Summary: A dangerous disease makes itself known through the world, without a cure and without a cause. It simply comes through the night, like a man through a window with black feathers as the only trace.
Warning: This story contains violence, ideologically sensitive material and male on male sex. Do not read if you aren't comfortable with these.
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy and all of its characters are the property of Square Enix and other associated people. I do not own any of it. The story is 100% mine.
"We don't have a cure for it."
The couple sitting in the doctor's office looked at each other. The woman held her head in her hands and cried quietly while the man shook his own. The doctor excused himself and left the room, muttering his apologies. The two sat in silence as the door closed.
Watching her cry, the man walked across the room and picked up a file from the doctor's desk. Pictures of skin etched with a dark disease were lined up next to a list of symptoms and after effects, each more awful than the last. He sighed, folding the pages before pushing it into a pocket. Looking back, he saw that she had stopped and was staring across the room, deep in thought. Closing his eyes, he turned away from her. "We'll have to tell him."
She snapped out of her thoughts, crying out. "But he's still a child! How can we tell him that he's going to die painfully?"
He shook his head and looked back at her over his shoulder. "He's not so much a child as you think he is. You know exactly what he went through. What we put him through." She flinched and bit her lip. "He's seen people with it die. He knows what happens." She shook her head angrily at him and shouted back. "How can you be so cruel?"
"It would be crueller to let him keep going with the hope that we can stop it."
She opened her mouth but stopped, looking at his back.
They stayed there in silence until the doctor came back in with several bottles of pain medication and some more files. The two listened as he explained the uses and what to do in an emergency, before bidding them goodbye and apologizing once more. They drove home without a word.
From the window of his room Cloud watched the kids play in the back court. His eyes narrowed when the older boy stopped suddenly and put a hand to his forehead, dropping the ball he had been carrying. The girl stood in front of him and gently put a hand on his shoulder, waiting till the attack would pass. He turned away from his window.
Looking down at his desk, he pushed some files away and flipped through a medical book, stopping at a large picture of one of the arms of an infected adult. Black liquid dripped from the dark skin and a paragraph underneath explained the situation.
In almost all known cases of the Geostigma, the diseased markings will spread and darken over time. There is a light, non-stopping pain in the area where the body is infected, which also spreads with the disease. Irregularly, but often, the area will throb and spasms of pain will shoot throughout the body, sometimes becoming unbearable and even life threatening. This attack can normally last anywhere between a minute and 15, but there have been cases of it happening for extended periods of time. These attacks can be random, but are often triggered by outside pain, stress, or straining of the body. Infected are advised to be very careful and avoid anything strenuous.
As observance of the Geostigma has gone on for longer, another affect has presented itself to the population. Though less common, it is much more dangerous and is triggered by seemingly nothing. All of the known patients with this symptom have no connection that can be linked to them, and some also have very little of the disease. The infected skin will suddenly begin to throb and will begin to secrete an acidic, black liquid. The liquid will burn the skin, and can cause large amounts of bleeding. In addition, extremely severe headaches will plague the victim and can cause unconsciousness, bleeding of the brain, strokes, hallucinations and death. Should these attacks occur, there is no pain medication that can numb the pain.
No cure has been found at the time of writing, and neither has a cause. The Geostigma is not caught through touch, breathing, sharing of bodily fluids or any other method. The average life expectancy during the time of infection is a known maximum of 5 months.
Cloud stopped and closed the book, looking back out the window. He couldn't see the kids anymore, but the shrieks and laughter coming from nearby told him that the attack was over.
His door opened, and Tifa walked in with two cups of coffee. She set it down next to him and sat on his bed, sipping at her own. He lifted the cup to his mouth, but paused and looked at his friend. "Did you tell him?"
She sighed and shook her head. "I'm waiting till tonight, after we all eat. We can tell them together."
"So we're telling Marlene now as well?" He asked, slightly surprised that she would be fine with exposing the younger child to the truth. Tifa smiled and laughed slightly. "Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks they're younger than they seem."
