A/N: I'll be honest... I'm not entirely happy how this chapter came out, but I'm glad it's finally out of my head.

Next chapter is where the action will really kick in. Promise : D

Thank you for reading and reviewing so far! Please continue to do so~ for my reviews are my scones with jam and clotted cream~

It was still a little too unreal to the human as he boarded the floating ship, watching as everything was packed upon the vessel. Well… to be frank, the term of 'ship' might have done it a great disservice. It seemed more like a small floating fortress that just happened to own the body of a ship to support its wooden structures. Although it held no candle to the Sukai Shin's floating city, Cloud was still impressed that the gods were able to travel in such flights of impossibilities.

"Excited to go see a different haven?"

Cloud looked to the side of him; Riku had been one of the few seishin that had been drafted to come along with the Arashi no Kami to the Shizen no Kyuuden, alongside Sora who was excited to be leaving Arashi no Rakuen for the first time. To Cloud though, it was obvious that Riku had travelled between havens before.

"I don't really know what to expect," Cloud replied truthfully, watching as more people piled onto the ship. "It feels strange… to be leaving a place."

"You never travelled before?"

"When I was alive, I never left the village, but I heard of all sorts of stories about different places. I guess hearing stories just made me think I didn't have to go anywhere."

"I always find that seeing the place is better than just hearing of them," Riku commented. "That's why I left Shizen no Kyuuden initially."

"You're not from Arashi no Rakuen?" Cloud asked, surprised to hear this.

"Chikyuu no seishin are usually born at Shizen no Kyuuden, since Lord Lexaeus makes his home there," Riku explained, speaking of the hulking giant of the Chikyuu no Kami. "Sometimes, in order to maintain the havens, the ryoushu exchange seishin. Seishin of the sky can influence the weather, while seishin that are more earthly are needed to care to gardens. Too much of one type of seishin can cause more harm than good."

"I never knew that," Cloud murmured. "So all those hitodama…"

"The hitodama here in Arashi no Rakuen will most likely become seishins of water, lightning and wind, but since Lords Roxas and Axel spend a lot of time here too, a lot of hi no seishin and yoake no seishin are born here too."

"So you came here as an exchange."

"No," Riku replied. "I volunteered to come here. I had a chance to go back to the human world and act as a guardian spirit of a temple but I declined it."

Cloud was about to ask why, but Riku was suddenly knocked forward slightly by the extra weight of a very excitable Sora who was nattering away into the silver-haired seishin's ear. "Did you hear?-! Tenshi are going to be accompanying us there! Do they all look like Seifer?-! I heard you can't lie to them! Oh, but will they be in their crane forms?-!"

"Sora, you could just wait to see," Riku sighed, trying to shrug the yoake no seishin off his back to little effect.

"But I've never seen a tenshi before!"

"Is it that much of a big deal?" Cloud questioned.

"It's an event," Riku responded, still trying to shake off Sora. "Tenshi live in the sky in their own cities, but they are the only creatures in all of creation that are capable of travelling between realms of existence, but it's rare to come across one."

"Why?"

"They're the same as shingami," Sora smiled. "Tenshi escort the hitodama from Ankoku no Sekai to be born in other havens, while shinigami retrieve them from the human world so that they can be judged. Or at least, that's what I've been told."

"On that logic, tenshi very rarely will stay put in one place," Riku added. "They don't tire and they can't really stop because at least a thousand hitodama a day needs to be escorted between havens. It's actually one of the most important but taxing jobs in the worlds."

"Why would they be escorting us then?" Cloud asked. "It can't be that difficult to travel between worlds."

"Usually, but since Lord Squall is quite vulnerable as it is, it wouldn't be wise to try and brave the Lanes Between on our own. That, and not many people in Arashi no Rakuen have experience of travelling between realms." Riku then shrugged his shoulders. "But then again, Lord Zexion, Lord Axel and Lord Roxas have done it so many times before. They'd probably say differently."

Cloud could have asked more, but Sora's sudden yelping brought his attention to the sky. Yet another rip in the sky, and something remarkable was borne from it.

They appeared in the sky as four arrows of made of shining bright light, raining down to the ship's deck. As Sora had excitedly inquired, their appearance was that of glowing cranes, the light coming from them strong enough to illuminate the sky had it been night time. To Cloud, it seemed apparent that it was an old tenshi followed by three younger ones; one was smaller than the other three, one had battle-scarred wings, another was the largest and seemingly the most physically powerful and the last could have been female as it lacked the large crest on its head, instead it being just a small unassuming strip. As they landed on the deck of the ship, Cloud's expression gave over to amazement at how true his assumptions had been.

