Chương 7: Chapter 7 - Fenrir
Nearly three weeks from the start of the term, there was an incident during breakfast.
"You don't have to brood so much. We'll find another way," Aerith was eating the breakfast, talking to Cloud, and watching his food.
"Right, although I get why you are upset," Fred sighed.
"Me too," George sighed too, "To think we found the hardest ingredient to find, but the others are too costly for us. There is no way we can afford all that."
"Not really; I already decided to sell the Moly Flower and use the profit to get the other ingredients. The herbs I can grow, the monster blood we can buy from the profit. Although, all that would take another week, maybe a month, and training to make potions might take another and even in the worst-case scenario, if all failed, then another three months to try again."
"It's hopeless!" Fred whined, lying down on the table, "Maybe we might have to develop another way."
"Not really," Tifa raised her eyes, "We can find an investor to haste, but it's unnecessary, and I believe that Cloud would be able to make potions. Healing Potions are hard to make, but they also sell for a high price and have an ever-existing demand. It would be all worth it at the end of the day."
"Yeah, probably," They shrugged their head when they heard the voice of an own, flying through before it dropped a large parcel on the table.
"Wait, is that?!"
"Is it?!"
"It should be!!!"
Even Angelina and Alicia jumped up, seeing the package; they already knew that the Broom Cloud ordered was here because of its shape.
Others didn't even wait for him to pick up his order before they jumped on it. At the same time, Angelina and Alicia started opening it as if it belonged to them.
Although, Tifa pulled the packed broom away, "Come on, girl, it's his gift!"
"Gee, Mom, fine," Angelina looked at Tifa from head to toe before others started laughing.
Tifa ignored them, putting the half-packed package in front of Cloud, who had been leisurely eating.
"It's alright, they can open that, and we can open that one," Cloud looked up towards the door, although there wasn't anything there.
Aerith scooted closer to him, whispering, "Are you seeing things now?"
Cloud didn't reply to her, and there was another batch of owls carrying another parcel as big as this one in a few moments.
'Ah, that Professor, she is generous.'
For once, Cloud had to agree with the voices in his head. They only asked for a single Broomstick, but it seems she ordered not one but two of them.
"Awesome!" Fred and George took the broomstick in front of him and started unwrapping it again while Cloud started opening his, with Aerith and Tifa's help.
Soon, in front of their eyes, and the eyes of everyone that was having dinner, there were two latest edition Broomsticks in front of them. Each might cost about 100s of Galleons.
"Wow, it's 1103!! The latest in this series!! It's a remake of much older versions. I heard that they made this before moving to the next generation! But man, this is amazing!" Lee Jordan was all over the broomstick. Even though he didn't have a talent for Quidditch, he was one of the biggest fans.
"Let's go try this out!" Fred and George jumped up on their feet, "Wait, if one is for Cloud, then the other?"
"For Tifa," Aerith proudly pointed at Tifa, "She will join the Quidditch team! Professor McGonagall saw her talent and blackmailed her into joining."
"Oh, is that so? I did?"
"Right, she did," Aerith said, and then she froze, seeing the same ghastly expression on everyone's face. More like every one of them was trying to hold back their laughter, Tifa's eyes were filled with pity.
"She's right behind me, right?"
Cloud glanced towards Professor McGonagall, making it obvious, and shook his head, "No, you can say whatever you want."
Aerith pulled his cheeks, "Please, as I will fall for that."
"Right, Miss Aerith is brilliant."
Aerith froze again, turning to look at Professor McGonagall, "Sorry? Professor?"
Professor McGonagall looked at the sweet and sorry not sorry face she was making and sighed. She shot a look towards Cloud and Tifa, "Do you two not know that the First Years can't keep their Broomstick. Pick them up and come with me."
"No! Professor! You can't do it!" Fred stood up with zeal, "With Cloud, we can win this year's Quidditch! You should have seen how effortlessly he rode the broom!!"
"Rules are Rules, Mr. Weasley," Professor McGonagall lightly said, bringing Tifa and Cloud out of the hall under many amazed and jealous gazes from other houses.
"Oh, come on!!!" Fred whined, sitting back down, "Damn it, Charlie, shouldn't you do something!"
Charlie, who had been paying attention to the events over here, leaned forward, shrugging, "Fred. As Professor McGonagall said, it's against the rules."
Inside, he was chuckling to himself since Professor McGonagall had already brought the two of them to him, and he had to say each of them was amazing.
Tifa alone was a prodigy, her balance was impeccable, and her reflexes left him daze. Although, the way she handled herself was like she was on a battlefield rather than a game.
"Those two are the one?"
Charlie leaned forward, looking at the two leaving, "Those two are the prodigies?"
Oliver Wood scoffed, "Well, one of them could be called a Prodigy."
"What? Which one?"
"The girl, of course," An unexpected voice made the three look back at the girl with a pale heart-shaped face and sparkling eyes. Her hair was short, spiky, purple colored.
"Nymphadora, can you not overhear important things? Shouldn't you be at your Hufflepuff's table?"
"Well, I came to check out the competition; after all, I saw the two flying through a window, so I watched them."
"What, the boy isn't any good? I thought you were excited about both of them," Oliver glanced towards them. In the third year, he didn't get the chance to see them.
"No, that boy is a monster," Nymphadora sighed, "From what I saw, the Quidditch Committee might have to impose restrictions so that others could play against him. Frankly, it isn't enjoyable…I haven't even played against him, and I know we will lose. No wonder Professor McGonagall bought them both a Broomstick. Just in case the boy is banned."
"Ban from playing? For being good?" Oliver laughed, only to find that no one else was laughing.
"Really?"
"Congratulations, but I won't make it easy," Nymphadora waved, leaving.
