Silmeria - Happy reading.
Disclaimer - I claim no rights to Final Fantasy VII
Chapter Sixteen : Consequences
"No."
The response was sharp and it caused the confidence in the girl's brown eyes to shatter as fear was quick to take its place. It wasn't, however, Cloud that spoke the rejection, but Zack who stood next to Cloud's temporary bed with his arms folded and regarding the little girl with a small, disapproved frown. The Alpha's nose twitched as he realized that the small girl was a blossoming Sentinel and the thought made his eyes soften and his heart turn to stone all at once. He approached Priscilla and bent down on one knee, lifting her face to meet his eyes.
"Do you know why I told you no?" Zack asked softly, gripping her chin when she wanted to turn her face away, her cheeks flushing with obvious embarrassment. "Do you little one?"
"He's too old for me?" Priscilla tried, her bottom lip wobbling. A few tears slid down her cheeks when Zack shook his head in rejection to her answer. "I'm too young?"
"Yes, to both questions, but Cloud is already my Guide." Zack reached up and ruffled her hair gently, grinning when she gave him a shocked look. "He already belongs with me."
"Oh." Priscilla cheeks turned darker at the revelation and her face turned from sad to apologetic. "I-I didn't know. I-I'm sorry." Priscilla lowered her head, her shoulders loose and her hands folded in front her - the perfect submissive stance. "I give you my most sincere apologies. I didn't know that Guide Cloud was taken."
"It's quite alright." Zack murmured, secretly impressed that she knew the appropriate terms and motions of an apology from Sentinel to Sentinel. "You didn't know and I'm impressed that you were bold enough to ask for my Guide's hand in marriage." Zack poked Priscilla's nose which earned a scowl and a half-hearted swipe from the smaller child. "You'll do fine in finding your own Guide."
"I want it to be a handsome man that's as big and strong as Cloud." Priscilla grinned with a tinkle in her brown eyes. "After all, I'm going to need someone to keep up with me."
"How do you know it's going to be a man?" Cloud piped up curiously, staring at the girl with his own twinkle in his eyes. "What if it's a girl?"
"That's fine." she brushed the thought away. "As long as they're nice and rich and good-looking."
Zack snorted, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter as he ruffled Priscilla's hair again, the tension dispelled by Cloud's questions. "You know money's not everything, right? Nor are looks. I'll admit that it's nice to have a beautiful Guide, but ugliness and bitterness can hide beneath beauty. A Guide can be as beautiful and have enough diamonds to fill the ocean, but if he or she cannot be kind or attentive towards the people or their Sentinel, then that Guide is nothing but a doll: designed to look pretty and nothing else."
Priscilla was silent before nodding, a thoughtful, adorable look crossing her features as she absorbed Zack's words. She tilted her head and looked at Zack and then Cloud before returning her gaze to Zack once more, an understanding in her youthful eyes.
"Is that what you thought?" she pressed. "When you looked at Cloud? What did you think when you first saw him?"
"I thought he was beautiful." Zack admitted without a hint of shame, much to the detriment of Cloud, who was a flushed mess on the bed. "He reminded me of a little lamb lost in the woods. It was his first time in Midgar and he was looking for his friend." Zack's eyes grew sad as he recalled the day. "He had just lost his mother about a week ago from that day."
"Oh." Priscilla shot Cloud a sad look, her mouth pulled into a frown. "I'm sorry about your mom, Cloud. I lost my mom too."
Cloud looked down, his eyes bright as his mother's face, bright and beautiful flashed in his mind. His hand twitched against the memory of the heat of her skin as her soul burned from the inside out. He remembered her pale and harrowed cheeks. The glaze in her eyes as she recalled the glory that his birth brought the Strife name and the love in her eyes as she closed them for a final time-not before he made her promise to leave Nibelheim and live his life. He never expected that he would living like this: beside a kind Alpha who was showing him the world.
"I'm sorry you lost your mom, Priscilla. I'm hoping that your mom and mine are friends in the Afterlife." Cloud rose from the bed and smiled when Priscilla lowered her head at his words, but he didn't miss the tears that slid down her cheeks making him realize that her death was still fresh and at the forefront of her mind.
