A/N: You can tell I wrote this while listening to One Winged Angel. Darker themes and much angst for your reading pleasure! No cliffhanger for a change. Enjoy!

Disclaimer:Square Enix owns everything.

"This is the end of everything
Rear the tragedies
That the Seraphim shall sing"

-From Cradle To Enslave –COF

Anxious, angry, curious faces surrounded him, watching him with deep wariness and concern, with the exception of Vincent with his pallid countenance a permanently fixed mask of icy composure.

Kadaj regarded them all with a remote, wintry green gaze, eerily vacant as it had been before. He didn't want anything to do with them, much less tell them of what had transpired within that brief time of the altercation with the clone. But Kadaj wanted answers…

"Where did he go?" He asked, lifting himself off the glass strewn ground with a swift, flowing grace.

"Who?" Yuffie was first to inquire, but Kadaj ignored her, slanting his sharp eyes toward the dark alleyways nearby. There was only emptiness, much like the cold grey-green irises that searched the dark expanse of the streets. But there was not a single trace of the clone's presence anywhere as far as Kadaj could tell.

Maybe he should keep this sordid secret to himself, for if indeed the Sephiroth clone had been a figment of his troubled imagination, then there was a good chance he was going quite insane; and he could do without announcing it to the whole world.

"Nevermind." He said, brushing glass fragments off his armoured trench and silvery-pale hair.

"What the hell did you think you were doin' you stupid little jackass?" Barret growled softly, his dark eyebrows furrowing into a stern frown.

Kadaj was unresponsive, staring into the crepuscular depths of the night, images of Sephiroth stamped across his mind.

If only Yazoo and Loz were with him; then confidence and courage would return to him, whole world his for the taking…

But such fancy was for fools; unless he found a way to bring back his brothers somehow…

Kadaj was quick to dismiss this notion as yet another sign of madness; but he was desperate to understand what exactly was expected of him… He was desperate to find a path that would define his existence once more like it did before.

On one hand, there was Cloud and his friends and the Planet; the sweet temptation of a normal, ordinary life like he had never had before; and on the other hand, Mother's legacy and Sephiroth's guiding wisdom and immense power drawing him to his knees in helpless supplication.

There was much to lose regardless of his decision. Despite Mother's cells still within him, he felt significantly weaker, and even if he willed himself under Sephiroth's control, he doubted his body could take the strain this time. No, this time he wouldn't survive…

How did I survive in the first place…?

Kadaj touched a supple pale hand to his temple as he began to remember it all…

To make things even more complicated than they already were; he did recall the face and voice of a beauteous young girl redolent with flowers; her gentle whisper of a fate that was reserved for him should he choose to give up his bond with the Mother…A fate unfettered by slavery.

He remembered her touching him through the ever-swirling, shimmering dimensions of the lifestream; reaching deep into his heart and purging him of the polluting, suffocating influence of Sephiroth's dark will, so he was free to choose for himself for once…

But he was not freed, only driven closer to Jenova's Champion.

And Kadaj too remembered, choosing life over death; solitude over unity with his dead brothers…He had been selfish, cowardly…Mother was displeased…

But she had not been able to reach out to him like the flower-girl. Was it because of the girl's sorcery or simply Mother's capricious inclination to ignore feeble-spirited and weak-willed creatures?

"Earth to Kadaj…Anyone home?!" Yuffie waved a hand across his eyes; drawing him out of his disturbing reverie.

He looked at her absently, his opaque green eyes murky with dark thoughts, drilling into her clear, candid brown ones with a keen intensity. He wanted to shake her and tell her he didn't give a damn if she died tomorrow, so why should she care about him?

He had no one but himself to blame. Didn't he bring it all on himself by behaving like a lost, gutless little crybaby? He had gotten himself entangled; now it was up to him to get himself out of this mess. Even Loz would have had more common sense than to accept any kindness from Strife and his warriors.

