Disclaimer: All Final Fantasy 7 characters, places and things all belong to Squaresoft and other involved companies. I own none of it. This fanfic is purely for the fun and enjoyment of others and myself. I make no money from it.
SHARDS COLLIDE
CHAPTER 21
Aeris sighed sagely as she rested her head on the hard surface of the mattress in her prison cell. Nearly 4 days had passed since that fateful day they had all met in President Shinra's office. In such a short time so much had changed since then. Everyone was sullen and didn't talk much. Barret was in the next cell over. And on her other side was the room with that strange looking cat who after the past few days, wasn't so strange anymore. The cat's name was Red 13 and he could talk clearly and understand everything they said. It was truly amazing but even still, the red/orange colored cat still was very sullen and didn't really add much to lighten the mood of the group.
Tifa too seemed downwind but mostly she was concerned about Cloud constantly. Of all of them, she seemed like the only one enthusiastic despite all they were going through. She continually reminded everyone that they still had their free will and they could escape if they simply tried. Aeris had to admit she was impressed with the woman and she couldn't help but feel slightly jealous at all the concern Tifa was showing for Cloud. It made Aeris wonder sometimes did she even have to right to love this man when someone like Tifa was there who showed far more love and affection for the man then she. She too was like everyone else, depressed. For some reason, Hojo hadn't called on her for testing yet. Oddly enough, they all were treated relatively well for prisoners. The food was horrible but still, it shocked her that they weren't subjected to any horrors yet. The only one's subjected to anything adverse actually were Cloud and Zack. However this alone broke her heart and made her long to be away from this hated place as soon as possible.
Every day, early in the mornings they would take both mercenaries away. To whatever horrors they were subjected, no one knew. All they did know was that when they came back late in the night both men had to be dragged back to their cells due to how weak they were. Barret, who shared his cell with Cloud, had told her and Tifa how Cloud would continually moan in his sleep and that he'd sweat profusely. At some points he even said he had to continually tell Cloud who he was because he would laps into trances of disorientation and unrecognition of anything.
This scared Aeris more then anything. Was Hojo trying to take away Cloud's very memory? Trying to turn him into a mindless weapon that wouldn't remember anything? Not even her? Aeris feared for Cloud and what horrors lay in wait for them all. Despite everything, she also felt concern for Zack as well. No one would talk to the dark haired mercenary whenever they delivered him back to his cell. However he didn't really seem to have any problems with it as he never said anything back in turn. It was as if he was simply a mute puppet being walked away, all of his previous humanity stripped away.
This also troubled her more then she liked to admit. Zack had always been a strong supporter for her. Seeing him like this made her feel awful inside. Even if he was a traitor, he had been there for her when she needed him. As a matter of fact, the more she thought about it, the more she was convinced she didn't care what his past was. The Zack she knew before was a man she would trust unwaveringly. She didn't care if he led her into the trap. Simply for the fact that he was there for her. That was enough for Aeris.
The sudden hiss of the door as it mechanically opened in the next two rooms broke Aeris away from her short reverie. She quickly perked up to the small slot that allowed her to look into the next room. From her vantage point she could see a guard forcefully shoving Cloud onto the hard floor. Barret was up in a heartbeat yelling at the guard only to get hit in the stomach with the butt of the soldier's rifle.
A soft rustle behind her, signaled that Tifa was now waking up from the commotion on her side of the cell.
"Aeris what's going on?" She asked rubbing her eyes sleepily.
"What else? Barret's at it again."
Tifa sighed heavily. "Oh… arguing with the guards again huh?"
Aeris nodded but then trained her eyes back on what was transpiring in the room beyond. Barret slowly eased Cloud up to a sitting position while the blond haired man simply nodded in and out of consciousness.
"Those bastards…" Barret mumbled under his breath.
"Barret… Is he ok?" Aeris asked from her position in the next room. However, before Barret could answer her, another voice rang out from the adjoining room on the other side.
"He's going to be fine. Just let him rest for a bit."
Aeris quickly turned her head the other way and rushed to the other side of the room nearly trampling over Tifa in the process.
"Zack?! Zack what did they do to him?"
