Warning: Swearing, some blood and a crappy fight scene
Pairings: Sephiroth x Storm, Zack x Cloud and Angeal x Genesis
I panted. I looked into the eyes of those around me as I waited...waited for them to make the final blow. But it never came. My eyes welling up in tears as they laughed and sneered at me. Why? Why were they doing this to me?! A soft sob escaped my throat as I shakily stood onto my feet. My crimson colored eyes glaring at them all. Damn SOLDIER to hell and back. I hate them. I hate them so much. My stormy gray hair was rustled in the light wind. Rain was pouring down on us, my village burning to ashes before my very feet, everything dark as night, and lastly...I could feel the smoke burning my skin as my blood red cloak flapped from the wind. My black as night jacket rustling slightly, the tears burning my cold flesh as it streamed down. My black as night clothes soaked from the pouring rain, I stared into the middle SOLDIERS' eyes and my red eyes, my blood red eyes that have black crystal designs in them, narrowed as I reached for my sword.
They will all die. Die a very painful death. My right eye was red and my left was gone. They took it. They took it without warning. I gripped the wet handle of my blade and with one quick movement, they were all dead. My scythe, my golden and silver scythe, lay outstretched before me, still as can be as I stared at the dead before me. I raised a hand unconsciously to my gorged eye socket and covered it. I hate them all, ShinRa and the SOLDIERs, mainly the First Class ones. They were sent here to kill us all. But I won't let my father down. Unlike HIM who had left mother, left father...and most of all, ME. Damn you Strife, I thought to myself with a scowl on my face as my scythe disappeared and my hand clenched into a fist as I glared at the bodies, the fire lighting up the puddles of muddy water and giving off a glow, almost making the bodies glow a strange, orange like color.
Ever since I fell into that water...I have never been the same. No. I am the same. I have never been human. Neither has Strife. Or mother. Mother was alien. A devil if you wish. And I was the only one who showed signs of it. "Well, fancy meeting a live one." I look over my shoulder to see a male with pointy black hair, a muscular build..."And you must be Angeal. SOLDIER First Class." I hiss the words out like venom. He nods slowly, eyeing my cautiously. "What do you want?" I demanded of him, without fully turning to him, my hand unclenching so my scythe could appear. "You've heard the name Cloud Strife, have you not?" he asked. What did he want with a traitor? "Why ask me and not my dead father?" I growl out as my hair clung to my face from the poring rain. It was hard to see the man's face clearly from how dark it was. It must have been around midnight, when my powers are at their peak.
"I also want to know," he continued on, acting like I had said nothing. "Have you met my pupil Zackary Fair?" I slowly shake my head no. "I have no business with SOLDIERs, First Class. Especially if they are trained under people like YOU." I face ahead of myself, not wanting to look at his dark figure anymore. "Who are you?" So he finally asks? What a strange man... "My name? Why would a SOLDIER care about my name?" I ask, wary of his question, it had put me on my guard. "You look a lot like Cloud mister." He replied smoothly. Of course, we have almost the same body build and my hair was nothing like his, my hair covered my right eye and was slightly puffy and slightly spiky, but not too much.
"Why are you comparing me with that traitor?" I hiss out angrily at him, fully turning to glare at him. "Strife is not a traitor." a new voice called out from the dark shadows of the burning village. It was emotionless and cold as ice. "SOLDIER First Class, Sephiroth." I said in a blank tone into the darkness. And out came the one person I knew was there. "Yes,"
"Why are you here? Are you here to kill me for killing off twelve of your useless Infantry soldiers? They're pathetic really. I can't believe SOLDIER had sunk so low as to recruit low lives like them." I taunt as I place my hands on my hips. My boots were steel toed and I tapped it in rapid motion. "Do not insult us like that." the black haired First Class hissed out. "Or what? Try and kill a demi-devil like me? FAT CHANCE!" I shouted as my glittering scythe appeared above my head and I reached one hand toward the sky as it fell soundlessly and lightly into my awaiting hand. "All of ShinRa and SOLDIER will pay for killing off my mother and father, along with turning my big brother against me!" I shouted, a heart-broken sob ripped it's way out of my mouth as I ran toward them at inhuman speed.
