Cloud panics, Chaos makes an appearance, Zack and the others start getting closer to figuring out how they are all together and where they are all from, but they still have no idea what's really happening and why. Also, something happens while Cloud is with them that night and he's suddenly hearing them speaking 'normally' and not in Chocobo speak.
Chapter 3
Cloud stood shock still, his head still reeling and twisting in on itself. Sephiroth was before him, the world ending, Son of the Calamity, insane madman, was a Silver Chocobo cooing and pressing himself against Cloud's side, as if they were best friends. He was twisted and confused. He had choked out Sephiroth's name as if it were holy, with awe and longing. Was he really so far gone into his own inner demons that the prospect of having even a chocobo version of Sephiroth around was something he wanted?
Cloud snapped himself out of his shock, his head still reeling and his mind still racing, and shoved the silver chocobo away from him, and ran out of the barn and didn't stop running until he had crashed into Vincent, who wisely dragged him into the sleeping chambers of the Shera and locked them both into Cloud's personal room.
"Cloud?" Vincent asked, watching the very panicked man carefully. "What happened?"
"I am going crazy," Cloud muttered, pacing in the small room, glancing everywhere and nowhere at once. "The silver one has His eyes and when I said His name the chocobo cooed and pushed against me as if I said his name. I don't know what to do. I don't know if I'm just sleep-deprived or overworked or if Sephiroth is really back in the form of a silver fucking chocobo!"
Vincent didn't outwardly react to the news, but when Cloud looked over at him he could see the slight tilt that Vincent had to his head when talking to Chaos. Only from watching Vincent for hours would you even realize his head moved but it worked for everyone when Vincent could hold a staring contest with a Turk and have conversations with Chaos at the same time.
Strangely, seeing Vincent talking to Chaos helped calm him down some, enough to stop pacing and plop himself down on the cot built into the wall. Cloud watched Vincent from the corner of his eye, while also staring at the blank wall before him. Nothing like staring at nothing to finish calming Cloud down completely, and the presence of a close friend.
Something told Cloud that he would be nowhere and lost if it wasn't for his family of misfits.
"Chaos wants to see the silver chocobo before you freak out anymore," Vincent said, his voice filled with amusement. "Though he did say you should continue pacing so he can continue to see if you and Cap have the same ass shape."
"Okay." Cloud muttered, lowering his head into his hands. "I'll take you to the barn in a second."
"Will you pace again, Chosen One?" Came the distorted voices of Chaos and Vincent.
Cloud looked up confused, only to stare at Vincent's horrified face. He ran the conversation through his mind, blinking in total confusion. Did he miss something?
"What?" Cloud asked, then his face went red, from embarrassment, anger, or humiliation no one knew. "NO! Chaos we already had this discussion! Stop staring at my ass! You're walking next to me or in front of me, not behind!"
Cloud growled and shoved Vincent out of the door before him, flinching as he heard the lock break.
"Better fix that before Cid finds out," Came the amused chuckle from the demon man in front of him. "And it's not my fault you possess such a lovely ass that begs to be worshiped and adored~"
"Shut up and go back to sleep you damn asshole!" Cloud growled, shoving the man down the ramp to the Shera.
Tifa chose that moment to leave Bill's house with a bin of trash and shot Cloud the raised eyebrow, the silent inquiry of asking him what was going on.
"Chaos is being a perv again," Cloud called out, then watched as Tifa got the 'got it' look and nodded her head. "Might want to tell Cid to get the cage ready if Chaos doesn't fuck off."
Cloud barely heard her start laughing as she re-entered the house, giving him a thumbs-up before she disappeared completely.
"Hardly necessary, Chosen One," came the purr by his ear, before a clawed hand groped his ass. "I think your room is cage enough. You would have to watch over me though~"
"And I think you're going to lose your hand if you don't remove it from my ass," Cloud growled, and shifted so his ever-present blade slid against Chaos' wrist.
Not much could scare Chaos off, Chaos only agreed to leave you alone after you became violent towards him, but one thing that always stopped Chaos was the Fusion Sword, First Tsurugi. Something about it being the bones of the WEAPONs being able to actually kill Chaos or something. Cloud didn't believe it, but he could believe that if he cut Chaos' hand off again it would take him a solid month to regrow a new one unless Cid took pity on him and took him to a doctor to get the appendage reattached, again.
