Author's Note: I apologize for the insane amount of time it has taken me to get this out. To be completely honest, I came to a writer's block at this point in the story, but now I am pushing through it. The first time I wrote this chapter, I didn't like how it turned out, so I scrapped it and started over. That was a big ole' mess, so I tried again, going in a different direction. Now, here we are.
-BETRAYAL-
Thump... thump... thump...
I became acutely aware of this sound that seemed to penetrate into my very soul, but with each passing moment, I realized that it was my head pounding. My first thought was that I would need to call in sick if this headache got any worse, but then slowly, I began to figure out the gravity of my situation. I was in Gaia. Cloud took the Meteor materia from me and put me in a sleeper hold. He was probably long gone. I moaned in pain... and disappointment in myself for telling him about the materia in the first place.
"Good afternoon," said a voice I knew all too well.
For a moment, there was hope. Perhaps Cloud had managed to fight off Sephiroth's control after he had knocked me out. Now, he was going to apologize, and I, of course, was going to forgive him. I slowly opened my eyes, bracing for the painful bright rays of the sun, and brought a hand up to my head... or tried to. My hands were tied behind my back. It was so cold, and when the wind gusted, I could feel it right down to the bone.
So much for my theory, I thought.
"C-Cloud?" I asked.
"I think you know better," he replied.
"Sephiroth..." I moaned. Dammit! I could have sworn that making Cloud aware of the fact that Sephiroth could control him would give him the power to stop it from happening. I should've never told him about the materia. It was a stupid mistake, on my part... and a costly one. What the hell was I thinking? Now, because of my idiocy, Sephiroth had the black materia.
"Thanks to your interference," he began, "the body I was using is no longer usable to me. So, I needed to take a new one."
He huffed, turning his gaze to me.
"I thought the Cetra girl was a pesky thorn in my side," he smirked, "but you... you've brought annoyance to a whole new level."
"G-Good." I snapped at him, unable to keep my teeth from chattering. It then occurred to me that if Aerith was just a thorn in his side... and he tried to kill her... what exactly was his plan for me? "Why am I s-still alive if I'm th-that annoying?"
Damn, I was freezing! I couldn't ever remember being this cold in my life… and I grew up in a frigid climate.
He stood up and walked towards me, his eyes locking with mine. "That's a good question... don't you think?"
He crouched in front of me, his face only inches from mine. "I could kill you..."
I tried to think of what Sephiroth could possibly want with me, but my thought process seemed slower… groggy. My head pounded, and I could hear a loud pulse in my ears. The blustering winds whipped across my skin, causing my body to shiver uncontrollably. Seeing Cloud's face staring at me and trying to reconcile his sinister words with Cloud's voice was disorienting, as well. Between those factors and the steadily growing fear, my lethargic mind was completely understandable.
So what was it that Sephiroth wanted? What did I have that was valuable enough to prevent him from killing me? How had I become "an annoyance" to him? What was so special about me? Suddenly, it hit me…
Of course. He wanted what Rufus wanted: information about the future. The fear gripped my senses, but there was also the humiliation of giving up the information so easily to Rufus. They had barely touched me before I sang like a canary for them. Silently, I resolved that this mistake would NOT be repeated. I glared back at him as angrily and as hatefully as I could. "Why h-haven't you?"
"I think you know that already," he said, his smile growing.
"You must be d-delusional if you think I'm g-going to help you at all," I stated incredulously.
He shrugged, raising an eyebrow. "You will help me, whether you want to or not."
"How do you f-figure?" I sassed. Even though I vowed not to give in to the terror building inside me, it was probably true that Sephiroth could frighten or hurt me enough to surrender whatever information he wanted, but he didn't need to know that. I needed to bluff my way through this.
The icy temperature seemed to penetrate my very soul; I was so damn cold! A new thought snaked its way through my mind, more chilling than the arctic wind assaulting my body: I might just freeze to death!
"You caved pretty quickly with Rufus," he smirked. How the hell did he even know about that? Was it because he was in Cloud's mind right now?
Maybe if I try to reach Cloud, he can fight it.
"C-Cloud... I know you're in th-there," I attempted, meeting those impossibly blue eyes, "You can fight him. You have the power to fight him."
He started laughing as he stood up. "You'll never reach him. He's a pathetic wash out."
"He'll k-kick your ass," I spat at him, "Twice!"