Zack was quiet for a bit then answered softly. "We were induced with heavy amounts of mako energy. Hojo is trying to pump us up with more enhancement solutions along with something else… something new which Hojo keeps ranting and raving about. Whatever it is, its supposed to make Cloud lose his memory or something I guess because every time Cloud zones out and starts acting strange, Hojo starts talking about how marvelous he is, then when he wakes back up Hojo gets furious. He keeps complaining that I'm not responding at all to the call of something or the other. Anyway whatever's going on, I guess Cloud's responding better to it because he keeps on pumping Cloud up more with that stuff every time he shows signs of what Hojo's looking for. I don't know what's going on."
Tifa narrowed her eyes slightly. "Hmph! That's pretty convenient for someone who's a traitor."
"Tifa!" aeris said in a reprimanding voice. "You can't mean that!"
"Can't I?" Tifa asked in anger. "He betrayed us! He was working for Shinra the entire time!"
Aeris couldn't answer and so an uncomfortable silence broke throughout the rooms.
"…I'm sorry…" Came Zack's hallow, dreadful voice, breaking the silence of the three rooms.
"What?" Tifa asked in an unbelieving voice. "It's a little too late for that crap you mercenary!"
"Tifa… I never wanted to hurt any of you. I didn't want to get you all involved in my past."
"That's bull$hit!" Tifa spat! "You knew what you were doing when you-"
"Tifa please!" Aeris cried in alarm. "Stop this! I'm sure there's just some kind of misunderstanding. I know Zack wouldn't betray us like that!"
"Wake up Aeris! The guy sold us out to Shinra!"
"Tifa… stop"
Everyone turned at the sound of the sudden intense voice in the distance.
"C…Cloud?" Tifa asked in shock.
"Tifa…" Came Cloud's exhausted voice in the other room. "Please stop. Let's just hear him out… I've known Zack longer then anyone else here and even though I'm mad enough to hate his guts now for never telling me any of this, I know him well enough to know that he couldn't have been a traitor. Not that whole time… and if he is… I'd like to hear it from him… I'd like to hear him say it instead of some Shinra goons."
From his cell across the room Zack nodded his head respectively. "Thank you friend…I wanted to tell you all but… I just couldn't. I thought I could protect you all from the ghosts of my past… but I guess I'm not that lucky."
Zack shifted in his position on the floor and leaned his back against the wall to prop his fatigued body while he told his tale. "About 15 years ago Shinra came to my home town in Gangaga. They offered us the prospect of being the second town to ever go under the project of having Shinra reactors built into them. That was also during the earlier parts of the Wutai war. Shinra was loosing during that time as you know. However, in a gesture of patriotism, Gangaga agreed to have the reactor built in their town. A year later the tide of battle in the Wutai war was beginning to turn due to the efforts of the special elite Shinra had been producing in their military. A group of artificial super soldiers respectively called SOLDIERS. At the same time, there was one boy in the SOLDIER program who excelled beyond all others. This boy inspired all of us in Gongaga. We all wanted to be like him. This boy was only 16 at the time and already he was stronger then all other SOLDIERS and was like an untouchable angel of death on the battlefield. As you all can guess, this person was Sephiroth."
