A Final Fantasy VII: S/C FanFiction
Disclaimers: Final Fantasy 7 characters are the property of and copyrighted by their respective creator, Square-Enix, distributors, and legally associated parties. This fiction is used without permission for the purpose of entertainment only and is not meant for sale or profit. All original characters are the creation of the author.
Warnings: AU (I think...), violence, language, YAOI.
Summary: S/C. A year later, with Jenova and Sephiroth returning once again, a new type of WEAPONs has began terrorizing the world, familiar faces bringing uncertainty and suspicious. As Cloud struggles for truth, what reality he once had is now far away from his reach.
Notes:
/ .... / or // .... // = someone's dialogue
( .... ) = Character's thoughts
Italics = Flashbacks/other miscellaneous dialogue
ALTER QUIES
Chapter 02: opening all things... (Re-Written)
Someone dark and sinister knew and hated. She sneered and screamed, throwing fits of her power and rage. Everything had went accordingly to plan, in fact the results had been quite promising, but THAT was unexpected! Who would know her weak prisoner had decided to fight back and turn the tables around like that? Who had knew she still had such back-up plan in her mind?
After all, the profound mysteries and the Orders of the Universes were not one to unravel and understand easily.
She growled before calming herself down. The outcome was still undecided: her enemy had not completely won the battle, and victory goddess was still facing her. She, nevertheless, had her advantages. She knew the truth while her enemies were, however, in the dark.
Besides... her army was waiting for her commands. She did not think she would be using the troops against those weaklings, but it seemed she would have to now. Most likely, the new guest would join the oppositions....
"Well..." she sat down and revealed an evil smile. "I can always get our new guest before they get him.... The promised revenge will come, and I will not allow anyone, anybody to stop me."
** ***** **
In the beginning, there was nothing. Completely nothing; not even light or dark, not even time or space. Then, Existence called. A flash of light from an unknown source split his vision and exploded, eventually millions of smaller explosions began to blow from within at an incredible rate of speed. As if these now-active existences had been denial for so long that it had overloaded with freedom, overwhelmed with another form of eternity and that they became the everything. Definition was born.
He watched the soundless universe grew, slowly fulfilling the emptiness and coming to life. If he were to observe closer, he could see layers of mirror upon layers of mirror, stretching deep below him and hanging high above all, creating an illusionary extension of the Universe. There was no different if he had looked up or down, it would look the same. They were mirrors after all, and it made the Universe looked endless.
As he stood on this particular mirror, he began to dream. Dreams were known to be strange, and this time it was no different. It just that, his dreams were way beyond his comprehension; these dreams could be fresh in his mind as time passed and he would still find no words to describe. They neither were good dreams, nor were bad ones. They looked rather like flashes of memories... no, not his... someone's memories.
For a pause of moment, he wondered... how could one dreams of someone's memories?
Long had he given up figuring what his dreams meant; they were too much for him to understand, too fast for him to grasp. His dreams were like ocean; after seeing so much, he realized he had only covered not even half of the ocean's surface, underneath to its deepest depths it would only get bigger and bigger. When he thought he had the waters, they slipped away without him knowing.
After a long time, the dreams changed, and slowly he finally started to understand what some of them meant. However, with that, he also realized something had gone wrong. The dreams were becoming increasingly intense and violent. It looked as if the dreams were infected with some sort of virus; they kept distorting with dark spots and voices, and overlapping with other dreams while occasionally, they skewed wildly and sped everything even faster.
As the excitement continued, he could gasp several--
--Someone dear to him was dead. His heart was weeping as he felt it crushing down completely to the fact he was the one that held the weapon. It was his own responsibility to do so; it was everyone's hope to do so; it was HIS wish to see everything put to an end in his own hands.
"...I am aware of the project since I was ten, and when I immediately realized he might be involved, I knew I have to do something. I will do anything to ensure his safety... anything."
There seemed to be a different sort of aura around that new solider. It was not about excitement or nervousness; he could sense a great deal of blazing flame burning on that bitter ice. He was loud, confident, one to be the first to be ready, yet at the same time he was also reserved and cold. In any sense, he was similar to him as well as different to him. He gave another glance before walking out of the ballroom, deciding he would keep an extra eye on that recruit once the training commenced.
"I'm sorry for everything I did. I don't expect anyone --not even you-- to forgive me, and all I wanted to say is that I don't regret making that choice that had led to so many sinful events. For you, is all that matter. It's alright, because I love you too much to see your death. I am really selfish, am I?"
/ ...You really... to... this? /
// Ye... //
/ Fine. If things... wrong, don't expect me... come... 'rescue' you. You know... period... most important moment... us... so don't you dare to.... /
// ...will... out fine; trust me. //
/ You and... stupidity. /
"I don't want to talk about her. I hate her. She's just a woman who just happened to bore me."
He blinked. He couldn't believe what the papers had written! He had made it! The results came out to be more satisfactory than he thought he would be, and there it stated that the next screening would be the coming month. His surroundings immediately went ignored as he rushed out of the place to a particular dormitory where people he really cared about were there. Once he was there, his excitement of announcing the good news had made him missed an extra presence in the room, a presence of long brown hair and warmth greenish eyes.
"He's not worth your highness's time. He don't even know your existence all these years, and in the end, all your efforts will gone to waste. What's better to control a willingness to an unwillingness?"
/ Don't die before me, you hear? /
// See you after the Test. //
She knew what had hit her, but she never knew it would be... so painful. Was this death? Vaguely in her mind, the planet knowledge her prayers, the last hope for mankind was shinning. As she saw the last of her consciousness slowly slipping away, a tiny part of her felt sad. It meant she would miss her mother very much, she would not be able to be with her friends again, she would not be able to tell him how she felt about him. However, at least... she knew everyone would be safe....
"It's alright, you know? I... I want you. I don't know why, but I don't want you to leave. I told you I didn't know why I did the things I did, either. You don't have to understand everything. There's no instruction manual. If you want to be with someone, sometimes the only way is to just jump in, and make it all the way up as you go."
He growled angrily at his captor and himself. He never thought one small rebellious act would result in what he was in now. If he had listened, if he had paid more attention his surroundings, all these would never happened to him. He knew he was wrong, he was young and inexperienced, but all he really wanted was to help his people. No... he shouldn't be slumping over such failure. He was the son of the Great Seto, he didn't have the time to be pathetic! There were still a lot opportunities to escape, patience was all he needed now and timing was essential, until then, he would wait.
/ You failed. /
"...Where are you going?"
"Nowhere."
"You are hiding something... what is it? I'm not letting you go until you tell me what's going on--"
"--I'm sorry, please forgive me, but I can't let you know yet. He had said before, you are supposed to end it, but I've decided to take it into my business... that project belongs to her, so I'm going to end it by my hands like she had started it."
The great greenish energy ball gathered at the core of the destruction, starting to counter back for her preservation and survival. Once both Death and Hope collided against each other, a blinding flash of light exploded and--
--Everything stopped. He looked around slowly and wondered. Gradually his dreams started to fade away, blending into the darkness until all it left was his own self, standing in the middle of nowhere. The next moment he realized, he was also fading away like sand into the wind. He stared at his hands, watching with mild interest, as they broke apart into smaller pieces and continued into much smaller pieces... until they were no smaller than an electron and vanished.
The dream was nothing more than a void before the Beginning....