"What is it?" Kadaj asked, his head tilted haughtily, wishing Strife would just wipe that idiotic, melancholy look off his face and act like a man.

Cloud was looking at him hard, suspicion reflected in those blue eyes of his, no trace of softness upon that severe line of his lips pressed together in disapproval.

That's more like it…

Kadaj stared back in chilling serenity he had seen on Yazoo's stonily vacant face most of the time.

They had killed his brothers, why should he trust them now? He especially delighted in knowing Strife would be forced to take the blame should he turn on them; it was Strife who had had the most faith in him, he who had insisted they ally themselves with Sephiroth's only remnant.

Too bad; Kadaj thought, the blonde fool dug his own grave.

You know that is untrue.

They will always have faith in him, no matter what. Together these people have overcome the worst, and they can sure deal with failure and a little heartbreak.

Cloud can never disappoint them anymore because he already has in the past, and they now know how to deal with it.

But you Kadaj, you have much to prove yet, and a long hard road ahead of you. You need not walk this road alone. Let them guide your steps into a world you have secretly longed for.

They will forgive you.

Sephiroth would never forgive you, remember, because forgiveness is unique to human heart, and Sephiroth is no longer a human.

Go tell that to someone who cares, thought Kadaj, and the soft, sweet voice was stilled and silent at once, leaving him at the mercy of a selfish, powerful and aggressive entity seeking a way back into the physical plane.

"You are all fools. Mother might be gone, but Sephiroth is always there. He is everywhere, he knows and he sees. Mother lives through him, and he lives through me." Kadaj laughed harshly. "What makes you think I won't betray you when I seize the chance? Or are you really so dense?" Kadaj spoke softly with icy dispassion plain on his face that still bore the sharp-edged smile.

"You've got a death-wish, haven't you?" Yuffie shook her head, throwing an anxious glance at Barret, who was astonishingly stoic and silent. Either he was hanging around Vincent too much, or that he too, was aware of the sudden change in Kadaj's behaviour.

Cloud was composed, his strong arms crossed and an unreadable expression in his eyes.

"No, we're not dense, perhaps a little disappointed-"

"Speak for yerself spikey, that boy's got his head jammed up his arse and he needs a g-" Barret butted in gloomily, but Cloud held up a silencing hand.

"Let me finish, Barret." He said, looking straight into Kadaj's hideously sneering face.

Kadaj, I can understand what you're going through right now. Like I said, it's not easy, it will never be easy. If you stay with us, who knows, maybe it will be good for you. If you don't, then I can't force you, and it's a shame but I will not let this Planet die."

Vincent stood a few steps away from the group, watching the goings on with his impartial red eyes glowing softly. Tifa was looking at Cloud with an inscrutable expression. Yuffie was restlessly toying with a green materia that suspiciously looked familiar to Vincent, but he kept quiet about it for the moment.

"How gallant of you to say so. Pardon me if I don't stand in ovation of your heroic little speech." Kadaj said with a bored, disdainful smile.

"Cloud, stay away from him." Vincent warned, his gold clawed fingers curling into a fist, his other hand casually resting on Death Penalty. Yuffie, though disconcerted by the slightly edgy look creeping on Vincent's usually deadpan features, reached for her shuriken, uneasily watching Kadaj.

"No, Vincent. I will deal with this." Cloud said with grim resolution.

"You may kill me, but you will never be able to kill Sephiroth. You can't. He will come back, one way or the other; he will always come back. He will never be a memory." He finished darkly, his voice dipping to a deeper pitch.

"And I will always be right here, waiting for him." Cloud said, his eyes aglow with an unrelenting fierce light as he neared a step toward the remnant.

"Hey!" Yuffie was quick to correct the warrior. "Don't you mean we?!"

"Bloody oath he means we, ya little chucklehead!" Barret said with a glower.

