A/N: Well, I hope you enjoy the tenth chapter! I tried to make it longer but I felt that it had to end there or It'd turn bad, however there is a surprise in there for you! Happy tenth chapter people! Can you spot the surprise? I hope so! In the next one, I may treat you to a bit more smut as there hasn't actually been much in the story so far! So, look forward to that!
Chapter 10: Prelude of ruin.
Green light whipped around the figures, making them strain against it as if they were caught in a terrible wind. Lael lifted his arms and covered his face, he fought against the torrent of swirling energy followed by his cousin, Ucal. Abaddon had left them earlier to seek out the imposters and eradicate them, the other two had fixed the ship and now slowly made their way to where they were to meet their leader.
"Ucal!" Lael shouted back over his shoulder, he could only just make out his cousin's shadow.
"I'm here...!" he called back.
"We have to hurry before Abaddon decides to punish us!"
"I know!"
Lael paused on the lip of the deep crater and looked around, he was in an area surrounded by grasslands. Green stretched for miles but he could see a small town a little distance away, he could also sense something there...a strange and yet familiar power. "Jenova!" He breathed through his abnormally sharp teeth. A moment later and Ucal dragged himself up beside his partner panting heavily.
"Is that where the imposters are?" He asked.
"I think so, Abaddon left in that direction."
"I can feel it. It's so strong...like Jenova herself come back from the dead."
"Hmm." Lael had known Jenova, she had been the priestess for his tribe. A beautiful female of immense power, her long white hair proof of her station. He sighed, he had been one of the many suitors to petition to become her mate but he had been refused. Only one had succeeded in that department and he was now their king.
"Do you think he'll find the source of this strange power?" Ucal asked nervously. He was young, little more than a hundred or so years in age and inexperienced in the field.
"I think so, Abaddon was her brother after all." Lael said as he started off again in the direction his leader had gone. "Keep up, or I'll leave you behind!"
"Yes sir..." Ucal muttered as he followed his cousin.
XXX
Sephiroth stood before us easily taking control of the situation, I enjoyed the break of being leader. I had never really been very good at it at any rate...I got people hurt and killed. A leader needed to be able to look after himself as well as his comrades, I was incapable of both.
"...We will head toward the direction of the crash site, this will be our best option as a starting point. These creatures are as powerful, if not more so, than mother..."
"Mother? You mean Jenova? You still goin' on 'bout that?" I flinched at Barrett's harsh voice.
Sephiroth went still and locked eyes with him. "The same blood that ran through her veins runs through mine, as far as I am concerned she is my mother."
"But the woman who birthed you was...OW!" Cid was cut off by Vincent who stamped on his foot.
I held back a groan and put my face in my hands. "What was that?" Sephiroth's voice was low and dangerous as he spoke. "Is there something I should know?"
"Not at all." Vincent said softly, his glowing eyes meeting Sephiroth's.
"Look, it doesn't matter he was just..." I tried to intervene but Sephiroth cut me off with a sharp gesture.
"You know something." He said bluntly, his eyes scanning everyone. Zack blinked and searched my face, I looked away. "Speak." Sephiroth ordered.
I opened my mouth in response but Vincent grasped my arm. "No." He said suddenly, his fingers digging into my flesh.
"But he should know...it's not fair..." I began.
"Tell me, now." I looked up into his face and chewed on my lip nervously.
"A-alright..." I muttered. Vincent hissed air through his teeth and looked away.
"It's wrong." He said softly. "She should never have been forced to do it!" The grief was obvious in his voice. "It is my fault." He hung his head so his dark hair obscured his face. "I will explain...A long time ago, I was in the Turks..." he told the story of how Sephiroth had been created, every little detail of it including that the woman he loved had given birth to Sephiroth.
When he had finished everyone was silent, I looked over at the silver haired man who stared intently at Vincent. "So, my true mother's name was Lucretia? And I was injected with Jenova's cells while still in the womb?" he spoke slowly and watched Vincent nod. "And you were there? You allowed this atrocity to go ahead?"
"no." Vincent looked up. "Do you think I got this way by accident? Hojo murdered me then used my corpse for his own purposes! He made me a monster!" He hissed and stood slowly. "I know what it is like to live with the knowledge that I am less than human! I am like you, like Cloud and Zack here! Just because a different kind of monster resides within me does not make me any less one! I know what it is like to wake up each morning and be filled with doubts about your own humanity...I wish I had died for good on that day! I wish I had been returned to the planet...but no, he sewed my soul to my body so I cannot die! At least you can relinquish this life! I am stuck! Stuck forever I..."
"Vincent..." I said softly and put my hand on his arm. "It's over now...Hojo's dead..."
The dark haired man lowered his head again and his nails dug gouges into the wood. "I-I know..." he whispered. "I understand that this is my penance for not protecting her...I was too weak to stop her from accepting the experiments. Because of me the woman I loved was used and her child..." he slowly raised his head and looked across the table at Sephiroth. "Her child was driven to madness and many people died or were hurt..." he looked at me and then Zack. "I am just as responsible for the resulting events as Hojo himself was! So, I was cursed to repay my debt by living on..."
