Path of Repentance
Chapter 2: Stolen Materia (Part 1) Not supposed to be two parts…but the second half was being a bum.
By Vermillion Dragoness
Disclaimer: Not mine, Everything relating to Final Fantasy VII belongs to Square-enix
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A/N: Thank you 'Silverfang0000'! You made my day! I was practically jumping for joy when I saw your review! Yay first reviewer! (hope this is worth the wait)
To everyone, Sorry this took so long :P I think I rewrote some sections of this at least 3 times. I really want this to be better than average fic. but… I'm going to have to learn when to just say 'screw it' and post the chapter.
So in the spirit of saying 'screw it' here is part 1!
Feb/16/06: I reposted 'Prelude'. Added about 200 words, don't have to reread it, I was just unhappy with it.
Sept/22/06: Some editing and changing of Prelude and this chapter. The biggest change is this chapter. I'm actually fairly happy with it now:)
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Cloud was drifting. It wasn't exactly a pleasant feeling. He wasn't in pain anymore, thankfully, but he couldn't feel anything else either. It was just… numb. It was almost a welcome change from before, but the blanket of darkness was far too suffocating. The sharp contrast to the lightness from before was staggering. Panic was rearing its ugly head deep in his chest. Cloud tried to ward it off as best he could by turning his attention inward. He focused on his memories. What was the last thing he remembered?
He remembered… Aerith. That was a good start.
She'd been pushing him away? But also… begging him to come help? Something, or someone, had tried to stop him from going… It made no sense. How could she be pulling him towards her but at the same time, holding onto him as if his life depended on it?
It made no sense. Two of them? He hated this confusion and uncertainty. The numbness, the floating, the drifting sensations, they all led his thoughts back to a time that was better left forgotten. A time where he couldn't trust his own memories, or his own mind.
Thankfully, more started to come back to him. There had been a lightheaded feeling of moving far faster than was physically possible. Until he'd been afraid he was going to pass out from the strain. And then an odd compression. And a white light that he'd instinctively reached out for. He'd been just about to touch it when…
Nothing.
He couldn't remember!
He was distracted when he realized the suffocating numbness was beginning to fade. He could feel his eyes closed. Slowly he opened them, hoping to see 'Her' and an end to his confusion. Surprisingly, he did see something. An indistinct face surrounded by a brown halo was looking down on him and, encompassing both him and the face, was a soft white light. Must be lying down, absently floated through his mind as the facial features slowly came into focus. The eyes were first, the colour of freshly cut grass that he could almost smell. His heart soared in hope at the comforting memories it brought. The brown bangs, and the feeling of new earth between his fingers as he sat in his mother's garden, framing a kind smile came into focus next. Her face was drawn, and even against the faint white background she looked pale. For a brief moment, he was almost consumed with a fear he couldn't place. Something's wrong, someth- She was smiling at him though, and the relief and hope he saw in that smile gave new life to her weary eyes. And that forced him to shove his fear to the back of his mind. He was going to be strong for her, he swore, no matter what.
"I knew you'd come, Cloud." She softly said.
Could it really be…? It was almost too good to be true. Struggling to return the smile, he opened his mouth to ask, "Aer--?"
But, like most things in life, it turned out it was too good to be true.
"OH MY GAWD!" Invaded the dreamlike vision. Bringing him painfully back to reality. The soft white light shattered to give way to a clear blue sky. And the sudden rush of sensations caused his mind to reel in shock. There was a sharp tangy taste in his mouth, and the smell of brine filled his nose. Sand cushioned him, and the stinging feeling of salt in his injuries was bringing the world into a painful kind of focus. The breeze shifted, and the stench of blood almost overwhelmed the smell of the sea. Vaguely, he worried about how much blood he must have lost so far. His eyes stung; his whole body ached.
He caught himself wishing for the numbness of before.
Over the undulating sound of softly breaking waves he heard swift footsteps, lightly crunching the sand, coming to a stop to his left. Blinking rapidly, he squinted up at a young boy standing over him. His eyes teared up as the boy shifted slightly, letting the sun shine briefly on his eyes.