Chaos was quick to snatch his hand away, and quickly disappear and let Vincent take control again. Cloud growled, he was kinda hoping Chaos stayed and pushed him further, he needed a good fight right now.
Vincent wisely stayed quiet and motioned for Cloud to lead the way, moving to fall into step beside the enraged warrior, but also out of reach of the sword.
"This damn bird better be Sephiroth," Cloud growled out, eyes livid. "If not then me and Chaos are going to go have a lovely fight in the nearest damn mountains. I need to kill something."
Vincent wisely moved three steps further from Cloud, and shivered under his coat. Cloud could be absolutely terrifying if given half the chance.
FINAL FANTASY 7
Zack had watched in shock, unable to do anything as Cloud shoved Seph away and ran off. Seph didn't chase him, didn't do anything other than watch with visible hurt in his eyes.
"Seph?" Angeal asked, coming closer and nudging the motionless silver. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Seph whispered softly, lowering his head and trudging back over to where Genesis was still laying. "I should have known better."
Zack watched as Genesis pulled Seph closer with his wings and made the younger silver curl against him. "I didn't think that would happen, Ang."
Angeal looked over at him and sighed, nudging Zack closer to him. "I think this is more than us having been yanked from our times like you thought. I think we all died in our times and instead of joining the lifestream, like you and Genesis believe should happen when we die, we were brought here instead. I know Seph was a strong warrior at a young age, but he was alive and waiting in Midgar with Genesis for me to return when my transport was shot down."
"Being stabbed then finding himself here," Zack muttered, watching Genesis preen Seph like a chocobo would do to a younger sibling still unable to care for itself. "You think he died that night?"
"It's only logical at this point," Angeal responded. "You were dead, Seph was stabbed, I went up in flames in a transport crash, and it sounds like someone finally reached Genesis in his time or he just starved to death. Point is we were all in situations where we had to have died, and suddenly we're all waking up as Chocobos by the Marshes."
"This is so much more complex than I can handle," Zack groaned, shaking away from Angeal and moving towards Seph and Gen. "I wish Aerith was here, or that she could reach me from the lifestream. Even with the planet's vague help, she could still help understand what's happening better than I can."
Zack plopped himself down next to Seph and nuzzled into the silver feathers, and he felt Angeal settle beside him and throw a wing over them, holding them all close. This made him feel like he was back at the tower with his three best friends spending time with Seph when he had a bad week and needed his family around him.
Zack found himself chuckling suddenly, pushing himself closer to Seph.
"What's so funny, pup?" Gen asked, poking Zack's back with his beck.
"Well," Zack sighed, lifting his head to look at the three. "This just reminds me of my time when the four of us would flop onto a giant mattress in the middle of Sephiroth's room and just cuddle him when he had a bad week or month because missions kept us away when he needed us the most. We were the most dysfunctional family ever."
Angeal laughed, Gen nudged Zack's head back down, and Seph rested his head on Zack's back, a soft chuckle leaving him.
"I wish I had the same memories as you guys seem to have," Seph sighed, sounding tired and sluggish. "Maybe then I wouldn't make Gen mad at me all the time."
"I'm not mad at you dearest," Gen cooed gently. "I just remember my Seph being a smug bastard that acted like he knew everything. It was hard to keep you both apart in my mind until your childish innocence and inquiries finally overcame the battle-hardened twenty-five-year-old bastard I remember. Now rest dearest child, you must be exhausted after everything that has happened today."
Seph gave a small noise of understanding, nuzzled further into Zack's back and fell asleep quickly. Zack gave off a soft coo, shifted his head and let it rest on the ground watching the door.
"What were you two discussing before coming over here?" Genesis asked softly, shifting to preen Zack's head gently.
"You're really good at being a mother bird Genesis," Zack yawned out. A harsh tug from Gen had him awake in seconds though. "We were discussing how we got here again. Seph recognized Cloud, but according to my timeline Cloud would have been six and still very much a mama's mountain boy, unaware of Shinra and the war until he hit twelve or thirteen himself. But Angeal believes that we all died and were reborn here as Chocobos before even feeling death."
