Cloud - Chapter 18: Chapter 18

Blood.
Blood was pouring out of Nova's nose. Her eyes had turned white and her hands were trembling. She was pale. She looked like she was going to collapse at any moment but still, she didn't stop whispering those incomprehensible words which obviously weren't doing any good to her.
Nova and I were both sitting on the floor, a small wooden table between us. It was terrifying being seated in front of her, her cold hands in mine. She was gripping on my hands firmly and it made me more panic as seconds passed but it was like my body couldn't move, I couldn't react. I just stared at her in fear, repeating in my head that it would soon be over.
"Nova stop! You're going to kill yourself!" Estella shouted, looking at Nova with concern on her face. Though, she didn't try to step forward to stop Nova as when she tried to touch the witch a few minutes ago, she found herself being roughly projected in the air.
What was happening right now was a strange thing if you asked me. Nova looked near death and despite her friend's shouting, she didn't stop the spell that was obviously killing her. I was told, before Nova started doing her magic, that a locating spell wasn't too difficult to be done, that it was a simple spell that Nova was used to, a spell that she mastered but looking at her right now contradicted everything that was said.
Nova had explained to me that she had her own way of doing. She had a different way of operating her magic. Unlike the other witches who used a map when doing a locating spell, Nova used image projection which simply meant that the place where the person was appeared in her head in the form of images. She had also informed me that it was painful and when I had asked her why she didn't use a map like the other witches, she had replied that the pain helped her to control her powers as they were sometimes too strong for her to handle.
But she didn't look like she was controlling anything.
"Stop!" Estella shouted once again and this time, she did try to stop Nova but Storm immediately stepped in her way.
"No, let her finish," he told her calmly. Unlike Estella, he didn't look worried about Nova well being.
"Are you kidding me? She will be dead before the spell is even over!" Estella exclaimed angrily at Storm's face but he kept his calm posture.
"Nova is strong enough for this. We need to find these other replicas, don't forget it," he reminded her but she looked more than reluctant to obey.
At least, these two had some kind reactions but what about me? Why wasn't I reacting? I should be telling Nova to stop her spell or at least, let go of her hands and back away like a little scaredy cat. But, there was this little voice in the back of my head which was telling me to sit still and let her finish her spell despite how panicked I was.
Why did I even agree to be used as an object to help her find these replicas?
Oh yeah, because it seemed safe.
To be able to find the other replicas of the original, replica was how Nova had called them, she needed something related to them which could then be used to locate them. And after telling her everything that was necessary for her to know, she had concluded that all the replicas, including myself, were connected in a way and that she could use me to find them more 'easily'.
It was complete bullshit if you asked me.
Suddenly, Nova started coughing, blood coming out of her mouth. I gulped slightly as I watched the red liquid rolled down her chin to her neck. Some droplets fell on the table between us and a little drop on my hand. I shivered. I watched this single drop of blood intently as the lights in the room started to flash. The room seemed to become more cold and intense at this very moment but Nova continued her spell like if it was nothing.
Estella wasn't of the same thought, though.
She pushed Storm out of her way and tried to get to Nova but Storm easily grabbed her from behind and kept her in place using his arms.
"Let me go, Storm!" Estella exclaimed angrily, wiggling in Storm's arms to get out of his grip but it was clear that she wasn't succeeding.
Just then, the door to the room opened and came in was Cloud. He had left the room to go check on Nicolas. Like the others, he didn't think that it was going to take much to do the spell so he left while Nova did her own things. He obviously didn't know how things were going to turn out. He was about to say something but stopped when his eyes left on Nova.
"What the..." Cloud didn't finish his sentence as he quickly ran to Nova but he didn't try to touch her in any way. He must surely know what would happen if he did.
"Cloud do something, damn it," Estella exclaimed, having finally given up on trying to get out of Storm's grip.
"No," Storm protested. "She already started the spell, now let her finish it. It should soon be over."
