By a Fraction of a Degree
A FFVII Fanfiction work by findthetiger129
Rated T for Violence and Language.
I do not own Final Fantasy VII, or any of the characters, trademarks or likenesses from Final Fantasy VII or its spin-offs That honor goes to Square-Enix.
Part II: Reunion
Chapter 33, Breaking Point
December 28th [ ν ] – εуλ 0007
Cissnei looked out across the frozen wastes that lay below her from her perch atop Gaia's Cliffs. The helicopter was a few hundred feet off, camouflaged on a large ledge just below the northern rim. It was a good hiding place since she and the other two renegades with her had both determined Tseng and his party would be leaving towards the south. While it was very possible they could circle around a bit before departing, the crater around which the cliffs stretched was so vast, they'd have plenty of time to retreat were that the case.
It had been a stroke of luck that had led them here. Thanks to a communications interception device Liz had kept from her mercenary days, they'd managed to detect a broadcast from a helicopter to one of the bases Shinra had in the area.
While they hadn't been able to decrypt the transmission, they'd been able to pinpoint roughly the direction the other helicopter was headed, and after that, figuring out the location had been relatively easy. She pulled her heavy coat around her, scanning the crater for any signs of life. Up here on the cliffs the winds were unforgiving, but somehow, Liz stood next to her, unperturbed, also with a set of binoculars. Mao had just traded out with Cissnei to take a turn at operating the radio interceptor. Though they'd been attempting to crack the channel for a while, taking it in turns, thus far, it had proved to be quite stubborn.
She clapped her hands together and rubbed her shoulders to get the feeling back into her body. Liz noticed the gesture and looked in her direction. "If you're cold, I won't stop you from going back into the chopper."
"No, it's all right. I've handled tougher than this," Cissnei said.
The former mercenary shrugged. "Your decision."
It was at that moment they both heard Mao call out from the chopper "Hey, I think we have something!"
The two renegades gathered at the main hatch to listen and Mao patched it through the speakers.
"Tseng!" Elena's voice was shrill and they heard the sound of several gunshots.
Their former director's voice echoed over the speakers. "Reno, the chopper!"
More gunshots were fired in rapid succession before a final order from Tseng. "Go!"
With that, the communications channel went quiet.
Cissnei rushed back to the edge of the cliff upon hearing the sound of rotor blades and finally, out of the mist below, a familiar helicopter rose out of the mist and left, flying at top speed.
It was early in the evening and Cloud was watching Zack work through the monumental task of cleaning and polishing the Buster Sword. They usually maintained their weapons very carefully, but it had been a little while since they'd stopped to do so. Aerith and Tifa were also nearby, chatting about something. Aerith was talking about passing Cid while Shera had been laying down the law to him about smoking in the house.
"I think I must have misjudged her a little," Tifa admitted. "She'd seemed so timid when we were in Rocket Town."
"Well, I think she'd need to be tough to be able to handle Cid when he goes too far," Aerith said.
Tifa chuckled. "Still, the image of her scolding him, I don't know if I could see it."
"It was something to see," Aerith agreed.
Cloud was leaning against the side of the house, just listening to the conversation and trying to forget the past few days. Whatever Sephiroth was up to, he'd been quiet through most of the day and Rayleigh was supposed to return any time now.
He watched as Zack moved across the blade, polishing with careful strokes until the Buster Sword shined. He knew it was a memento of Zack's mentor. Zack had told him the story before, of how Angeal had given it to him in his last moments. After he was satisfied, he moved on to oiling the blade so it wouldn't rust before setting it aside, cleaning up his mess.
"Do you really think talking to her will erase the truth?"
Cloud looked away, hoping Zack wouldn't notice the change in his expression. "I'm not listening to you."
"Do you even know what Jenova cells are?"
"I don't care about anything you're saying," Cloud interrupted.
Seeming to ignore him Sephiroth went on, "Well then, ask her!" With that, he went silent, and Cloud shut his eyes for a moment as he felt a slight twinge before the pain left him.
Tifa seemed to have noticed at that moment because she walked over, looking slightly concerned. "Are you all right?"
"Fine," he said. She didn't look convinced, and neither did Zack, but he didn't say anything.
