Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Stargazers ❯ Chapter Six ( Chapter 6 )

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Stargazers

Chapter Six

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The inside of the building was completely unlike the outside; browns, reds and golds- deep rich hues that gave one the sensation that they were underground, and seemed to give the air warmth. It was also very chaotic, at the moment. People were rushing about this way and that, carrying stacks of boxes and papers, or just generally seeming to be in quite a hurry.

"The hell's going on? It's a mad house in here…" Zacks raised a brow at the apparently peculiar activity. He grabbed the arm of the nearest gopher.

"Hey wha-?"

"What's going on?"

"Ah, very busy sir, gotta help packing-"

"Packing for what? Where the hell's Rufus?"

"Not here, sir-"

"Say what?"

"…Um, he's not here."

"…"

"…"

"What do you mean, he's not here?"

Cloud rolled his eyes- this scene was looking particularly familiar at this point. He stopped paying attention to the conversation, and looked around at the furnishings, noting how expensive the various rugs and wall drapery looked. Rufus appeared to have a taste for dark wood. There were several corridors leading deeper into the complex, and many stairs, leading both up and down. He also noticed that several females had stopped what they were doing to study him and Zacks a moment. And some didn't for just a moment, but rather seemed to forget what they were doing entirely and seemed to be trying to get Zakcs attention to blow him kisses and whatnot.

Zacks had finally let go of the guy and turned his attention back to Cloud, though not before pausing to toss a wink at the ladies. "Alright, look- I've gotta find out just what the hell's going on here; I'm supposed to head upstairs to meet with Reeve, he'll fill me in- and don't worry, we can still find out where the hell the Turks went. Now I just have to find out where the hell Rufus went, too. So c'mon, this way." He now grabbed a hold of Cloud's arm, and started leading him down the nearest corridor, until they came across the set of stairs Zacks was looking for, "…By the by…"

"What? And would you let go-" Cloud jerked his arm away.

"What I said about the Turks before, about being generally more good then bad deep down?"

"…Yeah…"

"Well, remember that that's very generally- only when they won't get any profit out of it, generally. They've been a bit split up lately with the search going on and all, so uh… y'never know when one might be around- just keep an eye out and avoid 'em if you see 'em. They all wear the same suits."

"…Right…" Cloud remembered the girl he had seen before. She hadn't seemed too cutthroat, but if Zacks bothered giving a warning, he'd best keep it in mind.

"Hey- hey Zacks, that you? Took you long enough to your hide back here!"

"Keep talkin' like that Ras, and you won't have any hide left, got me?"

Ras jogged over, "Yessir! ...Hey, who's this..?" He was a young man with short green hair, save for a short small ponytail at the base of his neck, and a few strands in the front that were pulled into thin braids, tucked behind his ears.

Zacks grinned, "This is Cloud."

"Cloud, eh? Well-" He stuck out a hand, "Hello Cloud- name's Rasputin. A pleasure to meet'cha."

Cloud hesitated, then lightly took the hand, which gave his a vigorous shake and held on for just a moment too long afterwards.

"Right, right- we gotta get going. See you around, Ras.

"Yeah, see yas."

Ras walked off in the direction they had come from, as they continued down the corridor. "Ras is a good guy- dependable. He'll always watch your back. Hey y'know, after I get out of this meeting, wanna go out somewhere?"

"…It's already dark. Won't it be getting a bit late?"

Zacks grinned, "A 'bit late' is prime time in Gavriel. Besides, we're spending the day here tomorrow, so we don't have to worry about getting up in the morning. Yeah, it'll be good for you- gotta teach you how to live, y'know?"

Cloud rolled his eyes, "If how to live is how to get drunk, I think I'll pass."

"Pssh. We'll have a great time, just you wait. Ah- this a way, c'mon."

They made a turn to the left, and headed down a short ways until they came to a set of stairs that led up with a door at the top. "Right- you gotta wait down here Spike, shouldn't be long, alright? Feel free to wander around this floor a bit- just don't get yourself lost."

"…Yeah, sure."

"Right then, up I go- and I'll find out about your friend, okay?"

"Yeah…Thanks, Zacks"

Zacks just flashed a grin and headed up. Cloud watched as the door shut behind him, thenglanced around the hallway. He headed over to the other side and folded his arms, leaning back against the wall, and waited, a person walking by every now and then, occasionally taking the time to look at him as they passed. After a little while, he noticed that he heard what sounded like giggling coming from somewhere around the corners. Then after a little while longer, he realized that several of the women passing had passed more than once already. Also that several of them were new faces, but others were the same ones giggling at Zacks earlier. He let out a sigh, shoulders dropping, and after the new face in a pink dress passed for a third time, decided to wander around a bit. Girls are, apparently, absolutely ridiculous.

