God, I chose the worst day EVER to start this again. Why? Because of the word, that's why. I made a commitment to write the first thing that came to mind when I read the word of the day, and, today at least, that means more angst. I'll have to write my death-to-Hojo fic right after this to cheer myself up. Gah, I hate you, gods of ! Now I have to write fucking Nibelheim! Dammit, dammit, dammit.

Sigh...well, no use putting this off.

immolate \IM-uh-layt\, transitive verb:
1. To sacrifice; to offer in sacrifice; to kill as a sacrificial victim.
2. To kill or destroy, often by fire.

Pairing: one-sided (at least now it is) SephirothxCloud

Warnings: Naughty words, as always. And angst. And maybe some angst. And did I mention the angst?

Summary: He was beautiful even then as he walked through the flames. (Cloud's POV)

Dedication: Who should I give this to...this'll be for Amarissia, I suppose, since she's also going to have to write Nibelheim. I don't know how I'll ever live with Madness gone. Honestly.

Disclaimer: IF I OWNED THESE PEOPLE, NIBELHEIM WOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED, DAMMIT! And do you really think that FFVII would be able to manage a T rating if I had my way? Didn't think so.

The smell of burning...the stench of death...

I dashed outside, not bothering to put my helmet back on, staring around in shock.

The town, my town, my home was burning. Every building, save the ShinRa mansion, was in flames. Had a fire erupted? Where was the fire department? Small though it may have been, it was effective. It should be here! Everyone should be here! Where were the people?

Then, I saw them. Bodies littered everywhere. Were those...? It was! There was the owner of the store! And there was the mayor! And that over there was the photographer that had hounded us for the whole week! But why was there blood? If they had died in the blaze, then why were they bleeding?

I steeled myself and examined the general store owner's corpse. What I found hit me like a punch to the gut. Those were sword wounds! And the width of them, the way they were cut so cleanly, they could only have been caused by - !

I shook off any thoughts and raced toward my old home. Maybe I could get there in time. I had to get there in time!

I didn't. My mother lay dead on the ground. I almost gave up right there. I almost crumpled to the ground, almost started sobbing. I wanted nothing but to mourn for my mother, to hold her close and cry. And I would have, had someone not grabbed me and shoved me against the wall by my neck.

The first things I noticed were his eyes. I'd always loved them. They had been a beautiful, vibrant green. The green of mako, the green of life, energy, the green of mako. And they had been warm, no matter how icy his expression got. But not now. Now, the pools of green were like frozen pools of poison. They were evil. I didn't know what was going on, I didn't know why the town was burning, why the people had been slaughtered, I didn't know what he had read in the basement that made him this way, but I knew that this was not my lover. This was a monster. This was not Sephiroth.

The monster leaned forward and hissed in my ear. "Traitor." My eyes widened, and I wanted to ask what I had done, why he had done this, but he threw me aside, and it was all I could do to stay upright and watch as he walked away toward the flames.

I felt ridiculously shallow for finding him desirable then, even after all he'd done. The fire caressed him, but didn't burn. His long hair rippled like streams of quicksilver. Even as he burned my home, he was beautiful. Even then, I loved him.

He turned back and his eyes met mine for a split second. For that small moment, he was himself again. For that small moment, there was sorrow and regret in his eyes. Then, he averted his eyes, and when he looked back up, he was the monster again.

I couldn't find a good place to cut this off, and I wanted to do it as soon as possible, so that's the reason for the crappy ending. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go find Hojo and stab him to death a few times to cheer myself up.

Just review! Please? I'm giving you death-to-Hojo right after I get this done, people!