"That makes sense for the three of us but not you," Genesis responded, shifting to start preening Angeal's wing. "You were in the lifestream with your beloved Cetra, went to sleep, and then woke up as a living breathing chocobo. So the 'everyone died and came back as chocobos' doesn't apply for what is happening. It might be part of it but it's not the main cause. We also have to take into consideration that we are all different ages and all have different memories of events than others."
"Us having different memories makes sense for different people, Genesis," Angeal said. "I wouldn't remember Seph being stabbed, Seph wouldn't remember transport being shot down, and I don't remember you being in any kind of metal pillar."
"Except," Genesis said, lifting his head to look Angeal in the eyes. "No reports ever came in when we were fifteen of transports being shot down and crashing, those came closer to when we were eighteen and then only for a brief period as Shinra was quick to end the ground air cannons. In my time, all three of us were in Wutai for a year together and shared the same tent in the middle of our camp, we would have known if Seph had gotten stabbed. And in my time, you were already dead for at least five years before I had sealed myself away to prevent the mad scientist from completing his work."
"Different worlds maybe?" Zack offered. "Aerith did tell me that even if the reactors hadn't been stopped in my time, Gaia could send her children to another 'world' to be reborn and live, send her champions to save the chosen world and stop the destruction of that world. Like the multiverse theory my Seph had become obsessed with when he started reading the sci-fi novels Gen got him for his birthday one year."
"Multiverse theory," Gen repeated. "That would work. Maybe when we died Gaia sent us all to the most stable world to have a second chance at life, or to give us proper training before sending us off to other worlds to save them."
"That actually makes a lot of sense," Angeal said slowly, his face one of concentration. "What was happening in your world when you locked yourself away?"
Genesis sighed and stretched his neck out, then settled it down on the only available space of Seph's back that wasn't covered by Angeal's wing. "Last thing I remember before locking myself away? I think that would have to be catching up to Zack and his comatose trooper friend Cloud and demanding Cloud's hair to cure myself because I believed Sephiroth's cells could cure me. Zack and Cloud had both gotten out of Hojo's labs, both having undergone experiments and that madman's full attention. I believe he was trying to make them into Sephiroth clones but the experiments and treatments of S-cells didn't take to Zack like they did Cloud. The next part was a blur, but I remember fighting Zack before the Goddess Materia, losing, and being granted the cure and a second chance from the goddess herself. I woke up in an underground city-like lab and refused to work with the people down there to continue and perfect Hojo's work, crawling myself into the metal frame of one of the taller support towers and making a never-ending barrier with my own life-force. I don't remember anything after that."
"What about you Angeal?" Zack asked, cocking his head to look at Angeal and not the twilight outside the barn.
"Shinra was waging war on Wutai in an attempt to find the promised land, and losing horribly, even with three SOLDIER First's and Hojo's table turner, Sephiroth." Angeal said, lowering his head to rest on Genesis's back. "I was being called back to help Sephiroth and Genesis take control of the rioting and protesting public, demanding that Shinra pull out and leave Wutai alone, to stop the pointless death."
Zack sighed. "Looks like Shinra was still an asshole in your time as well. Well for me, after kicking Gen's ass in front of the Goddess Materia and setting him far enough away from the crumbling caves and ground, I took Cloud and continued on my way to hit Midgar, because what better way to stay hidden from your enemies then right under their nose? Well, that was the plan anyway." Zack turned his head to look back out the door. "I reached the final cliff overlooking Midgar, it was just flat land after we got down that cliff when the entire army finally caught up to me. I hid Cloud behind some rocks tall and thick enough that it wouldn't give under multiple explosions and stray bullets and met the army head-on. It took them a day and a half for them to finally plant the final killing shot. Bullet-ridden, burned from multiple grenades and more missiles than I could count, and cut up to hell and back, I knew I could die proud, die a hero. Proud that I managed to keep Cloud safe and out of the fight, a hero because I was able to protect my only friend left alive. I wasn't proud of the fact that I had killed four-fifths of Shinra's military, only that I was able to keep Cloud alive. The last thing I did alive was telling Cloud to carry on with our dreams and honor, to live for the both of us, to grow into a strong and confident man. I gave him the Buster Sword and then I guess I just died and hovered in my body a bit because I was able to watch Cloud swear he would carry on for us. When the daylight hit, my mentor, Angeal, helped me go to the lifestream, where I watched over Cloud through his journey and his life after."
