Until the End Chapter 14: Memories of a Different Time, a kingdom hearts fanfic

a/n Gonna keep working on this. Lucky me, three day weekend. It's amazing. Anyhow, if anyone wants a recommendation on a song to listen to while reading this chapter, I wrote it while listening to the Undertale theme on loop so...there's a suggestion.

Sephiroth looked around as he followed Cloud. The pillars had long since disappeared, and they were heading deeper into the dark thicket, shadows increasing around them. Cloud bit his lip nervously, moving closer to the man. Sephiroth looked down at him and rolled his eyes, moving away.

"Watch your space child," he said to the boy. "I don't want to breathe the same air as you."

"Fine I don't want to breathe your air either," Cloud said. "Your mind is what's making this place dark anyway. You need to learn to lighten up. Literally."

"Perhaps you should just stop being so afraid of the darkness. You're the one who trapped our minds together, live with your decision."

"...You're pretty mean," Cloud commented. "What happened to make you so angry."

"I've always been angry," Sephiroth explained. "It comes from living the life go a monster."

"But you're not a monster. I thought you were a monster but you're just a really angry person."

"Really, child? I'm not a monster?" He stretched out his black wing and allowed his eyes to glow. "Look at this and tell me I'm not a monster."

"You're not a monster." The pair stared at each other, and Sephiroth turned away.

"You don't know what you're talking about," he growled. "You're young. Your mind has not yet been tainted by the true realities of life." He continued down the path and boy ran to catch up with him, having to walk quickly to keep up with his long strides. They walked down the quickly darkening path before they came across another fork in the road. To each side was a golden door, and both doors were padlocked shut. "Alright, so what's this?"

"These are blocked memories, the memories you don't want to remember so you remember them wrong or you don't remember them at all," Cloud explained. "Everyone has them, I see these doors all the time. Only the person who holds the memories can unlock the doors. The right is your door and to the left is...mine."

"Those must be the memories of the fight I had with your brother," Sephiroth said. "Come on, let's go through your door so I can leave." Sephiroth began moving and turned around when he realized the boy wasn't following him. Cloud was staring at the door, his eyes filled with apprehension. "Well? Come on. Let's go."

"I-I...I'm scared," Cloud admitted, wringing his hands nervously. "I don't want to watch Zack die."

"It's never easy to watch the people you love die," Sephiroth said. "But I can't stay in your head forever. We need to get going."

"But...I..." Cloud looked down for a second, as though he was thinking. "I don't want to go." Sephiroth sighed. He'd wasn't going to kill the boy in his own head, but he needed to leave. There was something he could do...but it would make the promise so much longer. However, it was better to get out later than not at all. He walked up to the child and bent down in front of him, staring him straight in the eye.

"Boy, look at me," he commanded. He growled a little when the boy didn't look up. "Child, look at me now." The boy finally did, and they stared each other in the eyes. The man sighed and tried to collect his thoughts. He needed to do this in a way that didn't scare the boy. "Sometimes we have to face things we're afraid of to get past them and grow up. You and I are going to make an agreement. We'll go through your door and you'll face those memories, and then we'll turn back and go through my door."

"Why don't we just go through your door," Cloud asked.

"Because you aren't the only one facing something you don't want to remember," Sephiroth admitted. He stood back up and Cloud tentatively walked to his door, placing his hand on the padlock. The padlock disappeared and he pushed the door open, walking in with Sephiroth behind him.

They walked into a small dark room with a swirling violet orb hanging in the very center. The pair walked up to it and stared at it, and Sephiroth could see shadows running through the orb, but he couldn't quite make out what they were supposed to be. He put out a hand and touched it, quickly pulling back when a shock went through his system.

"That's my memory," Cloud explained. "I'm the only one that can touch it."

"Why is it violet," Sephiroth asked.

"That's the color of these types of memories," the child responded. "Unlocked memories are all golden. I had to do this with Leon too, because he wasn't complete without his memories as Squall, and all the memories he didn't want or had manipulated were purple." He reached up and pressed his hand against the memory, and a beam of light shot up onto the domed ceiling. A scene began to play.

"Cloud! That's cheating," laughed a black haired boy as his younger brother made funny faces. The pair were currently playing jenga, and the little blond clearly wanted to win. "I swear if this piece knocks over the tower I'm going to throw it at you."

