Chapter five of Whispers about Angels. For disclaimer see prequel.

Warnings: a little bit of bad language and spoilers for AC.

-xox_Whispers_about_Angels_xox-

Into the dissonance

Every action … caused a reaction, from the people, the environment and at last the Planet itself.

Only, it was a rule, most had forgotten when Shinra started to raise from a simple electric company to … something more, a government to rule because of the easy life they'd promised in return.

And at first everything seemed well, but even a fool couldn't assume that drawing the Planet's lifeblood wouldn't have any consequences, which it did. It caused a dissonance in the Lifestream around every reactor and so did the experiments in the laboratories, which were used to creating SOLDIER among other things.

Some were worse than others, but those places like the lab in Nibelheim were almost too painful in the discord that clung to them.

Yes, following that dissonance was all she really needed to do, to find what she was looking for, because every of those places, laboratories stank with it in the Lifestream, stank of life that had been twisted into something other, something monstrous. It was something she had never been aware of, the abnormalities they had caused in their oblivion.

Shinra had no sense for moral, just a hunger for more power, no matter how much was destroyed because of it – and they scientist, who had done Shinra's bidding had obliged, most of them gladly.

Some like herself and Gast had been too innocent, to oblivious to realize what they were about to cause with their work, but most of them had no such morals. Men like Hojo, she thought with horror and guilt, because she had been too stupid to see what that man had been about, that was if he could be called such, a man.

She closed her eyes, forcing the past away, but it wasn't easy, cause it clung to her like some bad omen. It was something she never could get rid of nor could she stop wondering how she could have been that stupid.

Enough of that, she thought, concentrating on her task, which meant to make sure those experiments would be never repeated. The first part of this was easy, because of the places were abandoned, giving easy access to her to destroy every single file and remnant of said experiments.

The files didn't bother her much, but it was sad having to destroy living beings, even if all they were now were monsters that had no longer a chance of any normal life. Then there were those strange moments when the voices pushed her to do things that made no sense, like leaving things behind for whatever reasons. To say that Lucrecia was confused by these things was an understatement, but it wasn't her to decide what needed to be done in order to turn things for the better.

She belonged to Planet after all, ever since her failed suicide and the following years spend sealed in the cave.

Yet, her job was almost done, leaving only one laboratory for her to deal with, which meant she had to return to where everything had begun. No, not the one in Nibelheim, but one in a place that had much more of a history with Shinra, because everything had started in the cursed city of Midgar.

Yes, it was time, she felt, but she couldn't help the uneasy feeling she got when thinking about that place, like something bad was going to happen; once again ...

xox

Something bad was indeed about to happen, and – if this were fairy tale it would've been said that it was a dark night with heavy clouds hanging from the skies, when it happened, but it wasn't.

The day when they came to take the children away, but it wasn't anything like that, not even close. It was a day like any other, mostly grey with little sunshine like it was usual in the city of Edge and what was left of Midgar.

It started with Tifa trying to visit Cloud in Aerith's church, only to find it empty beside the flowers and equipment Cloud had left behind. Tifa thought that he was just wandering around, like usual, and moved to leave but was stopped by Marlene.

"Is Cloud hurt?" The little girl asked, pointing at several bloodied rags lying discarded on the floor, which looked like they had been used as bandages or to clean off blood from a wound.

Tifa picked one of these things up, looked at it for a moment or two then placed it back.

"Maybe." She said, not sure what to think about this. She wanted to say more, but they got interrupted by a stranger, staring them down.

"Where's mother?" Asked the stranger, who went by the name Loz.

"Here isn't anybody." Tifa replied after a moment of thinking, and puzzlement what this was about.

The silver-haired stranger asked again, and again, all the while sounding nearly desperate at it. It was bad enough that they thought he was about to cry about this, whatever it was.

Tifa and Loz fought, and for a while they were even-matched, neither of them winning or losing the fight. It was a … nice fight, but that was before the stranger received a call and after that the fight changed to something but the good-natured brawl it was before.

