Dragging his limp body down the plush, carpet-lined stairs, Cloud swayed unsteadily into the living room and fell onto the couch. Cloud attempted to shake the sleep from his eyes, but yawned despite himself. He had jobs to accomplish. Even this room, he knew, was in sad shape. Glitter spotted the floor, streamers flew in every direction, and paper was piled up to the ceiling! Everywhere it seemed Cloud’s eyes encountered another task that he should be doing. Still, nothing could have occurred to persuade him from the comfort of the couch at that moment. He leaned back, just for a second, and proceeded to close his eyes with an exhausted sigh. Of course, Cloud didn’t plan on sleeping, what with his condition still being undetermined, but how could he resist that couch?
Like a slow acting poison, fatigue consumed Cloud’s body, obscuring his motives. His intent to “just rest his eyes” was soon a distant memory. A sheath of silent darkness flowed over him, and then there was nothing….
No…not nothing…. there was a voice….
The
planet cries…
By the
girl’s hand…
She is
the Chosen…
It is destiny…
You shall deliver her…
Then darkness enwrapped Cloud’s
body, squeezing tighter and tighter, until his breath was short and his body
limp…
Cid huffed with annoyance as he hustled down the stairs after minutes of unanswered calls. If Cloud had something better to do than help him, he could have at least said as much, instead of ignoring Cid’s yells for assistance. Shaking his head, Cid stomped into the kitchen, expecting to barrage Cloud with a million and one questions, followed of course by insults, but the room was empty.
With a grunt of disappointment, Cid reached for the handle of the refrigerator door and pulled it open with a soft thud. Scanning its contents illuminated by the glaring, yellow light bulb, he quickly zeroed in on the milk, hidden behind pitchers and containers of leftover meals.
“Hmmm…” Cid froze, staring at one such container, obviously holding some sort of take out food.
With a grumble of agreement from his empty stomach, Cid grabbed the dish along with the milk and kicked the refrigerator closed hastily. He filled up a large glass, spilling the white liquid all over himself as well as the kitchen counter before returning the gallon to the fridge.
Shaking his head at the mess, Cid quickly decided that this was no time to worry himself with clean…. he, or Cloud, could do that later. In light of his assessment, he grabbed a spoon, one of the big spoons of course, not those wimpy baby-sized ones, and popped off the top of the container. The spicy aroma of Chinese pork with vegetables in a Cajun sauce flooded his nostrils, making his stomach groan all the louder.
Without hesitation, Cid shoveled the leftovers into his mouth, instituting a sort of chew-while-swallowing method. Hey, he had bigger things to worry about than choking on a little pork. After scrapping the container clean and licking each savory drop off all ten of his fingers, Cid reluctantly flung it onto the milk covered counter with a sigh. He was still hungry, but he was supposed to be taking care of Alyssa…
“Duty calls,” Cid mumbled to himself as he grabbed the huge glass of milk and headed toward the stairs.
There, a pair of large, green eyes greeted him. Alyssa had apparently scooted down the flight of steps to the very last one, where she sat, curled up with her knees to her chin. Her brown hair, still a bit damp from the bath Shera had given her, was separated in two short braids, compliments of Cloud’s messy, and inexperienced handy work. Looking at them now, it was obvious to see, from the crooked part to the double-knotted bowless ribbons, that Cloud didn’t have kids… Although, Cid, having two of his own, doubted his ability to do much better. In a half an hour, his wife, Shera, and Marlene had washed, dressed, and transformed Alyssa into a happy seven year old! Now looking at the girl, neatly situated in a pink-flowered dress (one Barret had picked out for Marlene a couple of years a go only to discover that her new favorite color was baby blue), her nails perfectly painted, and shiny, black shoes on her feet…. it was evident that her hair, which she so adamantly insisted that Cloud style for her, was the only thing amiss. Or was it the only thing that looked like a little seven year old should have?
“Hey, kiddo. What ya up to?” Cid handed her the glass of milk with a smile.
Reaching out, Alyssa accepted the cup, taking only a sip before placing it down on the step next to her. Twirling one of her braids between her small fingers as she looked at Cid inquisitively.
“Where’s Cloud?” she asked softly, biting her bottom lip timidly.
Cid shrugged with a sigh, “You got me there, I was just looking for him.”
Still fidgeting with her hair, Alyssa straightened up nervously. “Did he leave?”
“No, he wouldn’t go anywhere,” Cid dismissed the thought with a wave of his hands, “He’s probably down here somewhere… we could go find him, eh?”
Alyssa nodded her agreement, extending her hand for Cid’s before pushing herself up from the stairs. Shera and Marlene had helped her a lot, but after they left, and even while they were still at the house, it was Cloud who made her feel safe. It was as if he understood… but more than that, he was connected to her.