...Something made him looked up. He saw a white-cloaked figure standing slightly behind him, half of the face was covered by the hood. The smile was amused, yet sad. He slowly stood up, surprised to find the stranger was almost the same height as him... but that was not important. He tilted his head curiously.
The white figure then asked, "You like to be here?"
... disturbed... something changed....
Cloud looked around the place and nodded. He recognized the place from his memories, was one of his few favorite places to go, play... or hide. It was not far away from his hometown and near the beautiful white shore. He still remembered when he ran away from the cold treatments the villagers were showing and accidentally stumbled upon this sanctuary the first time. No one knew; that was why he called it 'his secret garden'. He used to sit here the whole day, watching the water glowing in an eerily glow under both the sun's glare and the pale moon's light, or looking above at the sky's constellations. Being in this place again, made he felt nostalgic.
"I hate it."
... it's him... but how....
... no, not him. There's two....
Cloud blinked. How could anyone hate this place? "Why?"
... she was the one... she permits....
The white figure seemed to frown, "'Why'? It reminded me too much of myself being weak, isolated, and hated. Heh, I doubt you understand, you seem to have a good life."
... why? I don't know how it works, but it is going to disrupt all laws and orders....
... she permits....
He shook his head. "What happened?"
"Everyone hates my very existence, got hurt as a result. Lost count how many times. They are the ones who are wrong." The other snorted, "Blah, nothing worth to talk."
Cloud went silence for a while. "Maybe... you really did something wrong? Just you didn't notice?"
"...Then, what does this place reminds you of?"
"My only comfort. Serenity. Hope. Contentment."
The white figure stared at him wordlessly. "I see. You are too much like me... but you are different. I can see the reasons, and I am satisfied now. I have lost.... I will leave you alone now. Someday, someday, we might meet again." The hooded figure turned around and began to walk away before offering a piece of advise. "Oh yeah, careful that woman, she's will do anything to accomplish her goals."
... what can he do...?
... all the same... all the same....
... she permits... we've no ground to protest....
... just watch....
The white figure slowly disappearing into the whiteness, leaving the blond standing in his own sanctuary. In the end, he still did not know who the stranger was, though he seemed familiar to him....
...Something jolted him back into consciousness. The first thing Cloud realized was he was very, very tired, worn out beyond description and he did not know why he was feeling so. He could not even have his mind to stay focus; all he knew was confusion and chaos were everywhere. The scene was awfully familiar and as if he always had been in such situations.
Not wanting to know where he was, how he was here, he continued to lay here and hoped that the noisy surroundings would eventually go away. Maybe he could just go back to sleep... and maybe things would be clearer after he woke up. Everything could be deal later.
He sighed softly and closed his eyes, willing the darkness to take him again....
...And it did not get any longer when he was forced to wake up from a warm touch on his face. Someone's hand.
//...Wake up....//
It took almost of all his strength to just open his eyes and stayed awake all the time. Cloud scowled and wondered why did this person keep preventing him from sleeping.
//No time to sleep, child.//
"...too tired...." Cloud murmured sleepily.
//Don't sleep....//
Sounded like Tifa. "Tifa, go away...."
That voice chuckled. //Must be a universal trait you both inherited.// Then, in a serious tone, //I know it's unfair to wake you up now and leave the burden to you. The Link was expected to strain you this much, physically and mentally, and usually I would advise you rest now. But... I can't protected you anymore... it's the best I can give, Cloud. That person... knew... knew you are here. Knew who are you. She's coming for you. She is doing everything she can to stop me from protecting you and to get you. Cloud... Cloud....
//Don't let her get you. There is more awaits you... so much more....//
Alright. This was no Tifa, nor Priscilla. The said blond struggled for a while just to get himself up, briefly wondered what had he done to make himself this tired or to deserve to be rudely aroused. It felt as if he was struggling against the effects of sleeping pills. The daze in his head continued to linger, and it did not happen it would leave any time sooner. The temptation to collapse and go back to sleep was there again. It was all in his righteous and the desperate tone in that voice to prevent him from returning his dreamland. Even when he finally stood up, he still could not shrug off the drowsiness.
//So much I've been wanting to tell you.... I wish I could have more time.//
There was... nothing here. If he was in the right mind, he would have been aware of the voice speaking to him wasn't much of a person and he was practically suspending in the midair. He could see himself in the middle of nowhere, and darkness surrounded him as if threatening to overwhelm him. One would wonder at their insanity.
Somehow, he felt a familiar rage boiling in him gradually. He knew it was 'one of the moods' that Tifa always complaining about, but knew she couldn't do anything about it. A part of him had to laugh, as determined a woman she was, she had long given up trying to have him kicked off this habit and that she would not risk another of her Final Heaven, ever since the previous shop was literally falling apart... no thanks to his summoning of the God of Lightning, Ramuh. Like he had said before, he wasn't much a morning person.
While in the midst of building up his anger, he did not notice the flickers to his surroundings. It would look as if the place he was in was running out of energy. The darkness wavered, finally giving in and started melting away, like ice melting upon heat. A hint of glowing sea green began to reveal his current location, but he cared less. Distorted noises began to invade the silence here, and vaguely he knew there was not one, but many, many presences.
//I am really sorry... so sorry... but, SHE's here.//
The dark shield busted, dissolving like a bubble, and Cloud was immediately plunged into a world of brightness and light. He grimaced, taking some moments for his eyes to adjust to the light, and when he decided it was fine, he was greeted by chaos. Among the commotion, deep down inside, he sensed a few familiar presences... heading his direction. Whether was his foe or friend, he knew they were coming for him.
** ***** **
"Damn it!"
"I knew this place was a bad idea!" Cid cursed, "Of all places, why the fuck are these monsters trying to reach the Ancient City?! Oh, and not to mention, our general said it's ONLY a hundred of them!" He yelled as he swung his huge spear around, successfully killing off several of those hideous monsters. However, only to realize, there were a LOT more coming for him.
Yuffie rolled her eyes, while bringing nine of their enemies down. "Don't tell me ya finally catching up your age?"
"Brat, this is not about my age. It's 'bout the two of us versus a number fifty times of us! And they are still multiplying."
They did not know what happened, or what had attracted so many monsters all of a sudden. One moment, they were happily walking back to the bone village, then another these cursed creatures popped out of nowhere and started screaming for blood. Whatever business they had here, it was definitely no good news. Besides, they were blocking their only exit.
Whoever had ordered them, the shell house... or the Forgotten Capital, was their main purpose. And like hell they were going to let them pass and disturbed the Cetra's only sanctuary.
Yuffie gripped her weapon tightly and slashed her opponents, ignoring the exhaustion that was gradually building up in her. "You don't supposed there's something in the city they wanted?"
"Oh yeah? Like what?!" Cid cursed out of his clenched teeth, barely dodging away from a fatal attack. He staggered on his feet, pausing for a short moment before leashing out his most powerful fire magic. The slimy monsters let out a long screech before dissolving like metal in acid. The blond made a face with disgust at the remaining liquid. "The shell houses for historical souvenirs? There's nothing in the city for them to take!"
"Hey! I was just trying to suggest something! What else would her monsters be crawling their way here?! You tell me, old man!"
"Ya askin' the wrong guy, ain't the smartest person in the group!" He paused, "Then again, I'm at least better than ya!"
"What was that supposed to mean?!" Despite the harsh conditions facing so many monsters, Yuffie effortlessly threw her Conformer there and back in the swamp of monsters, and still had a moment to turn and glare at the pilot. "You think you're better? My count is twenty-seven!"