"Planet's defenders; heroes of Midgar…" He said, his smile turning recalcitrant and vicious. "How pathetically charming." He knew he should refrain from provoking the group, but he was enjoying this, and he wanted more; increasingly annoyed at not being able to work Cloud into an aggravated state.

Can you feel it now, Kadaj?

Can you feel the wretched tears of their fragile Planet on your lips? Is there a sweeter taste? Is there a greater pleasure than that of becoming despair itself?

Look at them, these ludicrous humans, clinging to a dead hope, begging you to reconsider, begging you to join their pathetic crusade.

We are their gods, Kadaj.

You and I.

The silent affirmation fuelled Kadaj's spirit, a quiet rage was stirring deep inside him, enfolding his hesitant young heart with black wings of hate and dark power. He felt the hot, searing current of Sephiroth's raging will fill his veins and set his soul alight with a vehement desire to kill.

His pupils were two black slits, the baneful green irises growing stormy and sharp as the Masamune blade. His ungloved fingers twitched, his whole body tingling with the surge of this dark strength returning to him with a maddening force. It shimmered with a silvery radiance about the young man, charging the air with its seething, violent intensity, the Jenova Avatar beginning to re-awaken within.

Vincent pulled out his three-barreled gun faster than Kadaj could even blink; prompting a grim Tifa to swiftly reach for her fighting gloves, while a scowling Barret and a distraught Yuffie prepared to attack as well.

Cloud was the only unarmed one besides Kadaj, but that did not seem to be a problem for him. To everyone's shock, he grabbed Kadaj's shoulders tightly, roughly, bending his head to his and speaking in urgent tones.

"Do not listen to his lies, Kadaj. Come back to us. Can you hear me? Come back, Kadaj!"

Barret opened his mouth in anger and astonishment, but Vincent put a finger to his lips and shook his head, silencing the big man. Yuffie nervously glanced at Tifa, noting the sadness and turmoil in her deep brown eyes as she watched Kadaj slipping away into a void of Sephiroth's design.

"Kadaj, remember what you told me! You're not Sephiroth's slave, remember? COME BACK!" Cloud cradled Kadaj's face between his hands, vehemently urging him to resist the alien supremacy fighting to take over.

Sweat glistened on Kadaj's face, his infer conflict starkly etching his taut face in agitated lines for all to see. Cloud's voice came from somewhere distant and far away, getting weaker by the second.

Puppets we are all…

Jenova my vengeful mistress, magnificent in your cruelty, release me…

It hurts, Mother…

It hurts so much…

Kadaj's hand flew to Cloud's bare throat, fingers slick with sweat clamping around his neck in a death grip no force could wrench loose. Soulless green eyes shimmered with murderous urge. Cloud struggled to breathe, desperately clawing at Kadaj's constricting hand.

His sins are not yours, Kadaj.

You are free to claim your own destiny.

You are not his plaything anymore.

Come back to us…

Come back, Kadaj…

Throwing his head back, Kadaj let out a scream of anguish to the nocturnal skies churning with the thunderous echo of a howling storm. As soon as he loosened his grasp on Cloud, Kadaj staggered back, and began to convulse, dropping to his knees and clutching his chest as if in pain. His shoulders twitched, the grey tinge lifting from his green eyes as he hid his face beneath the silver veil of his hair, his head buried in his unsheathed hands.

Cloud coughed convulsively, pain easing from his lungs as he took deep, rapid breaths. Thunder exploded in the lightning-streaked sky, but no rain fell.

Everyone was silent; each contemplating the meaning of this monumental moment.

Cloud knelt down, slipping his arms around Kadaj, and stroke the damp silver hair, resting his chin on top of his head. For a moment or so Kadaj remained stiff, trying to push him away, but Cloud only held him tighter.

Suddenly, Kadaj buried his head in Cloud's chest, squeezing his eyes shut as he took refuge in his comforting, shielding warmth, sobbing quietly, feeling grief turn to dust.

He was not alone...