Well look who's back so soon. Yes, it's me and I even brought you some character interactions... still no proper fight scenes... but character interactions! Really... lame... character interactions.

So NT comes out tomorrow, and I wanted to do my best to get this chapter off before that, since the open beta already played a pretty huge role in it's delay. I haven't really made clear how mixed my feelings about the game really are, what with all the RPG elements gone, but... it's not really a bad game, so I enjoyed the Beta, and will be enjoying the full release. If only for the story. Opera Omnia also releases tomorrow and I recently learned that some of the more obscure characters that I planned to use for this fic are making a comeback, as well as that one of them is already in the Japanese version of Opera Omnia. So I'm looking forward to that as well, even if it is a mobile spin-off.

After I totally distract myself with Dissidia for at least a week, I'll go ahead and type up one last chapter to wrap up the first gateway, and then... I'll be silent again for quite awhile. This time though, it will be to build up a backlog of about... 2-3 gateways. Also still up for any critiques or beta reader volunteers.

Looks like that's about it for this end... enjoy the chapter. Or, you know, do your best to.

Forsaken Kingdom III

Memoir - Shades of Black

Among all of the many warriors who had been chosen to walk that hallowed road to fantasy, not all came bearing light. For indeed, a warrior of Chaos is still a warrior of the cycle, and their choices had just as much of an impact on events as any of those who served Cosmos. However, there were, of course, those who would come to bear the light in time. This only serves to show just how varied those summoned by the gods could be in their intents…

It is in absolute silence that Garland stands amidst the rubble of the Chaos Shrine: The miasmic purple clouds shrouding above the pale stone, walls statues and all. His earlier encounter with Prishe had been a development that… definitely needed to be processed. If he had been asked by any of the other warriors of Chaos whether or not he had been expecting this sort of discovery, he would admit that no, he had not.

Not that a single one of them could be bothered to ask such a thing. They were all far too wound up in their own petty little schemes. They likely wouldn't have even known the anomaly by sight, as he himself had. In fact, he knew they wouldn't. They had never met Cid of the Lufaine themselves, after all. How were they to recognize his Manikin? Come to think of it, such creatures as those had also eluded the others as of yet. If they had met the scientist, such an encounter would only breed confusion.

More importantly, the very appearance of the entity raised questions. What exactly was the genius doing with his time? Had one of his specimens merely wandered out from beneath his gaze? Or had he perhaps planted his creation there on purpose? Such a possibility only brought about more questions… questions he could just as easily ask the great will himself, instead of standing about with his head in the clouds. He would go and seek the man out, rather than waste any more time wallowing about the ruins of his former and future lives.

After all, no matter the Lufaine's intent, his Manikin would now inevitably become involved with the cycle of battle that held this world in its fiendish grip. As he made his way down the carpeted walkway, footsteps echoing with the clanking of his large heavy armor, he figured he would have to wonder later. Yes, Garland would wonder later about what might have been different had he claimed the warrior for his own; for the side of Chaos. What it might have been like to have a true comrade by his side, who could understand the situation in a way the others never could, and might even be confided in. A brother in arms of sorts.

Though Alas, all his wondering would amount to naught. Garland was merely a prisoner of time and nothing more. He could have no true will of his own; Any pondering outside of battle was surely just driveling to fill the empty soul of a pawn. Furthermore, he could recognize all too easily whom the Manikin, soon to be filled with the power of Cosmos, was destined to become.

He and the Warrior of Light were fated to do battle for all of eternity, and he would, he convinced himself as he exited through the large double doors, enjoy every moment of it.

Some buried their loneliness and lack of self-worth under bloodlust and evil deeds. Yet others did what one would imagine as unthinkable for their kind, and set aside personal goals for the sake of the will of others. Though, they were self-assured that all would come to be as they had envisioned in due time, all the while...