Cid grinned as he brought down three monsters just after as Yuffie claimed. "And that would be thirty!"
"Ugh!!"
"Give up?!"
"Never!"
Cid shrugged at the girl's persistence, minding his attention back to his enemies. It had already been an hour, and the monsters weren't cutting down as much as it had to be. Too long. He hated to admit, but their exhaustion was beginning to show, it was more for them to handle. And why was the reinforcement not here yet?!
A yelp snapped his concentration and turned to Yuffie with alarm. Somehow, her feet had given way and landed her in a very dangerous position. Yuffie had no time to recover from her fall, watched in horror as one... no, two monsters took the opportunity and jumped on her, ready to tear the girl apart into sheds.
"Damnit! Brat, get out of the way!" Cid cursed, slashing his way to his companion, but their enemies were preventing him from reaching the Wutai teenager. Panic and helpless began to rise in him.
Two loud gun shots were heard from far and before they knew it, the two creatures dropped to the ground dully. Both directly hit on the chest. The next wave of monsters continued the attack on Yuffie, but it was more than enough time for her to get to her feet and faced the next monsters. Eventually, more gunshots were heard and more monsters collapsed, forcing the swamp of the monsters to fall back significantly.
"Finally!" Yuffie groaned. "What the hell took you guys so long?! We almost got our ass killed!"
As three of their friends came from their left path, and rushing into the battle without hesitation, Barret's face twisted with annoyance at her sentence. "Ugh, shut up. It's not as if yar the only ones in trouble! Over that side, we're almost trapped in a landslide."
"Landslide?! At least it's better to be pounded and eaten by these beasts, and besides, you guys are safe!"
Vincent, as usual, his shots were not as random as Barret, killing his enemies accurately and deadly. With their new help, things were slightly better than before. RedXIII renewed their defenses with a magic barrier of Wall, and started healing the two. "Are you two all right?"
"Couldn't been better if you guys are not here. Really in trouble without you guys, this," she jerked her thumb at their situation, "is getting out of our hands. Four hands, to be exact."
RedXIII nodded. "We came as soon as possible, but apparently the sudden appearance of enemies made the soil gave way. We managed to escape unscathed, but there are some villagers aren't that fortunate."
"Oh, crap."
Vincent frowned, as he blew a head away and murmured, "This is no good, they keep coming." Even with his abnormal enhanced senses, he could not see where had all these monsters coming from, it just seemed that the monsters kept swarming into the city from that far random point, as if that point was the one that produced the monsters. They killed, they regenerated. Real bitchy.
Cid panted, "Where's the rest?"
"On the way... they were at Midgar before we lost contact."
"Shit."
"Oh yeah, you bet. Find anything here?"
"Nothing."
Barret reloaded his bullets and blew a couple of monsters' heads in time. He growled, "Can ya quit chit chatting over there and finish this stupid business already?!
The red beast shook its head and bristled himself for the battle, not before the blond pilot joined in.
** ***** **
"Found them."
A dark figure looked up at the statement, nodded at his other two companions. "Head towards that destination."
"Yes, sir!"
The second figure mused. "This is the first time, eh. Those EX gang are usually faster than us, and their resources are damn too good."
"I hope the guys are alright...." The third person whispered.
"Nay, you worry too much!"
The third person glanced at the other, nodded hesitantly.
"But," the first person muttered. "I'm more worried about her creatures venturing out into the Ancient City. Think about it, nothing useful is left for her to take. What else she wants with the city?"
The second figure sighed and shook his head. "Worry that later, both of you. Settle the enemies, help our friends, then crack our brains together about her purpose."
** ***** **
The red beast distastefully shook the slimy gore from his mane. He roared as he released his Cosmo Memory, killing the last of them. After fighting for some time, the monsters had managed to push the gang up the stair where the shell house's entrance laid ahead. The monsters seemed to be only interested in entering the hidden palace, and trapped in the tight confines, their offensive options were limited. At the same time, the monsters weren't that scattered as they gathered at the stairs, and it was much easier to destroy the large group.
Catching his breath, RedXIII noted the rest of his friends was faring the same, other than a couple of cuts and scratched which could be easily cured with their magic. He looked around the ground. Her creatures, even dead were as annoying and disgusting as they were alive, their smelly substances remained everywhere. Was their blood or their remains, he didn't really want to know. The dirty stuffs had merely destroying the serene and pure image of the extinct races' culture.
Everyone rested on the top of the steps, calming their breaths. Yuffie spoke after a few breaths, "Man! I thought that was going to take forever." She sniffed, "Ew... I'm definitely taking a bath."
"Not only you...." muttered Cid, while pulling out a cigarette.
Unlike his friends, Vincent was the only one who did not look like he had been running for a mile, and even if he did feel worn out from the fight, he chose not to show it. He took the moment to glance around the surrounding, quietly noted to his friends, "At least, this place is still unharmed."
RedXIII nodded. "Think there's something inside?"
Cid shook his head. "Nah, me and brat checked every corner. Nothing out of the ordinary."
"Quit callin' me 'brat', old man!"
"Perhaps something happened after you guys left?" RedXIII wondered, ignoring their usual bickering.
Vincent nodded. "Probably." The dark man straightened, sliding his gun into the holster, and headed for the shell house quietly. The rest gradually followed. However, they did not make to the house much before the ground started to rumble.
Everyone was startled for a moment but recovered their postures quickly, hands ready for any combat, searching about their surroundings for any danger. Eventually, they found the source; thousand of bubbles were simmering in the middle of the lake, as if something was emerging out of the water. They cursed under their breath when they didn't have to wait long to confirm.
As the ground ceased its shakings, a very, very huge orb of light slowly rose above the lake, giving the surrounding forest and the disturbed waters an eerie glow on them. If anything, the shell house looked as if someone had painted stars on it, making the shell house shimmered with many brilliant colors and stood out the most. Greenish thin tendrils licking out from the glowing sphere but never quite touched them. Unsure, the group took a step back, sensing the sphere's aura spreading through them even they had stood a good distance from it.
"...What in the hell is that?!"
RedXIII shot a split-second glance over to his left, where the voice came from, and then went back to staring at the impossible thing. He could feel the energy radiating from it, like sunlight beginning to warm his fur, and it was just hanging there. "Whatever it is, it is definitely not a good sign," the red beast growled. Strangely enough, part of him found that energy surprisingly comfortable.
Cid cursed for the umpteen times and watched intently as the orb slowly losing its glow, or losing its beauty (in an ominous sense), he discovered the orb looked like a water sphere. In the center of it, he swore it was a human figure, cuddling about him/her. Like RedXIII had said, this was definitely NOT a good sign.
Abruptly, the water sphere burst like a bubble and unexpectedly, they heard a very unfamiliar yelp.
"--What the?!"
Whoever the figure was, he (obviously from the voice) collapsed with a loud splash into the lake below. The situation might be very amusing, or even funny, if they did not know whom he was when the figure spurted out of water to breathe. Their faces immediately wore a sense of dread and horror to see him struggled his way to the shore, coughing and cursing.
"Shit! Do they... she... or he, whoever, really have to go that far?! I know I ain't the nicest person in the world in the mornings, but... throwing me into friggin' cold lake?! Grr...!! If I ever get to see whoever that was...." Cloud Strife had looked... ridiculously drenched when he stepped onto the dry grounds. The blond wiped his wet bangs out of his... glowing eyes, annoyed, and finally noticed the gang in front. "Great... do you guys have fun watching me soaked inside out?"
