Save your tears,
For the day,
When our pain is far behind.
On your feet,
Come with me,
We are soldiers, stand or die.
Save your fears,
Take your place,
Save them for the Judgment Day.
Fast and free,
Follow me,
Time to make a sacrifice.
We rise or fall….
"Rise" – Origa
Chapter Seven: Sacrifice
"I can't believe you caught the flu, Spike." Zack admonished. He was in the kitchen, following the directions on a can of chicken noodle soup. Cloud was lying miserably on the couch with a fever of 103 and a very nauseous stomach.
"Not my fault…. Damn restaurant…." Cloud mumbled, eyes closed under the cool cloth Zack had placed on his forehead. They had signed up to work at a restaurant for a week to earn some extra gil, and apparently the place had been crawling with germs. Zack's mako in his immune system had protected him, but Cloud was not so lucky.
"It's all right." Zack said. He finished the soup and brought it over. "Here. It's not poison, just so you know." Zack's cooking had been getting miraculously better lately. He could at least follow directions on the packages. Cloud took a few mouthfuls, then groaned, arms wrapped around his stomach.
"Sorry, Zack…. My stomach feels awful. It does taste good, though." Zack nodded, sitting down on the couch. He pulled Cloud's head and the pillow it rested on into his lap, twining one hand into the gold spikes.
"Well, there's no way you can go see Aerith in this condition." Zack said. Cloud made a faint protesting noise, and Zack laughed. "You'll spread your germs! How about this: Take a nap and see how you feel later." Cloud sighed, curling up with his head still in Zack's lap. His eyes closed, and there was no other sound besides his quiet breathing. Zack made no attempt to move, contentedly stroking Cloud's hair. There was one thing still bothering him.
Where was Sephiroth? It had been exactly a week since their silver-haired big brother had left for the Shinra building. Zack had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. There was just something wrong he couldn't place. Cloud stirred in his sleep, mumbling absently. Zack leaned close to listen.
"Ow…. Zack….. I don't like leap-tackle-hugs….. I told you……" Cloud mumbled sleepily. Zack laughed silently. Cloud was adorable when he was asleep. He looked younger too. Cloud had showed up at their door two years ago, two years after when he had met Sephiroth. He had just reached Midgar and had been looking for anywhere to stay. Cloud had thought the building was abandoned, and had pretty much walked in and curled up on the couch. Imagine his and Sephiroth's surprise when they got home a half-hour later and discovered him sleeping there. They had put a blanket on him and left him be, and in the morning found out who he was and what he was doing there. They adopted him as a little brother, partly because he seemed like a great person and needed somewhere to stay, and partly because Sephiroth insisted on it, since Cloud could cook. He had almost given up on choking down the meals that Zack made, since Zack didn't seem to realize his cooking was awful.
Zack smiled fondly at the memory, glancing down at Cloud. The blonde-headed boy was soundly asleep. He gently eased off of the couch, and went to put away the dishes.
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Deep inside the Shinra building, Reno was walking towards the break room. He had been visiting with Yazoo and his brothers. They were all very nice kids. Kadaj, who was eleven, had a unique talent for drawing. Yazoo was good with darts, and Loz liked paddleball, of all things. Yazoo and Loz were fourteen and fifteen, respectively. Reno had been bringing them things to play with: paper and colored pencils for Kadaj, a gun that shot small plunger-tipped darts and a target for Yazoo, and a paddleball for Loz. It was probably against the rules, though, so he had told them to hide it all if anyone was coming.
As he approached the door to the break room, he paused. The voices of Rufus and Tseng were in there, as well as the nasally voice that could only belong to Professor Hojo. The door was open a crack, and Reno stood close to listen.
"Sir, this is not the best course of action. If the mental blocks that the, ahem, esteemed Professor put on him do not work as well as they should, then he could, in theory, break from us." Tseng's carefully respectful voice addressed Rufus softly.
"Nothing can go wrong." Hojo's annoyingly unbearable voice said. "I created the blocks myself."
