Some form of background info is given in a quick chapter, plot holes might be fixed. And things are starting to finally pick up and wrap up for everyone being away from each other. Here's to another chapter being up and posted!

So this one took some time to write out as I literally had to force myself to not fall into the trap of letting the other characters run away with the story yet again. I had to get the two who could explain things in here, but instead of having answers to all the questions that people might have about what's happening, the Demon King decided he didn't want Cloud, and therefore you guys, getting all the answers. So I failed in that regard. Hopefully, everything makes more sense and answers are given as everything is getting to the tipping point.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 8

Cloud had to admit it to himself. Even though Zack was still missing and no one could find him, they were slowly narrowing down where he could have been taken, and it was making Cloud feel just that tad bit happier. Happy enough that he spent extra time with his chocobos before making his way over to work on Fenrir for a few hours. His baby had begun to wobble slightly and Cloud just didn't approve of the way the engine also had a slight whine and shake to it as he drove. He had to fix it before it got worse, his baby had to be perfect.

He also had to fix up the truck so Tifa could go down to the town at the base of the mountains and open up her bar down there. She was turning into a wonderful businesswoman and an even better owner of multiple bars that she ran with an iron grip. Quite literally in most cases.

He also had to make the sprinkler system for Aerith's garden more heavy-duty and longer, as the woman didn't seem to be able to keep her garden contained to the area Cloud had created just for her. Though he couldn't complain too much, as it was nice to have the church sized garden extended so that flowers decorated the yards of land, and the hanging pots in the house and on the windows were very lovely. Though he did wish Zack was back, so he could apologize for failing him again, so he could see just how happy Aerith is surrounded by family and friends and flowers.

Cloud groaned and looked over at the playground he had built last week for Rain to play in outside. He smiled as he watched Aerith and Tifa play with her their laughs brightening his heart up more. He wanted to go play with them, but Tifa had threatened him, saying he had other work to do and they wanted to play with their niece. He waved when Aerith looked up, a smile lighting her face up as she caught sight of him watching them. Then she made the shooing motions with her hands and laughed.

Cloud laughed back as he shook his head and moved back on his way to the garage, Tifa's truck was first on the list of things to do. He could go join them later after he got the big project out. He didn't have another world crossing trip planned for at least another week, so he had time to fix his bike and spend it with his daughter and family.

His daughter… It still shocked him when he remembered Tseng's face as the results came back from the DNA test. Tseng was with him on not being able to have children since he was a guy, so the results had actually left both of them as still as statues, both not able to comprehend what they were looking at. It took Vincent doing the test again himself, following the written instructions to the point, for it to sink in that Cloud was Rain's biological parent. Which meant that Sephiroth and Cloud had gotten it on and had conceived her. And the only time during his time with Shinra that he could have possibly gotten it on with Sephiroth was the night of Zack's drunk party where Cloud had taken Sephiroth back to his apartment and was forced to stay over because Sephiroth wouldn't let him go. Which also meant that Cloud had consumed more alcohol than he realized if he was missing the chunk of the night where the godlike man Sephiroth himself had taken him to bed.

The loud explosion that threw Cloud backwards as he walked across his grounds lost in thought was the first sign that something was wrong. The second was how he watched, laying on the ground unable to move, as Tifa and Aerith were attacked by a group of men. Cloud's head was spinning, his vision blurry, but he had enough cognition to recognize that these men were the same that attacked Zack and the town at the base of his mountain. Though he only realized it when one of the men ran over to him and started to pick him up, throwing him effortlessly over his shoulder.

He tried to fight back, but he was getting so tired just thinking about moving. The last thing Cloud saw before his world went black was Tifa and Aerith collapsed on the ground, unable to stand, reaching out for him, and his daughter screaming and fighting in the grasp of another one of the men.

FINAL FANTASY 7

"A second chain has been broken," a voice called out above him. "We need to help them. Wake him so I can explain what is happening before he breaks free without the last two chains."

Cloud groaned, his head was spinning and he felt sick to his stomach. Something was very wrong with his body, it wouldn't actually respond to him and it was terrifying.