-time skip
All I saw was red. A deep, crimson, red at that. Not even Death could stop me from wanting my revenge against SOLDIER and ShinRa alike. "Why?" I asked, falling to my knees as the rain continued to pour, the fire still burning the buildings in a never ending GIF. The two First Class SOLDIER's cocked their heads to the side in confusion at my unexplained question. "Why must I suffer so?" I asked again, more to myself than anything. My eye...my gorged eye...it hurts. I raised a blood-stained hand to my gorged eye socket and blinked. I had the Silver General's sword in my stomach and it hurt like shit I'll admit that at least. "What is your name?" a third, neutral, voice asked me. It sounded...younger? No...I will not be interrogated by SOLDIER even to my grave I will not. "My...name?" I asked myself slowly. I could, if I wanted, to ignore everything around me and let myself bleed. "Yes, your name." the young male voice replied in a light, but stern tone. "M...my name is...Storm. Storm Strife, please..." I found myself begging. I was shocked, and by the confused and bewildered looks on their faces, they were to. "W-what?" the older, Angeal, stuttered. "Please...let me see...Cloud...let me see my...my big brother..." I begged with a whole new wave of hot, salty, tears streaming down my ice cold skin. It burns...it burns like hell.
"We...we can't do that." my anger. I felt it returning. "WHY?! WHY CAN'T I SEE MY BIG BROTHER!?" I shouted as I shakily stood to my feet and all but ripped the sword from my body. "He's...not here at the moment." the young voice replied. No... "NO!" I shouted as my golden and silver scythe reappeared in my hands above my head. My hair was blood stained from my gorged eye socket. "You...you sons of BITCHES! I hate you! I HATE YOU!" I screamed, repeating my words over and over as I used my scythe as support. I was getting dizzy from blood loss. But I can't, I can't die here. Not like this. Not without seeing my big brothers' innocent face. My vision was going bleak with tiredness and blood loss. "Please, Satan...let me see Cloud...at least one more time..." I begged as I lifted my face to the clouded skies. Sky...clouds...reminds me of my big brothers' name. "Rene..." I let a small smile grace my bloody lips. I love you, Rene... then my vision went black and I heard talking before I heard nothing, felt nothing...
-Unknown time later
Beeping. Light pitter patter of rain against a window. An extremely bright light cutting through my eye lid. I sighed heavily as I refused to open my eye. Wait... I slowly start to wake up and my vision was blurry and my eye...no EYES hurt from the ungodly bright light and white ceiling. Eyes? I slowly sat up and looked around the room before feeling a sharp pain in my stomach. I wrapped my arms around it, but other than that, I ignored it. Wait...this room looks familiar. Big Brother always described this room in his letters he sent us. But...there's other people here. Why am I here? Why do I have two eyes? Am I dead? No...that beeping is ungodly loud and annoying as ever...wait...what? I slowly shake my head, refusing to accept any of it. Just then, the door opened and I instinctively looked to it, not really wanting to and saw a young male with crazy midnight colored hair and a scar on his right cheek.
"Where am I?" I asked him as he smiled at me. He laughed lightly and replied in a light but serious tone, "You are in the infirmary. You suffered a heavy blow to your whole body and your uh right eye had to be replaced." Well no shit know-it-all. I just rolled my eyes at him and looked to the window. "Where's Big Brother?" I asked sternly as I gripped the blankets tightly in my fists. "Cadet Strife is in the training grounds, but he should be done soon." he replied, I couldn't see his expression because I wasn't facing him but...something seemed, I dunno, off? "President ShinRa wants you to become apart of SOLDIER." at the very mention of ShinRa and SOLDIER, I felt my anger rise and my breathing quickened drastically. "SOLDEIR...the same people who took Big Brother away...turned him against me..."