There was the loud sound of a coffeemaker announcing that the coffee was ready, over which Reno barely heard, "Zackary Donovan and Cloud Strife? Yes. Based on what he said, they've done plenty to warrant arrest. Foremost being stealing materia." It was Rufus's voice. "Why shouldn't we test the blocks now? It would be the strongest test we could hope to set them against."
"If they fail, we'll never get another chance." Tseng said. "He would not stand it, nor would the one's he calls his brothers." Rufus made an unconcerned noise, and Tseng sighed. "All right, Sir."
Reno blinked in shock, positive that he had just heard something he shouldn't have. There was only one person they could be discussing. Sephiroth. And Zack and Cloud…. Zack had stolen materia? Oh, great flying Bahamuts, all hell was about to break loose. From the bit he'd heard, they were sending a brainwashed Sephiroth after them. Reno turned and ran. There were a few things he had to do.
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Cloud was still sleeping when Zack had finished his lunch. The black-haired young man blinked over at his little brother. Getting up, he placed a palm against Cloud's forehead, noting that his fever had quite possibly gone down a degree or two. He looked up at the small collection of pictures on the wall, another touch that made this feel like home. He wondered idly why Cloud had never asked about the people in the pictures. There was one of his parents, and one that was a larger version of Sephiroth's picture of his family. There were multiple pictures of him and Seph goofing off, and a couple that had Cloud in them too. Last was a relatively small picture of a grinning Zack and a faintly-smiling older man. The older man was wearing the uniform of a SOLDIER, and had his hand on Zack's shoulder. Zack smiled at that memory. The day he'd succeeded in actually making his friend Angeal laugh.
Cloud stirred, looking up at Zack. "What time is it?" Zack indicated the clock.
"A little after twelve. Your fever is a bit better." Zack said. "You feel sick at all?"
"No. Can I have some soup now?" Cloud asked, looking small and ill. Zack smiled, and went to heat up the remains of lunch.
After Cloud had eaten something, they were sitting around the living room discussing where Sephiroth could be. Zack was fully of the opinion that something terrible had happened, but did not want to leave Cloud to go find out. Cloud was getting ready to say something to add to that, when there was a frantic hammering on their front door. Zack got up, shifting the plywood sheet to the side to reveal a panicked Reno standing there.
"Reno?" Zack said incredulously. "What's the matter?"
"Shinra knows about you and the theft of that materia!" Reno cried. "What were you thinking! They're sending…. Hojo has brainwashed Sephiroth and is sending him after you!"
"What!" Cloud yelped. "He wouldn't hurt us… He's our brother!"
"I don't know." Reno said. "But he's on his way, regardless. Be careful. If you hold him off for long enough, help may come." Reno turned, not wanting to be caught as a traitor to Shinra. "I didn't tell you any of this!" He disappeared around the corner, and Zack looked back at Cloud.
"We have to do something. If it's true, we're in big trouble." Zack said softly. He turned to go upstairs. Cloud forced himself off of the couch to follow him. Zack trekked up to the third floor, stopping in front of a door.
Cloud stared. That particular door had been locked the entire time he'd been here. "Zack, that door is locked."
"Of course it is, Spike." Zack said.
"Then why……"
"That's why I have the key." He pulled a nondescript metal key from his pocket, slid it into the lock, and opened the door. Inside was a single table, and on the table were a sword and the gear to carry it. Cloud gaped. It was the biggest sword he'd ever seen. Zack went inside, picked it up like it was nothing, and shrugged into the carrying gear. He slid the sword into the straps that ran across his back and turned to grin at Cloud.
"Zack….." Cloud said, unsure. "Weapons are forbidden… Please don't tell me you took that sword."
Zack came over and bent to look Cloud in the eyes. "Do you trust me?" he asked in a deadly serious voice. Cloud swallowed hard, before nodding. Zack lead him back down the stairs. "This is the Buster Sword. It's mine, and it's been mine for a long time. I didn't steal it. A First Class SOLDIER gave it to me."
