability. Demons, seeing the great potential, took the idea and use it in both the Human type, and when possible, it's more pure form. Incidentally, the Demon Kingdom's number one import from human lands, is Materia.

Demons Part Two: Human form – as stated in previous chapters Fun Facts, there is the human and non Human form Demons. Some Demons come naturally in a more human form, such as the wingly's. They can TAKE a non human form, and some, through their hate for humans, do so exclusively. But, most come in a human shape such as the Ogre, Minotaur, or Wingly's, etc.

This may or may not contradict slightly what was said in a previous chapter. Some Demons can TAKE human form, but aren't born that way. Thus, should they grow powerful enough, have the ability and desire to do so, they can. Some may also posses human's bodies. Since Human's live much shorter lives than Demons, they change bodies as the need arises.