Drive [Clive, Aerith]

[Nothingness]

August 1st

It had been almost two days since Jericho had left with Nadia and kidnapped Aerith. Clive knew that there wasn't anything he could do until he met Jericho again, and he did the only thing he figured would matter: keep Aerith's garden and house up.

He was busying himself in her garden, watering some flowers in a far corner when he became aware of someone else's presence nearby. Setting the watering can down, he looked out into the street, but saw nothing suspicious. That left the house, and there was only one person who could be in there without having made a sound.

Ducking underneath the window, he crept towards the front door and gently pushed it open. Yes, someone was here. And if it was who he thought it was, then all the worse for them.

[Aerith]

I guess we did leave the door unlocked.
--------

Aerith was relieved to be back in her own house. Those Corridors were a little unnerving. Cinderella probably needed to sit down.

No sooner had they arrived than her front door was pushed open. Hm? That was strange.

Motioning Cinderella to sit down, Aerith moved over to the door and poked her head outside.

"Hellooo? Is someone here?"

[Nothingness]

Darn--Wrong Person

Clive's hand instinctively shot out to grab the person's head, but he stopped it before it got away from his side. It was Aerith, not Jericho. Letting himself calm down for a moment, he stepped away from the wall in into the doorway. "Good thing you're back. They weren't buying the story for much longer."

He walked over and dropped a thin, pink ribbon on a side-table. "I told them that I was taking care of your house while you were off helping the sick children at the orphanage on the other side of town. They wanted to go, but I told them you wanted to be alone." Clive leaned against the wall and slid down, propping one knee up. "Where did he take you?"

[Aerith]

I didn't know this was going to turn into Twenty Questions.
--------

Aerith would never understand Clive's refusal to sit in an actual chair. The wall and the floor were not nearly as comfortable.

As usual, he was blunt and wasted no time with the normal pleasantries of polite conversation. Gesturing to Cinderella, who looked almost comical sitting on her couch in that giant dress, Aerith told the truth. As much as she knew of it.

"We went to Castle of Dreams, the world of Cinderella. I've brought her back with me to keep her safe. Well... he sent us back, actually. I can't make those Corridors."

Cinderella immediately distrusted this man that had so casually come into what she presumed was Aerith's house. Despite Aerith's status as a Princess of Heart, Cinderella simply did not like the type of company she kept. It wasn't proper for Princesses to be mingling with such questionable people.

"Aerith, who is this man? I don't think I like the look of him."

"He is a friend. You don't need to worry."

"I must insist that we refrain from keeping such company. Thank goodness we were able to get away from that woman and that other man." She paused for a moment, then asked, "Are you sure you're a Princess?"

"We didn't get away. He told us to come back here. He wanted us here, because he knows it's safe. And he is right to think so."

Turning back to Clive, she sighed wearily. "I'm sorry you had to cover for me. Thank you for doing that. I hope the others weren't too worried."

[Nothingness]

I'm Going to Have to Do This Again, Aren't I?

Clive waved off Aerith's apology. "It was the only way I could think of to calm them. If I told them the truth they'd have probably stormed every world looking for you."

Turning his eyes instead to the other girl, Clive wasn't exactly sure who she was, but he knew that he didn't give the best first impressions. Time to rectify that. "I apologize, Princess." Clive bowed his head. "I was simply taking care of Aerith's house while she was away."

Putting a hand to his lips, he thought for a moment before speaking. "He brought you both back before he wreaked havoc, I'm assuming?" He knew that, although this was his fault for not killing Jericho when he had the chance, this would have happened anyway. Jericho was more akin to a force of nature--he couldn't ever completely stop him, merely delay him.

[Aerith]

I suppose I'll have to explain all this eventually.
--------

Cinderella did not like the way this man refused to properly introduce himself. It struck her as quite rude. But she really did not like the way he had said "wreaked havoc."

"What? I told you that man you were with is dangerous! And so is that woman! Oh, goodness. Oh, my goodness. What did they do to my world?"

Aerith shot Clive a look that said "You're not helping" before turning to Cinderella as calmly as possible. "I'm sure everything back at your home is perfectly fine." She knew that was probably a lie, but she also wasn't completely certain it wasn't the truth, either.

When the Princess showed no signs of relaxing, Aerith added, "Cinderella, why don't I help you upstairs, and you can rest for a while in my room?"

She did just that, ignoring any protests that might come her way. After making sure the Princess was settled comfortably, Aerith came back downstairs.

"To answer your earlier question, I don't know for sure. And I would rather not make assumptions."

At least her little alarm friend was out of sight somewhere. That would have been difficult to explain.

[Nothingness]

Naivete Isn't Befitting of You

It had been a long time since Clive had been around people who actually reacted negatively to his former line of work. He was still adjusting to that. Although, from the Princess' worrying about Jericho and "that woman", he could figure that Jericho had won Nadia over, which was unfortunate to say the least.

Regardless, it was good to see Aerith taking her away--the less she knew the better for her. At least psychologically. When Aerith returned with an answer to Clive's previous query, he shook his head. "We both know what he did there--ignorance won't help the situation. He would have done the same thing here had you not gained some of his respect."