"No you won't Zack," the blond boy giggled, and continued making faces. His brother laughed harder and the tower collapsed the ground, the piece being thrown at the younger as promised. He giggled and tackled the older boy, the pair of them wrestling on the ground playfully. They both looked up as they heard the door open, and Cloud stood up excitedly. "Mom is back! Mom!" The pair ran to where they could see the door, but the older brother grabbed the younger one's wrist when he saw that it wasn't their mother standing at the door. It was a tall silver haired man who looked like a demon.

"Who are you..." Zack asked, pulling Cloud closer to him. The nine year old held his chin up, refusing to show his little brother that he was even the slightest bit scared. "What are you doing here?"

"My name is Sephiroth," the man said. "I'm here to save you." There was a glint of silver, and Zack quickly ran when he realized it was a sword, dragging. He pushed open the door to the balcony of their apartment and pushed his brother through, slamming it shut behind him.

"Zack what's going on," Cloud asked, watching him nervously. Zack looked over the balcony to see the dumpster beneath them, and turned back to his brother. He grabbed him and jumped off the balcony, landing in the dumpster. They both resurfaced and climbed out, and Cloud restated his question.

"That's a monster who's come to get us," Zack explained. "If we don't run he's going to get us and it's going to hurt really bad, okay?" Cloud nodded and Zack shifted to his second form, a large black wolf dog. He bent down and let Cloud climb on his back and cling to his main. He started running, and only a few seconds later he heard the clattering of garbage, meaning Sephiroth had jumped down after them.

Cloud clung to his big brother, feeling the wind whip through his hair. He noticed the street lights racing past them from the corners of his eyes, and heard the sound of running behind him. His heart was raising and he could hear his blood raising through his ears. He couldn't remember being so scared in his life. The run finally ended when Zack's tail was grabbed and they flew away from each other. Cloud growled when he heard his brother yelp, and ran at Sephiroth, punching his leg. The tall man grabbed him by the air and threw him off to the side. Cloud groaned in pain and struggled in an attempt to stand up before darkness overtook his world.

When he woke up Sephiroth was gone and there was blood splattered on the wall. He ran out to where his brother was laying on the ground, and knelt at his side. The black haired boy coughed, blood coming out of his mouth, and he smiled up at his brother.

"Hey there buddy," he said weakly. "Glad you didn't get caught up in that mess."

"Zack..." Cloud whimpered. "What happened?"

"I had to protect my little brother from the monster," Zack replied. He reached up and ran a hand through the other's blond hair. "Cloud I-I...I'm dying."

"No," Cloud yelled, shaking him. "Don't die! You can't die you're Zack! I don't even know where mom is or how to get back home!"

"Mom is dead Cloud," Zack told him. "Sephiroth killed her coming up the stairs to the apartment, and home isn't safe." He reached into his pocket and pushed a piece of paper into his brother's hand. "Written on here is the address of the Radiance Shelter. Remember? They were on the news." Cloud nodded. "Go there, the people there will keep you safe."

"But what about you," Cloud asked. "They can help you. They'll keep you alive and then you can stay with me." Zack chuckled a little bit.

"It's too late for me now bro," he said with more maturity than any nine year old should have. "I'll live on through you. Just keep living and keep being happy for me, okay?" Cloud shook his head, tearing up. "I want you to promise me you'll run there and be happy. You don't have much time, Sephiroth might come back even though I injured him. Promise me." Cloud sniffled and nodded, and Zack smiled. "Thank you buddy." He shut his eyes, his breath beginning to grow more shallow.

Cloud frowned, and put his hands on either side of Zack's head. His eyes began to glow and gold flowed up his arms, only ending when the black haired boy finally stopped breathing. The blond hugged his brother's body and let out a wail of despair, sobbing into his chest. All he wanted was for his brother to open his eyes and laugh, telling him it was all a joke. Then he was take him by the hand and they would go home together, wherever home was now. After what felt like hours of crying the blond finally stood up and ran, leaving the body and his life behind.