As if on cue, he and Zack both heard the front door opening and then closing. Shouldering the oil cloth he'd been working with and holding the Buster Sword while balancing his other cleaning supplies, he pushed open the door to take his stuff in. Cloud walked after him, not quite sure what he was going to get out of this, but certain that it had to be better than listening to Sephiroth spitting poison in his ear. He heard the doctor greet Elmyra and Alice before walking up the stairs. Zack had already turned the corner to follow her, so, he took a deep breath and made his way up there, passing Kunsel and Freya in the living room as he went.
Preparing himself, he climbed the stairs, pausing at the door to his own room and noticing Zack calmly putting the Buster Sword away. His friend finally looked up at him and nodded in the direction of Rayleigh's room, wordlessly telling him to keep going. At that moment, he saw her walk back out into the hall, having put away her doctor's bag and her lab coat and was walking back towards the stairs. When she saw him there, she paused. "Is there something the matter Cloud?" she asked.
After a moment, he answered "I'm not really sure," he frowned and folded his arms, trying to figure out how to phrase his concern. How did one ask a question like this? Finally he ended up going with the question Sephiroth had posed. "What exactly are Jenova cells?"
Rayleigh was surprised for a moment but adjusted her glasses. "That's a very good question. Jenova cells, the basic ones, are cells originating from the being known as Jenova, however, while the attributes of these cells are definitely different in origin from a Cetra's or even a human's, this is not due to the cells themselves being of different origin. Indeed they are believed to be a Cetra's cells in the original body, but they have been altered by a virus. In short, while Jenova herself is definitely not a Cetra, the cells she uses were incorporated from one. It was probably part of the reason Gast made the mistake when he identified the body."
Zack was obviously listening and at that moment, he peeked his head out of their room. "Wait, so Jenova cells were actually cells infected by a virus?"
"Yes. But you see, what happened in the case of SOLDIER was that the properties of the virus were specifically managed such that they only remained effective to desirable levels. That's what the mako is for, to keep the virus from getting out of control and spreading."
"What about S-cells?" Zack asked.
Rayleigh continued. "S-cells are a different matter. They were taken directly from Sephiroth. He was conceived by Hojo through a female host already infused with altered Jenova cells. As such, because he was still in the development stages, all of his cells were effectively S-cells, altered specifically to augment his abilities. In your cases, the difference is that you've been given SOLDIER treatments, but Hojo decided to use S-cells with you."
"So if there were cells that the S-cells didn't replace then you could still tell if someone… wasn't who they thought they were?" Cloud asked.
Rayleigh nodded. "If I had the right samples and equipment. Why?"
Cloud looked away nervously. "He's trying to say I'm not Cloud. But that can't be true, right? I told him you would probably have known. Wouldn't you?" There was no need to clarify who 'he' was.
Deep in the back of his mind he'd been afraid she'd laugh at him, or worse that she'd brush him off but instead her reply was completely serious. "The only way I'd be able to check that for sure would be to run a DNA test. I know for a fact you're definitely still human, after all there are markers in Jenova cells that differentiate them from regular ones when you look at them under a microscope. Any more specific than that and I would need a sample from you from before the Nibelheim incident or from a close relative in order to compare it to your genetic code, which could take a little while. That being said, I have very little doubt that you are who you think you are."
"Why do you say that?" Cloud asked.
"Well, if you weren't, then how is it that your memories all fit? And Zack would have known, right?"
"I guess so," Cloud said.
Rayleigh came a step closer, her expression as serious as the tone of her voice. "Don't doubt who you are, it's what he wants. If there's anything I can do, I will help you, even if it takes some time, but just remember, whatever it is he's saying, it's because he wants you to give in. You're better than that, and don't forget it."
Cloud nodded to show he understood, but he found himself privately thinking it was a lot easier to believe that when you weren't living in terror of being attacked at any given time. He certainly didn't know of any close relatives he possessed who could be of help here. The only known relative he was aware of was his mother, and she'd been killed by Sephiroth. He didn't even know where her remains were or if they were even still in existence, so going through that route was impossible.
When Tseng regained consciousness, he found himself lying in a very strange space, lit only by a muted green glow that didn't seem to come from anywhere in particular. If anything it looked like a chamber constructed of Mako crystals, and upon pulling upright, he winced, making note of his injuries. He was certain from the pain in his chest that he was sporting several cracked ribs, and upon looking at his reflection on the walls of this place, he found he also noticed a trickle of dried blood that had fallen from a wound along his hairline. Then he tried to stand, and realized his left ankle seemed to also be broken. Having established this information, he tried to get a feel for the place he was in, and soon discovered this particular chamber was very small, barely wide enough for four people to fit inside, and while the ceiling was high enough for a fully grown man to walk upright, there was little here that could help him escape unless there was an opening large enough for him to crawl through. He had been divested of his gun and his materia so making an exit was not immediately an option either.