Loz simply cheated – and knocked Tifa out of it, rendering her unconscious long enough for him to take off with the girl and Cloud's materia.

She was left like this, lying still on the floor, surrounded by flowers like they were meant to be guarding her, which wasn't all that far from the truth, but all they could do was soften her fall in the end – and watch. They could only watch, watch her regaining consciousness slowly and then being found by the very person she had come to find in the first place: Cloud.

"What … happened?" He asked, feeling both relieved and guilty to find her like this, alive, but shaken. It was probably not quite right, but he felt that this had only happened because he had been off, too caught up with getting the hang of this blasted wing of his.

More so, Flying seemed a lot easier if you didn't trying to manage it yourself. It didn't help that he had no real clue on how it worked with only one wing; it just did somehow, magically work. It was still hard work, though, making him see birds and dragons with different eyes, too.

"Marlene?" She asked, when she couldn't find the girl anywhere around. "Where's Marlene?"

"I'm sorry," he answered, "but she's not here."

"Cloud …" She began but then trailed off, unable to fight of the feeling of disappointment, even while knowing that he couldn't help it, cause it was just the way her friend was, trying to fight everything alone even if there was really no need to. No, Cloud couldn't help it, but … he could at least try sometimes, she thought.

"He has taken her." Tifa said finally, clenching her fists in a gesture of sheer frustration. "He looked like him, just like him..." Anger was colouring her voice, anger that made Cloud flinch away from her. No, she didn't have to explain who she meant with him, but she didn't see the Cloud's eyes darken with something she would've recognized as guilt if she had seen it.

xox

Cloud couldn't stand the thought of her looking at him like that, with disdain and hurt, but what hurt more was that there wasn't anything he could do about it. He regretted now that he hadn't tried to talk about things, about how he felt. Only, it didn't matter anymore, cause now it was her, who refused to talk, clothing herself in silence that sometimes seemed so thick that he could cut it.

There was more to it, all too familiar, because she had been like this right after Nibelheim had happened, right after the first rage had passed to leave her planning on how to get back on Shinra.

Planning, he knew she was doing that behind the wall of silence – again, nothing he could change, so he did the only thing he could and left to follow the those remnants. He wished he could forget the feeling of guilt about what happened, because he had known about these men, but hadn't said anything about then.

Vincent followed Cloud that night as well, when he went after the children, to get them back. He wasn't sure if Cloud knew, but if he did, he didn't seem to care that he was being followed. The ex-turk couldn't help, but frown at the way his friend seemed to know where he needed to go, which made Vincent think back to the time when they had chased Sephiroth.

Back then Cloud had always known in which direction they had to go to find their quarry, and he couldn't help, but feel that this was a similar case, with the three men being related to Sephiroth if their looks were anything to go by. Jenova's cells linking them to his blonde friend, which was why Cloud was able to follow them this easily.

Then the fight started – and after that Vincent was certain that something was definitely wrong. These three, Remnant's, that's what he over heard Shinra calling them. Shinra – he cursed at that thought, nothing good ever came from them.

Well, they were all acting very strangely – and Cloud seemed to have trouble fighting them as he seemed to be slightly out of balance. It was that kind of 'out of balance', which usually happened if one had been seriously injured or had a major change in one's body-structure.

It was bad enough that Vincent had to interfere when they managed to hurl the blonde to the floor, hitting him harder than he first thought, enough that Cloud had trouble to get up again. Vincent forced down a curse after realizing that something serious was wrong with his friend, even more than what he had expected … after the church.

For a long moment the blonde laid motionless on the ground and it was more enough time for the remnant to come charging down on him with a vengeance.

The silver-haired man never reached him, because when he reached the place Cloud was gone.

