A/N: Hi all! This one popped into my head about a week ago. I don't really plan on continuing with it, but I'm thinking of making a similar story for FFIV, VII, and IX. Maybe X, but not entirely sure yet. Anyways, enjoy :)

Published: 11/21/2017

Warnings: Graphic violence and spoilers

Ragnarok

The world was ending, and wasn't that just absolutely fantastic? The world was ending, and all their efforts, all their actions, their losses, their tears, were for nothing. Aerith had died for nothing. Zack had died for nothing. None of their actions and none of their sacrifices amounted to anything, because this, this right here, this was the end.

"Ragnarok," Cloud remembered his mother's stories, "When Ragnarok comes, and the Gods rage their war, this world, all worlds, will come to an end. The darkness will crawl from the abyss, and the Flame Jotun Surt will lay waste to the land."

His mother had always believed in the old myths. She had believed in the ancient powers, in the Old Gods of a forgotten age. She was one of the few that still gave tribute to the Aesir of old, no matter how insane the rest of the townspeople said she was for doing so.

His mother hadn't batted an eyelash at all, instead standing tall and proud, ignoring the murmurs.

It hadn't mattered in the end, that little tidbit of religion. Sephiroth had slaughtered them all regardless. An equal opportunity killer.

"We hold the old blood, Cloud. Blood of the Aesir and the Jotun run in our veins. Diluted over the years, to be sure, but there nonetheless. A gift from our ancestors," his mother had once revealed to him. "They forget the truth, but this world has been marked by the gods."

Well, if it had, the Gods had forsaken then. Or, perhaps not. Perhaps this was always the way things were meant to come to an end.

His mother had spoken of Ragnarok as if it were some far off, distant event. A struggle that they would never live to see, so far off that by the time it began there wouldn't even be a memory of them left. The Fall do the Gods and the Fall of the World. A clash divine beings, tearing apart the universe in a bloody clash that would lead to total annihilation.

That was what his mother had stated. That was what she had believed. Ragnarok would be a brilliant, violent struggle as forces of nature turned on one another and wrecked havoc around them in a chaotic dance that would end up killing them all.

That was what his mother had believed. His mother, Cloud realized, had been wrong.

Ragnarok was not the romanticised epic his mother had described. Loki versus Heimdall. Thor versus Jormungand. Odin against Fenrir. No, instead the reality was far more twisted than that. Far more twisted.

"There's no end to them!"

They should never have come back here. Here, to Midgard, to scourge about for survivors. It was a suicide mission. Insanity. It was going to get them killed, because there were no humans left. No. Only demons.

Desperation.

That was the only thing Cloud could use to compare to this. Such desperation that he found himself back to back with Genesis, of all people, as the Heartless continue to come, over and over and over again. An endless army of death and destruction.

This, Cloud realized, was Ragnarok. It wasn't like his mother described. It wasn't like that at all.

Another of the Shadows leapt at him. With a swing, Cloud tore the little creature to pieces before dodging back as blasts of magic hit where he had stood.

"Meteors, rain down!" Cloud spun the blade over his head and thruster it forth. The graves obeyed his commands, fire and rock falling upon his enemies, burning them away.

Unfortunately, from the ashes more of those abominations rose. Again and again. An eternal army of destruction.

Sensing Genesis behind him, Cloud hardened his stance.

"Any bright ideas?"

Genesis answered with a grunt.

If didn't matter his strong the pair of them were. It didn't matter that they were perhaps the strongest pair on the planet, the last remaining dregs of Soldier. Their enemy was endless, unrelenting, their advance unstoppable.

Just like Zack, Cloud realized, he and Genesis would be overwhelmed by pure numbers.

Just-Like-Elena-Rude-Reeve

No!

Don't think, fight!

Cloud's face scrunched as he heard Zack's voice, ringing in his head like a familiar melody.

"I've been damaged enough… Good."

Cloud blinked. He could practically hear the feral smirk on his enemy-turned-begrudging-ally's face.

"Apocalypse!"

…

Shit!

