Dad sighed as he leaned into his empty glass. He should have never let them come along. He should have known Son and Mom couldn't handle self-defenestration like he could. A clink caused him to look up, seeing another glass in front of him, almost overflowing with the beautiful liquid that helps to forget.
"This one's on the house."
Dad smiled. Faris was a good man. He was the kind of man a man would go to war alongside. Or for. Faris was a strange man. But none of that mattered, everyone that did was dead.
He looked around, knowing all he would see were the lost and the damned. Sixteen empty faces, seventeen once Garland gets up. Nobody comes here at this time of night if you have a purpose.
"You don't belong here, you know. You haven't been abandoned by everyone yet. You still have people who lo-HEY! PUT THAT DOWN!"
The room erupted in laughter as Faris charged out the door after Rude and Rufus, who were stealing the one piece of life the building had, a small tree given from 'an old friend' as the bartender had put it. For the moment, at least, this place was just as alive as anywhere else. Just a bunch of friends out on the town.
Dad stopped laughing when someone else came in after Faris. Those curves. Those legs. Suddenly Mom was in the past, this woman had all the curves, and those legs, a red storm of beauty, and snakes coming all places. Intoxicating, like a lovely cloud...
A Cloud of Darkness...
--
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Dad hadn't felt this nervous since he tanked an exploding god like a badass. Being actively suicidal for the greater good was one thing, but talking to a woman like this was a whole different concept. She looked like if she were in a bad mood she could kill anyone, do anything, so why was she in a place like this?
"This is the guy I need you to handle. The world out there would love him if he'd only get out of this place."
Dad turned his gaze to Faris. Why would he introduce me to someone like...this?
"So...my friend tells me you don't belong here. Who are you exactly?" The beauty sounded even more wonderful than she looked, a grand feat in itself.
"D...Dad. It's short for....Dad."
"A clever one, aren't you? Surely there's something else you go by."
Faris interrupted the conversation with a hearty laugh. "Everyone says the same thing, but I've known this poor guy for ages, and I've never heard him go by anything else, just like how everyone thinks there's no way your name is really Cloud of Darkness. Now, out with both of you. Unless one of you want to pay for the drinks I've been giving out for the last...month?"
Dad felt panic run through him, and he ran like he never had before. The combined threat of Cloud of Darkness and massive debt was simply too much, and Dad didn't stop pumping his legs until he reached what he thought was an empty alley.
"That wasn't very nice, you know."
Dad's eyes widened, and he peered to the left, stunned that right there was Cloud of Darkness.
"You...you're real? I mean, strong and..."
"If you're asking if I'm not like Mom, then yes."
Dad knew he should have been offended, but in his years he knew that was just how some people were. To the point, not pulling any punches. That moment, he knew what Cloud of Darkness was. A miracle. That's what had been sent to him. A woman of power, both in strength and in will. Maybe Faris was right, leaving that bar had been the best decision he'd made since Son and Mom's deaths.
Little did either know that someone else was lurking in the shadows.
"Boss, I've got a read on them. What're your orders? Should I get her now?"
"No, wait for them to separate. Bide your time, lie in wait."
The shadow warrior turned off her communicator, placing it in the ninja gear she stole from her latest kill.
Nobody expects Selphie Tilmitt.
--
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Dad couldn't help but be suspicious as Cloud of Darkness dragged him to the train station. He was used to getting places by climbing beanstalks that defied time and space.
"Are you sure this is the best best way to get...?"
""I'll tell you where we're going once we get there, and yes, this is the best way to travel."
Dad still had reservations, but he felt like he had to go somewhere, somehow, and he had the feeling Cloud of Darkness wouldn't exactly be patient with him any longer. After getting their tickets and into their cabin, Dad decided to unwind, and take a nap.
Or he would have, had a loud voice not come up on the PA.
"WELCOME PASSENGERS TO THE TRAIN TYCOON! I'M YOUR CAPTAIN, AND WE'LL BE IN MIDGAR IN TWENTY-TWO HOURS! IT'LL BE A STRAIGHT TRIP, SO FEEL FREE TO SLEEP, AND WE'LL AWAKEN YOU WHEN WE GET THERE! THE LOVELY *snicker* SEIFER ALMASY WILL BE AROUND WITH FOOD AND DRINK SHORTLY!"