"Wow, man...that's pretty messed up!" Zack exclaimed. "You honestly think we're gunna blame you for what ShinRa and Hojo did to us? Chill out, everything's fine! No one blames you except yourself."
"Exactly. None of it was your fault! I've never blamed you!" I said with a reassuring smile. "Things just...kinda got out of control...And just for the record you're just as human as any of us. And anyway...at least you don't have wings." I looked despondently down at my hands.
"You're wrong. Wings don't make you a monster." Zack muttered quietly, his eyes on the far wall. I looked at him and blinked in confusion, he seemed lost in memories.
"Huh?" Zack turned to me and smiled. "Well, I don't see any human's with wings!" I said with a confused frown.
"Indeed." Sephiroth muttered, he was frowning at his hand which rested on the table. "Can anyone here sprout wings apart from Cloud and myself?"
"I can."
Everyone turned to see a figure wearing a dark red coat leaning against the wall. Genesis smiled. "Where did you come from?" Sephiroth asked.
"I've been here for quite a while, old friend." He said and stepped into the room. My friends shifted uncomfortably. "But I have to agree with the blond, wing's make you a freak. If any of those..." he waved his arm generally in the direction of the streets. "Saw us they would run screaming. Not that I can blame them, I would run from me too." He chuckled and sat down with his boots up on the table.
"I don't believe that the power of flight is such a bad thing!" Zack insisted. He looked at us sternly. "I'd love to be able to fly! It must be so...liberating! To be given the power to go wherever you want, to just fly through the sky at any time must be...amazing!" His eyes shone and I smiled slightly with a small shake of my head.
"If they are not the wings of monsters what are they?" Sephiroth muttered his eyes burning into Zack.
Zack paused. "Ah! De ja vu!" he said. "I've had this conversation before! So, I'll tell you exactly what I told him; Wings of an Angel!"
"An angel..." Genesis mused softly. "A very childish way of thinking."
"I dunno...I kinda like it." I said softly.
"It's romantic." Aeris said and giggled.
"Hey, you said SOLDIER weren't normal!" Zack pouted.
She went slightly red and looked away. "Well, I said that before I knew you were SOLDIER. I apologised!"
""I think being normal is the greatest happiness. Somehow SOLDIER's seem weird." I think they were your exact words." Zack grinned as Aeris became more uncomfortable. I giggled slightly at their exchange, Sephiroth sighed heavily.
"I said that but...I didn't mean it to sound harsh..."
"SOLDIER weren't normal." Genesis said and looked at Sephiroth and Zack. "We were...different. We were weapons, nothing more. Human weapons with the sole purpose of fighting for ShinRa, we were created for war. Fighting is the only thing we knew how to do properly. But then, a normal SOLDIER is merely doused with Mako, whereas Sephiroth and I were given Jenova's cells...we were never truly human."
"Yes..." Sephiroth said softly. "I was...angry." he stared intently at the table with a small frown on his face. "I was furious when I discovered the truth, I wanted to destroy everything. In fact..." He smiled around at everyone. "I still do."
An awkward silence descended and I broke it. "Well, I guess..." My voice was cut off by some angry shouts outside the Inn. I looked over at the door, my eyes wide as I felt an awful pressure in my chest. Pain ripped through my body making me topple from my chair with a gasp. I heard Zack cry out.
"Well, well...it seems they have found us." Sephiroth's voice barely permeated my brain through the clouds of agony.
"Ah, so these must be what fell from the sky. Angeal spoke of them." Genesis said, his voice filled with glee.
"My head!" Zack groaned.
I rolled onto my back and squinted up through a haze at the ceiling. I gritted my teeth and climbed to my feet using the table as support, someone was at my side with their hand on my shoulder. "Be strong, Cloud." Tifa's voice filtered through the horrible voices in my head and I smiled weakly.
History repeats itself. I watched the doors fly off their hinges and saw a sight that made shudders rip through my aching body; a tall man stood there, he had long white hair that framed a face with skin the colour of silver. His eyes were red and his clothes skin tight. He wore thigh high boots in black with a leather body suit and he had no apparent weapons on him. His eyes scanned us and fixed on Sephiroth whose sword materialised in his hand. "You..." he said slowly, his voice seeming to go straight into our heads rather than through our ears. "You are the imposter? The one who has somehow gained the power of my sister?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about." Sephiroth replied coolly.
"I am Abaddon! The brother of Jenova, who was a great priestess that we sent to this planet in the hopes that she could find us a new place to live until we have sufficiently drained it of its life energy! We have not heard from her for many uncountable years! What did you do to her?" His eyes met mine and he hissed revealing sharp teeth that looked more like razor blades. "There are four of you? This is an outrage! How dare you take her power! You will pay!"
Pain stabbed through my skull and I fell to my knees. My hands gripped my hair and I gasped desperately, Aeris and Tifa were at my side and trying to comfort me. Darkness filled my vision and I fell...