"Aw man, looks like a goner. What should I do?" The boy's tone sounded speculative and he leaned over Cloud, starting to mumble to himself as he looked Cloud over, chin-length hair slightly obscuring his eyes, "...-blood...hmmm...-aybe reward..." The boy's voice trailed off as Cloud struggled to sit up and move away from the boy's measuring look. He managed to prop himself on one arm and the boy rolled back on his heels, looking surprised at Cloud's weak attempt. Cloud was only partially successful, half sitting up on his elbows, before the pain that shot through his shoulders overwhelmed him, freezing him in place as he struggled to stop their shaking. Fresh blood trickled down his arms from the sword wound in one shoulder, and the bullet wound in the other.
"Hey Mister! Are you alright? You look like Hell warmed over, you know? You shouldn't move." a tentative hand reached out to Cloud, real concern finally sneaking its way into the boy's dark brown eyes. As the pain started to recede, he finally took a good look at the boy, only to fall back with a disturbing squelch in a mixture of surprise and exhaustion.
A girl?
"Oh crap, oh Crap! wha'do I do?" The girl was looking around frantically first to the woods, then to the ocean. Whether looking for help or inspiration he didn't know. "That town's close but wh---,"The voice suddenly started to fade out as Cloud's vision began to spin. "Hey Mister! hold on!" Who was this girl? She looked strangely familiar, but...off...somehow. He sucked in a sharp breath as the pain behind his eyes suddenly intensified and he was forced to close them. Tears threatening to leak out again.
"They were ... glowing?" he heard the girl mutter, wishing she would either hurry and help him or leave him to recover on his own.
His shoulders were aching, throbbing in time to his slowing heartbeat. He felt lightheaded. His whole body ached and the pain behind his eyes was giving him a headache. The combination made his head spin. He tried to focus on the calming sound of the waves and push everything to the back of his mind like before, but he couldn't. He was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to sleep. But he remembered...She was out there… and in trouble! What was he doing just lying here! Stupid Body! Get up! Get up! GET UP!
"Don't worry Mister, I'm takin' ya to a doctor! Don't die on me, 'K?
As he started to black out, the last words he heard echoed in his mind and, vaguely, he realized he should recognize them from somewhere.
"Gross. Gonna get blood all over…Gross, gross, gross..."
Who are you?
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Cloud winced and shut his eyes tighter, trying to block out the uncomfortable stinging. The sun was too bright. For a confused moment he wondered if he'd collapsed in the Church again, the disorientation was the same. But that couldn't be right, he was lying on something… far softer … so… did someone find him … take him in? His mind struggled to focus, but it was as if a thick fog was blanketing him and he couldn't see two feet in front of his face. His dreamy haze was abruptly shattered, when a wistful sounding voice spoke to him.
Been a while since I slept in a bed like this, A young boy's voice said.
You--? He thought incredulously.
Better enjoy it while you can, It warned, and faded away, leaving his mind racing at the startling new development.
He may not know where he was or how he got here, but he did know that voice. But… he hadn't heard it in two years. Not since… that time in the Lifestream. What did it mean? Hearing that voice again after so long. He wasn't… losing himself again…was he? No. He knew who he was. He told himself firmly. Even if his memories were full of gaping holes, and he only remembered bits and pieces of his childhood, and almost nothing of his two years at Shin-Ra. He knew who…and what… he was. Thankfully those lost five years with him were no more than flashing images and emotions, nothing solid or concrete… even Zack… But could it be… A part of himself he'd forgotten, trying to reach him? But what-
"-ery severe." He was startled out of his confused musings by a muffled voice. He opened his eyes and turned his head away from the painfully bright sun. The thin white curtains did nothing to block the light from half blinding him. A quick glance at the small room was all that he managed before he was forced to close his eyes. It had looked like a hospital room, but it sure wasn't like any hospital he could remember. There was only a slight scent of antiseptic. Otherwise the atmosphere was too welcoming to be any hospital he'd ever been in.
"-ko poisoning." He could pinpoint the voice now. It was coming from the door beyond the foot of the bed, and getting closer until he could finally make out all of what was being said. "It will take weeks for him to fully recover, if he ever wakes."
"Aw Man!" a second voice said petulantly, "Then what am I s'posed to do with these two weird swords. The shop in town won't take'm."
Where had he heard that voice before?