Shit, I just told him more! I couldn't help myself, though; his smug belittlement of Cloud made me so angry. How dare he?
"Will he, now?" the man wearing Cloud's face grinned, "Cloud is nothing but an empty puppet, and I pull the strings."
"You w-wanna know the future?" I growled, the rage sabotaging my will to remain quiet, "You are g-going to be defeated... by Cloud. It's g-gonna piss you off so much that you're going to be obsessed with him in the L-Lifestream. You f-find a way to c-come back... for 10 minutes before Cloud k-kicks your ass again."
"Interesting..." he smiled at me, "So how does he do it?"
"Guess you'll just have to f-find out firsthand," I snapped, "because I'm not t-telling you that."
"Ahh... but you do know," he replied, "I'll get it out of you."
"Never."
"Never say never." he chuckled, "Perhaps when I am fully restored, I'll kill this body."
"You won't," I retorted.
"And why is that?"
"You enjoy t-tormenting him too much," I responded, "You love c-controlling him."
"It's too easy," he said in that smug tone.
"Bullshit!" I argued, "It's a challenge, and you know it. You love dominating his spirit."
I stared at him, knowing I was right. "Even now, you're having a hard t-time... aren't you?"
He said nothing, simply glaring at me with those weird, cat-like eyes that glowed the color of mako.
"Cloud, keep fighting!" I shouted, "Don't fall for his tricks... I know you're in there."
For just a moment, his eyes flashed a brilliant blue, and the cat-like pupils vanished.
"Skye... just... run..." he grunted, staring at me, "Now!"
I struggled to get to my feet and started running, having no idea where the hell I was going or even where I was. Cloud had broken through and told me to run, so I listened. I could hear his footsteps crunching in the snow as he closed in on me. It was difficult to run with any speed with my hands tied behind my back, and the snow beneath my feet made it almost impossible. He caught up with me very quickly, tackling me to the ground.
I struggled to free myself, kicking out wherever I could reach, but he was so much stronger than me. Within a few seconds, he had me completely pinned to the ground. His eyes were back to glowing bright cyan, and the pupils were no longer round.
"Why are you doing this?" I yelled in his face, "What happened to you that... made you this insane?"
He laughed, and I had to admit that it was creepy. "Is that what you think? That I'm insane?"
"Sane people don't want to sail the darkness of the cosmos with a planet as their vessel," I spat.
Tilting his head, he stared down at me in slight surprise. "I wasn't certain if your gift was genuine... until now."
Brilliant, Skye! Way to give everything away!
"How does Cloud defeat me?" he asked.
I didn't answer, and apparently this amused him because he laughed. He dragged me to my feet and pulled me along, and no matter how hard I struggled, he just kept going, as if my fighting was nothing but a nuisance.
"Well, at least you grew a backbone, Skye," he said, continuing on his way, "It took one slap back in Midgar, and you spilled everything."
"You can't hold on to him forever," I smirked, knowing that Cloud would be able to block him out eventually... but then again, right now, he was confused... and didn't remember his past. Maybe, if I helped him remember... he wouldn't be so... susceptible to Sephiroth's control. I had wanted to wait for Tifa to walk him through his memories, but I couldn't let Sephiroth use him like this. I just couldn't.
"C-can... Cloud hear everything?" I asked.
"Of course," was the reply, "He's nothing but a puppet. He doesn't even remember the truth himself."
"Yeah, he doesn't even remember Zack," I agreed.
He stopped, turning around slowly. "What do you know of Zack?"
"He was a First Class SOLDIER... and Cloud's best friend at Shinra," I told him.
His eyes flashed blue for a moment as he uttered a single word: "Z-Zack..."
"And after Cloud killed you in Nibelheim, he and Zack were taken prisoner by Professor Hojo." I went on.
"Stop..."
"And he put both Cloud and Zack through 4 years of hellish torture..." I continued.
It's working...
"He tried to-"
I wanted to go on, but he stepped forward, clapping a hand over my mouth. "You talk too much... and know too much."
His eyes glowed red briefly, and I felt the tingling of magic enveloping me. It didn't matter, though; as soon as he pulled his hand back, I fully intended to continue talking about Zack, hoping that it might reach Cloud. If it worked, perhaps it would give him the strength to block out Sephiroth's control over him.
Finally, he drew his hand away, continuing to pull me along, and I opened my mouth, intent on continuing the history. Nothing came out, however. Not a sound... not a breath... nothing! I couldn't speak! What had he done to me?