A noise attracted his attention. The sound of a man, grunting in pain. He crawled on his knees and his good hand, pulling himself towards the origin of the sound, until finally, his eyes found a tiny hole in the wall, only just large enough to provide air flow and give him a limited view of another area. He peered through the hole, craning to see when he finally spotted the origin of the sound and his eyes widened. Pressed up against the opposite wall of the room, beaten and bloody, was a dark-haired man with a red strip of cloth across his forehead, nearly unrecognizable through a face of cuts and bruises. A golden gauntlet hung on his left arm, but he was too physically injured to use it as a weapon.
The man with long silver hair who had thrown him against the wall, and held him there by his throat was drawling softly, the venom dripping from his voice as from the fangs of a viper. "This can go on as long as you wish it, Vincent, but until you tell me where you left the Black Materia, I will not let you die."
"Well then…" Vincent panted heavily, even though he was clearly unperturbed by the threat. "In that case… we will be here… a very… very long time…" A sudden energy flew through the room like a limit break. A dark mist surrounded the two men before Sephiroth ran his sword through the gunman's body, causing him to lose consciousness, and dropped him unceremoniously to the ground.
The mist vanished and Sephiroth looked down at the gunman with narrowed eyes. "Your passengers are not welcome in this conversation. You will keep them under better control next time."
Tseng sat back away from the hole and leaned against the wall to rest and wait, but Sephiroth did not draw near his cell, instead choosing to leave him alone with his thoughts.
December 29th [ ν ] – εуλ 0007
Zack found himself standing in a long tunnel of what looked like Mako crystals. He wasn't exactly sure why he was here but he found himself walking forward, as though drawn by the gentle current of a river. This was a lot different from his usual nightmares. Normally, they entailed the lab, the prison cell, or Hojo... Or all of the above. He continued serenely through the corridors until at last, the tunnel opened out into a small chamber, and he felt a shiver of horror at what he saw. Across the room, lying bloody and beaten was a man in a familiar, tattered, red cape.
"Vincent!" Zack drew closer and to his relief he saw the man was still breathing, but he had clearly been put through hell. "What is this?" He demanded searching the room for an explanation, and that was when he saw Cloud, also walking around. "Cloud, do you know what's going on?"
Cloud didn't answer him, didn't even act like he'd seen him, but instead laid his eyes on Vincent and then froze before calling out "Sephiroth!"
"No need to shout, 'Cloud', I'm right here." Sephiroth's voice echoed across the empty space before the man himself appeared before them. For a split second those reptilian eyes met with Zack's and he distinctly saw the smirk in them, daring Zack to try and interfere, now that it was obvious Cloud couldn't even hear or see him.
Zack scowled and raised his voice "Cloud! Whatever this is, don't listen to him! He's just trying to confuse you!"
Cloud did not react but continued looking at the former General, his stance defensive and his expression suspicious. Sephiroth didn't even seem to care, but walked nonchalantly over towards the blonde swordsman, leering malevolently. "Did you have a nice talk with the good doctor?"
"How does anything she said back up anything you've been trying to say?" Cloud demanded, though it was clear he was starting to feel Sephiroth's influence by the pained look on his face. Come to think of it, Zack was beginning to hear a low buzzing sound too, almost like the radio he was listening to had poor reception, but he did his best to stay focused.
"Is that truly what you think, 'Cloud?' Maybe I should show you what's really in your heart." He glanced back towards where Zack was standing, invisible to all except the former General. "Or perhaps I should show you what's in Zack's?"
"What the hell are you trying to pull?" Zack hissed. But again, Cloud couldn't hear him.
"I-I don't know what you mean," Cloud said uncertainly. Vincent and the chamber of Mako Crystals disappeared into a flurry of green mist that reminded Zack eerily of the Mako tanks before the world began to reshape itself, this time Zack could see himself standing in the ruins of the Gongaga reactor. Cloud was seated in the sidecar of a motorcycle, and Zack stood in front of a white-haired man with a single white wing. "It's been a long time, Zack."