The smallest crane had changed into a boy that could not have been any older than fifteen years old. His hair was golden, his eyes were the brightest, deepest blue and his skin was pale, almost untouched by the sun. What was surprising to Cloud was how similar the tenshi boy looked to the Taiyou no Shin. No… he was an exact replica of Roxas.

The tallest crane had changed into a man that appeared to be in his early twenties, tanned from long periods spent in the sun, earthy-coloured hair that spiked at the top of his head but fell to form a sort of crest at the back of his head. He shared the same colour eyes as his younger companions but they appeared to be darker and less obvious than the other two.

The crane that Cloud had thought was a girl did in fact change into a woman with soft blue hair that framed her gentle features. Her blue eyes seemed to have the smallest flecks of violet in her deep irises, warmth flowing from them like the great rivers of the human world. Everything about her, from the way she carried herself to the way she smiled, seemed like it was a graceful dance. She could have not have been any older than twenty.

Finally, taking the front of the group but also taking the longest time to transform, an older man with a battle scar on his face and creases in his skin that suggested the rough passage of time and struggles he had confronted in his lifetime stood before them. His hair was black with tinges of grey hairs, his eyes were so dark they were almost black, and his skin was tanned and leathery from hard work. His white and gold outfit (hakama, armour plate and boots and an open kinagashi) made him appear holier than his physical earthly appearance. Cloud heard a few whispers; they questioned why the elders of the tenshi homeland would they send not one, but two tenshi that were clearly of half human heritage. Cloud then saw that Squall was boarding the ship and approaching the four tenshi.

"Master Eraqus," the little storm god greeted formally. The eldest tenshi bowed his head.

"Lord Squall, I am humbled to have been called upon as an escort," the old tenshi murmured in that same painfully polite tone.

"And these three are your best?" Squall asked, turning his eyes to Eraqus' young companions.

"Aqua has received her Mastery Mark as a fully fledged tenshi." There was pride in the old tenshi's voice. "This is her first mission before taking on the divine duties. Terra and Ventus are still apprentices, but they are my best pupils."

More whispers from some of the seishin; that even if Master Eraqus was sent here, he should not have brought two apprentices, especially since one was only half tenshi. They were silenced by one look from Zexion; he had just boarded the ship himself. "They look capable," Squall responded. "Let's hope the trip to Aerith's domain will be an uneventful one."

"One can only hope, my lord." They began to walk off into the bowels of the ship, leaving the three younger tenshi to look around. The seishin returned to their business, but they all seemed to actively avoid the brunet of the three newcomers. Cloud looked on; he had thought all tenshi were respected. Apparently there was something he wasn't aware of.

"He's only half tenshi," Riku suddenly remarked, answering the unasked question, gaining Cloud's attention. "I don't know much about tenshi hierarchy, but they say that any tenshi with brown to black hair and dark eyes is more human than tenshi."

"Tenshi can have children with humans?" Cloud asked, surprised by this revelation. He had heard of huntsmen and fishermen coming across tenshi maidens bathing in secret pools, capturing them by holding their hagoromo hostage and forcing the unfortunate maiden into marrying them. He never thought the legends were true; but then again, he shouldn't have been surprised to hear something like this being a possibility.

"If it's consented by both parties, then yes. Of course, a tenshi child in a human world will never be accepted, but a human child in a tenshi world will always be looked down upon. That's what I've heard."

"Oooo! Oooo!" Sora was suddenly excited, his blue eyes alighting with animation. "I know this! Golden hair and blue eyes are seen as holy by tenshi!"

"Sora, not so loud," Riku scolded, keeping a green eye on the three tenshi that were currently standing apart from them. "But yes, that's generally the gist of it. But there are obviously some differentiation; golden hair and blue eyes are seen as the purest, but there are tenshi with blue, red, green, or some other coloured hair. Some even have green or oddly coloured eyes. But brown and black hair, and brown and black eyes, those are ultimately looked down upon."

"Because they're more human?" Cloud questioned, more for confirmation that he understood what he was being told.

"Because they're more human," Riku nodded. "And I'm afraid that some tenshi can be terribly haughty about humanity as a whole."

"What do you mean?"

"I know this too!" Sora piped up, ignoring the look from Riku's disdainful expression. "It's because many tenshi believe its humanity's fault for causing such a change of heart in the Souzou Shin."

Cloud blinked. His race was to blame for the change in the Souzou Shin? Was that what started that nameless war no one was willing to talk of? "What did my race do to upset him so much?"

"The details are a bit sketchy," Sora replied, making himself look wiser than he really was. "But from what I understand, they gained knowledge."

"Gained… what knowledge?"