[Aerith]

Funny how you don't feel tired until you stop moving.
--------

With Cinderella gone, Aerith could allow her optimistic facade to slip a little. She knew Clive was right. Why else would Jericho have sent both Cinderella and her back here? He had said she was needed to help convince the other Princesses. Sending her here was counterproductive.

Unless he had wanted time alone with Nadia. Unfortunately, that was probably the very reason.

"I can't stop him from doing things like that, Clive. Except here, it seems."

She put her hands on the back of a chair, then decided to sit down. "But if I don't help him at least in some ways, then none of us will be here. Everything will just... collapse."

[Nothingness]

Solution Pending

"Someone will eventually stop him. Be it another person or time." No one could live forever, and even if they could, that was a curse more than any blessing. Still, how many lives was Jericho taking, twisting, ruining?

Clive was well aware of all the damage he caused, but he never allowed his targets to suffer. Jericho was lacking all compassion--even for those he held close to him, they were no more than mere tools. "There has to be some way that we can stop him without just killing him. I don't want to have to resort to that. Not after all I've done..."

[Aerith]

You know better than most what happens when you cut off a head.
--------

Aerith considered things for a while. Was it really about just stopping Jericho from destroying anything else? He was one person. A very powerful person, from what Aerith had seen, but only one person. This was far bigger than him or her or any one individual.

"You're worried about him, but... there are others who are also destructive. Even if someone were to stop Jericho, I don't think that would miraculously fix everything."

If she was really honest with herself, she knew there was reluctance on her part to see anyone kill anyone else, even if the person dying was Jericho. Yes, she recognized that he was a monster, but she had taken that monster into her home twice now.

In a strange sort of way, she liked him. Not for what he did, though. She would never like that. It was hard to explain, and even if she could, she would never admit something like that to Clive.

[Nothingness]

Talk About a Pickle

Worried? Yeah, that was probably the most accurate word to describe what he was feeling. Still, he needed to work on removing emotion. Jericho could control them, and those would only lead to a weakness that could be exploited.

"It's impossible to fix everything, but fixing the big issues tend to make the smaller issues less noticeable."

Still, Jericho had weaknesses, too. And at the moment, his biggest one was Nadia. Yet, Clive didn't want to use Nadia as Jericho had--that would simply put the two of them on the same level. Just what Clive was avoiding. He couldn't see any easy choice at the moment.

[Aerith]

Let me try to explain.
--------

Aerith looked away from Clive and simply let her thoughts drift. She was convinced that no matter how many of the "big issues" they fixed, there were also going to be more of them popping up. It sounded quite pessimistic in her head. Maybe she had spent too much time around Jericho.

"I suppose so. But I don't know if this issue is something we should stop."

Before Clive could say anything, she looked back at him. "I have been told that I am the newest Princess of Heart, and I, along with the others, are required to get to the Door to Darkness. That's what Jericho wants. He wants to open it. If he doesn't... there will be too much light. And things will fall apart."

[Nothingness]

Don't Be So Close-Minded

Clive listened to Aerith's story, and though he instinctively didn't want to believe it, he knew that she wouldn't so casually lie to him. While he could believe the nature of putting things in balance, he didn't believe that that was Jericho's only intent.

Trying not to sound harsh, his voice still held a somewhat admonishing tone. If he knew any better, he'd have realized that his fatherly instincts were coming back. "And you don't think there are other people who know this? Do you think the right way to go about this is to kill and torture innocents for fun? Kidnapping the other Princesses? What do you think he'll do once you're all expendable?" Clive knew the irony in that he was playing devil's advocate, but he'd always found that to be the fastest way to get someone to see another point of view.

[Aerith]

I'm not.
--------

Aerith couldn't help but flinch a little. She knew that Clive meant well, so she wasn't too shaken by his tone. And while she understood where he was coming from, she didn't appreciate being scolded as though she were completely naive.

"He won't hurt me. I know he won't." The others... She couldn't say what would happen to them.

She latched onto the other part of his reprimand, though, with uncharacteristic anger.

"And I'm not helping him hurt innocents! I... I'm not."

Looking down, she played with her fingers in her lap. Was she? There probably wasn't anything she could do or say to stop him, but she was not trying very hard in the first place. Did her inaction mean she was condoning the death and destruction he wrought? What about Nadia? Aerith hadn't tried very hard to dissuade her, either. Maybe she could have done something...

The urge to cry came over her, but she suppressed it. No, she had to be strong for everybody. Her voice dropped a few notches in volume, though.

"I just want... everyone to be okay..."

[Nothingness]

Don't go Getting Soft on Me

Clive sighed and shook his head. "Even if someone else were to open this 'Door to Darkness', just that act in itself would end up hurting people. You can't protect everyone." He kept speaking while he stood up. "I know it's not the most optimistic thing to say, but that's life. But as long as you try to, then there's nothing to be ashamed of."

He crossed his arms and looked off to the side. Aerith may be strong, but compared to what he and the others were, she probably wouldn't last. Their line of work wasn't something she should have to deal with, but she didn't have a choice in the matter. Not anymore, anyway.

It took him a while to think of what to say next, but his features softened a little when he finally spoke. "I'd rather that you keep yourself safe than stick your neck out and get hurt. It's heartless to say, I know, but for every terrible act Jericho does, you can do at least one good thing."