"I'm sorry young lady, I've never seen a case quite like his. He may never wake up. And if by some miracle he does, he will have lost most of his memories." That's right, he remembered, it was the girl he'd woken up to on the beach. Apparently she decided to help him after all. And if he could remember that, then he was relieved to think the rest would come back to him, since the first voice seemed to be wrong on both counts. But he figured he could sort all that out later. What was most important now was finding out where he was.
"Hmph! But it's already been a week!" He opened his eyes in surprise, A Week?, " … I know, I know, I'm going already. Sheesh. Don't have to give me that look…" The young girl's grumbling faded as she noisily stomped off.
The first voice sighed as the owner opened the door to the room, speaking to someone behind him, "Every day she's---!" The man he now recognized as a doctor cut off in surprise. Staring at Cloud's glowing blue ones in disbelief. "You're awake?" The doctor quickly turned and stepped back outside of the room, speaking in hushed tones to someone beyond him in the hall. Cloud frowned. Something in the man's voice…it hadn't just been surprise at seeing him awake sooner then expected. It could just be his paranoia but… the man had looked disturbed by something. Or, could it just be waking up when the man thought he never would.
Cloud reopened his eyes as the white-coated doctor finally came back in, and bit back a grimace of distaste at the familiar design of the coat. "wh-…." He wheezed, trying to ask where he was. The doctor hesitantly sat in a chair to his right, silently offering a glass of water and a straw; closing his eyes against their constant stinging, he drank greedily. He tried not to think of the doctor's strange behavior too much as he drank. The man had most likely just recognized the mako glow in his eyes, most people wouldn't unless they knew what to look for… but this was a Shin-Ra doctor. When he finally finished the glass, he squinted at the doctor and tried to speak again, but it came out just as pathetic as the last attempt.
"I was afraid of that." The doctor sighed, getting up and walking around his bed to pull a heavy curtain across the window. "You are very lucky to be alive young man," he said as he tugged at the stubborn cloth. "If Miss Fey hadn't brought you in when she did…" he paused, turning back to Cloud and shrugging uncomfortably, "Well, you get the idea." The curtain finally fell into place after a frustrated pull.
So the girl's name is Fey…don't know anyone by that name…why was she familiar?
Cloud's eyes, no longer bothering him so much in the darkened room, followed the man warily as he walked back and took his seat. "I'm afraid our funding doesn't allow for any restore materia," He said, a slight bitterness creeping into his otherwise professional attitude, "So, we've done the best we can in wrapping your wounds. We will have to test the extent of your condition later."
Cloud's eyes narrowed as he watched the doctor. He'd barely looked Cloud in the eyes once. They would meet his for a moment, before jerking away, dancing from one object in the room to another, eventually finding their way back to the unnatural blue ones, before jerking away again. What was causing the man's jumpy behavior? He'd never seen a ShinRa doctor act like this before.
The doctor must've seen something in the look Cloud was giving him because he continued in a bit of a rush, "It looked as though you were caught in an explosion, and used your arms to protect yourself. We were able to salvage some of your clothes, but…I won't ask what you were doing, or why you were so badly wounded, but I need to know…are you a…" He paused here, almost fearfully; finally meeting and holding Cloud's gaze he asked, "Are you from SOLDIER?"
Cloud grimaced, surprised, and thought self-depreciatingly, Yeah, I'm from SODIER...in my head… and shook his head once. Wincing as the movement brought a fresh wash of pain down the sides of his neck.
The doctor's explosive sigh of relief was startling, to say the least.
"I'm sorry I asked, but I had to know for sure first, and with your quick recovery I thought…" He said in relief, offering Cloud a small, sympathetic smile. "Sorry. Well now that I know it's just the mako poisoning, we can finally begin healing you properly." Cloud frowned in confusion; he didn't feel like he had mako poisoning... He'd thought it just involved losing your mind to the mako-drenched knowledge. But… it might explain why his eyes were so sensitive, and why his whole body ached, not just his shoulders.