"Knowledge knowledge!" Sora exclaimed, flapping his arms a bit like a small bird in frantic flight in his bid to emphasise what little information he had.

"We don't know for certain," Riku responded. "That part of history is lost to humans and we seishin who were once human."

"If you three have enough time to jabber," inserted a voice; the sprightly voice of Squall's koukennin Yuffie, "then you should have more than enough time actually helping out with preparations." The two seishin stiffened suddenly, looking at the immortal with wide eyes. Yuffie turned her smiling face and dark eyes to Cloud. "Squall wants you to stay by his side. He said he'd feel better being able to see where you are."

"He doesn't think I can take care of myself?"

"Hmm… let's just say there are things in the Lanes Between that would probably grab you if given half the chance. He wants to minimise that possibility."

He quirked his eyebrow; something that would grab him if given just a moment to try? Was that the reason why these tenshi were here? Was there something in the Lanes Between he knew nothing about?

"Well go on! Get moving!" Yuffie exclaimed, grabbing him by the wrist and dragging him along.

Demyx was watching from the Hanging Gardens as the ship began to lift into the sky, sitting cross-legged on the cliff, a biwa lute in his hands to make a change from his normal sitar. He hoped that the ship's trip would be peaceful and uneventful. The Lanes Between were a dangerous place despite the stark and desolate beauty. He heard footsteps behind him. "A rare thing to see you apart from Roxas, Axel." He heard the other take a seat next to him. "I almost swear you two are joined at the hip."

"As long as he doesn't get himself into trouble, I know he'll be fine here." The redhead watched the rift open in the sky, seeing the streaking lights of the Lanes Between glow in the sky. "It's funny…"

"What is?"

"How the worlds are so detached from each other and yet they still are connected." Axel sighed, letting his long legs sprawl out in front of him. He was wearing geta instead of those field-worker boots of his, his toes wiggling a little. "Don't you wish things were back the way they were?"

"When us gods, the spirits and the youkai could live with the humans and animals in complete harmony in the same world?"

"Hmm," Axel nodded. "I do sometimes."

"We didn't have much choice back then. In order for the mortals to survive, the ryoushu had to break our world from theirs."

"You're avoiding my question Demyx."

A sigh from the Mizu no Kami. "Axel… trust me when I say I find humans fascinating. But I still believe that we were too foolish in believing that we could possibly rectify their behaviour. It's better this way. We shouldn't become too involved with them."

"I don't believe you." They stared at each other for a while, neither willing to move from their positions on the matter. "If you had it your way, you'd return to the humans without a second thought."

"It isn't the same anymore Axel," Demyx said softly. "I want to believe that humans are innately good, but all the wars, all the random acts of evil, all the fatal faults that they have... our existence in their world would only serve as a temptation. You of all people should know this." He turned to look back at the moon. "I'm just glad we were able to at least give their world a second chance. I can only pray that one day they will no longer see a reason to fight needlessly."

"But you know that everyone was happier when we weren't so disconnected and trapped in our own little bubbles," Axel protested. Demyx kept his head low, knowing in his heart that he had been happier when there wasn't such a chasm between the worlds of the gods and the realms of the humans.

"We blew it Axel. We destroyed that happiness. Humanity started fighting amongst themselves all because we were there with them. It was little wonder the Souzou Shin was willing to completely destroy that world after he saw how greedy and power-hungry humans can be if given the temptation." Demyx then stood up, sliding his instrument onto his back. "And Rinoa being here... that sort of power she had was enough to scare her own kind, and be the catalyst of showing how weak we gods are as well."

"How are we weak?" Axel frowned. Demyx sighed softly.

"Humans are not just based upon us by looks alone."

Cloud watched on in amazement as coloured lights sped past the grand ship as it flew through what he had been reliably informed was called The Lanes Between. On either side of the ship, the four tenshi in their large glowing crane forms flew, their wings causing shimmers of light to coat the ship and all the crew members that manned it. Some even landed on him, stroking along his palm as he reached out to catch some but for it to fade away quickly. What was this?

"You know," the young voice next to him started, causing Cloud to look down at Squall, "humans recognise tenshi as several different things but never realised they are all one in the same."

"What do you mean?" Cloud asked, curious to what other myths were about to be completely reshaped in his mind.

"The humans long ago believed that tenshi were angels that took the forms of glowing cranes when they shed their hagoromo, but they were more likely to see a tenshi in the sky. In that form, they called them shooting stars."

It brought back a childhood memory to Cloud. When he was eight, a shower of shooting stars appeared in the night sky at the exact same time his mother repeated that mysterious verse. While he could hear all the children shouting in glee at seeing so many, he had stayed by his mother's side and watch her cry at seeing the night sky. As if she knew something. She seemed to cry even harder at the sight of them. He wondered if maybe shooting stars triggered a memory that made his mother cry as hard as she did that night.

