After the overwhelming popularity of the idea, I'm starting this rp. Remember, this takes place in the modern time. So people won't be very happy if you draw your weapon in public. Be careful. Also, this was an important question, and I'll answer. You can talk to your Inhabiter whenever you want. And I have to have Sephiroth as my enemy. Sorry, Azure Flame

 

Joy sat in the cafe, drinking his coffee slowly. He couldn't believe all of it was real. Final Fantasy, everything. And why Cloud chose him was boyone his understanding. After all, in the games, he was the cool dude. Still, having the Buster Sword was pretty cool. He finished his coffee and walked out slowly. He put his hands in his pockets and tried to imitate Cloud's expression, but he burst out laughing, causing to people around him to look at him. Oh, if only they knew.

(Actually, I was going to have Chuck follow Mariah, so she wouldn't be alone if something happened. But if you want him to stay behind, he can)

(Actually, I was going to have Chuck follow Mariah, so she wouldn't be alone if something happened. But if you want him to stay behind, he can)

 

(Yeah, she basically just got a head start. He can notice that she's been gone a while and assume she went after Cain without anyone else, and then follow her.)

Chuck noticed she was gone and figured she went after Cain. "I can't let her go off alone." he said, running after her.

Mariah could see the warehouse ahead now. She was almost there...

 

 

 

Jared and August were still a little ways away from the warehouse. Though they didn't know it, at the rate they were going, they would arrive not too long after Mariah.

Chuck ran faster, seeing her in the distance.

Mariah could hear someone coming up behind her. She looked back and saw that it was Chuck.

 

“Mariah,” Tifa said gently. “Think about what you're doing, trying to go into this alone. You're acting like everything depends on you. It doesn't. I know you're stronger than this. You can't just stop caring about yourself. Let your friends help you, and everyone can beat Cain by working together. I'm still mad at you, but I'm your friend, too, and I'm trying to help you.”

 

Mariah realized how silly she was being. What had come over her? It wasn't like she absolutely wanted to die at this moment, but she had stopped caring, like Tifa pointed out. Though she had been hurt, had brought a lot of pain on herself and others by her actions, getting hurt and making mistakes was just a part of life. It was what made the better moments in life worth living for. It was what made her human. Just running away from it was cowardly and weak. She knew she was better than that.

 

She slowed down considerably, waiting for Chuck to catch up with her. “Thanks, Tifa,” she said breathlessly. The warehouse was so close now. “Let's rescue the governor and teach Cain not to mess with us.” Of course, she was still furious at Cain, but now she hoped that she wouldn't end up being the one to kill him, if he absolutely had to die. She didn't need anymore blood on her hands.

(Is it okay if I end it soon? I have a good way.)

Joy sat on the cliff-side, meditating. It was getting hot, so he slipped his shirt off and put it next to him. It felt good to rest and not be running around for once. Calder walked up with a bottle of water. "Went down to the gas station. I got me a Coke, but I figured you would prefer a bottle of water." Joy nodded, took it, and drank it up. Calder smiled. "That was a dollar fifty, and you just drank it in 30 seconds. Thanks. So, any soul-searching done yet?" Joy shook his head. "Nope. And Cloud hasn't helped one bit." Calder shrugged. "You can't expect it to happen this fast. I mean, It could take months." Joy sighed. "We don't have months. We have, at most, a week or so." Calder nodded. "We better hurry."

(Sure, I don't mind, as long as everyone else is okay with it. And as long as we can have that last epic battle with Cain. )

"What are you thinking, going after Cain yourself?" Chuck asked catching up to her.. "Are you trying to get killed?"

Mariah smiled at Chuck’s concern and shook her head. “Not anymore,” she said quietly. She thought of how selfish she had been, going on her little maybe-suicide mission. She still had friends who cared about her, like Chuck and August. That was another thing worth going on for. “You ready to take him on?”

"Yeah, but we may wanna wait for more people. If he was able to kill Marcus that quickly, we'll need all the help we can get." he said.

(Okay, I’ll be controlling August just a little now. It occurred to me that, instead of having Jared say he wanted to go straight to the warehouse, he could have practiced some combat skills with August for a little while during the whole episode with James and maybe they could have developed more of a friendship. But I was too focused on Mariah. DX Oh well...)

 

“There it is!” Jared said, pointing at the warehouse ahead. He could also see two people from the mid-air battle. One was the girl, Mariah, and the other was a man whose name he didn’t yet know. Jared and August ran towards them.

