Living Memory

Weak or not, they bring forth the strong
And in reality, we really are heros long gone.

Cloud could not find his voice. He stared up in open disbelief. He tried to register in his mind what he was seeing, but failed miserably. This only widened the man's smile. Tifa lay on her side, listening to the sudden quiet of the cell. She questioned sitting up a for a moment, thinking their captor had left. But he spoke.

"Surprised, Cloud?"

Cloud gave an involuntary shiver, now recognizing the man's voice truly. It had Sephiroth's deep voice mixed in with his own, and memories came flooding back to him in an onslaught rush. Cloud shook his head, trying to clear it as the man let out a booming laugh. It echoed, repeating itself over and over, tormenting Cloud.

"Who...who are you?" Cloud hissed, his eyes averted.

"Who? Who am I? I am but a clone, Cloud; that or some twisted version of one. I thought that much was obvious. I have no name, not even a number." The man smirked. "I guess the better question Cloud, would be what am I?" He spread his arms out, gesturing to himself. "I am but a hybrid, I guess you could say. Although, I do have to say the two parties involved must be rather obvious, even to you, Cloud."

He smiled wickedly.

"No." Cloud heard himself whisper.

"Trying for denial, Cloud? It will only serve you worse. Did you honestly think you and Zack were the only project Hojo had going on after Nebelhiem?" He chuckled, paused, and then reached out, clenching Cloud's jaw, forcing him to look up. "Don't think you're that special." He hissed, and released Cloud's jaw, and turned.

Cloud found his voice.

"If you think you're so special," He spat, "Then why did you come and fight with Sephiroth two years ago. Why did you not fight with Kadaj?"

The hybrid let out a sudden burst of laugh. "Kadaj? That pathetic fool? He was but a remnant, practically nothing. The only thing he did right was bring back Sephiroth, and well, hecouldn't even do that right."

His gaze shifted towards Tifa, studying her back. Cloud narrowed his eyes.

"No, I would've helped him. However, at the time...I was, a little, oh what's the word...not myself. See the problem with being mixed with your sad genes, is the fact that I have to deal with your conscience and morals...and a certain 'interest'. Of course, it was only a short lapse, however, I had another problem to deal with. The fact that my brother couldn't handle you and him together with Sephiroth's genes." The hybrid gazed up, thoughtful.

"What? Your brother?"

"Of course! How do you think I got the children back to your friends? Of course, he really didn't see the point, but they've done nothing. There's no way for us to bring back Sephiroth, and if we do try the whole 'destroy the world thing', then we'll take you down one by one. However, this had to be done. It simply takes priority." He shrugged.

"You let them go?"

"Yes, brother was a tad disagreeable, but all is well." The hybrid caught Cloud's eyes, and flashed another wicked smiled. "Oh don't worry about them Cloud. I'm sure the rest of your AVALANCHE has found them by now. No, if you need to worry about anyone, it's yourself."

"What did you mean by you couldn't handle your brother when Kadaj was around?"

The hybrid chuckled softly. "He's a tad different than I. Much more quick to jump to violence, and not quite always 'there'."

"What do you mean by different? And how can I trust that Denzel and Marlene are safe?" Cloud spat.

"Honestly, the children are fine. They wouldn't have set him off...however..." The hybrid's gaze shifted back to Tifa again. "If he sees her, he might be a bit...difficult. He has a strange fascination with the woman. That's the real reason why she is in the cell and not out in shackles with you."

Cloud's eyes widened in horror.

"Then let her go! What has she done anymore than the other AVALANCHE. Why her?" Cloud yelled.

The hybrid met Cloud's glare with an even gaze.

"Because," Cloud could hear the underlying anger in his voice. "You would've ended up fighting Sephiroth anyways, but her...her, she was the one who gave you the strength to defeat him. Would you have really gone straight to the children had it not been for her? Would you've been able to defeat Sephiroth on your own had it not been for her confidence in you? It's just as much her fault as yours. While you provided the brute force in the final battle, she provided the emotional support if you will. If we ever did get another remnant or part of Jenova, then we could not afford to have you two around. That and the fact that brother was fighting internally with the thought of hurting her." The hybrid smirked, "Of course...that's in a certain way...he's got a twisted mind if you understand..."

Those words made Cloud snap. He let out a furious roar, trying to restrain against the cuffs. He planted his feet on the ground, trying to tear himself from the wall, and the hybrid chuckled softly, amused. Cloud could feel the guilt wrenching at his heart. He blamed himself for all of this, and worse, he had drug in Tifa. Despite how he was trying to break free, a corner of his mind registered the fact that things were looking grim.

"Brother!" A voice called from the lift.

Cloud silenced his yell, only now noticing the blood that poured from wrists where the metal edges had bit into his arm. His blood made a soft trickle as it dripped from his wrists, footsteps echoing from the dark hallway. Cloud lifted his head in anticipation, waiting to see the man who was 'crazed' and had a strange 'fascination' with Tifa. Cloud did not want to know what 'strange' meant, he only wanted to kill these two 'hybrids' as they called themselves.

Cloud watched the shadowy figure approach, and he could see a large sword on his back. Cloud barely silenced the groan in frustration as he recognized the sword. He however, could not keep the astonishment off his face once again as the man broke into the steady light. Cloud should've figured this hybrid would be different in this way.

The smile the hybrid wore was all too familiar to Cloud, although he hadn't seen in quite some time. It was not his own, nor Sephiroth's, though he could see both of them worked into the body. However, it was the smile, and that familiar gait, and the dark hair that gave him away. The other hybrid watched in amusement as it all set in place for Cloud.

Cloud breathed out one word, and Tifa stifled a gasp.

"Zack?"

A/N: another shocking moment...not really, I tried to drop in a few hints...I really liked making the 1st hybrid kinda of like 'you should already know all of this.' I also tried to make it obvious that you must tread carefully around this one, he seems a bit crazy...as is his brother...ANYWAYS! another snippet of poem by me...I was just trying to go with teh return of 'zack'...although you didn't know this until now...ya know, heros long gone...zack is dead...yeah, it makes PERFECT sense to me...You've all been giving such great reviews, and thanks as always for everything! And as requested, I updated as soon as possible! XD Thanks again!