Cloud - Chapter 24: Chapter 24

I was lying on Cloud's bed, not moving. My eyes were directed to the ceiling and lots of thoughts were going through my mind. The room was so quiet.
Cloud told me to wait for him in his room and I had been here for twenty minutes now but there was still no sign of him. The anger that I felt towards him seemed to have calm down. It was enough for me to bear with his presence.
Today was supposed to be a happy day.
My mom had finally woken up from her long sleep. That was supposed to make me happy but I wasn't feeling so joyful as I realized that I needed to go away. I lied to my mom about what had happened and then informed her that I was going to stay at a friend's house for some days. I did not want to leave her nor my dad but staying with them was too dangerous. I was a danger and I needed to do whatever I could do to protect them.
Taking my distances was the best option, the only one I had left.
Suddenly, the door of the bedroom opened and Cloud came in. For a change, he was wearing a white shirt along with blue jeans. It was good to see him wearing something other than black clothes.
"Luffy," he said and I sat up straight, looking at him in silence. "You ready?"
"For what?" I asked him, slightly confused, and he let out a sigh, folding his arms over his chest.
"Well, I am supposed to teach you how to control your powers," he reminded me as he advanced towards the bed. He hummed, "You don't seem really motivated for it now. Am I right?"
"I don't know," I told him with a shrug. "I don't know what to do."
He sighed once again before slowly sitting beside me on the bed. "What's wrong?"
"So many things are wrong," I replied to him. "There is so much stuffs going on right now. I can't seem to have control other anything at all."
He shook his head in disbelief. "Luffy, nobody asked you to take care of anything."
"But I must," I protested. "Nothing is right, Cloud, and I must find a solution for every problem that I have caused. My mom got attacked because of me and I left my house to protect her and my dad but I don't know if they will be safe. I let Calum go to heaven and he still hasn't come back. And you know, there is still worst. People are dying. Replicas or not, they deserve to live as much as I do. I can't get out of my mind that they are targets to be killed."
In that moment, I realized that a normal sixteen-year-old boy should not be worrying about those types of things. That once again proved that I wasn't normal anymore.
"Don't worry about your parents, they are going to be alright," Cloud tried to reassure me. "I am going to ask Cale to put a protective charm around them. Guardians are the best for that."
That was an idea that I did not think of, but...
"Will Cale want to help me?" I asked him in a murmur, doubting Cale's willingness to cooperate.
I did not speak to the latter since we both tried to kill each other. I did not even see him around the house because, apparently, Cloud had imprisoned him in his basement. He literally chained Cale to a wall. That was kind of extreme and unfair as I almost killed him too but nobody locked me up. I tried to change the situation but Cloud thought that Cale wasn't in his right mind and that it would be better for him to remain under surveillance for the time being.
I was feeling guilty because of this.
I wanted to apologize to Cale but I was too scared to face him. I knew that he was suffering. Calum was his brother, literally his other half and not knowing if he would come back alive must surely be torturing him.
"Trust me, Cale will help you," Cloud assured me. "Whatever happened between you two, he knows what's right and he will do the right thing."
"Then why don't you let him out of your basement?" I asked him.
"Because I don't want him to go on a suicide mission by trying to go after Calum," he replied like if it was obvious. "I know Cale, he is impulsive and let his emotions take control of his actions. Calum, on the other hand, has more logic and he is literally the best person to sneak into one place without being noticed, so believe me when I tell you that he will come back, no matter how long it takes."
He placed his hand on mine and I lowered my gaze.
"You should be aware of one more thing," he continued. "You can't save everyone. Yeah, those replicas are in danger but this is not for you to save them. Leave that to us, we are going to find them and possibly save their life but I can't promise that they will be safe."
"You are making things look so simple," I told him with a sigh.
"Things are simple, you are the one being complicated," he informed me. He stood up and grabbed my hand, pulling me towards him, "Now, please get off that bed. It's practice time."
I couldn't protest and simply got out of bed before following him outside of the bedroom. He dragged me through the various hallways until we reached the back garden of the house. It was not dark yet but being surrounded by trees wasn't really reassuring to me. Though, Cloud was with me so I should be alright.
"Now what?" I asked him as he released my hand and stepped away from me. "What am I supposed to do?"
"That depends on you," he replied. "Each person has different ways of controlling his or her powers. We need to find your trigger. What did you feel when you used your powers?"
"Hmm, well," I thought about it. "I was scared. First, it was for my mom's life and second, for my own's...but I was mostly angry, angry at myself for being weak. I hated that feeling of weakness."
He tilted his head to the side and looked at me with a thoughtful expression on his face. I did not have more to say on the subject so I remained quiet, standing awkwardly in front of him. After some minutes, he finally spoke.
