A Hell of My Making
By: Phoenix Dayze and S.J. Kohl
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII and make no profit off this fic.
Part Seven: Light
A glimmer of light surged into Zack's brittle, blackened soul. It was an acid green ribbon of consciousness that swept him up within it, twisted him around, and deposited him, reeling, back on what felt like solid ground. Zack blinked in the darkness that surrounded him and pushed against the warm body slumping against him. Where was he? And what the hell was going on?
We're trapped, a cold voice whispered from deep within him, healing the ravages of his body even as it gripped at the edges of his now conscious mind.
Zack's eyes narrowed. He knew that voice. "Sephiroth?" His own voice was as harsh and grating as a rusty, discarded blade.
Yes, Lieutenant. And how nice of you to rejoin the living. You are, however, a few moments late. As always.
"What's going on, Seph?" He looked around, focusing on the blank-eyed body of his former General. So it was Sephiroth's body he'd been holding when he woke up. "Hey...if you're sitting there unconscious, where's your voice coming from?"
You swallowed my soul, Zackary. My body...I fear that, when it wakes, it will be as much a puppet for the Jenova cells as I was in life.
"Great," Zack muttered. "So...where am I, exactly?"
A flicker of annoyance. You remember nothing?
Zack thought for a moment. "Last thing I remember, Aerith and I were guiding another soul into the Lifestream."
Cloud's soul. He's done something, Zack. Poisoned the Lifestream with his self-hatred, I think. Look.
Zack turned his head and stared through the heavy bars that now held him captive. His eyes widened with shock. Through the murky flow of this...stagnant...Lifestream, he could see the slender, pain-ravaged form of Aerith. She was standing over a huddled and shivering, bruised and bleeding Cloud, and her sharpened nails were digging into his neck. "What the fuck, Seph!?" He threw himself against the bars, struggling to break free, to break through, to do something before Aerith destroyed what was left of Cloud's faltering spirit. There wasn't much left to save as it was.
But it was no use. The bars held.
You slipped through the bars before, Zackary.
"But how? I don't remember anything that happened more than a few moments ago!"
Sephiroth's voice dripped with acid. Think, Lieutenant. You are in this place, but not a part of it like everyone else. You can do what I cannot.
Zack took a deep breath. Seph was right. He wasn't part of the Lifestream. He'd always been able to manipulate it before. Why should now be any different?
Closing his eyes, Zack clamped his fists around two of the bars in a firm grip. He pulled. And they slid apart, screeching loudly as they bent outwards. Grinning in self-satisfaction, Zack slipped through the space between the bars.
And the maelstrom winds of Cloud's guilt and anguish slammed against him, knocking him off balance and sweeping him away.
tbc…