"You'd think that humans could come up with a story that shooting stars are really tenshi coming to their world, but it's surprising that they didn't. I guess humans aren't that flighty." He knew it was a backhanded compliment about humans not being as gullible as he thought, but Cloud was just willing to let it slide for now. He smiled a little bit.

"So tenshi are the ones guiding hitodama when they can leave Ankoku no Sekai," he murmured. "Right?"

Squall was a bit surprised at that –but unbeknownst to Cloud, the blond had no idea that the little god had seen Cloud when he wasn't behaving like a dutiful servant around the Leon persona. He then just looked away from the human, and stated officially, "That's right. Shinigami collect souls from the human world and escort them to Ankoku no Sekai, and if the soul has done enough good deeds in its lifetime and is judged favourably, it'll become a hitodama and the tenshi will take it to wherever they feel its best suited to be reborn as a seishin."

"But what happens if the seishin population outnumbers the human population?" Cloud asked, having given this quite some thought. Squall actually went silent for a little bit.

"... I don't think that's ever going to be a problem. Humans aren't naturally inclined to doing what might be seen as saintly." He then shrugged. "So coming to one of the havens is more like a reward for those that actually do live by what is believed to be the right thing to do."

"Me and Yuffie must seem really weird to them, seeing as we came to Arashi no Rakuen unconventionally," Cloud mused. "Maybe... most of them think it's unfair that we got there so easily."

Squall wouldn't say it, but with Yuffie they at least knew that Squall had directly interfered with her fate. Cloud's fate though... Squall had no hand in it at all. Even he had no idea how Cloud managed to wind up in Arashi no Rakuen, though everyone seemed to have assumed that he had arranged it since he felt Cloud's presence in his haven. Zexion even said that he had saved Cloud from his watery grave.

But that wasn't true, and that scared him that he had no idea how this human had made it. Not to mention now it was obvious to him that Cloud was Rinoa and Seifer's son. It was almost scary at how much of a perfect time Cloud had appeared in his world. "Hey Cloud... do you remember much of that day?"

"Hm? What day?" Cloud questioned, blinking slightly.

"...the day you appeared at Arashi no Rakuen," Squall murmured, putting his arms on the railings and resting his chin on them. "I'm curious... what did you see before you appeared there?"

Cloud seemed to think hard on this, tapping his bottom lip in thought. "Well... I was blindfolded for most of the time I was on land before the sacrifice, but I remember that we were stuck in a typhoon." He didn't want to remember it, but he didn't know what else to say. "I was being sacrificed because they blamed me for it. Apparently I was such a pretty boy that it was making you angry."

"Wh-What?-! Something that superficial?-!" Squall was already plotting ways of completely massacring that village now. Did they get him mixed up with Marluxia?-! He was the type to get completely jealous of another pretty boy considering he doubled up as the god of beauty with his primary duty as the Hana no Kami.

"Yeah," Cloud confirmed. "They'd be surprised to find out that you're actually just a little boy who sometimes has tantrums."

"I do not have tantrums!" Squall protested, growling angrily. Cloud just smiled disarmingly at him.

"Anyway... I got on the boat, had the blindfold taken away from me... and after some pomp and ceremony I got pushed out to sea with nothing but the clothes on my back." He sighed, leaning back and looking up at the shining lights streaking above them. "I thought I accepted the fact that I was going to die but that day... I was actually terrified for my life. I didn't want to die like that. There was so much more that I could do in the world, even if it was only small."

"You were so scared that you couldn't do anything to help yourself?"

"There wasn't much I could do. I didn't have an oar and I was wearing clothes that would make me sink if I tried to swim away. Not to mention it would have been complicated to try and get all those layers off in a short amount of time. All I could do was cling for dear life and pray that you would stop the storm and save my life."

"But the storm didn't stop," Squall murmured. Cloud's prayer had never reached him; it must have been cut off.

"I'm not blaming you for it. Like I said, I was desperate to live, and now that I've seen how you deal with prayers I can understand that mine might never have been answered in time." He then smiled. "But someone must have heard because I ended up in Arashi no Rakuen. So maybe it did reach you and you just immediately responded somehow."

Squall blinked at that; no, that was impossible. Yes he did that for Rinoa and Yuffie in the past, but their pleas for help had happened before they were going to be executed by drowning. From what he had heard, Cloud had panicked while out at sea and made his desperate pray then, but he must not have had the chance to complete it. Squall had no idea that Cloud was going to be sacrificed to him at all. Which only left that something else had heard and answered him... but what power in all the realms could do that?