Thus, Cid, with Alyssa by his side, went off expecting to scour the house for their missing companion. As it was, their search was abruptly ended almost as quickly as it had begun when they entered the living room. There, they were greeted by Cloud, peacefully sleeping with his arms folded across his chest and his head drooped down so that his blond hair partially hid his face. Alyssa smiled up at Cid who returned the gesture before striding over to his friend and poking him roughly. No response.
Must be some dream… Cid shook his head with a grin before grabbing Cloud by the shoulders and shaking him gruffly.
Cloud’s head rolled back lifelessly, revealing his pale skin tinted with a sickening blue. Cid’s breath caught in his throat, staring wide-eyed at his friend helplessly. Gulping down his rising panic, Cid quickly pulled Cloud to the floor, laying his limp body face up.
“Alyssa, go up stairs and stay there until I come and get you,” Cid ordered, his voice raspy and wavering with each word.
Not watching to see the girl go, Cid swiftly kneeled beside Cloud. Extending his hesitant hand over Cloud’s mouth, Cid sighed with relief at feeling his friend’s labored breath on his skin.
“Well, your not dead yet,” Cid whispered wistfully through his clenched teeth.
Running a hand through his hair, Cid examined Cloud’s neck suspiciously. Red marks ran all along it, contrasting with Cloud’s sallow skin tone. What was going on? But more importantly, how could Cid help? At a loss, Cid patted his friend forcefully on the cheek with no such luck as even getting a moan out of Cloud.
“Man, oh man…” Cid leaned back, not sure of what was going on or what he could possible do…
Suddenly, a flash of pink caught the corner of his eye, drawing his attention toward Cloud’s feet where Alyssa stood solemnly. Only, though Cid’s eyes it seemed all hazy, like a thick fog had mysteriously consumed the room. Alyssa, head bowed and hands clasped, moved her lips in a repeating pattern, but no sound escaped her mouth. Cid kneeled motionlessly in utter bewilderment as she began to glow, softly at first but then more brightly, and her hair was blown back by an imaginary gust of wind.
Cid blinked, and the fog was gone. Alyssa still stood at Cloud’s feet, although the theatrics were gone… she was just a worry-stricken little kid standing in an ordinary room.
What a weird thing to imagine… Cid shook his head, but no sooner had these thoughts formed in his mind that a cough ran out loudly into his ears.
Cloud coughed again, rolling over to his side and holding his throat with both hands.
“Cloud!” Alyssa scurried over and wrapped her thin arms around Cloud’s red neck. “You were sleeping, silly.”
When she let go, Cloud half smiled before nodding her toward the stairs without a word uttered from his lips.
“You’ll be up to say goodnight soon?” Alyssa questioned pleadingly, the entire episode obviously forgotten in her mind.
“…Yeah…..” Cloud’s voice was weak and wavered with each letter, an observation not lost on Cid.
Alyssa skipped happily out of the room, leaving Cloud still coughing and Cid staring dumbstruck at what had just occurred.
“What is going on!” Cid erupted, not able to contain his frustration. “I mean, Cloud, you were damn near as blue as the ocean…”
Cloud coughed again, covering his mouth with his hand only to realize to his horror that he was coughing up blood… His hand dripped red and he couldn’t breath. What did happen? Someone, the voice perhaps, was choking him. It was like sleeping and slowly running out of oxygen… only as soon as he had become aware, noticed the risk, the feeling had become more violent. This was not good news at all….
“Cloud…. why are you hacking up blood?” Cid, concern not only in his voice but written across his face, inquired hesitantly. “…is something.. something related to Jenova going on?”
Before Cloud could even begin to respond, a pounding at the door made both their heads snap towards the entrance way. Sure enough, a set of footsteps, heavily stomping into Cloud and Tifa’s house, came closer and closer toward them. Cloud saw the shiny black boots first, systematically rising to his feet along side of Cid, to face the uninvited guest.
“Don’t trouble yourselves…” the man announced expressionlessly.
“I wouldn’t even think of it…” Cid mumbled under his breath, along with a stream of incoherent words Cloud was sure were an assortment of curses and insults, though the sunglasses plastered to Rude’s face prevented Cid from seeing any acknowledgement that his response had even been heard.
Nothing else said, Rude held up his hand, encased in a black glove that had attached in its palm a small green ball, glowing deep emerald rays that swept out toward Cloud and Cid. It was of course Rude’s freeze material, rendering both practically paralyzed, but only for a few minutes. Rude had to act fast and efficiently. And this he did with maximum precision. First, ramming Cid’s head against the wall and dropkicking him to the ground without faltering for a second. Cloud was even less resistant, haven already been weakened seriously by his previous ordeal, but Rude could not stop himself from smashing his head against the floor an extra few time… Still, both seemed to be unconscious before the spell even wore off.
Rude nodded his approval at the sight before him: Cid flung across the couch and Cloud face down on the hardwood floor in a small pool of blood. Now all there was left to do was get the girl…