"You knew a SOLDIER?" Cloud said, disbelieving.
"Yeah. More than one, actually. I met two of them, Yishay and Sebastian, at a bar. We became friends. It was them who introduced me to the First Class."
"Why don't you see them anymore?" Cloud asked. In two years, Zack had never mentioned any of these people.
"They died." Zack said softly. "You know the Zirconiade crisis, right? The incident with the original AVALANCHE? It took me a long time to trust Tifa and Barrett, because some of the original AVALANCHE was not what it seemed. One of the leader Elfe's closest companions was creating a soulless fighting force called the Ravens to serve them. His name was Fuhito. He was amazingly and disturbingly reminiscent of Hojo in these experiments. He took Yishay and Sebastian both, and took their souls before we could stop him. That was when I met Reno, since the Turks were practically at war with AVALANCHE at that point. We tried to save them, to call them back, but it was no use." Zack's voice cracked, and he finished with some difficulty, "I had to kill them. Two of my best friends." He stared at the ground a moment, and then continued, "But long before they died, they introduced me to Angeal, a SOLDIER First Class. He saw talent in me, probably because of my exposure to Mako, and agreed to be my mentor. He tried to persuade me to join SOLDIER, but I refused. He taught me everything I know about swords and hand-to-hand fighting."
"What happened to him?" Cloud asked.
"I don't really know. He was sent on a top secret mission. Before he left, he gave me his sword and SOLDIER emblem to remember him by. Then he was gone, and he never came back. That was just before the Raven incident. So I lost all three of my SOLDIER friends in one go." Zack held up the emblem, which bore the Shinra logo and the words SOLDIER First Class. "I don't want to lose Sephiroth to Shinra's fights. No one else."
Cloud was silent as he reflected on this. Zack was happy, truly happy, here. Even with everything that had happened to him in the past. No wonder he didn't want to lose Sephiroth. It would just take someone else important to him away. Cloud and Sephiroth were all he had left.
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It had only been a little while. Cloud and Zack were curled on the couch, watching the slightly fuzzy TV.
"Seven years ago, the infamous General Xavier Domini razed the town of Corel to the ground. He was a head of the Shinra SOLDIER army, and was working under Shinra's orders. The company blamed the people for a malfunction of the Corel Mako Reactor, calling it sabotage. When the people fought back, the town was burned to the ground." the History Channel blared. Zack grinned.
"The only good thing about having a TV that's been broken eight times is that it picks up the blocked channels, eh, Spike?" Zack laughed. "Doesn't that Corel incident sound familiar?"
"We didn't sabotage the reactor." Cloud growled. "No one ever went near Mt. Nibel. They were afraid of the reactor. They burned Nibelheim for a different reason."
"Well, at least we know Shinra's solution to problems. Burn it!" Zack chuckled. Cloud smiled faintly, imagining Rufus Shinra and Hojo being problems.
"Zack, the only reason the TV broke eight times was because you threw it at the wall trying to get a channel. Eight times."
"Well, it works now, doesn't it?" Zack laughed. Cloud looked back at the TV, which was showing an image of the great General's weapon. The Masamune, it was called. It was a six-foot-long katana, with two slots for materia in the pommel. Cloud was reminded of Zack's own Buster Sword, sitting within reach next to the arm of the sofa.
"Yeah, I guess so." he acquiesced. Zack smiled and ruffled Cloud's hair fondly, before flicking through the TV channels. He stopped on a music channel to listen.
And baby you're all that I want, when you're lying here in my arms. I'm finding it hard to believe we're in Heaven. And love is all that I need, and I found it there in your heart. It isn't too hard to see, we're in Heaven…..
"That sounds like us." Zack commented.
"That's a love song! Last time I checked, you and me and Seph are not in love with each other." Cloud protested. "Are you getting a fever too?"
