Chapter 23 : Darker History

It was a lot to accept, too much really. Should she tell him? Or take Gast's advice and leave him in the dark.

Aerith sat on the bed bringing her knees up to her chest, she placed the book to her side.

It was already growing dark outside, she'd spent all day in that lab. She hadn't even seen Cloud, which was the whole reason she'd left the ship.

'I should tell him. He has a right to know even if it hurts.' Aerith thought about it a little more. 'But is it too much? How would he react? Cloud's not exactly the most levelheaded guy when he's mad, what if he did something dangerous? Or worse..'

On the window a few soft taps drew Aerith's attention, slowly it began to fill up with dots of water. Standing up the brunette walked to the window, the blurry image outside was even more depressing.

"Why did he have to tell me?" She already knew the answer but that didn't make it any easier. 'Maybe I should tell Zack, he knows Cloud better than anyone, maybe he would know what to do.'

A fast knock at the door made Aerith jump.

"Hey Aerith," Yuffie's speedy voice came from the other side. "Food's on, I'd hurry up before the guys eat it all."

"Ok." She called back. Noticing that she hadn't eaten a thing all day she figured it would be best to at least eat something. Following the corridors through the ship Aerith let her mind run once more over her experiences today.

"Hey."

"......"

"Hey, you wake Aerith?"

Yuffie's loud voice filled her ears. Sleepily Aerith opened her eyes only to see the smiling ninja leaning over her. "Yuffie?"

"Yup, bout time you got up." She bounced up and down on the bed making Aerith feeling dizzy.

"What do you mean?" She sat up and looked around the room, only vaguely aware that she wasn't at the spa anymore but inside the ship.

Yuffie sat right next to her. "You've been asleep for two days."

Outside the sun was shining brightly through the window, a thick ray of light stretched along her room. Some how though Aerith knew this was a different place, that she wasn't on Wutai anymore. The colour of the sun was different, it was a little brighter, perhaps they had traveled to a planet closer to it. 'Wait...'

"Did you just say two days?"

"Uh-huh, you were out like a light." Yuffie grinned. "Cloud almost had a fit until I told him about the last time it happened."

"Last time?" It took a moment for Aerith's mind to find the memory. "My wings, I remember now." She though back to a fair few years ago, she and Yuffie had tried to sneak into the festival at the castle back home. The only problem was the guards caught them both and the only way to escape was over the small river that passed on one side of the castle. Been so young while using her wings, not to mention carrying Yuffie, Aerith had worn herself out and spent the next few days in a deep sleep. "I guess I over did it huh?"

"Yup, you missed out on picking the next planet."

"So we are some where new." The flower girl stood up off of the bed and walked up to the window. Outside was a huge stretch of grassland and on it were dotted easily a hundred tents or similar structures.

"This planet isn't listed on the map Cid got, but when we got here we found these people."

"They are the only residents of this planet?" Aerith watched the bustling crowd as they carried on with their daily routine.

"Nope, they just got here too." Yuffie smiled at her. "And you'll never guess where they are from."

The flower girl turned back to her. "Go on..."

"Everyone here is from our planet, well, from Midgar."

Aerith quickly turned back to the crowd. "These people are from Midgar?"

"Yup from what I've heard, after the huge wave everything went black, after that they just found themselves here. Even Shin-Ra and some of Soldier made it too."

"Soldier, then what about Cloud?"

"Oh, he's at the castle."

"Castle?" Aerith repeated.

Yuffie's eyes widened. "Oh, right you haven't seen it. See out side?"

She turned to the window.

"I think its to your right, its at the end of a cliff."

"I see it." Aerith pressed her face against the glass. "...creepy."

"No kidding. But that's where the important people are staying, Rufus himself is there." Yuffie squeezed up against her. "Just head straight through the tents and knock on the door. We're allowed in."

"We class as important people then?" Aerith couldn't help but smile a little. 'Strange feeling.'

"Yep, well cya later!" The ninja jumped back and headed for the door.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

Yuffie skidded to a halt. "To find Squall, he's still depressed about something, so it's my job to make him happy."

"Oh," Aerith forced a smile. "Lucky him."

"Yep, well cya later Aerith."

After she left Aerith decided on the first thing she wanted to do.

"Who is it?" The voice came from the other side of the huge wooden doors.

"Um my name is Aerith, Aerith Gainsborough."