And it really was over.
Just after Storm's words, it all ended. The lights stopped flashing and Nova stopped whispering those incomprehensible words and shaking. Her eyes closed before reopening back to her normal eyes' color. Her breathing was hard and part of her face covered in blood. She slowly let go of my hands as she tried to catch her breath. She looked at me and surprised everyone in the room when she smirked.
"You are more powerful than you look," she told me, breathless. "You sure make things more difficult for me to do." I didn't know why but there was something in Nova's eyes that told me that she wasn't talking to me. She was searching for something in my eyes, or maybe someone.
What did she see exactly?
I didn't get the chance to ask her as Storm let go of Estella who quickly ran to Nova's side. Grabbing the witch's face, she started to bombard her with questions.
"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Estella asked Nova question by question. Part of me was surprised. I would have never thought that Estella could be caring if I didn't see it with my own eyes.
"I'm alright, dear," Nova replied, coughing a little bit. "Well, I just feel like I have been rolled over by a truck."
"Where are the replicas?" Storm asked Nova, getting exactly to the point of this whole thing. He folded his arms over his chest as Nova looked at him.
"I can feel the immerse concern for me," she told him ad he rolled his eyes. "He is in Paris."
"He?" Cloud repeated with a frown. "What about the others?"
"I don't know," Nova replied. "I could only find one."
"Are you kidding me? All of this only to locate one of them," Estella exclaimed and I could sense a little bit of anger in her voice. "You nearly die just to find one."
"Sorry but I can't do more than that. For now at least," Nova said, standing up. She seemed to lose her balance for some seconds but she quickly caught herself. "I'm seriously worn out. I'm going to rest a little bit. You will find him in Paris. Go search for him and quick, I'm having a bad feeling about this. A very bad feeling."
With that said, Nova turned around and walked out of the room. We all stared at her until she was out of our sight.
"I can't believe it," Estella was the first one to speak. "It's the first time that I saw her tired after doing a spell."
"It looks like our enemy is stronger than we thought he would," Cloud said.
"Why do you say that?" Storm asked him.
"Nova is powerful and the fact that she could only find one replica out of three means that someone doesn't want her to find the others," Cloud explained with a sigh. "Things are getting more and more complicated."
"Which means that we need to act quick," Storm concluded and Cloud nodded in agreement.
"Estella, Storm, you too go to Paris and find this replica," Cloud ordered them.
"More easier said than done," Estella said, "How are we supposed to find him once in Paris?"
"Well," Storm replied. "If our assumptions were right, this replica should not be human so I wouldn't be surprised if abnormal activities are going on in Paris. So it should give us a clue to where he is exactly."
"And he should look like Luffy so you can't miss him," Cloud added. "You will leave tomorrow morning."
"Alright then," Estella agreed with a nod, "I'm going to check on Nova for the time being."
"What a good girlfriend you are," Storm joked.
"Shut up Storm," Estella snapped at him and she walked out of the room. Storm chuckled before turning to Cloud.
"What are you doing to do while we go search for the replica?" He asked his little cousin.
"I will try to know what the Vins are planning and protect Luffy from them," Cloud replied and at the mention of my name, I looked up at him.
"Sounds like a plan. I'm going to get myself a drink," Storm said before leaving the room. Cloud sighed before turning to me.
I was still sitting on the ground, not moving and not uttering a word. After staring at me for some seconds, Cloud pushed the small table in front of me out of his way with his foot and knelt down, bringing his hands to my cheeks.
"Are you alright? You are not speaking," He stated worriedly and I hummed.
"I'm fine," I spoke for the first time but even though I said that I was fine, I didn't actually believe my words. My eyes fell on the single droplet of blood still present on my hand and I quickly wiped it away. "I wasn't the one whose blood was pouring from everywhere," I told him.
Cloud stared at me before concluding in the most dramatic way, "You're traumatized."
