Chapter 3: Returning Echoes
She had tried to breath, but no matter what she did
she was suffocating. The soft voices
reassured her in the passing seconds, seeming like hours, that she was
safe. Safe? Did these mere spirits know the meaning of such a powerful
word? They had previously attempted
with success to calm her with such stories of “safety and love”, but Alyssa
knew better than to believe them. After
all, her mother was practically dead as soon as they had promised to protect
her. It was true that Alyssa understood
their cries of help and felt the ache of yearning to lead them, as they
wished. Still, one rogue voice agreed
with her worries and anxieties. It
whispered when all else was silent of how the others were using her, and that
her mother died because of them. The only way was to run….
And Alyssa had. She swiftly ran one night from her
foster home, ran until it hurt too much to breath. No sooner had she stopped
that the lone voice returned, and then it happened. It wasn’t her fault…. it was as if someone was inside her mind,
telling her to move while her legs obeyed without her permission. Seeing the front page in the newspaper
brought all the dreamlike memories back of yesterday, and along with them, the
voice.
Now, she was afraid…. she had to shut down, trying
to escape not only this world, but also life itself.
When Cloud had entered the kitchen, he saw what
everyone else saw: Alyssa, of which he
knew a limited amount of information, shivering with dilated eyes three feet
off the ground. Her hands, clenched
into white-knuckled fists, hung heavily at her sides as if the girl was
attempting to anchor herself back on her feet.
His mind told him to turn and walk away. Seeing a girl floating off the floor was by
some standards unusual, but Cloud had been exposed to stranger sights and
couldn’t understand why he wanted to leave and not even help the poor
girl. In a split second decision, Cloud
did the only thing he could. He reached
up, grabbing Alyssa by the waist, and watched as she limply dropped into his
awaiting arms.
Her head lightly fell onto his shoulder, hair
ruffled and cheeks pink. In that moment,
Cloud felt her heart beating in sync with his own, and her hot breath on his
neck. A rush surged within him of power
and energy, and then he witnessed the beginning….
Everything was black… or was there just nothing
there? This place was familiar, and it
only took a moment for Cloud to realize the location as one where his mind
would wander, when he was under the influence of Jenova. But how? She was, of course, destroyed, so
why here? Then, he spotted Alyssa,
sitting a few feet away. He reached her
and bent down.
“Alyssa?
What are you doing here?” Cloud
asked disorientated. He was a bit
exasperated by the whole situation and just wanted to return home… or back into
his own mind at least. Jenova was dead,
D-E-A-D.
“It told me…no one…..Mom ….called me Lissie..”
Alyssa mumbled between sobs. She had
been terrified, but Cloud looked at her with genuine concern. Maybe if he knew, he would still help her…
But Cloud’s mind was screaming, blaring out so no
other sound could be comprehended. And
then he blinked and the scene disappeared only to be replaced by Tifa’s worried
face.
“Cloud?”
He shivered and in turn, so did Alyssa, who still
clinging to him with both arms wrapped around his neck. Her eyes were opened and back to normal,
which meant that the “episode” was probably over, Cloud reasoned. But everyone else in the room was still
staring at him with a sort of disbelief.
“Huh?” He managed to answer in a dazed voice.
“Are you,” Tifa paused, brushing the hair from her
worry-stricken face, “alright?”
Cloud nodded, more out of habit than in response,
because this was a question he had had to answer all too often recently. Besides, talking of this in front of Alyssa
might not be the way to handle this problem.
“Lissie? Why don’t you go upstairs into the
bathroom, put a wet cloth on your forehead and lie down in the bedroom?” Cloud
suggested as he set her gently on her own two feet. “It’ll make the ringing
stop.”
Alyssa nodded solemnly, happy to find someone who
understood and wanted to help but nonetheless a bit ashamed. Then, she turned and avoiding eye contact
with all the others, slowly made her way up the staircase.
“Holy crap…” Cid shook his head in astonishment,
still staring at Cloud. “I mean, damn… does anyone know what just happened?”
Vincent, still standing in the doorway with Nanaki
and Yuffie on either side of him, opened his mouth as if to answer, but
refrained on seeing Cloud move, shaking his head.
Cloud nonchalantly went over to the sink, wetting a paper
towel and pressing it against his forehead while nine pairs of eyes watched.
When he had taken as much time as was possible,
Cloud turned and sighed, “I think Alyssa hears voices.”
“What oy’ces?” Skylar blurted out curiously, only to
be shushed by Shera.
“I’ll tell you when you’re older,” Shera answered as
she led Sky out of the room, cuddling Lark in her arms.
“We’ll be waiting at home when you heroes solve
this,” Shera announced with a smile before disappearing through the doorway.
“What kind of voices?” Vincent inquired, breaking
the minutes of silence since Shera and Sky’s departure.
Cloud shrugged.
“…like the voices Aeris heard, from the Planet?”
Tifa ventured in a shaky tone.
“Maybe, but… I think it’s more than that…” answered
Cloud bluntly without explanation.
Nanaki furrowed his brow, “Are you suggesting
Jenova?”
“But Jenova’s dead!” Barret interrupted
exasperated. Obviously, this was going
to be over his head, never really grasping what exactly Aeris was gibbering
about or for that matter Cloud’s growing connection to Jenova. Still, he witnessed Jenova’s demise and
thought it ridiculous to assume that she had somehow survived.
Cloud shook his head, “Not Jenova…. I didn’t hear
her…. but something else..”
“You heard a voice?” Tifa’s throat was dry with
concern.
Cloud reached over considerately and pulled Tifa
towards him in a tight hug, kissing the top of her head. “Yes.”
“Whoa….” Yuffie exclaimed, “What do we do now?”
Vincent cleared his throat, “Well, it is very probable
that Alyssa is conversing with an organism, resembling Jenova, but if this is
accurate, it must be exceedingly potent.”
“We better go talk to Alyssa,” Tifa recommended,
smiling at Cloud through her worries.
Cid shook his head in skepticism. “Organism? You
know an organism only wants one thing: our damnation, and that can’t be good.”
Author’s Note:
Hey! Ok, I know the last 2 chapters were kind of
“moody” and heavy in all that depression of Cloud stuff, but all the TV shows
have been that way and I just read One Flew Over the CooCoo’s Nest, which had a
sad ending too. I guess it’s influenced
my writing…
Now this chapter is my “Jenova aha”
chapter, heheh. It’s a little “mucky”,
with all the people everywhere but it needed to be just this once so everyone
had a reason to break off into groups in the next chapter…… so it won’t be too
confusing as to why people aren’t talking or who is even in the room!! Anyways, I think this will be a pretty long
fic… although I do write it chapter by chapter, following a general outline, so
I never really know what’s going to happen until its done. If you couldn’t tell, I’m a huge Cloud fan
and his “problems” are going to be a major part…tying in with the whole Alyssa
thing (who’s name I got from a baby website).
~Lavantis