Cloud woke to the sound of chirping birds in the morning, having learned what they were from Aerith yesterday while he'd been pulling weeds. He still found it strange that such small things could make noises so loud, but Aerith had assured him they weren't magical creations and just a part of nature.
Nature. Even that word was largely foreign to Cloud, something he'd only ever heard of in the bedtime stories his mother told him. Other than the Ancient's—no, Cetra's—ability to use magic, it was easily the single biggest difference between Aerith's world and his own. He hated how a part of him felt slightly jealous that their lives were so much easier in comparison—although, in retrospect, that didn't entirely seem to be the case.
Last night, he'd ended up tossing and turning in the giant bed, feeling like it was swallowing him alive with how soft and plushy it was compared to his one back home. After what felt like an eternity, he'd given up and crawled out, realizing he needed to use the bathroom. Even though the light had been off, he'd made sure to knock before trying the door—the last thing he wanted to do was barge in on Aerith, especially considering her mother would likely kill him if she didn't first.
Compared to everything else he'd experienced that day, the bathroom had, unsurprisingly, been the most normal. Or at least, he'd thought so, until he went to wash his hands and used the soap. The scent of it had blown him away, multiple smells he couldn't even begin to describe blending together to create the single best thing he'd ever smelled in his life. It reminded him of the clearing he'd first met Aerith in, only somehow stronger and more rich. It had never even crossed his mind before that moment that soap could smell of anything other than . . . soap.
It was only when he'd finally gotten over his amazement and stepped out of the bathroom that he heard it: a soft sob from the room next door—Aerith's room. He'd frozen in place, unsure of what to do. The sound of her crying had hit him surprisingly hard—made him want to do whatever he could to get it to stop—but walking into her bedroom was clearly out of the question. Thankfully, it seemed like her mother was already there comforting her, so he'd instead retreated back to his room where he'd pulled a pillow and blanket off the bed and promptly fallen asleep on the floor.
Stretching, Cloud got to his feet and carefully returned the bed back to the way it had been before he'd pulled it apart, hoping he hadn't gotten the shockingly white sheets too dirty. The whole time, the sound of Aerith's crying from the night before rang through his head. Even if life here seemed easier, there was no denying she was having a rough time—no thanks to that asshole of a bully. The only thing that had prevented him from walking over and punching her in her stupid face had been Aerith running off and Cloud not wanting to lose track of her.
A knock on his door pulled him out of his thoughts—Aerith's voice muted but distinct coming from the other side. "Cloud? You awake?"
Glancing down at himself, he ran a hand through his hair. He hoped he didn't look like he'd slept on the floor since it would likely lead to a lot of awkward questions he'd rather not have to answer. Doing his best to smooth out a few wrinkles, he walked over and opened the door. "Hey, morning."
Aerith looked bright and cheerful—no trace of the tears he'd heard last night anywhere on her all but glowing face. Like yesterday, she was wearing a dress with a ribbon in her hair, although today they were blue and green respectively. "C'mon, breakfast is ready," she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him down the hallway after her.
Cloud was too shocked to resist as she brought him back down to the dining room, her hand only letting go once they arrived. Even more surprising was how much he realized he missed that connection to her once it was gone.
"Here we go, nice, hot oatmeal, dig in!" Aerith's mom called out, sweeping into the room from the kitchen with a large bowl in her hands.
It was a relief to learn that not everything they ate on this side of the Barrier was completely different from what he was used to. Except that after serving him a heaping bowl of steaming oatmeal, her mother then dropped a bunch of strange blue and red objects on top of it.
"What are these?" he asked, poking one with his spoon.
"Berries!" Aerith said, her voice full of excitement. "Blueberries and raspberries, in this case. You can't eat oatmeal without berries, give it a try!"
Hesitantly, Cloud took a spoonful, making sure there was one of each of the berry types. Even guessing it was going to taste good didn't prepare him for the explosion of flavor. He was used to oatmeal being a bland mush, not all that different from the bread he usually ate since it was easier for his mother to get. Cloud could already tell that returning to the flavorless food he was used to would be extremely challenging.
