With a thudding heart that threatened to burst from his chest, Cloud had run back towards the decimated city. Although the screaming that called him had since stopped, the memory of it still rang in his ears, the desperate sound echoing in his head, compelling him to run faster, push harder. And the fact that the scream had stopped abruptly was more terrifying to him than hearing Tifa's cry in the first place. At least, when he had heard her screaming, he knew she was…….
Cloud refused to let his mind dwell on the possibility of what the sudden silence implied. He would find her. She would be alright. She had to be.
He had raced through the ruins and rubble, his eyes searching frantically everywhere. He saw nothing. No-one. Until a flutter of red cloth flapping in the swirling wind had caught his attention. Vincent, barely alive and lying in the dirt. As Cloud approached the prone figure, the eyelids had opened, and crimson eyes turned slowly to look at him. They were full of sorrow and regret.
"I should have killed her. I should have let the demon loose, to destroy her. But I couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to hurt Eva….. My own daughter. You have to do it Cloud. You, and Sephiroth," Vincent spoke, his voice barely more than a whisper. Cloud had looked around desperately, trying to find any of the others to help. Vincent's struggle to sit up made him turn back.
"Go to the cavern, Cloud. Past the Gateway. Where you first found her. That's where she'll be." He'd slumped back again, his breathing harsh and ragged. "The others can't help you Cloud. She's taken care……of them all."
Tifa?……. Cloud had hardly dared mouth the word.
"I…….I don't know," Vincent admitted weakly. "But, if Eva got to her…….." He'd left the sentence unfinished, averting his defeated eyes from the blondes pleading ones.
Biting back on unshed tears, Cloud had turned from Vincent. The pit of his stomach ached. He found it hard to breathe. To think. He didn't want to think.
With clenched fists, he had begun running again, this time to the entrance that Cait Sith had revealed to them earlier. The opening to Eva's lair. His anger propelled him, an anger that threatened to consume his very soul. He concentrated on only one thing. The destruction of the person who had taken something precious from him. He would kill Eva, and take great pleasure in doing so. Her life for Tifa's life.
Even now, as he approached the chamber before him and the coldness of the cavern chilled his glowing flesh to the bone, the red-hot anger boiled his blood. He drew the sword from its sheath on his back, his hand firm and steady. His face was an unforgiving mask, the blue of his eyes half covered by narrowed lids, his pouting mouth set and pinched. With a determined stride, he marched into the room ahead.
His eyes were immediately drawn to the plinth that dominated the chamber, and the body which was laid out upon it. For a moment he just stared, uncomprehending at first what it was he was seeing. Then, as realisation dawned upon him, the grip on the sword clenched tightly in his hand relaxed, and it fell from his fingers.
Tifa?
He raced over to her side. The relief at seeing her shone in his eyes, as he gazed down into her pale face. Her eyes were closed, and there was dried blood crusted around her lips and chin. He reached out a hand to tentatively push back the soft brown hair that lay curled around her throat, unsure that his glowing fingers would be able to touch her, but feeling the need to try. The hair moved away from his touch as if it had a life of its own, and Cloud gasped. There was a collar of blue lightening bound around Tifas neck, securing her to the plinth. The hair had hidden it from view. Cloud stared down as the electric blue light pulsed and vibrated, as if it were a thing alive.
"Aw…How nice. You've finally come to visit us," purred a voice behind him. Cloud snapped his head around, his eyes narrowing as he saw Eva standing in the doorway of one of the rooms leading off from the chamber. The one in which she had taken out Sephiroth. Her slender arms were poised high above her on either side of the doorframe, her long dark hair draped in front of her, falling loosely down the sides of her face, covering her bare breasts and tapering towards her taut stomach. With her hip thrust forward, she had one leg bent at the knee, rubbing the foot up and down against the calf of her other leg. It was a provocative stance, and Cloud found himself staring, captivated by the sight before him. It was only when she began that slow seductive smile, so reminiscent of Sephiroths, that the spell was broken.
Cloud slightly turned his head from her, judging to see how far away his sword was.
"Tsk! Tsk! That's not nice," Eva remonstrated, wagging a finger at him in a mocking parody of scolding. Cloud made as if to move towards the fallen weapon, stopping when Tifa began gagging. Quickly he glanced at her, and noticed the blue coil around her throat had tightened, choking her.
"Stop it," demanded Cloud, in a soundless order.