"One second."

A few moments passed and Aerith was wondering if she had come to the right place. 'Then again its not like there's another huge stone castle in the area.' Soon enough a loud creaking could be heard and the two doors began to open.

As she entered a man in a fairly worn-out outfit met her, on his arm was a Soldier tattoo. "Miss Gainsborough?" His voice was strong and hard.

"Y-yes?" It was hard not to feel intimidated by the Soldiers size. He had a very large build, dark skin and short black hair along with a short beard. The thing that stood out most though was on his right arm, instead of a hand he had managed to attach some sort of machine gun.

"Good to finally meet ya!" He patted her on the back before putting his arm around her shoulder and leading her forwards. "Strife's been telling us all about you."

"He has?" Aerith walked along with him, a little thrown off his friendly personality.

"Well, Spike doesn't say much but most of the time it's been about you."

"All good I hope." She smiled shakily, just by looking she guessed he would be able to lift her up with a single arm easily.

"Yah don't ya worry," He grinned and stopped in the middle of the corridor. "By the way my names Barret."

"Oh, well nice to meet you Mr. Barret." She held her hand out and then quickly switched them realizing she'd be shaking hands with a gun. Surprisingly though Barret didn't squeeze her hand into dust, he was strangely gentle.

"No no no, none of that 'Mr.' stuff, just Barret will do." He opened a door to the side of them. "Ok, just head through this door and down the stairs. I have orders that professor Gast wants to meet you."

"Thank you, umm who is this professor Gast?"

Barret shrugged. "He's some big shot who specializes in these special people." He thought for a moment. "Oh yeah, the Ancients, that em."

"Really?" Aerith's voice was filled with curiosity. "Well, I hope to see you again some time."

"I'm sure we will." He waved before turning away.

As he walked away Aerith noticed something that had been hanging at the tip of her mind. The picture that Cloud had shown her, the one with himself as a young recruit with Sephiroth's team, Barret was one of those in the picture. 'Huh, I guess appearances are deceiving.'

"H-Hello?" Aerith walked through the doorway. Inside the room looked like it use to be a storage room, but since Shin-Ra had been here they seem to have turned it into a temporary laboratory. Books and half set up experiments littered the tables around the room and towards the back there seemed to be a few rows of bookshelves. "Is anyone here?"

Some rumbling around the back was the only sound. After a few moments a man in a long white coat carrying a fairly large stack of books walked around.

"Ah yes, I'm sorry to keep you waiting." He managed to get the first book on the large table in the middle of the room before the rest of the collapsed and spread all over.

Aerith quickly ran to him and helped to pick the books up. "Oh its no problem, are you professor Gast?" For the first time she was able to see his face. He had a thick white mustache and an old rugged face, he was easily in his fifties, perhaps a little older.

"Yes yes." The professor stacked the books up again before turning to Aerith. "And you must be Miss Gainsborough."

"Yes that's right, but how do you me?"

"I know a lot about you." Gast walked over to a bookshelf and ran his finger down them. "I hope its here... ah, here we go." He took out one of the books and gave it to Aerith.

'Ancients.' The title read. Aerith stared at it for a moment before looking at the professor. "This is about the Cetra, I've never seen this one before."

"No reason you should, its one of a kind." He walked to the corner where there were two seats. After sitting in one he motioned for Aerith to take the other. "I'm sure you know by now that you are an Ancient."

She nodded and sat down.

"Well, most of my work has been about unlocking the secrets to your people. Recently though I have found some very interesting finds."

"Such as?"

"Well, first off I discovered a structure not too far from Midgar. Inside was a device that used the cells of someone who has a Cetra heritage to locate them, this was then displayed on a map." Gast took out a piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it, on the paper was a poorly drawn map of the world. "As you can see, when I last used the device there were over twenty Ancients on our planet. Unfortunately that was just before the incident that stranded us all on this planet"

Aerith studied the map, dotted around were about twenty 'X's which she guessed were the locations of the Cetra. Though at Hollow Bastion she noticed that instead of just the one 'X' there were actually three.

"Huh?"

"I take it you noticed." Gast had a smile on his face. "You were only expecting one at your home?"

"Yes I, well it just doesn't make sense. Before I could always sense the other Cetra's, like a funny feeling I get if I really concentrate." She stared at the three dots. "I could always feel there were others on the planet, but not this close. "

"They were closer than you think." The professor leaned over and pointed to Hollow Bastion on the map. "You see, after finding this I was able to find some of the Cetra and it just so happened that two of them were in the very same building as me."