"Pardon?" the young male asked me in puzzlement. If I have to repeat myself, then I will do it! "I...I hate...SOLDIER and ShinRa." I said to myself as I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my bare arms around them and resting my chin on them as well. "Storm was it?...why do you hate SOLDIER and ShinRa so much?" I knew he had asked the wrong thing, even though I wasn't looking, I could just feel it. Why are my senses sharper than before? The air in the infirmary was nauseating. It made me want to puke. I could hear conversations even though they are happening somewhere else in this ungodly large building. I could even see so much better. No wonder my eyes hurt so bad when I woke up. I scoffed at myself as I looked at the midnight haired male from the corner of my eye. "You wanted to know why I hate ShinRa and SOLDIER so much?" a nod from him. "They took everything from me. My mom...my dad...my big brother...even my village, Oran." the male just blinked and stared at me for a long time before his blank face turned into a frowning one with guilt. "Were you helping leading the attack on Oran?" I hissed out as I tried to cover my right eye. My stormy gray hair. My pride and joy, knowing I was most likely the only one in the world with such odd hair. But I shouldn't brag. I heard from father that a Turk has blood red hair. Let's see if that is true...
"Is there a Turk with blood red hair? Does someone like that exist?" I asked, forgetting my anger at everything dealing with ShinRa. "Uh yeah. His name is Reno." the male replied, puzzled by my change in conversation. "He would get along great with Rene Rias. She has crimson colored hair that is tied into a pony tail with mako infused eyes." I suddenly found myself saying without a care in the world. "Are you related to Cloud Strife by any chance?" he asked me. I only nod as I felt a headache coming on. I sigh and rub my temple with my left hand, trying to ignore the pain so I could get answers. "Why didn't I die?" I whispered to myself as I gazed blankly at the white blankets that were covering me.
"President ShinRa was hoping that he could get you to join SOLDIER even though you killed about a third of his troops on that mission." the onyx haired male said sheepishly as he scratched the back of his neck. I unconsciously smile at that and chuckle. "If he thinks I'm joining SOLDIER, then he can forget that fucking fantasy of his." I growl out as I flop back down so that I was laying on my back. "By the way, you never told me your name." I said as I rolled onto my side and propped my head up onto my hand and looked at him with innocent mismatched eyes. "My name is Zack Fair, a friend of Cloud's." the midnight haired male named Zack replied as he puffed out his chest.
I giggle in amusement and then realize that Zack was the short term for Zackary. "You're Zackary Fair. The one that SOLDIER First Class Angeal mentioned." I said to myself in regeneration.
No. NO I can't have been talking to a SOLDIER so freely! I-I can't have. Right? My breathing came out in shallow gasps and I could feel the blood pounding in my ears and my heart beating against my ribcage. "Whoa! You alright there Strife?!" Zackary called out in alarm. I could hear that the heart monitor had started beeping faster and I was to shocked to feel embarrassed. I was angry. Angry at myself that I didn't realize it sooner. Mama, I'm so sorry. I let you... "down," I whispered my last word too myself without realizing it. Zackary was in front of me with his hands on my shoulders, shaking me and calling out to me. Why do you care? I wanted to ask, but my words were caught in my throat as I gazed at him with unblinking eyes. I hate myself for this. I unclenched my hands from the bed sheets and raised one to his cheek. Why am I doing this? He's a SOLDIER and I...am nothing but a backwater country boy. I ran my thumb across his scar and then, what felt like an eternity later, I realized what I was doing and pulled my hand back and I could hear the heart monitor slow down and the blood pumping in my ears slowly went away and we gazed at each other for a long time before I cleared my throat.
The spell was broken. That's all that happened. The nice spell that was upon us had been broken by me. Wait...NICE?! No, no, no, no! I am supposed to hate SOLDIER! I felt my hands shaking as I brought the one I had touched his cheek with close to my face, as if looking for an answer on why I had done what I had done. But I saw nothing and the warmth left my hand slowly. I raised my eyes and saw him staring at my every movement with alarm and curiosity. Like I was some unknown creature to him.
-some time later
I sighed as I stared out the window that was across the room and saw nothing but a cloudy sky. "Cloud..." I found myself saying in a hushed whisper to myself. Oh how I miss you. It's strange really. I don't know how long I was out but one moment I hated Cloud for ditching us for SOLDIER and the next, I wanted to really see him again. "My life changes so fast. Really, why am I still alive?" I had been wondering about this for a long time. I sighed in irritation and looked to the door. I wonder what would happen if I made a mad dash out that door and tried to escape? I laughed to myself. It is tempting though huh? Well, might as well try. I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed. I realized I was wearing nothing but lightweight gray pants and a white t-shirt. I frowned at this and slowly stood up. but my legs wouldn't support me and I fell backwards onto the bed.