"Don't try to move too much, Chosen one," A soft female voice called out, a gentle hand laying itself on his shoulder. "The explosion happened right by your feet and your body is still trying to recover and build itself back up again."

"What happened?" Cloud managed to get out. It hurt to talk, hell it hurt to breathe, it felt like something was ripping apart his chest.

"A lost god's cult has attacked you and your family," the female voice responded. "They were responsible for kidnapping Zack, attacking that town, and now they are responsible for kidnapping you and your daughter."

"This wasn't in my predictions," another voice called out, but this one sounded like multiple voices. "We couldn't tell you what went wrong. You weren't supposed to be this injured or kidnapped. None of your family was supposed to get hurt. Not in any of my visions of the future."

"Things change Gaia!" The female voice snapped. "Clearly something major has happened to make everything bad happen while we try so hard to prevent it."

"What are you talking about?" Cloud managed, his eyes slowly fluttering open and his voice stronger. He was healing and things still burned, but it was more manageable.

Silence met his question, but Cloud didn't notice, he was too busy staring into the golden eyes that had suddenly appeared before him. He knew this wasn't one of the talkers. This was that man who called himself a god, who had dragged Cloud to his cell to have a chat.

'Hello again, Golden One,' the owner of the golden eyes purred. 'You have a very powerful protector trying to keep me from you. Why is that I wonder?'

Cloud found he couldn't move again, something about those eyes were hypnotizing, and even though Cloud knew he was falling under a spell of some kind, he found he still couldn't move even though he wanted to.

Until a blue blur that looked like the base of a dress swung before his face and the man above him was forced to dodge or get kicked in the face.

"Minerva!" the owner of the multiple voices called out. Cloud barely remembered that this one was referred to as Gaia. "You can't fight him as you are now!"

'You should listen to your precious friend, Mother,' the man growled out, the last word spit out with venom and hate. 'You should know how weak you are compared to me. Even your beloved champion is nothing compared to me.' The man slid fluidly into a sword stance that Cloud knew.

And Cloud found himself worried about the woman he was being protected by. He was almost on his side at this point, the force behind Minerva's kick being enough to give Cloud that little push to see what was before him.

Then a woman who looked a lot like Aerith dropped to her knees before Cloud, blocking off the sight of the battle that had started to rage behind the woman. Her eyes were the color of pure green mako and her hair had a more green tint than a brown, but her smile was the same and her eyes were still open.

"I need to explain as much as I can as fast as I can," She began, her voice settling into multiple female voices. "Things are going wrong faster than we can fix ourselves. We never intended for you to find out about this, but that man has started breaking free from his cage and we need your help. I understand just how much you hate having the weight of the world on your shoulders, but you need to listen and understand."

"Two thousand years ago when the Calamity fell from the sky, that man had the name of Demon King Strife, because all he brought was strife. He hated his origins but loved the people around him. Though he was cursed to bring strife to all he met, people flocked to him and followed him. They called him a God, their god. When these people found out about what Minerva and Chaos had done to seal him away they hated them and began to seek out Minerva's resting place to kill her. Minerva's followers hid her resting place from the world as best as they could and eventually only the extremist groups were left after hundreds of years."

"The cult made a promise to their god that they would find a way to break him out, to let him rule the world as the god he was always meant to be. But they wouldn't listen to reasoning about why his sealing was important. About why we had to seal him away deep within the planet in such a way where no one would find him."

"The Demon King Strife had made a promise with the Calamity, one that spelled out our doom. He promised her that he would marry her first child, and make sure her lineage continued forever. He started working against us and our efforts to seal her away, to get rid of her and her contamination. It became almost impossible to stop the Calamity while he was backing her until Minerva and Chaos worked together to seal him away. Once he was sealed the ancients were able to finally seal the Calamity away as well, but hers was a prison that could be found by humans, while his was a prison I took and buried deep into the planet's core."

"Now his followers have found a way to free him, and he has hooked himself onto you if his current appearance is anything to go by. Please, Cloud, you need to help us keep him locked up. If he ever takes you to his cage don't enter his tower, break everything you can see, and for our safety please never let him touch you if his barrier gets broken while you're in his domain."