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"You've got to be kidding me."

"Afraid not, Zacks, It's just like eight years ago. That's why Rufus has gone to Lavitia, and I'm watching over things here for now. He wanted to leave as soon as possible, of course, so only a few went with him- the rest that are going will leave when everything's ready." Reeve folded his hands on the desk, shaking his head, "Right in the middle of the whole Vincent mess- everyone's just about ready to lose it, around here. Hopefully they're just rumors. I don't know what we'll do if they aren't…"

"But you said the Turks had decided to head up that way, anyway? A bit like wandering right into the storm, isn't it?"

"Better than waiting for it to hit, in their opinion. They needed to look that way anyway, and the companion they picked up was just more incentive to get it over with now, I suppose."

"The girl, right-" Zacks looked up as the door from the back opened, and frowned as a boney man entered, "So the slimy rat's still here after all, eh? Not important enough to go along with Rufus?"

The man narrowed his eyes, though it was hard to see through the light glare on his spectacles, which adjusted on the bridge of his nose. He wore a long robe, green and light blue, with light strands of a golden shade bordering its designs, and he had his long black hair pulled into a ponytail trailing down his back. He currently carried a scroll and a feathered quill pen."Yes, a pleasure to see you as well. I see you've picked up a new pet. A little blonde thing, isn't it?"

Zacks snarled, "Funny, I wouldn't think a half blind, half wit alchemist like you would notice a new face. And that 'little blonde thing' happens to be a lot more than you'd ever recognize."

"If I'm half-witted then I pity what scraps of intelligence you've managed to divide among the other brutes around here. And I don't want to know anything more about him, knowing you're general activities with any companions you've picked up. Besides, can't have much brains to him if he follows someone like yourself about."

"Er- gentlemen, please, if we could-"

"As it so happens, he's probably smart enough to put you out of a job some day, and more qualified to boot, as he wouldn't take it up as a hobby to make him feel better about failing miserably to get bit of simple magic going."

"…Excuse me?"

"You heard me fine and clear"

"Are you insinuating that he has the ability to use magic?"

"No actually, at this point I'm telling you rather bluntly that he's gonna make one hell of a mage."

Reeve stared, "...You really mean it, don't you?"

"O'course I do," Zacks grinned, "So stuff that in you're pipe and smoke it."

The alchemist's eyebrow twitched, but he declined from firing back, instead muttering 'how curious…' under his breath and taking a seat.

Reeve paused, looking at the two, and letting out a sigh of relief now that things had relaxed. "Right. At any rate- Zacks, you need to get out there and help find Vincent- the quicker we get the issue with Corneo's Traders resolved, the quicker we can focus on this new dilemma, got it?"

Zacks nodded, "Right. The Turks find anything yet?"

"They did manage to squeeze the location of another underground stronghold out of one of them- supposed to be somewhere along the outskirts of Landor. Rude and Reno are supposed to be out there right now- Tseng went with Elena and the girl."

Zacks snorted, "Well I would hope so- who knows what kind of trouble they could be headed towards. Sooo… where's Seph at?"

"Not sure, exactly- you know how sparse he is with his soaress."

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Cloud had found his way back to his original spot in the hallway, not having wanted to wander too far, and not finding anything of interest along the way, save for a few admirable paintings. He was currently swapping back and forth between staring at his shoes and the closed door. As soon as Zacks walked out that door, he would find out where Tifa was. Hopefully, at any rate- with such a bizarre situation, who knew for certain. He threw a glance around the hallway…at least those girls had left…

Just then, Zacks and two other men came out the door, seemingly still tying up the ends of their conversation. Cloud's attention was drawn to the one in the long decorated robe- there was an air about him that reminded Cloud of a mage, and he couldn't help but wonder. There was something else about the man though, that made him feel the odd urgency to shrink back. His features looked strained, as if once handsome, but shrunken due to stress and neglect of his well being. He was rather… creepy.

The other man, who wore an expensive looking suit, had a sharply cut, short beard, but there was also a certain softness to his features that took away from any intimidation factor.

The first man, adorned with small, round spectacles, caught Cloud's gaze, and quirked a brow, "Would this be the one, then? That you said can use magic?"

Zacks was the first to reach the bottom of the stairs, stopping at Cloud's side. "Yes, this would be him. What's it to you?"

