Onyx Heart
By Silver Catalyst
The first golden ray of sunshine streams across the sordid sky, as it has, morning after morning, since the dawn of time. I watch, numb, from my vantage point on the rocks, like great billowing clouds cast from the Heavens above.
Silence, fragile as a crystal snowflake. I am a lone spectator to this bitter irony unfolding before me. The cruel cycle of light to darkness, like a circle, never ends. And as the sun rises, my heart sinks with the realization that I must now face another day of my life, just like any other.
An icy breeze through a hot Summer's day, I glide down the cliff-face with fluid ease. The very rocks seem to rejoice at my leaving; their oily black granite coats now aflame with brilliant sunlight. I turn my back on them, bitter as the wind that taunts my silver crescent hair.
Back where I belong now, in the dark hollow depths of my sanctity; a crater channelling to the very soul of the planet. Here, I wait, and plot the rise of my Eternal Kingdom. Not so distant now, a shimmering white rose amongst the thorny briars. Almost within my grasp, a gift to be passed from my hands, down into the expecting hands of humankind.
But achieving such purity, such glory, such grace... it will not be easy. But then, I wouldn't want it if it was. It matters but nothing; she will not let me fall. Mother, guide me through these blackened halls and weary weathered lands. Take me by the hand, and lead me to salvation…
/Sephiroth…/
She speaks! Mother, have you come to tell me your forgotten tales? Stories, truths, woven as fine as silken spider webs.
/Listen.. they come…/
Who comes? How dare they? And to what end? Do they think to strike me down in the midst of my final hour?! Do they think me weak enough as to fall to a mere human?!
/Take care, my son../
Care? I haven't a care in the world, for I have nothing to fear. We shall prevail, nothing can stop us now. I see it all, clear as World's End. Meteor, my summoned Hellforce, shall rain fire upon the damned, and the Planet shall be mine once more.. And I, as promised, will be forever immortalized.. as an eternal god!
Yes, they come. Let them… I will be waiting…
* * * ~ @ ~ * * *
The oppressive dark of the crater threatening to overwhelm him, Cloud stood, a shining ghost of an image against the flawless black. Below, a huge circular hole in the rockbed awaited his descent. His path; a spiral of impossibility, great boulders floating in eerie mako light.
"Are you ready to go, Cloud?" Tifa's concern was evident in her voice, soft as feather tips.
"Yeah.. I guess so…" Cloud replied, somewhat reluctantly. "We can't turn back now."
"Everyone's counting on us Cloud, I.. I know how hard this is for you… I mean- "
"It's okay, I'll be alright. Let's just get this over with." Cloud turned, and without a moment's hesitation, he leapt through the hole in the ground and landed smoothly on the first boulder. Tifa was right. The fate of the whole Planet rested within his shaky grasp. But he couldn't let Meteor destroy the Planet; he couldn't let ..Sephiroth win.
Sephiroth.
God, how that name hurt him. He fought the urge to double over as the familiar pain crept up and washed over him, a swirl of regret making his stomach turn. Cloud realized this would be the most difficult challenge he should ever have to face, both physically and emotionally. How would he ever be able to kill Sephiroth; his hero.. his dark angel… his love, no matter how insane he was?
Cloud leapt warily onto the next boulder, half expecting it to fall beneath his weight, but it held fast, as if caught in a giant spider's web. It all felt so surreal, like a dream. Could it really be true? How did it come to this?
Cloud knew his determination was slowly beginning to ebb away. Would he be able to do it? After all they had been through together, after spending all those sleepless nights thinking about him, after all these long years spent dreaming of just being near to him… How could he end it all now? He didn't want it to ever end…
Cloud jumped onto the third boulder, somewhat less that enthusiastically. But no, he couldn't let the despair which flooded his body drown him. Surely the fate of the entire Planet was worth more than his pain? He felt as though he were being torn in half; his heart wanted nothing more than to be with Sephiroth, yet his mind told him that the man he was about to face is not the man he once knew.
With a final leap, Cloud fell heavily onto the last boulder, as though his feet were forged of lead. Cloud resolved to do that which was expected of him; that which his conscience demanded he must; that which the knowledge of burned his very soul. Somehow, he would have to fight Sephiroth.. And he would have to win.
Cloud knew that he would be unable to simply stand aside and observe as the Planet, and humankind, fell to that monster Sephiroth endeared his "Mother", and with his own misguided emotions to blame. He would end this. Now.
Ahead of Cloud lay the end of his path; a great platform comprised of many shimmering crystal cubes. Instantly, he knew this was the place he was being drawn to. Somewhere, in the immediate depths before him, Sephiroth was waiting.
He stepped onto the platform with a stride conveying far more confidence than he truly possessed. There can be no hesitation now, he must set free his doubts and worries, let his demons fly. He has to be strong; for the Planet; for Aeris and all others like her who fell to Sephiroth's blade; for the people who laid their last dying hopes in him; and for Sephiroth... It's what he would have wanted...
Suddenly, it felt as though the air itself became diseased. The light faded and darkness flooded Cloud's vision. A rotten breeze, carrying the acrid scent of death upon it, disturbed his pure, blond hair. A feeling of dread crept over him, like the realization of one's own death moments before it occurs, like drowning in icy black waters, like a fall that never ends.
Before he even saw, Cloud knew who it was that corrupted his crystal-edged dream. Only she, with her presence alone, could pollute the ambience so.