Cloud leapt away as far as he could, ducked, and rolled. Genesis had, of course, given him no warning. That wasn't surprising. Genesis wouldn't bat an eyelash if Cloud was caught in the blast. If anything, he'd sneer and declare Cloud had it coming for not dodging.

Genesis was a bastard like that. Always had been, always would be.

Still, he was an effective bastard. Cloud couldn't deny that. Not when magic and destruction blasted apart the Heartless, scattering them apart until they were nothing more than whips of fading smoke.

Cloud heard a clang. Spinning around, he saw as Genesis fell to his knees, rapier fallen from his grasp, hand clashed on his chest.

Cloud's heart gave an uncomfortable lurch.

"Gen?"

The redheaded man turns his head towards him, a grin plastered all over his face. At first, Cloud thought nothing was wrong. Everything was alright. Genesis was just tired, and who could blame him? But, then he noticed just the extra splash of red, bright and dark and crimson, rapidly pooling around Genesis. There was a blade in his chest, the same kind those demons, the Invisibles according to Libra, carried.

Genesis smiled, teeth and all, even as blood began to seal from his mouth, falling to the ground in slow drops.

"Gen!"

Damn it, damn it, damn it!

Always a bloody sword!

Aerith-smiling-praying-impaled-blood-so much blood-katana-silver-dead-so dead-not-breathing-gone

Genesis coughed, blood splattering before him.

"Sorry, Strife. Don't think I'm gonna-"

Then, Genesis fell face first into the asphalt.

It was like a switch that been flipped in Cloud's brain.

"Gen? Genesis! Damn if, Gen!"

Cloud was holding the other man. He hadn't remembered moving, but he was here. Genesis should be regenerating. He was a Soldier. Soldiers heal. That's what Soldiers did.

Except, he wasn't healing, he wasn't getting better, and Cloud was out of fucking Phoenix Downs because there were no more bloody Phoenixes, and his mother had been wrong. So, so wrong.

Ragnarok was not an epic clash of giants and gods with humanity caught in the mix.

Ragnarok was Genesis, bleeding in his arms, the light in his eyes gone from the world because he was dead, just like the rest. Ragnarok was shadows and cold and darkness consuming the world, drowning it until there was nothing left.

Briefly, Cloud remembered the stories of Hel, who ruled over the land of the dead. A cold, icy realm. Frozen, like the ice now consuming this world.

Ragnarok was a slow, burning frozen death. Like a poison that spread about without warning, without end. This was Ragnarok, and this was the end.

Ragnarok began in the last place you would expect. It hadn't started in the ruins of Midgard, riffed with death and destruction and ravaged by so much suffering. It didn't begin in the Northern Crater, where Sephiroth had made his final stand as flame and stone rained from the heavens above, promising silence and death and an end to all.

It didn't begin in the City of the Ancients, among the rubble of broken bones.

No.

It began in a broken little town full of counterfeits. Cloud couldn't help but feel a vindictive surge of justice before it all went to shit.

The Heartless had first emerged in Nibelheim. Demons, swarming about the mountains, across the land, across the seas. Relentless in their efforts, destroying everyone and everything in their path.

It had been a complete massacre. Worse than the Wutai War, than the Genesis War, than the War against Sephiroth and Jenova.

Cloud wondered if this is what the Cetra had seen. If this is what they had felt as their Ragnarok fell around them in a cataclysmic wave of death. It certainly felt like the end, and Cloud wasn't sure if there was a way out.

Maybe there wasn't. Maybe this really was the end. No. No maybe's about it. Even Deepground summoning Omega hadn't been this bloody.

Cloud could attest to that.

After all, Omega itself raged in the distance, as Heartless of all shapes and sizes and colors railed against it. Dragons, Griffins, Behemoths, Shadows and Neoshadows crawling along its surface like annoying little bugs working together to take down a larger target. As Omega swung, another Darkside latched onto its arm before kicking out with tiny little legs against the Weapon's side.

The Weapon gave a mechanized screeched as the Heartless piled over it, over and over and over again until, at long last, Omega was drowned in them, collapsing as it was defeated.

Cloud grunted.

"That… does not bode well for us." Vincent's commentary was always so on point.