"...I do remember one thing before I completely blacked out," Cloud murmured thoughtfully. Squall turned to face him suddenly. "I had let go of the remains of the boat by that point and I was sinking... something was there with me though..."

"Something?"

"I can't really explain it that well... my memory is fuzzy when it gets to that point." Cloud grimaced and scratched the back of his head in thought. "It was a white light though... and I think there was a hand reaching out to me..."

Squall's eyes went wide. Something had interfered. But why would they drop him in Arashi no Rakuen? Was that why the shinigami were trying to get their hands on Cloud? Because he was a soul that hadn't been personally collected by a god and therefore didn't have the protection a soul would normally have just by association? Had something... or someone calculated all this? He frowned heavily. Why hadn't he thought of this until now? There was something highly suspect about Cloud's appearance. "Did you wonder what it was?"

"When I first remembered it, I did," Cloud admitted. "But after a while, I just put it down to maybe it being a messenger or you that picked me up."

"It doesn't bother you?" Squall asked incredulously.

"Not really, because at the end of the day, I'm alive." Cloud then paused at that, frowning slightly. "Or at least, not exactly dead if we're to believe that I didn't really drown... or maybe I did..."

Squall's face went flat as he looked at him. Even the person that all the mystery was surrounding had no clue what was going on. Was this a case of very selective amnesia? He then sighed... he was no closer to understanding why Sephiroth wanted Cloud, or why he was willing to compromise by taking his soul by leaving the blond alone, consequently halting Arashi no Rakuen from dying with him if this curse wasn't broken in time. Why would Sephiroth do that? He was just as much supportive of the notion of destroying the human world all those years ago, and supportive of seeing the Arashi no Kami being cursed as punishment for that wretched crime of his. He certainly wasn't going to believe it was just out of kindness.

There had to be something that not even the Souzou Shin had accounted for.

"Squall, is something bothering you?"

The little god brought himself out of his thoughts, looking up at Cloud with that same impassive default look of his. "No. Just thinking." His true thoughts running in his mind right now, with Yazoo and Kadaj's words ringing in his ears, were: hurry up and accept me for what I am, you dolt.

Even if she wasn't privy to most of what the gods would say to each other, she already knew that tensions were running high amongst those of the Shizen no Kyuuden. For starters, Lexaeus, the Chikyuu no Kami, was restlessly trying to solve a puzzle, his hulking frame looking even more stiff and statue-like than normal. The Hana no Kami's fingers were tapping restlessly against a railing, frowning heavily at the sky. The visiting Kaze no Kami, Xaldin, seemed to be pacing restlessly, a slight breeze blowing through his braids as he walked. It seemed that the only god there that wasn't in any way fazed was the ryoushu of Shizen no Kyuuden: the Shizen no Megami, Aerith. She was kneeling in front of a flower patch that was nearby where the docks of her realm was, seeming to be able to move and tend to them despite the amount of finery she was decked in. Tifa had to wonder how her lady and mistress was able to even walk in the jūnihitoe. The cascading cherry blossom kanzashi hanging from her hair moved lightly with every move she made. She turned back and smiled at the three kishi-ranked gods and the koukennin known as "The Goddess' Knight".

"Why is everyone looking so gloomy?" Aerith asked sweetly. "We should be showing smiling faces."

Tifa had to force herself not to grimace; this was like Aerith. She was the most positive one of all the gods, the most nurturing and kind goddess that was so suited to her duties in caring for the land and all the creatures that dwelled on it. Even her eyes could be said to actually be something from the earth itself.

"My lady," Xaldin started with a sigh, "did nothing of the concerns brought to us bother you at all."

"...it bothers me plenty," Aerith replied, going back to tending her patch. "But we don't know for certain so we shouldn't dwell on it too much until we actually have more information on it."

Now it was Marluxia's turn to sit up straight and protest. "How can you be so calm about this? The fact that Yuna comes back earlier with a message saying that the Shi no Kami's personal collectors start knocking around at a very delicate time for Lord Squall is definitely something to worry about!"

"If we all run around like headless chickens, we won't see the truth clearly." Aerith then turned back again and smiled. "Besides, we shouldn't expect a visit from Sephiroth. According to him, this place that repulses him since it stinks of rebirth." She had said this so cheerfully it almost caused a collective sigh from all present. Honestly... Tifa didn't know whether to be envious of Aerith's cheerful disposition or despair of it sometimes. Even so... all those years ago, it had been Aerith's smile that always managed to encourage others to not give up even when it looked hopeless. "Ah! Speaking of things that Sephiroth is repulsed by, is Zack still at the watchtower?"

