Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Adventful ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

He felt like he was drifting in a white void. It seemed to be peaceful, as if nothing could ruin him or his friends anymore.

A hand placed itself on his head, and he whispered, “Okaa-san?”

“How many times is it that you called me mother now?” a voice which sounded like Aeris’s said.

Cloud was about to reply when he blinked opened his eyes.

“O…Okaa-san?” another voice greeted him, and it was cheery. Cloud blinked once more before recognizing the blur as Zidane.

“Zidane…” he sat up, watching the other sitting on the other bed. “What happen?”

“Well, you said ‘Air-something, and then you just passed out.’” Zidane explained, shrugging nonchalantly.

“Hmm…” Cloud looked away. He saw that all his materia was on a night stand, and his sword was on Zidane’s lap. His other items were scatter around the bed, as if they had been going through them.

“You have a lot of gil, you know that?” Zidane asked, seeing Cloud eyeing his pile. Cloud nodded a bit without too much worry. He was actually a bit glad that it could be used here.

“I would think that I would know that.” Cloud replied. “Why is everything out in the open?”

“Oh! Well, we thought you might be uncomfortable sleeping on all your stuff, so we decided to place them here. Of course, no master theif could help but want to wonder what someone has. You just woke up earlier then I expected.”

“So an hour?” Cloud asked. Suddenly, a noise came from around Cloud’s things. He seemed a bit startled at the noise, and his ring tone--Seventh Heaven--that he had recorded from Tifa playing the piano.

Zidane was startled at the noise, having no idea where it came from. He didn’t live in an era of PHS.

Cloud got his phone out from underneath his extra Tranquilizers (which had startled Zidane earlier on, since he really hated shots). He was pretty surprised he had it, for he was certain that it wasn’t there for him when he ran into Vincent at the Forgotten Capital.

Speaking of Vincent…

“I’m here.” Cloud said into his PHS, answering it for once.

“Where are you?” the “vampire” asked, and Cloud looked shocked. “You can reach me out here?” he asked.

“The light engulfed some of us.” Vincent said. He was incredibly blunt.

“Are the others safe?” Cloud asked. “Is Rufus and the Turks here too? What about Yazoo and Loz?”

“Rufus and the Turks are here as well as Kadaj’s gang. I have your ribbon. It was here when I awoke.”

Cloud couldn’t help but chuckle, “I thought you weren’t going back to sleep.”

“I didn’t have a choice. Hmm…looks like Sin doesn’t accept your repentance.”

“At least I tried. Where are Tifa and the others?” Cloud watched as Zidane studied him. Vincent on the other line stayed quiet for a moment, then replied.

“Tifa was taken by two clowns.”

“Clowns?” Cloud asked, looking confused both on how it could have happened and on why Zidane was looking shocked more then he had been.

“Zorn and Thorn!” the tailed boy exclaimed.

“Who is there with you?” Vincent asked.

“Not important. I think I found my lead. Where are the others?”

“I haven’t been able to make contact with them yet …Chaos says that the PLANET may be gone because we disappeared and couldn’t protect it.” Vincent fell silent.

Cloud felt shocked, and he sat on the bed with all his stuff, placing a hand through his hair. His thoughts turned of his teammates, if they were still on the PLANET. “But…that’s just Chaos’s thoughts, right? An opinion?”

“Or the truth.”

“Don’t say that. Aeris…Aeris wouldn’t do that to the PLANET. She knows how hard we’ve tried to protect it…we can’t let it go.” Cloud looked down at his arm which once held the Geostigma, and noticed that Vincent was correct. His ribbon was no longer there, but his sleeve was back on.

“Where are you?” Vincent’s voice cut Cloud out of his surprise about his sleeve.

“In a pillar of sand. It’s blocking a tree. Kadaj and me…we just kind of appeared here. I don’t know how you would get in… Where are you?” he asked, his eyes never tearing away from his arm.

“I’m following Tifa. I will keep her safe from harm, but it is up to you to find us.”

“Tell her…I’m safe. Tell her…” he looked at Zidane, who seemed to be smirking, obviously getting the idea that they were going out. Cloud shook his head, “Just tell her I’m safe. I’ll be there for you guys soon.”

“Aeris is with you, Cloud. You will always be safe.” Vincent said after a moment.

Cloud chuckled, nodding. “Oh!” he said, his eyes resting on his own materia. “Do you have materia?”

“…You sound like Yuffie.”

Cloud laughed. “Yeah…I guess I do. See ya.”

He hung up his phone and placed it in his pocket, breathing deeply. “Zorn and Thorn?” he asked, turning back to Zidane.

“They’re these weird miniature clowns that follow Queen Brahne of Alexandria. That’s probably where they’re holding your friend.” Zidane stretched. “I’m headin’ for the cathedral. Come over or stay here if you want. We’ll call you when we’re ready to leave.”