A whirlwind of familiar ghostly crimson took him away, rescuing him in a rather spectacular manner at that. It looked like ex-turk came down at them with blazing guns and not just one gun, even if it wasn't an ordinary one. Note to say, the three silver haired remnants weren't exactly stupid and retreated at that, knowing that this opponent wasn't worth the struggle, not now after they had gotten what they wanted anyway: the children, who shared Jenova's strain. They were not enough … for reunion, but they were a beginning, a means to get closer to Mother.

Mother wasn't here, but Kadaj had a feeling on where to look for her … and that it wouldn't be long until they would find her. Soon, very soon they would be complete for the first time.

That left Cloud alone with his rescuer, his dark haired pale skinned friend, who looked very much like a vampire even if he wasn't anything close to one. No, Vincent didn't like being called that, but Chaos tended to get 'ideas' whenever peopled used that word for his host – and it was never a good thing for the sarcastical demon to get in those kinds of moods. No, certainly not a good idea, and most had enough common sense to avoid calling the ex-turk anything but by his given name; all, but Cid, of course. Strangely, the pilot seemed to get away with it most of the time, getting nothing more but a dirty look and harsh reply for it in return.

"Vincent." Cloud breathed, for some reason feeling unsure about meeting his friends eyes. Vincent seemed to be always able to see so much more beyond the obvious, thus it was hard to hide anything from the ex-turk. He was tired of hiding, tired of being alone with this shit of being different, but he knew that there was no other way.

The ex-turk just nodded in return, otherwise keeping quiet, just keeping him company, pretending to watch the forest around them. It was deception, Cloud thought, knowing that he was waiting for him to say something even if the blonde was unsure what for he was waiting now.

"It has been a while." Cloud found himself saying after awhile. It was odd, but for once he didn't like the silence between them. No, that wasn't right it was the things Vincent managed to say without words that had made him feel uncomfortable, but at the same time he was glad he was here. So he had to say something, anything, even if it made little sense.

"Yes." The red cloaked figure agreed. It was not more than a whisper, nearly a purr in the way his voice vibrated in his throat. His eyes asking questions he didn't voice out aloud, but Cloud wasn't that stupid that he didn't caught the way the ex-turk lingered on his left shoulder, eyeing it as if was a foreign animal of sorts.

"I'm fine." Cloud objected, trying to sound more sure of himself than he really felt. He knew Vincent could probably feel that he was lying, but he couldn't just admit it this easily, cause he knew he wouldn't be able to stop, breaking down. No, he thought, he had to be strong; couldn't ever allow himself to be weak again, not ever again. He could deal with this – and he would be fine, even if he wasn't there yet.

"Are you?" Vincent said calmly but with a sarcastic undertone. The look in his red eyes said clearly that Cloud did not look fine in him.

The blonde stared back for long moment, then finally shook his head at this, knowing that there was no way around this, around Vincent's serious eyes on him now.

"Stigma?" Vincent reached out with his human hand, touching the arm he knew something was wrong about it or the blonde wouldn't have been this off centre earlier. "There's lifestream in our bodies ..." He began but stopped when he realized that his friend didn't show any reaction of pain – and Geostigma was definitely painful and it also didn't quite match with the things he had seen in the church when he had seen his friend unconscious there. Whatever this was it had to be serious, because of all the blood he had found on the floor there.

"No." Cloud said, not liking the broken sound of his own voice, not liking the defeat and near despair in it. He almost wished it wasn't so, because, just because he thought this was worse, worse than dying. Hell, dying would mean he wasn't turning into a monster, or worse, because of the cursed Jenova cells in his body and the sense of foreboding he felt about it.

"It's worse." He finally managed to say and removed his own tattered cloak in one swift move, thus revealing what was beneath. "So much worse." He sighed in defeat then frowned a bit, concentrating on pushing it out. It still hurt every time he did this although the pain seemed to dim a little with each time the wing came out.

To give him credit, Vincent Valentine did not so much as blink at the sight of the dark appendage that was attached to Cloud's left shoulder, but a little widening of his eyes.