He gave her one of his rare smiles before Cloud looked back out the window to watch the two of them play. She followed his gaze and stopped on his desk, eyes widening at the books and files that covered it. Standing up, she lifted one of the books. "You hypocrite. Geostigma: The Modern-Day Plague?"
He turned back to her and pulled the book out of her hand. "He said that they have no cure. They didn't say that there wasn't one." He pushed the files and the books into a bag and put it in his closet, before handing the empty cup to Tifa. "And I highly doubt that they or anyone from Shinra will find it any time soon. We don't have forever Tifa."
She shook her head and laughed lightly.
Cloud stared angrily into the small bedroom.
A quiet groan escaped the boy lying on one of the beds and Marlene quickly pushed a wet towel onto his sweaty forehead. He could hear them quietly talk to each other, hands holding.
He bit his lip roughly before turning away and stalking down the hall to the front door. He grabbed his scabbard and his riding glasses and started to leave, before a hand gripped his shoulder.
"Where are you going?"
He glanced over his shoulder at the concerned woman behind him before staring at the door in front of his face. "Anywhere but here." Tifa frowned and her grip tightened. "Why? Is watching him remind you of the fact that you haven't found the cure yet? Is that it?"
He spun around at her and captured her wrist in his hand. "Two months." He said, angry. "Two months that could have been pain free for him. Two fucking months that I wasted not helping him. Tifa, we have no cure."
She shouted back at him. "We will find one. Damn it Cloud, what did you expect to get?"
His scabbard and glasses fell to the ground, and he shook her wrist painfully. "I expected to save people! People are suffering and dying from this every day. What happens if one of our friends or Marlene catches it? Then what?" She reached with her spare hand and slapped him sharply across the cheek.
She whispered harshly to him. "You can't save everyone. Don't think that even you can do that." They stared at each other, fuming, before Cloud dropped her hand and turned his head to the side.
"I can't save anyone Tifa. I didn't before, and I won't be able to now."
She watched as he bent down and retrieved his fallen items, before slamming the door behind him. Staring at the wooden barrier between them, she stood in a silence only broken by the quiet sounds of tears hitting the tile floor. She shook her head and smashed her fist into the wall, making cracks split along the wood.
"Damn you Cloud."
He closed his eyes and let his head relax against the stiff arm of the pew, before opening them again to stare at the broken high ceiling. Turning to the side, he watched the sunlight shine down over the small field, shadows fluttering as a light wind moved the flowers. As it blew stronger, he could almost hear her voice move with it.
Sighing, he swung his legs off the bench and stood up, walking slowly to the field. Sitting down in the center, Cloud let himself relax and quietly whispered to the flowers.
"Aerith, please. I don't know what to do."
A sweet laugh came from behind him, along with a deeper chuckle. He let out a breath he hadn't know he was holding in. Slender arms embraced him from behind and a large hand found its way onto his head, ruffling his hair playfully. "Looks like Chocobo head here still comes to us for help." The voices laughed behind him again, and he relaxed into their touch. "Its just like you Cloud, going off on your own like that." She scolded softly "Don't leave your friends so easily. You need them just as much as they need you."
He sighed once more and just let himself be cared for by his old friends, even if just for a short while. His breathing slowed to match theirs and he slowly became at ease, before a fourth breathing pattern made itself known.
His eyes shot open and he stared across the room to see a staggering figure moving towards him. Standing up quickly, he made to go help the person before two pairs of hands held him back.
"Cloud! No!"
He broke free from his friends and instinctively gripped the handle of his sword when the figure suddenly sped up and began to wail loudly. It charged and he drew, hitting the attacker with the flat side of the blade and sending it flying into one of the columns. Moving cautiously to the fallen body, he nudged its head with his boot, before rearing back in surprise.