"Alright," he simply said, clapping his hands and I frowned.
"Alright...?" I repeated and he smirked. "Isn't there-"
I was cut off in my sentence when suddenly, I went flying in the air, falling on my back a few meters away from my original position. I groaned in pain.
"Cloud!" I exclaimed in disbelief and I heard him chuckle.
"The lesson starts now," he declared. "There is only one way for you to learn to control your powers and that's through physical training, so stand up."
"You could have warned me," I scolded him as I slowly tried to stand up. Though, once again, without warning, he projected me in the air and this time, I fell on my arm. A yelp left me.
"Fight back, Luffy," he ordered me. "You can do it. Remember what you felt the last time and let the feeling in."
A grimace on my face, I sat up and rubbed my arm. It hurt. I was going to say something but before I could, the wind blew strongly in my direction and I was pushed away. I couldn't fight it and my body rubbed on the ground. Again, I yelped when my back rubbed against the small rocks on the ground.
The hell!
Gritting my teeth, trying to ignore the pain, I got up but as soon as I did, something pulled on me downwards. I tried to resist but the force was too strong and eventually, I fell to my knees and then on my stomach.
"Stop," I shouted but the sound was muffled since my face was basically pressed against the ground, against the dirty soil to be more precise.
"Why aren't you doing anything?" Cloud wondered out loud and I clenched my fists. With much effort, I succeeded to turn my face to the side.
"I don't know what to do, Cloud," I shouted at him and I heard him huff.
"Nonsense," he proclaimed and soon, I felt his presence above me. The force pushing on me disappeared instantly and I was finally able to push myself off the ground. I looked up at him.
"I don't want to hurt you badly, Luffy, but if I don't get any reaction from you, I must use the extreme method," he told me and I did not have time to add anything. "What is blocking you?"
"I don't know," I let out, tired of this already.
"I don't believe you," he said and he raised his hand up. My eyes widened when my body suddenly lifted from the ground and raised in the air. My arms were pulled on and the same happened to my legs so that I was now in the form of a cross.
"Cloud, stop," I pleaded him and I let out a shout of pain soon after. He, or whatever thing he was using, was pulling too strong on my body. It seemed like he was trying to tear my body apart. "Please, you are hurting me."
"Then stop me," he said, his face emotionless. I could feel the tears forming in my eyes and I cursed myself mentally. Not freaking again! Now was not the time for this! Another pull on my arms, then on my legs and I cried out loud. "What are you scared of damn it?!"
"I don't want to fucking hurt you!" I finally admitted angrily. I had enough of all of this. "If I let myself lose control, I don't know to what extend I will hurt you."
He did not seem to be surprised by my words. It was like if he was expecting that answer. I was the one surprised when he smirked.
"Losing control is the only way to learn. I know that you are stronger than this. Just prove it to me."
Remove that knowing expression on your face, Cloud.
I hated it. Being in that position enraged me. I knew that I could do something to stop it. The strength in me to end all of the pain was there. I just needed to let it out, but I did not want to snap, it was too risky.
Cloud continued to stretch my body beyond the limit and I tried everything in my power to not break.
"Please, stop," I exclaimed louder but he did not listen. A few more pleading left my lips before he pushed me away and I fell, rolling on the ground. I did not try to move. I was tired.
"That's really deceiving," he shook his head disapprovingly. "I was expecting something better than this. You can't even defend yourself."
"I don't want to hurt you," I whispered. Couldn't he understand that?
"Okay, let's try something else."
Couldn't he give me a break?
Just after his words, I felt something hit me. I felt it crush my lungs and paralyzed my entire body. I wondered how Cloud could do all of this. He did not move at all but still, he was causing me more physical pain than I ever felt in my life.
"Stop...stop...stop..." I continued to plead him in vain. I couldn't handle that anymore. I wanted it to stop and now.
Let the anger in, Luffy. Make him pay.
Something suddenly consumed me at that moment; the want to make him suffer. I slowly raised to my feet with much difficulty. My gaze, which was fixed on the ground, went to Cloud and he immediately noticed the murderous look in my eyes. Surprised, he opened his mouth to speak but the words did not have time to come out as he went flying in the air.
His power on me disappeared instantly and I let out a sigh of satisfaction. I advanced towards him and when he tried to stand up, I moved my hand forward, projecting him in the air for a second time. He needed to feel what he put me through.
I sensed it when he tried to fight back and that did not please me. He wanted proof of my strength, he was going to get it, feel it even. I was stronger. I moved my hand once again and the wind blew with force in his direction.
"Stand up, Cloud," I snickered. "I'm sure that you are stronger than this."