"I didn't expect ... that." Vincent said, trying not to stare too much at it, but really couldn't help it because it looked rather fascinating to him. The wing, it reminded him a little of the ones, which belonged to his demon, Chaos, yet this one was different. It was a dark wing, sure, but only because of its colour; there wasn't anything demonic about it. It was covered by shimmering black scales any dragon would be proud to call his own.

"Neither did I."

"It looks nice." The ex-turk said after a while and thus surprising his friend once again.

"Really? I think it looks too much like a demon-wing to me."

"Yes, really." Vincent replied with one of his rare smiles and then reached out to touch the wing, just a little below the shoulder he had grabbed before. "Here, see how the scales shine ... and there's even golden highlights there..."

"Whatever," Cloud muttered, interrupting the ex-Turk's word flow for he couldn't help but think that it really didn't matter what he thought it looked like, not if it shouldn't haven't been there at all.

"It's abnormal, not human..." He muttered more to himself than to Vincent. Next thing he knew was that he was slapped – that's right, slapped like in bitch-slapped, something he'd never expected from the brooding ex-turk next to him.

"That's bull-shit, Cloud, and you know it, too." Cloud could only stare at his companion, hearing him swear like that – it was rather unsettling to see him this upset. Maybe Vincent was right and they were still human at their core, but he couldn't help feeling a little bit of doubt, though. He really wanted to, really, but the fear refused to go away that easily, even if the sting of on his cheek reminded him to stop brooding so much. Vincent surely could pack a punch, even with his human hand.

"Okay." He agreed after a while, well, at least he tried to sound serious but he knew that there was nothing else he could do with his friend in a mood like that, not that he wasn't right but ... well, things were just not that simple. In a way it was almost funny to see Vincent that loud for once, funny enough that he almost laughed out loud; he didn't feel happy at all.

"Cloud?" Vincent interrupted his out-of-character rant, only to eye his friend with wary eyes, like some species of animal he'd never seen before. Had he just seen a smile there? He was glad to see it yet, couldn't help but worry seeing as Cloud still wasn't meeting his eyes.

"Are you all right?" Yes, it was a stupid question and he knew that he probably shouldn't ask it, but again, he couldn't help it. Sometimes he didn't know why he came to care this much about Cloud at all, maybe it was their similar background or maybe it was something else he just couldn't see, yet.

"I don't know, Vincent." He answered truthfully. It was the only answer he could give at this point, not that this was anything new to him. He guessed that there was no such thing like an easy way for him, not now and not in the past. Cloud liked to think he was cursed, but if Vincent thought that maybe, just maybe part of the curse could be a blessing, who was he to object to it?

Next, he knew, his body reacted before he knew what was happening, drawing First Tsurugi out of its scabbard and turning around to face whatever enemy he sensed approaching only to freeze in shock when he realized that it was no enemy at all, he was facing. No, instead he found himself gazing into the large eyes of Marlene, who in turn stared back at him with some emotion he couldn't place. Shock, it had to be shock, he thought then blinked and relaxed slowly.

The next thing, he'd thought he'd never forget, but he wished he'd never seen it there, in her big all too innocent child-eyes. It was fear, clear as day; sweet little Marlene was looking at him with fear, which was too close too panic for his taste. It felt like he couldn't breathe ... for it made him hurt inside.

"Marlene." He tried to calm her but didn't know what to say to make the fear go away. Hell, he didn't even know what she saw she was so afraid of. "I won't hurt you." His voice nearly broke at that.

"I-I know." The girl tried to brave her emotions and fought her racing heartbeat to calm down. It was like she was trying to tell herself that this was just Cloud, just the same guy, who took care of her and Denzel even if he looked pretty scary now. It wasn't that he really looked that much different but it was his eyes, which had alarmed her.

They looked too much like the eyes of those bad men who'd whisked her, Denzel and all the other kids away. They looked not entirely human. True, Cloud's eyes were still blue, just like they always were, but the irises had changed into slits.