( ...WHAT?! )
To simply say they were surprised was an understatement! Not only they had just discovered their greatest enemy had revived, they did not know their enemy was capable of displaying emotions. Their once-insane enemy had looked annoyed and was being sarcastic, if they had knew any better, they could have swore Cloud Strife had acted as if they had been friends instead of enemies.
Cloud straightened, drawing his strong build up. That five-inches huge, glowing sword snapped behind his back wasn't doing the group any better. Even soaked and seemingly weak, no one dared to make the first move or throw themselves into recklessness. And since when, Cloud Strife had been using huge swords?!
"What?" Cloud frowned at the gulping group, still slightly annoyed. "What's wrong?"
( You are asking us 'what's wrong'?! )
"Y-you... you!!" Barret stuttered slightly, then he took another deep breath and tried again. This time, he dared to raise his weapon against the blond. "Quit fuckin' with our minds with your tricks! If killin' yer one time not enough, I'll make sure this time yer are more deader than dead!"
Cloud's look of confusion increased at Barret's outburst, before a blank look dominated his expression. His glowing mako eyes flickered over their surroundings, instantly recognizing the place as the Forgotten Capital of the Ancients, and paying particular attention to the lake behind him.
"This is... where Aeris...." he whispered, more to himself. "But why am I doing here...?"
( What happened? )
While the gang was debating with themselves to flee or to fight, they unfortunately did not notice the remains of the monsters in their previous fierce battle, which was supposed to be very dead, suddenly twitched to life. None of them had noticed; they were too preoccupied with their confrontation with newly revived Cloud Strife. All, except the blond, who was facing them, saw it.
Instinct kicked in, Cloud immediately drew into his offensive position with his Ultima Weapon. "Watch out! Behind!"
Much to his disbelief, his friends did not react to his warnings, but to his weapon instead. They did not see every patch of the dark liquid started to move, and when it met with another, they merged... at an incredible, abnormal speed. Within seconds, the liquid grew larger and larger, rising to a great height that it nearly blocked the sunlight. Cloud did not know what the hell this thing was, and judging from the ground he had first saw, he thought it was the remains of the dead from a fight (one helluva of fight, he noted)... but this thing, or whatever it was, had to be hundreds, hundreds of them.
There was no time for his friends to react even if they were aware, and whatever wrong was with his friends, he couldn't be laying around and do nothing. Reaching for his inner energy, he wasted no time to cast the most powerful barrier, Wall, to everyone and then released the bitterest cold summoning, hoping Shiva would freeze the filthy liquid to the hardest and shatter to bits.
However, his red materia did not respond to his command immediately as it should... something else happened. Right where he was standing, reddish lines flared to life on the ground, encircling him in a strange emblem, and ancient writings burnt in between the burning lines for a moment before fading away to nothing. The glowing lines then began to spread outward away from Cloud like streams, but he knew Shiva had been summoned, for the red materia on his weapon was glowing brightly and the lines gradually diminished into the ground.
However, other than that, the procedure was the same. He shook his head softly, he did not have the time to wonder about it and at least the weird occurrences did not hinder the usual summoning time. He looked at the enemy. At first, it seemed to be working, Shiva's Diamond Dust froze a hell over the liquid and all left was a big chuck of ice. However, the next moment (and a very damn short time), the ice cracked, and was all the warning he had before the entire dark liquid burst out of the ice, heading for him.
He cursed darkly; at least his friends were out of the way and he had the monster's attention, unfortunately. He embraced himself and casting another magic. Or... at least, he had tried to. He hadn't started calling the magic, a wave of fatigue from nowhere hit him like he had never felt before. Cloud gasped.
His vision blackened for a while, and the next thing he knew he had dropped to his knees, barely supporting himself up. His blue eyes were clouded; breaths were heavy as he struggled to get hold of himself.
//You are not supposed to be awake... too much for your body to take.//
It was too late to dodge; the merciless liquid enemy came crushing down on him like a tsunami. After all, the enemy's sole purpose was Cloud Strife. The gang watched in dismay as the liquid swallowed the blond easily. The first terrifying thought came to their mind was, her creatures were merging with him.
"Shit, shit!" Cid made a sick face, slowly backing away from the disgusting monster. "This ain't good! No way, we're fightin' this freak now! It took a hell outta us that last time in Northern Crater, and that time everyone was present."
"Grr... need yer to remind us?" Barret growled.
Yuffie chewed her lower lips nervously, eyes flicked here and there. "What are we going to do? Cloud Strife is back. We're bound to fight with him again!"
RedXIII narrowed his eyes. "We can still hold off for a while, if the merging successful, he might not have drawn to his fullest strength... but if the fight prolongs...." However, something was... off. He was Cloud Strife, at the same time, he was not. It had been bothering him for a while since the revival. The red beast found it hard to put this indifference to words... it was as if two identical cakes with two different taste (though it still didn't sound right).
In addition, he did not know it was a good or a bad sign... things were so confusing.
Just when they feared the worse, the dark liquid paused, and then started shuddered violently, increasingly intense as if the monster would explode at anytime. The gang looked at it with much disgust, not at what it might do, or rather at the state this dirty liquid currently was as it shivered, spiked, wobbled with constantly changing shades of colors.
"Things are getting worse, very." Vincent said, gripping his Death Penalty tighter. Then, he tilted his head a little to his left. "...Highwind is here."
** ***** **
His consciousness was fading in and out. Somewhere in his mind, he knew what to do, had to do, and if there was one thing he knew more than anything, it was the skill that buried deep within him. The skill that no one possessed but him. The skill with many strokes of heavy damages that promised victory. The skill that he used on....
// HE's here. //
No matter how different, how confusing things might be, he would always know. It was in his blood, in his soul. Those icy green eyes, no one had knew better than he was, was looking at him.
Didn't matter if they seemed to hold joy, because given any circumstances, they were bonded on many levels.
[FLASH]
It was not solitude. It was not cold. He felt rather peaceful and warmth.
That quiet voice again. "This scenery... snow field. Unstrained, pure... the sky is not as gray as you think. It is always blue, be it day or night. Surrounded with no one, wrapped in heaven's arms, it was always watching with such quietness. Always... quietly. As if time does not care to exist here... and snow will always fall quietly."
"Do you find it sad?" Cloud closed his eyes. "I thought it was gentle."
/ You are the Gift of Gift itself. /
[FLASH]
** ***** **
He could feel Him. It might have felt different, but all were the same.
He had little time to wonder why it would have feel different, for as soon as his feet touched the ancient ground he saw the foul aura pouring out from the upper grounds, where the lone shell house stood. Therefore, he was not surprised when the ground shuddered and closely followed by an obnoxious screeching. What he had not expected when he went to his friends was the endless strikes of the Onmislash.
The skills were so much faster, so much powerful than he originally knew and familiarized. Every slash and stroke hit with deadly accuracy and the way He handled effortlessly, implanted deeply into his mind. It had to be the art of destruction. The poor monster did not even know what had hit it, and before anyone knew it, He ended with his final hit.
The monster, now a pitiful state, let out its' last cry before solidified and breaking apart like dust, and gone with the wind. What left when the haze cleared out was a group of weary and disoriented friends, but fortunately not badly injured as far as his eyes could see... and most importantly, that One enemy in front of him.