I raised my hands and he raised up at the same time. I maintained him in the air and separated his arms and legs so that he formed a cross. The wind was blowing stronger now, the fallen leaves flying around. I pulled on his arms slowly, making sure that he felt every centimeter of his body being torn apart. Then I went to do the same to his legs. An angry look came on my face when I noticed that he was not screaming or begging me to stop.
"That's interesting," he said, controlling his breathing. "Instead of simply defending yourself, you want to hurt me like I hurt you."
"You started it," I snapped, pulling more on his body and he hissed. "Now deal with the consequences."
"Control yourself," he told me and I rolled my eyes. I wanted to play with him. I decided to break his arm and when I did, a yelp of pain passed through his lips and I suddenly felt happy. I liked that sound. "Luffy," he breathed out and I broke his other arm. He groaned. "You are not like this. Remember, you did not want to hurt me a few minutes ago."
"I changed my mind," I informed him, joyful. "Now I want to tear your head off."
"Let go," he ordered me and I broke another bone of his body. "Y-You need to want to stop for it to end."
Maybe he was right but in that moment, I did not want to stop. It was pleasuring me seeing him like this. The thought of torturing him gave me thrills and the image of him weak and hopeless brought an evil smile on my face.
Though, as I continued to torture him, I realized that I was weak.
The power was controlling me. I was letting that evil feeling be my master. How could I control myself? I was lost. I was too weak. I fell on my knees and stared at my hands. I heard the way Cloud's bones crack one after the other and I looked up at him with fear in my eyes. He was suffering because of me.
"Someone please make it stop," I said, hiding my ears to block his screams.
Powers are connected to feelings.
What? Who said that?
Oh, just a little voice in your head.
It's you. The original.
Nice guess. Now listen to me. Powers are connected to feelings. Control your feelings and you will control the power in you. That's the way.
My feelings...
Regret, it was. Fear too. I did not want to cause pain to anyone. I was sure of it. Being evil was not me.
I looked up at Cloud once again and the determination to act came to me. I closed my eyes. I could do this. I just needed to visualize myself freeing him. I let the fear of hurting him come in, I let the feeling of regret in. Taking in a deep breath, I concentrated and tried to bend my powers to my will.
Maybe it was a miracle but what seemed to take forever finally happened; his bones stopped cracking and I heard him fall to the ground. My eyes snapped open immediately.
It worked...
I stood up and ran to him, kneeling beside him once I had reached him. His eyes were closed at first but then they peered open and I let out a sigh of relief. He glanced at me and I held my breath.
"You did it," he stated and he let out a soft laugh. "You fucking did it."
"Are you alright?" I asked him, ignoring the fact that he was continuing to laugh.
"I guess that I am," he replied. "I just can't move for now. I need to heal."
Nodding, I let myself fall at his side on my back and stared at the sky. I felt drained.
"You succeeded to control your powers," Cloud said and he turned his head to the side to look at me. "I'm proud of you."
He really startled me with his words.
"You are really interesting," he continued. "I can't seem to figure out the extent of your powers. I'm sure that you did not show me your full potential yet."
"This isn't so great," I told him with a scolding tone. "That potential, as you said, is dangerous and I don't want more of it."
He helped me. The original did. Why would he do such thing? It was kind of mysterious and suspicious. Though, I decided to keep that little piece of information to myself.
After some time, Cloud finally pushed himself off the ground. He seemed to have recovered. He said, while handing me his hand to take, "Get up, next round."
"I don't know if I'm ready for another round," I told him but I still took his hand anyway to stand up.
"It will be alright," he assured me. I was going to reply to him when suddenly, the earth started to shake wildly and I let out a gasp of surprise. I looked at Cloud, wondering what was going on but he was sharing the same confused expression as myself.
Soon after, one flash of light passed in front of my eyes and Calum appeared suddenly out of nowhere. He fell on the ground, breathless, a book placed beside him. Some pages of the said book were flying around him. His eyes fell on us and he let out a sigh of relief.
"Oh, thank god," he exclaimed out loud. "I'm alive. I'm alive!"
"Calum," I exclaimed in surprise and he sat up, looking at me with a smile on his face. "You're here!"
"I'm alive," he repeated and he seemed to not believe his own words.
"Well," Cloud said with a laugh. "You sure took all your time to come back."
"Sorry, but it has been so long since I last went to heaven and the angels changed the security system of the place," Calum informed us with a grimace and we heard a giggle.
"Oh, a new arrival," I turned my head to the side to see Nova coming out of the house. She gave Calum a welcoming smile before looking at me curiously. She walked to me and before I could say something to her, she grabbed my arm.
A series of images passed through my eyes at that moment and Nova released my arm soon after. I backed away from her immediately. We shared one look and something told me that she saw the same thing that I did.
"Egypt," she said before I could. "The next replica is in Egypt."