Recent Content by nikki_ntm

Chapter 2: Treasure

He looked up at the large, foreboding clock tower and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. The person with the supposed answers to his questions was an hour late. That woman better not have fooled him or he would hunt her down. He needed to know how it was possible for her to know about Sephiroth if he really was in another world. At first he thought that maybe he had seen her before. Maybe she had been to Hollow Bastion before and heard the stories. It had even occurred to him that Tifa and the rest of the gang were behind this to teach him a "valuable lesson" about moving on with his life and let Sephiroth get away with all the stunts he had pulled.

He would have spun on his thoughts further had it not been for a dark shadow moving across the rampart and stop by a corner. Cloud looked at it and moved toward it slowly. Was that his shadow or…the shadow disappeared with a strange whistling sound and Cloud set out after it. He never got close enough to stop it but the shadow stopped every now and then to make sure Cloud could see where it was going. The shadow led him down the stairs of the clock tower and the sounds of the waves became louder as they reached the ground floor. It stood by the huge glassless windows, the moon emitting a strange light as the waves outside crashed up against the cliffs right by the tower. Cloud stopped at a safe distance, looking at the shadow that slowly took a physical form and it was indeed wearing a black cloak.

"Who are you?" Cloud demanded as he felt the shadow look at him, "How do you know Sephiroth?"

The shadow chuckled at Cloud's ignorance and it shrugged halfheartedly. Cloud dared to move closer. The shadow didn't seem to be armed but if it indeed was a Nobody then it probably could summon weapons from nothing.

"What're the answers you can give me?" Cloud asked, this time in a less heated tone.

The shadow sighed and turned to face Cloud. The shadow was somewhat taller than him and Cloud frowned slightly as the shadow reached for its hood to push it back and reveal its face. Cloud was almost expecting to see Sephiroth's evil face, snickering at him for falling for everything he had been through the last couple of months. But to his surprise it was a face he couldn't remember seeing before. The figure had spiky, fiery-red hair and a smug smile dressing his face.

"I'm Lea." He said nonchalantly, "It is nice to finally meet you, Cloud."

Cloud gulped. What should he do? He took a couple of steps back and eyed the figure, preparing himself for an attack that never came. "How do you know my name?"

"Oh, I pick up things I hear." Lea said with yet another shrug. He looked at Cloud with a slightly sinister look, "I hear you've been remembering things, Cloud. Anything interesting?"

This man was seriously starting to creep him out. How did he know all of this? Cloud hadn't told anyone about anything! There was no way a random stranger could know. His breathing became slightly heavy. He had lost his mind. There was suddenly no question about it. He had read about this stuff. His mind was starting to break into pieces and before he knew it he would have made-up figures confront him about things he always thought about. The books Tifa thought she had hidden well were always too easy to find, even though he wasn't looking. Most of the books she hid were books about people with mental disorders, how to deal with people with mental disorders and other psychological stuff she found at the library. It wasn't because she found the subject enjoyable, she thought that he was crazy and she had been right in worrying about him all along.

The figure snapped his fingers loudly and Cloud looked back up at him again.

"Hey! Don't lose it now. There is too much work to be done and I've been waiting too damn long to have you fold now, y'hear?"

Now it was Cloud's time to chuckle slightly, "You're a hallucination." He said, "It doesn't matter what you want."

"That's not nice." Lea said with feigned hurt in his voice, "I've been called many things before but never a hallucination. Is this too much for you to take, Cloud? You came here for a reason, didn't you? You're looking for someone. I'm offering you my help. I'll do something for you and you do something for me."

The shadow vaporized in the blink of an eye and suddenly reappeared right beside Cloud, "This is real. So suck it up or put a pin on it, I don't care, but there's a bigger plan, y'see and I'm in need of back-up. What's in it for you, you ask, well, that's easy, you'll get to know the truth. How about that, huh? The truth? Isn't that what we all want? Come hell or high water, we're always up for some truth!" Lea laughed bitterly.

Cloud snorted, his brain-ghost was apparently sarcastic as well, "I know what's in for me but what do you get out of it?"

"Wouldn't you like to know? Let me show you a bit of my generosity by offering you a piece of truth now. You don't have the capacity to get half of what I would have to say if I told you about my plan. Harsh? Not really. All you need to know is that you get your fair share."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then I wish you good luck, let you roam around this world until you grow tired of smelling like rotten fish and then watch you agonize while trying to find me!" He flashed him a big cynical smile for half a second before going back to being completely serious.