His racing mind had little to notice how exhausted Cloud Strife seemed to be when he landed on the ground, and had to lean against the broad sword that stabbed into the ground for support. Time seemed eternal as he watched the blond's head bended against his sword tiredly, and unexpectedly the head lifted and looked straight at him. He was surprised by what he saw, a cloudy blue-mako eyes greeted him. Glowing mako eyes.
"...Sephiroth...."
He heard his name called, he heard a voice he had not heard for so long and longed for it since that day. He was afraid. Then he feared pain, he dared not speak any further and dumbly watched his old enemy. He would have cried in relief when the blond's eyes closed, but he was also horrified when his betrayal body moved forward and caught the unconscious Cloud into his arms.
Again, a warmth he had missed, and he decided to throw all cautious into the wind.
END.Chapter02
To Be Continued_
Disclaimers: Final Fantasy 7 characters are the property of and copyrighted by their respective creator, Square-Enix, distributors, and legally associated parties. This fiction is used without permission for the purpose of entertainment only and is not meant for sale or profit. All original characters are the creation of the author.
Warnings: AU (I think...), violence, language, YAOI.
Summary: S/C. A year later, with Jenova and Sephiroth returning once again, a new type of WEAPONs has began terrorizing the world, familiar faces bringing uncertainty and suspicious. As Cloud struggles for truth, what reality he once had is now far away from his reach.
Notes:
/ .... / or // .... // = someone's dialogue
( .... ) = Character's thoughts
Italics = Flashbacks/other miscellaneous dialogue
ALTER QUIES
Chapter 02: opening all things... (Re-Written)
Someone dark and sinister knew and hated. She sneered and screamed, throwing fits of her power and rage. Everything had went accordingly to plan, in fact the results had been quite promising, but THAT was unexpected! Who would know her weak prisoner had decided to fight back and turn the tables around like that? Who had knew she still had such back-up plan in her mind?
After all, the profound mysteries and the Orders of the Universes were not one to unravel and understand easily.
She growled before calming herself down. The outcome was still undecided: her enemy had not completely won the battle, and victory goddess was still facing her. She, nevertheless, had her advantages. She knew the truth while her enemies were, however, in the dark.
Besides... her army was waiting for her commands. She did not think she would be using the troops against those weaklings, but it seemed she would have to now. Most likely, the new guest would join the oppositions....
"Well..." she sat down and revealed an evil smile. "I can always get our new guest before they get him.... The promised revenge will come, and I will not allow anyone, anybody to stop me."
** ***** **
In the beginning, there was nothing. Completely nothing; not even light or dark, not even time or space. Then, Existence called. A flash of light from an unknown source split his vision and exploded, eventually millions of smaller explosions began to blow from within at an incredible rate of speed. As if these now-active existences had been denial for so long that it had overloaded with freedom, overwhelmed with another form of eternity and that they became the everything. Definition was born.
He watched the soundless universe grew, slowly fulfilling the emptiness and coming to life. If he were to observe closer, he could see layers of mirror upon layers of mirror, stretching deep below him and hanging high above all, creating an illusionary extension of the Universe. There was no different if he had looked up or down, it would look the same. They were mirrors after all, and it made the Universe looked endless.
As he stood on this particular mirror, he began to dream. Dreams were known to be strange, and this time it was no different. It just that, his dreams were way beyond his comprehension; these dreams could be fresh in his mind as time passed and he would still find no words to describe. They neither were good dreams, nor were bad ones. They looked rather like flashes of memories... no, not his... someone's memories.
For a pause of moment, he wondered... how could one dreams of someone's memories?
Long had he given up figuring what his dreams meant; they were too much for him to understand, too fast for him to grasp. His dreams were like ocean; after seeing so much, he realized he had only covered not even half of the ocean's surface, underneath to its deepest depths it would only get bigger and bigger. When he thought he had the waters, they slipped away without him knowing.
After a long time, the dreams changed, and slowly he finally started to understand what some of them meant. However, with that, he also realized something had gone wrong. The dreams were becoming increasingly intense and violent. It looked as if the dreams were infected with some sort of virus; they kept distorting with dark spots and voices, and overlapping with other dreams while occasionally, they skewed wildly and sped everything even faster.
As the excitement continued, he could gasp several--
--Someone dear to him was dead. His heart was weeping as he felt it crushing down completely to the fact he was the one that held the weapon. It was his own responsibility to do so; it was everyone's hope to do so; it was HIS wish to see everything put to an end in his own hands.
There seemed to be a different sort of aura around that new solider. It was not about excitement or nervousness; he could sense a great deal of blazing flame burning on that bitter ice. He was loud, confident, one to be the first to be ready, yet at the same time he was also reserved and cold. In any sense, he was similar to him as well as different to him. He gave another glance before walking out of the ballroom, deciding he would keep an extra eye on that recruit once the training commenced.
/ ...You really... to... this? /
// Ye... //
/ Fine. If things... wrong, don't expect me... come... 'rescue' you. You know... period... most important moment... us... so don't you dare to.... /
// ...will... out fine; trust me. //
/ You and... stupidity. /
He blinked. He couldn't believe what the papers had written! He had made it! The results came out to be more satisfactory than he thought he would be, and there it stated that the next screening would be the coming month. His surroundings immediately went ignored as he rushed out of the place to a particular dormitory where people he really cared about were there. Once he was there, his excitement of announcing the good news had made him missed an extra presence in the room, a presence of long brown hair and warmth greenish eyes.
/ Don't die before me, you hear? /
// See you after the Test. //
She knew what had hit her, but she never knew it would be... so painful. Was this death? Vaguely in her mind, the planet knowledge her prayers, the last hope for mankind was shinning. As she saw the last of her consciousness slowly slipping away, a tiny part of her felt sad. It meant she would miss her mother very much, she would not be able to be with her friends again, she would not be able to tell him how she felt about him. However, at least... she knew everyone would be safe....
He growled angrily at his captor and himself. He never thought one small rebellious act would result in what he was in now. If he had listened, if he had paid more attention his surroundings, all these would never happened to him. He knew he was wrong, he was young and inexperienced, but all he really wanted was to help his people. No... he shouldn't be slumping over such failure. He was the son of the Great Seto, he didn't have the time to be pathetic! There were still a lot opportunities to escape, patience was all he needed now and timing was essential, until then, he would wait.
/ You failed. /
"...Where are you going?"
"You are hiding something... what is it? I'm not letting you go until you tell me what's going on--"
The great greenish energy ball gathered at the core of the destruction, starting to counter back for her preservation and survival. Once both Death and Hope collided against each other, a blinding flash of light exploded and--
--Everything stopped. He looked around slowly and wondered. Gradually his dreams started to fade away, blending into the darkness until all it left was his own self, standing in the middle of nowhere. The next moment he realized, he was also fading away like sand into the wind. He stared at his hands, watching with mild interest, as they broke apart into smaller pieces and continued into much smaller pieces... until they were no smaller than an electron and vanished.
The dream was nothing more than a void before the Beginning....
...Something made him looked up. He saw a white-cloaked figure standing slightly behind him, half of the face was covered by the hood. The smile was amused, yet sad. He slowly stood up, surprised to find the stranger was almost the same height as him... but that was not important. He tilted his head curiously.
The white figure then asked, "You like to be here?"