"I'm not responsible for it," Eva told him." You are!" Confusion showed in his eyes. "Make a move towards your sword….and for each step you take, she loses another breath. Reach your sword….And she dies! It's up to you. It's your choice."
Cloud turned away from the fallen weapon, and the band restraining Tifa lessened its hold, allowing her to breath again.
Let… her…go… Cloud mouthed the words slowly.
Eva tilted her head towards him, the smile on her face spreading. "What did you say? I didn't quite catch that. You'll have to speak up. Or come over here, closer to me, so that I can hear you better…." she teased, huskily. Cloud hesitated.
"I want you to come over here to me…..NOW!" spat Eva, the smile disappearing from her face when he made no move towards her. "Don't make me hurt her."
Anger took over Cloud once more. How dare Eva threaten Tifa? How dare she think she could try and intimidate him?
Without thinking about what he was doing, he lunged towards her, covering the space between them in seconds and grasping her around the neck, pushing her against the wall and lifting her up until only the tips of her toes remained on the floor. He was so enraged he didn't realise that his ghostlike fingers had actually made contact with her skin. He just knew that he wanted to throttle the very life out of this girl before him, and there was nothing or no-one to stop him from doing so. His grip tightened further.
"Ohhhh, you have strength, I like that," Eva gushed, her violet eyes wide, staring straight into his, as she brought a hand up and caressed his cheek, her fingers slowly feeling their way around the contours of his jaw. Her thumb brushed across the softness of his mouth, while the small pink tip of her tongue moistened her own lips, inviting Cloud to kiss them.
He did so, forcefully and painfully, ashamed of his actions, but unable to stop himself. He crushed her lips beneath his, not caring that he bruised her, not caring that he hurt her. Eva gave a small gasp at his brutality, and Cloud took the opportunity to push his tongue into the warm interior of her mouth. She willingly accepted it, her tongue eagerly entwining with his, as her arms wrapped themselves around his body, one hand reaching down to caress the firmness of his buttocks, the other entangling itself within his hair, forcing his head closer to hers and deepening the kiss. Still pinned to the wall by his hand around her throat, she lifted her legs up and encircled them around his waist, drawing him in closer to her, thrilled when she felt his hardness pressing against her.
Suddenly, Cloud broke from the kiss, and Eva gave a small sigh of disappointment. Her lust filled eyes opened and gazed into his, and she saw a flicker of doubt and guilt reflected back for a moment…..but it was only for a brief moment, before want and desire burned brightly again within his blue eyes, and he bent his head towards her and claimed her lips once more.
The hand that had been clasped tightly around her throat was now removed, and placed beneath her, helping to balance and hold her steady as Cloud pressed her against the wall with his body. With his other hand, he brushed her long black hair away from her breasts, exposing small pert nipples. He lowered his head, and began to bite at them, nipping them gently between his teeth. Eva moaned with pleasure, and rocked her hips forward, thrusting herself up against his confined erection, frustrated at the fabric barrier between them.
As Cloud continued biting at her breasts, Eva fought to free him of the sleeveless top he was wearing, desperate to feel his skin against hers. She tugged the zipper down, and slid it from his shoulders, slightly irritated when it stopped at his elbows. Cloud lifted his head, suddenly aware of what she was trying to do. He let her drop from his hold, and shrugged the top off easily, casting it to the floor and reaching out to grab the girl again, kissing her and pushing her at the same time into the small chamber behind her, holding her within the firm grip of his arms to steady her from falling as she was propelled backwards into the room.
Pushing her until the backs of her legs reached a bed that was tucked into one corner, and then he forced her down, falling on top of her and pinning her unresisting form beneath him. His hands began to travel over her body, as hers began their journey of him, unbuckling his belt, unzipping his pants and helping him to pull himself free of their restriction, until finally they lay together naked in each others arms. Clouds kisses hungrily covered her face, her neck, her breasts. His tongue explored the entire length of her, seeking out the secret places of her body where no-one had ever ventured before, making Eva gasp and groan with the sheer pleasure his tingling touch brought.
Arching her back, she opened her legs to him, wanton and shameless in her need for him, lost in the sensation of her emotions, only knowing she wanted more of this man….much, much more.
Cloud positioned himself above her, and not being able to contain himself any longer, he pushed forward, and penetrated her.
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High atop the treacherous peaks of the mountains outside Ancient City, another also shared in the emotive arousal of the coupling taking place. A smile spreading across his thin face, Sephiroth sheathed his deadly sword, and began to make his way back down. The boy had found his quarry for him once again, it seemed.