 

Mariah stopped running altogether and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that might be a good idea.” As if right on cue, August and another man ran up to them. Mariah’s eyes went wide as she recognized the man accompanying August. “J-Jared Peterson?!”

 

Well, this is awkward, Jared thought. She seems to remember me from somewhere, but I didn’t even remember her name until August told me. “Yeah...” Jared replied. “Um, where do we know each other from...?”

“We went to high school together. I’m not surprised you don’t remember me, because I was in ninth grade when you graduated.”

 

“Mariah Gates! That’s right, I remember you! The gymnast.” She had been an impressive athlete for a freshman.

 

Mariah’s face flushed with embarrassment, and she laughed nervously. She had hardly done any gymnastics since high school, and now wasn’t nearly as good as she had been back then. “Yeah... Anyway, this is Chuck,” she said, gesturing toward Chuck. “He’s Inhabited by Squall Leonhart. And who’s your Inhabiter? Mine’s Tifa Lockhart.”

 

“Sazh Katzroy. I got stuck with an old man,” Jared said good-naturedly.

 

“Hey, watch it...” Sazh told him.

 

Mariah laughed, then looked at August. His demeanor appeared to be almost back to normal now. Of course he would still want to avenge Marcus’s death, but at least it didn’t look like he’d be doing it in a blind rage. “Hey, August, are you ready for this?” she asked quietly.

 

August nodded. “Yeah, let’s take him down!” he exclaimed, his tone spirited.

 

(Haha I hope I didn’t just slaughter your character, Not-with-a-whimper. If I did, I apologize from the bottom of my heart, and everyone can ignore what I wrote about him. I tried to control him as little as I could. )

"Nice to meet you." Chuck said. "So, the four of us against Cain. We'll be in for the fight of our lives."

(Um....what is going on here? And where did my story characters just go?)

 

(Xeveemon, this may be your last chance for your characters to fight in a battle before the RP ends. I’m pretty sure that once Damion gets back online, the trek through the Assassin’s Hold will start, and then the battle sometime after, depending on what Damion wants to do with Cain. Anyway, if you want to get in on the face-off with Cain, now’s your chance.)

 

 

“You got that right. And nice to meet you, too, Chuck,” Jared said with a grin.

 

Despite the serious situation, Mariah couldn’t help but be amused by Jared’s up-beat mood. He hadn’t changed much. Then she looked around. “I wonder if those two other people, Paul and Victoria, will catch up with us. We could definitely use their help.”

 

“Paul and Victoria are here?” August asked.

 

“Yeah,” Mariah said. “Well, they were, and they seemed ready to fight Cain and help the governor. I...kind of took off without them, but I would think they would notice by now that Chuck and I have been gone too long, and they would just come to the warehouse.”

 

“We may have to go on without them,” Jared said with a sigh. “We’re pretty much at warehouse 59 now. I’m just wondering when Cain will pop out. Anyway, we can handle him between the four of us!” Jared drew his twin guns out of their holsters, ready to shoot upon seeing Cain. Of course, he’d have to be careful if Cain was using the governor as a human shield or whatever.

Edited March 19, 201213 yr by Always

(Xeveemon, this may be your last chance for your characters to fight in a battle before the RP ends. I’m pretty sure that once Damion gets back online, the trek through the Assassin’s Hold will start, and then the battle sometime after, depending on what Damion wants to do with Cain. Anyway, if you want to get in on the face-off with Cain, now’s your chance.)

 

 

“You got that right. And nice to meet you, too, Chuck,” Jared said with a grin.

 

Despite the serious situation, Mariah couldn’t help but be amused by Jared’s up-beat mood. He hadn’t changed much. Then she looked around. “I wonder if those two other people, Paul and Victoria, will catch up with us. We could definitely use their help.”

 

“Paul and Victoria are here?” August asked.

 

“Yeah,” Mariah said. “Well, they were, and they seemed ready to fight Cain and help the governor. I...kind of took off without them, but I would think they would notice by now that Chuck and I have been gone too long, and they would just come to the warehouse.”

 

“We may have to go on without them,” Jared said with a sigh. “We’re pretty much at warehouse 59 now. I’m just wondering when Cain will pop out. Anyway, we can handle him between the four of us!” Jared drew his twin guns out of their holsters, ready to shoot upon seeing Cain. Of course, he’d have to be careful if Cain was using the governor as a human shield or whatever.