"So it's Garland, is it?" Watching the brutish man from the higher floor floated the scantily clad form of the Cloud of Darkness. Though it had been monitoring him in relative quiet, it would have had to admit its surprise at not having been noticed, had someone asked. Perhaps Garland had merely been too deeply engrossed in his thoughts… or perhaps…

"Yes, It's Garland." The cloud smiled as a voice from seemingly nowhere echoed around her. They had deemed it highly probable that their 'patron' of sorts had hidden them from Garland's detection.

"We should have guessed when you first spoke to us; he clearly has a connection of some sort." The tentacles nodded along at the main body's observation, clearly signaling their agreement with it. "However…" It began as they turned their eyes upwards. To unknowing eyes, it would seem that only the sizable vortex towards Chaos' domain bore witness to their inquiry. "What exactly is it that you are needing us to do?"

"To be honest, I don't really need much from you as of right now." The voice returned, completely oblivious to just how curious the Cloud really was. "I mainly just need a few extra sets of eyes to observe things… in the places that I won't be able to." This did nothing to sate the Cloud's curiosity. In fact, it quite intensified it.

"As simple as it is, we fail to see why you have chosen to entrust us with this task. One, or rather three, might even inquire as to why you would trust us with such information in the first place. Given the difference between our two goals, the actions you have taken seem… questionable, to us."

"I'm afraid I don't understand the problem." The voice returned without missing a single beat. "Knowing what you do, who else are you proposing I can trust with this?"

Yet still, there were others: Others who accepted the hand that fate had dealt them, taking up their position in the battle lines with not a single complaint. Some of them might have considered it punishment, while some may have merely considered it a matter of time before they returned home, and those without memories simply had not anything they could recall that needed going back to.

"Your name is really… Cloud?" The blond, spiky-haired warrior gave a puzzled look to the strange man with his high voice and multicolored face paint.

"As far as I can remember… What does it matter to you?" Cloud's confusion did not abate in the slightest when the… Clown…? Yes, he was still quite confused as the clown gave him a considering sort of look. He supposed that the other must have some form of reason, as he was a warrior of Chaos. Though the jester certainly did not look it, he had been summoned by the god of discord, so he must have had some kind of battle experience at the very least. Then again, that didn't necessarily mean that the other had a good reason to come up and question his name…

"That name doesn't really seem all that fitting… are you sure you're not like… Thunderhead, or something?" To this, Cloud's eyes narrowed and his shoulders grew more tense, accentuating the feeling of the cold stone wall against his shoulders.

"...Pardon...?" So maybe the clown was just stupid or had come over just to insult him.

"Thunderhead!" The seemingly ignorant comedian restated, either not noticing or simply not acknowledging that he had greatly offended his conversation partner. "Cause you know, your hair is yellow and spiky, like it's the thunder spell or something!" He abruptly turned to the side, his chin resting on his hand. "No wait, a thunderhead is a type of cloud, too…" Though the jester had been pacing and making hand gestures, he abruptly turned back to Cloud with waving hands and an expression of revelation. "I get it! Is that the joke?! Did you come out of your mother's womb sporting a full head of hair, and they thought 'Thunderhead'? That's why you're named Cloud?"

"Of course not! ...I don't… think so, anyway..." Why was he questioning this? He shook his head angrily and glared at the Harlequin. "No, I know that's not why. Now did you have a reason for wanting to talk to me?" Cloud's cold and scathing tone seemed to not faze the clown in the slightest, nor did his intense glare. However, before said humorist could respond, a new voice cut its way into the dialogue.

"That's enough Kefka!" The two of them, having been positioned slightly to the right of the entryway, looked up to the nearest colonnade to determine the identity of the female voice. The sight that greeted them was that of a young girl with light clothing and blonde hair pulled into a ponytail.

"I'll not allow you to needlessly torment this man any longer." Her face was near expressionless, but her voice, though soft, was stern. She jumped off the edge she was standing on and floated gently to the ground, landing next to them with a faint click of her boots on the stone floor. The clown, Kefka, seemed to have waited for just such before he bothered to resume his animated mockery.