"The same two who were in Hollow Bastion when you last checked?" Aerith was starting to get a deep feeling of the two names Gast was hiding.

Standing up the professor walked over to the table in the middle of the room and opened a folder, in the folder he took out two pieces of card paper. "I believe you know this man." He handed her one of the sheets.

Aerith took it and instantly stared at the picture in the top left, it was not the image she was expecting. "This is..."

"Ex-General Sephiroth."

"How? He can't be I mean he..." She trailed off as Gast handed her the second sheet.

"I believe you know this person as well."

If the first time she was shocked the second time Aerith felt her heart skip a beat.

"Surprising isn't it?"

Aerith stared deeply into the picture of Cloud, his younger face still had the same cold look he had now. "He can't be."

"I'm afraid it's the truth."

"But, but if he was then wouldn't Zack be too?" She managed to look away from the picture. "I mean they are brothers... aren't they? Also wouldn't I have been able to sense there Cetra blood and vice versa?"

"Well first the ability to sense their Ancient side might have been dimmed by the Mako infusion they have both had, and recently I worked out from my tests that only females seem to have that ability too, after that I can only make guesses. Also the two are only half brothers, they share the same mother. I doubt either of them know about Cloud's father though."

"What about him?"

Gast took a moment before answering. "Cloud's original father was a Cetra who has had two children."

It took a moment for the obvious fact that the other child wasn't Zack to come to Aerith's mind. "Cloud has a second brother? Who?"

The professor took another moment before nodding at the sheets Aerith was holding. "I believe you have already met him."

'He can't mean...' She quickly switched the sheets around so Sephiroth's was on top. "Him??"

"Is it really a shock? The two are always drawn to each other. Both have their own reasons to track the other down, but deep inside it's because of their blood."

Aerith slumped her shoulders. "How could he not tell me?"

"Most likely because he doesn't know."

"He doesn't?"

Gast shook his head. "You see Sephiroth's father, his and the others names have been lost, became involved with a woman. As the natural course of things go this eventually led to a child, unfortunately his mother died during childbirth. This gave his father an instant hatred for the boy and eventually he was abandoned, only to be found by a Shin-Ra patrol not long later."

Even though she wanted to ask questions Aerith waited for him to finish.

"Not too long after, the same Cetra became involved with another woman, again leading to a child. This time however even though the birth went without fault he still developed the same hatred for the boy, he then asked the mother to abandon the child otherwise he would leave her. Fortunately for Cloud she did not share the same feelings as his father."

A small breeze ran through the room. Gast realized that the door had been left open when Aerith arrived.

"A year down the road Cloud's mother met another man and they became very close. And as you might guess, Zack was born not too long after, the brothers were then raised without been informed on Cloud's past."

"So he doesn't know, neither does Zack." Aerith let her thoughts run though for a moment before looking at Gast. "So why me?"

"Hm?"

She picked the book up off of the floor that Gast had given her earlier. "There's a reason you wanted 'me' to know this right?"

"Oh yes, you see even though Sephiroth and Cloud do not know that they are related, they can feel something deep inside. Have you ever noticed that even though nothing drastic happened between the two, Cloud has an overwhelming desire to find Sephiroth."

It was strange that he should actually know but when she thought about it, every time Cloud had been near Sephiroth he had gone after him, even when it meant been stranded on Hollow Bastion. "Yes, its true. But it's nothing more than to stop what ever Sephiroth is planning, right?"

"In a way." Gast rubbed his chin. "You see the Cetra are always trying to become above the darkness, it's not something that can be helped. They always stand strong in the face of, well, evil for lack of a better word. Its a subconscious thing, I'm sure even you yourself have felt it."

"I guess so..."

"Sephiroth on the other hand is different, the Mako in his blood has cancelled out this genetic aid and allowed him to use the darkness instead of the light. His mind has become filled with the desire to become powerful."

"How do you know this?" It did make sense in a way but then again how could he know?

"Because I have spent most of my life studying the Cetra. In my life time I have studied the blood samples of eleven Cetra, and my abilities have become more and more advanced." Gast couldn't help but smiled as he boasted his abilities. "But also Sephiroth was in Soldier, he was the best. Even though it wasn't until lately that I discovered he and his brother was also included in the Ancients blood line, I was still required to find out why he alone had surpassed everyone else before him with ease."