"So that's what happened," Sephiroth said, glad the incident was finally clarified to the boy at his side. He watched the memory turn gold and dissipate, and realize he could hear soft crying at his side. He looked down to see the little blond boy sobbing at his side, and actually felt a little guilty. He had taken the boy's family from him, his entire world. He meant to save them, and hadn't he? If the he hadn't killed Zack it was likely the pair would have been discovered by Rufus and his people. He sighed and placed a hand on the boy's head, the room dissipating around them. When it was over they were standing on the path. Before them was the path to freedom, but Sephiroth had made a promise. It was time to go to his door. He waited for the boy to stop crying and then they walked to the door.

"Put your hand on it," Cloud said. "I made it so that you and Xigbar can't summon your weapons in here, so that means you can't break it with your sword."

"Why on earth would you do that," Sephiroth asked incredulously.

"I don't want you two to fight in here." Sephiroth rolled his eyes at the response and put his hand the lock. It dissipated and he pushed the door open, walking in with the child. They were a similar dark, small room with a domed ceiling, but there were many, many more orbs, some of them a far darker violet than the others. "Why are they so many more?"

"You're older," Cloud explained. "You have changed and repressed a lot of memories to get this many. It's the most I've seen. Touch the darker orbs, okay? If you get them all then it'll cause a chain between them and release everything." Sephiroth nodded and put his hand on the closest orb to him.

A young silver haired boy looked around nervously. He was five years old and his father, a scientist, had just dropped him off at a facility. It was the first time he'd ever been left completely alone, and he was sitting in the middle of the room, looking around to try to find something to focus on.

"Oh! Is that him?"

The boy looked up to see two other children his age looking at him through the door. They were dressed in similar hospital-esque outfits to his, and they were both barefoot. One of them was taller than the other, and had short black hair was was slightly slicked back, probably from running his fingers through his hair. The other one, the shorter one, had reddish brown hair that was a little bit messy, and they both had glowing blue-green eyes. The redhead smiled ran over, pulling the other boy behind him. They sat across from him and stared at him curiously.

"So you're the new kid, huh," the redhead asked him, or at least it seemed like a question. Either way, he nodded. "Cool. My name is Genesis, and this is Angeal. Angeal doesn't talk all that much but he's pretty cool. We were friends before we came here. What's your name?" He looked down nervously, and the other boy frowned. "Hey, it's okay. You don't have to be scared. Angeal and I can be your pals. We just need to know your name."

"It's...Sephiroth," he mumbled, and Genesis grinned happily.

"Nice to meet you Sephiroth," he said. "How did you get here? What kind of power do you have? I can predict the future, or at least pieces of it. And sometimes it's not always our future. There's lots of timelines and stuff so I get confused."

"My father is one of the researchers from the other lab," Sephiroth said. "As for my power...I have this wing." He opened his wing from where it was neatly folded on his back and clenched his eyes tight, waiting for the mocking to begin.

"That's so cool!" He opened his eyes to see both the other staring at his wing in awe.

"Y-You think it's cool," he asked. They both nodded.

"It's definitely better than my stupid power," Angeal said. "All I can do is make apple trees grow, and only apple trees."

"I like apples," Sephiroth told him. "So how did you two get here?"

"My mom got really sick," Angeal said. "I stayed at the house for a few more days and then they showed up. They said they were going to take care of me, but now I'm here." Sephiroth nodded and then looked over at Genesis expectantly. Genesis in turn bit his lip and looked away, swinging his left foot. "Come on Gen, you did ask him."

"Right..." the redhead said. "My...my parents sold me to the lab." Sephiroth's eyes widened in shock. His parents sold him to these people? He knew what happened here, the children here were tested and experimented on. He would have questioned what type of parent could give their child over to these people, but then again that's what his father did. "When they first realized I could predict the future my dad used it for gambling, but when he realized I would get timelines mixed up, my parents agreed to find someone else to take me on."

"I'm sorry..." Sephiroth said.

"It doesn't matter now," Genesis replied, smiling. "I didn't even like my parents anyway. They were mean, but even though I'm here with Angeal and now I'm here with you." Sephiroth smiled and nodded. "We're going to be best friends, right?" All three of them nodded and grinned, Genesis slamming his palm into the middle of the table to signify it as theirs.

"You were really close with them, weren't you," Cloud said. Sephiroth nodded.

"They were my best friends," he said, moving to the next dark memory. "How many of these are there?"