Scooping up a single berry at a time, he alternated bites between them to get a better understanding of their flavors. Even alone they were delicious, but Aerith had been right—they made the oatmeal taste way better.
"Have a favorite?" she asked.
He nodded. "The red ones."
"Ah! Same as me!"
"Once you're done with breakfast the two of you should head to where Cloud crossed over without me," Aerith's mom said, poking her head in from the hallway. "Unfortunately, some village business I have to attend to came up. As soon as it's taken care of I'll come and join you."
"Okay, Mom!"
Cloud helped himself to another bowl of oatmeal, liberally sprinkling a heap of the red berries on top and doing his best to ignore the amused look on Aerith's face. After he finished that, he helped her clear the table before they left the house.
"Is your dad still home?" he asked, noticing she hadn't locked the door.
"Hmm? No, he's probably out working on one of his projects right now. I think he's gone back to finding a way to grow plants with less water after everything you said yesterday."
"Oh. Shouldn't we lock the door then if no one is home?"
Aerith looked at him with one of her eyebrows raised. "Why?"
"You have so much nice stuff, aren't you worried someone might take something?"
She laughed, making him feel a little silly. "Cloud, my mom's the village Elder, no one would ever think of trying to steal from us. Even if she wasn't, the village is so small that no one would ever do that to anyone else."
The Elder? Did that mean she was like the President? Which made Aerith like Rufus? Cloud flushed as he realized he'd been casually interacting with people who were apparently extremely important, much more so than someone like him. He followed after Aerith as she left the house, noting how unlike yesterday they didn't go into the village and instead headed directly out into the forest.
Once again, Cloud felt overwhelmed as they passed through the trees. Her mom had said these ones weren't even that impressive, and yet he couldn't imagine them being any bigger. Wouldn't they just fall over? And there were so many kinds, brown ones, and white ones each with completely different leaves. The long, spiky green leaf kind around Aerith's house were probably his favorite—pines, Aerith had called them—mainly because of how nice they smelled.
Trailing a few steps behind her as they made their way through the woods, he was continually impressed that Aerith seemed to know exactly which way to go. Everything looked entirely the same to him, and yet she moved with confidence, not hesitating once as she led the way. He also couldn't miss how happy she seemed out here, how well it fit her—even though he'd only known her for a day.
The farther they got from the village, the more an oddity began to nag at him, until he couldn't contain the question any longer. "Where are all the food factories? I haven't seen anything around that's large enough to be them, are they even farther out into the forest?"
Aerith paused, one hand resting against a tree as she looked back at him, a confused expression on her face. "Food factories?"
"You know, the place where all the food is made. You've gotta show up early enough or all the good stuff is already gone. Or . . . is it all made with magic?"
"Magic food? Huh, I'm not sure anyone's figured out how to do that yet. Doesn't sound like it would be very good though. No factories either, everything is cooked fresh at home. You . . . don't cook?"
He shook his head. "Nope. My mom took me to one of the factories with her once, there are giant machines that make all the food. It's pretty impressive."
Aerith's nose wrinkled. "Food made by machines? I don't mean to be rude, but that sounds . . . bad."
"Nah, it's not—" Cloud stopped, thinking back on all the incredible meals he'd had since arriving. "Okay, yeah, maybe it's not the best."
Aerith giggled in response, turning back around. "We're almost there. I'm not sure how long it's going to take my mom, but maybe we can fix some of the damage from yesterday while we wait."
"Damage?"
"You kinda trampled all over the flowers."
Cloud's face felt like it was on fire as he glanced down and noticed how all of Aerith's steps were precisely placed to avoid walking on any of the larger plants while his were most certainly not. "Sorry, my bad."
"It's okay, they're strong. They'll grow back even better than they were before. And here we are!"
They emerged into a large clearing he actually recognized, and his attention immediately focused on the very center—illuminated by a ray of sunlight filtering in through the leaves from above. "I showed up right in the middle over there, didn't I?"