"That idiot said he wouldn't leave until the Arashi no Kami arrived," Marluxia shrugged nonchalantly, snorting lightly. "He's impossible. I don't get hoshii no seishin."

"Probably because you spend so much time on the ground that you don't get his air-headedness," Xaldin remarked. Marluxia's cheeks puffed up in annoyance.

"And you can? Please, you're such an old grouch, a vein pops out every time you hear the puppy's voice," was the returned, snide comment. And Tifa knew that it was all going to go downhill from that moment. Marluxia and Xaldin couldn't stand each other, the only thing stopping them from ripping each other to pieces being Aerith.

"Hey, Tifa," Aerith started, looking at her longest serving companion. The ruby-eyed girl blinked and bowed her head lightly.

"Yes Mistress?"

"Do you think that Squall's found someone that he can truly treasure after all these years?"

It came a bit as a surprise, mostly for the fact that Aerith for the first time in years actually sounded very concerned. She smiled lightly at the goddess, reaching out to affectionately push back a stray curly lock of hair behind her ear. "I'm sure he has, Mistress. Lord Squall isn't the type to give up trying."

Aerith didn't seem to be convinced, and Tifa knew that was because Aerith understood what her fellow god was like. She was worried that he might not comprehend that what he had to do could not be fuelled by a duty towards his own home. She was worried that he hadn't truly allowed the many locks and chains surrounding him to loosen by another after what happened with Rinoa. More importantly, she was worried about the consequence of Squall being unable to truly allow another into the world that he had locked himself in. But she forced a smile and nodded her head at Tifa. "You're right... he isn't the type to just give up without trying."

A whistle pierced the air, attracting the attention of all in the garden. They saw a figure waving to them at the top of the watchtower, though it was too far to see the physical details of the watcher's form. His voice, however, managed to reach them despite the long distance. "Ship sailing our way! It's signalling that it wants to dock!"

"It's Squall," Aerith murmured, smiling gently. "They've made it. That's good." She then stood up, watching as the large sails of the floating ship appeared into their line of view. All Tifa could do was watch the back of her mistress; she knew that Aerith was hiding her true feelings behind a mask of strength and serenity.

As the ship that carried the Arashi no Kami docked at Shizen no Kyuuden, one god was watching from far away, his eyes not even flickering as he concentrated on this one scene of life alone. The interest lay not in the meeting of fellow ryoushu; it lay more in one of the most important travel companions of the Arashi no Kami.

"What can you tell me, Luxord?"

His blue eyes flicked up at that moment, staring at the imposing figure of the dark man with orange eyes walking towards him, a long black ceremonial robe with white accents encasing his frame. The light glinted off his silvery locks, in some respects creating a sort of halo of light around his head. Luxord turned, stroking his short blond beard with a hand that was more used to playing with cards and gambling than fighting. "Not much that you haven't already figured out for yourself. The son of a human woman and tenshi father, but retains the father's colouring but very little of the mother's powers as a Sorceress. If anything, he is more tenshi than he is human." He snapped his fingers, causing the illusions of clocks that had been surrounding him to disappear without a trace. "I wouldn't worry about him being a threat to you, my lord. Or to be used as a weapon against you by the Arashi no Kami in vengeance. Lord Squall wouldn't spit in the memory of the woman he once loved."

The man frowned heavily; clearly he was unhappy with this verdict. He had wanted more reason to break the oath of seclusion from the human world in order to completely rebuild anew, and the Souzou Shin had (unfairly in Luxord's mind) decided that the Arashi no Kami was the most likely to cause a second uprising. Sometimes it was little wonder the Souzou Shin was as paranoid as he was at times. "So not an ounce of power?"

"If you call being able to discern truth and lie a power to worry about, then no. Nothing. No special powers. No apocalyptic demon sealed inside him. Not even a spirit of some ultimate weapon that would be able to kill you." Luxord stood from his seat, letting his own flowing robes of white, silver and red fall to the floor and cover his bare feet. "Furthermore, he isn't destined to overthrow you. Please stop obsessing over the poor boy and the Arashi no Kami and give them some peace."

"Break your oath and tell me what is in the future then. Assure me that this boy won't be used against me," the Souzou Shin demanded, pointing his finger at the Jikan no Kami. Luxord just kept an impassive face, shaking his head lightly.

"All I do is oversee time, not act as your personal fortune teller, my lord." He intended to walk past the higher ranking god. "All I can say on the matter is that the Arashi no Kami is not some traitor biding his time to strike you when you least expect it. He doesn't have the luxury of time thanks to you." He stopped when he felt his arm being grabbed. "Xemnas, back then, I supported you but did not fight for you because I understood back then it was not the fated time for you to fall but neither was it the fated time for the world to come to an end." He pulled himself away. "I do not intend to be used as a tool by any person, including yourself."

