Chapter 5 - Jenova Cells

"You two are here!"

"Cloud! Over here!"

Tifa and Aerith looked over to Angelina while Cloud turned his eyes towards Fred and George, "I'll see you later."

He sat down beside Fred and George, and the two started throwing questions at him the moment he sat down.

"Where did you go?"

"Why so early in the morning?"

"Do you have a secret?"

"Let's go get pictures taken after this!"

"About that, Tifa said that's a big no," Cloud tore the bread for himself, only to be assaulted by Fred and George, "What?! Why?!"

"Tifa, you can't do this!"

"Right, right, you can't do this!"

"Do what?" Tifa, who was sitting on the other side, confusedly asked.

"The pictures! Why would you say no?!"

"Yes, Cloud is benefiting from that as well!"

Tifa narrowed her eyes, giving them a stern look, "No way Cloud is doing that!"

"What happened?" Angelina and another one of their roommate Alicia Spinnet leaned forward, asking what the drama was about.

Aerith giggled, reminding Angelina and telling Alicia, who ran their eyes over Cloud, who was uncomfortable with their gaze.

"Interesting, I'll buy one," Alicia smiled at Cloud, and Fred and George's eyes shined as they used that to make their point, but Tifa was adamant.

"Hey, bro, didn't you need money too?"

"Hm," Cloud looked up towards the guy sitting on his left. He was one of the roommates, other than Fred and George.

"Oh, I am Lee Jordan; they talked all night about this. Weirdly, they were watching you sleep," Lee Jordan sighed, "But I heard you needed money too?"

"No, I found another way to make money…although I'd need a sixth or seventh year for that…." Cloud chewed on the bread without a change in expression, but Fred and George's ears stood up.

"Brother, did you say you need Sixth or Seventh year? How do you plan to earn money?"

"If you give us a cut, we might be able to introduce someone to you."

Cloud glanced up towards Fred and George, hesitating, "We found some plants; they are crucial to making Healing Potions or Antidote for Sleeping Potion. But the book with that Recipe is in Sixth Years Books or parts of Library not accessible to us."

"Healing Potion?"

"Healing Potion!"

""Healing Potion!""

The two nearly jumped off their seats to dance, but they quietened down, whispering. "How are you going to even make the Potion?"

"Yes, our brother, Charlie, can make it and get the recipe too, but Raw Materials…How about we give you a part of the profit? Although we'd have to give brother most of it."

"There is someone I know who can make it for free. So I want a recipe."

"Hm, we can get that, but then…how are we going to profit?"

Aerith leaned forward, pointing at them, "You can sell them."

"Sell them?"

"Didn't you say that your brother is in the Sixth Year? They must have a lot of practical activities and get hurt much. You know your brother, your brother knows those people, and…."

"No need to say anymore! We will take a cut from each sell," Fred puffed his chest out.

George nodded again and again, "Right since we are using our contacts, we deserve a share."

"Ok, done," Aerith shook their hands, and the three laughed.

Cloud looked up at Aerith, tilting his head, whispering, "Was she always like that?"

The rest of the day passed like that; since Hogwarts was big, they explored as much as they could today, and the next day they hit the books. Not like any of them were academic enough, but this was a new world, and there was so much to learn.

Especially Cloud, the voices in his head were dying to hit the books, research them to their heart's content, so to quieten them down, he started to read.

Their Monday's timetable was Herbology, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms, Astronomy, and History. Since they were introduction classes for 11-year-old, they weren't expecting much.

From what they could tell, if they studied independently, they should be able to skip a year or two without being good at studying.

The only thing that would hold them back from skipping more was that this world was different, and they'd need to learn more about the new things and sort out differences and similarities with theirs.

"They have similar stars," Aerith held the Astronomy book, "I remember seeing some of the constellations…."

"Lumos," Tifa chanted, and a light appeared on the tip of her wand, making the other two look over.

"Ah, that was simple."

Tifa raised the wand, nodding, slightly surprised on her face, "I guess it takes some visualization. I already have that with Martial Arts Training and using magic. This is much simpler."

"Wait, let me try," Aerith took her wand, waving it, "Lumos!"

A bright light appeared on the tip of her wand, and she started clapping her hands, "You are right. It is simple! What other spells are there?"

Tifa turned the pages, seeing the diagram on the net page and then the explanation with Aerith. She copied the movements a few times, moving her lips, silently reading the spell, and doing all of it at once," Flipendo!"

Cloud watched as the sheet of paper rose, flipping in the air, before slowly floating down.

"Flipendo!" Aerith shot another spell at the paper, making it float higher.

Cloud glanced towards them and raised his hand for his wand out of his reach since he wasn't focusing; the wand zoomed-in, landing on the palm of his hand.

"Wow, how did you do that?"

"I…don't know? I was thinking about picking it up…but it was out of my reach?" Cloud glanced at his palm and the wand.

"Is this what they meant with abilities?" Aerith leaned closer, looking into his eyes, "Is this…Telekinesis? Do it again?"

Cloud raised his palm, trying to pull everything that came into his view, couch, curtains, decoration, but not one of them worked, "Can't do it."

"Maybe it needs a focused and clear mind," Tifa slightly cocked her head, "Like with the martial arts. Now that I think about it, Cloud never had any proper high-level training."

She knew that there were problems with his memories, and when she saw him fighting, he was primarily relying on his superior physical physique and reflexes. Even when he used the sword, it changed at times, making it seem like two different people were fighting, and the voices, she doubted they'd be helpful under such circumstances.

"Alright," Cloud rested his head on the couch, "I don't mind learning."