"You were exposed to the Lifestream for an extended period of time." The doctor continued. "I've never heard of a case of Mako poisoning quite like yours before. So far, your symptoms are comparable to the symptoms experienced after becoming a SOLDIER. As a result…the glow in your eyes may never fade…but don't worry though. I will find you something to wear until the oversensitivity wears off." Cloud guessed he should've told the man that he'd had a SOLDIER's eyes before he was brought here but… the sudden change in the man's attitude when he found out Cloud wasn't from SOLDIER… One moment he was frightened, but professional, then next, he was almost…cheerful. Something was very wrong about this whole situation…what was so significant about him not being from SOLDIER?
The doctor smiled and stood up, saying, "The disorientation will pass in time. And don't worry about your memory. Give it some time and it will hopefully return to youwe'll start your rehabilitation tomorrow. For now, get some rest and recover your energy." And walked to the door.
As the door closed with a soft click, Cloud's last thoughts were a frustrated, I'm not tired… before he swiftly fell asleep.
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He was standing on a pillar. Looking down, two meters below his feet, he could see water as clear as glass, gently lapping at the base.
NoNoNoNO!
He recognized the blue grey colour of the pillar, a few more standing just on the edge of his vision. He recognized the water, descending to unfathomable depths. It was this dream again. A dream so vivid that it sometimes would stay with him for hours after he woke, replaying again and again in his mind's eye. So, he stared stubbornly at his feet, refusing to look up, even though…
Even though he knew it was useless. He'd tried this tactic before, but… the dream always waited for him, just beyond his vision. As soon as he looked up, it would be in time to see her face smiling at him, filled with hope and happiness, before… before it all came crashing down. And the worst part of it was, sometimes…sometimes he would be the one to bring his sword down on her…
Not this time though. He was going to wait it out, no matter how long it took. So he stared resolutely at his boots, forcing himself to concentrate on the way the water swirled around his pillar, creating mini whirlpools that would form and then break apart just as quickly. Fleeting bursts of violent motion on the otherwise calm crystal waters.
"Cloud," A voice whispered and his head shot up in surprise, and he cursed himself for being a fool. "You came for me." Tired but happy green eyes met his. She was kneeling in her usual position on the altar, but her hands were folded neatly in her lap instead of the usual prayer position. He noted with alarm that her clothes were not the usual pink dress and red jacket. Instead, she wore a faded grey, long-sleeved dress. There were many rips and tears in it, and he could see a mixture of blood and dirt in some parts. Her hair was in its usual braid, but it was coming undone, falling messily around her.
This was new. But…even if she was dressed differently, he knew the end would be the same. So he looked up expectantly, waiting for 'that man' to descend, not wanting to drag the moment out any longer than he had to, now that the nightmare was happening. She giggled, bringing his confused eyes back to her shining green ones.
"What are you looking at, silly? I'm down here." He felt hope swell in his chest, thinking that maybe this dream would turn out ok after all. But, still afraid any movement on his part would shatter this momentary tranquility, Cloud forced himself not to jump to her, instead staying on his customary pillar. This could still turn out to be one of the dreams where he ended it, instead of 'that man'.
His inaction appeared to sadden her, for her smile lost some of its vibrancy as she watched him. The light shinning down and creating a halo around her suddenly started to get brighter, making Cloud squint his eyes in an attempt to remain focused on her. She was fading away into the bright light, her lips were moving but he couldn't make out what she was saying. In a delayed and desperate move he tried to jump to her, but his legs refused to listen and he was left helpless as she faded away.
He was standing in a world of white.
Alone.
The ground beneath him unexpectedly gave out and he was falling.
Plunging down into the darkness. Clothes whipping around him.
Abruptly, he was swept up. Spiraling out of control.
At the mercy of an unseen current.
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A/N: So there you go! What do you think? If there are any blatant or not so blatant errors, tell me and I'll fix'em. Also, anyone who has any advice for me will be loved forever! Like the anon. reviewer, 'idiot-fan'. Thank you so much! Hopefully I followed your advice well. And I totally understand with the Harry Potter thing, I've read most of them, too :) Thanks to 'Lilly' as well! Some of what you said is close to what I've been thinking about, but you'll have to wait and see. ;) Also to 'Loke', 'Amer Noir', 'Xelena', and 'RubyMoon17' Thank you! I love you all!
Please review and guilt me into getting Part 2 out soon! (I'm still frustrated with it. Grrrrr)