"NO. Other than the lovey part. We all came to Midgar, or in Seph's case, the bottom plate, looking for love and acceptance. And we found said love and acceptance with each other. Our family is all that we need, and we have it right here. We're truly in Heaven, just Heaven in disguise."
"Wow, Zack. That's so philosophical." Cloud said sarcastically. "How unlike you."
"Wow, Cloud, that's so sarcastic. How like you." Zack responded mockingly. Cloud growled and attempted to muster the energy to hit his adopted brother with a pillow, but failed miserably. Zack laughed at his attempt and cuddled him. "Yes, little Cloudy… You know you can't best your big brother….." he said singsongishly. Cloud squirmed, trying to break free, but couldn't. He gave up, lying limp on top of Zack to accept the cuddling without complaint. Zack was about to make another mocking remark, but was interrupted by a loud hammering on the door.
"I'm coming!" Zack said, pushing Cloud off of him and back onto the couch. Cloud started to get up too, but froze at the sound of splintering wood.
"Our door!" he said, not registering what was going on. Zack threw out an arm, keeping Cloud behind him and groping for his Buster Sword. He got his hand around the hilt as a very tall person strode into the room. Zack sighed.
"Oy, Seph, don't scare us like that." he said, only his voice marking the traces of uneasiness he still felt. "It took me forever to find a piece of plywood big enough for that doorway. Why'd you break it?"
Sephiroth merely stared at them. Zack cocked his head to the side, watching him carefully. But it was Cloud who tugged on Zack's sleeve and whispered in a panicked voice, "SOLDIERs!" A small group of them was filing in silently behind Sephiroth. Zack's eyes widened, as Sephiroth finally spoke.
"Zackary Donovan and Cloud Strife, you are under arrest for the crimes of stealing materia and possessing a weapon." he said emotionlessly. Cloud gasped, and Zack unconsciously tightened his grip on the Buster Sword. This could be a joke, a very Sephiroth-style joke, save for the SOLDIERs and Sephiroth's eyes. The last time Zack had seen his eyes glowing like that was when he'd nearly killed a man in Wall Market. Unwillingly, he felt the slightest bit afraid.
"Sephiroth…. What did they do to you?" he asked softly. "Come on, Seph. You don't want to listen to Shinra….. What about your brothers?" He was referring to all of Sephiroth's brothers. Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz, as well as him and Cloud.
"You are under arrest." Sephiroth repeated. "Do not force me to resort to violence." He drew the sword that had been unnoticed at his side, and Zack swore under his breath.
"Oh, hell. Masamune." he breathed. The infamous weapon of the general who razed Corel rested easily in the hand of their elder brother, marking for certain that he now belonged to Shinra. Zack didn't want to admit it, but they'd have to fight to get out of here now. He gripped the hilt of his own sword, lifting its' tip slightly off the ground, but before he could move, three small figures raced through the ruins of the door to stand between them.
"Aniki!" the smallest one cried.
"Why are you trying to hurt them?" whined the tallest.
"Aniki, that's Zack-nii-sama and Cloud-nii-san. You told us about them. Why would you attack them?" The middle one was obviously trying to reason with Sephiroth. It didn't seem to have much effect, as Sephiroth merely glared coldly at them.
Zack leaned over and whispered something in Cloud's ear, before looking back at Sephiroth and the children. How had Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo gotten here? Surely Shinra would have kept them locked up. He mouthed silently "One, two, three…." And then he and Cloud moved.
Zack grabbed Kadaj, as Cloud seized Yazoo and Loz by the hands and dragged them after Zack. Zack was running towards the back door of the building. Well, it wasn't really a back door so much as a hole in the wall they had discovered four days ago. Either way, it was hopefully about to save them.
Kadaj was wailing something incoherent that sounded like, "I want Aniki, put me down!" Yazoo merely stared at Cloud with large, questioning, mako-teal eyes. Loz was crying silently.
Zack led them out the crumbled portion of the wall, and raced down a nearby street.