Outside in the hall of Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall was walking in front of them, "Now, I have to take your Broomsticks, but you will get them during the matches, so don't worry about them."
"Right, before giving them, can we try them out?" Cloud didn't need much time. He needed a few minutes alone, and then depending on the power, the possibility that came with the System, the Broomstick might be eradicated.
What then? Well, he hadn't planned that far ahead. The voices in his head thought that the system was reasonable, not overwhelming. While he didn't think that to be true since it did take them from their world, dropping them in this one and taking their powers away.
Tifa and Aerith didn't mind waiting for another year to be safe when they had the Broomstick, but Cloud had been impatient since he entered this world.
The two of them might have been able to trust the people here; he didn't have even the slightest bit of it or all that could go wrong. The voices in his head made him paranoid enough for every situation.
What he wanted the most was power, and now that there was something in front of him, he couldn't wait. He needed something to hold on to, something that could calm his heart.
Once they got the ok from Professor McGonagall, who only gave them five minutes, Cloud stood on the broomstick, rising in the air, flying off, away from the eyes of Professor McGonagall.
"That kid, he never hears what teachers are saying to him," Professor McGonagall sighed, glancing towards Tifa, who chuckled.
"Go, and tell him to sit down. If the magic fails, he will fall for sure," Professor McGonagall said.
"Yes, ma'am," Tifa sat down on the broom, rising, following in the direction that Cloud went. Before reaching the top, she crossed a few towers and roofs between the pillars blocked by most sides.
"Cloud," Tifa took his hand, seeing him hold the broomstick, "Do it."
"Right," Cloud opened the system window, tapped on the notification menu, and opened the topmost notification.
[The power wishes to use the broomstick as the foundation to come into existence in this world.]
[Do you accept?]
"Yes," Cloud tapped on yes, and he felt it; the world around him turned into darkness, and in the distance, there was light. The light that shone, the light that was talking to him, moved in the darkness, forming a pattern that shone on him.
"That's…" Cloud subconsciously connected the stars, and even though he didn't have it, he knew the name of that thing, "Fenrir."
The light reached him, settling in his heart, and he could feel the broomstick in his hand changing, turning into something else.
The broomstick came apart, turning into a dark grey spiraling ribbon, forming something he hadn't seen before, but knew the name of the moment he held it, "Keyblade."
The guard is a dark grey, with some golden highlights on the sides. There were two rods on each side of the guard. The blade was silver and bore two pointed edges on the tip that resembled wolf ears.
There were two materia slots near the hilt, with a golden plate around them on the blade. The key chain was golden, with a wolf head hanging at the end.
"What is that? A sword? Isn't that kind of small to your preferences?" Tifa tilted her head. They were already expecting that it might be a weapon, but it didn't seem that impressive.
Cloud waved his hand, and the keyblade's blade lengthened, becoming wider before turning back into the broomstick, "It can…shapeshift."
He let go of the broom, and it circled in the air, transforming into a bike that fell on the roof, shaking all of the tiles, "Fenrir…."
"Oh, that's!" Tifa covered her face; she realized from where the bike came from more than Cloud. She heard of the bike from Aerith's stories, but to think she'd get to see it.
Cloud stroked the bike, feeling the metal on the palm of his skin, and a smile appeared on his lips, "It's perfect."
Tifa smiled at him, "Glad you like it, then it was worth it."
"Yeah," Cloud turned the bike back into the broomstick, "Thank you, Tifa, Aerith."
"Anytime, Cloud," Tifa took his palm in hers, interlocking their fingers with a happy grin on her face.
While Aerith couldn't hold herself back in the party chat, "Tifa, are you holding Cloud's hand again?"
"What? No," Tifa hastily pulled her palm away, getting on her broomstick, and Cloud silently followed after her as if nothing had happened.
That night, in Common Room, Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith were reading even though it was past their bedtime, but Aerith felt something was strange. She held something back, but she couldn't do it anymore, "Say, Cloud."
"What?"
"Aren't you upset?"
"Why?" Cloud looked up from the book, confusedly scanning Aerith, looking for a clue that would make him understand why she would ask that.
"You finally got something, but Professor McGonagall took it? I thought you'd be sulking."
"Oh, that," Cloud raised his hand, and Fenrir, in the form of Broomstick appeared in his palm, and when he let go, it disappeared, "It answers my call."
"Wait, wait, answers your call?! Shouldn't you tell things like those to us?"
"I forgot…sorry," Cloud turned his eyes towards the books on potions when he heard the scream of two. It was a squeal as if they had come to a realization.
""It's Sentient!!!""
"What?"
Tifa slid down from the couch, and sat down beside him, "We were discussing the message from the system. Didn't it say that a powerful desire you to become its master? We wondered if it was Sentient, but if it can answer your call as you say it, then that is also proof that it might be Sentient!"
"I am not so sure about that," Cloud shrugged, "Might be, might not be. Doesn't matter. But you figured this out from a System's message? Do you guys think about this?"
"Impressive, right?!" Aerith grinned, sitting down beside him, "We think about that every time something happens. So you don't have to worry about doing everything alone."
Cloud turned the page, stopping in between before turning it completely, "I was never worried about that."
"Hm?" Aerith blinked before hugging his head, "Aww, Cloud!!"
Cloud pushed her face away, "Let me read."
Tifa watched the two of them, smiling sweetly, mostly because she liked it, but her smile was dampened, 'I am weak too…the way I am now….'
Her village burning visage was etched into her mind, 'I don't want things to end up like that again. I want to…I need to get stronger too.'
Tình trạng nguồn điện hàng tuần
-- Xếp hạng
Quyền lực 
-- Đá
Quyền lực