"Four," Cloud said. "You have to go through four locked memories, and then we can get out of here. Why did you lock out the memories of Angeal and Genesis if you were so close to them?"

"Sometimes even good memories are too painful to look back on if everything that made them special is gone," the man explained. He put his hand on the next memory and began the next projection.

"Hn..." Genesis whimpered, clutching his head. They were sitting on a couch in the recreation room, the one room where they were allowed to have physical connection. Well, Angeal and Sephiroth were sitting. Genesis was curled up between them, his head in Angeal's lap as he clutched both sides and continued to make pained noises. Angeal pet his head comfortingly, trying to gently soothe at least some of the pain.

"They've been getting worse," Sephiroth commented. "And a lot more frequent. Did he used to have headaches before you two came here?"

"He did," Angeal affirmed. "They were never so bad he couldn't even talk though."

"It is kind of nice that there is something that will get him to stop talking though," the silvette joked. His friend let out a laugh, and he joined, both of them stopping when their friend let out another pained whine. "Gen, can you talk yet? Tell us what you're seeing..."

"Th-They want to...hurt...kill..." Genesis stuttered, curling some more. His eyes shot open and he looked at Sephiroth. "They're going to make us bad. They're going to make us kill everyone. Everyone. Everyone will die."

"Hush Gen, you'll be okay," Angeal said, stroking his hair. The redhead struggled.

"We need to keep fighting them," the redhead insisted.

"We already are, the best we can," Sephiroth insisted. "You even bit one of the researchers."

"Don't ever let them get you Sephiroth," Genesis said, looking at his friend with something similar to panic in his eyes. "Promise me! Don't let them drive you to the brink!" Sephiroth nodded. "I need to...I need..."

"You need to sleep Gen," Angeal insisted, continuing to pet his friend. He did so until the other fell asleep, and then looked at Sephiroth in concern. "What do you think he was talking about? Was it maybe timelines getting tangled together again?"

"Maybe," Sephiroth said. "He's been acting weird recently. A lot more nervous around the researchers than usual. Especially Hollander. Then again Hollander has always acted pretty weird towards him."

"We'll just have to wait and see then," Angeal said. They both looked at the redhead, trying to find something less depressing to discuss.

"He was getting headaches," Cloud asked.

"It was a symptom of his power," Sephiroth explained. "With some people's powers they have headaches if they don't release enough energy by using him. With him he got headaches if he didn't look into the future at least once, but he also got headaches if timelines got twisted around in his head. Those were the bed ones, because there was nothing any of us could do to make it any better."

"I get head aches like that sometimes," Cloud said. "That's why I sometimes go in peoples' heads without asking."

"Understandable," Sephiroth said. "Alright, halfway done. Onto the next one." He put his hand on the next memory, and took a deep breath.

"Ugh, this is so lame," Genesis groaned, sitting with the other two at their table. "I hate this medicine their pumping into my veins."

"What's it for anyway," Angeal asked.

"I don't know," the other boy said. "Probably some weird experiment. It's making my hair ugly and silver."

"Hey, my hair is silver," Sephiroth said with a frown.

"Yeah but your hair looks good. Silver suits you." Sephiroth shrugged and nodded. Genesis certainly wasn't wrong there. "My hair suited my too. Now it looks all weird. Must be a side effect."

"Maybe if you ask the researchers to stop then they'll do it this time," Angeal said.

"Yeah like that's ever worked," Genesis agreed sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Sephiroth snickered and Angeal looked at them both with a stern glare. He'd always acted like their father, the most mature one out of the three. "Let me guess, 'they must have some honor, they're human'. Honor honor honor that's all I ever hear from you. It's like your very soul is made out of honor."

"I happen to have a very honorable soul, yes," Angeal admitted. "But that's a good thing. It means I can keep you two in line."

"We'll see how long that lasts," Genesis replied with a smirk. He then laughed, but his laughs quickly turned to coughs, and soon he couldn't breath without letting out hacking coughs. After a few minutes of his coughing fit he stopped, putting his head down on the table and resting there, panting. Angeal rubbed his back, but quickly pulled back when he was reprimanded by a nearby guard. "...Well this sucks."

"Clearly," Sephiroth said. "Go to your room and get some sleep."