"That's more like it," he smirked, starting to walk forward and pulling me along. I decided that I wasn't going to cooperate... at all... so I let my legs fold up under me, seating myself in the snow.
"Get up, Skye," he sighed, yanking me to my feet, but I refused to remain standing. He growled in frustration, lacing his fingers through my hair and pulling me to a standing position yet again. Opening my mouth, I tried to yell out in pain but only silence greeted me...
Silence... he cast silence on me! What I wouldn't give for an echo potion.
He dragged me along for a while until I could no longer feel my fingers or my feet. The frigid air was intense, so cold it actually felt like it was burning my exposed skin. The silence spell had long since run out, but I was too frozen to talk.
"P-P-P-Please... c-c-c-cold," I murmured, barely able to pick my feet up. The blond rolled his eyes and stopped. He looked around, searching for something, and when he found it, he pulled me in that direction. Too frozen to resist, I ambled along until we entered a small cave. The further in we traveled, the less I could feel the wind. It was such a relief, almost blissful... the absence of those biting gusts.
As soon as he released me, my legs gave out, and I crumpled to the ground, shivering violently. Cloud... or rather Sephiroth... or was it Jenova?... the man pulled out a fire materia and focused its energy towards an area of the ground. The flames quickly flickered and died, causing the man to snarl.
"G-G-Genesis... was b-b-better... with m-m-magic," I stammered, curling up to preserve heat.
He stopped and narrowed his eyes at me. "You know of Genesis?"
"H-H-He was one of y-y-y-your f-f-friends at S-S-SOLDIER," I replied, "H-Him... and A-A-Angeal..."
"Friendship," he huffed, casting the flames again. This time, they stayed, and that blessed warmth washed over me, "Nothing but an illusion."
"Y-Y-You w-would think that," I rolled my eyes, "Y-Y-Your loss..."
I couldn't just sit there and let that monster have Cloud. I had to keep trying. "Cloud... keep fighting... d-don't let him w-win."
He just laughed. "He's my puppet."
I ignored Sephiroth's jeers and focused on him. "You c-can b-block him out, Cloud... just don't b-believe his l-lies..."
"I'm not lying to him," he insisted.
"You're not t-telling him everything," I challenged, "L-Lying by omission is s-still lying."
He was quiet for a moment, just staring at me with those eerie, glowing eyes with slits for pupils.
"How does he defeat me?" he finally asked.
I glared back at him. "There's no secret to it. He's just better than you. You're only second best, Sephiroth."
He lifted his chin and tilted his head slightly, smirking. Then without warning, his hand flew at my face. I don't remember the initial contact, but my ears were ringing loudly. Just after I became aware of that, I realized that I had gone flying backwards, and I was trying to pick myself up of the cave floor. My head throbbed... my vision blurred... There was a metallic copper taste in my mouth. It didn't occur to me that he actually struck me until I felt his hands grasping my shirt to drag me up.
One of his hands released me and pulled back, balling up into a tight fist... ready to crash into my face. I wasn't even lucid enough to brace for the impact. I kind of knew it was coming, but it didn't fully register. I simply stared at it, waiting...
...and waiting...
...and waiting...
Why wasn't he punching me?
Slowly, he lowered his fist and set me on my feet, and I dropped to the floor, blood and drool dripping from my lips.
"...Skye?"
I blinked, trying to clear up what I saw. It was like looking through a telescope and turning the lens as Cloud's face slowly came into focus.
"Gaia! Skye!"
He knelt down in front of me, grasping my shoulders. "I'm... I'm sorry... I couldn't..."
Was it really him? Had Sephiroth relinquished his hold over Cloud?... or was this a trick? I couldn't be certain! Was Sephiroth cunning enough to act like Cloud? It was hard to think...
"C-Cloud?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. I never received an answer, though.
"Well, well... isn't this a cozy little picture?"
That voice… that smarmy, irritatingly smug, car-salesman voice that grated on every nerve. Rufus Shinra had entered cave and was now staring at Cloud and me. Following the vice president was a woman with blonde hair, pulled back and pinned up in an elegant style, stray tendrils framing her face. She scanned the cave with her icy blue eyes, a sneer on her lips as they came to rest on us. Behind her stood a gaunt man with stringy black hair and circular glasses… Hojo.
Cloud released me, spinning around to face the three of them. "The hell are you doing here?"
