A/N: Hello! And welcome back, chapter number twenty five! Wow, this is quite a long one it seems! Thanks for reading and I hope no one's getting bored! Please, keep reviewing and letting me know how it's going! XD

Chapter 25: The gloomy mansion

I stood outside the temple with the others. Vincent walked slowly around keeping low to the ground and checking for any clues as to where Cloud could have disappeared. Tifa stood beside me looking worried, the baby was fast asleep in Aeris's arms and Nanaki was sniffing the ground around the lake. Suddenly he lifted his head.

"I have Cloud's scent but it is mostly covered by others...I can smell exhaust and other humans that I do not recognise."

"I can see foot prints..." Vincent said, his hands indicating the damp ground. "Three other sets that do not match Cloud's...they look like dress shoes."

I frowned. "Who would wear dress shoes when you're kidnapping someone...?"

"That is easily answered." Sephiroth said, his eyes glowed furiously and the grip he had on his sword was so tight his knuckles were white. "Turks."

"That's what I thought." I agreed and crouched on the ground with my hands resting across my knees. I tipped my head back and frowned up at the stars. "Where did they take him though?"

"The list of viable places would be; ShinRa headquarters, Junon and...Nibeilheim." Sephiroth turned to us with a frown.

"Well, sounds like they'd jus' take him to HQ...Logically speakin'." Barrett said.

Cid blew smoke out of his mouth with a huff. "I dunno...maybe that's too obvious."

"I believe that maybe Barrett is correct, they would take him to the science department." Nanaki sat down and swished his tail as his eyes met all of ours.

"No." Vincent said suddenly. I looked over at him as he stood, a wind blew his cape around his ankles and his eyes glowed. "There is only one place they would take such an important experiment."

Sephiroth's shoulders visibly stiffened and his grip tightened even further on his sword. "That would be a cruel thing to do."

Vincent shrugged. "It is true. To them, he is a prize worth any amount of Gil. Also...he would be good bait to bring the greatest test subject back into their welcoming arms." His eyes met Sephiroth's and they stared at each other for a long time as if they were having a silent conversation. Then Sephiroth clenched his teeth and turned away.

"Are you implying they would use him as bait to get to me?"

"Indeed." Vincent said with a nod. "If you think about it, it makes sense. You two are connected on a level far greater than any of us here, it does not take a genius to work out that you would come for him if you sensed he was in danger. Caleb ShinRa is not a man to be underestimated..." I frowned as Vincent unconsciously rubbed at his chest as he stared off into the distance. A look in his eyes told me he had had a run in with the new president before.

"So, you believe they've taken him to Nibeilheim?" Tifa asked softly, she looked worried.

"Yes." Vincent said.

"Then we should go get him back!" Yuffie stood and adjusted her Shuriken.

"We should, but maybe it's a bad idea for Sephiroth to go...i mean, if they're after you as well..." I began, but Sephiroth shut me up with a glare.

"I will get him back, no matter what the cost." He said firmly. "Those human's are no match for me!"

"All those memories..." Tifa muttered. "I...I'm not sure if I can return."

I smiled and put my arm around her. "Hey, no worries. I'll be there, and I'll protect you in his place. I promise. You're special to him and so it's my duty to make sure nothing happens to you."

She smiled and put her hand on my arm. "Trust me, I'm not worried about my safety. I'm worried about what may happen to his state of mind if he were to see that place again..."

I couldn't stop the wince that crossed my face and I released her. I remembered it all so clearly. My eyes met Sephiroth's and we shared the memories. I could see that mansion so clearly, old and musty but filled with a strange malevolence that made me shiver. I could see Sephiroth being driven mad slowly but surely as he discovered what he really was, I could still see his face as he had fought me in the reactor. "We have to go get him, no matter what the cost. I can't leave him there!"

"Then it is settled." Sephiroth said and his sword disappeared. "We return to where it all began."

XXX

I lay on my back. The pain had long ago faded to a dull ache in my chest and my vision had cleared. My mind however, was filled with confusion. How had I gotten here? What was happening to me? Why wouldn't these voices shut up? Who am I?

The questions plagued me and I groaned. The clear glass surrounding me acted as a prison, I could here people talking and many men In white lab coats had come and gone to check me. I was cold and half naked, my body shivering violently but they wouldn't allow me warmth. I had tried to ask but all I could make were nonsense noises. My eyes were open but it seemed I had lost control of my body, it wouldn't do what I wanted it to. The voices were muffled, as if they were talking through cloth and they would mention a name that made agony rip through my head, a name I should know. But the syllables wouldn't form in my head. My body trembled, my head ached and I felt nauseous. I couldn't eat or drink so I had to be attached to a drip. I was carried from the small container to the table, there men would surround me and I was tested with needles. Injections filled with substances that me vomit, or made me fill with unending agony. They would take samples of my blood, my hair and they would do it all with cold, unfeeling eyes.

That name...

The name that wouldn't form in my head...

I wanted to be able to speak it. I wanted to hear it fall from my lips, because it had always been there. On the tip of my tongue...for so long I had screamed that name. Screamed it with a hatred so violent I thought I would burst, that name that invoked so many conflicting feelings...

Such strong emotion. Three single syllables.

I closed my eyes and I could see him. His long silver hair, his small mysterious smile, his long fingered hand wrapped around a sword. Flames erupting around his body as he smiled and turned away.

That name.

That name that I ended up screaming, no longer in anger, but in pleasure...

His intense glowing eyes that drove me insane. The voice that commanded. The soft, gentle touch that set me on fire.

