He knew something was wrong. Distant voices. One of them sounded like Sephiroth. And yet this wasn't his Sephiroth? Cloud wasn't sure if that was even the right way to put it.

Sometimes they tried to control him.

But he managed to fight them off. Cloud reminded himself that this voice, no matter how much it sounded like Sephiroth, it wasn't his Sephiroth. And therefore he wasn't falling under Fake Sephiroth's spell.

The voices grew angry. A female voice would demand that he listen. But he sensed the taint in her voice. No amount of honey she presented Cloud knew there was poison. And thus an argument would start inside his head that would last for hours, leaving him with a migraine that nothing can help him.

"Are we ever gonna talk about how cranky he's gotten recently?" Yuffie whispered to the others.

Cloud wanted to groan out loud. He could hear them from inside his tent. After the incident with Vincent he began to stare up at the stars less and opted to twist and turn in his sleeping bag until he eventually fell asleep. Obviously his friends picked up on his change of behavior and habits.

"He looks like he's always lost in thought. Distracted." Aerith observed.

"He also has a sour face whenever we fight pieces of Jenova." Tifa added.

"That's when he's the most distracted." Vincent's voice added to the conversation.

"So... Maybe it's Jenova?"

In a way they were spot on, Cloud thought. But then there was another detail. Something only Vincent slightly understood the problem. He only knew the surface.

"Has anyone noticed he avoids any conversation about Sephiroth? Even so much as mentioning him." Aerith asked the others.

"Now that I think about it... Yeah." Tifa agreed. He can imagine her nodding her head. "Ever since we entered the alternate reality."

"I'm starting to think when he fought Sephiroth by himself, something happened."

"Like what? He ain't gonna tell us shit."

"Perhaps wait until the next time we see Sephiroth." Vincent suggested. "Then we can observe his response."

Something in Cloud shriveled up inside. Although the Ex Turk didn't reveal the secret, he was very close at hinting at it. And it made the blonde uncomfortable.

For several days Cloud couldn't focus on being angry at them for planning behind his back. Not when the voices kept him up late at night. They wouldn't stop harassing him for hours. It didn't matter if it was day time or night. It was even worse at night so as to force him to stay awake.

Then came the interrogation of Hojo. It was an odd choice of scenery on the beach or Costa del Sol.

"You want to learn about Sephiroth? Which one?"

"The hell you mean? There's two of them!?" Barrett grit his teeth.

"But how?"

"I can only assume about the second one. He only appears then disappears out of thin air."

"That's what he's always done." Aerith glared.

"Yes, but one of them can possess the lost souls. Those that share the same cells as Jenova, his mother. But they are imperfect. Once the body has been used up it dies. This second Sephiroth doesn't need to possess anyone, nor does he leave any sign of his existence behind. Ever notice the wraiths show up afterwards? I don't believe that Sephiroth is part of this world. At least, not in this time."

"So... He's from the future?" Cloud guessed, taking all of this in. He recalled certain phrases that still puzzled him.

"Perhaps. You don't seem so as surprised as your company." Hojo eyed him curiously.

"Just piecing together from the last time he and I fought." Cloud acted indifferent.

"You could have told us!" Aerith turned to him.

"And would you have believed me?" He countered.

"At the time? Not really." Barrett admitted. "But then again, we seen a lot of weird shit."

Cloud was still in a heated glare war against Aerith. He knew she wasn't going to let this go. He was proven right soon as they reunited with the others and made camp.

"What really happened when you fought him?"

"Nothing of interest. He spoke in riddles and taunted me to fight him. We fought. Didn't last long when he suddenly went poof." Cloud wanted to end this conversation.

"That can't be it! You're hiding something." Aerith crossed her arms.

"What do you think I'm hiding?" He was too tired of this.

"I don't know! You're shutting us out. I know something happened. You haven't been the same since. What did he do?"

Cloud turned away, avoiding direct eye contact. Dead and awkward silence in the camp.

"... You're really shutting us out for good." Tifa concluded.

He got up and walked a little distance away to sit down and sit in silence. Except he was still being raged upon by the voices. Cloud was so focused on them that he didn't immediately notice Vincent was trying to speak to him until he was in front of him.

"Huh?" Cloud blinked. When did the Ex Turk get there?

"You looked like you were arguing with someone in your head." Nothing escapes him. Then again Vincent recently admitted he had quite a few personalities that were his Limit Breaks.

"Just lost in thought." He wasn't sure if anyone was eavesdropping or not.

"... If you won't tell them about your crush, I will." Vincent warned, after carefully choosing his words.

"Don't you dare." Cloud glared. In that moment his eyes flashed green. Vincent was too stunned to reply.