Cloud snorted. Shooting the gunman a look, Cloud spoke.

"Have you heard anything from our bat-winged friend?"

Vincent shook his head.

"He's been silent since Deepground. Now that Omega is gone… I doubt he had a reason to wake. Not again. Not anymore."

Cloud tsked in annoyance.

"Picky demons. We could use him."

"Would it make much of a difference?"

Cloud pretended not to hear the irritation in his friend's voice. Instead, he merely shrugged.

"Any difference would suffice. Those demons are my Knights of the Round and fucking outright converted them. We are so screwed it's not even funny." Cloud declared with a shake of his head.

Perhaps he was being a bit nihilistic and apathetic about the whole thing, but he just couldn't help it.

They could kill the Heartless a hundred times over, but killing an enemy hardly matters when they can get back up and reform just as easily. Winning a war against a force that literally grew by converting their own to their side was an impossible dream.

Cloud had lost count of how many had already killed themselves rather than be converted into Heartless. He couldn't blame them at all. This really was hopele-

~Come on, Cloudy. Don't give up! We didn't give up against Sephiroth, and we won't give up now!~

Zack.

Always Zack.

Always there in Cloud's heart, in his mind, waiting and watching from some dark corner in the back of Cloud's head. A steady hum against the background of destruction. Supporting him, aiding him, keeping Cloud just on the edge of sanity.

… by being a voice in the back of Cloud's head.

Joy.

Cloud would either by a psychologist's wet dream or their worst nightmare, with no inbetween.

"This isn't like Sephiroth or Jenova. There's no end to them, and we can't kill them. This… This is the end. This is Ragnarok."

~ Don't think like that! We survived the rest, right? We made it through, and- ~

"You didn't make it though!" Cloud snapped, body tense and desperate as reality began to crush down on him. Fuck, fuck, fuck!

Cloud grilled his at his hair, body shaking as if finally, finally started to sink in. There hadn't been a point to any of it. There hadn't been a point to any of it at all, because they were all going to die, here and now.

They were going to die.

This was it.

Gaia would fall to shadows, because the world wasn't fair and they were all going to die and sacrifices and heroes meant nothing at all.

~... You're right ~ Zack conceded, to Cloud's shock. ~ But, I'm not gone. I'm here, with you. I've always been here. Never forget that, Cloudy ~

Cloud grit his teeth. No, Zack had never left him. Not once. Not ever.

Death itself hadn't been enough to stop someone with the determination and tenacity of Soldier, First Class, Zachary Fair, which was why Zack's spirit had latched into him, binding itself to Cloud's core.

It had made a fucking mess of his memories. It really had. Not that Cloud ever regretted it. He'd never admit it out loud, but having Zack with him here meant the world to him.

A hand clasped its way onto Cloud's shoulder, knocking him out of his thoughts.

Looking up, he was met with Vincent's stern gaze.

"We should go, Cloud. The others are waiting."

Others…

Waiting…

Right.

Time to go. Time for the last stand their final battle against the darkness. The end of all.

Mother's Ragnarok.

Surt did not, in fact, stomp all over Midgard in a fiery glory. According to legend, the Lord of Fire would lay waste to all in a march of fiery destruction that would end with the death of Yggdrasil, the World Tree upon which the rest of the universe rested. He would slay the Vanir Frey with his own blade before laying a siege against all creation, bringing about the end of all.

The reality wasn't far from the truth, in a way.

"Is that Ifrit? Please, oh please, tell me that isn't Ifrit!" Yuffie cried out.

Unfortunately, it was not to be.

Ifrit, Heartlessified, marched along towards them, a burning inferno of dark hellfire following the Summon's wake. Unfortunately, he wasn't alone. Other summons began to ride behind him, just as twisted and broken.

Shiva. Leviathan. The Knights of the Round. Bahamut. Ramuh.

And Odin.

What fucking irony.

"They even got Leviathan? No way!"

Cloud twitched. Yuffie's voice was starting to grate on him. Everything was so annoying, and Cloud was in a terrible mood, and he couldn't be bothered to deny it.