Cloud found himself stepping slightly behind Zacks as the man came closer, and paused, adjusting his spectacles and squinting at him, "This young? You're telling me that he's managed to use magic this young? …Well let's see it then- go on, have the boy do something."

"He's not a puppet, Hojo."

"Funny hearing that coming from you."

Zacks narrowed his eyes, and reached an arm back, resting his hand on Cloud's back. "You cut your hand pretty bad from the last time you were trying to cut a roll in half, didn't you, Reeve?"

"What- oh- do you really need to broadcast it? It's rather easy to do- what does that have to do with anything?"

"Just c'mere," Zacks looked to Cloud, who was looking at him questioningly; he wanted him to heal? Reeve came closer, and Hojo quirked a brow, wondering just what Zacks had up his sleeve...he couldn't possibly be planning what he seemed to. "Hold out your hand, Reeve- don't look at me like that, just do it."

"…Right." Reeve decided to play along, feeling much like a lab experiment.

"Ok, Spike- make it better." Zacks patted his back, and gave him a reassuring wink. Cloud inhaled deeply, and stepped forward, lightly touching the first two fingers of each hand to the edges of the rather lengthy (not to mention poorly attended too) cut. He couldn't help but wonder how the hell he cut himself this bad cutting a roll- seemed like quite an accomplishment.

Hojo stepped closer, leaning in as he adjusted his spectacles once more, watching carefully. The familiar soft glimmer outlined the cut through its poor bandaging, and the light grew. Reeve felt a warm sensation throughout his hand, spreading up comfortingly through his arm, almost like warm liquid. He lifted his gaze from his hand to Cloud's face, then back down again, rather speechless as he watched. Hojo was muttering bits of disbelief under his breath at what he was seeing.

The light pulsed, and as it faded from sight, so did the cut's outline. The four of them stood there for a moment, staring at the hand, until Reeve made he move to take off the bandaging. The cut was gone.

"I don't believe it!" Hojo exclaimed. Zacks grinned, Reeve inspected his hand, and Cloud took a step back from the three of them, silently.

"What'd I tell ya? Eh? Eh? Not only can he heal, he's gotta good handle on everything he tries- everything you ever wanted and failed miserably at, ne?"

Hojo snarled, "I still fail to see how the gods ruled it just that a twit who takes the ability for granted recieves magic, while someone who truly appreciates it is given nothing." Hojo turned and began making his way down the hallway, before pausing, and turning to look at Cloud, "…If you're smart, boy, you'll abandon his company and study the true possibilities you hold. I assure you, you have no idea. …Take to heart that ignorance is your worst enemy."

"…Pff, sourpuss. Now then, c'mon Cloud, I'll show you our rooms."

"…Hey…hold on a minute…"

Zacks turned as Reeve spoke up, "Hm? What's up?"

Reeve opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again. "Well, I suppose it's rather silly, now that I think about it- I was just going to ask if, perhaps," he was looking at Cloud now, "…you could do that thing with the light again- healing magic, was it? I've never felt anything so warm before. Silly thing, I know, needn't bother- but, a pleasure to meet you- Cloud, was it? Just call me Reeve." He held out his now healed hand.

Cloud paused, "…Yes. Cloud Strife…" He took Reeve's hand and shook it lightly.

"Well met, then, well met." Reeve nodded in a manner that seemed more like he was reassuring himself more than anyone else. Cloud drew his hand away and retreated to Zacks' side, whom was now waiting impatiently at the end of the hallway.

"C'mon, c'mon, I wanna get going- it's been way to long since I've had some good whiskey."

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Cloud was rather happy with the rooms- primarily for the fact that they were plural. That meant he could be by himself. This only added to the unusually uplifted mood he was in; Zacks had informed him that the Turks were taking Tifa home, and that they were probably there now or would be in a day.

"Toss your stuff wherever; here's a change of clothes," Zacks tossed him a bundle, "We're out having fun, not traveling."

"…Shouldn't we just head out tomorrow? I don't really see the point in staying here…" Cloud was speaking somewhat reluctantly; in a way he really did want to stay- Gavriel was fascinating in its own right. He had come to the conclusion that its streets were a mix between a festival and an open market constantly taking place.

"Nope, not even thinking about it- I've got a few loose ends to tie up, we gotta restock supplies, and by the time we would leave tomorrow we wouldn't make much progress; not worth rushing for. …And we can get some training time in, eh?"

"…You aren't planning on getting drunk, are you?"

"If everyone planned it when they were going to get drunk, it would take all the fun out of it."

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