Chapter 45: Chapter 62 – First Task

"Hah…hah….hah….ARRRRRGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"AAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"

"That's it…you are almost there, Cloud," Lucrecia Crescent sat in front of Cloud in a cave, with barely any light there.

She looked at him suffering, blood flowing down his arm, on a book with Loveless written.

"HAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"Do you understand what is happening, Cloud? Why are you going through what you are? Why is your previously stable mind becoming chaotic."

Cloud screamed even louder, but Lucrecia ignored that. She continued, "Think of your mind as a bowl, and there are these minds, their whole lives, from the beginning to the end, and at the center of these foreign minds is a small part of you. Now, at the center is your mind, but since it's divided, it's smaller. So what happens when your minds grow stronger? Bigger?"

She narrowed her eyes, looking at the bowl in front of her, and the center ball became bigger, pushing others out, "Now, there is always a limit to mind."

She put her palm inside the bowl, pushed the balls back in, and the balls crushed against each other, "Now. When the limit hits, these balls…oh wait. I should have gone with eggs; these fragile eggs started pushing against each other and cracking, blending into each other."

"It's time…you take an egg out to make more space, to boy yourself more time. But as you grow Cloud, so will your pieces, which would come again when you have to eliminate a part of you. But remember…every time you rid yourself of a part of you, you remove a soldier from the defense line against Jenova."

"Shut up!" Cloud growled, falling to the floor, gasping for breath, closing his tired eyes, "You talk too much."

Hogwarts,

It was the day of the First Task, and it had been eleven days since Cloud disappeared from Hogwarts. The three of them usually got special treatment, and as they grew, it became more evident that rather than punishing them, Dumbledore taught them when they did wrong and gave them the benefit of the doubt.

But recent Cloud's outburst, with Karkaroff, Snape, and now his disappearance, sent Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and even Professor Snape, Hagrid, and many others.

There were two that Tifa knew who seemed more desperate than her to find Cloud.

"Is there any news?"

Tifa sat in the Great Hall, having breakfast with others, when Harry and Hermione came to them, asking. She could tell that Harry looked almost desperate to know what had happened. Since they met, Cloud had been like an idol to the boy, and Cloud was soft on them.

It's not like she didn't understand, but she was filled with worry right now, so she blankly shook her head.

"I am sorry…I feel like this is my fault. I met him…and he was different than usual. It was almost like he was a different person…but I didn't pay attention because I was so self-absorbed."

"Hey, hey, hey," Aerith patted the table, attracting their attention, curling her lips, "Today is my day. Cloud will not steal it by being a drama queen and coming at the last moment possible. So sit down and eat."

"I am not a drama queen."

Aerith froze, and a grin spread through her lips when she felt him sit down beside her, "See, I told you."

Tifa closed her eyes, slumping her shoulder, letting out a long breath of relief, "Hahhhh…you are back."

"Yeah," Cloud crossed his legs, stroking Aerith's head, "Sorry."

"You know that Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall, and even Headmaster Dumbledore are waiting in a line to chew your head off?"

"You make it sound like I shouldn't have come back." Cloud took his hand away, and Aerith put hers on top of his.

"Maybe you shouldn't have," Tifa curled her lips, looking at him and turning her head away.

Cloud looked towards the table, softly smiling, "Hmph…."

He breathed in, turning to look at Hermione, "Sorry. About that day. I was trying to create a spell that affects people mentally, and I might have affected you too."

"No…you didn't," Hermione looked down, "As much as I disliked it afterward…I enjoyed it. It was revenge for years of ridicule and insults. So I am sure you didn't."

She raised her chin, fixing her gaze at him, "I can own up to my mistakes. You don't have to lie to hide my ugly side."

"That's why I like you," Cloud turned the corner of his lips, shaking his head, ignoring Hermione's pink face, "Ok. I don't know if I affected you or not, but I was working on a spell."

He looked around, and it was early in the morning; there were barely a few people around. These two only came because they knew they'd find Tifa and Aerith here at this time.

"For a while now. I have been…having hallucinations…hearing voices. Recently, things got worse. I felt when they were around me, not just see but felt. And thought it was a person when one of them placed their hand on my shoulder. So…I had to leave to deal with that."

"Why…tell us now…?" Harry muttered since he couldn't understand.

