"By the way, what were your tests about?" - Cloud asked as he looked at his group.
The girls looked at each other before shrugging.
"I faced a me who didn't know them" - Shea replied with a frown - "According to her, my clan was captured and enslaved, I was the only one who managed to escape because I wasn't in the tribe, in the end I fell into Raisen where I was locked up for a year, when I got out, it was to try to rescue my people, and it was there that I discovered the cruel reality, my sisters were abused, my brothers were sent to the mines, not even the girls were spared..."
Shea's gaze grew darker and darker as she recounted her story, which ended with her causing a revolution against the empire and killing all those who mistreated her clan.
The girls didn't know what to say, because they didn't expect something like this, I mean, Shea was a sweetheart of a person, to hear that she became a revolutionary assassin, was something out of their line of thinking.
"Really?" - Cloud asked in surprise because he didn't think the maze could do something like see alternate lines.
"I was also visited by an alternate self," replied Yue as she shook her head, "She was still the princess because my uncle didn't lock me in the labyrinth."
"I met a woman with my looks who fell into depravity" - Tio replied with a slight blush - "She said something about how the doors to a new world were opened to me when my master used a giant stake against my ass".
The girls raised an eyebrow because that was too specific and graphic, though they quickly spotted something, and that was that Tio didn't say "Cloud", but rather "master", which meant that that "possible alternate line", Cloud may not have been the one to find it.
"I guess the maze managed to get into our heads and detect the moments when our destinies changed, in other words, when Cloud intervened" - Yue said as she started to think - "After discarding that moment, I guess the maze calculated certain possible events and put them into the minds of our copies, however, this in itself is impressive..."
"Why do you say that?" - Kaori asked, she had received a normal copy that was trying to mess with her head with all the insecurities and problems she had had throughout her relationship with Cloud, something Shizuku had also experienced.
"Because calculating possible future events, it's basically seeing the future, or at least one of them" - Yue answered while crossing her legs in mid-air, which was easy to do because she was using gravity magic to levitate - "Yes, it's possible that it's an invention of the labyrinth to be able to get into our heads more easily, but it's still impressive that it not only managed to detect the moment when our lives changed, but also the fact of creating an alternate line where our lives were shitty."
Kaori and Shizuku simply remained silent while Remia shook her head because honestly she wasn't very interested in this conversation.
"Are you saying that Vandre Schnee was smarter than what Lyutillis-san and Remia-san said?" - Shea asked as she cocked her head to one side.
"Possibly" - nodded Yue while frowning - "Though there's something that doesn't add up..."
"Vandre Schnee's magic shouldn't be able to allow something like this" - Tio added as she nodded - "If I remember correctly, Schnee-san's magic is something akin to mutation and monster creation, or at least that's what that demon demonstrated."
Yue nodded again because the dragon woman's words were true, in other words, it shouldn't be possible for the labyrinth to manage to analyse their minds and find their "weak points", unless....
"The sealed monster" - muttered Yue as she looked around - "It's possible that the core of this maze is being corrupted by the monster, or maybe it's the other way around, the core is slowly draining the sealed monster and using some of its abilities to be able to enter our minds, that would explain why our alternate versions"
Tio nodded when she heard this because it made some sense, though it wasn't as if they could test this theory, or if they needed to, after all, they had already passed the illusionary test, which meant no further digging into the subject was necessary, unless either of them wished to learn from this technology so they could use it in some of their new abilities.
Cloud simply remained silent as he let Yue "have some more fun", while he continued to analyse his "new personality".
"I still can't believe that my personality wasn't affected by Cloud Strife, but by my subconscious after hearing the system's words" - thought Cloud, who was still a bit skeptical, although after analyzing the situation a bit, it made a bit of sense, that is, the [system] shouldn't have the power to directly intervene with the [player], much less affect him mentally.
Cloud analysed his past actions a little more, and it made more and more sense, that is, the only time he was directly affected was when he was transformed into a dragon, and that was not because of the system's intervention, but rather because his human mentality could not contain the strong instincts of a high-level beast, in fact, the [system] helped him regain his sanity.
Now the question was...
Had he changed from one moment to the next, or was it progressive?
Cloud thought even more carefully about his entire journey through his first world, the dimension of [Highschool of the Dead], and the more he remembered, the clearer it became that the change was slow.
The blond frowned slightly when he saw this, though his expression changed when he noticed how the girls had stopped talking to each other and were looking at him with utmost care - "What's wrong?"
"What were you thinking?" - Yue asked as she raised an eyebrow.
"In the past, I was trying to identify some important details about my restriction against my emotions" - Cloud replied as he shook his head - "In the end my other self was right, I wasn't affected by an external source, but it was a 'decision' I made myself after my 'friend' convinced me..."
The girls frowned.
"Cloud, if that person told you to restrict your emotions, then he's not your friend," Yue said seriously, "I'm telling you because I did the same thing by choice, and now that I've fallen in love with you, I see how stupid I was to seal my emotions."
The other girls nodded at these words.
"Oh, no, my [friend] didn't tell me to seal my emotions, he told me to act like someone else, and I took that too far" - Cloud answered cryptically because honestly, he didn't know how to explain it further without giving away the information about the [System].
The girls seemed to disbelieve the blond's words, not because they distrusted him, but because they felt there was a lot of information he was leaving out.
"Anyway, I think it's time for us to be on our way, and we've had more than enough rest, besides, I want some calm so I can adjust to my situation better," Cloud replied honestly. He knew that now that his emotions were out of control for all the time he had restrained them, it was better to go somewhere safe before they became a problem for the mission.
The girls nodded at these words before putting everything away and resuming their walk through the cold, crystalline corridors of the Schnee labyrinth.
* * * * *
[An interesting story...]
"Well, that explains a few things" - said Lyutillis while nodding after listening to the little story Cloud had given - "What do you think, Meiru-chan?"
"I managed to detect some changes in him, so his words were true, he looks much more expressive, which is a good change" - Meiru replied while nodding - "This is also good for us, after all, he feels much more [human]"
"True, there were times when Cloud-kun looked like a golem, or an automaton" - muttered Lyutillis as she slowly closed her eyes - "This new attitude, though, could create a lot of openings."
"True, emotions are a strong and uncontainable thing, and now that he's released them completely, there will be many situations that his logical thinking will be clouded by them" - nodded Remia as she started to think - "I guess we'll have to tell him that he's going to have to find a balance between the two, keep his emotions in check at times when logic is the more appropriate choice."
[I don't think you have the power to do something like that, after all...].
"I know, it's hypocritical of me, but at the same time, I feel like I can do it" - Meiru replied with a frown - "After all, I don't want him to go through what I did..."
Lyutillis tried to say something, but the words caught in her throat. She really wanted to reveal the truth to her friend, but the promise she made to Diene prevented her from doing so.
-
NEW WORLD - FINAL FANTASY VII ( AFTER THIS - DRAGON BALLS ]
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