A/N: My mind went to darker and creepier places than usual. I'm sorry.
This will be a twoshot. Then I swear I will update gift.
I don't own anything but the fic's plot, and all characters and locations belong to square.
Inspired by the Bullet For My Valentine song, Tears Don't Fall part 2:
"obsession,
rejection,
your final word
is my possession"
Self explanatory, right?
-(and start...page break)-
The dark swarming grey of the sky seemed to come to a standstill. There was nothing in that moment, or even the entire fight leading up to this single second in which Cloud seemed frozen for six eternities, the echo's of the last words he'd spoken ringing through his ears. There is not a thing I don't cherish. He choked out a mangled gasp. Not so much out of breath from using omnislash to send the not quite man before him back to the waiting arms of death once again. No, the reason was the unnecessarily, precisely sharp and long and horrible weapon that had him impaled directly in what he knew could only be his voice box. His virulent cobalt eyes wavered and watered as those pale lips twisted so slowly into their signature smirk, poisonous mako colored eyes so smugly satisfied.
"Then, I will simply but a barrier between you and everything else." The not man said, twisting the famous sword he held so cruelly. "These words of yours, will be mine alone." And with that, he faded to a thousand tiny specks of black dust, blowing away in the wind. The sword remained for a small handful of eternities as Cloud felt the sudden assault on his mind, so much like the last time he'd killed this man, except he could do nothing. He was so exhausted and worn and everything hurt. Those words had him confused already. The pain only increased to a sharp pang of non-stop agony. Minutes stretched on, something in him twisting to the cruel entities desire, but what it was, Cloud had no idea. He only knew it hurt, and soon enough, he fell unconscious.
-(PAGE BREAK)-
Cloud awoke from blankness to the most comfortable bed he'd ever slept in, and several pairs of familiar eyes staring at him in concern. he opened his mouth to inquire as to how he'd gotten here, but all that escaped his lips was a choked series of gargling noises. He shut his mouth in a panic, remembering what Sephiroth had said. His words…. the man had taken his ability to speak. Vincent's hand covered his head, soothingly cold and effectively anchoring him to the present.
"Cloud… we're sorry. Everyone tried all the healing spells we have, your body somehow rejected anything that came near…. your…. vocal cords." Vincent looked away in shame. "We couldn't repair what he's done to you. We even used the water in the church." those crimson eyes softened, and turned away.
"We'll keep trying. We can figure something out." Tifa chimed optimistically. Cloud couldn't even feel affected by her words. He simply fought the rising bile and panic and urge to scream that he knew would do little more than provide him with more proof that he really couldn't speak. He choked back a severely muted sob that sounded dead even to himself. Even everyone comforting him did nothing to the sudden void he felt. He couldn't speak.
-(Page Break)-
For weeks the rest of avalanche did their best to stay nearby, not saying anything about the strangled goose noises that had replaced his once melodically unimpressed voice. His eyes had run out of tears, the blue merely dulled. they'd attempted to teach him sign language, but the gestures and hand signals wouldn't stick in his mind. He took to writing down what he needed to say, but it was inefficient and tacky. He'd had to close down the delivery service because it taxed him too much emotionally to answer questions whenever a customer questioned his scratch paper. His friends had a harder time reading him, his unemotional exterior and lack of non-evasive body language a huge communication barrier that would normally be broken by the wavering tones of his voice. How did one convey that on paper? Cloud eventually gave up trying. Instead he would lie awake until someone, usually Vincent, would come in and just cast sleep on him, with the purpose of keeping him calm and energized. Vincent also accompanied him any time he left the room that he'd since learned was in Healin. Rufus had apparently lent Avalanche half of the lodge for what he dubbed as "Cloud watching." When Tifa admonished him for calling it such in front of Cloud, Rufus had merely caught his eyes, stating "Cloud knows more than anyone that it's incurable. You're all just watching to make sure he doesn't do anything self detrimental because of that." Rufus came in every two weeks to ramble on about how Reeve was doing, or what asinine stunts Reno had pulled recently. Cloud came to the conclusion that Rufus blamed himself for Cloud's predicament, as he'd been the one who'd sent him after the madman in the first place. Cloud honestly didn't blame Rufus. The former president had been right to send him off to that fight that would've meant unavoidable doom to anyone else. He knew that strength wise, he could never actually compete with the former war-hero turned god-complex riddled entity hell bent on the genocide of the entire human race. It was the simple fact that he knew Sephiroth wouldn't actually kill him. Because he'd learned from geostigma caused hallucinations that, not only did his existence anchor the man to life, he was also the only thing left of the man's past. A knock on the door shook Cloud from his musings. He heard the rustle of velvet and knew instantly who it was as they approached. He turned to stare at Vincent instead.
"I…. We think we might've found a way to cure you. But the other's…. well…. they don't want… to go about it this way." Vincent began, the atmosphere extremely heavy. "There was an explosion in edge, and one near Aerith's old house. Signs of mako poisoning have been noticed on various citizens, and there … have been whispers." If he'd had his voice, Cloud would have asked for the point, Vincent had normally not been one to skirt around so much. That told him what he needed to know, and it appeared Vincent saw it in his gaze. Only a handful of weeks, and Sephiroth was Forming again. "He's only a spirit. He'll likely want to lure you to him in order to reform himself. Its risky, but you may be able to convince him to fix what he did. Rufus told me I should let you know." Cloud nodded at him, assuring the former turk that he would keep this in mind. For now, he would simply stew over what he'd heard.