"Are you living alone?" Cloud asked suddenly, his heart tearing at the thought of this child-this new Sentinel-living alone and without a proper guide in the world. How would she learn about the do's and don'ts of their world? How would she know about finding her Guide? The right Guide and not just pick and chose because it seemed right and didn't feel right?
"The village takes care of me." Priscilla responded. "I still stay in the house my parents lived in, but Grandpa checks on me everyday and Grandma cooks me meals everyday. Aunt and Uncle teach me how to use short swords and to use Materia. Cousin and Sister take me camping."
Cloud and Zack gave each other a relieved look that was filled with bemusement. These people didn't necessarily have names, but the thought of the village taking care of her eased their minds. It was also a relief that the thought trailed their minds: if Priscilla didn't have home then they would be returning to Midgar with her and giving her home whether it be with Tifa or Cid and Shera.
"Oh." Priscilla approached Cloud with the pendant still tangling in her hands. "I suppose it would still be alright to give you this?" she turned to Zack for confirmation, grinning when he nodded.
To anyone who wasn't prone to magic, it looked like a simple pendant, but the moment Cloud touched the red jewel, he shivered at the coldness and the power that pulsed inside. His eyes met Zack from across the room and the man raised an eyebrow before nodding, looking curious as well.
"Sweetheart." Cloud began tenatively. "Where did you get this?"
"It's my grandfather's." Priscilla responded, frowning when Cloud made no move to put it on. "Is it too girly?"
"Of course not. It's lovely." Cloud countered swiftly, not wanting to hurt the girls' feelings. He sat up on the bed, swinging his legs over the edge and urged Priscilla closer. "Sweetheart, what do you know about magic?"
"Ummm, that people with materia can use it?" Priscilla frowned, tilting her head to the side. "Grandpa told me stories about the Ancients too. He said that they could use magic without materia."
"That's right." Cloud responded, internally thanking the elderly man for informing the little girl about the origin of magic-the basics of it. Cloud held up the materia with a sad smile. "You know about the colors right? For materia?"
"Yes." Priscilla smiled, reaching over and placing a hand over Cloud's. "I know that the pendant is a summon materia."
"Oh?" Zack murmured, reeling at the thought that this little girl knew exactly what she had, the rarity of it, and the fact that she willingly passed it on to complete strangers. "You do?"
"Yes." Priscilla responded. "After all, my grandpa told me about all types of materia and when he found out about the pendant, he told me to keep it safe, but I figured that you need it more than I do, right?"
"You don't have to give this to us." Cloud tightened his grip around the pendant, feeling a sort of comfort from the coldness of the stone. He didn't need to have magic to feel Shiva's presence inside the stone, but he was grateful for his talent or else he wouldn't have heard the whispers of the Ice Goddess' voice lingering in his mind, amused at their situation.
"I do." Priscilla protested. "It's a gift and it's to say that I'm sorry for asking you to be my Guide."
"I forgave you. That should have been the end of it, little one." Zack stepped over, taking a seat next to Cloud and placing a hand over his Guide's for not only warmth but presence as well. "Are you sure you want to give this to us?"
"I'm sure." Priscilla sounded confident and thought of it made Cloud smile. "Shiva can protect you the next time someone tries to push you off a balcony."
A snort escaped Zack throat and he lowered his head, placing his hand against his forehead. Right. That little incident. It was the last thing he wanted to think about, but Rosso's actions needed to be addressed. He was well aware of her dislike towards him, but to attack him and Cloud? Such actions were not only inexcusable, but could lead to war if the right buttons were pushed.
It was the last thing he needed on his plate.
Zack rose from the bed, his shoulders suddenly feeling more heavy, but ignored the weight and turned to the occupants in the room. "Let's get the doctor to take a look at you, Cloud. The sooner you're on your feet, the sooner we can get back to Junon. I'm trusting it's only been a couple of hours." Zack turned to Priscilla, bending down on one knee and ruffling the girl's hair before staring into her eyes.
"I can't thank you enough, Priscilla." Zack murmured, grinning when she smiled brightly in return. "Once the doctor clears Cloud for travel, we'll have to go back to Junon. So, I wanted to thank you. Is there anything that you needed? Wanted?"