"I'm not," I denied, pushing his hands away from my face. "I'm just a little startled by what just happened. It's not everyday that you get to see a witch doing a spell. I was in the first seat, admiring her losing her blood and hurting herself."
"It's normally not like that when Nova does a spell," he told me. "She is-"
"I want to go home," I said suddenly, interrupting Cloud and he frowned.
"Why?" He asked me.
"I'm...I'm just tired," I replied.
"Stay here for the night then," he proposed and I shook my head.
"Sorry but I don't want you to molest me during my sleep," I told him and he let out a laugh. I looked down, wrapping my arms around myself. "I want to return to the normal world just for one night. I need it."
"What about the Vins then?" He asked me and I sighed.
"Please, I just want to go home," I murmured and he remained silent. It was just after a few seconds that I heard him sigh in defeat. He lifted my face by my chin so that I now looked at him in the eyes and pressed his forehead against mine.
"You sure?" He asked me one last time, "You will have your own room if you stay." He smiled at me and I succeeded to laugh despite everything.
"I'm one hundred percent sure," I told him and he nodded.
"Alright then. I'm going to drive you home," he said, raising to his feet. He gave a hand and I took it to stand up.
"You don't have to," I told him honestly and he chuckled.
"Two things. First, you don't have anything to drive you home and second, I'm sure that you don't know the way from here to return to your house," Cloud told me and I realized it just then. Great, he got me there. "Let's go," he said and without giving me the time to say something, he was already dragging me out of the room. I frowned.
"Can you let go of my hand please?" I asked him.
"Why should I do that?" He asked me in return and I could sense a smirk coming to his face.
"Well, I can walk by myself without having you taking my hand like if I was a little kid," I told him and I tried to pull my hand away from him but of course, he wouldn't let go. "Cloud, c'mon on, let go of my hand," I told him, still trying to free my hand from his but in vain.
"You didn't seem to be bother when I took your hand for the first time," he told me.
"It was different the first time," I said and Cloud immediately stopped. He turned around, crossing his arms over his chest and I gave him a questioning look. "What?" I asked him and he just smirked in response. Before I could say another word, I was pushed against the nearby wall and Cloud's hands were placed at both sides of my head.
"Why are you being so damn difficult? Just give in already," he told me and I huffed.
"Never," I promised him and he smirked.
"Oh darling, you don't have a say in this," he told me. "You'll see, I'm going to be really, really sticky to you for some time."
"What that's supposed to mean?" I asked him suspiciously, folding my arms and Cloud gave me an innocent look. I felt his fingers tangled in my hair, playing with them as he slowly leaned forward. "What are you doing?" I asked him, even though I knew what he was exactly going to do. I tried to back away but my head hit with the wall behind me and I realized that I had no where to run. So I did the only thing that I could; I stood still and waited for Cloud to kiss me.
"Hey what are you two doing?!" Someone suddenly exclaimed just as Cloud's lips brushed with mine. The latter being stopped in his attempt to kiss me, sighed and stepped back. Looking in the direction of the voice, I saw Frederick who had a look of disbelief on his face with Rain standing beside him with an amused look in the eyes.
"You're finally back, you sure took all your time," Cloud told them casually and Frederick huffed.
"Don't try to change the subject, Cloud," he exclaimed as he started to walk towards us with a pointed finger at Cloud. Rain followed behind him. "You were going to kiss Luffy. Why were you trying to kiss Luffy? You can't kiss Luffy," Frederick stated with my name being quite overused.
"And why's that?" Cloud questioned with one raised eyebrow.
"Because he is my little cousin and I need to protect him. And you, my dear, are no good for him," Frederick replied and then looked at me. "Were you going to let him kiss you just like that?" he asked me.
"I'm tired of trying to push him away," I replied, pushing myself off the wall. Frederick looked at me in disbelief.
"He kissed you before and you didn't tell me anything!" he exclaimed.
"If I had told you, what would you have done?" I questioned him.
