Disclaimer: The characters, items, places etc of Final Fantasy VII are property of Squaresoft Ltd. These objects are used without permission for entertainment only, not for making money. No infringement is intended.
This has shonen-ai in it and at least the implication of yaoi. If you don't like or can't tolerate that then don't read.
:: :: Conversation happening in someone's head.
~ * ~
The Other World
By Jade Tatsu
Chapter 16 - Jenova
"And then... And then there was Nibelheim..." Sephiroth paused, considering his words and the best way to explain everything that had happened. "If Wutai was a test of Jenova's abilities, it was one she passed with flying colours but that then makes Nibelheim a test of her loyalty. It was a test though, that I can only take faint comfort in knowing she failed abysmally.
"In hindsight, I have to say that ShinRa /must/ have suspected /something/. There is no way they would send all three ranking SOLDIER's to what was in effect a minor town, no matter what the problem with the reactor was. Nibelheim was designed to test us all - Jenova and her control over her host, Cloud and what ever strength he might still have, Zack and his loyalties and me and my desires.
"I guess they sent us there because of something that happened in Wutai. The night after Wutai fell, I approached Cloud, not as a General to a General, not as Son to Mother but also not as a Lover to a Lover but more as a friend. I was trying to feel him out, trying to determine what merging with Jenova had done and this was the first time I had Cloud to myself and in private since that event. /Nothing/ happened, I think Jenova and Cloud were still merging then and so the combined entity that they were was confused by me. He just brushed me off. He didn't say anything, he was just cold and remote. I didn't think anybody noticed anything, there was nothing to see unless you were watching but that approach must have warned ShinRa in some way because they sent us to Nibelheim before we even got back from Wutai.
"It didn't take us long to get to Nibelheim," Sephiroth spoke without betraying emotion. He could feel Cloud's arms around him, hear a soft thump-thump and a gentle hiss of breath, smell the rough odour that was his beloved and that was giving him the strength he needed. And in his mind there was only a warm pillar of support, offering him love but it was not blind. This Cloud saw and accepted his mistakes as he was accepting his predecessors, this Cloud would truly stand with him as an equal.
"Go on," Cloud murmured, shifting his arms slightly so that Sephiroth was more comfortably settled. He would hold Sephiroth forever, if that's what it took but small shifts of weight would ensure both their comfort. "I know this is difficult. It's difficult for me too, to hear what I have done but when this is over, the world begins."
The white haired man nodded looking out into the night. "The world begins in the place where the world ended. We got to the town by mid morning and Cloud... No, I shouldn't be saying that... And Jenova, by then, I'm sure it was only Jenova, wanted to push on. She wanted to go straight to the reactor and not wait until we had secured a guide. That was the one thing with merging, Jenova had access to Cloud's memories and Cloud had access to her's - one being but two sets of memories and definitely two opposing sets of goals. Their physical bodies had merged but the mergence of the mind was only partial, each wanted to be their own being. In the end, that's what saved us, but that is not the question now.
"Jenova wanted to press on but the towns people wouldn't let her. /They/ were too busy greeting Cloud. It was the only time I saw Jenova uncomfortable. Although I know Cloud didn't leave Nibelheim on good terms from the way the towns folk were acting, you'd have thought he had been the local hero, not the local outcast. Jenova interacted with them but only at a basic level. She fed them some line about SOLDIER training having messed with her memories but she was good to your mother. I don't think the poor woman ever suspected that her son was dead." Sephiroth paused and blinked. "No..." he said slowly. "That's not quite true. I can't be sure but I think at that time Cloud and Jenova were co existing, not peacefully but Cloud was still within Jenova in a dominant fashion. It's just that he could only be in control when there was a strong reason for him. For the town's people he didn't care about Jenova could control him but then for his mother he found the strength to be in control."
"You're going to object that he should have found the strength to be in control when he was about me, aren't you?" Sephiroth questioned, looking at Cloud.
Cloud nodded, shifting his thoughts around a little so that he wouldn't be quite so easy to read through their link. There were some things in his mind that he didn't want to share quite yet, like his source of information.