"Did you find out why?"

"Sort of. Having the powers of a normal Ancient added on to been infused with Mako would increase anyone's abilities to an incredible standard. But it is also because Sephiroth aloud himself to be taken by darkness, he welcomed it with open arms and in return it gave him the power he wanted, this is something a Cetra should never do."

Aerith felt tired just trying to absorb all this. "Why exactly?"

"It corrupts their mind, and with the Mako nullifying a Cetra's ability to overwhelm these forces, it was only a matter of time before Sephiroth took hold of this. Cloud on the other hand has fought these temptations and in doing so he has unknowingly created a split personality with the darkness that is trying to control him."

"How do you know about this and Cloud?" Again it was the obvious question but she had to ask.

Gast pointed to the book he had given her not long ago. "Because it's happened before. And Cloud is showing the same signs that the scientist observed from another Cetra long ago."

'It's happened before?' Aerith felt like she didn't want to ask the next question, it was like asking what the future would hold. "What happened to this person?"

The professor took a moment before answering. "Madness. The single mind trying to cope with two sides fighting for control was too much."

"But, but that's not going to happen to Cloud right? I mean you said he was fighting it." The worried tone could easily be made out from Aerith's voice.

"Well that would lead me back to your original question."

"Why are you telling 'me'?"

"You see, and I'm sorry but this wasn't my decision, Shin-Ra has been keeping a close eye on Cloud and his activities in Hollow Bastion."

"You were spying on him?" Her tone changed from worried to a hint on anger.

Gast stood up and walked back to the large table, taking one more sheet from a large pile. "...yes, up until the time of the incident leaving us here, I can only apologize but the decision was not mine. But even so, one thing the reports did mention was you." He sat back down and handed her the sheet.

Aerith took it and noticed it was the same at the previous two, except now she was looking at her own profile. "You were spying on me too?"

Trying to keep to the point Gast continued. "You see there have been a few times when Cloud's... other self has surfaced. This other self has been just as I expected apart from one thing."

The flower girl looked up from the form.

"It seems that both sides of Cloud find you important. Cloud himself, I don't mean to be rude, seems to be interested in you as a female, the other side might be for the same reason or because of something totally different."

Aerith didn't know whether to blush or to be offended, either way she kept quite.

"Either way it means that you are the best person to keep our Cloud strong. As long as he can concentrate on something that means a lot to him he stands a much greater chance of overpowering this thing."

"But..." It was inevitable that there was something else.

"Yes, but... this can also work the other way around. The new side of Cloud can use you as a means to breakthrough and take control. This is what happened the night Cloud was able to nearly kill Sephiroth in a single attack..."

"So what your saying is, I could either be really helpful or actually be the one to make Cloud loose it."

"I'm afraid so." He sighed. "You're just going to have to use your best judgment. But the one important thing you must do is keep him away from Sephiroth, what ever that madman is planning won't have Cloud's best interests in mind I can assure you."

"That's easier said than done." Aerith thought about one last question. "So what happens if Cloud looses this fight. I mean your telling me this to stop it but no offense I'm sure there's a bigger reason than Shin-Ra just wants to protect Cloud."

Gast sighed again, looking a little ashamed. "Yes your quite right. You see, no matter how Sephiroth has turned out, he is still a Cetra, he plans what he wants and takes it, it doesn't matter how much of the darkness he uses because he is still himself. Cloud on the other hand would loose all thought to this other personality, it would be just like a wild emotion that won't be fulfilled, chaos is the only thing to follow. What I'm guessing Sephiroth wants out of this is to control him, a mind in total chaos should be easily persuaded to do anything."

Aerith rubbed her eyes, feeling like she had just been given the world to lift on her shoulders. "So my job is to keep this from happening, keep him away from Sephiroth and keep his mind strong.... Is that all..." She whispered that last part.

"I wish I could be of more help but this is a difficult situation." The professor pointed to the book. "Hopefully you will be able to find something of use in there."

"Well, thanks I guess. Maybe I should go find Cloud and fill him in then." She stood up to leave.

"Wait!" Gast followed her. "I'm not sure telling Mr. Strife this is the best thing to do, finding out the person he hates most is actually family, well I can only imagine how he would act."