 

(Then does someone mind taking over my characters for now. I will less online and less able to do it for tomorrow.)

(Sure, I can take them over. That is, unless someone else wants either of them. But I'll be waiting until after Damion posts here again.)

(Sure, I can take them over. That is, unless someone else wants either of them. But I'll be waiting until after Damion posts here again.)

 

(Okay thank ya'll! And yes I say ya'll cause I am country.)

(Okay thank ya'll! And yes I say ya'll cause I am country.)

 

(No problem. And just to clarify, if/when I end up controlling your characters--unless somebody else wants them, like I said--I'll only be controlling Paul and Victoria. I'm not familiar with Noel, and therefore I would be very uncomfortable trying to control Aria.)

Edited March 19, 201213 yr by Always

Joy finished his push-ups as Calder finished his burger. "Why do I always seem to be working, but you don't?" Calder shrugged. "I've already been talking with Tidus this whole time. Joy fell to the ground. "What? And you didn't tell me? So I'm still behind." Calder smiled. "Yep." Joy groaned. "I sometimes hate Cloud so much." Calder gasped. "But he's one of the strongest people!" Joy shrugged. "But he's a pain in the butt."

Cain's voice came in over a loud speaker infront of the Warehouse,"Hello ladies and gents. Inside you'll find three doors. Each has it's own 'special' quality behind them, the floor behind the door has a trap that will be activated after three people enter. The first door is marked with an arrow, the second with a bear, and the third with a flame. After you get done with these challenges...the last rung of your journey will put you all infront of one last door...it opens up to my labyrinth. It's a three leveled maze, with me at the bottom...good luck."

(Just so everyone knows, I made a deal with Damion to control August until Not-with-a-whimper gets back.)

 

A shiver ran down Mariah’s spine. She could guess what the symbols on each door meant, but she wondered what awaited them all in the labyrinth. Nothing was more scary to her than the unknown. “So...what do we do?” she asked nervously.

 

“I say we get into pairs and split up. I’d rather not have to deal with any more traps than necessary,” Jared said, cringing at the thought.

 

“Sounds good to me,” Mariah said, putting her gloves on. “What do you guys think?” she asked Chuck and August.

"I agree." Chuck said. "I'm going to take the Bear door, we've dealt with worse things, so if there's a bear in there, we can handle it."

Joy arrived at the town after serious meditation. He saw another newscast, and decided to screw finding his 'real' self. He and Calder arrived at the warehouse, ready to face whatever came their way. They walked inside quickly, hoping to find a dead Cain. They only found Mariah, Chuck, and three doors.

“I’ll go with you,” Jared said to Chuck. “I think I could handle a bear better with my long-range attack, and I’m not great at dodging, so the other options wouldn't be ideal for me. How does that sound?”

 

“I’m fine with it,” Mariah said. “The idea of kickboxing a bear isn’t exactly appealing to me, anyway. How about it, August? You and me going through one of the other doors?”

 

Jared saw Joy and Calder out of the corner of his eye, and turned to look at them. He recognized them as the two other people who had been riding on Bahamut. “Hey, did you come to join the party? The more the merrier!” Jared said.

 

Mariah looked to see who Jared was talking to and froze. “J-Joy,” she said in a choked whisper. A plethora of emotions flooded through her. Happiness. Sadness. Anger. Uncertainty. Shame. Ultimately, there was nothing she could say, and no matter how badly she wanted to undo what she had done, it could never happen. All she could do now was tilt her head down and avoid eye contact, pretending it wasn’t hard for her to breathe, internally screaming her apologies that would never mend what was broken.

 

“Cloud...” Tifa said quietly. “I can’t feel his presence... How can that be?”

 

“So, I guess you guys can go through whichever door is left over after Mariah and August choose where they’ll go,” Jared continued, oblivious to Mariah’s reaction.

Edited March 23, 201213 yr by Always

Paul and Victoria popped up beside the gang and looked at Jared. "Well whereever you guys are going to go, count us in. We need an adventure in our lives, and we need to get into something bigger than singing." Paul said. Victoria then looked at Mariah and August. "So where are we going to go and what are we going to be doing?" Victoria asked.

 

Behind them in the shades, Aria was still lurking in the shadows and tried her hardest not to be seen. Noel came out to stand next to her, "So you are sure this is the right path to take to get her back?" Aria looked at him, "Look, I dont want her back, I just want revenge." Noel laughed, "Yeah, thats it."