"Where are we going?" Cloud cried, looking towards a bewildered Yazoo and Loz. Zack pointed to a tall building on the outskirts of the sector. He hurried into it, leading Cloud up the stairs to the roof.
"Sephiroth kept hinting that this was where his secret passage was." Zack explained. He pointed to a platform suspended just above roof level. "We're going up." He climbed up, setting Kadaj down and turning to help the others. They slowly maneuvered their way to the base of the plate, where Zack found the latch to the trapdoor.
When they emerged onto the Shinra grounds, sirens were blaring. Zack looked over and saw SOLDIERs pouring out of one of the barrack buildings.
"We need to get out of the city." he said quietly.
"What about Aniki?" Yazoo asked.
Zack knelt, hugging Yazoo. "We're leaving, because your Aniki's very sick, and we have to find a cure. You understand? Don't worry. Cloud and I will take care of you."
Yazoo nodded. "Okay, nii-sama. We'll save Aniki together." Cloud looked at Zack over Yazoo's head, frowning, but Zack ignored him.
They walked down the road that led out of the city. A man stood near the exit, loading packages onto his yellow pickup truck.
"Hey!" Zack called, running up to him. "Hey, where are you going?"
"Kalm. What's it to you?" the man responded.
"Can we get a ride with you?"
"Why?"
Zack pulled out Angeal's SOLDIER emblem and held it up. "This cadet and I are escorting these children to Kalm on Shinra's orders." The man's eyes widened.
"A SOLDIER First Class!" he cried, surprised. "Of course you can get a ride. Is someone after the children?"
"Yes." Zack pulled out one hundred gil and handed it to the man. "Thank you." He climbed into the back of the truck, helping Cloud and the others in after him.
"Sure thing." The man climbed into his truck, starting the engine and driving down the road, leaving Midgar behind. Zack watched the city shrink behind them, his only thought, Damn. We can't go see Aerith now. I'll have to send her a letter so she doesn't worry.
Twelve hours later, they were still riding in the old truck. It was about eleven o'clock at night, and Zack and Loz were the only ones awake. Cloud was snoring softly on Zack's shoulder, and Yazoo had fallen asleep with his head in Zack's lap. Kadaj was curled up against Loz.
Zack absently stroked Yazoo's long hair, commenting, "I guess we're the designated pillows." Loz looked at him a moment before smiling. In actuality, Zack didn't mind. Cloud's fever had flared up again because of the unexpected flight, and sleeping was the best thing for him now.
"Is Aniki okay?" The question was spoken quietly, sadness tingeing the fifteen-year-old's features. Zack wasn't sure how to respond, because he wasn't entirely sure what Shinra had done to Seph.
"Yeah, he'll be okay once we figure out how to cure him. Go on and get some sleep, Loz. It's going to be a long trip."
"Hai, nii-sama." Loz closed his eyes, and within minutes was asleep. Zack stared at the silent road ahead, as the truck rumbled to a stop.
"Good night, SOLDIER." the driver said. Zack waved slightly, before leaning his head back and trying to sleep himself.
The following day, they were once again cruising along the road to Kalm. Everyone was awake. Zack was telling outrageously exaggerated stories of him and Angeal and Yishay and Sebastian: things that they had done, and things that no one would ever do. Loz and Kadaj were laughing happily, as Zack described Sebastian falling into a hole while running a recon mission. Yazoo was smiling, and Cloud merely shook his head in exasperation. His fever had dropped again, and he was still tired, but other than that felt fine.
It was like a real family, Cloud realized suddenly. Here, now, it felt less like two best friends and the three younger brothers of their other, slightly insane, friend. They felt like real brothers, like they'd known each other always. And as he thought on Sephiroth, Cloud realized that even if he had been brainwashed by Shinra, he was still their oldest brother, blood ties or not.
A whirring, chopping sound cut into Zack's cheerful story. Cloud looked up, seeing a helicopter overhead and trucks of SOLDIERs on the road behind them. A SOLDIER leaned out the window, holding a rifle.