"I would have already beaten the shit out of him," he replied with assurance and Rain huffed while Cloud rolled his eyes.
"I would like to see that," he said in a mocking tone and Frederick glared at him.
"I'm going to-"
"What happened with Ken?" I asked , interrupting Frederick in his death threat.
"He is officially in coma," Rain was the one to reply. "The doctors said that they have no idea why he won't wake up as he is in perfect health."
"Isn't there any way for us to wake him up?" I questioned.
"It's not so easy," Rain replied with a sigh. "For now, he is going to stay in hospital. We'll see how things are going to progress."
"I asked your father to take care of him," Frederick added and I looked at him in surprise. "Ken should be alright in his hands."
I didn't reply anything to that. I simply nodded. I didn't really know what to reply.
"So what happened while we were out?" Rain asked Cloud.
"I will explain everything later, I need to take Luffy home," he replied but Fred didn't look like he agreed with him.
"Are you crazy? He can't go home. The Vins are searching for him," my cousin said.
"I can't stay here forever either," I told him. "Besides, you are going to be with me so I have nothing to worry about."
Frederick looked unsure now. He rubbed the back of his neck.
"I was planning on staying here for the night to tell the truth," he admitted and I frowned.
"Why?" I questioned.
"Well, we-"
"We nothing Rain," Frederick interrupted Rain with a glare before looking at me. "If you are going home then I'm going home too. No way I'm leaving you alone."
"You don't have too," I told him. "You can stay if you want. I don't mind at all."
"But-"
"No buts Fred," I told him. "I'm going to be alright. I promise."
Frederick stared at me, unsure of what to do. It took some seconds before he finally nodded.
"Alright then but if something is wrong, you call me immediately," he said and I nodded, giving him a reassuring smile. I didn't expect what happened next to happen but Frederick suddenly pulled me into a hug. I was startled at first but then slowly hugged him back. I guessed that he needed it considering everything that happened lately. "Be safe, little cousin," he said before stepping back. Giving me one last smile, he walked away with Rain quickly following behind him.
"What's up with these two?" I asked Cloud once Rain and Frederick were gone.
"Oh, you don't know?" he asked me, surprised and I shook my head, telling him no. He chuckled. "They are companions."
"Companions?" I repeated, raising one eyebrow as we continued our way out of the house. "I don't understand."
"You are truly innocent, Luffy," Cloud said, shaking his head and I chose to ignore his comment. "Rain and Frederick are together."
"Excuse me?" I asked him almost immediately with wide eyes. "You mean like together together."
"Yep," he agreed.
"But...but Frederick's not gay," I stuttered in complete shock. "And Rain and him don't even act like a couple."
"Well, they are," he said. "They are not officially a couple but everyone knows that they are in love."
"I didn't," I exclaimed immediately. Grabbing my head with my hands, I started to dramatise the situation. "Oh my god, I can't believe it. There is simply no way that...god. Why didn't Frederick tell me anything about it?"
"You know Frederick, despite everything that happened between him and Rain, he is still denying the fact that he is in love with him. That's the main reason why they are not an official couple yet," Cloud explained and I looked at him, still amazed by the news. I simply couldn't believe it. We arrived at the front door and Cloud opened the door for me.
The first thing that I saw, once I had stepped outside, was the trees. Huge trees were surrounding the house with only one road out of here. It was quiet and dark with a small breeze. There were two cars parked in front of the house. One of them I recognized as Frederick's car while the other, I guessed that it was Cloud's.
"This place is scary," I said to myself as I followed Cloud to his car and a small smile came to his face.
"I like having my privacy," he informed me and I wasn't surprised at all by the news. We stopped in front of his car and he looked at me. I expected him to say something but he just stared at me.
"What?" I asked him.
"Nothing," he replied, looking away. "Let me just drive you home."
****
The drive to my house has been silent. I didn't know what to say so I remained silent and Cloud didn't try to make the conversation either.
