Junon's weapon failed. Soldiers were dying left and right. Some turned on their own brothers. Others vanished. ShinRa was falling apart at the seams and the only hope they had to help stop the world from being destroyed blew up.
The nightmares only just begun.
Due to his refusal to help Sephiroth, he raged. The visions and nightmares extended upon waking. It began with numerous ways he would torture and kill everyone from Avalanche to those close to him in ShinRa.
But there was one he repeated above everyone else.
"Aerith!" Cloud cried out as he jolted awake.
"Shhh, it's a dream babe. It's just a dream." Reno whispers, arms gently wrapped around the thinning form.
"But...Are you sure? What if...What if..."
"They would have called you, right?"
"...Right." Cloud lays down.
Still the visions were horrifying. They kept him awake. And soon the loss of sleep was taking its toll on him. All he recalled were snippets of conversations. Something about the legends of the White and Black Materias. Something about Wutai. Then something happened with Avalanche.
Until one day Cloud collapsed.
A gentle hand on his forehead. Sweet relief. Cloud thought he recognized the hand.
"Mother?" He asked hoarsely.
"Afraid not." A familiar voice giggled.
"...Aerith?" He tried to open his eyes. Everything was white and blurry. He closed his eyes to block it all out. He thought he caught sight of red hair.
"Shhh. Only you can see me. But not for long."
"What you mean?" He groaned.
"I have to go somewhere far away. Alone. I can't involve the others, this is my battle alone. I just dropped by because I sensed you needed my help. He shouldn't torture you for a long while, now."
"Wait. Where are you going?"
"The Ancient Temple. You won't know where it is. Please don't look for me."
"But he...he wants to kill you." Cloud whimpered.
"I know." Her voice held together. There was only the slightest tremble in her tone.
"Just understand that I have to do this. I don't want you or anyone else getting hurt. This is my journey to make by myself."
"Wait..." He tried to reach out.
"Whatever happens, I don't blame you." Her hand grasped his.
"What do you mean?" He furrowed his eyebrows.
"Keep Reno close. You'll need him when the time comes. Now rest. You need it."
And so Cloud did. He fell into a deep slumber. It was a relief to be met with sweet dreams than neverending nightmares.
xXx
When he next awoke, he had determination and clarity in his eyes. Purged of Sephiroth's influence for the time being Cloud looked over the world map with a book of the Ancients. He was scouring for any indication where their temple would be located.
Unknowingly his one sided conversation had been noted. So everyone let him search. In the meantime ShinRa focused on taking down the Weapons and searching for Sephiroth.
Even so a few times he was called in to help alongside Avalanche to fight off the Weapons. It was an odd sight to behold.
Reno and Rude in the helicopter circling above, firing missiles and raining bullets. Cloud down on the ground in the front lines with the rest of Avalanche. In a way this gained huge trust between Avalanche and ShinRa both. At one point Rufus calls off their search to locate Avalanche and removed them from the enemy list.
Still Barret refused to believe Rufus fully turned around until he shut down all the mako reactors. Even so he begrudgingly agreed that perhaps they would be better off as allies than fighting a whole list of enemies.
"Know anything about Sephiroth?" Barret asked Cloud one day.
"Nope. He hasn't given me any visions since Aerith left you guys." Cloud shrugged.
"And why the hell you ain't searching for her again?"
"She told me not to bother. So I'm trusting her word."
"The hell? She's the last of her kind! What if Sephiroth gets to her!?"
"Which is why she left in the first place. He wants to kill her. She doesn't want anyone getting hurt in the crossfire."
"So you just gonna accept the fact he will kill her anyway?" Barret eyed him up and down.
"No. I trust that she has a plan, even if she dies." Cloud stated simply, surprising everyone even himself. Through the camera on his suit, Tseng and Reno shared a look.
He didn't understand why he said that. But his words had apparently struck a cord, and he was tasked in searching for her shortly after this. And so he begun his research where he left off.
It struck an idea that while the world was losing vegetation in some areas, it wasn't always like that everywhere. And so he searched the most condensed forest areas. There were quite a few.
"How we gonna know we found the right forest?" Reno inquired as they flew over one of the forests Cloud mapped out.
The blonde was looking outside the window in the back of the helicopter. Reno and Rude were up front as pilot and copilot. It was best to assume Rude was there to ensure the pair wouldn't get any ideas of any sexual endeavors.
"We'll know when we get a sign." Cloud answered.
"What kind of sign?" Rude almost groaned. Really, Cloud was starting to sound like Aerith, too.
"I don't know. But we'll know when it happens."
They tried a few other forests. Until finally, just as they gave up hope, they had a sign. This time around Avalanche was following behind in their own airship the Highwind. The navigation equipment and everything else in the cockpit began to go haywire all at once.
"Think we found the sign!" Reno called out.
"Take me down." Cloud was eager to explore.
They found a clearing and landed. Beside them the Highwind went as low as she could without damaging any trees. The airship was a bit too big for this clearing. Still, the pilot managed to get close enough that his crew could climb down a ladder.
Joining Cloud was Barret, Tifa, Red XIII and Yuffie. On top of Red's head was a familiar looking cat robot. Cloud pokes at it, tapping the thin glass eyes curiously.
"Oi, laddie! Do you mind!?"
"Who made you? This is ShinRa quality." Cloud tilts his head. Even the voice, perfectly disguised without any crackle.
"Nah uh! Nothing to do with ShinRa, laddie! The name's Cait Sith!"
"Right. And I'm Sephiroth." Cloud couldn't help himself. In his earpiece Reno snickers.
"About time you made a joke, babe. Been a while." The redhead comments.
Above them the Highwind lifted to locate another clearing big enough for it. Yuffie went green in the face, but caught herself before vomiting. She greeted Cloud with a sheepish smile and a wave. Tifa leans over to pet Cait Sith.
"We don't know who made him, but he's proven himself useful." She informed. "And a valuable friend."
"Wish I could tinker with him. But I know that won't end well." Cloud brushes the idea away.
"You ain't doing nothing to him. You got it, suit?" Barret stated, voice growing dark.
"Yeah, yeah." Cloud sighed. "Are we going into the forest, or not?"
"Let's go." Tifa agreed.
