Hope in Love Chapter 7
Grim Reaper
By Sorceress Fantasia
The place was certainly deserted. Only pink mist surrounded the area. It was hard even to tell which was the ceiling and which was the floor. With absolutely zero land marks or whatsoever, it was definitely easy to get lost here. So it wasn’t hard to believe Tifa and Elena to lose their way around.
"Argh! Don’t tell me we’re lost in this idiotic place!" Elena whined, with her hands on her head, threatening to pull off every single strand of her beautiful blonde hair.
"We were lost since we started." Tifa reminded.
Elena was hopping mad. "How the heck do we get out!?"
"Who am I suppose to ask?" Tifa snapped. She frowned, "You’re being fretful." Her tolerance was reaching her limit. Elena had been whining and complaining all the way and Tifa could find nothing else to console her. But Tifa knew she was right. They couldn’t possibly just walk on. They would eventually break down due to exhaustion. They… She had to find a way out. Elena was not the least reliable. Tifa looked around again, desperately looking for an exit. But there was none. However, something caught her eyes. It was him.
"Cloud!" Tifa shouted excitedly. She felt her heart skip a beat. He would always appear and help her when she was in danger, just like he promised. Seeing him, she couldn’t help but smile. ‘Cloud would get me out of this mess. He always does.’
However, Cloud did not seem to have heard Tifa’s cries. He merely walked on, ignoring Tifa as though she was not there.
"Wait! Cloud, wait for me! Don’t leave me here!" She cried for his attention, but she got none. Tifa felt afraid. Somehow, this scene reminded her of the dream she had while she was unconscious after escaping from the ‘Promised Land’. She saw Cloud, sword in hand, walking away from her. Tifa screamed for him to stop, but he just walked on slowly as he dragged his weapon. She ran towards him, but was unable to get close. Her body seemed to be placed under the ‘Slow’ spell. Cloud was far ahead of her, and he kept walking, walking, walking…until he disappeared into the darkness. This dream frightened her immensely, and it still does. Was it going to become a reality?
Elena saw the grave expressions on her face and decided it was best to divert her attention from Cloud Strife for a moment. "Tifa, look here!" Elena called, and pointed to another side. It was Barret and Reno arguing, as usual.
"Barret? Barret!" Tifa shouted louder, for she was afraid Barret would not hear her, just like Cloud. He too failed to see her. Then, she saw another figure beside her. She spun around. It was Vincent. And Lucretsia was beside him. They were discussing something and did not notice Tifa as well.
"What’s all this?!"
"Calm down Tifa! These are merely images showing the other locations in this weird place." Elena answered quickly, and hoped that Tifa would calm down.
Tifa narrowed her eyes and took a closer look. Indeed, it was all images screened on the mist. Tifa heaved a sigh of relief and place her right hand on her chest. Her heart was still pounding, but had already slowed down considerably. She was so afraid that her friends were abandoning her. Then, she turned her attention to Cloud. He was also wandering around. ‘He’s trying to get out too…And maybe he’s looking for us…for me…’
"Tifa, look at your right." Elena said. Tifa turned and to her surprise, saw a ray of light shining. "It wasn’t here just now." Elena noted.
"Right, it wasn’t here…" Before Tifa could finish, the light turned and shone on them. They shielded their face with their arms, and wondered what was going on. The light suddenly brightened, and the two girls vanished without a trace.
************
"Alright Mr. Smart Alec, now where do we go?" Reno asked impatiently. Barret had led him into another dead end. It was the fourth time in less than ten minutes.
"If ya so f$#%ing clever, you can jolly well led the %#*&^*^ way!" Barret snapped.
Reno shrugged his shoulders, then turned and walked in another direction. Barret followed, uttering a few curses under his breath. If it weren’t for Aeris, he would have twisted Reno’s neck long ago.
Soon, they were at another dead end.
"As you were sayin’? I’ve never seen someone as clever as ya, you dumb witted f$#%#er." Barret snickered, crossing his hands together. Although he pretended to look unhappy on the outside, Barret was very glad and relieved on the inside. He was happy to see Reno lead them into a dead end as well, at least he wasn’t very much better off then him.
"Thanks very much for the compliment." Reno replied, just as sarcastic.
"Damn man! Why the #*$^% did I end up with #%$** you!" Barret shouted, and kicked the wall to vent his frustration. However, Barret kicked into the air, as though the wall was not there at all. Reno tried to feel for the walls with his hands. His hands went through. True enough, there was nothing. Then, Barret and Reno looked at one another for a while. Apparently, they both had the same idea. After a moment of silence, they each took a step forward and went through the wall in unison.
************
Vincent and Lucretsia walked towards the beam of light they had saw earlier. They were in front of the light when all of a sudden, something growled right behind them. Vincent immediately turned to face what was following them. It was a Cyclops.