"Whether Cloud could control or not was also dependent on Jenova. While it was never in her nature to be submissive in any way, there was some degree of caring. She didn't care if she wasn't in control around Cloud's mother. It probably was a relief to her that he took control but around me, and around ShinRa, she had reason to care and so wouldn't have given Cloud the slightest opening. You can always fight but unless there is an opening attack is little more than suicide and Cloud knew that. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't gain control around me. There was no opportunity. I actually don't think that there ever was any opening, not even with what was to come. I think, Cloud just /made/ an opening but I'll get to that..." The white haired man settled himself back down in Cloud's arms, listening for an instant to the constant murmur of loving thoughts that the blond was filling his mind with before he continued.
"We set off for the reactor in the morning with Tifa as our guide. As I said Jenova didn't want a guide, she already knew where she was going from Cloud's memories but there was an incident, just before we left that morning, and this is where hostility between Jenova and Tifa begins. Jenova had been trying to crept out early but Tifa was waiting for us and she made the remark that her abilities had always been better than Cloud's. I saw something then, in Jenova's eyes, something I never would have seen in Cloud's and I know it's from that point that Jenova hated Tifa.
"I'm only mentioning that because you /saw/ Tifa's hatred for you. She really hates Jenova and at least for a while, I guess that hatred will have been transferred to you."
"I hope it's only temporary but I do know Tifa, she isn't likely to forget," Cloud interrupted Sephiroth's tale.
"It will be sad if she doesn't see the truth but this is what /will/ be," Sephiroth said the words forcefully. "It doesn't matter what she wants, I won't ever leave you."
"I know," Cloud murmured. "I hope she will listen to the truth."
Sephiroth closed his eyes for an instant. They both knew how stubborn Tifa could be but at the moment there was nothing they could do except hope that she would eventually listen to reason, or at least accept the path they had chosen. She had been a friend to them both but she would not stand between them.
"The trip to the reactor was uneventful. When we got there, the three of us, you, me and Zack, left Tifa under guard outside the reactor and went in. I presume your reactor had 'monsters' inside it?" Sephiroth twisted around slightly to look at Cloud with one emerald eye.
Cloud nodded but didn't say anything. How could he forget those monsters? The terror of becoming one was still fresh in his mind, as if it were yesterday and not years ago that Hojo had experimented upon him.
"You've told me," Sephiroth continued, looking back out into the night, "that in your reactor it was Jenova who was sealed inside. That was impossible here but here there was something else sealed inside, something that simplified the mako extraction process. Ifulra, Aeris' mother and the last full blooded Cetera. Her remains were sealed inside.
"Jenova seemed... /pleased/ somehow, almost more superior than her usual tone but I didn't get a chance to dwell on that then. We checked the reactor and after making a few minor adjustments, there was nothing majorly wrong with it that we could see, we left it and went back to Nibelheim. The Mount Nibel reactor was famous for it's efficiency and with a Cetera inside, even a dead one it was obvious why it was so efficient and we didn't want to ruin that efficiency.
"Everything began to collapse after we got back to the Mansion. We were finally alone. It had taken weeks, months for me to get Cloud alone after the experiment and at the Mansion, when I got that with relative security, I moved."
Sephiroth trembled at the memory. "I'll admit, I probably was too forceful but I had to know what had happened, why Cloud had given me no sign that he remembered me..."
Black gloved hands landed on blue uniformed shoulders forcing the blond man to look into the green eyes that glared at him. "Cloud..." the word was snarled, anger and longing mixing together. "What did they do? Tell me something!"
Blue eyes blinked, not surprised but not understanding the demands being made. "General Sephiroth, I don't understand you and this conduct is very unprofessional."
"Cloud..." Sephiroth shook the form beneath him. "Don't..." he warned in a voice that lacked patience. "It has been /months/ and now that I finally have you alone, away from ShinRa you are going to tell me exactly what happened. You owe it to me."
"Exactly what happened /when,/ General?" Cloud's voice was cold and scathing as he looked at the white haired man with a questioning expression that clearly stated he thought Sephiroth was way out of line.