"I saw him travel the world and gather a bunch of misfit allies that he formed a family with, I saw him take down Jenova, an alien parasite that wouldn't let Seph return to the lifestream and rest, I watched him kill Sephiroth for the second time, I watched him get turned into a puppet with no will and then struggle to bring himself back, watched him become stronger because of it. I watched him almost kill my girlfriend because Jenova was taking control, and when he broke free, took the moment that Cloud was too horrified with what he had almost done, to send a clone of Sephiroth down and kill her instead. I saw him break and I helped him heal and rebuild himself. I helped him when he needed help taking down Sephiroth for the third time by using Aerith's power to allow myself to be a constant presence by his side the entire fight. Gave him the extra boost in power he needed to cut through a mutated and deformed monstrous dragon running wild killing people. Gave him guidance with the Remnants, even though he never knew. I was always beside him, and Aerith was right there at my side helping him as well. We never let him stay broken or moping. We were his family, even dead, and we never left his side."
"It sounds like you and Gen might be from the same world," Angeal whispered softly after a moment, moving his head to push gently against Zack's, Gen doing the same to the other side. "What are the odds that were on your world, and Gaia is giving us all a second chance to live happy lives?"
"Sounds too good to be true," Gen scoffed gently. "Now sleep you fools. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."
Zack allowed himself to relax, agreeing with Genesis on this one. They would have a long day. Cloud was still probably freaked out by Seph's eyes, and until Zack found a way to explain that this Seph was an innocent baby and not the cold-blooded madman, Zack was going to have to protect him.
Sometime later, Zack was still wide awake, while the others had fallen into a deep sleep. Maybe being dead for so long meant he could stay awake longer cause he had technically woke up from a nap that spanned years.
It was this awareness that probably saved Seph's life as he felt the air turn at the doors to the barn, the quick dash, then Zack was staring into golden eyes, the alarmed and confused noises of the three behind him breaking the silence. Zack had the demon's claws in his beck, his teeth dug in and keeping the demon from pulling away.
The air turning to the side of him had Zack instinctively letting go of the demon's arms and jumping back, wings spread to protect the three behind him. What he saw before him didn't do anything to calm him down, and before he knew it, his body had shifted into a battle-ready stance.
Cloud had his sword out and between the demon and Zack, his body positioned in such a way that he could quickly take down an attack from either side. Chaos, as Zack remembered, was very much vivid and watching something over Zack's shoulder.
"Protect Seph," Zack growled out, shifting to run his claws over the ground, pleased at the sharp sound that it emitted, the sound reminding him of a well-tended blade. It had the desired effect, Chaos focused on him instead of the others.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" Cloud hissed out, his sword angled more towards Chaos. "I said you were to confirm if it was Sephiroth or not, nothing about attacking them."
"It is Sephiroth," Chaos growled out, tail whipping out to try and hit Zack, only to be deflected by Cloud's blade. "And the birds need to die. They do not belong to the world."
"Multiverse theory was correct then," Zack heard Angeal mutter softly from behind him.
"Stand down Chaos," Cloud said, finally moving to stand facing the demon between him and Zack. "You forget Gaia is fucking crazy enough as it is. Four out of place chocobos won't change the world drastically." Cloud stated.
Zack and Chaos both deadpanned at the same time, "One of them is Sephiroth, and Sephiroth is enough of a factor to change the world."
Cloud, for rolling with crazy shit, just glanced back at Zack then focused back on Chaos. "If Sephiroth goes stir crazy and tries to destroy the planet again then I'll stop him. Stopping a chocobo version of Sephiroth shouldn't be harder than fighting a near-immortal man with a sword as long as I am tall."