"So, this is it, huh? It was nice knowin' y'all. Let's kick ass!" Cid roared, hefting his spear above his head with a hurrah and a battle cry.

"Final? We're making it through this! We always do!"

Tifa. Fear masked in cheer and optimism. Or maybe just plain optimism. Cloud couldn't tell.

"Can't believe I'm here with you ingrates! Brother, we should leave!"

Nero. Charming as always.

"No can do, brother. These weaklings are our best shot at survival."

Weiss. Pragmatic as usual.

"Don't make me beat the pair of you again."

Vincent. Blunt and to the point.

"Come on, boys. Play nice, 'Kay?"

Reno. Calm and cool on the face of danger.

"Tch, why we gotta team up with scum like Shinra's beyond me."

Barret. Angry and bad tempered.

"Shut up and get ready for work."

Tseng. Always so serious.

"I calculated my chances of survival are 3.14 times greater if I abandon you all to die."

Shelke. Always a joy.

"Enough!" Cloud called out. With one last look at his companions, he turned. Sword hefted over his back, he spoke, "let's mosey."

They'd chosen the City of the Ancients for their last stand. Perhaps not the best of places, but still. Of all the locations in the world, the remaining aura of the Ancients seemed at least try to ward off the dark taint of the Heartless. At the very least, it made them weaker.

Weakened or not, this battle was not one Cloud enjoyed. Not at all.

~ Duck! To your side! Behind us! ~

Cloud had long learned to obey the voice in the back of his head. Zack was like an extra pair of eyes, compete with over protective urges and mother henning.

~ On your flank- hold on! Aha! Cool! ~

To Cloud's shock, Zack full on materialized, swinging that monster of a Buster Blade a putt as another corrupted Knight swooped down on them.

The slayers of Jenova, attacking them from all sides. Lovely. Just lovely.

"How in the hell-"

"Hiya, Cloud! Look what I figured out!" Zack beamed at him, his smile like the sun rising in the horizon, despite the blood splattered all over it. Then, he turned at parried a blow as another knight aimed at his side.

Cloud decided it was best to just let it go. This was Zack. Nothing sane ever happened around him.

"Mother, they're taking your birthright from us. Taking what is rightfully ours. How dare they? How? This is our world to destroy, our world to rule!"

Sephiroth had long since given into the madness. Accepting it was so fun. So liberating. Free of his chains, of the chains Hojo and Shinra had wrapped around him. True, at first he'd had to deal with his psychotic mother trying to control him which, admittedly, he'd fallen under the sway at first.

However, he'd broken free of that soon enough. There hadn't been much of a choice in the matter.

That bitch had taken one on ok into Strife's eyes and frozen, freezing Sephiroth along with her. Jenova had recognized something in Strife, something ancient and primal that had left even her immobile from fright and shock.

Sephiroth had been disgusted. Her fear had cost him his physical body. True, he had transcended the need for flesh and muscle and had become an ascended being, but still. How utterly annoying.

Still, at long last, it was nearing. Sephiroth smirked as the darkness encroached farther still into Gaia, practically consuming it whole.

"Foolish humans. You should have accepted me, accepted me and my rule. I would have become a god, your god, your savior. But, instead, you've all chosen condemnation."

Green eyes lit with malice, Sephiroth gazed forth even as his own form flickered. Here, at the end of all things, the walls between life and death became weakened, crumbling in the night of so much carnage.

"I will live again. And, I made a promise to you, Cloud. You've shown me what you cherish most, and now?" Sephiroth's smile wondered as he extended his arms above his head, towards the heavens and towards the stars, "Now, I will take it all away."

Barret is a broken, bleeding mess. There isn't enough left of Nanaki to identify him. Tseng, though, was the worst of all.

He'd been converted.

Nero fell next.

Cloud wasn't sure whether the other had been forcibly drowned in the dark or if he had give himself willingly again to the mindless heart of the abyss.

"Nero! Nero!"

Weiss was inconsolable. He also managed to take out a good hundred Heartless, including Shiva and Odin before he fell to Ifrit's flame.

The WRO wasn't faring anywhere near as well. As far as Cloud could tell, they were officially out of grunts and cannon fodder.