"Me too, me too, I will learn too," Aerith raised her hand.

Tifa and Cloud both looked at her, and then, "So when should we start training? Tomorrow morning?"

"Yes, if we get some time today, then I am to teach you a bit of the basic so you can do image training before starting."

"Sounds good," Cloud turned the page of Potions Book, and Tifa turned the page of Book of Charms, reading.

"Wait, wait, why are you ignoring me? I said I want to train too," Aerith puffed her cheeks.

"You'll fall."

"Break your bones."

"Once, you almost fell while walking."

"And jumping."

"It's already good enough that you somehow don't fall while fighting, or you would have become monster food long ago."

Tifa raised her chin, "Now that you say it…Why doesn't she fall while fighting?"

"Doesn't matter," Cloud gave Aerith a look, "If you want to train, start by running a lap."

"Muu!!!" Aerith bit on the pillow to not shout, pushing it down on her legs, "Fine, I'll do it."

And so, tomorrow morning, after half the lap, Aerith was on the ground, gasping for breath, "It's impossible!! How do you two even run so much!"

She protested to Cloud and Tifa, who were on their fifth or sixth lap.

"I told you so," Cloud gave her a look, continuing to run while Tifa stopped, crouching beside her, "It's ok. You'll get the hang of it. It's better than not practicing at all."

Aerith puffed her cheeks, taking in the sun, "It's not fair…being physically strong and talented in magic too."

Tifa shook her head, "I am not any good at magic. Cloud learned Telekinesis without even trying, and don't think I didn't notice that you were trying to hold back when you used Lumos."

Aerith sat up, "Ah, it's not your fault. Only a Divine Being or a Demon should compare their talent to Cloud's. After all, he has Jenova Cells."

"Jenova Cells?"

Aerith fell, gazing at the sky, "Right, I haven't told you about it. This is the next part of the story that I was telling you. We are going back to 2000 years in the past."

"One day, a meteor fell from the sky, on a meteorite, and landed in the North, creating the North Crater. This creature was later named, termed Jenova. Or it might be their name. It had insane regenerative powers, to the point that even if a drop of blood or a single cell remained, it would restore fully. Although, at a later point, the ruling race, Cetra, was able to stop these regenerative powers using the Lifestream. Though that caused Lifestream to be damaged too."

She stopped for a while, waiting until Cloud left, continuing, "This creature…it could take in your memories, and act like your loved one, which was how it could destroy a whole civilization…because it took their powers. Or it could put its cells in creatures, and a normal dog could be turned into a violent monster; those became its army against the long war. At that time, Cetra sealed it, but 2000 years later, it was rediscovered and used for the experiment."

"It didn't heal?"

"It couldn't. Not until the Planet exists. Although it has a dangerous power…it can enforce its will on every cell, and that means if you were to put its cells in other organisms, they become its slave unless they have great willpower and strength. I am afraid that is one of the reasons why Cloud memories got messed up. His eyes show so much Mako, anyone else…and they would have died from so much exposure, yet Jenova cells keep him alive."

"Cloud has Jenova Cells?" Tifa couldn't say she was surprised; it was reasonably expected from how Aerith started this.

"Most, if not all, SOLDIER have a certain number of Jenova Cells, but Cloud has too many. I'd say he has the highest number after Sephiroth."

"Sephiroth…he too?"

"He's what you call the only successful product of Jenova Project. The later experiments were to recreate that success," Aerith sighed, stopping for a while again.

"Anyway, Jenova Cells have the insane capacity to store information, and they do, even the memories of everyone that it had been injected in."

"The voices?"

"I am not sure what led them to appear, but they are not people, just memories that can only voice their thoughts because of Cloud's weak mental state. Still, it's something his will can keep them at bay and remain the Cloud we know, and I think it's majorly thanks to the fact that you are here, Tifa. You could say…it's more like Cloud is talking to himself."

"Wait, then why didn't this happen when before? Why now?"

"Didn't I say? Because Jenova controls all the cells and seeks to reunite them, to revive itself. But…Tifa, there is no Jenova in this World."

"Wait," Tifa widened her eyes, raising them to look at Cloud, who reached them, passing by them.

"Does that mean?"

"Yes," Aerith looked over her shoulder, "Yes, our boy right there is in the middle of a transition, from a human to the creature we called Jenova. What comes out at the end of the day might be the revival of Jenova…or Cloud Strife. Stronger than ever. Then he was, even in the other timeline. Either way…he stopped being human the moment we came to this world."

"Wait, should we be worried? How can you be so calm?!"

Aerith chuckled, spreading her arms out, "Because you are here…you remind him…who he is with just being around him. I…on the other hand…his feelings for me might be from someone else…and so I might only be confusing him."

Tifa's heart and mind were in turmoil after taking in the information; she placed her palm on Aerith's, "I don't think that is so…the Cloud from before he became the SOLDIER, and Cloud after he became the SOLDIER… let's keep both of them together. And once we are done with whatever the System throws at us…."

Tifa gently smiled, "Let's go back to our parents."

Aerith looked up, closing her eyes with a smile before raising her fist to the sky, "Yes!!! Let's do this!"

"First, try finishing a lap," Cloud's voice entered their ears, but it was like a sharp arrow through Aerith's heart.

"Ugh…" Aerith shot a look towards him as he jogged, even though she could see the smile on the corner of his lips.

Tifa chuckled, "Come on, let's try to finish this one."

"You two, brutes, I am a wizard; I should be flying on a broom or something."

"Right," Tifa pulled her up, "First, try doing it with your legs."

"Damn it," Aerith got on her feet, breathing heavily, starting to drag her legs, following them.