"Masamune isn't that long," Seph whined from behind Zack. "It probably just goes up to his chin if you put the tip on the ground."
This time both Cloud and Chaos turned their heads to look at the silver chocobo peaking over the other three to see what was going on.
"Did you just talk?" Cloud asked, looking straight at Seph.
"Uhh," Seph began. "No?" Then ducked back down to the protective covering Angeal and Genesis had created for him with their own bodies.
"I think he just said no," Chaos deadpanned, tilting his head and humming. "Fine. I won't kill the birds for now. It is clear they are under your protection, but the second they cause the planet harm, I will be there to end them all." And with a very dramatic spin, Chaos stalked out of the barn and into the night.
"Great," Cloud muttered, putting his sword back into its harness. "Now I have to deal with Chaos' melodramatic self. As if Vincent wasn't enough."
"Pot calling the kettle black much?" Zack groaned out, finally allowing himself to relax and look over at the other three. "I think the coast is clear for now guys. But just to be safe, Seph don't go too far from me, kay?"
"Umm," Seph started, looking over Zack's shoulder. "I think Mr. Cloud is about to have another panic attack."
Zack looked back over to Cloud, who did indeed look like he was about to storm out of the barn, get on Fenrir, and ride until he forgot them all or crashed and died.
"I know what you're thinking and no," Zack stated, before marching over to Cloud and shoving him closer to the other three. "If you're really able to understand us then put the sword on the ground, sit down, and listen. If you don't I'll follow you and make you come back here."
Cloud blinked, looked at Zack like he had lost his mind, but still unstrapped his sword and placed it against the wall, then went and sat at the edge of the nest he had made for them to sleep on. "Okay, I'm sitting. What next?"
Zack just blinked and cocked his head in thought. "I guess we start with introductions, move to snuggles, and then I can fill you in on everything I know so far."
"Oh please," came the haughty and irritated response from Genesis. "Like you could remember everything we had discussed. You were given the nickname puppy for a reason."
"Hey!"
"Move further into the nest," Genesis cooed, tugging on Cloud's shirt. "That's where Zack lies."
"Going to groom Cloud the same way you did us, Genesis?" Angeal chuckled, but also pulled on Cloud's shirt.
Zack laughed and pushed Cloud from the front. "Only cause you put it in his head Angeal."
Eventually, they got Cloud to sit in the middle of the nest, where Genesis did in fact lay behind him and start preening Cloud's hair. Seph took a chance and laid against Cloud's left side so his head rested in Cloud's lap, and let out a soft coo as Cloud started running his hand through the feathers. Zack took the front of Cloud, mostly so he could ensure Cloud didn't bolt, but also in case Chaos didn't keep his word and came back to try and kill them again. Angeal settled on Cloud's right side, his head falling to rest on Genesis' back.
When everyone had settled, Cloud sighed and let himself lean into Genesis. "Talk before I think I'm losing my mind again."
"Hello Cloud," Zack began, turning to look back at his best friend. "So going from the back to the front, we have our beloved red chocobo, Genesis Rhapsodos, around age thirty-three, then our innocent silver chocobo, Sephiroth, age twelve. The black to your right is Angeal Hewley, age fifteen, and finally me, Zack Fair, age… Death age or what I would be if I was still alive Gen?"
"If you lived through the army age," Gen responded, nuzzling his head and resting it on Seph's back. "Since you clearly know how long I kept myself in stasis. Thirty-three. I'm so old."
"Hush you," Zack chuckled. "Anyway, I guess I would be around twenty-six about now. Time is weird in the lifestream."
"Chaos said you guys didn't belong here," Cloud spoke up, watching Zack. "Do you know where you're from?"
"Nope," Zack said cheerfully. "At this point in time we have established that we are all from different worlds, though me and Gen might be from the same world, so far everything we remember happening has happened in the same timeline as the other. That and we both remember the hell show that was Banora with the same events, and events happening at the same time."
"Though one thing we have confirmed is that in all our world, Shinra is provoking nations and starting wars for the promised land," Genesis added. "Let's not forget that."
"But Shinra didn't start a war on my world," Sephiroth said softly from Cloud's lap. "President Strife only sent troops to war if other armies came to attack us or our allies."