"Don't..." The warning was less forceful this time. "Don't do this to me Cloud," Sephiroth's voice betrayed his tiredness but he wasn't begging yet. "The night before it happened, all you said to me was that you were doing it for me. I /want/ an explanation. What happened then? Why haven't you given me any sign?"
"General," Cloud began again, his tone still coldly professional but showing no understanding, "I do not know what you mean." He raised his arms, hitting Sephiroth's forearms with his own to free his shoulders. Sephiroth slumped backwards into a chair.
"Don't you remember me, Cloud?" There was no hiding the broken catch in his voice. "After everything that happened, don't you remember me?"
"I remember you," Cloud's voice was soft and bore a note of uncertainty, as if he was confused about what was happening or trying not to speak the words, to control himself.
"Then doesn't that mean anything to you?" Anger flared making his eyes blaze with emerald fire.
"I remember you, my son." Blond spikes tilted as Cloud turned his face to look directly at Sephiroth.
"Son?"
"You are my son." Glowing blue eyes blinked and narrowed, as Cloud's face lost all traces of innocence, his expression becoming one of dark cunning and his voice resonated with surety. "You are the Chosen One, my Son, who will rise above humanity. The One-Winged Angel..."
"...no... Cloud..."
"This body belonged to Cloud but /I/ am Jenova, my son, your /mother./ And you were placed here to be my tool and you will obey me, that is your only purpose, my dear son."
"Obey you..?" Sephiroth questioned, eyes wild at the sudden change within Cloud. "Obey a mother I do now know, a mother who took everything from me. Cloud, wake up."
"He can't hear you. He was within me but he kept interfering so I destroyed him. I only needed a body, not another mind."
"You... you destroyed him?"
Jenova laughed. "My poor son, your lover is dead and I will not let him return," her voice was firm but her posture was soft, inviting as she rose and turned to stand before Sephiroth. She held out her arms, the gesture an invitation for him to accept her embrace. "But this is his body, his voice, his touch and smell and I can be just as sweet, my son. Obey me, serve me and I will be anything you want."
Sephiroth choked. "You'll what?"
"My beautiful son," she extended her hand and stroked a line along Sephiroth's jaw. "I am so much more than your mother. I am the Destroyer of Worlds, the Star Eater but I am the Creator, the Mother of All Things. Serve me, obey me and you will be the ruler of all things."
"Love you?" Sephiroth spat. "That's what you are asking. Serve you, obey you, fear you... Love you. That's what you want, isn't it?" His eyes blazed with emerald and despite the fact he was facing Cloud, his lover, the attitude and demeanour was so obviously Jenova that he could forget that.
"Is there anything wrong with a son loving his mother?"
"Where is Cloud?" The question was snarled as the white haired man rose to face the body of his lover.
"He's dead. Only his semblance remains in me."
"I don't believe that. Cloud is not that weak."
"He was only human. You and I both know how weak they are. They serve as nothing more than a momentary distraction but I will be with you for eternity."
"NO!" Sephiroth screamed the word, once again taking a hold of Cloud's shoulders and shaking hard. "Wake up Cloud. You did not do this to be controlled by Jenova, I know it. You did not tell me why but I know it was not for this. Come back to me Cloud, come back now!"
Jenova hissed, pulling herself free of Sephiroth's grip. "I will forgive this /once,/ my son. You have formed an attachment to your human plaything and you will need time to release it. I should have expected this, you are still young. You were created to serve me and you will. You can never escape me for you are my son and you always will be." Narrowed blue eyes bored for an instant into green. "Just this /once./" She snapped as she turned to leave Sephiroth alone.
The door slammed loudly closed and Sephiroth fell to the ground. "...Cloud... ...come back..." he whispered but he didn't recognise his own voice.
How long he was slumped there he didn't know. Seconds, minutes, hours. He didn't know. His reverie was interrupted by one of the troops who had accompanied them pounding on his door. "General! General Sephiroth, sir!"
Tiredly he rose to his feet, composing himself before he moved to the door. "What is it?"