"I don't want to," Genesis shot back, and the silvette rolled his eyes. Genesis had a tendency to act like a petulant child and had always been very stubborn, to the point of obstinacy. "I don't get to hang out with you guys when I'm in my room and it's boring. They won't even let me take Loveless in there."

"You've memorized Loveless," Angeal told him with a smile. "And yet you talk about me being obsessed with honor."

"At least my obsession makes sense," Genesis fired back. "Now enough of this. I had a cool dream last night and I want to tell it to you guys."

"So that's when he started getting sick," Cloud clarified. "And his hair turned gray."

"Yes," Sephiroth affirmed. "Even sick he was a bundle of energy. He was a lot like a cat. Smartest man I've ever known, but stubborn as he possibly could be. It was nearly impossible to get him to do anything he didn't want to."

"Did he ever run around like a spring toy for no reason?"

"Sometimes." Cloud let out a snort of laughter and Sephiroth smiled a little bit. He walked to the next memory, the last memory, and pressed his hand against it. "Here we go."

Sephiroth was sitting on the couch in the recreation room, talking to Angeal. He wasn't sure why Genesis wasn't out here yet. He was usually the first one in the rec room, waiting on the couch impatiently to tell them about some story he'd thought up or some new connection or theory he'd made with Loveless. Him not being here was...weird. Sephiroth looked over when he heard the door, and saw a pair of wheels connected to-

"I don't want to watch this one," Sephiroth said, pulling away.

"Hey, wait, you can't do that," Cloud shouted. "If you don't watch then you'll never be a complete person!"

"Hasn't this dawned upon you yet," Sephiroth snapped, turning to the boy. Cloud took an unconscious step back in sudden fear. "No one is a complete person! Everyone has problems! There's nothing you can do about it! I'm not watching this one! We're leaving and I'm getting out of your sick head!"

"That's not fair," Cloud yelled back. Sephiroth rolled his eyes and turned away to storm out. The child reached out and grabbed the end of his coat, and the man turned around, eyes glinting in anger, but then he stopped. He saw the look in the boy's eyes. A familiar, stubborn look, refusing to accept that the world couldn't work out the way he wanted it to. "You promised! I watched my brother die, so now you have to watch whatever is in this memory!"

"...Fine," Sephiroth relented. There was something hauntingly familiar about that look. He'd seen it on a redhead who was very important to him, one who'd died a long time ago. He would go through with this for that look. He put his hand on the memory and took a deep breath, looking up at the projection.

"I wonder who died," Angeal said aloud. "We know it's not Reeve and Scarlett. It's too tall to be either of them. Besides, they're too young to die, right?" He looked over at Sephiroth, who staring at the sheet covered gurney. The man who was pushing it stopped and turned to speak with a guard, and Sephiroth stood up, walking over to the gurney and yanking off the sheet. Angeal gasped when they both saw who it was.

Genesis was laying dead before their eyes, skin cold and hair completely silver, devoid of all the life that used to course through his veins. Angeal ran to his side and pushed Genesis's hair back, yelling his name in an attempt to wake him up. Sephiroth simply stared, his blood having turned to ice. Every sound was muted to him, like he were underwater, and everything was blurry except for the dead body before his eyes.

The nurse finally noticed them and ran over, calling the guards. Angeal thrashed when a guard grabbed him, but Sephiroth remained still as guard grabbed him from behind. Then suddenly it was as though all his energy had returned. He put out a hand and summoned a long odochi, twisting and slicing the guard in half. Angeal followed his lead, summoning his own sword and forcing the guard away from him through sheer force of will.

They both continued in this manner, hacking their way through everything that came at them. Sephiroth could see his hair being turned red by blood, but he couldn't care less. Red was good. He wanted red right now. Red was what he need. He hacked through another guard and turned when he heard Angeal yell. The other boy was trapped in the claw like grasp of an oddly shaped robot, and then suddenly his body was being torn to pieces by bullets. Sephiroth turned to see a young boy with black hair holding his hand out and a young blond girl holding a machine gun. The boy moved to trap Sephiroth, but the teen was too quick. He crashed his way through a window and ran until he couldn't run anymore.

