Cloud got to his feet, using the leverage the woman provided for him. He leaned heavily against her. The stairs were going to be a joy to climb. If his knees buckled, he’d probably take the woman for a ride as well. She didn’t look extremely strong as it was. Hopefully something so embarrassing would not happen. If Zack saw it, there would be no end to the flurry of comments and teasing. Being called ‘Spike’ was enough friendliness from someone who was still pretty much a stranger to him.

“Fine. Let’s just go,” Cloud said tersely. He wanted to be left alone. The sooner he went to sleep, the sooner he could wake up and manage his affairs. There was the matter of proper clothing to be taken care of, along with finding a suitable sword. If the fortress was already gone, perhaps there was rubble that could be searched through. His damned sword… how could he have left such a valuable thing behind? He felt near useless without it. If the search proved fruitless, there was a weapons store he saw on the map. They wouldn’t have his type of sword there, but at least he could get something so he wouldn’t be completely defenseless.