He could feel Xemnas' eerie orange eyes on him as he walked away, boring holes into the back of his head. He then stopped for a moment, and stroked his beard. "Though saying that," Luxord started, "it's interesting to note that Sephiroth's personal guard dogs have suddenly taken an interest in the boy. Maybe they don't want to be cheated of another soul by the Arashi no Kami."

"See! He must have noticed something in that boy!" Xemnas shrieked, looking ready to go charging to Shizen no Kyuuden to retrieve the boy before he could be used against the Souzou Shin.

"My lord, the Arashi no Kami had nothing to do with the boy's appearance in Arashi no Rakuen as hard to believe as it is." Luxord turned around to face him. "There is not some grand plot against you by those you believe to be your foes. There is not something for you to worry about, and I think you should go elsewhere to relieve the stress you've put yourself under. Good day."

He walked out of the room and into the lunar daytime of the Souzou no Kooto, looking up at the starry sky and the human world that was up in their view on this day. Just one world of three that shared the Souzou no Kooto as a moon in their night time sky, cocooned and protected by the four spirits created by four goddesses so very long ago, long before he was born. The world that Xemnas was so determined to destroy; and Luxord had no idea why a creator would want to destroy his own creation. Even more vexing was his sudden preoccupation with a half tenshi, half human boy. Yes the boy's mother was unlike average humans, but he barely had an ounce of magical ability in him other than the normal tenshi ability to know when a lie was being told. He didn't even possess the ability to change into a crane. The boy was nothing to be feared of on the surface.

And yet even Luxord could sense that he was something quite important to the realms of the gods. Even if he could sense what would come, he could not truly grasp the full concept of what the future truly had in store for all. When he could, he couldn't tell. It was his oath to never tell the future's truth, for that was for the future to know only.

All he knew was that Sephiroth had taken a great interest in this one boy to send out his shinigami koukennin to retrieve his undeclared soul, even going to the lengths of having them broker deals with the Arashi no Kami. "If anything Lord Xemnas... it is the realm of death you should be turning your eyes to."

Cloud had stared at the ground for a while, unaware of the crowd he was gathering around him. He was staring at that first bit of land of Shizen no Kyuuden; once he stepped on, he would have visited another realm of the gods. Sora was crouching to the side of him, cradling his head with his hands, Riku standing behind him.

"Do you think he's going to get off soon, Riku?" Sora asked.

"Give him time. He's probably trying to figure all that has happened in his head," Riku replied.

"Huh... to think he was quite quick to understanding that he is pretty much dead if he steps foot in the human world like this, but he's finding it difficult that there is more than just Arashi no Rakuen."

"Is this really that entertaining?" a new voice asked from beside Sora.

"It kind of is considering he's like the first human I've ever seen coming to terms with this sort of situation." Sora turned to the side to greet the newcomer; a man with hair as black as night and deep bright blue eyes, Sora noticed that there was the twinkling of stars in them. "Oh? A hoshii no seishin? You guys rarely leave the sky."

"I'm what you call a fallen one," the man grinned at them. "Name's Zack."

"And that's a highly unusual name for a seishin full stop," Riku deadpanned. He then noticed Cloud was making a move. "Oh. Looks like he's come out of his stupor."

Cloud had taken a deep breath and placed one foot on the new ground, following it with his other foot so that he was now standing on solid ground. He looked up, stared at the crowd with a 'what are you looking at?' glance and then started to walk off, keeping an air of dignity around him despite being so strange. Sora and Riku shrugged their shoulders. "He always that uptight?" Zack asked.

"It's more to do with a sense of pride than anything. That and he's not really the type that likes to cause a scene or trouble for Lord Squall," Riku answered. He then helped his friend to stand up again. "We should probably get going too. We have tasks that need to be done."

"Ah... even on holiday we still have to work!" Sora whined as he followed Riku.

"We're not on holiday Sora! We're still working! Working!"

Zack just watched them walk off and then turned to the human's retreating back. He smiled a little to himself. That human was really interesting.

"You took your time," Paine commented, swinging her little legs back and forther. She had taken to sitting on Cloud's shoulders these days since his balance could rival that of a geisha's, making his shoulder a very comfortable perch indeed.

"It was just something to get used to. I'm sure I'll get better at these sort of things the more time I spend in these realms," Cloud retorted. He was used to Paine sitting on his shoulder now.

"Hmm... I wonder why Master decided to come here though. He doesn't leave Arashi no Rakuen to make social calls."