"Not really." Priscilla murmured, not a sliver of hesitance. "You can keep yourselves safe, but that has nothing to do with an actual thing that I want. You can do that, can't you? Keep you and Cloud safe?"
"That won't be a problem." Zack rose to his feet and shot Cloud a charming smile that caused the Guide's cheeks to burn. "I will always keep him safe."
"Good! I'll go get Doctor Valentine." Priscilla rushed out of the room and once the door clicked shut, Zack turned back to Cloud with a grim frown. He took a seat on the edge of the bed and ran both hands through his hair, the harmonious air gone from the room as both men thought going back to Junon.
"Is this going to be bad for Midgar?" Cloud asked softly, reaching over and placing his hand on Zack's broad shoulder. "What's going to happen to Rosso?"
"I don't know." Zack muttered. "Rosso is known to have a bad temper and I'm not on her top lists of friends, but to directly attack us? In the middle of a Gathering? This could be taken as an act of war if there's no repercussions to what happened today."
"What would you have her do?" Cloud pressed. "To be honest, I don't want her near the city or the people. She's too wild and dangerous. The Goddess robbed her of her true calling."
"Her true calling?"
Cloud shook his head, a sad smile pulling at her lips. "That woman is meant to be a Sentinel. An Alpha Sentinel if we're being detailed. No Guide acts in such a wild and rambunctious manner. Her emotions all over and her shields are erratic. They could crack at any moment. Zack, she's not safe to herself or to others. If push comes to shove and we are given sanctions over what happened today then I want her put into isolation and I want her empathy analyzed."
"...that's a bit harsh, isn't it?" Zack cautioned.
"No." Cloud murmured, as the door clicked open and Dr. Valentine's head peaked in with a mild face. "I would say that it's long overdue."
"You're not too so sore?" Zack asked again, watching as Cloud stumbled towards the elevator that would lead them back to Junon. "Dr. Valentine said that you need at least two more days of rest."
"That's two days that we can't afford, right?" Cloud shuffled inside, wincing as his back twinged. Even with the potion and cure materia, his back was still sore. Vincent had said that it was a miracle that his back wasn't broken when he hit the water.
Thank the Goddess for small miracles.
"Yeah." Zack sounded upset, but Cloud brushed aside the urge to comfort him. As comforting as Zack was being, Cloud knew from the anxious look that the Sentinel gave Vincent when the doctor announced that Cloud needed to be on bed rest, that Zack needed to be back in the city to make his presence known. It wouldn't do to let the world known that Alpha Sentinel Zachary Caelum Fair was dead when he wasn't.
The elevator shuddered to a stop and Cloud and Zack found themselves face to face with a disgruntled red-headed man and a silent, dark-skinned man both of whom were donning dark navy suits.
"He sent the both of you?" Zack grunted, pushing out of the elevator with hand wrapped around Cloud's. "That shows how much he cares about if we survived or not."
"Be glad that you got searched for at all, Fair." the red-headed man grunted. "This is a fucking PA disaster." the red-headed man pointed at Cloud with a scowl. "Here's a tip: Don't piss off the psycho lady."
"I was in full rights to say what I said." Cloud bit back.
"Enough." Zack's tired voice cut in. "We need to get back to Shinra Manor. What's the situation?"
"Rosso is detainment per Weiss' orders. We sent out a search party for you a couple of hours ago. Unfortunately, there were a couple of reporters below the balcony and overheard the confrontation and it's all over the news. There's this whole rumor going on about how Edge and Midgar are going to war. By the by, Cid is pissed."
"So is Tifa."
"Tifa called?" Cloud felt his warm at the thought, but also a sliver of fear for anyone who got in that woman's way.
"Unfortunately. She's very creative with her cursing, but that's besides the point. We have to get you two back. Now."
"Not a problem." Zack stated firmly. "Also, introduce yourselves. Both of you."
"Reno Sinclair, Second in Command to the Turks, Alpha Shinra's personal guard. This," Reno pointed to the dark skinned man. "Is Rude."
"It's nice to meet you." Cloud stared at them with a bemusement. What a pair. "Shall we?"
"We shall." Reno snorted, holding out a hand to the small, black car waiting behind them. "Onto the disaster, gentlemen. Hold on to your panties."