Cloud fidgeted where he stood. He knew he had no choice. He had no clue as to how he managed to get here and even less of clue as to how to get back, besides, this man seemed better as an ally than a foe and Cloud wasn't ready to make enemies as it was now.

"Okay," he sighed, "I accept the deal. I'll help you with whatever it is you want me to help you with on the condition that you help me get back home and to figure out the flashes of memories I've been having lately."

"Oh, joy." Lea strolled back to where he first had stood. He looked up at the moon and he sighed, "I have a mission for you in a world called Beast's Castle. Find the rose and bring it back to me."

Cloud stared at the man in disbelief. A rose? Had he felt superior or at least like he had some kind of leverage he would have asked about it but he just nodded, supposing that the man knew that he had accepted the mission given to him.

Lea reached his arm out and some kind of sword materialized in his hand. The sword was a metallic blue with silvery parts at the hilt and once Lea had it in his hand he turned to face Cloud again. That could not be what Cloud thought it was, it just couldn't. Lea reached it out to him with a surprisingly indifferent look.

"It's a Keyblade." Cloud said.

"Sheesh, you must be smart or something." Lea retorted, "Take it."

"I'm not a Keyblade-wielder. It won't accept me." Cloud was sure of it. There was too much darkness lurking in his heart for him to be chosen by any Keyblade. He just didn't want his ego to suffer a blow when the Keyblade disappeared out of his grip.

"Look, if this is a cute routine you're trying to start with me, stop it right now. If I'm telling you to take it then take it. We're on the same team now. Take the Keyblade!"

Cloud rolled his eyes and took the Keyblade and he was surprised to see that it did not disappear when he grabbed a hold of it. He could sense a hollow sound coming from it and it rang through his bones, sending a chill down his spine. It was almost like it was speaking to him.

"You only summon this Keyblade when you have to, that means that under no circumstances will you draw this blade in front of a random crowd of people or just to show it off. You draw it when you have to kill a Heartless. That's basically it. The blade grants you the power to open portals to other worlds, all you have to do is think it." Lea stopped for air, "Got it memorized?"

Cloud tried to not look awestruck and he thought he managed. He simply nodded and tried to look as stoic as possible. Things did go his way sometimes. They were few but memorable.

"One last thing, if you even think the thought of betraying me, I will kill you. That is not a threat that is a fact. I'm not a big fan of pulling daggers out of my back and I've been doing that too much lately."

So there was a reason behind all that cynicism spurting out of the man's mouth whenever he even thought of speaking. Cloud gave another nod and the Keyblade in his hand vanished into thin air. He could still feel it though. It felt like the Keyblade was right there and all he had to do was reach for it. He would try that later when his new-found ally didn't observe every single move he made.

"Well, skedaddle then! We'll meet once you get your hands onto that rose." With that Lea disappeared into a black mist and Cloud was left alone in the large and cold tower. During other circumstances Cloud might have felt lost but his mind was completely preoccupied processing this new ability of his. He summoned the Keyblade and a split second later the Keyblade was in his hand. He made it vanish quickly in case Lea was still around.

In the five hours he had been in this new world his own world had been turned upside-down and inside-out. He was on a quest now. A quest for memories he had deemed important. He felt another chill and then his stomach growled awkwardly. He sat down on the spot and reached for the lunchbox Tifa had given him. It was late and he figured that he might as well eat and sleep before starting with his mission.

ooo

There were pitch-dark spots of forming Shadows on the tile floor outside the grand castle. Cloud had fought off at least twenty of them already and he loved the power surge the Keyblade emitted into his system each time he defeated a Heartless.

The small creatures made nabbing sounds as they got closer to Cloud. Their eyes shone a bright yellow as they reached their small paws towards Cloud to scratch him. There were no cries or shrieks as the Keyblade cut them into small shining orbs, they simply dissolved into nothing, back to nothing as the stolen hearts within them were freed. Once they were all defeated Cloud could for the first time take a relaxing breath and take in the sightings.

The castle seemed ominous as it stood in the middle of nowhere surrounded by statues of monsters. There wasn't a sound, not even the crows made noise where they sat on trees outside the brick walls. Cloud figured he should get going if he ever was to find that rose in such a big castle when he suddenly heard a loud roar from within the castle. A smaller door on the big oak doors flew open and out came a girl in a blue dress with a cape carelessly thrown over her shoulders. She ran with all her might and Cloud was torn between helping her and hiding behind a nearby statue to avoid being sighted.