"Yup, you can go check it out if you want. Just please watch out for . . . the lilies," Aerith trailed off, sighing loudly as his foot landed directly in the middle of what he imagined she'd been warning him about.
"Oh. Oops, I'm sor—" he cut off in shock, as Aerith and the entire clearing were abruptly no longer there, the all too familiar desert heat blasting into him as if a switch had been flipped. Apparently, it was possible for him to return, although now he wished he'd been able to say goodbye first.
Out of curiosity, he reached out into the air where he'd come from to see if maybe he could feel the Barrier and ended up nearly falling on his face as his hand met no resistance whatsoever. Wondering if he'd ever get a chance to see Aerith again, he turned towards the city, pausing as he noticed a different gate guard staring at him in amazement.
"What the . . . Where in the hell did you come from, boy?" The man's eyes were wide in shock, his hands shaking as he raised his gun to point it directly at Cloud. "Are . . . are you . . . an Ancient? Stay away! Come any closer and I'll shoot!"
Cloud froze, unsure of what to do as he lifted his hands in the air. "I'm Human, I . . . got lost," he lied.
"But . . . but I saw . . ." The guard thankfully lowered his weapon, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. "Get back inside the gate, you fool. Don't you know it's not safe out there?"
"Sorry, it was a dare, won't happen again!" Cloud shouted, running past and back into the city.
"Stupid kid, can't imagine ever wanting one," he heard the man mutter as he passed.
Ignoring him, Cloud rushed straight back home. He'd never been gone for an entire night without letting his mom know in advance and he was sure she had to be panicking. Even though he knew she was going to chew him out for it, strangely enough, he found himself looking forward to that.
"I'm home!" he announced, pushing the front door wide open. His initial cheer faded somewhat as he took in the dark interior. Why were the lights off? Where was his mom? She wasn't out looking for him, was she?! Just as he was about to turn to leave, he heard a noise from his mother's room—a single, hacking cough that sent a chill racing down his spine.
Rushing to her room, he threw open the door. "Mom?!"
She was lying on her back in bed, the sheets half-covering her. It was almost a perfectly normal scene, except for the fact it was nearly midday and her face was alarmingly pale. "Oh, good, you're back," she said, smiling weakly. "Next time you stay overnight at a friend's place you need to let me know, okay? Was it Zack? Or maybe Tifa?"
Cloud wasn't sure if he should respond first or ask what was going on with her—at least it seemed like she hadn't been as concerned as he'd worried she might be. Taking a seat at the foot of the bed, he decided to let her know where he'd been first. As tempting as it was to take the excuse she'd inadvertently offered him, he couldn't lie to his mom, even if she wasn't going to believe the truth.
"I . . . actually wasn't over at a friend's place, mom. A lot happened and somehow I . . . I ended up on the other side of the Barrier," he finished in a rush.
He expected her to laugh or tease him, but instead, she just looked at him steadily for a moment before coughing lightly and shifting into more of a sitting position. "Well, that certainly sounds like quite the adventure. What happened over there? You look so much better."
Cloud glanced down at himself, shocked she was able to see any change in him. "You can tell a difference?" As far as he could tell, he felt exactly the same as before he'd crossed over.
"Of course I can. How long do you think I've been your mother for? But enough about that, what were the Ancients like?"
"Cetra. They don't like to be called Ancients," he explained.
The corner of his mom's lips twitched. "Ah, my apologies. What were the Cetra like?"
"Surprisingly normal. They look just like us, although they dress very differently." Cloud paused for a moment, trying to come up with a way to explain it. "Their clothes are a lot . . . looser? But they also cover much more skin since it isn't nearly as hot there. There were lots of robes and dresses and they wore these long strips of cloth wound all around. Oh, and they had lots of fancy-looking jewelry too."
"Wow, that certainly sounds quite impressive. Why isn't it as hot though?"
"Because of all the trees! Like in the stories you told me, but they're way more impressive than I thought they'd be. They go up and up and up and their leaves block out the sun so that it's nice and cool under them. I wish I could show it to you . . ."
His mom was smiling warmly at him. "It sounds beautiful, dear. I'd love to be able to see it someday."