Cloud could feel his heart skip when it looked up at him. A wave of nausea coursed through him and it took all of his self control to not keel over right then and retch. The thing made a gargling scream and splattered a smoking black liquid on the floor. The same liquid poured from its eyes and nose, and coated the rest of the body. He stepped back when more of the liquid landed near his foot and was forced to put a hand to his mouth.
He grunted when something hard connected with his sword, coating it with the burning liquid. Being caught by surprise, the infected used that chance to fling itself onto him, sending them both sprawling to the floor. A scream escaped his lips as his skin burned in contact, causing spasms of pain throughout his body.
His eyes widened when the creature stopped and let out a wail, before gripping his arms harshly and staining his skin. Cloud started to struggle wildly as it started to dissolve and pour onto him, making his clothes burn away and his skin turn black. It completely fell apart and left him lying on the floor, body quivering in pain, unable to move.
He gasped for breath as he tried to regain control over his limbs and groaned when it sent pulsing pain into his head. He finally stilled as footsteps echoed across the church.
A gloved hand gently covered his eyes as another lifted him by one of his limp arms. He sighed slightly when the pain lessened, only to be even fiercer as the hand pushed him roughly onto his stomach. A deep chuckle resounded above him and he shuddered with recognition.
"Does it hurt, Cloud?" Another laugh when he pulled one of the limp arms sharply, earning a stifled yelp. Sephiroth roughly brought his boot down on the thin limb, laughing properly when he received a loud crack and a scream in return.
The hand left his eyes and yanked his head upwards, until he found himself with his back pressed against a hard chest. Hot breath warmed his ear and he bit his lip when something wet moved along the outer shell.
"I will make you pay."
Cloud lay limply in horror as the remaining bits of his burned clothes were torn from his body.
Sephiroth stared down at him as he was flipped onto his back, smiling as the broken arm struck the ground and another scream echoed off the walls. He lifted his legs quickly and spread, laughing when a horrified look quickly crossed his victims face and the blackened skin turned a shade darker along his cheekbones. Leaning over, he licked the cheek and watched as it faded back to its normal colour, the rest changing quickly after.
He moved down his jaw and bit sharply on his neck, smirking against his skin when a muffled moan tried to escape Cloud. Heading back up, he licked the inner area of his ear, whispering into it.
"I will humiliate you."
His eyes widened and he bit on his lip harshly when a dry gloved finger pushed cruelly at his ass, roughly breaking its way in. He clenched around it tightly, not relaxing even after it was removed.
"Cloud, you will suffer long after everyone else is dead. I will make you wish you had fallen to my blade long ago."
Cloud screamed and his body jerked as Sephiroth forced himself inside. The powerful warrior mercilessly pounded into him, ripping the fragile walls and causing sharp pains to race up his spine. Deep, mocking laughter filled his ears as he cried out and tears ran down his cheeks. He could feel hot liquid pouring from the junction between their bodies, dripping down onto the ground.
Sephiroth ended it quickly and released himself deeply into his body. He pulled himself out and let the limp legs fall ungracefully to the floor.
He groaned feebly as his unbroken arm was lifted up, but didn't let out a sound even as black fire pushed itself into it. It fell to the ground and he shuddered as the poison began its slow torture. His vision started to cloud and the darkness of unconsciousness quickly took over his mind. A deep chuckle echoed in his head.
"I will never let you be, Cloud."
He opened his eyes and groaned loudly as sat up on the pew, wincing as his muscles rebelled from being forced to lie in such an uncomfortable position for a long period of time. Looking through one of the holes in the high ceiling, he realised that he must have been asleep for over three hours, and that it was almost sunset.
Glancing across the peaceful field, he smiled, remembering Aerith's advice. He turned to the entrance and headed out, not noticing the dark shadow making its way across his arm.
-The End
By far my favourite oneshot to date. This one focused much less on the sex and more on the plot.
I hope you enjoyed it!
-Please review! I get a very large amount of views, alerts and favorites for my stories, but very few comments. Comments (even if they are bad) are my creative incentive! I neeeeddd feedback!