Cloud looked around the place and nodded. He recognized the place from his memories, was one of his few favorite places to go, play... or hide. It was not far away from his hometown and near the beautiful white shore. He still remembered when he ran away from the cold treatments the villagers were showing and accidentally stumbled upon this sanctuary the first time. No one knew; that was why he called it 'his secret garden'. He used to sit here the whole day, watching the water glowing in an eerily glow under both the sun's glare and the pale moon's light, or looking above at the sky's constellations. Being in this place again, made he felt nostalgic.
"I hate it."
Cloud blinked. How could anyone hate this place? "Why?"
The white figure seemed to frown, "'Why'? It reminded me too much of myself being weak, isolated, and hated. Heh, I doubt you understand, you seem to have a good life."
He shook his head. "What happened?"
"Everyone hates my very existence, got hurt as a result. Lost count how many times. They are the ones who are wrong." The other snorted, "Blah, nothing worth to talk."
Cloud went silence for a while. "Maybe... you really did something wrong? Just you didn't notice?"
"...Then, what does this place reminds you of?"
"My only comfort. Serenity. Hope. Contentment."
The white figure stared at him wordlessly. "I see. You are too much like me... but you are different. I can see the reasons, and I am satisfied now. I have lost.... I will leave you alone now. Someday, someday, we might meet again." The hooded figure turned around and began to walk away before offering a piece of advise. "Oh yeah, careful that woman, she's will do anything to accomplish her goals."
The white figure slowly disappearing into the whiteness, leaving the blond standing in his own sanctuary. In the end, he still did not know who the stranger was, though he seemed familiar to him....
...Something jolted him back into consciousness. The first thing Cloud realized was he was very, very tired, worn out beyond description and he did not know why he was feeling so. He could not even have his mind to stay focus; all he knew was confusion and chaos were everywhere. The scene was awfully familiar and as if he always had been in such situations.
Not wanting to know where he was, how he was here, he continued to lay here and hoped that the noisy surroundings would eventually go away. Maybe he could just go back to sleep... and maybe things would be clearer after he woke up. Everything could be deal later.
He sighed softly and closed his eyes, willing the darkness to take him again....
...And it did not get any longer when he was forced to wake up from a warm touch on his face. Someone's hand.
//...Wake up....//
It took almost of all his strength to just open his eyes and stayed awake all the time. Cloud scowled and wondered why did this person keep preventing him from sleeping.
//No time to sleep, child.//
"...too tired...." Cloud murmured sleepily.
//Don't sleep....//
Sounded like Tifa. "Tifa, go away...."
That voice chuckled. //Must be a universal trait you both inherited.// Then, in a serious tone, //I know it's unfair to wake you up now and leave the burden to you. The Link was expected to strain you this much, physically and mentally, and usually I would advise you rest now. But... I can't protected you anymore... it's the best I can give, Cloud. That person... knew... knew you are here. Knew who are you. She's coming for you. She is doing everything she can to stop me from protecting you and to get you. Cloud... Cloud....
//Don't let her get you. There is more awaits you... so much more....//
Alright. This was no Tifa, nor Priscilla. The said blond struggled for a while just to get himself up, briefly wondered what had he done to make himself this tired or to deserve to be rudely aroused. It felt as if he was struggling against the effects of sleeping pills. The daze in his head continued to linger, and it did not happen it would leave any time sooner. The temptation to collapse and go back to sleep was there again. It was all in his righteous and the desperate tone in that voice to prevent him from returning his dreamland. Even when he finally stood up, he still could not shrug off the drowsiness.
//So much I've been wanting to tell you.... I wish I could have more time.//
There was... nothing here. If he was in the right mind, he would have been aware of the voice speaking to him wasn't much of a person and he was practically suspending in the midair. He could see himself in the middle of nowhere, and darkness surrounded him as if threatening to overwhelm him. One would wonder at their insanity.
Somehow, he felt a familiar rage boiling in him gradually. He knew it was 'one of the moods' that Tifa always complaining about, but knew she couldn't do anything about it. A part of him had to laugh, as determined a woman she was, she had long given up trying to have him kicked off this habit and that she would not risk another of her Final Heaven, ever since the previous shop was literally falling apart... no thanks to his summoning of the God of Lightning, Ramuh. Like he had said before, he wasn't much a morning person.
While in the midst of building up his anger, he did not notice the flickers to his surroundings. It would look as if the place he was in was running out of energy. The darkness wavered, finally giving in and started melting away, like ice melting upon heat. A hint of glowing sea green began to reveal his current location, but he cared less. Distorted noises began to invade the silence here, and vaguely he knew there was not one, but many, many presences.
//I am really sorry... so sorry... but, SHE's here.//
The dark shield busted, dissolving like a bubble, and Cloud was immediately plunged into a world of brightness and light. He grimaced, taking some moments for his eyes to adjust to the light, and when he decided it was fine, he was greeted by chaos. Among the commotion, deep down inside, he sensed a few familiar presences... heading his direction. Whether was his foe or friend, he knew they were coming for him.
** ***** **
"Damn it!"
"I knew this place was a bad idea!" Cid cursed, "Of all places, why the fuck are these monsters trying to reach the Ancient City?! Oh, and not to mention, our general said it's ONLY a hundred of them!" He yelled as he swung his huge spear around, successfully killing off several of those hideous monsters. However, only to realize, there were a LOT more coming for him.
Yuffie rolled her eyes, while bringing nine of their enemies down. "Don't tell me ya finally catching up your age?"
"Brat, this is not about my age. It's 'bout the two of us versus a number fifty times of us! And they are still multiplying."
They did not know what happened, or what had attracted so many monsters all of a sudden. One moment, they were happily walking back to the bone village, then another these cursed creatures popped out of nowhere and started screaming for blood. Whatever business they had here, it was definitely no good news. Besides, they were blocking their only exit.
Whoever had ordered them, the shell house... or the Forgotten Capital, was their main purpose. And like hell they were going to let them pass and disturbed the Cetra's only sanctuary.
Yuffie gripped her weapon tightly and slashed her opponents, ignoring the exhaustion that was gradually building up in her. "You don't supposed there's something in the city they wanted?"
"Oh yeah? Like what?!" Cid cursed out of his clenched teeth, barely dodging away from a fatal attack. He staggered on his feet, pausing for a short moment before leashing out his most powerful fire magic. The slimy monsters let out a long screech before dissolving like metal in acid. The blond made a face with disgust at the remaining liquid. "The shell houses for historical souvenirs? There's nothing in the city for them to take!"
"Hey! I was just trying to suggest something! What else would her monsters be crawling their way here?! You tell me, old man!"
"Ya askin' the wrong guy, ain't the smartest person in the group!" He paused, "Then again, I'm at least better than ya!"
"What was that supposed to mean?!" Despite the harsh conditions facing so many monsters, Yuffie effortlessly threw her Conformer there and back in the swamp of monsters, and still had a moment to turn and glare at the pilot. "You think you're better? My count is twenty-seven!"
Cid grinned as he brought down three monsters just after as Yuffie claimed. "And that would be thirty!"
"Ugh!!"
"Give up?!"
"Never!"
Cid shrugged at the girl's persistence, minding his attention back to his enemies. It had already been an hour, and the monsters weren't cutting down as much as it had to be. Too long. He hated to admit, but their exhaustion was beginning to show, it was more for them to handle. And why was the reinforcement not here yet?!
A yelp snapped his concentration and turned to Yuffie with alarm. Somehow, her feet had given way and landed her in a very dangerous position. Yuffie had no time to recover from her fall, watched in horror as one... no, two monsters took the opportunity and jumped on her, ready to tear the girl apart into sheds.