"We'll make it through this buddy, just mark my words! That's a promise!"

Cloud ignored the words. It's not like they mattered. It's not like they meant anything. Not here and not now. Although, a small part of him resisted the urge to smile. Even here, Zack was trying to be a beacon of light.

No one had really batted an eye at the resurrected Zack. They'd taken it in passing before dismissing it as unimportant. Normally, Cloud would be annoyed. Normally, if the world hadn't been ending around them.

Yuffie's star spun across the battlefield. Leviathan gave a screech as it impaled into it's side. Then, Yuffie herself was there, tearing her way through the corrupted summon with a ferocity Cloud didn't think possible of the Wutai Princess.

"Take that! And that! And that! How dare you corrupt my precious Levi!"

Cloud sweatdropped.

"Shi- Rude! Elena! It's me! Stop, don- please!"

Cloud didn't want to look. He really didn't. Unfortunately, he had to. A pair of Heartless were tearing Reno to shreds, claws ripping his flesh and drawing blood. Why he thought they were Rude and Elena, Cloud didn't know, but perhaps, just maybe, some instinctive part of Reno just knew. Just knew that these were his companions, his allies, his brother's in arms.

Cloud moved to help but before he could Bahamut, in all his glory, attacked. Instinct had Cloud rolling on the ground as a great arm swung at him. Coming up in a crouch, Cloud glared up as Bahamut roared.

History, it seemed, liked to repeat itself.

Bahamut Sin, all over again,

Except, this time, there was more than one corrupted Summon. This time, Cloud couldn't expect any back up. This time, they were all screwed beyond imagination, because this was Ragnarok and-

Then, the last thing Cloud expected came. The last thing any of them expected came.

Light.

Bright.

So bright.

Bliding and white and consuming.

The Heartless hissed and screamed and howled as the light began to burn at them. Bahamut gave a roar as he ascended to the heavens and retreated. Ramuh, ironically, was blinded by the light. CId took advantage and ran him through easily enough with a spear to the heart. Ifrit's flames flared as Tifa and Vincent took him together, a blast in the head from Death Penalty ending the Summon's existence.

The light was warm. So warm and welcoming and-

There, behind them.

Staff in her hands, flower in her hair, rose colored dress, shimmering emerald eyes.

"Begone, dwellers of Darkness. You are not welcome here."

Aerith, because it could only be Aerith, slammed her staff down. The light flared around them and Cloud watched in amazement as an army so large it consumed the horizon backed away, hissing in retreat.

Slowly, they all turned to stare at her in amazement.

Aerith was supporting herself on the staff, her legs having seemingly given out on her. Deep pants escaped her lips. Her face was strained with effort, so much effort, so much power, but she merely grinned at them, alive and breathing and there.

Hope, in the darkness.

"It's our only hope. I can cast us out to the stars. We can survive, but Gaia? Gaia is… Gaia is lost."

They had retreated further into the city. The last survivors. The only survivors as the Heartless continued to ravage their world, over and over again.

Cloud. Zack. Tifa. Yuffie. Cid. Vincent. Aerith.

Everyone…

Everyone else was…

Denzel… Marlene…

Cloud grit his teeth.

"So… We just run away?"

Somehow, despite everything, the idea was just… It didn't sit right with him. Not at all. Ragnarok was falling around them, had fallen, and they were all that was left. Half a dozen survivors, two of them spirits at that. And, their solution was to run. Their solution was retreat.

Aerith gave a tense nod.

"Yes. Perhaps… Perhaps, one day, we can return, and fix what's broken. But we can't now. We can't as we are."

Cid snorted.

"Sweetheart, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but there ain't no saving this world. Place is fucked worse than my liver."

Aerith, however, just shook her head.

"No… What the Heartless do, it can be reversed. But not by us. Only by one of them. The Ancients had stories about them, about the warriors of old, the warriors of the Stars."

The rest of them froze.

"What… What warrior? How can any of this, any of it, be fixed! The world and everyone on it is dead! What could possibly fix that!" Tifa was screaming, the calm cheer she had attempted to hold shattering to pieces. Cloud couldn't say he was surprised she had held out this long. The only person more stubborn than her was Zack.