"Because of Harry. This was no different than your dreams; maybe someday you will hear the voices too. These hallucinations, maybe worse," Cloud focused on Tifa, who was looking back at him, realizing what he had done.

"Come to me when that happens. I'll be able to help you out," Cloud addressed Hermione, "And you. Don't ignore your instincts next time."

"You…seem different," Hermione raised her eyebrows, confusedly watching him.

"I know," Cloud gently nodded, standing up, asking Tifa and Aerith, "Can we talk. Before I get head chewed out?"

Aerith grinned, "Hehe. Ok. But hurry, I am still hungry. I need all the energy for today."

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"Oh, do you even know the task?"

"Dragons," Tifa patted Hermione's shoulder, walking past them. Hagrid took all of them to see the Dragons, and there were four of them.

"Hm, then it's nothing to worry about. Just. Don't kill the Dragon," Cloud said to Aerith, who happily grinned.

"I'll try."

The three found an empty classroom, went inside, and closed the door. They stood there, silent, and Tifa patted her cheeks, asking, "You did it?"

"Yeah."

"Where is he?"

"Here," Cloud put his hand in his wizard robe, taking out Loveless Book and giving it to Tifa.

Tifa took the book, "I don't…understand?"

"I didn't either…at first," Cloud put his hand in his pocket, giving the book a view, "So, she explained to me with the Bowl and Egg theory, but it's this. The minds of Soldiers have a part of me as their core. When my mind broke into pieces, they latched onto these powerful, newer memories."

"So, your mind is the yolk, and their memories are the outer layer?"

"Yeah," Cloud nodded, "So when they are near me…."

The book transfigured, turning into Genesis, a seemingly lifeless shell, and then it transfigured back into the book, "I possess complete control. I can't control how much control I have, but they can only maintain their autonomy away from me."

Cloud took the book off the floor, "You don't have to say it. I wouldn't say I like it, even if this is for the best. I will place the book in San Francisco, and Genesis can manage that. While we oversee New York."

"You are more decisive…all of a sudden," Tifa blinked, "I am not sure…I like that."

"I have been like this for a while," Cloud pressed his lips, "Just, every time I made a decision, it came from their mouth, so I ignored them. I wanted to make the decision opposite, but usually, the other party covered that too. So…I usually ran out of options."

"You never said anything," Aerith raised her eyebrow, nibbling her lip.

"I didn't need to. You couldn't have helped with it…and as long as the two of you were around me. That was enough for me…still is," Cloud scratched his cheek, "This part…I had to do it on my own."

Tifa took the book from him and then abruptly disappeared and didn't reappear.

"Did she forget that she can only come back to Forbidden Forest?"

Aerith made him turn, narrowing her sparkling eyes, "No. I think she plans to give the two of us sometime."

"Oh," Cloud looked at her palms on his shoulders and put his on her waist.

Aerith raised her chin, brushing her lips against him, "Cloud…I never got angry at you…and if someone else saw me…then they'd probably think I was not worried about you."

"I know---"

Aerith gently kissed him to stop him from talking, "Listen…."

"I don't mind that. Suppose they do think that because Cloud, you are my Hero. I have faith in whatever you do, that even if you are weak and on your last legs…you will make through."

Cloud closed his eyes, feeling her breath on his face as she continued to say.

"But Cloud…I am begging you. Next time…tell me if you are going through something like this? Ok?"

"Yeah."

"Promise?"

"Yeah…promise."

"Good," Aerith parted her lips, kissing his, running her hands over his body, and he picked her up, placing her butt on the table. His tongue entered her mouth, twirling around hers.

She dropped her robe on the table, and he started opening the buttons to her shirt, putting his hand inside her skirt, brushing over her thighs.

She moaned in his mouth, gripping his cheek, sucking on his tongue, hastily opening his shirt, tracing his chest, kissing the nape of his neck, gripping a bunch of his hair, dragging her nails over his skin.

She noticed something pulled away, using magic to redress themselves, and jumped up from the table. She whispered in his ears, "Tonight…after my task is done. I will want you as my reward if it goes well. If I mess up…I want it to be my consolation reward."

"Ok," Cloud kissed her forehead when the door was pushed open, and he had to use his robe to hide the current circumstances.

"Ah, and here I thought those were baseless rumors. Come with me, Mr. Strife, and try not to use magic."

"Yeah, Professor McGonagall."

"Yeah?"

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