I didn't know how long it took to get to my house but minuted later, Cloud was parking in front of my house. I didn't even need to tell him where I lived as he seemed to already know where the place was. I was curious about how he knew but I didn't question it. I also didn't get out of the car right away, I remained sitting in my seat, not knowing what to actually do.
Looking at my house, I was surprised to see that the lights were on. My mom's car was parked in front of the house so that meant that she was home. Perfect, now I might be able to have a talk with her about where she has been going all this time and why I didn't see her at all.
"This is a bad idea," Cloud said at last. "I can't leave you here. You don't have anything to protect yourself."
"I think that I'm going to survive one night in my house," I told him.
"Anything can happen, everything could go wrong," he dramatized the situation.
"Everything will be alright," I told him. I brought my legs to me so that I was hugging them to my chest and stared outside the window. "I need this, a little night of solitude."
Cloud sighed, letting his head fall back against his seat. He passed one hand in his hair in frustration and I couldn't help but admired him. He was sure attractive and despite everything, he still had this mysterious side of him.
"Cloud," I pronounced his name quietly and he hummed in response. "Who are you truly?"
A chuckle left him before he could even stop it.
"I thought that I already answered this question," he said and I shrugged.
"I thought so too," I said quietly, "But looking back at it, I don't know anything at all about you except the fact that you are a shadow and a heartless bastard."
Once again, he chuckled, shaking his head and a smile came to his lips.
"Let me take you somewhere tomorrow then," he said and I looked at him in curiosity. "We'll talk and I will tell you everything you want to know."
"Is that a date?" I couldn't stop myself from asking and I immediately regretted my words when Cloud looked at me in amusement.
"Maybe," he replied with a smirk and I blushed. "I will come and take you at 10 in the morning. Is that okay with you?"
I could simply nod in response, not being able to look at him in eyes as I was sure that my face was completely red. It would be my first date or my first maybe date.
After some minutes of silent, not knowing what else to say, I decided that it was time for me to get out of here. Mumbling a little goodbye to Cloud, I opened the door of the car and was ready to get out but before my feet could even touch the ground, Cloud took my arm. I gave him a questioning look.
"Give me your phone, I will give you my number," he said and I blushed once again. God dammit Luffy, he was just giving you his number. There was no need to act so girly about it.
Timidly, I reached for my phone and gave it to him. I realized just then that I still didn't have his phone number after all this time. Cloud easily unlocked my phone as there was simply no password on it and typed in his number before calling himself so that he could get mine. He then returned me back my phone.
"Goodnight," he said and before I knew it, his lips were on my cheek. "Sweet dreams, darling," he breathed out against my skin and my heart literally started to race.
With trembling feet, I quickly got out of the car and closed the door. I literally sprinted to my house and I could feel Cloud's eyes on me the whole time. Reaching the door, I threw a quick glance back at the car before getting inside. Once the door closed, I pressed my back against it and let myself slowly slide down. I put my hand on my heart and felt it racing like crazy.
Oh god, what was Cloud doing to me?
"Luffy," I heard my name being said and I looked up to see my mom looking down at me. Her hair was let loose, falling down her shoulders and she was wearing her pajama which was composed of a short and a white shirt. "Why are you sitting on the floor?" she asked me, crossing her arms and I took a deep breath.
"It's just that..." I couldn't find the words to describe how I was feeling right now so I opted for a simple answer. "My day has been crazy."
My mom tilted her head to the side while observing my face.
"Frederick called me a few minutes ago," she informed me. "He said that he is staying at a friend's house for the night and that you should be back soon. I'm glad that you are here, I was starting to get worried because you didn't call."
"Sorry, I completely forgot to call you. I didn't think about it," I apologized before asking. "But where have you been all this time? I haven't seen you at all this week."
With a sigh, my mom made her way to me. She sat down on the floor beside me and messed with my hair, giving me a sorry smile.
