"...I'll climb on the pedestal." Tifa said quickly.
"But Tifa, we could..."
"No, Cloud. I know what I'm thinking. Right now you're a girl, and you'd be left one for who knows how long. If you go on ahead you might find a way back to normal, a way to come back for me..."
"Tifa, we could go on ahead together though!" Cloudia protested.
"No. We don't know how long any of these people have been here."
Cloudia tried to argue, but she knew Tifa wouldn't back down.
She would climb that pedestal come hell or high water. She was thinking of the other four over herself.
It just so happened Cloud had hesitated, and that hesitation resulted in Tifa getting the noble sacrifice chance first.
"...I don't like it."
Tifa smirked.
"Yeah, and if you'd thought of it first I wouldn't like it but you'd still be climbing onto it, right?"
'She knows me too well.'
"Well, here goes. Say hello to your new friends for me." Tifa said, heading for the pedestal and climbing on.
"..Tifa, wait!" Cloudia protested too late.
Tifa now stood on the pedestal, looking down. Cloudia was looking up, and blushed.
"U-Um, Tifa, your skirt is... A little too short for the pedestal."
"...Cloudia, I high kick all the time. I'm wearing shorts below it. I'm not an idiot."
Cloudia, put in her place, blushed still.
"...Nothing seems to be happening here..."
Tifa was still on the pedestal.
"So... It was a lie?" Cloudia pondered.
Tifa shrugged, then tried to lift her boot.
"...Oh. No, my feet seem to be stuck and... Ah. Yeah, that's cold..." She reported.
"What... Oh." Cloudia began to ask, then spotted it above her socks.
A greying of her skin. It spread up her legs, higher and higher until they were two marble pillars. Below her "too short" skirt and her shorts, then over her stomach.
"Better pick a good pose..." Tifa said, putting a hand on her hip and smiling while looking forward.
"T-Tifa! What are you talking about!?"
"Shush, if I'm stuck here a while I want to look good... not some surprised rock."
The wave spread upwards and soon enough, Tifa was frozen in place, just one of four statues.
And then the others began to glow. As did the small table. The paper seemed to be changing. Cloudia ran over to it.
"You must now revive the other statues with a touch. You may do so in any order to learn who they truly are..." She read aloud, mostly for the benefit of the four statues.
"...If you attempt to leave without reviving all three, there will be an immediate penalty for wasting time, and you will be instructed to try and revive them again."
Cloudia sighed. More choices....
Extra/Omake!
"Well, here goes. Say hello to your new friends for me." Tifa said, heading for the pedestal and climbing on.
"..Tifa, wait!" Cloudia protested, whilst rushing over.
Both climbed the pedestal before realising the other climbed it too.
They looked at each other.
"...You idiot!" They said together.
They then almost lost balance, toppling into each other. It looked like they were hugging.
"...Wow, this isn't big enough for two. Climb down, Cloudia...."
"No! You climb down!"
The two began to argue, holding onto each other for balance, oblivious to the cold feeling until it was almost at their necks
"...Oh crap." They said together, looking into each others eyes just as the effect locked them both in place.
The other three statues glowed, then collapsed to the ground as flesh. Kyonko, upon recovery, swore, then looked at the two new statues. Or rather, the one new statue.
"...That was nice of them. I'm Rydia, by the way..." A green haired woman said.
"Rinoa. And I guess this is Kyonko?" The other woman said.
Kyonko however missed it.
"...These two were wearing skirts that are far too short to stand on pedestals like that..." She muttered.