The monkey-tailed boy walked out of the inn, leaving Cloud to wonder over his possessions and how they all had fit into his pockets.

~*~

Cloud followed Zidane to the cathedral after placing everything back into his pockets, and he found that many of the Cleric Rats--which are called Cleryans, Cloud had to remind himself--were waiting within the main area of it. You could see a whole in it from where Sephiroth had cut through Cloud’s shoulder.

They went over stars and entered a larger room, where many Cleryans were around, including Freya. Zidane’s other friends were there as well.

“Freya, we shall conduct an ancient ceremony to strengthen the sandstorm.” one of the Clerics said. “Surely no enemy of ours would attack with the powerful storm protecting Clerya. And with the help of a dragon knight like you, the storm should grow even more powerful.”

“Ah, the ceremony from the time when Burmecia and Clerya were one. I understand.” she turned to Zidane, watching him through her bright green eyes, “Zidane, I met with utter failure when trying to defend Burmecia... And I will not allow Brahne to exert her will upon us any longer!” she cried out.

Cloud was beginning to realize what was going on. He was in between war with kingdoms. He was in a medieval era…war was never going to stop here…

“You've changed, Freya. I didn't think you were so strong when I first met you.” Zidane said, looking pleased for some reason. Cloud knew the feeling.

“I could not bring peace to Burmecia and thus fulfill Sir Fratley's wish. But now, all I can do is protect this beautiful place.” Freya explained. Zidane nodded, “I think protecting Clerya is the best thing you can do for yourself.”

Cloud knew it. Zidane, despite the fact he was young, was an incredible leader. He was together, he knew who he was. He had a bond with his team mates, something that Cloud never had. ‘I let Barret down…I let Aeris down… Yuffie… Reeve… Cid… Red… Vincent…and Tifa…’ he shook his head, earning himself a worried look from Vivi, but he didn’t see it, still focused on himself. ‘If only I had been together from the beginning…Zack must be having a field day with me and my adventures…it’s like playing a game of tag…’

Zidane didn’t have to ask to be forgiven…

When Cloud finally became focused on his surroundings, he saw that there were more Cleryans in the room then there were from the beginning, and there was a harp playing a living tune. Freya was hopping around, doing some sort of dance, and Cloud stared in silent awe.

In it’s own way, it was so beautiful. The music, too, shouted out to him, as it seemed to be soft, but it had the sharp tones. It was like everything was peaceful, but life would always have your ups and downs. The music changed a bit more, as if showing the hard time of your life.

The music and the dance stopped too quickly in Cloud’s mind, and then the harps’ strings snapped. Everyone in the room gasp, even Cloud, who didn’t know what it really meant.

“The strings…have snapped…a terrible omen this is…” the harp player said, breaking the silence.

It was a bit too quiet afterwards, and Cloud knew something was going wrong. Suddenly, the entire tree began to shake, though not enough to make anyone stumble or to throw them to the ground.

As soon as the shaking was over, you could see there was no longer the sandstorm circling around the tree.

“I can’t believe the sandstorm disappeared. What happened…?” Zidane asked, once more letting the silence break.

“I…don’t know.” Freya replied, fearing it was her fault.

The Cleyran High Priest spoke next, “I have never witnessed anything like this since we settled here. On the harp, there is a magic stone. Since ancient times, we have used the power of the stone to control the sandstorm.”

“Someone…might be trying to invade this place.” Cloud said, looking around with narrowed eyes. He was listening. The mako in his system gave him all sorts of special abilities and enhancements.

“I fear you may be right.” the Cleyran High Priest replied.

“I only hope our enemies don’t come up from the trunk…”

~*~

Vincent remained emotionless as he felt the other two stare at him. He was in a cage with a very disfigured man and another man with eyeliner in a suit of armor. Even Vincent couldn’t comprehend how it could be possible to sit in armor with hurting yourself.

His legs were outstretched and he seemed to be sitting like a rag doll might. The other two were standing, and the armored one looked ready to burst with anger.

“How dare they imprison us like this! Those wretched court jesters! Zorn and Thorn will never get away with this!” the armored person exclaimed, hopping up which made his armor clank.

“I can't believe I got dragged into this…” the second man said, watching the other.

The armored man got even more angry, showing he was on a short fuse. “No one asked you to meddle in our affairs!”

“It's pretty sad, getting’ backstabbed by your own queen.” the second man said, and though Vincent remained emotionless, he couldn’t help but feel something in his heart, and his thoughts turned to Hojo, Gast, and Lucrecia.

“This is all some kind of a mistake! I know the queen. She would never betray me!” The armored man said, hopping once more.