"Yeah, I know you'd love it! And the Cetra are super nice. They fed me the most amazing food and gave me my own room. I don't think they're evil at all." Saying the words out loud made him realize just how much he'd come to believe them over the last day. He wasn't sure why the President was so upset with the Cetra, but now it seemed hard to believe he had a good reason.
"But enough about me," he continued, frowning. "What happened to you? I heard a really bad cough when I got home."
She shook her head, giving him an amused look. "You worry too much. I'm fine, although I do seem to have caught a bit of a cold. I'm sure it'll pass in a few days."
He frowned, not entirely convinced. "Should I go get a doctor to take a look?"
"What, just for a fever and a cough? No, I don't think that's necessary, but thanks for always looking out for me."
"At least stay home today, okay? I'll make you some soup for lunch and I can handle getting dinner ready tonight too."
His mom laughed before it turned into a short coughing fit. "Fine, fine," she said once she'd recovered. "But in return, you have to promise me you'll go out and play with your friends. I don't want you staying home and just worrying about me all day."
"Deal." Cloud got back to his feet and made his way to their small kitchen. Grabbing a pot, he filled it up with water and tossed it on the burner. Like every meal, soup was extremely easy to prepare—a nice alternative to the factories if there wasn't enough time. A quick trip to the pantry and he was back with two pellets. Normally, one was all it took, but Cloud wanted the soup to be a bit thicker and have more flavor. Using the step stool so he could see into the pot, he dropped the pellets into water and watched as they slowly began to dissolve—now he just had to wait for the water to get hot enough.
As he waited, Cloud thought back to the dinner he'd had the night before. It was still hard to believe that Aerith's mom had made something that amazing completely on her own. Perhaps that was why she was such an important person and had the title Elder? He wondered what kind of soup she could make and if it would be any better than this. Probably, if the stew was any indication.
Grabbing a spoon, he gave the pot a good stir, causing the last of the pellets to finish dissolving—the water now a faint brownish color. He scooped up some soup and brought it to his lips, blowing on it before giving it a taste. It took all of his self-control not to spit it right back out into the pot. He knew the soup wasn't any different from the last time he'd made it, but the meals he'd had at Aerith's home made it painfully clear how bad this was.
There wasn't anything he could do about that, unfortunately, so he waited until it began to boil before covering the pot and lowering the heat to the weakest setting. Heading back to his mom's room, he poked his head in the doorway. "The soup is ready whenever you want some, it should stay warm, unless you want me to bring you a bowl now."
"No, that's fine," his mom said, shaking her head. "I can easily serve myself some later, thanks for getting it ready. "Now, go play, preferably on this side of the Barrier."
Cloud chuckled. "Don't worry, I don't think I can cross over anymore so I'll be with Sephiroth, Zack, and Tifa. Remember, I'll take care of dinner when I get home."
"Have fun!" she called out before he closed the bedroom door, leaning against it from the other side.
As a result, Cloud could hear the muffled sounds of her coughing through it. Clenching his jaw he debated ignoring her and going directly to a doctor. The coughs didn't seem too bad and didn't last for long so he reluctantly decided to wait for now. If she didn't improve in the next few days, then he'd go get help, no matter what she said.
Taking a deep breath, he pushed off the door, making his way to the front entrance and back outside into the blazing heat. Cloud shielded his eyes with his hand, already missing the trees from Aerith's world. Why didn't they have any here? From what her father had said, it sounded like the desert and the accompanying heat were a more recent change. He wondered what could have possibly caused it. Maybe the President knew, maybe that was why he was so upset.
For now, worrying about it wasn't going to accomplish anything, and Cloud was excited to see his friends again so he hurried to the park to meet them.
"Well, well, look who decided to actually show up today," Zack said, winking as Cloud stepped into the playground.
"Where have you been, Cloud?" Sephiroth looked extremely upset. "The competition is tomorrow and you just vanished without saying anything."
"You won't believe what happened!" he replied, grinning widely.
"Wait, let me guess." Zack struck a pose, holding his wooden sword up in the air. "You crossed the Barrier and raided an Ancient city, killing all of them before returning home with your loot!"