Why was it so difficult to remember these things?

I could see bright green. It was everywhere, it surrounded me, filled me with peace. Strands of light wrapping around me in a warm embrace, the voices calling to me...wanting me to...to...

Do what?

Wanting me to kill.

But...

I don't want to...

I don't hate him anymore...

I...never truly did hate him.

It was...myself that I hated. I hated myself for being so weak and being unable to protect the one's I loved. It was my weakness that began it all, not him. It was all my fault.

Isn't it...

Always my fault?

I did nothing as that girl was run through, I simply watched as she died. Yes, I grieved. Yes, I was devastated but...I was also terrified. Terrified of myself. The part of me that...wasn't me. The part of me that wanted him. The Cloud that wanted her to die, the part that made me do things I didn't want to do. The part that made me fall in love...

XXX

We reached the gates of the village of Nibeilheim. I was somewhat reluctant to enter, this place seemed exactly the same as it had been back then. The gates stood and a little further in was an old broken down truck, it was near total collapse but it had been there on that day...

I glanced to my side and saw Zack standing perfectly still, his eyes on the gates. He seemed lost in memories...but of course, that was just what they were, memories. Nothing more, nothing less. It was over, it was...

But, I still felt a great sense of foreboding that made chills run up and down my spine. I was drawn to the place, I had to see it. I had to return. It was inevitable, it was supposed to be.

I turned, I do not know what made me speak, I do not understand why I said those words. Maybe I just did it to try and agitate Zack, out of some innate cruelty, or maybe...something else was guiding my tongue? It was as if the others weren't there, as if it was Zack and I with a few blue clad infantry men...one of them a small blond creature who got travel sick.

"How does it feel? It's your first time in your hometown in a long time right? So how does it feel? I wouldn't know because I don't have a hometown..." My voice was soft and it had none of the levity it had had when I had first spoken those words. But Zack jumped visibly and blinked at me, his eyes registering confusion. I had intended the question to be for Tifa, but Zack's reaction was strange. He paled and looked suddenly ill, his hand went up to his hair and he glanced to his side as if he expected to see the sixteen year old infantry man standing there.

"Well...It's strange..." Tifa began then she frowned slowly and glared at me. "hey, wait a minute...isn't that..."

Zack stopped her with a hand on her arm. "You must feel it too right?" He whispered.

After a second she nodded. "Yeah...I feel...ill. As if...I shouldn't be here...I should be in there." She pointed in the direction of the town. "I was waiting for you to arrive and when I saw you I ran off to tell my father, then when I returned you were all here and I...I was disappointed to not see Cloud. I didn't know what had happened to him...I was sad."

Zack nodded and rubbed at his face. "Ah, this is some serious de ja vu..."

"It's scary." Tifa whispered.

"Let us get a move on, we have only one objective and that lies a little further ahead." I said and turned away, but as I began leading the group in I heard Zack mutter.

"Jenova...?"

I turned my head and saw him covering his face. He seemed to recover and followed us.

The village was quiet, not many people were around but it looked exactly as it always had. It hit me as if I had walked into a solid brick wall. The well in the centre dominated the small courtyard, the houses that surrounded it were still quaint little things with old fashioned looking roof's, the few people we did see were pottering around and spared us odd glances. It was quiet and made me feel as if I had been doused in cold water. Zack looked pale as he looked around and Tifa had tears in her eyes as she stared up at the house that had been hers.

"Sephiroth...if this is one of your illusions...make it stop." She whispered. "Please."

I ignored her. I could say nothing that would ease her pain. I watched Zack walk straight up to the well and place his hand on the old wood. "This is where...this is the place that I had my last conversation with Aeris..." he whispered and turned to the girl who was looking around in fascination. He returned his gaze to the village and he found the Inn. "And there...that's where we stayed...it hasn't changed. Nothing's changed! Why? Why is it still exactly how I remember it?" his voice was tight as he fought the emotion. "I...I just know...that when we get Cloud back...When we get him back...I'm...gunna die again." He spun to look at Aeris, his eyes wide. "It's true isn't it? This is an omen! Just when...Just when I've found you all again...it's gunna be taken away!"

"Zack?" Aeris frowned up at him in confusion. "Nothing like that is going to happen! Not again, please stop worrying."

"But i..."

"Zack, stop acting like a child." I snapped. His agitation was putting me on edge and making the villagers stare at us. "Come, we have somewhere else to be." I strode past them and made my way toward the mansion.

When we reached it we all stopped. Tifa and Zack stood at my sides and we were silent. The old ShinRa mansion loomed ahead of us like a massive monster, it's roof rising into the gloomy clouds and its shape little more than a dark shadow. Vincent, who had been silent for the entire time took a sudden step back. I glanced at him and saw his eyes were glued to the place, he seemed unable to tear his gaze away. The golden gates were open and moved back and forth slightly in the breeze from the mountains, they creaked ominously and I felt a shudder tear through me. I frowned. This was not going to defeat me! "I am Sephiroth, SOLDIER First Class and Hero of Wutai, I will not allow any interference!" I snapped and strode through the gates, Zack took a breath and followed, I noticed his fingers touch the hilt of the buster sword as if for luck. Tifa trotted at his side and Vincent followed. At the doors I stopped and turned. "Tifa, Zack and Vincent should come with me...the rest of you, I want you to stay here and keep guard. This is something the rest of us must face alone."

"But..." Cid began but I sent a glare his way.

"No buts. My word is law."

No one else had any objections so I turned back to face the huge double doors.