"Damnit! Brat, get out of the way!" Cid cursed, slashing his way to his companion, but their enemies were preventing him from reaching the Wutai teenager. Panic and helpless began to rise in him.
Two loud gun shots were heard from far and before they knew it, the two creatures dropped to the ground dully. Both directly hit on the chest. The next wave of monsters continued the attack on Yuffie, but it was more than enough time for her to get to her feet and faced the next monsters. Eventually, more gunshots were heard and more monsters collapsed, forcing the swamp of the monsters to fall back significantly.
"Finally!" Yuffie groaned. "What the hell took you guys so long?! We almost got our ass killed!"
As three of their friends came from their left path, and rushing into the battle without hesitation, Barret's face twisted with annoyance at her sentence. "Ugh, shut up. It's not as if yar the only ones in trouble! Over that side, we're almost trapped in a landslide."
"Landslide?! At least it's better to be pounded and eaten by these beasts, and besides, you guys are safe!"
Vincent, as usual, his shots were not as random as Barret, killing his enemies accurately and deadly. With their new help, things were slightly better than before. RedXIII renewed their defenses with a magic barrier of Wall, and started healing the two. "Are you two all right?"
"Couldn't been better if you guys are not here. Really in trouble without you guys, this," she jerked her thumb at their situation, "is getting out of our hands. Four hands, to be exact."
RedXIII nodded. "We came as soon as possible, but apparently the sudden appearance of enemies made the soil gave way. We managed to escape unscathed, but there are some villagers aren't that fortunate."
"Oh, crap."
Vincent frowned, as he blew a head away and murmured, "This is no good, they keep coming." Even with his abnormal enhanced senses, he could not see where had all these monsters coming from, it just seemed that the monsters kept swarming into the city from that far random point, as if that point was the one that produced the monsters. They killed, they regenerated. Real bitchy.
Cid panted, "Where's the rest?"
"On the way... they were at Midgar before we lost contact."
"Shit."
"Oh yeah, you bet. Find anything here?"
"Nothing."
Barret reloaded his bullets and blew a couple of monsters' heads in time. He growled, "Can ya quit chit chatting over there and finish this stupid business already?!
The red beast shook its head and bristled himself for the battle, not before the blond pilot joined in.
** ***** **
"Found them."
A dark figure looked up at the statement, nodded at his other two companions. "Head towards that destination."
"Yes, sir!"
The second figure mused. "This is the first time, eh. Those EX gang are usually faster than us, and their resources are damn too good."
"I hope the guys are alright...." The third person whispered.
"Nay, you worry too much!"
The third person glanced at the other, nodded hesitantly.
"But," the first person muttered. "I'm more worried about her creatures venturing out into the Ancient City. Think about it, nothing useful is left for her to take. What else she wants with the city?"
The second figure sighed and shook his head. "Worry that later, both of you. Settle the enemies, help our friends, then crack our brains together about her purpose."
** ***** **
The red beast distastefully shook the slimy gore from his mane. He roared as he released his Cosmo Memory, killing the last of them. After fighting for some time, the monsters had managed to push the gang up the stair where the shell house's entrance laid ahead. The monsters seemed to be only interested in entering the hidden palace, and trapped in the tight confines, their offensive options were limited. At the same time, the monsters weren't that scattered as they gathered at the stairs, and it was much easier to destroy the large group.
Catching his breath, RedXIII noted the rest of his friends was faring the same, other than a couple of cuts and scratched which could be easily cured with their magic. He looked around the ground. Her creatures, even dead were as annoying and disgusting as they were alive, their smelly substances remained everywhere. Was their blood or their remains, he didn't really want to know. The dirty stuffs had merely destroying the serene and pure image of the extinct races' culture.
Everyone rested on the top of the steps, calming their breaths. Yuffie spoke after a few breaths, "Man! I thought that was going to take forever." She sniffed, "Ew... I'm definitely taking a bath."
"Not only you...." muttered Cid, while pulling out a cigarette.
Unlike his friends, Vincent was the only one who did not look like he had been running for a mile, and even if he did feel worn out from the fight, he chose not to show it. He took the moment to glance around the surrounding, quietly noted to his friends, "At least, this place is still unharmed."
RedXIII nodded. "Think there's something inside?"
Cid shook his head. "Nah, me and brat checked every corner. Nothing out of the ordinary."
"Quit callin' me 'brat', old man!"
"Perhaps something happened after you guys left?" RedXIII wondered, ignoring their usual bickering.
Vincent nodded. "Probably." The dark man straightened, sliding his gun into the holster, and headed for the shell house quietly. The rest gradually followed. However, they did not make to the house much before the ground started to rumble.
Everyone was startled for a moment but recovered their postures quickly, hands ready for any combat, searching about their surroundings for any danger. Eventually, they found the source; thousand of bubbles were simmering in the middle of the lake, as if something was emerging out of the water. They cursed under their breath when they didn't have to wait long to confirm.
As the ground ceased its shakings, a very, very huge orb of light slowly rose above the lake, giving the surrounding forest and the disturbed waters an eerie glow on them. If anything, the shell house looked as if someone had painted stars on it, making the shell house shimmered with many brilliant colors and stood out the most. Greenish thin tendrils licking out from the glowing sphere but never quite touched them. Unsure, the group took a step back, sensing the sphere's aura spreading through them even they had stood a good distance from it.
"...What in the hell is that?!"
RedXIII shot a split-second glance over to his left, where the voice came from, and then went back to staring at the impossible thing. He could feel the energy radiating from it, like sunlight beginning to warm his fur, and it was just hanging there. "Whatever it is, it is definitely not a good sign," the red beast growled. Strangely enough, part of him found that energy surprisingly comfortable.
Cid cursed for the umpteen times and watched intently as the orb slowly losing its glow, or losing its beauty (in an ominous sense), he discovered the orb looked like a water sphere. In the center of it, he swore it was a human figure, cuddling about him/her. Like RedXIII had said, this was definitely NOT a good sign.
Abruptly, the water sphere burst like a bubble and unexpectedly, they heard a very unfamiliar yelp.
"--What the?!"
Whoever the figure was, he (obviously from the voice) collapsed with a loud splash into the lake below. The situation might be very amusing, or even funny, if they did not know whom he was when the figure spurted out of water to breathe. Their faces immediately wore a sense of dread and horror to see him struggled his way to the shore, coughing and cursing.
"Shit! Do they... she... or he, whoever, really have to go that far?! I know I ain't the nicest person in the world in the mornings, but... throwing me into friggin' cold lake?! Grr...!! If I ever get to see whoever that was...." Cloud Strife had looked... ridiculously drenched when he stepped onto the dry grounds. The blond wiped his wet bangs out of his... glowing eyes, annoyed, and finally noticed the gang in front. "Great... do you guys have fun watching me soaked inside out?"
( ...WHAT?! )
To simply say they were surprised was an understatement! Not only they had just discovered their greatest enemy had revived, they did not know their enemy was capable of displaying emotions. Their once-insane enemy had looked annoyed and was being sarcastic, if they had knew any better, they could have swore Cloud Strife had acted as if they had been friends instead of enemies.
Cloud straightened, drawing his strong build up. That five-inches huge, glowing sword snapped behind his back wasn't doing the group any better. Even soaked and seemingly weak, no one dared to make the first move or throw themselves into recklessness. And since when, Cloud Strife had been using huge swords?!