Aerith looked up, eyes shimmering with that dreaded emotion. With hope.

"Wielders of the Keyblade, a weapon capable of undoing a Heartless transformation. A Weapon capable of restoring the heart of a world. The most powerful weapon in the Universe."

That…

That sounded too good to be true, to be honest.

A weapon that could undo all their horrors? It sounded like a nice little dream, but Cloud wouldn't hold out on it. He really wouldn't.

Then, the world began to shake. Yuffie, the clutz, lost her balance and fell over.

Aerith grimaced.

"The barrier I set won't hold forever. Besides, once they get to Minerva, its game over. They kill her, they kill the world."

Who? Who was this Minerva?

Zack, however, seemed to recognize the name. Eyes widening, he took a step back in shock.

"Wait- you mean… Genesis' Goddess?"

What?

Aerith nodded.

"She carries the Heart of this World. Once she falls, all of Gaia falls. We don't have much time. We have to-"

"Invite me on your little journey?"

The silence that rang through the room was deafening. Then, as one, like a well oiled machine, they all turned and attacked at the enemy, at the monster, that had made it's way into their midst. How, Cloud wasn't sure and he didn't particularly care. If there was one person he'd willingly hand to the Heartless, it was Sephiroth.

The Silver General only laughed as he spun gracefully through their attacks, his sword cutting through the air as it clanged against their weapons with ease. Then, with a flick of his fingers, a blast of wind knocked them all back before Sephiroth spun.

"I always did want to do this a second time. The first was so much fun, and it's so much better to do it with my own hands."

With that, he lunged at Aerith, Masamune extended forth for another impale.

"NO!"

Cloud wasn't sure who screamed. Maybe it was him. Maybe it was Zack. Maybe it was Aerith. It could have been any of them. The only one that he knew, without a doubt, wasn't responsible was Vinent.

Why?

Because Masamune was currently tearing its way into his flesh, into the gunman's heart as he pulled a startled Sephiroth closer.

"Hn. It's you. The one that mother-" Sephiroth began.

He didn't get a chance to finish.

Zack swung and the Silver General's head went flying. The body shimmered for several seconds before fading away, along with Masamune. Vincent collapsed as blood gushed from his lips.

Vincent.

Vincent.

Damn it!

Cloud somehow managed to get there first as the dark haired man collapsed. He wasn't healing either, just like Genesis. Although, Cloud supposed that made a twisted sort of sense. He and the others had gained their near immortality from Mako, and Mako was the blood and life force of the planet.

A planet that was now dying around them.

"Cloud. Sorry. Don't think I'm going to make it."

Vincent smiled. Actually fucking smiled. That's how you know things were going to shit. Vincent never smiled. Vincent didn't do smiles. He didn't know what a smile even was. His partner in brooding was smiling, and he was dying, and damn it all, not another, please, not another because hadn't they already lost enough?

Eyes snapping up to Aerith, a desperation clinging to them, Cloud spoke.

"Heal him."

Aerith, however, just grimaced and shook her head. Cloud felt his blood began to boil.

"I can't. I need the rest of my magical energy to get us off Gaia. We're cutting it close as it is. I'm sorry Cloud. I can't. I can't."

She expected him to understand. Cloud had always been the calm one. The one who thought things out. The blunt one. The realist. And dammit if she wasn't right! Cloud cursed before looking away. The light in Vincent's eyes was already fading. Dying. Dying, just like the rest.

"Cloud…"

Zack's hand was on his shoulder, familiar and comforting and warm and Cloud just wanted to melt into it and-

Zack.

Eyes widening in realization, Cloud looked up in wonder. Zack was taken aback slightly by the gaze.

"What?"

"... You lived in me. You survived through me. You lived, because I gave your heart sanctuary."

With that declaration, Cloud snapped his head back to Vincent before gripping a clawed hand in his own. The other only blinked up, dazed and fading.

"Live in me." Cloud declared.

…

"What?"

"Huh? What's going on?"

"Cloud?"