"Maybe he wanted a change of scenery?" Cloud suggested, slipping his geta off his feet before stepping onto the porch of one of the many pristine white buildings of the Shizen no Kyuuden. Everywhere he looked it was covered in flowers of many colours. Not a single garden was without some form of bloom painting its visage. Flowers were even painted onto the papery panels of the shoji doors, along with wisp-like birds and ethereal animals.

"Maybe but I don't think Master's like that really."

"You never know. He might surprise you," Cloud smiled lightly. He had to admit that there was something a little endearing about the child god. He honestly did try to act more mature than his outward appearance suggested, but Cloud honestly wondered if there were times when Squall just wanted to throw caution to the wind and play like any normal child. Coming here might be his one chance to just be spoilt for a while; from what he had heard the Shizen no Megumi was like an older sister to Squall. He wondered if this might be his chance to see Squall acting his age.

"Hmph," Paine huffed. "I've been with Master for thousands of years and I can tell you now that he won't surprise me. Not one bit."

"And yet you were surprised by this house call?"

"...Touché."

"Hey! Master Strange Human!" There couldn't have been a more obvious call out to Cloud even if someone tried, he turned around, seeing an odd man running towards him, unruly black hair falling from the back of his head in spikes. His hakama and gii were loose and in disarray. He looked shady to Cloud.

"May I help you?" Cloud asked carefully.

"No need. Just wanted to say hi," the man grinned as a skidded to a halt in front of him. "I'm Zack. Well, the real name is Zakusu, but everyone just calls me Zack."

"...Cloud," the human replied, not really sure what to make of this. He tried to lean his body away from the strange man as he peered and took a look at him. "What?"

"Yup, you seem like a good guy," Zack stated with authority, grabbing Cloud by the wrist and dragging him elsewhere. Paine yelped in protest when her perch was yanked from under her so sharply. "I'll give you the grand tour of the place. Who better than a koukennin of the Shizen no Megami?"

"H-Hey!"

Far above the scene, the Shizen no Megami and the Arashi no Kami watched as the hoshii no seishin koukennin dragged away the strange human servant, the small messenger of the Arashi no Rakuen's following after him. Aerith smiled over to the younger god, clearly trusting Zack. "He'll be fine Squall. Zack's an accomplished koukennin. He'll keep Cloud safe while you're here." Her face then fell. "Though... I'm not entirely happy with your proposition either."

"Aerith, I don't have much time left. Too much is riding on this," Squall murmured. No matter how he thought of it, even if he brought himself to let himself be open to the strange hybrid that had washed up in Arashi no Rakuen, he had little hope that Cloud would reciprocate in any fashion. He just couldn't go through that sort of disappointment at this late stage of the curse. Keeping an adult form was getting harder every day, that tattoo on his chest digging deeper and deeper into his chest and piercing his heart the closer to the end they got. Some days just maintaining the form of a ten year old child was difficult and he'd revert himself to that of a six year old when he had a private moment for himself. He couldn't go on like this... and Sephiroth's offer of halting the process entirely for the price of his soul was becoming more and more tempting every day.

"You have to have some faith in Cloud though," Aerith murmured, bending down to his level and holding his shoulders gently in her delicate hands. "Surely if you just explain to him that the 'Leon' he knows and you are one in the same person, and if you just explain your curse to him, I'm sure he would understand." Aerith was the other person that knew of the extent of Xemnas' curse on Squall, having witnessed the Souzou Shin placing it upon him when he punished the Arashi no Kami, his tenshi koukennin and the human enchantress at the centre of the troubles for causing such strife to the realm of the gods. She had been the first to appeal to the creator god to make her brother-like figure's sentence more merciful for the original had doomed him to die with no hope of atonement. For that, Squall had always been grateful to her but at times wished she had never bothered.

"How could he ever understand? I can't even speak a word of my curse to anyone! Zexion only figured it out for himself when he came across me reverting to a child form hundreds of years later!" Squall griped, for the first time just wanting to behave like a child and pitch a fit on how unfair it was. Aerith's shell-coloured nails dug lightly into his shoulders.

"You should give him a little credit. He's done considerably well so far." Aerith's smile was so calm and peaceful that anyone would have been encouraged by it. "I'm sure he can understand. Just don't leave it too late otherwise he won't know how to react if it doesn't scare him."

Squall just nodded his head... he knew that. But he also knew that he would never be able to show Cloud what had happened to him until it was almost too late, because how can someone accept another when they find out the man that had pretty much forced his way into the other's heart and the boy that ruled over them were the same person?

If he were in Cloud shoes, he wouldn't be able to accept it.