"What?" Cloud frowned at the gulping group, still slightly annoyed. "What's wrong?"
( You are asking us 'what's wrong'?! )
"Y-you... you!!" Barret stuttered slightly, then he took another deep breath and tried again. This time, he dared to raise his weapon against the blond. "Quit fuckin' with our minds with your tricks! If killin' yer one time not enough, I'll make sure this time yer are more deader than dead!"
Cloud's look of confusion increased at Barret's outburst, before a blank look dominated his expression. His glowing mako eyes flickered over their surroundings, instantly recognizing the place as the Forgotten Capital of the Ancients, and paying particular attention to the lake behind him.
"This is... where Aeris...." he whispered, more to himself. "But why am I doing here...?"
( What happened? )
While the gang was debating with themselves to flee or to fight, they unfortunately did not notice the remains of the monsters in their previous fierce battle, which was supposed to be very dead, suddenly twitched to life. None of them had noticed; they were too preoccupied with their confrontation with newly revived Cloud Strife. All, except the blond, who was facing them, saw it.
Instinct kicked in, Cloud immediately drew into his offensive position with his Ultima Weapon. "Watch out! Behind!"
Much to his disbelief, his friends did not react to his warnings, but to his weapon instead. They did not see every patch of the dark liquid started to move, and when it met with another, they merged... at an incredible, abnormal speed. Within seconds, the liquid grew larger and larger, rising to a great height that it nearly blocked the sunlight. Cloud did not know what the hell this thing was, and judging from the ground he had first saw, he thought it was the remains of the dead from a fight (one helluva of fight, he noted)... but this thing, or whatever it was, had to be hundreds, hundreds of them.
There was no time for his friends to react even if they were aware, and whatever wrong was with his friends, he couldn't be laying around and do nothing. Reaching for his inner energy, he wasted no time to cast the most powerful barrier, Wall, to everyone and then released the bitterest cold summoning, hoping Shiva would freeze the filthy liquid to the hardest and shatter to bits.
However, his red materia did not respond to his command immediately as it should... something else happened. Right where he was standing, reddish lines flared to life on the ground, encircling him in a strange emblem, and ancient writings burnt in between the burning lines for a moment before fading away to nothing. The glowing lines then began to spread outward away from Cloud like streams, but he knew Shiva had been summoned, for the red materia on his weapon was glowing brightly and the lines gradually diminished into the ground.
However, other than that, the procedure was the same. He shook his head softly, he did not have the time to wonder about it and at least the weird occurrences did not hinder the usual summoning time. He looked at the enemy. At first, it seemed to be working, Shiva's Diamond Dust froze a hell over the liquid and all left was a big chuck of ice. However, the next moment (and a very damn short time), the ice cracked, and was all the warning he had before the entire dark liquid burst out of the ice, heading for him.
He cursed darkly; at least his friends were out of the way and he had the monster's attention, unfortunately. He embraced himself and casting another magic. Or... at least, he had tried to. He hadn't started calling the magic, a wave of fatigue from nowhere hit him like he had never felt before. Cloud gasped.
His vision blackened for a while, and the next thing he knew he had dropped to his knees, barely supporting himself up. His blue eyes were clouded; breaths were heavy as he struggled to get hold of himself.
//You are not supposed to be awake... too much for your body to take.//
It was too late to dodge; the merciless liquid enemy came crushing down on him like a tsunami. After all, the enemy's sole purpose was Cloud Strife. The gang watched in dismay as the liquid swallowed the blond easily. The first terrifying thought came to their mind was, her creatures were merging with him.
"Shit, shit!" Cid made a sick face, slowly backing away from the disgusting monster. "This ain't good! No way, we're fightin' this freak now! It took a hell outta us that last time in Northern Crater, and that time everyone was present."
"Grr... need yer to remind us?" Barret growled.
Yuffie chewed her lower lips nervously, eyes flicked here and there. "What are we going to do? Cloud Strife is back. We're bound to fight with him again!"
RedXIII narrowed his eyes. "We can still hold off for a while, if the merging successful, he might not have drawn to his fullest strength... but if the fight prolongs...." However, something was... off. He was Cloud Strife, at the same time, he was not. It had been bothering him for a while since the revival. The red beast found it hard to put this indifference to words... it was as if two identical cakes with two different taste (though it still didn't sound right).
In addition, he did not know it was a good or a bad sign... things were so confusing.
Just when they feared the worse, the dark liquid paused, and then started shuddered violently, increasingly intense as if the monster would explode at anytime. The gang looked at it with much disgust, not at what it might do, or rather at the state this dirty liquid currently was as it shivered, spiked, wobbled with constantly changing shades of colors.
"Things are getting worse, very." Vincent said, gripping his Death Penalty tighter. Then, he tilted his head a little to his left. "...Highwind is here."
** ***** **
His consciousness was fading in and out. Somewhere in his mind, he knew what to do, had to do, and if there was one thing he knew more than anything, it was the skill that buried deep within him. The skill that no one possessed but him. The skill with many strokes of heavy damages that promised victory. The skill that he used on....
// HE's here. //
No matter how different, how confusing things might be, he would always know. It was in his blood, in his soul. Those icy green eyes, no one had knew better than he was, was looking at him.
Didn't matter if they seemed to hold joy, because given any circumstances, they were bonded on many levels.
It was not solitude. It was not cold. He felt rather peaceful and warmth.
That quiet voice again. "This scenery... snow field. Unstrained, pure... the sky is not as gray as you think. It is always blue, be it day or night. Surrounded with no one, wrapped in heaven's arms, it was always watching with such quietness. Always... quietly. As if time does not care to exist here... and snow will always fall quietly."
"Do you find it sad?" Cloud closed his eyes. "I thought it was gentle."
[FLASH]
** ***** **
He could feel Him. It might have felt different, but all were the same.
He had little time to wonder why it would have feel different, for as soon as his feet touched the ancient ground he saw the foul aura pouring out from the upper grounds, where the lone shell house stood. Therefore, he was not surprised when the ground shuddered and closely followed by an obnoxious screeching. What he had not expected when he went to his friends was the endless strikes of the Onmislash.
The skills were so much faster, so much powerful than he originally knew and familiarized. Every slash and stroke hit with deadly accuracy and the way He handled effortlessly, implanted deeply into his mind. It had to be the art of destruction. The poor monster did not even know what had hit it, and before anyone knew it, He ended with his final hit.
The monster, now a pitiful state, let out its' last cry before solidified and breaking apart like dust, and gone with the wind. What left when the haze cleared out was a group of weary and disoriented friends, but fortunately not badly injured as far as his eyes could see... and most importantly, that One enemy in front of him.
His racing mind had little to notice how exhausted Cloud Strife seemed to be when he landed on the ground, and had to lean against the broad sword that stabbed into the ground for support. Time seemed eternal as he watched the blond's head bended against his sword tiredly, and unexpectedly the head lifted and looked straight at him. He was surprised by what he saw, a cloudy blue-mako eyes greeted him. Glowing mako eyes.
"...Sephiroth...."
He heard his name called, he heard a voice he had not heard for so long and longed for it since that day. He was afraid. Then he feared pain, he dared not speak any further and dumbly watched his old enemy. He would have cried in relief when the blond's eyes closed, but he was also horrified when his betrayal body moved forward and caught the unconscious Cloud into his arms.
Again, a warmth he had missed, and he decided to throw all cautious into the wind.
END.Chapter02
To Be Continued_