"It's your eyes." She said, looking away from his eyes – and knew it had been wrong to say that, because she she could feel his grip on her tightening until it was almost painful.

"My eyes?" Cloud thought he sounded stupid, repeating Marlene's words like this but he ... just couldn't help it. He really got caught off guard with her acting like this in front of him. It just wasn't like it's supposed to be, he thought. The girl had proved to be pretty calm and cool even back at the times when they were chasing an insane Sephiroth – and afterwards, when Geostigma rose its ugly head she'd just calmly taken to taking care of Denzel.

He hadn't thought that something could upset him anymore like the things he had gone through in the past, but it did, more than having Vincent's curious looks at his wing – his wing... damn. Had she seen that too? He frowned, checking his left shoulder and almost sighed in relieve seeing that it was safely hidden away.

"Cloud ... your eyes, they look like cat eyes," Marlene wanted to say but … stayed silent instead, just staring at him like a rabbit might be doing so when facing a snake.

"You okay?" He asked again, getting worried by her reaction because he didn't know why she reacted like she just did. He hadn't changed in any other way but that damned wing and that was safely out of view.

In return she just nodded then tried to move away from him, but couldn't because he was still holding her.

He felt numb and what came after this had been a blur ... until they were back in Edge. He had just shut down, pushed everything away, every feeling, pretended that it didn't happen, that he hadn't heard those words. It was illusionary, of course, but it was everything he could do or else he would go insane.

He was near the edge, he was very aware of it, but he pushed that thought back as well and focussed on the now and here, on the moment, on the fight. Fighting, he mused, but it was what he did best. It was like a drug he was addicted to. He drowned his pain, his sorrow in it, just like others did with alcohol.

But unlike alcohol it did nothing for him to forget the looks on his friends faces, looks of uncertainty and even fear they tried to hide but he'd recognized them all the same. He clutched his hands harder around First Tsurugi, trying not to show that indeed he had seen their reactions. The way Marlene had run to Tifa as soon he'd stopped Fenrir enough for her to safely dismount. The way Tifa had frowned at her in reaction only to give him a very worried look, so very similar like the way she had looked at him after the Black Materia incident.

Did they think that … he was under Sephiroth's control again?

Cloud really thought he'd left that behind; guess he had been wrong there as well. Back then he had deserved that, but now? He knew after Marlene's reaction to him and her words that his eyes must have changed to something similar Sephiroth's, but did that matter really that much to his friends? Couldn't they see that he had no control about what had been done to him and that it was only because of that he was changing now...

He felt strangely cold ... and more than little bit empty. He couldn't help but notice that the only people who'd acted differently were all dead now, including Sephiroth, even if he kept visiting him in his dreams. Cloud shrugged at that, thinking that they were probably right in a way. His mind was still rather messed up, even after all this time – and who knows what was still lurking around up there? So, maybe they had a reason to be worried about him, right. He fought down a very unmanly giggle, thinking that they'd probably freak if they knew that he'd been meeting Sephiroth in the Lifestream more than once – and had enjoyed it as well.

Yeah, they'd think him to be crazy if they knew that.

Crazy, he wasn't exactly that even if he wasn't exactly sane most of the time, not with the way Hojo messed up his mind and body. His body now, he thought, wasn't exactly human anymore, not with the wing he even now could feel all too clearly under his shoulder blade. He didn't feel exactly human anymore, even if Zack had tried his best to convince him otherwise.

So, maybe he was like a wild animal, sort of or was he a weapon? Yes, maybe that was what he was.

Fight, weapons were meant to fight, so he ... would just do that, fight, just fight and forget everything else not important to the battle.

Maybe the pain would vanish then as well.

I'm not really sure about this chapter, but this as good I can manage right now. It's also kind of a filler chapter, sorry.

Hope you enjoy.

Mia

Edit: Made it a little clearer about which hand Vincent used to slap Cloud in this chapter. Thanks to -Yuna's Reincarnation-1, who asked about this.