"Run Lucretsia! I’ll handle him on my own."
"No, I’m not running. I’m helping you."
Before Vincent could say another word, Lucretsia fired a shot. The beast let out a deafening cry, then charged towards Lucretsia. Vincent pushed her aside and received a very heavy punch, a punch so heavy that it flung Vincent quite a distance away.
"Vincent!" Lucretsia screamed, and ran towards him. The Cyclops however, dived for her with its claws. Lucretsia jumped away, and fired another shot. It missed the target and the monster lunged at her again. Vincent had by this time, got up. Keen on paying back the creature what he deserves, he shot the creature in its eye with straight accuracy. It tumbled over from the impact and this gave Lucretsia time to shoot it once more. She shot, and the Cyclops jerked a little before stiffening.
"It’s dead." Lucretsia observed, walking towards the monster. When she was just a mere foot from it, the Cyclops, to her horrors, jumped up and lifted Lucretsia before any of the two could react.
"Lucretsia!"
"Let go of me!" Lucretsia struggled to free herself, but to no avail. Then, Vincent aimed for the monster; however, it shielded itself with Lucretsia as its hostage. Vincent put his weapon ‘Outsider’ down, just as the Cyclops threw Lucretsia into the light beam. Just as she touched the light, she disappeared.
"Lucretsia! You monster! You shall feel the wrath of Chaos!" Vincent shouted at the monster. He kept his gun, and morphed into a monster himself. Wings grew from his back and his handsome features were replaced by a hideous Chaos’. His skin turned into a shade of dark purple. Chaos looked at the monstrosity angrily with eyes that could kill. Then, he performed his killer blow, Chaos Saber. The monster was injured seriously but still not unconscious. It seemed to be intimidated by Vincent’s Chaos form and escaped into the light, disappearing as well.
Vincent reverted into his human form and dashed into the light beam.
************
The monster pounced on Cid, but Cid carefully stepped back. It shrieked, "Ahh!" then proceeded to fall flat on its face. Cid placed his spear down, holding it with his right hand and placed his other on his hips. It was only then he noticed the monster was petite and could probably reach his knee only even if it stood straight. It was in a shade of dull purple and it and looked very much like a human, with hands and fingers, legs, even with human-like features, except that it looked like a deformed one. It had a tail too, with a small triangle at the tip. (Note: I’m actually trying to, which I can’t do very well obviously, describe the imp enemy in FF8)
"Ouch!"
"What ya sceamin’ for? I didn’t even touch you!" Cid asked, puzzled.
"But your spear is! Take it away, you klutz!"
Cid looked down. His Venus Gospel was right on the creature’s tail. "Oops! Sorry, my fault." He lifted his weapon.
The monster struggled to its feet in a rather comical, zany way. It stood up so quickly that it lost its balance, falling to its butt. Then it pushed itself up with its hands, only to fall flat on its face. Cid was already on the verge of rolling on the ground. He laughed until he had stitches. Rude was having problems stifling a grin.
"What’s the big idea? You pinned me down, so help me up!" it shouted.
Cid, still laughing, took it to its feet. "What are you? A professional comedian?"
The creature sulked and stared at the two.
"Alright, alright, I’ll stop laughing." Cid replied, and tried to put on a straight face.
The creature crossed his arms, his tail swaying from side to side to show that he meant business, "Better. For your information, it’s not very wise to laugh at me."
"Why not?" Rude questioned.
"For I am the keeper of this realm. My name is Grim Reaper, you can call me Grim for short."
"Grim Reaper? You mean death? Ha ha ha ha ha! I bet you can’t even kill a fly!" Cid teased. Rude chuckled.
"Shut your stinking mouth if you can’t say anything nice! Ever heard of the phrase ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover?" Grim Reaper shot. He thought for a moment and added, "Nah, impossible. What can an idiot like you know?" Grim Reaper placed its hands on its hips. "Let me warn you. If you keep this on, things are going to get ugly." He sneered.
"What do you mean?" Rude questioned solemnly.
Grim gave a satisfied grin, "Well, my friends, the Cyclops have got at least half of your allies."
"What?!" Cid exclaimed. "Are you threatening us?"
"Not exactly." Grim replied in a singsong manner.
"Then what do you want?" Cid said his sentence word by word.
"Tell me why are you’re here. And be honest."
Cid gritted his teeth and clenched his fist tight. "Are you calling me a liar? You @$#*& idiot!"
"Then tell me. I wouldn’t do anything." Grim Reaper cajoled.
Seeing that anger couldn’t get him anywhere, Cid told him everything, beginning with the dreams, the Turks and the scout for Yuffie. "Alright, I’ve told you everything. Let them go."
A smile broke onto Grim’s face. "Thanks a lot. I will let them go only if you agree to my one condition."
"What is it?" Rude asked.
"Take me with you."
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