Tuesday, June 22, 2004

Episode nine of...er, this nameless fanfic...
(How foolish of me...I forgot to name this fanfic...anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.)

That night, in guest room number seven of the Endangered Species Observatory, Tifa was awakened with a sudden jolt. Reluctantly she opened her eyes and glanced around the small, shadowy room. Aeris’ voice had come into her mind again, this time bearing a grave warning. She eased out of bed and peered out of the solitary window in her room, looking on in wonder at the endless horizon and the midnight sky, littered with stars. This foreign world, despite its various enigmas, predicaments and monstrosities, was breathtakingly beautiful.

The curtains billowed around her lazily, impregnated by the evening wind, and added to her somber and contemplative disposition at the time. Endless questions flooded her mind. Who was this Aeris? How did she come into contact with her, and why? Was she just losing her grip on reality?

Such questions were irrelevant at the time, but one thing was certain. She couldn’t keep this to herself anymore.

+++++++

You are nothing but a puppet, Strife. Without a mind of your own, you will succumb to my will. Your master beckons you, from beyond the land of snow and ice. My soul cries out for vengeance against that which has sentenced me to eternal damnation. The Day of Judgment is yet to come, and the world will feel my wrath.

Cloud awoke that night with an ear-splitting migraine that dulled his senses and numbed his entire body. Pain ripped through his body in violent spasms. The blinding pain finally retreated, leaving him drained.

“What the hell just happened…?”

He opened his eyes and glanced at the clock on the bedside table. It read 11:43 in bold, digital numerals. He had only fallen asleep a few minutes ago, and it seemed as though he would never be able to fall asleep again.

Or, perhaps, he was afraid to fall asleep again.

No, it couldn’t be that.

He wiped the perspiration from his brow and sat up in bed, thinking. A sharp knock at his door startled him, and he instinctively grasped the hilt of his sword, which had been conveniently placed beside his bed, leaning against the wall.

“Who’s there?” he snapped irritably.

“Tifa,” the familiar voice spoke. “Is this a bad time?”

“Tifa…?” he asked. He could tell from the tone of her voice that something was wrong. “Just give me a second.”

Cloud leapt out of bed and pulled his navy blue pants over the pair of boxer shorts he was sleeping in. He made his way to the door, pausing to run his hand through his wild blond hair in an attempt to look presentable. He eventually emerged in the doorway, and he looked down at her weary figure. He could not help but take notice of all the subtle changes in her appearance. Her hair was loose, and long tresses of hair spilled over her shoulders of her figure unintentionally, and her eyes wore a drowsy expression. In his eyes, Tifa always looked good, although she herself would beg to differ.

His eyes continued to roam about her figure until her gaze met his. Her face flushed slightly and she glanced away diffidently, trying to regain her composure. Cloud chided himself inwardly for being so rude.

Eventually she spoke. “…I’m so sorry I had to wake you up like this.”

“Don’t worry about it. I was up for a while now,” he explained. “Please, come in.”

Cloud opened the door, and Tifa entered his room, although he could sense that she was somewhat hesitant to do so. “Make yourself at home, Tif,” he added warmly, inviting her to take a seat. “You wanted to talk to me about something?”

Tifa took a seat beside him. “I know this is going to sound crazy, but…I hear Aeris’ voice.”

“Aeris?”

“I don’t know who she really is, but she was the one who told me that we had to go to the Promised Land.”

“And that’s when you suggested that we go there.”

“Right. She told me that something is preventing souls from returning to the Planet. Many souls, including hers and that of the One Winged Angel, are suspended in the Lifestream, unable to return to the Planet. Remember Bugenhagen’s planet observatory at Cosmo Canyon?”

“…Yeah, I remember.” Cloud’s mind was racing. “He said that when children are born, they are blessed with Spirit energy, and when they die, their spirit energy moves on to create new life. So, if there was something preventing the Spirit Energy from returning to the planet…then nothing else can be reborn.”

“I guess so. But Aeris mentioned that there’s something in the Lifestream that is using the empty human vessels as ‘puppets’, all of whom have her blood flowing in their veins. It sounds a lot like Jenova.”

“But how? Wasn’t Jenova destroyed along with Meteor? This doesn’t make sense.”

“…I’m just the messenger,” Tifa said coolly. “Aeris is the one with all the answers. She probably knows why we’re here in the first place.”

“In that case, we have to go to the Promised Land as soon as possible,” Cloud said, and he rose from his seat and began strapping on his shoulder armor.

At that moment, a shrill alarm was sounded, and the metal door of the room slid shut and locked, as did the windows. A monotonous intercom voice overhead blared, “Stage one of Lockdown is complete. Commencing stage two of Lockdown.”

Instantly, a cloudy gas seeped through the overhead air vents and into the room. Tifa leapt to her feet and glanced up at the vent warily, unintentionally breathing in some of the sickly sweet vapor.

“What the…?” she started, but her sentence was cut off as she began to cough. She held her hand over her face to avoid inhaling any more of the vapors, and slowly sank to her knees in a fit of coughing.

Without a second thought, Cloud grabbed his sword and charged at the door, dealing it such a forceful blow that it ripped open the metal hinges of the door. It fell open with a dull thud.

“You okay, Tif?” he asked, hastening to her side.

She looked up at him and nodded weakly. He could see that the vapor was taking its toll on her, slowly but surely. He helped her up to her feet and the two staggered out of the room. He crouched and leaned her head against the adjacent wall carefully, and rose to his feet just in time to catch a glimpse of Lucia hastening down the corridor toward them.

“What’s going on here, Lucia?” he asked.

She came within meters of them when she pulled out a handgun and aimed it directly at Cloud’s face, so that he was practically staring down the barrel.

“Drop your weapon!” she exclaimed.

Comments (5)