"Sniper!" Zack yelled. "Duck!" He dove, knocking them all to the floor of the truck.
"What in bloody Hell is going on!" the truck driver yelled. "Why are SOLDIERs shooting at you?"
"Just drive!" Zack bellowed. "They're after us! We're getting off!" He seized Cloud. "Jump and run!" He pushed Cloud off the side of the truck. He rolled to the edge of the road, got up and ran a short distance. Zack helped Loz and Kadaj out, then grabbed Yazoo and jumped himself.
They sprinted up the grassy cliff. Midgar could be seen, a faint outline on the horizon. SOLDIERs poured from the trucks, coming after them.
"Cloud, take the children and run. I'll hold them off. Head for Kalm." Zack said, turning to face the oncoming SOLDIERs.
"No!" Cloud latched onto the back of Zack's shirt. "…. I'm scared. Don't leave…. Please…. If something happens to you too…."
"Cloud…" Zack shifted, turning to embrace his younger brother. He hugged Cloud close to him, saying softly, "I know. But you know the rule of siblings? It's the older one's job to take care of the younger ones. Your job is to get Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo safely to Kalm. My job is to stop those SOLDIERs from catching you. I'll be fine, 'kay? Meet you in Kalm."
Cloud nodded shakily. Zack pulled out his Buster Sword, pressing it into Cloud's hand. "Here. Use this if anything happens on the way."
"But, what about you?"
"I'm perfectly capable of taking on a few SOLDIERs." Zack grinned, before turning and running down the hill. Cloud felt a smaller hand slip into his own, and looked at Kadaj.
"Nii-sama's really brave, isn't he, nii-san?" Kadaj asked innocently. Cloud could only nod weakly.
"Yeah, Kadaj. Come on. Let's listen to him and head for Kalm."
They hurried the rest of the way up the hill. When they reached the top, Cloud turned to look back, just for a moment. Zack was moving effortlessly in a dance to silent music, bashing in SOLDIER's faces with a grace only someone with Mako enhancements could possess. Cloud felt an involuntary smile slip to his face. Zack was the equal of or better than any SOLDIER down there. He was about to turn back around, when something caught his eye.
A single SOLDIER in a blue uniform, leaning out of one of the trucks with a sniper rifle in his hand. He sighted along its' barrel, aiming directly at the raven-haired man so casually besting the rest of the SOLDIERs. Cloud's world seemed to slow down, as the SOLDIER pulled the trigger.
Zack turned at the sound of the bullet, but had no time to dodge. He staggered backwards as it hit his lung, falling to the ground. In that moment, the world shattered.
Cloud released Kadaj's hand, starting back down the hill. "ZACK!" A sharp cry from behind him arrested his run.
"Nii-san!" SOLDIERs had snuck up the hill behind him while he'd been watching Zack, and had grabbed the younger children. Cloud moved to help them, but stopped as his head spun. His fever. Damn. He wasn't getting adequate rest to make it better, so it kept making him feel terrible at the worst possible moments. He swayed, as SOLDIERs closed in around him.
"Zack…. You promised you'd be fine…." His eyes refused to stay open, and he knew no more.
VIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVII
Li: Oh, y'all are going to KILL me for this! Please don't! I was in soooo much pain while writing it...
And now, the mandatory Japanese lesson:
Aniki - older brother
nii-san - brother
nii-sama- just a more respectful form of brother, for Zack 'cause he's older.
I do not own Rise by Origa or Heaven by Brian Adams
On a lighter note, I finally can work on my laptop again! Thank you firewall-killer! So, with Zack shot BEFORE Last Order, how is Cloud going to make it out of Nibelheim? Review and tell me, and you get the plushie collection with the younger versions of all six brothers! Doesn't matter if you're right or not. If you are right, you get a plushie of that little blue SOLDIER guy to torture. (Rip his limbs off!) Anyway, three LO chapters are next. What will I do with three years of time? Wait and see...