Concrete set, Cloud took up the Buster sword in his still poised hands. Before him, Jenova, in all her morbid glory, raised her twisted claws, enveloped in her own fearless rage. Her fiery eyes, a vision of pure evil, promised eternal damnation.
Having come this far, Cloud knew he was not about to lose to her. This battle with Jenova-Synthesis would be the last; she was never to rise again.
'Forgive me Sephiroth, love, but may this end set you free...'
* * * ~ @ ~ * * *
I hear her. Like shattering glass, her dying scream courses throughout my body, piercing my mind, rending my bleeding thoughts. Images of death, chaos, flash silver before my eyes. Her pain becomes my own, and her ever presence escapes me at last. A viscous stab of loss clouds my vision, as the realization settles that I am alone once more.
Trapped, in a corrosive cage of despair. Abandoned. To be forgotten, is, to cease to exist. Does any other remember quite as well as I? And now, I am to face the one whom stole from me the sustenance of my life; extinguished my last flame of remembrance; ..killed… my Mother. And now, he seeks to kill me too.
He comes, falling, amongst the crystal shards and diamond dust. A glittering image, golden silhouette, shining brightest of them all. And those others are with him, but they are weak as choked blossoms, they matter nothing. He floats before me, a butterfly on a sun soaked breeze.
I can feel his fear. He is afraid of what will unfold here, what this end will bring, and at what price. His heart is weighed by sorrow, and his mind is clouded with doubt. And that shall be his downfall. He speaks to the others, but the words wash over me, and meaning escapes my grasp. I can no longer comprehend life, time holds no boundaries, space is but endless void. I am truly alone now.
He wants to fight me. He calls to me, the way he used to… I.. knew him…? What was his name?
We would train together for hours, in SOLDIER. Fighting those creatures like clockwork, we worked well together. Although I never needed him. I used to see him after hours sometimes, too. He was Zack's friend, his roommate. The three of us, we would go out into the night lit streets of Midgar. Although I would have preferred to stay with ShinRa. Why can't I remember his name?
And then… he told me that he loved me… Although I didn't love him. I ..won't... remember his name.
For he is lost to me, as I am lost to this earthen world and all its dreary charm. So be it, Nameless One. I shall end your misery and despair, cease you prolonged suffering. You challenge me; do you honestly wish to die? Or could it be, you actually believe you shall defeat me? I will fight you, then, until that golden light submerged in your ocean eyes fades to nothing, and your soul fleets away, into the land of dreams.
Sleep well, Nameless One.
* * * ~ @ ~ * * *
Cloud had been dreading this moment for five long years. Like a hunter, it had stalked his every move, weighing him down, no matter how greatly he detached himself from it. And now, the time had come to face his relentless predator. But he would not succumb to its horrors without a fight.
Directly in front of him, stood his Silver Angel, his perfect stance and flawless beauty almost making Cloud feel ashamed. His moonlight hair flowed in rivulets down his bare torso, and his emerald eyes glittered, brilliant shining green. He stood with carefully controlled calm, poised like a viper, ready to strike. He was watching Cloud, silently. His eyes were impossibly void of fear.. void of any emotion at all.
'Not yet, please, not yet..' Cloud's thoughts cried in urgency, 'There's still so much left unsaid.' Cloud summoned up what little courage he held remaining, and despite a distinct lack of trust in his voice, he spoke.
"...Sephiroth?..."
The name sounded painfully thin, strained. Cloud waited, frozen, for Sephiroth's reply, but it never came. Silence, thick and suffocating, demanded not to be broken. Sephiroth remained motionless, inhumanely unfazed by Cloud's hesitant enquiry.
"Don't you have anything to say? After all these years, do you really want it to end like this?… Are you so far gone?…"
Finally, Sephiroth spoke, his icy voice as distant as his stoic expression. "Not even the dead are not immune... but.. you cannot kill those who wish to join them."
"Wha.. What?" Cloud asked, confused. Sephiroth was suffering, Cloud knew. But if only he would stop this madness, if he would return with Cloud, then maybe he could get some help, and then everything would be okay again, right?? "Sephiroth.. please stop this, I don't want to fight you. This isn't what you really want, I know it isn't. There's still time; let's go back together…?"
"For what reason? Nothing awaits me in the past, look to the future; it shines with the brilliance of her promise. Although the betrayed once fell, the traitors shall never rise."
"What are you saying? I don't understand!"
"No.. you... never did." Sephiroth recaptured his deadly focus; his terrible death laced calm. "Enough of words, embrace your destiny, Nameless One."
He was becoming desperate. "Cloud!" he shouted, "My name.. is Cloud…" He knew this was his last chance, but he could feel Sephiroth slipping away.
"Cloud…?" The remembrance awakens; the threat of realization dawns. "Oh, yes"
"You do remember… Sephiroth?" A faint glimmer of hope fluttered in Cloud's stomach. He remembers, will that be enough?
"Cloud." Sephiroth confirmed expressionless. He shifted slightly, Masamune held with perfect control, despite the immense wait. Cloud caught his breath, an iron statue under the Angel's eyes, as Sephiroth's piercing gaze locked with his own. "Goodbye."
Cloud felt his dismissal like a blow to the face. After all they had been through, it really was going to end like this. Cloud forced himself to comprehend the terrible senseless reality which had become his own.
'Then there is no other way.. So I guess this is it, love… our final moments together.'
~fin~
Email me at Silver_Catalyst@hotmail.com
© 2002 Silver Catalyst