Aerith sighed deeply, it was true but, is this something she could keep from him? 'He trusts me, by not telling him wouldn't I be betraying that trust?' "Ok, I'll think about it."

Gast nodded and Aerith turned once again to leave. As she approached the door she heard some footsteps in the distance. 'Hmm? Was somebody here?' She looked up the stairs only to see it empty. '...must have been someone up stairs, maybe Barret.'

"Oh, and one last thing professor."

"Yes?" He turned to look at her.

"Tell Shin-Ra that if I find out they are still spying on us." She clenched her fist and a small blue spark left the palm.

"I uh, I understand." He nodded looking a little nervous.

'And so I ended up here, deciding on what to do.'

Aerith stopped in front of the door to the ships cafeteria, the smell of the hot food made her stomach rumble. 'Perhaps a full stomach will help me decide.'

Entering the room she was met with all the familiar faces. Even Squall was there, sat next to Yuffie who was talking straight into his ear. Cid and Zack were busy stuffing their faces and Cloud...

'Wait, where is Cloud?' Aerith scanned the room only to find that he was missing.

"Hey come on Aerith." Zack pulled the chair next to him. "You must be starving after two days."

Smiling Aerith walked up to him and sat down, instantly been handed several plates full. "Thank you but, where's Cloud?"

"Hm? Oh he's busy doing something at the castle, he said he'd be back later tonight."

The windows in the room showed her that it was already dark outside, the rainfall had speeded up since she was in her room. "You know, I think I'll go meet him." Aerith pushed away the plates and stood up. Even though she was starving the thoughts in her mind would not let her rest, at least until she talked with him.

Zack looked out side through one of the windows. "Your going out in this?"

"I'll be fine." She gave him a reassuring smile. "There's just something I really need to talk to Cloud about."

A quick look at everyone's faces told her they didn't approve but none of them tried to stop her, whatever it was it must be important. Cid stood up and offered to go with her but Aerith asked him not to and just repeated that she would be fine on her own.

As she reached the door the leave the cafeteria, the door slide open and Aerith walked right into a wall of black. She stumbled back and looked up only to be paralyzed as the figure in front came into view.

"Something wrong?" He smiled stepping into the light. "You don't look happy to see me."

Aerith backed away as he stepped into the room, within moments Zack and Squall had joined her side. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Sephiroth laughed softly. "I travel all the way here and you don't even offer me a bite to eat."

Zack tightened his grip on the sword he had already drawn. "Leave, now! Otherwise you'll have to deal with us."

"I'm not here for you." Sephiroth gave him a cold look before turning back to Aerith. "I'm here for you."

Aerith stepped back feeling a cold shiver run down her spine.

"You see, I've been going at this all wrong." He took another step forwards. "It seems that you are the key I've been looking for."

"W-what?" She tripped over and fell backwards, her eyes never leaving his figure.

Sephiroth walked forward again but Zack and Squall both charged at him. The two swung their blades only to have them both parried by the masamune. "Go away." The ex-Soldier raised his arm and an invisible force threw the two fighters across the room.

Aerith pushed back with her legs but Sephiroth easily caught up with her. He kneeled down and cupped her chin, bringing his own face within inches of hers. "Now then, how about you and I go visit that dear brother of mine?"

Ok, a long time to update but a big update it is. While writing this chapter though one thing I couldn't seem to shake was that it was starting to feel like writing one of those awful day time tv soap operas, I hope it didn't end up too much like that. Anyway looking at later chapters to come I can actually see the end of this story, most of the chapters to come I already have planned. But that doesn't mean its going to be too soon, originally the time from when Cloud and Aerith met to the point they leave Hollow Bastion was only going to be two or three chapters and it actually turned out to be ten, so the end is still far enough away.

Thank you to all of my reviewers for this chapter, having nine whole pages of reviews really is great. I'm glad everyone liked the resemblance to FF7.

dogcollar - If your on chapter 5 as your wrote that review then the answer should have come as you read through the rest of the story, if not then I'll explain. Cloud has no wings himself but his split personality does have two, the reason he only has one in KH will come in a chapter later on.

lena-jade - Thank you, I'm not sure who you mean though with your question.

SleepingStars - Thank you and yes dark Cloud will be showing up more soon enough.

As for the next chapter, each time I say it should be up soon something happens which makes it take twice as long. So this time I'm just staying quiet until the next chapter.