Zack paused for a moment, knowing Cloud would be taking this new information grudgingly hard. He gulped down the sudden lump in his throat then continued. "I was one of those inspired kids. I, like the rest of the kids in my neighborhood, joined the SOLDIER program and signed on as prospective youths to one day join in as the elite and maybe if the war had lasted long enough, we too could have our chance to become great hero's. However, the war didn't last, and many of the kids couldn't handle the strain of youth training for SOLDIER. I was one of the only few that lasted long enough. I was so sure of myself then, I was determined not to fail. I was determined to be just as cool as Sephiroth. On my 13th birthday, three years after I had signed on to the SOLDIER youth program they began exposing me and the other kids to small levels of mako enhancement energy. Not enough to really do anything at that level but to see if our bodies could handle it none the less. Most of the kids couldn't. I barely could myself but I stayed on and my body adapted. Soon I became a very prominent member of the SOLDIER program and by the time I was 14 I was practically considered a SOLDIER by some. I had even had the honor be being teamed up with Sephiroth for certain milk run missions just to give me the experience. Sephiroth became something of an older brother for me during those times. He looked out for me and watched my back and I in turn looked out for him whenever I could. He never seemed to need it though. He was like a machine the way he could perceive everything. Well by the time I was 16 I was put into a group with a few other people my age bucking for the SOLDIER program. We kinda got along but I had a rivalry going on with one of them. Those cadets are now known as the Turks and that rival as you can guess by now is Tseng. They weren't good enough to make it to SOLDIER. None of them except me. Perhaps Shinra knew that already when he had thrown us all in together. Perhaps that was his way of exacting the plan he unfolded later. My companions realized I was far ahead of them in all SOLDIER related things and so they knew I easily surpassed them. That's where the enmity came from, most apparent in Tseng then the rest. One day Sephiroth took me to the side and told me that I should be aware of Shinra's dark side and that I should leave Shinra before my soul became as black and tainted as everything else that belonged to them. He said I was too pure to be soiled by such evil. Of course at the time I didn't know what he was talking about so I warded him off about it but we still remained close friends. Shortly after, Shinra assigned us our first mission and wouldn't you know it, it was at my home town. They had been complaining about a reactor leak for some time and, as I was far away from home, I didn't really know about all the specifics but Shinra told us to clean up. I took great pride in that and was excited about it until I got there. When I did I found that shinra wasn't really trying to fix there mistakes but cover them up. The Cadets I once called friends, ruthlessly killed all the citizens of my village right before my eyes. I tried to stop them but there were just too many of them. Then there was Tseng… He killed my mother right before my very eyes. I fought him of course and defeated him just as easily. That's why he has the metal arm now. I took away a part of him just as he, by killing my family, took away a part of me. After that, I fled my village, fled my rank, fled the life that had all of a sudden become too tainted for me to live in anymore. I never turned back. I never returned to my old home. There was nothing left for me. Some time after that, I ran into Cloud. We were so much alike. Once he told me of Sephiroth and his insanity, that was the final nail in the coffin. My past was dead and buried. All possible links to my ever wanting to return to it were all destroyed. I started a new life, joining forces with Cloud and becoming a mercenary. And… that's about it…"
"I thought you told me you were a mercenary before then…" Cloud asked, his voice raw from utter shock by Zack's tale.
"That… was sort of a lie. I had planned to become a mercenary and Neiblheim was indeed my first choice. I set out towards there looking for work but after seeing the village in shambles that kinda killed that idea."
"So… you were friends with Sephiroth…? That maniac?"
Zack lowered his head in shame. "That's why I never told you Cloud. Sephiroth took everything from you just like Shinra took everything from me. It would be impossible for you to see Sephiroth in the same light I saw him in. The way he was before I left Shinra. I… I just wanted to forget about my past. Forget about everything. I guess you could even say my deciding to join up with you at first was partially due to wanting to fix the wrongs Sephiroth brought upon you. But later I truly did become your friend Cloud. And I've been your friend ever since. I'd never betray you or any of the rest of you. You've always been like a brother to me Cloud… more so then Sephiroth ever was…"
The entire area was silent. Truly Zack's story had astonished them all. They couldn't possibly have realized his life had faced such a tragedy.
"So then you're not a traitor?" Tifa asked lightly.
"Only to Shinra. They deceived me and used me. I would never work for them again!"
Once again, silence enshrouded the area. Suddenly Cloud's voice broke the silence.
"Zack…I still don't like the fact that you've kept this from me but…On some level, I can understand why you did what you did… Zack forget about your past…your part of a team now, your one of us! Its time we started trusting each other once again. All of us!"
A soft swoop up mutterings and short comments signified that everyone else agreed with this statement. A light smile rose up to Zack's face. They had forgiven him. Zack could barely suppress his joy, but at the same time full of even more dread then ever before. He couldn't accept his own sins. It was true they may have forgiven him but now he wasn't so sure if he could forgive himself. He felt responsible for all that had happened to him. In his eyes, it was his fault Jessie and the other Avalanche members died. It was his fault they were all imprisoned now. And it was his fault Cloud was being subjected through all these experiments now. 'I'm sorry everyone...' Zack thought to himself in silence. 'But some way, some how, I'll make things right again, one way or another, I'll find us all a way out of this hell hole.'
::::::::::To Be Continued::::::::::
Author's note: Thanks for reading and please stay tuned for chapter 22.