"Searching for Sephiroth, of course," Rufus replied non-chalantly. His eyes darted around the cave we had entered, taking in the surroundings. Cloud drew his sword, placing himself between me and the three of them.
"Oh, come now," Rufus smirked, waving a hand dismissively, "There's no need for that. We all want the same thing."
"I seriously doubt that, Shinra," Cloud uttered in a low, threating tone, tightening the grip on his sword.
Rufus shrugged. "We both want to stop Sephiroth."
I struggled to my feet, my head still ringing from the assault. Remaining upright proved to be quite the challenge, but I managed. As the disorientation slowly cleared, there was something about this situation that seemed awfully familiar, yet it danced just out of my recollection. Looking between Rufus and Cloud, I finally realized where, in the game, we were… this was the part where Cloud handed over the materia to Sephiroth.
Oh, no…
"Cloud!"
Tifa's voice rang out from behind Rufus and his subordinates. Standing at her side was Barret, gun arm fixed at Rufus' head.
"Hold it right there, Shinra brat," Barret growled.
"Looks like the gang's all here," Rufus chuckled, "You know… it doesn't have to be like this."
Cloud huffed. "Yeah… it does."
"Ahh… now, I recognize you," Hojo's high-pitched voice interrupted, walking towards Cloud, "You must be here for the reunion."
"What're you—" Cloud began before his eyes widened and he cried out in pain, grasping his head. The Buster Sword clattered to the icy ground as the blond hero fell to his knees, shouting as if someone had driven a knife into his back.
"Cloud!" Tifa cried, running in past Rufus to kneel in front of her childhood friend, "What's wrong?"
Hojo grinned evilly. "He's hearing the call…"
"Shuddup, you creepy-ass freak!" Barret barked at the scientist, but Hojo simply ignored him.
"What number are you?" Hojo asked, scanning over Cloud to search for the tatoo.
"I… I… don't…" Cloud grunted, still in tremendous pain.
"Stop it!" I yelled, "You sick psycho!"
"… not… a failure…" Cloud managed to gasp.
"Ohh, I see…" Hojo answered, "You were a failed clone."
"He's not a clone!" I shouted, getting closer to Cloud. I wasn't going to let this happen! I refused to let it happen!
(Sorry, Amari.)
"Cloud, I'm so sorry!" Tifa whispered.
"Well, no matter," Hojo continued as if no one had spoken, "It still proves my hypothesis… Jenova cells will always seek to reunite with one another."
Cloud looked up at Hojo, his eyes weary and conflicted, "No… I'm not a failure…"
"I'm afraid so," Hojo argued, cruelty lacing his tone.
"No… please…" Cloud begged, "Give me… a number."
"Only successful experiments receive a number," Hojo refused.
"What are you doing, Hojo?" Rufus asked, and I could hear the slight annoyance in his voice.
"Finishing an experiment, Mr. President," Hojo explained dismissively, "A failed experiment but an experiment, nonetheless."
Cloud stood up, and Tifa rose with him. "I'm… I'm alright, Tifa…"
I could definitely tell that Cloud was not alright. The mental break I had sought to prevent was now complete. Every movement, every word, every inflection in his speech reflected the shattered pieces that now comprised his mind. I had failed.
"Cloud… don't do this," I spoke up, knowing what he meant to do.
"I have to, Skye." His deflated voice resonated in my core as he spoke.
"What are you going to do?" Tifa questioned, obviously confused. Cloud Strife turned and walked towards the back of the cave, wiping his hand across the wall. As the clumps of snow fell to the ground, a smooth, solid surface revealed itself, and behind that surface was a slumbering Sephiroth.
"Cloud! Please! Stop!" I hollered.
Cloud looked over his shoulder, not at me but at Tifa. "I'm sorry… I couldn't live up to being… Cloud Strife."
Ignoring our protests, he reached into his pocket, pulling out the black materia. It seemed to pulse with darkness in his hand, and I could see the waves of energy extending out of it. Standing in its presence was like having the air sucked out of my lungs, and an almost perceivable weight hung over me. Cloud pushed his hand through that crystal barrier as if it were made of water, and the materia floated out of his hand. A shadow began to grow inside and enveloped Sephiroth, and I could have sworn I saw a smirk on his face.
At first, I thought Cloud was leaning towards the surface, but then I realized… he was being pulled into that place, where Sephiroth waited. Before he disappeared into the darkening void, he uttered a single word:
"Reunion."