Everyone froze and looked down at the silver chocobo, each one in various levels of shock. Zack thought that Seph had fallen asleep, and it was clear the others had thought so as well. Actually, for a twelve-year-old, Seph was spending more time sleeping than awake.
"President Strife?" Cloud asked quietly. "Not President Shinra?"
Sephiroth lifted his head and looked up at Cloud. "From what I gathered while at the tower before heading off to stop a madman from creating an army of soldiers stronger then, well SOLDIER, two years before Hojo introduced me to the Shinra Board, a strong mercenary came and upset the balance of the entire company. He gave proof that the Promised Land was the place you go when you die and no living person could ever reach it, that starting a war with Wutai would cause more pain and loss than just letting the idea go. He was a genius, working with the board members to make more efficient methods to producing energy without the use of Mako, proved that a lot of the department heads were embezzling money and they were fired, with people the mercenary trusted taking their places until the only members of the board left that hadn't been removed were Rufus Shinra, Reeve Tuseti, and Hojo."
"The man stressed that Hojo was not to be informed about any of the changes being made in the tower, that no one alerted Hojo to what was happening," Seph continued. "He said he knew about a child that had been born into the science department as an experiment, that the science department head could disappear better then the Turks and never be found again if he didn't want to be found. He stressed that Hojo should be allowed to continue his work until all his labs, known and unknown, could be found and shut down if the head ran. Because of his work and his plans, the old president stepped down and let the mercenary run the company, giving the mercenary his best wishes and then retiring out to one of his homes to watch the world around him change. People say he was evicted at sword point and that the mercenary told him to leave the company to him peacefully or die, but I don't believe President Strife could ever act like that. He was always so nice to me. When Hojo introduced me to the new board, President Strife told Hojo that he was fired, that all his labs were being shut down and all his experiments canceled."
"I had never seen Hojo so mad before," Seph continued, laying his head back down. "He looked like he would burst a blood vessel. But the president wasn't done yet. He wasn't going to let Hojo walk away like the others did, no. Hojo was going to be exposed for everything he had done, from illegal human experimentation to sending false death messages back to families that he had taken members from. Everyone found alive were put into hospitals and schools to help control the nightmares and anything Hojo had done to them, to teach them how to interact with the outside world again, and to stress that they were not monsters. President Strife took time from his busy schedule to go and see all the classes himself, to talk to everyone, and to go and see those in the hospital that were having a hard time adjusting to their bodies. He also took me in and helped me learn how to interact with others. He introduced me to Angeal and Genesis when we went to war to stop another mad professor from trying to take over the world. He was also just a teenager, barely even thirteen himself at the time he was leading us to swiftly end the budding army and the mad scientist."
"So I ruled the world in Seph's time," Cloud said after several long minutes. "Who would have thought."
"You didn't just rule it," Seph said again. "You were the world's God. The Untouchable Golden One, and depending on who you asked you were given so many different titles, but everyone in Shinra called you the God of Everything. Nothing touched the Golden God, and if you hurt someone he loved, nothing was left of you when he was done with you."
Somehow Zack realized he could see that, see Cloud as a God and a Ruler. It sounded like Cloud, the harshness that lets him get the job done, the gentleness to get people to follow him, the kindness that got people to trust him and strive to live up to the expectations Cloud had, even if he told you to not try to reach the bar if it was too hard, you still had all your life ahead of you, and that cold-blooded murderer that mutilated and destroyed anything that hurt his family.
"If President Strife took you in," Genesis started. "And he would destroy all who hurt his family, then isn't it possible that he saw you as part of his family and to find you dead or gone, he would tear the world apart to find you again? To have you back with him?"
"I highly doubt that I wouldn't burn the world to ashes if a member of my family was taken from me and I couldn't bring them back," Cloud spoke, rage simmering in his eyes but his voice deadpan. "But world experience would quell that urge. As a teenager, it is highly likely that if I saw you as part of my family and I found you missing, I would rip the world apart to find you, even start ripping into the Lifestream if needed to."
Suddenly, Zack had a very bad feeling about the future.