"Lazard!" Zack said aloud.
His own past self tossed a dumbapple into the air and caught it with one hand. "So, what happened? That thing wasn't so tough."
The former director of SOLDIER shook his head. "I can't fight like a 1st. I'm just an Angeal copy."
"Copy?" the memory Zack repeated.
"It's Lazard," the former director said, pulling himself up so he was standing.
Zack looked over at Cloud, seeing his eyes widen in recognition. He had never met Lazard, but he had heard Zack talk about him before. Even now as Zack looked at his memory of the former SOLDIER director, Zack found himself amazed by the incredible resemblance to his mentor. It had been like looking at a ghost…
The green mist reappeared and they found themselves back in the crystal cave, as Cloud's eyes narrowed at the spot where Sephiroth reappeared. "That's stupid. If you're trying to say I'm someone else, then how come I have no memory of it?"
"Lazard had a very determined will, but even he was unable to fight Angeal's basic personality," Sephiroth intoned. "Many of the Genesis copies were completely unable to fight their master at all. They lost all sense of who they used to be and many of them were SOLDIERs."
Cloud was starting to get a little agitated now, "So you're saying I'm some kind of Cloud clone? Why would Hojo want to do that? I was a failure, it said so in his notes, why would he want to clone me?"
Another memory surfaced in a flurry of mists and Zack found they were in the room with all the pods outside of Jenova's chamber. There were people moving around, technicians and troopers while Hojo supervised. Zack could see himself being lifted onto a stretcher, barely conscious while Hojo walked to another one on which Cloud lay, mortally wounded. "This one here, yes… he'll make a fine test subject…"
The memory faded into another. Zack was waiting in the cell, furious and upset until finally, the guards opened the door, tossing Cloud in. He wasn't looking good, in fact, he looked deathly ill and unconscious. Zack suddenly heard his past self muttering while pulling Cloud gently over to one of the bunks. "Hojo, you bastard, can't you see you're killing him like this?"
"You're saying the one Zack rescued from the tanks wasn't me?" Cloud demanded.
"Accidents happen, and Hojo had many test subjects in his laboratory. Too many to be troubled with after the experiment was over, and only a select few were successful. The ability to change one's looks, voice, and words is the power of Jenova."
"That's not true!"
Zack hurried over to Cloud, trying vainly to get his attention, but he continued listening to Sephiroth as though transfixed as the former General continued. "After Cloud passed, his appearance and Zack's memories of him merged, creating you. After all they suffered through together, it is no small wonder that another of Hojo's failed clones would tap into that connection, and capitalize on it."
"That's not true!" Zack repeated. "Cloud! You gotta listen to me man! Yes it's true that clones can do that but there's no way you could be one!
Another memory phased into existence. This time Zack had the disorienting experience of looking out of a mako tube and seeing himself drain the fluid out and open the tank, allowing the person from whom the memory originated to fall into his arms. "Cloud…"
Sephiroth laughed as the crystal chamber reappeared and Zack felt like that buzzing sound was intensified. "Don't blame him for his mistake. After all, he could not have known how much time had passed before he escaped."
A familiar voice echoed from the past as they found themselves looking at the field in Banora where Zack had left Lazard to look after Cloud while he fought Genesis. He had returned with his opponent and was now looking at a letter. "Four years?" The dumbapple he held in his hand dropped to the ground as he shouted into the sky "What do you mean final?!"
Sephiroth continued. "During the time he was in that tank, anything could have happened. If anything, it was his own gullible faith that gave you everything you needed to assume that role. He didn't even realize he was doing it, but with every bit of information he fed you, you became more and more like the original."
They found themselves looking in on a hospital room in Midgar. Cissnei was nearby and Zack was standing near the bed, where Cloud was watching him suspiciously. Past Zack tried to reach out to him but as he flinched, his decided to keep his distance. "So why don't we take it from the top. As I told you, I'm Zack. I'm your friend, and we're here because you've been very sick… otherwise, we'd probably be in a cell in the Shinra building… but anyway. We were in the Shinra military, and we met on a mission to this place called Modeoheim. We got to talking because we were both country boys, and, you know, us country boys gotta stick together…" The memory faded back to the chamber as Sephiroth's laughter echoed through it.