“Wishful thinking. Who knows what she's gonna do to the princess…” the second man rolled his eyes, looking quite bored.

The armored man glared at the other before looking away, his emotions dwelling within him. “...... I must save the princess at all costs!” he whispered under his breath.

The second man looked at Vincent, and saw that they were making eye contact. A bit satisfied, he asked, “What’s your story?”

“This is simply the Epilogue. A very long Epilogue.” Vincent replied, not blinking.

“Then what’s your name?” he asked, “I’m Marcus, and this is Rusty.”

‘Rusty’ growled. “Do not call me such idiocy nicknames! I am Captain Adelbert Steiner of the Pluto Guards!”

“Vincent…Vincent Valentine.”

~*~

Cloud stood by Freya in the observatory, and he couldn’t rid himself of the feeling that something bad was going to happen. Freya just remained silent, and the blonde found it to be best to let the comfortable silence just linger. They both needed to gain their thoughts.

“What are you guys doing here?” the cheery voice of Zidane came behind them.

Freya replied as Cloud remained silent, “Tell me, why do you think the sandstorm disappeared?”

“I don’t know. I was surprised there even was a sandstorm.” Zidane admitted, scratching the back of his head.

“Did you know the sandstorm was here for a thousand years...? And in all that time, it never disappeared, not even once. Perhaps Brahne is behind all this.” Freya said, still not turning to look at her partner.

“...... Actually, I'm more concerned about who that guy with Brahne in Burmecia was.” the tailed boy said.

Cloud gave a silent hum noise as he confirmed it for himself. There was something going on here. Something just as complexed as his own adventure had been--at least the first one.

“That man… I wonder who he was…” Freya trailed off, “…Zidane, I'm going to head down to find out why the sand storm disappeared.”

“Hey, I was thinking the same thing! Let's go together. I'm gonna go find Vivi and Quina. I'll meet you guys at the town entrance.” Zidane said, waving to them as he left.

Cloud finally allowed himself to speak, “This…will become more complicated…”

“I know.” Freya admitted, “But it is not time to hold back. We must fight for what we believe in.”

“Even if it’s a lie?” Cloud asked, a little too quickly.

“Yes…” Freya said. She paused, considering what she was going to say next. “…What about you? Were you following a lie?”

“I wouldn’t say following…” Cloud replied quietly. “Apparently it’s not over yet.”

“No, its not.” Freya nodded to him before walking away, “There is a lot more to you then just those glowing eyes of yours, Cloud Strife.”

Cloud looked at the sky, the completely blue sky, “hmm…” he hummed quietly before following her down the tree.

~*~

“What took you guys so long?” Zidane asked, smiling mischievously.

“I couldn’t find Puck…I wonder if he went down the trunk…?” Vivi mumbled loudly.

“This city have very yummy sand! This city delicious!” Quina exclaimed, letting her tongue move up and down as she moved her large upper body forward.

“I may have failed Burmecia…but I will not fail Clerya.” Freya said, holding onto her lance tightly.

Cloud watched as the team had some sort of hidden idea through them, some hidden understanding. But only Cloud seemed to realize that Clerya was not going to survive.

“I’m…going to stay here.” Cloud suddenly proclaimed. “In case they come from air.” he remembered Bahamut.

“Alright. Catch ya later.” Zidane said, and the group walked off. Cloud looked around, then took out his PHS.

He decided to check his voice mails, since he hadn’t done that in awhile. A voice greeted him saying he had no new mail. He decided to try and contact his friends, but no one answered their PHS. Except Vincent.

~*~

“Hn.” Vincent said into his PHS when he heard it ringing. It had a haunting melody to it, and Vincent remembered that during his travels, Aeris had picked this tune out for him. He allowed a small smile underneath his cloak.

“It’s back.” Cloud’s voice came, filled with fear. “My Geostigma…”

“Your immune system…” Vincent said, remembering what he had learned.

“It was covered up, and then I felt it pulsing again…” Cloud said. He was obviously a bit frightened at this. “It had been gone…now it’s back.”

Vincent remained silent, and his two cage-mates seemed to be staring at him even stranger. They too had never seen a PHS.

“Chaos says that this world, being uncorrupted, holds onto the Geostigma that still lingered in your body.”

“Aeris wasn’t enough to stop it, was she?”

“No.”

The other line went silent for a second, and Vincent thought that Cloud might be spacing out again. However, Cloud suddenly cursed, “Shit! I’ll be there later, Vincent!”

The phone went silent, and Vincent put his PHS away. He was lucky that the Alexandrian Soldiers had been too fearful of his looks to search him for weapons. His Death Penalty was exactly where he had left it.

“Mr., Um, Valentine, is there anyway that you can explain this device?” Steiner asked, watching the pocketed phone.

“…” was all Vincent said.