'Times up, Gaia,' Came the sing-song voice from behind the woman still kneeling before Cloud. Before Cloud could blink or Gaia could react, the Demon King Strife had kicked her and set her flying off to the side, until Cloud couldn't see her anymore.

Cloud tried to stand up, tried to move more than his head, but he found he still couldn't move his body properly. He was pissed with himself until he met the bright golden eyes that watched him with fond amusement.

'You are so beautiful, Golden One,' He whispered, crouching down to run his fingers over the side of Cloud's face. 'Such beauty belongs by my side for eternity. Come and break me free when I call for you, and I can stop this time loop you and your friends have found yourselves in. I can fix this planet and save it from destruction. All you have to do is give yourself to me when the time comes. Now go and save that fascinating puppy. My followers might end up killing him by accident because they don't know when my bindings break.'

A wicked smile followed the words, and then Cloud found himself being lifted into the man's arms as his vision turned black again. The last thing he felt was the brush of lips against his own before he was lost to the world again.

FINAL FANTASY 7

She moved swiftly through the air, her wings beating silently but propelling her forward faster than anything else had ever moved. Something had gone wrong, she could feel it. She had to get to her scrying pool, back to where she first made the orb that she had sent to her father. She had to for she knew she had to warn him but she couldn't reach him through her normal means. She was going to have to use her scrying pool to make sure he understood just how much danger everyone was in.

She instinctively dodged left and spun around in the air to look at what she had just missed crushing her, only to curse and fly faster to her pool. The sky was falling around her, the ground crumbling away into the darkness that seemed to suck the light away and still following her was the Lost Golden Demon God. She knew only one way this could have happened, and she was pissed she didn't catch it sooner. She would have sent her father to save her and her mother instead of her uncle, have her mother's family save her uncle they could handle it. But no, she didn't have the knowledge that Gaia had to see the future, but why wouldn't she tell her this was a possibility. Her world was crumbling around her, her free ride to see the world around her was coming to an end, and if her father didn't quickly find her infant body then she would vanish just like her world around her.

"Come on Dad," She muttered, dodging a larger piece of the shattering sky. "Hurry up and save me."

The bright and deranged laugher bellowed behind her. She instinctively dodged to the right and dropped to the ground, only to launch herself back into the air to avoid the last of the flaming rocks that were chucked at her.

"Come on Mom," She panted, pushing herself to go even faster, trying to outrun the man breaking her world to pieces. "Fight him and never let him win. I won't forgive you if you let this man control and command you!"

She didn't stop when she saw her pool, no, her world was too small, the darkness too close, her sky breaking above it. She had to put herself from this pocket of her own creation and into the tiny prison Gaia had promised would only be used as a last resort to keeping her alive.

With no hesitation and no fear, she plunged full force into the pool and let herself be pulled into the small cell around her father's neck. She felt calm and warm, but the cold around her was bitter and reminded her of the Northern Crater.

Maybe she should have listened more when Gaia had explained the pocket dimension and the concept of being locked inside a materia for who knows how long. Because when she opened her eyes in her new home, all she saw was the white expanse of the Northern Crater and the hole where her uncle and her were being held.

Though as they got closer to where she felt her infant body was located, she also felt the undeniable pull whenever she was around her mother, which made sense as the materia was only safe in her parent's hands, whether she inhabited it like this or not.

Please let her father be fast enough to stop whatever was taking place inside that hell of a crater.

FINAL FANTASY VII

The first thought that entered his head was that his head hurt almost like someone had tried to smash it into pieces. The second was that it wouldn't be too far-fetched to think that those bastards had tried to smash his head into pieces, Goddess knew they were crazy enough. Though somewhere in his mind he knew he should be more worried about what was around him, about where his tormentors were located this time, but all he could focus on at that moment was the soft hand running through his hair and the soft surface he was resting on. It was much too different from his cell, but he felt so at peace he found he couldn't be afraid of the changes.