"Terra! Babe! You're killin' me! Can't a boy have his fun?" His whimsical outburst was followed with a hand to his chin and a mischievous, questioning look. "Oh, but perhaps… you wanted to play with him?" This prompted Terra to give her own questioning look, though it was more baffled then mischievous. "Well then…" Kefka trailed off as he began to straighten out a piece of cloth on his uniform. "... I suppose I'll just leave you to it and go find someone else to play with…" Terra could not help but think that Kefka was giving in far too easily as he gave his usual mad cackle. "You two have fun!" With that Kefka vanished, leaving his two fellow warriors of Chaos with a very uneasy feeling.

"Right… I'm sorry about him." Terra's comment made Cloud feel as if she meant she was sorry that Kefka existed, rather than that she was giving an apology for the clown's actions.

"You don't have to be… I feel like he gives you a worse time." The young woman giggled a bit at that. "Terra, right?" The girl turned to him with a nod and a slight smile. "I'm Cloud." He introduced himself out of courtesy for the most part: She had bothered to help him out, after all.

"It's nice to meet you, Cloud."

AN:

So I should probably start off by mentioning that this was originally only going to be the thing with Garland and then the Cloud of Darkness, but... there was just... not enough in my mind to stretch that out to my minimum word limit. I had just gone into that chapter with a very simple idea, and... didn't realize just how little it would give me. Rather than pointlessly make it way wordier than such a short bit needed to be, I just decided to add an extra bit on the same stage with a different point in time. I like it... kinda.

Info Here:

Garland - The Dissidia games paint an interesting picture of Garland: He seems to be under the impression that he doesn't deserve to have any sort of free will, and that he exists only as a servant of greater forces. This casts his actions in Final Fantasy as if his plot for immortality was... just something he considered an inevitability. He convinces himself that battle is all he can enjoy, and it makes him occasionally come off as lonely and resigned in his interactions with other villains.

Cloud of Darkness - I honestly love this character, despite its... eccentric choice of clothing. You see, the CoD is the most fascinatingly inconsistent character in Dissidia, maybe all of Final Fantasy. It's few appearances and minimal screen time only serve to emphasize its unclear motives and counterproductive actions. Why do I say all of this? Well, in its original appearance it stays true enough to FFIII, though there isn't much to say about that. It's one of those last minute villains that decides to pop in for the finale. It wants to use the imbalance caused by Xande to create a flood of darkness that will send the world to the void, and Dissidia doesn't really do anything to make you think her goal has changed any. In Duodecim however, it suddenly decides that it's all about balance during scenario 012. They go out of the way to tell Laguna about the manikins and how to get rid of them. Sure, it goes on to say that they think he can't do anything about it, but they still make it pretty clear that they think manikins shouldn't exist because they upset the balance. Kefka also seems convinced that they did it for the balance, and... well the Cloud of Darkness winds up getting purified. Scenario 013 starts and they're... right back to normal... to the point where even in the newly added sub scenario scenes they talk about returning the world to the void... but then NT, In which everyone remembers all of the past cycles, gives them a victory quote: "The scales have been righted." They're not just inconsistent: They're consistently inconsistent. They have varying personalities and memories based on the cycle, just like the other characters. It makes one wonder if there is a reason... even though there isn't... Or at least, none that are supplied in Cannon so far. It's another reason I wanted a sequel... as well as started this story. Expect to see a lot more of these guys.

Kefka - Speak of the devil, and he shall appear! What more is there to say about the clown prince of cri-! I mean... magic. The 'thunderhead' joke is totally pulled from Machinabrigded, though I elaborated on it. Please don't kill me.

Terra - Yeah, So, someone is a little less shy and reserved, remembering a lot more than she does later... while someone else is the same with or without memories.

Cloud - Cloud is, in my opinion, either overrated or underrated by... pretty much everyone. It's unfortunate, but most people love him or hate, and usually for traits he... doesn't actually have. We kinda project them onto him because... I guess how his voice acting is handled? But I mean, Emo? Really? Who woudn't be depressed if all their loved one's were dropping like flies? But I digress.

Mysterious Voice - Oooh. It's so mysterious. What could it be after? I guess you'll have to wait and see.

I'm gonna say that's probably everything.

Ciao for Now!