Invasion
By:
Phoenix Dayze
(Cloud/Sephiroth)
PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy.
A fresh wave of fear crashed down on him as the cell door opened, and Cloud crouched further into his corner, whimpering. /Sephiroth…/ Rough hands seized him. /Where are you?/ He tried to struggle as he was pulled, yet again, from Zack's protecting presence, the only vestige of safety, of comfort, that remained to him. He could feel the bruises forming on his arms, the imprint of the guards' iron grip. /Why don't you save me?/
The harsh, fluorescent lights burned Cloud's eyes as he was hauled into the main lab, then shuttled off to a small side room. Cloud's blue eyes grew wide, memories of past experiences pouring over him. "No." He managed to rasp. "No!" Flashes of cruelty and too much pain scraped over his consciousness. /Please, don't let them take me! Not again!/
The leather straps tightened around Cloud's wrists and ankles, efficiently belting him to the cold, metallic table. Fear was a well-known companion now. It had never been like this before. Sephiroth would never have let this happen to him. Sephiroth would have kept him safe. A flash of a well-known blade. Broken glass. A cold, malevolent smile. A slicing pain. Green eyes wide with disbelief. A numbing confusion. And then more pain.
Cloud shook his head, trying to clear the muddled memories. Where was Sephiroth? Why didn't he come? Sephiroth had always come. A slip of the wrist. A sharp blade cutting into his arm. A smirking companion. A steely green gaze. A tender hand. A longer finger that brushed aside a wayward tear before anyone else could see. There was no one to stay his tears now.
A sharp, invasive pain swept through him, burning, searing its way into his veins, pulsing throughout his abused body. Cloud barely bit back the cries that threatened to pour forth like a breaking storm. This wasn't how it should be. /Sephiroth…/ Malice and hate were all he knew now, with the exception of Zack, who tried his best to bring him solace, but he was a poor substitute for the silver-haired angel he'd been blessed to love. The god-like protector who, with all the imposing ferocity, could be more tender than anyone would have believed. A caressing hand. A gentle, persuading kiss. Green, smiling eyes. "You're my angel, Cloud." Hell, Cloud discovered, had no angels.
A blade cutting flesh. Green-colored pain. A choice to destroy rather than question. Blood-tainted remorse. A crushing emptiness. Heat pounded in Cloud's head. A memory he couldn't quite grasp. /Sephiroth, why don't you save me?/
A terrible, wrenching pain cracked inside Cloud's heart, and he could feel the demon struggling for release. Blood trickled over his lips as his body spasmed, not wanting to accept the foreign spirit. He could feel the green rising, rising, possessing him like a living fog. /Sephiroth!/
I'm here, Cloud.
/Sephiroth!/ Cloud sobbed. /Where have you been? I've been so afraid!/
I'm sorry, Cloud. I couldn't help you. You killed me.
/No!/ Cloud shouted. /I would never do that! You abandoned me here! Why did you leave me?/
Sephiroth chuckled, an eerie resonance. Foolish child, do you not remember. How can you forget such a brutal betrayal?
Tears streamed down Cloud's face. /I don't understand! Why won't you help me?/
I can't help you, Cloud. I'm dead. I have no power here.
/No!/ Red-hot green throbbed in his head. /No!/
Sephiroth standing before Jenova. His own hand wrapping around the hilt of a massive blade. Blood. Sephiroth falling to the ground. The red-tinged sword dropping from his hand. A blue-eyed betrayer.
Cloud shook violently in his bonds. The room fairly vibrated with the thrumming force of Jenova. An agonized scream tore from Cloud's throat. Then, silence.
Cloud opened his eyes and peered out through green-slitted vision. "This…" the strangely deeper voice remarked, "is an unexpected return."
The End.