Dad gave Cloud of Darkness a sideways glance. "Are you sure this is the right place, I thought you said it would be quiet."
"She's just excited to have actual customers. She wants to get Faris out of 'THAT STINKING BAR', as she so gently put it."
"By running a train." Dad couldn't help but be deadpan.
"By running a train. Family is stupid sometimes." Now Dad couldn't help but feel mocked. "Just go to sleep, then it'll only be....fourteen more hours."
Dad groaned as he closed his eyes. This was going to be a long trip.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------Dad was jerked awake as his head hit the...ceiling? Was why everything upside down?
"Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!"
Dad's gaze shifting from the former floor to Cloud of Darkness, who looked more than a little worried at this change of events. Not only were they upside down, but it felt like they were being lifted.
"Wha...what's going on?!?"
"ATTENTION PASSENGERS, PLEASE REMAIN CALM. WE'VE MERELY RUN INTO A SLIGHT PROBLEM. PLEASE DO NOT PANIC! EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Dad felt adrenaline rush through him for the first time in too long, as he knew what he had to do. Looking outside, he saw nothing but blue. One way has to be the sea. I hope you can swim.
He grabbed Cloud of Darkness, and slammed his shoulder into the window, crashing through. It was like old times, when he had a wife, a son, and happiness. And just like his wife the first time she jumped, Cloud of Darkness let out a terrified scream.
As the two fell to the waters below, they finally saw what caused the panic. The train was off the rails, in the grasp of a muscleman. The last thing they saw before they crashed into the unforgiving sea was the train being suplexed, with an explosion that surely ended both Lenna and Seifer.
Poor Faris...
---------------------------------------------------------------------One train down, two to go. Everyone will be pleased.
That would be the last thought one Sabin Figaro would have, as the very next moment a nunchuk would burst through his throat.
A tearful Tilmitt stared at the wreckage, the poor soul that had been destroyed. But her resolve had been only strengthened, she would stop these monsters before they could take another innocent life.
"L-l-l-leave trains alone..."
--
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Not the warm woman who had come into his life, but cold, uncaring black that would consume everything a man held dear and destroy it. Dad had to escape, to reach the surface, to reach…wherever Cloud of Darkness had hoped to take him, to do whatever she wanted him to do.
Dad slowly opened his eyes, finding himself in a place he had never been, a cave with shining crystals.
“Where…where is this?”
“Lucrecia…”
Dad’s head jerked to the side, searching for the source of the sound. A pale man with a red cape, a claw for an arm, and a gun by his side.
“Uhh….hello? Who’re you?”
“Lucrecia…” The man did not move, still kneeling by a large crystal with a scientist in it. How odd...
“Save us.”
Dad was so surprised by the new words that he almost fell over. “What? Save you? From who? From what?”
“Cloud…The Cloud destroyed us, and will destroy all.”
“Cloud? Cloud of Darkness? There’s no way she would do something like that! You lie!”
Dad reached over, grabbing the man by the scruff of his neck, when he noticed something in a crystal next to one with the scientist. There, suspended in a crystal of her own, was Cloud of Darkness.
“No!”
“Cloud will destroy us all…”
Dad felt his blood boil. Who was this guy, blaming Cloud of Darkness when she was imprisoned down here just like them?
“Who, who did this to her?”
“Cloud is the destroyer of all, the destroyer of destroyers, of light, of darkness, of hope, of despair. Cloud makes the world nothing. The Cloud of Strife.”
“That…that makes no sense! This…this Cloud of Strife seeks to destroy everything? Then what will be left?”
The man finally looked from the crystal holding his beloved, looking at Dad with a stare that seemed to pierce souls.
“Nothing will exist when Cloud Strife succeeds. Now go, and stop him.”
--------------------------------------FOOM------------------------------------------------- Dad awoke with a start, coughing up seawater. He looked around frantically, seeing…sand, trees, normalcy?
“Good, you’re awake. I was wondering how much longer I’d have to wait.”
“C-Cloud of Darkness! Oh thank goodness you’re awake! I had the most terr-“
“You met Vincent, I assume. Then get up, we have to hurry to Midgar before Cloud of Strife awakens fully.”
“How did yo-Hey! W-wait up!”
Dad finally felt like an adventurer again, off to save the world from madness.