Cloud seemed to be torn between agony and shock, before he finally asked in a quiet voice. "What about Tifa? And the promise I made her? I never told Zack about that!" Cloud argued.
The laughter grew louder and Zack noticed that Cloud looked to be in even more pain than when this crazy nightmare started. All of a sudden he could hear echoes of a single word cascading through the chamber as water through a bursting dam. "Failed…"
Zack snapped awake and looked over at the other bed. It had seemed like a dream, but somehow he knew it wasn't, and the proof was what he saw now. Cloud's face was screwed up in agony and he hurried over, putting a hand on his shoulder and tried to gently shake him awake. "Cloud! Wake up!"
Cloud opened his eyes, but for a moment, Zack nearly felt his own heart stop. The moment he'd awakened his expression seemed to have gone blank and he said nothing, simply staring at the ceiling. He heard Kunsel behind him, pulling himself awake, grumbling "Zack…? What the hell is going on? It's nearly…Ifrit… 3:00 AM…"
Zack didn't answer him, instead pulling Cloud up to a sitting position, noticing it was slightly more difficult than it had been the last time he'd had to carry him. He put his hands on his friend's shoulders and tried to meet his blue eyes with his own violet ones. "Don't do this to me Cloud… Say something. If you go quiet again, what am I gonna tell Aerith and Tifa?"
Cloud blinked and finally let out a groan, resting his head in his hands. "Zack…" he said softly, "How did you know…?"
"I was watching," Zack said. "He showed me the whole thing."
"What are you talking about?" Kunsel asked. He was standing behind Zack, having realized something was going on.
Zack looked behind him before sitting on the side of Cloud's bed and running a hand through his unruly black hair agitatedly. What the hell were Cissnei and the others doing? "Sephiroth again. And I think he got Vincent."
Kunsel's eyes widened. "Are you sure?"
"He had him lying in front of me like he was saying 'I've got your friend right here, come and get him.'"
"What's going on?" He looked up and saw Aerith and Tifa peeking into the room, with Freya standing behind them.
He angrily slammed his fist into the mattress. "This is all my fault…"
"You're sure this wasn't some kind of nightmare?" Kunsel asked.
"No…" Cloud mumbled. "I didn't see Zack there, but I saw Vincent too…"
"You didn't believe what he was saying did you?" Zack asked.
"I don't know…" Cloud looked away from him, out the window. "I don't want to… but Zack, some of what he says does make some sense. What if I am like… Lazard?... What if I'm really not…"
"I don't care what he says, you are Cloud Strife. You were born in Nibelheim and we met six years ago on the mission to find Angeal. You killed Sephiroth with your own hands, and then we went through hell together. There's no other person you could be." Zack said emphatically. He paused for a moment before forcing Cloud to look him in the eye. "So this is what's been happening the last couple of nights?"
His friend nodded and Zack stood up straight, swearing. "This is all my fault!"
"What is?" Aerith walked into the room and tried to meet his eyes. Freya and Tifa followed her inside and Tifa walked over to where Cloud was.
"If I hadn't gotten rid of the materia, Vincent wouldn't be in the spot he's in now, and Sephiroth…"
Freya walked over to him, her copper eyes glowing in the dim light. "Don't think like that. Vincent was a Turk. He knew the risks, and Sephiroth's the one who's doing this, not you."
"But it was my decision," Zack ground out. "If we'd just gone looking for him rather than having Vincent go out on his own…"
"That wouldn't have kept Sephiroth from what he's up to right now and you know it. If anything that would have made it worse because we would have had to watch you even more closely in case he tried to use you to bring the Materia to him," Freya snapped. "Don't you see what he's doing? He's trying to break both of you by striking at what will hurt you the most. If you give in to it, and allow him to get you flustered, we have lost!"
Zack glared at her with a cold fury in his eyes, but in typical Turk fashion, she didn't flinch.
"Cloud?" Tifa's voice was soft. Though it carried across the room, breaking the standoff.
"I'm all right…" Cloud rolled out of bed and stood up, apparently tired of the attention. "I'm going to get some water." With that, he walked out of the room.
There was quiet for a moment, and then Aerith walked over to him. "We'll wait here," she said softly.
He nodded and walked downstairs into the empty living room. Everyone had turned in hours ago, though now he could see Cloud standing at the window, watching the yard outside bathed in the moonlight. "You sure you're all right?"
"Not really," Cloud admitted. "I don't want to think what he's saying is true, but..."