A woman stood upon the edge of a crater. Silver hair framing a petite face. Around her is nothing but desolation, bodies scatter the earth at her feet as she laughs at the last few defenders before her. They are trying a new tact, some kind of spell. But it would not work, she was all powerful! She was Jenova of theIbleam people! She laughed at their pathetic attempts to stop her from claiming the planet as her own, she scoffed as the last of the Cetra raised their hands and energy consumed them.
Her laughter was cut off when the energy surrounded her, dragging her limbs and making them heavy. Her triumph was quashed by the new threat, they pinned her and bound her to the earth at her feet. They buried her, sealing her until the sun died and her body rotted.
With her last breath she cursed them! She would make sure their people were eradicated, it would be her last action! She would destroy them all and laugh as they fell into oblivion!
...I opened my eyes slowly and winced at the bright light that surrounded me. I was lying on the floor with Aeris and Tifa looking down at me.
"I told you he would be fine." Sephiroth's voice fell into the silence and I sighed.
"I saw it." I muttered. "I saw the end of the Cetra..."
Aeris nodded sadly. "So have I." She muttered.
"Where's the monster?" I croaked as Tifa helped me into a sitting position.
"He left." Sephiroth replied. "The ancient girl, she did something and he fled."
"I merely put up a shield and banished him from the town, we can't fight here. There are too many innocents. And by the way, I have a name." Aeris snapped.
I nodded. "Good thinking."
I groaned as I was helped into a seat. "What the hell happened?" Barrett said and everyone turned to me.
I could only shrug, that had been weird. But, I was used to strange things happening to me...I seemed to be a channel for random visions or voices of the dead every time I passed out.
"So, that was the calamity?" Nanaki said.
"It seems so. He did look a lot like you." Cid said lighting a cigarette and nodding in Sephiroth's direction.
"It is to be expected, in some ways we are related."
"We should leave soon." Aeris said quietly. "My barrier won't protect this town for long, it will last only a few hours. I don't want any innocent people hurt during this fight..."
"I agree. I couldn't live with myself if the disaster at sector seven were repeated." Tifa's voice was hardly a whisper but Barrett nodded along with her. Bad memories of terrible mistakes. All of us were quiet remembering the blazing fire and awful screams as the plate had collapsed. I could still hear Biggs, Jessie and Wedge's last words to me as I had run for the top of the tower. We had failed. I shuddered and wrapped my arms around myself, that was before I had realised I wasn't normal. That had been before I had realised I was merely Sephiroth's toy.
"Then it is settled, we will leave." Sephiroth said and I looked up at him with a relieved smile. "I cannot use my full potential in such a confined space anyway."
"Well, let's get packed." Zack muttered, he ran fingers through his hair and stood slowly. He wobbled slightly and had to grab the nearest chair for support, he closed his eyes and let air rush from his lungs. "Shit! I'll never get used to that! How did you cope with all this pain Cloud?"
I sighed heavily and shook my head. "I didn't." I said quietly. "Have you really looked at me recently?" Zack turned and took a long hard look. "It was either Sephiroth or Jenova before and now it's these new creatures, it'll just get worse...the voices, the pain and everything...It's history repeating it's self and I'll never be rid of it, never be rid of my weaknesses."
No one spoke, we all stood in silence and looked at each other. We all knew it was a viscous circle of never ending pain. We knew that once we defeated this threat a new one would resurface and the cycle would only start all over again.
XXX
I stood in the hallway and stared at the door before me, why did I feel nervous? I mean, I was only going to talk to Cloud! We'd been best friends for a very long time, I had no reason to feel nervous knocking on his door. But I did. Every time I saw him I remembered the adorable kid he had been, the way his cheeks went red when I got too close or the way he would wrinkle his nose when he got pissy with me. I smiled nostalgically as I reached out and knocked.
"Come in!" Cloud's voice rang through the room behind the door and I pushed it open. He was standing in the middle with a towel over his head and water streaming down his toned body, his hair plastered to his forehead by water. A towel was wrapped around his waist and he smiled when he saw me. "Hey Zack, what's up?" He asked as he sat down on the bed and began drying his hair. I walked over to him and sat behind him, taking his hands away from the towel and beginning to dry it myself. "Z-Zack?" He said nervously. It was cute when he said my name like that.
"I just wanted to make sure you were alright."
"Oh...I'm fine." He replied, his voice muffled by the towel. "I should be asking you if you're alright! You're acting weird."
I stopped drying his hair and sighed, I sat beside him and drew my knee up to my chest. "I'm just...regretting stuff." I muttered.
"You and regrets don't go together."
I smiled weakly and cocked my head to the side while I watched him pull the cloth from his head and eye me cautiously. "I've been dead for so long now that I kinda forgot what being alive was like, I could take the form of my old body but I could never feel. But now...now I have a chance to rectify my mistakes and take the chances I never did in life...Cloud?"
"Yes?" he turned to face me fully and I leaned forward, trapping his head with a hand around the back of his neck. I grabbed his hand as he tried to push me away and pushed him to the bed where I sat astride him. "Zack...? What are you...mmm...!" I cut him with a kiss.