"BELLE!"

A horse came galloping from behind the castle and stopped just in time to let the woman apparently named Belle hop on before it set off away from the castle.

Small figures came running out, shouting at the woman as yet another roar came from the castle.

"Madmoiselle Belle! Please!"

"Belle! Come back!"

The roaring beast threw up the big oak doors in one motion and roared the woman's name again. He saw Belle disappear into the distance and for a moment he looked horrified. He fell onto his hands. At first Cloud thought that the Beast had given up but the Beast set into a sprint after Belle. The two small figures by the door tried to keep up but one of them tripped down the stairs and sobbed.

"Lumiere, it's futile."

"Argh! The young master needs the beating of his life! Cogsworth, are you with me?" The figure spoke with a thick accent and at a more careful look Cloud realized that it was a candlestick.

"What are you going to do, silly old man? It is futile! All of this! Look, my glass broke!" Cogsworth got up onto his feet and brushed dust off of him and looked down at the glass covering the pendulum moving side to side.

"Don't be a wuss, Cogsworth! We must stand up for our friend!" The candlestick jumped up the stairs and turned around to see if the clock was following his lead. The clock jumped up the stairs after his friend and sighed, shaking his head in despair.

"I don't think she's coming back, Lumiere. I don't think she will come back as long as the young master keeps acting this strange. I thought that after defeating the odd man in the black coat everything would turn back to normal. That maybe the young master would change his ways and try to break this curse…"

The candlestick put his supposed arm around his friend and they both sighed. The clock suddenly shrieked and stared at the candlestick, "You did that on purpose!" There was a tiny burn mark on the clock's arm and the candlestick simply turned around and continued to jump back into the castle.

"Why do all English have to be so dramatic?" He mumbled.

"Don't make me remind you of the War, old chap!" The clock hurried after his friend, clearly provoked by the comments Lumiere made.

As the door closed behind them Cloud walked up from behind the statue and he didn't quite know what to feel. He had just seen a furry Beast run after a petrified girl and there had been a clock and a candlestick standing on top of the stairs talking like long-time friends. Saying that it was weird would be an understatement. All he could do was focusing on his mission and with no one in the castle but a talking candlestick and a talking clock he figured that the mission couldn't be so difficult to accomplish.

Once he got into the castle he stopped to hear if the two figures were still down here, but there wasn't a sound. The foyer was huge and spacious and made out of the finest of marble. A red carpet led up the wide staircase that split into two different directions by a large door. Cloud walked in and out of rooms, always on the look-out for something strange and once he was through with the ground floor, the East Wing and some of the West Wing he figured that there couldn't be much left now.

He walked into a hallway which was decorated with statues of terrifying creatures. The curtains were all scratched and torn. There was glass on the carpet and holes on the walls. Cloud hurried down the hallway and towards a dark wooden door. He opened it and sneaked in.

The room he entered was a complete mess. It looked like someone had thrown more than a tantrum in here but there was one thing that was still in one piece and it brightened its surroundings. It was a floating rose cupped inside a picturesque display case. He put it aside and stared at the rose in awe as one petal slowly fell to the surface of the table. Cloud took it carefully in his hands and stood back up wondering if he should grab a piece of wet paper to put around the rose so that it didn't die on the way back to Lea. This was surely the kind of flower Aerith would like to have in her garden, Cloud thought as he looked at the rose.

"Are you sure, Chip?"

Cloud froze as he heard the voice of the candlestick in the hallway. At first he thought of hiding but then he figured he might as well get back to Lea and give him the rose.

"I'm not lying! There's an intruder in the castle and I saw him go into the Beast's room!" That was the voice of a child and judging by the soundless thumps Cloud would guess that it was yet another strange animated object jumping down the hallway.

"You better not be making up stories again, Chip." The voice sounded very motherly. The candlestick chuckled and gave a loud sigh afterward.

"Better safe than sorry!"

The second the door made a creak Cloud reacted instinctively and a dark, thorny mist surrounded him, making him disappear from this world into another and the last thing he heard was a collective scream of sheer panic as the three residents of the castle saw him disappear with their master's treasured rose.