"Then don't," Zack said. "And if you can't discount it, well, we'll hunt around for some answers, okay?"
"How are you going to do that?"
"You seemed to hold your own when you mentioned Tifa. Once everyone has the chance to wake up and get dressed, we'll go for a walk and see if we can't sort this out. I'm sure between the six of us, we'll find an answer to back that one up."
"Six of us?" Cloud asked.
"Yeah, us, Tifa, Aerith, Kunsel, and Freya. We're your friends, and nothing's gonna change that, ever." Zack said.
Cloud gave him a tired look. "What if it's true?"
"It's not, and one way or another, we're gonna find a way to prove him wrong. I don't know how just yet, but… What you said about the promise in there. It's true, I never would have known about that. So that's your proof right there. Hang on to that, and don't let it go."
"I'll try," Cloud answered. "Though it's awful hard to think clearly when he's saying those things."
"I know. But it worked this time. That'll be our trump card until we find a way to make things upstairs a little more solid, all right?"
"Are you calling me crazy?" Cloud asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"After what we went through? We probably both are," Zack admitted grimly. "Let's go back upstairs and get ready to go. We've got some things to talk about."
It had taken almost a whole day to climb down to the hole through which Reno's helicopter had departed, but with Mao backing her up, just like in the old days, Cissnei rappelled down it, alert for any sign of Sephiroth, or Jenova. Upon reaching the floor, she tugged at the rope and Mao slid down next to her. The two of them crept along the vast tunnel they found themselves in for several minutes.
A sound up ahead caught her attention and they soon found themselves along a wall of mako crystals. Mist formed in front of her as she exhaled, following the wall with her partner behind her. Silently they continued on through several chambers around the wall until at last, through the maze, they discovered an entrance. Readying her rekka, Cissnei crept forward, hearing the click as Mao separated the katana from his sheath with his thumb, in preparation for drawing it. Down at the end of the tunnel, a figure was walking, and Cissnei gasped. It was him!
The flowing silver hair and the legendary reptilian green eyes. The long leather duster, and the equally long odachi, nigh unweildable by any other man. She ducked behind a stalagmite, and Mao followed. The two looked at each other, and then Mao gestured back in the direction of the hole they'd climbed down from. No mission was impossible for the Turks, but there were some missions that required more than two. Getting rid of Sephiroth would be one of those.
If they were going to take this place by force, they would need a force with which to take it. This mission was only to gather information. They'd spend a little more time getting the layout, and then they'd report back to Zack… Once the former General was out of sight, they crept a little further down the tunnel, ready to retreat at the slightest possibility they'd been discovered.
That was when it appeared in front of them. A wall that seemed to be made of transparent energy. She peered at it curiously for a moment before walking up to it. Mao pulled level with her, picking up a rock and tossing it at the barrier. It sparked, shattering the rock into a thousand pieces, as they ducked away from it. "What is this?" he wondered aloud, picking himself up to take a second look. "It appears Sephiroth does not wish to allow anyone inside."
"I guess we'll just have to scout around for another entrance," Cissnei suggested. "And if we don't find one, report back."
Mao nodded and the two turned around to find and alternate route.
The sun was just peeking over the horizon when Cloud saw where they were walking. They had left a note in the kitchen for anyone who might be wondering where they got off to, and then followed the northern path through the woods. It had taken about an hour for everyone to get ready, but no one who had been awakened wanted to stay behind. Now, as a few of his namesake hung golden in the brightening sky, they found themselves headed towards…
"The chocobo farm?" Cloud asked incredulously. They were standing a few hundred yards away from the barn at the chocobo farm where Cloud had been keeping the baby chocobos.
"Trust me on this," Zack said. It wasn't long before they found Ed, the man who managed the stables for the farm's owner, and shortly after that, they were shown into the barn. Cloud wandered over to the stall where his two birds were poking their heads out, recognizing their caretaker even after this long, and he patted their crests, feeling himself start to relax a little while they cooed softly and tried to preen his hair.
Tifa approached him after a moment. "Are these the little birds you were talking about?"
Zack spoke up. "Yup, why don't you tell her their names, Cloud?"
Cloud sighed and then answer patiently. "This one is Robin, and the other one is Rudy…" He offered them some greens from a nearby bucket and added as an afterthought "Aerith was the one who named them."