"Those fools at Shinra have no idea how easy they have made our divine purpose!" Boomed a sudden voice from somewhere close but also far. "Continue pumping mako, you foolish buffoons. Keep making the chain holding our god captive break and shatter!"

Multiple laughs rang out, cheers and hollers, like the people were celebrating. He flinched slightly when the hand in his hair tightened. He held back the groan though, no need for them to hurt him more during their celebration, or at least try to keep them away for as long as possible until they start torturing him as a part of the celebration.

"Ahh!" Came a shout from next to him. He froze as the voice of his main torturer rang through the room to silence it. "But we can't forget the main reason we hold this celebration! We hold this celebration to honor that our God has deemed his arrival near enough to bring him one of his beloved mates to his domain!" Cheers rang through the room again, the sounds of people clinking glasses together, dancing, and talking filled the air again.

"You were a hard one to find, Golden One," The tormentor said again, the creaking of leather sounding like the guy either sat or shifted in place. "Though I hope you find your engagement present satisfactory. I take pride in having broken him so thoroughly. Are you enjoying your engagement party?"

"Fuck off," came the soft and deadly reply from right above him. "I'm not marrying or mating your deranged god. In fact, once you unlock these chains your heads are going to roll."

The deep joyful laugh from his tormentor rang out through the room, everyone now going quiet. Once the room was silent again, he felt the air chill and the atmosphere become deranged. He couldn't help the slight shiver, but the hand in his hair was moving in gentle soothing circles.

"You think we fear death?" His tormentor said again, and he could see in his mind the deranged smile, that look that in his eyes that screamed madness, like all the others in this messed up place. "We know death awaits us when our god revives. In fact, the last step in bringing him back is the death of all his most loyal followers. When his second and last mate delivers himself here, our God will shatter the last links to his cell and call out to us, to give him the power he needs to bring himself back to our mortal plain, to bring himself to his two mates so he can claim them. And once he has claimed you both, he shall take his place as ruler of this corrupted planet and fix it."

"I've stopped world-destroying entities before," the person stroking his hair growled out. Something about the voice was very familiar. "I'll stop your God and kill him for good this time. Mark my words."

Laughs rang out through the room again, and slowly he realized that the people were leaving the room. Soon he was left in silence with the man on whatever soft object they were on. Slowly, in care this person wasn't going to be a friendly and familiar face, he opened his eyes.

Brilliant glowing stormy blue eyes, soft feminine features, and spikey blonde hair were the first things he noticed as soon as they opened.

"Cloud."

The man above him jolted and looked down at him, his eyes clearing up and turning into the cloudy blue look they got when he was concerned. He realized he had spoken, something he didn't mean to do.

"Zack!" Suddenly, Cloud was running his hands over his body, turning his face side to side to check things, even did the follow my fingers with your eyes only test, before he leaned down and hugged him as best as he could. "Thank Minerva you're alive! When they brought you in and I saw all the blood and that you were limp I feared the worst!"

Zack weakly hugged Cloud back, his mind still reeling from what his tormentor had said, the fact that Cloud was here and alive, apparently being worshiped by the assholes and not being ripped apart and forced to bleed, it was the only thing he could do.

Oh, and to start crying of course.

Things had just gotten so much worse for them. They had an enemy they knew nothing about, an enemy they knew about but couldn't do much against at the moment, and now they had what was probably an evil god trying to come back to the mortal world who was going to try to take Cloud and one other away to be his mates. He didn't think he could handle this, not after being forced to endure torture just under Hojo level of brutal and insane for who knows how long.

He didn't know if he voiced any of this, didn't know if he had managed to hug Cloud tighter in his crying, but he found himself pulled closer to Cloud's chest and held tightly but gently. If they stayed in that position, Cloud sitting on a large soft crimson sofa with Zack half in his lap both of them crying and holding each other for comfort, no one had to know.

"Don't worry Zack," Cloud muttered softly, his voice soothing even though it was harsh from crying. "Once I find a way out of these chains I'm going to make sure we both get out of here and that all those bastards die before their 'God' is ready for them. I'm not losing you again."