Cloud's mouth dropped open. "Wait, how did you know? Just the first part I mean, obviously I didn't kill anyone."
"You're really gonna go with it?"
"Cause I did! There were trees, and flowers, and birds, and the food was amazing!"
Zack burst into laughter. "Okay, now I know you're just pulling our legs."
Tifa's hand was over her mouth as she failed to hold in her laughter while Sephiroth was simply staring at him.
"I'm telling the truth! Why don't—"
"Enough," Sephiroth said, cutting in. "It doesn't matter. You're here now and you better be here tomorrow. Let's get to training."
"Where were you, really?" Tifa asked, dropping her voice to a whisper as Zack and Sephiroth moved off and began sparring. "I stopped by your place but it didn't seem like anyone was home."
"I told you, I was across the Barrier! I went outside the city gate and somehow ended up there!"
Tifa sighed, looking a little sad as she took a step back. "Fine, whatever, let's just spar then."
As much as it hurt that they didn't believe him, it wasn't terribly surprising either. Honestly, he wasn't sure he'd believe his own story. He imagined his mom had only believed him because she'd said he looked different—apparently, it was subtle enough that she was the only one who could tell. Since there wasn't an easy way for him to convince his friends of what had happened, Cloud decided to drop it for now, following Tifa to the opposite side of the playground.
Because Tifa fought with her fists, it didn't make much sense for him to use his sword so he left it lying in the dirt—even though Cloud knew he was at a severe disadvantage. She didn't hold back either, darting in the moment he gave a nod of his head to indicate he was ready. Despite having sparred with her like this several times in the past, it still surprised him how fast she was. Before he'd had a chance to throw up a guard, her fists impacted his side in a rapid three-punch combo—not at her full strength of course, but still hard enough that he didn't want to take any more hits than could be helped.
Jumping back to try and get some distance between them, Cloud braced himself, bringing his hands up into a defensive position. He didn't stand a chance beating her so his goal was to limit the amount of damage she could do to him instead.
"C'mon, Cloud, don't tell me you're afraid of a girl," Tifa taunted, winking at him as she started to circle around to his side.
While it probably would have worked much better against Zack, Cloud wasn't going to fall for that—he knew she was far better than him in close-range combat. "I think I'm good right here," he said, turning to keep her in front of him.
"Have it your way." The moment she finished speaking, Tifa rushed forward, throwing a punch he managed to deflect with his arm. Unfortunately, he realized too late it had been a feint as her foot came up and slammed into his waist, almost knocking him off balance.
Grunting with the impact, Cloud dropped his guard and grabbed her leg, Tifa's eyes going wide in surprise. Before he could figure out what to do with his advantage, she pulled her foot free and used the momentum to spin around, sending another kick at his opposite side. Thankfully, this time he was able to see the attack coming and cleanly blocked it, Tifa grinning widely at him.
"Why didn't you throw her?" Sephiroth asked, startling Cloud as he realized the other two had stopped their match and were now watching.
"I wasn't sure how to, not without hurting her."
Tifa frowned. "I know how to fall, Cloud."
"You need to be prepared to take advantage of any opportunity you can. The Ancients aren't going to fight fair, so neither should you. On that note, I want to switch things up," Sephiroth said before Cloud could respond. "Cloud, Zack, I want you two practicing with your swords, you're both still shaky."
Grumbling to himself, Zack walked over to where their wooden swords were lying on the ground and picked them up, tossing one to Cloud which he barely managed to catch.
"What am I supposed to do then?" Tifa asked, sounding frustrated.
"I'm going to teach you how to disarm someone with a weapon since that's your primary weakness right now. Let me get them started and then we'll go."
Cloud smiled to himself as Tifa's face lit up before he turned to confront Zack. "Alright, let's do this."
"No. Stop," Sephiroth said, striding forward. "Stop grabbing your sword with two hands, Cloud. It's too short of a blade to do that, and it makes your swings awkward." He pulled Cloud's left hand off the hilt.
"But it lets me hit harder."