Tifa smiled and offered Rudy a soft pat. The birds had done a bit of growing since Cloud had last seen them. Their heads were now about level with his own as they looked around curiously at the gathered crowd. Cloud looked away, still tired after last night, but there was no way he wanted to sleep right now. His mind was still reeling from what had happened. "Tifa." He thought. "Remember the promise you made to her, it's your proof."
Aerith approached Robin from behind Cloud and stroked her crest gently. "You two have gotten so big!" she crooned softly. "One of these days, you'll be big enough Cloud could ride you. How would you like that?"
Almost as though she could understand, Robin offered Aerith a soft "Wark."
Freya chuckled softly. "I guess she does like the idea."
"Why don't we take them out and let them run around for a little bit?" Zack suggested. A few minutes later, Cloud released the two young birds in the paddock outside and after a few more greens, the two birds seemed to have decided to chase each other to the opposite fence.
Cloud rejoined the others and leaned against the rail, waiting for someone to say something.
"Do you feel any better?" Zack asked.
"Maybe a little," he admitted.
"I thought so. After all, the chocobos are probably lonely without you."
"Is that why you wanted us to come here?" Cloud asked, glancing along the fence. Tifa was approaching one of the other chocobos, one he knew to have a lot of personality to match his redder plumage. Aerith was standing slightly further down, looking in their direction every now and then, while Freya and Kunsel stood a short distance away, talking quietly.
"Well, I just thought you needed a little reminder of something that was… well, you, you know? The way you care about these little guys can't be an illusion. There's no way you would have kept them otherwise, I don't think. We gotta start somewhere, right?"
He looked back at the chocobos, and allowed himself to forget for a moment. The little birds were gallivanting around the paddock, until finally Rudy caught up with Robin and started preening his sister's crest. To hell with Sephiroth. They would defeat him, and this would all go away. Maybe, next season, he'd start working with Ed on breaking the two birds into a saddle and bridle. He didn't know if he wanted to race professionally, but it would be nice he thought, to be able to take them out and ride them every now and then… who was he kidding? His justifications were feeling very flimsy right now, and just the idea that he might have inadvertently deceived Zack, of all people, and that Zack was continuing to delude himself if that was actually true, just seemed cruel.
If the real Cloud had died in the lab, like Sephiroth said, wouldn't it be better to end things now and just leave? Before resentment set in? He shook his head.
No, he couldn't think like that. Zack was doing everything he could to help him set things straight, why was he doubting him like this?...
"Because he refuses to see the truth."
"Go away…"
"Cloud?" He blinked and saw Tifa nearby. "What's this red one called?"
"I think that's one of Ed's," he said. "I seem to remember him calling him Clive."
"Oh…" Tifa turned her attention back to the red bird.
"I told you to get lost. I don't believe you. After all, the truth is in my memory. You're just trying to get under my skin."
He heard Sephiroth chuckle and it made the hair on the back of his neck prickle. "You think that feeble 'childhood memory' is going to be enough to ward me off? Let me show you something, and after that, tell me you have a leg to stand on, 'Cloud.'
A mist swam before Cloud's eyes and he grabbed onto the railing to support himself…
Familiar sensations… Warm water… A familiar voice speaking above him… "Cloud, do you remember the promise you made to Tifa? About how when you made SOLDIER you would keep her safe? When everything happened at…" There was a pause, and then the voice continued. "When it happened, you were so worried. But it's all right… She made it out safely… and I know she's out there somewhere… So try to wake up for real, okay?"
He would have swayed if he wasn't gripping the railing hard, though he felt it crack slightly under his hand when he heard someone talking nearby. "So what are we doing out here Zack?" Freya… It had been her voice…
"I don't exactly have a plan, but I was thinking if we could just find some more proof that he is who we think he is…" He'd stopped listening. Instead, his eyes widened, as Sephiroth started laughing in his mind. The pain was becoming unbearable, rising to a crescendo with the buzzing in his ears. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. His will to fight had left him completely. He wasn't aware that he was already falling to the ground, his mind doing the only thing it knew how to do when fighting back and escape were not possible. It stopped, his subconscious pulling him deep into a place where not even the pain could reach him. What did Zack need with a failed Sephiroth clone anyway…?
As of December 29th, the original party just reached the Temple of the Ancients and found Tseng near death. At the end of the chapter, they're probably still dungeon crawling.
Until next time!