Cloud ignored them all. Instead, his gaze was fixed on Vincent. Not another. Not another. He couldn't. Not someone else. Please, no one else. This had to end. This just had to end. No more blood. No more death. No more. Please.

"Not you too… Please. Please, Vincent. I can't… I can't lose anymore of you. Please…"

Vincent's dazed look became determined. Then, he gave a single nod. Satisfied, Cloud looked towards Aerith, and gave a single affirmative nod.

The world exploded in white.

He was soaring. Soaring through the skies and soaring through the heavens. Soaring and ascending to somewhere else, somewhere new, somewhere better. Soaring, when he felt it.

Zack froze as he felt something dark and twisted began to snake its way into his body.

"Hello, Zack."

Zack struggled against the chains, eyes now frantic, his former relaxation shattering as he felt his body, his muscles rebel against them. His mind was twisted on itself, and there was only one person who could do this to him, only one.

"Sephiroth!"

The man himself appeared before him, a benevolent smile on his face.

"Worry not, for you have been chosen!" Sephiroth patted Zack on the cheek, a maniacal glint in his glowing eyes, "Chosen, to be my vessel! I must say… I expected Cloud, but no matter. I can make use of this. This is even better, really. Just imagine… Imagine the look on his face when I shift my form from myself to you as I kill him? Slayed, by his best friend?" Sephiroth looked downright euphoric at the idea, the sociopath. Zack felt sick. What had happened to the friend he had once thought he knew better than the back of his own hand?

Sephiroth's eyes locked onto his and he smiled, twisted and evil worse than any Heartless could ever manage.

"Yes… Yes, you'll do nicely, Zachary Fair. However… We do need a little time. Let's rush ahead, shall we? Land before the rest? Yes… A few months. A few months will do nicely."

When Zack Fair awakes, he is years younger and gazing at the wonders of the Olympus Coliseum. With a smirk, he strides forth, face scrunched in determination. He will be a hero. He just knows it.

Radiant Garden.

They land in a place called Radiant Garden. Battered and broken and gasping for breath and air, they land in Radiant Garden. The second they do, they're injured and broken and taken to a castle were medics and healers rush about.

Cloud is personally flabbergasted.

They're complete strangers. Who does this for strangers? Instantly, his suspicion peaks. It doubles when a silver haired man walks into the room, followed by several others, including a blond in a lab coat who's smile eerily reminded him of Hojo. Cloud resists the urge to commit homicide. He doubts it will be appreciated.

The silver haired man stops before Cloud and smiles. Its fake and twisted and reminds Cloud eerily of Kadaj and Rufus.

"Hello. My name is Ansem," the young man introduces himself, "and these are two of my apprentices, Even and Ienzo."

Even is the Hojo esq one. Ienzo is the little midget following around like a dog at his master's heels, except not quiet. Not quite, because there's a fire in the kids eyes that puts Cloud on edge. The kid was dangerous. Very dangerous. More dangerous than the Hojo look alike.

"Cloud," Cloud grunts out.

Ansem smiles before extending a hand out. Cloud eyes it with distaste. After several awkward seconds, the hand retracts.

"Apologizes. I couldn't help but be curious… You and your friends aren't around here. Where would you be from?"

Cloud snorted.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

In the end, the others stay. The others integrate, the others forget, the others bask in this place because it's alive and it's thriving and it's here, but there's a voice in the back of Cloud's head, an echo. An echo, telling him he's forgotten something. No, worse than that.

A memory, taken from him.

Taken from them all.

It's hard to remember, because their world is gone. Gaia is gone and even thinking of it is a pain because, when you destroy the heart of a world, you erase it. You erase it, and those tied to it.

Still, Cloud can't help but gaze to the horizon, and realize he's missing something. Something important.

Either way, they've survived.

Ragnarok fell, and their world is gone, and so many are dead, but they're alive and their breathing and they're-

Missing…

Something…

Eyes scrunched, Cloud bats a bit of hair form his eyes with his clawed hand- and has he always had a claw- as he ponders what to do next, what his next actions should be. It doesn't take him long to decide. Not very long at all.

He can't remember what's missing.

That's alright.

He'll search, and he'll find it. That's a promise.