Memories of Another
This is a Final Fantasy 7 crossover, with what, I don't know yet. It begins at the end of Advent Children's battle with Sephiroth. I've taken some liberty in editing those moments but the story requires it.
Enjoy!
It was cold, it was…dark. Cloud's vision was black. His eyes were open, but he could see nothing. Absolutely nothing was all he could see. Did he even have eyes? It didn't even feel like he had a body. He could hear nothing, he could feel nothing. He could only taste, but even the taste was faint. It tasted like…
"Ham…" Cloud thought, "I'm dead, and all I can do is taste ham…what a jip." He didn't even have most of his memories. He could only remember the last few seconds of his life and some shredded memories of his life interspersed through out his mind.
I was frozen in time, but I feel as if my time is just beginning... He saw a face. Well, he really just saw a sphere with hair. Its facial features were gone.
Words aren't the only way to tell someone how you feel.Another featureless face. Judging by the body and the voice, it was a woman, but all names escaped him.
I'll be going now. I'll come back when it's all over. This voice. He hadn't heard this voice in a long time. He enjoyed it, but it brought him great sadness to hear it.
You are just a puppet. You have no heart and cannot feel any pain. This voice stirred Cloud's blood, or it would of if he had had any at the moment. He remembered this much, this was the voice that killed him. The blackness of his vision gave way to a massive burst of light. This light was so strong it hurt his consciousness to face it. He felt a hand graze his hand. This was all he could feel; it was as if he was a hand. A rush of feeling came back into his senses. He could see, he could hear, he could feel, he could taste, he could smell. He felt as if he was sucked back into his body. It hurt, and then he became numb. His body seemed as if it was reconnecting his consciousness back into it. He smelled sulfur, he tasted dust and blood, he felt pain, he heard cruel laughter, and he saw a man. He heard a voice from the back of his mind,
"Go Cloud. Be strong." It was that sad voice from before. This time though, it gave him great hope.
Cloud got up on his knees, he stood up. He saw him, the man. He still could not remember his or any other names though.
"Cloud, I've thought of a wonderful present for you... Shall I give you despair? Wait, it seems like that's what you are already feeling. Don't worry. I'll end your despair. I'll kill you." The man stepped closer to Cloud. His long silver hair was draped across his back. His black cloak blew and fluttered in the wind. His green eyes shot a powerful emotion at Cloud, but Cloud could not tell what it was. He held his 6 foot katana up to Cloud's neck. "That is what you cherish most, isn't it?" He pressed the katana up against Cloud's neck.
"That's not what I cherish the most." Cloud responded. He grabbed the man's sword. His hand bled, but he could not feel it. His fury rose.
"Then tell me what you cherish most. Give me the pleasure of taking it away." The silver haired man's eyes burned more ferociously.
"You just don't get it. There isn't a thing I don't cherish!" Cloud dashed forward. He felt cold steel pierce his chest, but he would not stop. Whenever he looked at this man, he felt a powerful rage. He remembered. He remembered pain. He remembered his cruel laughter. He remembered his words, the words that had changed Cloud's life forever…
What I have shown you is reality. What you remember... that is the illusion. He still could not remember the man's name. Then Cloud heard his own voice.
I'm...Cloud...the master of my own illusionary world.
"An illusion?"
Yes, its all an illusion.
"No, how can there be so much memory if it is all an illusion?"
They aren't your memories, you aren't Cloud.
"If I'm not Cloud than who am I?"
You are………a puppet. Cloud pushed the man off the edge of the building they were standing on. They both fell. The wind swept through their hair and had it blowing all over the place. The man tried to keep himself from falling by stabbing it in the side of the building they were falling next to. Cloud punched the man in the face and he let go. They continued to grapple, blood flying everywhere as limbs met chests and faces, and bones broke.
"I am not a puppet!" Cloud raised his hand for one final punch to the face when he saw the man's eyes. He realized what the emotion was. It was sadness. It was despair. It was longing. Cloud couldn't bring his hand down on the man's face. The ground drew nearer. The man stared at Cloud and uttered something. Cloud could not hear it, but could read his lips.
"Forgive me Cloud, I'm sorry." There was a flash of green, and then the world went dark.