"I'm really sorry, my little boy. I have been very busy lately. I found a new work at the local bakery so I needed to be there early every morning. I know that I didn't really give you the time of the day but I promise that I'm going to make it up to you," she promised me and I looked at her in surprise. She found a new work. I didn't know anything about it. "I really miss you," my mom told me.
"I really miss you too," I told her, looking down at the floor. "And I miss dad. It has been a long time since we last had a little family dinner between the three of us. Too long."
"I'm sorry," my mom apologized once again. "I will talk with your father about it and I will see if tomorrow night we can have our little family time."
I smiled at her and she returned me my smile. Letting my head fall against her shoulder, I closed my eyes and she passed her arm around me.
"I love you, mom," I told her honestly.
"I love you too, my little boy."
My mom and I remained sitting on the floor. None of us spoke and we didn't have to. I was feeling better now with her close to me, I really missed her. I nearly forgot how it felt to be held by a mother. It was just what I needed.
"Luffy," my mom said softly and I hummed, feeling sleepy. "Are you hungry?"
Like if responding to her, my stomach groaned and I realized that I haven't eaten anything at all since this morning. My mind was so busy with other things that I didn't realize that I was starving. I opened my eyes and looked up at my mom.
"I guess that I am a little bit," I told her and she laughed. Removing her arm around me, she stood up and stretched.
"Let's eat something light. How about some sandwiches?" my mom proposed, looking down at me.
"Seems good," I told her and then got off the floor. She nodded before going to the kitchen and I followed her.
"By the way," my mom said once in the kitchen. She removed a packet of sandwich from the refrigerator while I went to sit. "I invited a friend at home tomorrow for lunch, I hope that it's okay with you."
I frowned.
"Who?" I asked her. As far as I knew, my mom didn't have any friends. I wasn't saying that she was antisocial but since we arrived here at Storm Hill, she didn't make any friend yet.
Or at least, I thought that she didn't.
"Her name is Lindsay and I met her a few days ago at the museum that I went to. We talked and she seems friendly so I invited her at home. She is an artist herself, you know," my mom told me happily.
My mom was an artist as well as a cooker. She discovered a passion for art and for cooking since a very young age, she had once told me. She got it from her parents. My grand-father was a baker while my grand-mother was a florist but she loved to draw and my mom inherited her passions from them both.
"Is it okay if she comes?" my mom asked me for confirmation and I snapped out of my thought.
"It is but mom, I won't be there tomorrow," I informed her hesitantly and she looked at me with a frown which made me explain myself further. "I'm going out with a friend."
She looked at me suspiciously.
"This friend, is it a girl or a boy?" she asked me and I averted my eyes.
"A boy," I replied, clearing my throat awkwardly. "His name is Cloud."
"Cloud?" she repeated with a strange face and I nodded shyly. "What a strange name."
"I couldn't agree more," I murmured and she hummed, clearly interested.
"You will present me to him before you go," she said casually and I immediately knew that it was an order. I nodded even though, I wasn't too okay with that.
Why did she even want to meet Cloud? Maybe she wanted to know what type of people I was socializing with but there was something that I was telling me that she wanted to see him for another reason. And Cloud, knowing him he was going to say something that wasn't supposed to be said and embarrass me in front of my mom. At least, that was the feeling that I was getting when I thought about his whole meeting thing.
Deciding to no longer give this thing much thought, I watched my mom as she prepared the sandwiches. I asked her if she wanted help but she told me that she had everything under control so I remained seated. The preparation didn't take long and soon my mom and I were eating. She told me about her new job at the bakery and about how much she loved it. I was truly happy for her. She then asked me about my day and of course, I lied. Thankfully, my mom didn't notice anything.
Once my stomach full, I said goodnight to my mom and went to my room. I was feeling extremely tired and it wasn't a surprise considering everything that happened today. I needed a good night of sleep so the first thing that I did once in my room was jumping on my bed.
Tomorrow will be a better day, I thought with a smile as sleep consumed me.