It felt good.
--
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Cloud of Darkness stopped, allowing Dad to catch up.
“Yes, is something the matter?”
“The train was going that way!” Dad pointed out towards the vast ocean. “How do you intend to cross now? And what if we get attacked again?”
Cloud of Darkness laughed. And laughed. And laughed. “You worry too much. We won’t be attacked again, because we won’t be on a train.”
“How…how does that logic even work?”
“So old, and yet you understand so little. Do you want to go back to that bar?”
“No…”
“Then continue forward. There’s no point in standing in place, or in going backwards. It’s as simple as that. Let me handle worrying.”
“But!”
“No buts, now come, I know exactly how to reach Midgar.”
The walk was mostly peaceful, as Cloud of Darkness wouldn’t answer any questions of actual value, settling to only answer questions of the yes/no variety. Then they reached a large, unusual city.
“Well, we’re here. Dad, welcome to Garden.”
Dad looked upon the structure with amazement. A floating city, what else could have been conceived by such people?
“Stop smiling.”
Dad looked to Cloud of Darkness, then followed her eyes, and his smile did indeed fade. A funeral procession was passing through, with four coffins.
“WELCOME”
Dad and Cloud of Darkness both jumped at the yell, and stared at the white-haired woman who, for who knows what reason, was here as the welcoming committee. At least that’s what the sign above the kiosk she was in said.
“PURPOSE?”
Dad looked to Cloud of Darkness, unsure of how to speak to someone like this.
Cloud of Darkness cleared her throat. “We’re here to see Mr. Loire. Tell him it’s Cloud of Darkness. I’ve brought the one, he’ll know what I mean.”
“NO”
“..Pardon?”
“DEAD” Fujin snapped while pointing towards the procession.
“Then, who can we spe-“
“LEONHART” Fujin pushed a button on her desk. “PROCEED.”
Dad couldn’t help but notice Cloud of Darkness was much more tense now than before she spoke to the white-haired woman.
“Do you know who this Leo-“
“I said I need to think.”
I’ll take that as a no. Or maybe a ‘yes and we’re screwed’. Either way spells trouble. Dad could only hope Cloud of Darkness’s thinking would get them out of this. This place reminded him of the old days, everyone seemed to be running around planning some prank, anything to keep their minds off the fact that this was a military base.
“Quit staring, look ahead.”
Dad was jolted to attention by the large wooden doors in front of them, with the nameplate ‘Squall Leonhart’ shining.
“Well, maybe it won’t be so bad.” Dad smiled as he pushed the doors open. He was stunned by who was sitting at the desk. The ‘Squall Leonhart’ that had worried Cloud of Darkness so much was…a kid just barely out of his teens? He stopped being quite so pleased when Leonhart slammed down whatever papers he had been holding, and stared at the two.
“So, you’re Cloud of Darkness, and you’re” Leonhart looked at the cover sheet of the papers. “The one. Dad, was it?”
“That’s what people tend to call me.”
“Whatever.”
Silence reigned over the room for a few minutes, before Cloud of Darkness broke it.
“What happened to Mr. Loire?”
“I was hoping you could help me figure that out, exactly.”
“And what do I have to do with his fate?” Cloud of Darkness’s eyes flashed angrily.
“I’d like you to tell me about Cloud of Strife.”
All of Garden’s residents shivered.
--
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“Hyah!” Cloud Strife and Cloud of Darkness were back-to-back, surrounded.
“I hope you’ve got a plan, Darkness!”
“Let me th-“
“Think, got it! You think, I’ll guard!” Strife yelled as he blocked a root from ExDeath.
Come on girl, it’s just Golbez, ExDeath, and Ultimecia. You’ve handled stronger…just think great. Great. Great. Gre-That’s it!
“You’d better hurry it u-gah!” Cloud screamed as he took a blast of darkness from Golbez.
“Oh no you don’t! Ready yourself, villains! Onavfuvat Funqbj Fbhy!” Pure, raw energy launched itself from Cloud of Darkness, consuming the three wicked ones.
“P-p-phew…” Cloud smiled as he looked around, all traces of their foes gone. “Great job as always.”
“DARKNESS! STRIFE? WHERE ARE YOU?”