"It doesn't matter how hard you swing if you only hit the air. Just give this a try." Stepping back he gestured for them to start.
Reluctantly, Cloud hefted his sword with only his right hand even though it felt wrong. Zack came in swinging and he moved to meet him, their swords bouncing off each other with a loud wooden clack. As they continued to attack each other, Cloud was forced to admit that it was much easier to aim this way, although his wrist was already getting sore since it had to bear the brunt of Zack's blows on its own.
After a few more minutes of this, Sephiroth gestured for them to stop. "Well done. That looked much better Cloud, keep it up and we might just make a swordsman out of you yet. Zack, you're swinging too wildly. If Cloud were better he'd be able to take advantage of the openings you leave and punish you for them. Focus on tight, controlled movements."
Considering how skilled Sephiroth was with a sword, it felt good to get any form of praise from him and Cloud was extremely grateful to have him as an instructor. Grinning at Zack, he stepped forward, ready to continue their match as Sephiroth and Tifa moved away to do their own training.
By the time they finished, Cloud felt like he'd fallen down a flight of stairs. Both he and Zack were panting for breath, but it was undeniable that they were improving. It felt good, even if he was ready to go and collapse on his bed.
"Good work, everyone," Sephiroth said, nodding to each of them. "The match is tomorrow. We're going to win. I'll see you in the morning."
"Gotta run, see you guys tomorrow for some ass-kicking!" Zack shouted before heading off.
Tifa took a step closer to Cloud. "You ready to head back?"
"Actually, I need to talk with Cloud about something. Privately," Sephiroth said.
"Oh . . . okay, well, I need to get home so I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow then." She waved and ran off down the street, but not before Cloud saw her give him a worried look.
Once Tifa was out of sight, Sephiroth took a step closer, a curious look on his face. "Is it really true? You actually crossed the Barrier?"
"I did," Cloud said, nodding hesitantly. Of all the people to believe him, Sephiroth had been the last on his list. "Spent almost an entire day on the other side."
"What did you see?" There was almost a . . . hunger to Sephiroth's voice. "Was it a paradise?"
"Ummm, I guess? It was much nicer than here, that's for sure. There are trees everywhere with birds in them and flowers on the ground and it's not nearly as hot."
Sephiroth looked incredibly unimpressed and Cloud racked his brain to come up with something that might excite him.
"Oh, yeah, and I used magic! They have these special materials that let anyone use it!"
Sephiroth's brow rose, and Cloud realized it was the first time he'd ever seen the older boy show any form of surprise. "And it worked? What was it like?"
Feeling embarrassed, he looked away. "It was just a bit of a tingly feeling, they use it instead of a light switch."
"That's not important," Sephiroth said, waving his hand dismissively. "What matters is that you, a human, were able to use magic. This could change everything, Cloud."
"It . . . could?"
"Don't you see? The only advantage the Ancients have over us is their magic. If we can figure out the secret to making these materials then we can completely negate that!"
"I don't think they want to fight us or anything, though. They were pretty . . . normal."
"How did you get there?" Sephiroth asked, seeming to ignore him.
Cloud hesitated. As nice as it was to have one of his friends finally believe him, Sephiroth was acting . . . intense. He tried to imagine the other boy meeting Aerith and struggled to see them getting along very well. At the same time, once he'd made it back, his attempt to cross back over had failed so he wasn't sure how much he'd even be able to help.
"Cloud. This is important. Your name could go down in history."
That caught his attention. "You really think so?"
Sephiroth nodded gravely. "You're the first person to ever be able to cross over, that's incredible."
Cloud knew for a fact that wasn't true, but didn't want to tell him about Aerith's dad. "I guess I can take you to where I crossed over, but I don't think it's going to work again."
"Lead the way," the older boy replied, gesturing with his arm.
Together, they made their way to the city gate, Sephiroth almost vibrating with excitement next to him the entire way. Once they arrived, Cloud was surprised to see the same guard from this morning still on duty. He thought they usually rotated out halfway through the day.
"It's through the gate, but I'm not sure that guard is going to let us past. He was pretty upset with me this morning."