When he finally stopped he fell to his hands and knees, letting out a scream that could only be described as that of a feral animal crying out in pain after having chewed it's own leg off. He started rocking himself and cried. He wanted Angeal and Genesis right now, but he couldn't have them. They were gone now, they couldn't help him through this torment, they were...

They were saved. He let out a small laugh. They were saved from future experiments, from future torture, and from this pain. It felt like he was being stabbed and then torn apart. He envied them, they were free. But the lab would get their hands on others. Other children just like them. He laughed more at the thought of himself actually caring, but he did. He wanted to find the children like Angeal and Genesis and save from this future. His mind went blank, his eyes went cold, and he stood, finding the strength to walk and fan out his wing. He would find the children like Angeal and Genesis, and he would save them from this. Then he would save himself.

"...I'm sorry your friend died," Cloud said, turning to the adult. "I'm sorry I made you watch that. Is that...is that why you're so angry?" Sephiroth was silent for a minute or two, trying to explain his emotions.

"The night before he died, he was very sick," he said. "We were at the table, Angeal, Genesis, and I, and to comfort Genesis Angeal started talking about the town they came from. It was a farming community, one that made a very unique apple that tasted like none it. It was like tasting the fruit of the gods. Genesis was so happy to hear about the apples, but then he got very sad. He said that he was never going to be able to eat one of the apples again, or climb one of the trees." Sephiroth let out a sad chuckle. "I was a very foolish boy, but we were all only fifteen, and I thought I could conquer the world if I really tried. I told him that I would get him out of that terrible place, and that all three of us would go back to the town and climb trees and eat apples all day. But...well...you saw."

"He died," Cloud supplemented.

"Yeah," Sephiroth said. The room was dissipating around him, but he was unable to admire the beauty of the room turning to starlight. "He died. It was my fault too. I should have worked harder to get him and Angeal out of there."

"It isn't your fault he died," Cloud reassured him. Sephiroth looked down at him. "He died because of the medicine the researchers were giving him. It made him very sick, and then he died. People do that sometimes, I should know. You did break your promise to him though."

"What promise are you talking about?"

"The promise you made when he was laying on the couch with you and Angeal, in pain." Sephiroth cocked his head, still not understanding. "You promised you wouldn't let them drive you to the brink. He was right though, everyone died. You killed all those children, and you killed Yuffie and Aerith. You let them drive you to the brink, and you let them drive you past it. Sephiroth froze, his breath stopping and blood turning to ice when he realized Cloud was right.

"I...I did," he said. "I broke my promise... I told... Oh god..." It was too much for Sephiroth to handle. It was finally too much for him to handle. He fell to his knees, the stabbing, tearing pain from all those years ago finally coming back. He drove his fingers into his hair, balling his hands into fists and pulling, trying to control the sensation. He bit his lip to hold back whatever pained noise he was about to make, and felt tears sticking the corners of his eyes. Then everything stopped, and he felt a pair of arms wrapping around his neck.

"It's okay," Cloud said. "He forgives you. I know he does. Everyone feels pain sometimes. We all react to it differently." Sephiroth blinked in surprise, unsure how to face a boy wise beyond his seven years of life. He let his arms drop to his side, staring forwards.

"And you Cloud," he began. "Do you forgive me? I've tried to kill you several times. I've killed two of your friends, I killed your mother, I killed your brother. Is it possible for you to forgive me after all that?"

"I forgive you," Cloud responded. "You were hurting, you needed someone but you didn't have anyone, so you did what you thought was the best thing to do at the time. People do that all ti-" He was cut off but the feeling of a pair of arms wrapping around him, and a face burying itself in his hair. "Sephiroth?"

"Thank you," the man murmured, tightening his grip. "Thank you so much you wonderful, incredibly stupid child." After a few more seconds in the hug, he released Cloud and stood up. "Thank you, Cloud." The boy grinned up at him and pointed in front of them.

"Look! The paths combined," he said happily. "We don't have to pick one!"

"That's true," Sephiroth said. "Lead the way." He blinked in surprise as he felt a small hand take his own, and allowed himself a small smile as the child dragged him down the path.

a/n Okay this was nearly 6,000 words of emotions. To everyone who got this far, thank you. I hope you enjoyed that, including Sephiroth's OOCness. He's a challenging character to write properly, especially in this setting, but it's fun. Anyhow, until next time my lovelies. Maruba, out.