“Over here, Laguna! We’ve taken care of the-GURK!” Cloud Strife collapsed, white light glowing off of him. Cloud of Darkness rushed over to her friend.
“Cloud? Laguna, hurry over here, something’s wron-“ A beam of light launched Cloud of Darkness into a tree.
“Fufufu. Finally, it’s happened.” Cloud Strife rose into the sky, the air whipping around him.
“I must thank you, Darkness. By exterminating ExDeath, Golbez, and Ultimecia, the seal on Mako is broken. As a token of my appreciation, I’ll let you and Laguna live. In ten years I’ll start to come for you though. I’ll be extra kind and not hunt you myself.”
And with a flash, everything was gone.
--
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Squall Leonhart furrowed his brow, carefully choosing his words.
“ExDeath, Golbez, and Ultimecia, I’ve seen a few documents on them since…Laguna’s passing, but I haven’t been able to find much.”
Cloud of Darkness simply frowned, none too pleased to have recalled that day. “Try searching for the Triple Triad. I’m sure you’ll get what you’re looking for. Laguna always was one for extra security.”
Silence reigned over the room, until Dad spoke up. “Cloud of Darkness, both of you seemed to be planning on me showing up. Why?”
Squall sighed. He felt like he’d been doing more of that lately. “Laguna feared that Cloud of Strife gained influence over one of our top operatives, Selphie Tilmitt. This was further proven when Selphie left Garden recently. What this has to do with you is, well, you have nothing to lose.”
“What?”
“If you fail, if you die, you leave no-one behind. So you have nothing to worry about except succeeding.”
Dad felt his blood boil. What was this brat thinking, that Mom and Son dying was a good thing for this mission? But wait…does this mean?
“That’s it, isn’t it Cloud of Darkness? You weren’t just some friend of Faris doing a favor, you only gave a damn because I had nothing left, so you took me on this...whatever the hell this is!”
“That’s wr-“
“Well you know what? Screw the both of you!”
“Dad, please, we need yo-“
“You think I’ll help knowing why you came for me? Well guess what? I will!”
“Don’t say th-what?”
Dad clenched his fist, manly tears flowing down his cheeks.
“You’re right, I’ve got nothing to lose. I haven’t felt really alive since my last adventure, opposing the gods and all that. So I’ll help you. Both of you gather whatever you need me to know, I’ll be in that cafeteria.”
Cloud of Darkness and Squall could only stare as Dad walked out the room like the calmest man in the world.
“He’s certainly something.” Squall remarked with a smug grin. Cloud of Darkness could only frown.
Dad approached the lunch line, wondering where in the world the buckets of bland, stale nourishment were. Maybe this place isn’t really a military base after all.
“YEAH!”
Dad almost leapt out of his skin as a tattooed madman charged into the dining hall, hollering up a storm as he got behind Dad in line.
“Hey, old guy, never seen you around! Name’s ZELL! What’s yours? Huh? Huh?”
“Uhh…the name’s Dad. And I’m only here for a short time, business with Mr. Leonhart.”
“Oh, so it really IS your first time here, well you’ve come to the best cafeteria in all of Garden! And I’m going to tell you the best food of all! Oh, the line’s moving and it’s your turn to order. You can order for both of us, I’ll tell you what to get.” The stranger gave Dad a shove up to the counter. Dad couldn’t help but notice that the lady who had ushered them into the building was the same one now serving meals. She must’ve gotten in trouble with someone.
“ORDER?”
“Umm..yes, I’ll have uhh…”
“Hot dogs, man. Hot dogs. Gotta eat ‘em all. Give us all the hot dogs!”
Dad gave the delusional tattooed teen a bewildered stare as before he knew it a tray with a mountain of meat and bun was shoved into his hands, and an arm was around his shoulders dragging him to a table.
“HELLZ YEAH MAN! HOT DOGS!”
Dad barely even sat down before Zell started tearing into the meal. Dad grabbed a hot dog, careful not to lose his hand to Zell’s hunger, and took a bite.
Before long, Dad was charging into the mountain with as much fury as Zell had.
“MAN THAT WAS GOOD TIMES! NEXT TIME YOU’RE HERE I’LL INTRODUCE YOU TO HOT DOGS AND KETCHUP!”
As Zell left, he passed Cloud of Darkness, who then approached the table with a disgusted look on her face.