Taking that as a means that the Ex Turk understood the warning, Cloud got to his feet to make his way to his tent.

xXx

He had fitful dreams. Cloud wouldn't remember them when he woke up, though most of the time he awoke with a mad boner. He didn't trust himself not to be silent to fix the problem. To top it off he could hear some of the others up already and cooking breakfast. So he forced aside his urges and hope no one noticed.

The voices of the Fake Sephiroth and what he now guessed Jenova didn't make things easier. They continued to harass him. To the point he would have multiple moments where he was talking to them out loud.

Why won't you accept us?

"Shut up." Cloud hissed in a whisper.

"No one said anything?" Yuffie tilts her head.

He glared at her, and she kept the interaction quiet from the others. He believed it worked at least for a while. Until he began to realize he let himself slip in front of a few others. And well that quickly spread like wildfire. He sensed their worries, but they dared not to bring it up knowing he would shut them out even more.

Things took a turn when they were stumped on where to find the Black and White Materias. By now they had scoured most of the continent for other reasons. So they really didn't have any direction on where to look for the legendary Materias, even with an expert thief on their side.

"You know where to find Materia. Where the hell would we find the White and Black ones?"

"I don't know! I've never even heard of them!"

"Some expert thief you are."

Cloud almost warned Barrett to watch out for his Materia, when suddenly he was hit with a wave of pain. He gripped the source of it which was his left arm. Noticing his obvious pain the others observed, gathering around.

"Cloud?" Tifa moved closer.

Hand it over.

"No..." Cloud hissed. The pain intensified to the point his arm was shaking.

Bring me the Black Materia.

"Fuck off!" Cloud shook his head. The pain went from stabbing to burning and this time he let out a cry. He opened his eyes to see his arm was now on fire. The flames were black and purple. Yet they burned with such intensity that was beyond any Firaga spell.

"Found the Black Materia!" Yuffie yelled.

"Cancel it!" Aerith urged, not even questioning why he had it in the first place when Cloud had no idea either.

"I can't... It's not me. He wants it. But he's fake. I won't..."

I am NOT fake! The imposter is the one messing with time itself.

But he's not you. I won't be yours.

So be it.

Cloud was engulfed in the dark flame. If he screamed he couldn't hear it over the fire. Suddenly wraiths circled around him fast. They were creating a wind to kill off the flames. The speed necessary was achieved, however now he really couldn't breathe as they continued so as the Materia didn't try to burn him again.

"Cloud!" Shouts of his name from the others could be distantly heard from the other side of the tornado.

Sephiroth!

I am here, Cloud.

Then he heard it. The song of Masamune. Before Cloud could even blink the long sword sliced through the tornado, creating a gap. In a flash Sephiroth, his Sephiroth, was behind him. He reached for the source of Cloud's pain. The Materia didn't fight. Soon as it sensed its master the burning stopped.

There it was. The Black Materia in all its glory. It was the darkest black, with swirling purple in the light. Cloud leaned against his Sephiroth for support as he breathed heavily. Slowly the dizziness was going away as oxygen finally reached his brain.

"Was this your plan all along?" Aerith glared, stepping forward first.

"No, I have no need for this." As if to prove his point Sephiroth drops the Materia. It fell to the ground in a clatter. "My true prize is far greater value than the Black Materia."

Cloud didn't have to turn around to know that Sephiroth was smirking. It was in the drawl of his voice that gave it away. That purr that sent shivers down his spine.

"... You tricked him." Vincent caught on. Sephiroth chuckled. Cloud felt his cheeks heat a little and he looked away.

"On the contrary, he accepted my offer willingly. Now he won't even listen to Mother and her puppet. He was supposed to be under their spell to deliver the Black Materia."

The others gasped in surprise. Cloud sensed that they now understood part of his odd behavior for the last several days. Panic spread as they processed the implications.

"So then what will you do?" Tifa's voice was shaking.

"I will be claiming my prize." A black wing engulfed over Cloud. He didn't argue as he hears his friends screaming and yelling. Then he was pulled into a dark abyss.

When the wing slowly unveiled to show their surroundings, he realized they were back in the cosmos. Cloud turned to look up at Sephiroth. Green eyes were studying him curiously.

"Curious. My original plan was to wait for you to defeat Mother's puppet. But you refused his influence, and instead sought out mine."

"He's not you." Cloud stayed firm.

"He is me, in a way. He might be under Mother's thumb, but he is me."

"But not in mind. You're different."

"Then you'll accept? Even without knowing the cost?" Sephiroth was perplexed.

"There's no turning back now after what just happened, is there?" Cloud managed to make light of the subject.

"I suppose not. Shall we, Cloud?"

"Yes, Sephiroth."