"Sir, please come quickly. There is something wrong with General Strife. He won't talk to General Zack and keeps saying something about using the reactor. Something is wrong. Please hurry!"
"Cloud..!" Sephiroth was half-way down the hall before the soldier had finished speaking.
"Cloud!" Sephiroth skidded to a halt just inside the basement room.
"Wait," the voice was Zack's and was accompanied by a hand coming down firmly on his shoulder. "That's not Cloud," he added, pointing towards the person that was in the inner rooms.
The person there was glowing, not a lot but in the dark it was definitely noticeable. But what Sephiroth also saw was the blue glow that came from their face and the Masamune strapped across the figures back. He was about to argue when Cloud turned to face them.
"For once, that SOLDIER is correct. I am not the weakling Cloud." Jenova turned to face them, looking up from the book in her hands at Sephiroth. "Are you ready to follow me, my son?"
"Cloud."
"I told you before. I am not Cloud."
"Sephiroth, what the hell happened?"
"I don't know Zack."
"What happened was exactly what ShinRa wanted - the revival of Jenova. The human was important for nothing but their body. Now, if you'll excuse me," Jenova let the book fall and strode past them, emitting an aura of power that was no less than theirs despite her diminutive size. "I have many things to do today."
"Wait, I'm not letting you go anywhere." The thought and words were mutual between the dark and light haired generals as they emerged into the night.
"I don't think you have time to be concerned with me," Jenova said as she turned towards Mount Nibel, gesturing towards the streets of Nibelheim.
"What?"
Sephiroth and Zack both turned. The town should have been enveloped in the pitch darkness of pre dawn, they should have seen nothing more than a town sleeping, waiting for the dawn when it would awaken for it's days activities. But Nibelheim itself was brighter than dawn. Fire raged in every building, bursting though the windows and causing the whole sky to light up with an orange glow. The air reeked of smoke and over the roar of the flames faint screams could be heard.
"What have you done?" The question was a snarl so intense it almost wasn't language.
"Done?" Jenova's voice was innocent. "I've done nothing. Look closer, my son."
They looked back and there in the shadows of the flames converging on the mansion were navy blue uniformed troops. ShinRa Special Forces.
"See? I did nothing. ShinRa decided that the town Cloud came from could be a problem in the future so they have acted to destroy it."
"What did you /tell/ them?"
"Oh, not that much," Jenova seemed happy about something as she moved into the darkness, heading towards the Mount Nibel track. "I simply told them that the town was a danger. That it could be a source of fanatics who were intent on freeing the last Cetera. They seemed to think that was enough to warrant doing something permanent about it. Oh... And Sephiroth, your performance last night was of particular concern for them. They really don't want you bothering me, obeying me, yes, but not bothering so I believe you will find that those troops won't obey you. Either of you."
"Forget about them, Zack," Sephiroth ordered turning to follow Jenova as he caught a flicker of movement from the other man. "There is no one left to save and we can take care of the troops anytime. For now though we have to find out what's happened to Cloud and if there is any way of undoing that accursed merging."
"You're right." Zack agreed sadly but he could see reality. "Just let me cast a spell first," he added pausing for a moment at the narrow rock pass that formed the doorway out of Nibelheim into the true wilderness of the mountains. "WALL." There was a multicoloured flash and several small pellets flew out from the rock face as the spell anchored itself. "That should hold them for a while. We don't want to play if we don't have to." The two of them turned and ran after the small form that was making it's way quickly through along the mountain path. Neither of them, with all their enhanced SOLDIER senses noticed a lithe shadow trailing them
".../Jenova/..." the shadow hissed in between faltering breaths. "...you'll pay... ...cloud..." the shadow spat blood. "...you'll pay... ...even if it cost's me my life... ... you'll pay... ...jenova... .../cloud/..."
To Be Continued...
~ * ~
Well, hope people have enjoyed this chapter.
Please leave me a review! I love reviews and it's really the least you can do if you enjoyed this chapter. I won't say 'Read and Review' since you have already read. So REVIEW! You can tell me what you thought of it.
Jade Tatsu.