Sunday, August 1, 2004

Chapter fourteen...
(Rated E for everyone.)

The following morning found Cloud at the others at a small inn at Junon, where they stayed for a couple hours to rest. Cloud had not slept a wink. His mind was too engaged to even think about sleep. He reflected on the battle of the previous night. Xenos outwitted him in battle, predicting his every move. No matter how he hard he fought, Xenos cut through him with ease. To add insult to injury, he was the one responsible for this.

Cloud harbored great hatred towards Xenos, yet he himself did not know why. After all, he wasn’t really Cloud Strife, yet he could recall the incidents of Nibelheim as though it were part of his own memory. And what about the voice? How could he identify it as Aeris when he had never seen her in his entire life? A few nights ago, he was your average teenager, coping with the stresses of…well, being an average teenager. Now he was a twenty-something year old ex-mercenary struggling to figure out why he was here. Against his will, he left his entire world behind and had set off to find someone with answers and beat up some baddies along the way.

At that moment, the door to the room creaked open slowly, interrupting his thoughts. Tifa entered the room with a bag of bandages and bottles of medicine. “You’re awake,” she said, mildly surprised. “Here, try this.”

She reached into the bag and pulled out a small bottle of green liquid, handing it to Cloud. He looked at the foreign liquid skeptically. “What is it, Tif?”

“It’s a potion,” Tifa explained. “Tidus bought a few from an item store. It should help you to feel a bit better.”

Cloud uncorked the bottle and gulped down a mouthful. The potion left a very bitter taste in his mouth. He coughed and forced himself to swallow the bitter concoction. “You know, I think I’ll stick to healing the natural way,” he said, his voice almost pained.

Tifa smiled and sat at the foot of the bed on the far end of the room, bandaging her wrist. Cloud rested his head against the wall, brooding. Oh, had he forgotten? He wasn’t the only one who had given up his world to come here. They all did. They were all in this together, whether they liked it or not.

Tifa finished bandaging her wrist and looked at him, where he sat across the room, near to the window. She could tell that something was worrying him greatly. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“…Nothing,” he lied. He didn’t want to bother her with his problems, at least not now. In any case, this was something that he had to deal with on his own.

“Okay, if you say so,” Tifa yielded. “Where are we headed to from here?”

“I don’t know,” Cloud said pensively. “But we have to find Aeris. Did she tell you where she was?”

“All she said was that her spirit was suspended in the Lifestream, and that the only way to free her spirit would be to find the Promised Land. But she didn’t say where the Promised Land was.”

“…Okay. Tif, tell the others to assemble in this room. We have to have a meeting.”

+++++++

“You have to believe us! We’re scheduled to perform in Upper Junon in the next hour!” Dave pleaded with the guard who was on patrol at the elevator on the far end of Junon. The harassed guard, who was sweating profusely under his heavy helmet and thick uniform, was not about to allow them to get through.

“I don’t care if you think you’re stars,” he droned. “I have my orders, buddy. Now get out of here!”

“Fine! We’re going!” Dave spat angrily, before turning to leave with Dave and Tiago.

“I’d say that went well,” Abbis said sarcastically as they walked away. “Do you have any other ideas?”

“I’m thinking of one as we speak,” Dave said pensively. ‘Wait a minute. Abby, give me the orb we just bought. Perhaps, if it is a materia…”

Abbis handed over the orb unsurely. Dave tightened his fists around the tiny green orb and spun around it and thrust it in the direction of the guard. “Confusion” he yelled awkwardly. The orb glowed more brightly in his hands, but did nothing more. The guard looked at the trio and laughed oddly, falling over onto his backside.

“Hey guys, I think it worked,” Abbis said, laughing elatedly.

“Well, let’s see.” Dave crouched before the bumbling guard. “Sir, can I have your handgun please?” The guard laughed more loudly and handed over his handgun, which Dave slipped into his jacket.

“We should get going, just in case this wears off,” Tiago suggested. Heeding his words, the three immediately made their way to the elevator and began their ascent into Upper Junon.

+++++++

After an unfulfilling lunch, everyone had finally assembled in Cloud’s room, including Lucia. However, Ryudo took it upon himself to make sure that he was positioned on the opposite end of the room from her.

When everyone settled down, Cloud spoke. “The reason why I called all of you in here is to discuss what we’re going to do next. As you all should know, Josie, Wing and Cross Blade are…well, let’s just say they’re under Jenova’s control. They are victims of a virus, known as the Jenova virus. The purpose of this virus is to weed out those deemed unworthy, and to leave only those who, under Xenos’ command, will attempt to bring about the Reunion once more. As far as we know, this virus has no cure. There are many unanswered questions. However, there is someone who may have all the answers, someone who may very well be our way out of here. That person is Aeris. Her spirit is still alive, suspended in the Lifestream because of Jenova.”

“So if we find this Aeris, then there’s a chance that we might be able to get back home?” Sakura asked anxiously.

“…Maybe,” Cloud said positively. “But finding her is not going to be as easy as it sounds. In order to free her spirit from the Lifestream, we have to find a place called the Promised Land. Those of you who ever played Final Fantasy Seven before will remember this term. It was said to be the land of supreme happiness. We don’t know for sure where it is located, but I believe we will find it in the North.”

“Suppose Xenos is out to find this Promised Land. How are we going to stop him?” Darksoul questioned. “Josie and the others will be fighting on Xenos’ side, so how are we supposed to prevent them from tearing us to shreds? We can’t fight them.”

“Unless, of course, we use materia,” Tidus added, pulling out a bag full of small green orbs from his pocket. “If we figure out how to use materia, we may still be able to fend them off without actually hurting them. One of these materia can cast the Sleepel spell on opponents. The only problem is that I can’t tell which one is which.”

Tidus emptied the bag of materia onto the table. Darksoul sorted through the small pile and pulled out one, observing it closely as it glowered in her hands. “This one is Sleepel,” she said bluntly.

Tidus looked at her curiously. “How can you tell?”

Darksoul shrugged. “I’m not really sure." she confessed. "I just know.”

Cloud cleared his throat. “Okay, so it’s settled. We need to find some direct way of getting to the Promised Land. Assuming that it’s towards the North, we’d have to get to Bone Village first, then head through to Icicle town…”

“Well, first we could go to Upper Junon,” Lucia suggested. “Due to my affiliation with Shinra, we should be able to rent a private boat to take us to Bone Village without a problem--”

“And we’re supposed to just trust you, after you lied to us about the E.S.O?” Ryudo interrupted. “Do you really take us all for fools, Lucia?”

Lucia narrowed her emerald eyes. “Well, I don’t see how you have a choice. It’s either you trust me, and we all take a private boat, or you can swim all the way to Bone Village.”

“Considering the circumstances, we have no choice but to trust Lucia,” Tifa said evenly. At that statement, Lucia cast a triumphant look in Ryudo’s direction. Ryudo scowled and glanced away, pretending to take no notice of her.

“Anyway, the sooner we leave here, the better,” Cloud stated soberly. “So, pack everything you need, and we’ll move out as soon as possible.”

With those words, the meeting was concluded, and everyone filed out of the room, with the exception of Cloud. He pulled on his shirt over his bandaged midriff and strapped on his armor, still thinking.

“Aeris, if you’re out there, I will find you again,” Cloud said inwardly. “I promise."

(Sorry, I know this chapter is somewhat short and boring, but bear with me until Chapter Fifteen. That reminds me...has anyone heard from Abbis within recent times? I'm really starting to worry now...)

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