"Not a concern, I can get us past," Sephiroth said, walking directly for the guard.
The man turned as Sephiroth walked up to him, a frown on his face. "More kids? What the hell is—" He cut off as his eyes fell on Cloud. "Hey, you're the one from this morning! You got me a double shift, you little bastard!"
Cloud stepped behind Sephiroth, doing his best to look as small as possible.
"We're going through," Sephiroth said, his voice shockingly calm.
"Like hell you are! Do you have any idea how much trouble I got in this morning? No one is allowed through, although I don't know why you'd even want to, it's a death sentence out there."
"You're going to let us through or I'll make sure you never leave this gate for the rest of your life."
"Wait . . ." The guard leaned down, squinting at Sephiroth before going pale. "You're the son of that scientist."
"Indeed."
"I beg your pardon," the guard stammered, moving out of the way. "By all means, do whatever you need to."
Cloud knew Sephiroth's dad was an important person—he stood near the President almost every time the man was on television after all—but he'd never realized how much influence that gave Sephiroth until now. Stepping around the guard, Cloud followed his gang leader out of the city.
"What next?"
Nothing . . . really," Cloud said hesitantly. "I saw a girl out here and when I went to help her I realized I'd somehow crossed over."
"A girl?"
Cloud instantly regretted mentioning Aerith for a reason he couldn't fully place—some instinctual part of himself screaming at him to shut up. "Just someone from their village."
"Show me exactly where."
He glanced around, honestly not entirely sure where Aerith had been sitting since the desert looked exactly the same in all directions. "Uhhh, roughly around here?" he guessed, stopping in what he felt was at least close to the right location.
Sephiroth began walking around him, his hands passing through the air in a way that reminded Cloud of what he'd done that morning. The other boy was muttering to himself, but it was quiet enough Cloud couldn't make out any of the words. As the minutes dragged out, Sephiroth grew more and more visibly frustrated, but as much as Cloud wanted to see Aerith again, he found himself glad the Barrier seemed to be holding strong.
"Um, is it alright if I head home?" he asked, glancing at the sun that was nearly touching the horizon. "My mom's not feeling well and I need to make a trip to the factories to get dinner ready tonight."
"What? Oh, sure." Sephiroth made a shooing gesture with his hand. "I'm going to stay a bit longer but you're free to leave."
Cloud passed back through the gate, the lights of the city winking on as the dark of night settled in with the sun now mostly gone. The guard was standing there, staring at his feet and clearly doing his best to ignore them. Turning down the street that would take him to the nearest food factory Cloud couldn't help but wonder if he'd made a mistake by telling anyone about his trip beyond the Barrier.
Now back inside Cloud's head, we get to better understand what's going on in in there regarding Cetra-land. Unsurprisingly, he's mostly just extremely overwhelmed, as even the things that are somewhat familiar like soap and oatmeal turn out to be dramatically different. And yeah, this is a slow burn and yet they're already holding hands only three chapters in—shocking, I know. Don't worry, things are going to calm down a bit from here. On a more serious note, they've clearly already had a big impact on each other, so it's a bit sad when Cloud ends up accidentally crossing back over, only to find himself unable to return. Claudia's illness has gotten worse, which plays a large role in her panic about Cloud's unexpected absence not being as high as it would otherwise be since she's not in great shape. You might have noticed, but there's a large focus on food in the story, at least initially. I felt like it was one of the easiest ways to show the stark contrast between the worlds so expect to see more of it. Then we get a bit of a training sequence as mentor!Sephiroth helps everyone improve, he's such a good guy, isn't he? He's also the only one to believe Cloud's incredible story, although the Barrier says a firm "nope" to their attempts to cross over. Ah, and just to be clear, "materials" instead of "Materia" isn't a typo, as much as spellcheck keeps trying to do exactly that. Cloud just misheard an unfamiliar word. And lastly, the next chapter is a bit special, so look forward to that! Thanks as always for reading, I hope this chapter has you even more excited to learn what's in store for our two protagonists!
Next Chapter: Council
